76. What Do You Want Me to Say?

       Waverly’s eyes widened, hearing his name for the first time. Julian . She thought for a second, trying to see if she knew anyone in Purgatory with that name. But she had nothing. “Julian?”

       Mama nodded. “We’d met a little more than a year before you were born. And I knew right away he was everything I could ever want in a man. He was smart, kind, funny, handsome .”

       “Where’d you meet?” The brunette questioned. 

       “We met in a Church about 30 minutes from here . . . I had decided that if I gathered a little faith, maybe Ward wouldn’t be such an asshole. Stupid thinking, I know. But I was desperate. It was the closest up and running church to here, seeing that they thought it’d be crazy to put one in a town called Purgatory . And on my first trip there, I met Julian . . . But at that point, he was still Father Julian to me.”

       “He was a priest?” She asked with raised eyebrows. Her mother nodded. She squinted at her. “Aren’t some priests supposed to be celibate?”

       “They’re supposed to be . . . But here you are.”

       “ Mama ,” Waverly laughed. 

       “What?” 

       She shook her head, rolling her eyes playfully. “. . . So what changed? Why was I raised as Daddy’s?” 

       “Well. I found out I was pregnant with you and I told Julian. And he was upset. He was a Priest . People from all over came to his services, so it wouldn’t be too good for his reputation if he had a baby running around . . . So he told me to abort you. He didn’t want anyone to know. I told him no. I couldn’t do that, and I didn’t want to either. So we decided it’d be best to just raise you up as Ward’s.”

       “Did . . . Did he ever get to meet me?” 

       “Once. I told Ward I was taking you with me to the store a month or so after you were born, and I guess he followed me because Julian was holding you, sitting in a pew, and he waltzed right in. We had been sitting to close for his liking, so he put two and two together, and you and I were officially his punching bag after that.” 

       “What’d he do to him?” Waverly questioned, furrowing her brows tightly.

       “Probably what you’d expect . . . Beat the ever-living shit out of him- He would have shot him if I wouldn’t have taken his gun away.” The younger girl shook her head with a frown. “That son of a bitch had it coming, with what happened with Wynonna?” 

       She sighed with a nod, rubbing her hands up and down her face. “So . . .” She moved them, raising her head slightly to meet her eyes. “D’you think I can meet him now?” 

.  .  .

       Nicole climbed out of her cruiser, jogging up to the front door of the Homestead to get out of the rain/hail mixture that Purgatory was delivering. She pushed it open and walked in, seeing five pairs of eyes on her from the living room. 

       “Oh, Baby.” Waverly rushed over to her with worry in her eyes as she pushed a wad of wet hair out of her face.

       “Guess who was in a lake?” She mumbled.

       Judging by the smell coming from her, it was an easy guess. “Did you find her?” She asked quietly, walking her away from a door. 

       Nicole nodded sadly. “She’s not from here. But she hasn’t been reported missing either, meaning she was taken and dumped before anyone’s realized she’s gone.”

       “Do you have any idea of who did it?” 

       “I don’t know who it was, but I know what it was . . .” 

       Her eyes widened. “ Revenant ?” 

       The redhead swallowed with a nod. “Wave . . . I’ve never seen anything like that. It- It was bad. She was . . .-” 

       “Shh, later, come on.” She ran her hand down her cheek before leading her upstairs, grabbing her some clothes that they left there for the nights when they stayed over and getting her into a warm shower. She walked down, rejoining Doc, Wynonna, Michelle, and Alice.

       “What’d she say?” Wynonna asked. 

       “That we’ve got a murderous Revenant on our hands . . . Dolls is on it already.” 

       Her eyes widened and she quickly handed off Alice to her mother, standing up off the couch. “That man needs to start telling me things,” she muttered, grabbing her coat off the hook by the door. “Mama, can you make sure Doc doesn’t kill the baby tonight? I’ll be back late.” 

       “Wynonna, I am perfectly capable of taking care of our child by my lonesome,” he said, somewhat offended. 

       “You almost throw up every time you change her diaper. Cool it, Cowboy.” He pursed his lips, knowing she was speaking the truth. 

       “Be careful, Nonna,” her sister warned. “Call me if you need anything.” 

       “I will,” she said with a wave, heading out the door. 

       Nicole returned several minutes later, now in sweats. She walked over and the brunette opened her arms. She smiled a little, laying down on the couch and curling into her chest. Doc had gone up to put Alice to bed, so it was just the three of them left. 

       “What’d I miss?” She asked, feeling Waverly pulling a blanket over the both of them. 

       “Not much . . . My dad’s a priest.” 

       “Mm. ‘Plains a lot.” 

       “What’s that supposed to mean?” The brunette asked confusedly. 

       “Means you’re my angel, Baby,” she mumbled sleepily. Waverly rolled her eyes with a blush, pushing her hand through her still-damp hair. 

       “I think you’re gonna need to hit the sack here soon, Dallas,” Mama chuckled, seeing her struggling to keep her eyes open from her chair. 

       “I’ma hit the sack right here,” Nicole mumbled.

       “We still have to get the cats,” Waverly reminded, knowing it was barely 7 PM.

       “‘Morrow.”

       “Well text Nedley then.” 

       Nicole let out a huff, digging her phone out of her pocket. 

Haught: Is it ok if we come by tomorrow instead? Michelle’s back in town so Waves was busy with her and I was trying to fish a body out of the lake all day. 

Nedley: Good luck peeling Geronimo out of Chrissy’s arms. I think she’s fallen in love 

Haught: Finally 

Nedley: BITCH - Chris

Haught: Lol

Haught: Thanks, Sheriff

Nedley: You’re welcome, Sheriff

Nedley: Run that case by me when you come by

Haught:

       Nicole dropped her phone to the floor, scooching up so her head was by her neck. “Now shh.” 

       Waverly shook her head with a smile, brushing her hair out of her face and pushing a kiss to her forehead. “Night, Love.” 

       “Mm.” 

.  .  . 

       Waverly and Michelle had stayed up a few more hours, talking quietly after the redhead fell asleep. But even she got tired rather quickly. She woke up the next morning alone, which hurt her heart a little, but she wasn’t surprised that Nicole had gotten an early start to the day. And she also knew she’d be home late again, knowing she was going to be putting her all into this case. 

       She got up with a yawn, walking to the kitchen and starting a pot of coffee. She rubbed her eyes, leaning back against the counter. She opened them, though, hearing someone entering the kitchen. Her face saddened immediately. 

       Gus sulked into the room with her head down, still in her clothes from the day before. She looked to be heading for the door, but Waverly wasn’t letting her leave like that. 

       “Gus . . .” She called after her, rounding the table slowly. The woman stopped, turning around and looking up at her. She looked like she hadn’t slept at all. “Hey.” She walked over and cupped her face, making her meet her eyes. “Just because she’s back doesn’t mean I think of you any less, do you understand me? You’re more of a mother to me than she’ll ever be.” 

       Her features visibly softened. Her mouth came open a little and the brunette gave her an assuring smile. She let out a breath, pulling her niece into a tight hug. How Waverly had known that was exactly what she needed to hear, she didn’t know. But she was so glad she did. 

       The younger one pulled back after a minute, running her hands up and down her arms a few times. “You two need to work it out . . . I’m not gonna watch you two pout around one another all the time.”

       She let out a small huff, pursing her lips. “. . . I just want answers, not excuses.” 

       The brunette sighed, turning and grabbing two mugs out of the cabinet, pouring them each some coffee. “We all do, Gus.” 

.  .  .

       A few weeks came and went, leaving the couple on edge. Nicole and BBD were relentlessly trying to track down the killer, but there were no new leads. And Waverly was having a hard time waiting on Michelle. 

       She had told her that she’d take her to meet Julian after she had met with him first. But she was still yet to do that. Waverly was trying to keep calm about it, but the growing want to know more about her history was becoming too much. And her mother had no right to keep her from him.

       So. 

       She decided to take it into her own hands. 

       Waverly walked into the station with some lunch for her baby, knocking lightly on the door of her office. She got no answer. She cocked an eyebrow as she pushed it open, seeing an empty room. She turned, walking towards the BBD office and peering through the window, seeing the redhead hunched over a stack of papers. She furrowed her brow, but they slowly rose as she looked back towards her empty office. 

       She shouldn’t. 

       She really shouldn’t. 

       But she toned that little voice in her head out as she made her way back to her office, closing the door behind her. She set the bag of food down on her desk, sitting down in her office chair and rolling forward to reach her computer, looking up at the door as she powered it on.

       The sign-in screen showed up for the station’s database and she typed in Nicole's badge number at the top, cursor swirling around the password bar. What would Nicole’s pin be ? She knew it had to be six numbers, judging by the little spaces opened. And that probably meant a date.

       010590

       Not her birthday. Nicole was smarter than that. 

       090895

       Not her birthday either. That was probably still too obvious. 

       031616

       Not their anniversary.  

       She leaned back in the chair, taking that 2 more attempts warning at the top of the screen very seriously. She slowly sat up, narrowing her eyes.

       696969

       Nicole wasn’t that childish . . . Most of the time.

       She sat back again, racking dates over in her brain that meant something to her fiancée. This was her last shot, and she really had no clue. What date would she pick that had to do with her being a cop?

       And then it hit her. 

       081805

       The night she decided, with a little help from Nedley, that being a police officer was her calling.

       The database opened, giving her access to exactly what she needed. A small smile graced her face as she navigated towards the search area. It gave her a broad range of selections. Name, gender, age, height, weight, residence, anything that an officer would need to try and find someone’s identity. She drummed her fingers on the keyboard for a second before clicking on the name bar and typing in Julian .  Gender? Male . Age? She clicked the option of 40<, for it seemed the most reasonable. She skipped over a few, seeing that she didn’t know what he looked like. Residence? 30-mile radius . This database was really something. She didn’t really know anything else that she could fill in, so she scrolled to the bottom and hit enter. 

       A list of five popped up on the screen. She immediately ruled off one, seeing that he had died years ago. She skimmed through the information that was below the others, trying to narrow it down. She marked off another, seeing that he was in his 80s. And another, seeing that he had a healthy list of drug charges under his name. She was now left with 2. On the left, a plumper man with a soft smile, and the right, a blue-eyed silver fox that looked like a mix between McSteamy and McDreamy.

       Oh man . 

       She clicked on the one to the left first, reading the bit of information underneath. The only data criminally was a single parking ticket. She scrolled a bit more, seeing the information that would be listed on his driver’s license, for that’s where the picture came from. Hazel eyes . Check. 5’8 . Well, that would help explain her own height. Or lack thereof. She scrolled a bit more, but there wasn’t much information about him. 

       She went back, clicking on option number two. Blue eyes . She wished. 6’5 . She definitely didn’t get any of that . She looked at the charges, furrowing her brows. He had two separate charges, one for disturbing the peace and one for trespassing. She clicked on it to read the incident report, and a gasp left her throat, seeing that she was directed to a newspaper article instead. 

       She didn’t even need to read it to know. The picture and header on the front told it all. 

Father Julian Arrested at Anti-Police Protest

       In the picture, he stood, clergy collar and all, with one fist up, his other hand holding a sign reading Community, not Cops . There was a whole gaggle behind him, most with even less friendly signs. 

Fuck the Police

         Put Wings on Our Pigs

                           Stop Killing Us

       After she did do a quick read, she learned it had been 10 years ago. An innocent man had been gunned down in their town, and it had sparked an uproar. The Father and several others had been arrested after circling the block of the police station for hours, refusing to leave. But judging by the article, this wasn’t the first time he had led protests like this. This was just the first he had been arrested for. He had led other anti-war and anti-military protests as well. 

       She sat back in her chair, running her hands down her cheeks. 

       This man was no doubt her dad. 

       And her fiancée was apparently his biggest enemy. 

       Speaking of. 

       She heard the sound of boots outside the door and her heart rate picked up as she quickly closed all the tabs, mashing the power button on the screen just as the door opened.

       Nicole looked up from her phone, jumping slightly at the sight of her smiling girlfriend sitting at her desk. “God, Wave,” she laughed. “You scared the shit out of me.” 

       “Sorry,” she giggled, reaching across the desk and grabbing the bag of food. “I brought us lunch?” 

       Nicole smiled, placing her hands on her knees as she sat on the couch. “How long have you been here?” She questioned as the brunette rolled over to her, grabbing one of the flat chairs in front of her desk that they could use as a table.

       “Not that long ago, like 10 minutes maybe?” 

       “Why didn’t you come get me?” She furrowed her brow at her, feeling bad that she kept her waiting. 

       “You looked busy.” 

       Nicole pursed her lips as she sat back and threw her foot over her knee, opening a packet of soy sauce with her teeth and pouring it over her noodles. “. . . How the hell did you entertain yourself in here for 10 minutes?” She questioned with a small smirk, poking fun at her constant need to be doing something.

       The brunette’s eyes widened slightly. “I just . . .” She looked down at her food before back up at her with a smirk of her own. “Thought about you in that tie. It kept me pretty occupied.” 

       “Oh did it, now?” 

       Waverly stuck some rice in her mouth with a nod. “It did.” 

       “Hmm,” Nicole nodded, mixing it around with some chopsticks. “We might have to do something about that later.” 

       Waverly grinned slyly, pulling her legs crisscross on the chair. “We just might.”

.  .  .

       The redhead let out a heavy breath when she pulled from her lips, sucking in some more air as she kept the roll of her hips pressed against the brunette’s centre constant. She looked down into her eyes, watching her bite at her lip, balling up the pillow behind her head in her fist. She cupped the side of her neck, meeting her lips with a soft moan as she felt her body heat up for the countless time that night. 

       “I’m so close,” the brunette breathed, squeezing her free hand into her bicep. 

       “Me, too, Baby.” She sped it up, pushing her front closer to her to add pressure. The brunette’s body jumped, arching into her with a low groan and the redhead slid her hand behind her back as her teeth sunk into her own lip, eyes snapping shut as her muscles clenched all over, a deafening ringing filling her ears. 

       She gently let her lay down, landing on top of her as she went limp. It wasn’t until she felt her pushing at her arm that she opened her eyes, letting herself come back to reality. “. . . Nic!”

       She sprang up onto her knees, looking down at her worriedly, only to see her laughing. “W- What?” It was then that she realized some of the deafening noise had come from her phone. The alarm on her phone to be specific. To be even more specific, it was her 5 AM wake up alarm, meaning they had quite literally fucked all night long . “Shit,” she mumbled with a crooked smile, leaning over her and grabbing it off the nightstand before shutting it off. She laid back down next to her, rolling onto her side to face her. “This was probably a bad idea.” 

       Waverly rolled to face her with a grin, leaning up and pressing a kiss to her chin, trailing her hand down her chest to her stomach. “It was worth it, though.” 

       The redhead shifted slightly, definitely agreeing there. She pressed a final kiss to her lips, squeezing her hip as she moved to get up. “I’ma hop in the shower.” 

       She grabbed her arm and pulled her down into one more kiss, humming into her lips as she reached up and squeezed her boobs, tugging at her nipples until the redhead pulled away with a wince, throwing her a look as she walked nakedly off to the bathroom. Waverly quickly furrowed her brow at herself, wondering why she was still laying in that damn bed, after she heard the water turn on. She let out a huff, scrambling off it and entering the bathroom, climbing in right after her. 

       “Can’t get enough?” The redhead asked with a smirk as she pushed her hands through her hair under the water. 

       “No. I just need a shower, too,” she corrected, bumping her forward so she could get herself in the water. Nicole scoffed with a laugh, stepping forward so they were sharing it. The brunette giggled, looping her arms around her neck as she wrapped her arms around her waist, pushing her face into her shoulder with a sigh. 

       “10 months,” Nicole said with a breathy laugh, squeezing a little tighter. 

       “304 days,” the smaller one challenged with a face-tearing smile.

       They had officially decided on a date for the wedding in the midst of the night before, figuring Wynonna wouldn’t mind if it was a joint Alice’s first birthday/their 2nd anniversary/their wedding. It was going to be at the Homestead anyways. The only problem was that now they ( Waverly ) only had 10 months to plan. 

       The younger one turned around in her arms, grabbing the body wash off the shelf. “So. I was thinking . . .” She pulled Nicole out from under the stream, pouring some of it into her hands and lathering it up, rubbing it across her shoulders. “Silver, blue, and white for colors?” 

       “What kind of blue?” Nicole questioned, running her thumb across a love bite on her hip. 

       “Just, like, regular blue,” she shrugged, moving her hands across her abdomen. 

       “What about sky blue?”

       “Oooooooo, yea,” she grinned excitedly. 

       Nicole shook her head at her adorableness, pressing a kiss to the corner of that grin before she got her to turn around. “What am I wearing?” 

       “Well I would love to see you in a dress just for my own amusement.” 

       “Mm, yea no. Last time I wore a dress in public was in middle school ,” the redhead informed with a shake of her head. 

       “Darn . . .” She sighed sarcastically. “White tux then? With the colored accents to match everything like my flowers will.” 

       Nicole nodded, “And my bride’s people in grey, yours in the blue?”

       “Or vice versa, don’t matter to me.”

       “I think Jer would rather be in grey,” she said with a little laugh.

       “True, Chrissy’d kill for a blue dress.” 

       “Now hold on a minute.” The Sheriff turned around quickly, squinting down at her. “Who gets Wynonna .” 

       “Me. Duh . She’s my sister .” 

       “She’s my best friend,” the taller one countered, taking a step closer, which the brunette took right back. 

       “ Jeremy is your best friend,” she corrected.

       “ Jeremy is basically my brother . He doesn’t count.” She took another step, and then another. 

       “Well your brother is in your group, therefore, I get my sister in mine.” Waverly took one more step back, letting out a gasp wrapped in a hiss as her back hit the cold tile wall of the shower.

       Nicole closed in on her, placing her hands on either side of her head and looking down at her with a scary grin. She drew her finger down the side of her face. “How about this ?” She tipped her chin to the left with that, dropping her head closer to her ear. “We cut one of the grey and one of the blue bridesmaid’s dresses in half and get Gus to sew them together.”

       Waverly giggled, sliding her hands down her back and to her ass, pulling her closer with a squeeze. “I have a feeling that will give her way, way, way too much power.” She pulled her head down. “But I love it.” The redhead’s grin stuck as she gripped her hips, slotting her thigh between her’s as she met her lips.

.  .  .

       Nicole had ended up getting to work just on time, rather than her usual 10-20 minutes early. Waverly, though, had headed back to the bedroom. After changing the covers, she slipped into bed to get some sleep, for she wasn’t working until that night. 

       After she had left the station the day before, she had done some more research on her father, now that she had a face to put to the name. And it seemed that he was a rather popular Priest in the area, even having his own weekly podcast that streamed his service and then some. 

       She also found more pictures of him, and it scared her a bit because she could see some similarities between them. She had his nose and she figured her strong jaw had to have come from him, as well. 

       She also learned that he was a Catholic priest, had never married, and even that many of his services included talks about being celibate his whole life. She was a little confused by that part but just figured his relationship with her mother had always been kept a secret from everyone. 

       The anti-police and other forms of peace protests that he had led scared her. This man was her father that she had planned on growing somewhat of a relationship with. But she didn’t know if she could if he was going to have a hate for her future wife. It didn’t matter the circumstances, she would put Nicole before him any day. And if that included cutting the ties that could have been formed because of his hatefulness, then that was how it was going to go. 

       Maybe all of that was why Mama was keeping her from him.

       Waverly stirred, feeling herself being shaken slightly. “Waverly.” 

       “No,” she grumbled, flipping away from her fiancée’s voice. 

       She grabbed her arm, flipping her back over. “ Waverly .” 

       The brunette opened her eyes, rubbing them as she looked up at Nicole. “What?” She huffed. She furrowed her brows, though, now seeing the pissed off look on her face. She sat up. “Babe, what?” 

       The Sheriff turned, walking out of the room, shoving her hands into her pockets as she went. Waverly crawled out from under the blankets, following her out. “ What , Nicole?” She asked, trying to figure out why she was, one, pissed, and two, home from work 30 minutes after she had gone in. The redhead leaned back against the island, crossing her arms as she looked towards her. “Why are you looking at me like that?!” Waverly asked, stopping a couple of feet front of her and throwing her arms out. 

       Nicole let her cheek go from in between her teeth, raising her eyebrows at her. “D’you know I get an email alert every time there’s a failed attempt to get into my computer?” 

       The brunette’s face fell, but she pursed her lips, turning and dropping onto the couch, curling her knees up in front of her. “ No .” 

       “No? Didn’t think so. Oh! I also don’t think you knew that after three attempts before an entry, it takes a screen recording of exactly what was looked at because no actual officer should mess up typing their password in four times . But if they do , they know to click the little alert thing that pops up three times to make it not start recording . . . We’ve got some complex hacker technology here in Purgatory.” Waverly picked at her finger, looking up at her through her lashes as she stayed quiet. Nicole glared back at her for a few seconds. “So you’re just gonna stare at me then, huh?” 

       Waverly let her hands clap her legs. “Well, what do you want me to say?” 

       “I want you to tell me why you thought it was ok to use the police database that is only to be used by police . That’s like me walking into Shorty’s and grabbing a couple whiskey bottles just cause you work there. But then not telling you I did it when Shorty is yelling at all of you, trying to figure out who stole them. Cause, ya know, you lied to my face and didn’t tell me about it.” 

       “I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she looked down. 

       “You’re sorry ?” The redhead asked with a scoffed laugh, pushing off the counter. “Waverly, you realize what you did was illegal , right?”

       The brunette looked up at her, tipping her head. “What? Are you gonna arrest me?”

       “No, I’m not going to arrest you,” she grumbled. “I just wanna know why you didn’t ask me because, believe it or not, I would have been more than happy to search him up for you .” She pursed her lips, feeling a pang of guilt hit her heart. “But no . You decided to go behind my back with it.” 

       “I figured you wouldn’t ,” she finally snapped out.

       “Why?!” She asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion. 

       She stood, shaking her head as she walked towards the bedroom. “Because it doesn’t seem like you fucking care, Nicole.” 

       The redhead followed, seeing that she was stripping her hoodie and pulling a nicer shirt on. “What d’you mean it doesn’t seem like I care?! Of course I care!” 

       She spun towards her. “Really? Cause every time I’ve brought it up over the past 2 weeks, you either given me a half-assed answer or changed the subject!” 

       “ God , Waverly. No, I haven’t .” 

       “Yes you have! That’s why I stopped talking about it cause you’re obviously more concerned about the dead lady than me!” She turned back to the closet, grabbing some jeans. 

       Nicole rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that wondering if Julian’s left ear is pointy like yours was more important than trying to find the whereabouts of the literal murderous demon running around my damn town!” 

       Waverly pushed past her after digging some socks out of their drawer. “Well sitting there thinking about it while we are eating dinner probably isn’t going to get you anywhere . . . How hard is it to forget about it for 20 minutes !?” 

       “I don’t think it's a good idea!” The redhead finally blurted out, stopping at the end of the hallway. 

       She stopped, turning towards her with one shoe in her hand. “What?” 

       Nicole swallowed before giving her a shrug. “. . . I don’t think you should meet him.” 

       She furrowed her brow tightly as a sudden pit of anger bubbled up inside her. “ Why ?”

       “Because! . . . I find it very hard to believe that he cares about you. What kind of father leaves their child with a known abuser? Also the fact that he’s known about you your whole life and has never once thought to contact you? . . . And now you know he hates me and Wynonna and Black Badge and anyone relating to the law because we’re murders of the innocent . . . And he’s a Priest. I may be biased, but I’ve never met a Catholic Priest that would be ok with the fact that you’re engaged to a woman . . . You’re just setting yourself up for heartbreak. And you could avoid it entirely by moving on.”

       Waverly aggressively pulled her shoes on, walking over and grabbing her purse off the counter. “Wow. I’m glad you’ve thought about all that, Nicole, because, believe me , I have too. I’ve already realized this could be a bad idea. But, you know? What if it isn’t? What if he’s not as much of an asshole as it seems he could be? And what if by-” She raised her hands with very angry air quotes, “‘ moving on’ I miss out on an opportunity to actually have a relationship with him? All I’ve wanted this past year is to explore this and some stupid fucking fear is not going to stop me!” She turned on her heel, heading for the door. 

       “Waverly, where are you going ?!” Nicole called after her with a huff.

       “To prove you wrong!”