AN: Here we are with Outlast, chapter one! I'm thrilled to be writing a sequel, and I'm so thankful to every single one of you guys that wanted a sequel to Survival. You (and God) made this possible for me! Love you all!

Claire had been curious about Isla Sorna for years. She had forgotten her curiosity somewhat when she had been promoted to park manager six years ago; running Jurassic World had been her top priority. No time to think about anything else. But ever since uncovering Project K, the ever-mysterious Isla Sorna had been running nonstop through Claire's mind.

It was the perfect place for InGen to form an illegal plan, to conduct risky, unauthorized experiments. It had been abandoned since hurricane Clarissa, almost twenty years ago, and InGen technically owned the island anyways. It was just close enough to Isla Nublar that InGen could use Jurassic World's technology, but isolated enough that nobody would dare go near the place. Not with the rumors of wild velociraptors and who-knows-what-else roaming around the island.

Owen agreed with Claire. Isla Sorna had to be explored soon if they wanted to get any leads on the buyer that had proposed Project K to Dr. Wu. The trail had probably gone cold, but rebuilding Jurassic World had taken every bit of Claire and Owen's time over the past year. Owen had new raptors to train, new responsibilities to shoulder, new freedom to explore. He no longer worked for InGen since the company had been shut down; Claire had named him an official high-level Jurassic World employee. He trained raptors simply because he wanted to, not because a company wanted to use them as military-grade weapons.

Claire had executives to meet with on a daily basis, sponsors to impress, staff meetings to conduct. She had numbers to watch, dinosaurs to look after, guests to satisfy. But, like Owen's, Claire's job had changed too. Or, at least, the way she viewed her job had changed. Claire realized she was simply the caretaker of creatures she couldn't begin to explain, or control. And she loved every second of it.

Of course, the year after the InGen scandal hadn't been entirely about work. Claire and Owen had married fast, and both of them knew that it had been the right decision. They had come to the stark realization that neither of them seemed to function as well without the other. They needed each other. Served each other. Loved each other.

And now Jurassic World had been reopened for a month and it was more popular than ever, despite the media rumors of bad security and dinosaur mistreatment. Claire knew her dinosaurs were happy, and after she had asked Owen to do a press conference with her, most reporters had been scared away by his abruptness.

Yet still Project K haunted the both of them. Wu wasn't giving up any information from his high-tech solitary prison cell. He simply sat there and wrote in notebooks all day long, never complaining about anything except the lack of hot tea in the prison. Jurassic World's lawyers had tried everything, even offering to shorten Wu's sentence if he would give up the name, but Wu kept his mouth shut.

So Claire and Owen had decided to do the investigating themselves, starting with Isla Sorna.

Claire made her way carefully over the dusty gravel to Paddock 7, hoping to surprise Owen before he headed home. He had been working late into the night recently, what with four new raptors and all. Blue had just started being docile towards them, but only when Owen's eyes were on her. The moment he glanced away, or turned his attention to one of the younger raptors, she would go into aggression mode, hissing and screeching at the intruders until Owen managed to calm her down.

The sharp points of her heels tried to sink into the dirt, but Claire had become the master of walking on soft ground in heels. Claire's trick was to step lightly and put most of her weight on the balls of her feet, keeping the pointy ends of the shoes out of the dirt. Owen thought she was ridiculous, wearing the things around all day, but Claire loved them and she knew that Owen secretly admired her resilience.

She reached the paddock and saw Owen standing on the observation catwalk, facing away from her. He was yelling commands at Blue, who seemed to be disobeying him again, judging by his tone of voice. Claire could hear the high-pitched wails of the four young raptors echo across the now-closed park.

Naming the new raptors had been fun. Claire and Owen had each named two, taking turns until all were christened. There was Lucy, the raptor covered in dark purple zigzags, Josie (short for Josephine; Claire's middle name. Owen had named that one), who appropriately had one straight red streak running down the length of her spine, Lex, the yellow-striped raptor named after John Hammond's granddaughter, and April, who had the darkest scales of any raptor Claire had ever seen. Owen treated them like Claire treated Zach and Gray, and she had enjoyed seeing him work with them, how he trained them as they got older and fiercer, more lethal. He wasn't scared of them, no matter how sharp their teeth were or how long their claws had grown. He simply talked to them, gave them attention, loved them, respected them. It was amazing to see.

Claire slipped into the small office around the back of the paddock, knowing that Owen would stop by there to grab his keys once he was done outside. She slid her compact mirror out of her bag, brushing her hair out of her face and swiping on some lip-gloss, the cherry flavor that drove Owen wild when he kissed her. She heard a loud buzz sound around the paddock, heard the gate slam shut as Owen exited the observation ramp. Her heart began beating a tiny bit faster, anticipating seeing him after a long day.

The office door opened and he stepped in, looking completely exhausted. His clothes were mud-streaked, his hair damp with sweat. Claire didn't mind; in fact, his ruggedness only made him more attractive, rougher somehow. His tired face broke into a wide smile when he saw her, dropping his training equipment to the ground and gathering her up in his arms.

"Hi," he said, ducking down to press his lips against Claire's. Claire, who suddenly felt a bit wild, pulled him closer, pulling at the old leather vest he wore so often. Owen grunted in agreement, lifting her up slightly to set her on the cluttered desk that rested in the corner of the office.

"How was your day?" Claire asked, breathless, her forehead pressed against Owen's.

"Interesting," Owen said, laving at her collarbone. "April snapped at Blue and I almost had a full-blown raptor fight on my hands before Lucy started whining up a storm. She distracted April long enough for me to talk Blue down, but I don't know what I'm going to do if that happens again."

"I'm sure you'll think of something," said Claire, running her hands down her husband's back. "I'm glad there are no security cameras in here."

Owen laughed, burying his head in the crook of Claire's neck. She stroked his hair softly and he leaned into her touch, his breath hitching when she tugged a little on the soft strands under her fingers.

"How's the boss?" he murmured, trailing his fingers lightly along the collar of her shirt. Claire took a moment to answer, trying to make her brain form words.

"I'm good," she stuttered. Owen chuckled softly, his stubble scraping her shoulder. "I want to explore Isla –Owen- Sorna."

Owen nodded his agreement, too caught up in Claire to bother thinking about Isla Sorna and the buyer. It had been a long day and he'd much rather focus on his wife than on the people that had tried very hard to kill them a year ago.

Claire straightened her skirt quickly while Owen searched the office for one of her heels she had kicked off.

"Got it," he said, pulling it out from the very back corner of the room. He brushed the dust off and slipped it on her foot, his hands brushing lightly across her calves. Claire shivered at the contact. Owen gathered the equipment he needed and poked his head outside, making sure all the raptors were in the appropriate cages for the night.

They were starting to walk towards home when Claire heard a shriek sound through the cool night air. Owen sighed and turned back to the raptor cage, his eyes flitting to the clearing under the observation catwalk. "That'll be Lex," he muttered, stalking towards the cage. "Be back in a sec."

Claire nodded, smiling slightly at the lip-gloss marks on the back of his neck. She laughed to herself when she imagined what Lowery would say if he could see Owen smudged with Claire's makeup. Owen opened the gate and spoke gently to the raptors, trying his best to figure out what was making Lex upset. It wasn't Blue; she slept in a different part of the paddock she couldn't get at the new raptors when Owen was gone. Claire couldn't see what Owen did, but he successfully got Lex calmed down long enough for a different, deeper growl to echo across the paddock. Claire recognized that sound, even though she'd only heard it once in the presence of Patrick Hunt.

It was Blue, making her most menacing growl, scratching at the bars of her cage, trying madly to communicate something to Owen. Claire could dimly make out Owen trying to get to Blue, but her growls were provoking the other raptors into defense mode; they turned their backs to Owen, small claws extended, ready to fend off whatever was threatening him. Owen tried to push past them, yelling something to Claire that she couldn't hear over Blue's loud screeches.

Claire's eyes darted all over the dark, dusty area surrounding Paddock 7, searching for whatever was setting the velociraptors off. Owen called to her desperately, trying unsuccessfully to get around his raptors. Josie turned and hissed at him, snapping her teeth brashly.

Claire turned around too late, finally seeing what was causing such a commotion. A stray maintenance man, carrying a heavy looking broom and a rope. "Get out of here!" Claire said, pointing to the raptor paddock. Blue sank her claws deep into the steel bars of her cage. Claire vaguely wondered if the new cage had been reinforced yet; velociraptors were both strong enough and smart enough to escape if they wanted to. Owen spoke to Blue calmly but in a commanding tone, telling her to do something that Claire couldn't hear. The maintenance man didn't move and simply stared intently at Claire, like he was trying very hard to think. "Hey!" Claire called to him. "You're making the raptors crazy! Get away before they hurt anyone."

The maintenance man tilted his head and hefted his broom. "Nah," he said, his voice a deep, intimidating rumble. He swung the broom handle at Claire, who ducked and heard the sound of steel bending, twisting, being forced to move. She rolled out of the way of the man, who slammed his broom into the gravel. Claire heard Blue screech and Owen yell, telling Blue to protect. The maintenance man cursed and Claire scrambled to her feet, only to be knocked in the head by the thick wooden handle of the broom. She collapsed, trying to make her legs work, to make herself crawl away. She heard Blue's claws scraping against the ground; she must've busted out of her cage.

"Mine," the man said, hoisting Claire up and running to a car she couldn't see with the stars swirling around her vision. Claire felt herself being slung across a hard leather seat, heard a door slam. She felt the car move just as her consciousness faded away, just as Blue reached the spot where the car had been.

AN: And so the ball starts rolling. Like, right now. We have a kidnapped Claire, four new raptors, a loose Blue, an alone Owen, and a mysterious kidnapper/broom wielder of an OC.

Review! New chapter up tomorrow (the 25th).