Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatual do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.

A/N: This story takes place in the first episode of season five. Evy is sitting with Bobby in the hospital after he's stabbed himself. She is going back through the events of the last few weeks in her mind. She finally confronts Sam about his actions during the four months that Dean was in hell.

Chapter Eleven

Evy sat in the waiting room of the hospital, her heart beating loud in her chest with worry. She was having a hard time focusing on anything other than seeing Bobby again. Evy had always loved Bobby, but over the last few months they had become closer than ever. Evy felt as if she was having the type of relationship with Bobby that she'd always wished she'd had with John. Now, in the face of possibly losing him, all she wanted was for Sam and Dean to come back quickly so that she wouldn't be alone. Before she had the chance to worry about it any more, a doctor came out into the waiting room.

"Robert Singer?"

Evy jumped over and headed to the doctor. "How is he?" she asked.

"He's alive, but he's still unconscious." the doctor explained.

"I want to see him." Evy said right away, starting to walk away from the doctor, thinking that he would step in front of her and lead the way. When he didn't, Evy turned to find the doctor staring at her. "Doctor…?"

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned. "You're limping."

Evy bit back a sharp response. Not out of fear of saying something she'd regret, but because she didn't have time for this. She had to get to Bobby. She had learned to block out staring and comments about her limping, and most of the time she didn't even think about. But the doctor didn't know, so she tried her best to be as patient with him as she could possibly be.

"It's an old injury." she explained. "I'm fine. Doctor, please, where's Bobby?"

The doctor seemed reluctant, but nodded. "This way. Come on."

The doctor led Evy down the hall to a hospital room. A nurse was there, examining Bobby, and when Evy and the doctor walked in, she greeted them with a warm smile. Evy didn't respond to her, just walked next to Bobby's bed. She fought back tears, and grabbed his hand for a moment, before taking the chair off the wall and pulling it next to Bobby's bed. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, remembering that she still had not updated Sam and Dean.

I'm in Bobby's room now. He's still unconscious, but stable. When will you guys be back?

When she finished the message, Evy put her phone to the side. She settled back in the chair, and for the first time she realized just how tired she actually was. Evy looked at Bobby again and gave him a pep talk before going to sleep.

"Alright, buddy. You have to pull through this, whether you want to or not. You're the only dad I have now, and I won't forgive you if you leave me too. I love you, Bobby."

Just as Evy was about to go back to sleep her phone dinged. It was Sam. On the way back now. We've got some things to talk about. Call us if stuff gets worse. Love you Cricket. Evy responded with a quick Love you too and closed her eyes attempting to sleep. Her mind ran over the last few hours. The worst of it rang in her ears and made her heart ache-Bobby telling Sam to lose his number "if we make it out of this". She heard her father's voice echoing virtually the same thing years earlier. Evy wanted more than anything to wake Bobby and ask him if he really meant it, but realized that she can't stand the possibility that he might have. So, rather than face that possibility, Evy finally drifted off to sleep.

Dean and Sam returned some time later. When they walked in, they accidentally woke Evy, who was surprised to see Bobby awake on the bed. Sam and Dean started to talk about what had happened while they were exploring John's old storage unit, but Evy's mind was on something else. She had previously decided that she wanted to go back on the road with Sam and Dean, but she was now rethinking that possibility. Bobby would need help now, more so than ever. Evy felt like she owed him after helping her get over her attack. Evy had had nightmares, sometimes multiple ones a night, and Bobby had been there every single time she'd woken up. He'd sat there with her, assuring her she was okay and that he was there for her. He had encouraged her after her cast had come off to walk at her own pace, and not rush her recovery. He had never allowed her to get lax, however; if she wasn't working on getting better, she was doing research, sometimes for him, sometimes for Sam and Dean, sometimes for other hunters that she'd never met before. She was always focusing on getting better, or working. Because of that, Evy had gotten to the point she was at. She was still in pain most days, mostly in the back of her bitten leg, but if she was working and focused on something, most of the time she could block it out. Sam's voice shook her out of her thoughts. He was standing next to her, looking down at her, obviously waiting on her to answer a question that she hadn't heard.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you." Evy admitted.

"I asked if you were ready to come back out with us." Sam asked.

Evy felt a stab of guilt when she saw that Sam looked excited at the possibility of having her back. "No." she whispered. "I'm sorry, Sammy. No. At least not until Bobby's better."

Evy barely had time to register the disappointment on Sam's face before Bobby protested. "The hell you're staying behind!" he reprimanded her sharply. "You need to go back out with them, Baitfish."

"Bobby!" Evy cut him off, and in an unusual display of stubbornness, told him "Don't argue with me. It won't do any good."

Sam and Dean were wide eyed in surprise at Evy's statement of defiance. Sam, who only a moment earlier been so disappointed that she wasn't coming back out with them, was now fighting back a smile. Dean wasn't bothering to hide his. Bobby attempted to use his best parental authority voice, but found that it was too late now.

"You are not staying." he declared. "You're leaving when they do. You're ready, and you're going."

"Get up and make me leave, old man." Evy retorted.

Dean actually snorted at that, and Sam chuckled. After shooting them both nasty looks, Bobby turned back to Evy, eyes narrowed in mock scorn. Evy was decidedly unafraid, and showed it with a lopsided grin that she only got when being mischievous.

"You know," Bobby said, eyes locked on Evy, "you used to be a sweet kid."

Evy got off the chair slowly, walked to the edge of Bobby's bed, and stood next to it for a moment before speaking. She leaned on the bed with her hands and grinned so hard that Bobby couldn't help but smile himself.

"What are you talking about?" Evy asked. "I'm adorable."

Bobby laughed as Evy kissed his cheek. "I love you, kid."

"I love you, too." Evy stood up. "I'm gonna stay with them tonight and come back in the morning."
"Alright, Baitfish. Sleep tight."
Dean said goodbye to Bobby and turned to leave, Evy following close behind him. When she heard Bobby call Sam back, she stayed next to the door to listen. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Bobby tell Sam that "it was the demon talking." So Bobby hadn't meant what he said, and he wasn't chasing Sam away. Evy followed Sam and Dean down to the parking lot, where the conversation got decidedly less upbeat than it had been in Bobby's room.

"Do you have something to say to me, Dean?"

Evy's heart sank. The confrontation she had been dreading for the last year was about to happen. Evy half listened to what Dean told Sam, but mostly rolled over in her mind the last year. She didn't respond to what Dean told Sam, but found herself wiping tears away. As Dean talked, she tried to sort out her own feelings, as she had no doubt that Sam would want to talk to her next. She had a brief flashback to the night that the entire situation blew out of control.

Evy sat in Bobby's living room, relieved that Sam had stopped screaming, at least temporarily. Dean had forbidden her from going anywhere near the bunker, afraid that Sam would be successful in convincing her to let him go. Evy had no problem with that, as she wasn't able to loot at Sam at the moment anyway. While she had spent the last few months pretending everything was okay, she realized that she had actually been deeply hurt by him. He had left almost as soon as they'd buried Dean, and gone off to do only he knew what. He had left her at Bobby's, and only had minimal contact with her the entire four months Dean had been gone. Evy had wanted to confront Sam many times about his behavior, but, not wanting to put Dean through any more than he'd already been through, had just pretended that everything was okay and moved on. Then, when she'd been attacked by Lillith, she had been distracted by finding out she was and trying to learn more about it.

Now Evy realized that that had been a big mistake. She felt guilty. She didn't know exactly when Sam had started using the demon blood, but she'd had a feeling it had been while he was gone after Dean had died. Maybe if she had said something to Dean in the first few weeks that she had been on the road with them after Dean's return, or said something to Bobby, maybe things would be different now. She had said something to Dean about her feelings the night before, and Dean had tried to assure her that "It's not your fault, kiddo. It's not your fault." She hadn't said anything since then, but she still felt responsible.

Before Evy could think anything more about it, she sees Sam suddenly run out the front door. Evy followed behind him, cursing herself for moving so much slower than him. When she did catch up with Sam, she stopped, panicked. Bobby was holding a gun on Sam, trying to persuade him to come back inside on his own so he wouldn't have to use it. Evy approached slowly, hands up in the air so as not to startle Bobby.

"Sammy. Please come back. We're trying to help you."

Sam looked hesitant for a moment. Bobby was holding his breath, hoping that Evy could get Sam to do what he couldn't. But before either of them knew what was happening, Bobby was lying on the ground, unconscious, and Evy was next to him, nursing a now split lip. Sam had knocked her down. The fact that he'd done that shocked her more than the fall did. Evy took one last look at Sam. She thought, for a split second, that she saw a glimpse of the old Sammy, the one that held her tight that night years earlier before they left together for Stanford. Before she got a chance to try and beg him to come back again, Sam was gone.

Evy shifted uncomfortably, her emotions still jumbled. What she couldn't get past was the fact that Sam left her. She could get past the demon blood loss, get past the fact that he was with Ruby, get past the lies. Sam had already apologized, more than once, for knocking her down. She honestly didn't care about that. She had suffered far worse things than a split lip, and it barely even phased her. Now, as she heard Sam tell Dean again, "I'm sorry." she prepared to tell Sam, finally, exactly how she felt. Dean started to turn and head into the car, but Evy grabbed his hand, pleading silently for him not to leave. Dean leaned back against the car again. Sam, who was near tears now, asked Evy the same question he'd asked Dean.

"Cricket? Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Evy, who had been staring at the ground as Dean and Sam talked, looked up for the first time. "Do you remember what you told me that night that we left for Stanford together?"

Sam was thrown by the question. "What? What do you mean?"

"You told me you'd never leave me." Evy said, and the effect on Sam was instantaneous. He looked as though Evy had reached over and slapped him in the face. Evy continued while he was still too stunned to talk. "When you, and Dad, and Dean, weren't talking, I used to wonder if they still cared about me. But I never, never, doubted that you did. Not until now."

Evy looked away from Sam and back down at the ground. She was crying herself now. Sam was rocking back and forth on the heel of his feet. Evy knew he was fighting the urge to hug her, probably because he wasn't sure whether or not she'd push him away. Evy wasn't sure herself at that point. Evy felt Dean place a hand on her back, and it had the effect of restoring her courage. Evy looked back up at Sam and finally confessed what was really on her mind.

"But what really bothers me…" Evy said, wiping tears away from her face. What she said next tore Sam's heart into pieces. "You left me. You left me, Sammy. Not once, but over and over. Dean was dead. Dad was dead. And you waited until I was asleep and dumped me at Bobby's without even saying goodbye. Then you left me and Dean for Ruby. And now I can't help but wonder when you're going to leave us again."

"Cricket…" Sam said, reaching out a hand to try and comfort her.

Evy pulled back from Sam. She didn't pull back sharply, but enough that it made Sam realize that he had damaged his relationship with her, most likely permanently. That thought brought tears to Sam's own eyes now.

"What can I do?" he asked, hearbroken.

"Nothing, Sammy." Evy answered. "Nothing."

Evy turned and walked back towards the Impala. She climbed into the front passenger seat, buckled her seatbelt, and turned so that she was facing the window. Dean climbed in beside her. He said nothing, just started the car and drove away. A mile down the road, Dean was startled to hear a soft sniffling sound from Evy's seat. Dean looked over at Evy's seat and saw she was crying softly. Dean reached over and took her hand. Evy looked at him, her big watery eyes a stark reminder to Dean of what he called Sam's "puppy eyes".

"Come here." Dean said quietly.

Evy unbuckled her seatbelt and moved over so she was sitting next to Dean. Dean put one arm around her shoulder while continuing to drive with the other. Evy wrapped both arms around Dean's waist, and the two sat like that until Dean found them a room. Neither quite knew what to say, so both went to bed without saying anything. As Evy drifted off to sleep, she found herself wondering if her relationship with Sam would ever be the same again. That thought was enough to start her crying again, and she cried herself to sleep.