(Chapter 2 of my rewrite of my Jurassic World fanfic. I hope you like it! I own nothing but my OCs.)
...
*Beep! Beep! Beep!* Owen groaned and slung his arm out over the side of the bed, barely managing to hit the button on the side of his alarm clock.
The glowing neon numbers on the clock read 6:00 A.M.
Owen yawned and started to sit up in bed knowing he had to get up now if he didn't want to be late for the 7:00 staff meeting.
Why do these always have to be so early in the morning anyways? Owen groaned again, scratching the back of his head as he opened his eyes and waited for them to adjust in the darkness.
As he was about to swing his legs over to the floor, he turned his head to make sure that Charlotte was still asleep. A smile lit his still mostly groggy expression as he watched her breathe softly in her sleep with her hair tossed about on her pillow.
Gently so he wouldn't wake her up, Owen quickly pulled the blanket up so that it covered her shoulders and kissed her on the forehead before slipping out of bed and to the bathroom to get ready.
As he flipped on the light and walked towards the toilet, Owen noticed some liquidy residue on the edge of the toilet seat and frowned.
That's weird. Is that...vomit? He wondered, feeling his stomach flip as a terrible suspicion came over him. Immediately, his gaze moved back towards the door which led back to the bedroom where his wife was sleeping.
Charlotte had assured him several times yesterday that she was okay, but there were only two people who lived in this bungalow and Owen knew for sure he wasn't the one who had thrown up in the bathroom.
Maybe I should insist that she sees the Doctor today after the staff meeting. Owen considered as he tore off a clump of toilet paper and quickly wiped off the toilet seat.
Barry can take care of things for awhile until I get back and I can take an extra hour later in the afternoon to work with the pack.
Owen's chest tightened with worry as he flushed the toilet and mechanically went through the rest of his morning routine. I just hope whatever's making Charlotte sick isn't anything serious. He hoped.
Unwittingly he began to go through the names of every native tropical disease he knew in his head while trimming his beard and mustache.
When Owen left the bathroom to go and get on his clothes for work, he was feeling no less uneasy then when he had first discovered the bit of throw up on the toilet.
As his gaze landed briefly on Charlotte's still sleeping form on the bed, Owen tried to remember if she had felt a little warm when he kissed her a few minutes ago.
Sighing, he wandered back towards the bed and carefully leaned over to lay a hand over his wife's forehead, using his fingers to move her bangs out of her face. Charlotte stirred at his touch.
"Owen?..." Charlotte yawned, her eyes only opening halfway as she turned to face her husband. Owen smiled apologetically at her.
"Sorry to wake you up Baby. I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He pulled his hand away and bent to sit down on the edge of the mattress as Charlotte stretched her arms up over her head.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" She asked, smiling and smothering another yawn as she allowed her arms to come back to rest at her sides.
Owen reached to take one of her hands in his own. "Well...I don't know. You've been pretty tired the other day...and not to mention you were nauseous a lot too."
Charlotte shrugged her shoulders. "It was probably just because of those bananas at the cafe. Nothing else made me feel sick since." She squeezed back on Owen's hand as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Oh really?"
Charlotte nodded her head.
"Then I guess a squirrel or something must have snuck into our bathroom during the night to throw up huh?" He asked, pulling his hand away and crossing his arms in a way a parent might to a child who's been caught lying.
Charlotte flushed and averted her gaze when he said that. "How did you know?" She asked in a soft voice, scratching at the embroidery on the blanket.
Owen scooted closer to her. "You forgot to wipe off the toilet seat, Hon." He said gently, putting his hand on Charlotte's cheek.
Charlotte continued to stare at her lap. "Oh." She started to pick at her nailbeds nervously until Owen stopped her with his other hand and forced her to look up.
"Charlotte, you know that I love you very much right?" He asked softly and Charlotte slowly nodded. "Of course. And I love you very much too." She answered with a half smile.
Owen nodded back. "Then be honest with me. How bad do you feel?" He asked, frowning as he anticipated her answer.
Charlotte sighed. "Not so bad now. I was hoping not to worry you about it though since you have enough to worry about." She shook her head.
Owen sighed and stroked the softest part of her cheek. "Well since I am worried about you now, what do you say we get you checked out with your Doctor today after I get out of this early morning staff meeting? Just for my sake?" He pleaded, smiling a bit now as he prepared for the verbal sparring that was to come.
Charlotte made a face.
"Aww, I was just going to sleep it off for the rest of the night and then take some medicine in the morning." She whined, making a face as she always did at the thought of going to the hospital.
Owen chuckled and shook his head. "Come on Baby not even for me? You know your parents will kill me if it turns out you caught some weird tropical disease from this place and I didn't do a thing about it." He leaned forward so that his eyes were inches away from hers.
Charlotte sighed and rolled her eyes. "I don't have any tropical disease, Owen." She groaned, letting her eyes shut as sleepiness started to hit her again.
Owen stroked her cheek again. "It doesn't hurt to check. Please Charlotte?" He begged, sticking out his lip in a pout knowing that would make his wife laugh at least.
Charlotte choked out a laugh and shook her head. "Oh no, don't you do the lip thing. That's not fair." She protested. "Besides I'm too tired for this." Charlotte yawned and rolled over on the bed.
Owen laughed and leaned over, laying down so that his arms were pinning hers and his nose was against the back of her neck.
"All right then, how about I just keep kissing your neck until you say yes?" He teased, pressing a line of little kisses on the bottom of his wife's neck, causing her to emit more squeals inbetween loud giggles.
"No...fair!...You know I'm ticklish there!" Charlotte whined as she struggled in vain to get away from her husband cuddling.
Owen leaned over her ear. "Say you'll let me take you to the Doctor and I'll stop." He whispered, pressing another kiss to a spot just behind her ear.
Charlotte groaned and tried to push him away. "Oweeen..."
"Say it." Owen repeated, kissing her again.
"Ahh! Fine! We'll go to the Doctor first thing after your staff meeting...which by the way you're about to be late." Charlotte gave up, glancing over at the alarm clock as Owen's arms suddenly sprang off of her.
"Oh crap!" Owen jumped up from the bed and dashed to the closet, yanking out his work uniform which Charlotte had laundered for him last night.
Charlotte chuckled softly and rolled back over to lay on her back just as Owen finished buttoning up his shirt. She watched for a second as he searched around the room, patting down his jeans and muttering to himself.
Then he looked back at her. "Baby, do you know where my phone is?" Owen asked and Charlotte nodded, smothering yet another yawn behind her hand before motioning towards the end table.
Relief flooded his expression. "Thanks!" He took three long strides across the room to grab his phone then he stuffed it into his right hip pocket.
"I'll be back as soon as the meeting's over okay? Call me if anything happens." Owen smiled adoringly at Charlotte. "I love you."
Charlotte returned his smile and turned to go back to sleep. "I love you too." She murmured as Owen flipped the lights off.
...
"Hey Charlotte! You're up awfully early today. Something going on?" Anna asked smiling when she saw her friend approaching the gentle giants petting zoo where Anna worked caring for the baby dinos who were deemed safe enough for interaction with the children who visited the park.
Charlotte shrugged, rubbing her eyes as she approached the pen. "Not really. Owen woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep again so I decided to take a little walk and come see you. How are your kiddos doing?" She asked, smiling as she watched Anna feed a baby apatasaurus some fennel leaves.
Anna smiled as the little creature greedily snapped up his food. "They're doing great. Especially this little guy. I've taken to feeding him separately from the others since his appetite's increased." She chuckled and quickly grabbed a few more leaves from her bag as a couple small styracosauruses pattered out from their stalls and ran around at Anna's feet.
Charlotte stifled a yawn and chuckled at the little ones' antics. "I think you've just been busted Anna. Need some help?" She offered, checking the time on her watch.
Anna laughed too and gently tried to nudge the styracosauruses away from the apatasaurus. "That might not be a bad idea. My assistants don't come for another hour. You know where the feed bags are right?" She motioned towards the small shed like building where the baby styracosauruses had come running from earlier.
Charlotte nodded and hurried to get to the shed. Grabbing a sack marked as Styracosaurus feed, she ran back outside to the main herding area to feed the young styracosauruses who were starting to get impatient to be fed.
Charlotte grabbed some leaves out of the bag and held them out at a safe yet tantalizing distance towards the styracosauruses just the way Owen had shown her once with the Raptors when they were young.
"Here guys! Come here Sally! Stella?" She clicked her a tongue a bit to get their attention. Obediently the young ones left off begging Anna and followed Charlotte towards the other side of the holding pen.
Laughing at the cute little noises they made, Charlotte tossed out a few leaves for the styracosauruses to eat while Anna watched cautiously over her shoulder.
"Careful Charlotte. They may still be little, but those horns are serious." She warned with a smile, knowing her friend was already aware of how dangerous the animals could be since her husband was the Head Raptor Trainer.
Charlotte nodded and tossed out some more food. "Oh I know Anna. Don't worry." She took a few steps back from the baby styracosauruses before tossing out more food.
"All right Posy. You've had enough for now. Go on." Anna affectionately patted the little apatasaurus sending her back to the other side of the pen to be prepped for a full day entertaining children at the theme park.
Charlotte giggled when Sally the slightly smaller of the two juvenile aged styracosauruses nudged her playfully with her snout.
"These girls have gotten so big since the last time I've been over to volunteer. I do feel bad that I haven't been around here as much lately." Charlotte sighed as she watched the two little ones tussle with each other over a larger piece of a leaf.
"Oh don't be silly. You've got your own busy schedule and I know all about the shenanigans happening with the Raptors. Going by what Barry's been telling me, those girls need their Alpha and their Raptor Mama much more than I need my old partner in crime." Anna shook her head as Charlotte bent to feed Stella another leaf.
"Maybe." Charlotte shrugged thinking about Owen's continuing frustrations with InGen and especially with Vic Hoskins.
The man had been a thorn in Owen's side since the first time he was introduced as head of the Raptor Program and he showed no sign of curbing his ambitions as of yet.
I doubt he'll ever let up. Charlotte sighed as she reached a hand absently into the feed bag.
[Four Years Ago]
"Mmm...Owen?" Charlotte rolled sleepily onto her side not knowing at first why she was awake since it was still the middle of the night. Then she saw that her husband's side of the bed was empty.
"Owen?" Charlotte raised her voice a little, sitting up on the bed and looking around their small bedroom.
Seeing that there was no light coming from the en suite, she pushed the covers aside and slipped out towards the living room where she saw Owen pacing the back porch outside, his cellphone to his ear.
"No, you don't understand Sir! Those Raptors aren't just results from one of your genetic experiments! They are LIVING, BREATHING, FEELING organisms! You can't just turn them into weapons!" His voice carried into the house, making Charlotte frown.
As quietly as she could manage, Charlotte crept towards the back door and slid it slowly open catching her husband's eye as he walked past her.
Then he paused in his pacing and turned so that his back was facing her. "Look, I just can't subject the girls to something like that. If I stand by and let them get tranqed and shot up with drugs they don't even need, they'll never trust me again and I can't lead without trust."
Silently Charlotte slipped out onto the porch and shut the door behind her, understanding now what was going on.
"I understand that." Owen responded again after a few minutes scratching his head like he always did when he was stressed. "Fine. We'll talk more tomorrow. Just don't expect my answer to change." He snapped before abruptly hanging up the phone.
Turning he met Charlotte's slightly worried questioning gaze. "Who was that?" She asked, though she had a pretty good guess who.
"The boss, Claire Dearing. Apparently some suit named Vic Hoskins is going to be in charge of the whole Raptor Training Program and he's been asking about weaponizing them at some point in the future." Owen sighed as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.
"According to Claire, he wants to run a field test with the pack in about four or five years from now."
Charlotte frowned at this revelation. "And she called to tell you about this at two in the morning because...?" She trailed off.
Owen shrugged. "Because she's Claire Dearing, nothing matters more than her work. To her all those animals at the park are just numbers on a spreadsheet. Objects created to do certain things for the benefit of our operation." He grumbled.
Charlotte sighed, knowing he was right. Claire was a good boss, but she never seemed to see the dinosaurs they worked with for what they really were. Even she as an outsider to the park's operations, understood that these creatures were more than just test results on a data sheet.
"Well you and I both know better than that." Charlotte drew herself up to her husband's side and gently took his arm. "And if those supposed eggheads at InGen saw things our way a lot would be done differently at the park."
Now it was Owen's turn to sigh. "Yeah you got that right." He tried and failed to stifle a yawn. "Come on Honey, let's go back to bed. It's two in the morning and I'm running a drill with the girls at eight." He slipped an arm around Charlotte's waist.
Charlotte covered his arm with her own. "Again? You ran with them this morning at seven and I know you didn't nap after lunch like I suggested you to do." She spoke in a soft pointed tone, cuddling close to her husband's side as they walked together back into the house.
Owen reached his free arm to push the door shut. "I napped." He yawned halfway through his words and didn't move to stifle it in time.
"I just couldn't nap as long as I wanted to because another one of the interns screwed up on feeding time." He grumbled releasing his grip on his wife as they entered the bedroom.
Charlotte sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I didn't know about that. Is the intern okay?" She asked turning to face Owen with genuine concern as they drew near the bed.
"Yeah..." Owen stifled another yawn. "Luckily Barry was there to ward Blue off." He collapsed sideways into the bed and pulled the covers over himself.
"Hey!" Charlotte dove in after him and grabbed for the blanket. "You're on my side of the bed, Owen." She laughed and tried to wrestle part of the sheets from him, but Owen was too strong for her.
"Mmf!...Baby, come on. It's too early for this." Owen groaned, unable to help a chuckle when his wife resorted to pouncing on him for partial re-possession of the sheets.
"I say it is." Charlotte made another grab for the blanket, this time digging her nails into his ribs by accident.
"Whoa! Hey! Charlotte!..." Owen gave a start and rolled away from her with a jerk giggling uncontrollably. "That's no fair. I'm too tired for tickling." He groaned.
Charlotte crawled across the large queen sized mattress to him. "Then stop hogging the sheets." She retorted, a sly look crossing her face. Owen suddenly became nervous.
"Honey, what are you doing? You're not...?" He started and trailed off using the blanket as a poor shield.
"I'm not what Owen?" Charlotte asked, a challenging tone to her voice. Owen held up a hand in a defensive manner towards her.
"Charlotte? You don't have to resort to this." He begged as if he were in a life or death situation.
Charlotte paused in her pursuit. "You're right. I don't. We can end this right now." She sat back on her heels giving her husband a knowing look.
Owen sighed knowing he was defeated. "Fine...but only because you give me no choice." He grumbled fumbling with the hem of the blanket.
Charlotte started to smile triumphantly when suddenly without warning Owen flipped himself right over on top of her knocking her clean onto her back. The sheets got squished between them.
"Ack! Owen!" Charlotte screeched trying and failing to push her much heavier husband off of her. "Get off of me, you Oaf! I can't breathe!" She protested unable to help from laughing a bit as Owen straddled her hips and pinned her to the bed.
Owen chuckled. "Why? You said you wanted the sheets." He tickled her face with the corner of the blanket. "Here you go."
Charlotte groaned and rolled her eyes at him. "Gee thanks." She mumbled. Owen responded by leaning over and kissing her slowly and lovingly on the forehead.
"You're welcome." He whispered into her ear before rolling off of her and pulling the sheets over him just enough to leave half for Charlotte.
Charlotte sighed and snuggled under her half of the blanket. "Goodnight Owen." She muttered turning so that she was facing the wall on the opposite side of the room.
After a moment she thought better of it and turned back around to snuggle into her husband.
"Oof!" Owen groaned when Charlotte bumped against his back. "Honey?" He started to crane his neck back, but stopped when he realized she already had fallen fast asleep.
A slow affectionate smile lit his face as sleep began to consume him too. Slowly he turned back around and nestled into the pillow.
"Ah ah! Stella no!" Anna reprimanded quickly nudging Stella to the side before she could try to chew on Charlotte's sandals.
Charlotte jumped startled as her friend's yelling broke her out of her thoughts and looked down, giggling when the mischievous little baby nudged her leg again.
"I think they missed you too Charlotte. Stella's usually not this hyper in the mornings." Anna laughed too as the young dinosaurs began chasing each other around the pen.
Charlotte's smile widened and she pulled out one last piece of food for the styracosauruses. Bending down, she offered it to Stella.
"Attention! InGen will now be running tests for all park security alarm systems. Repeat, this is only a test." A solid woman's voice came over the loudspeakers.
Anna sighed. "We should probably get everyone back to the stalls. These young ones can get a little jumpy when they start blaring those sirens." She started to whistle for Stella and Sai to follow her when a loud piercing noise shattered the serene quiet of the park.
Screeching in fright, the two juvie styracosauruses began to tear across the pen towards the stalls, one of them knocking into Charlotte in her hysteria as the sirens continued.
Charlotte screamed as a searing pain exploded all over her leg and she fell, clutching at her shin where Stella had run headfirst into her.
Anna turned from trying to herd the other baby dinosaurs back to their stalls and blanched when she saw her friend on the ground and the blood coming through her fingers.
"Oh my God!...Oh my God! Charlotte, your leg!" She started to panic as the sirens continued.
Charlotte gasped from the pain and squeezed her eyes shut while tears streamed down her cheek. Biting her lip she tried to put more pressure on her wound and whimpered when it caused the pain flared up.
Anna quickly grabbed her phone from her pocket. "I'm calling 9-1-1!"