Chapter 9

"He's back," Barry told Owen quietly, approaching him by the raptor harnesses. The raptors weren't currently in them, but Owen was checking over Echo's, as the last time she'd been in hers, she'd been grumbling and seemed to be irritated by something. He was trying to figure out what it might be.

"Who?" Owen asked.

"Hoskins."

"Again?" Owen looked out the gates towards the open area around the paddock. He saw Hoskins talking with a few of the workers. "He was just here. What's he want now?"

"I don't know," Barry replied. "Are you behind on the reports?"

"When am I not?" Owen said, and Barry snickered. "Actually, I'm almost up-to-date. I doubt he's here about that."

"Well, maybe you'll get to find out. He's, uh, he's headed this way." Barry moved towards the gate.

"Hey, where are you going?" Owen called after him.

"You're on your own," Barry replied, slipping out of the gate and closing it behind him before Hoskins could get through.

"Grady," Hoskins said, moving along the cage until he was as close as he could get.

"What's up, Hoskins?" Owen asked, crouching down so he could peer more easily into the harness, running his hands along all the edges.

"Checking on my asset," Hoskins replied.

"They're dinosaurs, not assets," Owen grumbled.

"I was talking about you," Hoskins corrected him.

"What about me?" Owen was running his hand along the muzzle when he felt a slight catch. He stood up, bending over the harness, trying to see what his fingers could feel. It felt like a piece of metal had somehow become bent, and was now poking into the harness. Maneuvering around, he was finally able to confirm what he could feel, and he straightened up, moving towards the tool box he'd brought with him, looking for some pliers. Pulling a pair from the box, he looked over at Hoskins who hadn't answered. "What do you want?"

"What do you use the harnesses for?" Hoskins asked.

The context switch startled Owen, but he answered anyway, "Mainly for checkups."

"I thought you put them out for those," Hoskins sounded confused.

"Once a quarter we do," Owen nodded. "When the vets give them a full physical. But most of the time we just need to do cursory exams, make sure they aren't hurt. The less we can put them under the better. For them. And for us. I need them to trust me. Every time they get tranq'd I have to deal with a setback in our relationship."

"They hold grudges?" Hoskins was skeptical.

"They're smart," Owen reminded him. "I was trying not to be around when it would happen, but they caught on to that quickly and became harder to deal with. We were worried they would hurt themselves. It's better if I'm here."

Owen moved away from the side of the cage, returning to the harness so he could attempt his repair.

"Those raptors are worth a bundle," Hoskins said.

"I know," Owen rolled his eyes, glad his back was to Hoskins. He didn't know the exact costs or anything, but he knew that bringing back extinct species wasn't cheap. When the Indominus was put down, he'd heard rumours that the dinosaur had cost something like $30 million. He wasn't sure if the value was correct (it was a rumour) but he wouldn't be surprised.

"And we've got a lot of money invested in here," Hoskins added.

"Yeah, so?" Owen replied distractedly as he used the pliers to try to straighten the bent piece.

"Just saying. I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't making sure it was being spent wisely," Hoskins said.

"I don't control the budget," Owen reminded him. And it was true, he didn't. Anything he wanted for the raptors, from their initial "toys" to their food supply, he had to submit a request for and hope it got approved. A few times, annoyed with the amount of paperwork involved, he'd just gone and bought what he'd wanted himself.

"I know. But most of the decisions on how it's spent are based on requests you've made. I need to make sure we're getting our money's worth."

"You'd get even more if you required less paperwork," Owen said, running his fingers back along the muzzle, confirming that his repair job appeared to have done the trick. Of course, the real test would be getting Echo back in her harness, but that would be later. He didn't like to use them anymore than necessary. He went back to the toolbox, replacing the pliers and picking it up, moving towards the gate. "Every hour I spend filing reports is an hour I'm not training them," Owen reminded Hoskins. Hoskins fell into step beside him as they crossed over to the sheltered area where they stored the tools.

"You know the higher ups," Hoskins shrugged. "Those management paper-pushers wouldn't know what to do without it."

Owen put away the toolbox, before looking at Hoskins who was still following him. "Speaking of paperwork…"

"Fine," Hoskins finally turned away, letting Owen escape towards the small office building. While he did have paperwork, he'd actually been planning on doing an extra training session with the raptors. Owen just didn't feel like doing so with Hoskins there. Hopefully he'd leave soon. In the meantime, he supposed he could actually work on a report.

o-o-o

Claire hated feeling out of control. She hated when she couldn't predict outcomes. And she hated having to rely on others. Karen had commented before that she didn't understand why Claire liked working at Jurassic World, when daily she encountered all of those problems. Well, not necessarily the out of control part. But living beings were inherently unpredictable and they were working with extinct species where they had to base most of their decisions on a lot of guesswork that scientists had made from fossils. Unpredictable seemed to tame a word for what they dealt with day to day.

Managing the whole park, with over 3,000 employees, meant that Claire couldn't micromanage every little detail. She had been forced to learn to rely on others. As soon as Claire had moved into a management role, she'd made it a priority to cultivate a team of employees that she could trust. Employees that she could rely on. As she'd continued her corporate climb, she'd made a point of doing the same at each level, often bringing some of those employees with her. Zara was one of them.

She'd hired Zara right out of her undergrad, and she'd become an indispensable part of Claire's work ever since. Claire considered herself a highly organized person, but there were days when she wondered if Zara actually had her beat. She still wasn't sure when she'd given Zara complete control over her life, but one day, she'd woken up and realized that was exactly what had happened. At first, she'd wanted to wrestle it back. But, after a little introspection and fighting her instincts, she'd realized it was actually to her benefit. And that she had more time to focus on the bigger picture when she didn't have to worry about who was asking for a meeting and when she could fit them in.

She was realizing, however, that having given up that control, it made it even harder to have a relationship, even a fake one. Because she now felt like she had to go through her own assistant to find out when she had time available for "dates" or whatever you could call what she and Owen were doing. This was a downside of having her days planned out to the last minute that she'd never considered. Of course, it'd never been a problem before… but she wasn't going to dwell on that.

Claire had brought up the idea of visiting the raptor paddock with Zara yesterday, seeing if it could fit into her schedule. She'd found herself rambling, trying to justify her ask, saying that she hadn't been there in months and that, while IBRIS wasn't under her control, it was probably still a good idea that she stop by occasionally. Thankfully Zara had cut her off, grinning at her unease and Claire knew she had just made her real reason all the more obvious. Zara had simply said that Claire could squeeze in time for a visit just after lunch, but she'd have to take one of her calls in the car.

She was still embarrassed over the whole thing, but Zara had said calmly, and without judgement, to let her know if Claire ever wanted her to free up time or anything else she could do to help. Claire was still trying to figure out how to take her up on that without having to be obvious about it.

In the meantime, though, she was feeling nervous about her original plan. She hadn't told Owen that she was coming, and, well, should she have? It was showing up at his work, after all. Except, she was there on business. Sort of. That was the line she was going to stick with, if he asked. Pulling into the raptor paddock, she parked off to the side. She saw a few people look over at her vehicle, but no one moved in her direction, and after checking herself in the mirror, she climbed out of the car, walking towards the paddock, scanning the area for Owen.

"He's in the office." Claire heard someone call out, and she changed direction, heading towards the low building. Pulling open the door, she entered, walking slowly down the hallway. Peeking through a couple of doorways, she finally found him sitting behind a desk and pecking away at a keyboard (two fingers, she noticed with a grimace), scowl on his face.

"Seriously? You can't type?" Claire asked, standing in the doorway.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Owen asked, looking up, startled at her presence. "Did something happen?"

"Two fingers, really, Owen?" Claire said, entering the office and looking around. It was bigger than she expected, and more organized, too, if a bit crowded. The back wall behind Owen had metal shelves that were laden with books, a printer, paperwork, and binders. There was a map of Nublar on the wall and a calendar.

"I hate this," Owen just sighed, shoving away the keyboard. "It's why most of my reports are videos." He pushed away from the desk, leaning back in his chair and looking up at her. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but… did something happen?"

"No," Claire answered, her eyes darting away from his. She pretended to scan the office again, buying herself a couple of seconds to regain control. After Owen had mentioned a couple of weeks before that they needed to be seen together if they were going to keep up this pretense about fake dating, she'd been tracking their encounters (she was organized, okay) and yesterday she'd realized they hadn't met up in a few days. Not that she was going to tell him that. It unnerved her that she felt sort of unbalanced when she interacted with Owen. Almost like she was vying for his approval at the cost of her normal confident self. "Nothing's happened. I actually came out hoping to get a tour of the paddock."

"You've been here," Owen said, but he was already standing up, and gesturing her towards the door. "What do you need a tour for?"

"I know IBRIS isn't under my control," Claire said, and then winced as Owen looked over at her, snickering at the word control. "But I would still like to have a good idea of what's going on and what's here. Better to be prepared and all that. And last time I was here I didn't see all that much."

"That's 'cause your eyes were glued to your phone," Owen said, pointing at the device she was clutching tightly. "Are you going to be able to ignore it this time?"

As if taunting her, her phone buzzed in response to his question, a text message coming through. "Sorry," Claire apologized, checking and dismissing the message. She raised her gaze back to Owen's. "I can't just ignore them. Sometimes I wish I could."

Claire managed to get through most of the tour of the paddock with limited interruptions, only having to pause Owen once as she took a phone call. He took her up the catwalk again and, similarly to last time, they stuck to the outside edges. This time, he was pointing out the security features that they had on the paddock and comparing them to what was (or more accurately wasn't) at Paddock 11. He'd already conveyed most of these thoughts when he'd submitted his report back after the incident, but she found it helpful to actually see it in context. She didn't see the raptors, but Owen told her the girls preferred the cover of the trees when they weren't training.

"How do you know they haven't escaped?" Claire asked, half teasingly, but mostly serious.

"Because we have eyes everywhere," Owen replied. "I mean that somewhat seriously, too. We've got cameras that cover the gated area, as well as the whole perimeter. We'd catch them. Besides, after the Indominus, we can access that locator system on the computer."

That was something Claire had pushed for. It had seemed crazy, in hindsight, that they hadn't already made that accessible at each paddock, especially with all the other tech they had floating around the park.

As they finished up the tour, and Claire had glanced at her watch noting the time, she'd apologized and said she had to be getting back, she had a meeting she couldn't miss. Owen walked with her towards her car, the two ignoring the whispers and glances from the other workers. They hadn't stopped since they'd first stepped out of the office together.

"You know, Hoskins was here yesterday," Owen told her, opening her car door.

"Did he say something?" Claire asked, sliding into the car.

"No, but he was here only last week. He doesn't usually come by this often."

"Easier to monitor progress if he's here than just from your reports," Claire offered with a shrug.

"Maybe," Owen looked doubtful. "It's harder to work when he's around. I hope he's not going to make this a new thing. I could do with less of him, not more."

"Well, the more he's around, the more he might let something slip," Claire said, reaching for the door to shut it.

Owen moved out of the way, although he kept his grip on the door, and he leaned down closer to her. "Thanks for the visit. It's good to keep up our appearances."

"Yeah, well," Claire tried to prevent her gaze from sliding to her phone and the reminder she knew would pop up in another few days. As she moved her gaze back towards Owen, she realized that a number of paddock workers were still watching the two of them. She bit her lip, debating momentarily, before she stretched up and kissed him quickly on the cheek, just as she had once before. When he looked at her in surprise, she just shrugged. "For appearances."

Before Owen could say anything, her phone rang, and Claire sighed. "That's my meeting. I'll talk to you later."

Owen gave her a quick wave, shutting her car door as Claire answered the call. She started her car and pulled out of the paddock, giving a final glance in the rear-view mirror and watching as Owen headed back up the steps to the catwalk.

o-o-o

The following week, Owen wasn't surprised when he looked up one day to see Hoskins strolling about the paddock. After barely ever coming by, Hoskins was now visiting about twice a week. Something had clearly changed and Owen was determined to figure out what. The only thing he could think of was that it was connected to whatever new hybrid Wu was creating in the lab. And if that was true, then he was hopeful that he would be able to glean some information.

Heading down the stairs with the empty rat bucket, Owen nodded at Hoskins as he passed by him. Hoskins immediately turned away from whoever he had been talking to to trail after him.

"I'm sorry I missed your training session," Hoskins announced after watching Owen rinse out the bucket and store it away.

"You didn't miss much," Owen shrugged. It had been another pretty fruitless session, with him asking for one thing while the raptors did their own thing.

"From your reports, it feels like things are moving backwards," Hoskins commented, following Owen as he moved back out to the main area.

"Feels like that some days," Owen nodded. He wasn't really sure what to do next. He didn't feel like being trapped in his office with Hoskins, but he didn't actually have anything else pressing to do. He had been thinking of just leaving for a bit and going home and taking a break or working out his frustrations on his punching bag. Of course, that was easier to do when your boss wasn't watching.

"Have you considered changing up your methods?" Hoskins asked. Owen looked over at him in surprise. Hoskins had never tried to give him advice on how to do his job before. In fact, Hoskins had been pretty clear in the past that he'd hired Owen because Owen knew what he was doing. "I've been reading up on negative reinforcement strategies. Some trainers have had a lot of success with them."

"I know about it. But that's a methodology I don't subscribe to," Owen replied firmly. It was also a methodology he didn't understand how anyone who really loved animals could subscribe to. Sure, there are always instances where negative reinforcement may be the correct solution. But it should not be the preferred choice.

"There was one study–"

"The best successes have always come from trainers and animals who build a relationship," Owen interrupted him. "And the strongest relationships are never ones that are built on punishment."

"It's not punishment, exactly," Hoskins tried to reframe. "I mean, the one I was reading didn't call it that."

"If you don't do what I want and I take away something you like, what would you call that?" Owen rolled his eyes. "I know some people like to pretend it's just another behaviour modification technique. And, sure, that is the goal, but it's not one I'm comfortable doing. And, it's not one that's had successful long term outcomes. Short term gains, sure, but that's not what we're looking for here." Owen was starting to get confused. Did Hoskins really think Owen was just going to change his whole training plan just because Hoskins mentioned a study? That Owen would just toss aside everything he knew and had been building on?

"So how do you explain all your setbacks? If your method is supposedly superior…"

"You've got to see these raptors more like people than objects," Owen tried to explain. This was what he hated most about his job—too many people saw the raptors as just things. Things that could be easily molded into whatever they wanted, whether it was an attraction for the park or a domesticated military machine. "They've got personalities. And not only that, but they have good days and bad days. Days where they're grumpy or mad. And days when they're happy and calm. How well our training sessions go depends on the day and on their moods. But, even though today, for example, wasn't a great day, it's not like we're back at square one. We're still moving forward. A bad day now is not the same as a bad day a year ago, or even 4 months ago."

Hoskins fell silent for a minute and Owen thought he might be able to get away and find something more productive to do. But then Hoskins spoke up again. "You used to go in the cage with them, right?" Owen nodded. "But you can't anymore. How did that affect your training?"

"Well, I wouldn't be able to train them at all if I was dead," Owen rolled his eyes at Hoskins, looking past him towards the paddock. This was actually still a bit of a sore point. He really wished that he could still go in the cage. He wanted to be at their level and working with them more closely. He also didn't like how many people always seemed to be around to watch his training sessions, even if they were more standing on guard or doing other tasks around the paddock. Sure, on days it went well it felt good to have witnesses who could celebrate with him. But on all the other days, it just seemed to make the failures loom larger. "I always knew I wasn't going to be able to be in the paddock with them forever. The biggest downside, honestly, is that we lost our ability to do one-on-one training. When they were smaller, before we had them in this paddock, I used to do sessions with them individually. It gave me a chance to develop a closer bond with each one, and to also learn more about their personalities. Blue, for example, is much more empathetic than the others. But, now that they're bigger, we don't have the space or area for me to continue to do that."

"I thought I saw you working one-on-one with Blue just last week?" Hoskins was confused.

"I sometimes try to run drills with just one or two of them at a time," Owen nodded. While he still thought the lack of a separate area for him to work with them individually was still the biggest loss, he hadn't given up all his hope on trying to do so. "But it rarely works out as well as I hope. It's hard to get the others to leave us alone. They're more interested in what I'm doing when I'm not asking them to do something." In fact, he'd been chagrined during a recent exercise, when he'd realized that Echo was refusing to cooperate, but that Charlie in the background had been following every command perfectly.

"How long did you stay with them in the cages?"

"We made it almost a year and a half. At that point, the space we were using was getting too small and the paddock out here was ready for them. I may have been able to go a bit longer, but it's hard to say. When they were still babies, I could go in with all four and be okay. By the end of it, I could only do one-on-one. They were getting too big to be that close to. Except for maybe Blue. I think I might still be okay if it was just me and Blue." And this was something he really wished he could try. Not that he was going to say that to Hoskins, or next thing he'd know Hoskins would be somehow getting Blue out of her cage for some field test or something, and pretending it had been all Owen's idea. For now, he was limited to trying to maintain his individual bonds by spending time with them when they were in their harnesses. It was better than nothing, but it still didn't feel like enough.

"But you were in the cage just a few months ago. When the kid fell in. They didn't attack you then."

"I was in the cage for only a couple of minutes, and the whole time ACU was ready to take them out," he reminded Hoskins. Owen had been waiting for Hoskins to mention that event. He was still surprised that the fallout from it had been pretty much nonexistent. But, he supposed everything that happened with the Indominus that day eclipsed it all. "That wasn't a training session. That was a combination of luck and skill. They were surprised. They didn't have a chance to plan. I don't know that I'd be so lucky if it happened again."

"Will you try it again?"

"No." Try it? Like it was just a walk in the park? After the event Owen had actually revisited all the safety protocols for the paddock and had made sure that everyone was clear that a loose pig was not an emergency and not something anyone should ever risk their lives for.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't have a death wish. Besides, we're making gains. I don't want to mess with my training plan. Even if you don't see it, all of these sessions have a goal. If I went in again and things went badly—which is the most likely outcome—it's going to send us spiraling backwards."

"But if it went well?" Hoskins pushed.

"If it went well, that would be great. But the downside is just not a risk I'm willing to take," Owen told him. "It's not worth it."

"It doesn't have to be you. What about Bar–" Hoskins was interrupted from asking his next question as his phone rang. He pulled it out and groaned when he looked at the screen, before he answered the call.

Owen took the opportunity to quickly duck away. If he was lucky, Hoskins would forget what he was asking about and leave him alone. Owen wasn't sure what to think about all of these questions. If Hoskins was involved with this new hybrid, maybe it was a good sign that he was interested and thinking about animal behaviour. Except… none of the other dinosaurs at Jurassic World were being trained like the raptors.

Sure, there were many animal behaviourists working at the park, but they weren't assessing intelligence and trying to run the dinosaurs through drills. They were primarily responsible for making sure the dinosaurs remained happy—suggesting changes to paddock design or recommending changes to guest access. He knew some developed enrichment activities for some of the more intelligent dinosaurs, but, really, many of the species were most happy when they were just left alone to graze. Most of the dinosaurs weren't anywhere near as intelligent as the raptors. In fact, many of the herbivores reminded him of cows.

Was Hoskins considering using the raptor style training methods for the hybrid? And if so, why? Owen thought the new hybrid was just supposed to be an attraction. Of course, maybe Owen was just overthinking this. Maybe Hoskins was finally just showing a vested interest in the raptors and the outcomes of the IBRIS project. It would be about time that he did.

o-o-o

Ever since Zach and Gray had visited, Claire had been trying to make an effort to actually answer the phone when her sister called. She wouldn't say she'd bonded with her nephews over the visit, but she did feel like she had a better understanding of who they were. Now, when Karen would tell her stories they felt a little more grounded in reality versus fictional accounts about people she didn't know.

Over their short visit, she had found out that Gray had already figured out that his parents were separating and that he'd told Zach. Being put on the spot with questions about it had been, by far, the worst part of their whole visit. And she'd been tempted to make up a work emergency just to get out of the conversation. It wasn't like she had any real experience with divorce. Her parents relationship had been rocky at times, but had never, at least that she knew of, veered into divorce territory. And she had even less knowledge about Karen and Scott's relationship. Claire had mostly just shrugged and waffled on answers, relying on platitudes. She had had a furious text exchange with Karen that evening as she'd filled her in that the kids already knew.

Claire knew things were even rougher for Karen now. Scott had moved out of the house while the kids were visiting, and everyone was trying to adjust to their new reality. So far, it wasn't going all that well. Zach had become an even more surly teen, if that were possible. And Gray just seemed lost, struggling to deal with it all. As someone who thought (and overthought) everything herself, Claire had identified with Gray's reaction most of all. She knew how disorienting it could be to try to adjust to sudden drastic change.

The downside to their visit, however, was that they had met Owen. And apparently the one thing Gray talked about incessantly, was their visit to the raptors. The fact that they weren't supposed to talk about it, had meant that Gray, bursting to share his news, just kept repeating it to his parents. And that, no surprise, had piqued Karen's interest. "Wait, this Owen guy that Gray keeps talking about… is this the one you went on the date with? Boardshorts Owen?" She'd questioned Claire. "And how come they're calling him your boyfriend? Did you go out again?" Claire had tried to move Karen off the topic as quickly as possible, just saying that the boys had jumped to a conclusion, but that it wasn't true.

And it still wasn't true. Just because they were now fake-dating, it didn't mean that Claire was going to tell her sister that. Karen didn't need to know, it wasn't like she was going to meet Owen or anything. And so, Claire was perfectly content on keeping that part of her life a secret from Karen.

Being (begrudgingly) more willing to answer her phone when Karen called, however, didn't make her any more eager to actually have the conversation. Claire would admit to relying on a lot of hm's and okay's to get through it, as she checked over emails or put away laundry or did any number of other tasks.

"...and the boys are with Scott, so the only time we'd have is Sunday night, does that work?"

Claire tuned back into the conversation when her sister fell silent, and she cursed softly. Dammit, she'd missed the question. "Sorry, what?" Claire winced, trying to come up with an excuse for her lack of attention.

"Claire…" Karen sighed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Claire apologized, leaving the pile of clothes to be folded on her bed. She retreated back out into the main area of her condo, walking over to the floor to ceiling windows and staring down into the park. "You've got my attention. What were you asking?"

"I said the boys are with Scott for the weekend, so the only time we could have a Skype call is Sunday night. Can you do that?"

"Sunday?" Claire bit her lip. "I've actually got plans on Sunday."

"Really?" Karen's tone rose is disbelief. "What are you doing Sunday night? Don't tell me you're working."

"I'm always working," Claire protested. "It's a valid excuse."

"Not to skip a call with your nephews," Karen disagreed.

"Well, I'm not actually working Sunday night," Claire said hesitantly, trying to figure a way out of the conversation. Why did Karen have to want to set up a call the one time she actually had plans? She wished she was a better liar. Instead, she tried to go with the bare minimum of details. "I've got a dinner."

"A date?" Karen asked hopefully.

Claire stared over at the Mosasaur lagoon as she debated her reply. It was and it wasn't a date; it was with Owen after all. She'd arranged it to make sure they continued to have regular contact.

"Well?" Karen pried, when Claire failed to answer. "What don't you want to tell me? Oh… OOOH! Don't tell me you're going on a date with Owen again! Are you? You are, aren't you. I knew it!" The glee in Karen's voice immediately put Claire on edge.

"I'm not dating him," she insisted.

"I didn't say dating," Karen immediately latched onto the word. "I just said a date. Are you dating him? He's the one you're meeting for dinner, right? What's going on? What aren't you telling me?"

"No. I mean, yes. But not the way you think…" Claire rubbed at her temple.

"Wait, really? You're dating?" Karen was stunned. "Really?"

"No," Claire shook her head, groaning. "Not dating."

"But you're having dinner with him," Karen stated. "But it's not a date."

"Right."

"Why?" Now Karen just sounded confused.

"It's… complicated?" Claire replied, moving away from the window and collapsing onto her couch.

"Complicated? How is a dinner complicated? Does that mean it's not work related?"

"Well…"

"C'mon Claire, for once you're life sounds exciting, let me live vicariously through you. What's going on?"

"My life is always exciting," Claire objected.

"No, your life is always work," Karen said matter-of-factly.

"I work with dinosaurs," Claire grumbled. She ran a theme park that often had over 20,000 daily visitors and boasted the only living dinosaurs on the planet. How was that not exciting? "Most people would say that's exciting."

"You work near dinosaurs," Karen corrected. "Seriously Claire, what's up?"

"It's just a dinner," Claire tried to dismiss it.

"Yeah, not buying that," Karen said. "No way it's 'just' a dinner. C'mon, tell me." Claire just stayed silent. "Please," Karen started to beg. "You know I'm not going to drop it."

"We're sort of… fakedating," Claire finally admitted, the words rushing out as she hoped that Karen wouldn't quite catch it. That maybe somehow she could still just breeze by it all.

"You're what?!" Karen screeched. "Did you just say fake dating? Who are you? What have you done with my sister? And, more importantly, why?"

"It's a long story," Claire said. Leaning back, she propped her feet up on the coffee table, a hand coming to rest over her eyes. She knew there was no way out of the conversation now. Not until she'd spilled every detail. Even if she hung up, her phone would just ring endlessly until she dealt with this.

"I've got time," Karen replied. Claire could hear Karen moving about her place, a cupboard door opening. "In fact, if you give me three minutes, I'll have both time and popcorn."

I wish I could share a gif here. Have you see the deer eating popcorn one? Look it up if you haven't. It was exactly what I pictured as I wrote the final line of this chapter. :)

Well, now Karen knows. And next chapter we get back to the control room and another of my favourite characters. :)

Any particular JW or FK characters you're hoping to see in this story? Human or dinosaur? :) As always, I'd love to hear anything you want to share, good or bad.