A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I updated. Schoolwork is crazy your junior year, believe me. But I really hope (though I'm not making any promises) to finish this this weekend. There are two more chapters after this one. I guess this has kind of dragged on a while anyway. Future stories will be shorter. That I will promise. Future stories also will not be sequels. I am done with this.

Chapter 37:

Daphne stood on one leg near the lunchroom. The CCC actually had several lunchrooms, and this wasn't the one she normally used, but she needed to talk to Velma, who, like the rest of the HTRT, would surely be eating in the one nearest the labs.

Please don't be mad at me, Velma, Daphne willed nervously. But I had to. You know I'm still a "meddling kid."

Sure enough, Velma came down the hall, a brown lunch bag in her left hand. She stopped when she saw her friend waiting in front of the double doors.

"Velma, I'm really sorry I did this..." Daphne started.

Velma stood there, blinking. Did she know already?

Daphne exhaled and explained. "I told them about Judd MkKay. About how he stalked you in Singapore, and how he tried to break up you and Shaggy. He's going to be fired, if he hasn't been already."

Velma only stared at Daphne, her face completely expressionless. Daphne had to break the silence with something.

"Look, Velma, I'm sorry. But I saw that he was making you miserable and I couldn't just--"

"Daphne." Finally, Velma was speaking. "As awful as he was, Judd MkKay isn't what was really making me miserable."

"Velma--" Was Daphne's friend about to deny, once again, that something was seriously wrong here?

"No, Daphne." Velma walked through the doors. Daphne followed her to the juice machine. Velma slipped the coins in, pushed the button for cran-raspberry, and turned to face Daphne.

"Don't get me wrong, Daphne. I really appreciate what you did for me. I really do. Because the truth is I was kind of scared of him. But it really doesn't matter too much that he's been fired."

Daphne raised her eyebrows. Velma continued.

"Because I just quit the HTRT."

Daphne breathed in sharply. "Velma, I'm sorry, I know it meant a lot--"

"No, Daphne. Actually it didn't. I think I was more worried about the status associated with the job than with anything else the job had to offer. You know my whole life I've been 'the smart one'."

Daphne nodded.

"And everyone always told me I was special, that it was really important for me to apply myself, be the best I could be..." Velma sat down at a table and pulled a banana out of her lunch sack. "But honestly, I think I'd rather be free from that kind of job if it meant spending more time with the people I care about. With Mystery Inc. With my new family. I've been a workaholic. You know that."

"So you won't be bogged down all the time anymore?"

"Today I went in to the HTRT to wrap up some loose ends on some final projects. I just finished. This afternoon, it's back to working with the rest of you."

"Really?" Daphne couldn't help smiling at that. Velma was a great person, first as Daphne's best friend, second as a team member... but she made a pretty good coworker as well. Daphne was grateful to have her back.

Velma smiled. "Yep. I really missed you guys."

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Shaggy wandered back into the workroom after a standard fourteen-sandwich lunch. It was getting pretty lonely in that place. If it weren't for the fact that he was supposed to be matching up DNA samples for some alien race that had possibly roamed in an area in which they were not authorized, Shaggy would have said it was one of the most boring assignments in the world. Usually Scooby worked with him, but today he had security duty with Fred.

He saw the sweatered figure a split second before wondering if it was too good to be true.

But no, she was there.

"Velma, like, hi!" he said. "Aren't you supposed to be with the HTRT?"

"Not anymore," Velma said, "and let me guess. You haven't a clue how to start on any of this." She motioned toward the testing paraphernalia.

"You got it," Shaggy said, laughing slightly.

Velma donned a pair of goggles and a white plastic lab apron. Shaggy was amazed at how Velma was the one person on the planet who truly looked good in that apron... sexy, even... even after having a kid. Hey, the apron was Velma's element. Velma, the most intelligent and beautiful person alive, whom he was lucky enough to be married to.

"You're back," he said as she picked up some bottles and mixed some chemicals of a variety Shaggy could never identify in an Erlenmeyer flask.

"Yes," she answered happily. "I'm back."

Shaggy couldn't resist. He threw his arms around her and kissed her, open-mouthed. Velma giggled and stepped away.

"Shaggy, you almost made me drop this flask! If that happened... we would be so busted!"

"Like, no we wouldn't... but the glass might be!"

Velma laughed and kissed him this time. Ah well. Technically they still had ten minutes before lunch break was supposed to end anyway. Ten blissful minutes of sheer unprofessionalism.

This was great. It was reminiscent of that one time... jinkies, it was over a year ago! That time when they first kissed. That time when Velma had been really mad at him, had been pushing him away... but he was still there. And he still wanted her to come back.

It was nice to be back.