Author's Note

Hello, again! Time for another update. We get a lot of Claire in this chapter but, unfortunately, there's no Owen & Liv or Liv & raptors this chapter. Next chapter, though. Next chapter.

Alright, go onward and enjoy!

Intern

Owen taps his foot impatiently on the tile floor. The reception area is clinically neat and orderly, with white tile, carefully positioned pieces of abstract art on white walls, and cushy brown chairs. There are magazines on coffee tables but none of them catch his interest. Even if they did, he has no patience to read right now.

He looks at his watch, then the clock on the wall, then glances at Zara sitting behind the reception desk. Zara is a tall British woman with straight dark hair, making an interesting contrast with short, red-headed Claire, but she is just as strict and organized as her boss. Zara is Claire's assistant and together they run the park with incredible efficiency. It's because of that efficiency that he knows Claire won't keep him waiting too long but he's anxious to get the ball rolling on his idea.

So long as Claire agrees to help.

The door to the left of the desk suddenly opens, Claire stepping aside to hold it open for Dr. Henry Wu. Dr. Wu is a small, stocky-built Asian and the lead geneticist working on the island. He's been creating dinosaurs since the beginning, first with John Hammond and now with Masrani.

"Thank you for your time," Dr. Wu tells Claire, shaking her hand with a kind smile that always seems to be on his face. Owen doesn't trust that smile though. It's the kind of smile that will just as easily lead you off a cliff if you trust him.

"The pleasure's all mine, Dr. Wu, and good luck," Claire answers, also with a smile, but Owen recognizes it as the one she uses for business, a part of her professional wardrobe just as much as the skirts and blouses she wears all the time in solid colors, never anything with a pattern or personality.

Dr. Wu leaves, passing Owen with a polite nod and he nods back, eyes never leaving the doctor until the elevator doors close on him.

There's something about Dr. Wu that just...isn't right.

"Hello, Mr. Grady," Claire says with that same professional smile, drawing his attention.

"Ms. Dearing." He shakes her outstretched hand. He may not be as professional as a lot of the people here but his ma did ingrain a good bit of manners in him, though he doesn't always like to use them. Which is why he has no problem with being nosy. "So, what were you talking about with Dr. Wu?"

Something in his gut urges him to ask, really, that same instinct that kept him alive in the Navy and during his time as an animal trainer. Something's going on that he's not necessarily going to like.

"Oh, we were just talking about a possible new asset for the park." Her smile never wavers, acting as not only a part of her wardrobe but as a mask. It probably helps her in the business world but Owen doesn't like it right now, doesn't like not knowing what she's thinking.

"A new dinosaur? Which one?"

"The details aren't set in stone and even if they were, I am not at liberty to discuss it with you, Mr. Grady."

Well, that's comforting, nice and vague and hiding behind Non-Disclosure Agreements. Not even park employees like Owen can know about the dinosaurs the labs are cooking up until the eggs are made. Whatever this new "asset" is, it could be anything.

And just about all of the dinosaurs can be deadly. It's only a matter of how deadly.

"So, Zara tells me there's something you would like to discuss?" Claire deflects, leading him away from their previous conversation and into her office. It's just as clinical as the reception area, with her desk in front of a wall of windows overlooking the jungle and no personal touches at all. No knickknacks, no family photos, nothing. Claire sits in her big leather office chair behind the desk, motioning Owen to take one of the visitor chairs and he does. Perhaps it is time he got to the reason he's here. Liv is much more important than small talk, even if he does find Claire's eyes the most beautiful piercing blue he's ever seen.

"I wanted to talk to you about Liv," he says, cutting to the chase. He and Barry talked about it a lot the last two days, trying to come up with ways to get Liv more involved at the Research Center without drawing attention from Vic. All of them include getting help from Claire.

"Vic Hoskins's daughter?" she asks curiously. "What about her?"

"I want to help her."

"Help her? What do you mean?"

"Do you really not know?" How can she be so naive? So blind? Owen leans forward, elbows on his knees. "Claire, the first day I met Liv I could tell something wasn't right with her and her dad. Now, months later, I know he isn't treating her right. You've known her for years. How could you not have noticed?"

Claire leans back in her chair, clearly miffed. "One, my name is Ms. Dearing. Two, Vic Hoskins is not abusing Liv. I have never, in all the years I've known her, seen any physical signs of abuse."

Owen rolls his eyes. "There's more kinds of abuse than just physical, Ms. Dearing, though I'm still not about to rule it out. Haven't you ever noticed the way he treats her? When he thinks no one's watching he manhandles her in a way that I'm surprised doesn't leave any bruises and he's strict, really strict."

"How Vic wants to discipline his daughter is his business, Mr. Grady."

He rears back incredulously. "Discipline? Seriously, have you met Liv? Does she really seem like a kid who actually needs to be disciplined?"

"Well, no. She is very well-behaved and polite."

"Exactly. And while we're on it, doesn't it seem strange to you, just how polite she is? No kid acts like that, especially teenagers."

"I admit, it is a little strange. It often takes me by surprise-"

"And then there's the rest of the time. She's skittish around other people. Afraid of ever doing anything wrong. Scared when people get mad around her, especially if there's swearing. If she does any little thing without Vic's permission she's terrified of him finding out. She's terrified of her own father, Claire!"

"I'm not sure-"

"He also neglects her all the time. Did you know he didn't even remember her birthday? Didn't acknowledge it at all."

Claire finally frowns. "Really…."

"Then this past weekend, she got sick, and Vic refused to even take care of her. She was miserable, running a high fever of a hundred and two, and he wouldn't take care of her. Just left her alone to fend for herself. She ended up coming to me and I took care of her the entire weekend without Vic ever stopping by or even calling to check up on her."

"Did Vic know you took her?"

"Of course he did. Calling him was the first thing I did when Liv showed up, and you know what he told me? He told me to just send her to her room, that she'd be fine and was just exaggerating. A hundred and two fever and he said she'd be just fine on her own. I couldn't do that. Just by looking at her I knew it was serious." His fists clench in his lap, his throat suddenly feeling tight. "And then on Sunday Liv called me when she got home and..."

"And what, Mr. Grady?" Claire asks softly with genuine concern, like maybe she's starting to actually listen to him.

"And I knew something had happened, something bad with her dad. She wouldn't say, she was so close, but she wouldn't tell me what he did. But she sounded close to tears and asked me if everything was gonna be okay." He leans forward again, placing his face in his hands. "I don't have an answer for her, Claire, not really. Not unless she tells me what's really going on, but she's too afraid to."

Claire breathes out a slow breath, for once her business mask frazzled. "Why come to me with all this? Why not talk to the police?"

He drops his hands, looking at Claire seriously. "We're on Isla Nublar, Claire, not the United States. The InGen security is the closest thing we have to police out here without going to the mainland and Vic is their boss. Even if I did go to the mainland, Vic would probably find out what I'm up to as soon as I leave. You're the next closest thing I have."

"But she's not here all the time. She's goes back to the States two weeks at a time. Better yet, why not tell her mother?"

He snorts. "From what Liv tells me, her mom is never around. And I still can't tell the police, even if I did go back to the States myself. They won't believe me that anything wrong is going on without physical evidence or a testimony from Liv. If it's just severe child neglect there won't be much evidence, unless I can record a video of something but that's probably not going to happen. Which means I have to get Liv to tell me the truth. For that, I need your help."

Claire's fingers tap on her desk and she bites her lip, the red of her lipstick smearing on her teeth a little bit. Right now, with the mask fully gone, he can read her like one of the many animals he's trained. She's nervous. Contemplative. Hesitant. She's torn between believing and not believing him. She only has what he's told her and what she's noticed herself to go on, and who knows how much she's actually noticed. Based on her initial reaction, not much. But she has instincts, just like animals, just like any human. And her instincts are telling her that something really is wrong. If they weren't, she would have shot him down already.

But will someone like Claire, cool, logical, more than a bit OCD, will someone like her actually listen to her instincts?

"Okay," Claire says, some of her professionalism restored. "I admit, when put into that perspective, Liv's and Vic's relationship does seem to be...questionably unhealthy, but you said it yourself, there is no real evidence. If you're wanting me to act against Vic, I'm going to need more than your say so."

Owen breaths a little sigh of relief. Some real progress. "No, I know. That's not what I'm asking. I need to gain Liv's trust if she's ever going to tell me the truth, and to do that I need to be able to spend more time with her without Vic getting suspicious. He...I think he hurt her Sunday before she left, because she went to me for help. He might get mad again if we spend time together without a real reason."

"Alright." Claire opens a drawer in her desk, taking out a tablet and stylus, ready to work. "What did you have in mind?"

For the first time in a long time, Liv is dragging her feet getting herself to the island. She's scared. Scared her father is still going to be mad, even after two weeks. Scared Owen is going to be mad at her, because she wouldn't tell him what he wanted to know.

Scared that things between her and Owen are going to be different now, that he'll hate her, that they've lost what they had and he's going to push her away because of it.

Vic is in the Control Room when she gets there, clutching the straps of her backpack tightly in her hands. His eyes narrow at her as soon as she's off the elevator and she gulps. Is he going to punish her again? He's never punished her twice for something but he was pretty mad this time.

He crooks a finger at her, motioning her to come closer, and she does even though she wants nothing more than to run in the opposite direction.

If she makes him wait it'll just upset him though.

"Olivia," he says, sounding not exactly mad, but he's displeased about something.

"Yes, sir?" she asks promptly.

"Ms. Dearing wants to speak with you. Come on."

Well, okay, she wasn't expecting that. Unless it's an excuse he's using to get her alone so he can punish her again? She follows him towards the elevator but just before he pushes the button the door opens, revealing Zara.

"Just who I was looking for," Zara says, smiling down at Liv. "Come along, Liv, you have an appointment with Ms. Dearing."

"Okay," Liv says quietly, getting on the elevator with a million questions floating around her head. So Claire wanting to see her is real but what is it about? Why would Claire want to talk to her? And why did she send Zara to collect her?

Vic moves to board the elevator as well but Zara stops him with a raised hand, inches from his chest but not touching. "We don't need you for this meeting, Mr. Hoskins. You already discussed the specifics with Ms. Dearing and have agreed. We just need to go over everything with Liv. There's no reason for you to hear the same information twice."

Vic opens his mouth to retort, quite angrily by the look on his face, but then a couple of the techies push past him to make it onto the elevator, forcing him to back away, and then the doors are closing. He tries to get his hand between the doors but he's not fast enough, the elevator moving up without him.

Liv lets out a quiet sigh of relief. Whatever this is, she doesn't want him interfering, especially if there are any decisions that need to be made. She wants to be able to make her own decisions.

The elevator stops a couple of times to let the techies get out on their floors until it is just Liv and Zara. When the elevator stops again they step out into the pristine reception area, Zara leading her straight through to Claire's office, only pausing for a moment to knock on the office door before opening it.

"Liv, hello," Claire greets cordially, her smile seeming oddly more sincere this time instead of just professional. Claire steps around her desk to shake Liv's hand, drawing her further into the room as she tells her assistant, "Thank you, Zara. That'll be all."

Zara leaves and then it's just the two of them, Claire ushering Liv over to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk, Claire, surprisingly, taking the other one beside her.

"So, um, my dad said you wanted to talk to me about something?" Liv stumbles over the words, feeling really unsure right now. She and Claire have an easy relationship, though she wouldn't exactly consider them close. It would probably fall somewhere between what she has with her mom and what she has with Owen. It's an easy coexistence like what Liv has with her mom but she sees Claire a lot more often, believe it or not, and the two of them get along really well though not exactly friendly.

Kind of like coworkers. They don't do personal, just work-related.

But what "work-related" things could they have to talk about? Is there a problem with her coming to the island every two weeks? Because her visits are really the only reason Claire would have to talk to Liv, especially to go to all this trouble of setting aside time just for her.

Claire takes a brochure off her desk and hands it to her. "This is what I wanted to talk to you about. Mr. Masrani has been wanting to get Jurassic World more involved with students, especially those of college age, aside from simply setting up field trips. He wants to get the students more involved with the park, allow them to spend more than just one day here and get deeper into the workings of how we do things, from the science used to recreate dinosaurs to taking care of the animals to the business sides of running the park."

Liv glances down at the brochure, opening it up to look at pictures of the park, trainers, dinosaurs, and smiling students with the words "Intern Now at Jurassic World" written across the shiny paper in big, bold letters. "You want to start an internship program?"

"Exactly. Masrani sees students as a well of untapped potential so long as we get to them soon enough." By the bland look on her face Claire doesn't completely agree, her view on the younger generations being what it is, but neither of them say anything about it. "He wants to bring them in, start shaping their minds into tools to help put us on a fast-track to advancements in genetics and behavioral research. These students will not only get college credit but also job offers, if they excel high enough.

"But before we make the program public we want to test it first. To do that, we are asking for volunteers from any of the children of park employees." Liv's mouth falls open in a silent "O", finally getting it and also a little in shock. "We'll run a trial version of the program, keeping in mind that all of you are underage unlike the college students this program will one day be geared toward, but we need to make sure our curriculum is good and that it will not interfere with any of our employees' regular duties."

Vic isn't the only park employee with a kid, Liv is just the only kid who visits the island on a regular basis. Most park employees with families live on the mainland, with the employees commuting by boat every day and their kids attending a school in Costa Rica built by Masrani specifically with them in mind but open to other children as well. Masrani had the school built as an extra pull for employees to come work for him, but also because he genuinely cares, wants families to be able to stay together and not have to be separated just because of work. If it wasn't for Liv mostly living with her mom, that's where she'd be going to school. She's heard it's pretty nice, having met some of the other kids before, but none of them come to the park too often, the "wow" of the park and dinosaurs having worn off for them already. They only come when there's a new attraction, and even then the pull doesn't last very long.

But Masrani wants to bring them to the park to work and to learn, more than they ever will from a tour group. Some will be genuinely interested, others only seeing it as a temporary thrill that may not last the length of the internship. Many will roll their eyes and give a flat no.

Liv is wondering what and where she needs to sign.

"How will it work exactly?" she asks instead, forcing herself to understand the particulars before jumping on board. "We're in high school. It's not exactly as flexible as college, especially for me. I'm only here on weekends every two weeks."

Claire is poised, already ready for that question. "We'll meet with each student individually and set up a work schedule. The internship will be 120 hours that are to be completed during the school year. A student can work every day, every other day, four hours a day, two hours a day, it doesn't matter so long as the full 120 hours are completed before summer vacation. You, for example, since you're only here every other weekend, could work eight or ten hours every weekend you're here and still get done on time. You could split it between Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, do it all on Saturday, or any other combination. It's your choice."

"And what's in it for us? No offense, but a lot of the others won't just willingly volunteer without some kind of incentive."

"We're not looking for free labor, Liv," she assures. "That's not what the college students will be doing so that's not what you'll be doing either. Each student who participates in our trial run will receive a full scholarship to the college of his or her choice."

Liv's brow shoots upwards. "A full scholarship? As in, tuition paid in full?"

"Yes, and also that, if you're interested and this experiment is a success, a college internship will be waiting for you whenever you're ready."

Holy crap, no wonder Vic said yes to this already. Masrani is offering up college on a silver platter, for free. Even though college is still four years away, even Liv finds that offer tempting. She wants to go to college, not because her parents insist on it but because she wants to, though she still has no idea what she wants to do with her life.

But this internship…it could turn out to be her answer, one her parents may even agree with.

"Where would I work in the park?" she asks, already getting excited with all of the possibilities.

A small, secret smile upturns Claire's mouth, like she has the winning hand in a poker game but no one knows it yet. "I was actually hoping you would work in the Research Center with the Velociraptors. As I've heard from many of the trainers, you're already familiar with the safety procedures, follow them really well, and you've already taken on some of the more menial tasks. With the internship you will do that and more, getting involved with the animal training, the science behind it, and all of the business aspects."

Liv's eyes are nearly bugging out of her skull. She can work with the raptor squad. She can work with Owen.

The thought of pushing him away has been toying with her since hanging up on him. It would be so easy to do. But a part of her knows she can never do it. That's why she still wears his necklace around her neck. She's in too deep, despite everything, the fear and anxiety of him wanting to know the truth. None of that matters because the thought of being without Owen, the father she's always wanted, is now utterly unbearable. Which is why hopefully, maybe, this internship will help repair what she broke so things will go back to normal.

No wonder Vic wasn't entirely thrilled with this though. Liv has to spend time with Owen now. It's Claire's idea, her order, no decision of Liv's or Owen's or anyone else's. Vic can't stop it and he has no right to get mad about it. Maybe he'll still take his anger and frustration out on her but it won't be nearly as bad as her willingly going out of her way to spend time with Owen.

Maybe everything really will be okay.

When Owen's phone pings with an email from Claire he grins, big and dopey. Liv is all good to go with the internship plan.

The internship program wasn't really his idea. He and Barry wanted to get Liv working at the Research Center in some official capacity without it looking like Owen's idea so Vic can't accuse him of anything. They had nothing more specific than that, besides needing Claire's help because she is the only one who can set up something like that without needing Owen's implicit approval.

Claire's actually the one who came up with the rest of the plan.

Masrani apparently has been subtly "harassing" her about wanting to get students more involved with the park, to Claire's horror since she and kids of any age don't mix, but they've been toying with the idea of an internship program for months. Sure, it's supposed to be for college students, but they need a way to test it anyway and what better way than with a supply of students in such easy access? This way, Liv spending time with Owen is smokscreened by other employees' kids coming to work at the park and Liv working specifically for Owen is at the request of Claire, no one else, as far as Vic is concerned. Masrani quickly agreed with the idea of testing the program, freely supplying the money for scholarships, no problem for the eighth wealthiest man in the world.

They just needed Vic and Liv to say yes. He's not surprised Vic said yes, considering the scholarship money, even if he doesn't like his daughter hanging out with Owen.

Owen just wasn't sure what Liv would say, especially after how that phone call ended. He was afraid he had pushed too hard and she would want nothing to do with him anymore.

But she said yes. She said yes.

He owes a lot to Claire for setting this up. Which is why as soon as he reads through the email he does something he's been wanting to do for weeks: he calls her and asks her out to dinner. On a date.

Surprisingly, she says yes, too.

Author's Note

Honestly, I have no idea where the whole internship idea came from, it just popped into my head and I ran with it. I'm not even sure if it's realistically plausible but, hey, fanfiction.

And Owen asked Claire out! I'm going to admit, there isn't a whole lot of Owen/Claire in this fic, I mostly focus on Owen & Liv, but I tried to get some of it in here because I did want the two of them to be together by the end of all of this.

As for the movie timeline, I know that in the movie Clair and Owen went on their date and then didn't see each other again until the events of the movie, but I didn't do that here. They're going on their date soon but it's a lot sooner than the movie gets started. But did you guys see the little hint hint to the Indominus? They never really say how old the Indominus is in the movie, just that she had an accelerated growth rate, so I'm sort of making stuff up.

Next chapter will be Friday. We've got Liv, Owen, and the raptors all together again and they get to have some fun.

Hope you enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW, and see you all next time!