A/N: Apologies for the longer gap between chapters, I will try and publish when I can, but I'm hoping to conclude this summer so updates will be as regular as possible. Please enjoy!

The news of Stella's fate was certainly a bombshell of an announcement for Fred, Daphne and Ethan.

"What?!" Daphne spluttered, looking immediately stunned.

"Well, where is she?" Ethan demanded, recovering quickly. "And where the hell is Detective Barnum in that case?!"

Fred had cast an immensely disapproving look straight towards Shaggy and Velma's direction, immediately on hearing the jolting news, but chimed in with Ethan's level of questioning.

"Yes, what about Will?"

As soon as the boys mentioned Will, Shaggy and Velma's expressions altered from the guilty expressions of carrying the secret of Stella's whereabouts, to the grief they once again were overwhelmed with, with their knowledge of Detective Barnum's fate too. Rory also looked stricken and he tried to find the words to reply, but one look at Velma in particular was a dead giveaway without anyone needing to say anything.

Grief was already beginning to overwhelm each of Daphne, Fred and Ethan, long before Rory hollowly finally confirmed that Will 'didn't make it.' Daphne dissolved into tears with Fred once again having to provide her some comfort while he contemplated his own personal grief, as she sobbed in his arms. Ethan too looked visibly distressed for a moment but tried to swallow his pain to get the information he needed.

"And, that's for definite, is it? I heard that ah, all the bodies hadn't been recovered yet," he said, his statement carrying an implicit question he didn't want to actually voice.

"That's right. We're as certain as we can be without actually having 'proof', but Detective Barnum's team were dispatched to the rear of the warehouse. The bomb was detonated around 5 minutes after they entered. It has since been established the bomb was located at the rear. It is mostly Detective Barnum's team who are missing or otherwise," Rory stated sadly.

Although it was something they had all contemplated since the moment they had received the horrifying news of the explosion, the confirmation of Will's death was an absolute gut punch for Fred and Daphne.

"But what about his daughter?" Daphne asked shakily. "How will someone explain to Olivia that her daddy is dead?"

Everybody in the room looked stricken at the stark realisation that a young father had been lost.

"Don't even think that way, babe," Fred pleaded with her. "It's only going to make this hurt even more."

"Fred, Daphne," Velma started, emotion heavy in her voice. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you...until now...I didn't know how to break it to you, and I certainly didn't want to tell you over the phone! I thought it would be best that..."

"Forget it," Fred snapped, cutting her off abruptly. "Just another little white lie, right?" he added somewhat tauntingly.

"Fred!" Daphne admonished, appalled at his tone. "Now is NOT the time for all that! Have some respect!"

"You're right Daph," Fred agreed with her apologetically, although the look he still shot Velma and Shaggy, suggested that this was a conversation that was only on temporary hold. Ethan, meanwhile had been knocked for six by the news. He had held onto a desperate hope throughout that somehow, Will and Stella had managed to survive. Guilt had privately gnawed away at him ever since he first heard the news of the explosion in the taxi cab back in Hong Kong a few days ago. It was his information that had sent them into that warehouse for the raid. It seemed obvious now that it had been planted, but this knowledge did little to appease his personal burden of guilt. Why hadn't he stopped to think about the information in a calm and rational way? He knew Stella had made the same 'mistake' and knew why. They had all been too clouded by their desire to end this, the excitement that he had made a mistake and they finally had an opportunity to close in. The intel had seemed good, solid. They had no reason to doubt the source, no reason to assume it was the deadliest of ambushes. Make no mistake, he was crushed by Will's death, but the only thing fuelling him now was a deep rooted anger and overall burning desire to finally put this right.

"Can I see her?" he requested abruptly, catching Rory and the gang off-guard.

"Uh, like I said, she's in a coma, and the temporary chief of police is limiting visitors...but, I can get you in for a few minutes. You too, if you like?" Rory said, turning his gaze enquiringly towards Daphne and Fred.

"Yes," Daphne nodded immediately. "Please, I'd appreciate that Rory."

"Fred?"

"Uh, sure," he answered but sounded really uncertain if that's what he wanted at all.

"Okay," Rory said. "Can you guys wait in here for us? I don't think it's a good idea for you to be wandering around the base without me. You two aren't very popular right now," he added, side eyeing Shaggy and Velma.

"Zoinks," Shaggy said in embarrassment as Rory once again reminded him of their dramatic escapade fleeing the compound. "Sure Rory, we'll wait here for you to come back."

Fred, Daphne, and a once again disguised Ethan, left with Rory, leaving the brooding Justin with Shaggy, Velma and Scooby. Rory was walking a little way ahead of the others, and Fred deliberately waited until he was sure he was fully out of earshot before turning to Ethan. "That was a smooth move back there, painting yourself as the hero to Shaggy and Velma, very chivalrous of you," he noted sarcastically.

"Of course I don't really think that Fred," Ethan bit back with a sigh. "The narrative serves a purpose that's all."

"Sure, the narrative," Fred said sardonically. "Sure thing, Ethan."

"Quit it!" Daphne whispered furiously at the pair. "This pissing contest helps no-one."

Unable to hear exactly what was said, nevertheless Rory had heard the squabbling from the previously close trio. "Are you guys OK?" he said, stopping and raising an eyebrow in their direction. He had already picked up on the tension between Fred and Ethan, and was curious. From what he remembered, the two of them were particularly good friends.

"It's fine," Fred brushed off in a manner that said it was anything but. Ethan merely shook his head and stalked ahead of Fred and Daphne.

Rory looked to Daphne for some answers, but the redhead shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "They have some things to work out," she admitted.

Rory nodded. "Sure, just don't let it spill out in front of Stella. When she wakes up again, the last thing she'll need to see is you guys falling out in front of her."

Daphne immediately noted the somewhat forced positive assertion. "Rory, she is definitely going to wake up isn't she?"

"Of course," the young cop said with false brightness. "I'm sure she'll be just fine."

They all stopped walking as they approached a door. After speaking to the man stationed outside, Rory opened the door for them and they walked through into the make-shift hospital ward, the one that he had previously shown Velma, Shaggy and Scooby. They were quiet as they walked through but all three of them looked around sorrowfully. There were several beds taken up with injured team members. Some were asleep, some were tended to by doctors and nurses. Some were completely unresponsive. Ethan tried not to let it get to him but was emotionally destroyed by the sight of the devastation.

"These all entered the warehouse?" he asked Rory in a low whisper.

"Most of these are from Stella's tactical unit," Rory replied pointedly. Ethan nodded grimly, they knew that meant these were the ones that came off the 'best'. Fred held Daphne's hand as Rory guided them through the ward; she was unable to take her eyes off the unfortunate souls in the beds. She caught the eye of one of the men, he was in his thirties, and had his right leg elevated in plaster. His arms and face were covered in shrapnel wounds and as she took a closer look, she could see part of the top of his ear was missing. She looked away guiltily when he caught her staring, and he frowned at first before taking note of whose hand she was holding. Seeing the distinctive looking pair together, jolted his memory and she knew he had recognised them.

"You shouldn't be here," he murmured weakly in their direction, and Fred immediately tried to hurry her along, but Daphne had already stopped walking and gave the man her full attention. "He's not going to stop!" he said louder and more urgently this time.

"C'mon Daph," Fred tugged her hand, knowing nothing good could come from this situation but she stubbornly stood her ground.

"He won't stop until YOU are dead!" the man suddenly warned gravely, pointing straight towards Daphne.

"Okay, that's enough," Fred said, and dragged her away more forcefully now.

"I'm sorry," Daphne called back, completely shaken by the man's words. "I'm so, so sorry!"

Fred knew why she was apologising and gritted his teeth, he was once again reminded of the conversation in Mei Ling's garden when she had revealed that she allowed Devon to walk, to save himself. He still vehemently disagreed with her position then, but this wasn't the time or place to reflect on that. She was still shaking hard when Rory led them outside the room where Stella was.

"I'm okay," she tried to assure the three of them who were all looking at her with deep concern. Ethan reached over and squeezed her shoulder warmly, and it took everything within Fred not to react. Instead, he forced himself to concentrate on Rory as he began to explain Stella's condition to them.

"She has quite significant burns and had to have a skin graft on her right leg when she was admitted. Part of her hand wasn't able to be saved, and there have been moments where she has been conscious and lucid. Sadly, yesterday she suffered a relapse and started to seize severely. The doctors had to induce a medical coma."

Ethan's eyes glazed over as Rory tried to prepare them for the sight of the fierce detective who had befriended them all, bravely leading the fight against the worst threat Coolsville had ever faced. As he quietly opened the door and they finally set eyes upon her still form, even the careful detailing from Rory had not adequately prepared them, not even close.

Fred held Daphne by the shoulders, the pair of them unwilling to come any closer than the few feet they stood away together silently. Ethan's face was already streaked by angry tears by the time he reached her bedside. He reached over and took the detective's good hand, cradling it in his, as tears continued to fall down his cheeks. He stroked her fingers as he looked at her still face, and with his other hand, he reached to brush her dark hair from her forehead. He kissed the very tip of her head, completely broken by the sight of his friend, and was fiercely overcome with emotion.

"I'll get him," he angrily promised her, still cradling her limp hand. "I'll get him, I'll finish what you started. He won't get away with this. You have my word." He jumped up then, and stalked quickly past a stunned Fred and Daphne and back out of the room.

Fred was slowly rubbing his thumbs up and down Daphne's shoulders as she stood rigidly, staring at Stella. For his part, he could barely stand to look at the Detective, the physical evidence of Devon's brutal victory so heartbreakingly laid bare. He was instead choked by a cold and ominous feeling of fear, but he couldn't deny nor ignore the anger that was flowing through his veins too.

Daphne had not said a word but hadn't once taken her eyes off Stella, not even when Ethan upped and left the room suddenly. She found herself mentally documenting every injury, every outrage. Like Ethan and Fred, it left her with a wild determination to put things right.

"I've seen enough," she announced to Fred calmly, and he released her shoulders, allowing her to walk away, and she too left the room, leaving just Fred alone with Stella. His instinct was to follow Daphne out of the door, but found himself walking to her bedside. He knelt uncomfortably on the floor and allowed his feelings to overspill.

"Why couldn't you have just told us the truth?" he quietly urged her. "Why didn't you just say something? This has spiralled into such a giant mess now and I don't know what to do. Why couldn't you and Will have just been honest with us?"

He knew she couldn't reply but just being able to express his emotions helped enormously. "We could have helped, maybe we could even have stopped this together. Instead, you've got us lying to each other, and I don't know if things will ever be the same again! Why did you do it Stella?"

He very awkwardly got back to his feet again and took one last look at Stella before shaking his head in dismay and walking away. He rejoined Daphne and the others outside Stella's room.

"Rough, isn't it?" Rory said sympathetically when he saw how affected Fred looked by seeing her.

Fred merely nodded. "It really brings it home how awful everything is," Daphne reflected as they walked back through the rest of the makeshift wards and back outside to the compound.

Fred and Ethan were both silent until they were reunited with Shaggy, Velma and Justin. Fred looked quietly furious, putting Daphne on edge. Reading the mood of the room, Rory decided to 'leave them all to it', and the nervous energy continued for a few more agonising seconds until Fred finally spoke.

"I think we need a team meeting," he said flatly, he didn't frame it as a mere request.

Ethan was under no illusions who Fred meant when he referenced the 'team' but desperately tried to keep up appearances for Shaggy and Velma that he was 'cool' with this.

"Sure bro, catch you guys later!" Ethan waved jovially as he and Justin left the little room together. The door banged shut behind him, setting up an ominous atmosphere for the five friends.

Shaggy was sat on the floor, Scooby at his feet. Neither they nor Velma had seemed to be engaged in much of anything for the twenty minutes or so that Fred and Daphne had been gone. Fred was like a simmering bottle of pop just ready to go off and both Daphne and Velma did their best to try and pacify what they knew was sure to spiral into a very unpleasant 'team meeting.' Clutching his arm, and desperately trying to soothe him, Daphne urged him quietly first. "Just let them explain Fred," but she feared he was already too far gone for rational explanation.

Velma stepped forward, her hands stretched outwards, desperately trying to placate him. "I'm so sorry guys! We didn't know what to do!"

Daphne nodded sympathetically at her friend but Fred flatly refused to listen.

"I can't believe you allowed us to find out like that!" he finally exploded. "We asked you about Stella and Will and you said nothing. You said nothing at the airport, nothing on the way here. We had to find out from Rory! How broken have we all become that you couldn't tell us?!"

Velma cleared her throat, visibly upset but determined to stand her ground. "What choice did we have Fred? Would you really have wanted to find out that Will was dead and Stella was in a coma over the phone?!" she challenged, eyeing him steadily.

"It would have been preferable, yes!" Fred spat out. "Preferable to the lies you told us."

"But why?" Velma hit back. "Why would it have been preferable? What could you and Daphne possibly have done, when you were thousands of miles away? How would it have helped?"

"It would have helped for you to be honest," Daphne said quietly to Velma's dismay as she softly expressed her own disappointment. "I'm sorry Velma, but Freddy's right, it did hurt to find out like that."

Predictably with Daphne backing up Fred, Shaggy waded in to back up Velma, the division starkly obvious in the distance between the two factions of Mystery Inc. On one side, Shaggy Velma and Scooby, on the other, Freddy and Daphne.

"Well, it's not like you two have been entirely honest with us, is it?" Shaggy accused, a bitterness all too evident in his tone of voice.

Fred seemed to be ready for the inevitable confrontation and hit back quickly. "Oh, here we go! I wondered how long it would take!"

"Why not?" Velma said. "He's right isn't he? What could possibly have been so important that you didn't bother to check in with us for days? Do you have any idea how worried Shaggy and I were in that time?!"

"Velma, it wasn't deliberate! We told you that!" Daphne defended. "As you now well know, Hong Kong was fucking batshit crazy! We barely had time to breathe."

"No time for a quick phone call? An email? For all we had known, you might not even have made it there at all!"

"I'm sorry. I can't apologise enough for that. It was wrong of us," Daphne admitted and Velma nodded, seeming to accept her apology for the lack of contact.

Shaggy wasn't letting Daphne and Fred off that easily however.

"What about the flat out lie that you were coming home?" He raised. "Did you have any intention of coming home at that point?"

"No," Fred reflected honestly. "No, we were never coming home that day," he finally admitted.

"I knew it," Shaggy replied, getting off the floor now. "So why did you do it? What were you doing instead?"

Daphne eyed Fred, making a silent plea as she could see him thinking about spilling the truth about Ethan. Don't do it Fred!

Fred clenched his jaw hard. "We were following a new lead. It's what eventually led to Ethan. But it was dangerous and we know you wouldn't have approved."

"So I was right!" Velma said a little triumphantly. "You were willing to put yourself right back in harm's way. Even after you had been shot. I might have known."

"You weren't there!" Fred hit back defensively. "You couldn't even begin to understand how complex the situation we were in was. So yeah, we said what you wanted to hear. We told you we were coming home. Even though we had no intention of doing so."

"I don't get you Fred, you're like a freaking misery magnet. Do you actually have a death wish?" Velma asked him hotly. "Sometimes I do wonder."

Fred was undoubtedly stung by her fierce criticism but tried not to let it show. "I can't explain it. We were so close. I knew Daphne could never have forgiven me if we just gave up then. And it worked, we got him back! That's the important thing surely!"

"That may be so, but something just doesn't ring true about all this. There's something very fishy. What aren't you telling us?" Velma asked with great scrutiny.

Daphne looked strickenly guilty but Fred shook his head firmly. "You know everything about what happened now. That's a promise."

He regretted the word as soon as it left his lips but it was too late now. Both factions were in fact still carrying a lot of information they were unwilling to give up to each other.

Velma and Shaggy had found out that the mystery at Oakland was staged, not by Casey Costello as they had been led to believe but was in fact fully orchestrated by Devon Blake. They had since been to visit Casey Costello, a man who had tormented Fred, which led to Fred's mental breakdown. Furthermore, they had discovered there had been another attempt on Fred's life during his rehab stint.

While this knowledge would undoubtedly hurt Fred and Daphne; and Velma and Shaggy continued to keep it under wraps, it was the ticking time bomb that was Ethan's treacherous role in Hong Kong which threatened to do the real damage. The fact that Fred and Daphne had covered it up was what they knew could tear the gang apart.

Daphne looked on him in disbelief that Fred had actually promised their friends nothing else had happened, but it had helped to ease the tension in the room somewhat. Both Shaggy and Velma seemed satisfied by Fred's declaration. No matter what, since they became Mystery Inc, they had always trusted each other and a promise was a promise, if Fred said nothing else had happened, they had to believe him. Almost as if it was a symbolic disapproval of his grand lie, Fred's wrist suddenly itched enormously in his sleeve and he tried to subtly scratch the angry scar that was giving him such discomfort.

Velma was only interested in making peace. "Look you guys, we've all had an absolutely fraught week. We're all hurting from this. We've lost so much. And we're in a pretty messed up situation. The very last thing we need to be, is to be at each other's throats. I will hold my hands up and say I have made some bad decisions this week. I'm quite sure we can all say that. But we need each other. If we're not together on this, we might as well just give up now. Does anyone feel like giving up and letting Devon win?"

It was a powerful speech that had the desired effect.

"I'm not giving up," Daphne asserted firmly. "And I'd like to put on record to you guys, I'm sorry for our lack of contact in Hong Kong."

She looked imploringly towards Fred, who didn't need the encouragement.

"There's absolutely no way I'm giving up," he stormed. "And I too am sorry."

Shaggy threw his hat into the ring with some determination. "I won't give up. I'm sorry we didn't tell you the truth."

Scooby looked around at his friends, pleased as they all let go of their anger with each other, and reached a quiet level of resolution.

"Roup Rug?" he proposed hopefully and the four friends looked around hesitantly at each other.

"Maybe not yet hey Scoob, but how about one of these for old time's sake?" Shaggy suggested, tentatively holding out his arm in front of him.

"Oh wow!" Daphne giggled. "When was the last time we did one of these? I'm in!" She placed her hand warmly on top of Shaggy's and Velma walked over and swiftly placed the palm of her right hand on top of Daphne's. They all looked invitingly towards Fred who hesitated a fraction of a second, sweating that his hidden injured wrists may be exposed. He pulled the sleeve tightly, before he smiled and rested his hand on Velma's. Scooby eagerly bounded over to complete the move and placed his huge paw over Fred's.

"3,2,1..." Fred counted down quietly, and as he hit 1, they moved their arms upwards as one, and yelled "MYSTERY INC!" together.

They released their arms and everyone was smiling again. Velma's cheeks were tinged with noticeable relief. "Whew! That was a welcome blast from the past! Thanks Shaggy, I needed that. We needed that. No more secrets, yeah?"

The hairs on the back of Fred's neck stood on end. "No more secrets," he said agreeably.

They decided to split into their agreed sleeping arrangements so everyone could take a break and rest. The girls left to head to the room Rory had sorted for them, leaving Shaggy, Fred and Scooby.

Fred's wrists were a real bugbear now and he hastily arranged to grab a shower so he could try and soothe them.

The shower was one door down from their room and he slid into the small cubicle, locked the door, undressed and turned the shower on full blast. He relished in the hot water running down his skin for half a second before it hit the dressing on his shoulder. He yelped in pain and tried to turn his body so that the water wasn't getting a direct hit on his shoulder. He hissed as the water also bubbled on his scarred wrists that were looking worse every hour. He inspected them carefully and could see some real gouges, where the skin was beginning to become infected. He was going to have to sneak some first aid ointment and bandages from somewhere if he didn't want a nasty infection. After a few minutes, he was used to the numbing pain from his wrists and shoulders and lived with it to enjoy the powerful shower. He let the water run down his face and was slightly surprised when he clocked some of the other nasty bruising on his body. There were the cuts on his face from falling from the car, but there were other stark green bruises that had formed across his ribs, his arms and his legs. Hong Kong had nearly broken him, physically and mentally. He was still struggling to believe that one of his best friends had made the decisions he had, despite the very extenuating circumstances. As he thought about Ethan's betrayal again, anger flowed through him and he had punched the cubicle wall before he could even think about his stupidity. His knuckles stung immediately and little pinpricks of blood appeared between each one. He washed them again, then turned off the water.

He wrapped a towel around his lower half and walked in front of the small mirror. He reached up and carefully peeled the dressing back to get a peek at his shoulder. Like Mei said, it looked angry and messy, but he was just glad it hadn't done any serious damage. It didn't bear thinking about, that, had the ninja guy got a better shot, he could have bled out right there and then on the stairwell in Ethan's building.

He gingerly patted the dressing back down and caught sight once again of his messy wrists. There was no first aid within the shower room, and he didn't fancy wandering around a strange base in just a towel, so he began to panic as he worried about returning to the room. There was a small chance Scooby and Shaggy had vacated in search of food (Okay maybe a substantial chance!) but Fred was not prepared to take that risk. Shaggy seeing those wrists would present too many awkward questions in his mind. Just as he was contemplating instantly getting dressed again back into his dirty clothes, he spotted a hooded bathrobe hanging on the hook by the door.

Perfect he thought, discarding the towel and wrapping himself in the green robe. It was thin and smelt like it hadn't been used in years but it did the job of disguising his wrists perfectly. He walked back to the room feeling confident, unaware of the shitstorm he was about to face.

While Freddy was showering, Shaggy and Scooby were eating but Fred had underestimated them if he thought they would have to go on the search for food. Shaggy and Scooby had already procured the best the base had to offer and were contentedly munching their way through an enormous bag of chips.

Shaggy seemed perfectly content now, but, despite the food, something was clearly still bothering Scooby. He was acting somewhat subdued, and Shaggy had had enough.

"What's the matter Scooby Doo? It's not like you to be so quiet? You've been acting real weird since Daph, Fred, and Ethan got back."

Scooby reached forward and took a huge pawful of chips, shoving them in his mouth all in one go as only he could. He crunched them loudly, while Shaggy waited patiently for a response.

"Scoob..."

"Ri don't rant to ralk about rit," he declared stubbornly.

This got Shaggy's attention immediately, ever since he was able to express his feelings, it was unlike Scooby to bottle things up.

Shaggy snatched the bag away, while Scooby's paw was mid-air to grab another scoop and he glared at Shaggy irritably.

"Ro Rair," he whined.

"Scooby, whatever it is, just spit it out! You can't make things any worse."

Scooby looked away now, unable to look at Shaggy now, which had him very worried.

"Scooby," he warned.

"Rine." Scooby said, looking at his best friend again. "'Red's rurt," the Great Dane blurted.

Shaggy felt his shoulders heave with a little relief. He was just worried about Fred.

"Oh Scoob. I know you're still worried about Freddy, but he's okay! His shoulder will heal just fine," he assured him breezily.

Scooby did not look reassured. "Rit's Rot Rhat. Romething Relse," Scooby insisted.

"Something else?" Shaggy asked, his level of alarm raising again. "What do you mean it's 'something else?' Something else with Freddy?"

Scooby nodded at him with certainty. "Romeone rurt Red," he stated. "Ron Rurpose."

"What?! How?! How on earth do you know that Scooby?"

"Ri saw his rists," Scooby said solemnly. "Rer Red."

"They're red? Like blood red?!"

Scooby nodded and Shaggy felt a slight chill go through him. "What the hell Scooby? Why would there be anything wrong with Fred's wrists?"

He wasn't entirely sure what Scooby could mean but felt alarmed when he recalled that Fred had been fiddling with his sleeves a lot since he got back. That memory suddenly made him very uneasy but he was soon laughing in pure disbelief when Scooby shared his suspicions.

"Ri Rave a Reory," Scooby stated. "Ri Rink Rhat Rethan rurt Red."

Shaggy immediately collapsed into peals of laughter. "Ethan!? Scooby you cannot be serious! Ethan would never hurt Freddy! That's insane!"

"Rhey Rad a Right," Scooby said stubbornly.

"So did me and Velma!" Shaggy replied with a laugh, though did feel a shadow of doubt as he contemplated the undoubtedly frosty atmosphere that had since developed between Fred and Ethan. It couldn't possibly be true could it?!

Scooby had planted a seed of doubt in his mind now and he couldn't help but think back to the times Ethan and Fred had been together in the last few hours. Scooby was right, he realised. They had definitely had a fight. But hurt him? How could Ethan hurt him and still be standing alongside them now?

"I don't think Ethan hurt him Scooby," Shaggy said thoughtfully. "But you're right, something isn't right. You can feel it, Velma can feel it!"

Scooby nodded feverishly. "Rold Roo."

"But the thing is, Freddy promised us, remember? He told us there was nothing more to say. There is NO WAY he would promise us and still hide something. He wouldn't do that," Shaggy said firmly. "ESPECIALLY after he gave us all that shit for not telling them about Will and Stella. Maybe he had another injury he forgot to tell us about?"

Scooby shrugged. "Rask rim."

"I will," Shaggy resolved. "I'm sure it's nothing. He and Ethan had a tiff that's all. Nothing more to it than that." He said it confidently and he didn't have long to wait to test his belief as Fred strolled back in the room. He was about to laugh with him about how silly and paranoid Scooby was being, but his heart sank into the ground when he spotted the highly uncharacteristic dressing gown Fred was wrapped in. Usually, he was content to stroll around in just a towel for ages after showers, showing off his abs and making Shaggy feel like a streak of bacon, but today, he was firmly covered up. There was no doubt in Shaggy's mind any more; Fred was definitely hiding something.

When Fred walked back into the room, Scooby and Shaggy both stopped whatever they were doing to stare right at him, immediately making him feel instantly uncomfortable.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked in concern.

"What's with the robe, dude?" Shaggy asked him calmly.

Fred felt a little jolt of panic hit, but answered his friend with ease. "Oh this? I saw it hanging up in there and thought I'd use it. I feel more comfortable especially in a strange place and with quite a bit of bruising on show."

"I never had you down as the shy type," Shaggy said slightly teasingly. "Well, you might find this funny, I know I did."

"Oh yeah?" Fred said, half listening as he ruffled his wet hair with a towel. "What's up?"

"Well, Scooby and I had noticed that you and Ethan had had a little tiff," Shaggy stated.

Fred froze but tried to continue jovially. "Yeah, we kinda did. It's nothing major though. I just need a little space from him."

"Yeah, I said that to Scooby, it couldn't be anything majorly important. You're going to find this as hilarious as me I'm sure, but Scooby even thought that Ethan had deliberately hurt you!"

"What?" Fred tried to laugh but it came out a little choked and forced. "Why on earth would you think that Scooby?" he asked but thought with sickening certainty that Scooby had not only seen them, but had spoken with Shaggy about his wrists.

"Ha, yeah it's crazy right. He said your wrists were red."

Fred felt like a cornered small animal as Shaggy and Scooby both stared at him.

"It's nonsense, right?" Shaggy said softly, almost pleadingly. "He's had one too many Scooby snacks recently. No more after midnight snackage for you Scoob."

Fred laughed along with Shaggy hesitantly but his discomfort was growing by the second.

"Well, I need to get dressed," Fred stated awkwardly. "So, if you two wouldn't mind..."

"Of course," Shaggy jumped up, crossing the room towards Fred with Scooby. "We'll give you some privacy. But, you never did confirm Fred. Scooby insists your wrists are red. It's easy enough to prove, why don't you just show us your wrists?"

Fred adopted a defensive mode. "But why? If you said you didn't believe Scooby, why would you need me to show you them? This is ridiculous Shaggy."

Shaggy didn't know what possessed him, maybe it was his absolute trust in Scooby, but something didn't sit right about Fred's tone. He reached a startled Fred in two long strides and snagged his left wrist in an instant.

"Shaggy! What are you doing?" Fred whimpered in alarm but knew it was too late. Firmly, Shaggy held his wrist in one tight grip and with his other hand pushed up the baggy sleeve of Fred's robe.

He gasped when he saw the damage. Fred immediately looked away ashamed as Shaggy grabbed his right wrist to do the same and compare results.

Shaggy recoiled in horror at what he saw. Fred's wrists weren't just red, they were horribly cut and scarred, rough gouging marks that pressed deeply into the skin and hinted at a terrible trauma.

"Jesus Christ, Freddy!" he whispered. "What the fuck?!"

Fred couldn't make eye contact with his friend as his fingers gently circled each wrist. "Are these ligature marks!?"

"I'm so sorry Shaggy," Fred mumbled, immediately igniting Shaggy's anger.

"You promised us Fred! You fucking promised us there was nothing more to tell us. Why would you cover this up?! We all know that shit went down in Hong Kong. I don't get why you would tell us about being shot but not this...why the hell would you hide this?!"

Fred covered his face with his hands. "Because he was right," he said in a barely audible whisper. "Because Scooby was right."

It took a few seconds for it to sink in what Fred was implying but when it hit, it hit Shaggy with such an uncontrollable anger, he could barely contain the rage.

"Ethan?! Are you fucking serious?! Ethan did that to you!?"

Fred was quivering while Shaggy's anger built to a crescendo. He knew Shaggy wasn't interested in the 'why' in this moment, he was merely seeing red. "He did that to you and you brought him along here today?! No wonder you can barely stand to look at him. I want to kill him!"

Shaggy walked towards the door with purpose, Scooby at his heels. Fred scrambled to stop him. "Wait! Shaggy don't! Where are you going?!"

"I'm going to get Velma," Shaggy stormed. "She needs to hear this utter bullshit too."

While Fred was relieved that Shaggy wasn't immediately heading out to track down Ethan, going to tell Velma wasn't high on his 'to do list' either. While Shaggy was fuming, Velma's rage would be an absolute tsunami, it's why he and Daphne had agreed to keep it quiet.

"Shaggy, I don't think that's a good idea," he said, rolling his sleeves back down as he struggled to catch up to Shaggy. Shaggy had just got to the door and Fred had a hand on his shoulder to pull him back when they both got a monumental shock as Shaggy succeeded in getting the door open.

They both stared open-mouthed as the visitor on the other side paused, his hand in mid-air, knuckles poised to rap on the door when it had swung open anyway.

He re- gathered his composure as he recovered from the surprising coincidence but there was no denying the upset and the tears on the man's face. Both Shaggy and Fred gaped at Ethan as he stood in the doorway and Ethan barely took any notice of the charged expressions on both of the kids' faces, he was only here to deliver the news.

He looked at them both sorrowfully, his own heart breaking and his voice cracking even as he only spoke two little words. They hung in the air, changing the atmosphere immediately.

"She's dead."

A:N - We're getting closer to the final climax of this story now and it's safe to say tensions between our heroes are at crisis point now. Are they even going to be able to pick themselves up in time before Devon makes his final move? It's hard, but fun to write the gang in conflict with each other, I think it further pulls them away from their 2D counterparts. They are all really hurting right now.

Please do continue to rate and review. Thanks, until next time!