Did I write a 3000 word chapter of this instead of any of my other half finished stories? Yes, yes I did. :)

Badlands, Makoshika State Park, Mt.

Emily heaved a tub filled with camping supplies into the back of her truck, then shut the tailgate with a snap. Casey tossed a rolled up sleeping bag into the back of the truck, then set both his and Emily's paleontology tools in the backseat.

Emily brushed some dust off her hands, then surveyed the nearly abandoned dig site. It was now September, so they were packing up, getting ready to leave and head back to the museum, or, in the student's cases, college.

"Is that everything?" Casey shut the truck door.

Emily crossed over to him, "Yeah, besides Ava's tent, but she's getting that."

He nodded, "When are you starting office work at the museum?"

"Next Monday. I asked for some days off, I certainly need them."

Casey grimaced sympathetically, "They're still emailing you?"

Emily just nodded.

"If they email you again, let me know. I'll send them one back and give them a piece of my mind."

"Casey, as sweet as that is, I can handle it."

"I mean it, I'll call them too if that's what it takes."

Emily huffed, "Casey, seriously, it's fine. And please don't tell my dad. He'll freak out and start angrily calling them."

Casey looped an arm around her waist with a sigh, "Fine. My lips are sealed."

They stood like that for a moment, as Ava loaded up her tent. The paleontology student crossed over to them, "I'm all ready to go."

"So are we," Casey responded.

"Right. I guess I'll see you both next summer then, right?"

"You know it!"

Emily deadpanned, "I'm contractedly obliged to be there."

Ava laughed, getting into her pickup, "Till next summer then!" The paleontology student started her truck and drove off.

Casey pulled his arm out from around her waist, "I'll drive."

"It's my truck." Emily pulled out her keys, heading for the driver's door.

"I happen to know you had trouble sleeping last night."

Emily opened the door and hopped into the truck, "Casey, it's only five hours."

"Come on Em."

"Fine, but we'll switch in Billings, okay?"

"Okay."

Emily hopped out of the truck, passed her keys off to Casey, and walked around to the passenger door. Casey started her truck, and they got on the road.

Bozeman, Mt.

Emily set her plate down on her living room coffee table, followed by her glass of water and a napkin. She'd slept horrible the night before, thanks to a nightmare, so Emily had just ordered a pizza instead of actually cooking dinner.

Besides, lack of sleep wasn't the only thing sapping her energy. She'd gone out to lunch with Casey earlier that day, and he'd switched tactics to having her email InGen back. And, she'd said she'd pay, and then come back from the bathroom to find that he'd already done it. Normally, she would've found that sweet, but when she'd asked him why he'd paid, even though she'd said she would, he just said that she was overreacting. Which was probably why Emily was a stressed mess at the moment. Or maybe it was because they hadn't found much of anything at the dig all summer, so now money was even tighter than usual. Probably a combination of both.

But just as she took her first bite, her phone rang. Emily groaned around her mouthful of pepperoni pizza and set down the slice. She checked her pockets, no phone. A quick glance around revealed that it wasn't on the coffee table, the couch or her dining room table.

It kept ringing as the paleontologist stood, hurrying to the kitchen. Emily made an 'ah hah' noise as she spotted it sitting on the counter by the still open pizza box. She crossed over, picking it up right as it stopped ringing. A message popped up on her lock screen:

One missed call: Ellie Sattler

Emily swore under her breath, and meandered her way back out to her couch, unlocking her phone as she went. She sat down, and dialed Ellie's number. The paleobotanist picked up almost right away.

"I was hoping you'd call right back."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I left my phone in the kitchen."

"No worries. I just figured I'd call and see whether you'd left the dig yet."

"Yeah, I got back three days ago. And I head into the museum tomorrow."

Ellie chuckled on the other end of the phone, "You don't sound very excited about that."

"I am, I'll get to bother Billy more that way, but I'm exhausted Ellie…" Emily tipped her head back, letting it rest on the top of her couch.

"Well why are you so tired? You didn't stay up late at the dig one too many times, did you?"

"No, we wouldn't have gotten any work done if we'd done that."

"That still doesn't answer why Emily."

Emily bit her lip. On one hand, it'd be really nice to tell Ellie about her nightmares, which were the main source of her lack of sleep. But Ellie would fuss, and then her father would probably find out.

"Emily…"

"I, uh, I've been having nightmares…"

"Oh sweetheart…" Ellie's voice softened, "Are they the same ones?"

"Yeah…" Emily had been having the same nightmares, more on and off until recently, since Jurassic Park. They were all variations of something involving velociraptors, and the kitchen in the Jurassic Park visitor's center.

"Do you know why they're back? Because if you do, maybe you can fix it."

Emily knew exactly why they were back. InGen trying to hire her had stirred up old memories, and those had triggered nightmares. "InGen tried to hire me in May. And they're still trying."

Ellie was silent for a moment, her voice hard when she responded, "And that stirred up some memories?"

Emily sat forward, resting her elbow on her knee, and then setting her chin on her hand, "Yeah…"

"Have you talked to your father?"

"He knows they tried to hire me in May, but that's it. I really don't need him getting all pissed at InGen, Casey's bad enough as it is. He's been really pushy about me emailing InGen back and telling them to stop, but I'd so much rather ignore them. And it seems like every time I ask him to do something, he insists upon doing something else…"

Ellie fell silent for a longer moment this time, "Have you tried talking to him about it?"

"Yes, and he says I'm overreacting."

"I really hate to say it, but if you can't get him to back down a little…"

"I know, Ellie. And to top it off, we really didn't even unearth anything noteworthy at the dig, so money's even tighter than normal…"

Ellie made a sympathetic noise on the other end, "I need to go, Charlie's coming over for dinner tonight, and he just pulled up. But if you need anything, call me, okay? Whether it be talking your father down from blowing a gasket at InGen, or just a sympathetic ear."

"Thanks Ellie."

"No problem kiddo. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

"Bye sweetheart. Hang in there."

The phone buzzed, signifying that Ellie had hung up. Emily set it down on the couch beside her, her eyes landing on her now cold slice of pizza. She would be lying if she said that InGen's offer wasn't looking more and more appealing.

With coffee in one hand, keys looped around one finger, stack of files tucked under the other arm and bag slung over her shoulder, Emily was having a hard time getting the employee entrance door open. She was about to try using her foot when a familiar voice spoke up.

"Need a hand with that door Dr. Grant?"

"As a matter of fact, Dr. Brennan, I do." Emily turned around to face her friend, grinning.

Billy reached around her and pulled the door open, "I figured as much."

Emily stepped through the door, waiting for Billy to follow her through before she started walking down the hallway toward their offices, "When'd you get back?"

"Got back from the dig last week, got into the office two days ago. I heard you didn't find much this year."

"I mean, we found stuff, but nothing near a complete skeleton or anything like that," Emily held out the stack of files as they reached her office door, which had 'Dr. Emily Grant' printed on it with 'Head of the Paleontological Field Team' printed underneath, "Hold those, will you?"

Billy took them, "Sure. We found a set of nests up near Havre. Haven't quite finished digging them up yet, so we'll be back up there next year."

Emily switched her coffee to her now free hand, fumbled with her keys till she found the right one, stuck it in the door and deadpanned, "At least you found something."

Billy laughed, the sound echoing in the hallway, "Yeah, yeah."

Emily could practically feel him rolling his eyes as she unlocked her door and flicked the light switch, "Just set those on my desk."

"You got it Doc." Billy set the files on Emily's desk with a thunk and then hopped up to sit beside them, "I talked to Alan yesterday, he said you'd been back from Makoshika since Thursday."

'Yeah," Emily set her coffee on the desk, "Don't spill that. I took a few days off."

"What for? You're usually so eager to get moved back into your office."

Emily rolled her eyes, setting her bag down on the floor, "I, uh, haven't been sleeping very well…"

Billy was quiet for a minute, "Nightmares?"

Emily nodded.

"Did something trigger them?"

"InGen tried to hire me in May. And before you get all mad that I haven't told you," Emily shot him a pointed look, "I'm doing my best to ignore them and that means having as few people as possible bothering me about it."

"Wait, you're still ignoring them?"

"Yes, I swear they email me once a week."

Billy leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, "As much as I know we both hate InGen, why'd that trigger nightmares?"

"Billy, we both know that the best way to deal with, all that trauma, is to just ignore it as much as you can. I guess InGen just got me thinking…" Emily pulled the blinds up, revealing a pine tree that cast flickering shadows on the opposite wall.

"About what?"

The office fell silent for a long moment, the shadows flickering on the wall. Emily walked to her desk chair and sat down with a sigh, "I guess, I'm just tired of being so afraid. Tired of having to have nightmares after thinking about Jurassic Park at all."

"You can't seriously be thinking of going back?! Emily, you've got everything you need right here! A job you love, great friends, your dad…"

"Everything except a way to overcome my past."

"And going back will fix that?!" Billy got up and shut the door.

"I can't spend the rest of my life flinching at every squeaky door or getting nervous because the door of the doctor's office isn't a rounded knob." Emily stood and faced him, "And I've tried therapy. It helped, but not enough."

"So, you are going back then. You've already made up your mind."

Emily took a deep breath, "Next time they email, I'll respond. With a yes."

Billy just stared at her for a second, "Emily, how many emails did we send them trying to get them to close the park? How many times have all of us had panic attacks or nightmares because of those damned islands!?" His voice rose several octaves, and his chest was heaving as he marched up to her, "If you're going, then go. But do not expect me to come bail you out."

With that, Billy turned on his heel, wrenched the door open, and stalked out, slamming it behind him.

Emily fell back into her chair, deadpanning under her breath, "I won't need you to bail me out."

Emily had been staring at her computer screen for at least the past ten minutes. InGen had emailed her again and this time, instead of ignoring it, she'd typed out a reply. The paleontologist had read through it at least six extra times and then stared at it. But she still hadn't worked up the courage to hit send.

Usually, when she applied for a new job, or accepted a job offer, she'd have her dad read over the email before she sent it. But now, well, Emily knew that if she had him read this one, he'd probably click delete.

She sighed and hit the 'save draft' button. She'd look it over the next morning, after she talked to her dad, and Casey she supposed. Emily closed her laptop lid and pushed it away from her, toward the center of her dining room table, so she could rest her elbows on the table and then rest her face in her hands.

Emily was exhausted, stressed, and nervous. Which was never a good combination when you'd invited your father over for dinner for the sole purpose of telling him you were going to work on the island that had practically ruined both your lives.

Her oven beeped, telling her that the enchiladas she'd put in the oven 40 minutes ago were done. Emily stood and walked to her oven, muttering sarcastically as she went, "Yeah Dad, I was hired by the company that ruined our lives. And I'm going to work at their deadly theme park."

She tugged on an oven mitt, pulled the enchiladas out of the oven and set them on the stove top. A quick glance at her watch told her that she had about ten minutes till her father got here. Ten minutes was barely enough time for her to set the table, get plates out, fix her hair and whisk her laptop out of sight.

Emily had just set the last plate on the table when the doorbell rang. The paleontologist called over her shoulder, "Come in!" as she went to grab the enchiladas. When she came back out of the kitchen, her father was tugging off his boots and hanging his fedora next to hers.

She set the dish down on a hot pad, "Hey Dad."

Her father smiled, "Hey Em," and pulled her into a hug, "It smells great in here."

Emily leaned into his embrace, hiding her nervous frown in the shoulder of his flannel shirt, "I'm subjecting you to a new enchilada recipe. Ellie sent it to me."

"If Ellie sent it, it'll be good."

"It usually is. Except the-"

"One zucchini brownie recipe."

Emily pulled back and forced a grin, hoping it looked genuine, "Yeah, except that one. But the enchiladas will get cold if we stand here much longer."

They both sat down, and dinner passed in relative peace. Emily managed to hide her nervousness, but her father had other ways of finding out what was wrong.

He set his fork on his plate, "Now what's had you so stressed that you and Billy got into it on Monday?"

Emily groaned, "Dad, can we not get into that rig-"

"No, you'll put it off. And I can always go find out from him."

"Fine. InGen is still emailing me." Her father opened his mouth, but Emily held up a hand, "And I'm accepting." She braced herself for shouting and anger, but got none.

Instead, her father went pale and sounded more terrified than he had since, well 2001, "Why?"

Emily just stared at him for a moment, surprised. "I… I'm tired of being afraid."

"Going back will not fix that."

"It will. I'll be able to face my fears and overcome them. Like when I was afraid of jumping off your coworker's boat and the only way I got over it was just jumping right in."

"Em, this isn't, jumping off a boat." Her father's voice rose a little.

"I know it's not. But I really do think this is going to work."

He was silent. Emily could see his hand shaking as he ran it through his graying hair.

Emily reached across the table and laid her hand over his, "Please Dad."

"I can't stop you, you're legally an adult." He looked up, "But do you really truly think this is the right thing to do? You're not just doing it to escape other problems? And don't give me that look, I talked to Ellie."

Emily nodded, "I know it is."

He flipped his hand over to take hers, "Then accept the job. And if you need me to book you a plane ticket back, just give me a call."

Emily sighed, but with relief this time. It felt so good to have that weight off her shoulders and to have someone on her side, someone to lean on. "Thanks Dad. And I haven't exactly emailed them back yet."

Her father rolled his eyes, "Because you want me to look it over?"

She nodded.

"Then bring me your laptop."

Emily stood and grabbed it from where she'd set it on the kitchen counter. The paleontologist opened up the email draft and pushed her laptop across the table to her father. She waited in silence, clearing their dishes as he read.

Emily came and stood behind her father's chair, right as he finished.

"It looks good to me Em."

Emily turned her laptop toward her, "Thanks." She moved the mouse till it was over the 'send' button, took a deep breath, and pressed the button. The laptop pinged, causing both her and her father to jump, a testament to how high both their nerves were running.

She shut the laptop, pushing it away from both of them.

Her father stood up and pulled her into another hug. Emily wrapped her arms around him, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Em?"

"Hmm?"

"Your mother had this saying."

Emily pulled back. Her father rarely mentioned her mother, who had died when Emily had been only a few months old.

"Believe you can, and you're halfway there. If you believe you can get over your fears, then you're at least halfway there."

"Well, that's a comfort," Emily deadpanned.

Well, there you go, more emotional trauma. Leave a review if you feel like it.