A/N's: Rivy: Eh.

Torpe: ...redruM.

Disclaimer: We own nothing but the plot and Nora herself.

Nora woke up once before any one else did in the house. There wasn't a clock in the bathroom, (was she still in the bathroom? The curved hard frame under the duvet against her back and soap on the shelf inches from her cheek told her yes,) and one small, private window with a frosted style. But it was still dark out, maybe an hour before dawn, maybe not.

They had all fallen asleep like this, all crammed into the tub in the bathroom on the second floor of her Uncle's house. She loved this tub. She didn't think it was original with the house, but who knew? This type of house seemed to have its own secret history. Whether it was original or not, the tub was an antique claw footed beast of a thing that was long enough for Nora to stretch out completely -though that wasn't saying much, considering the (lack of) height of the girl- had the rest of the space not been occupied by a Great Dane and her Uncle; both of who were out like the lights above and snoring to prove it.

Oh, Scooby's head was back in her lap again. She wiggled in the slightest in discomfort, but stopped when the dog stirred in his sleep. She was curled up at one end, cradled by the tub and the thick blanket-where had this blanket come from? Dim memories, surrounded by thunder and lightening and the house shaking along with her drummed its way to mind.

Oh. Right. That storm. This was nothing new, at the very least, she'd always had these attacks, even before that dog one. There was no beating around the bush, she plain got panic attacks.

Nora suffered from her first panic attack on the first day of grade school, aged six. She had used to think a panic attack was a twinge of fear, maybe a few bated breaths. Not so. This episode truly earned the name attack, seizing and transforming her entire body when she got caught outside waiting for her mom to pick her up at the end of her first day of school.

Cupping her cold and empty mug, Nora arched back into the quilted duvet, remembering. Her chest had tightened until she could barely breathe, as the rain pounded from the sky like bullets. Her hands grew numb and tingly, she couldn't move or cry or speak; only watch as the heavens descended around her in a blaze of noise and forks of light. She had only been six. she didn't comprehend it. All she knew was her world was being blasted to pieces, and where was mommy?

Her mom didn't come until five; school let out at three. At four thirty her teacher saw her out there and had gotten her inside, but the damage had been done. And the storm raged on, both inside and outside her mind.

Her fear continued as she grew, to go so far that during a light rain during a distant cousin's wedding where she had hidden under the cake table and cried. She had been seven that time.

Nora tried to explain it to her mother- the murky beating of her heart in her head, the dots obscuring her vision, the tightness in her chest, the invisible hand squeezing the air from her lungs. Terror had taken residence inside Nora and made the girl its slave when ever a storm rang over head.

From that admission on it was a barrage of doctors and tests. Eventually she was diagnosed with severe brontophobia.

'And now,' She thought to herself, 'I had to go and have an attack in front of these guys. I mean, Uncle Shaggy gets scared of things too, but my fear I just plain ridiculous.'

Nora looked up, across the tub was her gangly Uncle crammed into a third of the tub, one leg hanging over side from lack of space, head awkwardly resting on faucet, as a good half of Scooby's hind legs held his chest in place. Before she could stop herself, Nora's lips turned upward in a small smile at the two in front of her.

'Still, they stayed with me. But what does that count for?'

Nora didn't like dogs. As a matter-of-fact, she hated them. Well, actually, she feared them. But it was that fear inside her that made her hate them. You didn't seem weak if you were angry at something, rather than afraid of it, right? Ever since she was young it had been that way. Nora felt Scooby was no different. Though she wasn't sure, she could barely remember how deliciously warm his fur was, along with his calm breathing and gentle licks. He wanted to protect and comfort her. She couldn't say she trusted him; the wall which she had built around her heart over the years couldn't be broken down so quickly. Nora was sure she would at least attempt to respect Scooby in the least. After all, he made her say two words she hadn't put together in the same sentence in half-a-dozen years; 'Good boy'.

Without giving it much effort, Nora dipped back into sleep, that kind of half sleep that falls over you during a nap, and she skimmed like a salmon along the waters of drowsiness for the next few hours, barely stirring when about an a hour later, her Uncle picked her up out of the tub and settled her on couch.

-000-

Nora awoke on the couch feeling groggy, with a stomach ache, and feeling in desperate need of a shower, despite it being the last thing she did before her...moment last night. She felt disgusting and unpleasant, but most of all, felt like being a bitch to anyone and everyone for no reason and not caring. Not to mention the breakfast she thought she might be smelling she hoped included chocolate somewhere. Why? She felt perfectly okay just hours earlier. Nora released a small groan, but received no response.

'I must be in a room alone. What the Hell?' Nora surprised herself; since when did she think like that? The shock didn't last long, because with the pain she was in, she felt like she deserved it, even earned it, if you will.

Nora opened one painful eyelid, then the other. 'Where am I?' She looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. It finally clicked that she was in the living room. Nora tried to sit up, but fell back, proving such a motion was painful. Her second attempt, though not graceful, was successful. Nora grabbed her stomach.

'Did I gain weight?'

There was a sharp twinge of pain from just below Nora's stomach, causing her to bend over and grabbing her sides. Why did she feel, wet?

'Oh, oh GOD no! Nonono-'

Nora ran, or waddled rather, herself up the stairs as quickly as she could, biting back the pain, heading straight to the bathroom.

-000-

Nora peaked around the kitchen door, peering at Shaggy timidly, who was reading the comics section of the newspaper.

"Uncle Shaggy?" The beatnik glanced out from his paper at his niece, who was staring at him with a blush and a wide doe eyes. She was the cutest little thing-

"Like, what's up kiddo?"

Nora sagged against the door, but opened her mouth and threw it out anyway. "I need some girl-things...it's that time of-of the…month."

Shaggy stared at her as if she'd grown another head. He pulled the paper back up suddenly, "Scooby, go take Nora to the store." Came a voice from behind the paper.

"Ruh?"

After some complaining of cramps, whining, and the threat of water works, Shaggy threw his pride out the window and drove Nora to the nearest drug store. He stood by the magazine rack by the front door the entire time, while Nora gathered her things. Shaggy gave her twenty dollars, not even looking at her when handing her the money, as she headed for the register to pay.

He received no change, and was not about to ask Nora about it, fearing a hormonal break-down.

She ran to the van, practically flying past Shaggy so he wouldn't see her shame. He walked to the snack aisle and bought some pudding. Chocolate pudding.

When they got home, Nora took off to the bathroom ahead of Shaggy to get herself together. Shaggy went straight to the kitchen, preparing chocolate-chip waffles. Shaggy, despite popular belief, wasn't stupid. He knew some things about girls in their, states. Sugey taught him early on; provide MUCH chocolate, but don't insist on eating it for he was sure to get the, 'ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME FATTER?' speech. (He also learned that any hesitation to answer would result in 'OH! SO YOU REALLY DO THINK I'M FAT?') It was like an offering to the Tiki God, drop the plate and run. Sure he went through this with Sugey, but with Nora, it was just…different. Way awkward.

Over a half an hour past, and still no Nora. Shaggy walked up the stairs, slowly and cautiously. Finally making it to the door, he heard light sobs and hiccups. He rapped his knuckles on the door.

"Norry?"

"Go -hic!- A-waaay!"

He pressed on, "Norry, are you okay in there?" He couldn't believe he was going to ask this, "Do you need me to come in-"

"NO!" Nora screeched, then continued to cry. He flinched.

"Nora, are you sure you're okay?"

There was a pause before her answer. "N-no. This is my first one. I don't know how any of this w-o-o-o-o-o-orks!" Nora burst into tears, and continued to bawl behind the door as Shaggy made his way downstairs. Faster than he could ever remember, he began to dial Velma's phone number.

He was going to need just a little bit more than Velma's brains for this one.

-000-

When Shaggy saw Fred's convertible pull in the drive he had never felt happier, not to mention safer. When Fred, Velma and Daphne all got out, Shaggy almost hugged them.

"I, like, wanna help her but, don't know…thanks for coming, guys." Shaggy rung his hands, obviously distressed about the whole situation.

"It's okay Shaggy, we understand," Velma nodded, as well as Daphne.

Shaggy parenting, even the words together themselves sounded foreign to the gang, which might have been why every one had rallied to the beatnik's house. They wanted to give support, and they remembered Nora when she was little.

"Shaggy? Did you want to come give moral support?" Daphne offered as she stepped onto the stair, Velma close behind.

Shaggy held up his hand before him, "Like, no way man! There's two things I don't mess with, that's teenage girls, and teenage girls in high school. For a few weeks back when Sugey was that age I thought I was gonna get knifed in my sleep, let me tell you."

So Daphne and Velma headed upstairs and both he and Fred paced nervously downstairs.

When Daphne and Velma got to the bathroom, they were stopped by Scooby, who was just plain confused about the whole situation and was lying outside the bathroom door, looking pitiful.

Daphne bent over, "Oh, poor Scooby-Doo. I bet you feel bad for Nora, right, Scooby?"

"Ruh-huh," Scooby nodded, lower lip protruding, eyes wide.

Velma mimicked Daphne and rubbed the Great Dane's head encouragingly. "I know you want to be there for Nora, Scooby, but I think the best thing at this point is to head downstairs with the rest of the men, okay?"

Reluctantly, the brown dog heaved himself to his feet and headed downstairs, nails clicking on the wood at his descent.

Straightening up, Daphne smoothed her dress and tapped her knuckles against the door. "Nora? Can you hear me?"

"Uh, who's, th-that?"

"I'm Daphne Blake, a friend of your Uncle's, we haven't met since you very little, sweetie." Nora seemed to be processing this information, for there was silence on the other end of the oak door.

"And I'm here too!" Velma made herself sound cheerful, fully sympathizing with the poor girl.

A small hiccup came from behind the door, "Oh! You're…uhm, Velma, right? Dinkley…I think?"

"Yup!"

Daphne smiled at the door, "Don't worry Nora, the cavalry has arrived, everything will be fine now."

Scooby, though he would never admit it, was glad he was given permission to go down stairs. He wanted to help Nora, he really did, but that smell of iron was too much to handle. It filled his nostrils and he felt sick to his stomach. Other dogs would act on a complete different instinct, but considering Nora was practically his niece, well, Scooby wanted to puke.

He was half way down the stairs when he heard Fred's voice. His mood did a quick one-eighty as he dashed down the remaining steps and tackled the blonde man to the floor. "Reddy! Ri!" He exclaimed.

Fred, ignoring the soreness of being forced to the ground in such a painful manner, laughed in response. "Hi Scooby Doo! How are you buddy?" Freddy continued to laugh, previous matter forgotten, as his face quickly became saturated with dog drool. After a few moments, Freddy finally found the strength to push the Great Dane off his chest and sat up, though Scooby remained in his lap. Freddy's attention turned back to Shaggy.

"So, what's going on with her? Velma and Daph wouldn't tell me." Freddy was a very bright young man, he really was, but sometimes he could be clueless.

"It's, like, nothing you want to know, man."

-000-

Over ten minutes passed by and the girl was starting to calm down to where she almost had finished her sniffling. Considering the situation, they were going very quickly. Daphne, whom had emptied an over-sized purse, which was really more of a suitcase than hand bag, stored everything Nora could possibly need under the sink in the cupboard. Velma and Daphne were a tag team. Velma explained the biological science behind the madness, while Daphne went through procedures and how-to's, answering any and all questions along the way. They even listened very intently to the girl's sob story of her last few days.

"I'm guessing all this sudden stress helped bring this on. Between your mother leaving and that storm-Nora, why didn't your mother ever tell you about any of this?" Velma asked, patting the girl's knee with one hand, adjusting her glasses with the other. Daphne handed the girl two pills and whispered, "Take these," under Velma's voice as she handed the girl a dixie cup of water.

Nora gulped down both pills at once and finished her water, "It, must have slipped her mind," Nora glared at the floor. The mention of her mother at that moment hit a certain soft spot. The sort of spot that was soft because it was bruised, and sore, and festering. "I knew of this sort of thing, but I obviously that wasn't much knowledge at all."

"Hey, it's alright, honey," Daphne hugged the young one. Nora wanted to pull away at first, almost hissing at the human contact, but realized how much more comforting she needed, and wanted. "If you have any questions, or need any help at all, just call." Daphne took out a small sheet of paper with two phone numbers underlined by the two names they belonged to.

"My number is there too. Call us or stop by anytime; your Uncle won't mind at all. We'll be over as quickly as we humanly able," Velma insisted.

Nora, face forced into an uncomfortable frown, nodded her head. It was then her stomach came to life, growling as if ready to attack. The girl blushed as she covered her abdomen, but it only got louder.

"Come on, Nora. Let's head down stairs to get you something to eat," Velma smiled warmly at Nora. She let out a mousy sound, apparently agreeing, because she stood followed the women out the door.

Nora was finally feeling better. She felt like some of that unbearable weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She felt like she wasn't alone. She felt-like she should murder her uncle! Nora came face-to-face with a man she wasn't sure if she had met before. Freddy turned around to see her staring at him in disbelief. Though she wouldn't ever utter her thoughts, she thought he was a little easy on the eyes, though she wasn't sure if she would have thought such thoughts before that day. Of course, all those thoughts were lost when he smiled at her, waved, and said, "Hey Nora. How's your little problem going?"

Little did she know he had no clue as to what either of her problems were; i.e. her body playing a horrible presto-change-o trick on her, or her sudden lack of privacy and trust she suddenly felt. It was then she began to screech loud enough to put any harpy-lady to shame.

-000-

About an hour later, the house had finally quieted down, and Shaggy, Scooby and the homicidal niece were the only ones left in the big place, all congregated in the living room, Nora curled up in the easy chair, lost among big black blankets and huge cushy throw pillows. Once her fever brought on from the cramps slowly ebbed away, she found herself in a very comfy place, but with hormones still raging war on her senses, she had no desire to leave her spot, and no one made her.

Her Uncle was her angel undercover at that moment, after covering her up, he went to kitchen and returned with, no joke, three Hershey's bars, a box of oreos, a jar of peanut butter, and, upon her tear-filled request, a bowl of regular buttered pasta with salt and pepper mixed in. All it was delicious, and all of it was gone over the course of the next five hours, during which Nora simply sat and ate and wallowed in pain and watched the television set as the night settled around the house like one of Nora's blankets.

Her Uncle let her watch whatever, all though he did have to change the channel during the climax of Titanic, after he watched his niece dissolve in a padded pile of full-size tears and sobs.

Now it was the middle of the night, the day gone in an aftermath of the 'Curse,' and hidden by food and sad movies, and after Nora had started crying at The Lion King, Shaggy finally stuck in the first movie he could find that couldn't be a tearjerker, which turned out to be Space Jam, and eventually all three of them fell asleep to it, Nora in her chair, Shaggy on the couch, Scooby on Shaggy. It was twelve thirty at that time.

Nora woke up to an uncomfortable sensation in her lower body. 'Uhm…okay,' She thought as her mind started waking up, 'Daphne said…to take some more aspirin after six hours, and I took it…at what time?' Her eyes rolled to the ceiling as her brows furrowed while she began to count off the hours on her fingers.

She grudgingly began to crawl out from her cozy cocoon, and tiptoed upstairs to the bathroom, shutting the door as silently as humanly possible. Releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, Nora quickly changed, then opened the door and peeked out to make sure no one had woken up at her flushing. Didn't sound like it.

'Now for those miracle little pills,' She found them waiting for her on the countertop, along with the cup she's used this afternoon. A wave of hot pain ran through her and she doubled over for second, hissing through her teeth and willing her mouth to close around her scream, letting out only a small gasp of pain.

'Crapcrapcrap. The bottle says two…Daphne gave me two…oh, what could be wrong with taking three or four? I am in a lot of pain after all.' She poured out five, and returned one, and had her cupped hand full of pills nearly to her lips when something appeared in the doorway.

"Rora?"

The girl jumped back and straightened to see a groggy Scooby-Doo in the door way, eyelids dropping. He gave a gigantic yawn.

Recalling all the huge goofy dog had done for her, Nora couldn't find it in her heart to yell at him.

"Go back to sleep Scooby. I'm okay," I'm dieing, I'm freaking exploding "Really, I'm fine."

Scooby regarded the girl for a minute, looking a minuscule bit more awake now, before shaking his head and dropping outside the door, head on his paws, big eyes watching her.

'Oh, he's waiting for me…I guess. That's kind of sweet.'

Nora forgot all about the dog as she grabbed her abdomen and doubled over as another sharp pain overtook her being. She placed a hand over her mouth, feeling as though she was going to lose all that food she had eaten. After a third wave of pain, and some Lamaze breathing, she slowly began to stand up straight, arms still in position around her stomach. Scooby was up and at her side in no time at all, though she still didn't seem to notice him. He put his cold nose on her upper thigh, making her jump, causing more pain. Nora bit her lip and dug her nails into her palms until they formed little half moon in-dents, feeling sudden anger at him, just resisting screaming at poor Scooby Doo.

'He's just trying to help, don't lose your temper. It's just your hormones.'

After some deep breaths, Nora began to walk to the door to exit the bathroom, but her body began to smart once more. One sharp intake of breath later, Nora hobbled her way back to the medicine cabinet. She found the ibuprofen bottle, missing the Midol completely, and swallowed two more pills. Nora stared at the bottle in her hand.

'The more pills I take, the more pain relief, right? I think they only wanted me to take two so I didn't become addicted, right?' Nora pondered as she gulped down a sip of water to go with her fifth and sixth pills. 'I'm not the sort of person,' she thought mindlessly.

Scooby, not aware of proper dosage, simply stayed by her side, and let her cling to his collar as he guided her through the darkness of the hallway. Once back in the living room, with Shaggy still out cold, Nora curled back up into her cocoon of blissful solitude, completely obvious to the dangers of over-dosing which had slipped her mind, and drifted to sleep.

That morning, Shaggy couldn't wake her out of her coma-tose like state.

A/N: Torpe: My poor father, he puts up with so much. He's not afraid of anything, but the three women of the house; especially when our cycles fall into sync. He is the ultimate provider of chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, chocolate syrup, and knows just when to hand over the remote without being asked. Thank you, Daddy. -heart-