Note: Adding a few things that weren't in the show for reference here. All in good fun.

Part Four - The Lessor Key

"Lieutenant?" Ichabod asked as he sat beside the stalwart policewoman's desk.

"Yes Crane?" Abbie Mills was just putting the finishing touches on her latest stack of paperwork. Being a liaison to the FBI didn't mean she could neglect her other cases after all.

"Have you spoken to Agent Potter recently? It has been a couple of weeks since our last misadventure."

In spite of herself, the Lieutenant smiled. When she'd gone after the departing Agent following the sealing of the sandman, the two had simply shared an uneasy silence that turned into comfortable companionship. Since then she had made a point of at least calling him every day to make sure he was still alright following their shared emotional experience, and the two had developed an easy, fond, dialogue.

"Yes, Crane, I have. He is looking into a couple of things with Elizabeth and should be getting back to us soon enough. He's powerful enough to handle a lot of the easy stuff without us you know."

"Yes, well, perhaps you should go see him anyway. He could need your help and not even know it."

A strange look was in his eyes as he said it, and it made Abbie curious. "Is there something you're trying not to say there, Crane?"

Appearing baffled to have been found out so easily, the Brit merely folded his hands behind him and muttered, "I have noticed, and so has Ms. Elizabeth, that the two of you tend to smile more when around each other."

Mills was aghast. "You two talk about us!"

"We talk about a great many things. Elizabeth is a fantastic conversationalist and the stories she has about her travels are simply marvelous. I've considered writing them down in a book."

Abbie rubbed the bridge of her nose between her fingers for several seconds before grumbling out, "The two of you have far too much time on your hands." Regardless, she wouldn't say the thought of going to see Harry was unappealing. "Fine, I'll go and see if he has anything that needs our attention."

She scooted her chair back before standing up and only then realized that Crane was not following her motions. "Are you coming?"

"No, sorry. I was going to see Ms. Jenny up at the institute. She has added me to her approved visitor list and I wish to update her on our situation."

"Why would you do that?"

A far away look entered Ichabod's eyes as he answered, "She is a solider far removed from the war she dedicated her life to. More than that, she has rather suddenly found that she is no longer fighting said war alone. I can relate to her struggle in many ways and I want to make sure she knows she has at least one friend in this conflict."

Abbie wasn't really sure how she felt about her partner and estranged sister getting so chummy all of a sudden, but if it kept Crane out of… whatever was going on with her and Harry all the better. That whole situation had her incredibly confused.

The two of them had shared a couple of definite moments during the sandman case, and she'd be lying to herself if she said there hadn't been a spark between them building for a while now. And why not, he was tall, powerful, handsome in ways she hadn't known she liked before, and confident. On top of that he seemed to definitely approve of her and support her goals in law enforcement. Goals that all of her previous boyfriends had degraded or outright scorned. The only problem she had had with her growing attraction was that he was already married, but even that had a remedy because she now knew both he and his wife were open to others in their relationship.

The whole idea of being in a throuple was different than anything she had ever known, and as she left the station and started her car she found herself wondering if it was something she could truly find happiness in.

Harry's Cabin

"Thanks, kid. You don't know what saving him means for me."

"Relax, Slade, If Erza or Caroline had been in a similar straight I know you'd have done the same."

"It's different and you know it. That there is the last of my bloodline, the last chance I had to cleanse my soul before passing on. Here…"

"Your hat? Carter I can't take this!"

"You can and you will. I've lived a long time and I'm finally ready to take my last ride. This here holds the last of my power and I'm sure you'll find a better use for it than I ever did. A good one. Promise me kid, you'll be a better man than I was."

"…I'll try."

"Carter!" Harry shot up in his bed, sweat soaking his chest and breath heaving in his throat. In the kitchen he smelt his wife cooking a pan of eggs and bacon, subtly letting him know that everything was right with the world. He sighed and wiped the grime from his nightmare off of his brow.

He hadn't thought of Carter Slade in a long time. They'd met in the middle of a battlefield, held off an enemy force together, and ended up traveling in the same group. The man had seemed to be looking for something just as much as he was, so when it was time to leave that dimension, the cowboy had jumped at the opportunity to follow. For more than half a year they'd traversed the astral planes, picking fights, getting drunk, and having an overall grand time. Erza had never really thought much of him, but Elizabeth had adored him. Then Caroline… Slade had officiated their wedding to her.

He sighed, threw on a set of sweats and made his way through his morning routine before finally leaving the room. He smiled as he saw Elizabeth at the stove, wearing nothing but a cooking smock and a smile.

"Morning, Love." She crooned as her man held her from behind and kissed her cheek. "I made breakfast."

"I can see that. And a lot more besides."

The black haired woman tilted her head cutely as she regarded him, "Well putting on so many clothes this early in the morning just seemed a bit too troublesome for me today. For that matter, you seem to be wearing a bit too much. Why don't you follow my example?"

Needless to say, breakfast was served cold that morning.

When all was said and done, and empty plates lay before the couple on their bed, Elizabeth reached up to run her fingers through her man's hair. "You were tossing and turning all night, Love. What was going through that big brain of yours?"

Harry sighed, knowing he'd never be able to keep anything from his first love. And he shouldn't have been surprised that she surprised him this morning as a way to make him feel better. "More dreams. Memories."

She nodded, "What about this time?"

"Slade. The day he gave me his hat. The day he died."

"Oh." She was silent for a moment. "He had a right to choose his own time."

"I know. I don't know why that memory came to me, but it just wouldn't leave."

"And now?" Her fingers moved to cup his chin and he leaned happily into them.

"Now, I'd say you've taken all my worries away."

Elizabeth smirked, "What kind of wife would I be if I couldn't do that? Now what's the plan for today?"

"Well, we've already dealt with a dream haunting sandman, ravenous witches, headless horsemen, a zombie sabertooth tiger, a preacher possessed by the ghost of a civil war era prostitute, and a crossdressing warlock. I'd say we've earned a lazy day to ourselves."

"Oh really?" Elizabeth stretched her lithe body like a cat before rapidly spinning in place to cocoon herself in the comforter, leaving her husband naked in the cold fall air. "Well I'm going to take a nap then. You wore me out. What are you going to do?"

Playfully grousing about the loss of heat, the wizard redonned his sweats and stood up. "I'll just go tinker with the bike for a bit. The carburetor has been making a strange noise lately so it probably needs a tuneup. After that who knows? I'll probably read a book."

In a drowsy voice Elizabeth said, "I got you the latest Jim Butcher novel. It's on the shelf."

Harry looked back at his wife to thank her, but she was already snoozing, and cute as a button. He smiled warmly and kissed her cheek without waking her before heading outside with his tools.

That was where Abbie Mills found him when she rolled up in her police issued crown vic. Kneeling in front of his bike and working away at it with a wrench. She sat there for an embarrassingly long time, just watching him work and enjoying the view before shaking her head and getting out, finally drawing his attention when her car door closed behind her.

He stood up, wiping his hand on a dirty bandanna that he stuffed into one of his pockets. "Ms. Mills, a pleasure." The smile on his face made it clear that he meant those words.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She gestured to the bike, "Problems with the old horse?"

"Nah, the beauty runs like a dream. Just a couple spots that needed tightening. Is this a social visit or…"

For a moment Abbie toyed with the thought of saying yes and just spending the day with the handsome Brit. The thought was incredibly appealing. But she had a job to do, and she took it seriously. "Sadly, no. I came to see if you had any leads on anymore supernatural occurrences. Things have been quiet lately and the entire department is a bit on edge. They may not know everything but-"

"But they can tell something has been going on, and they feel like a storm is about to strike. Yeah, I've experienced the same several times. The anticipation is almost worse than the actual combat. I'm sorry, Ms… Abbie, but I've got nothing for you. Elizabeth and I were actually taking the day off. You're welcome to join us if you like. I can tell Irving you were helping me with a couple of leads."

Abbie smiled at the suggestion. Now that her 'duty' was out of the way, she was more than happy to…"

"Lieutenant?" Crane's voice came over her walkie and with a groan she ripped it from her belt to answer.

"It's a bad time, Crane."

"Yes, I'm sure, but I have a bit of news you must be made privy to."

With Harry waving her on, the Lieutenant asked, "What is it?"

"I went to visit Ms. Jenny, but she was gone. She has escaped from the institution!"

Harry clapped his hands and turned to walk back to his cabin. "Well, the day off was nice while it lasted. You get the details and I'll grab my stuff, and yes Elizabeth counts as stuff in this context."

An hour later they were pulling up to the psychiatric institute. Harry in his jeans, flannel, coat and hat, Elizabeth safely concealed within his shadow. Crane was waiting outside with Captain Irving.

"What happened?" Abbie asked the moment they reached them.

"Nothing great." Crane explained. "I arrived, asked to see Ms. Jenny, and when the orderly went to notify her as to my presence, she found her missing from her room. I called you and Captain Irving, and he confirmed that an institute van was also missing. Considering the last room check was last night, Ms. Jenny has a full days head start on us at the most."

"We need to issue a state wide bolo." Irving said. "Jennifer Mills has a mountain of priors and has shown in the past that she is incredibly dangerous and violent."

Abbie spoke up, "Sir, please hold off on that. Jenny was almost up for her probation, I can't see her just running off for no reason."

"Then why do you think she left?"

"Recently she found out that Corbin had been killed, and it seems the two of them were quite close. Close enough for him to maybe leave her some unfinished business."

Irving looked from her to Potter. "You think this is related to your supernatural shit?"

"I do." Harry nodded.

The captain thought it over for a moment before sighing. "The safety of the public is my top concern, and like it or not Jenny is a threat. I can give you twenty four hours, but then I need to warn the people that a dangerous woman could be amongst them.

"We appreciate it."

"Yeah I'm sure you do. Look, I'll be at the station if you need me to run interference. Call me there when you've found her."

The older man took off and Harry eyed his partners. "Well that was easy."

"Easy?" Abbie parroted, "We only have twenty-four hours and we have no idea where she might have gone."

"Speak for yourself, Abbie. Our resident time traveler here spoke to her at length so he might have some ideas. Quite the ladies man aren't ya Crane?" Harry winked at the Brit earning an overly English eye roll in response.

"As it so happens I do. Ms. Jenny mentioned a rather strong relationship to the late Sheriff Corban, so logic would dictate she'd go somewhere important to him. Does he have any properties in the area that are out of the way?"

Abbie thought the question over before nodding. "As a matter of fact he does. A small cabin in the woods."

"Man had class." Harry noted, but the other two ignored him.

"I can get us there in thirty minutes."

True to her words the crown vic was crunching on the crushed rubble drive of a masterfully maintained cabin. The trio got out and started up the steps.

"So this is the place huh?" Harry noted. "Shame it wasn't on the market when Liz and I were looking. We'd have snatched it up in a heartbeat."

Abbie looked over at the man, cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes. "Yeah, I noticed you two seemed to have a liking for out of the way places. Is it the whole… cowboy thing?"

"What? No. We just don't like crowds. Too many people in one place remind us of the battlefields we used to walk. In contrast waking up to nature is just calming."

"Sounds nice."

"You have no idea."

"Um, sorry to interrupt your moment." Crane spoke up, "But is this door supposed to be unlocked?"

In an instant Abbie and Harry's guns were in their hands. "No it is not."

The two moved in, crossing the threshold and fanning out over the living room with Crane walking safely behind them. An unfortunate position as out of the shadows of the kitchen hallway Jenny swept into the room, wrapped an arm securely around the Brit's throat and pressed the muzzle of her pistol against the side of her head.

"Hey there, handsome. What's a fine thing like you doing in a place like this?" she purred.

Stiffening in place, Ichabod replied, "Oh you know, searching for fair maidens like yourself."

"Ooh, such a charmer."

"Drop the gun, Jenny!" Abbie had heard the sound of her sister's voice and reacted accordingly. Harry meanwhile was starting to move along the wall for a better line of sight.

"Don't try it bearded wonder." The younger Mills sister ordered.

Harry stopped. "It's a goattee."

"All facial hair is the same."

"It most certainly is not!"

"Harry!" Abbie interrupted the odd byplay, silencing him with a word before turning back to her sister. "Jenny you need to drop the gun and surrender to me."

"Not gonna happen, liar. You turned your eyes from the truth but not me. I have things to do, responsibilities to keep."

"Listen, in less than twenty-four hours you are going to be the subject of a statewide manhunt! I'm doing everything I can to keep that from happening but I need you to come in!"

"And you expect me to just trust your word? You've lied to save yourself before!"

Tiring of this entire situation Harry reached his hand behind his back and Elizabeth raised his staff from his shadow into his grip. A wordless summoning charm later and both Abbie and Jenny's guns were ripped out of their hands and summoned into his own.

As the escaped convict reached behind her back he said, "I'll just summon whatever weapon you have back there too."

"I'm not going back." She hissed.

"And I won't make you." He responded, earning shocked looks from both of the Mills sisters.

"What?"

"What!"

Harry eyed the two with vague amusement before he said, "Three things. First, you were in the psych ward in the first place because everyone thought you were crazy. That's clearly not the case. Second, I'm willing to bet you had a damned good reason for getting out of there like you did. Third, I'm a federal agent and I've been given a metric shitload of leeway and authority. As far as I'm concerned the charges are dropped and you're free to go."

Jenny's lips were trembling, "R-Really?"

"You cannot be serious." Abbie's hands were on her hips and a stern look on her face. "What about the weapons, assault, and smuggling charges?"

"Gone."

"Just like that?"

"Well…" Harry eyed the taller Mills sister, "hey Jenny, what would you say to working for me at the FBI? You'll be aiding me in fighting all this paranormal shit."

"You want me to be a Fed?"

"More like Fed adjacent. You'll get a pardon, a steady paycheck, and a slush fund to aid our little war."

"I have your word?"

"You have it."

Jenny thought about it for a minute before releasing Crane and moving over to offer the wizard her hand. "You got yourself a deal, black hat."

"The name is Potter and I'm pretty sure you know it. Harry works too. Now, what was so important that you needed to bust yourself out of the looney bin?"

Smirking at her glaring sister Jenny moved over to a particular section of wall and knocked on it hard with the side of her fist. With a thump it descended to reveal a hidden alcove full of a random smattering of objects. "Before Corban died he came to see me. Said he thought something was coming for him, something bad, and that if anything were to happen to him I needed to get to this and hide it where it could never be found."

She returned with what appeared to be an old sextant in her hands. "I don't know what's so special about the damn thing but he was very specific."

In a second the object was out of her hands and in Crane's own. "I might have an idea." He mused and moved over to one of the free tables with a lit lamp. He quickly put it on its side so that the light was shining straight into the eye of the sextant, causing a holographic image of a map to appear on a blank space of wall. "And there it is. General Washington was very fond of such devices and puzzles. He used several similar methods of hiding information with his spy rings behind British lines."

"What is it?" Abbie asked, temporarily distracted from her annoyance at her FBI partner.

"It looks like a map of Sleepy hollow." Jenny noted.

Ichabod nodded, "From my time."

Sadly, they didn't have long to peruse it much before the windows exploded in and gunfire erupted from the yard.

"Get down!" Harry hollered, grabbing Abbie and diving her down behind the surprisingly sturdy couch. Jenny flipped a table and Ichabod took cover in the hall. He tossed everyone pistols and a second later the door burst open revealing a group of five men, each armed with automatic weapons and kevlar vests.

"Open fire!" The wizard ordered. Popping up with his partner he started firing hellfire rounds directly at the invader's torsos while Abbie and Jenny went for the heads. From behind Crane appeared to have found a knife in the kitchen and he was dispatching the attackers from close combat.

Harry's rounds lit them up like concussive napalm, Abbie and Jenny put down their targets with deadly accuracy, and Crane proved to be a skilled physical combatant because his blade was moving faster than the eye could track.

As fast as the attack had begun it ended. Five bodies on the floor and four combatants sweeping the grounds to make sure there were none left in hiding. Soon enough they were meeting back inside and checking the corpses for clues.

"Hessians!" Crane hissed as his perusal revealed a particular tattoo on his corpse's neck. Seeing everyone's confused looks he elaborated. "Hessians were German mercenaries that fought for the British during the war. They had hands in many acts that could be called strange or… unethical. The horseman was one." A strange look came over his face, "All five of these have the same tattoo. Could there be a sect in sleepy hollow?"

"If they operate in the same way terrorist cells do then there are probably multiple ones." Abbie mused, "I'll notify Irving."

As she moved off to do just that, Jenny pulled her new boss aside. "There's still one question remaining. What is so important about that map that a secret paramilitary team would break cover to try and take it?"

Glancing at the still shining object Harry mused, "Well there's literally an 'x' to mark the spot there. Maybe we go take a look and find out."

Jenny's grin was positively sharklike. "That sounds like a good old fashioned treasure hunt, boss. I love treasure hunts."

With the map in hand and Crane to serve as a guide with his eidetic memory and knowledge of the old ways, the group quickly found themselves searching out an old church. They were confused for all of five minutes before they started noticing strange runes at random points carved into the stone that eventually converged into one point beneath a stone altar. Harry took one look at it with his senses open and immediately started backtracking.

"Everyone back away slowly." His voice was deadly serious as he started taking exaggeratedly slow steps backward. The others were quick to follow his example.

"What is it, Harry?" Abbie asked when they finally made it back behind the pews. A place that was apparently safe.

"That's a literally goddamned hellmouth if I ever saw one."

"A what?"

"A portal to hell." Crane whispered in terror.

"Or a similar dimension." Harry whispered. "Trust me, there are many that are far worse than what you imagine."

"So what do we do?" Jenny answered in kind.

Harry eyed her, "Do you think anyone would notice if I called in an airstrike?"

"You can do that?"

"What part of metric shitload of leeway and authority did you not understand?"

Abbie cut in then, "An airstrike won't work. Too many homes in the area that could still be occupied. Also, pretty sure there's a rule about bombing religious sites somewhere. What else you got Merlin?"

"Don't call me that. Ever. I've met the guy and he's an asshole." He rubbed his face tiredly for a moment before Elizabeth rose out of his shadow and took his hand.

"This won't be like Sunnydale. The portal has not yet been opened. There are other ways to bring this place down." So saying she strutted forth across the ground, dodging her husband's arms, and placed her hands on the floor directly in front of the alter. A second later all present watched in awe as a spectral tear in the world burst into existence in front of them, slowly expanding to swallow the alter, the pews, and eventually the entire structure of the church before them. A moment later it collapsed on itself and sunlight shone upon an empty lot and a deep crater in the ground.

Elizabeth wobbled for a moment before falling back into the waiting arms of her man.

"Where did you send it?" He asked.

"Near as I can tell, Krypton."

"Wasn't that planet dying?"

"Exactly."

"Good girl."

Things went rapidly from that point on. Harry notified Boothe about the removed Hellmouth, and spent an entire hour explaining to Brennan (who of course was listening in) just what it was. She was surprisingly knowledgable about inter-dimensional physics. Go figure. Irving identified their Hessian corpses and led raids on their homes that revealed horrifying torture rooms and books of doctrine. Jenny moved into Corban's old cabin, but she wasn't alone. Abbie didn't want her left unsupervised (no matter what Harry said) and Crane was tired of his hotel, so he took the other bedroom. It was strange having a female roommate but he was willing to give it a try.

As for Harry and Abbie… He was back to endlessly fiddling with his motorcycle and she was availing herself of Elizabeth's offer for tea. The two were sitting in the living room, chatting simply, and watching the wizard work through the bay window. Rather… Abbie was watching him and Elizabeth was watching her.

"You like him don't you?" the dimensional traveler smirked.

"W-What?"

"My husband. You want a shot at him."

Abbie's first instinct was to deny it, but the brunette woman's eyes were in no way angry, instead they were warm and understanding. How could anyone lie to such a face? "I don't know." She admitted. "I think so. We had a moment."

"Ah." Liz didn't say anything more until she'd had another sip of her tea. "That's how it started with Erza too. If it's me holding you back, you shouldn't let it bother you. I just want my husband to be happy, and though he will never admit it, I know he is always happiest when he is able to share his love with others. He was made for multiple partners." She reached forward and took her hand. "Life is short, never deny yourself the chance for happiness of your own."

"And you're sure you're okay with it?" Abbie was still getting used to a man's wife actively trying to get her man to date another woman.

"As I said, yes." She still hadn't released the other woman's hand. "You're my friend, Abbie, and if all goes well we'll soon be more. I couldn't be more okay with this if I tried. Now, Harry won't ask you out first so you'll need to ask him."

"Why?"

"He didn't have the best childhood and it left its mark. I know he seems super confident and self assured, but there is a big fear of rejection inside his heart. You may have noticed he isn't always the best with people. But I tell you now that if you ask him he will definitely say yes. Both Erza and Caroline had to do the same to make it clear they wanted him. So how are you going to do it?"

The two spoke well into the afternoon, all the while watching the man they hoped to soon share keep working on his bike.

Note: Yup, I slid some more worlds into the backstory. What's the point of multiple realities if you can't shamelessly reference them?