Imagine you're Ichabod Crane's assistant and you both are confronted by the Headless Horseman.

*Requested by TaylorSavoie3*

You are the assistant to Ichabod Crane, a detective from New York City. You help him when he's examining a dead body or investigating a crime scene. Most of the time, you help him when he's about to or when he does faint, which was common sometimes.

For the past three months, ever since you've started working with Ichabod, you've developed feelings for him. His handsome facial features and quirkiness had captured your attention and he's been very kind to you as well. You wanted to tell him how you felt, but you were too shy to tell him and work has been getting in the way.

Right now, you and Ichabod had traveled to small village called, 'Sleepy Hollow', to investigate the mysterious decapitations from a few victims. It was a horrible sight to see. Even after you both arrived, there have been more decapitations happening. A lot of villagers say that the cause of the decapitations were from the legendary, Headless Horseman. You and Ichabod were skeptical about it because you both thought it was all made up. Hopefully, you and Ichabod will get to the bottom of this investigation.

One evening, after asking people and examining the decapitated victims for the past two days, Ichabod started doing some research on the whole Sleepy Hollow village for any clues. So far, you both haven't found anything.

While Ichabod kept looking in a book, your eyes started closing. You tried to keep them open, but sleep was already taking over you. Moments later, you set your arms on the desk in front of you and rested your head on top of your arms as you fell asleep.

A few minutes later, you woke up when you felt a hand, gently, stroking your (h/c) hair and speaking, softly, "(y/n), darling, wake up." You opened your eyes and saw Ichabod looking down at you and he kept stroking your (h/c) hair, which caused you to blush. Then, you sat up, stretched a little, and you looked at Ichabod again. "I apologize for falling asleep, sir." You said, and, then, you let out a yawn. "There's no need to apologize, my dear (y/n)." Ichabod said, which made you smile.

Then, you cleared your throat and asked, "Did you find anything, Ichabod?" "As a matter of fact, (y/n), I did." Ichabod answered, as he showed you a page in the book that he read from earlier. "I came across this as a key clue to the whole reason behind the mysterious decapitations. This is the 'Tree of the Dead'." He said.

You furrowed your eyebrows, in confusion, and asked, "'Tree of the Dead'? What is it?" "Apparently, it is the grave where the Headless Horseman lies. The tree lies somewhere in the middle of the forbidden forest. According to this, legend tells that the head was never found, but they say it lies hidden somewhere around his grave. No one from the village ever goes into the forbidden because they fear for their safety if they encounter the Headless Horseman. I may seem skeptical about this, but I believe that this sounds like an excellent clue." Ichabod explained.

"Interesting." You said. "Shall we go check it out, (y/n)?" Ichabod asked. You thought about it for a moment. It was late at night, but you felt that it won't hurt to go look at it. Then, you nodded and said, "Let's check it out, Ichabod."

Soon after, you and Ichabod got on a horse and you both headed to the forbidden forest. Since you knew more about horses, you sat in the front to control the reins, while Ichabod sat behind you , with an arm wrapped around your waist, so he could hold up a lantern to see where you both were going. You were blushing when you felt his arm wrapped around you. 'I wish this could last forever.' You thought to yourself.

As the horse was walking down a pathway in the middle of the forbidden forest, you decided to break the silence by telling him how you felt about him. "Um, Ichabod?" You spoke, sounding, slightly, nervous. "Yes, (y/n)?" Ichabod answered, while he was looking around with the lantern up.

You were nervous to tell him, but you felt it would be best to tell him in case something happened to either one of you if the Headless Horseman did exist. "Um, there's something I need to tell you." "What is it?" Ichabod asked, curiously, as he looked forward with the lantern up. You looked down, slightly, took a silent deep breath, and began to say, "Ichabod, I—"

"(y/n), look!" Ichabod interrupted you, which disappointed you. Then, you looked up, stopped the horse, and saw what was up ahead. An usual crooked, twisted tree. "This has to be it." Ichabod said, and, then, he got off the horse and stood next to you, with his hands held out towards you. At first, you hesitated, but, then, you turned and put your hands on his shoulders. Then, Ichabod put his hands on both sides of your waist and he lifted you up and placed you on the ground. You both looked at each other, while you were blushing a bit because he still had his hands on your waist.

Moments later, Ichabod moved his hands away from your waist, much to your disappointment, and he started walking towards the unusual tree, with you following behind him. You looked at the tree, curiously. There was something about it that didn't seem right to you once you both got more closer to it.

Ichabod observed the tree for a bit until something caught his attention. He put his two of his fingers on a tree root and slid them down. Then, he took his fingers off the tree root and he looked down at his fingers. "Oddly strange." "What is it, Ichabod?" You asked. "It's blood, (y/n)." Ichabod answered, sounding disgusted, as he showed you his fingers that had blood on them before he wiped them off with a handkerchief. You furrowed your eyebrows, in confusion.

"(y/n), could you bring me the hatchet, please?" Ichabod asked. At first, you didn't get why he needed it, but, then, you nodded and ran to the horse. You grabbed the hatchet that was strapped to the side of the saddle and you brought it to Ichabod. "Stand back, (y/n)." He said, and, then, you took a couple small steps back.

Then, Ichabod started hitting the tree roots with the hatchet. As he was doing that, you noticed something squirting out of them and getting onto Ichabod's clothes. It appeared to be blood. You, slightly, took a step forward to see if Ichabod had found something. Once he hit the last tree root, he pulled the roots and bark out of the way.

All of a sudden, you exclaimed, in disgust, while you took a couple of steps back, with both of your hands covering your mouth, as you were shocked to see what was inside the tree. The lifeless heads of the decapitated victims from the village. Ichabod stood up, shocked and disgusted, while looking at the tree, as he was walking backwards, slowly. He stood behind you and wrapped his arms around you to comfort you. "It's the Tree of the Dead." He said, in a straight up convinced tone.

Then, out of nowhere, a gust of wind started blowing the fallen leaves all over the ground and off the tree branches. You and Ichabod looked around, in confusion. Thunder and lightning also came out of nowhere and the horse was neighing, in fright. You both, then, glanced at the Tree of the Dead and it was moving, oddly. Ichabod held you closer towards him as you both watched something form in the center of the tree.

"Ichabod, no matter what happens to either one of us, I want you to know that I love you!" You finally told Ichabod, who looked down at you, surprised.

But before he could say something back to you, something caught both of your attention. A figure on a black horse appeared out of the tree. The horse you both rode on ran off. Your eyes widened when you saw the figure on the horse without a head. That's when you realized what it was. "It's the Headless Horseman!" You yelled.

When the Headless Horseman turned his horse towards you and Ichabod, it started running towards you both, with the Headless Horseman withdrawing a sword. "(y/n), watch out!" Ichabod yelled, and, then, he pushed you out of the away as the Headless Horseman came closer. After you were pushed out of the way and fell onto the ground, you glanced up and saw Ichabod dodge out of the way as the Headless Horseman swung his sword at him.

"I'll distract him, (y/n)! You get out of here!" Ichabod shouted, as he kept running and dodging the Headless Horseman as he chased him. But you didn't obey his orders. You stayed with him since you didn't want anything to happen to him. You had to figure out a way to save Ichabod and stop the Headless Horseman from killing him.

You looked around the ground for something to throw at the Headless Horseman to distract him. Then, you glanced at a nearby tree, with a hole at the bottom of the trunk. You crawled over to the hole to see if there was a rock or something to throw. When you put your hand inside the hole to reach for something, you instantly felt an object, but it wasn't a rock.

You grabbed the object and you pulled it out of the hole, revealing what it was. A human skull. You gasped, in shock, at the sight of it. But, then, something came to your mind. You looked at the skull and, then, you looked at the Headless Horseman. When you looked at the skull again, that was the moment you realized what it was. The skull belonged to the Headless Horseman.

After you discovered it, you stood up, with the skull in your right hand, as you watched Ichabod still being chased by the Headless Horseman. You thought of a solution. "Ichabod!" You shouted to get his attention. Then, Ichabod stopped and turned his head towards you, with the Headless Horseman running towards him. "Give this to him!" You shouted, as you threw the skull at Ichabod.

Once he caught it, at first, Ichabod was disgusted at the sight of it, but, then, he turned to the Headless Horseman. "Here!" He shouted, and, then, he threw the skull toward the Headless Horseman, who caught it and seemed to recognize it immediately. Then, he placed the skull on top of where his head would be. You walked over and stood next to Ichabod as you both watched what was happening.

The skull was starting to shake as it was forming into a human head. You wrapped your arms around Ichabod's left arm as you both watched the transformation happening. Then, within seconds, the transformation was completed and it showed a scary man with black hair, bluish white eyes, and sharp teeth.

He looked at you and Ichabod before he turned towards the Tree of the Dead. He let out a growl as the horse started running towards the tree, while leaves were flying all over. When he got closer to the tree, the horse jumped into the entrance and, with a splash of blood, they both vanished.

After that, you and Ichabod, slowly, walked towards the tree. When you both got there, a drop of blood fell off a tree root, which caused Ichabod to roll his eyes back and faint. "Ichabod!" You exclaimed, as you got onto your knees and leaned your head forward to check on him since he had his eyes closed. You placed your hand on the side of his head and stroked his temple, gently, with your thumb.

A minute later, Ichabod regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see you so close to him. "Ichabod?" You asked, softly, as you stopped stroking his temple. Then, Ichabod sat up and caressed your cheek with his hand as he, closely, looked into your (e/c) eyes.

"Is it true about what you said to me earlier, my dear (y/n)?" He asked, softly, as he stroked your cheek, gently, with his thumb. You blushed and smiled as you, slightly, leaned into his touch. You nodded and said, "Every word."

Then, unexpectedly, Ichabod wrapped his other arm around your back and he leaned towards you and pressed his lips against yours, with his eyes closed. You were surprised that he kissed you, but you were happy to know that he loves you back. Without hesitating, you closed your eyes and kissed Ichabod back, with your arms wrapped around his neck.