Ellie glided down to the elephant camp when the sun peeked over the mountain range. She felt the cold, humid air ruffling her feathers, but she was too tired to care. Her night had been sleepless, and she almost felt as though she could fall asleep in midair. Luckily, she didn't, because at that very moment, a net shot up from the canopy and wrapped around her wings.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

She tumbled to the ground, landing painfully in the muck. When she looked up, she saw Neithhotep staring down at her coldly.

"I'll keep this brief. I'm still on your side, but I can't have you interfering with the story. I've worked too hard, setting these events in motion."

Ellie struggled against the net, but it seemed to be absorbing her power. Neithhotep patted her head gently.

"Don't worry. I brought someone to keep you company."

The hellhound, Bernie, stepped out of the trees and sat down next to her. Ellie changed into a raptor and snapped at him angrily, but he didn't pay an ounce of attention to her. Neithhotep spread her wings and began to rise.

"Goodbye, Ellie. I have to attend to a separate story now. Once I get back, we can have a little talk."

Ellie screamed in fury as she changed back into a human, kicking her legs like a dying quail.

"Don't leave me! Come back!"

Neithhotep ignored her, flapping her wings until she was but a speck in the sky. Ellie thrashed around and turned to Bernie, who was sitting attentively on the forest floor. She reached through the net and tried to pet his leg.

"Hey, doggie, you wanna let me out?"

Bernie frowned.

"No. I'm giving up a lot to be here, I'll have you know. I had an audition for Macbeth today."

Ellie raised her eyebrow.

"Let me out and I'll use my magic to get you there on time."

Bernie growled quietly.

"Deals are for the Devil."

"Or maybe I'm just an innocent woman who needs to get out of here ASAP."

Bernie snorted.

"Maybe so. I don't doubt that Neith is up to something, but I love her too much to question the morality of her actions."

Ellie narrowed her eyes.

"You're in love with her? Does this mean you're going to be my new great-grandfather?"

"Hardly. She doesn't love me back."

Ellie nodded in understanding.

"Oh . . . You're like her Zebil, aren't you?"

"I don't know what that means."

"You let her push you around, and get nothing in return."

"Sounds about right."

Ellie frowned.

"You're . . . okay with this?"

Bernie nodded.

"It's hard to be bitter when I owe her so much. Then again, it's very possible that you'd call me 'bitter', because you use that word too often."

Ellie crossed her arms.

"You'd be surprised how much magic it takes to search a thesaurus."

Bernie scoffed and lifted his chin.

"You have too much pride, Ellie Sattler. If I were to let you go, you'd try to meddle, because that is what you do. You think you can help people, but you don't realize that they sometimes need to help themselves."

"I can't abandon my friends."

"You abandoned Robin."

Ellie went rigid.

"I . . . She doesn't want me around. She told me to go away."

"You got her a dog to apologize. I know, because I have a dog-sense."

"Liar."

"Her name is Pretzel. She misses Elkay."

"I think we all do when she leaves, even if we don't want to."

They sat quietly for a moment. Ellie wrapped her wings over her shoulders and sighed.

"Please let me go."

Bernie shook his head slowly.

"I can't risk losing Neith's trust. Can you try to understand?"

"I do understand. I saw Zebil go through the same thing you are. He beat himself up over the most insignificant things, and suffered as a result. He hated displeasing her. Whenever he dared to defy her, he felt really shitty about himself for no good reason. You shouldn't have to be the kind of person who can only be happy when their partner is. You're your own man . . . dog . . ."

Bernie shook his head.

"I'm not going to betray Neith. Dogs are loyal. That's why we're superior to humans."

"Who hurt you, Bernie?"

The dog rolled his eyes.

"Oh, shut up. I'm not letting you go, and there's nothing you can do to make me."

A familiar voice rang out from the top of the hill behind them.

"No, but there's something I can do."

Ellie rolled around in her net and gasped.

"Robin!"

The yellow allosaurus stood proudly with about a dozen Nublar residents behind her. She had apparently come across some of the Jurassic World characters too, including Zara and Vivian. Ellie was ecstatic to see her friend again, but she was a little curious about the microphone she was carrying.

"Alright, you big mutt!" Robin growled, "How would you like to be defeated through the power of Rock 'N Roll?"

***TSJWFEW***

One copyright-protected song later, Bernie ran away in fear, being accustomed to classical pieces and similar genres. When the hound was out of sight, Robin ran over to Ellie and chomped down on the net, tearing it in half.

"Robin, you-"

The allosaur held up a claw to silence her.

"Ellie, I know there's a lot of emotional stuff we need to work out, but I'd like to keep it simple. I'm your friend, and I'll always be your friend. That's all you need to know."

Ellie bit her lip and gave her friend a big hug. When they parted, Robin took a deep breath.

"By the way, I rescued a bunch of people who were hiding out in a cave. That sharky-bird girl who sang the solo seems cool. I invited her to stay with us on the island, so we'll see how that goes. Your grandma is back on Nublar, too. She's the one who convinced me to save your ass. She apologized for trying to fill the void by acting ditzier than usual, even though she wasn't explicitly trying to replace me. I guess when you get down to brass tacks, there's only one Robin Smith."

Ellie smiled.

"There certainly is."

They hugged again, but Ellie felt a twinge of concern. Bernie had fled the scene after their rock number. He was clearly a fast runner. Ellie had no doubt that he was on his way to warn Neithhotep about the uprising.

"Robin, something's going to go down soon."

"Fun."

"No, something violent."

"Even more fun."

Ellie put her hands on her hips.

"This is serious. We're in real danger. Go back to Isla Nublar, and bring everyone with you."

"Even the people from the cave?"

Ellie rubbed her chin.

"No . . . But have one of us stay behind to protect them."

"Henry?"

"No, they'd recognize him. Try Seriama."

"She didn't come. She's watching Harry."

"Yannick?"

"With the kids."

"Sarah? Ian?"

"On vacation in Maine."

Ellie tapped her fingers against her leg.

"Hmm . . . What about Alan?"

"He's with Charlie."

"Is there anyone free to watch over them?"

Robin shrugged.

"Couldn't you do it?"

Ellie felt torn about the issue. To guard the characters would be simple enough, but it would mean abandoning Claire and Owen, who were essentially the core of her story. Would it be wise to believe Neithhotep's claim that no further intervention was needed?

"Ellie? . . ." Robin muttered nervously.

She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present.

"I'll stay. Thank you for coming back, Robin."

The allosaurus gave a sparkling, toothy grin.

"That's what friends are for."

Ellie smiled and made her way over to Zara and the crew, secretly praying that nothing else would go wrong.