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Abbie stomped out of the woods, fuming and cursing under her breath as she headed over to her SUV parked in front of the cabin. Leaves were kicked up into the air in her wake, her gun still clenched in her hand. And as she stormed away, she kept telling herself her hands weren’t trembling.
“Lieutenant. Lieutenant!” Ichabod’s voice carried on the winds of the night, his distant calls getting closer and closer until --, “Abbie, please speak to me.” His pleading tone caused her to pause, the words stopping her as if he had physically grabbed her.
Abbie felt torn. She wanted to yell and scream and tell Ichabod how incredibly wrong he was, tell him how dangerously stupid he had been. The demon could have killed him easily and it would have if she didn’t have her gun and sharp reflexes. Small flashes of the scene still rushed through her head even now. The sounds that came from the fog the monster emitted, the way Crane called for her and shoved her out of harm’s way.
She remembered feeling helpless for a second or two, staring up at Ichabod’s dangling form as the horned beast began to crush his neck in midair. At that moment she could only process small fragments of whole thoughts. He saved me… Crane needs help. It’s hurting him, it’s hurting him. Gun, gun, gun.
And just as the demon was about to snap his neck, Abbie pulled her pistol, locked and loaded with salt covered bullets filled with holy water. She shot twice, careful not to hit her partner, and then it was gone.
Ichabod fell to the ground coughing and hacking while she rushed over to him, concern and fear replacing the adrenaline that had flowed through her veins just moments before. However, the instant she caught a glimpse at the harsh, red marks that covered his neck, a quick flare of anger washed through her.
“Lieutenant?” Ichabod tried again gingerly. “Please, if I have done something to upset you--.”
Abbie snapped. “Upset me? You have no fucking idea, Crane.” And she almost felt bad for the way her words seemed to bite into his heart, as was obvious by the hurt and confused expression he wore.
His frame appeared to shrink shrewdly, which would have been kind of funny if it weren’t for the fact that she was the cause of it. “I don’t understand…”
She growled, frustrated. “I know you don’t!”
Of course he didn’t.
He didn’t understand how terrified she was when he had stepped in front of her and gotten lifted into the air. He didn’t know how she felt when she saw him gasping for breath, choking on nothing. He couldn’t comprehend how stupid and idiotic and dumb he had been to leap head-first into a demon attack.
But what scared her most was the fact that he didn’t know how much she would have lost if he had died right then and there.
“You do not get to go all martyr on me, all right? The world needs you,” Abbie exhaled, her eyes shifting to the floor as they became watery. She didn’t hide her tears well enough, because suddenly she felt warmth all around her as Ichabod wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her in for a tight embrace. She returned it almost instantly, curling her arms over his neck. She sniffed and whispered, “I need you. Don't do that again.”
Ichabod’s voice rumbled, vibrating through her as they still clung to one another, “You have my word that I will not attempt to. I am not planning on getting strangled by any other demons for quite some time.”
She and Ichabod chuckled together in each other’s arms, because while they had just nearly died at the hands of Henry’s minions, now they were both safe and out of harm.
And that’s all that truly mattered.