Author's note:

So a few short notes before you begin reading this chapter.

From a writer's perspective, this chapter really does a nice job of piecing things together from previous chapters. There are a lot of loose ends and tidbits which are returned to in this chapter, and hopefully this chapter gives a bit more clarity to the odds and ends from other chapters.

That being said, most of you are likely reading these chapters now as I'm posting them (as opposed to reading all the chapters at once), so if you feel a bit fuzzy on what's happened in previous chapters, I'd recommend maybe going back and giving the first eight chapters a quick reread.

A quick reminder as well because it's been a bit since I've posted the first chapter. Crystal Cove is considered a suburb of Coolsville, so essentially the two cities are considered sister cities.

There's probably a lot more I could say about this chapter, as it is a bit of a departure from how the last few chapters have played out, but I'll just let you read for yourself!


Is this normal?

This is the question Daphne had been asking herself repeatedly for the past week, after she had returned from the Mystery Weekend. Ever since the trip with the gang up to Moonscar Island, her life had in actuality been a rollercoaster of feelings and identity crises. Was she normal? Did it even matter? Maybe what mattered is she was happy and content with her identity, finally.

The redhead realized her feelings were similar to that of an angsty teenager, but her whole identity had previously been wrapped up in the gang and what they thought of her of a person. When the gang decided to break up, despite that she had acted okay with the decision, she felt a certain emptiness that she had never felt before when she was with the gang. They had moved on after all, and she felt she should too.

New thought.

Isabel made her feel complete. Her now blue-haired companion was so free, and didn't seem to care what people thought of her in the least. This is something Daphne had always struggled with as a person, her happiness was very much dependent on what people thought of her. Maybe if her friend lived in Isabelville, an environment where she could be free and not depend on anyone else around her for comfort or acceptance, the redhead could live in Daphnetown, where dreams came true and she could let her true self out without fear of judgment.

The redhead's thoughts were very abstract even to her, but comparing a mindset of not caring what others think of you to her own "city" gave her comfort for whatever reason.

Though she had only met Isabel less than two weeks ago, she felt like she truly could be herself in ways she couldn't with the gang. She loved the gang with all her heart, but things were very formulaic in the act of solving mysteries with the gang (after all, it's all they did!). Something about having a new friendship where she could become a different person with a more self-pleasing identity excited Daphne. Someday she would get back with the gang, maybe, but she knew in her heart that her and Isabel would probably be lifelong friends. Maybe it was just the excitement of a new friend, but Daphne really felt close to Isabel.

In the cool, crisp autumn air, Daphne stretched her arms outward as a symbol of her newfound mental freedom. It was cold outside and some people who walked past were just in a t-shirt, while she had cold blood even in a sweater. Getting more and more chilled by the minute, Daphne went inside her house, continuing to mentally process the events of the last few weeks. Even a few days ago, she would have shivered at the thought of having these deep emotional conversations with herself, but now she didn't mind the pointless discussions whose only purpose were continuing the emotional high she was feeling currently. She maybe even enjoyed them.

Conspicuously to herself, she had avoided thinking about Velma and their argument. And Shaggy. She didn't know how exactly she felt about Shaggy, but she was worried to discover the true feelings behind her encounter during the night at Twilight Cabin.

But did she have to do the heavy mental lifting now? No. It was a week off for her! Well, sort of. In favor of the premiere of another show, Melbourne O'Reilly's Archeological Adventures, the network decided to simply air a repeat of her show so they could focus on the new show. The redheaded girl may have felt bad that the TV network decided to postpone her show in favor of another one, but quite honestly she enjoyed the break and intended to spend the time catching up on a bit of paperwork and doing little things for her show which had been neglected for a while.

As she had just gotten home from work, she changed out of her professional-looking outfit in favor of a comfortable pair of jeans and her favorite gray sweatshirt. Rubbing her face on the sweatshirt's soft inner lining, Daphne spread out on the couch and turned on the TV.


Daphne groggily opened her eyes and stretched her arms while groaning, as if it took a lot of effort to do so.

11:00 already? She thought to herself, barely able to keep her eyes open.

All of a sudden, the worn-out woman heard a loud crash coming from her bedroom window. Fluttering open, her eyes fixated on the dark, shadowy room which the noise had came from. Struggling clumsily to her feet, the redhead stumbled over to her room. Daphne moved as quietly as she could towards her bedroom. Sniffing the cold air, she caught a hint of smoke, probably from a cigarette. She despised those things, as she never understood why exactly someone would put a few minutes of pleasure over their overall health. With every ounce of strength, her fight-or-flight response told her to not investigate and leave, but her exhausted body kept moving despite the subliminal orders.

Turning the corner, Daphne saw two shadows which were not her own, whispering to each other. In an instant, the shadows turned into men which both directed their glares right towards her.

"Look what we have here, boss!"

Daphne's heart nearly stopped when she heard the voice. It was the same, unmistakable voice which had shot a hole in her wall at Cerrie Mansion during the Mystery Weekend just a few nights before. Daphne's heart sunk even more as the man turned around and confirmed her worst fears by showing his grimacing face.

"Oh, so the girl of the evening finally arrives!"

The voice instantly became connected to a person as a man wearing all black turned around. He was wearing a large black ski mask in an attempt to conceal his true identity. Daphne could have sworn she had heard the voice once before, but the mask muffled it just enough so she could not piece together who its wearer was.

Daphne tried to speak, but it just came out as a panicked squeak. Knowing she couldn't talk her way out of it, she decided to do the only thing left: run!

Sprinting away as fast as she could in her bare feet, the non-masked individual chased her at least two times as fast as she was able to run. Though she was almost sure she would be caught by the man who quickly gained on her, Daphne gave all she could to escape from her assailant.

But it still wasn't enough.

As she ran, she suddenly felt a horrible pain as the man jumped her, crushing her small body under his large, beastly figure.

"I got 'er boss. What should I do with the dame?" the man yelled to his masked superior.

"What do you think you should do with her, dumbass? Tie her up so she can't escape!"

The masked man quickly ran out to his partner, with another man joining him. The new man had a large, burly figure with blond hair, and his eyes seemed to glare into Daphne's soul.

"You got the ropes?" the black-outfitted man asked impatiently.

"Yup." the blond man replied.

Not saying a word, the redhead struggled and made it as tough as possible for the beastly bald man tying her up.

"She's a feisty one!" the bald crook exclaimed.

The ropes cutting into her skin, Daphne continued to struggle as hard as she could despite that the man had tied both her arms and legs to one of her dining room chairs.

"She ain't sayin' nothin', boss!" the bald man yelled to his masked boss. Daphne got the idea that this man wasn't exactly the brightest one of the three.

"Dimwit, she's not supposed to say anything! We don't want her to scream and let someone know she's in trouble!"

The masked man grabbed a mouth-sized piece of cloth and tied it around her mouth. As he finished making the knot, Daphne let out a cry of pain when the man pulled the knot and tightened the gag so much that it cut into her skin just as the ropes had.

Finally realizing she would likely not escape these men, whom all (beside possibly the bald man) appeared to be professionals, Daphne stopped struggling and accepted her fate, whatever that was.

The men quickly huddled in a corner where Daphne could not hear their plans, and quietly whispered to one another. Though she had stopped struggling, the ropes still cut into her skin with a sharp pain. The cloth gag was also far too tight and uncomfortable, as the men hadn't bothered to move her long red hair before tying it, causing the gag to be wrapped around a section of her hair.

Finally, the men stopped conversing with each other and circled Daphne, making her feel even more claustrophobic. The masked one was the first to speak up, "Well, Ms. Blake, we have so much to discuss!"

As if the man's last comment was intended to be a segway, he removed his mask to reveal a face which was shockingly very familiar to Daphne.

It was her boss, Jim Sands.

"Surprised?" Jim said with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face.

Daphne tried to say something, but quickly remembered her mouth was covered. She had so much to say right now and she wanted to say it so bad.

"She still ain't sayin' nothin', boss!" the bald man said in a confused and innocent tone.

"Of course she isn't saying anything, moron! She can't say anything because we've gagged her!" Jim gave his bald-haired accomplice an annoyed glare.

"Oh yeah, I guess you're right, Jim!"

"Gentlemen, what do you say we give Ms. Blake a little explanation here? She's likely very confused as to what is going on." Jim questioned, continuing to smile.

The bald man and the blond henchman said nothing and simply exchanged glances, before the blond person finally let out a monotoned "yup."

Daphne would have nodded in agreement if her body were not aching from the tight ropes clinging to her.

"You see my dear, the television business isn't just about entertainment. It's about money, wealth, POWER!" Jim's voice raised from a conversational tone to an angry shout. The two men beside Jim simply laughed along with him and grimaced evilly at the redhead.

Jim quickly resumed speaking. "You see, my father was a wise man who taught me to rule not with community, not with understanding, but with force!" To make his point, the previously masked man slammed his fist down on the table where Daphne was tied to the chair, causing her to visibly wince.

This man must be truly insane, she thought, After all, he was talking about running a TV station, not some multi-million dollar corporation or the world, like the supervillains you see so often in movies.

Still grinning, Jim Sands continued in his power-hungry rant. "So you see, once I began running your precious little TV station, I began to get an idea. What if you, the TV producers and hosts, were to give ME money?"

Daphne had no idea what her boss was talking about, but continued listening intently. After all, what else was she to do while tied up and captive to this man's crazed plans, whatever they were.

"A true leader must place the fear of a thousand infernos into his servants' eyes! It is I who deserve that money, not you! Without me, you would be nothing!" the man's voice continued to raise and get angrier by the second. "So, Rocko, Samuel and I began making you insignificant TV producers see things my way! Those who did not had their shows pulled from the air and were fired immediately! Those who did listen to me, well, let's just say they had a little pay cut."

Samuel and Rocko laughed a perfect henchman-like laugh, like something you'd see out of an old superhero movie.

"But Ms. Blake, you may be wondering why I did not give you the same treatment." Jim continued.

Daphne tried to give as much of a nod as she could. The ropes cut into her skin like sharp knives, and the cloth gag painstakingly rubbed up against her lips like shag carpeting.

"You see, your show is the highest rated show on MY network." Jim made sure to put emphasis on the word 'my.' "You taking a pay cut would throw suspicions on me, and I can't exactly take your show off the air as easily as the other little urchins, can I?"

Expressionless, Daphne kept looking straight in Jim's eyes, trying to get a sense of what exactly it was he wanted from her. As if he read her mind, Jim got straight to the point after a long, rambling rant.

"So, Ms. Blake, it comes down to this. I've tried fudging the ratings on your show, but it was instantly marked as a 'mistake' by my nosy staff and changed to the correct number. It's a shame fudging ratings for your show wasn't as easy as your colleagues' shows. I've tried cancelling your show, you turned it around and made your show more popular than ever. I've sent people after you, like that janitor, the security guard, and my dear friend Rocko."

Rocko smiled sheepishly at his boss. "Aww shucks boss, it was nothin'!"

Jim rolled his eyes and continued. "But all of them have failed!" Rocko quickly shut up, realizing that his employer's comment was not a praise for his good work. "You have two choices, Ms. Blake, cancel your show, or we're taking you on a little trip."

"She still ain't sayin' nothin', boss!" Rocko said, in frustration.

In a violent rage, Jim Sands put out his fist and shoved it straight into Rocko's face, nearly knocking him down. "Dumbass, she can't talk! We have to remove the gag!"

Jim turned from his now-dizzy henchman over to Daphne. "I'm going to remove your gag now, Ms. Blake, so you can tell me of your final decision. But say just one word above the level of a whisper, and Samuel will shoot you! Do you have the gun, Samuel?"

Samuel reached in a large black bag, and pulled out a handgun, pointing it straight at the redhead's heart. "Yup." he replied humbly.

Slowly, Jim motioned towards Daphne's mouth and untied the piece of cloth. As Jim picked up the cloth in his hands, Daphne gasped with relief as it was removed from her lips. Unable to say anything, she panted heavily, trying to catch her breath as the gag had been so tight she was barely able to breathe through her mouth.

"What is your decision, Ms. Blake? And remember, only whispers or Samuel will shoot!"

Trying to make herself sound as quiet and meek as possible, the redhead whispered "I'll cancel the show. First thing in the morning."

What other choice did she have, after all? These men clearly weren't fooling around and would likely kill her if she did not obey their every word. Her heart aflutter, from both the gun and the emotionalness of cancelling the show which she loved so much, Daphne had to stop herself from breaking down in tears.

"No, right now!" Jim shouted. "It's 1 a.m., and you must film the announcement when no one is watching or will catch on to our plans. We can't risk you blabbing about what happened tonight, CAN WE?"

Daphne didn't understand why Jim was allowed to shout as loud as he could, while she was barely allowed to whisper. Though, upon further thought, the man clearly did have power issues and likely wanted to make her seem small and insignificant.

"Pull the van around, Samuel. Let's prepare Ms. Blake for the ride to the TV station for her final announcement." Jim smiled. "Rocko, put the gag back on. We have all we need out of her."

As Jim walked out to help his accomplice pull around the van, Rocko reached towards her with the firm piece of cloth. Though she was worried for her safety and life, Daphne felt like she had quite enough of being treated so shabbily by these men. Still at a low whisper, Daphne gave the angriest glare she could muster up right towards Rocko. If she were going to be belligerent to anyone, it might as well be the most dimwitted of the group.

"Put it on and die." she hissed.

Ignoring the girl's warning, Rocko continued putting it on, and Daphne felt a rage boil up in her blood. In a split second, Daphne reached for the man's right hand which was about to put on the gag. Putting her mouth around his hand, she grasped on and bit down as hard as she could.

"OOOWWW!" He howled, his hand bleeding where her teeth sunk. "Why she gotta be so mean, boss?!"

Jim rolled his eyes. "Nitwit, she doesn't want to be treated like this! No one would! But it's necessary to make sure the plan carries out without any more mistakes! Grab a band-aid from the car and let's go!"

Daphne hadn't intended to draw blood, but admittedly she felt quite proud of herself for doing so. If these men were going to treat her this poorly, not to mention ruin her career, she promised herself she would make as difficult as possible for them. As Rocko applied the band-aid very carefully to his injured hand, Jim put the gag in his hand and quickly tied it around her mouth before she could bite him, this time lifting up her hair in an oddly delicate manner and wrapping it around her neck, pulling the knot as tight as he could.

Due to Daphne having such a small body, Jim was able to physically drag the chair which she was tied to out the door and to his nearby black van, although quite slowly as Daphne struggled as hard as she could just to spite her former boss.


The drive felt longer than ever, despite it being the same drive which Daphne took on a daily basis to get to her work.

"You know, Ms. Blake, you're probably thinking once you record this goodbye, you'll just simply find a new show, and when the heat is off, you'll report what happened to you to the police, right?" Jim smirked.

Daphne wasn't sure if he was actually asking a question or simply trying to scare her further, but either way she gave the blankest stare she could in order to not aggravate the man more than she already had.

"You may not know this Ms. Blake, but we've been tracking you. And we shall continue to do so, just as we have the others who've declined our offer. So make one wrong move, and you'll meet a very unpleasant fate. We'll be watching your every move."

Jim's latest comment made Daphne's bones become chilled, as the thought of someone watching her constantly was quite unsettling.

As Jim finished making his intimidating remarks, the trio and the unwilling redhead arrived at the TV station.

"Uh, should I bring 'er out, boss?" Rocko asked, in his innocent way.

"No! No! Samuel, look around outside first! We can't have anyone see us!"

Samuel returned in a matter of a short minute.

"So, is it clear?" Jim urged impatiently.

"Yup." Samuel replied, causing Daphne to wonder if he ever said anything but "yup" and "nope."

Rocko bounded out of the car and opened the rear of the van, letting the crisp, night air into the back. The parking lot was absolutely empty other than a few streetlamps shining down on it. Something about the clear night sky, no stars in sight, mixed with the empty parking lot made Daphne feel even spookier.

Dragging the chair in, Jim continued to have to deal with Daphne's struggling, despite that she knew it was futile, as the ropes still clinged tightly to her figure.

When they reached the set of stairs, all three men pulled guns out and pointed them straight at her. Somehow, Rocko holding a gun was scarier than anything that had happened so far that night.

"Ms. Blake." Jim repeated, which caused Daphne to be annoyed. No one ever called her Ms. Blake this much, in fact she would much rather have been called Daphne even by criminals such as these. "We are about to untie you and walk with us at your own free will. But our guns will remain out all the way until we reach the stage, so try anything and you will be shot. What do you say, Ms. Blake?"

Daphne nodded.

Slowly approaching her, Jim first removed the gag. Daphne once again panted to catch her breath and gasped in the sweet, fresh air. Once he began untying her legs, Daphne instantly felt a sense of relief as the ropes finally ceased rubbing against her skin. For a reason unbeknownst to her, she felt the extreme urge to stick her fist into some fresh skin to quench her rage. Forcing herself, she resisted as she knew the men would likely shoot her if she tried. She comforted herself with the small bit of hope that she would maybe get a chance to sink her teeth into someone again. For now, biting was her only weapon.

Finally, Jim untied the ropes which dug into her the most, the ones wrapped around her arms and body. As the constricting ropes began to fall to the floor, Daphne was finally free from her bonds to the chair. Feeling belligerent and unable to contain herself, when the ropes hit the floor at last, Daphne blurted out "ah, that feels soooo good!" and stretched her arms obnoxiously.

"SHUT UP!" Jim screamed, aiming his gun intently at her heart. "Do that again, and I shoot! Understand?"

Daphne felt suddenly belittled and only answered Jim's question with a slight nod.


The foursome walked down the cold, dark hallway past several empty offices. Daphne felt a pang of sadness in her heart when she walked by Isabel's office which was vibrantly decorated with bright colors and several red paper hearts prominently displayed on her door. After all, this could be the last time she saw Isabel's office. After passing several more dark rooms and offices, the crooks and Daphne finally made it to the stage area.

"Rocko grabbed an outfit from your closet. Change into it quickly in that broom closet and come out. But don't think that's your 'lucky break' to get away from us, we'll be right outside the only exit to the closet with our guns, if you decide to try anything funny!"

Rocko held up the outfit, which was pretty purple blouse with two pink ribbons on the shoulders. Daphne sneered when she saw the pants Rocko picked out were a dark shade of black, which did not go with the top whatsoever. Continuing to cringe, the redhead begrudgingly went into the closet and changed out of her casual sweatshirt and ripped jeans. Despite the men's warning, Daphne still hoped to find something in the closet which she could use as self-defense, but to no avail. The men had clearly planned this in advance, as they had completely cleared out the closet of everything, leaving a dark, empty space for her to change in.

Coming out in the horridly mismatched outfit, her former employer clapped and said in a quiet voice, "You look stunning, Ms. Blake! Are you ready for your final show tonight?"

This man truly must be crazy, Daphne thought to herself, Any person who could possibly believe a light purple blouse went with a baggy black pair of trousers was absolutely mad.

Daphne just nodded, trying to keep down the anger which boiled inside her.

"Read everything off this teleprompter which we've prepared. One word deviant and you will be shot." Jim demanded. He clearly must have liked the phrase "you will be shot" as this was probably the tenth time he had used it so far.

The redhead was shocked and felt angrier than she had felt in a long time. It was bad enough they were forcing her to resign from her beloved show, but to not even allow her to say something heartfelt to the fans! That was truly unforgivable!

Pushing the anger down for the moment, Daphne read what the men had prepared off of the teleprompter, as they uncomfortably pointed their guns straight at her while she spoke.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to another week of Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake! I'm your host, Daphne! This week is a truly special and heartfelt week for me and for the show, because it is my last week on the show." Daphne continued reading what the men had wrote, not knowing what she would say or how she was supposed to say her last goodbyes to the fans of the show. "My grandma and I are tragically sick, and I must go up to Florida to take care of her and myself now. She has the Foo Foo Plague and gave it to me accidentally. That's right, I'm a Foo Foo baby." Realizing the nonsensicalness of what she had just said, Daphne looked at the men in confusion and frustration. "Foo Foo Plague? What the hell?"

Both Jim and Samuel looked over at Rocko, who was laughing hysterically. Jim glared at Rocko and shouted, "Damn it Rocko, that's not funny!"

"Well, I thought it was funny, boss!" Rocko sheepishly smiled at his companions.

"You think this is some kind of joke, Rocko? If we screw this up, we could lose EVERYTHING we've worked for!" Jim's voice boiled with anger and disgust.

"C'mon boss, it was just a little joke! I won't do it again!" Rocko pleaded.

"That's right. You won't do it again." In a flash, Jim pulled out his gun and fired straight at Rocko's stomach, rendering him unconscious.

Daphne's face became aghast with horror. She knew these men were crazy, but crazy enough to kill one of their own? She suddenly felt a sinking feeling that she may not make it out of this either. Apparently noticing Daphne's shock, as if to answer her inner monologue, Jim spoke up.

"I didn't kill him! See, he's still breathing." Jim pointed at the unconscious body of Rocko, who seemed to have very labored breaths, as if that was supposed to make Daphne feel better.

As the unconscious man continued to breath heavily, Jim walked around him and went straight to the teleprompter. In a matter of minutes, Jim looked up at the terrified redhead and responded "Now the teleprompter is on the correct script. READ IT!" The man seemed to be getting angrier by the second, aggravated that his plan was taking so long to play out.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to another week of Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake! I'm your host, Daphne! This week is a truly special and heartfelt week for me and for the show, because it is my last week on the show." Daphne recognized the words which she had spoken previously, meaning Rocko had apparently only tampered with a portion of the script. "Unfortunately, my mother has been struck down with cancer, and I must go by her bedside. With the responsibility of taking care of poor, frail old mother, I can no longer keep up the show."

Despite that none of what she was saying was true, Daphne still began to get teary-eyed as she knew this was likely her last time addressing her loyal fanbase.

"I've...I've loved doing...this show and…" Unintentionally, Daphne was making her goodbye seem even more raw and real, which upon glancing over, she saw Jim was clearly pleased with due to his large smile. Pushing back drops of water from her eyes, she continued. "...I'll truly miss all of you! It has been a...pleasure entertaining you all every...week. This is Coast to Coast with...Daphne Blake, Daphne signing off."

Obnoxiously, Jim and Samuel both clapped loudly in the corner. "Nice job, nice job! How did you make those tears look so real?"

Infuriated, all that Daphne could sputter out before more tears came out was: "They WERE real!"

With a smirk, Jim answered "Well, too bad, honey. Coast to Coast is officially cancelled and now I've bribed every TV show producer in this station to give me half of their earnings! We'll be rich, Samuel, rich!"

Lost for words, all Daphne could respond was a death glare right into their souls. How dare they act this way, especially after all she had been through! The least they could do was be a tad considerate for what she was going through, even if they were crooks.

"That's all I needed to hear." A voice called from the stage balcony. "Detective Beau Neville, Crystal Cove police."

Jim's eyes looked as if he were about to blow. "WHAT? One stupid policeman can't stop me! We both are loaded to the teeth with guns!" Jim lied.

"Maybe so." Beau laughed. "Come on out, boys!"

In an instant, nine policemen, all in bulletproof suits, ran in the stage door, surrounding Jim and Samuel.

"DAMN IT!" Jim screamed in agony, knowing his intricate plan was now completely for nothing.

"The game's up, Sands. Or should I say Dan J. Sims?" Beau announced, in a revelatory voice. Seeing the redhead's confusion, he immediately elaborated on his words. "Dan J. Sims is a notorious crook who is wanted in three different states for embezzlement and kidnapping. Dan has some impressive manager credentials, but they all went down the drain when one day he decided to take advantage of his employees. In five separate jobs now, Dan has been charged with kidnapping and threatening his workers to go along with his shady scheme to take some of their salary. If they didn't listen, he fired them or threatened to harm them and their families. Dan knew we were onto him after he was fired from his fourth manager position, so he used a fake name, Jim Sands, to throw us off. You see, I've been transfered to Crystal Cove here and was assigned Dan's case. I was starting to piece the clues together at your friend Velma's bookstore with that security guard, but there was a piece missing. That is, until your friend Nick found out they were up to no good and overheard that the crooks were coming to the TV station tonight. Nick suspected something was up after he overheard pieces of Dan's interview with Samuel at the TV station."

Beau continued to talk at her and explain what Jim, or rather "Dan", was planning, but quite frankly she felt emotionally exhausted. Trying to keep up, Daphne continued listening.

"...now we've got an audio confession that you and your pal…" Beau looked on the ground, to see Rocko, still unconscious. "I mean pals, were embezzling money from the TV station and other employees. You all are going away for a long time."

Dan didn't speak, but Daphne could see the rage in his eyes.

"One more thing," Beau added, "Where's the tracking device you implanted at Daphne's house? Your lack of cooperation will only add time to your sentences."

Dan sighed, knowing there was nothing else he could do anymore. "It's in that damn blanket she took from work."

Though her relationship with her blanket was mainly silly and whimsical, Daphne still felt her heart sink a bit when she heard Dan's response. How could she not have noticed the tracker in such an obvious place?

"That's all we need out of them. Take 'em away, boys." Beau ushered for the other nine policemen to help. Two policemen restrained Dan as they handcuffed him, while another two handcuffed Samuel and lead them out the the police car. "Wait a second, guys." The other five policemen stopped when Beau spoke. "This one needs medical attention." Beau pointed at the unconscious Rocko. "Better call an ambulance, it looks like he's lost quite a bit of blood."

After finishing ordering the men around, the policemen did as they were told and went to the nearest phone. Beau quickly turned his attention to Daphne, who was quite rattled from all the hubbub.

"Need a ride home, Daphne?"

"That would be great, thanks." Daphne smiled.

The ride home was relatively uneventful. Beau continued explaining how they had discovered Dan's plans and why Daphne was targeted specifically by him, but she honestly couldn't have cared less at that point. She was tired and cranky from the kidnapping, plus she already knew a lot of the information Beau told her from what Dan had explained when she was tied to the chair.

Once they arrived at Daphne's home, Beau opened the back of the police van, and lifted Daphne's dining room chair, which had been dragged to the TV station with her tied to it, and brought it in the house. The door was still swung wide open from Dan's rush to get her out.

Glancing at the chair, Daphne admittedly was now not sure she wanted it back. The memories of what had happened alone would likely be painful, not to mention the scratches which were now present on the chair, both from the chair being dragged and her struggling on it.

Daphne was so caught in her head, she didn't notice Beau walking back towards the front door.

"You sure you don't want me to stay the night, Daphne? I would do it if it would make you feel safer."

Befuddled for a brief moment, Daphne responded, "No, I think I'll be okay. Thanks though."

"Alright, goodnight Daphne, and let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you for all your help, Beau."

"My pleasure." Beau responded as the door closed.

She wanted to give a far bigger token of thanks than a monotoned "thanks," but she needed sleep and could barely function.

Stumbling into her bedroom, she quickly changed from her atrociously mismatched clothes into a pair of purple and white pajamas and collapsed in bed. After closing her eyes for a few minutes, she opened her eyes to see a small device implanted in the blanket which she currently wore. In frustration, she tore it off and smashed it on the ground.

Once the device was safely off, she hugged the blanket and rubbed the soft fabric against her face.

"Bea, did the big bad men try to hurt you?" Daphne asked her blanket, as if she expected a response. "I love you, Bea!"

Daphne closed her eyes and tried to forget the traumatic events of her supposed "day off." Solacing herself with the idea that she wouldn't go in tomorrow, or maybe even the next day, Daphne cuddled up with Bea and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.


Author's note:

So hopefully you've enjoyed this chapter! It certainly was a blast to write and I think it had quite a few good moments.

This is just my personal opinion, but generally when Daphne is kidnapped in the series, it tends to be a bit bland and she doesn't really do much other than try to obey whatever the kidnapper says she should do. I wanted to put a bit of a spin on this, and have Daphne be a bit sassy towards her kidnappers and make it tough for them to carry out their plans. I really enjoyed writing Daphne being feisty and just seeing how the interaction between her and her annoyed kidnappers played out when she made things difficult. The damsel-in-distress thing gets a bit old after a while, so I thought it might be a nice touch to have Daphne stand up for herself. "For now, biting was her only weapon" was probably by far my favorite and the most amusing line to write. Though of course I love writing those adorable Bea scenes lol.

As always, I did throw a couple references in there. The fictional TV show Melbourne O'Reilly's Archeological Adventures is obviously a reference to the recurring What's New Scooby-Doo character Melbourne O'Reilly, who appeared in two episodes which were "3-D Struction" and "Mummy Scares Best."

And I suppose you could call this a reference. Jim/Dan's line "You see, my father was a wise man who taught me to rule not with community, not with understanding, but with force!" is very similar to Uncle Abdullah's line in "Mystery in Persia," which was an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies that featured the fictional guest star Jeannie and her apprentice genie Babu. I had just watched the episode a few days before I had written that line and I decided to throw a similar comment to Uncle Abdullah's in there, as quite frankly it fit very well with Jim/Dan's evil plan.

In addition, I'll just mention this as I'm not sure if anyone noticed it. Dan J. Sims is actually an anagram of "Jim Sands." Interesting how that name was so easily made an anagram, as I had actually thought up the Jim Sands name years ago way before I had the idea for this chapter!

And since it was mentioned in one of the reviews, I'll mention this little reference as well which a friend asked me to throw in there for her. The "Foo Foo Plague" is a joke disease from the series "Girl Meets World" in which the main character, Riley pretends to have the aforementioned disease despite it being painfully obvious she's faking it ("Cough cough! Sniffle!"). Just a fun little obscure reference I'd thought I'd throw in there for her.

Anyways hopefully you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it!