"You know you could always run away? Come back to New York with us?"
Owen stood by the car, listening to Claire's sister plead with the red-head not to let them leave her. But he saw Claire put her hands on Karen's shoulders to hold eye contact, with a small shake of her head, "I can't leave. The responsibility of what happens with the park, dealing with all the consequences of what happened, it's all down to me, Karen. It's my job."
Owen was sat on the edge of the bed of the hotel suite, and immediately drew his eyes to the front door as someone unlocked it. And that someone was Claire. She had been summoned to a satellite call with Misrani's Board of Directors, which the hotel had kindly closed one of their function rooms for. She had confessed to him before going down there that she feared they were going to fire her, but Owen couldn't imagine they would. None of what had happened on that island had been her fault. She had been with Misrani's company for years. There was no way they would just fire her. The thing that Owen feared the most was that the company would decide to kill every living thing left on that island. Including his last remaining raptor, Blue.
Owen watched as Claire stepped through the door. Her expression was that of utter shock. She had been gone for almost three hours, and Owen stood up expectantly, desperate to hear what had been discussed in the meeting. He watched her slowly walk towards him, stopping at the bed and sitting on it.
"Well?" Owen found himself asking. She appeared to be staring at an empty space in front of her, but when he spoke she looked up at him, speaking slowly, almost in disbelief:
"They want to keep the island…" Owen took a double take and understood her shock. She continued talking, "…demolish the park but…keep the land."
While that wasn't what Owen was expecting to hear, it didn't exactly answer his deepest burning question, "What about the animals? Blue. The T-Rex…" but he stopped as she looked at him with tears in her eyes, shaking her head slowly. He fell onto the bed on her right side, his heart missing a beat as he began to feel frustrated. Why couldn't they just leave the island alone? It was done now. The damage had been done. There were no dinosaurs there that could put the rest of the world in danger. They would be confined to the island. To Isla Nublar . Why eliminate them?
"Owen, we adjourned the meeting. We're resuming it again tomorrow." He felt Claire take his hand and he looked up at her. A few tears had now ran down her face, but her expression was serious. Determined. "I'm going to fight this. Them. Nothing is going to happen to Blue while I'm still in charge of that island."
Owen nodded, a small grateful smile on his face, "So they haven't fired you then?"
"Not yet they haven't." Claire replied with a sigh, bringing a tired hand to her face and she rubbed her eyes, accidentally smearing a bit of makeup that she had put on before the call. She didn't notice and looked away from him thoughtfully, shaking her head slightly, "They want me to issue a statement to the press tomorrow evening. I'm discussing with the board what I'll have to say in tomorrow's meeting."
Owen watched the woman beside him groan before falling backwards onto the bed. Twenty-four hours ago she had been falling onto that bed for a different reason. Now they were hanging in limbo, waiting to find out their next moves. "Everything's such a mess." He heard her groan into her hands, and he looked down at her.
Owen wondered what had happened to the sharp, aggressive business woman he had so often disliked back when they had worked in the park. The woman who refused to crack a real smile. The woman who refused to talk about anything other than work. The woman who refused to let any fear spread across her face in case it terrified those around her. The woman who refused to take no for an answer. And it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps this was the real Claire Dearing. Not the uptight, bossy, control-freak Claire Dearing who was corporate from head to foot. She was a beautiful woman with real fears, real worries, and real emotions. And all of those fears, and worries, and emotions she had been sharing with him over the past twenty-four hours. Probably without even realising she was doing it. She trusted him. She respected him. Finally! The main reason he had told himself that they would have never gone on a second date back in the day had been because they didn't respect each other. What a difference two days in each other's company had made. "What?" he heard her ask, and he jumped as he realised he had been staring at her. Instead of saying anything though, he leant back and laid beside her, turning his head to the left to look at her. He took her hand and brought it down to their sides, squeezing it slightly as he did so as a way of reassuring her.
"I'm not going anywhere. You know that right?" He found himself saying, and he worried for a moment that Claire might cry again. But she didn't. Instead she let out a heavy sigh, shifting her head closer to his so their noses were almost touching. A calm smile washed over her face, she let out a quiet "Thank you", and he kissed the tip of her nose.
Owen shuffled his feet uncomfortably as he watched the two sisters embrace, tears rolling down the big sister's cheeks. It had been a very exhausting three days since Claire's first satellite call with Misrani's Board of Directors. That perfect night spent alone with Claire when they had first arrived at the hotel seemed like a lifetime ago. The Board had decided by the second day that the heads of each of Misrani's businesses had now been put in full charge of their respective business and as such Claire was now running Isla Nublar indefinitely. While she had to pass all of her decisions by The Board, Claire had immediately insisted that the animals left on the island were re-captured as opposed to killed, presuming that all of their pens were still intact. There they could decide what to do with the assets (a term, according to Claire, that was now used frequently by The Board, but no longer by her). The Board had agreed when they realised they may be able to sell many of the smaller dinosaurs to zoo's around the world. It was always about the money for them. Owen hadn't complained when Claire had returned to their hotel suite with a relieved smile on her face, telling him that Blue would be okay. So long as they could find her when they returned to the island.
The couple had discussed together the possibility of returning to the island after Claire's third and final satellite meeting with The Board. She had told him she was expected to go back to lead the team that would be re-capturing the animals, and he had wasted no time in telling her that he would be going with her, to which she had smiled saying she had expected nothing less from him. It would be in a matter of days, with The Board wanting to utilise the fact that power was still working over on the island, but they couldn't guarantee for how long the power would run for. The sooner a team was on the island, the sooner they could assess the damage.
Naturally Claire's sister had been horrified to hear that her little sister would be going back to the island to track down and capture the dinosaurs that were loose and roaming freely, putting herself back in danger again. But Claire had been insistent, and Karen soon gave up talking about it, with her impending divorce date looming. Her soon-to-be ex-husband had returned to the family home the second morning the family had been at the hotel, to speak further with his divorce lawyer. Not that the kids knew anything about it.
Owen heard a little voice chirp next to his arm and he turned to see Zach and Grey had sidled up to him, "You going to be okay?" asked Grey, who looked up at him worried. Owen forced a smile, nodding at the two boys confidently, "Yeah. Everything's going to be fine."
The bathroom door closed behind Owen, and he walked over to Grey, who sat miserably on the bathroom floor, his back leant against the wall as he held his knees up to his chest. His cheeks were tear stained. Owen sat directly next to the kid with a long sigh, as Zach sat the other side of his little brother.
"I hate it when they fight." Grey blubbed. Owen leant his head back against the bathroom wall. He thought back to his childhood. He knew what it was like to live in a pressured household. After his brother died his mother and father were always yelling, blaming each other in one way or another. What if one had been watching the kids more frequently than the other? What if one hadn't nagged his brother as the final thing they had said to him? All the arguments and blame had turned the home into a difficult place to live, until one day his father just left. Left the house for good. And Owen never saw him again.
"I used to hate it when my parents fought too," Owen found himself saying, before sighing again. "But, sometimes that's just what parents do." He looked over at Zach, before looking down at Grey, "They don't do it because they don't love you guys though. They do it because they love you guys so much that they don't want to take their frustrations out on either of you…"
"So they take it out on each other?" Grey asked, his big watery blue eyes looking up at Owen, who had no choice but to nod.
"Couples argue all the time Grey, but it doesn't mean they don't care about each other." Zach tried to reason, and Owen nodded along.
"Do you and Aunt Claire argue?" Owen paused, not expecting that question from the curious ten year old. Did he and Claire argue? They used to. They had argued badly on their first date two years ago. Now they mostly bickered. Well, again they used to. They bickered most of yesterday, from the moment she had arrived at his bungalow to take him to see the I-Rex they had been bickering. Then as they spent more time together the bickering subsided. To the point that they now no longer bickered. They had both been through a traumatic event. They had been through it together. And there was nobody else in the whole world who knew exactly what Owen had been through except for Claire.
"Not so much." And he saw Grey's face fall, "But I'm not saying we'll never argue." He quickly continued, finding it difficult to see the kid looking so disappointed, "Your Aunt doesn't like being told if she's wrong, especially when she knows that she is, so we'll probably argue then?" He stopped his sentence, and realised that he had been talking about Claire as though they were in a relationship. As though he was going to spend the foreseeable future with her. And that thought hadn't crossed his mind before now. He had been so wrapped up in the present that he hadn't thought about any sort of life outside of this hotel.
"So, you and Aunt Claire really are boyfriend and girlfriend then?" Zach asked, and Owen let a small smile grow in the corners of his mouth. It was weird to hear someone say it.
"I don't know kid." He responded honestly.
"Do you want to be boyfriend and girlfriend?" Grey asked, his small voice sounding so innocent. Owen thought about it. He'd never had the whole 'girlfriend – wife – kids – family' vision for his life in the past. He was a lone wolf. A serial dater. He slept with whichever woman he wanted. But now he thought about it, he didn't want to be that man anymore. Now he thought back on how it had felt to be kissed so affectionately, and to kiss so affectionately, as he had done with Claire earlier that afternoon. He had felt as though throughout the time in his life leading up to that moment he'd been missing something and he realised it had been her. She made him feel whole again. And he was now beginning to think that having a girlfriend wasn't a terrible idea. And having Claire as his girlfriend. As 'The One'. Well that seemed like the best idea in the world.
"Yeah, I do." He said, almost surprised at the notion now that he admitted it out loud. Had he really just toyed with the thought that Claire was 'The One'? Had he…fallen in love? He could feel himself scrunching his nose up as he thought back to try to remember when he may have fallen.
"Does she?" Owen looked up at Zach who had asked him the question, and both boys were now looking at him curiously. Owen shrugged. He had no idea if she wanted them to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Her kisses earlier had given him the impression that she did. He hadn't thought about the label of 'boyfriend' whilst she had been awake though, so he hadn't been able to ask her. But then...should he ask her? It had been around thirty six hours since she had arrived at his bungalow. Before all hell had broken loose at the park. Was thirty six hours a little too soon to be asking for commitment?
"I hope so." Owen confessed.
"I hope so too." Said Grey.
"Me too" agreed Zach.
They were giving Owen reassuring smiles. He was surprised that they had managed to sneak such a serious conversation out of him. The arguing outside the room had stopped and Owen had no idea how long it had been quiet for. They heard a light tapping on the door, followed by Claire, who eased her way into the bathroom, gently closing the door behind her. The three males froze as they watched her walk over to them, a sympathetic look on her face as she knelt on the floor in front of them. Owen couldn't take his eyes off her. Especially now that he had realised all that he had realised during the conversation he had just had with her nephews. He was falling in love with her. He couldn't believe it.
"How you guys holding up?" she asked in a calm, concerned voice, and Owen saw her face turn to surprise when her nephews gave her little grins. They weren't okay. Owen knew it. He knew Claire knew it. But for now the secret that Owen really liked their Aunt was enough to mask the boy's pain. To his relief neither Zach nor Grey blabbed to her about what he had told them, and instead the oldest boy simply said "I think we're ready for some dinner." And he stood up, his younger brother doing the same, still grinning at his Aunt who watched them both walk out of the bathroom to find their parents, stunned at the turn-around in their moods.
Owen stood up with an exhausted sigh, holding his hand out towards Claire but she, unsurprisingly, didn't take it and chose to stand herself up. She looked at him curiously as she stepped towards him, affectionately wrapping her arm around his waist, maintaining her bright green eyes on his face, "What did you say to them?"
And Owen smiled as he looked down at her, "It's a secret" and as she opened her mouth to pursue the matter, he simply kissed her on the lips, before walking back into the bedroom, leaving her frozen to the spot in the bathroom.
"You promise me you'll take care of her please, Owen." Ordered Karen, as she walked over to him, pulling him into a fleeting hug.
"With my life" grinned Owen as he saw Claire roll her eyes and shake her head slightly at her older sister's fussing. He knew that Claire knew she was going to be okay, so long as they stuck together. They had helped each other get out of scrapes before, they could help each other again. As Karen stepped back, Grey hugged Owen's waist tightly, and Owen ruffled his hair before shaking hands with Zach.
"Good luck" the older boy muttered, before pulling his little brother away from the man. The boys hugged their Aunt who had walked over to join them. As they stepped away from her and back to their mother Owen could feel Claire standing right by his side, her arm pressed against his. He took that as an invitation, bringing his arm behind her, and placing his hand in the back pocket of her jeans. He could tell by the way Claire had shifted her body position so her hips were closer to him that this was what she had been requesting.
"Now don't forget, Christmas at ours okay?" Karen said to the couple.
"Okay, we'll see Karen" replied Claire with a chuckle.
"I mean it. And that's an invitation to both of you in case you weren't sure" and Owen noticed Karen's eyes glanced to her sister's waist as though she knew exactly where he had placed his hand.
"Well that will all depend if we've managed to re-capture the animals by then." Claire replied honestly. It was no secret to the couple that it was going to take a lot of time and hard work to capture most of the creatures on the island, particularly the T-Rex. As they watched the mother and sons roll their respective suitcases through the doors of the small airport of Costa Rica, Owen heard Claire sigh. He knew she was concerned. They had a lot of work ahead of them. He never shied away from hard work and he knew she didn't either, but their prospective work was unlike anything they had ever had to do before. "So, an invitation to my family's house for Christmas already. Not bad going, Mr Grady."
Owen grinned, bringing his arm back to his side as she turned her body to face him, a small smile on her face. He couldn't tear his eyes from hers as she stood, inches from his body, cocking her head slightly to the right, as though she were trying to read his mind. Seeing this only made Owen's grin grow, and he raised his eyebrows, "It must be because I'm so lovable."
His response made her giggle, and he watched her snake her arms around his waist. He was beginning to get used to her doing that. It had felt unusual at first, but every time she did it he took the opportunity to bring his arms around her too, linking his hands behind her back.
"That must be it." He heard her agree with a small nod, a broad smile on her face, and he felt her chest heave against his torso with a sigh as she looked up at him. Owen could feel his heart racing as he looked down into her green eyes, then leant down to kiss her lips. An action that she happily reciprocated, pulling him tightly against her, and he sighed into the kiss.