A/N: A friend of mine pointed out after reading this chapter that it's unusual for a child that's twelve, like Evy is in this chapter, to keep calling their mother 'Mommy'. Well, Evy is based off me, and I'm 28, and I still call my mom 'Mommy'. When I say 'Mom' to her, she knows I'm irritated or annoyed with her. I honestly hadn't thought about this, but that's why, and I'm not planning to change it.

In this chapter, John's drinking has been getting steadily worse, and he makes a big mistake with Evy.

Dean pulled the Impala into the driveway of the house, preparing himself for the confrontation between his hungover, passed out father in the passenger seat beside him, and his ever patient stepmother. John was drinking more and more as the days went on lately, and even Dean was finding it hard to defend his father the way he was used to. Dean turned off the Impala and took a deep breath.

"Dad. Dad, wake up."

"What do you want, Dean?" John practically shouted.

"Dad, we're home." Dean said. "Missy and Evy are still here."

"Oh." John said, sitting up. "Come on then, let's go."

"Okay, Dad."

Dean followed his dad inside, a pit growing in his stomach. Missy hated it when John came home drunk, and Dean was afraid she'd break up with him if it happened again. When John stepped inside, he went straight to the recliner and laid down, walking right past the kitchen, where Missy was preparing dinner.

"Hey, guys!" she shouted. "Hang on, I'll be right there." She finished what she was working on in the kitchen, then walked in. "Hey, how'd it…?"

"Hey." Dean said when Missy noticed that John was wearing sunglasses.

"Hey, Dean." Missy said, kissing his cheek. She wasted no time. "Really, John? It's not even four."

"I don't want to hear it." John said. "The hunt was bad."
"Just please tell me that you didn't drive home like that."
"I drove him." Dean said. "Bobby's bringing the truck in a couple days."

"Good." Missy said.

"I'm gonna go talk to baby girl." Dean said, eager to get away from the oncoming argument.

"She's packing, Dean. Make sure you knock, she might be changing clothes." Missy said, without breaking eye contact from John.

"Where's she going?" John asked irritably. "I just got home."

"And if you hadn't come home drunk, I might consider asking her to stay. But she's going to a sleepover." Missy explained.

"Her and all her damned sleepovers…" John muttered.

"Do not start with her." Missy said.

"You let her do whatever she wants…"

"Yes, John, I'm a terrible mother. Letting our straight-A, hardly ever gets in trouble, respectful daughter go to a sleepover with her best friend." Missy snapped.

"Mommy?" Evy asked cautiously. She had come out of her room into the living room. "I'm packed."

"Okay, sweetie." Missy said with a fake smile. "Charlie called. Her and her mom'll be here in a few minutes."

"'Kay." Evy walked over to her father. "Hi, Daddy."

"You don't have to pretend to be glad to see me." John said. "Go be with your friends if they're so much more important to you."

Evy stopped in her tracks, tears forming in her eyes. "Daddy, I am glad to see you."

"Then stay home tonight."
"No." Missy said. "No, she's not doing that. She can come back home in the morning."

"Mommy…" a confused Evy said, turning to her mother. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, Kitten. You didn't. Don't worry about it." Missy said, inviting Evy over to her for a hug. "Go on back to your room. I'll come get you when Charlie and Mrs. Jackson get here."

"'Kay."

Evy took a sad look back at her father, then walked back towards her room. At the last second, she changed her mind and went to Dean's door. The door was opened, so she peeked her head in and saw Dean sitting on his bed.

"Deanie? Can I come in?"

"Sure, kiddo." Evy walked inside and climbed up on Dean's bed and snuggled beside him. "Whoa, what's this for?"

"I missed you." Evy said sincerely.

"I missed you too, kiddo." Dean said, worried when he heard her voice breaking. "What's going on with you?"

"Does Daddy not like me anymore?"

"What?" Dean asked. "Where's this come from?"

"He's so mean to me lately." Evy explained. "He didn't even give me a hug when he got home."
"Listen, kiddo. Dad's just having a tough time lately and he's not dealing with it well." Dean explained. "He still loves you."

"Are you upset I'm not gonna be home tonight?" Evy asked. "I'll stay if you want me to."

"Oh, kiddo. That's sweet, but I'll probably be asleep. You go have fun with your friends. We'll do something together tomorrow night." Dean promised.

"'Kay, Deanie. Can I stay in here with you 'till they get here?"

"Sure can, kiddo." Dean said. He suddenly grinned and held his hand in the air. "You know, I've got a weird little itch in my hand…"

Evy curled up to try to avoid Dean's hand, but it did no good. Dean launched at Evy and started at her neck, going down to her stomach, then back up her other side again. For a few glorious minutes, her giggling drowned out everything going on in the living room. Dean could hear Missy arguing with John, and did his best to keep Evy distracted so she wouldn't get upset by it. Just as Evy was beginning to calm down, there was a knock at Dean's bedroom door.

"Hey, Kitten. Charlie's here. You ready to go?"

"Yeah. I'm ready." Evy said eagerly. She turned and hugged Dean's neck. "Bye, Deanie. Good night."
"Good night, kiddo. Love you."
"Love you too." Evy said.

"Have fun tonight." Dean whispered in her ear. "You deserve it."
"I will." Evy said. "Thanks, Deanie."

Evy climbed off the bed and left the house. John had run to his and Missy's room, so Evy let him sleep. She said goodbye to Missy and Sugar, then climbed in the car with Charlie and her mom. The sleepover turned out to be just what she needed. One of the girls couldn't come, so it was just Evy and Charlie, but Evy felt more relaxed than in a long while. She forgot all about her father's attitude change, her mom and dad arguing, and everything else. The next morning, as the girls ate breakfast, the phone rang.

"Evy, sweetie?" Mrs. Jackson said, walking to the table with the cordless phone. "Your mother's on the phone."

"Hi, mommy." Evy said.

"Hey, Kitten. Having fun?" Missy asked.

"Yeah. Is everything okay?"

"I got called into work, sweetie. I talked to Mrs. Jackson, and she said you can stay with them until I got off tonight. Do you want to do that?" Missy asked.

"Is Daddy okay?" Evy asked, not sure what Missy had told Mrs. Jackson about why John couldn't stay with her.

"He's sleeping, Kitten. He'll probably sleep for a while. Dean's on a date and he said he wouldn't be back until tonight. Sam and Jess are studying." Missy explained. "I don't mind if you want to come home, but I didn't know if you wanted to be alone with your daddy after last night."

Evy thought about asking to stay, but she wanted to spend some time with John. "I'll come home, mommy. I'll see you when you get home tonight."
"Okay, Kitten. I should be home around six. Call me or Sam if you need us. Love you."

"Love you too, mommy." Evy said.

"Kitten? If you need me tonight, call me. Okay?"

Evy agreed. She knew why her mother was worried. John had never been big on unsolicited displays of emotion but would always gladly return any hugs or kisses Evy gave him, and would do things she asked like tuck her in, brush her hair, or stay with her at night until she fell asleep. Her father was, as her mother put it, a little 'rough around the edges', but she had no doubt before that he loved her as much as she loved him. Now, all he seemed to care about was hunting whatever had killed his first wife, Sam and Dean's mother, even if it was at the expense of his relationship with Evy. Evy hung up the phone and went to get her things together. An hour later, she was pulling back up to her house.

"Evy?" A nervous Mrs. Jackson asked as she got out of the car. "Are you going to be alright, sweetie? Are you sure you don't want to come back home with me?"

"I'll be okay." Evy assured her. "Thank you for letting me stay last night."

"Anytime, sweetheart. Call me if you change your mind and want to come back."

Mrs. Jackson pulled out of the driveway, and Evy grabbed her bag and went inside. John was still sleeping, like Missy had said, so Evy ran Sugar outside, came in and made herself some lunch, and was in the middle of a TV movie when John suddenly spoke from the hallway.

"What did you do to your hair?"

Evy jumped; she hadn't heard her father get up. "Daddy?"

"What did you do?" John asked angrily. He walked in and stood behind Evy behind the couch. "Your hair…"
John's tone and the fact that he was clearly still drunk, or perhaps drunk again, made Evy afraid. "I did it last night."
John was angry. Evy's beautiful chestnut brown hair was now raven black, with a streak of pink. Evy didn't understand why he was angry. She had called her mother and asked for permission the night before. Missy had said it was okay, so why was she in trouble? Evy backed away from John, who walked around to the front of the couch and grabbed her shoulder.

"You are not allowed to do something like that without permission…"
"I did have permission!" Evy said. "Daddy, let me go, you're hurting me!"

"You don't tell me what to do, little girl!" John growled. "And you didn't have permission. Not from me, not from your mother, anyone."

"Mommy gave me permission." Evy said. "I called last night and she said it was okay. Daddy, you're scaring me. Please let me go."

John easily flipped the much smaller and weaker Evy around and swatted her butt five hard, stinging times. "Don't lie to me."

"I didn't." Evy protested, weeping and still trying to pull away from John.

Both of them were shaken out of the confrontation at the sound of growling. Sugar, who had been sleeping on the floor in front of the living room window, had woken at the sound of Evy's distressed crying. When he saw that John had Evy flipped over and was hurting her, the normally sweet, cuddly dog got angry. When John didn't release Evy right away, Sugar ran and jumped onto the couch between them, barking and attempting to bite John's hand. Evy scrambled away from John and started to call Sugar off, when John threw the dog off of him and hard towards the floor. Sugar yelped and wasn't moving.

"Sugar!" Evy forgot all about John for a few seconds, running towards Sugar to check on him. "Sugar, please wake up."

But even the run-in with Sugar had not slowed down John. "Leave that damn dog alone. I'll deal with him after I'm done dealing with you."
"Daddy, please leave Sugar alone." Evy begged. "He was only trying to help me…"

"He doesn't need to defend you against me." John said. "Get up and get over here."

"No."
An enraged John repeated his command. "Get over here. Now."
"No." Evy repeated. "I didn't do anything, and neither did Sugar. I'm calling mommy and telling her you hurt Sugar."
"You little brat…"

Evy's heart froze and time seemed to stand still. John stood up and his hand flew to his belt. Evy's bravado faltered. Her pulse quickened and she gripped Sugar's fur tighter. No one was around and she was more afraid than she'd ever been before. She took in the room around her. It was a slim chance, but just as she figured that she could make a run for the front door and down towards Sam's dorm, John suddenly said something that scared her even more.

"No. I've got a better idea how to deal with you." He said, buckling his belt back into place.
Evy was relieved he was putting his belt away, but she asked in almost a squeak, "What does that mean?"

John grabbed Evy's shoulder again and started to drag her towards the bathroom, leaving the still unconscious Sugar on the floor. "You'll find out. Get your ass in the bathroom."

"Daddy…"

Missy knew something was wrong the second she opened the front door. Sugar didn't meet her at the door, Evy was nowhere to be seen, and John's truck was in the driveway, but he wasn't around either. Missy put the pizza she'd brought home on the kitchen table, put her purse down, and went looking for anyone else. Just as she got to Evy's room, she heard a sniffing sound. Missy stuck her head inside and almost thought she was just hearing things. But there was movement on Evy's bed, and Missy realized that Evy was curled up under her blankets, sniffling and probably crying. Immediately her mind was transported to four years earlier, coming home and finding Evy in her bed crying after John had told her about the supernatural.

"Kitten? Are you alright?"

Evy sniffed and answered but refused to come out. "Hi, mommy."
Missy grabbed the blanket and tried to pull it back. "Come on out. What's wrong?"

Evy forcefully grabbed the blanket and pulled it tighter around her. "No!"
"Why don't you want to come out?" Missy asked.

"'Cause you'll laugh at me." Evy cried.

Missy's stomach tightened in dread. "Kitten, I promise I won't. I'd never laugh at you. Come on out, please."

Evy pulled the blanket back, and Missy's jaw dropped. The day before, when Evy had left for her sleepover, her hair had been chestnut brown, wavy, and almost completely down her back. Now, it was black, which didn't surprise Missy. She had told Evy she could dye her hair the night before if she wanted to. What did surprise her was the state of Evy's hair. It was tangled beyond anything Missy had ever seen. Parts of it were still the length it had been before, but parts of it were halfway up her back, and parts of it were only the length of her shoulders. Evy grabbed Squish beside her and held him tight, while Missy cautiously pushed some of the stray hair out of Evy's face. When Evy's flinched at her mother's touch, Missy asked,

"What happened to you?"

Evy started to talk, but all that came out were tears.

"Shh, okay, Kitten, come here."

Evy leaned over and cried into her mother's shoulder. Missy tried to calm her, all the while frightening thoughts occurring in the back of her mind. Had this happened at the sleepover the night before? She quickly ruled that out. Evy had sounded perfectly happy when Missy called that morning, and Evy wasn't that good at hiding when things were bothering her. Had she been attacked coming home? She ruled that out too. She knew Mrs. Jackson fairly well, and she never would've allowed Evy out of her sight if something had happened to her before getting home. Had she been attacked at home? That couldn't be possible either. Even drunk, John would have never allowed someone to attack Evy like this. Evy was finally starting to calm down, so Missy tried again.

"Kitten, please. I need to know. What happened?" Evy was still panicking, drawing in hitching breaths, so Missy went to the kitchen and poured her a glass of water. "Here. Drink this."

Evy finished the water, which helped her to calm down. "Thanks, mommy." She said quietly.

"Kitten, come on. What happened? Just go slow. Take your time."
Evy sniffed and took a deep breath. "I got home and Daddy was still asleep. I took Sugar and ran him outside, then I came in and made some lunch and watched a movie. Daddy woke up and he got real mad at me for dyeing my hair."

Another frightening thought came to Missy. "Your father did this to you?"

"Yes." Evy said. "He told me I couldn't do something like that without permission. I told him I had it, that you said I could do it."
"What happened next?" Missy asked, trying to keep herself calm for Evy's sake.

"He told me not to lie to him and I said I wasn't. He spanked me and started to take his belt off, then he said he had a better idea to deal with me." Evy said, starting to cry again.

"He dragged you to the bathroom then?"

Evy nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, baby." Missy said. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Did you see Sugar when you came in?"

"No. Why?" Missy asked.

Evy started crying all over again. "Sugar was sleeping when Daddy started to spank me. He woke up when I was crying and started growling at Daddy. When he wouldn't let me go, Sugar jumped on him and tried to bite him to make him stop. Daddy knocked him to the floor and wouldn't let me get him help. Sugar wouldn't wake up."

"He hurt Sugar too?" Missy whispered, unable to believe John had gone that far.

Evy nodded and begged, "Mommy, where is he? Where's Sugar?"
"Come here, baby." Missy said, gathering Evy into her arms again. "Listen to me, okay? I'm gonna call Dean and get him back here. Dean will go out and look for Sugar. I'll call Sammy and get him to come pick you up. He'll take you somewhere and get your hair fixed, okay?"

"We can't fix this, mommy!" Evy said. "I liked my hair the way it was!"

"I know." Missy said. "I know, baby. But it will grow back, I promise."
"Not for a long time." Evy said.

"I know." Missy said. "But you can get it cut however you want. What about the black in your hair? Do you want to make that permanent?"

"Can I?" Evy asked.

"If that's what you want."

Evy sniffed. "No. I was just curious about it. Mrs. Jackson said it would wash out in a few days."

"Okay, baby." Missy said. "Mommy'll take care of this. Daddy won't ever hurt you again."

"Are you going to make Daddy leave?" Evy asked.

"Do you want him to stay?" Missy asked, amazed.

Evy sniffed and sat up. "I'm afraid if you make him leave I won't ever see him again."

"You amaze me, you know that?" Missy answered. "If you really want me to let your Daddy stay, I will. If, and only if, he apologizes to you and Sugar's okay. If he won't apologize or if Sugar's hurt bad, your daddy will have to leave and go to uncle Bobby's. Okay?"

"Okay." Evy said.

"I love you so much, Kitten."

"Love you too, mommy." Evy said. "Do you have to leave to call Deanie and Sammy?"
"No." Missy said.

She sat against the headboard on Evy's bed, and Evy laid back down with her head in Missy's lap. Missy used one hand to stroke Evy's hair, and one hand to text both Sam and Dean Both of you get your asses to the house NOW and come straight to your sister's room. Twenty minutes later, both of them were there. Missy gave them an abridged version of what had happened, then clearly gave them both their instructions.

"Dean, get out there and find Sugar. Drive around first. Check the park, then check the neighborhood. If you don't find him, check the animal hospital and the pound."

Evy whimpered at the mention of the pound, and Missy squeezed her hand to reassure her.

"You got it." Dean, who usually would go to the ends of the earth to protect his father, was fuming. "Kiddo, I'm sorry I wasn't home to protect you from this. I'll bring Sugar home."

Evy nodded sadly. "Thank you, Deanie."

"Sam, there's cash in the cookie jar on top of the fridge. Take all of it and take her somewhere to get a haircut. Whatever needs to happen, do it. Just get this fixed somehow."

"Jess can cut hair pretty well. Is it okay if she does it?" Sam asked.

"Can she, mommy?" Evy asked. "I don't want to go out where people'll see me like this. It's embarrassing."

"Sure, Kitten." Missy said. "Sam, if she needs to, can she spend the night?"

"Yeah." Sam said. He and Jess had moved in together a few months earlier, and Jess loved having Evy over. "Of course she can stay."

"Kitten, go on to Sam's car." Missy said. When Evy was out of the room, she told Sam and Dean, "Boys, I don't know what's going to happen when I confront your father about this. We may break up. I want you to know, if that happens, both of you always have a home here. No matter what."

"Can I stay here with you?" Dean asked. "I have to find out why he did this. I just don't understand it."
Missy felt bad for Dean. She knew it was hard for him, thinking that John was capable of hurting anything that wasn't clearly evil and hurting others. But she didn't want to put Dean in that position of having to confront his father. No matter what he had done, Missy knew Dean would always love his father, and she didn't want to put that in jeopardy by making him choose sides.

"No, Dean. I need you out looking for Sugar. If you want to say something to your dad when you come back, you can. But I need you, and Evy needs you, to find Sugar. Okay?"

"Okay." Dean said. He didn't agree, but he wanted, no, needed, to do something to soothe the hurt John had put Evy through. "I'll find him."

"Alright, boys. Thank you. Sam, take the money from the jar anyway. After Jess cuts her hair, take her out somewhere fun. Dinner, the movies, shopping, I don't care. But make a big deal of how good she looks. She's really embarrassed about her hair right now."

"Got it." Sam said. "Do you want me to call Bobby?"

"No. I'll take care of this myself."

"Okay." Sam said. Since Dean was already walking out the door, Sam said quietly, "Get in a shot for me."
Missy nodded. "No problem."

Sam left, and an angry Missy gathered her thoughts. She didn't know where this was going to go. She felt partially responsible herself. She knew that John's drinking had been spiraling out of control lately, but he was also gone more often than he was home. She had honestly believed Evy would be safe at home alone with him for just a few hours. Obviously she was wrong. She got up off the bed and walked into the living room. At some point after she'd gotten home, John had moved from their bedroom to the living room couch. He was passed out again. Missy went to the front door, opened it, and slammed it shut so hard that the cracked glass pane towards the top shattered. John instinctively jumped off the couch and put his hand to his side, reaching for a weapon Missy knew for a fact he kept next to their bed when he was home. Before he could say anything about her slamming the door, Missy said in a low, dangerous voice,

"Get up, you son of a bitch. Time for us to talk."

Next chapter: Missy confronts John.