PREPARATIONS
5 – Plans, Bets and a Surprise
Being back in Montana never felt so good, even though Pet thought that every time coming back to the dig site. No sooner did the helicopter touch down than the door opened. Out charged the hybrid, flying in every step that brought her closer to Grant. She collided into him and almost knocked him off balance.
Billy was walking up behind them and laughing to himself. "Gee, you'd think she'd just been rescued from a weeklong kidnapping." Both mentor and protégé watched the billionaire step out of the helicopter, Billy's smile widening. He leaned in closer to the hybrid. "How did he violate you this time? Expensive wine? Fancy dinners? The usual mini apartment for a suite? A trip to the spa, perhaps?"
"I don't wanna talk about it," Pet whined into Grant's shoulder. "Although the hotel bed was nice, and the shower was amazing."
They watched as the helicopter lifted off the ground only to land again, this time more out of the way so as not to block the road going into and out of the excavation.
Simon approached the three with the most triumphant smile on his face. "Gentlemen, it seems Ms. Hammond, and I have come to an agreement. Shall we discuss this in private?"
They went into the office trailer, and the door was locked behind them. Pet was about to start explaining her and Simon's deal when a knock on the door stopped her. She snorted in annoyance as Billy unlocked and opened the door. Standing at the base of the steps was Terrence wearing a baffled expression under specks of plaster on his face. That wasn't the only place it was. He was currently wiping off his hands and arms, but there was no helping his shirt or jeans. It was a wonder how much plaster actually made it on the fossil.
His eyes studied the four people. "Anytime that man," he pointed at Simon, "is here, and everyone goes to the office trailer it usually means a private meeting."
Pet gave a sideways smile at the man. "You're just in time, then. We were about to get started."
Terrence bounded up the stairs and locked the door closed. "What's going on, this time?"
The hybrid suddenly felt nervous and on the spot. All the different ways she had planned on how to break the news were lost to the winds. She bit her lips together, shrugged, and inhaled. "Rescheduling the wedding…as it seems." Blue-green eyes stared apologetically at Grant. She expected disapproval of the news, maybe even rebuke. What she got instead wasn't what she was expecting.
Grant smiled in what appeared to be relief. Pet blinked in a mix of confusion and offense. "I'm pretty sure I know why, too. The island. You're going down there to help with the corralling."
Blue-green became amber-green in their darting in their sockets over at Simon. Her voice lowered to an almost growl. "You told him, didn't you?"
The suited man shook his head. "No, I didn't."
"He didn't have to," Grant explained. "It was only a matter of time before you found out Robert was going, too. I know you, Veronica. After what happened with the first park, I knew you wouldn't chance something like that happening again. Which is why," he smiled comfortingly, "I was thinking of rescheduling for sometime in August or September. It's already around your favorite time of the year, anyway. It's not too hot…not too cold…and it's definitely not snowing, then. Unlike the springtime where there could be snow on the ground up till May. It'd be perfect for an outside event."
Pet frowned a bit more, eyes glossing over as they returned to their standard human color. "Am I really that predictable?"
Both Grant, Billy, and Terrence simultaneously stated, "Yes."
The hybrid was taken back by the answer, and she blushed. "Oh." She nervously scratched at her neck. "It's not just because of Robert going to the islands that I wanted to go, too. That's part of the reason, yes, but…" her voice trailed off with concern. Might as well rip the band-aid off fast versus prolonging the slow and agonizing. "Mr. Masrani has agreed to let me hunt and kill the Spinosaur."
This is where Pet was to expect the rebuke. She tried to keep her strong posture, but it was no use. Her shoulders slouched, and she frowned.
Grant stood there, silent, hands on his hips and staring intently at the hybrid. While he wanted to say he expected better of her than this, this was exactly what he expected of her. He was doing his best to remain calm and turned his attention to Simon. "And you said yes to this?"
Simon stepped closer to the scientist, replying. "She's a very persuasive woman, Dr. Grant, and offered quite the bargain."
Terrence had since given up on trying to wipe off the dried flecks of plaster clinging to his skin. "What's the bargain?"
Pet didn't realize she was anxiously chewing the side of her tongue until accidentally biting into it. Owe… "Um…well…that I help with the corralling and training of the newbies that will be working with these animals permanently."
"What else?" Grant questioned.
"Aaaaand, that I would do everything in my power to help get the park up and going." Pet knew the moment his temper became too much to keep tethered. She saw it reflect in his eyes as he turned, going to the trailer door and left. It slamming shut in his wake shattered Pet on the inside.
Billy stood up from his leaning against his mentor's desk. "You're going after that thing with explosives, right? You saw what it did to that plane!"
Pet locked gazes with his troubled one. "I know what I'm doing, Billy. This isn't the first dinosaur I've fought."
Terrence questioned, next. "How do you plan on killing that thing? Granted, I wasn't there to see this thing for myself, but the stories I've heard… what I read about it in one of the books around here… You better have a damn good idea of how to take it down before it takes you out."
"I have an idea on how to do that."
"An idea isn't good enough!" Terrence raged. He ran his hands over his face and through his strawberry blond hair. "If you're doing this because you feel like you have something to prove, you don't."
Pet shook her head. "That's not why I'm doing this. I'm not trying to prove myself to anyone! I'm doing this to prove Alan isn't making up stories for attention! To help re-establish his career and reputation that he's worked so damn hard for! He's gone from one of the most respected scientists to a laughingstock because one fucking dinosaur that's not supposed to be alive!" The hybrid snorted a bark. "I've risked my life for friends and family before. Why is this time any different?"
Standing outside the trailer was Grant. He was able to hear just enough and dropped his head. Why, since the first day they met, was she always going out of her way for him? How many times must she risk her life for him?
Terrence shook his head at the younger woman, whether in disapproval or knowing it was no use trying to talk her out of her idiotic quest. "What are you planning on taking this thing down, with?"
"Me."
"With Robert providing backup, right?"
Blue-green eyes went raptor as Pet snarled, "If he, or anyone else, shoots that thing before I can kill it, then they'll have hell to pay from me!"
Simon, who had been quiet most of the time, finally reinserted himself back into the conversation. "I understand your reason for this, Veronica, and support it. But if I see things are going badly, I will have someone shoot the animal before you are killed."
He knew his head of InGen Security, Vic Hoskins, had a plethora of heavy firepower that could handle most dangerous threats. He planned to have Hoskins, and a team set up near the area for that just in case.
Pet snorted. "Because you don't want to lose me before I can fulfill my part of the bargain, right?
Simon continued. "That, and because I have too much money invested in you from curing you of your illness, seeing you get a personal identity-" The two people stared at the other tauntingly, though there was a hint of tease in his slight grin.
"I get it, I get it." Pet gave a final hissed snort and, too, left the trailer. She saw the lead scientist in her peripheral vision but paid him no mind.
She wasn't but three steps away from the office trailer when Grant barged back into it. He angrily approached the billionaire. "How could you agree to this? She could get herself killed!"
Simon expected such a reaction from at least one of the hybrid's companions. "Relax, Dr. Grant, I will personally see to it Veronica is not harmed. The same team that tracked down and handled the escaped Pteranodon will be on standby should they be needed. Unlike Veronica, who plans to use what she is as a weapon against the animal, my team will be properly equipped."
"Does she at least have a clever trap planned for this thing to walk into?"
"Not that she has told me of, no. All she asked for was a bullhorn. What she plans to do with it, I am not sure."
Billy snickered to himself just as Grant scoffed and shook his head. "Unbelievable."
Billy explained to the obviously lost on what to think wealthy man. "Amanda Kirby accidentally lured the Spino to us using a bullhorn when calling for her son."
Simon frowned. "I see."
Terrence smirked. "Well, now we know one part of Pet's plan aside from her trying to kill it."
By evening time, Pet was well into her third beer by the time Grant joined her. He sat down in one of the patio chairs set up in front of Quarantine and sighed. Without being asked, the hybrid reached into the cooler beside her chair for an ice-cold bottle. She took a swing of her own beer while handing the bottle to the man.
Grant studied it briefly. He still had work to do, but what was one beer going to do? He accepted it, twisted off the top, and took a sip. The two people sat quietly, watching the rest of the sun set behind the helicopter still parked at the dig site.
The pilot was somewhere along with his employer, wandering around the place. As long as they didn't touch anything valuable, Grant didn't mind it.
Pet wiggled her toes in her boots, wishing she could kick them off and fully relax. "When is Robert and Pea Brain supposed to be back?"
"Tomorrow evening, from what I understand." Trying to say it with a straight face was more difficult than Grant expected. If only the hybrid knew what had been planned behind her back.
"Hmm." Pet finished her beer and tossed the bottle into the metal trashcan near the trailer's door. It landed amongst others towards the bottom, clanking and possibly even breaking. Or, at least, one of the discarded bottles broke. "You're not mad at me, are you?"
Grant shook his head, a twinge of sadness in his eyes. "Can't really say I'm mad at you. You have always been one to pick a fight with the biggest bully on the playground. Why would this be any different?"
"It bullied you too, y'know… and Billy."
Grant sighed in exasperation. "How can I forget?"
Pet reached down to the cooler for another beer but stopped. She saw headlights in the distance coming closer to the dig site. She figured it someone coming back from town and continued fishing around in the ice. The closer the lights got, the more the hybrid squinted. Behind it was another vehicle. It was difficult to make out what type of vehicles they were since it was getting dark outside.
Grant saw what had the woman so distracted and smiled to himself. "Something wrong, honey?"
The hybrid cocked her head, listening intently. She knew that sound. Her eyes widened in alarm, and her attention snapped over to the scientist, observing her humorously. "What's going on? Is that…?" A pinkish finger dripping with ice water was aimed in the direction of the oncoming cars. "Alan?"
The headlights disappeared behind another hill only to reappear much closer. This time, there was no mistaking the two vehicles as being a red Jeep and Dodge Challenger. Pet's hands flew to her cheeks in speechlessness. "Holy shit, are you fucking serious?!"
Muldoon brought the Jeep to a stop beside Quarantine wearing the biggest ear to ear grin his scarred face would let him. Pet was jumping up and down, squealing in delight. Derek drove his car around to the back of the trailer and parked in his usual spot.
Muldoon got out of the car and tossed the keys to the now crying hybrid. "She's all yours, good as new."
Pet danced on the spot, keys clutched to her chest. She got into the driver's seat and rolled her grip around on the brand new black suede steering wheel cover. "Whose idea was it to fix it?"
Muldoon leaned against the front of the Jeep. "There were a few of us who had a hand in it. It's been at the shop for the past two weeks getting worked on." He watched his little girl's eyes swell up with tears till they finally burst out of her eyelids.
"When you say 'a few of us'…" Pet stared at her best friend and guardian. "Who's 'a few of us'?"
"Dr. Grant. Myself."
"And me," came Simon's voice as he approached the group.
Pet burst out in tears again and almost fell out of the Jeep getting out. She threw her arms around Muldoon's neck and tightly hugged him. "Thank you, thank you, thankyou!"
She didn't bother hugging Grant, choosing to kiss him instead. He wasn't one for publicly displaying his affections for another, but allowed it on the seldom special occasion. When it came time to thank the billionaire, the hybrid merely smiled and gave a single nod of her head in appreciation.
"Thank you, sir…again."
Simon gave a nod in return.
By nine-o-clock, it was time to drag the pilot out of the plastering tent damn near kicking and screaming. Terrence had been showing him how to work with some of the smaller fossils since he was found meandering about the place asking questions.
As the pilot prepared the helicopter for takeoff, Grant and Pet escorted Simon to it. "Thank you for stopping by, Mr. Masrani. As always, it was a pleasure."
Pet mischievously smiled to herself. She knew what the scientist meant to say was, 'Thank you for stopping by and holding up work progress, as usual.' Pet drove her hands into the back pockets of her pants and studied the suited man. She was mixed on how to feel about him. Anytime she had an issue, there he was riding in on a helicopter or plane, to save the day. She couldn't possibly find the words to express her gratitude. In the times she tried to say it or show it, it never felt good enough. It made her feel like she was taking advantage of his hospitality.
Pet watched the helicopter take off and listened as the sound of it faded into the distance. She then visually followed Grant back to the fossil tent and debated on joining him. Ever since Derek told her how she needed to be there for those 'hey check this out' moments, it became a nagging sensation in her gut. But first, she really needed a shower post her long flight back from London. Then she got an idea, a very devious idea.
Pet sprinted to catch up to the man and wrapped an arm around his.
Sitting at Quarantine's patio were Terrence, Derek, and Billy. If Pet was expecting to have any beer left in her cooler, well, she shouldn't. The last of what was on ice had been split between the three people. There was a fourth, but Muldoon was quick to grab it from Derek and went into the trailer.
The three people watched the happy couple divert from their walking to the fossil tent to go towards Grant's trailer instead. Billy smirked at Derek seated next to him and snapped his fingers. "Pay up. You lost the bet."
Derek shook his head. "Nope. Can't say I lost yet."
"Seriously?"
Terrence had a feeling he was going to regret asking. "Dare I ask what the bet was this time?"
Billy chuckled in answering. "It was a bet to see what Nica would ride first when getting back to the dig site. Her Jeep or-" Muldoon stepping out of Quarantine instantly silenced the junior scientist. "Anyway, pay up. You lost, and you know it."
Derek took a deep swig of his beer, pretending as though he wasn't hearing the other man.
Muldoon eyed the bickering two at the table. "What's going on now?"
"Nothing, Dad," Derek stated.
Terrence spit his drink out and started coughing right afterward. Despite knowing the relation between the two, it still surprised him every time.
Billy got choked up, too. "I just thought it was a rumor."
Pet finished drying off post-shower and slid on a clean shirt. Grant watched the many scars across the hybrid's back disappear beneath the garment. How many more would she end up wearing before enough was enough? He gazed down at her signature sickle toe-claws then up to her hands' filed down ones. He remembered how she used them in her attack against the Tyrannosaur on Jurassic Park and how she used them, again, in her taking on the Pteranodon at site B.
"If you plan to go up against the Spino, you might want to consider growing your claws back out."
Pet studied her hands in the bathroom light and sighed. "I'm not sure I can grow them out to an adequate length in a month and a half." Her claws were not even a quarter of their original length, and she frowned. "I'm more worried about what people around here will start to think when I start growing them out again."
Grant kissed her on the side of her head and smiled. "That's what work gloves are for."
The hybrid was captured by his warm gaze and smiled. She rested her arms around the back of his neck, speaking. "I also need to start getting back in shape. I haven't actively fought dinosaurs in so long, I fear my endurance and reaction times are not their best. There's nothing I can really do to prepare myself for that unless I decide to go pick a fight with a mountain lion or wild boar."
"I prefer you not do that."
"Most I can really do is work on my running. I know I'm out of shape there, too. Have Robert track my time and speed like he used to."
Grant preferred that idea over the fighting wild animals. Even though the wild animals would be severely less of a danger than a carnivorous dinosaur armed with jaws full of sharp teeth and jagged claws. "I'm sure he'd enjoy it. You should do that tomorrow. Ask him to help you."
Pet softly smiled, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I think I will."
