"He's a dinosaur guy! Those were dinosaurs! - sort of."

Conner kind of wished he'd argued harder. Being menaced by a thirteen year old girl with a wooden stick would do that to you, he decided, nursing a bruised elbow.

"I'll ask once more," she declared. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you, we're looking for Dr Oliver," Conner told her. He tried to shuffle to one side, so they could surround her, but Ethan didn't seem to understand; he just shuffled with Conner, so they were performing an awkward circle around the kid.

"He isn't here."

"His car's outside."

She scowled. "Since when does looking for someone mean breaking in anyway?"

"We knocked?" Ethan offered.

"Yes, I heard. You gave him about half a second to answer and then broke in. I was here and I didn't have time to do anything."

"Who are you, anyway?" Conner asked, trying to edge in the other direction. Ethan didn't move this time and he almost fell over him.

"I live here. What do you want him for?"

Conner stayed quiet, hoping Ethan would answer. Ethan stayed quiet, probably hoping Conner would answer. Conner stepped on Ethan's toe.

"Ow!"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Last chance, and then I call the police. What do you want Dr Oliver for?"

"We saw someone get kidnapped by dinosaurs," Conner blurted.

"Hey, is that a katana?" Ethan said over him. "Very cool."

She glanced down at it. "It's a shinai. A practise sword." Ethan relaxed, and she added sharply, "Doesn't mean I can't hurt you with it. What's he saying about dinosaurs?"

"Conner? Nothing. Got hit in the head a few too many times. Soccer, you know." Ethan caught Conner's arm, trying to usher him out; Conner stood firm, and Ethan scowled, arms briefly flaring blue as his power kicked in.

"Ow," Conner hissed, turning as best he could to keep himself between Ethan and the girl. She'd lowered her weapon and was watching them with a frown. "Just tell him we dropped in. We're leaving, see? Come on, Ethan."

"Wait." She propped her sword neatly against the back of the couch, studying them. "I'll call him. Wait out on the porch. He's probably nearly back anyway."

Conner nodded briefly, following Ethan out onto the porch. They'd been lingering for a while when Dr Oliver came out of the house.

"How'd you do that?" Ethan demanded.

Dr Oliver frowned briefly. "Back door. What are you doing here?"

"Kira got kidnapped by these dinosaur things," Conner told him.

"Dinosaur things," he repeated disbelievingly.

"We saw it," Ethan insisted.

"I'm sure you saw something," Dr Oliver agreed. Face hardening, he added, "Is there anything else you want to tell me? Anything you may have picked up on our field trip and not told me about?"

The girl was watching from the door. Conner looked away from her, shaking his head. "Nothing. What are we going to do about Kira?"

"I'll take care of it. You boys go back to whatever you'd normally be doing right now."

"What?" Ethan protested.

"Leave it to me," Dr Oliver said dismissively. "It's not something for you to worry about."

"She was snatched right in front of us!"

"Don't worry about it," he repeated. "Go on home." Glancing over his shoulder, he added, "Lauren, go inside."

"You see it?" she asked, edging closer.

"Go inside," he said again; she took a step back and he turned back to the boys. "One last chance. Because Lauren's usually a good judge of character. Did you find anything on the field trip?"

"How is this relevant?" Conner protested. Ethan glanced sidewards at him before producing the blue and yellow gems.

Dr Oliver nodded, unsurprised, before looking at Conner. Sighing, he held up the red gem.

"Have they bonded with you?" Lauren asked. Dr Oliver glanced at her, but he didn't bother trying to send her away again.

"Have they what?" Conner asked with a frown.

"Have you noticed any changes since you picked them up," Dr Oliver explained. Conner zipped down to the car, waited long enough to make sure they'd seen him and then zipped back. "That answers that," Dr Oliver muttered. "Right. You two, come with me. Let's find Kira. Stay inside, Lauren."

"Yessir," she agreed, backing towards the front door.

"Hey," Conner called after her. "Thanks." He still wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but somehow she'd made Dr Oliver listen to them, that much was clear.

"Don't thank me yet."

"Lauren," Dr Oliver said, and there was clear warning in his tone. She flinched, slipping into the house, and they all heard the locks being thrown.

Dr Oliver nodded, turning to head for his car. "Come on. I'll tell you what I can."