Chapter 7

Owen was swaying in his hammock with a beer clutched in his hand, watching as the sun slowly set over his lake when the sound of a car interrupted his evening. He had one leg dangling out of the hammock, pushing lightly against the ground to keep him moving. His gaze moved from away from the lake, surprised to see Claire's Mercedes entering his lot. He'd assumed it was Barry coming to hang out for a bit, as he was generally the only one who stopped by.

He waited until she'd parked and got out, watching her gaze dart around his lot, before he raised a hand in a quick wave and called out "Hi."

"Hey," Claire said, walking over towards him. He used the couple of seconds it took her to approach to give her a quick once-over. She was still dressed in a pristine business suit and heels, but it was the scowl on her face that mainly caught his attention. He hadn't interacted with her since they'd met up at Starbucks, so he wasn't sure what he could've done to have brought that about.

"What's wrong?" Owen asked as she stopped, her gaze focused past him, watching the sunset. Although, unlike for him, it didn't seem to be making her any calmer. When she didn't say anything, he asked again. "What brought you out here?"

"I just…" Claire started, before groaning, and then, to Owen's surprise, she started pacing beside his hammock, her hands clenched in fists. Owen held back a chuckle, watching as her heels sunk into the soft earth, making her gait almost unsteady, but it didn't seem to phase her.

Just as he was about to ask her again what's wrong, and he was also starting to worry that maybe she'd heard the rumours that they were dating and was there to confront him, she finally started talking. Well, venting would be more accurate.

"I told him. I told him so many times, Owen," Claire ranted, barely sparing a look in his direction as she went by, which meant she missed his look of surprise when she called him 'Owen.' "But nooo, of course they don't listen to me. What do I know? It's not like I spend my days poring over all the data. It's not like it's me they come after when there are injuries. And when someone dies–" Her voice cut off, but he heard her anguish. He watched as she paused, her back to him, and she brought her hands up and covered her face, muffling a scream.

Owen had heard that something had gone down at Paddock 11 that morning. And there were rumours that someone had died. He hadn't believed it, since most rumours around Jurassic World seemed to struggle with the truth. He climbed out of the hammock, not feeling right lying there relaxed as Claire stood there looking so upset. But, before he could move towards her, she turned to face him.

"I'm the one who hired him," Claire looked at him, her eyes beseeching, although he wasn't sure what he could do. "I knew she was dangerous. Hell, you said it was only a matter of time before something else happened."

"What else could you have done?" Owen asked, taking a step towards her, then pausing when she stumbled back.

"They're going to put her down," Claire told him, turning away from him again, gaze focused on the hint of the sun that was left in the sky. "They'll have to. We can't exhibit her anymore."

"That's…" Owen trailed off. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't like the idea of putting down animals. But he also wasn't surprised that things were going to end this way for the Indominus. It felt pretty inevitable.

"Yeah," Claire turned back to him again, her shoulders sagging, a sad look on her face. "I want to be mad. I feel like I should be mad over all the lost time and money and energy I put into it. But, I'm just… I don't know." She kicked at a clump of dirt.

There was a long pause and then Owen asked, hesitantly, "Want a beer?"

"What?"

"A beer," Owen raised the bottle he was still holding.

"I–" Claire looked ready to refuse before she nodded.

Owen ducked into his trailer, grabbing a fresh beer for himself and one for Claire before returning. He was surprised to find that she was now in his hammock. It was a bit of an odd sight, with her still in her business suit, although he saw that she'd kicked off her heels. If she hadn't looked so forlorn, he would've commented on it, but instead he just silently handed over the beer.

He grabbed one of his folding chairs and sat down in it, swinging his legs up and using the end of the hammock as a footrest, watching as she picked at the label, not really drinking it.

"It's all my fault."

Owen almost didn't catch it, the words coming out in a whisper.

"Of course it's not your fault," he immediately disagreed. "It's not like you created the Indominus. You didn't ask for this."

"But I didn't fight against it," Claire met his gaze. "I could've argued for something else, and I didn't. I thought it was a good idea."

o-o-o

"How come you didn't tell me you went out with him again?" Zara asked, as she and Claire waited in line at Starbucks for their afternoon pick-me-up.

"Went out with who?" Claire asked distractedly, focused on replying to the latest email from Masrani. The two weeks since the Indominus had been euthanized had flown by in a whirl of meetings as the park scrambled to contain any possible fallout. A death on the island was always going to be bad publicity, and right now, the only silver lining Claire could see, was that that they hadn't formally announced Verizon Wireless as the official sponsor, so that bridge, while slightly burned, was still mostly standing.

"Owen," Zara said, nudging her in the side.

"I'm not dating Owen," Claire replied reflexively.

"I didn't say dating," Zara said, before adding after a brief pause. "Although now that's what I'm thinking."

Claire sighed, turning her phone off before looking over at Zara. "What are you talking about anyway?"

"There's been rumours going around," Zara admitted, taking a step forward with the line. "Considering I generally know what's going on with you, I'm sure most of them aren't true bu–"

"Most of them? How many are there?" There were always rumours about her, Claire knew that. Although, it generally seemed to cycle through a few regular ones about her work and how she got the position she had.

"That you guys were see on a date at Starbucks a few weeks ago," Zara started, ticking them off on her fingers as she went. "And then, apparently, on a date over on the mainland last weekend, although, I don't believe that one. That you're car has been seen coming and going from his place. That you've been visiting him at the raptor paddock. That you and him…" Zara blushed, trailing off.

"That we what?" Claire asked, already wincing knowing she wasn't going to like it.

"Something about you and him," Zara started, mumbling a bit that Claire didn't catch, before finishing with, "in your office." Zara took in Claire's angry expression, and quickly added. "I don't believe that one either. And whenever anyone's said it, I've told them there's no way it's true."

"I'm starting to think people don't have enough work to do," Claire said, before stepping forward to place her order, Zara following quickly. Once they had moved to the side to wait for their drinks, Claire turned to Zara again. "You know it's not true, right?"

"Of course," Zara nodded. The two fell silent, waiting for their names to be called out. Once they were, and as they were exiting the Starbucks, Zara raised the topic again. "To be honest, I'm not sure when you'd find the time," she admitted. "I mean, if I wasn't living with Alec, I'm not sure when I'd see him. Especially not these past couple of weeks."

"I don't even know that I'd have time to see someone I was living with," Claire admitted. "By the time I walk through my door, I can barely keep my eyes open."

The last time she'd taken a moment to breathe was the night she had been out at Owen's place. She hadn't meant to stay. Hell, she hadn't even meant to go out there in the first place. But she'd been struggling to deal with her swirling emotions around the whole tragedy, and had found herself driving out to his lot, looking for someone she could vent to, someone who might, sort of, understand. And then he'd offered her a beer, and the hammock had looked so inviting, she'd climbed in before she'd even realized what she was doing, enjoying the cocoon-like feeling as it adjusted around her. She hadn't stayed all that late. Just for the one beer. And they'd mostly just hung out in comfortable silence as the sky grew steadily darker. She'd enjoyed the quiet solitude, watching as the stars appeared, sprinkled across the night sky. It had been a while since she'd taken a moment to just stop and look up. Too long, really.

She still wasn't really sure what to think of the whole evening. Or, more specifically, how to interpret Owen's behaviour. While he'd seemed sort of surprised she'd shown up, he hadn't pushed her away. And he'd hadn't pressed, either, just offering silent comfort and camaraderie. When she'd got up to leave, he'd walked silently beside her over to her car, offering up a soft "good night" as she'd climbed in. When she'd glanced in her rear view mirror, taking one last look back at his place as she left, Claire had seen him heading back towards the hammock. While she knew they weren't dating, she thought that maybe, just maybe, they were friends now. Or almost friends. Or heading in that direction. Unexpected, but not unwelcome.

Her cell phone pinged in her pocket, and Claire pulled it out, reading the subject line of the email notification with a groan.

"What now?" Zara asked, the two taking the long route back to the control building, purposefully trying to get a few more minutes away from the hustle and bustle.

"Masrani," Claire said, shoving her phone back in her pocket without opening the email. "He's been sending me nonstop messages and emails about what are we going to do now that we no longer have the Indominus. It's a big hole in our budget. We need something to replace it."

"They're not thinking of making another, are they?" Zara questioned, sounding a bit horrified by the thought.

"No," Claire confirmed. "Not an Indominus. There's been a lot of ideas, and not all dinosaurs. The waterpark could use an upgrade and the petting zoo an expansion. All things we've been talking about, but–"

"–But not big enough for the sort of boost the Indominus was going to bring," Zara finished.

"Yeah," Claire nodded. "The loss of the sponsorship is really the big thing. The money wasn't just going to just cover the Indominus. There're lots of infrastructure needs coming up, now that we've been around for 10 years. Wear and tear takes it toll." Claire looked around, taking in what the tourists didn't seem to notice; the buildings that were starting to get a bit rundown at the edges, a couple of missing bricks on the path covered by a traffic cone, bumps in the sidewalk as roots pushed their way forward. Nature was always trying to take the island back.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Zara reassured.

"I'll have to," Claire agreed. "It's a bit too bad we don't have another species ready to go. A herbivore, preferably."

"Yes, please," Zara said enthusiastically. The two looked at each other, before bursting into laughter.

It was interrupted by another ping from Claire's phone. She groaned, but pulled it out. She couldn't afford to ignore it, never knowing if it was just Masrani with another idea, or an actual emergency. Looking down, she saw another email from him, but this time the subject line had her opening it up. Skimming it over quickly, she stopped in her tracks.

Zara took a step past her, before also stopping, turning back with a frown. "What is it?"

"Apparently Wu does have another dinosaur up his sleeve."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Zara asked, brow furrowed.

"I don't think it's the cuddly herbivore we're hoping for. The only details Mr. Masrani has supplied is that it'll be 'just as impressive, but not as volatile' as the Indominus."

o-o-o

After reading Masrani's email about Wu, Claire immediately had Zara schedule her a meeting with him. She didn't want this time to turn out like last time, and she was determined to push harder. To require more answers and to not let things slide as much as she had, in hindsight, with the Indominus. Owen's words about how T. rex's can't camouflage or hide from thermal detection were echoing in her mind. He was right. She could predict certain needs of the dinosaur from their base genome, but it clearly didn't supply enough information. They had used their knowledge about the T. rex to design and build Paddock 11, and it hadn't been enough to contain the Indominus. She wasn't going to risk the same thing happening this time.

"Henry," Claire greeted him as he entered her office. She'd also insisted the meeting took place on her turf, not in his lab, as a way of trying to wrestle a bit of control away from him. She knew he liked to be the one in charge and the one behind the desk, and that he saw himself as the true father of Jurassic World, considering he'd been involved from the very start at Jurassic Park. She identified with the control part, and, to a degree, feeling responsible for Jurassic World. Claire may not have brought the dinosaurs back to life, but she'd given more than her fair share in blood, sweat, and tears.

"Claire," Henry Wu said as he carefully sat down in the seat opposite her, crossing his legs and clasping his hands together to rest on one knee.

"I assume you know why I've asked for this meeting?" Claire said calmly.

"Simon's told you about the new asset," Henry replied equally calm.

"Yes," Claire stated. "He didn't have much information. Is this a hybrid? What is it made from?"

"It is another hybrid," Henry nodded, sitting back in his chair. He shifted until his elbows were resting on the armrests and the tips of his fingers were touching in front of him. "I can't tell you much, you know that, Claire. My research is classified."

"Don't pull that line on me," Claire said, pushing back from her desk. "The Indominus was a disaster. We can't go down that road again."

"We're not making another Indominus," Henry dismissed her concerns.

"What's this one based on? What are the main features you're going for? Will it be as big as the Indominus? Will there be a sibling?" Claire fired off the series of questions without pause.

"The exact genetic makeup hasn't been finalized yet. It is expected that this one will be smaller than the T. rex–probably half the size. And you know we always incubate multiple eggs. Siblings will depend on the survival rates."

"Not finalized…" Claire repeated slowly. "What's the timeline we're working with here?"

"We hope to start incubating the eggs in April, May at the latest."

"When will I get more details? I won't move forward with as few details as last time," Claire insisted. "I need more to work with. We're going to do things differently this time."

"That's not up to me," Henry reminded her. "I'm under my own NDAs, just like you. For now, my main responsibility is to finish this asset and make sure it's viable. What happens after that? That's not my concern."

"It should be," Claire said. "Keeping this place running hinges on our ability to keep everyone safe – guests, employees, dinosaurs. I can't do that when I don't know what I'm working with."

"You'll have to take that up with someone else," Henry gave a one-shoulder shrug. "There's nothing more I can tell you." He stood up, heading for the door, pausing in the doorway to look back at her. "The Indominus may not have worked out, but she wasn't a mistake. Everything we create here, every problem we encounter, just provides more data that we can use going forward. Make no mistake, we learned a lot from the Indominus."

o-o-o

Owen couldn't say he was surprised when he received another text message from Claire. He didn't see it until the end of his day, when he was getting ready to leave the paddock, as he didn't keep his phone on him. He didn't want to have his phone around, but even if he had, having it beep and chime around the raptors would just be another distraction he (and them) didn't need. Instead, he kept stored it on his desk during the workday.

There were two messages. The first just said I'm worried, and the second Can we meet? Considering she hadn't asked when she'd shown up at his place, he was a little surprised she bothered to this time. He replied simply Sure, do you want to come over tonight?

She'd balked at that, saying it wasn't a good idea she went out to his place and he wondered if she'd heard the rumours going around, too. Not wanting to get into a big debate over it, especially over text, he just asked her when and where. He wasn't sure what he was expecting her to suggest, but the top of the gondola wasn't it. She said she was busy that night, but suggested a couple of time slots late the next day. It all felt very transactional, like he was booking an appointment. He felt sure he was being scheduled onto to her calendar just like a meeting. Whatever, he liked the gondola and the trails at the top and hadn't been up there lately. He'd take the excuse to get out there.

Owen got there an hour early. He was not normally one to show up early for anything, but they were meeting in the evening and he wanted a chance to enjoy the view at the top and go for a short hike, preferably not in the dark.

"I didn't think you knew how to be early."

Owen turned from his place in line to see Claire, who had come to stand beside him.

"I'm not, usually," Owen admitted. "But I thought if I was going to go all the way up, I'd get in a quick hike before we met."

"Great minds," Claire said, giving him a genuine smile. Owen took the moment to actually look her over. She was dressed similarly to how he'd seen her when her nephews were out, although with dark khakis and a t-shirt paired with hiking shoes, not Converse. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt her tugging on his arm. "Follow me."

He trailed after her, as she went around the outside of the line, opening up a gate towards the attendant, and giving him a wave. Owen watched silently as the attendant gave them a quick nod, and when the next gondola arrived, they were ushered in first.

The gondola had room for eight people, four on each side. The rest of the seats were quickly taken by another couple and a family. Owen was sitting on the outside, with Claire next to him and the couple beside her, with the family facing them. He leaned back, ready to enjoy the quick ten minute ride to the top. He knew Claire wouldn't bring up whatever she had to share until they got off, not with guests close enough to easily overhear.

When the gondola finally bumped off the platform, with a bit of a sway back and forth, he felt nails biting into his arm. He looked down and saw that Claire had grabbed a hold of his left arm just above his wrist.

"You okay?" Owen asked, turning to meet her gaze.

"Sorry," Claire said weakly, letting go of his arm, only to tightly clench her hands together in her lap. "These things always make me nervous."

"Heights?" Owen was curious.

"More the rocking motion and constantly feeling about to fall," Claire admitted.

"Why'd you suggest it, then?"

"The view at the top is worth it. And there's not a lot of places we can meet privately," Claire shrugged. "Besides, caving to fears just makes you weak."

"You, weak?" Owen laughed.

"Everyone has weaknesses," Claire said. "Even you, I'm sure."

"Me?" Owen pretended to be shocked. "Come on, Claire. I'm perfect, no weaknesses anywhere."

Claire gave him a long look, and Owen was happy to see that she was relaxing, distracted from the gondola. "Hmm, you know, you strike me as the type of person who might be ticklish." She raised her hand as if to reach out for him.

"You wouldn't dare," Owen said, flinching and then leaning towards the side of the gondola, as far away from her as he could.

"I would," Claire said, nodding, before dropping her hand back into her lap as she looked around them. "But, not here where you'd probably just make it rock more." She shuddered at the thought, and Owen chuckled, straightening back up in his seat.

They rode the last few minutes in mostly silence, listening to the chatter around them. As they disembarked, Owen followed behind Claire as she cut through the crowd, leading them towards the trail map. "What's your favourite?" Claire asked, turning to look at him once they were standing in front of it.

"When I have the time, I really like the Cretaceous Challenge," Owen said, pointing out the longest trail on the map. It continued from where they were up to the actual peak, before curling around the small mountain the gondola was on and descending down the backside. At the base, it cut back around, coming out near the start of the gondola. "Although, when I do that one, I usually hike up and take the gondola down." He glanced over at her, to see her nodding in agreement. "I was actually thinking of just doing the Triassic Trek tonight."

"Sounds good," Claire agreed. The Triassic Trek headed south, dipping down a bit before climbing the adjacent peak. It was an out and back trail that was about 4 miles round trip. Because of the distance and "intermediate" warning designation, it was usually pretty empty.

They headed off towards the trail in silence, neither of them saying anything for the first ten minutes or so, walking side by side along the wider part of the trail. As they started climbing up towards the next peak, Claire broke the silence.

"He's creating something new," Claire huffed.

"Who?" Owen asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Henry. And he won't tell me what it is."

"Another Indominus?"

"No," Claire replied immediately. "I got him to confirm that much. But he wouldn't even tell me the base genome this time. Said they were still finalizing it."

"That's… odd," Owen agreed. "I mean, I would think that would be the first decision they make."

"Oh, I'm sure they've made it," Claire said, her voice resigned. "He already knew it wouldn't be as big as the T. rex."

"Why aren't they telling you?" Owen was confused. He'd always viewed Claire as a bit of the all-knowing, all-powerful "Wizard of Oz" person running the park. It was disconcerting to think there were areas she was being kept in the dark.

"They never give us all the details," Claire replied after a moment. "I mean, there's a lot of genetic stuff that I don't get, and that I don't need to know. I don't expect to know where every fragment of DNA comes from. But these hybrids… They're being treated so differently. So much more secretively."

"Why even create a hybrid? There are hundreds of dinosaur species. Surely you guys have the DNA for some that aren't already in the park."

"We do," Claire nodded. "And they're being worked on, too. But people have expectations for the dinosaurs they've heard about and read about. A hybrid would be something brand new. The excitement factor, the anticipation…"

"Like I said before, they're dinosaurs. Wow enough." Owen commented with a shrug.

"Yeah, well," Claire sighed. "You don't have to deal with all the marketing around it. Your job isn't tied to how many people walk off that ferry each day, and how much they spend. We've been open for just over ten years now. Expectations are different. We need repeat visitors. And nothing brings people back faster than a 'can't miss' attraction."

"I'm so glad I'm not you," Owen said, surprised when Claire immediately laughed.

"Trust me, me too," she said, grinning at him. "I can't imagine what this place would look like if you were in control."

"Hey," Owen couldn't even pull off looking fake offended as he laughed with her. It definitely would be a lot different if he was the boss. A lot less people, although that would be on purpose.

They continued on their walk in silence until they reached the end of the trail. There was a bit of a rock ledge that was a good place to sit and take in the view, and they both went straight to it. Owen pulled out the water bottle he'd tucked into his back pocket and gulped down half. Claire shrugged off a small backpack, before pulling out her own and doing the same.

"How come you're coming to me?" Owen asked curiously. "Why not Masrani?"

"Mr. Masrani likes to think he knows everything that's happening," Claire confessed after a long pause. "But he's very out of the loop. He sees what he wants to see and ignores the rest."

"Sounds like Hoskins," Owen said with disgust.

"Similar," Claire admitted. "But at least Mr. Masrani's got good intentions. I don't know that I can say that about Hoskins."

"That's true," Owen nodded. "But, still, why me?"

"Who else?" Claire said. "I mean, seriously. I don't know who else who would believe me that this might not be a good thing. And, in my position, I can't actually be seen questioning it. Not from the outside. I'm the representative. I can't appear at odds with what we're doing."

"Are you?" Owen asked. "At odds, I mean."

"I don't know," Claire shrugged. "I wish I knew more. After the Indominus… I don't feel like I can say with the amount of information they're giving me."

"Yeah," Owen hummed his agreement. "What are you going to do?"

"Try to learn more," Claire said. "Although, I'm not sure how yet. I still don't even know what the Indominus was made of. I might start there."

"Do you want some help?" Owen asked before he'd even thought through the implications.

"You'd want to help?" Claire looked skeptical.

"Who doesn't like a good mystery?" Owen grinned at her. "Besides, I could use something to fill my free time."

"You have free time?" Claire asked, like the concept was foreign to her.

"Apparently you get some, too," Owen said, giving her a gentle nudge. "I mean, you're out here, after all."

"Speaking of which," Claire looked down at her watch. "We need to be heading back. I could only carve out a couple of hours."

"Yeah, I don't want your life," Owen agreed, standing up and following her back along the trail. "I mean, I feel like I'm at the beck and call of my raptors, and even I get more than two consecutive hours to myself."

"I like to work," Claire replied. "I generally don't mind it."

"Work hard, play hard," Owen gave a suggestive wink, when she looked over at him. "That's my motto anyway."

"Yeah, yeah," Claire dismissed with a groan and wave of her hand.

They walked along the trail for a while, just enjoying the view. Owen was thinking over his offer of help. How was he going to do that, when she didn't seem to want to be seen out together?

"If I'm going to help you," Owen brought up, "we'll have to meet again."

"Right, so?" Claire said, looking unclear as to where he was going.

"We don't normally cross paths, and, well, this is a pretty small island…"

"You're thinking there's going to be talk?" Claire said flatly. "Surely, you know there's already been people talking."

"Well, yeah," Owen admitted. He'd heard the rumours. Or, some of them anyway. It seemed like they were multiplying by the day, each one more outlandish than the last.

"We should just capitalize on them," Claire shrugged, sounding indifferent to the whole concept. "Use them to our benefit."

"Use them?" Owen wasn't quite sure what she meant.

"If anyone asks, just say that we're friends," she clarified.

"I don't know that people will believe that," he disagreed.

"Why?"

"Well," Owen rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, feeling a little cornered.

"Don't tell me you've never had a friend who's female," Claire groaned.

"No, it's not that." Owen was offended now. "I've had plenty of female friends. It's more… well… we went on that date."

"So?"

Owen couldn't prevent the blush that started to rise up. He was thankful that his tan would generally hide it from her prying eyes, but they'd now come to a stop on the trail, and Claire was looking at him questioningly. He ducked his head. "Let's just say that I haven't done a great job hiding that I…" he trailed off. Man, this was harder to admit than he'd expected.

"That you what?" There was something about Claire's tone that made Owen look up, catching the smirk that was threatening to escape.

He attempted to try and turn the tables on her. "We should just pretend that we're dating."

"Oh," Claire said, pausing, contemplating the idea. She gave a slow nod. "Okay."

"Okay?" Owen hadn't expected her to agree so easily. While their relationship was clearly changing, something akin to friendship emerging, he had still expected her to balk at the idea. To insist that it wasn't needed; not to cave so readily. "Really?"

"You're right, it'd probably be easier to sell than friends," she simply agreed. Owen glanced over at her, not all that surprised that it felt like he could see her dissecting the idea, weighing all its pros and cons. "If we said we're friends, I don't think people would be surprised to see us grabbing Starbucks or dinner together. But dating? Yeah, that would give us more freedom. It wouldn't be unexpected or uncalled for for you to come by my work, or vice versa. Definitely more flexibility with that." She gave him a once over, making Owen feel a bit like he was being evaluated. Claire nodded firmly. "I suppose I can fake-date you."

"Wow, thanks for that ringing endorsement," Owen said, rolling his eyes. "I'll have you know that there are plenty of women who'd be happy, thrilled, to date me."

"That's a good point," Claire tilted her head, looking unsure for the first time in the discussion.

"What is?"

"You're not known to really… date."

"What do you mean? I date all the time."

"Exactly," Claire agreed. "You're known to go on lots of dates, but don't really date-date. Nothing long or longer term."

"How would you know?" Owen asked, curiosity getting the better of him. They really hadn't interacted all that much prior to their one date. And even in the few months since, he could count their interactions on one hand.

"I did my research," Claire said. Owen knew immediately she hadn't meant to say that, and that she was fighting not to blush, but, unlike him, her pale skin gave her away. She stood up straighter, challenging him. "Do you think you can really do this? That you even want to do this? With me?"

"It's just pretend," Owen dismissed her concerns. To be honest, he wasn't really sure what he was getting into. But, he didn't think it really mattered. It would be fake. If it ended up horrible, they could just have a pretend break up. "Besides, half the employees already think we're dating. Nothing to it."

"I just… You do realize there's a possibility this could take some time, right? That it's not like they're just going to hand over all the documents tomorrow, or even next week," Claire said, looking at him as if unsure he'd really thought it through.

"I get that," Owen replied. "But something's going on. And no one else seems to be noticing." He let his gaze drift for a moment, gathering his thoughts, before he met hers straight on. "I was in the paddock with Molly. I saw what the Indominus could do. If Hoskins is involved… I don't trust him, Claire. I want to help. I hope it turns out that we're getting worried for no reason. I just–"

"–Have a feeling that something bad's going to happen? Yeah, me too," Claire said. She held out her hand, "Okay, let's do this." Owen looked down at it in surprise, but reached out to shake it, although not without another eye roll.

They started back along the trail and after a few steps, Owen glanced over to her, giving her a long probing look. "Huh," he said, drawing her attention to him, and she raised an eyebrow in question. He just continued forward, before letting out another "huh" a few steps later.

He was surprised she held off as long as she did, before she finally demanded, "What?"

"Never thought it'd be so easy to get a second date with you." Owen gave Claire a cheeky grin, chuckling when her eyes shot over to him.

"I'm only agreeing for your help, Mr. Grady," Claire said flaty. "I don't want a second date."

"Whatever you say," Owen said, quickly sidestepping Claire's hand as she reached out to smack his arm.

And the plot thickens... :) What is Wu up to? And will Claire and Owen be able to stop him? Should they even stop him?

I just finished writing some future angst scenes. So... heads up? :P

Oh, and on that note - I posted a one shot earlier this week called Fireproof. It's very angsty, but it has a happy-ish ending.