Notes: Sorry about the short chapter. Been a fun week! Broke a finger, but somehow it hasn't affected my typing too much! Ha, lucky breaks. And it's snowing…so I'm super happy =) Thank you for the reviews! 3!

Disclaimer: Ain't mine. Tragically.

CHAPTER 10

All those in the hold rushed up to the bridge. Anna chose to go to see if Chuck was okay. The bridge wasn't an overly spacious area, but somehow everyone was able to squeeze in. Once everyone had found a spot in the small room, Dean pushed his way next to Gabriel and got right down to business.

"How close are they?"

"Like twenty seconds from pissing distance, Cap." Gabriel's jaw was tense, but he spared a second to look at his brothers standing in the back of the room, frowning when he saw some blood on Castiel's face. But he looked okay for now and was standing passively between the preacher and Balthazar with a blank look on his face.

"Then lose them!" Meg's teeth were clenched so hard that Dean was worried that she might crack them.

Gabriel pulled up the rear vid on the screen and let out a slow whistle. Everyone blanched at what they saw. The croat ship was bearing right down on them.

Dean tried his best to sound calm, "Say, how close do they have to be to use those grappler hook things they tend to favor?" Behind him Balthazar swore, and Bobby groaned. Just at that moment, the first grappler was thrown. They were terrifying metal hooks with barbs, the whole apparatus being the size of a horse. The sharp ends could easily bury themselves in the sides of the Impala, but lucky for them the first hook only glanced off the side of the ship.

"Dodge them you idiot!" Meg shouted out helpfully.

"Would you all just hold your bladders and be quiet a moment so I can handle this!?" They finally quieted down a bit at Gabriel's strained voice. Castiel giggled and Dean turned to give him a funny look.

Up on the screen they could see that the ship had not fallen behind at all, and that it was matching their movements perfectly. To Gabriel's credit though, he was dodging the hooks thrown their way.

"I need Chuck in the engine room now," Gabriel grunted out. Bobby looked up at this.

"I'll head on down there to lend a hand. I used to work at a ship yard, maybe I can do something." He left the bridge with Meg following.

Sam spoke softly next to the pilot, "Do you think we can lose them?"

Gabriel didn't answer him, because at this point, he really wasn't sure and he never wanted to lie to Sam again.

Dean turned to Balthazar. "I want you to take your brother and get in the other shuttle. I'll send the others to join you soon as they can. Be ready to go."

Balthazar looked like he was about to protest, but Castiel beat him to it firmly placing himself between Dean and his brother. He looked Dean straight in the eye. His blue eyes looked electric and Dean wasn't sure if he was seeing things, but he thought he saw the lights flicker in the bridge.

"We will not leave you Dean." The firmness in this statement startled Dean, but he didn't let it shake him. He answered back with the same force.

"This is my boat Castiel. I say you go, you go."

Balthazar cut in. "We have family on this boat Dean. We don't abandon family." Near them, Gabriel felt his heart give a painful pull, but at the same time, his belly warmed.

Dean couldn't argue with that statement, so he just nodded and turned back to the screen to watch their progress, if there had been any progress…

"How's it looking Gabe?"

His nervous chuckle before answering was enough to make Dean swallow hard.

"I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think we are being followed."

In the engine room Chuck is running back and forth between several parts. He and the machines around him are all overheating from the stress and the three people entering to help are met with a wall of hot air as they move in. Chuck notices them and starts to hammer out directions for each of them to go.

He tells Anna to keep an eye on one of the gauges. He has Meg hold a pressure lever in place. And he has Bobby help him replace the fried wiring around the room. So far they were getting things done. The guy might be a total mess normally, but he had been chosen for this job for a reason.

"Jeez man, how long can you keep this up for?"

"Ummm, with four people down in the engine room? Probably another five minutes. We really need to think of something new."

"How about that maneuver you told me about. The crazy Irving or something?" Sam sounded hopeful. Gabriel had been sort of teaching him how to fly for a few months and Sam always soaked in every bit of information shared. His favorite thing to learn about were the fancy tricks that only pilots knew about.

"The wha…? Oh, you mean Ivan! That might work! Hey, hope you all have an iron stomach." Then he shouts into the comm, "Hey Chuck, you up for a crazy Ivan?"

Back in the engine room Chuck closes his eyes and whimpers. "No, but I don't think you are actually asking me." A chuckle comes over the engine room call box as his answer. Chuck turns to his temporary helpers with a look of despair before hashing out the new positions.

"Okay boys and girls! Hold on to your guts!"

With that Gabriel flips up a switch on one of the pilot joysticks, and presses down on a button on the other. The whole ship lurches as it's two jets flip positions and starts propelling the Impala in a complete 180 degree turn heading straight for the croat's ship. Dean, Sam, and Balthazar all look horrified at the change in events and the change in course. Castiel simply looks calm as he is held onto like a security blanket by Balthazar.

At the last second before they collide with the other ship, Gabriel pulls hard up, and they soar above the croats , missing them completely. He puts the ship on full speed again and heads to break atmo with the distance between them and the croats growing with every second. It's a few seconds later that he finally loosens his death grip on the controls as they finally reach a safe distance. He puffs out a heavy breath and turns to his captian.

"We are in the clear captain."

Dean's whole body sags with relief and he moves to the comm. "We made it out of the woods people. You did good."

The whole ship after that takes a collective breath and smiles at those around them. Once again, they were safe.

Castiel tugged on Dean's sleeve. "Did you know that the house fly hums in the middle octave key of F?"

Teeheehee, I love random facts.