32. Chapter Thirty-Two

“Earp!”

Nicole kicked Wynonna’s booted foot that was hanging off the side of the couch, trying to wake her.

Wynonna stirred just a bit, one blue eye opening and looking over the redhead before closing again. “Go away.”

“Come on,” Nicole kicked her boot again, harder this time. “We’re going for a ride, Waverly is already waiting in the truck with donuts and there may even be whiskey in this thermos but don’t tell Waverly that.”

This time both blue eyes shot open as Wynonna pushed herself up into a sitting position, grabbing for the thermos and ignoring Nicole’s smirk as her gaze moved from Nicole to the old grandfather clock in the corner of the living room. “It’s four in the morning, where in the hell do we need to go Haught?”

“Just trust me,” Nicole said holding her hand out for Wynonna, who just quirked an eyebrow at her. “Or just trust that Waverly trusts me.”

She knew that getting Wynonna to come with her before the crack of dawn with little to no explanation would be difficult but, that wasn’t going to stop her from trying.

Waverly had offered to do it herself but Nicole sent her on her way to the truck with the box of donuts and a thermos of her own, minus the whiskey.

The night before, her and Waverly had been laying in her bed together, her holding Waverly as she cried. When Waverly tears finally stopped and her breathing was no longer shaky, her fingers no longer had a death grip on Nicole’s side, she had sat up, looking down at Nicole and asked if Nicole would take her to see the sun rise.

It was a simple request, one that Nicole was all too happy to fulfill.

It was her idea to bring Wynonna along, even though it meant getting up earlier and driving all the way out to the homestead. But, she figured it’d be worth it, figured Wynonna could use one beautiful, peaceful moment, where the world wasn’t so terrible.

“Fine,” Wynonna huffed, taking Nicole’s outstretched hand and allowing the redhead to pull her up off the couch.

Nicole picked up Wynonna’s buntline special from beside the couch, turning the beautiful piece over in her hand. She released the cylinder, giving it a spin and with a flick of her wrist brought the cylinder back into place. “45, that’s a pretty powerful round.”

“You have no idea,” Wynonna said, holding her hand out for the pistol.

The comment confused Nicole but she didn’t push, didn’t ask her what she meant. They weren’t there yet. She was just starting to get Wynonna to trust her (at least, she hopes), and she knew that pushing her now, on something simple would ruin that.

Wynonna reminded her of a scared animal that had been abused and neglected one too many times. You had to handle them with the utmost care, had to be gentle and patient.

Nicole tossed the gun over lightly, watching with an amused smile as the Earp fumbled with it, trying in vain to grasp it firmly and keep it from tumbling to the hardwood floor.

“Not very good with guns, are you?” Nicole asked, scooping the gun up off the ground and handing it to Wynonna.

“Don’t care for guns much,” Wynonna said with a shrug of her shoulders as they made their way out of the homestead and down the porch steps.

Who could blame Wynonna for not liking guns? After accidentally shooting and killing her father while trying to save him and Willa. If Nicole had been in her shoes, done what she had done then she’d never want to touch another gun ever again.

“Understandable after everything you’ve been through,” Nicole told her, walking with Wynonna to the passenger side of her truck.

Wynonna looked over at her with narrowed blue eyes. “How do you know what I’ve been through? Waverly?”

“People in this town talk Earp, it’s kinda hard not to listen.”

Unsure if Wynonna would be upset or angry that Waverly had told about the night the homestead was attacked, the night Wynonna shot their father, Nicole lied, not wanting to cause problems for the reunited sisters.

She felt bad for lying to Wynonna, knew that it was no way to gain her trust but, technically it wasn’t a lie. People in this town did talk, especially about the Earps and it was hard to ignore every word whispered about the Earps.

Wynonna nodded, seeming to accept Nicole’s lie as Nicole opened the passenger door for her. Once Wynonna was situated in the truck, Nicole slammed the door, jogging around the front of the truck to the driver side and getting in.

“So, where are we going?” Wynonna asked as Nicole put the truck in reverse and backed out enough to turn the truck around and head down the long, dirt driveway, looking over at her sister.

“To watch the sunrise,” Waverly answered, handing over the box of powdered and sprinkled donuts as she lays her head on Wynonna’s shoulder. Her face is blotchy from crying and her voice cracks just the littlest bit at the end.

Wynonna doesn’t seem to notice but Nicole does and she removed her right hand from the steering wheel, searching the dark cab for Waverly’s hand. When her fingers interlocked with Waverly’s, she squeezed softly, hoping to bring Waverly the tiniest bit of comfort.

Waverly was taking Shorty’s death just as hard at Curtis’. Which wasn’t that surprising to Nicole. Shorty had been every bit the father to Waverly that Curtis had been.

Nicole was doing her best to help Waverly through her grief as well as working through her own. Things weren’t one sided though. Waverly was right along side of her, helping her with her grief over losing a man she considered a friend as well.

Their relationship was equal parts give and take on both sides in a way that Nicole wasn’t used to. Every other relationship she’s ever been in she was always the one to give, always was the one to put every single piece of herself into it while the women she dated just took from her.

It was refreshing and not the least bit of a surprise. Waverly was the most kind, most selfless person Nicole had ever met, so of course she would be that way in a relationship.

“You woke me up to watch the sunrise?” Wynonna looked over Waverly’s head at Nicole, who just shrugged in response.

“What’s wrong Earp? Don’t like sunrises?” Nicole asked, pulling the truck onto the main road and heading away from town. “Purgatory has some the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets I’ve ever seen.”

After watching their first sunrise together, Waverly and Nicole had taken to watching the sunrise together whenever they got the chance.

Sometimes they would drive out of town to a hilltop overlooking a small valley that Eric recommended. Sometimes they would watch from the steps of Nicole’s apartment building, holding hands under a blanket draped over their laps.

“You haven’t seen much of the world, have ya Haught?” Wynonna asked around a mouthful of donut, washing it down with a sip from her thermos. “Greece has beautiful sunrises, you should visit it one day.”

“Maybe I will one day, with the right person,” Nicole squeezed Waverly’s hand, smiling over at her in dark cab before turning her attention back to the road ahead.

“Why exactly are we out here to watch the sunrise?” Wynonna questioned, legs swinging back and forth on the tailgate of Nicole’s truck, looking out over the almost flat hilltop Nicole had driven them to.

The sun was just beginning to rise, the midnight blue sky giving away to a lighter shade of blue as a mixture of pink and orange rays streaked across the sky as the orange orb inched it’s way across the sky slowly.

Wynonna had to admit that it was beautiful and that she found herself more relaxed than she usually was.

“I didn’t have the best childhood growing up, my father, he uh,” Nicole wet her lips, looking away from the sky and down at her hands, using her thumb to spin the ring she wears on her right hand, while her left hand clenched into a fist, blunt nails digging it her palm.

Talking about her father never got easier. Her anger, her hatred, her pain still burned underneath the surface, bright and scorching. Sometimes her hatred for that man stole the breath from her lungs. Sometimes it was blinding.

She wanted to let go of her anger, move on from it. She wanted to be able to think about her childhood, talk about her childhood and not clench her fists, without digging her nails into her palms so hard she leaves crescent shapes in them.

“He was a shitty father, an awful person to me and the mornings after really horrible days after days my father did nothing but put me down,” Nicole stopped there, clearing her throat and taking a sip of her coffee as Waverly’s hand find it’s way to hers.

Nicole allowed Waverly’s touch to ground her, to keep her in this moment, to keep from losing herself in the memories of her father.

“My grandma would wake me up before the sunrise and we'd go out onto the porch, sit in old rocking chairs and watch the sunrise together, she’d take my hand and tell me that the sun always rises, that a new day would break and bring with it hope and change and new beginnings, the sun would always rise and things would be beautiful and peaceful and just for a moment the world wasn’t such a terrible place.”

“So this,” Wynonna waved her hand around. “Is what?”

“A reminder that the world isn’t always so terrible, that it can still be beautiful and peaceful even if just for a few moments,” Waverly said softly, gaze locked on the sky before them. “I figured after yesterday we could use the reminder.”

Wynonna nodded in understanding. After yesterday, after Dolls being okay with Shorty being ‘collateral damage’ in their war against the Revenants, well she could use some beautiful, some peace. Though she doubted that she would ever find peace.

She has fucked up a lot in her life, made a lot of mistakes, hurt the people she loves countless number of times and usually she can drown that in a bottle of cheap whiskey but this? Letting good, innocent people die just for Dolls to see what the Revenants are capable of, she wasn’t sure all the whiskey in the world could drown that guilt.

“To fucked up childhoods,” Wynonna raised her thermos, suddenly thankful for the whiskey Nicole slipped in it. “And the coping skills they taught us.”

“To Shorty.” Nicole lifted her thermos as well.

Waverly looked between her sister and Nicole. Despite her grief over losing Shorty, despite the way her heart ached at the almost constant pain shining in Wynonna’s blue eyes, she felt this sense of belonging, sense of home.

Despite all the horrible things that had happened in the past few weeks, Waverly felt this sense of rightness sitting in between her sister and her girlfriend. She felt like the pieces in her life had finally fell into place.

“To family, the one you’re born into and the one you choose.” Waverly tapped her thermos against theirs lightly.

“Here, here.”

Waverly was wiping down the bar after a regular accidentally knocked over their pitcher of beer  when Chrissy walked into the saloon, beelining straight for Waverly.

“Hey,” Waverly greeted her friend, pulling a glass from the under the bar and filling it with soda before sliding it across the bar to the blonde. “Lunch break?” 

It wasn’t often that Chrissy came into Shorty’s for lunch. She worked for one of the few judges in Purgatory and was often too busy to take lunch anywhere other than at her desk.

Chrissy nodded, setting her elbows on the bar and leaning towards Waverly. “I was hoping we could grab a bite and talk, if you can get away from a few minutes.”

Waverly looked around the saloon, making sure that the few people who were in at the moment didn’t need anything before nodding her head yes at Chrissy. “Just let me tell Gus I’m taking my break, the usual?.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Just have a seat anywhere, I’ll be back in a few,” Waverly told her moving around the bar and heading for Gus’ office.

Chrissy grabbed her drink off the bar and made her way to a booth far from the other patrons in the saloon.

What she wanted to talk to Waverly about she didn’t want anyone else hearing. Not for her sake but for Waverly’s.

After Shorty’s death, Chrissy wanted to not only make sure Waverly was okay but to also make sure that losing Shorty wouldn’t keep her from telling Nicole how she really felt.

She knew Waverly well enough to know that this, that losing another person she loved would only add to her fear of Nicole getting hurt because of her, of losing Nicole.

That fear was valid, was understandable and Chrissy just wanted to help Waverly work through it. She wanted to help Waverly get the love, the peace, the happiness she deserved.

She knew that Nicole could give Waverly those things, if only Waverly would give her a chance, if Waverly would put her fears aside or at the very least share them with Nicole.

Nicole loved Waverly, it was clear to anyone who saw the way Nicole looked at Waverly, saw the way Nicole lit up whenever Waverly was near. It was clear in the way Nicole put Waverly and her needs, her feelings before anything else.

Chrissy may not have known for sure how deep Nicole’s love for Waverly ran but, if she had to guess, she would say that Nicole’s love for Waverly was a once in a lifetime kind of love, the kind of love little girls dreamed about having one day.

“Hey,” Waverly said, placing her own glass of soda down on the table before sliding into the seat across from Chrissy. “Food should be out soon, I put a rush on it so you can get back to work in plenty of time.”

“Don’t worry,” Chrissy waved her off. “I took the hour.”

“You took the whole hour?” Waverly asked, surprise coloring her tone and features. Her neatly shaped eyebrows rising towards her hairline as her eyes shined with concern. “Is everything okay?”

Chrissy could understand her surprise, her worry. It was rare that Chrissy left the office for lunch, even rarer that she took a full hour. Being a personal assistant for Judge Cryderman usually kept her busy throughout her lunch hour.

“Everything is fine,” Chrissy reassured her, reaching across the table a squeezing one of her hands. “I wanted to see how you’re doing since Shorty.”

It had been two days since Shorty’s death, two days since yet another person was ripped from Waverly’s grasp.

Chrissy hadn’t had the chance to check up on her friend. With yet another death where the mysterious Black Badge was involved, Cryderman was staying later at the office, which meant that she was staying later as well.

She had checked in with Nicole and Trent through texts, about Waverly and how she was handling things but not Waverly herself. Chrissy felt it would have been too impersonal to text or call Waverly, she wanted to wait to be able to check up on her in person.

“I’m okay, I thought it would hard being in here, working without Shorty behind the bar with me, cracking jokes and silently watching out for me, ya know?” Waverly looked around the saloon, her eyes a little watery as she turned her gaze back to Chrissy. “But, it's surprisingly easy, keeps my mind busy.”

“Having Nicole has helped a lot,” Waverly smiled softly more to herself than Chrissy. “She seems to know what I need without me ever having to voice it.”

Chrissy nodded, letting go of Waverly's hand and taking a sip of her drink. She expected no less from Nicole.

Nicole was very good at reading people and their needs, not a surprising trait for a cop but being able to decipher the enigma that was Waverly Earp? That was a feat that few ever achieved.

“That was another thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Chrissy said, looking around them to make sure no one was listening into their conversation.

“Nicole?”

“And you telling her how you feel.” Chrissy reached across the table once more, taking both of Waverly’s hands in hers. “I want to make sure losing Shorty isn’t going to keep you from talking to Nicole about your fears, from telling her you love her.”

Waverly opened her mouth to say something but Chrissy cut her off with a shake of her head. She wasn’t done. She wanted, needed Waverly to hear what she had to say.

“Shorty, he was rooting for the two of you, he knew that you two belonged together, he knew that you could make each other happy and give each other the love you both deserve.” She squeezed Waverly’s hands lightly. “He wouldn’t want to be the thing standing in your way of happiness.”

“The people I love die, this just proves that.”

Waverly sounded so defeated, so broken that it tore Chrissy up inside. She expected this but that did not prepare her for how much her heart broke for her friend after hearing those words.

“The more reason to tell her,” Chrissy said, “Wouldn’t you want to know if she loved you?”

Waverly was quiet for a few minutes, presumably thinking over what Chrissy had said.

“I’ll talk to her tonight.”

Nicole walked through her apartment door, hanging her stetson on it’s hook, tossing her keys on the table by the door as she scooped up the mail Trent brought in earlier in the day before he left for his overnight shift at the hospital.

She absentmindedly shifted through the mail as she made her way into the kitchen, mind on what she was going to make her and Waverly for dinner.

Waverly was coming over after she finished up whatever it is she was doing for Black Badge and they were going to talk. About what, Nicole didn’t know but Waverly had sounded serious.

Part of her was worried she had done something to upset Waverly and she had spent most of the day racking her brain for anything she might have done wrong.

She threw the mail on the table and moved towards the fridge, seeing what she had to throw together to make a somewhat decent meal. There wasn’t much in there, neither her nor Trent had found the time in the past two days to make a trip to the grocery store.

Nicole sighed and pulled her phone out, sending a quick text to Waverly.

‘Hope grilled cheese is okay for dinner.’

She placed her phone down off the table as she set about removing her utility belt with practiced ease.

Her rang from it’s place on the table, figuring it was Waverly, Nicole answer it immediately not bothering to check who it was.

“Hey baby,” she said with a smile, walking back to the door to put her utility belt in her safe.

“Officer Haught?” A female voice that definitely wasn’t Waverly’s hit Nicole’s ear.

“This is her,” Nicole paused at her safe. She wasn’t sure who had called her but whoever it was they sounded frightened.

“It’s Nancy.”

There was some kind of shouting in the background that Nicole couldn’t make out followed by something crashing.

“You said to call day or night and you’d be here,” Nancy was whispering now, the fear in her voice more pronounced now. “I need your help.”

Nicole ripped her belt back out of the safe and grabbed her keys, heading back out the front door in a rush. “I’m on my way Nancy, just find somewhere to hide.”

Nicole ran down the hallway of her apartment building, bypassing the elevator and heading straight for the stairs, taking them two at a time, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

She knew this was coming, she knew that David would snap and that Nancy’s life would be in more danger than normal. She knew that it was coming but she had hoped it wouldn’t.

She knew that there was a chance that she wouldn’t make it to Nancy in time but she tried to push those thoughts from her mind as she burst out the apartment building towards her squad car.

As soon as she was in her car and driving down main street, she pick up the radio, calling into the station.

“This is Officer Haught en-route to the McDaniels’ ranch, requesting backup.”

She wasn’t stupid or naive enough to believe that she could handle this on her own. She knew that she was to inexperienced to do this without her partner by her side. She couldn’t risk Nancy’s life just to prove that she was more than just a rookie.

Waverly walked out of the BBD office, coffee mug in one hand and file in other as she made her way to the breakroom.

She was trying to piece together some Revenant id’s before she called it a day and went home to Nicole. Before she swallowed her fear and told Nicole how she truly felt.

Her palms were sweaty just thinking about saying those three words to Nicole. Her heart beat erratically in her chest but not just from fear. Part of her was excited to finally tell Nicole how far her feelings for her truly ran.

She had Chrissy to thank for helping her push past her fear and all the doubts she had. Without Chrissy’s talk today, she would have let Shorty’s death keep her from fully giving herself, her heart to Nicole.

Waverly looked up from the picture she was studying when she heard Nicole’s distinctive voice in the front of the station. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she bypassed the break room and followed the sound of Nicole’s voice. She was sure Nicole had already left for the night.

When she reached the front of the station, she looked around for Nicole. Only finding Eric standing at the front desk, holding the mic to the radio tightly in his hands as he spoke rapidly into it.

“Eric,” She called out to him, pulling his gaze from the radio and towards her. Even from a few feet away, she could see the worry in his blue eyes. “Is that Nicole? Is she okay?”

“Nancy called her, David seems to be on a rampage, Haught called for backup,” he said turning his attention back to the radio and speaking his next few words into it. “I’m on my way Haught, stay alert and stay safe.”

The coffee mug Waverly was holding slipped from her grasp and shattered at her feet on the linoleum tile. Waverly’s gaze locked onto the picture in folder she held. She hadn’t been able to place the Revenant in the old, yellowing photograph until now.

David McDaniels’ smug face stared up at her as panic and terror battled within her for the upper hand.

Nicole was heading straight for a Revenant and Waverly was paralyzed with fear, rooted to the floor unable to do anything but think of the horrible things David could and would do to her.

“She’ll be okay,” Eric said, touching her shoulder briefly before moving past her. “I’ll keep her safe, not that she needs it.”

His words fell on deaf ears but his touch sprang her in action as she turned on her heels and ran back to office where Wynonna and Dolls were.

When Nicole pulled up to the McDaniels’ house, it was completely dark, not a single light could be seen and it was quiet. So quiet that it set Nicole’s nerves on edge as she stepped out of her car and into the rainy night, silently cursing herself for forgetting her stetson at home and now having to deal with the rain getting in her eyes.

She should wait for Eric, he couldn’t be too far behind but she feared that she was already too late. Eric would be here soon and until then she could at least find Nancy and make sure she was okay.

Nicole pulled her pistol from it’s holster, clicking the safety off as she went then grabbed her flashlight with her left hand. She pointed her pistol out in front of her and brought the flashlight up underneath her right hand.

She walked through the rain towards to front porch of the ranch house slowly, listening for any sounds other than her footsteps and the sounds of the light rain coming down.

Goosebumps erupted along her arms and the back of her neck as she felt eyes watching her every move. Heart pounding in her ears and breath coming out in shallow pants as she placed her right foot on the first step to the porch, flashlight scanning the dark area in front of her.

Movement to her right caused her to swing around and pivot on her heels towards it a second too late as her flashlight shined on a board swinging towards her and making contact with her forehead.

She stumbled backwards off the steps and hit the ground hard, having the wind knocked out of her. She struggled to pull air into her lungs as she reached blindly around her for her pistol frantically as she heard David descend the steps, saw his red eyes coming towards her.

Her heart constricted in fear, panic as he stepped on her wrist, keeping her hand from moving. She cried out as he stomped the heel of his boot into her wrist and pain radiated from her wrist and down her hand. He placed all his weight on her wrist and dug in as he leaned over her, his smile growing wider every time she cried out.

Nicole stared up at David with blurry vision, her eyes focusing on his red, glowing eyes as he finally took his boot of her throbbing wrist.

She brought her uninjured, shaking hand up to her forehead, touching the cut at her hairline, wincing as she pulled her fingers away and looked at the blood covering her fingers.

Her eyes fluttered closed for a few seconds, she was dizzy and the pain in her right hand was unbearable.

David slapped her face until she open her eyes back up.

“Don’t pass out on me yet, Officer Haught, we’re just getting started,” he growled, his temple and cheek splitting open and burning like a blazing fire.

“What are you?” She asked through gritted teeth. She just had to keep him talking, keep him distracted long enough for Eric to get here.

Her skin crawled as he grinned down at her. “What am I? I’m your worst nightmare and when I’m through with you, you’ll barely recognize yourself and Waverly Earp will never look at you the same.”

She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t blink, couldn’t think at his words. She had seen what he had done to Nancy, she had seen how cruel, how violent he could be, seen how much pain he could inflict on others and she knew that if Eric didn’t make it here soon, she was truly fucked.