It felt like the walls were closing in and your chest was taking the brunt of it all, sure it would cave in any minute from the pressure building there. You weren't sure you were even breathing and your mind was so murky that you couldn't figure out how to successfully get air to your lungs, let alone form words.
You convinced yourself that this was it. That last night you overreacted, over-analyzed the situation, you let yourself hope for one second that she felt even a fraction of what you felt for her; she was just drunk, she got caught up in the moment, she just wasn't that into you . You were sure that whatever you had with Waverly was about three seconds from being shattered into oblivion; and all because you thought you were doing everyone a favor. Looking back, it was stupid. They would have all been on your side, their fight or not. But that's what you were afraid of, what you're still afraid of; that they would fight your battle and lose. You didn't think you'd be able to live with yourself then. If you were the only one that made it out of this because of something you never wanted in the first place. Because of a curse.
You trained your eyes on the plate Waverly still held in her lap, the mug of coffee placed somewhere on the floor next to the bed, probably lukewarm and coagulated, and studied the spots on the bacon where the grease burned the fat into a black charcoal, using it as a distraction from how close Waverly was sitting to you on the twin mattress. She was running her fingernail over a chip in the plate and staring at you, the words tumbling loosely from her lips falling on deaf ears. She was nervously rambling, but all you heard was the damned scratch her nail made every time it went over the break in the ceramic. It wasn't until Waverly placed her hand gently over yours and squeezed while Ana more or less shook you from your thoughts, practically begging for you to hear her out, that you actually heard your name. It nearly knocked you back into the mattress, how it tumbled from her lips. It hurt to breathe and you weren't sure that wasn't from the way Waverly was looking at you then, pleading for you to just meet her halfway.
"Nicole, look at me." You couldn't. You felt trapped, the room too little for the amount of weight the inevitable conversation held. You thought that if you looked into Waverly's eyes and caught what you feared looking back at you, your heart wouldn't be able to take it. It was already thrashing wildly underneath your rib cage, erratic and uncontrollable, you weren't sure it was strong enough to handle Waverly Earp tearing it from your chest and breaking it into an infinite amount of jagged pieces. Especially not if she was looking at you like that while she did it. " Nicole . Please."
Your resolve broke along with the crack in her voice. It concerned you, how easily it happened. But this was Waverly you were talking about, what else were you supposed to do?
When you met her eyes, they were filled with a need so violently present it terrified you. But there was something else there too, hidden just below the surface; she was vulnerable, she needed you to understand. Whatever she wanted to say would be important, you just weren't sure it was something you could handle.
"Rosita and I-" Nope . Definitely not something you could handle at the moment, not with the image of them together as fresh as it was.
"Wait," You choked out, ripping your hand out from under hers as though her touch alone suddenly scorched blisters into your flesh. You wanted to be anywhere but there; cornered, trapped under Waverly's stare. You turned your attention to where her hand fell to rest on your leg; even with a blanket between you, her touch was still hot enough to burn. A part of you wanted to push her out of the way just so you could get a breath of air that wasn't filled with Waverly . Even the slight trace of her left on the blanket she used and the pillow you slept on was too much. "Waverly, you're allowed to kiss whoever you want-" You were surprised the words made it out coherently with how shaky your voice was. She let out a sharp exhale through her nose and shook her head, frustrated, exasperated. With you or the situation, it was hard to tell.
"Nicole, I didn't want to kiss Rosita ." Your head snapped up at her confession, your eyes finding hers immediately, as she was already watching you.
"What do you mean?" You asked, rightfully confused, eyebrows furrowed. "I saw-"
"She was there and I thought maybe she could help sort some things out for me! But it didn't work and- Ugh , I wanted it to be you , you big, insanely attractive d-dummy," Waverly groaned, clearly annoyed at herself. She threw her free arm into the space between the two of you, nearly knocking the plate of food from her lap, no longer steaming in the cool air, and continued. "-but I was so mad at you that I convinced myself I wanted nothing to do with you, that we had to maintain professional boundaries at the bare minimum- " She spit the word boundaries from her tongue like it was poison and Ana beamed . Apparently the disdain for that idea was mutual.
"Ouch." Her words didn't really have any bite to them, not toward you anyway, you were more or less stuck on the fact that Waverly had just admitted to wanting to kiss you , not Rosita, but figured you should force something else out of your mouth other than the constant scream of me too! rattling around your brain like the beads of a maraca in the hands of a toddler. Ouch wasn't what you were hoping for, but it helped to quell the smile that threatened to break out on your face.
"You did that to yourself," Waverly chastised playfully, a barely there smirk at the corner of her mouth, her hands working at a loose thread in the blanket over your legs.
"Yeah, I kinda did, didn't I…" You cringed, your mind going over every moment you made up an excuse to avoid Waverly in the last week or so. Waverly noticed and bumped her knee against your thigh to get your attention again.
" Yes , so maybe stop trying to make decisions for me and let me have a say in what I want for once? Everyone is always trying to control me and I'm sick of it. I'm my own person and I deserve to have a say." There was no malice behind her words, only power. You nodded, she was right after all, and you wanted to tell her as such, but just like the flip of a switch, you watched her pause, her eyes on you , but not entirely focused. It only lasted a second, nothing more before her eyes returned to yours, determined. Something in Waverly changed and suddenly it was as if whatever need she wanted to voice before had been replaced by something else entirely. Waverly's eyes darkened, pupils blown as she quickly removed the plate of food that was hindering her path to you, nervous energy making her tip it a smidge too much and knocking a few eggs to the floor, but neither of you paid much attention. You were too busy physically holding yourself back and hoping you were reading the situation right.
In a shaky breath, you couldn't help but wonder aloud, "And what is it that you want, Waverly?"
"For you to stop talking," she answered immediately, her eyes locked onto yours. If a whine escaped your throat, neither of you acknowledged it; you were too busy trying not to squirm at the heat building low in your stomach and Waverly looked like the only thing on her mind was you . You managed a smirk though and barely got out a snarky yes, ma'am before Waverly surged forward, hands gripping you by the collar of your t-shirt, stretching it, ruining it, and mumbling I said shut up into the space between your lips. Your noses bumped together at the force of her pull, but eventually, quickly, your lips found hers and she was kissing you, hard, almost desperate, her lips shaking. Your hands found her waist in an attempt to ground yourself. Your head was spinning, your body felt like it was floating up off the mattress and your only tether to reality was the warmth of Waverly's skin underneath your fingertips. And then, all too quickly, she was backing away, leaving you chasing after her, chest heaving, panting.
Her hands stayed at your collar, smoothing down the material of your shirt, wrinkled beyond repair. The brush of her thumb over your skin sent goosebumps scattering across your entire body, but your only concern was her .
Her eyes met yours in the dim, artificial light of the room, a shadow from the bedpost across half her face, and dust swirling above your heads. "Now that that's out of the way...I actually did want to talk to you." Her words were hoarse, a whisper, as if you stole her breath straight from her lungs; you knew the feeling. It gave you a greedy sense of accomplishment and something hot bloomed in your chest as you watched her try to control her breathing.
"Oh, you mean with actual words?" You teased, voice only a little less shaky than before, but this time because of a completely different reason. She pouted, bottom lip jutted out almost comically. You laughed, a soft exhale through your nose, scooting further down the bed so that your head was on the pillow once more, Waverly practically in your lap at this point.
"I had a speech planned and you're ruining it." She placed a hand to your chest, patting it slightly before settling, palm over your heart. Ana was thriving in her touch, a welcome sense of warmth in the cool air of the cabin, still on a high from the feeling of having Waverly's lips bruise yours so surely.
" I'm ruining it?" You chuckled, "I believe you kissed me , Waverly Earp." Waverly rolled her eyes, her face heating up at hearing her name fall from your lips, and waved her hand dismissively. Details .
"Yeah well, you have bedhead . It's kind of adorable." She was watching you with absolute adoration in her eyes, her features soft.
"I do not!" you scoffed, a hand immediately going to your head, hoping to pat down the flyaway pieces that you could picture splayed out across your pillow.
"You most definitely do ," Waverly laughed, angelic, music to your oversensitive ears, and grabbed your hand to stop it. The movement brought you two closer, nearly chest-to-chest.
"It's adorable though?" You asked, almost child-like, genuinely concerned. Instead of answering properly, Waverly simply leaned down and closed the space between you with another kiss, short and sweet and everything you ever wanted, while her hand twirled a lock of hair at the back of your neck.
"Nicole?" she whispered against your lips. You answered with a hum, brain not fully comprehending anything past the fact that Waverly Earp just kissed you, twice . And she responded with a muffled shush as she slid further down your body, moving the blanket out of the way as she went. When her head was pressed to your chest, one hand tucked under your shirt and spread out over your stomach, palming the scar there, a leg draped over your thighs, you melted, happily sighing out a hushed gladly .
You fell back asleep to the feeling of having Waverly's body pressed fully into yours, a smile on your face and a thrumming in your veins that happened every time she exhaled and her breath ghosted across your skin. You were in a state of complete bliss, Ana right there with you, every part of you warm, content.
It couldn't have been more than an hour later before some outside source caused your eyelids to flutter open, but it didn't register right then what it was. You were distracted by the way Waverly's hair tickled your nose every time you inhaled, how her nose, chilled in the cool air, was pressed snug to your collarbone. How she fit between your legs and how right it felt to have her wrapped around you...
You silently hoped she couldn't hear the ferocity with which your heart was trying to escape your chest, just beneath her head.
When Waverly stirred, it was with a yawn and a stretch that ended with her eyes sleepily gazing into yours, barely open, her chin resting atop her hands folded over your chest. You smiled down at her and swept a wayward piece of her hair out of her face and safely tucked it behind her ear. "Sleep okay?" you whispered, not wanting to break whatever mid-morning spell the two of you were under.
She answered with a simple 'mhmm' , an easy smile gracing her features. That is, until a mischievous grin took over and she followed up with, "...though I had the weirdest dream that you were married…" You pretended the jab stung, recoiling with a dramatic mock gasp and a hand to your chest.
"Really?" you exclaimed. 'Cause I had a really weird dream that you were makin' out with a hot chemist in a lab coat." Waverly cracked with a hint of a smile, but only for a fraction of a second before she recomposed herself and looked at you with that stern Earp glare.
"She was not wearing a lab coat."
You pretended to think back on it and shrugged. "Hm, sorry, I must've been too distracted by your-" You didn't get to finish your sentence before Waverly was leaning forward and pushing her lips forcefully into yours, effectively cutting off whatever stupid thing was about to come out of your mouth and you found yourself giggling into Waverly's instead.
Then, because all good things must eventually come to an end (and Waverly's lips on yours was a very good thing), the two of you were interrupted by a series of loud thumps on the bedroom door, causing you both to jump at the sudden break in the silence. You had barely enough time to calm your racing heart when you heard Wynonna's voice through the wood, a slight tremor in it that immediately put Ana on alert and caused the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end, "Hey, you two, we got company!" Waverly looked up at you, slightly panicked, but more confused than anything. Until the unwelcome guest finally spoke and your eyes went wide, matching Waverly's expression exactly.
" Bobo ?" Waverly whispered, her breath hot on your skin. You could feel her tremble underneath your fingertips, whether she remembered what he did to her or if it was her body remembering, you weren't certain, but it kicked you and Ana into protective mode and you breathed a curse into the still air between you, a confirmation that you heard him too. Waverly immediately rolled off of you, narrowly avoiding the plate of untouched food on the floor. You jumped up, grabbing the first hoodie you saw hanging out of one of the drawers of your dresser and threw it on. You made the decision to grab your sidearm from where you left it in your gun safe before you left for Chicago, tucked into your belt, not bothering to silence the growl that ripped from your throat with the action.
Without a second thought, Waverly reached under the bed and pulled out the shotgun she occasionally wielded while out on patrol with Wynonna. You raised an eyebrow and she shrugged, but said nothing further...until you caught sight of what she was wearing. "Is that my shirt?" you asked, head slightly tilted. She was wearing your flannel and a pair of black sleep shorts, rolled at the waist several times over. A brief thought crossed your mind that you hadn't exactly remembered giving her your shirt, but that was a question for another time. Waverly's face went about as red as your hair and you were about to comment on it, but then Wynonna was yelling through the door again and the moment was gone.
You shook your head to get it back in sync with where Ana was at and carefully opened the bedroom door, stepping out before Waverly, but hanging back to be in step with her as you walked further into the living room. Wynonna was standing four feet from the open front door, glaring, her gun trained on a man wearing only a midnight black wolf's pelt over his bare shoulders and a pair of dirty jeans, held up by a leather belt with a gaudy buckle, snow blowing across the floorboards around his bare feet.
Wynonna only took her eyes off the intruder to chance a glance in your direction, before rolling her eyes. "Oh! Look what the cat dragged in!" she exclaimed, immediately doing a double take, eyeing Waverly's choice of dress and commented, "wait, isn't that Haught's shirt?" Waverly's face flushed a shade darker. If it had been literally any other situation you might've snickered, but the man that kidnapped your best friend's sister was still standing in your doorway uninvited.
"Waverly, long time no see. How are you, my angel? You gave us quite a scare back there, didn't think you'd catch hypothermia…" There was something in Bobo's tone that suggested otherwise and Waverly shuddered. You sidestepped closer to Waverly, silently switching the safety off on your sidearm, and let out a low warning growl, hoping he'd get the hint. He didn't. "Ah, Nicole, still working on controlling your temper I see. You know, what you did to Jack was a little overkill, don't you think? You should probably work on that. I mean, what if it had been poor, innocent Waverly here? How do you think Wyn-" You didn't let him finish his sentence before you found yourself inches in front of him, your gun pressing into his chin, your chest heaving, vision red. Wynonna and Waverly were talking over each other, but you couldn't hear anything they were saying, you were entirely focused on the man in front of you. He was smirking, not an ounce of fear in his eyes, which only upset you more. You could feel your entire body thrumming with anger, your chest vibrating with each growl, but you could only hear a steady ringing in your ears. Until he muttered a single word. Greek. Images of it painted in your brother's blood on your front door popped into your head. "Φόνισσα." Killer. Murderer. You .
Your stunned silence gave Bobo enough time to turn his body and crouch low to the ground, you watched as he shifted, his bones cracking, reforming, his limbs elongating, transforming, all within seconds. You recognized it immediately and in a split second you were bounding down the front steps after him on all fours. You barely heard Waverly and Wynonna calling your name as you followed him into the trees.
It wasn't long before you started to realize you didn't recognize any part of the forest surrounding you. It was a lot thicker than the area you were familiar with, there weren't any noticeable trails, and the air was getting thinner, but you didn't remember going uphill at any point. With that thought came the realization that you were no longer a hair's width from Bobo's hide, zigzagging between trees, his tail nearly between your teeth. You could still smell him, but his tracks weren't visible in the snow anymore. You put the brakes on, sliding in the snow, and took a second to sniff the air. You caught a whiff of his scent from your left and took off at a full sprint through the overgrown brush.
You were focused entirely on catching up to Bobo and not letting him get away, not really paying attention to where you were running and Ana's warning came too late. You heard the snap of the trap before you felt your bone shatter between its teeth. You were sure they could hear the scream that erupted from your throat back at the cabin. And if being caught in a Chernobyl sized bear trap wasn't enough, you could've sworn you felt the burn of silver on top of it all and your mind went straight to Bobo. You refused to look down, afraid of what you might find and what it would mean for your human-self. But you didn't get to dwell on it much further because a rustling in the trees captured your attention and the last thing you remembered after that was a " what the hell are you waiting for?! shoot her, Carl! " followed by a prick on the right side of your neck as your world faded to black.
As you regained consciousness, two things became very apparent: 1, Nicole Haught was no longer consciously present in the body the two of you occasionally shared. You could feel her, deep below the surface, you knew you were still physically a part of her, but she was silent. Your heartbeat was your own; the body - yours , The Wolf. Nicole was dormant and it was very unsettling.
And 2, you were in a great deal of pain. A large muzzle restricted your snout, burning with every minute twitch; you were tied to a large tree, bound by a chain that looped around your neck and burned into your flesh every time you tried to get a better look at your surroundings; and a spot on your neck, just behind your jaw, burned worse than the fire that destroyed your original body.
You thought maybe if you could transform back into Nicole's body, she would wake up and be able to remove the bindings easier than you, but whenever you tried to reach out to her, you got nothing but an eerie silence in return and without Nicole, you couldn't change. It took everything in you to stay as calm as possible, not wanting to injure yourself (or Nicole) any further, but there were even things (and people) in this world that scared you . The frantic beating of your heart made sure you wouldn't forget.
You and Doc followed the two sets of wolf tracks for miles through the trees by snowmobile, while Waverly and Jeremy stood by with the truck, waiting for your signal and a location ping before heading out. Meanwhile, Dolls and Eliza took off on foot in the direction from which Bobo appeared, hoping it would lead them straight to his current hideout and hopefully others that may be working with him. Dolls had a plan, and normally you wouldn't listen to it, but this was Nicole. Nicole, your sister's more than something and your...best friend. It was getting easier and easier to say that now...it only made you a little queasy at the thought.
It took over an hour and several (probably) frostbitten toes later (turns out your combat boots weren't weather proof…), but eventually you followed the tracks to what looked like a trail of blood in the wake of a wolf sized trench. Red dots speckled the snow, a glaring contrast in the sea of blinding white. Doc jumped off his snowmobile and knelt down, scooping up a handful of red stained snow into his glove while you drew your revolver and watched his back, aiming at nothing just beyond the treeline. There was no other evidence that someone had been there. The woods were quiet, the wind still, not a single sign of life other than you and Doc blowing clouds of mist from your mouths. The sudden realization made the hairs at the back of your neck stand on end and a violent cold coil around your bones.
You looked back to Doc, hoping he was as ready to get the hell out of there as you were. He was standing at his full height now, something else in his hand that replaced the snow. A tuft of shockingly red hair. You stared at it, the pit in your stomach growing. Seeing the look in your eye, he nodded and dropped the hair from his fingers as he pulled his Colt from his holster at his hip. The two of you continued on foot, following the drag marks left in the snow, stopping every once in a while to inspect a particularly large patch of blood or another bundle of red hair.
The trail led you straight to Nicole, or what you thought was Nicole. The second the wolf saw you, it bared it's teeth as much as it could behind a heavy-duty muzzle and let out a low precursory growl, the hair on her back raising, something you took to mean, back the fuck up or else . Seeing as she was chained to a tree and didn't make any further move to attack, you figured she quite literally couldn't and took that as a sign to approach. You did so cautiously, holstering your gun and raising your hands to show you meant her no harm.
"Nicole?" You asked, hoping her eyes gave you a sign that she recognized you. She answered with another growl that sent spittle flying into the space between you, followed by a bark so loud it pierced your eardrums. You jumped and paused midstep, arms still raised.
"I'm not quite sure that's our Nicole, darlin...'" You looked back at Doc and rolled your eyes, he just shrugged, his mustache twitching.
You turned back around to look the wolf directly in the eye and asked again, "Ana?", this time she whimpered, but bared her teeth nonetheless, still on guard. You took another step closer then stopped, knowing then she could at least understand you. "We're not going to hurt you, Ana. We want to get you out of here and take you home." It was then that you realized she wasn't putting any weight on her back leg. You squinted, trying to get a better look without moving any closer, and saw that it was pretty badly mangled. The fur around her shin was stained red and the ankle itself was bent at an unnatural angle. "Fuck, Doc, her leg…"
"Call Waverly with the truck, there's no way we're getting her out of here like that with just the two of us." You radioed to Waverly that you found Ana - you made sure to put emphasis on that fact - and that she was hurt and the three of you needed help. After receiving confirmation from Waverly that they were on their way, you turned back to Doc, scowling.
"That fucker's going to pay, I swear to-"
"Darlin', let's focus on getting her somewhere safe then by all means, I'll be the first in line to shoot the bastard where it hurts," he interrupted.
"In the dick!"
"Sure…"
In the meantime, while you waited for Waverly and Jeremy, you slowly began to make your way over to Ana. She had since stopped baring her teeth and was now only whimpering, her tail between her legs. You didn't think she recognized you and that was a problem, but you also realized there was a pattern. Bobo did the same thing to Waverly...whatever that "thing" was.
Eventually, you made it within arm's length of the wolf. She was exhausted, her eyes droopy and glassy, her legs shaky and barely able to hold up her weight. He really did a number on her. She was trying with everything she had to protect herself, to look intimidating.
"We're not going to hurt you," you whispered, reaching out to let her smell the back of our hand. You had no idea if that was the right thing to do, werewolves were kind of out of your realm of expertise. Ana snapped her teeth at you as much as she could with the muzzle on and let out another warning bark causing you to jump and back up on instinct. You took a deep breath and another step closer.
" Wynonna… "
You ignored him, reaching out again. This time she only growled, her ears straight up, alert. You noticed singe marks where the muzzle made contact with the skin around her snout and followed the slope of her neck to where the chain holding her back was burning into the flesh underneath. " silver ," you mumbled, Ana whined in response. You looked up into her eyes and slowly reached behind her ears to where the muzzle was clasped tightly around her head and as quickly as you could manage, you unbuckled the clasp and jumped back as the muzzle fell to the ground. Ana shook her head and rubbed at her nose with her paw before making eye contact with you again, whimpering. With all the strength she had she lowered herself down into the snow and let her head fall to rest on her front paws, never breaking eye contact. You stepped forward again, not bothering with trying to be cautious, the chain was literally burning her and you could see she wasn't going to hurt you, not anymore. You made quick work of removing the chain from around her neck without injuring her any further, she thanked you with a nudge to your calf.
Not wanting to push your luck, you took a step back and sat in the snow, wet leather pants be damned, and waited like that, eyes never leaving hers, until Waverly showed up with the truck. Doc was somewhere behind you, Ana was watching him wearily as he paced the treeline.
It didn't take Waverly that much longer to find you. She had parked just behind the treeline, approaching slow and cautious in the truck, not wanting to frighten the wolf. You hadn't given her a heads up (even though maybe you should have), but she was the smart one, she just knew. The wolf was on high alert the second she smelled someone else in the vicinity, but you simply whispered that they were with you and that they were good people and Ana calmed down a bit. As soon as Waverly cleared the treeline, Jeremy in tow, you could've sworn Ana's eyes lit up with recognition and relief and suddenly it felt as if a giant weight had been lifted from your shoulders. A part of you knew if anyone would get through to Ana, it'd be your sister. You just didn't know whether or not she would worried you so much.
Ana excitedly stood up, momentarily forgetting she was injured, and almost immediately her legs buckled out from under her as she realized her mistake. Waverly was welcomed with a pained cry so heartbreaking it nearly shattered you. You weren't sure it was entirely because of her injured leg. Waverly nearly broke down, but you watched her steel herself and make the rest of the way to you hastily, but with heed.
"What the fuck happened to her?" You didn't need to say his name for Waverly to know, you just looked into her eyes. Bobo. She filled her lungs with another deep breath, preparing herself before sending Jeremy to bring the truck over.
In the meantime, she approached Ana with her arms raised, showing her she was unarmed and not going to hurt her. As soon as Waverly was within reach, Ana nuzzled her nose into Waverly's neck and Waverly buried her face into the wolf's fur. You left them to join Doc a few meters away.
"I reckon Nicole's in there somewhere."
"She didn't recognize us Doc..."
"The same thing happened with Waverly, she'll come around." All you could respond with was that you hoped so. You didn't know what would happen if Nicole was gone.
Jeremy made slow work with the truck, but you figured it was better to be cautious than to risk spooking the wolf again. She was already hurt enough.. When Jeremy eventually got the truck lined up, you released a pullout ramp, usually used for the snowmobiles, but those would have to wait. Waverly led Ana up into the bed of the truck and it dipped slightly when she flopped over onto her side, curling up as tight as she could. Waverly followed up the ramp behind her and you protested slightly before climbing into the bed of the truck yourself. You told Doc to follow behind on a snowmobile while Jeremy returned to the driver's seat after returning the ramp and closing the bed. Waverly watched you carefully, one eyebrow raised in question, as you sat down and got comfortable for the long drive. You only shrugged in response and mumbled, "that's my best friend in there...somewhere...". Waverly only nodded and took your hand, giving it a squeeze. You squeezed it back, scooting lower into the bed of the truck to protect yourself from the wind.
With Doc tailing close behind and Jeremy behind the wheel, you figured it wouldn't hurt to maybe take a nap, but as soon as your mind started drifting into that blissful ocean of black nothing, Ana whimpered and jolted you awake. You reached for your gun, but paused at the look on Waverly's face as she stared at the side of the wolf's neck, her hands frozen in place, careful not to touch a certain spot just behind her jaw. You were about to explain to Waverly how she was chained up to a fucking tree with a silver chain, but Waverly turned to meet your eyes and your words got caught in your throat.
Her eyes filled with tears as she whispered, "Wyn, she's marked."