The Great Escape

Summary: What happened to Luke? This chapter is set right before/during the finale.

A/N: In the finale, the man interrogating Captain Irving almost says something about Detective Morales, and we kind of assume that he's wanted for murder, but I think maybe Luke is missing and they don't know what happened to him. I think Luke is going to have to face what's going on in Sleepy Hollow and decide if he's going to help the Witnesses or not.

I know we're worried about Jenny, but don't worry, I'll get back to her story soon! For now she's been flown by medevac to the hospital. She's going to be okay, but she is badly hurt and she's going to need some help finding her sister and Crane.

…

Luke

It was cold. Luke shifted his stiff body and blinked his eyes. He was sprawled on a hardwood floor in a small room.

He froze. 'Where am I? How did I get here?' A hundred questions filled his mind in quick succession.

'This is bad. Definitely bad.'

Suddenly he remembered the words of an old Army buddy who'd once told him, "If you ever wake up and you don't know where you are, just pretend to be asleep until you remember, because someone is probably watching you!"

He'd laughed it off at the time, since he wasn't the type to get blackout drunk, at least not after the one time. But all the same, he held still for another moment, listening, trying to recall what had happened.

It was quiet. There were no voices, no footsteps, nothing but the sound of the wind in the trees. There must be a window open somewhere.

That's right, he was at Captain Irving's cabin secluded away in the woods outside of town. He and Devon were supposed to set up a guard to watch Irving's daughter and wife, but the last thing he remembered was standing outside, by the car, shortly after they'd arrived.

Luke groaned as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. How long had he been lying there? From his awkward position, if seemed like he'd just collapsed onto the floor.

"Devon?!" he called and then thought better. Something was seriously wrong here and maybe it'd be best to stay quiet for now.

He stood up, finding himself in a small bedroom. There was a twin bed and a desk with a pile of notebooks spread across it.

Next to the desk was a wheelchair, knocked over on its side. That belonged to the Captain's little girl. Where is she?

Every sense on alert, Luke pulled his gun and held it carefully at his side.

The bedroom door was ajar. He moved quietly out into the main living room. At first glance the cabin appeared deserted, but the front door was open, letting in a cool breeze and the nighttime sounds of the forest.

"Captain?!" Luke called out cautiously, but there was no immediate response.

"Devon?! Hello?"

Again, no response.

Luke stepped further into the living room. The furniture was all pushed awry, as if there'd been a struggle, and all but one lamp had been knocked over.

Then he saw the priest's body crumpled on the floor, his neck twisted at a wholly unnatural angle. Luke's eyes widened with horror.

Acting quickly, he checked each room in the cabin. Clear. The killer had left already.

He ran out onto the wrap around porch and down the ramp to the driveway. Apparently everyone else had left as well. Captain Irving's car was gone, but Luke's squad car and the priest's car were still parked on the gravel.

'Now, did they leave voluntarily? That's the question. Probably not,' his mind raced, dreading the worst, 'Why would they leave me behind?'

Luke continued looking around for any clues, any piece that could explain his current situation, his lapsed memories. He didn't see any sign of another vehicle's tracks or of forced entry.

'Where did the killer come from? Did he leave with the Captain and his family? But the little girl needs her wheelchair. None of it makes any sense!'

Luke walked around the porch again, pausing by the sliding glass door. He rubbed his foot against the ground. There was something gritty spread across the floor, near the doorframe. Bending to look, he could just make out a white powder, spread out like someone had dropped a salt shaker.

An awful feeling of dread welled up in his stomach. Luke gripped his gun tightly and turned around gradually. Eyes wide to take in every detail of his surroundings, Luke scarcely breathed as he searched, looking for what, he didn't know, but he knew there was something missing. He'd missed something important.

Time seemed to grind to a snail's pace as Luke ran to the porch railing, his pulse pounding in his ears, and vaulted over the side. He landed heavily right next to the prone figure, barely visible through the bushes.

"Devon! Can you hear me?!" Luke yelled desperately, "Devon! Come on, man! Don't do this now!"

Hands shaking, Luke knelt and cradled his partner's limp body in his arms.

"No! Devon, no. No…" he moaned.

He'd lost too many friends in the war. This shouldn't be happening, not here. Nothing in this town made any kind of sense anymore. He felt like his life had become a runaway railcar, careening off the tracks into the unknowable.

Luke fumbled in his pocket for his phone, meaning to call this in to the precinct, there was an officer down! His friend had been tossed aside, neck broken, for no reason! But there was no reception this far out in the woods.

He shoved the phone back into his pocket and stood, hands clinched into fists.

"I will find who did this. I promise," he said more firmly than he felt, "I will make this right."

Luke walked back around the house, intending to use the radio in his car to call for help, but stopped short when he noticed a small security camera set up in one of the windows. Dimly he remembered bringing the gear and setting it up before Captain Irving arrived with his family.

Luke rushed inside to check the security feed. The cameras would surely have captured anyone approaching the house. The killer must be on there.

It was well after midnight and it looked like the house had been quiet for hours. Luke reversed the recording to the very beginning and started the playback.

He saw himself and Devon testing the cameras, making sure the angles were right so that every approach to the cabin was covered. There they were, by the Captain's car in the driveway, helping his family unload. That was the last thing he remembered, standing by the trunk, Devon placing his hand on his shoulder and saying something.

After that his memory went black, but there he was on the laptop screen, walking back into the cabin. A few minutes later, he and Devon left again, checking the perimeter. They stopped at the sliding glass door and Devon bent to look at something and then stood back up.

What came next happened so quickly, Luke thought, 'No, that's impossible,' and had to backtrack the recording and play it again. Luke watched himself grab his partner from behind, struggle briefly, then snap Devon's head sharply to the side and throw him bodily over the railing before calmly entering the house.

Luke stared at the laptop, stunned, unable to comprehend what he'd seen.

A few minutes later the other camera showed Captain Irving and his ex-wife leaving through the front door. Captain Irving was walking quickly but his ex-wife stumbled and grabbed his hand. They walked to the Captain's car, followed by a strange figure that was small in stature, like a child, but it moved…strangely. It seemed to blur and flicker on the recording, like maybe it was really a shadow.

The small car on the video drove away and the cameras continued recording. Nothing else happened on the screen.

Luke stood locked in place, staring at the laptop but not really seeing anything for long minutes, trying to put an explanation, any explanation, together in his head.

'There is no way I killed my partner. I would never do something so terrible. But that was me on the video. How? Even if I wanted to, which I have never wanted to, there's no way I'm strong enough to grab Devon and hold him tightly enough to kill him like that! Even during sparring practice, he nearly always beat me. I only rarely got the upper hand on him, even when I tried to surprise him.'

Luke stood there for a long time. It didn't make sense.

He looked down at his hands.

'The last thing Devon must have felt is betrayal. He trusted me. We swore to protect each other.'

'I need to get out of here,' Luke decided at last, forcing his shocked mind to move forward again.

'When the others come back, and somebody will come back, sooner or later… they will see all this and what other conclusion is possible? I'll be arrested for murder.'

'No! I'm not a murderer!' Luke reached out decisively and grabbed the laptop, snapping it closed and yanking out the power and the video receiver.

'I have to get out of here,' he thought, tucking the laptop under his arm and walking towards the door, 'until I can figure this out…'

He broke into a run. Yes, he would run, until he could sort out what was going on.

Luke drove into the night, speeding along winding back roads. He had no idea where he was going; just that he had to go further, deeper into the mountains, far away from this cursed town.

The laptop sat on the seat next to him, where Devon usually sat.

'Devon trusted me. What happened to me? How can I trust myself?'

….

To Be Continued!

A/N: I know this chapter was really dark, but I kept thinking about how traumatized Luke would be to wake up in that situation! I don't think we've seen the last of him yet!

Also thank you for all the awesome reviews! Makes me happy :D

Preview: Ichabod has been buried alive so he doesn't have much time to make his escape, but even so it is more than enough time to be tortured by thoughts of regret and worry for Katrina, kidnapped by Headless, and Abbie, trapped in purgatory.

I don't want to give away what's going to happen, but I will say that Yolanda will play a large role in his rescue!