Chapter Text
Waiting.
That’s how Waverly Earp would describe her life.
Just...waiting.
It was a feeling she couldn’t quite explain, that she had felt since she could remember.
Mama left one day and never came back. She had kissed Waverly on the forehead and gave her a wink as she walked out the door but never returned. Waverly wasn’t sure how long she waited by the window for her Mama’s truck to pull up to the Homestead. But it was only as long as Wynonna would let her.
She never stopped waiting though. Waiting. Always waiting.
Then after Wynonna was sent away, she repeated the same routine. Waiting near the window for her sister to come swaggering up the driveway.
Even when she realized that Wynonna wasn’t coming back anytime soon, she was still waiting. It became one of the things that Waverly knew she was good at. She was patient to a fault, and she spent the rest of her life just...waiting.
Waiting to fill out sweaters like the rest of the girls in her class so they had one less thing to make fun of her for. Waiting for her chance to prove herself as an Earp. Waiting for Champ to grow up and become husband material. Still waiting for Wynonna to come home.
Then suddenly there was...nothing. Wynonna was back, Champ was out of the picture and her boobs had almost gotten too big. But the overwhelming feeling of waiting just...never left.
Sometimes Waverly would sit at her window waiting for...nothing. What could she possibly be missing? She had a family, albeit cursed, but in spite of that her life was pretty good. Well...sorta. Her paternity was still a big question mark.
Often she would find herself at Shorty’s, staring at the door before they were even open. She remembered distinctly when she realized something was off.
It was Waverly’s typical shift at Shorty’s. Wynonna was still new in town and Champ was still following her like a puppy. The beer tap got stuck and soaked her shirt to the point it was practically transparent. Her eyes immediately drifted to the door, hairs raising on the back of her neck but...the door remained shut.
Waverly’s heart skipped a beat, disappointment settling deep in her stomach. But she had no idea why. She shook it off as deja vu and changed her shirt before the first customers of the day could roll in.
But not before satisfying her sudden unexplainable craving for a cappuccino.
***
Nicole didn’t hate her life.
It wasn’t great. But it wasn’t bad.
She couldn’t complain when the worst thing that had happened to her was her parents’ inevitable rejection of her sexuality.
Nicole always knew it was coming. How couldn’t she? Church every week since she was born, bible camp every summer, saying grace before every meal. The moment she looked a little too long at another girl while changing for PE, Nicole knew she was done for.
Things suddenly seemed to click into place. Her distaste for the frilly dresses her mother always shoved her in until she relented and let Nicole wear the T-shirt and jeans she craved, the way she would always try to play sports with the boys instead of dolls with the girls...it all made sense.
She was seven and she knew she was in trouble. Nicole didn’t know the word for it. The most she had heard about homosexuality was the vague whisperings and snide comments made while watching The Ellen Show with her family before they clicked it off and never explained why. One time a boy at school was chastised after calling a girl gay. She went running to the teacher in tears and Nicole sat on the bench and listened as the teacher stated explicitly: “We don’t use that word. It’s a bad word.”
All she knew about the word gay was to not talk about it.
Nicole knew she was different but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She didn’t think it was odd when she got a warm feeling low in her belly when watching cheerleaders during her dad’s sports games. Or when she watched a princess movie and related more with the prince than with the princess. She didn't think it was weird until...she realized it wasn’t what the other girls felt.
When she was twelve she ripped pictured of the “cute boys” out of some stupid teen magazine and hung them up on her wall. White tape clinging to the painted walls in an attempt to keep the pictures in place. They didn’t last more than a night. She could hardly sleep that night with the teen heartthrobs staring at her. The next morning she ripped them all down. This wasn’t for her. And she didn’t know why but she was ashamed.
Her entire life became about hiding after that. Hiding who she really was from her parents and schoolmates. Until high school came and she just couldn’t hide any longer. Her parents denied it. Of course. But they could only deny if for so long.
After her parents kicked her out, Nicole joined the police academy. The one thing that she kept from her years of a conservative upbringing was her desire to be a cop. A lawmaker. The same dream she’d had since she was five.
The little allowance she got from the academy went into her rent and it was fine. Everything was just fine.
So she couldn’t figure out why she was always scanning the notices at work for job postings. One time her eyes lingered on a posting for somewhere called Purgatory. It wasn’t hard for the name to catch someone’s eye. After all, what kind of town was named Purgatory? Some unseen force drew to the listing until she found herself looking at it every day at work during her lunch. Like something was pulling her to apply.
It was also around that time that her ranking officer told Nicole that she had vacation days saved up and should take a break. Go on a rock climbing trip. Then she met Shae, got married twenty-four hours later and that little job listing in Purgatory was far from her mind.
It wasn’t until almost a year later when her divorce was nearly final that she started looking at job postings again. That little town popped up again. Purgatory. It seemed too unlikely to be a coincidence. She could feel a pull, somewhere deep in her mind. In her heart. Something that was telling her to leave her past behind and find her future someplace else. Someplace far away that she would never imagine herself living.
So she applied.
***
Nicole stuffed the last quarter of her donut in her mouth and chewed it. She frowned; the edges felt slightly stale. She hoped she had just eaten the donut from this morning and not yesterday. She decided not to check.
She drained the last remaining drops of her cappuccino and glanced down at her phone. She only got a short look at the map when a battery symbol came up indicating it needed to be charged.
Groaning in frustration, Nicole tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and thought about how thankful she was that there only seemed to be one road into town. Purgatory. What a name. When she saw the job opening listed, she almost thought it was a joke. Even now it was hard to believe the whole thing was real. But something deep in the pit of her chest told her this was it.
Something that felt a hell of a lot like fate. If she believed in that kinda thing.
Looking in the backseat at CJ in her carrier, staring out the side, she started humming absently before stopping herself.
“Oh, god, this song,” Nicole sighed as she crossed past the “Welcome to Purgatory” sign.
Yeah, something inside me's changed.
“Why is this even in my head?” she asked herself, rubbing her palm over her ear as if it would help get the song from her head. It was an awful song. She wondered where she’d heard it lately since she knew there was no way it was on her perfectly curated playlists on her phone.
She turned up the radio in her car, hoping to drown the song out of her head. But the lyrics still ran through her head, even over the radio.
I was so much younger yesterday, yeah-
***
“-so much younger yesterday, oh, yeah,” Waverly sang as she danced through Shorty’s with two drinks in her hand. She saddled up to Wynonna who was playing pool and set one of the drinks on the ledge.
“You already have the best sister award, Waves. With the whole not being Willa and all. You don’t have to work so hard for my attention,” Wynonna said tipping the drink towards Waverly with a wink.
“A simple thank you would suffice for once,” she smiled, “And you’re welcome.”
Waverly picked up her pool cue and surveyed the table. As she walked around it, drink in hand, she kept humming the song she’d been singing earlier.
“Ugh, that song?” Wynonna scoffed, “I thought you had better taste than that, baby girl. Though...I guess you did date Champ Hardy.”
Waverly made her shot and threw Wynonna a look as she stood up, “Ha ha, Wynonna. I got over him, you should too.”
“What am I here for if not to point out all your past boy mistakes?” Wynonna said with a sweet smile and a bat of her eyelashes.
Waverly just hummed and watched as Wynonna’s shot bounced off the side and sank the eight ball.
“Shit.”
“Maybe you should spend more time focusing on the game and less on my love life,” Waverly said with a smirk before realization caused it to fall. “Or...lack thereof.”
Waverly heard the door open and glanced over to see a new face walking into the bar. A tall woman with shoulder length red hair peeking out from under her beanie surveyed the room with sharp brown eyes before landing back at the bar. Waverly felt her stomach warm when the woman’s eyes flickered over her own a second too long but Wynonna nudging her with the end of her pool stick quickly pulled her from the moment.
“What?”
“Hurry up, make your move,” Wynonna said before taking a long sip of her drink. Waverly blushed at the double entendre behind the words but said nothing. “We don’t have all day here.”
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“Places.”
“Like where?”
Wynonna rolled her eyes. “Like...maybe there’s a demon that’s going to pop up at any second. We don’t know.”
Waverly shot her sister a look and casually looked back over to the bar as she bent to take her shot. The woman was talking to Rosita, a smile on her face as she nodded like she was taking in whatever Rosita was saying. It was an easy shot, a direct hit into the corner pocket. But as Waverly was about to take it, she felt her instincts pull her eyes back to the woman at the bar and found her looking back with a small smile. The shot went wild, bouncing off the side and the ball spun to a stop along the edge of the pool table.
Wynonna barked out a laugh a Waverly stood up, blush on her cheeks. “Baby girl, did you have a stroke?”
“No,” Waverly said pushing some hair behind her ear and draining her drink until the ice hit her top lip. The woman was back to talking to Rosita and Waverly watched her closely. Something about her...made Waverly stop. But she couldn’t quite tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing. She was certainly attractive, but Waverly had seen her fair share of weird things around these parts so she knew better than to trust a pretty face...or smile...or dimples...or balls that jaw line.
Waverly cleared her throat and picked up her glass. “I’m going to get another drink.”
“Lush,” Wynonna deadpanned as she finished off her third drink in a half hour. Waverly just ignored her and headed casually over to the bar. At least as casually as she could while not trying to be obvious that she was trying to get a read on the stranger. She moved behind the bar and began to fill her glass again, going to the bucket behind Rosita and refreshing her ice.
Rosita barely noticed her, moving to the other side of the bar to help a new customer and leaving the mysterious woman alone, still leaning on the bar with her elbows. Waverly glanced over at her, only half surprised to see the woman looking at her.
“Hey, can I help you with anything?” Waverly asked with her signature ‘friendly’ smile. The one that always got people talking even if it seemed they didn’t want to. “You look a bit lost.”
The woman blinked in surprise for a moment before giving her a crooked smile that made heat creep up Waverly’s neck.
“Why do I look lost?” she asked, tilting her head like a puppy.
Waverly shrugged. “Well you’re in a bar without a drink for one,” she said.
The woman laughed and nodded. “I suppose you have a point. I was just trying to get some directions. My...phone died. Rosita was helping me.”
“Passing through?” Waverly asked, trying to get a read on the woman as she leaned on the bar herself. Demon? Or completely normal person I shouldn’t stalk? she thought.
“No, I’m moving here,” the redhead said. “Just got a job at the Sheriff Department.”
“Oh, I work there too!” Waverly said before squinting. “I mean...kinda. Anyways, I’m Waverly. Waverly Earp.”
She held out her hand and the other woman took it easily, and Waverly felt the world fade around them. A blush rose steadily in her cheeks and electricity shot between their palms. Her mind was trying to process what was happening, but all she could focus on was red hair and brown eyes. It felt like the world had shifted under her feet and if Waverly let go of the woman’s hand she might be lost forever.
“I’m Nicole Haught,” she said with that easy smile Waverly could see herself getting addicted to.
“Welcome to Purgatory,” Waverly said, their hands still connected.
Nicole’s smile got even wider and she squeezed Waverly’s hand briefly. “Yeah I...have the feeling I’m going to like it here.”
A thrill heated up Waverly’s belly, low and strong so she dropped Nicole’s hand. Brown eyes held hazel a little longer than just being friendly and Nicole straightened up from the bar.
“Well I...think I know where I’m going,” Nicole said tapping on the bar with her fingers. “I’ll see you around, Waverly?”
“Yeah,” Waverly said without thinking. “I’ll see you around.”
Nicole smiled widely, dimples deepening on her cheeks as she took a few steps back from the bar. She tipped an imaginary hat in Waverly’s direction before turning around, and she swore butterflies took flight in her stomach.
She tried to clamp down the smile on her face, biting her lip between her teeth as she turned back around. Rosita was looking at the glass she was wiping but had a knowing smile on her face as she bumped Waverly’s hip with her own.
“Waves!” Wynonna called from the pool table. “Come on! Let me finish kicking your ass.”
Waverly rolled her eyes and walked out from behind the bar and back to the pool table, mind occupied with thoughts of the new kind eyed stranger in town. She didn’t notice at the time, but the feeling of waiting just...waiting...was suddenly gone.
***
Long, bony fingers tightened on the pocket watch, yellow eyes looking down at its hands as it ’tick tick ticked’ in his palm like a heartbeat. The tall spindly man straightened, somehow making himself appear taller. The papery pad of his finger brushed against the cool metal lid of the pocket watch before he snapped it shut, the sound reverberating through the empty room like the snap of a broken bone.
Sunken cheekbones and deep eye sockets made him look half in the grave already, thin skin stretched over his skeleton like cling wrap.
The room was small. Simple. Victorian style with a large fireplace that a fully grown man could step into. Blue striped wallpaper lined the walls and all led to the ceiling with a mural depicting Dante’s inferno, skeletons dancing around flames while mortals lay in flames suffering. Demons with giant, dripping jaws ready to devour the sinners.
“It’s time,” he said, voice thin and tiny.
Gretta looked up from the spell book she was hunched over, eyes narrowing on the man standing in the middle of the room.
“What do you mean, ‘it’s time’?” she hissed, “We’re not ready-”
“Well, we’ll have to be, won’t we?” he said with a raise of his eyebrow. “She came to town much sooner than I expected.”
Gretta stood up with a scoff. “You’re being awful casual about our plan being so royally fuck-”
“Language,” he chastised easily. He looked up at a grandfather clock that was pushed against the opposite wall. It had far too many hands, proportions oddly off. It was shaped vaguely like a coffin, its chest large. He slipped the pocket watch into the pocket of his suit jacket and looked back at Gretta.
“Do you have the spell ready?”
“No, I need another day-”
“You have ten minutes,” he said dismissively. They’ve already met and if they meet again...it could be disaster. Everything we’ve been planning could go to ruins.”
Gretta pointedly picked up the spell book and shook her head. “Maybe we still have time. The prophecy says that ‘When the destined souls come together-’”
“‘-when the destined souls come together, a new hope will light and dawn will be near’,” he finished, his fingers pressing against each other and forming a peak in front of him. “I’m well aware of what the prophecy says, Witch. Now make sure they don’t meet again.”
Gretta shot him a look and snapped the book shut, a cloud of dust leaving the pages. “Whatever you say, Sandy.”
“I told you not to call me that,” he growled. But it was too late, Gretta had already walked out the door.
***
After the pool game was over Waverly and Wynonna sat down at their usual booth with a bottle of whiskey on the table between them. Waverly’s mind wandered back to the redhead from earlier.
Nicole.
How had she never realized what a pretty name that was? She had knows a fair number of Nicoles in her life, so she couldn’t imagine why she never noticed before. Wynonna poured them both glasses of whiskey and Waverly gratefully took hers.
“So something big is happening,” Wynonna said, eyes on the glass as she downed her drink.
Waverly blinked at her. “What? Something bad.”
“Isn’t it usually in Purgatory?” Wynonna asked, pouring herself another drink.
Waverly took her own sip. “Well how do you know? Have you heard anything?”
“Nope.”
She frowned. “Seen anything?”
“More like...noticed something,” Wynonna said with a tilt of her head. “The Revenants have seemed to...be more scarce lately. Like they’re hiding.”
“Maybe they’re just tired,” Waverly joked but Wynonna still shook her head.
“I think it’s more like they just...know something is coming.”
Waverly hummed and drained more of her drink. “What do we do?”
“Haven’t quite figured that one out yet,” Wynonna muttered, eyes wandering to the other patrons of the bar. They sat in their silence for a moment before Wynonna squinted and looked back at Waverly. “That girl you were talking to earlier...she’s new. Does she seem weird? Like...demon weird?”
“No,” Waverly said quickly. So quickly that Wynonna only squinted harder. “Seriously. She’s...she’s normal.”
“You sure?” Wynonna asked again.
Waverly nodded, “Positive.”
“Hm,” Wynonna said, leaning a little back in her chair. “Well I’m going to keep an eye on fire crotch anyways. See if she turns out to be all evil and shit.”
“I think we’re fine,” Waverly said thinking about her soft brown eyes and that easy smile that made her stomach flutter. There’s no way that she could be evil. She was too...pretty. “Definitely fine.”
***
Nicole got back in her car, eyes lingering on the windows of Shorty’s, just hoping for one more glimpse of Waverly.
Waverly.
Just her name made Nicole smile uncontrollably. She rolled her eyes and started the car.
“Get ahold of yourself, Haught,” she said rolling her shoulders. Rosita had said the address she was looking for was easy enough to find. Her new home. She looked down at her phone that had miraculously turned on again and frowned. Maybe she should take it in to be looked at.
She pulled out and started down the road. Her mind kept thinking of Waverly. A girl she barely talked to but now needed to know everything about. How old was she? How long had she been in Purgatory? Was she staying here? Did she work at the bar? It sure seemed that way.
Nicole remembered how soft her hand was when they shook, and sighed. How could just a handshake give her goosebumps? Absently she wondered if her lips were as soft as her hand and blushed to herself. She was being ridiculous.
She kept telling herself that Waverly was just a girl. Even if her heart was telling her that was the furthest thing from the truth.
Without thinking, she started humming again.
I should just walk away, but I can't move my feet-
***
”The more that I know you, the more I want to. Something inside me's changed,” Waverly trailed off as she thought about Nicole. Nicole Haught. Of course. Because she was...very hot.
Waverly rolled her eyes at herself. “Get ahold of yourself, Earp...Earp-ish.”
She pushed away the painful reminder of her heritage as her eyes wandered to the side mirror of her Jeep. She saw a car coming up behind her and it looked like they were approaching pretty quickly. Frowning, she wondered absently if it was Wynonna following her back from Shorty’s. Maybe she had decided not to stay to meet Doc and Dolls after all.
But the closer the car got, the more Waverly’s blood started to run cold, heart squeezing in her chest.
Something felt...wrong…
The road took a hard dip on either side, nowhere to pull over. As the headlights got closer, she saw it was a sleek looking black car with darkly tinted windows. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel and she tried to maintain her speed, waiting to see if the other car would slow down. When it was clear they had no intention of slowing, Waverly reached blindly for her phone in her purse on the seat next to her. Her fingers closed around it and she hit the button.
“Siri, call Bacon Donut,” Waverly said as calmly as she could. The phone rang a few times until Wynonna finally picked up.
“Hey! Miss me already, baby girl?” Wynonna said, her voice slurring.
“Wynonna,” Waverly said evenly, “someone is behind me on the road and-”
She screamed when the car slammed into her rear bumper.
“Baby girl?” Wynonna said, panic rendering her voice crystal clear, “Waves! What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s trying to run me off the road,” Waverly said dropping the phone in her lap, both hands on the wheel as she corrected the Jeep to stay on the road. She glanced back in the mirror. “Black, expensive looking car. I can’t see the driver or plates.”
“Waverly! I’m coming!”
The car slammed into her again and Waverly felt one of her tires blow. She shook her head, tears of panic and regret pooling in her eyes. “It’s too late. Just don’t let Champ come to my funeral!”
“Waverly, stop! You’re not dying!”
The car came easily up beside Waverly’s Jeep. It felt like time slowed down as the car slammed its whole side into her Jeep. She couldn’t hear anything as the Jeep flew off the side of the road, turning and flipping in the ditch. Her whole body flew with the impact, tumbling helplessly as the car rolled over and over into the ditch.
Before she blacked out, she swore she saw a flash of red hair and kind brown eyes.