Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, show or comic Wynonna Earp, only this story I've written them in.
Author's Note: Thank you everyone for the ongoing support of my first two fics! Much appreciated, especially with how much time has passed. This one is my first chaptered fic that I had started last year, but stopped cuz...2020, anyway I brushed off the cyber-dust and got back to work on it. So here it is! Thanks and enjoy! -Rainbow
Live Like You Were Dying
Chapter One
Gettin' Warmed Up
Dark clouds hung low in Purgatory's skies so thick the moon couldn't shine through. Sparse spots of light came from old rusty lamp posts surrounding one occupied warehouse in a sea of abandoned industrial buildings and shipping containers. Captain Xavier Dolls used this to his advantage to maintain the team's stealth for tonight's mission: take down Whiskey Jim's illegal fight club. While this certainly isn't the team's first mission individually, it's their most dangerous yet as a united fully trained team for the Black Badge Division. When Dolls first formed this misfit team to defend Purgatory, Wynonna Earp also known as the famed "Earp Heir" and legendary Henry "Doc" Holliday were the only recruits fighting to take down revenants to finally stop the Earp Curse. Wynonna's baby sister, Waverly Earp, then joined as the team's town historian at first, identifying all the revenants and their connections to each other. Wynonna was too protective of her sister to let her join them on missions; however, she eventually gave in when she found out that Doc was secretly training Waverly in self defense. Dolls also wanted to take advantage of Waverly's language skills for undercover jobs. Soon after, Nicole Haught, who was originally just the Sheriff's Deputy and in the dark about supernatural happenings in Purgatory, was also recruited. Once she met and started dating Waverly, she was slowly introduced to the family curse, revenants, and beyond. Dolls was apprehensive about trusting her in the beginning, but Nicole easily proved she could not only handle herself in fight, her loyalty knew no bounds, especially to Waverly. A year later, Jeremy Chetri was inadvertently roped into the herd for his scientific genius and expertise in different demons. Around the same time, Doc's secret relationship with revenant Rosita Bustillos was accidently found out. Dolls and Wynonna couldn't decide whether or not to kick him out and shoot Rosita, but Jeremy saved them both. Since Wynonna and Doc hardly ever followed protocol, BBD kept them in line by threatening to withhold Dolls' meds that helped him keep his dragon powers in control. That was when Jeremy stepped up to secretly replicate it as best he could. In an effort to earn everyone's trust, Rosita volunteered to be the test subject since the only thing that could actually kill her is Wynonna's legendary gun called Peacemaker. When Jeremy was struggling with a formula, Rosita admitted to having earned multiple degrees in science and engineering. Their teamwork not only helped recreate Dolls' meds, but also cure Nicole when she was poisoned by The Widows. Jeremy used this to convince Wynonna to keep Doc and recruit Rosita to the team. Since then Dolls, with Doc's help, started training everyone to work as a full team and hone their specialties in the field so they could all defend themselves in a fight against anything they came across other than revenants.
"Everyone in position?" he asked, seemingly to no one. He pulled his black beanie down to cover his ear piece while casually walking through the dark alleyways towards the targeted warehouse. White noise quietly cackled in his ear as his team sounded off.
"Watchdog here, Eastern roof and full visibility," said Jeremy excitedly. He was camped on the roof of a neighboring warehouse hidden underneath a dark tarp with surveillance equipment.
"I thought we weren't doing codenames," said Waverly sadly as she looked through her sniper scope. She laid on the edge of another neighboring roof next to her girlfriend who also had a sniper at the ready.
"We're not?" asked Jeremy.
"Guys," Dolls interrupted.
"Western roof, back exit covered," clarified Nicole as she shook her head at Waverly.
"Snipers locked and loaded!" added Waverly.
"South entrance," said Doc.
"Nearly inside," added Rosita as she smirked at her boyfriend.
Dolls stopped mid-step waiting for the remaining team member to check in. Silence. He cautiously eyed every person in the vicinity while he approached the north entrance. Purgatory has interesting residents to say the least, but this far side of town is a different story. After Whiskey Jim's death, some of the revenants that worked for him took over the operation of the warehouse's fight club among other illegal doings. Hardly anyone who attended it's brutal events even noticed Jim's absence. Since then the demon vs human fight club grew in popularity and clientele. Biker gangs hung out outside as free security and extra fighters, while thrill seekers and the wealthily bored placed bets on fights and kept bar tabs high. Most of them still weren't aware that some of those among them are not even human. This furthered the risk of humans finding out the truth about the Ghost River Triangle which is what brought the BBD here. The added bonus is Wynonna getting to kill revenants in bulk with Peacemaker. Rosita of course was the only exception that not even the BBD knew about. As far as they knew, she was magically immortal like Doc. Everyone needed to be at the top of their game with absolute focus on success. Especially…
"Wynonna, are you at the back exit?" Dolls asked.
"Wha-?" cracked out a voice from his earpiece.
"Wy-," he began.
"He- lo? A-...balls!" Wynonna's voice snapped.
"What did you call me?" he asked.
"I think she meant to say 'Dolls'," chimed in Jeremy.
"How sure are we though?" asked Nicole. Waverly nudged her in the arm.
"Hey!" yelled Wynonna.
"Do we proceed or hold off? We're next in line," Rosita said quietly.
"Proceed, proceed. We need you checked in within the hour," Dolls commanded.
"Understood," said Doc. They stepped forward to the tall steel doors where a bulky man with tattoo sleeves stood guard.
"Wynonna, where the hell are you?" Dolls urgently asked again. Her voice still cracked and sputtered over the walkie.
"She's already inside! She's at the bar," Jeremy yelled into his wired bracelet while he struggled to hold up a large pair of high tech binoculars. A collective sigh blew out throughout the team.
"Of course," Dolls said.
"I don't see her. Oh God," Waverly said. She and Nicole used their sniper scopes to quickly scan through any window that was either busted open or just transparent enough to recognize faces.
"She'll be fine. Booze and buff bad guys is kind of her thing," reassured Nicole.
"I think she can still hear us," Jeremy said. "Wynonna! Do the Fawcett flip if you can hear us!" he directed. Everyone anxiously waited for a response.
"Anything?" Dolls asked.
"She did it! She can hear us!" Jeremy announced. The excitement nearly made him drop the binoculars over the edge of the roof.
"Good," said Dolls "Wynonna, you were supposed to cover the back exit. You better not blow your cover."
"Right 'cuz there's no way the infamous Earp Heir with a huge gun won't be recognized in a room full of revenants, rich sleazeballs and hell knows what else," Rosita said sarcastically as they walked through the doors.
"She has a wig on and I did her makeup," defended Waverly. "By now any revenant in there would be too zonked out to notice."
"She's scratching her cheek with one finger. That's weird. Why use that fin-oh...," Jeremy stopped.
"Focus," Dolls reminded everyone. Frustration started creeping in.
"We- now in-...-ide," a voice cracked.
"Rosita? Doc? Repeat," said Dolls.
"Uh, Dolls? I think something inside is fudging with the signal," Waverly said.
"Dammit," Dolls muttered to himself. "OK, everyone, plan b. All hands inside."
"Copy," Nicole and Waverly responded as they began gathering their gear.
"Remember, use different entrances and rig every door that leads outside. Do not engage until the fight starts," he commanded.
"Wynonna's giving the thumbs up," said Jeremy.
"OK, I'm going dark in a few minutes," said Dolls as he made his way to the entrance.
"Gotcha, on our way!" huffed Jeremy. He hoisted a bulky duffle bag carrying his equipment and ran across the roof to the fire escape. The second the doors closed behind Dolls he only heard static in his ear. He reached up to pull the ear piece out, but left it in just in case. Back at the car, Nicole and Waverly were quickly swapping out their weaponry for something more stealth that'd be easy to sneak in.
"Good thing I wore my favorite fluffy jacket and pair of boots!" said Waverly. She placed a tiny pistol in her inner jacket pocket, figuring the thick faux fur of her jacket would be enough to conceal it.
"Only you would wear knee high boots and a skirt on a field mission," laughed Nicole.
"You're laughing now, but watch this," she said. She raised her leg and rested her foot on the bumper while smirking at her curious girlfriend. She then leaned forward, purposely brushing her shoulder against Nicole's chest and reached for a set of throwing knives. Next she raised her pleather skirt exposing black leggings and a garter belt resting on her upper thigh. She slowly tucked them into the garter belt then winked at Nicole who rolled her eyes and smirked back.
"Definitely not laughing anymore," Nicole said as she slowly grazed her fingertips from her girlfriend's ankle, up her leg to her thigh then readjusted the hem of her skirt back in place.
"Why thank you Officer Haught," Waverly giggled. She leaned in towards Nicole who did the same. Their kiss was soft and light.
"OK, OK! I'm here!" yelled Jeremy who was oblivious of the moment between his friends as he ran up to the car. Waverly put her leg down seconds before their awkward genius wedged between them to put away his binoculars and audio surveillance kit. Waverly grabbed another set of throwing knives and hid them in the garter belt on her other thigh. Nicole only grabbed two pocket knives and hid one in each of her converse hi-tops.
"That's all you're taking?" asked Waverly.
"It's an illegal underground fight club. Plenty of people in there are packing. Once hell breaks loose, I'll just...borrow something," she explained with a smile.
"What should I bring? Dolls has been showing me some moves, but Doc's also been helping me out," said Jeremy. He held up a tactical knife and a handgun then looked down at his outfit. "Gah! Why do I always wear skinny jeans?!"
"Jeremy, just do what you do best," Nicole told him.
"Biochemistry and vegan recipes," he bluntly said.
"I meant in a fight," she said rolling her eyes.
"Oh! Right! Umm, throw things?" he said.
"I know," Waverly jumped in. "You can hand out the extra bags of our secret weapon! It'd be too risky for Nicole and I to hide that with everything else and Rosita might need extra anyway. You may have skinny jeans, but men's jeans still have bigger pockets and your hoodie has inside pockets right? We all go in and you pass them out," She leaned back into the trunk and opened a black duffle bag. Inside were multiple small canvas bags, each holding some sort of shimmery gray powder.
"Yeah, yeah, I can do that! I'll just act like a drug dealer or something. I can totally pass as a drug dealer, right?" he said with a confident smile. Waverly nodded in encouragement. She then started handing Jeremy a bag at a time so he could stuff one in nearly every pocket he had.
"...maybe in Berkeley," Nicole said with a shrug. Waverly glared at her from behind their friend. "But, sure, sure. Let's go!" she added. She closed the trunk and locked the car. They quickly made their way towards the warehouse.
"Be careful, baby," Waverly said before kissing her girlfriend on the cheek.
"You too, Waves," Nicole responded. "Good luck, Jeremy."
"Yup, I'm gonna need lots of it," he said nervously. Just as they were coming into view of everyone outside the warehouse, they split and went off in different directions.
Despite all the revving motorcycle engines outside, the roar of the crowd inside bouncing off metal walls was even louder. One by one the team made their appearance in the center space of the repurposed warehouse. The so-called ring was made of large bloodied cardboard pieces duct taped together. The rowdy crowd of spectators surrounding the ring made up the ropes, shoving fighters that fell or leaned into them back into the center. A huge wooden board hung from a catwalk overhead that had fighters' names listed in chalk with their odds and bets. A revenant was in the middle of writing Doc's name. Doc stood to the side taking off his jacket and flannel shirt which he handed to Rosita.
"Ready?" she asked him.
"As a taut bow and arrow," he said cracking his knuckles.
"Couldn't dragon-man have volunteered to be the diversion?" she asked.
"Well last time Dolls and I ventured here we were coerced to fight and after sharing some very choice words, I punched him to hell making me the better choice," he said.
"You knocked out Dolls?" Rosita looked at him skeptically.
"And it was glorious, though I did feel a tad guilty thinking I had killed him. Thankfully it was all a ruse for our escape," he said as he reminisced about that night.
"Ah, so he faked the whole thing. Knockout included," Rosita said in a teasing tone. Doc sternly turned to her.
"He most certainly did not," he argued. "I assure you flattening Xavier Dolls was real."
"Sure, but remember you don't have to knockout anyone in this fight, especially if he's human. Just play along until your cue," she said, patting him on the chest.
"Oh, I plan to have some fun. After all, illegal festivities are our specialty," he quipped as he playfully placed his beloved black bat on Rosita's head. She smiled and shook her head at him. She looked around the warehouse sizing everyone up then sensually stepped closer to her boyfriend and leaned into his ear. He breathed in her perfume and smirked.
"Bottle of Buchanan's says I get more knockouts than you tonight," Rosita challenged. Doc scoffed then turned his face to look Rosita in the eye. She flashed her burning red revenant eyes to punctuate the bet.
"I'll take that wager," he pecked her red lips, "and I don't plan on sharin'."
"Neither do I," she winked and tipped Doc's hat to him. She looked across the room and caught Jeremy not so subtly holding up one of the canvas bags. "That's my cue. I'd wish you luck, but I'm gonna keep it for myself," she said as she sauntered away knowing her boyfriend's eagle sharp eyes were glued to her.
She casually walked towards Jeremy who looked in the opposite direction without any acknowledgement. Without stopping, Rosita held out her hand and swiftly grabbed two bags from Jeremy, then continued on her way. Jeremy looked around before going in search of another teammate.
At one of the makeshift bars, Wynonna, wearing soft glam makeup and a blond wig, made herself comfortable between a Hell's Angel and a wealthy man trying to drink them into submission. A stack of bills laid on the splintered countertop. Some were old and wrinkled and others were new and crisp. All were in Wynonna's sights. They'd already nearly drank through a whole bottle of Knob Creek between them and showed no signs of slowing down. Except maybe the wealthy man.
"Come on, Bradley, you're not tapping out are ya'?" Wynonna asked the man to her left. She smacked him hard on his back causing him to spill some of his drink.
"It's Brantley," he corrected. He loosened his silk tie even more and unbuttoned the top of his dress shirt.
"Ugh, that's even worse," she gagged before tapping her shot glass with the biker sitting to her right. They downed their shots and the biker nearly missed the bartop when he put down his shot glass and sucked in a sharp deep breath.
"Urgh, oh god!" Brantley groaned. He dropped his shot glass which rolled off the bartop and broke when it hit the ground. "I'm gonna be sick…," he said. Beads of sweat formed on his temples.
"Nice knowin' ya'," Wynonna shrugged as he slid off the barstool. She turned her back to him and faced her bigger opponent head on.
"I'm no pussy!" the biker slurred. He shakily poured himself and Wynonna another round that emptied the bottle. Wynonna confidently raised her shot glass while it took major concentration for him to hold it up steady enough to not spill a drop.
"But I have one, that's why I'm going to win," she whispered to herself. "Let's go, Joey!" she yelled then launched her sixth shot into her mouth. Joey drank his then stared off aimlessly as his upper body swayed back and forth. Wynonna looked at him with semi-genuine concern.
"I'm...fine...I'm...fugh…," he slurred.
"You ok, buddy?," she asked. Joey didn't respond. He simply closed his eyes and continued his deep breaths. Wynonna slowly reached for the stack of cash between them to slide it towards her, but a burly hand suddenly slammed on top of Wynonna's holding her and the money in place. Wynonna froze and waited for Joey to say or do something. He responded with a loud belch then dropped his head onto the bartop and stayed there. Wynonna poked his beefy arm to wake him up then tried freeing her hand and the money, but no luck.
"And that's why pussies are stronger than balls," she said to herself as she stood up from her stool and looked around the bar to find something for leverage.
"Having fun?" asked a deep voice behind her. Wynonna jumped and cried out. She turned her body and found her boss standing over Brantley with a smirk. He assessed his partner's predicament with a mix of amusement and disappointment.
"Psh, hell yeah. I'm just uh, blending in," she said, blowing strands of her wig out of her face. She turned her body the other way so she could lean back onto the bar and rested her free arm on the countertop trying to look as casual as possible.
"Mhmm," Dolls nodded his head. "You were supposed to be covering the back door."
"That's what she said," she said automatically.
"Wynonna," he said in a warning tone.
"I swear I have a good reason for this," she smiled at him.
"I'm all ears," he said. He did his best to hide his smile.
"Right...sooo," she began. "I was staking it out and guess who rolls up in a lyft of all things…," she paused. Dolls stared at her. "The leader guy dude! Ha! What luck is that amirite? They had some bimbos with them so I figured I'd blend in and sneak in that way to see where they'd hole up in here. Once we start...ya know...peacemaker can easily take him out first." She smugly shrugged her shoulders and smiled at him. Dolls nodded and leaned forward towards Joey who had started snoring. He easily lifted the deadweight arm, freeing Wynonna.
"Not bad. Still doesn't explain this little situation," he said. He held up the cash to Wynonna who shyly pocketed it.
"See that door behind the bar?" she nodded towards a rusty steel door at the end of the wall behind the bar. "They went in there and haven't come out. I tried telling you, but this cheap earpiece went to shit."
A revenant sat on a stool beside the door, supposedly guarding it. Dolls sized him up and noticed the bartender stayed near him despite the bar stretching out farther. He took note of their body language and facial expressions, then discreetly looked around for any security cameras or spots to potentially hide weapons. He turned away from the bar and leaned back, matching his partner, and surveyed the room.
"Good work," he finally admitted. "Alright, this is what's gonna happen."
Author's Note: Might not seem like a Wayhaught fic now, but give it time. I want to explore the rest of the characters in this one since it's not a one-shot so I'm using the first two chapters to really set up the team's relationships with each other. I hope you liked it. Constructive criticism is always welcome. -Rainbow