Disclaimer: I do not own the Jurassic Park franchise or any of it's characters; I only own the characters and plots of my own mind.

8. The Past Is Never Dead

The rest of the day was spent with Gwyn asking questions, Owen and Barry answering them, and wearily observing the raptors from the edges of the paddock. By the time the work day was about to come to an end, Gwyn was emotionally exhausted, having been walking a fine line between breaking down and remaining outwardly composed. Gwyn hadn't been the only one who had struggled through the day. Owen had debated whether or not to ask how she was doing, or if she needed to take a break from it all. Instead, they went about the day as though the earlier incident hadn't occurred, and it had seemed that was how Gwyn wanted it. The last item on the daily to-do list was to ready the viewing cage for the medical check-up that the raptors would be having the next day. Gwyn tagged along, asking questions as they straightened things up.

"How long have you been working with the raptors?" Gwyn asked, scattering a handful of fresh wood chips on the ground. Owen, who was cleaning off a set of metal muzzles that he'd earlier explained they put the raptors in for regular check-ups and various other situations, smiled.

"Since they hatched," he informed, sounding proud. "So… a couple of years, at least. Albeit, they were kept in the lab till they were big and mature enough to be let loose in a paddock." Gwyn looked over at him, her right hand curled around more chips of dry wood chips. She blinked at him in honest surprise, looking down at her feet as she scattered the wood about.

"So you've… you've known them since they were babies," she reasoned, recalling the newly hatched raptor she'd held years and years ago. Owen continued to smile as he ran a wet rag over the metal muzzles, cleaning off streaks of dirt and dried raptor saliva.

"That I have. I've been working on gaining their trust and respect from the moment they hatched. Imprinting and all that, you probably know how it goes." Gwyn made a mental note of his imprinting comment and hoped she'd remember to put it amongst her physical notes. Owen paused and turned to look over his shoulder, catching Gwyn's gaze as she wiped wood dust off on her legs. "You… do know how that goes, right? I'm not sounding like an idiot?"

"Nah, I get how that goes," Gwyn assured him with a smirk. "They told us at the first park that they imprinted on whoever they first saw or encountered."

"You got to see some of the original dinosaurs hatch?" Owen asked. Gwyn nodded and sat down on one of the closed supply crates, propping one foot on the edge of it. She set the fedora down beside her, the need for it no longer relevant now that the sun was dipping lower in the sky.

"Yeah, of course––it was part of the tour. But I wouldn't say 'original'... I'd say second generation Jurassic Park dinosaurs. A raptor, in fact," she told him, scratching the side of her neck. "My dad thought maybe it imprinted on him, but, uh, we'll never know." She looked down at her shoes as more of the memory resurfaced. "I got to hold it…" Her voice had gotten softer, a tiny smile beginning to creep up the corners of her mouth. Owen slowly turned around, crossing his arms and watched as she began to recount the memory. "I got to cradle a brand-new life in my hands… watch it stretch its legs for the first time. I… got to see the birth of a creature who hadn't set foot on this earth for millions of years, and it was…" Gwyn's smile grew, her eyes gleamed, and she shook her head with a sort of fondness, "it was beautiful. It was brilliant and amazing and… one of the best things I have ever seen." Looking up, Gwyn met Owen's gaze, continuing to smile. He returned the smile, leaning back against the metal wall behind him. "It was a horrible day. But the beginning of it was pretty… it was pretty damn amazing."

"I can imagine," Owen agreed gently. He pushed away from the wall and walked over to the gate to the paddock, rubbing his damp cloth over a spot of dirt. "I remember my first day here. I had no idea what to think; I was… amazed, who wouldn't be? But then you realize that isn't as perfect as it all seems. You realize how much could go wrong and you want to make sure that something like that doesn't happen, especially when you know it's happened before…" Owen looked down at his hands, beginning to fold up the cleaning rag he'd been using.

As he had watched Gwyn whilst she was speaking, she had been watching him. There was a subtle somberness in his tone and in his face, which spoke of a deeper and stronger emotional meaning to his last sentence. Owen had also stood a bit taller, squared his shoulders, and raised his chin a fraction higher, adopting a more militaristic stance. Gwyn stood and brushed off the back of her shorts, tentatively walking towards the gate that lead into the paddock. Pushing her hands into her pocket, she stopped beside Owen and stood there quietly for a moment.

"Is that why you joined the Navy? The whole… stopping something bad before it happens thing?" she asked quietly, in reference to his last comment. One of his brows rose and he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Kinda––that's part of it. That why you came back to work here?" he countered gently. Gwyn shrugged and turned her head to look up at him.

"That's part of it, yes," she mimicked. Owen chuckled and rolled his eyes, turning to lean one shoulder against the gate. Gwyn eyed that shoulder with concern, well aware that a raptor could easily reach an arm between the bars and rip at his well-muscled arm. But, then again, if they viewed him as their alpha, they probably wouldn't attack him. The whole… Owen–raptor dynamic was just so intriguing and curious. She noted that the edge of his shirt collar had been flipped upwards, so she pointed at it. He just raised his brows in question.

"You're collar. It's, um… you know what, just let me," Gwyn dismissed, much like he had when he'd helped pluck the leaf from her hair. She reached up and fixed the rumpled portion of his collar, turning it back into its proper position. She saw something flash in the corner of her eye and she turned just in time to see one of the raptors running at the gate. Her face morphed into a look of dread as the dinosaur screeched and launched itself at the gate, slamming into the bars with as much force it could muster.

In a moment of pure, unadulterated terror, Gwyn screamed and spun around, tripping over her own feet. She fell to the ground and pushed herself away from the amber-eyed beast on the other side of the gate. Her heart was beating so fast and so hard that she was convinced it might break. As she stared at the velociraptor––Blue, the beta––in terror, Owen shouted a vehement 'hey!' at the creature and threw a hand up. None of the words he was saying made any sense to her though; it was as though English wasn't her first language and it was just jumbled syllables. She felt sick. The heat was unbearable. She dropped her head between her knees and crossed both arms over the back of her head, as though protecting herself from everything that surrounded her. Her hands were trembling something awful and could feel her eyes and nose stinging with the threat of tears. Something touched her shoulder and she jumped, flinching away from whatever it was that had grazed her shoulder. Raising her head, she saw that Owen was crouched down beside her, concern pinching his brow and crinkling his nose. He slowly stretched out a hand, as though reaching out for a frightened animal, and placed it on her shoulder, the warmth of his palm seeping through her shirt.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a gentle yet serious tone. Gwyn looked away and shook her head, embarrassed at how violent her reaction had been. "I'm gonna help you up, alright?" Gwyn felt him take her by the hands, and as he rose to his feet, he pulled her to hers. The moment she was upright and steady, he turned her away from the gate and led her towards the cage door, one of his arms wound around her shoulders. Barry and a number of other workers had jogged over to the gate and had just thrown it open as Owen and Gwyn approached. Gwyn had her arms curled around her middle and her head bent, not daring look anyone in the eye, in case she saw pity in their gazes.

"Owen, is everything alright?" Barry asked as his eyes flicked to Gwyn. "Miss Grant…?" Owen simply shook his head with a serious look on his face as he lead Gwyn to the office, their feet crunching in the gravel underfoot. Gwyn felt like a zombie; her thoughts were jumbled and she honestly had no idea where Owen was leading her to––he could've been walking her off a cliff into the ocean and she wouldn't have noticed. Her body felt numb and her heart refused to calm itself to any semblance of a normal heart rate. Is she wasn't being forced to move, she might've said she'd gone catatonic. Then again, maybe she was. Horrifying memories were swarming her head, filled with piercing cries, flashing claws, and hot, rancid breath. It was as though every step she took sent her further back into the past, to moments she never wanted to re-live.

The cool air of the office washed over Gwyn's body as Owen ushered her inside and quickly shut the door behind them. Owen sat her down in his desk chair and made for the refrigerator, snagging a cold bottle of water off the top shelf. He cracked the top open and held it out to her, expecting her to take it immediately. But she didn't. Gwyn's eyes were focused on something on the opposite side of the room, but when he turned to see what it was she was staring at, he realized it was just the wall. There was nothing there. It seemed, on second glance, that she was staring through the wall at something in the far distance. Falling into a crouch, bottle still in hand, Owen watched Gwyn with a tentative, cautious gaze.

"Gwyn?" he asked softly. Her mouth opened as though she might reply, but no sound came out, instead, a tear slipped from the corner of her eye and rolled along the curve of her cheek. He couldn't see what she was seeing, and what she was seeing was this: she saw blurs of leathery flesh darting in front of her eyes, heard claws clicking against tile, and felt metal tremble with the impact of some creature landing atop it. Her nose burnt with the smell of rotting flesh and stale blood. Her chest ached as though the wound had been reopened and prodded at. "Gwyn…" Owen reached a hand upwards and gently wiped the tear off her cheek with his thumb. The contact made her start, and her eyes snapped back to reality, meeting his with a wide-eyed stare. It was almost as though he watched her de-age some twenty years. She looked so young, so vulnerable. Then Gwyn bent her head to hide her gaze, pressing her trembling palms flat against the tops of her thighs. "Here, drink this." Owen proffered the water bottle, which she accepted, curling her shaking fingers around the cold plastic. Silence filled the room as she took down large gulps of water, eyes falling shut.

Setting the bottle down on the desk, Gwyn caught sight of her shaking hand and shook her head at it. Her fingers curled into a fist that she then pressed hard against the desktop, hoping to stop the shaking. "I'm sorry…" she murmured in a broken voice.

"You've got nothing to apologize for, alright?" Owen assured, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I don't know why Blue acted that way, I should be the one apologizing." Gwyn shut her eyes tightly again, trying to gather up the shaken and shattered pieces of her confidence and composure. She took another sip of water and cleared her throat to make sure her voice wouldn't break when next she spoke. She was already embarrassed enough, she didn't want to add a shaking voice to that list of confidence shakers.

"She… she probably thought I was… threatening you… you know… when I fixed your collar," Gwyn decided on, eyes still clamped shut. Owen pursed his lips, figuring that was probably what had done it. Uncurling her fist, Gwyn propped an elbow up on the desk and shielded her eyes with her hand, looking more tired and out of sorts than he had ever seen her. There was a look of self-beratement on her face, which undoubtedly meant that she blamed herself for both prompting Blue's actions and the way she'd reacted. He wished he could tell her, again, that she had no reason to feel embarrassed about being scared of the raptors––out of anyone on the island, he would have to say she probably had the most legitimate reason to fear them. But if there was one thing he'd come to realize about her, it was that she was stubborn, and it was likely that she wouldn't let him work that ideal into her head.

"Well… I think it would probably be best if we went out for drinks, forget all this happened. We were done for the day anyway. Sound good?" Owen asked, rising to his full height again. When she didn't respond he arched both eyebrows upwards, concerned that she'd slipped back into whatever state she'd been in when they'd come into the office. "Gwyn?" She raised her head, forced a quick smile, and nodded at him. "Good. I'll drive you in, I don't think it would be a good idea for you to drive right now."

"Thanks…" Gwyn pushed herself out of the chair with a slight wobble. She swept strands of loose hair off her forehead and shuffled back around the desk and towards the door. Owen followed closely behind, grabbing the bottle of water Gwyn had been sipping at moments before. He snagged his jeep keys off the key rack on the wall, pocketed his motorcycle key, and made for the jeep that was parked alongside Gwyn's.

Owen had decided to talk about this-and-that to try and distract Gwyn, pulling her into friendly conversation so she didn't dwell on everything that had just happened. He asked her about her favorite non-documentary movies––Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Jaws, Sherlock Holmes––and her favorite books––War Horse, North and South, numerous books on paleontology and dinosaurs. It passed the time nicely, and, by the time they got to Margaritaville, Gwyn seemed to be in a better mood as Owen regaled her with his own, real life 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' story. They took up two seats at the bar and ordered their prefered drinks. Gwyn had gone for something sweeter, more pink in color, knowing that after the day she had, anything too heavy would likely make her sick. As Owen's beer arrived, he leaned both forearms on the bar and asked,

"So, what's your dad like?"

Gwyn looked at him with mild surprise on her face. She was so used to people asking 'what's it like having Alan Grant as a father' or 'what was it like growing up with a famous parent.' It was very rarely that anyone just asked about him as a person, as her father, not the paleontologist the world had come to know. It was a welcomed change that brought the warmth of happy memories to her mind, illuminating the shadows that had been lurking in the dark corners. Gwyn smiled and stirred her straw around in a clockwise motion. The pink alcohol swirled around the chunks of ice that clunked against the thin glass that housed them. She turned to look at Owen, a fond memory gleaming in her eyes.

"My father… you see, he once said this thing about kids. He said that they were… noisy. Messy. Expensive. But he loves me, you see, he really does. He just… had trouble figuring out how to express it for a while. He was certainly excited when I grew out of the noisy and messy phase. The expensive bit was give-in, he always knew I'd be going to college. Everyone thought he wasn't fit to be a dad, or didn't have it in him, but I think he did a pretty good job. So what if he vividly described the hunting habits of tyrannosaurs when I was four?" she laughed, smiling widely. Owen joined her in smiling, lips stretching wide over his teeth."So what if he took me on digs? He's… loving and caring and sweet and protective and, contrary to what some believe, funny."

"Sounds like a good guy," Owen told her as she sipped at her drink. She smiled into her glass and nodded. Then, ever so slowly, her smile began to wane.

"He took real good care of me after what happened at the park. Took a couple months off work, just so he made sure I recovered properly. Lord knows how many times I woke him up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder…" Gwyn shook her head, recalling the nights that Alan had rushed to her room, held her close to his chest, and rocked her back and forth as he comforted her. "We were closer than ever after all that… I guess that's what running from a t-rex together does to you, huh?"

Owen let out a singular chuckle of confirmation, nursing a sip from his bottle. Gwyn turned her glass around and around a couple of times, a contemplative look on her face. It would only be fair––and fitting––if she told Owen what had happened that day. Why it was she reacted the way she did, why she'd nearly gone into shock. It was the first time she would be recounting the story after a good long while of deciding to only say 'a raptor got me.'

"We had just gotten back to the visitor's center after spending most of the night and a good portion of the morning running from Rexy. We must've looked a fright, being covered in mud, blood, and sweat. Our clothes were dirty and torn, our hair was a mess, and we were exhausted. My dad had gone to go find his girlfriend, Ellie, and left Tim and Lex––Hammond's grandchildren––and I in the restaurant so we could eat some of the food left out from the day before. It was the best we'd felt in hours. Dare I say, we were even happy for a little bit. Maybe it wasn't happiness… maybe it was just… relief that we thought we were safe. But then… I remember watching the expression on Lex's face change. This… this look of abject horror appeared on her face; she was staring at something just over my shoulder and when I turned to look… there was a shadow behind this… this decorative wall. It was a velociraptor, and it was on the prowl," Gwyn recounted, staring in front of her with a concentrated look on her face. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, as though she were watching the events of the past on a movie screen. Owen watched her, completely intent on listening to what she was telling him, enraptured by the horror story she was telling him. The crease between her brows deepened, the memory getting darker, scarier.

"We may have only been thirteen, eleven, and eight years-old, but we knew we had to hide, had to run… so we ran to the kitchen, it was the only place we could go. None of us spoke, but you could tell we were all worried that it had seen us, that it was going to follow… and it did. We had slammed the door shut behind us, but… raptors… they're clever. It opened the door… it cried out to call its friend… and together they began to stalk through the kitchen. We crawled our way between counters, trying to be quiet as possible… but that only worked for so long. Eventually, they found us, and… and I remember thinking that I was going to die. What a thing for an eleven year-old to think about… it felt like we were in there for hours, but we really were only in there for… four minutes at most. I was nearly cornered at one point, but Lex or Tim––I can't remember––through a spatula to distract it. But then Tim got this idea. He saw that the walk-in freezer was open, so he made a run for it, knowing full well one of the raptors would follow. He tricked it inside, slipped and fell on the icy floor, and struggled to get back up. I pulled him out… and before we could close the door, the raptor had stuck its head and arms between the door and the door frame. Tim and I, we pushed at that door with all of our might. I… smelled its last meal on its breath and nearly vomited… it was a disgusting mix of rotting flesh and fresh blood… and that was when it happened." Gwyn's fingers curled into fists atop the bar and she swallowed thickly, getting to the meat of the story. "It hooked one of its claws into the skin of my chest and ripped it to the side, tearing flesh and spilling blood. It felt like I was being torn apart… I could feel each inch of my skin being ripped open; and it wasn't like it was a smooth movement either. It was a stop-and-start movement, jerking and tearing and stopping and starting… I fell, crying and bleeding, and Lex and Tim finally got the door shut. I must've been going into shock because I don't remember getting out of the kitchen. Instead, the next thing I remembered was my dad picking me up and cradling me to his chest; he… grabbed a shirt from the gift shop and used it to stop the bleeding. When we landed in Costa Rica I had to be rushed to an emergency room immediately; I'd lost a lot of blood and the wound needed to be stitched up."

Gwyn stayed silent for a moment before she forced a smile across her face and took a long sip of her drink. Owen was staring at her with widened eyes, pinched brows, and a frown on his lips. Honestly, it was worse than what he'd expected it to be. He had thought, maybe, a raptor had gotten her while she was on the run; but to be trapped in a room with a hunting party that was intent on killing was something else entirely. It was a nightmare come true. It was what everyone feared would happen should they step or accidentally fall into the raptor paddock, and she'd lived that fear.

"That's… that's… awful," Owen intoned, rubbing at his raw. "Damn…"

"Right?" she agreed flatly. She placed a hand on her chest, over the scar that jaggedly cut across her chest. "Figured it was probably best to let you know after what happened today…" Owen twisted his bottle around a couple of times, gathering his thoughts as images of a young Gwyn bleeding and crying ran rampant through his head. It was no wonder she practically went catatonic, why she'd curled in on herself and flinched at his touch.

"You don't have to come back to the paddock if you don't want to, Gwyn. I'm… honestly impressed that you even stopped by in the first place," Owen told her in a comforting tone. Gwyn downed some more of her drink and then looked over at him, eyes blazing with some emotion he couldn't quite put his finger on. She clenched her jaw, held her chin high, and the muscles in her neck visibly strained for a second.

"I… am… determined… to go back. It's like I said… I need to face my fears… no matter how scared I am… no matter how much I want to cry and scream and curl into a ball," she told him in a determined tone. "I… refuse… to be as scared as I have been. It was so bad for so many years––I once thought that someone's dog was a velociraptor. A dog. Sometimes I hear the screech of bus breaks and think it's their hunting call, and I can't do that anymore. I can't feel like the eleven year-old girl who was trapped in that kitchen; I can't have my dad see me that way anymore…" Gwyn inhaled deeply, shut her eyes, and then exhaled. "I refuse to be scared anymore."

She felt Owen's hand come to rest on her shoulder, the warmth of his palm comforting and friendly. Opening her eyes, she met his gaze to find a determined look settled on his face. They shared a quiet moment, in which he squeezed her shoulder, smiled softly, and nodded.

"If you'd let me… I'd be honored to help you," he told her. "If you're coming back to the paddock anyway, I don't see why we can't kill two birds with one stone, right? You do the observations, and I'll help you get more comfortable with the girls. Deal?" Owen pulled his hand off her shoulder and extended it to her in hopes of a confirming handshake. She stared at it for a moment, thought over the offer, and then felt her lips quirk to the side in a portion of a smile. She wiped the condensation from her glass off her palm and then fitted her hand into his. They shook on the deal they made, and Gwyn began to feel that maybe, just maybe, everything would all work out for the best.

Afterword: There you guys have it! We all know how Gwyn got the scar now––I plan on writing out said scene in the prequel, but, till then, you've got the summarized version! It's not the most… creative of ways she could've gotten it, but, you know, it is what it is. I hope that you all enjoyed it, I had a blast finally getting to write out what happened to Gwyn–– 'blast' might not be the best word, but I was happy to finally get it down on paper.

Review Replies!

NicoleR85: I figured that Owen would, more or less, be protective of anyone who the girls threatened. Especially because he knows Gwyn's got a history with raptors and doesn't want to drag up unwanted memories, especially now that he knows what happened. Also, protective!Owen is a blast to write and just fits his character so well. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!

katy1986: Gwyn is definitely going to get the raptor nightmares again, and probably in full-force too. Jealous!Owen may very well make an appearance… because who doesn't want to see that? Ahahaha! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

lilnightmare17: I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter and hope you enjoyed this one just as much; thanks again!
CarlyJo: I'm glad that the raptor intro came off well; initially her first re-encounter with the raptors was going to be Blue throwing herself at the gate, but I thought better of it. She and Echo will either become good friends or just have a lot of issues, ahaha! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!

RJ North: I love Ellie and will write more of her phone calls in, especially since she's like a mother to Gwyn. Again, I'm happy that the raptor scene last chapter read well and came off as believable. I was kind of figuring that, after what Gwyn's been through, she probably would just tense up and not know what to do. And I've decided it probably is about a year before the movie starts, so it will give time for relationships to develop. Gwyn and Owen, Gwyn and Lowery, Gwyn and Claire… Gwyn and Wu, which'll be a very interesting dynamic. And with Echo, there'll either be beef, or there'll be friendship. Not sure yet. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last! Thanks again!

Angi Marie: I'm glad that you've enjoyed the story thus far and hope you stick around to read more! Thanks again!

chibichibi98: I'm thrilled to hear this is one of your favorite Jurassic Park stories! I've tried really hard to keep it in the same tone as the movies and keep the characters believable and what not. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

MichelleJoy: You are positively welcome! I was thrilled to hear that so many people liked this story, since the ideas I had for it were very small when I first started posting. I didn't know how people would react to Gwyn being a Grant, but everyone seems to think it's a clever idea, so I'm very glad that everyone's been enjoying it, that you have been enjoying it! I hope that you enjoyed the new chapter! Thanks again!

Guest: I'm glad that you've enjoyed the story so far and certainly hope that you'll stick around for more! Thanks again!
MischievousAngel0923: Very, very happy you've enjoyed the story thus far! And I'm thrilled to hear that Gwyn's interactions with everyone (human and dinosaur) are believable and nice to read. I hope that you enjoyed the newest chapter and have enjoyed the first few chapters of the prequel as well! Thanks again!

Guest: I'm glad that last chapter was 'freaking amazing!' :-) I had struggled with writing the raptor's introduction, but I'm glad that everyone liked it! I hope that you enjoyed the new chapter! Thanks again!

Guest: Thank you! I'm glad that you've been enjoying the story!

And thank you to those who have added this to their favorites/follows––it means a lot!

And I will, again, thank everyone for their support with this story so far. When I first posted it, I would have never thought that in seven chapters I'd have 111 reviews and so many people who loved the story thus far. I honestly thought people would rail against me and say that the idea was horrible. So, thank you, all of you readers and reviewers and followers, you all keep me inspired!

~Mary