A/N: After a fair few high octane chapters, the general pace does slow a little now but there's no need to be concerned! As you will see there is no let up in the drama. It's been nice but so strange to write the gang altogether again too after all this time. Please enjoy and review :)
Once the mini reunion was over inside the airport, the five began to make their way outside together. Seeing Fred struggling with wheeling two heavy suitcases and a sports bag strapped across his good shoulder, Shaggy quickly offered to help his friend. Fred was very grateful for the offer and offloaded the bag which Shaggy hung off his shoulder, he then grabbed one of the shiny black cases too before Fred could protest. Velma had already taken on one of Daphne's purple cases and the two were walking alongside each other, slightly ahead of the boys and Scooby.
They hadn't spoken yet, but Velma sneaked a sideways glance at Daphne and saw that she was doing likewise and they smiled at each other.
"I'm so glad you're okay," they both said in perfect unison, and then laughed together.
"Gosh, I'm so glad you're back Daph. I've missed you so much. Shaggy's been great, really great but in this time of crisis, I need my girl," Velma said happily.
"I've missed you too Vel," Daph exclaimed, immediately perking up at how fondly Velma was talking about Shaggy again. It was in such stark contrast to the fears Velma had confided to her about spending time alone with him when she and Fred had left for Hong Kong. "So, he's been great huh? Did you guys work things out?" she asked hopefully.
Velma cast a little look backward and saw Fred and Shaggy engaged in fairly jovial looking conversation, she smiled to herself, before addressing Daphne's question. "We came to an understanding," she said, but offered no further information than that to Daphne's immense frustration.
"An understanding?! That's it? That's all you're giving me? Girl, come on!" she pleaded.
"We chatted. A lot. And I'll tell you more eventually but just know that we're totally good again."
"I swear Velma, you're the most infuriating person on the planet," Daphne moaned, but didn't push for any further information about Velma and Shaggy's epic 'on/off' relationship for the ages.
She looked behind them now too, and saw Fred and Shaggy were falling even further behind so she paused to allow them time to catch up with them. Velma stopped too, seeing Fred visibly struggling along, Shaggy had kindly slowed his own pace so they were still walking in sync.
"Poor Fred," Velma commented in pity. "I still can't believe he actually got shot! I mean like sure, tons of bad stuff has happened to each of us over the years. You were kidnapped. I nearly drowned. Shaggy was beat up, but we both know that Freddy is already well clear at the top of the 'bad guys hurting us' league and this has got to take his personal top spot for sure."
"I was terrified," Daphne confided, recalling that horrifying moment she put her hands on Fred's shoulder and they came away stained with his blood. "We were completely on our own in an unfamiliar city, and his shoulder was just a mess. I really did think the worst in that moment. Luckily, Fred had an ace up his sleeve."
"Ah yes, this fabled 'old friend'. That was a pure stroke of luck." Velma said, her eyebrows raised to show her scepticism.
"Oh luck like you wouldn't believe! Wait until I tell you the full story of how he met her. It will blow your mind," Daphne winked.
"Her? Wow, I just kind of assumed in my head it was some action hero type guy he conveniently knew," Velma confessed.
"Nope, she's a junior doctor, so mucho convenient as it turned out, but their story was quite something. Turned out she was an ex of his but it's the backstory that goes with it that's the true eye opener."
"C'mon Daph you gotta spill now! You cannot just drop in juicy details like she was his ex and then stop there!" It was Velma's turn to plead with her friend. She looked behind her again and saw Shaggy, Fred and Scooby had fallen even further behind, only just passing the drop-off point. "We've definitely got the time!"
"Okay," Daphne relented. "So Mei Ling, that's her name, she was an exchange student at Coolsville High..."
….
It wasn't like Shaggy was deliberately walking faster, but his longer limbs meant he took naturally bigger strides forward and even with some of his luggage relieved, Fred was struggling to keep pace with his friend. Scooby trotted right alongside Fred instead, absolutely delighted to see him again, and had began licking his hand. Fred had pulled his hand back into his sleeve but Scooby had felt the bumpy scarring adorning his wrist. He could sense the nervous tension within the boy too, he had tried to be all smiles with Shaggy and Velma, but Scooby knew there was something not quite right. He suspected his friends had been through an even bigger ordeal than what they were letting on to. Fred looked embarrassed, but reached out to stroke Scooby's head as they walked, though he feared the dog had seen what he had tried to hide. Since last night in Hong Kong, his damaged wrists had healed a little, but he knew the scarring looked awful and he had covered up with a long sleeved jacket to avoid the awkward questions. Scooby gave him a sympathetic expression and Fred held his breath when Scooby called crossly to Shaggy.
"Rhaggy! Row Down!" he urged, and Shaggy slowed his pace after noting guiltily how much Fred was struggling to keep up.
"Like, sorry man."
"It's okay, I'm just a little sore still," Fred explained his slow progress.
"I bet!" Shaggy exclaimed. "What did it feel like?" he asked curiously before he could help himself.
"Like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my shoulder," Fred replied starkly and honestly. "Because we were still running, I don't think I even really accepted that it had actually happened until we reached relative safety. I mean it hurt like a bitch the second it hit me, don't get me wrong, but I was still massively in denial. All I could concentrate on was getting Daph to safety."
"I'm so sorry that happened to you," Shaggy reflected. "But I'm so glad you're here now, we're going to need everyone. It's such a fucking mess Freddy," he revealed. "I don't even really know what we're going to be able to do."
"Yikes, that doesn't sound good at all Shaggy," Fred sighed. "I still can't believe everything that they hid from us. It disgusts me in fact."
"Uh huh," Shaggy said a little nervously, knowing he and Velma were now privy to knowing even more that had been hidden from Fred and Daphne. He had no intention of telling him, so he quickly changed the subject onto one only slightly less comfortable. "So er, Velma and I talked..." he started awkwardly.
Fred brightened instantly. "Oh yeah? And you guys are cool again?"
"Yeah, we're cool," Shaggy said, and Fred outwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank god! I don't think we could have coped if we were still having to keep you two apart like in Hawaii, not when the stakes are so high now. It's important there isn't any division between us."
"Like totally," Shaggy agreed as they finally caught up to the girls who were waiting on the edge of the vast parking lot. As soon as Fred's feet hit the tarmac, he became considerably more chipper, moving forward even with a tiny little spring in his step now.
"Well, where is she?" he asked excitedly. "I can hardly wait to see her! I've missed her so much!"
Shaggy swallowed, hoping to god that Fred wasn't talking about Stella. As Fred's eyes scanned expectantly up and down the rows of vehicles, he suddenly realised exactly who the 'she' was that Fred was looking for, and breathed a hidden sigh of relief.
"Oh, you mean the van!" he stated, trying to locate exactly where he had parked it before seeing it's grey exterior. "We had to give her a bit of a make-under actually."
Fred looked genuinely aghast at this news as they all walked towards it, so Shaggy quickly soothed him. "Don't worry, she's fine," he assured him, causing the girls to giggle.
The van had been Shaggy's originally, just a beat up green van that he had lovingly restored to full functionality. In the months immediately following the whole Devon ordeal, it had gone from a mere van to it's own personality as they began to solve mysteries in Coolsville. For the first few weeks they were in operation as Mystery Incorporated, Shaggy had driven the van but once Fred became their officially adopted leader, things changed. Shaggy handed the keys of the van over to Freddy permanently, and he had quickly fallen in love with what became affectionately known by them all, as 'The Mystery Machine'.
Needing a bit of a gimmick to make themselves stand out, they decided to make their nickname for the van official and made it the stand out feature of their blossoming business. Already green, they sprayed it an even bolder shade, and one afternoon, the girls surprised the boys by adding some more features. They used blue to create a stripe and painted a further couple of panels and then emblazoned the name on the side in a bright orange. Some hippy flowers painted on both sides was the final touch. The Mystery Machine was fully born and became quite the eye-catching ride about town. And that's exactly why Shaggy and Velma had quickly made the decision to turn it incognito, deciding that riding around in it would be like one giant bullseye.
After Fred and Daphne's first phone call, they had driven to Shaggy's, abandoning Rory's car outside and set to work disguising their beloved van. They reluctantly sprayed all over the once bright colours with a very dull grey and this was how she stood now in the packed out car lot. Boring. Insignificant. Unremarkable. That's exactly how they needed it to be.
Laying eyes on the soulless, sterile looking van for the first time was actually more than a little bit heartbreaking for both Fred and Daphne. The memories they all had of that van! The adventures they had together, the dangerous chases, but also the fun and the laughter. It had become a huge part of their new lives together. Leaving 'her' behind had honestly been a complete wrench for all of them, but for Fred and Shaggy especially. Fred had even desperately tried to find a practical solution for bringing the van with them to Europe. Eventually though, logistics and cost meant it would be pretty much an impossibility. He had to reluctantly admit defeat and they locked her up safely at Shaggy's, meaning Fred hadn't seen 'her' for the best part of two years now.
He stopped wheeling his suitcase as they reached the vehicle and reached out to touch the van as Shaggy unlocked the back doors.
"Oh baby, what did they do to you?" Fred murmured sadly, fingering the dark paintwork, getting a blob on his finger when he realised it wasn't yet quite dry.
Seeing the necessarily disguised van was the first real indicator for Fred and Daphne that things had taken a massive turn for the worse in Coolsville. Although they had seen the news reports, they weren't sure they were ready to come to terms with everything back home just yet. Which was just as well, because the consequences of those last few mental hours in Hong Kong were about to catch up with them, quite literally.
While Fred, Daphne and Shaggy had been going all misty-eyed over the van, Velma had remained shrewdly alert and on guard. Even when she was at the barrier hugging Fred and Daphne, she had had a brief sense that a couple of their fellow passengers were watching them. The two of them had been very careful to keep a safe distance but nevertheless, she was quite sure they were watching them.
As the five of them had walked towards the exit together, she had kept a casual eye out for the shadowy figures but they seemed to filter off elsewhere and she temporarily forgot about them as she and Daphne caught up. When the gang approached the van however, she caught sight of the same two men again, just a few feet away, heading in their direction in fact. Unless they had coincidentally parked their car close to theirs in a car lot of over 2000 vehicles, there was only one other grim conclusion; the men were tailing them.
Clearing her throat to get their attention away from the van, she kept her voice low as she alerted everyone else to the strangers' close and troubling presence.
"Er guys, don't look now, but I'm quite sure someone has been following you two off the flight," she addressed Fred and Daphne calmly.
Shaggy and Scooby looked instantly panicked by Velma's unsettling observation, but Fred and Daphne's reaction was quite different. Instead of looking frightened, they simply looked at each other and something approaching acceptance seemed to pass between them.
Daphne opened her mouth to speak first. "So, you know how we told you on the phone, we had a lot of explaining to do? Well, we may as well start right now."
"We know that those guys have been following us," Fred revealed to Velma and Shaggy's shock. "They've actually been trying to keep a safe distance for their own safety, as well as ours," he explained.
"What?!" Velma instantly exclaimed in amazement. "So, what are they, like your bodyguards or something?"
"No, not exactly," Daphne said, with a rueful shake of her head.
"Well then who the hell are they?" Shaggy asked, his face looking fearful.
"You'll find out when we pick them up," Fred sighed, turning away from Velma's scrutiny to put the suitcases in the back of the van.
"When we pick them up?!" Velma squeaked, her eyes wide with disbelief now. "Are these guys dangerous? Do they have some kind of leverage over you two?!"
"It will all become clear when we pick them up," Fred stated resignedly. "We're not in any danger from them, no."
He jumped into the van, relishing being in the driver's seat again and Daphne quickly slid in next to him. "Are you guys coming?" he asked the still frozen Velma, Shaggy and Scooby. "We should get going, just in case someone is watching," he added a little nervously now.
Velma was utterly speechless but she didn't want to put themselves at further risk, so she jumped in the front alongside Daphne. An equally shaken Shaggy and Scooby got into the back. Fred drove them all away without saying another word and there was a very tense atmosphere in the van right now.
"I'm so confused Fred," Velma continued, not willing to drop it. "You say we're not in any danger from them but they obviously have some control over you to make you do this. How are we going to pick them up?"
Fred deliberately ignored Velma's first point but answered the second. "They're going to procure a car right now. They'll follow us and when it's safe, we'll pick them up."
"You mean steal a car!? You weren't even expecting Shaggy and I to be here, what would you and the shady men have done then?" Velma asked in exasperation at the guarded tone Fred was taking.
"We would have come up with another plan. Look, until they join us, it's very hard to explain Velma. Hopefully things will become clearer soon," Daphne tried to add further clarity.
"That's optimistic Daphne. I'm not sure even I understand everything yet," Fred said a little tersely, and Velma silently noted the first bit of noticeable tension between Fred and Daphne. They were all dying to ask each other more questions but instead nervous apprehension and tension filled the van, with Fred and Daphne refusing to answer anything else. Fred had drove them for about ten miles or so when he was aware of a car that appeared behind them repeatedly flashing it's lights.
"That will be them," he announced calmly, and a cold feeling of dread washed over Velma as he pulled the van over.
Fred undid his seat belt and hopped out. He didn't look at all happy about having to do this and that only accelerated Velma's fears. It seemed obvious to her that he was under some form of duress and a million different scenarios were racing through Velma's head in the tense few seconds he was stood outside the van her, Daphne was quiet, but seemed reasonably calm, which gave Velma some shred of comfort at least. If Fred was in any genuine danger, Daphne wouldn't be sitting quite so calmly, but what if it wasn't Fred that was at risk here?
"Daphne," she asked her nervously. "This is OK isn't it? We are safe, right?"
The redhead seemed to smile a little sadly, before replying in a bland tone."You just have to trust us Velma."
Her reaction did little to reassure Velma but it was too late now and she mentally braced herself as the back doors were wrenched open. Fred was stood there flanked by the two strangers, framed in the hazy afternoon sunlight. He gestured to the two to move into the van and Velma and Shaggy at once turned to curiously study the two strangers. They both looked fairly young and this was the first thing that Velma noted. They were both tall, one had light brown hair, and was clean shaven but his face was noticeably bruised; the other had much darker hair, slicked back into a little ponytail and a full beard, he had thick dark glasses on.
Velma wasn't quite sure what she was expecting the two men who were tailing Fred and Daphne so sinisterly, (and had them both on obvious edge) to look like, but this was not it. They didn't seem at all menacing. Velma waited for Fred to introduce them but this was still not forthcoming. Luckily for her, Shaggy who had been reasonably quiet so far, voiced the exact same feelings for her.
"Okay Fred, they're here now but would somebody kindly tell Velma, Scoob and I, what the FUCK is going on please!?"
Fred urged the two men to sit down in the van before closing the doors and stepping back into the front with the girls. The two guys were sat directly opposite Shaggy, who was close to absolutely freaking out now.
Fred sighed loudly. "Okay, it's safe now," he said referencing the closed van. As he said this, the dark haired one suddenly stood up and to Velma and Shaggy's absolute incredulity, began peeling back his hair. This was quickly followed by him scratching at his cheek for something, before that big bushy beard suddenly disappeared too. As they saw his mouth clearer, he smiled slightly, before reaching to remove the final part of what was now clearly a disguise – the black glasses.
Velma twigged about a millisecond before Shaggy and she couldn't help her loud outburst. "Holy FUCK!"
Shaggy's expression had rapidly changed from fearful through to shock and to delight, as he watched the disguise discarded to reveal the face that had been hiding there all along in plain sight.
"Oh my god! You actually found him alive!"
Daphne and Fred had watched the 'reveal' and Velma and Shaggy's subsequent reactions with great interest. Though undoubtedly their friends were both fearful at first, there was no masking the pure joy on their faces once they realised who the mystery man was. After the initial shock, the inevitable questions were flying from Shaggy and Velma now as they reacted to Ethan's unbelievable presence.
"How?!"
"What happened?!"
"Where have you been this whole time?!"
"Why did you have to wear that ridiculous disguise?!"
Fred and Daphne sat quietly, letting their friends question Ethan. Of course they had been through it all themselves, there was no let up in the amount of questions they had asked Ethan in fact. Velma scrambled over the seat to get closer to Ethan, perhaps disbelieving it really was him, leaving Daphne and Fred alone in the front. As Ethan launched into the first fanciful lie, Fred turned to Daphne quietly. "I never did get to ask how you reacted once he removed the whole disguise thing last night?" he asked.
"Oh, I didn't need him to remove anything," she asserted. "I knew it was him, even underneath all that fakery. I could see it in his eyes."
"So what did you do?"
"I punched him in the face," Daphne revealed bluntly.
"Yeah? Wow," Fred exhaled, surprised at her initial reaction. "Good."
Daphne nodded."What about you?"
"I'm totally ashamed to say that at first I hugged him," he revealed, disgusted with himself. "I was so confused. Bloody Farshan had been there at first, and then Ethan suddenly appeared. I thought he might have been held prisoner or something. I was concerned for him. You definitely had the right idea though. Proud of you sweetheart."
"I didn't even think about it. I was just so furious. How dare he do that to us?" she reflected angrily, but still keeping her voice low.
"I know, I still can't get my head around it," Fred said, watching Velma and Shaggy listening to Ethan spout his lies with rapt attention.
"I still don't think we're doing now is the right thing. Not letting Shaggy and Velma know what happened is a dangerous move," he whispered in warning. The decision to not reveal to Velma and Shaggy that Ethan had been behind the latter parts of their ordeal was a late one that had been taken at the safe house, and one that Fred had vocally and vehemently disagreed with. Finding Velma and Shaggy at the airport was a surprise and meant that they had to swing into Ethan's evasive plan much sooner than they thought.
"It's going to be hard enough for us to get into a position to trust Ethan again after everything that has happened," Daphne reasoned, though she had also been very unhappy with Ethan's plan. In the end she had let logic get the better of her emotions and reluctantly persuaded Fred into compliance. "Imagine if Velma and Shaggy find out what Ethan did to us? Nobody would be able to trust him and like it or not, but we need him."
"I'm just saying, keeping secrets from each other like this, it's a slippery slope that's all," Fred warned, watching with disgust as Ethan had Shaggy and Velma heartily laughing about something. "I can barely stomach this Daphne."
Daphne nodded in sympathy, but was slightly taken aback by Fred's fully venomous attitude toward Ethan. Make no mistake she was hurting from the knowledge of everything Ethan had done to them, and it wasn't like she had suddenly forgiven him, but Fred could barely even look at him.
"I hear what you're saying Freddy, but if Ethan's not careful, he might just slip up anyway, just take a listen to that story he's weaving..."
"So, we heard about the explosion here and my boss found out that I had been targeted too, and that's when we put our stealth recovery plan in action. We set about having a decoy rider on my motorcycle, and hoped that the men working for Devon would take the bait instead."
"Decoy?" Velma asked. "So someone else was killed in your place?"
"Not exactly," Ethan revealed with a slight grin. "It wasn't exactly a someone but a something."
"Oh please, he's actually going with that ridiculous robot rider story," Fred rolled his eyes to Daphne. "Does he really think that Shaggy's going to buy that absolute horseshit, let alone Velma?"
"I'm sure they'll both see right through it," Daphne said confidently, though was soon dismayed by their responses.
"Like no way!" Shaggy enthused. "That's so cool!"
"Ah, the Chinese are so technologically advanced, it doesn't surprise me that you were able to pull something like that off so convincingly," Velma told Ethan, to Fred's pure disbelief.
He made a face palm gesture to Daphne in despair as Velma and Shaggy seemed to readily swallow his lies without even blowing the obvious holes in a story that was so obviously threadbare.
"So, you had to go into hiding after that?" Shaggy asked.
"Yeah, essentially I was 'dead' so I had to stay dead, very few people knew the truth."
"That must have been so hard for you Ethan," Velma said wide eyed, and actually reached forward to squeeze his arm a little.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Fred announced to Daphne. "How the fuck can he sit there and lie like that? He's sure got some balls of steel."
"It was really hard Velma." Ethan replied agreeably. "Especially knowing that Fred and Daphne were out there searching for me," he paused sadly. "But I couldn't reveal to them I was alive, not until I could arrange safe passage for them and myself back out of the country."
Shaggy and Velma were sat completely drinking in whatever Ethan was saying but at least one member of Mystery Inc. wasn't buying it.
Daphne nudged Fred. "Look at Scooby," she whispered.
Scooby was sat looking very suspiciously at Ethan and Justin, his eyes narrowed towards them, causing Fred to smile again.
"Good old Scoob," he murmured in a low voice. "He can smell the lies."
"They do say dogs are very perceptive," Daphne agreed. "And we know Scooby Doo is very special."
Indeed, the Great Dane continued to look very sceptically at Ethan as he continued to spin the fairy tale version of such a horrific ordeal in Hong Kong.
"Fred getting shot was the catalyst for me to get back involved despite my boss not wanting me to. I couldn't leave them at risk," he suddenly stated earnestly.
It took all of Fred's efforts not to laugh heartily at that, but Ethan was quite the actor, he didn't even flinch at the sheer irony of it. All those years undercover must have paid off, Fred thought to himself bitterly.
"Didn't Fred get attacked after that as well? Ended up in someone's car? They were definitely getting close," Velma said.
It was only a momentary glimmer but it wasn't missed by Fred as Ethan did have the grace to look guilty at that.
"Ah yeah, he did," Ethan admitted, making eye contact with Fred who he knew was watching him closely. "I know he told you that he was let go but we realised after, that what had happened was he fell from the car because he actually escaped. He was delirious that's all, and wasn't remembering correctly as the fall after knocked him unconscious."
He stared at Fred, daring him to disagree. It was an opportunity for Fred to call out Ethan on a lie but instead after a warning glance from Daphne, he bit down hard and declared thickly, "Yes that's right, I must have got the door open and rolled out. It was a lucky escape."
He was disgusted in himself for backing up Ethan's shameful lies, but he knew the messy fallout from Velma and Shaggy finding out about Ethan's betrayal would be time wasted, and with probable consequences that they could all ill afford. There were bigger things at stakes here. They could figure out all that damage after they took down Devon as far as he was concerned.
Ethan nodded gratefully toward Fred before concluding the heavily embellished tale. "That was the final straw, and I actively began to secure their safe passage from China while still keeping up the story that I was dead. Hence this disguise. Ethan Dillon died in China. I'm Adam Travers now. When the time was right, I was able to reveal myself to Fred and Daphne, and get us all out of there safely."
"Oh wow," Velma exclaimed, looking towards Fred and Daphne now. "That must have been an incredible feeling for you Daph! Finding out he was still alive against all the odds! You must have been so happy!"
"I was thrilled," Daphne managed to choke out. "It was such a shock."
"I bet it was!" Shaggy chimed in. "I bet you guys just threw your arms right around him! And returning as such a hero too to get you out of that scary situation. Incredible."
"Oh, it was certainly that," Fred agreed stiffly. "The whole thing was just too good to be true," he added pointedly, but Velma and Shaggy were too full of the warm and fuzzies to notice.
"Well, this is great!" Velma suddenly exclaimed. "We're all back together again and we have an incredible advantage over Devon now. Things are really looking up!" she announced far too optimistically. Daphne, Fred and even Ethan did not share her optimism and enthusiasm though.
Velma and Shaggy then revealed about Rory Dewhurst's support and the army base but tellingly, nothing about Stella or Will. Nevertheless, the news of the young cop's safety was the first genuine bit of good news for Daphne and Fred, as Velma then began to direct Fred to the secret bunker.
"Rory! Wow, that's a pleasant blast from the past," Daphne marvelled. "We owe him so much, I can't wait to see him again. I'm so glad he's safe."
"Did you know he was married with a kid now?" Velma asked, and Daphne and Fred both shook their heads. "So much has changed since we were all last here," she added regretfully.
"Shaggy, did they find out anything about Stella and Will?" Ethan asked.
"No, not yet," Shaggy stated calmly. "We're still waiting to hear."
He saw how disappointing this statement was to Fred, Daphne and Ethan so added a caveat to it. "But no news is good news, right?"
"I guess," Daphne shrugged with a half smile but it was obvious she didn't subscribe to this flawed metaphor.
For all the time that Ethan was describing his dramatic re-emergence, his fellow companion from Hong Kong had sat very quietly without even an introduction nor barely reacting. He had a quiet air about himself, listening to what was going on around him without getting involved. While Shaggy continued to chat with Ethan, and occasionally shouting to Fred and Daphne in the front, Velma found herself secretly studying the mysterious stranger. He looked to be a little older than the gang, though maybe not quite as old as Ethan. He had light brown hair and was wearing a business suit. Velma wondered if this was part of his incognito disguise or a real representation of the man's life. She had tried not to stare at them, but the bruises on his face were also particularly hard to ignore, especially the fat lip he was sporting. She couldn't help wondering how he got them. He raised his eyebrows, making firm contact with her and Velma reddened. Busted! He smiled in a friendly manner back at her, but Velma still felt embarrassed to be caught virtually gawping at the guy.
"Ethan!" she said flustered, snatching his attention away from Shaggy. "You never did er, introduce your friend?"
"Oh! Of course! Sorry gang, this is Justin."
Daphne even turned around with interest, from the front seat, curious to see how Ethan was going to address Justin. She knew Fred would be listening carefully as he drove too. She realised that they too knew very little about Justin, beyond the fact he had helped Ethan in his schemes. He was also of course, sporting a heck of a shiner on his left cheek and bruising on his lip, and Daphne knew he was the one she had kneed in the face as he tried to tie her to the chair back in that house in Hong Kong. But Ethan had revealed very little to them about Justin so far other than 'he knew the full truth', and Daphne was certainly intrigued. Why had he made the trip to Coolsville and not Mr. Farshan for example?
She had briefly wondered if he and Ethan were closer than colleagues but so far, she hadn't got that vibe at all from them. She also further doubted that could be the reason, as if they were intimately close, he would be the last person he would actively bring with him to the firing line like this. The question remained then, who was he? She faced the back of the van, resting her arm on the back of the seat, intrigued what Ethan and Justin were going to say.
"Hey," Justin waved to Shaggy, Velma and Scooby, smiling.
"Justin is someone I've worked closely with in Hong Kong over the past two years," Ethan explained. "He's fully invested in the mission to bring down Devon and has joined me on some dangerous assignments."
But why is he so invested? Daphne mused. Who is he and where has he come from?
Ethan continued to contextualise Justin. "While I was working undercover from primarily a journalistic angle, at least initially, Justin's is from law enforcement."
"So he's a cop?" Velma asked.
Interesting, very interesting, Daphne thought.
"Yeah, and he's going to be a very important ally to have right now. Justin has helped me enormously in Hong Kong, and he's ready for the battle here..."
"Looks like you've already been in something of a battle, Justin," Shaggy commented innocently and Daphne had to suppress a giggle.
"Ha," Justin laughed nervously. "Nobody said this job would be easy," he stated before going for false bravado. "You should see the other guy."
Girl! Daphne smirked behind her hand, and Fred started to enter into something of a coughing fit as he desperately tried not to burst out laughing too.
"You okay there Fred?" Shaggy called across in concern as Fred choked on the laugh he was suppressing hard.
Thankfully, it passed quickly and Fred was able to reassure everyone he was OK but admitted he had become lost in trying to follow Velma's shouted directions to find this secret bunker. Velma scrambled back over the seat to sit right by Fred and properly guide him, and Daphne found herself by the window, watching as Coolsville rapidly approached.
The air was still and birds still chirped happily in the fields, belaying a certain calmness. It was a pleasant and sunny day, it certainly didn't feel like the beginnings of the 'apocalypse' as Velma had dubbed it, not until they passed through the district boundary line, and then that comparison became more apt. As Fred drove the van into Coolsville, Daphne immediately felt a tremor of sadness as she glanced out of the window. It was the middle of the afternoon and the town was deserted. There was barely a person to be found on the streets, and some people had started to board up their properties like those in hurricane hit states frequently had to do, but this was no natural disaster, this was entirely a man made crisis. As they drove near the main high street, it revealed looting had taken place in many establishments, with smashed window after smashed window.
"Oh god," Daphne whispered sadly as she took in the devastation. Those places that weren't already vandalised were boarded up with 'CLOSED' spray painted on hastily put up signs. The playground swings blew desolately empty and the were chained up tight. Daphne felt Velma place a comforting hand on her arm.
"Nothing prepares you for it, does it," Velma said mournfully and Daphne shook her head in bewilderment.
"I can't believe it, Vel," she said. "This is... just horrible!"
Besides Velma, Fred drove on grimly, also shocked by what he was witnessing but not reacting audibly. The sights of the deserted and ransacked streets were bad enough, but it then seemed Velma's route was taking them on an especially poignant tour of 'their Coolsville greatest hits'.
They soon had passed the ice cream factory where they had trapped the ice cream ghosts, the museum where the Black Knight had come to life, and the theatre haunted by the life size puppets; all were firmly closed up. They drove past the grounds where the vast carnival and Big Top once stood proud and where they had tangled with a terrifying clown. The final place they passed was the eerie sight of the now closed down Coolsville High. Once school to Shaggy, Velma and Fred, the campus now stood desolate and abandoned. Iron wrought gates were chained up hard to keep intruders out, and a sign was placed on the outside in red letters. "CLOSED BY THE ORDER OF THE GOVERNMENT. KEEP OUT. TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED."
It had obviously been left for some time as the grassier areas were completely overgrown and litter blew across the courtyard. Fred couldn't take his eyes off the school, the thought of the school closing down permanently would have been such a joyous one to his younger and more rebellious self, but now the desperate sight just filled him with sadness and anger. It was the starkest image of how far the town had fallen in such a short amount of time.
"I really can't believe they let it get to this stage and still said nothing," he said resentfully, as they began to drive further out of the town centre towards where the military base was supposedly located.
Ethan kept quiet, he knew exactly what had happened and hadn't told the gang either, preferring to keep them in the dark to keep them safe.
Under Velma's careful guidance, Fred was able to drive them into the base, where the van was immediately stopped at the entrance by a very hacked off looking official. Velma immediately leaned over Fred to deal with the angry man.
He caught sight of the bespectacled brunette last seen as a passenger hurtling through and damaging the barrier. He narrowed his eyes, immediately lifting a walkie-talkie to his lips. "Someone get a message to Dewhurst; they're back." His eyes travelled past Velma to see the two new guys in the back, alongside the vandal and his mutt, not to mention the redhead, and the blond driving the heap of the junk. His eyes rolled skywards as he added disdainfully, "with guests."
They were permitted to drive into the grounds, but were forced to remain in the van until Rory could clear them further. Rory arrived fairly speedily and they were allowed to depart the van. Despite his obvious anger with Velma and Shaggy for the stunt they had pulled when they fled the compound, Rory looked considerably cheered the moment he saw Fred and Daphne exiting the front of the van with Velma.
"Freddy! Daphne!" he exclaimed happily, moving to hug them both together. "I'm so pleased to see you guys are safe!"
He unknowingly clapped one arm hard on Fred's bad shoulder and Fred couldn't help but react to the unbearable pain, wincing from the excruciating touch.
"Long story," he squeaked at Rory's confusion from the gesture. Rory had no time to react Fred's discomfort before he was surprised again when the back doors opened. Shaggy was careful not to make deliberate eye contact with Rory, fearing the worst from the cop for stealing his car, but Rory barely paid any attention to Shaggy and Scooby as two other men also emerged from the back. Ethan had resumed his disguise now, not knowing who could be trusted despite Velma's assurances it was 'safe.'
"Who are these two?" Rory demanded. "What's going on?"
"Could we get somewhere more private," Velma implored nervously. "There's a lot to fill you in on."
"Sure," Rory flippantly agreed, folding his arms and eyeing Shaggy now. "Where's my car, Shag?"
Shaggy smiled equally as nervously. "Well, it's absolutely fine, but we left it at my place while we got the van."
"Uh huh," Rory nodded curtly. "So long as it's all in one piece?"
"Absolutely," Shaggy nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh, so the CCTV I saw of it flying into the barrier did absolutely no damage?" Rory asked sarcastically, causing Shaggy to gulp.
"Just minor paintwork scrapes," Velma stepped in reassuringly. "We're really sorry about that whole thing, we really needed to get to the van."
"You could have just asked, not making a break for it at the crack of dawn," Rory replied. "Don't you trust me?"
Truth be told, Velma couldn't hand on her heart say that she did completely trust Rory yet. It was her private opinion that it was awfully convenient how he just showed up like that on the street in the first place. But, in terms of allies, they were starved of options so she hoped he was a solid bet.
"Of course we do Rory," she said with a smile. "What Shaggy and I did was rash and we're sorry."
The apology seemed to appease Rory, though in truth he wasn't in the slightest bit cross because they had taken his car without asking, rather it was the worry them leaving alone had left him with; he was terrified for their safety. He ushered the group away from the van and began walking towards a small isolated building. He opened the door and everyone filed in behind him. He shut the door firmly behind him, and then walked in front of the large group who all stood around awkwardly.
"So," he began. "Would someone like to tell me what's going on with you guys?" He gestured towards Fred who had his arm wrapped around Daphne. "Velma mentioned something about you going to Hong Kong to find out what happened to Ethan or something?"
"That's right," Fred said, but offered no further information to Rory's consternation.
"And? Did you get some answers?"
"They sure did," the pony-tailed stranger suddenly spoke, and went through the same process he had previously done of shedding his disguise.
Rory wasn't exactly overwhelmed with joy, Ethan's disguised presence just presented more troubling questions.
"Ethan?" he said puzzled. "Why the heck did I need to go through all that? Why are you in disguise?"
"Because Ethan is dead," Daphne declared bluntly, to Rory's obvious bewilderment. "At the same time the attack happened here in Coolsville, a second attack was launched to kill Ethan in Hong Kong too. And Devon believes he was successful. It's imperative that this belief continues so no-one can know he is really alive. Can you keep that secret for us Rory?"
Rory seemed stunned by Daphne's revelation, but had no qualms about what she was asking. "Of course, it doesn't make much sense to me, but of course I will."
"Oh believe me, nothing makes much sense to me either," Fred said slightly bitterly, catching Velma's attention with his tone.
"Great," Daphne said without any enthusiasm. "From now on, to anyone else this is Adam Travers, and his friend Danny Walters, they are both English computer developers."
"Okaaay," Rory said slowly, clearly still very dubious about the whole situation. "And how can you pull that off convincingly?" he asked Ethan.
"Well, I've had quite a lot of practice, Rory," he said in his perfect English accent while reacquiring the necessary bits of his disguise. "I know this is weird, and not at all ideal, but Daphne's right, it's an advantage that we must keep hold of."
"I guess you're right," Rory sighed, obviously unable to make much sense of what was going on but keen to move on. "So, I guess you've all seen the damage to the town now?" he asked, getting a flurry of nodding heads and angry expressions. He continued, "this base is about as safe as it gets, I wouldn't recommend going back to your homes, Devon would be sure to target you, so you can all stay here."
They all mumbled thanks and Rory was aware of the tense atmosphere in the room. Clearly far more had gone on between them then what they were letting on to, he ploughed on with his planned sleeping arrangements.
"Girls, you can bunk together, and Shaggy and Scooby already have a room together. There's quite a large one left that sleeps three so that will do you gents," he said, indicating Fred, Ethan and Justin.
"NO!" Fred said vehemently, surprising everyone in the room with the ferocity of his disapproval. Seeing everyone stare, Fred changed tact and elaborated with a softer tone. "No, it's okay, they should share together, less suspicion. I can bunk with Shag and Scoob. Like old times."
Rory nodded, sleeping arrangements sorted. "So, I guess you're all ready now. You can't all go in at once, but I'll let you go in in pairs. There's been no change," he added sadly towards Velma and Shaggy who now looked very uncomfortable. Daphne, Fred and Ethan just looked very confused.
"Sorry Rory, ready for 'what'? Daphne asked in apprehension.
Rory looked back to Velma and Shaggy who were unable to even make eye contact now. He furrowed his brow. "Well, for the reason they brought you all here of course?"
Daphne, Fred and Ethan were still none the wiser and Rory turned directly to Velma. "You didn't tell them?" he asked her in astonishment.
"Tell us what?!" Fred interjected impatiently. "What's going on?"
Rory looked at Fred's pensive expression, matched by the anxious looks Daphne and Ethan were sporting. He didn't know why Velma and Shaggy hadn't told them, but he had no intention of concealing anything more. He told them straight.
"Stella's here. She's in a coma."