02x16 - What Lies Beneath

[bunniefuu]

Used to be nothing but woods above this section of the town.

A year from now, this'll all be underground parking.

It's a damn shame. These are some seriously old-school tunnels.

Looks like a dead end.

There's something back here.

Hand me that.

I got this. (grunts)

Here.

Well, this is just interesting.

(beep)

(footsteps echoing)

Ah.

What do you make of this thing?

Whoa.

We were told to map this section.

Just take a few GPR images.

Don't you want to know what's down there?

Honestly? No.

(wry laugh)

(beeps)

(grunting with effort)

Give me a hand with this.

(grunts)

(grunts)

Got it.

(grunting with effort)

(hissing)

(man coughing)

Looks like a whole other tunnel system down there.

(echoing): Yo!

(distant thud)

Hear that?

(growling)

Pete!

Pete!

(growling)

(growling)

(screaming)

(ship's horn blows)

(seabirds calling, buoy bell clanging)

Is it possible, Lieutenant, that I am fully assimilated in this era?

A man entirely comfortable in this time, this place?

(girls giggling)

(shutter clicking)

Abbie: And go.

Instant Gram.

Whatever happened to experiencing life rather than... posting it?

Says the man with the photographic memory.

Believe me, there are moments I would rather forget.

There are reminders of conflict everywhere.

I know what you mean.

When I was young, I used to pester Corbin about his time in combat.

He said... it was insane and terrible, but...

On the edge of death, we are never more alive.

Something every man who fought on this vessel would know all too well.

Yeah, but that's the point of places like this... so no one forgets the sacrifices made to defend this country and keep us safe.

And... come on, if the Patriots had just one ship like this, they would have b*at the British in two weeks.

(groans) John Paul Jones would have taken New York in a single day.

(laughs)

With everything that's happened, I can't help but feel like we're fighting evil without an endgame.

It was almost easier when we knew who the enemy was.

The Bible foretold seven years of tribulation, but it did not say in what form.

So just have faith.

Have faith.

(phone buzzing)

Text from Reyes... Missing Persons case.

Field trip's over.

(siren wailing)

(camera clicks)

Three-man survey team... working for a local engineering firm.

They are mapping the area underneath this section of town.

All part of a new retail development.

Last known contact... a little over 24 hours ago.

We have a map of the tunnel systems back at the archives.

Hold on.

(shutter clicks)

I gotta go play bouncer.

I'll be right back. Hey.

No press inside the line.

I'm gonna have to ask you to put your camera down, sir.

No ambulances or coroner vehicles.

At least you haven't found any bodies yet.

Sheriff Reyes will provide a full briefing in an hour.

You've tried triangulating their radios and cell phones.

You got nothing.

I mean, this many people... command post, staging area... you're dividing into search teams...

It's the same protocol as when combat patrols don't check in.

It means you guys have absolutely... no clue where they are.

I'm Calvin Riggs... my brother Daniel is one of the men you can't find.

You have my word we're doing everything possible to find your brother and those men.

Mm. And there's that look.

What look?

Infantry grunts call it "propaganda face."

It's when their superiors deny anything is going on right before a major combat operation takes place.

Three men don't just go missing underneath a small town, Lieutenant.

Not in Sleepy Hollow.

One: stop looking at my face.

Two: what does that mean?

It means this town is home to a lot of disappearances and unexplained deaths.

I grew up here... I know all the stories.

Wait, you're Calvin Riggs the journalist.

You covered Syria and Iraq.

Now you understand what I'm doing on this side of that yellow line.

Okay, yeah. We're still trying to put the pieces together on this.

As soon as I know more... you'll be my first call.

You still have that look on your face.

No evidence of a struggle, no sign of the equipment they were carrying, not even a scrap of their clothing.

They're down here somewhere, and we're the only ones who know about this section.

(wind whistling)

You feel that?

A breeze.

(wind whistling)

Over there.

(wind whistling)

An alcove.

Previously sealed.

I got to say... kinda sick of heading down small, dark spaces.

I was the one buried alive.

Discarded equipment.

Symbols of witchcraft.

Claw marks.

Whatever att*cked these men took them down this trapdoor.

Okay, we're gonna need some tools to open this thing.

(beeping)

Underground... radar mapping.

Incredible.

Octagonal dome, Neo-Palladian main chamber, designed at least 200 years ago.

There's only one man who could have designed this.

Thomas Jefferson.

Our third president made... good use of his free time.

Oh, he was a master architect.

As with the...

Masonic Cell, this is certainly his handiwork.

Someone dropped their phone.

(growling, man screams on video)

(growling)

I think we found what took those men.

(blues music playing)

Jenny Mills.

(chuckles): Frank.

You're out late.

It's good to see you.

You, uh, got a moment?

Sure.

So what's on your mind?

A favor.

I need your help retrieving something.

Retrieving...?

From the precinct evidence lockup.

When I was arrested, the department ran a search and seizure on all my personal belongings... family heirlooms, sentimental things, including my wedding ring.

For years...

I've wanted to reconcile my marriage.

I finally have that chance.

I filled out all the proper paperwork, but they still won't release all my things.

Keep delaying with the red tape.

You know all the cops down there.

Call in some favors.

(wry laugh)

I was convicted of a double homicide.

So, by "retrieve," you mean break in and steal?

I need to hack the evidence room code lock.

And you think I have something that could do that.

I know you do.

I can get you a hack for the door, but you're gonna need someone to keep an eye out when you take it from lockup.

I can't ask you to do that.

I'm offering.

You did, after all, die taking on the Horseman of w*r.

I'd say you've earned some backup.

In and out in five minutes, you have my word.

Crane: Yes, time is of the essence, but we must understand the thr*at we face.

Not to mention, the purpose of a Jefferson-designed chamber below ground.

Jefferson built the Masonic Cell to hold demons.

What do you think he built this chamber for? - I have an inkling.

During the w*r, rumors surfaced of a highly classified project commissioned by General Washington.

The construction of an impenetrable chamber meant to safeguard vital secrets to the Cause.

So like a colonial-era National Security Agency.

Jefferson christened this chamber with a rather florid term: Fenestella... an indication of his love of Italian architecture.

Basically it was a fancy word for "underground room."

It's a vault.

Very Jeffersonian.

Uncommon men prize uncommon words.

Okay, "vital secrets" is a little vague.

What could they be stowing away?

Unfortunately, details of this chamber remain a mystery to me.

I thought you were BFFs with those guys...

Washington, Franklin, Adams...

If by...

"BFF" you mean Washington was my mentor and Franklin was a... a harsh taskmaster, then, yes, BFFs.

My relationship with Jefferson was... more complicated.

You're telling me you were on the outs with him?

Not at first, no.

At first, we were very close.

I could use the benefit of a fresh pair of eyes.

Would you oblige me?

It would be an honor, sir.

He was my mentor and... an inspiration. And I thought... a friend.

I believed he saw promise in me, but apparently not.

What changed that?

To use common vernacular, Jefferson unfriended me.

It came completely out of the blue.

One moment, he was showing me the path, every word inspiring imagination.

The next... persona non grata.

To this day, it remains a mystery to me.

As does the Fenestella.

Fenestella... I know I've read that word before.

In Grace Dixon's... journal...

Here.

Notes on a meeting between Washington and Jefferson, January, 1777.

"...dark, damned souls will be used to protect the Fenestella."

So basically Jefferson and your buddies conjured something nasty to guard the chamber.

Does Miss Dixon's journal say anything else about these damned souls?

It's pretty scarce on details.

But we're gonna find out more.

Agreed.

A reconnaissance mission is required.

(creaking)

(creaking)

(sighs)

(creaking)

Crane: Lieutenant.

I see it.

C-Q.

C-Q, comm check.

Comm check. Engineering team, this is Lieutenant Mills with the Sleepy Hollow Sheriff's Department. Do you copy?

Engineering team. Daniel Riggs. We copy. Mayday.

Trapped underground. Please help.

(growling in distance)

We need your location.

Where are you? Do you copy?

Oh, God. No, they're moving.

They can hear you.

(distant growling continues)

The image we saw depicted one creature.

Sounds like a lot more than one.

(growling continues)

Might I suggest a change of tactic?

(snarling)

We definitely need more firepower.

Crane!

(snarling)

(grunting)

(shouts)

(hissing, snarling)

(grunts) Stay back!

You were about to call me... right?

I need you two to stop walking that fast and talk to me.

Lieutenant...

He's a journalist.

His brother's one of the men lost down here.

Calvin: Just stop!

You two just crawled out of an underground trapdoor looking like you finished a cage match.

Meaning...?

That I heard animal noises down there.

I think you guys know exactly what's going on and are hell-bent on hiding it.

Mr. Riggs...

Calvin.

Calvin, I appreciate you trying to help, but you cannot be down here right now... what are you doing?

Calling my editor in New York.

Then my contacts in the m*llitary.

When you win a Pulitzer, people take your calls.

Mr. Riggs...

My brother is down there.

You must understand there are consequences to your actions.

Where's the fire department?

Hmm?

The SWAT team?

Why's it just you two crawling around down here?

Because we don't know enough about the situation yet.

Well, then tell me what you do know.

Crane: I am... sympathetic to your plight, but your journalistic imperative cannot supersede public welfare.

Iran, China, North Korea... countries who've given me that line.

This isn't a w*r.

It's about my four-year-old niece losing her father.

Calvin, trust us.

It's our job; it's what we do.

I need more than that.

You want us to get your brother?

I heard his voice over the radio.

Daniel.

He's alive.

It means that there's a chance that we can save him, but the last thing we need is a media circus getting in our way.

Limited access to our investigation.

Lieutenant... a moment?

I know letting him in is a risk, but... it's something that the m*llitary does all the time... they embed journalists so that they can control the story.

We have no idea if we can trust this man.

My gut tells me that we can. I don't know why, but it does.

And by the way, you guys are the ones who put freedom of the press in the Constitution.

Well, we did not predict the 24-hour news cycle.

Wait here.

You said access.

I said "limited."

Ten minutes.

The markings translate from the Latin as "Reavers."

That must refer to the creatures we saw.

Reavers were not creatures in my era.

They were Washington's secret forces.

They must have been assigned to guard the Fenestella.

Those things didn't seem human.

More like feral.

And how could anyone live that long?

Something about them must have changed.

If a detachment of Reavers were deployed to guard the Fenestella for an indefinite period, perhaps their physiology has been supernaturally altered.

So Reavers are just amped-up sentries?

Left for hundreds of years in the dark.

Unguarded, untended... alive, but in hibernation.

Let's say the survey team came across them.

The Reavers woke up and took them prisoner.

Or worse.

(snarling)

Crane: They'd be starving.

Okay, here's how it works: You do everything that we say, no arguments, no questions.

No questions?

You do know what I do for a living, right?

Lieutenant, this was a mistake.

You're not helping your cause.

Playing ball goes both ways.

Can we trust you?

I just want to find my brother.

So that's a yes?

Agreed.

(beeps softly)

Well, make it fast.

Five minutes.

(g*n clicks)

Thought you'd give me more credit than this, Frank.

I just had to know what you were doing.

It's not what it looks like.

The Hellfire Club?

Crazy cult that tried to raise Moloch.

That worked for Henry Parish.

I can explain.

Frank!

Abbie: You stay here.

Why?

If this goes sideways and we don't make it out, thinking that SWAT team option sounds pretty good.

I got your back.

May I?

What...?

Hey.

What are you doing to my flash?

Stay back, please.

What are you doing, Crane?

Based on the Reavers' response to this device when last we surfaced, this trick ought to work.

Stoneroot bark powder.

It was used to amplify signal fires during night battles.

That's a $7,000 camera.

Tut, tut.

Thank you.

Ah!

(electrical buzzing)

(distant growling)

This must be the entrance to the Fenestella.

(Reavers growling, snarling)

Crane, the door!

It cannot be.

Crane... is that you?

Jefferson.

Mr. Jefferson.

Actually it's Mr. President.

It's good to see you, too, Crane.

Uh... pardon me, sir... how is your presence here possible?

He d*ed in 1826.

Well, it seems we've both outlived our expectations.

And Adams.

My spirit endures thanks to a combination of science and witchcraft.

I knew that my Fenestella needed an endless source of power, so I designed a cube which could harness supernatural energy.

Our allies from the Order of the Sacred Heart did the rest.

Franklin choked with envy when he saw it.

Remarkable.

Abbie: So we're talking to a hologram of third president, writer of the Declaration of Independence.

Architect of Monticello.

Must you?

Apologies.

So... you are Thomas Jefferson's proxy.

But with the same memories, feelings and personality of the man.

Think of me as a deeply kindred spirit.

Mr. President, three men were taken by those creatures out there. We're here to rescue them.

May I present my associate, Lieutenant Abigail Mills.

The honor is mine.

Now, come, both of you. There's much to see.

I am afraid our visit is of rather an urgent nature.

Any assistance you can provide in the safe return of those victims would be most welcome.

If I could help, I gladly would.

But there's far too much at stake.

All due respect, sir, we know the men are still alive.

Reavers have taken them, we just need to know where.

What year is this?

Two thousand and fifteen.

Ah, better late than never.

I had hoped that, by your presence here, you had come for the information inside the Fenestella.

I fear you underestimate the importance of our mission.

Your mission is the very reason I'm here, Crane.

Frank!

(grunting)

Jenny!

I need you to listen!

The markings on your arms.

An obviously bogus mission.

You've gone to the dark side, haven't you?

My soul is tarnished.

It has been... since the moment I was reborn.

That other version of me... the Frank Irving filled with evil... is like another person inside of me.

When he takes over, I only get fragments.

You don't remember anything after you came back?

From what I can piece together, Cynthia wanted to know if my soul was clean.

Yes.

She asked Katrina to do it.

And you passed.

Because of this.

What the hell is that?

Temporary Salvation.

Before I d*ed, I learned of an ancient rune hidden in a book kept by Henry Parish...

...one that could shield the true nature of a cursed soul.

I needed to buy myself some time.

(screams)

(screaming)

(screaming)

It worked like a charm, but... it had an unintended side effect.

It made me feel human again.

It gave me absolute clarity.

And I knew what I needed to do.

What are we really doing here, Frank?

I found a ledger in Henry Parish's desk... names, numbers... all relating back to the Hellfire Club.

Proof of wire transfers totaling $1.37 million.

For Cynthia.

Account numbers for offshore banks so she and Macey can get as far away from Sleepy Hollow as possible.

This is evidence, Frank.

Even if the cops haven't figured out what's on it.

This is reparations.

I lost my job.

I lost my soul.

I lost my family.

This is security for them.

Why bring me in on all of this?

Because my time is running out, Jenny.

The power of the rune is fading.

That other Frank... is about to take over and replace me, forever.

It is why I came to you.

You are the only one who understands... my family needs protection.

I'm not gonna get this chance again.

Thank you for doing this.

(whispering): How does Jefferson know of our mission?

I have no idea, but right now I'm more concerned with finding Calvin's brother and those men alive.

You said you two were friends.

Get him to help us.

He's a witchcraft-generated spirit of a man who d*ed two centuries ago.

Yeah. There are three men are out there.

Make it work.

Sir, if you do indeed represent the man I once knew, then you must be able to assist us in our task.

Well, don't you see, Crane?

The very purpose of the Fenestella is to assist you.

♪ ♪

(snoring)

(raspy breathing)

One of a kind.

A book on eschatology written during the Roman Empire.

The study of the End of Days.

You know we are Witnesses.

The Reavers' nest is right underneath us.

Two workers are still alive.

Never trust a politician.

I never said they were dead. The power source that fuels this chamber is fragile.

Attacking the nest will destroy the entire Fenestella.

A risk we'll have to take.

It weighs on me... that these men must die.

But the information within these walls eclipses the needs of the few... as tragic as that may be.

Have you not asked yourselves why?

Why you were chosen?

The nature of your mission?

Is in this chamber.

If this place holds all the answers to every question we have about our role as Witnesses, why would you keep it from me?

The prophecy was quite clear: no interference until the Second Witness appeared.

So now that I'm here...?

Your mission may begin in earnest.

The Folio Immaculata.

Among the knowledge within it, certain volumes identify potential mentors to guide you in your missions.

Like Corbin.

Age is the price of wisdom.

No... No. Oh, God!

Officer down!

And General Washington.

Washington: Everyone we needed to guide us in this w*r has been lost to us.

If only you knew how I wanted to be among them.

But you needed to be kept at arm's length.

I would advocate expanding and moving "Grievances with the king" to the bottom.

I feel it more fully represents the will of our fellow countrymen and... will more likely better withstand scrutiny from Congress.

Ah, clever. Clever and justified.

This document will change the course of our struggle.

Well, that is the hope.

A declaration of independence.

The Declaration of Independence.

This will show the crown... and the world... that our destiny is our own.

Well done.

We may unite these colonies after all.

Oh, and if I might.

I was reshelving some of the books in your study, and this... this fell out of the pages.

Byzantine architecture is a minor passion of mine.

I'd be happy to further research...

That won't be necessary, Crane.

Thank you.

Sir...?

That will be all.

I had no choice but to rebuff you, Crane.

You built all this for us.

This chamber and its purpose is my proudest achievement.

That you are both here, now, in the flesh... is the fulfillment of my grandest hopes.

All due respect, sir, I can't imagine any mentor who would advocate protecting research over saving innocent American lives.

Choices in w*r are rarely clear.

You, Abigail, were chosen for this centuries ago... you, among all others... to win a w*r we could not.

The information in this chamber can help you achieve victory.

So, please, choose your next actions very carefully.

Mr. President...

...this is the path that we have to take.

The lieutenant's right.

The choice is clear.

Lieutenant.

(snoring, raspy breathing)

(quietly): Gentlemen, time we left.

(raspy breathing)

(raspy breathing)

(sudden gasp)

(Reavers growling, snarling)

(growling)

Crane!

(growling)

Abbie: Everybody, get topside.

We've got your backs. Out the door!

Quickly!

(growling)

Daniel!

(growling)

(growling) Out!

Lieutenant?

(growling)

(panting)

(muffled growling)

Those creatures are way too dangerous.

We have to blow it.

Regrettably, yes.

The only way to be certain is to destroy the power source for the Fenestella.

Means we lose the whole damn thing.

All that knowledge lost, but I suppose we have the Internet.

Calvin: Abbie...

He's going into shock.

These men need medical help.

You take them above ground, I shall take it from here.

Crane...

As you have so aptly put it before:

"I've got this."

It gets hairy, you call me for backup.

Understood.

(growling, snarling)

(growling)

Ichabod, listen to reason.

Please, open this gate.

Think of all you and Miss Mills could achieve with the information here.

The Reavers pose a far greater thr*at than you realize.

This chamber and these caverns will contain them.

From the America you knew.

Not the one that exists now.

It has grown beyond our wildest aspirations.

What was once open fields above us is now home to 300 million citizens.

Three of them have stumbled across your Fenestella.

There will be more.

You once told me a single life is worth more than a thousand books.

The work that we did together... those truths still hold.

It truly pained me that I rebuffed you in the manner that I did, Crane.

But I was determined to deliver all this to you intact when the day finally came.

When fate demanded.

And now you tell me it must all be destroyed.

The casualties of w*r, indeed.

"Destroyed."

But not the ideals of the man who built it.

Yours is the greatest mind I've ever known.

The price I paid in building all this was our friendship.

You, too, are a founder of this country.

And to have found a way to live in the future that we dreamed of?

This nation could not be in better hands.

Set your detonation point there.

The chain reaction will destroy this chamber and every Reaver within these tunnels.

(beep)

And you?

(growling, snarling, hissing)

My time has come and gone.

Yours is still unfolding... my friend.

Mr. President.

Lieutenant!

Crane!

Ah...

We just blew up the author of the Declaration of Independence.

Truth be told, he insisted.

(sirens wailing in distance)

(indistinct radio communication)

So... the official story will be that some kind of rabid animal was down in the tunnels with these guys?

Yup.

And during the rescue, a gas main ruptured.

Took out any and all evidence.

That's right.

And in their exhaustion, and extreme dehydration, there's no telling what kind of hallucinations they might have.

And you're wondering if I'm gonna keep digging.

Your brother's safe. Why push it?

You go through creepy trapdoors.

Me? I push till I get to the truth.

Mm-hmm.

Well, people have a right to know.

What you do is important, Calvin.

And, yes, there will be a time for the public to know everything.

Just not right now.

And you're the one to decide that?

They will be other threats.

More people who need our help.

So, yes, for now, I make the call.

Question is... are you on our side?

It's a good story, isn't it?

Very.

(wry laugh)

All right.

Mm-hmm.

Hey!

Check your e-mail.

(ambulance door shuts)

Your rest was most fitful, Mother.

Henry...

Yes.

How-how is it possible?

You must wonder how I could've survived what happened.

(yells)

You're still alive.

I was away.

Sorting things out.

Call it wanderlust.

As you know, I believed Moloch to be my true father.

But after his betrayal, I was unsure of my path.

What do you want from me?

If you still seek to harm me, I...

No. No.

I-I now know why I did what I did.

I k*lled Moloch for you, Mother.

For our kind.

It's time for us to begin our work.

(gasps)