Author's Note

Hiya! So I know technically it's still Saturday for a lot of you, but where I am it's technically Sunday since midnight passed a little while ago. If I had waited for actual Sunday I wouldn't have been able to post until the afternoon and I didn't feel like waiting that long. I'm an impatient person.

I've been waiting for this chapter. I've been avoiding responding to reviews in fear that I would give something away since I've been known to do that in previous fics. I just get so excited. So I will bite my tongue and let you get on with it.

Go onward and enjoy!

Friends

For the first time, Liv doesn't know where to go once she steps off the helicopter.

Normally, she'd go find Vic, but that is definitely not something she wants to do, and Owen, Claire, and her social worker all told her to avoid Vic as much as possible until they're ready to arrest him for child abuse. He'll be taken away, he'll be allowed to gather his own evidence to try and counter their claim, and then they'll go to trial. In the meantime, she's not to go anywhere near him and she is perfectly okay with that.

The thing is, she doesn't know where he is right now so how is she supposed to avoid him? She could find out in the Control Room but what if he's in there?

Running out of options, she pulls out her phone and texts Owen. Hey, I'm on the island. What should I do?

His reply comes a few seconds later. Stay low for now. Vic is coming to the paddock for a demonstration soon. Go out into the park. Hide among the tourists. I'll text you when he's gone and then I'll come get you.

Kk.

She pockets the phone in her backpack and takes the elevator down, crossing her fingers that she doesn't run into Vic, but she makes it down the tunnel, through the security door, and into the Innovation Center without any problems. Deciding going to some of the attractions would be the safest bet, she pushes through the massive doors of the Center and heads out onto Main Street. It's ridiculously busy, just like it always is, so she can't stay in one place too long without risking getting run over by tourists but she doesn't know where she wants to go yet. She's seen all of the attractions dozens of times so it's not like any of it is new. She does still enjoy them though. She likes being able to see the other dinosaurs, has even tried "talking" to some of them like she does the raptors, but without the pack bond she gets mixed results. Something else for her to work on.

First thing's first, if she's going to be out in the park for who knows how long, there is no way she's spending that time in her school uniform. She slips into one of the restaurants and maneuvers through the crowd over to the bathroom, locking herself in one of the stalls so she can change into denim capris, a red tank top, and sneakers. Much more comfortable now, she makes her way down Main Street to where it divides into several paths leading to the monorail or different attractions.

An announcement over the intercom makes the decision for her.

"The next T-Rex feeding will begin in ten minutes."

Well, looks like she's going to visit Rexy.

She enters the attraction line just as they're opening the doors to allow people into the long hallway that will take them to the viewing area. On the inside, the viewing area looks like a large half-cylinder with a big glass window on one side, but she knows that on the outside it's made to look like a fallen tree trunk in order to blend in with the jungle of Rexy's paddock. The crowd is quickly gathering in front of the glass and Liv joins them, slithering her way through the crowd until she's right in front of the glass. There are some perks to being small, though not many.

The goat is already tethered to the pole down below, the flare burning next to it. Now it's only a matter of time until Rexy shows up, lured by the light of the flare and the promise of a nice snack.

Something jostles her backpack and Liv looks over her shoulder to see a kid with a mop of fluffy blond hair trying to get to the front of the crowd. She looks him over, making him out to be about a foot shorter than her, and then shrugs. Should be able to still see. She reaches back, grabs him by the sleeve of his plaid shirt, and drags him in front of her.

Yep, she can still see over his head. Perks aside, it's nice to not be the short one for once.

"Thanks," the kid says over his shoulder, giving her a smile that lights up his whole face.

She decides right then that he's completely adorable.

"No problem," she says. "You sure you really want to see this though? It can be bloody sometimes, though nine times out of ten I swears she just eats the thing whole. Makes me wonder if she can even taste it when she scarfs it down that fast."

She's a lot like Charlie in that way.

"Yeah!" He bounces on his toes in excitement, not bothered by the thought of upcoming gore at all. Such a little boy. "How many times have you seen this show?"

"Quite a bit. My…my dad works here."

No matter who she's talking about, whether it be Vic or Owen, the statement is still true. Besides, she wants to start thinking of Owen as her dad since he really will be soon.

"Really? That's awesome! My brother and I have an aunt who works here too."

"Huh." Wow, small world. She looks down and, sure enough, there's a VIP wristband on the boy's wrist, just like hers. "So is your aunt showing you around today?"

He grimaces. "Nah, it's just my brother Zach and me." He nods towards an older boy about her age at the back of the group with dark hair and wearing a jacket even though this is Central America. He's not paying attention to the show at all, trying to peer over the crowd waiting for Rexy to show up. Instead, he's busy talking on the phone. Liv wonders if he really finds the park that boring. "Our aunt didn't have time to come with us today. She said she was busy, but she's gonna spend the day with us tomorrow."

He looks so hopeful with that last statement, she hopes it really is true. If Vic made a promise like that to her, she wouldn't even hold her breath. "I'm sure she'll show you a good time tomorrow." Movement catches her eye and she looks over the kid's head and there she is, Rexy in all her prehistoric glory. She nudges the kid's shoulder, motioning with her head. "Look. Here she comes."

Everyone perks up and starts snapping pictures as Rexy comes over, bending down to chomp on her meal. It is a bit bloody this time but no one seems to care. They just keep staring on in morbid fascination as they watch an animal who's eaten human flesh before swallow up a goat.

Sure that no one is paying attention to her, Liv opens herself up to the auras and takes a look at Rexy's. Some people say the T-Rex has a small brain that makes her as dumb as a cow, but Liv begs to differ. Rexy is far from dumb. Right now, she's thinking all these humans in a fake log are pretty strange for watching her eat but is nonetheless willing to put up with it so long as she gets an extra snack. At least, that's the gist of what the dinosaur's emotions are telling her.

With a deep breath, Liv stretches her own aura out to Rexy's, trying to create a bond like what she shares with the pack but nothing that's actually lasting. Just a temporary line of communication. Rexy's head lifts up, her jaws dripping blood a little bit, and stares at the log curiously, her head filling up the entire window she's standing so close. She can feel what Liv is trying to do and Liv pauses, gaging the dinosaur's reaction to make sure she's not going to go hostile at the breach of privacy, but she remains simply curious.

Taking that as encouragement, Liv pushes towards her the feelings and words of a simple greeting.

Hello.

Rexy snorts, her breath fogging up the glass, and turns to walk away.

Liv frowns. She's not sure if Rexy didn't understand her or if that was her answer. Rexy seems like a dinosaur that would be hard to impress. She has been here longer than anyone, after all, human or dinosaur. Unsure whether to call it a win or a miss, Liv decides to give up for now and pulls back, paying attention to what's around her again.

The crowd is beginning to disperse, heading out another set of doors across from the one's they entered, leading to the exit. The kid is still with her though, standing next to her instead of in front of her now.

"By the way, my name's Gray," the kid says, his smile seeming to be a constant feature on his face.

She holds out her hand to him, her long-ingrained manners coming out automatically. "Nice to meet you, Gray. I'm Liv."

His nose wrinkles like he's fighting a laugh as he shakes her hand. Probably not something he does a lot with other kids. "You here with anybody?"

"Not really. I'm just killing some time until my dad can come and get me."

"You want to hang with Zach and me then? You can help me find something Zach will actually pay attention to, other than girls."

Liv laughs, looking over at Gray's brother to see him standing by the door waiting as people pass him by, staring at them. Well, staring at her. And with this dopey look on his face. "Wow, you weren't kidding. Why is he staring like that?"

"I think he's trying to forget about his last girlfriend. She was kind of a creeper. They were only together for two months and she was already telling him she loved him and was texting him, like, every hour to find out what he was doing."

"Yeah, that does sound like a creeper." And kind of stalker-y. "But if he keeps that up, he's going to turn into a creeper." And possibly a stalker. "He's gotta stop doing that if I go with you."

"He's really not that bad. I think he just has a hard time talking to girls."

"If you say so." No one's ever looked twice at her before, probably mostly due to her self-imposed isolation because of her parents and their no friends rule, including boyfriends. She's gotten good at disappearing in a crowd. To go from that to this, a guy openly staring at her, it's a bit…disconcerting. She feels out of her element and doesn't like it.

It's only for a couple of hours though, right? And who knows, maybe he won't be so bad once they get to know each other a little bit better. "Alright, I might as well meet him at least."

"Awesome!" Gray grabs her by the hand and drags her towards his brother. She staggers in her steps, almost falling. Gray is surprisingly strong for such a scrawny little boy. But she catches herself and stands before Zach with a small smile.

Well, now what?

"Hey," Zach says, a little uncertain himself.

Gray rolls his eyes and prods the two of them to follow the crowd down the hallway. "Liv, this is my brother, Zach. Zach, this is Liv. I asked if she wanted to hang with us. Her dad works in the park and she's waiting for him to pick her up or something."

"That's cool," Zach says, eyes flitting from her face, to the space just over her shoulder, to watching where they're going. His shyness is sort of endearing and makes her feel not so bad about being shy herself. "Our aunt works here, too, but we've never been here before. You see a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff?"

Liv can't help but think of her up-close tour of the raptor paddock she got last time she was on the island and smiles slyly. "Something like that, yeah."

The two brothers share a confused look but she doesn't comment further. By now, they've exited the T-Rex attraction and are back on Main Street without a destination.

"So, what do you guys want to do?"

"Something other than kids' stuff, please," Zach says, just short of begging.

There's at least a five year difference between Zach and Gray. It can't be easy to have to adjust to the whims of a kid, but she can't help but chuckle a little. "I take it you've been by the Gentle Giants already then." She goes through her mental list of attractions, trying to think of one that would appeal to both brothers despite their separation of age. "What about the Mosasaurus Feeding Show? It's a bit like what they do with the T-Rex but with a few fun twists."

Gray perks up. "Yeah, let's go!" He takes off down the street at a run, heading towards the lagoon. "Come on, let's go!"

Liv stares after him a bit bewildered. "Does he always have that much energy?"

"Yeah, he does." Zach give a long-suffering sigh. "Come on. We better go after him before we lose him."

Despite his words, Zach doesn't run after his brother, he walks at a leisurely pace. Liv follows after him, wondering why they aren't running after the kid, but then she realizes that despite their slower gait, they still never lose sight of Gray.

It's nice spending time with people who have VIP passes as well. Thanks to their wristbands, they're able to get into the stadium perched in front of the lagoon earlier than anyone else, Liv making sure they take seats in the splash zone. It means they still have a bit of a wait though. She ends up sitting between the two brothers, feeling a bit awkward and casting her eyes around for something to talk about.

"So," she says, drawing the word out, "my dad is just finishing up some work and will be picking me up a bit later. What about your aunt? If you're visiting for the first time, why isn't she with you?"

Both brothers get a dark and distant look on their faces and Liv internally cringes. Of course she brings up a touchy subject as soon as she opens her mouth.

"She was supposed to hang out with us," Gray mumbles, "but she said she couldn't today because of work."

"She stuck us with a babysitter," Zach adds bitterly. "Her assistant or something. We ditched her as soon as we could. Really easy to do since she wasn't paying hardly any attention."

Liv frowns, not really sure how to respond to that. Their aunt must be one of the scientists or something. They're almost always working and they have a ton of assistants. Even the assistants have assistants. But it doesn't matter how busy she is, she still should have taken the day off to be with her family.

"I'm sorry," she says, looking from Zach to Gray. "I know what it's like to have family who's always too busy working to have time for much else."

"Is your dad like that?" Gray asks.

"No, not my dad." Definitely not Owen. He always makes time for her. "But my mom is. I hardly ever see her sometimes."

"That's not right," Zach says, actually sounding a little angry for her. "I mean, our aunt isn't a big deal cause she lives here and we really don't see her anyway. But your parents should be there."

"Yeah, I know," she says softly but with a little smile, "but things are going to get better soon."

"I hope things get better for us, too," Gray says, looking out at the lagoon.

"I'm sure your aunt will find time for you before you leave. How long are you here for?"

"A week."

Her brow raises to her hairline. "A week? You guys skipping out on school for this trip or something?"

Zach leans forward in his seat, elbows on his thighs, not looking at her either. "Our parents fight a lot. It's normal for them. The fights never really last long and everything's always fine after, but…they've been fighting more than normal lately. They thought it better we spend some time with our aunt while they work it out."

Gray is weirdly silent next to her and Liv is sorely tempted to kick herself. There she goes, trampling over another touchy subject again. What have become of her people skills? Though she's only really talked to a handful of people regularly since she's been born, but still. She can do better than this.

So she starts telling them about the island and its residents as tourists continue to fill up the stadium.

She tells them about the Apatosaurus in the Valley. The Gallimimuses running through the plains. The Stegosaurus who laze about along the river as people float by on boats. She tells them about Rexy, about how she's older than any of them, was here way back when this was Jurassic Park. And she tells them about the Velociraptors, her raptor squad. She can't tell them much about that because it's a research project and not open knowledge to tourists, but she tells them what each of the raptors are like. Charlie, the one who acts like the little kid of the group, always running around and wanting to play. Delta, who usually follows Charlie around out of a need to make sure Charlie doesn't get into too much trouble. Echo, who is a bit hardheaded and usually the one causing the trouble. And Blue, the beta of the pack, always serene, majestic even, and looks after the others with a careful but firm hand.

The brothers gradually warm back up into smiles and she smiles back. This is why their parents sent them away. They didn't want their sons to see all the bad going on, and Liv doesn't want them dwelling on it either. They should enjoy themselves while here, in this wonderful, magical place she's starting to seriously consider her home, her true home.

By the time the show starts they're back to relative normal. Zach looks a bit bored at the beginning, playing a game on his phone as the woman running the show talks about the Mosasaurus, but Liv elbows him in the side when they bring the shark out on the crane. He looks up at her curiously, his cheeks maybe a little bit pink but it's hard to tell. She just nods her head towards the water and he turns to look just as the Mosasaurus breaches the water, leaping up in the air to grab her snack. As she slams back down into the water a huge wave splashes up over the glass wall of her enclosure to drench the splash zone of the stadium, including the three of them. Zach and Gray look shocked and she laughs, big and bright. The stadium gives a sudden jerk and then the seating begins to lower, bringing the audience down to a lower level so they can get a look at the Mosasaurus underwater.

Both brothers grin at her and she considers this a win.

They're coming out of the stadium when Liv's phone rings. She digs it out of her pocket, half fearing it's Vic demanding to know where she is and why she hasn't checked in with him yet, but the caller ID shows it to be Owen and she inwardly laughs at herself.

She answers it, "Hey."

"Hey, kiddo, I'm about ready to come pick you up. Where you at?"

"I'm just getting out of the Mosasaurus show."

He groans. "You're soaking wet, aren't you."

"Maybe," she says, neither confirming nor denying but not sounding very convincing all the same.

"I'm coming on my bike," he whines. "You're gonna get me wet."

"I'm mostly dry," she protests, picking at her still-damp tank top. "Sort of. It's hot enough here I'll probably be dry by the time you get here anyway."

"I hope so. Anyway, I should be there in about fifteen minutes. Meet me in the souvenir shop next to the lagoon, alright? Vic is still at the paddock right now but I don't know how long he'll stick around or where he'll go afterwords."

"Okay, sounds good." She contemplates asking if Vic asked about her, if he even realized she should be here by now and checking in with him, but she shakes that thought from her head. Vic won't matter anymore. The social worker and a couple of Costa Rican police are coming by to start the ball rolling tomorrow. That's all that matters. "See you soon….I love you, Dad."

His voice is softer when he replies and she can hear the smile in it. "Love you too, Liv."

She hangs up and puts her phone back in her pocket, her chest feeling light and warm. She's never ended a phone call with "I love you" before. It feels nice.

"Was that your dad?" Zach asks, and she turns to see him and Gray still waiting for her.

"Yeah, it was," she says, a little regretfully. "I have to wait for him to come get me in the souvenir shop."

"Oh," Gray says, sounding disappointed too. "Well, thanks for hanging out with us."

"No problem. I had fun with you guys." She bites her lip, thinking, and then decides to go for it. It's not like having friends is going to be against the rules anymore. She pulls out a pen and index card from her backpack and scrawls out her phone number. "Here," she says, handing the card to Zach. "If you guys ever come back to the island, give me a call. We'll hang out again."

"Y-Yeah," Zach says, cheeks slightly pink again as he pockets the card. "That, uh, that sounds good."

She smiles shyly and the three of them part with a wave.

Yeah. Friends. Real friends her own age. Well, at least one of them is. Still, it's progress. Progress towards the life she actually wants.

"Oh, and I recommend you go to Gyrosphere Valley next!" she calls after them. "It's the best!"

Author's Note

Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at the movie! So, at what point did you realize the movie had started? You guys have been asking so many questions about how I'm going to deal with Vic and most of your ideas are different than what happened in the movie, but there's the problem right there: I really, really want Vic to get eaten by the raptors. And if I had taken care of Vic, had him arrested and taken away from Liv etc., I wouldn't have been able to do that. So, movie time.

So many other things to talk about, where do I even start?

First, I guess there's the timeline. I know I smudged it a bit, like exactly when Zach and Gray went to each exhibit compared to what goes on with Owen and Claire and the Indominus. That's mostly because I wrote all of this before the movie came out on DVD, but also because I have a strict order in my head as to how everything needs to play out. I also changed when Zach and Gray actually take the trip. In the movie, it was around Christmas time because I remember the Christmas music and there being snow at their house, but in my timeline it's late February, early March at the latest, and a little after Liv's sixteenth birthday. I did it to stay compliant with the fact that the raptor project is at least two years old, meaning the raptors are at least two years old.

Second, I changed the situation with Zach and his girlfriend. A majority of that is because, like what was in the chapter, she came off as a total creeper. I don't see how he put up with it. Also, if you hadn't noticed, I'm going to do a bit Zach/Liv, but only minimal. That is not the main focus of this fic and that isn't going to change.

Third, I found writing Zach hard. Some of it is because I thought Zach was a little bit of a creeper too (seriously, how did those girls not find his weird staring creepy?), but I tried to play with it.

Aaaaaand, I think that's it. Next chapter will be Tuesday. It'll probably be the most cannon compliant of them all, especially with the movie dialogue, but there are a few fun twists. After that, I took the movie and had a ton of fun tossing it in a blender. Seriously, my brain went places I didn't even expect when starting this fic but I love them.

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