SUMMARY: Wynonna and Doc take a little time to lie under the stars.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Wynonna Earp

RATING: K

PAIRING: Wynonna/Doc

UNDER THE STARS:

Doc Holliday stood outside the homestead of the lovely young Wynonna Earp. He sucked on the cheroot, breathing out the smoke from lungs that at one time had been so filled with blood he felt like he was drowning slowly. Now, thanks to the deal he made, he could drink and smoke to his heart's content. From his place, leaning against the fence, he could see her restlessly moving about inside. She was more alike with Wyatt than he ever thought possible. He too had spent many nights restless, over thinking choices he'd made in his life. They both had the fate of an entire town resting on their shoulders. Her pacing compelled him from him place to go to her, to knock on the door.

Wynonna had tried to sleep, to shut out all the shit rattling around her head. Even though the homestead was safe from revenant's, she still couldn't stop her mind from replaying the night Willa was taken, the night she shot her father. Their screams echoed all around her making her afraid to go to sleep. Wynonna didn't know how Waverly did it, how she slept in this place. She looked at the window that had been broken, the one Willa had been taken from, seeing it all again. A knock at the door made her yelp in surprise. Shaking her head, pushing away the dark memories, she went to the door where she found Doc on her porch. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to see how you and sweet little Waverly were settling in." Henry inclined his head, his index finger touching the brim of his hat.

"We're fine." Wynonna said, not meaning to have an edge in her voice.

"Are you now?" Doc asked leaning in closer to her. There were ghost's plaguing her tonight.

Wynonna had the split second urge to spill the beans about what was bothering her. Standing before her was the living legend of Doc Holliday. Everything she'd ever been told about him made her want to trust him, but there was still that small voice of doubt, the one that that told her he was going to betray her.

From her silence, Henry tried again, "I am here at your disposal should you wish to unburden yourself."

Wynonna scoffed and rolled her eyes to hide the fact she wanted to take Henry up on his offer. "If I want to unburden myself, I drink a bottle of JD."

"That solution does not seem to be providing comfort for you tonight, though." Doc surmised.

Wynonna sighed dejectedly, "Not so much, no."

"Then might I offer an alternative solution." Doc backed up motioning for her to join him. The Earp Heir was battling demons she ought not face alone. He knew the toll it could take; he knew it very well. "Until sunrise, I will answer any question you put to me." Henry offered to help lure her outside, out into a realm he was comfortable with.

Wynonna knew she shouldn't, knew it might mean trouble later on, but she grabbed her jacket and set foot outside her door. "What kind of questions?" She asked standing beside him. "And how will I know you're telling me the truth?"

"On my honor," Henry nodded, "I will tell you the truth."

Wynonna swallowed hard, in the silence between them the horrors of that night came back in full force. She could hear Willa screaming, hear her father fighting for freedom then Peacemaker was in her hand and she was pulling the trigger. It caused her to stop. She didn't want to go in the direction Doc was leading her.

"Wynonna?" Henry turned to look at her. He could see the panic in her face, the instinctual fear of the direction they were walking in.

"Not that way," Wynonna shook her head. That was the direction the revenants had taken Willa. Pointing over her should, she whispered, "I'd rather we go this way."

"Anything you want." Doc replied softly, following her his hand coming to touch the small of her back. He could feel her shaking before she moved away. It wasn't the light chill in the air making her quiver.

A little while later, Wynonna sat in front of the crackling fire that marked Henry's camp on her land. She could bitch about it, but it was better having him close so she could keep an eye on him. She didn't want to admit it, being away from the house helped to quiet the memories she kept reliving. Doc sat off the side watching her. "How do you turn it off?" Wynonna asked.

"Turn it off?" Doc repeated. The language of today's youth still baffled him at times.

"How do you quiet the nightmares?" Wynonna clarified.

"You don't." Doc answered shaking his head. There were nights when he was faced with the many wrongs he'd done, condemned to revisit all the faces of those he'd killed. True, he felt no guilt over those he'd put in the ground, it did not mean that his actions couldn't come back to haunt him.

"What haunts you?" Wynonna asked.

"Who's to say I'm haunted?" Doc asked automatically.

"You promised." Wynonna reminded.

Henry nodded, "That I did." With a sigh, he shifted, angling his body towards her. "I replay the last encounter I had with your great great grand pappy. No one had ever cut me to the quick quite like Wyatt could. Words were exchanged and we never spoke again. Like I already related to you, I regret that we parted on such ill terms."

"What about the men you killed? Don't any of them haunt you?" Wynonna asked. She didn't want to talk about Wyatt yet. There were too many questions and not enough hours before sunrise. Henry's honesty for tonight would only last so long and she had other things on her mind.

"Not a single one." Doc replied smoothly. "The men I put in the ground were bad men that needed killin' and I was much obliged to be the one to do that wicked deed." She looked away from him. "What do you keep reliving?"

Wynonna stared at the fire, she didn't want to answer him, but honesty worked both ways. If Doc was going to tell her the truth, the least she could do was do the same. "I shot my father the night the seven attacked the homestead."

Doc had the good sense to keep his face relaxed to hide the shock he felt radiating through him. A little girl forced to shoot her daddy. "You spared him a fate worse than death."

"Is that supposed to make it all better?!" Wynonna shouted. She got up from where she was sitting so she could pace. Henry came to her then, his hands gripping her shoulders her to bringing her to a halt. "I didn't even think I was aiming at him."

Henry could see the battle she fought inside her, the amount of will she had to keep herself on her feet when it was obvious that she wanted more than anything to fall apart. "It doesn't erase what happened." He whispered.

Wynonna's voice shook when she spoke, "I can't shut out the screams from that night." Why was she telling this to Doc Holliday, who was little more than a stranger? She should be saying all this to Waverly. Except, she was supposed to be the hero, to seem larger than life for her baby sister.

"And you never will, darlin'." Doc commiserated. It pained him to see such darkness having touched her life.

Wynonna sank from his grasp, sitting on the ground with her knees drawn up to her chest. She was trying so hard to stop the quivering she was feeling. Was she shaking like a leaf on the outside too? She couldn't tell. Wynonna didn't want to admit that being this far away from the house helped to lessen the effect of her memories. It felt like running away and she swore to stop.

Henry took a step back and then sat down close to her. "How long has it been since you slept deeply?" If anything, he knew a solid night's sleep would help combat the evils the mind could inflict.

"I don't remember." Wynonna mumbled. "That's what the booze is for." She hadn't been on good terms with sober lately.

"Seeing as I have no libations for which you can use to drown your sorrows, might I suggest something else." Doc offered.

"Sure." Wynonna rolled her eyes.

"Then lie down and look up." Doc stated stretching out.

Wynonna didn't know why she was doing as he asked, but she found herself stretching out on the blanket. She looked up at the sky. The beauty of the night sky was better than she remembered it to be. "How is this supposed to help?"

"Look up at the heavens, seeing all those stars reminds you that all your problems are fleeting in nature." Doc answered.

"What?" Wynonna angled her head to look at Doc, but his eyes were firmly fixed on the night sky. He was trying to help her. She had to remind herself that. After all, he had a hundred plus years on her. Doc was bound to have learned a few tricks to quiet a conscience in all that time. The more she stared up at the night sky, the twinkling stars, the more she felt her eyes grow heavy. Sleep was finally coming to her.

"One day you're going to wake up and all the ill deeds you've done don't bother you, not like they used to." Henry answered. Those who perpetrated violence for so long were bound to grow numb to it. He certainly had, and since she was the Heir, it would happen to her as well. When no sarcastic reply from Wynonna reached his ears, he rolled over to look at her. She had slipped into slumber. For her sake, Henry hoped that it would be deep. Getting up, he shed his coat so he could cover her against the night air. Then sitting opposite, Doc sat down and stoked the fire. He would keep a vigil over her all night.

MORNING:

Wynonna snuggled deeper into the warmth that surrounded her. She didn't want to wake up, not now, but the rays of the sun were cutting across her eyes until she didn't have a choice except to open her eyes. Wynonna stretched and sat up to see the grinning face of Doc Holliday sitting opposite her. It was then she remembered where she was. "I slept out here? All night!"

Henry was mildly amused at Wynonna's reaction. "It was good enough for your great great grand pappy. Just goes to show that you are an Earp through and through." He remarked. "You fell into a deep slumber little darlin, so deep in fact that I felt positively ashamed to even think about waking you."

Wynonna scrubbed her hands over her face. "I'm surprised Waverly hasn't had Dolls putting together a search party."

"Little sister was out here earlier, and she saw fit to berate me, albeit quietly, for luring you from the safety and warmth of your abode." Doc answered getting up. "But you feel refreshed, do you not?" he asked watching her.

Wynonna hated to admit it, she did feel better. Keeping his coat in her grasp, she stood over him. "Thanks everything, Doc." Then she dropped the coat into his lap and walked of back in the direction of the house. She needed a shower and a change of clothes. Wynonna had another day of hunting revenants, finding out more secrets about her family, and hopefully she would find a clue on how she could break the curse, or at least how it got started.

THE END