Long Road Ahead

By 18lzytwner

They had finally made it to San Francisco and Claire's apartment. The trip from the Lockwood Estate had forced them to take a hotel room for the night about midway through their trip but no one had complained. A shower and a bed was all anyone was thinking about. Owen had wanted to get Claire to a doctor to have her leg looked at but she had refused. They didn't need anyone asking questions, especially since the story was all over the news. Dinosaurs had been spotted in the skies and on the ground and police had ordered people to shelter in place as soon as humanly possible.

Needless to say, many flocked to the roads instead, wanting to be in their homes, rather than wherever they currently were. So that had been the other reason for the hotel room. Police were trying to clear the streets and no one would ask them any questions if they weren't on the roads. While Claire booked them in, Owen and Maisie had run next door to the store. People were grabbing food off the shelves like it was going out of style and the Navy vet made sure to keep the young girl close to him. They managed to get some medical supplies and some clothes to wear to bed and for the next day. Owen grabbed some clothes for himself and for Claire, while Maisie went to work getting something for herself. He wasn't sure if Claire would be impressed that he remembered her size or freaked out. Truth be told she might not even care at this point, given what had been going on.

Once back at the hotel, the nice lady at the check-in desk let them know that their friend was heading up to the room and that she had the room service menu. They weren't the only ones who had checked in and the staff was gearing up for a long night with people seeking refuge inside the hotel because the police had forced them off the roads.

Daylight had allowed them to get back onto the roads. Though the news had declared that all signs of dinosaurs had disappeared, the police urged people to only go out if they needed to and to call nine-one-one is they spotted anything. Another round of showers and free breakfast later, they were out on the road heading to the gas station and then the highway. There were checkpoints throughout town but with their clean faces and clothing, no questions were asked and they passed on through. Owen had tried to stay patient while he drove and Claire had intertwined her fingers through his right hand, while he drove with his left, like she was reassuring herself that he was there. He said nothing about it, figuring that right now they could all use a little reassuring.

"Maisie, you can sleep in the guest room," Claire's voice brought him out of his thoughts. The redhead pointed it out to the girl and she also pointed out the bathroom in case she needed it. They had made another stop at the store before coming here as Claire had mentioned she had no idea if the food at her place was still edible. San Francisco wasn't in panic mode and that was a good thing given the population size. No one had mentioned it in the car but they had not seen a dinosaur other than the Pteranodons that had flown along the highway, earlier in their trip. So stopping at the grocery store wasn't an issue like it had been during their hotel stop.

While Claire was helping Maisie get comfortable in the guest room and ready for bed, Owen put away the food that needed to go in the refrigerator. He also made a quick sweep of the apartment, familiarizing himself with the exits and entrances. Something inside wouldn't let him not check and he'd learned long ago to just do what his gut told him.

"I thought it would take more to get her to sleep but she's out," Claire once again broke him from her thoughts. She'd exited the bedroom, leaving the door open, just a crack.

"You say that now. I'll make sure I'm ready in case the nightmares start. Right now I think mostly we've all been avoiding them due to sheer exhaustion," he said. Looking at her, he could see that he was right. Claire's color had not really improved and the bags under her eyes told him that she needed to get some sleep. He made to grab a blanket off the rack in the corner of the living room, with the full intention of taking the couch, but she stopped him.

"I…"

"I should probably check that leg of yours," Owen said, with a slight smile. Claire only nodded and headed toward her bedroom. Her limp hadn't improved and he frowned but followed her into the bedroom. She was trying to carefully remove her pants but it was not easy and Owen quickly moved in to help her. Claire wondered if Owen had bought pants that were the right size because he wanted to make sure the bandaging wouldn't move or if he thought she'd look good in them. Truth be told, had her leg not been injured, she probably would have liked the pants quite a bit.

"Ok, let me get the tape off. It might hurt but I'm more concerned that you've got an infection brewing," he said. He helped her to sit down on the bed and she hissed a little bit. Obviously, moving her muscles was hard.

"Just see what you can do," she told him. He nodded, trying to ignore the fact that she's almost half naked and that they're in a room by themselves. His attention is diverted to the work at hand however when Claire started to try and remove the tape herself.

"Let me, please," he says almost so quiet she didn't hear him. She did notice his hand covering hers however and heaved a sigh as if to acquiesce to his movements. Slowly, carefully, he removed the tape and the gauze pad. He did not bother to hide his feelings when he saw that the wound was still red and very irritated. It had obviously been seeping and he stood up before heading into the bathroom in search of more, clean bandaging.

What are you doing Claire? Don't you remember how this went last time? Her mind is telling her that the thoughts in the back of her head about letting her former boyfriend into her room are probably not such a good idea. But I don't want to be alone right now.

"Ok, I'm going to flush this bad boy again and then it's more ointment and gauze. You have to promise me that if it's not looking better tomorrow that we get you some help. We're far enough away from what happened that no one is going to suspect…" he couldn't even say it for some reason. The words just stuck in his throat.

"If it's not better, I promise you can take me to the clinic down the street," Claire said. She's not fighting you, so she's either in a lot of pain or she just doesn't want us to argue with Maisie sleeping in the next room. He was starting to get concerned but he said nothing as he carefully took care of her injury.

"Should be all set for now. How does that feel?" He asked.

"Like hell," yup that's the pain talking… Owen got up and fetched some ibuprofen and a glass of water.

"Take some of that and then you should probably get some rest. We have no idea how long Maisie will be able to sleep," he said. Claire gratefully took both items and swallowed the medicine before setting the glass down on the nightstand.

"How are we going to be parents?" She suddenly asked.

"What is "I have no idea, Alex"?" Owen cracked a joke in order to try and lighten the mood. He then carefully sat next to her.

"We can't even be us. How can we be there for her?" Claire was trying to be serious.

"Oh I think we can be us. I mean you did kiss me," he reminded her.

"I thought we were both going to die and despite everything I never stopped loving you. Then when we didn't… I can't go through us breaking up again because we were being stupid and I'm not putting Maisie through that," the red head gave him a look. It was "I'm going to kick your butt" look; it did not detract, however, from what she'd just said.

"We can be so smart and so stupid at the same time," he admitted.

"Even if we can't figure ourselves out, we have to try for Maisie," despite the fact that the two hadn't exactly hit it off, Claire was becoming the momma bear that he always imagined she'd be. He leaned over, his lips inches from hers, and whispered,

"I missed you too. More than I wanted to admit."

"Prove it," she whispered back. His lips pressed against hers and the heat that he'd felt back at the Lockwood mansion was back. Claire went to lie down on the pillows and let out a yelp. She couldn't move that way just yet. Carefully, Owen took hold of her legs just below the knees and moved them. She looked at him while he focused on not hurting her.

"You ok?" He asked.

"I'll be ok but only if you get over here," she said, grabbing his shirt.

"Yes ma'am," Owen smirked and moved closer to her, carefully moving his arms so they would be on either side of her shoulders. Their lips once again met and soon they were dueling for dominance when suddenly Owen stopped. He put his forefinger to his nose, indicating they needed to be quiet. It was then they heard footsteps. Owen climbed off the bed and tossed Claire a loose pair of pajama pants off the foot of the bed that had been left there before she left for Isla Nublar. He then went toward the door.

"Claire?" It was the first time, she didn't ask for Owen.

"Maisie? Are you ok?" She asked as she worked to get her pants on. Owen opened the door and let the girl into the room, while blocking her path to Claire, only so the redhead could get her pants on.

"You ok kiddo?" He asked. Her eyes were red, she had been crying. Instead of answering him, she sniffled. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that Claire had gotten the loose fitting pants on.

"Come here honey," Claire said. Maisie started moving toward the bed but Owen skootched her to the other side of the bed so she wouldn't make Claire move.

"It's ok. You have a bad dream?" She asked and all she got was a nod.

"I know the best thing for that, cuddles. But they are most definitely better under the covers," Owen smiled. He pulled back the blankets and Maisie got underneath them, moving closer to Claire. Owen then went back around the other side of the bed and before Claire could say anything, scooped her up. Maisie saw what he was doing and pulled back the blankets so he could set the redhead back down. Owen then tucked her in. Almost immediately, Maisie moved to Claire's side. The redhead moved her arm around her to hold her close.

"You guys get some sleep. I'll be in the living room," he said.

"Get over her Dad," Claire whispered. While Claire had a queen sized bed, he highly doubted that all of them could fit in it. However, he wasn't going to argue and climbed into the bed on the other side of Maisie. He kissed Claire's forearm and then Maisie's head and the three snuggled into bed. There were still a lot of things they had to work out but for tonight all that mattered was that they were together.

The End