6. Deputy Dimples

Nicole startled awake after a loud knock on her door. She let out a groan as she rolled out of bed and grabbed the joggers on the ground that she had thrown off the night before, stumbling down the hallway towards the front door of her house. She opened it and saw Dolls in dirty clothes with small blood stains that were obviously not his.

“Mornin', Haught.”

“Mornin’,” she said through a yawn as she pressed the side of her hip against the door.

“I know you’re off today, so I was wondering if you’d wanna join me on a visit to our, uh, little friend?” Dolls raised his brows at her, crossing his arms with a grin.

“Is that even a question?” she asked rhetorically.

“Well, go get ready. I’d suggest wearing clothes that you don’t mind if they get a little . . . dirty.”

“Actually, I, uh, I planned on popping by Waverly’s to check on her this morning,” Nicole mumbled, scratching the back of her neck. “Just shoot me a text with the address and I’ll meet you there soon.”

“Ok. Just don’t mention to her what’s going on. Wynonna might show up if she knows where it is.”

“I won’t. Thanks for coming by.”

“No problem.” He pushed off the door frame.

“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit then.” Dolls turned with a nod and walked down the stairs, heading down the sidewalk and climbing back in his black SUV. Nicole walked back inside. She was thrilled that she was going to be able to confront Champ with the new information she had about his past, and now she had some time to figure out how she was going to do it.

She walked to her room and tried to decide what she wanted to wear. She didn’t want to wear any nice clothes because she knew she was going to be getting dirty, but she also didn’t want to look too sloppy since she was going to Waverly’s first.

After a few minutes of contemplation, she decided on a long-sleeved grey Hollister shirt that she had owned forever and some ripped skinny jeans. After she finished getting ready, she threw on her red vans and a red beanie. She grabbed her gun out of her safe and headed out the door before climbing into her car. “Beanie and vans? Very gay of you, Nicole,” she grumbled, cringing at her outfit choice. She pulled away from her house and headed towards the Homestead. 

She pulled into the driveway and noticed a car that she didn’t recognize sitting there. She didn’t expect them to have company this early in the morning. She contemplated leaving them alone before shrugging it off and shutting the car off. After checking herself in the mirror, she walked up to the house and gave it a gentle knock, hearing Wynonna’s voice from the inside scream, “I’ll get it!” She swung open the door and greeted her, “Well, if it isn’t Deputy Dimples!”

“Hi, Wynonna,” Nicole sighed with a roll of her eyes.

“Get your ass in here, you’re letting all the heat out.” She grabbed Nicole’s arm and drug her inside.

“How are you?” Nicole asked, following her towards the kitchen. 

“I’m ok, you?”

“Pretty ok,” she replied.

“And who is this fine young lady?” Gus asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

“This is Officer Haught, uh, Nicole Haught,” Wynonna introduced, giving her aunt a look so she realized who she was.

“Hello, Ma’am. Very nice to meet you.” Nicole offered a handshake to the woman.

“None of that ma’am crap, call me Gus,” she corrected with a tut. “And we hug ‘round here.” She pulled Nicole into a hug, dropping her voice to a softer tone. “Thank you for saving Waverly.”

“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” she mumbled.

Gus stepped back, still holding onto her upper arms. “Well, I am glad you were the one there. I can tell ya care about her or you wouldn’t be standing here right now.” Gus gave her a loving smile, squeezing her arms, but they both looked up when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Nicole?” Waverly walked over to her. “What are you doing here?” she asked with concerned eyes.

“I wanted to come by and see how you guys were doing- I hope that's ok with you,” she said softly, praying that she wasn’t overstepping her boundaries.

“Of course it’s ok with me,” Waverly assured gently, grabbing Nicole’s hands and running her thumbs over the tops of them. Nicole blushed, looking down at their hands. “Why wouldn’t it be?” 

“I don’t know . . . I just wanted to make sure,” she said quietly, looking up at her with a bashful smile. 

Gus flapped her hands at the two girls. “Scram! I need to sweep. Your messy sister left crumbs all over the floor.” 

“You brought the food!” Wynonna shouted from upstairs. 

Waverly and Nicole laughed, walking over to the couch. “So . . . How was your night? Any problems?” Nicole asked with a concerned brow. 

Waverly pulled a knee to her chest and balanced her chin on it. “I . . . had a pretty bad nightmare,” she admitted, almost inaudible by the way she whispered.

“Oh, Waves . . . I’m so sorry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to,” Nicole said, scooting her hand an inch closer to hers.

“No, I want to,” she assured, resituating herself so she was closer to Nicole. “It was about him, but this time you didn’t come. Wynonna said I was screaming and kicking everywhere. She finally got me to wake up right before he actually . . . did it. ” Her voice dropped off at the end, and Nicole swore she was telepathic because when Waverly looked up at her, she knew exactly what she wanted.

Nicole turned and pushed her back against the arm of the couch, and Waverly slipped in between her legs, pressing her face against her chest. Nicole crossed her arms over her tightly, pulling the shivering girl as close to her as she could. “You’re gonna be ok, I promise,” she mumbled gently.

“I hope so,” Waverly breathed out, lifting her head nuzzling it into the crook of her neck.

Gus walked over a little while later and draped a blanket over the two, who were just softly talking with one another. She handed Nicole the TV remote. “Y'all two have fun doing . . . all that. I’m gonna head out. Shorty says he needs a hand today.” She gave Waverly a kiss on the forehead and squeezed Nicole’s shoulder. 

“Bye, Gus,” Waverly said. “Love you.”

“Love you, too, Sweetheart. Nice meeting you, Officer Haught.”

“You, too,” Nicole replied. Gus gave them a smile and gently closed the door on her way out. Nicole let out a sigh, tapping the remote on her knee. “She really cares about you guys."

“Yea, she’s great . . . She was the one who raised me after the atta- Uh, my father died and Wynonna left,” Waverly said, quickly correcting herself. “What were you two talking about before I came down?”

“Nothing really. She just thanked me for helping you.” She felt Waverly go stiff in her arms. “What’s wrong?” she asked, squeezing her hand.

Waverly shook her head a little in confusement as she looked up at her. “Wynonna told her? She didn’t even mention it to me.” 

“Oh . . . Maybe she figured it was still a sensitive topic, I dunno.”

“I don’t know either . . .” Waverly let out a sigh, settling back against her chest. “At least she likes you. If you want me to be honest, she doesn’t like a lot of people, so you should feel honored.” Nicole let out a little laugh, and Waverly ran her thumb over one of the hands wrapped around her. “Netflix?”

“Sure,” she answered, handing Waverly the remote.

She clicked the power button and opened Netflix. “What d’you wanna watch?”

“You pick. I really don’t care as long as it ain’t not some sleazy rom-com ‘cause then I might barf all over you.”

“Wow, Haught, we already have something in common,” Waverly smirked, tilting her head up to look at her. “Friends, it is.” They clapped along to the theme song and got back into a comfortable position. They figured they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon, nor did they want to. The only place Waverly felt safe was in Nicole’s arms, and all Nicole wanted was for her to be happy, so she would stay there all day long if she needed her to. 

Halfway through the second episode, Nicole noticed Waverly’s breathing was awful steady. She looked down and saw her eyes were closed. Her heartbeat picked up in fear that she would have another nightmare. She wasn’t going to wake the girl up, though. She needed sleep. Nicole slowly reached down and slid the blanket up towards the girl's shoulders. While in the process of moving her arm under the cover, Waverly’s fingers grabbed her hand and interlocked their fingers. Nicole blushed at her sleeping action. She continued to watch the episode, but before she knew it, she was also drifting to sleep.

After a few hours, Wynonna came down the stairs with her face in her phone. She placed it on the counter and went over to the fridge, pulling an orange out. She turned around, starting to peel it, but she noticed the beanie on the floor. She walked over to the couch and saw the sleeping girls. Wynonna cocked a brow and turned to walk back upstairs, deciding to leave them alone. At least Waverly was sleeping. 

Sleeping. 

Waverly sleeping.

Soundly.

She let out a gasp and tip-toed back over to them, taking a look at the peacefulness on her baby sister’s face. It was the calmest she has seen her since before the attack. She silently walked back upstairs with a smile on her face. 

Whatever Nicole was doing to her was working. 

.  .  .

Nicole jolted awake when her phone started ringing in her pocket. “Oh shit,” she muttered, not having realized she fell asleep. She shook a little Waverly to wake her up.

“Hmm . . . Oh hi, Nicole.” She sat up, also just realizing she had fallen asleep.

“Sorry to wake you, but I need to take this,” Nicole said, pointing to her phone.

“It's ok, go ahead,” she assured with a yawn. 

Nicole jogged to the bathroom and shut the door. “Sorry, Dolls. I lost track of time.”

“Yea, Haught, ya think? We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Sorry, sorry.” She pushed a hand through her hair as she looked at herself in the mirror. “I'll be there soon, I’m leaving the Homestead in a few.”

“Alright, see you in a bit,” he said before hanging up the phone. Nicole walked back into the living room and grabbed her beanie off the floor.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you . . . literally,” Waverly said with a giggle.

“No, it's ok. I fell asleep too.” Nicole said with a smile, pulling her hat back on, “But I have to go. I’ve kinda got places to be.”

Waverly nodded, pushing off the couch. “Ok . . . Thanks for coming to check up on me. I really appreciate it, Nic.”

Nicole’s face went as red as her hair with the nickname. “You’re welcome. I mean, you're pretty fun to hang out with, even though we slept most of the time . . . but still.”

Waverly laughed, feeling her own face go red. “I like hanging out with you, too.” 

“So . . . Does that mean you can buy me that coffee?” Nicole asked with a smirk, sending those butterflies back into Waverly’s stomach. “We are friends now.”

“I guess it does,” she mumbled with a smile.

“Just shoot me a text whenever you’re feeling up to it.”  Nicole pulled her into a hug. “See you later, Waves.” 

“Bye, Nicole,” she mumbled, kissing her on the cheek after pulling from the hug. They stood there, lost in each other’s eyes for a few seconds before Nicole turned and walked out the door with a shy smile. She got in the car and plugged the address Dolls sent her into her GPS. After texting him that she was on her way, she took off, letting the GPS lead the way.

20 minutes later, Nicole pulled up to a raggedy old barn. Wynonna’s truck and Dolls' SUV were parked in front of it. She grabbed her gun and shoved it in the back of her waistband, stepping out of the car. She saw the barn door open and Dolls stepped out, walking over to her.

“How did you guys find this place?” she asked, looking around the deserted field she was in.

“A friend of Doc’s said he could borrow it for a little while,” Dolls answered.

Nicole shoved her hands into her pockets, following him as he turned towards the barn. “Ah.”

“You got here at a great time. Pretty Boy just came to.”

“Oh boy,” she mumbled. For some reason, she was nervous to see him.

“Let’s go before Doc knocks him out again,” Dolls said with a smirk, and he pulled the door open.

It was hot, dark, and smelled like manure inside. The ground was covered in hay and the walls were bare. A small light hung from the ceiling over a chair. Champ was tied to it, facing away from the door. Doc was standing against the wall, dressed in blue jean overalls, smoking a cigarette. He tipped his hat at her, and she pointed at Champ. He signaled for her to walk up to him, so she slowly made her way up to the back of the chair. 

Gripping her hands on his shoulders, Nicole dropped her voice to a growl, “Hello, Champ.”