csi_sanders1129 | Fic: Courage (Reply)

Title: Courage
Chapters: 8/10
Author:

csi_sanders1129
Genre: Friendship. Drama. Romance. Angst. Humor.
Ratings: T
Word Count: ~1,900
Pairings/Characters: Fred Jones/Shaggy Rogers.
Synopsis: Fred and Shaggy go from friends to more as they live through ten courage-requiring events at Coolsville High.

Comments: I’m writing slash for Scooby-Doo. I’m weird. I know. On that note, you have been warned. And, while reviews are awesome, flames will not be tolerated – they will be deleted. Original characters are mine, but everyone else belongs to Hanna-Barbera. It is set in the Mystery Begins/Curse of the Lake Monster!Verse, but does occasionally reference mysteries from Where Are You!, some references to Pup Named Scooby Doo via Red Herring, and one to Alien Invaders later on. This was also a ten-song challenge thing (that I totally cheated on) and so there’ll be song names at the beginning of each chapter, too. Enjoy! Reviews are awesome and very much appreciated!

This chapter counts as one of my

Before It's Too Late / Goo Goo Dolls

There isn't a whole lot that changes with the shift from Shaggy being Fred's best friend to being Fred's boyfriend. Fred's a very tactile person in general, so there have always been casual touches – hell, Fred touches everyone – but now there are a lot more of them, and they tend to linger, too.

They don't tell anybody – outside of Daphne, who already figured it out anyway, the second she saw them after the Snow Dance, and Velma, because there's no hiding things from her, and they don't have to tell Scooby Doo because he figured it out long before the two of them had even considered it – at school because they mutually agree that Red and his fellow Neanderthals would not be able to resist acting on such information with violent abandon.

They even still split up the same way during Mystery Inc hunts just because that's how it's always been, with only the rare exception or alteration.

The only thing that's really different now is that there's a significant amount of making out done in between video game levels or during the boring parts of movies when Fred crashes at Shaggy's place.

Things are good and stable for a while, up until the Championship football game in early February. The Coolsville Cougars make it for the third year in a row and since this is Fred's senior year (the rest of the gang's, too, for that matter) he really wants to win this one.

The team they're playing, the Tigers, almost beat them last year so the rivalry's pretty intense. It doesn't help that they aren't playing at Coolsville, and the fact that the game is scheduled obnoxiously late in the post-season - and therefore it's freezing and snowing - doesn't make anything better, either.

The rest of the gang meets Fred before the game, because of course they're there supporting him. Shaggy hasn't missed a game since they became friends, and one or both of the girls are usually with him. Scooby Doo typically comes along, too, staying in the Mystery Machine and enjoying the snacks Shaggy brings him at halftime.

"So do you think the odds are in your favor in emerging victorious?" Velma inquires as they all relax with hot chocolate and coffee around their loyal vehicle. "The opposing team seems quite… intimidating."

Fred sighs, leaning against the back of the van with Shaggy sitting on the bumper right next to him. "If we all work together on this, we have a good chance, but Red's been slacking on his defense and if he does that here, we're in trouble."

"Well, hopefully winning the Championship will be more important to him than messing with you, at least for today," Daphne attempts to dissuade the pre-game anxiety.

Shaggy's seen those practices, though. Red not doing his job means Fred gets tackled full force before he can do anything to get rid of the ball. The bruises he has afterwards make the ones his Dad gives him look tame by comparison. "You, like, don't think he'll do that, do you?"

"I have no idea what's going on in Red's head. Like Daph said, hopefully he won't risk it in an actual game."

"Re rareful," Scooby puts in, munching happily on a Scooby snack.

Fred smiles, "I will, Scoob." A glance at his watch tells him he should be getting back to the locker room and he tells the gang as much. The girls walk a ways away, leaving the boys to exchange a few quick kisses in the back of the van before Shaggy joins them and Fred takes off jogging toward another door.

***

By the end of third quarter, the Cougars are up 24 to 10. Red hasn't tried any of his tricks, they're all glad to see, but Shaggy won't stop worrying until it's over.

He grins when he sees Fred send a wave his way as he walks back onto the snowy field for the start of the fourth. The play starts and goes smoothly; the ball gets to the opposing team's thirty yard line before the guy running it gets tackled. They line up again and Shaggy's eyes are trained on Fred, number nineteen, when the ball snaps.

But, that is exactly when Red opts to pull his stunt, and since he's not protecting Fred from the right tackle and Fred isn't really expecting the betrayal, the guy hits him hard.

There's a collective gasp around the stands as the impact sends Fred to the ground and Shaggy's just holding his breath and waiting for him to get up. When a few seconds pass and he's not on his feet, he's scanning for the quickest way to get to him. When the team doctor gets to Freddy and then calls in for help, Shaggy's moving - but then he's not.

"Like, let go of me," he snaps at Velma and Daphne, who are effectively holding him back. "I'm going down there."

"If you go down there then Red will figure it out and it'll be that much worse for the rest of the school year, Shag." Daphne warns him.

Shaggy shakes his head and makes another attempt, "Like, you don't think he already has an idea – he pulled that stunt right after Freddy looked up here."

Velma assures him that, "We'll all go down in a few minutes if he's not up by then, okay?"

Reluctantly, he nods his agreement, even though every part of him is screaming to go to Fred."Fine."

***

Another player goes in for Fred, and they pull Red, too, because the coaches are not idiots and they know what happened even if they don't know why.

The announcer reports that number nineteen won't be finishing the game and that's when Shaggy is up and out of the stands. Daphne and Velma are on his heels and they make it outside within a few moments – hoping to linger by the player's entrance until they can get in or otherwise find out information. What they find, however, is an ambulance getting ready to leave.

Shaggy tries to detour toward it, but the girls drag him to the Mystery Machine instead. "C'mon, Shag, we'll follow them to the hospital."

***

Upon arrival to the hospital, the three of them are exiled to the ER waiting room. The doctor calls Fred's father in because Fred is seventeen and this is really the first time Shaggy has ever seen the guy. He makes a note to press a little harder on the issue of convincing Fred to put a stop to what's happening at home because his dad looks deceptively innocent of his crimes – just like a bad guy in a mask.

Mr. Jones doesn't stay any longer than the time it takes to sign the required paperwork and he doesn't even stop to check in on Fred while doing it. While Shaggy is further alarmed by the man's appalling parental behavior – though he supposes he shouldn't be all that surprised given what he does know – it does mean that they are allowed in to see him that much sooner.

Fred's holding his arm steady against his chest when they come into his room in the ER. His football attire is all piled up on a nearby chair so he's shirtless and some pretty painful looking bruises are forming over the ones from last practice.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaims as he takes in the wide array of bruises.

"Looks worse than it is, guys," Fred says, before they can jump to any extreme conclusions, "just a broken collar bone."

Another doctor comes in before any of them can comment on that. She asks them to leave, but Fred requests they stay and somehow he wins the argument – probably, Shaggy thinks, because they know his dad raced out of here.

"I'm going to try to bend your elbow without moving your shoulder, okay?" She warns, and carefully does that. Fred reports no pain there, other than a lingering soreness that typically comes with being tackled by someone colliding with you at full speed, and reports the same on wrist and fingers. "Alright, then," she says grabbing up a syringe from a nearby locked drawer. "This is an anesthetic, once it kicks in you should be pretty numb." He nods and she swabs his shoulder with antiseptic before administering the drug and Shaggy can't look because Fred is cringing and he hates needles to begin with. "It should kick into full effect in about five minutes." With that done, she leaves.

"I can't believe Red did that!" Daphne announces in disgust. "Not only did he risk the game, you could have been hurt a lot worse than that."

Fred sits up a little straighter and seems to relax a little when Shaggy perches on the edge of the hospital bed. "Coach wasn't happy about it either. He cut Red from the team on the spot and said Grimes would probably have him suspended for what he did."

Velma scoffs, "At least some justice was done."

"Thanks for coming guys," he says as a nurse pops in to set him up with a sling for his now well-numbed arm, "It would've sucked being stuck here alone." The second that the injured arm is supported by the sling and not Fred's good hand, Shaggy's catching it in his own.

"We, ugh," Daphne starts, grabbing Velma's arm and pulling her toward the door because the guys probably want some time alone, "We're going to go get a few sodas from the cafeteria, we'll bring you back something."

Once they're alone, Shaggy leans forward enough to quickly press his lips against Fred's, careful to avoid touching or otherwise jostling his boyfriend's bad shoulder. "I'm, like, really glad you're okay."

"Mm, me, too. I don't want to be in here any longer than I need to be. I kind of hate hospitals," Fred admits.

Shaggy already gets why – Fred's mom passed away a couple of years ago, back when they were all not-friends and in middle school. Most everyone had seen Fred Jones break down at school sometime either before or after her death. "I know," he says, offering a reassuring squeeze of his hand. "We'll all be here until you can leave."

Fred eyes the door briefly, "is it cool if I stay with you tonight? My Dad was here and he didn't even stop to make sure I was alright," he scoffs, "He'll probably be pissed at me for dragging him all the way out here, anyway."

"Yeah, we saw him race out of here earlier. I guess he doesn't like hospitals much, either," Shaggy replies. And he's trying very, very hard not to ask Fred to tell someone who can help about his Dad – that conversation can wait until he's feeling a little better. "And you know you can stay, Freddy."

"You're the best, Shags," Fred smiles.

"Knock knock," Daphne calls as she and Velma appear at the door again, a couple of cans of soda in hand. "We, ugh, called the coach, Fred, if you want to know the final score?" At his nod, she and Velma explain the outcome of the game – it got close up until the very end of the fourth, with the Tiger's tying it up 24-24, but then the Cougars had made a last ditch attempt and gotten a touchdown, making the score 31-24 and landing them a win. "The Coach and the rest of your team hope you're okay, too."

Fred smiles at Shaggy and says something like "I'm getting there."