Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You lied to us, Angel. You’ve been lying to us from the beginning. Why should we listen to anything you have to say to us now? This mystery isn’t over until we say it’s over! Come on, gang…” Fred’s words had been loaded with feelings of betrayal and laced with an under-layer of anger.

They hit Cassidy Williams like a shot to the heart. She never wanted to hurt the gang and she never wanted to lie to them. As the new Mystery Incorporated piled into the Mystery Machine, Cassidy practically cried out begging for them to listen to her. Her emotions were at an all time high and she could feel the tears beginning to prick at the corners of her eyes as the van sped away. There was nothing she could say that they would listen to now. She’d done the one thing she wanted to avoid. She’d lost their trust, and put them in the same danger she and her friends faced all those years ago.

As she stood there breathless and watching the brightly colored van drive away, oblivious to the masked demon standing above her, fear and hurt quickly mixed and turned to anger. Grabbing her motorcycle helmet and quickly mounting her bike, the decision for where to direct her anger became an easy one. Tonight was going to be the end of it. She would not hurt the kids again, and she wasn’t going to let him put them in any more danger. But unbeknownst to Cassidy, as she sped off towards Destroido, the demon disguised man above her wasn’t her only enemy who had witnessed the events of the last hour.

The drive to Destroido feels like the shortest it’s ever been. It’s far from the first time she’s driven there on her bike and it feels like less than five minutes before Cassidy is removing her helmet and only a few seconds before she's storming her way through the building and right to the door to Mr. E’s lair. Upon the automated door opening, she’s greeted by the exact sight she expected to see; E in his chair at his computer and the old Spanish church on his many monitors. He’d seen everything. There’s hardly a beat of silence before she’s speaking.

“You lied to me.”

E didn’t even turn around in his chair. “I did not lie to you. I simply omitted certain details-”

“Do not act like there’s a difference, E! We both know you’re too smart for that.” Cassidy snapped back, hands on her hips as she stood behind him glaring daggers into the back of his chair.

“You said we were in this together! You put the kids in danger-”

E stood up from his chair, quickly turning on his heel to face her with a scowl and a raised brow. “I put the kids in danger?! I didn’t tell them to give their piece of The Planispheric Disk to Professor Pericles!” The man threw his hands up in the air, “Give Pericles your piece or Mr. E, I don’t care!’ Have you gone insane?! Do you have any idea what could happen if he-”

“Do you have any idea what’ll happen to the kids if they keep it?!”

“So you tell them to give their piece to that deranged parrot instead of me-”

“Have you left any of us with a choice?!” Cassidy shouted back. “For the record, I told the kids to give it to either of you. Not just to give it to him!”

The DJ crossed her arms, face softening, “I don’t trust that parrot at all. I don’t want him to get the pieces…”, but then her glare returned. “But how on earth am I supposed to trust you and want you to get them either after tonight?”

Cassidy raised a brow, “What, you hire someone, put the kids in danger just so you could use them as bait, mind you, deliberately lie to me, and then suddenly you expect me to not only continue trusting you, but trust you with that piece?!”

The man quickly snapped back. “They were never in any real danger! It was all fake. I’m not that stupid!”

“But you’re stupid enough to lie to my face?”

The room fell silent, all shouting coming to a halt. Mr. E’s intense glare had fallen to shock only for a moment before it returned to where it had been. He hardly ever showed his true emotions on his face anymore and this would be no exception. The air between them was charged with the anger felt by both of them in that moment.

Cassidy closed her eyes with a sigh, turning away from the man who, despite it all, she loves. “You told me we were in this together. You said we were working together, not for each other. You made a point to remind me of this fact earlier today. And yet, you still went behind my back. Special effects and a fake assassin or not, you put those kids in danger for your own vendetta. We’re done here, Ricky.”

Hesitantly, E doubles down on his scowl and dares to ask the question that instills more fear in him than anything Pericles could throw at him. “What are you saying, Angel?”

“You’re on your own, the mystery and this is over. I’m not Angel Dynamite, Ricky. I’m Cassidy Williams, and I won't hurt those kids again. They’re good kids.” Cassidy Williams turned around to face him once more, glare long since fallen away to something softer. “Better than we were…”

At that moment in time, E felt like his world was falling apart at the seams. Pericles was loose, the new Mystery Incorporated wasn’t going to trust him anymore thanks to Alice May exposing his plan, and now he was about to lose the only good thing he had left. He could have been smart. Could have pulled his head out of his ass for five minutes, swallowed his pride, and begged for her forgiveness. And he would’ve… if he was Ricky Owens instead of “Mr. E”. Ricky Owens would never be in this situation in the first place, but Mr. E? He’d rather dig his own grave than admit fault or bear his emotions ever again.

Body tensing and face falling for less than a second, all of the venom he’d buried down, all the rage, all the sorrow, came out in his words as he glared at the woman standing in front of him. “Ah, yes. The naive Cassidy I once fell in love with. Are you willing to bet the lives of everyone in Crystal Cove on that?” He turned away, hands landing on his desk. “Fine then, be my guest. Go! I don’t need you…”

Cassidy found herself frozen in that moment, eyes wide and mouth barely open. She wasn’t sure what she expected, knew she shouldn’t take it to heart, and yet… Her jaw tensed back into the frown she previously wore, brows furrowed as she turned to leave.

There was the faint sound of a “Goodbye, E.” followed by the closing of the door to his lair, but Ricky Owens could barely register it over the sound of his mind screaming at him. Why did he say that?! No. I'm right, she’s wrong. That’s bullshit and you know it! If I had told her the truth, she never would have let me go through with my plan and I’d have no information about Pericles. I still have no information about Pericles!

He feels as though he’s drowning when Ed Machine enters his lair, crossing the bridge and stopping just shy of a few inches from him. “Sir?” After no response, Ed tries again, stepping closer. “I saw Angel leave and… I’m not going to lie to you, I heard most of that. Are you okay?”

Mr. E is lost in his own head and the question only makes it worse, tears threatening to fall and panic attack threatening to over take. Ed cannot see him like this. No one can see this. The day he learned of Pericles' betrayal, he swore he’d never let anyone see him bear his heart nor his emotions again. Becoming vaguely aware of a hand reaching for his shoulder, E steels his expression and decides to continue to do what he’s done for the last 17 years.

Ed is shocked to see and feel an arm swiping his own away and steps back as his employer turned friend turns quickly on his heel. “I’m fine! Go home, Ed. You’re done for the night.”
“But sir-”

E, having already turned back to his monitors, glanced over his shoulder. “Did I stutter, Mr. Machine?”

“...no, sir. I apologize. See you tomorrow.” After one last second of hesitation, the CEO hears his figurehead’s footsteps get farther away. But it isn’t until he hears the door close that he falls into his chair, head in his hands.

Look at you, all alone again. And it’s your fault too! Congratulations! You’ve officially pushed away every person who might’ve cared about you. It isn’t my fault, it’s Cassidy’s fault for worrying about those kids! E slammed his fist down against the desk, breathing picking up in pace as he struggled to swallow down the same tears he shoves down every day and night. What will you do now? He’s out there. You’re all alone. You ruined everything. They ruined everything. You let her get close to you and look what happened. I did the right thing. You did not do the right thing. Cassidy is naive. Cassidy is right.

Finally, it all becomes too much and it isn’t long before the sound of the voice in his head is joined by quiet sobs.

Chapter Text

Mr. E has no idea when he fell asleep. All he can remember is fighting with Angel, sending Ed home for the night, and having an internal argument with himself and- had he been crying? As he slowly wakes up, lifting his pounding head from the hard surface of his gray desk, he becomes aware of the fact that his phone is ringing. Picking up the phone in one hand, head in the other, he mutters out a half awake “Hello?” without much thought. Silence is what greets him on the other end.

The man raises an eyebrow, bringing his phone down to check the caller I.D. He has to squint a little at first, but once he reads the name “Angel”, his eyes are wide open and he’s suddenly no longer only half awake. Quickly lifting the phone back up to his ear, he speaks with what sounds like fear in his voice. “Angel? Angel, can you hear me?”

No response. Being fully awake, he can now hear what sounds like waves crashing on the beach in the distance and the sound of fire crackling nearby. Now he’s starting to panic and his voice is getting frantic.

“Cassidy? Cassidy! Cassidy, are you there?! What’s going on?”

Struggling to hold the phone between his face and shoulder, he quickly boots up all of his monitors and switches over to his K Ghoul cameras all the while beginning to ramble.

“Cassidy, this isn’t funny. You’re beginning to scare me.” And I’d deserve it if you were…

Horror washes over Ricky’s face when he looks at his many screens and comes to realize: there’s no sign of Cassidy or the gang. He checks the time, it’s been a few hours since she left, but she isn’t in any of the K Ghoul footage that was recorded after their fight. She never made it back.

Not even a second can pass before he’s launching himself out of his chair and running out of his lair. The panic has fully set in as Ricky uses his phone to track the location of Cassidy’s via the tracker they had set up years back while running through the hallways of Destroido. Thank god they had taken that precaution alongside all the cameras. Cassidy had thought it was overkill at the time, but Mr. E had insisted on both of their phones being trackable via the other and Ed Machine’s for everyone’s safety.

Ricky arrives swiftly to the garage where he keeps his van, pulling the tarp off the Enigma Engine before climbing inside and turning the keys into the ignition. Quickly dialing the number he knows by heart and bringing the phone back up to his ear, a groggy Ed Machine doesn’t even get a chance to speak before Ricky is hastily sending an order his way.

“Get the Mystery Incorporated kids and yourself to K Ghoul, now! Do not leave there unless I tell you to!”

“Sir, it’s the middle of the night. What’s going on-”

“I’ll explain later, just do it! And hurry! Something is wrong and I think Cassidy is in danger.”

Despite being unable to see the other man, he can clear as day see the way Ed’s eyes widen as he swiftly answers with a “Right away, sir!” and hangs up. Good, one less thing to worry about. But that doesn’t make his anxiety lessen in the slightest. He still hasn’t the slightest clue what’s happened to Cassidy. The Freak was still out there, what if he had found her? Or worse; what if Pericles had found her? Hell, he doesn’t know if she’s even alive!

That last thought sends a new wave of despair through the man. Ricky’s hands tighten into a death grip on the steering wheel as he speeds through Crystal Cove, following his GPS. God, he can only hope he isn’t too late. The words “Please be alive” echo over and over in his head. The only thing that matters to him in this moment is Cassidy.

“Hold on, Cassidy. Please, hold on…”

----------

Despite driving over the speed limit, the drive feels like an eternity. But maybe that’s just Ricky’s anxiety talking. Every moment he has to spend driving is another moment in which he could lose Cassidy.

Ricky is so lost in his thoughts and watching the GPS that he has to quickly swerve the Enigma Engine with a panicked shout of “Holy shit!” to avoid crashing into the giant boulder in the road. Wait, giant boulder in the road?

The van skid to a halt, narrowly avoiding hitting the boulder or any of the other debris in the road. Ricky ran his hands over his face, trying to catch his breath. He quickly checked the GPS, Cassidy should be just around the corner. Looks like he’ll have to run. Unfastening his seatbelt, he opened the door of the van and leaned out to take a look at his surroundings. The GPS had taken him to the highway at the edge of Crystal Cove. To his left was a cliffside that went down into the ocean and to his right was a mountain that looked like it had started to collapse which would explain the current state of the road. However, that begged the question: what made it collapse in the first place? And given the circumstances, Ricky had the terrible feeling it didn’t occur naturally.

As he exits the Enigma Engine, closing the door behind him but not bothering to remove the keys from the ignition, he notices something even more concerning. The smell of smoke and gasoline hanging in the air.

Sure enough upon sprinting around the corner, Ricky is met with the sight of smoke, more rocks, and a motorcycle lying among a raging inferno. Cassidy’s motorcycle.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ricky is running towards the crash site as fast as he can. He can’t even hear himself screaming her name over the beating of his racing heart.

Chapter Text

He’s relieved to see no body near the motorcycle or the fire, but that still raises the question of where Cassidy is. Checking his tracker again, the large man gets his answer when he steps closer to the edge of the cliff. Peering down, he spotted what looked to be an either unconscious or dead Cassidy lying on a lower ledge of the cliffside, cracked phone next to her limp hand. From up here, he couldn’t see her injuries. Ricky desperately hoped it was the former as he looked for a way down to her.

The CEO opted for carefully sliding down the side of the cliff, nearly eating shit in the process. Putting his phone into his back pocket, he kneeled next to her and immediately moved to check her pulse. Tears started to form in his eyes as relief washed over him. She was alive… but that relief was short-lived and tears began to fall for another reason.

Carefully rolling her onto her back, Ricky is greeted by the feeling and sight of blood not only on his hands, but all over her abdomen and soaking her black suit. His breathing quickened in pace, eyes blown wide as he pulled her onto his lap and held her close. The man felt as though he might have a panic attack. No. He didn’t have time for that. Cassidy needed him, and lord knows he wasn’t going to let her down again.

Taking a shaky deep breath, which didn’t really help at all, he removed his coat and moved to lay it over her midsection. Using his coat, he lightly pressed into the wound on her abdomen, receiving a small hiss of pain in response.

“Ri-… Ricky?”

Shushing her, he moved a hand to gently cup her cheek, softly pressing his forehead against hers. “I’m here. I’m right here…” His voice was barely above a whisper.

“I’m so sorry, Cassidy.”

Cassidy let out a small, incoherent sound. Then she was limp again. Blinking more tears out of his eyes, Ricky quiet as could be muttered another apology as he leaned back. He adjusted the coat so that it wouldn’t fall, but would still help stop some of the bleeding, then scooped both of his arms under her back and legs. Lucky for him, Cassidy was easy to lift. He adjusted her in his arms, making sure her head was supported against his shoulder, and turned around to head back up to the highway.

Soon enough, he was setting her down in the passenger seat of the Enigma Engine and fastening her seatbelt for her before going around to the driver side and opening the door. But as the van door opened, he became aware of something in his peripheral vision. A charred, red and grey feather floating in the air. The world felt like it was spinning and time as though it had stopped. Ricky could swear he could hear Professor Pericles’ maniacal laughter somewhere in the distance, but was it his mind playing tricks on him?

Ricky climbed into the van and nearly slammed the door shut before just as speedily turning his keys in the ignition. He’d send someone to collect her phone and anything remaining from the fire later. Right now, he needed to get the hell out of here and get her to safety. It isn’t long before he’s once again speeding down the highway, heading back into town. He briefly considers driving Cassidy to the hospital, but that notion is quickly thrown out the window when his fears set in. What if her identity is discovered? What if Pericles found her there? The hospital would be the first place he’d think to look!

It doesn’t take long for Ricky to make the decision to reroute to K Ghoul. Cassidy hated hospitals anyways. The kids would be there at the radio station, but so would Ed. Would Ricky and Mr. E’s identity be revealed? Yes. Did that idea scare him to hell and back? Also yes. But would he rather expose his identity than see her put in more danger than she already was? Absolutely. Sooner would hell freeze over than he’d let anyone lay a finger, or feather for that matter, on her again.

He’ll just have to hope that between him, Mystery Incorporated II, and Ed, they have the resources to keep Cassidy stable until someone on Destroido’s payroll can make it to the station.

Ricky’s anxiety is running wild as he drives, and he finds himself reaching over to hold Cassidy’s limp and bloody hand in his no less blood-covered hand. Old habits die hard he supposed. Though unlike when they were teenagers afraid of a man in a mask, it did little to quell the fear welling up inside of him. He found himself glancing to his side every few minutes to make sure she was still breathing.

Some things never change it would seem. Because for the second time in his life, Ricky Owens found himself facing his worst nightmare because of the psychotic parrot he once dared to care for.

A muttered mantra of “I’m sorry” and quiet sobs soon filled the relative silence of the drive to the radio station.

------

Elsewhere on the outskirts of Crystal Cove, said psychotic parrot had just finished recording his latest message to “Mr. E”. Once Professor Pericles had learned about “Angel Dynamite” AKA Cassidy Williams, it hadn’t taken him long to use his observation of the kinder to determine Mr. E was actually his dear Ricky Owens.

The thought made Pericles chuckle to himself, using his wings to place the cassette tape of his recording into a manilla envelope. Now that Cassidy was out of the way, Ricky would see reason. He’d need a shoulder to cry on after all. He didn’t need to know Pericles was responsible for her “untimely” demise. For all Ricky knew, there was every possibility the cliff had collapsed and she crashed. He need not know of the explosives that had been attached to the cliffside nor the remote that controlled them currently lying discarded on the dresser of the motel room Pericles had taken refuge in.

His plan had gone off without a hitch! The parrot had seen her body. There was no chance she survived. Even if she had, she’d be finished by the morning. Crystal Cove got cold at night, especially so close to the ocean. Not to mention the fact that she was left unconscious and bleeding out.

Pericles was beyond confident. She couldn’t call for help if she wasn’t awake. And even if she had been, who was she going to call? He knew for a fact the kinder didn’t trust her and he also knew from trailing her that she’d had a large fight with Ricky. It was the exact reason he chose to strike tonight. The opportunity he had been waiting for.

Sealing off the envelope, he briefly considered turning the TV back on and seeing if there was anything to know about the kinder or if Cassidy’s crash had been discovered by the news. But ultimately, he decided to forgo it and instead opted for the option that got Ricky back to his side the quickest.

Flying to the door, he turned it open, flying back to grab his envelope with his talons before exiting the room. He would free his master, but whether he wanted to admit it or not, he couldn’t do it alone. He’d still need to gather Brad and Judy, but that could wait. He had his priorities, and he had Ricky right where he wanted him. And as he flew to deliver his message, he was sure he’d have Ricky back at his side and on his team by morning.

“Soon, things will be the way they should have been years ago…”

The sound of the parrot’s wicked laughter pierced the night, echoing through the sky as he flew further into town.