A.N. - First things first, sincerest apologies for the late uploading! I was determined to stick to my pre-set schedule and came so close to hitting my self-imposed deadlines but just fell short. I've just been really busy the last few days and couldn't devote the time to finalise this chapter properly. Finally, I've had the chance today and I hope it's worth the wait. It's a long one to wrap this mini story up.

Chapter 8 – Maelstrom.

Mario looked at Daphne after her bewildering outburst in absolute puzzlement for a few seconds, before absolute bedlam suddenly descended on the previously calm Piazza. As they had passed by the first row of tables on the way out, a slightly aged but still very fit man had suddenly leapt at them from his seat and had dramatically produced a gun. He was now holding it at the back of Mario's head whilst screaming at him incoherently to release Daphne. Loud screams immediately sounded all around them, and tables were knocked over and children were scooped up haphazardly in people's panic and haste to scramble from the cafe after a man had pulled a gun on the young blond man as he attempted to leave with the woman. A couple of the baristas found themselves hiding behind upturned tables unable to escape themselves as the stampede continued.

Like Mario, Fred and Daniele were also temporarily startled by the commotion. Daniele was at once utterly horrified by the sight of the furious man with a gun at the back of his younger brother's head. He briefly lost his grip on his own gun when the stampede started, and his 'hostage' quickly took advantage of the chaos to jump up from the table, but Daniele recovered quickly to now aim the hand gun at the young American's head. "Don't you fucking move!" he sneered at him, and Fred raised his hands in surrender.

The same pretty barista, Gloria, who had innocently flirted with Fred less than an hour ago, silently wept as she hid behind a table, watching on in horror as a second gun was subsequently pulled out. Fearing a terrorist attack, she pulled her phone from her uniform and silently tapped out 112.

Usually so ice cool, Mario was undoubtedly shaken by the dramatic turn of events in the minute or so since he had got up to leave with Daphne. The packed cafe was now a solitary scene of chaos that had quickly descended into a tense hostage situation. Something Mario had not planned for at all. He glanced back towards his brother to see if he had been attacked too, and noted with satisfaction that Daniele was OK and still had Fred; all was not quite lost even though Daphne had undoubtedly sprung one hell of a surprise.

"Let. Her. Go!" the man brusquely demanded, and with the gun touching his head, Mario reluctantly released her hand. Daphne had absolutely no hesitation in moving away from him and quickly ran to the side of the man who had saved her. Mario didn't think it was a coincidence he just so happened to be in this café at this time and just so happened to have a gun.

"So, you two didn't come alone after all, hey? Smart girl," he hissed at her in contempt. "Guess this is a rat friend of yours?"

"Shut up. Put your hands up, you filthy piece of scum," the man instructed Mario in furious broken English.

Mario complied, slowly interlocking his hands behind his head just above the cool steel pressed into the nape of his neck. He breathed hard, determined not to let her see he was afraid. He fully expected an entire SWAT team to suddenly descend on the Piazza but after a couple more minutes it was clear that this was a one-man rescue, something which gave him renewed confidence again; ignoring the man, he spoke only to Daphne.

"I underestimated you beautiful! You clearly had a lot more of a plan going on than I thought. Fair play. You still lose though," he grinned smugly. He watched Daphne's face drop when she followed his gaze towards Daniele who had now trained his gun menacingly at a standing Fred's head. "Don't think your buddy quite thought this through. I believe you call this a 'stalemate.'" Mario smirked. The grin was temporarily wiped off his face when he suddenly felt the man grab his shoulders and shoved him face down hard onto the nearest table, the gun still touching the back of his own head and despite all this he laughed loudly, instantly unnerving Daphne.

"Oh baby, you have a real problem here, don't you? I wouldn't trust this crazy lunatic if I were you, and rest assured if anything happens to me, you can also kiss goodbye to Fred," he told her cruelly, satisfied as her eyes flashed with panic.

Daphne's heart was pounding wildly in her chest as she assessed the increasingly dire situation. Although Esposito's timely response to their emergency codeword distress shout had prevented Mario from taking her and Fred, they were now stuck in a deadly stalemate with Fred's life still at risk.

Worse still, she feared Mario wasn't entirely wrong in his assessment of Esposito in the moment. He looked more than a little unhinged himself as he had joyfully slammed down Mario's head so viciously onto the table. His eyes looked crazed as he held the gun firm and unwavering. She couldn't be sure in that moment that Esposito wouldn't actually harm Mario and right now, that was the very worst thing that could happen. The calm and composed PI guy Fred and Daphne had met just the other day was gone, replaced by a deranged looking man with a gun.

"Esposito? Please calm down," she begged him, on the verge of tears as he barely even looked up at her. "Daniele still has Freddy! You can't do anything to jeopardise that."

"Yeah, Esposito, whoever the fuck you are, you need to stay calm man," Mario mocked him but this only infuriated the older man further.

"I ought to end your miserable existence right now," Esposito spat at the young Italian to Daphne's immediate alarm, whose eyes were flitting anxiously between the stand-off in front of her and the other gun pointed so perilously at her husband, a few tables away.

Esposito finally tore away his eyes away from Mario and looked up at Daphne properly. He had such a regretful look on his face to Daphne's horror now, and she knew instantly when he looked into her eyes, he hadn't told them his full story.

"I'm sorry Daphne. I haven't been entirely honest with you and Fred," he said shamefacedly speaking in stilted sentences. "I did not in fact, retire. I was actually 'let go' from the police for my too personal involvement in his case. My good friend Lorenzo...Materazzi took his daughter away. I swore I would get justice for him, for her. I used your success as top detectives to get to him, I am so sorry."

Daphne was left utterly reeling by Esposito's confession. His words were like horrifying déjà vu for Daphne. Suddenly, she was instantly transported back to that night young cop Justin Richardson had strolled up and executed her uncle Devon Blake before grabbing her at gunpoint. They had trusted him and he had horrifyingly betrayed them. Justin had given off the impression that he just wanted to get Devon, like all of them but he was harboring a much darker motive and had never disclosed to them his very personal reason for his vendetta against Devon. It had never been enough for Justin to just see him arrested, he only ever had murder in his mind and it looked eerily similar for Esposito right now, only this time it was Freddy's life hanging in the balance not hers.

She felt absolutely stung by Esposito's betrayal and felt especially bitter that he had done nothing to prevent Daniele from getting to Fred, but now was not the time for her anger towards him, she had to get through to him before it was too late, and history repeated itself with the most devastating consequences.

"Esposito, please listen to me," she pleaded. "You can't do this, not like this! We have him now! He can't hurt anyone else. Don't do anything stupid."

Esposito's finger scraped on the trigger and Daphne swore she felt her heart stop in that moment.

"Sophia, she was 18, in her first year. She should have been safe," Esposito continued emotionally as if he couldn't hear her. "You took her life away from her!"

"I am no killer," Mario declared quietly and Esposito tightened his grip in rage.

"You might as well be! She killed herself because of what you did to her, you animal!" he seethed. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and secured Mario's wrists behind him but still did not remove the gun to Daphne's despair.

Mario decided to properly shut up then, not willing to confess anything further. He knew it didn't look good for him right now, but Daniele was still very much the ace in his pack here.

"Mario, are you OK?" Daniele suddenly shouted over. "If he hurts you, I will not hesitate to then pull the trigger on this one!" he said contemptuously towards the defiant young blond before him. Despite being in a seemingly assured position right now, Daniele Materazzi couldn't help but feel like an almighty 'I told you so,' was warranted in Mario's direction right now.

When Mario was released from prison, Daniele had warned him they needed to keep their heads down and not do anything that would draw attention to themselves. It was all going so well until she came back into the picture. Daniele did not know the full story of his brother and the American redhead but he knew one thing; Mario's obsession with her had become a deadly one and Daniele warned him she would be his downfall.

Mario had first spoken of Daphne Blake after a student party, telling Daniele wistfully he had met a 'stunning American.' Daniele had instead urged him to forget her and concentrate on completing the haul of the paintings, he had helped his brother to put together, but Mario had been unable to resist temptation. Daniele knew his brother was smitten and had gone on to recklessly kidnap her, a move that eventually led to his undoing and imprisonment.

Daniele had been incredibly disturbed by the stream of distressing claims made against his brother in the years prior to his stint as the Ghostly Gondolier. The family had thrown every expensive lawyer they had to protect him and kept his nose out of jail, but once he was caught red handed with those paintings, and that costume, Mario finally went to prison, keeping quiet on Daniele's assistance in the theft crimes.

Perhaps it was guilty gratitude that Mario had covered for him or just his brotherly duty, but once his early release was secured, Daniele had felt compelled to help Mario move on. However, he needed one final assurance before he had agreed to help Mario flee his tagged supervision. With every claim that came flying at Mario, Daniele's doubt of his proclaimed innocence had grown, despite how embarrassingly easily their lawyers had cut down the claims of his accusers. A single memory of an unsavoury encounter haunted Daniele and prompted an angry confrontation.

Earlier this year.

"Brother, you have to believe me," Mario pleaded as they sat in Daniele's car together outside Daniele's swanky townhouse. Daniele had told Mario they were going nowhere until Mario had told him the whole truth about the repeated claims. "Those girls, they are lying! I don't know why they turned against me and made those lies but they are lies Daniele! Maybe they were drunk and they forget but I am no monster. They said yes!"

Daniele breathed heavily as his brother passionately pleaded his innocence. "I want to believe you baby brother, I do, but there have been so many..."

"Daniele please!" Mario said desperately. "Ask yourself why I would have to do that! I am not some ugly no hoper! Girls... they love me!"

It was true, Mario was handsome and good looking with the same great Materazzi genes as himself and their father. But even so, those memories of when Mario was just 16 and Daniele finding him with their cousin flashed into his brain again.

"But Elena," he started wearily and Mario's eyes flashed with indignant anger.

"But Elena nothing! It was a mistake and I told you that, I know what I did was wrong then, but I did what you wanted after that day, I got help Daniele! I don't know how can you believe all these whores before your own brother!"

He said it in such a stinging accusatory tone of voice, and for a second Daniele felt bad, he knew he should believe Mario, God he wanted to believe Mario but that nagging doubt would not go away. "But what about the American girl, Mario," he asked pointedly and this is when Mario slumped back, losing his fire.

"Daphne," he breathed wistfully. "She is...different."

"Different how? Mario, tell me what did you do to her at the summer house?" he asked uneasily.

"She tempted me. She tempted me like no other girl since," Mario admitted, staring straight forward into the darkness outside. "I will admit I did come close Daniele; I came close to doing a truly bad thing but I did not. I did not touch her, that is the truth, Daniele! But I know I need help. That's why I need to go with you, so I will not fall to further temptation. I know you will see me right. Please Daniele, take me away, please, I beg you."

Daniele had looked at his brother for the longest time as Mario had pleaded. Since the earliest moments after Mario had been born, and his squirming body had been placed into Daniele's little arms, his father had sternly told Daniele that he needed to do everything to look after his baby brother.

Daniele had held Mario in his arms, looking at the baby in wonder and then his tiny face had scrunched up and looked at him and smiled and Daniele had felt his heart fill up with nothing but love. In that moment he had vowed he would protect his Mario for life.

And he had. When Mario had fallen victim to a school bully, he had taken care of it. When he had found Mario and Elena, he had taken care of it, convincing Elena of Mario's terrible mistake and guilt and not to tell anyone of a secret that would bring terrible shame on their family.

When Mario was behest with accusations while he was at university, he had defended him to the hilt even providing him an alibi on occasion. When he found out Mario was dressing up as the Ghostly Gondolier, he had covered for him and went on to help him in his greedy quest. The Materazzi family were not an honest one. Daniele was not an innocent. He was a criminal too. But Daniele could never hurt a woman. He found it utterly abhorrent. The sickened feeling he had experienced when he discovered Mario with Elena...it was a sight that was too awful to comprehend. He knew as Mario discussed his struggles with his desire for the American girl, that undoubtedly, he had lied to him about the others too. Daniele realised with a cold guilt that what those girls had said was true. He knew Mario needed help and he could provide that. They could have a fresh start. He could get him clean, rid him of his dark temptations.

Mario was sobbing now and Daniele reached across and swiftly cut the tag off his ankle with a knife. He held it in his hand and pointed the knife towards his brother. "No more Mario! You understand, no more!"

They both knew what he meant. Mario nodded his head shamefully. "No more Daniele, I promise. I will be a changed man! Please! Get me away."

His father's face swam into Daniele's vision. "Proteggilo ragazzo mio."

Daniele looked at Mario's tearful face, those same intense green eyes he had fallen in love with when he was placed in his arms, wrapped in his blanket.

He wound down his window, started the engine. "Okay, Mario, okay."

He tossed the anklet into the darkness and they disappeared into the night.

Daniele firmly believed Mario had changed since that night. After a quiet period, Mario had tapped back into his earlier passion for music and enjoyed performing under his new identity. They were careful not to stay in one place too long in case someone spotted his brother but soon the press attention died down. Initial reports after they fled had been hysterical in Venice especially, but soon Mario's escape was yesterday's news.

And Daniele started to see a new Mario too, the only relations he had with women were entirely consensual. (To the very best of Daniele's knowledge.) Mario had a smile on his face again. They tentatively set about even trying to get 'Alonzo' signed. Daniele began to relax, he even agreed to Mario's request about bringing girls back to the trailer. There was a strict rule, yes but only when Daniele was there.

Looking back, Daniele should have known that the other night was not just wanton vandalism as a rock had come hurtling into their trailer; it was a warning that things were about to take a turn for the worst. Sure enough, the next day he had taken a bizarre phone call from a young woman who wanted to interview Mario. They had agreed but puzzled over it until later that day when Mario had practically burst with excitement.

"I saw her!" He had told Daniele excitedly. "I fucking saw her!"

A pit of dread had immediately settled in Daniele's stomach, he didn't need any further elaboration. He knew exactly who Mario must be talking about.

"Are you sure?" he asked Mario calmly but Mario was already well away with his conspiracy theory.

"I KNOW it was her, I only caught a glimpse but I would never forget her! She was sitting alone by a statue and when I looked again, she was gone, but it was her Daniele. It was her! What if it is her who is interviewing me? She is trying to trap me Daniele, I know it. I can feel it."

Daniele had been hesitant to believe Mario's crazy theory but half an hour after Mario had sat down with that blogger, he received a very excited phone call from Mario.

"Oh my, Daniele! She is disguising herself but I KNOW it is her. She thinks she's so clever. I have found her beloved here too. It is my chance now for revenge."

Daniele did not like the unhinged tone of his brother's voice but found himself feeling similar ill feeling towards the Americans who had caught his brother. He still felt uneasy what Mario's plans might be.

"What are you planning little brother?" he asked him warily but Mario did not elaborate.

"I cannot say, it is not too bad though. Just get here Daniele. She thinks she is so clever manipulating me. I can turn the tables. The boyfriend. I need you to keep him company. Do whatever you must to keep him in place."

Daniele knew this meant with force and he sighed internally. He did not like the sound of this plan at all. Would Mario truly go for the redhead again? He knew he needed to be there and agreed, asking Mario which table he should sit at.

"You cannot miss him," Mario told him scornfully. "The baseball cap and sunglasses, an American so out of place. I must go now as she is coming back, but go keep him company Dani, just in case she tries anything."

So reluctantly, Daniele had done exactly that, sitting down casually with the American, with his pistol subtly drawn under the table to keep him behaving. For his part, the American had seemed remarkably calm throughout the whole ordeal and it was true that Fred was taking it all somewhat in his stride.

A part of Fred Jones was also thinking of a big fat 'I told you so' right now but it certainly wasn't prudent to express it now even though it looked like he had been proven correct on two accounts; This set up wasa terrible idea, and Esposito could not be trusted. Of course, Fred was too far away to hear exactly what was going on, but from Esposito's violent actions towards Mario, Daphne's frantic gesturing at him, and the desperate look on her face, he could only deduce things had gone badly South.

The entire thing had been a form of torture for Fred; seeing his wife having to sit so close to that animal and not be privy to what was actually being said was a special kind of hell. When he saw her jump up after spilling the drink all over herself, it had taken every inch of his self-control not to follow immediately after her, even as she'd silently begged him not to. He was reassured when she returned significantly composed moments later. He had watched their conversation over the top of the newspaper, getting more agitated himself, the more distressed he could see her becoming. He was glad he could only see the back of Mario and not his smarmy face. He glanced over at Esposito and could see he too seemed engrossed in the chat.

And that's when it happened.

One minute Fred was slowly simmering in frustration at being left out of what was going on, and the next he was recovering from a very unwelcome intrusion at his table.

"Excuse me?"

Fred looked up in confused alarm at the stranger as he slinked in from nowhere and suddenly took a seat opposite him.

"Er buddy, you can't sit there..." he started and then looked up into the eyes of the man and realised with a startling jolt they were familiar.

"I think you'll find I can sit wherever I want," he replied with an arrogant swagger.

Fred gulped and looked into the dangerous eyes of Daniele Materazzi; his gaze immediately went to Daphne to see if she was aware but Daniele chuckled lightly.

"She does not know," Fred started to get out of his seat and then Materazzi coughed, eyes pointedly downward, and Fred followed his gaze to see what he was holding underneath the table. "Sit down," he urged him and Fred reluctantly sat, furious how Daniele had obviously got the drop on both him and Esposito who obviously hadn't noticed the distinct Italian casually stroll in.

Daniele never took his eyes off Fred, while he nonchalantly and subtly brandished the gun under the table. Fred squirmed, desperately trying to attract the attention of the flirty waitress again, or even Esposito but Daniele sighed.

"Easy, easy," he murmured. "Just stay calm and don't do anything stupid. Nobody has to get hurt here. Just don't react and you'll be fine kid." Daniele's voice was smooth but much more heavily accented than Mario's.

Fred swiped the sunglasses off his face angrily so he could properly look the Italian in the eye.

"What's going on?" he demanded hotly, but was frustrated when Daniele didn't say another word.

Instead, he was forced to watch helplessly as the conversation between Daphne and Mario obviously took a nasty turn, and he saw Daphne pale considerably. He gripped the table lightly as he saw Mario lean forward and suddenly take Daphne's hand.

"What the fuck is he doing?" He demanded of Daniele, but the older brother remained silent. Fred knew there was a very likely chance that Mario had made Daphne aware of his trapped predicament and was using it to his advantage. He knew this was undoubtedly the case when Daphne allowed him to hug her. It took a turn for the worst when moments later, he was forced to watch in repulsed disbelief as Daphne initiated a kiss, no doubt entirely fueled by the blackmail of Daniele holding a gun on him.

"I will kill him," Fred raged and this finally got the silent Daniele's attention now as he chuckled.

Your girl? Mario is quite sweet on her," he admitted.

"What does he plan to do?" Fred asked him apprehensively, never taking his eyes off the pair but Daniele shrugged in response which surprised Fred as he assumed they had plotted together.

"I do not know," Daniele admitted. "What he's doing now?"

"They're getting up," Fred said in alarm. "He's going to try take her again!"

"Dammit, I hope not," Daniele said softly, "I warned him this would happen..."

Fred never got the chance to ask what Daniele meant by that puzzling response because suddenly Esposito had finally responded, pulling a gun and sending the entire café into a panic. Despite the gun, Daniele had never expressed any other aggressiveness towards Fred, it was only when Mario was threatened by Esposito that Daniele had jumped up in quick response to threaten Fred.

There had been a nervous tension between them ever since, as Fred stood with his hands up while Daniele trained the gun on him. Daniele had tensed when he saw his brother slammed down at gunpoint and had become nervier and on edge. Fred had decided to stay quiet too, not wanting to trigger Daniele into any bad decision.

Daniele waited anxiously for Mario's response. All Fred and Daniele could see of him from this angle was his head on the table, with the gun at his neck.

"Brother, I am fine," Mario assured him which seemed to pacify Daniele somewhat.

The stand-off had been going on for a few minutes now, Gloria, the barista had managed to crawl unnoticed back inside the café and was now on her phone to the Italian police who she was assured were just 'minutes away'.

"Freddy?" Daphne shouted across, looking panic stricken herself. "Baby, are you OK?"

Daniele was seemingly fed up of having to shout across the tables, and nodded at Fred with the gun. "Move!"

Fred tentatively stepped out from the table and Daniele moved around quickly to grab him by the shoulder with one hand and hold the gun with the other. He then shoved him along until they were standing right alongside Mario, Daphne and Esposito. He kept his hand firmly on Fred's shoulder and the gun at the side of his head, but Fred was just grateful to be able to see Daphne closer again.

"I'm fine sweetheart," he assured her. "We've been through worse!" he joked, referencing their many near death experiences together; he had of course already been shot before too.

Feeling relieved that he was able to make a joke about being held hostage again, Daphne was nevertheless still unnerved by the situation. This wasn't how it was supposed to play out at all and it was, just like Mario said, a stalemate now. Esposito had Mario still held firmly at gunpoint, and in response, Daniele kept his own pistol aimed steadily at Fred, seemingly unflinchingly.

"Esposito you can't kill him," Daphne quietly urged him. "We've come too far and worked too hard. It's not justice!" Daphne would like to think she would be just as adamant about not harming Mario if Fred wasn't in the situation he was, but she knew it was his solely his fate that was ultimately fueling her passionate attempts at preventing Esposito from blowing Mario's head off.

Esposito seemed to have calmed a little now but he was still unwilling to let Mario go. Daphne prayed that at least one of those customers that had fled the restaurant in a panic had the good sense to call the local police otherwise they were on their own until either Daniele or Esposito cracked.

She couldn't be sure, but she felt like if Esposito stopped threatening Mario, then Daniele would let Fred go in response. She studied the two of them now they were closer; Fred didn't seem too overly concerned with his predicament. It was true that it was hardly the first time he had stared such danger in the face (or down the barrel of a gun even!) but he seemed unerringly calm. Daniele steadily held Fred by the shoulder.

"So, I wonder," Mario said jovially, breaking the tension. "How is this lovely fun game going to end?"

"Not the way you wanted it to," Daphne replied scornfully before she could help herself. "There will be no 'having' of what you desire that's for sure."

Mario scowled, and Fred wondered what sordid things Mario had discussed with her. He felt the hand holding his shoulder stiffen and he could see Daniele looked shocked and even a little repulsed by what Daphne had said. Had they got this wrong, Fred thought hopefully, was Daniele not quite as in tandem with his brother's dark desires as they first thought?

"Brother?" Daniele said questioningly. "You mean you did intend to take her for yourself after all? After all we have discussed?!"

The disgusted tone of the elder Materazzi caught everyone there by surprise; clearly he wasn't quite the willing accomplice they thought he was.

"Dani, I was just messing," Mario replied a little desperately. "I didn't really mean anything by it! I was just going to give them a scare, teach them a lesson!"

Daphne stared incredulously at Daniele's horrified reaction and knew she needed to seize on this immediately.

"You mean you didn't mean it when you told me you were going to rape me, make my husband watch, and then kill us both?" she said to the abject horror of both Fred and Daniele.

"You fucking animal," Fred seethed, mortified Daphne had to put up with such a stomach-churning threat.

But Daphne was only watching Daniele's distressed reaction. "You didn't know? He didn't tell you?"

"Brother, she is lying! A fantasist! I planned some revenge for sure but nothing like that."

"Just like the other girls were lying I suppose, Mario?" Daniele said to him scornfully. "You promised me no more. I cannot..."

Mario shouted at his brother desperately, seeing him strongly wavering now. "Dani! Don't do this! I will be at their mercy! Dani, don't believe these Americans over your own brother!"

"I cannot do this any longer," Daniele said quietly and lowered the gun, he threw it onto the table and then released Fred completely, who grabbed the discarded gun and quickly ran to Daphne while Mario raged indignantly.

"DANIELE NO!"

"I cannot protect you little brother, not when I know what you are. I have been in denial for the longest time."

"Looks like you lose Materazzi," Esposito told him smugly.

Mario was down but not out yet and soon came back swinging. "And just what is it that you think I have lost? There is no proof here. It is just her word against mine. I have done nothing wrong here," he said smugly as Esposito hauled him up and sat him in a chair with his wrists still cuffed behind him. "You have no proof. You are believing a lie Daniele!"

"No?" Daphne said, jumping out of Fred's embrace to stalk towards the upturned tables, lying metres away. She scanned the ground and found what she was looking for and snatched it up triumphantly.

She walked towards Mario, waving it at him. "No proof you say? What about this?"

"Go ahead," Mario sneered, "take a good long look."

Unnerved by his attitude, Daphne flicked through the rest of the pages of the black book. It was largely blank apart from the photo of herself on the first page and a list of names spread out haphazardly on the pages of the notebook with some inappropriate drawings and incoherent scribbling.

"No," she murmured to herself in disappointment. Aurora...Ariel...Jasmine...Elsa...

"What's the matter Daphne?" Mario mocked her. "Do the names of Disney princesses not prove what you seem to think it does?"

Daphne threw the book to the floor in disgust. It was full of codenames not conquests like he had led her to believe. "That picture proves nothing other than you were in my bed, so I guess you really have nothing! You were too hasty giving up that gun Daniele, you will soon look foolish."

Daphne walked right over to Mario who looked entirely victorious now. "Looks like it will be your buddy here getting arrested for false imprisonment of an innocent man," he taunted them.

"Innocent?" Fred scoffed, before turning to Daniele who had gone very quiet again. "You surely can't believe he is innocent? He wasn't exactly up front about what his intentions were here. He used you Daniele."

"Enough," Daphne said, walking close to Mario now. "Enough of your endless lies."

To everyone's surprise, she then did the most unexpected thing imaginable. First, she peeled off her wig, letting her red hair fall down around her shoulders again, then she began to slowly unbutton her blouse right in front of the seated Mario whose jaw fell open in disbelief.

He wasn't the only one as Daniele, Esposito and Fred all reacted in amazement. "Daph! What the hell are you doing?!" Fred spluttered in disbelief but Esposito knew.

She undid every button, exposing her black bra but kept the loose flapping blouse on her shoulders. Just as she expected, Mario was utterly spellbound by her creamy white skin.

"Go ahead, take a good long look," she told him defiantly. "Because it's the last bit of female flesh you are ever going to see Mario."

Of course, his eyes were initially fixed on her exposed chest but slowly his eyes adjusted to something else; a thin wire taped between her breasts running down the middle of her stomach to something resting on her hip.

And the penny dropped there for Mario. She had got him well and truly. Done up like a kipper. Completely exposed him in front of his brother. She had him on tape and everything was going to come crashing down around him.

And Mario roared loudly, the sound almost felt inhuman, it was a guttural roar of pain and sheer outrage that started in his belly but burst forth now with a naked and utter fury as he jumped to his feet and lunged violently towards Daphne, nothing but hatred now dancing in his eyes.

"YOU FUCKING SLUT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Daphne had the presence of mind to jump back but it wasn't necessary. Before she knew it, she was looking on stunned as Mario was lying unconscious on the floor.

Both Fred and Esposito had leapt forward protectively when Mario tried to attack Daphne, but neither of them were quite quick enough. In two long strides Daniele had reached his baby brother and floored him with a single punch to his head, looking on sorrowfully as Mario was out cold before he even hit the deck.

"I am sorry little brother!" he said regretfully. "You truly need help!" he cried desperately before turning to face Daphne and Fred. "And for you two, I am so sorry, I am sorry I terrorised you, Fred and for you Daphne I am sorry for what my brother has put you through. I know now how truly abhorrent he is. I am sorry he had fooled me for so long."

Fred hugged Daphne tightly as she re-buttoned her blouse, and nodded at Esposito in acknowledgement as the police finally arrived on the scene, screaming at Esposito, Daphne, Fred and Daniele to 'drop their weapons.' Somewhat bemused they had arrived long after the drama was over, the four raised their hands anyway as armed police flooded into the café, pointing their guns towards them and the drama was finally over.

The next few hours were a blur of interviews at the local police station as Esposito and Daphne handed their evidence of Mario's guilt to the police once they had straightened out just what the heck had happened on an otherwise peaceful Florence afternoon. Mario regained consciousness to hear he was going to be charged with the rape of Sophia De Martino and that investigations were going to be re-opened into a slew of rapes based on the evidence of the taped confession Daphne had bravely obtained. Daphne was right, it didn't seem like Mario Materazzi was going to enjoy the feel of any female's company for a very long time.

Daniele Materazzi had not resisted arrest as he and Esposito were charged with breaches of the peace, and possession of a dangerous weapon for the disturbance at the café. The last Daphne and Fred had seen of a sheepish Esposito was with him once again apologising for using them to get to Mario. Daphne did not intend to stay in touch with the disgraced former police officer.

It was almost dawn before an exhausted Fred and Daphne made it back to their hotel. During that time, they had barely been alone and hadn't had chance to speak to each other until now.

"Well," Daphne said, as Fred closed the door and she began undressing from her 'disguise'. "That was quite the day."

"I'll say," Fred said wearily as he sat back on the bed with a heavy slump.

"But we did it," she said triumphantly as she put her nightgown on and sat by his side on the bed. He put his arm around her but didn't say anything. "We got that bastard and he can't hurt anyone else ever again."

"I'm so glad about that Daphne, really I am, but we can't keep doing things like this," he told her, she blinked at him in confusion but he quickly elaborated. "Putting ourselves in danger," he clarified. "I'm not even 25 yet and I can't even count the number of near-death experiences we've both been involved in!"

Daphne knew he was right and things had been terrifying for a time today as they had both been threatened again. "Babe, I understand," she said softly.

"So, we need to stop chasing things like this. Things could have gone so badly wrong today, we trusted someone who betrayed us again!" Fred shook his head, still seething at Esposito's actions. "I can't keep fearing losing you Daphne." Daphne put her head on his shoulder, and he pulled her tighter to him.

"So, what are you saying Freddy? You want to quit the gang? Quit mystery solving?"

"Maybe," he admitted softly and the answer had her sitting up and looking at him in shock.

"Seriously?"

"I don't know," he confessed. "Maybe not going that far but taking a break."

"Taking a break?" Daphne repeated incredulously. "In case you hadn't noticed Fred, we haven't had a proper case for months anyway!"

"But look what happened on the first case we did take," he argued back. "You were dangling like bait again as meat on a very dangerous hook and I had a gun shoved in my face once again!"

"He would never have shot you," Daphne replied but Fred ignored her, not looking for a fight. Instead, he took her hands in his earnestly.

"Daphne, we've just got married. I love you so much. I can't keep seeing you in these precarious positions. We haven't even had chance to enjoy a honeymoon and I want to …" he trailed off and looked away.

"What, Fred? You want to 'what?' Daphne asked, looking at him anxiously and turning his chin back towards her.

"He looked into her eyes, her real eyes, the beautiful ocean blue that matched his own and felt his own well up with tears at the thought he might never get to experience this with her.

"I want to start a family with you," he admitted tearfully.

Daphne's face crinkled into a smile. "Oh Fred, of course I want that with you too, silly," she said stroking his cheek and kissing him warmly.

"But I don't want to wait," he said. "Today, seeing you with him again, fearing he was going to swoop and take you away from me at any moment, it kills me, Daphne. We need to start living in the moment for us. Starting tomorrow, we're going to have that honeymoon you deserve. We're going to go to every hokey tourist attraction in Italy and we're going to pose up a storm with photos until people are sick of how adorable we are together."

"We do make a cute couple," Daphne acknowledged playfully placing her hands on his chest and gently pushing him down into the sheets and then climbing on top of him. "But why wait until tomorrow?" she grinned at him mischievously.

Fred reached for her silky robe, untying the belt and letting it slide off her shoulders. It seemed like Daphne was willing to buy into his 'trying to start a family' far sooner than even he had dreamed.

Over the next few days Fred had stuck to his vow of giving Daphne the honeymoon she deserved as they travelled across Italy, taking in the best of what Florence had to offer before moving onto Rome. Just before they touched down in Venice, the news had broken across Italy – Mario Materazzi had confessed to fifteen counts of rape in addition to the charge of Sophia De Martino's rape. By confessing his guilt, Mario was bypassing the need for a trial, and he was subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

Daphne switched the TV off in their Venice hotel room. "It's over," she declared. They had barely discussed Mario's supposed confession that he didn't rape Daphne after all, but Daphne was far from convinced it was the truth. Regardless of the truth, it was something they truly needed to put behind them now. They needed to put the whole thing behind them. They put the ghosts of Venice to rest as they had the best few days of their honeymoon as they took a romantic trip down the canal and lavished in attention of solely each other. Daphne was right, they were a sickeningly cute couple.

By the time they finally left Italy to return to the States, they were wrapped up in nothing but love for each other and it was on the plane home that they finally came to an important decision that they agonised over for the remaining hours of the flight.

"Are you sure, Daph?" Fred urged her. "I don't want you to feel like I've pressured you into this."

"No," she said cupping his cheek. "I think it's the right thing to do. For us."

Fred nodded at her, feeling a little ripple of excitement for their future but also a pang of hurt in his chest. They were going to have to have some difficult conversations with their friends.

After touching down in the States, Fred gallantly retrieved their bags, even heavier than before, bustling with souvenirs and gifts and of course, Daphne's Italian fashion shopping.

Daphne looked chic and glamourous as she carried her relatively small holdall. She offered to help with the heavy suitcases but Fred wasn't having any of it. He was however grateful as they reached arrivals and some very familiar faces raced forward to help them.

As Shaggy, Ethan and Scooby went to relieve a now very red-faced Fred, Daphne squealed and raced into Velma's waiting arms.

"Gosh Daphne, you look great!" Velma enthused. "I can't wait to see the photos."

"Hey man," Shaggy, then Ethan, took it in turns to exchange hearty back slaps with Fred as they reunited with their friend.

"Looks like you could need a hand there Fred bud," Ethan winked and Fred didn't even protest as Ethan and Shaggy grabbed a bag each, giving Fred a very welcome rest. Taking advantage of Fred's now empty arms, Scooby slyly ran into them and gave Fred a very slobbery greeting instead.

Hugs were exchanged between all of the friends before they all piled into the Mystery Machine (expertly driven and taken care of by Shaggy in Fred's absence) Shaggy, Velma and Scooby sat on the front bench while Daphne Fred and Ethan squeezed into the back with the luggage.

"So," Velma started with a grin, turning around to eye the newlyweds. "I heard some very interesting news about a familiar name the other week."

"Yeah?" Daphne said, trying to sound nonchalant but she and Fred knew this was coming and that the news would have spread beyond Italy.

"Yes, Mario Materazzi. Our Ghostly Gondolier. He apparently dramatically confessed to a string of rapes out of nowhere so it looks like Antonio was right after all! How strange for him to suddenly confess to this after all this time."

"Yeah," Fred said, trying not to look at Daphne. "That sure is strange."

Ethan of course, the only other person in the van who knew the truth about Mario and Daphne, immediately shot Fred and Daphne a questioning look.

"I mean, that happened when you were in Italy. You two didn't happen to have anything to do with that, did you?" Velma continued, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"No," Daphne said confidently. "Why would we? As if we even had time for anything but our honeymoon."

"Hmm," said Velma but she let it drop and turned around again.

"So, did we miss much here?" Fred said conversationally.

"Deader than a graveyard," Ethan confirmed with a little sigh. "I know that's a good thing but I can't help crave a bit of excitement you know? Get a little fire going in the old belly again? You get that don't you Fred?"

"Er, sure," Fred said, already dreading finding the perfect time for him and Daphne to make their announcement. He knew driving back in the van was not it.

"Oh Daphne?" Velma suddenly announced a little mysteriously. "I forgot to say but I have a little update on that erm, thing you asked me about."

Daphne felt a chill suddenly whip through the van, she had forgotten all about the drama with Fred's mother and wondered what Velma was going to say when they got a bit of privacy.

"Are you guys hungry?" Shaggy announced from the driver's seat. "I could eat."

Velma rolled her eyes and Daphne and Fred stifled a laugh. Everyone knew Shaggy could always eat.

The plane food as usual had left a lot to be desired and Daphne did find herself suddenly craving some good old-fashioned American cuisine.

"Sure, I could really go for a burger right now," Daphne admitted and Shaggy grinned triumphantly.

"The diner it is!"

Scooby barked happily.

Half an hour later, they were all crammed into the booth of one of their favourite diners surrounded by milkshakes and burgers. Daphne rarely 'pigged out' on fast food but she embraced the grease here as they all tucked into hearty meals of burgers and fries as she and Fred regaled their friends with innocent tales of Italy, sharing how Fred had hilariously fallen out of a gondola and not how Fred had a gun pointed at his extremities for example.

Fred joined in good naturedly as they mocked his clumsiness and then caught up with his emails on his phone. It was mostly junk until he saw one that made his heart stop. "FOUND HIM!" from ."

Even though Ethan was sitting on the opposite side of the table and had all his attention on Daphne right now as she told another story, Fred quickly shoved his phone into his pocket before politely getting up and squeezing past Daphne and Scooby. "I'll be back in a minute," he said heartily and strolled calmly to the toilets.

Luckily, there was no one in the stalls and as soon as the door shut behind him, he whipped his phone out and clicked on Mei-Lings email and began to skim read. He was so engrossed in her message, he didn't hear the door re-open and only realised when a hand landed on his shoulder. "Freddy?"

"AY EE!" Fred squealed in alarm before spinning around to face a very bemused Shaggy.

"Let's hope that door is a strong enough steel so that sound didn't travel through," he laughed, referring to the girlish scream that had emitted from Fred when he startled him.

Fred blushed a scarlet red at how Shaggy had scared him so badly, truth be told he was just glad it wasn't Ethan.

"Whatcha doin'?" Shaggy asked, indicating his phone. "And don't say nothing. You wouldn't be hiding in here with it if it was nothing." Shaggy smiled at him ruefully.

Fred didn't try and hide it and was up front with his friend.

"I asked Mei Ling to help me track down a guy in Hong Kong," he admitted. "And she's just told me, she's found him."

"Oh, that's great!" Shaggy exclaimed but looked at Fred's pensive face. "Isn't it great? Who's the guy?"

"His name is Tao. He's Ethan's boyfriend that he had to leave behind in China when all the shit went down."

"That's so nice of you to help him look for him," Shaggy said, but Fred looked embarrassed again and Shaggy frowned. "Oh...he doesn't know you were doing this, does he?"

"Nope," Fred admitted sheepishly and Shaggy actually 'tsked' aloud.

"Freddy! He's not going to thank you for meddling!"

"I know," Fred said. "But I don't think I ever believed she was going to find him, I don't know what to do with the information now!"

"Does Daphne know?" Shaggy asked.

"She knew I was looking for him. She doesn't know yet that Mei has found him. I only just found out right now when I checked my emails for the first time in weeks."

"Well Fred, I'll leave it in your capable hands," Shaggy replied, before looking pensive himself. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something, a potential case actually."

"Oh?" Fred said, trying to sound calm, with the guilt of his impending conversation with the gang still swirling in his head.

"Yeah, it's a delicate one because there's a bit of personal involvement here and it's also not our usual kind of case."

Despite himself, Fred was intrigued and urged Shaggy to provide more details.

"Well, it's something that crossed er Velma's radar a while ago. I know it will carry her interest but...I haven't told her about it yet."

"You're being very mysterious about this Shaggy," Fred told him. "Just what is this case, and why haven't you told Velma about it yet?"

"Well," Shaggy said, releasing a breath. "It's about this father and son con man act who have been going around swindling thousands of money from innocent families. From what I can tell, they have been at it for years without being caught and they've popped up again."

"You're right, it's not our usual case," Fred commented. "Why would this be special to Velma?"

"Because she doesn't want you to know this but...she and her father was their first victims," Shaggy confessed, stunning Fred. He barely gave him time to react before tentatively broaching the question with their leader. "So, with barely any 'traditional cases' coming our way, do you think this could be our next case?" Shaggy suggested hopefully.

Fred could only stare at his friend, completely unsure how to reply.

A.N - And finish! Thank you for reading and reviewing this mini tale. My next project will be re-visiting my young innocent gang series but as you've guessed from the open ending of this, I might not be fully done with this series yet, watch this space! Thanks again.