Jurassic Park III and ½: The Lost Hat

Part II

Chapter I

As the plane prepared for landing, Alan wondered about what he was about to do. It was crazy. It was insane. But then again, it was his hat. And his hat was very, very important. In fact, it was the most important thing in his life, with the exception of his work and Ellie. Yes, Ellie. Ellie was, and always would be, the best friend he ever had. He sighed softly. He remembered the days before John Hammond's offer. The days when things were simple. The days before he had almost been killed by the very creatures his life revolved around… yes, Alan really missed those days. The paleontologist stared out of the window, eyes unfocused. He had come this far; he had to go all the way.

Billy gave Alan a worried glance. Something was definitely wrong. He couldn't say anything right then; hijackers didn't discuss life problems with their victims, but he would bring it up when they were alone. He winked at Trevor, who was staring at him oddly, then leant over Alan's shoulder to watch as the plane made a smooth landing.

Trevor grinned at Billy and turned back, glancing at the air hostess nervously. The air hostess cleared her throat, glancing at Billy and Alan.

"Excuse me, sirs, but we have landed on Isla Sorna. The captain would appreciate it if you would leave now. As I'm sure you know, this island is a no-fly zone."

Billy nodded appreciatively, grabbing Alan's arm and hoisting him to his feet, trying to look rough. Alan grabbed his bag wordlessly and headed towards the open door, peering out for any signs of life. Billy pushed him out of the door, stepping out himself as he nodded to the air hostess.

"It's been a pleasure. Really."

The air hostess glared at him, and he waved back.

Trevor stared at the door. It was now or never. Not bothering to pick up any of his things, he dashed through the declining crack, much to the air hostess's surprise.

"You! Stop!"

Trevor paid her no notice as he sprinted into the undergrowth, knocking aside Billy and Alan. The important thing was to get away; then he could make himself known… not that he hadn't done that already; Alan had almost fallen over and Billy was squinting around, trying to spot the culprit. The air hostess was on the verge of getting out to fetch Trevor, when she heard it.

.·•·.

Whatever it was, it was loud. It sounded angry, and it probably was; being woken up by a big, roaring machine couldn't possibly fall into the category of fun. The air hostess stopped, one foot extended into space. She quickly withdrew it, and rammed the door shut, turning to a random passenger.

"Tell the captain we have to leave imme—"

Her sentence was cut short as the plane began to pick up speed. The pilot must have already sensed the creature – or seen it.

The air hostess sat down, a grim look on her face. It was going to be a bumpy ride.

As soon as Alan had heard the engines revving up – or, what he thought was the engines revving up – he had pushed Billy towards the undergrowth. Being eaten by dinosaurs was bad enough; they didn't need the added danger of being sucked into an airplane's propeller. The two had stumbled unwittingly after Trevor, so they didn't see the plane taking off, leaving them as alone as someone could get on an island whose main residents were dinosaurs. In fact, they didn't see the T-Rex, and, in their confusion, they thought the noise was merely the plane. The two were actually very lucky they didn't run towards the carnivorous dinosaur; it was very easy to lose yourself in the huge jungle.

Trevor tried to calm himself down. He had run straight into the jungle, passing a clearing and leaving a clear path behind him. But he had made it; he was there. All he had to do now was find Billy and Alan to find out what was going on. He still didn't know what was so special about Isla Sorna. The youth squinted, then went back the way he came.

.·•·.

Alan stopped and glanced at Billy. The two were in a very, very small clearing, somewhere to the east of the landing strip. Billy was rummaging through the bag they had brought along, looking for the map. Billy sensed Alan's stare, and turned around, a piece of paper in his hand.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

Alan shook his head. "It's nothing. I just thought I heard footsteps…" Spotting Billy's worried look, he hurriedly added, "Human footsteps."

Billy blinked at Alan. "But it couldn't have been."

Alan nodded. "You're right. Unless…"

"Unless?"

"Remember that.. thing that knocked us over?" Alan asked, speaking slowly. "I'm almost positive it came from the plane."

"So… you think one of the passengers followed us?"

Alan gave Billy a serious look. "That's exactly what I think."

Billy frowned. "That's not good—"

He broke off as the bushes began to move.

.·•·.

Alan and Billy turned around to face the rustling bush. Alan wasn't unduly worried, and neither was Billy; both paleontologists knew it was definitely too small to be a Tyrannosaurus or a Spinosaurus, and it was much too noisy to be a Velociraptor. Their only worry was that it might have been a herd of Compys, but that proved to be false. In fact, what came through was an adolescent of around fifteen. Alan and Billy stared at Trevor, who stared back at them sheepishly.

"Erm… hello."

Billy continued to stare at Trevor, trying to place him. Alan, however, scowled at the youth, who hung his head to avoid eye contact.

Finally, after a long silence, Alan opened his mouth and said, "This was not part of the plan."

"I know," said Billy, squinting at Trevor. "Hey… aren't you that kid from the plane?"

Trevor nodded, not trusting his voice. For some reason, Alan was making him feel very, very guilty.

"I thought so," said Billy, glancing at Alan, whose brow was furrowed, apparently deep in thought. "Alan…?"

"Well, he's here now," said Alan, ignoring Billy. "So I suppose we'll have to stay together…"

Billy nodded uncertainly. Alan was in one of those… moods… again. The action seemed to reassure Trevor; he wasn't the only one who Alan scared.

Alan turned around to face the other two. "So, let's get going, shall we?"

Billy nodded again, and Trevor blinked.

"Going, sir? Going.. where?"

Alan fixed his gaze on Trevor. "Billy, why don't you explain?"

Billy nodded for the third time, and cleared his throat. "Kid, you have no idea what you stumbled into, do you?"

.·•·.

Once Trevor had heard the story, he was, to put it quite bluntly, amazed. Not to mention scared. Now he knew where he'd heard of Isla Sorna … on the news, warning people about the big, man-eating dinosaurs. He was beginning to wish he'd stayed on the plane. Oh, well, he thought, trying not to let fear get the best of him. Might as well try to make the best of it. It would be hard though. The company wasn't too great, after all. Well, Billy was alright. It was the other one – the hat guy – who spoilt it.

Suddenly, the hat guy himself flung a hand out, motioning for everyone to stop.

"Billy, the map," he demanded, still staring ahead.

Billy obliged, handing Alan the piece of paper. Alan began to study it carefully for about five minutes, before turning around to his two companions.

"If I'm right," he began, "we should be somewhere around here." He pointed towards a point on the map, before continuing. "And the Aviary, where we last saw the hat, should be somewhere over there." He pointed to another point, this time marked with a gray square. "So," he finished, handing the map back to Billy, "we're heading in the right direction, and should be there in about-" he paused to check his watch "- an hour."

Billy nodded, clutching the map. The Aviary wasn't exactly his favourite place, after what happened last time. He just had to hope they didn't run into any more Pteranodons, and if they did, that they weren't hungry.

Not that they had much hope. Billy had learnt from experience that Pteranodons were always hungry.

"So," said Alan, with something that might have been a grin on his face, "are you ready?"

Both Trevor and Billy stared at Alan without saying anything. The older man seemed unnaturally cheerful for someone stuck on an island looking for a hat which was probably in the stomach of some unfortunate dinosaur. Then again, no-one wanted to argue with Alan, so they merely nodded.

"Great," he said, the expression-that-might-have-been-a-grin getting wider. "So, what're we waiting for? Let's go. The sooner we get it, the sooner we get off."

Without waiting for the other two, Alan turned back and set off at a fast pace. Billy turned to Trevor and shrugged, before following his senior. Trevor stared at Billy's retreating back for a moment or two, eventually trailing after him, a dazed look on his face.

.·•·.

One hour later…

Alan came to a halt, staring through a parting in the trees. He could see a dome, a metal dome. If he squinted, he could make out rusty walkways and a dark, half-rotten stairwell. All in all, it looked rather shabby, and slightly frightening. But the worst part were the distinct figures flapping around inside. If Alan strained his ears, he could hear them calling out to one another, looking for food…

They had reached the Aviary, home of the Pteranodons.

Billy came up behind him, hair full of twigs and leaves. Looking over Alan's shoulder, he tried not to show his fear. But he couldn't help but shudder when he heard the dinosaurs call to one another. It brought back horrible, evil memories. Memories of sharp teeth and crashing waves, competing with each other to end his life. They weren't particularly nice ones, and Billy tried to push them to the back of his mind. However, they seemed to have other ideas, haunting and twisting themselves around his thoughts. Luckily for Billy, Trevor arrived at this point, bumping into him and banishing all thoughts about evil flying reptiles from his mind.

"Thanks, kid," he said, flashing Trevor a mysterious smile.

Trevor gave Billy a confused look before stepping around him and gazing at the framework of the Aviary.

"We're going… there?" he asked, mouth open.

Alan gave him a grin that might have been considered 'cynical'. "Yep."

Trevor paused, looking thoughtful. Eventually, he shrugged, pushed past Alan and said, rather boredly, "Cool."

Alan rolled his eyes, and made to follow the youth, leaving a rather nervous-looking Billy behind.

End of Part II: Chapter I

A/N: Whee. I decided to split Part II into chapters, 'cause it's long and different things happen in it. And I'm still trying to figure out how to work this thing. x.x -eats FF.net and evil person who insulted her story- It's not meant to be a serious story. Okay? It's just for fun.
.. ahem. In case you were wondering, the hat thing is an inside joke.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything other than Trevor, the plane, and the air hostess, and probably a few dinosaurs on the island. I want Alan's hat, though. Except he might hunt me down if I take it. -shifty eyes-