Got a ton of followers after that last chapter. Thanks, everyone. :) And we're finally 20 chapters in. Straight on to the story!

She wasn't sure if she expected him to get in the car with her or not. The point was that when she did get in and realized he wasn't there beside her, Catherine wasn't surprised. There were... problems with them. Stupid problems that weren't even supposed to happen. What angel hurts themselves for a human that wasn't in some damn prophecy or whatever makes little mortal beings important to them? The entire last month or however long it's been was stupid, but she still missed his grumpy, cold shoulder. She figured that she needed to get used to it.

Catherine started the car to... head back with the Winchesters, she supposed. There was really no where else to go and she couldn't just abandon ship now. Suddenly, a familiar sound from the night before made her jump back in her seat, before noticing that there was a man now occupying Balthazar's spot. He smirked to her and raised an eyebrow. She grimaced and changed gears to back out.

Surprisingly enough, he stayed quiet for a while. Catherine was completely on edge, but nothing had happened before. At this point, she hardly cared. Still, the nerves were eating away at her. Call her crazy, but she wasn't a big fan of angels in her current position. Eventually, she shifted in place, staring into the brake lights of the Impala. "Is there a reason that angels still take normal transportation even if they have their wings?"

The man shrugged. "The fall didn't hurt me as bad as your friend, but it still knocked the wind out of me. I can't fly very far. Besides, we haven't had the chance to spend any quality time together yet."

She didn't want to spend quality time with him at all. "You're Gabriel, aren't you?"

"I see my reputation precedes me," he smiled over to her, but she didn't smile back. "Heard nothing but good things, I hope."

"Where were you last night?"

She was on edge, and cutting to the chase like that certainly didn't raise more red flags. His smirk shifted into something more serious. "I saved Balthazar from Lucifer. I could have saved you from Michael, but I could only survive against one of them and the devil was kind of wanting to skin you two alive, with or without a grace in his hands. I made a choice and... well, we're all alive." As expected, Catherine didn't say anything. "You're welcome, by the way."

That got a reaction, at least. She glared over to him, but he didn't begrudge her of it. Instead, she finally spoke up. "You saved me from that ghost and told him where the Winchesters were."

"Yup," he nodded, already knowing where this was going.

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Why what?"

Catherine glared back to him again, figuring that he was being annoying just to be annoying, but that wasn't really what was on the archangel's mind. He wanted to watch her find the words for it. Still, she spoke up again. "Why did you save me? Why didn't you just tell him where he could find the extremely photogenic brothers from Hell? Why waste your energy if you have such precious reserves of it?"

Balthazar asked him the same thing when it happened. These two were clueless. "Isn't it obvious?" He was still laying on the sarcasm by not asking the question honestly, because it was so painfully obvious that he shouldn't have to spell it out to either of them.

Catherine rolled her eyes and focused back on to the road. He waited, but she never replied. He didn't speak again either.

When they got back to the Men of Letters base, things were the same. Catherine made a bee line for the material she had been going through before they left and Balthazar wandered off on his own somewhere. Kevin was certainly curious, especially by the new face, and Castiel was no where in sight.

Sam pulled the young prophet away to fill him in while Dean stopped the archangel in the main room. "Gabriel."

"Hmm?" He just craned his neck and looked around at all the gizmos. It was a pretty swish place, honestly. When he looked back to the hunter, though, Dean was wringing one hand and licking his lips. Nerves. As much as the angel wanted to keep up the aloof act, he relaxed a little.

"You haven't left yet, so I'm counting that as a good thing," the hunter began and took a deep breath before finally asking the big question. "What do we do?"

A very good question. Of course, the only reason he was still around the Winchesters at all was because there wasn't much else he could do with his wings the way they were. Plus, his older brothers both desperately wanted him. Hiding would do no good with ruined wings. This was the best option and that made the problem come up and smack him in the face. No hiding now. He actually had to do something.

Gabriel glanced over to Kevin and Sam before looking back to the eldest brother. "You go talk to Cas. Tell him what's going on." Dean nearly pouted, so the angel went back over his words. "I can still sense him, Dean-o. I'm not blind. Speaking of which, let's keep your demon friend out of the loop for right now, shall we?"

The hunter still pouted anyway. "What? That's it? Talk to Cas?"

"No, no." Gabe shifted and looked around the room again. "Just fill him in on what happened and we'll get a game plan after that. Meet back in... say... forty minutes? We'll all be ready to rock by then, I think."

Dean blinked at him and sighed. "You're going to go play Dr. Phil, aren't you?"

The other shrugged and began to walk off. "Only the best damn Dr. Phil you've ever seen," he muttered.

Balthazar gripped the railing and tried stretching his back a little while taking a deep breath of fresh air. It was strange how the outside air did help now. He felt closed off enough without being trapped inside of some car or building. Just being trapped inside of his own vessel was enough. He rolled his shoulders and allowed his eyes to close and his head to bow down. Really, he shouldn't be outside trying to get used to his new lifestyle, but any guilt he felt about brushing off more responsibility didn't measure up to the rest of the stupid crap he was feeling. He only thought that being human was underrated.

Why should he feel guilty about not trying to help now, anyway? Hadn't he done more than enough? At least he was there when the cage opened, and there wasn't exactly a whole lot more he could have done to stop it. Besides, Catherine obviously did not want his aid in recovering all of this mess, so why even stay at all?

Balthazar twisted his head, telling himself that he was trying to pop his neck and not subconsciously hide from such a notion. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to help. He wanted to stay. Yet, just the thought that he actually wanted such things made him angry.

A chill shook through him and he gripped the railing harder. It would have broken if he was even close to his usual self... He gripped the metal so hard that his knuckles began to turn white.

"Was it mean to you?" His head turned to find Gabriel there beside him with a shadow of a smirk on his face. It did not go past either of them that Balthazar didn't sense him at all, but the elder continued. "I can beat it up for you if you want."

After a second's debate, Bal lightly chuckled and lessened his grip. "No, but I appreciate the sentiment," he smiled, stretching his back again and immediately going onto another topic. "How did you get away from Lucifer?"

Gabriel pouted and shrugged one shoulder. "He wanted me more than he wanted you. I was pretty pissed off with him – still am – but I did what any sensible person would do."

"You ran."

"Like lightning."

Balthazar chuckled again as his brother leaned his back against the same railing he had yet to let go of. "I know you're fast. You're the fastest angel there is. But I still find it hard to believe that you... actually got away from him."

"Wasn't easy. I've gotten good at hiding during my little tour of Earth, though." Gabriel leaned back and looked up at the sky. "I just had to stay low long enough for Michael to ease off."

Whatever tiny smile Balthazar had dissolved quickly. "You knew."

The silence wasn't pleasing. It was even less so now that he was human, but his brother finally spoke up. "I didn't know what would happen, but I knew what the chances were of everyone getting away clean... It was either Lucifer or Michael. I had to make a choice."

She never had to be hurt. It was just the alternative that his older brother chose... as they were always doing for him. He still calmed himself, though. If Gabriel had stopped Michael, then Lucifer would have killed him. Probably all of them. He couldn't argue with that.

"I suppose you made the right one, then." Still didn't like feeling so powerless, though, but at least he wasn't ever really alone in feeling that way. Balthazar released a breath he had been holding and tapped his thumb against the cool metal. "You rode back with her. Did she speak at all?"

"Mm. A little, yeah." After a moment, he glanced over to his brother. "Does she always talk like she's two seconds away from slitting your throat?"

Something about that made him glad. Perhaps it was the fact she was speaking, but it was far more likely that he wasn't the only one she was talking to in such a way as of late. "Sometimes. She'll be okay, though." Balthazar focused on his hands scraping over the rusted metal. "She's alive. She'll get over it."

Gabriel nodded and looked back to the sky again. "Yeah. She'll be fine." He waited as his younger brother looked over to him and away again. It didn't seem like the other was going to say anything else, so he just skipped to the next subject. "You'll be fine, too."

"I know." The response was automatic and not sincere in the least. Sure, he knew he'd live for the time being, but... everything was so screwed up. The world had turned to chaos again and he couldn't run away like he did before. He didn't even want to. "I think I like it out here rather than inside," Balthazar said, speaking again while looking up to the surrounding trees. "It's bloody freezing, but at least I can breathe."

It was Gabriel's turn to smirk again. "I think you'll figure out how warmth works eventually."

"Eventually," he muttered back making his brother wonder if they were talking about the same thing. When are they ever?

The archangel patted him on the back and leaned off of the railing. "Take as long as you need. I'll look after it all."

Balthazar waited a moment before looking over and watching his brother walk away. It was comforting to know that he was looking after... it all, as he had put it, but it just brought him back to the same problem as before. He didn't want something else looking after what had happened or, rather, the person he was meant to protect. That was his job. His charge. His.

But as the door closed behind Gabriel, he looked back down to the railing again and his scratched hands.

The boys definitely didn't go without their liquor and Catherine appreciated them for it. Not that she had any real intentions of getting drunk or anything. She just needed something to loosen herself up after everything that went wrong. It was only after Cat had opened the first cold beer she found and sipped from it that she remembered she hadn't eaten in nearly two days. Probably wasn't helping her feel any better.

She wasn't hungry, though. The thought of food was not only disgusting but superfluous. She couldn't eat. Not with everything going on. Then again... She looked around the empty kitchen, resting her hand against the island. Honestly, it wasn't like she was making herself useful. The book from the day before was still sitting on the table, closed with what looked like a butter-knife marking the page she left the thing open on. Her old toast was gone.

Kevin seemed too harried to do some housecleaning. It was probably Castiel. She hefted a heavy sigh, before hearing a knock on the wall near the entrance. She turned, then grimaced at the visitor.

Gabriel just smirked back to her and walked in while Catherine took a seat. She would have ignored him if it wasn't painfully obvious that he was there to see her. His eyes didn't leave her as he took a seat opposite. That smile was getting annoying, but she refused to start a conversation again with this guy. Too tired for him right now.

He just put an elbow on the counter top and rested his chin in his hand. "You're definitely a hunter," he finally said, breaking the silence, "They're the only ones I know that survive purely on alcohol while packing around guns and knives."

"Serial killers probably do, too," she responded, taking another sip of her drink. He popped an eyebrow and seemed to agree. "There a reason you're making small talk, angel man?" In all actuality, Cat knew that she should be afraid of Gabriel. Hell, she was afraid of him after the night before. Still, it didn't mean she was very willing to try being friendly with him, as smart of a move she knew that would be. Something inside of her just really didn't care anymore.

His smirk faltered. "Always trying to find the point as quick as possible, too." Definitely a hunter. He sighed. "Don't you ever just want to, you know, try to smile and find meanings in things that make life worth living?" He waited for a response, but didn't get one. Instead, he just received a tired and annoyed stare. Hunters. Geez. "Fine." Gabriel rested the palms of his hands on the counter surface and tried again. "Michael tortured you. It sucked, I imagine. Balthazar saved you and sacrificed a big part of himself to do so. You want to get his grace back, but there's no way you're going to be able to do that without a team behind you and this team isn't going to work if you two are having all of these drama issues."

As expected, she didn't like the blunt approach either. Catherine shifted in her seat and glanced around. "He's-"

"Experienced," Gabriel interrupted. "He's a soldier I fought alongside in countless battles that you couldn't even imagine and, best of all, he's smart and thinks on his feet. Human now, yeah, but that could probably be sorted through if another human thought that maybe she could crawl out of her hole of emotions and tried helping him out a little."

Her jaw shifted, but the archangel hardly acknowledged her heated glare. "This is more than a hole of drama and emotions," she tried speaking again, slower this time. "An angel just signed his own death wish for a human he barely knew and you want me to act like nothing's wrong with that? I can't help him until I can get his grace back."

"Any normal human would be grateful," he nearly growled back.

"I am." Gabriel tilted his head as if he didn't understand and it irritated her. "I'm going to show it by saving his life. Not by putting him in more danger."

He stayed still for a moment, until he straightened up again and leaned back. Eventually, he even scoffed and his grin returned. "Well, at least one of you isn't completely ignorant."

Catherine's eyes narrowed. He was just arguing about how she needed to fix things with Balthazar, but not she was no longer ignorant? "What's that supposed to mean?"

He could have sighed. Gabriel leaned forward, smirk gone again. "You love him." There was a pause as he waited for some sort of outburst of a response. For a second, he thought that she might pull her gun or something. Cat's eyes widened and she straightened up in her seat – even opened her mouth to respond – but there was a pause and she closed her mouth again and looked away. He lightly smiled before continuing. "And he cares about you, which is sweet and all if that didn't include him having to get hurt over the whole thing, right?"

She glanced back up to him, but at least she wasn't trying to glare daggers into his soul this time. Instead, she actually looked serious for a change. Not that this wasn't a serious topic, because it was. Angels becoming attached to particular humans hardly worked out well and she seemed to gather that much just from logic's sake. On the other hand, things were already on course and it wasn't going to just be left behind now.

Catherine still didn't speak, so Gabriel didn't let the silence go to waste. "He needs your help. If you care about him at all, then maybe you can consider that as you try to save him." He rose from his seat. "And while you're doing that, tell him he's got twenty minutes to stop being claustrophobic. We're gonna have one big family meeting in the library soon." The angel began to walk away when an afterthought hit him. "Oh, and he's freezing his ass off, so teaching him a little about warm blooded mammals might help, too. Good talk."

She watched him knock against the door frame again as he finally left. Cat just let out a breath she had been holding and looked down to her hands.

Balthazar had left his spot next to the railing to sit on the concrete. It wasn't much better, really, but at least he wasn't concerned with twisting metal in his hands anymore. His back leaned against the brick wall and he wondered if all humans were constantly as cold as he felt since becoming trapped in this body. Perhaps it was just a thing that went along with losing one's grace... Castiel didn't walk around like he was dropped off in the arctic, though. He shifted at the thought of his brother, but was relieved when he heard the door open again and knew that a distraction was forthcoming. Only the distraction didn't move or make any sounds, so he glanced over.

Catherine stood there, her arms clasped together in front of her with clothes draped over her hands. "Thank you," she said before he could properly react to her presence. "It's what I should have said back there instead of... all that other stuff. So, I'm sorry, too." She shuffled a foot and almost continued.

However, the other tilted his head back a little. "So, you take it back, then?" Not expecting that, she stared at him for a moment. Of course, she took it back, but- He rotated his hand around. "I mean the part about you being an insect and nothing and all that jazz."

… From that whole deal, that was the thing he hung up on. She shifted her weight to one leg and actually found that one hard to answer. "I wouldn't say nothing... I shouldn't have screamed that you were going to die in your face or even get caught by Michael for that matter. And... I definitely shouldn't have-"

Balthazar groaned and stood up, cutting off her words. "I have lived for centuries before humanity even walked the Earth." Closing her mouth again, Catherine looked to the ground, but he just moved closer to her. "I would do the same thing again if I had to... and you're not the only one that's sorry for what happened."

In shock, she looked up to him again. He was a bit closer to her than she thought and it was one of the few times he truly looked serious. She wanted to respond, but found any comeback lacking and a tense silence passed between them instead.

He broke eye contact before she could manage a reply and looked down to the bundle in her arms. "Why are you carrying that around?" Really, he just wanted to find any distraction from their topic. He made it clear that he had his own mind and made his own decisions and if he wanted to sacrifice something to save a human then, dammit, he was going to. He didn't want to go further than that.

Cat glanced down again, but this time to the clothes. Right. She allowed herself a little smile. "A little birdie told me you were cold. Not that surprising in a v-neck and blazer, but it's still fifty degrees Fahrenheit out here."

He raised an eyebrow, knowing exactly who the winged birdie was and also noting that she seemed much more stable than when they last spoke. Perhaps the archangel helped her talk about it a bit. As grateful as he should have been, that didn't sit well. Still, he brushed off the look he gave her in return by waving at his jacket. "I told you. There's nothing wrong with my clothing options... but since you went through the trouble, I suppose I could be polite and try a change for once."

She smiled – literally smiled – to him before he began taking the old jacket off. It made him smile, too, but the thought of Gabriel still bounced around in the back of his mind. He ignored it and handed off the blazer in trade for the dark brown jacket... and frowned.

Catherine almost chuckled. "I stole it from one of them. The tall one, I think. It's temporary." With the reassurance, he snickered, too, and put the jacket on while she continued. "We'll find something more your speed later. Warmer?"

"A little," he answered, smiling back up to her again.

Her smile widened and she laughed before looking away. After a second's thought, she looked back to him again. "We'll get your grace back. Me and you," she said, retracing what she had told him that morning. "It's what friends do." She hated saying something so... corny sounding, but his smile softened and she didn't continue to think on it. For now, as much as she did like that look on him, she greatly needed a distraction from the moment before it lasted too long. "Gabriel said he wanted to meet with all of us. Said he... had some sort of plan or something."

Balthazar barked a laugh and looked away again. Right. Gabriel. "Let's not keep him waiting, then. He's terribly impatient."

Oops, accidentally another long chapter. This was done purely on procrastination power. I have so much stuff due right now but... I just wanted to do this. Now that it's out of the way, I have no other options to do except homework. Yay. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. They had a nice little moment and everything.

Review and follow and all that good stuff, guys. Thanks for reading. :)