I can't believe this is the last chapter. Back when I was calculating approximately how many chapters this would be and when I'd finish posting, January felt so far away. And yet, here we are. There is the epilogue - it'll be posted on Saturday, so it's not quite over yet. Hope you enjoy. :)
Chapter 15
Claire still wasn't quite sure how she went from confronting Wu about hybrid dinosaurs to sitting at a table in the "kitchen" of building two with a steaming mug of coffee placed in front of her. The arrival of the first helicopter of Navy men was followed quickly by a second. The men and women had quickly swarmed over the compound and taken charge.
In a blur of activity, they had rounded up everyone, dividing them between the rooms and buildings. Wheatley and his pals were being held in the lounge over in the first building. Wu was being kept in his office, while the other scientists were in the conference room over in the third building. Claire, Owen, Lowery and Zia had been moved into the kitchen in the middle building.
Even with the division complete, things hadn't settled down. No one seemed to be sure exactly what to do and how to move forward. The last Claire had heard from Wu, as they were being shepherded out of the building, he'd been yelling that the Navy had no jurisdiction and were trespassing. To be honest, she wasn't sure if he was wrong. They weren't on American soil, after all.
Once they had been moved to the kitchen and told to stay there, they were left alone. Owen had been the one who got up and made coffee, filling mugs and digging out cream and sugar and placing it on the table. No one had said much, not really sure what to say or even what was going on. It felt like they were all waiting for someone else to make the first move.
Sighing, Claire reached for her mug, cradling it between her hands. It was a warm night, but as the adrenaline left her system, she was finding herself feeling cold. Cold and tired and ready to be home.
To think that only a week ago, her biggest concerns had been figuring out how to solve the funding problem for the DPG and working up the courage to confront whatever was happening between Owen and herself. Now, well...now, her life contained hybrid dinosaurs, again.
The fallout from Jurassic World had felt like it was never going to end. They had been lucky and only a few visitors had actually died. While there had been a raft of injuries, they were mostly relatively minor, caused more by people stampeding than by actual dinosaurs. She had a sneaking suspicion that the fallout from this might be just as messy and just as big. Sure, it didn't involve 20,000 innocent visitors (thank god), but all the questions that had been brushed aside after Jurassic World, that had been left to be dealt with later… Well, later had definitely arrived.
Although – Claire couldn't prevent the small laugh, bordering on hysterical, that escaped her throat – she was pretty sure the DPG's funding problem was about to disappear. Lowery's foresight to start livestreaming the confrontation with Wu was probably going to save them all. Pushing her mug away from her, she crossed her arms in front of her, letting her head drop down to rest on them. What she wouldn't give to be able to crawl into a ball and hide from the world for a few hours. Just enough time to regroup her thoughts and sanity.
There was no time for that, as the door to the kitchen opened and a couple of men walked in. Claire sat back up, resting heavily against the back of her chair. What now?
"The others aren't talking," the first man – a lieutenant, by the insignia on his shoulders – said, coming to stand across from them. "We've got a boat arriving at the docks with more personnel. Is there anything we should know before we have them step foot on the island?"
"Yeah," Owen spoke for the group. "We came across a Baryonyx outside the compound. We're not sure how many dinosaurs may be loose."
"Bary… the dinosaur, is that one a carnivore?" the lieutenant asked, stumbling over the species name.
"Yes," Owen nodded. "We shot it with a tranq dart, but that should've worn off by now. I can show you on a map approximately where we encountered it."
"Yeah, that would be helpful," the officer nodded. "What about the dinosaurs that are in the paddocks here? Anything we should know about them?"
"Don't get too close?" Zia suggested sarcastically. Off the man's unimpressed look, she added. "No, sir, they should be fine. I would like to take a look at all of them in the morning, when there's more light. Blue, the Velociraptor, has an injury and she was malnourished when we found her. I'm not sure of the state of the rest of them."
"Okay, and you are…?"
"Dr. Zia Rodriguez. I'm a paleo-vet," Zia answered, posture stiffening. She hated being underestimated, a way too common occurrence.
"Great," the man turned back to look at Owen. "Could you come with us, show us the location of the dinosaur on a map?"
"Sure," Owen pushed his chair back, standing up. He gulped down the rest of his coffee, before leaving his mug on the table and following the men out of the room.
As the door shut behind them, it was Lowery who broke the silence that was resettling over the group. "I'm so tired," he moaned. "How long do you think this is going to take?"
"Days," Zia replied.
"Try months," Claire scoffed.
"What else do they need? I got Wu essentially confessing on camera. Live!" Lowery complained. "They should let us go."
"And where exactly do you plan on going?" Zia asked him. "I didn't think you'd be so keen to go wandering around this island in the dark."
"I'm not," Lowery agreed. "But I could definitely go for a bed. The Jurasship had some pretty nice ones." He fiddled with the empty mug sitting in front of him, before leaning forward and grabbing the carafe and refilling it. "I wish they hadn't taken my tablet. Our twitter feed must be going nuts."
"Live streaming," Claire shook her head in disbelief. "That was ingenious. Probably your best decision ever."
"Yeah, you probably saved us all," Zia added.
"I bet it's going viral," Lowery nodded, a satisfied grin on his face, before it dropped with a realization. "And the fallout is all in the hands of our interns."
"They'll be fine," Claire reassured him. "Besides, viral things take on a life of their own. Everyone's going to be waiting for the next bit of news, the next video. As soon as we get our stuff back, we'll be able to take control and try to direct the narrative."
"Let's hope it's soon," Lowery replied. "It'll get harder to regain control the longer we go without giving more information. It's just giving everyone time to put together crazy theories."
"Oh god, and Mills!" Claire's face paled. "This is all giving him time to get away." She barely finished her sentence before she had jumped from her seat and was moving for the door, pulling it open only to encounter a Navy woman standing guard on the other side, who prevented her from leaving. "I'm not trying to leave," Claire replied, frustrated. "Where do you think I'd go? I just need to talk to whoever's in charge here. There's more they need to know. And it's time sensitive."
The woman nodded, and picked up her radio, passing the information along. Claire waited in the doorway, as a short exchange took place. "Someone will come to talk to you," the woman informed her, clipping her radio back to her waist. Claire nodded, turning back into the room, and rejoining the others at the table.
They didn't believe her. Well, that's not entirely true. They just didn't take solely her word for it. After Claire told them about Eli Mills and Wu's connection, they had left, saying they would look into it. They came back a while later, Wu with them, and had her repeat what she'd said. Eventually, Wu seemed to start to understand that his silence wasn't doing him any favours, and he admitted to working with Mills, and that Mills was one of the main bankrollers of the operation.
Claire's only regret about the whole situation, was that she didn't get to see Mills face when he realized he was found out. She knew he'd probably know things weren't looking good the moment the live stream started going viral. He was probably in the midst of fleeing the country or something. But she really wished she'd be there to watch as someone snapped cuffs on him. She really, really, hoped he ended up in handcuffs.
A couple hours later, she found out that they'd found him at the airport, trying to buy a ticket to the Maldives. She took some perverse pleasure knowing that his arrest would've gone down in public. Maybe, hopefully, someone got it on video and she could watch it later.
As the sun rose the following morning, activity picked up across the compound. After talking with Owen, the Navy had decided against docking their ship during the night, instead waiting for daylight where they'd have a better chance of fending off any potential dinosaur attacks. However, now that the sun was up, the ship was docked and more reinforcements were coming to relieve those who had been on duty all night.
Information had been flying fast and furious between those on Sorna, those on the ship and the higher ups back in the States. There were a lot of questions to answer, but the main ones were what to do with the people and the dinosaurs.
As Lowery had predicted, his livestream had gone viral. It had happened late for those on the east coast, with many already in bed and most news shows and even late night comedy shows had been already over for the evening. But it had been early enough to have been picked up live on the west coast. Those who hadn't caught it live, were catching up as they ate breakfast, all the morning shows and newspapers leading with the same story. Both Claire and Lowery were dying to have access to their devices back. Knowing that stuff was happening but not having access to exactly what and how was driving both of them crazy.
By the time the sun was fully up, Claire, Zia and Lowery had been finally debriefed and freed. Although, as Lowery had said, it's not really "free" when you have to stay within a small compound and there are armed personnel watching your every move. Owen hadn't returned to the group, instead helping out the Navy with their planning and providing advice and assistance on how to deal with the dinosaurs.
Once they had been free to roam, Lowery had immediately said he was going to get some sleep, but to wake him when he could get his tablet back. Zia had headed straight around the buildings for the paddocks, excited to finally have her chance to work more closely with the dinosaurs on the island. Both of them had already had an argument over who won their dinosaur bingo game, with Lowery claiming the win over the encounter with the Baryonyx. Zia had argued the fact that she'd had to remove a bullet and give Blue stitches should count for extra.
Claire had watched the two head off in different directions, feeling a little lost herself. Normally, she would know exactly where she needed to be and what she needed to be doing, but she wasn't in control here. Instead, she had to wait for them to finally decide they were ready to move her off island. From what she'd gathered so far, they were struggling with how to deal with the various groups of people. Wheatley and his men were the easiest group to arrest. The scientists working for Wu were a bit of a question mark as to whether or not their actions counted as illegal, or if the fact that they were working for InGen made them as individuals less culpable compared to the company. Wu was definitely going to be brought up on charges, although his actions were not as clear cut as Wheatley, and so Claire knew there'd be a huge trial that would likely last years in his future.
And then there were the four of them. While their presence on Sorna (and formally on Nublar) was not legal, their actions exposing the world to what was happening was likely going to save them from anything more than a slap on the wrist. But, even so, she knew the mountain of work that was facing her return had just got a lot bigger.
The DPG was going to be needed now more than ever. And there were a lot of questions to answer. It was clear from their limited time on Nublar, as well as their time on Sorna, that the dinosaurs were not thriving on their own. Hammond wasn't right. They had brought these creatures back and they did need their protection and not their absence. When left without their human caretakers, there were too many dinosaurs and not enough land and resources for them to thrive on their own. On top of that, there would always be someone, somewhere, willing to spend a lot of money to be able to say that they had shot a dinosaur. Abandoning them was no longer a viable solution.
While Claire was exhausted, she didn't feel like she could sleep. Not with all the unanswered questions still running through her head. Standing outside the building, she decided to follow after Zia and see if she could help out. Spend some time with the creatures she had spent the last three years fighting for.
She wasn't all that helpful. She tried, but as much as she cared about the dinosaurs, she was still very wary around them, even from the outside of a paddock. And she wasn't willing to touch the raw meat they were feeding them. After a while, Zia suggested she go and keep Blue company, and Claire had sighed in defeat, apologizing, which Zia had shrugged of.
She was still standing and watching Blue, when Owen sidled up beside her, resting his arms on the gate next to them, his gaze also focused on Blue.
"Hey," Owen said softly, nudging her with his hips when she didn't respond immediately.
"Sorry, lost in thought," Claire shrugged, sparing him a quick glance. "You've been busy."
"Yeah," Owen sighed heavily, resting more of his weight on his arms, his exhaustion apparent. "They have no clue what they've gotten themselves into. Besides the T-rex and the Triceratops, they can't name a single dinosaur species. One guy kept talking about the ones with the 'long necks.'"
"I vaguely remember you making fun of me about the Indominus' name," Claire gave him a half smile. "Maybe now it'll make more sense."
"Just not a fan of dumbing things down," Owen shrugged. "People should just have to learn." He stared at Blue for a few minutes, watching as she wandered about her cage. She had looked at him briefly when he arrived, but didn't seem eager to engage today, not like yesterday. "How's she doing?"
"She's given me a few looks, but I think we've both been wanting to just be left alone," Claire replied. "There's been a lot of people around. I don't think she likes all the attention."
"Probably pretty shocking after almost three years of being on her own," Owen agreed. "And now she's back trapped in a cage."
"What are we going to do?" Claire asked. "I feel like I've been going in circles all day. We obviously can't leave her in this cage, but she wasn't thriving on Nublar. And I don't think she'd do any better here. On top of that, stopping Wheatley is not going to put a magical end to people who want to come and try their hand at shooting a dinosaur. And Zia's been saying that the other dinosaurs here aren't in great shape either… So I'm even more confused how there's a baby Triceratops on Nublar – what is it about that environment that was working for the Triceratops but not the other dinosaurs? And how did the baby get there? All the dinosaurs on Jurassic World were female!"
"I don't have answers for most of that," Owen had been having similar thoughts all day. "But I can answer the Triceratops question. The eggs in the lab–"
"They've been putting dinosaurs back on Nublar?" Claire interrupted, following where he was going.
"Yep," Owen nodded. "Easier than trying to store all their results here."
"God, what is wrong with all of them," Claire moaned, dropping her head down.
"Many, many, things," Owen let out a small laugh. "But, we don't have to solve all of these problems today. We've already made big in-roads, just by stopping this operation. There's time to figure out the rest."
"I know," Claire nodded, looking up and meeting his eyes briefly. "I've just felt so useless all day. Zia's been dealing with the dinosaurs and I've attempted, badly, to help. Lowery's off sleeping or something. You've been busy helping. There's nothing for me to do here."
"Well, I was actually looking for you," Owen turned so he was facing her, even though she was still looking at Blue. "They're ready to get you and Lowery off the island."
"Really?" Claire looked excited at the thought, before his words fully sunk in. "Wait, me and Lowery? What about you and Zia?"
"They need people who know about the dinosaurs to stay here," Owen shrugged. "Zia and I both volunteered."
"You're staying?" Claire looked dismayed at the thought. "You can't stay. It's not safe here."
"I'll be fine," Owen said. "It's not like it's going to be just me. Besides, you guys got the tracking system up and running on Nublar. We're already better off."
"But–"
"And I know you know a lot and could add a lot, too," Owen cut her off. "But you're needed to lead the DPG and to get out in front of all of this. Someone has to figure out how we're going to move forward." He gave her a proud smile, "And there's no one better suited for that job than you." He turned back to Blue, before adding, "You were right, you know? To keep caring about them. To fight for them."
"Well, I owe them," Claire turned to face him with a weak smile.
"No," Owen interrupted her again, facing her as well. "Claire. Things go wrong. You can't always explain it or predict it. But you don't owe them anything. Not the dinosaurs, not the park survivors, none of them. You gotta move on. Stop living in the past, and look at what you got right in front of you."
"What are you talking about?" Claire was confused, her gaze shifting to Blue.
"Me, Claire," Owen looked almost pained as he said it. "Me."
"Right," Claire scoffed, her gaze still on Blue. "You, who would rather live in the middle of nowhere than be with me."
"That's not true," Owen sighed, following her lead, and turning back to face Blue.
"You moved out, Owen," Claire reminded him. "You never even said good-bye. Instead, you just slowly faded away until I realized that you were no longer living with me. That what I had always seen as our house…"
"It wasn't our house," Owen disagreed.
"Why? Because I had money for a downpayment?" Claire tore her gaze from Blue to look at him, tears gathering in the corners of eyes against her will. "We looked for it together. We chose together. I thought we were buying together. That it was for our future. Imagine my surprise…" She took a deep breath. This may not have been the best place for this conversation, but, now that it was started, she might as well carry it through. "You went and bought a place without me. How was I supposed to take that? You started talking about your house and my house. Like they were two separate places. And then… then when I come to see you, you're talking like I'm dating other people. But you've left stuff at my place. I don't know what to think. Am I just… am I just a convenient lay when you're in town? A cheap place to stay?" She paused. "Are you dating someone else?"
"What?" Owen looked horrified at what she was saying. "Is that… Do you really…" He paused, looking away from her for a moment while he gathered his thoughts. "Okay, I'm not even sure where to start." He held up a hand, raising a finger. "First, no, I'm not dating someone else. I thought I was dating you." He raised a second finger. "Second, you never said 'Owen, let's buy a house together.'" He add a third finger. "Third, you encouraged me to build on my property. I discussed the plans with you. I was… am building us a cabin."
"You never said 'Hey, I think I'll build a cabin for us,'" Claire mocked him, interrupting his reply.
"Yeah, well, you're the one who told me to leave," Owen accused back, and they both fell silent.
After a few minutes, Claire asked softly, "Do you have to stay?"
"No, but I want to," Owen replied.
"Okay," Claire nodded, pushing away from the gate. "You said they were ready for me?"
"Claire," Owen reached out for her, his hand dropping to his side when she flinched away. "C'mon. Let's not do this again."
"Do what again?"
"Walk away without clearing the air," Owen stated. "We've never talked about this. Not really. And clearly, relying on assumptions hasn't worked well for either of us."
"Now's not the time," Claire shook her head, turning away.
"No!" Owen reached out, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to face him. "There's never going to be a right time. I can't keep doing this, Claire," Owen sighed, running a hand down his face, scrubbing at his jaw. "I just… I don't know what you want. From me."
"Well, you haven't been any clearer," Claire replied stubbornly. "One minute I thought we were building a life together and the next… Was it all just a reaction? To Jurassic World? And now, to all of this?" Claire looked around them, gaze settling on Blue, who was now watching the two curiously. "If I hadn't told you, if I hadn't gone to Nublar… where would we be?"
"I don't know," Owen admitted. "But," he tugged on her arm again, when she went to pull away. "Claire, I know that I want to be with you."
"Moving out really showed that," Claire rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I'm trying to apologize here," Owen replied. "I can't say that I would've made the first move. But, I really wasn't trying to move out. I wasn't dealing well with everything after Jurassic World. And you found your path forward so easily; starting the DPG."
"I asked you to help," Claire reminded him.
"I know," Owen nodded. "But it wasn't the right thing for me. And it wasn't the right time for me. You've been able to look forward, to stay focused on what the dinosaurs need now. I've been too caught up in what I lost that day. Thinking about the park, about the dinosaurs, meant thinking about Charlie, Echo and Delta. It meant thinking about Blue, who I left alone. Being at the lot was just ...easier. No one asked me about the dinosaurs. I could push them to the back of my mind and just… forget."
"And me?" Claire asked. "Did you want to forget about me?"
"No, never," Owen shook his head. "I just didn't know how to deal with both. And you were so busy with the DPG. I guess I just figured, well, that you wouldn't even really notice."
"I wasn't that caught up with work," Claire disagreed. "Trust me, I noticed you weren't there." She paused, looking away from him, unable to meet his gaze as she said, "I never said anything, because you seemed happier. I didn't want you to stay, if I was making you miserable."
Owen let go of her arm, raising both hands to her face, directing her gaze to his. "I want to be with you. You've never made me miserable," he said softly, staring at her intently. "I love you."
"Really?"
"Really," Owen nodded firmly. "I love you."
"I love you," Claire repeated back, sliding a hand behind his neck, pulling him to her, her lips catching his in a kiss. Owen's hands shifted, pulling her closer, one sliding into her hair while the other rested on her lower back. The kiss would've gone longer, but the snort followed by loud chittering had them breaking away and turning to face Blue, who was staring at them both, commenting loudly in her own language.
Chuckling, Owen pulled out a piece of jerky he'd found in the kitchen and tossed it to the dinosaur, who gobbled it happily. Turning back to Claire, he sighed, "Our timing really sucks. But the helicopter is waiting and they're going to be annoyed that I've taken this long to find you."
"Not really the right place either," Claire said, looking around the compound. She laced her fingers together with his, and let him lead her away from the paddock, heading back around the buildings.
Lowery and Zia were standing by the helicopter, and they hurried over to them. The two were busy arguing, Lowery bugging Zia about staying behind.
"I'm going to miss you," Claire said, hugging her friend.
"Hey, it's not like we'll never see each other again," Zia chided her. "The moment I find my phone, I'll be back online."
"Assuming you don't get eaten," Lowery muttered under his breath.
"Have you looked around? I've got lots of armed people whose only job will be to protect me," Zia quipped. "And some of them are really hot." She nodded towards the woman who had been guarding their door in the building, Lowery followed her gaze before giving her a reluctant nod in agreement.
"Be careful," Claire said, turning back to Owen, her arms sliding around his waist.
"Always," Owen nodded, hugging her back.
"And find a phone or something, will you?" Claire told him. "Let me know what's happening."
"I will," Owen agreed. "But, I bet you'll be back here before you know it. We're going to need you."
"Come on," a Navy man approached the group. "It's time to go."
Lowery and Claire nodded. Lowery picked up his bag and had a quick hug with Zia, followed by a firm handshake with Owen, before he headed to the helicopter.
Claire repeated his actions, grabbing her bag and giving her friend a hug. When she turned back to Owen, he pulled her close, dropping another kiss to her lips. "I love you,' he said again. "I'll see you soon."
"Love you, too," Claire said breathlessly, before pulling back and moving towards the helicopter. Just as she was about to get on, she turned back. "Hey, Owen?"
"Yeah?"
"How'd you know Mills?"
"You think you're the only one he approached?" Owen raised an eyebrow, laughing at her shocked expression. Huffing, Claire turned back to the helicopter and Owen quickly called out, "See you in a few weeks?"
Claire just shook her head, laughing as she climbed into the helicopter. She turned in the doorway, waving goodbye.
Anyone catch the Twister reference? :P
Thanks to EliseCollier who stuck with me and supported this project from the moment it was just a glimmer of an idea. And for being the encouragement I needed when I was getting really disillusioned with it at various points.
A huge thank you to everyone who has taken some time to give a comment, kudos, bookmarked and so on. It means a lot to know that you have scarified some of your free time to spend it with me on this story. I re-read the reviews when I'm struggling to write and it really helps.
Two things to be on the look out for:
1) Epilogue will be up Saturday
2) The prologue of the joint fic I'm writing with Elise-Collier, The Missing Years is coming soon. I'm really excited for it and hope you'll join us on that journey.