All Tangled Up

Disclaimer: Sleepy Hollow is not mine. I just borrowed them. I am so happy that they have been renewed for a third season! On with the story!

This is not the first Sleepy Hollow story I have written, just the first one that I have typed. I hope that you Enjoy!

Sheriff Reyes looked up from her desk as her Lieutenant and her shadow trailed in behind her, still standing tall and proud despite being covered from head to toe in burrs. Reyes snorted a laugh; Lord only knows what those two got into when they were chasing down the idiot that decided to hold up the Starbucks that they had been in just that morning.

"Mills!" Reyes barked out coming out of her office.

Mills stopped short and came to attention immediately, her shadow doing the same. "Yes Sheriff?"

"I hope that your jaunt in the woods was successful?"

Reyes took great pleasure in the way that Crane's jaw rippled with annoyance and yet stayed blissfully shut. Mills glanced up at Crane for a moment as if to make sure that he would stay silent. "Yes Sheriff, Edmund Richards is in booking now."

"Good. Make sure that your report is on my desk in the morning."

"Ma'am?"

Reyes turned back to Mills and Crane. "Go get your partner sorted out Mills. Don't make me regret allowing your consultant to come back to work with you. I expect a FULL report of what happened."

Abbie turned to Crane and nodded, "Of course ma'am. First thing in the morning. C'mon Crane, let's get you sorted." Abbie spun on her heel in a quick about face before heading back out of the station. Crane inclined his head in an acknowledgement to the Sheriff and turned to follow Mills out of the station, a few burrs falling off his coat along the way.

"Alright everyone, back to work! Show's over!" Reyes barked again before heading back into her office.

They had managed to get most of the burrs off his pants, they removed easily, however the ones on his great coat and in his hair were going to take time. Abbie drove to her place. Crane had been there a number of times already, so he gave little protest when she pulled into the parking lot of her building. "You know you didn't have to chase Richards into that grove." Abbie admonished closing her car door and pushing the lock button after Crane had followed her out.

"Be that as it may Miss Mills, as you say, the perp was getting away," Crane huffed a little as he fell into step with her.

Abbie just shook her head. There was no point in telling him that she could have circled around the grove to catch him on the other side, but when they both slid in that mud patch and tumbled down the short but steep embankment into that bramble she had feared that he had seriously injured himself. In that instant just before he popped his head over the edge, hauling a dazed Richards up onto solid ground again, both covered in burrs, Abbie wondered if it would be something so stupid that would take Crane away from her. It was not a pleasant thought. "Just…" She sighed as she unlocked the door to her apartment and let them inside, "just don't scare me like that ok? You and I need to fight demons and stop the apocalypse from happening. I don't need you to crack that noggin of yours on some stupid rock chasing after some thief that we would have caught eventually."

Crane had the decency to look at least a little embarrassed, "Of course Miss Mills. My deepest apologies, I will endeavor to be more cautious."

"Good. Now let's get you 'sorted out' as Reyes instructed. Why don't you take your coat off, carefully, and lay it on the coffee table. I'll bring out the things we will need to keep the mess to a minimum," Abbie instructed sliding off her shoes and hanging up her jacket with practiced motions.

Crane toed off his tall boots, setting them neatly next to hers on the boot mat and padded in socked feet to the living room area carefully carrying his burr covered coat to the coffee table. He had barely closed his fingers over one of the burrs just as Abbie came back to the living room carrying a couple of brushes, what looked like a comb but the teeth were far too small and a waste basket. She set the items down on one of the couch cushions and pulled one of the throw pillows off and placed it on the floor between her spread feet. "Have a seat here."

"On the pillow?"

Abbie sighed amused, "Yes Crane on the pillow. Look, you can stick all that leg of yours under the table and pull the coffee table closer so you can work on getting the burrs off your coat while I get the ones out of your hair. AH!" She admonished as he opened his mouth to argue with her. "You will not be able to get the worst of them out yourself. Just let me help, it will be an efficient use of our time."

Crane hated it when she brought logic into their arguments, she tended to have many valid points that he could not contend with. "Very well," Crane sighed and folded his tall frame onto the pillow and stretched his legs out under the table. He was grateful for the pillow, the floor tended to be a bit unforgiving,

They worked in silence for a few minutes, the television was tuned into one of the music stations call the Spa, but the volume was low enough to be just background music. Crane's deft fingers plucking the burrs from his wool coat with relative ease to get the collected ones off each other before tackling the ones stuck to the weave of his jacket, was accompanied by the gentle tug of the ones from his hair as Abbie's sure fingers systematically removed the burrs without causing Crane any undue hair pulling.

Once the majority of the larger burrs were taken care of, both on his jacket and in his hair Abbie handed him the smaller comb like object. "This is called a de-fuzzer. It is generally used to get pills, those little fuzzy bits on a sweater or wool jacket that get created over time with wear, off of clothing. Just gently brush it with the knap of the wool to start. It should release the burr seeds enough for you to get them off," Abbie explained.

"Ah. Excellent. Thank you Miss Mills," Crane stated as he started to brush over the burrs slowly releasing them from his beloved frock coat.

Abbie was able to finally get to the strip of leather that held Crane's queue in place and unlaced it to start combing through small sections of his hair, depositing the burr seeds in the waste basket beside them.

"My momma did this for me when I was younger," Abbie stated as she gently combed through the first section.

Crane noted the soft tenure of her voice, like she was remembering something good but slightly painful. "Oh?" he inquired just as softly.

"Mm hmm. I was like six or so. There was this boy picking on Jenny at recess saying that she looked dumb in her new fall dress and pigtails. So I stepped in and told him… well I don't rightly remember what I said to him, but I do remember the shoving match we got into. It ended with us tumbling down the hill into a thick patch of burrs before the teacher was able to separate us and haul us down to the principal's office."

Crane could imagine Abbie defending her sister's honor in such a way, even back then she was a force to be reckoned with. He turned his head to the side a little as she combed through a few of the strands there pulling some more of the burr seeds out. "They had called my mom, who came down to the school to collect me. She didn't say a word. She didn't have to. We left and she took me home, sat me down on a pillow much like this and began removing the burrs from my hair."

Ichabod turned his head to the other side so that she could continue the work there when she was finished with the first. He had finished with his coat some time ago, the wool once again free of burrs and actually looked a little fresher than when he had first woken up.

"My hair is a bit thicker and coarser than yours when it isn't styled properly, it took my mom about 2 hours just to get to the point we are now…"

Crane turned sharply causing a sharp tug to the hair just over his ear, "Truly?" he inquired even as he winced in pain at the tug.

Abbie smirked, "Sorry," apologetic for the tug but he had brought it upon himself. "Yes truly. All the while not saying a thing. It wasn't until she was brushing the last the few burrs from my hair did she speak."

Abbie set down the comb that she was using and picked up a soft bristled brush from beside her. She brought it to the peak of his forehead and dragged it gently over the crown of his head, over and over again in soothing motions. Ichabod had forgotten what it felt like to have his hair brushed. It brought back fond memories of his childhood and his mother brushing out his hair when he had spent the day tumbling through soft grasses chasing after butterflies in the fields by his home. "What did she say?" he inquired softly.

Abbie smiled while continuing to brush through his soft wavy locks until they shone. "She said 'Abbie, while I am very proud of you for defending your sister the way that you did, fighting for the sake of fighting is not the answer. There is always another way.'"

Crane's eyes snapped open at those words. She had said them to him when his Mason brother bade him to kill himself. He had said them to her when she chose to remain in Purgatory. Abbie knew that he recognized what she had said the moment she said it. She watched his shoulders stiffen up a bit at the words, but she continued to brush through his hair.

"I have never forgotten that moment," Abbie said. "I have always looked for another way for as long as I remember. Sometimes I did the wrong thing, took the wrong path. But there has always been another option."

Crane reached up and gently grasped Abbie's wrist as he pushed the coffee table away so that he could turn around to kneel on the pillow and look at her square in the eye.

"You are correct Abbie. There is always another way. Forgive me again for being so foolish in my actions today. I cannot promise for certainty that I will not be foolish again in the future, but I do promise that I will endeavor to look for the other options before I act," Crane looked deep into her eyes as he held her hand gently removing the brush to entwine their fingers together.

Abbie looked down at their entwined hands and back to Crane's piercing blue eyes. She reached up and grabbed a fist full of his shirt and tugged him that much closer, almost so that their noses were touching. "Make no mistake Ichabod Crane. I need you here. You and I we are in this together. I cannot do this without you and if you go around chasing ordinary criminals and get yourself hurt or worse I will let Reyes bench you. Do we have an understanding?"

Ichabod swallowed hard, he remembered the term 'benching a player' when they had been watching a baseball game and a player had been taken out of the game by the coach because he wasn't catching the ball, even the easy ones. The fire in her eyes when she said that she needed him stirred something that he had long since set aside. He unconsciously licked his lips and watched as her eyes flicked downwards for a moment. "I do believe we have an accord Abbie," he breathed out before pressing his lips to hers gently to seal their understanding.

Abbie gasped a little, allowing Ichabod to flick his tongue into her mouth briefly before pulling back as far as Abbie would allow, her fist still curled in his shirt.

"Wha… ahem… what was that?" She breathed.

"We sealed the accord, Miss Mills," He smirked softly. "If it was not to your satisfaction, perhaps a fist bump would be in order."

"No, no it isn't that. Just… perhaps… we should try that again, so that I get all the details of sealing the accord correct." Abbie said demurely, her eyes searching his in question.

"Of course Miss Mills, we must be thorough," He acquiesced before pressing his lips to hers once more as the hand not tangled up in his shirt, tangled itself into his de-burred hair. His long fingers trailed gently up her arms to cradle her jaw and thread themselves through Abbie's own dark locks.

When the need for air became a necessity they pulled back, short panting breaths fanning out over each others face. They smiled brightly at each other before curling up on the couch together to enjoy their new accord.

*fin*

Reviews are appreciated.