A month on from the breakout, Drew Luczynski walked along the path that would, one day, be known as the park's Main Street, looking around. He'd been sent back to mainland Florida for surgery on his broken arm; no-one had been told exactly how his injury had happened… although, he had the feeling that they wouldn't believe him If he told them. His arm was now in a sling, and would be that way for the next few months.

After that, he'd spent the past month recuperating in his on-site apartment; Kyle and Nikolai had handled things well in his absence. He hadn't really left much; partly recuperating from the incident and partly ruminating on his being stranded in the Cretaceous. It was amazing on how much progress one could make when one was mostly alone with one's thoughts. This was the first time he'd been out in the park since the incident. Looking around, he was amazed on how quickly all the damage had been repaired.

He checked his watch; he was early. He had two stops to make before he headed to the park bar; Jack had told him, a few days before, that there was going to be something going on in the park bar when Drew was coming back and he was eager to see what it was going to be.

His first stop was Mesozoic Safaris. He stood on the viewing deck and looked at all the herbivores. Some were browsing from the trees, some were bathing in the water to keep cool, whilst others were simply milling about. Unlike before, there was little to no conflict; it was as if they were one single herd. Drew smiled; it was like the compatibility issues were never there.

His next stop was the Pterosaur Aviary. Getting off the skylift, he made a beeline for the largest aviary, which contained the Ornithocheirus. Looking through the pterosaurs, he noticed an extra male, larger than any of the others. He immediately recognised this; this was Cirrus, having finally been integrated back into the main flock. He smiled; two successes.

Hopping on the skylift, he headed back down to the main park area. Eventually, he made his way to the park bar; as he approached the door, he heard muttering. That was odd. Opening the door and turning the lights on, he suddenly heard everyone's voices yelling in unison, "SURPRISE!" He took a step back, before looking around the room. Every member of staff, including Cynthia, Leon, Adrian, Jack, Alice, Kyle, Nikolai, Linda, Collete, Yolanda, Khatin, Will and Matt, stood in the room smiling. Drew sniffed the air; he could smell meat barbecuing.

Jack walked up to him and said, "Welcome back, fearless leader!" Drew looked around the room, smiling, saying "Care to catch me up on what I missed?" Jack shrugged and said, "Oh, you know, the usual. Good things and bad." He paused and smiled, "Mostly good." A few seconds later, Collete walked up to Jack and, much to Drew's shock, kissed him on the cheek! As if sensing Drew's surprise, Jack said, grinning, "Oh, yeah, Collete and I are a thing now." Drew looked at them both and said, "Congratulations!"

Drew began mingling with his staff, all of whom were ecstatic to have him back. Drew took a moment to think on how things had changed since the incident; how things had changed since they'd begun almost a year ago. Somehow, their bonds had become stronger for the experience.

After a few hours, Leon turned to Drew and said, "When will we be going on missions again?" Drew turned to him and said, "Until my arm's out of this sling, so no missions for the next few months." Jack walked up to Drew and asked, "Can I ask a question, fearless leader? Where are we headed next?" He paused, "On second thoughts… don't tell me. Because, after doing this for a year, it's made me realise… the best things in life are the ones you never see coming." He lifted his glass, "Here's to surprises!" Everyone raised their glasses in a toast, "To surprises!"

When Drew lowered his glass, he smiled. They'd gotten through their darkest hour largely unscathed…. In fact, their bonds had all been stronger for the experience. And everything had come up roses; the damage had been repaired, Cirrus was back to full strength and in the pterosaur aviary, the herbivores were all getting on with each other… Every problem they'd had had been solved. Yes, it looked like everything was going to be just fine from now on…

However…
At Novum HQ, overlooking the blaring city of San Francisco, even at midnight, Percival von Grimm sat, tapping his feet expectantly. He was sitting in the Novum clean room, the only place in the building without any CCTV or any sort of electronic surveillance. No-one could have heard the conversation that would go on within…. And those who did wouldn't be believed. He was alone in the building anyhow; even the night watchmen were packing up. Still, it never hurt to be prepared…

Eventually, the satellite phone rang and Percival picked it up. "Ah, I was expecting you… I'm sure you're aware of the incident that happened a month ago; several of the facility's most dangerous residents escaped and caused havoc over a night. Now, the staff managed to handle the incident commendably…" He smiled, "However, that doesn't change the fact that everything went exactly as we'd planned." He was quiet, as the voice on the other end responded, "No; according to our contact, nobody's getting suspicious…. But, in any case, we need to push the plan forward." He paused, as the person on the other end responded, "What's the plan? I'll tell our contact to continue their infiltration. You step things up on your end; it's imperative to the future of this company that we do." He paused, "Understood." The call ended.

Percival reclined on the desk. Theodore wouldn't understand what he was authorising… of course, he wouldn't. Sometimes, the old fool's idealism got in the way of what was best for his company; that was why Novum needed people like him. True, sometimes they had to be… morally iffy, but it was all for the greater good. He smiled, briefly. Everything was going perfectly…