Hey guys! Just giving a heads up that the next chapter may take awhile because term 3's started. I finished off this chapter instead of doing biology homework but hey, technically... it's got biological themes?

If Yvaine's face dropped the moment she saw Allison she tried not to let it get to her. Or the groan. Or the grumpy face she sported as she stomped over to where Allison stood oh god-

'Allison,' the blonde was trying to twist an accommodating smile on her face, 'to what do I owe the- well, you?'

'C-Cookie sent me I s-swear,' Allison wrung her hands, 'he's asked me to get DNA of your current baby Triceratops. J-Just some cheek swabs p-please.'

Yvaine blinked, 'Cookie said that there wasn't anyone available to look at it yet, the board's demanding all hands on deck with the baby Mosasaurus coming.'

'Y-yeah that's why Cookie a-asked me.' Allison gave a strained chuckle as Yvaine's eye began to twitch.

'Right.' Was the only response given before opening the door to the field like room that held the three baby triceratops. Allison hovered in the doorway, the memory of Wu's angry command to stay away from the triceratops ringing in her ears.

Yvaine noticed her waiting and impatiently waved her in. 'It should be fine now, besides this is a two person job.'

She asked her if she'd brought cotton buds and Allison fumbled to pull them and plastic bags out of her purse. One by one she caught the babies and swabbed their mouths, placing the slobbered stick into the plastic pocket Allison held before marking it with their name and number code.

When they were finished she quickly ushered Allison out of the room and they lapsed back into silence.

'I can hear you breath in every time you go to ask a question kid.' Yvaine rolled her eyes. 'What is it?'

'I thought that the M-Mosasaurus had already been born. T-That's what Owen m-made it sound like I mean.' she stuttered at Yvaine's odd look.

'Nah they just need to make sure all the pH levels and stuff stay perfect,' she said waving a hand. 'You've been talking to Owen Grady?' Yvaine looked at her thoughtfully when Allison shook her head yes.

'I'm asking because he normally keeps to himself these days.' She explained. 'The board ripped into him pretty badly after his last prank.'

'Crazy stupid.' Allison shrieked as a head popped over her shoulder.

'Ow,' the man grinned as he rubbed his ear. 'You've got a set of lungs newbie.'

'Yeah she just can't use them to speak.' Yvaine sighed and punched him in the arm. 'Don't sneak up on people like that, Logan.'

He apologised with the same grin and continued. 'I was just saying it's stupid he got in so much trouble for that prank, it wasn't even bad.'

'He slipped laxatives into Harris Scott's coffee on his birthday.' Logan explained, seeing Allison's confused expression. 'It was right before he was going on a date with this chick he'd been bragging all day about. He literally shat himself in front of her and was really mad.' Logans chuckle turned to an aggravated sigh.

'Well, Harris' dad is on the board so when he lodged a complaint it got taken all the way to Masrani and…' Logan winced, 'hell hath no fury like a Scott scorned.'

'Scott Senior wanted Owen removed effective immediately,' Yvaine continued, 'Masrani needed to show a united front, especially with competitor companies around right now, but he couldn't afford to lose Owen.'

Logan broke in, 'Yeah, the dude spent three years living rough on Isla Sorna studying Raptors for InGen, he knows them better than anyone.'

'Isla Sorna?' Allison's eyebrows furrowed in thought, 'T-The abandoned island? I thought no one was allowed there.'

'Yeah it's protected by the government now as a restricted nature reserve but InGen was granted permission for a small exploration team to set up shop there so long as the didn't disturb the ecosystem.' Yvaine stopped by the front door and reached for the handle.

'Owen was super excited about the raptor clutches,' sighed Logan, he slumped against the door with a thump and ignored the blondes scowl. 'I felt so bad for him when they kept failing, but Blue's reached three weeks and still kicking so hey,' he shrugged, 'maybe they've got it right this time.'

Allison tried to ignore Yvaine's incessant tugging on the handle and asked what he was talking about.

Logan looked at her in surprise, 'I thought you would've heard about it by now from the other lab-rats. They had to recreate the DNA sequencing algorithm they used for the original raptors at Jurassic Park so it was a lot of trial and error on whether or not the embryo would even survive until hatching.'

'Why couldn't they just use the original?'

'Because early on in the creation of Jurassic world someone. destroyed. it.' Yvaine punctuated each word with a tug, abruptly Logan stepped to the side and she whacked the door into her head.

'See, this is why they paired you with the three-horns.' He grinned. Her head slowly turned in his direction and the expression must have been horrifying because the grin slipped of Logan's face as he sprinted down the corridor, the sounds of Yvaine's boots chasing after him.

That was probably her cue to leave she thought with a wince as a smack and a howl echoed back down the hall. She stepped outside and pressed herself against the walls of the Nursery, the veranda giving her a thin strip of shelter from the heavy rain.

Grady had told her to come back to the Carnivore Nursery when she was done but Allison didn't think that was a good idea, she'd be better off staying away from "trouble" as Billi had called him.

But then… he'd gone and given her his jacket. The thought sank in her stomach, if she didn't go back then he'd get soaked.

With a groan she dashed back to the Carnivore Nursery and peeked through the window, Grady was sitting against the wall whittling a piece of wood with a pocketknife. He dusted the figure off and examined it. Allison bit at her lip, maybe she could hang the jacket on the door handle?

'What are you doing?' Allison whirled around to see a man behind her. Barry, she thinks. She quickly shrugged of the jacket and held it out to him.

'That's Owen's.' Barry said slowly. She nodded and motioned for him to take the jacket. He grabbed it uncertainly and she mumbled a thank you as she moved past him, more than ready to go back to the labs.

Owen looked up as Barry walked through the door and laughed at the odd expression on his face.

'What happened to you?' He asked, tucking his pocketknife away and tossing the wooden figure to the man.

Barry caught it with one hand, simultaneously throwing Owen's jacket to him.

'A girl gave me your jacket, that's what happened.' He said, examining the rough cut velociraptor with a smile. 'This is going well.'

'Thanks.' Owen said distractedly, 'You saw Allison?'

'Yes, she was just outside the- door.' he finished lamely as said door shut behind Owen.

The rain seemed to be letting up now at least and he could spot Allison a little way away. His caught up to her quickly and wrapped his jacket around her.

'The hell are you doing Kid?' She was going to get hypothermia like this for gods sake. Meanwhile all she could do was squeak in surprise at the sight of him.

He told her to stay there and surprise seemed to have rooted her where she was for a moment because she was still there when he walked back with his bike. He hopped on and pulled her behind him, making sure her hands were tightly wrapped around him before bringing it to life. Mud splattered around them as the wheels gained grip and pushed them forward.

If the quad had been fun then this was exhilarating. At times the bike would slip and the world would be spinning away from them until Owen got it back under control, the cold rain setting her skin alive against the heat of the engine.

By the time they arrived at the labs the rain had ended but mud had well and truly flecked its way up their legs and arms and she let out a laugh as she slipped off.

'I didn't know you had a bike.' Allison grinned, pulling out her ponytail and trying to smoothen the curls down.

'Yeah?' He laughed. 'I've had her out by the bungalow for repairs, poor girls getting old.'

She hummed in appreciation at the motorcycle before remembering herself and straightening up, clearing her throat and pulling off his jacket.

'T-Thank you.' She stuttered and he looked at her as he grabbed back his jacket.

'No problem, except for the bit where you were going to walk back in a downpour and get sick.' He raised his eyebrows and Allison bit her lip.

'S-sorry, I didn't w-want to- to-'

'Bother me?' He supplied and ruffled her hair, 'I'm the one who offered, kid.'

She nervously patted down the curls that were beginning to rise and said goodbye before heading towards the Labs.

This time, mercifully, she remembered to pull the door.

By the time she'd given the DNA samples to Cookie and explained why she was covered in mud it was five o'clock and everyone was packing up as quickly as they could, chatting about their plans for the weekend back at the Mainland.

'What about you, Ally?' Cookie asked, 'Any plans for the weekend?'

'Oh! Uh no, not really.' She said. She'd been looking over the formula currently being used for the Triceratops for any basic miscalculations, not that she was really expecting to find anything, InGen hand-picked its scientists and she doubted any of them were stupid enough to make a mistake like that.

'Ah come on! It's a Friday!' He chided gently, 'You said you're room mates with Billi right? I'm sure she'd be happy to take you out with her. Besides, you're what twenty-one? Twenty-two?'

'Twenty-four.'

'Really? Anyway, as someone under twenty-five you are legally required to go out and get smashed, it's practically in your constitution.

'Ah of c-course,' Allison smiled, 'right under "hurl anything British in the river".' She looked pointedly at him and he laughed good naturedly.

'Try it, if you dare,' he challenged her with a sly grin and thumped his chest. Allison burst out laughing and smothered it into a cough as Dr Wu walked past, scowling in their direction.

'Does he ever g-go home?' She tried to stop giggling.

'Nah he's a vampire.' Cookie joked, he mimicked having fangs with his fingers and pretended to bite at her neck.

She giggled again and started packing up her things.

'Hey Ally?'

She let out a hum in acknowledgement and he continued, 'You're going really well, good job.'

It could have easily been a comment on her work ethic but when she turned around she could see a warm smile lining Cookie's face. Relief flooded her system at the praise. She'd been trying so hard to get along with so many people and it was nice to know the efforts hadn't gone unnoticed.

'Thank you.' She said softly, 'Have a good weekend Cookie.'

'You too Ally.'

'Are you sure you don't want to come out with me tonight?' Billi asked hopefully, putting on a pair of earrings.

Allison shook her head and leaned against the kitchen bench. 'I wouldn't have fun and n-neither would you.' She knew from experience that Billi would feel obligated to spend the night by her side if she came out, and Billi wasn't the type to hide by the wall all night.

'Well I won't lie, I'd really like you to come,' Billi began, 'but if that's how you feel then I'm glad you're sticking to your guns. You do you.'

She pulled a spoon out of the draw and checked her reflection, pursing her lips in appreciation before whirling around and pointing the cutlery at the startled brunette.

'I've got something for you.' She announced. Her heels beat a tattoo against the floor as she stalked to her room, reappearing a moment later with a sketch pad and a metal container. She placed them on the bench and watched Allison.

'Yes?' Allison asked uncertainly.

'I found the sketches.' Billi replied nonchalantly. Allison felt the blood rush to her cheeks and her mouth formed an O.

'They were good,' the red head continued, 'I mean some of the anatomy looked a little wonky but I can't really talk seeing how I mostly do abstract. My favourite was the red ginger lilly, you captured it really well in grey lead so I was curious how you could do with colour.'

She motioned for Allison to open up the metal container and she pulled off the lid to find a rainbow of pencils.

'Billi I- it's just a-'

'A hobby? It's good to have hobbies Ally.' She was like a whirlwind of fire around the apartment, grabbing her heels and purse and brushing past her towards the door. 'I'm not expecting you to whip out a Monet or a Rambert or anything, you don't even need to show me just…' she paused with her hand on the handle and looked back at the small girl.

'Just have a go.' She smiled, 'Gotta go, bye!'

The door clicked shut behind her and Allison flicked her eyes between the door and the sketch pad before huffing and sitting down on the couch. She flicked a random channel onto the TV and tried to pay attention.

"There was this guy he just sails from mountain to-" Switch

The sketches had just been an out of the blue thing. She'd just been bored. That's all.

"I'm undercover."

"No you're not."

"Well I'm not now!" Switch

And yeah she'd enjoyed art when she was younger but that was before he'd gone and threatened to burn her alive if he caught her doing it again. Oh god.

She let her eyes flicker away from the TV to the bench where the innocent book sat waiting.

And that's all it was. An innocent book, it should not make her heart race this much. For gods sake how long was she going to let him ruin her? Let him keep her from the things she wanted?

She'd practised drawing by copying the anatomical pictures in her mothers science textbooks. By the time her father had stacked them up outside and blown them to pieces with his shotgun she'd already moved on to the world outside. Birds that would perch on her window sill and pose for her, trees that would bloom softly in the sun, the stray cat that came by every now and again for scraps.

She grabbed the book and pencil box and sat back in front of the TV, the vase of red ginger lilies teasing her. Grabbing a hue between pink and red she began creating the soft edged petals, blending it out like the noise of the TV into the background.

"While InGen is the leading company in genetic engineering, BioSyn is becoming strong competition-"

She'd filled three pages back and front with sketches by the time Billi stumbled through the door, smashed off her face and giggling madly. She rushed to steady the red head only to have her face squished between two hands and cooed at.

'Look at little Ally,' Billi giggled, 'I love my little Ally!'

The door opened again and two more girls came through, both wearing matching expressions of exasperation.

'Billi let go of her face and get into bed.' scowled a tall girl with light red hair, the natural colour offset next to Billi's scarlet. She grabbed Billi and lead her to the couch.

'You're the room-mate right?' Her friend said. 'We live next door, I'm Lilith and that's Thea. Sorry we haven't introduced ourselves sooner.

Allison looked towards the bathroom door where the rooms connected and Lilith shook her head.

'Nah we're on the right side, on that sides Bridget and Nadia.'

'O-Oh okay.' Allison stumbled, her tongue felt as heavy and useless as Billi's current coordination.

'Let gooooooo of me.' Billi whined, 'I want Ally back!'

'"Ally" doesn't want to deal with a drunken mess." Thea snapped looking thoroughly fed up.

'I-It's a-alright.' Allison stuttered, she grabbed a glass from the counter and filled it with water, her hands were trembling so much that the liquid was rippling and she could feel their eyes burning through to her back.

Thea shrugged and dropped Billi on the couch with a thump. 'Suit yourself, I have my own future hangover to deal with.'

'You've never had a hangover a day in your life.' Lilith rolled her eyes, 'Are you sure, uh… Ally?'

Allison nodded quickly and the two girls left leaving her with Billi. She passed her the glass of water and made sure she drank at least half before taking the cup and setting it on the table. Bending down she began to undo the death trap heels the woman was wearing.

'For someone who doesn't go out you seem to know what you're doing.' Billi slurred accusingly.

'I'm used to taking care of drunk people.' She replied quietly and Billi went silent.

She helped her walk to bed and turned around as Billi stripped and tugged on pyjamas, moaning when Allison made her go to the bathroom and brush her teeth.

'Know an alcoholic huh?' She finally asked when she was lying in bed. Allison moved the glass of water to the bedside table and nodded.

'My ex was an alcoholic,' Billi sighed, 'I was with him for a couple of years before my mum slapped some sense into me.' She looked at Allison as carefully as a drunk person could.

'They can't control your life forever.' It was the most serious tone Allison had ever heard come out of her mouth and her lips twitched into a smile in response.

'I know,' was her reply. She tucked the blankets around Billi's shoulders and turned off the light. 'Goodnight Billi.'

'Goodnight little Ally.'

'I want to die.' Billi moaned dropping her head onto the cool kitchen bench. Allison hummed in sympathy and asked if she'd like some toast.

'Nooo,' she groaned, 'I want something greasy.'

'Actually g-greasy foods are worse for your sto-'

'Ally,' Billi pointed a finger in the air, still face down on the bench. 'I love you but please allow me to ruin my life the way I see fit.' She let her hand thump back onto the bench and Allison winced before rolling her eyes.

'Alright go get your greasy foods then.'

'I can't walk.' Came the mumbled reply.

Allison sighed and pulled on a pair of boots. 'Come on then,' she tapped Billi on the shoulder, 'we'll walk together.'

Billi looked at her blearily, blinking when she registered what Ally was wearing. The younger girl had finally had time to go shopping and the normal skirt and blouse had been replaced with jeans and a shirt and the heels with a pair of black anklet boots. Her hair was down for once and she looked… comfortable, Billi thought. More comfortable than Billi had ever seen her.

'Come on Billi,' Ally urged, 'the park m-may open later on Saturday but you still have w-work.'

'Ughhh.'

By the time Billi was dressed enough to leave the apartment without scaring off guests it was ten o'clock and the park was bustling with visitors. It also seemed like a lot of the other employees who'd gone out last night had the same idea as Billi and were crowded inside a fast food place.

It was so crowded Allison felt like she would choke as Billi pushed her way up to the counter, dragging Allison behind her.

The noise threatened to overwhelm her, crashing like a tsunami against her. Someone knocked into her as they walked past and the line behind her jostled forward. On the other side of the room someone squealed in laughter and the sound reverberated against the linoleum.

'What do you want Ally?' Billi asked after she'd placed her order. Allison stuttered and the server at the counter stared at her blankly.

'Ally?' Billi asked again looking concerned. The blood had drained from the brunettes face and she flinched sharply when a tray clattered to the ground, pushed off a table by a fussy child.

Allison stared at the mess. Chips scattered the floor and tomato sauce splattered over the top like a crime scene like a crime scene like a crime scene. The parent yelled at the child, grabbing the kids arm and pointing at the mess on the floor like it was a crime scene like a crime scene like a crime scene.

Police sirens wailed all around them and the dogs were going crazy. Brute yanked at the end of his chain, choking himself in an effort to reach her, slobber pouring out of his mouth like the blood out of her own.

Strong hands pulled her up and away away away, walking backwards from Brute, from the arrests, from the blood of a crime scene-

'Allison!'

She gasped like she'd been pulled out of the ocean, staring with wide eyes at scarlet blood- no not blood- hair, Billi's hair, she tried to ground herself desperately. She mumbled what she hoped was an excuse to her friend, oh god friend, and frantically made her way outside. She found her way to a side street that was quiet at this time of morning and slid down the wall to sit, hugging her knees to her chest and trying to calm her breathing.

And she'd been doing so damn well, she thought miserably.

A pair of well worn boots stepped in front of her before their owner crouched down to her level. Owen examined her for a moment before settling down next to her. He pulled out the wooden figure and the pocket knife again and started whittling, humming a steady rhythm under his breath.

The tone was soothing and deep and somehow her breathing began to match to it, forcing her to breathe slower and calmer and pulling her back into control.

'Couldn't handle the crowd?' He guessed, pausing to blow dust off the wood. She looked at him or a moment before nodding and he pursed his lips in thought.

'I saw you run out and thought it'd be best to follow you,' he explained, 'don't want to risk you somehow falling into the T. Rex Kingdom now do we?'

She let out a weak laugh at that and he grinned in response. 'You think I'm joking but if anyone ever manages to do it, it'll be you.' He teased.

They lapsed back into silence and she watched him whittle away the wood. Now that she was closer she could see that he'd carved it into a raptor and he held it out for her to see. She smiled in appreciation and he tucked it back into his pocket before standing up and offering her a hand. His strong grip pulled to her feet and she dusted herself off, pausing when she noticed him watching her.

'You're not dressed like a lab rat today.' He said and she nodded slightly.

'It's more comfy.' She mumbled quietly and Owen laughed.

'Called it,' he claimed smugly. 'You always look awkward in those skirts.' He explained when she looked at him weirdly.

'Oh.' Because really, what was she meant to say to that?

'They looked good though.' A sly smirk teased across his face and Allison spluttered in response.

She could see the mirth in his eyes and huffed in irritation, trying to ignore the fact that she just knew her face was bright red. She turned away, ready to go find Billi and apologise for running off. His footsteps followed her back out onto Main street and she sped up, trying to put some distance between them.

Unfortunately, his strides were about twice the size of hers and he caught up with her easy, whistling all the way to the tune of don't worry be happy, even having the nerve to do the eyebrow pump when she glanced at him.

Billi wasn't outside the fast food place and she seriously doubted the woman would still be inside, maybe she'd gone looking inside one of the other shops? She was beginning to wish she'd grabbed Billi's number. By the time Owen was through his fourth rendition of the song she was ready to scream. Mercifully, at that moment, she spotted Billi's unmistakable hair a little way in front of them.

She went to yell out her name but it stuck in her throat and she resorted to running to catch the red head by the arm and waving.

'Ally! Oh thank god!' Billi cried seeing the brunette. 'I was worried you'd fallen into an attraction or something.' Allison felt her eye twitch at that.

'I'm o-okay.' Allison insisted. 'I-'m s-sorry about t-that.'

Billi looked at for a long moment before nodding. 'I'm glad you're okay.' She said warmly.

A loud sneeze made both girls look up and Owen froze.

'Sorry,' he said and Billi scoffed.

'Owen Grady, what're you doing here?' She cocked her head.

He shrugged. 'Making sure the kid was alright, but I guess that's your job now huh?' He patted the top of Allison's head as he said goodbye and strolled off whistling, ignoring the scowl Allison sent after him.

'Jerk.' Allison looked up in surprise to see Billi's mouth twisted into a grimace.

'I-I thought y-you said h-he was f-friendly.' Not all the anxiety had faded from the panic attack yet and the look Billi sent showed for certain she'd noticed her stutter back in full force.

The good thing about Billi though was that she didn't push. 'Friendly but trouble.' She responded rolling her eyes. 'Sometimes only trouble. Trust me.'

Allison nodded her head to appease her friend, following her as she started back towards the fast food place. There was obviously a history between Billi and Owen, she bit her lip in thought, but it wasn't any of her business. Just like the rivalry between Dr Wu and Cookie wasn't her business, or the way Nathan and Yvaine's hands always seemed to brush a little longer than needed.

But… a memory from yesterday fluttered to the forefront of her mind.

'Hey Billi?' The redhead turned to look at her. 'W-Why did someone destroy the o-original raptor algorithm?'

Billi pursed her lips before closing the distance between them, speaking lowly as if one of the visitors was listening.

'When the news broke about the park reopening a group of activists began protesting it.' She muttered. 'They said that it was unethical and immoral bringing these creatures back from the dead for profit.'

'So… they destroyed it?' Billi nodded, swatting a fly away from her face. It was getting hotter as the sun grew overhead and it would almost be time for Billi to start her shift.

'They eventually realised that people had too much interest in dinosaurs to care about "morals".' Billi snorted. 'So they decided to pick a smaller target and switched to protesting the creation of the carnivores instead. Their biggest and- well admittedly strongest point was the events of the original Jurassic Park.'

'The raptors.' Allison said.

'Exactly,' Billi humphed, 'and look I'm not the biggest fan of raptors but even I think that the group was being extreme, they wanted all of the raptors on Isla Sorna put down for gods sake.'

'I bet they weren't the o-ones volunteering.' Allison rolled her eyes and Billi laughed.

'Nope!'

'So how did they destroy it?'

Billi sighed and started walking again. 'They blackmailed an employee to destroy everything to do with the creations of the carnivores, starting with the raptors. Thankfully that was the only thing they got through before they got busted.'

'Still,' Allison sighed, 'That's a-a lot of time and m-money lost.'

'If you say so,' Billi shrugged, 'I personally dropped biology the moment I could so I understand nada.'

She turned the new information over in her head as they walked. Something about it was niggling at her mind, an idea brushing like feathers and melting like snow the minute she tried to focus on it.

She scuffed the ground in frustration, why was everything always out of reach?

Thank you to everyone who left a review and for your patience with this story :)