Chapter 2

The rest of the evening was spent back in the research center with the doctors trying to reign in disdain for the other's chosen philosophies. One sustained argument was brought about by Henry mentioning what modified colors of the dinosaurs were most popular with guests. Other than that, they actually tried.

Henry had a suite at the back of the research center and there just so happened to be a guest suite back there as well, for important guests. Finch deemed Ian important enough. When they retired for the night, Henry's mind was still abuzz from being around Ian for so long.

In the morning Henry got up early, as he usually did, and went for a morning jog before anyone else was awake. He liked to run from the research center around to the Indo paddock and check on them. They came up to him and followed along as he jogged the length of the enclosure, then went on their way. Henry wouldn't say that he had an affinity with them, but he did believe they recognized him as their primary care giver after they were hatched and then later growing up. Henry continued on his jog and came back around to the research center. He could see one light on as he came through a back entrance, which was strange since the other scientists didn't get there till later.

Then Henry remembered Ian.

He went towards the source of the light, breathing deeply after his jog. He found Ian in the common area, heating up something in the microwave. He was wearing only an open bath robe and boxers. Henry caught himself staring.

"Hey, wow, you can uh, wear something besides a lab coat and turtle neck. Not ah... bad look," Ian said the last slowly as his eyes traveled up and down Henry's form. He supposed he was wearing tight fitting athletic wear, and the sweat was making it stick to him.

"Your look isn't too bad either," Henry said, a sly look on his face. Wait. What? The geneticist cleared his throat.

"Get ready. We're going to another island today," he said, and hurried away to take a shower. He didn't see the grin on Ian's face as he left the room.

As Henry stepped into the shower, he attempted to occupy his mind with anything else but the encounter he just had. It didn't work, however. Was that something dangerously close to flirting? Henry didn't do flirting. He barely did one actual relationship. He was too busy, why was he even thinking about Ian's chest peeking out from between silk folds of cloth? Or the boxers that clung to him-

"Ouch." Henry had scrubbed his arm so hard with a scrubby that he broke the skin. A trickle of blood mixed in with the water and soap. Clenching his jaw, Henry took deep breaths and cleansed his mind of thought.

Once done he donned his usual attire; black turtle neck, black pressed pants, and lab coat, glad that he always wore long sleeves so no one would question the bandage on his arm. He never got hurt. Anymore anyway. He was too careful in all he did to ever get hurt. It would be something unusual and he would gain undue attention. He also never got sick. He was up to date on every vaccine that humans could possibly think of, and he was just healthy.

Stepping out of his room, he saw a fully dressed Ian peering at a display of embryonic dinosaurs that had not survived nearby. He turned and smiled once he heard Henry approach.

"Are you ever sad for your babies that don't make it?"

Truth be told, Henry was sad and often mourned in private. He hated losing even one ever. He might have a mask of calm and neutrality always, but when a baby dinosaur didn't make it, he was anything but.

"No. It's part of the scientific process and is to be expected."

Ian looked over his face carefully. "You do. You do care. But you don't have to tell me about it yet. Which island are we going to today?"

Henry was always in control of himself, so how had anything slipped past that mask of neutrality? Was Ian really just that observant?

"Isla Tacano. Come on, our helicopter should be here."

Henry was glad for the enormous noise of the helicopter for once. He didn't have to talk to Ian, but then again he was alone with intrusive thoughts. He could usually handle anything going on in his brain and force it back to productivity. His mind was ordered, efficient. Not now, not this morning though. He couldn't even look at Ian as Isla Tacano came into view. He just simply could not get his brain to focus. It was throwing him off. He had been so studious about his work for the past few years that any disruption now was upsetting him on every level, messing with the compartmentalization of his mind. And Ian being here this time out of all times felt different.

The helicopter set down and he and Ian ran out under the spinning blades. A few of the scientists on this island were waiting for them. Each wanted an autograph from Ian before they proceeded to this research center and Ian obliged. Somehow, it annoyed Henry even more than it did yesterday. Once inside the building, Henry and Ian followed the scientists through various workstations to one with one machine and many culture dishes with various things growing in them.

"How are they coming?" Henry asked. He grabbed a pair of gloves from close by and put them on, picking up the last dish on the bottom row and examining it. Whatever Ian-induced fog his brain had been in had evaporated now.

"Cultures F1-10 are stable, G1-10 are stable, and H1-5 are stable. However, H6-10 are unstable and have shown rapid growth," one of the scientists was reading from a tablet, and handed it to Henry. He quickly glanced at the data and then back to the dish in his hand. The culture was indeed spreading to most of the dish, while most of the other ones on the table had barely any growth at all.

"What is it that we're testing here?" Ian was leaning over the table, but thankfully not touching anything.

In a display of control that filled Henry with a little confidence, every scientist around the table looked to him. Ian noticed, and the corners of his mouth lifted a little.

"We are taking a look at how some of our Mesozoic plant samples deal with modern diseases. For the most part, they can handle themselves, but there are a few that they just can't seem to handle," Henry said, holding up the dish he hand in his hand.

"So you're still growing plants, hmm? What do you plan to do with them?"

Henry hesitated. He didn't usually tell anyone who didn't need to know anything about anything. Much less someone like Ian Malcolm. Henry's brows furrowed, but then he sighed.

"A couple of things. First we're going to start reintroducing appropriate species into dinosaur paddocks along with the modern, native vegetation. We've arranged our dinosaurs on the islands so that we can do this safely. Next we are in the process of discovering medicinal uses for these ancient plants as well as another classified use." The scientists glanced between the two doctors at this; the last use of the plants was a secret that only Henry knew.

"Ah, classified. Uh, I can guess. What else do we have?" Ian asked, looking from the table and around at the rest of the lab. Henry replaced the dish and took off his gloves.

"Follow me," he said, and lead Ian through the lab once more. The scientists stayed back this time, so it was only the two doctors leaving. They went down a corridor that was much darker than the bright lab behind them into a large, dim room. Along the walls were strange looking plants housed in individual display cases. Different lighting was poised for each, and only a couple of scientists worked here. A hushed silence fell as the doctors entered.

"Report." Henry's command stirred one scientist to come forward with a few datapads.

"Yessir! Growth for T45-001 has remained unchanged, but YU-987 seems to have slowed considerably," the scientist handed the datapads to Henry.

"You really like to be obeyed, huh? Gotta have that control, right?"

Ian's sudden interjection caused everyone else in the room to look at him. Henry glared at him, and the scientists' expression grew increasingly worried. Ian smirked.

"If my employees didn't listen to me, then we would devolve into your favorite thing, and nothing would ever get done." Henry's tone was icy, even to his own ears. It didn't seem to faze Ian, though the scientists hadn't moved an inch.

"My favorite thing! He says it's my favorite thing! Here I thought we were starting to understand each other, but he thinks it's my favorite thing!"

"It's all you ever talk about, so it has to mean a lot to you." Henry could feel the argument coming on. Perhaps wisely, the scientists inched their way to the door and left quickly.

"Your reasoning is flawed, my friend. I simply-"

"My reasoning is flawed? At least I have reasoning, all you have is the same argument that you attach to any situation! Not everything is as you see it, Dr. Malcolm. Things can be controlled and are controlled-"

"That's the core of your problem! You, ah, you, Dr. Wu, are afraid to let control out of your own hands. I've said this before. You are afraid of what will happen if every minute detail is not to your specifications. You were there when this all started. You don't want things to get out of control like that again, but guess what? Uh, they did. You created a monster in the first Indominous Rex, and people got killed. It was your fault again, and you have to keep striving to fix things and control them to get them just how you want them so you can feel like something bad won't happen again!"

Henry hadn't been this angry for a long, long time. He held everything in, he never let anything show. Now though, in this room alone with Ian, something was bubbling up and he couldn't stop it.

"What about you, then?! Everything is chaos, nothing can be controlled and you found the perfect example of that in Jurassic Park! It became an absolute shit show and you reveled in it. You could say 'I told you so!', and you did. You wrote a book! I bet that made you feel validated. Maybe you hadn't been validated enough before in your life. Maybe you chose to embrace chaos because you couldn't control your own life. How many wives did you run through? How much control did you lose? How much chaos set in?" As soon as Henry said it, he felt terrible. He saw the look on Ian's face change in an instant and a knot formed in his stomach.

"Two can play at that game, doctor." Ian's voice was low and he poked Henry in the chest. The geneticist frowned.

"Let me guess. You maybe dated in college, but no one was as driven as you were. Not to mention that you were younger than everyone else around you. But then wow, uh, you found her. She was probably a doctor as well, since anyone else would be too mundane for you. You were already controlling, and having someone try to love you may have been just a tad too chaotic for you and certainly miserable for her," Ian poked Henry in the chest again, and this time Henry took a step back. Ian closed the distance. He was so much taller and that was working to his advantage right now.

"But somehow, you had a daughter! Now that was chaotic! Children are inherently unpredictable and the more you try to control them, the more they slip away."

Henry took an involuntary step back. His eyes were wide and he was breathing heavily. Why was this affecting him so much? Intrusive thoughts started to wind their way in, mixing with the stimuli of Ian's words. Something in the very back of the compartments in his mind was straining to break free.

Ian seemed to know he was onto something, reading him easily. He kept moving closer and getting quieter.

"You never had time for your daughter. Her mother raised her, with you checking in on her progress towards becoming you. Anything less would be unacceptable. Any daughter less than perfect wouldn't even be worthy of the name Wu."

The words cut deeply and continued to leave Henry breathless. Ian was right in front of him and his presence filled Henry's senses. He bumped into the display case of a large carnivorous plant on his next backward step. He pressed against the cool glass. He couldn't respond.

"Probably around high school your wife took your daughter. You were alone. Control returned and you held on for dear life. You grabbed more of it wherever you could. You had been tainted by chaos, but now it was washed clean." Ian slapped a hand onto the glass by Henry's head, causing him to jump a little. The little jolt of adrenaline got his brain functioning and he could glare at Ian now. He hadn't moved his hand. They were almost pressed together. Ian smelled nice. What did his body look like?

"Do I have it right?" Ian's words were so low that they were almost a growl. In those moments leading up to this one, Henry had been entranced, almost enough to relinquish control. It was all rushing back to him now, though.

He planted his hand firmly in the center of Ian's chest and pushed him away.

"No. They left me when my daughter was in elementary school," Henry said, and stormed out of the room. He startled a flock of scientists as he entered the main lab and kept going, his employees wise enough to leave him alone. He went outside and took a company Jeep©, heading for a another research center. This one was less populated than the one he'd left, which was perfect. Henry stormed inside and went to make some tea. Inhaling the steamy scent and calming a little, he went to one of his projects, ignoring the looks of the scientists here as he breezed by them.

Controlled, deep breaths.

Get his hands working and brain engaged.

It didn't take long for Henry to calm down and truly focus on his task, his hands moving in familiar motions and brain working in familiar ways. When his phone rang in his lab coat pocket, Henry could almost believe for a second that it wouldn't be about Ian.

"Hey, why'd you let Dr. Malcolm wander around alone? He's a high value asset- I mean guest!" Finch said as soon as Henry answered. The scientist let his deep exhalation fill the phone.

"He's not my responsibility. I have work to do."

"So let him help you! He's a smart guy, you're a smart guy, get together!"

"Do you even realize that he is a chaos theory mathematician and not a geneticist?"

"Science and math go together! Just go find him and bring him back to the nerd station!" Finch hung up.

"Nerd station," Henry repeated, sighing and setting down his tools. He collected himself and went outside to the Jeep©, driving slowly away from the research center. The last thing he wanted was to face Ian again so soon, but here he was. For a few minutes he just drove, liking the feeling of the wind around him, until he came across a path entirely blocked by people. He just knew it was Ian. Henry drove right up to the crowd and honked the horn, startling everyone in sight. He inched forward and continued to honk at stubborn people who were slow to realize what was happening until he reached the center. He glared at Ian, who waved around at all the guests as he made his way to the vehicle.

"Thank you, uh, beautiful people of Tacano!" Ian continued to wave as Henry turned the vehicle around and sped off towards the first research center. With Ian close again, thoughts of their earlier encounter flocked around in his mind. He stared forward.

"Look, uh, listen. I am at an age now where I can see where I was wrong. My words, uh, before affected you, and I could see that." Ian was also staring straight forward, but he peeked at Henry for a second. The geneticist could feel his eyes on him. He didn't answer.

"I saw it, and I just kept pushing and pushing because uh, you hurt me. I usually don't let things get to me, but coming from you, uh... uh, it just hurt."

Henry glanced at Ian then. He looked sincere, and Henry felt a bit guilty now. "It did hurt. It hurt a lot. No one around here knows me at all, and then you come in and guess my whole life story in one day. I don't open up to anyone, and you lay me bare." Henry took a deep, calming breath.

"I accept your apology, and I apologize as well." Henry tried a smile, which Ian returned.

"I also accept and I promise in future arguments to leave personal matters out of it," Ian said, holding out his hand. Henry grasped it firmly and they shook.

"Thank you. Finch wants us to work together for your time here. I have a few projects we can see to."

"Oh, like actually do work? Together? That should be interesting."

"He wants me to babysit you," Henry said, glancing at Ian as they pulled into the parking lot.

"I figured as much. I don't uh, mind being babysat by you." The way Ian said those words made Henry's brows go up and face start to flush a little.

"Let's go," was all he said as he slid out of the driver's seat.

The day passed swiftly with Henry allowing Ian to glove up and actually do science. Ian had a steady hand and was surprisingly good at following instructions and not trying to make everything chaotic.

The next day Henry took Ian to Isla Muerta for updates on herding gene modification. Ian seemed to forget about trying to work with Henry, for he started spouting about how they were making dinosaurs who would have never interacted able to live together in the same enclosure, and only chaos would ensue. Henry was once again on the defensive, having an answer that Ian didn't listen to for everything he said. The end of that day ended on rocky terms for the two doctors.

In the ensuing couple of days, Ian calmed down a little mostly because Henry didn't show him anything else that would set him off. There was a relatively civil camaraderie forming between them, helped when Ian actually suggested things that made sense and Henry took into consideration. Henry was very aware of the light flirtations that Ian threw his way, but he dare not react to them. Ian always did it when they were surrounded by people. He also seemed to flirt naturally with everything that moved, but Henry was observant enough to recognize the different ways Ian did it to him. Was there actually something there, or was Ian just modifying his flirting strategy for someone of similar intellect? Henry had nothing to compare to, so he was confused and never responded. He knew that Ian had a history of wives, so maybe he was just generally a playboy type person.

Back on Isla Sorna, Henry felt safe enough to allow Ian up into his favorite tower. They ascended together, talking amicably, and took the seats in the front row. The T-Rexes below were waiting at a gate, which opened and a ranger team entered. The Rexes waited as the Jeep© drove slowly into the enclosure and proceeded to one of the feeders, following soon after. The rangers got out and one started to gather rotting meat into a large bag while the other got a smaller bag, dripping with blood, and turned to face the Rexes that were now waiting nearby. The ranger threw a chunk of meat up into the air and one Rex snapped it up before stepping back. The ranger continued to do this while the other one restocked the feeder.

"That is, uh. Remarkable."

"It is, isn't it?" Henry looked at Ian, and their eyes met for a moment. Ian smirked and turned back to the dinosaurs. Henry kept looking at him for a moment before turning and doing the same. They sat in amicable peace for a while, commenting on what they could see or about the projects they had been working on. There was one more thing that Henry wanted to show Ian, now that he trusted him more, but he was still unsure. It might still be too much for Ian and the peace between them would break. Still, Henry was very proud of this project and Ian had proven himself to be reliable in his own way and... a friend? Henry had never... had... any friends... so he had nothing to compare this to.

"Ian."

The older doctor turned to fully face Henry, and his expression made the younger male suck in a breath. Ian had what Henry had discovered to be 'bedroom' eyes staring at him, and an easy grin. Henry felt many things flooding through him at once, but he pushed it all aside.

"There's something special I want to show you tomorrow. Something I've been working on for a long time and not many people know about."

"Ah, still more secrets." Ian's tone was light and his expression hadn't changed. Henry was starting to get fuzzy in the head.

"Y-yes. This is one of the big ones, though. You'll have... some sort of reaction to it."

"I can't wait," Ian said, and turned back to observe the Rexes. Henry swallowed and looked out as well, halfway hopeful that tomorrow would go at least okay.


A/N- The next chapter is the fun one and I really need feedback so far. Like I REALLY need feedback. I am tempted to hold the next chapter hostage because my feeble mind craves validation lmao