Ch 2:
Zach Mitchell hadn't changed much since she last saw him-was it four years now? He looked about the same height and build, though there might have been some more muscles hidden under his hoodie. Of course he was still wearing hoodies. His brown hair was shorter than when they were dating, and slightly buzzed on the side and longer on the top. And it looked a few shades lighter, as if sun bleached, or maybe the shorter length made it look lighter. And he had some slight stubble on his chin and upper lip.
When their eyes met, he gave a slightly awkward smile, something else that was familiar, and lifted a hand in a wave. Taking a breath, Sierra returned the smile and continued on her way, meeting him at his car.
"Hey." she greeted him as he stepped away from the car to hug her. "Wow, I haven't seen you in ages."
"Yeah, I know, it's been a while." Zach agreed, shoving his hands into his pockets when they stepped back.
"Wait-how-" Sierra suddenly looked around, her eyes taking in the small town she worked in. "How did you find me?"
It was a very fair question, though she could probably guess the answer. Since the incident at Lockwood Manor she'd had to go into hiding with Owen, Claire, and Maisie. Only a select few people knew how to find them or where they were. Franklin did, so he could help Sierra continue taking online college courses without people finding out where she lived. Zia also did, since they still worked together with Claire. Well, they worked together up until last night.
And finally, Gray knew where they were. And he knew how to contact them without giving away their location. Considering Zach was Gray's brother, that was probably how Zach was currently standing in front of her.
"Gray told me how to find you." Zach answered right as Sierra guessed as much. "Actually, um,…this isn't exactly a…social call." he added. "We need to talk."
Sierra eyed him warily, suddenly on edge. It wasn't as if she didn't trust him, after all he was Claire's nephew and the redhead still talked to both nephews on a regular basis, but living on the run tended to make you paranoid.
With a quick glance around, Sierra waved for him to follow her. "Come on. We can talk in here." She lead him back the way she'd come, unlocking the clinic once more and leading the way back inside.
"Do you want anything to drink?" she offered as she lead the way into the break room in the back, leaving most of the lights off so no one would suspect they were in there. "We have water and…lukewarm coffee." she added after feeling the half-full pot. It'd been made a couple hours ago, but after the last 24 hours, she needed some caffeine.
Zach snorted quietly as he sat at one of the break tables. "Coffee sounds good. I'll take it black."
Sierra paused in preparing her own cup with cream and sugar, glancing over at him with her brows raised. "Since when do you drink black coffee?"
Zach's grin was sardonic. "You don't get through college, and then the Army, without drinking coffee anyway you can get it."
"That's right, Claire mentioned you joined the Army. That was, what, three years ago?" Sierra noted as she sat across from him, passing him his mug of coffee. Despite wanting to remain friends with Zach after their breakup in 2018, they hadn't seen or spoken to each other since that fateful video chat. Partially due to Sierra having to go into hiding. She still texted and video chatted with Gray once in a while, but never got around to doing the same with Zach.
"Going on four years, now, actually." Zach corrected after taking a sip. "Actually, I dropped out of college right after the, uh,…well, when all the dinosaurs got set free on the world. Figured maybe in the Army I could do some good. Got training as a driver."
Sierra's lips twitched slightly, hidden behind a sip of coffee. She knew Zach loved fixing cars, it was only fitting he be a driver for the Army.
"Well, I'm happy for you." she commented quietly.
"And you're a big-time vet now." he joked slightly.
Sierra snorted. "Not quite. I still need a few more years of school before I'm an actual vet. I'm just a vet assistant." She shook her head slightly. "Anyway, you said we needed to talk. What's up?"
Zach sighed, his cheeks briefly puffing up as he released a breath. "Well,…it's a slightly long story. But Gray asked me to track down you, and Aunt Claire and Owen, for a reason. He got an internship recently, full-ride and everything."
"That's great." Sierra commented carefully. Her first instinct was to be thrilled for Gray, but considering the conversation…
Gray had graduated high school early, back in 2020, and was offered tons of scholarships to colleges all around the country. But she hadn't heard anything recently about an internship.
"It's at Biosyn."
Sierra blinked. And blinked again. "Biosyn?" she repeated. "That's huge. They're, like, the top of their fields. And that's a perfect fit for Gray, with the biology, and technology they study. Not to mention the dinosaurs." She was rambling a bit and decided to just stop and let Zach continue.
He nodded slightly, offering a small smile. "Yeah, it would be a perfect fit." he agreed carefully.
"Would be?" she repeated warily.
"Apparently, Biosyn isn't the "good guys" kinda place everyone thinks it is." Zach went on. "I don't know all the details or what all they're up to. But Gray was offered the internship for a couple different reasons. The CEO, Lewis Dodgson, wanted him there because of his grades and knowledge and all that. Said he'd be an asset to the company and all that. But someone else, someone I don't know the name of, approached Gray about going in undercover."
"Undercover?" Sierra hissed, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. "Gray? Is that a good idea? It's Gray. He's, like, got his heart on his sleeve. He's honest. He's open. What if he gets caught?"
"Believe me, I'm worried about all that, too." Zach agreed. "But to be fair, he's gotten a lot better. Which is both good and bad. With everything that happened with the Indominus, and then the divorce, and the following therapy sessions, he's gotten a lot better at keeping his emotions under wraps. He's not a kid anymore."
Sierra took a deep breath through her nose, nodding her head. She still struggled to see Gray as anything other than the little boy she'd met in 2015. "Okay. Undercover for what?"
"A few different things, I think." Zach admitted, "But he wouldn't tell me all the details. But he did say that the person who approached him gave him a warning. Apparently another reason Dodgson wanted Gray there…was because of his relationship to Claire."
Realization dawned on Sierra. "And everyone knows if they find Claire, they'll find Maisie. They want to use Gray to find her."
Zach nodded seriously. "And that's why I'm here. Well, kinda. Gray said he was in the lab and overheard a couple other scientists talking nearby. They must not have realized who Gray was, because they basically stated that someone has a lead on where all of you are, and that people were closing in on you. They're getting close to finding all of you."
Sierra's hands started shaking on her mug. "How close?" she whispered.
"I don't know. That's all Gray told me. I don't know how good of a lead it is, or how specific of a location they've got. When Gray overheard them he was able to get a hold of me and ask me to warn all of you. And before you worry, he has a way of getting in touch with people without them being able to track it."
Sierra nodded, already knowing that much. It was how Gray always contacted Claire and Sierra.
"Okay, um,…well, I was on my way home, anyway. I'll need to get there and let Owen and Claire know. And we'll have to decide what to do." Sierra muttered, partially to herself. Then her eyes went back to Zach, who was watching her while taking another drink of his coffee. "Um,…did you want to come along? To the cabin, I mean." she specified. "It's just, it's getting late, and I don't know how far you drove. And I'm sure Owen and Claire will want to talk to you, and ask more questions about what Gray told you."
"You sure that's okay?" Zach checked. "I mean, you are kind of in hiding."
"Yeah, but it sounds like we'll have to leave the cabin anyway if they're close to finding us." Sierra pointed out.
Zach thought about it for a long moment before nodding. "Alright. If you're sure."
Sierra smiled ironically. "About as sure as I am about anything anymore."
AN: So, safe to say I've changed up a few things from the movie. There's also some stuff that won't happen at the same time or the same way as they happened in the movie. You'll probably notice what I'm talking about.
Anyway, feel free to leave a review and let me know what you thought of this story, and the changes I've made so far.
