A.N. Hi everyone, happy new year! I'm aware I'm not able to update this as often as I would like to but I do update whenever I can. I've just edited and prepped two chapters in one weekend so the next chapter will follow very, very shortly after this one.

Some notes here - In case you haven't picked it up, yes Mei Ling is inspired by the What's New Scooby Doo universe. I happened to catch that episode when prepping the next part of the Hong Kong story and saw a perfect opportunity to create a little nod to that universe. This version of Mei, like all my characters, is vastly different of course and is tied closely to Fred's story as you're about to find out. I hope you enjoy and find time to feedback.

"Her?"

Despite the urgency of their situation, Daphne still found time to be surprised by the identity of their potential saviour. "And who is she?"

"She's a doctor, at least, well, I hope she's a doctor by now anyway."

"You hope? Fred, we need more than just hope right now! I mean, who is she to you? You've never mentioned her before."

"She was a foreign exchange student at my High School. She was training to be a doctor and the last time I messaged her, she had almost finished her training."

"Oh well, let's hope she has hey, or at least has enough expertise to extract a bullet," she replied snippily.

"I don't see you offering up a suggestion here," Fred glared at Daphne, acutely aware of the pain shooting through his shoulder again. "And to get this out the way with right now, yes she is an ex girlfriend of mine."

Daphne was completely secure in her relationship with Fred but even so she felt a defensive wall go up within her, and her eyebrows arch skywards. "Really?"

"Yes, I know what you're thinking and you don't have anything to worry about, I promise," he said, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "In fact," he added, a small smile developing, "it's probably you that I need to worry about on that front."

"Oh?" Daphne was confused until he waggled his eyebrows at her, then suddenly she understood. "Ohhhh," she said with obvious surprise. "You still haven't told me though, why some girl you once dated in High School, who might well be a lesbian doctor now, would presumably drop everything to help us?"

"Well that's easy, she said I will always be in her debt and to look her up if I ever needed her." Daphne gave him a questioning look so he added the necessary explanation. "I saved her life."

Coolsville, 7 years ago

"Frederick Herman Jones! You get yourself down these stairs right this second!" A shrill voice demanded.

Fifteen year old Fred Jones winced at the loudness of his mother's voice as he slowly clambered out of bed and sleepily made his way to the bathroom.

"Coming mom," he called tiredly, blinking in the harsh light of the bathroom before brushing his teeth. His sleep deprived state was his own fault of course; his mom didn't know he had only crawled back in through his bedroom window a couple of hours ago.

As he entered the kitchen, reaching over the counter to grab some cereal, his mom clocked his dishevelled appearance.

"Jeez Freddy, you look like shit," she exclaimed, frowning at the teenager's unkempt blond hair, and tired looking eyes.

"Gee thanks mom, and a good morning to you too," he muttered, while crunching his breakfast. "I'll grab a quick shower before I leave."

"You need to," Mrs Jones continued to nag before she brightened visibly. "Oh Freddy, you haven't forgotten have you? Today, you're going to bring home one of the exchange students from China. I've got the spare room all ready for him. Please be nice to him, it must be so scary being in a foreign country with a family of strangers when you don't even speak the language!"

Fred inwardly groaned, he very much HAD forgotten. Having a student come and live with him was the last thing he needed right now. Undoubtedly, he would turn out to be some super swot type who would have no problem ratting him out to his mom for his 'nightly visits.' Instead of vocalising his annoyance however, he painted a false smile on his face to appease her.

"Of course I haven't forgotten mom! You don't have to ask me to be nice, I'll do everything I can to make him feel welcome in Coolsville."

He jogged back upstairs for a quick shower, and then took his time to sort his hair; while the exchange student would almost certainly be an inconvenience, he wasn't going to let his standards slip, not when girls like Amy were around!

He grabbed his letterman jacket and his bag off the bannister and swung back in to the kitchen to kiss his mom goodbye.

"Oh that's much better hon'," she beamed at his neat appearance as he kissed her cheek. "Remember Fred, dinner will be served for you and your friend at 6pm sharp, don't be late!"

"I won't mom, see you later," he grinned, the door slamming shut after him.

Later that morning at school, Fred sat bored in his seat in the auditorium with all the other students while Principal Williams carried out the terribly droll task of pairing up each and every student on the programme. Girls to girls, boys to boys. No 'funny business' could occur that way, Principal Williams sternly declared to many sniggers from the assembled students.

The matching up of the Coolsville High students to their Chinese counterparts continued blandly and Fred barely took any notice of the procession, preferring to doodle on his notebook cover. He only glanced up with something approaching mild curiosity, when his friend Norville Rogers' name was called. Norville was subsequently paired with a particularly bookish and serious looking student. Fred cheerfully mouthed 'unlucky' at his laid back friend as they passed, Norville gave him the finger in return as he guided his new partner out the auditorium.

Fred slumped further into his seat, wondering if maybe his name wasn't actually in the programme after all, but he knew he could never be that lucky. Three students after Norville had been paired, he finally heard a name called with his own, and he sighed and made his way to the stage to greet the boy he was going to be sharing his home with for at least a couple of months. 'Please be cool' he silently prayed to himself.

"Fred," Mr Williams was saying, "this is Jian, I paired Jian with you because I know you will take special care of him. Fred is our Class President, so you are exceptionally lucky Jian!" Mr Williams beamed at Fred before continuing. "Jian is a little different because he is new to his school in China in addition to taking part in the programme. He does not even know his fellow Chinese students so please be especially thoughtful."

'Brave guy', Fred thought, 'new to a school and then straight onto a foreign exchange programme in America'. He smiled warmly as he greeted the boy. "It's very nice to meet you Jian," he said, peering at him closely.

Jian was fairly slight in build, dressed in a baggy shirt, slacks and sneakers and with long black hair. His facial features that could be seen behind the lengthy bangs were quite soft looking. Jian took his outstretched hand confidently to shake it. Mr Williams smiled, and then he was onto the next pairing and Fred was leading Jian out of the auditorium and on a tour around the fairly non-descript space that was their school grounds. Jian seemed pleasant if a little boring, asking questions Fred couldn't answer about the history of the building or questions about Coolsville in very broken English.

His mother was more impressed with the achingly polite young boy and the first couple of weeks with Jian passed by reasonably uneventfully.

Jian was quite guarded when Fred asked him questions about his life in China, and although it was obvious the boy was ridiculously gifted and his teachers and parents adored him, Fred soon found himself predictably bored by him.

That was however, until 'the incident'.

It was a lazy Sunday morning and Fred's parents were out. He had taken the opportunity to stay in bed that little bit longer and he rose leisurely after another late night with Norville and Scooby. He wandered to the bathroom and after finding the door unlocked, with no noise from within, he strolled right on in.

Finding Jian on the toilet might have been embarrassing, walking in on him while he was still in the shower would have made things more than a little awkward between them. However, walking in to find Jian in such a state of undress that would have been mortifying anyway in normal circumstances, what he did actually see, ensured this would be a moment he would never forget.

His jaw dropped, Jian screamed and Fred started to apologise, immediately, desperately trying to close the door, but 'Jian' now with a towel covering their modesty, furiously yanked Fred inside the bathroom with brutal force.

Fred didn't know where to look, instead he found himself marvelling how he hadn't noticed it until now. Sure, the hair was a little long, and the features soft, but they were more than that, they were actually delicate he realised on close inspection. He now knew exactly what was hidden underneath those baggy clothes Jian favoured.

"You're a girl?" he whispered in awe.

"You weren't supposed to find out!" she replied furiously, a tiny package of feminine rage, also no longer speaking in broken English, causing Fred's eyes to widen further.

"Jesus, what happened to "I. Thank. You. Mrs. Jones?" he mocked her previously stilted accent and she actually punched him in the face.

He held his stinging nose, stunned. "Who the hell are you? Are you even a student at all?!"

"Yes I'm a student," she scowled angrily, pushing her bangs aside. "I'm just not the one you thought, my name is Mei Ling."

"I can't believe it, how did you expect that no one would find out?"

"Well, I managed two weeks without you suspecting a thing," she said slyly.

"Why would you even pretend to be a boy? What did you have to gain?" Fred, asked, still struggling to come to terms with the amazing revelation.

"I have my own reasons for coming to America right now that I won't share with you. I couldn't bear the thought of sharing a house with some self-obsessed vapid girly girl. I'd much rather share a house with someone cooler... like you."

"Really?" Fred raised his eyebrows suggestively and she scowled again.

"Oh don't flatter yourself, not like that."

"I can't believe you went to all this effort to disguise yourself as a boy. Does ANYONE know you're a girl? What about Miss Songhua?" He asked, referring to the Chinese teacher who had accompanied all of the students.

"Nope," Mei Ling said proudly. "Nobody knows. Apart from you. I suppose you're going to tell everyone now?"

Fred thought about it for a second and smiled at her.

"No, I won't actually," he grinned, and she looked at him with relief. "I quite like the idea of having hidden a girl in my house in plain sight. Feels so naughty. Mom would have a fit!"

Mei laughed along with Fred and she knew then that he would keep her secret.

Despite her initial denial of even being attracted to Fred; living together with this incredible secret ensured their mutual attraction to each other quickly grew, and in secret they became a couple. It was tough for Fred though, he became besotted with the smart and fierce girl but they had to hide their romance from everyone. Instead, they hooked up in secret or whenever Fred's parents weren't home.

One afternoon they were lying together on the top of Fred's bed making out. Mei's legs were tangled around his and she sighed contentedly in his arms, laying her head on his chest. "I can't believe all this has to end soon," she murmured. "Never in my wildest dreams, could I have wished for a better exchange partner," she smiled up at him, just enjoying being in his muscular arms.

They both jolted up when they heard the unmistakable sound of the front door slam unexpectedly and Mrs Jones' voice floated up the stairs.

"Fred, Jian? We're home early."

Mei jumped up, quickly re-buttoning her shirt. They had never gone further than just making out, but this time things had got a little more heated and they both needed to re-arrange their clothing. Just in time, Mei and Fred got the homework out and looked to be perfectly innocently studying when Mrs Jones popped her head around the door.

They had had a few similar close shaves but still Mei's secret remained, until the day the lie unravelled in devastating fashion.

.

Mei had always been so careful to keep up appearances and only ever went in alone to the boy's bathroom or used the cubicle, but somewhere she must have made a mistake because suspicions had clearly been raised. A group of fellow Chinese students had attempted to follow her to the bathroom one evening when herself and Fred had stayed late at school.

Ignoring them, she washed her hands calmly, underneath their glare, and then walked quickly back to the library where she was meeting Fred after his football practice. She silently breathed a sigh of relief when the group seemingly headed in the other direction, she was almost there.

Before she could get inside, she was suddenly body slammed violently into the side of the building, and she slumped to the ground, struggling to get her breath back.

As she attempted to get back up, she felt a sharp kick to her side, ensuring she stayed down. Several more kicks then rained down upon her and she instinctively tried to curl up to protect herself.

Instead, she was grabbed up by her hair and roughly pinned against the wall, and that's when her attacker spoke.

"Jian," he hissed into her ear."I heard a rumour, and you understand that it's just a rumour mind, that apparently you're hiding a big secret."

The man had made no attempt to hide his identity and obviously didn't care about being caught, given they were just down the side of the school library. Mei recognised him as one of the Chinese students who had tailed her in the bathroom.

He pinned one wrist to the wall and with his other hand, roamed over her shirt. Mei panicked as she realised what he was doing. He was feeling for her modest developing breasts she had strapped down every day since she arrived in America. She tried to spit at him and he slapped her, and then grinned when he found what he was looking for. "Or maybe it's TWO secrets."

"Take your hands off me," she instructed firmly and he laughed.

"So, it IS true, you really are bringing shame on everyone by hiding your true form? Your mistake, little girl," He sneered.

Mei barely had time to brace herself before he punched her hard in the face, and she felt her nose explode, spraying her blood onto him. He wiped his face in disgust, and then threw her to the ground. "What a worthless waste," he uttered in sheer contempt before launching into another kick, this time catching her in her abdomen. Mei-Ling gasped from the unbelievable pain and he kicked her again and again, all over her body, and she felt her consciousness, slipping away. "Help me please," she tried to shout but she knew her voice was quiet and weak.

She realised as the attack was relentless that he was content to kill her, and she found herself welcoming the imminent peace.

God however, must have had other plans because suddenly there was a lot of shouting, and the sound of running footsteps and mercifully the attack ceased. Her eye sockets now felt swollen so she wasn't entirely sure what was going on but she could feel a second reassuring presence, kind strong arms suddenly wrapped around her and she found herself being lifted from the ground. Not long after that, she was being placed inside an ambulance.

Fred had found her and stopped the attack, just in time it seemed.

In the hours after the attack, the truth obviously spilled out, with various parties expressing their horror that a girl had played the system and little comment on the brutal murder attempt itself.

Having fled the scene initially when Fred disturbed his assault on Mei, her attacker, Wu, was swiftly apprehended, having made little attempt to avoid capture. Wu admitted he was trying to kill her, having being absolutely disgusted she was making such a mockery of China by disrespecting sexuality in this way.

Mei-Ling was left to recover alone in hospital, shunned by the High School and with a heartbroken Fred not allowed to visit.

When she was well enough, despite being a few weeks short of the official end of the exchange, she was to be sent straight back to China, where she would face further disciplinary action for 'her act of deceit.'

After full investigation between Coolsville and China, it was discovered Mei Ling was actually even slightly older than claimed and she then had to face accusations of deliberately seducing Fred, both from Coolsville High staff, and Fred's furious mother.

Even after Mei Ling had been sent back home in disgrace and in spite of the fact his mother strictly forbade any contact, a lovelorn Fred continued to email Mei Ling, but it was obvious their passion was over.

Not long after, the whole business with Fred and his father's tax scandal erupted, resulting in Fred's father subsequently being jailed and his mother walking out on him. His communication with Mei Ling diminished until it was barely a friendly email once or twice a year. She told him she had been punished by her school but had pleaded her case and was still allowed to successfully apply for medical school. She also told him much to his surprise, she had met someone new, a female someone and he wasn't sure how to feel about that.

His own life changed considerably after that of course, his desperate circumstances had him turning to crime and his relationship with the Chinese girl who had duped all around her into believing she was a boy, was long since forgotten.

Until now.

"Wow." Daphne stated as Fred concluded telling his and Mei Ling's story. "If anyone else had told me such a tale, I would have had the hardest time believing them. How can you actually hide your own gender?!"

"I promise you it's all true Daph."

"I believe you. Gosh, even as a junior in High School, you had quite the adventure, huh? You were already a hero at what 15, 16?"

Fred quickly blushed. There was that word again -hero. He had never seen it like that, for him it was a necessary intervention. If he hadn't been there or got there in time, Mei Ling would have been killed. "I did what I had to do," he declared modestly, holding his shoulder again and biting back the pain.

Seeing his plain discomfort, Daphne grabbed her purse, rooting around it for her manicure kit and her scissors. With Fred wearing a hoodie, they both knew it would be agony for him to try and lift it over his injured shoulder so she could take a look at the wound.

Instead, she wielded the scissors as a silent question, and he nodded at her tensely, okaying what she was about to do.

"I hope it's not a favourite," she murmured before very gingerly she began to cut away the fabric as carefully as she could without making contact with the wound with the sharp scissors. She cut away most of the upper part of the bloodied garment so she could get a good look at the bullet wound.

Exposed to the open air now, Fred couldn't help but cry out in pain and she grimaced when she saw the extent of the damage.

Fred tried to twist his neck enough so he could see it himself. "It's just a flesh wound right?" he asked hopefully, even though he knew he was being facetious. The pain radiating from his shoulder, told him the true story.

"I don't know Fred," Daphne replied, sounding worried. "It looks bad to me, really bad. Are you sure that we can't..."

"We can't," he said firmly. "It's not an option. I'm quite sure they'll know I was hit. They will have people looking for us in all the hospitals."

Daphne nodded, knowing he was right. "Okay. So call her then, and let's hope to god, this er...shot in the dark pays off."

Fred nodded grimly at her choice of words, it was a long-shot in so many ways.

Mei Ling had said to always look her up if he ever needed her, but it was almost certainly just something she said to remain on friendly terms. He was quite sure she never intended him to ever show up on her doorstep, let alone showing up bleeding from a bullet wound and pursued by would-be assassins. It would be quite some first reunion that was for sure.

But, on the other hand, although it was some time ago, they had shared a special connection, resulting in him saving her life.

She would try and help them, he knew she would, once she got over the monumental shock of course.

The pain was becoming unbearable for him now, it felt like a fire was actually burning on his shoulder. He pressed the green button to connect the call, making a silent prayer in his head that she was going to answer; she was their one and only shot at help right now.

It took a few tense rings but finally the call was answered, he recognised her soft voice immediately, as she responded to the caller identity with a hint of incredulity.

"Is that really you Fred?"

"Mei! Hi! Yeah, you always said to look you up if I ever came to China? Well, uh, surprise! Here I am! I'm in Hong Kong!" he garbled nervously.

"Fred, wow, it's been so long, I don't really know what to say?" Mei sounded absolutely stunned. "I can't believe it's actually you, what are you doing in China?"

As Mei Ling spoke, Fred was acutely aware of two things; the pressing pain in his shoulder, and Daphne's stare as it bore into his back.

"Listen Mei, I know this is weird, beyond weird really and very out of the blue but...I really need your help right now. My girlfriend and I have ran into a bit of trouble."

He heard Mei breathing steadily down the line, he knew she was listening, she finally spoke after a long pause.

"Fred, I said I would always be here for you, and I mean that but it's been nearly eight years! You're going to have to give me a bit more than 'you ran into a bit of trouble.'

Fred laughed nervously, "oh it's a lot more than that, it's a very long story actually but time is what we don't have. I just need to know one thing, and one thing only."

"Go ahead."

"Are you able to, and are you willing to patch up a wound?"

"Sure, what kind of wound is it?"

"It's an ah...gunshot wound."

Meanwhile, in Coolsville, Shaggy and Velma were watching the fleet of buses fill up with the fleeing residents with their own feelings of trepidation building.

Once the coaches had departed as what felt like a never ending convoy, the station was left eerily empty.

The first to shrug off her fears, Velma led the way out of the station, with the boys following closely behind. They walked for a little while down the familiar and normally busy road the station was situated on. Traffic passed by occasionally outbound but nothing was heading into town.

"Wow," Shaggy eventually exclaimed, "that actual ghost town Freddy made us investigate last year wasn't even as deserted as this. It feels like EVERYONE has gone."

Velma nodded, "it sure feels like that, but there's got to be some people here, it can't just have been abandoned over night...although..." her eyes gleamed a little as she clocked a clearly empty house with a car still sitting on the driveway. "It may have it's advantages."

She sidled up to the drivers door and then turned to Shaggy. "Still remember how to do this?"

Shaggy was momentarily horrified. "No Velma! I swore off this kind of life for good."

"We don't have time to be all precious about this, how else do you propose to get around? The Mystery Machine is parked way over on the other side of town at yours, and the owners clearly don't need it right now."

She had a very good point Shaggy relucantly accepted. "Fine, let's do this."

Velma had begun to look around for something to prise the door open with, when she was startled by the sound of glass shattering.

She turned around open-mouthed to see Shaggy already reaching in to open the door through the now shattered driver's window to remove the rock he had hurled through it.

"What?" He acknowledged her reaction and shrugged nonchalantly. "We don't have time to be all precious about this right?"

He swept his arm over the seat in one fluid motion, brushing the broken fragments of glass off the seat before sliding into the welcoming leather and reaching over to unlock the passenger door for her.

"That's my boy," she said in approval, quickly unlocking the back and tossing in their stuff, Scooby then leapt in.

Shaggy prepared to hot wire the car to get it started but was alert at the flash of headlights that suddenly appeared on the deserted road.

"Uh, we got a company," Velma whispered, craning her neck to see the car that, had squealed it's brake to pull up outside the house. "Shaggy drive!" she urged.

But Shaggy barely had time to start the engine before a figure leapt from the car.

"Step out of the car now!" the man instructed. "All of you step away from that vehicle right now."

It was dark so they didn't have a hope of seeing who it was.

"Reverse Shaggy, come on!" Velma pleaded. "Reverse, you won't hit him, he'll move, come on..."

Shaggy put his foot down ready to do just that when he was incredibly discouraged by a loud sigh from Velma.

"Oh fuck..." she said resignedly.

"What?! What's the matter?" Shaggy asked in panic but when he turned around he could see why Velma had become so dismayed.

"Oh crap."

"I won't ask again, leave the goddamn vehicle!" the figure demanded and Shaggy and Velma slowly prepared to exit. They didn't have much choice to do otherwise, the gun in the hand of their assailant and pointed right towards them was amazingly persuasive it turned out.