They hit the ground hard, Alan giving an 'oof' as Virgil toppled on top of him. "We have got to work out a better landing," he grumbled, once he managed to get his breath back.

"Sorry, Sprout," Virgil said, rolling to his feet and looking around with a frown. This location didn't look anything like the last, which could have been a blessing but was instead putting him in an intense state of unease.

They were in a building, but a dilapidated one. It looked—and felt—like they were in a tropical region, the air thick and humid, and the greenery was spreading through the building via vines and moss. There was a lot of scientific looking equipment that had been left to rot by whoever had last been here, and Virgil was not liking the look of a lot of it.

Alan scrambled to his feet, looking around with wide blue eyes. "Virge? You know where we are?" It was eerily familiar.

"In-Gen?" Virgil asked back, squinting at one of the metal panels on the wall. "In-Gen. Why does that sound familiar?" Alan had gone stock still at the sound of the name, his face paling dramatically. "Sprout?"

"Remember those old movies I like?" Alan asked, swallowing audibly. "The ones with the dinosaurs?"

"Dinosaurs," Virgil deadpanned.

Outside the building they were in, something let off a distinctly unfamiliar bellow.

Well, crap.

"Okay," Virgil said slowly, looking around a little more carefully. He noted the wicked looking claw marks on the walls with a wince. "We just need to find a place to hole up for the next two days or so and we'll be fine."

"Yeah," Alan said distantly, his tone a little disbelieving. "Let's not hole up here, though, okay?" he asked, gulping a little. His foot nudged a rotted bundle of cloth and there was a rather disconcerting rattle that came from them. Virgil stepped closer, crouching next to the bundle and carefully straightening it out.

Bones fell out, covered with rotted flesh and muscle. Parts of a ribcage, sternum and spinal column. The cloth itself held a patch of gray and white, reading In-Gen Security. Alan gagged behind him, and Virgil was hard pressed not to do the same. They'd been on many recovery missions over the past few years, far more than they'd ever wanted to be on, but those bodies had at least all been relatively fresh. And mostly whole. Virgil met Alan's eyes with a grimace, pulling the patch free and pocketing it. He didn't know why, exactly, just felt that whoever that poor soul was, they deserved to be remembered somehow.

"Let's go," Virgil murmured. "Best to travel while it's still light out." Because according to the sunlight filtering weakly through the broken windows, it was somewhere around midday here. They'd left the SGC at eight in the morning.

"Right," Alan murmured, chewing on his lip. "Crap. It's been so long since I watched those movies," he muttered softly. He'd watched them so many times, though, that he still knew the most useless information about them.

"Well, anything you can tell me will help," Virgil said, inching around a broken desk. Something skittered out in the next room over and the both of them froze for a moment. At the ensuing silence, they continued on. "I can barely remember your dinosaur phase."

"Because I was, like, eight," Alan practically whispered, holding his injured arm and HEMERA close to his body. "You were at Denver," he said, speaking of the top tier university that Virgil had attended. "Scott was in the Air Force and Johnny was at NASA and Gordon was still at that boarding school. The one he dropped out of," Alan explained a little uselessly. He was rambling because he was nervous and Virgil saw no harm in letting him continue at that moment, because they were both being quiet about it. "And Dad was so focused on those rockets that I was home alone a lot and frankly was tired of rockets at that point. So, I focused on dinosaurs." Anything different from rockets and space and oceans and jets, the complete opposite of what had been taking his family away from him at the time. And the Jurassic Park franchise had, like, ten movies that he could binge watch. Maybe not appropriate for an eight-year-old, but he'd loved them.

Virgil frowned, feeling that unsettling but familiar feeling of guilt pool in his gut. He didn't like reminders of the few years Alan had spent more or less alone on the island until Scott had left the Air Force. Their Dad hadn't been entirely upfront about the youngest child then, and it still rankled a bit. "I'm sorry, Allie," he murmured.

"So not the point," Alan said, waving it away and stepping through the door into the large main room at what they assumed was the front of the building. "The point is my memory about this stuff might be a little fuzzy." They paced past what looked like an old reception desk, eyeing the front wall of the building.

Or, rather where that wall was supposed to be. Instead, there was a massive hole, as though something had crashed into the wall and knocked it down from the outside. Rubble was scattered across the ground, spread in a way that indicated a large object had merely swept it aside. "If this world even follows the movies," Alan added on. "I can't even tell you what island we're on."

Virgil glanced at him, adjusting the strap of his duffle bag. "Island?"

"In-Gen used a series of islands near the Caribbean to make their dinosaurs and parks on," Alan explained. "There's like five or six, I think. Isla Nublar, Isla Sorna, Isla Muerta—"

"Muerta?" Virgil interrupted incredulously.

"Fills you with warm fuzzies, doesn't it?" Alan asked, carefully picking over some rubble that had gone green with moss. "I don't' know which island we're on. I don't know what dinosaurs are out there. I just know we're probably not safe."

"How accurate are the dinosaurs?" Virgil questioned, grabbing Alan's arm before he could trip. They were edging towards that giant hold in the wall. He could smell salt on the air, indicating that there was a beach not too far from here, but he didn't think that heading to the open like that was a good idea. Alan absently checked the phone at the reception desk as he passed it, not surprised to find it dead. The place looked like it had been abandoned for years, at least.

"They're not," Alan murmured. "The movies were made a really long time ago. Before they even knew that a lot of dinosaurs had feathers. And they got velociraptors and Utahraptors mixed up." He gave a wobbly smile. "It's the raptors you have to watch out for. They hunt in packs and they're scary smart."

Virgil gave a slow nod and motioned for Alan to follow him. And the two stepped out of the building and into the jungle. Frankly, Virgil didn't know if that was a smart decision either because the building offered at least a little protection. But Alan had seemed incredibly unsettled there, and there was evidence that something had gotten in to eat at least some of the workers there, so it was probably better to just move on. To try and find some small, easily defendable spot that they could hide out in for about two days.

That's all they needed. Two or so days. Just enough for HEMERA to recharge and then they'd be on their way.

"Hey, maybe we'll be lucky, and this world will be one where all the dinosaurs died off?" Alan said, trying to sound hopeful. Something chittered nearby, the bushes rattling. And then a small group of tiny two-legged reptiles burst out of the bush and took off running. Alan stumbled back against Virgil, who caught him around the waist and held him close for a moment.

"Sorry sprout," he sighed, ruffling the blond hair beneath his chin with his breath. "No dice." He eyed the jungle warily, eyes narrowing at the obvious path through the thick foliage. It was also overgrown but had clearly been a dirt road at one point. "Let's keep moving," he said, letting go of Alan and urging him forward with a hand in the center of his back.

They followed the road, going deeper into the jungle. And Virgil and Alan were both more than familiar with tropical plants, not only having them on their own island, but having traveled to pretty much every corner of the planet. But there were plants here that they'd never seen before, ones that were too big, too weird. Too…ancient. It was just as unsettling as the distant noises they could hear, echoing across the island.

They stayed right on the edge of the path, not wanting to lose sight of it but not all that eager to put themselves out in the open. About twenty minutes in, after munching a ration bar each and carefully pocketing the wrappers –no need to let anything know they were there, right?—they broke into a clearing. And they froze, jaws dropping in shock.

In front of them stood a massive gate, it's large pyramid-esque pillars a bit worn and dilapidated. One of the gigantic wooden doors was splintered and hanging by a single hinge. But the words crossing the top of the gate in a gentle arch were still resplendent in their bright red paint.

Jurassic Park.

"Isla Nublar, then," Alan said with a voice that was a little shaky. Eight-year-old him would have been so excited.

Eight-year-old him was stupid.

"Is that bad?" Virgil asked, staring up at the gate. He didn't want to know what could have broken it the way it had been. He could see where torches would have been lit down the sides of the pillars, and honestly, the sight would have been immensely impressive to drive up on once upon a time.

Breathtaking even.

"Nothing about this is good, V," Alan said in reply, throwing his hands up. At least this island didn't have a Spinosaurus for them to have to deal with. If this world followed the movies, that was, which Alan wasn't about to bank on. Not with their luck.

"I'm not exactly thrilled about it myself, Sprout," Virgil grumbled. "If we go forward, what should we expect to find?" He'd never watched the movies, never having the time when Alan had been going through that dinosaur phase. He'd listened to Alan ramble about them for hours, though. The only silver lining this world had was the fact that Alan had at least a little insight into it. Obsessions be damned, Virgil was never going to tease any of his brothers over any of their passions ever again. Even Gordon with his Buddy and Ellie obsession.

Okay. Maybe not that.

Alan drew in a breath, still staring up at that sign, absently cradling his arm again, fingers stroking down the shiny metal scales of HEMERA. "Eventually we'd reach the main building," he said, frowning as he thought back, searching his memory. "The building itself probably isn't safe, but there's a bunker there that we might be able to use."

"Bunker sounds good," Virgil said with a decisive nod. They could lock themselves in for a day or two. It probably wouldn't be comfortable, but Jeff had set them up with enough supplies that camping wouldn't be a problem. Not really. Not unless something else happened.

"Gotta make it past the exhibits though," Alan whispered to himself, glancing back at his brother. Not that he felt that the exhibits were actually holding anything. It was more likely that they'd become territories for these beasts though. "Shall we?" he asked, raising his voice just enough to be heard.

"We shall," Virgil said. And they walked through the gates.

Alan sighed. "Welcome to Jurassic Park."