Disclaimer: Scooby-Doo and all related characters and elements are trademarks and copyright of Hanna-Barbera. Ethan is from the Warner Brothers film Scooby Doo; I only named him and expanded on his character. (He is called either Metal Head or Velma’s Friend in the credits.) This is a work written solely for fan enjoyment, not for profit.

Author’s Notes: This is a movie-based fanfic, and so contains major plot spoilers for those of you readers who have not seen it yet! The characters are written with their live-action counterparts in mind, though I am, as will be applicable in later chapters, trying to move Daphne and Fred towards their original cartoon personalities somewhat.

Journey of Self-Discovery
By: Littlesoprano

Prologue

Velma! Velma!” Ethan called as he dodged the hundreds of celebrating young people that filled the underground cavern. Though he knew that he likely wouldn’t be heard over the ever-growing din, he shouted anyway. Adrenaline and pure exhilaration coursed through him, breaking though his usual reserve in way that he’d never felt before. It reminded him a little of the way he felt at the few heavy metal concerts he’d been able to attend. He loved the energy, the freedom, and the intensity of the crowds and the music. But nothing he’d experienced could match this—the palpable excitement that practically burst from the room, the bizarre happenings of the last day that he had not even begun to try to piece together, the fact that his life and the lives of everyone around him had been saved, and—more than anything-- the knowledge that he was in love with one of the women who had rescued them all. He could try to figure out everything else later. Right now, all he cared about was finding her. His eyes darted about the vast room for her orange-clad figure, making a dozen false stops on those who were, like him, dressed in orange ceremonial tunics. When I do find her, he thought with a laugh, we'll be a matched pair. And that, he realized, though a bit literal, was exactly what he wanted.

Jogging across the room, he saw the other members of Mystery, Inc. and felt a fresh surge of anticipation. Fred Jones and Daphne Blake stood on a platform, gazing at one another dreamily, totally and utterly oblivious to the happenings around them. The giant Great Dane, Scooby-Doo, bounded happily about the room, probably looking for his best pal, Shaggy Rogers. Ethan could see the lanky beatnik moving into a relatively out-of-the-way corner. Reaching down, Shaggy opened a trapdoor, out of which climbed an enormously unkempt man with a trailing beard. He had obviously been incarcerated for some time, and curiosity about this strange scene kept Ethan still, if only for a moment. A very brief moment, in fact, because it was then, out of the corner of his eye, that he finally saw her. Velma. There she was—on the outskirts of the celebration, picking up the ropes and cables that the gang had used and moving them safely away to the side. It struck Ethan at once as being a bit sad, really—why wasn’t she out in the crowd, a part of all the happiness she’d brought about? After dumping the last of the cables, she brushed the dust from her hands in such a business-like way that it looked as if for her saving the entire world was an everyday occurrence. Ethan couldn’t wait for her even to look up. In a second he covered the short distance between them. 

“Velma, thank you!” he cried, snatching her up in his arms and whirling her around. He had never done that with a girl before in his life-- something so impulsive-- but he didn’t think about it now. He was too happy to think. It simply felt right. He wanted to kiss her, too, right then, but even though she wasn’t at all heavy, his grip on her was tenuous and he had to let her slide to the ground first. Her hands lightly traced his arms before dropping awkwardly to her sides, and so he reluctantly followed her lead and let his own hands drop. Neither, however, stepped back from their still very close position. They stood still, just looking into one another’s faces. Velma appeared to have caught some of his excitement; her face was flushed and her breathing deepened. She was smiling, too, Ethan noticed—not the closed-lipped, bemused smile that he had seen her use before but a real smile. She looked happy, he thought, happier than any time he’d ever seen her, and that made her all the more beautiful to him. In a wave of tenderness he reached out and gently stroked her cheek.

His touch opened a floodgate in Velma’s already racing mind-- how much she wished she hadn’t let go of him, how impressed she was with his strength, and most of all what his impending kiss would be like. For although she was inexperienced in these matters, she knew what was about to happen—and she couldn’t believe it was about to happen to her. To Velma Dinkley, the girl who never ended up with the guy—especially not a guy like Ethan, whom any girl in her right mind would want, at least to Velma’s way of thinking. For the first time, she was the heroine, the ingénue, the romantic leading lady and not the sarcastic, wise-cracking best friend. It was a role that she had wanted more and more as the years passed, but she’d been lacking the right leading man—actually, any leading man. And now, here he was.

They stood for a second more, his fingers still lingering on her face, their eyes locked. Velma had always thought Ethan’s dark eyes very intense, but they now were doubly so as he looked at her and started to lean ever so slightly forward. It was all so intimate, so romantic, so new to her… and foreign, confusing and… totally unsettling. Suddenly she felt unsure. Something was wrong—but what? She wanted this. She liked Ethan. He liked her. Don’t think so hard for once, Dinkley! Her mind, which was her greatest asset, all at once seemed to turn against her. New thoughts began to pummel her—not conscious ones, for there was no time for her to really think in the few seconds that passed, but a thick cloud of doubts gathering in the very back of her mind, too far back for her to realize their existence. One bolted forward. Break the tension. Break the tension. 

You’re fogging up my glasses,” she said, (which, as a matter of fact, was rapidly becoming true.) Subconscious tension-breaker or no, the phrase still managed to sound completely adoring, as if she were delighted with the fact. She was! She’d never been this close to a man; she’d never had a kiss. Well, once—but that had been so fast there had been no time for any glasses-fogging. This was it. The moment was not ruined. Dampered a bit, but not ruined. But just when it looked as if Velma’s heart would rule her head for once, her mind pulled out its strongest defense. In her years of mystery solving, Velma had become very accustomed to dealing with fear. Interviewers had asked the group all the time why they were alternately chasing after and running from the “ghosts.” It wasn’t anything they could explain, but instinct told them when it was safe to try to tackle the ghoul and when they needed to run. Fight or flight. It had served them all well for so many years, but now that instinct was playing Velma false. There was no danger here, but something in her didn’t know that. Back away, Velma! Stop this! You’ll be hurt! Get out of it, now!  

She couldn’t stop what she couldn’t recognize, and Velma suddenly found herself giggling. Laughter always comes easily in moments of high tension, and Velma had been grappling with high tension not only then, but throughout the entire day. Feeling inexplicably giddy, she laughed harder and gave Ethan a playful punch on the shoulder—just as she had done with Fred and Shaggy more times than she could count, and had done to her even more. Ethan went along with it, raising his hands in mock surrender and backing away, laughing too. But he didn’t feel like laughing. His euphoria abruptly and unpleasantly ended, leaving him raw. He’d never opened up with a woman like that— he had always stuck with measured, casual approaches. And they’d worked, most of the time. What were you thinking? he asked himself, frustrated. She probably never even liked you, and now you’ve ruined any chance that she will. Just totally scare her off, why don’t you? Nice going, Ethan! He was crushed, angry with himself, and more than a little embarrassed. He could only hope that no one had seen the entire humiliating episode, especially the Mystery, Inc. gang, the members of which were coming towards them. When they surrounded Velma moments later, hugging and slapping fives, he was relieved to be able to slip quietly into the rest of the crowd. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could have hidden his terribly hurt expression.   

On to Chapter One!