Nicole and Dolls were sitting at the table in the Black Badge division war room looking over the pictures that Waverly had managed to take. Dolls was sulking over a broken lens while Nicole flipped through the stack of photos. Doc identified the tall man as Marcus and Nicole tacked his photo up on the board. He wasn't overly scary from the photo but he had an air about him that Nicole could only describe as creepy. He wasn't old per say perhaps in his 40s and by the look of him he seemed well educated. He held himself with good posture and had a neatly trimmed mustache that curled up slightly on the ends. His short brown hair was slicked down and Nicole could only describe his appearance as straight out of the 20s. He wore an old suit with a thin bow tie and was leaning over the plans laid out on the table infront of them. His face showed a look of admiration as he stared down at his work. He didn't resemble the photo that Dolls had of him previously. In that photo he had longer hair and a well trimmed beard. But now that Nicole looked at them side by side she could see the resemblance. Wade seemed a man who kept up his appearances, however, it seems the 20s were his favorite and stayed in that era.

Nicole turned from the board and looked over at the stack of photos on the table. Dolls had given up on his lens and had started sorting the photos into groups. Nicole rounded him and picked up a stack that looked like photos of blue prints. Nicole flipped through a couple that looked strange and she couldn't make out what they were until she came on one that looked familiar but she couldn't quite place it. "Hey, X," Nicole called to Dolls who had gotten up to tack some photos of more revenants Waverly was able to get photos of, "take a look at this." Dolls stabbed the tack into the photo he was holding and went back over to the table and took a seat next to the major. "What do you make of this?" Nicole leaned back and handed the photo to Dolls.

Dolls looked the photo over studying it. "It looks familiar." Dolls couldn't quite place it either. He looked at the stack of photos looking at several different ones. He went back and forth between several ones getting excited. Nicole just looked at him like he was crazy.

"I'm gonna get us some coffee." Nicole finally said tired of watching Dolls. She picked up her phone and headed for the door.

"She's going to be fine Nic." Dolls said he had turned now and was watching as she stopped at the door. Nicole had already pulled out her phone to text Wynonna but looked back at Dolls. She turned around and sighed.

"Do you remember in Kandahar," she pulled out a chair from the table, "we were up against that, what was she, a sand demon?" Nicole gave a little laugh. "Do you remember when she took Collins." Dolls had put the photos down and was now watching Nicole intently. He nodded slowly. The memory was painful for them both, they sat in silence for a few minutes. "This is worse." Nicole finally said.

"Well this is a buzz kill." Wynonna said from the doorway supporting Waverly. "Little help here?"

"Oh my god! Waverly!" Nicole jumped up and rushed to her side. They gently led Waverly over to the couch. "What? Why? Wynonna!" Nicole had lost the ability to form complete sentences. "She needs to be in the hospital!" The sat Waverly down gently on the couch.

"Dude you think I don't know that!" Wynonna said sliding Waverly's arm over her head and laying the brunette back into the couch.

"It's fine Nicole. I'm fine." Waverly said smiling up at Nicole. Nicole sat down beside her.

"This is not fine you were shot!" Nicole had absentmindedly grabbed her hand.

"Look as much as I wanted to keep her there she kept going on and on about needing to get back to work." Wynonna leaned against the table and looked at Dolls for reassurance. "She checked herself out."

"She can barely walk Wynonna, I hardly think she did that by herself."

"Look, have you ever dealt with a drugged up Earp? No? Ok then." Wynonna said as if she had proved her point. Nicole looked over at Waverly who was smiling at her, her eyes a little glossy from the pain meds.

"Well we can't just leave her here." Nicole pointed to the black badge office.

"Oh no please I wanna help." Waverly whined slurring her words slightly. She smiled back at Nicole and reached her finger out in front of her. As she did she scrunched her eye brows together as if concentrating hard. She started leaning towards Nicole. Nicole looked at her concerned and confused. Waverly just kept coming at her face with the finger until it touched Nicole's nose. "Boop!" Waverly said as her soft finger collided with the red heads nose. Then she proceeded to giggle. Nicole looked over at Wynonna who just shrugged.

"Whatever they gave her I want some." Wynonna said as she turned to Dolls. "She kept sticking her finger in my ear the whole drive over here and laughing hysterically."

"Wave?" Nicole said grabbing Waverly's hand as it started for her face again the same concentration on Waverly's face, this time with a little tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. "Wave." Nicole said again as Waverly made a pouty face. "Wynonna?" Nicole looked at her, "little help?"

"Ok baby-girl playtime is over let's get you home."

"No I help." Wavelry pointed to the board. "I wanna". Wynonna and Nicole had got her up on her feet.

"You can helptomorrow, tonight we need to get you home." Wynonna said leading her out.

"Or back to the hospital?" Nicole argued. Waverly swerved and Wynonna ended up crashing her hip into the table, the photos of the blueprints slid over from their stack and spread out. Waverly looked over at them enthralled.

"Pretty." Waverly smiled up at Nicole. "But in the wrong order." Nicole just looked at her confused, then to Wynonna who just shrugged.

"I think Haught-stuff here is right, back to the hospital we go." Wynonna started to push herself back up as Waverly leaned farther over looking at the photos. She turned towards Dolls but her eyes had started to close by this point.

"Gotta put em together." She managed to get out before slumping over completely, apparently passing out. Nicole deftly reached around behind Waverly and cradle carried her. The youngest Earp was small and light. Wynonna just shook her head.

"She's a genius." Dolls said now looking at the photos. He started grabbing them and stacking them together. Wynonna just shook her head.

"Someone needs to get his head checked." She laughed as she looked over at Nicole who was holding Waverly. "Come Haught-pants lets get Waverly re-admitted."

Nicole and Wynonna were sitting in the hospital room with Waverly. She had passed out from the pain meds the doctor had given her, or from her burst of energy that had led to her checking herself out. Either way when Nicole came carrying Waverly in the nurses just shook their heads and pointed towards Waverly's room. Apparently they expected something like this because they hadn't touched anything.

"You Earps sure are a stubborn bunch." Nicole smiled at the sleeping beauty.

"I thought I was the hard headed one, but nothing compares to Waverly." Wynonna smiled at her baby sister.

"Hey Haught-stuff." Wynonna said without looking over at her.

"Hmm?" Nicole replied without taking her eyes off Waverly either.

"That story you were telling." Wynonna started. Nicole broke her stare and looked over to the brunette who was now looking at her. "About PFC Collins." Nicole nodded indicating she knew what Wynonna was referring to. "What happened?"

Nicole sat silent for a few moments and turned to look out the window. It wasn't a memory she liked reliving.

"It was a routine sweep. My team had just been assigned to the area. It was my first real command. I knew almost every man in my unit, we had gone through training together, but it was my first time being in command. We got the orders for the sweep late, we were due to be on a three day leaveat midnight. But we suited up and I pumped the men up, promising the first round was on me once we got back. This livened them up and we headed out. I wasn't part of Black Badge then, never knew about monsters, or demons. I just thought it was a routine check. Private First Class William Collins was young, a tall skinny blonde kid fresh off the farm. He made friends fast, he was like the little brother of the whole unit. I took him under my wing tried to help him mature. He was only 19, and he was in for some shit.

"The sweep started out fine. We made our way out of the green zone and had made it to the outskirts of sector 1. Collins of course providing entertainment along the way. He told the best stories, of course few of them were actually true." Nicole smiled thinking of the young kid again. "But he had a mouth on him. I had to keep reminding him to keep it low, we were out of the green zone. But he was a kid, you know. Green, and ready to impress his buddies. So he kept telling the stories. Kept running his mouth." Nicole adjusted in her seat. The pain of the story showing on her face, Wynonna looked at her knowingly feeling what she felt.

"He just kept talking. It was kind of nice in a way. He kept everyone calm, kept us all thinking of home." Nicole smiled slightly and looked over at Wynonna. "You would have liked him." She nodded and then turned back to look out the window. Wynonna looked over at Waverly who was awake now and also listening to the story. Waverly brought a finger to her lips and Wynonna noticed and then she closed her eyes.

"Sergeant Harris told him to shut the fuck up several times. We had made our way to the farthest reach of the sweep. There were some abandoned buildings most half gone from mortars or bombs. There were a few still standing. I gave the orders. I sent those men in there. We weren't ready for what we found there. I ordered Collins to do a sweep of a tall building, had to be 3 stories high. He laughed and gave a wink as he continued his story of the cute brunette he was attempting to roll in the hay with calling out the story loudly as he entered the building. And then, he stopped. And it was so quiet. I looked over at the sergeant and we knew. We knew it was all wrong. The whole place just felt wrong. Night had fallen and if it wasn't for Collins constant yapping we all would have been creeped out.

"I gave the order for the rest to regroup and I went on after Collins. I tried to play it off to the men, saying he was probably taking a leak, but everyone felt it. Something had shifted. I walked into the building to see Collins standing there frozen. He was staring up. I couldn't see at first what he was looking at, the second story floor was half blown away. I approached him when I heard something. And then I heard it again. I looked down at the ground to see it. I could see the dark red liquid drip, causing a tiny plum in the sand as it landed. Then I walked closer and I looked up and I saw it. I saw them. Bodies, probably dozens, filleted. Arms, legs, torsos. All cut off and mangled hanging in the air above us.". Nicole got up at this point and walked over to the window. She resumed her military ways and stood at ease staring off into the nothingness out side.

"Heads." She looked down and closed her eyes. "I won't forget their faces." Nicole took a deep breath before she continued on. "I approached Collins slowly, still looking up. I tapped him on the shoulder but he didn't move. I looked down to see he was staring straight ahead. That's when I saw it. Something I'd never seen before, never would have believed if I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes. There it was right in front of me. The shape of a lady, but" Nicole shook her head like she still couldn't believe what she was saying, "but it was just sand. It was staring at Collins, with burning red eyes."

"Demon eyes." Wynonna responded. Nicole just nodded.

"Then without warning it sprouted two arms that flew around him. I tried to grab him, but it was so fast. It flew backwards pulling him out the window. I called after him, screaming his name. And that's when I heard the first shot." Nicole turned now and went back to her seat. She plopped down like she was exhausted. "I stood there for a minute staring into the darkness where Collins had disappeared to. And then I heard the screaming. Shots ringing out. I ran out to join my unit and they were every where. Sand people, with glowing red eyes. I fired shots at them but our bullets weren't doing anything to them. They would just drop into the sand and pop up somewhere else. It was like a terrible nightmare we couldn't wake up from. I looked around there was so much blood. In the darkness you could see the eyes glowing, the muzzle flash as the men shot off their rifles in desperate attempts to vanquish them. I stood there frozen, until a bullet whizzed past my head and brought me back. Sergeant Harris was motioning me towards him and yelling something.

"I yelled out the order to re-group and we all converged on the building Sergeant Harris was in. The floors were wooden so they couldn't pop up in there it seemed. We barricaded the door. We took turns standing guard at the windows shooting them if they came too close. They spoke a language unlike any I'd heard, it wasn't Arabic, or any type of language of the locals. They seemed to form groups around us rushing at the house but seemingly unable to penetrate the adobe walls." Nicole paused and leaned forward onto her knees bringing her hands together.

"Twelve. Twelve of us went into the dessert and 6 of us came out. I was on the last watch. The sun was starting to rise illuminating everything around us. I could see the body parts strewn about the sand. Johnson was lying in the sand and then he started calling to us. I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn't. He called for help. I got two men ready to send out to get him, but by the time they opened the door we saw the sand demon descending on him, and we heard a snap and then he was quiet. We closed the door and settled in waiting for the light.

"We had all fallen asleep when the door to the house burst open to see a tall black man burst through the door. He had his pistol drawn but quickly showed his badge when we all retaliated with our rifles."

"Dolls" Wynonna smirked. "He does have a way for dramatic entrances."

Nicole smiled and continued. "We made it back to the base. I made sure I got in with this Dolls guy and we hit it off. He wanted to know everything that happened and I told him, on one condition. I went with him when he went after those bastards. Apparently he had been tracking the Sand Demons for quite some time. And he knew how to destroy them. Three of the men that came back with me volunteered to go, the other two, well I think they are still undergoing psychiatric evaluations."

"Dolls gave us special ammunition. He said the only way to bring down the sand demon was to destroy the sand. The rounds were white phosphorus that exploded on impact igniting the sand and turning it to glass. We headed out the very next day and we went back to the village we had been at the night before. Dolls, being Dolls, pulled out a book and drew funny symbols in the sand and then surrounded them with a circle. He said as long as we stayed in the circle we were safe. We put up torches around the village so we would be able to see them coming. We waited for night fall and then they came. Rodriguez was the first to see the eyes. He fired and the burn was so bright we had to shield our eyes. Dolls dropped his bag and handed out glasses to everyone to help shield our eyes. When we looked back we saw the glass figure standing in the sand. Then they came in waves. Rushing at us, bullets were flying and demons were bursting into flames. Little glass figures were being strewn everywhere. It was almost beautiful. And that's when I heard it. My heart sank. That laugh. That contagious childlike laugh. And that's when I saw him. Collins approached from the tall building he was taken from. But that laugh wasn't his. It was, but it wasn't.

"I tried to call to him. I lowered my rifle and tried to speak to him, but it was useless. Dolls said he's already dead, and he was right. As Collins approached the torch I could see the blood that had run from his ears, his eyes, his nose. Dried and crusted now. Collins was gone and that thing had killed him." Nicole took a deep breath and looked down at the floor, "So I killed it."

"Damn" was all Wynonna could reply. She had know Dolls and Haught went through some heavy shit together, but she wasn't expecting that.

"And that's when I joined Black badge." Nicole said smiling a little up at Wynonna. She turned her head and wiped her cheek on her shoulder hoping the brunette had not seen the tears that had escaped her eyes.

"What a way to join. I just pulled a knife on Dolls." Wynonna shrugged. Nicole couldn't help but laugh. She took another deep breath as she stood up and looked over at Waverly who appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

"I should get going, see what progress Dolls has made. Text me if anything changes?" Nicole asked. Wynonna nodded and Nicole gave Waverly another fond look before she left. She wished she could have placed a soft kiss on her forehead but resigned to do it in her head for now.

"That was intense." Waverly said as Nicole closed the door.

"Yea. Who knew." Wynonna said slumping back into her chair. "I always only think about revenants being here. I guess I never paid much thought to them bring everywhere." Wynonna said turning to look at Waverly. "Guess I really can't escape them." She smiled and winked at Waverly. Waverly smiled back then yawned. "Get some rest baby-girl." Wynonna said as she adjusted herself into the chair as if she was ready to sleep herself. "You're going to need it"

"Good night Wynonna." Waverly replied sleepily.

"Night Waves."

Waverly lay there before she fell asleep thinking about what else she didn't know about her girlfriend. Girlfriend? Was she her girlfriend now? Waverly hoped so. She would have to ask Nicoletomorrow. But for now Wynonna was right, she needed her rest.