A/N: Sorry for the delay, lots of stuff going on in real life.

Part 38

Steven dropped off Angela and Ichabod at home, and then went back out to the pharmacy to get the prescription filled.

Ichabod seemed to be doing better, at least, up until Angela unlocked the door. They walked in to find Enzo now awake, playing video games in the living room.

As soon as Enzo said hi, Ichabod doubled over in pain, wrapping his arms around his stomach and breathing heavily.

"Oh, Christ," Angela muttered, as she got closer to the constable. She put her hands on his shoulders to help support him, "What's wrong?"

"Hurts..." Ichabod whispered. He was having a hard time standing, and Angela could feel this, so she quickly led him over to the nearest chair and helped him sit.

"Worse than before?" she asked, kneeling down in front of him.

"A little..." he cringed, and began curling up on the chair as best he could.

Angela sighed, "I'm sorry. Steven will be back in a little bit. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Before Ichabod could answer, Enzo appeared in the room. "What's wrong with him?" he asked, callously. He was starting to get tired of Ichabod's crap.

Ichabod glanced up at him, his face turning extremely pale. Without any real warning, he coughed, then threw up all over Enzo's jeans and shoes. Ichabod groaned when he was done, then collapsed back on the chair, eyes closed.

"What the hell?" Enzo yelled, "Angie, what the hell is his problem?"

Angela glared at her brother, "He's sick! He didn't mean to do that. Stop screaming and go change your clothes." She was in no mood for any fighting right now.

Enzo scowled, but walked off to change. As he left, Angela couldn't help but wonder if her brother's presence had anything to do with Ichabod's predicament.

Ichabod's eyes fluttered open a second later, snapping Angela out of her thoughts. He groaned again.

Angela frowned, "I know it hurts, darlin'. I'm so sorry." She reached up, and began stroking Ichabod's hair, trying to at least give him a modicum of comfort.

"Don't..." he said, pulling away, "I'm already... enough.. of a burden on you...", he swallowed, painfully, trying to ignore the burning feeling from where stomach acid and blood had touched his throat.

Angela was surprised, "What do you mean? You're not a burden on us."

"I heard you," Ichabod said, wrapping his arms around himself again, as if defending himself, "I heard you talking. It's okay. I'm sorry for it, for coming here. If I had a choice I would've just stayed in Sleepy Hollow and let the Horseman get me."

"You heard me talking to Steven," Angela stated, "Oh, darlin', no. I might get a little annoyed sometimes, but it's only because there's so much going on. I'm always busy and tired, ya know? You've done nothing wrong."

Ichabod considered her words for a moment, before nodding. Angela stood up and rested a hand on the sick man's back. He leaned in and rested his head on her stomach. "You're a good boy," she murmured, running her hands though his black hair once again.

Steven came home a few minutes later, holding the medication in a bag. Angela was very happy to see him.

"Thank god you're back," she said, taking the medicine. Both of them looked down at Ichabod, who was still very pale and sick looking.

Angela opened up the medication, which was liquid, and poured it out into the small measuring cup that came with it.

Once again she kneeled next to Ichabod, and offered it to him.

"Take this," she instructed, watching as he downed it.

"The package insert says it will take a few minutes to take effect. Do you want to go lie down?"

Ichabod nodded weakly, and allowed Steven and Angela to help him stand and get up the stairs. Once in the bedroom, they helped him lay down.

Soon as he was horizontal, Ichabod curled up again, this time, shaking.

"I know, I know, it hurts..." Angela cooed, gently running her thumb along his cheekbone, "It'll feel better soon."

Angela stayed upstairs for most of the rest of the afternoon, just sitting with Ichabod, trying to comfort him as best she could. He seemed to be doing better, the medication was working, but the past few days of stress had taken a toll on him and he still seemed very weak. He had bags under his beautiful eyes and looked very gaunt.

Angela wondered to herself how she missed all of this. She felt extremely guilty for it. In the end, she supposed, she had just been so happy to see her brother that she'd been ignoring the person she was supposed to take care of.

Sometime around three o'clock, Angela went downstairs to get some water and food. She reasoned that perhaps part of the reason Ichabod was so weak was because he hadn't eaten in a long time, and had thrown up everything that was in his system.

She came down the staircase just in time to see Enzo carrying his suitcase out to the car.

"You're leaving?" she asked, a bit surprised.

"Yeah. Sorry Ang. I really don't want to spend my week off dealing with this. Maybe next year, yeah? If he's not with you," Enzo replied, sneering when he mentioned Ichabod.

Angela really wanted to reply something nasty, like how whatever he'd done to the poor constable outweighed anything that Ichabod could've done to annoy him, but she figured it wasn't worth it. She loved her brother, and wanted to see him, but not at the expense of her innocent houseguest.

"Yeah. Okay. I understand," she answered. "Give me a call when you get back to DC, alright? Just so I know you made it back alright."

"Sure thing. I love ya, Angie. You really are a saint."

Angela nodded and half smiled, "Thanks."

Enzo gave his sister a quick hug, before walking out and heading off.

Part 39

By this point, Angela was fed up enough with everything to just say 'screw it'. It was the last week of school before summer break any way, and she had tenure. Plus, her and Steve has some money saved, so she ended up calling out the rest of the week to stay home with Ichabod. She did plan to go in on the actual last day, to say goodbye to her classes, but that was it. She could live without the pay.

Over the next few days, Ichabod's condition varied. Some days he felt much better. On those days, he would go with Angela as she ran errands or see friends. Other days, especially if there was any type of stress involved, he was much worse, and essentially bed ridden.

Thankfully, by the time the end of June rolled around, things were looking up. Some days were still bad, but most were tolerable. All of the medications Ichabod was on seemed to be working, so at least Angela felt comfortable leaving him alone in the house now and then.

Part 40

In the beginning of July, Steven came home early from work. He ran up to the bedroom, where he knew Angela and Ichabod were. He found them both there, lying on separate beds. Angela was reading a book, while Ichabod was engrossed in yet another showing of Happy Feet. He seemed to like that movie, for some reason, so Angela had bought a Blu-ray copy and kept it on hand for especially hard days.

"Hey guys," Steve said, as he walked into the room.

"You're home early," Angela commented, watching as a smile crept on to Steven's face.

"Yes... well, I have some good news," he started. Hearing this, Ichabod turned his attention from the movie to Steven. "We finished the project this morning. We'll be ready to use it tomorrow!"

"Oh wow!" Angela exclaimed, "That's amazing. That means you'll get to go back, Ichabod! Ah, shit, we have a lot of preparations to make... I thought it'd be a little farther off.. Steve, call the doctor and have him refill your script tonight, so Ichabod can take it with him. And we gotta get you back into your old clothes..." she said, looking over at Ichabod, who had an odd look on his face.

"Aren't you excited?" Steven asked, noticing it, "You'll probably be better off, in your time... since it's your world and all... it'll be less stressful than this one."

Ichabod nodded slowly, "I... um. Yes, I'm happy," he said, quietly, though it didn't seem convincing.

"You'll need to come to the lab with me around seven am, as it will take a few hours to prep the machine."

"Have you tested it yet?" Angela asked, "I mean, you know it won't hurt him or anything, right?"

Steve frowned, "Well, that's just it. We can only really send things or people one way, not bring them back too. All of our calculations indicate that a living organism should survive the trip, though."

No one really knew how to reply to that, so Steven spoke again, "It's really the only shot we've got, guys."

Angela sighed, and Ichabod nodded, and everyone went to prepare for the next morning.

Part 41

That evening, the trio had one last dinner together, and sat around talking. Angela and Steven were going to miss their houseguest, and Ichabod was going to miss them. Knowing that there were no means of communication made it even worse; this goodbye was for good.

Prior to going to bed, Angela helped Ichabod set out everything he would need for the next day. His old clothes were laid out, along with his medications – enough to last a couple of months, at least. He'd also asked for a small photograph of Angela and Steven to take with him, as a reminder of their friendship. Something he could keep in his notebook and take with him when he traveled. Steven printed out a few photos, ones of just him and Angie, and one of the three of them together, and put them into the journal for him. No one really got any sleep that night.

Part 42

Ichabod, Steven, and Angela arrived at the lab at 6:45, and as Steven had said, preparation took several hours. It was 11:30 before the machine was up and running. It was pretty amazing to look at, everyone had to admit.

The machine was huge, and controlled by computers hooked up in another room. It looked like a doorway made out of titanium, and a pale yellow aura glowed around it. Steven explained that the aura was actually a field of particles bouncing around within a contained area, and that those particles would be brought to a specific speed. For each time period, there was a slightly different level of movement necessary.

When they were at the correct speed, the one that would lead to 1799, the aura would turn a greenish color. It would only be a few seconds before the object within the machine was sent to its destination.

The only problem that Ichabod should theoretically have to face was getting back to upstate New York, as the machine could only move time, not transport anything across distances.

They planned to send Ichabod back at noon, as that would give him an adequate amount of daylight to find a place to stay, or begin his trip back to Sleepy Hollow. As the clock drew closer and closer, Ichabod, Steven, and Angela embraced one last time, saying their final goodbyes.

Ichabod did not seem keen on stepping into the machine, especially considering the loud buzzing sound it was making as the particles were sped up, but he realized that he really had no choice. It was his only shot at getting back to his true world.

Sighing, the pale man stepped into the frame of the machine, and closed his eyes. Steven explained that he may feel a slight bit of pain, but that it should just be a slight discomfort at most, and that the process would be fairly quick. After wishing him luck, Steven went into the other room near the control panel.

"Here's to making history," he said, as he and Pat touched the panels to finish the process.

Part 43

From the other room, the scientists could hear the buzzing sound get louder and louder. That was to be expected.

What was not expected, though, was the lights in the room flickering on and off, and then the sound of what seemed like something getting hit by an electrical current. A loud, sickening thud followed.

Quickly, Steven hit the emergency shut off button, though it took a good five minutes for the room to be deemed safe enough to enter.

When they finally managed to get in, everyone had to hold their breath. A light gray smoke filled the entire area, and there, lying prostrate on the ground about fifteen feet from the machine, was Ichabod.

Steven and Pat rushed over, checking to see if the man was breathing. He was, but he seemed to be unconscious. Ichabod's hair was sticking up in all directions, and there was a small trail of blood falling from his mouth.

"Shit, I think the current was too strong… it must've zapped him and the force must've thrown him here," Pat said, pulling out his phone. Steven sat next to Ichabod as the other scientist called 911.

The paramedics arrived soon, and took Ichabod to a nearby hospital. Angie, who had been in the control room during the mishap, went along with them, while Steven and Pat tried to figure out what to do next.

The machine itself looked to be essentially destroyed. The sides of it were scorched, and no matter how hard they tried, they were unable to get it to even turn on. The wiring was fried. All of their months of work were now officially down the drain.

Part 44

"He's got a concussion, but besides that, only a few first degree burns," The doctor, a tall, thin, blond woman in her 50s explained, "He should wake up soon."

"So he'll be okay?" Angela asked.

"Yes. He's quite lucky, actually," the doctor replied, "Considering the voltage that hit him, he should really be dead."

"Well, I guess someone up there was on his side," Angela said, smiling. She turned her attention back to Ichabod, who was currently lying on the hospital bed next to her. The doctors had removed his slightly burned clothing (all of them giving the set of old looking clothes a second look) and dressed him in a hospital gown. His hair was still sticking up all over, but they'd cleaned him up otherwise, bandaging the few bad burns he had, and wiping the blood from his face. Currently, he just seemed to be sleeping peacefully, his mouth slightly open as he breathed in and out.

She'd just moved to wipe some drool from his lips when her cell phone went off. It was Steven, calling to explain how the invention was completely destroyed, and how they were probably going to be unable to get funding to try it again.

Angela sighed, feeling somewhat disappointed and somewhat relieved. Only a second later, she realized the true implications.

"I guess that means he'll be with us permanently, then, yeah?"