"Dustin, when are you going to realize that not everyone deserves your trust?"

                                                    -Tori, 'All About Beevil'

The wind blew her long, blonde hair in all directions as they sped along the raceway, and she could feel a cool breeze on her face even through the thick helmet that she wore for protection. Tori tightened her arms around Dustin's waist and reflected upon the events that had taken them to this very moment.

Just a few hours ago, poor Dustin had been crushed when he'd thought he would never see his bike again. He'd given it up to the care of a guy who'd said that he'd let Dustin test out a new device that would make him go faster. The guy was going to install the device free of charge, and Dustin would be able to pick up his bike later....only, when Dustin had went to go get it, there was nothing there.

Tori felt sorry for Dustin sometimes. Her friend was so innocent, he was almost naive. He never wanted to see the worst in anybody, and he put his faith into just about everyone. Of course, the guys had teased Dustin about how gullible he was, making him feel like an idiot.

Tori had to admit that Dustin's carefree quality did get him into trouble sometimes, and often made him seem like an airhead to those who didn't know him as well as she and the other Rangers did, but she still liked him the way he was, and she would never want him to change. In fact, she secretly admired his ability to trust people so much. That's why she'd been near heartbroken to see Dustin hurting so much, and saying that he'd never trust anyone again. Luckily, like most of his other "phases," this one didn't last long, only the Rangers weren't exactly expecting him to put his trust into this particular person.

Tori remembered the disapproving look on Cam's face, and the shocked expressions on the three other guys' faces when Dustin had told them that Marah genuinely wanted to help them. She herself had been more than a little surprised, but for awhile, it looked like he may actually have been right.

Tori wasn't like Dustin. She didn't trust a lot of people. In fact, she only trusted a few people, and one of those people was definately Dustin Brooks. If he wanted to convince everyone that Marah was good, she would support him. She didn't believe in Marah's sudden turn-around, but she did believe in her friend. No matter what his reasons for doing what he was doing were.

* "Man, you are so into her!" * Shane had said when they were discussing the situation as a team at Ninja Ops.

Tori's eyes had narrowed as she'd wondered whether or not Dustin was blushing, but then he'd said, * "No, dude, I'm really not. I mean, she is kinda cute..." *

The rest of the conversation was kind of a blur to Tori. The next thing she knew, Shane, Hunter, Blake, and Cam were leaving Ninja Ops to go into action.

"So, do you really think she's cute?" Tori had asked once they were alone, hoping she sounded nonchalant.

Dustin had shrugged. "I don't know. I guess." Then he'd looked at her, and Tori had been about wonder if he'd caught on to the slight jealous note in her tone, but then he'd said, "Don't worry. You're cute too," and it'd been her turn to blush.

It was almost a relief when the realization had hit her that she should help her friends. That brought her to the battlefield, where she was face to face with Marah, who'd shown up to fight Beevil. This time, she couldn't help feeling a small pang of jealousy when she saw how cute Marah really did look in her trendy outfit.

Any feelings of envy she might have had towards the enemy before disappeared when Marah revealed to the Rangers that she was just that. The enemy.

Tori thought that looking into her friend's heartbroken face was the hardest thing she'd ever done. Shed opened part of her Ranger helmet so the world could see the compassion and concern on her face. She'd also felt another emotion then, too. Anger. Dustin may be a spacecase, but that didn't give anyone the right to play him for a fool.

She'd rushed up to stand by his side, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. And at that moment, Tori had decided that she'd never let anyone hurt Dustin Brooks again. Ever.

After that decision, she felt a lot stronger as she fought with her friends, and the battle was over almost as quickly as it had started. Not all of the Rangers had felt victorious, though, so she'd went with the others to console the defeated Dustin at Storm Chargers.

Tori would never forget the ecstatic look on Dustin's face when the guy they'd all thought had stolen Dustin's dirtbike brought it back to the shop. He'd cleared the misunderstanding up, and now Dustin was happy again. Tori was happy, too.

"So, does anyone wanna go riding?" Dustin had asked hopefully, looking pointedly at Hunter and Blake.

Hunter had shaken his head. "Nah, we got work to do," he'd answered for himself and Blake.

"And I really have to get back to Ninja Ops," Cam had replied.

Shane had regretfully left his friends to go meet some people at the skate park.

"Ill go," Tori had offered.

"Really?" Dustin had asked happily, with a huge smile on his face.

"Sure."

So now here they were. Tori sat behind Dustin, clinging to him tightly as he tested out his improved dirtbike. She relaxed her embrace when she felt him press hard on the brakes to stop the bike.

"I knew that would make me feel better!" Dustin exclaimed.

Tori laughed as she stood up and whirled around to face him. "I'm glad," she said.

Dustin was thoughtful for a moment. "Tori?" he asked finally.

"Yeah?" she replied, looking at him.

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

She pretended to ponder the question. "Maybe," she said after awhile.

Dustin's face fell.

Tori grinned. "But you're my kind of stupid," she said, playfully punching him on the arm.