Waverly sat on the front porch on the old porch swing, quietly watching the sun rise in a swirl of brilliant orange and pink over the shadowed tops of distant trees. The tall frost-covered grasses glittered in the growing light. She sipped her coffee from a chipped mug, and a coarse woven blanket around her shoulders held off the chill of the frosty morning. The homestead was still and peaceful, no birds or animals disturbed the silence. It all belied the turmoil in Waverly's mind. As the sun climbed higher and oranges and pinks gave way to violets and blues she heard the creak of the door and a slow, quiet footstep.

"May I join you?"

Waverly turned to see Nicole standing sleepily in the doorway, holding her own mug of coffee. She had clearly scrubbed up a bit; the smudge on her cheek was gone and the copper hair framing her face was damp. Rowdy padded out after her, yawning. He snuffled against Waverly in greeting before disappearing out into the nearby field for his morning constitutional.

"Please, have a seat," Waverly said hastily as she realized Nicole was still waiting for permission before she sat down. Nicole sank down on the other side of the chair, careful to take as little space as possible.

Waverly rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to bite you, Nicole." She glanced over at the red-head and saw that she was sitting tensely, staring down at the coffee in her hands. "Hey, are you okay over there?"

Nicole's eyes were red-rimmed when she finally lifted her head and looked back. "I — I want to apologize. For yesterday," she whispered. "I was awful to you, and you didn't deserve it."

Waverly blinked. "What do you mean?" She leaned over and placed her hand on Nicole's shoulder in concern. "Do you mean about going a little fast on your bike? I'm sorry I'm such a wuss! It wasn't—"

"No!" Nicole interrupted. "I mean, yes. I saw you were scared and I went fast anyway, just to make you mad." Her voice grew raspy. "I was so stupid. You were being so nice to me, and I got scared."

Waverly sat back, her brow furrowing in confusion. "I don't understand."

Nicole stood up and moved to the porch railing, gripping the faded wood hard with her hands. When she spoke again, her voice was so soft Waverly rose quietly and carefully to get closer.

"I lost someone I loved, very much. Right now the thought of caring for anyone, or anyone caring for me…" she trailed off. "It's just— it's too much."

Waverly took a step closer. "Was it Beth?"

Nicole whirled and fell back, her face ashen. "How do you know about Beth?" she demanded.

Waverly held up her hands as she stopped, as if Nicole was a spooked horse needing to be calmed. "You said her name in your sleep," she replied, watching Nicole's face carefully. "It sounded like she was important to you."

Tears sprang from Nicole's eyes and she choked back a sob. Waverly longed to pull her into a hug but was afraid of the reaction she'd get. She settled for inviting her back to the porch swing.

"Come sit, honey. Please."

Nicole obeyed, her movements jerky. Waverly reached out and retrieved the red head's discarded cup of coffee and pressed it into her hands.

"Have you talked to anybody about this?" she asked.

Nicole sighed. She stared out at Rowdy as he roamed the field, probably following the myriad animal scents that were likely to be there. Then she pulled her attention back to the woman beside her. "Not really. My uncle tried some, and he wanted me to see a therapist but I just couldn't— I wasn't ready. So me and Rowdy hit the road." She looked over at Waverly and smiled briefly. "Was hoping it would clear my head up a bit."

Waverly grinned knowingly. "How's that working out?"

Nicole's answering chuckle was rueful. "Jury's still out on that one."

"Yeah, well. If you wanted peace and quiet, this was probably the wrong place to come."

Nicole shrugged. "Too much quiet isn't so good for me anyway." She took a deep breath. "She was my wife," she blurted. "She was killed by a drunk driver."

Waverly's heart sank. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine—"

"She was pregnant," Nicole continued, her voice shaking. "With our son."

She couldn't help it; her hands grabbed Nicole's and squeezed, but kept quiet, letting Nicole proceed at her own pace.

"We were high school sweethearts. You'd think in a small town we'd get bunch of grief from everyone, but nobody cared, except my parents. The day I came out they threw me out of the house. Told me I was a sinner and was going to die in hellfire. I went to live with my Uncle Tommy. He's the Sheriff in our town, and he's raised me since I was fifteen. Went to the Academy when I graduated and became a deputy to make him proud." At this memory she smiled. "He told me I was a damn fool but he was proud of me anyway"

To Waverly's surprise Nicole's grip on her hands tightened.

"The day of our wedding they snuck into the reception. My mother grabbed the microphone and told everyone there that my wife was Satan's whore, and that our relationship would bring down God's wrath. I guess it did," she stuttered. "God took her and our boy away from me, my penalty for sin—"

"Bullshit."

Nicole looked up in shock at Waverly's determined face.

"That drunk driver took away your wife and son," Waverly stated firmly. "Your parents are crazy if they can't see what I can see after only a few days." She paused as Nicole looked at her, her face devastated but questioning, and pulled the deputy's hands into her lap. Her thumbs rubbed comforting circles over Nicole's knuckles. "You are a kind person, generous, and protective," she nodded at the big pitbull wandering back from his jaunt. "All anyone has to do is see you and your dog to know what kind of person you are. The dog reflects the person."

Nicole's laugh was weak but there. "Beth used to say that."

"Sounds like she was a wise woman."

"She was the best."

Waverly realized she was still rubbing Nicole's hands but couldn't bring herself to stop. "Tell me about her?"

"Geez, where do I start?" Nicole took a shuddering breath, then settled more comfortably into the swing. "Super smart, always. She'd help me with my homework, even when I was at the academy and she wasn't even in my classes! She got a partial scholarship to attend the local university and became a nurse, working at the hospital while I worked at the Sheriff's department. We were so happy. It didn't matter what my parents thought. We had my Uncle Tommy and our friends and each other…"

Waverly linked their fingers together absent-mindedly. "What about her parents?"

Nicole grimaced. "Gone. They were older, and her mom died of cancer when she was a freshmen in high school. Her dad died of a heart attack when she was a senior, just after we started dating.

"Jesus," Waverly breathed.

Nicole shrugged. "She never got a chance to tell him about us, but she swore up and down that he would have supported us had he known. That's something I guess." They were silent for a moment. Anyway, she was only a month away from eighteen when he passed, and my uncle made some kind of arrangement with her so she could just stay in the house to finish school. She sold it after college to pay off her student loans and help us buy a little house together closer to my Uncle Tommy and with a bigger yard for Rowdy."

Almost as if called he reappeared and trotted towards them, grinning happily. With a grunt he jumped up onto the swing chair causing it to rock wildly as he plopped down between them, trapping their clasped hands behind him.

Neither woman moved to free themselves.

"Did you hear us talking about you," Waverly cooed, planting a kiss on his broad forehead. "How'd you end up with him anyway?"

Nicole chuckled. "That's actually a funny story." She stroked his back fondly. "He showed up at the Emergency Room when Beth was working a shift. Just waddled right up to her and sat on her foot while she was doing an intake." He wooed softly as Nicole started rubbing his belly. "Caused a bit of a ruckus, seeing this little two month old puppy following one of the nurses around. They were going to call animal control but he just started at her until she gave in and took him home."

The dog adjusted himself so that Nicole had better access to his belly and his head was firmly in Waverly's lap.

"You're real subtle, there, partner," Nicole groused. "Tommy had been pondering K9 units, but we didn't really have the budget for one at the time, so I volunteered to see if we could train him up rather than buy one of those fancy shepherds that cost thirty thousand dollars a piece."

Waverly sputtered. "I love dogs, but thirty thousand?"

"Yeah, I know. Beth helped me write a grant proposal and we were able to get some money from the state to go to training together. He passed with flying colors and he's been my partner ever since." She paused, then grinned. "I got enough training myself to start giving preliminary training to the other deputies, and was able to get Tommy to help me convince the county supervisors that we could select likely dogs out of the pound and build a whole county K9 corps for way less than normal. It took off, and not just for the Sheriff's department. We've got dogs for just about everything — patrol duty, contraband detection, agricultural inspection, search and rescue. Hell, we've got certified therapy dogs to help interview victims of crimes and help out at schools, and a program at the county jail for inmates to train service dogs for disabled people. Our re-offender rate dropped almost fifty percent two years after that program started."

"That's amazing Nicole!"

Her smile faded, but didn't disappear altogether. "Beth's idea. She said it could be our legacy." She cleared her throat. "Guess it will be — Tommy asked to rename the training field after her."

They fell into silence, both looking out over the brightening landscape. But now the silence was once again peaceful, and Nicole's face was more relaxed than it had been.

Waverly realized their fingers were still laced together, and carefully lifted both of their hands free of Rowdy's bulk before placing a gentle kiss on the back of Nicole's hand. "I'm honored you chose to share her with me," she said, her eyes bright with emotion. "And I meant what I said — I'm here if you ever want to talk."

With one last kiss to Rowdy's head she rose and returned to the house.

Nicole stared after her, her hand tingling from the sensation of the smaller woman's lips.

Well now, was that so hard, Cole?

"Not helping, Beth," she muttered.

Guess I'll have to try a little harder then…

Nicole groaned.

"Brought you some lemonade!"

Nicole jumped, banging her head on the hood of the jeep. "Ow."

Waverly hurried forward. "Oh damn, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay, just surprised me." Nicole reached for a rag and scrubbed at her hands before accepting the tall glass of lemonade. "Thanks." She leaned against one fender, appraising the engine with a practiced eye. "Almost done, I think. I adjusted your timing belt and three of your cylinders. Also I'm not sure what happened but your alternator wasn't hooked up correctly so I got all that sorted. I suspect you need a couple of new gaskets but we'll have to hit the auto parts store for that. If I have to pull the engine block I'm gonna need to find a pulley or maybe I could rig a chain here in the barn? But before all that first I need to go over your suspension just in case, I thought I saw a crack in one of the sway bars…"

"Stop, stop, stop," Waverly waved her hands desperately. She looked at the re-smudged face of Nicole and the neatly laid out tools on the ground next to her jeep. "Nicole, you didn't have to go through all this trouble."

Nicole blushed and shrugged. "Gave me something to do."

Wynonna chose that moment to burst into the barn. "Haught-head! You've been out here for hours, are you sure you know what you're doing?" She smirked at Nicole's sour look.

The deputy merely stepped around Waverly and leaned into the cab. With an smug flick of the ignition, the Jeep roared to life then settled down into a smoothly purring idle.

"Daaaaaaamn," said Wynonna.

Both sisters looked a little awed.

"My Uncle Tommy and I rebuilt a lot of cars over the years," Nicole explained. "It was a way to bond and make a little money. He'd buy abandoned junkers at the impound for cost of the impound and we'd fix them and sell them. When I got older I got more interested in motorcycles. Turns out they're even easier to work on." She tilted her head at Brunhilde, parked just outside the barn door. "I rebuilt a bike just like that one and sold it to cover living costs when I was in the Academy. Always wanted to get another one I could keep, and she just kind of fell in my lap. The sidecar was a great bonus."

Wynonna plopped herself down into the sidecar and propped her feet up on the bike's seat, ignoring Nicole's glare. "Okay, now you have to tell us why you named her Brunhilde. I mean, come on." Wynonna patted the hood of the sidecar. "This thing is boss. It should be Tank or Thor or Supergirl or something—"

"Brunhilde was a Valkyrie," Nicole replied softly. "She would collect the valiant dead and carry them off to one of the heroic houses of the afterlife."

"You mean, like Valhalla?" asked Waverly.

"Or Sessrúmnir in the goddess Freya's land of Fólkvangr," Nicole scuffed her boot in the dirt. "I always preferred the idea of Fólkvangr myself, though it's not as well known. Only men go to Valhalla, but Freya also welcomed women who died a noble death." She shrugged and managed to work up an awkward grin, but at Waverly's narrowed eyes she knew the smaller woman wasn't buying her attempt at lightening the mood.

"Huh," was Wynonna's only comment, then she wriggled herself back up. "Welp, before Waverly starts nerding on us with her own monumental knowledge of mythology we should plan on getting out of here. I'm taking us out tonight."

Waverly glared at her sister. "Do we get a say in any of this?"

Wynonna smirked at her "Nope."

Nicole looked back and forth between them. "Um, I don't want impose…"

Waverly whirled on her. "Oh no you don't, Nicole Haught! If Wynonna is dragging me out somewhere, you're coming too."

"Right, truck's leaving in an hour. We'll be picking up Doc on the way."

Waverly felt her stomach drop. There were few places Wynonna and Doc ever went to together, and if it didn't involve a poker game it likely was…

"You're going to enjoy this, Haught-pot!"

Nicole looked at Waverly, who looked slightly ill, then back at Wynonna, who looked positively gleeful.

"Open mic night! Doc's a guitar player and Waves here is his singer!"