Scars

by DarkHououmon

Ever since their formation, the Dino Squad have always managed to keep Veloci in the dark about their secret. But what would happen if he did find out? And what if he was far more capable than they initially thought? Despite what fairy tales may say, the bad guys don't always lose...

15. Wanting

Michelle put the pieces of paper that she wrote on together in a pile. She straightened them out by dropping them on the table vertically, making them look almost like books, except there was no spine or stitches to hold them together. Once they were straightened out, Michelle reached over towards the desk and grabbed a large, hardcover folder, colored in solid black to make her skin color in dinosaur form. She opened it up, revealing several dozen other thick compilations of paper, all hooked together by three large silver rings. Each paper, including the ones she was currently holding, had three large holes punctured into them. She unclasped the rings and quickly placed the papers inside. Closing the silver rings and the black folder, she placed it back in her box, her name written right above it: Michelle Brown.

She let out a sigh as she pushed the folder as far as it would go into the box. She looked over her shoulder to see if Oscura was watching her. Much to her surprise, Oscura hadn't seemed to live up to her threat. She hadn't seen her come into the room and try to control what she was writing. This action, of course, was illegal, forbidden by Victor himself. Victor was wise to how humans will try to manipulate others for personal gain and thus has made it a rule that only one person was allowed in this room at a time. Perhaps Oscura was afraid that she was going to get caught and decided to withdraw from her threat. Michelle shook her head. No, that didn't seem to be like her. She was up to something and she knew it.

But Michelle couldn't worry about that now. She had to get back to her apartment building soon. She had, very recently moved into an apartment, but never really stated the reason why other than it was easier for her. It was a partial lie to cover up the real truth. She didn't like to think about it, and would rather not to, especially right now, where she was already in anxiety from the events of the previous days. She hoped to relax in her one-bedroom apartment. It wasn't much, but it was better than where she was living before that. She paused for a moment and started to wonder if Oscura had a tough life herself. Oscura always did strike her as someone who wanted revenge against humanity for something they did to her. But even if this were the case, she didn't think she would get it out of Oscura. She'd never admit to it.

Oh well, it wasn't really her problem anyway. She got up from her chair and headed towards the door. As she opened it, she pressed her finger against the light switch and pushed down, turning out the lights instantly. As she made her way down the hallway, she failed to notice Oscura walking up from behind, heading towards the room. As soon as Michelle was out of sight, Oscura immediately opened up the door and turned the lights back on.

She moved over towards the boxes, so many of them stacked one on top of the other. It didn't take her long to find Michelle's box however, especially since the boxes were arranged in alphabetical order and Michelle's last name started with the second letter of the alphabet. Oscura grabbed the folder and immediately opened it up. She was confident enough to believe that she wouldn't get caught. No one ever comes in the room if the lights are on anyway. They'd just think she was doing her job. It made things easier for her knowing that the small window on the door was not so clear or sharp. The images it produced were wobbly and extremely out of focus. Anyone trying to look through there would only see blurs and colorful shadows, nothing sharp enough to raise any kind of suspicion.

Oscura was going to work on her own journal later on. She did have some things she wanted to write in it, especially of what happened today. But first, she wanted to read what Michelle had written about her. And if she didn't like it, she could easily change it. She could copy Michelle's handwriting pretty well, and thus could write just about anything and Victor would think Michelle wrote it herself. This was the perfect opportunity to begin her plan on ridding herself of Michelle once and for all. Victor was already upset with Michelle for what she did back at the warehouse. Now it was time to make him even more upset. And she knew just what she was going to write...

* * *

"So did you get all that, Zoom, or do I have to repeat myself?" Kista asked. She and Zoom were inside the Employee's Lounge, which looked like any other lounge Zoom's been in before. It had a counter top, a coffee maker, a round table with chairs, a microwave, a freezer, and a cupboard with different kinds of food in them. This is where Victor's men usually take their lunch breaks. They sometimes used this room as a meeting room, despite its small size. Only small meetings were held in here, however. There was a much larger room down the hallway where Victor would hold meetings of his own.

Across from the round table from where Kista was sitting sat Zoom O'Donnell. He had his hands laying on the table, fumbling with his fingers as he listened to Kista speak to him. He looked around the room a few times during the speech. He found it hard to believe this was Victor's Employee Lounge. He thought a dinosaur like that man would want a lounge that looked more like his laboratory. If Zoom were to forget all he saw in that laboratory and imagined that this lounge was the only room he's been in while in this building, he never would have guessed that this building hid an anthropomorphic Velociraptor.

"Yes..I heard you, Kista." Zoom answered, grumbling softly to himself.

"Good." Kista placed her hands on the table and interlocked the fingers, twiddling with her thumbs a little. "Although I am surprised that someone of your...intelligence... would understand anything that a superior intellect myself has to say." Despite feeling angry about the statement, Zoom managed to stifle himself, doing nothing more than glare at Kista. He no longer wore the binds that had previously pumped electricity through his body, but Kista no longer needed them to frighten the man into acting more civilized. "Well..now that you're more acquainted with Raptor Dyne, shall we go get you your access card? You'll need one to gain entry in certain places in this building."

Zoom slowly nodded his head. He was more than eager to get out of this room. It's not that he really despised it. He actually felt more relaxed here than in any other part of the building that he saw. But after sitting in here for what he felt was a long time, it was getting tiresome and boring. "Sure, whatever."

"Just an important note that I forgot to tell you earlier." Kista said, leaning forward, her face contorted into a serious, almost threatening frown. Under almost any other circumstance, this would have frightened Zoom. Kista waited for Zoom to respond before she continued her explaination.

"What did you forget?" Zoom asked, trying to sound as politely as he could. "Is it something of great importance?"

Kista's lips slightly curved upward, revealing the very slightest and faintest of smiles. "Well yes, it is very important. Because if you mess this up, Victor might eat you for breakfast!" She snapped, causing Zoom to snap his head back and gulp, hand nervously on his throat as he imagined Victor biting into it to kill him. "Do not converse with any of the employees or employers of this building unless you know for sure that you've seen them in Victor's laboratory. There are members here who truly believe Victor's trying to help the world and humanity and are completely unaware of his true motives. They are either just too new or Victor deemed them untrustworthy. He has forbidden anyone with access to his lab to tell the others about it. They do not know it exists."

Zoom looked at her with a confused look on his face. He was shocked to learn that Victor had kept an entire section of Raptor Dyne cut off from the others, and just as shocked that it appears these members are unaware of Victor's secrets. They may have been working here for years and had never known the truth. Zoom could barely imagine the expression on their faces if they ever found this out. Perhaps this is how Victor gets so many people to work for them. Perhaps half of them don't even know their boss is really a Velociraptor.

"Interesting..." Zoom managed to say. "Victor sure takes a lot of precautions, doesn't he?"

"Precisely." Kista got up from her chair and walked over towards Zoom, who looked up at her with a slight glare. "You know..you should count yourself lucky." She placed one of her arms around him in a sort of half hug. She lowered her head so that it was right next to Zoom's. "You're one of the few newbies to gain enough trust from Victor to permit you in his laboratory. That's quite impressive really."

Zoom was tempted to pull away from the woman, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do so. He couldn't understand why he wasn't trying to pull away. It wasn't because he was afraid of her or that he was all that surprised by her statement. Given how secretive Victor seems to be about his mission, he wasn't surprised that he was one of the few to be privileged to join him so quickly. He wondered if it was because he was actually starting to like Kista. He tried not to shudder as that thought crossed his mind. Kista was the last person he wanted to be with, and yet, for some reason, he couldn't stop looking at her for a very long time, and he couldn't bring himself to push her away. What was keeping him from pulling away from her? Love?

No, that was ridiculous! He had barely met her and in the short time he's known her, she already managed to knock him out, hurt him with electricity, and scare the living daylights out of him. How could he love someone like that? He tried his best to shake out all those thoughts out of his mind. He didn't know why he was thinking these things. He could only attribute it to Kista's feminine charms. While he despised her, or so that is what he's telling himself, he had to admit she was an attractive woman.

"Yes..I probably should consider myself lucky that Victor decided to let me join so quickly..." Zoom said in a mostly sincere, yet partially sarcastic, tone. He decided to change the subject with a question he wanted to ask since he came into this room. "So...have you ever faced the Dino Squad?"

Kista frowned slightly. "No..." She said in a frustrated way. "Victor had told me about them, but he hadn't yet let me go after them."

"And why not, if I'm allowed to ask?" Zoom said.

Kista glared at him for several seconds before softening up her expression. "I really don't know. I guess he doesn't think I am ready, even though I worked for him for a few years now." She sighed angrily, placing her fingers on her forehead, rubbing it. She was starting to get a little headache. She glanced over at Zoom, pulling her arm away from him, freeing him from her grasp. "I've been looking for a challenge for a long time. A mission to give me excitement and thrill, if you know what I mean... I do hope to fight the Dino Squad. Perhaps they could prove...entertaining." She grinned as she spoke the last word.

"I see..." Zoom rolled his eyes. He wasn't sure why Kista would want to fight the Dino Squad head on. He wasn't doubting her capabilities, but she was only one, and they were a team. Wasn't she afraid of getting hurt? Judging from her eagerness to fight them, he guessed the answer was a big fat 'no'.

Kista frowned at him. "Don't look at me like that. You're just as interested in facing this team as I am, and don't lie about it."

"Yes, and I have a better reason for wanting to do that." Zoom glared back at her, getting out of his seat and staring at her at eye level. "What kind of reason is 'a good challenge' anyway? You just want to fight them for the sake of fighting. I want to deliver to them justice."

Kista threw her head back and laughed. "Justice? Justice? Is that what you call it?"

"Don't laugh at me!" Zoom snapped. "I didn't laugh at you when you stated that you wanted to face them for the fun of it!"

Kista narrowed her eyes slightly, but still retained her creepy smile. She took a step forward and reached out with one hand. She grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him down and forward. She pressed her forehead against his so that her eyes were only centimeters away. "The only reason you didn't say anything against it is because you know what I am capable of doing to you..." As she said that, Zoom's eyes widened and he cringed back, proving Kista's point. "Just as I thought..." She released him and took a step back.

Zoom shook his head and replaced his frightened look with a frown. He took a step backwards and wiped off his shirt as if it got dirt on it. Then he turned his back to her and made his way towards the door. As he reached up towards the door knob with one hand, he glanced back at her. "Well thanks for the information. But I really must be going. I need to get in touch with...someone." He sounded reluctant on stating the guy's name, as he wasn't in good terms with him recently. He needed to submit his new photos to him, although he wasn't sure if he should send them to this guy anymore. They shared almost nothing but friction between each other since the dinosaur photograph incident. "They might be wondering why I haven't send in the new pictures and...well it's none of your concern anyway. Good day." He turned the door knob and opened up the door, hearing a little squeak as the door slowly opened.

But before he could even lift a leg to get through the door, it suddenly shut on him. Zoom had to quickly move back to stabilize himself so that he did not fall down. He looked up slightly and could see Kista's hand pressed against the wooden door. He turned around and faced her eye to eye. He pointed accusingly at her and started to say, "Hey, what's the big idea?! Why are..." He slowly stopped as Kista waved a finger from side to side in front of his face.

"You're such a naughty boy!" Kista giggled, putting her hands behind her back like a mischievous little girl. Grinning broadly, she leaned a little closer and said, "You haven't forgotten about that..little card, have you...?"

Grumbling softly, Zoom said, "Oh of course...the card..." He rubbed his forehead, looking somewhat annoyed with Kista. "How could I forget the card?" He asked in a somewhat sarcastic tone of voice. "You would never let me forget anyway, you mean, evil person..." He spoke softly, hoping that Kista did not hear him.

Kista, however, had heard what he said. But she decided to ignore the remark. She walked out in front of Zoom, opening the door as far as it would go. She stepped out from the door way and made a gesture with her head for Zoom to follow him. "Come with me. I'll take you to the room where we make the access cards. It won't take much of your time to get one ready, now would it?" She glanced down the hallways to make sure no one was in them. There shouldn't be many people in the building to begin with. It was still early and most of the people who work for Victor were at home sleeping. And if they weren't sleeping, they were getting ready to come into work today. "Now come along, Zoom. The sooner we get this done and over with, the sooner you can go home."

Zoom hesitated, then complied with the woman's request and started to follow Kista down the hallway. "So..any reason why you can't just give me the directions?" He asked absentmindedly as he looked left to right in the hallway, eyeing each door as they passed it by. "That would be faster, wouldn't it?"

Kista gave him a sideways glance, her eyes wide with shock. It seemed that the photographer had completely forgotten what Victor had made clear earlier. "You have forgotten already?" She asked in a puzzled voice. She slowed down her pace a little so that Zoom could catch up to her. When Zoom looked at her, puzzled himself, it confirmed what Kista suspected. He hadn't been paying much attention. This newfound knowledge caused her to become worried. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea bringing him here in the first place. If he couldn't pay attention to a few simple instructions and information, how could he be trusted to listen to anything else?

"Forgotten what?" Zoom asked, tilting his head. He hadn't really forgotten a lot of what was said. He was just playing dumb to get on Kista's nerves. He knew it wasn't a good idea, but he just felt like doing it. He saw nothing wrong with having a little fun with her.

But Kista saw nothing funny about Zoom's little act. She glared at him, her lips curled back into a snarl. "If you're trying to be funny, stop it!" She snapped, frightening Zoom. "Keep acting up, and I will personally see to it that you end up just like little Caruso did, you understand me?!"

Visibly shaken by Kista's outburst, Zoom said in a trembling voice, "Y-Y-Yes...sure..."

"Excellent..." Kista cooed and continued on her way. "Now, joking set aside, do you or do you not remember what Victor had said to me before? Hmm?" She asked in a taunting voice, leaning a little towards Zoom as they walked.

Zoom stammered a little. "W-Well...I-I-I think he t-told you to keep an eye on m-me... to not let me b-be anywhere in this building...a-alone..." He asked, offering a small, weak smile at the end of his sentence. "That was it..right?"

Kista playfully ruffled the man's hair. "Very good..! That is correct."

Zoom shuddered, gently pushing Kista's hand away. "Can you..please not do that?" He asked in a soft voice. "It's..making me feel uncomfortable."

Kista giggled. "Why? You don't like someone touching you there?" Zoom's eyes widened a little and he gave Kista a weird look. Kista returned the glance, wondering what it was that she said that surprised him so much. When she rethought the words that she had spoken, she quickly realized what she had just said. Trying her best to hide a blush of embarrassment, she said, "Okay..just ignore what I said there, okay?"

"...S-Sure...no prob.." Zoom slowly, unsure what to make of the brief, awkward moment between him and the woman. "So..how long did you say this was going to take?" He asked, trying to come up with a different topic to talk about.

"Give or take, an hour." Kista said quickly. "Why? You in a hurry to get home?"

"You could say that..." Zoom muttered under his breath, loud enough so that she could hear him. He kept his head turned away from her, feeling a little awkward to stare at her face to face for some reason. The two didn't speak much after that. They just continued on their way to their destination, the only sounds coming to their ears being the sounds of their own breathing and their footsteps.

* * *

Back at the lighthouse, about two hours had come and gone. During this time, the lighthouse was filled with the chattering of the people inside, discussing things and reminding each other of important information and tasks. This talk would have gone on longer if it hadn't been for Buzz, who pointed out the time to everyone. They decided to quickly wrap it up, especially since the kids' parents were going to be very worried about them. While no one had called the lighthouse, asking where their children were, Moynihan had a feeling it was only a matter of time before she would get such a call. She had offered Caruso's parents some more advice, particularly regarding his injuries. She then gave them some medicine and bandages for them to use.

Meanwhile, Fiona and Max managed to settle Caruso down and Max apologized to him for letting him to talk in his condition. Caruso accepted his apology, and, as the others wished, he remained quiet. It was apparent that, at times, he really wanted to say something, but he understood that he shouldn't speak. And while he wasn't ready to admit it, he was afraid to talk due to the severe pain that it was giving him recently. A few times he put his hand on his face, gently fingering a few of the deep cuts. Fiona noticed this and was convinced that Caruso was worried about his face being so torn up, and contemplated how deep the scars would be. Fiona did her best to try and cheer him up. While she did manage to life his spirits a little, Caruso still looked so forlorn and upset.

Buzz and Rodger, most of the time, hung out in the background, talking about the recent events. They seemed very interested in getting revenge on Victor for hurting their friend. They also wanted revenge on Oscura and Michelle. They were more interested in getting even with Michelle than Oscura, though, because of how she tricked them Friday night with her 'damsel in distress' routine. Buzz wished that he had never went out to help her. Rodger understood his frustration, but had convinced Buzz to stop blaming himself. He would not have known Michelle's true motives back then. He would not have been able to prevent himself from falling for her tricks. It wasn't his fault.

They then started to contemplated how Michelle had helped them back at the warehouse. As much as they hated to admit it, they knew they would not have found Caruso in time if they had just gone to look on their own. They did, in fact, owe her one, even though they weren't so willing to return the favor. Michelle might have risked a lot to get them to that room, but Rodger and Buzz only dismissed it as her being desperate to protect herself. If they hadn't threatened her, she probably would have led them astray so that Victor could capture them. Michelle helping them find Caruso hardly altered the boys' dark feelings towards her, and it did little to persuade Buzz to stop wanting revenge on her. The punk kid did get a taste of revenge when he and the little spy wrestled, but it didn't satisfy him. He wanted more.

While Rodger and Buzz were discussing, quietly, their eagerness for revenge on both Michelle and Oscura, Moynihan had gone upstairs. She had told the others she'd be upstairs for a few minutes. She had gotten a phone call and wanted to talk alone. So she decided to head upstairs, promising to come back as quickly as she could. The others wanted to question her why she wanted to be alone while on the phone, but they decided not to say anything to her and agreed to wait for her. Moynihan didn't want Caruso's parents leaving until she came back down. She had a reason, but she didn't tell them it yet, stating that she'll let them know when she came back down.

Moynihan was sitting in her bedroom. Her blue bird, which she had named Cerulean, was perched inside his cage, pecking away at the food she had just offered him. Cerulean didn't get along too well with Rump, so she kept the bird in her room for his own safety. Moynihan had sat down on her bed, the dark pink sheets splayed across the bed, indicating that it wasn't made yet. The room's lights were all turned off except for the pink lampshade that she had on a table next to her table. Moynihan continued to hold the phone to her ear as she nervously glanced towards the window. The pink shades were drawn closed, as if she was worried that someone would peer through them.

And she had a good reason. The reason she had wanted to be up in the room alone was because she had gotten another phone call from Victor Veloci. She didn't understand completely why he had bothered to call her, although she had a pretty good idea why he was calling. He just wanted to taunt her, to try and make her squirm. And she wasn't going to fall for it.

"I don't know why you keep trying, Vic." Moynihan hissed into the phone. "I'm not falling for it!" She winced as she heard laughter on the other end. Victor continued to speak to her, continued to try and mess with her. He told her about how he knew they still had their shields down and how he could easily strike again. Moynihan wasn't sure if he would actually go through with it or not, since she knew that he knew he had lost the element of surprise. But she didn't want to take any chances. "If you try to come back here, I will personally take care of you myself..."

She felt herself stifle a gasp at the meaning of that statement. She covered up her mouth, not speaking another word after that. She was staring to show aggression towards Veloci. Well more aggression than usual, that is. She could sort of understand it though. Veloci was her mortal enemy and he was the one who was the sole cause of all this stuff going on. She couldn't blame herself for starting to lose her temper with him. But to threaten him, to threaten to take his life, that was something that she never expected even herself to say, even if Victor was a menace to the human race. It just didn't seem like her at all.

Victor noticed her awkward silence and decided to break it with his horrible, evil laughter. Moynihan growled softly. It was obvious Victor found her confusion to be hilarious. It was his way of getting even with her. Just breaking her leg and sending Michelle over to destroy their protective shield was not enough for the anthropomorphic Velociraptor. No, he clearly wanted more. He wanted to completely destroy her, to take everything that she ever accomplished in her life as a human and turn it upside down. "Laugh while you can, Victor. There's no way you're going to kill me or the Dino Squad...I..." She suddenly stopped her sentence when Victor spoke up, telling her that he had no intentions on killing her or her precious children. Moynihan wasn't sure if she should trust the sincerity of his words, but nonetheless, she was interested to know what he did have in mind. "So..if you don't want to kill us, then what do you want to do?"

As Victor gave his explanation, Moynihan got up from her bed. She began to pace around the room in a nervous manner, not able to relax anymore. She went over to the window and peered through it cautiously, still worried that someone might be coming to the lighthouse now. She listened to Victor's explanation and wasn't really buying it. Victor was telling her how he was going to just leave them alone for now, but was warning her to keep out of his way. He said that capturing Caruso and torturing him like he did was a warning to his friends and to Moynihan to not cross his path ever again. He warned her that he will kill the next transforming kid if they continued to foil his plans. Moynihan did have her doubts on some of the things he was saying. She knew he was lying through his fangs about capturing Caruso just as a warning. And she questioned his sincerity in his statement that he wouldn't try to hurt any of them so long as they didn't try and stop him again.

"And why should I believe you..?" Moynihan asked in a dark voice, so uncharacteristic of herself. "You and I both know who determined we are to stop one another from achieving our goals. Our objectives are so different, Victor. I know how determined you are to stop me. You almost had me killed! And now you are expecting me to believe these lies you are telling me?!" Victor only laughed at her even more, further frustrating the woman. Hearing her growls, Victor decided to mock her. Moynihan's expression changed to a confused look as Victor spoke to her about something else. "...what...?"

* * *

"I still don't think it's a good idea..." Max said. He was standing next to Rodger and Buzz. He had overheard their talk of wanting revenge and had come over to join in with the discussion. When Rodger and Buzz told him what they wanted to do, Max immediately objected to the idea. He might have hated Michelle and Oscura as well, but he didn't think it was a smart idea to go after them, especially when they have such a connection with Victor and have all of Raptor Dyne to back them up if need be. While Rodger did seem to understand where Max was coming from, Buzz had accused Max of being too soft and said they should take care of Oscura and Michelle before they struck again. Despite Buzz's explanations as to why they should go through with the revenge if they ever got the chance, Max still disagreed. "It's just too much of a risk, Buzz. I'm sorry, but I don't think you should do it."

"And what if they strike again? What if those two...monsters... manage to capture Caruso again, or another one of us?" Buzz persisted, his voice increasing in anger and determination as he continued to rant on. "Would you still say that we shouldn't try and go after them? If you ask me, we should do something to ensure that they won't try to hurt any of us ever again!"

"While I do agree with you.." Rodger interjected, "I do think Max has a good point. This idea for revenge might get us all into trouble."

Buzz shot a glare at Rodger Blair. "You are siding with him?" He sounded a little hurt and betrayed.

"I'm just trying to see things realistically, Buzz." Rodger explained. "Don't get me wrong. I want revenge just as much as you do. And I do fear that they might try to strike again if we don't do something. But I also see where Max is coming from. What if it fails, Buzz? What if they get away and come back later, stronger than before?" While he was not showing it, Rodger was trying to figure out what he wanted to do the most. Did he want revenge or did he want to hold back and help keep his friends and family safe?

"That is why we should strike now!" Buzz snapped, gritting his teeth and clenching a fist tightly. "If we strike now, when they least expect it, we can beat them! I just know we can!"

Rodger slowly shook his head. "We don't know when they would be least expecting an attack, Buzz. I don't think..."

Buzz interrupted him. "What if we attack now, when we are the most vulnerable?" This suggestion shocked both Rodger and Max. They looked at Buzz as if he had gone insane and wondered if they had heard him wrong. Surely, he wouldn't be crazy enough to attack now, would he? But the punk teenager did not say or do anything to indicate that he was joking. "I mean, think about it. They might think that we want to use all this time to recover..."

"And we do." Max chimed in.

"Just hear me out." Buzz was undeterred by Max's truthful statement. "They would be expecting us to be trying to recover. They wouldn't think twice about us trying to go after them now. I still say we can do this, guys! Come on..we have got to at least try. The consequences might be too dire if we just let this go and..."

"..And it's going to be just as dire if we attempt something so foolish!" Max snapped, starting to become frustrated with Buzz. He didn't know why Buzz wanted revenge so much all of a sudden. This didn't seem like the Buzz he had known all this time. What had gotten into him? "Buzz, I forbid you to try and go after Oscura or Michelle on the sole purpose of vengeance! This little crusade of yours is just going to get us into deeper trouble, perhaps even killed! Do you want that?!"

Buzz snapped his head back, baring his teeth at Max. "Look who's talking! You're the one who drove Caruso out of the lighthouse after saying you were pretty much sick of him!"

That claim stung Max. He looked at Buzz with a hurt expression on his face. He opened up his mouth to speak back to him, but couldn't think of what to say. He could only let out a sigh, realizing Buzz was right. He thought he had settled it already with Caruso earlier. He had apologized to the guy and he was starting to feel better. But Buzz bringing up the subject again made him feel horrible all over again. Realizing what he had just said, Buzz's anger slowly melted away, and was replaced with guilt. He hadn't meant to say something so mean to Max and he didn't want to make him feel bad. Maybe he was taking this revenge thing too far. He had become so eager and angry that he had snapped at both Rodger and Max.

"Max..I..." Buzz said in a much softer, more relaxed tone, almost the exact opposite that he was exhibiting only about a minute ago. "I..I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I apologize..."

Max wanted to look away and just not say anything. He wasn't sure what he should say to Buzz now. He understood that the boy had made a mistake and that he only lost his temper. But he still couldn't help but remain upset about the ordeal, despite the apology. It wasn't because of Buzz personally. It was because Buzz had given him a painful reminder of his own loss of temper on Saturday. "It's..it's okay, Buzz..." Max managed to say, giving the teen a small smile. "I know you didn't mean it... We're just all going through a tough time now. I understand that you want revenge on Oscura and Michelle and..I can't blame you. But..I don't want to risk it now..not now..." He slowly glanced over at Caruso, who was being supported by his mother and father as they stood near the door.

Buzz looked over and saw Caruso as well. Almost immediately, he understood why Max had objected so strongly against his idea of getting revenge. He felt horrible and guilty at the same time, mentally beating himself up for forgetting about Caruso's serious condition. "Oh..." It was all he could manage to say.

Before any of them could say anything else, they heard footsteps from the spiral staircase. They looked over and saw Moynihan making her way down the stairs carefully. It looked like she still had some problems with her ankle despite the fact that any signs of a limp was pretty much gone. It seemed that walking down the stairs was still a problem but it was manageable for her. When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she immediately made her way towards Irwin and his parents, Amanda and Jack. They looked eager to leave and waited for Moynihan to tell them what she wanted them to know.

"I wonder why she went upstairs." Max pondered thoughtfully.

"Maybe just some privacy?" Buzz said, trying to make a joke. "Maybe she wanted to spend some time trying to call up her imaginary dinosaur friends and have a little tea party."

Rodger glanced at Buzz, looking a little annoyed and angry at the same time. "That's not funny, Buzz."

Buzz sighed. "I know..I was just trying to lighten up the mood." He said in a guilty tone. Then he spoke again, any signs of guilt gone. "But you do have a point, Max." He said, looking over at their leader. "Why did she want to go upstairs by herself? I mean, she didn't want to tell any of us."

"Yeah..." Rodger agreed. "And privacy does not seem to be the likely issue. Why would she want to leave during an important meeting just to get some privacy?"

"Perhaps we could ask her?" Buzz suggested.

Max shook his head. "No."

"Why?" Buzz asked, confused.

"She's a little busy right now." Max said, pointing to Moynihan speaking to Caruso's worried parents. "Asking her now just doesn't seem..right. We should wait until they leave before we ask her."

"All right..." Buzz said, glancing a worried look over at Moynihan. Just like the other three, he wondered why Moynihan wanted to be alone. All joking aside, he really didn't have a clue as to why she would want to do that.

But Rodger did have an idea as to why, and he dare not say anything to Max or Buzz. He felt that the old woman was trying to hide something from them in order to prevent them from getting involved. The computer geek theorized that she just didn't want them to get hurt. Perhaps what she was hiding was dangerous and she didn't want to be held responsible if any of them had gotten hurt. Or perhaps she had gotten a phone call, probably from Victor for whatever reason, and she didn't want to worry them by telling them about it. But whatever the reason, Rodger did think that, regardless of how worrisome the reason might be, Moynihan had the best intentions for them and would not let anything bad happen. Or at least try and give it her best shot.

"Rodger..." Rodger heard Max say and he looked over towards him. "Do you have any ideas regarding Moynihan's brief disappearance?"

Rodger thought about telling him his thoughts anyway. But he couldn't bring himself to do so. He, instead, shook his head and offered a white lie. "No..not really."

* * *

When Moynihan finished up what she wanted to say, Jack nodded once. He then reached out with one hand and shook Moynihan's hand. Then Amanda did the same thing. After they were done shaking each other's hands, Jack pushed the door as far open as it would go and made his way out towards the car. Amanda held onto her son, supporting him the best that she could. She had to wait until Jack came back. He was going to bring the car a little closer so Irwin didn't have far to walk. She would carry him herself, but Irwin was too heavy for her to carry far all by herself.

As she waited, she decided to say something to Moynihan. Turning towards Moynihan, Amanda said, "Thank you, Professor Moynihan, for returning our son to us." She tried her best to hide her tears of both pain and joy as she pulled her son into a light hug. "We are in your debt." She was doing her best to sound as nice as possible. She was still a little angry and wary about Moynihan due to her snapping at her. But she might as well try to forgive her. After all, she did help rescue their son.

Moynihan, although sensing the woman's discomfort about her being this close to her, smiled sweetly. She was starting to feel a little better from before and was confident that she wasn't going to lose her temper again anytime soon. "You're very welcome, Mrs. Caruso." She cast a soft glance at Irwin. The boy was staring back at her through calm, yet pained, eyes. Moynihan was worried about him and hoped that he'll begin to recover. She was confident that being inside his own house again would help kick start the recovery process. "While I am sure that most of the cuts will heal completely, he might still have scarring. But it is not the physical wounds that worry me the most." She turned towards Amanda again, but kept giving Irwin a sideways glance. "It's his mental wounds. He's been through so much..."

"So do you think he'll recover completely? Both physically and mentally?" Amanda asked cautiously, gently stroking her son's bluish hair with her fingers.

Moynihan adjusted her glasses as she said, "As I said, most of his physical wounds will heal just fine. Some of them, though, I am sure are going to scar up, such as that cut right there." She pointed to the cut on Caruso's arm, which was now bandaged. "But I fear his mental injuries will take longer to heal. I can see it, in his eyes, that he's been through a lot of trauma from what must have happened to him while at Victor's place. He might remain paranoid for a while."

"What should we do?" Amanda asked.

"Stick close to him and console him whenever he starts acting paranoid." Moynihan told her.

"And if he has another one of those...episodes?" Amanda asked, casting a cautious glance down at Irwin.

"While I would recommend just letting him wear himself out, you should make sure that he doesn't hurt himself. It might also help if you talk calmly to him. That might help him settle down faster." Moynihan suggested.

Just then, a loud beep sounded out, coming from outside. The two women looked over to see Jack sticking his out of the window of the car. The car was now positioned only a few feet from the door. The sight almost started Moynihan, who had never seen a car that close to the entrance of the lighthouse before. Amanda walked a little closer to the door, peering through the window. She saw her husband looking directly at her. His arm was hanging out of the window now, and he was waving his arm, indicating that he wanted her to get a move on, that he's ready to leave.

Amanda took the hint and looked at Moynihan. "Well thanks for your help. Goodbye." Irwin slowly opened up his mouth to say goodbye to Moynihan. But the pain was too much and he winced, immediately shutting his mouth. Instead, he resorted to lifting one arm and waving goodbye to her.

"You are welcome." Moynihan said, smiling softly. "Goodbye, Irwin. Goodbye, Mrs. Caruso."

After they said goodbye to each other, Amanda walked out of the door, helping her son along the way. They carefully made their way towards the car, taking extra precaution not to trip over anything. The car was still running. The sound of the engine filled the air. Jack glanced out of the window again, waiting patiently for them. Normally, it wouldn't take very long to reach a car that was only a few feet away, but with Irwin's injuries, the progress was painfully slow, and yet still manageable.

Once the pair reached the car, Amanda proceeded to the back of the car, opening up one of the doors. Irwin lifted up his leg and tried to get in on his own, but a sharp pain caused him to yelp and he immediately stepped down. He looked to his mother for help, and she quickly complied. She helped Irwin get inside by gently lifting him up, allowing him to bear some weight on her as he made his way into the car. The progress was a little slow, but it didn't take too long until Irwin was completely inside the car. After he had sat down on the seat, Amanda pulled the seat belt out and hooked Irwin to it. Once she was done with that, she gently shut the door and made her way towards the front seat.

Amanda gripped the door to the front seat and pulled it open. She then immediately got inside the car. She pulled down her own seat belt and strapped herself in. She looked over to her husband with a worried expression on her face. Jack noticed her worried glance and wasn't sure what to say. He knew that she was worried about their son. So was he. He was glad that they had their son back, but he couldn't feel completely relieved. What if something were to happen again? That's the question he could read on his wife's face.

"..I understand how you feel, Amanda." Jack said solemnly. He reached out towards his wife and wrapped his arm around her and pulled her as close as he could with their seat belts on. "But I promise that I'll do my best to make sure nothing bad happens to him." With that, he leaned as close as he could and planted a kiss on Amanda's lips.

After Jack pulled away from the kiss, Amanda smiled at him, but she didn't look completely relieved or convinced that he, or anyone, could keep their son safe for long. Irwin had four large dinosaurs trying to protect him from being captured and they still failed. How could she bring herself to believe that there was anything that they could do? Professor Moynihan and the other teens didn't exactly boost her confidence. They were all so sure that they, the parents, wouldn't be able to protect Irwin from Victor should he try getting at him again.

"But..what if they are right, Jack?" Amanda said worriedly. She glanced back at Irwin, not able to keep her tears back as she imagined her son being dragged away from them. "What if Victor does come..and we aren't able to protect our little boy?" She stifled a sob. "Oh Jack..I don't think I can deal with losing him again..." She said, sniffling.

Caruso had a hard time seeing his mother like that. He wanted to say something to try and make her feel better. He wanted to assure her that everything was going to be all right, even though he himself wasn't so sure about that. But anything he wanted to say, even just one word, would only hurt him. He could only groan softly in frustration at his inability to speak. He wasn't going to enjoy becoming the silent one for a while. He had usually been the outgoing kind of person and loved making conversation. He hoped he had enough self discipline to keep himself from talking until his mouth healed.

Now was a good time that he would usually make a joke. He knew it probably would not please his parents, but it was all he could think of to do to lighten up the mood. It was in his nature and his parents knew that. This may not be a good time for making jokes, but then, what else was he going to do? But then, it wasn't like he could say anything anyway. Again, he groaned in frustration.

To try and make himself feel better, he started to let his mind wonder to more positive things. He was looking forward to seeing his home again. He may have only been gone for about a day, but it felt like an eternity. He couldn't wait to get inside his nice, safe room and relax. He never thought he would miss his bedroom that much, or the house in general. He'd never been this eager to go home. And he was also eager to get to school tomorrow. Doing homework was a piece of cake, and almost a blessing, compared to what he had been forced to go through with Victor. But then the thought of school brought forth an unpleasant memory: Michelle's arrival at the school. He felt his stomach tie in a knot when he thought about how she might show up in science class. His heart started to race. Would she try to catch him? Would she attempt to harm him?

He shook his head. He shouldn't dwell on such thoughts. What were the odds of Michelle returning to his school anyway? She had already given away her true motives and her true loyalties. She knew she wouldn't be able to fool them again. There was no point of her returning to the school. Caruso allowed his fears of Michelle coming to the school fade away and he felt himself slowly relax again. His heart slowed back to its normal pace. He returned to thinking more pleasant thoughts. He was looking forward to seeing his goldfish again. He never thought he miss the little guy this much.

Then another thought came to his mind, and it scared him a little. It wasn't anything that would harm him physically. No, this had nothing to do with Victor or his oozer losers, or even Michelle or Oscura. Fiona started to come to his mind. He felt horrible at how worried she, and the others, were so worried about him earlier. While he had been unconscious, he could still hear their voices as they had tried, in vain, to wake him up. But the one voice that hurt him the most was Fiona's. He couldn't stand hearing her cry like that, and he had tried to wake up, but kept failing. But despite that, he kept trying, further fueled by Moynihan's suggestion to leave him behind.

But when he tried to think about something else, this thoughts continued to travel back to Fiona. He started to become confused. Why couldn't he get her out of his mind? No matter how hard he tried, he continued to think about the things she said to him back at the warehouse. He recalled how she begged him to wake up, how she and the others came to rescue him. He recalled the pained sound to her voice when she started to believe that he was dead and how she started to sob. He shook his head, desperately trying to think of something else. But he continued to think about Fiona. He started to feel himself blush when he remembered how she had kissed him. She actually kissed him, something that he never thought she'd ever do to him, not that he was complaining or anything.

"Irwin? Why are you blushing?" Amanda asked. She had turned over to tell him something, but stopped when she saw him blushing. "Do you have a secret crush or something?" She asked in a teasing voice, hoping it would give them something to talk about that wasn't related to Victor.

"Wha-wha...?" Caruso muttered carefully. He looked at his mother and quickly shook his head. He didn't realize it, but his blush was deepening in color, confirming Amanda's suspicions.

"I'll take that as a yes." Jack said, also looking back. But he had to quickly turn his eyes back on the road. Caruso had been so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten that his dad had already started driving home. The lighthouse had faded from view just minutes ago. They were now on a detour since the path to the lighthouse was damaged when Peter had tried to reach the lighthouse. The detour would make them take longer to reach their house, but it wasn't that bad. It was only an extra five to ten minutes of driving, not a big deal.

Caruso tried to protest, but when he opened his mouth again, he felt a sharp pain in his mouth, centered around the deep cut in his tongue, and he immediately shut his mouth. The only thing he could do to respond to his parents was look away. He was feeling a little disgruntled with them for teasing him like that. He knew they were only joking, and he still loved them. But he couldn't help but wish that they would wait until later on to crack a joke like that. And yet, he couldn't help but wonder if they were right. Was the reason that he couldn't get Fiona out of his mind because he was becoming attracted to her?

He shook his head. That didn't seem possible. Yeah, he regarded Fiona as a good friend, perhaps even a very close friend. But he had never regarded her as anything more than that, a friend. He hadn't developed any feelings towards her. When he thought about getting a date, he never thought about Fiona. He had only regarded her as a friend and as a fellow comrade against Victor Veloci. But as he thought about this, he started to wonder about Fiona's kiss again. Was she displaying her true feelings towards him? What if Fiona really did feel that way about him? He quickly dismissed the idea. No, she was probably just so happy to see that he was okay that she couldn't control herself, kissing him due to her overwhelming feeling of joy. But then, for some reason, he started to feel disappointed as he convinced himself the kiss was nothing special. And he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why. Was he really becoming allured to Fiona?

Even though Amanda could not hear what her son was thinking, she could guess what he was thinking based on the expressions on his face. She wasn't sure if he was noticing it or not, but he was making multiple facial expressions as he played through his thoughts. His blush hadn't vanished yet, so she guessed that he was thinking about some girl. She couldn't help but smile. Maybe this girl could help Irwin recover from his ordeal.

"Any ideas on who this girl is, Jack?" Amanda whispered softly to her husband.

Jack slowly shook his head. "No." He whispered softly so that Irwin could not hear him. "It's probably someone from his school."

"I wonder if we should invite her over." Amanda suggested hopefully. "I might help Irwin keep his mind off of..you know..."

"What?" Jack asked, confused. "We don't even know who she is..."

"No... But we could find out." Amanda said.

The car hit a bump, causing everyone inside to jolt a little. Irwin was stunned back to reality, breaking away from his thoughts. As he did so, he started to hear the conversation going on up front. He overhead his mom talk about trying to find out the name of some girl. At first he didn't understand why. It didn't take him long to realize what it was she was referring to. Caruso's eyes widened in shock when his mom talked about a possible girlfriend that he might have. Caruso tried to protest. He didn't have a girlfriend! Why did his mom think that he did?

Then the car hit yet another bump, frustrating Jack. He was trying his best to avoid the bumps. Even though this was a detour, it still had some damage to it as well. It was not as severe as the main road, but it still had a few bumps and cracks in it. He gripped the wheel tightly and tried to turn more sharply to avoid the bumps in the concrete path. His wife, forgetting all about the supposed girlfriend she thought her son had, gripped her chair tightly, fearful that Jack might slip up and nearly crash into something.

When the car hit the next bump, Caruso was knocked to the side. He slammed his head against the side of the glass on the door. Some of the deep cuts were pressed against the hard glass, causing intense pain. His eyes widened as tears of agony seeped from his eyes. He let out a short yet loud cry of pain. Suddenly the car came to a halt, almost tossing him around again. He looked up and saw both his parents looking back at him in horror. His mother eyed the seatbelt, which still strapped him in. And his father looked at him apologetically.

"Son..are you all right?" Jack asked in a guilty tone. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you..."

Amanda was having a hard time believing that Irwin could hit his head against the window while strapped in. Or at least, this is what she had believed to be true when she first strapped him in. But regardless of that, Irwin had still gotten hurt. She was a little angry with Jack, but he had already apologized. There was no reason for her to get upset with him anyway. He didn't mean to do it. "Irwin? Are you okay?" She asked carefully, wanting to reach back and comfort her son.

Irwin groaned softly, rubbing his forehead carefully, avoiding the cuts the best that he could. He tried to touch the injuries that were hit a few seconds ago, but the slightest touch hurt him too much and he quickly pulled away. He glanced over at the window and was shocked to see blood. It wasn't much blood, just a little bit. But still, it was enough to surprise him. He heard his parents ask him if he was all right and he quickly answered with a few nods. He was lying of course. He was in pain. But he didn't want to worry them.

Amanda frowned slightly. "Are you sure? You screamed just a few seconds ago..."

"...y-yes... i-it was n-nothing..." Irwin choked out painfully. He then covered his mouth and coughed. When he pulled his hand away, he saw blood staining his palm. Shocked and scared, he quickly hid his hand so that his mother and father could not see the blood.

Jack frowned as well, not sure if he should believe Irwin's statements of being all right. The boy just cried out in agony. It didn't seem like it was nothing. But he and his wife decided not to pressure him any further. Irwin was in pain every time that he spoke. It would be selfish of them to expect him to continue talking in this state. They should continue on their way home anyway. Amanda had planned on making breakfast when they had gotten home, considering that Irwin didn't eat so well during his stay with Victor. He did look a little hungry anyway. And they also knew that he was going to need a lot of rest that he could recover. Getting him to his bedroom might be a challenge, but they didn't care so long that he was finally safe and sound at home.

Then Amanda remembered something. She turned over to Jack with a worried and confused expression on her face. "What do you think I should make him? He obviously can't eat any solid food..."

"We can wait on that." Jack quickly said, raising up a hand to stifle his wife. "We should wait a little while, give his mouth some time to heal."

"But..we can't just..." Amanda started to say.

"We can't risk hurting him, Amanda." Jack said sternly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not about to risk hurting Irwin further. He's already been through enough as it is."

"Now see here..." Amanda started up.

As his parents started to argue upfront, Caruso leaned back against the back seat of the car. The pain that he had felt had completely subsided by now. He was only half paying attention to what his parents were saying. At this moment, he didn't really want to listen to them argue about his well being. It was not making him feel any better. On the contrary, it was making him feel a lot worse. He slowly reached up and gently touched one of his cheeks lightly, and immediately cringed back at the pain. He looked at his hands and could see a bit of blood on his fingertips and he shuddered. He started to worry about how much blood he had actually lost and wondered how long it would take for him to recover physically. He started having a sense of uselessness. Maybe he should have opted to leave the team, if only temporary. After all, what good was he to the team now?

* * *

Back at the lighthouse, the remaining members of the Dino Squad were getting ready to leave. They picked up whatever bags and belongings they had brought over and carried it out to their motorcycles. Buzz and Rodger helped each other pick up the remaining pieces of the computer they had gotten on Saturday when they tried to locate Caruso. There was still signs of burns and charred material underneath where the pieces were laying for all that time. The smell of smoke still hung in the air. It wasn't as bad as it was before, though.

While they were busy with that, Fiona and Max were fixing up the Dino SUV. A few things had broken when Victor had slammed against the yellow vehicle and some of the metallic structure had been scratched, dented, and even ripped. Max wasn't much of a repair tech himself, but he decided that he could help Fiona with his brawn. He helped haul out heavy bags and kits from the back of the SUV. After that was done, Fiona got underneath the van and started to fix whatever was broken underneath.

Moynihan was sitting down in her seat. She had out her knitting material again and was trying to sew. She was trying to keep her mind off of what Victor had told her on the phone earlier. She felt that knitting would help her feel better. But she found that she couldn't concentrate. Those haunting words still flowed back to her mind. She had tried her best to hide her fears from her students. They hadn't asked her if anything was wrong, and she felt relieved that she wasn't making them suspicious. But she didn't think she had much time before they would really start noticing.

Victor had told her how the next few days will be 'unforgettable' for both her and her 'precious students'. He didn't go into too much detail, but he had assured her that, while he will enjoy 'the show', she sure will not. While Victor never specified exactly what he knew was going to happen, Moynihan had a few fears and suspicions on what it could be. She put her sewing needle on the table next to the chair and looked at her hand. Over thirty years ago, before their final battle, Victor had taunted her how he would, one day, make her worst fears become realized. Could that be what Victor was talking about earlier on the phone?

"Okay, Ms. Moynihan." Joanne heard Rodger say as he walked up towards her. "Buzz and I got the computer debris from Saturday picked up. Is there anything else you want us to do?"

Moynihan nodded a few times. With the hand that she was looking at seconds ago slowly pointed towards the staircase. "Yes. You can go upstairs and clean up the mess that Michelle had caused. We need to remove any computers or wiring that is damaged beyond repair. And the computers that could still be fixed, leave up there. I'll deal with them after you are done."

Rodger and Buzz nodded. They weren't looking forward to picking up more sharp debris and breathing in more smoke. But they wanted to make it up to Moynihan for not being at the lighthouse Friday night to help her stop Michelle, especially Buzz, who felt guilty for even trusting the girl in the first place. Moynhan had wanted the kids to return to their families after Caruso and his parents had left, but they simply refused to do so. They had all contacted their parents and let them know they were staying longer. They had convinced their parents to let them stay for a couple more hours. Moynihan didn't understand why they wouldn't go home at first. But Max had insisted that they wanted to help her clean the lighthouse before they left. Moynihan was touched by their willingness to help and had permitted them to stay longer.

* * *

Buzz and Rodger disappeared upstairs. They made their way towards the room where they would usually run their diagnostics and scan for any new activity from Victor. The room was usually crisp and clean, and looked to be the most sanitized room in the entire building. But now it was torn and ripped. There were signs of small fires and they could see twisted metal and cords strewn across the ground. Some of the cords were torn open, revealing the colorful wires inside. They could see a few little pillars of smoke rise up and, on the ground, they could see some burnt areas.

"Oh man..." Rodger whispered as he stepped inside. This was the first time he had been in this room within the past few days. He hadn't dared step inside this room because he was having a hard time believing that all Moynihan's hard work in setting the place up would be destroyed so quickly by a small raptor-like dinosaur. "...she really did a number on this place."

Buzz nodded in agreement. He looked all over the room and he couldn't see any signs of a computer that remained untouched. All the computers were either on the floor or were smashed on the table. Almost all the monitors had their screen smashed, smoke billowing from them. He looked over at the couch that was pushed up against the wall, near a window. The couch remained untouched. In fact, it looked as new as ever. It almost made Buzz shudder to think how the couch looked completely intact while everything else was destroyed. "Yeah..."

"Let's hope this doesn't happen again." Rodger said as he began work with picking up some of the shattered pieces on the ground.

Buzz proceeded to stomp out the small fires with his shoe. It was a mystery to him that they did not spread. Perhaps the room was closed off and most of the oxygen was depleted. He had noticed it was a little harder to breathe in this room. After he had finished up with putting out the few small fires, he quickly rushed to the window. He was coughing heavily and so was Rodger. Buzz immediately opened up a window. The smoke poured out of the room quickly and fresh air rushed inside, bringing some relief to the two teenagers.

"Don't worry. It won't happen again." Buzz said in a low voice, coughing one more time. "Michelle's never setting foot in this building again..."

The way Buzz said that made Rodger tense up. He hated seeing Buzz like this, so different from his normal self. Putting several broken pieces of computer screen into a pile, he turned to Buzz. "I don't think we should be dwelling on..that issue, Buzz." He explained. "It's not going to help brooding on it."

Buzz glared at him softly and said, "You're as interested as me in..."

Rodger held up a hand. "Zip it, Buzz! I know what you're going to say, and yes, I admit. It is true. But now we have to clean this mess up!"

Buzz growled angrily. "Fine!" He stomped towards the other side of the room. Bending down, he proceeded to roughly move shattered pieces of computer into a pile just as Rodger was doing. He then grabbed entire monitors that were shattered and slammed them into the pile, breaking the pieces below it into even smaller bits.

Rodger flinched as he heard Buzz continue to slam parts into the floor. He tried to tolerate it, thinking Buzz would work off his anger pretty soon. But after several minutes of the same slamming and stomping going on, Rodger finally had enough. He immediately got off the ground, covering his ears to protect them from the loud noise. "Gah!" He yelled, gripping his head tightly. "Buzz! Knock it off!"

Feeling too frustrated to just knock it off, Buzz clenched a monitor in his hands and then threw it into the ground. "What?!" He yelled, gritting his teeth as he glared daggers at Rodger. He held his arms out at his sides in a fighting stance, his fists clenched as if he were prepared to enter a boxing ring. His breathing came in quick and harsh. "What do you want me to do?!"

Rodger winced and took a few steps back, holding out his hands like he was going to protect himself in case Buzz charged him. "N-Now..Buzz... calm down.." He said carefully, hoping Buzz will settle down quickly.

Unfortunately, Buzz did not calm down. Instead, he just got angrier. Buzz didn't know what was coming over him. He found it increasingly hard to control himself and he couldn't stop himself from advancing towards Rodger menacingly. "I really don't understand what you want me to do, Rodger! I am picking up this stuff just like you seemed to want me to! And now you're telling me to 'knock it off! You can't be satisfied, can you?!"

Rodger backed up as far as he could go. He felt his back press against the cold wall. Buzz didn't seem to care that he was now cornered as he continued to advance on him. Buzz's eyes were glowing now, the pointed pupils clearly visible. "Buzz! Stop it!" Rodger commanded, holding out his hand. But Buzz didn't listen to him. Despite being backed up against the wall, Rodger tried to take another step. Unfortunately, he didn't see the piece of debris on the ground and he slipped. Losing his footing, he slammed into his back. Opening up his eyes, he looked up to see Buzz standing over him, glaring angrily at him.

"Shut up!" That was all Buzz said before he released his Pteranodon talons from his hands. He then proceeded to swing his hands down, intent on slashing Rodger, showing no signs of stopping himself.

Rodger screamed, holding a large arm on front of his face in a lame attempt to protect himself. Buzz's eyes widened in shock at what he was doing and immediately stopped. But he had done so too late. He felt his talons slash deep into Rodger's arm, the same one that Oscura had bitten Friday night. Rodger's eyes widened in pain and he let out a scream. "AAAAAHHHHHH!"

* * *

The scream echoed throughout the lighthouse, reverberating against the walls. The sound quickly reached downstairs where Moynihan still was. She immediately lifted up her head, craning it towards the stares where she had recently sent Buzz and Rodger. She immediately knew something was wrong. "Rodger...?" Horrified that the same events might be happening again, she immediately got up from her chair and made her way towards the stares. She proceeded to walk up as fast as she could, hoping that it wouldn't be too late when she arrived at the room.

* * *

When she reached the room, she pushed the door wide open and quickly stepped in. It felt a little strange coming back in here. All the debris on the floor gave her a painful reminder of what had happened Friday night. But she shook the memory out of her head, quickly looking for the source of the scream. Once she laid her eyes on Rodger, she stifled a scream of her own. She was horrified at the site that lay before her. Rodger was on the ground, clutching a bloodied arm. And standing over him was Buzz. She could see blood on his claws, telling her he was the one who struck him. "Rodger...Buzz..." Moynihan whispered in shock.

Buzz immediately whirled around when he heard his mentor speak. With a look of horror on his face, he opened his mouth and started to speak in a stammering voice. "P-P-Professor Moynihan..I..I didn't m-m-mean to..I..." He looked at his bloody hand, shaking visibly at the realization at what he had just done.

Moynihan didn't let him finish. She immediately lifted up her hand to silence the boy. Instead of angering her, this event had frightened her further. Buzz was the third person to lose his temper like that, and the second person to physically harm another by mistake. She was reminded of what Victor had said. Is this what he had talked about when he said they would find it 'unforgettable'? "Buzz...what has gotten over you?"

Buzz glanced down at Rodger, who looked up at him with a shocked and angry expression. Buzz started to stammer and mutter, looking every which way as he tried to find something suitable to say. He wanted to defend himself and was almost tempted to blame Rodger. But that wouldn't be fair, would it? And there was nothing he could possibly say to make himself appear innocent, was there? He had blood on his hands. There was no acceptable excuse for that. He finally gave in, hanging his head in shame. "I-I...I really don't know, Ms. Moynihan... I don't know what happened to me..."

"You went nuts is what happened, yo!" Rodger said sternly, narrowing his eyes. One look from Moynihan made him soften his expression and tone of voice. He spoke again, this time in a calmer voice. "Look..it's probably just stress. I just..pushed you too far.. I'm sorry, man."

"I'm the one who should be sorry." Buzz insisted, lowering himself down to help Rodger stand back up onto his feet. "I shouldn't have snapped like that... I'm so sorry..I didn't mean to hurt you..." He closed his eyes and looked away after Rodger was standing on his own again. "It's..it's just that...I can't stop thinking about Michelle and what she did in here...and to all of us..."

Upon hearing Buzz's explanation, Moynihan and Rodger both looked at each other and then back to Neil. They weren't surprised to hear him say that, especially Rodger. Buzz had made it clear, whether or not he had said anything about it, that he harbored ill feelings against Michelle. Back at the warehouse, he looked the most eager to have her killed rather than listen to her talk or allow her to lead them. They were both starting to feel that perhaps Buzz was taking these feelings too far, however. His harboring of his feelings was causing him to snap more easily, and his behavior has gotten more aggressive, clearly.

Buzz winced at their stares, feeling as though their eyes were going to bore right through his own. He took a step back, rubbing his arm nervously. He glanced back at the debris that was still on the ground. Wordlessly, he turned away from Moynihan and Rodger and walked towards the piles of rubbish. He then proceeded to kneel down and pick the stuff up off the ground and carry them toward a large bin in the corner of the room and dropped the objects in there. He did his best to focus his mind on this simple task to keep his mind too preoccupied to think about Michelle or about he or she had done.

Moynihan and Rodger watched Buzz calmly and silently pick up the wreckage in the room, a solemn expression on their faces. They wanted to say something, but they couldn't think of what they could say. And any time they did, somehow, come up with something they could say to Buzz, they hesitate, fearing that they might anger or upset him. Perhaps this was something that Buzz needed to work out himself, by himself. Rodger decided to help Buzz carry the pieces to the large bin. They were supposed to be working together anyhow. Moynihan, on the other hand, just stood there, watching as the two teens started helping each other as if there was never a fight to begin with. She turned her eyes back where Rodger once laid, seeing the blood stains on the ground. She winced and shook her head.

Looking back at the teens, she wondered if she should stay up here for a while. After all, there was still the chance that Buzz could snap again. She worried that his mentality would cause him to go nuts once again. She was even tempted to send Buzz home now, but thought better of it, concerned about what Buzz might do once he got home. That might put him under even more stress as he would not be able to release stress like he could here at the lighthouse. But on the other hand, Buzz did seem to feel very guilty about what he did. Maybe he would try to be more careful and restrain himself.

Moynihan made her decision. She would give the teens one more chance to work together without causing fights or other problems. If she were to hear one more scream, she would have something done, perhaps separating the two or sending one of them home. Regardless if any of them agreed to that decision, Moynihan knew that it would be for their own good. She didn't want any one else getting hurt if she could help it.

"I'm heading back downstairs, you two." Moynihan said, making her way towards the door. She was staring to hear Rump barking downstairs. He was hungry, she believed. And she knew how Rump got if he wasn't fed quickly enough. "If I don't feed Rump now, he might eat the furniture." She said, attempting a lame joke to lighten the mood up a little. She felt a little embarrassed. She was becoming a little more like Caruso and Buzz now.

"All right." Rodger said, loud and clear. He lifted up his good arm and waved goodbye to her. "Good luck with Rump!"

"..Yeah." Buzz chuckled. "We don't want him causing a mess, now do we?"

Moynihan managed to chuckle herself. "Thanks." With that, she turned around and disappeared through the door. She pushed the door shut, leaving Buzz and Rodger in the room alone together. Buzz and Rodger could hear her footsteps as she walked down the stairs, fading away as she got lower and lower into the building. Eventually the sound completely disappeared.

After Joanne disappeared downstairs, Buzz and Rodger immediately resumed their work, moving debris off the ground and into the bin. They didn't know what Moynihan planned on doing with the debris once it had been collected. But that part was not important. They had to get the stuff off the ground so they could begin the repairs. Rodger had volunteered earlier to repair any computer that might be fixable. Buzz had joked with him that he better be careful or there will be another fire. Rodger was tempted to smack Buzz for that comment, but decided against it. It was not going to do him any good anyway. He would just have to be even more careful when fixing the computers. He didn't show it, but he was, in fact, terrified that he might cause another computer to explode.

Still feeling a little uneasy around Buzz, Rodger moved a little ways from him, beginning work underneath one of the tables. He could see a few shattered pieces of computer screen underneath there. Very carefully, he reached out and gently picked up the glass shards, hoping that he wouldn't cut himself. After he finished putting them in a small pile next to himself, he took another look around the room to overview their progress. The room was starting to look a little better. Thanks to Buzz, the smoke had all but diminished in the room, having floated out of the open window. There was far less stuff on the ground now and all the fires were put out. There was still some trash to pick up first before they would be close to being done with cleaning. But he felt that, if they kept at it for at least another twenty minutes or so, all the debris will be gone.

Buzz noticed Rodger had inched away from him and he started to feel guilty. He couldn't blame Rodger for moving away from him, especially after what he had done to him minutes ago. They had already apologized, but it was apparent that there was still friction between the two and Buzz wasn't really surprised. But Buzz decided not to say anything or dwell on it for too long. He decided to follow Rodger's lead and continued to pick up the stuff on the ground. They were close to being finished it seemed. Soon, all that would be left to do is move the broken computers in one place and the computers that could be fixed would be moved to the other side of the table.

"So..." Buzz spoke up, getting tired of the uncomfortable silence. "...do you think you can repair some of these computers?" Rodger looked over, giving a soft glare. Buzz quickly said, "No, I don't mean anything bad by it..I just mean that..some of these computers are heavily damaged..."

Rodger's expression softened up almost immediately. He took in a deep breath. "Well..." He looked over at one of the computers he believed was fixable. The monitor was cracked, but other than a chewed up cord, it didn't seem to have any other traces of damage. "It's going to be hard...but yes, I believe I can fix some of these computers."

Buzz nodded. "Well hopefully you can. We're going to need something to start rebuilding this room."

"I know. There's so much we need to get done..." Rodger agreed, wiping his brow as he felt sweat dripping down his forehead. "We need to get this mess cleaned up and then the computers have to be fixed, whatever ones that can be, that is. And then, after that, the first thing we need to do is get the scanners up and running."

Buzz shuddered when Rodger mentioned the scanners. It reminded him of how vulnerable they now were without the computers up and running. Weren't they still visible under Victor's watchful eye? They no longer had a shield to protect themselves from Victor. On top of that, wouldn't Victor realize when they were making the repairs and do something about it? "Don't forget about the shield, Rodger." Buzz said, looking towards the sky nervously. "Without it, we are just sitting ducks. And if we don't get it up quickly enough, wouldn't Victor be able to find out what we are doing and put a stop to it?"

"Buzz, if Victor had wanted to do something like that, would he not have tried to stop us when we were trying to build a new computer? Or when we found the hand held scanner?" Rodger asked, raising an eyebrow. He understood Buzz's fear, however, and didn't blame him for making such a statement.

"...you're right." Buzz said, rubbing the back of his head. "Still...we can't be too careful."

"Yeah, I know." Rodger agreed, understanding Buzz's paranoia about this situation. Even though he felt confident that Victor wasn't going to try anything anytime very soon, Rodger knew that, as Buzz said, there was no room for guessing because if they get this wrong, there won't be a second chance. If Victor finds them, it'll be game over for all of them. They're far more vulnerable now because Victor still had the element of surprise on his side. Even though they knew that he might come again, they'll never know when he'll come and it's not like they could keep watch all day long. Or could they...?

* * *

"All right, Rump, all right!" Moynihan laughed as Rump continuously barked happily, a few times even jumping up onto her leg and staring at her with those pleading eyes of his. Moynihan was trying to find his dog food. For some reason, she couldn't remember where she had put it. That was strange, especially for her. She doesn't forget things easily, especially when it came to those she cared about. Rump was getting impatient with her. She could tell by the way he was staring at her. "I'm sorry, dear. I'm trying to find your food. Now..where did I put it...?"

She went over to one of the cupboards. She had already looked through it, but she decided to try it again anyway. Maybe she had overlooked something. She gripped the small handle and pulled it open. And there, right in front of her, was the dog food. Moynihan slapped herself in the face. How could she have possibly missed that? It was right there in front of her eyes! It was like she couldn't read.

Moynihan froze on that last thought. She glanced at the dog food bag again. The letters were looking jumbled and extremely blurred. Moynihan blinked several times. She quickly rubbed her eyes and then looked at the bag again. This time, the letters weren't jumbled, but were crystal clear. And yet she still couldn't read what it said, even though it was clearly english. Her mind was processing the information as if it were just simple chicken scratches. Frightened, she shook her head hard, trying to clear her mind. This time, when she looked, she could read the bag just fine. Although shaken up by this experience, she immediately went over to Rump's food dish and poured some kibble into it.

As Rump barked happily and immediately went over to eat his food, Moynihan walked to the corner of the kitchen and leaned against the counter top. She rubbed her head with one hand, trying to figure out what was happening. She had been under stress before, but it never made her this forgetful. And she had never lost her ability to read before. That's what frightened her the most. It wasn't a matter of blurring and difficulty focusing. She could not even tell the individual letters apart. What was happening to her?

Her eyes traveled down to where Rump was. The dog had his face into the bowl, chowing away at the small pieces of kibble that now filled his bowl. Moynihan smiled, seeing that Rump was clearly satisfied, wagging his tail back and forth. Seeing Rump eat reminded her of her other pet. Cerulean needed to be fed as well. Moynihan quickly left the kitchen, not bothering to close the door behind her. All the other doors in the lighthouse were shut, so he couldn't run away like he did one of the times he was in Caruso's care. Rump looked up and watched her leave, and then resumed with eating his food, groaning contently.

* * *

Moynihan opened up the door to her bedroom and walked inside. She walked over towards him, and he greeted her with his usual bird dance and happy chirping. She stuck her finger inside the cage. "Hello there, Cerulean." As the bird playfully nipped her finger, she reached around the cage to the table right behind it. Cerulean's bird food was right behind it and she knew he must be very hungry now. The poor thing, along with Rump, weren't fed too much all day because of the situation with Caruso. Moynihan was grateful that they found Caruso when they did. She knew that finding Caruso was going to be hard and things could have turned out a lot worse. It was truly a miracle that they found the hand held scanner and were able to locate Caruso.

And oddly enough, she also felt grateful for Michelle being there to guide them to Caruso in the first place. Surely, without her help, they never would have found him so fast, and they might have all gotten captured. But as grateful as she was, Moynihan still didn't completely trust Michelle. The girl did throw her down the stairs, after all. She couldn't easily forgive her for that. But she felt that she should give Michelle a second chance should the time come for it. They were forced to trust her at the warehouse. She was the only one who knew the way to Caruso. But if a situation were to occur that they had the option of trusting Michelle, Moynihan felt they should risk it, especially if Michelle seemed serious enough to help.

Moynihan didn't completely understand herself, why she would want to give Michelle a second chance. Perhaps it was because she had a soft side for kids like Michelle. She had met people like her before, who were only confused and didn't understand, themselves, why they get themselves into such situations. It was probably just in her nature. She then worried about her students, who she knew would not be so forgiving, especially Buzz and Rodger. She hadn't said anything, but she had noticed the way they were huddled together, talking about vengeance and such. It upset her to see them do such a thing. Perhaps she should say something to them about it later on.

She was particularly proud at how Max had stepped in and opposed the idea of revenge. Even though he must have hated Michelle just as much as they did, he was mature enough to realize that getting revenge was wrong and could easily backfire on them. Knowing when to say no and enforcing one's own authority, those were qualities of a good leader. Moynihan smiled softly. She made the right choice when she appointed Max as the leader. Or did he appoint himself? Moynihan scratched her head, unable to recall that one little detail. But no matter, she'd remember it sooner or later. She went back to feeding her bird.

She opened up the small tube filled with birdseed and immediately poured it into Cerulean's little bird food dish. Immediately, he began pecking at the little seeds, swallowing them hole each time. Smiling, she set the food down and watched Cerulean for a few seconds, noting how he was taking in one or two seeds at a time and swallowing them, not bothering to crunch them up. He must have been very hungry, she thought. She walked over to her bed and sat down. She looked at her ankle and gently touched it. She wasn't feeling any pain now, but she still winced. The memory of the leg being broken thirty years ago was still fresh on her mind. And something was bothering her. Michelle had known about this weakness. Did that mean that everyone on Victor's team knew about it?

"Moynihan!" Moynihan heard her name being called out. She immediately recognized it as Max. She immediately went over to her window and pushed away the curtains. She gripped the bottom of the panel and pushed it up. She peered through it and looked down. She saw Max standing in front of the Dino SUV, his hands cupped to his mouth. Moynihan was impressed that his voice could make it this high up.

Moynihan leaned a little closer to the window, almost pressing her face against the screen, and shouted, "What is it, Max?!" She hoped she was loud enough for him to hear her.

It was revealed that he did in fact hear her. Max took a step forward, not moving his hands from his mouth as he spoke back up to her. "Can you come down here?! Fiona and I want you to take a look at the Dino SUV!"

"I'll be right down!" Moynihan called back and immediately moved away from the window.

Max stood patiently in front of the SUV as Moynihan quickly made her way down the steps. Within a few minutes, she opened up the door and made her way towards Max. She carefully looking at the SUV as she approached. She was expecting something to be wrong with it, perhaps a deep scratch that Fiona and Max weren't able to repair. Much to her surprise, the SUV looked to be in great shape. So what could be the problem?

"Max..I don't see anything wrong with the Dino SUV." Moynihan said, rubbing her chin as she went into deep thought. "Everything looks fine with it. You two did a great job in repairing it, I must say!"

"Thanks." Max said with a smile on his face. But that smile quickly faded into a frown. He motioned towards the vehicle. Moynihan watched him with a curious look on her face. "It's not something that's wrong on the outside..." He walked back towards the SUV. He knelt down and pointed to the underneath of it. "It's something wrong on in the inside." The expression on his face deepened as he peered underneath. He could see that Fiona was still there, working on the problem. She looked a little frustrated and groaned several times. Max did not see Moynihan make her way towards the vehicle.

"Well what seems to be the problem?" Moynihan asked suddenly, catching Max off guard. He let out a scream of surprise, jolting up and hitting his head on the car. His scream startled Fiona as well, and she jumped up and she ended up hitting her face against one of the pipes that she was looking at. Realizing what she had done, Moynihan quickly backed up. "I'm so sorry, kids! Are you all right?"

Max carefully rubbed the top of his head to check for damage. He could feel a small bump forming, and the area was growing a little tender. But there was no blood and he couldn't feel any further damage. Rubbing his head to try and soothe the pain, Max said, "Yeah..I'm fine..." He looked towards the underneath of the Dino SUV. "How about you, Fiona?" He asked.

A low groan came from underneath the vehicle. After a couple seconds of silence after that, Fiona shouted from underneath the car, "Yeah, I'm fine!" She sounded both annoyed and angry about what had just happened. And to show it, she growled angrily. "Thanks a lot, you two! You made me break this thing even more!"

"Break what thing more...?" Moynihan asked, looking at Max.

"One of the pipes was broken." Max explained, not bothering to look at Moynihan as he talked to her. He felt bad about accidentally hurting Fiona and practically ruining any of her progress. "From what Fiona said, that particular pipe is very important. Without it, well, the Dino SUV would not be drivable, and perhaps even hazardous."

Moynihan's eyes widened in shock. She didn't need to ask Max to elaborate more. She already knew what he was talking about. The vehicle had originally belonged to Fiona, but after they had gained the dinosaur powers, Fiona had given it to Moynihan, who had wanted to modify it. She not only wanted to make it more eco-friendly, transforming it into an electric car, but she also felt that the kids could use this vehicle to transport themselves between locations quickly and efficiently. They could use it to store their weapons and other things. The only problem with it is how big it was. It surely was something that could be easily spotted. That was why they had come up with the idea of the motorcycles. They run on less power and were more easily hidden.

The pipe that was broken must have been one that guided the electricity to the engine. It was the only thing Moynihan could think of, and it was definitely a dangerous situation. Without that pipe intact, not only would it be not drivable, but it could potentially hurt, or even kill, anyone driving it. Without something to guide it, the electricity could go anywhere around the car, which was made up of metal, which conducts electricity. It wouldn't be able to go into the engine and start up the car. Instead, it could potentially travel up to the person driving the car and shock them until they either got away or died. She worried that Fiona had gotten severely hurt when she hit her head against that pipe, but was relieved to find the Dino SUV was turned off. Fiona could not have been electrocuted with no electricity traveling through the car.

"Is that the only thing that is wrong with it now?" Moynihan asked cautiously. She knew the vehicle had taken a lot of damage, but she wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything else seriously wrong. A few dents and scratches weren't going to slow down the vehicle by much or cause too much of a problem, although she felt they should still be fixed. They weren't of the greatest priority now however."

"You mean the only serious one? Yeah." Max said.

Although they couldn't see her, Fiona nodded her head a few times before returning to working on the pipe. The crack wasn't very thick, but any opening was out of the question. She was trying her best to close the gap as much as possible and welding it, or gluing it, back together, eliminating any signs of an opening. "It shouldn't take too much longer to fix it, Prof. Moynihan." Fiona called out. "But I recommend not driving it for a while, just to be safe."

"Acknowledged, Fiona." Moynihan said. She turned to Max. "Max, could you be a dear and back into the lighthouse?"

"Sure..but why?" Max asked, confused. He thought that she wanted him to stay out here and help Fiona.

"Just do it!" Moynihan ordered, her voice sounding a little darker than normal. Eyes widened, Max took a step back, shocked by the tone of voice Moynihan had taken. He expected her to blow any second. But Moynihan seemed to regain her composure and quickly apologized. "Sorry, dear boy..I don't know what came over me.. Please.. just..just head back into the lighthouse." She rubbed her head, trying to make the headache she was getting go away.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Max asked, taking a step towards her. "You..don't look so well..."

"I'll be fine, Max." Moynihan said softly, giving him a sideways glance. "I need you to go..back inside and bring out some...more tools for Fiona." She was constantly pausing as she spoke as if she was easily forgetting what she was going to say. "I am...going to help..Fiona..." Although she wasn't noticing how slow she was talking, Max and Fiona both sure did.

Sticking her head from underneath the vehicle, Fiona looked up at Moynihan with a concerned expression. "Professor..are you feeling all right?" She asked, confused. "You're speaking so slowly..I almost think that you are forgetting what you want to say... That's not like you..."

Moynihan shook her head rapidly, denying what Fiona was saying to her. Moynihan was not noticing how much slower she was talking now or the gaps and delays in between a number of words. To her, she was speaking at the normal rate as she usually does, and seeing both Max and Fiona looking at her as if she had gone nuts was upsetting her. She was even starting to become angry when they wouldn't stop staring at her as if something was wrong. What did they know, anyway? They weren't her! That's what she thought. "I'm fine, okay?!" Moynihan snapped at them, narrowing her eyes. "There's nothing wrong with me!"

Max snapped his head back in shock and Fiona almost jumped at Moynihan's sudden sharp and loud voice, nearly slamming her head against the underneath of the vehicle. Moynihan's sudden loss of temper was completely unexpected. The other times, it was a bit more understandable because she obviously felt stressed, although even then it was a shocker. But now, Moynihan seemed to snap when all they did was mention that she wasn't acting like she used to. And it wasn't like they were antagonizing her or anything, or keeping bringing up the subject. If they didn't realize something wrong before, now they definitely know something was wrong.

Moynihan's anger-filled expression slowly melted away when she realized what had just happened. She shook her head, rubbing her forehead with one hand as she leaned against the vehicle. She was getting a bad headache both from the shock of what she did yet again and from something else that she could not explain. Something was going on with her and she couldn't think of what it was exactly. She wanted to get to the bottom of this, but she didn't want to frighten her students even more. They must be terribly frightened of her enough as it is with her loss of temper. And what if she really was talking too slowly? Her students would know this more than she did, wouldn't they? She wondered if that was also frightening them. It would be understandable if this happened over the course of a few years, but her change in behavior practically happened overnight. This was scary, she thought, very scary.

"Oh dear..." Moynihan said, opening up her eyes and looking at her two students, who were gawking at her because of her sudden outburst. "I am so sorry, you two...really I am... I don't know what's wrong with me." Her voice sounded like a mixture of pain and shame, and both Fiona and Max couldn't help but feel sorry for the old woman. "I just feel so...irritable lately. I feel like I want to...dare I say it, rip someone's throat out over the tiniest details... What's wrong with me..?" She asked in vain, giving an almost helpless expression at Max and Fiona.

Max and Fiona looked at each other, trying to find answers in each other, but finding nothing. None of them had an explaination for how Moynihan had been acting. And they both really felt for her. They felt sorry for her because it was easy to tell that she was going through a hard time. Moynihan had never acted so helpless like this in the past. It was almost always the other way around. Usually, one of them would feel lost or scared, and Moynihan would help guide them through their troubles. Moynihan truly was a very compassionate old woman who would want to help even those who aren't in her care, like how she wanted to help Liam who suffered from Asperger's Syndrome.

The only time that either of them could think of that Moynihan needed any kind of help was when they first got their pets. They had mutated during the night and gotten loose. They were all so very lucky that none of their parents or family members had seen these creatures, with the exception of Fiona's grandfather, who, luckily for them, already knew about the mutantsaurs and the Dino Squad in general. Moynihan was all alone in her lighthouse when her bird mutated and she was almost attacked in bed when she was at her most vulnerable state, sleeping. She was lucky she woke up in time and was able to distract her pet by feeding it. But still, it was a very close call and something worse could have happened.

And something worse did happen. They both recalled another time when she was vulnerable. The one time that they could have stayed in late to help out with whatever Moynihan could offer them, they weren't there and Moynihan was attacked. Michelle had gotten into the lighthouse without any problems, assaulted Rump, and had started to destroy the computers. Moynihan explained that she tried to stop her, but Michelle managed to throw her down the stairs so that she wouldn't be in the way. How she survived such a fall, not even she could explain. She was lucky that her main injury was a twisted leg, although she did suffer a deep scratch or two. But coming into the lighthouse and seeing Moynihan laying on the ground so helpless made both Max and Fiona realize how vulnerable Moynihan truly was when she was all alone in the lighthouse.

Max took a step forward, reaching out towards Moynihan as if he wanted to hug her to comfort her. "Ms. Moynihan...do you want to go back inside and lay down? Maybe a bit of rest would..."

Moynihan swiftly lifted up her hand to silence the jock. "I'm sorry, but no... Rest won't help. I had enough time to rest upstairs, and I'm still feeling so...angry..bitter...confused..." She gave him a look that almost scared him. It was so foreign because Moynihan almost never made this expression to anyone. It was filled with a mixture of anger, confusion, and helplessness. She decided to tell them what she thought was wrong, as much as she didn't want to scare them. "I'm sorry..I didn't want to tell you this, but... I think something else is going on...something bad."

"What...?" Fiona, still underneath the vehicle, gasped.

"..Victor called me earlier. That's why I went upstairs." Moynihan admitted, turning her head away for a few seconds, feeling ashamed at telling them this. "That's why I didn't want to stay downstairs. I didn't want to frighten you."

Max was shocked at this, but decided not to dwell on it too much or push Moynihan further. "So..you think Victor has something to do with this?" It did seem logical. Victor was the kind of person to do something like this, wasn't he? If Victor truly was responsible, it would make everything about what happened to Moynihan make sense.

Moynihan flinched when Max asked this. It reminded her of the taunts Victor had given her that gave her such a fright. And that only made Victor happier. Knowing that he was frightened her encouraged him to continue. If they were talking face to face, she would have been fighting with herself not to punch him, which was something that she would normally not do to anyone, even if she was angry with the person. "I'm afraid that...that maybe the case, dear boy. He did taunt me on the phone about how..the upcoming events that'll happen to us will be..unforgettable..."

"Unforgettable...?" Max slowly mouthed, whispering just at a barely audible tone. That didn't sound too promising. The way Moyniahn said 'unforgettable' had scared him. It felt like there was an ominous message to that one word, a warning of possible danger.

"...I wonder what he could have meant by that..." Fiona said softly.

"He..never told me what it was." Moynihan said, closing her eyes. "Whenever I asked him, he only laughed and further taunted me. He loved hearing how confused, frustrated, angry, and scared I was. He loved it because he feels he is getting even with me for betraying him many years ago."

"Why that...that monster..." Max growled under his breath. It was angering him knowing that Victor had put Moynihan through so much emotional turmoil all in the name of vengeance. It was sickening and just plain awful. "How can he accuse you of betraying him? Wasn't it not him that betrayed you.."

The mention of the betrayal made Moynihan's blood run cold. She had wanted to put that behind her long ago. Just thinking about it brought bad memories of not only her final battle with Victor when he broke her leg, but also the one event that made Victor completely despise humans. She never did tell her students the complete story behind the betrayal and for good reason. She didn't think they could handle it. How could they be able to handle it when she, herself, still had trouble coping with it after all these years? To an extent, Moynihan missed the way things used to be between her and Victor. She had enjoyed his company. He had made her feel like she wasn't alone, that she truly belonged somewhere...

It still sent chills down her spine to recall just how quickly thinks fell apart when Victor started to hate humans. When they were trying to bring back the dinosaurs, it was not originally to overthrow the humans. They had just wanted to make the planet feel a little more like home. Even though she was initially disgusted by humans ruling the Earth instead of dinosaurs, Moynihan didn't feel like she should try to kill them off. There was something about them that fascinated her, and the more she got to know the species, the more she started to love them. And Victor was the same way, at first, until that one event lead him to hating the species entirely. Looking at Max and Fiona, Joanne pondered if it was time for her to tell them about what had really happened all those years ago. Why not? She felt that they deserved to know, especially after what had happened.

"Well...yes..." Joanne said slowly, rubbing one hand on the other nervously. What if her students got mad with her for keeping this a secret for this long? She couldn't help but worry about this one question. She would still tell of course, but she feared of how they might react after she finished telling them. "But..."

"But...?" Fiona asked. Her interest was suddenly peaked. It sounded like Moynihan was going to tell them something that might be important. This information could prove vital in how to combat Victor and deal with other issues, including Caruso's panic attacks. Fiona sighed to herself. That was just wishful thinking. There was no way that Moynihan could possibly be able to come up with a full-proof plan on dealing what has happened the past few days.

Moynihan exhaled slowly and bit her lip nervously. "There's...something I need to tell you..."

"What do you need to tell us...?" Fiona asked carefully. No longer able to focus on fixing the broken pipe, she crawled from the underneath of the car and straightened up onto her feet. She looked down at herself and noticed she was covered with dirt and bits of grass. Groaning, she immediately brushed herself off, knocking off as much dirt and plants as she could. She then returned her attention back to her teacher, waiting for her to answer. She opened her mouth to say something else, but quickly shut it. She didn't want to provoke Moynihan further, especially after her loss of control just a few minutes ago.

Max became interested as well. But he also couldn't stop himself from feeling a little angry with Moynihan. He couldn't explain to himself why he was feeling like this. He didn't completely understand it himself. But he was feeling so angry with her that he wanted to run away to prevent himself from hurting her. Was he angry that she had snapped so suddenly several times today? Was he angry that her delaying them earlier almost cost Caruso his life? Or was he angry that Moynihan might have been hiding something from him all this time? No, that couldn't be it. Moynihan didn't mean to delay them and she had the right to hide whatever she wanted to. As for how she snapped, that probably wasn't her fault either. Max recalled how he had snapped at her when they thought Caruso was dead. He had no control over his actions and he could have really hurt Moynihan. Just thinking about what he could have done to her sent chills down his spine.

Moynihan gestured towards the lighthouse. "Come back inside." She said, immediately turning around and walking back towards the lighthouse. "This is something I feel all of you should hear." Fiona and Max looked at each other and then immediately started to follow the old woman back into the lighthouse. Whatever it is she wanted to tell them, it must be important if she wanted all the students to hear her story.

But there would be one person who would not hear any of her story. Caruso had left with his parents not too long ago. If Moynihan wanted all of them to hear it, does this mean that she was going to call up Caruso's parents and have them come over? Max looked at Moynihan and decided to ask her himself. "You want to tell all of us this story? What about Caruso?"

Moynihan slowly shook her head. "He's probably already home by now. I don't want to cause him anymore trouble by bringing him back here just to listen to a story. I fear it'll only depress him even more, especially in his state of mind."

"Then why do you want to tell us this?" Max asked her.

"Because..." Moynihan said, closing her eyes for a few brief seconds. "..it's something that I should have told you a long time ago."

"And what is this story about?" Max asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"...it's about the real reason Victor had started to hate humans." Moynihan admitted after a few second's hesitation, sounding completely ashamed of herself. "And how I was the reason for that..." She stopped in her tracks and glanced back at the two teens. "You see..Victor was right when he said I was a traitor to him. And it was I who inspired him to try and overthrow the humans in the first place..."

"What?!" Fiona and Max shouted in unison, completely shocked by this new information. They both slowly realized why Moynihan had kept this a secret all this time. She was probably worried that they would start thinking differently of her if they knew the truth.

Moynihan turned away from them, unable to look at them straight in the eyes. She could only imagine how Buzz and Rodger were going to react when she told them. And what of Caruso? What would he do if he found out? And his parents...they probably wouldn't trust her after she admitted the truth. And she wouldn't have blamed them. She should have said something years ago. "I am sorry...but..."

"But what?" Fiona asked, the first to recover from the initial shock. "Just how long did you plan on keeping this a secret from us? And why are you telling us now?"

"Nevermind that now." Moynihan said, reaching out to open up the door into the lighthouse. She didn't feel like telling the children anything further until she had gotten both Rodger and Buzz. This wasn't a story that she really wanted to repeat more than once. It was just far too painful for her. She glanced down at her necklace, realizing that this was going to come into play in the story as well. It was long time that she showed her students her hidden storage where her dangerous weapons still lay, still functional. "I'll explain everything once Buzz and Rodger come down from upstairs."

"But..." Max started to say, but he wasn't able to finish his sentence before Moynihan disappeared into the lighthouse, moving a little faster than she normally did. It was almost like she was deliberately trying to avoid whatever question or statement that he was going to say. Max felt a little hurt by this thought, but shrugged it off. He was still feeling bitter about the previous events involving Victor and his two dinosaur-transforming comrades. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked over to see Fiona. "Fiona?"

"Max...I'm not sure about this." Fiona said softly, sounding a little afraid. It was clear that something was really bothering her. The expression on her face immediately told Max that something was wrong with Fiona. Something was scaring her, and he had a feeling he knew exactly what it was.