Author's Notes: Much against my will, I'm starting yet ANOTHER story. I really shouldn't be doing this, considering that I have FIVE other ongoing stories, but I'm apparently a slave to my plot bunnies. And yes, it's another Cassidy fic. Even I'm amazed at how much I like this character (and Devon), considering that the only thing Bulk and Skull do for me is to make me grind my teeth in irritation.

Also, I've tweaked the story idea from the summary I posted on my profile. I'll try to update that as soon as possible.

Just a word of warning: with this story, I intend to screw with not only Cassidy's head, but my readers as well. Don't worry if you're as confused as she is; all will be explained in time (evil laughter).

Cassidy Cornell woke up in a cold, sweat, her heart pounding. That had to have been the worst nightmare she'd ever had. And the funny thing was she could hardly remember any of it. The only thing she could recall was evil, mocking laughter.

Then she noticed her darkened surroundings, and immediately concluded that she was still sleeping. This wasn't her room.

Or rather, it was her room, but still the wrong room. She was supposed to be seeing her dorm room. Instead, she appeared to be in her room in her parents house, the way it was her senior year of high school. Yep, definetely still sleeping.

Fortunately, she had a sure-fire remedy for this. She grabbed her arm and pinched hard.

"OW!!"

Okay, THAT had never happened. Usually she immediately woke up. This meant...she didn't want to think about what this meant.

She racked her memory for what could have happened. She distinctly remembered going to sleep in her dorm room at UCLA--alone, as usual, as her roommate was a real party girl and rarely came home at night.

She still shuddered to think that could easily have been her fate...if it hadn't been for the DinoThunder Rangers. Or, to be more honest, if it hadn't been for the most momentous decision of her young life, her decision not to reveal the Ranger's identities to the entire world.

It had been a close-run thing. At the time, she had still thirsted for journalistic success, and that expose would have made her the most famous journalist in world history. But something had stopped her. Her extensive research and efforts to unmask the Rangers had lead to a deep-seated admiration for them. They risked their lives every day against a sadistic, inhuman enemy, and what really boggled her mind was that they took no public credit for it. She knew that if that had been HER, she wouldn't have been able to shut up about her heroics. Though she didn't realize it until later, she had done some sub-conscious maturing. That new maturity won out over her desire over fame.

And she had been rewarded with five new friends; the first real friends, besides Devon, that she'd ever had. At first, she'd been uneasy around them, her usual self-confidence lacking. She'd felt they were just being nice to her so she'd keep their secret. Or at best, that Ethan was forcing the others to tolerate her. But she soon realized that that wasn't the case, that their sentiments were sincere. She'd relaxed and returned their gestures, and never looked back.

They were the reason she'd decided to earn her bachelors in journalism. They hadn't gotten where they were by taking shortcuts to success, and she realized she couldn't either. Fortunately, her hare-brained "instant fame" schemes hadn't pulled down her grades, and with them, a good SAT score, and glowing recommendations from Dr. O. and Principal Randall, she'd gotten in.

She still kept in touch with all of them. Mostly by e-mail, of course; it was hard to afford long-distance bills when you were a college freshman. Usually they only used the phone on the rare occasions Ranger history came up. Connor, to no one's surprise, had been snapped up by a professional soccer team during his first tryout, and was already their biggest star. Ethan was in college too, but in addition also ran a small-scale software company on the side that was already attracting notice. Trent worked toward his art degree, and some of his superhero sketches were going to be published in a comic book that specialized in featuring new artists. Kira had decided she needed something to fall back on if her music failed, and was studying to become a high-school music teacher--something Dr. O especially teased her about. The good Doctor himself continued to teach at Reefside, seeming content with the quiet life, although in Cassidy's opinion, he needed a girlfriend.

And then, of course, there was Devon. Her boyfriend. The young man she'd realized she loved, although she'd yet to find the courage to tell him so. The only bad thing about him was that he'd failed to get into college, so he had to take fast-food and other "dead-end" jobs. She was proud that the new Cassidy never once looked down on him for that. He sometimes felt he wasn't worth her while, but she made it clear that he was. It gave her yet another reason to succeed: so she could support them both and Devon could find something he really wanted to do.

But none of that explained this.

She hesitantly got to her feet and began to explore the room. If this was a dream, it was certainly the most realistic one she'd ever had. Everything was in place, including things she was sure she'd forgotten. But how could it be real?

Finally she got to her closet. She opened it, and blinked in surprise. This was the first "off" thing she'd found. I never had that much pink in my closet, she thought.

Then she noticed something on the edge of her vision. She tilted her head to look at it...and her mind shut down.

She spent the next fifteen minutes standing as still as a statue, staring at the morpher on her right arm.