Chapter 2: Reunion

July 15, 1888

It has been six years since Fred and Velma were killed in a mugging gone wrong. A few weeks after the fateful day, Shaggy had enlisted in the army and served at a fort in Texas. He was then moved to the reserves as a first lieutenant and transferred to the nearby Fort Glensburg four years later, where he continued his service while spending a year trying to solve the case as a private detective. However, his investigation has reached several dead ends and he soon re-focused his energies on other cases.

Meanwhile, Daphne had travelled abroad to Europe. She had toured London, Paris, Vienna, Rome and other major European cities and had enjoyed herself, but like Shaggy and Scooby, she was unable to keep the fateful day out of her mind.

That afternoon, the steamship from Montreal pulled into the docks of Coolsville Harbor. Soon, along with several other passengers from Europe, Daphne emerged from the ship with a stewardess carrying her luggages. She was soon greeted by a middle-aged man dressed in a butlers fashion standing by her cab.

"Welcome back to Coolsville, Miss Blake." The man says as he greets her.

"Thank you, Jenkins." Daphne replied. "I sure missed the city and decided that now will be a great time to come home."

"I see." Jenkins replied. He still carried the English accent in his voice in spite of being in the services of the Blakes since Daphne was a young, little girl.

After helping Daphne into the cab and securing her luggage, the cab then set off.

About ten minutes went by before the cab passed by Miles Alley.

"Jenkins, stop the cab here."

"Sure thing, Miss Blake."

Soon, Daphne got off the cab and went into the lane. The afternoon sun had made the lane brighter, and there were a few people going through the lane.

She eventually arrived at the scene of Fred and Velma's shooting, where there was a plague enacted at the scene. However, there was a man dressed with a bowler hat and smoking a pipe at the plague already, accompanied by a Great Dane.

"Excuse me mister, but what is your business here?" Daphne asked, uncomfortable with the idea of seeing two strangers standing by the plague for a long time doing nothing.

The man turned to face Daphne. From the light that shined down onto his face, Daphne thought that she recognized the face, which had a thin frame. Further observation soon saw the man had dusty-brown hair, while the dog had brown fur and was wearing a familiar-looking dog tag.

"Daphne?" The man asked. There was a tone of surprise in his voice as Daphne's eyes instantly widened when she recognized the voice.

"Shaggy! Scooby!" Daphne exclaimed surprisingly as she proceeded to share an embrace with Shaggy before proceeding to rub Scooby by the ears.

After the reunion, Daphne turned to Shaggy as he said, "Like, long time no seen, Daph. How have you been, lately?"

"I actually just came back from a trip to Europe."

"Rurope?" (Europe?) Scooby asked. "Rhen rid rou reave ror Rurope?" (When did you leave for Europe?)

"I left right after Velma's funeral." Daphne explained before proceeding to give Shaggy and Scooby a short resume of her trip to Europe.

"Like, wow. That sure sounds like a fun trip, Daph." Shaggy remarked.

Daphne nodded. "Yeah. However, I couldn't stop thinking of what had happened here five years ago. It still haunts me even today."

"Yeah. Like, Scoob and I still had that fateful day in our minds for a while." Shaggy added. "Even after I joined the Army and went to serve in Texas, I still couldn't put that day out of my mind, Daph. And I couldn't stop thinking about how things would have turned out if I haven't froze in fear."

"Shaggy, stop blaming yourself for what had happened. That incident was something we totally didn't expect at all at that time."

There was a few minutes of silence after Daphne's last remark. Soon, Daphne spoke, "Well, I better get going. Jenkins is waiting for me."

"Alright. It's great seeing you again, Daph." Shaggy says as he gave his friend another hug.

"Yeah. See you around. Oh, where do you work now, Shag?"

"My family's detective agency. You know the location. If you want, you can lend a hand on me and Scoob trying to solve some cases."

"Sure thing, Shag. That will work for me." Daphne says as she petted Scooby.

After escorting Daphne to her cab, where Jenkins is waiting patiently, Shaggy and Daphne shared another embrace before he went to shake Jenkins hand.

"Mr. Rogers, Mr. Doo." Jenkins said. "Glad to see you gentlemen again."

"Likewise, Jenkins." Shaggy replied.

Soon, Shaggy and Scooby made their way back home while Daphne rode off in her cab.

Please read and review!