6

Claire sat on the front porch, half-reading and half-watching Owen tinker with the Mitchells' lawn mower. Judging by the language reaching her ears and the sound of tools hitting the pavement, it wasn't going very well.

She was debating reminding Owen that her nephews were good mechanics (they'd started a jeep in the middle of the jungle, after all), when the front door swung open and Karen stepped outside with the cordless phone, a confused expression on her face.

"Someone named Zia's calling for you?"

Claire had almost forgotten she'd given Zia her sister's number. She nodded and mouthed 'coworker,' accepting the phone and waving Owen over. He looked relieved to be given a distraction.

"Zia? It's me and Owen, you're on speaker."

The other woman didn't waste any time on pleasantries. "Did you guys see the news this morning?"

Claire slumped. "Yes, we know what happened."

"Have you been following along the past few hours?"

Claire frowned. "No…"

Zia heaved a sigh. "Well, you should. It might give you an idea of what we're up against."

"We?"

"The DPG, Claire. You still wanna protect the dinosaurs, right?"

Claire sighed. "Of course. It's just…gotten a lot more complicated."

Zia snorted. "You're telling me. Anyway, since this morning, protestors have been marching in all the big cities, demanding the dinos be taken out. As in, killed. For 'the good of mankind,' they're saying."

Claire's grip tightened on the phone. She wasn't surprised, but somehow her brain hadn't made it far enough to consider the consequences of the first casualties of this latest disaster.

"That sounds like something Ian Malcolm might say. Do you think he has anything to do with this?"

Owen finally piped in. "I doubt it. That guy's all about 'letting nature run its course.' He probably thinks we brought this on ourselves and we deserve whatever happens now."

"Raptor Guy's right," Zia said. "I think this is just the usual batch of angry and scared citizens. They've got the upper hand now, and they know it."

Claire rubbed her forehead. "So what can we do?" She was usually the one to take charge, but right now it felt like her brain wasn't cooperating.

"Help get the dinosaurs rounded up before the mobs get too antsy," Owen supplied.

"Right again, Dino Man. Of course, that's anything but simple. First off, do we even know how many dinosaurs are out there? We didn't exactly take a head count before releasing them into the wild."

"Do you think there was a manifest of which species were taken from the island?" Claire asked. "I thought Wheatley had something like that."

Owen nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure they had a record. But we don't know if the investigators have found it yet, or if it's even still around."

"Plus, there's the psychos at the auction," Zia pointed out. "Who knows how many of them got away with what they bought?"

Claire sighed. "So there may be no way of knowing how many dinosaurs are actually on the loose."

Zia hummed thoughtfully. "I was with those guys for a while, so I have a pretty good idea of the kind of number we're looking at. I guess I could give the feds a call, see if they found the list. It's a start." She paused. "How's the kid?"

"Maisie's okay. We're all okay." Claire frowned. "Where are you?"

"Franklin and I are at his parents' house in Cleveland. In fact, do me a favor and say hi. He's been breathing down my neck this whole time." Her voice became slightly muted as she handed over the phone. "Buddy, you need an Altoid."

"Shut up." Franklin said. "Claire?"

"So Zia's staying with you?" she teased.

She could practically hear him adjusting his glasses nervously. "It is not like that. Zia's family is in Mexico. She can't go there right now because those government guys said we're not supposed to leave the country." He lowered his voice. "Don't tell her I said this, but I'm glad she's here. It's nice to be have someone else around who went through it, too."

Claire glanced at Owen. "I know what you mean."

"Plus, she's totally got my parents under her spell. I don't think they're ever going to let me out of their sight again, but at least for the moment that anxiety isn't all directed at me."

Claire had to smile. It sounded like the apple didn't fall far from the tree when it came to Franklin's family.

"Well, hang in there, and don't let Zia kick you around too much. And hey, give me your parents' number so I can reach you."

:

Meanwhile, Gray had joined the other two adolescents in the den. They'd given up on reading, and the boys were enthusiastically trying to teach Maisie how to play their favorite racing video game.

"You just press this button here to go," Gray explained, indicating the little 'A' on the remote in Maisie's hands. "And use this toggle to steer."

Zach had the other controller. "We'll start on an easy level."

As it turned out, Maisie was quite skilled at the game. She beat Zach on the first three courses, at which point he turned to her accusingly.

"This isn't your first time."

"I never said I hadn't played before," Maisie pointed out, smiling slyly.

"Oh, it's on!" Gray snatched up his brother's controller.

:

After hanging up with Zia and Franklin, Claire went in search of her sister. She found Karen frowning into the refrigerator.

"I need to go to the grocery," Karen murmured, mostly to herself.

Claire leaned against the counter. "Kare, what's up? You've been really quiet all day."

Her sister shut the fridge door and crossed her arms, staring at a Chicago magnet at eye level. Claire was prepared to be blown off, so she was surprised when Karen sighed and dropped the defensive stance.

"Is it a terrible thing for me to say I'm jealous of you?"

More surprises. "Why would you be jealous of me?"

"Because you know what it's like." At Claire's baffled expression, Karen continued. "I'm not saying I wish I had been on that island three years ago, okay? But Zach and Gray went through an experience I can't possibly understand, and I don't know how to help them. The five of you have been through it together. I can't measure up."

"It isn't a competition, Karen," Claire said gently. "You're their mother. I could never replace that."

Karen smiled tightly. "But they don't want a mother. They want a cool, ass-kicking aunt."

Claire didn't know what to say to that. The truth was that she enjoyed her relationship with her nephews. After her seven-year absence from their lives, followed by her failure to adequately protect them at Jurassic World, she had been afraid they wouldn't want anything to do with her. She wasn't blind to the fact that both Zach and Gray looked up to her in a way they clearly didn't with Karen. But that didn't mean they didn't still need their mom.

"Why don't Owen and I take care of the grocery run?" she suggested. "We can take Maisie with us, give you and the boys some time." She pulled her older sister into a hug. "Everything's going to be all right."