Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Present Day
The Homestead

Wynonna let out a deep sigh as she walked up the steps to the homestead. Today had not been a good day. Doc was still looking at her like she betrayed him after realizing he might not be the baby’s father, Dolls was afraid she would break at any minute, and Jeremy was annoying the shit out of her with his endless parade of lame jokes. Now all she wanted was to get into some loose clothes since everything felt tight now, maybe take a hot shower, and enjoy her tea. Damn fucking tea, she thought, wishing it could be whiskey, but the small movement in her belly reminded her why tea was her only option.

Once she opened the door, she heard soft music playing and the smell of Italian food coming from the kitchen. Then she heard the giggling. Nicole was there. She was leaning up against the counter with a glass of wine in hand, watching Waverly as she bounced around the kitchen, preparing her favorite pasta dish. Wynonna let out a small grumble as she closed the door, the lovers completely oblivious of her being home, too wrapped up in each other.

“This smells amazing, Waves,” Nicole said, her cheeks slightly pink from the wine as she took another sip from her glass.

“Only the best for my lady,” Waverly said, a big smile on her face resulting in a full flash of dimples from Nicole. “Here, try the sauce.” She dipped a wooden spoon in the sauce she had been working on so diligently for the past 45 minutes and softly blew on it before moving towards Nicole. Nicole held onto her wrist, moving the spoon into her mouth.

“Mmmm,” Nicole moaned. “That is so good.” Waverly smiled proudly before setting the wooden spoon on the stove, but not moving away from Nicole.

“Think that’s good, just wait and see what you get to taste later,” she said, her hands moving up Nicole’s body to her shoulders before she pressed their lips together in a quick, teasing kiss.

“Yeah, what about a taste now?” Nicole replied, her eyebrows arching as she wrapped her hands around Waverly’s waist, pushed their hips together, and placed her lips to Waverly’s neck.

“Guys,” Wynonna stated loudly as the lovers jumped at the sound of her voice. “Boundaries…my cheerios don’t want to hear your dirty talk.” Nicole’s face turned a deeper red.

“Sorry, we didn’t hear you come in,” Waverly remorsefully replied as she gave Nicole’s hand a gentle squeeze before moving back in front of the stove. “Are you hungry?”

“Not anymore,” Wynonna grumbled, setting Peacemaker down on the table.

“Rough day?” Nicole asks sympathetically.

“Nahhh,” Wynonna grumbled again. “Doc just can’t get over his own ego. If Jeremy makes one more damn joke I’m going to punch him. And this tiny human inside me will not stop doing a riverdance on my bladder.”

“Soooo a little rough,” Nicole slowly replied, giving her a look of sympathy.

“You could say that,” Wynonna answered.

“How about you go change and I’ll make you some tea?” Waverly asked. She knew Wynonna just needed some rest. Wynonna’s “mommy grumbles” as she had been calling them lately were usually worse at the end of the day when her legs were tired and her back hurt the most. Before Wynonna could respond, a loud noise from outside caused all three women to jump.

“Now what,” Wynonna grumbled as she grabbed Peacemaker and moved towards the front door.

“I’ll go check it out if you want,” Nicole said, grabbing her jacket and her utility belt, ready to head out the door before Wynonna stopped her.

“No no, you two go back to your cooking or canoodling or whatever the hell it is you two were doing,” Wynonna replied. “It just looks like the barn door came open.” Waverly and Nicole looked at each other, silently asking whether one of them should go despite Wynonna’s rejection, but before they could follow, Wynonna slammed the door behind her. She walked out across the yard, her footsteps crunching in the snow. The barn door was wide open, but there were no recent footsteps leading in or out. The wind had picked up a little and it seemed as though the old door had just come open on its own.

Just to make sure, Wynonna stuck her head into the barn, Peacemaker drawn. Although revenants couldn’t get close to the homestead, other evil could. She looked around to see the place empty. Walking over to the makeshift bed, she sat down and let out a deep sigh. Finally, some peace and quiet. She sat there for a few moments just enjoying the serenity before something sparkly in the straw caught her eye. It was something silver, perhaps something Gooverly had collected that Waverly hadn’t seen when she dismantled the lightning rod.

Kneeling down, she retrieved the shining silver object before leaning back on the straw. It was a necklace with a larger square pendant that appeared to show an image of a sorceress in the background with an amber-colored gloss overlain on top. She rubbed her fingers over the pendant, feeling a strange warmth before her eyes snapped shut. When she opened them, she was no longer in the barn, but on an empty road. It was quiet, calm, and surprisingly not cold as Wynonna watched the snow fall around her. Her feet and back weren’t hurting as much as they had been and she felt eerily at peace. That is until the voice of a woman made her jump.

“You found my necklace,” the woman said. Wynonna whipped around towards the woman, Peacemaker in hand.

“Who are you?” Wynonna asked.

“You have no reason to be afraid,” the woman responded, her long dark cloak swirling around her. It was the sorceress from the necklace. She had long dark hair braided in various ways which moved about her in the wind just as her black dress did. Her piercing green eyes were welcoming but also mysterious. “I don’t wish to bring any harm to the heir. You could say, I’m a granter of wishes,” the woman answered.

“Like a genie?” Wynonna responded, sounding unimpressed.

“In some ways,” the woman answered with a smile, slowly moving closer to Wynonna. “I can tell you have a heavy weight on your shoulders. It is quite a lot of work being a mother.” Wynonna watched the woman move her hands in front of Wynonna’s belly, but making no attempt to touch her.

“What do you want?” Wynonna asked nervously.

“That’s just it, dear, you summoned me,” the woman replied, “when you rubbed the necklace.”

“I…no, I just picked it up,” Wynonna answered.

“You have a wish in your heart,” said the woman. “You just don’t want to say it out loud.”

“I want some peace and quiet,” Wynonna remarked. “Do you know how hard that is to get?”

“Yes,” the woman said with a small laugh. “But there is something else…” She watched inquisitively as Wynonna collected her thoughts. “Maybe something you’ve been dreaming about, but are too afraid to say out of guilt.”

“Lady, I don’t feel guilty about anything,” Wynonna stammered. The woman let out a deep laugh, mocking Wynonna in a way.

“You feel guilty about everything,” the woman answered. “Your unborn child, the stress you’ve caused the men in your life, for snapping at your sister and her lover this evening.” Wynonna’s eyes widened. How does this woman know all this? Although she found this entire experience odd, Wynonna still felt a strange comfort in the woman’s presence. She slowly lowered Peacemaker and looked up at the woman.

“You’re right,” Wynonna answered. “I do feel guilty, but what’s it to you?”

“Guilt is a strong emotion,” the lady replied. “Sometimes we just need an escape.” Wynonna just rolled her eyes.

“What are you, a sorceress that moonlights as a therapist, coming to cure everyone’s problems with a little comfort and a good talk?”

“No,” the woman answered, laughing again. “I offer…alternatives to people’s problems.”

“What do you mean, alternatives?” Wynonna asked. She was definitely curious, but cautious.

“The chance to see what life would be like if we could get what we wished for most,” the woman replied. “All you have to do is hold the necklace, and say what it is you wish for.”

“How is that going to make everything better?” Wynonna asked.

“Give it a try,” the woman answered, daring Wynonna. Although Wynonna was sure this was some sort of trap, she couldn’t shake the sense of peace she felt in this woman’s presence, the calm that this whole experience had been. If she was evil, shouldn’t she feel worried or troubled about what this woman was saying? How could making a wish be so bad? Wynonna let out a deep sigh.

“I guess if it’s what I wish for most…” Wynonna hesitated. She rubbed her belly and thought of Waverly…then of her father and Willa and all of the other important people in their lives. How much had they all sacrificed for them? For a history they didn’t choose? For a life they didn’t choose? For a curse they didn’t choose? That was it. It all came down to the curse. It was the cornerstone of their life. “I wish things were…normal? Not sure what normal is, but…different from what they are now. A life where everyone doesn’t suffer because they know an Earp. A life where we aren’t cursed.” She paused. “I wish there was no Earp curse,” she stated as she rubbed her thumb over the pendant of the necklace. She gasped as she heard herself say the words out loud. A sudden guilt washed over her until she looked back at the woman. She was the heir, and it was her duty to kill all the revenants, not to complain about being the heir. This was the Earp curse and dammit to hell if she wasn’t going to be the one to break it. She shook her head at herself.

“It’s done,” the woman said, placing a hand on Wynonna’s shoulder.

“What? What do you mean?!?” Wynonna sounded more nervous now as she watched everything turn dark and felt herself tumbling to the ground…

*****************************

The Homestead

Wynonna slowly opened her eyes, sunlight shining through the window of her bedroom. She was surprised to find herself in her bed. She had been on a road with that woman, the necklace in her hand. How had she gotten back to the homestead? Why was the blanket a different color and the furniture rearranged? And what was that delicious smell coming from the kitchen. Her stomach let out a hunger grumble as she realized she hadn’t eaten since lunchtime the day before. She lifted the blanket to look down at her stomach only to realize her stomach was flat. The baby…where was the baby. She gasped as she sat up, rubbing her hands all over her stomach.

“What the hell?!?” she said out loud. She wasn’t pregnant anymore.

“It’s okay babe,” came the sleepy voice beside her. It was a man. A very handsome man with dark hair. He looked like the human version of a Disney prince with a chiseled jawline and well-sculpted muscles. Definitely not a type she usually went for with his carefully trimmed hair and tanned skin. He was laying on his stomach, curled up with the pillow and didn’t open his eyes as he sleepily mumbled at Wynonna. “You’ll find the right dress today.”

“What? Who?” Wynonna said before the door of her bedroom flew open.

“Wake up, sleepyhead. We’ve got to eat and then get out of here if we’re going to make it to the dress shop on time.” Wynonna stared at the woman in front of her. Willa…

She must still be dreaming. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. What the hell was going on? Who was this man beside her? And why did the homestead smell like delicious pancakes? Waverly rarely made pancakes.

“What?” Wynonna sputtered out as she tried to process everything.

“We’ve got to be in the city by 11 for your appointment,” Willa said, taking a seat on the bed beside her. “We’re going to find you the best dress today.”

“Dress for…” Wynonna asked slowly.

“Your wedding silly,” Willa replied. “Now get dressed.” Willa got up and moved to leave the bedroom. “Don’t worry, David, I’ll leave you some pancakes too.” She closed the door behind her.

“Thank you,” a tired David grumbled, his eyes closed the entire time. Wynonna wanted to ask him who he was and why he was in her bed, but the whole thing still seemed like a dream.

“You heard her babe,” David said, giving her a light push. “I wouldn’t keep her waiting.” Moving away from his hands, Wynonna scrambled out of bed, grabbing a phone from her bedside, and got dressed as quickly as she could find her clothes. Everything in her room was rearranged and even her clothes looked different. She located some tattered jeans in the back of her closet and a shirt she recognized and put them on before grabbing boots and heading out the door. She fumbled with the phone as she made her way to the kitchen. Her lock screen was a picture of her smiling with the man in her room. His arms were wrapped around her from behind and they looked really happy. Now she had the trouble of not knowing her passcode. Shit, she thought, trying desperately to unlock the phone.

“That’s not what you’re wearing, is it?” Willa asked from the table as she saw Wynonna stumble into the kitchen.

“We’re uh…we’re going to have to reschedule,” Wynonna answered, holding up her phone. “Totally double-booked today. Yeah, doctor’s appointment. Got to go.”

“Wait,” Willa said, “what?”

“Don’t worry,” Wynonna replied. “Please just call the shop and we’ll reschedule.”

“Wynonna, you’re not having second thoughts again are you?” Willa asked in a more hushed tone, getting up from her seat and walking towards her.

“NO!” Wynonna yelled back a little too loudly to be convincing. “I mean…no. I just have somewhere else I need to be.”

“Okay I’ll reschedule,” Willa answered, “but this is the last time.”

“Good. Now where’s Waverly?” Wynonna moved to head up the stairs, but Willa’s response stopped her.

“Probably at Shorty’s. How would I know,” Willa replied.

“You didn’t see her leave?” Wynonna asked.

“Why would I see her? She doesn’t live here.”

“What?” Wynonna was perplexed.

“She’s been living with Gus and Curtis since high school. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I just, um…I hit my head this morning and things are just a little jumbled.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing you have that appointment then,” Willa said, skeptically.

“Yes, right, appointment. I’m off.” Wynonna moved to head out the door before she saw three cars she’d never seen before in the driveway. She figured one of them must be hers, but which one wasn’t clear. Turning back towards Willa, “Um…do you know where…?” Willa pointed at a purse sitting on a side table near the kitchen. “Right.” Wynonna grabbed the purse, located the keys inside, and headed out. “I’ll be back.” Willa watched her go with a furrowed brow.

What the hell?? Wynonna thought to herself once she was out of the house and headed to her car. She hit the lock button and deduced that the small SUV was hers. How domestic, she thought as she got into the car. She quickly headed off towards town, hoping to make it to Shorty’s as quickly as possible to locate the one person that may help her understand what the hell was going on.

Chapter Text

Shorty’s

Waverly was behind the bar, busily pouring beers as the place was already half full despite the early hour. Ever since Shorty invested in a couple TVs and a cable package that included football games from all the major college conferences (Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, SEC, and Pac-12), Saturday mornings at Shorty’s had become the place to be. Of course all of the rowdy men at Shorty’s had never even set foot outside of Purgatory or been to any of the colleges, but loved to bet against each other on the outcome of the games. The men could gamble and drink all day until karaoke on Saturday night which meant quite a lot of work for Waverly. Of course some of the men were still sleeping it off from the night before so the place wouldn’t get packed until about noon. She glanced at the clock, realizing she still had a bit more peace before the real rush began.

“Waverly, can we get some snacks over here, cutie?” Big Bruno, a Shorty’s regular, asked from a table near the bar.

“Sure thing, Big B” Waverly squeaked in her high-pitched customer voice she did when wanted to sound chipper. She got the snack tray loaded up and hauled over to Bruno’s table and was headed back to the bar when she saw Wynonna burst through the door.

“Waves!” she yelled as she grabbed Waverly’s arm.

“Wynonna, what the hell?” Waverly said, confused. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the city?”

“Well, yeah but listen, you got to help me.” She grabbed her arm and motioned her over to the bar, talking in a hushed tone so only Waverly could hear her. “I need your help.”

“What’s wrong?” Waverly said.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Wynonna responded, “and I’m not sure how to fix it.”

“Not this again,” Waverly said, shaking her arm from her sister and moving back behind the bar. “I thought you were finally okay with marrying David?”

“What? No, it’s not about that,” Wynonna answered, standing in front of the bar.

“Right, so you coming over to Uncle Curtis’ house drunk a few weeks ago with the same look in your eye saying ‘I’m not sure I can marry him’ has nothing to do with what you’re doing right now?”

“No, Waves look, something’s wrong,” Wynonna answered. “Look.” She lifted her shirt up, exposing her abdomen and just stared at Waverly which elicited some hoots and whistles from a couple of the guys in the bar. Wynonna shot them a glare.

“What am I looking at? Oh my god, are you pregnant?” Waverly said, leaning on her elbows on top of the bar.

“No, I’m not pregnant. That’s the problem.” She lowered her shirt and put her palms down against the bar.

“I’m confused,” Waverly replied.

“Waves, order up,” Shorty said sounding slightly annoyed.

“Sorry, Shorty,” Waverly yelled over her shoulder at him, moving to grab the food and take it to a table, but also listening to Wynonna.

“Wait…Shorty?” Wynonna asked, surprised to find the man alive.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the city with Willa?” Shorty asked.

“Well…we rescheduled,” Wynonna shrugged. By this time, Waverly had returned to back behind the bar and was filling beer mugs for a couple men down the bar.

“Willa’s going to flip,” Waverly replied. “Rescheduling your dress appointment again this close to the wedding. What are you going to get married in, a sack?”

“Zip it, alright,” Wynonna answered. A somewhat hurt look came over Waverly’s face as it finally sunk in to Wynonna. “Oh my god, wait…why weren’t you coming to the appointment with us today?”

“Me?” Waverly asked, sounding surprised as she delivered the beers to the guys down the bar before standing in front of Wynonna again. “Willa made it clear I was not to be involved in any of the planning, remember? Ever since you confided in me that night about how nervous you were to marry David, she’s hardly spoken to me.” Wynonna looked at her in surprise. “And neither have you. What are you even doing here?”

“Waves, I’m sorry for whatever…this is,” Wynonna answered, implying that their relationship was obviously very different right now, but she had to convince Waverly that all of this didn’t make sense. “But you and I are not supposed to be here. This isn’t our life.”

“Pretty sure it is, sis,” Waverly answered, grabbing a towel and rubbing down the bar. “Once a bar maid, always a bar maid.”

“No,” Wynonna answered, “you’re so much more than that, Waves. You’ve got to remember.” Wynonna grabbed her arm, and talked quietly so that only Waverly could here. “We…we live at the homestead and put down revenants with Peacemaker.”

“Peacemaker?” Waverly responded quietly in disbelief. “You mean daddy’s old gun that used to be Wyatt’s that doesn’t shoot straight but he swears he’ll get working again? And what the hell is a revenant?” Just then it dawned on Wynonna. The sorceress from the night before had granted her wish. She was living a life where there was no curse which meant no revenants. That meant Daddy was alive which explains why Willa was alive. The worst night of her childhood when she had shot Ward had never happened. What else had changed? But why did she have all of her memories if she was living in this life now? Shouldn’t she be different too?

“I…I’m sorry, I probably sound crazy,” Wynonna said, looking down at her feet.

“Well most of it sounds pretty cukoo bananas, but you do have a lot going on with the wedding coming up,” Waverly said, sympathetically giving her sister’s arm a gentle nudge.

“I hit my head pretty hard this morning and my memory is just really scattered,” Wynonna said, rubbing her temples.

“You should probably get that checked out,” Waverly replied, sounding a little worried. A ding from Shorty brought Waverly’s attention back to her job. “Look, why don’t you sit here and have a cup of coffee and I’ll help you fill in the gaps, okay?” Waverly gave her arm a squeeze and went to move away until Wynonna grabbed her hand.

“Thanks, Waves, it means a lot,” Wynonna said. Waverly smiled back at her as she quickly rushed off. Wynonna took a seat. Waverly set a cup of coffee in front of her, gave her a small wink, and then moved back to the kitchen to grab a bunch of orders that had piled up. Wynonna held the coffee up to her mouth and took a deep sniff. It had been awhile since she’d had coffee and it was going to taste amazing although she couldn’t help but feel a knot in her stomach realizing the baby was gone.

So many questions flashed through her mind. Was this her life now? Was this how things would always be? As she took a sip of her coffee, she heard boot heels click across the floor before stopping at the bar next to her. She turned to see Officer Nicole Haught set her stetson on the bar then fiddle with her uniform pants. Wynonna looked at her in surprise as her uniform was back to the classic khaki and dark blue shirt topped with her dark blue jacket. Nicole’s red hair was pulled back in a tight French braid and the two top buttons of her uniform shirt were unbuttoned as usual.

“How are you doing today, Officer?” said Marleen, an older woman sitting at a table in front of the bar off to the left of Nicole.

“Doing well, ma’am, how are you?” Nicole replied in a friendly tone, moving slightly towards Marleen so the woman didn’t have to talk as loud.

“Oh I’m good, dearie,” Marleen replied. Wynonna shook her head at how friendly Nicole was with the locals before returning her attention back to her coffee cup.

She saw Waverly walk out from the back and then stop in place when she saw Nicole was in front of the bar. A smile crossed Waverly’s face. Wynonna watched her brush off her jeans and run a hand through her hair trying to tame it to look perfect before she slowly moved up to the bar, looking very nervous.

“Well, looks like some things never change,” Wynonna muttered to herself as Waverly pretended to get a tray of snacks together, her eyes wandering over to Nicole as she chit-chatted with Marleen.

“Well, ma’am, it was great talking with you,” Nicole said as she dipped her head and gave Marleen’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before returning to the bar.

“Good morning, Officer,” Waverly said, turning her head for a moment towards Nicole before back at the tray, pretending she was busy even though her face lit up. “The usual today?” Wynonna shook her head but stayed quiet, sipping her coffee.

“Hey Waves,” Nicole said, her tone friendly but not as loving as Wynonna usually heard her speak to Waverly. “That’d be great. Two actually. Thanks.” Waverly gave her a smile and moved towards the coffee. When she returned with the two cups, Nicole also said, “Oh and uh…no…no, nevermind.” Waverly noticed Nicole’s attention went to the cinnamon rolls that Mrs. Johnson had brought in as a special for the morning before second-guessing her decision. “I’m trying to be good.”

“Mmmm, how’s that going?” Waverly said, flashing her a smile as she looked at the cinnamon rolls and then back at Nicole.

“Not well,” Nicole said back, pouting. “Especially after working the night shift.” Waverly smiled, a dorky grin crossing her face in response to seeing Nicole pout. She set the coffee cups down in front of Nicole and beamed at her. Wynonna continued to shake her head. It was obvious how smitten Waverly still was with Nicole. “Amy doesn’t like all the sweets I’ve been eating lately,” Nicole says, tapping her belly with her whole hand. Wynonna looked confused, turning her head towards Nicole.

“Well, you still look great in that uniform so…” Waverly blurted out awkwardly, her cheeks getting dark red. Nicole gave her a sympathetic laugh and was about to respond when Wynonna interrupted.

“Wait, you two aren’t…” Wynonna started to say until noticing Waverly’s eyes get large. “Going to talk about that football game? Damn, and I thought Northwestern was finally winning.” Wynonna pointed up to the screen behind them and pretended to be really interested.

“Since when are you into football?” Waverly asked, both of the women staring at her.

“And aren’t you supposed to be in the city finding a dress for your big occasion?” Nicole asked. Wynonna’s brows furrowed at the way she said big occasion in a clearly mocking manner. Meanwhile Waverly looked pretty proud, as though Nicole were in some way standing up for her after her exclusion from all of the wedding plans.

“Well I…I dunno,” Wynonna said, turning back to her coffee and trying to figure out what to say.

“We should take it easy on her,” Waverly said, gently placing her hand on Nicole’s on the bar, “she had a bit of a rough morning.”

“Mmm,” Nicole responded, not sounding convinced that was good enough reason given the hurt Waverly had gone through with being excluded. Wynonna noticed that Waverly hadn’t moved her hand away from Nicole’s, but Nicole had also not responded to the touch in any way.

“Hey Honey, are you ready to go?” a woman’s voice said behind them. Nicole turned, her hands moving with her as Waverly looked disappointed.

“Yeah, sweetheart. Just chatting with Waverly,” Nicole said as the blonde woman gave Nicole a kiss.

“Hey Waverly,” the blonde woman said, looking around Nicole at Waverly.

“Hi, Amy,” Waverly responded, a forced smile on her face as she went back to getting the snacks together.

“We better get going so you have time to change before we meet my aunt for lunch,” Amy said, grabbing one of the two cups of coffee that Waverly set on the bar for the pair. “Oh honey, you’ve got a lose string on your pants.”

“Yeah, I was messing with it earlier,” Nicole said. Waverly looked jealously at the pair as Amy rubbed her hand over Nicole’s pants where the lose string was hanging out.

“No biggie, I’ll fix it at home,” Amy said. Nicole smiled and set some money down on the bar which was far too much for the coffee, but meant a nice generous tip for Waverly. Amy grabbed her hand and started dragging her off.

“Thanks, Waves,” Nicole said quickly as put her stetson back on her head, grabbed her coffee, and headed towards the door with Amy.

“Any time,” Waverly said somewhat sadly as she watched the pair go.

“Got a bit of a girl crush there, do you Waves?” Wynonna asked, also turning to watch the pair leave, but keeping her voice low so only Waverly could hear her.

“Noooo,” Waverly replied, glaring at her. “She’s just…nice.”

“And Haught?” Wynonna asked jokingly. Waverly glared at her before turning her attention back to the snacks again but Wynonna’s flashed towards the door as she saw Nicole glance over her shoulder back at Waverly before she slipped out the door of the bar.

Chapter Text

Shorty’s

Wynonna had been sitting with Waverly at the bar for a couple hours listening intently to everything Waverly could tell her about their lives whenever she had a free moment. Waverly reaffirmed what Willa had said earlier about Waverly living with Gus and Curtis. The three girls had grown up together at the homestead with Ward and it had been a fairly happy childhood until their mother left. Waverly was four and didn’t understand why, but did know that Ward could hardly look at her after that. She was the spitting image of her mom and had many of her same mannerisms. Waverly guessed he was too hurt to ever recover. Willa, out of dedication to her father, had made things even worse by tormenting Waverly constantly. Wynonna had stopped Willa as often as she could, but couldn’t save her from all of it.

Once they got old enough, Ward decided to move into a different house with fewer memories to haunt him. He left the homestead to Willa who promptly decided that Waverly was no longer welcome. So Waverly moved in with Gus and Curtis who took her under their wing, got her through school, and helped her get the job at Shorty’s. Meanwhile, Wynonna had spent a couple years after high school trying to figure out who she was and what she wanted. She had ventured to Europe to go backpacking, but eventually decided to head to the big city near Purgatory and go to college. While there, she ended up meeting David, a successful businessman and her current fiancé. After about a year of dating, Wynonna convinced him to move back with her to Purgatory so she could be closer to family and help Willa out at her beauty supply shop. David commuted to the city for work and often stayed at their small flat near his office when things got busy. About four months, David had proposed during their anniversary trip to Greece.

By Waverly’s account, Wynonna had had a wonderful life. No one in the town hated her; in fact, almost everyone loved the Earp girls and had taken pity on them when their mother had run off. It was a life Wynonna had thought she always wanted, but some things were different. Her relationship with Waverly was different. Dolls did not exist; at least Waverly hadn’t mentioned him, nor had she mentioned Doc. Since there was no curse, it was most likely Doc wasn’t immortal meaning he had passed long ago from tuberculosis. And from what Wynonna could tell, Waverly had shrunk into the life that was expected of her not the one that she really wanted. It broke her heart as she listened to her sister.

“Anyways, that’s about everything that’s been going on,” Waverly said. “Starting to make more sense now?”

“Yes and no,” Wynonna replied. “If my life has been going so well, why did I freak out three weeks ago about marrying David? You said he’s the perfect guy for me.”

“He is,” Waverly replied. “I don’t know why you freaked out. You had an appointment in the city, some kind of follow up after your trip to Greece. Then, Shorty said you came here and got really drunk before stumbling to Uncle Curtis’ to find me.”

“Did I say anything about the appointment?”

“No,” Waverly answered. “Although…maybe it wasn’t about the appointment.”

“What do you mean?” Wynonna asked.

“Well, don’t get mad,” Waverly replied. She leaned closer to her sister. “It might have something to do with a certain someone with a pretty good eye for the ladies, if you know what I mean.” Waverly clicked her tongue and motioned her head towards a dark-haired man standing by the pool table, his back to them. When he turned around, Wynonna’s breath caught a little. Doc?  She thought. Only no, it wasn’t Doc. This man had similar facial features, the same soft blue eyes, but his hair was shorter and spiked upward. He had an unshaven face, and was missing Doc’s classic mustache.

“Is that…”

“Tim,” Waverly replied. “Tim Holliday. I don’t want to accuse you of anything, Wynonna, but Shorty saw the two of you leave together before you came to Uncle Curtis’ that night.” Wynonna turned to look at Waverly. “I’m still not sure why you broke up with him all those years ago before you went backpacking around Europe. I really thought you two would end up together.” Wynonna let out the breath she had been holding and made a nervous laugh as Tim finally noticed the pair staring at them. He held his glass up and gave them a charming smile before taking a drink and turning his attention back to his friends.

“I have no idea either,” Wynonna answered. The door of the bar flew open behind Wynonna as she turned back towards Waverly and her fourth cup of coffee.

“Oh gosh, incoming,” Waverly quickly said, her eyes big as she moved away from Wynonna and made herself busy helping the men at the other end of the bar.

“Where the hell have you been?” Willa yelled, slamming her purse on the bar before pushing Wynonna’s shoulders.

“Ow, hey,” Wynonna said almost falling off her stool.

“I’ve been running around trying to get things ready for your wedding and you’re here, wasting your day off talking to Waverly,” Willa demanded. Waverly glared at her as she poured a couple of beers.

“I’m not wasting time. We’ve been talking about important stuff,” Wynonna answered. Waverly gave her a small smile as she delivered the beers down the bar. “Centerpieces.”

“We’ve already picked out your centerpieces,” Willa demanded. “And I thought you had a doctor’s appointment?”

“I uh…I did, earlier,” Wynonna lied again. “Fit as a fiddle. Well, minus the whole head-memory thing.” When she heard a familiar man’s laugh behind her, Willa turned to see Tim and his buddies playing pool.

“Seriously, Wynonna?” Willa disapprovingly stated. “I thought you weren’t going to go anywhere near him again.”

“I’m not, I…” Wynonna said, unsure what to say.

“Hey, she just came in to get some help with her memory issues,” Waverly said, coming to Wynonna’s defense.

“Nobody asked you,” Willa snarled at Waverly. Waverly froze in place, her shoulders slightly hunched, and her gaze dropping. “Maybe you should stop worrying about her so much and pay more attention to that boyfriend of yours who keeps disappearing with all the other floozies in town.” Waverly threw the towel down she was holding, her eyes wetting with tears before she stomped away. She quickly jetted out the back door of Shorty’s, slamming it on her way out. Shorty came out from the kitchen and was going to say something to Willa, but Wynonna beat him to it.

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that,” Wynonna replied, standing up so she was face to face with her sister.

“What is wrong with you?” Willa asked. “You and I both know Champ’s the best thing in her life. We just talked last night about how she doesn’t give him enough attention.”

“Well maybe she deserves a lot more,” Wynonna answered. “And so do I.”

“These are just normal wedding jitters,” Willa replied, her tone softening. “I had the same feelings before I married Steven, but they go away. David is perfect for you and your wedding is going to be amazing if you quit running from it.” Wynonna looked back at her and quietly nodded.

“Then why doesn’t it feel right?” Wynonna asked.

“Nothing feels right about today,” Willa replied. “It’s like you’re an entirely different person.”

“My memory is shit right now,” Wynonna answered, rubbing her head still.

“Well, we’re supposed to be at dad’s house in an hour for brunch,” Willa said. “Come on, I’ll help you with your memory issues.” She looped her arm in Wynonna’s and pulled them towards the door.

“You really should apologize to Waverly,” Wynonna demanded. “She was just trying to help.”

“Fine, I’ll send her a text.”

“Oh hey, what’s my passcode?” Wynonna said, whipping out her phone as they exited the bar.

Ward’s House

As they pulled up in Ward’s driveway, Wynonna felt butterflies in her stomach. She hadn’t seen her father since she was a young girl. Well, not in her other life. Her real life. The last memory she had of him was a look of fear and panic after Wynonna had fired Peacemaker. He had crumbled to the ground and taken a couple breaths before passing away. She had screamed she was sorry over and over again, but just like that, he was gone. A tear fell from her eye and she was quick to brush it away before stopping her SUV behind Willa’s car and following her up the driveway. Wynonna’s breath caught as Ward came out of the door to greet them.

“There are my girls,” Ward said. His face had more wrinkles, his hair had grayed in patches, and his skin looked leathery from years of working outdoors. He had a pipe in one hand and ran a hand over his recently combed hair.

“Daddy,” Wynonna said, smiling as she walked up to him and he wrapped her up in a big hug. He still smelled the same – a mix of cinnamon, tobacco, and the slight hint of alcohol. His hug was one of few things that day that had actually made sense to her and she revealed in the safety of it for as long as she could. When they broke apart, Ward beamed at her before moving to give Willa a hug.

“Hi, Daddy, sorry we’re a bit late,” Willa said, giving Ward a hug. “I brought your favorite.” She handed him a dish of peach cobbler.

“Oh you spoil me, Willa,” Ward said. “Let’s go inside, you two.” As he moved away, Wynonna noticed he slightly stumbled up the stairs.

“Been hitting the bottle already today,” Willa whispered to Wynonna, shaking her head. It was no secret that Ward had a bit of a drinking problem after their mother had left, and those habits had only gotten worse after he’d moved out of the homestead. Wynonna quickly learned that she and Willa had been having brunch with their father every Saturday since Wynonna had moved back to Purgatory. It was on those days that he didn’t drink quite as much as usual and Willa took that as an accomplishment.

Wynonna sat at the table pushing her food around with her fork while listening to Willa and Ward discuss the latest town gossip. Ward also mentioned a small disagreement he had had with Curtis earlier in the week. Apparently the two of them were not on the greatest terms either as Curtis was constantly trying to get Ward to be a part of Waverly’s life, but Ward wouldn’t listen.

“Wynonna actually saw Waverly this morning,” Willa said, looking over at her sister.

“Yeah?” Ward said, shaking his head. “When is that girl going to settle down and marry the Hardy boy? It would do her some good.”

“She’s too stubborn to know what’s good for her, Daddy,” Willa said before Wynonna could answer.

“Isn’t that the truth,” Ward said. Wynonna was going to say something, but a gentle kick under the table from Willa made her second guess herself. “Speaking of which, how are the wedding plans going, Wy?”

“Uh good, great,” Wynonna replied, putting on a fake smile for Willa.

“We just need to get her a dress now,” Willa snidely remarked while Wynonna rolled her eyes.

“It’ll happen, okay,” Wynonna said, aggravated. She got up from the table and started pacing around the living room, looking at some of Ward’s photos.

“Give her time, Willa,” Ward said. “Some of the ladies sitting outside the hardware store yesterday said the dress is the hardest part.” Wynonna rolled her eyes again. These two were exhausting and worried about the most ridiculous shit. Wynonna tried to bottle up her frustration by studying Ward’s photos on the mantle. He had several pictures of both Willa and Wynonna when they were little and a couple more recent ones, but no photos of Waverly. When her eyes moved to the next photo, her breath caught. There were four people in the picture including Wynonna, David, and Willa, but the fourth person was what startled her. Grabbing the picture, she turned back towards Willa and Ward.

“Who is this?” Wynonna asked, frantically, interrupting their conversation.

“What, who?” Willa said, getting up to see the photo closer.

“This man, who is he?” Wynonna said again.

“Wy, that’s Steven, my husband,” Willa replied, looking at Wynonna with a worried expression. “Shit, your memory really is gone.” Wynonna’s eyes got big as she looked at Willa then again back at the photo. Wynonna and David were sitting on the front porch holding hands while Willa had her armed wrapped around Steven’s shoulder and another on his chest. They were all smiling and looking at the camera except for Steven who was looking at Willa. Even with a side-view of his face and different hair, Steven was the spitting image of Bobo Del Ray.

Chapter Text

The Homestead

Wynonna took a deep breath and fell back onto her bed. What a day, she thought, looking up at the ceiling. She had learned so much about her life, this “new” version of her life. After brunch at Ward’s, Willa had dragged her into the beauty supply shop to check on business. Then they went over the wedding details thoroughly so that Wynonna was all caught up. She and Willa had been making notes in a giant bride binder to help them keep everything straight. It was pink, frilly, and disgusting-looking to Wynonna, but it made Willa pretty happy to see all the work that they had done. Willa left her alone with the binder in the afternoon, hoping it would trigger some of her memories. Wynonna had sat there, seeing her handwriting and all of the little notes, but not remembering any of it. Finally, she needed a break from it all so she headed back to the homestead, using her head injury as an excuse to get some time away from Willa to just absorb it all.

She laid there on her bed trying to process everything. Was this going to be her life from now on? If so, why was she so worried about marrying David? She made a mental checklist of all the things she needed to go through the next day to figure out what had happened a few weeks ago that made her panic. Sighing, she pulled out her phone, unlocked it thanks to Willa knowing her passcode, and scrolled through her messages. She had a voicemail from David that she had received while she was at Willa’s shop. She held the phone up to her ear as she played the message.

‘Hey Hun. Willa told me you hit your head this morning and were having some memory issues. I hope you’re feeling better now. I just wanted to remind you that I’ve got that big meeting Tuesday so I’m heading to the city right now. Jack and I are going to get the team together tomorrow and Monday so that we’re all set for the presentation. I also figured you’d like some time alone with your sister to plan the wedding. Look, I know things have been a little bumpy lately, but all the plans will fall in place soon, okay? I’ll check in with you later tonight. Love you.”

Wynonna sighed again as the voicemail ended. David seemed like a great man, dedicated to his work, but also attentive to her. What could be the issue? She decided to quit worrying about it tonight and instead focus on something else. Willa was married to a Bobo look alike. What the hell. Was it really Bobo? Or a descendant of his? Luckily, she hadn’t crossed paths with Steven because he was on a hunting trip with “the guys” according to Willa. He was supposed to be back at the homestead in a couple of days. And what about this Tim Holliday? How did Tim play into this whole scenario and what did it have to do with her appointment three weeks ago.

Her thoughts then drifted to her baby sister and the life she was living now too. In their cursed version of reality, Waverly had been with her almost every moment of the day that she wasn’t with Nicole. She had been the one who had lovingly been rubbing her swollen feet every night and reading snippets to her from “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” because that was what Waverly did: research. She had been preparing for the baby just as much as Wynonna had, and she had been sacrificing a lot for it too. And now in this life, this alternative version, Waverly was still making sacrifices and giving to everyone else. How the hell can she still be with Champ, Wynonna said out loud to the empty bedroom. Wynonna smiled remembering the way Waverly had lit up when she saw Nicole in the bar until Nicole’s girlfriend had shown up. How did they end up like this and not together? That was another item to add to the list for investigation tomorrow. In the meantime, she wanted Waverly to know that she was here for her. She picked her phone back up and sent her a text.

Wynonna: You okay, baby girl?

Did she call her baby girl in this version of reality too? Aw well, not worth second guessing that. The dots appeared on screen showing Waverly was typing a reply.

Waverly: Peachy keen. :)

Typical Waverly with the cutesy humor.

Wynonna: Sorry about Willa.

Waverly: You really should stop apologizing for her one of these days. Is your head any better?

Wynonna: Hurts like a bitch. Still certifiable. Can we talk more tomorrow? Including why the hell you’re still with Champ the Chump.

Waverly: YES!!!!!!!!!! Come by after church.

Wynonna smiled at Waverly’s enthusiasm to help her, but then her stomach dropped. Church?!? Did she go to church now? Was that their Sunday ritual? A beep on her phone indicated another text message.

Waverly: Kidding about the church thing ;).

Wynonna smiled.

Wynonna: You’re dead to me. I expect donuts tomorrow.

Waverly: Deal. :)

She put her phone down on her stomach and covered her eyes with her arm. What the hell was she going to discover tomorrow?

The Diner

Wynonna had found Waverly at Shorty’s and invited her out to lunch at the diner. They ordered some food and thanked the waitress for the coffee as she moved off to take someone else’s order.

“I have something for you,” Waverly said.

“It better be fried and covered in powdered sugar,” Wynonna said, tapping her fingers together in anticipation.

“Well, duh,” Waverly said, handing the small box of donuts to Wynonna.

“Yes!” Wynonna exclaimed, carefully selecting one and taking a big bite, not caring if she was supposed to have outside food in the diner or not.

“Also, I made this,” Waverly said. She handed Wynonna a stack of papers that were all folded together. Wynonna wiped off her fingers before unfolding the papers to see a giant chart about her with little notes about her life. “It’s kind of a cheat sheet or flow chart to help you keep everything straight. And you can add notes as you go.”

“Waves, you adorable little psycho,” Wynonna said, chuckling to herself. “Thanks.” Waverly smiled at her. Wynonna folded the chart back up and moved it off to the side before scarfing down the rest of her donut.

“You said something about revenants yesterday,” Waverly said, tentatively.

“What about them?” Wynonna said, stiffening.

“Well, I did some research last night and there are all these reports of demons with some being called revenants from all over the world, but nothing reported near Purgatory. Why would you think that they’d be here?”

“Waves, you’re not going to believe me even if I told you.”

“Try me.” Wynonna took a deep breath and then told Waverly all about their other life, their “real” life including what happened with the sorceress. She told her all about Doc, Dolls, Nicole, BBD, Jeremy, Rosita, and the fact that Uncle Curtis, Willa, Shorty, and their father were all dead in that life. Their food had come part way through so she had paused briefly, but continued once the waitress had moved out of earshot again.

“Wait a minute, so you’re some kind of heir and I’m dating Nicole?” Waverly asked in a skeptical tone.

“I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”

“No, it’s not…entirely…far-fetched, I guess.” Wynonna’s eyebrow arched as Waverly smiled to herself thinking about Nicole, but then Waverly’s face turned to worry. “There are some people who say that they can remember facts about previous lives that they may have lived…”

“This wasn’t a previous life,” Wynonna said. “I was living this life two days ago.”

“And you’re sure this wasn’t just a dream? Or some kind of drunken hallucination? You do love your whiskey.”

“Positive.”

“So what now?”

“What do you mean?” Wynonna’s face scrunched at her.

“Well, do we look for a way to get you back to this life that you’re supposedly remembering or… do you live in this one now?” Wynonna shrugged and sighed.

“Well the sorceress said she offered alternatives, I don’t know if this is permanent,” Wynonna answered. Waverly looked sad as she hunched her shoulders a little. She didn’t want this closeness with Wynonna to go away. “Hey, no matter what happens, you’ll always have me, baby girl. That’ll never change.” Waverly smiled as Wynonna gave her hand a squeeze. “So really, why are you still dating Champ?” Waverly laughed as Wynonna took another donut from her box and scarfed it down despite having just eaten a sandwich for lunch.

“Small town, limited dating options,” Waverly replied.

“Maybe not so limited,” Wynonna said followed by a wink.

“She has a girlfriend,” Waverly said.

“Yeah a real tight-ass from the looks of it,” Wynonna replied.

“Besides, she’s never acted the least bit interested in me,” Waverly replied.

“That you’ve noticed.” Waverly looked at her big sister and shook her head. It was a far-fetched idea. Nicole had been flirty the first night they had met, but not enough to assume she was interested in Waverly. Nicole had come into Shorty’s one night about six months ago and ordered a drink at the bar, trying to shake off her nerves since the next day was her first official shift as a rookie at Purgatory Sheriff Department. She was friendly and trying to get a sense of the town. Finding out she was a cop, a couple of guys at the bar chatted along with them, hoping to get on her good side and perhaps get her phone number. But Nicole did a great job of being mysterious about her personal life while also being friendly. It wasn’t until she got two drinks in her that Waverly began to notice Nicole’s eyes were lingering on her ass, but they stopped once Champ came in. He was drunk and a bit pathetic as he tried to get Waverly to forgive him for some dumbass thing he’d done earlier that day. When she finally took pity on him, he covered her hand in slobbery kisses before wandering off to play pool with his buddies. Nicole had teased her about him, but their conversation quickly ended when Amy stumbled over the leg of Nicole’s bar stool on the way back to her table and spilled part of her drink all over Nicole. Amy tried to dry Nicole’s shirt with napkins before insisting she buy Nicole’s next drink. Of course by this time, Nicole was slightly tipsy and insisted she could buy only if they had that drink together. Waverly watched as they moved to a nearby table and chatted for an hour or so before exchanging phone numbers and leaving separately. And that was it. Nicole and Amy had been dating ever since and Nicole hadn’t really flirted with her in any way since that night. She was just friendly, and they were just friends. Besides, she was with Champ and he was…comfortable. Waverly’s thoughts drifted back to Wynonna and the conversation they were having.

“Anyways, are you going to tell Willa about all of this?”

“No,” Wynonna answered quickly. “She wasn’t a part of our other life and she’d have me locked away in a hot minute. Speaking of which, do you think you can look up some information about someone for me?”

“Of course. What’s the name?” Waverly got out a small notebook. It was great to see she was still a whiz at research even in this version of their lives.

“Bobo Del Ray,” Wynonna answered. “Also known as Robert Svane.”

“Robert Svane, why does that sound familiar?” Waverly through to herself.

“I think he has some connection to Steven.”

“Steven as in Willa’s husband, Steven?” Wynonna nodded.

“He was a revenant. Well in our real life, our other life. You know what I mean.”

“You don’t think Steven is…”

“I don’t know,” Wynonna replied. “Even more reason why this all needs to stay between us.” Waverly nodded before making some more notes in her notebook. This wasn’t going to be easy, but she was excited to see what she could dig up and to help Wynonna out in any way that she could.

Chapter Text

Willa’s Shop

Wynonna huffed a little as she unloaded another box of facial cleansers. Willa had kept her busy all morning at the shop, and the place stayed surprisingly busy for a Monday. Willa was a bit annoyed at Wynonna and hadn’t hidden her feelings very well. Wynonna was customarily the one that ran the register, did the books, and kept the finances in order while Willa helped answer customer’s questions about the different beauty products, did all the ordering, and stocked the merchandise. But since Wynonna couldn’t remember how to work the computer or register, Willa had given her the task of interacting with customers and stocking which was definitely not her strong suit. She had already driven off Carl when he complained about a product he purchased last week not curing his ingrown hair issues, and scared a young teenage girl after convincing her that her acne would never go away.

While Willa understood that customer service was not Wynonna’s strong suit, she also couldn’t help but be annoyed that her sister was becoming more of a burden than a help. Meanwhile, Wynonna was distracted thinking about why she had freaked out about three weeks ago and what Steven’s connection to Bobo Del Ray was. After lunch with Waverly the day before, Wynonna had gone through all the appointment books she could find at home, in her phone, and at the beauty supply shop. Nothing. There was no mention of an appointment in the city. No paper trail in any way.

She had even subtly asked Willa about their last trip to the city, and Willa had told her it had been about a month and a half earlier when they met with a caterer for the wedding. So not even Willa knew. Wynonna thought about asking David, but her texts and phone conversations with him the past two days had been very brief since she didn’t know anything about this man. That only left one person: Tim. She’d have to sneak off to Shorty’s whenever she could and try and corner him since she had no idea how to contact him otherwise. Yet sneaking around when Willa was watching her like a hawk was proving to be difficult. Wynonna placed the final facial cleanser onto the shelf and was about to move away when her shirt snagged on the metal edge of the shelf. As she tried to unsnag it, she head a gentle rip and then saw the edge of the shelf come unhinged. The next sound was of all the bottles crashing down onto the floor, some of the contents spilling out on the linoleum.

“Shit,” Wynonna yelled. “Aw sis, I’m sorry.” She turned to Willa who had her hands on each side of her head and had taken a deep breath.

“Just go,” Willa said sternly. “You’re useless today.” She disappeared in the back and returned with a mop bucket.

“I should help clean this up,” Wynonna said, placing some of the bottles off to the side.

“Seriously, Wynonna, go. You’re obviously distracted and if you stay here, only one of us is going to survive the day.” Willa moved around her with the mop bucket and got to work cleaning up the mess.

“Right, sorry,” Wynonna said sheepishly as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door. While she was excited to be out of the shop, she couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty at leave Willa with such a large mess to clean up. Get it together, Wynonna, bigger fish to fry, she told herself as she passed her car, deciding to walk over to Shorty’s and try and track down Tim.

Although she felt a bit guilty about leaving Willa with the mess and keeping secrets from her, Wynonna couldn’t help but smile as she saw Waverly beaming at her, almost jumping up and down as she walked into Shorty’s.

“Hiyyeeee,” Waverly squealed.

“Hey, baby girl,” Wynonna said smiling, taking a seat at the bar.

“For you,” Waverly said sweetly, setting a cup of coffee down in front of Wynonna.

“Mmmm,” Wynonna said, wrapping her hands around the mug and taking a nice drink. “You are the highlight of my day.”

“Aww,” Waverly replied.

“I was talking to the coffee,” Wynonna said, smirking.

“Of course,” Waverly answered. “What are you doing here? Lunch break?”

“Something like that,” Wynonna replied. “I was booted from the shop after maybe breaking a shelf and spilling face wash everywhere.”

“Ooohhh, Willa is going to kill you.”

“Yupp. Don’t need a Magic 8 ball to verify that one today, Waves.” Wynonna looked all around the bar. Tim was nowhere in sight.

“I found something with my…research,” Waverly said, leaning close to Wynonna so only she could hear.

“What is it?” Wynonna whispered.

“Well, Robert Svane was Steven’s great-great grandfather that died in Purgatory after getting shot in the street by the sheriff at the time, a Sheriff Clootie. Apparently, Wyatt angered the Sheriff and Steven got caught in the crossfire.”

“An Earp pissing people off, go figure.”

“But there’s no mention of Bobo Del Ray in anything that I could find.”

“Hmmm, hey what was the name of your imaginary friend?”

“What does that matter?”

“Humor me.”

“Sampson, the squishy wonder bear. Great at hugs.” Waverly perkily replied. Relief spread over Wynonna as she realized perhaps Bobo had died and never came back as a revenant and therefore never had anything to do with Waverly as a child. She shook her head at Waverly’s cutesy reply.

“So Steven is Robert’s descendant, not a demon.”

“Looks that way. Robert got shot before he and his pregnant girlfriend, Lucy Miller, were married. When she gave birth to a son not long after Robert’s death, she gave him her family name which is why Steven’s last name is Miller and not Svane. But there’s also something I found about Steven. His name is on the title for Laird Park.”

“And Laird Park is…a creepy amusement park full of monsters?”

“Close. The trailer park on the edge of town. Steven owns the place and rents out most of the trailers, but there’s no record of who he rents them to or for how long. Also, there have been a lot of noise complaints from the neighbors lately, but I don’t know if any police reports have been filed.”

“We need to go check out Laird Park.”

“What?” Waverly asked loudly. “Are you crazy?”

“Most likely, but we need to do some recon and see what Steven is doing at this trailer park.”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because if this is our new reality, I need to make sure there really are no revenants left in Purgatory. Besides, aren’t you curious?”

“Well…yeah,” Waverly said. “Fine, but no one can see us. He is our brother-in-law, after all.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Wynonna said. “Tonight at midnight we’ll go check it out. In the meantime,” Wynonna glanced around her, making sure no one was trying to listen. “I need to track down Tim.”

“Tim?” Waverly looked at her in surprise.

“Yeah, I can’t figure out what appointment I had in the city a few weeks ago, and you said I left with him after coming here. He might know what it was about.”

“Well…”

“What?”

“Tim is renting the apartment upstairs from Shorty, but uh…he’s probably not alone. He went up there with a girl last night. I’m not sure if they came down yet, but I haven’t seen him so I’m guessing no.”

“Well as queen of the worst timing ever, I guess it’s time to go piss some people off,” Wynonna said, spinning on her stool, and heading for the stairs. Waverly watched her go, shaking her head before getting back to work behind the bar.

Wynonna walked up the stairs quickly, hoping to get this experience over as quickly as possible. She stood in front of the door and took a deep breath. You got this, she said to herself. She loudly knocked on the door three times...

No reply.

Three more knocks.

No reply.

“Dammit to hell,” Wynonna mumbled to herself. “Tim, are you home?” She knocked once again and still no reply.

“He’s out,” Shorty said causing Wynonna to nearly jump out of her skin. She turned to see Shorty sticking his head out of a door to the left of the apartment.

“Shorty, where the hell did you come from?”

“Supply attic,” Shorty replied. “I started storing things up here after the basement flooded again. Going up and down those stairs is a bitch, but at least we’ve got dry napkins.” Wynonna nodded at him.

“So, no Tim? Waverly thought he still might be up here.”

“Nah, he went out about an hour ago,” Shorty replied. “Sometimes he parks his bike out back and leaves through the kitchen door. She probably didn’t see him leave. What do you need him for anyway?” Shortly looked at her, questioningly.

“Just need to ask him a question,” Wynonna replied. “It can wait.” She quickly turned and bolted down the stairs, not wanting to answer any more of Shorty’s questions. When she got back into the bar, she moved back to her chair to grab her purse.

“Any luck?” Waverly asked.

“Nope. Got to go. See you tonight, baby girl,” Wynonna said, winking at Waverly and heading out of the bar as Shorty descended from the steps. Waverly didn’t push it as it was obvious Wynonna wanted to get out of there. Since she couldn’t pass the time with anything else for now, Wynonna went back to the shop to make nice with Willa.

Raby Road (near Laird Park)

Waverly tapped her fingers against the steering wheel, suddenly feeling very nervous about her plan. Waverly had suggested that they meet up at Raby Road at midnight, park their cars off to the side, and then walk the final quarter mile to Laird Park through the brush so no one would see them coming. Only now, her nerves were shaking. She had no idea how to sneak up on people, let alone an entire trailer park known for attracting the wrong sort of crowd. She got even more nervous as Wynonna pulled up and parked behind her.

“You ready to do this?” Wynonna whispered to her as Waverly got out of the car. Both women were dressed in all black hoping it would help them blend into the night.

“Ready as I’ll ever be I guess,” Waverly shakily replied. “Did Willa see you leave?”

“No, the whiskey shots knocked her out pretty good, just like you said.” Wynonna had convinced Willa that a bonfire and whiskey were necessary to rid themselves of the day. It had taken almost half the bottle, but finally Willa had started feeling the effects of the whiskey around 10. When Wynonna checked on her at 11:30, she was snoring heavily and showed no signs of movement. “Did you bring a weapon?”

“Yeah.” Waverly held up Champ’s wooden bat the she had swiped from him earlier that day.

“A bat? That’s the best weapon you could come up with?”

“Oh I’m sorry, I’ve seem to have left my shotgun in my other jeans. Who do you think I am?”

“Fine, it’ll do for now. All I could find at the homestead was a taser.” Wynonna held up the black taser gun and shoved it into her pocket. “Let’s do this.” Wynonna led the way as they cut across the road and up onto the bank, cutting across the brush in the direction of the trailer park. About fifteen minutes later, they crept up to edge of the trailer park. Several of the outside lights were on, but the entire place was relatively quiet aside from the sound of some TVs coming from inside a few of the trailers.

“It looks pretty quiet,” Waverly whispered.

“Let’s move over towards that building,” Wynonna whispered back, seeing a black building behind a few of the trailers. As they passed a few trailers, they saw the eyes of small animals scurry under the trailers giving Waverly the creeps. It was most likely raccoons or opossums, but each time, they made Waverly jump a little as they slowly made their way to the building. It looked to be a large warehouse painted black on the outside with some of the windows painted over. Someone had done a pretty poor job on the windows though as it was still possible to see through in a couple of areas. Once they got close, they stuck their heads against one of the windows and looked through. A small light was on inside, but it didn’t look like anyone was there. Rows of chairs lined the back of the warehouse and a giant black circle was painted on the floor with a podium off to one side, but they couldn’t tell what it was.

“Let’s go to the other side and try to figure out what else is in there,” Wynonna whispered as they crept towards the edge of the building. As they went to round the corner, both girls jumped in panic as they nearly ran into the person in front of them. Wynonna shrieked, but felt her mouth being covered by the person in front of her. Waverly had shrieked as well, but had quickly pressed her mouth against Wynonna’s back to muffle the sound as she stared at the person in front of them. Both women’s eyes bulged as they tried to calm their heart rates.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Office Nicole Haught whispered, lowering her hand from Wynonna’s mouth.

Chapter Text

Laird Park

“What the hell are you doing here?” Office Nicole Haught whispered, lowering her hand from Wynonna’s mouth.

“We could ask you the same thing,” Wynonna whispered back.

“Official police business,” Nicole whispered. 

“Then why are you whispering?” Wynonna smugly asked. Nicole look taken aback at the question.

“She has a point,” Waverly whispered, supporting Wynonna, her hands resting on Wynonna’s shoulders. Nicole looked at her with raised eyebrows as though she were saying seriously with her face. Waverly shrugged her shoulders.

“Look, nobody can know that we’re here,” Nicole said glancing around her and still whispering. “Meet me back at the station in half an hour. And don’t let anyone see you.” Nicole crouched low and slowly moved through the darkness away from both women. Her patrol car was parked a short distance away from Laird Park as well, hidden from view, and she quickly worked her way back towards it.

“What did we get ourselves into?” Waverly whispered to Wynonna.

“I have no idea,” Wynonna whispered back as they turned and made their way around the trailers and through the brush back towards Raby Road.

Purgatory Sheriff Department

About thirty minutes later, they walked into the police station and saw Nicole standing by her desk, and she wasn’t alone. Paul, another officer on duty was at the front desk and greeted them as they walked in.

“Well well, what brings the Earp girls into the station this late?” Paul asked. Nicole’s attention snapped to them and she shook her head, hoping that they wouldn’t say a word about the trailer park.

“Well…” Waverly started to say, but Nicole jumped in and cut her off.

“They came to help me with something,” Nicole replied, gathering a folder and her notepad before moving towards the swinging gate off to the left of Paul. “Uh, girl stuff.” She walked around the Earps and ushered them to follow her as they all moved away from Paul.

“Ugh, say no more,” Paul said, whipping out his cell phone and continuing the game that the girls had interrupted.

“Purgatory tax dollars hard at work, I see,” Wynonna joked as she and Waverly moved down the hall following Nicole.

“In here,” Nicole said as she led them through the doors. Wynonna’s stomach sank as she realized Nicole was leading them into the former Black Badge office. “It’s an old conference room we don’t really use any more.” They walked through the door and Wynonna looked all around, seeing how the room had changed. None of the BBD files, computers, or any of the equipment were anywhere in sight. All that was there were old filing cabinets stacked against the wall, a giant conference table, and a giant white board.

“Hey, you okay?” Waverly asked as they set their coats down on the chairs at the conference table.

“Yeah,” Wynonna said, looking around one more time. “This used to be BBD,” she whispered to Waverly.

“Aw,” Waverly said, understanding Wynonna’s nostalgia. Nicole closed the door behind them and took a seat at the conference table as both Earp sisters sat down too.

“So, you want to tell me what you both were doing out at Laird Park?” she asked, sounding very much like a police officer as she stared at both of the women in front of her.

“We could ask you the same thing,” Wynonna replied while Waverly looked scared.

“Surveillance,” Nicole said.

“Well that’s what we were doing,” Wynonna answered.

“Who exactly were you surveying?” Nicole asked, eyebrows raised, her eyes shifting between Wynonna and Waverly. Wynonna stared back at Nicole.

“Steven,” Waverly quickly blurted out.

“Hey,” Wynonna said, jabbing her.

“Ow. She’s smart, she probably already knows,” Waverly replied. Nicole looked at Waverly and smiled before she pulled out her notepad and clicked her pen to take some notes.

“Were you following us?” Wynonna asked Nicole.

“No, although it would’ve been easy,” she answered, chuckling. “I saw Waverly carrying that bat from a mile away.”

“See I told you it was a stupid weapon,” Wynonna remarked, turning towards Waverly.

“Sorry, next time I’ll bring my flamethrower,” Waverly replied.

“As long as you’ve got a permit for it,” Nicole said seriously before winking at Waverly and giving her a small smile to let her know she was joking. Waverly started to blush as she smiled back at Nicole. Nicole turned her eyes back towards Wynonna. “What do you know about Steven’s connection to the trailer park?” Wynonna took a deep breath. She looked at Waverly who reassured her with her eyes that talking to Nicole was probably the right thing to do. She wasn’t going to just forget that they had been at the trailer park, and having her support and police records would be helpful.

“We know his name is on the title for the property,” Wynonna said, turning her attention to Nicole, “But we’re not sure what he’s doing out there. Or if he’s running some sort of…operation?” Nicole scribbled a few things down on her notepad as Wynonna spoke. “We were trying to figure out more tonight since Willa said he’s out of town on a hunting trip.” Nicole made another note and then looked at the sisters.

“So you’re not aware of any of his activities out there?” Nicole asked, staring at Wynonna.

“Not yet,” Wynonna replied.

“We do know he rents out some of the trailers, but we’re not sure to whom,” Waverly said. Nicole scribbled down some more notes.

“Hmmm,” Nicole said, looking at her paper.

“Can you tell us why you have surveillance on the trailer park?” Waverly asked tentatively. Nicole stopped writing and looked up at her. Nicole leaned forward on her elbows and looked back and forth between both women.

“Look, Nedley’s going to kill me if he finds out I saw you both at the trailer park,” she said. “I can’t say much more because it’s a conflict of interest. He’s your brother-in-law.”

“You think we’re going to tell him the police are watching his property?” Wynonna asked.

“Aren’t you?” Nicole asked.

“No, we just want to know what he’s doing out there and make sure it doesn’t involve our sister,” Wynonna answered. “If we were trying to hide his activities, we wouldn’t have been investigating them ourselves. And we could really use your help.” Nicole looked hesitant about trusting either of them to keep the police surveillance to themselves. She was still cursing herself that they had seen her earlier that night, but she had to confront them at the trailer park and get them to leave before someone saw Waverly carrying that ridiculous bat.

“You can trust us, Nicole,” Waverly said, looking at Nicole. Waverly gave her a small smile when their eyes met and Nicole noticed her cheeks got slightly red. This was one of a few times that Waverly had called her Nicole and not Officer. She found herself reddening a little too and couldn’t help but smile.

“Alright,” Nicole said, straightening up in her chair and pushing the notepad off the file. She slid the file over to in front of the Earp sisters. “As Nedley would say, it’s called a long game and I’ve been playing it for awhile.” They both looked down and saw a tag that said ‘Steven Miller’ on the front of the folder. Waverly opened it to see an array of documents, photos, and hand-written notes. “I’m only doing this because I owe you one, Wynonna.”

“You…you do?” Wynonna asked, surprised that Nicole would owe her anything. 

“Yeah, I told you I’d make it up to you after my truck broke down on you in the city a few weeks ago,” Nicole replied. Both Waverly and Wynonna looked at each other and then back at Nicole. “You don’t remember this?”

“She’s been having some memory loss issues,” Waverly said, turning to Wynonna. “Why would you take Nicole’s truck to the city?”

“How should I know?” Wynonna replied.

“You were worried someone would recognize your SUV while you were at your appointment,” Nicole said.

“Do you know where my appointment was? Or what it was for?” Wynonna desperately asked Nicole.

“No, you didn’t say, but you seemed pretty upset about it a few nights before when I found you stumbling around town with a whiskey bottle in your hand,” Nicole said. “Said you didn’t want anyone to know where you were going or why so I told you that you could take my truck if you let me take you home.” Both Waverly and Wynonna’s eyebrows arched at the end of Nicole’s statement. “Take you home as in drive you back…to the homestead…not sleep with you.” Nicole stumbled over her words. “Seriously, you two need to get your mind out of the gutter.”

“It’s okay, Officer, you can admit you have a thing for me,” Wynonna said, trying to lighten the mood while Nicole smiled and shook her head. Meanwhile, Waverly huffed and looked a little jealous as Wynonna smirked.

“Can we get back to talking about Steven?” she asked as Nicole looked her over suspiciously.

“Sure, Waves,” Nicole said, getting serious. “Everything I’ve collected on him so far is in that folder. Even after we got a search warrant and raided the place, we couldn’t find anything worth charging him with.”

“Do you think he’s doing something illegal?”

“Yes,” Nicole replied, “but I just don’t have the evidence yet.” There was a knock on the door which caused all the women to jump. Nicole got up and opened the door to see Paul standing there.

“Sorry to interrupt, Haught, but just got a call about a possible drunk driver in a souped-up black dodge pickup with a dent in the back.”

“Dammit, Champ,” Waverly mumbled, shaking her head, as Nicole looked at her briefly before back at Paul.

“I need you to go check it out,” Paul said.

“I’ll be right out,” she said, watching Paul leave. She turned back towards the sisters who were both watching her. “Look over the file and let me know if you can add anything. You can leave it on my desk when you’re done. Maybe we can chat about it tomorrow…or rather, later today.”

“Thank you,” Wynonna said, turning back to the file.

“Yeah, thanks, Nicole,” Waverly said softly, a big smile on her face as their eye contact lingered.

“Sure,” Nicole said, smiling at her in return before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. The sisters turned back to the file. Waverly reached across the table and grabbed Nicole’s notepad, hoping to write down some of her own notes as they went through the file. Her eyes briefly looked over the ones Nicole had taken this evening only to spot that by Waverly’s name, she had made a tiny heart that was barely noticeable. Waverly giggled.

“What’s so funny?” Wynonna asked.

“Nothing,” Waverly replied, flipping the page on the notepad. Maybe Wynonna’s other life version of reality didn’t seem so far-fetched after all.

Chapter Text

Purgatory Sheriff Department

Waverly yawned as she entered the station, fumbling with her coffee and a tupperware container as she made her way to the desk, cursing Champ under her breath. It was way too early for her to be awake after spending so long at the station looking over Steven’s file with Wynonna. She had gotten back to Uncle Curtis’ around 3am, showered, and had just laid down when she got the call from Paul that Champ was locked up in a cell for the night. Paul told her they weren’t planning on charging him with a DUI so she could come pick him up in the morning after he slept it off. And now here she was, back at the sheriff’s department at 8am to pick up her boy-man despite having to work at Shorty’s later that day.

“Hey, Paul,” Waverly sighed, setting her coffee and the tupperware container on the desk. “Still working?”

“Just for few more hours,” Paul said, sighing and rubbing his forehead. “Nedley’s got us on 12-hour shifts since we’re so short-handed.”

“Sorry to add drunk Champ to the mix,” Waverly said.

“I don’t know how you do it, Waverly. He babbled on forever about some bet he lost to Carl before finally crying himself to sleep a couple hours ago.”

“Well hopefully these at least partially make up for your bad morning,” Waverly said as she lifted the lid off the tupperware container exposing freshly baked blueberry muffins. She knew that muffins were one of Paul’s weaknesses and also hoped Nicole might enjoy them after not getting her sugar fix the other day.

“Oh they definitely help,” Paul said grabbing a muffin and taking a big bite. “Come on, let’s go wake the child.” He ate the rest of his muffin, grabbed the keys, and they handed back to the cell. Paul jiggled the keys against the cell bars creating a loud clanking that made Champ jump up. “Let’s go, rockstar. Your lady is here to bail you out.” Paul unlocked the cell and opened up the door for Champ.

“It’s about time,” Champ said, grabbing his jacket that he had balled up to use as a pillow. “This place stinks, Paul, and it’s cold.”

“It’s not meant to be the Holiday Inn,” Paul replied. “How about you think about that next time you’re drunk and trying to outrun a Purgatory Sheriff’s Deputy.”

“Champ, really?” Waverly said, not knowing Champ had caused Nicole so much trouble when she arrested him.

“It’s not a big deal, Waves,” Champ said. “Besides I was just going home.”

“You took out two mailboxes and a fence on your way home,” Paul said. “They’re still trying to round up Scotty’s horses thanks to you.”

“Well if that ginger cop didn’t have it out for me, I wouldn’t have had to take the back roads by Scotty’s and his fence would be fine.”

“Right,” Paul said, eyeing Champ up. He turned to Waverly. “Get him out of here.”

“Come on,” Waverly said, grabbing Champ’s arm and dragging him towards the front door. As they passed the front desk, Champ eyed the muffins but Waverly quickly slapped his hand and forced him out the door.

“Ow, I’m hungry. What’s your problem?”

“You, you are my problem,” Waverly said as she stomped down the sidewalk towards her jeep. “What were you thinking?”

“It was Carl’s fault, he was cheating at pool,” Champ said.

“Oh here we go,” Waverly replied, rolling her eyes. “It’s Carl’s fault, Nicole’s fault, everyone but yours.”

“Hey what’s your deal lately? You’ve been riding my ass all week.”

“Because you’re driving me crazy,” Waverly yelled at him. By this time, several people in the street had overheard their arguing and were pretending not to listen while slowly meandering on their way.

“We both know this isn’t about me. It’s about her.” Champ replied. Waverly stared at him for a moment, all expression lost from her face. Surely he wasn’t observant enough to know about her small, kind of, sort of, crush on Nicole. The three of them were rarely in the same place together except Shorty’s and he was usually downing beers or playing pool. “Wynonna,” he finally said. Waverly took a breath of relief, but then looked confused.

“What are you talking about, Champ?” she asked.

“She’s finally paying attention to you, acting like she needs you around, and you’re wondering when she’s going to kick you to the curb again,” Champ said. “Just like she did a few weeks ago.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Waverly said, holding back tears, trying to not let her emotions get the best of her.

“Yeah I do,” he sternly replied. “You came crying to me when she went back to ignoring you after her break down at Curtis’. Your sister doesn’t need you when Willa is paying attention to her. And you’re too stupid to see she’s doing it again.” Waverly surprised both of them when her hand came up and she slapped Champ across the face. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at him. He was dumbfounded. Waverly had rarely ever stood up to him. She didn’t give him a chance to say any more as she turned on her heels and marched back to her jeep.

“Find your own damn way home,” she yelled over her shoulder as she got into her jeep and took off, leaving a still stunned Champ on the sidewalk rubbing his cheek which was now red from where she had slapped him.

Somewhere in Purgatory

Waverly felt a rush of emotion as she sped down the road. Her hands were shaking. She had slapped Champ. She had slapped him hard and somehow she felt better, but then the guilt came over her. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, she thought as she paid no attention to her speedometer. One of the primarily reasons she was so tired was because he had been arrested and she had to go pick his ass up. Besides, who the hell did he think he was talking to her like that? Waverly sighed. Okay, maybe in some ways he had been right. She was scared that this closeness she had with Wynonna was going to go away when Wynonna finally filled Willa in on everything, but couldn’t she just enjoy it for now?

Waverly was too lost in thought to even notice that a cop was behind her with their lights flashing. It wasn’t until they she heard the siren that she finally snapped her eyes to her rearview mirror before looking down at her speedometer. 80…shit. The speed limit was 55 on this road.

“Fuuuucccck,” she said out loud as she pulled the jeep over to the side of the road, the cop car pulling in close behind her. She rolled her window down and then checked her face in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy and red. She looked like hell. She kept rubbing at her eyes with a tissue, desperately trying to get the crying to stop as she heard the car door close and the officer’s boots crunching through the snow. “I’m sorry, Officer. I wasn’t…” she said meekly as she turned her head to see the brown eyes of Nicole Haught staring back at her.

Nicole had originally been trying to hide a smile, planning on teasing Waverly with her best serious cop impression, but she changed her tactic when she saw the brunette’s face. The small hint of a smile faded and was replaced with a look of worry as she noted Waverly’s eyes. She heard Waverly sigh when she saw that it was Nicole. Waverly looked away, pushing her hair behind her ears, almost embarrassed that Nicole had seen her like this. She kept rubbing at her eyes, but her tears wouldn’t stop.

“Out of the car, Waves,” Nicole said in a serious tone as she opened the door. Waverly looked at her in surprise.

“Are you going to arrest me?” Waverly asked, desperately.

“What? No,” Nicole replied, almost chuckling at the desperation in Waverly’s voice as she stepped out of the Jeep. Nicole closed the jeep door and then took a few steps back, resting her hands on her utility belt and leaning against the jeep. “You want to talk about it?” Waverly stared back at her in surprise. Not only was she not arresting her or lecturing her for speeding, but Nicole was actually acting like her friend. They were friends…well in some ways. They had always exchanged pleasantries at Shorty’s, but never really interacted much outside of the bar except for the occasional hello at the grocery store or diner if they spotted each other. Waverly turned so her back was against the jeep and she folded her arms in front of her. She huffed a little as the tears continued to fall from her eyes.

“It’s nothing,” she said as she stared at the ground in front of her. She dabbed her eyes again with the tissue, trying to get the tears to stop.

“Well, it’s obviously something if you’re this upset,” Nicole said in a supportive tone. Waverly shrugged her shoulders. “Someone with a clean driving record doesn’t decide to just speed past a cop going 80 for no reason.” Waverly looked over at her.

“You looked up my driving record?”

“Hey, you’re not the only one that does research,” Nicole said, grinning at her, a slight hint of those dimples showing on the sides of her mouth. Waverly gave her a small smile and shook her head, wiping at her eyes again. “Now you going to tell me what’s going on or are we just going to freeze out here?”

“I slapped Champ,” Waverly said, staring at the ground in front of her.

“Really?” Nicole said, chuckling, a big smile on her face. “Huh. I’m impressed.”

“Aren’t cops not supposed to condone violence?” Waverly asked looking at Nicole. Nicole’s smile was so large that her dimples were showing, the same dimples that made Waverly swoon.

“Well he definitely deserved it after what happened early this morning. I had to chase his truck for twenty minutes before he finally ran out of gas.”

“I thought he took out a fence?”

“Oh that was after the fence that I just spent the past hour helping Scotty repair this morning. Yeah, Champ’s been quite the ass today.”

“He’s always an ass,” Waverly said, somberly, again looking at the ground in front of her. Then why are you still with him, is what Nicole wanted to say and what she secretly thought to herself, but she didn’t want Waverly to feel any worse than she already did. Instead, she opted to ask a safe question.

“Is that why you slapped him?” Nicole asked quietly. Waverly shook her head no and took a deep breath hoping that would keep the tears from falling since they had finally stopped. She rubbed at her now dry eyes which were swollen and starting to hurt as she felt Nicole’s eyes watching her.

“He basically told me I was stupid for believing that this closeness I have with Wynonna is going to last. For thinking that she and I were finally going to have the type of sisterly relationship I always hoped we would.”

“Waverly, you’re definitely anything but stupid,” Nicole said affectionately. Waverly had never heard her talk so softly before and when she looked over at Nicole, Nicole’s eyes had a softness to them she had never really seen before either. “I think he might just be a little bit jealous.”

“Why would he be jealous?”

“Well, you’ve been spending a lot more time with Wynonna and doing all this research for her. He might feel a little bit threatened. Champ doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy that likes when you give other people attention besides him.”

“Yeah,” Waverly said, gazing back in front of her.

“Hey,” Nicole said, her hand coming up and gently gripping Waverly’s elbow. Waverly’s eyes moved to the touch and then back to Nicole’s face. It was a subtle touch, but enough to send a warm shock through Waverly. Their touches in the past had always been brief, typically just grazed hands when money was exchanged or when Waverly handed her a coffee cup. Waverly was surprised at the effect it had as she looked into Nicole’s comforting brown eyes. “You’re not stupid for wanting to have this relationship with Wynonna. She needs you and obviously trusts you with a lot more than she does Willa right now. And Champ can just get over himself.” Nicole smiled as her hand slowly moved back to her utility belt.

“I guess you’re right,” Waverly said, missing the warmth of Nicole’s hand on her elbow. Nicole was looking at her with a comforting, supportive gaze and a slight smile that was making Waverly feel a little weak in the knees. “Wow, you have had quite the day already, Officer,” Waverly said with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood with humor as she started to feel slightly embarrassed given her current state. She knew her face must look awful.

“You Earps definitely keep life interesting,” Nicole said, chuckling.

“So no speeding ticket?” Waverly asked with a big toothy smile in the most innocent tone she could. Nicole let out a big laugh.

“I guess I’ll let this one slide,” Nicole said, her right hand brushing the back of her neck. Waverly noted how she almost looked a little nervous and fidgety whenever Waverly smiled at her. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. “Nah, I understand being distracted by…personal things. I caught myself speeding yesterday afternoon too. Just don’t tell anyone I let you off, alright? Or I’m going to get reminded of it every time I pull someone else over for speeding.”

“Mums the words,” Waverly said, making a zipping motion across her mouth which produced another laugh from Nicole. “Why umm…why were you speeding yesterday?” Waverly asked carefully, not meaning to pry, but also not ready for this conversation with Nicole to end. She was enjoying her company and the chance to get to interact one-on-one with the officer. A quiet moment passed between them as Waverly saw Nicole’s expression change, her gaze dropping and the slight hint of sadness washing over her face.

“Amy has a job interview in the city tomorrow. I should be happy for her, but well…she keeps trying to get me to apply for a job with the police department there too.”

“You’re going to leave Purgatory?” Waverly asked sadly. Nicole’s gaze returned to her.

“I don’t know, Waves,” Nicole said sounding defeated. “I really like it here. You know, I was kind of hoping to be sheriff one day when Nedley retires. Plus, Amy and I haven’t been seeing each other that long. And honestly, we’ve already had some…issues.”

“You two seem really happy together,” Waverly commented. Nicole made a small chuckle.

“She doesn’t like that I work so much and figures that there are more cops in the city so the deputies there may actually have normal shifts instead of this 12-hour nonsense.”

“I’m not sure it works that way,” Waverly said, shaking her head.

“Not really,” Nicole replied. “It’s all about how long cases take and some take longer than others.”

“Like when you have to pull over an emotional, hot mess speeding down the highway because her boyfriend is a douche?” Waverly said facetiously, smiling at Nicole.

“Exactly,” Nicole said, smiling back. They shared a much needed laugh together even though the air was heavy with many lingering questions.

“So what are you going to do?” Waverly asked in a quiet, serious tone.

“I don’t know. It depends on if she gets the job.” Nicole fidgeted with her utility belt and sighed.

“I really hope you don’t leave, Nicole,” Waverly said. Nicole looked at her with questioning eyes. There was the use of her name again causing Nicole’s breath to catch just a little which Waverly definitely noticed. Waverly felt her own breath catch at the way Nicole was staring back at her.

“Why?” she faintly heard Nicole ask. Waverly felt like a deer caught in the headlights as she needed to say something, but her brain didn’t comprehend how to form words with the way Nicole was staring at her. Their eye contact lingered, Nicole’s searching hers for an answer to her question.

“I…” Waverly started to say, but she was interrupted by the static on Nicole’s radio and Paul’s voice. The two women had jumped apart, not realizing that they were almost leaning towards each other.

“Officer Haught, do you copy?” They both glanced at Nicole’s radio attached to the shoulder of her jacket.

“Officer Haught here, over.”

“A good samaritan just reported a sighting of Scotty’s horse out by Jackson Pond. Nedley is requesting that you follow Scotty out to the property to retrieve the horse since he and the owner aren’t on the best terms, over.”

“10-4,” Nicole replied with a tired sigh. “Duty calls.”

“Of course,” Waverly said, giving Nicole a small smile.

“You okay to drive now?”

“Definitely.”

“Okay,” Nicole said, turning to leave.

“Nicole…” Waverly said as Nicole turned back towards her. “Umm thanks, thank you.”

“Any time, Waves,” Nicole said. “Just, keep your head up. And…slow down. You’re definitely getting a ticket next time.” Nicole smirked at her before she turned and went back to her cruiser. Waverly chuckled and turned back to her jeep. Once she hopped in, she watched Nicole leave in her rearview mirror. This crush she had on Nicole was only getting worse every time she saw the redhead. I’m so screwed, Waverly mumbled to herself before placing her head against the steering wheel and taking a deep breath.

Chapter Text

Waverly’s Bed

Waverly pushed off her shoes and pants, letting out a big yawn before glancing at the clock. 10:30a.m. Damn. Not much time for a nap before she had to head to Shorty’s for work. It was going to be a long day. All of the morning chaos was heavy on her mind as she crawled into bed. Why was Champ such a douche canoe, she thought, fuming again, but then her mind drifted to Nicole. Sweet, gentle Nicole who looked at her with such worry in her eyes when she told her to get out of the car. And the softness of her hands when she had reached out and grabbed Waverly’s elbow to reassure her. Even thinking about it now made Waverly’s breath hitch.

Waverly felt her face flush as she thought of the way Nicole’s breath caught whenever she said her name instead of calling her Officer. And their eye contact. She had stared into those questioning brown eyes, trying to give her a reason why she wanted her to stay that didn’t make it obvious how smitten she was with the redhead. Waverly felt like she could stare into them forever. She imagined how she wanted to run her hands along Nicole’s shirt, moving slowly up and over the buttons to the top before fisting the material and dragging Nicole’s mouth down to hers, forcefully slamming their lips together.

She imagined deepening the kiss, feeling Nicole’s soft hands roam over her back and into her hair as she ran her tongue along the redhead’s lips and moaned into her mouth, her heart racing. And the feel of Nicole’s mouth as she moved down to Waverly’s neck, biting and sucking at her collarbone as Waverly threaded her hands in that gorgeous red hair and prompted her to move lower. Lower and lower to where the real throbbing was…the real pressure that needed to be relieved whenever Waverly was around Nicole for too long. And the moans and panting that would escape from her mouth as Nicole put her tongue to use causing her hips to jerk around.

Unconsciously, Waverly’s day dream had led her own hand to move south as she continued to picture Nicole in that bed with her. A loud buzzing on her cell phone brought her back to reality. Seriously, can’t a girl even fantasize in peace, Waverly said aloud as she sighed and turned to grab her cell phone hooked up to the charger by her bed. 

It was a text from Wynonna.

Wynonna: Willa is melting my brain. Send whiskey. No, donuts. Whiskey and donuts.

Waverly rolled her eyes and chuckled at her sister’s dramatic text before sending one of her own.

Waverly: What are you talking about?

Wynonna: She’s teaching me how to work the computer and I’m bored out of my mind. What are you doing?

Waverly: Sleeping. Trying to. Was up early because of Champ.

Wynonna: Ew, gross. *covers ears emoji*

Waverly: Because he was arrested, weirdo.

Wynonna: Oh yeah. Drinking and driving. Amateur. What time you working tonight, baby girl?

Waverly: 2 to close.

Wynonna: K. I’ll come by Shorty’s later. Might have a new lead by then if I survive the day.

Waverly: YAY! :)

Wynonna: OH NO. She just gave me a manual. This could get ugly.

Waverly giggled at Wynonna’s text before hooking her phone back up on the charger, checking again to make sure her multiple alarms were set, and laid back down. She covered her eyes with her arm, blocking out some of the light as she let her thoughts again venture to Nicole…

Shorty’s

Waverly couldn’t stop yawning as she set beers down in front of a couple of the locals, Ed and Big Bruno. She felt a little lethargic and found herself zoning out multiple times due to the minimal and interrupted sleep she had that day.

“Waverly, looks like you could really use a cup of coffee, honey,” Ed said jokingly. She smiled at him to be nice. It was taking more effort today, but she was determined not to take her lack of sleep out on Shorty’s customers.

“Already on cup four,” she said, holding up her cup and shaking it around.

“What’s the matter, that boyfriend of yours causing you trouble, keeping you up at night?” Big Bruno asked. Before she could respond, Ed interjected.

“Didn’t you hear? She slapped him a new one this morning after Haught picked him up for drinking and driving.” Waverly perked up at the sound of Nicole’s name and started blushing, thinking of her fantasy earlier that morning. Of course, both men thought her reddened face and smile were in response to the town knowing she slapped Champ.

“Well, good for you. That Hardy kid needs a lesson or two,” Big Bruno replied. “Did you see him speed through here the other day? Nearly took out old Mrs. Kowalski as she was walking across the street.” Ed shook his head.

“I tell ya, you’re too good for that kid, Waverly,” Ed said.

“You think so?” Waverly asked curiously, resting her arms against the bar. Several of her male customers had told her the same thing, but usually just because they had wanted to date her themselves. She found it curious that the older crowd shared that opinion.

“Absolutely,” Big Bruno replied as Ed nodded. “Back as young bucks, we were taught to treat our women with respect.”

“Here, here,” Ed said as the pair clinked their glasses together and took swigs of their beers. Waverly went to cleaning glasses as she listened to the men talk. “But I guess times have changed a little. Now ladies take care of themselves a bit more, not needing a man to help out as much. You know I even saw Haught out there this morning in the snow, shirt sleeves rolled up, fixing the portion of Scotty’s fence that Champ knocked out.” Waverly’s eyes returned to the pair at the mention of Nicole’s name again. “And Scotty was just handing her tools. She made quick work of that patch job.”

“Damn good deputy right there,” Big Bruno said as Ed nodded. Waverly smiled widely. Nicole was a good deputy and really liked by the people in town. In small towns, people can get pretty judgmental over things that deviate from what they experience growing up. And Purgatory was definitely not hopping with lesbians which made the acceptance of Nicole so easily such a surprise to Waverly. Of course, she shouldn’t be that surprised. Since the moment she had arrived in town, Nicole had gone out of her way to get to know all the locals by name, volunteering at community events and offering a friendly hello whenever she was out on patrol.

On numerous occasions, Waverly had seen her helping the older citizens across the street or just taking a moment to sit with them outside the beauty salon. She escorted some of the young boy scouts around town as they went door to door selling various things for fundraisers. And Waverly had even seen her washing the fire trucks after the police department lost a softball game to the fire department. That was a day Waverly would remember forever. Nicole in a tight blue police academy shirt and a pair of black yoga capris, her auburn hair pulled back in a messy bun as opposed to the usual french braid. The water glistening off her skin and a few stray suds in her hair. Waverly had been walking down the street and nearly started drooling as she watched Nicole working hard on scrubbing that truck. It was a beautiful sight…

“HEY, Earth to Waves,” Wynonna’s voice said, fingers snapping in front of her.

“What?” Waverly said, jumping and dropping the glass in her hand. Luckily it hadn’t broken when she dropped it. “Oh crap.” She got the glass righted again only to look up and see Ed, Big Bruno, and Wynonna all staring at her.

“What’s got you all revved up? I thought Champ was on your shit-list right now,” Wynonna said as she took a seat at the bar.

“Uhhh, nothing,” Waverly said. “And he is. Big time.” She stacked the glasses and decided to move to wiping down the bar.

“Didn’t you hear about this morning?” Ed asked Wynonna as he retold the slapping story.

“Damn, Baby Girl, I heard some lady babbling on about seeing someone get slapped this morning but I tuned it out,” Wynonna said, obviously very impressed. “It’s about time you put that skid mark in his place.”

“I shouldn’t have slapped him,” Waverly said, feeling a little guilty realizing how embarrassed Champ probably was with the town knowing what happened.

“Uh yeah you should have,” Wynonna replied. “That d-bag had what was coming to him. Now dump his ass and move on.” Waverly just shook her head.

“Hey, you uh,” Waverly started as she moved closer to Wynonna and lowered her voice, “you said you might have a new lead.”

“Oh yeah, I called Haught-stuff this morning and asked her about what happened when her truck broke down on me in the city.”

“Oh, you uh, you talked to Nicole today?” Waverly said, shyly, stumbling over the words. She couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face.

“Yeah, I had to ask her how truck got back to Purgatory. If I just left it or took it to a shop after my appointment.”

“Did she say anything um…about earlier?” Waverly asked quietly, her face eager with anticipation.

“What are you talking about?” Wynonna asked, staring at her.

“Never mind,” Waverly said, her face reddening. Obviously, Nicole probably hadn’t mentioned how she had pulled Waverly over earlier that morning. Why would she need to tell Wynonna that? It had nothing to do with her truck. Wynonna was staring at her curiously as she tried to recollect her thoughts. “Ummm…what’d she say about the truck?”

“I got picked up by a tow truck and took it to a shop. So I called the towing company to see where they picked me up, but they still haven’t returned my call. Excellent and efficient customer service, my ass.” Waverly chuckled. “Oh and I told Nicole we’d come by the cop shop tomorrow afternoon to talk about Steven’s file.”

“Tomorrow afternoon?”

“Yeah, you free?”

“Yeah, definitely!” Waverly suddenly felt giddy knowing that she was going to see Nicole again tomorrow. She was hoping they could find some excuse to go to the police department today, but since she was working all evening, it was pretty doubtful. And Nicole rarely came in at night, usually swinging by in the mornings to get coffee either before her shift if she was working days or right after it just ended if she was on nights.

“Good. Now I need a drink,” Wynonna said. “The computer has destroyed my soul.” Waverly smiled as she moved to the end of the bar, retrieved a donut, and placed it on a plate in front of Wynonna. Wynonna’s eyes lit up. “Bless you.”

The Homestead

Wynonna returned to the homestead later that night, having difficulty standing after all the alcohol she had consumed at Shorty’s. Gus and Curtis had given her a ride home and dropped off her SUV. They figured the girl was still having some uncertainty about the wedding and took pity on her. She stumbled into the kitchen, filled up a glass, and drank it all before refilling it again. She mumbled some rhyme about how water chases away hangovers to herself as she drank two more glasses while trying to check her voicemail.

David had left her a message. The meeting had gone well and the team had been asked to prepare some documents for the follow-up negotiations which suggested to them that they had landed the big account. So he had decided to stay in the city all week and hoped she wasn’t mad. He figured both of them getting space before the wedding was helpful, but offered to be available if she needed him at all for any of the arrangements. Wynonna ended the call and sent him a quick text congratulating him and telling him not to worry about the arrangements. Her forehead crinkled as she considered adding a kiss emoji. “Fuck it,” she said out loud as she added the kiss one to be nice.

Willa had shown her pictures of the couple, telling her numerous stories about the pair which made Wynonna feel like she should at least try to get to know him. He was a good man, and if this was going to be her life, did she want to throw that away? Her head was getting fuzzy from all the whiskey. She sighed before a voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Hey, Wynonna, getting some water?” came a deep voice, startling her. Steven stepped into the kitchen.

“Uh yeah, yeah,” Wynonna said, staring at him. He looks just like Bobo, she thought, trying not to stare.

“Sorry if I scared you, just needed some water too.” Steven moved around her and got a glass for himself out of the cupboard.

“You’re uh…you’re back from your…hunting trip,” she said, trying to sound coherent, while also staring at him. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Willa was married to a Bobo look-alike.

“Yeah, just got back this evening.” Wynonna continued to stare at him. His face was unshaven and his hair a bit longer than in the photographs, but he didn’t look anything like the revenant version of Bobo that Wynonna had last seen. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Just dandy,” Wynonna said being broken from her thoughts and spinning a little. “Bed, I should go. You know, work and all that garbage tomorrow. Okay bye.” She spun quickly and rushed to her bedroom before he could answer her. Well he’s at the homestead so…he can’t be a revenant, right? she thought. If only she had Peacemaker, she would’ve known for sure, but that was a different life…her old life. She rubbed a hand over her belly which she had been doing numerous times a day for days now, aching for what was missing. She sighed, laying down on the bed as exhaustion and alcohol finally caught up to her and she drifted off to sleep.

Purgatory Sheriff Department

Later the next afternoon, Wynonna and Waverly walked into the police department together. Willa usually closed the shop early on Wednesdays for some women’s group she was a part of so Wynonna didn’t have to come up with an excuse on why she was meeting Waverly again. Paul greeted them at the front desk as they came in.

“Oh good, the Earp Sisters. And here I thought we were having a slow day,” Paul said, teasing them as they walked in.

“Aren’t you a riot,” Wynonna said grumpily, glaring at him.

“Hi, Paul,” Waverly said cheerfully. Nothing could deter her good mood as she knew she was going to see Nicole today. “We’re here to see Nic…uh, Officer Haught. Is she around?” Her voice was a bit more eager than she would’ve liked it to be and she had to remind herself to calm down. Meanwhile, Wynonna just looked at her and rolled her eyes. Paul didn’t have a chance to answer as Nicole walked out from the back.

“Paul, I found that box you needed,” Nicole said as she walked towards them. Her eyes caught Waverly’s and she smiled briefly before setting the box in front of Paul. Waverly couldn’t help but get distracted by Nicole’s exposed forearms. She had her uniform sleeves neatly rolled up to the elbows causing Waverly to stare. Wynonna elbowed Waverly in the side. “Down girl” she mumbled as Waverly sheepishly grinned and tried to think of something else, looking down at her phone.

“Thanks, Haught,” Paul said. Nicole returned to her desk and grabbed her notepad and Steven’s file from a drawer before greeting Wynonna and Waverly.

“Sorry if I made you two wait.” Waverly and Wynonna both shook their head. “Let’s go to the conference room,” she said, in a business-like manner. “We won’t be too long, Paul.”

“Take your time, nothing exciting happening here,” Paul said as he started rummaging through the box. Nicole unlocked the conference room door and led them through it. The whole time, Waverly forced herself to look and think about anything except Nicole. They were here to talk about Steven’s file and that’s what she was going to focus on. Of course, that was hard to do when she had spent all morning thinking of this meeting, but she really needed to get her hormones in check. While she was having an internal battle, Nicole had taken a seat on the left side of the table and was looking at Steven’s file. Waverly opted for a seat on the right side. Putting a bit of distance between them might be wise.

“Hey before we get this party started, you got any coffee around here, Red?” Wynonna asked. “I need a little jolt for this hangover.” Nicole looked up at her.

“Yeah, there’s a Keurig in the break room just across the hall. Help yourself,” she said before returning her eyes to Steven’s file. Wynonna left the room before Waverly could protest. Waverly watched her leave and took a deep breath. She looked over at Nicole who looked up at her and smiled awkwardly. Both women’s faces got a little red as they sat in quiet silence for a moment, trying not to look at each other. They both turned their attention to the door when they heard Wynonna cursing from across the hall. Waverly let out a small chuckle and looked over to see Nicole smiling and looking at her.

“Hey Waves,” Nicole said in a hushed tone as she looked at Waverly. “Are you doing okay?”

“Me? Oh I’m great,” Waverly replied, a little too quickly and with too big of a smile. She wasn’t fooling anybody, but Nicole perceived her behavior as slight embarrassment over what happened the day before.

“I mean with you and Champ.” Nicole said. “Is your hand okay?”

“Oh,” Waverly replied looking a little embarrassed. “My hand’s great. All better and ready for use,” she said, holding her palm up before realizing the implications of her words. Nicole’s eyebrows rose and she smiled while nodding. “That…sounded wrong,” Waverly said, realizing that could’ve been misinterpreted to mean she’s ready to get back to giving hand jobs.

“I know what you meant,” Nicole said, smiling and saving her from fumbling over her words. Nicole’s expression turned slightly serious. “Um thanks for, talking to me yesterday. You know…about Amy.”

“Of course,” Waverly said softly.

“There aren’t very many people that I talk to about non-work things so…it was nice,” Nicole said quietly as her eyes wandered nervously around before returning to Waverly’s. It was really nice, Waverly thought to herself.

“Any time, Nicole,” Waverly replied, waiting to see if the use of her name would elicit the same reaction from the cop as yesterday. She smiled when she saw Nicole look away and take a quick breath in. Nicole nervously licked her bottom lip making goosebumps run down Waverly’s arms. How the hell does she do this to me, Waverly thought, trying to look somewhere else than Nicole’s arms and lips and mouth and hair. Just anywhere, but at Nicole, but then she felt Nicole’s gaze on her again and looked up at the redhead. Oh crap, say something smart and witty and intelligent, Waverly thought to herself as she got lost again for a moment in Nicole’s eyes.

“Alright, I’m caffeinated and ready to research,” Wynonna said, breaking the moment and causing both women to jump. This did not go unnoticed by Wynonna who walked swiftly to the chair next to Waverly and took a seat, coffee in hand. “The machines are trying to destroy my life.” She noticed both women were smiling and their faces were reddened, but they were both staring at her. “What’d I miss?”

“Nothing,” both women said in unison, glancing briefly at each other, before back at Wynonna. Waverly took her notebook out of her bag. This was going to be a long meeting if she kept blushing every time Nicole looked at her. She made a mental note to try and not look at her as much as possible without it being obvious so that she could keep her mind on Wynonna and Steven.

“Riggghhhhttt,” Wynonna said, staring her sister down.

“So what are your thoughts on Steven’s file?” Nicole said, clicking her pen and returning to the business at hand.

Chapter Text

Purgatory Sheriff Department

Nicole, Wynonna, and Waverly had been in the conference room discussing everything Nicole had observed or tracked down about Steven and the happenings at Laird Park. Nicole handed them pieces of paper and notes she had taken during her surveillance trips.

“So every Thursday, there seems to be some sort of gathering at that warehouse,” Nicole said.

“The one with the circle painted on the floor?” Wynonna asked.

“Yes. We thought maybe some sort of gambling was going on so we got a warrant to go break it up and when we got there, they were all huddled on the floor racing toy cars,” Nicole said.

“Well that doesn’t make any sense,” Waverly added. “Why would you have a circle instead of a straight finish line? And it definitely didn’t look like a track to race the cars around since toy cars don’t have good turning capabilities.” Both Nicole and Wynonna were staring at the younger woman in surprise. Waverly looked embarrassed when she noticed both of the women staring at her.

“Have a bit of a toy car fetish, do ya?” Wynonna teased. Waverly reddened.

“Champ,” Waverly said, her eyes rolling and shoulders slouching. How many ridiculous nights had she spent watching Champ and his buddies drink and race cars? To many that she cared to admit.

“That’s actually really helpful,” Nicole said genuinely, offering Waverly a reassuring smile as Waverly looked up at her. “Confirms even more that something else may be going on there.” Nicole grabbed the sheet of paper and added Waverly’s name and her comments about bad turning abilities in toy cars. Waverly smiled at her. Gosh she had cute handwriting, Waverly thought, watching Nicole’s hand move across the sheet of paper. What she wouldn’t give to be that piece of paper right now. Knock it off, Waverly, she mentally berated herself, refusing to get distracted by thoughts of Nicole right now. She looked back to Steven’s file.

“And these are photos of all the people you’ve seen leaving the trailer park?” Waverly asked Nicole, handing the photos to Wynonna.

“Yeah,” Nicole said. “All of them that I could get photos of without being noticed.” Wynonna studied the photos – many of these individuals looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t ID most of them. However, Waverly could and was already scribbling away, adding names to a list Nicole had already been working on. Wynonna looked at all the last names.

“Revenants,” she unknowingly whispered, staring at Waverly’s list. They had different first names, but that’s why they looked familiar – all of these people were descendants of the revenants she and Waverly had put down in their other life.

“Sorry, what’s a Revenant?” Nicole asked, her brow furrowed. Both Waverly and Wynonna stared at her.

“What now?” Wynonna asked, not realizing she’s mumbled the word out loud.

“Sheesh silly, you haven’t heard of the revenants? The unofficial biker gang,” Waverly blurted out. Wynonna shot her a disapproving look.

“Gang?” Nicole asked, concerned.

“Well not really, a gang, gang,” Waverly fumbled. “More like a bunch of ‘wannabe bad boys’ with very loud motorcycles to compensate for their lack of abilities to please their woman. Silly men…am I right?” Waverly nervously laughed as Nicole looked at her suspiciously. Wynonna stared at her and shook her head. Luckily, Nicole’s phone rang, reprieving Waverly from the confused look the redhead was giving her.

“Oh, sorry, I need to answer this,” Nicole said after seeing who was calling. She jumped up from the table and stepped out into the hall, but left the door slightly ajar so the women could still see her. “Hey baby…” Waverly heard Nicole say from the hallway before Wynonna began berating her.

“What are you doing?!?” Wynonna quietly asked, staring her down.

“Sorry, it just came out.” Wynonna continued to tell Waverly what a bad decision it was to tell a cop about an unofficial gang, but Waverly was only half listening as she tried to hear what Nicole was saying in the hallway.

“Babe, that’s so great to hear,” Nicole affectionately said into the phone. Waverly assumed she was talking to Amy. Waverly had been really curious to hear how Amy’s job interview had gone. “So when do you find out if you got it?” Nicole was fiddling with her utility belt, a habit Waverly had noticed that she did when she was nervous or thinking deeply about something. “I see. Well that’s great babe. Sure, we can definitely celebrate tonight. I’ve got to get back, but I’ll see you when I get home. Okay, love you too. Bye.” Nicole hung up the phone and came back into the room to find Waverly staring at the list of names and Wynonna rubbing her temples.

“Sorry,” Nicole said with a sheepish smile, taking her seat back across the table. “So where were we?”

“I think we should stakeout the trailer park tomorrow night,” Wynonna said. “Steven’s back from his hunting trip so something might go down.”

“That’s good to know, but I’ve been doing surveillance every Thursday for weeks. Nothing suspicious is being moved in or out,” Nicole said. “Well, at least not from what I’ve seen.”

“Where did you take these pictures from?” Waverly asked, studying the angle of the photos. They all seemed to be taken from the same spot which unfortunately seemed to have many blind spots. They couldn’t see into the warehouse from any of the photos Nicole had taken.

“Why do you ask?” Nicole said, hesitant to give up her lookout spot. Both Waverly and Wynonna looked at her, waiting for a response. She sighed. “The old water tower. It’s not the best spot, I know.”

“I think I can get us closer,” Waverly said excitedly. “And I know someone with a pretty fancy telephoto lens that owes me a favor. Not that Purgatory Sheriff’s Department equipment isn’t doing the job, but in case you need, an alternative.” Wynonna beamed at her and Nicole flashed a proud smile so big that it sent chills Waverly’s arms. A vibration on the table from Wynonna’s phone interrupted all of them.

“Ugghhh, looks like I’m out,” Wynonna said, checking the text message on her phone. “Apparently, Thursday is monthly bingo night with Dad and Willa. If I miss another outing, she’s going to get suspicious.” Waverly’s eyes diverted to the table and her shoulders slumped at the mention of her father which Nicole instantly picked up on.

“Waves and I can handle it,” Nicole said excitedly, hoping it would perk Waverly up that someone wanted to spend the evening with her. Waverly stared at her. “That is, if you’re free, and don’t mind bumming around with a cop for a night.”

“Not at all,” Waverly replied, smiling back at the redhead. Both she and Nicole reddened as Wynonna glanced back and forth between them.

“Great,” Wynonna said, shaking her head at the two women who barely even noticed she was in the room.

“Thanks again for your help,” Nicole said to the two women behind her as they exited the conference room a short while later. Nicole headed back towards her desk.

“Of course,” Waverly said kindly as she watched her go. The sisters stepped outside the police station and headed down the street.

“I better get back to the homestead before Willa’s meeting ends,” Wynonna said, glancing at her watch.

“About time for my shift at Shorty’s,” Waverly said. Waverly was about the say goodbye to Wynonna for the night when Nicole’s voice stopped her.

“Hey Waves,” she heard Nicole say, walking towards her.

“I’ll text you later,” Waverly said, pausing as Wynonna nodded and headed to her SUV which was parked a few blocks down the street near Willa’s shop to avoid suspicion. Waverly turned back towards Nicole.

“Miss me already?” Waverly teased, not sure where this confidence came from. Nicole grinned as though she was being caught doing something naughty.

“Umm…I wanted to give you back your tupperware,” Nicole said, fumbling her words due to Waverly’s teasing.

“Oh, thanks,” Waverly said, taking the now empty container from Nicole.

“You really made Paul’s day with the muffins,” Nicole said with a big smile on her face.

“Glad he liked them,” Waverly replied, secretly wondering if Nicole was smiling so big because she had enjoyed them too.

“Also, here’s my number…my personal cell. If you want to um…coordinate for tomorrow,” Nicole anxiously said, handing Waverly her business card. Nicole had scribbled her personal cell number below her work phone number. “You can call or text or um…whatever. About tomorrow, or anything really. If you, you know, need anything.” Waverly smiled at Nicole’s nervousness. Usually she was the one blabbering on like an idiot to all of those around her so it was refreshing to see Nicole fumbling.

“Thanks, Nicole,” Waverly said. Watching Nicole’s face light up at the way Waverly said her first name would never get old for the brunette. The two lingered for a moment before Nicole rubbed her hand across the back of her neck, flashed her one more smile, and said goodbye since she should get back to work. Waverly watched her leave before turning, humming a happy tune the whole way back to her jeep.

En route to The Homestead

Wynonna was jamming out in her SUV on the way back to the homestead, her windows rolled down, hair blowing in the wind as she enjoyed some alone time. She still had a lot of unanswered questions and hadn’t been able to track down Tim, but for now, she just needed a minute to get lost in a song. Of course that moment was interrupted when a phone call came in through the Bluetooth.

“Damn,” she said, fumbling with the controls. “How the hell do I answer this?” She had still been trying to figure out her car and finally managed to answer the call after yelling a string of profanities at all the buttons. “Hello?”

“Is this Wynonna Earp?” a male’s voice asked.

“Yes,” Wynonna said, finally getting the windows rolled up.

“This is Levi from Z Towing returning your call,” the man said.

“About damn time,” Wynonna said.

“Sorry, ma’am,” Levi said, unapologetically.

“Whoa, I am not a ma’am,” Wynonna replied.

“Right…um well, you wanted to know about that truck we fixed a few weeks ago.” Wynonna rolled her eyes. Of course they’d only listened to part of her message and didn’t really know why she was calling.

“Actually about where the tow truck picked me up,” Wynonna replied.

“Oh right,” Levi said. “Uh…looks like we picked you up over in Ridgefield on the south side.”

Ridgefield, Wynonna thought. What the hell? That was a part of the big city she didn’t ever go to. Wynonna pulled the SUV over to the side of the road.

“Do you have an address for the building?” Wynonna asked, scrambling to find a pen and paper.

“Yeah, just a second,” Levi said as he found the paperwork and then rattled off the building number.

“Thanks so much,” Wynonna said, hanging up the phone before Levi could reply. She typed in the address to Google Maps. What the hell? she thought. It was in a part of town she’d never seen before and looked like a large industrial yard. When she typed the address into google, a webpage showed up: Shapiro Investigations. “Shapiro, why does that sound familiar?” she said aloud in her car. Shapiro…Shapiro…“Holy eff.” She scrolled down and saw the name: Eliza Shapiro, the former BBD agent that had helped them rescue Dolls in their “other” life. Why was she meeting with her and why had she insisted on borrowing Nicole’s truck in order to do it?

Shorty’s

Waverly had been on cloud nine all evening as she scurried around the bar. The place was busier than usual as some sports game was playing on the TV, but nothing could bring her down after the afternoon meeting at the police station. The closeness with Wynonna and the blossoming friendship with Nicole had given her a purpose and happiness that she hadn’t even realized she had been missing. And everyone around her noticed the pep in her step as she hummed while pouring a beer.

“Waverly, what’s got you in such a good mood tonight?” Ed asked.

“It’s just been a really good day,” Waverly said, offering Ed a big smile. “Need a refill?” Ed nodded. As Waverly went to pour him another, she looked up to see a flash of red hair at the door and smiled even bigger as Nicole walked in. She was wearing civilian clothes, a pair of tight black jeans and red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows which made Waverly swoon as she rarely saw her out of uniform. Waverly’s smile only partially faded as she saw Amy walk in behind her. Nicole leaned over whispering something in Amy’s ear before Amy headed towards a table and Nicole walked towards the bar.

“Uh Waves, I think it’s full,” Ed said as beer ran out of the mug and all over the bar.

“Oh crap,” Waverly said, shutting off the tap and setting down the beer mug. She quickly wiped everything down and tried to dry the mug. She looked up to slide the beer over to Ed when she saw Nicole had come up to the bar and was standing next to Ed, watching her fumble awkwardly trying to dry everything off. “Sorry, Ed.”

“Not a problem, sweetheart,” Ed said. “A cold beer tastes just as good out of a sticky mug as a dry one.” He flashed a smile and then scooted off his stool and down the bar to chat with some of his friends.

“Well hello again, Officer,” Waverly said, turning her full attention to a smiling Nicole.

“Hi,” Nicole said simply, her face in a soft smile and her eyes almost sparkling under the bar lights as she looked at Waverly.

 “Uh, what can I get you?” Waverly asked, having to shift her focus away from that face before she got lost in those brown eyes again. She used the towel to try and dry off her sticky hand which also proved a useful distraction.

“Can I get a beer and a…” Nicole started to say, but was cut off as Amy walked up.

“I’m sorry hun, I changed my mind,” Amy said, wrapping her arm around Nicole’s waist.

“That’s okay, you caught me just as I was ordering your drink,” Nicole said, giving Amy a friendly smile. Waverly felt a bit jealous as she watched the pair interact, but tried to hide it with a smile. After all, she had no right to be jealous. She and Nicole were friends and she should be happy to see her friend happy. Right?

“Hi Amy,” Waverly said, trying to sound as nice as possible without sounding fake. “What brings you two in tonight?” She hardly ever saw the couple in Shorty’s on a weekday.

“We are celebrating,” Amy said. “I had a really amazing job interview today.”

“That’s great,” Waverly said, smiling. She briefly glanced at Nicole who was still smiling, but Waverly could sense it was a heavy smile as she tried to be excited for her girlfriend, but was also slightly disappointed.

“I should hear back in a couple days if I got it,” Amy replied, looking between Waverly and Nicole. “I just felt like getting a drink tonight even though this one…” Amy’s right hand came over and playfully nudged Nicole’s side, “didn’t want to come to Shorty’s tonight.” Waverly’s smile partially faded and her heart sank. Nicole gave a small smile and then looked down at the floor. Waverly noticed it was a habit of hers whenever she felt a little embarrassed or ashamed about something.

“Long day at work and all,” Nicole said quietly, unwilling to meet Waverly’s eyes.

“That’s because you work too much,” Amy said. “You’re always at that station.”

“I know, babe,” Nicole said, almost annoyed, but trying to be supportive towards her girlfriend.

“So what is your celebratory drink of choice, Amy?” Waverly asked, trying to sound enthusiastic for the couple.

“I’m thinking a whiskey sour,” Amy replied. “And a beer for this one. She doesn’t handle her hard alcohol that well.” Waverly smiled and went to making their drinks as Nicole pulled out some cash. Waverly set their drinks in front of them and waved Nicole off as she tried to pay.

“First rounds on the house,” Waverly said. Nicole tried protesting and Waverly just stared her down and shook her head no.

“Thank you so much, Waverly,” Amy said as she grabbed her drink and moved towards their table, pulling Nicole with her. Waverly watched her go and felt a sadness wash over her at the fact that Nicole hadn’t wanted to come out to Shorty’s tonight. Was it really work or was it because she didn’t want to see Waverly again today? Waverly tried pushing it out of her mind as she went back to helping the other customers, a little less pep in her step than earlier in the day.

Amy had been the one that came to the bar for their second and third rounds insisting that Nicole keep playing pool. The pair had partnered up against a pair of the local guys and had stayed busy humiliating them all night so Waverly still had no clue why Nicole hadn’t wanted to come out to Shorty’s. As the bar started emptying and Waverly had a quiet moment alone, she felt the weight of the business card in her pocket. She could text her right? That seemed a little desperate. She’d only given her the business card earlier that day; although she did say to text or call whenever so they could coordinate about tomorrow. She was going to be spending tomorrow evening with Nicole and now she felt a little awkward about the whole thing.

To get her mind to stop running in a million directions, Waverly decided to just go for it. She took out Nicole’s card, typed her number into her phone, and sent off a quick text.

Waverly: Hey it’s Waverly. Now you have my number too. About tomorrow…we can postpone if you need a break. We Earps are a lot to handle every day ;)

Waverly read over the text and took a deep breath. Was it a little desperate? Maybe. Somehow, Nicole had turned her into this worrying mess of a person, but without knowing how Nicole felt about anything, she couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious. Well, here goes nothing, she thought as she hit the send button. She forced the phone into the back pocket of her jeans, trying not to stare at it. And then she waited. She glanced over as she saw Nicole pull out her phone and lean against the wall near the pool table. Waverly tried to appear busy but caught Nicole looking over at her out of the corner of her eye.

Waverly turned her back to her and reached under the bar for some more napkins when she felt a vibration in her back pocket. Holding her breath, she took out her phone and opened the message.

Nicole: Not a chance in hell. I think my handling skills might surprise you ;)

Waverly stared at her phone in disbelief. Had Nicole really just texted her that? She felt her face turn red. She slipped her phone into the back pocket of her jeans and stood up, a goofy grin across her face. When she finally had the courage, she turned towards the pool tables, but Nicole and Amy were nowhere in sight. They must’ve headed home while she was pretending to be busy tidying up the bar. Waverly let out a sigh, almost relieved that Nicole wasn’t there to see her all flustered. Then she felt a vibration again. She pulled out her phone and was surprised to see another message from Nicole.

Nicole: Goodnight, Waves. :)

Waverly smiled as she typed a message back.

Waverly: Goodnight, Nicole. :)

And then she smirked, picturing Nicole’s breath catching and the grin on her face at the use of her first name…

Chapter Text

Waverly’s Bedroom

Waverly winced at the light against her face as she slowly opened her eyes. A small trickle of sunlight was peeking through her curtains and had cast scattered light across her face. Waverly groaned and couldn’t realize why she had woken up so early after working the late shift at Shorty’s until she heard the buzzing from her phone. She picked up her cell to see that she had three text messages and a missed called from Wynonna. She shot up in bed, hoping nothing was wrong when her phone buzzed again with an incoming call from Wynonna 

“Wynonna, what’s wrong?” Waverly asked frantically, sitting up as she put the phone to her ear.

“I’m bored, entertain me,” Wynonna replied, her voice muffled.

“Where are you?” Waverly asked. Wynonna sounded as though she were driving through a tunnel.

“I’m in my car on the way to the city. This Bluetooth stuff is the shit.” She was referring to being able to make a call through her car stereo using Bluetooth which is a feature Gus’ old truck definitely lacked.

“Isn’t that why you bought that mommy car?”

“Whoa. One, other-life-Wynonna here so I don’t remember buying the car. Two, do not accuse my black beauty of being a mommy car. This thing’s got balls. I topped her out at 130 just a bit ago.”

“Wynonna!”

“Alright it was only 110, but still impressive.” Waverly couldn’t tell if her sister was joking but she chuckled softly.

“Why are you headed to the city so early?”

“I got a lead,” Wynonna replied, enthusiastically. “The tow truck idiots finally got back to me and told me where they picked me up. It’s an unmarked office building home to Shapiro Investigations.”

“Investigations?”

“Yeah, a P.I. office. And get this, it’s someone I know from our other life. Of course, in that world she kind of, sort of…died but still. I’m heading there now to figure out why I met with her.”

“Wait, you’re not going to work today? What about Willa?”

“I convinced her that I was going to browse wedding dresses. I even made a new appointment at that dress shop she’s been raving about. And she surprisingly said yes as long as I make it back in time for bingo night, and I don’t actually buy a dress until she’s with me and can see how it fits.”

“Brilliant.”

“Always the tone of surprise, baby girl. This is not my first rodeo.” Waverly chuckled again. “When are you meeting Haught-stuff for the stakeout?”

“Not sure, I need to text her.”

“Ooohh, since when are you two texting?”

“She…gave me her cell number yesterday. To coordinate for the stakeout.”

“Mmm hhmmm,” Wynonna said.

“She looked pretty cozy with her girlfriend last night at Shorty’s, Wynonna,” Waverly said. “Sorry to say, I think that’s one part of our other life that is not going to happen in this one.” Waverly felt her shoulders slouch as she thought of the possibility of her and Nicole never being anything more than friends. Of course, she hadn’t really told anyone the extent of her crush on the redhead and Wynonna had been the only one that had noticed.

“We’ll see,” Wynonna replied. “Well good luck tonight. Let me know what you find out.”

“Same to you. And Wynonna…stay safe, okay?” Waverly couldn’t help but worry a little as Wynonna was going to a P.I.’s office and her former self had insisted she take a car no one would recognize for reasons they still hadn’t figured out.

“Always,” Wynonna replied, ending the call. Waverly let out a big yawn as she stretched her arms over her head. She felt her phone vibrate on her lap. Figuring it was Wynonna again, she looked down to see she had a message from Nicole.

Nicole: Hey Waves. Hope I’m not waking you up. Is meeting at the station at 6 good for you?

Not wanting to seem too eager to respond, Waverly studied the message for a minute. She smiled, thinking of how sweet Nicole was hoping that she hadn’t woken her up knowing that she had worked late at Shorty’s. She pushed her fingers to the keyboard, and sent her a text back.

Waverly: Not at all, Officer. 6 would be great! :)

Waverly’s heart jumped as she saw the three little bubbles on her screen. Nicole was writing her a message back. Buzzzz….

Nicole: Great! I have a surprise for you. ;)

A surprise? For her? Waverly’s mind raced in a million different directions thinking of what it could be.

Waverly: For me? What is it?!?

Nicole: It’s called a surprise for a reason, Wave.

Waverly: You’re no fun.

Nicole: I can be fun…

Waverly’s eyebrows arched. Was that text meant to sound flirty? It was so hard to tell what was wishful thinking and what was just friendship. Nicole was the only person around that had this effect on her. And it was both amazing and the worst, all at the same time. How was that even possible? Before she could reply, she got another message from Nicole.

Nicole: Duty calls. See you tonight.

Waverly: Righty-O, Officer.

Waverly hit send before she realized how ridiculous her text sounded. “Ugh” she said aloud as she brought her hands to her head and fell back onto the bed. She was looking forward to tonight so much that now she just had to figure out what to do to entertain herself on her day off. A knock on the door startled her.

“Waves, you got a visitor,” she heard Gus’ voice say from outside her door. Waverly jumped up, threw on her robe, and opened the door to see Gus’ face staring back at her.

“Morning, Gus,” Waverly said with a smile.

“Morning to you too, darlin’,” Gus replied. “He’s out on the porch.” She grumbled a little meaning Waverly knew exactly who it was. She walked to the front door and opened the screen to see Champ. His hair was a little wet and combed over the way he always did when he was trying to impress her and he held a small bouquet of red flowers. She let out a sigh as she leaned against the doorframe and stared back at the boy, wondering if she should take pity on him yet again…

Ridgefield: Unmarked office building

Wynonna pulled up outside of the building and walked to the door with a big 210 overhead. The building looked plain from the outside, no markings to indicate what it was for. Just the numbers over the door. Surprised to find the door unlocked, Wynonna walked in and found a long corridor. At the end of the corridor was another door. This one was locked with a big sign that said, “Ring once for service.” She hit the button on the wall, hearing a loud buzzing. A woman’s voice came from a speaker on the wall.

“How can I help you today?” the woman asked, sounding mildly annoyed.

“Uh, I’m here to see Eliza Shapiro.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but can you tell her it’s Wynonna Earp?” Silence filled the corridor as Wynonna waited, hoping Eliza knew who she was since she apparently got picked up here by the tow truck company. After about 30 seconds, she started thinking this was a waste of time and huffed.

“Miss Earp, please come in,” said the woman on the line as the door buzzed, unlocking. Wynonna grabbed the door and did as the woman said. She walked down another hallway and through a set of doors to a small office where the reception sat. She was assuming this was the woman on the line.

“Nice to see you again,” the woman said to Wynonna. “Please have a seat. Eliza will be right out.”

“Sure, thanks,” Wynonna said nervously. She’s been here before yet nothing looked familiar. After about five minutes of waiting and pretending to flip through the pages of a magazine, Eliza emerged from a side door.

“Wynonna,” Eliza said, “Please come with me.” Her blonde hair was pulled back tight against her head in a bun, and she wore a tight suit, looking just as fit and athletic as the last time Wynonna had seen her before the incident at BBD. They entered Eliza’s office and Wynonna took a seat as Eliza closed the door.

“I have to say, I’m really surprised to see you here,” Eliza said, taking a seat. “Especially since Xavier hasn’t heard from you.”

“Yeah about that, I need to…wait, Xavier as in Dolls?” Wynonna asked.

“Yeah, my husband,” Eliza replied. “You met with him a few weeks ago and he hasn’t heard from you since.”

Wynonna took a deep breath, trying to get over the shock of Dolls being married, and then explained the memory loss to Eliza, chalking it up to an accident in the barn. She explained how she found her way back to this office, but had no recollection of any of their meetings or why she was here.

“Well that explains a lot,” Eliza replied. “Xavier said he tried to track the phone he gave you, but it’s been turned off for weeks.”

“He gave me a cell phone?”

“Yes so you could contact us. You were worried that your sister was getting suspicious about you investigating her husband.”

“Can you tell me everything about our meeting?”

“Of course, but Xavier has all of your meeting notes back at his office. He only met you here because you were worried you were being followed.”

“His office as in…” Wynonna asked, not sure if BBD was a thing in this life or not.

“At DED.”

“Sorry, he works for “dead”?” Wynonna asked. “Well that’s ominous.”

“DED, the Drug Enforcement Division, but they investigate a lot of crimes including any kind of large scale operations. Including the type you thought your brother-in-law might be involved in.”

“When can we meet with Dolls?” Wynonna asked, taking a deep breath.

“Unfortunately, he’s out of town for a few days, but when he comes back, we can go over everything again. I’ll get in touch with him and let him know everything you’ve told me today.”

“Okay,” Wynonna said, taking a deep breath and looking around. She made arrangements to contact Eliza again in a few days to follow up. Then she went back to her SUV and looked around the office building. As she sat in the driver’s seat, her stomach sank as it dawned on her that perhaps Willa keeping such close tabs on her had very little to do with her upcoming wedding. She’d have to be careful what she said around her and try to make it seem as though she was engrossed in wedding plans. The best way to do that…get across town to the wedding dress shop and find something so she could take proof back to Willa on how she had spent the day.

Purgatory Sheriff’s Department

Waverly bounced into the station about 15 minutes before she was supposed to meet Nicole to see Paul working at the front desk again.

“Hi, Paul,” Waverly said in a chipper tone.

“Howdy there, Miss Earp,” Paul replied. “How are you doing this evening?”

“I’m great. Just meeting, Ni---Officer Haught.” She corrected herself, not wanting to sound too chummy with the police.

“She’s just finishing up with Nedley,” Paul said, motioning over to Nedley’s office where the blinds and door were closed. “Should be out shortly.”

A short time later, Nicole opened the door to Nedley’s office and walked out to see Waverly sitting on the front desk with her legs crossed, engrossed in a serious looking game of checkers with Paul.

“Ohhh King me,” Waverly said as she moved her piece to Paul’s side of the board. Paul added a piece to hers and then moved one of his pieces while surveying the board. Waverly then made a move, claiming several of his pieces and moving them off to the side of the board as Paul let out a deep groan.

“Take it you’re losing, Paul?” Nicole asked, surprising both of them as she walked up behind them and smiled. Waverly turned and couldn’t stop the large smile from crossing her face as she saw the redhead surveying their game.

“She’s kicking my ass, Haught,” Paul exclaimed. “I’ve already lost three times.” Nicole chuckled.

“Where did you even find checkers?” she asked.

“Waverly had it,” Paul replied, studying all the pieces, preparing his next move. Waverly looked over at Nicole.

“You mean you don’t keep travel checkers on you at all times, Officer? Rookie mistake.” Waverly said in a teasing tone, shaking her head. Nicole chuckled.

“Well sorry to interrupt, but you ready to go?” Nicole asked.

“Definitely,” Waverly replied as she hopped down from the front desk in one swift motion before Nicole could even offer to help her.

“This isn’t over,” Paul said jokingly as he cleaned up the board, snapping it all back together, and handing it to Waverly.

“I’m up for a rematch any time, Paul,” Waverly said with a smile as Nicole moved to her desk, grabbed her jacket, keys, and a large black duffle bag, and motioned for Waverly to follow her through the side doors. As they walked down the corridor, Waverly suddenly felt nervous spending the evening with Nicole. She had been so excited throughout the day, but now she realized she had to mentally tell herself not to smile at Nicole every two seconds. They were friends…just friends…just friends…she kept telling herself as they headed out a back door. Once they got outside and into a small parking lot behind the building, Nicole turned to face Waverly.

“Ready for surprise number one?” Nicole asked.

“There’s more than one?” Waverly asked excitedly. Nicole let out a chuckle and turned, pointing the keys at a shiny new black Challenger as the lights lit up, unlocking the doors. “We’re taking this?!?” Waverly asked as she approached the car.

“Mmm hmmm,” Nicole replied. “And you get to drive there since you know where we’re going.” She handed the smaller woman the keys as Waverly’s mouth dropped. Nicole moved towards the trunk which she had already popped with the fob and slid the black duffel bag into the back.

“How did you…?” Waverly started to ask, but she in shock that not only were they taking this fancy car, but Nicole was actually going to let her drive it.

“I basically had to sell my soul to Nedley,” Nicole replied, “but he figured something a little less conspicuous than the patrol car might be better considering the area of town we’ll be in. So…” she took Waverly’s bag and put it in the back too before closing the trunk and standing in front of the brunette, “no hot-rodding.”

“Of course,” Waverly said with a devious smile as she glided into the driver’s seat. Nicole hopped in to the passenger’s seat and smiled while Waverly gushed about the interior and giggled at the rumbling of the engine. After drooling over the car for longer than she should’ve, Waverly put the car into first and they headed off.

Romaine Junk Yard

“This is where we’re going?” Nicole asked nervously as they pulled into the drive of the junk yard.

“Trust me,” Waverly said, giving Nicole a comforting smile as she turned off the ignition and handed the car keys to Nicole. An old man came out, rifle in hand when he saw the pair emerge from the car.

“What the hell do you think you’re…” he yelled at the pair, but he lowered his weapon when he saw it was Waverly. It was just in time too as Nicole already had her hand on her holster and had just about pulled her gun out too before Waverly put a reassuring hand on her arm.

“Hi, Mr. Romaine,” Waverly yelled perkily, moving towards the porch.

“Waves…” Nicole said softly, a little worried. Waverly just grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the front porch.

“Waverly, good to see you,” Mr. Romaine said, still shouting at the pair. “Wasn’t sure if you’d make it by tonight or not.”

“Thanks for letting us come onto your property,” Waverly said loudly back at him. That’s when Nicole realized he must be a bit hard of hearing.

“Oh, anything for you, sweetheart,” Mr. Romaine replied as Waverly gave his arm a gentle squeeze. His smile faded though when he turned to Nicole. “You brought a cop?”

“This is Nicole,” Waverly replied. “I’m helping her out with something.”

“Right, well I don’t want no trouble,” Mr. Romaine said. “You keep your cop opinions to yourself while you’re here, got it?” Nicole opened her mouth to say something but Waverly looked over at her with a pleading expression to please just do what he says.

“Yes, sir,” Nicole replied loudly back to him. “Tonight, it’s just Nicole.”

“Well good,” Mr. Romaine answered. “Come on, I’ve got a place all set up for you.” He disappeared around the house, beckoning them to follow. Nicole shot Waverly a concerned look before the brunette grabbed her arm and drug her along.

The Stakeout

About a half hour later, they were all set up on top of an old RV out on a hill in Mr. Romaine’s junk yard. They were surrounded by other vehicles and twisted metal which allowed them to blend in pretty easily, but could also look down and see the main warehouse of Laird Park at the base of the hill below them. Mr. Romaine had also set up a type of short blind on top of the RV where the women could lay down behind it if needed.

“Wow, Waves, you weren’t lying about getting us closer,” Nicole said, sitting on a cushion on the roof and leaning on the top of the blind, using a pair of binoculars to look at the RV park. Sitting up, the top half of her body could be seen over the blind, but laying down, she could easily be concealed.

“You doubted me, Officer?” Waverly asked, placing her hand dramatically over her heart, as she sank into her cushion to the right of Nicole.

“I’m learning not to,” Nicole chuckling, pulling out her notebook, ready to note any observations during their surveillance. “So how do you know, Mr. Romaine? He’s got a reputation around the station for being a hard ass and a shut-in with no interest in making friends.”

“I saved his Chihuahua from a runaway trash can a couple winters ago outside Shorty’s,” Waverly replied. “That poor thing almost became roadkill.” Nicole let out a laugh imagining Waverly during the dog rescue. “He’s been nice to me ever since.”

“And the camera?” Nicole asked pointing at the very large and very expensive camera sitting in Waverly’s lap.

“A friend owed me a favor. I convinced Shorty not to ban him from the bar after he punched out his cousin and broke one of the tables,” Waverly replied, rubbing her hand over the camera.

“Mr. Romaine. Paul tonight. Camera guy. Is there anyone you can’t charm?” Nicole asked, a big grin on her face as she looked at Waverly. Waverly felt her face redden and her throat go a little dry as she looked at the redhead and thought, You, but said nothing. Instead she shrugged and turned her gaze away.

“I…I don’t know,” Waverly replied, not looking at Nicole, but instead fidgeting with the camera as she felt the redhead’s eyes on her.

“Well, it’s amazing,” Nicole replied. “You’re amazing.” Waverly felt as though her heart had stopped as she looked over at Nicole. She’d rarely heard those words before except from Champ who would comment on their sex being amazing, but not on her in particular. Nicole sensed her surprise and flashed a small, dimpled smile before grabbing her duffel and rummaging through it again. Chills ran up Waverly’s spine as she let out a deep breath and went back to fiddling with the camera, trying to keep her mind occupied. Nicole pulled out a small, cloth shopping bag and nudged Waverly with it.

“What’s this?” Waverly asked.

“Surprise number two,” Nicole replied. The brunette took the bag and her eyes lit up as she pulled out a package of Oreos.

“How did you know?”

“That they’re your favorite? Please,” Nicole said, shaking her off like it was common knowledge that Waverly worshipped Oreos. It was a small memento, but it meant a lot to the brunette. She opened the package and offered them to Nicole who gleefully took a couple before Waverly helped herself to some as well.

“I brought something to chase away the cold,” Waverly said, pulling out a thermos. Of course with Nicole so close to her, she really didn’t need anything to warm her up but she wasn’t about to admit that to Nicole. She handed it to the redhead who opened the top and took a big whiff.

“Whew,” Nicole said, smelling the irish whiskey blended with the coffee. “None for me, thanks.”

“And I thought you said you could be fun?” Waverly teased, a smirk on her face, referencing the redhead’s text earlier. Nicole looked taken aback for a moment making Waverly wonder if she had crossed a line until Nicole smiled.

“Touché, Earp,” Nicole replied. “But just a little for me. That fancy car won’t drive itself later.” Waverly nodded and poured some of the drink into one of two small mugs she had brought along.

After a couple hours and a visit from Mr. Romaine who came to check on them before he turned in, the women sat in silence, watching the warehouse. The sun had gone down and there was a chill in the air. The stakeout hadn’t been that eventful as a few cars came and left here and there. Nicole had scribbled down the makes, models, and license plates to run them through the system later, but nothing suspicious was happening.

Waverly carefully shifted on her cushion, trying to keep her legs from falling asleep. The two women and their cushions had inevitably shifted closer throughout the night, trying to keep their voices low and movement to a minimum so that they didn’t draw a lot of attention to themselves. “Do you think we just picked a bad night?” Waverly asked quietly to the redhead beside her.

“I’m not sure,” Nicole said, sighing.

“Did you get bored doing your stakeouts by yourself?”

“A little,” Nicole replied. “The quiet was kind of nice though. The station can get pretty loud some times.” Waverly nodded, not sure if she should say more or let the redhead enjoy the silence of the evening. “It’s nice to have some company tonight though.” Waverly glanced at her while the redhead remained fixated on the trailer park.

“You never invited Amy to come out with you?” Waverly asked cautiously. She heard Nicole let out a deep sigh and realized maybe she was crossing a line.

“No,” Nicole replied quietly. “Its work, you know? Not really her thing.”

“Oh,” Waverly replied. “Any news about the interview?” Nicole sighed again.

“Not yet,” Nicole answered sternly. She saw the redhead’s shoulder relax and heard her tone change to something more friendly as she continued speaking. “But hey, thanks for acting excited for her last night.” Nicole smiled at Waverly. “She really appreciated it.”

“Of course,” Waverly replied. “Sorry you didn’t want to be there.” Nicole’s eyes were full of guilt as she looked at Waverly.

“Hey, about that…” Nicole started to say softly, but movement caught both women’s eyes as they turned towards the trailer park. Lights from a large van moved in front of the warehouse. Nicole put on the night-vision goggles that Mr. Romaine had lent them and leaned against the blind. Nicole didn’t even want to know why he had such advanced tactile gear. Nicole scribbled notes based on what she was seeing while Waverly tried to take photos, unsure if they could make out much in the dark.

The van pulled up to the warehouse doors and six men emerged, but instead of opening the back two doors, they opened the side door on the opposite side of where the girls were. The warehouse doors opened exposing a small crowd of men. Neither Waverly nor Nicole had seen the crowd of men enter the warehouse making them wonder if they knew they were being watched. Nicole continued scribbling notes as Waverly snapped as many pictures as she could.

The men started hauling boxes into the warehouse that Waverly could see said “car parts” and “toys” on them. They definitely were covering their tracks in case anyone was watching. Waverly’s breath caught as she saw Steven walk out of the warehouse to the side of the van, peering out across the sky and towards the water tower in the distance where Nicole used to do her stakeouts. He motioned for a couple of men who came out with rifles in their hands. He pointed towards the tower as they surveyed the area. They shook their heads no which both Nicole and Waverly assumed meant that they couldn’t spot Nicole up there.

“They were expecting you up there,” Waverly whispered to Nicole. She shivered thinking about what may have happened if those men with the rifles had seen Nicole up there tonight. Nicole watched the men with rifles as Steven waved his fingers in a circular motion in the air. The men with the rifles started to survey the area around the warehouse. Nicole threw down her notepad and before Waverly had a chance to move, she felt Nicole’s hands push her over and tackle her to the ground behind the blind. Waverly let out a huff as the right side of her back hit the top of the RV, the camera landing off to her side as Nicole, now directly on top of her, had her head turned towards the back of the blind, listening.

“Don’t move,” Nicole whispered. Nicole was pretty sure both women were concealed by the blind, but just in case even a fraction of their body was showing, she froze. Waverly and Nicole stayed frozen, listening for any yelling or movement from the trailer park. They could hear the distant sound of the van running and men’s voices, but nothing to indicate that the men had seen them. As the seconds turned into minutes, Waverly looked around with only her eyes and became painfully aware of just how much Nicole was on top of her. Nicole’s right leg was in between hers and her right hand was still wrapped around Waverly’s wrist which she had pinned as she tackled her. Nicole’s hair was so close that Waverly could faintly smell her shampoo.

Waverly’s heart started racing as she tried to take a couple deep breaths to calm it, hoping Nicole wouldn’t notice. She closed her eyes and let out a breath. When she opened them, she saw Nicole’s head turned towards her, Nicole’s brown eyes looking into hers, their faces only a few inches apart.

“Sorry,” Nicole whispered shakily. Waverly’s not sure if Nicole’s breath was ragged because of her nervousness that the men may have spotted them or because she was laying on top of Waverly. She saw Nicole’s eyebrows furrow. Then Waverly’s breath caught as she saw Nicole’s eyes dart down to her mouth, linger for a moment, and then move back to her eyes. She may have just gotten her answer…

Chapter Text

The Stakeout

Waverly and Nicole’s eye contact lingered as Waverly fought the urge to close the distance between their mouths. Nicole was so close to her and Waverly was so overwhelmed by the smell and feel of her that she was compelled to risk their friendship to see how the redhead would respond. She was about to make a move when Nicole turned her head, breaking their eye contact. Both women heard the sounds of the van fading into the distance. Nicole slowly slid partially off Waverly to peak over the blind. The van was gone and darkness had fallen across the trailer park. The warehouse doors were now closed, but faint lights could be seen inside. Seeing that the coast was clear, she launched herself back from Waverly.

“I think we’re good now,” she said sternly. Waverly slowly sat up and investigated the camera, surprised to see it wasn’t damaged after Nicole had tackled her. The air felt heavy between the two women. “I think we should get back to the station.” Nicole didn’t look at her as she started packing up their things.

“Good plan,” Waverly said softly, packing up her stuff as well. They grabbed Mr. Romaine’s cushions and slowly climbed down from the RV. They placed his things on the porch along with a thank you note before getting into the Challenger and driving back to the station. The drive back was full of silence as Waverly had the sinking feeling that Nicole was mad at her for something. For what, she wasn’t sure, but the redhead looked annoyed as she gripped the steering wheel.

Part way back to the station, Waverly felt a buzz from her pocket. Nicole looked over as Waverly pulled her phone out of her pocket.

“It’s Wynonna,” Waverly said. “She wants to know if we found anything.”

“You should ask her to meet us at the station,” Nicole said flatly. “I think we all need to talk.” There was a rigidness to her tone that made Waverly feel nervous as she sent the message to Wynonna. They rode back to the station in silence.

Purgatory Sheriff Department

Waverly had followed Nicole into the station as Nicole stomped towards her desk. Paul was already off shift and had headed home. A young rookie cop that Waverly didn’t recognize was manning the front and looked nervous as Officer Haught stormed past him and threw her duffle bag onto her desk. Waverly felt uncomfortable and moved to the civilian side of the front desk as she waited for Wynonna. She felt a wave of relief when Wynonna rushed into the police station.

“You have NO idea what I found out today,” Wynonna said as she saw Waverly. “Hey, what’s wrong with Haughtstuff?” She looked over at Nicole who was pacing in front of her desk, holding Steven’s file in her hands. Waverly shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

“Close call,” Waverly replied, although she wasn’t sure if she was talking about the stakeout or their moment on top of the old RV. Nicole looked over, noticing Wynonna was there, and stomped out the swinging door and towards the sisters.

“Conference room. Now,” Nicole said at both women as she stormed past them. Wynonna looked at Waverly in confusion as she followed Nicole into the conference room. Nicole waited until they were in the room and then closed the door a bit more strongly than she had intended.

“Whoa, what’s going on, Red?” Wynonna asked, pausing behind her seat. Waverly stood off to her right, watching an angry Nicole paced around the room.

“What the hell are you playing at, Wynonna?” Nicole demanded, stopping a foot away from the sisters.

“What are you talking about, Nicole?”

“They knew we were coming tonight. They didn’t know exactly where we were, but they strangely knew to look at the water tower which only the two of you knew was my surveillance spot,” Nicole said. “Even Waverly was surprised when she saw them scope out the water tower. I did surveillance for weeks and no one noticed. Suddenly they realize where I was? Who did you tell?”

“First off,” Wynonna started to say as she took a step towards Nicole. “I didn’t say a goddamn word to anyone so why don’t you back off. I spent the day in the city finding out that I’ve been investigating Steven for weeks and had to cover my tracks because even I was nervous that I was being followed.”

“What?” Waverly asked Wynonna. Wynonna looked over at Waverly.

“I think Willa may have known which is why I borrowed Nicole’s truck a few weeks ago and can’t find anything in the house about my meeting with the P.I.,” Wynonna replied. She turned back to Nicole. “Second, I may not be a huge fan of cops, but I would never rat you out, especially not when you’re with my baby sister. Why don’t you ask one of the other flatfoots around here why they took that file off your desk and sold you out to Steven.”

“Flatfoots? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Nicole asked, sounding offended.

“Guys, obviously someone’s watching our moves,” Waverly remarked. “It’s not going to help if we turn on each other.” Both Wynonna and Nicole continued to glare at each other. “Can we just agree to give each other the benefit of the doubt?”

“Sure,” Wynonna mumbled, never taking her eyes off Nicole. “Just remember, we came to you willingly and shared everything we knew about Steven with you because we just want to protect our sister. If your ego gets in the way of that, that’s not our problem.”

“You came because you got caught snooping where you weren’t supposed to,” Nicole replied. “And now I think you should go before someone gets hurt.”

“Fine by me,” Wynonna said. “Come on, baby girl. We’ll figure this out without her help.” Wynonna didn’t wait for a response as she stomped out of the conference room. Waverly looked anxiously between where Wynonna had departed the room and over at Nicole, but Nicole wouldn’t meet her gaze.

“Nicole…” Waverly said, taking a step towards the redhead.

“Just go,” Nicole said softly, shaking her head. Waverly took a deep breath and sighed.

“Now, Waves,” Wynonna yelled from the hallway. Waverly took one last look at Nicole who was staring at the ground before she moved to the door.

“Thank you for the Oreos,” Waverly said softly. Nicole looked up at her as Waverly turned and walked out of the room.

The Homestead

It was Sunday, about three days after the blowout at the cop shop with Nicole when Wynonna found herself pacing in her room at the homestead. She had convinced Waverly that they shouldn’t go by the police station and should probably avoid texting or calling each other for a couple days until they could figure out who was following them. Instead, Wynonna had decided to follow Willa’s every move, inviting herself along wherever Willa went. She had also gotten Willa to return to the city with her, showing her the dress she had seen at her appointment on Thursday which Willa had miraculously approved of. So now she had a dress for the wedding, but still had no memory of David.

David returned home on Sunday, needing a shave and to pick up more clothes. He needed to go back to the city later that night, his team working diligently on the new account they had landed, but he had also invited Wynonna to go back with him if she wanted a break from wedding planning. Deciding it was time to be straight with him, Wynonna sat him down and told her about her memory issues, again using the excuse of hitting her head in the barn as the reason. He was a little surprised to hear she had no recollection of their relationship and even quizzed her on some facts he knew she would never forget.

“Shit, you’re serious,” he said after had failed all of his questions.

“As serious as a heart attack,” Wynonna joked as they sat on the front porch together. “It’ll come back though. The doctor said to just give it time.” She lied about visiting a doctor and her memory returning, but figured she should spare his feelings.

“Is it bad that I’m a little relieved?” he asked quietly. She looked at him quizzically. “I thought you were being distant because you were having second thoughts about the wedding.”

“I’m questioning the wedding right now because I can’t remember who you are,” Wynonna said cautiously. “Or our life together. Or anything.”

“I think we should postpone the wedding until your memory comes back,” David said. “That way, you can decide if this is what you really want. If I’m what you really want.” Wynonna smiled at him. He was an amazing man and she felt lucky that he was reacting the way that he was. They both agreed to postpone temporarily.

“So, who’s going to tell Willa?” David joked, nudging Wynonna.

“Speaking of that,” Wynonna commented, her voice getting quiet so only he could hear her. “Did I say anything recently about looking into some things that Steven has been doing?”

“No, not really,” David whispered back, “but you did clear some things out a few weeks ago that you took to our apartment in the city. You said you didn’t want them laying around here where Steven or Willa could see them, but you didn’t say why. I figured it has something to do with your Mom or Waverly since both Steven and Willa get offended when you bring them up.”

“Do you think you could look through the things for me while you’re at the apartment?” Wynonna asked.

“Of course. What am I looking for?” David asked. Wynonna smiled at his devotion to her as she explained she was looking for any kind of documents or a notebook as well as an old cell phone that might have some information on it about Laird Park. They weren’t allowed to talk about the matter further as Willa interrupted and insisted they have a barbeque together so David could have a home-cooked meal before he had to go back to the city.

Shorty’s

Waverly stared down at her phone. Her life felt a bit empty ever since Wynonna had convinced her not to text or go by the cop shop until they figured out who was following them. It felt weird not having her sister in her life every day, but it really felt weird for her not seeing or talking to Nicole. The redhead had avoided Shorty’s as well and hadn’t text Waverly since their blow out on Thursday. Waverly let out a deep sigh as she flipped her cell phone around in her hands.

“Don’t worry, babe, you still have me,” Champ said as he came up and gave her a series of slobbery kisses on her cheek. She groaned, hating that he had been right. She also hated that Nicole was so upset with her, and still hadn’t quite figured out what had happened between them. For a moment, she had thought Nicole was on the same page as her, finding herself overwhelmed by their closeness on top of the RV, but maybe it had just been worry and betrayal. After all, something bad could’ve happened if Steven’s men with the rifles had seen them on top of the RV.

Waverly tried to put both Wynonna and Nicole out of her mind as she finished her shift at Shorty’s. Champ had luckily decided to go have a bonfire with his friends and had taken off hours before she closed. With it being so quiet, Waverly sent everyone home and agreed to lock up once she was done sweeping the floor and wiping down the bar. She wrapped her coat around her as she stepped out into the cold night. It was pretty chilly around midnight, her breath showing in the cold air as she locked the door to Shorty’s and headed to her jeep. She paused by the jeep door as she heard a familiar voice across the street.

“Oh crap,” Nicole had said, dropping her phone and her keys in her hand. Waverly heard Nicole giggle at herself before sighing and trying to kneel down to grab her stuff. The redhead seemed to have to steady herself with her hand as she leaned down.

“Nicole?” Waverly asked cautiously as she moved closer to the redhead.

“Waves,” Nicole said, sounding excited to see her before she must’ve realized they were still in a weird place. Her face turned to worry and embarrassment. “What are you…what are you here for?” Waverly smiled at her, not sure exactly what the redhead had just asked her.

“Are you…drunk?” Waverly asked, chuckling.

“Nooo,” Nicole said, as she rubbed her hand over the back of her neck, her arms swinging a bit around her body as though she were having trouble coordinating them. “Some of the guys suggested a drink down at Marshall’s after work and well, I may have had a couple.” Marshall was a guy who sold home-brewed beer out of his garage. Although illegal to sell his beer without a license, Marshall often got the cops to turn a blind eye by offering to let them drink for free. His beer was strong and caught up with you real quick. “I’m just going back to the station.”

“Can I walk you back?” Waverly asked.

“Oh no no no, Waves, I’m fine,” Nicole insisted. “Besides, you’re not supposed to see me. Or not supposed to be seen with me, right?” Nicole attempted to wink at her but it turned into more of a scrunching of half her face as she staggered around.

“It’s really no bother,” Waverly said. “How about we just walk together?” Waverly slowly took a few steps towards the police station hoping Nicole would follow her. Luckily, Nicole did just that as they walked up the street.

“You really don’t have to babysit me,” Nicole replied. “It’s pretty cold out here and you, Waverly Earp, do not wear weather appropriate clothing.” Waverly smiled at the redhead as she stumbled up the sidewalk while following the brunette.

“I guess not,” Waverly replied.

“Those tiny shirts…no no, they aren’t warm,” Nicole muttered, waving her finger around as Waverly continued to chuckle. She was a very cute drunk although it was rare that Nicole even appeared tipsy in public. She didn’t like the sense of not being in control, especially when she was supposed to set an example for the town. They walked up to the front of the cop shop and stopped. “This is my stop.” Nicole turned to face the door and pulled only to find that it was locked. She groaned.

“Something wrong?” Waverly asked.

“Aw nuts,” Nicole said, searching her pockets. “I forgot that Sims has the keys. He’ll probably be awhile. I’ll just wait for him out here.”

“Whoa no,” Waverly said. “You’re going to freeze to death. Do you want me to call Amy for you?”

“NO,” Nicole said quickly. Then she whispered, “She can’t know."

“Why not?” Waverly asked.

“Because she’s all excited about getting this new job and I haven’t celebrated with her yet,” Nicole replied. “She’d be really upset if she knew I had a drink with the guys and didn’t invite her.”

“She got the job,” Waverly said. That explained a lot. Perhaps that’s why Nicole had agreed to go have a drink with the guys down at Marshall’s when she knew better.

“Yeah,” Nicole said, chuckling. “And found an apartment in the city, all in like 37 hours which makes no sense since I have a very nice house. It’s big. Too big for just me and the cat, but it’s here. No bueno.” Waverly laughed at her again. “Glad I can at least entertain one Earp sister.” Waverly’s expression turned a bit serious as she realized how upset Nicole probably was about their blowout.

“Nicole, you can’t stay out here, and since you can’t go home, why don’t you come home with me?” Waverly asked.

“No, I can’t put you out like that,” Nicole replied. “Plus, you’re not supposed to see me.”

“Well I don’t care,” Waverly said. “Come on.” She looped her arm in Nicole’s and started pulling the redhead down the street. “And I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“But Waves…” Nicole said, trying to protest. She continued to protest and rambled about all of the dumb things that her male coworkers talked about during the night as Waverly drove her back to Uncle Curtis’. Waverly tried to keep her talking, hoping the redhead would stay awake long enough for the brunette to get her inside.

Once she pulled up to the McCready house, she walked the drunk and stumbling Nicole to the front door, trying to be quiet. Nicole’s boots clanked across the floor as Waverly put her arm around Nicole’s waist and tried to guide her to her room.

“Almost there,” Waverly said as she pushed open her door and set Nicole down on her bed. They had made a lot more noise than she had wanted, but at least Nicole was warm and safe now in her room.

“Waves?” Gus and Curtis asked as they came down the stairs and looked at her.

“Sorry,” Waverly said. “Everything’s okay, please go back to sleep.”

“Champ again?” Gus grumbled. Then they heard Nicole’s voice and giggle as she stumbled around Waverly’s room. Waverly was guessing she was struggling to remove her shoes based on the sounds coming from Nicole’s mouth.

“Nicole,” Waverly said quietly. “She doesn’t really drink and had a bit of a rough night. I didn’t want anyone to see her. Please don’t say anything to anyone.”

“That’s mighty sweet of you, Waves,” Curtis said.

“We won’t say a thing,” Gus said, patting Waverly’s arm.

“Make sure she gets some water in her, huh?” Curtis said as he turned and went back up the stairs.

“Of course,” Waverly replied. Gus also handed her a bottle of advil that had been sitting on the counter before telling Waverly goodnight and going back upstairs to her bedroom. Waverly got a glass of water and opened the door to her room to see a disheveled Nicole sprawled out across the bed, one shoe off and the other partially untied. Waverly laughed as she shut the door, set the glass of water on the stand beside her bed, and moved to untie Nicole’s shoe. This caused Nicole to sit up and look at the brunette.

“Sorry, Waves,” Nicole said apologetically.

“It’s okay, Nicole,” Waverly said, removing her shoe and placing both of them by the door. “Come on, let’s get this coat off.” She helped Nicole slip her arms out of her jacket and folded it up, placing it on top of Nicole’s shoes by the door. She saw Nicole pull at the top of her uniform shirt, the top two buttons already unbuttoned as Nicole laid back on the bed.

“This is really soft,” Nicole said, snuggling into Waverly’s pillow. Waverly laughed, grabbed the water and advil, and moved to the other side of the bed. She plugged her phone into the charger and then sat down on the bed next to Nicole.

“Here, you need to drink this and take these,” she said as she coerced Nicole into sitting up on her elbows.

“Thanks, Waves,” Nicole said, popping the pills in her mouth and grimacing as she drank the whole glass of water. Waverly set the glass down on the stand beside the bed and went to get up when Nicole grabbed her arm. “Really, thank you.”

“Of course, Nicole,” Waverly replied. “I wasn’t going to leave you in the street.”

“I’m afraid I’m a bit of a mess tonight,” Nicole said laying down fully on the bed.

“Is it because of Amy’s job?” Waverly asked, looking down sympathetically at the redhead laying beside her.

“How do you know what to choose? I mean, choose my future, choose this life, choose this person. I mean…how does one even make these decisions, Wavssess?” Nicole asked, slurring her name, her face scrunching as she realized she had said Waverly’s name wrong. “And what if I’m wrong?” Nicole looked at her with pleading eyes.

“That’s a lot of ‘what ifs’, Officer,” Waverly said. She smiled down at the distraught looking redhead who was looking at her like a sad puppy.

“I’m sorry,” Nicole says, her eyes moving back towards the ceiling as she fidgeted with Waverly’s blanket.

“For what?”

“For the other night.”

“What are you talking about, Nicole?”

“I was mad at myself at the trailer park and I took it out on you and Wy…*hiccup* Wy…*hiccup* well, your sister.” Nicole said, licking her now dry lips. Waverly chuckled at her hiccupping.

“Why were you mad at yourself?” Waverly asked softly, still looking down at the officer. Nicole paused and looked up at Waverly. Nicole sat up quickly and swayed a little, folding her legs in a seated position, facing the brunette. She let out a deep breath. Waverly couldn’t help but laugh a little at her awkwardness as she tried to help steady the swaying redhead.

“Because…you are very pretty,” Nicole said, her eyes moving from Waverly to the bed as her body slightly swayed around. “And I noticed.”

“How dare you, Officer,” Waverly said, chuckling. She really shouldn’t tease the drunken redhead, but something about the sweetness and honesty of Nicole just made her laugh.

“It’s not funny,” Nicole said, huffing and pushing Waverly with her hand, her body still swaying as she tried to look at Waverly. “I…*hiccup* more than noticed.” Her eyes found Waverly’s as the two stared at each other. Nicole scowled and broke the gaze as she looked at the bed.

“What does that mean, Nicole?” Waverly asked quietly in a somewhat more serious tone.

“It means…” Nicole started to say. Her eyes went back to Waverly’s, her body still swaying. “I…” She saw Nicole’s eyes go to her mouth and then her scowl returned as she looked away. Nicole bit her bottom lip and then shook her head no. “I should sleep.”

“That might be a good idea,” Waverly whispered. She wanted to know so badly what Nicole was thinking now that her guard was finally down, but didn’t want to push the redhead any further. And she really didn’t want the awkwardness between them to return. With some help from Waverly, Nicole clumsily found her way under the covers and laid down on her back. She threw her arm over her eyes. Waverly went to move off the bed when she felt Nicole’s hand grab her arm.

“Stay?” Nicole asked, sweetly, looking up at her with soft brown eyes. “Just for a little bit? I don’t need all this room.” As Nicole moved a little further away from Waverly, she almost moved too far and fell out of the bed, but caught herself. She finally settled into a comfortable spot on her right side, her face turned towards Waverly’s.

“Okay,” Waverly said. While it was difficult for her to imagine sleeping next to Nicole just as friends, she realized Nicole really needed a friend right now. So she pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she crawled under the covers and laid on her back.

“Thanks, Waves,” Nicole said quietly as she snuggled into Waverly’s pillow. “For everything.”

“What are friends for,” Waverly remarked, producing a loud chuckle from Nicole, but before she could ask her why she chuckled, she saw Nicole’s eyes were closed and her breathing started to get a little heavier. Waverly smiled at the redhead sleeping beside her. She closed her eyes, not realizing how tired she was as sleep finally consumed her.

Waverly’s Bedroom

Nicole slowly opened her eyes and looked around her, not sure exactly where she was. She groaned at the pounding in her head and rubbed her left hand over her forehead before feeling a pressure on her chest. Looking down, she saw brown hair cascading across her as she suddenly realized she was in Waverly’s room. The brunette was snuggled into her, her right arm wrapped around her waist as she slept. The night’s events were slowly coming back to her as she remembered Waverly finding her and bringing her here. She remembered pieces of her conversation with Waverly, but it was all a little hazy.

She was relieved to find both of them fully clothed and looked over to see her jacket and shoes neatly placed by the door. Waverly must’ve helped her get them off before she had crawled into her bed. She slowly tried to extract herself from the sleeping woman, but felt Waverly’s arm grasp onto her just a little bit tighter as she moved. She smiled at how innocent Waverly looked wrapped up against her, but knew she really shouldn’t be there in the brunette’s bed. Reaching up, she grabbed the pillow behind her head and slowly slid it under Waverly’s arm and pulled herself out of the bed. She saw Waverly wrap around the pillow and drift back to sleep as she grabbed her shoes and jacket and tiptoed into the hall.

Nicole was pleased to see it was still dark outside, but looked out to notice her car wasn’t there meaning Waverly must’ve driven her. She had just finished typing up her shoes when a soft voice startled her.

“Good morning,” Curtis said softly, trying not to spook her. Nicole jumped, obviously startled, but trying to hold in the noise to avoid waking anyone up in the house.

“Good morning, Mr. McCready,” Nicole whispered.

“It’s Curtis,” Curtis said.

“Right,” Nicole said. “Thank you for allowing me to stay in your home last night.”

“Waverly’s friends are welcome any time,” Curtis said. “Now come on, I’ll give you a lift back to the station.” Nicole went to protest, but Curtis stopped her. “Unless you plan on walkin’, Deputy.” Nicole sighed as she realized she didn’t have much of a choice.

“No, sir. A ride would be great. Thank you,” Nicole said.

“It’s no bother,” Curtis said. “The misses has requested I bring back donuts so hope you don’t mind a stop at the coffee shop.” He winked as Nicole smiled at him, following him out of the quiet house. Coffee sounded like heaven.

Chapter Text

Shorty’s

Waverly was wiping down the bar, her shift at Shorty’s just starting as she let out a deep sigh. She had woken up that morning to find she was alone in her bed. Nicole had been there when she fell asleep, but when she opened her eyes, she saw that Nicole’s things by the door were gone. It was as if the redhead had never even been there making Waverly wonder if it had all just been a dream. But then she had snuggled into her pillow and realized that it still smelled like Nicole. She had been there…she had told Waverly that she was pretty. In fact, she was beating herself up for noticing how pretty Waverly was while they were on top of Mr. Romaine’s RV. And now Waverly couldn’t stop thinking about it, or the way that Nicole’s eyes had moved down to her lips the night before. It sent chills down her spine even now.

When Waverly had finally dressed for the day and ventured out to the kitchen to find some breakfast before her shift, Gus had told her that Curtis had given Nicole a ride back to the station earlier that morning. Gus also reminded Waverly of what a nice friend she was for bringing Nicole back to the house so no one around town would see the very drunk deputy. Of course, Waverly had failed to tell her that it wasn’t with the purest of intentions. She had been so excited to see Nicole again, even more excited at the thought of her in her bed, and had wanted so badly to push the redhead into crossing their friend line. After all, hadn’t she wanted to? She just about admitted as much the night before, but…Nicole still had a girlfriend and Waverly was still with Champ. What would that make them if they did cross that line? It was a chance Waverly was willing to take, but it also scared her to death. And maybe that’s why she hadn’t heard from Nicole – she may be scared to. Waverly let out a long sigh as she ate her food and stared at her phone.

“Why don’t you just text her, darlin’?” Gus asked, leaning against the kitchen sink, eyeing Waverly.

“It’s…complicated,” Waverly replied, looking up sadly at Gus.

“Well then make it simple,” Gus replied as Waverly studied her aunt. “Sometimes, you’ve got to take risks to get what you want…who you want. You’ve always been an honest kid, Waverly. Don’t stop now.” Gus gave the brunette’s shoulder a gentle squeeze as she walked out of the kitchen leaving Waverly to her thoughts.

Waverly was thinking about Gus’ advice as she flipped her phone around in her hands. She opened up her texts and typed out a message to Nicole. Her finger hit send before she could second guess it.

Purgatory Sheriff Department

Nicole rubbed her forehead. It was finally starting to feel a little better after throbbing all day. She still couldn’t believe that she had allowed herself to drink so much at Marshall’s and had thought she could take care of herself. She was sitting at her desk, rubbing her temples with her fingertips when her cell made a small whistling noise. She had a text. She unlocked the phone and smiled when she saw it was from Waverly.

Waverly: Hope you’re feeling okay today :)

It was simple and sweet. Of course, Waverly was always sweet. She was also a faithful and loyal friend. She had looked out for Nicole without a second thought of how it was inconveniencing her. Waverly had worked a long shift at Shorty’s and yet had been willing to spend even more of her night taking care of another drunkard. And for that, Nicole was very grateful. She smiled at the memory of waking up with Waverly in her arms this morning, her jasmine-smelling hair spread over the redhead’s chest, a small murmur coming from her mouth as she slept. She owed Waverly an apology and a thank you. She typed her a text message.

Nicole: Right as rain. Thanks for checking on me, Waves. And for taking such good care of me last night.

Nicole smiled as she hit the send button. Waverly’s reply came quickly causing another whistling noise on her cell phone. Nicole switched the phone to vibrate to keep from disturbing anyone in the police station as she read Waverly’s text.

Waverly: Anything for one of Purgatory’s finest. ;)

Nicole’s forehead scrunched. Had Waverly only taken pity on her because of her position as a sheriff’s deputy, or had the two really formed a close friendship? Friendship – is that what she could call it? She couldn’t remember that last time she had shared a bed and woke up snuggling with any of her other friends. Of course, Waverly was a very affectionate person though and made everyone around her feel comfortable. Perhaps that was why Nicole was being drawn to her. Yeah, that must be it, Nicole decided as she typed a response to the brunette and hit send.

Nicole: Well this sheriff’s deputy was definitely in rare form last night. You were sweet to take pity on me.

Buzzz...

Waverly: It was my pleasure. You’re very cute when you’re drunk, Nicole.

There was a boldness in her message that caught Nicole by surprise. And she was surprised at how her breath caught when she thought of Waverly saying her first name. Why did it cause this reaction in her?

Nicole: So I’ve been told…No, that wasn’t what she wanted to say. The memory of her sitting on Waverly’s bed, telling her that she noticed how pretty Waverly was came back to her as she stared at the brunette’s message. There was something Nicole wanted to know and perhaps it was time to ask her. She typed the message and hit send.

Nicole: Only when I’m drunk? ;)

Shorty’s

Waverly’s breath caught as she stared at her phone, a smile crossing her face as she read Nicole’s message again. She was hoping her text might elicit a certain response from the redhead and had definitely not been disappointed. She remembered Gus’ advice as she typed her response and hit send.

Waverly: Definitely not just then, Officer.

She saw three little bubbles pop up as Nicole typed her response. Her phone buzzed as Nicole’s text came through.

Nicole: Can we talk more about this? In person?

Waverly: Definitely. We’re totally overdue. When did you have in mind?

Waverly saw the three message bubbles appear again, but had to slid the phone into the back pocket of her jeans when Shorty yelled at her that some food was waiting to be delivered. She bounced around, delivering the food and offering a friendly smile to Shorty’s regulars before returning to the bar. She was about to pull out her phone when she saw she was being hailed for drinks by an eight-top across the room. Checking her phone would have to wait for now as she couldn’t neglect her job any longer.

Willa’s Beauty Shop

Wynonna took a step outside in front of the shop when she saw that she had a call from David.

“Hey David,” Wynonna said.

“Hey babe,” David said. “Is this a good time?"

“I’m just at Willa’s shop. What’s going on?”

“I think I found something at our apartment,” David replied. “There’s a loose floorboard over by the bench by the window. When I removed the board, I found a journal you had been keeping about the investigation with Willa and Steven.”

“What?!?” Wynonna asked eagerly. “What does it say?”

“I’m scanning the pages now and sending them to you,” David replied, “but babe…the last page has me a little worried. It’s dated the night before your head injury, you know that Saturday you were supposed to go into the city and try on dresses.” That was the day after other-world-Wynonna had woken up next to David and couldn’t remember any of this life that she had supposedly been living.

“What does it say?” Wynonna asked.

“I think Willa may be getting suspicious. I did my best to cover my tracks, write down everything that I’ve observed, and keep a low profile like Agent Dolls told me to do, but she keeps hovering over me which is not like her. I have a meeting at Lions Bank tomorrow since I think Willa and Steven may have a safe-deposit box that they’ve been renting. I’m hoping that I find those missing documents in there.”

“Whoa,” Wynonna exclaimed.

“This sounds really dangerous, babe,” David said.

“Don’t worry,” Wynonna said, trying not to alarm this man that she barely knew. She looked over to see Willa walking towards. “Ooohh got to go. Thank you, David.”

“Of course, babe,” David replied. “I’ll send the rest of the pages to you soon.”

“Sounds good,” Wynonna said as Willa walked out the door. “Love you too babe,” she added as she hung up the phone. “David,” she told Willa.

“How is he?” Willa asked.

“Working hard,” Wynonna replied. “What’s up?”

“I’m tired,” Willa answered. “Want to close up early and go get dinner?”

“Do you even need to ask?” Wynonna exclaimed as she said she’d just grab her jacket and they could head out. Willa gave her a suspicious look, curious about what David had said during his call, but let it go as she followed Wynonna into the store.

Shorty’s

It had been a busy afternoon at Shorty’s for Waverly. Not long after sending the last text to Nicole, a wave of people had come in after a midday bowling league tournament. Waverly had heard for hours about the games as the winning team taunted all the others. Of course, it was all in good fun, but Waverly had to work really hard to prevent several disagreements from escalating as the crowd became more rowdy.

When Shorty had finally nudged her, insisting she take a five minute break, she disappeared out the back door of the bar to get some fresh air. She leaned against the building, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She was disappointed to see that she hadn’t gotten a text back from Nicole, but the three message bubbles were still there. Perhaps Nicole had started writing her a message, but had gotten interrupted by work as well. She sighed as she realized she’d just have to wait awhile longer and put her phone back in her jean pocket before heading back into the bar.

When Waverly came back into the bar, she went to washing some glasses as she listened to Marlene and a woman named Julie gossip about some couple in town.

“I’m really surprised to hear that,” Julie said.

“Oh, me too, dearie,” Marlene said. “I really thought they were happy together. And to just leave town like that.”

“How’s the deputy holding up?” Julie asked. At the word “deputy,” Waverly perked up, wondering who at the police station that they were talking about. She was really hoping that it wasn’t Paul. Yeah, he and his wife had had their disagreements and Paul could be a bit stern, but Waverly knew how much he cared for her, always doting on her whenever they were in public.

“She’s holed up at the station,” Marlene replied. “No one has seen her come out yet since Amy left.” Waverly’s eyes got wide.

“Sorry, ladies, but…what’s going on?” Waverly quickly asked, standing in front of the two women behind the bar.

“Well didn’t you hear, honey? There was a big fall out in the street today between Deputy Haught and that Amy Riesman today,” Marlene said. “Such a shame too.”

“What?” Waverly asked, her voice straining. “Do you know what happened?”

“Well,” Julie started, leaning a bit closer to Waverly, obviously excited to share the gossip. “Apparently, Amy got some job in the city, pulled up outside the police station with her car packed, and told the deputy they were over. Then she drove right out of town.”

“According to Ilene, Haught took it pretty hard,” Marlene said. “She was crying in the street as Amy drove away.”

“Oh, Nicole,” Waverly said, her heart sinking for the redhead. While a small part of her was very excited to hear Nicole was now single, she also couldn’t help but feel sad for her friend and feel a little guilty about the flirty text messages they had shared. She knew Nicole probably really needed a friend right now, but she also wasn’t sure if the redhead had any interest in seeing her. And now she knew why she hadn’t heard back from Nicole.

If she had known what had really happened during Nicole and Amy’s breakup outside the police station earlier that day and how guilty Nicole was feeling, she probably would’ve felt even worst about herself.

******************************************************************************

Earlier that day…

Nicole studied Waverly’s text message asking when the redhead wanted to meet. “Now” is what she wanted to say, but she was working and figured Waverly was as well. Besides, she needed some time to process exactly what she wanted to talk with the brunette about. Was this a discussion about their mutual interest in one another? Or a talk where they discussed the boundaries of their friendship? At the moment, Nicole wasn’t sure which conversation that they were going to have or even which she wanted to have, but was excited to see Waverly again. She had really missed their interactions after their blowout on Thursday night. She went to type a response message when she got an incoming call from Amy.

“Hey babe, everything okay?” Nicole asked. It was rare for Amy to call her while she was on duty, knowing that Nicole tried not to answer personal calls unless it was an emergency.

“Nicole, we need to talk,” she heard Amy’s tired voice say over the line.

“Are you okay?” Nicole asked in a serious tone, a little scared that perhaps Amy was hurt or in a dangerous situation.

“Can you come outside?”

“Outside the station?” She heard Amy say yes. “Of course. I’ll be right out.” Nicole grabbed her jacket and rushed out the door. She spotted Amy leaning against her car and rushed over to her. Her face was full on confusion as she noticed Amy’s car was packed full. “Amy, are you okay? What’s going on?”

“I’m leaving Purgatory,” Amy replied. All of the air left Nicole’s body as she stared back at the woman. She listened as Amy told her that she had electronically signed the lease that apartment in the city and was headed there now.

“How could you make this decision without me?” Nicole asked, confused at what all of this meant.

“Nicole, I’ve had my stuff packed for two days and you haven’t even noticed because you haven’t been home,” Amy replied. “I didn’t make this decision. You did.” Nicole’s shoulders slumped and she was surprised at the tears that fell from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away as she noticed the people looking at them. She suddenly felt very exposed, not liking that the entire town was seeing this happening.

“Please don’t do this,” Nicole said, her hands in Amy’s. “Don’t leave. Not like this.”

“Honestly, you probably won’t even notice I’m gone, sweetheart,” Amy said quietly, kissing Nicole’s fingertips. “I’ve thought a lot about this over the past two weeks, and I think we both know that this relationship isn’t working.” Nicole went to protest when Amy’s hand covered her mouth. Amy brought both of her hands up to Nicole’s face, running her thumb over Nicole’s cheeks as the redhead, looking guilty, stared back at her.

“You’re an amazing woman, Nicole. And such a good deputy. You’re going to make a great sheriff one day, but I think we both know that if I was the one for you, you wouldn’t need to find an excuse to come home every night. You would just be there.” Nicole looked defeated as more tears fell from her eyes due to the guilt she was feeling. While Amy had been making this big decision, packing her car, Nicole had been sleeping in Waverly’s bed and sharing flirty text messages with the brunette. Her heart felt heavy and a wave of nausea washed over her.

“I’m so sorry, Amy,” Nicole said, hanging her head. She was right. She had been finding more and more excuses to be at the station later and later, almost dreading going home. She figured it was just because she was invested in her job, but the truth was, she had been avoiding Amy and any talks about their future.

“I know,” Amy said. She placed a chaste kiss on Nicole’s lips.

“You’re going to do so great in your new job,” Nicole said, smiling at her through her tears. Amy left out a soft chuckled.

“I think so too,” Amy quietly replied. “It’ll be nice to get out of this town for awhile. I never pictured myself staying here permanently.” Nicole gave the woman a small smile and nodded before she pulled Amy into an embrace. The two women just held each other, silently saying their goodbyes as several people in town observed them. With one final kiss, Amy got into the car and pulled away, leaving a defeated looking Nicole behind in the street. Nicole stared at her car until it disappeared out of sight. She took a deep breath and slowly walked back into the police station, her head hanging and her shoulders slouched.

*****************************************************************************

Purgatory Sheriff Department

By the time Waverly got off work, it was late. Probably too late for Nicole to be at the station, but she knew she needed to check before she went home. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to say, but she knew Nicole may need a friend and had convinced herself that she should check on the redhead before driving back home. She also figured she shouldn’t go to the station empty handed, so she placed a few of the homemade chocolate chip cookies that one of the local women had brought in into a small container and walked down to the police station.

She walked in, noting the quietness of the station as she looked over at Nicole’s desk. Nicole wasn’t there, but Paul was.

“Hey, Paul. Have you seen Nicole?” Waverly asked in a soft tone. She didn’t worry this time whether she used Nicole’s name or not. She was hoping Paul knew that they had become friends.

“Hey Waverly. She’s out on a call,” Paul replied. “Just between us, poor thing took quite a beating today.”

“I heard,” Waverly replied quietly. “I thought I’d check on her and bring something that might cheer her up.”

“She’s probably not going to be back for awhile,” Paul replied. “I tried to get her to go home, but she insisted on working another shift.”

“Sounds like her,” Waverly said as Paul nodded. “Well, mind if I just leave her a note and these cookies on her desk?”

“Not at all,” Paul said. “Help yourself.” Waverly took one cookie out and handed it to Paul, winking before she closed the container again and moved through the swinging door over to Nicole’s desk. She saw a stack of post-it notes next to a pen and scribbled down a note for Nicole.

‘I’m so sorry, Nicole. I hope you’re holding up okay.’ – Waves

Yeah, it was a bit generic, but she wasn’t sure what else to say to the redhead. She put the post-it note on top of the small container and left them on Nicole’s desk. She sighed as she told Paul goodnight and headed out of the station, hoping Nicole was okay.

Chapter Text

Shorty’s

Waverly was leaning across the bar at Shorty’s, her head in her hands as she stared into space. She had been pretty distracted the past two days thinking about Nicole. However, Nicole hadn’t made any attempt to contact her. Waverly heard from people at Shorty’s that the deputy looked a little rough. She had been keeping a low profile and either staying in her car as much as possible or hiding out at the station, but whenever someone caught a glimpse of her, she definitely had seen better days. Everyone figured she just needed a little space as she tried to get over her breakup with Amy, but it had taken everything in Waverly to not go over to the station to check on her.

Don’t be stupid, Waverly thought to herself. She had been the last one to text and she had left the note two days earlier and Nicole still hadn’t responded. Anything extra now would just seem desperate and it was best to just wait it out. So now she was trying to distract herself with work, but things had been slow. So slow this week that Waverly had already finished all the stocking, cleaned all the glassware, even mopped the floors which she typically only did once a week. Anything to keep her mind distracted.

Shorty had noticed something was up and let her do her thing, figuring it had something to do with Champ as the boy hadn’t been in as often as usual. When he looked over to see Waverly staring off into space, he walked next to her and leaned his head against his arm too, waiting to see how long before she noticed him. He softly cleared his throat to see her surprised eyes look over at him.

“Sorry, Shorty,” she said flashing him an embarrassed smile as she placed a hand on his arm and went back to trying to organize things.

“Got something on your mind, darlin’?” Shorty asked.

“A lot of things,” Waverly replied. “But nothing I can’t figure out.” She smiled at him and then went back to cleaning.

“Well if you ever need an ear to bend…” Shorty said before Waverly cut him off.

“It’s just, I’ve been waiting for someone to get back to me for two days and still haven’t heard anything.” She sounded nervous and agitated at the same time as she picked up a rag and started wiping down the bar for what felt like the millionth time that day.

“Champ not getting back to you?” Shorty asked, cautiously.

“No, Nicole,” Waverly answered.

“Ah,” Shorty replied. He knew Waverly and the officer had grown close as of late. “Well, sometimes people just need some space after a breakup.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Waverly replied with a sigh. Shorty looked at her a little curiously.

“Ever think she might just be a little embarrassed, Waves? I mean, Amy did break up with her in the middle of the street. If Linda did that to me, I’d be a wreck. Be best friends with a bottle of jack, day in and day out.” Waverly nodded at him finding it hard to imagine with Shorty would be like without Linda. She was good for him and was one of few women who put up with his antics.

“I still can’t believe Amy just…left Purgatory,” Waverly said softly, still finding it hard to believe that Nicole was now single. “They seemed so happy.”

“No one knows what’s going on in a relationship except for the two people in it,” Shorty replied. “They might show off to the town or you know, what do you kids call it? Make it facebook official, posting selfies all the time when really life at home is miserable. Waves, speaking of miserable…haven’t seen much of Champ around here lately.” Waverly looked over at Shorty, ducking her head in guilt.

“Champ,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s…I don’t know, Shorty.” She nervously went back to wiping down the bar.

“Outgrown him a bit, have you?” Shorty offered.

“Maybe a little,” Waverly replied.

“Well it wouldn’t surprise me much if you cut your ties and moved on,” Shorty replied. “Always kind of thought you could do better, Waverly.”

“You think?” she asked.

“I know,” Shorty replied matter-of-factly. He laid a hand on Waverly’s shoulder. “Nicole will reach out for a friend when she’s ready.”

“Right,” Waverly answered. “You’re right. Hey when did you become such an expert on relationships?” She smiled at him.

“I own a bar, sweetheart,” Shorty replied. “More relationship drama in here than a college sorority.” Waverly chuckled as she wiped at more of the bar before hanging the towel up near the sink.

“Guess I’ll go change out that keg that’s been acting up,” Waverly said as she went to move around the bar and head to the basement, but Wynonna bursting through the door stopped her in her tracks.

“Waves!” Wynonna yelled as she walked in the door. “Whoa, this place is dead,” she noted, looking around at the empty place as she rushed up to the bar. “What did you do, Shorty? Implement a five beer limit?”

“If I did that, I’d be out of the job,” Shorty replied. Waverly smiled at him before beaming at Wynonna.

“Well I know you’re slammed here, but mind if I steal baby girl?” Wynonna asked. A big smile crossed Waverly’s face at the prospect of getting out of the dead bar and getting her mind off of Nicole. “Uh…wedding development.” Shorty obviously knew she was lying, but decided to humor her.

“Not a problem. I think I can hold down the fort.” Shorty replied. “Besides, getting out of here might cheer her up a bit.” Shorty gave Waverly a look which she chose to ignore as she squealed and then bounced over to give Shorty a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re the best, Shorty,” Waverly replied before turning back to Wynonna. She went and grabbed her coat from behind the bar and followed Wynonna out the door.

“Uhh that place is like a morgue when all the drunks are sleeping off the night before,” Wynonna said when they walked out the door.

“Tell me about it,” Waverly replied. “Hey, so where are we going?”

“The cop shop.” Waverly stopped dead in her tracks. Wynonna stopped and walked back towards her.

“Wait, why?” Waverly asked.

“Haughtstuff called me. She got the film developed from the night of your stakeout and asked if I wanted to see them,” Wynonna answered. “Plus I have something I want to show both of you. Since Willa is occupied with her women’s group on Wednesdays, she won’t know where are. Plus…I missed you, baby girl.”

Waverly smiled, but then thought about what Wynonna had said.

“Sooooo, Nicole’s only expecting you?” Waverly asked.

“I guess?” Wynonna said back. “What’s going on?” Waverly looked at her and sighed. Then she told Wynonna about their close moment at the stakeout, taking drunk Nicole back to Uncle Curtis’, and the flirty texts they had shared before Amy broke up with Nicole.

“Damn, baby girl,” Wynonna said after Waverly had finished catching Wynonna up. “Well, even more reason you should come with me.”

“What if she doesn’t want to see me, Wynonna?”

“Look, she’s single now and you…well you should be single,” Wynonna said. “Even better reason to go over there.”

“But…"

“No, buts, come on,” Wynonna said, grabbing Waverly’s sleeve and dragging her along.

Purgatory Sheriff Department

Much to Waverly’s relief, Nicole was not at her desk when they walked into the building. Instead, a young rookie cop greeted them at the desk and told them Officer Haught mentioned Wynonna should go to the conference room and wait for her there. Waverly looked around cautiously as they made their way to the room and took their respective seats, Waverly off to Wynonna’s right, furthest from the door. Nicole had placed a large stack of photos on the table to the left of her notebook which included her scribbles from the night of their stakeout. Waverly picked up her notebook and read over Nicole’s notes while Wynonna started thumbing through the photos. They both jumped when a disheveled Nicole accidentally kicked the door when she entered.

“Shit, sorry,” Nicole said after her foot hit the door. Both Wynonna and Waverly instantly noticed the weariness on Nicole when she entered the room. Random hairs were sticking out of her usually tidy French braid, her uniform wrinkled from long wear, and her eyes were a bit puffy possibly from crying or a lack of sleep.

“Whoa, going for most hours logged at a police station award there, Nicole?” Wynonna awkwardly joked upon seeing the deputy.

“Wynonna…” Waverly said quietly while nudging her sister.

“You found me out, Wynonna,” Nicole joked shyly as she rubbed a hand over her hair, trying to flatten out the strays. “Waves uh…” The redhead’s eyes shifted to Waverly who gave her a small smile before quickly ducking to the floor. “I didn’t know you’d be here too.” Nicole walked to the left of Wynonna and kept her eyes on the photos on the table.

“I…” Waverly started to say, but Wynonna interjected.

“I saved her from a slow and painful death at Shorty’s,” Wynonna replied. Nicole looked up at Wynonna before her eyes shifted to Waverly.

“Kind of dead on Wednesdays during youth hockey season, huh?” Nicole asked, a slight smile on her mouth as she looked at Waverly.

“Extremely,” Waverly replied, smiling as she looked at Nicole. Nicole nodded and then slightly blushed as her eyes went back to the photos on the table. “Plus, I was really excited to come here.” Nicole’s eyes shot to hers in surprise as Waverly blushed. “To see…the photos…and go over the case.” Nicole nodded and slightly smiled again.

“Speaking of the case,” Wynonna interrupted, shaking her head at these two and the obvious heart-eyes and tension filling the room. “These are the photos from your stakeout?” Wynonna picked up the photos and started going through them.

“Yeah,” Nicole said, moving closer to Wynonna as all three women looked at the photos in her hand. “Waverly got some good ones of people we hadn’t seen before.” Waverly smiled at Nicole before focusing back on the photos in Wynonna’s hands. “But from what I can tell, there’s nothing here to incriminate Steven. They covered their tracks pretty well.”

“Damn,” Wynonna said as her cell phone started ringing. She handed the photos to Waverly before retrieving her phone from her purse.

”Hello?” Wynonna asked, not recognizing the number. “This is she.” Both Waverly and Nicole watched Wynonna as she talked. “This afternoon? No no, I definitely don’t want to reschedule. Now is fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Yeah, thanks.” She hung up the phone turning to look at both women.

“I have to go to the city,” Wynonna said grabbing her stuff.

“What?” Waverly asked. “Now?” Her eyes briefly went to Nicole before back to Wynonna.

“Yeah they had to move up my appointment,” Wynonna said, grabbing the journal entries that David had sent her out of her purse. “Willa and Steven have been renting a safe deposit box at a bank in the city and I bribed one of the workers to get access to it, but they need me to come now while the manager is out otherwise I have to wait until next week.”

“Oh, we can go over these photos later,” Nicole said as Waverly looked a little disappointed. She really didn’t want to go back to Shorty’s and really didn’t want this meeting at the cop shop to be over already.

“No,” Wynonna replied. “You and Waverly stay and go over them.” Both Waverly and Nicole froze as they looked at her, realizing that they were going to be alone. “Plus, I need you to go over these journal entries that David found.” Wynonna thrust multiple pages towards Nicole who still looked at her, dumbfounded.

“Wynonna…” Waverly started to say.

“Baby girl, you’re the smartest person I know. If there’s something here, you’ll find it.” Waverly and Nicole both stared at her. “Plus, Nicole can help.” The women briefly glanced at each other before back at Wynonna. “I’ll let you know what I find out at the bank.” They both stood frozen as they watched her rush out of the room.

“Well…” Nicole said as she finally looked over at Waverly. “Coffee?”

“What?” Waverly stared up at her, unsure of why her heart was beating so fast now that they were alone and their attention could only be focused on each other.

“Uh can I, get you some coffee?” Nicole asked quietly. “Before we start.”

“Coffee would be great,” Waverly replied, smiling.

“I’ll be right back,” Nicole said, rubbing her over the back of her neck as she walked out of the room. Waverly watched her go and let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. She sat back down at the table and laid out Wynonna’s documents and their stakeout photos. Okay, you can do this. Just focus on the case, she told herself, trying to get her thoughts to stay off of Nicole and back towards the photos and documents. She pulled out her notebook and a pencil and began to take notes while waiting for Nicole to return to the room.

A few minutes later, Nicole came back into the room with two cups of coffee in her hands. She briefly paused at the door as she saw Waverly leaning over the photos, biting on the eraser of her pencil, her hair brushed over to one side exposing her neck. A warmth coursed through Nicole’s body at the sight of Waverly. She sighed and bit her lip before walking towards the table and setting a coffee cup in front of the brunette.

“Thanks, Nicole,” Waverly said, looking up and smiling at the redhead. Waverly noticed Nicole’s breath catch as their eyes locked.

“No problem,” Nicole said, quickly averting her eyes back to the table. She took a seat next to Waverly and ran her fingers along the rim of her coffee cup. “So…find anything interesting in these photos?”

“Not yet,” Waverly said, her attention on the documents. “But you might take a look at Wynonna’s notes.” She handed Nicole the journal entry she had just read over. “She thinks Willa may have been ordering supplies for Steven through the shop as there are all these purchase receipts that seem to be missing.”

“What kind of supplies?” Nicole asked, studying Wynonna’s journal entry.

“She’s not sure since the only entry into their system says ‘Stock supplies’ and then the paper trail just ends. Wynonna found out about the safe-deposit box and is hoping that the purchase receipts are all in there.”

“How much money has Willa put into these “stock supplies”?”

“Wynonna’s entries don’t say,” Waverly answered. “I added it to our list of things to ask her about later.”

“Good thinking, Waves,” Nicole said. When Waverly looked over at her, Nicole flashed a smile. It was the first real smile Nicole had offered since she’d been there and Waverly couldn’t help but notice. Talking about the case seemed to have perked up the officer who seemed pretty defeated when she had first walked into the room, but was even sitting taller. Waverly smiled a little back before blushing and scribbling down her notes.

“Hey um, I’m sorry I’ve been a little absent lately,” Nicole said before she looked over at Waverly with a serious expression. Waverly turned her attention back to Nicole and saw a sadness wash over the redhead.

 “You’ve been through hell and you’re apologizing to me?” Waverly asked.

“Well I, I kind of ghosted on you,” Nicole stammered out, looking a bit embarrassed. “And after you took really good care of me when I was drunk.”

“Don’t even worry about it, Nicole,” Waverly replied, shrugging her shoulders. “Taking care of drunk people is what I do best.” Nicole quietly nodded her head as she looked down at the table. “Plus you um…seemed like you needed a friend.” Waverly’s eyes shot all around as she felt Nicole’s attention back on her.

“Friend,” Nicole said softly. Waverly wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement as she looked at the redhead questioningly. Sensing the tension between them, Nicole decided she would try to lighten the mood a little. “Well hopefully I didn’t make a total ass out of myself.” Waverly swooned as Nicole’s smile was big enough to show off her dimples. That was the Nicole she missed…the one she knew so well.

“Not completely,” Waverly said, teasing the woman. “But you were very…honest.”

“What does that mean?” Nicole asked, chuckling. When Waverly looked back up at her, Nicole’s smile faded and the air in her lungs seemed to vanish. It was a look of desire…wanting…need… that she was seeing in Waverly’s face. It wasn’t a look she had seen from the brunette. She noticed Waverly’s eyes drift to her mouth before Waverly blushed and looked back towards the photos on the table.

“I’m sorry about Amy,” Waverly said, but instantly regretted as the redhead shifted in her seat and sat up a little more rigid, clearly uncomfortable. Nicole cleared her throat and rubbed a hand over her hair.

“It’s alright,” Nicole replied seriously. “Long time coming, I guess.” Waverly looked at her with a look of sympathy, hoping she hadn’t said the wrong thing that pushed the redhead too far away from her. She noticed the redhead was fidgeting with her hands. Feeling brave, Waverly put one hand on top of Nicole’s, stilling her fidgeting. Nicole’s eyes darted from the contact to Waverly’s face, a little surprised.

“Well, whenever you’re ready, I’m always up for that talk,” Waverly started to say, referencing the talk Nicole had suggested that they have over their text messages. Nicole looked at her in completely surprise, frozen in place as she stared at the brunette. Waverly felt a chill down her spine as their eye contact lingered. This was the first time she’d really put herself out there with Nicole and it was scary as hell. She squeezed Nicole’s hands before returning back to the photos as a speechless and dumbfounded Nicole continued to stare at her.

“Waves…” Nicole started to say, but Waverly interrupted her.

“Wait, did you see this?” Waverly asked, grabbing one of the photos and leaning closer to Nicole.

“The van?” Nicole asked, looking at the photo.

“No look at the bottom of the van.” Waverly said, pointing near the bottom of the photo. “There’s something underneath.” Nicole grabbed the photo with her right hand, her fingers crossing Waverly’s as she pulled the photo a bit closer to her face, trying to see what Waverly had seen. Sure enough, there was an item below the van.

“Are those eyes?” Nicole asked, staring at the photo. It looked like a very terrified person with some sort of bandage across their mouth. The light had caught their face just right causing their eyes to glow as Waverly had snapped the photo.

“What if that’s how they’re transporting things in and out of the warehouse?” Waverly asked, her voice rising in excitement. “We were so focused on the boxes they were unloading, but what if they’re moving people through the bottom of the van in some sort of tunnel system?”

“Why would they be moving people through a tunnel?”

“I don’t know, some sort of human trafficking?” Waverly asked.

“This is big, Waves!” Nicole said in excitement, a big smile on her face. This was exactly the kind of knowledge she was hoping they would’ve gained from the stakeout and it was even further confirmation that something sketchy was going on in that trailer park. Nicole’s hunch had been right and Waverly was helping her get to the bottom of Steven’s activities. “Good eye catching this.” Nicole had looked at all of these photos multiple times and hadn’t noticed the eyes. Waverly continually impressed her more and more every day.

“I just kind of noticed it,” Waverly said blushing, shoulders shrugging as her eyes went back to the photo and briefly scanned over Nicole’s fingers which were still overlapped with hers as they both held onto the bottom of the photo.

“Isn’t it funny how sometimes you just…notice things?” Nicole asked softly. Waverly turned her face towards Nicole and gasped as Nicole was looking at her with the same look of desire she had when she was drunk in Waverly’s bed. Waverly felt her heart rate speed up as Nicole’s thumb gently rubbed over hers, but her eyes remained on Waverly’s. She saw Nicole’s eyes move to her mouth and felt the redhead slowly start to lean closer, closing the space between their mouths.

Is this really happening? Waverly thought to herself as their lips got closer. She felt Nicole’s breath on her as the redhead got even closer. Her eyes closed as she leaned the last bit forward, but as their lips just grazed, a knock at the door of the conference room startled them both. Nicole jerked around towards the noise and jumped up from her chair.

“Come in,” she said, her back now to Waverly.

“Haught, need you to make a run out to the Gibb’s ranch,” Paul said. “Nedley’s out there right now and is requesting another deputy.” Paul leaned around towards Waverly. “Sorry for interrupting, Waverly.”

“No worries, Paul,” Waverly said with a smile.

“I’ll be right out,” Nicole said to Paul. Waverly stood up as Nicole turned and walked a couple steps back towards her. “I have to…” Nicole motioned towards the door with her hand.

“Yeah…” Waverly said nervously smiling as she fumbled with her hands. “Okay.”

“Talk soon?” Nicole asked, sounding hopeful as she smiled at the brunette.

“I’d really like that, Nicole,” Waverly replied, smiling back, especially at the way Nicole’s breath caught again at the sound of her name.

“Me too,” Nicole said smiling. She turned and walked out of the conference room as Waverly let out a giggle and went back to examining the photos. A text message brought her back to reality as she unlocked her phone and read the message.

Champ: Babe, I’m at Shorty’s. Where are you?

Chapter Text

The City

Lions Bank

“Just this way, ma’am,” the bank teller said as he pulled at the collar of his shirt nervously. Wynonna followed him into a secure room where safe-deposit boxes lined all of the walls. The teller pulled the door shut behind them. “It’s box 1357. Just over here.”

They walked over to the correct row which was just about waist-high. Wynonna watched as the teller unlocked the box and pulled out the long shelf exposing a smaller secured container inside.

“You have five minutes,” the teller whispered, standing close to Wynonna, looking up at the security camera in the corner of the room. “Don’t take anything with you if you don’t want them to know that someone was in here. They usually come by on Fridays.”

“Got it. You were also able to get copies of that bank account information I asked you for?” Wynonna whispered back.

“Yes, I’ll send you with a copy when I come let you out,” the teller whispered before his voice went back to a normal level. “Here is your box, ma’am. Bank policy allows five minutes alone so that you may add items or take items from your box. I will be back shortly.” With that, he left Wynonna alone in the room. She quickly grabbed the smaller box and sent it on a large table in the middle of the room. Inside the box were stacks of documents.

“Bingo!” she yelled, reading over the purchase receipts. They dated back several years and included all the item information and cost for all of the supplies that Willa had purchased through her shop. Wynonna quickly went to work snapping pictures with her cell phone of as many of the documents as she could. There was also a small notebook with lists of what appeared to be code names and a bunch of numbers to the right of each name as well as written descriptions labeled “preferences” which included information like heights, weights, ethnicities, hair color, etc…

“What the hell does this mean?” she asked aloud to the empty room as she snapped pictures of the notebook pages as well. When she had taken as many pictures as she thought she had time for, she put the stack of papers and notebook back in the box only to see another item. It was a cell phone. An old flip phone that was turned off. She quickly turned it on and waited for it to start up while eyeing the clock. She had 1 more minute with the box. She opened the cell phone call log and noticed one outgoing call and several missed calls, all from the same number listed as “unknown.” But she knew instantly whose number it was: Deputy Agent Marshall Dolls’ cell number which she had just been given (re-given) the day before…

The Day Before (Tuesday)

“I’m just going to go for a quick walk and stretch my legs a bit,” Wynonna said to Willa. “How much longer do I have for lunch?”

“About fifteen minutes,” Willa replied, looking at Wynonna skeptically. “Since when do you walk for pleasure?”

“Sinceeee….the fireman started working out outside and I may have caught sight of one of them yesterday looking pretty damn fine,” Wynonna said, trying her best to come up with someone that may actually sound reasonable. She had caught sight of one of the new fireman the other day trying to carry a dummy up a ladder so it wasn’t entirely a lie. Sure he was all abs and no brains, but still couldn’t blame a girl for looking.

“You mean Marco,” Willa replied, giggling like a fangirl. “Yeah, he really is something.”

“Aren’t you married?”

“Looking isn’t a crime,” Willa joked as she went back to arranging some of the products. “Aren’t you almost married?”

“Valid point,” Wynonna said. “I’ll let you know if he’s out doing his thing so you can go look at him too when you go on lunch.” Wynonna skipped out of the shop and down towards the fire station as she let out a deep breath. Willa may not have believed her, but at least it gave her a few minutes alone to place a much needed call to Eliza. About two blocks down from the fire station was an old pay phone that Wynonna rushed to and dialed frantically.

“Miss Shapiro’s office,” a chipper voice said.

“Margie, it’s Wynonna Earp. Please tell me Eliza is free.”

“Yes she is, one moment please.” Wynonna tapped the side of the pay phone as she looked all around her, hoping nobody was watching.

“Wynonna, I’ve been expecting to hear from you. How are things on your end?” Eliza asked over the phone.

“Getting tense,” Wynonna replied. Then she quickly told Eliza about the documents David had found. Eliza assured her that it was great progress and Dolls would be eager to see the documents. Anything further she could send him to get a warrant that could lead to Steven’s arrest would be beneficial to the case. Eliza set up a secure, encrypted email system that was untraceable that Wynonna could send Dolls all the info. It was an impressive technology which used your thumbpad as a password so no one could access it but you. She gave Wynonna Dolls’ cell phone number to use in case of an emergency or if Willa or Steven confronted her, and told her to send copies of any additional documents to his email in the meantime.

“Sounds like a solid plan,” Wynonna said.

“And Wynonna? Be careful,” Eliza said.

“Will do,” Wynonna said, quickly hanging up the phone and wandering back by the fire station on her way back to the beauty supply shop.

Wynonna stared at the cell phone in her hands. This was the phone that Dolls had given her that she hadn’t been able to find anywhere else. Willa must’ve found it at the homestead meaning she knew Steven was being watched which is why Steven and his men were covering up their tracks at Laird Park. She still wasn’t sure how they knew where Nicole’s lookout spot was, but Willa was definitely onto her. Things needed to happen and they needed to happen quickly before Steven found out how far Wynonna’s investigation had gone and came looking for her. 

“Ma’am, I’m afraid your time is up,” the bank teller said re-entering the room. Wynonna quickly pocketed the cell phone from Dolls and closed up the safe-deposit box.

“No problem,” Wynonna said. The teller put the box back into its secured location and locked it back up. They walked back out into the lobby together.

“Ma’am, these are those bank statements that you requested,” the teller said, handing her an envelope with documents.

“Thank you,” Wynonna said, taking the folder. He gave her a friendly smile as she left. She went back to her car and quickly pulled out of the bank, checking all around her to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Part way back to Purgatory, she pulled off onto a dirt road, checking to make sure she was alone. No one was following her as far as she could tell. She turned her SUV off and grabbed the envelope from the bank.

The bank had given her copies of recent transactions for Willa and Steven’s account linked to the security deposit box. Starting on Fridays, someone would make large deposits into the account throughout the weekend. They looked like sizeable amounts, but spread out enough probably not to tip the bank off to something suspicious.

A buzz on Wynonna’s cell phone started her as she saw that she had a text message from Waverly.

Waverly: BIG NEWS. We found something! Look under the van in the attached photo.

She opened up the photo attached to Waverly’s message and zoomed in. “Under the van,” she said out loud as she zoomed in. “What the hell?” Her breath caught as she saw the pair of eyes and what looked like a bound person staring at the camera from under the van.

Waverly: Possible tunnel system? Also, Nicole and I almost kissed. Kind of, almost, call me when you can. Eeeekkkk!

“What?” Wynonna yelled out loud at Waverly’s message. She chuckled and shook her head. Those two really just needed to get a room already…Wait, possible tunnel system with a tied up person being moved around. Large sums of money after every Thursday meeting with a big circle. Book full of code names and preferences…it was a client list. They were picking which type of people that they liked. Wynonna opened her photos and searched through the pictures of the purchase receipts. No mention of chloroform, a chemical once used as an inhaled anesthetic, but there was this chemical, Forane. Google quickly told her it was also known as isoflurane, also an inhaled anesthetic. “Used for knocking people out…,” Wynonna said aloud.

“Holy shit,” she yelled as she turned the SUV back on and pulled back onto the highway. “He’s selling people.” She dialed Dolls’ cell number on the cell he had given her and put it to her ear as she headed down the highway.

“Dolls,” she heard a familiar masculine voice say over the line.

“Dolls, its Wynonna Earp. Code Red.”

“What?”

“Code Blue? No…Black? No, that sounds oddly racist.”

“Earp, what are you babbling about?”

“Code emergency! I think I’ve got what you need,” Wynonna said as she sped back towards Purgatory.

Shorty’s

Waverly drummed her fingers on the bar as she stared at Champ and his friends having a beer chugging contest. Shorty’s was so dead that he had allowed anyone who had come in to do pretty much anything that they wanted which meant more of a mess for Waverly later, but at least she had customers for now. Several people were over playing pool which had been unlocked to allow free games all night as a way to keep the customers there. And now Champ was here with his friends Pete and Simon trying to see who could chug a whole pitcher of beer and then belch the loudest. It was one of the worst things she’d ever seen, but she took pity on him.

She’d come back from the sheriff department and her meeting with Nicole fully intending to break up with him. She’d even practiced the words over and over in her head as she made the walk over, but once she saw him weeping over his dog passing away, she just couldn’t bring herself to add to his misery. Instead, she just let her thoughts go to Nicole…Nicole’s eyes…her mouth…the closeness. She could still almost feel their lips grazing, Nicole’s breath on hers which smelled minty and something so very Nicole. Waverly unknowingly was touching her lips with her fingers when Champ’s voice broke her out of her daydream.

“Babe, can we get a couple more pitchers? I almost had him that time,” Champ said, slightly slurring his words.

“Sure thing,” Waverly groaned as she moved towards the taps.

“Or you know we could always, get out of here,” he said as he leaned over the bar.

“I’m still working, Champ,” Waverly replied.

“Maybe later then,” he said. “No better comfort than my girl after a tough day.” His smile suddenly disappeared and his shoulders hunched as he started getting emotional again. “Poor Pippen.”

“Oh boy,” Waverly muttered to herself as she stared at him, feeling sorry and annoyed at the same time.

“He never even saw that tractor coming.” This led to more tears as his buddies came up and offered their condolences again. This is definitely not how Waverly saw her night going. She quickly refilled the pitchers and set them on the bar. “Hey, maybe this will cheer you up, huh?” She offered Champ a small smile and squeezed his hand. “I’m sure Pippen is in a better place now.”

“Thanks, babe,” he said as he rubbed his hand over his snotty nose before wiping it on his jeans. “You’re the best.” He turned and went back to his buddies as Waverly let out a deep sigh.

“Waves!” Wynonna yelled as she entered the bar.

“Jesus, Wynonna, why are you always doing that?” Champ asked, cleaning up some of the beer he’d spilled on his shirt when Wynonna burst through the door.

“I’m excited to see my baby sister, what’s it to you?” she asked him.

“Noth-nothing,” he said, suddenly realizing maybe he shouldn’t be picking a fight with her.

“Good,” she shook her head and moved to the bar.

“Did you get my message?!?” Waverly asked excitedly, basically jumping in place behind the bar.

“Yes,” Wynonna said as she leaned across the bar, placing both hands on Waverly’s head, and gave her a big kiss on her forehead. “You’re the best!” Waverly smile seemed to take up her whole face as she beamed at her sister. “With that and what I found at the bank, I think we got him, Waves,” she whispered as she quickly told Waverly about the documents, money transfers, client book, and that Willa had stolen the cell phone and was probably onto them. “I already made a call. Did you notice anyone following you?”

“No, I don’t think so,” she replied. “And it’s been pretty dead here all day. No one’s here except Champ’s friends and a group over there with Tim.” Waverly pointed towards the pool tables.

“Tim,” Wynonna said. She had almost forgot that she had been looking for him since their paths hadn’t crossed and he seemed to have been in the city most of the week.

“I told him you were looking for him,” Waverly said. “Hope that’s okay.”

“Doesn’t really matter now,” Wynonna replied. “We know why I was in the city that day.”

“Did you figure out why you didn’t want to marry David?” Waverly asked softly.

“Oh…” Wynonna said. “Honestly, I kind of forgot.”

“Tim might still know something,” Waverly answered.

“Maybe,” Wynonna said. “I’ll be right back. Keep an eye on the door, okay? If you see anyone from the trailer park, we make a break for it.” Wynonna slowly walked over to the pool tables and saw Tim turn around and face her.

“Well hello there,” Tim said. For a moment, Wynonna got lost in those blue eyes…Doc’s eyes. But no, there was a roughness to them that wasn’t as comforting and inviting as Docs. Because this wasn’t Doc. This was Tim, a man she really didn’t even know. “Your sister says you’ve been looking for me.” Tim’s buddies said something about going to the bar for a few to get more drinks as Wynonna found herself alone with Tim, leaning up against the wall behind the pool tables.

“I need to ask you about that night we drank together a few weeks ago,” Wynonna said.

“I was wondering if we might ever have this talk,” Tim said. “Look, Wynonna, I haven’t told anyone a thing, per your request.”

“And I…appreciate that, but what I really need to know is what we talked about,” Wynonna replied.

“You don’t remember? And here I thought the Earp women could drink anyone under the table.”

“Look, I get the whole sarcastic, bad-boy attitude, but I’m kind of on a time crunch here so how about we just cut the bullshit alright?”

“Fine by me,” Tim said holding his hands up as if he was surrendering to something. “What do you want to know?”

“Why was I so upset that night when I came back from the city? What did we talk about?”

Waverly looked over to see Wynonna and Tim in a deep conversation. She reached down in her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. It had been a couple of hours since she’d come back from Nicole’s office, but no word from her. She was working and it was probably best not to disturb her right now. She slid her cell phone back in her pocket and then thought again of Nicole in the conference room, smiling to herself.

“Well well, what’s got you smiling?” said a masculine voice in front of her. She looked up and the smile faded from her face as she saw eight members of Steven’s group standing in front of her in the bar.

“Ohhh, Wynonna,” Waverly yelled over her shoulder as she backed away from the front of the bar. “Think we might have some company.”

“Oh shit,” Wynonna yelled, looking away from Tim and back towards the group of men. “Take this and do not let anyone near it,” Wynonna quickly whispered shoving her purse at Tim.

“What?” he asked, questioningly.

“Just do it,” Wynonna yelled. “And don’t get arrested. I need you to protect what’s in there.” She turned and grabbed a pool stick from the wall as she walked back towards the group. “Now…what can I do for you boys?”

“Word on the street is you’ve been stirring up trouble with the cops,” Stevey said, obviously trying to lead the band of men who had come to scare Wynonna.

“You should know we Earps don’t play with cops,” Wynonna said, hands raised. “What do you take me for?”

“That’s not what we’ve heard. And now, you need to be taught a lesson,” one of the other men said as he moved towards Wynonna. Suddenly, things were happening so fast around Waverly that she barely had time to comprehend. One of the men had pulled a knife prompting Wynonna to throw the remaining beer from Champ’s pitcher in his face before breaking her pool stick in half and swinging at the men that rushed towards her. Waverly, unsure of where the confidence had come from, rushed out from behind the bar with the small bat that Shorty kept behind the bar and started swinging at the men too.

Glasses flew all around them as tables got over turned and at one point, Waverly was thrown back onto a table which broke underneath her. Meanwhile, Tim jumped in to punch one of the men only for Wynonna to yell at him to stop and go so he doesn’t arrested too. He ducked and ran out the back as Champ and his friends attempted to intervene, but could barely hold their own as the men punched them in the face leaving them on the floor whining.

Wynonna threw a few punches and strong armed a couple of the men sending them flying to the floor.

“Whoa, where did you learn to do that?” Waverly screamed in admiration.

“We’ll talk about it later, baby girl,” Wynonna yelled back as she went to throwing punches at several of the men surrounding her. Waverly jumped up from the wreckage of the table and jumped on the back of one of Steven’s men just as a flash of red hair and blue uniforms came running through the door. The man underneath Waverly ran backwards and ran her right into one of Shorty’s poles as all of the breath was knocked out of her and she crumbled from his back and onto the floor. She leaned back against the pole as she saw Nicole, Paul, Nedley, and one of the newer recruits, Sims, start to handcuff everyone.

“Baby girl, you okay?” Wynonna asked, blood coming from her mouth and a gash on her forehead as she leaned down towards Waverly.

“I think so,” Waverly groaned. Wynonna leaned closer to her.

“We need to get arrested,” she whispered, “for our own protection. It’s safer there tonight.”

“Wait, what?” Waverly asked as Wynonna yanked her to her feet. Wynonna turned and hit one of Steven’s remaining men over the head with a beer bottle.

“Hey!” Nicole yelled at her. “What are you doing, Earp?!?”

“Vengeance,” Wynonna yelled. “You want more of that, tough guy?” she yelled as she leaned around Nicole and went towards the men. She felt Nicole’s hands grab her waist and pull her back.

“Sorry I got to do this,” Nicole said as she pulled Wynonna’s arms back and cuffed her.

“Aw why you got to be like that, Haughtstuff?” Wynonna asked, clearly putting on an act trying to cause as much commotion as possible to ensure she’d be arrested. “Waverly!” Nicole looked back at Waverly who had let out a deep breath.

“You owe me SO BIG,” she yelled as she turned one of Steven’s men and punched him in the face. “Mother of…” she yelled as she grabbed her now throbbing hand in pain. Nicole pushed Wynonna off to Sims who led her outside as she grabbed Waverly’s arm.

“What is going on?” Nicole asked as Waverly looked up at her in pain. Before Waverly could answer, Nedley’s voice rang through the bar.

“Haught, cuff that Earp too. And get the rest of this lot down to the station,” Nedley yelled, frustrated at the whole scenario occurring in front of him.

“I’m on it! Sorry, Waves,” Nicole said as she slapped handcuffs on Waverly, making sure not to make it too tight and to cuff her in the front because of her hand. She pulled her along by the elbow as she grabbed another cuffed person and lead them out of Shorty’s.

Chapter Text

Purgatory Sheriff Department

“This place stinks,” Stevey said, his voice echoing down the hall from one of the holding cells.

“How about you zip it, Stevey,” Wynonna yelled down the hall. All of Steven’s men had been put into one holding cell one room over as Waverly and Wynonna were thrown into another. “If it wasn’t for you all, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“You’re one to talk, Earp,” another of Steven’s men grumbled loudly. Waverly sat in the cell leaning against the cold wall as Nicole walked into the holding area. 

“Well, I really didn’t think I’d be arresting you two tonight,” Nicole said stiffly, glaring at both of the Earp sisters which Waverly definitely noticed. “Want to tell me what the hell’s going on?”

“They went berserk,” Stevey yelled from down the hall.

“Shut up,” both Nicole and Wynonna yelled which echoed against the cement.

“Haught,” Wynonna whispered moving close to the bars. “You need to keep us here.”

“What?” Nicole whispered back.

“Convince Nedley to make an example out of us. Don’t let Steven bail them out. I think they were following me and may know we’re on to them.”

“What did you find in the city?” Nicole whispered.

“Everything,” Wynonna whispered back. “Do you have a piece of paper?”

“Uh yeah,” Nicole went out the room for a second then walked back up to the cell.

“Hey, when do I get my phone call?” Stevey yelled from the cell.

“Zip it, Stevey,” Nicole yelled back as she heard several of Steven’s men grumble from the next room over. “Here.” She handed the notebook and a pen to Wynonna. Thankful that she had remembered it, Wynonna scribbled down Dolls’ cell number and handed it back to Nicole.

“Call Deputy Marshall Dolls. He’ll confirm everything,” Wynonna whispered back. “But make sure they can’t hear you.”

“Okay,” Nicole whispered. “You two sit tight.” Nicole glanced briefly over at Waverly who gave her an embarrassed smile as she left the room.

The Homestead

“I thought you told me that you took care of her?” Steven asked, standing in front of Willa.

“I did. I gave her the serum just like you said,” Willa replied. “And it definitely worked. The morning after I gave it to her, she couldn’t even remember who David was.”

“Then why is she still having meetings with the cops?” Steven asked. “One of my boys saw her there with Waverly earlier today.”

“I don’t know,” Willa replied. “I’ve been watching her every move and she hasn’t even seen or talked to Waverly in a couple of days.”

“They’re communicating in some other way,” Steven said, pacing the kitchen. “You hid that cell phone in the box, right?”

“Yeah a couple of weeks ago,” Willa replied.

“The redhead, that cop, what’s her name? She knows something,” Steven replied. “Took a little effort, but I got that Sims kid to break and tell me where she was spending her Thursday nights.”

“I thought you said she wasn’t on the water tower last week?”

“She wasn’t or we would’ve taken her out.”

“You need to shut things down for awhile,” Willa replied in a scared tone.

“We have that major buyer coming tomorrow,” Steven answered. “After that, we’ll shut it down.” He moved towards Willa, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Everything’s going to work out.” A ring from his cell phone caused them both to jump.

“What?” Steven yelled into the phone. He paused as he listened to the man on the other line. “They what?!?” Steven turned to Willa with a look of anger as he balled his fists. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up the phone. “Dammit.”

“What’s going on?”

“A couple of the boys jumped your sisters at Shorty’s,” Steven replied.

“What? That is not keeping a low profile.”

“You’re telling me. Stay here in case Wynonna calls you to come bail her out. I’ll take care of the boys.” He grabbed his keys and slammed the door as he raced out of the house and made his way to the sheriff’s department.

Purgatory Sheriff Department

“I can’t believe you got me into this,” Waverly said, rubbing her arms as they sat on the cold stone bench against the cell wall.

“Aw we’ve been in worse situations,” Wynonna said, nudging Waverly. “Remember that time your hand got chopped off?”

“What?!?” Waverly yelled in disbelief.

“Oh right…other life,” Wynonna said, forgetting for a moment where she was.

“I only have one hand in that reality?”

“No you were kind of…well, possessed by a tentacle demon,” Wynonna replied, knowing how ridiculous it sounded. “So it grew back.” Waverly just stared at her in disbelief. “What? I got the demon out of you and then you were fine.”

“Sounds like we had a lot of adventures in our other life,” Waverly softly said.

“That we do, baby girl,” Wynonna replied. “Or…did?” They got quiet for a moment and Waverly saw Wynonna’s hand move over her stomach, patting the area as though something was missing. She had noticed her do this several times before, but had never said anything as Wynonna looked very solemn.

“Did Tim tell you anything?” Waverly asked quietly.

“Um,” Wynonna said as she took a deep breath. She talked softly, not wanting Steven’s men in the cell over to hear her. “Yeah he did. I had another meeting before I met with Eliza.”

“What kind of meeting?”

“A doctor’s appointment,” Wynonna replied. “That’s why I was upset. The um…the doctor told me that I…” she stopped to take a deep breath as a swirl of emotions started to hit her. “I can’t have children.” Waverly looked at her in shock. “With everything about to happen with Willa and then not being able to give him kids, I felt guilty about the wedding.”

“Why did you tell Tim? About the not having children thing?” she asked softly, quietly wondering why Wynonna hadn’t confided in her that night at Uncle Curtis’.

“Because apparently, when we were dating before I left for Europe, I miscarried,” Wynonna said. Waverly looked at her in shock, her eyebrows raised and her mouth dropped open.

“You never said anything,” Waverly replied.

“Tim said I was drunk one night and had a nasty fall. When he took me to the doctor, they told me I had miscarried but I hadn’t even known I was pregnant. A fall down the stairs doesn’t help out a baby much.” Wynonna replied, wiping quickly at the tears that fell inadvertently from her eyes. “The crazy part is, I was pregnant…in our other life…and I wasn’t even happy about it.” Waverly wrapped her arms around Wynonna as the slow sobs started to consume the older woman. She laid her head down into Waverly’s lap, laying on the bench as Waverly held her close. Wynonna thought of the baby, possibly Doc’s baby, as Waverly comforted her in their cold jail cell.

**************

A short while later, Steven’s voice echoed through the sheriff’s department startling both Earp girls.

“What’s going on here?” Steven yelled as he made his way to the holding cells. “Why are these men being held?”

“I’ll ask the questions around here. You want to tell me why one of your men jumped Wynonna Earp at Shorty’s?” Nedley asked, staring Steven down. Steven took a deep breath.

“A bit too much whiskey and bravado,” Steven replied. “They made a bad decision. And now, they’re no longer men I want to associate myself with.”

“But boss…” Stevey started to say, staring up at Steven.

“Zip it,” Steven replied. “You can sit here and rot for all I care. And don’t even think about coming back to work tomorrow. You’re fired, all of you.” A large commotion filled the jail cell as Steven’s men started protesting, but he didn’t listen.

“So I take it you won’t be posting bail?” Nedley asked.

“Definitely not for them,” Steven replied as he moved towards the cell where the Earp sisters were being held. He looked at both of them as affectionately as possible. “I would like to bail them out.”

“What?” Wynonna asked, getting to her feet with Waverly standing behind her.

“My men made a big mistake causing trouble with my wife’s sisters,” Steven told Nedley. “I think it was all just a big misunderstanding. She’d be a lot happier if they were home safe tonight.”

“Well, I agree with you there, Steven, but I think these girls need to spend a night here,” Nedley said, shooting a wink at Wynonna when Steven turned his head.

“But Nedley, you old hard ass,” Wynonna protested. “You can’t hold us just because we’re nicer to look at than the usual people you’ve got locked up in here.”

“Actually, as sheriff, I can and I will,” Nedley replied. “And let this be a lesson to all of you,” he yelled so everyone in the jail could hear him. “Bar brawls have big consequences. Now, you’re all going to spend the night here and then go over to Shorty’s in the morning and fix all the damage that you’ve done. And I don’t want any complaints.”

“But Nedley…” came a commotion of voices as both the Earp sisters and all of Steven’s men tried to protest the arrangement, but Nedley just walked off, ignoring all of them. Steven glared at Wynonna and Waverly before he huffed and walked out of the holding area. Wynonna turned back to Waverly.

“Better get comfy, baby girl, it’s going to be a long, cold night,” she said. Waverly sighed, rubbing her arms as her Shorty’s shirt was definitely not enough layering for the cold cell…

**************

Waverly groaned as she stood, leaning her back against the jail cell bars with her arms folded. She had been sprawled out with Wynonna on the stone bench, but her shivering and teeth chattering kept her from sleep as the hours slowly drifted by. All of her belongings had been taken when she got there so she couldn’t even keep herself busy with her phone as the night slowly passed. She listened as the phone occasionally rang, some Purgatorian needing assistance with a lost animal or a car stuck in the snow. And the voices of the few remaining deputies on duty filled the air as they filed paperwork and answered the phone. But for the most part, the entire department was quiet.

Waverly felt jealous as she listened to the sound of Steven’s men snoring in the next cell over. How they hell can they be sleeping so well? she wondered as there had to be at least eight of them in that cell. Granted, it was a larger holding area, but there’s no way that they fit comfortably. In her cell, Wynonna was curled up on the bench, lightly snoring as well, but she kept shifting in her sleep, probably going numb from both the cold and the stiffness of the bench. Waverly rubbed her hands over her arms again, trying to chase away the goosebumps.

“Hey,” she heard a soft voice behind her. She turned to see Nicole standing in front of the cell. “Thought you might be cold,” she quietly said as she handed Waverly a couple of blankets.

“Oh my god, you are an angel,” Waverly replied, grabbing the blankets from her as Nicole chuckled. Waverly walked over and laid one over Wynonna before wrapping the other blanket around her shoulders and standing back by the bars in front of Nicole.

“It gets a little cold in here,” Nicole said.

“A little?” Waverly asked. “I think my toes are going to fall off.”

“Aw well we can’t have that,” Nicole replied which made Waverly smile. “That’s why I brought this too.” She handed her a cup of hot tea in a paper cup through the bars and both women blushed as their fingers grazed.

“Thank you, Officer,” Waverly said, cupping the warm cup with her cold hands, taking a whiff of the tea which was now warming her nose. Her eyes moved back to Nicole who was smiling at her. “Well, this is not how I pictured another night with you going.” She saw Nicole’s breath catch as she looked at the brunette in surprise, her eyes moving all over Waverly’s face, both women blushing. Waverly ducked her head and took a drink of her tea.

“You definitely wouldn’t be cold,” Nicole whispered seductively. Waverly choked on her tea and looked up to see the redhead staring at her with a smirk on her mouth. She’d seen this sultry look from Nicole before and it was definitely helping her warm up. Wynonna stirred behind them causing Waverly to turn and look at her. She mumbled in her sleep before rolling over and snuggling up with the blanket. Waverly turned back to Nicole.

“I verified everything with Deputy Marshall Dolls,” Nicole whispered, shifting the conversation away from the tension between them which Waverly was a little thankful for. “Based on all the information Wynonna gave him, they may have a warrant by tomorrow to seize the trailer park.”

“That’s good news, right?” Waverly asked as Nicole looked nervous.

“It is, but we need to keep you two safe until then,” Nicole said, placing her hands on the bars. “There’s no telling what Steven or his men might do.”

“Aw shucks, Officer, starting to like us a little?” Waverly joked, smiling up at the redhead, and placing her right hand over Nicole’s on the bars.

“Yes,” Nicole said seriously. Waverly’s smile disappeared as Nicole stared back at her with such an intense gaze that it took Waverly’s breath away. Waverly’s forehead scrunched as she looked at Nicole questioningly, but it was short-lived as she felt a shift in Nicole whose gaze suddenly turned to the floor. “Um…you should know that Champ stopped by.”

“Oh,” Waverly said, remembering her boyfriend, and removing her hand from Nicole’s. “What did he want?” Nicole’s gaze moved back to Waverly’s only there was a distance there now.

“To see if you were okay,” Nicole replied flatly, her hands moving back down to her sides. “I told him you and Wynonna would be released in the morning.”

“Thank-thanks,” Waverly replied.

“No problem,” Nicole replied almost sadly. “Get some rest.” She turned to leave but Waverly’s voice caught her.

“Nicole…” Waverly said softly. When the redhead turned back towards her and those brown eyes fell back on her face, Waverly suddenly got a little tongue-tied. She wanted to tell her to wait just a little bit longer and that they could finally have that talk that they were overdue for. THE TALK…about them. Together. That was scary, but also exciting at the same time. Them. Feeling Nicole staring at her, Waverly forced herself to come up with words. “Um, thank you. For the tea and the blanket.”

“You’re welcome, Waverly,” Nicole said, giving her a small smile as she turned and walked away.

Shorty’s 

The next morning came quickly as Wynonna, Waverly, and all of Steven’s men were led down to Shorty’s by Nedley who annoyingly had a nice night’s sleep while the rest of them froze in those holding cells. Waverly didn’t see Nicole again after she had brought her some tea and was told by Paul that she was sent home to get a few hours sleep before they went out on a big assignment. Both Wynonna and Waverly knew what that big assignment was as Nedley led them down the street, making an example of them for the entire town.

“Alright, think you’re done putting on a show yet?” Wynonna muttered to Nedley as they trudged down the street.

“You said to make an example out of you lot. That’s what’s being done, Earp,” Nedley muttered. “Move it along!” He yelled to the rest of them as they all stumbled in a line to Shorty’s. Sims followed up the rear helping nudge all of the people along. This of course got the attention of several people in town as they saw the line of rule-breakers trudging back to Shorty’s. Once inside, Waverly looked shyly up at Shorty.

“You,” Shorty yelled, pointing at Waverly. “Get over here. I want a word.”

“Hold tough,” Wynonna yelled to Waverly as she looked at Wynonna anxiously. Disappointing Shorty was definitely not something she did often, and she felt ashamed thinking about what a mess they had made of the bar. While Waverly was getting lectured by Shorty about the many reasons why she shouldn’t use Wynonna as an example to live up to, Nedley and Sims got the rest of them to work on cleaning up all the broken glass and piling the broken wood pieces into the back of Shorty’s truck out front to be hauled off to the dump.

**************

After a couple hours, they had the place looking like new as Waverly went back to work behind the bar to get setup for the day for when Shorty re-opened the bar. Nedley dismissed all of Steven’s men and warned them about causing a ruckus again. They glared at Wynonna as they made their way out of Shorty’s.

“Aw no group hug or round of Kumbaya before we all leave?” Wynonna yelled at them. “No? And here I thought we were bonding.”

“Don’t push your luck, Earp,” Nedley said. He looked to make sure all of Steven’s men were gone before he leaned in close to Wynonna and Waverly. “You two stay here and away from that trailer park for the next few hours, alright? I’ve got a deputy out front watching the doors until this all goes down.”

“Will do,” they replied.

“Thanks, Sheriff,” Waverly threw in as Nedley put his hat back on his head and headed off out the door.

“Well you two certainly know how to make a mess,” Shorty said. “You want to tell me what the hell you did to piss off Steven’s boys?”

“Sorry, Shorty,” Wynonna replied.

“Yeah we’re really sorry, Shorty,” Waverly said, apologizing for the millionth time.

“We found out something, but we can’t talk about it yet,” Wynonna said. Shorty just rolled his eyes and muttered, Earps before he went back to getting the kitchen ready to open.

“Pssst, Wynonna,” Tim said as he ducked into the bar from the back door.

“Tim,” Wynonna said moving towards him.

“Sorry to run off like that last night,” Tim replied.

“No, I asked you to,” Wynonna answered.

“Always looking out for me,” Tim said, giving her a smile. She didn’t know if she really deserved it since she couldn’t really remember her history with Tim, but she gave him a partial smile anyways. “Here’s your purse,” he said, thrusting the item at her. “No one’s touched it all night.”

“Thank you,” Wynonna said.

“Of course,” Tim said, turning to go upstairs to get freshened up. “And hey, if things don’t work out with David, you have my number.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Wynonna said, giving him a small smile as he went up the stairs. She opened up her purse and quickly pulled out the cell phone from Dolls. There were two missed calls and a voicemail. She quickly checked the voicemail, thanking that there was no passcode since she had no idea what it was. It was a short message from Dolls:

Earp, we’re good to go. Call me if you get this and want to tag along.

Tag along? He was going to let her go too? Yes, she thought as she quickly dialed his number as Waverly looked at questioningly.

“Dolls, it’s Wynonna. I’m in!” she yelled into the phone.

Chapter Text

Laird Park 

Wynonna sat in the backseat of a large black SUV, a number of DED agents in the vehicle and Dolls beside her. It felt just like old times even though she could tell the difference in this Dolls the second she had seen him. He wasn’t as rigid as he was in the other life. Married life suited him. It was hard to believe he was married though knowing Dolls’ feelings on relationships that he had voiced to her in their other life. But maybe he was a changed man. He definitely looked a bit more sure of himself and carried himself with the same confidence and arrogance that she was familiar with, but also a softness as though he now had something to live for…someone to go home to at night.

Despite Waverly’s protesting, Wynonna was excited to be included as this entire raid unfolded at Laird Park. Dolls had thrown a bullet proof vest at her and some additional tactical gear which she was now putting on in the backseat of the black SUV. Their SUV followed a large black SWAT vehicle and met up with Purgatory Sheriff’s Department deputies who were already set up along the road, ready to block off any vehicles leaving or going to Laird Park. Their plan had been to wait until night fall now that they had their warrants, but Dolls said they got tipped off and were moving in early.

“Tell me again why you’re raiding now and not waiting until dark?” Wynonna asked.

“You know a man named Stevey?” Doc responded.

“Unfortunately,” Wynonna replied.

“Apparently Steven chose the wrong guy to piss off. He snitched today to Nedley this morning. Told us Steven’s plans to impress a big client this morning. Since everyone’s already at the party, why not break it up early?”

“Good plan!” Wynonna replied.

“Stay here, Earp, out of sight until we arrest him.” Wynonna nodded as the SUV and SWAT vehicle stopped just inside Laird Park.

Everything happened in a blur as Wynonna watched the DED agents rush from the vehicles, guns drawn, setting up a formation around the building.

“Let’s move, move,” she heard Dolls yell as the agents used a battering ram to take out the front door and smoke bombs to flush the people out of the warehouse. Men poured from the building as the smoke moved all around them. The door that had been concealed by the grass in front of the warehouse was opened to reveal a series of tunnel networks that stretched underneath the warehouse and out to several of the nearby trailers. Wynonna watched as men were arrested and placed in additional DED vehicles and the Purgatory Sheriff Department’s squad cars that all pulled into the park. One by one, they were all ushered away. Several gunshots rang out as Wynonna hid in the vehicle, chaos erupting around them. A DED agent had died is all she could hear over the radio of the SUV, but they had Steven and had taken control of the warehouse.

She waited with baited breath as the smoke began clearing and news of what DED agent it was. Her heart jumped as she saw Dolls emerge from the building with a proud look on his face, and a handcuffed Steven. She jumped out of the vehicle and glared Steven down as he was put into one of the armored vehicles. Once Dolls was moving back towards her, she couldn’t help the urge and ran at him, wrapping him in a tight embrace, happy to know he was still alive.

“Um, thanks, Earp,” he awkwardly said.

“Sorry,” she said, backing away. “Good thing you’re not dead. Well you know…you are DED, but not dead dead.”

“I get it,” he said, chuckling and smiling at her. “We got him. Thanks to you. But we lost Carl.” They both watched as the dead DED agent was carefully carried to the SWAT car. Wynonna offered further condolences and then watched as a large group of women, dressed in all white with fur around their shoulders, were led from the building. Her heart dropped.

“He was selling these women?” Wynonna asked, suddenly feeling déjà vu as she looked at the women’s outfits.

“To the highest bidder,” Dolls said. He was handed some paperwork from another DED agent. “They were being transported from somewhere called Pine Barrens.”

“What?” Wynonna muttered. Pine Barrens – the same commune where Willa in their other life had spent a lot of her life after being taken from the homestead.

“These women were brainwashed at the commune and then transported here, paraded around in some sort of circle, and sold off to the highest bidder as trophy wives. They range in ages from 14 to 28.”

“Oh my god,” Wynonna said. “History really does have a way of repeating itself.” Dolls looked at her confused.

“You’ve heard of this place before?” he asked.

“Just rumors,” she said. “It’s supposed to be haunted ground, lots of tales of animals killing people. I had no idea though.”

“Well, it won’t be an issue any more,” Dolls said. “Nedley’s crew is taking the women to the sheriff’s department hoping their families will come identify them. A few of the vehicles are going out to Pine Barrens to find out if any more women are there. And we…” Wynonna looked at him questioningly as he paused.

“We’re going to find your sister,” he said. “Nedley said the beauty shop was locked tight this morning so unless she’s fled Purgatory, then she’s most likely at…”

“The Homestead,” Wynonna interrupted.

“Sure you’re up for it, Earp?” Dolls asked.

“No chance in hell I’m sitting this one out,” Wynonna replied. He smiled at her and for a moment, she felt like she was looking at her old friend again and she felt oddly at home.

The Homestead

The black SUV pulled up to the homestead and the DED agents watched as a terrified looking Willa came out onto the porch. Wynonna felt like time was moving at a snail’s speed as she emerged from the side door of the SUV and slowly walked towards the front porch, her eyes never leaving Willa’s. She instantly saw the fear on Willa’s face as it hit her why Wynonna was exiting the side door of an unmarked SUV with police lights flashing from the inside.

“Wynonna, you---you’re okay,” Willa said, stumbling over her words nervously. “I heard…about the brawl at…at Shorty’s.” Wynonna just shook her head as she stared Willa down. Wynonna saw movement on her left and saw Dolls as he walked towards Willa, holding up a warrant for her arrest.

It was as though everything was in slow motion, even his words as he said them aloud to her.

“Willa Earp…” Wynonna winced.

“You are under arrest.” Wynonna scowled.

Dolls read off a list of charges. Wynonna took in a deep breath, the air burning her lungs as she watched the emotion run over her sister’s face. Here she was, the oldest Earp, being taken from them again. No…not taken. Willfully leaving them…again. Making the wrong choice. Following the wrong man. All decisions that she had made. Guilt washed over Wynonna, but she quickly suppressed it as she realized that in this life, Willa had been raised right. She hadn’t been taken since their father hadn’t been shot. And yet she had still gone down this path out of her own choosing. She was still not going to be a part of Wynonna’s life. Well at least not for however long her sentence was and even after, it was unlikely Willa would want anything to do with them after they sold her out to DED. And somehow, in some weird way, Wynonna was finally okay with it. This was the peace she finally needed to tell her oldest sister, goodbye.

“You’re going to be sorry for this,” Willa said, glaring at Wynonna as Dolls led her towards the black SUV.

“One of those girls could’ve easily been you,” Wynonna tells her. “Did you ever think about that?” Willa just glared at her as she was put into the back of the vehicle.

“Good work, Earp,” Dolls said behind her. She shrugged as he walked up to her.

“Destroying my family, all in a day’s work,” she said.

“Hey, and how many other families did you save today? A lot. Don’t forget that.” She smiled at him. “Look, I don’t usually do this, but…” He took out his card and handed it to her. “Give me a call if you want a job. You’d be a great addition to the team. And you’d make one hell of a partner.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, clutching the card and smiling at him. He smiled as he turned and walked back towards the SUV. She walked back into the homestead and looked all around. The entire place was quiet and calm, just as it was after Willa had left them in the other life. No revenants, no men watching her over their shoulder, no anger at them because they were Earps. She had got what she had asked for. And more. It was peaceful and quiet. Wait…

Peace and quiet.

 “I wished for peace and quiet first,” she said aloud to the empty room. She flashed back to that night…

The Road

“You have a wish in your heart,” said the woman. “You just don’t want to say it out loud.”

“I want some peace and quiet,” Wynonna remarked. “Do you know how hard that is to get?”

“Yes,” the woman said with a small laugh…

Was that it? Peace and quiet. If she got that, would she finally go back to her other life. And what would become of this version of themselves? To David? To Waverly? To Tim? 

“Okay so I have the quiet,” she said to the empty room, looking all around her. “What would bring me peace? Aside from the peace about Willa.”

Buuzzzz….she looked at her phone. Text message from Waverly:

Waverly: Is it done? Are they gone? Are you alive? Please let me know something!!

Pioneer Cemetery, Glenwood Springs

Early Friday morning, the sun was beating down and the grass that wasn’t covered with snow was wet with dew. Wynonna pulled her coat tighter around her as she winced at the sun. It had been a long night with the entire town buzzing about Willa and Steven’s arrests, but Waverly’s company at the homestead had made it a little nicer. They’d even had a bonfire and started packing up all of Willa’s things to be moved somewhere other than where Wynonna could see it every day. But early this morning, she had something she wanted to do by herself. So she made the drive to Glenwood Springs.

She stepped lightly among the headstones, reading the names and finally came across the one she had been looking for:

John

Henry

Holliday

Born

Aug. 14, 1851

Died

Nov. 8, 1887

She kneeled down on the grass.

“Hey there, old friend,” Wynonna said softly. “You know, you’re quite a big deal in Glenwood Springs. And in the history books. Guess they didn’t hear about all those women you kept company with. Or maybe they don’t care…”

“We never cared. Waverly wrote down a quote from one of many books about you and Wyatt. I thought you might want to hear it, not that your ego needs it, but here it goes: ‘Doc had but three redeeming traits. One was his courage; he was afraid of nothing on Earth. The second was the one commendable principle in his code of life, sterling loyalty to friends. The third was his affection for Wyatt Earp.’ You were a good man Doc, with a great place in history. That’s all you wanted was to be immortal. Well now you are. The world will never forget your name.” She laid the flowers down on his grave and quietly wiped the tears that fell from her eyes as she said goodbye to her friend, her lover, and the best gunslinger she’d ever known.

Ward’s House

“Wynonna, are you sure about this?” Waverly said, her voice shaky as Wynonna pulled up into the driveway and shut the engine off.

“It’s time,” Wynonna said. “For both of you.” She got out of the vehicle and heard Waverly take a deep breath as she too stepped out of Wynonna’s SUV and shut the door.

Ward walked out onto the front porch, his hair disheveled and a defeated look on his face, presumably from the news over Willa and Steven. He’d called Wynonna the night before after he heard the news and kept saying how sorry he was for not raising Willa better. She told him to stop apologizing, but told him there was one thing he could do for her. And now they were here…looking up at the ragged old man that had barely looked at Waverly in the last ten years.

Wynonna grabbed Waverly’s hand and led her up the steps of the porch. She felt her baby sister tense beneath her, but she gave her a reassuring squeeze as they walked up the steps together.

“Hi daddy,” Wynonna said, but his eyes stayed fixated on Waverly.

“My god,” he said, giving Waverly a once over. “You look just like your mother.” Both girls paused and stood expressionless, wondering whether Ward was going to start yelling when he surprised them both with a big smile. “You’ve grown in to such a beautiful woman.” Waverly smiled back and was surprised when his hands found hers and she was being pulled forward into his welcoming arms. And this time, Wynonna noticed, there was no hint of alcohol on his breath.

Purgatory Sheriff Department

Wynonna walked into the sheriff department late that afternoon. After an emotional day, she was hoping for some positive news as she stopped by to see Nicole. She was pleasantly surprised to see her sitting at her desk instead of running around after all of the chaos in Purgatory over the past 24 hours. The bullpen was empty so she let herself through the swinging gate and walked up to Nicole’s desk.

“Hey there, Haughtstuff,” Wynonna said, setting a cup of coffee down in front of the worn-out looking officer.

“Aw bless you,” Nicole said glancing up before grabbing the coffee cup. Then her expression changed into concern. “Wait a minute, what can I do for you, Earp?”

“I come in peace,” Wynonna said, holding her hands up.

“No slave trades, gangs, drug mongers, or bar brawls to report? No one that you’ve pissed off in the last hour?”

“Not yet, but the night is still young,” Wynonna said producing a laugh from Nicole. “I came by to say thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome. How are you holding up?”

“It is what it is,” Wynonna replied, shrugging her shoulders. “She had to go down one way or another. Why not be betrayed by your own blood.” Nicole gave her a sympathetic smile as Wynonna shuffled awkwardly.

“Well you might be happy to know,” Nicole said as she stood up. She picked up a file, leaned against her desk, and handed it to Wynonna who stood in front of her. “We figured out who all the women were from Pine Barrens. Mostly runaways from the city, girls who had tried hitch-hiking and were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Yeah you never know what creeps you’re going to meet hitch-hiking,” Wynonna mumbled. “What about the women that have been sold?

“We’re still working on tracking down all of their information, but at least that sick monster who was running Pine Barrens is locked away. A unit came by and took him to the city earlier today.” Wynonna nodded at the news. At least he couldn’t brainwash anyone else. “Just think of all the women you saved, Wynonna. Who knows what kind of future they would’ve had if they had been sold off.”

“Helped save,” Wynonna replied. “You helped. And Waverly.”

“Waverly…” Nicole mumbled with a small chuckle.

“Yeah. Speaking of Waverly, you talked to her today?”

“Uh no, I haven’t,” Nicole replied, suddenly looking a little embarrassed as folded her arms in front of her.

“She really likes you, Nicole. And I think you like her too,” Wynonna said. Nicole’s eyes shot up to hers and looked at her in surprise. “Don’t look so surprised. Only an idiot wouldn’t notice the way you two look at each other.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nicole said, shrugging her shoulders. “She’s still with Champ.”

“Yeah but that’s…”

“What? Not a real relationship, just because he acts like a five-year-old?”

“Please, two-year-old at best,” Wynonna said, making Nicole smile and shake her head. “She almost broke up with him the other day.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t.”

“Well his dog died,” Wynonna replied, sighing. “She’s got a big heart that way which is annoying, but…well, very Waverly.”

“I know, that’s one of the things I really like about her,” Nicole said. A quiet moment passed between them. “Look, I would’ve asked her out a long time ago if I thought there was ever a chance that she’d break up with him. I think she’s just more attached to him than she realizes.”

“Just don’t give up on her yet, okay? She might surprise you.” Nicole nodded even though she looked skeptical.

“Now, where’s Nedley? God help me, I have to go thank him too.” Nicole laughed but before she could point Wynonna towards the breakroom where Nedley wandered off too, Nedley came running down the hall.

“Haught, grab your hat. We got a shooting at Shorty’s!” He quickly disappeared out the front doors.

“What?!?” Nicole said as she grabbed her coat.

“Waverly!” Wynonna said, her eyes getting big as she ran after Nedley with Nicole following closely behind.

Chapter Text

Shorty’s

Nedley, Wynonna, and Nicole rushed through the doors of Shorty’s to see that the place was full of people, mainly hollering men. Nedley and Wynonna pushed their way to the front as Nicole spotted Paul in the crowd and made her way to him to ask him what was going on. As Nedley and Wynonna reached the bar, they were surprised to see a bunch of the locals and Shorty smiling proudly and joking around.

“What the hell’s going on here? We got reports of a shooting,” Nedley said, looking around to see if anyone was injured.

“You should’ve seen her, Sheriff,” Ed replied to Nedley’s question. “She chased both of them out of here with that shotgun that’s almost as big as her.”

“Who did what now?” Wynonna yelled, frantically looking all around for Waverly, but not seeing her anywhere.

“Waverly,” Shorty said, filling her and Nedley in on what happened. “Seems Tim came home and found Champ upstairs with some girl. So Tim came down here, handed Waverly his shotgun, and told her to go show Champ how to properly treat an Earp.” Wynonna looked over towards the end of the bar where Tim is seated. She smiled at him as he raised his glass to her before wandering off towards the pool tables to mingle with his friends.

“And by golly she did just that!” Ed exclaimed. “We heard her yelling all the way down here. She fired a shot at the pair, called that girl a skank, something about a coma, and then boom. She fired again. And you could barely count the seconds it took for Champ and that topless girl to shoot out of here with their tails between their legs.”

“So no one was hurt?” Nedley asked, still playing the sheriff.

“Not a scratch on ‘em, Sheriff, except maybe that boy’s ego,” Bruno replied from the other side of Ed.

“Well he better not ever try to come back in here or he will get more than a scratch,” Shorty replied.

“Pretty sure Waverly would put a hole in him long before you even had a chance to get near him,” Bruno said. “She’s a firecracker that one.”

“She sure is,” Wynonna said, smiling proudly. Wynonna turned to see where Nicole had gone and whether she had heard the story when the doors to the kitchen opened and everyone in the bar started hollering.

“HEY! HEY!”

“THERE SHE IS!”

“WAVERLY!”

Waverly stopped in place and turned bright red at all of the people cheering for her in the bar. She walked up to the bar, a big smile on her face as a bunch of people offered to buy her a drink and to celebrate. Shorty wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze before he started pouring beers for all the men waiting in line by the bar. The place was packed.

“Well it’s about damn time you got rid of that boy-man,” Wynonna said, leaning over the bar towards her sister. “Round of shots.”

“I’m working, and in case you hadn’t noticed, we’re packed,” Waverly said, lining up shot glasses and starting to fill drink orders that Shorty was yelling to her.

“Well then round of shots for me,” Wynonna said. Waverly smiled and lined up a couple shots for her sister on the bar. Wynonna pounded one back as Nedley talked to Waverly.

“Waverly, now I know what that boy did was wrong, but how about no shotgun next time, huh?” Nedley said as he looked at Waverly.

“I’ll try, Sheriff, but no promises,” Waverly replied.

“I’m starting to think Wynonna has become a bad influence on you,” Nedley said.

“Most definitely,” Waverly replied, smiling at her sister before looking back at Nedley.

“Earps,” Nedley muttered before he tipped his hat and moved off to the left to weave his way out of the crowd. Waverly watched him go before her eyes shifted back in front of her and she caught sight of Nicole. Waverly felt as though her heart had stopped with the way Nicole was looking at her. There it was – that same sultry look, but this time, there was no filter as Nicole stared at her with nothing less than pure lust, an unabashed desire in her eyes. There was a slight, proud smile on her face which took Waverly’s breath away. She felt the smile fade from her own face as her heart began racing and chills ran down her spine. Haught damn, Waverly thought.

Nicole took a step towards the bar, but was stopped by Nedley who Waverly heard say something about manning the phones at the station while Nedley took a few witness statements for the paperwork. Nicole nodded and looked back at Waverly, shrugging and pointing towards the door. She saw Nicole flash one more smile at her as she moved towards the door and slipped out of the bar.

 “To the Earp sisters, conquering the world one asshole at a time,” Wynonna said, picking up another shot. Waverly chuckled, grabbed her water glass, and clinked it with her sister’s shot glass.

“Here here,” Waverly replied.

Wynonna leaned in a little closer to her so no one could hear her but Waverly. “Pretty sure Haughtstuff couldn’t take her eyes off of you after she heard the news.” Waverly lit up, a blush creeping over her cheeks as she thought of Nicole.

“Hey Waves, how about a round down here?” Ed yelled towards the girl from the end of the bar.

“I’m on it,” Waverly said as she filled up a pitcher and suddenly felt very free. It was a good night and maybe a chance for a new beginning. Talking to Nicole would have to wait though as the crowd was getting bigger and Shorty kept yelling drink orders at her, but soon enough, they would have that talk, Waverly was sure of it.

The Homestead

After several hours at Shorty’s, Wynonna caught a ride home from Gus and Curtis who had wandered down to Shorty’s to check on Waverly after hearing she’d been involved in a shooting. Wynonna stumbled out of the truck, feeling the effects of the numerous shots even though Waverly had forced her to only drink water for the past hour. She thanked Gus and Curtis before walking towards the homestead. She instantly noticed David’s car in the driveway and a light on inside. Once she got near the front porch, David came out to greet her.

“Hey you,” David said, walking out of the front door which he closed behind him.

“Hey there,” Wynonna said, giving him a courteous smile. Things were still awkward between them since she couldn’t remember anything about him, but there was also a sort of trust that had been built. He was a very warm, friendly, and comforting man which Wynonna had recognized right away. And something about his presence made her trust him completely. He took a seat on the front porch steps and motioned for her to come sit next to him.

“Is your baby sister okay?”

“She’s better than okay,” Wynonna replied, taking a seat next to David. “Thank you for staying in the city until all of this was done with Willa and Steven.”

“Well, I wish I could’ve been here, but it sounds like it was something you needed to do on your own,” David replied.

“It was,” Wynonna answered.

“I can’t believe they’re gone,” David replied.

“You and me both,” Wynonna answered.

“How’s the memory coming along?” David asked gently. He was looking for a hint that she remembered him, but when she looked at him with a guilty face, he got his answer.

“Nothing,” Wynonna replied. “But I did find out something.” She proceeded to tell him about her conversation with Tim and how she had found out from the doctor that she was barren and that was part of the reason for her distance. She watched his expression change from worry to sadness to hope as he took her hand in his. He had always wanted children, but reassured her that there were always other options if they ever chose to go down that path, if she still wanted to marry him one day.

“I know I can’t remember a lot of who you are, but there is…something here,” Wynonna replied. “You don’t annoy me to the point where I want to punch you in the face every time I see you which is saying something.”

“That is something,” David replied with a chuckle. “I’m not going anywhere, Wynonna.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Oh, I almost forgot. I picked up something for you.”

“Is it a pony? Ooohh a motorcycle?” she asked jokingly.

“Better,” he said as he pulled out a long jewelry box and handed it to her. She slowly opened the box and her breath caught. “You uh…you lost yours when we were in Greece. I had some trouble tracking it down, but finally found one on Etsy.” She slowly pulled the gold-chained necklace out of the box and ran her fingers over it. The key with the same letters on it, the purple and white beads, and the small tassel. It was the same necklace she wore every day in her “other life.”

“It’s perfect,” she said, putting the necklace around her neck and smiling up at him. She wasn’t sure how long this moment would last and whether she would ever see the sorceress again and be returned to her “other life” so tonight, she decided to just enjoy David’s presence, even if it was only for a little while.

Saturday morning

Shorty’s

Nicole let out at a big yawn as she stopped the cruiser just outside the bar. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the past two days and after pulling another all-nighter at the sheriff’s department, she was in desperate need of some rest. Somehow, the people of Purgatory had managed to keep her and the rest of the deputies busy all night with mundane tasks like a stop sign being knocked over, a dispute after a couple people had too many of Marshall’s beers and were pushing each other in the street, missing animals, fears about Steven returning and taking vengeance on the town. The list was endless.

After Nedley shooed her from Shorty’s telling her to go man the phones at the station, she was hoping things would be slow so she’d have time to text Waverly. But by the time things had finally slowed down, it was well past two in the morning which was much too late to just drop in at the bar and probably too late to text the brunette, especially since she heard Shorty’s had stayed packed for quite a while after news spread that Waverly had finally kicked Champ to the curb.

That’s why the deputy was now parked out front of the bar, surprised to see Waverly’s jeep parked out front and the door slightly ajar. The bar wasn’t open quite this early on Saturday mornings, especially if it was open late. She moved closer to the bar door and heard the faint sound of music and Waverly singing. When she poked her head in, she saw Waverly in a white, sleeveless shirt and very tight shorts, the top half of her hair pulled back, wiping off the bar. She looked like a happy woman without a care in the world as she bobbed to the music and bounced around, clearing glasses. Nicole leaned against the doorframe and just admired the sight for a minute, her stetson in her hands. Damn, she thought as she watched the youngest Earp twirl around.

Waverly wiped off another section of the bar before she moved to the beer taps which were greasy and sudsy after the busy night before. After a moment, a jet of beer shot out of the tap, soaking the front of Waverly’s shirt as she let out a quick “ahh” and scrambled to shut it off. “Jeez” she let out as she finally got the damn thing to turn off. “Ugh, perfect…” she muttered as she looked down at her soaked shirt.

“I didn’t know Shorty’s had wet t-shirt competitions,” Nicole said from the doorway, slightly startling Waverly with her presence. “You okay?” Nicole moved closer to the bar. Waverly smiled and moved to grab a towel.

“Yeah I’m uh just a bit jumpy. Had a…crazy night,” she said as she dabbed the towel against her shirt, trying to soak up some of the liquid.

“Sorry I couldn’t stay to see it,” Nicole said, setting her stetson on the bar and taking a seat. “Apparently it was quite a lucky night.” Nicole lifted up a stack of napkins with phone numbers all over them. Waverly smiled and shook her head.

“Every eligible guy in town decided last night was apparently the perfect night to give me their phone number and…to trash the place a bit. Told Shorty I’d come in and clean up some before we opened since I’m the cause of this place being such a mess for the second time this week.”

“Well, Waverly Earp being single is big news around here,” Nicole teased, a big smile on her face. “How many did you get?” She started counting the napkins.

“12, unfortunately,” Waverly replied, setting the wet towel down on the bar and grabbing another one, trying to soak up more liquid. Nicole couldn’t help but notice her shirt shift as Waverly dabbed at it, the slight hint of cleavage showing more and more as Waverly tried to get dry. Nicole’s face reddened when Waverly caught her eyes lingering on her chest.

“Ohhh you got me beat. I only got 2 after my break up,” Nicole said, setting the napkins back down on the bar. “And one of them was from Mrs. Kowalski telling me I can call anytime and come keep her and her cat company if I get lonely.” Waverly laughed.

“Well considering the quotient of eligible women in this town is much lower than men, I’d say you still win, Officer,” Waverly joked, a big smile on her face. Waverly felt her face flush as she made eye contact with Nicole. It definitely was not warm in Shorty’s, particularly with her shirt all wet. Goosebumps ran up her arms forcing her to break the lingering eye contact. “God I’m sopping wet.” Nicole chuckled as Waverly squirmed. “You know, I keep telling Shorty he needs to fix the darn taps. Sorry, do you mind just…” Waverly motioned for Nicole to cover her eyes.

“Oh,” Nicole smiled and turned around in her seat as Waverly attempted to remove the wet shirt. She heard a slight tear followed by…

“Oh, oh crap. Ummm, Officer, I’m stuck so…” Nicole turned to see Waverly’s shirt half way off with her arms above her head, the shirt apparently stuck on her hair. 

“Oh jeez, let me help you,” Nicole said, slightly laughing as she quickly moved behind the bar to rescue her. “I gotchya.”

“Oh god,” Waverly said, laughing at herself, as Nicole helped remove the garment. “Good job you’re the only one in here or this would be really, really awkward.” After she said it, Nicole looked surprised but had the largest smile on her face as she handed Waverly her shirt.

“Being topless in front of me isn’t awkward?” Nicole asked, mostly amused at the conversation, staring inquisitively at Waverly. She never imagined it would be so easy to get Waverly out of her shirt, but here they were. Waverly looked like a deer in headlights as she tripped over her words.

“Uhh….well…” her gaze shifted to the floor before she looked up at Nicole again who was still smiling, her dimples on full display as she waited for Waverly’s response. “Umm, I…” Waverly looked around suddenly realizing she was very topless and also very cold, “did not plan this out well. Bbbbrrr.” She rubbed her cold arms.

“I got you,” Nicole said. Waverly watched as Nicole unclipped her radio from her shoulder strap and pulled off her jacket, opening it up for Waverly to put her arms in. “It’s not the cleanest since I just got off an overnight shift, but definitely warmer than the alternative.”

“Hey thanks,” Waverly said, a smile crossing her face as she spun into the jacket. Nicole helped her zip it up as Waverly pulled her hair out from under it and let it flow back over her shoulders. “Mmm, so warm. And it smells like you.” She nestled into the jacket before looking up at Nicole who was smiling, but reddening. “I uh…I owe you one.”

“Well, what did you have in mind?” Nicole teased. Waverly seemed taken aback for a moment but then began contemplating something as she looked up at Nicole. Her smile slightly turned more serious as Nicole watched her move closer. Nicole was still. She felt Waverly reach up on her tip toes and press soft lips to her right cheek. She involuntarily held her breath as she felt Waverly’s warmth against her. And all too quickly, Waverly stepped back and looked up at her, a softness in her eyes. “Better?” She quietly asked, waiting to see Nicole’s reactions. Nicole let out the breath that she had been holding and smiled. Let’s see how far I can push this, she thought.

“I don’t know,” she joked with a slight shake to her head. “It’s pretty cold out there and now…I don’t have a jacket.” It was a challenge. A playful challenge, but still a challenge for Waverly to make another move. Nicole was trying to figure out how far this could go, how brave the girl could be when prompted. After all, Wynonna had said not to give up on her. What would the brunette’s response be if she pushed her? Waverly nervously laughed, pressing her lips tight together, again looking as though she was contemplating something.

Nicole saw Waverly’s eyes move to her mouth, then back to her eyes. Waverly gulped and then slowly moved towards her, her left hand moving up to gently rest on Nicole’s shoulder as she pressed her lips against Nicole’s. The kiss was soft and light, but enough to make Nicole’s head spin. She felt Waverly start to pull back ending the kiss, but she wasn’t ready for it to end. Her hands came up to the small of Waverly’s back and she pulled the girl back towards her, causing their lips to crash together, taking Waverly by surprise. Waverly let out a small moan as Nicole deepened their kiss. She felt Waverly’s mouth open wider, her hands moving into Nicole’s hair, pulling her impossibly closer. Their desire for one another becoming obvious as their lips continued their battle.

Nicole couldn’t contain herself anymore, reaching down and lifting the woman up. Waverly’s legs instinctively wrapped around her stomach as Nicole walked them the couple of steps to the bar, setting the brunette on top of it. Waverly’s legs stayed wrapped around Nicole’s torso as Nicole’s hands roamed up into her hair and down her back, their lips never parting. She felt Nicole’s hands run underneath the jacket, her fingertips gripping the brunette’s back, their bodies pressed firmly together. Waverly’s tongue brushed against Nicole’s bottom lip causing Nicole to moan which sent chills down Waverly’s spine.

Nicole pulled away briefly for oxygen, but Waverly wasn’t ready to end their kisses yet and grabbed the top of her uniform shirt, pulling the redhead eagerly back towards her, connecting their lips again. Waverly had been thinking about this moment for a long time, dreaming about it, and yet the reality was even better than anything she could’ve imagined. Nicole’s soft hands seemed to move all over her as Waverly’s hands stayed at her neck, making sure their lips stayed together. Both women were panting when they finally broke apart, pressing their foreheads together. Waverly felt Nicole’s left hand run along her leg which was still wrapped around the redhead’s torso and it sent a fire through the brunette. They both took a moment to calm their breathing as Waverly’s hands moved to rubbing Nicole’s shoulders.

 “Guess I won’t be needing that jacket after all,” Nicole whispered. Waverly smiled and looked up at Nicole.

“It’s strange how comfortable this feels,” Waverly said.

“Yeah,” Nicole whispered, a big smile on her face. “Why did we wait so long?”

“I have no idea,” Waverly replied. She felt Nicole’s hands slowly unlace her legs from around her torso as she let out a small whimper. Nicole chuckled.

“If we’re…doing this,” Nicole said softly. “I want to do it right.” She placed a chaste kiss against Waverly’s forehead.

“What does that mean, Nicole?” Waverly whispered, softly running her fingertips along Nicole’s collarbone, exposed from those top two buttons being undone which was a usual occurrence with the redhead.

Nicole’s breath caught at the mention of her name again and the stroke of Waverly’s fingertips. “Would you…” She hesitated.

“What?” Waverly quietly asked, returning her hands to Nicole’s shoulders and looking up into the redhead’s eyes.

“Have dinner with me tonight?” Nicole asked, her eyes soft as she licked her now dry lips. She was nervous, but hopeful and wanted more than just a make-out session with Waverly.

“Yeah,” Waverly said, nodding.

“Yeah?” Nicole replied, smiling so big that her dimples stood out against her cheeks. Waverly nodded again, smiling at the look of glee in Nicole’s eyes. Waverly touched their noses together and heard Nicole sigh.

“In the meantime, why don’t I get you a cup of coffee while I clean up the bar? It’s the least I can do after you rescued me…twice.”

“I’d like that,” Nicole replied. She felt Waverly squeeze her arms, a subtle way of showing Nicole she wasn’t ready to break the contact, but did have to clean the place up for Shorty before they opened for the day in a couple hours. Nicole helped her off the bar and walked back over to her seat, watching Waverly grab a cup and pour some already made coffee which she must’ve brewed before Nicole got there. Waverly set the cup down in front of her and smiled as their fingers touched before playfully intertwining. “Hey how did you even know I was here?” Waverly gave Nicole’s fingers a squeeze before slowly moving away, picking up a dry towel and getting back to work.

“Oh I saw your jeep out front and the door was open,” Nicole said, taking a sip of her coffee. “I came in to make sure everything was okay after last night.”

“Lucky me,” Waverly said. She smiled again at Nicole before clearing away more dishes. “Soooo…tell me more about your new love affair with Mrs. Kowalski.” Waverly joked causing Nicole to smile while she sipped her coffee.

“Well…” Nicole started.

Unknowingly to both women, a pair of eyes had been watching them from the outside. Wynonna smiled as she leaned back against the door. She had come by to talk to Waverly, realizing that the last thing that would bring her peace in this “new life” would be seeing Waverly pursue her relationship with Nicole. But after not finding her at Curtis’, she wandered by the bar and was pleasantly surprised to see that fate had already brought the brunette and redhead together. She didn’t want to interrupt the pair as they shared an intimate moment so she quietly snuck back out of the door.

She turned around to see the sorceress standing on the sidewalk in front of her.

“You again,” Wynonna said. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a pain in the ass?”

“Yes,” the sorceress replied. “But I merely gave you what you asked for.”

“In a very roundabout, asshole kind of way, I guess,” Wynonna replied. “This isn’t exactly how I thought things would be.” As she said the last words, her hands rubbed over her stomach again.

“They never are, dear,” the sorceress replied.

“So what, are you going to ‘Wizard of Oz’ my ass, tell me to chant ‘there’s no place like home’, and three clicks later, I’ll be back in revenant-infested Purgatory?”

“Not exactly,” the sorceress replied. “Now, you get to make a choice.”

“A choice?”

“You get to decide if you want to stay here in this version of reality or return to your former life,” the sorceress replied. “If you stay here, all of your memories of that previous life will be replaced with your memories from this version.”

“I can stay?” Wynonna asked. The sorceress nodded. If she stay here in this life, she would still have Waverly as well as her father, Shorty, and Curtis who had all passed before; a life without revenants, perhaps a new job with Dolls, a future with David, and part ownership of a beauty supply shop she really wasn’t sure what she was going to do with. But…that meant no Doc, no Jeremy who she was starting to like, no possible future beyond friendship with Dolls, no baby, no heir, no peacemaker…a changed future. Not just for her, but for all the Earp women. If there was no curse here, there would never be a curse. They would be free to live their lives how they chose.

“I…” Wynonna said, as she contemplated all of her options.

“It is a big decision,” the sorceress replied. “But unfortunately, one that you have to make now.” Wynonna took a deep breath. It may seem selfish, but she had to do it.

“I’ve made up my mind,” she replied. “As good as my life is here, I have to know what she looks like.” Wynonna rubbed a hand over her belly. She wasn’t sure the sex of the baby, but she still had to know. Maybe she’d forget the memory of carrying the baby in her belly, but it would be her biggest regret if any sliver of the memory remained. She looked up at the sorceress. “I’m ready to go home.”

“As you wish,” the sorceress said, placing her pendant in Wynonna’s hands as the world went dark yet again...

The Homestead

Wynonna looked around her. She was back in the barn, the sorceress’ pendant in her hand and peacemaker sitting next to her. She looked down and smiled. The baby made a small movement in her belly which sent a happiness through her that was indescribable. She slowly walked out the door of the barn, closing it behind her, and walked back towards the homestead.

When she walked back into the homestead, she paused in the doorway of the kitchen at the sight of Waverly and Nicole. Soft music echoed through the kitchen as Nicole washed dishes and Waverly sat on the counter with a glass of wine in hand. Waverly was laughing with a smile that seemed to take up her whole face. She watched as Nicole moved towards Waverly and sneakily rubbed a couple of bubbles on her nose before a shocked Waverly grabbed her face and kissed her, rubbing the bubbles all over Nicole afterwards. Judging by the streaks of bubbles on her shirt, this was probably not the first time that night that a bubble war had started between the pair. They giggled as Nicole went back to washing the dishes. Waverly looked up when she noticed Wynonna.

“Hey you,” she said at her sister. “We were getting worried about you.” Nicole turned and smiled at Wynonna. “Is everything okay out there?”

“Just dandy,” Wynonna replied. “The door of the bar just came open.”

“We left you a plate,” Nicole said, motioning towards the plate on the table, “if you’re hungry.” Wynonna smiled at the pair.

“It’s good to be home,” Wynonna said as she took a seat at the table and rubbed her hand over her stomach.

“Oh man, my shirt is all wet from these bubbles,” Waverly said, looking at the streaks of water down the front of her shirt.

“Aw baby, you could just…” Nicole started to say, but Wynonna cut her off.

“Please, do not take your shirt off,” Wynonna replied. “I don’t need a repeat show of you two in Shorty’s.” She meant to mumble it to herself, but both Waverly and Nicole overheard her.

“Wait, how did you know that story?” Waverly asked as she jumped down from the counter and walked towards the table. “I don’t remember telling you about that.”

“What story?”

“How I got your sister out of her shirt within five minutes of meeting her,” Nicole said, teasing the brunette.

“Hey, the stupid tap exploded,” Waverly remarked. “It had nothing to do with your charm.”

“Mmm hmm,” Nicole replied as Waverly poked the redhead in the side before clearing more items from the table. Waverly was taken aback as she watched Wynonna stand up, move towards her, and wrap her up in a big hug.

“I hope you two always stay cute and disgusting,” Wynonna said sincerely.

“Ummm, thanks,” Waverly replied, not sure if she should be flattered by that comment.

“I love you, baby girl,” Wynonna said.

“I love you too, Wynonna,” Waverly said as she hugged her sister back. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Hormones,” Wynonna yelled, breaking the hug as Nicole and Waverly both looked at her skeptically. “What? I can still put you both down with Peacemaker. And don’t you ever forget it.” She grabbed her keys, and stormed out of the room as a surprised Waverly and Nicole looked at her.

“Where are you going?” Waverly yelled after her.

“Got to talk to Doc,” Wynonna replied. “Don’t worry and don’t wait up.” Wynonna closed the door to the homestead behind her as she headed back out into the night.

“Cute and disgusting, huh?” Nicole asked as she wrapped an arm around Waverly’s waist. “I think we can do that,” she whispered, catching Waverly’s mouth with her own, moaning as their kiss deepened. She lifted the brunette up, Waverly’s legs wrapping around her waist as she carried her out of the room.

THE END