{TWAU} The Daughter of The Big Bad

Chapter 4 ~ Not So Bad

'You're not as bad as everyone says you are.'
-Faith (TWAU)

Published/Edited: 03/27/2022
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How astounding. This couldn't be real! Y/n had learned that Colin is one of the famous 3 little pigs- notably, the one who built his house out of straw. Back in the orphanage, Y/n had been given storybooks to help extend her learning to read and also to pass the time. But to be sitting in front of a fairytale character in real life is mind-blowing.

"Alright, listen, kid," Colin sighed, "I've said this before, I'm gonna say it again, there's nothing wrong with my now demolished house." Y/n blinked. "...It was made out of straw," she said, it was probably the 3rd time she repeated this statement to him as if it was obvious why Colin no longer has a house.

As of right now, Colin was watching over Y/n -to Bigby's dismay- while the Sheriff was at his office. Things were going hunky-dory unless you count Colin sleeping on Bigby's sofa as "watching the kid" but Bigby didn't need to know that. And that's exactly what happened. Time passed and Colin was snoring away on the sofa while Y/n lay on the floor, reading her storybooks. Currently, she was reading her favourite: The Three Little Pigs, smiling down at the page with one pig in his house of straw: Colin. The next page showed the Story-Colin and the big bad wolf.

"Little pig, little pig, let me in!"

"Not by the hairs of my chinny chin chin!"

"Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"

It was clear the wolf in this story wanted to eat the pigs, but in the end, failed to blow down the house of bricks.

Y/n's other favourite story was The Little Red Riding Hood. The story of a girl venturing into the woods with a basket of goods, on her way to her grandmother's house, only to be stalked and stopped by a wolf that- you guessed it- wanted to eat them both. When the wolf had tried to trick Riding Hood while disguising as her grandmother, his plan soon backfired when he was scared away by the Woodsman.

"My, grandmother, what big teeth you have!"

"The better to eat you, my dear."

Y/n had opened The Riding Hood and flipped to a page that showed Riding Hood's first encounter with the wolf. Now she had two books side by side. Contrary to what one may think, Y/n did take a liking to the wolf, not just because of the comedic aspect- though, it was part of it- but because of something deeper.

The Big Bad Wolf. A dangerous beast made to be an antagonist, striking fear into people's hearts, well, in this case, fairytale people. Y/n would always wonder why the wolf would scare people the way that he did. Why he was so angry. And if he had any friends at all. The more she thought about it, the more she felt bad for the wolf. Maybe one day he'll get a happy ending as everyone else had in these stories.

A snore and a groan from behind interrupted Y/n's thoughts. Colin had woken up and yawned. "Hey kid, watcha doin'?" He asked, his head laying on the armrest. She held up The Three Little Pigs. "Reading." When he glanced at the page, he rolled his eyes. His house was made of straw, demolished. Honestly, he felt like the little Mundy was teasing him at this point. He peered over her shoulder. "You're going to read two books at the same time?" He joked, now getting the motivation to get off the sofa. Y/n only smiled. "No. I'm looking at the two wolves. Don't they look the same?" She pointed at the two, not looking up. Colin examined the two pages.

Bigby.

"...For sure they do. Maybe they are." He inquired. "The Big Bad Wolf. He's pretty scary, don't you think?" Colin teased, now sitting on the floor.

"..No, he's not."

This answer took Colin back. Bigby's reputation in the Fabletown community has always been shit. Mostly because of how much he terrorized the Fables so many years ago, Colin being one of them. Everyone, of all ages, was and still is scared of Bigby. Scared to the point where Fables either treated him like shit or avoided him altogether. But to hear a child say they aren't scared of the dangerous beast was..well, unheard of. "Oh?" Colin questioned, "And what would you do if you met him?"

He was genuinely curious what her answer was. It was then she finally looked up at him. "I would hug him. Maybe something happened to make him be scary and mean. And because he's scary and mean, no one likes him. Maybe he needs a friend. So he knows he's not alone." Colin could only stare at her in awe. This kid is really something, isn't she?

***

He was tired. Then again, Bigby was always tired. The paperwork was tedious and Ichabod was straight-up annoying. "Ms. Snow do this, Sheriff don't just stand there". If a morning massage doesn't calm him, then he's looking for the wrong places to relieve stress. But hey, what does Bigby know?

He rode the elevator to his apartment alone. His job wasn't done yet, he is a full-time parent after all. Bigby wonders how the kid is doing: did she behave? Is she hungry? Hopefully, she ate, he made sandwiches for her. Colin would've helped more if he didn't have hooves but, ah well, she was living with two Fables.
The elevator doors opened and Bigby made his way to his apartment.

He sighed when he entered his home, closing the door behind him. Making his way to the tiny living room, Colin was sitting on the sofa watching TV, Y/n nowhere in sight. "Where's the kid?" He asked, taking note of the scattered storybooks on the floor. "Well, hi to you too. Don't worry, she's sleeping in your room." Bigby kept looking down at the books, noticing two that caught his attention. Two books, opened side by side. He could already tell what books they were, judging by the illustrations. It was the wolf, or rather, two wolves that showed on either page. He crouched down examining the pictures.

Colin noticed this and smiled softly. "She said something interesting tonight." Bigby looked up, an amused look on his usually stoic face, "Oh yeah? What'd she say?"
"The Big Bad Wolf isn't so bad. Not even a little bit."
Bigby blinked then looked down at the illustrations. That statement alone made him feel something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He felt so..understood, even though Y/n doesn't know that the wolf in the stories was actually him. He took one last look at the pages and closed the books, putting them away with a soft smile.