Hey! Sorry about the wait for this chapter. I had gotten hurt at work and couldn't type for a few days. couldn't sit at the table because my knee would hurt, couldn't use my lap desk because my knee would also hurt. So I just waited until the day came where I could sit and not hurt! So I'm back, probably won't upload as quick as I was before, maybe every other day uploading.
This chapter is also a filler, dialogue a time old trope and getting the crew back together. Next chapter will be more plot and tension, I promise. Also more dinosaurs, other than the giga's there hasn't been any interactions. so that's obviously gotta change.
The walk was tense and quiet as the three worked their way past the spino's enclosure. Eric had kept an arm around her shoulders to keep her close, "just in case", he had told her as he kept an tense eye on the hut. Maria didn't bother asking why, she had heard the stories from Billy on how the spinosaurus had busted through the fence to get to them. Hell, they even came past the busted fence itself. She wondered how long the dinosaur had been locked up, a part of her was afraid to even question how long she would stay locked up.
"We should rest for the day," Eric said suddenly as they broke through the trees. There was a small clearing, a fenced in enclosure with some trucks thrown onto their sides as if they were attacked by something large. "This place is safe, we can spend the night here," he nodded to a truck not entirely enveloped in mud.
Maria nodded, grabbing the walkie and pressing the button. "Owen, are you still alive?"
"Blue and I are good," came the immediate reply. "The goons are also still with us," he added after a pause. "We were going to set up camp, I was going to let Blue run, she's been getting antsy."
"Sounds good, we're setting up camp too," Maria said as she leaned against the truck's side. Beside her, Eric was attempting to open the hatch on top of the truck. "I'll set Ripper loose, let him get his energy out." Ripper perked up at the promise to run. "We should hit that Ingen facility tomorrow, wait for us in the lot… you and I need to talk."
"Will do," Owen said, voice sounded reasonably concerned. "Is everything okay?"
"No, and it's something I'm not going to drop over the radio," she took a breath and closed her eyes. "We'll talk tomorrow," she promised.
"If you're sure, we'll be there," Owen said before they signed off.
Maria let out a sigh and looked at Ripper. "Go hunt," she said gently. "Don't go too far, and come back when you're finished," she added, smiling when he gave a nod before letting out a caw of excitement. "Don't terrorize anyone!" she called out after him as he turned tail and took off into the forest.
"Hope Owen made camp in a tree," Eric said with a soft snicker as he finally got it open. "Geez, the years had not been kind to this thing," he added with a wince as he rolled his shoulder. "Come on, I promise it's safe," he added as he noticed Maria eyeing it skeptically.
"We'll be able to get out?" She asked as she eyed the hatch.
"I'll put something in the hinges so it doesn't shut all the way," Eric promised. He held out a hand to her, "I'll help you up," he gave a dazzling smile when she finally took his hand and climbed into the truck.
Once inside, Maria took it all in. A messy bed pushed to the side, a shelf barely standing on the wall of the truck. Some items had fallen off, including a vial with a strange liquid inside. Brows furrowing, Maria bent to inspect it further. "Eric, what is this?" she asked as she reached for it, only to have it snatched away and tossed out of the truck. "What the hell."
"It's, uh," Eric couldn't even look at her as he turned his red face away from the hatch and back into the gloom. "It's tyrannosaur… tyrannosaur pee."
"Tyrannosaur… pee?" Suddenly she was thankful that she didn't touch the vial.
"Please don't ask me how I got it," he begged as he grabbed a tin box from the ground and shoved it into the hing. Once he was satisfied that it wasn't going to slam shut on them, he settled onto the toppled stairwell and stretched his legs out.
"Was this where you lived for those weeks?" She asked as she scanned the remaining items on the shelves, a smile on her face when Malcolms book looked back. She gingerly picked it up and scanned the title, one of his earlier books before he got too caught up in dinosaurs.
"Yeah," Eric gave her a soft smile as he looked around. "I never thought I'd see this again," he added softly as he finally settled on the far wall behind her. "Never thought I'd see a lot of things again," he added almost bitterly.
"The spino," Maria glanced at him as she skimmed through the book. She wondered if Kelly would send it to her dad next time the two got together.
"Yeah," Eric gave a shudder. "She was… tenacious. I had managed to avoid her pretty well up until I rescued Dr. Grant. And then suddenly I'm caught up in the terror of the hunt." He gave a shudder at the memory. "She was a nightmare."
"Billy told me some of it, he was out of it for the last stretch," she settled onto the bed as she looked up at the man. "I know it was harrowing, according to Grant," she paused and raised a brow at Eric. "Dr. Grant did not say you had rescued him," she added.
Eric snorted. "Not surprised," he leaned back and gave her a smirk. "He was surrounded by raptors and if I hadn't tossed a smoke bomb in the middle then he'd be history." He gave a soft chuckle. "Didn't know why he was surrounded for a little while…"
"The eggs," Maria shook her head. "Believe me, Billy caught hell at home when we found out he took their eggs." He was banned from the house for two days to atone for his crimes. Even then, whenever he tried to play the high horse in family arguments, he got knocked down with the mention of the eggs.
Eric snorted. "Good, but he did have good intentions," he added with a sigh.
"Yeah," Maria looked down. "The dig was going under, and he didn't want his dream job to end." Something she understood completely years later when she was hired on at Jurassic World. She shook her head and grabbed her bag to search for food. "You want a fruit cup?" She asked as Eric came over to take a seat next to her.
"Sure," he took it from her and leaned back more comfortably against the wall. He was silent as the two of them ate, occasionally glancing over at her as she slowly consumed her own fruit cup. Finally, he gave in. "How are you going to go about this?"
Maria sighed heavily as she stared into her fruit. "I don't know," she admitted. "I was always under the impression that these dinosaurs had to be destroyed… the hybrid had to be destroyed. But now…" she trailed off with a heavy heart. "It's still so cruel."
"You could always argue to rescue it," Eric suggested gently.
Maria shook her head. "The abuse, the years of neglect… I don't even know where to begin with trying to fix that. Ripper wasn't abused to the extent of this poor creature. I was able to stop the vast majority when it was present. This hybrid didn't have that, it probably won't trust any human."
She still shuddered to think what would have happened to Ripper if she hadn't been there at all. If he had no one to protect him, to keep him from being a complete murderous machine. There would have been a lot more deaths that night, Ripper's included. And now, now she was going to face down exactly what Ripper could have turned into. Now she had to send Ripper to fight the last of his species.
"We could set it loose," Eric suggested.
"And then that lends risk to the native species here," Maria sighed. "The Indominus was raised in captivity, alone, for years. And when she escaped she slaughtered almost every dinosaur she came across in an attempt to find out her place in the pecking order." She looked up at Eric finally. "This indoraptor would most definitely do that, being fed through gates does not do anything other than let you know that you are dangerous. And being thrusted into a larger world where you have no idea where you are or what everything around you is. It would destroy the ecosystem here."
"So death?" Eric didn't sound thrilled about it, and neither did she. But what other choice was there?
"Unless I can see something in that hybrid that could cast doubt that it won't be a lost cause, it has to be put down," Maria said finally. She wasn't going to let anyone die on this island, not if she could help it. And if this hybrid was indeed too dangerous to let live, she would have no choice but to comply.
"And if there is?" Eric prompted, head tilted to take in her reaction.
"Then I'll do what I have to," she said finally. "If that means punching someone to get my point across then so be it," she added as she glared at the wall slightly. She had two suited men in mind, one she was for sure going to punch even if the hybrid was indeed a lost cause. She just hated Vilks and his unwillingness to listen to her.
"I like that plan," Eric said with a soft chuckle. "Unless I'm on your punch list, then I like it a little less."
Maria let out a soft laugh as she looked back at him. "Nah, you're the last on the list. Be proud, you beat Owen and Billy," she said as she leaned back.
"Oh, it's always been my dream to beat those two," Eric grinned as he took the fruit cups and set them down on one of the shelves, he glanced at the dying light outside and then looked back at her. "You can take the bed, I'll take watch."
"You will not," Maria frowned at him. "We can either share or take turns," she would be angry at herself the rest of the trip if she was to take the bed and sleep through the night.
"But it, I," Eric looked lost a bit as he looked from her to the bed. "That's inappropriate?"
"It's a bed, we both need sleep," Maria raised a brow. "Unless you're planning something nefarious?"
"Of course not!" Eric was bright red as he looked at her wide eyed. "This is not the place for something like that!"
"So then there's no problem," Maria shrugged as she leaned back a bit. "Ripper will likely be outside the whole night sleeping so we'll hear if anything comes up. And we can sleep without the fear of falling out of a tree."
Eric pursed his lips as he stared at her, glanced back at the hatch, then nodded with a heavy sigh. "Fine, fine," he drew near with an apprehensive look on his face. "But if Billy and Owen try to beat me up, I expect you to vouch for me."
"Of course," Maria said with a smile as she settled near the wall and patted the empty space beside her. "Come, let's get some sleep."
Eric pursed his lips but nodded and gingerly reclined on the bed next to her. "We stay on separate sides," he put out the ground rule as he laid back on the pillow.
Maria glanced at the small bed. "Sure thing," she said, hiding her smile as she reclined fully. If they were both children then they'd be fine with that ground rule. However, Eric was six foot tall and she was a thick lady. They were not going to stay on their own side in this small ass bed.
The ground rule, as expected, was thrown out the window come morning. The two had awoken in an embrace, Maria pressed against Eric's chest with his arms around her to keep her close. She herself had wrapped her own arms loosely around his waist and a leg somewhat curled around his. The two had woken around the same time, and each had tensed before Eric literally threw himself off of the bed with a red face and a thousand apologies. She had tried to wave it off, small bed and two people, cuddling was bound to happen. Even if she was embarrassed about it, she was going to be an adult about it.
Eric, however, was not.
He was still apologizing an hour later as they walked through the forest. It was honestly getting on her nerves at this point. She just wanted to put it behind them and move on, and he was still caught up in the morning. She was about to send Ripper at him, not to kill but maybe a quick scare….
"Eric, if you don't stop I will sic either Ripper or Owen on you," she warned finally, ignoring Ripper's chirp. "We are both adults, can we stop acting like that was the end of the world?"
"I, yeah," Eric closed his eyes and nodded. "I'm sorry, it was just… unexpected and not how I was imagining things to go," he gave her an apologetic smile. "I'll be an adult, I promise."
"Good, because I need you to be here," Maria gave him a smile as she bumped his shoulder with hers.
"I'm here," Eric promised as he bumped back. "Sorry to disappoint, Rip."
Ripper growled and stalked off a bit ahead with a disappointed drag of his tail. Maria let out a soft laugh as she shook her head. The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence for the first time today.
"Are we getting close to the facility?" She asked finally as they came to a clearing.
"Yeah, we just gotta cross this and then we'll be there," he said with a nod towards the empty field.
Maria pursed her lips as she eyed it skeptically. "Or we could go around the edges?" She didn't like the idea of walking out into the open when anything could be around watching them. Especially if they were near raptor territory, at least it was nineteen years ago when Billy was here.
"Normally I'd agree, but with Ripper here I think we'd have a little security," Eric gave the hybrid a respectful nod. "So far he's given zero indication that there is something nearby. Maybe some compy's."
Ripper let out a growl at the mention of the little green gremlins, but otherwise stayed still as he waited for Maria to give the go ahead to go into the field. He was being so good, it made her heart warm. She could almost believe in a world where there were indoraptors trained with their military handlers. Going into the fields, racing alongside the trucks.
"Alright," she said with a nod. "But let's walk fast, Owen said they were already within eyesight of the place."
"You thought about what you're going to say to him?" Eric asked as they exited into the sunlit field. Their gate was fast as they followed Ripper, watching him as he stalked through the grass tall and proud.
"The truth," Maria said as she watched Ripper. "Get his take, and hopefully we can find a plan that will work together."
"I'm with you, you know," Eric said as they made it to the halfway point. "I am always willing to punch in a pretty girl's honor."
Maria snorted. "Appreciate that," she said shaking her head. "Hope it doesn't come to that, but maybe we can find an alternative, something that can give us all a happy ending."
"If anyone could find that, you would be the one," Eric said with a confident smile. "I mean, look at what you did with Ripper," he nodded at the hybrid. "Under other circumstances, he would have been labeled as a lost cause and destroyed long ago. You saw the potential, you saw the dinosaur he could be if allowed the opportunity to grow and experience affection. You can do that again," he added the last part in a whisper.
"I hope you're right," Maria said as they exited the clearing.
She needed all the backup she could get.
She spotted Owen before he spotted them, leaning against a battered car glaring at the men in front of him. A greeting caw sounded from Blue as she bolted out of the forest and raced to meet them. Ripper surged forward a responding caw of his own as the two met halfway. Owen looked up and gave a relieved wave as he saw them on the ridge. The two of them made their way down, going past the two dinosaurs caught up in a conversation.
"Glad you two made it," Owen said as he enveloped Maria into a hug. "You said we need to talk?"
Maria swallowed thickly and nodded a bit aways from the group. "Let's go somewhere more private."
"Ms. Brennan, if it concerns this investigation you need to inform us immediately," Wilson took a step forward.
"It doesn't," Maria lied as she glared at them. "We'll be back," she grabbed Owen's arm and dragged him a few yards away until they were out of earshot of the agents with Eric running interference.
"What's wrong?" Owen looked at her, eyes scanning for any clues.
"We ran into Henry," Maria said after a moment of debate. "Saw the caged spino and he told us something… something that made this whole mess even worse."
"Oh no," Owen placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "What did he say?"
"It's Echo," she whispered, wincing when his hand fell from her shoulder in shock. "In the other hybrid, it's Echo."
"He put our other girl into that?" Owen's voice was low as he followed along. Daring to look up, Maria winced at the storm brewing in his eyes.
"Yes, and I don't know what to do," she whispered. "How do we save something that might be too far gone?"
"Well we're going to have to!" Owen pinched the bridge of his nose. "We can't just give up on it now! Not knowing that our girl is in there!"
"I know," Maria looked up at him with wet eyes. "But how? You're the animal behaviorist, help me."
"I am, I will," Owen looked at her. "We'll figure it out, we always have. First we gotta find the hybrid, then we'll take care of the problems," he threw a glare at the FBI agents. "We'll do it together, Maria. You, me and Eric, we're a team here."
Maria felt a wave of relief. She wouldn't be alone in her plan to rehabilitate the indoraptor. Not now, and not when they find it. She just had to hope that Ripper would still be on her side when the time came. She couldn't imagine a world where he wasn't anymore, the years they had together lasted almost a lifetime for her.
She just hoped the challenges up ahead wouldn't break down the trust he put in her.
oh my god there was only one bed. I had to okay? I wanted to take them into the bunker as a homage to JP 3, and realized "hey, there's not gonna be two beds in there" and I'm a sucker for tropes so.
I'm still in the debate of do I keep the white indoraptor alive or do I let her die? Realistically, she'd have to be put down due to the vast amount of trauma. But when has the Jurassic Park franchise ever depended on realism? (looking at you, Dr. Grant, climbing down that wall on a cable in the rain. I'm looking at you.) So any thoughts about that would be VERY appreciated because I really do love it when you guys drop comments about what you'd like to see or how you think something would go.
Also, unrelated to this story, but to any of you who have read my other Jurassic Park fics, those are going to be going through a massive rewrite soon. When I wrap this story up, I'll focus on that trilogy.