Bigby found himself lying on the floor panting heavily after changing into his human form again, the adrenaline was still rushing through him so he never noticed the numerous wounds all over his body. He looked around and seen the pieces of Bloody Mary and her duplicates lying scattered around and thought back to the fight…
It has seemed like he had met his match. That this time, the big, bad wolf was going to lose as the duplicates held him down and began to tear at his flesh and then he heard it.
Red screaming in pain.
After that, he felt himself fly into a rage and knew that for the first time in almost a hundred years – he was changing into the big, bad wolf that was once feared throughout the homelands. It all became a blur after that, his mind set on one thing – killing Bloody Mary once and for all. Using his teeth, claws or even his body at one point he destroyed most of them before doing what he was good at.
Huffing and puffing.
Groaning at the sudden pain in his head, he wiped his mouth and realized that there was blood around it. Looking around, he seen his clothes to one side and had been glad when he quickly shed them before changing into his wolf form. It wouldn't be a nice sight fighting the Crooked Man in the nude.
As he dressed quickly, he suddenly remembered that Red had been involved in the fight and he anxiously looked around while buttoning his shirt and felt his heart stop when he seen her almost lifeless figure lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood.
"Red…" he whispered and ran over to her, falling to his knees at her side. Her face was incredibly pale and only her lips had any colour, the blood was still oozing from her wound and she was covered in the stuff – all of it hers, he realized with a sickening lurch.
Giving her a hard shake, he felt the fear hit him when she didn't respond and her head lolled back. "Red, wake up!" he hissed and shook her again but to no avail, "Fucking wake up!"
Lying her back down, he began to press down on her chest repeatedly, taking care not to press too hard, before quickly putting his mouth to hers and giving her CPR. "Don't you die on me, Red!" he said desperately, "Don't you fucking die!"
Bigby didn't know how long he did this, it felt like hours before he stopped and looked down at her heartbroken. "This is all my fault," he muttered, repeatedly punching the floor beside her hard and not caring when his knuckles began to bleed, "all my fucking fault!"
He stopped punching the floor and simply gazed at Red's still features, she had always been a beautiful young woman. He remembered seeing her for the first time in Fabletown and feeling surprised at how grown up she was, she was no longer the terrified young girl that he met in her Grams' house but instead a young woman. Believing that she would want nothing to do with him, he had been surprised when she said 'hello' one morning and asked him how he was liking his new role as Sheriff. After that, they had started to greet one another in passing and even sometimes stopping to talk. The day she left, he had found himself missing her…if someone had told him she would be coming back with wolf blood inside of her, he would have laughed in their faces and told them to stop drinking.
Sighing, Bigby was about to stand up and take his grief out on the Crooked Man when he seen something that made him stop dead: Red's hand twitched a little and he quickly leant over her and began to do CPR one more time.
This time he felt her body jerk violently and he leaned back and felt relief when she coughed weakly and slowly opened her eyes, "Bigby…?" she whispered faintly, "…you're alive?"
"I should be saying that to you," he said softly, smoothing back her hair from her face before meeting her tired eyes, "you really scared the shit out of me there."
Red tried to smile but winced in pain, "Bloody Mary…felt like she-like she ripped me apart," she glanced down at her stomach and let out a gasp of pain when she tried to move, "it fucking hurts!"
"Just stay still," Bigby said firmly, grabbing a rag that was close by and holding it over her wound, "you've lost a lot of blood and you're pretty weak right now."
She looked up at him as he tenderly looked her over for more wounds, "I'm glad…I'm glad you're still here…" she said softly, "I don't know how I would….if you'd…" she stopped talking and closed her eyes, a tear trickling out from under the lid, "I was really scared I was gonna die…" she admitted.
"It's gonna be okay, Red," Bigby said to her reassuringly, and glanced up to a small office on the second floor, his eyes narrowing on the Crooked Man who was watching through the window, "I'm gonna finish this."
As he went to stand up, Red gripped his shirt and gave him a scared look, "Don't leave me," she begged and tried to sit up, "I can-I can come with you…"
Bigby slowly got her to sit up against the wall but shook his head, "I nearly lost you there," he said quietly "and I'm not going through it again, I'll be back and then we're leaving here. Together."
Red looked at him for several moments before nodding slowly, "I'll hold you to that," she said weakly.
Bigby entered the office and felt on edge as he slowly looked around for the Crooked Man, he seen him standing by the window looking out and quietly closed the door behind him. After all these months, all these fights and questions – it was coming to an end, this was the final hurdle.
"That was very heroic of you, I must say," The Crooked Man spoke calmly as if they were two friends having a chat, "you must care deeply for Miss Hood, the look on your face when you thought she had perished was tragic. I feel slightly responsible for her injuries."
At the mention of Red, Bigby took a step towards him threateningly, "Give me one good reason not to rip you apart right now!" he snarled making the other man back away slightly in fear, "For everything you've put us through!"
"Now, now, Sheriff," the Crooked Man quickly brought out a gun and aimed it at Bigby's chest, "this gun holds six rounds of specially designed silver bullets. Now, I may not be the best shot… but I can guarantee that at least one bolt will meet it's mark and you'll find yourself rolling on the floor-"
Bigby made a lunge for him but the Crooked Man fired the gun and it flew by his ear hitting the wall behind him and making him stop, glaring at each other, the two men tensed up. "I won't miss next time!" he snapped, keeping the gun aimed at Bigby's head, "before you do anything with me, I thought I should point out a few things…"
"Oh is this the part where you try to shift the blame onto others like before?" Bigby asked sarcastically, his eyes narrowing on the Crooked Man, "I can't wait to hear this."
He simply smiled coldly at Bigby, "Miss White? She wants you to bring me back to the Woodlands, doesn't she? Which is good because that is also what I want," he paused before raising an eyebrow "you plan to do what she says, don't you?"
Bigby remembered the conversation with Snow vaguely but at this very moment in time, he didn't fancy following her orders. "Snow's not here," he said in a dangerously soft voice, "you're dealing with me now."
"That may be true," the Crooked Man said, backing up more as Bigby slowly advanced upon him, "but I'd advise against defying your new boss. At least for the time being. You will bring me back alive."
When Bigby didn't answer and instead deepened his glare, the Crooked Man sighed loudly, "Look, all I ask for is a chance to speak for myself in front of the community. And I'm sure Miss White would agree that I should be given a fair trial."
"He's right…" a weakened voice could be heard from behind Bigby and he turned to see an exhausted looking Red in the doorway, "you know what Snow's like…plus everyone else will want to put their verdict in."
Bigby gave her a worried look, especially when the Crooked Man was holding a gun full of silver bullets, "You should have stayed downstairs," he said angrily, "you're still weak and it isn't…safe up here."
"Well, I'm here now," she grimaced and came to stand beside him, slightly swaying on the spot, "so no point in complaining about it."
Putting an arm around her waist to support her, Bigby turned back to the Crooked Man and raised an eyebrow, "The whole town will be calling for your execution," he said suspiciously "why would you want me to bring you back there?"
"Why don't you let me worry about that?" The Crooked Man seemed to sense Bigby's scepticism "Look, there's no reason for us to be at each other's throats here."
Snorting, Bigby discreetly moved Red a little more behind him, not trusting the crooked basterd at all, "That's funny…coming from the guy pointing a gun at my head."
"This is just a…precaution," the other Fable replied "I'm sure you both understand."
Red's breathing was shallow and she still sounded weak but there was no denying the sarcasm in her voice, "And I'm sure you can understand why we want to hurt you severely," she muttered, leaning against Bigby a little more, "you surely can't be that oblivious…"
"I'm no murderer, Miss Hood," the Crooked Man said firmly, his gaze shifting onto her, "I didn't kill those women…and I think you know that. All I'm asking for is a chance…a chance to explain my side of the story."
Bigby was quiet before he shook his head, "If you're not a killer…then what are you?" he asked.
"A business man. Certainly not a killer."
Red sighed, "For fuck's sake, you are one hell of a delusional, crooked piece of shit if you believe that," she said faintly, "just so you know – we're not buying it."
"There's still a lot you have to answer for," Bigby said, agreeing with Red, "You're still the instigator in this whole mess."
The Crooked Man shrugged, "And I will answer for my crimes," he said honestly "as long as you agree to my terms. Because I'm not saying another word until I am brought before the community."
"Your terms?" Red asked, glaring at him "I don't really think you're in a position to be demanding terms."
Ignoring her, the Crooked Man turned to Bigby with a curious look on his face "What do you really care about here, Sheriff?" he asked, his eyes narrowing onto Bigby, "Where this case is concerned, I mean, I think by now we are all aware of your feelings regarding Miss Hood," he raised an eyebrow, "Do you really want to learn the truth…or do you just want to look like the hero? Because those are two very different things."
Bigby could feel Red's eyes on his but he kept his focus on the Crooked Man, "This is about justice…I'm the Sheriff. I have to do what's right. Too many people were murdered, I wasn't just going to let that go unpunished."
"And you know Georgie did it," he said and caught the look Red and Bigby shared and chuckled quietly, "he's dead…isn't he?" he asked and then smiled "My point being: the killer has been dealt with. You've won."
Bigby felt anger as the Crooked Man's smile turned into a smirk, "You really think I'm that stupid?" he asked.
"I understand you have…an obligation…to bring me in, but you can brighten up a little. It's over."
"Bigby…what are we gonna do?" Red asked quietly, her hand tightening on his arm a little.
Thinking carefully, Bigby sighed and then reluctantly looked at the Crooked Man, "Alright, let's go. Hand over the gun."
"I think I'd rather hold onto it, if you don't mind-" he let out a shout of surprise when Bigby leaned over and quickly grabbed it out of his hands, leaving him utterly defenceless, when they both didn't rush towards him and begin to tear and claw at him, the Crooked Man relaxed a little and smiled "I'm sure Miss White will be pleased…such a reliable pup, the both of you."
Before Bigby could do anything, Red let out a growl and punched the Crooked Man hard on the jaw making him fall to the ground hard. "Don't fucking test me, Crooked Man," she whispered warningly, "Bigby might listen to Snow White but I certainly don't."
"You're under arrest," Bigby said slowly, trying not to smile as the Crooked Man looked warily at Red as he cuffed him, "You will be given a trial in front of your peers and your punishment will follow."
