There is something mentioned in this chapter that has changed from the first chapter (you'll know when you read it - it's in the first paragraph). I will go back and change it later and add a chapter to The Undone and the Divine that explain it further in depth.

The title is Latin for "All that is born, dies".


This chapter is rated M for language and a fight scene.


Chapter Four:

Of all the things Bigby hated most, funerals were ranked high up. He hated the tears and the crying, the dressing-up requirement, the talks and the eulogies. But most of all he hated the fact that someone had died and usually it was because of him. Since June he'd suffered through five funerals, all of which had been his fault. He'd been too slow to stop Vivian and the real Nerissa from dying; he'd stabbed Georgie (although his funeral hadn't been much more than chucking him down the Witching Well); it was his lack of clues and evidence that led to Lily's; and Lawrence...Bigby'd saved him in June from his first suicide...but November brought another. All because the prince thought his wife was dead.

Bigby was sick of funerals.

But yet he still went to Briar's; it was expected of him, the right thing to do. He stood towards the back of the group of Fables gathered, watching over everything. Beauty spoke through a cracking, husky voice. Snow spoke too. And then Briar's body was committed to the Witching Well. Bigby looked away as it happened, hating the lump that rose in his throat. Another one, gone.

The crowd of Fables began to disperse and it parted for Snow. She was dressed in her black blazer and red, snowflaked blouse. Her crimson lips were turned down in a soft frown and she stopped a few feet before him.

"I wanted you to speak," she murmured, her azure eyes searching his face.

"And say what? That it's my fault that she's dead?"

Snow sighed. "Bigby…"

"It's true, Snow. You know it is."

"If I can't blame myself for Lily's death and Fabletown's corruption, you can't blame yourself for every single death."

He turned his head and saw Nerissa leaning against a stone column. She had donned a black dress that hugged her curves and was looking at him with a glare mixed with desire. They had not had a fun night. Suddenly Snow's hand touched his shoulder.

"I mean it, Bigby," she whispered. "I'm afraid that if you keep this up, you'll - "

"I'll what?" He faced her again and didn't even try to keep his tone calm and even. "I'll end up like Briar? Or Lawrence? Or any of the other fucking Fables that've died?"

"Yes."

Bigby sighed, shaking his head. "You know what? I'm done talking about this." And he turned to walk away.

"I'm not." Snow practically appeared in front of him, hands on her hips, and blocked his way. Her beautiful face was drawn tight, angrily. "What the hell is wrong with you today? The last couple days you've been so worried about me and today you're just...well...your normal self."

"I'm mourning."

"No. When you mourn, it's silent. This is different."

"Maybe I'm stressed as hell because another Fable is dead and the only suspect we've got won't fucking talk and I don't even know if he did it at all and now Nerissa and I - " He stopped and shook his head again. "It's been a long few days."

"I know it has." Her voice and face grew gentler again. "But you don't need to take it out on me."

He raised his eyebrow.

"Yes, I know you said the same thing to me about Ilyse, but I-I guess we both need to work on how we handle stress."

"I manage my stress just fine." With that, he brushed past her and headed for the back room of the Woodlands' basement, where Dee had been held for questioning in June; where Charming was being held now. It was empty, just bare bones - the chair where the Tweedle had been strapped to, the metal bed frame against the wall, and the water pipes criss-crossing and sliding along the walls and ceiling. Bigby collapsed onto the bed frame, ignoring its cold hardness, and let out a deep sigh. He knew he was being cruel to Snow and that she didn't deserve it. But it was just so easy to lash out. He'd been doing it all his life...and last night, with Nerissa…

"Do you really have to go to Canada?" she'd asked in the silence following their lovemaking, keeping her soft body from his as if to punish him.

"Yeah." He got up to wash his face.

"I wish you wouldn't."

And then -

"Who were you thinking about tonight?"

He lifted his head, caught his own golden eyes in the mirror. They always turned yellow in his most feral of moments. "What?"

The bed creaked as she climbed off. "I could see it in your eyes."

His thoughts returned to Snow and a sudden rush of guilt spread through his stomach. "I don't know what you're - "

"It was Snow, wasn't it?"

Now, as he rose from the hard metal contraption, he could picture Nerissa's red, furious face, eyes dark and burning.

"I don't want you going with her."

"She's my boss, Nerissa - "

"And you want to fuck her!"

He hadn't responded; he couldn't respond. Now that made him wince. How could he have been so stupid? He should've just agreed with her and shut up. But - fuck. What good would that have done him? None. And now she hated him - "I never wanna see you again!". It was a long time coming, though.

"You've been with me every night for three months and you're still too scared to tell me how you really feel about me. Just tell me, Bigby. What am I to you?"

Once again, he hadn't responded.

The door opened with a loud thunking crreeaakk and Bigby looked up to find...Boy Blue? His young face was pale and he stared at Bigby with wide blue eyes.

"Sheriff, you gotta get out here."

"Why?"

"Bluebeard, that's enough!" Snow shouted from outside.

"Shit." Bigby rushed from the small room into the Witching Well chamber to find Bluebeard shoving a handcuffed Charming to a stone column. With a "whoa, whoa - hey, hey!" he bolted to tear Bluebeard from the prince and pushed him back. Then he faced the two men, the group of Fables silent, and frowned. "What is going on here?"

"You know damn well," Bluebeard seethed. "This fucker killed Briar Rose and you've let him attend her funeral."

"Well, I let you come too, didn't I?"

"But I've not killed Briar Rose."

"Yes, but you have killed every single one of your brides."

Bluebeard frowned deeply, his dark eyes narrowing. "That is neither here nor there, Sheriff. What I'm concerned about is why you seem to continuously fail at your job. Under your watch five innocent Fables have died in the past six months and this time around you have no evidence that this prince - " He sneered the word. " - even committed such a crime."

"His blood was in her apartment."

"And, what, the rest of us are just supposed to take your word for it?"

Bigby didn't respond.

"How convenient."

"You know what, Bluebeard? - "

"We all know how much you loathe Charming because of what he did to your precious Snow."

There came a scoff from somewhere in the room. "Excuse me?"

Bigby turned back to shoot her a look. "Don't, Snow."

"But let's face the facts - you have no conclusive evidence and...Charming is no murderer." A smirk crossed Bluebeard's lips. "He couldn't even kill the dwarves that raped his wife."

Bigby's mind went blank and all he could see was red. He advanced on the other man and felt the wolf in him rise. It blocked out Snow's cry of "Bigby, no!" and he grabbed the open collar of Bluebeard's shirt and pinned him to a column.

"You'd better shut the hell up," he hissed.

"Or what, Sheriff? You'll kill me, in front of all these people?"

"I just might."

"And disappoint your dear Sn - ah!" He winced as Bigby shoved him hard, cutting off his breath. His smirk finally disappeared.

"This is your last warning."

Bluebeard held his hands up in placation. "My a-apologies," he rasped.

Bigby released him. "Fucker," he spat.

And then Bluebeard's fist rammed into his nose. Bigby stumbled back, hearing the other Fables gasp. But they wouldn't stop it; no, they enjoyed a good fight. Suddenly the wolf came to the surface and Bigby forgot all other sounds, all other people. He was only focused on his prey.

He advanced with a growl, baring his teeth. Bluebeard swung his fist; Bigby ducked. He went for Bluebeard's leg with a strong, swift kick and it cracked. The other man went down with a howl, clutching at his broken limb, and glared, seething. That's when the wolf began to push and claw. It longed to come out, to finish Bluebeard and all others who dared challenge it. Suddenly its prey lunged with a pained growl - but he was stopped by a small, white hand on his chest. Bigby too.

"That's enough," Snow snapped, glaring at them both with icy eyes.

The feel of her soft, cold hand calmed the wolf inside and Bigby took deep breaths, panting. His bones ached from the change and he tried not to collapse. Snow pulled her hand from his chest and turned to Bluebeard.

"I don't care who you are," she hissed. "But you will never mention that again. And you will never again undermine my authority or Sheriff Wolf's, especially not in front of the others. Am I clear?"

Bigby doubled over, resting his hands on his knees.

"Miss White…" His deep voice was tight with pain. "You misunderstand me. I - "

"Am I clear?" she demanded, her voice ringing through the silence of the basement.

"Of course, Miss White. My apologies."

Piece of shit.

"And you." She rounded on Bigby, and he straightened up, his heart beginning to pound harder. He wasn't often on the receiving side of a Snow reprimand, but when he was...oh God he hated it. "I will not tolerate that type of behavior from a Fabletown official, let alone the Sheriff. Am I clear?"

He nodded and knew if he was in his true form, his tail would be between his legs, unwagging.

"Good." Now she addressed the other Fables, whose mouths and eyes were still wide. "Now, if any of you have concerns you'd like to address with either myself or Sheriff Wolf, please feel free to do so. But in an orderly, proper fashion."

No one spoke for a moment or two. But then Beast spoke up. "What if Bluebeard is right, and it's not Charming?"

"The investigation is still ongoing," Bigby responded, the ache in his bones softening as he faced his fellow Fables. "Time will tell if - "

"Time?" another demanded. "What about evidence?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Bigby saw Bluebeard smirk.

"Yeah - what evidence do you have against me?" Charming asked. His eye was bruising. "Because it seems you have none."

"We have enough to keep you in custody for now," Bigby snapped. "Any more questions?"

There were none.

So Bigby pushed through the crowd, heading for the elevator. All he wanted to do was get the hell out of Fabletown and get to Canada. He wanted to leave it all behind - Nerissa, Briar, Charming, Bluebeard, his job, even Snow - and lose himself. God, he was done; he'd had enough. Enough of Fables and Fabletown, this damn job...never being good enough. Maybe he'd stay in Canada, find a pack of wolves. Let Fabletown fend for itself.

"Sheriff," Snow called after him, the click click click of her heels echoing on the cement.

He stopped, not bothering to lose his glare. and turned around. He knew his face was still drawn angrily, but he didn't care. Let Snow see - let them I need you to stay," she said.

"I can't. I have to look over case files," he lied.

Snow sighed heavily but nodded. "Take Charming back with you, then."

all see.

She frowned deeply, but said, "You ought to stay."

"I can't. I've got to look over some case files," he lied.

Snow nodded. "Then take Charming back with you."

"'Course, boss," he murmured.

She leaned forward to kiss his cheek, and her lips were soft, brushing his ear. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but they need you, Bigby. I need you."

His angry resolve was crumbling so he pulled away from her quickly and moved to grab Charming to bring him to the back room. He closed the door and dug around in his pocket for the key to the handcuffs; he unlocked them and Charming stretched his hands, his wrists.

"Someone'll be back later with food," Bigby grunted as he turned to leave.

"Wait," Charming said softly. "Thank you. For-for helping me out there."

"I wasn't helping you. I was making sure Bluebeard didn't kill the only evidence I have for this case."

Charming smirked softly. "Thanks anyway."

He didn't respond. He didn't owe anything to Charming, nor did he need to prove anything. And yet… "Was he right?" he grunted. "You didn't get revenge?"

"No. Snow asked me not to. I wanted to, though. Even now, just thinking about it...what they did to her...but she wouldn't let me."

"Would you have, if she hadn't stopped you?"

"Would you?"

"I'm not the one on trial for murder."

The ex-prince chuckled. "Oh God, Bigby. I know you've got this act, but I - "

"You don't know me at all."

"Don't I? I know you care what we all think of you - you won't admit you'd love to rip those dwarves' heads off because I might think you a monster. I know you think you're not good enough - "

Bigby took a step forward, baring his teeth. The other man was not fazed. "I'd shut my damn mouth - "

" - and I know you're in love with Snow - "

" - if I were you."

" - and that's why you wish to God I killed Briar."

Bigby stepped back and let his menacing glare fall.

"But you know I didn't."

"I only know what the evidence has told me and it says, clear as day, that you were there, she stabbed you - "

"Your evidence is incorrect, Bigby. It's wrong. You're wrong."

"Until there's more, you're staying put." He turned to leave again, heading for the door.

"Whoever did this, Bigby, they're not gonna stop. You and I both know - "

He turned his head back. "Is this an admission?"

"No, it's a prediction." Charming sighed. "You know as well as I do this was not random. In this town - no one would dare murder another Fable as long as the Big Bad Wolf is Sheriff. The Crooked Man killed to demonstrate his control, his power. He wanted you and Fabletown to know. And this - it's another message. And yet, you're wasting your time with me instead of finding the actual killer before he kills Beauty or-or Snow."

"You listen to me." Bigby stepped closer. "You're involved in some way, even if someone wiped your memory. I don't care if it wasn't your goddamn hand in her chest - your blood was in her apartment. You're still involved. Got that?"

Charming watched him quietly for a moment, then he murmured, "Sure, Bigby."


It was Charming. He was damn sure of it. The evidence pointed to it - no forced entry meant someone Briar knew and trusted knocked on the door. He'd pulled out a knife, advanced on her - she ran, knocked everything over...but yet, it didn't feel right.

Swineheart had seen this before. Couldn't have been Charming then - back then he was...kissing Snow awake.

Then who, if it wasn't Charming?

"...you wish to God I'd killed Briar…"

But his blood had been there. He'd done it. He had to have done it.

"...you think you're not good enough…"

If it wasn't Charming, then where the hell was the other evidence? Why was there none?

"...you're in love with Snow…"

It was Charming. Wasn't it?

"Whoever did this, they're not gonna stop."

"You're wrong."

"He couldn't even kill the dwarves that raped his wife."

"Charming? Really? Is this some kind of joke?"

With a loud groan Bigby shoved the files from his desk and buried his face in his hands, sighing deeply. The papers hit the ground and then the Security Office went silent.

If it wasn't Charming who the hell was it?

"He could've been framed," he whispered to himself. "Maybe a memory-wipe spell." He sighed again and leaned back in his chair. "But then...who would want to kill Briar?"

There was a knock on the door and it opened. Snow stood there, still in her black blazer and skirt, a soft, curious look on her face as she looked at the papers. Bigby couldn't pretend he didn't feel the tension rising in the air.

"Is everything, er, okay?" she asked softly.

He nodded, taking a cigarette from the pack by the ashtray. He wouldn't tell her anything Charming said. Not yet.

"Mayor Cole said you ought to have a deputy," Snow said suddenly.

"When was this?" He lit the cigarette between his lips.

"Yesterday, after he found out about...your suspect."

"When was I gonna hear about this?"

"As soon as we found someone."

Bigby took a drag, letting the smoke curl in the air above him. "I see. And who'd you find?"

Snow dropped her gaze. "Cole chose him before today - it wasn't my fault. I-I wanted - "

A new figure emerged in the doorway; a tall, hulking man with a smirk and a blue-tinted beard. "Hello, Bigby," Bluebeard drawled.


Damn Bluebeard ;)

Just real quick - if anything is confusing it's probably meant to be that way! :D

See ya 'round.