Home Sweet Purgatory (F) - Wynonna Earp

[FadedRose]

This story features Season 4 Wynonna Earp, a post-Garden fic! and is set after the end of 4x02.

I loved how many new sides of Nicole we've already gotten this season, 3 episodes in. I love angsty, paranoid, scarred, broken, bruised, no-boundaries Nicole. A lot of the fans like to fuss over Waverly. And yeah, Waverly is awesome. She had the Jolene episode going for her, and surviving the Garden, and being possessed by Mictian. She's happy-go-lucky, sweet Waverly. But I have to say, as much as I love her, she's a little too perfect for my taste (which is only to be expected when she's a literal angel). I feel like Nicole doesn't get nearly enough attention or credit for her own battles. It's all about Waverly, Waverly, Waverly. But nobody has thought once about all the trauma Nicole has had to go through. We have a couple Waverly fics floating around the forum now, so I thought I should add Nicole to the mix! 

I already have two super long chapters of this written and I gotta say, I'm very excited to share the next chapter. I'm sorry for how slow this is to build, and a lot more of this chapter is show-oriented than cold-oriented. It's slow to start, I guess you could say. But I promise that the next chapter has a lot more sneezing!

Okay, I thiiiink that's enough rambling. Now enjoy!

Home Sweet Purgatory~

Nicole's chest rose and fell, slowly, steadily, but labored. The pitch black room wasn't quite soothing her. She had never really been afraid of the dark, but occasionally it reminded her of that night. For only being six years old, she had a damn good memory. Well, actually, not really. The night's events were haunting enough to scar her for life. Since then, her parents had made fun of her for sleeping with a nightlight. And Nicole didn't blame them. For a cop in her late twenties, the peace of mind the tiny, fluorescent, flower-shaped wall plug-in gave her did seem a little odd to outside eyes. 

That nightlight had burned out a long time ago. Only 2 weeks into those 18 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days. She hadn't slept the same since. 

And even with the love of her life's body back in her arms, she couldn't seem to find any sleep.

Previously, the warmth of the smaller girl's body had been enough to reassure her enough that she would be safe throughout the night. Nicole used to sleep like a baby in Waverly's arms. She hadn't once needed the nightlight since moving in with her fiancée. Man, the word was still revolutionary. Fiancée.

But since Waverly's disappearance, sleep didn't seem to come the way it used to.

Nicole spends the rest of the early hours of the morning running her hand through Waverly's long, silky soft hair. She'd missed her baby so incredibly much. She knew Waverly had missed her too. 

But things still weren't the same since before the Garden. She trusted Waverly with her life, and had no doubt that she loved her with her entire being. But it seemed like she'd missed so much since coming back to Purgatory that Nicole had a hard time getting readjusted to life with her. She forgot what it had felt like to be soft, vulnerable. The only life Nicole had known for the past year and a half was one of survival, and not one filled with love, compassion, and bonus blankets. The world had been unforgiving and heartless without her sunshine there.

It was a rough, rocky road trying to teach Waverly the new in's and out's of Purgatory. It was difficult explaining the new creatures that lurked in the woods. What with Wynonna locked up for the suspected murder of Nedley, with Rachel staying at the homestead, and Jeremy's continued disappearance, her friends were still separated both physically and emotionally. Not to mention Nicole's Sheriff title was gone.

She knew Waverly hadn't felt the same either. She was trying to get her body back from Eve, still trying to get used to feeling herself again. And Nicole knew it wasn't helping that she wasn't quite feeling anything like her old self either. The time they'd spent on the stairs the night Waverly came home proved their physical connection still alive. The emotional connection, however, was still in a slight jeopardy.

In the wee hours of the morning, Nicole pulled herself out of bed, separating herself from her still asleep fiancée. She padded through the upstairs bedroom and down the wooden stairs slowly but surely, the memories now flooding back of seeing Waverly running at her, full-speed from across the wintery terrain. Nicole limping across the homestead porch, arms wide open as she finally got her sweet girl back. 

Nicole shakes her head as she gets to the bottom of the steps, pulled out of her trance by a sudden wet sneeze into her arm, "HhESHhhh!!"

Pulling her jacket over top of her shirt, she opens the back door with a shiver, surveying the yard from what she could see in the dim early morning lighting. The traps were still secured. And with Rachel asleep in Wynonna's bed, Nicole knew Waverly would be in good hands.

Nicole closes the back door, seconds later opening the front, pocketing the keys to Wynonna's bright blue rattly truck. It was still an adjustment trying to find the keys for the truck now instead of the police cruiser.

Barely out the door already, Nicole sniffles back her runny nose. She'd been a little stuffy since last night, but with the usual freezing cold weather for this time of year, it hadn't been the first time Nicole had experienced a runny nose this week. Little did she know, though, it wasn't just from the cold.

***

Nicole wiped at her nose as she set the donut box down on the table, keys still in hand snow tracked all over the worn out floorboards. She was barely able to get the box out of her hands before sneezing openly into the air behind her, "EShHHeww!"

She groaned softly and sniffled again, pulling the used tissues out of her coat pocket that she'd grabbed on her way out the door. Nicole wipes her nose and takes a seat at the table, head in her hands. What she wouldn't give to finally feel like herself again. What she wouldn't give to feel like she'd finally done something right for a change. Recently, she'd just felt so, so crummy she was starting to feel it physically.

Waverly's soft footsteps pulled Nicole out of her trance. It was about eight in the morning, and Nicole sat at the kitchen table, which was adorned with some flowers and a box full of vanilla-dipped donuts. Waverly's face instantly lit up at the sight of her favorite dessert.

The small brunette found her way over to Nicole's lap, Nicole scooching the chair back slightly to make room for her fiancée. 

"Thank you, baby, you're the best." 

Her voice was so soft, so sweet, so Waverly. Nicole had forgotten how much she'd missed it.

"Hm-mmm, I thought you won the nicest person in Purgatory award," Nicole reminds her, a smile of her own forming with some soft giggles. Her giggles turned into a single cough, and Nicole cleared her throat, a dimpled smile still in place.

"I did, but that was before you even moved here, silly." 

Nicole sniffles. "Help yourself to the donuts, Waves. I got them for you."

Waverly stretches her hand out to grab one, Nicole just reaching for a cup of coffee she'd made earlier in the morning. Straight black, a stark contrast to how she liked it before. 

As Waverly happily takes a bite of her donut, Nicole muffles a cough into the sleeve of her jacket, which had remained on even after coming home from her donut run. Nicole wasn't usually the one to get cold easily, so she felt a little silly having a windbreaker on when Waverly Earp, who needed five blankets and a bonus blanket to fall asleep, was in just a t-shirt and shorts.

Waverly furrows her eyebrows at the sound of Nicole's cough. She waits until she swallows that next bite to say, "this is why you weren't in bed this morning when I woke up!" while motioning to the rest of the donuts on the table.

Nicole suddenly felt a little guilty. She knew Waverly slept a lot better with her there. But Nicole didn't have the heart to tell her the entire reason behind her getting up so early. "Yeah, cutie. I'm glad you liked your little surprise." Nicole takes another sip of her coffee, sighing inaudibly. But of course Waverly felt it from where she was sitting on top of her. Nicole's continued sniffles fill the silence.

"What is it?" Waverly tries again, noting the stone-cold look on her fiancée's face just moments after her smile had faded. Something seemed off.

"It's nothing. I'm just glad you're back now." Nicole's hands find their way around Waverly's back, locking her into a soft hug that Waverly happily leaned into. 

"Can we take a chill day, please?" Waverly asks, the question coming out muffled against Nicole's neck. It wasn't too often Waverly asked for a day off, but she had a feeling it was exactly what both she and Nicole needed right now.

"Of course, baby, of course," Nicole happily complies.

The redhead sniffles absentmindedly into the hug, already brainstorming some ways they could spend their day off together.

[jem]

AHHH, this is amazing! I’m sooo excited you’re writing is focused on Nicole. I love her so much! And you’re right, she is often under appreciated. Can’t wait to read more !   

[FadedRose]

Thanks for the feedback I love writing this so much that I couldn't not share it, like, ASAP. The more Wayhaught the better!!

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Home Sweet Purgatory: Chapter 2

 

Nicole looks herself over in Waverly's bedroom mirror. In just a plain black t-shirt and gray sweatpants, Nicole was a little chilly already, but it was laundry day. That and if her and Waverly were going to be wrapped around each other the whole day (the way chill days usually went with the two of them), she knew she'd have some extra body warmth. And that Nicole probably shouldn't smell like dirty laundry.

With a scratchy cough, Nicole closes the closet and shuts Waverly's bedroom door before disappearing back down the stairs.

Waverly was already cuddled up on the couch, waiting for her fiancée to come back from getting dressed. Meanwhile, as sh waited, Waverly was engulfed in a book, all curled up in a ball.

She turns her head quickly when she hears Nicole's faint coughs, sticking her finger in the book to mark her place before closing it on top of her hand.

"C'mere," she says gently.

Nicole complies, taking a seat close to the brunette. 

Waverly tilts her head farther until it's obvious that she'd picked up on Nicole's coughing. "Are you okay?" She asks softly, running her hand through Nicole's grown-out hair. It had been quite a while since she had seen her fiancée with hair this long. It must've been only a couple months into their relationship when she first cut it short. The stack of physical and mental changes they had both gone through since then had stacked up.

"Yeah," Nicole answers simply with a nod. She blinks tiredly a few times, the sleep deprivation starting to make itself known. "Just a little tired; it's nothing."

"Why don't you take a quick nap?"

Nicole doesn't even think over the question before shaking her head with a mumbled, "gotta go check the traps first."

"That's what the bells are for, Nic. You'd hear if something happened."

"But there's a chance they might not be working properly, or maybe I didn't hear it over the wind--" Nicole pushes herself up off the couch.

Waverly's face falls a little, but she lets her fiancee up, thinking it might help her sleep a little easier if she knew she was safe after all. Even Rachel didn't double check the flawless trap system they'd designed, and she'd been living in a zombie infested BBD warehouse for God knows how long. The level of paranoia Nicole was experiencing since all hell had arrived to Purgatory was really taking a toll on Nicole, and Waverly was finally starting to see how severe it really was.

Nicole shrugs on her winter coat and tugs on her brown leather boots, arming herself with her shotgun. Waverly heard the beginnings of another dry cough, some sniffles, and a muffled sneeze before the door slams shut with the wind. 

Nicole steps out onto the snow, instantly shivering, her nose already running. She sniffles and wipes her nose on her hand, slowly limping the perimeter of the property. She'd been told the limp would probably stick for a while, if not the rest of her life. Some days her leg still burned like it was on fire. She wished she'd had Waverly to nurse her back to full health after the incident. But of course the universe had royally fucked her over for those 18 months.

Good thing she'd gotten rid of the Sheriff title already. What kind of a Sheriff walked with a limp? God, she sucked.

Nicole sniffles again, her unsteady walk slowing to a stop. She pulls her elbow in front of her with a forceful, cold "HhTT'tcHHh!" before continuing her normal path. She looks around her, surveying as far into the distance as she could with the howling wind and the blizzard-like Canadian snow.

Once the whole course had been trekked through and nothing out of the ordinary had been spotted, Nicole found herself on her way back inside, sniffling constantly now. She pulls off her snowy boots on the front porch, followed by her big heavy coat. Nicole's sniffles still hadn't stopped on her way into the bathroom, where she grabbed a tissue with red, frozen hands and blew her nose. 

Nicole gives Waverly a smile once Nicole was back in her usual spot on the couch. Waverly smiles back, pushing a little bit of the blanket Nicole's way, able to tell just how cold she was. Nicole happily snuggled up to the brunette with a yawn, followed by more stuffy sniffling. She pulls the blanket tighter over herself, the chills taking over for now.

Nicole almost always got a runny nose after being outside in the cold. Waverly thought it was the cutest thing. Nicole just found it annoying.

"Hhh...IIisShhHH!" Nicole jerks forward with another sneeze, sniffling back the mucus that was now causing her nose to run like crazy.

"Bless you, baby."

Nicole mumbles a thank you as she continues sniffling.

"Is it finally nap time?" Waverly asks.

Nicole nods slowly in response, leaning her head back on the couch cushion. 

"It's nap time," Nicole agrees, sniffling. She wipes at her nose with her hand before slipping it back under the blanket.

"Do you need to blow your nose again first?" Waverly asks. Nicole sniffles and shakes her head. "Ndo, I'll be okay," she says, letting her eyes close.

Waverly slides her arm around Nicole, happily cuddling her as her girlfriend drifted off to sleep, a hand rubbing up and down Nicole's back slowly. After a while, Waverly finally decides to join her fiancée in naptime, the exhaustion finally catching up to both of them.

***

"Ndo!" Nicole's edged voice awoke Waverly. Waverly sat up quickly at the noise, startled, heart racing. The sudden jolt didn't bother Nicole, who was a lot heavier of a sleeper than the brunette. 

It took Waverly a few seconds to find where the noise had come from: the sleeping girl next to her. Nicole had all of the blanket now, and her soft whimpers were filling the room. 

"Shit-eaters.."

Waverly couldn't help but giggle at the sleepy mumbles. She knew Nicole was having a bad dream, which was absolutely not funny, and it broke Waverly's heart. But hearing her own phrase that had been used years prior in her fiancée's sleep talking was absolutely adorable.

"G-get.. Waverly!!!"

Waverly feels her heart wrench as Nicole shoots up straight, both their hearts pounding as Nicole immediately wipes away the tears that had been brewing during the nightmare and exchanging the desperate, fear-filled look on her face for one of mere indifference. 

"It's okay," Waverly murmurs sweetly. The nightmare didn't seem to bother Nicole anymore, but Waverly knew as much as she pretended to be unaffected, it was definitely still on her mind. She could tell this by the looks Nicole was exchanging between the window and her fiancée. 

"I'm here, I'm okay. No more demons, remember? No more garden. I'm here. And it's really me this time." 

Nicole tries to focus on the sound of her love's voice, but her eyes snap shut.

"HShhHh!" She sneezes directly into her lap, Waverly's hand resting on her shoulder. 

"Bless you, sweetie," Waverly says. The room is quiet, minus a truckload of sniffles. Then a sigh.

"I'mb glad it's you."

"Me too... me too," Waverly says, wrapping Nicole up in a hug this time. 

"I'm here." The silence was reassuring. The wind had stopped howling for now, none of the traps had gone off yet, and her fiancée was, indeed, safe after all.

"I know you're scared, Nicole. And I am too. But you don't have to be this strong anymore.." Waverly teared up through the words as she ran her fingers loosely through Nicole's red hair, Nicole able to feel her fiancée's slow, soft breaths from where her head was laying on Waverly's chest.

Nicole lifted her head up, starting to feel a little woozy and disoriented at how heavy her head felt. Waverly silently noted how pale the taller girl seemed, in contrast to her fiery red hair and usual warm, dimpled smile.

"I kndow. It's just hard because... it was a whole different world without you. There wasn't any good left and.. I wasn't doing well without you.. and it's hard because after living like that for 18 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days, it's like the darkness is all I cand remehmber." Nicole was tearing up as well, a sign of the soldier facade breaking.

"I know... I know, love. I can only imagine what it took out of you. Staying at the homestead, waiting for me and 'Nonna to come back. But we are back. I promise. We're back for good. And we're not going anywhere."

Nicole raises a hand over her face, her teary eyes fluttering shut as she pitches forward with another single, wet, but desparate sneeze, "KiIIShhHOoo!" 

"Bless you, sweetie pie. You know you're my favorite, right?"

Nicole sniffles woozily with a blushed, dimpled smile.

"I'd go through all hell ahd back for you, Waverly Earp."

[jem]

AMAZING. You’ve got the characters down perfectly! Can’t wait to read more !! 

[wannablessedbe]

YAY! MOAR WAYHAUGHT!!! I'm so happy and excited to see more of this!!!

💖🧡💛💚💙💜

[FadedRose]

Thank you to everyone out there who's still reading this!

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Nicole found herself spending the majority of the afternoon curled up on the couch. She was taking to relaxing a little bit easier, but at the slightest creak of the floorboard, she jolted into a sitting position, or at the sound of branches snapping outside, she titled her head to look out the window. Waverly didn't mind, of course. She knew relaxing would take some getting used to. 

"HhSHhOoOO!"

"Bless," Waverly says, the words coming out of her mouth automatically.

Nicole sniffles and rubs her nose with her hand, sighing and leaning back against Waverly.

"Do you think you're coming down with something?" Waverly tries, not sure if she'd be able to get Nicole to admit it yet. But it was worth a shot. Waverly just hoped Nicole wouldn't get upset with her.

Waverly knew Nicole was getting sick. Exhaustion was written all over the poor redhead's face, and of course Waverly had picked up on all the sniffles and sneezing she'd heard that afternoon. She was just waiting for when Nicole finally admitted it so she could shower her fiancee with extra love and affection.

"Uhh, wouldn't be surprised, actually. Stupid cold.. Cahnadiahd wihhndt- hIK'KIiishhew!" Nicole sniffles the congestion back, pawing at her nose before continuing, "Canadian winters, man, let me tell you," Nicole says with an exhausted chuckle. 

"Yeah, Nicole's been all over those traps, like all day every day. No wonder," Rachel Valdez says, making herself known as she enters the living room with a cup of hot chocolate. She carefully hands it over to Nicole with a smile. "I told her to get out of the snow before she got sick but redhead over here doesn't like to listen very well."

"No, she listens. She's just stubborn," Waverly says with a smile, her fingernails scratching lightly up and down her fiancee's back. "Really, really stubborn."

Waverly's smile nearly fills the silence of the room as she adds, "sometimes I think her name should've been Nicole Rayleigh Stubborn. But Rayleigh Haught works, too." 

Nicole dissolves into a laugh at Waverly's weak joke, which turns into a nagging cough shortly after. Waverly's hand continues rubbing her fiancee's back, Bulshar's ring finally back in its rightful place on her hand. It wasn't everyone's ideal wedding band, but it meant one hell of a lot more than the traditional sparkly diamond ring.

Nicole then takes a sip of her hot cocoa, happily sighing when the warm liquid hit her scratchy throat, "this is perfect, Rach, thank you." 

"If you were to ever owe me a thank you for anything, Haught, it damn well wouldn't be for making you hot chocolate."

"You're right. I could probably start by thanking you for carrying me out of the BBD warehouse, and y'know, actually saving my life." Nicole chuckles again, happy to be in great company.

All they needed now was Wynonna back. And Nicole was certain they'd be able to pull it off.

The redhead holds the mug tightly in both hands, sniffling again as she looked up at the light, her eyes then blinking shut.

"IiSHHhhoo!"

Nicole moves her hand to wipe right under her nose, where she could definitely feel her nose starting to run. 

"Bless you," Rachel and Waverly chorused together, Nicole sniffling through a 'thank you'. 

Rachel disappears out of the living room, Nicole too sleepy to ask where she was going. She was happy with Waverly as her human pillow. But she's even happier when Rachel returns, a box of tissues in hand. 

"Here. I figured you might need these," the younger girl says, "I might have been able to nurse your broken leg back to full health but I'm sure as hell not wiping your nose for you."

"Thandks," Nicole says with a grin, taking two tissues out of the box and handing the rest to Waverly. Nicole immediately blows her nose, surprised at how wet and productive it actually was. 

"I'm heading into town to talk to Wynonna and Doc. I assume you ladies will enjoy having the house to yourselves, so don't worry, I'll knock on my way back in," Rachel says with a raised eyebrow, giving them a look before turning around and disappearing out the door. 

Waverly smiles as she looks to Nicole.

"She's quite the charm, cutie. She reminds me a lot of Wynonna. I bet they were two peas in a pod," Waverly says.

"Oh they really were. You should've seen 'em together. Wynonna with beaver blasters and Rachel with a shotgun. They were unfreaking stoppable. That kid's really going places," Nicole adds with a nod. She was so excited to have a new member of the team. And as chipper and sarcastic as Rachel was, Nicole had no doubt she'd fit right in once they had the whole gang back together.

"I'm just glad she was there. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I didn't have you back."

"Right back atcha, Waves."

Nicole nuzzles happily into Waverly's warm neck. It wasn't too often Nicole wanted to be cuddled instead of be the one cuddling, but today was one of those days. She always had a soft spot for being cuddled when she was sick.

"You feel pretty crummy, huh?" Waverly asks softly, to which she only receives a nod.

Nicole really didn't get sick a lot. She was always active, high-energy, fun-loving, adventurous Nicole. Nothing seemed to slow her down. Or, until she got sick, that is. 

"I'm willing to take it easy if you are," Waverly offers, "I don't think all this running around trapping demons is good for you when you're under the weather. You know Rachel is more than capable of taking care of the homestead. And the second anyone barges through that door, that oversized spoon in the kitchen is calling my name, yeah?"

Nicole grins happily, nodding. 

"I know. You're cute, you know that?" Nicole's brown eyes light up happily as she compliments her fiancee.

Waverly leans down to meet Nicole's lips with a kiss. She leans back just enough to be able to talk, Nicole able to feel her warm breath against her lips.

"You're cuter," Waverly responds simply, finishing off the kiss.

Nicole sniffles and shakes her head, about to interject until the sound of another sneeze echoes through the living room, "HiIISshhuU!" 

"Bless you."

"Thh-hhann.. N'SHHhOOo! Thank you," Nicole responds breathlessly, her congested breaths turning into coughs.

"You're welcome, honey. Is it okay if I get up for a second? I'll be riiiight back; I promise," Waverly asks sweetly.

"Yeah, yeah! Ndo worries." Nicole simply moves out of the way from where she'd been laying across her fiancee, starting to feel guilty that she'd been somewhat demanding of Waverly, who was also probably pretty tired too. Nicole attempts to sniffle to clear some of the congestion, but it only makes her feel lightheaded. 

Nicole reaches for the tissue box beside her on the couch, blowing her nose again.

Waverly looks over from what she could see of her fiancee in the kitchen, setting a pot of water on the kitchen stove.

Nicole wasn't paying attention to what Waverly was doing, though. Her quick half hour nap she'd taken earlier was really the only sleep she'd gotten in two days. It was starting to feel like a task to keep her eyes open. Before Nicole knows it, she's drifting off to sleep, her body fighting for sleep although her mind hadn't quite shut off yet.

Waverly sighs sympathetically, taking in her baby's pale complexion. It was worrying to see her so run down. And it was even more worrying to think about all the colds an illnesses and broken bones Waverly had missed while she was away from Purgatory. All the times Nicole was suffering but Waverly wasn't able to take care of her. 

Waverly was determined to make up for that lost time, she decided, as she began to stir the pot of soup. 

[jem]

Another great part! Thanks for keeping it going! Can’t wait to see what’s next :)) 

[wannablessedbe]

Yes! Thank you! Love soft Nicole and overprotective Waverly 💖💖💖