Chapter Text
February 23, 2016
“Gus, did she make it there okay?”
“Of course she did, Wynonna. Perry made sure she was safe. She was fast asleep when he arrived; I don’t think anything can faze that child. Much like her mama.”
A strangled laugh on the other end of phone line.
“Don’t say that. You and I both know if I was her mother she’d have no hope. With you...at least she has a chance.”
A pause.
“What should I tell her, Wynonna? One day she’ll be asking about her mama and daddy and I doubt she’ll buy she’s mine.”
Another tense pause.
“Whatever you do tell her, Gus, don’t tell her the truth. She can’t know about demons, or the Earp Curse, or anything supernatural. If she knows about it, it’ll find her, and that can never, ever happen.”
“For once, Wynonna, we seem to agree on something.”
Even through the phone Wynonna could hear the small smile in her aunt’s response.
“When you get the curse broken, Wynonna, and Purgatory is safe for once in its god- forsaken existence, I can bring her to meet you. If you want.”
It felt longer than the moments it took her to respond.
“We’ll cross that bridge if I live to see it, okay?”
Gus swore she heard tears in the elder Earp’s voice.
“Just raise her well, Gus. You’re her only hope...and thank you.”
The line disconnected before Gus could respond. She hung up the landline with a sigh- no one can make Gus McCready use a damn cell phone at this age- and from the corner of her eye spotted an old, familiar framed photo. In the time-worn image were herself, Curtis, and a small girl of about 8 years of age. In her arms was a pile of tomatoes, some spilling out onto the ground as she smiles a toothy grin at Curtis. Gus gently picked up the aging wooden frame and caressed the faces behind the glass with her thumb. Spending time with Curtis in his garden had always helped Waverly calm down when Wynonna would be taken away, arrested, or institutionalized again. Back then, Gus had felt it was for the best that the sisters be apart- she was certain the talk of demons had been the product of Wynonna’s sick mind. A sick mind that would only drag Waverly down with her.
An attack in her own home by a demon 13 years later, on Wynonna’s 27th birthday, had changed that mindset.
She had done a lot of things right by Waverly, but not everything. She hadn’t let her be herself. An Earp. And even though Alice could not know the whole truth- behind her birth, and being sent away- Gus was positive of one thing: she would know her mama was one of the strongest people she’d ever known.
A cry from Alice’s nursery brought Gus back to reality. She placed the old photo of Waverly and Curtis back on the shelf and walked into the kitchen to ready the formula the baby was waiting for.
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July 19, 2034
The four players sat around the coffee table in the McCready home. A couple of beers were out on the tabletop, along with a pile of coins and dollar bills in the center pot in lieu of traditional chips. Some country rock music played faintly from a stereo on the living room dresser as the cards were dealt for the next round. One of the boys snorted when he saw his hand, immediately folding.
“Folding already, Jimmy? That’s a crying shame,” one of the other two boys still playing taunted.
Jimmy glared at him, “I may be a gambler but I’m not a fool, Charlie- I know when to quit. Unlike some people.”
“Enough blabbering and get to betting if you want to stay in this round,” the dealer interjected. She was the one girl in the playing group.
“Alright Alice, then what have you got to put down?” Charlie let his eyes wander and smirked.
“I raise you five bucks, boys- and maybe a little fun if one of you manages to win this round,” she added in a conspiratorial whisper, wiggling her eyebrows at the other three players.
“Nice try, Alice, but you’re not exactly my type,” the third boy, Sean, laughed, calling five dollars and placing it in the pot.
Alice scoffed and flipped her dark, wavy hair back over her shoulder as she responded in a mock antebellum accent, “Darling, I’m everybody’s type.” She threw a wink at Charlie, “What you got for me?”
Charlie dug into his jean pockets and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, throwing it into the pot, “I raise you fifteen dollars, Alice, and you better still be offering that fun. I’ll expect it when I win.”
Alice chuckled and rolled her eyes. “I’ll let you know when the cards are down, aye champ?”
She turned her eye to Sean, who placed three of a kind on the table.
Alice made a face and raised her eyebrows, “Not bad boy, not bad. Now what does Charlie have that’s gonna win him some of this huh?” She turned to her other opponent and bit her lower lip, “Or did he make a big, big mistake?”
“Doubtful,” Charlie placed his flush on the table.
Alice pouted, “Well, darn , it looks like you may have got me. Can either one of you boys be a doll and tell me how these cards rank?”
One by one she placed her cards face up on the table. King of Spades. King of Clubs. King of Hearts. King of Diamonds. Seven of Clubs.
Sean sighed and let his face fall into his hands. Charlie set his jaw as Jimmy burst out laughing.
“Man, I told you she’s played before! But you fell for what has to be the oldest trick in the book hook, line, and sinker.”
“Shut your mouth, Jimmy!” Charlie growled through clenched teeth, “Bitch just cleared me out.” He swiped his cards from the table and angrly shuffled them together.
“Whoa, hey now, you’re in this bitch’s home. And as head bitch of tonight’s game, I reserve the right to kick your ass straight out. Now nut up and play or get gone,” Alice retorted while collecting her winnings, “You guys should be happy; you’re paying my college tuition at this rate.”
Jimmy and Sean laughed, but Charlie got up and grabbed his motorbike helmet.
“You two buffoons want to keep getting hustled, fine by me. I’m out.”
“Oh, wait, don’t go,” Alice pretended to plead, “A few more rounds and you’ve covered me for one pre-med textbook.”
Another round of laughs saw Charlie out the door as he slammed it behind him.
“Well, one sore loser can’t bring this party down. Gus isn’t due back for another couple hours so why don’t we make this a bit more interesting-”
A bloodcurdling scream from the front yard cut Alice off mid sentence. Jimmy’s eyes grew wide as he looked back and forth between the front door and Alice.
“Alice..what was that …”
“Umm, well I’d say Gus found Charlie and ripped him a new one, except she’s definitely not home yet…”
Alice stood up from the couch where she was sitting and started to tiptoe towards the front window.
“Alice get back here! You don’t know what that was!”
“Shut. Up. Jimmy.” she ordered.
When she reached the window, she pulled back the curtain a few inches and peeked outside. No sign of Charlie, but his motorbike was lying on its side in the driveway, with his helmet rolling in circles a few yards away.
Son of a bitch…
“You two stay here. I’m going outside to find that bastard.”
“Alice, what the hell is wrong with you? It sounded like he was ripped to fucking pieces!”
“Yeah, Sean, and if Gus comes home and finds a dead Charlie without any explanation I’m gonna have a lot more explaining to do than ‘had unauthorized poker night with three guys while you were out’. And don’t be dramatic- he’s probably screwing around so he can feel all macho again.”
Without waiting for a reply Alice grabbed an umbrella from the bin by the door and quickly but quietly exited the house.
The porchlight was on but it did little to illuminate the front yard this late at night. She held the umbrella up, pointed end out like a sword, and stepped slowly down the stairs onto the driveway. Her socks muffled her footfalls as she crept closer to the fallen motorbike. The helmet had stopped spinning and nothing else was moving, which made the whole yard eerily silent.
“Charlie?”
Nothing.
“Charlie you better not be fucking around or you’ll be dead for real.”
Nothing.
Alice wrapped her coat around her a little tighter, partly against the cold, and partly out of nerves.
He’s just screwing around because he’s mad he got hustled by a chick.
When she reached the motorbike, her heart dropped. This close to it, it was easy to see the shiny black coat was covered in fresh blood.
Okay. Probably not screwing around.
“Charlie!” Her voice now had obvious panic in it.
This time instead of nothing, Alice heard rustling in the woods bordering the home.
“Of course you would go in the creepy-ass woods. Of course ,” she muttered to herself as she started walking towards the sound, umbrella still raised and ready, if only trembling slightly in her grip.
But before she could reach the trees’ edge, something large and heavy barreled into her side- knocking her onto the grass and the wind from her lungs. Gasping for breath, Alice flipped onto her back and swiped the umbrella above her at whatever had knocked down. As soon as the umbrella hit a solid form, it was yanked from her hand and thrown clear across the yard.
“Charlie what the f-”
The telling off she had planned died on her lips when she first got a good look at who- what - had her pinned down. Standing above her was a black figure, one she could only describe as a shadow come to life. Except this shadow had glowing amber eyes and when it spoke, it sounded like the deep, gravelly voice came from all around her head.
“Well, well, well, I wasn’t expecting the Heir to be this easy. An umbrella? Where’s that gun I’ve heard so much about, huh?”
Alice rolled to the side before its strike could hit her. Its balled fist instead hit the hard earth with enough force to crack the packed soil. “Not sure what you mean- I’m the ‘heir’ of jackshit around here. And I’ve never touched a gun in my life.” She sat up and turned to see the form staring at her, floating closer.
“Don’t lie to me Wynonna; where’s Peacemaker?”
“Where’s Char - hey- what, Wynonna ?” Alice furrowed her brows together when the name the shadow man-creature-thing had spoken sunk in. Wynonna. Her mother.
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“Aunt Gus, where’s my mama? Everyone at school is talking about their mamas for Mother’s Day. I said I don’t have one I have an aunt but they said that’s impossible everyone has a mama. Where did she go?”
Gus had known this day would come. Alice was five now, and naturally with Mother’s Day coming up, the other kids at school would pick out she had anything but a usual family arrangement. She sighed and patted the spot next to her on the couch, “Come have a seat dear, it sounds like it’s time I told you some things.”
Alice climbed up onto the old green couch and sat patiently waiting as her aunt opened one of the living room dresser drawers. She pulled out some photographs and walked back over to sit beside the little girl.
“Now Alice, I want you to understand one thing above everything else: your mama loves you with all of her heart. That’s why she wanted you to live with me. She wasn’t expecting to be blessed with a baby when she was, and she wasn’t ready. There were a lot of things she had to accomplish before she could be the mama you deserve, and where she was living wasn’t safe for you. So she did something very hard but very brave and sent you away to live with me. And that’s why you have an aunt at home, but not a mama. Do you understand, Alice?”
The small girl blinked and nodded, pointing at the photographs. “Is that my mama?”
Gus smiled, “Yes dear it is. Her name is Wynonna. See, you have her hair.” She ruffled the small girl’s head and held up another photograph. “And this is your daddy, his name is Henry. You have his eyes.” She gently touched Alice’s cheek. “And they both love you, my dear.”
From that day on, Alice had dreamed about her mama and daddy- Wynonna and Henry- what they were like, what they were doing, if they were proud of her. No matter what, their names were never far from her mind.
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“Yes, Wynonna Earp, hand over the gun or the rest of your friends will be torn to shreds!” The shadow’s voice grew deeper and rougher as the sentence ended.
“Yeah, see, about that- you’ve got the wrong Earp. And quite frankly I’m insulted you think I look as old as my mother,” Alice got to her feet, sans umbrella, but fists up and ready to fight.
The shadow stopped its approach, “Mother?” It almost sounded dumbfounded.
Alice nodded, “Ye-ep. Alice Michelle Earp, daughter of Wynonna Earp. So you’re way off base here, pal.”
The creature tilted its head and seemed to think a moment. “Well, the daughter will do just fine. I bet my Master would absolutely kill for your head.”
It lunged, but a sharp crack from behind turned its roar into a scream of pain. Its eyes turned red and with one look behind, then back at Alice, it fled into the woods where it had come from. Hands still shaking and heart racing, Alice looked up to see Gus pointing a shotgun where the shadow had been standing. From this distance, she couldn’t read her aunt’s face, but she figured she had a better chance of surviving another encounter with Shadow Man than her aunt.
“Alice. In the house- now!”
Alice blew air from her cheeks and started walking back towards the house after Gus. She figured her aunt would have a whole host of questions for her the answer.
And it looks like I have some questions of my own.