Nicole drove in her police squad car down to the Earp farmstead. She had the windows rolled down because of the stifling heat and was wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses. Dolls had asked at the station for somebody to go to the Earp house and deliver a file to Waverly. Nicole had volunteered, perhaps to eagerly because Dolls had given her a knowing look as he handed over the file. The file was lying on the passenger seat and there was a part of Nicole that was itching to know what was in it. The Black Badge division that Dolls, Wynonna and even Waverly seemed to be a part of was shrouded in mystery. She was smart enough to know that there was a connection between the weird shit that kept happening in the town and what Black Badge was doing. The officers at the station had argued over whether a cartel was operating out of Ghost River County, or a satanic cult or the drinking water had been poisoned and that's why people seemed to be going crazy. Nicole had her own theories that she wasn't going to voice out loud to anyone. But all her theories seemed to lead in the same direction which coincidentally was where she was heading right now. She drove up a dirt track to the Earp house. It was a modest building similar to what you'd see in other places in the County. It looked like it had been unoccupied for a very long time but was now just being restored. Outside the front windows were pink flower boxes filled with a variety of colourful blooms. Nicole smiled when she saw them because she knew out of the two sisters which one of them would take the time to do something so girly. She got of her car and made her way to the house, as she approached the door she could hear somebody singing inside. She knocked three times and waited. The singing abruptly stopped and the door opened to reveal a white dusted Waverly. She was in her usual denim shorts and cut off blouse with her hair tied up in a colourful rag. She had obviously been cooking because she was covered in flour. Waverly stood in the doorway looking noticeably flummoxed at the sudden unexpected arrival of Officer Nicole Haught. Nicole's face broke out into a wide smile. She couldn't help it.

"Hey Off-Nicole," Waverly tried to recover for her momentary brain-stall "What brings you out to this neck of the woods?" She started to wonder if this was just a coincidence that Nicole seemed to be popping up a lot around her or if she was actively seeking her out. The last thought made Waverly's stomach flip.

"Dolls sent me with a file to give to you" Nicole explained, showing her the file she had in her hands. She still couldn't stop smiling.

"Oh... thank you" Waverly took the file offered to her and looked at Nicole again. There was a little internalised struggle going on inside her head about what to do next. "Do you want to come in?, I'm making pasta" the bit of her mind that wanted Nicole to stay won out. She bit her lip nervously.

"Sure, I'd love to" Nicole practically beamed "I just got off duty".

Waverly led her into the house. She quickly tried to brush all the flour off herself, why could she for once not be a mess in front of Nicole, she groaned mentally.

The place was quaint and obviously under renovation. Nicole smiled at all the obvious Waverly flourishes to the decorating, like tea cosies and porcelain knick-knacks. At the back of the house was a freshly painted kitchen and a small dining table.

"You can sit down," Waverly pointed to a chair. "Do you want a drink?" She offered. She could already feel her anxiety levels increasing by ten-fold just by having Nicole in the vicinity with her.

"That would be great" Nicole relaxed into a chair. She took off her hat and placed it on the table.

"Iced tea?"

"I would love some"

Waverly got out two glasses and poured each of them some iced tea from the pitcher she had made that morning. Did her hands look like they were shaking? she wondered. Her hand brushed against Nicole's for a brief moment as she handed over the glass. They both looked at the point of contact. Waverly then abruptly turned and busied herself with getting the dinner ready. She had made the pasta from scratch herself and was setting the water to boil in a pot on the stove.

"So how do you like Purgatory so far?" Waverly asked.

"The people are nice, the people I work with are great" Nicole sipped her tea "There were a few unexpected... perks". Waverly couldn't help but smile with her back to Nicole as she prepared the pasta.

"There is a little more excitement here on the job then you would expect from such a small town" Nicole added and looked at Waverly for a reaction.

"Really?" Waverly avoided looking at her as she placed the pasta in the boiling water.

"Normally crime is at a minimum in small towns" Nicole had a growing sense that Waverly was hiding something.

"Purgatory has never been normal"

"I've gathered that" Nicole examined the back of Waverly for a long silent moment. She registered the increased tension she could see in her back muscles. There was definitely something that Waverly knew, but Nicole wasn't going to pursue what she obviously didn't want to tell her.

"Have you any recommendations of things to do in town?" Nicole asked, changing the subject.

"I hear Shorty's bar is great, the staff there are excellent" Waverly joked.

"Yeh I've been already, the staff were...," They both looked at each other. "Welcoming"

Waverly saw the twinkle in her eye. She momentarily lost her concentration with what she was doing which was not a good idea when your holding a pot of boiling water.

"Ouch!" some of the water hissing out of the pot landed on her forearm. Her eyes watered from the pain of the burn. Nicole quickly got off the chair and came over to her concerned.

"You should run it under the cold tap for ten minutes, here" Nicole took her arm gently and placed it over the kitchen sink, turning on the tap. The pain in her arm eased and Waverly was not at all sure it had anything to do with the cold water.

"Thanks" Waverly blushed and looked up at Nicole through her eyelashes. They had never been this close before. Nicole gently pushed a stray hair behind Waverly's ear.

"You're welcome" they gazed at each other and Waverly could vaguely hear the pot boil over in the background. God, she didn't care.

They sat down together to eat and both drank glasses of wine. It was a beautiful meal and Nicole mentally checked off amazing cook on her list.

"This is amazing" Nicole complemented her.

Waverly smiled modestly. "You haven't had a proper home cooked meal since you got to Purgatory, so you're not exactly the best judge"

"This is better than my mother's" Nicole insisted.

Waverly poured more wine for both of them. "So where do you come from?" Waverly asked. She had wondered ever since she had met Nicole at Shorty's how somebody like her had ended up in Purgatory. This place was a bit of a waste land, and she... she was special.

Nicole became absorbed in her food and avoided Waverly's eyes. "Oh you know... a small town pretty much like this, there's not much to say" Waverly could sense she had fallen on a topic that Nicole was uneasy about. She understood better than anyone about not wanting to talk about the past. For so many years she had heard the whispers and seen the looks of people as they discussed behind her back about how her father and sister had been mysteriously murdered.

"Are you going to the town dance on Saturday?" Waverly changed topics.

"Dance?" Nicole asked smiling.

"The town has a dance every Fall before harvest, everybody goes. It's fun". Well it was fun for Purgatory at least, Waverly thought. Her and Champ had gone every year since she was seventeen. For most it was just an excuse to get drunk and make out.

"I'm not much for dancing," Nicole said. "I can do the slow ones". There was that tension again. Waverly picked up hers and Nicole's plates and brought them to the sink.

"You should come" she insisted. "Wynonna will be there, probably most of the officers and-"

"Champ" Nicole added her eyes a little downcast.

"Yeh... I guess he will be" Waverly was a little crestfallen. For a moment they didn't look at each other.

She began to clean the plates in the sink but Nicole got up and insisted on helping. They spent the rest of the afternoon side by side with their arms elbow deep in soapy water, laughing and talking about some of the strange experiences and personalities that they had met on the job as a bartender and as a police officer. Everything else but them was forgotten for that evening.