A/N: I forgot last chapter until too late to thank people for their reviews. Sorry. And thanks!


The newest slave assigned to the office warehouse was causing quite a stir, and he hadn't even arrived yet for the day. The mere fact that he even left for periods of time was enough cause for conversation, but today's activities promised to provide something to talk about for centuries to come.

Because standing outside the door to the slave's office was a group of around ten demons waiting for him. Including two High Lords.

One thing was for certain: the demon overseers all agreed they'd never seen anything like it before.

At the far end, the doors to the elevator Sam used opened. Everyone watched as he stepped out, completely engrossed by whatever he was reading in the file he was holding. A backpack was slung over his shoulder, and a tiny dog ran out in front of him.

Sam mechanically followed the dog all the way down the long aisle, then turned left towards his office, never once looking up. This caused him to nearly step on the Chihuahua, which had come to an abrupt stop when it saw the group standing by the office door.

"Dammit, Kiwi! This is the third time this morning! I swear if this keeps up I'm going to get you a helmet or some - "

Sam had finally spotted the party waiting for him. More important, he saw Asmodeus and Lillith, who both looked displeased they had needed to wait.

Sam visibly paled. "Please tell me I'm not late."

Kiwi barked. Both High Lords looked at the dog, then Asmodeus spoke. "No. You are not late. We were apparently given the wrong time schedule." At this, the female demon standing next to Lillith flinched.

Sam relaxed in relief. "Oh, thank God. Er, goodness. I mean, thank goodness. I would never say - "

"Samuel."

He had to learn to stop babbling. "Yes?"

"Lillith and I have convinced several of the other High Lords to assign you some researchers to help go through the files."

Sam was surprised to notice Jim, the demon Gladys had flirted with, standing in the group. Jim gave an expression that clearly said he was anything but happy to be here. All the other demons showed pretty much the same face as well. Sam suspected taking orders from a slave was not something they were prepared to do, even if they had been assigned. He wondered how the High Lords thought this was help.

"Have you got the souls from yesterday yet?" Sam asked.

Lillith nodded. "We had 100 percent retrieval within an hour, once the information was relayed to the appropriate channels."

"Thanks. I'll mark them off then."

They all turned as the elevator nearest the office opened up. Two demons stepped out. One was obviously a High Lord.

"Astaroth." Asmodeus looked surprised.

"Asmodeus, Lillith." Astaroth greeted back. "We went to meet you, but were told you left already. Given the wrong schedule?"

Lillith gave a tight smile. Sam noticed it didn't reach her eyes.

Astaroth looked smug. "Perhaps next time you'll listen to me, since I am the one who has the most experience with the humans. I told you he was most likely on a different time schedule."

Astaroth spied Sam and gave a more reassuring smile. He gestured to the demon who came in with him. "Sam, this is Bob. I've assigned him to your staff." Bob held the same hard-faced expression as Jim and the others.

The other High Lords didn't waste any more time. They quickly introduced Sam to the rest of the demons. Once their job was done, Asmodeus put a hand behind Lillith and guided her to the elevators.

"We will leave you now so that you may start your work. We will await your report at the meeting later," Asmodeus told Sam.

Astaroth went to join the other two. "Well, I only came to make sure Bob knew where to go." Before he got on the elevator he turned back to Sam. "Sam, if there is anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm usually the one the humans go to when they need advice."

Sam knew better than to trust a demon. He stayed polite, however. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

The doors closed, and Sam turned back to see his new staff glaring at him with intense dislike. He looked down at Kiwi, who raised an ear towards him and twitched.

Sighing, Sam said resignedly, "Might as well go and get this wonderful day started already."


"Judy? Can I ask you a question?"

Judy huffed and put her folder down. "What?" she said impatiently.

Sam hesitated. He'd already been turned down by three other demons in search of the answer to his question. No one seemed to want to help him, even though Sam was pretty sure they knew the answer. He worried he was about to strike out a fourth time.

"I was just, uh, wondering if you knew what these symbols mean." He pointed to two symbols on the top of the folder he was holding. One was in blue, the other in red. "I'm trying to see if there's another pattern that might make our job easier."

"No, I don't know what they mean," Judy said curtly. "Sorry, I can't help you."

Sam suspected Judy wasn't sorry at all. Great. He had help, but they were turning out to be barely any help at all.

"Thanks," Sam said, discouraged. "I'd like you to record them anyways, please. Just in case."

Judy just scowled at him. She made no move to pick up a notepad in order to follow his instructions.

Sam looked around and saw Jim going through one of the stacks at the end. He seemed to be searching for certain cases to pull out. He had quite a few picked out already.

Sam walked over and tried to make an attempt to bond. Maybe that would thaw the ice that seemed to permeate the air. He used his most polite voice. "So, are you and Gladys an item?"

Jim snorted and didn't bother to look up. "I was under the impression you knew her. If so, then you should already know the answer."

"Yeah, of course. Stupid question." Sam tried to backtrack. Obviously he'd picked the wrong topic. "Gladys in a relationship would be a lot like Hell suddenly being fun. It just doesn't happen."

That actually earned him a smile and a chuckle. "You do know her then." Jim appraised Sam, then turned back to the stack he was going through. Without looking at Sam, he tried to act casual.

"I don't, uh, suppose you'd tell me what you got for your soul?"

Sam had seen this coming. He had wondered how long it would take someone to ask. He noticed the other demons shift, trying to overhear his answer.

"I didn't sell my soul."

Jim stopped what he was doing and eyed Sam's bracelets. "You obviously have a contract, so I don't know why you're bothering to lie. You shouldn't need to feel ashamed either. It must be a pretty sweet deal for you to be treated so well after the Boss collected you."

"Look," Sam told him stiffly. "I'm not lying. I never sold my soul. The contract wasn't with me, it was for me. The Devil bought me from my parents before I was born. The terms of the contract they signed said he could collect me as his property on my twenty-first birthday, which he did." Sam scowled at the memory. "I have to say, that birthday sucked big time."

He noticed that at this point the other demons gave up their charade of pretending not to listen. Sam saw they were all openly gawking at him now with avid interest.

"I capture escaped souls for him on Earth. That's my job until the day I die. I'm just here until we bring the number back up to 99. Then I can go back home." Sam glared at the files. "Even if it takes me the next decade or more in order to do it."

Sam took a deep breath to calm himself down. He hadn't meant to get so worked up.

He wasn't done griping though. "So I guess to really answer your question," Sam opened his arms and indicated all the stacks of files, "I got this lovely" - he put an extra sarcastic emphasis on the word 'lovely' - "gift, plus a lifetime subscription of perpetual annoyance personally delivered by the Devil himself."

The atmosphere in the room immediately shifted with Sam's revelation. No one said anything, but Sam suspected he wouldn't have problems with them anymore. Judy, as well as many of the others, turned back to their work, but their body language suggested they didn't seem to be bothered by it anymore. He even saw several of them pick up their previously untouched notepads.

Jim seemed to internally debate something. He must have made up his mind, because he went over, picked up a file, and handed it to Sam.

"Listen, those two symbols you were asking about. The blue one is the symbol for the recruiter, and the red is for the punisher."

Sam looked at the file, puzzled. "I don't understand. The recruiter?"

"Yes. When a human soul is…tempted, so to speak, the demon who is successful is the one listed as the recruiter. Most demons don't care which sin the soul most falls for - like Lillith. She'll go after anyone who shows an inclination towards evil. But some demons specialize more in one sin than others. My boss, Leviathan, likes sinners of envy. That's his symbol - in blue - on the file you're holding."

"Who are the punishers?"

"They are the Princes of Hell. Lillith is the sole Princess. They rule the kingdoms in the Outer Realm. While there are untold amounts of recruiters, there are only nine punishers, ten if you include the Boss. Asmodeus and Astaroth were here this morning with Lillith, and I understand you've spoken to Beelzebub as well. You also know my boss. The kingdoms go in order of importance. The First Kingdom is the least important. The Ninth is obviously the most - that's Beelzebub. There is constant warring between the Princes and Princess over dominion of the higher kingdoms. Everyone always wants more power. Our Lord Lucifer rules over them all."

Sam looked at the file in his hand. The blue and red symbols didn't match. "If Leviathan is the recruiter for this soul, then why isn't he also the punisher? He's a Prince."

"The Princes and Princess are equal opportunity punishers. They really don't specialize. However, Leviathan does take most pride in punishing his own. It is uncommon, but not unheard of, for sinners of envy to end up in other kingdoms. The punisher for the soul in the file you have in your hand is Berith. That's his symbol, in red."

Sam looked again at the file in his hand. He said thoughtfully, "You know, I've seen Leviathan's mark a lot - both in the red and the blue."

"He's a very prolific recruiter. But you've probably noticed his symbol more because he had a breach, along with Astaroth and Lillith. Leviathan's was the latest, and it was by far the largest. He's received a lot of criticism for it."

"Is that why he's in such a bad mood?"

Jim smirked. "No. He's in a bad mood because he's Leviathan."


Sam was right about the effects of his disclosure about his contract. For the rest of the afternoon, the others no longer complained about the notes he wanted them to make about the symbols. They also worked harder and treated him a lot better. It was nice not to see looks of disgust and resentment every time they talked to him. They also actually listened whenever he went to check up on how they were doing.

After several hours, Judy came up to him. "Well, we're done for the day. See you tomorrow, Sam."

"What?"

Jim smiled. "Sorry, Sam. We clock out. Got to have a personal life. Don't have to be on the job all the time, y'know."

"No, I really don't know."

Jim laughed. "Yeah, I guess maybe you wouldn't."

The remaining demons all told Sam good-bye as they left. Sam watched them leave. "Thanks for your help today. See you tomorrow," he told them.

Jim stayed behind. He leaned over to Sam to confide in him. "I wouldn't rely much on Bob if I were you."

"He doesn't seem to get much done, does he?"

"He takes after his boss. Astaroth is the demon of sloth and laziness. He works best manipulating others to do his work for him. That's why it was so odd when he showed up himself. You must have really made an impression in that meeting yesterday, in order for three High Lords to make a personal appearance with you today, even if two of them are under a lot of pressure about their breaches."

"We all want the same thing though, don't we? To get the job done, and fast." Sam turned back to the files and sighed. "Man, I've still got a lot of work to do before I leave. I still need to go over everyone's notes. I want to check something out. It seems to me that every file Mammon recruited we seem to have labeled as easy catches."

"They would be. Mammon loves greed. All the reapers probably have to do to find those souls is throw money out, and the souls will voluntarily turn themselves in."

For the first time since landing in Hell, Sam grinned. "Seriously though, we should probably concentrate tomorrow on finding all Mammon's files then."

Jim considered him. "That's really not a bad idea, Sam."

Sam suddenly realized how much work they'd gotten done that day. "Wow. We did a lot today. I have no idea how I'm going to get all these files over the meeting."

"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to one of the overseers. They'll get some of the souls to do it for you. C'mon. I've got some time to spare. I'll walk you over to get some food before your meeting."


It was late, and Sam was still absorbed in his work. He'd returned to his office after the meeting. He had no idea he was about to get yet another unusual visitor to show up in the warehouse in order to see him.

The rest of the warehouse knew, however. They were currently in the process of scrambling from him. The well-dressed man that had stepped off the elevator at the far end was determined. He spoke to no one, and ignored the demons who tried to bow to him.

As he walked down the aisle, he threw waves of pain through random souls, but the sounds of their muffled screams didn't achieve their usual goal. He still wasn't smiling.

The man reached the end of the aisle, turned left, and headed straight for the open door in the corner. Through the door, Sam could be seen writing something on one of the walls, the notes from the day held loosely in one of his hands.

Kiwi saw the man, though, and started to twitch - only this time it was in fear. The dog barked to try and get Sam's attention.

Since Sam was concentrating only on what he was writing, he misunderstood the warning. "Relax, Kiwi. We'll go soon. I just want to finish this. I don't see what you're complaining about anyways. At least you've got a pillow to sleep on."

"What do you think you're doing, Sam?"

Sam looked up and froze. He'd seen this anger before. He looked around, confused. "What? What am I doing?"

The Devil was furious, and cornered Sam against the wall. "I told you to reduce the number of escaped souls. Not waste your time trying to make some statistical report. I have people for that."

"Yeah, I remember from the meeting." Sam went for the cheap shot. "I bet you can make some really informed decisions from people who don't get all their paperwork."

"You might keep in mind who you are talking to."

The Devil's anger was palpable, and even though he knew it was stupid, Sam chose to play with fire anyways. He was angry himself.

"Oh, believe me. I know whom I'm talking to. Where do you get off? I'm busting my ass for you, as usual! In case you haven't noticed, you threw me in here with no help to begin with. You've lied to me, manipulated me, and given me next to no information! And now you're pissed because I'm trying to figure out a way to do my job faster?"

The Devil angrily pointed to all the stacks still standing against the walls. "This doesn't look fast, Sam."

"Look, we've already nearly cleared enough for one full stack. What does it matter if I'm working on another idea? You should see this," Sam indicated the lists he'd started on the wall, "I can't quite figure it out. It's really odd -- "

"I'm not seeing anything other than your laziness. Maybe I haven't given you enough incentive to get this done, Sam. Perhaps going home quickly isn't really what you want. Maybe you need more time here in order to think about your priorities."

"What? No, wait -- " Sam made a desperate bid to stop what he knew was about to happen.

The Devil didn't care. He threw an arm towards all the remaining stacks of files and it was like a large invisible hand pushed them. The stacks immediately tumbled over and the cases crashed onto the floor, creating a disastrous sea of files a couple of feet deep. Kiwi barely managed to get out of the way.

Sam just stood staring at the mess in shock. "I didn't mean -- "

"Get to work, Sam," the Devil threatened. "The next time I won't be so nice."

If this was nice, Sam knew he didn't want to see cruel. There was nothing for him to say. Sam tried not to show any emotion so that he wouldn't give the Devil any more ammunition. He just surveyed the room, feeling dejected.

"And clean up this mess. Now."

Sam looked back at where the Devil had been, but he only saw Kiwi sitting there. The dog actually looked sympathetic. Sam looked out past the door and also saw a group of demons who had gathered to watch the confrontation. They also gave him looks of stunned disbelief. Disheartened, Sam wearily absorbed what had just happened.

He remembered what Jim had said about him earlier. Sam couldn't hide his hurt now that the Devil was gone. Then he kicked a couple of files in his frustration. "Yeah. I'm treated real well. Lucky me."