"I can assure you, Senator Sherwood." Claire switched ears on her phone, shoulder aching from holding it while she etched notes in her planner. "Dr. Rodriguez's work is more then credible."

She listened to the senator relyed his latest conversation with the paleo-veterinarian. She winced; yep, that sounded like Zia. She looked out the window as the bushes and dirt were fading into sidewalks and houses. Civilization!

"Dr. Rodriguez is very… forth-coming in her opinions." Claire placed as much confidence into that as she could muster. From the driver's seat, Owen snorted a laugh. Claire bit her lip to keep from making her own. "But she's been on Isla Nublar, as well as tended a velociraptor. Her input would be irreplaceable."

The senator sighed and then complied. Claire smiled. "She'll be happy to hear it. Thank you… We'll talk soon."

Claire hung up, dropping the phone into her purse. "Zia's going to sit in on the conference."

"Lucky us." Owen snickered. "I was afraid I'd fall asleep."

Claire ignored him, adding Zia's name to the list. "I'm going to have to email her my talking points…"

"You do that." Owen turned the corner. "I'll bring the popcorn."

"Is she that funny to watch?" Maisie giggled from the back seat.

"You can be the judge during the conference." Claire kept the planner from slipping off her legs, eyeing the names she had written. It was now her, Owen, and Zia with Senator Sherwood and two others; both DPG funders of the past year. Senator Sherwood was being cagey about the details to be discussed; only that it concerned the future of the DPG, which had Claire hopeful. She had twenty-six employees- aside from Franklin and Zia- to consider and sitting on her hands the past eleven days had been torture. Minus the hearings in Palo Alto, it had been day-in and day-out at Owen's trailer, leg propped up and stitches itching like crazy! And she hadn't worn anything other then faded t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers the whole time… including right now!

"I'm going to need a new outfit for this presentation." Claire tapped her pen on as she flipped to the back for her talking points. Her motivations for this went deeper then what she'd be wearing. She was counting on her actions now to fix her actions of the past.

"Wear what you wore to Palo Alto." Owen suggested. "Besides, they'll only see your top."

Claire shot an exasperated breath at her husband. "Regular people own more then one shirt, Owen."

"So… pants are optional then?"

"Don't you dare!" Claire swung the planner at him. Maisie's giggle grew as Owen kept his arm up for protection. He pointed to a road sign for distraction. "Nevada border, six miles. That'll be our last stop before Carson City."

"Good, I'm dying back here." Maisie bumped her fist on the stack of books Claire had bought. "Bet I'm the only kid in the state that's stuck with homework right now."

Claire twisted around, giving the girl her serious brow. "They're assessments, Maisie."

"I already told you, I'm in Year 5." Maisie rolled her head back, huffing.

"Well, I need to find out what that translates to…" Claire fumbled. "In American education. It might not be the same standard."

Owen quirked his eyebrow at her. "I feel like 'we' should be offended by that."

Claire glared again as he slowed to an intersection. "If you were any help, you'd tell her that this' good for her."

"Claire, it is." Owen exasperated a laugh. "But it's not something she needs right this minute."

"The year's going to be half over before she sets foot in a classroom." Claire tried reasoning to them. "They might want to hold her back if they're unsure what grade level she is."

Either that or homeschooling. Both had pros and cons and Claire had listed them. It had occurred to her to call Iris and ask about it, but Claire didn't want to seem skimpy on any responsabilty concerning Maisie. With Iris' blessing, they were to be Maisie's parents- or rather guardians- soon. The British woman was straightening out Benjamin Lockwood's affairs, but then officiating Maisie's adoption was the next thing.

Boy, I make it sound like a business merger. Claire grumbled internally. Does Maisie get that feeling when I talk to her? Do I need to watch my tone with her?

"Well, maybe Maisie would like the extra year of school." Owen moved the car forward as the light switched to green. "Gain some social skills."

Claire's eyes narrowed on him. "She's not one of the raptors, Owen."

"Ugh," came Maisie's annoyed cry. "Mum, enough!"

Claire stilled, heart thumping with the tread of the car over the road. What did she call me?

Owen eyed the rearview mirror along with Claire. Maisie peeked through her fingers at them, equally surprised.

"Um," Claire settled back in her seat, warmth growing in her chest as the word sank in. "Ok… OWEN!"

He snapped to attention and braked. Narrowly avoiding a collision with an army hummer. This jolted them into noticing their surroundings; a sublet of South Lake Tahoe, almost completely deserted like any other town they had passed. The only regular personal had been divisions of the military, all of them devoted to one thing. Containing any and all dinosaurs within the vicinity. Claire's bearings came full circle as the doors to the army vehicle opened and soldiers rose out, their guns at the ready. Her hand found Owen's arm as he threw the car in reverse.

"What're they aiming at?" Maisie pulled herself up for a better look. Claire pushed her back. "Get your seat belt on!"

The guns fired, hot lead spitting into the alleyway the soldiers blocked off. A frightened and enraged shriek rose above the ruckus. Claire clutched at the dashboard as Owen maneuvered them back- only to hit the car behind them. There was a mad honk, but Owen only concerned himself with backing away from the abrupt war zone. A dinosaur, brown and green and wily on its two legs, charged out of the alley, knocking two standing soldiers back with its head. Claire trembled "Which-"

"Gallmimus." Maisie named, hands gripping the head of Claire's seat.

Gallmimus. And it was headed right for them, eyes wild and scared! It rocked their front fender with shocking force, scurrying to escape. The front wheels left the ground, the gallmimus' tail whipping around, breaking Claire's side mirror. Maisie screamed and Claire cringed at the sound of claws scrapping the hood. Owen fought with the wheel to keep their vehicle upright, still in reverse. Claire glanced over to see his eyes go wide. "Get down!"

The bullets were already striking the windshield as he said it. Claire sank against the grain of her seat, arm twisting over the console to the back. "Maisie, floor!"

The leather punctured where her head had been, noise on top of noise- dinosaur shriek, gunfire, tires squealing. Owen bared down, backing them at an angle to clear them of the hummer. Claire wasn't sure of their direction after that, but he braked again moments later; after pushing their back tires over the curb. Claire fought to catch her breath, the windshield dusty and cracked before her. "O-Owen?"

"Yeah." He assured her. "Maisie?"

"I-I'm ok-k-ay." The girl said between shocked breaths. Claire eased herself up to check on her. Only Owen took her face in his hands. "You're bleeding."

"What?" Claire asked dumbly. She looked down but saw nothing, then touched her cheeks. Her right fingers came away bloody. Fire lit up Owen's eyes as he inspected the graze near the corner of Claire's right eye.

"Ow!" Claire worked his hands off as she realized the hot pain of the torn skin. Owen shifted his glare through the windshield. Claire squinted to see the soldiers, following the gallmimus. The dinosaur stumbled down the street, darting left and right for any type of cover. The soldiers blasted it from behind, and it continued to stagger. But got away. The firing halted and Claire allowed herself to breath. Only to jump again when Owen kicked his door open.

"Stay here." Claire asked of Maisie, following Owen out of the car. "Owen, wait-"

"We're going to try and cut it off." The head soldier gestured for his squad to get back in the hummer. Only to be stopped by a mad jerk from Owen. "You do any target practice lately!?"

"Stand down, sir." The soldier pushed back, weapon half-raised. Owen didn't back down. "One of your guys almost killed her!"

Claire caught up to them, knowing she made a fine statement with blood trailing down her cheek and still carrying on with a limp. Full weight wasn't an option with her thigh yet, but thankfully the stiffness was only mere soreness now. The soldier took stock of her and his expression eased slightly. "I'm sorry about that. But our orders are to contain these creatures."

"And everything else is collateral damage." Owen figured, eyes boring through the man's uniform. The soldier didn't appreciate that, widening his stance before Owen. "That dinosaur had two kids cornered in a schoolyard, so don't you talk to me about collateral damage!"

"A few shots would've scared it away." Claire insisted.

"This evacuation's in place for a reason and any civilians need to follow it." The soldier stared between them. "So do us all a favor and get over the border! You can write a letter to the general officer from your cozy hotel room."

"And I'll sign it U.S. Navy." Owen yelled in his face. "We can tell the difference between a dinosaur and a civilian."

Claire rubbed her forehead with thorough embarrassment. Owen took her by the shoulder and headed back to the car. She let him guide her to the passenger door, watching as he yanked it open. "You don't need to fly off the handle."

"Being your husband, I don't mind." Owen took the first aid kit from the floor beside Maisie, who eyed them curiously. Claire huffed, taking out some gauze. "I'm capable of-"

"Claire." Owen had her by the wrist, getting her to take in his shaken expression. He let a breath pass between them. "You are capable. But just let a man be a man to his woman."

Claire's eyes narrowed on him like lasers. "Every single one of those words makes me want to punch you."

Owen shrugged, his fingers working over her broken skin. The assertiveness, the caring; Claire worked her mouth to hold down the smile. "But… I was really attracted to you sticking up for me, so… I'll let it slide."

Owen winked as he taped the gauze on. "Chauvinism. Works every time."

"I'll be using this kit as a barf bag." Maisie broke into the moment. Claire had to laugh with Owen as he handed the kit to her. She waited for him to shut the car door. "Traumatizing childhood memories. We might nail this parent thing after all."

"Yeah we will." Owen assured her, catching the small of her back. "Now kiss me and make the pain go away."

Claire's nose scrunched in confusion. "I'm the one in pain."

"No. The pain of nearly losing you."

Why would corny lines like that ever work? Claire shook her head, but complied, happy to taste her lips. It grounded her, making her forget how busy and tense the rest of her life was. And Claire was finding it nice to forget.

}{}{}{}{

"So it's confirmed then." Dr. Henry Wu spoke breathlessly over the line.

"Yes." His associate repeated. "With the proper resolutions, we should be able to saturate the cells."

"How long?" Henry asked, breaking from his pace between the counters.

"Over the next few weeks." The employee stated. "Of course observation will take longer, but once the cells are in proper storage-"

"Whatever you have to do." Henry insisted. "This is too important to second guess… if we want any semblance of this company to survive."

"Sir, you haven't worked with this company in three years."

Henry gritted his teeth. "The future of InGen and companies like it have always been my top priority. They provide the means and resources to open gateways that would otherwise be impassable. Now, are you going to continuing questioning me or move ahead with those samples?"

The submissive silence gave him a satisfactory answer. "We'll see you in a few weeks, sir."

Henry hung up, just before the ninety seconds alarm went off on his watch. Any calls he'd been making lasted under this mark, to ensure no one traced it. His entire existence since escaping Lockwood estate had been hushed tones and encrypted emails. They had emptied the labs the minute that Mills had informed him about the Indoraptor. With rushed precision, the twenty two embryos and dinosaur eggs had been moved to different locations for security reasons… and his not being at any of them was pushing his blood pressure to the ceiling.

There had always been a backup plan, should the lab have ever been found out. But the release of the dinosaurs was where it got tricky to move from one location to another. Thankfully, their funding wasn't so much a problem. Mills had been siphoning Lockwood's money under the guise of a subsidiary of InGen. Believable enough, given the billionaire's history with John Hammond. Dr. Wu remembered Benjamin Lockwood as a bit more grounded then Hammond, playing practical, rather then pushing the impossible. A true yin to Hammond's yang in the unearthing of long-lost dinosaur DNA.

That DNA's my responsibility now. Henry eyed the micro plate incubator beside him. It's what will keep my name at the forefront of the scientific community.

Even he could admit that this had gotten out of hand. Their discoveries were costing people far more then they could've imagined. But even that couldn't interfere with their work. It was too important.