Disclaimer: I do not own the Jurassic Park/World franchise or any of it's characters; I only own the characters and plots of my own mind.
33. Before the Storm
There was a man in the cage trying to adjust the cameras on the Girls' heads. They'd snort and squeal and growl at him, scare him with their jostling and the rattling of their metal muzzles. Their eyes flashed, their lips pulled back over their teeth; and the man swore at them viciously every time they started him. Gwyn watched all this happen, arms crossed, from a distance. Her brows sat furrowed over wary eyes, which followed the man's every movement. Hoskins' men were all business––all bad business––and she didn't trust them as far as she could throw them. And while her relationship with the Girls was tentative, she had grown fond of them. That fondness had inspired a strange surge of protectiveness. It was why she'd parked herself several feet from the door of the cage, monitoring the man that tromped around inside.
He approached Echo and reached out for the camera situated just over her left eye. She jerked and jostled the muzzle, the startling rattling sound making it apparent that she'd lunged inside of her stall. The man swore viciously under his breath and retracted his hand quickly. That hand then shot forward and roughly knocked against the front of the muzzle.
"Hey!" Gwyn snapped in a knee-jerk reaction. The man's head whipped up and around, eyes alighting on Gwyn's approaching figure. She was marching with frightening purpose. When she reached the door, her fingers curled around the bars and yanked; it swung open with an angry squeal. "You wanna not assault the velociraptor?"
"Damn thing won't settle down," the man griped.
Gwyn hadn't stopped walking, her sights honed in on him. Everything about her posturing meant business––the way her shoulders were squared, the displeased set to her mouth, the gleam in her eyes that dared him to try something. Gwyn came to a stop at a confrontational distance, hands migrating to her hips. "And if your dog was misbehaving, would you yank on its chain?"
"Yeah, I would."
"Well, aren't you a regular asshole," she deadpanned. "I'd back off if I were you."
"Why would I do that? I'm trying to do my job, lady."
"You're about to go out into the jungle with these Girls. Do you know how they hunt?" Gwyn took a deliberate step forward, which brought her face uncomfortably close to his. He reared his head back, grimacing, eyeing her like she was the craziest woman on earth. She arched an eyebrow. "They're pack hunters. They rely on one another to track down their prey. They have hunting patterns, man. That means they know which one of them would attack you first. Which one bites, which one slashes, which one gets to gnaw the meat off your bones. They are some of the smartest creatures that I have ever met." Gwyn grinned suddenly. "You're about to go into the jungle with them; and they're eyeing you like you're their next meal. I'd show a little respect, if I were you."
Beside them, Echo scoffed a throaty sound, like she had understood what Gwyn was saying and was emphasizing it. The man darted his eyes down at Echo before they slid back over to Gwyn. He snorted, lips and nose pulling up in an unflattering sneer. He placed two fingers in the middle of Gwyn's chest and pushed to get her to back up; the minute his fingers met her skin, Echo growled and rattled in her muzzle. Gwyn took a step back and slapped his hand away.
"Respect? For an overgrown lizard?" He snorted and shook his head. "Crazy bitch…" The man stepped around her and seemed to chuckle under his breath in disbelief.
Gwyn turned to watch him go, glaring at him with enough heat that he cast a look over his shoulder as he made his exit. Once he was gone, she turned her attention to Echo, whose nostrils were still flaring as she huffed in agitation.
"What an ass, right?" she muttered. A squealing sound pulled from Echo's throat and Gwyn raised her brows. "Glad to know we're on the same page…"
"I take it that guy deserved however you just tore into him?" asked Owen, taking a step into the cage. He had jutted a thumb over his shoulder at the guy who'd just left, a slight smirk on his lips. But instead of replying how he might have expected, Gwyn said,
"I, uh… I'm gonna go out with you," Gwyn informed.
The ten minutes she'd been allowed to give Owen her answer were up. And the conclusion she'd come to was this––yes, she was the only one that knew the Indominus well enough to see the warning signs. And if she stayed behind and withheld that information, she'd be no better than the assholes in the lab that withheld information from her. And when it came to the Girls––well, she'd just have to suck it up. Be brave about it. Because maybe Owen was right; maybe working with them did mean that they'd hold off from tearing her face off long enough for her to hide.
Owen quirked his brows and sauntered towards her, smile pulling into a smirk. "I thought you'd agreed to that the other week."
Gwyn leveled him with a wry look. "Into the jungle, Owen," she clarified flatly.
"I know," he murmured. He reached out and took her hands, pulling them away where they tried to tuck into her pockets. With a slight tug, he pulled her into him, their chests gently flush with one another. His thumb swept over her wrist comfortingly. "You'll be alright."
"I better be. 'Cause if I go out there and end up as raptor chow, I'm haunting your ass for lying to me."
Owen's lips descended upon hers in a quick, but lingering kiss; Gwyn barely had time to respond to it before it broke. When it did, Owen left his forehead resting against hers. The Girls all made varying sounds in response to the display of affection––squealing, coughing, scoffing, tittering. The sounds were enough to startle Gwyn, left her tensing up against Owen, pressing herself a little closer in instinctive fear. Noticeably, apparently, because he squeezed her fingers.
"It's okay, they're just not used to it," he murmured.
"They don't think I'm trying to attack you?" she replied, anxiously breathless. She recalled the day she'd gone to fix his shirt collar only to have Blue try and attack her through the paddock gate. She felt Owen lift his head away from hers, but then his lips met her forehead.
"Nah––I'm not fighting you off, so the closeness probably reads as some kind of loyalty display," he reasoned. Gwyn opened her eyes, a tiny laugh having bubbled up in her chest. She narrowed her eyes up at him.
"Who's showing loyalty to who?"
Owen beamed at her a little roguishly. "Me to you, obviously."
The corner of Gwyn's mouth quirked into a flicker of a smile, shaking her head a little. She looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow.
"Are you trying to flatter me?" she asked.
"Depends, is it working?"
"Y'know, I'm thinking it's less about flattery and more about distracting me."
"Why can't it be both?" Owen inquired. He squeezed her hands again. "More importantly, did it work?"
Gwyn took in a deep breath and nodded. "My heart isn't trying to claw its way up my throat anymore, so yeah. Thank you." But just then, she got the sense that she was being stared at. She tore her eyes away from Owen and turned it in the direction she'd felt it coming from.
It was Blue.
Her pupils were narrowed into slits, and their gaze was undeniably focused on Gwyn. Her heart tripped over itself again, and she swallowed thickly. Whatever raport she had with Echo, she did not have with Blue. Of all the Girls, she scared Gwyn the most. She was the beta, she was fiercely protective of Owen, and boy did she have a personality. If it were possible to feel judged by a dinosaur, Gwyn had constantly felt pinned under Blue's scrutiny. She always watched her with discriminating gold eyes, especially whenever she was close to Owen.
"Hey," Owen murmured as he released one of her hands. He walked towards Blue, his eyebrows rising promptingly. "C'mere."
"Mmm…" Gwyn hummed lowly and gave a slight shake of her head. Owen tugged at her hand a little and she leaned back. "Owen."
"Trust me."
With a slow exhale, Gwyn carefully relented. She allowed Owen to lead her over to Blue, who still twitched in agitation from Hoskins' man trying to adjust the cameras. She was huffing deeply, the sound of her breath rattling in her nasal cavity. No matter how long Gwyn was around them, no matter how comfortable she'd become with them, the sounds they made still made her blood go cold. When they finally got over to her, Owen released Gwyn's hand and stooped down into the raptor's line of sight.
"Easy, Blue," he urged gently. He slid one hand along the underside of her jaw. "Easy…" The huffing slowly stopped, and she instead tittered a low sound in the back of her throat. "Attagirl." Owen reached out and touched the camera, checking its tightness around her head. "You don't scare me…" Whether that was to Blue, or to the camera––and by proxy, Hoskins––Gwyn didn't know. What she did know was that when Owen turned around and offered his hand to her, her heartbeat tripped.
"You're sure?" she asked, wincing at the slight tremble in her voice.
"I'm sure," Owen confirmed. He left his hand outstretched, didn't reach to take her own. He was still giving her an out, a chance to say no. But Gwyn didn't. She placed her hand into his and nodded.
Owen drew her forward till she stood beside him, and then let his fingers creep up to her wrist. Gently and slowly––still allowing her the chance to pull away––he brought Gwyn's hand up to Blue's nose. Gwyn swallowed thickly as Blue's nostrils started to flare rapidly, as her hot breath puffed against her trembling fingers. A sound resonated in the raptor's throat. It was higher-pitched, curious almost, and the sniffing continued. After a moment of that, Owen cupped the outside of Gwyn's hand with his palm and brought it around to the underside of Blue's jaw. Just as carefully as before, Owen lifted their hands till her palm made contact with the raptor's skin. The velociraptor's skin was leathery and so warm it was almost hot. That heat had a breath rushing out of Gwyn's mouth, which had dropped open. Her eyebrows rose in disbelief at the situation; she was touching a velociraptor. Willingly. Her stomach clenched, her brain screamed 'what are you doing,' and her heart squeezed. The last time she'd been in physical contact with a velociraptor, she'd been laid out with blood gushing out of her chest.
Gwyn let her hand gently be guided along Blue's jaw. Blue was surprisingly calm during all this, and that shocked the paleontologist. She'd seen Blue try and snap at handlers who had been working at the paddock longer than she had. Part of her wondered if this newfound tolerance was because Owen was there, because his hand was on the other side of hers. If it was anything other than that, Gwyn couldn't pinpoint it. It was then that Owen pulled his hand away and stepped back a little, leaving Gwyn to cradle Blue's head all on her own.
"Now, isn't this nice? Two of my favorite girls getting along," he said, beaming.
An incredulous, breathy laugh fled from Gwyn's mouth. "Yeah…" she breathed.
A low, but not threatening, sound rumbled in Blue's throat.
Gwyn slowly swept a thumb over Blue's skin, marveling at how it felt. Rough and textured and hot. Whenever she touched a dinosaur, Gwyn couldn't help but wonder at the fact that they were living. It would never cease to be awe inspiring, no matter how dangerous they were. After a moment, she slowly let her hand drop away, fingers still tingling with the heat of Blue's skin. When Gwyn looked over at Owen, his eyes gleamed with pride, and his mouth was quirked up with a pleased smile. A smile of her own bloomed across her face, unbidden, and a strange giddiness flushed through her.
"Shit!" she breathed. Her hands shot up to her hair, fingers stretching through the tangled locks to pull them away from her face. She laughed and shook her head at herself. "I just… shit, I just did that…"
"Yeah, you did!" Owen chuckled. He crossed his arms and darted his eyes across the paddock, smile morphing into a smirk. "And it looks like someone is a little jealous."
Confused, Gwyn turned to follow his gaze––and found that he'd been looking over at Echo. Her eyes were focused over at them, she shifted restlessly against her metal muzzle. Gwyn's hands dropped from her head and slapped gently against her legs. There, they contemplatively rubbed at the dirty fabric of her shorts for a moment. After that moment, she started to walk towards the other velociraptor. Once she was there, Gwyn let out a steeling breath.
"Y'know…" Gwyn exhaled. She bent forward at the waist and braced her hands atop her knees. When she'd started talking, the restless shifting stopped. Gwyn could feel her heart pounding in her chest, feel a tightness in her throat. "If we're gonna be out there together… we've gotta come to some kind of an understanding." In her head she withered at the thought she was talking to Echo like she understood her, but she didn't let that register on her face. "I'll stay out of your way, and you don't sink your claws into my chest cavity."
A hand lifted off Gwyn's knee. It shook as it hovered in the air, trembled as it slowly moved up towards Echo's head. The sight of it in her periphery must have startled her, because Echo jolted. The sound of rattling metal and huffing breath had Gwyn's fight-or-flight instinct kick in; she wanted to shy away, fall back. But, instead, she only rocked back a little, hand jerking away. Then, with a slow, steeling breath, she started to move it back towards Echo's head.
"I'm trying to build trust here," Gwyn murmured.
After what felt like an eternity, Gwyn's palm touched Echo's cheek. Echo made a low sound in her throat, just like Blue had. But this time, Gwyn felt like she could parse out what it was. It wasn't a threat, it was an acknowledgement. In a moment that startled Gwyn just a bit, it felt like a wordless understanding had, indeed, passed between them. What that understanding was, Gwyn had no clue, but there was something. In response, she let her fingers, which had been hovering tentatively, come to rest against the dinosaur's cheek.
"Okay," she said hushedly. "Okay, this I can work with." She started a little as air puffed out of Echo's nostrils. "I think…"
"Owen, Gwyn!"
Gwyn looked up and over from Echo, and found Gray and Zach standing on the outside of the cage. They'd come up on Gwyn's side, and had clearly been watching for a little bit; how she hadn't noticed them was beyond her. Gray, who had been the one to call out to them, was clutching one of the horizontal bars, watching Gwyn with wide eyes. Zach had draped his arms over the bars and around one of the vertical supports, gaze sweeping across the cage in quiet awe.
"Are they safe?" Gray asked. He was staring, quite specifically, at Gwyn's hand, which still sat flush against Echo's cheek. She straightened up, hand slipping away carefully; she cleared her throat and approached the bars, hands finding their way into her pockets. Both the boys stared at her with rapt attention, awaiting her answer with baited breath and curiosity shining in their eyes.
"No, not in the least," she said. The answer, the confirmation of how dangerous they were, sent Gray's mouth into mouthing the word 'wow,' his eyes snapping between Gwyn and Echo. He was either impressed or in awe, she couldn't tell.
"What are their names?" asked Zach.
Gwyn looked over her shoulder at Owen, who had stepped away from Blue to join them.
"Well, you got Charlie," he stared, gesturing over at her. "The one you saw Gwyn with, that's Echo. Delta. This one's called Blue." There was a fond pause as he stared back at her. "She's the beta."
"Who's the alpha?" asked Gray. His eyes were darting from raptor to raptor, trying to parse out which it was; his eyes lingered on Echo and her scars. Gwyn couldn't help the half-smirk that she hid with her hand, knowing that they were not expecting the answer that was to come.
"You're lookin' at him, kid," Owen informed confidently the corner of his mouth lifting just slightly.
It was hard to miss the impressed smiles that tried to crawl their way across the boys' faces. Gray didn't so much try to hide it as dampen it; but Zach, well into his teenage years, very obviously fought to keep the smile small. But that didn't stop him from shaking his head and laughing a little under his breath.
"That's so cool," Zach said.
Owen puffed his chest out a little, smile widening just a bit. Gwyn rolled her eyes and walked over to the bars. She propped her elbow up on one and folded her arms over her chest. She leaned in towards the boys, eyes remaining fixed on Owen.
"Don't let him hear that too often, it'll go to his head," she deadpanned through a smile. "A head he needs to keep clear till we're out of this damn mess."
With a cluck of his tongue, Owen eyed her playfully. His head cocked to the side and his mouth pulled into a roguish smile. "Since when can I ever keep a clear head with you at my side?" The flirtation was obvious and heavy-handed; in spite of herself, Gwyn snorted and scoffed a laugh.
"Owen," she admonished on smothered laughter. She darted her eyes over at Gray and Zach, who were watching the exchange, absolutely enraptured with grins on their faces.
The raptor trainer raised his hands, the roguish look still painted across his face. "Alright, I concede." Then he clucked his tongue and shrugged. "But I am cool."
"Dude, she's Gwyn Grant, she's so cool," Gray said hushedly to his brother. He almost looked and sounded offended that his brother would have selected Owen for being cool.
Zach shot him a look and then darted his eyes at Gwyn. He looked back at his brother and leaned in closer. "I still don't know who she is, man," he murmured. He looked back over at Gwyn, who had been smiling gently at the brothers. Zach pulled a face. "Sorry."
She shook her head and shrugged indifferently. "Don't worry about it."
"Her dad's a paleontological legend, and she's not far behind. She's, like… the foremost paleontologist of her generation! Dude, she survived Jurassic Park!" Gray gushed. The expression on his face clearly read as 'I can't believe you don't know this.' Zach's eyes had blown wide at the mention of Jurassic Park, and his mouth had started to form soundless shapes in his surprise.
"Yeah, she is pretty cool," Owen drawled. He leaned a little closer to the bars as he started to turn away. "Just don't get on her bad side." With that, he winked at her over his shoulder and walked away.
Gwyn shook her head after him, smiling fondly.
"You see? That's how you're supposed to look at your girlfriend," Gray stressed.
Zach threw his hand into his brother's arm, and shot an embarrassed glance Gwyn's way. "Shut up."
OOOO
"I'm gonna give you another crash course on these before we head out," Owen informed as he loaded up a gun. It did it with ruthless efficiency, brows furrowed in concentration as his hands flitted over the weapon with comfortable familiarity. It was impressive, honestly, and almost hypnotizing to watch. Gwyn had to wonder if she ever did anything with that much efficiency––the only thing that came to mind was cleaning and organizing her paleontology tools.
Gwyn, who was leaned up against the table all the weapons were laid out on, snorted. She didn't dare touch one. Not even having fired a tranq gun, not even after Owen had taught her how to hold one. It felt like she'd break it, even with the slightest graze of her finger. Instead, she kept her arms crossed and fixed Owen with a wry––though appreciative––look.
"Great––two crash courses makes up half a whole one."
A smirk briefly appeared on Owen's face, his eyes still focused on his rifle. "When all this is over, I'll teach you the other half, then."
"Is the second half where you wrap your arms around me like a movie cliché and tell me I have to squeeze the trigger, not pull it?"
"No." Owen looked up and smiled roguishly. "That's in crash course two."
Even though she rolled her eyes at the comment, Gwyn couldn't help but smile at it, too. She turned her attention away from him, scanning the mess that had overtaken the paddock's gravel parking lot. People were getting suited up in preparation of venturing out into the jungle. They were outfitted with helmets, bullet proof vests, snipers, infrared goggles. Armored vehicles were being inspected one last time. It was like watching a scene out of some kind of movie; it was chilling. It elevated the stress of the situation, and that was saying something, especially coming from Gwyn. But through all of the militaristic chaos, something stood out. Gray, all alone, sat on top of a supply crate, watching everything go down. Even from a distance, Gwyn could see how pinched his face was, the anxious wiggle of his feet. She pushed away from the table with a frown.
"Hey, gimme a second," she murmured. Owen looked up, paused his inspection, and darted his eyes over towards Gray. He lifted his chin in realization and then offered a nod. His expression softened in understanding.
"Go ahead. I'll be here."
It took little time for Gwyn to make her way over to Gray. He noticed her approach and perked up a little, but his expression didn't change much. Without asking, she sat herself down on the crate beside him, hunching forward to brace her arms over her knees. Together they watched two men in all black haul a large industrial case towards a tank-like vehicle. She could only guess what was inside, and her best bets were on something a big, dangerous weapon of some kind.
"Where's your brother?" she asked eventually.
"Bathroom. Someone said we could use the one in the office," Gray replied quietly.
Gwyn hummed in acknowledgement.
And then they were quiet again.
Unlike her father, Gwyn wasn't particularly petrified when it came to interacting with children. She gave tours to school kids at the museum in Bozeman, and she understood when to dial back the 'gory details' of the dinosaur world––elementary schoolers didn't appreciate the blood and gore nearly as much as middle schoolers did. Many of her co-workers and neighbors had kids, and she'd met them with little incident. But Gwyn still wasn't what one would call a natural with kids. Like her father, she treated them in a more mature way. She didn't lie to them––unless the situation really called for it––or presume that they didn't know anything just because they were young.
But as she sat beside Gray, whom she had no intention of lying to, who was clearly very intelligent––she was at a loss of what to say. Maybe it was because he reminded her of herself at his age. Eager to learn and going through one hell of a time. She didn't know whether or not to ask if he was scared––because she knew he was––or if she should go for the distraction route. The logical side of her head was kicking into overdrive, so she said the first thing that came to the forefront of her mind.
"What's your favorite dinosaur?" she asked. There was a beat, a pause where Gray looked up and over at her with furrowed brows. Gwyn arched hers in response and nudged his knee with her own. "C'mon, what is it? You can tell a lot about a person from their favorite dinosaur."
Gray seemed to mull the question over, biting at his lip, eyes rolling skyward. Gwyn appreciated the time he took, figuring that he was weighing his options in his head; it meant he had a lot of favorite dinosaurs.
"Brachiosaurus," he eventually settled on.
A grin bloomed on Gwyn's face. "You, sir, have discerning taste in dinosaurs. The gentle giant." She leaned in a little closer, as though to share a secret. "It's my favorite too. I got to meet one, up close and personal and on its own accord. It was pretty cool."
"What was pretty cool?" Zach asked, making his reappearance.
"She got to meet a brachiosaurus," Gray piped up. He looked a little more lively than before; his eyes shone with the promise of receiving a story, and his fidgeting had stopped.
Zach's brows furrowed and his lips parted in what seemed to be confusion. "And… the brachiosaurus is… which one?"
"Long necked dinosaur, big forehead––basically the giraffe of the dinosaur world," Gwyn clarified. "Gentle giant, veggiesaurus."
"Veggiesaurus?" Gray posed, confused.
A small smile crossed Gwyn's face, fond but a little distant. "Yeah, it's, uh… guess it's personal slang for herbivore. When I was here the first time back in '93, my friend Lex wasn't very hip with the paleontology slang; her brother, Tim, was, and decided to call all herbivorous dinosaurs veggiesauruses for her benefit. Seemed like your brother could use the same little nudge of understanding." She and Gray shared a smile before she winked at Zach good naturedly. He cleared his throat and turned his head away, an attempt to play off the way his cheeks had gone pink.
"So how'd you meet the brachiosaurus?" Gray asked.
"Well…" Gwyn started. She shifted herself back on the crate till her back leaned up against another one just behind it. She pulled a leg up to her chest and looped her arms around it, getting comfortable as she willingly recalled the memory. "This was in '93, so I was eleven. I had been in awe of this place, right up until I couldn't be anymore. We'd been up most of the night, running, hiding, climbing… spent a night in this massive tree… and when we woke up in the morning, it was right there. The brachiosaurus was eating its breakfast, munching on leaves exactly at our height. It wasn't scared of us. We got to reach out and touch it, and it was…" Gwyn grinned, remembering the awe she'd felt upon getting to touch her favorite dinosaur. "It was really something. Then it sneezed on Lex, and that wasn't too great, but that's nature for you."
"And you weren't… scared?" asked Zach. Like his brother, he, too, had listened intently to the story. He stood with his arms crossed, his fingers pulling at the hem of his sleeve anxiously. The teenage boy cleared his throat and reached up to scratch the back of his head. "After everything you went through, you weren't scared?"
Gwyn held Zach's gaze before she looked over at Gray. The excitement in his eyes had disappeared again, replaced by a shine of worry she recognized all too well. They were so young; too young to be going through this shit. It hurt her heart to know that they were going to have to deal with this for the rest of her life, just like she had. Zach asked if she had been scared because he was. Because Gray was. They were looking to her for some kind of guidance, an assurance that they weren't alone in feeling the way they did.
"Of course I was," Gwyn said. She watched a small wave of relief erase the crease from between Zach's eyebrows. "I'd just been in a car that was being stomped on by a t-rex. I spent… every minute of that whole ordeal crying and screaming. Thinking I wasn't gonna make it out. I was terrified. And, y'know what?" She laughed a little and placed both hands on her chest. "I'm scared shitless right now."
"You are?" Gray asked. He shuffled around to face her better, looking at her like he was surprised, like he couldn't believe what she'd said.
"Oh, yeah," she admitted on a breathy laugh. "All day I've been feeling like my heart's gonna burst out of my chest. Do you have any idea how many times I've cried today? I think I've cried more in the last twenty-four hours than I did back in '93. I threw up I was so scared." She looked over at Gray and arched an eyebrow. "Did you?"
"Throw up?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"No."
Gwyn looked over at Zach, silently reiterating the question. He shook his head and murmured a 'no.'
"Then you're both doing better than me," she promised. Both boys seemed to relax a little more, but it was hard to miss the way they kept shooting glances at the chaos around them. Gwyn scooted forward a little and nodded for Zach to get closer. When he did, she offered them a candid look. "I've been exactly where you are right now. And I'm telling you that there's only one thing that you need to remember right now––it's okay to be scared. It's okay to scream and cry. There's no rule book on this shit. Just stick together, run if you have to, and hide when you need to." The boys stared at her with rapt attention, eyes wide as they took in her advice. Gwyn shrugged then, and offered a more lighthearted expression. "And, y'know, when all this is over, if people start giving you or your brother shit for being scared––give me a call and I'll tear 'em a new one for you."
It was Zach that started to laugh first. It was stuttered and breathy, like he was trying to hold it back. But then there was a smile on his face and the laugh was fully realized. Gwyn smiled up at him, just as Gray started to laugh, too.
"You're a badass," Zach said. "If Owen's cool… you're a badass."
Gwyn offered a wry smile. "Come see me dig in the dirt in Montana sometime, then you'll see a real badass," she deadpanned.
"Totally," Gray agreed eagerly to the faux-invitation. He reminded her of Tim and it made her chest ache all the more.
As Gwyn smiled at his enthusiasm, she caught eye of Claire negotiating with one of Hoskins' men in front of a truck. Her smile fell a little as she dragged her attention back to the boys. "One last thing––your aunt. Cut her some slack, she was really worried about you. She was willing to go against protocol to get you guys back, and I think we all know how much that means coming from her."
Both Zach and Gray looked towards Claire, who had just turned to scan the crowd for them. When she spotted them, she waved a hand, gesturing the two over. Zach turned back to his little brother and jerked his head in her direction; Gray hopped off the crate, shoes crunching gravel as he landed. Both of them started to walk away, but Zach stalled. He turned back around, as Gray kept walking, and he offered Gwyn a little smile.
"Thanks," he said. "For, uh…" He gestured at her lamely with a hand, and Gwyn smiled at him. She got what he was getting at––he was to Gray what Alan had been to her. Zach had clearly been keeping a brave face all day, all for his brother's benefit. But he'd been scared, too, and it must have been a comfort to have been told that it was okay to feel that way. But he didn't know how to articulate it, didn't know how to convey what he felt for receiving that advice. So Gwyn spared him by shrugging, and smiling the gentlest she'd smiled all day.
"Don't mention it."
Afterword: This chapter's shorter, but I wanted to get it out to you. The paddock scene was not meant to go on this long, but there's just been a lot of fun character development in this lull of action. I also wanted to get this out to you all last night, but the Zach and Gray scene just wasn't co-operating till this morning. But I had a lot of fun with it, and I hope you all enjoyed it, too!
Review Replies!
xenoncanaan: Gwyn's really working her way through this all the best she can; she's got her good moments, and her bad ones. And I do think if things with the Indominus had been handled differently, everything could've gone another way. But, alas, we love the stubborn InGen scientists, don't we? I had a lot of fun writing Alan and Tim's pov on everything going down. And we will hear from Ian, it'll probably just happen after all the shit goes down in the park. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
NicoleR85: I've been consistently curious how all the original park survivors must have felt about shit going down at JW. I'm happy we got a snippet of Ian in Fallen Kingdom, but I crave more. I want to know just how snide Alan would get at the situation, how Tim and Lex would feel, now, as adults… so I figured I'd have some fun with putting some of their feelings into the story. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
TenebrisSaggitarius: Honestly, I, too, sometimes would go 'wait, they haven't kissed, roll it back.' But now that they have THANK GOD. It makes writing fluff and cutesy stuff, which was already fun, a whole hell of a lot more fun. I watched Joe Mazzello's live stream Q&A of Jurassic Park, and that's what inspired a lot of Tim's chunk. Especially in regards to their legacy power; 'cause I imagine that a lot of the legal stuff would have been in their parents' hands, but that it's probably mostly been passed down to Tim and Lex, now. And we never got a whole lot of info on how park closure went after Jurassic World, so I wanna play with how the Murphys might have had a hand in it.
I've had that kiss planned… for years… and it's killed me to have had to wait. But I knew that last chapter was the right moment for it. I wanted for Gwyn and Owen to have a really nice, calm, touching, intimate moment before they enter the jaws of hell. Also, forehead touches seem to be a Gwyn and Owen thing, and I'm here for it.
And I've got loads planned for Fallen Kingdom, don't you worry! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
god of all: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
AlchemyWriter: We will certainly see Ian soon enough! I didn't want to overload the latter half of the movie with cutaways, so we'll hear from him after the movie events. I have a plan––and it won't just be a cutaway scene of a reaction, we'll probably have Gwyn with him. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
CrystalVixen93: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Lmv16: I figured that the original park survivors probably didn't take news of JW collapsing too well. 'Cause it's not just 'some dumbasses got onto the island,' it's closer to what they experienced. There's a park, and security measures, and it's not Isla Sorna this time around––it's Isla Nublar. The same ground that they'd been on. And with Gwyn there… yeah, it's too close to home for them. My original intent was to have the jungle scene from the movie in here… but, again, I got carried away. Next time, though, we'll see how Gwyn, especially, handles being out there with the Girls. Especially when the turn. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
Angel JJK: We'll hear from Ian soon enough! I just didn't want to swamp these last few chapters with too many cut-aways. But I won't leave him out, I love Ian too much to do that. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
ZabuzasGirl: We finally got to the Girls! We got to a big moment for Gwyn and the Girls! Also, Balance has got another chapter in the works, it should be up pretty soon. I hope you enjoyed a chapter; thanks again!
AmericanNidiot: There was no way in hell I was letting Hoskins become raptor chow before Gwyn got the chance to give it to him. He's tormented her enough that I just had to write in a chance for her to finally clock him. Do what we all want to do to him. And YES, the kiss finally happened! I have a big ol' tendency for making characters wait an age to kiss; I enjoy the build-up and the tension. Originally, actually, they were gonna kiss after the Gala, but this felt better. Felt right. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
MsRosePetal: Last chapter was some of the most fun I've had writing this story. Getting the chance to do a cut away to the outside world was great to keep things in perspective, and getting Owen and Gwyn to finally kiss… priceless. We are getting close to the end of the movie––but I do have plans for JWFK, which I will also be doing. But we'll also get some fun stuff in the time between––relationship stuff and seeing how the world reacts to JW's destruction. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
AugustRrush: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Makokam: I like taking time to recognize how the events of JP/JW have affected the world at large. Because now it's not just the isolated group of survivors from the 90s and early 00's––it's a Disney World sized population of people, and their families, too. Seeing Tim and Alan react to the news is a tiny glimpse into how so many other people are reacting across the globe.
And I had to let Hoskins have it, he deserved it after all the times he's bothered Gwyn and the boys at the paddock.
Gwyn's got a whole journey in regards to her seeing herself as brave, so there'll be more on that later. She still doesn't feel brave in the moment; but she does see Zach and Gray as brave––because they're scared but push through it––and she sees a lot of herself in them, so maybe that'll spark something.
When we run into Alan again, we'll get to see how his journey to Costa Rica went. And we'll hear it with all the ire and grumpiness Alan is wont to bring. We'll also hear more from Lex after the fact.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
supboyyyyy93: I knew with how much love I've written between Alan and Gwyn I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get his POV on the shit going down. And I adore Tim too much to not write him as an adult, so he snuck his way in there, too. And we'll get to Ian, don't you worry. And rub it in people's faces he will––with all the charm in the world. And I thought it was about time for Owen and Gwyn to finally kiss; something nice to tide them over while they jaunt right back into the jaws of hell. We can see in this chapter that her bond with the Girls has improved significantly since the first time she arrived at the paddock; so next chapter will be fun with all the hell going down in the jungle. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
Briella J: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
Rebecca Rivera: I did get your reviews––I saw them over email––they just didn't register on the review page till now. I would have contacted you about it when you asked, but I, unfortunately, can't message you if you're on a guest account. But I'm happy they popped up so I could get the chance to reply!
I have a strange love for Alan's hat, so I would've been bereft if I let Gwyn lose it; especially 'cause it's the same hat he wore during JPIII. Too much history there to lose. In this story, I like to examine how the events of JP continue to affect its survivors. 'Cause it's not something that any one of them is gonna shrug off. I imagine that Tim might have an issue with claustrophobic cars. Ian and Ellie probably both had to go to physical therapy for their injuries. And I haven't mentioned the Kirbys much because Gwyn never really met them; but I have had plans to talk more about them post JW, as people start questioning how 'something like this could happen for a fourth time.' I love Zach and Gray and hope we get an update on them in the next movie. Even if it's just 'Gray's doing well in school, but he has trouble sleeping' or 'Zach's applying for college, but he wants to stay close to home for Gray's sake.'
And, wait, I kind of love the idea of Eric Kirby being an emergency worker. 'Cause he and Gwyn have probably never met, and I… it makes sense that Eric would want to do something like emergency work. That's a phenomenal idea!
And as much as you enjoy getting my replies, I enjoy hearing your ideas/thoughts and replying! I love having conversations about anything and everything. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
Guest: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, it was a blast to write! I have a lot of fun writing the original JP characters, so I have to throw them in every now and again. And Hoskins deserves much more than two punches across the face, but he'll get his soon enough. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
AsAmyAsAlways: Quarantine has literally sparked my creative drive; I've been creatively blocked a lot these last four years, and I think it's because I've been in college. I'm in the creative arts, so a lot of my time was spent pouring that creativity into my school work instead of my passion work. So now that I'm done with school, I finally have the chance to work on more of what I love. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!
monkeybaby: Never excuse your language, I swear like a sailor––thanks to my dad, who was in both the navy and the arm, and my homeland being New England. I appreciate a good swear! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
And thank you to those that added this story to their follows/favorites; it means a lot!
Next up, we get back into the action. And that'll be all fun and games… till it's not fun and games any more. We're close to the end of the movie, folks, but we'll keep on going from there! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
~Mary
