Bullfinch Street, Manhattan, New York City, 2004.
It had been an entire year since the Sharp incident and throughout that time, I had discovered that he was found murdered in Central Park and the case had gone cold due to a lack of evidence. I knew that Bluebeard was responsible but I couldn't do anything about it since I was unable to find anything that proved he was the killer, so the only thing I felt was frustration and guilt that Sharp was dead and that he would never get justice for his death. As for the trial in the Farm, Dun and Posey were found guilty and were sentenced to death by beheading due to their crimes against the Fabletown Government and attempted murder of a police officer. For Weyland, he quit being the Farm's owner and moved to the city while Rose was given a second chance by becoming the Farm's new owner for saving Snow's life. Finally, Casey and I were still very much in love and were considering getting married and having kits, since I was thinking about wanting to be a father again.
"Are you sure you're ready to do this, Snow?" Bigby asked as we were heading to a restaurant.
"You'd said you would stop babying me the day I could walk three times up and down Bullfinch Street under my own power without using the wheelchair. Well, come hell or high water, this is that day, and I'm damn well going to hold you to your promise," Snow declared while Casey and I laughed quietly in amusement.
"Tired of his company so soon?" I quipped with a wolfish grin, causing Snow to roll her eyes.
"Company is one thing, Mr. Pierce, but months of constant hovering by Mr. Wolf is something else entirely. I want things back to normal, with you and Mr. Wolf in your office and me in mine," Snow grumbled.
"Easy enough for you to say, with an office the size of a...who knows how big it actually is? Most of the branching passages still haven't been explored yet," Bigby stated while puffing on his smoke.
"We'll get to it someday," Snow said.
"Anyway, the Sheriff and I are stuck in that box that makes a closet look spacious," I remarked dryly, causing Casey to chuckle in amusement.
"Poor Bigby and Nate. You two can still visit me once a week for our regular security briefings. Speaking of which, why don't you two fill me in now as long as I'm stuck doing my laps," Snow suggested.
"Well, there's not much to report. None of the Fables living abroad in the wide world seem to be acting up from what we can tell," Bigby informed Snow.
"This according to your so-called "Tourists"?" Snow inquired.
"Yes Ma'am, but we need to remind you that with only three field agents covering the entire Mundy world, they can only do so much," I informed her.
"Forget it, Nate. We are not going to turn this into another argument about your operating budgets," Snow stated which prompted me to raise my hands in surrender.
"Just voicing my concerns, Ma'am. We can only do so much with only three operatives, so I just wanted to give my opinion on the matter," I reasoned.
"Let's change the subject. How are things going at the Farm?" Snow asked.
"Things appeared to have returned to normal, more or less. Your sister seems to be doing a half-decent job of running it, so Rose has basically blossomed now that she's no longer in your shadow," Bigby remarked as we all went inside the Yellow Brick restaurant, taking our seats and ordering our meals.
"Can either of you keep the editorializing to a minimum, please?" Snow suggested as the waiter handed us our menus.
"Yes, Ma'am. As for Goldilocks, she's still on the run and the trail has gone completely cold now. Things are also secure here on the homefront, except..." I trailed off while I sipped my water.
"Yes? What is it?" Snow encouraged gently.
"We're not sure this falls under the umbrella of "official business", or if it only qualifies as gossip, but..." Bigby said and Snow looked annoyed at the constant stalling.
"Oh for God's sake, you two. Will you just get to it?" Snow grumbled irritably.
"Sorry...anyway, Prince Charming has moved in with wife number three Briar Rose, but only in one of her guestrooms, according to what we heard from our sources," I notified her.
"No, our Sleeping Beauty was wife number two. First me, then Briar, then Cinderella," Snow clarified and I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment.
"Sorry...my mistake. In any case, he seems to have taken up with her again...probably looking to steal from her bank account," I muttered the last part dryly.
"Yes, that does sound like him. It's none of my concern as long as it keeps him far away from me. If she can put up with him, then more power to both of them," Snow huffed.
"That's a good attitude to have, keeping yourself clear of any further entanglements with that pompous dickhead. Which of course keeps you free to receive gentlemen of better character, although with less refinement than you're used to," Bigby remarked with a wolfish grin.
"Oh my God, will you just drop it already? How many times do I have to explain it to you that I'm not interested? The cupboard is bare, no bone for the old dog," Snow groaned in exasperation, rolling her eyes.
"I don't know Princess, but keep trying until you come up with a way that actually convinces me," Bigby teased and Snow whipped her head at me with a glare.
"Did you put him up to this?" Snow accused, causing me to lean back at the intense look.
"Whoa, why the hell are you accusing me? I didn't know he was planning this, so how was I supposed to know?" I stated defensively while holding my hands up.
"He's your son, so you should know what he's planning," Snow retorted.
"Snow...just because he's my son, doesn't mean I'm with him 24/7. Um, Casey, a little help?" I pleaded as I looked at my mate.
"This is between you and her, so leave me out of it," Casey replied, looking uncomfortable at being put in the spotlight.
"Goddamnit," I thought as Snow kept sending me a glare.
After the scene in the restaurant, we finished up our food and headed back home just as it was getting dark. Casey and I headed to our apartment. Soon after we entered, we went to the bedroom. My uniform disappeared and Casey took her clothes off before we climbed into bed.
"Well...that was bloody interesting," Casey remarked as we laid down and held each other close.
"I know it's rude to talk about someone behind their back, but how does Snow expect me to know what goes on inside Bigby's head? It's ridiculous," I muttered and Casey kissed me.
"Aww, is my little puppy pouting? How adorable," Casey teased with a sly grin, causing me to shoot her an unamused expression.
"Oh God, please don't call me that since it's demeaning...sometimes I wonder if your brother wasn't a bad influence on you before we met," I grumbled just as Casey rolled us around so that she was on top of me.
"Well, you don't need to worry since it's almost time...you remember what we talked about? About what season it is?" Casey inquired with a foxy grin.
"Yeah...it's spring which means that mating season is coming very soon," I murmured as she grinded on my cock and moaned slightly.
"Mmm...yes...I can't wait for you to see just how wild I can be when mating season happens, and I also can't wait until the time comes for us to have kits," Casey whispered as she leaned down and locked lips with me.
We kept kissing while I caressed Casey's slender torso, enjoying the moment. I was eager for mating season, but we stopped kissing and pulled the blankets over us so we could get some sleep. I closed my eyes and drifted off for an unknown amount of time, but was suddenly awakened when I heard somebody knocking on the door.
"Uuuugghh...who is it?!" I called out groggily which also woke up Casey.
"Nate? What the bloody hell are you shouting about?" Casey groaned as we sat up.
"Somebody's knocking on the door...hold on, let me go see who it is," I muttered as I got out of bed and my uniform appeared on me.
I headed to the door and opened it, feeling surprised and a little irritated when I saw Bigby and Snow standing in the hallway with tired expressions.
"Bigby? Snow? God, what time is it..." I trailed off as I looked at my watch and added, "ugh...it's almost daylight. Why are you two waking me up at this hour?"
"Sorry about this Deputy, but Bluebeard needs to see us for an urgent matter...he also wanted you to bring Casey along as well, God knows why," Bigby muttered just as a fully dressed Casey approached.
"Nate? What's going on?" Casey questioned in confusion.
"Apparently his 'Royal Highness' Bluebeard needs us for something...and he wants you to be there as well," I grumbled.
"What? Why does that bloody arsehole need us this early in the morning?" Casey asked with a sour expression.
"Who the hell knows...let's just get this over with so that we can go back to bed," I stated as we left the apartment, following Bigby and Snow.
"I don't care if that prick is this community's benefactor...this better be important or I'm going to have words with that asshole for waking us up and wasting our time," I thought in displeasure as we all arrived at Bluebeard's office.
We went inside to see Bluebeard standing next to his desk with the same smug grin I always hated, looking at us and nodding once in greeting.
"Ah, I'm glad you all are here so let's get started," Bluebeard said gleefully, which gave me a bad feeling.
"Okay, we're here...now will you tell us what's so important that you had to drag us all out of bed long before normal business hours?" Snow inquired while Bigby lit up a smoke.
"You'll be glad I did, Miss White. Look at this," Bluebeard said as he showed us a small bottle with a cork.
"Alright, we'll bite...what the hell is that?" Bigby inquired suspiciously.
"Something Jack tried to sell me last night at the Branstock. He claims it's highly magical and he can supply a case of them," Bluebeard explained.
"That is a clear violation of the requirement to turn in all significant magical artifacts for communal ownership and safe storage in the Business Office," Snow stated, but I wasn't paying attention since this whole thing screamed danger to me and I didn't know why.
"Well, wait until you see what it does," Bluebeard said and my eyes widened in realization when he was about to open the bottle.
"Shit! It's a trap!" I tried to warn, but it was too late.
Bluebeard opened the bottle and a green cloud hit Casey, Snow, Bigby, and I before anyone could react...then it all went fuzzy and I felt confused and disoriented, standing in front of Bluebeard with a blank stare.
"All better now? Listen up then, because here are your orders for the next few days..." Bluebeard started to say and we all nodded.
"And remember...if by chance you all manage to survive, everything is Jack's fault," Bluebeard finished instructing as we all left the office and went our separate ways.
It was then that I felt lucid again and I shook my head while trying to figure out what had happened.
"Nate? Are you okay?" Casey asked in concern as she rested a hand on my arm.
"Yeah...I'm fine...what were we doing again? I've seem to have forgotten why we got out of bed in the first place," I stated as we were heading back to our apartment.
"We were planning on taking a vacation so we went to see Snow about it," Casey clarified.
"That's right, we were just talking to Snow about wanting to get away from the city to take a vacation," I muttered, but something didn't seem right about what I just said.
"Well, let's get packed and ready to go tomorrow. What do you think about camping?" Casey offered and I looked thoughtful as we entered our apartment.
"Camping sounds good since I haven't done that in so long, not to mention that it would be good to get away from civilization for a while," I agreed as we went to grab food and clothes that were suited for camping.
As we took out our suitcases, I still had a feeling that something was wrong and I couldn't figure it out but I forced it into the back of my mind and kept packing for the trip. Casey and I finished and went back to bed, and were soon asleep, looking forward to tomorrow.