TWAU: Before the Crime

Chapter 6: A New Case

"Bigby! Bigby wait!" Lilly called as she chased after Bigby, although her tiny steps were no match for his stride.

"Just go back to the apartment, I need you to look after Colin," Bigby replied. He was stilled pissed off, but not with Lilly, however she was walking on eggshells around him, in case she upset him in any way. Bigby stopped in front of the elevator, and pressed the up button. By this time, Lilly had caught up to him, and tapped his shoulder. He turned to look at her, and gave her a sympathetic look,

"Lilly, I'm sorry, but I have to keep every fable out of danger, so I'm not just doing it for Snow- as much as I care for her- I'm doing it so that bastard can't get anyone else."

"Who... who are we talking about?" She asked cautiously, flicking a piece of black hair from her face, and the elevator door opened,

"Please, just... just go back to the apartment Lilly." Bigby pleaded; he couldn't stand to have Lilly hurt, she was like a sister to him. Lilly looked up at him, and nodded with a little smile on her face, before turning around and heading back to Bigby's place. Bigby got in the elevator, and pressed the elevator which had Crane's apartment on. Floor 23.

***

If Bigby was going anywhere, this would be the first place to check. He listened intently at the door, and even with his abnormal hearing abilities, there appeared to be no sound coming from the other side of the door. He wasn't about to be polite, so he did what he usually did; he kicked the door down.

The apartment was empty, although Bigby knew Snow had been here, her perfume gave it away, but the scent was going slightly stale. He had to be quick then, if he was going to find any hint as to where they might have gone. The first place he inspected was the messy bed, because it had traces of Crane and Snow, and Bigby pushed the worst thought to the back of his mind. Although, when he got a better scent, he realised that Snow's perfume showed up more than anything, so it was obviously mainly Snow on the bed, not Crane. Okay, at least, as far as I'm aware, he didn't do anything on the bed.

The next place was the bathroom, which was tiny, and only Crane's scent appeared to be lingering in here, not Snow's this time. Right, nothing at all in the bathroom.

That was a very pointless check, although the living room looked rather odd. The last time Bigby was in here, the bookshelf was on the white wall, next to the fireplace. Why was it on the white wall opposite the bed? He walked towards the bookshelf, and inspected it first. Crane's scent is all over this... he thought to himself. So, he rolled up his sleeves, and pushed the bookshelf with ease, only to reveal a tunnel- a steep tunnel for that matter, with only a ladder and no light. Well well Crane, looks like you have a hidey hole. Bigby chuckled, and threw his coat off.

"I'm coming Snow, I'm coming..." he vowed, and spun round to start heading down the ladder.

***

It must have been at least two minutes of climbing until Bigby finally reached the bottom, and its a good job he could see in the dark- one of the perks of being a giant dog he supposed. He kept to the edge of the wall, unaware of the direction he was heading, but something told him he was under the block of apartments, and heading into the heart of Fabletown. A small breeze blew his hair back, and a slight chill ran down his spine; Bigby wasn't cold, he was scared- scared for Snow, and just the thought of seeing her again was enough to encourage him on. Bigby grunted as another breeze came by, and he knew he was close to an exit, because a small light appeared about one hundred meters away.

All of a sudden, a strong scent came across the breeze this time. It was sharp, and it actually made Bigby stop to investigate it more. He inhaled deeply, and then sniffed a few times to get an idea of whose it was; he recognized it anywhere. Snow. Bigby picked up the pace and broke into a sprint towards the end of the tunnel, covering two meters with every stride; he honestly looked like he was flying. The end of the tunnel had brought him to the heart of New York, and the scent of Snow was fading into the mass of people. The crowd pushed past him, mingling scents with others; perfume and deodorant, alcohol and cigarettes. It was all too much to handle when Snow's scent was somewhere, and he knew he had to find it. So Bigby started pushing his way through the crowd, taking it easy in case Crane was searching the crowd too for Bigby, and this was a wise move, because Bigby knew that Crane wasn't stupid and he would do anything to try and get him out of the way.