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AN: For the purposes of this little fic, the Big City is actually Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Lake Newell is about 3 hours from Didsbury (Purgatory) and 2 hours southeast from Calgary.
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Nedley stood motionless, arms crossed, his posture radiating authority. His gaze was intense, focused. Every so often, his eyebrows came together in a deep furrow. As a result, the corresponding muscles in his face contracted and without fail, made his mustache dance a little.
Rachel would never say it out loud, but it was one of the many many things she loved about him. It was so…..Nedley.
“Fishing rod?”
“Yep.”
“Speciality lures you picked out?”
“Yep.”
“Lifejacket?”
“Yes.”
“Sunscreen?”
“Randy! I’m all set, I promise you.”
A beat. Then - “Menstrual supplies in case of emergency?”
Rachel’s eyes turned wide and horrified. Instinctively, she peered frantically towards where Billy was standing, twenty feet away per Randy’s probably joking orders to prevent any surprise heart attacks, then caught herself. Rachel forced her voice into a casual, unbothered tone to accompany her rejoinder to Nedley.
“Pretty sure it’s not the menstru-angel time of the month for me, Randy - but good looking out. Way to girl dad.”
Nedley’s lips quirked underneath his mustache, and his eyes darted over to Billy as well, clearly evaluating his reaction. Besides a slight flush that honestly could’ve been sunburn after a full day in the heat, Billy at least appeared positively stoic and unconcerned.
Rachel, on the other hand, while impressed with Billy’s demeanor, couldn’t help a frustrated huff. If she was right, this was but a terrible preview of her weekend to come.
Nedley smirked widely, whistling a jaunty tune under his breath as he gave Rachel a nod and walked towards the SUV parked in back of Big Belly Burger. He was gonna thoroughly enjoy this.
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After Billy had been (reluctantly) invited along by Nedley, the former Sheriff had tossed Rachel the keys to the SUV (he wouldn't be able to drive for a while longer) and they’d all headed back to his garage to grab additional camping supplies. Within minutes, he had them both scurrying to and fro, tetris-ing all the gear they needed for the weekend into his SUV.
Nedley had patiently instructed the teens on how to properly hitch the boat to make sure it wouldn’t go flying on the highway.
Nedley was pleasantly surprised after taking the time to observe Billy’s work ethic. The former invisible monster teen had been a zombified husk only days ago, but was clearly doing pretty well for himself now if his penchant for organization and his heart eye glances towards Rachel were any indication.
The glazed-over look was actually scarily similar to Nicole’s 'Waverly stare' now that Nedley thought about it. The one where you had to constantly worry that drool would appear at any moment.
Nedley planned to make it a point to thoroughly monitor the whole situation, and not just for Rachel’s protection. Billy had also been through a hell of a lot in a very short time, and Nedley wouldn’t be surprised at all if the collected damage eventually built into a volcanic eruption.
Nedley wanted to support the kid as best he could, but trauma bonding had better be the only kind of bonding happening on his watch.
The next stop was gathering what little remained of Billy’s belongings. The small group moved on over to the Clanton property before traversing out of Purgatory to the Big City for a late lunch.
Billy clearly had tried his best to take little and leave quickly, but Nedley had forced him to be more deliberate and exacting in his choices. He had offered to get some folks together to help him go through everything later, decide what to keep or sell, and get the place cleaned up nice for whatever Billy might want to do with it after that.
Nedley was sure that the unpacking of those things physically would lead to even more unpacking emotionally as the memories hit. The kid was in for a rough go. Hopefully, they’d be able to keep that door latched tight long enough to give the kids a trip full of good memories, but if the floodgates opened, well - Nedley was ready for that, too.
During his law enforcement career and well beyond his retirement, he had been given first the authority and later developed the ability to do right by a cavalcade of kids that needed him. He’d often balanced single fatherhood with the need to keep an eye on everyone else’s kids too, especially in a place like Purgatory.
Unbidden, his thoughts drifted first to Wynonna and Waverly, and all the times he’d wished he had been able to help them but had been blocked by a mitigating Michelle or an angry asshole of a boss in Wade. He just hadn’t been able to get a hold.
They’d passed by like water through his hands. Waverly stayed and faked it to make it. She had her aunt and uncle, and he felt like she would be alright. By the time Wynonna had returned, a mixture of guilt and the need to keep the town safe and ignorant of all the supernatural happenings had made him curt and abrasive. He would regret that forever. Eventually, their relationship strengthened, and now he was missing her something fierce.
A few years later, there had come Nicole, who’d he’d barely been able to bond with before she’d been taken back in - if you could call it that - by her absentee dipshit parents. But he had learned his lesson, and made it a point to keep an eye out on her from a distance, just in case. That choice had come in quite handy once he'd realized she was on path to join the force.
He’d nudged Nicole’s law enforcement career enough to send her on a path straight through Purgatory, though he’d have let her be if she hadn’t taken the bait, so to speak. He believed with his whole heart that Nicole’s coming to Purgatory had been kismet, both times. And now, looking back on the last few years and their culmination into that beautiful wedding…well, it was nice to know an old man could still be right on occasion.
Despite all of the trials and tribulations of his girls and now Billy, he supposed- they’d all managed to find each other and more so, thrive. If the kids hadn’t been looking his way, Nedley might have wept at the very thought.
And now that his girls were set - all four of them - he could turn his attention to the next generation in Rachel and Billy. He was willing to wait patiently to get his Grandpa hooks into Alice, but he was quite sure he’d manage it if he didn’t get transformed into another damned thing.
After checking their work, they had gassed up (prices had finally dropped once the border opened) and headed to the Big City for burgers and groceries before continuing on in earnest towards Lake Newell.
Rachel managed to bulldoze Randy into buying all sorts of treats she’d been missing over the last two years, isolated at different points in both Purgatory and Monument. Billy had rarely been able to enjoy candy, even before all the supply chain disruption and martial law. Mam hadn’t exactly spoiled him in his younger years.
As she drove, Rachel chatted about all the vastly unhealthy treats she couldn’t wait to introduce Billy to.
Skittles and Snickers were on the list, but the very top had to be Maynards Swedish berries. Rachel had fought to keep herself from opening a bag for the drive. She knew if she did, it would be gone by the time they got to Lake Newell.
Sometimes, patience was the play.
At the halfway point, Nedley had Rachel toss the keys to Billy so he could get some road experience as well. The kid gripped the steering wheel like a life raft, but did a decent job overall.
Nedley off-handedly remarked that he’d be happy to give him some more practice once they were back in Purgatory, to which Billy had stuttered out a grateful “Thank you, Sir!”
And for the fifth but assuredly not the last time, Nedley had told the kid to call him Nedley or Randy.
Billy nodded (or about the 6th but most definitely not the last time), and Nedley could see him finally relax a bit in the driver's seat. They spent the rest of the drive arguing over music interspersed with Nedley drilling them on fishing tips and tricks. Knowledge he immediately quizzed them on once they arrived at the gorgeous campsite alongside the lake.
“Now - what do we use when we’re fishing for perch?” Nedley pointed a finger at the formerly invisible monster teen. Billy looked over towards Rachel, beseechingly. Rachel dead-eyed him back.
“Sink or swim dude.”
Billy laughed at that despite his stress, then took a moment to focus up and think.
“Uh....Northland …Thumper Spin Jig?”
Nedley pursed his lips. “Not bad, kid. You clearly listen, which is more’n my ex ever said about me. Good job.”
Billy absolutely beamed at the compliment. The kid had a nice smile. Nedley was looking forward to seeing it more.
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They'd made good time. Billy’s cautious, yet steady driving had them arriving at the campground a good two hours before the sun began its descent on the horizon.
Nedley's favorite camping spot was right along the river - lush, green and even, with no hills to be found until the gentle slope up began at the forest edge and quickly transformed into a mass of trees.
After giving Billy and Rachel a series of tasks to accomplish both together and apart, Nedley was struck by how well they worked together. Not much chatting, as they seemed to communicate more in glances, micro-expressions. That was worrisome. Kids who were quiet could get up to a lot in the silence. Nedley decided he'd stay up an extra hour or two just in case. They were good kids, but they were still teenagers. You could trust, but you always had to verify.
Nelly was pleasantly surprised at their work ethic, but after reflection, he supposed he shouldn’t have been. They were both survivors of a sort and clearly capable of doing what needed to be done. Nedley liked that in a person. He was particularly pleased to see that Rachel was not hiding her light under a bushel. There were none of those helpless female games to be found; she owned her portion and wasn't afraid to hold Billy to account on his part, either. He was suddenly a lot less worried about her future in this relationship, however it ended up.
Nedley’s observations were further validated when Rachel approached him to ask for the axe so she could show Billy how to split logs. After going over the safety rules, Randy handed it over and left her to it, watching surreptitiously from a distance.
Rachel provided simple yet precise instruction, followed by a demonstration before repeating the safety rules. After making him repeat them, she finally handed the axe over.
Nedley was surprised to see she kept it all business, gaze focused on Billy’s for- well, one small glance at his butt, but then right back to his form. Nedley got that. He was happy to see she was taking the chance to be a little dreamy over the kid. He hoped they would both let loose - just a little - this weekend.
Nedley overheard Billy ask Rachel how she’d gotten so good at breaking down logs into firewood.
Rachel cheekily replied, “Well, Nicole is basically a part-time lesbian lumberjack. It would have been impossible not to have learned something by osmosis alone. Actually, with the regime change I hope we can TikTok now - I would monetize her so hard she’d probably cover a year's worth of groceries."
Once the very nicely chopped firewood was stacked, Nedley used a bit of the pile to start their fire. He kept up a litany of instructions as to how best to create one, and why he was doing it this way as opposed to another.
He was pleasantly surprised to find that they'd kept their attention on him, and they even asked follow up questions, which was much more than Chrissy had ever done. Then again, Chrissy’s priorities had never really leaned towards camping or fishing. He didn’t understand it but he loved her all the same. And they would always have Rupaul’s Drag Race to bond over.
Once the fire was adequately built and stoked, Nedley had sent the kids to go find sticks for their hot dog dinner and s’mores dessert. They had returned a suspiciously long 20 minutes later, giggling, which Nedley chose to ignore. After handing them each a hot dog, he sat back with his own and carefully employed his foolproof roasting technique.
Rachel did her best to emulate Nedley. Billy, too busy side-eying Rachel with a dopey look on his face, just kind of let his hot dog linger in the fire, destined for cremation.
After a few beats of comfortable silence, Nedley began to outline the itinerary for the next day.
“We’ll need to get some early shut-eye tonight cuz we’ve got ourselves a dawn appointment with some fish. Now, I know this the first time fishing for both of you so I’ll take it easy on you the first day. The second, however, will be every person for themselves. Most fish caught wins the weekend.”
Nedley pulled his hotdog away from the fire and gave it a good look before placing it back near the heat, then continued.
“I'll share with you my tips and tricks on the first day. Hopefully you discover things on your own as well. Up to you whether you share with each other.”
Rachel mock glared at Billy, then gave a silent no with the shake of her head. Billy stuck his lower lip out at her in response.
Nedley chortled at that. “Cutthroat. I love it. Now, I'll teach you how to clean the fish once we get one. Hopefully we catch enough for a good night’s dinner. For our second day, we’ll fish to bring as much as we can home to - well I was gonna say Nicole and Waverly but it’d just be Nicole. There’s nothing vegan coming out of that lake besides lily pads.”
Billy piped up at that. “Maybe we could find some vegan stuff from foraging? I had to do that for food sometimes in Purgatory."
Nedley pondered that. “Good idea, Billy. Maybe you can find some nuts and berries and Waverly can use it for a soup or salad or some-such.”
Billy nodded happily, then glanced down and realized his hotdog looked like charcoal. He tentatively touched it and it disintegrated and fell back into the fire, all ash. He sheepishly peeked up at Nedley, who had already moved to the cooler and pulled out another hot dog.
Without a word, Nedley held his hand out for Billy’s stick. After Billy handed it over, Nedley began roasting the new hot dog. With his free hand, Nedley passed his perfectly roasted hot dog over in exchange.
“Now normally, I’m more of a teach a man to fish kind of guy, but I also need to make sure you don’t starve, so here you go.”
Billy mumbled his thanks around the giant bite in his mouth, leaving less than half of the dog on the stick. Nedley sighed. He’d forgotten how much teen boys could eat. He hoped the 4 packs of hot dogs would last them the night.
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Day 1 on the boat passed lazily, with Nedley’s occasional advice and teen appropriate tall tales from his time on the force interspersed with bites on the line for all three of them.
Out of the three, Billy was the first to haul one in, a five pound beauty of a perch. He was followed less than an hour later by Rachel, who got three fish in quick succession.
By the end of the day, Rachel had caught three, Billy had caught two, and Nedley had caught 4; beers, that is. Zero fish.
Nedley decided to look at it as a blessing. No fish, no cleaning. Once back at camp, he happily supervised the kids as they cleaned their catches, enjoying another beer or two in the process while Billy stoked the fire.
As the fillets cooked over the camp grill, Nedley leaned back in his chair, bantering good naturedly about how the lake must have remembered all the fish he’d caught last time and was making him pay now.
Rachel’s sharp, sarcastic replies and rolling eyes made it clear what she thought of that.
Billy just smiled, clearly altogether elated at the day they’d had and just seemed happy to be there.
The minutes passed, and soon the perch and pike in Nedley's belly coupled with the copious cans of beer consumed sent him straight to sleep.
After some time, Nedley's throat began making truly awful sounds.
“Nedley? Randdyyyy” Rachel called out softly.
Loud snores were the only reply.
Rachel waited a beat, then looked at Billy. He looked back at her, then waggled his eyebrows.
She covered her mouth with both hands before her laugh could escape.
The teens ‘don’t be suspicious’-ed their way past Nedley’s unconscious body, creeping as silently as they could towards the tree line - and privacy.
“Set your watch for 30 minutes,” Rachel quietly requested.
“Huh?” Billy’s face was all confusion.
“We need a time limit so we’re not gone too long. I don’t want to get caught and I also don’t want him to worry. He probably won’t wake up in 30, but if he does, he won’t worry much if we’re not gone long.”
Billy’s tone turned admiring. “You’re so smart.”
Rachel bit her lip. “Shut up.”
Billy’s grin changed, adding just a touch of smolder. “Make me.”
45 minutes later, Nedley snored so loud he woke himself up. Blinking rapidly, he sat up and cast his eyes around immediately for his two teen charges.
He saw Billy across from him, whittling something with his knife.
“Hey kid,” Nedley grumbled hoarsely. “Where’s Rachel?”
“She’s reading in her tent, said she’d be back for s’mores.” Billy replied, monotone.
Nedley narrowed his eyes at Billy’s demeanor. He wasn’t making eye contact, his body was stiff. Nedley’s keen investigative instincts were going off like fireworks.
“Did I miss anything?”
“Nope, nothing no - I mean, just you know - uh. No. No.” Billy turtled up, hunching his shoulders like he could make himself go invisible again at will.
“Wow, son - you’re really gonna have to work on that delivery.”
Billy sighed. He met Nedley’s gaze. “We kissed a little at the tree line, that’s it - please don’t tell her I caved so fast.”
Nedley smirked as he fiddled around the cooler before locating a bottle of water. “My lips, unlike yours, are sealed. Now go find me some marshmallow sticks.”
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Nedley managed to redeem himself on Day 2, hauling in a respectable five fish.
Billy sacrificed his chance at the title in order to forage in the morning. He waved off Nedley's offer to bring the boat back so he could join later in the day. He made do with some shoreline fishing in the afternoon which resulted in two more pike for the coffers.
After a strategic lure change, Rachel came in at eight fish for the day, which officially made her the King of the Lake.
Once the boat was moored, Rachel made her way to Nedley in order to combine and pack up the day's catch.
He handed over his portion of fish, then realized Rachel wasn’t moving.
Nedley took in Rachel’s demeanor. She was ringing her hands and her eyes were downcast. Nedley could see Rachel clearly had something on her mind.
“What’s up, sweetheart?”
“So uh, Billy doesn’t really know what’s gonna…happen, now? Like, he hasn’t really had anyone to talk to or anything. Will he have to stay by himself at his place? Is foster care a thing again now? Will he have to leave Purgatory? He just doesn't know what will happen to him. I told him you would be able take away his fears - and help with a game plan or something?"
Nedley clasped a hand on her shoulder, nudging her until she met his gaze. With his other hand, he tapped his temple with his fingers. “Don’t worry, I’m already ahead of you. We’ll have a conversation later tonight. I promise.”
Rachel’s resulting smile was wide and unrestrained. She darted in and gave him a hug that took his breath away. Nedley patted her back gently. “Alright now. I haven’t done it yet, no need to thank me.”
Rachel straightened up and let out a freeing breath. “But you will. You’re the best.”
Nedley harrumphed. “Feel free to send that in a letter to my ex.” Rachel’s delighted laugh rung out over the campsite.
Later that night, they ate the rest of the catch from Day 1. Rachel made herself scarce again post s’mores, giving a significant look towards Nedley as she left.
Nedley poked the fire, letting the silence wash over the camp. The night sounds of nearby animals combined with the gently lapping lake was his version of paradise. There was nowhere he’d rather be.
"You ready to talk about your future, Billy?"
Nedley watched as Billy, who had once again been whittling, froze momentarily.
"How about you put that knife down before you cut off a finger. And come a little closer. I don't wanna shout across the damn fire at ya."
Billy gulped and moved over slowly. 'Uh, yes, Nedley."
Nedley waited a beat, stroked his moustache, then continued in a more gentle tone. "You can't stay by yourself. You're 2 years away from that. I already talked with you about helping to get your house in order. When you're 18 it's yours, assuming Cleo doesn't careen back to town to contest that. But for now, this is how it's gonna go. Waverly has already agreed to tutor you and Rachel to make sure your schooling continues uninterrupted. You'll have a job at the bar with me for some spending money. And you'll have a room too, if you're wanting it."
Billy's brow furrowed. "At Shortys?"
Nedley smiled. "No son, at my house. With me. It's been a while since I raised a teenager but I'm pretty sure it's like riding a bike. What do ya say?"
Billy's eyes filled. He raised his arms as if to hug Nedley before lowering them to wrap around himself. The "really?" that came out of Billy's mouth in a strangled whisper, as if he was afraid to believe this was real.
Nedley blinked rapidly, his own eyes filling. "Aw hell," he muttered, before he reached out and swept Billy into bear hug.
They stayed like that for untold moments, before the rapid separation and look away men had perfected for eons.
"Guess it's settled," Nedley cleared his throat. "We'll drop Rachel off and then go home."
Billy flopped down in his tent that night, letting out a long sigh as he digested all of the information he had learned that day. A lot of it seemed impossible; Nedley wanted to look out for him?
As his mind raced through all the possibilities of a better tomorrow, he sighed and turned off his camp light. It was hard to believe after all the struggles, a new day was here. He thought of Cleo and where she might be right now. Whether she’d ever come back, or even if she’d ever want to hear from him again.
He fought off those intrusive thoughts. For now, he’d let those worries go, and for once, he would try to enjoy the moment instead of worrying about what would happen to him next. And Rachel. It was always a good thing when he thought of Rachel. His thoughts drifted peacefully to the time they'd shared together as his mind began to approach sleep. Billy’s mouth relaxed into a boyish smile as he let sleep overcome him.
The next morning, the kids ensured the SUV was all packed up and the boat hitched for it’s trip back home. Once Nedley was satisfied the boat was safely secured and that they hadn't forgotten anything, he inclined his head towards the vehicle.
“I’ll get us home. You both can sit in the back and relax. Behave.”
Nedley needn’t have worried. Within 30 minutes, both teens were absolutely conked out.
Rachel’s head was using Billy’s shoulder as a pillow, while his head rested atop hers. As the miles of beautiful scenery passed by in a blur, Nedley tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel in a matching rhythm to the yacht rock playing softly on the radio.
Unexpectedly, this trip had rejuvenated him in ways he hadn’t expected. He’d allowed himself to remember the pain of the past but also to leave it there. He’d …made his peace. And now, he was finally doing what he'd wished he could all those years ago - helping a kid who needed him.
Nedley glanced back towards the teens once more, his mind flashing through to all the memories they’d collectively made together that weekend. As he reminisced, one thought repeated over and over in his mind.
He couldn’t wait to do it again.