One of those LiveJournal fanfic writing challenges. 8D 100 words, 100 chapters. How Owen and Zach meet, fall in love, and live their lives together. I will doing the words in order of the list I stole from there. So the chapters will jump back and forth. XD It's easier over at AO3, where I can put them under a series label. 8D So... anyways. First chapter is dedicated to Ame_Kage over at AO3, who says I should write more badass Owen. So... here's a lame attempt at badass Owen.

One Hundred:
Beginnings

He never believed in the soul mate myth. That one perfect person made for you, meant for you. That other half, who would complete you. It was just a silly fairytale. Like he'd meet someone and the first time their eyes met, they'd just know. Something would snap in their heads and hearts and they'd be complete. It was just silly and foolish. But then, as he stood there, staring down at the frightened kid hiding beside him, he began to wonder. He could feel it, could feel something snap, feel something tether them together.

The kid stopped shaking suddenly. He blinked and reached out, slowly and timidly. "Hey." He said in a soft, fluttering voice as he touched the man's arm. "My name's Zach. What's yours?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the kid's voice wash over him. He tried hard not to flinch against the pain as he breathed in. Those soft, dulcet tones. A moment ago, the kid had been screaming as Owen ran in and scooped him up. He'd dove behind the large rock currently shielding them and set the kid down. And then looked in his eyes. And now... could fate really be that cruel to him? To give him a soul mate... that he was... he must be twice this kid's age! Because this kid was definitely a kid. 13 or 14 or some ungodly small number compared to him. How was that even possible? How was this kid his other half?

"You're old." The kid named Zach said after a silent moment passed. "Are you supposed to be old?"

He opened his eyes and heaved a huge sigh. And oh god, that hurt! "I don't know, kid."

Zach frowned. "I'm not a kid." He snapped, his voice full of contempt. "I'm 15."

He let out a laugh and shook his head. "Yeah, you're a kid." He sighed again and rubbed at his face.

"You gonna tell me your name or what?"

Owen glanced sideways at him. "No. I'm not."

"Dude, if you're my mate, you should tell me your name."

Owen shook his head quickly. "I'm NOT your... mate..." He flinched at the word. It just sounded weird to say. And he felt... bad saying it. Like he was lying. He could feel his chest start to tighten. And that hurt. A lot. Because he was pretty certain he at least cracked a few ribs. He should have never answered that radio call.

He'd been on his way to the labs to check on his raptor eggs. They were due to hatch soon. And Owen wanted to be there when they did. He'd been contemplating kidnapping the eggs and stashing them back in his trailer when the emergency alert came over his jeep radio. He reached out and pulled the microphone off its hook. He pushed the talk button and held it up to his mouth. "Tracy, come in. It's Owen."

"Reese."

"No, it's Owen."

"No, Owen!" The man snapped over the radio. "My name is Reese. Not Tracy."

"Are you sure?"

"Owen, we have an emergency."

"Yeah, that." Owen said over the line. "You said lost kid, near the pachy quadrant?"

"Yes." Tracy-Reese answered. "Young boy. He was on the Jeep Tour. Aunt didn't notice him gone until they arrived back at the resort."

Owen pressed harder on the gas pedal and turned the wheel. How do you not notice you're missing a kid? "I'm here." He pulled the jeep to a stop. He cut the engine and jumped out. There were a few broken plants. Owen bent down to get a better look. He was looking for foot prints when suddenly a scream pierced the quiet air. Owen turned and ran towards the sound. He moved as fast as he could, with no thoughts of his own safety. All he knew was that there potentially was a lost kid about to be head butted by a pachycephalosaurus.

And as Owen broke through the trees, that's exactly what he saw. He hardly even saw the kid. He just jumped in front of the screaming kid, standing between him and the dinosaur. The pachy was small, an adolescent herself. She looked barely larger than the kid. But she still let out a shriek and lowered her head, preparing to charge.

Owen gritted his teeth and leaned forward, bracing himself. What he wouldn't give for a stun gun or one of those cattle prod things. But then, the pachy charged. Her thick head collided with Owen's stomach and knocked the wind out of him. But Owen recovered quickly. He let out a growl and twisted around her. He grabbed her and threw all his weight into bringing her down.

Owen growled again as he stood up. The pachy moved slowly, probably dazed and bruised or something. Then she pulled herself up and darted off. Owen touched a hand to his ribs. He was also dazed and bruised or something, he was sure. He took a deep breath and that hurt a bit. But he'd have to worry about that later. He turned.

The kid was staring where the pachy had disappeared. He looked young, but not too young.

Owen stepped closer. He reached for him and helped the kid up. Then he picked the kid up off the ground and tossed him over his shoulder. Owen had no clue how many pachys were in the area. Or if they were close. Or really anything about them. He was still rather new and spent all his time learning about raptors. But he still needed to get the kid away safely.

Owen took off running. The wrong way. Away from the jeep. But also away from the pachys. Well he was pretty sure it was away. But his ribs burned and it was hard to get his breath while running and holding a kid. So when the rock loomed ahead of them, he ducked behind it. He pulled the kid off and set him down. Then Owen pressed his back to the rock and leaned back for a moment. And then he turned to look at the kid. And that had been bad.

So... now he was stuck, hardly breathing, with a teenage kid, and he wasn't sure how far his jeep was. Or really, even where. He closed his eyes again and took a deep, painful breath.

"You're hurt." Zach said softly.

"No shit." He breathed out. Then snapped his eyes opened. "Fuck... shit!" He closed his mouth and shook his head. Stop cursing at the kid.

Zach tilted his head. "You hurt bad?"

Owen shook his head. "Just busted ribs." He breathed out.

"Broken?"

Owen closed his eyes for a moment. Oh he hoped not. "Hoping just bruised."

"I'm sorry." Zach breathed out. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't." Owen breathed out and flinched again.

Zach stood up suddenly. "You need to get back, right now."

Owen glanced at the kid sideways. Just a few minutes ago, he'd been screaming in terror. And now the kid's face was serious. Owen felt a tug inside, a flare of something. Pride or something like that. He wasn't really sure. He just knew it felt weird. Owen pulled himself up slowly and nodded. "Need to get you back before your aunt freaks out."

Zack rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Bet she wasn't the one who noticed."

Owen smiled. "Come on. Can you walk yourself this time or you need me to carry you again?"

"You collapse cuz you're trying to show off and we'll both be screwed." Zach said, smiling. "No way I can budge you an inch."

Owen smiled again and reached out to drape his arm across Zach's shoulder. He just felt like he had to. And Zach leaned against him gently as they walked. They found the jeep quick and easy enough. Owen radioed Tracy-Reese that he'd found the kid and they were on their way back. And nearly 15 minutes later, they were pulling into the control room parking lot. Owen shut his jeep off and leaned back.

"Will you tell me your name now?" Zach asked, turning to look at him.

Owen shook his head and opened his door. He slipped out slowly and moved to lean against it.

Zach let out a groan as he hopped out of the car and rounded it to stand next to Owen. "But why?"

"Zach?"

They both turned to look as a fiery red headed woman came running towards them. Owen frowned. "Claire?

Claire wrapped her arms around Zach and hugged him so tight the kid let out a squeak. She released him and stepped back. "Zach, what were you thinking?"

Zach looked down at the ground. "Just wanted to see one." He said softly.

Her mouth fell open. "You wanted to..." She straightened up and shook her head. "Zach, you can't do things like that! You can't wander off! If Mr. Grady hadn't been so close..." She trailed off and turned to look over at Owen. "Thank you."

Owen nodded stiffly. "Just... right place..." He mumbled. He flinched slightly and looked away.

Claire frowned. "Are you okay?"

"He's not." Zach said.

"I'm fine." Owen mumbled again.

Zach shook his head. "He's lying. The head-butting one got him in the stomach."

Owen glanced sideways at the kid and narrowed his eyes.

But Claire had turned away. "Medical!" She called out. "We need to get you to medical, now!"

Owen wanted to protest. But he didn't have the energy. All the adrenaline had worn off. And it really, really hurt. So he let the medical team help him onto a gurney. He turned his head and his eyes sought out the kid. Zach was watching him. And their eyes met again. And even through the space and people between them, Owen could feel it again.

Shit.