AN: So a small correction on what I said before. Alpha is not the anti-Owen personality-wise. She's the anti-Owen pack wise- alpha vs. alpha. Also, to those of you who have picked up on part of the plot, well done! I'm proud of you.

The threat wasn't past; the other alpha was around somewhere, watching, waiting. Lex knew it by her sense of smell, Blue knew it by Lex's body language, and Owen knew it because he would never leave a battle that his pack had died fighting. If Alpha was smart, she'd lie low, wait for Owen to drop his guard before attacking.

But for now, Owen had to focus on Josie. He set Blue, Lex, Lucy and April on guard duty while he tended to Josie, who was bleeding so much that Owen could barely see the deep cuts gouged in her skin. The bright morning sunlight shone over him as he searched through the pack Lowery had given him, trying to find bandages or anything to clear away the blood. Josie didn't resist his touch but lay still, her eyes fluttering wildly.

Owen felt like he'd just been given a shot of adrenaline; his heart was pumping fast, sweat was dripping down his forehead from the humidity and he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept, but it didn't seem to be bothering him too much. He knew he'd be nearly dead once he calmed down a bit; he'd have to sleep eventually. "Yes," he whispered, tugging out a thick white cloth Lowery had tucked into the pack. He started mopping away the blood, frowning when the deep cuts underneath were finally revealed.

Owen wasn't surprised when Lowery's voice crackled through the radio, asking for an update on his progress. Owen talked while he worked; the conversation pulled him out of his worry. He hated seeing Josie like this; she was the raptor named after Claire and seeing her wounded only reminded Owen that Claire could be hurt just as badly.

Lowery spoke about Jurassic World, telling Owen that everything was running smoothly since Claire had been kidnapped, although several people had questioned about her and Owen's disappearance. Owen laughed when Lowery told him what story he'd made up to excuse their absence; apparently Owen was teaching Claire how to waterski in the Bahamas.

"How'd you manage to come up with that one? Owen snickered, wrapping bandages gently around Josie's body, lifting her small form off the ground when they were secure. She wasn't heavy; Owen could carry her until she was well enough to walk. If she ever got well enough to walk, that is.

"I thought of the thing Claire would hate to do the most," replied Lowery, laughter dancing in his voice. "Could you picture her on water skis?"

Owen grinned. "She outran a T-Rex in heels, Lowery. She'd probably blow our minds on water skis. Now youon the other hand…"

"Oh, I would end up killing myself on those things," said Lowery. "No skis for me."

"You could probably kneeboard," Owen mused, pushing through the woods. Blue followed him and April, Lex and Lucy followed her as they went deeper into the woods. "I don't think that requires much balance."

"I don't know," said Lowery. "Remember the roller skating fiasco? Skating is supposed to be easy, dude. I'm pretty sure they haven't fixed that hole in the wall yet. They may end up suing me in the end."

Owen chuckled at the memory of the incident Lowery affectionately referred to as "The Roller Skating Fiasco". Too funny for words, the accident had been one Owen was sure he would remember for the rest of his life.

"Do you think you're any closer to finding her?" Lowery asked quietly, all the humor gone from his voice.

Owen sighed and all his worry returned to him; he felt as if it physically bowed his shoulders, enslaving him. "I don't know. Lex and Blue haven't lost her scent, so that's something. But this place is a jungle. She could be anywhere."

"So look everywhere," said Lowery. "Whoever has Claire took her for a reason. She's out there somewhere."

Owen was about to respond but a twig snapped somewhere behind him before he could, pulling his attention from Lowery to the tangled forest behind him. Owen saw nothing but knew Alpha was out there all the same, following them, waiting for the right opportunity to attack. '

"I know," said Owen. Josie made a faint warbling noise and rolled over, curling into Owen just like she'd done when she first hatched. Josie had always been more affectionate to him than any of the other raptors; that was why she'd been named after Claire. That and the bright red strips zigzagging across her body that so resembled the shade of Claire's hair.

Forget the worry. Owen missed Claire. He missed her smile. He missed how annoyed she got when her hair didn't lay exactly the way she wanted it to. He missed her touch, something he'd grown so used to in the past year. Her voice and how hoarse it sounded in the morning, when she was just waking up. The way her cheeks flushed when he kissed her.

Owen missed the way Claire looked at him, the way that one single glance from her made him feel warm and happy and slightly nervous all at the same time.

"You'll get her back," said Lowery, his voice determined. "And when you do, I'll learn to waterski."

Owen rolled his eyes the way Claire would've if she could hear his and Lowery's conversation. "I'm holding you to that promise."

Claire was determined to get answers out of Helen. Claire wanted to know everything that Helen knew; why they were here, more about how Helen came to be a prisoner, and what made her "classified". Boss seemed weirdly protective over Helen and Claire didn't like it; Helen seemed to be her only ally on Isla Sorna.

But Claire didn't have to try very hard to get information from Helen. She simply asked what Helen's story was once Wayne had left the room, picking herself off the floor where Wayne had thrown her down like she was an old pair of shoes.

"Well," began Helen, nervously twisting the ends of her matted brown hair. "Are you sure you're okay? You look awfully pale. Let me get you some water. Wayne should bring food by in an hour; they don't starve us here."

Claire frowned but she couldn't completely disguise the relief that flooded her when Helen mentioned food. Claire was hungry.

She was also starting to form a tentative theory about her sickness. A highly probable, terrifying theory that Claire wasn't sure she could quite deal with at the moment. Not when she was alone. Not without Owen.

"How did they get you?" asked Claire, meeting Helen's dark brown eyes without hesitation. Claire had learned from experience that eye contact was the best way to squeeze answers out of a person; most people felt uncomfortable if she looked at them too long and would spill their secrets just to get Claire to look away.

"I told you I'm a freelance journalist," said Helen unblinkingly. Claire forced herself to keep a straight face even though she was tempted to smile. Helen wasn't stupid; she knew exactly what Claire was trying to do by her eye-contact trick, and it obviously didn't upset her in the slightest. "I needed a story, and I didn't care how much I had to go through to get one."

"So you came to Isla Sorna?" Claire asked incredulously, horrifying scenarios of brutal velociraptor attacks flitting through her mind. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

Helen sighed. "I know it wasn't smart to come here alone-"

"Or at all," Claire interrupted.

"But I'm a writer, Claire. I'd do anything for a story. Just like you'd do anything for your park."

Claire's response caught in her throat when she thought back to last year. She'd stayed in an empty park when every dinosaur was loose and there was a maniac hunting her. She supposed she was even with Helen coming to Isla Sorna alone in terms of dangerous expeditions.

"These people have an underground tunnel that runs the length of Isla Sorna. That's how they get from one end of the island to the other without getting attacked. I assume that's where Wayne took you to be questioned by Boss; I've never heard of him leaving the tunnel before. When I came to Isla Sorna, I stumbled upon the tunnel, tripped over the hatch when I was walking in the woods. It's pitch-black in there; nobody could see me if they tried, so I stayed there for a while, listened to Boss's conversations with all of his lackeys: Hunt, Wu, Bridgette, Wayne, Adam, all of them. Until Adam caught me, that is."

"You know everything?"

Helen nodded. "I know everything. Project K, InGen's weapons goal with Owen's velociraptors, their new plan, everything that happened in the park last year, and anything else that InGen's done in the past 18 months."

No wonder Boss had kept Helen locked up. If she escaped, all of their ideas would be exposed. The underground InGen could be shut down, and Helen was the key.

"The real question is," said Helen, "why are you here? I initially thought it was because you knew about Project K, but if that story was exposed a year ago and the world already knows…"

"What reason would Boss have for taking me?" Claire wondered aloud, catching onto Helen's train of thought.

A ray of sunlight shone through the room, shining straight into Claire's eyes. She shut them and basked in the warmth, forgetting for a moment that she was in a windowless room and light shouldn't be able to get in.

"I'm sure you can get out of here yourself. All you need is a little light."

Claire gasped and opened her eyes, blinking rapidly in the brightness. "Where's the light coming from?" She stood, eyes darting all over the room, following the light that was reflecting off of all the knives and spears fastened to the wall.

"The air vent," said Helen, who was obviously confused. "Well, I call it an air vent. Really it's just a vent that leads outside; sunlight shines through it every day. Even dirt sometimes comes through the cracks, when the wind is really strong. Once a plant started growing; its roots were halfway across the room before Wayne chopped them off."

"Does it come off?" Claire asked, staring at the edges of the vent covering. This was almost too easy. Pull the cover off and smash bits of the wall away until they formed a hole big enough to climb out, and poof! They'd be gone. And Boss had given her the hint.

Why would her captor tell her how to escape?

"You won't be able to get it," said Helen, bending down behind Claire. She traced the outline of the covering with her pale hands, a wistful look in her eye. "I've tried everything. Pried at this thing with a few of these knives," she gestured to the knives surrounding them, "I even shot at it once, but Wayne came in and threatened to shoot me, so I gave up. Our captors aren't stupid. Dimwitted, yes, because Boss surrounds himself with people less intelligent than he, but not stupid. They wouldn't put us in a room that we could get out of so easily."

The feeling of hope beginning to build in Claire's chest wasn't diminished by Helen's words. She could get out of here. She could get to Owen and they could shut this down.

And Helen was going to help her.

AN:" Someone's back from London, no it's not the Queen. Someone's back from London, it's not Mr. Bean. It's not the Royal Baby, I think his name is Jeff…stop singing and kiss me!" Literally that song has been playing over and over and over AND OVER in my head for the past three days. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just YouTube "Parks and Rec Andy comes back" and you'll see probably the cutest thing in the entire world ever. Seriously. DO IT.

Review! New chapter tomorrow! (August 3rd).