I hope you all really enjoy this chapter, it's longer than the others and it's just the beginning to this madness

- Kay

Please Read & Review

As excellent as Abbie said this Italian cuisine from Bella Luca's would be, every bite Ichabod ate felt like coarse sand paper sliding down his throat. She didn't seem to fair better, Abbie's head was trained on her to- go container of pasta. She took another sip of her white wine while she swirled her fork around in the fettuccine noodles but she had stopped eating a while ago, she hadn't looked him in the eye since she came home.

They ate in silence when dinner had ended Abbie didn't bother to clear the table like usual, she didn't fuss at Ichabod over clearing away the leftovers or even washing the dishes. She simply walked into the living room, kicked off her shoes, placed her wine glass on the coffee table and sat on the couch.

She had that stony look on her face, the one she always took on when they were facing another enemy, a demon, a monster, she had her war face on.

Ichabod wiped his mouth on a paper towel embroidered with the words "Bella Luca's" on it. Drinking the bitter beer to cut through the richness of the creamy meal, he takes the last sip of his India Pale Ale , putting his fork aside Ichabod removes his coat and shuffles over to the fridge and grabs another a beer. He walks into the living room leaving his boots by the door. He sits in the chair next to her. Their eyes met.

"You drink too much, Crane"

"Says the lady with the Olivia Pope Camille wine glass half filled with white wine" He snapped at her "It is your third glass isn't it, Leftenant, must everything that I do bother you, it's so impossible to please you when you're like this."

"Please me, you thought you were pleasing me before?"

"We could at least talk to one another, openly not all this scurrying about and having secrets."

"Crane I'm not the one sneaking into your bedroom, holding your ass at night."

"Leftenant, I … I only wanted to comfort you"

"I didn't ask for your company, Crane or your comfort. I didn't say that it was ok. You had no right to be in my room, let alone my bed. Boundaries remember that asshole. Boundaries"

"Excuse me for my next statement Leftenant. Fuck your boundaries and fences. You and I both know you have been holding back from me from the moment I returned home. You couldn't even hug me after I'd been released from jail."

"Are you serious?" Abbie asked

"Of course I am serious. Besides the fact that you think I'm a dandy prat, you were so damned angry, set in your contempt for me that you would not even eat. So please, be a dear and tell me how you could ever think that I am happy being without you, Leftenant, how on earth could you ever think that I enjoybeing parted from you Leftenant? Ichabod asked

Abbie looked away and took a deep breath "Hell, what else am I supposed to think? Crane you stayed in lock up five whole days before you even called me. I didn't want to hug your ass, so now I'm horrible person or something for not telling you every little aspect of my life now? Does that bother you, does that annoy you, Crane?"

"When I left, that had nothing to do with you,"

"Nothing to do with me, " She giggled "are you even listening to yourself Crane, we were a team, you and me, and you just left and you didn't even tell me you were leaving. You didn't even say goodbye"

"I told you"

"No you didn't"

"Leftenant"

"You didn't." Abbie vehemently said "You said you needed time, not that your ass was hitch hiking back to mother England. And of course I understood. I always do." She snapped

"That's not fair"
"Your damn right it's not fair, to me"

"To you?"

"Yes. Me."

"After everything that I went through I wasn't ready to talk "

"You, it's always got to be about you. You're an insensitive asshole sometimes Crane. You know that. Pull the stick from your ass every once in a while please"

"Leftenant"

"You don't get to call me that right now" Abbie snapped as she took a few sips of her white wine.

"Abbie, everything that I believed for my whole life, my marriage to Katrina, all the things I worked so hard for before, it was a lie.

"So you want to be a dead man?" Abbie laughed "You'd rather be dead than be here with me. Wow"

"Stop it, stop it now, stop putting words in my mouth, I never said that Abbie. I didn't say that I just meant"

"Then what the fuck is it?! What do you mean? I understand that this is hard for you Crane, it's not fair, it doesn't even make sense but this is our life. This is where we are."

"Death haunts me. Literally, last I recall you've met him. Remember. And just being all of who I am is exhausting. So when you fell asleep on the couch a few nights back and you started talking to me in your sleep. I just I wanted to comfort you and I did, at the time it seemed to help you. I have been in your room almost each night since you've let me stay here. I always hold you; you always sleep better when I hold you. But I understand that you no longer want me around. All I do is breed more chaos in your life. As you always state I bitched out"

"Crane, you know I want you" The words fell from her lips before she could catch them, she said … we were called for this, I want you to be here. Crane, your marriage may have been a lie but our calling, our duties as witnesses, that isn't a lie, that was always the truth, it still is."

"How can you say that no one wants you that I don't want you, God Crane I traveled through time for you. I sacrificed myself for you. I may not know what it means to live like that every day, but I know how it feels, to be ostracized and manipulated just by existing, you know my people have a whole history with that. When I traveled back to 1781 your commanding office wanted to send me to a slave encampment. I risked everything, for you"

"Abbie, you know that I would never have let them take you away from me. I would never have let them make you a slave. Never, in any lifetime. I know of the ills of slavery, I fought against that atrocity. I would have gladly died to protect you from that; I would never let them have you. Never. "

Ichabod swore.

"Yet, you do not know how it feels to be someone where everyone you know is dead, all of your friends, your family, your comrades, your mentors. You don't know what it's like to be a living corpse"

"Crane shut up. Just listen to me" Abbie started

"I went to purgatory for you and your witch wife Katrina. You barely even asked me how I felt. You don't know half of the shit that happened to me while I was there. Do you even give a care? I couldn't sleep for weeks, every night I had the same dream. The same horrifying dream that I was stuck there in purgatory, that I had drank the water that you gave me and I just fooled myself into believing that I was safe with you. That none of this was even happening and each morning I woke up, not worried about me, not even Jenny, it was you, it's always you."

"Abbie, I know about the dreams."

"Let me finish, Crane. I'm giving you everything, I have never stopped and all you can say is you lost yourself. Sometimes I feel like I don't even know who I am anymore. Am I your friend, you partner, your property, your what?! This shit is taking over my life and …God… I don't know. I hate you sometimes, I hate this. I hate you so much, you just make me sick. Sometime I just want to fucking shoot you and run away. Just leave you to face these demons alone and run"

"I don't feel sorry for you Crane, not anymore. When you left, I thought I was alone. That you just fucking bitched out and left me here to fight this shit by myself. That you just abandoned me. There were times when I thought horrible things had happened to you. Because I knew you wouldn't just up and leave me. But you did. I keep saying I forgive you, I honestly don't know how to even start. I don't even know if I want to. I hate you sometimes. Do you know that I hate that I want you more than you want yourself."

Ichabod's eyes where glistening, he had heard enough "Abbie, I need some air" He sat his beer on the table and stood up from his chair and started for the door off the laundry room, he didn't even bother to put his boots on.

Abbie was hot on heels, "Go ahead run away, you coward, it's what you do, you didn't need no damn air when I was asleep, when I couldn't really tell you about this shit" She yelled

"I need to just breathe for a minute can I just have a minute to breathe" he yelled, he had heard enough. Everything she said was true deep down he knew it but he still didn't like where this was headed still didn't like fighting not like this. Not with the person he needed the most.

"And Crane" Abbie started as his had touched the doorknob to the side door "I am glad that bitch is dead and her demon seed too"

As soon as the words slipped out she regretted them. Abbie promised herself, promised them both that they would go to war, and that they would win and they couldn't do that if she wasn't honest. They couldn't do that if he wouldn't fight with her.

We can't beat this if you run away again Crane.

"What did you just say?" Ichabod's raspy voice asked as he stopped in front of the side door off the laundry room. His eyes taking in Abbie's reflection from doors glass panel.

"You heard me, you had every right to protect yourself" Abbie remarked. Ichabod moved towards her invading her space, towering over her

His eyes landed on hers, she was looking up at him her look of defiance plastered on her face through her tears that began to fall.

"Take it back"

She looked up into his alice-blue eyes and told him "I meant every word I just said. I will not ever take it back. She tried to murder you and me, the witch damn near succeeded twice. Henry tried to kill us almost every other week. I'm happy their gone and deep down you are too. I don't care what demon, witch, warlock creature or monster it is if I have to choose between them or us, them or you it's always going to be us, it's always going to be you. Crane, I hate that we had to be the ones who did it but you and I both know they wanted us both dead and buried. Crane. Both of us, you know it."

"Crane, it is okay to be angry about what she did to you, about the lies. It's alright to be hurt about it. I just wish you wouldn't have shut me out. I was there through everything else. I was always there for you. I always will be. We bonded, I guess, I just thought we would get through this shit together, I thought I meant more to you than that. I thought we were partners."

"Abbie we are partners" Ichabod interjects as he reaches for her

She jerked away from him as she wiped at her tears "I thought that we meant more to each other than that, I guess I was wrong. I guess there are some places inside you I just can't reach and I'm trying to learn to be okay with that, I hate it but I am trying to learn to be fine with it. Ok."

Abbie left him standing in-between the kitchen and the laundry room, finally overcome by her emotions, she let herself cry. She motioned towards the stairs. Ichabod ran and slid in front of them just in time to block her. She wanted a fight, now she had one. She wanted it all out on the table, now it would be.

"It's my turn to speak now Abbie." He said pointing his finger in her face, "I am not let you go upstairs, we are not going to sleep on this, not anymore"

"Get it out of my face Crane, before I bite it off."

Hope you enjoyed this one