Sheriff Bigby Wolf sat in his apartment, pulling on the black tie around his neck, rolling his head to the side. It was a long day made even longer by Jack. The idiot had managed to incite a brawl in the courtyard of an apartment complex which involved Grendel, Jack - who was hiding behind a tree, so his involvement wasn't that great - and two glamoured trolls.

The fight had garnered much attention from the residents of the apartment complex, so there were around thirty Fables watching the fight when Bigby had shown up in a taxi. He had managed to calm everyone down by cuffing the instigator and maybe - just maybe - going half wolf on all involved. That was the end of that, but of course Jack had to make things irritating with his constant talk.

It was made even more awkward when, on their way to hail a taxi cab, they had seen Red Riding Hood crossing the street. She had her usual yellow tote bag hanging from the crease of her elbow as she read a book. She looked up briefly before crossing, smiling at the two of them, and then she was gone as soon as the light changed.

Jack had started talking about the Homelands and Bigby's past with Red Riding Hood. The whole thing irked on his nerves, but even more so when Jack started telling him he had the hots for Red Riding Hood. It was at that point that Bigby had "accidentally" smacked Jack in the head with the door of the taxi he had hailed.

The rest of the trip wasn't any better either seeing as Jack had talked all the way to the holding cell. He was relieved after slamming the door and locking it from the outside to finally have some peace and quiet.

Bigby was interrupted from his thoughts when the phone rang. He took one last look at the painting of Red Riding Hood above his chair and made his way to the phone beside the door, growling into the receiver once he had picked it up.

"I'm sorry Bigby," came the voice on the other end.

"Sorry Snow... didn't know it was you."

"There's a drunk and disorderly at Westfinch Park."

Bigby knew where that was. Westfinch street - where the park was located - was just five blocks away. At least he wouldn't have to take a taxi over there.

"Yankee called it in. He witnessed Woody with someone else... he couldn't get a good look. Woody was definitely drunk and crashing into things making a ruckus and the neighbors are complaining."

Bigby groaned. First Jack and now Woody? That was the last person he wanted to see at 10:30 at night.

"Okay Snow, I'll be there."

"Thanks Bigby... I mean it." She hung the phone up.

Bigby set the receiver down before heading out to the park.

"Woody -" Red was leaning against the wall, kicking and squirming against the man that had trapped her there.

"I missed ya Red," he slurred, his drunken breath assaulting her nostrils.

"Woody, stop!" Red tried to push him away, trying to reach her oversized tote with her foot. She had kept a pocket knife which was a gift from her grandmother before she had left the Homelands.

"Fuck, Red!" he yelled, punching the wall beside her. "It's a miracle ya made it out!"
He ignored her cries to stop as he sucked on the juncture between her neck and collarbone.

"W-Woody, you're drunk, l-let's just -"

"I'm not leavin'," his hand started to inch up her skirt. "Until I get my 'reward'."

"Wha - "

"You hear that?" he pulled back, pressing her against him as he yelled loud enough for the tenants in the adjoining building to hear. "This bitch is my reward!"

A grouchy tenant had opened up his window, head outside and eyes shut. "Shut the fuck up, some of us are tryna sleep... asshole."

"Ah Red!" Woody thrust her upon the wall once again, effectively caging her with with his arms. "I fuckin' love ya so much!"

"This isn't love Woody." She was so much shorter than him, but Red had finally gotten in a position where she could strike him in the groin with her leg. She watched as Woody howled in pain, grasping his crotch. She rushed to her bag, rummaging through it for her pocket knife, but Woody had grasped onto her leg.

"Where do ya think you're goin', bitch!"

Bigby was just approaching the scene when Woody had dragged Red's body to sit up against the wall. At first Bigby had no clue that it was Red, but as soon as he got closer, he had caught the scent of lilacs and honey, mixed with fear, anger, and determination. He started running across the park to catch up, but as Woody slapped her hard, Bigby had started to increase his pace fighting with his need to keep a tight reign on his beast.

Red had grabbed onto her cheek, wincing and turning her head to the side. She was about to lunge at him, but had realized that Woody was thrown off her.

"Hitting girls again?" Bigby growled, turned away from Red.

"Well if it ain't the fuckin' Big Bad Wolf, here to save Little Red Riding Hood." Woody sneered. "The fucking irony!" He stood up, grasping his axe that had been discarded in the alley.

Red crawled to her purse, taking everything out until she could find her knife. She contemplated getting in the middle of the fight - Woody had smacked her around and pride wouldn't let herself be saved like a damsel in distress - but both men were heavily wrapped up in knocking the other out that she feared something worse would happen to her. Instead, she watched wide eyed for her chance.

She wondered if it would be long, since Bigby had been punching the living daylights out of Woody. Woody had even pushed Bigby into the wall with his axe, trying to choke him, But Bigby had gotten the upper hand.

Woody had swung his axe at Bigby's head, growling when it had failed to hit its target. This allowed Bigby to pull the axe away from Woody and knock him in the solar plexus with the butt of the weapon.

Red flicked the pocket knife open as Bigby swung the axe at Woody, hilt first, sending him crashing into the side of the alley next to Red.

"Red, get back!" Bigby motioned for her to get behind him, but Red had already acted, kneeling before Woody and blindly driving the knife through his chest.

"Red!" Bigby knew Woody deserved it, but it might have been better to not let her continue - especially when Woody woke up. So, he had reluctantly pulled her off of him.

"Let me go, wolf!" she exclaimed, trying to wriggle from his grasp.

"As much as he deserves it Red, the guy's knocked out."

Red huffed, but seemed to have snapped out of her revenge fueled state. "Y-you're right."

Bigby let her go as soon as she had calmed down, walking to a bloodied Woody and cuffing his wrists together behind his back.

"Come on!" he ordered, looking back at Red Riding Hood. "I'm taking this idiot to the holding cell and you owe me a statement."

Red made to pick up her things and pulled on the red cardigan that had been discarded on the alley floor. "O-okay."

"A-are those two going to be okay?" Red asked as she sat in Bigby's office, referring to both Jack and Woody who had to share a cell - apparently Bigby thought it'd be hilarious for the two to share a cell even though there were at least two other cells open in the dank basement.

"You forgetting what he tried to do?" Bigby reached in his desk for a police report.

"N-no, but-" Red paused. She really wanted to hold a grudge, but her sweet forgiving nature always seemed to trump what little vengeful spirit she did possess no matter how much hard she tried.

"Woody's gonna have a helluva hangover in the morning... what better punishment than Jack's talking?" Bigby grinned.

"Forget 'bad'... that's just downright cruel," she smirked.

Bigby placed the police report in front of him and grabbed a pen from a coffee mug on his desk.

"So, what happened before Woody?"

"Um... well... It all started after I saw you and Jack," she said. "I was on my way to Westfinch Park to read when I saw Woody walking out of the Trip Trap. He was drunk, but he was walking to another bar. I guess Holly threw him out again."

"This was around five?"

Red nodded. "I've always gone there to read at 5 and would head home before dark at around 7, but I seemed to have dozed off -"

"Shit Red, in New York? You coulda been -"

"Hey," she narrowed her eyes at him. "It's not like it's a usual thing, okay."

Bigby brought his hands up from the desk in a surrendering motion, "Okay, okay. Gotcha." He started writing her statement. "Then what happened?"

"I woke up at 9:45 to the sound of a person crashing into trashcans. That's when I saw Woody across the park in an alley. He was staggering toward me about to cross the street, but I didn't want him hurt so I ran to him in hopes of getting there before he got hit by a car or something."

"Hmm, that's mighty nice of you."

"Is that sarcasm, Sheriff?" Red asked, crossing her arms.

"I'm just sayin' that was nice you were looking out for your 'knight's' welfare," he wrote something else on the report. "You couldn't have known what was gonna happen later."

"Oh," Red raised her eyebrows, "Like you in the Black Forest?"

Bigby stopped writing. "That's different Red. That was centuries ago."

"How so? I was a naïve kid, thinking you really just wanted to protect me along the way to Gran's house..." she whispered. "But then you swallow her whole and attempt to do the same with me. I couldn't have known that was going to happen either."

"Red..." He regretted what he had done in the Homelands, but like a wimp was never prepared to talk to her about it. That's why he kept a painting of her, because talking to the real Red Riding Hood would have been impossible up until a few years ago, and trying to apologize to her face to face was a lot harder than he had thought. How does he apologize for something like that?

"I never got an apology..." she said trailing off.

"An apology ain't gonna change your perception of me." he said.

"It would show me that you're not an unrepentant asshole." Her voice was getting louder.

"Then I'm sorry Red. I'm sorry a fucking million times," he growled.

"Wow," she deadpanned. "That was so sincere. I can't say that I didn't forgive you anyway." Red crossed her arms over her chest.

"You shouldn't have," he said. The girl had a heart of gold, he had to admit that. Maybe that's why she was so trusting back then.

"I know... I didn't have to. I should still be angry, hurt, and scared, but New York is supposed to be everyone's second chance. I don't want to spend mine like that. Besides, I've seen all you do for Fabletown. You took down the Crooked Man - I was terrified of him and what he and his goons could do."

Bigby imagined her getting caught up in the Crooked Man's promises and immediately felt his blood boil. It was enough that he had hurt her, but she didn't need to be hurt anymore in the new world, and siding with the Crooked Man would have definitely been a damaging decision. Worse, she could have suffered the same fate as Lily and Faith.

"Anyway," Red turned her head away, looking at the crumpled papers that littered the floor. "I don't remember how we got sidetracked."
Bigby glanced down at the paper and the last thing he had written. "You ran to help Woody."

"Oh, yeah..." Red said as she remembered what had happened. "He then pulled me into the alley and started spouting nonsense about his intentions to rob us on that day and how he was going to take his reward-" She sighed, getting a little embarrassed before saying the next part.

Bigby could sense her embarrassment and gave her an encouraging nod, "Go on."

"He was kissing me and told me he loved me and all these insane drunken babbles before I kicked him in the 'nads."

Bigby let out a chuckle under his breath. "So Little Red Riding Hood isn't so helpless after all?"

"Living in the Homelands during the Empire rule taught me how to defend myself." Her demeanor changed as she remembered her home. She had told Snow - and Snow had told him - years ago that she had lost her grandmother to the Empire. Bigby surmised that she was thinking about her.

"And then he slapped you?" he asked, effectively interrupting Red's thoughts. The pen in his hand was ready to snap due to the image of her being slapped around, but he had kept a tight reign on his control. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her.

"Um," her hand instinctively went up to her cheek. "Yeah... it hurts like the dickens."

"And yet you're willing to forgive him."

Red's eyes narrowed. "I never said that."

"But you forgave me," he said.

"Like you said, that's different." Red stood up, placing her hands on the edge of the desk. "You're the Sheriff. You keep us safe... he's just a drunk with no morals."

"Fair enough," he said. "You should go home, Red."

Red grinned. "You're not gonna walk me to a taxi?" She lived near the Trip Trap, not able to afford anything at the Woodlands. She could make the trip herself, but decided against the idea - what with torn clothing at midnight on a Saturday.

Bigby decided the best course of action would be to accompany her home, but having spent more than five minutes in her company already had stirred things up inside him that he hadn't felt since the Homelands. Back then, while her delicious scent had him feeling a hunger that would satiate his gluttonous animalistic appetite, now it made him want to possess her like a human man could, but he wouldn't take her without her consent and he feared that much longer in her presence would have him do something they both regretted.

"I can give you some taxi money, but you're on your own." Bigby sighed.

Red's grin left her face and she swiftly turned away from him. "Avoidance like always. Why am I not surprised... coward."

Red was almost out of the office when suddenly, a strong hand slammed the door shut.

"What did you say?" he growled.

Red kept her hand on the doorknob, making no indication that she was afraid. "You heard it. You're not deaf!"

He swiftly turned her around to look at him, his hand resting on her hip. Her defiance was getting to him. Never did he imagine that the innocent Red Riding Hood had a mean streak, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to hoist her up on his table and take her right there amidst the stack of papers he had yet to deliver to Snow White.

His eyes trailed her tousled brown hair to her wide forest green eyes. Her lips were parted and he had just now realized that the bottom lip was split. There were bruises on her neck and the dirty red cardigan she wore was torn at the elbows. It also seemed like the white buttons had been ripped off. The closer look at her state had calmed his beast. She was a victim, for crying out loud. She had to get home... away from him.

He pulled away from her, reaching in his pocket for a twenty dollar bill. "You need to get home, Red."

He placed the bill in her hands, his palm lingering in her soft fingertips longer than a moment before turning around and walking to his desk. "No stopping anywhere, just straight home."

Red stood there, clenching the twenty in her hand. Her face held a look of mild shock and disappointment.

"Fine..." She grabbed the yellow tote that lie on the floor and reached for the door, craning her head to look at him.

"Have a good night... Mr. Wolf." She slammed the door, leaving Bigby in the small office to his own devices.

Well, I always thought that Snow White and Bigby where a mismatched couple and whenever seeing Snigby fan works I think that it's so odd and out of left field. I think it would have been more interesting if Fables and TWAU had focused on Bigby's relationship with Red Riding Hood.
I also don't like Red's Fabletown origin in the comic. That's the beauty of fanfiction, you can change things you don't like about the fandom - within reason of course.
Anyway, I'm writing as I go, so this story is sure to have plot holes and so on.