41. Aftermath (Part 2)

Nicole sat at the front desk of the station, stacking some papers she had just put in order when Gus strolled in through the front doors. She looked slightly perturbed.

“Is everything okay?” Nicole immediately asked as she stood up from her chair and leaned over the desk. Gus had never shown up at her place of work like that. She wasn’t sure if she was walking into the police station for legal matters or specifically to see Nicole, but the look on her face had the redhead worried for either.

“Have you seen Waverly?”

The officer drew her eyebrows together. “She should be at work.”

“She’s not. I just went by and Darren said she went out for lunch and hasn’t come back.”

“Well, I’m sure she just went to get something to eat and got caught up.” Nicole tried to feign confidence in hopes of not worrying the older woman, but she knew that wherever Waverly was right now, she didn’t want to be found. Especially if the way she quickly declined Nicole’s call earlier was anything to go off of.

Gus shook her head. “She came by the bar about half an hour ago. Caused a commotion that scared damn near all of my customers!”

Nicole raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”

“You tell me! One minute I was grabbin’ some supplies from the back, next thing I know she’s gone out guns blazin’ yelling at her ex and knockin’ him into tables, spillin’ beers and smashin’ glasses everywhere! Do you know what that’s all about?”

Nicole clenched her jaw. She didn’t want to tell Waverly’s aunt what was going on with her, since it wasn’t her place to tell.

“We’re just going through a rough patch.” Nicole lied, hoping that it would keep the woman from interrogating her any further.

Gus nodded in understanding. She relaxed a little that the explanation wasn’t something more serious.

“Well figure out your damn shit. I can’t have her frightenin’ my customers like that.”

“Yes ma’am.” Nicole nodded in understanding. “Won’t happen again.”

“Good.” Gus gave a curt nod before leaning in towards Nicole. “And Officer Haught, whatever you two are fightin’ about, I’m sure it’ll blow over soon enough.” She gave a wink and a reassuring smile. Nicole smiled back weakly, feeling a little guilty for lying to the woman, but she was also appreciative that she had that much faith in the couple.

Gus said her goodbyes and left the station, leaving Nicole to worry about her girlfriend, who had just had an altercation with the last person she should be seeing today. She had dealt with enough sexual assault cases to know that the worst thing for the victims – survivors? – was to see their attacker too soon after the incident. She was worried about this happening, which was why she was hoping that Waverly would have stayed home today, but it wasn’t like the younger woman to sit at home twiddling her thumbs. She thought she’d be safe at work though, but she didn’t account for the brunette leaving and going to Shorty’s, the one place Champ could always be found. She pulled out her phone and dialed Waverly’s number, but of course it just went straight to voicemail. The brunette probably turned her phone off. She quickly hung up the phone, not even bothering to leave a voice message. She knew that she had to go looking for the girl.

Nicole straightened up the front desk a bit, grabbed her winter coat and made her way towards the back where Dolls was sitting at his desk, head buried in work.

“Hey, tell Nedley I’m going on lunch break.”

Dolls just hummed in acknowledgment as he continued to read over a document.

Nicole made her way out to the police cruiser and immediately pulled her phone back out to call Wynonna.

“Hey, is Waverly there?” She asked as soon as the older Earp picked up.

“No, she went to work, remember?”

“She went on lunch break and never went back.” Nicole sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Apparently she ran into Champ at Shorty’s and then ran off somewhere. I was hoping that she would’ve gone back home.”

“Son of a bitch.” Wynonna cursed before pausing. Nicole could hear the brunette pacing, and it was obvious that she was trying to calm herself down. “She’s not here.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find her. I think I know where she might’ve gone.”

“Do you think Champ is still at Shorty’s?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” Nicole scoffed. Then she realized why Wynonna was probably asking. “Don’t do something stupid Wynonna.”

“I won’t.”

She had a feeling that the brunette was lying, but had more important matters to attend to. “Okay. I’ll let you know when I find her. Call me if you see her.” She hung up the phone.

Nicole started the car and sped off towards her destination, driving about 20 mph over the speed limit. About 20 minutes later, she pulled up to an overlook that she and Waverly had discovered a couple of months ago that had a perfect view of all of Purgatory. She remembered Waverly saying something about starting to come here whenever she needed to clear her head since it was peaceful. Sure enough, she saw a small figure sitting on the flat makeshift wooden railing. The long, wavy brunette hair was unmistakable – it was Waverly. Nicole parked the cruiser and stepped out of the car, sighing in relief that the woman was okay. …well, physically okay, at least. Emotionally was another issue entirely, and she wasn’t sure what she was going to find. But she prepared herself for the worst just in case, and silently promised herself to be there for Waverly no matter what. She was thankful that her police training had prepared her for stuff like this.

She slowly walked up to the brunette, being sure to make noise in the snow so that she didn’t sneak up on the woman.

“Hey.” She called out when she was a few feet away from Waverly. The brunette didn’t respond, but briefly turned her head to the side, signaling that she had heard the redhead’s greeting, before turning back to face the view of the town. “Can I sit down?” Nicole asked when she reached the railing and stood a couple of feet down from Waverly.

Waverly shrugged. “It’s a free country.”

“I mean, can I sit next to you?”

Waverly shrugged again. “If you want.”

Nicole stepped up onto the lower part of the railing and swung a leg over the top before shifting into a sitting position. She mirrored Waverly’s stance and looked out over the view.

“Do you remember when we first found this place?” Nicole asked after a moment of silence.

Waverly nodded. “We fucked in the backseat of my Jeep.”

Nicole blushed at the bluntness of the statement. She let out a short laugh, but quickly stopped when she realized Waverly wasn’t laughing, or even smiling for that matter. Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure if it was a joke or just a statement. She nervously cleared her throat. “I meant the first part of that day. When we had the picnic on the ground and forgot utensils, so we had to do everything by hand.”

Waverly smiled at the memory. “You tried to cut the tomatoes with your pocket knife.”

Nicole chuckled. “That was a disaster waiting to happen.”

The brunette smiled briefly before letting out a deep breath. Her face was neutral again, and the two fell into an awkward silence. Waverly wished that Nicole would stop stalling and just say whatever it was she wanted to say, but at the same time she was hoping she would just skip the conversation all together and sit there with her, not saying anything while they enjoyed the view together. Waverly picked this location because of the way she towered over the town. She could see every house, every store, every car…she could barely see the people, but occasionally she would catch a moving spec and knew it was one of the citizens of Purgatory. She felt big, and that was something she needed right now, especially at a time when she was feeling so incredibly small.

“How are you doing?” Nicole turned her head to look at Waverly, but the brunette continued to look out into distance. The redhead quickly turned her head and looked at her lap, silently cursing herself. That was a stupid question. She regrouped and thought of a better way to word her question. “I know we haven’t actually talked about how you’re feeling about all of this. We’ve only talked about the legal stuff, and I wanted to know how you were doing with it all.”

Waverly didn’t move for a few seconds, but then she shrugged. It wasn’t exactly an answer, but Nicole was glad that the girl was at least acknowledging her words, which was progress.

“Gus said you went to Shorty’s. She said you yelled at Champ.”

Waverly turned her head so quickly to look at Nicole that the redhead thought that she would get whiplash. “Don’t say his name.” Waverly said sharply.

Progress. Waverly was saying words, which was progress. Nicole knew she was getting somewhere. “Okay. I won’t say his name.” She said calmly, and Waverly turned back to face the front. “Did he say something to you to upset you?”

Waverly shook her head. She sat there for a full minute and a half without saying anything. Nicole had assumed that the conversation was over, and that was all that she was going to get out of the girl, before the brunette unexpectedly broke the silence. “I went up to him. Asked him if he would’ve done it if you hadn’t knocked him out.” She chuckled as she shook her head. “Didn’t get an answer. Probably for the best. Not really sure if I wanted to hear it anyways, because I think I already know.”

Nicole nodded as she looked at her girlfriend’s face. She could see that she was struggling with how to feel about all of this. “You know, whatever you’re feeling right now, it’s okay.”

Waverly let out a short laugh. Not because anything was funny, but because she felt the opposite. “How can I? How can I be so broken up about this when there are women out there who have been through way worse? Women are being raped every day, and I was just almost raped.” She froze, taking in the words. She was almost raped. Her heart began racing, and all of the emotions that she was feeling last night, while it was happening, came flooding back.

Nicole shook her head in disagreement. “Waverly, it’s all relative. You can’t compare this to other people. That’s like breaking an arm and saying you can’t react negatively to the pain because there are people out there who have broken their whole body. You may not have been raped, but you were sexually assaulted. He held you down to where you couldn’t move and forced himself on you, and that is a horrible thing for anyone to have to experience.”

That was it. That was the thing that got through to Waverly; that broke down the wall that she had put up to protect herself from feeling everything. She dropped her head into her hands and began to sob. Nicole looked at her girlfriend, unsure if it was okay to touch her or not. She reached out a delicate hand and placed it ever so lightly on Waverly’s back. She expected the girl to shrug it off, but she didn’t. Instead, she leaned closer into Nicole, and Nicole quickly wrapped her arms around the girl and held her tight as she continued to weep. Nicole didn’t say anything. She knew that no words would be more powerful than holding her girlfriend, so she remained silent. They sat like that for about five minutes as Waverly continued to cry, before the younger woman pulled away and wiped her face off with the backs of her hands as she sniffled.

“He pressed himself up against me.” Waverly croaked as more tears spilled down her cheeks. “I could feel his…through his pants. I could feel it touching me, between my legs, as he humped himself against me. I could feel him getting turned on. I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t get away from him.”

Nicole swallowed hard as she clenched her jaw and curled her toes in her boots. It was difficult for her to hear this and not get angry, but she had to remain neutral for Waverly. She had to make sure the girl knew that it was okay to talk about it, and that she was there to listen.

Waverly sniffled a few more times and wiped away more stray tears before continuing. “I just stood there and thought, ‘This is it. He’s actually going to force himself inside me.’ And all I could think about was all of the times we had sex, and how I hoped to God that it would be like that, because then it wouldn’t be so bad. He may not have been the most attentive boyfriend, but he was at least understanding. He always listened to my requests, and he was gentle.” She buried her face in her hands and shook her head, sobbing some more. A few seconds later she lifted her head up and continued, but she was still slowly shaking her head. “But then he said that you were brainwashing me into thinking that I was gay, and that he was going to help me. He said he was going to remind me that I loved him. As soon as he said that, I knew that it wasn’t going to be like all the other times. It was going to be rough, and it was going to hurt. And I…I didn’t want him to do that to me!”

She was crying so hard that Nicole could barely make out her words, but she knew exactly what Waverly had said, and it infuriated her to no end. This wasn’t just Waverly’s ex-boyfriend trying to have sex with her again…this was a hate crime. This was him trying to fuck her straight. Suddenly Wynonna’s idea of shooting him in the dick didn’t seem so terrible anymore.

Nicole reached out and soothingly rubbed Waverly’s back as the girl sobbed into her hands again. “I know, baby.” Was all she could say.

“How can he do that to me? He said he loved me. For four years, he said he loved me. How could he want to hurt me like that?”

Nicole didn’t say anything. What could she even say? She didn’t have the answers for Champ’s actions; she couldn’t speak for him.

“He ruined it for me. He didn’t have sex with me, but he got just close enough to where I can still feel him on me. I feel gross, and violated, and like…” She sighed. “Like I can never enjoy sex again.” She dropped her head as she stared at her lap. She was too afraid to look at Nicole. She felt ashamed, and guilty. The woman deserved much better than this; than someone who couldn’t even enjoy having sex.

“Hey.” Nicole quickly said. “Waverly, don’t you ever feel like this is your fault. This is not your fault, he’s the one who did something wrong. And whatever you’re feeling right now is completely valid. And I love you, no matter what. I will always love you. And I will always want to be with you.” She rubbed Waverly’s back as the girl wiped new tears away and nodded.

“Can we just sit here for a little bit longer?” Waverly asked without looking up as she sniffled.

“Of course.” Nicole said as she dropped her hand and rested it on the railing between them before looking out into the distance with the brunette. Waverly placed her hand next to Nicole’s and touched their pinkies together before wrapping it around Nicole’s as they sat in silence.

---

It was almost 5 p.m. when Champ finally left Shorty’s. He gave Pete and Kyle a couple of high fives before walking out to his truck. As soon as he shut the driver’s door, Wynonna appeared behind him in his rear-view mirror.

“What the-“ He yelled in surprise, but before he could even finish his sentence, he was hit in the back of the head and knocked out cold.

Champ groggily opened his eyes as he began to wake up. “What- Where am I?” He grumbled as he looked around the barn. He suddenly recognized it as the barn at the Earp homestead. He tried to move, but he was tied to a chair. He saw a woman standing in front of him with long, dark hair. “Wynonna?” The name was followed by a grunt as he was hit in the face with something solid - the butt of a shotgun.

“Champ Hardy. I’ve got some beef with you.” She said as she aimed the gun at him.

He groaned as he rolled his head around in pain. Blood dropped from a fresh cut on his cheekbone on top of his day-old bruise that Nicole had given him.

“You tried to rape my baby sister.”

He opened his eyes and saw Wynonna pointing the gun at his chest. His eyes widened as he frantically shook his head. “No, I didn’t! She wanted it! She just needed help remembering.”

Wynonna gritted her teeth and tightened her grip around the shotgun in her hands. She wasn’t sure what she was angrier about, the words that were coming out of his mouth, or the fact that he seemed to truly believe them. “You imbecile! She’s a les-bi-an. That means she doesn’t want anything to do with you or your tiny ass dick. Therefore, you tried to rape her. And in the process, you assaulted her. You held her against the fucking wall and trapped her so she couldn’t get away from you, asshole!”

“I’ll admit that I could have been a little less forceful about it, but I was super drunk. I didn’t know what I was–”

Before he could even finish his sentence, she smashed the butt of the gun in between his legs, causing his eyeballs to nearly pop out of his head as he gasped and doubled over in pain.

“Don’t you fucking dare! You knew exactly what you were doing to her and you knew she didn’t want it! But you covered her mouth so that you wouldn’t hear her telling you no, because you can’t handle the fact that you dated her for four years and was too self-involved to realize that you were never what she really wanted, you ignorant piece of shit!”

He coughed as he tried to move his limbs, but he couldn’t. His arms were tied behind his back, and his ankles were tied together behind the back legs of the chair, leaving his legs wide open around the seat. He tried to close them, but he couldn’t. He was left with his most sensitive body part exposed, and unable to protect himself.

Wynonna saw him trying to close his legs but unable to do so, and she took great joy in it. “Now you know how Waverly felt. Trapped, unable to move, unable to breathe, exposed, violated. All of her power was taken away from her. And I’m going to make sure you feel that too.”

“Wynonna, please.” He begged, his voice hoarse from coughing so much.

The older Earp scowled as she lifted her foot and jammed it as hard as she could into his groin. She kicked him so hard that the chair fell backwards onto the concrete floor. He wheezed in pain. He was in so much pain that tears formed in the corners of his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. She slowly lifted him and the chair back up, struggling a little bit before succeeding. As soon as he was upright, he turned his head and vomited on the floor.

“Doesn’t feel good, does it.”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he continued to groan in pain and coughed a few more times.

She aimed the shotgun at his head. “You’re going to leave this town and never come back.”

He panted and blinked away the tears as he grimaced at the insufferable pain he was still feeling throughout his entire body. “But where will I go?” He finally managed to croak out. “All of my friends and family are here. My whole life is here!” He explained, trying to earn some sympathy.

“I don’t give a fuck! Get a job, rent an apartment...or don’t and live on the streets where you get your ass kicked every day by thugs, I really don’t care. You’re going to leave Purgatory, and you’re never going to come back. Because if I ever see your face here again, I swear on my daughter’s life that I will kill you.”

He gulped.

“Do you know who I am?” She asked as she pressed the barrel of the shotgun against his temple.

“Wy-Wynonna.” He stuttered.

“Wynonna what?”

“Earp?”

“That’s right. I’m Wynonna Earp. And do you know what that means?”

He shook his head as he looked at her with wide eyes.

“That means that I’m one crazy bitch. So you know I’ll do it, Champ. You know I’ll kill you. Do you know that?”

He nodded fervently.

“Good. Do you know who Bobo Del Rey is?”

“That crazy gangster?”

“Mhm” Wynonna hummed with her lips pursed as she slowly nodded. “The father of my child works with him, Doc Holliday. You may have heard of him too. Holds the current record for fastest gunslinger in the world.”

Champ swallowed thickly as he nodded. The boy was a terrible shot, which was why he stuck to roping cattle. He wouldn’t stand a chance against Doc or Bobo, and he knew it.

“And as it turns out, Bobo seems to have quite a soft spot for Waverly. I’m going to make sure he and his gang are always watching you, for the rest of your life. You won’t know that they’re there, but you’ll feel it. Eyes watching you, like a hawk.” She pressed the gun harder into his skull and he winced. “And if I find out that you’ve assaulted anyone else, I’ll make sure you have ten times worse done to you by every single member of that gang before they shred you to pieces. Understand?”

He nodded again with wide eyes. None of that was true though. She didn’t have ties to Bobo and his gang, nor did she ever want to, but Champ didn’t have to know that. And she could tell by the immense fear in his eyes that her persuasiveness was more effective than she had ever hoped for.

“Good.” She dropped the gun down by her side. “Now, I’m going to let you go, Champ. And when I do, you’re going to run as far away from Purgatory as possible. And if you tell anyone about this, you know what’s gonna happen?”

“You’ll kill me?” He guessed as he trembled in the chair.

“That’s right.” She pointed the gun in between his legs, causing him to squirm around. “But it wouldn’t be a quick death. I would shoot you in the balls; each one. Make sure you feel pain there and watch you bleed out until you die a slow and painful death. Is that what you want?”

He frantically shook his head. “No. No, please!”

“So are you going to tell anyone?”

“No!”

“And what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to leave town and never come back.”

“Or?”

“Or, you’ll kill me!”

“Good boy.” She kicked him one last time in the groin, causing him to cry out in pain as she untied him. Once he was free, he immediately dropped to his knees and held his crotch as he writhed in pain on the ground.

“Now get out of here, Hardy.”

---

Wynonna finally got back to the homestead at around 10 p.m. after she had tailed Champ from the barn to his house to pack his stuff, then all the way to the city line as she watched him drive off into the distance, and then to Shorty’s for a little bit just to show her face in case she needed an alibi. She was thankful that Nicole and Waverly weren’t at the homestead when she kidnapped Champ and held him captive in the barn, or else the ginger narc would have surely stopped her.

When she walked in, she noticed Nicole downstairs in the kitchen making some tea.

“How is she?” She asked as she put her shotgun back in the hall closet.

Nicole raised an eyebrow at the older Earp stashing away the gun. “She’s asleep right now. Said she didn’t sleep at all last night so we stopped at the store and got her some sleep aids. Knocked her right out.” She stared at Wynonna, who was now rummaging through the pantry, as she waited for an explanation. When she realized she wasn’t going to get one without instigating, she proceeded with the question. “What’s with the gun?”

Wynonna shrugged as she sat down at the table with a bag of kale chips – Waverly had replaced all of their junk foods with healthier versions for her pregnant sister. “Went to the shooting range. Needed to let out some steam.” She popped a chip into her mouth and grimaced at the taste.

Nicole looked at her in question, unsure of whether or not to believe her, but just shrugged it off. She sat down with her steaming mug across from the older Earp. “I think I convinced her to make a statement.”

Wynonna shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore. We won’t be seeing Champ Hardy ever again.” She said nonchalantly.

Nicole gave Wynonna a stern look. “And why is that?”

“I took care of that shithead.”

Nicole’s heart skipped a beat. She thought back to the gun. “Wynonna, what did you do?” The officer asked worriedly as she leaned closer to the brunette and stared at her attentively.

“I can’t tell you. Just know that he’s alive, alone, and he’s left Purgatory for good. And believe me when I say that he’ll spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder in fear.” She folded her arms across her chest as a feeling of pride washed over her.

Nicole gave her a look of hesitation. Part of her really wanted to know what Wynonna did, but she also knew that if the brunette told her, she would probably have to arrest her. She thought about it for a moment. “And you’re sure about this?”

Wynonna sat up and looked Nicole dead in the eyes. “100% positive. Champ Hardy is never coming back to Purgatory. Waverly will never have to see that asshole’s face again, and he’s never going to hurt anyone ever again. And she gets to control who knows what he did.”

Nicole slowly nodded, trepidation still showing in her body language.

“Nicole, just trust me on this. This was the best thing for her.”

The redhead sighed as she shook her head before finally saying, “Okay. I trust you.”

“Good.” Wynonna leaned back in her chair and tossed another chip into her mouth as they fell into a comfortable silence.

Nicole nursed her tea as she thought back to her conversation with Waverly earlier. Her blood began to boil as she thought of all the things Champ took away from her. “He seriously messed her up, Wynonna.”

Wynonna paused as she drew her eyebrows together. “How so?”

“Just…everything. She’s different. I know before she kept saying it wasn’t a big deal, but she’s completely traumatized. She’ll barely let me touch her.”

“Shit.” Wynonna breathed out in concern.

“I didn’t know this before, but she told me that he rubbed himself off against her. He had pants on, but she could still feel it.” She let out a shaky breath as she rubbed her eyes. “And she said he told her that she wasn’t actually gay and that he was going to help her remember that, which scared her shitless. God, if I hadn’t walked in when I did…” Nicole’s eyes began to water as she pursed her lips and slowly shook her head, staring down at her tea. Her hands were gripped tightly around the warm mug as she tried not to let her mind wander to what could have happened to her girlfriend had she not gotten there in time.

Wynonna stared at Nicole for what seemed like an eternity before she stood up from her chair. She wished she had actually shot him in the balls and watched him bleed out when she had the chance, but she was too busy thinking about not getting arrested and sticking around for her sister and her daughter. Now that she knew it was so much worse than Waverly had led them to believe, the whole thing seemed more worth it. She began to make her way towards the stairs, but she was stopped by a hand on her arm, holding her back.

“Where are you going?” Nicole asked.

“To talk to my baby sister. She needs me. She needs to know that everything is going to be okay and that he can’t hurt her ever again.” She tried to continue forward, but Nicole was still holding her back.

“She’s asleep right now. You can talk to her when she wakes up.” Nicole explained.

“Nicole, let me go.” Wynonna demanded.

The redhead urged Wynonna to sit down next to her, but Wynonna pulled back. “Wynonna, she’s sleeping for the first time in two days. Don’t ruin that for her. Sit.”

Wynonna sighed as she slumped down into the chair. She rested one hand on the table as she rubbed her belly with the other one. She felt Nicole grab her hand that was on the table and squeeze it as the redhead started crying. She covered her face with her free hand as she wept, still holding onto the brunette for support. Wynonna instantly placed her other hand in Nicole’s as she moved the hand closest to the woman to the back of her head.

“Hey, she’s going to get through this.” Wynonna consoled. “She’s strong. And she has the most caring girlfriend in the entire world, and a badass sister, and Gus, and lots of friends who will help her get through this. She’s going to be okay, Nicole.”

“I just don’t want to lose her.” Nicole confessed between sobs. “I don’t want her to spiral into this deep depression that she can’t get out of. I don’t want her to lose that spark that makes her Waverly. I know this sounds completely selfish, but I don’t want to lose my Waverly. I need her. I can’t live without her.”

Wynonna continued to calm down the woman as she rubbed her thumb on the back of her hand while simultaneously stroking her other hand through the back of the woman’s auburn hair. “We’re not going to lose her, okay? I’ll make sure of it. She’ll still be Waverly. Nicole, I promise, she’s going to be okay. I know it. I feel it in my gut, and I know you do too. So just keep listening to that, okay?”

Nicole nodded as she held her hand over her face and shook her head. “I just can’t help but think, if only I had watched out for her. If only I had started looking for her sooner, then–”

“Hey, don’t do that.” Wynonna said with a firm voice. “Don’t blame yourself. This isn’t your fault any more than it is Waverly’s. The only person to blame here is Champ, and he’s halfway to a life of hell right now.”

Nicole nodded as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Come here.” Wynonna stood up and wrapped her arms around her sister’s girlfriend and held her as close as her baby bump would allow.

“Your daughter is trying to come between us.” Nicole chortled as she wiped her wet face.

Wynonna pulled back and laughed. “Yeah, she does that every time I try to hug someone. It’s the weirdest thing.” She joked as she sat back down in her chair.

“Have you thought of any names yet?”

“I’m thinking Edna, or maybe Ursula.” Wynonna shrugged with a straight face.

Nicole laughed at the names. “You’re messing with me.”

“I am.” Wynonna replied with a smile.

---

The next morning, Waverly woke up feeling a little sore from not having moved the entire night, but at the same time she felt completely well-rested, which she was thankful for. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to sleep again, but those sleeping pills really did the trick. She slowly sat up and stretched out her stiff muscles before making her way down the stairs. When she got to the bottom, she saw Wynonna sitting on the couch watching TV. She noticed a pillow and blanket folded up on the opposite end.

“Did you sleep on the couch?” Waverly questioned as she pointed to the bedding.

“Nicole did. She wasn’t sure if you wanted her to sleep in bed with you, so she slept down here just in case.”

“Oh. Where is she?”

“She had an early shift. Left a couple of hours ago.”

Waverly checked her phone and saw that it was only 7 a.m. “You’re up early.”

Wynonna patted her stomach. “It’s starting to get harder to sleep with this little spaghetti squash.” She smiled.

Waverly nodded as she continued to stand in the middle of the living room. She folded her arms and awkwardly looked around. She didn’t want to disturb her sister.

The older brunette noticed Waverly’s hesitation and paused the TV. “Hey, come sit.” She patted the empty spot next to her.

Waverly made her way over to the couch and sat next to her sister.

“I need to tell you something.” Wynonna said in a serious tone.

“Okay?” Waverly quirked an eyebrow.

“I kidnapped and threatened Champ. Tied him up and held a gun to his face, told him to leave town and that I would kill him if I ever saw his ugly face ever again. Also told him that Doc worked with Bobo and that he and his gang would be watching him for the rest of his life, and that if he ever did to anyone else what he did to you, he would have way worse done to him and then he’d die a slow and painful death. He looked like he was about to shit his pants, so he definitely believed it. I also kicked him in the nuts a few times while he was tied to the chair and couldn’t move. I think I bruised his junk. I followed him to his house and watched him pack his truck and leave the city limits. He’s never coming back here ever again Waverly. We’re not putting him through a trial where he’ll have any chances of winning. You won’t have to go through that. Nobody has to know unless you tell them. He’s somewhere out there in the world, alone and afraid. Probably slept in his truck last night. He’ll probably get a shitty job and live in a shitty apartment with shitty friends from said job. And the whole time, he’ll be looking over his shoulder for Bobo and his gang. He got a way better punishment than anything the judicial system could ever give him, and now you can focus on healing without having to worry about him.”

Waverly stared at her sister as she processed all of the information. After what finally felt like an eternity, she let out a sigh of relief. She knew she shouldn’t feel happy about anyone being tortured like that, but she felt relieved. She cried as she leaned her head into her sister’s side and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Thank you. I love you.” She breathed out.

Wynonna could hear the relief in her sister’s voice and she smiled as she held her little sister. “You can’t tell Nicole though. She’ll be all conflicted and stuff with arresting me for kidnapping and torturing the son of a bitch.”

Waverly nodded and slid down and rested her head on her sister’s lap as she curled up on the couch. She closed her eyes and took in the feeling of Wynonna running her hands through her hair and massaging her scalp – something the older Earp used to do when she was a small child.

“I love you so much, Waverly. And I’m here for you, you know. Whatever you need from me, I’m here. And Nicole is too. She loves you, and she’s patient. And she’s completely devoted to you. So just…take whatever time you need, okay? There’s no rush. But just know that we’re here for you.”

The lighter brunette squeezed her sister’s lap, signaling that she understood, and that she was grateful. “Can we watch something funny?” Waverly asked in a voice barely above a whisper as she looked at the TV.

“Sure.” Wynonna smiled as she exited out of the NCIS episode that she was watching and put on an episode of Friends.