It was late morning, almost noon, at the D-Lab; Ursula was crouching on the floor, a focused expression on her face. She was looking into angry green eyes. She was in the room alone with those eyes until Reese entered.

"Hi, I wanted to ask you if- …what exactly are you doing?" the blonde wondered, seeing Ursula and a baby T-Rex staring at each other without blinking. Terry opened his mouth, but it was quickly shut by Ursula's hand.

"Don't even think about that," she told him. Terry growled back at her. "Look, I already told you it's not my fault you're stuck here. Zander was the one to give me the Scanner." He glared at her annoyedly. "Don't give me that look."

"Um…Ursula?" Reese spoke up again, making the taller woman snap out, "what are you doing?"

"Well, Terry's mad that he can't be with Spiny and Tank, so I'm trying to explain the situation to him," Ursula said. The amber eyes glanced at her and widened a bit as she let go of the T-Rex. She was caught off guard seeing the researcher dressed in an orange turtleneck, a light sweater, a green skirt, and brown thigh-high boots. "Damn, why so fancy, Blondie?"

"O-oh…" Reese blushed at her words. "T-That's actually why I came here. I'm heading out with the others and I was wondering if you wanted to join. We're going to Chinatown."

"Excuse me?! Did you just say Chinatown?!" Ursula quickly jumped to her feet.

"Yes. What about it?"

"I am going!" Her eyes were filled with excitement and her hands she curled into fists were shaking. "When I hear Chinatown all I can think of is delicious squid jerky!" Reese's confused expression changed to that of endearment seeing the woman's sudden energy.

"Glad to hear that," she admitted, "now if you wanna look fancier I recommend you to hurry. Everyone's waiting."

"I'll be right back!" the green-haired exclaimed before turning Terry into a card and running out of the room. After a while, she returned dressed in a dark red crop top under a leather jacket, black jeans, and red high heels. Her hair was in a low ponytail and she had shades sitting on her nose. "Ready! How do I look?" she asked with a grin on her face as she adjusted the glasses.

"You look…" Reese let out as she scanned the older woman with her eyes, "...nice."

"Wow. It's hard to get a grand compliment from you, huh, Blondie?" Ursula commented and rolled her eyes. Hearing no response, she eyed the researcher. She could have sworn that Reese looked disappointed or sad–she couldn't exactly pinpoint which one. With a teasing grin on her face, she walked over to the blonde and leaned down to her height. "Come on, you love this fit. I can tell."

"What?" Reese mumbled, tracing her eyes away, "what are you talking about?"

"Oh, you can't fool me, hun," Ursula said, making Reese's face turn red at that nickname, "you think I'm gorgeous, don't you?"

"We gotta go," the blonde immediately changed the subject as she headed to the door, "everyone's waiting."

"Alright, who exactly is everyone?" Ursula asked, running after Reese as they were on their way outside, "I assume the bra-" She quickly shut up when the shorter woman glared at her. "I mean, the kids are part of it."

"Yeah. Dr. Taylor and his wife are coming too."

"Ah, so I'll finally meet that Aki he won't shut up about."

"Just… She doesn't know about our involvement with the dinosaur stuff," Reese told her, "so, please, don't mention any of it or the Alpha Gang. So, you aren't a former enemy, you're just my friend who wanted to tag along."

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing. Wait, I thought the kids had their dinos in chibis constantly. How does she not know? Doesn't she literally live with two dinosaurs?"

"Yes, she does, but…well… She calls them dogs."

"Excuse me, what now?" Ursula glanced at Reese in confusion. "That's dumb. That's actually dumb."

"Just keep it under wraps around her."

"Why didn't the Doc tell her?"

"According to him he didn't wanna freak her out–no dinosaurs appeared prior to Chomp after all. He also wanted to keep our connection to everything a secret and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't allow Max and Rex to go on missions. Either way…"

"Don't talk about the dino stuff, got it," Ursula finished for her.

The two women soon caught up with everyone else at the Chukagai bus stop and headed to the restaurant in Chinatown. To their shock, there was a huge queue of people coming specifically from their restaurant. Annoyed by the sight, they joined in. They're not just gonna turn back now.

"This is quite a long line for a restaurant," Aki admitted with faded optimism in her voice.

"We'll end up ordering dinner instead of lunch," joked Reese, making Ursula chuckle a bit.

"Evidently, we weren't the only ones who heard about this place on the news last night," Spike assumed.

"Well, it's not often that Johnny Cook the Traveling Chef makes an appearance in Chinatown," Rex said.

"Who's Johnny Cook?" Ursula wondered, "never heard of him."

"He randomly shows up around the world," Max started before bursting out pure energy, "his path is unpredictable, and his stove is always on!"

"What the heck does that mean?"

"He's one of the best cooks in the world! Despite cooking for a mere year, he's made a name for himself. His famous crab and egg-fried rice is supposed to be incredible. I can't wait!"

"Oh, all that fresh crab encased in a golden layer of eggs," Zoe exclaimed, "I can practically taste it already. I've been dreaming about it all night. Oh, it's gonna taste so good!"

"Cut it out," Max told her, "talking about it's just making me hungrier. I think even Chomp, Ace, and Paris are looking forward to having some, too. Don't worry, guys." He looked down, pausing when he realized that the dinos were no longer there. "Uh, where'd they all go?"

"Huh? Oh, no," Rex let out.

"Maybe they snuck inside," Zoe suggested, "we gotta go find them." The boys nodded and the three of them ran off, looking for their pets.

"And we lost to these guys so many times," Ursula commented quietly.

"So, Ursula, how did you and Reese meet?" Aki asked her, "she hasn't really talked about you."

"Oh, we…" Ursula began as she and Reese glanced at one another, "we ran into each other at an airport, accidentally swapped bags and I rushed after her as soon as I realized." She didn't exactly lie about that, she just didn't mention the fact that she then tried to steal Reese's bag because of the card capsule inside of it, resulting in chaos.

"We happened to meet later and as we talked, I guess you could say, we became friends."

"It's nice to see one of Reese's friends," Aki said.

"I'm surprised you two get along so well," Spike added in, "Reese doesn't tend to…like people." The blonde turned red like a child embarrassed by their parents.

"Understandable," Ursula admitted, "people are…ugh." Her body shuddered as she rolled her eyes, causing Reese to let out a chuckle, appreciating what she assumed was empathy.

Something like that was so shocking to the Taylors as if that was impossible. Reese wasn't usually like that.

"Honestly, I just came here for some squid jerky," Ursula said.

The kids soon returned with their dinos and eventually, the wait ended for them all. They managed to get inside the restaurant and take seats. They were all so excited to finally eat.

After ordering, Aki left to the ladies' room, dragging Reese with her and unknowingly leaving Ursula in an awkward position with the others.

"Alright, what did you wanna talk about?" Reese asked once she saw Aki's cheeky smile.

"I'd like to know what happened to you."

"What…exactly do you mean?"

"Today was the first time I've seen you laugh, even if it was just a chuckle." Reese's cheeks turned red as Aki said that. Was that really the case? She's definitely laughed before-

She's only ever laughed around one person… Only her little sister made her feel comfortable enough to genuinely laugh.

"You care about Ursula, don't you?" Aki wondered. Not only that Reese's face was like a tomato, but shock took over it. Her eyebrows rose, and her lips parted. She glanced away.

"Well, she is my friend. …I wanna make sure she's fine," Reese admitted, noticing a soft smile in the corners of her eyes, "she's been through a lot and…clearly hasn't talked to anyone about it. I only found out by accident, but I think that's why she's around me so much. It seems that that gives her comfort and that…makes me happy." She smiled gently. "Platonic or romantic, I do care."

"That's nice to see," Aki said, genuine joy in her voice, "glad you're both happy."

"Hey, you two better hurry up," sounded from the door of the restroom as Ursula walked in, "the food's served and the others just refuse to wait for you." She sighed in frustration and pointed to Reese, pouting. "And, Blondie, if you ever leave me with your sister again you can say goodbye to me brushing your hair."

"I'm sorry about that," Reese told her, "I hope you two didn't cause any ruckus while we were gone."

"Oh, please. I can behave." Ursula rolled her eyes with a smirk on her face. "Can we go now?"

"Of course."

The three women headed back to the restaurant, but when they returned, the place was a wreck. The tables and chairs were knocked over and broken, the food was all over the floor and there was no sign of people.

"What happened here?" Aki wondered.

"I thought you said you caused no ruckus," Reese pointed out as she looked at Ursula.

"Hey, that wasn't me, I swear!" The green-haired folded her arms on her chest. "Looks like someone started a fight. Well, I say we go find a different place to eat at."

"I am not sure if that's exactly the most reasonable thing to-"

"It's a great idea!" Aki interrupted the blonde, "I know a place with the best tapioca around."

"Nice! Lead the way!" Ursula exclaimed as she and Aki headed for the entrance. Reese stayed in place for a little longer. This whole situation was strange; everyone was just suddenly gone.

"Why is it when something happens, it's always those three?" she mumbled to herself before joining the others.

—

What they didn't realize is that this mess was caused by a dinosaur. A Mapusaurus to be exact. The D-Team engaged in a battle with it, Max full of anger that the dinosaur destroyed his lunch. The dinosaur's appearance wasn't just noticed by the D-Team, but also by the Alpha Gang's Seth and Dr. Z's grandchildren, Rod and Laura.

This would be their third mission in a row. Despite being forbidden by Dr. Z and Helga, the two joined the hunt for the dinosaur cards upon Seth's request. They figured that it was due to Ursula's absence as the field team's results were disasters ever since.

As soon as Rod and Laura arrived in Chinatown they streamed the battlefield back to Zeta Point for Seth to see.

"A Mapusaurus…" Seth thought to himself, "this ought to be interesting." He was standing in the island's main room by himself, watching the feed until he heard footsteps and voices approaching.

"Ever since Ursula left and Doctor broke his back he's become unbearable," Zander complained in the distance, "if I ever see her again she's gonna get a piece of my mind."

"If I ever see her again I'm gonna give her a big hug," Ed added. The two men stopped once they walked into the room and spotted the screen Seth was watching.

"There's a new dinosaur? Since when?"

"Oh, well, this Mapusaurus just now appeared in Chinatown," Seth quickly replied.

"That's great news!" Ed exclaimed.

"Are you crazy? That's a Mapusaurus!" Zander snapped in surprise.

"Well, we either go to Chinatown and get eaten by the Mapusaurus or we stay here and let Dr. Z boss us around." He frowned thoughtfully at Ed's words and then let out a sigh.

"Chinatown it is…" Zander gave up and the two of them headed to the hangar.

—

While the fight was happening on the other side of Chinatown, the three women found a different restaurant that still had people around.

"Here you are, ladies," the waiter said as he laid three bowls in front of them.

"This is the tapioca I told you about," Aki said with a big smile on her face, "the best in all of Chinatown. I eat it every time I come here." Her excitement was shared by Ursula, but not as much by Reese.

The blonde was frowning down at the soup. This didn't feel right… The others were who knows where and they were just sitting here, eating as if nothing happened.

"How much tapioca have you eaten?" she asked Aki doubtfully.

"Oh, scoff if you like," the brunette told her, "but first, you should at least try it."

"As long as I can have my squid jerky afterward," Ursula replied as she and the brunette had their first spoon. Her face lit up in pure joy. "This is delicious…"

"I know, right?"

Reese glanced at the two of them unsurely, having this gut feeling that somewhere, something was going terribly wrong. She looked down at her spoon.

"I'm not sure this is what I should be doing right now," she thought, before letting out a sigh of defeat, "oh well." She took a last glance at the two women beside her before she was about to taste the tapioca, but she caught a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. She looked out of the window and saw a bunch of dinosaurs running past the building. "Ah, shoot…" crossed her mind immediately, "sometimes I hate when I'm right."

"Pst, Urs…" she whispered to the green-haired as she leaned in, "we've got a problem. There's a dinosaur running around."

"No, the kids have a problem," Ursula replied quietly, "we have lunch."

"Ursula…!" Reese scolded her, "we gotta keep Aki away from here."

"I know and that's exactly what I'm doing," Ursula explained to her, eating another spoon, "I mean, I can't get involved in a battle, remember? And you literally told me not to tell her. You think I'd blow the cover?"

"Oh…right." The blonde pulled away, turning back to her bowl. "Apologies." Ursula was caught off guard by that reaction, but before she could say anything Aki joined in.

"On our way home we can pick up some gyudon if you want." She smiled at Reese.

"That…would be nice," the blonde admitted. Seeing her relaxed expression, Ursula frowned thoughtfully.

After finishing the tapioca, the three women headed outside and Ursula quickly suggested that Reese and Aki get some gyudon to get away from Chinatown while she was on a quest for some squid jerky.

She was running through the streets past all the rubble the dino fight caused when suddenly someone ran into her from behind a corner.

"Hey, watch it!" she snapped at two men. Her face turned pale as soon as she noticed the red A symbol on their outfits. "You two?!" She was staring in shock at Zander and Ed. She'd say she wouldn't expect them there, but that'd be so stupid; a dinosaur was literally right there!

"Ursula?!" the two men gasped, looking like they'd just seen a ghost. Tears formed in their eyes. "You're here…?" Both of them hurled themselves at her, hugging her tightly. They sniffled, not believing their eyes. It's been weeks since they've last seen her, but it felt like years.

She just stood there in their embrace, surprised by their reaction. They don't hate her for leaving them?

"I'm so happy to see you again," Ed sobbed as they both pulled away. It formed a weak smile on Ursula's face, which was quickly knocked off by Zander grabbing her shoulders and shaking her violently.

"Do you have any idea how worried we were?!" he snapped at her, "we went back to Australia and you weren't there! Don't ever scare us like that! Why weren't you there?!"

"Doc…would…find…me…there…" she uttered as her head was swinging back and forth. Zander let go of her, causing her head to lean back. "I'm dizzy…" She shook her head and then glared at the tall man. "What else was I supposed to do?!" She stepped to his aggressively, pointing at him, her teeth gritting. "You told the Doctor where I was! I had to get out of there!"

"N-neither of us told him," Zander said, "I swear."

"That's right!" Ed agreed, "it was Seth who did that."

"Of course he did…" Ursula mumbled. She groaned to herself and turned her back to the men. "Whatever. I'll be on my way looking for some delicious squid jerky." She headed away, leaving the men alone. The two glanced at each other and quietly agreed.

"Ursula, wait!" they called out to her, running after her.

—

Meanwhile, Reese and Aki were strolling around Chinatown, the blonde trying her best to avoid any signs of the battle.

This couldn't get any worse. There was a Mapusaurus running around with all three D-Team dinosaurs chasing after it while Aki–the one person that shouldn't know about this–is walking around in the same maze as the dinosaurs.

"So, how was the tapioca?" Aki wondered.

"It was…good," Reese replied, her mind not really there. She peeked behind a corner, seeing parts of the battle down the street. She froze in place, blocking Aki with her arm. She backed away and led the older woman in a different direction. "Seems to be a dead end. Let's try another way."

"You're worried, aren't you?" Aki asked her.

"Huh?"

"About the children and Ursula of course."

"No, I'm not," Reese lied, her cheeks red, "she can handle herself." Reese didn't doubt that, what she was worried about was the Alpha Gang potentially seeing her. That's something Ursula herself clearly feared, so she'd try to avoid it, Reese was sure of that. Still, there was a concern.

"And the children sure can deal with the dinosaur just fine," Aki reassured her.

"Yeah, you're right." Reese nodded, but suddenly her eyes wide opened and her head shot in Aki's direction. "Excuse me, what did you just say?"

"That the children won't have a problem with the dinosaur," hearing those words confirmed made Reese's jaw drop as she stared at the brunette in utter shock.

"You knew this whole time!?" Reese snapped out in an uncharacteristic tone, "how? For how long?"

"For a while," Aki responded calmly, not phased by Reese's tone of voice, "your mom told me once." The blonde frowned at the response. "I didn't want to bring it up because Spike doesn't know that I know about it and I don't want him to know just yet because I would like him to tell me himself."

"I want you to understand that he didn't tell you so you don't worry about the kids and aren't freaked out," Reese tried to explain, "he had no intention of hurting you."

"I know, I know," Aki spoke up, "I just want him to be honest with me and I'm sure he'll be eventually."

"You're…handling it better than I thought," Reese admitted, "why aren't you mad at him? He's been lying to you for months."

"Have you ever seen me mad?"

"I have, rarely."

"Look, I don't want to yell at him or completely ignore him just because of it. Once he decides to tell me the truth we'll talk about it; no need to get mad." Aki smiled at her brightly, leaving the blonde confused by what she just said.

—

Meanwhile, Ursula snuck into a random kitchen, followed by Zander and Ed, searching for squid jerky. They looked through every dark corner while in complete silence. Even after she left them they still follow her lead, huh?

After minutes the silence was finally broken by a shaky voice.

"Ursula, did you miss us?" asked Ed. The woman shot her head up from a cupboard. Her stomach tightened and she bit her lip. She didn't respond, getting back to her search. "Ursula?"

"What?" she groaned as she turned around, "what do you wanna hear?" The younger man looked at her with a shocked and a bit scared expression. "That I did and I can't wait to go back to Zeta Point with you? Or that I didn't and I'm staying here?"

Ed opened his mouth as if ready to say something, but he gave up, drifting his glance away. Ursula rolled her eyes, spinning around on her heel, focusing on what was more important, the squid jerky.

"Things haven't been going well since you left," Zander thought to himself but didn't say it out loud. He wanted to rub it in so badly, to blame her for their misfortune, although…she gave them a choice back in Australia. They chose to go back. Could he really blame her?

He can't just snap at her, not just because of how uncomfortable she clearly felt about the situation, but also because of Ed who was right there. Why does being the older brother have to be so difficult?

They all went back to being quiet until Zander spoke up with a huge smile on his face.

"Found it!" He held up the squid jerky as Ursula rushed over to him.

"Way to go, Zander!" There was a huge, almost insane smile on her face as she couldn't tear her eyes away from the squid. Zander pulled away from her, but before a quiet thought fully formed in his head, he handed the jerky to Ursula. She took it with a shocked expression on her face.

As soon as it was in her possession, she jumped on a table, holding the squid jerky above her head. She was so happy that it brought tears to her eyes, however, that happiness didn't last long as the Mapusaurus burst through the wall. The carnivore walked behind the table and bit the jerky before walking off, leaving Ursula empty-handed.

With the jerky no longer in her hands, she started sobbing as she fell to her knees.

"My beautiful squid jerky's gone. I was looking so forward to eating you. It's not fair!"

While Ursula was mourning her loss Zander and Ed noticed three more dinosaurs heading their way. They quickly grabbed her arms and pulled her off the table. The D-Team dinosaurs stormed through the kitchen, followed by the kids.

"Well, we found the dinosaur," Zander said, "we gotta catch it!"

"Too bad we don't have our Alpha Scanners," Ed reminded him.

"We don't, but someone else does," realized Zander as he turned to Ursula, "you've got Terry!"

"Actually, I don't," she replied, wiping her tears, "you know, I just wanted lunch. Speaking of…" She jumped to her feet and hurried into a different kitchen.

—

Back with Aki and Reese, they were near the edge of Chinatown when they heard a deep voice calling them. Out of nowhere, Aki was tackled with a hug, almost getting knocked over. Wrapped in strong arms, the brunette's cheeks turned pink as she glanced up at her husband.

"I'm so glad I found you," Spike exclaimed.

"Happy to see you too, dear."

Reese smiled as she was watching the couple until she was pulled into the hug as well, an annoyed frown crossing her face.

"That's…about enough physical contact for one day," she mumbled, pulling away from the couple, "why didn't you stay at the restaurant?"

"Um…I…W-well…" Spike uttered, shifting his eyes.

"You went to eat by yourself, didn't you?" Aki figured.

"U-um…maybe…?"

"Don't worry, Ursula went to do the same."

Reese frowned anxiously at that and both of them noticed. Aki assumed that she was just worried because of the dinosaur running around, but Spike was sure it was because of the Alpha Gang.

"You can go find her if you want," Spike told her, "we don't mind."

"Alright." She let out a sigh. "I'll be right back."

—

Ursula and the Alpha Duo raided their third kitchen within 30 minutes. Still no jerky. They were on their way to another one.

"So, what happened while I was gone?" Ursula asked them out of nowhere.

"Well, Dr. Z broke his back and we have to take care of him," Zander replied.

Ed nodded as he added: "That's why we go on missions even if Rod and Laura have our Scanners. To escape that for a bit."

"Things got worse for us when you left."

"And you wonder why I did?" Ursula let out annoyedly, turning to the two men, "I've had enough of being mistreated by him."

"You've never considered coming back?" Zander brought up. The green-haired shifted her eyes away, holding onto her arms.

"Of course I have," she said, but it didn't even sound like her own voice. She couldn't believe that she'd admit that. "I'm second-guessing my decision every day! It feels like I messed up. Like I shouldn't be here. And I know that I shouldn't! I-"

"Ursula?" a female voice sounded behind her. She became pale as she turned around, seeing Reese.

"Blondie?" Ursula stared at Reese in surprise. She gulped loudly and her body tensed up. "It's not what it looks like! I swear I was just-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," Reese interrupted her, catching the former Alpha Gang member off guard.

"So, you traded us for a beautiful girl?" Zander suddenly asked.

"What?" Ursula shot her head at him, her eyes wide, her face red. "First of all, I did not! And second of all, even if I did, could you blame me?" She aggressively swung her arm Reese's way, making her blush.

"Well, she does have a point," Ed admitted. Reese's face was as red as when she talked to Aki earlier.

"Okay, okay. Fair," Zander mumbled, "but still. If you've really considered it, then what's stopping you from coming back with us?"

Ursula said nothing and looked at Reese who shook her head and walked over to her.

"I'm not," she told Ursula, "if you want to go back, you can. If you want to stay here, you can. It doesn't matter what you choose, as long as it makes you happy." A gentle smile formed on her face. "I'm sure it's the right choice."

The amber eyes were locked on her as Ursula was processing what the blonde just told her. Of course she pulled up with this… Of course she had to be like that, she always is.

Ursula turned around, heading towards the Alpha Duo. She grabbed Zander by his coat's collar and pulled him down as she wrapped her arms around both of the men. They glance at one another in confusion.

"Can you two promise me something?" she asked them.

"What is it?" Ed wondered.

"Please, don't tell Dr. Z where I am." She tightened her grip. "Don't let him ruin this, okay? I'll miss you both." Tears filled the men's eyes as they hugged her back. They held her tightly as if that'd let them hold her forever.

"We won't tell him, don't worry," Zander reassured her and then glanced at Reese, "take care of her for us, please."

"I will." The blonde nodded.

The three of them stayed in the embrace for a while and only let go when the sky turned back to normal. The dinosaur was defeated and that meant that Rod and Laura would be on their way back to the island–Zander and Ed had to tag along since their craft was damaged from their landing. So they said their goodbyes and the two men headed away. Watching them go, Ursula frowned, holding onto her arm.

"Thanks," she mumbled, getting Reese's full attention, "for…giving me a choice."

"Oh." Reese was shocked to hear that; what she told Ursula wasn't anything special, was it? Unless…"Don't mention it. As I said, as long as you're happy it's the right choice."

"I guess it was." A smirk crossed Ursula's face. "So, we're getting out of here and grabbing some gyudon on the way home?"

"That'd be nice," Reese admitted, "but we need to find the others first."

"Do we have to?" Ursula groaned, making Reese chuckle a bit. Maybe Aki was right about those two.

—

And that's chapter 3!

So, the first thing I have to address is Aki. Yes, she knows. She wasn't made aware of all the details when it comes to the Alpha Gang, but she knows. I am very much convinced that someone had to tell her at one point (likely one of the Drakes, including Reese) cause she handles everything quite well. Also, I feel like her giving Spike a chance to tell her when he's ready is very much in character.

Now, I skipped the previous episodes cause there wasn't much I could do about those.

Don't worry, in the next chapter, we'll have more of Ursula's flirting and Reese's inability to respond.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next chapter.