Caught a writing bug because finals are officially over, and just had to update! Hope you enjoy-KB
Wynonna groaned, looking down at her checklist to see the final two tasks she had to get done before they could lock up the rink for the night. The team's hectic "a game every other day" schedule meant that most days, she'd been cleaning up the aftermath of the rowdy fans from the night before on top of her other responsibilities. Time had become an enigma where her workdays seemed to drag on, yet she found herself amazed at how quickly October flipped over to November, and how November seemed to be melting away even faster.
The weather had changed accordingly, of course, most days looming with the threat of snow and cold, biting winds. There was a particularly large storm expected to roll in overnight, and Wynonna just really wanted to get home before it started.
She entered the laundry room, flipping the Devils' game jerseys over from the washing machine to the dryer, setting a timer on her phone to take them out after they finished. As she exited the room, Wynonna heard someone's voice coming from the training room.
"Well, I do apologize, but there is quite simply nothing I can do…"
She knew that there was only one person around here who spoke like he was a hundred and fifty years old, so she knew it had been Doc, but she was surprised that he was here at all considering the Devils had the day off and anyone who had come in for treatment would've been gone for hours by now.
"You know as well as I do, Mr. Dolls, that when a player sustains an injury, one must take the necessary precautions so as to not exacerbate the problem…I do not care what that old windbag—I say with the utmost respect—says, I cannot permit Miss Boardman out onto the ice in her current condition just because she is playing well…I am happy to speak to Ms. Loblaw herself, but it will have to be here in my office…yes, good day Mr. Dolls, do stay safe from this snow now."
Wynonna chuckled to herself as she ended her eavesdropping, knowing that not even Doc Holliday could be immune to the bitching of Bunny Loblaw. She'd seen Jenna take a hit and come up woozy in the game before last, and knew that Doc had benched the rookie due to her concussion. But she also knew that losing a first line winger was not in Bunny's "win or else" plan, and Doc was caught in the crosshairs.
The team store was her next destination, though she dreaded the task of taking inventory of the team merchandise—that was more Waverly's area of expertise. She heard her sister's laughter, growing louder as she approached the store and knew that Waverly wasn't alone.
"Oh my god! Nicole!" she heard Waverly say through a giggle.
As she entered the room, Wynonna saw them snap away from each other and stand awkwardly, trying to look normal, guilty eyes giving the two away. Hmm. Weird.
"What're you guys doing in here?" She asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
"Well, uh—" Nicole started, lost for words, and the two spluttered. "Yes." Waverly added as though Nicole had explained their way out of the situation.
"Right, okay. Well, I'm supposed to do inventory so if you guys could get out, that'd be great."
"Or…" Waverly looked at Nicole before proposing, "we could do it for you."
"Sounds good to me." If Waverly were waiting for her to refuse the offer, she clearly didn't know her sister very well. She turned to the door, ready to walk out, when her suspicion got the better of her. "Wait a minute," she spun on her heel, "Why were you so quick to offer that?"
"Maybe so it'll actually get done right." Nicole deadpanned, finding her words rather quickly this time.
"Maybe so it'll get done right." She mocked, like a child, sticking her tongue out at the redhead (also like a child).
"What I'm sure Nicole meant to say was that we'd love to take this off your hands, because we know you hate paperwork and numbers." Waverly corrected.
"Mhm, well you're not wrong." She nodded, still skeptical. "There's something going on here…I'm watching you."
Wynonna left the store, now having forty-five minutes to herself before she had to take the jerseys out of the dryer and she could go home.
She ended up falling asleep in the office, being rudely and suddenly awoken by her phone. She figured it was the alarm she had set, and reached over to hit the snooze button. Five more minutes wouldn't kill anyone. She was a little more than irritated when the god-awful blaring didn't stop.
Picking up the device, she analyzed the source of the alarm.
WEATHER ALERT—SEVERE SNOW STORM WARNING ISSUED FOR GHOST RIVER COUNTY; TURN TO LOCAL RADIO CHANNELS FOR IMPORTANT DETAILS
Without hesitation, she flipped on the small radio they'd kept in the office, tuning it to the proper station. They weren't any strangers to big snow storms, but hardly any of them warranted a phone blast, so she knew this one was going to be a doozy.
"…snow squalls expected, as well as sudden whiteouts and icy roads. A high wind advisory is also in place, with power outages likely. Roads will be closed until the storm threat clears…"
She turned off the radio and huffed, knowing she'd be stuck here for the time being. It had been snowing for most of the day, but nothing really major, so Wynonna knew that things had turned quickly while she was asleep.
Her phone started to screech again, but only to remind her of the jerseys in the laundry room. Deciding that she could relax and hunker down in the office once all her responsibilities were taken care of, she made her way down there to unload the dryers and hang the uniforms on the jersey rack. Before she could even make it there, the unmistakable flickering of the lights and the whirring of the heating system slowing down gave way and the power cut out completely.
"Stupid fucking Canada and its stupid fucking snow," she grumbled, cursing her luck. She turned on the flashlight on her phone and twisted the doorknob, gaining entry to the laundry room. If she was gonna be here for a while, she could at least pull the uniforms out so they wouldn't get wrinkled before the game. She knew Bunny had hated her for being "local riff-raff" and she was not about to add an untidy, unkempt looking team to the list of reasons for the old hag's vendetta against her.
As she worked, she was more than aware of the eerie silence that the arena carried, the only sounds coming from the refrigeration system that kept the ice surface frozen—which ran on its own specific generator. The rink like this was a little bit more than creepy, and there was no way that this place wasn't just a little bit haunted. Any place named after a gunslinger like her great-great grandaddy was sure to carry no small quantity of bad juju.
The halls were silent still as she exited the room, looking around at the shadows of the usually brightly lit rink, seeing only dim shadows cast by her phone's flashlight. She noted that she hadn't heard a peep from her sister or Nicole, briefly wondering if they had made it out before the roads were closed, though she doubted that, knowing Waverly and Little Miss Tight Ass would take their sweet time to make sure inventory was done thoroughly. As she entered the lobby, she could see outside through the glass doors and judging by the snow being whipped around by the wind, she knew it'd probably be more than a little while until the power came on.
Wynonna was glad to have a bottle tucked away in her cupboard, smirking to herself as she remembered the way Waverly stared her down disapprovingly when she brought it from the homestead. ("Why would you ever need that at work?" Waverly asked, to which Wynonna had replied "For emergencies obviously").
"Mercy me." Wynonna all but jumped a foot in the air and dropped her phone when she entered the office to find that it wasn't empty. "What a fine bottle of whiskey we have here."
"What the hell are you doing in here?" She snarled, trying to recompose herself. The absolute last thing she'd expected to see here, now, was John Henry Holliday and his stupid hat sitting at her desk, cradling the bottle she'd been looking forward to.
"Well I reckon that I'm sitting in this here chair, admiring these libations."
"Yeah, I see that." She huffed. "I mean why are you here in my office in the middle of a snowstorm?"
"It would only seem fair that I invade your space for a change, wouldn't it?"
He had her there, she supposed. She'd been more than a little juvenile with her pranks in the training room, but he made it so easy and it was fun to mess with the guy.
"Fine. Sorry, I guess. Can I have my whiskey and my seat please?"
Doc pondered this, staring her down mysteriously, looking between Wynonna and the bottle. He ran a hand over his mustache before speaking.
"You may have your seat," he vacated the chair, "and your whiskey," held out the bottle for Wynonna only to snatch it back when she reached for it, shaking it tauntingly in his hands, "if you allow me to join you."
"Now why would I do that?"
"A few reasons, if you must know." He started. "For starters, it seems quite a shame for such a quality beverage to be enjoyed all by your lonesome. Second, when one partakes in libations, it is customary to share with the guests. And most importantly, I do believe you owe me one…think of it as an apology for the acts of vandalism you've committed at the expense of my office space."
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his "reasons". She wasn't sure who he thought he was, breaking into her office and wanting to drink her whiskey. She chose to overlook the fact that she had essentially done the same thing, though she never broke into his bottle.
"Dude, I already said I was sorry for that."
"Alright, Miss Earp," he said, turning to exit the room. "I just figured you could use the company while you drank, that's all. But I suppose I'll leave you be then."
She watched as the doctor tipped her the brim of his hat and took a step out the door. Something about him intrigued Wynonna—always had. Something so mysterious about the man, something she couldn't put a finger on. Whatever it was, she couldn't help but be drawn to him.
Torn between enjoying her whiskey in peace and the man who was leaving her be, she spoke.
"Wait, Doc."
Doc paused, barely two steps out the door. Wynonna would bet her life that he was wearing the smuggest fucking smirk on his face that she'd ever see.
"Yes?" He drawled, and now Wynonna could hear the smirk in his voice.
"We're gonna be stuck here a while," she bit the inside of her cheek, "I guess it wouldn't be so awful for you to join me in a drink."
"Why of course Miss Earp, I'd love to."
Doc re-entered the room and dragged over a second chair from across the office, bringing it up near Wynonna. He took the bottle from Wynonna, who produced two glasses from the cupboard, and poured for the both of them.
"So, any reason you're here, after hours with no players to treat?" She decided to make conversation.
"Contrary to popular belief, my job is more than just treating the players on this squad, Miss Earp." Doc explained.
"Alright, if we're gonna do this you gotta stop calling me that." She interjected. "Just call me Wynonna like a normal person."
"As you wish, Wynonna." He said, emphasizing her name, in a way that was more enticing to her than it should've been.
"So then what is it you do?"
"Diagnosing injuries, treatment plans, mostly, an obscene amount of paperwork and conversatin' with that nasty old woman's mouthpiece, Mr. Xavier Dolls. I swear, of all the women I have encountered, crotchety old Bunny Loblaw has got to be the worst by far."
"Yep," Wynonna agreed, smirking into her whiskey glass. "There's a few choice words I like to call her, but we can stick with crotchety for now."
For the most part, she enjoyed her conversation with the man. She'd felt slightly more than silly when she discovered that Charlene hadn't been a wife or a girlfriend, but rather the doctor's prized possession—his vintage Camaro. Regardless, there was no denying the odd tension that built in the air as it progressed. The way he could hold her gaze with his hard stare and his piercing blue eyes made her mouth go dry more than once, and she turned to her glass for liquid courage and to just physically be able to continue speaking.
"Well, I do say, it is a doozy of a snowstorm out there. Mighty cold I reckon, startin' to feel a bit brisk in here, too." He said, staring directly at Wynonna, almost like he was about to imply something.
Without a moment's hesitation, her mouth said everything her subconscious had been telling her for the last two and a half months. What she had dismissed as curiosity or nosiness, or being drawn to a puzzle of a man. If there was an implication of the nefarious variety that was going to be made, damn it all to hell if Wynonna Earp was going to let John Henry Holliday beat her to it.
"Well maybe we should do something to warm up then." She gave him a more than seductive look. (One of her best, really, if you asked her).
Doc laughed dryly.
"What kind of man do you take me for, Miss Earp?" He said, fixing her with a hard stare. She supposed he called her that to get to her, if his face had been any indication. "Because I am a man of honor, and I never bed a woman without taking her on a proper date first."
"No offense there Henry, but you seem like exactly that type." Now Wynonna was the one laughing.
"Perhaps I am," He said as he swirled his whiskey, "though you are hardly the floozy I would participate in such activities with."
"You'd be surprised," she snorted, knowing that her time in Europe heavily contradicted Doc's words.
There was a silence, a pregnant pause, heavy with tension. She'd always considered herself brazen and strong-willed, and she always did what she wanted, so why the hell wouldn't she make the first move here?
That would be because Doc had moved in close and captured her in a kiss. It was desperate and heated, all teeth and tongues and roaming hands. She'd willingly allowed access when his tongue probed her lips. This was what she didn't even know she needed, and her movements mirrored it—the desperation, the passion.
She was about to push it forward, take the next step, when Doc broke their kiss, and their embrace altogether.
"My my," he simply smirked at her, wiping the corner of his lip with his thumb. She stared back at him, heaving, pupils blown and hair more than definitely a mess. "Well, I'll be leavin' you be now, Miss Earp—Wynonna." He tipped her the brim of his hat yet again, and left the office, leaving Wynonna to process the fact that that just happened.
When she had finally recovered, Wynonna became aware that she hadn't heard from the other two girls that were in the arena before she had fallen asleep. She unlocked her phone and opened an app to see where Waverly was, only to find that her phone was still somewhere in the building. And wherever Waverly was, Nicole was bound to be. Those two had been inseparable as of late.
She exited the office, moving to the last place she had seen the girls.
"Waverly?" She called as she shined her light into the team store. "Nicole?"
There was no response, and the store and back room were empty, so she moved onto the concession stand and refrigerator. (She'd hoped that the power would come on soon—the residual cold air would hold for now, but too much longer and the foods would start to turn). She was met with the same result as in the team store and had to move on to the next location.
She tried the laundry room, the training room, all the offices in that wing of the arena, and even where the ice surface itself had been, but had come up empty each time.
The last place she had to check was the home locker room, and as she approached the door, she heard the sounds of some TV theme playing softly from inside. She'd heard the last lines of "Thank You For Being a Friend" and knew that at the very least, Nicole had been in there.
She knocked lightly on the door, having war flashbacks of the last time she had walked into the locker room with the redhead there. There was no response, so Wynonna pushed her way in.
Her flashlight illuminated part of the room, though she did notice the blue light of a phone screen coming from the back section of the room, separate from the lockers and stalls. Wynonna followed the source to the lounge area of the locker room, the light growing brighter as she stopped in front of the small couch the team had put in there.
"Haught shot? Waves?" She called, but again was met with no answer, and rounded the couch to see…well this was something, now wasn't it?
She'd seen Nicole's phone connected to a portable charger, playing an episode of The Golden Girls, but that wasn't anything of note. The real kicker was that, lying on the couch, burrowed deep under a navy and white Blue Devils' blanket that was most definitely swiped from the team store, Wynonna found her sister asleep, enveloped by the arms of one Nicole Haught.
She knew she'd been right to be suspicious of the pair. She didn't know what she had suspected, but it wasn't exactly this.
Wynonna now found herself at a crossroads. On the one hand, she desperately wanted to tease the two—Waverly mainly for not telling her, and she wanted to go all bad cop on Nicole and intimidate her a little bit about her relationship with her sister. On the other hand, Waverly had looked more content and more at peace than Wynonna had seen her in a long time, and Nicole seemed to be a part of that. She decided that the latter was more important, and so she didn't move to wake them, no matter how much fun it would be to watch Nicole's face turn as red as her hair and then as white as a ghost.
As if the universe had finally joined her side for once, the lights flickered on and illuminated the room, causing the two girls to stir, Nicole opening her eyes first.
"Hmmm," Nicole hummed as she stretched carefully so as not to wake Waverly. It seemed that in that moment, she recognized Wynonna's presence and she jumped out of her skin. "Jesus! Wynonna, what're y—how long have you been standing there?"
"Not long." she answered, and watched Nicole realize the position she was in in real time, seeing her face change from its normal complexion to bright red to white, just like Wynonna had hoped. (She was a little disappointed that she hadn't even gotten the chance to interrogate the hockey player).
"It's not what it looks like." Nicole defended weakly, and looked over at Waverly who had also awoken.
"What's not what it l—oh, hey Wynonna." Waverly started, and then trailed off nervously as Wynonna fixed her with a stern stare.
"Hey, babygirl, care to explain?"
She watched her sister squirm for a moment before she seemed to find the words she was looking for.
"Nicole and I are maybe, kinda dating?"
"Dating? As in more than gal pals…girlfriend girlfriends?" She shifted her gaze from Waverly to Nicole, who looked back at Wynonna nodding, confirming her question. "Mhm, how long?"
"Officially, two and a half weeks." Waverly answered. "Unofficially, since Halloween."
"A month?" She asked, only partly faking exasperation and betrayal that this had been hidden from her for the past few weeks. "A month, and you didn't think to tell me? And you," She turned to Nicole, "you hid this right under my nose, huh? That is so not bro code."
"Sorry, I didn't find it appropriate to drop the bomb on you that I was dating your sister until she felt comfortable to tell you." Nicole shot back.
Wynonna sent her sister a look, and watched her sister shrink in on herself ever so slightly.
"I wanted to tell you," she said sheepishly, "but I was worried you'd be upset or wouldn't approve."
At Waverly's words, she softened.
"God, babygirl, you clearly don't know me all that well. I don't care if you're gay or bi or whatever, if anything I'm glad you finally upgraded from Chump Hardy." She looked up to see Nicole trying to hide a smile. "Waves, you love who you love. Who the fuck cares if it's a girl as long as she makes you happy and doesn't hold you back?"
Waverly got up to hug her sister, squeezing her tightly and mumbling a "thank you" into her shoulder. When they broke the embrace, Wynonna approached Nicole, who had also gotten up from the couch.
"That being said," she started, putting on her bad cop, big sister persona. "If you ever fuck around and break my baby sister's heart, I swear to god I will shove my foot so far up you—"
"—Okay, back down Wynonna, I think she gets the message." Waverly stepped in. "Don't go and scare her off."
"It's gonna take a lot more than your sister to scare me off, Waves." Nicole said, giving Waverly the biggest heart eyes Wynonna had ever seen. (It only made her want to vomit a little bit).
"Gross." Wynonna said with fake disgust, "also, it better."