Thanks for the reviews and follows! They mean a lot.

Here's the long awaited chapter.

Balthazar still stood in that same spot. He didn't know what he expected really. It wasn't like Catherine was going to come back in and kiss him. Why had he been so stupid?

She had left a little over five minutes ago and he was still standing there like an idiot, not really understanding what he was feeling at the moment. It hurt. He was angry and sad and disappointed and he didn't know what to do about it. She didn't see things the same way he did... Obviously, she wanted him to live.

In his anger, he couldn't help but think how selfish that was of her. It was his life to do with whatever he wanted. Not to even begin to mention that she had literally no comprehension of the things he had seen and done and lost and- Did she just expect him to be happy about slowly watching her die? Did she think that he would just go on with his life without her and eventually forget? She would be in Heaven – if he lived then he would make damn sure that she was in Heaven – but it wouldn't really be... her. Most souls didn't even realize where they were. They just replayed through their memories over and over on an infinite loop like a machine. The same thing, the same actions, the same words spoken over and over and over forever without any knowledge of the thing. Somehow, it was a peace for them.

Some souls were aware of what had happened and they were aware of their surroundings, able to travel around Heaven as they pleased. But what if she wasn't like that? What if she was one of those happy robots? What if her Heaven had nothing but her dead lover in it? Could he watch that? She would be happy... She would also be dead.

Balthazar closed his eyes and bowed his head, groaning. He wanted to throw something. No, he wanted to go find her, sit her down, and try to talk her through it without inevitably blowing up. He wished he could make her understand, but a part of him knew without a doubt that wasn't going to happen. Catherine was too grounded and she cared so much for everything. Even if she... didn't feel the same way he felt, she did feel something for him. Then there was... that thing he never wanted to think about. She had someone she cared for once and she felt that it was her fault he was gone. He tried to stress as much as possible that his decision had nothing to do with her, but it was a complete lie. Yes, he wanted an ending to this roundabout of Hell, but he wanted it with her. It felt pointless otherwise. He would just have nothing again while slowly waiting for it to be over.

Maybe he shouldn't have said anything about it. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything at all. Why does he ever try to talk to her? Why hasn't he learned to knock her out and just drag her away from danger at this point? She was just so damn useless. Just like the Winchesters; always running towards death as fast as she can.

He realized that at some point he started pacing. Balthazar took a deep breath to calm himself down before sitting on the bed again. He reminded himself that she wasn't like that when they first met. Maybe she was willing to make sacrifices back then, but she never had a need to. He brought her into all of this... Why didn't he just leave her in Sioux Falls?

He leaned back and fell on to the bed. After a moment of staring at the ceiling, he glanced to the door. It had been over fifteen minutes now. Maybe she wasn't going to come back. At least he wasn't expecting a kiss anymore. He started expecting her to come in screaming at him. Maybe she ran off to tell someone about his abandoning idea. That would be fun. If Dean came in screaming, he'd just punch him. That would feel pretty good actually.

So, he waited a while longer, staring at the door from the bed. Nothing happened. Slowly, he looked back up to the ceiling again. There was a... sadness there. He didn't like it. Much preferred to cover that up with anger or, even better, to act like it wasn't as big of a deal as it was to him. He didn't want to think about the deeper meanings of it. He just very stupidly confessed everything to her and she-

He closed his eyes. He definitely didn't want to think about that. With a sigh, he resolved to wait a little longer. She wasn't going to come back to him at this point. Not tonight, at least. He couldn't forget the death trap that his brother was about to throw them in the next morning... but he couldn't very well go look for her now, could he? He felt like such an idiot. He should have known better. About everything. About her and what she felt. He never should have said any of that.

Balthazar stayed in place and just watched the ceiling, trying very hard to not think on all of that while he waited. Or tried to wait, at least. After some time, he started to rotate his foot, then his hand started twitching, and he finally looked back to the clock while biting his lip. Forty-five minutes. That was enough time, surely. He couldn't wait any longer.

He jumped out of bed and left the room, beginning his search for her on the base. She wasn't in the common areas, which he suspected. The others were in the library aside from Castiel and it seemed like they hadn't seen her. He didn't really ask. Cas was found in the kitchen on his own. His brother hardly had time to raise his eyebrows to him before Bal ducked out and continued on. Probably rude. He didn't much care.

He checked the garage and the car which was, honestly, his best bet of where she would be. His next guess was outside somewhere, along the edges of the bunker. When he did go outside, he walked around the bunker twice before resolving she wasn't there either. That's fine. The bunker was big and she didn't want him to find her. He would just look everywhere.

So everywhere he went, slowly getting more and more worried. He checked every bedroom, all of the storage rooms, the computer rooms, the armory, the shooting range, bathrooms, freaking everywhere. She wasn't even there and she made him want to scream. The last place he checked was the dungeon, and if she was in there talking to Crowley then he was going to have some words with her.

When he opened the doors, a light came on and the King of Hell groaned. "Oh, it's you," he sighed out, "Be a dear and stay dead next time, yeah? Damn angels."

Balthazar just stared at him, then quickly glanced around the room. No Catherine. She hadn't even been there.

"Ohhh," Crowley smirked, gaining the angel's attention, "Someone looks stressed out. Want to sit on my lap and tell me all-?"

"Shut up." Bal closed the doors and quickly walked out, vaguely hearing the demon whine about at least leaving the lights on for him or something to that effect. He hardly heard. Catherine wasn't in the bunker unless she had been moving as he looked around or there was a place he didn't know about. He could check again, but that meant taking more time. What if she really wasn't there? The car was still there, though, so she couldn't have gone far... if she was alone.

No. No. He didn't want to think about it. She cared too much. She wouldn't damn the world for his stupid choices. She would never go to him. She would never. She would never.

Yet, Balthazar found his feet carrying him back to the library again where, this time, everyone sat.

"All right," Gabriel spoke up as Bal slowly stopped in front of them, "This is the third time you've walked by with that look on your-"

"Have you seen Catherine?" he asked the group, interrupting his brother who tilted his head.

Everyone went silent. Dean took a deep breath and raised his beer to his lips. "I'm guessing there was a fight, yeah?"

Balthazar turned to the Winchester and growled. "I'm serious." The hunter shut his mouth and drank his beer, so the angel looked back to his older brother. "Can you sense her?"

Gabriel sighed and waved his arm. "Look, whatever's going on, she probably just-..." His voice trailed and he stared at a spot on the wall pass his brother's head. After a moment, he blinked and stood up. "I can't see her."

Dean choked on his drink. "What do you mean, you can't see her?"

The younger angel interrupted again. "What about Lucifer?"

Everyone stopped jumping up from their seats to stare at Balthazar. Gabriel looked at his brother closer. "Why should I be looking for Lucifer?"

"Because he-!" Bal stopped before going on a rant and changed the direction of the conversation. "I don't have time! Can you sense him or not?"

"He's-" Gabriel shook his head. "He's like hours away or something right now. I don't know. I can't ever pin him down. Why are you-..." Again, he looked pass his brother. "Wait..." Balthazar was practically on the balls of his feet, but when Gabe spoke again, his stomach dropped. "It's Michael," he said, "He's getting close."

Sam charged over. "Close? Like coming here?"

"No," Bal answered first, but kept his eyes on his brother, "No. He's not coming here. He's just nearby. I need to know where. Gabriel. Where is he? Where is he going?" The elder shook his head and didn't answer, making Balthazar panic and yell. "Where? Where is he?"

"North," Gabriel answered, then changed it, "No, northeast. A few miles out."

"And Lucifer?"

"I don't know! He keeps-! Hey!" Balthazar had turned away and was running for the garage, when Gabe yelled after him, "Whoa, wait! Wait!" He quickly appeared in front of his younger brother before he could get away, nearly making the man run into him. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't have time!" the other said again, trying to dodge around his brother unsuccessfully.

"Give me the short version, then!" Gabriel yelled back, "What's happening?"

Balthazar stalled and stared back at his brother. After turning back around, he found the others all standing and staring at him. He looked back to Gabriel. Time was draining away, but he couldn't do this. He wasn't even sure what was really going on, but they wouldn't take kindly to his theory. How would they retaliate to her? Would they consider her a traitor? What would they do with a traitor?

They wouldn't hurt her. He wouldn't let any of them hurt her. "I think she made a deal with Lucifer."

Dean's voice echoed through the room. "What?"

Bal turned back to the others, cutting the hunter off before he could go into a rage. "He was going to give her a spell to get the graces back that Michael stole! She already told him no once." He looked back to Gabriel. "It happened after Raphael died. Lucifer showed up and talked to her. I wasn't there."

The archangel seemed to take a second to consider it, but he also didn't seem to find the news as shocking as the others had. "Why would she take that deal now, in the middle of the night before we were going to make our move?" he asked in a low tone, as if he already knew the answer and just wanted to hear it. "What did he promise to give her out of the deal?"

Balthazar watched his brother for a moment, taking deep breaths as he tried to not think back on his earlier conversation with her. Eventually, he straightened up and approached Gabriel, getting in his face and reminding him who had the taller vessel. "You asked for the short version," he growled only loud enough for them to hear, "I gave it to you." The elder didn't say anything in return. He raised his head to look his brother in the eye, but didn't back down or push the subject, so Balthazar tried to hurry things along. "I need to find Lucifer."

"No." The simple rejection of the idea was startling until Gabriel poked him in the chest and pushed him back. "You and the boy band are going to find Michael. I'mgoing to find Luci. Kev, break the seals."

Kevin looked at the Winchesters before running off. Dean watched him leave and desperately wanted to reject some of these ideas, but Balthazar spoke up first. Again. "She's with Lucifer!"

"Yeah, probably," Gabriel nodded. "But her target is Michael-"

"We can't wait until she's after him!" he argued, "We have to stop her from making the damn deal in the first place!"

"Which is what I'm going to do!" Gabriel yelled back. "I need a fail safe! If she doesn't go through with the deal, then it's void, not to mention Michael's going to be pretty damned pissed off if she gets to him first, got it?"

Dean approached and finally got between them. "You can't go alone!" he said, facing the archangel, "You need someone with you. They want you too badly."

"Me," Balthazar immediately volunteered, "Let me go."

"No!" Gabriel barked, "No one's going with me. I'm faster on my own. Michael is the one that's close by. He's the threat right now. Find him and stop whatever shit is going on."

Dean shuffled in place for a moment before cursing beneath his breath and running away to the armory, Sam running behind him. Castiel, unsure of what to do, ran after them until he was out of sight of his brothers. He stopped and leaned against the wall, wanting to know what was going on. There were too many things left out and a lot of tempers going around.

Balthazar didn't follow them. He only looked back to his brother again, pleading. "Gabriel-"

"I said no!" The archangel was angry and there weren't very many times Bal could say that he had seen this. Gabe approached him like he had just done earlier, but Balthazar was the one backing up this time. "I can't trust you. Or her. You both knew about this deal."

"She rejected him!" he shot back, standing his ground now. "What did you want me to do? Tell you about what didn't happen? She wasn't going to do this! She swore to me!"

"Yet, you still seem pretty damn sure that's what's going on," Gabriel said in a calm voice. Balthazar shut his mouth and didn't answer, which only made the other angry enough to grab him by the collar and pull him forward. "This is for you, isn't it?" Before Bal could angrily reply, he kept going. "When I find her, there's going to be a very stern talk about the two of you. It's forbidden for a reason."

"Oh, you're one to talk, Loki," Balthazar spat back, "You left first. Before me. Before Cas. You stayed with them. You lived and died for them."

It took a lot of strength to not hurt his brother, but he did growl back, "Kali wasn't human!"

"She wasn't one of us, either!" he argued back.

"Stop it!"Gabriel screamed, the walls shaking for half a second, "Stop comparing them! Catherine's mortal! You're not! That's it!"

"I died once already!" he shot back, "I can do it again!"

Castiel blinked and felt everything around him stop, letting the meaning of what was said sink in.

Gabriel stared up at his brother, truly shocked, but the only look he got back was firm determination. He meant it. It wasn't the words or the notion of such a thing, but it was the notion coming from Balthazar of all people. He truly and deeply cared and the lengths he was willing to go to for her was staggering. Which brought him back to her and the lines she probably already crossed. Realization spread through him. "Michael has your-"

"Gabriel!" Kevin ran back into the room, nearly out of breath. "The seals are broken!" After speaking, he looked between the two of them like there was about to be a fight or something.

Balthazar still held his determination as Gabe visibly calmed down. "Find Michael. I'll get her back." He pushed his brother off and was gone by the time Bal looked again.

Gabriel had said that he sensed Michael a few miles away, but he failed to specify how many miles were a few or the precise location as most of the area was wooded. The Winchesters and remaining angels went on foot to find him. It was apparently how Catherine had gotten around unless she had help.

They had all split up to cover a bigger area. Really, it was Balthazar's idea. Dean figured that finding Michael would be like finding a neon sign at night, but the other had his doubts. No one could really blame him for being so thorough in the situation but anger and annoyance was another factor entirely. Cas didn't feel that way, though. He understood the urgency.

Castiel couldn't see anyone, but he knew that they were all on either side of him... maybe. Balthazar was rather off put about the whole thing and seemed to be thinking illogically and spontaneously, so there was no real telling where he currently was. The reason as to why he was acting like that had been somewhat explained, though.

He didn't let on that he had overheard the heated conversation to anyone and no one seemed to be the wiser. It was all very... interesting. Balthazar was always one to easily pass over meaningful things, yet those who knew him well could see that he did care deep enough down. Cas should have realized something was going on when his brother showed up to the bunker with the human woman and stayed by her side as often as possible. At first, Castiel only thought it was his brother's way of avoiding them, but it was more than that and he should have caught on.

Balthazar falling for anyone was an interesting enough thought.

Going back to the situation at hand, though, Cas had to ultimately agree with Dean. While he respected that Balthazar wanted to look as close as possible for the archangel, he should know that Michael would be lit up like a Christmas tree. The problem about that, though, was that there were no obvious signs to be found. Could Michael be hiding? Was he even nearby in the first place?

It was at that point that Castiel thought back on what he knew of Catherine. She certainly did not seem like a fool. Balthazar wouldn't begin to care so deeply about such a stupid thing. Perhaps she had a plan when coming out here. Perhaps they couldn't immediately see Michael for a reason. There had to be so much more to it than his brother realized. He just couldn't help but wonder why she would suddenly take action like this.

A loud clap of thunder sounded in the distance, making him pause in step and look to the sky. The speckled stars shined clearly back down to him and he was certainly unaware of any storm this evening. The deep rumble continued far away, but his view of the sky was limited by the trees. It was obvious enough that something was going on, but trying to find where was tricky.

The sound of wings not much further ahead brought him back to the situation and Castiel started running, hearing the same footsteps alongside him through the trees. Once closer, he slowed to a halt at seeing Gabriel's back in front of him. The others quickly appeared in the same area and, predictably, Balthazar was the first to start screeching.

"Why in the hell are you here?" he yelled, not gaining much of a reaction, "You said-!"

Gabriel turned his head to look to him. "I lost Lucifer," he explained before turning his attention ahead of them again, "Lost Michael, too. He's not here, anymore."

Dean's eyes grew wide for what felt like the fifth time that day. He was tired of saying the same thing over again. "What?"

Sam stopped him before he could go into a panic. "Where are they?"

Gabe just took a deep breath and shook his head. "Far away... I think she banished them. I'm not even sure how long ago that was."

Craning his head, Castiel looked up at the sky just in time for the thunder to sound across them again. That wasn't thunder... They were going to come back and be very angry.

He looked to his younger brother, immediately noticing the fear and trying to remember the last time Balthazar had that look. "We need to find her," he said, voicing everyone's concern.

"I still can't see her. I don't know where she is." Gabriel shook his head again, but interrupted before another argument broke out. "I do see something, though. I think she... might have had a plan or... something."

Dean shifted, trying to make the angel look at them. "What plan?"

Gabe did turn his attention to the Winchesters, as if he only just remembered they were there. "Later," he answered, "We'll be back. I'll come for you soon. Just stay hidden, got it?"

Before questions could be asked, both of the Winchesters and Castiel had vanished. Balthazar glanced around frantically. "Where are they?"

"An abandoned farmhouse in upstate New York," he answered, "It won't be safe here when Luke and Leia come back. We should do this quick."

Gabriel began to walk away, leaving his very confused brother behind. "Do what quick?" he asked, running to catch up.

The other just looked around him, coming up to a very small clearing in the trees. "I think Catherine took that deal."

That only served to make Balthazar angry. "Why on Earth would you start thinking-" He stopped walking, his mouth falling open at the sight in front of him. "... -that..."

A white, bubbling mist covered the ground up to their shins like an early morning fog. Bal wasn't even sure where the mist began and ended. Gabriel only paused for a second before looking to the sky and continuing to slowly pace through the graces. Dark clouds rolled in the distance, producing faint purple, orange, and white tints of light. He was right. She had banished them both and they were coming back, very pissed off.

Gabriel's sword fell into his hand. "We need to protect these graces," he said, not looking away from the looming clouds. "Yours is here somewhere. These were the ones Michael had taken."

Balthazar looked to his brother, the reason why he was chosen to stay behind occurring to him and he slowly shook his head despite the other not even looking his way. He failed to form the words, though. No, he didn't want the damn thing back, but what was he going to do? Act like a two year old and start throwing a tantrum? Gabriel needed another angel's help against the two forces that wanted to destroy this world. He couldn't very well say no, but-... How was any of this fair? It was like she planned every single bit of it this way, but even she couldn't think that far ahead.

He looked back to the rolling clouds, a strong gust of wind sweeping through the area as lightning flashed across the sky, making the ground shake. They were doomed if a fight were to break out, but if he could hold them back long enough for Gabriel to collect these graces, then the tides of this entire war could turn completely.

Balthazar swallowed hard, his throat completely dry, before he looked to the ground and tried to not think about the consequences of this. To his right, a few yards away, a space opened up through the mist to reveal the grass beneath as his grace feebly tried to glide towards him. He hardly took a step closer when he saw something else starkly mingled into the grass. At first, he stopped in shock at the sight... Her hair and skin slowly became visible as his grace drifted off of her, as if it had tried to act as some sort of shield. Then the thunder brought him back and he ran over to her side.

"Catherine." Balthazar knelt beside her and tilted her head over to look at him. It was only then that he noticed her glassy eyes were already open, staring to the sky. That small glimmer that had reminded him of her beautifully bright soul was completely absent and he belatedly realized most of her face and his hand was now covered in blood.

He stared then started blinking again and again, lightly shaking her. "Catherine?" He shifted his position, like he thought he could wake her and make this go away if he could just get through to her. His thumb glided over the skin beneath her eye. "Catherine?"

Gabriel watched the clouds roll closer and bit the inside of his cheek. "Baltha-!" He turned back around and found his brother kneeling over something on the ground. For some reason, he immediately knew what it was. He slowly started to step closer, watching Bal try to shake her awake and slowly starting to descend into a panic.

Balthazar didn't realize how fast he was breathing. Something like that wasn't even registering with him. She wasn't waking up. He wasn't ignorant or in denial, but the thought of... this... "Catherine!" Hearing the footsteps approaching, Bal quickly looked over to his brother and, before the other could do or say anything, he began to plead. "Bring her back."

Gabriel glanced from the body up to his brother, the shock of finding her dead evident on him.

The other only repeated himself, like he didn't hear the first time. "Bring her back."

Gabe swallowed and looked back down to the body.

"Gabriel."

This was... unfortunate timing, to say the least. The archangel turned and looked back to the clouds, the wind getting stronger as the trees began swaying. They were very angry.

"Gabriel, please. Please."

He turned back at the sound of Balthazar's pleas. He had never once heard his brother beg for anything, even when he was young. But time was running out and it just made this situation that much harder. Gabriel lightly shook his head and started approaching again. "You need to leave."

Bal's face fell. "No." His brother continued to get closer and he tried to lean away, holding Catherine as tight as he could. "No, please. Please, don't-!"

Gabriel was gone. The wind and the trees were gone. He was kneeling on a dirty concrete floor, looking at a wooden wall. For a moment, he couldn't breathe, until he looked back down again. She was gone and his hands were dark red. He just stared down at them, trying and failing to think.

Faintly, he heard footsteps and someone running over to him, kneeling down on his side and grabbing his shoulder.

"Are you hurt?" Castiel asked, trying to get a look at Balthazar's body. Sam and Dean stood mere inches behind Cas and they all came to the same conclusion at once. He wasn't hurt.

Sam looked between Bal's hands and his face. "What happened?" There was no answer.

Dean licked his lips and glanced to his brother before looking back. "Hey," he said, trying to get the angel's attention. "Balthazar? Hey... Whose blood is that? Balthazar."

Cas raised his hand to make Dean be quiet as he watched his brother closely. It was like he didn't even know they were there. Then, after he seemed to take the first breath he had since he arrived, tears appeared and he began to shake. Castiel tightened his grip on his brother, but didn't say anything.

He knew the things that he was willing to do for Catherine and he knew what he had planned to give up for her. Angels just simply didn't have it in their programming to get so emotional over such a simple thing as death, but Cas knew first hand how possible it was. He just held on to his brother tightly as Balthazar suddenly cradled his face in his hands then screamed.

She was gone. He told her what he had felt and she died. He told her that he loved her, that he wanted to be with her. He told her less than three hours ago. They had even been happy less than a day ago. She was gone and he was left here and everything continued on as if nothing had happened. He told her that he loved her and she left and died because of him.

He heard his name, suddenly realizing that someone was holding on to his shoulder. His fingers clawed into his hair without him even noticing that his hands had moved and a part of him thought of the blood now being on his face.

The ground began to shake violently, gaining the attention of everyone, even Balthazar. Through the slats in the wooden boards and the open windows, a golden light poured in that was too bright to even look at. Bal didn't shield his eyes like the others. He knew it was Gabriel using a significant amount of power and there was only one reason he would be drawing that much strength.

The light began to fade and the tremors slowly started to die down, but Balthazar was already standing, untangling himself from Castiel's grasp and running towards the first door he could find. He could hear his name being called from behind him again, but he found the main set of doors and rammed his body into them so hard that they immediately fell open. He ran forward a few paces before slowing to a stop, the others halting behind him.

The light completely died away and Gabriel stood there, his hand wrapped around strings that bunched into white crystals filled with each individual grace that was at the site. But he was looking down to Catherine's body that he had brought back with him. The wound on her neck and the blood was all still there. Her eyes still looked at nothing.

Castiel was actually the first to run forward. He got beside her like he was going to check for a pulse, but his hands hovered over her and he looked up to Gabriel.

The archangel looked to him and then over to Balthazar with a sad, shocked look. "I can't find her soul."

Bal didn't look at him, but his words replayed over and over in his mind as he tried to find a meaning in them and failed. He stared down to Catherine and kept returning to that phrase over and over, thinking that if he could understand the words, then maybe he could understand why she wasn't there anymore. Everyone seemed to be watching him but nothing happened. He just stood there, staring, that phrase repeating continuously in his mind as he tried very hard to wake up.

I want to take this moment to apologize for making you guys like a character and then brutally killing her. Unless you didn't like her, then this was one big treat for you. For those of you in pain, counseling will be poorly provided in the next chapter.

Thank you for reading, everyone. We still have a hurdle before this thing is finished, so the conclusion is still not completely in sight yet.

Review, follow, etc. Feedback is always appreciated, even if it's curse words and sobbing.