95. Keep Fucking Going

       Wynonna’s wail ricocheted off of the walls, and it was followed immediately by the sound of a body falling to the floor. Nicole’s eyes shot out of her head and she did the one thing she was trained not to do. 

       She froze. 

       She froze , stalling at the top of the steps as she stared down into the dark basement. It was only for a couple of seconds, but she knew that a couple of seconds was all the difference between someone’s life and death. 

       The Sheriff snapped out of it, letting out a shaky breath as she quickly ran down the steps with her gun raised, darting her eyes around the room and letting them land on two different things.

       One. 

       Wynonna laying on the floor, trying to backpedal with her feet as she held her hands over her bleeding stomach.

       Two. 

       The Slasher himself, who was kicking Peacemaker across the floor away from her. 

       Nicole traced her eyes over him, and the first thing that she noticed was that it was clear as to why no one had recognized him from the sketch that had aired on the news. He hadn’t been lying when he said that he was changing his appearance. 

       His hair was now dyed blond and was in more of a short military crew cut instead of the dark brown hair that was a little longer on all sides from what Wynonna saw under the beanie he had been wearing. Hell, even his eyebrows were blond now and had been shaped to be less bushy than they had been. His face was still bare from facial hair, but it seemed that he was wearing contacts considering the lack of the Harry Potter glasses on his face. 

       When she took in his appearance for the split second, that wasn’t the only thing she noticed, though. She first saw that one of Wynonna’s shots had hit him; there was a hole in his shoulder that was leaking his dark blood. She also saw that he had black, leather gloves on his hands. And rigged to the gloves seemed to be retractable metal claws. 

       Bloody, metal claws that he had just used to slash her best friend and every other woman he had murdered with. 

       There was one thing she didn’t see as she did a quick look around the room, though.

       Mrs. Goddard .

       Nicole sucked in a quick breath as she moved in front of Wynonna to keep him from being able to get back to her, pointing her gun right at his head when he turned to face her. “ Don’t you move, you son of a bitch.” 

       A wicked grin took over his features as he stayed where he was, and she was trying to shake off how there was absolutely no remorse in his eyes. “Sheriff Haught. What a pleasure to finally meet you!” 

       She shifted slightly on her feet as her teeth gritted. His voice was far higher and younger than she expected, but then again, Wynonna was in the right ballpark when she estimated his age. He could honestly suit 16, seeing him at this distance. “ Where is she?” She demanded, tipping her head with warning eyes. 

       The Slasher cocked his head and crossed his arms. “Honest question here, how did you find me?”

       Wynonna let out a pained groan, “ Smartwatch location. You left it on her, you asshole .”

       He flicked his eyes down to her, but Nicole kept her eyes forward. She knew if she looked, he’d either take advantage of the split-second her eyes were away from him or she would lose her resolve seeing her like that. 

       Hell , maybe both. 

       So all she did was put one of her hands down to show her that she had it handled. 

       The Slasher’s smile finally went away after Wynonna said that, and Nicole saw the regret in his eyes and knew that he had already noticed the watch on her wrist but hadn’t done anything about it. His jaw locked for a second, but he dropped his arms and clenched and unclenched his fists, making the claws come in and out. “ Surely neither of you figured that out.” Nicole’s lip twitched and a small smirk was back on his face. “Why am I not surprised it was the Mrs.?-” 

       She took a quick step towards him. “ Don’t you start,” she growled. “ Where is Whitney Goddard?!” 

       The boy let out a tut. “Oh, Sheriff . . .” He shook his head with a shrug as he flashed his eyes, “She’s already dead.” 

       “ Bastard ,” Wynonna tried to shout, but her voice was laced with a whine of pain when it came out. “Haught, shoot him . What the fuck are you waiting for?” 

       The Sheriff shook her head, still forcing herself not to look behind her. “He’s lying,” she muttered as she narrowed her eyes at him. “I want answers . Honest answers. So you’re either gonna tell me where she is or I’m pulling this fucking trigger!” 

       The Slasher let out a laugh. “What do you think I did when I heard you two come in, huh?” He raised his hands up and slid his fingertips down his face, leaving red streaks in their wake. “It was a shame really. I usually like to have some fun with them for hours and hours , but I had to end it before I could barely start.” 

       Nicole bared her teeth as she jerked her gun down and sent a bullet through his abdomen. “ Answer me!” 

       He groaned, doubling over and holding his hands over his stomach. “You bitch .” His eyes went red again as he looked up at her, quickly standing up straight and closing his fists. 

       Nicole’s eyes widened and she turned and backed up to the right as he charged at her, firing her gun about eight times before her back hit the wall right as he collapsed to the floor. She let out a shaky breath as she cautiously stepped forward and rolled him over with her foot, seeing that seven out of her nine total shots thus far had hit him, but the one between the eyes was what knocked him down for the time being. She dropped to her knees beside him and unstrapped his murder gloves from his body, chucking them across the room and smacking a pair of cuffs on him before sliding over and grabbing Peacemaker. She grabbed the blanket that was draped over the couch behind The Slasher’s body and quickly crawled towards Wynonna and the pool of blood surrounding her, really taking in her condition for the first time. “ Earp .” 

       The brunette turned her head to look towards her, eyes drooped and blinking more than usual. “ Haught .” She let out a loud groan when Nicole moved her hands out of the way and dropped the blanket over her bleeding abdomen, pressing down on it. “Dude- fuck - Nic, look at me.” Nicole met her eyes with her own worried ones. “Go find her. Now . I- I’ll be ok.” 

       She shook her head firmly. “I’m not leaving you here.” 

       Wynonna grabbed her arm. “If he was lying and she’s not dead yet, you are gonna hate yourself forever. Go , Haught.” 

       Nicole flicked her eyes from her face to where her hands were pressed down a few times before she let out a breathy curse. “Wynonna, I-”

       “Nicole, go . I’m alright.”

       “You’re not ,” Nicole huffed, and her voice broke for the first time as the tears swarmed her eyes. “You’re not alright and you know it. So if this some stupid way to get me away from you so you can die without me watching you, it’s not gonna happen. I know damn well Waves would rather me let her teacher go than her sister , so call me selfish , call me a fucking monster , but I’m not leaving you.” She turned and grabbed Peacemaker off the floor, wiping the tears from her face with her shoulder. “ Shoot him so I can get you to a hospital.” 

       A tear rolled down Wynonna’s cheek and she let out a pained breath as she shook her head. “I can’t.”

       “What d’you mean you can’t ?” The redhead asked with wide eyes. 

       “I mean that I can’t shoot a Revenant if I can’t move my fucking arms anymore,” she huffed, rolling her head to look straight up at the ceiling again.

       The redhead’s eyes widened and she grabbed onto her right wrist and lifted it, watching as it fell limply back to the floor. “ Nonna, no .” Her head snapped up as she heard footsteps come running into the house. “ Dolls !” 

       He quickly ran down the stairs, eyes popping out of his head when he took in the scene. “What the fuck happened? This is why I told you to-” 

       “ Go find Whitney,” the Sheriff ordered. “She’s here somewhere.”

       “But-”

       “ Dolls, go !” She shouted, waiting until he turned and moved down the hallway in the basement to look back down at Wynonna, who was struggling to keep her eyes open even more than she had been 10 seconds ago. “Don’t you fucking do this,” she muttered through her teeth as she flipped the blanket and wrapped it all the way around her, her heart stuttering when she saw how much blood it had gathered. She reached up and grabbed her face as she stood up on her knees. “ Look at me.” 

       Wynonna met her eyes with a swallow, “Nic, you gotta promise me yo-”

       “ Wyno -”

       “ Promise me you’ll take care of Waverly. And Alice. Doc’s a great dad, but I know he can’t do it on his own.” 

       Nicole choked back a sob as she shook her head, patting her cheek to keep her eyes on her. “ No . He won’t have to. You’re gonna fight , Earp.” 

       “I’m trying , but-” Her lungs lost their air as more tears ran down her face. “You need to promise me, Nic. Promise me that you won’t let Ali grow up to be a little shithead a- and that you won’t let Waves break. Tell her I need her to keep fucking going. To get a good teaching job and have a bunch of stupid little redheads with you and to keep being the best. She’s the best- and always will be the best of us, so you can’t let her quit .” She swallowed and tipped her head. “ Promise me, Haught, or I’m gonna haunt your ass so hard.” 

       The redhead was going to try and get them up, but she sunk back with the brunette in her arms and took her head in one of her hands to keep it up with a sob, “I fucking promise, ok?! B-But that doesn’t give you permission to give up ! I need you, Wynonna. And they do, too!” 

       “I know . I know you do, but . . . you’ll be ok. You’ll all be ok, I know you will.” Nicole shook her head at how much her words were starting to slur together, moving to try and pick her up again, but her feet kept slipping in the blood. “Tell ‘em all that I love ‘em, ok? Waves, Ali, Mama, Gus, even Doc. Tell Dolls he’s the best and shittiest boss I ever had, but that the only reason I made his life a livin’ hell was cause I loved ‘em in some weird-ass way I never could figure out. And m-make sure Alice knows she’s the coolest thing I ever did, and that I’m so fuckin’ sorry I couldn’t be there for ‘er.” The redhead shot her a warning glare, shaking the brunette’s head a little when her eyes went to close and getting them back open. “I love you, Dude.” 

       Nicole clenched her jaw hard enough to almost break her teeth, sniffling as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, pulling back to meet her eyes. “I love you, too.” 

       Wynonna gave her an attempt at a smile, letting out a heavy breath. “Alice’s gonna break this fuckin’ curse . . . I know she will.” 

       Nicole’s eyes slowly widened as Wynonna’s glazed over just before they slid from her face as her eyelids closed. “No.” She pat her cheek a few times, then shaking her head. “ No .” Her eyes remained closed as Nicole wiggled her body. “ Dolls !” She snapped her head up, almost jumping out of her skin when she realized that he was already coming to a halt right in front of her. “Dolls, she-”

       He bent down and lifted her out of the redhead’s arms. “ Not happening. Let’s go.”

       Nicole scrambled to her feet, grabbing Peacemaker off the ground and following him as he ran up the steps and rushed out the front door. She ran in front of him and pulled the door to his trunk open, climbing in it as he laid Wynonna down. “Start CPR. I’ll make all the calls as I get us to the ER.” 

       “What about Whitney? Did-” 

       His lips pursed as he shook his head. “There’s nothing anyone could have done.” Nicole’s face paled as her heart fell to her feet, and Dolls shut the trunk on them and rushed around to the front, jumping in and pulling away before he even had his door shut, firing up the lights and sirens to his SUV. 

       The Sheriff pressed her fingers against her neck, shaking her quickly as she couldn’t find a pulse. She couldn’t be sure with just her fingers if there was a faint one there that she was missing or if there wasn’t one at all, so she pinched her nose and blew a breath in her lungs, starting chest compressions anyway. 

       She wasn’t focused on anything but CPR the whole ride, so she hadn’t heard how Dolls had made multiple different calls. 

       One to Jeremy to get a team out to lock The Slasher somewhere, and to collect the teacher’s body and all the other evidence in the hidden room she had been in.

       One to the hospital to let them know that they were on their way, making sure it was clear that they would be ready to do everything in their power to save Wynonna. 

       And, last but not least, one to Doc, filling him in on what had happened. He also let him know that he was to send all the family to the hospital, someone with a change of clothes for Nicole, and then go to the Goddard’s to inform the now-widower on what had happened, also giving the cowboy the honors of having to tell Waverly what was going on with her sister before driving her to the hospital. 

       Doc had seemed more scared than anything, but he was certainly set on doing the jobs he knew needed to be done. 

       Nicole kept up the CPR until the trunk door was opened by a swarm of doctors and she realized that their short trip to the hospital was complete. She sat up off of her, lungs heaving with worry and exhaustion as a few of them pulled Wynonna out and set her on a stretcher, immediately continuing where she had left off. 

       The redhead sat back on her feet, taking a moment to look down at herself as her brain brought her back to the present. There was blood all over her hands and body, some dry and some wet. Her shoulders sank and her hands fell limply to her lap as a new wave of tears rushed her eyes. 

       “Nic . . .” 

       She raised her head, her resolve crashing again when she looked into Shae’s softened eyes as she stood at the back of the SUV. She didn’t even try to hold back the sob that came out, and Shae held her hands out, coaxing her out towards her. The redhead couldn’t get herself to stand yet, so she just scooted to the end of the trunk and threw her feet out over the edge, letting the doctor wrap her in a hug. Nicole looped her arms around her shoulders and pushed her face into her neck, only half-hearing the soothing words coming from Shae’s mouth as she ran her hand slowly up and down her back over the sound of her cries. 

       “She’s gone,” Nicole mumbled after several minutes. 

       “We don’t know that, Cole,” Shae said softly, sliding her hands up to her shoulders and pushing her to sit up, taking her face in her hands. 

       The redhead’s face tightened as she dropped her arms back to her lap. “I felt her die in my arms.”

       “If you really thought that, you wouldn’t have been doing CPR,” the doctor mumbled, tipping her head as she rubbed her thumbs on her swollen cheeks.

       Nicole dropped her gaze, letting out a shaky sigh as she shook her head and relaxed back into her touch for a few more moments. She straightened up and wiped her face with the inside of her collar, sniffling as she pushed her hand gently against her stomach to get her to step back so she had room to hop out of the SUV. “I, uhm, I’m gonna go park this,” she mumbled. She knew Dolls had run in with the other doctors and leaving a car in the Emergency Lane wasn’t the smartest idea. 

       Shae nodded but furrowed her brow. “D’you want me to go with you?” 

       Nicole swallowed with a shake of her head. “I need a minute anyway.” 

       The doctor let out a sigh as they both stepped out from under the hatch of the trunk, reaching up and closing it. “Alright. Come back to this entrance. I’m gonna go check and see what’s going on, but I’ll meet you back here.” The redhead nodded and went to turn away, but she caught her hand. “Hey.” 

       Nicole met her eyes with a raised brow, but read the words in her eyes and gave her hand a squeeze. “I love you, too,” she mumbled. Shae smiled a little and gave her hand one last squeeze before turning and heading inside. Nicole let out a raspberry as she moved around to the front of the SUV and climbed in, pulling away. 

       Of course she loved Shae. She always would. Yea, Waverly was her one true love, but there would always be a little sliver in her heart saved for Shae. She didn’t love her romantically- maybe she never had loved her romantically, but you can’t go through something like she did when her aunt died with someone and not expect to love and cherish them forever after they save your life multiple times and set you back up on your feet afterward. 

       Nicole found a parking spot pretty close to the entrance she had just driven away from and backed the SUV into it. She pulled the keys out of the ignition and shoved them in her pocket, letting her head fall forward to rest against the steering wheel for a moment as she pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She pushed the door open and stepped out, glancing up and catching the double-take she got from an old woman walking past her. She almost forgot what the problem was for a second, but then she remembered. 

       She was a police officer covered in blood in the dark.

       “It’s not mine, don’t worry,” she mumbled as she made her way out between the two cars. She couldn’t tell if that made the woman relax or more freaked out, but she quickly continued on her way, either way, not paying her another glance. 

       Nicole sighed, pressing the button on the keys in her pocket to lock the SUV before continuing on back to the Emergency Lane and walking through the sliding doors, meeting Shae, who was leaning against the inside wall. “Hey,” the redhead mumbled. 

       “Hey.” She pushed off the wall and lead her towards a different room to get out of the Trauma pit. “They’re taking her to an OR right now. I don’t know if they’re operating yet, but . . . I don’t know, the Trauma general makes his own rules. I barely caught them when I came in.” 

       The redhead swallowed with a nod as she pushed the door open, seeing Dolls already sitting in the room. She looked back towards the doctor. “Thank you.”

       Shae gave her arm a squeeze with a nod. “I’ll let them know you’re the first that will know anything.” Nicole nodded and she squeezed her arm one last time before turning and making her way out of the tiny waiting room. 

       The Sheriff turned and met Dolls’ eyes, stalling for a second in contemplation before pushing her hands into her pockets and dipping her head as she made her way over to the couch he was sitting on and taking a seat next to him. She pulled his keys out of her pocket, turning her head timidly to look at him as she handed them over. 

       Dolls took them but kept hold of her hand as he caught her eye, letting out a sigh as he gave it a little tug towards him. She swallowed as she moved towards him and pulled his hand into her lap, wrapping her arms around his and leaning her head on his shoulder. “. . . How did this happen , Haught?”

       “I don’t know,” she mumbled with a shake of her head. 

       “What d’you mean you don’t know ?” 

        Nicole kept her eye fixed on one of the floor tiles. “We split up when we got inside. It was silent, so we had no idea where he was. I went upstairs, she went down. And- And then Peacemaker went off, she yelled for me, I ran down to the door, and she screamed . I didn’t see what happened, I don’t know what happened, I don’t know how it happened, but it happened .” She shook her head again. “I tried to talk him down so we would be able to get something out of him, but he wouldn’t- he wasn’t cooperating, so I shot him. He charged, so I shot him a whole bunch until he went down, and then I tried to help her, but . . .”

       “You did everything you could,” Dolls said with a squeeze to her hand. 

       “Obviously not enou-”

       “Stop.” He looked towards her. “Don’t do that.” 

       The redhead was going to say something, but her eyes shot to the door when it swung open as Michelle and Gus rushed into the room.

       Michelle was carrying a bag of clothes.

       And Gus was carrying Alice.

       Xavier and Nicole both shot out of their seats, and the redhead felt her vision blur for a second as she stumbled forward a few steps and pulled the bag from Mama’s hand, barely taking in the looks on both women’s faces when they saw her before she was starting for the one-roomed bathroom, already ripping her radio off before the door was closed. She tore her utility belt off, dropping it on the floor as she kicked her boots off next to it. Her breathing sped up as she unbuttoned her shirt with shaky hands and peeled it off her body, doing the same with her pants before looking up at herself in the mirror. She was still covered in the blood that had soaked through her clothes and the parts on her face and hands. She exhaled as she flicked the faucet on, beginning to scrub herself off, her breathing somehow becoming more ragged as she did so.

       It took a minute, but she eventually got most of it off.

       Nicole grabbed the bag of clothes and quickly pulled the sweatpants and hoodie out and slipped them on, slicking her feet in the slides that were at the bottom of the bag before loading it back up with her uniform. She ripped the bathroom door open and rushed out, dropping the bag by the couch as her eyes darted around and found Gus. She realized she hadn’t been breathing at all for the past 30 seconds, and she didn’t start until she pulled the baby from her arms and dropped to sit on the floor, curling her knees to her chest as she wrapped her arms around her tightly.

       “Coe.”

       The redhead’s body started shaking. It was almost as if she was crying, but she wasn’t crying. She probably would have been crying, but she didn’t think she had anything left in her at this point. The three others in the room stared down at her for a second before Dolls brought their attention back to him as he continued to explain the situation in more detail than what they had heard from Doc.

       Nicole didn’t notice it at first, but after a few minutes, she felt hands on her arms gently rubbing up and down. She lifted her head, seeing Michelle’s teary, worried eyes staring back at her. “Let’s get up off the floor, yea?” She asked softly. The redhead gave her a small nod, loosening her arms on the baby and using one hand to push herself up before dropping right back down on the couch behind her. Michelle took a seat next to her and wrapped an arm around her, letting her lean into her as she pulled her feet up onto the cushion and laid Alice back on her thighs. The Sheriff actually hadn’t seen her face yet, so looking down at those little blue eyes staring up at her made it all hurt just that much more. She leaned more into Michelle, brows dipping with a sigh as she rubbed her thumbs on her cheeks, taking her little hands in her own when she grabbed them.

       Everyone settled after a minute, and it was completely silent for a while, though you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. The clock was about to have a hole through it with how many eyes kept staring it down as the time ticked away.

       And because it was so quiet, it scared the shit out of everyone when the door smacked open.

       Nicole’s eyes snapped up from looking at Alice and she let out a breath of both relief and not when she saw that it was Waverly and Doc. She picked up the baby and sat up off of Michelle, quickly moving towards the both of them. 

       She took into to note how Waverly was crying and Doc was paler than a ghost as she handed the baby over to him before wrapping her wife in a hug. “Oh my God,” the brunette breathed out, pulling back and running her hands down her arms before cupping her face as she looked her over. “Are you alright? Did-” 

       “I’m fine, Baby,” Nicole assured, wiping her thumbs under her eyes.

       “What about- What’s happening? Do we know anything?” She asked, darting her eyes all across her face. 

       “All Shae told me was that she’s in the operating room now. And that was-” She looked up at the clock on the wall. “Almost an hour ago now.” 

       “How was she when you last saw her? Did- Was she at least conscious?” Nicole’s eyes widened, but her jaw locked as she flicked her eyes up to Doc. His lips pursed and he gave her a look of apology, but she could see in his eyes that he had just been unable to tell her the full story. “Cole?” Waverly questioned with a shake to her voice.

       She looked back down at her wife, swallowing as new tears welled up in her eyes. She shook her head, rubbing her thumb across the side of her neck. “Wave, I . . . I had to do CPR the whole ride to the hospital.”

       Waverly’s eyes widened as she slowly shook her head, mouth coming open as she tried to talk, but it took about 10 seconds until she actually could. “No.” 

       A tear rolled down Nicole’s face and she reached out to grab her as she took a few wobbly steps back from her. “I did everything I could- And I know they are, too, ok? We just-” She paused when she recognized the look on her face, for she had seen it a few times now. “Wave, Baby, you need to breathe or you’re gonna pass-”

       “Too late,” the brunette mumbled, words slurred together as her eyes went back in her head. Nicole let out a series of breathy curses as she reached out and grabbed her before she could hit the ground. She turned her around and pulled her back to her chest as she sat down on the floor, leaning back against the wall. 

       “Jesus Christ,” Michelle muttered, dropping her head to her hands. Gus scooted towards her and ran her hand slowly up and down her back. 

       The redhead wiped the tears from her face as she propped Waverly’s head to the side to lean against her neck so it wasn’t dropped forward like it had been. She sniffled as wrapped her arms around her body and pushed a kiss to the top of her head, speaking into her hair, “I’m so sorry.” 

       Her head lifted after a minute, looking up at Doc when he started to pace the room, rocking Alice as she started to fuss. “It’s alright,” he said softly. He pulled her back from his shoulder and looked down at her as he continued to coo to her.

       “Mama,” the baby cried, continuing to wiggle around in his arms. 

       Doc stopped walking and stared down at her, shoulder’s sagging as she cried out for Wynonna a few more times. He took a stumbled step back and hit the wall, sliding down it with his knees to his chest and hugging Alice to his chest after he pulled his hat off. “We all want your mama back, Little Darlin’,” he mumbled, body shaking as he began to cry. 

       Nicole choked back a sob, pressing her face into the top of Waverly’s head as she hugged her tighter. Michelle leaned into her sister, both of their previous shaky sniffles turning into tears. Even Dolls leaned his elbows forward onto his knees and held his face in his hands as he shook his head, trying to pull the couple of tears that fell back in his eyes. 

       Wynonna was the glue to their crazy family, and it was already apparent that without her, they would all be broken pieces. 

.  .  .

       Time ticked into the early hours of the AM without a word from any doctors. They were all in the same spot that they had been hours before, but they had all numbed over for the most part. 

       Alice was asleep in her father’s arms and had been for a while now. Waverly had come to a while ago now, as well. She had turned sideways in the redhead’s lap, rubbing patterns into her hand with her thumb as Nicole’s other hand slowly slid through her hair every once and a while. Gus’ eyes had been fixed on a scuff on one of the floor tiles for longer than she could remember, and Michelle was curled up on one couch cushion, leaning against the arm of the couch as her eyes flicked between that scuff and the scratch on the table in front of the couch. Dolls was on a whole other planet. His eyes were closed as he leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed in front of his chest, but he wasn’t asleep; he was just thinking.

       Any thoughts in his head flew straight out the window and he was on his feet just as fast as everyone else was when the door opened, though. 

       Shae walked in and flicked her gaze to every set of wide eyes around the room before settling on Nicole’s. She let out a breath with a nod, “She made it.”