Disclaimer: I do not own the Jurassic Park franchise or any of it's characters; I only own the characters and plots of my own mind.

8. Up a Tree

It was a sweet relief when the two Grants were finally on solid ground once again. Gwyn slipped off her father's back, but kept herself pressed close to him, hands grabbing fistfulls of his shirt. Alan was her anchor to sanity––something that she felt like she had left in the Ford before it toppled off the wall. Her hands were torn away from his shirt, however, when Alan spun around and dropped into a crouch before her. His eyes began to frantically scan her body whilst Gwyn stared at him with a wide-eyed, terrified stare. His gaze became sharply fixated on her face, darting about with more acute movements.

"You're bleeding, where are you bleeding from?" he murmured. His face was composed in a look of unadulterated concern––brows furrowed, widened eyes, mouth hanging open just slightly.

Both of Alan's hands, warm against her shock-chilled skin, cupped Gwyn's cheeks, which were spattered in mud and blood. His thumbs started to furiously swipe at her skin, attempting to search out the source of bleeding. Gwyn flinched when the rough pad of her father's thumb ran none-too-gently across her temple––it was there that she had been cut. It was likely due to the shattered glass that had littered the car as it was tossed and turned and flipped and abused. Alan winced and scrubbed his hand clean on the leg of his pants before he did his best to wipe the area free of mud. Once it was obvious that the rest of her face was unscathed, he began to scan the rest of her body. His hands clutched her shoulders before sliding down her arms, which he pulled away from her body to check for wounds. There were a few scrapes and hair-line cuts, but nothing was gushing blood.

Gwyn was promptly pulled into her father's arms and hugged tight. She heard him mutter 'thank god' into her hair, which was a complete and utter mess around her face. Both of her arms tightly wrapped around Alan's neck, into which she sniffled. He smelled like sweat and rain and there was never a more comforting combination of scents. It was far more comforting than the damp smell of the trees and dirt around them––all of that was overwhelming. The embrace was short lived, despite how much both parties wanted to simply cling to each other and forget the horror show that had been unfolding. They were still in danger.

Alan rose to his feet and steered Gwyn towards the wall they had just scaled down. An industrial cement pipe was exposed there, gushing water noisily. The paleontologist thrust his face into the water to both rid himself of mud and blood and to help keep him alert. He drew back, sputtering slightly as the water dribbled away from his face. Gwyn felt a cold flush of fear when a sudden thought occurred to her. Her small hands grabbed hold of Alan's shirt desperately.

"W-what about Lex and T-Tim?" she stuttered out.

The question seemed to take a moment to register. When it finally did, however, Alan twisted around and craned his head back to peer up into the tree closest to them. Both father and daughter gaped up at the car, which had somehow managed to cling to the tree so its bumper faced the ground. Towards the top, the mostly destroyed Ford Explorer was balanced precariously, and its headlights shone downwards through the branches. The metal would groan every couple of moments. It was a disaster waiting to happen, and something needed to be done about it.

"Tim!? Lex!" Alan called out. He took a few steps towards the tree and Gwyn followed on wobbly legs. No response was called back. "Timmy! Lex!" Again, nothing. Alan swore under his breath before he turned back to his daughter; both her shoulders were clasped in his hands and gripped tightly. "I need you to stay here, Gwyn, do you understand? I'm going to go help Lex and Tim, but I need you to stay right here." Gwyn stared at him wide-eyed whilst her body shook. Alan arched both brows pointedly and brought his hands to cup either side of her face. "I'll be right back, I promise. I won't leave you. I would never leave you. Alright?"

It took much effort for Gwyn to give the nod that she offered him. The gesture was stiff and her body was so tense it hurt. She blinked as Alan kissed her forehead briskly and watched him quickly stride towards the tree. Gwyn stood there for a long moment, with water and mud pooling around her ankles, staring blankly at nothing in particular. When that dull blankness became too much, she spun on her heel and forced her head into the gush of clean water. It was cold, shocking, and just what Gwyn needed. With a gasp, she wrenched her head from the water. Hair clung to her forehead, cheeks, and the sides of her neck, sopping wet and dripping. She furiously started to scrub at her face and arms, rubbing away what mud and blood was caked across her skin. The action suited to keep her distracted for a little while, even once all the muck and gore was gone.

Once Gwyn had rubbed water over her face and arms one too many times, she crawled into the cement pipe for safety. She curled in on herself and hugged her knees tightly. As time went on, she started to rock back and forth just slightly, eyes staring blankly ahead of herself. There was nothing she could do but wait for Alan to come back. Nothing but sit there and relive what had just transpired. She thought of the roaring and how it hurt her ears, how her body had been tossed around like a ragdoll, and how she was so sure she was going to die. It occurred to her, then, that it was still possible she could die. That was a frightening realization. It caused her stomach to twist and her throat and eyes to burn. With her expression crumpling, Gwyn hid her face in her knees and started to cry. What if she did die? That question was strange to ponder at such a young age. She was young enough to be mostly unaware of all the things she would not experience should she not escape with her life; but she was old enough to know there was so much that she had yet to do. It was a shocking realization. A numbing one.

A few minutes passed before there was a scramble of excited voices, the cracking of branches, and the groaning of metal. Gwyn cautiously raised her head and craned it forward so she could peer out of the pipe. It was all she could do to watch as the Ford began its final descent, chasing Alan, Tim, and Lex down the trunk of the tree. Branches cracked and gave way under the weight of the vehicle. The three scrambled to the ground, where Alan practically tackled the two children into a hunker, his arms protectively curled around them. There was a terrible groaning sound as the Ford flipped forward and engulfed the trio with its mangled metal body.

"Dad!" Gwyn screeched, launching herself out of the pipe. She stumbled and struggled to gain her footing once her feet made contact with the muddy earth. The frantic beating of her heart drowned out all other sound; she did not just watch her father get crushed by a car, she did not… "Dad!" The toe of her right shoe caught on her left ankle, and Gwyn went sprawling to her knees, hands having flown forward to stop her from crashing into the car.

"We're alright, Gwyn, we're alright…" came the breathless voice of her father. A sigh of relief passed through her lips and she bowed her head. The thrumming of her heart began to calm.

A small hand stretched through the open door and the equally small fingers dug into the soft earth. Tim began to drag himself out of the remains of the Ford, whilst making grunts of effort. Gwyn wiggled back on her knees and reached out to grasp the boy under his armpits. She gave a pull and helped extract him from the mangled vehicle. The two fell backwards, with Gwyn's behind landing solidly in the mud and Tim using her torso as a crash pad. Lex was next to exit the car, shaking and wide-eyed. She remained on her hands and knees, staring at the ground with her mouth agape. She seemed to be muttering something under her breath––something to the effect of 'he left us.' Alan appeared on the other side of the car, looking frazzled with rumpled hair and eyes wild with adrenaline.

"You're wet," Tim informed Gwyn, his cheek still smooshed against her chest. Gwyn nodded, still in a slight daze, and helped sit him upright.

"So are you," she replied.

Beside them, Lex seemed to come out of her haze and launched herself at her brother, hugging him tightly. He protested with a strangled grunt, as he was practically dragged to the ground with his sister. Gwyn struggled to her feet, wobbling on shaky ankles. The four of them were all a little worse for wear; they bore scrapes and bruises, their hair was damp, and their clothes were all now varying shades of brown thanks to the mud. All of them were a little bleary eyed with vaguely furrowed brows. Everything that had happened to them thus far seemed disgustingly unreal––and yet, there they were, living the impossible.

"Okay…" Alan murmured. He rounded the car and stretched out a hand, which trembled slightly. "Kids, we're gonna have to keep moving. We… we need to find a safe place to rest and to… figure out what the hell we're going to do next."

Gwyn looked up at her father, eyes widening whilst her stomach dropped heavily. "W-what about Ellie? A-and Dr. M-Malcolm?" A dinosaur was on the loose, who was to say it hadn't made its way to the visitor's center? And it had been chasing Ian, hadn't it?

Alan crouched down and took both of her shoulders in both his hands. He raised both brows, and met his daughter's gaze intently. "Ellie is far away from here, she'll be fine. You and I both know she can take care of herself; you're both alike in that aspect."

"And Dr. Malcolm?"

Alan's expression fell a little, and his eyes darted up the height of the wall they'd descended. "He… he'll be okay."

Gwyn blinked at Alan, her brows knitting together slowly. She, too, looked to the top of the wall, where the destroyed fence loomed at a crooked angle. The rain had come to a drizzling stop, but clouds still obscured the sky in a dark haze. Alan's answer had inspired little hope. When Gwyn dragged her gaze back to meet her father's, her expression crumpled a little more, in the most heartbreaking way.

"Why are you lying?" she asked, voice warbling on the last word. Alan's face fell further. With a completely sobered look, he tried to force a smile and a laugh.

"You've always been a little too observant for your age…" Said thought seemed to be voiced purely for himself. His fingers squeezed her small shoulders and he cleared his throat. "I… don't know about Dr. Malcolm; and that's the honest truth."

That honest truth only added to the heaviness of the situation. Gwyn nodded and let her gaze become fixated on her feet. She was suddenly very aware of everyone else's mortality, not just her own. She felt Alan sweep a hand along the back of her head, a gesture meant to be comforting. Her father rose from the crouch and went to aid Lex and Tim in getting to their feet again. Gwyn wrapped her arms around her midsection tightly. She was starting to feel cold, despite the oppressive humidity the tropic island brought.

The four soon began their slow trek through the jungle. Alan forged the way with cautious steps, making sure he observed the landscape properly before they moved a great distance. The kids kept as close to him as they possibly could, with Gwyn oftentimes grabbing either the back of his shirt or his belt to make sure he didn't stray too far ahead. Moving through the jungle was just as nerve-wracking as the attack had been. They were surrounded by strange sounds and every rustle of a nearby branch made them freeze in fear. They moved super cautiously, with paranoia causing their heads to tick every which-way at every little sound. After what felt like hours, they came to a stop around a massive tree. Its trunk appeared to be made of a tangle of several different trees, all twisted and knotted together. It was sparse in the foliage department, but its branches were thick and supported thin curtains of leafy vines. Alan prompted the kids to stay put as he made to walk around the tree in its entirety.

Whilst they waited for Alan to complete the circle, a terrifyingly familiar sound echoed in the distance. It was the roar of the tyrannosaurus-rex. Gwyn felt her joints stiffen in fear. The sound had been distant, too far away to be of immediate concern; but she didn't want to find out how quickly it could become a concern.

"Are you hearing this?" Lex murmured.

"That's… far enough away… right?" Gwyn added on under her breath.

Alan, who had taken a defensive stance, backed up towards them and stretched a hand back towards them. He wormed his way behind them and ushered them forward with urgent steps.

"Come on, kids. Come on, hurry up. Let's, uh, get up this tree," Alan prompted. Gwyn was quick to take initiative, rushing to the tree with quick feet. She stared up at the knotted trunk with wide eyes, trying to figure out where to find a proper hand-hold. Tim began to whine tiredly, dragging his feet whilst they approached the tangled tree trunk. "Come on, Tim, it's okay. Try up here."

"Oh, man… I hate trees," Tim whined.

"They don't bother me!" Lex informed in the brightest tone she'd given in the last hour. She began to expertly scale the tree with ease, apparently eager to be off the treacherous ground. Gwyn watched Tim pull a face as Alan helped boost him up a ways.

"Yeah? Well you'd think weren't in the last one…" he griped under his breath. Once Tim was well on his way up the trunk, Alan turned his attention to Gwyn. She had turned back to staring at the intimidating trunk, looking for the right crevice to fit her hands into.

"Here, Gwyn, let me––" Alan began, holding out a hand for her to take. But she shook her head, found her own hand-hold and began to pull herself upwards. Her limbs protested the movement, and she made a face at the feel of her tired muscles.

"I got it," she assured her father. He watched as she began to climb with the ease of someone who'd done it dozens of times before. She was slow going, sure, but her movements were assured. But Gwyn had never climbed a tree, Alan was sure of it. They were never home long enough for her to even attempt scaling the one in their backyard. Alan began to ascend as well, watching as his daughter's toes found purchase where they could, and how her hands grasped at knots in the bark.

"When did you learn to climb?" Alan inquired with a furrowed brow. Gwyn paused and glanced down at her dad, hair falling into her eyes.

"David taught me."

"David?" he asked in confusion. "Who's David?" Gwyn made a grunting sound as she pulled herself up with shaking arms. She seated herself beside Lex and Tim in a little alcove made of thick tree branches and the curve of the tree trunk.

"That paleontologist from Seattle who worked on the last dig. He thought it was absurd I didn't know how to climb a tree, so whenever he had time off, he worked on teaching me," Gwyn explained as Alan pulled himself up beside her.

Alan stared at his daughter, eyes roaming her dirt and blood smudged face. There were many things that he had come to realize that day, but what occurred to him just then hit hard, like a swift punch to the stomach. It left him breathless with a pounding heart and a need to frown. He hadn't taught his own daughter how to climb a tree. He hadn't been there to assure her she was okay as she looked down at the ground in fear. Hadn't been there to comfort her when she skinned her knee against the bark. Instead, someone else––whom he didn't even know, and that Gwyn hardly knew––had been the one to do those things. Do what a parent should be there to do. While that thought wormed its way uncomfortably through his head, he began to wonder just what else he had missed.

A low groaning sound caught everyone's attention, drawing their eyes towards the view before them. The sky––mostly cleared of clouds––bore faint splotches of coral pink, betraying the fact that the sun had just set. The jungle stretched on before them, bathed in the cool light of the misty evening. Long necked creatures rose above the trees, unaware of their human audience.

"Hey!" Tim exclaimed excitedly. He pointed forward with a broad grin spreading across his face. "Those are brontosauruses! I mean, brachiosauruses."

The groaning and moaning sounds continued at varying distances. Gwyn felt her lips twitch up at the corners a little; the sight and sounds before them were… beautiful. The massive creatures in the distance inspired no fear. Their docile nature almost proved to comfort and soothe after the vicious nature of the monster that had attacked them.

"They're singing…" Alan exhaled with a smile. They listened for a little while longer, before Alan––with a boyish excitement––rose to his feet and shifted over to a different branch. He straddled it for support and curled his hands before his mouth as though holding a trumpet of some sort. Gwyn watched curiously as her father put some amount of effort into mimicking the dinosaurs in the distance. To everyone's surprise, they bellowed back in response… and much closer than expected. Two more brachiosauruses raised their heads; they stood less than a couple hundred feet away. Panicked, Lex began to tug on Alan's pant leg.

"Shh! Shh! Don't let the monsters come over here!" she exclaimed.

"They aren't monsters," Gwyn replied, pulling her knees up to her chest. It was a bold statement after the evening they'd had. Her eyes roamed the horizon, lingering on the silhouettes of her favorite dinosaur. "They're herbivores, so they won't hurt us."

"That means they only eat vegetables, but I think for you they'd make an exception," elaborated Tim, raising his eyebrows at his sister. She glared at his brotherly teasing and returned her gaze to the brachiosaurus.

"Well, I hate the other kind," Lex said decisively. Alan shifted off the branch, utilizing the trunk for support.

"They just… do what they do," he said with a mild shrug.

Once Alan had reseated himself, back braced against the tangled trunk, Gwyn shifted backwards so she was tucked under his right arm. Tim and Lex followed by example and crowded close to his right side. Before they could all get properly settled, Alan hissed and reached for something in his back pocket. He extracted the fossilized velociraptor claw he'd taken from the dig site. Gwyn stared at it with a frown on her face, recalling the flashes of leathery skin she'd seen at the raptor paddock. A shudder rolled through her body as she imagined the damage that claw had likely once done. Alan looped his arm around Gwyn's shoulder whilst the two Grants continued to consider the fossil.

"What're you and Ellie gonna do now if you don't dig up dinosaur bones anymore?" Lex inquired sleepily.

"I dunno. I guess… I guess we'll just have to evolve too…" Alan replied.

The question and answer made Gwyn's stomach squirm uncomfortably. She couldn't picture a life without paleontology. Without long days in the sun, itchy sunburns, and month-long digs. That was her normalcy; she didn't want any of that taken away. Gwyn cuddled herself into Alan's side, regarding the claw with a little more sadness than before. The mood had become somber, a saddened air settling around them like a blanket.

After a moment, Tim broke the silence. "What do you call a blind dinosaur?"

"I don't know, what do you call a blind dinosaur?" Alan asked in return, glancing Tim's way. His fatherly tone was starting to creep into his voice, making it gentle and warm. Gwyn rested her head against her father's chest and watched as Tim smiled sweetly.

"Do-you-think-he-saurus." Gwyn grinned tiredly and felt Alan chuckle heartily. Clearly pleased by the response he got, Tim tried for a second joke. "What do you call a blind dinosaur's dog?"

"You got me."

"Do-you-think-he-saurus-rex."

Gwyn shut her eyes whilst Alan chuckled again, the warm familiar sound proving to calm her still frayed nerves.

"Alan?" Lex asked.

"Yeah?"

"What if the dinosaurs come back while we're all asleep?" Her voice got progressively more tired as she spoke. It was clear she was fighting off sleep with each word. Gwyn felt Alan take in a deep breath as he contemplated his response.

"Well… I'll stay awake," he told her.

"All night?"

"All night."

The two Murphys, satisfied by the answer, curled into each other––and Alan––and shut their eyes. Gwyn's tiredly opened just in time to watch Alan toss the fossilized claw aside. There was a gentle thump as it hit the ground below them. Something about that felt meaningful. Meaningful in a way that Gwyn's exhausted mind couldn't quite grasp hold of; not while she was so tired, at least. So she filed the moment away to consider when she wasn't terrified they'd be set upon by killer dinosaurs. Her eyes drifted shut again, and she pressed herself closer to Alan's warmth. As one minuted lapsed into five, and from five to ten, she felt the heaviness of exhaustion in her limbs. Her arms ached from the effort of pushing at the plexiglass roof piece; her torso throbbed in the spots she had slammed into the car's interior as it was thrashed about. Gwyn furrowed her brows and shifted her heavy arms and legs so she was pressed closer to her father. His embrace had always made her feel better.

Alan remained silent for a good while, keeping his arms protectively wrapped around the children at his sides. But that silence allowed for him to linger on the unsettled thoughts he'd uncovered not too long ago. He peered down at his daughter with a frown appearing at the corners of his mouth. For the first time since the attack on the car, Gwyn's face looked peaceful and relaxed. Alan tightened the arm that was wrapped around her shoulders and pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of her head. How many potentially pivotal moments had he missed? Alan had always been aware he'd never been a terribly conventional father; in fact, becoming a father had been a surprised and being a father had been difficult. He knew that he was gruff and blunt, and that such a natural attitude didn't lead into being a natural father. People made sure that he understood that. But that didn't mean that he didn't love it, and that he didn't love his daughter. She had become his world, and it pained him to think he might not have been paying attention to her like he should have been.

"Gwyn?" he asked quietly, unsure if she had fallen asleep yet. In response, she hummed and shifted her head so it rested against his shoulder instead of his chest. Alan raised a hand and began to thread it through her hair, which was only a little damp, now; he turned his head so he could look down at her, a crease deeply set between his brows. "I'm… I'm sorry that I didn't teach you how to climb a tree."

Gwyn felt her brows furrow in confusion. She shook her head and made a sound that could have been a laugh if she hadn't been so tired. Alan's fingers continued to smooth themselves across her hair, brushing strands of it out of her face with a fatherly love he was no longer sure he'd ever exercised with her. Her shoulders raised and them slumped again. "It was just tree climbing," she attempted to dismiss. But Alan wasn't having that as an excuse, so he shook his head, the frown on his lips deepening.

"I still should have taught you… there are a lot of things I should have taught you."

"But you have taught me things, dad."

"I'm not talking about… dinosaur facts or paleontology basics, Gwyn… I'm talking about things like… how to ride a bike, how to climb a tree… I should've… built you a tree-house… things that parents are supposed to do with their children," Alan told her. He exhaled slowly, a shudder present in the breath that escaped through his nose. "I haven't been a very good father, have I?"

Somewhere in the distance a brachiosaurus groaned and munched down on another tree branch, a sound that filled the silence that followed Alan's question. Gwyn shifted so she could stare up at him, shaking her head in denial of his inquiry. He may have not been the most conventional of fathers, but she wouldn't have ever had it any other way. She couldn't picture her younger years without his blunt-edged comments about how dinosaurs hunted, or without the long sunny days on dig sites. Unconventional was her life, and that was exactly how she liked it and why she loved it. Why she loved him.

"Of course you're a good dad," she told him. "You and I aren't supposed to be like normal families. Normal families seem boring. I don't need to have a tree-house––I've got the Montana Badlands as a place to play."

"It's what the tree-house… I don't know… symbolizes––"

"What?"

"I dunno…" he mused. "Parenthood? The relationship between parent and child?" Gwyn stared at him hard, waiting for a direct answer. Alan pulled his arm from around her shoulders and scratched at the back of his head, at a loss of proper words. A sigh escaped his lips and his shoulders rose and fell in a deflated shrug.

"Then maybe that's a tree-house for some people. But to me… I guess that would be the paintings on the walls of my bedroom that you did. The ones of the dinosaurs. 'Cause you and I, we're a dino-fossil-hunting, father-daughter team. I wouldn't have it differently." She had spoken with a confidence that exceeded her age, and that made Alan's brows hike upwards. Gwyn snuggled back into Alan's side, her arms wrapping around his midsection. "You're the best dad," she murmured tiredly. "You can teach me to…" there was a pause as she yawned, "to ride a bike when we get home…"

Alan's lips quirked to the side at the sleepiness of her voice. He wrapped his arm around her protectively and secured her place against his torso. With his head lolled back against the tree, Alan let his eyes slip shut. "It's a deal."

"Love you, dad…"

"Love you too, sweetheart."

Afterword: And we inch ever closer to the end of the film. I'm very sorry about the long wait, but school and life got in the way. Hardcore. I've barely had time to breathe let alone write. I'm inching up on having a month long break, however, so I should be able to flex my creative muscles a little more in the coming weeks.

Review Replies!

SabakuNoGaara426: I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the last chapter! I hope you enjoyed this one just as much! Thanks again!

god of all: I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the last one! Thanks again!

Evaline101: Thank you; I hope that you've stuck around to keep reading after all this time. Thanks again!

NicoleR85: Here's a new update, many months later. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

XxRikela-chanxX: I'm happy you enjoyed the car scene; it was fun to write the stress of the situation, and figure out Gwyn's thoughts to it all. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

The girl with no life: I'm flattered to hear you love the story––and I, too, would probably bring Jurassic Park to a deserted island. There's always so much to pick up on every time you watch it. Thanks again! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

SoleFaith: This chapter had the first major father-daughter moment, with Alan realizing that his parenting style is a bit… different; and being scared he's missed stuff with Gwyn growing up. And there are more father-daughter moments to come! And everything will work out for her in the end––even if she has to relive a little of it. But she'll have Owen at her side, and they'll fight through it ;) I am very happy you've been enjoying the story! Thank you so much!

Guest: Here's some more! Hope you enjoyed it!

Kernow85: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

PhAnToM1212: Thank you so much; I hope you enjoyed the newest installment!

suzii3499: I'm very glad you have enjoyed the story so far––and that you've been enjoying Gwyn. She's a character that I got to de-age, as I am using her in a different story, so it was fun to figure out how she would have been as a child; very much a kid, but with that streak of strange maturity. Alan is honestly a wonderful dad; he's just always been self conscious about it. I hope that you enjoyed the new chapter! Thanks again!

CrystalVixen93: I am very happy you've been enjoying the story; I hope you enjoy the new chapter! Thanks again!

singingKatelyn: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter!

Infinite Rex: I'm finally back to keep on writing, after that terribly long break. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks again!

And thank you to those that have read and added this to follows/favorites; it means a lot!

That's it for now; and I really truly hope to get to updating this soon. School work is dwindling as finals approach, so I'll hopefully have more time. Thank you to everyone who has waited so patiently! You all rock!

~Mary