Disclaimer: Regarding the content that is taken from the respective owners of all fandoms contained herein, I am using it without intent to make money or pass the ideas off as my own. Please don't sue me.
A/N: My intent is not to make enemies of Supernatural fans, but it is the secondary fandom in this crossover and will be used in a supportive capacity to the main story involving characters from Reaper. Supernatural will be featured only in a limited fashion in this fiction, with much more inclusion later in the third sequel. Also, anything regarding Silent Hill will only be in reference to things that transpired in the first fic.
Chapter 1: Recovery and Obsession
It had been almost two months since Sam Oliver returned from his trip out East a changed man. In that time, he had tried to reintegrate himself with his normal life and found that he just couldn't quite do it. The world around him looked different from what it did before, his eyes seeing new shadows in everything he looked at. Sleep was hard to come by these days, between Charlie and his newly manifested insomnia. Every time he closed his eyes to sleep, the events of Silent Hill played through his mind without fail. With a mending body and his return to work, Sam had difficulties in staying on top of it all.
As for his new responsibility to Charlie, Sam had actually excelled. It became almost natural for him, to care for and raise a baby. In the time that they had been together, he and Charlie had thoroughly bonded with each other. The little boy usually only let Sam hold him for any length of time and sometimes, oddly enough, Sock. His friends were incredibly good about the whole situation, offering him all sorts of help with his impromptu fatherhood. They watched after the baby while he took care of his business and helped him with his physical and mental recovery, as well. Andi was, while a little angry with him, pretty patient and understanding about it all. She still let him know that she wasn't exactly happy that he had continued to keep things from her and that he had gone alone to some dangerous unknown location, but she absolutely adored little Charlie.
Presently, he was just returning home from the doctor's office, finally getting the cast off his leg and only being relegated to a drug store cane. At least he no longer had to deal with the crutch anymore, it being banished to the innermost reaches of his closet to collect dust till the end of time. His ribs were still heavily bandaged, something that was unlikely to change for another two weeks at the minimum. Still, it felt good to be able to move a little more freely and to not have to put up with that damned crutch. Ben and Sock were home babysitting for him again, something that he was always a little wary of.
Entering his apartment, he was greeted by a sight that was as unsurprising as it was shocking. The entire place was covered in baby toys and food. Ben and Sock were standing there splattered with the same food all over their faces and clothing, looking like a couple of deer frozen in the headlights. Sam slowly stepped into the room and let the door fall shut behind him. "Hey guys," he said. "What's goin' on?"
"We were just…" started Ben, letting his answer trail off, unable to put anymore words together.
"Uh, well you see, we were uh…" Sock began.
"I don't wanna know," interrupted Sam, limping his way into the living room. "Where's Charlie?"
As one, they rushed over and blocked him from going down the hall. "Wait Sammy," said Sock, a worried expression on his face. "Before you go in there…"
"Sock," he said firmly, "let me through." He moved to go between them, wanting to see his brother immediately. They tried to keep him back, but he forced his way through and went as fast as his cane would take him to his room. Bursting through the door, he saw Charlie lying down in his playpen and smeared thoroughly in food, gurgling away happily. He sighed and turned around to face his roommates, hoping for an explanation. "Okay, now I want to know what happened."
"Well, it started with lunch…" started Ben.
"…and just sorta escalated from there," finished Sock.
Shaking his head, Sam turned back to his room and limped over to the playpen and leaned over to grab Charlie. "Hey there, little man. How's it goin'" The baby made a strange noise of happiness, reaching his chubby little arms up toward Sam's face. "It looks like you need a bath. You wanna take a bath, buddy? Yeah, let's get you cleaned up."
Sam walked into the bathroom and started getting everything ready for Charlie's bath. "Thanks for watching him guys," he said, not wanting them to think that he was mad at them for not keeping Charlie clean. In truth, he understood how utterly hard it was to get Charlie to eat. The little baby was still on formula, but he was just starting to get him to eat more solid food. Sam was still working on how he would take him to a doctor without a lot of unnecessary questions being asked. It was really bugging him that he couldn't have his little boy checked out, worried about what may or may not be wrong with him. He felt like he was going into this blind, without a single clue of what he was supposed to do and how he was supposed to do it.
After bathing Charlie and dressing him in a onesie, he carried him into the kitchen with him and went about making himself a snack. Sam didn't have much of an appetite anymore, but between his friends and Andi he was forced to keep his strength up. He appreciated how protective they were being since his return from that terrible place, but at times it could really be aggravating. There weren't many occasions when he could be truly alone, except for when he had to run an errand and even then one of them would usually try to go with him.
Sam headed back into his room and set Charlie in his playpen, before sitting down in front of his desk. The wall behind the desk had been cleared of any pictures and decorations, all being replaced with a large cork board. A map of the U.S. was posted on the board with various papers and documents surrounding it, all related to his new obsession. Since returning home and reopening his family's medical file, he had been spending as much time as he could searching for the enigmatic John Winchester. So far, he had found several people with that name and had called almost all the ones that seemed to fit the bill the closest. Most of those he called were listed in the phone books, but some of their numbers were a little more difficult to track down. It was in those situations that he was forced to turn to Sock and Ben.
Currently, Sam was not allowed to go on any midnight adventures into the county and state records offices, being injured and having to be with Charlie. His friends went in his place and procured some decent results, Sock even brought home a stack of papers with nothing but cell phone numbers and names on it. He didn't want to know how he had gotten them, but the papers had the names of various cell phone companies in their headers, leading his imagination to some strange and disturbing places.
After close to two months of looking, Sam had boiled it down to one man who he suspected of being his actual godfather. This man was turning out to be very hard to pin down, appearing and disappearing randomly all over the country. Apparently, his house in Kansas burned down in '83, killing his wife, and he vanished off the grid with his two sons. The names of the sons weren't disclosed and he had no reliable means of information to track them down, leaving him at a dead end for the time being.
He continued his search, mindlessly checking the internet for anything he could find that might be of any value. Occasionally, he would stop looking to check on Charlie and make sure he was okay. After a while, Sam was brought out of his single-minded task by a phone call. Checking his cell, he saw that it was Andi calling him, probably just getting off of work. "Hey Andi," he said, leaning back away from the computer monitor.
"Hi Sam. How did the doctor's visit go?"
"Not bad, actually. I got my cast off today and only have to deal with a cane now. But it will be at least another couple weeks for my ribs. Overall, though, it went pretty good." Sam stood up, leaning on his cane like an old man, and made his way over to his bed. Laying down on his back across the bed, he stared up at the ceiling.
"Great. That means you have to take me somewhere tonight," said Andi, sounding giddy.
"I do?" he asked.
"Yeah, Sam, you do. I'm not taking no for an answer here. So, start thinking about where you wanna take me, got it?"
"What about Charlie? I can't just leave him."
"Well, how about Sock or Ben? she asked.
"Can't do. They babysat already today and I don't wanna ask either of them to do it again. Besides, they were telling me that they had plans of their own tonight." Sam slid one of his arms underneath his head to act as a pillow, feeling a slight twinge in his ribs in response.
"Damn. Then don't worry about it. We'll find a solution to this, so just worry about planning the date."
"Andi, I don't know. I'm not sure I feel up-"
"Sam Oliver," she interrupted, "you are not getting out of this, okay? This date is happening and it is happening tonight and I do not want to hear otherwise."
Andi sure does sound peeved, he thought, not feeling up to butting heads with her over this. "Yes ma'am."
"Good. Now tell me how that cute little baby boy of yours is."
"Who, Sock?" he asked, grinning.
Andi laughed and said, "no, you idiot. I was talking about Charlie. What's he doing right now?"
"He's just fine, had his bath not too long ago, thanks to Sock and Ben." Sam lifted his head to see Charlie. "Right now, he's playing with his little spinney thing, the one with the farm animals on it."
"God, he's so cute, even over the phone. Okay, I'll see you later and don't forget about tonight."
"Alright, I won't. Love you."
"Love you, too. Oh, and Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't call me ma'am."
"Yes ma'am," he said, smiling once more.
"Are you sure this is going to work out?" asked Andi, as they moved forward in line.
"I hope so. Otherwise, I think we're out of options. Unless you know someone else who can watch him." Sam looked down at Charlie, who was looking around the room happily enough, and smiled a little.
"No," she sighed, "I do not."
"Then think positive thoughts."
The line they were in inched forward again, taking them ever closer to their destination. A sour feeling hung heavy in the air, affecting the mood of everyone in the line. It was almost palpable, a sensation of misery and doom. So far, they had been here for a good twenty minutes, hoping to accomplish their task before the place closed down for the night. If things continued progressing as slowly as they were currently, then they would be cutting it very close.
"So, where are we going? You didn't tell me earlier." Andi looked at him, curiosity written on her features.
"For good reason, I assure you. I'm not giving it away, so you're just gonna have to be patient and wait for me to reveal it all to you when the time is right."
"When the time is right? Come on, I won't tell anyone, I promise." She gave him her very best doe-eyes, throwing in a pout for good measure.
He laughed and said, "first off, I don't think that even makes sense. Second, you were the one who wanted me to take care of the plans and my plan is to keep you surprised." Once more, the line sluggishly edged forward. Sam limped up to his new spot and leaned heavily on his cane, feeling the weight of Charlie in his car-seat straining his free arm.
"Well, it better be good then, if you're gonna keep it secret from me."
"Alright, I'll tell you: we're going to the Brickhouse."
"Sam, if you try to take me to the one place we always hangout on a date, I will re-fracture your leg, I swear to God." She even looked a little pissed.
Laughing again, he said, "don't worry, I'm not taking you to the Brickhouse. Now, can we talk about something else?"
"Like what?" she asked.
"Well, what about school? I know you've been looking into starting in the fall, how's that going?"
She sighed and looked away briefly, "don't get me started on that."
"Why? What's up?" he asked, concerned.
"Nothing really, just it's so hard to keep everything straight that I need to do to get in, especially anything dealing with financial aid. There's just a lot to keep track of and it's getting to be very frustrating."
He was about to respond when he noticed that they had finally reached the front of the line. Stepping up to the counter, he set Charlie's car-seat on it and looked squarely at the person on the other side.
Gladys cocked her head at the sight of the baby and said questioningly, "vessel drop-off?"
"Uh no," said Sam, before giving her the most charming smile he could.
That night, Sam was driving himself and Andi up a windy stretch of backroad. He was finding it a little hard not to have a panic attack. It didn't occur to him when he was planning this evening, but being out on the road at night in the middle of the woods took him right back to that night when he had left for Silent Hill from his motel room. His breath was coming up in short gasps and his skin felt clammy. So far, Andi hadn't noticed and he needed to get himself under control before she did. Trying to steady himself, he focused his attention on the road ahead.
The silence in the car was loud, both people inside unable to find the words to talk to each other. Sam was using up all his concentration on not freaking out and there was no telling what was keeping Andi so quiet. There were times that he wanted nothing more than to know what she was thinking, tonight was no different. She was so patient and understanding and he had no idea why she stayed with him. Considering all the baggage he had brought with him into the relationship, it was surprising that she had been so willing to stick it out with him this long. Of course, that wasn't to mention the most recent complications that had turned up in his life, with the arrival of Charlie and his newly acquired psychological damage (something he very rarely allowed himself to acknowledge).
Eventually, the road took them to a large building on the right-hand side. It looked like a roadside lodge, complete with the log siding and the massive central stone chimney. In front, a sign could be seen stating that it was the Blue Mountain Inn. Pulling into the gravel parking lot, he braced himself for Andi's coming reaction to his choice of places to go out on a date. She didn't say anything until he parked the car. "This place looks beautiful Sam, but I wasn't expecting to be taken into the middle of nowhere."
"Exactly," he said. "Why would I want to take you to some crowded restaurant or a movie where I can't even look at you?"
"Well, when it comes to going to a movie, I doubt we would be doing much watching," she said.
"I'm not gonna argue with that, but you sounded like you wanted something different from the usual ideas. A dinner out at some nice secluded restaurant seemed like a good way to go. Now let's go inside; we have a table waiting for us."
Andi smiled beautifully and said, "okay, let's do that."
They got out of the car and walked up hand in hand to the front door, Sam holding it open for her when they reached it. It was delightfully warm inside, with a soothing glow from the ambient lighting coming from the ceiling and the walls. To their right, they could see a large reception desk made of stained pine, a narrow corridor and a flight of stairs next to each other to the left of it. The hostess took their coats and led them to their table just feet away from the hearth, a roaring fire blazing inside its cavernous depths.
"So," said Sam after they were seated and their drink orders had been taken, "is all this to your liking, my lady?"
Giggling, she said, "Why yes sir, it is; thank you for this. But being serious, you did really well, especially on such short notice, Sam."
"You really wanted this and I really want you to be happy, Andi," he said, before looking through his menu.
"That's sweet; I'm glad we got out to do this. I know how busy you've been with Charlie and when you go back to work at your other job, I doubt we'll find the time to go out very often."
"Yeah," he said, looking down at the table's surface and trying not to let the weight of her statement drag him under. For a good minute, they let a heavy silence sit between them, before Andi broke.
"So, it's good that Gladys was willing to watch Charlie tonight. I was surprised that she agreed," said Andi.
"Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but she did owe me one." Sam looked up to see the waitress come up to their table. She poured them their wine and took their orders, before leaving with the menus.
"That's not what I meant. I didn't think she would be very comfortable with children. I mean, I doubt she's ever had much experience with them."
"Well, she had to have some. She seemed like she knew what she was doing when I left him with her." Sam took a drink of his wine, seeing out of the corner of his eye a chef preparing to carve up a roast in front of a party of two. The chef was dragging the knife up and down the sharpening tool, the scrape of steel against steel unnaturally loud in the dining room. He wanted to just ignore it, but it was so commanding of his attention. That sound was so much like the sound of steel dragging across cement to him that he couldn't stop the shudder that raced up and down his spine. Forcing his eyes to refocus on Andi, he saw her sipping her wine and seemingly drinking in the atmosphere with it, if her wandering eyes were any indication. Unfortunately, he was having a hard time keeping himself from noticing what else was going on. A man started laughing loudly from somewhere behind him, the sound of it pervasive and jarring. Sam tried unsuccessfully to stop himself from jumping in shock, Andi spotting his reaction instantly.
"Sam, are you alright?" she asked, sounding concerned.
"Yeah," he said, trying to keep his voice steady, "I just need to use the restroom. If you'll pardon me?" With that, he got to his feet and grabbed his cane.
"Of course," said Andi, more than a little apprehensively.
Sam limped his way across the room, drawing a few curious looks from some of the patrons and wait staff. He ignored them and made a line for the restrooms, heading into the short hallway that led to them. Once inside the men's room, he went straight for the sink and turned the cold water on. Cupping his hands together, he placed them underneath the faucet and collected a handful of water. He splashed the water on his face and stared in the mirror. His face looked haunted and tired, older than it should be.
"Didn't we already have the talk about vanity, Sammy?" asked an obnoxiously familiar voice from his left.
"What are you doing here?" asked Sam, not wanting to get into it with the Devil tonight.
"What, no 'hi how are you'?" said Satan. "I just don't know how to talk to you anymore."
"Yet you somehow manage to do a lot of it, don't you?" Sam grabbed a paper towel and dried off his hands with it.
"Oh kiddo come on, I'm not that bad. I think you're just stressed and taking it out on me. You need to look into yoga or something, maybe tai chi."
Sam grunted in exasperation and turned to face him, "not that bad? Of course you're that bad; you're the Devil!"
"Oh. Right." He laughed and said, "I forgot."
"Will you just tell me what you're doing here?"
"Oh fine. I'm here to talk to you about your impending return to your duties." The Devil moved to lean against the wall.
"Oh?" asked Sam, prompting him to continue.
"I just want you to know that as soon as you get a clean bill of health, you're back on the job."
"That's it? I mean, you could've told me this when the time came." Sam tossed the balled up towel into the trash, grabbing a second one to dry off his face.
"I suppose I could've just done that, but I wanted to see how you were doing. You've had a lot going on recently with your father's death, all that Silent Hill crap, and that little thing you've taken on as a pet. I'm concerned for your wellbeing is all."
"You're concerned for my wellbeing?" asked Sam, having difficulties in believing him.
"Does that shock you, Sammy? I would think that by now, you'd know how much I care about you." The Devil gave him a surprisingly disarmed look, almost convincing him of his sincerity.
"Don't do that," he said, getting a little angry.
"Do what?"
"Pretend that you care, because we both know you don't. Now, if that's all, I'd like to get back to my date. Have good night." With that, Sam turned away and left the restroom and went back to his table and Andi.