Notes: Be kind - this is my first foray into fanfic since the dreaded F*berry days.
Just a little something from a prompt (very poorly edited by myself). Both narratives are set some time after season two and before 3x01, the italics are flashbacks, though all pertain to the same night. Enjoy and please do let me know what you think!
She heard it before she saw anything.
"Baby girl – we gotta move."
Wynonna was trying her very best to keep her tone calm; but the loud clattering of revenant fists on wood and the frankly dire odds of survival made that feat pretty difficult. A heavily bleeding Waverly nodded, teeth gritted. The rushed bandage job covering her shoulder was already sopping wet, soaked in crimson. Wynonna nodded back, she forced a tight smile and pressed her forehead momentarily against her little sister before scooping her light frame up into a fireman's carry.
"We got this okay? We're gonna be fine, we always are."
Waverly grimaced, half from the pain and half from the fact she knew her sister was mostly trying to convince herself this wasn't the end. Waverly squeezed her eyes shut, it was getting harder and harder to blink the blurriness of the outside world away.
"Waves, I'm not saying what I did was okay... I know I messed up. I just want you to know that it wasn't never going to come up – I was going to tell you."
"You made me look stupid Nicole! There she was standing all... hot and doctor-y and I was just the complete definition of rabbit in head lights!"
Waverly was pacing, it took all of Nicole's will power not to leave her perch at the end of the bed and envelop her in a tight embrace. Nicole knew it would only make the situation worse though, and that was the furthest thing from what she wanted. For a few moments the wind battering against the Homestead was the only sound in the room.
"I would never intentionally put you in that situation babe, I'm really REALLY sorry. I should have told you. There was no reason I didn't other than me being a coward, there was never going to be a right time for it and I should've known that. Especially with everything going on."
Waverly stopped pacing and took a deep breath in.
"Can you come sit with me? Please."
Nicole's voice had softened almost to a whisper. Waverly looked down at Nicole, she walked closer and the familiar scent of faint vanilla filled the air. The intoxicating energy that surrounded Nicole was always a difficult thing for Waverly to navigate when she was trying to make a point of not being in complete awe of Nicole. Waverly made sure there was a couple of inches between them when she joined her on the bed, not that that helped, at all.
"Who wouldn't want to marry me, I mean - have you seen me?"
Nicole nudged Waverly gently with her elbow, drawing a small smile from her.
"I really am sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel stupid or for this to be sprung on you. I should have told you and that's on me. I just need to know what you need from me to make this better."
Waverly looked down at her hands, clasped together demurely in her lap.
"Is there anything else you thought might come up in the future I might need to know? You don't have a secret demon ex who could kill me by looking at me? Or a brother who's in cahoots with the devil?"
Nicole chuckled, the bed vibrating in rhythm with her shoulders.
"I promise if I remember anything else from my dark and sordid past, you'll be the first to know."
Nicole gingerly reached over and placed her hand over Waverly's.
"Are we okay?"
Waverly turned her hand around and tightly gripped her girlfriend's hand. She looked into the big brown eyes she sought so often and felt her smile growing,
"We will be."
"Okay, we just have to wait them out. The cavalry is going to be here in no time."
Wynonna was absentmindedly stroking Waverly's head. Her hand was starting to stray away from Waverly's hair down to her face as Wynonna surveyed their new location (the living room with a very rushed, not very convincing, 'barrier' in front of the window and door). Waverly didn't mind – the physical contact was helping keep her awake and distracted from the pain, well, that was until Wynonna's finger caught her eye.
"Wynonna you just almost blinded me, I'm already probably down an arm."
She managed to breath out. Wynonna snapped her head back to look at Waverly, who was growing paler by the second.
"Shit, I'm sorry. What can I say, I've always been jealous of your eyeballs."
Waverly started to laugh, regretting it immediately,
"Oh nope, no laughing."
She whispered as a flood of new, sharp pain racked her body.
"Hold tight, I'm just going to check why all those bastards are so quiet all of a sudden."
Waverly reluctantly let go of Wynonna's hand, focusing on breathing and keeping her eyes open as her sister disappeared from view.
Waverly reached out and patted the empty space next to her. She opened her eyes, confused, sleepy and cold. Her bonus blankets were trapped underneath her still fully clothed body.
"Nicole?"
Waverly's sleep-cloaked voice barely carried. She propped herself up on the bed, her room was now bathed in a dusky light. She didn't remember falling asleep, she did remember everything up until then.
Waverly knew Nicole wasn't perfect, she had kept the truth about something extremely important hidden from her twice now. She had to come to terms with the fact she had put Nicole on a pedestal. This was the first time Waverly had ever felt this way, she didn't even know it was possible to feel this much for somebody. Nicole was human, she was human, they had both made mistakes. Waverly still carried guilt over the kiss, but she had meant what she had said. It might take a while, and they both had multiple things they had to work on, but they were going to be okay. Waverly already felt changed, matured – there was a lot of things about the future, her past, and even her present, that were shrouded in uncertainty. With all that being said, Waverly Earp knew that she loved Nicole Haught with everything she had, that was a certainty.
There was a deafening thud, wood splintered and glass shattered as the delicate defense Wynonna had built crashed to the ground in front of Waverly.
"WYNONNA!"
Waverly mustered the little energy she had to yell after her sister. Waverly's sight was wavering and the figure climbing in through the window was just a dark blur. She blinked, her eyelids blood red. Her mind began to conjure up images of her father, and Willa... When she opened her eyes, she was that little girl again, shaking and terrified. Only this time, she was alone.
"Your sister isn't here to save you little girl."
The figure was pulsating, Waverly could feel her heartbeat in her throat.
"I don't need saving."
Waverly spat back at the demon. It laughed, it sounded like fire crackling.
"Interesting, it seems you're not afraid to die... Just... Afraid of what you'll leave behind."
Waverly was using her good arm to prop herself up,
"Can't use your own brain so you're stealing mine?"
Waverly kicked out feebly as the demon moved closer, she caught his leg.
"For that, I'll make sure to kill Nicole slowly."
Waverly grimaced as she attempted to push herself off of the ground -
"You can try."
Nicole's voice rang out from behind her, like a ray of sunshine cracking through a haze of grey, followed by a flurry of gunshots. Waverly turned and caught sight of a hazy mess of red and blue and smiled faintly before she saw black.
"Hey, sorry, I didn't want to wake you."
Waverly was so lost in her musings, she was startled to see Nicole leaning against her bedroom doorframe.
"I think we've both done enough sorry-ing for today."
Nicole nodded vigorously in agreement and walked over to join Waverly on the bed. She brushed a long strand of brown hair away from Waverly's face and behind her ear. Leaving her hand there.
"You're so beautiful, have I told you that lately?"
Waverly smiled into Nicole's hand, brushing a light kiss against her palm.
"Only every day."
Nicole shrugged,
"Oh, not enough then. Got it."
Waverly laughed, the heavy emotional load of the past few weeks seemed to melt away under Nicole's intense gaze.
"I mean, I could always show you, instead of telling you."
Nicole's voice dropped to a sultry whisper.
"Go on.."
Waverly replied, desire laced her voice as Nicole slowly leaned in. Waverly's heartbeat picked up, the anticipation, her desire, all caught in the small space between their lips. It felt like a lifetime and no time all at once, Nicole's lips brushed against Waverly's and the charged air ignited.
The space between them disappeared almost instantaneously, Waverly pressed her body against Nicole's as she backed her into the bed, she tilted her head and deepened the kiss – her tongue brushing against Nicole's bottom lip. Nicole's hand inched beneath Waverly's tank top, up towards her chest. Waverly broke the kiss, grabbed Nicole's hands and pushed them up behind her head. Nicole wordlessly complied, watching with hooded eyes as Waverly straddled her and removed the tank top – Nicole took a moment to admire the beautifully sculpted body before pulling Waverly back into a passionate kiss. The bonus blankets fell to the floor, forgotten, with the rest of their clothes. Make up sex was the best sex.
"So then I see a squad car pull in, Dolls, Doc, and Haught all pile out and I swear dude – you looked like you were possessed. I was coming out of the barn since that's where I thought all these revenants where hiding out, and I just see her sprinting towards the Homestead, shooting down the door. She managed to hold the asshole off long enough for me to make it inside and finish him off with Peacemaker. Turns out it wasn't a bunch of them, this guy could basically clone himself. That's why when he decided to break in it got all quiet, he could only kill one of us as a 'single entity' I guess."
Wynonna was still buzzing, she was talking with her hands so much Nicole was worried for her safety sitting right next to her. Waverly waited patiently for the end of the story, watching her sister with admiration. She could feel Nicole gently grazing her thumb over her hand, that and Wynonna's voice was making the stuffy hospital room a lot more bearable.
"So clones Mc-revenant was standing there all shocked and I think that's probably when you passed out – Nicole drew his attention away from you though, he started to come at her and I was like I think the fuck not and BAM, back to hell."
Wynonna smiled, clearly pleased with herself, a genuine smile – one that had been missing for a while. Waverly couldn't help but smile back, she pulled he good hand away from Nicole momentarily to squeeze her sister's arm,
"You'll always be my hero Wynonna."
Wynonna's eyes moistened and she nodded, saying more than words could.
"I'll leave you two alone, this girl needs coffee."
Wynonna cut through the emotional silence, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Waverly's cheek. She held her hand up for a high-five, Nicole's hand barely grazed hers. They made eye-contact and both started to laugh at the same time,
"Yeah, we gotta work on that Officer."
Wynonna threw over her shoulder as she left the room. Nicole and Waverly sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, both thankful for the time alone, for each other.
"My other hero."
Waverly gushed melodramatically as she reached out and cupped Nicole's cheek.
"No, you're mine"
Nicole replied more seriously,
"Oh no, we're that couple, aren't we?"
Waverly cringed but it was ruined when she broke out into a huge grin,
"You bet we are."
Nicole held Waverly's hand against her cheek, closed her eyes and savoring the touch of her girlfriend.
"I love you, Waverly Earp."
"I love you too Nicole Haught."
Nicole stood up, leaned over the bed and lightly kissed Waverly. A gentle, heart-warming kiss.
"Let's try to keep our time in hospital beds to a minimum, deal?"
Waverly mumbled into Nicole's lips,
"Agreed, I'd much rather spend time in your bed doing, other things."
"Like crosswords?"
Nicole laughed,
"Yes Waves, like crosswords."