A/N: Guys! I'm sorry for not uploading this chapter yesterday! I've been very busy these past few days and tomorrow I'm starting my first year of college! So, updating might be different these next few days, but I promise that I will do my best to keep the normal update schedule for this story! Enjoy this chapter! Also, the title of this chapter makes sense near the end, so don't panic! On with the show!
The Talk/The Birds and the Bees
It's been a week since Indy was given her new name, Alice. Jurassic World was given the green light to reopen and one would think that it would take them a month or so to get prepared to reopen. But, when you work for greedy corporations, then you're only given two weeks to reopen. Now, there was only a week left until the park reopened and Alice, Owen, Claire, and Lowery's bonds were growing at a good pace. Alice had her reasons for liking each human. She liked Owen because he was a relaxed leader. He didn't take crap from anyone and always had things done his way. Alice liked Claire because her smile was warm and Claire was doing her best to become a good friend to Alice. She liked Lowery because he was a funny guy, and he would always talk to her in her paddock through the speakers when Alice was alone. Those three humans were the only ones that Alice found acceptable, for now that is. She wanted to make a bunch of more friends, but she wanted to keep her trust circle small. Only a certain amount of people were in the trust circle for Alice, but the only one in it right now was...no one. One would think that after getting closer to Owen over all this time, that she would trust him, but she didn't. He was a good friend to her. She would do anything for him if he needed assistance, but she didn't trust her life with him. She wasn't going to let a nightmare form that trust. She wanted a real, dramatic scenario to play out so that she could finally trust Owen. Alice was one tough cookie. She had her wants, her needs, and her reasons, like any normal human in the world. Alice didn't think of herself as a human, considering the fact that she didn't and still doesn't know exactly what she was made of, but, she knew that she was a hybrid.
Owen and Claire were looking at Alice through the viewing glass of the paddock. Claire then heard her phone go off and picked up the call immediately. She stepped out of the viewing room, leaving Owen alone to stare at the Indominus. Owen smiled when Alice looked at him and gave a soft croon at him. She was growing on him, and he was growing on her. Owen had said that Alice wasn't ready for the park to be reopened, not because he was afraid that she might breakout again, but because if the board wants to show her off when the park reopens, no one knew how she would react. She hadn't been in front of a full crowd before. She had only seen humans in small groups of two or four, or twenty. Owen hoped that she would react well with other humans. He had told Claire to try and convince the board that they should push the reopen date back to two weeks from today, which is Sunday by the way. Owen let out a sigh as he then snapped from his thoughts and saw that Alice was standing right in front of him.
Alice stared deep into Owen's green eyes and saw that he was thinking about something, and that something seemed to bother him a little bit. Alice was worried about what it was that Owen was thinking about. Maybe he was thinking about letting Alice see Blue One again! Maybe he was thinking about going on more of those dates with Red One. Maybe he was thinking about how Alice would be if she was placed in front of a crowd of humans. Alice then began to ponder on how she would be if a bunch of humans were watching her from the viewing room. She remembered the strange dream she had last week of when she saw her smile and it completely freaked her out. She didn't react horribly in the dream, but then again, it was a dream, so she would react differently in real life. Alice did want to make more friends, so maybe, she would react nicely so that people can open up to her. She liked first encounters with humans. It's fun seeing the different expressions they make when they notice her massive size, and how their body temperature changes when they meet her for the first time. She, in a way, reacted the same way when she first encountered other humans. When she met Owen, in her paddock, she was happy and mad, and she couldn't exactly express it on her face, but how she moved and acted showed it. When she met Red One, she was happy at first, but then the hatred of Red One began. When she first encounter Lowery, she was more confused than interested in him. He randomly appeared in her territory, even if it was Owen and Red One that put him in it. He then proceeded to talk forever. He seemed like he would never stop, and was relieved at seeing Owen and Red One arrive to take him away, and she was pretty sure that he felt the same way. He was terrified of her when he saw her, and she could tell due to his body heat, and seeing that his pants got a small dark spot in the front. Alice didn't even want to know what he did to himself, and simply listened to him as he rambled on. He was boring t first, but over the speakers, he was actually a nice person to listen to. Alice didn't know what to expect when the park reopened and if she would be placed in front of other humans for their entertainment. But, she knew one thing, her shot for redemption was going to come true, and that made her happy. Alice was startled from her thoughts when she heard Red One call out her name. She then turned her gaze to the light green eyes and listened to her speak.
"That was one of the heads of the board," she began, "they said that they want you to be the opening attraction once the park reopens."
"What?" asked Owen, "Why do they want her to be the opening attraction?"
"Well, they heard that she was getting better around humans and they want to see if it's true or not."
"And they want to test it out with tourists?"
"Owen, please, don't be so negative about it. Alice will do fine, right?"
Alice replied with a chitter.
"See?"
"Claire, Alice has only had contact with three humans: you, me, and Lowery. She's never been around a big crowd before."
"Owen, she's going to have to do it and get used to it eventually! How else do you expect to keep her on the island?"
"What?"
Claire took in a deep breath and swallowed down an awkward lump in her throat before calmly saying to Owen, "I spoke with InGen yesterday and they said that Alice is their property. So, they have full authority to take her away. But, the CEO said that if we make her an attraction and we give them a fair percentage of the money that comes from tickets for her shows, then we'll be able to keep her here."
"How come you didn't tell me about this before?"
"Because I know how you would react."
"What?"
"Owen, when things like this come up, you always jump in head first thinking that you know what you're doing, but in the end, you flop and fail because you were blinded by your own stubbornness."
Owen knew that Claire was right. He always did jump in headfirst into shallow waters. He never asked anyone for help through the situation, only to end up begging for forgiveness in the end for not listening. He sighed a sigh of acceptance before saying, "So, do they want her to do something specific during her shows?"
"Yeah, to show up and amaze people."
"I can work with that. And, she can too, right Alice?"
The Indominus replied with a nod of her head, and she saw when Red One gave a small smile at her answer.
"Good. So, since it's a Sunday, I don't really have anything to do, and neither do you," said Claire.
"Are you going to ask me for another date?" asked Owen.
"Would it hurt to?"
"I guess not."
"Where then?"
"Coffee shop?"
"Okay. Time?"
"How about, right now?"
"Claire, I'm not in dress attire for a date."
Claire rolled her eyes at Owen's playful remark and then said, "It's just a quick cup of coffee and a small conversation. We can come back here after and talk with Alice a whole lot more. Unless, you have to go and see the raptors."
"I've got time right now. I'll make a quick visit to Blue and the others after our impromptu date."
"Okay. So, how are we going to do this?"
Owen was confused by Claire's question and then slowly asked, "Uh, you and I both order coffee and I'll pay for both?"
"No, Owen. Although, I'll hold you to that now. I meant, are we going to take my car? Or your motorcycle?"
"You really think that that should be a question?"
"My car it is then."
Owen then froze for a second and watched as Claire walked to the exit of the viewing room. She was a feisty one, and Owen liked that. He then followed her out and they both went down to Main Street to have some coffee.
Alice enjoyed seeing the playful banter that Owen and Red One had with one another and wished them good luck on their date with a warble. Alice was alone now, well, not fully. She knew that at some point, Lowery would start speaking to her and keep her company as she waited for Red One and Owen to come back. Alice then began to wonder if maybe, someday, she would find a...mate. She knew that she was the only one of her kind, and that the other dinosaurs on the island were also female, but maybe, Red One could convince her leaders that they should put it a few males into the park, including a male Indominus or something. Alice knew that she was only six, but still, she was nearing her adolescence, unless she hasn't already. She didn't know her lifespan, so maybe she was already a teenager in Indominus years. She was snapped from her thoughts when she heard Lowery's voice coming through the speakers.
"Alice, you okay?" he asked.
The Indominus responded with a warble, telling Lowery that she was fine.
"Don't lie to me Alice. It's not nice to lie. Something is bothering you and I know it."
How on Earth could Lowery tell that Alice wasn't fine? Did he have some kind of powers or something? Lowery is a force not to be reckoned with, well, at least when he's not around in her territory.
"It's easy to tell when someone isn't fine Alice. What you're trying to do is what we call, 'Putting on a Brave Face.'"
The Indominus tilted her head at Lowery's words and then gave a confused chirp.
"Uh, it's when people hide the fact that they're going through some things in their lives. Like, if you're sad because of something, you smile and act happy in front of your friends because you don't want them to worry about you."
Lowery made sense. Alice didn't want anyone to worry about her strange thoughts about mates and relationships. Maybe Owen and Claire would be able to help her with this apparent problem.
"So, how old is Alice again?" Owen asked Claire as he took a sip of coffee, which was straight up black, no creamer, no sugar, Owen liked his coffee dark and tasteless, which was tasteful to him.
"She's six I believe. But, I don't know how much it is in Indominus years," replied Claire.
"Claire, she's not a dog."
"Yeah, but, I don't know what she had in her. She could have dog in her for all we know!"
"Claire, if anything, she's got human DNA in her. So, that means she'd age like a human in the future."
"Well, the only person who knows that is Henry, but we don't know where he is," said Claire with slight irritation as she took a sip of her vanilla iced coffee.
Henry Wu, the ex-chief geneticist of Jurassic World, left during the Indominus Incident via a chopper with the assistance of InGen, who he had been working for behind Masrani's back. Wu was helping InGen by creating dinosaurs so that InGen could use them in the military. When Claire heard about the plan, she ended up despising InGen as much as Alice used to despise her. When that Styler guy from InGen came to the island, Claire had to keep calm and relax because if she let her hatred out, Styler would've been thrown into Rexy's paddock. Claire was disturbed from her thoughts when she heard the snapping of fingers in front of her face. She blinked a few times and then focused on Owen.
"Claire, you're dozing off," said Owen as he snapped his fingers one more time.
Claire then cleared her throat and replied, "Uh, sorry. Just thinking about some things."
"InGen?"
"Yeah."
"It's okay Claire. Look, InGen won't be bothering us the whole time because we know their intentions. We can-"
"Blackmail them? Owen, are you serious?"
"Well, how else do you want to keep them out of our hair?"
"Uh, well, I don't know. But, if I'm going to be running things around here, I don't want my reputation being set as a blackmailer."
"Claire, at some point, you'll end up using blackmail to get what you want."
"That's not going to happen."
"Never say never Claire."
"I didn't say never."
"You meant to say it though."
Claire rolled her eyes at Owen's words and then felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw that it was Lowery. She pushed the green button and answered the call, "Lowery, what is it?"
"Uh, not to be fully alarmed, but something's bothering Alice," replied Lowery.
"What?"
"I think she's thinking about something, and it's bothering her a little bit."
"Okay, we're on our way."
Claire hung up the phone and sighed in slight defeat. This is the second date that was interrupted by a problem with Alice.
"What is it Claire?" asked Owen with slight concern in his voice.
"It's Alice," she replied.
"What's wrong with Alice?"
"I don't know what it is. Lowery said that it might be something that she's been thinking about that's bothering her."
"Well, let's get going."
Claire was surprised that Owen didn't show a little annoyance in that their date was interrupted. Before she could say anything else, Owen had already stood up and helped Claire stand on her feet. They then proceeded to the car and drove off to Alice's paddock. They arrived in about an hour and went inside to the viewing room of the paddock. They looked through the viewing glass and saw Alice approaching the glass and gave a croon.
"Alice, what's bothering you, sweetie?" asked Claire nicely.
Did Lowery tell Owen and Red One that something was bothering her? Why on Earth would he do that? Alice was going to get Lowery later. Not kill him, but teach him that not everybody had to know about Alice's problems. Also, since Alice couldn't answer like Red One wanted, she gave a chirp.
"Were you thinking about something?" she asked Alice.
Alice nodded her head.
"Were you thinking about...the Incident?"
Alice shook her head.
"Other dinosaurs?" asked Owen.
Alice again shook her head.
"Were you thinking about someone?"
Alice nodded her head.
"Were you thinking about that Styler guy from InGen?"
Alice shook her head.
"Were you thinking about Lowery?"
Alice shook her head again.
"Man, if only she could speak, this would be a whole lot easier," said Owen with minor irritation in his tone of voice.
Claire turned to Owen and then said, "Owen, at some point, you might be able to tell what she's trying to tell us by body language or something. You won't have to keep asking her a thousand questions every time you want one answer."
"Right, but that won't be now. So, Alice, were you thinking about one of us?"
Alice nodded her head.
"Owen?"
Alice again nodded her head.
"Were you thinking about Claire, too?"
Alice nodded her head.
"Why was she thinking about us?"
"You think she wants to...kill us?"
"Claire! Why would you say that when she's right in front of us?"
"Sorry, I guess that's just my first assumption."
"Anyway, why was she thinking about us?"
Claire and Owen began to think about why Alice thought about them. After a few minutes passed, Claire figured out what Alice was actually thinking about.
"Oh God. Owen, Alice was thinking about us," Claire said slowly.
"Yeah, I know. And, we're trying to figure out why," said Owen with a tone as he was trying to implicate that what Claire said was stupid.
"No! Owen, she was thinking about you and me as a couple."
Owen's eyes widened a little as he processed Claire's words.
"...Oh..." he said.
"Alice, were you thinking about...relationships?"
Alice slowly nodded her head, with part of her mind wanting to take her answer back. It was kind of embarrassing to Alice.
Claire then pulled Owen to the exit door of the viewing room and then they exited out for a few moments.
"Owen, she's thinking about relationships. Meaning, she's thinking about...boys," said Claire.
"Claire, she's a girl, what do you expect for her to think about?" asked Owen.
"Owen! Please! She's not supposed to be thinking about boys at this age!"
"Claire, look. If she's got human in her, then this is a human trait. She's thinking about boys, like most girls do."
"Oh gosh, Owen, are we going to have to give her...the talk?"
"What? Dear God, Claire!"
"What? She's going to have to learn about it eventually!"
"Claire, we are not going to tell a female dinosaur hybrid the 'Birds and the Bees!' No, scratch that. We are not going to tell a six-year-old female dinosaur hybrid the 'Birds and the Bees!'"
"You're right. Well, how about we tell her that boys are filthy, disgusting beings and that she doesn't need a man in her life?"
"Because then, she might start thinking that she needs a woman in her life instead."
"Fine. You have a point."
Owen slightly nodded his head. He couldn't believe everything that came out of Claire's mouth. There was no way in hell that he was going to tell Alice about courtship and...sex. He didn't think that it was okay to tell her, at least at the age she's at right now. Maybe, when she's older, he and Claire would tell her.
"Claire, look. We'll just tell her that she's just having all these thoughts about relationships because she's curious about them because of us. So, how about we don't talk about our relationship in front of her?" he asked her.
"That...sounds good actually," replied Claire.
"So, let's go."
Claire nodded her head and they walked back into the viewing room and walked up to the viewing glass and saw Alice waiting for them. Claire took a deep breath before saying, "Alice, sweetie, don't let these thoughts bother you, okay?"
Alice tilted her head at Red One and waited to see if there was more.
"Alice," began Owen, "you listen here. Boys are filthy, okay? Especially at your age. They're reckless, dumb, and stupid."
"Owen, dumb and stupid mean the same thing."
"I know that, I'm just trying to make a point."
Alice was slowly beginning to understand, but paid more attention to Owen.
"Don't worry about this stuff right now, okay? Later in the future, we'll discuss more about this, right Claire?" he asked as he turned to Claire.
"Right, we will," she replied.
Owen gave a small smile as he told Alice, "Don't let this bother you right now, okay? Just, relax and focus on the park reopening and the friends you'll make in the future."
Alice nodded her head and gave a small warble. She was grateful that Owen and Red One helped a little bit. She didn't have to think about mates right now. She was only six for God's sake! She then began to think about the reopening of the park as she walked into the brush and disappeared from Claire and Owen's sight.
"Hey, Owen?" asked Claire.
"What?" he asked back.
"If she does have human DNA in her, and she's a girl. What if, she...gets a..."
"Gets a what?"
"A...p-per-"
"Claire! Don't finish that word! I don't want to even think about it!"
"But, it could happen Owen!"
Owen then put his hands over his ears as he then ran to the exit, with Claire running after him.
Alice began to think about relationships and boys, worrying everyone about what would happen to her in the future. Right now, Alice had to focus on the reopening and her redemption. She nearly got the talk from Owen and Claire, but thankfully, they told her something else. Maybe, Alice might find love someday, right?
A/N: So, this might've been a weird chapter, it was mostly a filler chapter and a little bit more of a kind of comedic one. But, this idea popped into my head and I started writing it as soon as possible. So, this has been something that's been going through my mind. Since Alice has human DNA in her, what if she thought about boys and eventually has a few other female traits, especially hormonal ones, like, well, you know. So, leave me feedback on whether you'd like to see if way in the future, I mean like a million chapters from now, if you'd like to see Alice find a...boyfriend or something. Anyway, past that awkward moment, I hope you enjoyed this chapter nevertheless. Review if you'd like and I hope that you stick around for more of this story! Also, thanks for the positive feedback! I love reading what you think of the story, and it keeps me going to write more for you guys!
'Til Next Time!-TM341
