Chapter 23
Summary:
Things couldn't be more perfect for Alise, she finally gets the position as a doctor, her and Owen are happily engaged and she gets a surprise that will change their future. But just when things are finally aligned into place, the new genetic hybrid, the Indominus Rex gets out of containment and their world is flipped upside down.
Authors Note: So this is the last chapter. It's all built up to this moment and here it is. There will be a second part to the series called 'Flicker of Life' that takes place immediately after this one and then the third part of the series called 'All We Are', which takes place during/after Fallen Kingdom and has Claire and Maisie in it (as well as Owen, Alise, and their future child). I'm going to post Flicker of Life first and then maybe post All We Are before I finish Flicker of Life because you don't necessarily have to read Flicker of Life to read All We Are. I will include the summaries of each story in the bottom chapter notes! I will be posting Flicker of Life shortly, so keep an eye out for it! Hope you enjoy the ending and like it enough to continue Owen and Alise's adventure on with Flicker of Life and All We Are.
Things couldn't be any better. It's been 1 month since Owen and I got engaged and I've been doing great at work, it was a lot more responsibility, but nothing I can't handle. I also recently got a surprise that could change everything, so that was exciting… but also a little scary.
It was early Wednesday morning when I woke up at 6:05 am and watched part of the sunrise with Owen, but fell back to sleep in the middle of it. I didn't end up waking up again until I heard the front door slam shut, causing me to get startled awake. I looked around, catching a glimpse of the time. Was it seriously 10:07 am? How did I sleep this late?!
"Sorry babe, it's me!" I heard Owen call from the other room. I sighed as I rolled out of bed, grabbing the first article of clothing that I saw and that was Owen's shirt. Either it's been really hot lately, or I've just been getting major hot flashes (because Owen says the temperature has been the same) so I've just been sleeping in underwear because the fan isn't cutting it. "You're still sleeping? Everything okay?" he asked when I walked out of the bedroom. I was squinting at the light and could still feel drool on my face, which I rubbed off. I probably looked like a zombie right now.
"Yeah, I've just been super tired lately," I shrugged. I didn't want to pull any more attention to it, so I changed the subject. "Why're you here? I thought you had work?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair to tame the mess that I could only imagine that it was. "I mean, not that I mind because I love seeing your face in the morning." I smiled, kissing his cheek before going to the kitchen.
"Uh, yeah, well a kid fell into the enclosure today and I had to go in there and get him out before the girls ripped him to shreds," he said nonchalantly.
"Wait, what?" I asked, spinning around quickly. "Are you okay? That must have been so scary…"
"I knew they wouldn't hurt me," he said. I raised my brows because I could hear the hint of doubt in his voice. "I'm still in one piece, aren't I?"
"And thank god for that! You're lucky, Owen. I'm glad you're not in multiple pieces," I said as I put bread in the toaster and started the coffee.
"Me too," he said, walking over to me.
"Although, if you came back in multiple pieces, I'd want the bottom half," I said, leaning my butt against the counter, thinking.
"Why?" he asked suspiciously.
"I have my reasons…" I said, laughing.
"You're crazy." he shook his head, kissing the side of my head.
"So you took the rest of the day off?" I asked, looking over at him.
He nodded, "I'm all yours." he said, leaning down to peck my lips.
"Good, because I'm hungry and I'm craving a little bit of you," I smirked, wrapping my arms around his neck and looking up at him with innocent eyes. I know, it was a terrible pick-up line, but he's used worse on me.
He chuckled, "Well, I think I can help with that." he said, grabbing me by my waist and lifting me up. I laughed and wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me off into the bedroom. The toaster dinged as he laid me on the bed. Clearly, I was going to eat that later.
x x x
I didn't end up getting out of bed until noon, so I made myself eggs and toast while Owen worked on his bike. By the time I finished eating, I was rewatching Agents of Shield season 2 and I could have sworn I heard Owen talking outside. At first, I thought he might be on the phone, but I spotted it on the coffee table so I turned the volume down and tried to listen. I heard Owen's voice distinctly and I couldn't quite make out the second voice, but I heard heels clicking on the steps of the porch.
Seconds later, Owen walked in the house, throwing his dirty rag on the floor. "Claire wants me to go check out a new dinosaur they made," he said in a mocking tone as he walked into the bedroom.
"Did you really just throw that there? Pick it up!" I said, rolling my eyes and waiting for him to walk back into the living area so he could pick it up.
"I was gonna pick it up later," he said as he walked out in the same shirt and vest he had on earlier.
"Yeah, later," I scoffed, taking a sip of my coffee. We both knew later meant never and I was the one that was probably going to pick it up. "And you're going to see a hybrid?" I asked.
Lowery had mentioned something about them making different dinosaurs and creating hybrids and Dr. Collier had mentioned it at one point too, but I've never actually worked with one. I didn't know they had one made already but I guess they did.
"Yeah. I'll be back soon," he said, kissing my lips. "If she doesn't kill me that is," he said under his breath.
"Are you talking about the hybrid or Claire?" I asked with a small laugh.
"Obviously Claire." he said, even though I knew he was joking. Claire isn't too bad when you get to know her. I actually like her, even after everything that's happened. I actually felt silly for being annoyed with her at one point, especially since everything was a huge misunderstanding.
"Well, good luck with that. I want to hear all about it," I winked. Owen groaned and threw his head back dramatically as he walked towards the door. "Love you!" I called.
"Love you too!" he called back as the door shut behind him.
I laughed to myself and turned the volume back up. I watched another episode before deciding to take a shower.
x x x
I had just gotten out of the shower, which was long, hot and refreshing. Since I had the day off today, I wanted to spend it doing relaxing things. That all changed when I heard my phone going off like crazy. I walked over to the nightstand where it was charging and picked it up. All sorts of texts were rolling in. The first one I noticed was the alert in big and bold letters " CODE 19: ASSET OUT OF CONTAINMENT ! ", followed by another one with a set of instructions.
My stomach dropped and I felt a sudden wave of nausea. I rushed to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet, wiping the corners of my mouth as I sat on the cold tile, reading the messages again to let them sink in. This was not a drill.
I subconsciously rubbed my stomach as it dawned on me just how bad this was. Throw in the fact that I was 2 months pregnant into the mix and things got a whole lot scarier. I had only found out 1 week ago and I have yet to tell Owen for a few reasons and I was planning on telling him tonight actually. I shook that thought out of my head, I had other things to worry about.
We've been prepped about this in the past, I know what to do and where to go, but those drills never prep you mentally for the real thing. We had a designated meeting area for all park staff and I started getting dressed and ready to go there, but then I got another text from Dr. Collier saying that has been compromised and to get to the main resort. This can't be good.
I thought about the plan Owen and I made should this happen. Owen was insistent we had a plan, while I preferred to be naive and live in denial like this could never happen, but boy was he right. I just hoped this day would never come.
Our plan was that I get straight to the control room with Lowery. It was probably the safest place on the island. Also, if I was there, Owen would know where to find me and there was a chance that I'd be able to find him to contact him. He rarely ever answered his phone and today he left it on the nightstand, which is why I didn't even bother texting him.
I quickly changed and threw a few things into a backpack, like a change of clothes for both me and Owen and a few other essentials before getting in the car and driving straight for the resort.
x x x
It took me 15 minutes to get to the main resort and another 15 minutes to make my way into the building as the crowd was insane. Their emergency measures were to bring everyone to the main resort. I used my identification card to let me into the control room, thinking how good it was that I actually had clearance to be in here, even though this was a completely different department than what I do.
I saw Lowery at the controls and headed straight for him, he looked stressed, as one would expect.
Vivian saw me before Lowery had and she let out a soft, "Hey Alise," with a small smile. She was stressed too, it was easy to tell.
"Alise, thank god! You're okay?" Lowery asked, jumping up to hug me. He knew about mine and Owen's plan, so I could tell he was relieved to see me there and that I was okay.
"Yeah, I'm all good. You?"
"Physically, yes. It's chaos right now."
"What got out?" I asked, judging by the mass chaos going on in the control room it had to be something big. The T-Rex, I wondered?
"The Indominus." was all he said. My eyes widened. I figured the Indominus was the genetic hybrid they had made, but I didn't ask too many questions because he wasn't supposed to share that information willingly. Even to park staff. My clearance level wasn't high enough for that. That was also most likely the hybrid that Owen went with Claire to go see. My eyes widened as I thought about it. Before I could even ask, Lowery told me that Owen survived a brush with the Indominus at the paddock. Then I was worried again when he said Owen left with Claire to help find her nephews in the valley. It dawned on me that him going out there was extremely dangerous.
Dammit Owen, I thought. Of course, he'd do something like this.
Lowery said that almost all of ACU has been killed trying to contain the Indominus and my mind immediately flashed to Lachlan. I haven't heard anything from him recently and the last time I spoke to him he wasn't feeling well, but my stomach fell at the thought of anything happening to him.
I asked Lowery to pull up the feed from before, I could tell by the stills that it was gruesome. He told me Lachlan wasn't there and I sighed with relief. Apparently, he never showed up for duty today and Lowery couldn't figure out why, so that's another thing I had to worry about.
Mr. Masrani came in, then decided he'd take the rest of ACU in a helicopter to take out the asset. I quickly took my phone out and sent Lachlan a text saying 'Is everything good? Are you on the island?' and waited impatiently for an answer while Vivian left to see Mr. Masrani out.
Lachlan texted me back saying 'I'm on the mainland. Lucy took me to the hospital. I saw what happened, asset out of containment, shit! Wish I was there!'
'No you don't, everyone is dead. It's the Indominus. It's really bad here.'
'Shit, then I'm glad I'm here. Stay safe out there kiddo. See you soon!'
I smiled and put the phone back in my pocket as Vivian returned to her seat and we all watched on impatiently waiting for the helicopter to reach the Indominus. Lowery got a call from Claire.
"Wait, are you following the dinosaur?" Lowery asked in disbelief, then paused. "ACU is airborne, they took the helicopter!" he exclaimed.
"Are they crazy?" Vivian asked after Lowery hung up with Claire.
"Yes." Lowery and I both said at the same time.
Our attention was brought to the monitors as ACU was shooting at the Indominus from the helicopter. The Indominus crashed into the aviary. Pteranodons and Dimorphodons fled out of the aviary, which meant big trouble for Mr. Masrani and the ACU. Before I knew it, they were attacking them and the helicopter crashed into the aviary and exploded. Everyone gasped throughout the control room and I flinched.
"We have a breach in the aviary," Vivian reported, sniffling. Mr. Masrani was dead and there's no way around that. We watched on as the dinosaurs reached the resort and there was mass chaos.
Then Hoskins burst through the doors with a group of people behind him. "Simon Masrani's death was a tragedy. New mission is to prevent further loss of life." Hoskins announced.
"Uhh, who are these guys?" Lowery asked.
"Glad you asked," Hoskins said. "You're all relieved of duty. There's a new team on the ground."
My stomach dropped as Lowery looked in disbelief. He took out his phone and walked out to a quiet corner. I followed him, not wanted to be anywhere near Hoskins by myself.
"That's a bad idea. The board assigned emergency ops to InGen private security division. This guy Hoskins is in charge now. They have this insane plan to use the raptors to hunt the Indominus…" Lowery said to Claire on the phone. He paused, then hung up the phone.
We looked at each other then back at Hoskins. This was not good. What do we do now?
Lowery looked down at his phone again and answered it, "Claire… oh- hi, yeah, hold on." He held out the phone to me and I gave him a confused look. "Owen," he said.
I put the phone to my ear.
"Alise?" he asked calmly, but I could hear the slight panic in his voice because I knew him so well. I could hear the sound of a car in the background.
"I'm here," I smiled.
"Good. You need to stay there where it's safe. I want you on the first boat out of here." he ordered. I knew there was no convincing him otherwise.
"I know. I will be."
"Good," he said.
My eyes swelled up a little bit with tears, I couldn't help it. The thought of him out there, going with the raptors scared the shit out of me. I knew he wouldn't let them do anything with his girls without him.
"Be careful out there and don't do anything stupid… please," I sniffed, trying to cover it up. I didn't want him to know I was crying, just another thing he'd have to worry about.
"I'd never," he said seriously, but I knew it was sarcasm. And that's what scared me.
"Owen, I'm pregnant," it just came out. I didn't know if it was the right time to tell him or not, but I couldn't bear the idea of him not knowing in case something happened to him. He needed to know.
"W-what?" his voice was shaky.
"I'm pregnant," I looked down at my stomach. "So you come back to me… to us, safe and sound, okay?"
Owen paused for a moment before confidently saying, "I'm comin' back, don't you worry."
"I love you," I smiled, not expecting to hear it back from him. He didn't say it back when there was an audience.
"I love you too. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." he reminded me. I smiled and nodded before he hung up.
I sighed, sniffing and handing Lowery the phone, breathing out the tears. I hated crying, especially in front of people.
"You're- You're pregnant? Why didn't you tell me?" Lowery's confused voice came from beside me.
"I didn't even tell Owen, you think I'd tell you first?" I laughed lightly.
"Good point," Lowery said, putting the phone back in his pocket. "So now I hope you're actually planning on getting on the next boat and not doing anything stupid?"
I scoffed, "Stupid like what?"
"Like going after him."
I sighed. A week ago I would have told Owen that he'd have to wait for me because nothing was stopping me from going with him. I would have told him to either wait for me or let me follow him through the woods by myself.
I looked down at my stomach and smiled.
"I have something else that's very important to worry about now," I put my hand on my stomach, letting out a small sigh. As much as it was going to pain me to say, I knew I had to... I knew that I had to be on the next boat out of here, for mine and Owen's baby to be out of harm's way.
x x x
We all watched anxiously and nervously as Owen held up a chunk of the Indominus' skin with the tracker in it to the raptors cages. They were playing a hide and go seek drill, or that's what I gathered from what I've seen them do in the past.
I was biting the inside of my lip as I watched Owen riding his bike with the raptors hot on his heels, praying that they wouldn't turn on him. Their bond is strong, but they've never been out of containment, it's a whole new world for them.
The raptors finally zeroed in on the Indominus and everyone prepared to engage. I prayed they would hold for Owen's signal like they said they would, but I highly doubted that. It's Hoskins we're talking about.
The Indominus came into view and my stomach dropped. She was HUGE. They waited and I knew something was wrong by the way Blue started chirping. She was talking to it. That thing had to of been part raptor in order to communicate with them. The raptors turned their heads and their cameras were directly on Owen. That meant…
"What is taking so long?" Hoskins said impatiently as he stood up. "Light it up!" Gunshots went off and the raptors bolted in different directions.
"This isn't good…" I said, grabbing Lowery's arm. He looked at me. "Owen's not the alpha anymore." My voice was shaky. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.
We watched as the scene played out in front of us, the whole thing looked like a war zone and I was more worried for Owen than ever.
The raptors turned on them, picking them off one by one. The girls still had their head cameras on, and we could tell which raptor was doing what. I watched Charlie's camera, she was clearly eating someone, then she looked up and directly at Owen. He lowered his gun and stared at her, the look on his face showing that he wasn't scared of her. Maybe there was a chance Charlie would change her mind. Maybe there was a chance Charlie would remember Owen was her alpha. I was hoping there was.
Then, there was an explosion and the camera shut off. I couldn't help the tears that were in my eyes that I tried to stop from coming out. It's just... these were Owen's girls. I've known them for almost a year and I took care of Charlie, multiple times. Owen had said that me and her formed a bond after that and I felt our bond every time I came around the enclosure and she bowed her head at me, or chirped and purred when I pet her head while she was in the harness. This was all so much to take in.
I watched on, as much as I didn't want to. I needed to know Owen was okay. Blue's camera showed that she was chasing after Owen, who was now on his bike, but soon she lost him. I was relieved, but then I thought that I have no idea what he was doing now.
Lowery's phone went off, I was praying it was Claire with an update. "Okay, I will, bye," He said, looking at me. "They're on their way. Gotta call a chopper… if there are any left." He said. I let out a sigh of relief. Now it was just a waiting game.
Eventually, everyone was starting to pack up their things and leave, Lowery and I shared a look of confusion.
"They said we had to evacuate… there's a boat, you coming?" Vivian asked, walking over to us with her coat in her hand.
Lowery looked at me, then the monitors and let out a sigh. I knew what was coming and I didn't like it.
"Someone has to stay behind." He said, all heroic like. Then he walked over to Vivian and tried to kiss her, but she tensed up and pulled back.
"Oh no, I have a boyfriend…"
"Yeah, but I didn't know you were like together, together…" Lowery said. I put my head in my hand, embarrassed for him.
"We are."
"That's great... it's just, you don't mention him, like ever."
"No, I'm at work," Vivian said.
"Yeah, no, yeah I know. Well?" Lowery reaches in for an awkward hug. God, this was painful to watch.
"Great," Vivian said.
"Great, yeah."
"You gonna be okay?" Vivian asked. Lowery nodded. "Okay, bye…" she left. Lowery let out a sigh and walked back over to sit down next to me.
"Holy shit, that was embarrassing," I tried to hold back laughter, I didn't want to make him feel even worse.
"Tell me about it. I thought we had something…"
"Dude, you do not know how to read signals at all." I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"Don't you have to catch that boat?" He said, looking over at me. I bit my lip.
I knew I should, but I really didn't want to leave Owen. I was about to get up, but I saw Owen pull up into the resort through the security cameras. Claire and her nephews were close behind, running up towards the building.
"They're almost here… I can wait for him." I decided I couldn't leave him.
"Alise…" he warned.
"Lowery, it's my decision."
"Alright, fine. I'll keep my mouth shut." He said.
I nodded and watched the monitors. They all ran into the building, but stopped and went into the lab for some reason. They walked into a room where there were no security cameras and that worried me. My eyes widened when I saw one of the raptors entering the building and heading for the lab.
"Oh no…" I said, my breath shaking.
"They'll be fine," Lowery said, putting his hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. "Owen's got this." I smiled and nodded. He's right. If anyone can make it out of this, it's Owen.
We watched on, they were prevented from making it to the control room because the raptor stopped them, but I was relieved that they made it out of there.
"Blue's coming up on the resort…" Lowery said, bringing my attention to Blue's camera.
Blue, Delta, and Echo surrounded Owen, Claire, and her nephews. My mind immediately feared the worst. I saw the look Owen was giving Blue as he dropped his gun on the ground and reached for her head. The Blue I know is in there somewhere, she has to be. I know Owen was thinking the same thing.
Owen unhooked the camera on her head and it fell to the ground, so Lowery switched to the security camera and we watched the Indominus come over to them. I let out a sigh of relief when the raptors turned on her and were back on Owen's side.
The next 30 minutes were the longest 30 minutes of my life. Between watching Owen trying to shoot the hybrid, to watching Echo and Delta get killed, to Claire making Lowery open paddock 9 and the T-Rex coming out and beating the Indominus with the help of Blue and the Mosasaur.
After all of that, I left the control room with Lowery and went to find Owen, which took about 10 minutes because of the crowd of people. People were bleeding, laying down on cots, getting medical attention, it was a scene I hoped I'd never see.
"Owen!" I exclaimed when I found him in the crowd, rushing over and hugging him immediately. "Are you okay?"
"I'm just fine, are you?" He asked as we pulled away. I could tell that wasn't entirely the truth and that he was talking about being fine physically. Today would take an emotional and mental toll on both of us. All of the people here, actually.
"I am now," I said. He smiled and cupped my face, leaning down to kiss me.
"And the baby?" He asked when we broke away.
"Glad to have daddy back safe and sound." I smiled.
"I am a man of my word," Owen said proudly as he pecked my lips once more.
"What do we do now?" I asked, looking around at the scene around us. It still felt unreal.
"We get married," he said.
"Where?" I asked with a small laugh.
"Colorado, California, Panama, Costa Rica - right when we get off the boat. Wherever and whenever you want, I'm all in."
I smiled then pulled him into another kiss, which he immediately returned. At that moment I knew that it didn't matter what just happened here, or that there will be emotional scars for quite some time. All that mattered was the people who got out alive and that included me, Owen and our baby. And we were going to start our new life together. And that started with me becoming Mrs. Grady.
Summary for Flicker of Life:
After the events of the Indominus Rex, Alise and Owen are left to pick up the pieces. They have a lot to figure out - they're currently homeless and jobless with a baby on the way and the emotional scars of the event run deep. No matter what they've been through or what lies ahead, one thing's for sure: they'll get through it. Together.
Along the way, they realize that they don't know each other as well as they thought they did. They're both hiding things from each other. So the question is, will they really get through it together?
Summary for All We Are:
Owen is married with a beautiful daughter and another baby on the way. After the events of Fallen Kingdom, the first thing Owen does is to go get his wife, Alise and his daughter because their van in the Northern California mountains is not safe anymore. He has Claire and Maisie Lockwood by his side and Claire offers up her apartment in San Francisco for Maisie, Owen and his family.
Owen and Claire also have a secret that they're keeping and it becomes harder to hide when they're all under the same roof. And when Alise finds out, things don't end well.
Not to mention, there are some powerful men looking for Maisie and when they can't get to her, they go another route, which means big trouble for Owen.