Abbie was a little surprised at how easily Jenny had agreed to come down to the precinct with her. 

Whatever the reason for her cooperative mood, Abbie was going to take full advantage of it. She'd wanted to have Jenny take a look at some of the old documents and Corbin's research for a while now, to see what else her sister may know.

Abbie pushed open the door to the Archives and was not particularly surprised to see that Ichabod was already there. Or still there?

At the end of the day she always offered to drive him home to the cabin by the lake but he often declined, preferring to walk instead, and sometimes he ended up staying the night in the Archives, falling asleep at the desk over some dusty old book.

She worried about him a little less now that he finally had a cell phone. She'd given him very strict instructions to keep it charged and on his person at all times. If he ever got into trouble without her again like, say, being abducted by the local chapter of well-intentioned Free Masons, he could at least call her.

Plus, she had enabled the GPS tracking app on his phone so that, with the push of a button, she could pinpoint his exact location. Abbie had neglected to mention this particular feature when explaining the phone to him. She didn't want to come across as too overprotective and it would take too long to explain the concept of GPS anyway.

Abbie walked over to the little desk on the other side of the room. Ichabod was slumped over, his head resting on his arm, in front of her portable DVD player.

She'd recently taught him to use it and they had watched The Patriot together one night. As always, Ichabod felt compelled to point out every historical inaccuracy. He acted appalled at how distorted the truth had become, but Abbie could tell that he loved explaining details of his previous life and she found herself paying more attention to his stories than the movie.

Last week Abbie had checked out a pile of DVD's from the library, thinking he could watch a few when they had some down-time between demonic attacks. It might help him acclimate a little more to the modern era and, if nothing else, provide a much-needed distraction from his worries. At least that'd been the idea at the time.

"Crane," Abbie poked his shoulder, "Wake up, sleepyhead!"

"I'm awake!" Ichabod startled upright. He rubbed his eyes and peered up at Abbie.

"Miss Mills! I'm so glad you're here!" he exclaimed, standing up abruptly, apparently remembering whatever it was that he'd been thinking about before dozing off.

"Oh, Abbie!" Ichabod wrapped his arms around his surprised partner and hugged her tightly.

"Uh, good morning to you too," Abbie said, her voice muffled against his chest. She was sure she heard Jenny snickering.

"I know why you gave me this D-V-D. I know what you've been trying to tell me, all along!"

"What?" Abbie couldn't move. She was trapped in place.

"Even though your family is small, and broken, you never give up. You believed in me when no one else would. I was lost and alone and locked in jail, until you adopted me. Miss Mills, I feel that I must tell you --"

Abbie managed to push herself away just far enough to look up into his face.

"Crane! I appreciate the sentiment, but what is going on right now?" she was bewildered, "Wait a minute, when did I adopt you?"

He was earnestly trying to explain something but he was clearly exhausted. He had that tired, it's hard to keep my eyes all the way open, look on his face.

"Were you awake all night?"

"No," Ichabod denied, then corrected himself, "Yes. Well, mostly."

He still wasn't letting her go. "You've been trying to tell me that my home is here in Sleepy Hollow and I promise I don't take it for granted," he continued.

"Crane..." Abbie said softly. She clearly wasn't getting an explanation or getting out of this embrace until he was good and ready. She slipped her arms around him and returned the hug.

"I know you don't. You're okay," she said. Maybe he just needed the comfort of being close to another person for a moment. She could certainly understand that.

"Should I leave you two alone or what?" Jenny asked. Abbie could hear the smirk in her voice.

Ichabod seemed to snap out of it somewhat and let go of Abbie, but he still stood very close. Jenny picked up the empty DVD case lying beside the player and glanced at the cover.

"You gave him Disney?" Jenny held the case up so her sister could see it, "Oh, now you've really done it! No wonder he got all sappy."

"I am not 'sappy'," Ichabod was never too tired to be indignant.

"Just how many times did you watch this?" Abbie pointed to the DVD case and the player on the desk.

"Six or seven," Ichabod replied.

Since so much of the dialog was incomprehensible to him, he found that he gradually understood more and more of what was going on each time he watched the movie, especially if he focused more on the character's expressions and inflections in their voices.

"Oh my," Abbie said.

"Please, hear me out. I've found the parallels between this story and our current lives," Ichabod told them.

"I'm listening," Abbie said expectantly.

"You and your sister are not unlike Lilo and Nani. You both lost your parents at a young age and even though you fight and yell at each other often, you are still family," Ichabod explained, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.

"I never thought of it that way..." Abbie exchanged a look with Jenny.

"Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind. Or forgotten," he repeated the line from the movie.

The thing about Ichabod was, no matter what crazy thing he was saying on any given day, he was always sincere. Abbie had never met someone like that before. He was always honest with her and she could tell that he always meant what he said.

"Well, thanks for that, Dr. Phil," Jenny said, removing his hand from her shoulder.

"So...does that make you Stitch then?" Abbie asked, innocently, "Do you secretly have six arms, can lift objects three thousand times your size, and think faster than supercomputer?"

"I am like Stitch," he insisted, "Similar to the creature Stitch, I also arrived in an alien environment and right away I was nearly killed by a truck. Then I found myself locked behind bars with no explanation, until Miss Mills arrived and freed me. You are the only one who would listen to me, similar to how Lilo was the only would who realized that Stitch could talk."

"You help me try to fit in to my new life here in Sleepy Hollow," Ichabod concluded, "and together we fight the outside forces that followed me here."

"Wow," Abbie said. She certainly was not expecting this reaction when she had impulsively grabbed her favorite Disney movie from the library shelf.

"He's right," Jenny agreed with Ichabod, despite herself.

"Wait a minute, when did you almost get hit by a truck?!" Abbie tried to backtrack.

Jenny was smiling at her sister. "So, does that mean Luke is David, Nani's wayward love interest?"

"No," Ichabod shook his head, "Abbie has to be Lilo. I know she's actually the older sister, but she's the one who found me first. You, Miss Jenny, must be Nani."

"But me and Luke? No way, man..."

"It's not a perfect analogy."

"Oh! Then Irving can be Mr. Cobra Bubbles!" Jenny was getting excited about this whole idea.

"Captain Irving," Abbie corrected, but no one seemed to hear.

"And George Washington can be the Grand Council Woman!" Jenny exclaimed.

"I suppose," Ichabod said. This whole analogy was starting to get out of hand. He tried and failed to stifle a huge yawn.

Abbie couldn't help but laugh. Life was never dull around these two; that was for sure.

"I'd better go get you some coffee."

Ichabod smiled gratefully. "That would be much appreciated."

pq