Bottom of the Bottle | Wynonna Earp

⇝ ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇɴ ⇜

"Dolls!" Reina shouted as she and Wynonna returned to the homestead, prompting said Deputy Marshall to run over.

"What the hell- here," he guided her towards the table, clearing off a spot for her to set the snakeskin down on. Wynonna grumbled something about cleaning it up, but both the hellhound and the black badge agent ignored her for the time being.

"What exactly are we looking at?" Dolls leaned with his arms braced against the side of the table.

"We found it out in the woods, it smells exactly like whatever was in here."

"It's definitely some kind of snake, Waverly found bite marks on Nicole's arm."

"How long has she been out?" Reina asked with a glance into the other room. Waverly had somehow found room to lay down on the sofa with her girlfriend and fall asleep.

"From what Waverly said, I'm guessing a few hours, maybe three?"

"I'm gonna kill whatever did this."

"You can try, but that's my job," Wynonna butted in. Reina growled, unintentionally startling Wynonna. Dolls's hand went to his gun, and she looked back to him.

"I'm pissed off, sorry. Can you do some sciencey stuff with this? I'm gonna try tracking it again."

"Yeah. Wynonna?" Dolls relaxed a bit.

"I'm going with her, just in case she finds anything. Peacemaker is the best backup plan," she replied. Dolls nodded.

"Good luck."

"You too." Reina threw him off with a side hug before leaving the house once again.

~

Sunlight was beginning to filter in through the trees an hour into their search. The large hellhound did not blend in whatsoever with the bright green shrubbery, and so decided to shift back. Wynonna shot her a questioning look.

"If anyone sees us it'll be easier to explain without the giant dog," Reina answered. Wynonna smiled slightly, although she still seemed confused.

"That's true, but your smell?"

"Still just as strong, but more general. You should brush your teeth more often," Reina teased. Wynonna shoved her into a tree as they walked, making her laugh.

"Bitch."

"Look at that, you know your animals." She stopped suddenly, throwing her arm out to make sure Wynonna knew to do the same. "Beings you're an expert, does this look like a giant snake track to you?" A large rut in the ground, around 3 feet wide, paved a clear path to follow in front of them.

"Holy shit. Well the size matches.. nothing's ever this easy, are you sure this is it?" Wynonna pulled Peacemaker from its holster, getting ready just in case.

"The trail dies here and follows this track, so I'm pretty sure." Reina took up the lead, walking in the middle of the rut. Wynonna was unsure why she didn't just stay to the side. Hearing the crunch of footsteps in the underbrush, the taller woman turned around. "Actually, you should be up front. You're the crazy chick with a gun."

"Damn right," Wynonna commented. She kept walking, passing her friend and stepping down into the rut. Although she did have Peacemaker, Reina really wanted her to be in front just in case the snake thing was planning a sneak attack.

~

"Did you hear that?" Wynonna stopped, looking around with her gun aimed in front of her.

Reina heard a faint rustling coming from the trees behind the pair. She turned around just in time for a large dark grey-scaled snake to lunge at them, however she shifted before it got close enough and smacked it out of the air with a heavy paw. The creature wasn't fazed by the counter, immediately going to pounce again. Hellhound Reina jumped up and met it in the air, grabbing it by the snout and body slamming it into the ground.

The snake wasn't incapacitated for long, and Wynonna's shot missed. The bullet ricocheted off of a tree and grazed Reina's leg, resulting in a yip of surprise from the large dog. Their opponent took the split second of time that she wasn't paying attention to latch on to the hellhound's neck and shoulder area, its jaw coming down with the force of a crocodile's. Reina let out a thunderous yelp and growled, falling over as she tried to get it off. She rolled over and slammed herself into a tree until the creature couldn't hold on for longer. It finally stopped moving.

Wynonna prioritized her injured friend over the snake, jogging over and kneeling next to her. Reina appeared as a human again, clutching her neck with her jaw clenched shut.

"Reina, talk to me." Wynonna was panicking slightly, but kept it out of sight. "Can you stand?"

"That bitch poisoned me," she hissed. A whine of pain also escaped after she opened her mouth. "It's not a snake, it's a person too." Reina's eyes shut as she curled up in the fetal position, however this didn't prevent her from crying out like she hoped it would.

Wynonna grabbed her hand, shocked by the intense heat coming from her friend's skin. It was like she touched a stove burner that was turned on, but much worse. "C'mon you dumbass, get up." She ignored the fact that she'd probably get burnt again and grabbed Reina's arm, giving it a tug. She managed to pull her up and draped her arm around her neck. Thankfully she'd decided to wear a coat, so further injury was avoided. "Work with me here."

Reina said nothing, but tried to stand on her own. Wynonna caught her before she fell over, pulling her back towards herself. "No, lean on me. It's okay, we just have to get you back. I'll come back with Dolls and get her later," Wynonna referred to the unconscious, possibly dead snake lady on the ground. Complying with the help that was being offered, Reina let most of her body weight rest against Wynonna. The Earp heir held on to her arm with one hand, the other arm wrapped around her waist to help keep her upright.

"Okay, I'm gonna start walking." It took a few tries, but the hellhound eventually managed to match Wynonna's stride. Slowly but surely, they made their way back to the Homestead once again.