one shots | wayhaught

watch me break (just another soul to take)

WARNING: it is sad and does not have a happy ending. it does have an open ending.

This is un-edited and un-beta'd because I just felt like getting this out since I'm very emotional and very stressed about tonight's finale. even though I do have faith that, no matter what happens, we will get our Waverly back. one way or another.

• titel from Tell That Devil by Jill Andrews (aka the soundtrack, yes)

(This was written before the S3 finale aired and it was still rumored Waverly was going to have to turn to stone)

•••

Or: the aftermath of Waverly sacrificing herself.

It wasn't supposed to end like this.

Mama Earp was supposed to be there, with Julian, and they were supposed to save her. He was supposed to take her place, was supposed to stop her from sacrificing herself. She wasn't supposed to be the one sacrificing herself, she wasn't supposed to be the one to make up for his mistakes.

He was.

He should've been there on time and he should've saved her. But Wynonna should've known better. She should've known he wouldn't pull through and she should've known that he didn't care about her enough to do a thing like that. Because, who walks away from an angel like Waverly?

A literal angel. Waverly.

For a second she forgets about the fact that she did, all those years ago. But she will never forget how much she regrets it, how much it still pains her to think about how much she's hurt her little baby sister. She can't imagine him not feeling something like this, too? How can he be so heartless about his own daughter? Never once looking back, never once checking up on her?

Wynonna is angry.

Of course she is. She's lost her baby sister and she couldn't save her, no matter how hard she tried or what she tried to do. Nothing was good enough, nothing could change Waverly's mind. Not even Nicole. Brave, scared Nicole, who just wanted to grow old with Waverly.

Wynonna knows that, she's always known that. From the moment she sat on the precinct's floor, drinking, and Nicole had told her that she had a top shelf ass. It was crystal clear to her how much Nicole cared about her sister, even then. And now, after everything they've been through together, it broke Wynonna's heart to see her like this.

So lost, so broken. So lonely.

They try to be there for each other. Of course they do. They're all they have left, really. Doc disappeared. Dolls is dead. Jeremy is still here, but he doesn't dare show himself. Of course he's mourning, too. So is Mercedes. They all are.

But Nicole and Wynonna both know that Waverly would want them to take care of each other. She'd want for Wynonna to be the big sister Nicole never had and she'd want for Nicole to keep Wynonna in check. And they try, they really do. Nicole sleeps at the homestead almost every night, even though it hurts her heart to be there. She can't sleep in Waverly's room – their room – so she either sleeps on the uncomfortable couch or in a sleeping bag in Wynonna's room.

Sometimes Wynonna sleeps at Nicole's place.

Sometimes she sleeps in a cell. When she's had too much to drink and Nicole wasn't there to take her home safely.

They don't talk. Or, they do. Just not about Waverly. Never about Waverly. Whenever they even touch the subject lightly, one of them flees the room. It's always like that. It's not because they don't want to, it's simply because they can't. It hurts too much to even think about, let alone say the words out loud.