Disclaimer: Do not own
Phew, we made it! 21 months since I started this fic and here we are at the end! Bittersweet no?
A final shout-out to those who reviewed last chapter, Thanks to: DarkFireAngel00, Love your story, Hawthorn Tree, Miss RaeFox, Itsgoose2u, Destined2RunWithTheWolves, Supernaturalxfan172, Mysterygirl123, bayumlikedayum, xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx, Damico, shippolove844, Fireheartninja, Random Fan and gennastar.
And thank you to all, from the bottom of my heart, who have read and stuck with this story and through this adventure with me. Enjoy the end to Lexi and Billy's story!
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience by which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'" ~Eleanor Roosevelt
Everything was blissfully numb, every sense muted to indiscernible levels, every thought peaceful and quiet. My mind replaying every happy memory it could find, allowing me to relive the best times of my life. I couldn't say why I was seeing these memories, and at this point I really didn't care. I had no worries, no fears, no pain, everything was perfect.
Then a slight jolt rocketed through my body, tingling every nerve and fiber in a somewhat annoying matter. It brought about the dimmest bit of awareness that something was off. I didn't like it. I willed the tingling to stop, hoping another shock wouldn't come. It did.
The jolts felt more powerful this time, bringing that awareness forward bit by bit. I shoved it away as much as I could. I liked things just as they were, I didn't want it to end. There was a pressure on my chest for a split second, then again, and again. A moment later a third shock destroyed my peace, making me aware of an entirely different kind of numb than before. My whole body felt cold and heavy and I couldn't even twitch a finger.
There was a dull roar, steadily getting louder and louder as I teetered on the edge of consciousness. Cracking my eyes open I couldn't recognize anything, every shape was blurry beyond comprehension, a mixture of greens and browns. Where was I?
The shapes starting coming into focus, enough I could recognize the military camo two people were wearing as they worked over me, but not enough to see any details or who they were. A light was shined in my eyes, obnoxiously bright and unnecessary. I grunted, attempting to blink away the white spots that appeared in my vision once the light was gone. One of the uniforms turned to face me, a light pressure landing on my uninjured shoulder, "Rest, you're going to be okay." It took me several moments to make out what he had said and by then my eyes were already closing again. It was barely seconds before I collapsed back into a drug-induced sleep.
US Daily News. August 29th
Isla Sorna-InGen's Site B Claims Lives Again
First there was the covered-up InGen incident with Jurassic Parkon Isla Nublar, then the more public Site B incident on Isla Sorna-more commonly known as the infamous San Diego fiasco. And then again this last March there was a 3rd incident involving a plane crash on Sorna. Unbelievably there has been another incident involving the controversial dinosaur islands. Once again Isla Sorna and its InGen owners are under harsh scrutiny from local governments and the public as the death toll on the island continues to climb. This latest stunt involved previous Sorna survivors: tour guard Alexa Baker, paleontologist Billy Brennan and trophy hunter Roland Tembo. The incident also included Dynasty Industry's CEO Richard Kane. Kane and Tembo, along with an unconfirmed number of others, perished on the island. Baker and Brennan are reported to have both survived though sources say their injuries were numerous and both remain in intensive care at an undisclosed hospital.
A full scale investigation has been launched to find out just what happened on that island. Rumors are of a third survivor though this has been neither confirmed nor denied by Dr. Alan Grant, who prompted, organized and led the rescue to the very island he himself had been on months before.
The question everyone is asking now is what will be done about the islands? Animal activist and dinosaur enthusiast alike claim the dinosaurs have every right to remain alive and unbothered. That the solution to end the rising death toll would be better security around the islands and careful monitoring of the dinosaur's population. US and Costa Rican governments don't agree. Since the start of construction on Jurassic Park, the two islands have officially claimed over 100 lives and are suspected in the disappearance of 37 fishing vessels in the past years. The estimates of the latest incident are nearing 40 casualties. Whispers are beginning to float around of plans to bomb the islands. Humane? Unlikely. But will it prevent future incidents? Definitely.
~Lynnette Parker
US Daily News. September 19th
Full Story of Latest Sorna Incident Becoming Clear
After spending a week in intensive care with numerous surgeries in Costa Rica, the survivors were flown back to the US, where they have spent the last weeks recovering from their injuries. Today Alexa Baker, Billy Brennan and Blaine Synova walked out of the Dallas hospital a little worse for wear but alive. Despite numerous attempts by reporters to gain the exclusive story, the trio stayed silent on the subject of their experience.
Meanwhile the investigation into the incident continues and the event is slowly becoming clearer though facts remain elusive. Records show the USS Darcy and her passengers were bound for Columbia, where Richard Kane's hired passengers would take him to a piece of land near the Amazon he had reportedly purchased. Further digging has proved the papers documenting the land purchase were falsified, and the ship veered off course and dropped contact with the coast on the morning of August 12th. That night a distress signal was sent out by the Darcy but the signal cut out before a location could be traced.
Further questioning of Dynasty Industry's employees has unveiled a rather disturbing plot. Mr. Kane had forged the land purchase papers in order to secure the ship for the voyage and personally sought out Miss Baker and Mr. Brennan for the trip, explaining that their past experience on Isla Sorna would greatly help in his mission. He then filled the ship's passenger list with his own hired men and smuggled tranquilizers and guns aboard. His plan was to ship dinosaurs back to the US to a secret facility he had in construction, an attempt to succeed where InGen had failed several years ago.
After intense interrogations, council members of Dynasty Industry confess to knowing of his plan though adamantly refuse having any part in it. Several members have been taken into police custody when investigators discovered they had been contacted via CB Radio by Miss Baker requesting rescue on August 16th, but did nothing when Mr. Kane interrupted the conversation and prompted them not to. Instead they sent supplies for capturing the animals by plane, sticking with Mr. Kane's plan of sending rescue a week later. Radio contact was then reported lost and unable to be retained.
Nothing further was heard from the survivors until the evening of August 20th, when Mr. Brennan was able to find and get working a satellite phone left behind during the previous incident. He contacted close friend, Nublar and Sorna survivor Dr. Alan Grant, whom immediately set to work orchestrating a rescue. Contact was once again lost until the afternoon of the 21st, when the rescue team landed on the island via helicopter, valiantly fought off a pack of vicious Velociraptors and rescued the remaining three survivors.
Investigators continue to work diligently to uncover all of the facts, including the very disturbing report of Miss Baker sustaining a gunshot wound while on the island. Until more information is released one can only speculate what happened in the almost nine days they were trapped in that place.
~Lynnette Parker
Weekly World News. March
US Bombs Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar; InGen and Dynasty Industries Disbanded
Once again the dinosaurs have become extinct, as they should have stayed. The Coast Guard and Costa Rican government have spent the last weeks clearing any and all boats away from the islands, keeping them on severe lockdown for miles in every direction. No one and nothing was getting close as the US prepared the bombers. The dinosaurs' days were numbered. On March 15th, the US launched over 20 Air Force bombers, dropping thousands of pounds of explosives on Nublar and Sorna. Reports indicated bombs were also dropped on the other islands making up Los Cinco Muertes. The dinosaurs are gone and the islands have been reclaimed by the sea. The US government announced that anyone found attempting to recreate a dinosaur will suffer severe consequences, including life in prison and multi-million dollar fines.
InGen Industries has been disbanded. The company broken apart and shut down in every way possible. There is no possibility of it returning to the empire it once was. InGen, like its dinosaurs, has become extinct.
Richard Kane's company, Dynasty Industry, has also been shut down and torn apart in the investigations since the August incident. Further digging has prompted detectives to go further with their investigations as more criminal activity committed by Kane and his board members is uncovered. Police refuse to be specific on charges until sufficient evidence has been gathered. No doubt they will find plenty of it.
~Nikki Stone
I sighed as I tossed the newspaper aside, leaning against the grill of the black truck and soaking in the little heat the early spring sun provided. My shoulder gave a dull ache as I stretched, the cold air settling into healed bones. I absentmindedly rubbed the spot where the bullet had pierced. The doctors had said it was rough going when I arrived, despite the wrappings it had gotten infected and mixed with the fatigue, dehydration and blood-loss, well, I was lucky to be alive. I barely got to keep my arm, any worse and they would have had to amputate it.
"You're early." I glanced over at the familiar voice, grinning as I pushed away from the truck and wrapped the man in a hug.
"You know me Blaine; I can't stand doing what's expected." He pushed me back to arm length, giving my appearance a critical eye.
"Well you don't look too bad for someone who had to be brought back from the dead….repeatedly." he grinned.
I rolled my eyes at him, taking note of the scars littering his forearm. "You don't look too bad yourself." In fact he looked a lot better than he had the last time I had seen him, the day we all walked out of the hospital almost eighteen months ago. He looked healthier; having gained back the weight we all lost living on hospital food, and white scars the only evidence of the physical injuries.
He glanced around, surprise etching its way across his face, "Where's Billy? According to all the gossip magazines you two have been attached at the hip."
I smirked at him, "You would read those."
"Hey now! It's hard not to when you two are on the front page."
I raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?" Sure our story wasn't the most usual, but it hardly constituted front page news, then again, gossip magazines weren't the most reliable for posting relevant and important information.
"Yup." He smirked, slapping an outdated magazine into my hands. "So where is he?"
"He's going to meet us at the restaurant, said he had something to do first." I glanced down at the magazine cover, eyebrows shooting up at the pictures splattered across the entire front page. They were amateur photographs of us at the gun range three months ago, when I was teaching Billy to shoot per his request. The shots were of me correcting his stance, berating him to pay attention when he had leaned over and stolen a kiss. I rolled my eyes, tossing the magazine back to Blaine. "People really need to get a life if the best thing they think to do is butt in on mine."
Blaine shrugged as he chucked the thing into the trash, "You're famous now Lexi, get used to it."
"Why aren't you famous then? You survived just as much as Billy and I did." I motioned for him to get in the truck as I fired up the engine, blasting the heat to ward off the lingering chill.
He smirked as he pulled himself in, "I'm not romantically involved with either of you. You know people these days, always a sucker for the fairy tale true loves."
"Yeah, yeah." I muttered, swinging out of the parking lot of the hotel and heading towards the modest diner we were all meeting at.
"So how have you been?" Blaine asked after several moments, looking around at the rather flat Montana scenery. There was a serious undertone in his voice, an almost desperation for an answer. He wasn't asking how I've physically been; he was asking how to deal with the mental trauma, the invisible wounds that would never truly heal.
I sighed, wishing I could give him the response he was looking for, "Surviving. Focusing as much as I can on the future. We can't change the past, no matter how much we want to, so there isn't much use in living in it."
He nodded, turning his attention back to the landscape. I glanced over at him, seeing the pain etched across his face. Physical injuries would never compare to the mental ones, and while I lost comrades, it was nothing compared to what he lost. He had to watch his brother die, and I knew it was an image he would never be rid of, an ache that would never dull and a wound no doctor could heal. "Surround yourself with the ones you love Blaine, it's easier when you have good people around you."
"Ah don't let me bring the mood down, today is supposed to be happy!" he grinned, shoving all traces of conflict from his expression.
It was less than an hour later when we pulled into the small, out of the way, country diner, where gossip magazines were non-existent and very few paid much attention to the newspapers. The perfect place for so-called 'celebrities' to get together undisturbed.
Alan Grant's rather infamous beat-up brown truck was one of the ten cars in the parking lot and I was willing to bet Ellie Sattler had come with him. Being a fellow female survivor of the dinosaur islands had created a friendship the second we met and that bond had alerted me to her divorce the moment it happened, along with the fact that she still carried a torch for Alan—not that she would vocally admit it. I hoped for both their sake they got together soon, based on Billy's stories it appeared they'd been dancing around each other for long enough.
We entered the diner, easily spotting Alan and Ellie at the large corner booth. The Kirby's were there as well, a shiny new diamond glittering on Amanda's finger. Introductions were made and I was about to take my seat when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist, holding me still as lips kissed my neck.
I rolled my eyes with a grin, pointedly ignoring Alan and Blaine's identical smirks as I turned to face Billy. "You're the only person in the world who greets me like that."
"I better be." He grinned, capturing my lips with his own before releasing me and taking the seat across from mine.
I frowned slightly as I fully took in his expression. He looked…nervous. "Everything alright Billy?"
"Perfectly." He avoided my eyes, taking a too-big drink of his water and starting up idle conversation with Eric. I let it go for now, after all, Blaine was right, today was supposed to be happy. I could harass him about what was wrong later.
Celebrity Watch. April 1st
No Fools Happy Ending for America's Adventure Couple
This is no April Fool's joke folks; our favorite couple has found their fairy tale ending. That's right; I'm talking about Alexa Baker and Billy Brennan, who met on the doomed flight to Isla Sorna two years ago. Would anything have come from just that? Hard to say, but fate sealed them together when both landed back on the island that August. When they returned to civilian life, no one could get an interview with either of them. Fellow survivor Blaine Synova also stayed silent and refused to give any of us a clue of what went on.
So let's get to the exciting news shall we? There I was, visiting my parents in drab, dull, middle-of-nowhere Montana on March 20th, getting dinner at a little rundown diner,—though the food was surprisingly delicious and the service remarkably friendly—when a dinosaur-surviving reunion of sorts took place. Imagine my surprise when Dr. Alan Grant walked in with fellow Nublar adventurer Dr. Ellie Sattler. It was exciting for sure, especially when they sat in a booth just a few seats away from me. But that wasn't the end, newly re-wedded Amanda and Paul Kirby soon joined the couple with their son Eric, whose eight week stay on Sorna shall remain a record for the books. But the best part came minutes later, when Alexa, Blaine and Billy all entered and joined the group at the booth. It was a dream come true! America's favorite couple—and also the hardest to get in contact with—having an informal dinner at the very place I thought nothing interesting could happen!
Now to what you all want to hear. The group stayed and talked for a long while, I couldn't hear about what, but there was a familiarity and friendship among them that you don't see very often. They toasted the dead, drank to the living and regaled stories of life and laughter. Just when I thought I had seen all there was to see, Billy reached across the table and took Alexa's hand. An almost expectant kind of silence fell over the entire diner and I could hear every word he said.
"People always said there is a special person for everyone, that sometimes you just have to look around to find them. I didn't believe them, at least until two years ago when you got on that plane."
The smile he gave her was so full of love and devotion it made my heart melt, and a quick glance around showed nearly every woman with tears in her eyes. And then Billy got out of his seat, dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring.
"I can't imagine my life without you in it, we've been through hell and back and I love you more than words can express. So, Alexa Baker, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?"
That's right, Billy Brennan proposed to Miss Baker, two years to the day after they met, and she responded with a 'yes' and a kiss that had me blushing.
The diner erupted into applause and a round of drinks went around with the congratulations, and for a brief moment, everyone felt like one big family. So here's another congratulations to the couple, I wish you all the happiness in the world and may you never have to worry about survival again.
~Stephanie Fray
Was it true love that would last a lifetime? I didn't have a clue, but I was more than ready to give my heart to him and find out.
Fin
And there it is! Their story has come to an end. Please drop a review and let me know what you thought!
~Black Wolf-Dog~