Summary: On Charlie's last bandage change, Echo gets loose and Owen has to protect Alise. That causes him to finally ask her out on a date and Alise finds out why it took him so long to ask her on a proper date out and his answer surprises her.
When Charlie was fully sedated and the girls were in holding, Erin and I went in with Owen while Barry kept Blue, Echo and Delta company.
I was just finished unwrapping Charlie's bandage when I heard the sound of metal clanking together and a bang, followed by Barry screaming "Echo!"
We all looked up at Echo, who came charging at us. She stopped a few feet in front of us and snarled. Crouched down, knees bent, getting closer. She was only seconds away from attacking us.
I jumped up to my feet and Erin held her gun up at her, but instead of letting her shoot, Owen stepped in front of me and in between Erin and Echo.
"Hold your fire! You put 12 amps in her, she's never gonna trust me again." Owen said, putting his hand up in front of Echo, who looked like she was ready to pounce at any second. She was crouching down and growling. "Echo, stand down!" he said sternly.
I felt my stomach drop when Echo snapped at him in return.
"Hey, hey! What did I just say?" he straightened up, talking back to Echo. She stood down a little bit, but still was trying to talk back to him. "Get inside the gate." Owen said without looking away from Echo.
"Owen, are you serious?" I couldn't help but ask.
He was telling Erin and I to go, but what was he going to do? Echo was a loose cannon, especially without Blue's supervision. There was no telling what Echo would do to him, regardless of their bond. It looked like Echo was ready to tear him apart.
"Alise, go." Owen ordered without breaking eye contact with Echo. I sunk back, going inside the gate with Erin.
"Close the gate." he said once Erin and I were in. His hand was still up in front of Echo, holding her back. She was still a few feet behind him, but getting closer.
"Owen!" Barry protested.
"Trust me!" Owen snapped back, looking over at him and then quickly back to Echo. He was showing dominance over Echo, but I could see his eyes were glassing over and that he was scared, who wouldn't be? Barry was reluctant, but he pressed the button to close the gate anyway.
I felt my heart drop as the gate started to close. I wanted to run out and grab him and pull him in, but I knew that'd cause even more trouble. Right before it closed, Owen was quick to roll under it and get in just in time. Echo snapped and lunged at the gate, running straight into it and falling to the ground.
"Are you okay?" I rushed over, grabbing his arm.
"I'm fine." he said, Barry pulled him up and Owen adjusted his shirt. He sounded annoyed, so I didn't say anything else.
"Close call," Barry said.
"Whoa, that was crazy!" Erin said, still shocked.
I nodded in agreement as I watched Owen walk over to Blue and begin to undo her harness. No one said anything after that and we all went our separate ways.
That was intense. I thought Owen was going to get torn up for sure, but I sure as hell was glad that nothing bad happened.
The next day I started working at 8 am and had 3 appointments lined up before 12. I had to do a check up on an Ankylosaurus, a baby Sinoceratop had to get booster shots, and a Pteranodon had a viral infection and had to be put in isolation so she wouldn't spread it to the others.
I was back in the office I share with Dr. Collier by 11:45 am to write up some reports before lunch at 12:30 pm. I was in the middle of typing up one of those reports when I heard a knock on the door and someone clearing their throat.
I looked up and saw Owen leaning against the doorframe of the open door with a smile.
"Hey," I smiled. "Come in…"
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything…" he said, taking a step in.
"Just writing up some reports, but they can wait."
"I'm glad you're in the office today, I stopped by yesterday around 3, but you weren't in."
"Oh, I was in the field for the afternoon," I said, a little shocked he'd been looking for me. I didn't even know he even knew which office I worked in. "Why were you looking for me?" I asked curiously.
"I wanted to see if I could take you out…" he cleared his throat. "For a drink, it's the least I could do for taking care of Charlie."
"Yeah… that'd be nice." I smiled, even though it was my job to take care of Charlie. I didn't want to turn down his offer.
"You free tonight?"
"I get off at 7."
"So, Three Horns, 8:30?" he raised his brows.
I smiled and nodded, "Sounds good to me!"
"Awesome. Have fun writing up those reports." he smiled.
I laughed, "So much fun." I joked as he left. I couldn't help the smile on my face as he walked away. I tried to tame the butterflies in my stomach, but I just couldn't help what that man did to me.
I met up with Lucy at the employee cafe at 12:30 for lunch and told her about Owen and I going out later.
"That sounds a lot like a date…" Lucy smirked.
"No… it's just a thank you for helping with Charlie." I said.
"Which is your job," Lucy said, raising her brows. "It's totally a date!"
I laughed and shook my head, looking down at my phone when it started vibrating on the table. "Dr. Collier needs me in the field…" I said after reading the text.
"Alright, well, since I won't see you later, enjoy your date tonight!" she smirked.
"Not a date." I said, standing up as I grabbed my plate. "By the way, how's Lachlan doing?" I asked, just to poke fun at her. I knew about her little crush on him.
"He's great, actually. I'm sure he'll be happy to hear about your date with Owen later." she had me there.
I rolled my eyes, "Bye Luce."
"Bye Lise!"
I didn't want to call tonight a date because I didn't want to get my hopes up (even though I really wanted to). Knowing Owen, he probably didn't consider this a date either. It was just two friends grabbing a drink like we've done before.
Regardless of the fact that I didn't consider it a date, I still was a nervous wreck. Good thing he said 8:30 because it took me a good hour to get a decent outfit after changing about 10 times.
It was about 68 degrees out, so I went with black skinny jeans with rips at the knees, a maroon blouse and a black leather jacket. It was comfortable and relaxed. Not too dressed up and not too dressed down. I curled my hair and put on a little more eyeliner and mascara, something I'd do when I go out at night, regardless of who it was with… I wasn't getting dressed up because it's not a date.
I got there right at 8:30 and Owen was already at the bar. I let out a breath, shaking away the nerves as I walked over.
An hour and a couple of beers later, we had been talking the whole time and I was feeling a little bold when I said: "So, did you really just ask me for a beer to hang out? I thought you didn't hang out with people, Owen?" I smirked.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay after Echo got out…" he answered.
"Thank you, but I am okay. No need to worry about me." I smiled, taking a sip of my beer.
"Alright, well, then, I like you…" he paused, I felt my heart flutter with excitement. Did he really just say that? "You're pretty cool." he drank his beer, still acting relaxed and cool. I bit my lip, shaking off the nerves.
"So, if you're interested in me, why did it take you so long for you to ask me out?" I asked curiously.
"Just needed to find a good excuse," he shrugged. I raised my brows, not truly convinced that that was the only reason why. There was more to it, I could tell. He looked at me and sighed. "Truthfully?" I nodded. "I was worried you'd say yes."
"Why would you be worried about that?"
Now I was confused.
"Because you're different." he said, looking away from me.
"I'm different?" I asked.
"Different from everyone else on this damn island. Nobody wants a relationship, even me. I didn't want our date to end the way all of the other ones end." he looked down at his beer.
"How are you going to know how it ends if you never gave it a chance to happen? If I'm so different, why should it end the same way as the others?" I asked.
"You got me there," Owen shrugged, taking another sip of his beer.
"Tell you what. You tell me how your last dates went and we'll do something completely different." I suggested.
"They all ended in my bungalow, which wasn't really a bad ending. I'm hoping that's where our night will lead us." he winked. I smirked, of course he couldn't resist adding the charm.
"Maybe this time it'll end up in mine." I was feeling bold, but I was slightly joking.
"I like the sound of that." he smirked.
I laughed, shaking my head. "Obviously, I'm kidding. That's exactly what we don't want to happen. So, let's do something exciting." I smiled.
Owen looked at me cautiously. "Like what?"
I thought, then my eyes lit up. "You ever ride in a Gyrosphere at night?"
"No. You could probably get in a lot of trouble for that, too." he was so serious about it.
I raised my brows, "Of all the things I would have thought, I'd never peg you as a 'follow the rules' type of guy."
"I just think of all the things that could go wrong." he shrugged.
"Oh come on. Like what?" I asked.
"It could easily break and you could become dinner for a Carnotaurus."
"Well, it hasn't happened to anyone yet, come on!" I said as I grabbed his hand and pulled him along.
"Keyword: yet."
I laughed and shook my head, choosing to ignore his last comment. We were going in a damn gyrosphere and there was no way around it.
The only way my gyrosphere plan was going to work was if I had Lowery in the control room and that's where he just so happened to be. He told me the other day that he had to do a late shift in the control room, which meant he was the only one on for the night to make sure things in the park were running smoothly. So all I had to do was persuade him to let me take one out and we were good to go.
Except he rarely breaks the rules, so I had to have a pretty good argument or I'd have to bribe him and the bribe sounded a hell of a lot easier.
I had Owen wait outside, knowing that if Lowery saw him, it was all over. I already know how he feels about Owen and I doubt that'd change if he sees us together.
I told the security guard that I was just bringing Lowery something, so he let me through.
"Hey little brother, I brought you something." I said as I walked over.
"Oh hey!" He was looking down at his phone when I put a white paper bag on the table. "Is it food?" He asked excitedly. "Smells like pizza…"
"Right on the money!" I handed him the bag.
"Thanks Lise, I needed this." He said as he took a bite, sighing at the taste.
"I also brought you something else," I held up a chocolate chip muffin and his eyes lit up. "Only if you do me a favor…"
"What kind of favor?" He asked suspiciously.
"Let me take one of the gyrospheres out for an hour or so…"
"What?! Are you crazy? I can't let you do that!"
"Oh, come on, Lucy and I wanna do something exciting and fun!" I resorted to begging.
"No way, wait until it's open at 9am and I'll give you free wristbands." He said. I held up the muffin and raised my brows. "I'm not going to let you go out in the gyrosphere after hours for a muffin…" he said, going to take a bite of his pizza, but I grabbed it before he could.
"Fine, then you don't get to eat," I said, knowing very well I was being extremely petty and childish, but nothing got between Lowery and food.
"This is a bribe..." he trailed off, "Are you kidding me?" He looked at the food, his mouth basically watering. "Dammit. Fine, you have 1 hour and you better be back in." He said.
"Yes! Thanks, Low!" I hugged him from behind and left. I smiled when I met Owen outside. He didn't think I'd be able to convince Lowery and his face said it all. "We have 1 hour!"
"The muffin really worked?" He asked in disbelief.
"I have my ways. Now we just have to get there…" I trailed off, not thinking that part through.
"I have my bike," Owen offered. "If you think you can handle it." He smirked.
"Of course I can handle it, let's go!"