**Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your wonderful reviews and comments. I appreciate them so much. This is sadly the last chapter for 'Leap', but I already have the next story, called 'Wayward' completely written, so don't think I'm abandoning you here. Please continue to check in and take a look at my new stories. I've also got a couple of fun, not so intense, flashback-style stories coming up. I'll be posting the first chapter of 'Wayward' very soon. Thanks so much!**

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Chapter 39

Grace

Serra had never been one to hesitate and unloaded four shots straight at the angel in front of us. With a flick of his wrist, he batted the bullets from the air and took a menacing step closer to us. My sister wasted no time and changed tactics immediately, throwing two of her new four-inch angel blades straight at Ouriel but he only seemed amused. "You are wasting your time, Watcher. After all, you are still simply a mortal."

He brushed his hand across the room and Serra went flying against the stone wall. I thought she had been knocked unconscious, but she raised her pistols again and rapidly fired four more shots towards him. They seemed to hit some sort of force field and fell to the ground behind him. Ouriel turned and lowered his head, clenching his jaw angrily. Again, he seemed more human than angel as he glared at my sister, rage emanating through him. He reached out with one of his hands and swiped the air again, knocking her pistols to the floor with a crash.

"How long have you had her?" I asked, finding my voice. "How long has Lailah been one of yours?"

"Since the beginning," Ouriel replied, smiling slowly. "She was one of Castiel's first, but I managed to win her over before she agreed to help you conceive."

I was shaking with fury as I listened to Dean pound on the door down the hallway. I felt completely vulnerable, now that I was without the power of the angel that had been using me as a vessel. I considered the idea that Lailah had physically weakened me as well; I felt exhausted and could barely stand on my own. I struggled to keep my wits about me as I concentrated on the shield that I had been working on with Cas and Lucia's help, but on my own, I didn't have the same abilities. I was back to being only a nephilim.

Serra was on her feet again, jumping towards Ouriel with another full-sized angel blade gripped in her hand. She wrapped her body around him, holding the blade to his throat and managed to hold on to him long enough to draw blood; a light blue light pouring from the wound, but as he turned, anger filled his face, and he slammed her into the floor, finally knocking her unconscious.

He turned back towards me and Liberty and smiled as he pushed her away with a simple flick of his finger. My daughter hit the ground hard enough to scrape her knees on the stone, leaving a blood trail on the ground beneath her. "I am not interested in the Daughters of Heaven. They will be unimportant as I continued my crusade."

I hated the angel before me with every fiber of my being, but I completely useless, feeling drained and weak. "What are you interested in?" I asked, playing for time.

Ouriel glanced longingly towards the crib where the babies lay, remarkably still sleeping. "I am very interested in your son," he said quietly. "He will be a very talented creature indeed." Ouriel stood too close to me now. I was pressed up against the cold rock and tried my best to fling him away, as I had done so many times, defending my family. I just didn't believe I had the ability to move a full-fledged angel and felt powerless against him.

I could still hear Dean in the background as Ouriel approached me, still holding the angel blade he had taken from Serra. He took a slow breath and smiled at me, lowering his voice. "The problem, you see, is that you carry the one thing that could slow my progress. The boy must be allowed to express his full, untapped potential, and with the Daughter of Heaven still living, I am afraid that would not come to be."

Pushing him physically away from me, I did what I could to stay as far away as possible from the large angel. Dean was pounding relentlessly at the door and Sam had joined in the yelling. I could hear the splintering of wood as Dean and Sam finally made some progress, distracting Ouriel for just long enough for me to move closer towards the entrance of the room.

It was almost as if he predicted my move before I had made it, and grabbing me by the hair, he brought me around to the front of his body, using mine as a shield as Dean and Sam finally burst through the door. "You are a thorn in my side," he said towards Dean, holding me in place. "It's a good thing that I plan so well."

I felt the angel blade pierce my skin and the burn spread immediately through my body. The room glowed bright white, as light seemed to pour from me. I could see Dean's mouth moving as he screamed, but I couldn't hear him, and as I felt my knees buckle beneath me, Ouriel vanished. Castiel and Lucia were at my side in seconds, and I could feel their healing touch attempt to close the wound where blood poured from my side.

I could hear Cas' voice through the pain, "The wound was made with an angel blade. I can't heal it."

Dean was screaming, close to hysterical. "Fix her!" he was yelling, "Heal the wound!"

Lucia was kneeling down next to me as well and I couldn't understand what was happening. The pain that surged through my body burned, as if my insides were on fire. I could see Sam kneeling off to the side, trying to wake Serra, and tears fell from my husband's eyes as I struggled to comprehend what had happened. It wasn't until Everett began to cry from his place in the crib, that I finally put it all together.

Faith was dead.