Sponge: Welcome back! The previous chapter, "New York State of Mind," is of course, a song by the great Billy Joel. Congratulations to Terrence for the correct guess. Here's chapter 4! Warning: language and kissing. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna Barbera.

Chapter 4: I'm Still Standing

The car swerved at the very last second, narrowly missing Daphne, and sped off down the road.

"Daph!" The cacophony of voices forced her eyes open, and she saw her friends hurrying into the street towards her. She lowered her hands, still held out in front of her as though they would have stopped that car.

"Oh my God," Fred murmured, yanking her into a warm embrace, peppering her face and hair with kisses. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God."

"Are you okay?" asked Velma, peering at her anxiously through her glasses.

Daphne took a shaky breath and let herself lean into Fred's muscular arms. "I'm fine," she murmured, feeling very weak in the knees.

"Like can we get out of the street now?" asked Shaggy, nervously staring down the road in the direction the car had gone.

"Rood idea," said Scooby. They all ushered Daphne back to the sidewalk, where they found Roy waiting for them again. He had come running back outside when he saw the car heading towards Daphne and he sounded a little out of breath.

"I saw that whole thing from my window," he told them, wheezing a bit and shaking his head in disbelief. "What a banana-head. Speedin' through a neighborhood like a bat outta hell. Dangerous, irresponsible jagweed." He eyed Daphne with concern. "You okay girlie?"

"I'm fine," she said again, still a bit shakily.

"Any of you notice a license plate?" Roy asked the gang. "The color? I was inside my house – too far away to make out any details."

Everyone shook their heads. They'd been too distracted by Daphne's imminent death to pay much attention to the vehicle that would have caused it.

"I didn't see the back of the car," Daphne spoke up. "But it didn't have front plates."

Roy frowned. "Must be from outta town," he murmured. "New York law says you gotta have front and back plates. Jersey, too."

"I think maybe it was dark gray," Daphne offered again, her voice a little stronger now. "And it was definitely a sedan."

"You want I should call the cops?" asked Roy.

"No," said Daphne adamantly – cops would mean a phone call to their parents, and that might mean the end of their road trip. "We should get back."

"We're staying in the city," Velma explained to Roy.

Roy frowned. "Well, at least let me walk ya to the station. No tellin how many other asshats are out right now."

He accompanied them to Farmingdale Station and helped them get back on the LIRR.

"Listen," he said as the train pulled up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "This is my card. You gimme a call if you run into any more trouble, ya got it?"

"Thanks," said Fred, quickly glancing at the card – Roy P. Jacobson, Dog Breeder – and pocketing it. "We really appreciate it."

Roy waved a nonchalant hand. "Fuhgeddaboudit," he told them, grinning. "Stay safe, okay?"

The gang sank into seats on the train and waved at Roy until he was out of sight.

"Daph…what happened back there?" asked Fred, who hadn't taken his arm from around Daphne's shoulders since rescuing her from the middle of the street.

"I don't know," she replied, leaning against him. Now that she was out of danger, safe in Fred's arms, she could feel tears of relief building behind her eyes, but she blinked them back. "I just couldn't move. It was like I was rooted to the spot."

Scooby nodded sympathetically and put his head on her knee. He knew the feeling well. There had been many times in the past when he'd been frozen with fear, too scared to move. Daphne pet him between the ears, grateful for his comfort.

"Why did you stop walking in the middle of the street anyway?" asked Velma.

Daphne's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered. "I got a text," she murmured, pulling her cellphone out of her purse. Everyone leaned around her to see the screen.

"Toe 11?" Fred murmured aloud. "That's almost just like the one I got yesterday. But it said Heel 7." He took out his own phone and brought up the message he'd received.

"Two different numbers," Velma muttered, glancing over their shoulders to compare the messages. "Probably from prepaid cellphones. I left my laptop at Holden's – I'll try to find out when we get back to his place."

"But what do the messages mean?" wondered Fred. "And who's sending them?"

"And why?" Daphne added.

There was the briefest silence before Velma gasped suddenly, causing everyone to look her way.

"Jinkies," she murmured. "What if it's Brad and Judy?"

Everyone blinked at her. "What?" hissed Daphne.

"Think about it," Velma said, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Both Daphne's and Fred's texts have come right before or after we learned new information about them – Fred's came before the mayor told us they were in New York, and Daphne's came after we learned they were in Chicago. And we know they were interested in cryptology, right? They were always looking for codes and clues to find the ley line –" she said this with a roll of her eyes – "so maybe they're sending us codes and clues to help us find them."

Shaggy furrowed his brow. "But like…" he began. "How would they know we were looking for them?"

"Maybe when they sent that CD to the mayor, they hoped that he would send us to find them," Velma explained.

Fred sat forward. "But then why send us here first? Why not send us straight to Chicago?"

"Fred's right," said Daphne. "It's only because the mayor got that CD that we even knew to look for them in New York in the first place."

Velma frowned. "Maybe we needed to know that they had a dog," she murmured. "A cocker spaniel. Maybe that's a clue. The CD, the texts, the dog…it must add up somehow."

Shaggy groaned. "Like my head hurts," he complained. "It's been a long day…let's get back to Holden's and like, get some sleep."

Scooby nodded in agreement. The pieces weren't lining up, as much as Velma was trying to make them. Maybe it would all make sense in the morning.

Chivalrously, the boys decided to let the girls sleep on the pull-out sofa that night. Fred, who didn't want to be far from Daphne after her brush with death, took the armchair closest to her side of the couch, and they fell asleep facing each other. Shaggy dozed off on the small futon with Scooby at the foot, but the dog didn't fall asleep right away. He was too busy watching Velma sitting at Holden's small dining table and typing frenetically on her laptop.

"Relma," he said softly when she'd been at it for over an hour. "Rit's late. Ro to sleep."

Velma sighed and removed her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. "I can't," she whispered back. "I'm still trying to find out more about Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves." She sighed, put her glasses back on, and opened a new tab, typing something into the search bar. "What did Roy say their pseudonyms were again? Chad Biles and Ruby Jeeves? I'll look up those names…see if I get any hits."

"Relma," said Scooby again, slowly getting up from the futon so as not to wake Shaggy. He approached the table and put one paw on the edge of Velma's chair "Rease."

"Jinkies!" Velma muttered, seemingly not hearing Scooby. "Do you remember earlier, when Roy said that Chad Biles and Ruby Jeeves went to undergrad on the west coast? I just looked up their academic records, and you'll never guess what school they attended: Stanford. Can you believe that?" She shook her head in disbelief. "But they must not be living under those names anymore…I can't find any record of them in Chicago. Maybe they changed their aliases again."

Scooby whined once, and this finally got Velma's attention. She took in the dog's soulful gaze and finally closed her laptop and patted his head.

"I'm sorry," she told him with a sigh. She removed her glasses again and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and her face in her hands. "You're right. I'm working myself ragged. I didn't get any sleep last night either."

"Rhy aren't roo sleeping?" asked Scooby.

Velma looked up and bit her lip. "I'm…worried," she admitted. "About the hearing tomorrow."

"Reon?"

Velma nodded. "I know everyone is confident that he won't make bail, but I'm still…nervous." She pinched the bridge of her nose again and put her glasses back on. "I can't control what the judge decides, so I'm distracting myself with things I can control – like researching Brad and Judy. And I know what you're going to say," she continued, before Scooby could speak. "I know it makes sense for me to be nervous about Leon, but it feels stupid when there's a mystery right here for us to solve. And with everything we learned about Fred's past, it just seems wrong for me to be concerned about Leon right now."

Scooby blinked at her, processing everything she'd just told him. Velma was trying to apply logic to her emotions, just like everything else.

He cast a sidelong glance towards his sleeping master on the futon before turning back to Velma. "Roes Raggy know how rou're reeling?" he asked her.

Velma scoffed. "Are you kidding?" she replied. "I'm supposed to be the brave one. I don't want him to feel like he needs to help me. I have to be the one to help him."

"Rut he roesn't need relp," Scooby reminded her softly. "Roo do."

In spite of herself, Velma felt her throat tighten, and she took a shaky breath. "I'm fine," she murmured, swallowing. "I'll get over this. I always do."

Scooby looked at her, then looked back at Shaggy again. He was still fast asleep on the futon. He'd be fine without the dog for one night. Scooby padded over to the sofa bed and climbed onto the mattress.

"Rye'm raying here ronight," he informed Velma, curling up at Daphne's feet. "Riff you won't let Raggy relp, then Rye will."

Real affection for the dog swelled in Velma's heart and she walked back over to the sofa bed and hugged him around the neck. "Thank you, Scooby," she murmured.

Scooby smiled. "Rou're welcome," he told her. "Row go to reep."

x.X.x

Holden had to work in the morning, so the gang bade him a brief but heartfelt farewell before they packed up their things and headed to NYU. Spending the morning in the city was great, and everyone enjoyed walking with Daphne through the halls of the university. Still, the gang knew they couldn't stay forever, and it seemed almost too soon that they were back in the Mystery Machine on I-78 heading west.

Daphne chattered excitedly about NYU, which everyone was glad for. It distracted them from the uncertainty of how – or whether – they should continue looking for Brad and Judy. They were still going to Chicago, of course, to visit Roosevelt for Shaggy. But they had hit a dead end, and they had no way to trace Fred's birth parents.

The day waned, and the gang drove through the states, watching the sun set behind hills and trees.

"Where are we now?" asked Shaggy from the backseat several hours later.

Daphne glanced at the GPS. "Near Morgantown, West Virginia," she replied.

"We're not going to make it to Chicago tonight, gang," Fred told the others. "We should probably stop for the night."

"Let's stop here," Daphne suggested, glancing out the window. "It seems like a cute little town."

"Actually," said Velma. "The more I think about it, the more I think we should stop in Coolsville and get that CD from the mayor."

Fred gripped the steering wheel tighter. "What?" he murmured.

"I'm starting to think that maybe the CD itself is a clue," Velma continued. "You and Daphne are right – it doesn't make sense for Brad and Judy to send us to New York if they live in Chicago. If the mayor is right, and it was a code from Brad and Judy, maybe it'll help lead us to where they are."

"But like dude," said Shaggy. "How would a CD of a Scottish folk group lead us to Brad and Judy?"

"It was an Irish folk group," Velma reminded him. "And I can't imagine that it's arbitrary. Sure, the mayor thought it was just a clue to confirm it was from Brad and Judy, but what if it's more than that?"

"I don't know if I want to talk to the mayor," Fred spoke up.

It was the first time he'd admitted this to the gang. Everyone gazed at him.

"What do you mean?" asked Daphne softly.

Fred searched his brain for words. "I mean…he lied to me," he muttered. "For years. For my entire life. I'm not sure I want to listen to him anymore."

"We don't need to actually talk to him," Velma reasoned. "We just need the CD. I saw it in his office that night when I was researching Brad and Judy, I know exactly where it is."

"Velma, stop," said Daphne. "We don't have to go back to Coolsville if Fred doesn't want to."

"I can speak for myself, babe," Fred sighed.

"I know that album is a clue!" Velma exclaimed.

Shaggy reached out to put a nervous hand on her shoulder. He didn't want this to break out into an argument.

Scooby didn't either. "Ron't fight," he commanded, gazing evenly at the offenders.

"We're not fighting!" Fred, Daphne, and Velma all shouted at once.

The irony of the statement hit them all at the same time, and they chuckled as the tension broke.

"Let's take a pause on this," Daphne suggested.

Fred nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We're still about two hours out from Coolsville. We don't have to make any decisions till then."

Before Velma could agree, her cellphone rang. She glanced at the screen, and her heart froze, all thoughts of Brad and Judy suddenly forgotten.

Daphne noticed her change in expression. "Velm, are you okay?" she asked.

Velma swallowed. "It's a Facetime from Marcie," she breathed. "She's…probably calling about the hearing."

Fred and Daphne glanced worriedly at each other. Shaggy and Scooby scooted closer to Velma as she answered the phone.

"Marcie?" she said, holding the phone in front of her. "You're on speaker with the gang."

"You're on speaker, too," Marcie replied, peering into the camera. "I've got Tony here with me." Tony appeared behind her and waved. Velma recognized the background as the Moretti's kitchen.

"Is it good news or bad news?" asked Fred from the driver's seat, cutting right to the chase.

"Well…both, actually," Tony said. "The bad news is they released him. But the good news is that he's on house arrest till his trial. He has to wear an ankle bracelet and everything."

Fred gripped the steering wheel tighter as Daphne slowly exhaled. Velma leaned into Shaggy, who was already holding out his arm to curl around her, and Scooby rested his head on Velma's knee comfortingly.

"It's not hard to detach an ankle monitor," Velma murmured.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about it, V," Marcie spoke up. "He's staying with his parents during his house arrest, and from the way they acted, I highly doubt they'll be lenient, let alone help him escape. Plus, the judge also ruled that Leon isn't allowed to have any contact with you or your family."

"That's…good? Right?" asked Shaggy.

"Well…it is, and it isn't," Tony told them.

"What do you mean?" asked Daphne, suddenly worried.

"That's the other bad news," Tony replied hesitantly. "He's ah…pretty bent on revenge."

"Well, not a lot he can do about it on house arrest," Daphne pointed out, hoping to quell Velma's worries. She glanced over the seat at her bespectacled friend, who was still gazing at her phone.

"Actually, I wouldn't be so sure," Marcie murmured, sounding reluctant.

Fred flashed his eyes into the rearview mirror. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Tony sighed. "On his way out of the courtroom, he told us that…he's not alone. That he has help on the outside."

"Help?" asked Fred. "What kind of help?"

"An accomplice, you mean?" Daphne glanced worriedly at Fred. "But who? And how?"

"That's what we were hoping you could tell us," Marcie replied. "He implied it's someone from your past. His exact words were, 'Mystery Incorporated better be careful, because they're being watched – they have been since the beginning.'"

"Like, his exact words?" asked Shaggy, feeling a cold sweat built up under his skin.

"Verbatim," Marcie confirmed.

"Watched by whom?" murmured Velma.

Marcie shrugged. "No idea. But that's why we called you. We think maybe it's someone whose plans you foiled with your mystery-solving. Another person who would have a reason to exact vengeance on you guys."

Daphne scoffed. "Well, that ought to narrow it down," she said sarcastically. "We've only solved several dozen mysteries in these past two years."

"I like, don't even know where we'd start," said Shaggy, absentmindedly patting Scooby's neck. "There's like, too many cases."

Velma glanced sideways at the others. "Actually, I've been keeping pretty detailed records of the mysteries we've solved," she told them.

Everyone stared at her.

"Um…you have?" asked Fred.

Velma nodded. "I started about a year ago. Cataloging our mysteries seemed like a good idea." She shrugged. "Looks like I was right."

Shaggy stared at her awestruck and shook his head in amazement. This girl thought of everything.

"Where are they?" asked Fred.

"At the Coolsville Public Library," Velma replied. "They're in a file cabinet in that closet in the teen section."

"Hmm…" said Tony, thinking. "Well, since you guys are out of town right now, do you want us to help? Fleachy and I can look through the files for you."

"No, we can't," Marcie reminded him. "It's June, remember? The library closes at six P.M. in the summer, and it's quarter to eight now."

Tony's shoulders slumped. "Oh, right," he murmured.

Fred and Velma shared a quick look in the rearview mirror. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

Velma nodded. "I believe so. You said we're about two hours out from Coolsville?"

Fred checked the GPS. "That's right." He looked back at her. "You still have your volunteer key?"

Velma nodded. Then, back to the phone, she said, "Marcie, Tony, meet us at the library at ten o'clock. I have a key from being a volunteer, so I can get us in after hours. We can look through our case files together – there are so many, we'll need all the help we can get."

Marcie and Tony nodded in unison. "Sounds good, V," said Marcie. "Well see you in a couple hours."

"See you then," Velma replied. She ended the call and exchanged determined glances with Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby.

Fred stared resolutely out the windshield and sped off down the interstate.

x.X.x

It was almost exactly ten o'clock when the Mystery Machine pulled into the library's parking lot. The gang was surprised to see not only Marcie and Tony, but the four members of Heavy Meddle – Julie, Joey, Priya, and Felix – waiting near the entrance for them.

Everyone greeted each other as Velma unlocked the door.

"It's great to see you guys," Fred whispered to the band as they crept into the dark library.

Julie, the band's pretty lead singer, shrugged. "Well, Tony told us it was an all-hands-on-deck type situation. And we wanted to help."

"It's only right," added Priya, the band's keyboardist, grimacing apologetically at them. "It's sort of our fault you're in this situation in the first place."

Daphne furrowed her brow. "How do you mean?"

"If we'd never offered to play your prom, you never would have met Leon," said Joey. "And then he never would have met Velma and used her to get to her sister."

Velma shook her head. "It's our meddling that gets us into trouble," she assured him. "It always is. Don't blame yourselves." She came to a stop in the young adult section of the library, where there were several large study tables. They approached one and Velma set down her messenger bag and took out her laptop. "I'll get the files. Shaggy, Scooby – I could use some help." She motioned with her head towards the storage closet, and the pair followed her in.

The three of them reemerged a few moments later, arms laden with files which they placed in the center of the table. Each folder and envelope were meticulously labeled with the case name and the season in which it had been solved.

"The Case of the Willow Springs Wendigo," Tony read aloud, picking up the nearest folder. "Winter."

"Our first case," Velma said, passing folders out to everyone else.

"He went to jail, right?" Fred murmured, peering over Tony's shoulder.

"They did, yes," Velma replied. "Remember? It was a husband-and-wife team who were behind that counterfeit operation."

Julie let out a low whistle. "Well, if they're in for counterfeiting, they're probably not even up for parole yet, let alone out of prison."

Marcie grabbed Velma's laptop and typed something. "The maximum sentence for counterfeiters is twenty years, sometimes accompanied by a $250,000 fine," she informed everyone.

Fred nodded. "Well, the Reynolds' were broke, so I doubt they paid the fine."

"Yeah, they definitely went to jail," Tony said, looking through the notes in Velma's folder. "It looks like they were sent to the federal prison in Lisbon."

"Like…in Portugal?" asked Shaggy, confused.

"No, no," Tony shook his head. "It's here in Ohio. It's like a hundred and seventy miles north of us."

"Well," Fred said, opening another folder. "Let's try to see if anyone's sentence is up."

Fifteen minutes later, no one had yet found anything helpful.

"Well, maybe it's not someone we put away," said Daphne, sifting through the files again. "Maybe it's someone who didn't have to go to jail, but got in trouble in some other way."

"You mean like…Leesa Beamer?" asked Marcie, reading the folder she had just opened. It was labeled The Case of the Phantom of the Auditorium, Fall. "It doesn't look like she got any repercussions of any kind."

Daphne shook her head. "It can't be Leesa. She's been in New York this whole time."

"Besides," Fred pointed out. "Marcie's right – literally nothing happened to Leesa. She wouldn't be out for revenge – she didn't get in trouble at all, and everyone forgave her for sabotaging that play."

Tony shook his head incredulously. "I still can't believe she was behind that whole thing."

"But it still doesn't answer who's behind this whole thing," sighed Velma, fluttering her fingers at the folders spread haphazardly over the table.

Shaggy sat forward. He'd had a thought, though he was hesitant to mention it, considering how much time and effort they'd put into this so far. Still…he had to bring it up.

He glanced at the band. "Like…are you sure Leon wasn't just talking out of his ass?"

"I mean it's possible," sighed Felix. "But Leon is a pretentious, self-righteous dick. He thinks everything he says and does is laden with meaning."

"But he does make a lot of empty threats, too," Priya admitted.

Tony frowned. "Are you talking about that asphalt comment?" he asked her.

Velma furrowed her brow. "Wait…what asphalt comment?"

Marcie glared at Tony. "I thought we weren't going to bring that up," she muttered.

"Sorry!" said Tony, holding his hands up. "I forgot."

"What did he say?" Velma asked. "And why weren't you going to mention it?"

Tony shrugged. "We didn't want to worry you guys. And I'm sure it's nothing – he probably was just talkin' out of his ass."

Marcie sighed. "Too late Moretti," she sighed, before turning to Velma. "After he told us that you were being watched, he said that you better watch your backs, or you'll find yourselves face down in the asphalt one day."

The gang's response was instantaneous. Daphne gasped, Scooby yelped, and the folder that Velma had been holding slipped from her hands. Shaggy was so startled he fell out of his chair, and Fred stared aghast at Marcie. "What did he say?" he murmured.

Marcie blinked at Fred, taken aback. "What?" she asked.

"Leon's comment," Fred exclaimed. "Was that exactly what he said?"

"Yeah, word-for-word. Why?" asked Tony, gazing at the blond boy anxiously.

Everyone turned to stare horror-struck at Daphne, whose face had blanched in terror.

"Jeepers," she breathed, ice flooding her veins.

"Jinkies," Velma whispered in response.

"Zoinks," Shaggy murmured.

"Ruh-roh," Scooby whimpered.

"Fuck," Fred swore.

"What? What?!" hissed Tony, who was still staring wide-eyed at the others. Marcie and the band simply gazed at everyone anxiously.

Fred and Daphne looked at each other, and wordlessly, Daphne scooted closer to him, and let him wrap his arm around her. The car that had come out of nowhere last night…had it been waiting for them on purpose? Had it been waiting for her?

Was Leon's accomplice the one who'd nearly killed her?

Sponge: Thanks for reading! It's an even-numbered week so no clue tonight, but there'll be one next Wednesday! Review if you please and don't forget to guess where the chapter title comes from!