DISCLAIMERS

1. I DO NOT OWN JURASSIC PARK/WORLD. This is just for fun.

2. This is a femslash story. If you don't like that sort of thing, you won't like this.

PART 23

Claire was experiencing deja vu - somewhat. For just as she had done six days earlier, she was standing outside Lex's front door... unsure.

But for entirely different reasons. This time her heart was on the line.

Claire's chest clenched as she thought back to how spectacularly, disasterously wrong everything had gone. Within just a few minutes, she went from being in a wonderous, all-but-committed relationship with the most beautiful woman she ever met... to being slapped in the face and thrown out her house.

How could this have happened? How could it all have gone SO wrong? Claire was in heaven - she had never met anyone like Lex Murphy. As ludicrous as it seemed, she was beginning to think she could not cope without the woman. Lex was everything she wanted in a partner: Claire pretty much realised that when she asked the blonde to come back with her to Isla Nublar.

The island. Claire groaned at that. At what it meant. It was the reason everything fell apart.

Lex hated theme parks, and now Claire knew exactly why. The 1993 incident at the original Jurassic Park was infamous. Claire had read up on it when she first took a job at its successor. Because of one man's greed, John Hammond's original vision crashed and burned. Claire heard all the stories: dinosaurs running amok; people hunted and eaten like snacks; the animals freely beginning to breed; death and destruction everwhere.

And Lex was in the middle of it all. Indeed, she was in many ways the initial victim. Lex and her brother were the first ones attacked when the Tyrannosaurus Rex - Rexy, the only asset at Jurassic World Claire felt any affection for, no less! - escaped and crushed the van they were in. The two survived, but the emotional scars clearly remained for Lex.

Claire groaned again. No wonder Lex had nightmares. How could anyone forget something like that? How could it not leave lasting psychological wounds? Claire prayed nothing like that ever happened at Jurassic World... but knew it would not. The "new" park's health and safety procedures were flawless. Besides, they did not have someone on the island upto their own agenda, like that computer guy.

Claire also realised now why Lex's name was vaguely familiar when she first saw it in her purse. However, several years of meeting new people put it further and further to the back of her memory, until it barely remained. But now Lex Murphy meant everything to her. Claire cared so much for her. She wanted to never part from the blonde. Claire thought she was above "whirlwind romance", but if any person warranted it, it was Lex.

However, it went both ways. Claire cared so deeply for Lex, and thought she felt the same. But if so... why did she not tell the OM her past? Why did she not tell her who her grandfather was? For fuck's sake... it was John Hammond! Never in a million - or 65,000,000, she mused bitterly - did Claire consider Lex was related to the founder of her place of employ. It was not the kind of thing you naturally assume!

Claire began to feel her anger rise. How could Lex not tell her? How could she have kept so quiet all week? Did the blonde not realise she meant the world to Claire? Or was the redhead just kidding herself? Was the affection she received from Lex just an illusion? Speaking of illusion... Claire was infuriated at Lex's accusation, her assumption that she was just playing a game. How could Lex think Claire was seducing her just to get her back to the island?! How could she think so ill of Simon Masrani? When Lex said those things, Claire was beyond shocked.

The redhead could not believe how badly things got. She was absolutely stunned when Lex slapped her - and not just literally. But it was also in someways a wake-up strike. The fury Claire felt about Lex's accusation instantly evaporated, replaced with remorse. For she knew - and realised further after she left - it was her own fault. She should have told Lex where she worked. She should have insisted the blonde knew. Claire thought she was just protecting Lex, and she was... but when they resolved to stay together, they should have talked about it - instead of continuing to ignore it, as if it was irrelevent.

Claire held her head. She wanted her job to be a surprise to Lex? Well, mission: accomplished there! What a stupid thing to do. Why did she not tell Lex? She should have told her immediately. That way, all this might have been averted. There would have been time for Lex to calm down and come to terms with it. Claire would have time to comfort the blonde - as she knew she would have to - and rationalise things, to bring her around. Claire wondered if it really would have worked - two decades of anxiety were tough to overcome - but it would have been preferable to how things actually turned out. Because instead, they had barely anytime at all.

Claire knew she had to leave Lex's house, incase things escalated even further. In the time since, she returned to her hotel room, read up on the '93 incident... and simply cried. Going over the situation over and over in her head, until she finally came to the conclusions she did. She was - mainly - at fault, not Lex. She had to fix things. She had to convince the blonde to still come back with her. An impossiblilty, perhaps, but if Claire did not try, she would never forgive herself. Because despite what happened, she still wanted to be with Lex. She wanted to be with her so much.

So here she was. Outside Lex's door once again. Things were not entirely ideal for winning Lex back. The park staff driver who was sent - William - arrived from the airport earlier than expected, and he was even driving a company car complete with Masrani Enterprises and Jurassic World badges. Fucking marvelous. That was sure to sway Lex! Claire considered telling him to drop her off and wait at the end of the street so the vehicle would be out of view, but that would only be delaying the inevitable. She could not very well blindfold Lex, drag her down the street and shove her into the car before she asked any questions.

Time was now definitely of the essence. The plane would be leaving soon; Claire had to do this now and quick. She was used to tough dealings and smooth talk... but now it mattered more than ever before.

She nervously knocked on the door...

TO BE CONTINUED