Dylan wouldn't say the final briefing had been abridged, but to call it concise was an understatement. It was simplified but certainly not dumbed down. His supplies were similarly modest. He carried a Franchi PA3 that had been modified to fire tranquilizer darts in addition to regular shells. Intel—that being Regina's personal experience—confirmed there were vials of anesthetic and medical supplies scattered around the complex. He had permission to use whatever he found. Their efficacy would be almost wholly dependent on his proficiency at mixing chemicals.

He'd also been given two cards. One was Kirk's ID, rather, a reasonable facsimile. Forged, but its usefulness proven, he could access every floor of the facility from the elevator hall on the main level with it. The other was silvery blue with a big red 'A' on it. It'd open any A, B, or C level room in the lab.

Dylan had been expressly warned to keep his grabby hands off any other disks or keys he might come upon. His mission was to keep Regina from overloading the Third Energy generator, but without doing anything to hinder her, or the rest of the team's, progress in securing Dr. Kirk and getting the hell off the island alive.

Regina had already given him a leg up, and he was grateful for it. Besides, having a master key and a weapon that never ran out of ammo still wouldn't be advantage enough considering what they were up against.

He stole a glance at the vehicle he and Julia had just exited. It reminded him of those rides at the mall when he was a kid—SR... something or other. The ones that simulated being on a roller coaster, or in an F-1 race, or the cockpit of a fighter jet. You name it. Similar to the Patrol Ship he and Regina had used during the Edward City mission, everybody'd referred to it as simply the vessel. The name fit. It'd just transported them from 2035 to 2009, after all.

Dylan inhaled, mugginess coating his lungs, and stared into the forest before him. He'd never been to Borginia before and wasn't quite sure what to expect. Except dinosaurs.

And he was right on the money with that. The sweat on his neck had little to do with the humidity. Instead, it was credit to the T. rex barreling through the forest toward his position.

Okay, maybe barrelling was an exaggeration. But he knew there was a lot of conflicting evidence when it came to how fast the things could actually move, and how long they could maintain their top speed. Still, this one seemed to moving at a pretty good clip, as it was easily gaining ground on the figure fleeing from it.

Male, and in tactical gear. Dylan could see a weak flashlight beam, swinging this way then that. Then blood, as the T-Rex easily picked the man up, its massive teeth just as effortlessly cutting through his vest.

At his side, Julia raised her weapon. He placed his hand over hers to guide it downward without so much as looking at her. He heard the intake of breath but met no resistance otherwise. She stayed still and silent next to him.

It wasn't long before the screaming stopped and the Tyrannosaurus flung the man back and forth like a ragdoll before his body disappeared entirely into the dinosaur's mouth. Thankfully, the giant theropod stalked off deeper into the jungle afterward. As well as a creature of that size could stalk, that is.

Julia stood to his left, weapon lowered but still in hand, her index finger extended and away from the trigger. "I know, I know. Its vision is based on movement, right? I saw the movie."

"Something like that," Dylan agreed, with a forced chuckle. "Either way, the last thing we want is to draw that thing's attention to us."

It was a wonder their arrival hadn't done that.

Julia's next statement, while factual and delivered with tact, was laced with disappointment. "Anyway, you'd better get going."

Well, of course he had. They were on a time limit in more than one way. But he recognized a brush off when he heard one.

"There's nothing we could've done for him. You know that." It was obvious Dylan was trying to sell himself on the idea at least as much as Julia.

The idea being that it was the right choice to stand by and watch another person die. He'd been in a similar position once himself, blindsided and snatched into the jaws of an Allosaurus. It'd only been days and he still had the bruises. It'd also been 25 years and he'd always have the bruises.

David had fired a rocket at the thing, stunning it just long enough that it lost its grasp on Dylan. Then he swooped in and tackled him out of danger with enough force to knock him into the river. It was a different dinosaur, but the end result was the same. Because the last thing Dylan saw or heard of David as he was being swept upstream was blood and screaming.

"Are you okay?" Julia's question, whispered as it were, was simple. But her tone betrayed the idea that she had any reason to ask. She already knew what the answer would be.

It wasn't necessarily a lie; it just had to be the truth in this moment. "Fine."

"Okay." Whether or not she believed Dylan was anybody's guess. What mattered was that she wasn't going to push it. Another one of those things that just had to be that way.

He remembered how so very recently he'd been taken aback by her ability to get close to him. Now she'd done the exact opposite; she was right next to him, yet, she seemed so far away. Hah. Julia hadn't done that, he had. The first grain of sand through an hourglass became the last when things got turned around.

But then her stony features softened, just so, and her stance became more relaxed. "I'm not mad, or judging you, if that's what you're worried about. I know you're right." She sounded like she meant it. "Besides, you have your mission and I have mine."

"I know you do." Dylan sounded gruff, even to himself. His words were like sandpaper, needlessly trying to smooth an already polished thing.

He trusted Julia was competent on genetics alone. He could also imagine how rigorous her training must've been, given that heritage. How hard she, Regina, and Gail must've all pushed her to silence any doubts—whispers and echoes of nepotism.

She had her own objective and it was as important as his. While he infiltrated the facility to make sure nobody overloaded the Third Energy, she'd stay behind in the vessel. As its guardian, and against all manner of threat. If there was anything to be said about Regina, and there was plenty, it was that she didn't make the same mistake twice. She and Dylan had learned the hard way what could happen to mission-vital equipment if it wasn't properly protected.

Their own time gate had been destroyed by hostiles. Human ones, no less. Like Paula, they were just kids. Kids injured so badly their only hope was to be placed into statis chambers designed for dinosaurs. They survived, but at what cost?

Dylan fought to bury the growing suspicion about how the hell Regina actually got the two of them back. It did take her decades to pull off. Not to mention the tech to put the Noah's Ark Plan into motion was apparently still another twenty years off, even with Kirk's mad genius.

But she hadn't stepped through any time gate. Hadn't arrived in any vessel. She didn't show up with a crane to lift that supercomputer off of Paula, then beckon them to follow her to safety. Back to their own time. One minute they were inside that facility on the brink of explosion, and the next they were in 2035. Safe and sound but left with a lot of unanswered questions.

"Before you go," Julia's voice rang out and he was lament to admit it started him. "The vessel's on a timer. If either of us isn't here when it hits zero, too bad. Hope you like rotary phones and typewriters and TVs with three channels."

Dylan poorly suppressed a groan. "It's 2009, not 1959, good grief."

"That's right, it's 2009. The Third Energy is still in its infancy here. If something happens to the vessel, to this time gate, that's it." Julia's tone was cautionary, her warning a grim reminder of their current reality and how easily it could become permanent.

"Got it," Dylan said, simply. Sure to acknowledge he really did understand, he added, "I know there won't be any scavenging around for replacement parts like before."

"Yeah. This isn't the future. And if either of us fucks this up, we won't have one." Julia's stare was intense, icy hot and penetrating.

Dylan held her gaze longer than he should've, considering... well, considering a bunch of shit. The aforementioned time limit they were on being the most pressing issue. He nodded just once then broke eye contact before turning away entirely. Walking away from Julia, he tried to placate himself; this wouldn't be their last goodbye. Even if every step they took inevitably brought them closer and closer to it.

Dylan stood before a gate, tall and imposing, with thick metal bars and concrete to either side. This was the facility's main entrance. Well, he'd always be the type of guy who believed the best way into a place was through the front door. He tested the gate, hoping it wasn't barred or otherwise secured from the inside and was mildly relieved when it gave. It groaned as he pushed it open just wide enough to slip through.

The exterior was a shambles. To his right, large chunks of concrete littered the sidewalk. The wall they'd been broken off of had clearly been hit by something with tremendous force. To his left laid what remained of one of the staff: his head, a bloodied torso, and one arm. Outstretched and holding something, even in death.

Dylan knelt down and tentatively reached out to inspect the body. His wrist comm beeped as he was pulling a disk from the man's fingers.

He brought his hand to the side of his face so the comm's mic would pic up his speech. "This is Dylan."

"Are you in yet?" Julia asked.

"Just outside the main entrance." Dylan stood and made a quarter turn to have eyes on the facility's main doors.

As if she somehow knew exactly what he was looking at, Julia said, "The Elevator Hall is just inside the main entrance, so..."

"So...?" Dylan echoed, pretending not to understand her meaning: step on it.

"One of the disks to unlock the door to the Elevator Hall should be near your position."

"I know." Dylan turned the 3.5 inch floppy over in his hand. The letter N had been Sharpied onto a piece of masking tape on its case. "I have it."

"Well, put it back."

"Excuse me?"

"Did you forget? You're not to do anything that would compromise the 2009 team's ability to recapture Dr. Kirk. Do you really want to explain yourself to anyone here?"

Don't mind me, I'm just a time traveling soldier here to stop you from dooming the human race. Name's Dylan.

He put the disk back.

Still, this was a secret weapons facility and the redoubtable Edward Kirk's research was highly sought after. Any number of organizations could've attempted to get hold of him.

Julia's voice came through the comm yet again. "Accessing the lower levels of the facility is a priority for everyone here. Someone will come for that disk. And seeing as it's still out there, it means no one else has been."

"Yet."

"Exactly. So just..." Julia blew out a breath, its journey from her comm to Dylan's making it staticky and harsh. "I dunno. Find somewhere to lay low until then."

The conversation ended without so much as an affirmative from Dylan or an 'over and out' from either of them.

Against his better judgment, Dylan tried the door just beyond the dead man. By the map data he had, not to mention its prominent metal signage, it led to the surface heliport.

Locked, as expected. That wasn't so unusual. Any manner of extremely important person on any manner of extremely secret and likely unsanctioned visit passed through there. Security was paramount.

But the main entrance?

Dylan stood before a set of glass sliding doors that wouldn't yield in any direction. Although there was a deadbolt on his side. He wasn't sure if it was double-sided or if whoever would soon unknowingly let him in would do so at the turn of a latch.

He didn't especially like that he had no choice but to wait. To lurk in the shadows. He was a man of action, of affecting change. He was a man who needed to be a hell of a lot more careful what he wished for.

"Ah, fuck," he muttered to himself over what he saw perched atop the damaged exterior wall.

Leathery wings, but feathered, too, and with a screech he wouldn't soon forget. He raised his Franchi and fired as it dove toward him. Another raspy, grating squawk tormented his ears and the Pteranodon was close enough to him the blood spray hit his face. Regina may have sung the praises of anesthetic darts but Dylan found good old slugs were more his style.

Blood gushed from the winged dinosaur's torn chest cavity, pooling on the concrete. Dylan took a step back before it could spread to his boots. The last thing he needed to do was trail blood everywhere he went, no matter whose it was.

He looked to the main entrance once again, practically pressing his face against the glass for a better view. The lobby was pristine, undamaged, as far as he could tell. Empty.

Until it wasn't.

Dylan would recognize that bright red hair and leather bodysuit anywhere. This was a version of Regina who didn't yet know him, but Julia was right, staying out of sight was in everyone's best interest.

It left him no choice but to backtrack and hope the groaning of the metal gate didn't alert her to him. He positioned himself just outside the main entrance, peering through the gaps in the gate's bars.

Unsurprisingly, Regina stopped to observe her surroundings before continuing on. And with equal predictability, she took a moment to investigate the dead Pteranodon. She was smart. She would easily determine it was a fresh kill, and the work of a fellow human.

She spun on her heels, glancing around, clearly looking for signs of that fellow human. Dylan backed away from the gate and ducked behind the concrete to wait her out. He didn't like knowing she was so close but not having eyes on her. Especially after he heard the telltale squawking of a second Pteranodon announcing itself.

It was followed very shortly by the report of gunfire. 9mm to be exact. Each pop of Regina's handgun was followed by a pained screech. Every bullet she fired was obviously on target—a testament to her skill. But the thing was just absorbing it—a testament to the dinosaur's tenacity.

Until Dylan swore he heard, "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," punctuated by a single shot from a larger weapon.

Then it was silent.

He waited until he was sure Regina had ventured back into the facility to continue her mission, thankfully still wholly oblivious to his presence. As expected, she'd neutralized the threat. The dinosaur was unmistakably dead but there wasn't a drop of blood.

Maybe there was something to be said for those magic darts after all.

Dylan entered the lobby. He wasn't sure where Regina had gone, just that she was no longer there. He headed for the door behind the staircase. The door itself looked like any other, but rather than a card reader, there were two disk input slots to its side.

It was his first time seeing the DDK system. He'd never been anywhere that utilized it but he was aware of it. A two-disk program employing alphanumeric pass codes. Said codes ranged from elementary to downright ridiculous. He was pleased to see the indicator light in the 'unlocked' position.

He opened the door and slowly stepped inside. A stark contrast to the brightness of the lobby, this room was dim—likely running on emergency light. Or maybe they were going for a moody vibe. It didn't matter. A digital map of the facility's first floor was displayed on a glass partition. Blood specks took the place of 'x' and Dylan wouldn't be at all surprised to find out there was a casualty for each one of them.

The source of the blood was easy to spot. A researcher's corpse was sprawled at his feet, face down in an enormous pool of it. The right arm was missing entirely and the man's rib cage was exposed. Shredded clothing and torn flesh mingled together, dangling from the bone.

No telling who he was or where he was trying to go—anywhere safe, Dylan would guess. He looked up and away from the dead man and to the elevator doors ahead of him. At the key reader he swiped the forged ID Regina had given him. It let out a single beep and the doors opened. He stepped inside, pocketed the ID card for now, and pressed the B3 button. The doors slid closed, he heard a soft whirring, and the elevator began its descent.

A/N: I honestly wrestled with how/if to include Cooper's demise. But I mean, the dude was doomed, and also, Regina standing by while David gets monched near the end of DC2 is way worse. Dylan got sent up the river and couldn't really do anything for him at that point, but Regina really just noped outta that when I know I'd killed a bunch of Allosaurus by that point.

Anyway. Thanks as always to anyone reading and following.