It was the sound of the alarm that woke up Vic Hoskins as he opened his eyes. Despite having slept for a good ten hours, as the alarm told him he had, he did not feel rested at all. No, what he felt was strangely tired. Like he had been through a gauntlet. He shook it off, as he got out of bed and shuffled off to the bathroom to go get ready.

As he got dressed, took a shower, and brushed his teeth, he felt a nagging feeling that he was missing something, that there was something he had been forgetting. A dream from last night maybe? Flashes of it were going through his memory, as he walked through the hotel room and opened the blinds. Letting the morning air in, he buttoned his shirt as he looked over the main street of Isla Nublar from here.

Another busy day, more guests…never knowing the elaborate machinery that assured that they would be able to live out their day in relative safety and comfort. Probably for the best, he thought as he turned away and checked the messages on his phone as he left the hotel room, and got ready to head in to work. InGen security did not take a day off, they couldn't afford to.

He had worked straight through Christmas, waving hello to his sister's kids through skype with a phony smile on his face. He thought to himself as he rode the monorail to the edge of the park perimeter, that he hoped they were happy with their presents. Hey, getting them stuffed dinosaurs with his employee discount, he'd almost forget about that. So better than last year at least, he thought as he sipped his coffee.

Check the time, the date on his watch, seemed familiar, he thought as he took a breath and waved to the guard as he signed into the control room area. Didn't know his name, never asked. They guy had said 'Merry Christmas' to him the other day and he'd just nodded. No time to care, he thought. Maybe in another life he would have remembered.

This time though, the man said 'Happy Birthday!" To him with a smile. Hoskins nodded, and looked down, realizing his phone was buzzing. His sister again, text message and call waiting. He set them aside for later, as he waved to the control room. Masrani was scheduled to come in next week, so he wouldn't have to deal with him for now.

Claire was there though, as usual being an uptight and frigid refrigerator. Hoskins personally thought that she needed to relax just a bit, although he doubted that would ever happen. "Vic, Mr. Grady wants you to supervise the next raptor behavior test, he's been calling the control room all morning," Hoskins rolled his eyes. Again? He'd been trying to push it off, mostly because Owen was the one element that would never fit into his plans.

"I'll get on it," he said as he stomped away, and left. He brushed aside another text from Dr. Wu. Telling him they needed to check in with the 'project' Sure thing, but that could wait until later, or whenever he'd finished babysitting Owen, he thought as he took yet another ride, this time to the restricted zone.

His driver was Hamada, decent enough chap, even if he didn't talk much. He kept changing the station though, and that was annoying, Hoskins thought as he watched the scenery go past. He got a text from Claire again. She'd forgotten to let him know about something so her assistant would be by later. Just perfect, he thought as he put his head back against the chair. Everyone seemed to be competing for a bit of his attention. He felt in his shirt pocket, there was something hadn't been there before, Odd, he thought as he shook his head. Probably forgot a CD or something.

His attention was distracted as they reached the raptor pen, and to his chagrin, Owen was not there yet. But Zara was. So she'd managed to get there before him. Well. Claire was ms. Perfect, so she had her ways. He faked a smile, as he approached her, feeling that right now he still wasn't in the best of moods but could maybe fake it. "Mr. Hoskins, Claire wanted me to let you know that Masrani made an unscheduled visit, and he wants to talk to you and Dr. Wu later."

Hoskins frowned as he looked down at the packet she was handing him. There were a long list of revisions to the Raptor training program. But Zara had actually taken off her sunglasses, and for a second he paused. Flashes of the dream came back to him. He blinked, before he realized he was staring…"Sorry, its just been a long day," he smiled even though it hadn't been two hours since he'd woken up late.

"Yeah, Ive been running without coffee for a while, Claire wants me to pick up the kids and all…" Zara said as she shook her head, the sunlight gleaming off a ring on her finger. Vic furrowed his gaze, wondering why he was pausing. No, there was no reason, he was just tired, as well as testy after waiting for Owen…

"I know what you mean," he said, making some small talk as he figured he should try to get a chance to step away before it got weird. "Congrats," he said one hand on his hip. "I didn't…. know." He didn't know either why, but the flash of the ring looked strangely familiar to him. Some other lifetime? To his immense relief, she smiled, and in the morning sunlight, he thought randomly that she looked really beautiful when she smiled.

"Oh yes, he proposed last month. Still trying to get a date nailed down," She looked confused, as to wondering why she was telling him this, or why she was smiling. They both were. He thought for a second that maybe he should ask if she wanted to get coffee later or…his train of thought was ruined as a phone rang. And behind him, Barry was yelling that the raptors were ready to be fed and that Owen was finally awake.

"Oh, okay I have to take this," they both said at the same moment, without realizing it. Hoskins blinked, nodded in surprise reached into his pocket. "I know your probably tired, but please…take it. I baked it myself." She took it from his hand, the confused look not knowing why she did so, but also gratitude as she'd likely had to skip breakfast this morning due to doing errands all morning.

As she walked away, Hoskins wondered vaguely if he would run into her again, but for the time being, his thoughts were shortly occupied elsewhere. A trainer accidently falling into a raptor pen, and a breakout will do that to you. Also getting killed.

But for one short instant, as Zara walked away, she really did think that Vic Hoskins chocolate chip cookie was the best part of her day.

-This story is a birthday gift to Lord Kristine, from Sickle Claw-