Archaeornithomimus

"What was with all the phone calls?" Owen asked abruptly as Claire led them across the car park towards the primary containment facility, Cassandra limping behind.

"There are problems with the perimeter fences," Claire snapped over her shoulder, "amongst… other things."

"What other things?" Cassandra said, suddenly suspicious.

"Just… things," Claire said, not quite meeting her sister's eyes, before sashaying ahead, her heels clicking across the gravel.

Cassandra slowed to an almost stop, eyes widening, some unknown fear seizing hold of her. "It's not the boys, is it?" she said, panicking. "Is it!?"

"Of course not!" Claire retorted. "Why would it be the boys!?" She then marched into the building, Owen hesitating, glancing between the door and Cassandra, the latter turning her back on him, deciding Owen there and then.

Shaking his head, he stalked into the building after Claire, leaving Cassandra on her own. She stood there for a long moment, trying to calm herself down, but no avail. She remembered her wry predication about having a nervous breakdown, the words now pathetically prophetic. But a car park was the last place she wanted to lose the last of her dignity in, so she went inside, taking several deep breaths as she did. She'd had no desire to return back to the primary containment facility where Masrani's monster lurked, but it was on the way to the hotel and made no sense for Owen and Claire to make a double journey.

As Cassandra made her way down to the lobby to the viewing room that overlooked the paddock, she slowed to a stop at the sound of raised voices coming from within. Predictably, Owen and Claire were arguing again, making Cassandra roll her eyes for the umpteenth time. Shaking her head, she reached for the door handle, but Owen's next words made her freeze, his concern catching her offguard.

"Maybe you should ease up on your sister, man."

"Maybe you should stop trying to jump into her pants again."

"Oh, so she told you, huh?"

"Of course she did, she tells me everything."

"But you don't tell her everything, right?"

Claire scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That's just the vibe I'm getting here, honey."

There was a long silence. "I… okay, fine, you got me," Claire then said, voice cracking, sounding like she was trying not to cry, making Cassandra stiffen further, "we have another sister - Karen - she caught me on the hop and gave me both barrels. I've been avoiding taking her calls all day because I was supposed to meet Cass and the children off the boat and I didn't, so Cass tattle-tailed on me to Karen, and here we are, not that you care."

"Try me."

"Yeah, right."

"Well, for starters, what did your sister say on the phone?"

Claire exhaled sharply, before giving in again. "I - I - I tried to brazen it out by pretending Cass and the children were with me, and we were all having a great time, yada-yada, and I was spinning her this whole story that I thought she was swallowing, but it turns out Zach – my nephew - had just told her they weren't with me at all and I had taken Cass off on what was probably a wild goosechase. So Karen went off on one and then she started crying and quoting our mother at me. It's exactly the last thing I need right now on top of everything, what with the fences, the problems with the guests and everything inbetween, and Cass falling into the enclosure and all these bombshells she's been dropping on my head"-

-"What bombshells is that?"

At this, Cassandra abruptly burst into the room, breathless with the effort, startling Owen and Claire who were standing by the table. "Sorry!" she gasped, clutching the door handle for support. "I… tripped."

"So I see," Owen said dryly, "maybe you should take a seat."

Pulling a pained face, Cassandra staggered over to the chair Owen yanked out for her, gratefully collapsing down into it. As she did, Claire's phone started ringing again, making Claire flinch violently. Tensing up, she reluctantly pulled it out of her pocket, glancing nervously at the screen before answering it with an air of visible relief, the caller obviously not Karen, only for Claire's face to darken again as she listened to whoever it was on the other end.

"I told you to comp them their meals, Lowery!" she bellowed, making Owen and Cassandra wince. "Not to tell them that their suitcases had went up in flames!"

At this, Cassandra buried her face in her hands, not sure how much more she could take of Claire's uncharacteristic chaos, not that she'd been expecting her suitcases back any time soon anyways.

Claire's face paled. "Mr. Masrani?" she then chirped in a comically high falsetto, instantly straightening up. "Yes… yes… no I can explain – one of the invisible fences went down again, leading to the escape of some of the livestock… No, it was herbivores, thank God… Same old, same old… The fences just don't fricking work!... Yes… they've been contained and are currently in the process of being relocated, but it caused a pile-up on one of the roads, leading to the loss of the guests' suitcases…" Claire strode out of the room, phone clamped to her ear, the door slamming shut behind her.

"Livestock," Owen scoffed, shaking his head. He then threw himself down in the chair opposite Cassandra, chewing on his lower lip. "What's up?" he then asked, leaning back in his seat, hands clasped behind his head.

Cassandra raised her head from her hands. "Those suitcases Claire was talking about?" she said in comically tragic tones. "My own stuff, the kids' gear– all gone. All I have is the clothes I'm standing up in."

Owen's grey eyes glinted oddly. "Is that so?" he said. "That's rotten."

"You think!?"

"I'm thinking that T-shirt looks better on you than it ever did on me."

Cassandra's mouth fell open. "I was just borrowing it," she then said defensively, trying to save face and failing miserably.

"Like you just 'tripped' there?" Owen grinned. "I didn't know eavesdropping involved acrobatics."

"You – you're impossible, you know that!"

Owen merely shrugged. "How's life been treating you anyways, Cassandra?" he said suddenly, lowering his arms as he sat up, his question startling her. "I often wondered if you sorted your shit out."

Cassandra bit her lip, playing for time. "I got divorced," she then said carefully, "and I lost my job, but like I said, I've managed to make a career out of my art."

"Good," Owen said abruptly, "glad to hear it."

"How about you?" Cassandra asked, curious despite herself. "What have you been up to?"

"Just what you see," Owen said, gesturing to himself. "It's only been me and the raptors for the past six years."

"Nobody special in your life, then?"

Owen grinned wolfishly. "Let's just say I've not been living like a monk," he said, grey eyes crinkling at the corners. "But reality is I'm married to my job and the raptors are my kids."

"Oh."

"Anyone rocking your world?"

"Well," Cassandra said hesitatingly, not wanting to admit to six years of self-enforced celibacy, "I've been on a few dates recently but nothing to shout about really."

"Oh," Owen echoed, eyebrows raised sceptically, making Cassandra's fists curl into balls.

An awkward silence then fell, Owen whistling quietly to himself, Cassandra glancing over at the door, wondering why the hell Claire was taking so long to come back. When she looked up again, it was only to find Owen watching her. "What is it now?" she snapped, something in his stare unsettling her.

"Just thinking you're still the prettiest damn thing I've ever seen in my life," Owen said quietly, holding her gaze, his own almost reverential.

Cassandra burst out laughing, hysteria rising in her, not knowing why he was making her so nervous. It wasn't just about Morgan; back at the bar he'd had the same effect on her, setting her on edge. She'd met many men including her ex-husband who were just as attractive as him and just as arrogant, but not one had ever impacted on her as Owen did. "I've heard that one before," she said smartly, pushing the hair out of her face, "six years before actually, but I bet you give that line to all the girls and I bet they all believe it. More fool them, I say."

"Hey" –

-"Okay, sorry about that," Claire said as she came tottering back into the room, "Lowery does not know when to shut up, especially when Mr. Masrani is nearby, overhearing every-single-word."

Owen ran his hand over his head. "What do you want me to do about this paddock, Claire?" he said abruptly, getting to his feet. "Cos time's-a-ticking and I need to get back, like, now."

Claire stared at him, taken aback by his tone. "Well, you know, we've been pre-booking tickets for months for the asset," she began, glancing between Owen and Cassandra, brow furrowing, "since the park needs a new attraction every few years in order to re-invigorate the public's interest, kind of like the space program. Corporate felt genetic modification would up the wow factor."

"They're dinosaurs," Owen said, rolling his eyes, "wow enough. But what's this got to do with me checking a fence?"

"Let me get to the point, Owen."

"Then get to it, Claire."

"There wasn't enough wow," Claire said coolly, "not according to our focus groups. The asset - the Indominus Rex makes us relevant again, or Domino Rexi as Cassandra prefers to call it."

Owen threw back his head, roaring with laughter, making Claire fold her arms across her chest. "Oh, man," he grinned, becoming side-tracked despite himself, "I think I prefer Cassandra's version. What the hell were you thinking when you called it Indominus Rex? Were you on something? God help your future children when you're picking out names for them."

"We needed something scary and easy to pronounce," Claire said stiffly, watching as Cassandra wandered over to the windows, shoulders tense. "You should hear a four year old try to say Archaeornithomimus."

"You should hear you try to say it," Owen drawled. "But like I keep saying, what does this have to do with me doing a security check? I mean, you should have that all in hand, right?"

"Well... there's been a few teething problems with the Indominus Rex," Claire said reluctantly, going over to where Cassandra was, her sister deliberately turning her back on her, "creating unprecedented problems."

"What's this thing made of?" Owen asked, eyes narrowing.

"The base genome is a T-Rex. The rest is… classified."

"You made a new dinosaur and you don't even know what it is?"

"The lab delivers us finished assets and we show them to the public."

"How long has the animal been in here?"

"All its life," Claire admitted against her will, her words making Owen shake his head, just like she knew he would.

"Never seen anything outside of these walls?" Owen pressed, already knowing the answer.

"We can't exactly walk it."

"You know animals raised in isolation aren't exactly the most functional."

"Your raptors were born in captivity," Claire pointed out, tilting her chin.

"With siblings," Owen snapped. "They learn social skills. Plus, I imprint on them when they're born."

"There's trust," Cassandra said, finally speaking, breaking the back and forth between Owen and Claire, making Owen glance sharply at her. "They trust you."

"Yes," Owen agreed, holding her gaze again, making Cassandra avert her eyes. "Exactly."

"So she needs a friend?" Claire said sarcastically. "We should schedule play-dates?"

"Is there a bathroom, Claire?" Cassandra interjected, sick to death of their dinosaur talk, as well as wanting to be as far from Owen as possible. "I'd like to freshen up."

"Sure," Claire said distractedly, "first door on your left."

"Just watch out for the Domino Rexi," Owen smirked, making Cassandra roll her eyes.

Till I start wondering, I start wondering

If you are ever here at all...