Epilogue

By the time the ambulance arrived, Velma was approaching lucidity and Daphne had put her blue jeans on over the short skirt and put a t-shirt on over her tight, orange blouse. When the EMTs gently pulled her away from Shaggy and moved her to the stretcher, she cried out and reached back for him. He jumped to his feet and took her hand. He held onto it as they left the room, entered the elevator, and he continued to hold onto it down to the ambulance, and all the way to the hospital. During the ambulance ride, the EMT cleaned and dressed his shoulder wound and rinsed out his scratched eyeball. It hurt when he blinked.

The hospital staff, alerted that a minor celebrity was arriving, met them at the door with concerns regarding the gravity of her condition and plans for a minimum of one night in the hospital, maybe two or even three. After the paperwork was filled out and they found out that she had no insurance, her recovery was miraculous and she was released into the care of Shaggy (whose hand she still held) with directions to see her personal physician for a follow-up as soon as she returned home. This was after a three hour wait and 5-minute discussion with a resident.

The resident was also kind enough to let Shaggy know that everything he had done in response to Velma's episode had been wrong. If Option A is wrestling with the patient on the floor, then choose Option B. Shaggy thought that maybe Option A was calling this young resident a pompous ass. He chose Option B and nodded.

When the rest of the gang arrived, they were able to separate her from Shaggy long enough for Shaggy to get looked at himself. He did have insurance and was provided stitches, an eyebath, and a bandage for his eye which he was told to allow to remain in place for at least 24 hours. Velma's fingernail had missed doing permanent damage to the eye by about 2mm.

They also gave him a prescription for pain medication. He knew the drug. It was mild and he would have to triple the dose to even get a mild buzz on. More importantly, he had enjoyed being a more functional member of the team. He had never been given an interview assignment before and he felt that he had done it well. He crumpled the prescription up and threw it away. No one noticed except for Scooby who understood exactly what he had just seen his friend do. He would never tell Shaggy that he was proud of him. Guys just don't do things like that. But he was. Now, if this meant that late night munchie runs were over, that would be his cross to bear.

After a total of five hours at the hospital, they were done. Fred was the first one to say out loud that, when the police carted Clive away, their additional $20,000 went with him. Robby had gone into a fit of violent rage when his father was taken out of the room and lashed out at Hanna who had remained by his side. Robby was restrained by the police without handcuffs and taken away for a psychological evaluation. Hanna followed closely behind.

Their return plane tickets were for the end of the week and the hotel was paid through that day. Fred made the phone call to the airlines and confirmed that there would be a $300 change fee to go back to Crystal Cove early. So, they were stuck in Los Angeles for two more nights.

Velma was sleeping 22 hours a day. Shaggy and Scooby stayed in her room and maintained a supply of food and water with electrolytes next to her bed so that she would find food and water whenever she awoke. When she did awaken intermittently in the night, she would see Scooby sprawled across the foot of the bed and Shaggy pretzeled into the chair and ottoman combination near the window. Her sleepy brain processed that her – at 5'-0" – spread out in a king size bed while Shaggy – at 6'-3" – squeezed into the small chair was illogical. They should change places. But knowing he was there made her comfortable and she fell back asleep. She remembered none of these waking spells.

Fred and Daphne spent the two days with the Los Angeles Police Department giving statements and waiting in hallways and conference rooms. Mostly waiting. A district attorney came by and they gave the entire story again. Contrary to how they were portrayed in the old show, the police were relatively competent and Marsha Matthews was arrested early on the second day. Fred and Daphne identified her. Her effort at a disguise was laughable. Shaggy could have given her lessons.

The fact that the Scooby Gang, after all of these years, had solved another mystery brought the media around. And they promptly found out that there were multiple women involved in the case who had extremely attractive photographs available in their social media or other sources. These photographs took center stage and this created an ever-widening divergence between the facts of the case and the sensationalistic spin which the media put on it. In two cases, the photograph provided for Velma was actually the actress who portrayed her in the movie. No one was going out of their way to share that information with Velma. She would find out soon enough. And it would not be pretty.

In the evenings the group all gathered in Velma's room, ate whatever fast food Fred and Daphne had picked up, whispered together, and watched her sleep. On their final night in Los Angeles, Velma woke up enough to interact with them.

She rubbed her eyes, "Hey guys, what time is it?"

Shaggy stood and walked over to her, "It's almost 8:30 and you need to drink some of this water."

She sat up and slid her feet out from under the blankets and toward the floor. She did the sliding dismount from the bed that all small people perfected and landed on her feet before staggering slightly. She reached out and grabbed Shaggy's arm to steady herself for a few seconds before she regained her equilibrium. After she had steadied herself, she left her hand softly on his arm.

"How long was I asleep this time?"

Shaggy shrugged, "About 12 hours."

"Did I go to the bathroom the last time I woke up?"

"No."

"Well, I need to now."

Velma stepped in front of the full-length mirror and looked at herself, "Who put me in my night shirt?"

Daphne answered, "You dressed yourself when you first got back from the hospital."

"How long ago was that?"

"Two and a half days."

"That explains the smell. I take it that I haven't showered."

Shaggy again, "No, just slept."

"Rich is a rood thing."

"Yes," Daphne agreed, "that is a good thing."

Velma leaned closer to the mirror, "I also didn't take off all of that make-up I put on for the part. I look a little like the banshee mask that woman used in Nevada."

Shaggy leaned into the mirror from the side, "You know, I can see that."

She elbowed him and smiled. The smile wasn't huge or full of mirth. It was a simple smile at a not-very-funny joke. But it was a real smile. And it told them all that everything was going to be okay.

Velma gathered some clothes from her suitcase and headed into the restroom. She did not ask anyone to leave nor did she make any polite sounds about needing some rest. So, when she came out of the bathroom in 35 minutes having showered, dressed, and removed the banshee make-up, they were all still there. And she was fine with that. More than fine, she was pleased with that.

Shaggy was sitting at the foot of her bed with Scooby next to him. Together, they took up less than a quarter of the space of the bed, leaving the rest for her. She didn't take it. She sat at the foot of the bed next to Shaggy. She reached over and took his hand and held it. One strong memory she had through her ordeal was the feel of Shaggy's hand engulfing hers and the comfort that it gave. It still felt that way now.

She looked at Fred and Daphne sitting in the two chairs at the small table, "Everything is fake."

They all knew what she meant. They had had two and a half days to discuss it and talk it through. She deserved her turn.

"Everything I accomplished. Everything I was proud of. None of it was real. The mysteries that we solved were all just the Annunaki reaching into our dimensions and creating training exercises to prepare us to do their bidding. And now to find out that the television show was equally a manipulation by others to create a false sense of accomplishment that could be jerked away to bring me under Clive and Marsha's control. We accomplished nothing ourselves. It was all lies. What am I supposed to do with that?"

Fred had been thinking about this very question and leaned forward, "I've got an idea."

He had not spoken of this with anyone, not even Daphne whose head cocked slightly sideways as she turned to her husband.

He continued, "What this proves is that - however we were trained to solve mysteries - we are good at it. And bluntly, none of seems really very good at anything else. With the Annunaki no longer interested in us, fabricated mysteries aren't going to pop up wherever we go. But we might be able to advertise and charge for our services and try to make a living doing something we are actually good at."

Daphne's head cocked the other way, "You mean start a private detective firm?"

Velma shook her head, "I'm not sure how much help I can be with that, Fred. If I am going to get from freshman year through PhD in five years, I'm going to have a pretty intense workload. And I will probably move on campus to save commute time and gas money."

The first thing Velma heard after this announcement was the thump, thump, thump of Scooby's wagging tail hitting the side of the bed. And then she saw from the corner of her eye the huge grin that spread across Shaggy's face.

Shaggy squeezed her hand, "Vel, that's the best news I've heard all day."

Vel? Within the group, Shaggy was also called Shag, Scooby was called Scoob, Fred got Freddy, and Daphne even was called Daph. But Velma had always just been Velma. It had been one of the many tiny things that had always made her feel a little like she was on the outside looking in. Not really one of the gang. But now there it was. Vel.

After hearing it out loud, she didn't really like it. But she would answer to it. Because these were her friends and friends made compromises.

She looked over at Fred, "But I'll participate as much as I possibly can because I believe that it's a really good idea."

"Rime in."

Shaggy concurred with his buddy, "I'm in, too."

Daphne stepped up out of her chair enough to kiss her husband's cheek, "And, of course, I'm all for it."

And then a quiet fell over the group. Not an awkward quiet, but a comfortable quiet.

Velma looked down at her tiny hand which was surrounded by Shaggy's huge one. It felt warm and safe. She leaned against him and rested her head against his shoulder. The dark side of her mind reminded her that his talent was deception and a brief internal struggle occurred between the part of her that wanted to just fall into the warmth and comfort she felt right now and the part that wanted to defend herself from the potential for further hurt.

She felt him kiss her on the top of her head and thought, in a universe where everything you have ever believed is a lie, then maybe the only person you can really trust is a deceiver. That seemed like strange logic but it resonated within her. And she decided that it was time to let someone in.