Wow! Got a big, awesome response from the previous chapter! Thanks so much for the overwhelming reactions. I loved the reviews. :) 35 is now the most reviewed chapter in the whole fic, yay!

Here's what we've been waiting for!

Instantly, all of the pain stopped and she was nothing once again. Her connection was lost. His thoughts and emotions were gone. Everything was just gone. No pain or fear or identity. Nothing.

Then... there was something. Something that brought the situation back for a brief moment and she felt fear, but not for her own sake. It had brought the thought of him back.

"Catherine!" The angels had to hold Balthazar back when he screamed again. Bartholomew walked on like he hadn't heard anything. For every step he took further and further away, Bal's fear grew, until his eyes caught a silver glint of the blade near his throat.

His hand shot up and grabbed the blade's edge, quickly twisting it from the other's grip and stabbing the angel through. The rest drew their blades and Balthazar had to kill another one before finally finding his feet again.

Alive. They needed him alive for whatever reason. They could have easily killed him just to take his grace and her soul, so that obviously wasn't their reasons. He didn't know why – he didn't care or want to know – but they were ordered by Michael not to kill him.

Balthazar dared them to stop him without using lethal force.

But their orders didn't stop them from retaliating. One of them managed to cut his thigh and another nearly stabbed him through the collar, but made a slash over his neck and chest instead. He powered on, though, killing them just as quickly as all of the other angels that had gotten in his way. He wasn't thinking or knowing anything. He only saw red and killed them all one by one.

"Balthazar!" Bartholomew's voice boomed throughout the room, but the other turned to face him only after finishing off the last of his entourage. With a blade in one hand, Bart help up the grace as if he meant to crush it if his brother didn't listen to him.

That probably would have worked at some point. Balthazar quickly twirled the blade in his hand and threw it just the way she had taught him. It found a home in Bartholomew's right eye just as he seemed to be speaking again, but the only sound was a short scream with the light before he fell to the ground like the others.

The grace had fallen from his hand at some point and sat an inch or so from his fingers. Balthazar stared at it before trying to take a step forward, only falling to his knees instead. He felt drained. He felt... dizzy. It wasn't that surprising. Bal was exhausted when he arrived at the docks, then he went through two fights, a handful of wounds, and- It was relief. It was joy. And it was confusion. Shame. How did he not realize? How did Gabriel not realize? Or had he?

It didn't matter. She was there. She had always been there. A smile threatened to pull at his lips, before he forced himself to get to his feet again. Balthazar stumbled forward, opting to figure out everything else later. Right now, he just- He smiled. A real smile at the first good thing he had felt in awhile.

Then the sound of large wings made the smile completely dissolve and Balthazar stopped walking. He stared down to the grace – its contents swirling inside, shining brilliantly as it always did – and watched as the archangel's foot stepped forward and pressed against the crystal, holding it in place.

Michael watched the light dance against the concrete before slowly looking up to his brother. "Hello, Balthazar."

The other tried to swallow before looking up to face the elder. Bal definitely wanted to say something, but he mostly wanted to do something... except he very much remembered the last time he tried to do something and he wasn't nearly as bad off as he was back then. He also remembered what happened to her and what that led to. After tasting copper, he realized he had been biting the inside of his cheek.

Michael frowned to him and eventually sighed with a grimace. "You never reply. That's disrespectful." He moved his arm and threw Balthazar against a support beam, hearing the loud crash and hoping his brother wouldn't pass out yet.

The world went black for a second while Bal blinked and came back to the world, finding that he was pinned to the beam and couldn't move forward. "Michael," he coughed, watching the other closely.

The elder sighed, rolling the grace beneath his shoe. "I have been waiting for this," he said quietly before beginning to add pressure, causing cracks in its surface.

"Michael!" Balthazar jolted against the beam, trying to move forward and finding that he still couldn't.

The other raised a hand and hushed him. "This won't hurt her," he whispered back, only watching the light. "She's hardly even frightened." The crystal gave and the glass smashed beneath his foot, causing the white mist of Balthazar's grace to pool around him. A grace was not what interested him, though.

Bal didn't realize that he had stopped breathing. He watched as the brightest part of the mist rose up – a little wisp flowing along that was brighter than the sun and more entrancing than anything else on this Earth – and it flowed right into Michael's waiting hand. Balthazar tried to pull himself free again as the archangel slowly closed his hand around her soul. His eyes had moved to the younger angel as he started squeezing, the light shining brighter and brighter between his fingers and a high pitched noise echoing across the room.

"Stop it!" He couldn't move. He couldn't do anything except scream. "Stop! Please! Please! Stop it!"

The noise died away and the light dimmed as Michael relieved his grip a few margins, but he still frowned and paced a few steps closer to his brother. "Do you know why you're alive right now?" he asked, knowing that the other hardly even noticed the question. "I don't have many loyalists, Balthazar. Even the ones you killed didn't follow me for the right reasons. They were only here for power or, worse, survival. They don't remember anymore. I'm not Father, but I am the eldest son and I should be seen with more respect, don't you think?" Balthazar didn't answer, as predicted. He looked terrified, glancing between Michael's face and his hand. The archangel sighed and continued. "This is humanity's fault. Ever since we've gotten involved in the affairs of Earth, Heaven has fallen apart. It's the humans... So, I'm going to remind you what you are, Balthazar, and I'm going to remind you what this is." He shook his fist.

He was going to kill her. He was going to destroy her just to teach him a lesson and Balthazar began to panic. "You're supposed to protect them," Bal choked out through his cracked voice, "He ordered us to protect them. To love them more than Him and look at what you're doing."

"I am protecting them... as a whole," Michael spoke calmly and took a deep breath. "We need to leave them to themselves and handle our own business elsewhere. No more meddling in either of our affairs, but I need our brothers and sisters back. I need you back. I need you to fight like you once did."

He shook his head to every word. "Don't-"

"You will remember, Balthazar." The archangel's voice was firm, unrelenting. "Once she's gone – completely gone – you will remember. You'll be yourself again and she will be just as she's always been. Impermanent and meaningless... She struck me on Lucifer's orders. She's the worst of them."

Michael began to back away and Bal, for the third time, fell to his knees, still not able to pull completely away from his confines. "I'll go with you. I'll fight with you. You don't have to-" The elder turned his back on him, pacing away. "Michael, please. Please, don't do this! Please! Michael! I'll do whatever you want! I'll do anything!" The same high pitched sound began again, getting too loud and strong for Balthazar to even think anymore. His hands covered his ears and he glanced down to the ground and his grace before looking back up to his brother.

Michael stopped pacing and let up his grip again, allowing the noise to quiet. "You're missing the point," he sighed and turned back around, "just like the oth-" His face fell.

Balthazar's head had fallen back as his grace washed over him, pouring into and through him, a soft glow pulsing from his vessel. He took a deep breath and the light dimmed away, leaving Bal to open his eyes to Michael.

The other only scowled back in return. "That's a little better, I suppose."

"No, it's not." Bal stayed there for a moment, watching his brother closely, before slowly rising to his feet. "I am an absolute idiot," he growled, standing straight again, "Begging doesn't work. Screaming, throwing tantrums-... Actions hardly even work anymore, but it's better than letting you think you hold every card there is."

Michael tilted his head. "But I do," he said, raising his fist of light, "Literally. Unless you're willing to gamble with her existence."

Balthazar looked to the other's raised hand and the light pouring through. Everything was different again. Everything was back to as it should be. It wasn't just a brilliant light. It was her soul. It was Catherine's beautiful soul and he was finally being able to see it again like he thought would never happen. Except she was hurt and in a pain that very few souls experience, even in Hell. He was hurting her, breaking her, and Balthazar could see horrid scars of where Michael had done the same before.

He looked back to him and Bal furrowed his brow. "Gamble?" he muttered, making a grimace of disgust, "If I listen to you, she'll be gone within the hour. There is no gamble." Bartholomew's blade flew into his hand.

Michael frowned now in disbelief. "You'd raise a sword to me?" Bal stalked closer, hardly feeling the archangel's confines over his vessel and the other's scowl deepened.

Only Balthazar didn't stop his approach. Michael squeezed harder at her soul, the high pitched shriek breaking the windows, but Bal growled and leapt forward to attack. The archangel backed off quickly, barely dodging the blade and letting up the pressure on her soul again while unsheathing his own sword. The next swing that Balthazar took was met in a parry, before Michael telepathically pushed him back.

But he didn't fall. His legs braced him from toppling over and he pushed himself forward again to meet Michael's blade. It didn't seem like his brother wanted to kill him either, just as he told the others to. No, he wanted to subdue him and make him watch as he destroyed the only truly good thing he had ever had – the only truly good thing that he had ever seen. So Balthazar continued to push forward, trying to use the handicap as an advantage but to little avail. Michael easily parried his blows and only looked to be getting angry by the younger one's persistence. This was hardly even a match and it was so painfully obvious, but he couldn't stop. At this rate, she would be gone either way, but he couldn't live with himself if he stopped... He couldn't let Michael have her. He couldn't stop.

Michael dropped his blade to gain a free hand and grab onto the angel's collar and push him back harder, forcing Balthazar into the same support beam and disarming his as well. "Fine," he ground out between his teeth, "You want to die for this?"

Bal pushed forward, not caring to hear what his brother had to say, but every inch he gained only made it harder for him to move. Michael snarled and pushed him back again, and Balthazar fell and vanished before colliding with the beam again.

Surprised, Michael glanced across the room. When he heard a scrape of metal at his feet and large wings behind him, he turned around for Balthazar to appear and stab him through the chest. For a split second, he considered what to do with his unruly younger brother after attempting to hurt him so badly, but the archangel's legs gave way and he fell back, suddenly realizing that he had been stabbed with his own blade.

Balthazar fell with him, kneeling over Heaven's champion as he ripped the blade out and Michael screamed, the blinding white light instantly searing everything in the room and the aftershock bending the walls and destroying some of the terrain outside even as Bal tried to contain the blast. In an instant, it was over.

The clenched hand relaxed a bit and the soul quickly flew out of the dead angel's reach. Balthazar swallowed hard and stood up to take in the scene. Everything had been charred black, but the imprint of six large wings encompassing the entire floor and touching the far off walls was untouched by the smut.

Balthazar stood there, unbelieving. He had killed Michael. He had killed his eldest brother, God's first son. He had killed him and the blade clattered to the ground. Her soul appeared in front of him, though, bringing him back from his thoughts to watch her. Catherine came closer to him, but he didn't reach out to her. He didn't have to. She was there with him – always had been – and she wouldn't leave him now.

The air changed quickly and Catherine passed over Balthazar's shoulder, making him turn around. His eyes landed on Lucifer, who stared down to the body.

Bal stopped breathing as Satan's eyes looked up to meet his. The archangel was obviously stunned and even seemed to be distressed. His mouth moved, hardly whispering, "What have you done?" The other didn't move, frozen in place, watching his elder brother's face twist quickly enough into anger. "You killed him!"

Balthazar reached out for Catherine's soul and flew away as fast as he could.

Dean scrunched up his nose. "A little random," he muttered before putting both hands on his hips and speaking louder. "All righty then, Einstein. What did happen when she died?"

Gabriel walked forward to the group, still thinking and tossing the eraser from hand to hand. "Lucifer killed her and Michael was going to destroy her soul, but we know that she still managed to banish them, anyway."

"Yeah," Sam grimaced, "by carving the sigil onto her stomach."

Gabe shrugged. "It worked. Which meant that she had to die at the same moment or little while after they were gone. They didn't kill her first. So, if she didn't die right away, then-"

Sam nodded, "Her soul wasn't destroyed right away. It wasn't destroyed at all."

Castiel shifted uncomfortably. "We knew that already," he said, making everyone go quiet, "Balthazar knew that. He's working to get her back right now because of it."

"No, no." Gabriel shook his head, trying to quickly change the subject back to his favor. "That's not my point. Michael intended to destroy her there, just like Lucifer intended to kill her. He only had enough time to do one or the other... He didn't take her soul with him."

Cas frowned and thought on that. "Then where is she?"

They all looked to Gabriel and bit his lip, watching his brother. "I couldn't sense her before, because he had hurt her so badly. I never thought that-..."

Dean stepped forward. "Thought what?"

The angel glanced over to him. "When we found her, she was with all of the other graces and Balthazar's grace was covering her body. He was protecting her. Trying to heal her." The others looked confused, so he just said it. "Her soul is with Balthazar's grace."

The confusion only grew and he could see the questions forming in front of him, but they were cut off by the ground suddenly beginning to shake.

Kevin quickly grabbed onto something. "Earthquake?"

The shaking got worse, the loud sound of thunder ringing around them. "In Kansas?" Dean answered back loudly, scrambling with the others.

Sam just grabbed on to the table. "Kansas does have earthquakes, Dean," he said, but looked around, assuming that one here would be short and not nearly this bad.

But Gabriel stayed in place, watching the ceiling as the shaking quickly began to slacken off. "That's not an earthquake," he said, "It's a flyby."

Castiel suddenly jerked forward – "Wait!" – but Gabriel was suddenly gone, the eraser bouncing across the floor as the shaking finally stopped.

Balthazar destroyed a few trees before his back violently connected with the ground. Of course he couldn't run forever, but he also didn't have any time to get her soul to safety either. This wouldn't end well, unless the band of misfits felt his warning.

He leaned up on one hand – keeping her soul clutched closely to him, fearing that Lucifer would snatch her away at any second – while Satan himself paced slowly closer, real anger in his eyes. A frost touched the grass despite the sun's rays and a few of the plants wilted where he stepped.

"He was my enemy," Lucifer hissed, getting closer as Balthazar tried to inch away. "My brother. Mine to kill, not yours. It was our fight."

Unarmed and defenseless, Bal continued trying to backpedal as best he could. He couldn't trust that someone would show and he couldn't try running again. He definitely couldn't fight back like this. It wasn't about his own life. Catherine was fragile after Michael's torment. Lucifer may not destroy her, but he would not be kind and Balthazar couldn't risk it. But there was no where else to go now. He kept moving back, as if it were actually keeping the devil at bay.

"You took that from me," Lucifer growled, "You took that from all of us! You were not supposed to kill him. You, least of all. It was our war from our Father!"

Balthazar's back hit a tree. "You killed Gabriel," he said in spite, finally cornered, "Don't act like you're starting to care now."

"Care?" Satan stopped a few steps from him, tilting his head. "No, brother. I did kill Gabriel. Now I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill all of you."

Balthazar flinched back just as wings sounded in front of him and he was suddenly looking to Gabriel's back. His sword was drawn and he stood in front of Lucifer with determination. The devil backed up a step, but Gabe just scoffed, "What is dead may never die, dickhead."

Bal looked between them and quickly scrambled up to stand, still holding on to her soul. Gabriel didn't look away from his opponent, but he tilted his head to address his younger brother. "Go." Not needing to be told twice, Balthazar and Catherine's soul was gone at the sound of wings.

Gabriel turned back to face Lucifer and look him straight on. The other seemed even angrier, but his fury could only be noticed by those who really knew him. An unspoken glare just staying in silence for a moment. "He killed Michael."

"So I hear," Gabriel responded, holding his blade tight. "It's sad, but not a bad thing."

Lucifer glared daggers into him and his face twisted in anger again. "What about our Father?"

"I told you," Gabe spoke calmly, "I'm not on Michael's side or yours. I'm on theirs."

"Just like Balthazar," Lucifer groaned. "You'll die just like Balthazar."

He stepped forward and Gabriel rose his blade to him. "Don't forget," the archangel challenged, "I have the graces you're after. Can't be too quick on the draw there, slick."

Lucifer grimaced again and approached anyway as Gabe struck out with his sword. Satan dodged and backed off a step, giving the angel the advantage. But only for a second until Gabriel lashed out another time – aiming for the other's throat – and Lucifer took his brother's wrist to twist and hold while his other hand reached around to grab onto the back of the angel's head. "I don't care," he said and stabbed Gabriel through the neck, watching the light burn brightly and go out once again.

Dropping like flies, my goodness. This was a big chapter! We laughed, we cried, we hated the author quite a bit.

Hopefully, the next chapter won't be too far off and you guys won't suffer for long, but we'll see.

Review, follow, etc. Thank you so much for your continued reading and support, everyone. It'll pay off in the end.