"Wynonna!" Waverly cried out desperately. As if hurting her sister's feelings hadn't been enough, now because of her Wynonna would disappear. This day was going from better in better...
"Waves!" Jeremy yelled rushing through the doors of Shorty's and straight to his sister's side. "Are you okay?" He asked full of concern. He and Waverly were about the same age, they were orphans and the only Earp heirs remained, for their mother had left when they were four and five years old, whereas their father had died in an haunting accident. Of course, they weren't blood siblings, he'd been adopted when he was still a baby and he and Waverly grew up together and basically considered each other twins, since they were born only a couple of months apart.
"Yeah." She answered matter-of-factly, not understanding why her brother looked so worried. "Hey, did you hear shrieking?"
"Yeah... From your mouth, silly!" Oh, now that explains a lot of things! Waverly thought to herself, even though she was a little confused as to why she'd screamed like that if it had indeed been her. "Hey. Who's Wynonna?" Her brother brought her back to reality.
"Huh." Good question. "I have no idea." And she really had no idea why she'd shouted the name of someone she didn't know. Or... Did she know her? There was something about that name... It sounded quite familiar on her lips... "Hey, we've got a wedding to plan." She told her brother after a moment. She had no time to waste trying to figure out who that woman was, she was getting married in two days.
Jeremy looked almost as eager as she was about the preparations for his sister's big day. Not that he liked Champ, let's make it clear, but he'd given up trying to understand what Waverly found so special in that boy-man.
"Okay. So... Stop number one: sheriff station. Nicole had a night shift and I think she could use some breakfast."
"Let me guess, we're bringing her her favorite doughnuts along with a cup of coffee." He laughed at the face his sister made. He always found it amusing how much those girls spoiled each other. Nicole was a new sheriff deputy, well, at least, she was the last addition. She'd joined Nedley at the station only a year prior and she and Waverly had soon become best friends. Since he and his sister did almost everything together, it was no surprise that he too had a very close relationship with the cop, but sometimes he wondered if a friendship was really all there was between the two girls.
"We? I was actually going to give you something else to do while I'm at the station." She burst out laughing when Jeremy groaned in disappointment. "Gotcha!"
"Not cool, sis."
"Okay. Okay, sorry. But, come on, did you actually believed I wasn't gonna let you come with me to the station so you could see your beloved Dolls?"
"Waves! He's not my beloved! It's just a stupid crush..."
Waverly laughed again at her brother's reddening cheeks. She picked up the cup of coffee and the box of doughnuts from behind the counter and together they left for the station.
"Hey you!" Waverly greeted her friend cheerfully as soon as she'd entered the sheriff station. Jeremy was still outside talking to an old friend of his.
"Waves! Hey!" Nicole smiled her brightest smile at the sight of her friend. She'd had an eternal night-shift and she still had two more hours before she could go home and get some rest. Nothing had happened all night long and she was sleepy and bored as hell, Waverly was definitely the best thing to have happened to her in the past eight hours.
"Guess what I've got here!" The young Earp said while showing the other girl the white box she held high her hand.
"No way. Doughnuts?!"
"Only the best for my bestie."
"Babe, you're my guardian angel." She said taking the box and the cup of coffee from Waverly's hands and putting them on her desk.
"That sounded almost as sugary as those things are."
"Hey Jeremy..." The redhead greeted as she took a bite from on the first doughnut.
"Hey, Haught dog!"
"Jeremy..." She groaned. She hated that stupid nickname he kept on giving her. "Can you please stop calling me that?"
"Sorry, it fits you too well, miss puppy-eyes." He said gaining a hard glance from Nicole.
"Excuse me?! I'm a sheriff deputy, I don't have puppy eyes! I'll have you know my eyes are very threatening in fact!"
"Sure..."
"Waverly? Can you please just back me up here?"
"Sorry, babe. I'd like to, but it's really hard when you've got powdered sugar on your nose." As Waverly said that she had a strange feeling of déjà vu, like she'd already been in a similar situation before, but she couldn't quite remember when. Anyway, her words had gained a loud laughter from Jeremy and a exasperated groan from Nicole. She couldn't help but join in on her brother's giggles.
"I hate you both." The redhead said trying to put on her best offended face as her friends kept on laughing.
"No, you don't." Jeremy finally regained control of himself.
"Of course she doesn't, 'cause we're adorable!"
Nicole was trying to find something to say to comment on that last statement, but she was interrupted by a voice coming from the hallway.
"Officer Haught?" It was Dolls, her... Well, Nicole wasn't exactly sure how to define him. He work for a secret division called Black Badge and had his office there at the station. His room was strictly off-limits and she could remember a time she'd knocked and then let herself in and he'd basically threatened her with death if she ever entered the room without knocking again. Now things were better between the two of them, though. He'd even let help on a couple of cases. He wasn't that bad once you'd got to know him.
"Hey Dolls!" Jeremy waved to him from where he stood beside Nicole's desk. His voice carried the exact same cheerfulness of his sister's when she'd greeted her best friend just minutes before. It took him a few seconds to realize that had probably been inappropriate, so he tried to fix, but he only made it worse. "I mean, good... good morning... Agent, marshall..."
As he was stumbling with his words and becoming redder and redder in the meantime, the girls couldn't help but chuckling, amused by the whole scene.
"You too, Earp." Dolls greeted back, a bit weirded out but the boy's behavior. Jeremy was a very smart scientist and the BBD agent had consulted him more than once about his cases. No need to say that each time had been incredibly embarrassing thanks to the boy's weird behavior.
"So, hum, Haught? Come to my office when you've got a moment?" Dolls focused only on Nicole trying his best to ignore the fact that Jeremy was still staring at him, smiling like a fool.
"Sure. I'll be there in a sec." The redhead's answer was the cue for him to head back to his office.
"Wow Jer, that was subtle." Waverly said as soon as Dolls was out of earshot.
"Oh shut up."
"C'mon, lovebird. We're gonna be late for our appointment with the florist." Waverly put an hand on her brother's back and started pushing him in the direction of the door.
"Hey, Waves?" Nicole's voice stopped them in their tracks. "Call me later?"
Waverly gave her the brightest smile she could muster before following her brother outside.
Nicole looked at the clock pinned on the wall in front of her desk and sighed heavily. She was exhausted and she really hoped whatever Dolls needed her for it wouldn't take too long to deal with, because she was too tired to work extra hours that day. With another sigh she got up and walked to the man's office. Once she got in front of the door she knocked, making sure to wait for his permission before entering. One death threat was more than enough.
"Yeah?"
"It's me, sir."
"Haught. You can come in." He said in a gentle tone.
"Hey. So... What you need me for?"
"Do you know this man?" He showed her a picture of a man with long black hair, a black mustache and beautiful blue eyes, he was wearing a cowboy hat and he had a cigarette in the corner of his mouth.
Nicole was surprised the picture wasn't a black and white one, because the man in it certainly looked not of their times. There was something familiar about him, even though she couldn't recall ever meeting him. "No, why? Should I?"
"I don't know him either, but he claims to know us."
"Do you want me to check his criminal records? Maybe he knows us because we've arrested him for some kind of crime..."
"Trust me, if I worked for any other division and didn't believe supernatural things were possible, I would be ready to say his words came out of the mouth of a drunk man, but... I'm afraid it's not just a alcoholic we're dealing with."
"Okay... What did he say exactly? And who is he anyway?"
"We found him at the bottom of a pit. He was screaming out for help and he kept on repeating the name of a woman. Wynonna."
"Huh. Never heard before."
"That's what I told him, but he wouldn't have it. He says she lives here in Purgatory and is a member of BBD alongside me, him, Jeremy and her sister Waverly."
"Wait. Waverly... As in Waverly Earp?"
"Yeah. According to him, Wynonna is the heir of Wyatt Earp and the only one who can break the family curse."
"But that doesn't make any sense. The only sibling Waverly has is Jeremy."
"Right, 'cause that's the only part that didn't make sense to you..."
"Okay, yeah, it all sounded a bit crazy..."
"And that's not even the half of it." Dolls went on explaining everything that Man had told him. His name was Henry, but people called him Doc and, yes, Doc as in Doc Holliday. How was he still alive? Apparently he wasn't immortal, but he just didn't age. That was as long as his ring, which he had no longer with him, was intact. The ring was also the third seal the two widows, wives of Sheriff Clootie along with Constance, the Stone witch who'd given Doc his ring, needed in order to free their demon husband from the seal Costance had put on him. That had taken Dolls a good hour to understand, which was for him only further proof that Doc couldn't possibly be lying to him: the story was far too complicated to have been invented. The whole explanation of what the mustache man had told him had taken Dolls a very long time, but Nicole listened to it all attentively and doing her best not to get lost.
"Wow. That was... Wow." Nicole was so shocked by everything the marshall had just told her that she couldn't even find the words. "So, we believe him, right?"
"I can't tell you what to think, officer Haught. But I'm sure you can agree with me when I say he can't have made it all up in the time he was at the bottom of that pit."
"So what do we do now?"
"I have no idea. Even if what he says it's true, it doesn't change the fact that there is no Wynonna here and we have zero memories of those lives."
"I think we shouldn't tell Waverly. Her wedding is in tow days and she has enough worries as it is, we should keep her out of this at least for now."
"I agree." They remained silent for a while till Dolls spoke again. "Hey, you've just had a night-shift, haven't you? I think I kept you here long enough, you should go home and get some well deserved rest. I'll let you know if I can learn anything else about all of this."
"Okay. Thanks." With a nod Dolls dismissed her and Nicole left the room to go gather her staff and finally head home. It was lunchtime, but all she could think about was getting into her bed and sleeping till late evening.
That night at Shorty's...
Waverly and Jeremy had been out all day in order to get everything ready for her wedding. That night Champ and his friends were out for his stag party, whereas she was stuck behind the counter at Shorty's serving alcohol to old men and their young girlfriends. She was glad her husband-to-be and his friends had been smart enough to choose another place to go get drunk and lose their dignity. Waverly hoped they wouldn't do anything stupid, but, knowing them, she knew her hopes were futile. There was a 99% probability the boys would get in trouble and Waverly would've had to go pick them up at the station the morning after. Sometimes she wondered if Champ was really her only choice. Couldn't she have found someone else, someone better? But who? Nicole maybe? Wait what?! She was shocked that thought had even crossed her mind. Nicole was her friend, best friend even, but that was it. Right? She didn't think of her as anything more. Why would she?
As if her brother could read her mind from where he was sitting on the other side of the counter, he asked her: "So... What's going on between you and Nicole?"
"W-what do you mean?" The young girl had been taken by surprise by his question.
"Oh, I don't know... You're just... Acting differently."
"Differently? What's so different in the way we interact?"
"Look, it's not a big deal really. I just... I just noticed some changes, that's all. I don't know how to explain it, okay? It's like, like there's a different spark in your eyes when you look at each other."
"Different sp-" It took the girl a second to understand what her brother was trying to say. "Wait, are you implying there's more than just friendship between me and Nicole? Jeremy, I'm getting married in less than two days!" Waverly tried her best to keep her tone just above a whisper so not to be heard by everyone around them.
"I know, I know. Look, I would never think you're a cheater, okay? I'm just saying-"
"Just because you're gay it doesn't mean we all need to be freaks like you, Jer!" She was so mad at him she didn't even realize what she was saying till it was too late and the words were already up in the air.
"Okay, you know what? Ouch. That hurt, Waves." His eyes were welling up, but he was not going to cry like a baby in front of all of those people, so he jumped to his feet and ran out the door.
"Jeremy... Wait! Jer!" Waverly tried to call after him in vain.
As the Earp boy was rushing out Nicole was getting into Shorty's and was almost ran into by the boy. "Woah. What's wit the rush?" She asked her best friend who was standing midway between the doors and the counter. When the girl shook her head and ran back behind the bar, she followed her worried. "Waves? Hey, what's going on?" She didn't get a response, so she leaned onto the counter until she could reach one of the girl's hands. She grabbed it gently and waited for the young Earp to look at her. When Waverly finally raised her eyes, Nicole could see there were tears there and her worry only increased. "Babe, just talk to me. What happened?"
"I just called Jeremy a freak." She cried. "Oh my God! I just called my own brother a freak! He's gonna hate me forever, I'm like the worst sister in the whole wide world!" She dropped her head on her arms resting on the bar.
"Okay... I admit that, calling him that? Probably not the kindest words you could've used, but... Waves, I know you and you're like the sweetest person in the world. Besides, your his sister and he loves you more than anything, I'm sure he'll forgive you if you go apologize."
'You're my sister, okay? I'll always forgive you!' Waverly couldn't remember exactly when she'd heard those words and who had been to say them, but somehow they came to her mind after hearing Nicole's words. Anyway, that was not the moment to try and figure out where that memory came from, she had other, more imminent, problems to worry about. "You really think so? God, I can't believe I actually said that."
"Hey. Look, with the wedding and everything it's normal to be a little bit stressed out and, you know, that can make do or say things you don't mean..."
"Yeah... But still..." She sighed.
"And I guess, maybe, being engaged to a douche-bag doesn't exactly make things easier on you. No offense." It was no news that Nicole, just like Jeremy, didn't like Champ, but she tried to be a good friend to Waverly, so she almost never mentioned it.
'I just yelled at you, you shouldn't be so nice with me.'
'You know, Waverly, I think you've just been dating too many dickheads.'
'We're not dating.'
Another memory and once again Waverly couldn't tell where that came from. She just ignored it as the one before. "Look, I know Champ isn't exactly the gentleman type of guy, but we live in a small town it's not like I had much choice."
"But you love him, right?"
"I... Yeah. Of course..." She tried her best to sound convincing, but it didn't work.
"Are you sure?"
"Why is everyone assuming I'm having second thoughts today, huh? I'm not gonna call off my wedding the day before it's happening! That would be wrong."
"But so would be marrying someone you don't love. Look, Waverly, when it comes to getting married on a fever, I've been there, done that."
"With Shay. Yeah, I know..."
"My point is: listen to someone who has already made that mistake. Trust me, if I could go back, I'd never get married for fun again. You have no idea how frustrating it feels to know that one day, when I finally meet my soulmate, I won't even be able to call her my first, because, if we ever decide to get married, I'll have to call her my second wife. As if she were my second choice and not the most important person in my life. What I'm trying to say is: you're still in time to back out of this if you're reading not sure Champ is the person you wanna spend the rest of your life with. Don't make your soulmate be your second choice like I did." When she'd finished she waited for Waverly to say something and she probably would've if her phone hadn't started ringing.
"It's Champ." Speaking of the devil, she thought. "Sorry, I gotta take this." She had a bad feeling the boys had already gotten into trouble and it wasn't even half past midnight yet.
It was a quarter to one when Waverly finally made it to the sheriff station. She parked her car in front of the entrance and entered the building. The officer behind the front desk wasn't surprised to see her, it was the fourth time that month she had to go pick Champ up because he'd been arrested, was it for drunk driving, damaging of private property or for getting into a fight at a pub, he'd always found a way to get into trouble.
"I'd say good night, but I guess it's not." The man greeted her with a soft smile.
"I don't know what you mean. Having to pick your drunk fiancé up at sheriff station after he's been arrested is every soon-to-be-wife dream, right?" She joked back. He chuckled and then motioned with his hand towards the hallway.
"You know the way."
"Unfortunately." She said to herself as she headed down the corridor to the cell she knew she would find Champ in.
"Baby!" The boy screamed excitedly and ran to the bars when he saw his girl walking towards him. "Thank God, you're here! Can you believe I had to spend my last night as bachelor in this smelly cell." He slurred his words a little, but Waverly was almost more used to his drunk talking than his sober one.
"Technically it's your second-to-last night as bachelor... And I'm pretty sure you're the one who stinks, Champ, not this cell." She scrunched up her nose at the smell of alcohol that emanated from the boy.
"Whatever... Now, c'mon, get us out here, baby."
"You know what? I think I'm actually going to leave you in here for the night."
"Excuse me?!" He tried to sound angry, but his drunk state only made him sound surprised.
"Yeah, Champ. I'm tired of having to pick you up at the station because you and your friends got drunk, did something stupid and then got arrested for it." Waverly wasn't really one to yell, but she'd had enough of his misbehavior and by then she'd lost all her temper. "We're getting married tomorrow and you're still behaving like a child! I guess I was stupid to think you would actually man up before our wedding day." Her eyes were starting to welling up, but she still managed to keep a steady voice.
"Baby..." He tried, but she wasn't quite finished yet.
"I had one request, Champ. One! You promised me you wouldn't get yourself arrested tonight!" At this point she just didn't give a damn if her voice was cracking and her cheeked were wet with tears. "I should know better than to trust you by now..." There was just so much sadness in her voice as she spoke these last words.
"Baby, c'mon, don't say that. Of course you can trust me. I made a mistake, okay. I'm sorry. The boys and I had a little too much to drink and..." Once again he was interrupted by the girl.
"Goodnight, Champ." She said firmly before turning and leaving, ignoring his pleas and sorries.
The next morning at the homestead...
Waverly was sitting outside on the porch with a blanket wrapped around her body. She was staring at the horizon in front of her, but not quite looking at anything in particular. The sun had already risen and the girl had been there to witness the whole moment. She'd gotten home very late the previous night, but she was simply to riled up to get some sleep. She'd stayed up all night, thinking about everything and anything. She replayed the events at Shorty's, what her brother told her about her and Nicole, the words she'd said to him, what Nicole had told her about marriage, Champ... And, for last, she even thought about her parents. She wished her mother had never left and dad was still alive. She imagined her father walking her to the altar at her wedding the next day. She even imagined Nicole was the one standing at the end of the aisle, smiling back at her and eating for her father to give her his daughter's hand. She didn't even know why her fantasy went there, she'd never thought of Nicole as anything other than a friend. Or did she? Maybe she had, unconsciously that is. Anyway, her imagination ran wild all night long and she was still fantasizing when her brother came out of the front door at about seven thirty.
"Waves?" He asked surprised to see her there. "You've been out here all night?" When the girl turned her head to face him he noticed there were tear stains on her cheeks nod it didn't take long for him to put two and two. "What did Champ do this time?"
"Jeremy..." She shook her head and started crying again. "I'm so sorry about last night. I don't know what's gotten to me, I swear I didn't believe those words. I love you and I could never..."
"Hey. It's okay." He stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on the girl's forearm. "I know you didn't mean it. It doesn't make it any less painful to hear, but..."
"Can you forgive me?" She basically begged him.
"Waves... You're my sister, of course I forgive you." He smiled at her before wrapping into a tight embrace.
'No, God, I'm over it! I forgive you! You're my sister, okay? I will always forgive you!' Again the sense of déjà vu took over Waverly's features. She was sure she'd live that situation before, but when? And why did those words come to her mind as if they were a memory? Before she could worry her mind too much, though, she was brought back to reality by her brother breaking the hug.
"So... About that douche-bag of your fiancé... What did he do?" His sister might've changed the subject, but he was sure the boy was the reason for her being that upset in the first place.
"He and his friends got drunk and got into a fight at the pub. They got arrested. Again. He called me at about half past midnight to go pick them up at the station. I did go, but then I left them there." She didn't have the courage to look into her brother's eyes.
"You what? Really?" He exclaimed surprised. "I'm impressed. I'm glad to see my lil sis is finally showing her balls." He gave her a light punch on her arm.
"I don't know... I'm not so sure if that was the right thing to do, Jer. I shouldn't have left my future husband to rot in jail."
"Okay. First of, I'm pretty sure he did not rot for just one night and, second, you should've left him in jail the first time he got arrested and called you to go save his dumb ass. I say it was about time you left him there for the night."
"I just hope he doesn't make a scene when I'll see him later today. We're supposed to have lunch with his parents at noon." She sighed heavily.
"Why are you getting married to that child again?" He joked.
"Ha ha. Very funny. We've had this conversation before, you know why."
Before Jeremy can say anything else, his phone buzzing into his pocket. He takes it out to see who it was and is surprised to see the name appear on his screen.
"It's Dolls. I have to go." He says apologetically.
"Of course you do." She mocked him. "Just try not to break all the speed limits as you rush to the station."
"Oh, come on! I'm not that desperate."
"If you say so..."
"Hey. You've just been forgiven, don't push it."
"Okay. Fine. I'll say no more."
"Good girl." He smiled at her before heading inside quickly to get his things. After a few seconds he was out again and jumping down the few steps in front of the porch. "I'll see you later. Let me know how lunch went!" He yelled back at her as he headed towards his car.
"I will. Love you!" She yelled back.
"Love you too! More!" He screamed before closing his car door and leaving down the road.
Jeremy got to the station in half the time it would normally take to get into town for the homestead, so, yeah, he may have broken the speed limits a few times, here and there. Maybe Waverly hadn't been so wrong to think him that desperate to see Dolls. He parked his car outside the station and then rushed in. He was on such a hurry he almost missed Nedley greeting him from the door of his office, where he was standing with a cup of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other. It was eight in the morning, so the whole town was still pretty silent and there wasn't much to do for the sheriff. Jeremy managed to say a quick hello back at the man before taking the hallway and heading straight towards Dolls's office. He was about to enter the room without even knocking, but Nicole stopped him with a "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Unless of course a death threat is the greeting you're looking for at eight am." He stepped away from the door and waited for his friend to knock. Inside, next to the man he'd longed to see ever since receiving that text, he found another figure. The introduced himself as Henry, Doc for his friends, and it didn't take long for Jeremy to realize who he really was. To say he went crazy about it is a bit reductive. As the nerd that he is, of course he knew all about the legendary Doc Holliday, best friend of none other than his ancestor Wyatt Earp. When he was finally done geeking over the Doc, Dolls and the others told him everything about Wynonna and her disappearance. Just like Nicole and the marshall, Jeremy had no memories of the life Doc had described, but he too had no reason to believe what he'd said wasn't true.
In the meantime Waverly was dealing with her first free day in forever. She'd refused to take any days off to take care of the wedding preparations, but her boss had insisted she should at least take the before the wedding for herself. She still felt awful because of what had happened with Champ that night, but at least she had cleared things up with her brother and that was enough to set her mood a little higher. Since she had nothing to do till noon, when she had to meet Champ and his parents for lunch at their house, she thought getting some sleep wouldn't be such a terrible idea after the night she'd just had.
Lunch with her future in-laws went exactly as bad as she feared. Champ was furious with her for leaving him locked up at the station, his parents were furious with him for getting drunk, which only made him even more riled up. In the end, there had been a lot of screaming and arguing and almost no eating at all. In that moment she would've given anything to just grab her apron and go to work her afternoon shift at Shorty's. When she finally got back at the homestead at three she sighed in relief. She'd really longed for the peace and quiet of her home. She had sent a text to Jeremy, telling him all about her day so far and asking him what he and his boyfriend had been up to. She knew she shouldn't push it too much, but her brother had it so bad for Dolls that she just couldn't stop joking about his crush.
At the station, the three men and Nicole worked hard on finding a way to get their memories back and, of course, on getting Wynonna Earp back. The Iron witch had really committed herself making sure to erase any proof or link to their forgotten lives. Waverly's research about the family curse was nowhere to be found, so all their work could only be based on what Doc had told them. By the end of the afternoon they still hadn't found anything useful. Jeremy and Nicole had promised Waverly they would've had dinner all together to cheer her up after the disaster that had been her lunch with Champ, so they all decided to give up for the day and to meet again the day after the wedding.
That night Nicole had to leave quite soon, because Nedley had called her in to cover two hours of the shift of one of the deputies who'd had a family matter to take care of. Jeremy and Waverly had been up till late, chatting about they're best memories growing up. When it was one am they finally gave into sleep and went to bed. It was Waverly's big day after all and they had to get up early to get ready for the ceremony.
Wedding day...
Waverly was standing in her room oblivious of the fact that Champ had yet to arrive and the ceremony was to start in thirty minutes. She had yet to see Nicole and that worried her a little, even though she had no doubts the girl wouldn't miss her big day for the world. Her brother was somewhere outside discussing God knows what with Dolls and another man she'd never seen before.
She sighed. She was alone. She'd gotten dressed alone, put on her make up on her own and done her own hair. Shouldn't be the bride be surrounded by tons of people right before the wedding? Where the hell was everybody? As if someone could hear her thoughts, a knock came from the door.
"Come in." She said eagerly. "Nicole!" She almost screamed in joy at the sight of her best friends.
"Hey." The redhead greeted back. "Wow, Waves. You look beautiful." She stared in awe at the girl for a little more than would've been appropriate for just a friend.
"Thanks." The young Earp couldn't help but blush a little at the compliment.
"Are you okay? Nervous?"
"I'm fine. I'm about to marry a dickhead, right? What's not to love about that?"
"Waverly..."
"I'm just kidding..." She trailed off when she noticed something was not quite right with Nicole. She wasn't wearing her bridesmaid dress, but her deputy uniform. "Hey, why... Why are you still in your uniform?" The other girl said nothing and moved to turn away her gaze instead. "Nicole? What's going on?"
"It's Champ..."
"What about him?"
"He got arrested again last night. Nedley allowed him to leave the station, but on one condition: a police officer is to be with him all the time. Since he knew I was coming to the wedding, he picked me to babysit Champ."
"You're joking, right?" She said with tears in her eyes.
"Waves..." She tried, but was cut off by the other girl.
"Where is he now?"
"Guest room. But... Before you go... Babe... His parents are taking care of him as best they can, but... He's still a little drunk and the man he got into a fight with has left him with a very nasty black eye." She talked slowly in order to be able to study Waverly's reaction to the news.
"Awesome." She stated sarcastically. "Welcome to the happiest day of your life, Waverly..." She said to herself as she moved for the door.
"I'm sorry..."
"It's not your fault, Nicole..." And with that she left the room to go pay her fiancé a visit.
When she got to the guest room, she didn't even bother knocking, she just barged into the room.
"Baby!" Champ yelled happily when he saw her.
"Waverly..." His mother tried.
"Leave us. Please." She waited for his parents to get out before turning back to the boy.
"Wow, baby. You're hot." He went to put his hands on her hips, but she slapped him away.
"And you're drunk." He just shrugged. "It's our wedding day, Champ. Or have you forgotten? You really couldn't go one night without drinking?!"
"It was just a beer..."
"Oh really? Now you get drunk after just one drink?! And what about your damn eye, huh?!"
"It's just a bruise... It'll pass..."
"Yeah? And how long before you get a new one? How long before you get arrested again? Do you even know you're only out on bail?! The only reason they let you out is because Nicole is here to babysit you!"
"Please. I don't need a babysitter."
Are you sure? 'Cause all you've been doing ever since we got together is acting like a child! At first I thought it was because you were still a teenager and you still needed to mature, then, when you proposed, I thought the time had finally come for you to become a man. But I was wrong. You're still that child who asked me to go out on a date with him during our senior year." She took a pause before saying what she had really wanted to say all along. "I've borne you for three years, Champ, but I can't do this anymore. We're done."
"Wh-what do you mean done?"
"I mean that I'm not marrying you today, or ever." And then she said the words that had taken way too long for her to believe. "I deserve better than you."
"Baby..."
"I hope you and your beers can live happily ever after. Goodbye, Champ." And with that she turned and left the room. She had done it. She had finally listened to all her friends and family telling her she should break up with that boy-man who didn't deserve her. Now there was just one more thing she needed to do.
Nicole had gone outside, in front of the porch, to join the others in their conversation. She was talking to Dolls when she saw Waverly step outside. She excused herself to go to see if the girl was alright. The brunette saw her and waited for her to join her on the porch.
"Waves. Hey, what happened?" Now that she was standing in front of the girl she could there were tear tracks on her cheeks.
"I ended it. Yeah, I'm done. We're done."
"Oh" Well, that was unexpected.
"You were right, Nicole. I never should've said yes to him. I just... I just thought, living in this small town, I had no other choice, but... I was wrong." She took a moment to look at the girl standing in front of her. Nicole seemed a little confused, so Waverly continued. "I think I've already found the one I love. I was just too blind to see it." She looked straight into Nicole's eyes before moving to place her hands on the girl's cheeks. The redhead held her breath, she was studying Waverly's every move not believing that was actually happening. Slowly the brunette closed the gap between their lips. Nicole was paralyzed for a moment, but, when she realized she wasn't dreaming, she finally responded to the kiss. Just like in the fairytales, as the girls were kissing all of her memories flashed back into their minds. They remembered their first meeting in Shorty's, Nicole flirting with Waverly, they remembered discussing their feelings for each other, they remembered their first kiss in Nedley's office, Willa shooting Nicole, their fights and their first time, they remembered Waverly being possessed by a demon and Nicole and Wynonna working together to save her, they remembered their fight when Waverly found out Nicole had lied to her about her DNA test results, they remembered the accident with the widow that had almost killed Nicole, they remembered.
They parted gasping, as all the memories came back to them. They looked at each other surprised.
"Waves?"
"Babe. I remember." They smiled at each other before going back in for another kiss. It was Nicole to break it after a while.
"As much as I love doing this, we need to talk to the others."
"The others." Waverly turned to look at the three still standing in they're spot in front of the house. They weren't talking anymore, but they all had their attention on the two girls. "They don't remember us..." She said sadly.
"Doc does. But he's the only one."
"Wait, how did you...?"
"We'll explain you everything, I promise. C'mon." She grabbed Waverly's hand and dragged the girl towards the others.
Since the wedding had been called off, Waverly and Jeremy has sent all the guests home, apologizing for the change of course. Once everyone had left, the Earp siblings had ushered Doc, Dolls and Nicole inside so they could discuss everything in private. Now that three out of five had their memories back, the facts were a little easier to reconstruct. Waverly told them all she knew about Gretta, her wish, the deal they made at the hospital to save Nicole's life. Together they went through all the possible ways to get Wynonna back, just like they had the day before.
"I'm afraid science doesn't have a solution for this kind of disappearance." Jeremy said when asked for the umpteenth time if he had found something useful in his books.
His answer gave Waverly and idea, though. There might have been someone of their acquaintance who could own the solution to Wynonna's disappearance. "I think I know who does, though. Gretta."
"The iron witch? Waverly, she's the reason Wynonna is gone." Doc didn't like her idea one bit.
"I know. Which is exactly why she's also the only way to get her back."
"So let me get this straight, you wanna make a new deal with the same witch who tricked you into giving the widows the third seal and then made your sister vanish?" Jeremy hoped he had misunderstood the plan.
"Wave... this is too dangerous." Nicole's voice was full of concern.
"But it's also our best chance. We need to try and talk to her."
"She's right. This might really be our only choice." Wait, did Dolls just agreed to her plan straight away? He really had no memories of his real life.
He and the Earp girl looked at the others and waited for them to say their okays and fines. It was settled, they had a plan. It wasn't the best plan, they knew that, but they had run out of options and maybe of time as well. If widow Beth had already broken the third seal and freed her demon husband, they could only hope they would get Wynonna back in time before sheriff Clootie destroyed everything.
They went to the hospital and asked at the receptionist for Gretta. The man had told he could not just disturb a nurse on her shift for no reason, so Nicole and Dolls showed him their uniform and badge to give him one. They told him to let her know they would be waiting for her outside, since they had to discuss some business privately. Minutes passed and no one showed up. They were beginning to think the man had completely ignored their request, but then the doors opened and Gretta appeared through them.
"Waverly Earp. Why am I not surprised to see you?"
"Maybe you'll be surprised to see me then." Doc said as he pointed a gun at the woman.
"Holliday. No need for that gun."
"We need to talk." Waverly interjected. They had no time to waste threatening each other.
"Do we?"
"You have to bring Wynonna back. Undo your wish."
"That's just not happening. I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you should've thought of the consequences when you agreed to make a deal with me."
"You tricked me. I'd asked for a cure."
"And I led you to one. I kept my side of the deal, you knew you'd have to pay back somehow."
"Pay back... of course!" How did she not think about it before? She finally knew how they were going to get her sister back. "You said Wynonna and I had to pay for killing your sister. You wished for one of us to have to live without the other like you have to live without Mattie. It doesn't have to be Wynonna, though, does it?"
That caught Gretta's attention. "I'm listening..."
"Bring Wynonna back and take me instead."
"Waverly..." Doc and Dolls said at the same time, soon followed by Nicole. "Ok, woah. Hold on, can we at least talk about this first?"
"Nicole..."
"Waverly, please... there has to be another way."
"We're running out of time. With Beth in possession of the third seal, God knows what's about to happen. For all we know sheriff Clootie might already be walking among us. He's nothing like the demons we had to deal with so far, he's stronger, more dangerous. There's no way we can stop him without Wynonna and you know that."
"She's right. We need her now more than ever." This was the second time in very little time that Dolls had agreed with her. She surely liked this version of him.
Waverly stepped in front of her girlfriend and grabbed her hand in hers. "Look, this won't be forever, okay? We get Wynonna back and, once you've defeated Clootie, you'll find a way to get me back as well. I trust you." Then looking at everyone else. "All of you." They all stared at each other for a moment. It was clear nobody liked this plan, but they did understand it was necessary to confront what was coming.
Their moment was soon interrupted by a not-so-patient Gretta. "Tik tok. I don't have forever, lovebirds. Do we have a new deal or not?"
Waverly looked at the witch for a second. She took a deep breath to steady her voice before turning to Nicole. "I love you. Just hold on to that, okay? We will find a way back to each other." Then again at everyone: "You take care of Wynonna and the little one for me, okay? I swear, if you let anything happen to them, I'm gonna kick all of your asses when I get back." They we're all crying, but her comment had managed to lighten up the mood a little, making them laugh softly. "No, but seriously, promise me you'll all take care of each other while I'm gone. And tell Wynonna I'm sorry. I... I should've listened to her. I should've trusted her and I hope that one day she'll be able to forgive me."
"He hem." Gretta cleared her throat. She'd had enough of all these sentimentalism.
Waverly finally turned to face her fully. "You bring Wynonna back and make me disappear. That's our deal." She said firmly. She wasn't gonna risk misunderstandings a second time.
"Almost. I think a change of the original deal needs a higher price. When I took your sister away, I gave you new lives, new memories. Your sister and your friends won't be so lucky this time. I will give them their memories back so that every day they'll wake up knowing you are missing and there's nothing they can do about it. Just like I have to live without my sister, being aware there's no way to get her back. This is my deal. Take it or leave it."
Waverly hesitated a moment. She did want her friends to have their memories back, otherwise they wouldn't have known about the widows, demon Clootie and the Earp family curse. She did want them to be able to be prepared for this new threat, but another side of her wished they could forget about it all and live free of this mess that were their lives. She sighed and looked the Iron witch straight in the eye before agreeing to the deal. "I take it. Yeah, we've got a deal."
"Very well. I hope you said your goodbyes, 'cause you won't be seeing them for a while. Or, you know, ever."
"Just get this over with."
Gretta started pronouncing some kind of spell in German like she had the other time. As she was doing so, Nicole had reached Waverly and took her hand. The girls looked at each other, crying.
"I love you!"
"I'll be back." And with that she vanished. That was it. She was gone.
"Waverly!" The redhead cried out staring at where the young Earp was standing just a second before.
"Wynonna!" The three men exclaimed as the woman appeared right in front of them. They remembered everything too.
"Hey, guys. Why do you look like you've seen a ghost? And how did I get here?" Wynonna asked not understanding what had just happened.
"Well, it looks like you people might have some catching up to do. My job is done here." Gretta said before going back into the hospital.
"What...?" She took a look around, but everyone averted their eyes. Everyone but Nicole, who looked at her with tears in her eyes, and that was when the Earp heir noticed someone was missing. "Where's Waverly?" A tear traveled down the redhead cheek before she moved her gaze away, just like the others had done. "Guys? Can someone, please, tell me what the hell is going on?"
Dolls looked up, took a deep breath and said: "Come, let's go to the station. We'll explain you everything once we get there." He put a hand on her back and gently pushed away from the entrance of the hospital, the others following close.
Here it is! I'm sure the actual episode is going to be much better than this one, but I hope you still enjoyed my version of the story. Thank you for reading!