The fabric of the bullet proof was far rougher against her skin than Waverly could ever have imaged.
"Do I really need to wear this?" She asked begrudgingly looking around to the group.
"Yes." The living room chorused back in unison.
It was just after 3pm and the group had reconvened at Nicole's once again, this time preparing for what should be the final assault against a Revenant.
"We don't know what we could be walking into Waverly." Dolls said as he tightened his own vest across his broad chest. "So everyone wears one." He tossed another vest across the room to Wynonna who caught it. The heir opened her mouth to protest but with one harsh look from the special agent began to put it on. Jeremy and Doc practically scrambled to put theirs on without the slightest bit of hesitation.
"Where's Nicole?" Dolls asked suddenly looking around holding up the one remaining vest.
"I don't think she will be needing that." Wynonna smirked as she tightening her own vest. "On account of her being already dead and such."
Ignoring her comment Dolls raised an eyebrow towards Waverly.
"She's just at the station." The younger woman said doggedly. "Checking in with Nedley. She said she wouldn't be too late."
No one needed to comment on what "checking in with Nedley" meant. Nicole was saying goodbye to the sheriff. The man who had become her pseudo father figure over the last few years. Wynonna couldn't help but wonder if the man would cry.
"So how was your night?" Wynonna asked sidling up to her sister, just out of earshot of the rest of the group, who were now unpacking the arsenal of guns Dolls had brought. "Get a little Haught heavy or should I say you get some Haught head?"
"Wynonna!" Waverly snapped, sharply smacking her sister across of the back of her head.
"Ow." Wynonna recoiled from the blow. "Yeesh. I just wanted to know if you got much sleep, I didn't need you scissor my head like that."
The room just stared at Wynonna. She groaned.
"Okay, I know that was a bad one. Cut me some slack. It's a high-pressure day. Cut me some slack. I'm only operating at 69% here."
Luckily for all involved it was that moment that Nicole entered the house.
"Hey." She greeted everyone tentatively, sensing the sparks absolutely flaring from Waverly's nostrils. Her eyes fell on her partner's attire.
"Bullet proof vests." She clocked that her fellows were also wearing them and nodded in agreement at Dolls. "Good idea."
"I thought so. We aren't taking any chances with this one." The broad man said firmly, grateful for the redirection in terms of conversation topics.
"Right then." Wynonna said, clasping the last strap of her Kevlar vest. "Shall we get going before Waverly and Haught go for a solid round 12?"
Nicole quickly wrapped her arms around Waverly's waist to prevent her from tackling her sister.
XXXX
"Time check?" Dolls said eyes pressed to the scope of his sniper rifle.
"4:45." Nicole said, glancing at her watch. "20 minutes to go."
The group was gathered on their familiar hilltop unpacking their guns and supplies. Once again Nicole was donning her vibrant reflective vest. They were not going to take any chances of her being shot by Wynonna too early.
Around them the sun was just beginning to set, casting them all in an eerie dust.
"Should we start getting into position then?" Waverly asked nervously. She'd replaced her usual sawed off shotgun in favour of a small pistol, which was feeling very heavy in its holster on her hip. She hoped she wouldn't have to fire it. Not that it would do much good against O'Grady anyway.
Dolls scanned the gun outpost's perimeter once more through his scope before turning to the group. "I think it's time."
Wynonna took a deep breath and doubled checked Peacemaker's cylinder and trigger.
Jeremy began muttering to himself while bouncing up and down as if giving himself a pep talk.
Both Doc and Dolls were stoic and silent, eyes and mind focused on the task at hand.
"Hey." Nicole said quietly reaching out and taking Waverly's hand. "Come over here for a second."
No one said a word as the couple moved out of earshot just down the hill.
Once they stopped walking Nicole immediately placed her hands on Waverly face and looked into the brunette's eyes. "You be careful." She said earnestly. "Don't you do anything stupid."
Waverly chuckled to try and fend off the nervousness that was threatening to overcome her. "Shouldn't' you be telling that to Wynonna?"
Nicole smiled. "I would, but I know it wouldn't do any good. She's gonna do what she's gonna do no matter what I say." She lowered herself slightly so she was looking at Waverly eye to eye. "I'm serious though. Wynonna needs to be in the thick of things, she needs to be the one to do this. You don't Waverly." The smaller woman felt small nervous tears in her eyes. "I don't want you getting hurt. My fate is sealed, and I wont lose you before I have to."
Tears streaming down her face, Waverly just nodded. "I'll be careful." She said. "But Nicole?" She said putting her hands over Nicole's so the redhead couldn't let go of her just yet. "What are we going to do after?" She sobbed. "How are we ever going to say goodbye?"
Nicole pulled her partner into a tight hug, resting her chin of the top of Waverly's head. "Don't think about that." She said, feeling a few tears spilling down her face as well. "Let's just get through this. Okay?" She smiled grimly. "I promise I wont let your sister shoot me early. Okay?"
She wiped the tears from Waverly's eyes. "Okay." The brunette hiccupped. "I promise not to be stupid." She said, her sobs abating.
"Or too brave." Nicole added in a mock serious tone.
Waverly laughed loudly and let Nicole wrap her once more into a tight hug.
"Hey." Dolls came towards them. "Sorry to interrupted, but we really need to get ready."
"Yeah." The women said together looking to their friend. "Coming." Nicole added as he turned his back and made his way back up the hill.
"Okay." Waverly said wiping the last evidence of her tears away. "We've got this."
Nicole leaned down and gave her partner a soft kiss. "We've got this." She all but whispered before taking Waverly's hand and leading her back to the group.
A few minutes later the group had fanned out over the outposts property. Jeremy and Waverly setting up near O'Grady's car. Dolls on the north edge of the property, Doc on the South. Nicole and Wynonna would enter the building from the west through the only entrance. The officer and heir stood next to each other just within the treeline. Both ready to practically jump out of their own skin.
"Earp." Nicole said, feeling her body starting to slip into her quiet calm police officer mode. "You'll look after her right. Keep her safe through the rest of this?"
Wynonna too was slipping into a calm fighting state. "I will Haught, I promise."
Nicole nodded calmly more to herself than Wynonna. "And you'll take care of yourself too right?" She said glancing down at the heir. Wynonna looked up at her friend. "I will."
Accepting this Nicole pondered whether or not she had anything else she needed to say. Then it came to her. "Thanks." She said looking back to the brunette. "For letting me into this wild world of yours and for all you've done for me."
Wynonna took a deep breath, quelling any emotions that were threatening to bubble. "You too Haught. Thanks for everything you've done for me and my family."
With that Nicole's watch let out three succinct beeps, signally to them that it was 5:05. Time to begin their assault.
Nodding to one another the two women quickly approached the front door of the outpost, weapons drawn. Wynonna kicked the door in before stepping aside for Nicole who entered to clear the room. To both of their surprise the outpost was empty. Wynonna lowered Peacemaker and scanned the room in confusion.
"O'Grady!" she yelled, "Get your Revenant ass out here."
Nicole kept scanning the room, weapon drawn and pointed outwards. Where was he? As she did a full 360 the officer caught sight of something odd above the door. Long red wires were run along the top of it. She followed the wiring with her eyes to see them tied off to a small device next to the door's lock.
"Shit!" She exclaimed, holstering her gun and quickly wrapping and arm around Wynonna's waist. She began to pull/carry the surprised brunette through already open door. She had just managed to clear the building with Wynonna before the whole place completely exploded.
The force of the fiery explosion propelled them both forward and they landed in a heap some 15 feet away from the structure, which was now completely ablaze.
"Wynonna!" Nicole coughed as she crawled to over to the heir, who was laying flat on her back. "WYNONNA!"
"I'm good." Wynonna rasped sitting herself up and giving herself a quick once over. "Shit Haught!" She exclaimed in horror staring at Nicole.
The redhead turned to look at herself and was surprised to see her back fully ablaze. "Shit! Shit!" She exclaimed, though she couldn't actually feel the burning of her flesh the sight of seeing yourself on fire was enough to send anyone into a panic. The officer dropped and rolled while simultaneously stripping herself of her jacket.
Once she was flame free Nicole looked back to Wynonna then to the burning building. She growled in frustration. "He must have known we were coming."
"Mother trucker." Wynonna's tone equally pissed off. "Or maybe he's just always been paranoid wires his bullet barn every time he closes it."
Nicole nodded in acknowledgement she was just about to get to her feet when the sound of gunfire sent her to the ground again.
"Nicole!" Wynonna cried out, hitting the deck, hands over her head.
"I'm good." The officer grunted pounding her fists on the ground before, slowly rising. "Just the shoulder and leg." Her eyes had begun to burn red with embers, her Revenant strength beginning to grow along with her temper. This was meant to have been easy; O'Grady blowing them up wasn't in the plan. And who knew what happened to the others. Waverly and Jeremy were supposed to be at the man's truck, which had been next to the building. What if something had happened to them?
As she stood straight Nicole once again felt bullets hit her, this time in the back and knee. She barely felt them, her rage, fear, and need for this all to be over allowing her to push past any effect the bullets might have had on her. In that moment she was not truly Nicole Haught but a pissed off demon that was going to end this.
"Haught?" Wynonna asked worriedly, sensing the danger in her friend.
"O'Grady!" Nicole roared. "I'm gonna kill you." Then she was running or sprinting rather, faster than any human could ever have imagined. A few more bullets fired at her but they did little to slow her down. Wynonna watched impressed as the officer disappeared into the treeline in the direction the shots had come from.
