Moynihan narrowed her eyes. She was angry for how Victor was talking about her kids, but she had to keep her end of the deal. She did indicate that she would release him if he promised that he would leave the Dino Squad alone. How much of that that she should believe, she wasn't sure. 'You'd better...for your sake...' She said in a tone very much like Victor's whenever he said that himself. Cautiously, she released him and took a few steps back. Victor got up off the ground and stared at her, but didn't do anything. After about a minute of just standing there, watching each other, Moynihan finally decided to leave. She slowly turned around. She hesitated briefly, glancing back at Victor, and then turned and started to walk where Fiona, Rodger, and Caruso were.

Victor watched Moynihan start to walk away. His heart was racing from the thought of defeat and he felt a pang of anger and fury in his stomach as he realized what he had just done. He could still feel Moynihan's teeth in his neck and he could still feel her claw digging into him. He wasn't sure if he should feel happy or angry. On one hand, Moynihan was acting more like him, whether or not she wanted to admit that. She was behaving more like a dinosaur, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of her. Perhaps there was hope yet for her to be reformed and come back to him. But on the other hand, she was still willing to defend the humans from them, and she was still willing to put a protective wing over the traitorous Michelle. And if she kept her word, and he had a feeling she would, he would have to deal with Moynihan herself again if he came near Michelle again. But then again, he was rather resourceful and clever. He could come up with a way to deal with his enemies. Besides, why should he heed to Moynihan's threat completely?

As he watched Moynihan walk away, all sorts of thoughts ran through his mind. He still didn't want to admit defeat. And he could sense the Dino Squad were nearby. They were still weak. He could finish them off easily. He narrowed his eyes. He made up his mind. He was going to go against his so-called promise he just made and deal with Moynihan right now. If he killed her now, he would be able to go after the Dino Squad and eliminate them completely. Victor lowered his head and tightened up his leg muscles as he prepared to run. After a few seconds, he charged forward, keeping as quiet as possible so Moynihan wouldn't realize what was going on until it was too late.

Fiona had noticed this and called out to Moynihan. "Ms. M! Look out!"

Moynihan turned her head around, but didn't react in time. She was suddenly pushed into the ground, Victor having landed on her back. Her chin slammed into the ground, and she cried out as she accidentally bit her tongue, tasting her own blood. She tried to get up, but then she felt Victor clamp his jaws around her throat, the way that she had just a few minutes earlier. 'Victor! Let me go!'

'Not until you give into my demands..' Victor said darkly, repeating the same thing Moynihan earlier.

'Why should I give into your demands?' Moynihan demanded, struggling in Victor's grasp.

'Because now you're at my mercy...' Victor said, a smile spreading on his dinosaurian jaws. He looked up and noticed the three teens were starting to come down his way, albeit limping or stumbling. He immediately slammed a paw into Moynihan's side, digging his talons into her, forcing her to scream. 'DON'T COME ANY CLOSER OR I WILL KILL HER!' The Dino Squad immediately stopped, only several feet away but too frightened to move any closer for fear Victor will keep his word and kill Moynihan.

Moynihan bared her teeth at Victor. 'You're a sore loser, Vic. You always have been. You can't take losing and you will do something as underhanded as this to get even.'

Victor's eyes traveled back to Moynihan. 'Underhanded, Joanne? And what about you? Threatening to kill me just so that I wouldn't bother a couple of worthless whelplings?'

'Isn't that what you are doing now?' Joanne asked him.

'At least I'm doing it for the right reason.' Victor replied calmly.

'You call murder a good reason?' Moynihan hissed at him. 'At least I did it for the welfare of all life..'

'The welfare of all life, eh? What about the dinosaurs?' Victor said darkly. 'They are life, so why not include them?'

'I told you before, Vic, they are dead!' Moynihan snapped back.

'So what?! Dead or alive, the dinosaurs are the most superior species that ever lived on this planet! They deserve to be resurrected from the dead and the humans deserve to be pushed away like the vermin that they are!' Victor hissed, biting harder into Moynihan's neck, threatening to rip out her throat. 'And since you continue to deny the dinosaurs the same right as you are giving the humans, I will make sure you join them!'

'You don't have to do this, Victor!' Moynihan cried out. 'Listen to reason, Vic! I never wanted to go against you, but you forced it on me! If you had only lightened up in your views, I would have stayed!'

'But it's too late for that now, isn't it? It's many years too late...' Victor started to bite down harder, causing Moynihan to start to gasp for air. All Victor needed to go now was give a sharp twist, and then it would all be over...

"STOP!" Fiona shouted angrily. Victor looked up at her and was about to say something, but his eyes widened at what she was holding in her hands. It was the same weapon that he had wanted Oscura to get. Victor couldn't think of how she had gotten a hold of it, unless Oscura had brought it with her and forgot about it, and Fiona just found it laying on the ground. It would make sense. The battle was intense and something like a weapon could have been easily forgotten about or overlooked in the chaos. Either way, Victor found himself starting down the barrel of this dangerous weapon. Fiona sensed Victor's hesitation and took a step forward. Rodger and Caruso just looked at her in shock. "Get away from Moynihan! Now!"

Victor released his grip on Moynihan and lifted up his head, eyeing the girl suspiciously. He wondered if the girl even had it in her to shoot him. He chuckled. He remembered how this girl made him pay thousands of dollars to an animal shelter. He was aware of her soft side for animals. He opened his mouth part way in a grin. If she didn't have the stomach to harm an animal, then she would be too work to shoot him, no matter who or what he was. 'Is that a threat, little girl?'

Fiona lifted the Troodon-like gun a little higher, trying to level it with Victor's head. "I said get off of her!" She demanded again, placing her finger on the trigger, threatening to pull on it.

But Victor remained unfazed. He did get off of Moynihan, but now he was walking towards Fiona. The girl took a few steps back as the large raptor came up to her, but she refused to run away. Moynihan slowly got up onto her feet and looked over at where Fiona was. Her eyes widened and she attempted to rush towards Victor to stop him, but her foot got caught in the thick mud and she fell forward. Victor, on the other hand, didn't have any trouble walking straight up to Fiona, lowering his head close to hers, his teeth bared. 'Go ahead and shoot me, little girl. Let's see you do it.' He dared her.

"I will!" Fiona started to pull at the trigger, but her hands had started to become shaky, and she found it difficult to go through with the task. It wasn't because she was afraid of shooting Victor. It was because she still had no idea what this weapon was actually going to do. What should she expect? Is it going to knock out Victor or kill him? Would it cause an explosion? She didn't know, but she didn't lower the weapon and just continued to glare at Victor.

Veloci, on the other hand, took this hesitation as a sign of weakness. Sensing the girl was afraid to actually use the weapon, Veloci got a little closer to her. 'I knew you were too weak to do it, kid. All humans are too weak to do it...'

"Don't judge me so easily, Veloci!" Fiona told him, baring her Spinosaurus teeth. "Miscalculating your opponent's strengths and abilities will be your downfall!"

'Don't make me laugh. Even if you were to shoot me... what would that do for you? It would only delay the inevitable.' Victor put his head close to Fiona's. 'Why don't you just give up your futile pursuits and give into me? Trust me, death would be a far better option for what I might have in store for you if you continue to resist my authority.'

Fiona tightened her grip on the weapon, poised to shoot Victor. But she still couldn't bring herself to shoot. Instead, she took a step back. Behind her, Caruso and Rodger noticed her hesitation and tried to encourage her. Rodger was the first to speak up. "Come on, Fiona! Shoot him! You have a clear shot!"

Caruso joined in. "Y-Yes! Do it! B-B-Before it's too late!"

Victor lifted up his head, glaring evilly at the two boys. 'You two stay out of this!' He turned his attention back to Fiona. 'Regardless of what they say, you're weak...just like all humans are. Why don't you put down that gun? And I will make your death a swift one...'

"No!" Fiona shouted, keeping the gun level to him. She had taken a few more steps back, putting distance between her and the ravenous dinosaur.

Victor licked his chops. 'If you say so, kid...' He lowered his haunches briefly before spring into the air, mouth wide open and claws brought out forward. A loud screech filled the air.

"FIONA!" Caruso and Rodger shouted in unison and they both looked away, not wanting to see what would happen next.

Suddenly, a loud buzzing sound, mixed in with crackling, sounded out, and then a few seconds later, a horrible scream mixed in with it. Rodger and Caruso opened up their eyes to see what had happened. Victor was laying on the ground, twitching multiple times, especially in the hands and legs. His eyes were wide open, the expression a mixture of shock and pain. His eyes slowly moved up to Fiona, who shoot over him with the weapon still aimed at him. Victor looked on in disbelief, in total shock that Fiona would actually shoot him. He really had misjudged her. Victor tried to get up, but his body was too shaky and he fell back down.

"I told you I would shoot you..." Fiona said to him, her eyes still narrowed.

Victor stared up at her and let out a groan of pain. But he still wasn't willing to admit defeat. Despite the pain he was in, he still wasn't going to give into this human. He started to push himself off the ground and was able to support himself a bit on his arms, although they shook terribly. 'I will not admit defeat to the likes of you..' Victor said, baring his teeth. 'Only a weakling would give into humans...'

Fiona shook her head. "And only a fool would continue to try to fight an opponent when they have been clearly defeated."

Suddenly, Victor struck his foot out towards Fiona. Before Fiona could react, Victor's sickle claw slashed one of her legs, directly on the shin. Fiona cried out in pain, dropping the weapon at her side. Fiona dropped to the ground, holding her injured leg close to herself. Rodger and Caruso were horrified and called out her name, trying to get her to move. But Fiona couldn't hear them for at that moment, Victor let out a roar, finally managing to get up. Although he was still clearly in pain, stumbling as he took a step towards her, he was still poised to attack. Using the last of his strength, Victor leaped into the air, bringing his hand forward to slash her with his claws. Fiona looked up at him and screamed and looked away.

Victor's eyes suddenly flew open wide. He pulled his head back as if some kind of force had struck him from behind. Then his kneels buckled forward. Fiona struggled to move back as the large body fell to the ground heavily. Victor's head landed just inches in front of Fiona. His eyes were now closed and his mouth open, tongue hanging out. Fiona stared at the body for a few seconds before turned her head up to see what had struck Victor. Fiona found herself staring at another Velociraptor, whom she knew was her mentor. Moynihan had one hand lifted up, positioned towards the other arm, indicating that she had struck Victor on the back of his head. Moynihan stared at Fiona, her expression softened up into a worried expression. She then bit down onto Victor again, this time throwing him to the side, then looked back at Fiona.

"Ms. Moynihan..." Fiona whispered.

'Are you all right, Fiona?' Moynihan asked, lowering her head close to Fiona's.

Fiona nodded her head, placing her hands on Moynihan's head. 'Yes...' She then wrapped her arms around Moynihan's head and neck, pulling her into a hug. 'Thanks to you...'

Behind them, Caruso and Rodger found the strength and courage to walk up to them. They were, however, a little hesitate because Victor was still there. Even though he was unconscious, they didn't know how long he would remain that way and were worried he could spring at them any second. Caruso especially was frightened. He had never truly gotten over what happened to him at the warehouse and seeing Victor, awake or not, brought back horrible memories. Rodger tried to comfort him by making Caruso look at him or straight ahead where Fiona and Moynihan were. Within a few minutes they had reached Fiona and Moynihan. By this time, Moynihan had changed back to human and was hugging Fiona. Noticing Caruso and Rodger coming up to them, Moynihan and Fiona let go of each other and turned to face them.

"Come on..let's go.." Rodger said, pointing his thumb back behind him. "Max, Buzz, and Michelle are heading towards the hospital. We should head there as well."

Moynihan nodded her head. "You kids should get admitted too."

"Why?" Rodger inquired. Before Moynihan could answer, he realized what she meant. "Oh..." Michelle wasn't the only one who suffered in the battle. Max, Caruso, Buzz, Fiona, and himself had all suffered injuries, as well as Moynihan.

"How..how do we explain to them what happened?" Caruso asked. "I mean, I don't think w-we can tell them that we were in a d-d-dinosaur fight..."

"Well we could always come up with a lie." Fiona said, glancing at Caruso. "That's what I ended up having to do when we had to take care of the mutant ants."

"And besides..how are we even going to get there?" Rodger asked. Silence fell upon them. Not even Moynihan had an answer for that. They had no vehicles way out here. They were taken here against their free will. And there was no one here that they knew could help them. The only option that they had was to walk to the hospital.

Just then, a loud beep rang out, startling the group. A bright light shined in their eyes. They held up their hands, trying to get a good look at a large, dark shadow that was approaching them. They tensed up, prepared to fight in case it was a new threat. But when the lights dimmed down, they recognized the color of the vehicle. They realized it was the Dino SUV. Confused, they relaxed slowly, wondering how the Dino SUV even got here and who was driving it. Then the door opened up, and a figure stepped out.

Fiona's eyes went wide. "Dad...?"

Then other doors opened up and more people stepped out. Caruso took a step forward as he recognized one of the last people to come out. "Mom...?"

"Fiona.." Bryant said. Standing next to him was his wife and other daughter, Terri.

Fiona rushed towards them and flung her arms around her father. Then she went over and hugged her mother. But one thing was on her mind. "How did you guys find us?"

Nevina looked down at her oldest daughter. "We realized something was wrong when you didn't come home, so we went to the lighthouse and Terri was able to use the lighthouse's scanners to find you guys."

Fiona looked over at Terri, who was looking at her with a smile on her face. Fiona walked up to Terri. She wasn't at all surprised that Terri was able to do this. She was a smart girl and she could have figured out where they were even if the scanners weren't working. But something felt different about this time. If Terri hadn't been able to find them, they would have been dead. Unable to hold back her smile, Fiona wrapped her arms around her sister and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Terri..."

Terri was surprised at first, but she returned the hug, closing her eyes contently. "I'm just glad we were able to find you."

Irwin was over with his parents, hugging his mother tightly as she cried happily, overjoyed to have her son back. Jack was equally happy, putting his arms around both Amanda and Irwin. "I'm so glad you're safe.." Amanda said, her voice slightly cracking.

"I-I'm just h-happy to see you again..." Irwin whispered softly, smiling. "I-I thought I'd never s-see you again.." Tears streamed down his face.

Amanda hugged her son even tighter. "I thought I'd never see you again either..."

Jack continued to hug his family. Although he had no tears in his eyes, he was just as emotionally struck as his son and wife. One part of him wanted to ask what had happened, but the other part was just glad to have his son back and didn't want to ask any further questions. "We should be heading home now..."

But Irwin shook his head. "No..we should head to the hospital.. We all need treatment..." Jack nodded his head and everyone started to head to the Dino SUV.

The following morning, Michelle groaned, and slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was very blurry and she had a pounding headache. She didn't have any idea of where she was. The color white filled her vision and at first she thought she was staring into a blinding light. But as her vision cleared up, she realized white was the color of the room she was in. She was confused. This wasn't the color of her bedroom. She sighed softly and tried to move. But a wave of pain caught her by surprised. She cried out and quickly laid back down. She glanced down at her body. She was wearing a nightgown of sorts and she could see bandages that wrapped around her, keeping her cuts from bleeding. Surgical tape wrapped around her shoulder, a blood soaked pad in the middle of it. A thin sheet covered herself in the soft white bed and next to her, there was a cup filled with water. She started to reach out for it when something else came into view.

Michelle looked up and saw a face staring at her. She didn't recognize it at first, but as her vision cleared up, she started to see some of the detailed features of the face. After a few moments, she recognized who it was and she couldn't help but be surprised. "Buzz...?" She muttered, her voice slightly hoarse.

Buzz smiled at her. "Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked gently.

Michelle tried to sit up, but was wracked with pain again and she laid back down. "I've been better..." She muttered under her breath.

Buzz chuckled lightly and said, "Well if you stop moving around so much, maybe you could heal faster." It wasn't meant in a harsh tone though, and Michelle could sense that. "The others were admitted too, but their wounds were easier to treat. You on the other hand..." He pointed at her. "..they said they would need to keep you longer. You suffered more than any of us had."

Michelle winced. Isn't this just her lucky day, she thought to herself. She took notice of the bandages wrapped around Buzz's arms. "What happened to you?"

Buzz frowned lightly. "Victor happened..."

At the mention of Victor, Michelle shifted her head quickly, looking left and then right. "Victor?! Where is he?" She asked in a frightened tone of voice. She still remembered the look that he gave her when he was going to deliver the final blow, his paw raised up in the air. That image would forever be imprinted on Michelle's mind.

Buzz reached out and touched her uninjured shoulder carefully and said, "Don't worry. He isn't here. He's still back near Raptor Dyne."

Michelle started to relax, although she was starting to become confused again. She thought Buzz hated her. She couldn't understand why he was being nice to her now. She looked up at Buzz and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Why...?"

"Why what?" Buzz asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Why..after all those threats...why are you being nice to me now?" Michelle asked, her voice a little low.

Buzz looked ashamed and turned his head away. "About that...I'm sorry..." He looked back at Michelle. "I'm so sorry.. I.. I was just... I don't know..." Buzz rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to explain it to Michelle.

"Did I remind you of Victor?" Michelle asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah..you did.." Buzz said, still feeling bad about what he did. "What you did to us a few weeks ago, tricking us and invading the lighthouse, it reminded me of what Victor did to me. You see, he pretended to be a girl about my age and tricked me into thinking that 'she' was in trouble. It turned out to be a trap and he almost got me. If it not been for my friends..." Buzz stopped and looked away again.

Michelle looked at him sympathetically. It did make sense now. That would explain why he continued to give her a hard time even after she apologized and tried to make things right. She reached out towards him and grabbed his arm. Buzz looked down at her, slightly surprised. "Don't worry about it.. I forgive you."

Buzz looked at Michelle in shock. Those were the words he never expected to hear from her. "You would forgive me..? After what I've done to you?"

Michelle nodded her head slowly. "Well of course... I-I can't really blame you for the way you've acted. I just hope that..we can start over and be..." She hesitated on the last word. "..friends..?" She looked up at him hopefully, a small smile on her face.

At first, Buzz didn't know what to say. At last, he smiled back at her. "Of course we can..."

Just then, Michelle heard footsteps of other people approaching her bed. She didn't have to look to know who it was. The other Dino Squad members had arrived, each of them looking at her sympathetically. Michelle was pleasantly surprised by what was happening to her now. She had expected to either be dead, or wake up alone and hurt. But instead, she's getting a warm welcome from the very people she once called her enemies. It felt so strange and yet so good to her at the same time. This was going to take some getting used to; she wasn't used to so many people actually feeling concerned about her. Not even her own family cared about her as much as these people seemed to.

For a while, the room was silent. The only sound that could be heard was the beeping that was monitoring Michelle's vitals. Finally, the first one to speak up was Max. "Hello, Michelle." He said, his voice filled with concern. He walked right up to her side, next to Buzz, and asked, "How are you feeling right now?"

Michelle smirked softly. "Your friend Buzz here already asked me that question." She then winced softly as she tried to reposition herself on the bed. "And the truth is..I've seen better days, that's for sure..."

"Don't move around so much." Rodger said somewhat sternly. "You'll only hurt yourself more."

Michelle chuckled almost bitterly. She turned her head to look at Rodger. Not so long ago, he would give her a cold stare and wouldn't give her much of a chance. But now he seems to genuinely care about her, or perhaps it was as simple as he found out he was wrong and wanted to make up for it. "I didn't know you actually cared..." Michelle said softly, a tinge of slight anger in her voice. She might have forgiven Buzz, but she still hadn't forgiven Rodger. He hadn't yet explained why he acted the way he did. And Michelle couldn't think of any reason for him to act like that, anything that would somewhat justify his actions anyway. "I thought you hated me."

"I did hate you..before." Rodger said, lowering his head slightly. He had been expecting such a reaction from Michelle, especially after the way he had acted towards her. He rubbed the back of his head as he tried to come up with something to tell her. He was certain that Michelle was capable of understanding if he explained in a certain way. He had to admit, he was wrong about her. He and Buzz thought they figured her out, but they were both so wrong about her. And he was glad that they were wrong. "I couldn't help it..the way Buzz reacted towards you..the fact that you helped Caruso get captured..and almost killing Moynihan, how could I not hate you?"

Michelle had nearly forgotten about that. Feeling bad for getting angry with Rodger, she lowered her head and apologized. "You've got a point there... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get upset with you." She took in a long, deep sigh. "My actions weren't very justified either.. I mean, how can I justify what I did to you guys?" She closed her eyes, allowing a tear to stream down her face. "I was just so scared...frightened of what Victor would do to me if I dare disobeyed him.. He forced me into it..." She shook her head. "But..that's not good enough of a reason, is it?"

"No." Said Moynihan, who had just arrived in the room. Michelle expected Moynihan to be still angry with her, but instead, the woman greeted her with a soft smile. "But the point is you did help us. You risked your life to save Caruso."

"Yeah." Caruso said. "Y-You realized your mistake..a-and you did something about it... That takes c-courage."

"Even though what you did was terrible, you more than made up for it..." Fiona said, smiling softly. She gave Caruso a sideways glance. Although Fiona didn't say anything, Michelle sensed that the two were in love, and if it weren't for her horrible actions, they never would have grown so close.

Max nodded his head. "And by going against Victor the way you did, you've shown you do have a strong sense of justice and found the courage you needed to do the right thing. You're not the fool Victor thinks you are."

Michelle smiled, touched by what they all said to her. It made her feel more welcome among the group. This was a strange new feeling for her still, as she is not used to people being this nice to her. If she were still at Raptor Dyne, there was be no visits from anyone, or if there were, they would just be either Victor annoyed she wasn't healing faster or just a message about a mission she is supposed to be on or something. But even though the team seemed to have forgiven her, she still didn't think she belonged with them. She wondered if they still held any bitterness towards her, any buried anger that they hadn't released yet. She tried to smile. "Thanks, you guys..but.." The faint smile faded and she lowered her gaze. "..I still don't think I deserve it..."

Moynihan blinked a few times and then smiled. "Well of course you deserve it, dear." She reached a hand forward and gently cupped Michelle's chin. "Your bravery and fighting skills were extraordinary, and without them, none of us would be here today. And it's because of what you've done for us, that I think you would make an excellent addition to the team."

This caught Michelle off guard. She was glad she wasn't holding the drink now despite her thirst, or else she would have dropped it from the initial shock of what Moynihan had said. Did she hear her right? Did Moynihan actually say she considered putting her on the Dino Squad team? Michelle stared wide-eyed at Moynihan. "What...? You would consider putting me on the Dino Squad?"

Moynihan nodded her head slowly. "Well, why not? You've certainly proven yourself. And you'll be much safer with us than anywhere else."

"Yeah. We could use someone like you on the team." Max said in agreement.

"Well..I don't know.." Michelle started to say. "I mean...I never expected..."

"I know. I never would have expected it myself." Buzz said, shrugging his shoulders. Then he smiled. "And yet, here we are."

"So..what do you say?" Moynihan asked. "Will you join us and help with our cause to save the world?"

Michelle wanted to say yes, but there was still something holding her back. While she didn't think her folks would even care, they could easily stop her. And they would probably ask her what happened, and if she told them, they would condemn her, thinking she had done a terrible wrong. They wouldn't be as forgiving as the Dino Squad. "I..I would, but..." She lowered her gaze.

"What is it?" Moynihan asked her gently. "Is something holding you back?" Michelle looked up at her and nodded slowly. "What's wrong?"

"It's my folks..." Michelle said softly, her gaze low. "I'm..not sure if they would approve of me joining. They don't really pay much attention to me, I admit..." Michelle closed her eyes, recalling of the multiple times she would come home or leave and not once did they say anything to her. "...but they are also not very forgiving people. If they find out what I did, and I know they will, I'll be in big trouble."

Moynihan thought about this. It would be a problem, indeed, if Michelle's folks found out about her powers and the Dino Squad. And if what Michelle said was true, it would also be a problem for Michelle herself. Moynihan tried to think of what to do. She wanted to do something to return the favor for Michelle helping them out. There had to be a way for her to help Michelle. For a couple minutes, there was nothing but silence as Moynihan tried to think of something. The Dino Squad kept quiet, watching her, waiting for her to answer. Moynihan started to think about her own lighthouse. She had some rooms there that she didn't use that often. And she did have a decent amount of money coming in. After all, how else could she afford all her equipment? And she did have a bird and a dog to take care of. She could probably use another helping hand. She glanced at Michelle, having made up her mind about what she was going to do.

Moynihan said, "Well what do you think about moving in with me?" Michelle looked at her in shock. The Dino Squad looked at Moynihan, surprised as well. "I wouldn't mind. I have some extra rooms. You could stay in one if you'd like... And if you're worried about financial issues, don't worry about it. I've got it covered. And I can be very persuasive." She winked, smiling. "I could convince your folks to let you move in with me. What do you say?"

Michelle couldn't help but feel very happy about Moynihan's offer. She wasn't sure if she should say yes, though, because she still felt bad for what she did to Moynihan a couple weeks ago. But she did like this idea more than going back to her folks. And she had seen how kind Moynihan could be with those she cared about. And Moynihan seemed to be much more understanding and fair than Victor was. Living in the lighthouse might not be such a bad idea. It would be safer in the lighthouse than it would be anywhere else. At least in the lighthouse, she would be able to keep an eye on Victor.

Michelle finally nodded her head slowly, a smile tugging on her lips. "I'll do it." As the Dino Squad expressed their approval of the decision, Michelle gestured for Moynihan to come closer to her. Moynihan did so, leaning down so it wouldn't be as difficult for Michelle to talk to her if she didn't want the others to hear. Michelle put an arm lightly around Moynihan and said, "Thank you..." She pulled herself as far up as she could to put her other arm around Moynihan. "..for saving me.."

"It was no trouble.." Moynihan hugged her back. "..not trouble at all."

* * *

Back at Raptor Dyne, Victor sat at his computer, looking very angry. None of his workers had gone near him since he came back into the building. They could tell from the look on his face that he was in no mood to talk. He hadn't left his chair for the past several hours, with the exception of succumbing to human medicine to stop the bleeding from his wounds. He spent most of the time pondering what had just happened. He had planned all this out so perfectly. He had figured out almost everything so he could counter the Dino Squad with something else. He had even had them in his custody for a while. He would have succeeded, too. He would have been able to finally be rid of his enemies, the ones that had been combating him since the 'perfect dinosaurs' had first shown up. But it all came tumbling down, all because of that treacherous Michelle Brown.

When Victor mentioned that it was Michelle who foiled his plans, Oscura had told him that he should have listened to her. Victor told her to shut up and threatened to strike her. He wasn't in the mood to be listening to her boasting on how right she was. But she was indeed correct. Victor's foolish trust in the girl lead to his own downfall. He would need to be more careful in the future. Because of this, he was going to keep an extra eye on his remaining dinosaur employees: Kista, Peter, and Oscura. He knew they weren't going to like it, but he didn't care. He had come so close to achieving his dream, only to have it snatched away from him because of someone he had put too much trust in. The next time he saw Michelle, he was going to make sure she could never interfere with his plans ever again.

He was able to recapture Zoom and O'Ryan. They were currently caged in the mutantsaur containments in the back room. He had figured out a flaw in the primordial ooze he had given them. Although they couldn't be removed by the Chiller or Spiller, the ooze had a shorter lifespan, much shorter than he had thought. Zoom and O'Ryan were going to revert back pretty soon, probably the next day or later on today. It frustrated Victor. But he could always whip up another batch. Primordial ooze, he always had plenty of, a lot to manipulate with. But it was dinosaur DNA that he had so very little of. It's dinosaur DNA that he needed to complete the primordial ooze batch that he wanted to use on the entire planet. He was hoping to do it as soon as possible. It would have been sooner if it weren't for Michelle and her traitorous actions.

Oscura had been disappointed that she missed out on the fight against Michelle. She complained that she had wanted to see Michelle finally get what she deserved. She even wanted to help him kill her off. This only angered Victor further at that point. He had to resist the temptation to strike the girl. He had scolded her, asking her why she wasn't there to help him when he needed it. Oscura had tried to justify her actions by saying that she had been knocked out at the time. But that wasn't good enough for Victor. He had said that he would have expected better from a dinosaur. But he just left it at that and left Oscura alone. Kista, on the other hand, wasn't as sourly disappointed as the rest of them were. Even Peter was more down than she was, but that was because he felt embarrassed about being defeated by a kid. Kista had actually enjoyed the battle, having finally found a worthy opponent to go against. She had stated to Victor that if he ever wanted her to go after the kids again, she would do it, even for free. She enjoyed the adrenaline she felt when she fought against the Dino Squad. While Peter and Oscura thought she was a little weird, they said nothing to her. After all, why would they argue against a sixty-five million year old dinosaur with more fighting experience than they did?

Victor was interrupted by this thoughts when he heard someone approach him. He was only mildly surprised. He did call someone down earlier to give him some news. He suspected that the Dino Squad sabotaged his laboratory while he was knocked out. Instead of disappointing himself, he had asked some of his men to check it out and tell him the bad news. After all, if he got angry, he could just take it out on his employee. "What is it, Adam?"

Adam approached Victor cautiously. He knew what would happen if he did anything to upset Victor at this point. He kept his head low and his hands clasped together. "Well, sir..we checked the entire laboratory like you said."

Victor cocked an eyebrow. "And...? Did you find anything?"

Adam nodded his head slowly. "Yes, Dr. Veloci. We did find something of definite interest."

"Well then..." Victor smiled. "..tell me what it is."

Adam gestured to a couple of men who had come with him into this part of the lab. They were hanging back nervously, as if they were frightened Victor would attack them at any second. "We were able to find all the vials of blood that you have taken from the children." Victor's eyes widened slightly at this. "They're all in perfect condition. They haven't been contaminated or anything. At least...not from what we can tell..." Adam lowered his head a little more. "I hope that is enough for you."

Victor lifted his head up slightly and looked out at the men standing near the elevator. They were looking at him, a little frightened, but they were also holding something in their hands. They were wearing gloves, although it was rather unnecessary. Victor didn't answer Adam. Instead, he got up from his chair and walked over to the two men. They took a step backwards, but remained where they were. Victor held out a hand and said, "Give me one of those vials. Now."

"Y-Yes sir." One of them said before dropping one of the vials of blood in Victor's hand.

Victor grabbed it immediately, squeezing it tightly in the palm of his hand for a few seconds. Then he held it between two strong fingers and looked at it. The vial was still filled with dark red blood, just as it had been when he first drawn it from the kid. He couldn't tell which one this belonged to, but he was certain that this was one of the vials he was hoping to find. And if what his men said were true, the others should be in tact, all five different varieties of them. Victor couldn't help but smile at this. Perhaps this plan wasn't all in vain. He now had the DNA of all five of the 'perfect dinosaurs', and he could use them to create his own perfected dinosaurs.

"It feels ironic, don't you think...?" Victor asked, holding the vial up into the air, staring at it in the light.

"What does, sir?" One of the men asked.

"That the Dino Squad kids think they have defeated me, think they have won today's battle..." An evil smile spread across his face. "..but instead they have only opened the doorway to their own downfall..." The vial itself seemed to glow a reddish color. A moment later, dark laughter filled the room, sending chills down the spines of Adam and his two friends...

* * *

One week later, Michelle was still trying to get adjusted living at the lighthouse, as well as trying to feel a part of the team. Moynihan had spoken to her folks and, sure enough, just like Moynihan promised, she was able to gain permission to allow her to stay. Michelle didn't know how she was able to do it, but she was glad she was able to. The day after she left the hospital, she packed up her belongings and moved in with Moynihan, staying in one of the spare rooms the old woman had available. Of course, there was a price to pay to live with Moynihan and that was chores. Michelle was often put in charge of taking care of Rump or Cerulean, or simply doing household chores before and after the Dino Squad left. Although frustrating and often not so much fun, Michelle did willingly obliged. After all, this beats working with Victor any day.

Rump didn't seem to hold much of a grudge against her. The first day she came over, she was able to befriend him. He was rather nervous around her at first, especially considering what she had done to him weeks before. But Rump seemed to put that behind him quickly after Michelle started to play with him to show him she wasn't going to hurt him again. She had heard complaints about Rump from some members of the Dino Squad, particularly Caruso, but Michelle didn't really understand it. Rump seemed to be such a nice, friendly dog. She couldn't understand how anyone could be upset with such an adorable little dog. She was glad she was able to clear things up so easily with Rump, but she wished she could say the same for the Dino Squad.

Although they had accepted her as part of the team, the teens still hadn't completely forgotten what happened the last time they trusted her to be in the lighthouse. Max was the most easy-going around her, hardly tense at all. Fiona was slightly, but she would always shrug it off, figuring it would take a while to get used to having Michelle around. Caruso was slightly scared of her, but he seemed to be mostly comfortable with her around. It was probably because he was grateful for her risking her life to save his. Moynihan didn't seem to hold a grudge against her and hasn't once brought up what she did when she was still working with Victor. But Buzz and Rodger were another story entirely. They didn't attack her anymore or try to push her away. They did try to treat her as they would their other team mates, but Michelle could tell that they still had some hostility buried deep inside.

There was still some anger inside of them, and Michelle understood that. Rodger and Buzz would usually do nothing more than glare at her, although sometimes they would outright refuse her help if she offered any. It hurt, but she knew the two boys were still trying to get used to having her around and that they probably still didn't get over what she did. She knew they didn't mean it; they just couldn't help themselves. She did feel a glimmer of hope, though, when Buzz did offer her a smile after showing some anger towards her. It wasn't much, but that smile meant a lot to her. It made her feel a bit more at ease at the lighthouse and being among the Dino Squad. Rodger had yet to give her one of these smiles himself, but she wasn't going to rush him. Trust is something she must earn, not force upon people. And she knew that well, particularly from what she had witnessed with the Dino Squad.

Michelle hadn't been on any missions yet. She thought it was because the Dino Squad did not yet fully trust her enough to allow her to go on a mission with them. But they had insisted it was to have her take care of Rump and to help Moynihan with the computer. Michelle wasn't too into computers, but did know enough to offer some help to her. Although despite some apprehensions that still existed between them, Michelle's knowledge of Raptor Dyne did come in handy, and would be a valuable asset for whenever Victor planned to strike again. She just wished they would at least give her a chance on a mission. Another reason they said they wanted her to stay behind was so that Victor wouldn't have a chance at her. Although she was still frightened of Victor, she still wanted to prove herself on a mission. But Moynihan would always convince her to stay at the lighthouse, whether she wanted to or not.

Michelle had also recently been introduced to Fiona's little sister. The girl had never seen Michelle before and was surprised at her presence in the lighthouse. Terri almost thought she was an enemy at first until she saw her petting Rump. Michelle had introduced herself to Terri. She didn't need to know Terri's name; Fiona had mentioned her before in the past, much to Terri's surprise. Michelle had complained at least once to Terri on how she was tired of hanging back at the lighthouse and doing nothing. Terri had told her that she should be patient, but also expressed jealousy when she found out Michelle, as well, could transform into a dinosaur. Terri expressed how she felt like an outsider to the team because she lacked this ability. Michelle had tried to assure her that being a dinosaur wasn't all it was cracked up to be, but Terri was still interested in having a dinosaur body. Michelle simply shrugged her shoulders and thought that, if Victor succeeded in his plans, she would be a dinosaur.

Buzz's father was recaptured before they had left the Raptor Dyne area. They had kept him locked up in one part of the lighthouse, although it was difficult to maintain him. It didn't take long, however, for the effects of the primordial ooze to reverse itself and the wolverine mutantsaur changed back into human form. Moynihan had theorized that Victor didn't properly calculate the primordial ooze, assuming that it would last forever. This primordial ooze had an even weaker lifespan than the others she had seen in the past, 'dying' even when inside a living host. Regardless of how Drew was able to change back, Buzz didn't really care. Drew immediately apologized to his son about what he had done to him, but Buzz didn't blame him. Buzz felt he was the one who should apologize for thinking that his father didn't care about him.

Afterwards, Buzz did confess to his father that he was a dinosaur, a Pteranodon to be precise, but that he and his friends were trying to save the world from Victor Veloci. After what Victor had done to him, Drew was more than happy to hear that there was at least someone willing to stand up to the guy. He accepted Buzz's powers the best that he could, although he felt slightly uneasy around Buzz when he was in dino mode. Buzz had made his dad promise not to breathe a word of this to his mother. Drew promised, although he wasn't sure how long he could keep it. How easy could it be to keep a secret this big from his own wife? Megan was not too happy to see her husband at first, after what happened to Buzz, but Drew had convinced her he was forced to do it, and that he never meant to hurt Buzz. Megan still remained a bit sore, but since Buzz seemed to forgive his father, she figured she should give him another chance too, for the sake of their son.

Michelle sat down on the couch, staring at the television set. The TV wasn't turned on. But although the remote was sitting next to her, Michelle wasn't exactly in the mood to watch any television at this point. The Dino Squad hadn't left the lighthouse yet. There hadn't been any new warnings or anything. She assumed that they were all downstairs, working on their latest weapons. Since Victor knew what the Chiller and Spiller could do, and that he knew they were human and where the lighthouse was, they had decided to beef up on security and on offense. The weapons being worked on currently were going to be used for combat in case the kids got ambushed by Victor's men. With the help of Terri, a far more powerful lighthouse shield was developed to ensure Victor couldn't spy on them anymore. Another shield was created for the school for the benefit of the students. But even with these extra precautions, Michelle and the others still knew that Victor could still get the upper hand some day.

Michelle was about to get up when she heard someone walking up behind her. She turned around and saw Rodger coming up the stairs. She nodded to him. "Hello, Rodger." She said to him.

Rodger stared at her momentarily, almost like he was trying to find the words to say. "Hello, Michelle."

"What's the status on the new weapons?" Michelle asked.

Rodger shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know yet. The models are completed, but they haven't been tested yet."

From the sound of his voice, Michelle could tell that he felt a little uneasy talking to her at the moment. So she tried to sound as polite as possible. "Do you..think they're going to work?" There was a slight tinge of fear in her voice.

Sensing that Michelle was feeling afraid, Rodger attempted a small smile. This was probably the first time he had tried to smile at her since she joined the Dino Squad. "Oh don't worry about it, Michelle. The weapons will work, I'm sure. After all, I designed them."

"Didn't some of your inventions not work in the past?" Michelle asked.

"Don't remind me..." Rodger said in a slightly lower voice.

"Sorry." Michelle realized she had touched a sensitive topic and quickly changed it. "So..any plans for the rest of the day? I mean if there's no sightings of Veloci?"

Rodger's face softened up as another smile crept onto his lips. "Well yes. I plan on taking my brother out to get some ice cream. I'm sure he'd love it."

Michelle blinked. "I didn't know you had a brother."

"Yep." Rodger nodded his head. "Jeremie. He's a few years younger than I am."

"Does he know..what you are..?" Michelle asked cautiously. She didn't want to press Rodger too much on this issue, especially since she doesn't really know him all that well.

Rodger shook his head. "No. I didn't tell him." He had to admit to himself, though, he was tempted to tell his little brother. But Moynihan wanted him to avoid telling anyone unless it was absolutely necessary, if there was no other choice. Caruso only told his parents to help them understand why he didn't want to accept the scholarship to that college and Fiona only told her parents because the situation left her no other alternative. She had to transform to save her sister. But there hadn't been an incident where Rodger was forced to say anything his brother.

"Do you plan to?" Michelle tilted her head in curiosity.

Rodger thought of this for a moment, and then said, "I might... Well anyway, I better get back downstairs." Rodger turned around and began to walk away. He stopped when Michelle called out to him.

"Oh? I thought you were finished." Michelle said, sounding a little confused. Rodger smiled at her and shook his head. "Then why did you come up here?" It didn't make too much sense to Michelle. Back at Raptor Dyne, employees usually always had a reason to go from one place to the other, even if it was as simple as getting something to eat. She was taught not to engage in useless acts because that would waste time. Why would Rodger come up the stairs if he was only going to go back down again right away? Why didn't he do something else first?

"The others wanted me to bring you downstairs." Replied Rodger.

"Oh? Why?" Michelle asked, scratching the back of her head. She was surprised. Why did the team want her downstairs? She saw no reason for it. "They never asked me to come down before..."

"You'll see.." Rodger gestured her to follow him. "Come on..." With not much else to do, Michelle followed Rodger down the spiral staircase.

* * *

Reaching downstairs, Michelle found herself in a very large room filled with equipment and all sorts of stuff. She could see a large rectangle, which she guessed would lead to the outside when it was opened up. There was a relatively long table in the room with several chairs. Seated in them were the rest of the Dino Squad, along with Moynihan herself. On the table were a couple prototypes of the new weapons that they were working on. Most of them seemed incomplete, but at least one looked like it was finished. It was positioned closest to Max, who was sitting near the end of the table. As Michelle and Rodger approached, the team, one by one, lifted their heads to see the two approaching the table.

After Michelle got a little closer, she stopped in her tracks, letting Rodger to walk out in front of her. Michelle just stared at the team, who were eyeing her in a way that made her feel a little uncomfortable. They weren't doing anything particularly hostile, but they didn't look like they were too happy either. Did she do something to blow her chances here? Did she do something wrong? "Why did you all want me down here?" She finally asked after a long moment of silence.

Rodger sat down in the chair next to Max and pointed at the weapon in front of him. "As you can tell, this weapon prototype is finished."

Michelle eyed the weapon somewhat curiously. It resembled Victor's red-colored weapons that would shoot tar. But this weapon's head was more like that of a Stegosaurus, even having small bumps on it that resembled plates. Compared to the other models, this looked functional, but she guessed it wasn't tested yet. "Yes, I can see that. Is that what you wanted me to come down for? To show me that weapon?"

Max chuckled and shook his head. "No, Michelle. We wanted you to test it for us."

Michelle blinked and took a step back. "Test it? Why would you want me to test it?" Michelle was confused now. Although she was a member of the team, they didn't usually want her to mess with any of their equipment. She guessed it was because they wanted to make sure they could trust her. For them to even suggest that she handle one of the weapons, let alone use it, was a sign that they did trust her completely now. After all, if the weapon worked, she could easily aim it at one of them and hurt them, depending on what the weapon could do. She wouldn't do that of course. But how was the team so certain she wouldn't? "I thought I wasn't allowed to handle any of that stuff.. You guys told me not to."

"Well, yes.." Max said as he picked up the weapon and got up from his seat. "We did say that. But.." He glanced down at the weapon, a smile spreading onto his face. "..in the past week, you have proven you can be trusted with this stuff." He looked back up at Michelle and started to walk towards her. "So we trust you to test this weapon and then give it back." He stopped in front of her and held the weapon towards her, the smile still on his face. "So..are you willing to test this?"

Michelle took the gun tentatively into her hands. She stared at it for a few seconds, not really sure what to think. At first, she thought this was just a dream, but somehow, she could sense that it was no dream. Another thought that ran through her mind was that it was just a joke, and that they were only doing this to pick on her. But when she glanced at the team again, they were all looking at her, waiting for her to go to a safe distance to try the weapon. There were no smirks, no chortles, nothing to indicate that they were trying to fool her. Michelle bit her lip and smiled. "All right then. I'll be right back..."

* * *

An hour later, Michelle let out a soft groan. She was sitting on her bed in her bedroom, trying to get her mind off of the pain. What had happened was not what she was hoping, but it was just a mere accident. She had walked a few feet from the Dino Squad and aimed her weapon towards the ground, figuring it wouldn't do any harm. However, there was a malfunction in the weapon and it shot out a relatively weak laser that bounced off the ground, bounced off a few walls, and then slammed into her left hand. Although the laser was weak, it did cause considerable pain and left burn marks and some bruises. Moynihan immediately checked her out and said she would be fine, but she would need to apply medicine to her, just like how she had to apply medicine to Fiona and Max after they were bitten by Oscura. The other Dino Squad members also checked to make sure Michelle was all right, but Michelle couldn't help but feel that some of them silently thought that she deserved it. Michelle still didn't feel completely welcome in the team.

Michelle leaned back onto her bed, her stomach facing the ceiling. Her room was pretty simple. The floor was, just like in Moynihan's room, made of blue-tinted wooden floorboards. She had a small reddish rug in the middle of the room. There was a small mahogany dresser up against the wall where she kept her clothes. On top of the dresser, she had a small, round mirror, although she usually has it facing the opposite direction. She wasn't really the type of person who would want to spend so many hours just looking at themselves. She had more important issues on her mind at the moment. She stared at her left hand, which still stung in pain. It was completely wrapped in white bandages and was told not to remove them for a few days while the skin and flesh healed itself. Michelle groaned, wanting to scratch at the bandages. Her skin was so itchy there. She tried to distract herself by staring up at the light blue ceiling, thinking about what has happened to her recently.

As Michelle was in deep thought, she was suddenly distracted when she heard footsteps coming her way. They weren't particularly loud, but she could still hear them. Judging from how soft they sounded, she suspected it was either Fiona or Buzz. She guessed that they were the lightest teenagers in the team. She could see a shadow being casted on the floor as the footsteps grew louder, and then they stopped. The next thing she knew, there was a knocking on the door. Michelle hesitated, and then said, "Come on."

The door slowly opened up. Michelle was mildly surprised to see Buzz standing in the door way. She would have guessed it was him. He wasn't particularly muscular and he looked relatively thin compared to the other boys. Even Caruso looked like he could be a little heavier than Buzz. The boy looked a little hesitant to come inside. He didn't look angry with her. The expression on his face suggested he was almost afraid of her, perhaps thinking that she was the one who was angry with him. But why would Buzz think that? He hadn't done anything to make her wish ill of him, not recently anyway.

Buzz took a few steps towards the bed, his face that of concern. "You feeling okay now? You took quite a nasty hit there." He eyed the bandaged hand with slightly widened eyes.

Still laying on her back, Michelle just smiled softly. "Oh, I'm fine, Buzz, really." She lifted up her hand and brought it closer to herself. "I've received much worse than this from Victor.." She added in a slightly darkened voice.

Buzz bit his lip. "He was harsh..wasn't he?"

"Harsh is an understatement." Michelle said flatly.

"Yeah..I guess you're right." Buzz rubbed the back of his head, smiling nervously. He couldn't help but agree with Michelle on that one. Victor was capable of doing things so cruel, it would make Michelle's little mishap look relatively tame. "So..um.. did you want to come back out? You've been in here for about an hour now. The others are wondering how you are doing."

Michelle turned her head so that one side of her face rested on the bed. She looked at Buzz curiously. "Why would they want to know how I'm doing? Didn't Moynihan tell them that I was going to be fine?"

"Well..yes..." Buzz nodded his head. "..but we kind of... How should I put it...?" Michelle stared at him, waiting for him to finish. Buzz was having a hard time finding the words to say. He didn't want to sound like he was accusing Michelle of anything. He silently wished that he had thought about his choice of words before coming to Michelle's room. "..We can't help but feel you blame us..for what happened back there."

Michelle slowly sat up in her bed, balancing herself with her two hands. She looked at Buzz as if she felt he was crazy. But deep inside, she was wondering if Buzz was a mind reader. Part of her did think the Dino Squad rigged the weapon on purpose. "What makes you think that?"

"The way you looked at us after you got shot." Buzz said, his expression that of mild hurt. "When we came up to see how you were, you gave us a look that..seemed to say that you thought we were trying to hurt you."

Michelle gulped and turned her head to one side. "In a way, I did think that..."

Buzz wasn't very surprised. "But..why?"

Michelle looked back at him. "I..I still don't feel like I'm truly a part of the team." She lowered her head and closed her eyes. "You haven't done anything to make me feel better either, Buzz. You and Rodger both still look at me with hostility, even though it's not as intense as it once was. But still, it hurts.. It makes me feel like I don't really belong here." She could feel tears forming in her eyes. "I can't help but think you two still hate me, regardless of what you said for the past week."

Wanting to do something to comfort her, Buzz strode over to her bed and sat down beside her. He looked at her with a sympathetic expression on his face. "I don't hate you, Michelle. None of us do... I'm sorry about what happened. It was an accident. If we had known that the weapon was going to malfunction like that, we never would have asked you to try it out." Buzz looked to the floor. "I hope you don't hate us for what happened."

Michelle slowly shook her head. "No, I don't." She couldn't bring herself to look at Buzz, though. Now a few tears had trickled down her face. She couldn't understand why, but she didn't want Buzz to see them. She didn't want anyone to see them. Victor had taught her that tears were for the weak. She didn't want the Dino Squad to think she was weak. "I..I'll be out later..."

Buzz noticed that Michelle was deliberately trying to avoid looking at him. He placed a hand on her shoulder carefully, trying not to hurt her. "Can't you look at me when you talk to me, Michelle?" He gave a small smile and chuckled. "I won't bite you." He added in a somewhat cheerful tone, hoping to lighten the mood up a little.

Michelle closed her eyes. "I...I just..." She exhaled deeply. "Just leave me alone, please..."

But Buzz wasn't willing to just leave her alone, not now. He could sense that something was wrong with Michelle and he wanted to try to help her. In an attempt to comfort her, he moved his arm across her back and pulled her closer to him. Michelle was surprised by the gesture, nearly jumping out of the bed. Without thinking, she quickly turned her head towards Buzz. Almost right away, Buzz noticed the tears, few but noticeable, rolling down her cheeks. With a concerned look, Buzz asked, "What's wrong? Why are you crying...?"

Michelle stammered, not sure how to reply. She tried to look away, but found herself unable to tear her gaze from Buzz's eyes. Michelle started to feel her heart beat a little faster, but she didn't know why. Was it that she wanted to get up and run away from him? Was it fear that she was feeling? Michelle opened up her mouth to try to speak, but no words could come out. All she could do was stare at Buzz as more tears streamed down her face. Without realizing it until it was too late, she was starting to tremble too.

Buzz grew more concerned. Why wasn't Michelle answering him? And why was she shaking? He wasn't going to hurt her. Didn't she believe him? Buzz held onto her a little tighter. He reached a hand towards her face, but then stopped himself and lowered his hand back down. He didn't want her to feel like he was pushing her too hard or anything. "You can tell me. We're..we're friends now..."

Michelle tried not to laugh. "Friends? We're friends?" Buzz nodded slowly, confirming what he had just said. Michelle couldn't help but smile, but it wasn't completely genuine. It was obvious to Buzz that something was still bugging Michelle, and he was certain that she was going to tell him sooner or later. "I never thought anyone, especially you, would consider me a friend.."

Buzz closed his eyes. "I'm..I'm sorry we got off to a rough start.."

"But we didn't..did we?" Michelle narrowed her eyes slightly. "When we met..we could have been friends back then... but.." Michelle bit her lip. "..but then Victor's plan took effect..." The mention of Victor's name made her shudder again. She turned her head way from Buzz.

Seeing this, Buzz had an idea of what was really bugging Michelle. It wasn't just her concern of belonging to the Dino Squad. She was also worried about Victor. And that was understandable. Victor had promised to find her and kill her, despite Moynihan's warnings to him. Michelle was afraid to go anywhere alone, just like how Caruso was for a while. But while Caruso was able to regain some of his courage, Michelle hadn't been able to work up the courage to do even walk down the street alone, fearing that Victor's men would find her. And since Victor now knew their faces, he could easily disguise his men. They could even be in the school, watching them.

In another attempt to try to comfort Michelle, Buzz reached out with his hand again, and this time, he gently cupped her chin and turned her head so that she was looking at him again. "Is that what you've been afraid of..? Are you afraid that Victor will come for you again...?"

Michelle nodded her head slowly, trying not to cry. "I'm afraid that you and your friends will abandon me...leave me for Victor..and he'll kill me..."

Buzz's eyes widened in shock. "Michelle..we would never do that... You have to believe me..."

"How..how can I be sure?" Michelle asked, glaring at him. "How can I be so certain that you guys wouldn't..."

Buzz interrupted her abruptly. "I'm not sure if you could ever be certain. That's up to you..." A smile appeared on his face as he brought up his other hand and gently wiped a tear from her face. "But the least you can do is give us a chance... If we really wanted you dead, we would have just left you out there with Victor. But we didn't, did we?"

Michelle realized that Buzz was right. But she couldn't help but still be afraid. She lowered her head, still shaking like a leaf. "N-No..you didn't.. But.. what if something else happens...?" Unable to control herself anymore, Michelle started to cry, feeling the weight of her fears starting to bear down on her, becoming unbearable.

"Shhh..." Buzz put his other arm around her and pulled her into a hug. He rested his chin on her head and gently rubbed her back as Michelle continued to cry, pressing the side of her face against his chest. Buzz didn't know what else to do to make her feel better. He couldn't even understand completely why she suddenly broke down. She wasn't like this when he had first come in. But within a few minutes, Michelle was reduced to this. It frightened him. How dramatic it must have been to be working for Victor, to be used to violence and threats, and to suddenly come to a place like the lighthouse, where everything she was taught to believe no longer applied. Despite living in a much friendly environment, scars of her past life were still evident. "It's all right..."

"I-I hope you're right.." Michelle finally managed to say. She couldn't believe she was crying like this, but Buzz didn't seem to be judging her harshly because of it. She just held onto him tighter, and, slowly, she settled down. Soon, her sobs were reduced to nothing more than slightly harsh breathing.

Noticing that Michelle was starting to calm down, Buzz released her and looked at her in the eyes. Her tears had stopped flowing and her cheeks were a bit red in color from the tear stains. He placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Are you feeling better now?"

Michelle slowly nodded her head. She wiped a way a stray tear that just formed in her eye. "Y-Yes..thank you.."

Buzz smiled back at her. "I'm glad to hear that."

For the next few minutes, the two remained in the room. Buzz hadn't left Michelle's side as he waited for her to calm down completely. She was still shedding tears, although it was slowly stopping. Michelle looked away, not really sure what to say now. She was feeling like a fool for being so weak in front of Buzz. But she did feel happy that he wasn't treating her like she was weak because of it. He seemed worried about her, and he wasn't leaving the room in a huffed hurry, which was something Victor or one of his men would have done. She glanced towards the door, wondering if she should just get up and walk out right now. But something compelled her to stay. She turned her head back towards Buzz.

Michelle then asked something that caught Buzz off guard. "..why did you do that?" She asked in a soft tone of voice. Buzz just pulled his head back in shock and just looked at her like she was crazy. Michelle hesitated, and asked again. "Why did you do that?"

"Do...?" Buzz asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. What was Michelle talking about? "What are you talking about, Michelle? Why did I do what?"

"..hug me." Michelle said after a slight hesitation. "Why did you do that? No one's..ever done that for me before... It felt..strange..."

Buzz was a little confused. But judging from what Michelle just told him, if she truly never experienced this before, no wonder she was confused. "Well..I did it because you seemed upset...and I thought that I should..try to do something to help you feel better..." He rubbed the back of his head. "Did I do something to offend you or something?"

"No! No..." Michelle said quickly, shaking her head rapidly. "Umm..I mean..no you didn't. I was just wondering why you did it.." She looked down at the floor. "If Victor were involved, he would have..."

Buzz seized her by her shoulders and gave her a stern look. "Now listen to me!" He said in a tone that was a little more harsh than he had wanted it to be. "Don't worry so much about Victor. He can't get you here. And we aren't like Victor. We would never do to you what he would have done."

Michelle nodded her head slowly, feeling bad about acting the way she was. "I-I know that.. I'm sorry.."

"It's all right. Now.." Buzz got up from the bed and held his hand out to her. "..why don't we go down to see the others? You shouldn't stay in this room and act so..emo." He smiled at that statement to try to lighten the mood and show Michelle he wasn't serious about it. "You should try to cheer up and see the others. You're a part of this team now. You should at least act like it."

Michelle looked at his hand for a few seconds. She realized Buzz was right. She offered him a small smile. "Okay then. I'll try... I'll try." She reached out and took his hand, and, for a brief moment, she felt a strong sense of happiness and security. It seemed silly to her, but she couldn't help but think that she and Buzz would end up together. Would it be possible, two former enemies, one day, falling in love? She shook the thought out of her mind, regarding it as absurd, especially since they have just only began to get to know each other. But then again, stranger things had happened."Let's go." She finally said after a long pause, and the two disappeared out of the door.

* * *

At the end of the day, as the sun was setting and the stars were finally showing themselves, Rodger, Max, and Buzz had all gone home for the day. They weren't particularly tired or anything, but there was nothing more to do at the lighthouse and their folks were probably worried about them. After waving them goodbye, Michelle had went on to do some quick chores before she went back to her room. Moynihan wanted her to make sure the floor was swept and she also wanted Rump and Cerulean to be fed. In the meantime, Moynihan was busy working on the scanners. While she didn't have Rodger and Terri's 'technology touch', she usually did fine on her own. She was checking to see if Veloci was up to something and also trying to come up with more ways to shield themselves from Victor's watchful eye.

On the railing outside, above the ground, Caruso and Fiona stood next to each other, leaning themselves against the railing as they looked up at the stars above them. They hadn't left the lighthouse yet because they weren't ready to go home at the moment. They were both waiting for some time alone, and waited until the others left. Michelle would likely not bother them as they both knew Moynihan wanted her to do a couple things for her. And what were the odds of her coming out here anyway? Caruso and Fiona remained quiet for a while, not sure what to say. They both had a contented smile on their face as they watched the stars in the night sky. Up until recently, they usually wouldn't admire this too much as they took it for granted. But after narrowly escaping death, they didn't look at anything the same way again, especially each other.

The two had grown much closer these past few weeks because of the terrible things they had been through. When they first became a team, Fiona never thought she'd ever develop a crush on someone like Caruso, who seemed too vain to care about anyone but himself. Although from time to time, Caruso did prove he really did care about the team, setting aside his own interests to help them. But still, Fiona didn't believe he was boyfriend material and had always thought she'd end up with Max, or even Buzz. That changed when Caruso was captured. It was at this point she realized how much the kid meant to her, and see him laying on the ground, seemingly dead, it just tore her apart, making her believe that she would never get a chance to confess her newfound feelings for him.

Caruso glanced over at Fiona and quickly looked away, hoping she didn't notice him looking at her. Caruso couldn't help but feel surprised that he and Fiona were standing out here like this. He never thought Fiona would like him, well like him more than just a friend anyway. Caruso had liked her for a while, even before he was captured, but he never said anything because he felt she liked someone else more. It was just puppy love anyway. It didn't bother Caruso too much if Fiona didn't want to be with him. He still had liked her as a friend. He was taken a back in shock when she had confessed her feelings for him about a week ago. They had actually kissed. Caruso had thought he was dreaming at first, but he quickly realized he wasn't. He looked at her again. She still had her eyes glued to the stars. She didn't even notice him looking at her. Caruso gulped, wanting to end the silence somehow.

Caruso finally got himself to say something. "Beautiful night, isn't it?" Caruso's stammer was completely gone, his mouth having healed almost all the way. A slight pain here or there, but nothing too serious. Most of his scars, including ones they thought wouldn't heal completely, were faded away. The corner of his lips were still a bit scared, but there was almost no evidence of the horrible war bridle Victor had subjected him to weeks ago.

Fiona nodded her head slowly. "Yeah.. I never thought I'd grow to appreciate the night sky like this. And yet here I am."

Caruso nodded in agreement. He moved a little closer to Fiona. He released his grip on the railing to lift up his hand, holding it out in front of him as if he were going to show her something. "I find it a little hard to believe that, just a few weeks ago, things were much different around here..." He put his hand back on the railing, but he accidentally placed it on top of Fiona's hand. The two quickly looked at each other, blushed slightly, and pulled their hands away. Caruso smiled nervously. "I'm so sorry, Fiona!"

Fiona smiled back. "Oh..it's all right, Caruso."

Caruso looked down, still smiling. He felt like such an idiot for doing that. He scolded himself for not looking down when he went to put his hand back on the railing. Fiona didn't seem to mind though. That was a bit of a comfort to him. Caruso looked back at Fiona. She was no longer looking up at the night sky. She was looking straight at him. Caruso gulped and stammered, trying to find something that he could say to her. "Well...did you want to go back inside? It's starting to get a little chilly out tonight."

Fiona slowly shook her head. "No, not now anyway... I..I still want to talk to you alone." She glanced over at the door. "And I don't want anyone listening in to what we're saying."

"Oh, okay. That's fine with me." Caruso replied. He paused for a moment and then asked, "So..what did you want to talk to me about?" He was going to ask why she wanted to be alone with him, but he realized the reason why she wanted to be alone. He himself also wanted some time alone with her.

"These past few weeks.." Fiona said, her tone slightly softer than it was a moment ago. "..they've really changed everything, haven't they?"

"Yes..They sure have." Caruso agreed. Due to the events that occurred the past few weeks, they got a new member on the team, Victor now knows who and what they are along with where the lighthouse was, he and Fiona got together, Moynihan managed to tame her dinosaur side once again, and Buzz's father learned of the Dino Squad. These were just among the things that stood out the most to Caruso. And in a way, the events had also changed him. He was no longer as vain as he used to be. His time spent with Victor opened up his eyes to how much of a jerk he could be, and learned that there were more important things in life other than stuff like hair gel. But he still went on with his little business, creating beauty products for the mall he likes to go to. Without thinking, he said, "I wonder what the future might hold." He glanced back up at the sky. "I mean...Victor knows who we were now.. He knows where we live..." It was difficult for him to think about it. "He could attack at any time."

Fiona looked at him with a worried expression. She didn't want to see Caruso stressing out over Victor all over again. She moved as close as she could to Caruso without actually pushing him away. Then she gently laid her hand on his. Caruso looked at her, startled. She just smiled at him. "Don't worry so much about it, Caruso. We'll get through this. I promise.." She moved her hand up and then wrapped her arm around Caruso and pulled him into a half hug. "Victor might know who we are, but he'll never defeat us. We have something he doesn't."

"..a really good sense of humor?" Caruso joked.

Fiona chuckled lightly, feeling happy to see Caruso trying to act more like his old self. But she knew he would never be exactly the same again. But perhaps some of the changes were for the better. Caruso is more team-oriented nowadays. "No. Friends who actually care about him. Everyone working for Victor is only doing so in a business-like way. He doesn't have anyone who actually shares a bond with him. It's all professional." She tightened her grip on Caruso. "But you and I, and our friends..we do share a special bond. And we're willing to protect each other, no matter the cost. Victor could never change that."

Caruso couldn't help but smile at Fiona as she said that. Every word of it was true. He hadn't thought of it that way. Victor might have more people working for him then they have people on their team, but they didn't care that much about Victor. They just wanted to please him, or had their own goals in mind. But he and his friends were protective of one another. That's what Victor lacks. He lacks the ability to love, and receive love. He might have been capable years ago, but nowadays, according to Moynihan, Victor is so preoccupied with transforming the planet that he has forgotten about love and just tossed it aside like it was some parasite. It was love and devotion that was going to ensure their victory.

Caruso put his arm around Fiona. "You're right, Fiona... We will defeat Victor, and we'll do it..." He leaned in a little closer. "..together." The two embraced each other in a hug, resting their heads on each other's shoulders. Then they moved away from each other, their arms still encircled around one another. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then they slowly closed their eyes and leaned in closer. They pressed their lips together and kissed.

* * *

Unknown to them, someone was watching them. Michelle was cleaning the window to the door that led to where Caruso and Fiona were, and she couldn't help but notice the two standing outside. She was a little surprised to see them kissing. Not wanting to intrude on them, she finished what she was doing and quickly made her way back to the kitchen. She had to feed Rump and she could tell he was hungry. As soon as he saw her, he ran up to her, and put his paws on her legs. She laughed and said, "Okay, I'll get you your food."

Michelle made her way towards the cabinets and found Rump's dog food. It was a good thing she had asked Moynihan where she usually kept his food a few minutes ago, otherwise, she would be searching for a while. She still didn't memorize where the food was, and it almost felt like she would change the location almost every time. She knew this wasn't true, but she couldn't help but think that. "Okay..got it.." She stopped mumbling to herself and poured some of the dog food into Rump's dish.

Rump barked happily at her and immediately went to his bowl. He stuck his muzzle in, sniffed the food a few times, and then began to chow down, wagging his tail. Michelle chuckled, and stroked Rump's back gently before leaving the kitchen. She was careful not to leave the door open, otherwise Rump would get out. She was told of how Caruso didn't shut the door in time and Rump got loose. She made her way down the stairs. Now it was time to find Cerulean's bird food. But where did Moynihan keep it?

"Michelle..." A voice startled Michelle. She quickly turned around to see Moynihan standing behind her. How did she get there so fast? She hadn't even heard any footsteps. "I need to speak to you." Moynihan said, walking a little closer to the girl.

Michelle started to wonder if she had done something wrong. She took a step backwards. "Oh? What for?"

Moynihan offered her a small smile. She gestured with her hand for Michelle to follow her. "You'll find out. It won't take long." Moynihan headed towards the spiral staircase. "It's back down in the lab." She said, looking over her shoulder. Michelle's eyes went wide and she took another step back. Moynihan realized why Michelle was hesitant and chuckled softly. "Oh don't worry. I'm not going to have you test another weapon. This has little to do with combat."

Michelle sighed in relief. "I hope I don't have to operate one of those weapons again..."

Moynihan frowned lightly. "Well, you'll have to, sooner or later. For your own good anyway." Her expression lightened up. "Well, come on. This will only take a few minutes. It'll go quicker if you hurry up." Moynihan disappeared down the staircase.

"Coming!" Michelle took off after her, descending down the stairs.

* * *

Once she got down there, she saw Moynihan heading towards the table again. The chairs were still pulled out, even though the Dino Squad were supposed to push them in. She rolled her eyes. They were either really lazy or they just forgot to do it. Oh well, it wouldn't take very long to push them back in anyway. Then, Michelle started to wonder. Was this what Moynihan wanted her to do. She let out a soft sigh. If it was, she could have just asked when they were upstairs. Pushing chairs in wasn't much of a task. Anyone could have done it. She could have done it herself. But Michelle was quickly proven wrong when she saw Moynihan reach for a box that was on the table. Moynihan started to approach her. Michelle's eyes were glued onto the box. What could be inside of it?

"The Dino Squad and I wanted you to have this, Michelle." Moynihan said, stopping a few feet from the brunette. Michelle eyed the box in curiosity. She wanted to reach out towards the box and see what was inside, but she didn't want to be rude. She waited for Moynihan to continue. "We weren't sure when the right time would have been to give you this, Michelle. You've only been with us for a week. But we feel you have done enough to prove that you can be trusted with this." Moynihan opened up the box, revealing a communicator, just like the one the others usually wore around their wrists.

"You're giving me a wrist communicator?" Michelle asked. Moynihan nodded her head. Michelle glanced at the watch again. She reached in and slowly picked it up. She examined it briefly and asked, "Wait..what good is a communicator if I'm not actually going on any missions...?"

"Oh you'll go on missions all right..." Moynihan said, adjusting her glasses. "The team and I think you're ready to take part in the missions from time to time. And even if you weren't going on a mission, having that communicator will be an advantage. There is a reason why I gave the communicators to the other kids. What if something were to happen?"

Michelle smiled. "Well, I always thought they used cellphones."

Moynihan chuckled. "Well yes.. But having a communicator is still important. It has a built-in tracking system. So if you were to suddenly disappear, I or the team would know where to find you..unless something happened to the communicator anyway."

Michelle gulped and then glanced back at the communicator. It did help her feel better because Moynihan even thinking of offering it to her meant the team accepted her even more. But at the same time, she felt hesitant to accept this 'gift' from Moynihan. She still felt horrible about what she did to her a few weeks ago. Moynihan had forgiven her, but Michelle hadn't forgiven herself. She bit her lip and tightened her grip on the communicator. "I'll take it, but.."

Moynihan cocked an eyebrow. "But what?"

"But I...I still feel horrible about what I did to you..." Michelle said, lowering her head. "I mean, I know you forgave me..I know the Dino Squad forgave me..but I haven't forgiven myself. I mean.." She glanced at Moynihan with a sad look on her face. "..what if I had actually killed you?"

"Michelle... you need to stop thinking about the past." Moynihan took a step closer. "If you keep dwelling on what has happened, and what might have been, you'll never truly recover. You must move on." Moynihan closed her eyes. "I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I never turned against Victor. I don't like what I think about, but it, for a long time, had bothered me. I eventually learned that nothing will be gained by dwelling on these issues." Moynihan opened her eyes and put a hand on Michelle's shoulder. "We all remember what you did, Michelle. But we won't judge you for your past. We'll judge you for who you are now."

Michelle glanced at the communicator again. She unhooked the belt and strapped it around her left wrist, careful to avoid the injuries on that hand. Once it was strapped on, she glanced at it again briefly. The communicator immediately turned on, displaying a small radar on it. She looked up at Moynihan. "What's up with the radar, Ms. M?"

"That's the tracking system, Michelle." Moynihan answered. "It's how we'll be able to monitor where you are."

Michelle got some disturbing images in her mind. "You mean, you'll see me do anything and everything?"

"Well, no...It'll just tell us where you are." Moynihan said. Michelle still didn't feel comfortable with the idea. Moynihan sensed this and chuckled. "Oh, come on, dear. It's only to be used for missions."

"But I thought you said to have it with me all the time." Michelle asked, confused.

"Well yes..." Joanne nodded her head. "But we'll only track you if it's important."

"Like..a mission?" Michelle asked, tilting her heads lightly to the side.

Moynihan nodded her head. "That's correct." She leaned in a little closer to Michelle. "We're not going to be using that to invade your privacy or anything."

Michelle seemed to relax a little and glanced down at the communicator again. She pressed a fingertip against the glass screen, right above the green bar that kept blinking. She looked back up at Moynihan. "So...I'm going on actual missions this time? Not getting stuck behind doing chores?" She asked in a somewhat playful tone of voice.

Moynihan chuckled. "Yes. Well, not all the missions.. But if the mission could use an extra helping hand, you'll go with."

Michelle nodded her head slowly. Then a thought came to her mind and it troubled her. Although she has received threats from Victor, usually from his men that the others encountered during their missions, Victor had yet to try to actually get to her. There were no attempted break-ins, and Veloci wasn't even with his men during the missions. That seemed strange to her. She would have suspected that he would want to be there when his men attempt to capture the kids. But what was even stranger is that his men hadn't even tried to capture the children. They would usually go about their normal business, contaminating animals with primordial ooze, new batches of it too. It has been increasingly difficult to de-ooze the animals, but they always managed to get the job done. And when Victor's men encounter the Dino Squad, they're no longer as easily frightened off because they knew the dinosaurs were just children. And they would often deliver death threats to them from Victor, addressed to Michelle herself.

Moynihan knew that, out of her children, Victor would want Michelle dead first. Because of her betrayal and because of her actions that destroyed his chances at getting rid of the Dino Squad, Victor wanted to make sure to silence her. Moynihan had warned Victor countless times to leave her alone, as well as the rest of the Dino Squad. But it was hopeless. She knew that, no matter what she did, Victor would always try to come after the kids whenever he could. But the fact that he hasn't tried really hard recently has gotten Michelle very worried. The only time Victor would ever become so quiet for an extended period of time is when he is up to something. Michelle didn't know what kind of experiments he could be working on, but she knew one thing for sure: it was nothing good.

"Do you have any idea what Victor might be up to?" Michelle knew there was no point in asking Moynihan. She might know Victor better than any of them, but even she would be lost in the dark when it comes to what Victor might be doing. Moynihan could try to spy on him using her satellite imaging, but since Victor found out what Moynihan has been up to, he beefed up security to protect his equipment from being manipulated from an outside source. They weren't impossible to break into, but the security has been tightened, and it seemed to get increasingly hard every time Moynihan tried to break into the system.

This was a terrible setback because it meant that it was harder to also detect Victor's men. They've been caught off guard a couple times already, but managed to get the upper hand. The team had asked Michelle once if she knew of any way to keep an eye on Victor without him knowing. She sadly couldn't provide any useful information. She told them that once Victor realizes what's been going wrong, he'd do anything to make sure it doesn't happen again. This meant that after finding out that someone has been manipulating his equipment, he has taken measures to try to stop it. And if he finds out it's been happening again, he would likely beef up the security even more until it was almost impenetrable. Michelle's only advice was that they would have to try to rely on themselves when it came to outsmarting Victor, rather than hacking into his system. She said that they are perfectly capable of thwarting Victor without hacking into his system, which was proven by the battle about a week ago. And from what the team told her, they have faced Victor other times and didn't use equipment to outsmart him.

Moynihan, unfortunately, didn't have an answer for Michelle's question. "I'm sorry, dear. I don't really know what he could be doing." She gently squeezed Michelle's shoulder to try and comfort her. "But you shouldn't worry about it so much."

"I know..." Michelle said, a worried look on her face. "I just can't help but feel..afraid. When is he going to strike next? I know I said that we shouldn't rely on the equipment so much, but I..."

Moynihan stopped her. "Don't worry, Michelle. Everything will be fine."

Michelle smiled, wanting to believe her. But she couldn't shake off the terrible feeling that something was about to happen. "...I hope you're right."

"It's getting late." Caruso said, looking up at the sky once more. It was now completely dark and there was no sign of the sun anywhere. The moon was hanging high overhead and the warmth was all but gone. A chilling wind struck him in the face. "My parents are going to be worried if I don't get home soon."

Fiona nodded her head. "I understand." She smiled softly. "My parents will be worried too."

Caruso and Fiona went back inside the lighthouse. They wanted to say goodbye to Moynihan and Michelle before they left. They didn't want to be rude or anything. Moynihan would probably have understood why they left without saying anything, but that would have caused some worrying, especially after what happened recently. They didn't want Michelle or Moynihan thinking that something had happened to them. When they first went into the lighthouse, they saw Rump eating his food still. He looked up at them and barked happily, and then went back to eating. They didn't see Moynihan or Michelle on this floor, but they heard voices coming from downstairs. Curious, they made their way towards the spiral staircase.

When they reached the bottom, they saw Moynihan talking to Michelle. When they got closer, they saw that Michelle was wearing something around her wrist. It didn't take them long to realize that it was a communicator, just like the ones that they had themselves. They weren't too surprised, though, since Moynihan had mentioned before, while Michelle was away, that she was considering giving Michelle one soon. They just didn't expect it to be this soon. They shrugged it off and approached Moynihan and Michelle, approaching slowly because they didn't want to intrude in case Moynihan had wanted privacy with Michelle.

Moynihan looked over and saw the two walking towards her. She moved her hand off of Michelle and turned to face Caruso and Fiona. "Well now..what brings you two down here?"

"We just wanted to say goodbye." Caruso said. He eyed the communicator Michelle was wearing. Then he glanced up at Michelle and chuckled lightly. "So you're going to be joining us on missions from now one, eh?"

"Well, I hope to..." Michelle said, gently tracing a finger across the communicator's screen. "If you ever need my help that is."

"Please don't do that." Fiona pointed at Michelle's finger. "You could scratch the screen and damage it." Didn't Moynihan tell her not to do that?

"All right.." Michelle moved her finger away. She was slightly annoyed, but didn't complain. "Anyway, what are you two lovebirds going to do the rest of the night?" She asked in a playful tone, a smirk on her face.

Fiona and Caruso looked at each other, their eyes slightly widened by what Michelle had said. They couldn't help but blush and they looked back at Michelle, grinning nervously. "W-Well..we were..." They started to say in unison, looking rather sheepish.

Michelle just chuckled. "You don't have to say it." She said, gesturing towards them. "I was just playing with you."

Caruso smirked playfully, tilting his head to one side. "You actually know how to play?"

Michelle just stared at him for a few seconds. At first, she thought he was being serious. But seeing how he was giving her the same playful smile that she had given then, she realized it was just a joke and laughed at herself. There was a reason Caruso made that joke. She had admitted to the Dino Squad that she hadn't really done much playing in her life recently. She knew Caruso wasn't taking a jab at her; he was just having fun, just like she was. "Yeah..you got m there." She said, rubbing the back of her head.

Fiona chuckled as well and glanced over at Moynihan. "Well, Caruso and I better get going. It's getting late. Our folks are probably worried about us." Fiona didn't need to look at a clock to know it was probably past eight o'clock now. She didn't want to worry her parents again after what had happened.

Caruso nodded his head. "My parents will probably be having anxiety attacks by the time I get back home. They've become increasingly worried about me recently. Not that I blame them, though.." Caruso glanced down to the ground, remembering what he had gone through a few weeks ago. It was hard for him to believe how little time has passed since being captured by Victor. He still had nightmares concerning the bridle, but he never brought it up. He didn't want to worry his friends and he was confident that, if Victor did catch him again, his friends would help him.

Moynihan nodded her head. "Understandable. When something traumatic happens, it is hard to get over it. Don't feel ashamed, Caruso, if the incident still bothers you. Just realize that your friends and family will help you."

Irwin nodded his head. "I understand that now, Ms. M." He smiled at Fiona. "I really do."

Moynihan glanced over at Michelle. "And the same goes for you, Michelle."

Michelle nodded as well. But she couldn't help but feel envious towards Fiona and Caruso. They actually have relatives who care about them. She doesn't currently have that luxury. She would have said something, but felt that she shouldn't bother them with it. Right now, it wasn't really her main concern. She was more worried about Victor Veloci. But Moynihan was right. None of them in the Dino Squad were really alone. They always had someone they could count on to help them. "I understand, Ms. Moynihan." She said.

"Well goodnight, Ms. Moynihan!" Fiona waved goodbye as she walked towards the exit. "Goodnight, Michelle!"

"We'll see ya tomorrow!" Caruso said, walking beside Fiona, but still waving goodbye to Michelle and Moynihan.

"Goodnight, you two!" Moynihan said, waving back and smiling.

At first, Michelle didn't say anything. But she realized it would have been rude if she didn't say anything, so she waved back and said, "Bye!"

Caruso and Fiona made it to their motorcycles. They put on their helmets and hopped in. They turned on the motorbikes and then sped off into the distance. As they left, the lighthouse's light turned on, shining the bright beam to the waters below to guide ships who sail too close to the cliff's edge.

Back at Raptor Dyne, Victor picked up one of the vials of blood. He brought it over to the nearby desk, which had several types of equipment on it, including a microscope. He pulled up a chair and sat down. He took a small piece of plastic and took a small syringe. He took out a tiny portion of blood, barely a drop's worth, and placed it onto the slide. He peered into the lens to take a look. He twisted the small knob on the side of the microscope to zoom in. After a few moments of looking, his eyes widened slightly as he spotted something of interest. There was something in the blood that had astounded him. He zoomed in a little closer to confirm his findings.

"So that's how they do it..." Victor said to himself. He leaned back in his chair. He had been wondering why Moynihan hadn't been able to cure the Dino Squad. It wasn't like her to willingly allow humans that young to engage in combat, let alone against him. He knew there had to be a reason for why Moynihan hadn't cured them. He chuckled to himself. "I should have known this could have been the culprit..."

The microscope had shown that there was something unusual about the cellular structure of the blood. It was hard to tell at first, but Victor could see the nanobots swimming in the blood. But that wasn't the unusual part. All primordial ooze contained the nanobots. They were what made it possible to reconstruct the DNA of living creatures without harming them. What really caught his attention were the blood cells in the drop. He had to zoom in extremely close, but he noticed that the cellular wall had many pieces of primordial ooze embedded in it. This was rather unusual. Victor had seen the blood of a mutantsaur several years ago, before the appearance of the 'perfect dinosaurs', and the ooze had coated the cells. But in the blood of the children, the ooze had fused with them on the molecular level. This would explain why it was so hard to 'cure' the students. With the ooze fused on the molecular level, it had become immune to the Chillers and Spillers. Very interesting, Victor thought to himself.

Victor decided that he could use this information to further enhance the primordial ooze. He would need to somehow replicate the first primordial ooze batch with Peter's nanobots, but then he realized there was another issue. He remembered that there was a shark that was mutated into a Megalodon back then and it was still cured. There had to be a reason for that. The only thing Victor could come up with was that the kids must have all gotten in contact with the same thing, and this thing was the reason the primordial ooze had fused on the molecular level. But was much as he wanted to figure that out, there was something else on Victor's mind today. Something a bit more important.

Victor got up from his seat and walked over to where he had the vials of blood. He swapped the current vial he was using with another. Each vial was labeled so he knew exactly what he was looking at. The one he had used before was Styracosaurus DNA. Now he had grabbed his most prized DNA, Tyrannosaurus Rex. Of all the dinosaurs, next to Velociraptors, Victor was most interested in bringing back T-Rex because of what powerful hunters that they were. He knew humans feared T-Rex more than any other dinosaur. If there was any dinosaur he would want to clone and unleash onto the pathetic human cities, it would be Tyrannosaurus. Victor sat back down and pushed a small batch of primordial ooze closer to him. He took another syringe, not having been used before, and took out a small portion of the primordial ooze and placed it on the slide. Then he placed the needle down and grabbed another. He pulled out a small portion of the T-Rex DNA and placed it on top of the primordial ooze. In an instant, the two liquids mixed together and the primordial ooze started to change color, turning from bright yellow-orange to dark red-orange, still maintaining a bright glow.

Victor glanced at the blood through the microscope again and was pleased with the results. The blood and the primordial ooze had, essentially, become one and the same. The nanobots didn't do anything except for enter a state of suspended animation since the blood was already of a prehistoric type. But the ooze had started to bond with the blood. Victor was careful to use a blank batch of primordial ooze so that it wouldn't ruin the T-Rex DNA. Instead of altering the blood's DNA sequence, the primordial ooze fused with it. The nanobots were on guard, ready to transform any foreign DNA. Victor smirked. If this ooze worked, it should create a perfectly formed T-Rex. And the same could be done with the other DNA he had been able to obtain. He had DNA samples of not just the Dino Squad, but of himself, Moynihan, Peter, Kista, Oscura, and even the treacherous Michelle. He took out a needle he had used before, obtaining a blood sample of a mouse, and put a tiny drop into the primordial ooze and looked. He was pleased to see that the nanobots immediately went to work rewriting the DNA of the foreign blood, changing it from mouse DNA to T-Rex DNA.

Victor couldn't help but laugh as he saw this take place. He would have to find a way to reproduce this on a larger scale. He didn't have a lot of blood to work with on a global scale. But if his hunch is correct, all he would need to do is provide a few drops of blood in a batch of primordial ooze, the nanobots would multiply to accommodate for the larger size. And when they come in contact with an animal, or group of animals, the nanobots would rapidly transform the foreign DNA into dinosaur DNA, changing the animal completely, perfectly. At long last, he's finally found a way to create perfect primordial ooze. Now to increase the variety, all he would need to do was rearrange the DNA to bring forth different species. It would be a grueling task, taking him perhaps a year or so to do, but to him, it was worth it to bring back the dinosaurs. His dream of global dinosaur domination would come true!

"It won't be long now.." Victor said to himself, chuckling. He sneered as he looked at the blood through the microscope again, grinning as he saw no trace of mouse DNA left. It had all been turned to T-Rex DNA. "Those fools should have destroyed this DNA when they had the chance... They've just paved the way for their own downfall..." He bared his razor sharp teeth as he said that.

Just then, someone came walking up behind him. "What are you doing, sir?" Peter asked, his arm still in a sling. Victor turned around and glared at him. Peter's eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks. "Did I disturb you, sir?"

Victor then smiled and shook his head. "No..no you haven't, Peter." Victor turned his attention back to the primordial ooze. "Not at all." He reached out to grab the blood-filled tube.

"So..what are you doing?" Peter used his good arm to point at the primordial ooze.

"What does it look like?" Oscura, who had followed Peter, said, walking up to him. Behind her, Kista had also shown up, putting her hands on her hips as she glared at Peter for his stupidity. "He's experimenting with more primordial ooze!"

"It's not like you haven't seen this before, you clamor mongrel..." Kista said, using her usual big words to make herself sound smarter than she really was.

"Ah, but this is different." Victor said, a smirk on his face. He glanced at the vial of blood.

Kista rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, it is, sir. Just like how all your other failed primordial ooze experiments were."

"I have perfected the primordial ooze." Victor said.

Oscura stared at Victor for a few seconds, wondering if he was telling the truth. She was familiar with how Victor wanted to perfect the primordial ooze. Everyone in Raptor Dyne was familiar with that. But she never thought she would live to see the day that Victor had actually perfected it. "..what did you just say..?"

Kista just smirked, shaking her head slowly. She was thinking Victor was getting worked up over nothing. He's tried to perfect the ooze countless times before, and they had all failed miserably. Plus, the Dino Squad had hindered his ability to check to see how the other versions of the ooze was effecting the animals it infected. "Perfected the ooze, eh..? I'll believe it when I see it..." She said, shaking her head again. She wanted to laugh, but stifled herself, knowing how Victor would react.

Peter's eyes widened. "You have? But..how?"

"With this." Victor showed them the vial that was filled with Max's blood. "Just a few drops of this in a batch of primordial ooze, and once it's introduced to an animal, the nanobots still present in this blood will transform it into a dinosaur!"

Kista narrowed her eyes slightly and nodded her head. "Very impressive.. I suppose."

Oscura took a step forward. "What do you plan on doing with it, sir?"

Victor turned around and walked back to where he was storing the blood vials. He placed Max's tube back where it originally was. An evil smile spread across his face. Without looking back, he said, "That is pretty obvious, don't you think? I plan on spreading this around the world." He then turned back and looked back at the group. "Once these new batches are created in large quantities, I'll be able to use them to infect everything on this planet. Everything will transform back to what they rightfully should still be: dinosaurs! And no one will be able to stop me! Nothing will stand in my way! Not even the pesky Dino Squad!" Victor threw his arms into the air as if he was victorious at some kind of sports game. "And if anyone stands in my way, they will die..." Victor's eyes suddenly transformed, large slit pupils appearing and the eye took an eerie yellowish glow.

sss

Author's Note: And thus ends Scars, one of my longest fanfictions I ever wrote.

I'll be posting up the first chapter of the sequel, Shadows. The chapters of that story will be much shorter. The reason why Scars chapters were so long was because, when writing it, I never divided the story into chapters. That came later. Shadows, on the other hand, I divided it into chapters as I wrote.