Victor Veloci and Joanne Moynihan were sitting on the couch in the living room of their apartment. It wasn't much, but it helped them get by until they were able to find better jobs. They both worked at cashiers, although at two completely different stores. It wasn't much money, but it was enough to make a living anyway. The apartment they were living in was small, although neatly kept. There was only one bedroom. The two didn't mind sharing it. There was also only one bathroom. The couch they were sitting on was the only piece of furniture in the living room, the largest room in the apartment. Connected to the living room was a small kitchen, containing a fridge, a few cabinets, and a stove. Down a small hallway where the bathroom was included a small laundry room, big enough for a dryer and a washer and not much else.

The walls were painted a pale bone yellow. Not a very attractive color, but it was easy on their eyes and not too distracting. Their house was almost entirely carpeted except for the tiled floor in the bathroom and in the kitchen. Next to the kitchen was a small black table with two chairs. This was where the two would have eaten their meals during the day. And not far from the table was the TV, black in color and a decent size, not too big and not too small. The two were looking at the TV together, passing the time by watching some programs that had caught their interest. The light above them flickered a little, but they paid it no mind. Although it was dark out now, the television offered enough light for them.

Although the two were living together, they were not officially married. They had no plans anytime soon to get married. The human wedding customs of this continent confused them greatly. They didn't like the idea of being bonded by a simple ring and they felt that, if two people wanted to be together, they should just get together. It felt like a waste of time to go through all the trouble of planning a wedding, paying for it, buying all those nice clothes, and gathering family members and friends all for the simple union of a male and female human. Victor and Joanne considered themselves mates and nothing more, and refused to partake in human customs.

Victor held the remote in his hands, mindlessly pressing the button to flip through the channels to see what was on. He immediately stopped on one channel when he saw a flash of something that looked familiar. He turned up the volume and he leaned in to listen to what was going on. The television set was filled with the image of what looked like a large sickle claw. Victor and Joanne recognized it immediately. It was the claw from a species of raptor, possibly the creature humans call Utahraptor.

The sickle claw was being held by a human scientist, who was eyeing it with great curiosity and fascination. He started to speak, "For years since its discovery, scientists have speculated that this claw was used to disembowel prey. But our tests have shown that this action was impossible." He started to point at the tip of the claw. "Only the tip of the claw was sharp." He then started to rub his finger in the inside curve of the claw. "The inside of the claw is dull, and this creates a problem. When the animal would strike a prey item with this claw, only the tip of the claw is doing the cutting. With a blunt inside edge, there's no way a raptor, of any size, would be able to successfully slice open an animal..."

Victor curled his lips back in disgust as the scientist began to say these things. What did this pathetic creatures know anyway? They had never seen a living raptor in their lives! There's no way they would know any of this. There's so much about dinosaurs that they do not know. And it disgusted Victor to hear this human try to disprove the raptor's ability to do something that he and Moynihan had done countless times in the past. "If I was there, I would disprove him very quickly..." As he said that, his right foot transformed into that of a Velociraptor's, and he lifted it up and wielded his sickle claw in pride.

"Don't blame them too much, Vic." Joanne responded, although sounding a bit upset as well with the scientist. "I mean, all they have to go on with their claims are fossilized bones. They are lucky to find anything else. How are they to know everything about dinosaurs? I hear they're still debating on whether or not we are warm-blooded like mammals or cold-blooded like other reptiles."

Victor hissed. "Us? Warm-blooded like those lowly rodents that ran across our feet before the extinction?!" A little bit of drool dripped from his jaws as it would if he were in his Velociraptor form. "Don't make me laugh!"

"While they have gotten that part wrong, Vic," Moynihan spoke up, running her fingers through her dark hair. "I don't think you should judge them too harshly on that mistake. They found some pretty good evidence to support that theory. Quite interesting. They also think that Velociraptors were completely covered in feathers like birds." She had to admit that she was a little disgusted by the idea of being covered in feathers and wondered how that idea came about. But after seeing what the humans had found, she could understand how they made that mistake.

"One of these days, I feel like marching down to one of those science labs and giving them a piece of my mind." Victor hissed through bared teeth, his eyes still locked on the program he and Moynihan were currently watching. "All these darn theories about dinosaurs..they have no idea what they are talking about! I don't care if they don't know any better. There's no excuse for these kind of theories! I mean, really, warm-bloodedness? Feathers? Slow and stupid? I've even heard a theory that creatures like Pteranodons were covered in fur!" He shuddered. "Disgusting!"

"Fur huh?" Joanne contemplated. "That's a new one for me."

"I still don't know how they come up with these things." Victor said softly.

"Easy." Joanne responded, giving Veloci a smirk. "They have never seen a live dinosaur before. All they have are bones. So how are they to know everything? All they can do is take the evidence and make an educated guess. Seriously, why do you insist on judging them so harshly?" Joanne chuckled lightly. "They aren't so bad."

Victor turned his head from the television set and looked at Joanne. "Yes, I know that. But still..sometimes I wonder how they became the dominant species of this planet. They hadn't even been here that long! They..."

"They earned this position through hard work, Vic." Joanne said, leaning back into the couch. "Humans worked harder than dinosaurs to get to the top. Dinosaurs developed their skills over tens of millions of years while humans achieved world domination a lot faster because of their intelligence and their weapons." She paused briefly to look at the expression on Victor's face. She knew that what she was saying was upsetting him, but to her, it was the truth. "And not to mention, they're a highly social species, even more so than Velociraptors. This allows them to communicate and work with one another to achieve a common goal."

"And that's exactly what bugs me about them! They rely on artificial skills and what they call intelligence to make themselves feel like they're so important! At least when it came to us dinosaurs, we relied on our natural born skill to make it." Victor said. "And if they are so eager to work with one another, then why have there been so many wars? Tell me, since when have you heard about a dinosaur war?"

Joanne tapped a finger against her chin lightly as she thought over Victor's response. "You make a good point, Victor. But still..." She shrugged. "That doesn't change the fact that..."

Victor interrupted her sharply. "Doesn't change the fact that..what? That humans have taken over the world in only a few thousand years or something while it took dinosaurs millions of years?!" His eyes narrowed as he spoke, causing Moynihan to lean back a little. "But to do, they had caused a lot of damage to this world! If making species to extinct isn't enough, they're polluting the air and the water and the land! What kind of dominant species would do that?"

"Humans are a young species, Vic." Joanne said, trying her best to hide her tension she was starting to feel now. "Don't blame them for their arrogance and ignorance. In time, they will learn. Some are already striving to change this world."

"And look at where it's taking them." Victor said darkly. "Most humans care only about money and how to get more of it. They will not listen to those whom they deem 'treehuggers'. They do not care what happens to this world as long as they can get rich quickly."

Joanne narrowed her eyes slightly. As much as she wanted to agree with Victor, she just couldn't bring herself to. She had started to like these unusual ape species that took over the world so quickly. In the past, she would agree with Victor, or at least understand where he was coming from. While she disagreed with him now, she still understood his reasons. She was also upset at how humans were treating the world. But she saw great potential in the species. If they were only educated more in the ways of this planet, they could transform the way they live and reduce their impact on the planet greatly. "At least someone is trying to make a change..." She said in a low voice.

"Yeah and they are doing a great job too, huh?" Victor said, his voice filled with sarcasm. "And I suppose letting people continue cutting down trees and pouring pollution into the water is part of their plan, isn't it?" His voice grew angrier and angrier as he continued to speak. "And let's not forget about their poaching. I'm sure that is included on their 'save the world' plan, right?" He would have continued if Joanne hadn't smacked him on the head to shut him up.

"Victor! Please!" Joanne said sternly. "If it bothers you so much, then stop talking about it! You're only going to make yourself angrier, and you know what happens when you get too stressed." Victor eyed her angrily, but Joanne didn't falter. "Look, I'm just as angry about what the humans are doing as you are. But that does not mean they should be condemned. At least give them a chance. And don't stress so much about it. I don't want to see you hurt yourself."

Victor's expression softened a little, but he still glared at Moynihan. He rubbed the sore spot on his head where she had struck him. "Yeah yeah, I know." He grumbled softly. "Still I can't help but feel that..." His voice trailed off as he was starting to draw a blank in his mind. He was so angry and frustrated that he couldn't think straight.

"Just that..what?" Joanne asked, leaning a little closer to Victor.

Victor just sighed and looked away, eyeing the television absentmindedly. He had forgotten about the program that was on, but he was no longer interested in it. The short-lived argument between him and Moynihan had killed his interest. "Oh nothing, just..nothing." He said softly. Joanne could tell that he was sounding a little distressed. "Just forget I said anything."

"Oh come on, Vic." Joanne said in a comforting tone. She placed an arm around Victor in a partial hug. She had picked this habit up from the humans. It felt a little awkward, but at the same time, it also made her feel good. "You can tell me anything. You've got to believe that." Victor didn't object to the hug although he clearly didn't look too comfortable about it. He turned and looked at Moynihan, his face completely softened by now. "Now come on, what's on your mind?"

"It's just that... well.. I have been trying to give these humans a chance. No matter how much they've angered me, I've tried to be like you, Joanne. I tried to tolerate it, and I have been for a very long time." Victor said, explaining what he could to Joanne while doing his best to keep himself calm. "But I can feel my patience wearing thin. I want to give them more of a chance, I really do. But I can't help but feel that it's just too late for them. I mean... they've come all this way in their technology and they are still using it for personal gain..."

Joanne nodded her head. She shared the same frustration. These humans were supposed to be an advanced species like the dinosaurs were. Although the dinosaurs did what they did for their own benefit, it was on a smaller scale compared to the humans, whose actions impact many ecosystems and the planet itself. She often wondered why the humans, even though they could create weapons of mass destruction and all this stuff, they hardly ever to really attempt to create something to benefit the species and the planet in general. Were they afraid of change? Were they unsure if the ideas would work or not? Did they even care at all?

"I understand how you feel, Victor." Joanne told him, pulling herself a little closer to him. "I sometimes wonder that myself, why they care more about profit than the benefit of their species. But really.. are they any different from dinosaurs in this sense? Dinosaurs didn't care about the well being of others. They just...we just lived only looking out for our own selves much of the time."

"And that is still better than what humans are doing." Victor said, closing his eyes. "I can't tell you how many times I felt my heart ache as I see more and more of the damage they are causing, both intentionally and unintentionally..."

"As does mine, Vic." Joanne responded. "But there is nothing we can do about it. The only thing we can do is accept this world the way that it is, no matter how painful it might be."

But Victor refused to accept that statement. He wanted to believe there was something that could be done. He wanted to believe that they could make a change in this world, a change that would be best for the planet. Joanne might have given up on trying, but Victor had not. "No! I will not accept that!" Victor said, his voice filled with confidence. "There is something we can do about it! I just..don't know what it is yet. But once we figure it out, we'll teach those humans how things are really run on this planet!"

"And how do you hope to accomplish that, Victor? Humans don't see dinosaurs as civilized beings, and frankly, they are correct. Dinosaurs did not have a government or leaderships or anything. We just..lived." Joanne said calmly, slowly rising up off the couch to go into the kitchen for something. But Victor stopped her, grabbing her by the arm and forcing her to remain where she was.

"So what are you suggesting?" Victor asked, his teeth slightly bared. "That we just give up and let them wreck the planet?!" Victor could feel a strong dislike, even hatred, towards humans rise up inside of him as he started to come to terms to all the terrible things humans had done to Earth. "Why should we allow this to continue to happen, Joanne? Why should we sit back and let those..hairless monkeys.. ruin everything?!"

Joanne growled softly and pulled her arm roughly away from Victor. "Well what do you hope to accomplish? How do you propose we change the humans? Go door to door and ask them pretty please?!"

Victor's eyes narrowed into slits. "At least dinosaurs would have been able to run this place properly..."

Becoming increasingly frustrated, Joanne did something that she knew she was going to later regret. She flailed her arms into the air and shouted, "Then why don't you just bring the dinosaurs back and let them take over?!" Victor looked at her in shock when she said that. Joanne, still frustrated, continued on her rant without realizing what she was saying. "Why don't you just create..I don't know..something..that can magically turn everything on this world back into dinosaurs! Would you be satisfied then?!"

Victor stood there, frozen and stunned for several minutes. He couldn't believe that Joanne had just snapped at him like that. She hadn't done something like that since...since they were dinosaurs. Joanne's expression slowly softened and, realizing what she had just said, took a step backwards, wondering how Victor was going to react to the idea. Slowly but surely, an almost twisted smile made its way across Victor's face. Joanne shuddered. She didn't like that look on his face. She tried to turn around and get away from him, but Victor had grabbed her again, holding her in place. The smile he was giving her told Joanne that Victor seemed to wish that he thought of that idea first.

"Why Joanne..." Victor said in an elated voice. "That's a brilliant idea!"

"Now Victor..." Joanne said nervously, hoping to explain herself. She mentally scolded herself for speaking like that in the first place. She had never meant to say any of those things. She wasn't actually serious in trying to bring back the dinosaurs. She just wanted to say something to get Victor to stop complaining. Apparently she chose the wrong things to say. Now she realizes that she has just made Victor even more determined to change the world, and not in what she would see as a good way. "Let's think this over... Let's not jump to any conclusions.. I-I mean there isn't even a way to create such a thing that can..change things.."

Victor's smile only broadened more as he exposed his raptor teeth to her. "Oh that won't be a problem for two Velociraptor geniuses like us! Surely we'll be able to think of something that could work..."

"But..that could only lead to more problems..." Joanne tried to say, hoping to change Victor's mind about this. "I mean, we could end up only creating more damage..."

Victor paused for a moment and started to think about what Joanne said. The smile dropped from his face as if he was acknowledging and understanding the seriousness of the situation. And for a minute, Joanne felt relieved that Victor seemed to realize how wrong, and improbable, it would be to artificially create dinosaur species. Then Joanne felt fear rise inside her as Victor's face furrowed into a look that was filled with disgust. "The humans are doing enough damage as it is..." As quickly as it appeared, the frown disappeared, replaced with the smile he had earlier. "So what do you say? Let's work together to find a way to achieve this wonderful goal."

Joanne tried to pull her arm away, but Victor just held on tighter. "Well I don't know Victor.. It just doesn't seem right to..." Victor pulled her closer and wrapped one arm around her like she had with him earlier, but this time there was no sense of comfort. Victor stared down at Joanne and felt somewhat more powerful due to his height and strength advantage over her in human form. "Victor..." Joanne said, struggling to get away. "You're scaring me..."

Victor responded with a low growl, his fingernails digging so deep into Joanne's skin that he almost drew blood. Through clenched teeth and a low hiss, he said, "Either join me..or die..." As he said that, Victor felt a brief pang of guilt in his heart. He didn't really want to threaten his mate with death and he felt as if he betrayed her by doing so. But he quickly overshadowed that feeling with the belief that he was doing the right thing. And he knew that if she cared about him, she would join him. As far as he's concerned, this was her idea, not his.

Joanne tried again to pull away, but she was soon confronted with the downside of being a female human. Unlike Velociraptors, where both genders were roughly the same size, female humans were almost ways smaller than their male counterparts. They weren't quite as strong and this became obvious to Joanne as she tried to get away from Victor but kept failing. She looked up at Victor fearfully, unable to believe that he would make that kind of threat to her. And judging from the look in his eyes, he was not believing it so much himself. So why was he still holding onto her and why hadn't he said anything else yet? Was it that he was starting to feel more in charge, more dominant, because of his human form?

"V-Victor..I..." Joanne stammered. "I-I-I don't think we should..."

"Should...what?" Victor asked.

"W-Well..." Joanne said, trying to look away but finding herself unable to tear her eyes away from Victor's gaze. "It's just that.. I only said those things because I was..frustrated. Not just with you, but with the humans and everything going on. But..I didn't mean what I said..." She continued to try to plead with Victor, hoping to get him to stop before he even started. "Please Victor...reconsider. Don't do this.. Don't do something that you will eventually regret..one day..."

But Veloci had already made up his mind and he wasn't about to be discouraged from it. He almost yanked Moynihan roughly to try and get her to change her mind, but he thought better of it. His expression slowly softened and he released his grip on Moynihan, who looked relieved and moved away from him. Victor closed his eyes and looked away, feeling guilty with how he had acted towards her. "Look, I'm sorry if I scared you or hurt you, Joanne. I..I didn't mean to..." He said apologetically. He then looked back at her, the same serious look back but lacking the anger it once had. "But I'm not going to abandon this mission. I love the idea you had suggested.. and I don't really understand why you aren't more enthusiastic about it. Don't you want to save this planet?"

"Well yes...but..." Joanne started.

"Then why won't you just agree to join me...?" Veloci asked, staring at her, intent on trying to convince her. "Or are you saying I have to save this world all by myself?" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Is that it?"

"No! That's not it!" Joanne said quickly, taking another step back. She turned her head to one side, eyeing the kitchen with a wary look. "Look, I'm getting a little hungry. Can't we talk about this some more later?"

Victor reached out and grabbed Moynihan by the arm and pulled her closer. "Not until I get an answer from you. So..what will it be? Which side are you going to choose? The dinosaurs..or the humans..?" His voice was filled with venom as he said the word 'humans', making Joanne flinch. "And I hope you choose wisely...for your sake. I hate to think what might happen to you if you chose wrong." His eyes darkened slightly, indicating to Joanne what he felt was the right decision. His expression quickly softened, and to try to calm Joanne a bit, he smiled softly. "What do you say? Will you help me?" He then released his grip on her.

Joanne hesitated, unsure of how to answer. Veloci's change in demeanor had scared her. She usually didn't feel this way, so helpless and unsure of what to do. But she had never seen Victor acting like this, at least towards her. She scolded herself mentally again for saying those things while feeling so angry and frustrated. She continued to stare at Victor, who kept looking back, waiting for her answer. She knew he was not going to take no for an answer. And deep down, she kind of agreed with him. She did want to help make the planet a better place to live. Maybe Victor was right. Maybe they should go about with this idea.

Yet she could not help wondering if she was going to make the wrong decision in joining Victor. Even though he was her mate, this does not mean she had to agree with everything he was saying and vice versa. She had started to like the humans and she wasn't sure if she could just give up on them like Victor apparently had. She was starting to see them as a rather fascinating species, more diverse in character and personality than the dinosaurs she recalls encountering sixty-five million years ago. She was hoping to get to know the humans even more, to learn even more about them. But if she agreed to join Victor, would she even have that chance...?

Joanne reached a decision, and it wasn't easy for her to make this choice. As much as she wanted to understand the humans more, she felt her first duty was to her mate. They've been together far longer than she's known these strange creatures who rule the Earth now. She noticed Victor was now holding his hand out towards her for her to accept. She gulped once and, slowly, reached her own hand out and grabbed Victor's hand. "Okay..I'll help you."

Victor grinned as he and Moynihan shook hands. "Good. You won't regret it. I promise." Despite the way she was feeling, Joanne managed to produce a small smile for Victor. But she couldn't help but feel that she had just made a huge mistake...

END FLASHBACK:

After Moynihan was finished telling this part of the story, the room became quiet. An unsettling, almost ominous silence fell onto the group, many of the kids now staring at Moynihan in shock, some with an almost angry look on their faces. Moynihan, feeling ashamed, looked away, waiting for the kids to say something about what they had just heard. She already had a good idea on what they were going to say and she wondered if she wanted to sit here and listen to it. It would only make her feel a lot worse. As if she wasn't feeling bad enough as it is already.

Max tried to open his mouth to speak, but his muscles kept his jaws firmly clenched together. He was trying his best not to show his anger. He was feeling angry with Moynihan for not telling them about this, but that wasn't the only thing upsetting him. It felt very strange for him, and the others, to realize that Moynihan was the one who suggested the idea of primordial ooze in the first place. Even though she hadn't really meant for that to happen and that she even tried to coax Victor out of it, it was still depressing to know that their leader was the cause of today's problems involving the mutantsaurs. It made him question his loyalty, asking himself if he was truly on the right side.

Fiona swallowed hard as she tried to digest this new information. Moynihan was the cause of the mutantsaurs? No, that didn't seem to be possible. Moynihan wasn't the type of person to do such a thing! Fiona wished it was all a big mistake. She had spent so much time with Moynihan that she just couldn't really believe that the old woman had not only suggested the primordial ooze plan but that she had actually helped Victor at one time. She tried to look into the woman's eyes, hoping to find a sense of doubt in them, something that could discredit this story, but all she found was sadness and guiltiness.

Rodger hardly reacted. He was feeling too stunned and in disbelief to really think of anything. He felt almost numb inside. He understood that Moynihan had simply lost her temper and had said those things to get Victor to shut up. Rodger probably would have done the same thing, depending on how angry he would get. But he had always seen Moynihan as a tough old lady who wouldn't give in so easily to her emotions. She was the one who had always scolded the kids when they allowed their feelings get the better of them, like how Rodger let anger control him into pulling the pranks on his friends. But the difference was his pranks were relatively harmless. Moynihan's actions had done a lot more damage.

Buzz could feel his hands shaking. He slowly clenched a fist with both hands to try and get them stop shaking, but it was useless. He slowly felt his whole body shake as if he was cold, but he knew better. This is how he had reacted when he had seen Michelle a few times earlier. It was a mixture of rage and frustration. Why didn't Moynihan tell them this information before? Why had she kept this vital piece of information secret after all this time? Was it that she did not trust them enough earlier? If this shocking revelation shook him up this much, Buzz wasn't sure if he wanted to hear more. He didn't know if he wanted to know about the weapons. Maybe Moynihan was going to say that she created weapons of mass destruction or something along those lines.

After several minutes of complete silence, save for the sounds of breathing, Max broke the silence. "So..after all this time... all this.." Max said, his voice shaky. "..it's all because of you?"

"All those mutantsaurs...they came into existence because of you?" Rodger said, joining in.

"Unfortunately and regretfully...yes." Moynihan said, her head still turned away from the teenagers. She found it difficult to bring herself to look at them after what she had told them. How were they going to react when she told them about the secret weapons?

"I..understand that you were upset, Ms. Moynihan." Max said, his voice sounding a little calmer than before. "But what I don't understand is why you never told us about this before. Were you afraid that we were going to retaliate against you or something?"

Moynihan sighed and slowly shook her head. "No..."

"Then why keep this a secret?" Buzz inquired, eyes slightly narrowed. "I mean, if you weren't afraid of how we might react, then why would you continue to keep this information from us?"

"Yeah..I don't understand either. Did you not tell us because you..didn't trust us?" Fiona asked, one eyebrow cocked a little.

"No, that's not it either." Moynihan turned her head and looked at her students. She winced a little as she saw how angry, hurt, and upset they looked. She couldn't blame them either. "The truth is...I didn't want you kids to get hurt. I was afraid that if I told you this story, you would go and find the weapons yourself and try to use them, or even destroy them. I was worried that you would get yourselves killed." Moynihan tried to hide a tear that formed in one eye. "I was only trying to protect you..."

"Protect us...?" Buzz asked in a soft, almost inaudible voice. It was loud enough for Moynihan to hear however.

"Yes. That is all I ever wanted to do. I don't want you kids to go through what I had in the struggle to defeat Dr. Veloci." As Moynihan said that, she gazed down at her ankle. She could, sometimes, still feel those jagged teeth piercing her skin. This is why she felt very protective of the kids. She had been battling Victor for many years and she still received the nearly crippling injury. The Dino Squad had not fought against Victor for very long. She feared that their lack of experience would make them more susceptible to such injuries, especially since Victor now knew they were human. Moynihan felt a sharp pain in her heart. Victor would surely take advantage of this information. "And now that he knows you are all human, and not 'perfect dinosaurs'..."

"He can find us with ease. We know that." Max said, his voice slightly tinged with fear. He was fully aware that Veloci would have an easier time finding them now. Max was almost certain that Victor had seen them transform while he was at the lighthouse Saturday morning. He couldn't be sure because they did not see him until after they were all in dino mode. But regardless, he knew that it was best to be on the safe side, and assume that he did see them. Max wasn't sure how Victor would be able to find them if he had only seen them, however. So perhaps they were still safe. Then his heart sank as a realization came over him. He, Fiona, Rodger, and Buzz were probably all still safe, but Caruso wasn't safe anymore. Victor knew his face and knew his name. And Victor also now knew where Moynihan lives and could attack at any time.

Before Max could speak up again, Rodger decided to speak. He wanted to know more about these weapons, and he was sure the others did as well. Moynihan hadn't started talking about the weapons yet other than what she had already said. She hadn't talked about what they were used for or anything. "So what about these weapons? Where are they? What were they used for?" Rodger asked.

"Yeah..." Buzz chimed in. "What makes them so dangerous that you had to conceal them from us?"

Joanne Moynihan flinched as the two kids asked her these questions. She knew that this was going to come up sooner or later. But she was still not sure how to explain it to them. Thinking about the weapons brought back overwhelming feelings of guilt and not just because she kept the weapons a secret. She kept their actual use a secret from them as well and for a good reason. The weapons, still fully functional, were locked away in her lighthouse instead of being destroyed to remind herself of the awful mistake she had almost made when she still worked with Victor. It was something that she wanted to forget, but could not for fear the past would repeat.

How would the teenagers react when they find out what some of the weapons were used for? Moynihan flinched at the thought of them accusing her of betraying them. They knew that she would never betray them, but they would probably still feel this way if they were told that the weapons Moynihan had in her home posed a huge threat to humanity. Victor had managed to convince Moynihan to create weapons that would do a great deal of damage to a human being, even end their lives. After Moynihan realized what she was doing and the consequences for that, she had taken the weapons with her after she split with Victor and had hidden them. She had foolishly believed that it would have prevented Victor from advancing too much in his goals. It had only enhanced his efforts. It had only made him more determined to rid the world of humans.

It was not the birth of Raptor Dyne, no. Victor did not start recruiting humans at that time. For what seemed to Moynihan as many years, Victor had only one ally and that was her. They had worked together on many different experiments in hopes of transforming the planet. Victor thought that Joanne was the only ally he really needed. He truly believed that two Velociraptors could easily outwit the billions of humans that now inhabit the planet. Victor had never considered hiring humans. He felt that they would not be of any help and would only slow him down. He was also concerned that they would spread information about his plans to other humans and they would be found out. Joanne leaving did not make him start working with humans, but it did make him colder, more determined in his experiments and in trying to achieve his goals.

Victor did not start recruiting until after the final battle she had endured with him, when he had broken her ankle. She had no idea about it until she had witnessed Victor walking away with two humans at his side. She thought nothing of it at first, believing that Victor had finally given up his mission at changing the world. But she was soon proven dead wrong when she had witnessed one of the men contaminating an animal with a primitive form of primordial ooze, causing it to mutate although not to the same extreme as the mutantsaurs she saw today. And after that, she would learn that Victor was recruiting more and more humans. She still didn't completely understand how he was getting them to join him or why he had even started doing so in the first place. The only thing that made sense to her is that he was promising them something in return for their loyalty. Keeping the men in line was not a problem for a Velociraptor.

But now her thoughts quickly trail back to Rodger and Buzz's questions regarding the weapons. She swallowed hard as she tried to think of how to tell the children without them getting angry with her or distressed in general. Joanne briefly wondered if Victor was watching them now, at this very second. If he was, could he hear her? She bit her lip, wondering if Victor was going to find out about the weapons, and then her heart started to race a little. If Victor could scan the lighthouse, he would easily find the weapons...

"Ms. Moynihan?" Fiona spoke up, braking Joanne's train of thought. "Are you all right? You seemed to be zoning out there."

Moynihan shook her head a little. She was starting to get a little headache and it seemed to have come out of nowhere. But she didn't want to worry the kids, so she spoke a lie to them. "Y-Yes.. I'm fine." As she said that, she lifted a hand up and started to rub her forehead a little, revealing to the team that their mentor probably wasn't speaking the complete truth.

Not believing her, Max said, "Are you sure? Why are you rubbing your head like that?" He pointed a finger at her when he said that. He usually never sees anyone do that unless they weren't feeling well or they were becoming frustrated. His eyes widened very slightly. He wondered if Moynihan was going to have another one of those episodes. He quickly lowered his finger. The other members of the team looked just as concerned, but none of them could gather the courage to say anything.

"I am sure, Maxwell." Moynihan said, her eyes closed lightly as she slowly turned her head from side to side. "It's..nothing to be concerned about." She reopened her eyes and returned to the subject that they were just one. She believed that the thought of the weapons is what was giving her these headaches and if so, talking about them more would only make her feel worse. But she had to tell them about the weapons and get this over with. What the Dino Squad wanted to do after they found out was up to them. "Anyway, the weapons are located in a secret room in this lighthouse. And I have the key." She lifted up her necklace.

"You already told us that was a key." Buzz said.

"Oh, I did?" Moynihan asked, a little confused. Buzz nodded his head. Moynihan lowered her gaze slightly. She sighed softly. "Hmm..I must have forgotten..."

"How could you have forgotten?" Buzz asked, raising his arms into the air. "You just told us about an hour ago or something!" It probably had not been an hour since the teacher started to tell the story, but to Buzz, it surely felt like that.

"I'm not as young as I used to be, I..." Moynihan stopped talking almost immediately. Her thoughts went back to earlier that day when she had to feed Rump. She recalled that she had a very hard time finding his food, even though it was in the same place as she normally puts it. And what frightened her just as much is that she was having a very hard time reading. The letters appeared the same as usual, but she was not able to decipher them. She started to become a little afraid as she realized that she was starting to forget again.

Max noticed Moynihan's change in behavior. He could recognize the look of fear on her face. It was slight, barely noticeable. But he was able to catch it. "Ms. Moynihan, what's wrong?" He asked, not wanting to see her afraid. "Why are you afraid?"

"It's..it's nothing." Moynihan slowly shook her head, doing her best to keep her hands away from her head despite the pain and frustration. "Let's just..move back onto the weapons..." She straightened herself in her chair, doing her best to relax her face and calm her students, to get them to believe that she was fine and nothing was going on. She briefly wondered how long it would be before they notice something was really wrong with her. How long could she keep this memory loss a secret? "These weapons are very dangerous. I had stolen them from Veloci when I had first left him to make sure that he would never be able to use them."

Buzz gulped and reluctantly asked, "What..what did the weapons do?"

Joanne closed her eyes. "Terrible things, Buzz. Very terrible things." She reopened her eyes. "They were...killers. Tormentors. Torturers. Destroyers. They were nothing like the Chiller and the Spiller." She slowly eyed Rodger. "And definitely nothing like that invention of yours." She was referring to a model of the Spiller designed to suck up oil-based primordial ooze. They hadn't needed it much since that one incident, but Rodger felt it was still good to have.

"But..." Max said. Something was not adding up in his mind. "If Victor had made such dangerous weapons before, wouldn't he be able to..you know..make them again? He was the one who created the weapons in the first place..." That made him feel very uneasy. If what Moynihan said was true, and he was sure it was, then Veloci could easily create these same weapons if he wanted to and cause a whole mess of trouble. Even if they weren't the exact same design or had the exact same effect, he could still at least replicate the function. He could even make them better than before. He looked at his friends and could tell, judging from their expressions, that they were thinking the same thing too.

Buzz shuddered. "He could easily kill us..."

"Or our families." Fiona added in, thinking of the mole mutant encounter she had with her family.

Moynihan pushed her glasses against her face. "No, he won't be able to replicate the weapons." The team looked at her in surprise. She sounded so confident as she said this. The team started to wonder how she could be so certain that Victor would not be able to remake the weapons. "He can try, but he will fail."

"How are you...so sure?" Rodger asked cautiously.

"Easy. Remember the bath of primordial ooze that you and the others were contaminated with?" Moynihan asked.

"Well..yeah." Rodger said, tapping his finger against his head thoughtfully. "The primordial ooze that was in the water, right?"

Moynihan nodded. "And it gave you all perfectly formed dinosaur modes, did it not?" None of the team members responded. Instead, they simply looked at each other, and then back at Moynihan. They looked a little surprised, although they seemed to realize just what Moynihan was telling them. Victor had perfected the primordial ooze with that one formula, but has not yet been able to recreate it. And if he couldn't recreate the batch, maybe he wouldn't be able to recreate weapons that he probably never seen in use before. "Veloci was very lucky to get the results that he had with that one batch." She explained. "And I am sure he knows that as well. He wants to recreate those effects, but has been unsuccessful. I theorize that the contamination in the ooze that absorbed into your skin is not only the reason why you are all immune to the Chiller and Spiller, as you already know, but also the reason your dinosaur forms are perfect and not just merely mutations."

"But what about Rump?" Fiona asked, shrugging her shoulders. "He was in that same water and his dinosaur form isn't exactly..perfect."

"It's downright ugly!" Rodger laughed, earning a glare from the others. "What?" He asked innocently. "You know it's true."

"Right you are." Moynihan nodded her head. She had almost forgotten about Rump's dinosaur form. She never did figure out exactly what he was supposed to be, though she theorized that he as most likely some kind of carnivorous dinosaur. "That's why I believe the contamination occurred sometime after you guys got out of the water, that something you did contaminated it. It's the only thing I can come up with that would explain why Rump and that shark turned into mutantsaurs while you kids obtained perfectly formed dinosaur modes."

Buzz scratched his head. "That..doesn't make much sense. I didn't do anything differently than I normally do."

"Not even come into contact with another chemical of sorts?" Moynihan asked.

Buzz shook his head. "Nope."

Fiona nodded. "Me neither.

Moynihan looked over at Rodger and Max. "What about you two?"

"Nuh uh." Max said, raising his hands in front of him.

"Negative." Rodger said.

"I see. Well never mind that now." Moynihan slowly got up onto her feet to stretch her legs a little. She was sitting down for a while and her legs were starting to feel slightly stiff. She didn't understand why. She couldn't have been sitting down that long. Then she started to walk away, confusing the team. It wasn't that she had forgotten about telling them about the weapons. She just wanted to stretch her legs. She was suddenly feeling restless, as if she just had to keep moving. She felt the urge to go explore, even though she knew this area quite well. She hadn't felt this way since her days as a full-fledged Velociraptor.

"Ms. Moynihan?" Joanne heard Max say, and she stopped in her tracks. She looked over her shoulder, giving the jock a sideways glance. "I thought you were going to tell us more about those weapons. What exactly were they used for?"

Rodger joined in. "Yeah. Why are you walking away?"

"Yeah..." Fiona said. "Why? It isn't like you to just walk off like that, especially in the middle of some important meeting like this one."

Moynihan rubbed the back of her head, feeling a little embarrassed. "Sorry about that.. I don't know what came over me. I just..suddenly had this urge to..keep moving." Judging from the confused expressions on the kids' faces, they neither understood what she had meant nor even understood why she had that urge to begin with. She didn't think they would anyway. The kids were, fortunately, spared from having to battle much, if at all, with their dinosaur half. She didn't quite figure it out herself, but she felt it had something to do with the fact that they were originally humans. She felt grateful that their human minds were in control.

Max stated, "Are you sure you want to continue on with this? I mean, you've been acting a little weird lately." As much as he did want to hear about the weapons, he didn't want Moynihan to continue speaking of them if she didn't feel up to it. They could always learn about these instruments of torture later on. It wouldn't kill them to wait. It wasn't like Victor was going to come into the lighthouse right now and try to take them. "Maybe you should hold off with this..."

He was quickly cut off. "No!" Moynihan interjected sharply, eyes narrowed. Max snapped his head back in surprise. Quickly regaining her composure, Moynihan's expression softened up and she repeated herself again, this time in a gentler tone. "No...I have waited way too long to tell you about this, and, as much as it hurts me, I won't stop talking about this until you know what I want to tell you." She walked up to where Max was sitting, her head tilted slightly downward so she could look at him in the eyes. She reached out and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "But trust me on this one. This isn't easy for me to talk about."

"I know..." Max said, acknowledging what she told him. Moynihan offered a small smile, looking happy that he seemed to understand her.

"So..can you please tell us about the weapons?" Buzz asked as politely as he could. The punk teen was growing a little anxious to hear about these weapons. "I mean, I know they are dangerous and all... but... Hmm..how should I ask this..."

Rodger decided to help out. Placing a hand gently on Buzz's back, he said to his mentor, "What Buzz is trying to ask you is what was the purpose of the weapons? What were their functions?" Buzz gave him a slight frown, straining to see the hand on his back. Realizing what Buzz wanted, Rodger quickly moved his hand away, smiling apologetically to him. He returned his gaze to Joanne. "What were the weapons originally designed for?"

"Rodger, you do realize that all those questions are pretty much the same, just reworded, don't you?" Buzz asked, smiling slightly.

"You know what I mean!" Rodger barked at Buzz before turning back to the old teacher. "Well..?" He asked, hoping he didn't sound too impolite.

Moynihan took in a deep breath before she answered the boy's question. "Where to begin...where to begin..." She muttered to herself. When she thought of how she could explain, she cleared her throat loudly to make sure that she had the four teenager's attention on her. "The weapons were created for..genocide of the human race." There was a collective gasp among the group, but none of them were able to say anything before the weapon continued. "Victor had originally wanted to try and kill all humans, or at least as many as he could find. This was before he had found out how to mutate human DNA with the primordial ooze. You see, at first, Victor didn't want humans to share the glory of being the dominant species. He just wanted them all dead. And he would have gone on with the genocide if I hadn't taken the weapons from him." Moynihan explained, her heart slowly increasing its pace as she kept talking. "If Veloci manages to find them, he could use them against mankind. The weapons are highly effective."

"Highly effective..." Rodger managed to say through his shock. "Like..how? What do they do...?" He had a feeling he was going to regret asking that question.

"..terrible things." Moynihan responded, confirming what Rodger had suspected. "Destroy molecules, tear open blood vessels, freezing, electricity, heating, terrible illnesses, almost everything you can imagine. The only good news I can offer you all is that some of the weapons might not even work as they weren't tested or completed." The group sighed in relief, happy to hear that things weren't as bad as they thought they were. But their relief was quickly shattered when Moynihan narrowed her eyes. "But some of the weapons do work..."

As Moynihan began to explain more about the weapons, the kids slowly realized just why she had kept them a secret all this time. Moynihan explained how she had helped Victor design the weapons when he had proposed genocide of the human race. She said she only agreed because, as much as she hated the plan, she did not want to betray him. It was around thirty-five years ago that the genocide was supposed to take place. But Moynihan had gotten a wake up call after witnessing a horrific accident and decided that she couldn't go through with it.

She had gotten into an argument with Victor about the plan and how she was now greatly opposed to it. Veloci was confused at first, not understanding why she would suddenly change her mind. Thinking that she would get over it quickly, he continued to coax her to help him set up the plan, picking areas where they would strike first. But Moynihan wouldn't have any of it and continued to verbally challenge him. The argument started to accelerate to the point where it had turned physical. Victor had gotten so angry and frustrated that he had struck Moynihan across the face, causing her to smack against one of the tables and fall down. She retaliated and fought back, slamming him against another table. While neither of them had turned into Velociraptors in the fight, they still fought fiercely, wrestling with each other on the ground, trying to slash or bite the other.

Before she had suffered any serious injuries, Joanne quickly fled the hideout, running off into the night. Victor did not have as many scanners at the time and quickly lost sight of the woman. Moynhan returned that night only to take the weapons they were working on with her. She managed to take all the weapons and quickly fled into an empty lighthouse, which soon became her new home and new hideout. She quickly hide them and hoped that Victor wouldn't be able to find them. She would not get the scanners up and running until sometime later after she had obtained her job as a teacher at Kittery Point. She'd taken the job not only to get to know humans a bit more, but also because Veloci would not think to look at a school for her.

Moynihan explained that Victor was very angry when the weapons had gone missing and had managed to confront her at least one time regarding the weapons. He had tried to force her to tell him where they were, but Moynihan flat out refused. She knew that there was not much Victor could do to force her to talk. Victor could put her through so much pain, but he would not be able to kill her because he would no longer be able to get information. And he could not expose her because he would risk ruining his plans. It was a double-edged sword for him, and both edges would only work against him, not for him.

"And that's what happened..." After Moynihan was finished talking, she became silent. She glanced at each of her students, trying her best not to allow herself to become consumed in guilt. While it was clear that the students really wanted to say something, they were too in shock to say anything. Moynihan was relieved that, so far, not one of them had shown any strong anger towards her, and not one of them had made an outburst against her while she was talking. Moynihan hoped that, since she told them what she wanted to, things will settle down and get better. But, to her dismay, this was not the case.

Rodger stood up quickly, his eyes narrowed. He was feeling quite angry, similar to how he felt when the others laughed at him when his experiment had failed, but not to the same extreme. He did his best to hold back. He didn't want to shout at Moynihan, despite how frustrated he was feeling regarding what she had just told them. He had trusted Moynihan, and now she had told them that she was in charge of a genocide that would have taken place thirty-five years ago. But his mind was more focused on something else. "Why didn't you just destroy the weapons?" He asked through clenched teeth. "Why didn't you get rid of them so that Victor would not be able to get his claws on them?! Why?!" His voice rose as he continued to speak. "Didn't you think that would have been easier?! Or are you deliberately keeping the weapons, hoping he'd stop by and then you could...!"

Max swiftly stood up and placed a comforting yet firm hand on Rodger's shoulder to try and calm him down. "Rodger..settle down.. I think you're being too harsh on her. I'm sure she had the best intentions in mind..."

Rodger's expression softened up and he slumped his shoulders. "I know... But it's just that..it doesn't make any sense, if you understand what I mean." He glanced over at Moynihan. "Why didn't you destroy the weapons? Wouldn't that have been a wiser move than keeping the weapons somewhere where Veloci would be able to find them one day?"

"I had a feeling you were going to ask that, Mr. Blair." Moynihan said, her eyes downcast. "It was a safety measure. You see, if I had destroyed the weapons, Veloci would have found some part of them and would be able to replicate at least part of the weapon. Each weapon had its own unique structure, color, and so on. So all Veloci would need to recognize one particular weapon is just a single fragment." The teens nodded their head as they acknowledged this information. It was starting to make some sense to them now. "There was no way I could have destroyed this dangerous machines without leaving some piece behind. I did not want to take the chance of Victor finding them. That's why I hid them instead." She raised an arm and began to rub her chin thoughtfully. "Although I wonder if the weapons could be of some use to us..."

Caruso groaned in pain as he slowly crawled into his bed. He had just finished eating and he was still in pain from it. His mother managed to find some apple sauce. It wasn't much, but it was still food, and it was cold and soft so it wouldn't cause as much pain as some other food would. She had helped him eat the best that she could. Caruso had managed to eat most of the apple sauce, but, despite his hunger, had to refuse the rest of it. He insisted on trying to get to bed on his own. He didn't want his folks fretting over him like this. It was making him feel guilty.

He pulled the sheets up off his bed to make room for himself. He was feeling unusually cold still, even though it was around seventy degrees in his room right now. And it was only going to get warmer because it was still early in the day. He wondered if he was shivering because he was afraid. He shuddered a little as he looked out of his window, imagining a certain big red raptor jumping through the window and attacking him. Caruso had never taken Victor so seriously before. He had always imagined him as mostly a pushover. Sure, Victor did show some smarts when he created that robot and those cameras that followed them, but he thought it was just luck or desperation. He had foolishly believed he knew all of Victor's moves.

But he was quickly proven wrong. Caruso would never underestimate Victor Veloci ever again, not after what had happened to him. Victor showed intelligence that Caruso had no idea he had, and he also proved himself to be far more vicious than even his friends would have expected. Victor had almost killed him that day, forcing the boy to get a newfound respect for the mad scientist. He had seen first hand what Victor was truly capable of. And now knowing this, Caruso wondered if he really wanted to continue being part of the Dino Squad. Sure, he would get better protection with them, but would he ever be truly safe knowing that Victor might be out there, anywhere, ready to strike?

"W-Why d-did this ha-happen to me...?" Caruso muttered to himself, trying to stop the tears of fear and pain from strolling down his face. "I-It isn't fair...just not fair..." He yelped as he felt a sharp pain in his jaws and inside of his mouth. He wanted to get away from the pain, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. Knowing that he was going to have to endure the pain, he allowed the tears flow down his face. He was about to rest his head on his bed when he heard a knock on his door. "H-Hello...?"

The door slowly opened and Caruso's father slowly stepped into the room, carefully shutting the door behind him. He slowly walked towards Irwin, who was now laying on his back in his bed, the covers pulled over his shivering body. "Hey..." Jack asked silently, standing at the edge of the bed. He reached out and carefully placed his hand on his son's head, avoiding the injury. "How are you feeling now?" He regretted asking that. It didn't seem like the best question to be asking Caruso now, especially since he could see that his son was still in pain. He hadn't had much time to heal yet.

"So..So much p-pain.." Caruso managed to say, placing his hand very lightly onto his mouth to indicate where the pain was coming from. Jack frowned, concerned. He didn't think Irwin should be talking with that deep cut in his tongue. He was probably just making it worse. Irwin opened up his mouth to attempt to say something else, but his dad quickly silenced him.

"Shhh..." Jack pressed a finger against his own lips as he shushed his son. "You should give your mouth some time to heal before you try to talk. You're only doing yourself more damage if you continue to try to talk with an injury like that." Irwin slowly nodded his head and shut his mouth. Jack smiled slightly, and proceeded to stroke Irwin's hair a little, careful not to hurt him. Caruso slowly closed his eyes as he became more content. Having his father around made him feel safe. His breathing started to slow down a little and he started to feel himself beginning to drift away to sleep.

Caruso was interrupted from his attempt to get some sleep when he heard the door open up again. His mother came in, her hands nervously clasped together as she walked over to the bed. She was silent and didn't say anything for several minutes. She looked as if she did want to say something, but she either didn't know what to say or couldn't bring herself to say anything. Her eyes were slightly reddened but not as puffy as they were before. There was a slight glint in her eyes, indicated that she was going to cry or had been crying a little. She reached out and gently gripped her son's hand.

Amanda, in a trembling voice, said, "Irwin..."

"He's going to be fine, dear." Jack said, trying to sound as confident as he could. But deep down inside, he could feel a pang of doubt that Irwin would be completely fine. He turned his head to look at his wife. She was looking a little tired now. She hadn't gotten any sleep. But then again, neither did he. And he just now started to feel the effects of sleep deprivation. He rubbed his head with his free hand as he felt the familiar slight dizziness he'd feel when he'd get very sleepy. "Look, we've been up for some time. Why don't we get some rest, hmm?"

"How can I sleep when..." Amanda started to say, not tearing her gaze from her son's injured body lying on the bed. "..when he's like this? How can we sleep knowing that there might be a madman who will come to..finish him off..?" She squeezed Irwin's hand tighter as she spoke, her voice shaky and broken, filled with pain. "I-I..I don't want to lose him again..."

Jack wrapped an arm around his wife's body and pulled her close. "We won't lose him again...I promise you that." He said in a comforting tone of voice. Not knowing what else to do, Amanda released Irwin's hand and wrapped her arms around her husband, hugging him tightly as she let her tears flow from her eyes. Jack hated seeing her like this. Amanda wasn't usually like this, but then, she had never had to witness something this terrible happen to their only son. He moved his other hand away from Caruso to stroke his wife's hair for a short time. It was one of the only things he could think of to try and comfort her.

Irwin glanced up at his parents through barely opened eyes. He really wanted to say something to them. He wanted to tell them a joke or anything to help them feel better. But he had an sudden overwhelming feeling of tiredness overcome him. All those hours he had to suffer through without sleep was starting to catch up to him. His vision blurred dramatically and he slowly closed his eyes, drifting off into an uneasy sleep, darkness enveloping both his vision and his mind. As he slipped into unconsciousness, the pain he was feeling slowly faded away. Soon, he was totally out of it, breathing in slowly as his body entered a deep sleep.

Jack glanced down at Irwin, and noticed that his eyes were closed. He smiled softly, happy to see, for once, Irwin looking content, any expression or indication of pain completely gone. He loosened his grip on his wife and placed his hands firmly on her shoulders. Amanda looked up at her husband, trying her best to stop her crying. She wanted to be strong. But something about knowing her son's life was in danger was making her feel so weak, so pathetic, at least in her eyes. Sensing what Amanda was feeling, Jack gently cupped her chin in a strong yet comforting hand.

"We should let him sleep, Amanda. We should get some sleep as well." Jack said before leaning in and planting a kiss on his wife's forehead to soothe her. Amanda continued to look up at him. Her expression had not changed, her eyes still filled with fear and pain. Not even the faintest of a smile appeared on her face when Jack had kissed her and comforted her. Slowly her eyes went back to her son. Jack slowly frowned, but not in anger, but with concern. "Everything will be all right..you'll see. Victor will get what's coming for him, and he will not be able to hurt our son or any one else ever again..."

Amanda managed to speak. "Are...are you sure, Jack..?" She asked softly, unsure if she should believe Jack or not. She knew that she should trust him and believe in him. He was her husband after all and he hadn't done anything before to give her reason to doubt him. But something about this past incident, Irwin getting kidnapped and possibly still in danger now, was making her less willing to believe what Jack was telling her. And she couldn't help but feel guilty about it.

Jack leaned in towards his wife again, pressing his forehead against hers. He was so close that he couldn't see her very well. His vision was blurred because of how close he was. But he didn't care. He closed his eyes and whispered softly, "I am sure, honey.. I am sure..." With that, he leaned back and kissed her again, this time on one of her tear-stained cheeks. "I know you are worried because of what happened.. I am worried too. But I want to try and think positively... Try to look on the brighter side of things."

"The brighter side of things..?" Amanda whispered, pulling away from her husband. Her eyes quickly narrowed almost into slits and her teeth became bared. Shocked by this sudden change in demeanor, Jack took a step back, his hands slightly shaky. "How can we possibly look at the brighter side of things when this happened to our son?!" She pointed a finger quickly in Caruso's direction. "How can we possibly believe things could get any better when they could easily become worse?! How can we just sit here and do nothing while some..some.. monster is..might come after him!" Amanda seethed through her teeth, her breathing coming in short, barely spaced bursts of breath. "There is no way that he or anyone is safe, Jack! No way! The only way that anyone will ever be safe again is to have that..creature..killed! Dr. Veloci doesn't deserve to live! I'd say we march right down there, and...!" She stopped, grinding her teeth as she started to cry with frustration and anger. "And if you don't agree with me, then you might as well be the enemy!"

"Dear...I..." Jack tried to say, reaching out towards his wife. But he quickly withdrew his hand, unsure of he wanted to provoke her even more. He would tell that she was having a nervous break down, and he felt that if he tried to stop it, he would only make her feel worse, angrier, more bitter. And that was not something he wanted to risk doing.

Realizing what she had just done, Amanda quickly softened up her expression and looked at Jack in shock. She couldn't believe what she had just said to him. She hadn't meant to make an outburst like that. She hadn't meant to say any of those things and she surely didn't mean to make Jack sound like the bad guy. She looked at her hands, trembling in fear. She had almost thought about hurting Jack as she said those things to him. How could she even think of doing that to him? How could she let her anger get the better of her? Was she to become like Professor Moynihan, the way she had acted back at the lighthouse?

"Jack..I'm..." Amanda said, her voice so softly spoken that she felt Jack would have a hard time hearing her very well. "I'm.. so sorry..so very sorry. I-I didn't mean anything I said... It's just that..." She reached up and wiped away a few of her tears. "I'm just so afraid that something terrible is going to happen again.. We almost lost our son before..and now we have him back..." She wanted to run away from the room, wanted to get away from the pain that she was feeling. But she couldn't bring herself to move her legs to do so. She remained firmly planted where she was, breaking down in front of her husband, who could only look down at her sympathetically. "I'm so afraid that he will be taken from us again, Jack..so afraid..."

Jack took a step forward and slowly opened up his arms. He wrapped them around Amanda and pulled her into a tight, but gentle hug. He rested his head on top of her head, brushing his cheek against her dark hair as he said, "Shhhh...it's all right..." Amanda didn't resist the embrace. She turned her head side ways and pressed her cheek against her husband's upper chest, wrapping her arms around him to hug him back. "Just let it all out, dear..."

"I..I just wish that..." Amanda started to say.

"Shhh..." Jack whispered again, cuddling her a little tighter. "Don't talk.. Just cry. Let it all out..."

Amanda complied and remained quiet for the next few minutes. She didn't speak a word or make a sound except for her crying and whimpering. She started to hug her husband tighter for more comfort, hearing his heart beat as she pressed her head more firmly against his chest as she continued to cry. She could see Irwin out of the corner of her eyes, although it was hard to make him out because the tears were blurring her vision. She wanted to reach out towards him, pull him into a hug and take away all of his pain. But all she could do was sit back and allow him to heal on his own. There was little they could do for him regarding the pain except try to give him strong pain killers. Despite being comforted by her husband, she still felt a little insecure and unsure. Somehow, she could sense that, whatever had happened, it was not over yet...