Chapter Text
Nicole really couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was about Wynonna Earp that drew her in. Nicole had never been one to go for the bad girl, but there was just something else about Wynonna that Nicole felt instantly charmed by. It was distracting as hell.
At first she wondered if it was just the mystery that surrounded Wynonna, the girl who raved about demons and how they took her daddy and her sister. Nicole had read her history, sent to St. Victoria's, in and out of juvenile hall. She had tried to convince herself that Wynonna wasn't something special or mysterious, just another delinquent.
When she let herself get taken to save a bunch of hostages Nicole had a feeling it was something much more than that, if the pull in her gut as she watched as Wynonna was dragged inside was any indication, “Dolls, they can't just-.” she started to protest.
“She'll be fine, Deputy.” he didn't look so sure and Nicole was sure it was the first time in their brief acquaintance that she could say that. She looked back to the door, watching helplessly as Wynonna's dark eyes cast toward them one last time, “You should call Waverly Earp, let her know her sister is in a situation.”
Nicole nodded, eyes casting around for another way into the shop when she spotted a familiar truck parked on the curb, “Isn't that Champ Hardy's truck?” Nicole asked, turning to Nedley for confirmation. He gave a short nod, thumbs tucked into his belt loops as he stared grimly at the shop.
“Waverly's boyfriend?” Dolls questioned.
“The very one.” Nicole agreed, stepping away to call Waverly. Her eyes never left the door, hoping for Wynonna's dark head of hair to pop out the door and say she'd taken care of it. Even while she was assuring Waverly that she'd call her the second she knew anything Nicole's main focus was on the door. She wanted to burst in there, demand that they let the hostages go and surrender. She knew she couldn't.
For now though, she would watch the door like a hawk, praying that Wynonna made it out.
When the door opened and a pile of zip-tied hostages came running out Nicole's stomach dropped, “They kept Wynonna, Champ Hardy and Shorty. Said they needed three. She tried to get everyone freed but the refused.” the clerk offered as Nicole cut the zip ties from around her hands.
Nicole's eyes went back to the door briefly before she turned to start taking statements from everyone else, eyes casting to the door every few seconds. A few of the hostages noticed but none of them said a word, happy to flee when Nicole was done with them.
When the door opened again and Wynonna appeared Nicole froze, watching from her cruiser door as Nedley and Dolls raised their weapons. The suspects forced Wynonna, Champ and Shorty into their van. Dolls and Nedley lowered their guns, “we're just letting them go?” Nicole blurted, racing toward the van. Dolls stopped her with one arm hard against her stomach.
“We're not letting them go, but if we do anything now they all die.” Dolls watched them go with a grim expression. She knew Wynonna could take care of herself, but she had no weapon and it was her against these two deranged psychos, with Champ Hardy and Shorty as back up.
-
Nicole didn't see Wynonna again until after Shorty's wake.
Nicole found her sitting at the bar with her gun on the counter beside her and a row of shot glasses lined up in front of her. Her eyes were glassier than normal, her hair tangled and frizzy around her head. The bags under her eyes were deep purple. A whiskey bottle sat nearly empty in her hand as she stared blankly down at the bar counter top.
Nicole sat down beside her soundlessly, she didn't really know what she could say, what she should say. Wynonna looked up at her curiously, sadness deep in her eyes. Nicole wasn't sure exactly what happened out there, just that Champ had gotten a chance to run away and by the time Dolls had arrived Shorty and the captors were dead, Wynonna crying over his body. At least that was Dolls' official report of the incident.
Wynonna poured the last of the whiskey into a shot glass and threw it back, slamming the shot glass and the empty bottle down on the counter, “I hate this job.” Wynonna offered finally.
“Me too.” Nicole agreed. She leaned over the bar and grabbed a new bottle, noticing Gus eyeing her from where she stood beside Waverly.
The cop cracked the bottle top open and poured it into two of Wynonna's shot glasses. She slid one over to Wynonna, who lifted it up numbly and threw the shot back, “I'm sorry, Wynonna, about Shorty.” Nicole threw back her own shot, setting the glass down on the bar top spinning it between her hands.
“He was the only one in this town that didn't hate me.” Wynonna laughed hoarsely, ducking her head, “I killed him, I killed the only person who cared about me in this damn town.”
Nicole winced for the first time seeing a side of Wynonna that wasn't confident and flippant. She always suspected that Wynonna hated how she was made to feel about this town, but she'd never gotten the chance to find out. Wynonna's declaration was crushing.
“Wynonna, you not saving him doesn't mean you killed him. You can't save everyone, as hard as that is. You cannot blame yourself for this one. He's not the only one that cares about you, either. Waverly, Dolls, and hey even Nedley had a soft spot for you, deep down,” Wynonna snorted, shaking her head and grabbing the bottle of whiskey. She poured out two shots and passed one to Nicole, “And me, I care about you, too, Wynonna.”
Wynonna smiled at her fondly, fighting tears. She tossed back her shot and stole the one she'd passed Nicole, “Thanks Haught stuff.” she chuckled, “care to drive a girl home, officer? Can't stand the looks any longer.”
“Of course. Lets go.” Nicole slipped off her bar stool, grabbing Wynonna around the waist when she stumbled off of hers. They were almost to the door when Wynonna spun around suddenly, nearly knocking them both over.
“My gun.” Wynonna mumbled. Nicole sighed, heading quickly across the bar to swipe the gun from the bar top.
Wynonna fell asleep five minutes into the drive, shifting fitfully in the passenger seat and mumbling under her breath. Nicole turned her radio up slightly, so Wynonna could talk in her sleep in peace. She stayed asleep until they rumbled into the driveway of the homestead.
“You think you can make it in?” Nicole asked softly.
“Please.” Wynonna scoffed, undoing her seat belt and getting out of the car with some amount of grace. She seemed to have recovered in her short amount of sleeping time which Nicole found quite impressive.
When she stopped in the middle of the path to the house and turned around Nicole raised an eyebrow. When Wynonna motioned for Nicole to follow she shut off the car and got out slowly. She hadn't been inside the Earp homestead yet and she had no idea what to expect.
The living room and kitchen were nicely decorated, most likely because of Waverly, and it stopped there. Wynonna led Nicole through the kitchen and into a back room where it seemed that she'd made her bedroom.
The small couch was covered in blankets and pillows and Wynonna crawled onto it and curled up at one end, fishing a bottle of rum out from behind the small table. When she looked up at Nicole she scowled, “Come on officer Haught, have a sit.”
Nicole sat down on the other end of the couch, easing off her shoes and her utility belt dropping them on the floor beside the couch. Wynonna took a swig from the bottle and held it out to Nicole expectantly. Nicole took the bottle and took a large swig from it, watching Wynonna pull another bottle from her table.
“So, what brought you to our small little Hell Hole, Officer Haught?” Wynonna asked, turning to face her. She drew her knees up and wrapped one arm around them, the other hold the bottle between her chest and her knees.
“Needed to get far away.” Nicole answered, “Grew up in a big town about three hours away. Me, my mom and my dad. Had an adopted older brother too, he was a real dick. Dad loved him like the son he never got.”
Nicole took a large gulp of the rum, “Wanted to get away from brothers shadow?”
“Fathers. Mothers. Brothers. All three of them.” Nicole shook her head, “Dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps. Go to med school, become a doctor. When I joined the academy he didn't speak to me for six months.”
“My dad wanted me to become a cop. Guess I finally did something right.” Wynonna mumbled, “he drilled it into me. Protecting people. Willa, Willa was the one he drilled into the most. He had her out firing guns at all hours of the night. Learning how to protect the homestead. Lot of good that did.”
Most of the things Wynonna said after that made no sense to Nicole, but she listened anyways, until her head was heavy with rum and her eyes drooped too far down for her to stay sitting up. She slipped off the couch, stealing one of the blankets and pillows from it, and curled up on the floor.
When she woke up hours later Wynonna was asleep above her, one hand hanging off of the couch brushing against her arm. She fell asleep for a few more hours before heading out the door. When she passed through the kitchen Waverly raised an eyebrow in question but didn't say anything.
-
Nicole had fully intended on going home to her feed her cat and watch old reruns of some crappy sitcom, but when she saw the door cracked open to the forbidden Black Badge offices she couldn't help but take a peek.
Wynonna was sitting at a table inside, head in her hands bent over a file. It only took a few moments of watching her to realize that she was crying, staining the pages of the papers in front of her. Nicole knocked gently on the door, “Wynonna, are you okay?”
Wynonna looked up, quickly swiping away the tears on her cheeks, “Yeah, Officer Haught, I'm just fine.” she sniffled loudly, leaning back in her chair with a fake smile plastered on her face, “Nedley got you working the graveyard shift?”
“No, actually I was just on my way out when I noticed the door was open. Are you sure you're okay, Wynonna? I know we barely know each other but you don't strike me as the type to just start crying in an empty room.” Nicole tried joking, unsure how to help the crying woman.
“Waverly and I...we had a...anyways she's upset...I hurt her and I don't know how to fix it.” Wynonna shook her head, “I don't know how to not hurt people.”
Nicole took a few nervous steps into the office, reaching the chair beside Wynonna without her looking up. She sat down in it slowly, reaching out and placing her hand over Wynonna's, “Come on, Waverly loves you. There is nothing you can do that you cannot make up for.”
“I took something from her. Something I didn't really want and I can't give back. She says she forgives me but...I don't think she does.” Wynonna shook her head, “I can't fix this.”
“Wynonna, you just need to talk to her. Let her say what she needs, it will be okay.” she rubbed her thumb over the back of Wynonna's hand slowly, leaning in closer. Her mind told her not to think about how she smelled like whiskey and her dark smokey perfume and how she wanted to bury her nose in Wynonna's soft hair.
“I can't drive home.” Wynonna mumbled.
“I'll take you. Come on.” Nicole stood up, grabbing the folder Wynonna was working on and flipping it closed, trying not to notice the dates on some of the files were older than 100 years. Wynonna stood up slowly, following Nicole out of the room.
Nicole made sure to lock the door behind her before leading Wynonna out to the cruiser. She sunk heavily into the passenger seat, slumping down heavily. They didn't speak as Nicole drove toward the homestead, Wynonna seemed to be lost in her world.
“She deserves a better sister.” Wynonna muttered, “Did you like your stepbrother? At any point?”
“Not really. He was a tool, always getting into trouble with the law. Never with our dad.” Nicole rolled her eyes, slumping in her seat.
“Waverly must've felt the same. I left.” Wynonna muttered, “Such a fuck up.”
Nicole didn't know what to say, she sped up just a little bit, “why'd you come back Wynonna?”
Wynonna looked over, eyes narrowed and lips pursed tightly, “because I had to, its my duty.” she shook her head, “Its my families duty. We have to protect this stupid town.” as they rolled into the driveway of the homestead Wynonna sat up, looking toward the house with a mix of regret and dread.
“I'll see you tomorrow, Wynonna.”
“Thank you, Nicole.” once she was at the door Nicole backed up and turned around, before Wynonna could change her mind and invite her inside.
-
Wynonna and Dolls had been sparring every morning for two weeks straight and it was starting to drive Nicole absolutely bonkers. The sounds of constant grunting and groaning coupled with things sounding like they were about to break.
It was a nightmare.
When Dolls left the night of Waverly's party Nicole was relieved to have a few hours of silence to work on her latest case. Wynonna was distracting enough, pair that with the sounds of a fight and Nicole was practically sprinting out to answer calls for cats stuck in trees.
Of course when she heard the familiar sound of Wynonna's footsteps moving past her door and then back she knew she wouldn't be getting anymore work done. Wynonna knocked on the window, drawing her attention from the file, “Saturday night. I'm the town pariah with ten years of bad deeds and social suicides to make up for, what's your excuse?”
“Nedley.” Nicole answered, flipping her file folder closed.
“Say no more, bosses are the worst. Also I'm scared mine might be dead....kidding!” she amended at Nicole's raised eyebrows.
“Are you sure your okay?” Wynonna nodded, giving Nicole and unenthusiastic thumbs up. Nicole had to wonder why Wynonna was at work instead of at home with her sister, “well at least I'm not the only one who wasn't invited to the party, makes me feel better.”
“What party?” Wynonna asked, stepping up to Nicole's desk slowly.
“Your sisters party?” Nicole answered, “she didn't even tell you about it?”
Wynonna shrugged, and Nicole honestly wasn't sure what Wynonna was really feeling about it, “well in that case I think we should have a party of our own.” She sat down on top of Nicole's desk, a few papers went flying off but she paid them no mind, taking a large swig from the bottle before offering it up to Nicole.
It didn't take too much convincing for her to take the offered bottle and take a large swig, sitting back in her chair. Of course the ancient thing creaked loudly before spilling Nicole backwards out of it. She reached out for her desk and grabbed Wynonna, pulling her down as well.
They landed in a heap on the floor, Wynonna on top of her grinning triumphantly with the bottle of whiskey still in her hand, “saved it.” she grinned, seemingly unaware of the proximity of her mouth to Nicole's.
It was all Nicole was aware of. Just a few inches between them. If she just leaned forward she could-
Wynonna sat up, slumping against the desk behind Nicole's taking a large swig out of the bottle. Nicole pushed herself up into a sitting position and slid over beside her, “I know exactly who she invited too, Chrissy Nedley.”
“What? The Sheriff's daughter?”
“Mhm. And Stephanie Jones. Ya know one time Stephanie told me I should think about getting a butt lift.” Wynonna laughed dryly.
Nicole scoffed, “What? Your ass is like, its top shelf man, its top shelf.” Nicole could feel the burn of the blush creeping up her cheeks as she motioned cupping Wynonna's ass, but Wynonna paid the comment no heed, other than a quick thank you as her face darkened.
“Do you think I shouldn't have come back? That Waverly would have been better off without me crashing back into her life with all this...” Wynonna motioned wildly around her and Nicole wasn't exactly sure what to think of the motion.
“I think, that Waverly is too happy that you're back to care about whatever this is. She's always wanted her sister, even if she's hanging out with people who don't know who she really is, you do and she needs that.” Nicole observed, picking up the bottle between them and taking another hard swig.
“Dude, your like a walking bumper sticker. Whose armed! Waverly should be hanging out with you.” Wynonna backhanded her arm gently before snagging the bottle back. It was on the tip of Nicole's tongue to blurt out that Waverly wasn't the Earp she wanted, but she held the comment back watching the column of Wynonna's neck as she gulped the drink.
Suddenly Wynonna dove forward, reaching under Nicole's desk where some of the papers had fallen earlier, “Whose this?” she asked.
Nicole grabbed the back of her belt loop, tugging the none too sober Wynonna back to the desk next to her. “That is victim number three.”
“Same guy killed three women?”
Nicole shook her head, sliding forward to grab the file from her desk, “Yeah, killing them was only a start. Joyce Arbor. 22, found Wednesday. Cause of death appears to be multiple lacerations but the autopsy report is completely illegible.”
“Dolls picked a great time to go missing.”
Nicole fell silent, staring at the picture in Wynonna's hands watching as a drop of blood splattered onto the page. Wynonna's hands shook slightly and she turned to Nicole, “I need to see the body.” Nicole nodded, standing up quickly and offering Wynonna her hand to pull her up.
The walk to the morgue was a quick one, and since almost nobody was at the precinct nobody question the pair walking silently through the halls sharing a bottle of whiskey. Nicole didn't even think twice about it, so used to seeing the older Earp with a bottle in her hand since her return, but someone might have.
She pushed open the door to the morgue room and led Wynonna inside, chuckling at Wynonna's groan from the smell. Nicole checked the tags on the bodies, pointing Wynonna to the victim. When Wynonna set the bottle down on the autopsy table Nicole removed it quickly.
Wynonna pulled the sheet back carefully, lips pursed, “she kind of looks like you.”
“Jesus Christ, who did this?” Wynonna mumbled, mostly to herself.
“Someone who knew what they were doing.” an unknown voice answered. Wynonna jumped back and Nicole jumped in front of her, hand flying to her gun. The morgue attendant, Nicole couldn't remember his name to save her life, stood behind them with a licorice stick in his hand.
“Dude! This is a morgue wear a bell or something, okay?” Wynonna snapped angrily.
“Sorry, once a ninja always a ninja. Lets not forget I'm wearing these cotton balls for shoes.” he said something else but Wynonna was looking at something on the victim and it distracted Nicole for a second.
“Did you do this autopsy report?” he denied it, citing some misspellings of anatomy.
“Was there anything unusual or creepy about the wounds? Or the way she died?” Wynonna asked. Nicole shot her a puzzled glance from behind the doctor. Wynonna didn't look away from the body.
“Well she died because humans can't survive when their organs are removed.” he went on to explain that the killer did actual surgery of some sort and that's what killed her. Wynonna leaned onto the counter.
“Why would someone remove someone else's organs and not sell them on the black market?” Nicole asked the attendant, eyes not leaving Wynonna.
“Well..-.” he started to answer but a banging noise drew their attention away to the body cooler. The cooler alarm flashed, signaling someone had entered it. Wynonna and Nicole split up Nicole heading to the rear exit, “Don't shoot me, Earp.”
“Wouldn't dream of it, Haught.” Wynonna shot back as Nicole disappeared out the door. The door was locked when she got there so she headed back, looking around for any signs of life. When she got back Wynonna and the doctor were standing over the body and a trail of blood as making its way down her nose.
“Jesus Wynonna.”
Wynonna marched out of the morgue quickly, slamming into Nicole's shoulder without comment as she did so. Without sparing the doctor a glance Nicole took off after her, “Nobody keeps booze in here Wynonna. Cept you.” Nicole told her, watching as Wynonna opened and closed every cupboard in the kitchen, “do you wanna tell me what the hell is going on?”
“Yeah, dry morgue air is murdering my schnoz.” Wynonna shot back quickly, Nicole almost missed the way she seemed to wince when she lied.
Anger flared in Nicole's stomach, “Bullshit. I think someone is trying to scare you. Toy with you. Why?”
“I picked up this case like an hour ago, how could it be-.”
“Connected to you? Yeah I would really like to know that too. People getting eaten by something, call Wynonna. Guy gets murdered by a man in the mirror, yep! Wynonna to the rescue!” Wynonna turned around to face Nicole, clearly ready to spill some bullshit on her, and then she stopped. Her mouth turned down into a frown.
“Revenants. That's what they're called. This town is over run by revenants and it's my job to put them all down.”
Nicole stared at her blankly, “What?”
“Wyatt Earp, my great great granddaddy was cursed. So now everyone in his line has to kill the outlaws he killed when he was alive. They're called revenants, and this is one of them. It has to be. It's my job, as the oldest alive Earp heir, to stop them.”
“So you have to kill them?” Nicole asked slowly.
“Yes. With Wyatt Earp's gun.” she patted the gun on her hip.
“So that's why Dolls is so secretive. Is he going to fire you for telling me?” Nicole questioned.
“He's not here. And he can't fire me, I'm the Earp Heir.” Nicole nodded, leaning heavily against the table in the break room. Wynonna made a triumphant noise and produced a bottle of something, Nicole took it eagerly. Wynonna's phone rang loudly from her hip and she pulled it out, answering without looking, "Dolls, please tell me-Waves? What do you mean you killed a stripper? Okay we'll be right there."
Nicole lowered the bottle, she hadn't even gotten a full swallow yet, "what happened?"
"Revenants. I think. Welcome to BBD, Haught." Wynonna took the bottle from her and marched out of the room.
"What did you just get yourself into, Nic?" she asked herself before chasing after Wynonna.