Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character Evelyn Winchester does.
A/N: In the last chapter, Evy went to live with Sam and Jess at Stanford after an argument with John. In this chapter, she's been with them for three years, and is happy and content. Unfortunately, that's about to change.
We're finally in the series now! This chapter takes place in the Supernatural pilot. Enjoy!
Chapter Four
Three Years Later
"I don't know about this, Jess."
Jess, who was holding a hairpin in her teeth as she did Evy's hair, asked, "You don't know about what?"
"Going to this party. I'll be the youngest kid there."
Jess took the hairpin out and inserted it in her hair. "Honey, you've been the youngest kid at the school since you started there. Is something else bothering you?"
Evy sighed. "Yeah. I guess I'm just nervous."
"Evelyn Abigail Winchester, look at me."
Evy smiled at Jess' use of what she called Sam's "I mean business, young lady" tone. Evy didn't hear it much, but when she did, she knew to pay attention. Jess grabbed her shoulders and tried her own, as Sam put it, "Listen to me or you'll regret it" tone.
"First of all, you need to go to this party, because the likelihood of Sam being okay with you doing something like this again when you're older is slim to none." Jess said. The mention of Sam being overprotective drew a laugh out of Evy. "Secondly, you will have a good time. There'll be seventh and eighth graders there, so you'll meet kids your own age. As long as you try, you'll make a friend. Just don't spend all your time standing against the wall, okay?" Evy nodded. "And finally, once you get back, if you promise to tell me all about it when you get back, I'll tell you all about mine and Sam's night."
"Deal." Evy said. "Thanks, Jess."
"You're welcome, sweetie." Jess gave her a quick hug, then turned her around to look in the mirror. "What do you think?"
Evy was taken aback. Jess had curled her long light brown hair, and helped her dress in a pretty knee-length pink dress and sweater. Evy was smiling. She didn't get to dress up often, and she looked beautiful. Jess suddenly remembered something.
"You're missing something. I'll be right back."
Evy watched her leave, and couldn't help but turn around and watch herself in the mirror. She heard Sam in the kitchen, arguing with Jess about whether or not to go to the Stanford dorm Halloween party that night. Evy laughed; avoiding big social occasions was definitely a Winchester family trait. But Evy had taken a chance coming to live with Sam in the first place, and once Sam had given her permission to attend the Halloween party, she had made up her mind to try it again.
Evy had been living with Sam and Jess for just over three years now, and she'd been flourishing ever since. When she'd arrived, she'd been starting the fourth grade. Sam had enrolled her in the local elementary school, but two weeks later, Sam had been called in for a parent teacher conference. The principal had recommended that Evy take an aptitude test. The results had blown everyone away, Evy included. She'd tested on the level of a tenth grader. Evy had always found school to be ridiculously easy, and now it made sense why. With the principal's encouragement, Evy had been able to enroll at the local private school as a tenth grader with a full scholarship. School was finally something that Evy looked forward to, something that challenged and intrigued her. Now, at age twelve, she was two months into her senior year of high school. But that came with a major disadvantage. Evy was the youngest child in her grade. It often made her feel left out, and made it hard for her to make any friends that she might want to see outside of school. Sam and Jess had tried to find activities with kids her own age for her to participate in, but it didn't always turn out the way they wanted. Right now, though, Evy felt like tonight would be different. Before she could think on it any more, Jess came back in.
"This will be perfect." Jess said, smiling.
Before Evy knew it, Jess was putting an old pearl necklace around Evy's neck. Evy was shocked; this necklace had belonged to Jess's grandmother, and Evy had only seen her wear it twice.
"Jess…" Evy started, but was cut off.
"Don't you dare tell me you can't." Jess started. "My grandma would've wanted this. She would have loved you. She wouldn't have wanted this old thing to sit in the closet collecting dust."
Evy's eyes sparkled with tears. Even though she'd now lived with Jess for years, it was still an unfamiliar feeling at times when someone other than Sam paid her any attention. Evy wanted to say 'thank you', but found herself unable to speak. Instead she grabbed Jess around the waist.
"You're welcome, sweetheart." Jess said.
"Evy!" Sam's voice suddenly broke up Evy and Jess's bonding moment. "Time to go!"
"Let's get out there." Jess said, and Evy followed her into the main room with Sam.
Sam was in the living room chatting with Mrs. Jackson, her school principal and fellow parent at the school. Even though the party was at Evy's school, and not at one of her classmate's houses, Sam had only allowed her to go without him and/or Jess chaperoning when he'd cleared the details with Mrs. Jackson. Mrs. Jackson, who had been dealing with Sam's overprotectiveness since Evy had first arrived at the school, had offered to take her to the party, and, unknown to Evy, offered to "keep an eye on her myself". Sam was chuckling at something Mrs. Jackson was saying when Evy walked in. Sam, who had not been allowed to see Evy in the hour and a half that Jess had been working on her, suddenly stopped and stared.
"Wow." he said under his breath.
"Well?" Evy asked, hoping that was a good and not a bad "wow".
Sam seemed to get a hold of himself. "You look great, honey." Sam walked to her and kissed her hand. "Go have fun."
Evy blushed at the compliment from Sam, and even more when Mrs. Jackson complimented her too. She said goodbye to Sam and Jess, and Sam watched the door long after it had closed. Jess tapped him on the shoulder.
"I do good work, huh?" she asked with a grin.
"You do." Sam said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Then why do you look so sad?" Jess asked.
Sam sighed. He knew it was silly, but he couldn't help it. "Because she's not a baby anymore."
Jess wrapped her arms around him, and Sam closed his around her. "You're gonna be a great dad one day."
Sam's mischevious smirk made Jess have to bite back a laugh. "You know, Evy'll be gone for a few hours. We could go practice…"
"Nice try." Jess said, uncurling herself from Sam, unsure if she'd be able to resist him much longer. "But I convinced her to go, you're going too. Now suck it up and go get ready."
Sam laughed, defeated. "Yes, mam."
After two more rounds of "Do I have to go?" and two frustrated answers of "Yes, Sam" from Jess, they were on the way to their own party. Sam and Evy both had a good time, and both were later thanking Jess for making them go. The three of them stayed up late talking, until Sam realized with a start that it was 11:30. He sent Evy to bed, and within a half hour he and Jess were asleep as well.
A few hours later, Sam was woken out of sleep by the sound of someone walking around in the apartment. He felt Jess next to him, so his first thought was that it was Evy going to the bathroom or getting some water. He was turning over to go back to sleep when an alarming thought struck him. Those footsteps were too heavy to be Evy. Evy's footsteps were light and quick. These seemed to belong to someone much bigger. With barely suppressed panic, Sam grabbed the baseball bat he kept under the bed and crept in the direction of the footsteps.
Before Sam could spot the intruder, he felt himself knocked to the ground. He wrestled his attacker for a few seconds, then realized with a start that it wasn't a stranger at all.
"Dean?"
Dean laughed. "Hey, little brother."
"You scared the crap out of me!" Sam protested.
"That's because you're out of practice." Dean said.
Sam effortlessly flipped Dean over.
"Guess not." Dean said.
"Sam?"
Damn it. Sam cursed to himself. Jess was awake.
As Sam introduced Jess to Dean, Evy was stirred awake by the sound of voices in the other room. She recognized the voices of Jess and Sam, but there was a third she didn't recognize. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it right away. Sam sounded annoyed, but not alarmed, so Evy climbed out of bed to see what was going on. When she finally saw who the strange voice belonged to, Evy was stunned.
"Dean?"
The sight of her other big brother was enough to make Evy wonder if she was dreaming. She had talked to Dean once a week since she'd moved in with Sam, but she had not seen him in person since that night in the kitchen over three years ago. Evy was too stunned to move. Dean felt the same as Evy. He had talked to her, but had not seen her. She had grown almost a foot, and looked stunningly like her mother. Dean cringed slightly as he thought of Evy's mother, Missy, a caring, loving woman that John had dated briefly the year before Evy was born. It was with Missy that Dean and Sam had gotten their first taste of a real family life. Dean had been thirteen at the time, Sam nine. Missy had taken care of Dean and Sam while John hunted, and made their lives as normal as they'd ever been up until that point. Missy had died from complications after Evy's birth, and Dean missed her at times almost as much as he did his own mother. Dean finally smiled.
"Hey, baby girl."
Evy's trance was broken, and she walked across the room to Dean. They shared a hug, and for the first time in years, Evy felt complete. It was only when she let Dean go and the awkward silence resumed that Evy realized there was something terribly wrong. She then realized someone was missing.
"Dean, where's Dad?"
Dean, ever the overprotective brother, tried to hide from Evy that something was wrong. "Dad's fine, sweetie. I came to talk to Sam about something."
"You came all the way to California after three years just to talk to Sam about something?" Evy asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow in a way that creepily reminded Dean of his father.
"Uh, yeah." Dean said, looking to Sam unsuccessfully for some help. "Excuse us, ladies."
"No, Dean." Sam answered, putting an arm around Jess. "Anything you have to tell me can be said in front of Jess and Evy."
Dean sighed in frustration. "Fine. Dad hasn't been home in a few days."
Sam tensed a little, but otherwise showed no sign of being worried. "So, he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll be in eventually."
"He's on a hunting trip," Dean said, frustrated, "and he hasn't been home in a few days."
Evy didn't know what to say. John had gone on hunting trips and not checked in before. It had not been at all uncommon for him to not call for days at a time. But if Dean had come all this way, after this long, looking for help in searching out Dad, something really must be wrong. Sam asked Jess to excuse him and headed into the hall with Dean. Evy started to follow too, but was stopped by Sam before even reaching the door.
"Stay in here with Jess." Sam said.
"Sam, come on." Evy protested. "He's my dad too."
"I know that Cricket, but…" Sam stopped, realizing that he didn't really have a good reason to exclude her. "…Jess is scared." he tried weakly.
"Don't put me in this!" Jess called from the other side of the room.
Sam shot her a can you please help me out kind of look, but Jess just shook her head. Jess usually followed Sam's lead when dealing with Evy, but if she thought he was being unfair, or babying Evy for no good reason, she never failed to voice her opinion. Evy crossed her arms across her chest, a smug told you so look on her face.
"Fine." Sam said, defeated. "Let's go."
Evy followed Sam and Dean into the hallway, listening to their conversation about John. Evy was starting to wish that she had done what Sam said and just stayed inside with Jess. Dean hadn't seen John in days, and John wasn't responding to any texts or phone calls. Listening to Sam and Dean drudged up feelings that Evy had long since thought buried. Feelings of abandonment, of wondering whether she was good enough, of wondering whether or not John cared about her. Before she could bury herself too deep in her own thoughts though, Sam had grabbed her arm.
"Hey, Cricket? Did you hear a word I just said?"
"Um, no." Evy admitted. "Sorry."
Sam sighed. "Come on." Sam led her back to the apartment, while Dean waited by the Impala. "I said, Dean and I are going to look for Dad."
"Okay. When do we leave?" Evy asked.
Sam stopped cold right outside the door of the apartment. He bent down and faced Evy, his face full of regret. He knew she would hate what he was about to say, but there was no way he would allow her to do this.
"No. You're not coming." he told her firmly. "You're gonna stay here with Jess."
Didn't we just have this discussion? Evy couldn't help but think. "Sam…"
"NO!" Sam almost shouted, and immediately regretted it. It was incredibly early, he was tired, and he was worried. "Evy, listen to me. We don't know where Dad is, what he's doing, or why he hasn't been in touch with Dean. I need to know that you're here so I'm not worrying about you too."
Evy normally didn't fight Sam on much of anything, but she felt Sam was babying her here. As conflicted as her relationship with John was, he was still her father and she still loved him. For Sam to keep her in the apartment when he and Dean got to hunt for John was completely unfair. Evy thought briefly about talking to Jess, believing she could get Sam to change his mind. Sam seemed to be able to tell what she was thinking.
"Don't even think about talking to Jess." Sam said firmly. "She won't get me to change my mind. You're staying here."
Evy made a face, crossed her arms again, and looked away from Sam.
"Hey." Sam said, taking Evy's chin in his hand and turning her face towards him. "I don't want you to tell Jess anything about what might really be going on with Dad."
"I wouldn't do that." Evy said.
Evy was angry, something so foreign to her normally sweet, loving disposition that Sam had to fight the need to apologize. He had to keep her safe, and bringing her along when they didn't know what to expect was not the way to do it. Evy was still refusing to look at him, and asked if she could go say goodbye to Dean. Sam gave her permission, reminding her before she left not to ask Dean if she could go either. Evy stalked off back towards the Impala.
Sam walked into the apartment and started to explain to Jess what was going on while he packed a bag. Jess was skeptical, wondering why after having no contact with his father for so long Sam was suddenly so ready to leave and go look for him. Before Sam could answer her objection, Evy came back inside. She shut the door and walked back towards her room, not looking at either Sam or Jess. Jess, not used to anywhere near that kind of behavior from Evy, turned to Sam.
"What's wrong with her?" she asked, concerned.
Sam sighed. "She wants to go with me and Dean. I told her no."
"Why?" Jess asked. "He's her father too."
Sam was annoyed now. "I know that, Jess!" he said as he put a shirt into the bag. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Look, I don't want her going because I don't know if Dad's okay. If me and Dean get up to the cabin and find out that he isn't, I don't want her there." Sam expected Jess to continue arguing with him, but she surprised him. "Okay. You're right."
Sam, relieved, thanked her. "Please just keep her distracted. But if she wants to talk, I've got my cell."
"Okay." Jess said. "Are you okay?"
Sam was sealing up the bag and preparing to leave. "I don't know." he answered honestly. "We'll see."
"Alright." Jess answered. She looked towards Evy's room. "Make sure you talk to her before you leave. And don't come down on her for storming in. She's hurting too."
"I know." Sam said.
Sam walked to the doorway of Evy's room, standing there for a moment before going in. Evy was lying on her bed, turned away from him towards the wall. Sam at first thought she was sleeping again, and considered leaving after writing her a note saying to call him when she got up. But then Sam saw her move her arms, as though she was squeezing something. Beanie, Sam thought briefly. She was cuddling Beanie.
"I know you're not sleeping." Sam said.
Evy turned to face him, and Sam saw that she'd started crying. Sam walked inside and sat on the edge of her bed, cursing himself now for agreeing to go with Dean. But he knew that if he didn't, he would eventually regret it.
"Please let me go." Evy whispered.
"Oh, Cricket." Sam said. "No. I'm sorry, it's too dangerous."
Evy frowned, but nodded. "Okay." she said, wiping her eyes.
Her lack of argument struck Sam. "Is something else bothering you? Other than not going?"
Evy was silent for a moment, but finally admitted, "I don't want you to start hunting again."
"Hey, listen to me." Sam said. Evy looked up. "I am not leaving permanently. I am not going to start hunting again. I'm just leaving for the weekend. I'll be back for my interview on Monday, and you'll see me when you get home from school."
"Promise?" Evy asked.
"Promise." Sam said. "I'm just going to find Dad. But whether we find him or not, I'll be back. I swear. Okay?"
Evy finally smiled. "Okay. I'm sorry I got mad at you."
"Don't be sorry, Cricket." Sam checked the clock next to the bed. It was 4:57am, and Evy had been up since before 4. "Why don't you go back to bed?"
"I will." Evy said, yawning. "I love you, Sammy."
"I love you, too, Cricket. So much."
Sam stood up and kissed her forehead, then, even though she had long been too big for this, tucked her back in. As Sam walked out, Evy stopped him at the door.
"Sammy?"
Sam turned back around to face her. "Yeah?"
Evy bit her lip, unsure about what she was about to ask. "If you do find Dad…"
"Yeah?" Sam prompted when she didn't say anything.
"Make him call me?"
Sam nodded. "You got it."
Sam watched her turn over and go back to sleep. He went to kiss Jess goodbye, promising to call her when he and Dean stopped that night. Sam headed out towards Dean. He knew this weekend was going to change his life, no matter how it turned out. He just hoped that the change wouldn't be one that he'd live to regret.
Sam had been in the Impala with Dean for twelve hours now. They were no closer to finding John than they had been when they'd started, and Sam was really starting to regret leaving Evy and Jess. Today was Saturday, one of the rare Saturdays that he didn't have to do anything or be anywhere. He had been looking forward to spending some quality time with his "girls", as he called them, and now he was trekking all over creation with Dean on a search that may very well turn up nothing. As they drove that night, Sam picked up his cell phone and called them. Jess picked up, and Sam talked to her for a few minutes before asking about Evy. Evy took the phone from Jess.
"Hi, Sammy."
"Hey, Cricket." Sam said, surprised. "You sound happy. Did you have fun with Jess today?"
"Yeah." Evy said. She talked for a couple minutes about what she and Jess did that day, then asked what was really on her mind. "Did you guys find Dad?"
"No, Cricket. I'm sorry." When Evy didn't respond, Sam decided to change the subject. "Did you finish your book report?"
"Sammy, I finished that the night before the party." Evy answered.
"That's right! Sorry, Cricket, I forgot." Sam said. "Okay, you got an hour. Start getting ready for bed, okay?"
"Um, Jess and I were going to watch a movie. Can I finish it and go to bed?"
"Which movie?" Sam asked.
"Finding Nemo." Evy answered.
Sam groaned. "You've seen Finding Nemo five thousand times."
"Please, Sammy?" Evy begged.
"Fine." Sam answered grudgingly. "If I say no Jess'll just let you watch it in bed anyway." A giggle from Jess told Sam that he was right. "It's 9:30. I want you asleep by twelve."
"Okay, Sammy. I love you."
"Love you too, Cricket. Good night." A tap on his shoulder caught Sam's attention. Dean was pointing at himself and waving. "Dean says hi."
"Hi, Dean." Evy replied. "Good night, Sammy."
"Night, sweetie." Sam repeated, hanging up the phone.
Sam hung up the phone with a heavy heart. It was the first time he had talked to Jess and Evy since he and Dean had left, and he missed them terribly. He found himself wondering how John had possibly gone so long without talking to her. As he leaned back in the seat, Sam felt a pair of eyes on him. Dean was watching him closely.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing." Dean said. "I just didn't realize how much of a dad you'd become."
Sam fought to keep his anger in check. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, Sam. It was a compliment…" Dean said, trying to stave off another argument.
A thought occurred to Sam. "Dean, is part of this trip to confront me about what happened with Evy?"
"No!" Dean said vehemently.
"So Dad's not looking to ream me for taking Evy?" Sam asked again.
"Sam…"" Dean began impatiently. "...I don't know what dad wants, because again, I haven't seen him."
"Does he hate me?"
The question shocked Dean so much that he nearly drove the Impala off the road. "No." he responded. "Dad doesn't hate you."
"Are you sure?" Sam asked, unsure whether to believe him or not.
"Yes." Dean answered. "In fact, he came around a few weeks after you and Evy left. He realized that it was the best thing for her."
Now Sam was angry. "He what? If he realized that, why didn't he ever call us?" Sam's voice was slowly rising. "Why didn't he at least try to stay in Evy's life somehow?"
"He wrote to her…" Dean said, trying weakly to defend John.
"Two postcards and three birthday cards do not constitute a relationship, Dean." Sam huffed. "She spent the first two weeks she lived with me crying because she thought dad hated her."
Dean was shocked. "What? Dad doesn't hate her."
"Well, what else was she supposed to think, Dean!?" Sam asked, temper still rising. "She was a nine year old girl. Not talking to me is one thing, but hurting her like that was low. Really low."
Dean wanted to respond, wanted desperately to defend John, but he couldn't. Sam was right. The truth was that he had been after John constantly in the last few years to at least call Evy, but John had steadfastly refused. Dean could never see why. Sam had been an adult when he left the house. It had been hard, but it had been Sam's choice, and Dean had made peace with that long ago. Though Dean had never said it, John had driven Evy away. After Sam had left for Stanford, Evy had begged him not to leave her alone. Dean had offered to take her with him or drop her off at Bobby's or pastor Jim's before leaving on his own hunts. But John had made him leave her, made him be the one to deal with the tears and the misery of staying alone. All Evy had wanted was a family. And, to Dean's relief, she'd found it with Sam and Jess.
"You're right." Dean admitted. "You're right. So please, help me find Dad, and I promise you can rip into him all you want."
Sam was surprised at Dean's response, but happy to finally be validated. He nodded and stared out the window for a moment, then turned to Dean with a smile.
"Thanks, Jerk."
"You're welcome, bitch."
Inside Sam and Jess's apartment the following night, Jess and Evy sat curled up next to each other on the bed. A bowl of popcorn, half eaten, sat between them. All the lights were out, except for the TV; Jess and Evy were absorbed in an old black and white scary movie that Jess had found while channel surfing. They didn't even know the name of it, but for the last half hour it had been sucking all their attention away from the world. Neither of them had even talked, which in itself was unusual; had Sam been there, he no doubt would have joked that he needed to do this more often. A jumpscare happened in the movie, and although Evy had her own blanket, she jumped and ended up in Jess's arms. The popcorn spilled between them, causing them both to laugh. Jess flipped on the light.
"Maybe that's enough for tonight." Jess suggested.
"No! I like it." Evy said, still giggling. "Let's keep going."
"Sam will flip out if he finds out." Jess said.
"I won't tell if you don't." Evy promised.
Jess opened her mouth to say something else, but the phone rang on the wall behind them. Evy jumped again.
"Maybe you're right." she said, giggling even harder.
Jess picked up the phone, tickling Evy as she did so. "Hello." Jess was smiling as she heard Sam's voice. "Yeah, she's right here." Jess handed Evy the phone, but not before covering the mouthpiece and whispering furious instructions to Evy. "DO NOT tell your brother we were watching a scary movie."
Evy laughed silently, but made a lock and key motion before taking the phone. "Hi, Sammy." she said, with a barely suppressed giggle.
"What are you laughing at?" Sam asked.
Evy quickly answered, "Jess was making faces at me."
"Uh-huh." Sam said, deciding not to press the issue. He didn't really want to know what they were up to. He bit back a laugh when he heard Jess say in the background "I'll show you faces." "So what have you two been up to today?"
Evy gave him a brief recap before asking, "Did you find Daddy?"
Sam told her sadly, "No, we didn't. I'm sorry, sweetie."
Evy bit her lip to keep from crying. "Okay."
"We'll find him, Cricket." Sam assured her. "We'll find him."
"Okay." Evy repeated.
"I'm on the way back to Stanford now." Sam said, faking a brighter tone to try and cheer her up. "I don't know if I'll see you before you go to school, but we can go out for ice cream tomorrow night if you want."
"Sounds great." Evy answered flatly. "Good night, Sammy."
"Good night, Cricket. I love you." Sam said, disappointed. Sam and Jess made a decent living between the two of them, but they were on a tight budget and going out for ice cream was a rare treat.
"Love you." Evy handed the phone back to Jess, who waited until Evy was in the bathroom with the door shut before saying anything.
"Hey, you." Jess asked.
"Hey, beautiful." Sam answered. "How's she doing?"
"She's worried. But she's trying to hide it." Jess said. "Are you any closer to finding your dad?"
"No." Sam answered. "We're not. Dean's going to keep looking."
"Sam, your interview's tomorrow." Jess said. "I know you're worried about your dad, but if you miss this…"
"I'm not going to miss it. We're on the way back now. We should be there in about three hours." Sam said.
"Okay." Jess said, relieved. "Hurry home. Your girls miss you."
"I miss you, too. So much." Sam said. "I love you."
"Love you more." Jess said, smirking.
"You win." Sam said, laughing. "See you soon."
"Good night, love."
"Good night."
While Jess was hanging up with Sam, Evy stood in the bathroom brushing her teeth. John was in the forefront of her mind. Though she had gotten very limited contact from him in the last three years, Evy wanted to know if he was okay. Even though Evy wasn't sure whether or not John still cared about her, Evy still cared about him. As she finished brushing her teeth, a vision came to her mind. She didn't know if it was a memory or just something her mind conjured up, but she found comfort in it. She was three or four, and was crying over something. John picked her up and held her tight to him, rocking her back and forth, telling her over and over again that he loved her and that she would be okay. Whether or not the "memory" was real, it was one of the only times that Evy remembered her and John having any kind of a close moment. A tear came to Evy's eye, but before it fell, she was shaken out of her thoughts by Jess, who knocked at the door.
"Hey, sweetheart, you okay?" Jess asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be out in a second."
Evy quickly opened the door and walked out, telling Jess good night as she climbed into her bed. She fell asleep quickly, but soon found herself somewhere else. She was in a dark room, and couldn't see anything else around her. Suddenly she was surrounded by flames on all sides. Evy was screaming, but there was no sound coming out; she knew that there was someone else in the room with her, but she couldn't see or hear them. She was alone, she was sure that she would die here…
"Evy! Baby, wake up!"
Suddenly Evy was able to make sound again, but instead of screaming, she found herself gasping for air. She felt a familiar set of arms enclose around her, and realized that it was Jess trying to comfort her. Evy clung to her for a second, afraid that if she let go, she'd be right back in that room again, trapped and fearing for her life. Jess pushed Evy away from her slightly, but kept her at arms reach.
"Are you okay?" Jess asked, concerned.
Evy found that she was hoarse. "I…I had a…." Evy gulped, trying to get her voice back. "I had a bad dream."
"I'll say." Jess said, trying to calm the shaking Evy. "You were screaming. Do you want to talk about it?"
Evy vigorously shook her head. "No. Is Sam home yet?"
"Not yet, sweetie. You only went to bed about forty five minutes ago." Jess looked at the clock. Sam wouldn't be home for at least another two hours. Desperate to try something, she decided to attempt something she'd seen Sam do before. "You want to come sleep with me? At least until Sam gets home?"
Evy suddenly found herself desperate not to be alone, and readily agreed. She followed Jess into the main room, crawling onto the bed on the side Sam usually slept on. Jess climbed in beside her, deeply disturbed. Evy had had nightmares before, but never this bad. She was still shaking slightly from the dream, so Jess reached over and scratched her back, something she'd seen Sam do to calm her down. Evy seemed to relax a little, and Jess wished silently for Sam to hurry up and get home. Evy was grateful for Jess's attempt at comfort, as little as it actually provided; the dream had deeply disturbed her, and she wanted nothing more than for Sam to get home so she'd feel safe again. But Jess's hand moving slowly and methodically across her back was soothing, and soon she was falling into a deep sleep.
Jess' hand suddenly stiffened against Evy's back. She clutched a handful of Evy's shirt, as if she had to keep a hold on her. Evy turned to look at Jess. Once she was flat on her back, Jess started to slide slowly away from her. Evy tried to turn around, but found that she was completely paralyzed. Evy knew there was someone else in the room, even though she couldn't see them. Jess was sliding up the wall slowly, until finally she landed on the ceiling, her eyes staring down wide in horror. Evy tried to move, but the harder she struggled, the harder her invisible bonds held her down. Eventually, Jess was directly above her, and all that Evy could see was the terrified look on Jess' face.
Evy screamed. She screamed as hard as she could, as loud as she could, for as long as she could. She screamed for Sam, screamed for the neighbors, screamed for Jess to please stay awake, but it made no difference. She could hear herself screaming in her head, but no sound was coming out. It was her nightmare in reverse. She could hear herself screaming this time, but no one else could.
Evy felt tears streaming down her cheeks, and she continued to stare at Jess. Jess was alive for a few minutes, and Evy desperately wanted to tell her at least that she loved her. Whoever, or whatever, it was in the room with them, stayed there until, in a moment that would stay etched in Evy's memory for the rest of her life, Jess finally died. Even though she was now alone, Evy still couldn't move. She continued to scream. How long she screamed, she didn't know, but it felt like days. She screamed long and hard until she passed out.
Evy was startled awake by the sound of the door opening. She heard Sam calling quietly for Jess, probably hoping not to wake her. Evy tried calling for Sam, but it didn't work. Evy heard the shower running, so, hoping that everything was just a terrible dream, she kept her eyes shut tight. She felt Sam lean over her to check on her, felt him pull the blanket closer to her, and kiss her forehead. She heard him whisper "I missed you, kid." Evy wanted desperately to reach out and grab Sam, but she still couldn't move. She felt Sam lie down on the foot of the bed, probably waiting on Jess to get out of the shower. A few seconds later, the world as she knew it stopped.
"NO!" Sam started screaming. "No! Jess! Jess!"
Evy's paralysis broke as quickly as it had started. Jess was still on the ceiling as she had been before, and was bleeding now. A split second later, flames had engulfed the ceiling. Evy started to scream along with Sam, but felt herself lifted and carried out of the house. She was standing on the street before she realized that it was Dean.
"Evy, stay here. I'm going back for Sam."
Without another word, Dean ran back inside and dragged out Sam. Sam was still screaming as the firefighters pulled up to the apartment. He only stopped screaming when he saw Evy sitting on the hood of the Impala with Dean. Dean was attempting to comfort her, but it wasn't working; Evy was shivering and crying steadily. Sam made his way over to her. Evy grabbed him and held on. A paramedic came over and tried to examine Evy, but she refused to let go of Sam. Sam waved him away and turned to Dean.
"Dean, do you have a blanket in the car? She's freezing." Sam asked.
"Yeah."
Dean pulled the blanket out and handed it to Sam. The three of them stayed there until early the next morning, when the firefighters and student had long sense left. The three of them stayed on campus for the next week. Dean worried about both of them. They went to Jess's funeral, and Sam packed up his apartment with the help of Jess's family. Evy stayed in shock, not talking much and only eating a little. Sam tried coping himself by taking care of Evy, but it didn't work. Both of them were simply wandering through the days, trying to get through them. Five days after Jess's death, and two days after her funeral, Sam left with Dean to get some dinner. While they were gone, Evy was lying down, attempting to get some real sleep. Everything that had happened in the apartment was looping over and over in her head. She shook her head hard in a desperate attempt to stop thinking about it, and fell into a fitful sleep.
Meanwhile, just outside, Sam and Dean had arrived with dinner. Dean parked the car, but Sam asked him to wait before going inside. Dean waited patiently, but it was almost a full minute before Sam spoke.
"We're not taking Evy to Bobby's." Sam said. Dean's mouth fell open; that was the only full conversation that he and Sam had had all week. Sam continued. "I talked to her school. I can get her schoolwork and she can do it on the road."
"I don't know, Sammy." Dean explained. "We have no idea what we're going to run into."
"It's just as dangerous for us as it is for her." Sam argued. "I'm not leaving her behind."
"I'm not taking a twelve year old girl on this trip." Dean said.
"Too bad." Sam said. "You're leaving with both of us, or you're not leaving with either of us."
"This isn't what dad would want." Dean said.
"I don't give a damn what dad wants." Sam declared. "For the last time, I'm doing what's best for Evy before I worry about what dad wants."
"Are you sure she can handle this?" Dean asked after a slight pause.
Sam smiled, realizing he was getting through to Dean. "Evy's a lot stronger than you or Dad give her credit for."
Dean sighed, giving in. He really didn't want to take Evy with them. Not because he didn't care about her, but because he did. Evy was still a little kid. Dean appreciated that Sam had faith in her, but Evy had left because she had such a hard time with the life of a hunter. Before Dean had a chance to think anything more about it, an ear splitting scream came from inside the apartment. Sam and Dean jumped out of the car and ran inside, Dean with his gun drawn. They found Evy lying on the bed, kicking and screaming, having a nightmare. Dean walked and checked the rest of the apartment while Sam worked on waking up Evy.
"Evy, wake up. Wake up, honey."
Evy continued to kick in her sleep, narrowly avoiding kicking Sam in the stomach.
"EVY!" Sam finally screamed.
Evy woke up, crying and nearly hyperventilating. She fought Sam at first, until he continued to call her name. When she finally realized that it was him, Evy collapsed, crying and sobbing into Sam's arms. Sam held her, attempting in vain to comfort her. A frightening thought occurred to Sam. He realized that he had not yet asked Evy about what happened at the apartment. Evy had been asleep when he got home, but had she seen more than he thought? When she had finally calmed down enough to talk, Sam sat her up. Dean brought in a glass of water, which Evy accepted with shaking hands. Sam finally asked her,
"Honey, what happened?"
Evy grabbed Beanie, one of the few things that Sam had been able to save from the apartment. She kept a hand on Sam's shirt, and kept repeating over and over again,
"I'm sorry, Sammy. I'm so sorry."
"Cricket, please talk to me. Sorry for what? What is going on?" Sam said.
"I saw it." Evy answered tearfully.
"Saw what?" Sam asks, though he had a frightening feeling he already knew.
Evy pulled away from Sam and practically screamed. "I saw what happened to Jess. I wasn't asleep. I saw all of it."
A rush of emotions threatened to overwhelm Sam at that moment. Anger-at the demon, for killing Jess, at Dean, for dragging him back into this life when he'd worked so hard to get out and stay out, at Jess, for leaving him, and at Evy, for not telling him this earlier. Grief, for Jess, for the life he'd worked so hard to build, and for his mother, who Sam missed now more than ever. But when Sam looked at Evy, the only thing he felt was an overwhelming urge to comfort and protect her. For the last three years, his life had revolved around her and Jess. Now that Jess was gone, he realized that if he wanted to get through this, he had to redouble his efforts and focus on Evy.
"I'm so sorry, Sammy. He locked me down on the bed. I couldn't move, I couldn't talk. I tried to call out for somebody, but I couldn't. I tried to help her, Sammy, I tried so hard…" Evy was starting to hyperventilate again.
Sam grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. His expression was stern but compassionate and caring. "Listen to me. Okay? This is not your fault. You did everything you could to save Jess. There's nothing else you could have done. Do you understand me, Cricket?"
Evy nodded. "I miss her so much, Sam."
Sam's heart was broken all over again. Jess had been the closest thing Evy had ever had to a mom, and now she was gone. Jess and Evy had been close, and Sam felt guilty for concentrating on himself all week. Evy wiped away a tear with the sleeve of her pajama shirt. Sam grabbed her and embraced her, holding on to her tightly.
"I know, baby. I miss her too."
Half an hour later, Evy had stopped crying, and was lying on the bed with her head in Sam's lap. She was exhausted, but was fighting sleep. Sam stroked her hair, just as he had when she was little, calming her and him at the same time. Sniffling, Evy finally sat up and asked Sam the question that had been bothering her all week.
"What happens now?"
Sam sighed. "Well, Dean and I were talking about that. We're going to search for dad." he explained. He felt Evy tense up, but he continued on. "We were talking about sending you to Bobby's."
"Sam, please don't…" Evy begged; tears threatened to spill over again.
"Relax." Sam said. "You can stay with us. I talked to your school, they're going to give me your work for the semester and I'll mail it back to them."
"I can go with you guys?" she asked. "We're not splitting up?"
"No. There's been enough of that." Sam said. "There's are rules, though."
"Okay." Evy said. "What rules?"
"You have to keep your grades up. I know you only have a semester and a half, but no senioritis. You can work at a normal pace if you want, and finish in May, but if you work quicker, you'll be done. We'll talk about when I get your work from school. Okay?"
Evy nodded. "Okay." she said quietly.
"I'm serious about this. I'll give you one warning, but your grades start going down because you're not doing your work, you go to Bobby's and stay there at least until you graduate." Sam warned.
Evy nodded. "Can I help you and Dean?"
Sam took a long time to answer, and Evy waited patiently. She honestly expected him to say no, and was fine with it if he did. She wanted the three of them to stay together, and right now, that was all that mattered. Which made what Sam said next surprising.
"Until you're done with school, it comes first." Sam said. "But yes, Dean and I will start training you. Which brings me to my second rule. Dean's in charge just as much as I have been for the last three years. He tells you to do something, I expect you to listen to him just like you do me. Okay?"
"Okay." Evy said.
Sam sighed. "Are you sure you still want to wait on college?"
Evy nodded. "Eighteen." she said simply.
"Alright." Sam said. "I guess that settles it. Any more questions?"
Evy was just as thoughtful with her last question as Sam was with his response. After a few seconds she asked, "Are we gonna be okay?"
"Yes." Sam said, without hesitation this time. "I can't promise nothing will happen, but we'll be fine as long as we stick together.
Evy smiled for the first time in a week. Sam might be overprotective and, as Jess used to put it, a "worrywart" at times, but there was no doubt whatsoever that Sam loved her. Her relationship with John was less solid, and as much as she loved Dean, he was too willing to stand behind John's decisions for Evy to rely on him. But Evy took honest comfort in Sam's words. We'll be fine as long as we stick together. Evy's stomach started to rumble loudly, which Dean, who had been listening at the door, took as his cue to come in.
"I have pancakes. They're getting cold, come on."
Evy jumped off the bed and started to follow Dean, before grabbing Sam around the middle. Sam squeezed her as hard as he could.
"I love you, Cricket. I love you so much."
"Love you too, Sammy."