"Hey." "Hey." "Um, is your mom home?" "Yeah, but she told me" "I wasn't supposed to talk to you... or your friends." "Molly, inside, now." "What are you doing here?" "We came to talk." "Is crane here?" "He said he'd meet me." "No, he's not here." "I told the two of you to stay away from us." "Look, I know this is a lot for you to handle, finding out that Molly is the next witness." "I have lived through what that's like, that's why you have to listen to us." "The only thing I have to do is protect my daughter." "I know, of course, and all I'm trying to say is..." "Damn it, where is crane?" "He said we would do this together." "Well, when you find him, you can both not come here again." "That went well." "Mr. dreyfuss, how was your visit with Dr. lonergan?" "Dr. lonergan said my current life expectancy is 85 years." "Eighty-five?" "Enough for most." "When I'm 85," "I'm just gonna be getting started." "Think about what I've accomplished so far and then think about how much more I could do." "It's not that I need to have more time, it's that the world needs me to have more time." "This is for their benefit." "Of course..." "And it has nothing to do with what will happen to your eternal soul upon your death." "My friend..." "I'm afraid you think too small." "Once again, thank you." "I encourage you to think globally, but act narrowly." "Case in point, where are we with the next talisman?" "Still tracking it, but in the meantime," "I've located the map of the ley lines, the wellsprings where their power converges." "It's arriving at a museum tonight." "Wunderbar." "At last, finally get to know where we can assemble all these lovely puzzle pieces." "Crane?" "Hello?" "Crane?" "You left me hanging with Diana." "How many times have I told you to get a decent dead bolt?" "A five-year-old could break in here." "Crane?" "Crane?" "According to the spectrometer, it's ten percent unknown protein and 90% ferric hydroxide." "That's spider silk." "Spider silk?" "That was all over crane's apartment." "Well, that's a big-ass spider." "It can't be good." "Okay, well," "Diana can probably put out an apb on crane." "You know, maybe he just went to the mall and got lost..." "Again." "No, he's not answering any of his calls or texts." "Okay, well, maybe she can put out a trace..." "No, we don't need to call her." "Besides, wherever crane is now, a cop is not gonna help." "The last time I saw him he was coming out of j street." "Dreyfuss said they used to trap monsters there and..." "It's possible we brought something else back with us." "Something evil." "Or something that took crane?" "Yes." "Something that doesn't like light." "Whatever made this probably goes real heavy on the spf." "Wait, hang on." "Yes, yes, I read something in Benjamin Franklin's journals." "Here." "In 1778," "Franklin wrote about coming across" ""a curious substance." ""A, viscous secretion" ""displaying otherworldly properties and marked photophobia."" "Where did Franklin find the substance?" "He found it from some colonists in Maryland." "Apparently a farmer from williamsburg went missing." "They discovered his body a week later in a cave in the aberdeen woods." "I mean, it had been cocooned in this stuff." ""Cava desperavi."" "The cave of despair." "Yeah, that doesn't sound ominous at all." "39 degrees by..." "Seventy-six." "It's the aberdeen proving ground." "Wait, you think the cave is still out there?" "Only one way to find out." "Um, aberdeen is an army facility with army men carrying army guns." "And it's standing between me and that cave." "Noted." "Okay, then we'll go with you." "We will?" "Yes, if you're going out there, we got your back." "Thank you." "But this is a little out of your league." "It's easier if I go alone." "She thinks we can't handle it." "You think that we can handle five to ten for trespassing on a military base?" "Okay, Alex, we helped take down a horseman of the apocalypse." "Okay, our days of just sitting here and watching this world go by are over." "Done." "Jenny doesn't need us." "Really?" "Alex, the catholics who founded Maryland thought that this cave was home to the sicarius spel." "The slayer of hope." "All right, this thing is the living embodiment of despair, and it doesn't just kill its victims." "No, it..." "It-it feeds on their misery until it drives them to kill themselves." "You think she's ready for that?" "Hang the bastard, hang him." "Murderer!" "String him up!" "Where am I?" "What in god's name is this?" "Order!" "Captain ichabod crane." "The jurors of our sovereign lord present that you did commit certain crimes of cowardice, thoughtlessness, and abdication of your sacred duties as a witness." "You stand charged with the sundry act of murder." "Murder?" "Whose murder?" "Who is making this accusation?" "No." "It can't be." "Hello, father." "This is not real." "This is some kind of nightmare or..." "A vision, or..." "Is this a dead girl which I see before me?" "But I was in my rooms, and then, um..." "I assure you" "I am as real as the guilt in your heaving heart." "No, you are not my son." "Henry died." "You have seen enough spirits come back from beyond the veil, father." "Look at me." "Am I not the baby you abandoned?" "Am I not the child you left to be persecuted?" "Am I not the man you snuffed out like a simpering dog?" "If this truly is you," "Henry, then I too am dead, and this is a kind of limbo where I await eternal judgment." "If that makes you feel better." "Now, if you'll excuse me," "I have an opening statement to make..." "To prove ichabod crane is guilty of the murder of Abigail mills." "Freeze!" "Pete, is that you?" "Quit fooling around." "This is a restricted area." "What are you doing here?" "Wait, you're not Pete." "Put the bag down." "What?" "Bag down." "Okay..." "Hands up." "Okay." "I thought you were my boyfriend." "I-I'm sorry, we were just trying to find our way off the trails and he went up ahead." "Is he okay?" "Where is he?" "This is an army facility." "What?" "Didn't you see the signs walking in?" "No, no, I didn't see anything." "I'm so sorry." "Am I in trouble?" "Come on, I'll get you out of here." "I can get that." "I got it." "Whoa, whoa, hey, what is that?" "Hands back up!" "Hands up!" "Yeah." "Cover her." "Hands behind your back." "That is so not good." "We got to help her." "How?" "See if they'll trade her for some free archiving work?" "I have an idea." "Ladies... gentlemen, friends, we are not here for mere vengeance, petty victories." "We are here for justice for one who greatly deserves it:" "Grace Abigail mills." "She was a warrior, a champion, and her life was cut short by the senseless actions of this man before you." "Murderer!" "This is insanity." "The lieutenant died so that all of us may live." "She sacrificed herself for you." "Because there was no other way to stop the apocalypse." "No other way?" "Ha!" "That's your excuse for everything, isn't it?" "There was no other way to save the life of Joe Corbin, either." "Or Abraham Van brunt or my mother." "Murderer!" "Murderer!" "Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot allow this man..." "To bear another child, to love another wife, to make another friend." "We cannot allow ichabod crane to live another day." "'Cause everyone he touches, sooner or later, dies." "Is it dinner time yet?" "I'm starving." "All I have are tic tacs." "What are you doing here?" "I'm saving your ass." "You're welcome, by the way." "You've been released on the recognizance of homeland security." "Anything you do now reflects on me." "Need you to sign right here, ma'am." "Thank you." "And how did you know I was here?" "Jake and Alex called, said you were in trouble." "You know, it's nothing I couldn't have handled." "Next pee break, I was gone." "So, why don't you save the "you're welcomes"" "for someone who needs 'em." "I've entered the coordinates of this cave of yours into my GPS." "I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with us." "Well, I don't want you anywhere near Molly." "I don't trust you, not after all the lies." "But Jake called and said it was an emergency, that crane could be hurt or worse." "And you just had to come help?" "You know, it may come as a surprise, but crane and I got along just fine for a long time without you." "I know all about how you got along." "Single mom, deadbeat dad, in and out of foster care before bouncing between juvy and psych institutions." "Your file made for an interesting read." "So my file, did it say anything about why I was in the psych institutions?" "Abby and I ran into something when we were Molly's age." "Something supernatural and it messed us up for a long time." "Only later did we find out that it all happened because Abby was the witness." "Hey, you can try and deny what's happening." "That's what my sister did." "But it caught up to her and sooner or later, it's gonna catch up to you." "And Molly, too." "Something was dragged down here." "Spider silk." "I hate spiders." "Crane!" "God." "What is this?" "It's a cocoon." "A cocoon?" "Yeah." "It's stuck." "Damn it!" "Diana, stop!" "You're hurting crane." "What's happening to me?" "What?" "Crane is bleeding from the same place as that thing." "They must be psychically linked." "I don't think we can kill it or it'll kill him." "Cut him down and let's get out of here." "I'm trying!" "It's too strong." "Plus, I don't think it's normal webbing." "I think it's nerves of some kind." "Whatever that thing is, it's gonna come back soon." "We cannot stay here." "Wait, we got to..." "Come on!" "We'll be back, I promise." "I have seen your true face, demon." "This is an illusion." "You need me alive." "You need me to succumb willingly." "Very well." "Shall we play this game?" "You are good, wise, god-fearing people." "Will you hear me speak or will you simply accept what this man tells you with his... frankly, cheap rhetoric and grandstanding?" "I ask you before god, allow me to defend myself." "Let's hear what he has to say!" "Let's hear him!" "Let's hear it!" "Order, order, order..." "Order in the court!" "Your honor, may we allow the accused to speak?" "He can only make things worse for himself." "Hey, guys, I think" "I found something." "Franklin's journals didn't have any more reference to the despair creature, but he did reference the account of a freed slave who had a run-in with it at valley forge." "Now, I located the account, but it's in some kind of handwritten code." "That's grace Dixon." "Yeah, that's right." "How'd you know?" "She was a key figure in the battle against evil during the war and a friend of crane's." "Abby and I are her direct descendants." "Try an al-qalqashand transposition cipher," "Fredericks." "That was badass." "I can scan this and make a digital copy." "Cool, sure." "Here." "Okay." "Okay, just let me try and get this straight... so, crane worked with grace Dixon 250 years ago." "Then he wakes up in our time and the first person he met was your sister, her great-great-great granddaughter?" "That's quite a coincidence." "No, there are no coincidences." "This..." "This is what we've been trying to tell you." "All of us, everyone in this fight, our lives are entwined." "From grace, to me and Abby, to Abby and crane, it is one great big web." "And now you're telling me that Molly is entangled in this web?" "If that's how you want to look at it, yes." "The way I see it, we're a part of each other's lives now." "That means we can help each other." "And I'll be honest, these connections, we don't understand them that well." "But I do know this:" "Abby and crane had a bond so strong that they could literally tug each other back from different worlds." "They always knew how to reach each other and how to..." "How to pull each other out of the depths." "That is not something to be afraid of." "That's a gift." "Guys," "I think we've got it." ""February 12, 1778."" ""Now is the winter of our discontent."" "Washington's men are encamped at valley forge where they have been overcome with a sense of dread foreboding." "I was called to the camp because the general believed a malevolent force was behind this disquiet." "The British had loosed upon us a monster that fed off raw human despair." "The way it operated was to capture a single soldier and then imprison his soul." "This beast created, within the soldier's mind, the illusion of a spiritual trial, through which it dredged up all the man's guilt and regret to feed upon." "Once sated, the creature was able to extend its dark powers and radiate feelings of despair to all around it." "Feelings so powerful that many of those exposed were driven to the bleakest of ends." "Valley forge, one of the darkest chapters of the American revolution, was caused by the thing that has crane?" "So when Washington said," ""these are the times that try men's souls,"" "he was being literal." "I mean, despair put a man's soul on trial." "And this is what crane is going through right now?" "Yes." "If we don't free him soon, not only will crane die, but everyone in the vicinity of that cave..." "Meaning an army base full of people." "They'll be driven to suicide." "You say that everyone around me dies." "'Tis true." "I have suffered great loss in my life." "But is that not the plight of a soldier?" "For that is what I am." "A soldier, engaged in the most vital of wars." "So too was the lieutenant." "She was my partner." "She..." "She was my friend." "She knew all too well the risks of engaging in battle." "And I would die a thousand deaths if it meant she would live but one more hour." "But in the end... she made a choice." "And what of me, father?" "Was I a soldier, too?" "Do you recognize this box?" "I spent 200 years in it." "Eating dirt." "Breathing in my own filth." "Because of you." "Because you failed to protect your son." "Henry..." "I didn't know you existed." "No." "Because you were too busy soldiering." "Be honest with yourself..." "If you had known that mother was with child, would anything have changed?" "Would you have done anything differently?" "You're right." "The first duty of a parent is to protect their child." "A..." "A friend reminded me of that only recently." "I will always regret what happened to you, Henry." "But if you are a demon, you chose the wrong face." "For I Cherish the opportunity to speak once more with my son." "To tell him that, in spite of everything between us," "I always loved him." "I never gave up hope for him." "Every battle I joined," "I did for those I love and seek to protect." "Especially you, Henry." "My boy." "I know I said I'd be home by now, but..." "Work just... got crazy." " Yeah, that's okay." " Can I watch TV?" "Not until your homework's done." "And no pizza." "Tell Claire to heat up the chicken in the fridge." "You got it." "Moo?" "I love you." "Love you, too." "She's eating pizza." "And watching TV." "Sounds like my kind of girl." "She definitely has a mind of her own." "I can't blame her." "Well, you know, it's got to be tough being the child of a single parent." "Especially one who isn't always there." "It's just you two against the world." "Always has been." "She's my anchor." "You know, my mom, she... she did everything to protect Abby and me." "It was just us against the world." "And, she thought she could do it alone, but she couldn't." "Not with what she was fighting." "Okay." "Turns out grace Dixon managed to turn things around at valley forge with something she called" ""the fire of joy."" "Until now, most people thought that was just a metaphor for cheering people up, right?" "But it turns out it was a literal fire." "She came up with a flammable compound capable of incinerating despair's webbing." ""Saltpeter, bitumen, sulphur, hot pitch."" "I can handle this, except for" ""resin of quicklime"?" "Do you mind if I... thanks." "Yeah." ""Resin of quicklime, aka..."" "Damn." "Nitrated hexamine?" "Hmx." "Yeah, it's a military-grade explosive." "I know, a very dangerous, very illegal military-grade explosive." "There's no way you're gonna get..." "I can get some." "I know a guy." "I'm not surprised." "Great." "Well, now, all we need now is a delivery device to concentrate and direct the fire." "Fortunately the specs listed in this text match an artifact that I've been able to track to the Smithsonian storage." "We can get it." "W-wait, you have access to the Smithsonian storage units?" "W..." "Well, if by access you mean do we have a way to sneak in and take stuff without people knowing?" "Then, yeah, we got access." "Let's go." "Look, we..." "Always put everything back." "Mostly everything." "I don't want to know this." "I don't want to know this." "What?" "You are loving this, aren't you?" "Sneaking around." "Playing cloak and dagger." "You should've heard yourself back there." ""We just need a delivery device, and then we can go get it."" "Hey, we're fighting a war against evil." "Alex, we helped take down the horseman of the apocalypse." "I know, you keep saying that." "Look, and I'm gonna keep saying it." "I mean, when is that ever not gonna be cool," "Alex, did you know that five weeks ago," "I had an interview at the library of congress?" "You were gonna leave the vault?" "Sitting around and reading about all of these amazing things just made me realize I wasn't doing anything but sitting around and reading about amazing things." "The stuff in the vault was great, but none of it was real." "And I knew that as long as I stayed inside of that vault, it would never be." "Never." "I mean, talk about a cave of despair, right?" "But then crane comes along, and all of a sudden, everything is real." "Did you ever consider that maybe some of that stuff is best left in the pages of those books?" "Maybe." "Yeah, but right now," "I'm ready for anything." "Right, this is it." "Look for shelf 21, lot 43a." "I got it." "The pen huo qi." "Tenth century Chinese welding torches." "God." "Someone's coming." "Tell me again how you're ready for anything." "I've been in foxholes in Iraq that were friendlier." "Hey, bunker." "You look good." "You got some nerve, mills." "Yeah, I've heard that." "Listen, we're looking to score some hmx." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "I got some right here." "You thought I forgot about Indiana?" "I was kind of hoping you did." "Stand down, marine." "Second radio battalion al-qa'im, 2006." "3-5 fallujah." "0-4." "The real one." "Listen, leather balls." "Do me a solid, cut her some slack." "You're lucky you got good friends, mills." "Leather balls?" "Takes one to know one." "A hundred a pound." "Cash." "We'll take all of it." "Pay the man." "Semper gumby, right?" "Semper gumby." "Marines." "I'm telling you, the guy went full-on demon and I saw pictures of him when I was researching the banneker folio." "And guess what?" "He's head of Malcolm dreyfuss' security detail." "Goes with him everywhere." "So dreyfuss really does have demonic connections." "That's something we're gonna have to deal with tomorrow." "Right now, we got other priorities." "Yes." "You loaded up?" "Yeah." "The recipe was pretty straightforward." "As far as "fire of joy" recipes go." "Let's go get our man." "So tell me, father, who is Diana Thomas?" "She is a new ally." "She a soldier, too?" "She is." "Would you say you've formed a bond?" "I would." "She is virtuous of spirit, noble of character." "So, so, y-you have moved on already." "Less than two months and you have a new partner." "The person that you cared about with all your heart not cold in the grave before you left sleepy hollow." "There was no other way for us." ""No other way."" "I think we've heard that before?" "Tell me something." "Why haven't you grieved Abigail mills?" "I have." "So, it was grieving that motivated you to find a whole new collection of compatriots?" "But he won't have to wait long to grieve again." "Won't be too long before one of his new partners is killed." "Even worse, I hear there is a child involved." "Will you have her death on your conscience, too?" "How will you explain that to her mother?" "You can see it, can't you?" "You bottle your grief because you know how it will end." "You are guilty." "Always will be." "It is inevitable." "You know what you have to do." "Good-bye, father." "He's over there." "Wow." "That cannot be comfortable." "Wouldn't want to see his dry cleaning bill." "Okay, remember I showed you how to control the flow." "Use the dials and keep a steady pressure..." "Alex, Alex, relax," "I got it." "You got it." "Yeah... right." "Steady pressure." "I got it." "Can you hurry up?" "Whatever you're doing, do it faster." "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm good." "I'm good." "You sure?" "Easy." "He's fast." "Keep going." "We'll go put this thing down." "That's it." "The link should be broken." "Okay." "Okay..." "Move, you bastard." "Hey, you okay?" "Yeah." "Crane?" "Crane?" "Crane?" "Crane, wake up." "He's still alive." "I don't understand." "We just killed the thing that had him captive." "U-unless he's already too far gone inside his own mind." "Too far gone, what does that mean?" "It means he's still trapped inside the illusion." "So, what?" "There's no way to reach him?" "His soul is adrift." "He's lost his connection to our world." "He needs an anchor." "Mom?" "Hey, baby." "I know it's late." "Listen, I..." "I need you to do something for me, okay?" "You know those... those drawings in your sketchbook?" "Yeah." "Yeah, okay, you're so..." "Good at... at coming up with stories behind the drawings." "You know the man you drew, Mr. crane?" "What else can you tell me about him?" "I think he's a nice man." "Kind." "Funny." "But..." "He can also be sad." "Why is he sad?" "He thinks that he's alone." "But the funny thing is, he's wrong." "He's got lots of friends." "But he feels like he's let them down." "Even you, mom." "But he hasn't." "He gives people something they all need." "What's that, baby?" "Hope." "Hope." "He gives everyone hope." "Honey..." "Okay, this next part is really important." "If you could tell him anything right now, what would you say?" "I would tell him... don't ever give up hope." "Molly." "My god." "My god." "Come here." "I..." "Your daughter." "Is she here?" "No, I-i called her." "What did you hear?" "Abby." "Abby's words." "Molly's voice." "We have much to discuss." "I guess we do." "You know, I got to say, this has been a night to remember." "I'm guessing this is the first time you've said those words." "Ha!" "Joke all you want, Alex." "Yeah, I know you got a kick out of it, too, okay..." "Didn't you?" "I mean, how often do you get to use tenth century Chinese torches to cut a man out of a despair creature's psychic web?" "Not often enough." "Exactly." "Look." "It's completely inert." "No response to light." "Yeah." "That makes sense." "The creature's dead, so is its webbing." "What are you gonna do with it?" "I should probably just dump it." "Yeah." "Maybe tomorrow." "So, how much would you have missed me?" "Like, on a scale of one to devastated." "You know I still have those torches, right?"