"Hello."

Sam looked up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. A boy's head peeked over the door, looking into the open window of the Impala.

"Hey." Sam replied uncertainly. He looked over his shoulder, out the other window, where Dad and Dean were still practicing with the knives.

There didn't appear to be any other adults around.

"Can I play with you?" the boy asked.

Sam looked toward his father and brother again. They obviously hadn't noticed the other boy near the car.

"I dunno." Sam looked at the newcomer warily. "I'm not s'posed to talk to strangers."

"But that's 'cause strangers want to hurt you." the boy smiled. "I don't want to hurt you. I want to be your friend."

"I guess that's okay." Sam answered with one more glance at his family. He opened the door so the other boy could get in. "What's your name?"

The other boy cocked his head in thought before answering. "I have a lot of names. But the one I like best is Samael. You can call me Sam."

"My name is Sam too." Sam smiled. "Mine is short for Samuel."

"We're almost the same." Samael grinned back. "Who's that?" He asked, pointing toward Dad and Dean.

"That's my Dad and my brother. My mom died." Sam informed him.

Samael nodded. "I just have a Dad too. I don't know what happened to my mother."

Sam slid army men across the seat toward Samael. "Here, you can play with those."

The two boys knelt in the floorboard and arranged their men as opposing forces across the backseat, making shooting sounds and occasionally tipping over a wounded soldier.

"I dunno how to shoot a gun for real." Sam told his new friend. "Dean does. He can shoot anything. He said he'll teach me when I get bigger. He got his first gun when he was six."

"What does he shoot?" Samael asked, his head tilted curiously again.

"I dunno." Sam shrugged. "Him and Dad just shoot a lot. And they practice with knives. If any bad guys come, Dean and my Dad will shoot them."

"You're going to learn how to use lots of weapons." Samael shrugged, rearranging his men. "You're going to be better than Dean."

"I dunno." Sam frowned. "Dean's bigger. He's nine. I'm four an' da half." Sam held up the correct number of fingers.

"It's going to be a long time." Samael answered. "But one day you're going to be bigger and stronger than Dean. He won't be the boss of you any more. He's just gonna be a soldier, but you're gonna be the general."

"You really think so?" Sam asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah." Samael nodded. "You're gonna have weapons like Dean can't even imagine. You're gonna be stronger than your dad ever was."

"Wow." Sam breathed, looking at his new friend. "You know what I'm gonna do when I'm big and strong like that? I'm gonna hold Dean down and tickle him until he can't breathe."

"Who ya talking to, Sammy?" the intended victim stuck his head in the window.

"This is my friend." Sam pointed at the other boy. "His name is Sam too." He turned to Samael. "Do people call you Sammy?"

"There's no one there, Sammy." Dean rolled his eyes. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"I told you." Sam frowned. "My friend. His name is Sam."

"He can't see me." Samael whispered.

Sam turned in surprise. "Why can't he see you?"

"No one can see me but you." Samael shrugged. "Because you're special."

"Dad," Dean turned to speak to their father as he approached. "Sam's talking to thin air. He says there's another kid named Sam."

John ducked his head to look into the backseat of the car. "Were you talking to some stranger who left, Sam?"

Sam shook his head. "No sir, he's still here. He's a kid, like me, and he wants to be my friend."

John snorted. "Sammy has an imaginary friend. Don't worry about it, Dean. He'll outgrow it."

"Did I have an imaginary friend?" Dean frowned at John.

"No, you had Sammy." John called, walking around the front of the car.

"How come I'm the only one who can see you?" Sam whispered to Samael. "Are you like my guardian angel or something?"

"There's no such thing as guardian angels." Dean grumbled, getting into the front seat.

"Something like that." Samael whispered back to Sam. "I'll always be watching over you."

Sam turned to watch his father getting in the car and didn't see Samael's eyes turn black.