The last chapter gave this fic over 550 views in one day! Thank you all so much! That was crazy! I mean, it was quite the romantic number, but still! Thank you! And thank you to the new followers and reviews. :) It's all so appreciated.

These next couple of chapters are going to be big, so hold on and pray that I update at a fair pace.

Oddly enough, nothing really changed between Catherine and Balthazar as seemed to be expected. He made a few more flirtatious remarks than normal and she smiled and laughed a little more but nothing big seemed to change between the two aside from the overall good mood. A mood they knew wasn't going to last as soon as they pulled down that driveway.

The bunker came into sight and Raphael's death was remembered with a heavy burden. That was basically their only chance, and they had failed. Miserably. As if there never really was a chance to begin with. What could possibly be done now?

Catherine watched the bunker flicker through the trees in the passenger seat, noticing that Bal had begun to go much slower. Perhaps she should have insisted on driving, but she couldn't really blame him either. "Won't Lucifer be after Gabriel now?"

"They both will," he answered in a low voice, as if they were already being hunted. "Michael won't allow for Lucifer to be on even ground with him. He has to win. Our Father told him to."

Her brow furrowed and she looked over to him. "God?" Balthazar nodded while she glanced back to the bunker again. "Would it be crazy to say that they know where we are?"

"No," he sighed, "This place is still well guarded, though. They could find Gabriel anywhere if they wanted to, but this is the safest place on Earth that he could possibly be."

She frowned again. "How are you sure it's the safest?"

"Because he's still here."

Catherine glanced to him again but took a deep breath rather than questioning that. He was an archangel, after all, just like the others. That thought seemed a bit hard for her mind to wrap around until something else occurred to her. "Is he going to be angry?"

"No," he said again, taking a second to look to her in worry. "He's not like that. Gabriel may joke a lot, but he knows what needs to be done. He's not one to dwell on things." Michael may have been a good leader and commander, but Gabriel was always the smart choice to follow. He may have never enjoyed being in charge of something and his talents at hiding in the sand were second to none, but the angel had a good head on his shoulders which was more than what could be said for his older brothers. After a second, Bal added, "I can't promise anything for Dean, though."

The Winchesters and Castiel had made it back to the Men of Letters only a few hours before Catherine and Balthazar. As such, they all sat in various places of the library, all of them watching Gabriel pace back and forth. Cat recounted everything that had happened, casually leaving out Lucifer's deal but not Lucifer himself. Bal didn't interrupt her to include that part, so she decided it was the best move to take at the moment. They watched the archangel pace, his eyes distant. Dean was already getting fidgety.

Castiel, however, looked worried. "They're both powerful," he said to the group at large, "It's possible that they could get pass the security of your bunker."

Catherine frowned, sadly realizing she wasn't the only one thinking that. It was Sam, leaning against the bookshelves, who answered, though. "Safer than not having the security. It doesn't matter how strong they are. Angels are angels. Maybe it won't stop them, but it'll slow them down."

She frowned deeper. "Long enough to do what?" Cat asked, looking over to him from her seat.

Sam raised his brow with a worried look. "I don't know. Leave, maybe? I doubt we could fight one head on, even if it's on our turf."

Dean tilted his head. "Leaving's just as screwed up as fighting," he answered his brother, "They come here, it won't be knocking on the door. It'll be a raid. Just a question of whether it'll be angels or demons."

"Okay," the younger brother sighed, "Then we need a plan. And a contingency plan and a contingency plan for the contingency plan..."

"Have any of you considered," Balthazar interrupted, leaning against the table close to Catherine, not looking away from his own brother's pacing, "that they'll fight with or without Gabriel's grace?" The archangel stopped walking, only looking to the wall, while everyone else looked at Bal while he continued. "If we make it too hard for them, they'll just skip that step and burn the world until they find him."

Dean scrunched up his nose. "Won't Satan know that he'll lose?"

Gabriel finally turned around to face the eldest Winchester with his most annoyed face. "Please," he groaned, "Have you seen the ego on that guy?" Dean shifted as the angel continued his walk. "No, Balthazar's right," Gabriel sighed, "Once Lucifer thinks he has a decent enough following, he'll go for it and Michael definitely won't be arguing that move. They'll probably try to find me during the fighting, but it'll be too late for anyone by then..." He stopped moving again and glanced over to Kevin, the young boy groaning and slouching in his chair before the angel continued. "We need to draw them out."

Catherine was the first to react to the shock of that statement. "Um," she blinked, "No. No, no. That, uh. That sounds like a really bad plan."

"Against both of them, yeah," Gabe agreed, "But it won't be both. Just Lucifer is all we need. He's the desperate one right now... Always has been, really."

She shook her head. "How can you guarantee it'll just be him?" she asked, "We thought we were just going to fight Raphael and it ended up being three archangels."

Gabriel glanced up to Balthazar who just shrugged. "Don't look at me. She's right."

The archangel groaned, but decided to try answering anyway. "But they knew that Raphael was waiting to hand his grace over to Michael. They also know that I'm not handing my grace over for a front row ticket to a Ramones concert, which is basically all they have that half ass interests me. All we do is arrange something with Luci in secret somewhere that's not here. Michael won't even know anything until it's over."

Catherine furrowed her brow. "Arrange...?"

Gabe nodded. "I'll tell him I'm forfeiting."

No one in the room moved and Catherine wasn't about to even waste the air on telling him how risky of a plan that was. Balthazar did it for her. "He'll expect a trap."

"Duh," Gabriel scoffed, "But we still have the advantage. He'll follow my terms or he'll get nothing."

"Or," Sam interjected, "he'll kill you. Again. And all of us, too."

Gabe gave another nod. "That's why we're going to make a plan. So that doesn't happen."

The others grew quiet again, albeit debating the situation. Balthazar glanced down to Catherine beside him before looking up again. "I don't like it," he spoke. "It's too risky and doesn't allow for much wiggle room if things go badly."

"We all know it's risky," Gabriel argued in turn, "If you got another plan, say it. You got the floor." Bal stayed quiet, frowning to his brother. Gabe just sighed and tried again. "We need to do something and we're on a time limit now. I definitely don't like seeing him face to face again and I'd more than appreciate a safer plan right now, but we need to do what we have to. It's... bigger than us, sadly."

Balthazar's frown didn't change, but he did allow his shoulders to fall as he looked down. When he looked back up again, he barely had the chance to notice Gabriel glancing towards Catherine before he looked away. Bal's lip lightly twitched and he looked down to her, too. Her head was bowed towards the floor, her hands tangled over themselves in front of her. She wasn't protesting...

"We don't know anything yet," Gabriel said, surprising them all into looking at him again. "We need a plan for if they decide to raid and we need a plan to draw them out, if we have to."

Sam nodded with a little smirk. "Contingency."

"You could say that," the archangel answered before looking to Balthazar, "We'll do some digging and decide in the morning."

Bal nodded, but Kevin shot Gabriel a look from behind the blonde's back. The trickster shrugged and continued pacing, but the boy knew. They had talked a great deal while everyone else was gone, mostly because Gabriel didn't know how to shut up. However, some things stuck and one of those pieces of wisdom came back to him again. "She wants his grace. He wants her safe. It's a very cute and complicated relationship."

Balthazar dropped his things next to the bed given to him. It was the same room he had stayed in after his first run in with Michael and sleep started becoming a necessity. It was the only time he was ever in there – to sleep – so it never really bothered him too much until now, but it wasn't Catherine on his mind. He rotated his shoulders, looking completely around the room from where he stood, before sitting on the edge of the bed and watching the wall.

He didn't know how long he'd stayed there before a voice spoke from the doorway. "You all right?" He looked over to see Cat leaning against the frame and he wondered why he hadn't heard her approaching.

Yet, he still looked back to the wall before answering. "I've never rested somewhere I didn't feel safe before. It's different."

"What?" she scoffed with a little smile. "That rotting house was safer than this?"

"It wasn't rotting," he argued back jokingly, growing a smile of his own for a moment before it fell.

She stayed there for a moment, watching him before speaking again. "You said this was the safest place on Earth."

"For Gabriel," he corrected, "Not necessarily for the rest of us."

She couldn't argue that. "Well," Catherine sighed, pushing away from the doorway to step closer, "you'll be happy to know that three experienced hunters have made this place ever so slightly more demon and angel proof." His eyebrows lifted, but she answered his question before he could ask it. "Gabriel is now our prisoner."

Balthazar laughed, but did wonder if trapping him here was the best move. Then again, it seemed like he was second guessing everything lately.

She continued moving over to him, only stopping once she was in front of him, hands on his shoulders and legs nearly having to straddle his if she were any closer. "We still have time before they think a raid is in order," she told him quietly, "We really are safe here. At least for a few days."

His hands found her hips and he looked up at her for a moment in thought. Maybe they were safe for some time, but it wouldn't last. Gabriel's plan to draw out Lucifer might have been risky, but it was still better than anything else they had at the moment. The foreseeable future seemed... bleak and he wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. After leaving Heaven, Balthazar grew used to following his own path and never taking risky corners. That was what had him killed in the first place. And, once again, his brother needed him, only it wasn't just his life this time. Her safety was no longer a simple concern on his mind. It was the most important thing... He never should have gotten so attached.

Catherine looked to him worriedly, watching his eyes stay on hers while deep in thought. After a moment, she leaned down to place a light kiss near his temple. "Right now, we're safe," she spoke again, softly and slowly to him, "All a hunter can guarantee is the moment. It's how things always are. Worrying will just make you doubt yourself."

He stared up to her again until, suddenly, something changed in his eyes and he seemed to accept her words. "You do realize that the door is open, right?"

She smiled at the change in mood. "I don't care," Cat laughed, until he interrupted her with a small kiss to her lips. "Okay, maybe I do care," she mumbled with a tiny smile, before twisting around and sitting beside him on the bed.

Balthazar chuckled again while looking over to her, before he sighed and another thought occurred to him. "Did you let one of them look at your shoulder?"

"They asked," she groaned, having heard questions about her arm for the past couple of days, "It's fine."

He shrugged. "They're probably like me. Just want to see you with your shirt off." The look she shot him made him smile again before going back to what he considered to be a serious topic. "You should let one of them look at it, though. They've been stitching themselves together since they were children."

"All right," she nodded, "All right, I will. Later. Maybe tomorrow or something."

"You're such a procrastinator," he grumbled, leaning back on the bed a bit. After a moment of quiet, Balthazar spoke again. "We are safe here. For the time being." She nodded at the same time he looked to her. "You know," he spoke again, shifting closer to her, "I really enjoyed the night before last."

Catherine smirked and it was the type he didn't get to see too often. He decided he liked it. "I know," she answered, "I was there."

"And we didn't get a lot of rest last night," he continued, playing with a piece of hair along her neck, "Not for any particularly fun reasons, either."

"So you don't like being pressed against me in the back seat of the car?" she asked with a smile and defensive tone.

"Oh, of course," he answered, "But I would have preferred it was longer than an hour, more comfortable, and the primary purpose wasn't sleep." He watched her smile before leaning closer and continuing. "I think that we should rest after such a long journey. Try to unwind a little. Just... relax."

"If I didn't know any better," she said, looking towards him and effectively cutting off his path to her neck, "I'd say you were hitting on me."

"Oh dear. What ever gave you that idea?" he asked, "But so long as you're assuming as much, I think I can work with that."

Bal moved to take her lips with his, but she just smirked and moved back. "You do realize that the door is open..."

He tilted his head to the side, almost shocked that she brought that one back around on him, but pushed himself off of the bed anyway – as if she didn't actually expect him to – and moved towards the door.

She had taken her jacket off by the time her turned back to see her and even started on the buttons of her shirt. "I'll let you see my scar," she joked.

He could have frowned. "Naughty girl." But he just shut the door instead.

The night had come and gone with not much happening other than more talks of possible plans. Aside from their nap, Balthazar and Catherine tried to put in their own two cents as much as possible, but every plan brought up by anyone in their party was considered and slowly shot down. It was Dean's idea to possibly ask Crowley a thing or two, but Gabriel saw it too risky in case he wanted to include the demon community. No matter what was said, the demons were loyal and feared Lucifer the most.

It was early into the next morning when Balthazar began to move around the bunker. He walked into the library, finding Gabriel and Sam sitting across from each other at the table. The Winchester's head was buried in a book when he looked up and became startled, like he seemed to only just notice the archangel for the first time. "Can I help you?"

Gabriel waved his hand and rose from his seat, noticing the new person in the room, "Keep reading. You're prettier that way."

Sam paused and blinked. "What?"

The angel ignored him and welcomed his brother with open arms. "Balthy!"

"Gabby," the other smirked, walking right out of reach of the possible hug but not far enough as to avoid the hand on his shoulder.

"Walk with me. Talk with me," he said, steering Balthazar towards the exit.

Almost unwillingly, he obeyed and allowed himself to be lead up the stairs and to the door. "Can I ask," he said after a moment, "why you were stalking the youngest brother back there?"

"I wasn't stalking," Gabriel defended, opening the door for them, "We were talking."

He followed the archangel, but that still gave Bal pause. "Didn't look like it."

"Didn't look like it," the other mocked in a thick accent while his brother rolled his eyes, "That's what you sound like... I wanted to talk. To you this time"

"Obviously," Balthazar stopped walking, folding his arms over his chest and already guarding himself from whatever this conversation was going to be about.

Gabriel smirked, but the smile eventually lessened as he became more serious. "Do you have any other plans?"

The other sighed. "For all of my talk yesterday, no. We've discussed this with the others loads of times-"

"I know, but you were the one that brought up issues about the idea," Gabe interrupted, "You were the one that said it was too risky."

Balthazar bit his lip and shifted in place. "There has to be something else we can do," he said, "There has to be some option out there that's safer and not as suicidal as this... You know as well as I do that he will realize that it's a trap and even if it does work-"

"I know," the elder one stopped him again. "We'll more than likely lose someone." Balthazar shifted his jaw and looked away. Gabriel just sighed. "They know that. All of them do. It's not a guaranteed thing. Just another risk."

"Do you need all of us?" Bal looked back to see Gabriel almost speechless. Almost.

The archangel stayed still for a moment. "Why?" he asked in a low voice, "Are you scared what Satan might do to you or-..." Balthazar glared at him, so he stopped dancing around the subject and moved closer to him. "We need everyone we can get. If you want to sit it out, fine. You've done it before and you've made it more than clear that no one can stop you, but you can't make that decision for her and you know it. She's brave, smart, and stubborn. What do you think she's going to say?"

The youngest just stayed quiet, watching his brother closely.

Gabriel looked away and sighed. "I'll tell them that's the plan," he said softer, "but we need everyone... Okay? Or they win."

After a tense silence, Balthazar nodded.

Things went just as the archangel said. Gabriel told everyone the plan they would be going with – adding that they would start the following day – and no one objected. Not even so much as an angered glare or a scoff or anything. They all accepted it, just as he had said they would.

Balthazar hated it. They all acted as if they weren't even scared. Was Castiel even going to be involved with the effort? Was Kevin? The kid didn't even know how to shoot a gun and Bal wouldn't trust him to not try to stab someone with the hilt of a blade. It was so risky. Doable but far too risky for him. The rest of the day was spent with him trying to come to terms with it as easily as everyone else had. What of Dean and Sam? They were brothers, but they would walk right up to Satan like this? Both of them, together, with confidence? Surely they both feared for the other, but it didn't show. Perhaps they've done this so many times that they knew what had to be done and was willing to do it.

The problem with them was that they cared about the bigger picture. They cared about all of these people that will never know their names. They cared about the world. Balthazar did, too, but he also had his priorities and the world had never been at the top of that list. Even in Heaven while fighting the wars, there was always a questioning in the back of his mind that was more than satisfied after the failed apocalypse. He had his freedom and himself for a brief moment before it was all lost. Every possibility for him to lose everything again was a horrid pain in his chest.

He should never have gotten so attached. It was too late now. He cared now and he wouldn't see her hurt or dead for this. Lucifer already took interest in her. She would be the first one he killed.

"Balthazar?"

Her voice brought him back from his thoughts again as he looked over to her. He wasn't sure if they had verbally decided to bed together or not for their time at the Men of Letters, but he knew that she considered this place their room now. It didn't bother him at all. Just that he knew that she would come by eventually during the night. He stood from his place at the end of the bed, noting that she looked worried. He just steeled himself. "We need to talk."

"About?" Catherine closed the door. The seriousness of his features and voice wasn't lost on her. "You vanished almost an hour ago. What's going on?"

He shifted his jaw, glancing towards the door a few times before breathing deeply. "Just hear me out," he said first to defend himself but it only seemed to bring about more confusion on her part, so he put it bluntly instead. "We should leave."

Her brow furrowed. "What?" That didn't make any sense and the sound of it even more so. "Wha- What do you mean? Leave to-"

"Leave," Bal said again, "To anywhere. It doesn't matter. We should leave tonight-"

"What? You-" Catherine looked around the room, shifting in place. "You want to abandon them?"

"It's too risky." He spoke slowly, calmly, "Someone's going to die."

"It's bigger than one person," she argued back. "The world is at stake. Free will. Humanity. Two of your own brothers are going into this fight."

"It was my brothers who killed me the first time," he growled, finally gaining her silence on the topic, but he didn't like the look he was receiving. Something that was bewildered and almost betrayed.

Eventually, Catherine shook her head. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, "Why are you wanting to leave them to this? Just run away? After everything we've been through, you want to run now?"

"It's not about running," he said, nearly wanting to scream to make her understand, "They can handle this on their own. They don't need us."

"And if they do?"

"It's not our fight!" He motioned out the door. "Sam and Dean are the bloody vessels. Gabriel's been thrown back in dozens of times. Cas-"

"It is our fight!" she argued, making him stop talking but also look away. "If they lose, we all lose. And Michael-"

"Forget Michael!" he shouted back, "I don't care about Michael! We shouldn't even be here!"

Her eyes flashed with hurt and rage. "He has your grace! You'll die without it!"

"I know!" The world stopped while Balthazar registered what he had said. His mouth and eyes closed while he took another deep breath. She wasn't speaking and he didn't want to look at her. "I know." But he opened his eyes again to see the confusion and disbelief back along with the betrayal and anger. "I don't want it back."

Shock was an understatement of what she felt. "What do you-"

"Catherine."

She shook her head, beginning to scream. "You'll die!"

"Catherine," he spoke softer, slower, but he also took a careful step forward to her. She sidestepped him for a moment, but her feet eventually failed her and she stopped while he approached. "I know that. I-..." He tried to continue on, just stopping in front of her. "You... can't imagine everything I've been through. You can't. And I-..." Slowly, very carefully, he reached out to her and gently took her cheek in his hand. It took a moment to find his voice again, but Balthazar hardly spoke over a whisper. "... I love you... I can't lose you. I've lost everything before. I can't lose you. I just want-" He glanced away for a moment, trying to find the right words and wondering if she was hearing him at all. "I'm tired... I'm tired and I-... I want to be here. With you... They'll take everything from me again and I won't wait for them to do it. They'll take you from me... I just want to go, just us, far away, where they can't ever hurt us and just... let everything go... I love you, Catherine. Please... I love you. I don't want you hurt. Not for this."

She stared back up to him while he spoke. He could have easily gone on forever, trying to convince her and make her understand what he was saying, and she knew it. Slowly, she started to shake her head again and kept on until he finally stopped. "No, you-" The words stuck in her throat. She didn't want to argue against him, not really, but this notion of death- "You don't really feel that way. It's... all the humanity you're still trying to work out. When you have your grace back, you'll know that you-"

"Catherine," he stopped her again, leaning closer while his other hand found her neck. "I have loved you for a long time. Longer than I've known. I know we've grown closer – I know that – but I want this."

"No." Her voice shook and she grit her teeth. "No. You'll die. You got a second chance. You can't die. You can't waste it."

"You are not a waste." He held her tightly, watching her take a shaky breath. Again, she was silent... What did he expect? Why did he think she would just accept this? Whether she felt the same or not, he knew that she didn't want his eventual death on her shoulders. It happened to her once. Why did he think she would be like him and just allow everything except for the present to be forgotten? "This is what I want," he spoke again, "With or without you, I want it to be over. I just-... I'd much rather it be with you... Please..."

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't accept that he was even saying these things. Had he been thinking this the whole time? Catherine shook her head again, trying to take some breaths but not feeling the air, until her hands found his wrists and she slowly pulled him away. He looked hurt. She wanted to say something.

Catherine bowed her head and quickly left the room.

Well that wasn't painful to write at all. I'm sure you all know awesome stuff is coming and I can't wait. :)

Review, follow, etc etc. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thank you all so much for reading.