A/N: 01.24.2018
HOLY CRAP! I AM SO SORRY YOU GUYS! I WAS GONE SO LONG! I hope you guys will accept my apology and the latest chapter of this story.
Chapter 2: Begins Again
Abbie and Ichabod were eating their lunch at a nearby restaurant when they saw their friend and ally, Ray Merck, walk inside.
"Ray!" Abbie said, as he approached. She stood and hugged him. "Been too long."
"Hey, Abbie," Ray smiled. He looked at Ichabod as Ichabod stood up, "Hey, Ichabod! Ain't seen you guys in a while, either."
"Ray," Ichabod said as they shook hands and hugged. "It's been too long since you've visited us."
Ray shrugged, "Keeping myself occupied."
"Well, glad to see you," Abbie said. "Come on, sit down."
"I didn't want to interrupt," Ray said.
"Nonsense," Ichabod said. "Join us, if only for a minute."
Ray smiled. "Gladly." They all sat down, "I saw your car parked outside, Abbie, and I'm glad I did. I, uh… have news."
"Oh?" Ichabod asked.
"What's up?" Abbie asked.
"I…" Ray chuckled quietly. "I made lieutenant."
Abbie beamed and grabbed hold of Ray's hands. "Congratulations," she said.
"Thanks, Abbie," Ray replied, patting her hands.
Ichabod patted him on the arm, "Congratulations are very much in order, Lef…"
"Do not call him 'Leftenant'!" Abbie said, warningly. She smirked. "That's my name."
Ray laughed. "We can stick with 'Ray.'"
Ichabod smiled, "Quite wise. Congratulations, Ray."
"Thank you both."
Abbie smirked, "Actually, I was hoping to call you later, anyway. We had something to look into and wanted to know if we could count on some back up."
"You got it," Ray nodded. "This Witness related?"
"We are not sure just yet," Ichabod said. "It was a request of us made by Agent Reynolds."
"He still tryin' to put some moves on Abbie?"
Abbie rolled her eyes.
"Not that I can confirm," Ichabod admitted.
"I wish you'd just let me talk to him," Ray added.
"Neither of you is talking to him," Abbie commanded. "If a problem comes up, I can handle this. Understand?"
Ray put his hands up in defense and Ichabod nodded.
"But, as for back up," Ray said, "you know you can count on me."
Abbie smiled. "Yeah, we do. And thanks for that."
"Hey! Team Witness all the way."
"Where are those jackets you once promised?" Ichabod asked, jokingly.
Ray chuckled. "My guy has some on back order. I'll get them to you soon. Promise. What's this little mission about, anyway?"
"Danny didn't say," Abbie answered. "Sounds like it has something to do with Sophie's case."
"How is she, by the way?"
"Busy. She's been undercover. Hasn't been back in weeks, can barely talk her phone."
"I know," Ray said. "Every time we talk, she barely says anything anymore or even has time to. Just hope she's okay."
Abbie and Ichabod looked at each other, interestedly and smirking, then back at Ray.
Ray looked at them both, confusingly. "What? What? What's with these looks?"
"You… speak to Sophie frequently?" Ichabod asked.
"Yeah. So?"
"Oh!" Abbie said. "Nothing. No reason. Just… curious."
Ray looked at them, indignantly. "Okay, love birds. Slow your rolls. Just because you two are settling down, doesn't mean everyone is. She's my friend. She's pleasant to talk to and be around. And… yeah, okay, I get worried about her. But that's it."
"That's it?"
"That's it! I mean, I'm still a young man. I got to stretch my wings."
"Out of pure curiosity, Raymond," Ichabod said, "how often have you… stretched in recent days?"
"Never you mind!" Ray said.
"What he means to ask is if you've done much dating since you and Sophie became friends," Abbie said. "And, hell, now I wanna know."
"I know what he means, Abbie!" Ray replied. "And I meant what I said, 'never you mind'."
Abbie and Ichabod giggled at that while Ray rolled his eyes again.
Still smiling, Abbie's phone vibrated and she pulled it out of her pocket, seeing Jenny's name. She answered, "Hey, Jenny. What's up?"
"Dad wants to talk to us," Jenny said.
"Did he say when?"
"He said tonight. Sounded important."
"I've gotta go somewhere for work tonight," Abbie said. "Danny handed it to me, told me it had something to do with a case that Sophie's working."
"Okay, let's do it after then," Jenny said.
"Sounds good. Meet at my house?"
"Yep."
"Alright," Abbie said. "Talk to you later. Love you."
"Love you," Jenny said, before ending the call.
Abbie put her phone up and Ichabod asked, "Is everything alright?"
"Dad wants to meet with everyone," Abbie said. "Jenny said that it sounded important."
"A family thing?" Ray asked.
"Not sure." Abbie shrugged, "But, one thing at a time. Tonight with the antique guy, you still in?"
Ray scoffed. "I'm offended that you asked me twice."
Abbie and Ichabod just smiled. "Good to have you around, Ray," Abbie said.
That night, Jenny, Joe, and Edom were at Jenny's trailer, waiting to hear from Abbie so they could head to her house and meet with Ezra.
"What do you think your dad wants to talk about?" Joe asked.
"No clue," Jenny said.
"Probably the order," Edom said. "It's about time we told all of you everything."
"Hell, finally!" Jenny said, smiling.
Edom shook his head and answered his phone. "Hello?" He was quiet for a while and look of shock came over his face. "What?! Where?!" He growled. "Damn it!" He hung up.
"What?" Joe asked. "What's wrong?"
"I have to leave," Edom got and rushed out of the door, sprinting for his car.
"Wait!" Jenny called out, chasing after him along with Joe. "Ed! Hold up!"
"I'll call you soon, Jenny!" Edom started his car, threw it in gear, and raced toward town.
"What the hell was that about?" Joe asked.
Ichabod and Abbie went to the address that Danny had told them about. Ray parked three blocks away and waited in his patrol truck, for signs of any trouble. He, also, took the liberty of going by the forest before coming to the location to ensure some extra back up.
Abbie knocked on the door to the shop but there was no response.
"Are you certain that this is the correct address?" Ichabod asked.
"It's what Danny said." Abbie knocked again, "Hello? I'm looking for Ryan Jenkins. I'm Agent Abbie Mills, FBI."
The door opened and a middle-aged Caucasian man opened the door. "Oh," he said. "Agent Mills. Good to meet you. I'm Ryan Jenkins." He looked at Ichabod. "And this is?"
"Ichabod Crane, a professor of history at Brookside."
"'Professor' isn't an entirely accurate term," Ichabod said. "Though, I…"
"He likes being modest," Abbie said, interrupting him.
"Of course," Jenkins said. "Please, come in. Come in."
They walked inside the antique store, noticing that it didn't look all that dissimilar from the Archives. It just had nowhere near as many books.
"An impressive amount of wears you have, Mr. Jenkins," Ichabod said.
"Thank you, Mr. Crane," Jenkins said.
"My boss didn't give me a lot of details," Abbie said. "He did mention another agent."
"Oh, yes, of course." He walked around the counter and pulled out a box. "Yes. She was, uh, helping to recover this. A very special box from the Netherlands, said to be part of an ancient society."
"Aren't they all," Abbie said, sarcastically.
Jenkins smiled, "Indeed. Why don't we have a look?"
He started to open the box when the sound of a gun cocking back was heard.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," the blonde haired man stepped out of the shadows with his 9MM pistol aimed right at Jenkins.
Jenkins eyes widened in fear. "You. What are you doing here?"
"Looking for your master," the man said. "Where is he, Ryan? I won't ask a second time."
"You know I serve only his glory."
"His glory is over. As is your life, if you don't tell me where he is."
Abbie quickly drew her gun and aimed it at the blonde haired man. "You need to stop right there."
The man looked at Abbie, "With apologies, Agent Mills, I will not be able to comply. I strongly suggest you and Ichabod Crane run from here, right now. By my estimate, there may already be a serpent outside as we speak."
"How the hell do you know our names?" Abbie asked.
"You shouldn't have come here," Jenkins said.
He made a move to open the box but the blonde haired man shot him in the shoulder. Abbie fired in relation but the man dodged the bullet, leaning backward at lightning speed.
Both Abbie and Ichabod were stunned at the feat.
"If I wished to shoot either of you, I would have," the man said. He looked toward the door. "There is a serpent."
Outside, Ray saw the two flashes and heard the gunshots and was about to get out of his truck when he saw a giant shadow slither in front of the door.
"What the hell?" Ray whispered.
The shadow moved into the light and Ray froze up when a giant snake came into view. The snake was as long as a school bus and his head was as wide as the front of a pickup truck. It was dark green in color with red stripes on its dead that trailed all the way down its body.
"Oh, hell," Ray whispered.
The snake saw Ray and slowly advanced toward his truck.
Ray lowered his window and shouted, "If you're can hear me, now you be a really good time for you to do something!"
Suddenly, a large shadow launched itself over Ray's truck and landed in front of it.
Gate the dire wolf.
Gate howled at the snake as it hissed back at him.
"Oh, boy," Ray whispered. "Looks like a kaiju smackdown. Nice!"
Gate and the snake lunged at each other at the same time. The snake tried to bite Gate but Gate managed to turn his body and avoid the fangs. However, Gate's fangs and claws found the body of the snake and he latched on hard. The snake hissed in pain at the wounds but thrashed around until it was able to throw Gate off of its body. Ray had already gotten out of his car, carrying a shotgun and began firing shells into the body of the monstrosity. The snake reacted then looked at Ray.
"In hindsight, this was stupid," Ray said.
The snake charged at Ray, causing him to fire again and jump out of the way. The blonde haired man ran out of the door and jumped at an impossible height and speed and landed on top of the snake's head. He then unloaded shot after shot into the snake's head until it finally collapsed.
The blonde haired man stood on top of the snake's head for a second then reached behind his back and pulled out a curved sword. He stepped off the snake then severed its head from the rest of its body in one strike.
The man looked over at Ray, "Brave. For not being a Witness."
"Witness-in-training?" Ray asked.
The man smiled slightly.
Abbie and Ichabod walked up as Gate approached and they all stared at the snake and the man. Abbie, still having her gun in her hand, asked, "Who are you?"
Just then, Edom pulled, skidding to a stop. He got out of the car and, once he saw the blonde haired man, his eyes widened. "I don't believe it."
The blonde haired man looked at Edom, "So, it is you."
"You survived."
"Not really. But I'm alive now and that's what matters."
"Of course you know the guy with the weird sword and super powers," Ray said.
"The sword is called a khopesh. Typical weapon of ancient Egypt."
"It has served me well," the man said.
Ed looked at the dead snake then back at the man. "Clearly."
"Ed?" Abbie asked. "Who the hell is this guy?"
Edom took a deep breath. "Ichabod Crane, Abigail Mills, Raymond Merck, Gate. Allow me to introduce Osiris, one of the gods of Egypt."
"Holy hell!" Ray shouted.
Osiris's eyes glowed a subtle gold and he placed his right hand over his heart and bowed to them all. "An honor and a privilege to be in the presence of the noble Witnesses and their allies."
Abbie's eyes widened. "I have to ask again, why does anything surprise me?"
Osiris rose back up, "It's a pleasure to meet you both, formally."
"Likewise."
"The, uh, pleasure is ours," Ichabod bowed, slightly.
"So, that was you sitting outside their house this morning," Edom said.
Osiris's eyes widened. "You saw me?"
"Of course. But you seemed to bare them no ill will so I let it be. But wrote down your license plate number when I got to my car."
"Every watchful."
"All angels are."
"What brings a god of Egypt to Sleepy Hollow?" Ichabod asked.
"Funny you should ask," Osiris said. "For it's because of another god of Egypt that I'm here."
Ichabod, Abbie, and Edom all looked at each other, concerned.
"And, which god might that be?" Ichabod asked.
"The god of the desert and the storms," Osiris declared. "Set."
A/N: This chapter is not the best, in my opinion, but I really wanted to get something for you guys! I'm really hoping the next chapter will come out a LOT sooner than this one but we'll see. I hope you guys enjoyed it and please leave me some reviews, favorites, and follows. Thank you!