TW: negative phasing against sex workers, mentions exposed organs, and implied murder

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"If my envoys are correct...the two of you haven't had a lot of rest recently... Please, relax for a moment, will you? Do you want a drink? Something to eat?" Crooked Man calmly told them.

Sunny's eyes looked over to Jersey as Bigby kept smoking. Her eyes landed on the gun in his hands.

"It's a little hard to do that when your friend has his finger on the trigger," Sunny frowned.

"Yes, I can see why that would be... concerning," Crooked Man gave Jersey a look.

"Don't misunderstand the situation here," Bigby spoke up. "We? Are not friends. And you're in no position to offer us anything."

"On the contrary, Sheriff...and I don't wish to contradict you here...but your initiative and mine have been friendly for a long while now. Ever since I came aboard these shores, you know... Fabletown's been very accommodating of my humble ventures."

"Just what are you talking about?" Sunny questioned.

"I've just been left in relative peace, I think puts it best. Allowed to live my own way."

"That doesn't really-" Sunny said as Bigby dropped his cigarette to stub it out.

Jersey stood up suddenly. Pointing the gun right at Bigby. Sunny felt her body go tense as he did so.

"What do you think you're doing?" Crooked Man shouted at him.

"He's gonna-"

"Mr Wolf and Ms Fei are our guests. And I have every intention of cooperating. So don't waste the silver." Crooked Man scolded him.

Jersey sat back down and put the gun away. There was a dejected look on his face.

"Well, Sheriff, Deputy... For the sake of transparency, why don't you tell us why you're here... It would help settle everyone's nerves, I think."

Bigby looked to Sunny. She took a breath and stepped forward. "You're suspected of having involvement in the murders of Faith and Lily. Along with slavery, kidnapping, and extortion of several other Fables. We'll have to bring you in for questioning."

"Oh dear, I assume by your confidence in accusing me, you must have some proof of this, yes?"

"Jersey has made multiple comments that have implicated you," Sunny stated after a moment of hesitation.

"That's a fuckin' lie!" Jersey yelled. Jumping out of his chair again.

"If they're dead, it's 'cause the Crooked Man wanted them dead," Sunny quoted. "Isn't that what you said at the pawn shop."

"All I said was that this was your town, and nothin' wouldn't happen without your approval! Alright? That's it!" Jersey defended himself to his boss.

"If only that were true," Crooked Man sighed. "Those women... I don't relish telling you that the killings were perpetrated by an employee of mine."

"Really?" Sunny said in surprise.

"It's a very unfortunate bit of business, but... I promise you that the matter will be dealt with. Internally. I just want to settle the issue for you. And to assure you that it's over with."

"An 'unfortunate bit of business'?" Bigby said with increasing frustration. "You're gonna tell us right now who killed them."

"Sheriff, I have complete respect for you and your job. I hope you know that. But I simply can't divulge that information." Crooked Man told him. "You really shouldn't worry yourselves. As I said, I've got this under control."

"No. We're dealing with. Right. Now."

"Yeah, right," Jersey laughed.

"What do you think this is? Some kind of negotiation? The man said he'd take care of it. So why don't you take the hint and get out." Dee shouted from his own chair.

"Tweedle Dee, please." Crooked Man said as Sunny loomed over the man. Making him stink in his chair a bit.

"Your boss just confessed to having involvement. This isn't up for debate. He'll be coming in for questioning unless he wants to make things much worse for all of you."

"You think I'm scared of you?" Dee let out a nervous laugh. "You're nothin' more than a-"

"That's enough!" Crooked Man raised his voice and then shook his head in disappointment. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but...in the interest of preserving our alliance... If you have to know...it was Georgie."

"What?" Sunny snapped around in surprise, and Bigby gave Georgie a dirty look.

"However, like I said...I'll be handling the matter if you don't mind."

"You got what you wanted, so just-" Jersey sneered.

"Sit. Down. Now." Crooked Man told him again.

"Yeah, I killed 'em. So what?" Georgie smirked.

"Georgie," Vivian warned. Speaking up for the first time since they got there.

"Why'd you do it? Why kill them?" Bigby growled.

"Does it matter?" Georgie shrugged.

"Look, the fact is... Georgie here misinterpreted one of my instructions-" Crooked Man explained.

"Misinterpreted?!" Georgie shouted.

"And I want to make things right. So...let's work something out," Crooked Man continued as if Georgie hadn't said anything.

"What's there to work out? I'm protected, aren't I?" Georgie yelled again.

"Your protection has limits...and I think you've far exceeded yours," Crooked Man shook his head again. "That you could murder someone in cold blood like that-"

"You fuckin' asked me to do this! You told me to kill them!"

"And then attempt to blame me for it!" Crooked Man said in an offended tone. "You will be silent...while we discuss what to do with you."

"This is right bollocks, this! You're just gonna let him do this?" Georgie looked around the room.

"So what do you say, Sheriff, Deputy?" Crooked Man asked Bigby specially. "Can we discuss terms? You can have Georgie... Consider it a gift...ensuring our continued cooperation."

"What the hell?" Vivian yelled.

"Take this fucker!" Georgie pointed at the Crooked Man. "Take all of 'em! I didn't fuckin' start this!"

"Don't make any trouble, Georgie," Jersey told him.

"Are you seriously throwin' me under the fuckin' carriage? After everything I've done for you?"

Sunny looked around curiously. It was interesting how quickly the cracks broke apart. Less than ten minutes in the room, all the Crooked Man's gang were at each other's throats with only a few questions and comments from her and Bigby.

"I think we'll be taking both of you," Bigby said suddenly.

"You're not taking me, you fuckin' ponce!" Georgie backed away and turned to Crooked Man again. "What the fuck is this shit! You said you'd cover for us!"

"For minor infractions, not murder," Crooked Man frowned.

"Just go with him, Georgie! You're gonna sink us all!"

"What's wrong with you people!" Vivian shook her head in disbelief. "You're really gonna sell him out just like that?"

"You think I give a fuck if I'm the one who-who the shit do you think you fuckers are?"

"Just surrender!" Jersey screeched.

"Get the fuck out of here!" Dee added.

"I do apologise, but I think it's best if you leave now," Crooked Man told Bigby and Sunny.

"There's no way I'm going with them! Are you kidding me!"

"Things are about to get unpleasant, and I would rather you weren't here to watch," Crooked Man once again acted as if Georgie wasn't there. Or at least he tried to.

"You can go join that whore at the bottom of the lake for all I give a shit! But he's not takin' me anywhere! I'll roll over on the lot of you before I let that shit happen.

"What are you saying?"

"Yeah. What the fuck? You're gonna make sure we all go down the shitter with you?"

Sunny and Bigby continued to watch for a moment while the lot of them squabbled against each other.

The Crooked Man let out another frustrated sigh. His calm demeanour was starting to melt as he lost control of the situation. "This could have gone so well... But you just had to complicate things. To speak the truth, I've never been a very good mediator... Why negotiate when you can just decide."

Sunny suddenly spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Towards the back of the room was a mirror. A familiar red-haired figure got closer and emerged out of it. Bloody Mary stood tall and gave her unusual cheeky smile.

"Did I miss anything good?" She jokingly asked. Then turned to Bigby and Sunny. "Well, look at you...all fixed up?"

Bigby moved to attack Mary but got knocked to the ground when Georgie hit him in the head with a table. Sunny wasn't fast enough, either. Getting kicked in the stomach by Mary before she could make a real move.

Everyone in the room but Crooked Man and Vivian, started crowding Bigby and Sunny. Ready to attack.

Bigby stood up. His wolf features jumped out as he took a swing at an unglamoured Jersey. He was able to land a punch on him, then grabbed him by the neck to throw Jersey against the wall.

Dum tossed a gun to his brother. Dee took aim at Sunny, but instantly got the gun knocked away by a vine coming from Sunny's hand. The gun still went off and flew into a stained glass window at the front of the room. Stuttering on impact and revealing a portal.

Sunny knocked Dee to the ground but got charged at by Jersey.

"You're done, Wolf!" Georgie shouted as he ran at Bigby with a knife.

As the fighting continued, Sunny noticed Mary leading the Crooked Man towards the portal. "Come on. We're pretty much done here."

"I'd like to say it was nice knowin' you... But I'll be glad to see your insides turned out," Georgie told Bigby as the two continued fighting for the knife. Bigby got the upper hand when he grabbed Georgie's wrist and took the knife from him—using it to slash Georgie across the gut.

"Oh, god!" Vivian shouted as Georgie stumbled back.

Bigby was ready to finish it but got knocked forward as a struggling Jersey bumped into him. He was trying to shake off Sunny, who had an arm wrapped around his neck. Bigby grabbed a nearby lightstick and hit Jersey over the head with it. Giving Vivian and Georgie a chance to escape through the same portal Mary and the Crooked Man had just gone through.

Neither Bigby nor Sunny wasted any time chasing after them. Vivian was rushing Georgie into a car across the street.

"I know, I know," Vivian hushed as Georgie winced in pain.

Sunny appeared out of the portal first and ran towards the car. Right into the driver's door just as Vivian got in. "Vivian! Open the door!"

Vivian ignored her. Instead, slamming her foot on the accelerator. Bigby grabbed the car by the bumper. Stopping it from moving. He was in werewolf form from the night he fought Bloody Mary. Sunny stood back in shock until the bumper broke off the car. Vivian and Georgie sped off, and Bigby chased after them.

Sunny stood on the sidewalk for a moment. Looking around frantically for a street sign. She had no idea where Mary or the Crooked Man were headed but got the feeling that if Vivian and Georgie were going anywhere, it would be that club of theirs.

The run to the Pudding & Pie was exhausting. Probably nothing compared to the chase Bigby was having to catch up with the car. She was totally out of breath by the time she got to the club and was surprised to find no one there. Thinking that maybe her gut was wrong and Vivian and Georgie weren't heading somewhere familiar to them.

Sunny made her way in through the backdoor. She stood there for a moment before there was a rustling at the door.

"Hang on. I need a minute," Georgie told Vivian.

"Okay...How did this happen, Georgie? How did it get like this," Vivian asked as she sat Georgie on the couch.

"Don't worry," Georgie told her. " Well, it won't be your fault... It'll all land on me in the end. Fucking-"

"Hello," Sunny stepped out from the shadowy corners of the room with an unimpressed look on her face.

"Jesus!" Vivian jumped back.

"Shit. Hello, Deputy. I hoped you'd come to your senses," Georgie hissed as he got up to lean against the railing. "Crooked Man's the one you want. But of course, you're too much of an idiot to see that. Or maybe you just like me too much to let me go."

Sunny couldn't help but roll her eyes. In the short amount of time Sunny had known Georgie he had been nothing but unpleasant. "Come on, Georgie. I'll take you to the business office and have something done about the wound."

"You gonna carry me?"

"I'm half tempted to drag you there," Sunny intrusively thought.

"Please, Fei," Vivian stepped out in front of Georgie. "Haven't you done enough? Look at him! He's dying."

"Vivian! You don't know what you're doin'," Georgie hissed at her.

"I'm trying to help you here!"

"Just leave it alone!" Georgie barked.

"You can't seriously want to defend this guy. You know what he did." Sunny shouted.

"It isn't his fault!" Vivian cried.

"He's a murderer! Faith and Lily? He's the reason they're dead!"

"Look, I know he made a few mistakes-"

"What?!" Georgie gave Vivian an angry look.

"A few mistakes?!" Sunny shouted in outrage. "Is that what you wanna call it?!"

"He made sure they couldn't talk with those damn ribbons," Bigby appeared suddenly. Having been listening in from the door. "And then he killed them. You're wearing one yourself! Doesn't that bother you even a little?"

"Of course it does! Those girls, they're like-"

"So it's all my fuckin' fault then? You fucking-" Georgie let out another painful grown as he tried to stand up.

"I didn't mean-"

"You're gonna throw me to the fucking wolves too! You know I didn't have a goddamn choice! What the fuck? Guh. I did what I had to! You can't fuckin' blame me for that!"

"Look, I'm just-"

"Sometimes you just have to do what you're told. Then it comes back to bite you in the ass because some good-for-nothin' crooked bastard decides you're not worth shit anymore!" Georgie ranted.

"Why'd you do it then? Huh?" Bigby questioned. "If it's not your fault then what the fuck happened?"

"Look, Faith and the others tried to pull a runner on us, and as you can imagine the Crooked Man wasn't too thrilled. But of course, the big boss didn't want to get his fuckin' hands dirty...so he told me to take care of it!"

Georgie was raving. Trying his hardest to seem tough despite being hunched over by the pain in his gut.

"You think I don't know what that means? Either I do what he says, or I'm the one getting 'dealt with'! So I fuckin' killed 'em! And I'd do it again! 'Cause it's not my fault! The Crooked Man gave the order! He told me to kill them! And then he fuckin' sold me out! The lot of you can go rot in hell."

"Georgie..." Vivian said with tears in her eyes.

"You think I'm the one to fuckin' blame?"

"That's not what I meant. I was just trying to-"

"I know what you were tryin' to do!" Georgie shouted in her face.

"You're still the one who pulled the trigger! Nobody held your hand and made you go through with it," Sunny pointed out.

"Fine! Believe what you want. I can tell you've made up your mind. Doesn't matter if it's fuckin' true or not!"

Sunny looked at Georgie with disdain. He could cry and cry, but that didn't change the fact that he confessed and bragged about murdering two innocent people less than thirty minutes earlier. All Lily and Faith wanted was better lives for themselves, and according to the Crooked Man and Georgie, that meant they deserved to die.

What a fucking load of bullshit.

"Go ahead and arrest me then!" Georgie continued. "But it won't bring back Lily or Faith! It won't free your friend Nerissa! And I'm just the sap takin' the fall for the whole thing! It must be so easy being you! Just come in here and blame me for all this shit! Job's done, right? Georgie's the bad guy! It's all his fucking fault! But what was I supposed to do?"

Georgie limped over to Bigby. "You don't know what it's like, Bigby. How could you know? And at the end of the day, you're just like him. Come in here talkin' about options...like it was that simple!"

"Stop complaining and take responsibility for what you did!" Bigby spat. "You murdered Faith and Lily! You put those fuckin' ribbons around their necks! You had the power to let 'em go, but you chose not to!"

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about! If I freed them-" Georgie paused as he looked over at Vivian. "What would you have me do? Kill her?"

"Georgie, don't." Vivan cringed as Georgie placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Sunny asked.

"It was them or Vivian! So you tell me! If freeing Lily meant she had to die, do you still think I had a fucking choice?"

"Wait. How is she involved in all this?" Bigby demanded.

"This is the original! 'The Girl with the Ribbon'. I'm sure you've heard the stories. Couldn't take it off, couldn't talk about it. She used her little purple ribbon to make more of 'em. To keep our girls quiet. To ensure 'absolute discretion'."

"You promised you wouldn't..." Vivian stepped away with a betrayed look on her face.

"All that magic is connected to this little thing. You remove hers...and the spell's broken. They're all free! But you know what happens to her? The same thing that happened to Faith. So don't you come in here and tell me I fucked up!"

"What the hell, Georgie?" Vivian yelled as she slapped his hand away. "We were supposed to look out for each other! I trusted you!"

"You can't fuckin' blame me. You're not innocent here either!"

"I know that! But did it have to be like this?"

Sunny stared at the lot of them in horror. "You're sick. All of you."

"You're in on this? I thought you cared about them!" Bigby said to Vivian.

"I do. Of course I do," Vivan shook the tears out of her eyes. "You have to understand...nobody was supposed to die. When we built this place... it was just a stupid idea...a gimmick," Vivan gestured around the room.

'Discretion is our guarantee'... That's how it started, anyway. This was supposed to be our place. We were gonna be in charge for once, and nobody would try to control us, or use us... That was the point. Then the Crooked Man showed up, and everything just turned to shit."

"So, do you get it now? Why I couldn't just-" Georgie said. "If you still think it's so fucking simple, then you do it! Go right ahead! Kill her then!"

"Shut up!" Sunny yelled. Hardly believing what she was hearing.

"What? Getting cold feet?" Georgie yelled back at her.

"Stop it!" Vivan looked around with fear in her eyes.

"I told you...sometimes all your options are shit. What the fuck are you supposed to do then?"

"We're not playing this game, Georgie," Bigby growled. "No one's killing her!"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not even here!" Vivan screamed. Her eyes flashed to each of them. "You think this is hard for you? My life is such a fucking burden on your conscience! Don't I get a say? It's my life! Like it was any of yours to give up in the first place!"

"I wasn't really-" Georgie tried to say.

"Just shut up!" Vivian stepped away from them. Her whole body was shaking.

"Vivian, I'm not gonna kill you," Bigby told her with his hands up.

"I know that," Vivian said as she reached for the ribbon.

"Vivian, don't-" Sunny reached a hand out to Vivian.

"I'm sick of everyone thinking they can just... do what they want with my life. I thought it would be different here. But it's all the fucking same."

"Vivian. I didn't mean-" Georgie tried to approach her but keeled over in pain.

"Do you think I wanted to be this person? What I've done to Faith and Lily...to all of them."

"Vivian...wait... I-"

"Every day, I have to look Gwen and Hans in the eye and pretend I don't care. I have to forget what I've done to them. What I took away from them," Vivian said through tears. "I look at Nerissa, and I hate myself."

"Vivian..." Georgie tried to reach for her.

"I can't pretend anymore."

"What are you doing?" Bigby tried to get closer, but Vivian kept backing away until she was up against the wall.

"Vivian, don't do this," Sunny begged.

With a sad smile, Vivian pulled the ribbon. "Goodbye, Georgie."

Vivian's head fell to the floor with a thud. Followed by her slumping body. Georgie crawled towards her as he cursed over and over again. "Why'd you have to do that, Vivian? Vivian! Shit."

Sunny backed away as both she and Bigby stood there. Not really knowing what to say.

"Vivian... I didn't fuckin' mean it. I was just-" Georgie cried as he held her body. He picked the ribbon off the floor and placed it in her hand.

Bigby's shock turned to anger as he stomped over to Georgie. "Get up. Get UP!"

"Don't think so, Bigby. I'm gonna die here. I think we both know that. Just make sure you give the Crooked Man the same treatment when you find him. Really fuck him up for me, alright? For both of us. You know the bastard deserves it."

"Why do you care? Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself here?" Bigby scowled.

"Just wanted a nice image to part on," Georgie sighed. "Old foundry by the river. Alright? Sheppard Metalworks. He'll be there...the fucking asshole. You wanna finish me off now? Or do you plan to kick me around a little first? Rip my limbs off one by one? That's what you wanna do, right?"

"You deserve worse than this, Georgie," Sunny told him.

"I suppose you're right," Georgie coughed. "No more games, alright? We both know how this ends. Just make it quick."

"I'm not your friend, Georgie," Sunny narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't owe you anything."

Sunny walked away as Bigby looked back at her. He let out a huff as took underserved pity on the dying man. Sunny heard the sound of flesh ripping as she walked out the door.

Evening folks! I got no major notes for this chapter, but I do have a fun little creative update: I'm experiencing my first proper writing burnout EVER! Like seriously, I'm trying so hard to work on other OC stuff, but my mind is filled with so many anxious thoughts lately.

"Is this too similar to that?" "Is this inappropriate?" "Should I even be trying to write a story for this fandom or should I just leave it in the dust?"

Don't worry you're still getting the rest of Heads Will Roll. Benefits to writing the whole fic before posting lol
I announced it on my Tumblr, but I will be taking a break from writing for all of January. Hopefully to reset my head, and give the anxious thoughts some space.