Author's Note

Hello, everyone! I just want to say a quick thanks to everyone who has favorited/followed/reviewed so far after just two chapters. You all are awesome and I'm glad you like it so far.

So, here is the next chapter, as promised. I've decided that I'm going to post three chapters a week, on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. That'll get this work done by the beginning of December. And it's on it's only right that I post today anyway. The Jurassic World DVD comes out today! I can't wait to get my copy.

Alright, go onward and enjoy!

Paradise

Liv may get a lot of privileges with her VIP wristband, but she's still not allowed to take her ATV out into Gyrosphere Valley. They say it's too dangerous with all the dinosaurs roaming around, she'd be too at risk of getting stepped on, even though she's not an idiot and is perfectly capable of avoiding the animals. So the only way she's allowed out into the Valley is in a Gyrosphere.

Liv's VIP wristband gets her to the front of the line for the Gyrospheres, at least. She straps into her sphere, alone, and when she's clear of the loading platform she takes the controls in hand with practiced ease, zipping off into the Valley. Certainly not as fast as her ATV, but it's better than nothing.

There are invisible fences set up all throughout the Valley designed to keep the animals and the spheres from wandering where they're not supposed to. It works kind of like dog collars. With a dog collar, sensors are set up along the perimeter of the yard, the collar is attached to the dog, and when the dog gets too close to the sensors they send a signal to the collar that then shocks the dog. The transmitters injected into the dinosaurs will shock them if they get too close to the invisible fence. With the Gyrospheres, they automatically veer back on course.

However, Liv has had years to find out how the Gyrospheres work.

Using her pocket knife, she pries open a metal panel in the central console between the two seats and disconnects the wire leading to the sphere's transmitter. With the transmitter deactivated she's able to go wherever she wants, no longer hindered by the fences, and the sphere's coordinates are no longer being transmitted back to the Control Room so no one will even notice she's wandering off. It's like her sphere never even existed.

Liv zooms through the Valley in the clear morning sunlight, dodging around a herd of Apatosaurus and heading west. There's a stretch of beach on the far side of the Valley about a half mile past an invisible fence so the dinosaurs can't venture out this far. People don't wander this way either, leaving the coast all to Liv.

She doesn't go all the way out to the beach though. There's a grouping of trees halfway between the fence and the water creating almost like a mini forest. She slows the sphere as she gets closer, following the strip of dirt where the grass has worn away from so much travel until she is completely consumed by the trees. Stopping, she gets out, using a big green tarp she leaves here and a bunch of branches to hide the sphere just in case. Then she meanders through the trees and undergrowth, checking on the progress of the plants she's made.

All of this green life covering about an acre of land are plants she's planted and grown herself, using her mutant ability to accelerate their growth. There are trees here two stories tall and only about a year old. As she walks she reaches out to the plants she passes, sensing the soft green auras around her and nurturing them.

Then she gets to the heart of her little paradise.

Liv breaches the tree line to stand in a small meadow, soft grass caressing her bare ankles beneath her capris and dotted with splashes of color from dozens of different flowers. Tulips, begonias, daisies, orchids, and so, so much more. It doesn't matter if they're native to this area or not, Liv's able to help them prosper in any conditions so long as she routinely takes care of them. She spins in slow circles, eyes closed and arms spread wide, just breathing in the sweet fragrance.

She loves it here. Here, she can be anyone she wants to be. There are no expectations. No rules or consequences. Just her, Liv.

She plops down in the center of her meadow and takes out a book from the backpack she brought with her, a new si-fi/fantasy she's been wanting to break into for weeks. Hours pass as she enjoys the serenity and solitude, the bright sunlight warming her skin. It's February, making it kind of cold even in Florida, but on Isla Nublar the temperature never drops below sixty and usually reaches mid to upper eighties.

To her, it's a perfect, beautiful day.

She reads. Eats lunch. When one of the patrol drones comes a little too close for comfort she hides in the foliage. All in all, by the time one o' clock rolls around she feels the happiest she's felt in a while.

Then the low rumbling of a vehicle's engine bounces between the trees.

Liv freezes, stomach clenching tight in fear. No one ever ventures this far. She should be safe, she's always been safe, but as she listens, hoping, praying, that the engine will move on and fade, it instead cuts off. Someone has stopped near her paradise.

She quickly gathers her things, stuffing them into her backpack while striving not to make a sound. Someone being here could just be a coincidence. They're not necessarily looking for her. Maybe a dinosaur escaped the fence. They're just here to collect it and return it to its habitat. All she has to do is remain unseen and she'll be fine. Vic won't ever find out she's out here.

Boots crunch over dry, dead leaves. Her breath hitches. They're coming in. Staying low, she takes to the forest, using the bushes as cover until she gets a good distance in. Then she pauses, cautiously looking around. She doesn't know who it is or how many of them there are or where they are but she needs a hiding place. Thinking quickly, she climbs the nearest tree, one with a big, wide canopy with plenty of leaves and branches to cover her. She climbs halfway up the canopy and then carefully perches on one of the thick branches, eyes scanning the forest floor below her.

Twigs snap. Leaves rustle. She slowly takes off her backpack, hooking the straps on a branch above her head, and then lays down across the branch she's on. Peeking through the tree, she can see someone walking through the forest wearing cargo pants, a button-up shirt, and brown vest like she saw the raptor trainers wearing yesterday. What would any of them be doing out here?

Then he comes closer her way and there's a bigger gap between the leaves so she can see his face. It's Owen, looking around at her forest curiously, but by the way his eyes roam over everything, like a hawk, she knows he's being careful about taking in his surroundings, never knowing if there might be something out here. She knows there isn't though. Some birds, squirrels, monkeys, and other small animals, each with a little orange aura, but nothing dangerous.

Something else snaps and he stops in his tracks. It wasn't him that made the sound. It was a lot closer to her actually. There's another snap, drawing his attention to the tree she's in. And drawing her attention up. The branch her backpack is hanging from, it's starting to break, the wood splitting and splintering near the trunk. Owen's eyes haven't been drawn up yet so she reaches, slowly, slowly, for her backpack, trying not to move too suddenly. She can't quite reach so she pushes herself up with her other hand. Her fingers just brush against the fabric of the backpack when the branch lets out a loud crack, breaking completely, the branch and her backpack plummeting to the ground. They land with a hard thump a few feet away from Owen.

Well, there's no missing that.

She draws herself flush against the branch she's on again, barely peeking over the side, but she can see that Owen's eyes are now looking up, scanning through her tree.

"Who's up there?" he asks sternly, one hand slipping behind him, probably going for the knife she saw he had strapped to the small of his back yesterday. "Show yourself."

Liv rests her forehead against the bark of the branch, closing her eyes tight in fear. She doesn't know what to do. Disabling one of the Gyrospheres and sneaking out into a restricted area, either act on its own would get her into major trouble with Vic. But both of them? She's in for one of the worst beatings of her life, including the time Vic accidentally broke her arm. He may even do it on purpose this time.

But that's only if Owen rats her out.

Would he do that? Would Owen bring her in by the neck, hand her over to Vic, and tell her father what she's done? Owen seemed nice yesterday, but any of the workers here would consider what she's done reckless and dangerous, even though she really is perfectly safe.

"I know you're up there," Owen calls out. "Come on. Don't make me come up there. I'll drag you down if I have to."

She sighs deeply. She really doesn't have a choice, does she? Resignedly, Liv starts to scale down the tree, jumping the last few feet to stand in front of Owen. She keeps her head down, eyes on the ground, like a kid caught drawing on the walls.

While tensed for the slap to the face.

"Liv," he says, voice short. "What do you think you're doing out here?"

"I come out here to get away," she says softly. "It's nice and quiet. Peaceful."

"And dangerous."

"The fences keep the dinosaurs from coming this far."

"And how did you get this far? I know you wouldn't have access to the gate leading out here."

"I took a Gyrosphere."

"The Gyrosphere's can't pass the fences any more than the dinosaurs can."

"I..." She gulps, but since hesitation usually gets her bruises she keeps going. "I deactivated the transmitter."

"You what?" he snaps but she knows that tone from Vic. It's a rhetorical question. "You could have been seriously hurt and no one would have known you were out here."

"But I wasn't hurt," she says, voice quivering slightly, but she has to remember that this isn't Vic. She won't get hit for stating her case. At least, she hopes she won't be. And convincing him that coming out here isn't dangerous is the only chance she has of getting Owen to not tell Vic. "I never have been as long as I've been coming out here because I'm not stupid enough to go anywhere near the dinosaurs and the spheres go faster than the top speed of the fastest animal in the Valley. Besides, the sphere has its own built-in invisible barrier that keeps the dinosaurs from getting too close and then there's the bulletproof glass. I've been perfectly safe."

Owen lets out a frustrated sigh, running a hand roughly over his face. "And what if you had been hurt, huh? How would anyone have found you?"

"I have my phone. I can call for help if I need it and Vi…my father can track it with the GPS locater on it."

"How is Vic okay with all of this?" he asks, shaking his head in disbelief.

She had hoped he wouldn't ask that but it's not like she can just not answer, so she hunches her shoulders and says, "He doesn't know."

He lets out a string of curses and she tenses even further, ducking her head again with eyes screwed shut tight. Owen suddenly goes unnaturally quiet.

"Liv," he says, barely above a whisper, "are you alright?"

Her throat closes up. No, she's not alright. He's going to hit her, that's what cursing always means, or at the very least he's definitely going to tell Vic and then she's going to get hit a lot. She doesn't want to get hit. She doesn't care if she heals, she doesn't like the pain, doesn't want it again. Despite all that, she simply nods. Because what else can she do?

"Liv…you know I'm not gonna hurt you, right?"

She looks up in surprise at that and the look on his face...it's like she physically pained him. She doesn't know how to respond to this, because he looks sincere, but she had been so sure he would hurt her. So she just stares, dumbfounded, blinking her tears away and trying not to cry.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," he says again, taking a small step forward. She cringes back a little, wrapping her arms around herself and wondering for a moment if this is some sort of trap. Vic's used traps before. Lure her close with a smile and then lets it drop away with a punch. But Owen doesn't do that. He instantly stops on her reaction, holding up his hands placatingly, palms out. "I'm not," he stresses. "I won't ever hurt you. I promise."

She struggles over the words, her voice sounding choked, "Are…are you going to tell Vic?"

His mouth downturns in a deep frown, his eyes examining her up and down as if he's searching for something. He lowers his hands, holding out one for her to take. "Come with me."

She draws back and a small whimper escapes her throat. He is going to hurt her or he's going to take her to Vic and let him hurt her, it's all a trap, it's all a trap, it's all a trap.

"Hey, hey," he says softly, like he would to a frightened animal. "It's alright. I'm just going to take you to the Research Center. You wanted to see the raptor eggs again, right?"

She narrows her eyes at him suspiciously. It still sounds an awful lot like a trap.

"Nothing bad's gonna happen. We're just gonna take a little ride. I promise." He stares at her, pleadingly. "Please, trust me, Liv."

Trust isn't exactly something she has a positive experience in. She can trust her father will hit her again in the future. She can trust her mother to almost never be home. But can she trust Owen?

As she reaches out a shaking hand, placing it in his, she realizes that she would like to.

He smiles at her softly, and a bit in relief. His warm fingers wrap around her hand, so much larger than hers. She expects him to be rough, when Vic grabs her he always holds on so tightly her fingers turn white, but Owen is gentle. She grabs her backpack and then with a slight tug, not the jerky pulls Vic uses, he leads her back out of the forest.

"So," he says casually, still holding her hand, "where did you stash that Gyrosphere you stole?"

"It's just up ahead," Liv says, pointing to a grouping of bushes where they can just barely see the bulge of the tarp. "And I didn't steal it. I borrowed it."

He snorts amusedly.

"I did," she insists, thinking he doesn't believe her, but when she looks up at him he's holding in laughter. A smile tugs at her mouth. "I had every intention of bringing it back when I was done with it. And reconnecting the transmitter."

"Sure, kid. Whatever you say." He squeezes her hand once and then let's go so he can use both hands to clear off the sphere. "Now, let's get this thing back where it belongs. The spheres have an autopilot or something, right? So it can go back on its own?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so. Let me see." She opens the sphere and takes a seat. There's a computer built into the center console, a small touchscreen that plays a prerecorded guide through the Valley. Touching the screen to bring up the main menu she easily finds the option named "Return to Base" and presses it. She quickly jumps out of the sphere before the door closes on her and then it rolls off into the Valley. Its transmitter is still deactivated, it needs to be if it's going to make it past all of the fences, but hopefully the Gyrosphere Operator just assumes it's a faulty sphere and calls maintenance.

Owen leads her to the outskirts of the forest where a motorcycle is parked. He hops on and looks back at her where she's stopped a few feet away. "Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle before?" She shakes her head no. "Don't worry, it's easy. Just climb on behind me." He holds out a hand and she takes it again, this time with significantly less hesitation, and he helps her climb on the bike. Once she's settled, her front pressing into his back, he guides her arms around him. "You hold on real tight, alright? I don't have a helmet so if you fall off it's gonna hurt a lot."

She nods. It would hurt more than just a lot, if she falls off it could potentially kill her, but it's not like she wears a helmet while riding her ATV either. Still, she doesn't know if her healing factor can work on fatal wounds and she doesn't plan on finding out anytime soon, so she holds on as tight as she can as he starts up the bike and then they take off.

The wind roars past them as they race through the Valley, the warm air snatching at her tank top and stinging her face. She's still worried, about what Owen's going to do, about if Vic finds out about her little ventures, but it's hard to think about that in this moment. In this moment, Liv is completely at ease, like she's back in her paradise. Like nothing can touch her or hurt her here.

All too soon it ends, Owen stopping the bike outside the Research Center. They climb off and Liv stares up at him questioningly. If he's going to tell Vic, or anyone, what she's been up to, now would be the time.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do," he says. "We're going to compromise."

Her brow furrows in confusion, not expecting this. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm not going to tell your dad about you running off into the Valley." Hope soars in her chest, the relief of tension and fear making her knees feel weak. "But on one condition: you don't go out alone in the Gyrospheres anymore."

"Then how am I going to get there?"

"Easy, you want to go out there, you tell me, and I'll take you there on my bike. That way I know where you are and that you at least get there safe."

"What about when I'm ready to leave?"

"Give me your phone." She slips it out of the side pocket of her backpack, unlocks it, and hands it to him. He types out something on it and then hands it back to her. "I programed my number in. You text me in advance when you want to go out and you text me when you want to come back. And you better call me if you're in any kind of trouble. Got it?"

This way she may not always be able to go out when she wants to if Owen is busy and the idea of needing an escort is kind of silly to her, but if this is what it takes for Owen to not tell her father? She'll take it. Nodding eagerly she says, "Yeah, I got it. Thank you, Owen."

He smirks but the smile doesn't reach his eyes. It almost looks…sad. "Sure thing, kid." Before she can ask him what's wrong he's motioning her towards the Research Center. "Now come on. We've got some eggs to check on."

There's no one inside the building when they enter, not even in the back, but Liv only wonders for a moment where everyone is. Then Owen is handing her gloves to put on and they're picking up the eggs. She stares down at the one in her hands, the novelty of this little life, one that will grow up to be so ferocious, never really wearing off. She can't wait to see them hatch, wondering how small they'll be, how long it'll take for them to grow up. She looks up at Owen to ask him but pauses when she sees him talking to the egg in his hands like he did yesterday, so quiet she can't make out the words. "What are you saying to them?"

He looks up at her a little sheepishly. "All sorts of things. What they are, where they are, how I hope they accept me as their alpha. Doesn't really matter. I just want them to get used to the sound of my voice."

"Can they really hear you inside the eggs?"

"Sure. This far along, their auditory systems are fully functional."

"Why are you getting them used to your voice?"

"It's part of the imprinting process."

Vic used that word too, though it didn't sound like he understood what it meant either. "What's imprinting?"

"When an animal is born it imprints on the first thing it sees. In the wild, it's usually the animal that gave birth to it. The baby recognizes that animal as its parent, its provider. That's what I'm trying to do. I'll be the first thing these raptors see when they're born. I'll feed them and take care of them. They'll see me as their parent and I'll establish myself as their alpha. I'm getting them used to the sound of my voice so that, when they hatch, they'll recognize it and be more likely to listen to me. Or at the very least not eat me."

Liv smirks mischievously. "So they're going to think you're their daddy?"

He barks out a laugh. "Yeah, I guess you could see it that way, but as they grow older they'll see me as more their alpha, the head of the pack, the leader, the alpha male. As alpha, hopefully they'll be more susceptible to my commands. Even with that, though, it's not like they'll ever be domesticated." He sets his egg down and moves on to the next. "I think that's what Vic wants, a lap dog. But these animals will never be like that. The most we can hope for is their trust, but trust can be very powerful."

Liv watches Owen taking care of these eggs as if they're his own children and she thinks that everything will turn out just fine. He'll become the raptors' alpha. If he treats them in any way like he treats her, then these animals will find it very easy to trust him, just as she's already starting to.

After seeing to the eggs, Owen takes Liv out to the paddock and shows her around, all the while wondering if he did the right thing. He was exploring the island when he found her, out in the wild, alone, with almost no protection. He was furious. And completely afraid. She's just a kid. She could have been hurt. She could have been killed. And if that had happened….

Liv has an endearing quality to her that's made Owen like her almost instantly. She's curious and smart, insanely polite, and she can be a bit of a spitfire, though it seems to be hidden most of the time.

The possible reason for that makes him shudder.

Owen's been watching her carefully and so far, he can't see any physical signs of abuse. From what he can see of her body, there are no bruises or signs of past breaks. She doesn't walk funny. She wasn't moving tenderly after the ride on his bike. But she's obviously afraid of her father, a fear that runs so deep that she was close to tears at the thought of Vic finding out about her secret wanderings. And she was afraid that Owen would hurt her, scared of even letting him touch her. In an animal, that's a clear sign of past abuse from a human.

But if she's being abused, wouldn't she have told her mom? Her mom has her most of the time from what he can tell. If Vic is abusing her, it would be simple for the mom to get full custody and then Liv would never have to see her dad again. If he is abusing her, then Liv hasn't told anyone anything. Does she not trust her mom to help? Is her mom no better than her dad?

Either way, there's just no proof that he can see. Vic seems to be a strict parent, considering that eight pm curfew, but that's all Owen has seen. Until he knows more, until Liv actually talks to him about it, there's nothing Owen can do. He trusts his instincts, though. They got him through the Navy, they've helped him deal with the animals he's trained for years, and they've never steered him wrong. Right now, they're telling him that Vic is hurting Liv somehow. That's why he promised not to tell Vic. If Owen is right, Vic would have hurt her bad.

And that is something he will not stand for.

Owen will protect her in any way he can, this girl with the lonely brown eyes who doesn't seem to have anyone to watch out for her. He only meant to take on a raptor pack when accepting this job, but one more won't hurt. Especially if it's Liv.

Author's Note

So, Liv and Owen are starting to get closer and closer. I want them to have a father/daughter relationship. I hope I developed this right. I'm paranoid of Owen coming across as a pedophile for some reason even though he doesn't have those kinds of feelings for her at all.

We get raptors next chapter though! Yay!

Alright, hope you enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW, and see you all next time!