Hey, everyone. FineChyna, reporting for duty. Sorry this is late. Here you go! (I take no credit for the idea of this story. It's Cecilia's. I just typed it.)

The noise alone was enough to send Snow to the ground. The army shrieked and roared like the hordes of hell, slowly morphing from a hateful battle cry to the screams of the dying as Bigby plowed into the crowd. His own roars nearly overpowered theirs as he stomped, snapped, crushed and swung in a whirlwind of hair and blood and glowing gold eyes.

And the blood...the smell had Snow dry-heaving. She'd smelled blood before, but this was a whole new level. The normal scent was most prominent, coppery and sharply electric, but it was also laced with the sour salt-and-brimstone fumes of demon blood. The resulting smell permeated the air so thickly that Snow could practically taste it. It stuffed its way up her nose and slithered down her throat. She gagged, barely managing to bite back a wave of rising bile.

Eyes watering, ears pounding with her own frantic heartbeat, Snow watched the fight with dawning horror. Despite everything the Emperor's forces had in their favor-numbers, spells, weapons-they were losing. Bigby was simply too powerful. He was everywhere at once, snapping and snarling, ripping limbs and headbutting monsters and crushing foes underfoot and between his jaws. Weapons snapped and tangled against his fur. Fists and fangs landed for only a second before the creature behind them was slaughtered. It was too much to take in. Snow curled in on herself, covering her ears and clenching her eyes shut, praying for it to end.

She couldn't say how long she remained there, curled up in a ball, with her hands clenched over her ears and her eyes crushed tight. All she knew was that suddenly, there was a hand on her shoulder. "Miss White," Red said urgently, shaking her gently. "This is our chance. We have to get out of here."

Snow stared at Red, processing what she had just said. It took a few seconds for it to sink it, but once it did, she shook her head. "We can't! We need to stay in case-"

"In case what?" Red snapped. "He clearly doesn't need our help, and we're only endangering ourselves by staying! Now get up!"

Snow froze, startled at the sudden harshness in the young woman's tone. Red gave a frustrated groan and dragged Snow to her feet roughly. "Come on!" She began to drag her towards the woods nearby. "We'll be safer in there. The army can't all fit in the trees, and he-" her voice hitched, ever so slightly, on that word-"is a little preoccupied, which should buy us some time."

Snow offered no resistance to the young woman's tugging. She gripped Red's arm tightly and stared at her, suddenly uneasy-uneasier, at least. "Red? What's..." It dawned on her suddenly, and she blanched. "The noise..."

The army had gone silent. The horrendous shrieks that had filled the air were absent, leaving things uncomfortably silent. For the first time since she had curled up, Snow actually looked at horde. She stared, blood freezing to an icy standstill in her veins. "Holy shit."

Where the horde had once been, there was nothing but absolute carnage. Blood stained the grass, thick as paint, in pools and splatters and long, sweeping sprays. Scattered throughout the ichor were bits and pieces of the army-literally. A torn banner, a blood-soaked head, a mangled lump of flesh encased in dented plate armor. A few scraps were all that remained of the Emperor's finest.

Bigby stood in the middle of it all, fur soaked with blood and matted with the ruined hilts of countless weapons. Thick, sour crimson dripped from his claws, matted his fur, and practically poured from his mouth. His eyes were solid gold, but something was missing. Something was wrong.

He stared at Red, a low, deep growl rumbling in his throat. The fur on his hackles rose. Snow stared at him. "Bigby?" Her voice was hesitant. "Bigby, it's over now. They're dead. You can change back."

Bigby snarled furiously, arching his spine and flexing his claws. He took a single, stalking step towards the duo, never taking his eyes off of Red, tearing the soaked ground to mud beneath his paws. At that moment, Snow realized what was wrong. His eyes had always held a spark of compassion, a little gleam of empathy, even when he was in wolf form. But right now, there was nothing. His eyes may as well have been two burning balls of fire for all the emotion they held. At that moment, he didn't look like the man she loved.

He looked like a predator, ready to kill.

Snow placed herself in front of Red, stretching her arms out and making herself a barrier between the young woman and the furious wolf in front of her. "Bigby!" She said, as sternly as she could with her voice trembling the way it was. "Snap out of it!"

There were five tense seconds in which Snow thought that maybe, just maybe, Bigby was calming down. His eyes dimmed slightly, like they were cooling; for a wild moment, Snow was sure she and Red were safe.

But then the fire returned, blazing hot as the sun, and Bigby charged.

Snow had meant to protect Red, she really had, but the sight of the massive wolf charging towards her with blood trailing behind him sent her into a panic. Instinct alone kept her from being trampled; barely suppressing a shriek of fear, she dove to the side, hitting the ground with a thud and tumbling over and over through the grass. The wounds on the backs of her legs burned with every slight jolt. She finally came to a stop and blinked her eyes open, only to be greeted by a cracked, hollow skull, full of broken teeth and topped with a pair of antlers. Her eyes slid down the skull to where the neck should have been, only to realize-there was no neck. There was no body.

The Jersey Devil had been decapitated, and his head was less than a foot from her face.

That, in the end, proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Snow's stomach heaved, and with a horrible retch, her stomach very forcefully made it's discomfort known.

There was a shrill cry of fright-Red-and a furious snarl like the earth ripping in half. Bigby. Snow pushed herself to her feet, legs screaming in protest, mouth still flooded with bile, and turned just in time to see Bigby swipe viciously at Red with a paw. She tried to dodge, but she was too slow-the razor-sharp nails gashed at her shoulder, shredding her cloak and spraying blood in a wide arc. Red screamed again, this time in pain, and tripped over backwards.

Snow wasn't sure why she did it. After all, Red had betrayed her, and Bigby as well. But for whatever reason, she found herself charging towards the two as fast as her damaged legs could take her. "Bigby! Stop it!"

Bigby froze, not looking her way from the terrified young woman in front of him, but flicking an ear in her direction. Emboldened, Snow finished her sprint and stood over Red's trembling form, glaring at the wolf in front of her and trying to keep her voice steady. "The whole time you've been with her, she's been convinced you're a monster! Don't you dare prove her right!"

Bigby flinched back, face going from a snarl to something almost confused. The fire in his eyes dimmed; something else, something intelligent, appeared inside them. "S-snow?" The words were thick and raspy, choked by blood, but it was unmistakably Bigby's voice.

Snow nodded. "Change back. You're losing control."

One, two, three seconds of silence, and then the great wolf started to shrink. Fur evaporated like water, bones cracked and shrank and ground down to a human skeleton, eyes faded from burning gold to warm brown. In less than a minute, the Big Bad Wolf was gone, replaced by Bigby, lying naked and blood soaked, on the ground.

In two steps, Snow reached his side. She didn't care that he was naked. She didn't care that he was covered in blood. She didn't even care about the whimpering Red. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Bigby, burying her face in his hair. "You were gone," she croaked, voice unexpectedly thick with tears. "I thought you were gone."

Bigby coughed and spat. Blood-dark blood, nearly black, demon blood-flew from his mouth and sprayed the grass. "I nearly was." He looked at her, and his eyes were full of so much raw emotion Snow could hardly stand it. "You brought me back."

Fresh tears traced their way down Snow's cheeks, and then her lips were on his. He tasted like blood, salty and foul, but underneath that he tasted like Bigby, and that was all that mattered.

She could have kissed him for the rest of her life, but a small whimper of pain brought her back to reality as abruptly as a bucket of ice water. Red. She twisted around, and saw the young woman silently sobbing, clutching her shredded shoulder. Now that she looked at it, Snow could see that the damage was severe-the skin was flayed away, the tissue underneath shredded to the point that white shards of bone were poking out. Blood had coated her arm and continued to flow steadily, rising to the surface in nauseating bubbles before bursting and trickling to the grass.

"Fuck." Bigby had caught sight of the wound. "Did I do-Fuck!" He heaved himself to his feet and ran to Red, snatching at her cloak and winding it tightly around her shoulder. The blood slowed somewhat, but the puddle near the young woman showed that she's still lost a lot. "Dammit, she's going into shock. Snow, we have to do something!"

Snow saw that he was right. Red's skin had taken a pale, greyish tinge, her eyes were dull, and her breath was coming in rapid pants. She started to panic. "What can we do?"

Bigby growled angrily. "I don't know! This is all my fucking fault! I got carried away and now-" Inspiration seemed to strike him from nowhere. "The witch! We'll go back there and make her-"

Snow shook her head. "She's dead." She chose not to elaborate further.

"Fuck!" Bigby scooped up Red, bridal-style, and began running towards the witch's cave. "Come on! There still might be stuff we can use there! We have to save her!"

Snow took off without a second thought, trailing behind due to her injured legs. Her heart felt like it was going to explode from her chest. She tried to kill Bigby, but...she saved us as well.

Snow set her jaw. I can't let her die. Not now.