Sam clung to Michael's hand as they walked. They'd passed by a lot of people that he didn't like. They all looked at him really mean, liked they hated him and wanted to hurt him. It really scared him.
Michael stopped as soon as they entered the garden and bent down in front of Sam. "It's alright, little one. No one will hurt you."
"They were mean," Sam said.
"I know. You must understand that they've never seen anything like you before," Michael explained.
"You mean a human?" Sam asked.
Michael honestly wasn't sure what the other angels thought of Sam, other than that he wasn't like them. They should know that no living human could enter Heaven, but he also didn't believe they could sense Sam's Grace yet. It was still too weak from the demon blood for anyone but an archangel to sense. "The reason doesn't matter. I promise, they won't hurt you. I won't let them, and neither will Gabriel or your grandfather."
Sam nodded and looked around. "Is this your garden?"
"Yes, it is," Michael said. He smiled as he saw the mesmerized look the child had on his face as he looked around.
Sam looked around in awe. It looked like a really big forest that was filled with trees and flowers. "It's so big."
Michael stood up. "Yes, it is, but we have a wonderful gardener to take care of it."
"He must get tired a lot," Sam said as he went over to one of the trees.
"On the contrary. I love it," a new voice said.
Sam turned and yelped at the sudden presence of a new person and he ran to his uncle's side.
Michael immediately put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "It's alright. He won't hurt you."
"Of course not. It is good to meet you, Sam," the man said.
"How'd you know my name?" Sam asked.
Michael quirked an eyebrow at Joshua. He was wondering the same thing. None of the younger angels had been told about Sam yet.
"He spoke with me just before you arrived. I believe he wanted to prepare me for your presence," Joshua answered Michael's unasked question.
Michael nodded. "Sam, this is Joshua. He is your uncle as well."
"How many uncles do I have?" Sam wondered. His grandfather had said he had a lot of them. He wondered how many.
"Quite a few," Michael said with a chuck
"Hi," Sam said to Joshua a bit shyly.
"Hello, Sam," Joshua said with an inviting smile for the boy.
Sam turned to Michael. "Were those two men from earlier my uncles too?"
Michael stiffened at the comment. Sam was referring to Raphael and Lucifer. Michael didn't like even the implication that Lucifer was family to Sam, no matter how true it was. Nothing as pure as Sam should be associated with Lucifer in any way. "I suppose so."
"I will leave you two to explore. It was nice to meet you, Sam," Joshua said before walking away.
"Are you mad," Sam asked Michael.
"You seem like you are. You don't like those two men, do you? I don't think Gabriel does either," Sam said. They'd been trying not to seem angry when he came out, but he could tell they were. They just didn't want him to see it.
"It's not important. You don't need to worry about it," Michael assured him.
"I didn't like one of them either. The one that was staring at me looked mean. He looked like he wanted to do something bad," Sam said.
"That was Raphael. He isn't used to being around children, nor is he used to children being here. I think he was just very shocked," Michael said. He hoped that was the case anyway. He had his father's warning not to leave Sam alone with him in his head. He wasn't sure why his father would fear Raphael being around Sam.
"So, it's the nice one you don't like?" Sam asked confused.
Michael barely suppressed a flinch when Sam referred to Lucifer as 'the nice one'. He wouldn't have considered Lucifer at all nice for thousands of years. "The nice one?"
"Yeah, the other man. He smiled at me. He seemed nice," Sam said.
Michael knelt down in front of Sam once more. "Lucifer is good at tricking people. He wants people to think he's nice, like you did."
"So, he's a bad person," Sam asked.
"Yes. You must stay away from him. He isn't a good person," Michael said. A voice in the back of his head told him that it wasn't that simple, but he ignored that voice, just as he'd done for centuries. What happened was Lucifer's fault. If he hadn't rebelled, everything would have been fine.
"Okay," Sam said. If Michael said someone was bad, he believed him. Michael had been nice to him and protected him from anyone trying to be mean to him.
"Good," Michael said before standing up. "So how do you like staying with Gabriel?"
Sam shrugged. "Gabriel says I can't go home."
"You must understand it is for your protection. We can't let anyone hurt you," Michael said.
"But it's my fault. Gabriel doesn't believe me when I tell him that," Sam said.
"That's because it's not your fault. It is never your fault when someone does something bad to you," Michael told him.
"But he was mad at me because I didn't do what he said. I didn't train. He'd be even more mad if he knew I liked you," Sam said. He almost felt bad for liking some of the people here. He knew he wasn't supposed to. He was supposed to hate monsters, just like his dad and brother did. But they didn't seem like monsters, at least not his Uncle Michael, his grandfather, and Gabriel. They were nice to him. They were even upset that his dad had hit him. How could they be monsters.
"Why do you say that?" Michael asked.
"He says everything that isn't human is bad," Sam said a bit hesitantly. He didn't want to make his uncle mad by saying he was bad. He hoped Michael wasn't angry.
Michael winced at the boy's words. He wondered just how much self-hatred his nephew would have of himself when he was told what he was. John Winchester had instilled the evil of supernatural creatures into Sam's head. How would he feel about himself when he learned he was one of those supernatural creatures? "Sam, you have to understand that humans only see the supernatural when something bad happens. They only see those who hurt other people. That makes them think that they're all evil. But they're no they're no more all the same than humans are. You know there are some humans that are bad too, right?"
Sam nodded. "Like the bad guys that are on the news."
"That's right. It is the same thing. Not ever creature is the same as the next. Some are good, and some aren't," Michael told him.
"Okay. But what kind of creature are you, Uncle Michael?" Sam wondered. He looked like an angel, but he didn't think he could be.
"Let's save that conversation for another day. Let us just explore for now," Michael said.
Sam smiled and took his uncle's hand.