A/N: Wow, thank you all so much for the favourites and follows so far. I managed to snag some time to write this on holiday. I kind of ran with this one, not sure how I feel about it… but I thought I'd add some flashbacks and a bit of mystery which I really enjoyed writing, who doesn't love a good conspiracy ^^ I hope you enjoy this regardless of my un-pure confidence in it (I hope I've written Owen and Claire okay, especially Owen I always worry about how I write him…). Enjoy all~^^
Chapter Three
"Owen, Claire. I'd like you to meet Rex."
Owen didn't know how to respond. His gaze was still transfixed on the Dracorex in front of him. Max hadn't just handed him a plate full, she handed him an entire tray full. He was a little taken-a-back and stunned to speak. Rex watched him warily, still untrusting of the strangers in front of him. Almost accessing if they were worthy of Max's, and evidently his own, trust. His eyes were unblinking as he watched Owen and Claire.
To say it was unnerving to Claire's temperament was a small understatement. Unlike Owen, Claire seemed to have found some of her voice.
"Max… you have a dinosaur in your garage?" Claire asked, almost as if reassuring herself that this crazy situation was real.
Max nodded as she moved to stand beside Rex. Her hand gently stroked his side, hoping to help calm down the tense dinosaur.
"Easy their boy," she mumbled affectionately.
Owen suddenly snapped out his stunned stance. A serious tone entered his features as he turned to Max.
"Max… what have you done? Because I know you didn't cook him up yourself!" Owen raised his voice, but not enough to startle Rex.
Max rubbed the back of her head and let out a nervous laugh, "Ehehe… yeah that's where it gets complicated."
"Then un-complicate it," Claire replied. The two looked to Max, clearly wanting some kind of explanation. Max felt like a teenager who had arrived back home hours after her curfew to her parents in the kitchen. Her eyes slid shut for a moment as she took a deep breath.
"It's probably best if I start at the beginning," Max mumbled.
….
Rain splattered down hard against the ground, turning the natural walkways in a wave of flowing mud. Max's boots squelched as she scowled in disgust. The mud had found a way to seep over and into her boots, making each step even more wet and uncomfortable then the last. This storm was getting worse. The wind was howling wildly, thunder boomed in the distance and the rain hit the ground so hard that it felt like hail. She looked up at the paddock in front of her.
The raptor paddock.
She still remembered the days when she walked up here with excitement. Sure, the raptors and the danger they presented never failed to alarm her. But coming up here so often, watching her brother raise the girls, had been an incredible experience. At times she wandered if the raptors had warmed up to her. They at least seemed calmer and more settled over time with her. However, whether that meant she had gained some of their respect or they had eyed her up as their perfect meal, she didn't know. Even though that question remained unanswered she couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. Out there, in midst of this crazy storm, the remaining raptor was all alone. Owen's beta, Blue was left without her sisters and had no pack to support her. While the thoughts of Blue showing up and well… flipping out and killing someone had crossed her mind, she still wondered where the Beta was. Owen had informed how much they hated the storms, especially the thunder. The thought the thunder alarming an alone and vulnerable Blue, tugged her heart strings into a mess of melancholy. Determined to get out of this weather she slugged on ahead. Her binoculars swung to-and-throw from her neck, the tranquiliser rifle bumped against her back. She hated to go back to Owen so early and empty handed, but they couldn't stay out here all night. Reaching the steps, her hurled herself up. Hands gripped the hand rails tightly as she refused to slip and add to Owen's problem list. Her eyes focussed on her target.
Owen was stood at the top walkway system of the paddock, he was leaning on the railings at one of the outer walls. Eyes were fixed off in the distance, watching and waiting. A walkie-talkie was clasped in his hand.
Her boot clanged loudly on the grating as she reached the top.
"Owen!" Max yelled over the howling wind, grabbing her brother's attention. Alerted, Owen quickly turned. His eyes brimmed with glimmers of hope.
"Max, what did you find?" Owen called back over the wind, making his way carefully over to meet her halfway.
Max stopped once she reached Owen and gazed up at him.
"Nothing again… sorry Owen."
Owen hope quickly broke in disappointment as he looked away. Max's stomach felt a pang of guilt, especially considering what she had to say next.
"Owen… look the storm's getting worse. We better call the other's back in, we can't stay out here all night in this."
Owen dipped his head, as much as he wanted to continue the search for Blue, he knew Max was right. Raising the walkie-talkie, he pressed the button.
"All units, all units, check in."
Max never failed to always notice elements of that once past Navy man popped up at times. Especially when it came to commanding a unit.
"Owen, what's happening? Has someone found something?" came Barry's voice through the other end. Max couldn't help but remain happy, that despite the incident that a lot of the paddock team had stayed. All of them were determined to chip in and help Owen and Claire clean up the mess and contain the island. There was probably no chance in hell that they would open to the public again, but they could at least try to clear the mess that the Indominus had left. The first thing on the list was containing the various creatures that were still roaming the island. That included finding and bringing Blue back in. Every day and night, they had been scaling the island to find her, but Blue was smart. It was unclear whether she actually wanted to be found, Max had a feeling she might be enjoying some of her new found freedom. Each time, they came up empty handed. The constant disappointment was chipping away at Owen and tearing apart his hope. Max tried her best to remain positive, but there was only so much she could work with when they were no closer to finding Blue.
"No, nothing's been found Barry. I'm calling it a night, we're not gonna be able to stay out here much longer in this weather."
"Understood. Do you want us to continue the search tomorrow when the storm's passed?"
Owen didn't reply for a minute, his stance was deflated as he looked at the jungle beyond. He looked defeated, almost close to giving up.
"Yeah… we'll try again tomorrow," Owen replied through the walkie-talkie. He sounded almost like he was trying desperately to hold on to his last glimmer of hope. Max's heart strings pulled for the second time that day. She placed a hand on Owen's arm.
"Come on. Hot shower, some food and sleep then we'll be ready for another crack at this tomorrow," Max spoke as softly as she could over the booming wind.
Owen looked to Max with a smile and nodded, "Right."
The two Grady siblings look off into the jungle once more, before turning and heading down the steps to the SUVs.
Owen pulled the driver's seat open of one of the nearest SUVs, whilst Max pulled open the passenger side. They both slipped inside, slamming the doors behind them. Both of them were grateful to be out the storm. Owen started up the engine, whilst Max squelched in her boots.
"I'll text Claire that we're on our way back," Max stated as she pulled out her phone.
Owen nodded as he pulled away from the paddock. The rain pelted off the car, whipping the window wipers into a frenzy. Clicking on her contacts, Max entered a quick text into her phone for Claire.
Hey,
We're on our way back, no luck finding Blue again… So I wouldn't expect a talkative Owen tonight.
We'll be with you soon, mud and all.
Max hit send and was about to slip the phone back into her pocket, when her phone buzzed.
Owen raised an eyebrow as he looked at Max, "Wow, Claire's getting quick with her replies."
Max blinked in surprise. She pulled out the phone and looked at the new message.
An unknown number.
She frowned as she opened the text.
Ms Grady,
The answers to your questions lie out in front of you, you just have to take it. A package lies underneath your bed, follow the instructions and you will find what you have been searching for.
Max blinked in confusion and slight fear. How had they known? How had they managed to contact her directly? She'd remained anonymous in her search for any red flags.
Owen glanced to Max once again, noting her facial expression.
"Max. Is something wrong?" Owen asked concerned, drifting his gaze between her and the road ahead.
"Huh?" Max visibly jumped out her thoughts.
"Is something wrong? You looked at little startled."
"Oh no, I think that last clap of thunder must have got to me a little," she lied as she looked to her brother. Quickly locking the phone so he couldn't see the text, she slipped it back into her pocket.
Owen nodded, not quite believing his sister but choosing not to question it. Max gritted her teeth, waiting in anticipation for their return.
….
The door swung open as Max made her way into her room. She stripped out her muddy exterior, throwing the dirty boots and outer clothing into the bathroom. Almost running, her bare-feet pounded off the floor as she made her way to her bed. She crouched down and looked underneath. Sure enough, just like the message had said, lay a small cardboard box. Max looked up, her gaze looking around suspiciously but there was no indication of how they had got in. Taking a small deep breath, she grabbed the box with both hands and placed it on the bed. She quickly removed her hands and took a step back. It looked like she almost expected the box to explode. After waiting a few minutes and reassuring herself she was being stupid, Max stepped back towards the box. With her right hand she peeled off the tape that sealed it. She discarded the ripped off tape to the floor and proceed to examine the contents. Her brow furrowed at the initial first look, deciding to rummage through properly, she began removing items.
The first thing that had caught her eye was the red wig. It was professional and not something cheap you'd pick up out of fancy dress store. If she placed the wig on and hid her hair well, she'd quickly be able to transition into a red head. Next thing she pulled out was a plain white lab coat, completely brand new and unstained.
Max blinked. Was this some kind of joke? What the hell was this? A fancy dress costume?
Deciding to stick with searching the box, Max came across one final thing. A letter, and it was addressed to her. Taking it out, she ripped it open. Out fell a single piece of paper and an ID card. Taking the card, Max's eyes scanned over it. The picture was blank, a detail that clearly needed to be filled in. The name on the card read:
Dr Sarah Hammond.
It wasn't until Max's eyes fell on the logo that it started to click…
"InGen," she breathed. Instantly, she thought of Hoskins and his plans for the raptors. Looking down at the wig and the lab coat, it started to click even more. So she was right. This wasn't over.
Placing the ID card down, she finally picked up the letter.
Max Grady,
I'm sorry to do this so anonymously, but you can't be too careful these days. You were right Max, this isn't over.
I've got you in. I'm sure you're more than capable of holding your own undercover. You can't tell anyone, not your friends, not your brother. Max it's time we expose the truth and stop them before another incident occurs.
I've enclosed directions and locations inside. I hope you find the answers we are all looking for.
Be careful and good luck.
K.M
Max furrowed her brow. Not just an anonymous tip off but an anonymous helping hand. Was what they were sending her the truth? Or a trap?
Although surely if InGen were on to her exploits and online searches, they would have found her and extracted her directly by now. Max knew one thing for sure. If there was a chance this was genuine, there was no way she could ignore it. She gulped. Owen would kill her for this but Max had come to an instant decision.
It was time to put her faith in a complete stranger.
"This K.M better not steer me wrong," Max mumbled as she picked up the lab coat.
….
"So that's what you been doing this last few months? Trying to become some undercover spy for a person you've never even met!"
Claire, Owen and Max had moved to the living room. Mainly due to Max's having a sixth sense for how Owen would react. The last thing she needed was an angry Owen terrifying Rex and causing an incident that everyone would regret.
"See this is precisely why I didn't want to tell you, because you'd stop me," Max replied as calmly as she could.
"I thought you didn't tell me because you're anonymous friend told you to!"
"Oh come on, Owen! Just because I placed some of my faith in a stranger doesn't mean I did everything they asked!"
"Oh I'm sorry, I guess I was under a different impress!"
"Well, sure they were right! But doesn't make me their bitch for the rest of the mission!"
"Mission? Oh now you're starting to sound like a really solider!"
"Oh please! I'm sorry if I'm not like you and a good little soldier that does what he's told!"
Owen fumed at that, and Max bit her tongue. She'd gone too far. The hurt and rage on her brother's face was too much to go by.
"Look Owen I didn't-" she started.
"Just don't!" Owen interrupted her, waving a hand up. He turned away for her, breathing deeply as he attempted to calm his boiling temper.
Never had Claire wanted to leave a room so fast. She was sat down in the middle of the sofa and couldn't help but looking up at the standing Grady siblings in front of her. Her mind did backflips as she tried to find the right words to say. Her stance was neutral, not wavering to either side. On one hand, she understood Owen's concern. After all, Max had been throwing herself into unknown danger. She could have been hurt or worse… much worse, and Owen would never have known. It had been selfish of her to keep this secret and do it alone. But then on the other hand, she understood Max's resolve. After all, no one wanted a repeat of the Indomius incident. If InGen were meddling once more, they needed to be stopped. She truly was sat on the fence.
Taking a deep breath, Claire broke the tense room, "Owen. At least give her chance to explain."
Owen turned sharply, "You're taking her side?"
"I'm not taking any sides, but she's your sister at least give her a chance."
Owen let out a sigh, his rage dispersing. Despite how angry he was at Max's ill actions, Claire was right.
With a calm tone, he addressed Max, "So that err… Rex. I'm guessing he came from the facility?"
Max looked to Owen and gave a small nod, "Yes, he did."
"You stole a living breathing dinosaur from under their clutches, you realise that their-" Claire started before…
Max interjected, "Gonna come after me, make me out to be some kind of criminal. It has crossed my mind."
"Max, this is a crazy mess," Owen sighed as he brushed his hands through his hair.
"That's why I need your help," Max paused as she phrased her next part of her sentence, "I want to smuggle Rex to the island."
Claire's eyes opened in surprise, "You want to what?"
"I want to get him to the island, InGen won't touch the remains of Jurassic World for fear of the press getting wind of anything fishy," Max replied looking between Owen and Claire.
Owen frowned and nodded, "Well, he can't exactly stay here."
"Are you insane? This isn't a small dinosaur were talking about here," Claire pitched in as stood up.
"Claire, I can't risk InGen getting their hands on him again. After what they did to him… you saw how afraid he was when I introduced you," Max explained and ended with a question, "So… will you help me?"
Owen and Claire exchanged glances and looked to her.
"We wouldn't be here otherwise," Owen replied with a small smile, his previous anger almost gone now.
Max was about to burst into a grin when a loud bang resonated from her garage door. A fearful cry echoed through the house.
"Rex," Max breathed looking at Owen and Claire in alarm.
