"Hey Sam!" Dean let himself back into Sam's apartment an hour after he had left.

"Hey," Sam said quietly, putting a finger in front of his lips to signal quiet. He gestured to Jess, who was asleep, her head on his shoulder.

"Sammy boy!" Dean laughed softly, shaking his head.

"Shut up."

"Dad was wondering if you wanted to stop by. It's been forever since us guys have just hung out, you know what I mean?"

"Sure," Sam slowly pulled himself away from Jess without waking her up, and pulled a blanket over her. He looked at her for a minute. "Isn't she pretty?" He smiled.

"Yeah, she's gorgeous Romeo. Now can we leave before I puke?"

Sam rolled his eyes, scribbling a quick note to Jess stating where he would be. "Okay, let's go."

Sam was about to walk out the door when Dean stopped him. "Did you take your pills?"

"Yeah, I've got them with me." Sam pulled a little bottle from his jacket pocket, and Dean nodded.
"How do you feel?"

"Not bad. Getting better."

"Headaches?"

"Sometimes."

"How are the broken ribs?"

"Okay."

"And what about" –

"Dean, I'm fine. Stop mothering me. I'm going to get enough of that from dad."

Dean shrugged. "That's my job, isn't it?"

They left as quietly as they could, and made their way to Dean and John's hotel room.

"Hey dad." Sam walked into the room, and was greeted with a smile.

"Nice to see you up and at 'em. How do you feel?"

Sam sighed. "Ask Dean."

"Hey you're lucky to be able to leave the hospital at all, and we promised to take care of you."

"Whatever dad." Sam sat down at the couch, after helping himself to a beer from the fridge.

John raised an eyebrow. "You sure you should be drinking?"

"Dad, I have a concussion. I'm not dying."

"It's a contusion, actually. And I don't think you understand how serious this is Sam."

"If anyone understands it, it's me." Sam opened the lid. "Unless I was, in fact, not there, which I think I was. I'm pretty sure."

John was just about to reply when Dean interrupted. "Okay no fighting! This is supposed to be bonding time. So bond!"

"Fine." Sam laughed, but set the bottle down on the table when his head gave a little pang of pain. It can't be time for my painkillers already…

"You know Dean, you are getting a little bossy lately," John teased Dean.

"Oh really? I find that hilarious coming from you…"

Another flare of pain erupted behind Sam's eyes, and he grit his teeth and put a hand to his forehead. In the background, John and Dean still bickered, ignorant of what was happening. No, no. Not here, not again.. Sam felt himself panicking, as the pain got worse. He let a moan of pain escape his lips.

"…Sam?" John's voice broke into Sam's consciousness as he doubled over in pain. It was worse than last time.

No, no, no… Please don't be happening!

"Whoa Sam, what's going on?" It was Dean's voice this time.

Light danced behind Sam's eyes as the visions started. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest, his pulse echoing painfully in his head as he cried out in pain. Someone gripped him by the shoulders as he slid to the floor. "Sam!"

The man stood slowly, cautiously, after burying the box. He looked around, waiting for the one who would come. And why wouldn't they? After all, he had summoned the thing.

"Well look who it is…"A dark haired woman in a black dress shook her head with a smile. She had appeared out of nowhere. "A bon-fied Winchester. Do my eyes deceive me?"
" No they don't." Sam still couldn't tell who the man was, even though he was supposed to be one of his relatives, or even him. "You know why I'm here."

"You want to make a deal, am I right?" The woman took a step closer, and the man one step back. "And the price?"

"My soul."

"Why that's a mighty fine offer for someone like you."

"Don't play games. That is what you take from everyone who makes a deal."

"And what would you be trading it for? To be the worlds best hunter?"

"I want you to save them. Both of them."

The woman laughed. "From what? Where there's life there's hope."

"We both know that time is running out. Now do we have a deal or not?"

"I don't know… Two lives has never been" –

"Like you said, it's me. I know I'm worth something to the man downstairs. Now I'm sure you can make an exception."

"Than you will have to follow suit." The woman made another move on him, but he didn't back up.

"Five years?"

The woman laughed.

"One."

"You insult me."

"I can't go any lower."

"Well then I guess our discussion is over." The woman went to leave, but the man held out an arm to stop her.

"What do I have to do?"

Sam woke up on the floor, his head killing him and his chest heaving. Dean and John were both kneeling over him with concerned expressions.

"Sam…"John shook his shoulders gently. " You okay?"

With a surprising amount of effort, Sam managed to nod.

Dean scowled. "What was that? You scared the crap out of me."

John looked from Dean to Sam. "It was a vision, wasn't it?"

"How…"Sam sighed, trying to catch his breath. " How did you know?"

"A what?! I thought you said those were in nightmares?" Dean sounded really concerned.

"They were…"Sam tried to stand up, but John pushed him back down.

"Give yourself a minute. You scared the hell out of us boy."

"Sorry…"

"Don't apologize." Dean shook his head.

"How…"Sam was angry that it took so long for the after-affects to wear off. His head still throbbed. "How long was I unconscious?"

"Not long." John answered. "Maybe five minutes." He hesitated. "What did you see?"

It was Sam's turn to hesitate. I saw a man who is either one of us, and somehow I don't know whom. One of us sells our soul for the other two. How can I tell you that? "Nothing new…"Sam eventually lied. " Just Jess again. I'm really starting to hate ceilings right now."

"I don't blame you man." Dean helped Sam to his feet, and Sam took a minute for his vision to steady. This really wasn't good for his recovery. "So, are we having fun yet or what?" Dean gave Sam a weak smile.

"Yeah…"Sam's voice was quiet, although Dean and John would misunderstand why. Only Sam knew the truth. " Major bonding time right here."