Chapter 36

Grace

We scattered, each diving for something to hide behind. Ouriel laughed from behind the counter in the kitchen. "This is so primitive," he shouted. "Shooting at each other. So messy."

"I'd like to class things up," I heard Dean's voice through the rapid fire. Glancing up, I saw a still-shirtless Dean reach for me, but I let Cas roll me out of the way, tucking my shoulders and landing on my feet in the opposite direction. Obviously surprised at my agility, Dean turned to stare, smiling ever so slightly. "You never fail to impress me, wife, but come here so I can stab you."

Cas tilted his head and said, "Dean, I know you don't want to kill Grace. You need to fight back. Help us fight him."

Licking his lips and raising his eyebrows, Dean replied, "Oh, there you are, Cas. Banging around in Grace's body. What, did you fuck her too? Whose baby is that? Yours or Dean's?"

Sighing as he held out his hands, Cas tried to reason with him. "You're even referring to Dean as a separate person. I know you're in there." Dean took a step towards me and pulled an angel blade from a drawer near the bed. "You won't kill your own child. I know you won't."

"Yes, he will," Ouriel's voice came from the opposite end of the room, blocking bullets from Serra's spray. "He will kill her, he will kill his wife, and then he will kill his other two daughters." Dean stood near Ouriel, staring coldly at me. I could almost see the internal battle he was having with himself.

From out of nowhere, Sam jumped onto Dean, tackling him to the ground. Dean rolled, trying to throw Sammy, but Sam had always been the heavier man. "Dean! Stop!" he yelled, pinning Dean's blade-wielding hand behind his back. "Stop! You're not going to do this!"

Serra rushed both of them, aiming one of her guns at Dean's head. "Stop, Dean," she said quietly, holding his attention. "Hold or I will make your head into a canoe. Let's see if The Mark brings you back from that."

Dean stilled and stared up at Serra, his darkened green gaze hooded under heavy lids. "You wouldn't kill me," he whispered. "Not in front of her."

I stepped forward and Cas allowed me to have control once more. "She would," I said, fighting to hold the strength in my voice. "I told her to, if it came down to it." Ouriel surged forward then, pulling Sam off of Dean and preparing to touch his forehead with two of his fingers. Sam rolled out of the way and Serra shot three times towards Ouriel, immediately dropping out her empty clip and slamming in a new one. Two of the bullets ricocheted off of his protective shielding, but one made it through, dusting the top of his shoulder.

Dean shook us off and we scattered again as he swiped at me with the angel blade. Serra tossed me my own blade and I blocked Dean's next attack with my own, the clang of metal echoing into the bedroom. Two of the columns of black demon smoke circled around me, trying to push at my subconscious as I fought off my husband.

"No vacancy, assholes," I growled as Serra tossed me the sawed off from under our bed. I pumped it and unloaded a salt round into the ceiling, dispersing the demon smoke. I turned my attention back to my husband, sister, and brother-in-law.

It was bedlam. Ouriel and Serra were battling it out, hand to hand, and every once and awhile, Sam would be able to help, but the demons and the angels that were still alive took Sam's attention away from his wife. Serra would get a shot off occasionally, but Ouriel's protective shielding held off each one. He was relentless with his own angel blade as well, swiping and stabbing as Serra fought him off with her kukri blade. I continued to fire at the demon smoke that kept pushing at Sam's walls, finally almost tripping on the blankets from the bed as we made our way out into the living room. I freed my bare foot and turned to find a wall to back myself against, but came in contact with Dean's chest instead.

"Enough," Dean snarled, ripping the sawed off out of my hands. He dropped it to the floor as he grabbed me roughly by the hair and dragged me to the middle of the room. Serra froze, seeing him tighten his grip on me, and Ouriel beamed at the demon spell's success.

"Finally," Ouriel sighed, staring at us from across the room. "End it, Dean. End it so we can move on with the plan."

Dean pressed the angel blade he held against my neck. I felt the sting of the blade, cutting into my skin and in the dim, I could see the blue glow from my body reflect off the window. Blood dripped down my neck and onto his hand where he held me in place. Slowly, I moved my eyes up to stare at my sister. I knew she still had angel rounds left in one of her pistols, but I pleaded with her not to kill him yet.

We can still figure this out, I said, begging for more time.

She nodded slowly, thinking hard. There was not much left that we hadn't already tried. "What now?" she asked, buying for time. "You kill her, you kill the baby, sure, but how do you get into the panic room to get to Glory and Lib? She's the only one that knows the codes."

Dean chuckled. "I know the codes," he replied, amused.

"You think we're stupid enough not to change them after you get turned into a demon?" Serra asked, taking a wide step to the left. I knew she was on to something; I just had no idea what it was.

"I designed it," Dean continued. "I think I'll figure something out."

Serra took another step to the left, heading to my china cabinet at the edge of the dining room. Keeping his eyes on her, Dean moved as well, dragging me along with him, the angel blade burning my neck as it continued to cut into me.

Ouriel was moving towards us and I watched as he rubbed his hands together. "Do it," he whispered. "Kill her."

"Why don't you do it?" I asked, staring at the angel that was only feet away from me. "Why does Dean have to do your dirty work?"

"A leader never gets his hands dirty," Ouriel claimed, smiling lightly and twinkling his fingers. "That's what the worker bees are for."

Serra had finally made it to the hutch, stepping over one of the angels that had finally died from his wounds. She reached as high as she could, being only about five-foot-two, and from the top of the cabinet, she silently brought down the Knight Blade, still sheathed in a sword casing from when we took it after escaping from Hell. I held myself together, not revealing what my sister was about to do. Dean turned slightly, seeing Serra's movements and in his surprise, released me enough so that I was able to twist and roll out of the way.

Dean spun away from Serra and saw his gun on the dining room table and without hesitating any longer, he turned, raising his arm to me and firing twice, I felt the burn of one of the bullets as it entered my shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut as I let Cas have control, and the room exploded with light as Serra unsheathed the black Knight Blade and swung it through the air like a baseball bat, decapitating Ouriel's head from his body, the look of surprise still etched on his face as his head rolled across my dining room floor. The harsh, radiating light bathed everyone in white; the humans shielding their gazes as Ouriel's dying body illuminated the room.

Dean still had his gun pointed at me, but as soon as we heard the thump of Ouriel's head, the spell seemed to be broken, his jade eyes regaining focus as he dropped his gun to the floor. Cas had already healed my shoulder and neck, but blood was still dripping down my arm from where the bullet had entered my body. There was also blood trickling from my neck from where Dean had pressed the angel blade into my skin.

Serra wasn't done there. She moved through the living room quickly, slicing through the angel that tried for the door, obviously hurting enough that he was unable to disappear instantly. The demons lost no time, disappearing through the vents in our floor, finding freedom as they flew through the fields behind our house, heading to who knows where.

I had control over my body again and made eye contact with Dean, the real Dean, as his knees collapsed beneath him and he hit the floor. I took a step closer, but Serra stepped in between us, holding up the Knight Blade, still dripping with Ouriel and the other angels' blood.

Watching from behind Serra, I could see Dean cowering in front of her, covering his face with his hands and unable to move. "Dean?" I asked, stepping closer. Serra moved with me as I knelt down to him. "Baby, can you hear me?"

He managed to lift his head enough to stare at me sadly and then his green eyes rolled back as he passed out, collapsing the rest of the way onto the living room floor.