Chapter 12

"Come on," Owen hurried Claire, hand on her back as he directed her towards the door. He grabbed the radio from a stunned Claire at Lowery's words, thanking him before signing off, and was now trying to get Claire out of the room.

Claire was busy looking around the room, trying to figure out where to hide. But there was no closet, no cabinets, nothing. And she really didn't think the table was big enough for them to hide under. Her mind was so busy processing those options that she didn't even hear Owen at first, until she felt his hand on her back, shoving her across the room towards the door.

"We can't go out there!" Claire exclaimed, digging in her heels.

"We've got to move," Owen hissed in return. "Odds are, he's headed straight back to this room." He gave her another push towards the door with a barked, "Move!"

They had barely moved into the entryway when they could hear the door knob turning. Owen had hoped to move them over to the armoury. He didn't know what was in the fourth room, and while he was betting Wheatley was headed back to the conference room, the kitchen seemed like a reasonable option too. But, with no time, he propelled Claire through the doorway beside them, into the fourth room. The room was a basic infirmary. There was an examination table in the middle and two sides were covered with long counters, with shelves above and below. They ducked around the examination table, grateful for its heavy solid base, and used it as cover, while they listened to the footsteps of Wheatley entering the building.

Crouched behind the table, peeking just over the edge, Owen flashed back to a similar situation with Claire three years ago. That time, as they crouched behind the old Jeep, they were hiding from a murderous dinosaur. This time, the threat was smaller but potentially just as deadly. Too bad that wasn't the only thing that changed in the past three years. Last time, he remembered Claire's hands on his arm, back and hips, as she clutched at him, relying on him for protection. And not just relying, but trusting him to protect her. This time, if it wasn't for the quick glance over his shoulder showing Claire was still crouched beside him, he might as well be alone. There was a definite gap between them and Claire shifted further away when she caught him looking at her. He knew it was his fault, but that didn't make it any less painful. And so, even though it was really not the right place or time, he decided then and there that they were going to finally talk about everything. They weren't going to leave things unsaid this time. No more of this "sort of together / sort of broken up." The decision made, he could actually feel some tension leave his body, shoulders relaxing marginally. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Claire looking at him, confused.

"Did I miss something?" Claire hissed. "I thought we were hiding from a guy with a gun. Why are you so relaxed?"

Owen bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. It wasn't that the situation was funny, but the thought that there was no one else he'd rather be with in it crossed his mind, even as she stared him down. "It's nothing," Owen dismissed, before giving her a small smile. "We'll be okay."

"Are you high?" Claire poked him. "What's wrong with you?"

"Never mind," Owen held his finger to his lips, shushing her as he listened quietly. From the sound of the steps, Wheatley had gone into the kitchen area after entering the building. There had been a minute of silence but they could hear him moving again, the sound of crunching following his movements. He must have grabbed a snack and it sounded like he was now moving back into the conference room. They heard a squeak as the door closed behind him.

After waiting a couple more minutes to see if he was going to move again, Owen reached over and grabbed Claire's hand, tugging lightly. He met her gaze and nodded towards the door.

"We can't leave." Claire pulled back. "He'll see us."

"We are sitting ducks in this building," Owen whispered back. "This is our chance to get out of here." He pulled on her hand again, already moving towards the door. This time, she followed willingly behind him. At the door, he opened it slowly, sticking his head out to confirm that Wheatley's door was closed. And it was, mostly. He could see the back of Wheatley's head through the crack, and quickly pulled Claire with him into the entryway and past the door. Carefully, they pulled the outside door open, and left the building, slowly closing the door behind them. Of course, now that they were outside, they were back exposed to anyone looking around. No wonder they had so few guards, they really didn't need them. There was nowhere great to hide.

Owen was tempted to head back towards Lowery, but there was still the third building. With Wu on the island, there was no way that the only thing going on was trophy hunting. And, considering Wheatley seemed to only have a small conference room for his operation, it was doubtful that trophy hunting was even the biggest thing happening. He spared a glance at Claire, before nodding in Lowery's direction. She shook her head and moved passed him, heading straight towards the third building.

Owen followed after her. This building they knew wasn't going to be empty; it had to be where all the scientists were spending their days. There was a window in the front door, and glancing in Owen could see a much larger entryway that led into a long hallway that branched off to both the left and right. He couldn't tell where the doors he could see led, and there was going to be nowhere to hide once they entered.

The sound of motors, followed by three clicks on their radio had both Claire and Owen swinging their gaze around to look over towards Lowery. They could just make out the top of Lowery's head, as he was looking at them, but they didn't click back. When he saw them, he pointed to the gate and they moved their gazes over. The sound was getting louder, and they realized the crew that had left for the boats was returning. No time to think through their decision, they needed to move.

Opening the door, they quickly entered building three, carefully closing it behind them. This building had a bit of a hum, that recognizable sound of machines and people at work. They stepped forward carefully, aware that in this building, the doors had windows, and it was going to be much harder to escape notice. Claire reached up and tugged her hat down a little lower.

The guns from the armoury that they were still carrying were definitely something people would notice. There was nothing Owen could do about the tranq rifle, as it was too big to hide, but he pulled the gun from Claire's grasp and placed it, along with the one he was carrying and their radio, into her backpack. It wasn't ideal – he didn't like not having access – but he figured people would be more likely to dismiss them on a quick glance without them.

They continued to move forward, gazes jumping from side to side as they tried to map out the building. The first door they crossed looked into a lab. It reminded Owen of the main lab back in Jurassic World, where he had his first encounter with the raptors, back when they were still eggs waiting to hatch. Inside, there were four "nests" – machines that held somewhere between four and eight eggs – with a robotic arm that would rotate them throughout the day. There was a single scientist in the room, observing something at the back and typing notes on a tablet.

The next door they passed was labelled "embryo storage," and looked to be a small room with large metal containers inside, all covered in different warnings. The door had a couple of notices about who was allowed to enter and what protections they needed to take. They continued forward, and came to an intersection, where they could proceed forward or go left or right down shorter side hallways. A quick glance down the hallways and one side looked like it had bathrooms and a janitor closet. The other way looked to lead to an office. Claire nodded down that hallway, but Owen moved forward instead, wanting to get an idea of what else was in the building. There were two more doors, one on each side. On the right, there was what looked like a more generic lab and there were a couple of scientists along with Wu in there at work. On the left was a smaller room, and it looked to be a bit more of a conference / lounge area, with a couch along one wall and a big table in the middle. There were a few notebooks scattered across the table, and some diagrams on the whiteboard they could see.

Backing up, Owen agreed with Claire, and they moved down the hallway towards the small office. Entering the room, it was immediately clear to both of them that this was Wu's place. Not that they were surprised – of course he'd have a private office – but it was clean and minimalistic, just as Wu liked things. There was a computer on the desk, along with an amber paperweight, a phone, and a stylish pencil holder with a couple of fancy pens, but nothing to write on. Even looking around, they couldn't see any paper. If there was any, it was tucked away and out of sight. One wall had a large painting, another had a window to the outside, below which was a small cabinet. Along the third wall, there were a couple of folding doors, leading to a closet of some type.

Circling the desk and taking a look at the computer monitor, Claire gasped. Rounding the desk to stand beside her, Owen also took a look, only to find himself looking at, well, himself. On the screen was a paused video – a video that Owen remembered making. Well, not necessarily that video, but the setup was familiar. He was sitting in front of a camera in the offices at the raptor paddock back on Jurassic World. It was where he'd record his thoughts and notes after each training session. Based on the smile frozen on his face, it must have been a good day.

"How does he even have this?" Owen asked, still staring at the monitor.

"Is this what I think it is?" Claire replied. While she had been somewhat friendly with Owen before the Jurassic World incident (their paths had crossed on a few occasions, including their infamous date), she'd never been involved with the IBRIS project. It was an InGen project and Claire's responsibilities did not extend that far. Before the incident, she had a very vague idea as to what Owen had done. After the incident, she had learned more from him, including the chance to see a few select videos from his training days. But, as much as Owen had enjoyed talking about the raptors, he hadn't liked watching the videos, finding it too painful, knowing that three were dead and having no update on the status of the fourth, his favourite, Blue.

"Yeah," Owen breathed out. He grabbed the mouse, minimizing the video to see what else was open. There was a document in the background, but in front of that was a folder, listing all the videos. He scrolled down the list, skimming over the titles and dates. "This looks like all of them. How did he…"

"I think that probably answers our question of whether or not InGen is still involved," Claire stated. "You had to submit these, right?"

Owen nodded tensely, "Yeah, technically."

"Technically?" Claire asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, technically it was a requirement that I supplied them with all updates. And I did, sort of," Owen looked a little defensive. "You knew Hoskins. I can't say I was completely innocent and never knew about the potential military hopes of his and the project, but that doesn't mean I was completely on board. Barry and I, we made two sets of the videos. The set we submitted, and then a second set that we kept for ourselves."

"You lied to them?" Claire looked a little shocked.

"No," Owen shook his head. "We never lied. We just may have… left out some information." He sighed and shrugged. "We thought they were moving too fast. That they were overestimating how positive our results were. Hoskins loved to exaggerate. So, we were holding back, trying to slow them down." He looked at the list of videos on the screen, before moving the mouse cursor over to the document. He's about to click on it, when the phone on the desk rings, and both he and Claire jump, the sound startling them. After it rings a second time, they can hear footsteps, and Wu's voice calling instructions back to the other scientists.

They don't hesitate. Owen pulled the video back up while Claire moved straight for the closet. He ducked in after her and Claire reached around him and pulled the door shut, just as Wu entered the room. Owen tried to turn around, as he was now pushed up tightly against Claire, the closet space small and cramped. They had barely shifted when his elbow bumped against something, and he froze, worried he was going to knock something over. He could hear Wu answering the phone behind him, and Owen gave up on trying to turn around. Still pressed against Claire, he moved one arm forward to push against the wall behind her and relieve her of some of his weight.

Claire was trying to ignore the feeling of Owen so close again. This whole trip had been a kaleidoscope of emotions. Each moment, each look, was making her heart thud and her brain spin out new theories. Nothing made sense anymore. One moment he was confirming they had broken up, but then in the next he'd say something like "we'll be okay," which just confused her even more. Did he mean the two of them? Or everyone? If she hadn't been by his side all day, she would've been serious in her question of whether he was high. And now, with him leaning into her, the closet providing no room for either of them to shift away from the other, everything was getting jumbled again. Of course, then her mind had to flashback to While You Were Sleeping and the conversation about leaning, and she almost burst out laughing. Instead, she pressed her head forward against his shoulder, muffling her chuckles in his shirt. She could feel his head tilt down, and knew he was probably looking down at her confused, but she didn't have a response. She shrugged lightly against him, before collecting herself, because Wu was right there and he was their best bet to find out what was really going on.

Claire had missed the start of the conversation; however, it was clear that Wu was reporting what had happened with Blue to whomever was on the phone. What she wouldn't give to know who he was talking to.

"We're pretty sure she'll live," Wu was saying. "That paleo-vet, Zia, was there and they brought her back as well. She had to remove the bullet and put in stitches." There was a pause before he added, "Of course I didn't tell them to bring her back. She was already on the boat when I found out. But, we don't have anyone else here." There was a longer pause, before he interrupted the person. "No, no no. That's not good enough. The raptor is a behavioural specimen. We need her in good health."

A loud thump caused Claire to jump and Owen instinctively wrapped his arm around her (the one that wasn't supporting his weight against the wall, that is). It was probably Wu hitting his palm against his desk, but Claire could feel herself shaking ever so slightly. The firm pressure of Owen's hand on her back was undeniably soothing. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

"You don't have the faintest comprehension of what I'm doing here. Do you understand the complexity of creating an entirely new life-form?" Wu's voice had moved from calm to full-on irritated.

Claire looked up the same moment Owen looked down at her, both of their eyes wide. New life-form? Oh god, it was happening all over again, was running through Claire's head. What was Wu up to now?

"All your money will have been wasted if I don't get Blue back in good health. To get the next iteration under control, it needs to form a familial bond with a closely-related genetic link," Wu was continuing to speak, calmly but forcefully.

The mention of Blue and familial bond had Owen tensing. Claire rested one of her hands on his back, rubbing small circles. The last thing she needed was for Owen to leap out of the closet and confront Wu. Not now, not until they had a better idea of what was going on and had a plan. The two of them against the 12 or so people on this island would not end well – not to mention what would happen to Zia and Lowery.

"It needs a mother! Blue's DNA will be part of the next Indoraptor's makeup. So it will be genetically coded to recognize her authority and assume her traits. Empathy, obedience – everything the first prototype was missing."

Claire and Owen locked gazes again, and Owen mouthed "a mother?" while raising an eyebrow. Claire shrugged in return, equally confused, mouthing back, "Indoraptor?"

The sound of Wu scoffing drew their attention and they heard him say, "It's not a sprint, Mr. Mills. It's a marathon."

Claire's eyes went wide. Mills? Eli Mills!?

"Lockwood's flunky?!" Owen hissed, unable to stay quiet. "What the fuck, Claire?!"

"You have to understand," Wu continued in a condescending tone, "this is all uncharted territory. A wolf, genetically, is barely distinguishable from a bulldog, but within that gray area... is art."

Claire could barely stand to listen, as Wu babbled on about DNA and genetics, before he finally hung up the phone, slamming it on to the base with a muttered "What an imbecile."

Things were quiet for a moment, before they could hear Wu moving about the office. There was a moment where they both tensed, as Wu seemed to be hovering just outside the closet, before they heard him leave the room. They waited a couple minutes more, wanting to ensure that he wasn't coming back, before they opened the closet door. Owen turned Claire around and pulled their radio from the backpack, clicking away rapidly. Luckily, they got responses from the other two almost immediately.

"Lowery," Owen said urgently into the radio, "We need to know how it is out there. Where did the returning guys go?"

"They unloaded some boxes and took most of the stuff into that center building. One went around back to the paddocks," Lowery reported back. "I can't see any of them right now."

"Yeah, there's one back here," Zia agreed. "He's a few paddocks down from me and seems to be feeding the dinosaurs."

"Okay, we're about to head back to you Lowery," Owen told them. "If you see anything, send a bunch of clicks."

"Roger," Lowery replied.

"Did you learn anything?" Zia asked.

"Yeah," Owen growled. "It's not good."

"As to be expected," Lowery summed up all of their thoughts.

"No kidding," Owen agreed. "See you in a few minutes."

Well, they've learned some more. The Mills-Wu convo is very close to the dialogue in the movie, with just a few changes. Time for Claire, Owen, Zia and Lowery to make a plan.

There are three more chapters to go. (I'm still debating if there will be an epilogue.)

Thanks for all of you who have continued to be loyal readers and reviewers. And welcome to any new readers who are just picking this up over the holidays. Next chapter in 2019! (Can't wait for this year to be over.)