Chapter 29 There's No Place Like It

A/N: Here it is finally! The last chapter for this one. I apologize for how long it took. Life takes over pretty

quick and struggled a bit on the last one. I am planning on the sequel, but I have a couple I'm working on now, including a more Halloween appropriate one. I also point out, this is my first written sex scene, so pardon me while I duck and cover.

Hope you enjoyed my little journey here!

The party was in full force when they arrived. Owen paused for a moment before they got out of the car. He grabbed Claire's hand, lifting it to is lips. He just looked at her quietly for a moment before leaning over and kissing her. "God, I love you and I'm glad you're home."

"Me too." she replied.

"All right, let's go before they come looking for us." He finally got out of the car. Going around the back, he grabbed her chair then went to her side and helped her out.

"Evening." They heard a deep voice say in the shadows.

"Hi Barry." Claire replied, realizing who had walked over to greet them.

He walked up and leaned down to give her a hug. "Bunch of people waiting to see you. I'm holding them back." he chuckled.

They started heading over to the fire and could hear music and a number of voices. As soon as they were spotted, focus quickly shifted to greeting them and welcoming her home. There were people from all over the park. At this point even the tourists had heard what Claire had been through.

They wanted to thank her. They wanted to hear the stories. She tried to make sure she took time to speak to everyone who had come. Many she recognized and some she didn't.

After a couple hours, the party had wound down to a much smaller group and they were just gathered around the fire pit, drinking and sharing stories. Besides Barry, there was also Zia, Lowery, Zara, Vivian, and a few staff from the paddock and the control room. Claire noticed Leon hadn't come over to see her yet and had stayed mostly in the background of the crowd.

Owen had helped her into one of the camp chairs when they arrived and she had been sitting between him and Barry. Barry had gotten up to go talk to someone and Claire saw the opportunity.

"Hey Leon." When he looked up, she smiled and patted the open seat next to her. He smiled bashfully and came over to sit.

"So!" she said loudly, clapping her hands to grab everyone's attention. Once she knew she had it, she went on, "It has become a bit of a tradition for stories around this fire pit."

"Are you gonna tell the gyrosphere story again?" Barry hollered from where he was standing.

"What gyrosphere story?" Zia asked.

"Shut up, Barry. No." Claire said. Owen burst out laughing next to her.

"Ask me later, Zia." he added. He quickly received a glare from his girlfriend.

"Anyway..." she said, raising her eyebrow at him, "I have a story for tonight. See most of you don't know that Leon here saved my life." she looked at him and smiled, "I haven't had the chance to thank him for that." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He immediately ducked his head blushing. Owen reached behind Claire so he could pat him on the back.

"Nobody has heard the whole story yet. Partially because I needed to heal and process and partially because I felt like Leon needed to be part of it. Because I don't think most of us would not be here if it hadn't been for him. See, beyond his brilliant little mind and his radios, which I'm sure you all know about, he was the one who found me." She reached over and grabbed his hand, looking low to catch his eyes. She wanted him to know she was grateful for him.

He nodded, "They had me on feeding the raptors and there she was. They didn't see me as a threat and allowed a lot of freedom, so I checked on her as much as I could." He said, looking down and blushing.

"And it gave me hope, Leon. That I wasn't alone. It sucked that you all were trapped with me. But I wasn't completely on my own." she said to him, seriously. Again, he nodded.

"And you gave me the weapon that wound up saving us all." she chuckled.

Owen hadn't heard this part yet and he was still very curious how things unfolded. They had been so focused on getting her healthy and out of the hospital that they hadn't covered all the details. He also knew she would talk about it when she was ready. Now he knew why. She needed Leon to hear it first.

Leon looked at her confused. "What was it?"

"That rock hard potato." she said, looking at him until she could see the light bulb moment. He suddenly burst out laughing and she quickly joined him. Once he realized what she had done, he couldn't help but keep picturing it and how much that must have caught Hoskins by surprise.

As traumatic as the situation was, sharing it with Leon allowed her to find whatever light moments they could. And the fact that a potato was the undoing of a multi-million dollar operation was definitely something to laugh about.

Everyone was watching them amused, but dying to know the rest. She nodded at him to continue.

"I told her that the buttons by the door opened the cages. And before I left the room that last time, I left the door open so I could keep an eye on her."

"Use what you got." she shrugged, smirking. Owen pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the side of her head.

"Fucking brilliant."

"Then Blue led me out. Leon was the one to find me. Most of that is pretty blurry after that." She needed Leon to help fill in the blanks. She knew she fainted and she knew she got out.

Leon looked down for a moment and then looked over at Owen. "I saw Blue react to her while unrestrained. She protected her, Owen. I would even say she was worried. We came up on her and Echo and I thought we were done, but Claire called her name and she came up and sniffed her. She took off after the gunfire. You found us not long after."

Owen just nodded and looked into the fire. So many things could have gone wrong if the situation was different. But Claire developing a relationship with Blue was the safety net that got them all through this alive.

"He stood up to Simon." Lowery added. "He was told to stand down and Leon over there told Simon to go ahead and fire him."

Claire leaned over, pulling Leon into a hug. "Thank you."

He just blushed and shook his head, "It was nothing you guys wouldn't have done."

Owen got up and pulled him into a hug. "I'm fucking proud of you, kid." He wasn't sure where this kids bravery came from, but he would forever be in his debt.

The party began breaking up. Lowery and Leon stayed sober and were able to load everyone left up into the remaining vehicles. Before he left, Barry leaned down and gave Claire one more hug, "I'm glad you're home. If he gets too much for you, just let me know and I'll come get him." he chuckled. She couldn't help but laugh. That seemed to be a common offer lately.

As they pulled away, Owen picked Claire up and carried her inside the bungalow, sitting her on his bed. She was yawning, exhausted from so much activity. The most she'd had in a while. Owen began pulling clothes out for her to change into as she just watched him move around the room.

"So, the plan is everyone will take turns getting you to your appointments until you can go on your own. I am only going in to the paddock for training sessions. " He handed her one of his shirts and boxers, "I'll come home otherwise." Claire sat there amused that he was rambling. He had left the room to look for his phone and she took the opportunity to start to change. She was able to remove her shirt easily. Her pants were more challenging. She had to lay back on the bed to shimmy out of them without putting weight down. They got stuck on the wraps around her feet.

"I can do my all paperwork here. Fewer distractions...anyway..." he came in to find her laying half naked, pants at her ankles, giggling. "I retract that last statement. I won't be getting anything done here." he smirked.

"Get your ass over here and help me." she said, still laughing.

He crossed the room to kneel down in front of her. He helped get the pants the remainder of the way off around her bandages. He realized her bare legs were in front of him and he couldn't resist leaning in and laying soft kisses along her inner thigh. He could hear her breathing changing with each touch.

He finally got up, crawling onto the bed with her. She rolled to her side to look at him. He reached his hand over, caressing her face. "I'm really glad you're here. That you're okay. It's over." A tear escaped his eye. "I couldn't imagine you not being around. I was a little too close to having no choice." he said, trying to put thoughts to words. She nodded in agreement.

He leaned in and began kissing her deeply, gently rolling her on her back, still holding her face. "I love you, Claire."

"I love you, too."

He took her lips again and rolled her on top of him so he carried her weight. He pulled back to slow them down. "I don't want to hurt you. You literally just got home from the hospital, Claire..."

She lifted herself up so that she was hovering over him on her hands and knees, smiling and helping him peel his shirt off. "I can't stand on my feet." She leaned down and started kissing his chest. "But I'm pretty sure the rest of me works just fine." she kissed down lower to his stomach. She could feel his muscles contract and she grinned. "Just no shower sex for a while." She kissed around the edge of his boxers, pulling the elastic with her teeth and snapping it, then giggling at his moan.

Owen practically growled in response, sitting up to run his hands through her hair. Claire made her way back up his chest to his lips. "Still worried?" she asked, straddling him.

"Not in the least." he replied, taking her neck so wildly as she was gripping his hair hard..

"Oh, god, Owen...that feels good...fuck.." she said while slowly pressing soaking panties against him feeling him already very hard.

He reached behind her and undid her bra, slowly peeling the straps down until her breasts were uncovered. He reached up and cupped both, massaging them while returning to kissing under her ear and down to her collarbone. She sat up higher on her knees so that he had better access. He immediately took a nipple in his mouth while reaching down and rubbing her soft thighs and around to her ass. He gently moved one hand up her leg, moving toward her center.

He moved over to suck on the other nipple when his hand reached her crotch and he found her panties soaked through. He yanked himself away from her breast, "Oh my god...you are so wet..." he looked down ready to tear the last barrier away.

Claire took the opportunity of his pause to lean in and begin nipping at his ear and neck. She could feel him twitching beneath her, and she responded by slowly pushing back down.

He'd had enough. He finally rolled her over on her back and moved to rip her panties down. She was almost squealing in delight. He kicked down his boxers and leaned down to capture her lips. When he pulled away, she looked him in the eyes and nodded. He reached into the drawer next to the bed and pulled out a condom, rolling it on.

He kept her gaze as he entered her and he watched as she threw her head back as he filled her up. He began to slowly move in and out as she gripped the sheets below. "Oh...fuck...that feels good..." She adjusted to his size and the fact that it had been far too long for her.

She lifted her legs up and wrapped them around his waist, thrusting against him.

"Jesus, Claire!..." He sat back so he he was upright, holding her hips as they continued their pace. He couldn't resist rubbing his hands up and down the soft skin of her sides and along the sides of her breasts. She tightened around him as she quickened her pace. "Fuck..." Owen dropped down and captured her breasts again.

She used her legs to pull him down and roll him over on his back. She leaned down, whispering right in his ear. "I have very good leg strength. I usually walk in heels all day." She pushed herself back so that she was sitting up, riding him like a horse. "Did I ever tell you I've always liked riding?" she asked, rubbing up his chest. "I think it's a control thing for me." He could feel her muscles tighten, squeezing him as she slowly thrust down.

"Oh...god...that's fucking good..." he groaned. He wanted to form words in return but right now his eyes were rolled back in his skull. He finally got his senses long enough to roll her back over. He began thrusting fast and hard, trying not to hurt her, but she was responding just as fervently.

He was close to coming and he wanted to get her to come first. He added his finger down where he was lunging into her, finding and rubbing her clit. He could feel her squeeze down on his finger, wanting more. He happily obliged and pushed in further and faster. She threw her head back, pulling him to her, as he felt her walls tighten around him.

"Oh...god...Owen...oh fuck..."

Watching her orgasm and hearing her say his name was all he needed to quickly follow behind, "Fuck...Claire...I'm gonna come..." he managed between breaths. "Fuuuck..." finally finishing his own orgasm.

After taking a few breaths, he collapsed down next to Claire, who immediately rolled into side, rubbing her hand on his chest.

"Damn." Owen finally spoke.

"Yeah, we should have done that a while ago." she giggled. "This month off might work in my favor."

Owen rolled over, growling, ready to dive in for round two and Claire just laughing happily.

A few weeks had passed and Claire finally had doctor's approval to return to some normal activities. She no longer needed to be in her chair. Her feet had healed sufficiently that she could walk without damaging them. Still no heels, but that would take some time.

Claire had constant visitors to the bungalow. This was actually to Owen's relief so that he was able to work during the day and not worry as much. He still called every hour unless he was in training. Then he had Barry or Leon call.

His hovering finally became too much and she got a little rebellious. She had Zia kidnap her and then took off in a gyrosphere where she knew she'd have no cell service. She sent a simple message that she was out having fun with Zia and Owen hadn't heard from her in two hours. After dealing with his freakout, they both agreed to not push as much. Owen would back off a bit and Claire wouldn't take off without at least calling him first.

Claire, to her relief, finally returned to work. She greeted every staff member like an old friend every day as she came in. She always had donuts for her control team and took the time to check in with everyone before she got to her office. And she leaned on Zia. She took time off and enjoyed being out and about. She really loved her outing days when she would check the attractions in person.

Owen found her standing and talking to Don outside the T-Rex paddock the next morning. She had told Zara she would be over there looking at upgrades. They were looking up at the sign and pointing at something. He quickly snuck up on her, grabbing her hips and making her squeal in surprise.

Don couldn't help but laugh at their antics. "Damn kids." he chuckled, shaking his head as went back inside to greet the next group.

"Thanks Don!" She turned to Owen, "Hey!" She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her into a kiss. He released her and kissed the tip of her nose. "What are you doing here? Not that I mind in the least." she grinned up at him.

"I asked Zara where you had wandered off to. She said I would probably find you down here." They started walking down the walkway. "I thought I could convince you to take your lunch and stroll around with me a bit." They had really taken to walking around a few days a week. Sometimes for fun, sometimes to check in with everyone.

"Well I have a date today." She said looking over his shoulder. Standing by the petting zoo was Frank, waiting patiently for her arrival. She stepped away from Owen, glancing back briefly. She stepped up to Frank and gave him a hug. He then stuck out his elbow for her to take. Owen just smiled watching the two. They started to walk when Claire stopped them.

"I have two arms, you know." she smirked. That was all he needed. He ran right up and put his elbow out for her too. As she took it, he leaned down and kissed her on the temple. The three of them walked off down Main Street, arm in arm.

Somewhere in the Russian countryside...

A crash can be heard echoing through darkness of the large library.

The evidence was spread across the floor. The remains of a large broken vase and a cracked phone.

Eli stood looking out the large window silently raging. He was running out of options and now he was a wanted man.

He was still a prisoner.

But prisoners had nothing but time.

He would plan and try again. The opportunity was not lost. He held up a small vile and smiled.

Next time, he wouldn't fail.