Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: This chapter brings us back to the Reaper we know and love.

Chapter 3: The Intricately Carved Box

The next day, Sam was at work taking inventory in the stock room out back. The job consisted mostly of walking around with a clipboard and counting merchandise, writing down the exact amount of each item. Fortunately, he only needed to do half the backroom and not the whole thing. It would've taken forever to count all that stuff and he was glad that the other half of the task was being done by someone else.

He went around the corner, heading to the next row down to continue on. Following the edge of the shelf, he smacked into a large stack of paper towel boxes. They started toppling over, falling down around him. Sam closed his eyes and raised his arms to shield himself, cringing at the prospect of being the victim of bad circumstances once more. The boxes didn't seem to be hitting him, but could be heard falling to the floor all over. At some point in this, the air began to feel different and he could tell something had changed.

Sam opened his eyes and found himself in a field in the middle of nowhere, spectacular country scenery surrounding him completely as far as the eye could see. He lowered his arms and slowly spun around in a circle, taking in the beautiful but unfamiliar view.

"Boring, isn't it?" said the Devil from his left.

Sam turned to him and said, "I imagine you're here to get my response to your offer the other night."

"Got it in one, Sammy. What's your decision?"

"Before we continue with that, I would like to be specific about my conditions."

"Conditions?" asked the Devil, sounding bemused.

"I want healthcare, that's including vision and dental; that goes for both me and Charlie. Another thing is I want him to be legally mine. I want to have all the paperwork I need for him, so he's a member of society. Now, I know you don't like talking about him or having anything to do with him, but I need this."

"Sammy, I'm not really seeing where you stand to be making such demands like you have some bargaining chip in this. Explain to me why you think I should grant this for you."

"Listen, you want to change the nature of our working relationship; that much is obvious. What you want to change it to, I don't know. What I do know is that you really want me to accept. Now, tell me I'm wrong on that." Sam took a breath, fixing Satan with a steady gaze.

"Oh fine. I'll have all the paper work taken care of and you'll get the things you need in about 7 to 10 business days. You will need to sign a few things."

"Only if I get a couple days to review everything I'm supposed to sign."

"You're getting very paranoid, Sam. Not bad." The Devil and the countryside faded away, being replaced with the familiar environment of the Work Bench stock room.

It actually took less time than seven days for the paper work to arrive and Sam got Charlie and his papers together and left for Tony's as soon as he could to get him to look it over with him. He would've gone to Josie if he could, but she was out of the loop and Tony was fairly knowledgeable about these things himself. It was too bad that his place was such a long ways away. The drive over was a nightmare with Charlie crying practically the entire way and traffic getting out of the city was horrendous. Once he was out in the woods, things started to calm down a little and the baby slowly began to calm down.

Reaching Tony's cabin, Sam parked the car and got his papers and Charlie, slinging his day bag over a shoulder. The front door opened and the hermetic demon stepped out onto the porch. "Sam?" he said, sounding confused.

"Hi Tony, sorry I showed up unannounced like this, but I really need your help with something." He marched up to the porch, Charlie looking up at Tony with rapt curiosity.

"And who is this," asked Tony, looking down at Charlie with equal amounts of curiosity.

"This is Charlie and it's sort of a long story. Can we come inside?"

"Of course, Sam. Come on in."

"So that brings you up to speed," concluded Sam, bouncing a happy Charlie on his leg.

"Wow, I don't know what to say." Tony took a drink of his coffee.

"Yeah, it's been a little hard for me to process myself. I just need you to look over the papers and make sure there're no unpleasant surprises in them before I sign."

"Well, I could look them over, but I'm no legal expert, Sam. I wouldn't want to tell you it's okay to sign them and be mistaken."

"I understand, but you're the only person I could think of and I need the money and the extra time I would get from doing this." Sam readjusted Charlie on his lap and took a sip of the coffee Tony had gotten him earlier.

"Alright, feel free to hang out while I look these over for you. Honestly, I don't really have anything else to do." Tony got up, grabbing the papers and took them over to his dining table.

"Thank you, Tony," said Sam. He spent his time playing with Charlie and teaching him the difference between ducks, chickens, pigs, and cows. The little baby was lively and happy throughout. Sometimes, Tony would take notice of this and a smile would grace his features. Sam was completely unaware of the attention he was receiving; his focus was thoroughly on Charlie and his wants and needs.

A couple hours later, Tony suddenly stood up with the papers in his hands and said, "alright, I've looked over the paperwork, Sam."

Sam looked up from Charlie and asked, "what's the verdict?"

"Well," he replied, walking back over to his chair. "It would seem that everything's in order."

"That's great!" exclaimed Sam, scooping up Charlie before getting to his feet. He walked over to the chair he'd been occupying earlier and sat back down in it.

"Yes, it is. But Sam, I still think you should give this some thought. There may be nothing in these papers that could harm you, but he is most definitely planning something and these are a part of that plan." He sighed, looking at Sam's crestfallen expression at hearing his cautionary words, and continued. "Listen, I don't want you to just not take it; I just want you to make sure you know what you're getting into."

"I know," said Sam quietly. "It's just that I don't know what else to do. There is no way I can continue working at the Bench, capture escaped Souls, and take of Charlie at the same time. If I go through with this, I would be able to quit the Bench and only have two things to worry about instead of three and that would free up much of my time. Bounty hunting alone can take up quite a bit of time, but only for brief intervals. There's a lot of time in between each that I could really use. On top of all that, it would mean that I can properly take care of Charlie, especially be able to take him to the doctor."

"Well, if you really think that you need to do this, then I won't get in your way," Tony handed the papers over to Sam, who took them with his free hand.

"Thank you again for doing this," said Sam.

"You're welcome. But Sam, there is something that I want to ask you about what you told me earlier."

"What's that?"

"You said that you had to go all the way across country to find the answers you were looking for, but you didn't say where. Where did you go and what happened to you there?"

Sam's face darkened sharply and he said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"I got that, but it may have significance. It's obvious that something bad happened over there and you don't want to share it, but anything that the Devil has anything to do with has importance, even the places these things are done at. It was a town, wasn't it?"

"What do you know about it?" he asked defensively.

"Was it Silent Hill?" Tony's voice was barely above a whisper. The look on Sam's face was all the answer he needed and he said, "Oh Sam, no. I'm so sorry; I have no idea what to say."

"Then please don't say anything," responded Sam, a little icily. Charlie detected the drop in the mood of the room and started squirming around uncomfortably. Sam broke his gaze with Tony to calm the little boy down. A heavy silence settled down over the room, almost suffocating in how thick it was. They sat there for a minute, not once acknowledging each other. Eventually, Sam broke down and whispered, "what do you know about that place?"

"I know it's a very bad place and that many terrible things reside in it. The place that Silent Hill sits on has an incredibly long history of darkness. Lately, the demon Samael has tried to use it to rebirth himself on this realm. What could the Devil possibly hope to gain by having you be born there?"

"I don't have a clue," admitted Sam. "But he did tell me that he didn't need it, that he just liked the idea of having it happen there."

"I see," responded Tony. "Well, I'm certain that there is an element of truth to that, I doubt that it's his entire reason, though. He always has a reason for doing everything, a reason that furthers his agenda."

"Yeah, I've been learning that over time." Sam stood up and set Charlie against his shoulder. He knelt down and slipped the strap of his day bag over his other shoulder. "Thank you again for all you've done, Tony."

"Of course, Sam, come back any time." Tony got up himself and saw him to the door. Have a safe drive and good luck on everything, Sam. And don't forget that you will be facing danger from all directions, but you have the means to protect yourself and those you love."

"How do you mean?" he asked.

"Within you, a great power lays dormant. It is waiting for you to master it and use it to face your enemies. Learn how to wield this power, Sam, and prepare for everything that is to come."

"But it scares me. I fear what it will do to me if I let myself use it." Sam's thoughts briefly flashed to an image of himself kneeling in the midst of a powerful globe of flames, of the crushing guilt at the slaying of his brother.

"I know, but you must overcome that fear and embrace it. No matter what, it is your destiny."

"I don't know about that, Tony," said Sam, feeling distinctly uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation. "But I'll think about what you said. I would like to be able to protect my friends better." He turned away and walked back to his car.

After returning from his trip to Tony's, he dropped Charlie off with Andi. She gave him a kiss and wished him good luck, before he moved on to his doctor's appointment. The doctor gave him a clean bill of health and wrote him a note stating that he could return to regular duties. He went immediately over to work and placed the note in Ted's in-box on his desk, as he had left for home for the day.

Sam was grabbing a few things at the supermarket, when his cell phone started ringing. Setting the box of formula in his cart, he pulled out his phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Sam Oliver?" A gruff voice asked.

"Yes, this is him," he replied.

"Hi. My name's Bobby Singer; you left me a message over a week ago."

"Oh, Mr. Singer, thank you for getting back to me. I'm sorry about bothering you with this, but I was hoping you could help me with something."

"Yes, you claim that John is listed as your godfather. Are you sure it's the same John Winchester, though?"

"Well, I suppose that I could be wrong about it, but I really believe that he's the one I'm looking for. I apologize if this is too forward of me, but I was hoping that I could get some sort of contact number for him." Sam crossed his fingers, while waiting for his response.

"I'm sorry to tell you, son, but John passed away awhile back."

Sam felt his spirits freefall to rock bottom at hearing this news. This was it, the end of his search. His godfather and his two sons were all dead and the secrets he was looking for had died with them. "I, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah. Listen, what do you know of his relation to your parents?"

"I don't know anything, to be honest with you. All I know is that at one time they picked him to be my godfather."

"You didn't ask them about this?" asked the other man.

Scratching the back of his head, he replied with, "Uh no. I didn't want to talk to my mom about it. It's complicated."

"I see," said that scratchy old voice. "Well, I'm not sure how to help you young man, but good luck on your search for answers."

"Thank you sir," said Sam, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt.

"You're welcome son. Have a good day."

"You too, goodbye." With that they hung up.

Sighing, he turned back to his cart and resumed shopping. He stocked up on toilet paper and diapers, before heading to the checkout lane. After making his purchases, he got in his car and went back to Andi's. Pulling into her driveway, Sam got out and walked up to the front door. He knocked on the door and waited for her to answer. The door opened and Andi was standing there, little Charlie clutched in her arms.

"Hey beautiful," he said.

"Who you talking to?" she asked, a restrained smile trying to appear on her face.

"Does it matter? Either way, it's true," he said, going for pure charm.

His attempt must've succeeded, because her smile broke out into full force. It was bright and lifted his spirit to see. "Thank you for watching him."

"Of course, Sam. How was your doctor's appointment?"

"Great. He said I was all better, see?" Sam lifted his shirt to show that the bandages were all gone.

"That's wonderful. Does that mean you have to go back to work?"

"Well, I have been working," he replied, confused.

"No, I mean your other work." Andi held out Charlie to Sam, who was motioning to take him.

"Oh," he said, settling Charlie against his shoulder. "I guess so. I'm not sure when he's gonna give me a vessel. It could be any time now."

"You don't sound too enthusiastic about that."

"Would you be?" he asked, a step away from defensive.

"I suppose not," she admitted. "Let's talk about something else."

"Sure. How was Charlie? Did he give you any trouble?"

"Well, he didn't want to take a nap earlier when I set him down, but other than that he's been a little angel." She smiled at Charlie, who was trying to bury his tiny face in Sam's shirt.

"Thank you again for watching him." Sam started rubbing circles on the baby's back, while bouncing him up and down gently.

"Of course, I love watching him. He's so cute and fun. Like I said before, Sam, any time you need someone to watch him and I'm available, I will babysit him."

"I know, but it still means a lot to me that you would do that."

"You're sweet, Sam. Come on in." She turned around and walked inside.

Sam followed her in and shut the door behind him. He waited patiently for her to collect together Charlie's things and throw them in his day bag. She came back and handed the bag to him, giving him a kiss on the lips and Charlie a kiss on the forehead. "Bye Sam. I love you."

"Love you too. Sorry I couldn't stay longer."

"That's alright. I understand that you've been busy." Andi snapped her fingers and said," Oh, I've been meaning to ask you: did you get Tony to look at those papers?"

"I did this morning. He said that there was nothing in them that I should really be concerned about."

"Well, that's great," she said.

"Yeah, it is. But I'm still not entirely certain that I want to go through with this. I mean, he's offering me a lot without actually asking for anything in return and, for some reason, that scares the holy hell out of me." Sam sighed in quiet frustration.

"I know this is going to sound like a cliché, but I believe that you'll make the right decision."

He laughed and said, "you're right, that is a cliché. But thank you for it anyway."

Smiling, she said, "of course. You're welcome, baby. Now, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay," he responded. "Talk to you later.

Sam, after getting Charlie in his car-seat, drove off and headed for home. He pulled into his parking garage and juggled his paperwork, his groceries, Charlie, and Charlie's bag. Struggling to keep everything in his arms, he trudged his way up to his apartment and opened the door. Nobody seemed to be home, something that didn't entirely surprise him. Sock and Ben both had to work today and had plans to go to the Brickhouse afterward.

Setting the groceries on the counter, he took Charlie into their bedroom and set him in his playpen. "No nap for you, little dude. You had your chance earlier and you blew it, didn't you? Huh? Did you blow your chance, buddy?"

Charlie gurgled in response and craned his neck to look around at his surroundings, no longer giving Sam any attention. Sighing, Sam let the day bag drop to the floor and walked over to his desk. He looked over the small stack of papers in his hands and felt himself caving in. Grabbing a pen, he began to sign all the forms and had soon completed the entire stack. Once he was done, Sam set the papers down on his desktop and grabbed the baby monitor, leaving the room. He snuck out to the back patio and puffed down a cigarette, feeling some measure of shame at doing so.

Later, Sam was in the middle of making himself dinner, which consisted of throwing a TV dinner in the microwave and cracking open a beer. In the background, the TV itself was showing a Simpsons rerun. His mind was rubbing itself raw working over the many complications that had cropped up in the past couple weeks, adding to the ever growing pile of useless angst that he had accrued over the past year. Everything just hurt to think about and he was growing ever tired of keeping up the charade of normalcy. With the impending threat of his return to reaping, Sam was far too quickly losing the battle against a total mental breakdown.

When the microwave dinged, he pulled out his food and set the hot plastic tray on a plate so he could hold it and took his beer with him to the living room. Charlie could be heard over the monitor playing with his little toys. Grateful that the baby was still being kept occupied, Sam tried to focus on the show and forget for awhile all his problems. It just wasn't any good though, as he couldn't seem to stray very far from his reality.

After over a half hour of brooding (with the occasional trip to his room to tend to Charlie), his food cold and only half-eaten, Sam was broken from his internal reverie by the sound of the front door opening. Sock and Ben piled in, each carrying grocery bags. Setting the bags on the counter, Sock spoke first. "Sammy, what's goin' on?"

"Hi guys. Nothing, I was just eating and watching television. How was the bar?"

"We didn't end up going," said Ben, reaching into one of the bags. He pulled out a bottle of liquor and reached in again. Sock was doing the same thing and soon they had a messy row of booze running the entire length of the counter.

"We decided to just stock our own bar," added Sock.

"I can see that."

"How did things go at Tony's?" asked Ben.

"Not bad, actually. He gave everything the 'all clear'," answered Sam, standing up.

"Awesome," said Sock. "Did you sign the papers then?"

Sighing, he said, "I did."

"I don't believe you," countered Sock.

"I did," he repeated, this time a bit more defensively.

"Prove it," added Ben.

"Why?"

"Because we expect to get paid by you for our assistance in your duties, that's why," stated Sock.

"Fine," he said, "I'll show you."

Sam led them into his bedroom and straight toward his desk. The only problem was that the documents were no longer in the place he had left them. They had been replaced by something else entirely, something that caused him to feel like he had been punched right in the gut. Right where the papers were supposed to be was sitting a vessel box.

"Shit," he said at the sight of it.