AN: I really love writing super intense emotional scenes between Claire and Owen. And thank everyone for your wonderful responses on that last chapter; I hope all of you loved it just as much as I did. More romance (and some action) headed your way.

Claire didn't really mean to tell him the way she did, but the words spilled out of her before she could stop them, before she could think about them, and she found herself saying, "I'm pregnant," to Owen's neck, where she'd buried her face only moments before.

He reacted just as she expected he would, laughing quietly, shakily, against her skin, slipping his hand beneath her shirt to rest on her stomach, murmuring his love for her over and over again in her ear. She felt his heart thumping against hers, felt the warm breeze of his breath wash over her, the rough palms of his hands cradling her head.

"Are you sure?" he asked softly, pressing his forehead to hers. She looked at him, her beautiful husband, his clear green eyes warm and welcoming, and nodded slowly, smiling for the first time in days.

Owen flashed his teeth at her in a brief smile before smashing his lips to hers in a kiss that left Claire trembling, grasping at him, wanting more, needing to feel him and touch him and hold him.

But now wasn't the time, and it dawned on her that they were still trapped, still in the clutches of the remaining members of InGen, who were planning something and Claire still didn't know what.

"I was so worried," said Owen, pulling Claire's hand up to his face, kissing it lightly. "Claire."

He was dirty, sweaty, streaked with mud and dried blood. "How did you find me?" Claire asked, stroking his hair.

Owen told her his story quickly, how he'd gone back for his raptors, how he'd called Lowery and gotten over to Isla Sorna as quickly as possible. He couldn't keep the pride out of his voice when he spoke of his raptors fighting together as a pack for the first time, but there was also a faint strand of dread in the story when he told her about the other alpha raptor, who was still hunting him.

Claire told him everything when he was done, told him about Boss and Wayne and InGen, about Helen and her bug and how Boss was going back to Isla Nublar for embryos, how Boss knew someone else was on Isla Sorna. She introduced Helen, whom Claire had almost forgotten about; the former had retreated into the far corner of the room when Owen had been pulled out of the air duct. She seemed nervous, looked as pale as Claire did right before she threw up.

"There's something else," said Helen, taking a deep breath. She looked Claire straight in the eyes, silently asking for forgiveness. Claire nodded once, understanding immediately that Helen did know something that she hadn't told Claire previously. "Boss is blind," she said, glancing towards the bug sitting near one of the huge knives fastened to the wall. "That's why he won't let me off the island. It's not that I know of Project K, or that I know that InGen still exists, or anything else. He's blind and he's afraid I'll use my knowledge to blackmail him if ever I were to get out."

Claire inhaled sharply, stumbling backwards into Owen, who was right there to keep her steady, his strong hands against her back, holding her waist.

That's why the tunnel had been so dark. That's why it hadn't bothered him. But how did he know the way out of here was to follow the light? And why would he have told me the way out?

"It's a game," said Claire. "Boss wants us to escape. He told me the way out, he knows that there's someone else on the island, and he's left us here with only Wayne as a guard. Wayne might be strong by himself, but against the three of us?"

"We've played straight into their hands," said Owen, who sounded surprisingly calm. Claire looked up at him to find mixed emotions on his face; a furrowed brow, steely eyes, but a small smile on his face that Claire knew was because of her. "And now the question is, how are we supposed to get off Isla Sorna undetected? That's the game; can the dinosaurs on this island catch us? Boss won't want another failure like Project K. I'm guessing he won't want this experiment to go down like the last one did."

"We're the test run," said Claire, reminded forcefully of last year, when she, Owen and Lowery had sat in the control room in Jurassic World, contemplating, throwing around theories to try and figure out what InGen was doing. "They're using us to test out their weapons, to see if the untamed dinosaurs are as efficient if not more than the flesh-robots we dealt with last time."

"We have to get off of here," said Helen, who looked petrified. "Run away, get to Isla Nublar, call for help."

"We are the help," said Claire and Owen at the same time.

"Well, we can't just stay here," said Helen, pointing to the air vent. "We'll be killed out there."

"I have a boat," said Owen, "if they haven't found it already. But if we take one step out of this room, everything in that jungle will be hunting for us. It'll be a race if we want to survive."

Claire smiled up at Owen. "Then that's why we stick together, right?"

Owen grinned. "For survival."

Helen just looked at the two of them in a confused sort of way.

…

Owen knew he should feel a bit apprehensive about reentering the jungle, especially with two other people, one of whom was his pregnant wife, but he couldn't feel anything past the joy that was flooding his body.

Pregnant.

Just thinking about it made him tingle, made him want to kiss Claire until neither of them could breath anymore, until the only thing in the world that mattered was the two of them, loving each other.

But that would have to wait, and Owen knew it. Simply getting to this building had been dangerous, and he'd been alone. With Claire and Helen added in? Their scent would attract every hungry animal on Isla Sorna, and Owen knew that the hungry outnumbered the full.

And Boss, whoever he was, thought of this as a game, wanted to use them simply to test out a project, like their lives didn't matter. Owen supposed that, in Boss's mind, this was revenge for exposing Project K and for shutting down most of InGen.

Really, all Owen wanted was a bit of a break. Just one day to spend alone with Claire, and then he'd be ready to fight. He would be ready to force his way out of this jungle, back to Isla Nublar where they would have the resources to stop these people.

He was thankful he'd brought all his raptors with him. Blue would protect Claire the way she protected Owen; to Blue, Claire had been a member of the pack ever since Project K; Owen supposed it was because they'd been through so much together. Of course, Blue didn't quite trust Claire yet, but she'd protect her if something were to try and harm her. The other raptors, however, were a different case. They weren't used to anyone but Owen yet; they barely trusted Barry and they saw him nearly every day. He'd have a time getting them to calm down around Claire and Helen.

He wriggled his way back through the duct, blinking at the sunlight that shone straight into his eyes. He could hear Claire behind him, could feel her pinching his ankles playfully. Owen snickered at her, gripping the edges of the duct and pulling himself out. He slid headfirst onto the ground, narrowly missing squishing Josie, who was sound asleep right underneath the duct. Owen was pleased to see that nothing appeared to have changed while he was gone; all five raptors were still here, still healthy and ready to fight.

He turned around and pulled Claire out next, catching her and holding her for a second longer than necessary, just to remind himself that she was safe. Helen came next, looking at the trees around her excitedly, smelling the air and feeling the sunshine. Owen didn't know how long she'd been trapped in there, but it was obvious that she hadn't been outside in a while.

Owen spoke to Blue first, pointing to Helen, saying that she was good. Blue sniffed curiously in Helen's direction, narrowing her yellow eyes at her. Owen then turned to April, who was hissing and glaring at both Helen and Claire, her claws tapping impatiently on the soft ground beneath her. Owen calmed her down with a few gentle words, telling her she knew Claire and that Helen wasn't an enemy. Reluctantly, April let her guard down, glaring at Owen like he ruined all her fun. Lex and Lucy were easy to talk to; each of them obeyed without question, trusting Owen completely. Josie couldn't have attacked anyone even if she wanted to, but Owen made sure she knew who to fight and who to protect anyways, just in case.

He gave Claire her jacket back when he saw her cross her arms the way she always did when she was cold. They set off, Lex on constant alert for Alpha and Blue leading the way back to the beach, Owen monitoring the progress from the back with Josie in his arms.

…

"They're out, Boss," said Wayne, his voice clogged with static through the radio. "You were right. That guy did come to get Claire, just like you said he would."

"I know," said Boss, rolling his eyes. "That's exactly what Wu said would happen; that's why we only took her in the first place.

"Right," said Wayne. "You're right. I just didn't want to say Wu's name 'cause you told me not to."

"So don't say his name. What about Helen?" said Boss, yelling over the sound of the waves against the motorboat. The ocean sounded –and felt- rough today, rougher than it had been for a long time. Boss guessed a storm was coming. He made a mental note to ask Adam if clouds were in the sky; a storm would make the hunt so much better, so much more of a test run. If the animals on Isla Sorna could hunt in a rainstorm, then they would be twice as effective under desirable conditions.

"She's gone too, Boss. But I think she's got bigger things on her mind than telling everyone you're b-"

"Shut up!" said Boss, twisting his head nervously. "Don't say it out loud. Never say it ever; we don't know who is listening.

"Yes, Boss. You're right. I'm sorry."

Boss sighed. "Just keep an eye on everything, okay? I've got a break-in to plan and I can't make any mistakes. Keep me updated on the hunt."

"Oh, they're being stalked," said Wayne. Boss assumed he was monitoring the camera feed; Adam had installed cameras on nearly every tree on Isla Sorna; nothing happened on the island without them knowing about it. "They've got three or four dinosaurs after them already.

"Good," said Boss. "This'll be good."

AN: Thanks to MagicLover13 for inspiring me to make Blue protective of Claire! That's totally your idea so thank you thank you thank you!

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