CHAPTER 27 A Long December

It had been a few days. People had been in and out to visit. Barry was there whenever he could be, but one of them needed to be managing the paddock. Zia stopped in twice a day. On her way in, so she could update everyone in control and on her way home, so she could sit with them longer.

She and Lowery were trading off responsibilities for the time being until Simon or Claire were able to return. Lowery would come in at least once a day at lunch. They had all decided it was a way to make sure Owen ate something.

Simon was knee deep in negotiating the legal issues brought on by a private team invading a hostile sub. He was fairly sure they would end up just fining him, considering he did basically clean up his own mess, but it was taking time.

There were flowers all over the room from various staff. Many from control and the paddock had stopped in to visit.

There was one visitor that Owen was expecting. He'd wondered when he would show up.

"Hey Owen."

"Come on in, Leon."

"I didn't want to intrude, but seeing as everyone else has been here now..." he trailed off, unsure.

"Leon, you are always welcome. Come grab a seat." Owen pointed to the seat opposite him next to Claire.

"Any sign yet?" Leon asked. He was hoping she would wake soon. He had been really worried about how she looked when he last saw her. He went and sat in the open seat next to Claire.

"We're hoping she can come out of it soon. They want her to have the best chance to kill the infection." Owen had been repeating this phrase for days to help maintain his patience.

"She looks a lot better." He looked down, not wanting to look at Owen. "She wasn't doing so good. I kept telling her to hold on for you." He looked over at Claire. "When Hoskins...," he paused.

Owen looked up sharply, "When Hoskins what?" They still didn't have a full picture yet of what happened. Especially with Claire and the release of the raptors.

Leon hesitated.

"Please tell me Leon. It's over and he's dead. But I need to know what she went through." Of all the stories he'd heard about her, this was the one he wanted to hear the least. But needed to the most.

"He kicked me out. She gave me a look telling me to go. He was alone in the room with them." he looked up at Owen. "I promise I stayed Owen. I stayed right in the lab. I wasn't going to leave her alone."

Owen started to feel tears build up. He nodded. "You did good, kid." He looked back at Claire, and ran his hand down her face.

"I was waiting with Mika when I heard the cages open. I grabbed her and ran." Leon paused again. "I'm sorry I didn't wait to get Claire too. I just reacted. I thought she'd be okay in her cell. But I went back for her. I promised I would."

Owen was shedding a few tears now, "Leon, you did everything right and you got her home to me. Don't ever apologize for that, do you understand?" he said firmly.

Leon nodded. He got up from his seat. "I don't want to bug you too long. I just wanted to come by."

Owen got up and went to Leon pulling him into a hard hug. "You come by anytime. She'll want to see you." he grinned.

Leon again nodded his head, smiling and finally walked out.

Owen was still waiting to see her eyes open.

There were a couple scares and they had her on a ventilator for a day as her breathing became too labored. She stabilized and was on the mend now. She was a fighter.

He hadn't moved far from his spot, only getting up when he needed to get up. He knew Lowery was coming by to make him eat and he just went along with it. He knew Claire would be pissed if he let his stubborn ass get sick waiting for her.

They had brought in another bed, unwilling to fight with him. And probably a phone call from Simon. He still rarely moved from his spot.

He wanted to be the first thing she saw when she woke up. He only allowed Barry to cover while he showered fast. Mostly because Barry wouldn't hesitate barging in if she was waking.

He didn't want to be haggard. He didn't want her to worry. He wanted her to get better.

Zia was at Claire's desk with Lowery sitting in front. There was a knock on the door as they were chatting.

"Come on in!" she hollered.

Simon walked in, closed the door and approached the desk, taking a seat next to Lowery. "Good afternoon."

"What's the word?" Lowery asked.

"Well, I'm looking at probably a seven figure fine, but I can live with it." he smiled.

"So then that's a no to the new fleet of trucks ACU is requesting." Zia asked, smiling.

"At least for now." Simon chuckled. "How are we otherwise?"

"Things are pretty normal here. We're at average numbers right now. No public notice so far of our little exercise." Zia said, knowingly.

"Good, good." he nodded.

"They're lowering the doses on Claire today, so she should hopefully wake up in a matter of hours, if all goes well." Lowery added.

"Perfect. Well, you two have done remarkable work. Don't argue, take the rest of the day. I've got things for now." he said, shooing them off.

Owen was leaning on Claire's bed, resting his chin on his crossed arms. They had just come in and done another round and lowered her medication that was keeping her asleep. He was patiently waiting for her to rouse. He didn't turn when there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, kid."

Owen sat up and turned to see Frank standing in the door. Surprised, he jumped up to run over and give him a hug. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be traveling." He said leading Frank into the chair he just vacated. He pulled up a chair on the other side of Claire's bed.

"I was cleared and I couldn't not come." he said, reaching for Claire's hand. "Her family is on their way, I hear." he looked at Owen with a grin.

"Simon's flying them in. It took some time to get everyone and get them packed. They should be here later today." Owen had called Simon, only to find out Simon had already taken care of things. But he had to finish in DC first.

"You haven't left once, have you?" Frank asked gently.

"They send you in to shoo me out?" he smirked.

"Naw, I just wanted to confirm what I already knew." he smiled. Owen just shook his head and went back to watching her.

"I just need to be here." Owen said simply.

"Makes sense." Frank said. Owen just looked at him. "I've been around the block a few times, my boy. And I knew you loved her the first time I saw you look at her Owen." he laughed, " I'm not blind! And also, yes, I did hear you. Not deaf either." he smirked.

Owen chuckled.. "I feel like if she wakes up without me, she'll think she dreamed it. I need her to know I'm here. That I didn't leave her."

"I don't think anyone would ever question that." He smiled. "The thing you'll discover about Claire, is that she is always all in. With everything. And Owen, I can tell you she loves you with her whole heart. She'd never think you left her for a second. I'm willing to bet it was the thought of you that kept her going."

"I look at her, Frank, and I can't imagine not growing old with her. That's fucking scary for me. And to come so close..." Owen tried to shake so may memories from his head, but the one seeing her collapsed on the floor when he had been so close was the one that had shaken him the most. He needed to get there faster.

"Take a lesson from an old man. You need to make sure to appreciate every minute you have with her. You can't change what was. You are two halves and you balance each other out. I've watched this girl have all kinds of crushes and attempts at relationships and they've all been wrong." Frank shook his head. "I'm not at all worried about that with you. Nor is anyone else. You might have to win her family over, but that'll be easy."

Owen just groaned and dropped his head on the bed. He knew they needed to be here, but he would have liked to meet them under slightly different circumstances.

Frank just burst out laughing, "Trust me kid, you'll be fine. The last one they met was that dang Triceratops handler. Not her best choice."

Owen's eyes went wide, "Triceratops handler?" Frank just chuckled. He looked over at her and grinned. She was still asleep, so she probably wouldn't mind.

He signaled for Owen to lean in as he spoke softer, as if to keep Claire from hearing. "See, all the training asset managers had to put in time at a number of the paddocks. Most spent two weeks and moved on. Not Claire. She kept asking to extend her time in the Trike paddock. I was on island for a visit and I found out she was still assigned there. I was very curious, knowing she wanted to be a manager, not a handler, why she was spending so much time at one paddock." he chuckled.

Frank remembered going to visit her and meeting the assistant handler that was training her. He was young, good looking and a giant ego. Claire saw stars.

"She swore she was head over heels and that he felt the same. I couldn't talk her out of it. She was young and having fun. So I let it go. Then one weekend, her parents came in for a visit. She was walking them around and showing them the sites. She was excited to introduce them to the handler-who-shall-not-be-named and found him in his office making out with one of his paddock techs." Frank chuckled and shook his head.

Owen smiled, "Okay why is it funny?"

"Claire may give her whole heart, but whatever you do, don't piss her off. There's some fiery Irish in there and that's all I'll say." he laughed and Owen couldn't help but join in.

Owen paused and thought for a moment, "Wait, the Trike paddock. Was that the same time as the gyrosphere incident?" He was smiling now. "She said she had spent some time training in that paddock."

Now Frank was cackling, "A quick one you are. She was pissed that day after finding him and wanted to be by herself. It was coincidence that it was the Triceratops' that she saw in the field. Or it was meant to be, who knows." he chuckled.

"I always thought it was penance for my terrible taste in men."

Owen and Frank froze, realizing Claire had quietly spoken up. Her voice was raspy, but her eyes were starting to flutter open.

"Claire?" Owen got up and began running his hands through her hair. She was still coming out of her sleep state, so she was disoriented.

"Owen?" she squinted, looking at him.

"Hi beautiful." He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Where am I?" She was very confused. The last thing she remembers was following Blue and Echo down a hallway on the sub. "The girls?" She was starting to panic.

"Hey, hey. We're all okay. Everybody made it out. Everybody. The girls are a little cranky, but their fine." he reassured her, still running his hands over her head, trying to soothe her.

"Hey, kiddo." Frank spoke up.

"Hi Frank." She was still getting her bearings, but coming to the realization she was safe in a hospital. Owen and Frank were here sitting with her. She was okay. She wasn't trapped on the ship anymore.

"What happened?" she asked. Frank motioned to Owen that he was going to go get a nurse and Owen nodded.

"Lung infection and moderate frostbite." Her eyes went wide.

"Nothing removed, just a longer healing period. No heels for a little while." he smirked.

She sighed and smiled. "Probably a good thing." she chuckled. "Gonna give me all of it?" she asked.

"Not yet. You need to worry about getting better first. We can have a bonfire night with everybody and cover it all over a bunch of alcohol." Owen was in no rush to revisit the things he had seen and felt in that underwater cemetery. The memories would come on their own. He didn't want to force them out just yet.

"Me and my knack for getting into to trouble, eh?" Claire asked, shaking her head.

Owen grabbed both her hands and looked right at her smiling a giant smile, "Claire Dearing, you are the craziest, smartest, bravest, most beautiful woman I have ever met and I am in love with you. Trouble and all." He leaned in to finally kiss her.

"Hey now, none of that yet. I need to check her over." Claire's nurse, Sara, walked in. Frank wasn't far behind.

"Sara, isn't she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen." he said, leaning in to kiss Claire on the cheek as Sara was checking her pulse.

Claire just ducked her head blushing beat red. "Rescue me, Frank." she asked, chuckling.

"Sorry honey, you're stuck with him." he laughed. Frank watched Owen come to life as Claire became more herself. He looked like he had just won the lottery.

"I suppose I'll keep him then." she grinned. Owen just kissed her hand and Sara couldn't help but smile at all of them.

"So Claire. The doctor's going to come back in soon. You've probably got another day or two, just to make sure the infection is cleared or clearing. Hang tight. He'll be in soon." Sara smiled.

"Thank you." Claire said softly. Owen nodded at her.

"I'm going to go leave you two be for a little bit. Sasha and the kids are at the park and I think it's a beautiful day for a walk." Frank smiled. He walked up and kissed Claire on the cheek. "Get home soon, kiddo."

She grinned at him, "Save some of that energy to walk with me when I'm ready!"

"It's a date. You take care of her Owen." he said looking right at him.

"Always." he grinned back. With that Frank left.

Owen returned to just watching her, smiling.

"You're staring." she tiredly chuckled.

Owen leaned in to briefly kiss her again. "I've been waiting days to see those eyes. You scared the shit outta me."

"Didn't plan to." she shook her head and fell back into the pillow. They had a fantastic night at the gala and she was looking forward to the day with him. Things went a little sideways.

"I thought I lost you. Twice. That was not a feeling I ever want to experience again. If we can avoid it." he smirked. "I may be a little clingy for a while." he chuckled.

"I think I can live with that." she smiled. Claire looked down and was picking at the lint on her blanket. Owen stilled her hands. She looked up at him, "I couldn't let them go Owen. I got caught after I put the tracker on Blue. I had seen the sub and put all the pieces together when I was knocked out. I woke up in that cell with the girls." she said, shaking her head and almost smiling, still not fully believing all she had gone through.

"You should rest. We can fully catch up later." he said, lifting her hand and kissing it.

"Only if you lay here with me." She needed to feel him next to her. She was still returning to reality a bit.

"I tried that once earlier. I got yelled at." he chuckled. Not long after she arrived and was settled, he tried to crawl in and hold her. Sara promptly shooed him away, telling him to do her a favor and follow at least some of the rules. That's when they brought in the other bed.

"You have my permission and I'll yell back." she said as she scooted over to make room.

Owen hopped right up and pulled her into him. They both quickly drifted off.