First new story in ages! This has a pretty loose timeline. Sometime after they get new uniforms and probably before Nedley retires.

Nicole rubbed her eyes in exasperation. A refreshing breeze ruffled her loose hair. This was going to be a very long day and she'd only clocked in half an hour ago. The coffee in her hand probably wasn't going to be enough. It was a warm Saturday morning and she was supposed to have the day off, but a couple of weeks ago someone from Purgatory High had contacted her and asked for help. They had a few high school students who'd racked up a few minor offenses and wanted to find a more educational punishment than suspension. They decided that the best way to do that was to push them off onto Nicole for the day. They said it didn't matter what she did with them as long as the kids didn't enjoy it.

A gold minivan pulled over to the side of the road where Nicole had told the school counselor to meet her. It wasn't the ride she was expecting but who was she to judge. Purgatory's cruisers needed an update as badly as her uniform had. She absently ran her hands down her sides, feeling the breathable material that Nedley had finally approved after months of nagging.

Six young teenagers piled out once the doors opened, all wearing t-shirts and jeans. Nicole was pleased to see that they had heeded her advice to wear long pants and close-toed shoes. A short, pleasant-looking woman climbed out of the driver's seat. "Hi," she stuck out her hand. "I'm Mrs. Marshal, and these are your recruits for the day." There were four boys and two girls. Every single one of them looked sullen and bored.

"More like the weekend," Nicole corrected, shaking Marshal's hand. A chorus of groans greeting her statement. "This could take a while. Unless they work fast."

"That's not fair," one of the boys complained. He was one of the tallest in the group, with short brown hair and a dark green hoodie over his shirt. "You said one day!"

Marshal shushed him. "It's however long Officer Haught says it'll be, Nathan. It's not her fault you decided to deface public property."

"Officer… Hot? Are you serious?" The girl with long hair scoffed.

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Yup, Nicole Haught. Keep it up and you'll all have to call me Officer." Marshal had warned her to come across hard at first or they'd never respect her. Then she'd said not to come across too hard or they'd just make fun of her. It was frustrating, especially since Nicole had never had good luck with kids. Marshal had also told her they all had good hearts and just needed the right guidance to get back on track. Clearly, she hoped Nicole would be able to get the ball rolling.

"So," Marshal clapped her hands. "I'll see you all at six!"

"Six?!" One of the other boys yelled. "That's ten hours from now!"

Marshal grinned cheekily. "Maybe next time you'll use your art skills for something more constructive."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll call you if we need you to pick them up sooner," Nicole said.

The counselor nodded. "Toodles!" She said as she got back in her van and waved through the window before driving off.

Nicole rested her hands on her belt as she surveyed the kids in front of her. None of them stood out and most had dark hair. She was going to have trouble with names. Nathan was the only one wearing a jacket, so that helped. She pointed at him first. "Okay, you're Nathan, got that one. What about the rest of you?" Eli was noticeably the tallest. Madison had short hair and was the only blonde, so that would be easy to remember as well. The other girl was named Cynthia. That left the other two boys, Caleb and Dylan. Nicole had no doubt she would be confusing that pair all day.

"What are you gonna make us do?" Eli asked.

"Thank you for asking." Nicole opened the back door of her cruiser. "The annual woodland survey for this area is coming up, so I volunteered us all to draw up the initial map for the surrounded few acres." Six jaws hit the floor. She hurried on before they could form objections. "I know, I know, how could we, I'm so sadistic, that'll take forever. So, we should get started." In the back seat of her car, Nicole had packed everything they would need. Terrain maps of the area, guides for the different types of trees they would most likely encounter, grids to mark said trees, compasses, pens, and clipboards. She had also offered to provide lunch for the group as a gesture of goodwill to the school (she really wanted to make a good impression). Their lunches were packed in a cooler in the trunk along with many water bottles. It wasn't too hot but they would outside for quite a while and she didn't want to take chances.

Once everyone had gotten a set of supplies, Nicole divided them into pairs. "Okay, guys, the idea is that I should be able to see you at all times but if we get separated, make sure you stay with your buddy. Questions?" They were all silently sulking. She took that as a no and explained how to use everything. She left the remains of her coffee in her car and made sure to lock it once they were ready. She looked over the unwilling group one more time before leading them off the road toward the tree line.

Nicole had to admit that she was impressed with the kids' efforts. She could hear them all complaining about both her and their task when they thought she wasn't listening but it was nothing too awful. She made sure to check in with each pair of students while filling out her own share of the survey. Just because this was a punishment didn't mean she wasn't going to help. Besides, she would've been bored out of her mind otherwise.

After they had spent a couple of hours marking down trees, Nicole called the kids together. "Good job, everyone. Doing great. I think we got a lot done. I think it's time for an early lunch. Anybody up for subs? Any takers?"

"You're weird," Nathan stated.

Nicole's mouth opened as she sputtered indignantly. "Well, you're… short!" She retorted. Brilliant response.

"How old are you?" Madison said as they all sniggered at her.

"Y'know what, time to go," Nicole said. She herded them all back to her cruiser, trying not to listen to them make fun of her. It was all pretty harmless, anyway. She knew they were just lashing out at the nearest authority figure to make themselves feel better. It's what she used to do. The students were all a lot happier once they made it back and she pulled the cooler out of her trunk. Nicole had splurged on subs from the most popular local deli, which seemed to placate the starving devils. She also pulled out a couple of bags of potato chips and a two-liter of Coke. Surprisingly, no one complained about the selection of subs. They must've been too hungry to care.

"Don't go telling anyone I treated you," Nicole mumbled through a mouthful of bread and chicken. She answered their questioning looks with pints of ice cream from the cooler. "I did NOT give you these."

Nathan stuffed the rest of his food in his face and gratefully took a pint. "Why'd you bring them, then?"

"I didn't," Nicole corrected pointedly. "And if I had, it definitely wouldn't be a bribe."

"You want us to like you," Dylan teased. She thought it was Dylan.

Nicole waved him off. "Whatever," she made a face at them.

It only took the kids a few minutes to polish off all the ice cream. They groaned when Nicole stood up but they had given them more than long enough. A twenty-minute walk later, they were back in the woods where they had left off. She glanced at her watch. Half-past noon. This was going to be a very long day. She had packed several extra water bottles in her backpack for when the sun reached its peak. A stick snapped in the distance, catching Nicole's attention. She could see all her kids and none of them were in that direction. Nicole scanned her surroundings carefully, but the trees were dense enough to limit her line of sight to maybe fifty feet.

Laughter pulled her out of her thoughts. The boys had found just enough mud to start a fight and Madison was finding it hilarious. Cynthia was pretending like she wasn't nailing the boys when they weren't looking.

"That's not-" Nicole stopped as she felt something slip into her pocket. She whipped around and grabbed the small wrist of whoever was behind her. Nathan. She hadn't even noticed he wasn't part of the mud fight. "Um. What do you think you're doing?" She looked at her phone in his hand.

"Uh, nothing," Nathan grinned mischievously.

Nicole snatched her phone back and held it up between them. "This is not recess," she growled, thoroughly irritated. "We're-"

This time Nicole was interrupted by a gunshot. Her phone shattered in her hand, stinging her face with tiny shards of shrapnel. She reacted on instinct and tackled Nathan to the ground. "Stay down!" She hissed. She wished she could flatten herself on the ground too, but she had five more students to protect. She got back to her feet quickly but stayed in a low crouch, gun drawn. She had no idea where the shot had come from or if it had been intended to kill. The kids were all shrieking and trying to hide. At least they were close together. "Guys, this way!" She stage-whispered in their direction. Caleb and Cynthia perked their heads up, but the other two seemed not to have heard her. Nicole swore under her breath and dragged Nathan to his feet. It would be easier to come to them.

The woods were undisturbed as Nicole pulled Nathan toward the other students. She scanned the trees, but there was nothing. Not even a second shot. Her kids had thankfully chosen to fling themselves on the ground instead of fleeing. "Is anyone hurt?" She whispered once she was close. She looked around at the six of them. They shook their heads, shaken but unharmed. "Back to the cruiser," she commanded. No one argued.

The unseen shooter had a problem with her plan, though. As Nicole crept in the direction of her car, a bullet embedded itself in the dirt mere inches from her feet. This time, she could tell which way it had come from and shoved her kids in the opposite direction. "Go, go, go!" She yelled. "Stay low!" All six of them ducked down as soon as she said it. Nicole noted wryly that they were much better at listening to her now. What a shocker.

Nicole sprinted after them, branches ripping at her hair until she spotted a large fallen tree. She grabbed the shirts of the two boys in front to get their attention and pushed them toward it. The others saw her and they all seemed to understand. Once they were all hidden behind the rotting bark, Nicole ducked down with them. She held a finger up to her lips as they all panted heavily. She slowly crawled to the other end of the tree and peeked around the check the woods. Her kids waved frantically at her to come back but none of them were willing to make a noise. Nicole caught a glimpse of a shadow pass between two trees in the distance. She turned back to the others. "I think there's only one of them," she whispered. "Can you guys just stay hidden for a minute? I'm gonna check it out."

Madison let out a terrified scream. Nicole didn't have time to ask what was wrong before something heavy slammed into the back of her head.

Nathan stared in horror as Eli tried to push them all back. A tall, beefy dude in dirty clothes had practically materialized out of thin air and smacked Officer Nicole in the head. She dropped like a sack of potatoes. He grinned at Nathan and his friends and took a step toward them as Caleb started to cry. Nicole moaned, drawing the man's attention back to her. "Didn't I hit you hard enough, bitch?" He said angrily. He kicked her in the stomach hard enough to make her cry out and curl in on herself. His second kick connected with her face. Nathan leaped to his feet as the man wound up for a third kick. Nicole's head turned just enough for her to make eye contact with him, pinning him in place. Blood streamed from her nose and her eyes were glassy but he could tell she wanted him to stay back.

The man kicked her in the gut again, but this time she caught his foot. "RUN!" She yelled hoarsely. She twisted violently, taking the man to the ground with a grunt. Eli grabbed Nathan's arm and pulled him with as they fled. He didn't know where they were going but anywhere was better than here. He resisted the urge to look back. He knew he would trip or crash if he did.

All too soon, the sound of Nicole's struggle faded in the distance. Madison was at the front of the pack and came to a stop as they broke into a small clearing, gasping for air. "What do we do?" She asked.

"We need to get to her car," Dylan answered.

"We need to help her!" Eli said.

A third gunshot split the air, followed by the most blood-curdling scream Nathan had ever heard. He glanced at the others but none of them could speak, either. Was that… Nicole? He couldn't imagine the awkward, smiley cop making a noise like that. "What do we do?" He whispered, on the verge of tears himself.

"You die."

Nathan spun on his heel only seconds ahead of everyone else. The dirty man was quickly closing the distance between them. He could see the bright red color of fresh blood splattered on his pants. Nicole's blood. It had to be. "Run!" Nathan yelled, echoing Nicole's command from before. He pushed his friends frantically as they seemed to be frozen.

"Uh, uh," the man said in a singsong voice. He raised his gun. "Nobody moves until I decide what to do with you. What are so many fresh young bodies doing this far into the forest?"

"Leave us alone," Cynthia said. She was trying to sound brave but her voice was shaking.

"Nah, thanks for asking. Obviously, I'm gonna kill you. But which one first? You all look like you could scream for days. Any volunteers?" He was laughing as he mocked them. They were all crying now. Nathan could feel the hot tears falling down his cheeks. He didn't want to die here. He swore to himself that he would never tag another wall again if he got out of this. He would never break any law ever again. He just wanted to go home and forget this had ever happened.

As the man stepped forward, Nicole shot out of the woods and tackled him with an angry shriek. "Don't touch them!" She landed on top and began slamming her fists into his face. Her hair was matted with mud and sweat, blood caked her clothes, and she was the most beautiful person Nathan had ever seen. She didn't hold back as she pummeled the man's face. He growled and grabbed her wrists, flipping them both over. Nicole, unwilling to lose her advantage, rolled them again. She jerked her arms out of his grasp as they broke apart. Evil dude staggered to his feet while she struggled to catch her breath on her hands and knees.

"Nicole, you're alive!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Seriously? Can't get out of community service that easy," she retorted without taking her eyes off her attacker.

"He's coming!" Madison yelled.

Sure enough, the guy he was officially christening 'Dick' was rushing toward them. Something was wrong, though. Nicole wasn't getting to her feet. Now that he was looking at her, he noticed she was covered in too much blood to attribute to her nose alone. He couldn't see where it was coming from, though. She rolled out of the way just as Dick reached her and popped up behind him in a crouch. She lunged at him before he could turn around and locked her arms around his neck in a chokehold. Nathan and his friends cheered her on, certain she had him. Dick didn't look defeated, though. He smirked at Nathan before slamming his fist down on Nicole's right thigh. She screamed in pain and released her hold. She clamped her hands around her upper leg where fresh blood was oozing between her fingers. Dick turned to face her and pulled out a switchblade. "Gonna give me a good time, Red?" He asked.

Nicole growled at him in response and raised her fists in a fighting stance. Dick swiped at her a few times, but she back peddled out of reach. They circled each other, searching for an advantage. Dick tossed his blade to his other hand and charged. Nicole waited until he reached her and latched onto his wrists. She fell backward, dragging him down with her, kicking her good leg into his stomach to propel him over her head. He landed with a heavy thud and lost his grip on the knife. Nicole was now bleeding from a gash on her arm. She tried to get to her feet but her leg was starting to fail her. Dick recovered faster and grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling her to her feet. She clawed at his hands but it had no effect. He push-kicked her in the chest before she could dodge him. She flew back several feet and crashed to the ground, letting out a gasp as she made contact.

Dick made a huge show of strolling up to the downed cop. She shoved herself onto her side, coughing, trying to regain control of her breathing. He rolled her onto her back with his foot. "Bet an Earp would've put up more of a fight," he sneered. "Pathetic." He raised his boot, preparing to slam it down on her head. Nathan couldn't believe his eyes. Nicole had been doing so well, how could she lose after all that? He willed his feet to move, to help, but his body refused to cooperate.

Nicole waited until the last second before throwing herself to the side, where Dick's leg was waiting. She wrapped around his leg and took him to the ground again. The idiot had fallen for the same trick twice. Nicole scrambled on top of him and resumed her assault on his face. This time he wrapped his giant hands around her throat. She didn't even try to free herself and instead fumbled in the grass until her hand closed around something Nathan couldn't see. She raised it above her head and brought it crashing down. Dick let out a demonic scream that made Nathan's skin crawl. Nicole repeatedly smashed his face with the rock until he finally relinquished his grip on her neck.

It looked like the fight was over for good, now. Nicole rolled off of Dick and sat back on her butt. Nathan and his friends cautiously approached her. "Is he dead?" Cynthia asked fearfully.

"No." Nicole's eyes hardened. She reached out and pulled her gun out of his belt. Nathan didn't know how or when he'd gotten hold of it. She shot him twice in the chest. The noise was unbelievably loud, making all of them jump as it went off without warning.

"Is that even legal?" Dylan asked. He sounded nearly hysterical.

Nicole tried and failed to get back to her feet. "One, self-defense. Two, I doubt he'll die. Three, we need to leave before he gets up."

"There's no way he's getting up from that."

"You wanna stay and test that theory?"

It was obvious that none of them did. Nicole motioned for them to help her up. Eli and Nathan each pulled an arm over their shoulders as they were the tallest. It took a very long time to walk to the edge of the forest. Thankfully, Nicole had somehow kept track of where they were. It took over twice as long as it should've because of her battered body. She fainted twice, and the second time it took them several minutes to revive her. At least there were no signs of pursuit.

As they reached the car, Nicole detached herself from the boys but kept a hand on Eli's shoulder for balance. She swayed back and forth but managed to stand on her own. She patted her pockets until she found her keys. "You're all too young to drive, aren't you?" She asked. They all nodded. None of them were older than fifteen. "Alright, me it is. We don't have time to wait for help." Nathan looked at his watch for the first time since they'd eaten lunch. It was barely even three. It felt impossible that so little time had passed. They helped Nicole climb gingerly into the driver's seat but she still had to stifle her pained groans. "I'm going to pretend my cruiser has six extra seats," she stated. They took the hint and piled in, half of them doubling up.

"This is Officer Haught, requesting assistance. Heading west on County Road N. Fleeing a hostile shooter. One seriously injured." It only took a moment for some lackey to answer that a deputy would be dispatched immediately. "Thanks. We'll get as close as we can to town." She hung up the radio and put the car into drive.