SUMMARY: Things in Sleepy Hollow have changed for the two witnesses. New allegiances will be formed.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Sleepy Hollow

PAIRING: Ichabod/Abbie

RATING: T+

ON THE OUTSIDE:

"What do you mean it's me?" Abbie asked taking a small step back from Ichabod. There had to be space between them for her to think. She wasn't sure what it was Ichabod was trying to tell her. Since coming back from Purgatory, every feeling she'd been having in regards to him had only been growing stronger. It was as if her heart, her soul was trying to tell her something that her head was denying.

Ichabod dropped his hands to his sides, fingers twitching in a nervous tick that he'd had since childhood. "I've been trying to figure out what it is about you that keeps me anchored in this time, in this place. Because of you, I've acclimated to this world. Why?" He wondered. "Our bond has something to do it, but what else could it be that I'm not factoring in?"

"What're you saying?" Abbie asked and on impulse her hand reached out resting over his heart. She could feel the strong, steady beat against her palm. His heart meant so much to her. When he was in danger, no matter what was coming for her, there was always a moment where her heart stopped if Ichabod was the intended target. Abbie had never known anyone like him before. He could see into her with vivid clarity, read her in such a way that didn't completely anger her. Abbie was always most relaxed when she was with him, when he was smiling at her, or when he was telling her some outrageous tale that had to be true because in the end, Abbie knew that Ichabod had been there. Those stories she loved the most, even though half the time she made it seem like she was annoyed by them.

"I'm not sure there is a word that could classify my emotions for you." Ichabod answered with a shrug. "What I feel doesn't fall under the category of love or devotion. It couldn't be that simple." Years ago Ichabod thought he'd found his soul mate in Katrina, and if they had stayed in the Colonial Era, she may have well continued to be the perfect woman for him. At least he thought that until meeting Miss Grace Abigail Mills. In her, he'd found a woman who would always be there, always tell him the truth, fight with him when needed, and at the end of the day they would come together to solve any problem set before them.

"The only accurate description for the pair of you would be Soul Mate." Mary spoke up from next to Ichabod. "The universe has been waiting for the two of you to meet for a long time. Now that you have, you can never part. I think you know that too." This was what she was trying to get Ichabod to come to terms with. She wanted him to shed the last few threads holding him to his previous life.

Ichabod looked down at the luminescent mark upon his chest. It was then he realized that the hand print was the same size of Abbie's right hand. "Trust me," He whispered as he took her hand where he placed it over the mark on him. With a last glance over his shoulder at Mary, Ichabod said, "This is my choice, and I shall not waver from it ever again."

Abbie, at first didn't know what was happening. Ichabod was looking at her so intently, seeing into her that for a moment everything faded away. That's when it started. There was searing sensation on her chest mirroring where her hand was on Ichabod's chest. He placed his hands on her hips, steadying her. "What the hell…?" Abbie bit her bottom lip but didn't take her hand away from the mark.

Mary stepped up close to Abbie, making sure she didn't touch the other woman. "Follow the pain, don't run, don't fight it; just follow. Let it wash over you, through you; let it guide you to him." She whispered.

Abbie didn't look to her left, she kept her eyes locked with Ichabod's and she was doing what she was told; she was following the pain. She could feel the nerves in her chest being branded all the way until it touched her heart, until she could almost feel the beat change, sync to Ichabod's. His heart beat under her hand and her heart beat in time to it. A gasp escaped her. "Oh, my god…" Still, she didn't remove her hand.

Ichabod breathed in feeling her hand rise as his chest did. "I came here to try and understand where my life was heading, why it was unfolding in such a manner. Coming to this time, meeting you, I've never felt more at home try as I might to fight against it." Slipping his arms fully around her waist, Ichabod pulled Abbie close to him. "I know now that I can't go back to who I used to be, not without sacrificing some personal peace that I've found. I refuse to be in this life without you."

Abbie closed her eyes for a moment, tears filling behind her lids. It was almost as if she could feel is heart beating within her own chest. This went way beyond their shared dreams. There was this warmth filling her up, surrounding her; so much happiness. Opening her eyes again, Abbie took a deep breath seeing Ichabod through the haze of her tears. Feeling it was ok to take her hand from the mark, she wrapped her arms around his waist as well. It was then that Ichabod held her as he had done in Purgatory right before she was left there. Only, this time she knew he wouldn't let her go.

Ichabod rested his cheek on top of Abbie's head breathing in deeply and his eyes glancing at Mary. "Time to wake up." He whispered. Mary nodded, motioning for Ichabod to part with Abbie. Reluctantly he did so.

Abbie did as Ichabod had done, she dropped her arms, and waited for what they were to do next. Though, since most of this was from Ichabod's subconscious, she was a bit worried about what would happen. "And how do we do that?" she asked turning her attention to Mary as well.

"Just wake up." Mary answered.

Ichabod opened his eyes in the same tent he'd fallen asleep in, but something was different. Looking to his left he saw Abbie there. He immediately sat up, went to his knees next to her, and rested his hand on her shoulder shaking her gently. "Abbie? Wake up Abbie!" Fear gripped him. She wasn't waking up. Why wasn't she waking up? "Abbie!"

Abbie watched Ichabod vanish, but she was still standing before Mary. "What's going on? Why am I still here?"

"Because I needed to warn you… about Katrina." Mary said.

"Really?" Abbie said crossing her arms over her chest, immediately going into cop mode. "Why would you want to warn me?"

"Because, you're better for Ichabod, he's better when you're around. Katrina is poison, not fatal, but poison all the same. She will blind Ichabod, if she hasn't already."

"Oh, no, she has." Abbie interrupted. Mary motioned for her to continue. "Katrina was taken by the Horseman of Death. Ichabod wanted to go in headfirst, no plan, no weapons…. If I'd let him, we wouldn't be here."

"Then you definitely know what it is I'm talking about." Mary responded.

"I do." Abbie nodded. "She's…" She let her words die off not wanting to say anything for how it would make her sound; the jealous other woman. Abbie wasn't jealous of Katrina, not one bit. If anything, she was angry, and was trying not to be. At the end of the day, it wasn't her place, until not that was.

"Be on your guard around her." Mary advised. "Something is coming for Katrina, something evil. It's only a matter of time before she turns." Reaching out, Mary touched Abbie's shoulder. The next thing Abbie knew she was waking up with Ichabod's concerned face looking down at her. He didn't give her a chance to shake everything off. Ichabod wasted no time in pulling her up into a sitting position so he could wrap his arms around her. She did the same, her hands clutching at his back. Not even the pain in her shoulder could keep her from holding onto Ichabod.

Ichabod knew Abbie was alright, logically he knew she was ok, but when she didn't wake with him, there was a small instantaneous trickle of fear that screamed at him she wasn't going to wake up. Then her eyes opened and he was relieved. It was still a few more seconds before his brain let him remember that she was wounded. Ichabod pulled back, "Your wound, I forgot…"

Abbie touched the tips of her fingers to his lips to stop him from talking. "I don't feel it." She breathed out and then dropped her hand back down to his chest. "I only feel this…" Under her hand his heart beat strongly, as if it beat within her own chest. Ichabod mirrored her, his hand rested lightly over her heart, his thumb touching the bandage over the right side of her chest.

"Are you ready to be on your feet?" Ichabod asked, simultaneously they dropped their hands. Their actions were beginning to sync up. The sensation felt good to Ichabod. Before, he could read Abbie like a book, often teased her about, but now, he was able to feel what she was about to do. Abbie was about to reach up, to touch her wound in a self-comforting manner, Ichabod took her hand, his palm touching the back of her hand and their fingers lacing mere moments before she touched her wound.

Abbie smiled, keeping her fingers laced with his they got up together. Once they were standing, she asked, "Do you feel that?" She wasn't sure how to explain it, how to use the right words to convey to him what she was feeling. Abbie could feel the breath in his lungs, feel the way his blood rushed through his veins, and she could feel his emotions towards her. They were strong and warm and they filled her with a light she'd not known in years.

"I feel you." Ichabod answered. "The breath in your lungs, the beat of your heart, the emotions going through you, I can feel it all." He bent at the waist touching his brow to hers. "Everything you are, I feel as if it's what I am as well." Opening his eyes, he looked down to see faint traces of his hand print resting over her heart. For reasons unknown to him, pride filled him at the sight of his mark upon her. They belonged to one another more fully than he and Katrina could ever hope to have been.

"Pride," Abbie giggled. "What's that for?" she asked bringing her hand up to cup his face, the bristles of his beard tickled her palm. There was this emotion running through him that she couldn't name fully. It was more than pride, more than contentment; it was just more. She needed him to tell her what it was he was feeling.

"I belong to you, Grace Abigail Mills, now and for the rest our live. I belong to you." Ichabod knew what he was saying, knew the full extent of his words. If there was ever a time he wanted to fully be with someone, now he knew that person was Abbie. He knew the moment they walked out there, everything would change; absolutely everything.

Abbie sensed the sudden apprehension race with Ichabod. "Hey, it's gonna be ok." She assured him, letting him feel her utter surety. "The moment we step out there, we're not going to change, but the world around us might. I know there will be things you have to do and I'll be right here for you." Despite her words, he was still hesitant to step outside. And then it clicked. "You hate confrontations unless you've no other choice."

"It's not that I dislike them, they are just…" Ichabod started to explain and then abruptly stopped. Reflexively his free hand started to twitch. "Confrontations are always best avoided when possible, all civilized men…."

"Are not you," Abbie interrupted just to tease him.

"I assume Katrina is out there?" Ichabod asked with a nod from Abbie. "She and I have been growing apart since she was freed. But I believe the last string holding us together was Mary; the lack of remorse she showed. In my time, she was all I saw, all I wanted. Katrina was the reason I fought to make the America of our dreams. It's disheartening to know that it was all a lie."

Abbie rubbed her thumb across his cheek. She could feel the bitterness he was trying to battle back and lock deep down inside of himself. "I'm sure there were moments that were real, the memories that can still make you smile."

"I don't have that anymore." Ichabod leaned his face into her palm with a sigh escaping him. "All I need is you. You're the reason I can smile, the reason I can find the meaning in this new era."

"Then you know walking outside is the final tie that gets cut." Abbie muttered starting to feel some of the apprehension he was feeling. It was bleeding into her try as she might to keep it out. "Hey, it'll be ok."

"I know, I just wish it didn't have to be like this." Ichabod sighed.

"Can't have everything…" Abbie responded. Then like a whisper through her mind she thought she heard Ichabod mutter. "I do, if everything is what you are."

"How do I do this?" Ichabod asked genuinely confused as to what to do next. Katrina was, and is, a large part of his past. Up to the moment he'd left Abbie in Purgatory, she'd been all he'd thought about.

"Just be honest, even though it's gonna hurt like hell." Abbie answered. "And, I'll be right here." For a second she took his hand, their fingers lacing together. She wanted him to feel her, to know that she was truly there for him no matter what happened next.

Stepping outside of the tent Ichabod saw Miss Jenny and Katrina waiting for them. The other Mills had worry lines creasing her brow as she paced back and forth wearing a path in the earth beneath her feet. She stilled when her eyes turned to him, and then to her sister. Ichabod felt relief wash through him; it was coming from Abbie. A few seconds later she was smiling and so was he. But it faded when he set his eyes upon Katrina. He felt betrayal well up inside of him, and it carried over to Abbie. He knew they would have to work on building barriers between them so they could at least function from the day to day, but until then, he needed Abbie to be his stability. Silently, he pleaded for her help, for her guidance.

Abbie tried to filter out Ichabod's sadness, his returning apprehension as to how he should approach Katrina. It was distracting her, until she too was looking at the witch. Every feeling of disappointment, of confusion, and of betrayal filled her. Abbie wanted to tell Ichabod to snap out of it, to stop filling her with all of these negative emotions. She was seeing his wife through his emotions as if they were her own. They looked at each other, the need to speak gone from them now. Ichabod gave her a pained look, and Abbie offered him a small smile of support. She summoned up all of her courage, all of her determination, and all the honesty she could; she let it fill him, let it guide him to the actions he had to take.

Katrina saw Ichabod come towards her, he seemed changed; his demeanor calm, almost cold in regards to her. She shook her head. "No, do not…." Looking beyond him, she saw Abigail standing with her sister. The second witness was just as stoic. Some part of her knew this was coming, this split between them was too great to be mended. Ichabod's eyes alone told her of his intent. "You cannot do this to me." Katrina spoke when he stood before her, his hands at his sides.

"I am not alone in this, Katrina," Ichabod muttered. He could feel the strength Abbie was sending him, drew it into him, used it to steel himself for what he had to do. To this world, he and Katrina had long since been buried in the earth; their marriage a thing of the past that they alone remembered. The tenuous emotional ties that had held him to her broke the moment he left Abbie in Purgatory. After that he'd tried to be a good, loyal husband but there was too much mistrust between them now, too many questions that were only answered with lies.

"Everything I have done…" Katrina tried but her words died on her tongue. She had sensed this was coming for some time, but had never wanted to believe it. "You would choose her over me?" She asked even with all the evidence laid before her.

"It is a choice I have fought against making every day." Ichabod answered. "I have tried to hold on to this, to us, but there is nothing binding us together anymore. You value your secrets more than you value me." He wasn't blaming her. His heart had not been in their marriage for some time. That wasn't entirely her fault, nor his. There was only the pale shadow of love between them. At least it was for him. "'What you choose to accept will eventually become yours.' You said those very words to me once. And now I have chosen." He knew it was coming, but didn't stop her reaction to his words. Katrina's hand connected with his cheek snapping his head to the left.

Abbie hadn't expected the slap to feel as if Katrina's hand had struck her instead of Crane. She brought her hand up and cradled her stinging flesh that had translated from him and into her. Ichabod looked at her, concern reflected in his eyes. He had felt that she felt it. "I'm ok." She whispered knowing that she didn't have to raise her voice. Ichabod felt the words on her lips as if he was speaking them himself. This new twist to their connection would take time to learn, time to manage.

"How can you do this?" Katrina asked. "How can you destroy us?"

"Because, there is nothing more to our lives than shattered memories and broken trust." Ichabod answered.

"My faith in you has never wavered." Katrina was trying to keep the anguish out of her voice as she stood before the man she loved while he was ripping apart their life together.

"But mine has in you." Ichabod replied truthfully. "We've grown apart, we've grown cold no matter our attempts to rekindle the flames of our love."

"One of your more endearing qualities," Katrina sighed, "Your poor ability to lie." One of her fears in this new era was losing the one thread she had tethering her to this time. Abraham had been right, he was casting her aside. "We can never truly be free from one another, try as you might to move on."

"Katrina, it is not about me moving on," Ichabod brought his right hand up to cover his heart. "It's about staying true to my heart. Our time is over, and it can never be reclaimed try as we might to forge new bonds in this era." A weary sigh escaped him. There was more he should say, but his words were inadequate.

"Crane?" Abbie called out taking a step closer to him. She stopped when Katrina looked at her, anger firing her green eyes. Abbie knew this was hard for her, it would be hard for any woman to stand idly by while her life was turned upside down. There was the need in Ichabod to say more, to try and explain things until Katrina understood fully, but she never would. Ichabod looked at her then, softness in his eyes bringing a smile to her lips that was mirrored on his.

Katrina could not believe what she was seeing, even as she had seen it before in Purgatory. She was watching the connection between her husband and Miss Mills grow ever stronger while her heart was breaking. "How can you two stand there like that?"

Abbie spoke up this time, taking steps away from her sister and towards Crane. "We never asked to be thrown together. We never asked to be Witnesses but the universe had other ideas." Her words were laced with anger, an anger brewing inside Ichabod that he was careful to keep off his face. "You weren't there when he learned you had his child. I was. You weren't there when he learned that Death had been his best friend. Me, again. And many other revelations I was the one who helped him come to terms with when we weren't battling hellish nightmare monsters set against us by Moloch." Now came time for the truth she hadn't wanted him to know, not yet anyway. "I had no idea what was ahead of me the moment I met him, the moment he opened my eyes to everything that was going." Abbie looked at Ichabod, let him see the truth of her words. "I never asked to fall in love."

"Abbie…" Ichabod's breath was stolen from his lungs at her deeply heartfelt confession. Now he knew the position Katrina had been in when she made the choice to break her troth to Abraham. He looked at Abbie, feeling all his love for her, the love she held for him, mingling together while being keenly aware of Katrina watching them. Once more, he turned his gaze towards the woman he had held to wife, but the feelings for her were but dim embers in the light of what Abbie had just told him.

"This is how Abraham must have felt," Katrina breathed out taking a step back from Ichabod. "All I have given up, all I have gone through and this is where my life ends up?" She asked in pure disbelief.

"Katrina…" Ichabod had the familiar urge to soothe her. It was an urge born of friendship before love had taken hold of him.

"Don't." Katrina held her hand up. "I can't even look at you now."

Jenny stepped around Ichabod and Abbie going to Katrina. She wasn't sure how she would be received by the witch, but that didn't stop her from saying, "Let me take you out of here." Katrina turned sorrowful green eyes on her, nodding her consent. Giving her sister a look that said 'stay as long as you want' Jenny led Katrina away, back to where the jeep was parked. She knew that neither one of them wanted to be around for whatever happened next between the Witnesses.

Katrina couldn't believe what had happened. This wasn't supposed to happen to her, she wasn't supposed to be losing Ichabod. Not now, not ever. What if he was right? What if they were never meant to last in this new world? Some part of her had sensed that they were off from the moment she was freed from Purgatory. What place did they hold together in this new America when they had done nothing but fight to build this age of freedom? Katrina didn't have any answers. All she knew was her heart was breaking and there was nothing she could do. Not as a human anyway. She was witch. Her problems could be solved with magic. The foundations of a plan began to form as she walked away with the young Mills.

Abbie watched them leave feeling a tiny stab of remorse for Katrina. Was her sadness over Katrina hers, or was it an echo of Ichabod's? She had never set out to destroy the marriage Ichabod had with Katrina. Ichabod's hands came up in response to her emotions. He framed her face bringing a gasp of shock from her. "This was the last thing I wanted…."

"I know," Ichabod cut Abbie off. "This is not at all what I wanted either." When he woke to this new era, the one thought that kept him moving forward had been his reunion with his wife, with the woman whom he loved more than anything. Yet, the moment he met Abbie, he saw something in her that had become to change him inch by inch. As much has he wanted Katrina, he dreaded the moment that he would be separated from Abbie to return to his status as husband. "But now that I have you, this life, this time, means more to me than it did before."

"How do we do this? How do we continue on when all I feel is you?" Abbie asked. Each breath he took, she felt as if he was breathing with hers as well. She felt his heart beat align with hers. They were going to have a time learning to control these feelings. She could feel the small dying ember of love Ichabod had for Katrina, the glow was growing fainter and fainter the more she stood near him. She tried to think passed the touch of hands, the warm reassuring weight of his body.

"I know not how to answer." Ichabod replied tilting Abbie's head back so that he might touch his brow to hers, so that he might breathe in as she breathed. As his hands rested on Abbie's face, he felt the pale shadow of it upon his flesh. It was intoxicating, and hard not to get drawn into all the sensations running through Abbie's body. He could feel her love, her regret, her wonderment all mingling together. "This is most amazing." Ichabod breathed out rubbing his thumb across her bottom lip, the mirrored touch upon his own lip.

"And distracting…" Abbie mumbled turning her face into his right palm, placing a gentle kiss there. She felt it mirrored in her own palm. "We're going to have to find a way to put some barriers in place. If trouble comes our way, we're…."

"Going to need a clear mind in which to act. I agree." Ichabod finished her sentence.

"So, we're going to do this?" Abbie asked, sensing Ichabod's answer. "But we do this on our own. No one can know the true depth of this bond. I'm not even going to tell Jenny." She stated.

"You have my word." Ichabod knew that such knowledge, if in the wrong hands, could he used against them.

Abbie sensed the desire Ichabod had; he wanted to kiss her, to feel what it was like just once before they began the arduous task of blocking the other. "Go ahead." She whispered bringing her arms up to drape over Ichabod's strong shoulders. "I want you to." After that he needed no other prompting. Ichabod sealed his lips to hers stealing the oxygen from her lungs. The electricity that leapt from her to him nearly had her breaking the press of their lips. She had the full sensation of his skin to her, but like with the touch of his hands, she could feel the way her lips touched his.

Ichabod thought his heart would burst from the emotional overload, the multitude of sensations running through him, through Abbie. He broke the kiss, gasping, his chest rising and falling with intense effort to calm his body's reaction to Abbie. "That was…" He had not the words to convey his wonderment. The pure bliss coursing through his body, but looking into her eyes, he knew he needed none. She felt it too.

"I know…." Abbie breathed in resting her hand over his heart. These last few days had been one twist and turn after the other ending with her standing her, in this moment, in front of Ichabod more connected to him than she had ever been to anyone in her life. She could be the cop, pointing out all the ways this new level of their bond could be used in the battle against the Moloch, but staring into his eyes, all those words died inside her. Abbie could only feel his love for her. "Let's go home." She took his hand cementing her future with him.