A/N: This chapter finally explains how this AU is possible, and a silly headcannon about Veloci.


Such silence fell after Riley's announcement, one could have heard a pin drop. Fiona's dino huffs were the loudest sound in the room.

Ms. Moynihan was staring at Riley in shock. Roger had that distant gleam he got when faced with a complex science problem. Max and Caruso were wearing expressions of confusion; the latter was staring at the ceiling, moving his lips and hands like he was trying to work out a difficult math problem in his head. Buzz looked at Riley with awe, probably envious about being born with the dino-changing ability.

Fiona was just numb. Less than a year ago, she didn't even realize that people like the squad existed. The teens were able to transform by accident, and Ms. Moynihan had once explained that she and Veloci had been the first to try the dino gene over twenty years ago. But that should have been the end of it!

Now, not only was there another teen with the transforming ability, she had been born that way! Veloci apparently had his work recreated six years after Ms. Moynihan's disappearance.

"How does that work?" Caruso finally asked. "Did you hatch or…?"

"Caruso," everyone groaned.

"It's a reasonable question," Riley allowed. "I was born like normal, with my changing abilities showing up after my second birthday."

"But how is that possible?" Ms. Moynihan said. "I knew that Victor was low, but pressing such a… unique situation on two unsuspecting parents!"

"Father said they knew that my abilities would be a risk. Both my parents had this changing gene, so it passed on to me."

Once again, silence fell. Max's mouth opened and closed several times, before staring up at the ceiling.

"When did Victor inject others?" Ms. Moynihan said. "I thought that it was just him and I, and I destroyed our work."

"Father said that he and Mom were part of the Raptor Dyne corporation," Riley said. "They agreed to take part in an experiment. He never mentioned any others, if that is what you are worried about."

"What are your parents' names?" Ms. Moynihan asked.

Riley shook her head. "Father would be upset enough if he knew I showed my ability to anyone else in the first place. I'll keep your secrets, if you'll let me keep his."
"I'd say that's fair," Ms. Moynihan said.

"What about your mom?" Buzz asked.

Riley looked at Buzz for a long moment, while everyone waited to see how she would respond.

"Her name was Riley as well. Father named me after her, when she caught ill soon after I was born. I never knew her personally."

Ms. Moynihan walked to Riley and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I remember Riley. She was a smart and brave woman, with such a knowledge of dinosaurs."

"That's what Father says, when he is actually…" Riley shook her head. "What do you mean that you destroyed his work?"

Ms. Moynihan took a seat before responding. Fiona settled herself on the ground, and Buzz and Max went over to sit beside her. Riley sat beside Fiona's tail, gently stroking her scales.

"Victor and I grew up together," Ms. Moynihan began. "Sometime during high school, we came up with the idea of returning dinosaurs to the Earth. It was a silly joke at first, but as we got older, the more we wanted to do it."

"We researched and worked, eventually forming the base of Raptor Dyne mere months after our graduations. With funds and resources, we finally started to make big steps toward our dream. When we were twenty, we finally perfected the serum."

"Victor and I agreed to test the serum on ourselves, and no one else was allowed in our lab during the time. Obviously, Victor broke his promise."

"The first transformation was… difficult. Neither Victor nor I could control ourselves. It could have been disastrous if it hadn't been for our assistants. Riley was one of them, actually. They rushed in managed to calm us with their presence and words, allowing us to turn human again."

"After the first change, I didn't want to do so ever again. Victor managed to convince me to try again, and we learned to control the dinosaur side."

"The experience had affected me, though. I researched and tried to determine what would happen if Victor's and my dream really did become true." Ms. Moynihan shook her head. "Long story short, it could very likely be the end of humans. There are animals, plants, even viruses -as Max can attest to- that would only spell disaster to humans."

"I tried to get Victor to understand the reality of what would happen if we continued our work. I'm not sure if it was the over-mutated dinosaur gene or if Victor really thinks that dinosaurs really should reign again, but he has never seemed to understand the severity of this foolish idea."

"Once I realized that Victor would never give up, I destroyed all of our work. Brilliant scientist or not, he always has had a poor memory. I left and went into hiding, hoping that Victor wouldn't be able to revive his work."

"But if he knows the serum, how come he hasn't affected the whole earth yet?" Roger asked.

"Riley's parents must have been injected before the work was destroyed," Ms. Moynihan mused. "Your contamination was apparently an accident that Victor hasn't traced back to a specific batch."

"Wait," Caruso said. "You're the same age as Veloci?"

Riley and the rest of the squad turned to Caruso in confusion. Gradually, their expressions turned to startled as they realized something that had never occurred to them before.

"Ah, yes, I guess I never mentioned that other side-affect," Ms. Moynihan said. "Soon after leaving Raptor Dyne, I realized that, as some effect of the serum, my aging has been sped up. Victor and I are both in our forties."

"And that's why he's never found you?" Max asked. "You are older than he thinks you are?"

"Yes. Victor's not that entirely oblivious," Ms. Moynihan said. "It helps that I have moved several times since then, to keep my rapidly rising age from drawing attention."

Fiona unconsciously gave a distressed rumble. That meant that Ms. Moynihan would be in the equivalent of her sixies. Maybe more, if her lined face and subtle way she shifted her weight onto her staff if she stood too long was any indication.

"It's fine, Fiona. If it wasn't for that, I could not live such a public life," Ms. Moynihan comforted. "Thus, I would never have met you five -six- teenagers."

"Is there some way-" Roger started, but Ms. Moynihan raised a hand.

"I've determined that it is the lingering effects of the procedure we used to make the dinosaur DNA useable in the serum. The only solution I can see is removing the dino genes."

"And we've gotten nowhere with that," Roger said with a sigh.

"Why would you want to stop turning into dinosaurs?" Riley spoke up. She immediately ducked her head when the others looked at her, finishing in a mumble, "I mean, it's pretty cool."

"Besides the effects like Ms. Moynihan's aging and that over-mutated gene, we need to get rid of Veloci's mutating once and for all," Max said.

"Not to mention that Max would rather be a quarterback," Caruso said, earning another groan.

"That was when it first happened," Max protested.

Ms. Moynihan waved a calming hand. "The team has come a long way since then. Admittedly, it would probably be for the best if we could prevent Victor from mutating any more innocent creatures."

"But if he's come back from one time of losing all his work, he probably will again," Roger said. "He would have even more safe-guards in place this time as well."

Buzz leaned back against Fiona. "Well, we've done pretty good so far at keeping Veloci from going all 'dino-earth' on us. We can handle him until you come up with a plan."

"Gee, thanks for the confidence and peer pressure," Roger said.

"Anytime."

Riley suddenly leaped to her feet. "Oh, no!"

Everyone stood quickly, looking around for a threat. Fiona growled as she sniffed the air.

"If forgot about Father! He expects me to let him know if I'm going to be late after school," Riley said. She ran for the door, then paused with her hand on the knob. "Do you… mind if I stop by after school tomorrow?"

The squad was startled by the request, though Max quickly recovered to respond.

"Of course! It's not every day that we come across another kid like us."

Riley smiled and dropped her head, then darted outside without another word. The teens stood in silence.

"Do you think she will really come?" Buzz finally asked.

"I hope so. Anyone else willing to help fight Veloci will be well welcomed," Max said.

"As do I," Ms. Moynihan mused. "I am curious on how she has remained secret from us for so long."

Fiona strode over to a window to watch Riley run down the driveway. It would be nice to have another girl on the team -one that could go dino, that is. And there was something else about her…

Fiona had a strange sense that the new girl to school wasn't telling them something big.


A/N: It makes sense that dinosaurs have a strong instinct, and that the teens would have that in dino mode as well, right? And like Max has the feral gene, Fiona has the stronger instincts.