The small room in which Fred and Daphne were due to be housed was bland and plain to anyone from that world, but to the pair it was amazingly different to anything they had seen before. The double bed that they would have to share (they had done it before, but only under sufferance) was a circle, and they soon learnt from watching people in the staying-house that they slept curled round and on their sides. It stood in the middle of the room, and at the side was a desk with only one leg which stretched from one side to the other and a wardrobe, which was circular like the bed and attached to the wall, with three different compartments and one place to hang dresses and such. There was no chair for the desk; apparently people did most things standing up.

The pair were too tired to really take the room in. Fred fell asleep on contact with the bed, his breathing becoming deep and assured and different enough to his normal breathing for Daphne to know that he was out. When she curled up next to him and rested her head on his chest, listening fondly to the steady, rumbling drum beat of his heart, he didn't even stir. She fell asleep shortly afterwards, resting her head on his stomach as she moved down the bed slightly.

Quiet reigned in the room for a minute as the two slept, their breathing synchronised and their bodies entwined, but a slight creak from the rusty hinges of the door knifed the silence.

The door was carefully only pushed open a fraction, and half a face peered in, the eyes dark and dull in the almost non-existent light in the room. Most of the face was covered by a cloth wound round the person's skull; only the eyes were free to roam and glance and take in the sights around them. Had the pair woken up at that point, they would have been in for a nasty surprise; as it was they slept on.

The person slid into the room, their feet feather-light on the metal floor, taking in the two slumbering teenagers slowly and carefully. Then- for some reason only known to themselves- they crept back out again and shut the door carefully.

Daphne heard the slap of rubber on metal going down the corridor and opened her eyes briefly, intending to wake Fred up if something was going on. She looked up at him and smiled as she saw that his index finger rested gently on his mouth, making him look about five years younger.

The rubber sounds faded.

It was probably someone walking along to their own room or something, Daphne told herself firmly as she snuggled back down, burying her forehead in Fred's stomach again (it was soft enough and nicely warmed-up) and closing her eyes again.

"Hold his mouth open, please."

The voice wasn't one Fred had heard before, and it didn't sound like one of his relatives or one of his friend's relatives or anyone he had come across before; it was a completely alien voice. He tried to open his eyes, but it was as though he was stuck in limbo inside his body and it didn't respond at all. A hand gently pulled his jaw down as someone prepared something to go inside it.

"Rill Reddy re rokay?" a voice asked, and Fred would have smiled had he not been unable to; Scooby was standing right next to him.

"He'll be fine, we hope," Velma's voice said, and Scooby whined.

Something plastic, something tasting of some sort of foul chemical, was pushed into Fred's mouth, into his throat, his windpipe, and he struggled to breathe for a second before his lungs relaxed somehow and began breathing, but not due to the signals from his brain; they were working independently of him, bending to the will of some machine somewhere.

I've seen this in medical dramas, probably, Fred thought wildly, remembering the medical dramas Daphne always seemed to watch on TV when she wasn't watching her fashion shows and catwalks.

He winced inside as a pain began in his chest, spreading slowly over his torso, aching and dull and making him want to pull whatever was in his windpipe out as soon as he could…

"Ow!"

Fred opened his eyes and realised, as soon as he had, that the pain was gone. He looked round and saw Daphne curled up in a little ball, resting her head on his stomach, sucking her thumb daintily. He was back in the staying-house room, lying in the circular bed with his vest and shorts on. Daphne was in her vest and knickers, and he smiled as she shifted slightly to rest her head uncomfortably on the softer part of his stomach.

"Ow…" he murmured again as her hand prodded his side, and she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Sorry," she murmured, taking her hand away and putting it by her side instead. Fred reached down and took it in both of his hands, smoothing his thumb over it and smiling at her. She pushed herself up to lie next to him and burrowed her head into the gap between his shoulder and neck, closing her eyes again.

"Night, Freddy."

"Night, Daph."

She fell asleep within seconds, but however much he tried, Fred couldn't drop off again; he was too busy thinking about what had just happened.

Had he just been back in his own world again, for a short time? If so, he was in hospital, and bad enough to be on some sort of monitor. Making a mental note to ask Daphne what it might have been, he carried on thinking about it.

Maybe it had been a dream. His instincts had told him that was no dream, that was the real world. If it was- and he was pretty certain that he was right- then Daphne would be in the same position too, and Velma and Shaggy and Scooby were with them, probably worried sick. He swallowed a ball of guilt in his throat and sighed.

They needed to get out of here.

"We start tomorrow," he whispered to himself, putting his arms round Daphne and snuggling against her, her elbow pressing into his forearm slightly but not hurting. "We have to get back. So we start tomorrow."

Velma leaned her head against her hands wearily and sighed. Why had she had the impression that morning, briefly, just briefly, that Fred had been somehow awake when they had been putting the ventilator in?

She had been researching what kind of coma her friends might be in, and why they had suddenly become comatose; fine one day, dead to the world the next. Their brain activity was normal, their reflexes and such were gone. Shaggy had punched Fred full in the stomach to try and get him to wake up, creating the biggest bruise Velma had ever seen, and he hadn't flinched. There had been no movement at all. Just his breathing carrying on, slow and steady.

"Reasons for going into a coma" went into the Google search box. She pressed enter and watched as several different sites came up on her laptop. One site was more helpful, listing several different reasons why a person might go into a coma and giving examples and references from other websites. As far as Velma could see, there was nothing, unless both of her friends had had some kind of accident or something and not told her. There was also the fact that they had gone into the coma at the same time, and were showing the same symptoms and the same brain activity. It was eerie and intriguing and almost scary at the same time. Velma didn't know what to think.

Shaggy sloped down the steps, Scooby close on his heels and carrying something. Velma turned round and clocked what it was.

"Daph had this in her hand, like, when she collapsed."

Velma took it. It was a little note, which said, in spidery handwriting that didn't belong to any of the gang, "Be back soon- you hope". It made almost no sense at all, but it was a clue and Velma placed it beside her computer screen, which the boys were now looking at.

"I can't see anything there that would explain this, I'm sorry," Velma said quietly, putting her hand on Shaggy's shoulder. Shaggy pulled her into a hug and rested his head on hers, feeling her scalp under his small beard and rubbing her back with both hands. Velma pulled herself together as quickly as she could and felt Shaggy guiding her into the lounge and putting her down on the sofa, lying down next to her and closing his eyes. Within seconds he was asleep.

Velma leaned over, pressed her lips to his and felt him respond sleepily. She giggled and lay down as well, winding his arms round her and smiling as she fell asleep too.

The worry was still there, but ever since she had seen the note something had changed inside her. They would be back. Someday.

That was her last thought before she lost consciousness completely.

"Come on, Freddy, sweetie," Daphne murmured to the dozing boy still lying on the bed as she pulled her clothes on, about to yank the duvet off as she remembered how Mrs Jones used to wake him up. Fred responded with a sleepy moan and she took hold and yanked at the soft cloth, pulling it off her boyfriend and putting it down next to the bed as Fred looked up and narrowed his eyes at her.

"It's cold!"

"Get dressed, then."

He's cute in the clothes he's got on, though… she thought as he stretched, yawning widely, and pushed himself up as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

"What's the plan for today?"

Fred smiled slightly, turning his head and looking straight into Daphne's eyes.

"I've got to tell you something that happened last night first. Then we're going to go and look for one of these IDVPs."

Daphne nodded, smiling at him, and walked over to treat him to a good-morning kiss.

Unseen to both of them, a shadow moved past the door, having been listening to the whole conversation.

A/N: I'm not sure how this parallel universe is going… please tell me if you think it's not going so well, the description of the second Ohio. And please review anyway! Thanks to Angel1008, Swamp Fairy, Scoobyfan1, thebieberbabe and everyone else who's reviewed, and Jazzola numero uno fan- thank you for all the support, as always! Jazzola :)