The aftermath! Hope you guys enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic Park/World. All Macx's OCs belong to Macx
He is aware of only flashes after that. He remembers the girls barking at him, their minds tugging at his. He remembers being piled onto a jeep. Then something loud and a shuddering echoing through his whole body and the eerie feeling of flying. He doesn't remember landing but he does remember arriving at the med bay, seeing the chaos then, seeing Masrani, hopping from a jeep and diving over to a gurney being pushed into the building with a cry of "Kavita!"
Then he remembers Anika, "Hold on Grady," she says.
And Claire's soft gasp of "Owen!"
Most of all he remembers Blue, holding on to him, in both consciousness and unconsciousness. And then he sides into blackness.
When he awakes it's to beeping that is far too familiar now.
He feels Blue's agreement thrum through him and it's such a relief to feel her that he almost gasps. He turns his head with effort and through he cannot quite see her through the window, he knows that she is right there, waiting for him to come out to her when he able too. The others aren't as close, too many raptors can make people uncomfortable but they too are right here in his mind, pressing themselves against his thoughts, almost like they're scenting him, marking him once more as theirs.
He sighs and relaxes.
Then he hits the button to let Anika know that he's up. He wants to know how long he's going to be here.
Anika doesn't take long before she's bustling into the room.
"Owen!"
"Hey," he says words wheezing out of his throat a little. "What's up?"
She laughs before shaking her head at him and pointing sternly. "Don't make this a habit Grady," she says. "I do not appreciate having to do surgery with raptors breathing down my neck."
Owen startles a little. "She was in here?"
"She was not," says Anika, "But she was right outside and everyone in the operating theater knew it."
Owen laughs softly and winces at the pain. "Duly noted," he says. "I'm not too fond of surgery either."
"Could have fooled me," Anika says dryly.
"Hey!" he protested but it was without heat. "So how long am I in here Doc?"
"As long as it takes for those wounds to heal to the point where you won't rip them open doing your normal duties," Anika says flatly.
"And that is?"
"I'm keeping you here for at least two weeks," she says and lifts a hand to stall his protest. "Owen those wounds were deep and raptor claws are not clean. We've already gotten ridiculously lucky that the one puncture in your lungs was easily repaired. Not to mention the fact that none of those claws damaged your spine. You're at a real risk for infection here. I've put you on antibiotics to try and get ahead of it, but you need close monitoring."
Owen grits his teeth and then said, "The girls."
"They will be fed once they're in the paddock," Anika tells him. "Carter already said that he'd do it. And Dr. Beaumont has already administered care for your girls. Apparently Blue kept them in check long enough for him to deal with whatever wounds they had."
"They'll need more care than that," Owen protests.
"And they'll get it," Anika replies. She rests a hand on his. "I can't quite believe I'm saying this but Grady, trust your beta, she'll get your girls through while you can't."
"She shouldn't have to," Owen says, anger and guilt roiling through him. Blue pushes into his mind, clearly tells him that he's an idiot.
"I'm told that's how teamwork, works," Anika said dryly and startles a laugh out of Owen.
"Alright, alright, fine," he says. "But if you speed up the timeline at any point…."
"Believe me Grady I won't hesitate to do so," Anika replies, "You aren't my only patient you know."
And with that she's whisking out the room, simultaneously summing a nurse to deal with him.
Claire and Carter visit him later that evening. Claire is wearing a Jurassic world staff t-shirt over the skirt he last saw her in. Her face and hands are a mess of bruises that are red and turning yellow at the edges. Carter looks like he hasn't been out of his tac gear since this whole situation started. But his face is clean, and he looks like he's eaten sometime in the last two hours.
"We managed to clear out the rest of the hold-out groups," Carter tells him. "And we managed to secure whatever samples they took. ARU helped a bit."
"All the men captured are being held for prosecution by the Costa Rican Government," Claire supplies. "Masrani's lawyers are gonna have a field day." She squeezes his hand, despite her own injuries, "They won't get away with this."
"The civilians?" Owen asked.
"A few injured," Claire says. "But not badly and not fatally. We're compensating them handsomely. Our PR is gonna take some work but Masrani's team is handling that."
"How are the other keepers?" Owen asks. He's pretty sure that what they'd done for him and his pack had not come without cost.
"Nursing headaches," Carter replies. "But the pain seems to be going down they say."
"Zach is sleeping his off," Claire adds as Owen winces.
"They saved us," he says, voice somewhere between grim and awe.
"They know," Claire says gently, "And you and your girls saved us. Believe me, none of them regret they actions. We're a community here Owen Grady."
Owen exhales and then gives a little huff of laughter. "Are you gonna tell me how you got so beat up?"
"Not today," Claire says cheerfully. "When you can drink alcohol maybe."
"That's reassuring Owen grumbles sarcastically. He looks to Carter. "How did ACU come through?"
"We had a few losses," Carter admits and Owen winces again while Claire flinches, "But a lot less than we could."
"I'm sorry," Owen says.
"So am I," Carter admits. "But they knew what they signed up for. This is the job."
"There will be a memorial," Claire says, "after…. well after we get back on our feet I guess."
"That…. that's good," Owen concludes. He's feeling tired now, emotionally and physically drained. The others seem to notice and Claire squeezes his hand again and gets up.
"Don't get yourself half-killed again Grady," she says, "I'm sick of it."
"I will definitely try not to do that," he reassures her.
"What she said," Carter tell him and Owen huffs a laugh.
"Tell the girls not to give you too much trouble."
"Like they'll listen," the chief of security retorts and then they're both out the room, no doubt heading back to the list of things they have to do. Owen hypocritically hopes that they'll make some time to take care of themselves in all the mess.
Four days later Owen is trying to relieve his boredom by reading the book about raptor observations that had led to his last intern. He'd heard about Kavita from his raptors and had had to grudgingly admit that she'd been more of a help than a hindrance. How he felt about that through he wasn't quite sure.
Nor was he sure about the other suspicions he had brewing about her. But for the moment he could do nothing about it especially as Masrani had chosen to be conspicuously absent from visiting him. So, it was quite a surprise when later that day his room door creaked open and Kavita's head appeared in the opening.
"Knock, knock!" she said cheerfully. "Mind if I come in?"
"Sure," Owen said, interest peaked. He felt Blue's mind sharpen and hone in with predatory focus.
"Cool," Kavita said, "Give me a moment here," she added. She pushed the door open further and it was only then that Owen realized that she was in a wheelchair. She maneuvered the chair through the doorway and to his bedside and set her brakes.
"They won't let me use crutches," she complained. "They said my stitches were still too tender."
"At least you can move around," Owen said, eyeing her. She was in a loose skirt but the bulky bandages around her thigh were still visible under the fabric. There were bruises scattered across her face, turning a lovely shade of yellow around the blue-black centers. Her sleeveless top didn't hide the bandages on her upper arms, nor the bruises there. The last two fingers of her left hand were splinted together. In short, she looked like hell. But she also looked like more and that only sharpened Owen's suspicions.
"Well," she sighed in reply. "There is that. How are you?"
"As fine as I can be," Owen says. "And I'll be better."
"Good," she said, bluntly. "You worried me. You worried a lot of people."
"And what is it to you?" Owen asked as blunt as she. "My health?"
She tipped her head at him in question.
"I was under the impression that caring about whether or not my supervisor lived or not was a hallmark of being a decent human being," she replied slowly.
"It is," Owen replies. "But you're not simply anybody are you?"
Her eyes sharpened and Owen had his answer.
"KRM," he said. "I heard Brennan call you that but it didn't register what he meant. Not until I saw Simon come down here, rushing to your side."
She gave a wry quirk of her lips and confirmed, "Kavita Ramdial Masrani."
"Was any of it real?" he asked her, feeling angry, feeling the pack's anger. "Any of what you told me of yourself? Anything Simon said?"
"All of it, I think," she said, calmly, thoughtfully. "I am from the Caribbean. The British took people there to be indentured laborers back when slavery was abolished. A lot of people went, not really realizing the conditions they were going to." She shrugged. "When Simon started looking around for heirs, for someone to help him run Masani Global, who shared his vision, well, according to him, he was disappointed by what he'd found among those who were close family. So, he started looking farther. He went tracking down various branches of the family and eventually found my family all the way in the Caribbean."
"And he chose you," Owen said, struggling to remember his history.
"And he chose me," Kavita said.
"Why me?" Owen asked. "Why send you to me?"
"You're the alpha of the island," Kavita said flatly. "My cousin does have high hopes for me. Jurassic World is a part of Masrani Global's corporate portfolio."
"I'm aware," Owen says frowning at the odd segue.
"Simon intends," she says, "to have a little more separation between Jurassic World and the rest of Masrani Global, in an attempt to give the park more autonomy and provided more protection for the people that live and work here. But he needs someone he trusts at the top and more importantly he needs someone you, and Ms. Dearing and Mr. Carter trust."
"He wants to put you at the top," Owen says flatly.
Kavita nods. "Simon trusts me, but he didn't want to upset the balance of the park too much. So, he sent me to you."
"A wellness detector," Owen says.
"As you say," she smiles and Owen is suddenly struck with the similarity between her and her cousin.
"Shit," he says. He runs a hand over his face. And then scowls sharply at her. "I don't like this."
"Yes, I'm aware," she says wryly. "It wasn't quite the best way to go about this," she admits.
"Then why do it at all?" Owen demands.
"We're corporate," she shrugs. "We're kinda used to coming at things sideways. Sorry. We forget sometimes that being straightforward works too."
Owen gives her a look. She shrugs apologetically.
"Fine," he says, head tilting at her almost predatorily. "Here's what I know about you. You're a liar."
"I misdirect," she refutes, "They're not the same."
"You're a sly son of a bitch," he continues.
"Useful when climbing a corporate ladder," she agrees, utterly without shame.
"You're determined," he adds, "hardworking." Because she is. She'd been a good intern.
"Flattering but unexpected," Kavita says raising an eyebrow and he can see her now, wreaking havoc in a boardroom by that expression alone.
"You helped Blue and the others to protect them and you worked to protect his park which means you're willing to take risks for your cause and your people." Because he can't deny any of that, not when she's sitting in front of him looking like a patchwork of wounds. Not when she's risked her life.
"I feel like we're building up to a 'but'," Kavita remarks.
"We are," Owen tells her. "Because I know all of that. And I still don't know who you are. There's still a piece of the puzzle missing and I can't trust you."
Because there is still a piece of the puzzle missing. He's got most of it. He knows now, why she moves so gracefully, so trained. It's because she is trained by ARU. She knows about him and the other preternaturals because she's Masrani's cousin and he would have told her. Not to mention that ARU knows as well. He can mesh, somewhat, the carefree young woman singing Caribbean music to the sharp, corporate shark she's shown in flashes during this conversation.
But there's one thing he can't match.
The fear.
He's seen that fear on her face when she first saw his girls. Seen her tuck it away. He has a memory from Blue, showing him the same reaction.
And it should be something easily explainable, coming face to face with raptors is anything but calming for most people.
But she tucks that fear away too well. Acts too normal, to easily around them afterward for that level of fear and he can't get it out of his mind. He can't take the chance that her fear could lead her to sabotage the island.
Kavita studies him in silence for a long moment, frowning lightly. He feels Blue hiss in his mind at the direct attention, the predatory quality to it. Then Kavita smiles, almost sharply, and leans back in her wheelchair.
"How do you like your book?" she asks, gesturing with her chin to the book he held on his lap, the book about the raptors.
Owen feels anger welling up but suppresses it. She is going somewhere with this line of conversation. He feels Blue's impatience but soothes her.
"Wait," he says. "Wait, let her speak for now."
"It's fine," he replies tersely.
"It was my suggestion," she says, smiling almost fondly at the book. "I'm glad you're enjoying it. Were any of the observations helpful?"
"They're…intriguing," Owen says, "And gives some interesting insight about raptors, especially those int eh wild."
"Well at least it's somewhat helpful," she says ruefully, "Though I don't think that that was at all what my therapist meant when she suggested I write down my experiences to deal with my trauma. She's quite annoyed that I seem rather fond of Harry, Left and Time."
Owen blinks. "You…." He looks down at the book, the odd nagging feeling he'd had when reading the book finally resolving. "The sketches," he says. "I knew something was familiar. This is your artwork." Because it is. The style has changed some from the sketches in the book to the sketches he's seen her do but they're still clearly done by the same person.
"It is," she says calmly.
"You wrote this," he says.
"Yes," she replies.
"Masrani said that this book was written by someone who survived being locked in a house with three juvenile raptors that were stolen and hatched from Isla Sorna," Owen says. A dark foreboding feeling rises in his chest. He wants her to deny it. To say that it was a lie. That the book was a fabrication, something out of someone's imagination.
"It was," she says ruefully. She tugs up her t-shirt and traces three scars across her abdomen. Scars that Owen knows came from raptor claws.
"Harry would have disemboweled me if I hadn't leapt back. And if the SWAT team hadn't shot him dead." Her tone is still rueful, wry.
"You…. You spent three days trapped n a house with raptors," Owen clarifies, because he loves his girls but he knows how terrifying it is to be at the mercy of raptors. And he's a preternatural. He can't quite imagine what it must have been for her.
"Yeah," she sighed. "No offense but I have something of a phobia."
And that's the last bit of the puzzle. The reason for her fear.
"I don't hate them you know," she says earnestly, looking up at him. "I don't blame them. They were doing what they do. But…well, they kind of terrify me."
"You hide it well," he says, because his brain is still a little bit stuck.
"I learned to," she said simply. "Fear…" she gives a little huff of a laugh. "Fear is a potent smell you know? Maybe you can mask your heartbeat with other sounds but scent? That's harder. Because they learn the scent of whatever you covered yourself with and track you down that way. So it's easier not to smear yourself with anything. But if you don't…. They scent fear. They know that the one who's most afraid is most likely to mess up which makes them the easiest prey. Which then makes that person a target. So. You know. I learned to hide it. To not feel it. To mask it as best I could so that I wouldn't be the one they went after. And well, that sort of stayed with me. After."
The wealth of things she's left unsaid is heartbreaking. The anger he'd felt at the poachers who'd stolen and sold raptor eggs when he first heard the story is nothing compared to rage he feels against them now.
But he braces himself, shunts the rage to the side and leans forward, looks into Kavita's eyes. The last piece of the puzzle is in and he thinks, he thinks he can finally understand what lies in her eyes, who she really is.
She is a slimy corporate shark. She's wickedly intelligent and well-trained in the art of words. She's also a warrior, courageous and strong-willed to the end. She's also a protector. Because no matter what happened in that house, or perhaps because of it, she's come out determined not to let her fears stop her from saving others.
Owen's seen broken people before and maybe she is a bit broken. But she also has a spine of steel and may all the universe help whoever tries to stand against her.
But the most important thing is finally resolved by the whole picture, by what he can see now that he has let go of his suspicions.
She is loyal.
"I will protect your girls," she tells him quietly, "Because you and they and everyone else in this park, in this community deserve to be protected."
And Owen, Owen gives in to the inevitable, to what he knows, and gives her his blessing, "I know you will." Then he narrows his eyes. "I'm still pissed at you. But I will work with you."
Kavita laughed, bright and unrestrained. "That's all I ask. Now it's back to slugging my way through the company ranks until my next internship. Gonna be interesting."
Owen tilts his head at her.
"What?" she says. "You can't think it's going to be so easy to put me in charge, do you?"
"Masrani owns and is the CEO of, Masrani Global," he points out.
"Sure," Kavita says. "And if you think he doesn't have a board of directors breathing down his neck every second, you're dead wrong. The board knows he gives slack to Jurassic World and they don't like it. Not a company man action you see. So they have their own people they want to put in charge."
Blue's angry hiss in his mind is so potent Owen almost thinks he feels her breath ruffle his hair.
Kavita takes in his expression and touches his arm lightly.
"Cheer up, Grady," she says. "It's only a little war."
"A war my girls and I need to go in our favour," he points out.
"Don't be so faithless," Kavita replies. "I've faced real predators. If my competitors at Masrani Global think they even come close to matching up to the real thing, they're sadly delusional." Then her smile turns sharp, a little feral, showcases that wicked intelligence for a moment and Owen remembers that she, like a lot of the people here, was a little broken and a lot dangerous. "Besides, I am not without my own teeth and claws."
Blue stills in his head at the statement and then preens with approval, the rest of the pack echoing her. Owen huffs a laugh surprising both of them.
"Fine," he says. "Let me know if you need to borrow any real ones."
Her eyes widened and then she grinned but said primly. "I think that might be against company policy."
His laughter follows her as she maneuvers her wheelchair out the door.
So apparently, there will be an epilogue. Leave a review and tell me what you think!