I'm sure that the heart I left behind still lies

Hidden in the heart of the deep, deep forest

Exhausted, without the strength to search

People vanish into the infinite darkness.

If it's so small, I wonder if I can see it even now?

As we live on, we lose a little bit more.

Shrouded in falsehoods and lies,

We stand frozen to the spot, unable to cry out

Do As Infinity; Deep Forest

Fred bit his lip as he walked up behind his redheaded companion. He caught a glimpse of her face; her eyes were wide with a sense of dread. Lips sealed shut and jaw set tightly. He touched her shoulder, and the blonde found himself jumping slightly when she wrenched her shoulder from him. When Fred opened his eyes, he saw a pair of cold, glazy eyes staring into his.

"Daphne, he was going to kill me! What else should I have done? Let him do it?"

"You were the one that pissed him off! What would you have done if he kept attacking you like that? I doubt you'd have taken it for long!"

"Look, that's not the point-"

"You're right. It isn't the point. The point is that I cannot make choices of people I am allotted to associate with outside of Mystery Inc!"

An officer approached the two of them. Tipping his hat to them, he pulled out a small memo tablet and a pen. He returned his gaze to the distraught pair in front of him.

"Now, Miss… O'Kelley, I presume?" he asked. Daphne nodded.

"Mike has told me that you are a close friend of his. Is there any other evidence you have, besides the recent occurrence, that he had ever been violent?"

"No. I've never seen him lay a hand on anyone."

The officer scribbled some notes onto the pad. "Okay. Now, Fred. Was there anything that could have led up to this outburst?"

Fred paused. He clenched his teeth and looked the other way. He felt the calm but steely stare from the police officer, but nothing from Daphne, like he had suspected. Turning his head towards her, he noticed that Daphne had disappeared.

"Excuse me a moment," Fred told the officer. Blinking and scanning the room, he noticed Daphne over by the window. He took several giant steps and came to a halt at her side. He nudged her shoulder, and she promptly turned away. Fred was halfway expecting that.

"Look, Daphne, I know you're mad," he said softly.

"Fred, you don't understand. You just don't," came her response. Her voice was gentler, with less of the sharpness it had moments ago. Fred looked at her eyes, dormant and barren.

"What is there to understand?" he asked, more inquisitive than furious.

"I hate to dwell on it, and I'm afraid to tell any of the gang about this," Daphne replied, "I'd feel better if I didn't tell."

"No, I think it's the other way around."

"I have this infinite fear that my parents will be taken away again."

Seamus and Maire O'Kelley owned a small farm at the edge of town. Seamus was an immigrant from Ireland, and Maire was the product of a biracial marriage between an Englishman and a woman from the local tribes. Nonetheless, the pair were very kind, loving people. In all the times Fred had known Daphne's parents, he never once stopped and realized that they had been vacant for half of their daughter's life. And he felt horrible when he realized that he had never asked himself why.

"They were taken away?" Fred asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"When I was young. See, George and Elizabeth Blake are only my godparents. My dad was friends with George in his college days."

Fred listened when he realized that he had never heard this side of Daphne's story. "So, they're not your real parents," was the only thing he had that signaled Daphne that he was listening. Daphne only nodded.

"Yeah. At some point, Elizabeth found out that she was pregnant. Having a little one was her dream, the biggest one in the world. But, tragedy struck when she had a miscarriage. It was so complicated that she had to have an emergency hysterectomy."

"So she was completely unable to have children."

"Right. Well, this drove her into a… a madness. I remember the way she'd watch me play in the front yard. And I remember how angry she looked when my mother would join me. She was jealous, Fred. So jealous that she…"

"She what?"

"She took me away. She and George both. You know, Fred, in all the luxury I had as a girl, you have no idea how badly I wanted to just jump in the pond behind our old house."

"And, where does Mike come into this?"

"He was the only one who understood what it's like to lose someone close to you."

Fred wrinkled his brow. He looked at Daphne, who looked back at him with less anger, and more distress.

With a heavy sigh, the blonde man unclenched his fists and patted her on the back.

"Daphne, I'm not going to admit that what I did was a bad thing, but there's one thing I will do."

"Excuse me?"

Fred grinned softly and tugged her arm. "C'mon."

Daphne followed, slightly out of step. When she caught up to him, she saw the officer in front of them again.

"Are you folks ready to finish the questions?" he asked.

"Yes," said Fred, "But, perhaps you can give us an escort to the station?"