"Kids dinner!" Barb called, placing several dishes on the table.
Hank rubbed his hands together in glee as he began piling up his plate.
"I told you not to listen in on my phonecalls!" Phoebe growled, elbowing past her twin on her way to the table.
"Oh Cherry, Cole is sooooo cute, do you think he knows how much I lurrrrve him?" Max teased
Billy wandered in as Phoebe aimed a piece of bread at her twin.
"Hey sweetie, where's Nora?" Barb wondered, placing a drink for him beside his plate as he sat down.
He shrugged "She won't come out of her room...says she isn't hungry"
Barb frowned, shooting a glance to her husband who was too wrapped up in his dinner to react.
"Phoebe could you go talk to your sister for me?" she asked
"Why do you never ask Max to do stuff?" she grumbled folding her arms.
"Fine" Barb sighed "Max go and get your sister. Now."
Knowing better than to argue with his Mom when she used that tone, he quickly hurried upstairs.
...
"Nora open up" he demanded, thumping the door a few times
"Go away!" the girl replied, sniffing a couple times
Max raised an eyebrow "Hey. Open the door, or I'll feed Dr Collosso your bow collection" he warned.
The door opened instantly, and he looked down to see Nora red eyed, fingers gripping the handle.
"What's going on?" Max questioned folding his arms
She sighed and bowed her head "I let you in, it doesn't mean we're talking about stuff" she insisted firmly.
"Nora" Max began warningly, flicking the bow atop her head.
"Okay okay...I'm being bullied. Some kids at school have been following me to class, stealing my stuff and making fun of me"
She broke off in tears, and Max rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as she collapsed on her bed and sobbed.
"Hey, c'mon little sis don't cry" he begged taking a seat beside her "Doesn't Billy stick up for you?"
She shook her head "He doesn't know, he's too busy goofing around with his friends"
"And what about your friends?"
Nora shrugged "They don't wanna stand up to the bullies...No-one does"
Max sighed, wrapping an arm round her shoulders.
"Look, everything's gonna be okay" he promised
"How d'you work that one out?" Nora asked dismally
He squeezed her lightly "Because you're a Thunderman. And you can shoot lasers from your eyeballs"
A faint smirk appeared on Nora's face, and she wiped her eyes carefully.
"I guess" she muttered
"And, you have two big brothers who are totally awesome" Max continued "One more than the other of course"
Nora couldn't help but giggle as he puffed out his chest in self pride.
"And I guess you have an older sister who's pretty cool too" he trailed off with a wink.
"But you and Phoebe don't go to my school" Nora reminded him "And Billy...well..."
Max laughed "Just because we aren't there kiddo, doesn't mean it's impossible for us to look out for you"
Barb called up for the pair to come to dinner, and Nora sighed.
"She's gonna be so embarrassing if she finds out"
Max shrugged "Usually I'd say don't tell her...but if someone's picking on you, she should know"
Nora nodded "Won't it just make everything worse though?"
"Nah, it'll be better in the long run. But hey, there's no harm in using a little laser power on the jerks if they won't back off right?"
Max smiled, pulling his sister into a proper hug just as Barb appeared in the doorway.
"Nora honey you okay?" she asked softly, as the siblings separated and walked over to her
"Yeah Mom, Max gave me some great advice" she grinned, skipping downstairs.
The woman turned to her son "See Max, why can't you be like this all the time?"
He pulled a face "Occasionally siblings are an exception, but I'm still gonna be a super villain"
Barb sighed as he ducked to kiss her cheek, before running downstairs.
"Oh by the way" Max started, turning on the last step "Nora has something to talk to you and Dad about after dinner"
Barb raised an eyebrow but nodded as she followed him into the kitchen.
...
Once dinner was over, Phoebe quickly retired to her room to revise.
Billy disappeared outside to play on the trampoline.
"Sweetie, Max said you have something to talk to us about?" Barb asked gently
Nora looked over to her big brother who gave her a reassuring thumbs up, before heading to his room.