The Half-Fable (Bigby x Reader) (UNDER HEAVY EDITING 06/09/2019)

No Leads - FIN

"They got away, boss." Markus shrugged as he reported back to his leader. Not looking the old man in the eye, he still knew that he was in serious trouble. Instead, he simply shoved his hands into his side pants pockets and waited for his lecture.

" 'They'?" The Crooked Man snarled, tapping one of his fingers repeatedly on his desk as he waited for an explanation.

"The damn wolf and woodsman showed up. I was close to getting the kitten on our side and they just-"

"Don't try to direct the blame onto someone else. This is all on you, Markus." The old man snapped, cutting the raven-haired male off. "You should have alerted me before they could get away. I would have had the twins finish what you started!"

"The wolf basically rammed through the door and got to me before I could even lay a hand on him. What the hell was I supposed to do?" Markus questioned which seemed to fall on deaf ears as the Crooked Man simply ignored his question.

"Maybe it was a mistake bringing you back." The Crooked Man threatened, rising from his seat and making his way over to Markus. The dark-haired male stood stiff all of a sudden, scared to go back to being nothing but a story; someone erased from the books.

"Sir...-" Markus could not let out another word before the Crooked Man rammed his walking stick into the other male's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to his knees.

"This will not happen again." The Crooked Man ordered, slowly walking back over to his desk and sitting down. "Do not think you can't be replaced. I have plenty of other Fables that will get the job done for me without letting their petty feelings get in the way." Markus simply nodded, slowly rising to his feet and walking out of his boss's office, closing the door behind him. Walking back to his room, the Fable let himself fall onto the bed and breathe in the scent of the girl that captured his heart. If he was to die eventually by the hands of his boss, he would make sure that it was in the best way possible.

With Y/n...

Y/n's eyes began to flutter open, slowly taking in the scenery around her. She was in her room of all places. Not the hospital or Bigby's house, but her room. Something she was rarely able to see with everything going on recently. Not to mention the amount of work that Snow always gave her to do which involved her out and about.

"You're awake." An all too familiar voice called out to her, rushing over to the side of the bed but noticeably did not lay a hand on her. "You were out for a while. Wasn't sure when you'd wake up." Bigby informed her. It took a minute to fully register in her head what had happened the day prior. When it did, she became more than a little self conscious of her body and brought her blanket up to the point where it covered her chest. "The Doc came by and made sure that you were alright. You somehow heal a lot faster than the rest of us so that was a plus."

"How long have I been out?" Y/n asked.

"Only a day. Which was good in a way. You're nearly healed...physically." Bigby slightly frowned, backing off a bit. "Look, I'm-"

"Don't." Y/n stopped him from saying another word, not wanting to be treated like a victim or wanting Bigby to blame himself. "I want to focus on saving Fabletown. I don't want this to turn into something about me."

"That Crooked Bastard is after you, Y/n. He's willing to go to any length and we know that now. How is this not about you?" Bigby defended, clearly getting upset.

"If we just made this about me then wouldn't we be giving that old creep what he wants? We can't be alone on this, not anymore. We need to hold a meeting with everyone and inform them about his plans." With that said, she slowly got up just in case her body was not done healing and went over to her closet, getting dressed in some normal jeans and a t-shirt. "I'd rather we don't mention to the others about what happened."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Bigby replied. "We don't have to go into detail but we do need to inform them about how serious the Crooked Man is this time. Leaving that part out won't help us." It was something they both did not want to do, but what other choice did they have? Nodding, Y/n waited by the door for Bigby while he slipped on his shoes.

"Let's just make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else. We have to protect our friends at all costs." Y/n tried to reassure Bigby, gently grasping his hand which made his shoulders soften a bit.

"You're right. This is no time to let emotions get the better of us." Bigby slightly smiled at her, kissing the top of her head before they made their way to Snow White's office.

At Snow White's Office...

"Snow, we need to hold a town meeting urgently." Bigby informed his old friend as he and Y/n walked up to her desk. This obviously took the woman by surprise as she glanced at Bluebeard for some kind of hint as to what Bigby was talking about but he was just as confused as she was. "The Crooked Bastard reached a new low and we need to start acting fast. Not waiting like we have been."

"What are you talking about, Sheriff?" Snow questioned, rising from her seat.

"I...don't want to go into detail..." Y/n started, hesitating on telling them since it was still so fresh in her mind like it had just happened. "...the old man tried to have someone sexually assault me the other day. If he's willing to do that to one person then he's going to allow it with others. We can't have our town living in that kind of fear."

"W-who tried to...?" Snow asked.

"Bloody Mary." This was news even to Bigby since he had no idea of Mary's sudden transformation. "I guess the Crooked Man's men have been trying to study and use magic like us witches do, but they aren't as naturally talented as we are and he screwed up. That screw up ended up turning her into a man."

"You both still think this is the Crooked Man?" Snow asked, shaking her head.

"Who else would it be? There's no one else out there that would want to run Fabletown the way he does. And that's what all his henchmen have been saying too." Y/n replied with a confused expression.

"Enough. I'll have a few trusted Fables look into the matter and see if they can find any clues on where the Crooked Man will strike next." Snow explained, sitting back down and going to work on the mountains of paperwork on her desk.

" 'Trusted Fables'? Are we not trustworthy?" Bigby asked, getting more upset than Y/n was at the moment.

"You both now have your feelings buried into this case. I'm sorry, but I need you both to just look out for yourselves for a few days and get your heads clear." Snow answered, not even looking up at the two.

"Snow-"

"I said enough, you two. Please. You have your orders." Snow snapped, now eyeing them down before they both got the message and returned to her work. Bluebeard gave a look to the two of them before escorting them out of the office.

"I'll help." Bluebeard whispered before shutting the door behind the three of them.

"Baby Blue is coming with us?" Y/n teased.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Bluebeard growled, tugging harshly on one of her ears which made her whine.

"Anyway..." Bigby spoke up, interrupting the two of them which he was starting to get jealous of. "...we need to think of a way to corner the old man and force his hand."

"He's not exactly part of some gang. I doubt we could figure out something like that." Bluebeard replied, rolling his eyes.

"Weren't you here to only help?" Bigby growled. The two continued to bicker for the rest of the day, leaving very little getting done which was surprising to all of them. The search continued before they all needed their rest, ending the night on an uneventful end.

EDITED 08/13/2020 - 2:43pm