A/N: 02.28.2018
Welcome back, all! So, I've decided that this story won't have as many long chapters as "The Fated Ones" did. At least, that's the way it's looking. That may change in the future.
Now, then, I have taken some liberties and diverged from some plot elements of Season 3 of Sleepy Hollow but bear with me. I think you'll like the changes. Also, as you noticed the title of the chapter, I am referencing Season 4, which named the Order that Washington set up for Ichabod. But let me make this clear: barring only minor instances, THIS WILL BE THE ONLY THING I WILL EVER ACKNOWLEDGE OF THAT HORRIBLY INSULTING SEASON 4! GOD, I HATED THAT SEASON! Okay, sorry, sorry!
Side note, I'm actually purchasing the other seasons of Sleepy Hollow but I refuse to ever purchase or again watch Season 4. I just can't do it.
Anyway, that's all for my ranting! Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 3: Agency 355
With the events at the antique store having drastically changed everyone's plans, the meeting was moved to the Archives. Jenny and Joe arrived at the Archives not long after Abbie, Ichabod, and everyone else got there. Ezra hadn't arrived to Archives yet, which left time for Edom to speak with Osiris.
"You look… different, Osiris," Edom said.
"The blonde hair and blue eyes?" Osiris asked.
"Yeah, those."
"Is he… not supposed to look that way?" Ichabod asked.
"Not really," Edom said. "Even in their human disguises, Egyptian gods are from… Egypt, after all."
Everyone slowly nodded in understanding.
"With my most recent resurrection, my appearance shifted again," Osiris explained. "While this isn't the first time I've been a man of Caucasian descent, it always takes time to get accustomed to. After all, not many people in Egypt looked like this when I was around. In fact, almost no one in Egypt looked like this when I was around."
"Almost?" Ichabod asked.
"We always had a few people who ended up there for some reason or another," Osiris explained.
"Why does your appearance change?"
"Various reasons for it. Aside from my true form, I tend to shift human bodies whenever I return from death in order to disguise my appearance, among other reasons. In more recent ages, a person who looks identical to a person who died leaves a lot of questions."
"I can only imagine," Ichabod said.
"And this particular resurrection was somewhat…" Osiris paused, searching for the right word. "…forced."
"How so?" Edom asked.
"I needed to hurry here to find and stop Set."
"One god hunting another?" Abbie asked.
"Edom hates that word," Osiris said, smiled smugly.
"Long as you don't try to take the place of the Father," Edom smiled in return.
"Who could?"
"Hey, sorry to interrupt but," Ray said then he pointed at Osiris, "weren't his eyes gold a little while ago or was I losing it?"
"No, you were not, good sir," Osiris explained. His eyes glowed gold. "This is proof of my lineage, as one of the Dynasty. It serves as my constant declaration of my royalty, despite any outward appearance I may have."
"Oh!" Ray nodded, "That's handy." He paused. "Is it weird that I'm not questioning any of this anymore?"
"Nope," Abbie, Jenny, and Joe said at the same time.
"Is Dynasty what people call the Egyptian gods?" Joe asked.
"There's no general term for my kind like those uppity Olympians," Osiris said. "But we use that as a name just to simplify things."
Edom rolled his eyes, "Must you call Olympians 'uppity'?"
"Are they not?" Osiris asked.
"Of course they are. I just wish wouldn't call them that."
Osiris chuckled as he scanned the group of them, "But, to more serious matters, you have a lot of trouble heading your way."
"Ooh, that's new," Abbie said, rolling her eyes.
"We somewhat expected that, actually," Edom added. "I just didn't know who it was causing the trouble."
"Unfortunately, I do," Osiris declared. "It just so happens to be a small family crisis."
"What is Set doing alive? For that matter, when did the Egyptian gods revive?"
"We haven't," Osiris replied. "Not all of us. So far, on the mortal plane, I and Set are the only ones." He looked at Abbie and Ichabod, "So, these are the two who defeated Moloch, the Forgotten One, and your mad brothers?"
"They did, indeed," Edom said with pride.
"A feat for mortals," Osiris said, impressed. "And just two mortals. Fascinating."
"We didn't do it alone," Abbie said. "We couldn't."
"Quite," Ichabod said. "It has come with many sacrifices of friends and allies."
"And family," Abbie said, sadly.
"As my beloved stated, we couldn't do it alone."
Osiris smiled, impressed. "Humble. There were quite a few high priests I knew in Egypt that could've benefited from that kind of humility."
Just then, the iron gate from the catacombs opened up and Ezra walked in. "Hello, everyone," he said.
Everyone greeted him and Ezra stared at Osiris and asked, "And this would be…"
"Osiris, god of Egypt," Ray said, "which we've all given up questioning at this point."
"Sounds about right," Ezra said.
"What's up, Dad?" Abbie asked. "What'd you wanna talk about?"
"It's about the Order. They're making moves."
"Which side?" Jenny asked.
"The side that doesn't exactly line up with us," Ezra answered.
"I was afraid of that," Edom said. "There's been evidence to that, as well."
"What is the order, exactly?" Abbie asked.
"It was formed by George Washington and Betsy Ross in 1789 under the official name Agency 355," Ezra said, "some have called it the Vault."
"Vault?" Jenny asked.
"A lot of the items collected are located in Washington, D.C., in the, aptly named, Vault. The agency was formed to aid Ichabod once he returned in the battle against the supernatural. Washington appointed Ichabod as the leader of the society when he returned."
"So, that's all it is?" Abbie asked.
"To put it mildly," Edom said. "It began as such then extended. They've been an aid to me for some time. The Agency is designed to defend all of humanity from the evil of supernatural with or without Lord Crane."
"Aside from the humans that cause some of that very same trouble?" Osiris asked.
"A fair point, I'm not denying that at all," Edom replied. "Some of the supernatural trouble in the world has more to do with humans than devils."
"What moves are being made by this Agency, Dad?" Abbie asked Ezra.
"For one, they're not looking to just give Ichabod control of the Agency," Ezra replied. "Either side, depending on who you ask, but this is more about the side we can't trust. They want you and Ichabod out of the way. I have no idea why but they do."
"I'm sure that it has everything to do with Set's wishes," Osiris said. "The attack this evening proves that."
"Speaking of which, what were you doing at the store, Ed?" Abbie asked.
"The call I received was about that box that Jenkins was going to open," Edom said. "It's composed of ancient demonic magic and was currently supposed to be somewhere near the bottom of the Bering Sea. It made its way here, despite my best intentions and one of my people caught it in time." He looked at Ichabod and Abbie, "Seems someone was looking to seal you both away."
"Trapped in a box?" Abbie asked, with some edge in her voice. "Oh, hell, I refuse to even come close to going through that again."
"Quite," Ichabod said.
"I learned of my mad brother's plans," Osiris said. "And, since you two are the surest path to stopping Set, I couldn't let him lock you away."
"It was possible that we could've got them out," Edom said.
"Not a route I'd risk," Osiris said. "Who knows long that would take or what would be required. No time should be lost against Set. It's too valuable a commodity."
"Why lock them away and not kill them?" Jenny asked.
"Death is but a state of being when one knows how to… game the system, one might say," Osiris explained. "Anyone can die. And warriors such as these two can be revived. The chosen Witnesses are not so easy to dispose of as though killing them will bring an end to their mission. Set needs them removed from the game, so to speak. With death, Set couldn't take the risk of an entity, such as myself, reviving them from death."
"How did you know about what was happening, Osiris?" Edom asked.
"Members of my brother's cult have been preparing for his return to full power. As I said, he's alive now. I'm not entirely sure of his current form but I do know that he's making moves."
"In what way?" Ichabod asked.
"Are any of you familiar with Jack Walters?"
Abbie's jerked her head back, "The director of the FBI?"
"The very same," Osiris said.
"What of him?" Edom asked.
"He's on that other side of the Agency," Ezra said.
The whole room went still. Edom was the first to move as he shook his head and let out a deep exhale.
"Suddenly, a few things make sense," Edom said.
"I believe that Set has made contact with him," Osiris said. "For what, I don't know yet."
"Do we know how to find out?" Joe asked.
"Now that I know who we're up against, I can work on that," Edom said.
"I may be able to help you with that," Osiris said.
"What about the order or… Agency?" Jenny asked. "And Walters."
"Whatever we do, it seems we had best proceed with caution. Perhaps our enemies are more prepared for us than we are used to."
Abbie and Ichabod walked into the house later that night. They went into the kitchen, standing side-by-side at the island as they contemplated what would come next.
Abbie sighed. "Kinda… puts a damper on the wedding plans, huh?"
"Indeed," Ichabod said. "Is it fair to say that this all leaves somewhat more pressing matters that will preoccupy us?"
"For a bit, yeah."
"I'm very much concerned at the director of the FBI, the very agency with whom which you are employed, works against our mission."
She nodded, "Yeah. It bugs me, too." She stared blankly at the wall then shook her head, "It's just another roadblock." She took hold of his hand, "That's all."
He gently rubbed his thumb across her knuckles, "We shall overcome it as we have overcome them all."
She smiled. "That's what we do."
"Yes, it is."
The following morning, Danny drove just outside of Sleepy Hollow, heading to an abandoned warehouse district. He pulled into an alleyway between two old warehouses, to find Walters and his entourage of three guards already there.
Danny parked and got out of the car, slamming his door. He walked toward Walters with purpose, "What did you send them into?"
Walters's bodyguards stopped Danny from getting any closer.
"Answer me! What is going on?!"
"That's need-to-know," Walters said. "Who was it that helped them?"
"I don't know. Edom Thane looks like he's friends with them. So… maybe he had something to do with it."
Walters paused. "Really? Edom Thane."
"Yeah."
Walters considered that, then turned around and headed for his car.
"Hey!" Danny yelled. "Hey!" He tried to get to Walters but the guards continued to hold him back.
"You've done well, Daniel," Walters said. "Don't worry. What happens next won't concern you."
"What about Abbie?"
Walters looked at him, "What happens next doesn't concern you. We have plans for Abbie. They never included you."
Danny's jaw clenched at that.
"I know about your personal feelings for her, Daniel. She'll never return them, no matter what comes next. It's high time you accept that. You're not Ichabod Crane. You can't be to her. Our plans don't include you. It's about time you accept that hers don't either."
Danny straightened up at those words and backed away from the guards. Walters got in his car and his guards along with him before the car backed out of the alley and drove away. Danny shook his head and walked back to his own car, driving away moments later.
Following counsel from Osiris, Jenny and Edom decided to tail Danny and followed him to the warehouse. They sat in the car, looking through the rearview mirror, and catching the entirety of the meeting despite not being able to hear it.
"That son of a bitch," Jenny said.
Edom sat rubbing his finger just above his upper lip.
"I can't believe he'd turn his back on Abbie."
"True but it doesn't quite seem that he's seeing eye-to-eye with Mr. Walters," Edom examined.
"Yeah. Doesn't make me any less pissed at him."
"Indeed."
"What are we gonna do?" Jenny asked.
Edom took a deep breath. "Whatever we do, we have to tell Abbie about this."
"Yeah." She thought about it. "Maybe we should make sure she doesn't have a loaded gun when we tell her."
Edom looked at Jenny. "A… very wise suggestion, Jenny."
A/N: Oh, boy. Danny. You got some explainin' to do!
Now, Walters knows that Edom is in the game. What will happen next? Be here for the next chapter! And just in case you guys ever wanna know what I'm up to, feel free to hit me up on Facebook on my page, T2 Angel: Host of Dreams.
Until next time, Sleepyheads!