Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I would love for you to ride in the car with Alan and me.“

You looked back and forth between Ellie’s pleading face and your ex boyfriend Ian Malcolm in the backseat. He was just looking at you from inside one of the electronic cars, raising an eyebrow.

“Why can’t I go with Gennaro and the kids?”

“Because you get to see the kids all the time. You’re their aunt, after all.” Ellie smiled a little before lowering her voice and motioning toward Alan and Ian in the car. “And I really don’t want to be stuck alone with these two for hours on end. They’ll just end up arguing.”

You had to chuckle at that. Knowing Ian from your past relationship, you knew that even though he was generally a very sweet and kind man, he could get pretty annoying now and then. After a few seconds of debate, you nodded and Ellie grinned happily.

“Great!”

You felt uneasy about being in such tight quarters with Ian again and when you had first seen him in the helicopter you had been about to go off at your father for inviting him but then again John had probably not known that the mathematician that had been invited was Ian. Gennaro had invited him and he didn’t know anything about you, except that you were John’s daughter and Lex and Tim’s aunt. So, you couldn’t be angry at him, either. It was just an unfortunate coincidence.

You were about to get into the front seat next to Ellie when Alan took the space and asked you if you were alright with sitting next to Ian. Really not wanting to cause a scene and explain your history with the man, you nodded and sat next to him.

Ian seemed as uneasy as you which was a relief. He gave you an awkward smile, leaning back in his seat and resting his arm on the back of it as he eyed you. “Your hair has gotten long.”

“I cut it.”

“Oh.” He mumbled before giving you a small smile. “I like it.”

“Thanks.” You whispered and looked back out the window. “So, how have you been? Any new girlfriends or wives or the best friends of your girlfriends or wives?”

He quickly shook his head at you, lowering his voice. “I didn’t know that she was your best friend, I swear.”

“I talked about Jenna a lot.”

“There are a lot of people named Jenna out there!” He hissed back at you. “How could I have known that the girl I got with after we broke up was your best friend? Do you know how small the chances were that you knew each other?”

“You tell me, Mister Chaos Theory.” You crossed your arms, just happy that Alan and Ellie were listening to the audio track and not you. “Just drop it.”

“You brought it up.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry about that.” You leaned back, looking out the window before raising your voice. “What’s the first dinosaur on the tour?”

Ian leaned against the side of the car, supporting his weight on his hand. “Dilophosaurus.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it says so in the brochure.” He moved it between his fingers, holding it out to you. “Want to take a look?”

“No, I believe you.”

“Look.” Ellie suddenly exclaimed and pointed out of the front window of the car, towards a large wooden gate that had the park’s name on it. “It’s gigantic.”

“What have they got in there? King Kong?” Ian joked.

You chuckled a little at that, leaning forward to hide your smile from him. Perhaps, your feelings for him weren’t all gone and that made you even sadder and angrier about seeing him again. Leaning forward also meant you didn’t see how Ian smiled at your laughter.

“Ian, you know if anything, they’d have Godzilla in there.” You chuckled.

Ian laughed a little at your joke. “Ah, my bad. Of course, it’s Godzilla.”

Ellie looked at the two of you laughing and smiled. “See? It’s fun to ride with us.”

“Yes, it is but I still feel a bit bad about not going with the kids and Gennaro, too.” You explained softly. “I’m sure they were happy to spend some time with their aunt and I ditched them.”

“You have the whole weekend to spend with them.” Ellie said with a smile. “Once we get back to the Visitor’s Centre you can see them again.”

“That’s true.” You nodded and then smiled. “I guess, I just felt a bit bad because I haven’t seen them in a few months. Normally, I visit them and my sister a lot.”

Ian looked back at you, a small smile tugging at his lips as he watched you talk about your niece and nephew. “You were always so happy when you got to see them.”

“What?” Alan looked up in interest. “You knew each other before?”

You nodded, a little irritated at Ian for mentioning that you two knew each other. “Yeah, we do.”

“We do.”

“How so?” Ellie smiled in interest, looking at you two in the rear-view mirror. “Were you working together on something or--”

“Ellie.” Alan interrupted her quietly but sharply, nodding his head towards you and Ian, making her turn to study your uncomfortable expressions. “I don’t think this is an appropriate conversation to have with them, considering how much they were fighting in the backseat a few minutes ago.”

“But why--” She stopped, eyeing your irritated and upset expression as understanding dawned on her. “Oh, were you two a--”

“We used to date. It’s over.” You said firmly, wanting her to drop the topic. “No need to talk about it more than necessary.”

“Sorry, of course!” Ellie shook her head and sighed softly. “I feel so bad for getting you into the car with us. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. We can handle it.”

“Sure?”

“Sure.”

And with that, you all went back to watching the tour. The Dilophosaurus didn’t show up and everyone was rather disappointed. You were sure Lex and Tim must have been pretty upset about it but you were hoping that they’d get to see a dinosaur soon. After all, Tim had been so excited about this trip, calling you once he’d received the invitation and his mother had told him you’d go along with him and his sister to talk your ear off about dinosaurs. And Lex had been excited to go on a holiday this interesting with her aunt. But at the moment, you were all just watching the forest.

Ian looked up with a grin. “Well, you know what I’m wondering?”

“Who they had to lose to find out that the Dilophosaurus was poisonous?” You laughed lightly and Ian turned to you before he began laughing.

“Exactly! Did you read my mind?”

“The secret is out, I guess! I read people’s minds.” You joked, making him laugh again. “No, Ian, I just know you.”

“It’s nice to not fight.”

You had to agree with him. “Yes, you’re right.”

“Is the Tyrannosaurus coming up next?” Ellie asked from the front seat, looking at the monitor with interest. “I think it is.”

“Yes.” Alan agreed as he looked up from the flyer. “It’s pretty early on in the tour.”

“Pretty bad tour design. No suspension.” You chuckled. “I would have put it further down the road but I guess it has something to do with what part of the island is best for what dinosaur to live in.”

Ian looked at you and then smirked. “Don’t let your father hear that critique, though.”

“I’m pretty sure he can hear us.”

Alan eyed the two of you before chuckling a little. “Well, at least we won’t have to sit in anticipation for hours. I cannot wait to see the Rex.”

“Is she a juvenile or fully grown?”

“I’m not sure.” Ellie looked at you. “It didn’t say so anywhere. Maybe we can figure it out once we’ve seen her. But I’m sure she’ll be big nonetheless.”

“I am expecting nothing else.” You chuckled. “I am so excited.”

But the excitement quickly died down as the T-Rex, too, failed to show up. Everyone leaned back in their seats, hoping that they’d get to see any dinosaurs on the tour. Ian looked up at the camera and tapped it, asking John whether or not they’d get to see dinosaurs. You were sure your father was sitting at the Visitor’s Centre and cursing Ian. The thought made you chuckle which earned you a smirk from Ian.

“I hope we get to see dinosaurs.” You looked back at the landscape. “I really want to see the Tyrannosaurus.”

The tour continued in much the same fashion and eventually, Ian began explaining Chaos Theory to Ellie while Alan busied himself with looking out the window. You were listening to Ian, watching him demonstrate the water trick on Ellie. Everything was calm until, without further notice, Alan jumped out of the car.

“See? No one could have predicted that he’d jump out of a driving vehicle.” Ian said before Ellie quickly got out of her seat and followed Alan. “There, again.”

“Should we follow them?” You asked.

“In a minute.” Ian took a deep breath as he turned to you, now seeming a little nervous. “I want to talk to you about our relationship.”

You were opening the door in a fraction of a second as he began to talk about your past relationship. “Now is not the time. Let’s get them back into the car.”

“Hey, wait!” Ian called out to you. “I never got to explain myself and I’ve had time to think and I think--”

“Ian.” You looked back at him pointedly. “Not now.”

With that you got outside, following in the tracks of Allan and Ellie. Ian tried to call your name a few more times but eventually just sighed and went after you, resigning himself to his fate. He quickly caught up with you but you weren’t listening to him anymore because you were now face to face with a dinosaur. A Triceratops was lying in the grass. You felt giddy and excited all over. Had anyone told you as a kid that you would get to see one of your favourite dinosaurs in real life, you would have laughed at them but now you were running towards the animal before you could think twice. You grabbed Ian’s hand and pulled him along.

“Ian, it’s a Triceratops!” You turned to him and found him looking down at your intertwined hands in bafflement. “Ian, do you see this?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I see the dinosaur and, uh, how adorably excited you are.” He then gestured at your hands before looking back up. “I just--”

You quickly let go of his hand and cleared your throat, willing away the heat that was rising to your cheeks as Ian called you adorable. “I’m so sorry. Let’s go get the others. I think the storm is going to start soon.”

“Good idea.”

Chapter Text

Rain was pouring on the cars as they made their way back to the Visitor’s Centre through the heavy storm that had hit the island. You were busying yourself with trying to see if any dinosaurs were out and about but it was impossible to make out anything through the thick rain – besides that, you suspected that most of them had sought out shelter from the storm. Ian was looking out the window while Alan was fanning himself with his hat. Ellie had stayed back with the Triceratops which irked you just a bit since she had been the one that had insisted on you getting in the same car as her. Nonetheless, you were happy that Alan was still there and Ian had stopped trying to talk to you about your past relationship.

All was well until the cars suddenly stopped outside the T-Rex paddock. You sat up and looked around. Both Ian and Alan looked just as confused as you. When you looked out the front window, you saw that the other car had stopped, too.

“What happened?”

“The power probably went out due to the storm.” Ian mused and tapped the camera in the car again. “John? John, are you there?”

But there was no answer.

“The power really seems to be gone.” Alan commented and leaned back in his seat, sipping his water. “But I’m sure it’ll come back on in no time.”

“But if the power went out wouldn’t that mean that the fences lost power, too?”

The two men looked up at that, seemingly only now realising what that meant. Their discomfort only unnerved you more because it was confirming that there was indeed something to be worried about. Ian looked back at you and upon seeing your discomfort, he leaned in a little closer so he could whisper something to you.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. If the fences are usually powered, the dinosaurs would probably not think of touching them.”

He was doing his best to comfort you and you appreciated it but you both didn’t really believe his words. Both of you knew how smart the animals were. After all, you two had seen the raptors testing the fences for weak points. You just hoped the raptor fences were on a different power grid.

“I’m checking on the kids.”

You looked up at Alan’s exclamation and quickly called after him as he left the car with a flashlight. “Be careful!”

Once Alan was gone, Ian looked back at you. “I know this might be the last thing you want to hear right now but I’m going to say it.”

“Please, Ian, if this is about our relationship again--”

“I know you don’t want me back and I get it but I’ve had a lot of time to think about us, about how we split up and about how much I must have hurt you. And I want to say that I’m sorry. You don’t have to forgive me but I want you to know that I still care about you. And that means I will do my best to keep you safe should anything happen here.”

His look was so full of sincerity and care that tears sprung to your eyes which you quickly tried to blink away. All these years, you had thought that Ian had left you because he simply hadn’t cared about you but apparently, he still did. It made you wonder about the real reason for the break-up but you decided to talk it out with him once you got back to the Visitor’s Centre.

“Thank you, Ian.” You smiled gently. “That means a lot. But don’t you worry, I’m sure you won’t have to keep me safe. I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”

“I hope you’re right about that.”

“Have you already forgotten our relationship?” You joked softly, smiling at him. “I’m always right.”

Ian chuckled at that, his shoulders relaxing at your joke. “I remember. You were always right. I’m sure that hasn’t changed.”

“Hey, don’t complain about me thinking I’m always right when you were the one who always told me I was right.” You laughed, leaning over to nudge his shoulder with yours. “That’s on you.”

“How could I have not agreed with you when you were always so adorably triumphant when I told you that you were right. I mean, these instances were about really trivial things like, uh, directions when we were going places or something like that, so even if you had been wrong, I wouldn’t have minded.”

“How charming of you.”

“I couldn’t disagree with you if I tried.” He then smirked at you. “I also didn’t want to be sent to the couch.”

“Oh, I never did that!” You exclaimed jokingly. “If I was actually upset, I just turned away from you and stopped talking.”

“That was bad enough.”

“Because you’re a sucker for attention, Ian.”

“Only for your attention.”

You were about to say something when the door opened and Alan got back inside. He quickly sat back down, shaking the rain off his body before turning to you and Ian.

“Are the kids okay?” You asked in worry. “Are they fine?”

“I didn’t ask. Why?”

Ian shrugged at the question. “Kids get scared.”

“Why would they be scared? It’s just a hiccup in the power.” Alan explained.

“I didn’t say I’m scared.” Ian muttered.

“I know. I didn’t, either.”

“I know.” Ian mumbled and turned to you when you put a comforting hand on top of his. “I’m not scared.”

“I know.” You whispered in fear. “But I am.”

“Why?”

“Am I the only one feeling giant footsteps?”

Ian and Alan looked out the window as you did your best to get a good sight of the paddock. Then a goat landed on the car in front of you and you could only imagine how terrified poor Lex and Tim must have been. Your hand tightened around Ian’s and he turned his to hold onto yours. And then the worst thing possible happened. The Tyrannosaurus rose one of her front limbs to test the fences, just to find them without electricity. You were all doomed.

In a flurry of motion, the wires on the fence snapped and with each one of them whipping to the floor you felt yourself inch further towards Ian, away from the window and fence. He held your hand tightly, partially to calm you down and partially to ground himself. Then the Rex stepped out of the paddock and moved her head around as she took in the cars and the trees around her.

“Don’t move.”

Alan’s whispered warning made you freeze up more if that was even possible and Ian’s hand clamped tight around yours as he sat stock-still. It was hard to stay this still when the Rex roared just outside your car, her thundering footsteps shaking the vehicle and making your eyes tear up in fear.

“I don’t want to die.”

“No one is going to die.” Ian whispered. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The Rex bumped the car and sent all of you shaking with it. But you willed yourself to stay still, holding onto Ian’s hand even tighter. He pressed your hand just as tightly, absolutely terrified himself.

“Ian, if we die--”

“We won’t. We’ll be fine.” Ian whispered back at you, not daring to even move his eyes to look at you. “Just stay still and she’ll eventually leave. I’ve got you.”

“Ian, if we die, I’d like you to know that I--”

Suddenly a bright beam of light turned on in the other car.

---

“Hey!”

You were screaming, trying to catch the attention of the Rex. You moved the second flare like you had seen Alan do so before and then threw it as far as you could, sending the Rex after it and away from your niece and nephew. That’s when Ian got out of the car, flare in his hand.

“Ian, freeze!” Alan ordered before you could even speak up. “Freeze!”

“Get the kids!” Ian yelled, running from the car, the Rex at his tail. “Get them!”

“Ian!” You screamed in absolute horror as you watched him try and outrun the Rex. “Ian, throw the flare! Just throw it and run!”

“Get the kids and run!” He yelled, looking back at you once before booking it for the treeline “Please!”

“Ian!”

While Alan was pulling the kids from the doubled-over car, you ran to yours and got the last flare. Just as the Rex grabbed Ian by the arm, picking him up and tossing him into the undergrowth surrounding the bathrooms you ignited the flare. Its red light illuminated you in the darkness and pouring rain as the Rex went for the bathroom and Gennaro. You screamed for the animal, trying to alert her to your location but she destroyed the bathrooms anyway and picked Gennaro up. Horror flooded you as you watched her devour the man and you once more tried to gain her attention, knowing full well that Ian was somewhere around the destroyed structure, injured and easy prey. You also needed to prevent her from going back to the other car.

“Hey!” You screamed again and climbed onto the mound surrounding the paddock just as the Rex turned to you. “Here!”

She walked towards you and you backed up to the edge. You swore quietly, knowing that you had nowhere to run to, yet also aware that Alan was having trouble getting Tim out of the car. Fortunately, the Rex was trying to get you and not the kids. You were terrified but glad that the kids were uninteresting compared to you waving around a glowing red flare. The Rex approached you, roaring once more as she came impossibly close to you.

Out of instinct, you took a step back, forgetting about the big drop into the paddock. As your foot hit empty air you lost your balance and tumbled backwards into the paddock. Fortunately, you landed in a tree crown and tumbled through the branches into the bushes below. The last thing you saw before you passed out, was the Rex roaring above you on the edge of the paddock before stomping off once more.

---

When you came to you sat up quickly, the movement sending pain coursing through your body. But you didn’t care at the moment because you were terrified that the Rex was still around. You realised that the night was quiet, only filled with the chirps of birds and the sound of wildlife, which relieved you since it assured you that the fauna around you wasn’t hiding or scared and you concluded that the Rex must have moved on. Slowly you rose to your feet, noting the scratches all over your body from hitting several branches along your way down.

A pang of pain in your side made you pull up your blouse and the shirt you were wearing underneath it to reveal several bruises littering your upper body, undoubtedly also caused by the tree branches you hit while falling. But nothing looked too serious so you slowly began to move out of the bushes you had fallen into. You looked around and saw the other car on the ground which made you freeze. The Rex must have pushed it down. You quickly approached and opened the doors of the upturned vehicle to look inside. When you found it empty you looked up the mound of the paddock before calling out for the people you had been with.

“Alan?” You yelled in question, before calling out for the kids. “Lex! Tim!”

There was no answer and you swallowed in fear, worried about your niece and nephew. But they had been with Alan and the man seemed more than able to keep them safe. Perhaps they had run off when the Rex had been distracted by you. Then what happened to Ian hit you and you quickly decided to look for him. You weren’t keen on walking through the Rex’s paddock to find an easy way up to the main road and the lights on the fence were still out, indicating that the power hadn’t come back on, so you decided on climbing up the wires.

“Alright, I got to get back up there.” You mumbled to yourself before gripping one of the wires. “It’s either this or wandering around an apex predator’s paddock when you have no idea where said predator is. I just wish I had paid more attention in gym class.”

You chuckled to yourself at the joke before bracing your feet at the wall and pulling on the wire to get into position. “Why am I always so funny when no one is around to hear it?”

And then you began climbing, making your way up the wall slowly but steadily until you eventually made it onto the mound of the paddock. Once there, you looked around warily but found no dinosaurs around. Alan and the kids were gone too and you hoped it meant that they had gotten away. While looking around for anyone else, you heard someone calling out for help.

“Ian?”

Chapter Text

“Remind me to thank your father for the lovely weekend.”

You felt some of the tension in your body leaving as you heard Ian joking. A chuckle escaped your mouth as you shook your head, putting a hand on his cheek as a comforting gesture. Ian sighed softly and leaned his head into your hand before reaching up to cover it with his own. When you had found him in the rubble, his arm bleeding from a deep cut and calling out for your help, you had been worried beyond belief. But if he could joke around, he wasn’t all that bad off.

“I’m glad that you are okay.” You whispered before pulling your hand back and helping him sit up. Then you examined his arm and quickly began taking off your blouse before ripping it up. “I’ll bandage it up with my blouse. When we get back to the Visitor’s Centre we can properly bandage it. I should also disinfect it but I don’t have anything on hand. Maybe once we’re back at the centre we can find a First Aid Kit somewhere.”

“Thank you.” Ian mumbled as you bandaged up his arm as best as you could with only your torn-up blouse to do so. His eyes scanned your body, falling onto the scratches and bruises littering it. “Are you injured?”

“I’m alright.” You assured him, tying the loose ends of the fabric into a tight knot. “Apart from a few scratches and bruises, I’m fine. When the Rex came for me, I fell into the paddock and into a tree. And I hit about every branch that tree had on my way down.”

Ian chuckled at the joking way you said that before shaking his head. “Are you sure you didn’t break any bones or sprain anything?”

“I mean, I don’t have x-ray vision, but I’m almost certain.” You assured him with a smile. “I’ll have some nasty bruises for a while but I’ll be fine.”

“What do we do now? Should we get back to the Visitor’s Centre? I don’t think I want to wait until someone comes to get us.”

“Yes, I’m not sure if anyone is coming for us. Should we follow the tracks of the car?”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, given the fact that many dinosaurs got out of their paddocks. I mean we could likely run into the Dilophosaurus.”

You froze at that, realising what that meant for the kids and Alan. The man was smart and wouldn’t try to take them down the main road but you now worried which way they were taking. Ian saw your expression and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ian, did you see where the kids went?” You whispered, tears gathering in your eyes as you looked around. “I didn’t see them when I came up and-- and there is a car down in the paddock and some footprints but I-- Where do you think they went? Alan wouldn’t take them down the main road but if they’re in the paddock they’re in danger.”

“Hey, hey, don’t panic now.” Ian shushed you, his uninjured arm coming up so he could reach his hand on your shoulder. “Alan isn’t stupid and he would never take them down the main road with all those dinosaurs running around. I’m pretty sure that if you saw the car and footprints down in the paddock that means he’s taking them through the forest to the Visitor’s Centre.”

“But that means they’re going through the Rex’s paddock. They’ll get eaten!”

“The Rex got out of the paddock and is probably wandering the park. I’m sure if anything she’s exploring the, uh, rest of the park rather than the paddock she’s been in all her life.” Ian said in a soft voice as you blinked your tears away. “There’s no game to hunt in her paddock, so there’s no reason for her to stay there.”

“You’re right.” You nodded before wiping your eyes. “Does that mean going through the forest and paddocks is our plan, too?”

“I’d say so. Let’s see if we can find a way down.”

With that, the two of you went to the concrete mound surrounding the paddock and looked down. You quietly suggested climbing down using the wires and Ian began to examine them, pulling on one of them to see if it was sturdy.

“You’re right. We should climb down.”

“Will you manage with your arm?”

“Yes, I should be fine. Do you want me to go first?”

“Please.”

About twenty minutes later found Ian down in the paddock and you climbing down the last ten metres. That was when you felt tremors shaking the ground. The Rex was coming and you began to climb down faster which ended in you slipping up and just barely holding onto the wire to stop yourself from falling. Ian called out your name in shock as he came closer, holding out his arms the best he could with one of them being injured.

“Let go! There’s a pipe we can hide in but we have to hurry!”

“What? No way!” You screamed and began to climb again until you heard the Rex roar from nearby. “Ian!”

He looked up at your screech in terror, already seeing the Rex’s shadow drawing closer. “Let go! I’ll catch you!”

“With your injured arm?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Not really!”

Ian stopped for a few seconds before speaking up again. “Just let go!”

You closed your eyes, took a deep breath and loosened your hands from the wire. To your surprise, Ian actually managed to catch you, albeit with a lot of tumbling and nearly falling over. Then he set you down and pulled you towards the pipe. Once there, the two of you climbed in and huddled together, just in time for the Rex to appear on the mound of the paddock, looking down into it.

“I told you we weren’t safe in the paddock.” You whispered at Ian, tears once more rising in your eyes as you tried to be quiet. “And neither are the kids.”

“We are.” He assured you quietly, watching the shadow of the Rex move in the dim light the moon cast through the rain clouds. “There’s nothing to hunt in here. She’ll try to find something else.”

You put a hand in front of your mouth to try and keep yourself from sobbing as the shadow of the Rex loomed over the edge of the concrete mound. Ian inched a bit closer to you as the two of you waited for what seemed like hours until the Rex retreated. Only when you heard her roar from further away, did you come out.

“We need to get moving.”

“Ian? If she’s still around, do you think Lex and Tim are fine? What if she got to them while they were trying to make it through the forest?”

“Don’t say that. They are fine because they’re smart and brave and resourceful. On top of that, they have Alan with them and who’s better at getting them through a jungle full of dinosaurs than a palaeontologist?”

“Thank you.” You whispered, comforted by his words and realising that he was right about Alan keeping them safe. “They’ll be safe with him.”

“Exactly. Now let’s get going before the Rex comes back.”

“Alright.”

With that, the two of you set out. You tracked through the jungle for hours, the rain never lessening up and every movement in the undergrowth making both of you freeze in fear. Eventually, you suggested that the two of you needed to rest and you needed a safe place to look at Ian’s arm once more.

“What were you thinking of?”

“A maintenance shed or something like that. My father told me a lot about this park and he mentioned there being maintenance sheds throughout it.”

Ian nodded and thought for a few seconds before his eyes lit up. “I think I saw one on the map in the Centre earlier today. It was close to an access road that circles through this paddock and I’m pretty sure we crossed it a bit earlier. So the shed should be around here somewhere.”

“Lead the way then.”

Ian smiled a little before setting out again and you followed him. That was until you once again heard the roar of the Rex, not far from where you two were walking. Both of you began to look around in panic, trying to locate where it had come from. But it was to no avail because neither of you could make anything out through the thick foliage.

“She’s behind us.” Ian concluded but you shook your head.

“She could be anywhere! Where do we go? What if we run and she was actually in front of us the whole time and we run into her? Ian, what do we do?”

Ian looked at you for a few seconds before looking back to where you had been heading. “I know that the shed is not far from where we are. If we run, we might be able to get there before she gets to us.”

“Can we risk that?”

“We have to.”

With that, he grabbed your hand and pulled you along. You chalked your willingness to let him hold your hand up to him needing to lead the way but something about Ian’s hand tightly holding onto yours made you feel safe. Eventually, you made it to the edge of a small clearing beyond which lay the access road you had seen earlier. It was circularly running through the paddock and beyond it was the maintenance shed. You felt immense relief at seeing its giant metal doors and massive stone frame. It looked safe and sturdy enough to withstand even a Tyrannosauruses’ force.

Yet, the clearing ahead scared you and you knew exactly why. It was quiet -- way too quiet. All your life you had loved the outdoors to the point where you had even considered giving up your job at the museum to work in your father’s park as a ranger of sorts – which was obviously out of the question now. You had learned that quiet was never a good thing in nature.

“Ian, it’s way too quiet. Something is off.”

“What do you mean?” Ian turned to you. “Would you rather have a carnivore roaring at you right now?”

“Animals get quiet when they sense a predator.”

Now Ian seemed to understand what you meant and fear dawned on his face. The possibility of what might be hiding in the foliage around the clearing was a terrifying thing to imagine and you didn’t dare move from where you were still partially hidden behind a tree.

“But what other choice do we have? We need to get to that shed, so we can rest and maybe examine your wound. It’s the only safe place for miles.” You mumbled before turning to Ian. “Should we make a run for it?”

Ian nodded and took your hand tightly into his again. “On the count of three, we make a run for it. And we won’t stop until we get to the shed. Just keep running, no looking back, okay?”

“Okay.”

Then he counted down and when he reached one, you two began running. Ian was sprinting across the clearing, pulling you behind him. You had to physically force yourself to keep running when you heard a mighty roar from behind you and thundering footsteps started to pursue you. The Rex had apparently been on the prowl, looking for food and now you were sprinting across the clearing, obviously setting off her instincts. Ian nearly fell as her big footsteps shook the earth but managed to keep going and pull you along with him.

Once you had passed the clearing, you ran through the undergrowth and trees towards the road. The Rex was still in hot pursuit but was seemingly slowed down by the foliage. You thanked everything in the universe for the large fallen tree that was in her way and slowed her down even further.

When you had crossed the road, Ian ripped open the shed’s door and all but pushed you inside, before following and closing the door. You tripped and fell, turning around on the floor to see Ian pulling the door shut. Quickly, you jumped up and locked it.

As the Rex banged against the shed and tried to get inside, both of you stumbled backwards, pressing into the far wall. Despite your better judgement, you turned and buried your face in Ian’s shoulder, closing your eyes tightly. He didn’t seem to mind -- on the contrary, he embraced you, burying his nose in your hair while pressing his eyes shut.

“She can’t get in here.” He whispered soothingly. “She’ll give up, eventually.”

You nodded against his shoulder. “I knew she was hiding somewhere. It was either her or another carnivore that made the wildlife go quiet.”

“We’re safe in here.” He promised and pulled away a bit to look at you. “Trust me.”

“I’m trying to.” You mumbled and looked back at the door where the banging had stopped but you could still hear her walking around. “Believe me I am.”

Then you let go of Ian and felt around in the dark until you found a light switch. You flicked it and looked around the room, delighted to see that it was not only a maintenance shed but also some sort of emergency shelter. You’d have to thank your father for this measure of foresight when you saw him again. You took in the shelves that lined the walls and breathed a sigh of relief.

“It really is an emergency shelter and I’m pretty sure the tinned food is meant to last for a few days. How’s your arm?”

“Could be better. It really hurts but I think your blouse bandage slowed the bleeding down significantly.”

“When she’s gone, I’ll go out to collect water and then we can boil it using the camping cooker on the shelf over there so I can clean your arm.”

“That’s brilliant. You have always been smart.”

“Was there ever any doubt of that?” You put your hands on your hips in a jokingly accusing manner. “I hope not.”

He began to laugh a little before moving closer to you so he could examine the shelves. “What else is in here? Something to defend ourselves with?”

“No.” You mumbled in defeat before your eyes fell on something else that could come in handy. “A radio set! The power was cut so the telephones are out but the radio should work. That means we can call the Visitor’s Centre and tell them where we are!”

“Maybe they’ll send someone to pick us up.”

“I’ll try to get it to work in a bit but first, we’ll take care of your arm, yes?” You then stopped talking to listen for any sounds outside. “I think I can open the door a creak and put a bucket outside. The rain is still coming down hard so I’m sure we should get enough to clean your arm and to drink in no time.”

“Is the water safe to drink?”

“We’ll boil it and let it cool down. But Alan has been drinking it our whole way back the main road, remember?”

“You’re right.” He nodded before looking toward the door. “Be careful.”

You did quick work of executing your plan and you were relieved to find that the Rex had seemingly gone away. Once back inside, you turned to Ian and smiled.

“I’m sure we can find a first aid kit, too.” With that, you began rummaging through the shelves for one. “Take a seat and rest, okay?”

“You’re being so nice to me.”

“I care about you. Why wouldn’t I be nice to you?”

“I hurt you.”

“We can talk about this later, okay? Now is not really the time for these conversations.” You explained before going back to looking through the shelf. “I found a first aid kit and some tinned food. What do you want? Mac and cheese or soup?”

“Mac and Cheese.” Ian shrugged.

You smiled at him. “Good choice.”

He smiled back at you as you began to inspect the kit. There was antiseptic in there and proper bandages, along with scissors and band-aids of all varieties. You mentally fist-pumped the air before you turned to Ian who was still watching you intently.

“What?”

“You’re so professional and enthusiastic about caring for me.” He said, a little amused. “What’s in there? Everything we need, I hope.”

“Antiseptic, bandages, scissors, band-aids, a few emergency flares and some other minor stuff you’d expect to be in there like tape.” You then smiled at him again. “Enough to patch up your arm until we get back to the Centre.”

“Thank you.”

“Always.”

Chapter Text

After setting everything up to patch Ian up and boiling the water you had collected, you turned to the man. He was sitting on a little bench, patiently waiting for you as you sat down next to him, looking completely calm and trusting in your abilities.

“This is going to hurt. I’d tell you to hold my hand but I need them both to patch you up, so you can hold onto my leg or my shoulder or whatever you feel like.” You then chuckled, hoping a joke would help lighten the mood. “Just not my feet. You know how ticklish I am.”

Ian chuckled a bit at that. “Yes, I distinctly remember trying to be, uh, romantic by giving you a foot massage and you breaking down laughing.”

You laughed at the memory and held up his arm a bit before taking the water that had now cooled down enough to not scald his skin anymore. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

You poured it over the wound, cleaning it from dirt. Ian hissed in pain and grabbed one of your thighs for support before pressing his eyes shut. All of your quiet apologies were met with understanding dismissals from him as you gently began to dab the edges of the wound.

“It looks pretty good for a gaping wound. It’s not infected but it might have gotten to that point had we not found the shed.” You then took the antiseptic. “This will sting but you could have probably guessed that yourself.”

After your warning, you cleaned the wound and bandaged it. Ian took it all quietly, his eyes closes, his hand gripping your leg tightly and his head bowed. Once you were done, you reached down to take his hand and he looked up in surprise, breath heavy and eyes teary from the pain.

“I’m done. You did well.” You praised him softly. “Are you hungry? I’m going to use some of the water to cook and I’ll put the rest of the boiled water in one of those tin bottles for us to drink.”

“A bit of food might be good.”

You nodded and stood up to get to work. And before long, you were sitting across each other on the bench, eating the mac and cheese quietly. Ian kept looking at you and eventually, you decided to talk to lift the silence.

“So you said there was no new woman in your life?”

“No.” Ian admitted, lifting a spoonful of noodles to his mouth. “I went on a few dates, had a few short relationships here and there but I haven’t found anyone whom I liked as much as you.”

“Don’t try to flatter me.” You chuckled softly, scooping up some food on your spoon. “But I feel the same. I tried my best but never found anyone I really liked that much.”

“So if we both haven’t found anyone we liked as much as each other, don’t you think that means we--”

“Ian, stop.” You interrupted, shaking your head firmly. “You slept with my best friend after we broke up. You hurt me. I can’t trust you like that anymore.”

“I didn’t know Jenna was your best friend. I actually, uh, told her that it was funny that her name was Jenna and told her that my ex girlfriend had a best friend by that name. I even mentioned your first name during that conversation and she didn’t tell me who she was.” Ian explained. “I didn’t know.”

“Really?” You asked in shock because that was news to you. “But she knew you! I showed her pictures of us together all the time! She should have known! I mean, after I found out I was furious but she apologised and assured me she just hadn’t recognised you. But if you mentioned me by name and talked to her about me, she must have known!”

“You know I never met her. I really didn’t know.”

“No, I believe you now. I’m just furious at her.” You put your plate down to stare at Ian in shock. “I can’t believe I forgave her and kept blaming you. If I get off this darn island, I’m going to tell her to never speak to me again! She didn’t tell you?”

“I had no idea. I swear.”

“I should have known she was into you. When I showed her pictures of us together, she kept telling me how good-looking you were.” Your voice got quieter the longer you went on and you sighed. “That means it was her fault, not yours.”

“Thank you for letting me clear this up.”

“Don’t thank me for that.” You mumbled before sighing once more. “Still, you went and had sex with someone two days after we had broken up. It made me feel like I hadn’t been important to you, you know?”

“Because I was lonely.” Ian admitted, averting his eyes. “Maybe this is the last, uh, the last chance I get to talk to you because you will probably avoid me once we get back home, so I’ll be honest with you about why I broke up with you. Our relationship was going so strong and I was really happy. But then you kept talking about your friends all getting married and having babies and about what you would do at your wedding and--”

“Ian, I never meant it to sound like I wanted you to propse to me.”

“Let me finish, please.”

“Of course. I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“I felt pressured. You wanted to get married and have kids eventually. And while you weren’t pressuring me directly or on purpose I felt, uh, I felt pressured because I doubted that I would be a good husband to you or father to our child. Don’t get me wrong, I love kids and I love you but I felt like I was just too-- too selfish, maybe.”

“Oh, Ian.” You whispered after a few seconds of silence, feeling tears well up in your eyes at this confession. “And you broke up with me because you wanted me to find someone else to have that with?”

“Yes, I thought without me holding you back you could find someone ready for marriage and children.”

“Ian, I wasn’t ready for it either. I talked about it a lot because I was genuinely excited for my friends and because I wanted to share my opinions on things like wedding décor or baby names. Did you feel pressured by me?”

“You didn’t mean to pressure me.”

“But I still made you feel pressured?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry. I should have noticed that something was wrong and talked to you about it.” You sighed miserably as you shook your head. “I am always so self-absorbed!”

“You aren’t!” He quickly looked up at you. “I should have said something and talked to you about it. It was my fault.”

“Can we agree it was both of our faults for not talking about it? I really don’t want to blame just you.”

“I suppose we can.”

“And just so you know, you’re not selfish. I for one think that you’d make an amazing husband and father.” You admitted softly, giving him a small comforting smile. “Besides the fact that you already have a kid who as far as I can tell turned out great , my niece and nephew thought you were amazing. The few times they met you when we were still a couple, they thought you were really nice and fun. And I think they still like talking to you. I mean, Lex wouldn’t stop talking your ear off back at the Visitor’s Centre.”

“I tried to keep up with her technical talk but I’m not a computer expert by any means.” Ian said with a soft chuckle. “I hope she didn’t notice that.”

“I don’t think she would have minded. It’s just nice to have someone listen to you talk about your interest.” You smiled at him before frowning at him avoiding your eyes again. “What’s wrong?”

“I still miss you.”

You were a little shocked. You yourself had missed Ian a great deal over the last few years but now you had finally had the chance to speak about all your problems. The fact that he also missed you just as much as you missed him was confusing and overwhelming. It was also not what you should concern yourself with in this situation.

“Let’s just try to contact the Visitor’s Center.”

Ian nodded, obviously disappointed but he put the plates away and reached for the radio so he could set it up. Once set up, you tried several frequencies until you finally got a signal.

“John?” Ian was the first to speak. “Or Ellie or--”

“Buenas Noches.”

The reply made your face fall. The only frequency that got you any sort of reply was one that didn’t connect to the Visitor’s Center but instead to a random person that wasn’t on the island with you. You sighed in disappointment.

“Nevermind.” Ian said into the radio. “Wrong frequency.”

“Qué?”

“Wrong frequency.” You repeated, trying to come up with the few things that you remembered from your high school Spanish class. “Perdone, el número equivocado.”

“Adiós.” Ian quickly said.

“Adiós.” Came the confused reply.

You shut the radio off and sighed. “I think I told her ‘Sorry, the wrong number’ instead of saying ‘I dialled the wrong number’ which is not good considering I took Spanish for almost two years when I was in Highschool.”

“It’s not a telephone, either.” Ian chuckled. “It’s the wrong frequency if anything. And didn’t you say you learned French?”

“My Spanish teacher didn’t like me and she was insistent that I was doing very badly orally even though I wasn’t, so once we got the chance to switch courses I changed to French and kept doing that until I graduated.”

Ian was smirking at you and you gave him a questioning look. His grin grew wider as he leaned in. “Well, I for one think you’ve always been pretty good orally.”

After a second of silence, you began to laugh and gently hit his uninjured arm. “Stop being nasty.”

“I’m only speaking the truth.” He chuckled softly. “But if only we had reached someone who speaks French, then you could have had your moment of glory.”

“If only.” You said dramatically before frowning. “I’d hate to ruin the lighthearted mood but what do we do now?”

“We stick to the, uh, the original plan. We rest and in a few hours, we’ll keep going.” Ian explained as he turned back to the door. “Should we put another bucket out to catch some water while we rest?”

“Yes.”

You walked to the door, taking the bucket with you along the way, and slowly opened it, leaning outside just a bit to put it down. That’s when a roar sounded from the surrounding jungle and thundering steps approached you again. Quickly, you slammed the door shut, falling back into the shed as you tripped over a crate on your way inside. Ian jumped up and quickly crouched down next to you, pulling you back from the door.

“Are you okay?”

“I think the Rex was still in this area!”

“We’ve only been in here for an hour at most, so it’s likely she’s still close.”

“I feel trapped.” Panic was rising in your chest and you felt a lump rising in your throat, making it hard to breathe. “We’re trapped in here. We can’t contact anyone and they don’t know where we are! We’re trapped with her out there! We can’t outrun her, Ian! We will never--”

Ian didn’t say anything at first but he cut off your frantic rambling by drawing you into a tight embrace and you clung to him almost immediately, arms wrapping around his chest as you buried your face at his shoulder. He only held you tighter when you began to cry, sobs heaving your body as tears poured from your eyes like the rain outside. You were thankful for Ian holding you because his presence and his body against yours made you feel at least a little safer.

“I’ll get you out of here.” He promised quietly, resting his chin on top of your head. “She’ll leave eventually. We will rest now and when we set out again, she’ll be gone. She won’t stay here forever, waiting for us when there is bigger game to hunt out there.”

“What if she doesn’t leave?”

“She will. She has no reason to stay around for hours.” Ian promised and slowly began to stand, gently guiding you along with him before leading you over to sit down on the bench. “Sit with me and rest a bit.”

You nodded and sat down, feeling a bit calmer now thanks to his comfort and words. The tight knot in your throat was gone and though there were a few stray tears running down your cheeks, you were feeling calmer now. You were still leaning against Ian, his uninjured arm around your shoulders and you slowly looked up at him when you realised that.

“Is this alright?”

“Of course.” He promised, trying to ignore the Rex still moving around in the surrounding jungle in favour of holding your trembling body tightly. “Are you cold or are you shivering because you’re scared?”

“Both, but I’ll be alright.”

Ian shook his head and withdrew his arms before taking off his leather jacket that he had once again put on sometime after you had patched him up. You looked up at the loss of contact just as he wrapped the jacket over your shoulders.

“Here you go. Better?”

“Yes.” You pulled it close around your body, not yet putting the arms in the sleeves to preserve some body heat. “Thank you, Ian, but won’t you get cold?”

“Not at all. I mean you, uh, you ripped up your blouse to bandage my arm. It’s the least I can do. I’m also pretty used to being a bit chilly. You used to steal the blanket all the time, remember?”

That got a small chuckle out of you as you wiped away the remaining tears on your cheeks. “Well, you insisted on us having one blanket instead of two. It’s as much on you as it is on me.”

“It was great for intimacy – more than two blankets. I liked that.”

“Then stop complaining.” You joked, gently nudging his side with your elbow. “But I agree it was great for intimacy.”

Ian chuckled and put an arm around you again, pulling you close. You rested your head against his chest as both of you tried to ignore the Rex outside the shed, the sound of dinosaurs in the distance and the storm still raging on. Ian eventually began to play with your hair and you smiled a little. He had always done it when you two were still together and you had loved the feeling of it just as much as Ian had loved to twirl it around his fingers. Eventually, it had developed into him braiding your hair and you had absolutely adored wearing the braids your partner had done for you. The braids had always ended up dissolved at the end of the day, though, because at some point or another he had begun playing with your hair again.

Slowly, you reached for his free hand and intertwined your fingers with his. You felt Ian’s head moving and figured he was probably looking at either you or your hand but you just started gently playing with his fingers, careful not to hurt his arm more. It reminded you of how you had always done it when the two of you had been holding hands in the past and you were sure he was reminded of that, as well.

“It’s almost nostalgic.” You whispered softly, gently using your hand to turn his around before running your finger up and down his palm. “You’re playing with my hair, I’m playing with your fingers, you’re holding me and I made dinner earlier.”

“I got to admit, your dinner was better than the lunch earlier.” Ian said and you noted how soft his voice sounded as your finger traced the lines on his palm. “It was good.”

“I’m flattered.” You joked softly, still drawing small shapes onto his palm. “I do like noodles more than fish, though.”

“Yeah.” Ian said, his voice a little slurred as he leaned his head against yours. “I’m exhausted from all that happened tonight. We should try to get some sleep.”

“Will you keep holding me?”

“All night if you want me to.”

“Thank you.”

You two were quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s company and finding comfort in the other’s body heat. Ian’s chest was rising and falling underneath your ear and you could hear his heart beat steadily as you continued to gently play with his fingers. In the end, you were almost able to ignore the Rex outside, but not quite.

“Ian. I can still hear her outside.”

“We’re safe.” He promised softly, voice just as quiet as yours as he closed his eyes and leaned into you. “Just get some rest. She won’t stick around forever, especially with the storm still raging outside.”

“Thank you.” You whispered and cuddled up to him a bit more, sighing softly as his arm tightened around you. “I’m glad that you’re with me right now.”

“Really?”

“I missed you, too.”

Chapter Text

You awoke in the early hours of the morning when the sun hadn’t yet risen completely. The storm had mostly died down by then and there was only soft rain drizzling down on the jungle around you and a light wind blowing through the tree tops. Blinking softly, you sat up and found Ian looking down at you.

“You could have woken me.”

“I haven’t been awake for long and I wanted you to get a bit of rest before we set out again.” He explained with a soft smile. “The fact that you were still huddled close to me and holding my hand was an added bonus.”

That made you chuckle and you sat up to stretch. “I hope you got some rest, too.”

“I did.” Ian said before taking a deep breath and turning to you. “Can we talk about something real quick?”

“Of course, but we should really make it quick. We need to get going.”

“Do you think we could, uh, we could give our relationship another shot?”

“That’s unexpected.”

“Is it really that unexpected after our conversation last night?” Ian asked as he watched your face contort into a frown. “What do you say?”

“I’m not sure. How do I know you’re not going to leave me again?”

“I guess there’s no definitive certainty about human behaviour.” Ian explained. “Anything could happen really. Human relationships are pretty complex and in a complex system there is always--”

“No Chaos Theory this early in the morning.” You interrupted as you got up. “Ian, can’t we talk about this another time?”

“When?” He stood up and shook his head. “Once we get off the island, you’ll leave and I’ll be alone again. We might never get a chance to talk this out like this again. And I, uh, I just miss you so much. I miss having intellectual conversations with you, I miss joking around with you and I miss your presence in my life. Just give me one last chance.”

“Ian, I’m not sure.”

“Just one more chance is all I’m asking for.”

You bit your lip. You missed him, too. More often than not you would think of him, of how he was doing, what he was doing and whether or not he missed you, too. For the past few years, you had yearned for him to say these words to you. Now it was time to act on your feelings, time to leave your hurt behind and try to trust him. He seemed sincere, all he had done that night was make sure you were alright and give you reasons to trust him.

“Alright.” You nodded before looking back up at him from where you’d been fixating on the floor as you’d wrecked your brain over what to do. “You get one more chance but we need to communicate more. I need to know if you feel pressured or uncomfortable, otherwise, all this will just happen all over again. Promise me to communicate with me.”

“I promise.”

“And I promise to communicate with you about what I’m feeling, too.” You smiled and tentatively embraced him, wrapping your arms around his body and just pulling him close. “My dad’s going to be so mad at you.”

“Let him be mad.” Ian chuckled before pressing a soft kiss to the top of your head. “He never liked me to begin with. But that doesn’t matter because I got you, darling.”

“Now you’re being sappy.”

“I’ll be as sappy as I want to be, thank you very much.” Ian joked and let go of you. “Alright, as much as I want to keep holding you, I think we need to get going because I really don’t want to be left behind on this island.”

“You’re right. Come on.” You nodded and went to take off his jacket. “But I should give this back to you.”

“Keep it.” Ian grinned at you. “If we’re back together, you can, uh, you can fall back into your old habit of stealing my jackets or sweaters.”

“Jackets, sweaters, the blanket. I’m a real thief aren’t I?”

“You could say so but how else would you have managed to steal my heart?” Ian smiled charmingly and you groaned at that line.

“That was really corny.”

“You love it.” Ian chuckled and then reached for an old backpack that was stored on the shelf. “Now let’s pack up everything we need.”

Sensing your chance to make a corny comment back at him, you smiled charmingly and nudged him with your elbow. “Everything I need? Then you have to get into the backpack.”

“Now who’s being corny?”

---

You and Ian kept walking for hours, only occasionally daring to sit down for a few minutes to drink a bit of the water you had packed. But you didn’t dare rest long with predators on the loose. Granted, you had only seen the Rex and a few herbivores so far but you were sure you had seen other predators on the map your father had shown you on the way to the helicopter that had brought you to the island. The fact that there were other carnivores around scared you and you decided to talk to Ian about it.

“Ian?”

“Yes?”

“I saw other dinosaurs on the map, some of which I am sure are carnivores. In the brochure, they were falsely marked as herbivores but on the map, my father showed me they were marked as carnivores. And I’m sure a Metriacanthosaurus is pretty big and even though a Proceratosaurus isn’t as big, it’s still got sharp teeth.” You explained, feeling panic rise in you as you began to ramble a bit. “There were more predators other than the Rex in this park and they are probably also roaming around and maybe we won’t be able to hear the smaller ones approach.”

Ian listened to your fears and spoke up once you’d finished listing your worries to him. “I think I saw two other carnivores other than the Rex, the Raptors and the Dilophosaurus on the map and they weren’t even the ones you just mentioned. I think one of them was a Baryonyx.”

“Exactly.” You said as you kept pushing trees out of your way, approaching the large open fields behind which the perimeter fence was located. “My point is that maybe we shouldn’t go straight across the fields and instead move along the edge of the woods, even if it might take a bit longer.”

“Maybe that’s a good idea. If we walk close to the edge of the jungle, we won’t be spotted as easily and we might be able to hide should something come our way.” Ian agreed with you before sighing. “But eventually we’ll have to come out so we can get to the perimeter fence.”

“I know but the added shelter could keep us safe until then.”

With that, you two had agreed on a plan and kept walking. After some time, you took Ian’s left hand and he gave you a questioning look, inquiring whether or not everything was alright. You told him that you simply wanted to hold his hand and he nodded with a small smile, squeezing your hand as he kept walking. The two of you kept waking like that for some time until you decided to distract from the unease that was rising in you as you thought about how long it had been since you’d encountered the last dinosaur.

“Hey, Ian, remember when I dragged you camping with me for the first time?”

“Oh, I will never forget that trip.” He chuckled. “You think I could forget you trying to tell me stories to scare me but then getting scared by your own story?”

“It was a scary story after all.” You raised a finger at him. “Me being scared just goes to show how good it was. And you were scared, too.”

“I was not.”

“You insisted on me staying by your side at all times after the stories, though.” You teased with a gentle smile. “Don’t you remember that?”

“I remember the storm that started during the evening and how we were sitting in a little tent, huddled together, hoping that we’d be fine if we didn’t touch the, uh, the sides of the tent.”

“We would have been fine. There were enormous trees all around us that the lightning would have struck first.”

“That didn’t stop you from being scared.”

“If anyone was scared it was you, clinging to me and nagging me to make a run for the car which was like so far away that we would have never made it there during such a storm.” You shook your head with a chuckle. “You need to trust me more.”

“Just yesterday you literally told me that you didn’t trust me.” Ian raised an eyebrow at you. “And I trusted you back then. I would have trusted you with my life.”

“Not enough to--”

“Don’t start doing this now.” Ian raised his voice a little, frowning at you. “I went on that camping trip with you, didn’t I? And I sat out the storm with you like you had said we should, didn’t I? I listened to your every word because I trusted you. You were the one that said she wouldn’t trust me to catch her when she was literally about to be spotted by the Rex!”

You snatched your hand away from his and shook your head. “Because that was before I knew that Jenna was the one to blame for sleeping with you! That was before I knew that you had never even seen what my best friend looked like! Of course, I thought it was your fault!”

“That’s the problem. You never listen to anyone.” Ian hissed and tried to cross his arms just to drop them when he realised how much that hurt his injury. “You got so stuck up on what you think happened that you never even bothered to listen to my side of the story!”

“I was hurt. You need to get off your high horse and stop pretending that you were so communicative! You never talked about our problems either! I mean, don’t you remember when I invited you to dinner with my dad you didn’t show up without as much as giving me a call?”

“I never showed up because he hated me!”

“He never got to know you!”

“He didn’t exactly try to get to know me. He thought I was a volatile, immature man who would have never stayed with you or made you happy!”

You began to walk again at that, not wanting to listen to this anymore. “You could have tried to convince him otherwise. I would have helped you, had you not been so convinced that everyone was out to get you!”

“You were too fixated on your father’s opinion to do so. I mean even now, do you think what he did was wrong? Do you think he made mistakes?”

“Of course he made mistakes, otherwise we wouldn’t be tracking through a dinosaur-infested jungle during a tropical storm. But he had good intentions.” You snapped, wanting to defend your father. “I myself was obsessed with dinosaurs as a kid and I would have loved this park. He wanted to give something to the world.”

“Without any regard for nature and the world itself.”

“Don’t try to blame him for this. He didn’t mean for this to happen. He couldn’t have known that this would happen.”

“But that’s the problem inherent in this, uh, this little project of his. He had no idea what was going to happen but that never stopped him.” Ian tried to get through to you and even though you knew he was right in that regard, you were angry at how he portrayed your father. “Don’t you understand what I’m trying to say?”

“Are you saying that my dad is incompetent?”

“He’s reckless.”

“He would never willingly put anyone in danger.”

“Try telling that to the, uh, to Gennaro or to what is left of him.” Ian kept walking behind you now. “I’m sure he’d disagree.”

You were about to speak up when you caught movement from the corner of your eye and turned your head to see something huge coming your way from across the field. Unsure of what it was, you turned to Ian who was still going on about Chaos Theory and the park.

“I am not blaming your father entirely, I’m just saying--”

“Ian, be quiet.”

“I’m not trying to hurt you or--”

“Ian, be quiet and hide.”

Ian stopped before turning toward the open field and gasping in shock. He then quickly grabbed your hand, pulling you deeper into the woods before hiding behind a huge fallen tree with you. You heard the footsteps of the animal closing in on the woods and you pressed your eyes closed.

“Is that the Baryonyx?”

“Yes.” Ian whispered back and pushed you closer to the trunk with his uninjured arm. “Stay still. Maybe she won’t notice us.”

“I hope.”

Chapter Text

You kept your eyes pressed close as Ian kept an arm across your body, keeping you close to the tree and out of sight. His hand was shaking where it lay on your chest and you quickly reached up to grab it, cradling it to your body. He squeezed your hand tightly as the two of you waited on whether or not the Baryonyx would find you.

A few minutes passed with the two of you trying your hardest to remain quiet and still while the animal kept walking around close to your hiding place. But then the earth began to shake anew and you opened your eyes. To your horror, the Rex was coming straight at you. Ian squeezed your hand a little tighter and both of you understood that you had to remain still if you wanted any chance of survival.

The Baryonyx roared behind you and you held your breath to keep still while the Rex made her way toward the other dinosaur at the roaring. Neither of them seemed to take any notice of you two and you were relieved until you realised that you were right in the path of the Rex. You pulled Ian’s hand to get him moving and the two of you tried to get away without being detected. If you could make a run for the clearing and then up the hill, you might manage to get out of sight and far enough away while the dinosaurs were fighting.

But getting out from between two fighting carnivores was harder than expected. Everything became a blur of dodging claws, jaws, tails and feet. You heard Ian yell for you and you were sure you yelled for him a couple of times, as well. Eventually, you managed to roll down a slope where you had seen Ian go down just seconds prior. The two dinosaurs were getting farther and farther away in their fight, pushing each other out into the clearing and away from you.

Once their roars were far enough away, you turned to Ian. You were smiling in relief, glad to have survived but your smile quickly disappeared when you saw the look of horror on his face.

“Ian, what’s wrong?”

His eyes went wide and you quickly looked around, fearing that the dinosaurs were coming back your way. Then you looked back at him and realized he wasn’t looking at where you to had come from but at you.

“How are you not in pain? Your arm, uh, I mean your forearm is all--”

Your hands shot to your arm and there you felt it. You touched wetness and when you looked, you saw that you were bleeding. Three long, deep claw marks stretched up your left forearm. Panic shot through you and you were ready to scream as you saw how much blood it was when Ian came up to you, grasping your shoulders.

“Stay calm, alright? I’ll take care of you.” Ian tried to sound reassuring though he sounded terrified himself. “The cuts aren’t all too deep. Looks like the Baryonyx got you with her claw, huh?”

“It-- It must have been when-- when I brought my arm up to shield my face. I don’t understand-- I didn’t even notice.” You stammered out, tears running down your cheeks. “How could I not notice, Ian?”

“Adrenaline.” Ian mumbled out, trying to keep his voice steady as he guided you to sit down on a tree stump. “Does it hurt, darling?”

“Yeah.” You whispered, feeling the pain now that the adrenaline was wearing off. “Ian, am I losing a lot of blood?”

“You will be fine. I will clean that up for you and bandage it and then we will get back to the Visitor’s Center to get you some proper medical attention.”

“You, too.” You said in a shaky voice, watching him dig around the bag with his good arm. “Let me-- Let me assist you so you don’t have to use your injured arm.”

“That’s a good idea.” He nodded as he pulled out the antiseptic and bandages you had packed. “I’ll be quick, darling.”

The next twenty minutes or so were filled with pain, assisting Ian and his soothing words until you were patched up. You were surprised you had managed to be of any help with how much your other hand had been shaking but Ian had praised you throughout the process, telling you how much you were helping. Once you were patched up, you breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at Ian again. He looked terribly relieved as he saw that your wound wasn’t bleeding through the bandages.

“See? You will be fine.” He smiled despite the worry he was obviously still feeling. “Now we match.”

You chuckled at that before looking down at his upper right arm that you had previously wrapped in a bandage. It still looked fine, not having bled through the bandages too much and you gave Ian a soft smile.

“Is your arm alright? You didn’t move it a lot while helping me, right?”

“No, with your assistance I barely moved it an inch.”

You watched for a few seconds as he packed the supplies back into the backpack with his good hand and closed it up. You felt terrible for fighting with him now. He cared about you a lot and you two had promised each other to get better at communication in the future, so you shouldn’t have gone off at him for the past. At your sigh, Ian looked up.

“I’m sorry for going off on you earlier.”

“Me, too. I can be a real, uh, a real jerk at times.”

Before you could answer, Ian pulled you close and pressed his lips to yours. You were shocked at first because this was the first kiss you two had shared in years. But you couldn’t help melting into the kiss, wrapping your uninjured arm around his neck, deepening the kiss. Ian wrapped his left arm around your waist, holding you securely. After a few more seconds, you both parted and opened your eyes. You knew you were blushing pretty hard but Ian seemed rather flushed himself, so you didn’t feel too embarrassed about it. A small smile made its way to your lips.

“What was that for?”

“Maybe we’re both a little delirious from pain or blood loss.” Ian chuckled softly, bringing a hand up to stroke your cheek. “Or maybe it’s because I love you, who knows?”

“You love me?”

Ian chuckled a little, trying to play down the statement and the tears in his eyes. “Yes, I, uh, I really do and seeing you bleeding and injured made me realise just how much. I was pretty worried.”

“I love you, too.” You whispered back, eyes watering at being able to say it again. “But the bleeding is better now, thanks to you.”

“I’m glad.” Ian said before leaning forward to press a short kiss to your lips. “I’m so glad I get to kiss you again and I’m glad that I get to tell you how much I love you again. I missed that, too, while we weren’t together.”

“Likewise.”

“We should probably get going.” Ian said before pulling back and grabbing your right hand with his left, taking care not to hurt either of you. “Before any other dinosaur decides to pay us a visit.”

---

“There it is!”

Ian smiled at your joyful exclamation and watched as you approached the perimeter fence in quick strides. He was right behind you, looking up at the huge fence. The lights on the fence pole were still off, so the power must have still been gone.

“The perimeter fence!” You spoke up again, smiling brightly as relief washed over you like a tidal wave. “The Vistor’s Center is right behind it! Ian, we made it!”

“We really did it.” Ian breathed in relief. “But let’s not keep waiting and rather go find a way to the other side of the fence.”

“Maybe we could--”

Both of you stopped dead in your tracks as noises sounded from the tall bushes surrounding the mound of the fence. Without even thinking about it, you and Ian started to quickly retreat around the concrete mound until you had made it past a bend in the fence where you could hide. You pressed against the mound, trying to stay out of sight. The footsteps drew closer and you feared you’d encoutner another dinosaur until you heard familiar voices.

“Alan?” The sound of Lex’s voice rang through the air. “Do we have to climb the fence? What if it’s electrified again?”

“No harm in trying.” Tim joked. “Maybe the dinosaurs will like us more if we are cooked.”

“Tim.” Alan said sternly before turning to Lex. “We will have to test--”

That’s when you came out of your hiding spot, almost sprinting over to the other people as Ian followed you slowly. You were overjoyed to see your niece and nephew again, uninjured and alive. The trio startled as you began calling out to them and Alan quickly put an arm in front of the children while Lex screamed and Tim jumped several meters back. But as soon as they realised someone was calling out their names, they calmed down. And when the kids saw you, they immadiately ran over to you.

“Auntie!”

Lex’s exclamation startled her brother out of his stupor and he began sprinting toward you, his sister right behind him. They dove in to hug you and you quickly wrapped your arms around them, ignoring the sharp pain this caused in your injured arm. As you held your crying niece and nephew, you slowly sunk to your knees and the two of them went to the ground with you. You tried your best to shush a sniffling Lex and a sobbing Tim but you couldn’t keep your own tears at bay.

“I’m so glad that you’re safe.” You sobbed before looking up over their heads to face Alan. “Thank you so much for keeping them safe.”

“It was nothing.” Alan answered, giving you a small smile and a shrug.

“It was not nothing.” You shook your head tearfully. “You kept them safe on an island full of danger and-- and you brought them back here. I don’t even-- How can I ever properly thank you, Alan?”

“You don’t have to.” He said as he approached you. “It was the right thing to do.”

Lex pulled back then, wiping her tears away. “We were so scared because you fell into the paddock. We thought you had died!”

“And we couldn’t find you when we were down there!” Tim exclaimed, pulling back now, too. He blinked against the remaining tears in his eyes as he watched you. “I thought you’d ended up a dino snack, Auntie.”

“I’m fine, don’t you worry.”

“They were constantly asking me if I thought you were alright.” Alan said before giving a small chuckle. “The last we saw of you was when you took a flare to distract the Rex and tripping into the paddock like you’d forgotten there was a drop there.”

“I kind of did.” You admitted with a laugh as you stood up, keeping your hands on the kids’ shoulders as they did the same. “But I fell into a treetop, tumbled down through the branches and landed in the undergrowth. You probably didn’t see me because I was stuck in a bush.”

Lex chuckled at that. “That seems likely.”

“I later climbed back up, found Ian and then we went to find the Visitor’s Center.”

“And then you met us.” Tim concluded with a little grin. “That’s a big part of the story and you can’t leave it out!”

“You three actually scared us pretty badly.” Ian laughed as he approached and stopped behind you. “We thought the Rex or the Baryonyx had found us again. But to be fair, if it had been either of them, the footsteps we heard would have been louder.”

“We only saw the Baryonyx from far away.” Alan mused before looking back upon the fields. “But she looked pretty big.”

You nodded and took your hands off the kids’ shoulders to gesture to your injured arm. “And she has pretty large claws.”

“She got you? Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine. Ian patched me up and I patched him up after the Rex got his arm.” You explained. “Are you three alright?”

“Alan made sure we were alright.” Lex smiled a little. “He kept us safe.”

At those words, you left the kids’ side to pull Alan into a crushing embrace. “Thank you so much, Alan. Really, don’t try to downplay it. Thank you.”

Alan just patted your back awkwardly. “Really, it was the right thing to do. You don’t need to thank me.”

You were about to say something when you heard a loud roaring not far from you. Alan sprung into action and checked the fence for electricity by throwing a stick at it. When he had deemed it safe, he put his hands on it and began to scream as though he was being electrocuted. Lex screamed and Tim covered his eyes. You made a move to jump in and Ian held you back, not wanting you to be shocked, too. Then suddenly, Alan let go and smirked at you all.

“Not funny.” Lex said quietly. “Not at all.”

Tim started laughing at Alan’s joke. “That was amazing.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle. “Alan, really? In a survival situation?”

Ian approached the fence. “Can we bend it apart so we can get through?”

“I doubt it.” Alan mused before trying to bend the steel wires between the big wires of the fence. “It won’t budge. We need to climb over it. I’ll go first and once I’m on the other side, I can help the kids over the top.”

He quickly got onto the mound and helped you up after him while Ian ushered the kids toward you, making sure that they were in front of him as the roaring in the distance grew closer. You did quick work helping the kids up before you held out your right hand to Ian.

“Come on.”

With your help, he quickly climbed up onto the mound and then the two of you followed Lex and Tim up the fence. It was a little difficult for the kids but they made it to the top and over the fence just as you and Ian managed to get to the bottom of the fence on the other side. Tim and Lex were betting on who was going to be down sooner while you watched them together with Alan and Ian.

“This was so much sport in one day.” You chuckled softly. “This trip was probably good for our health with how much cardio we did.”

Ian started to laugh at that. “Darling, I don’t think nearly being eaten by a dinosaur and getting injured would be considered good for our health.”

“Point taken.”

You looked back up at Lex and Tim. Your niece was a little faster, getting down from the fence now while Tim took a bit longer because he was making sure to get down safely, holding onto the fence tightly.

“You’re doing so well, Timmy!” You called out to him encouragingly as Lex came over to you and you put a hand on her shoulder. “Just keep going, nice and steady!”

“Your aunt’s right!” Alan called out, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouted. “Just go nice and steady!”

That idea was quickly forgotten when a loud warning noise started up and the lights on the fence turned on, alerting you to the fact that it would soon be electrified again. Tim yelped in fear and quickly wrapped his arms around the fence so he wouldn’t fall. Everyone on the ground looked up in fright as Alan began to urge the boy to jump, promising that he’d catch him.

“I’m not jumping!”

“Tim, listen to Alan!” Lex yelled up at him. “Please, Tim!”

“Tim, Alan can catch you easily!” Ian called out, trying to convince the boy to jump. “You can trust him! Let go!”

“No way!”

“Timmy, please!” You begged as the boy looked won at you. “We’ll count to three!”

“Okay, but I will count to three!”

Chapter Text

“Three.“

You felt your chest tighten in fear as you watched everyone get ready for Tim to jump. Gingerly, you pulled Lex back a bit, not wanting her to get hurt.

“Two!”

But before Tim could get to one, the fence powered up again and the boy was sent towards the ground, forced back by the electricity that ran through the fence. Alan managed to catch him before lowering him to the ground. Lex began crying as she tried to get to her brother just for Ian to hold her back so Alan got to get space to care for the boy. You quickly got to your knees next to the boy and almost broke down crying when you found that he didn’t have a pulse, nor was he breathing.

“He’s not breathing!”

Alan immediately started administering chest compressions to the boy and you quickly got next to his face so you could give him rescue breaths at the right intervals. In the background, Lex was crying heavily and Ian did his best to comfort her, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders to which the girl hugged him and hid her face at his shoulder, not wanting to see her brother like that. Ian started rubbing her back a little with his left arm, the right one awkwardly angled to his body as though it was hurting him again.

“He’ll be okay.” Ian promised. “Alan and your aunt will help him.”

“How-- how much is on that fence, Doctor Malcolm?” Lex asked, tears streaming down her face. “And how-- how much can a human take?”

“I’m not sure how much was on it but trust me when I say humans are much more durable than you’d think.” Ian soothed her. “And Tim will be alright no matter how much is on there.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure of it.” Ian nodded before looking back at the scene in front of him. “And you can call me Ian, by the way.”

Lex wiped her eyes, looking back up at Ian with teary eyes. He simply rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, telling her that it would be alright over and over again. You were meanwhile trying to keep your tears at bay as you still gave your nephew rescue breaths in between Alan’s chest compressions. You had come this far and now Tim wasn’t breathing, just when you had all through you’d be safe.

After a few long excruciating minutes, Tim suddenly took a deep breath and then tried to draw as much air into his lungs as possible. As the boy sat up, you quickly drew Tim into your arms, praising him and comforting him.

“Good boy, Tim.” Alan praised the boy as he checked him for injuries. “How are you feeling?”

“Fried.”

You began to stroke his hair. “You’re going to be alright. We’ll get you inside and once we’re off the island you’ll see a real doctor, yes?”

“Is he alright?” Ian asked as Lex held her breath. “He is, right?”

“Yes, he’ll be fine.” Alan said, ruffling his hair. “Gave us quite the fright, though.”

Lex quickly made her way over to embrace Tim. “Don’t scare me like that again!”

“Sorry.” Tim chuckled and grinned at his sister. “Wanted to make myself extra tasty for the dinosaurs.”

You laughed in relief at Tim joking with his sister again and stood up. “Thank you, Alan. You saved him again.”

Alan just smiled and clapped you on the back. “You did half the work. Now, I think we should get moving again, right?”

“Yes.” Ian agreed in a strangely quiet voice before looking back at you. “Where do you think your father’s at?”

“I’d say the control room.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go.” Alan nodded and helped Tim up, just to lift the boy into his arms when he saw how shaky his legs were. “I’ll get him inside.”

The five of you began to move towards the entrance of the Visitor’s Center. Tim was chatting away with Lex as she held onto your arm and Alan carried the boy. He seemed back to his old self as he joked with his sister. You grabbed Ian’s hand and he linked your fingers together, keeping his injured arm angled to his body.

“Are you feeling alright, Ian?”

“Huh?” He looked up in surprise and nodded, frowning at you in confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re holding your arm so close to your body and you seem a bit spaced out. Does it hurt a lot?” You asked softly pulling your hand away from his to press it to his forehead before moving on to put it to his cheek. “But you don’t seem to have a fever. If your arm hurts badly, I could try and make a sling out of something so you won’t move it around that much.”

“I appreciate your concern but I’m fine. It just hurts pretty badly now that I’m not distracted by running from dinosaurs anymore.” Ian said and though he tried to joke around you could hear how strained his voice sounded. “Don’t you worry about me, darling. I’ll be fine.”

“If you feel worse, please tell me.”

“I will.”

“Darling?” Lex looked at you in interest. “Are you and Ian together again?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Does that make him our uncle then?”

“I, uh, I don’t know. I mean, I am kind of your unofficial uncle in a sense, I suppose.”

“Then I’ll call you Uncle Ian.”

You chuckled at that and grinned at Ian. “Did you hear that, Uncle Ian?”

“I did. Rest assured that my ears work, darling.”

Alan seemed amused as he looked back at you. Then he looked back at the door to the dining hall before opening it and examing the room beyond. Upon finding it clear of any dinosaurs he gave everyone a reassuring nod.

“Alright, it seems clear. Ian, would you stay here with the children while their aunt and I look for the others?”

“Wouldn’t they like it more if their aunt stayed with them?”

“You’re in a lot of pain and you’re still injured so you should rest up a little.” You said and looked at him in worry. “And I trust you to watch over the kids and keep them safe.”

“I mean you said you’re our unofficial uncle now, so you can watch us, right?” Tim asked as he was set down on the table by Alan. “Can we eat the food here?”

“I assume that no one else will, so I’d say you should knock yourself out.” You said in amusement before pressing a kiss to Tim’s forehead. “But you have to stay here where it’s safe, alright?

“Alright.”

“Lex, will you be fine?”

“Yes, Auntie, no worries. I’m hungry, though.”

“You two should eat something then, while Alan and I go get your grandpa, alright? Then we can finally go home.” You looked back at Ian with a worried frown before walking over to the buffet and using the water dispenser at the end of the table to fill a glass up. Then you came back to hand it to him. “Drink something, please.”

“Darling, I’m fine, I promise.”

“You still need to drink something after being injured like that.” You said and pressed the glass into his hand before leaning down to kiss his cheek. “Let me care for you, please.”

Ian looked at you for a few seconds before he nodded and began sipping the water, turning to watch Lex and Tim dig into the food at the buffet, talking amongst themselves happily. You smiled softly before Alan spoke up and caught your attention.

“What’s in that backpack? Anything we can use? Where did you even get that?”

“We hid in a maintenance shed that doubled as a security shed. They had some stuff there should people be trapped in it. I packed a first aid kit and water.” You took the backpack off and put it down next to Ian. “It’s not of use to us so you take it. Maybe you can treat Tim’s hands.”

“I will.” Ian said before looking back a Tim. “I’ll let him eat something first, though.”

“Good plan.” You smiled before nodding at Alan. “I think we’re ready to leave now.”

Ian nodded and took the bag. “I’ll look after them.”

You knew he would and you trusted him to do so but you were still worried about leaving. No matter how much you trusted him, leaving anyone alone on a dinosaur island was nerve-wracking but you had to help Alan find your father and you knew the Visitor’s Centre like the back of your hand after visiting during its construction.

“Just be careful. If you hear anything strange, come and find us. If you see anything strange, come and find us. Or if Tim gets worse, you--”

“Come and find you?” Ian teased as he leaned back in his chair. “Or were you going to say something else for a change? Darling, we will be fine. Go and get help. Then we can finally go home.”

“Are you sure you will be fine?”

“We will. You trust me, don’t you?”

“I trust you.”

---

Finding the others was easier said than done because any place you suspected your father or his crew could have been had already been deserted when you arrived. But eventually, you ran into Ellie and she lept into Alan’s arms almost immediately before breaking down into relieved sobs, glad to see he was fine. Unfortunately, she informed you two that Robert Muldoon hadn’t made it and you felt a lump rise in your throat at that. You’d met the man a few times and although he was sceptical he was caring and wanted to keep everyone safe.

Ellie separated from Alan and turned to you. “I saw the destruction at the Tyrannosaurs paddock. Are you all alright? What about the kids?”

“They’re with Ian.” You said quickly, trying to calm her down. “We got separated but Alan took them through the park. He saved their lives several times.”

“Really?” Ellie looked at Alan with a small smile. “Thank heavens they had you to take them through the park.”

“I was so worried when I woke up after getting knocked unconscious from falling into the paddock and found the kids gone. But Ian said there was no one better to take them through the park than Alan and he was absolutely right.”

“What did you and Ian do?” Ellie questioned as she began to walk back in the direction of the Visitor’s Centre. “How did you get back?”

“We walked through the jungle and luckily found Alan and the kids when we made it to the perimeter fence.” You explained quickly before nodding in the direction of the Visitor’s Centre. “You don’t happen to know where my father is, do you? We searched the whole Visitor’s Centre and the control rooms but he’s nowhere to be found.”

“We went for the bunker. The kids are at the Visitor’s Centre? We should get them to the bunker before booting up the remaining systems.”

“We should.” Alan agreed before looking at Ellie. “You got the power back on, right?”

“Yes, but we need to boot up the systems manually. Then we’ll have access to the telephones and call for help.” She explained before looking at you. “But first we’ll stop by the bunker to get something to defend ourselves with and ask your father where the visitor’s jeeps are parked.”

“Let’s go.”

---

You three quickly made your way to the bunker and once you saw your father again, you immediately jumped into his arms, embracing him tightly, relieved to see he wasn’t hurt. John held you close, breathing a sigh of relief at seeing you alive.

“You’re safe.” He smiled happily before separating. “Are the kids safe?”

“They are back at the Visitor’s Centre with Ian. He is watching them while we went to find you.” You explained before looking around. “We’re going to get them, bring the kids here and then go boot the systems back up, so we can call for help.”

“You entrusted that man with the kids?”

“I trust him.” You said sternly. “He’s a trustworthy man and the kids are safe with him. We will go get them now and then we will contact you when the phones work again.”

Alan nodded quickly. “Then you call the helicopter to pick us up at the landing pad.”

“And get a jeep to pick us up.” Ellie added.

John nodded before turning to you. “Please, be careful.”

“Always am.”

Chapter Text

“Are you going to visit us now that you and our aunt are a couple?”

Ian eyed Lex at her question, watching her eat jello while Tim was shovelling pie into his mouth before nodding his head once. “I guess if she goes to visit you guys and you want me to come along, I can stop by. You might even see me around if you visit her.”

“If you ever come over to our house with her I can show you my computer set up.”

“She’s a nerd.” Tim commented, earning himself a glare from his sister. “What? You are! You are so obsessed with computers!”

“And you are obsessed with dinosaurs.” Lex huffed before turning to Ian. “I prefer the term hacker, actually.”

Ian leaned back in his chair, cradling his right arm to his chest at the movement before giving Lex a soft smile. “I think knowing your way around a computer is really smart. They’ll probably be everywhere in the future.”

“Knowing about dinosaurs is smart, too.”

“Of course.” Ian nodded and turned his head to look at Tim who was now pouting. “It’s important to prepare for the future but it’s also important to learn from the past.”

Lex looked a little confused at that. “What can we learn from dinosaurs?”

“For one, we learned that life always finds a way, didn’t we? Alan told me you found dinosaur eggs even though your grandfather said that all the dinosaurs are females.”

“Yes.” Tim nodded. “Alan said it was because of their frog DNA.”

Lex nodded along with Tim’s words before her eyes drifted back to Ian and she frowned as she watched him cradling his arm to his chest. “Does your arm hurt a lot?”

“I’ll be fine. It just hurts to move it, so I try not to.”

“Maybe eating something will help.” Lex reasoned, shoving a plate with a piece of apple pie over to Ian. “Being hungry makes you feel worse than you already do. Your body needs food to have the energy to heal.”

Ian looked back at her in hesitation but sighed and took the fork she was holding out to him, slowly digging into the pie and beginning to eat. He didn’t want to argue with her and she did have a point – he hadn’t eaten since yesterday and his body needed the energy. While he ate Tim kept talking about the other dinosaurs he had hoped to see and Lex quieted down. Ian looked up after a minute or so of her silence to find her staring past his head in terror, handshaking and making the jello tremble along with it.

Quickly, Ian turned his head to find a looming shadow of a Velociraptor moving behind the tinted glass. He moved to his feet immediately and began to usher Lex and Tim backwards as the shadow got closer to the dining hall’s doors.

“The kitchen.” Tim urged and grabbed his sister’s arms. “We can hide there.”

“Brilliant idea.” Ian praised quickly as he ushered the kids toward the kitchen door and opened it. “Get inside.”

Once they were inside, he got in too and closed the door just in time for the Velociraptor to get into the dining hall. Lex and Tim quickly hid behind the steel counters while Ian pressed himself into the wall next to the door, hoping he’d be out of sight of the Velociraptor.

---

“Over here!”

The Velociraptor that was still pursuing the children and wasn’t locked up in the freezer turned when Ian began hitting the steel cabinet next to his head with a spatula. Fortunately, the Raptor stopped trying to find the kids and went for Ian instead.

“That’s right, pick on someone your size!”

When the Raptor had gotten close enough, Ian opened the door to the outside, slipped through and opened it back up once the dinosaur was right at it, effectively trapping her between the door and the wall. He pushed his whole body weight against the door to keep the Raptor trapped, if only for a few seconds.

“Lex! Tim!” Ian called out, trying to ignore the searing pain that radiated from his arm into his chest and from there into the rest of his body. “Quick!”

The kids quickly ran through the door and back into the dining hall. Ian then slammed the door shut behind them and stumbled backwards, falling onto the floor and breathing heavily as he cradled his arm against his chest. Pain was searing through him after moving it around so much and pressing it so harshly into the door to keep the Raptor trapped. Nonetheless, he pushed himself off the ground anyways, wanting to get the kids to safety and back to you no matter what.

“Ian!”

Lex quickly helped the man up and out of the kitchen while Tim took the lead and ran toward the entrance hall. Ian quickly gathered himself and put a hand on Lex’s back, leading her after Tim.

“Ian, are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine.” He waved off her concern as they made their way into the entrance hall. “We’re almost there. Just keep going, alright?”

Just as Tim started to push against the door, it was pulled open from the other side. The shock the three of them felt quickly disappeared when they saw that it was Alan, Ellie and you. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ian watched as the kids hugged you and told Alan about the Raptor in the kitchen.

“We have to get you two to the bunker where your grandpa is.” Ellie urged and began to move backwards. “Let’s go.”

While Ellie led the way, rifle in hand, Alan guided the children along. Ian approached you and you put a hand to his back, gently moving him in the right direction while he leaned in to speak to you.

“Are you alright?”

“I should be asking you, love.” You whispered in worry. “You look like you’re in a lot of pain. How is your arm doing?”

“It hurts a lot when I move it.” Ian admitted, keeping his voice low to not worry the other people around too much. “I’m hoping for no nerve damage.”

“Me, too.” You mumbled as you took in his arm and the way he held it tightly to his chest. “I should have made you a sling so you’d have an easier time keeping it still.”

“Wouldn’t have helped while I was throwing my body against the kitchen door to trap a Velociraptor and help the kids escape.” Ian joked dryly before shaking his head. “I really can’t tell if it’s getting worse or the adrenaline of this whole situation is slowly wearing off.”

“Thank you for keeping the kids safe, Ian.”

“Of course, I did.”

Ellie motioned for you to move to the main entrance when you heard the telltale snarl of a Raptor approaching the door. Lex nearly screamed but Tim quickly covered her mouth as the dinosaur approached. Alan ushered you all behind the large rocks the skeletons in the entrance hall were mounted on as the Raptor slowly pushed the door open with her nose. You looked around for an escape route and your eyes fell onto a hallway underneath the main staircase.

“Over there.” You whispered and pointed at a hallway underneath the landing of the main staircase. “It leads toward the control room. If we make it down there, we can boot up the systems and activate the doors. The doors there are practically indestructible and will keep us safe while we call for help.”

Ellie nodded quickly and looked past the rock to survey the situation. “If we get split up, we’ll meet at the main entrance. Whoever makes it into the hallway boots up the systems and calls John so he can phone for a helicopter to pick us up. And whoever gets to the bunker gets us a jeep to get to the helicopter pad with.”

“Good plan.” Ian agreed, looking over his shoulder at the dinosaur moving around. “She keeps turning her back to us. We could chance to make a run for the hallway.”

Once the Raptor had turned away again, Ellie quickly bolted for the hallway, the children following behind her. Alan was right at her tail and just about made it in time to hide in the hallway before the Raptor saw him. But just as you and Ian were about to follow, another Raptor jumped down from the staircase, separating you from the rest of the group. Ian quickly pulled you around the rock so you were out of sight and you held your breath as the Raptors began to communicate with one another.

You two didn’t get the chance to follow because as the Raptors moved toward the hallway, Alan mouthed at you to get the jeep before ushering the kids and Ellie along toward the control room.

“We need to leave and get a jeep as we planned.” Ian urged, realising that the path to the main door was now free and grabbing your hand to gently pull you in the direction of the exit. “Come on.”

“But what about the kids?” You argued, worried about the Raptors pursuing them and trying to break free from your partner’s grip. “Ian, let me go.”

“You said the control room was safe, right? The Raptors can’t get in.”

“But what if they get to them before they make it?” You turned to Ian in a panic. “We have to do something. We have to lure them away from the kids.”

Ian was quiet for a few seconds before he nodded slowly, taking care to hold his arm tightly to his chest and not move it too much as he once again pulled on your arm, this time to guide you toward the staircase. You looked at him in confusion.

“There’s an emergency exit on the second floor. I saw it when we were waiting for our tour to begin in the lounge area upstairs.” Ian explained quietly, rounding the rock to get into a good position to start running. “We make a run for it, the Raptors follow and we barricade ourselves in the lounge before using the exit.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

And then Ian began to run, pulling you after him as he booked it for the main staircase. Just as expected, the two Raptors began chasing after you, their claws clicking against the floor as you ran up the stairs. You tried your best not to panic when you turned your head to find the two dinosaurs right at your heels but Ian just gave your arm a tuck, making you focus on the way in front of you again. You made it to the lounge and ran inside, quickly slamming the door shut but there was, unfortunately, no way to lock it.

“Hold it shut.” You ordered softly and ran toward a large table full of décor and fossils. “This should buy us some time.”

With all your strength you shoved the massive wooden table toward the door and once it was in Ian’s reach, he used his uninjured arm to pull along with your pushed. You quickly succeeded in getting the table in front of the door just as the Raptors began slamming themselves against it to get inside.

“Come on. It won’t hold them forever.” Ian said and grabbed your hand to pull you along through the glass doors leading outside, stopping by the escape ladder at the side of the balcony. “Let me just push it down and--”

“You rest your arm. I can do it.”

Ian nodded and watched as you undid the safety on the ladder and pushed against it a few times until it came loose and clattered onto the jungle floor below. Then you began climbing it, Ian right behind you until you were down on the ground and once again outside. After a quick check for dinosaurs, you turned to not at Ian.

“Let’s go get my father and find a jeep.”

Ian was just about to answer when you two heard the unmistakable roar of the Rex nearby. You winced and turned to Ian in fear, finding him looking back at you with a panicked expression.

“We have to hurry.”

Chapter Text

Once at the bunker, your father quickly let you inside and Ian slumped against the door once it was closed. John eyed him in slight worry before turning to you.

“Where are the kids?”

“We got separated. Alan and Ellie are in the control room with them.”

“Didn’t you say they were with Ian?” Your father asked before turning to the man in question with a concerned yet slightly angry look. “How could you not bring them to the bunker with you? They’d be safe here!”

Ian looked back at John in irritation. “We were attacked by Velociraptors and the kids went with Alan and Ellie while we lured the dinosaurs away. There was nothing to be done that wouldn’t have endangered us!”

“You were supposed to watch my grandchildren!”

“I tried but your dinosaurs separated us from one another!”

“You should--”

“Stop!” John and Ian both turned to you at your exclamation. “This is not the time to fight! Our loved ones are still in danger! We need to work together now. We need to concentrate. And we need to call for a helicopter as soon as we get word of the telephones working.”

John looked at you for a few seconds before sighing. “You’re right, I’m sorry, Dear. I just worry about the kids and I was so terrified when you came here without them, even though you had said that Ian was watching them and you would get them here.”

“They will be safe in the control room until we get them with the jeep.” You said before turning back to John. “And just to be clear, it was Ian’s idea to lure the Raptors away, so if anything you should thank him.”

Ian looked back at John now that the conversation had calmed down. “Can we fit everyone into one jeep?”

“We should manage.”

You looked up at your father’s dejected and quiet voice. “Dad, are you okay?”

“I can’t believe this all happened.” He confessed, not meeting your eyes as he looked toward the bunker’s door instead. “I wanted to make a difference, make people happy and show them these wonders of nature up close. When I saw your reaction to the Brachiosaurus, the way you smiled and laughed in excitement, I thought I finally did it. I thought this place was going to be wonderful and give people the same joy you felt when you saw a dinosaur for the first time.”

“Dad, maybe this was just not meant to be.” You whispered as you reached out to rub his upper back a little. “Something things don’t work out.”

“Remember when I told you about the flea circus I once had?” He asked quietly, looking back at you. “How I wanted to create something that was real, something that they could actually see? But things here aren’t animated. These dinosaurs are living, breathing beings and I can’t control them.”

“It wasn’t just your fault. We were all so captivated by this place that we became reckless. We all made that mistake.” You tried to reassure him, a little unsure if your words were any consolation at all. “But now you understand that this has gotten out of your control and you are taking responsibility for it. You made mistakes but you are paying for them. I mean, you yourself once said that you don’t blame people for their mistakes but ask them to pay for them.”

“I did say that.”

“I hope my rambles eased your mind at least a little bit.”

“Yes, my dear, thank you.”

Ian looked at you with a small smile. “I do remember when you’d go on a rant or when you’d spent hours rambling about books you loved or authors.”

That made you laugh a little as you turned to Ian. “I’m sorry if that bored you.”

“Quite the opposite, actually. I loved to listen to you talking about things you were passionate about. I could have listened to it for hours and I loved every minute of it.” Ian gave a soft smile as he looked at you. “Another thing I’m looking forward to, now that we’re a couple again: listening to you talk about things you care about.”

You rolled your eyes. “You used to lie there and stare at me the whole time which was a bit weird.”

“Well, I love watching you talk about, uh, well about all the things you are passionate about.” Ian said softly. “So of course, I was watching you.”

“Did I hear that correctly?” Your father turned to you. “Please tell me you are not actually going out with him again. He hurt you so much and I watched you work through this breakup first-hand.”

“Dad, listen--”

“There are millions of good men out there that will not inevitably hurt you again!”

“He won’t, either. We talked it out and promised one another to be open and truthful from the beginning.” You argued back. “I can make my own decisions, you know? And I love Ian, so I want to give our relationship another chance.”

Before John could answer, the telephone rang and the three of you turned toward it. Your father picked it up and talked to Alan for a few seconds, seeming delighted to hear that the kids were safe and the systems were all working again. But then screaming erupted from the other side of the line before it went dead. You stared at your father in shock as he let the phone sink in his hand and Ian looked back at you in horror. But your face quickly morphed back into an expression of determination and you grabbed one of the rifles.

“Call the helicopter so we can get to the jeep.”

John quickly reacted and did as you had told him, calling the helicopter and telling the people on the other end of the line were to come to. Then he hung up and grabbed his cane, supporting himself on it as he walked toward the door.

“The helicopter is coming.”

“Then let’s go get the jeep.” You said and looked to Ian, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We’re almost safe. Just hold on a little longer.”

“I’ll be fine.”

John watched you lead the way as he walked after you. “We will talk about this relationship later.”

“And then we will have a conversation about why you shouldn’t fight over such trivial things during survival situations.” You replied to your father before opening the door of the bunker. “I trust Ian.”

“I don’t trust him with you. How do I know that he cares about you?”

“Where are the jeeps?” You asked, pointedly ignoring your father now. “Where did you park the one you came in?”

“It’s over here.” John said and led the way toward the jeep parked around the back of the truck. “I’ll drive.”

You quickly got into the jeep and your father began to drive it down one of the access roads back to the Visitor’s Centre. John parked the jeep by the side of the main steps that led into the Visitor’s Centre, partially hidden from potential predators as he looked up toward the big doors. But Ellie, Alan and the kids weren’t anywhere to be seen. John suggested to you should wait a minute or two but you quickly grabbed the rifle and hopped out of the jeep. While your father told you to get back, Ian tried to grab your arm but you dodged his attempts.

“Please, just stay with us.”

“I need to get them!”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“Ian, you look like you’re in a lot of pain and I’d rather you stay here with my father while I check on where everyone else is.”

Ian looked at you for a few seconds before nodding. “You have ten minutes to find them. If you’re not back by then, I will come inside and look for you.”

“Deal.”

You gave him one last reassuring smile before setting out toward the main doors, worry and fear gnawing on your mind as you made your way inside. And once inside you could see why no one had come outside, yet. Alan was climbing out of the vents, helping the kids onto the construction platforms still surrounding the huge skeletons while Ellie followed close behind, the rifle no longer with her.

Then, without warning, the skeleton came apart, making everyone cling to the piece they had been on. There was nothing you could really do to help but you nonetheless approached, calling out to them that the jeep was outside.

Alan managed to climb down a few seconds later and looked back at you. “Good, we just need to help the kids get down before the Raptors show up again.”

You nodded and looked up to find Lex back on the construction platform, now climbing down toward you. Tim had just managed to get down, as well, when the ribcage of the Tyrannosaurus skeleton came loose from the wires it had been supported from and came crashing down toward him. Without thinking, you dropped the rifle and ran over to pull him out of the way, managing to do so just in time for the bones to crash to the floor.

“You came back to get us.” He breathed in relief as he hugged you. “Is grandpa outside?”

“Your grandpa is fine.” You assured him as you watched Ellie climb down. “Are you all alright?”

She nodded and gave you a small smile. “As much as we can be in this situation. Now let’s get to the jeep and--”

“Raptor!”

---

Ian watched the doors to the Visitor’s Centre in worry as minutes passed by without a sign of life from anyone inside. John didn’t seem to be doing much better, a concerned expression etched onto his face. Just as Ian was about to suggest going inside, the ground began to shake from massive footsteps.

“It’s the Rex.” John said in shock, looking around. “According to Alan, we need to remain as still as possible so I suggest you do that.”

Ian shook his head and got out of the jeep as the footsteps got closer. “I need to go inside and get her out before the Rex gets to the Visitor’s Centre.”

“That is a terribly dangerous idea, Ian.”

“I need to get her to safety!”

With that, he got out of the jeep and headed up the stairs to the Visitor’s Centre. But when he opened the door, he froze upon seeing the Raptors surrounding everyone inside. He spotted the rifle on the ground and moved a few steps away from the door to get to it but stopped when one of the Raptors turned toward him, snarling and vocalising to his pack mate.

And then, the doors burst open and the Rex stepped inside, snatching one of the Raptors off the ground while the other one attacked. Ian stumbled backwards, colliding with the wall as he froze at the sight of the dinosaur that had attacked him just the day prior. But fortunately, Alan began to move, quickly ushering the kids toward the door, now that the dinosaurs were distracted. Ellie followed close behind and you hurried after her, stopping by Ian’s side to help him up as you all fled the Visitor’s Centre.

Outside, John was already waiting with the jeep and you all crowded into the vehicle. Alan helped Lex and Tim inside before sitting down next to them while Ellie squeezed into the back, as well. Ian got into the passenger seat and pulled you into his lap, holding you in place with his left arm as John began to drive.

Then Alan piped up from the back of the jeep. “After careful consideration, I have decided not to endorse this attraction.”

John just nodded breathlessly, flooring it as he drove down the access road to the helicopter pad. “So have I.”

---

The helicopter ride back was quiet, no one speaking a word as Alan sat between a sleeping Lex and Tim, Ellie smiling softly at him. John was staring at the amber on his cane and you were looking back toward the island as Ian’s head slowly sunk down onto your right shoulder. When you turned you could see that his eyes were closed and you wrapped your arm around him, bringing a hand up to gently card your fingers through his hair.

“I think we need to get back to digging up bones, after all.” Alan eventually whispered and Ellie chuckled softly. “At least we won’t have to worry about going extinct as palaeontologists.”

“At least that’s something.”

“Ian?” You whispered quietly, making him hum in response. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine.” He mumbled, eyes still closed as he moved his left hand to grab your unoccupied one. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

John looked up at that and gave Ian an apologetic look. “I’m sorry I judged you too harshly, Ian. I should have trusted you. You went back into the Visitor’s Centre to get my daughter even though it was dangerous. Obviously, you must care for her.”

Ian opened his eyes at that, nodding his head slowly. “I do. But I’m glad you don’t mistrust me anymore.”

“I’m glad, too.” John said before looking back toward the island once more. “I hope they will be alright without us there to care for them.”

“I’m sure they will manage to survive without our interference.” You looked at your father in sympathy. “Remember what Ian said in the lab?”

“Which part of it?” John asked before looking back at Ian. “What did you say?”

“Life finds a way.”