Hello! I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who left response, I really wasn't expecting that level of support so big squishy hugs to all of you :) I am going to continue and incorporate a few suggestions left by guests (if that was you let me know!) and I've planned ahead with it that so I'm happy to carry on.

We pick up about two months after the last chapter and the Snigby ship is still going strong!

Hopefully I won't disappoint! Please enjoy and let me know what you think as it's always appreciated 3
xxx

Snow was having a very rare, very pleasant dream when she was rudely awoken by a ringing phone. She cracked her eye open and had to take a moment to remember where she was. She could feel two very heavy arms wrapped around her, legs tangled around hers and the warm, steady breath of the sheriff gently caressing the crook of her neck.

The phone trilled again and he growled a little in his sleep, "...office is closed..." before she nudged him slightly and he stirred a little more."Are you going to answer that?" She whispered as his arms squeezed her a little tighter. "No...You get it" he mumbled into her shoulder and she exhaled a little laugh. "It's your phone...it might be something important." He groaned again eventually extracted his limbs from hers and shuffled from the bed to the hateful phone. She lay on the mattress that had been squeezed into the tiny apartment and propped herself onto her elbow and watched him in the darkness.

She thanked the gods for her new, keener night vision as he lent, naked against the wall, muttering down the line at whoever had intruded on their peaceful slumber. She probably should have been listening to what he was talking about but her eyes trailed from his chiselled chin, down to his broad (and comfortable) chest, all the way down to his...

He slammed the phone down, snapping her back to reality, hoping against hope he couldn't tell what she'd been thinking about. "What's the matter?" She tried to ask casually as she took hold of his hand, locking her fingers with his and pulling him back to bed. He sighed as he perched on the edge of the mattress and she lent her chin on his shoulder, watching as he ran a rough hand over his tired face. "There's been a murder...quite grisly it would seem. I better get going before the Mundy police get involved..." She quickly planted a kiss to his shoulder, then to his cheek and started climbing out of bed herself. "What are you doing?" He said surprised as she started rifling through drawers for some clean clothes. "Well I'm coming with you obviously. I can't just lay here a miss you, that's hardly very productive." He took a breath as if to start arguing with her, but seemed to think better of it. He chuckled a little, gave her a peck on the cheek and started getting himself ready too.

Just twenty minutes later they were pacing through some rougher streets of New York City, Bigby chuffing away at a huff 'n' puff, his free hand wrapped tightly around Snow's. She could sense his apprehension as to what they might find, and she had to admit she was nervous too. 'Grisly' was not her favourite word in the entire English language but she remembered she'd seen much worse and steeled herself for what might lie in store. She was no wuss.

She was about to ask him something when a smell hit her nose that caught her quite of guard. The coppery smell of blood was wafting around them and both of them stopped in their tracks, Bigby's hand squeezing ever tighter on hers. "You can go back if you like?" he muttered and quickly glanced at her. She grimaced but shook her head, "just breathe through our mouths right? I'll be fine." She squeezed his hand back and they carried on walking towards the scene.

All of a sudden a tall man stepped out from an alleyway and regarded the two of them for a moment, pausing briefly on their interlocked hands. "That took you long enough Sheriff. But maybe Miss White couldn't find your leash?" It was all Snow could do to drag Bigby away from the man, her tightening hand the only warning she could give to stop him from doing anything stupid. "Perhaps Bluebeard, you could just show us what you've discovered?" Snow interjected and stepped slightly in front of Bigby to stop him from adding a fresh new crime scene to their evening. Bluebeard gave a sneering look at her and turned on his heel, leading them down into an alleyway.

The stench was almost overwhelming here and Snow tried to focus her efforts on breathing through her mouth again as she watched Bigby take a walk around the alleyway towards the body, which was slumped against the wall. He could have been sleeping if it hadn't have been for the copious amounts of blood that was plastered over his blue shirt and Bigby only spent a minute or two examining the body, before he straightened up again and started examining the floor around the man's feet.

"Do you recognise him? Is he a Fable?" It took her a moment before she realised he was talking to her and she carefully walked towards the body and crouched down in front of him. "He doesn't look familiar - but we are in Fabletown territory, he could be one of the Prince's?" Bigby nodded at the information and continued to look around, pausing briefly to examine a fresh cigarette stub. She walked over to him, and he showed he in more detail. "That smells like your brand. I didn't think anyone else smoked these" she said and their eyes met briefly, and he grinned a little at her. "I assure you, I have an alibi." He pocketed the stub and she turned to face Bluebeard, who was regarding them with an air of annoyance.

"Would you care to tell us how you discovered the body?" Snow said, folding her arms across her chest. Bluebeard shrugged and mirrored her actions, defensively. "I was coming home from a...meeting when I heard a scuffle. I was one the opposite corner of the street when I saw a young man take flight back towards Fabletown I suppose. I took a quick look down here and saw the blood. The man was moaning...said something about a good witch and an evil wind or some nonsense. But he died before he could add anything useful."

Snow scowled at Bluebeard but said nothing. She looked at Bigby who looked incredibly sceptical and said raised his eyebrows, "who were you meeting at this hour?" Snow could have sworn she heard Bluebeard's breath catch in his throat and his reply seemed a little strained. "Just a friend. It's really not important!" Bigby tutted and she Snow sensed amusement from the sheriff, which seemed highly inappropriate. "Well I need someone to corroborate your story...otherwise I'm going to start looking at you. And trust me...you don't want that." A muscle Bluebeard's jaw flexed a little until he heaved a sigh and pulled out a piece of paper from his trouser pocket, the size of a business card. He tinged pink and thrust it into Bigby's waiting hand. "She's a Mundy...that's her address. She'll be busy for the rest of the evening..."

Snow bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to scream at the man in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing. "You'd better not be getting up to your old tricks" Bigby growled as he studied the information on the card briefly, before sliding it into his pocket with the rest of his evidence. Bluebeard tutted and started muttering something about 'upstanding citizen' that made Bigby bark a laugh at him. Unable to bear the tension anymore Snow cleared her throat and stood between them again. "Perhaps I should call Swineheart and see if he can help transport the body away. I think if he was talking about witches and things we can assume he's one of ours for now. Thank you for your help Bluebeard, we can take it from here."

But Bluebeard wasn't listening to her. He was staring at the trash can that stood, overflowing next to the poor man. She glanced at him and tried to follow his line of sight until she saw something that made her heart drop. "Bigby..." she breathed as she pointed to the floor near the man's cold hand. Tucked behind the bin, shining like the sun even in the darkness of the alley was the last thing she or Bigby could ever want to see.

A trumpet. Gleaming cruelly at them, apart from the very fresh blood that coated a large part of the instrument. Bigby pulled it out from its hiding place and examined it; his face was whiter than a sheet. He held it out and she took it from him, trying to ignore her shaking hands. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, and yet she had seen this trumpet almost every day for the past two months. Bluebeard began to chuckle, low at first until he was almost beside himself with mirth.

"Looks like your Little Boy Blue has really grown up!"