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Jurassic Park Edition

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[lizisshortforlizard]

Living Dangerously - Chapter 29

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster?

A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs.

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: ready to have your heart ripped out?

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @ocappreciation @wordspin-shares @howlingmadlady @arrthurpendragon @themaradwrites @starryeyes2000 @kmc1989 (please lmk if you would like informed of my sporadic updates)

Read on Ao3

Chapter 28 | Chapter 30

Living After Midnight - Judas Priest

Over the constant hum and buzz of the jungle darkness, never completely silent, Lizzy’s laughter was ringing through the trees, ricocheting around the clearing next to the Rex paddock. 

She had a filthy laugh that Muldoon hadn’t heard before. At hundred per cent volume, totally out of control, with her head thrown all the way back.  It was bloody glorious. 

And he would be attempting to make her do it again, as soon as possible. 

I’ll have more of that please. 

“Christ Almighty-“ Lizzy wiped her streaming eyes. “-that’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. Well done.” She started cackling breathlessly again, clutching her stomach.

“If I wasn’t awake before that, I certainly was afterwards.”

“I’ll bet.” She wriggled uncomfortably, her ribs were seriously aching. “That was a good one. Got any more?”

“More than we’ve likely got time for.”

The campfire was finally dying. They’d been out in the park for hours, it had to be almost midnight. 

He built me a campfire. Lizzy was practically vibrating with contentment. Not that she couldn’t build her own fire, of course she could, but that wasn’t the point. The gesture was the point, and the fact he had agreed to an open flame amongst trees in the first place. 

Just this once. While there’s nobody here. Those were his exact words. 

Breaking the rules. 

Just this once. 

“We’ve got all the time in the world.” She insisted. “You really should write these down, you know.”

“Maybe someday. If I ever manage to retire. In fact-“ he was struck by an idea. “-you’re a decent writer.”

“Planning on keeping me around that long?”

“I’d like to think so. You have your uses.”

“I’ll take that.” Lizzy worked hard to keep her voice even after the compliment. “But you’d need plenty of photos, or drawings. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always preferred books with pictures.”

Her tone had just enough suggestion for Muldoon to wonder if Baker, despite her promises, had let slip about his own artistic capabilities.

He quickly moved the conversation along before she had too long to dwell on the thought. “You must have a few stories of your own by now?”

Lizzy did indeed have a good one she hadn’t yet shared. Through instinct, she looked around the clearing for eavesdroppers, although they had to be the only two humans for miles and miles, a vast stretch of ocean separating them from the nearest civilisation.  

“On the topic of photographs…I never told anyone outside of the research station because I didn’t want to embarrass Simon.” She rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t matter now, and it’s not like you two will ever meet anyway.”

“Go on.” He caught his grimace just in time at the mention of the ex-fiancé’s name. 

“The first time he came to visit me in Namibia, he was a little, uh-…condescending to the locals in our team-“

Muldoon was familiar with what the swift response from said locals would be, rich white clients tended to all behave in a similar way. It was expected. But that was a whole other collection of tales for the fireside. “I’ll bet that was swiftly resolved.”

“They had some fun with him first. Simon was parading his new Polaroid camera around giving it “magic picture” this and that. I was mortified.”

“Christ-“

“He hasn’t travelled much outside the States.” Lizzy explained. “Or, in fact, outside the state of New York. Anyway, one of my team, proceeds to tell Simon, translated by yours truly, that she prefers the resolution on the Nikon 35mm and also that she had the equipment handy to help Simon clean his dirty lens.”

Muldoon smiled grimly. “You laughed too, I imagine?”

He wondered if it had been as good as the ridiculous laugh he had recently become acquainted with. 

Lizzy had indeed tried and miserably failed to keep a straight face at her partners come-uppance. “I couldn’t help it!”

She recalled the memory. Simon’s face had been hot and red, mortally embarrassed, and he’d stormed off by himself into the long grass. 

A terrible, possibly fatal response. 

Once she’d caught up to him with a shotgun slung over her shoulder, she’d had to sweet-talk him into returning to camp before he stumbled across a big cat, buffalo or even a snake who would really give him something to be upset about.

That hadn’t improved his temper at all, but he had been downright foolish of him to just wander off like he was taking a stroll in Central bloody Park!

Why’d you laugh at me? Are all your friends like this? Do we really have to stay out here with them? What’s wrong with Windhoek?

Windhoek, really? They’re just messing with you!  It’s fine! 

Not fine, Liz! They should apologise!

You’re the one who should apologise! Pembe is the best guide we have and you were damn rude-

And so on. One of many disagreements, and they seemed to be increasing in frequency. 

“Yeah, he didn’t see the funny side at all.” She sniffed. “Was never that great at laughing at himself. Bless him.”  “You need to have a fantastic sense of humour-“ Muldoon’s voice was as dry as if he were telling Lizzy her shoelace was untied. “-to work with things that regularly try to make your life insurance policy pay out before time.”

“Good thing you’re so in tune with your emotions then, eh?” The comment earned her nothing more than a derisive glance as he lowered his slouch hat over his face, and she chuckled again. 

Maybe it was the Towel Incident, or the disastrous cooking attempt that had followed, but the ice was well and truly broken. No going back now. Lizzy felt the most like herself since the breakup. It was so easy, talking to him like this. She was happy. 

They were on opposite sides of the campfire, Lizzy scooched a fraction closer on her blanket so she could see him better through the heat haze. 

Muldoon was on the ground too, stretched out on a blanket of his own. Lizzy wasn’t sure how he seemed to look even taller lying down. She shook her head, trying to chase away the thought of how she’d measure up. 

Lizzy watched him for a long time, thinking to herself in comfortable silence, before speaking again. 

“Tell me about her.”

“Who?”

He’d answered instantly. Of course he was awake under the hat, alert. As always.

“Your wife.” She answered quietly. 

Muldoon hmm-ed for a long moment, Lizzy waiting as patiently as she was able, trying her hardest not to fidget. 

Just when she thought there was no way he was ever going to answer her in this lifetime, he did. 

“You’re not unlike her. Your attitude is-“ Damn. Did it again. He corrected. “-was very similar.”

“You can say ‘is’.” Lizzy told him gently. “Nobody here but me.”

“She cooked much better than you can.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Lizzy muttered. “But, in my defence, I didn’t know food could be any other colour than beige until I left school.” Shuffling where she sat, her legs starting to get pins and needles. “She pretty?”

“Knockout.”

“Wow.” She grinned. “Lucky you.”

“A lot taller than you.” Muldoon added. “Honour is likely going to hit six foot once she’s in high school.”

“Honour?”

“Our daughter.”

“Ah.” It occurred to Lizzy he’d never told her the name of his child before. Or ever used the prefix ‘our’. Always mine. Always my responsibility from now on. No more our. 

It felt like he was divulging a massive secret. Honour. Lizzy rolled it around in her brain. Not a name she would ever have imagined him going for, but she liked it. Rather a lot.

He took the hat from his eyes and looked her up and down. “She’s almost your height already, in fact. Although that wouldn’t be difficult.”

“The diet of beige is to blame. Unfortunately, I’m stunted.”  Not where it counts Muldoon thought. There was a reason he liked walking behind along Dr Armstrong where he could get away with it. The view was spectacular.

He tried very hard to get her quite frankly unfair side profile out of his head before he answered. “We’ll pretend the smoking habit had nothing to do with it, then. Honestly, the pair of you would have gotten along.” It was the truth. His wife, too, loved elephants and had a downright filthy laugh.

“Did Jeff know her?” Lizzy asked, hoping the answer was yes. 

“They were lethal together.”

“Dr Blacklaw has quite excellent taste in women, what can I say?” She made a show of tossing her hair back.  Muldoon found himself wondering if their paths had crossed sooner and he had met Armstrong in Africa, how would he have felt about her? How would she have felt about him? 

Life might have been very different. Maybe he would have turned down the offer from InGen, gone to India instead. He wouldn’t have to be so careful about what he said or did all the time. 

At least the other chap was out of the picture now. Matters were a damn sight better than when she first arrived with that rock on her finger, like a shameless beacon, flashing I’m taken every time the sun caught it at the right angle: You haven’t got a hope in Hell. 

Maybe the universe was capable of working things out for itself, even if it had put him through the metaphorical wringer to get to this point. 

“Has there-…” Lizzy was so relaxed she had forgotten herself, who she worked for, and all her manners. As the question was tumbling from her mouth she realised how inappropriate it was. They were good friends, sure, but working friendships always had their limits.

She was about to cross a very dangerous line. 

“What?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Less of that. It clearly does, or you wouldn’t have said it.”

In a rare occasion, she seemed lost for words.

”Nobody here but me.” He quoted her own words back to her.

“I…don’t know if you’ll like it.” She fumbled. “I was just curious. Nosy. I was being nosy, alright? Sorry.”

“Try me.”

Lizzy knew that tone. I dare you. If you’re brave enough. Deep breath.

“Has there been…anyone since?”

I double dare you.

There followed a very long pause during which Lizzy thought don’t ask why, do not ask why. 

“Why?”

Dammit. 

She couldn’t be the only person on the planet who could see the appeal. More-so now that he’d stopped drinking, Lizzy had an even harder time keeping her thoughts in check. He was looking damn fine recently. 

“Eight years is a long time!” Lizzy sighed and wrung her hands. “And I told you that you wouldn’t like it! Don’t answer. No need.”

“It’s alright.”

Muldoon was in fact very interested to see where this particular conversation was headed.

They could have been back in Kenya, with the campfire and animal calls, though of a different era, still familiar in their nature, all around them. 

If there’s a right time, it’s probably now.

“Nobody significant.” He answered. One or two that didn’t work out. Three or four that had just been stress relief. Nobody that he felt deserved any more of his time or his life, or his daughter’s. Until Armstrong had landed on the island with a bang and instantly began rearranging the natural order, and damn her, questioning the where-why-how of everybloodything. 

Lizzy meanwhile, was wishing she had never brought the subject up. 

And she knew the reason. Not because it was awkward to talk about, strangely enough it wasn’t awkward in the slightest. His answer had been as casual as if she had asked him what the time was, or what the weather was likely to do tomorrow. But the answer she had most wanted to hear, been hoping to hear, no, nobody at all, was way too much to wish for. 

She’d been correct. Eight years was a long time.

Or maybe Lizzy was just a little peeved he’d probably done better in the last eight years being out of a relationship than she had done  being in one until very recently. 

She had to admit the first two years with Simon had been a lot of fun. After that it became less about fun, and more about we’re in the same country, so we’d better do something about it. God, I’m so tired. Are you tired? C’mon, we gotta. At least once. I love you. So tired.

“Anything else in this particular line of questioning, while we’re at it?” He actually sounded amused.

“When…-“ Lizzy started then ground to a halt again. Way too inappropriate.

“When…?”

She just wanted to die there and then.

“Doesn’t matter.” She frowned and deliberately looked away. “Forget it.”

“Were you about to ask ‘when was the last time’?” Muldoon smirked. He knew he was on the money. And seeing the normally confident and bolshy ethologist becoming a little flustered was delightful. “Getting rather personal there, Armstrong.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” She stammered. “None of my business.”

“I honestly don’t mind.” This could work both ways. “We’re adults. I will if you will.”

Curiosity was burning Lizzy’s insides so much that it was manifesting as stomach ache. She had gotten herself into this mess, may as well keep going. She nodded, ignoring  Kathy’s voice in her head warning you’re gonna get in troooouble…

“Remember when the dilophosaur did a number on you? I was away at the time?”

“Huh. So when you said you had a good trip, you meant you had a good trip. I see.” She played with the belt loops on her jeans, reluctant to deliver her side of the deal. 

Muldoon cleared his throat. “Forgetting something, missus?”

“I’ve changed my mind. I don’t like this game.” Lizzy grumbled, only because she was losing. 

“Then don’t give what you can’t take. I’ll have to make a wild guess if you don’t want to say out loud.”

Lizzy mumbled something that he took as affirmative.

“Let’s see, then.” She was shifty-eyed and squirming. Brilliant. “ Didn’t you stop off in the States with your man before you came over here?”

“Well, yeah-“ Lizzy forced herself to get over her self-consciouness. She still had the Spanish dictionary somewhere in her room in the lodge. Regrettably, the only thing Simon had given her before she boarded her flight to Costa Rica. “But if that’s your guess, you’re dead wrong.”

Muldoon looked at her in disbelief. He had so many questions.  What the Hell had the man been playing at?! It was like he wanted to lose her.

“This year at least?” 

“Yes, if you absolutely must know!” Lizzy knew the exact Pantone shade of scarlet she was turning, far beyond pretending it was from the heat of the campfire. “April was a very good month, okay?”

April?! It’s nearly bloody next year now…

Her short temper now seemed incredibly explainable.

”I can hear you thinking.” Lizzy said grumpily, still not looking directly at him. “Not quite the answer you were expecting from someone like me, eh?”

“If that’s true, I can’t help but feel most of your bad moods have a fairly easy fix.”

“Not so easy on a tiny island, where people talk. Our favourite engineer being the main culprit.” She grinned at him. “Or I could follow your example and finally have a good reason to go back to the mainland.”

He didn’t want her to do that at all, actually, but he grudgingly agreed.

She was lying on her side, propped up on an elbow. The size of her waist in comparison to her hips was unreal. Nothing wrong with her khaki shorts, but those damn jeans were doing her some incredible favours.

Lizzy couldn’t stop, though she was wary of feeling upset from finding out more things she didn’t really want to hear. “So, do you really like this person on the mainland?” 

Muldoon chose his words carefully. ”There is someone I’m keen on, yes.”

What the-

“Oh. Yeah, great. Good for you.” It came out more sarcastic than she intended. 

Muldoon nearly laughed. Armstrong wasn’t following him. 

”You know, it’s alright to be jealous.” He couldn’t resist toying with her.

Lizzy’s reaction was explosive. 

”I’m not-“ She practically back snarled at him. “Hm. I’m not jealous!”

Very convincing thought Muldoon. 

No, not jealous. She was fuming. Someone else?! Why was he telling her that? Lizzy really thought he liked her, and now he was interested in someone else? 

”Armstrong…” Please get there faster. I’m not ready to say it yet. 

Boy, did she feel silly when she realised Muldoon was talking about her.

She was the one he was interested in. 

”This person-“ Lizzy was finally on the same wavelength, much to the relief of both of them . “-I’m not sure she’s good enough for you.” 

“Oh, really?”  “I have some questions. Just to be certain.” The delighted grin was threatening to burst forth. She forced a neutral expression.

Keep it together.

“First question: is she pretty?”

“Very.”

“Intelligent?”

“She’s a clever girl, yes.”

“Meek and feeble?”

“Not even a bit. And you know fine that’s not what I would want.” Muldoon gave her that look she knew oh-so-well. “You’re pushing your luck, by the way.”

Lizzy laughed again, the real, uncontrollable laugh, and he finally smiled.

New Year’s Eve, or Hogmanay as she better knew it, had always been more magical than Christmas. No matter how bad things got, the moment the clock struck midnight had the promise of a new beginning, a fresh start. A chance to do better this time around. 

But she knew exactly what would happen this year on Nublar. The spell would break. They would go back to the visitor centre, back to work, and in a few days it would be as if this night had never even happened.

She needed to do something. Before it all ended.

“You alright in there?” He had noticed her smile fading. 

”Fine. Just thinking.”

Muldoon scoffed. 

“I know well enough that fine, very rarely means fine. Especially when it’s coming from you, my girl.” He stared her down. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s just…not fair.” Lizzy became aware she was whining, and hated herself for it.

She didn’t need to elaborate. He knew exactly what she meant. “I agree.”

Why couldn’t we have just met in Africa? 

”I don’t want to go back. Not yet.”

“Neither do I, but we have to, at some point.”

“Why, though?”  Muldoon hesitated, trying to word it as diplomatically as he could, to avoid upsetting her.

“Because there are rules that can’t be broken, and ultimately I’m responsible for your safety.” Damn this whole situation. “That is what it all comes down to.”

“Okay.” She reluctantly agreed. “Let’s go, I suppose.”

It’s not okay, it’s not okay at all.  A part of her had desperately hoped something would happen that night. Conditions were otherwise perfect. They’d likely never have a chance like this again for a long time. 

But it wasn’t meant to be.

Unless…

She had an idea. 

“Fire’s still going.” Lizzy stated flatly. “I’ll sort it out.”   The ground was too hard to kick dirt over it. But she knew Muldoon kept a couple of metal jerry cans in the back of his Jeep. Not InGen protocol, just old habits. 

One was water, one was gas. Labelled of course, but it was pitch black apart from the glowing embers nearby.

Don’t want to get these two mixed up. 

She unscrewed the lid of the first container and got a noseful of fumes. Then checked the second, and bingo, slightly stale water that smelled like the colour green. But it was much heavier than she anticipated, almost full. 

“Ooyah! Son of a bitch!” She’d tried to lift, lost grip, and somehow managed to trap her finger between the two cans with a bang. 

“Everything alright back there?”

“It’s fine, under control!” Lizzy struggled to free herself, cursing under her breath at her own clumsiness. Idiot. “Shitshitshit, come on!”

She eventually succeeded, dousing the remains of the fire with a quiet sizzle and a faint wisp of smoke.

Darkness.

Muldoon hadn’t started the Jeep yet, waiting for her, there wasn’t any light at all in the clearing.  She put the can in its place, then hung back by the tailgate, quiet and still. 

And in three…two…one…

Muldoon didn’t take long to twig that something suspicious was afoot.

”Christ’s sake, Armstrong, don’t do it!” He sounded exasperated. “If you’re planning on playing hide and seek in the dark again, I’m not having it this time.”

She didn’t answer.

If he wasn’t into this, he’d just wait me out.

Lizzy was very quickly proven right.

“I know exactly where you are.” He kept up a stream of expletives in her general direction as he slammed the driver’s door. “I’ve being doing this for years. I’m very good at it.” 

Come get me, then.

Lizzy didn’t even hardly dare breathe, placing her palm over her mouth to stay quiet.  Silence. 

For just a beat too long. 

Hang on, where the Hell is he? 

Lizzy realised she possibly no longer had the upper hand.  A tiny, deliberate, shuffle of gravel under heavy boots right next to her, that made her jump and flatten her body against the taillights with a small thump.

He was close. Much closer than she thought. And she’d just given herself away. 

“Got you.” Muldoon was attempting to sound put out, but he’d enjoyed that, as much was evident in his voice, she could tell. “Too easy.”

”Fair and square, mister. So, what are we going to do next?”

”You’re going to get in the Jeep, and we’re going back to the lodge.”

Lizzy leaned against the rear bumper, making the metal creak underneath her. Just so he knew exactly where she was.

”See, I don’t really feel like getting back in the Jeep right now, isn’t that a kicker?” She hoped the lip-bite was evident in how she coyly spoke. “What are you going to do about that?”

“I will pick you up.” Muldoon threatened. “Employee handbook be damned.” 

“If that’s the case, handbook out the window, then I think you should do more than just ‘pick me up.’” She mimicked. “I’d let you.”

“Lizzy.” Deep, exasperated sigh. “I am using your first name so you know how serious I am. Get in the Jeep.” 

She uttered the two words that she knew ahead of time would be the equivalent of a red rag to the park warden. 

“Make me.”

God, she could feel the annoyance radiating from him. He was bristling. 

But nothing could have prepared her for what happened next. 

Lizzy heard him tapping impatiently on the side panel of the Jeep, it felt like a countdown.

Should I be runni-?

“Right-“ He was fast.

She wasn’t fast enough. 

And really should have ran while she had the chance.

He was making good on his word that he would pick her up, willing or not, employee handbook, workplace code, the unspoken rules all thrown out of the window, never to be seen again. 

Muldoon went straight for her legs, grabbing handfuls of her through her jeans. Damn woman, she would get in the bloody car. 

Lizzy shrieked and flung out her arms, scrabbling for something, anything to grab onto, both hands found and gripped the sides of the Jeep tailgate. 

Muldoon was trying his best to pry her free while she barely clung on for dear life with her fingernails, not unlike a cat that was avoiding being stuffed into a cage and carted off to the veterinary surgery.

She felt the pressure on her legs ease, and thought he’d given up. She started to loosen her fingers on the cool metal. 

Then he found the backs of her knees with both hands, and pulled hard. But Lizzy wasn’t for letting go just yet. She still clung on for dear life like a very determined barnacle. 

“By Christ, you’re strong-“ There was a hint of desperation in Muldoon’s normally measured voice.

That did it.  Lizzy was gone then, she started laughing helplessly at the absurdity of what was happening, what events had led to this moment, and how ridiculous they must look.   She finally lost her grip all at once and slid ungracefully downwards with a thump, accepting defeat, still cackling.

Lizzy just knew Muldoon was shaking his head in exasperation at her in the dark, his accident-prone, walking disaster of an ethologist. 

“Sit up, you bloody lunatic.” But then her entire hand was grasped in his, pulling her upright into a sitting position. “For God’s sake, don’t bang your head. It might knock some sense into you, but I don��t fancy the paperwork.”

”It’s far too late for me.” Lizzy tried to catch her breath. “Would need to be one Hell of a bang.”

Realising the connotations too late, she snorted and muttered sorry as she tried to reason with her hair, patting it back into a more respectable shape.  

She felt two fingers under her chin, tilting her face upwards and she tensed, her breath caught in her throat.  “What am I going to do with you, Lizzy?”

The question was absolutely loaded.

”Anything you like.” She impulsively answered in a low voice.

She was euphoric, riding the high that had been building since the moment she stepped down out of the Jeep into the clearing, and honestly she just didn’t care any longer. 

They would never be alone again after New Year’s Eve. 

This was it. Her only chance for God knew how long. 

She had it bad, so bad for him. And she couldn’t really remember just then why this was such a terrible idea in the first place. Something about those damn rules…

Eh, never been one for the rules anyway.  Lizzy craned her neck upwards, stretching as far as she possibly could, relying on her intuition alone in the dark. 

She found what she was searching for and after a last moment of hesitation, she finally did it. She kissed him.  

He pulled away slightly, unsure. Lizzy felt sick that she’d misjudged horribly, and was starting to seriously panic with how she could possibly play this one off.

I…fell?

But she could have cried with relief when he apparently got over the surprise and began kissing her in return, leaning into her. Responding to her. 

It felt so right, so bizarrely normal, that Lizzy found herself briefly wondering why they hadn’t been doing this the whole damn time they’d known each other. 

Slow and hesitant at first. Then something simultaneously clicked for the both of them, and it turned into an altogether different experience. Urgent, messy, not at all careful, not what Lizzy was used to at all.

Lizzy feared the lamps would click on and flood the clearing with light at any second. Like they had to hurry before they were caught, as if John Hammond himself might pop out of the bushes, brandishing his cane, gotcha!

But it didn’t matter. This was what she’d needed. She hadn’t realised how much she needed it, that she wanted this so badly. For far longer than the past few months of living in Costa Rica.

She realised she didn’t mind so much anymore if she banged her head on the floor of Jeep. Repeatedly. In fact, at this moment in time she’d be glad of it. They might not make it back to the lodge. 

But as quickly as had happened, it was over. Fate had very different ideas for how the night would progress. 

He pushed a little too hard into her hips, and oh God it’s happening, forcing her backwards against the bed of the Jeep as Lizzy let her legs relax and fall further apart. It was evidently far too much for the built-in motion sensor, and the alarm in the vehicle began blaring like a police siren at ear-splitting volume, all lights flashing in unison. The Rex snorted and roared unhappily at the disturbance from the other side of the fence, only adding to the din.  The noise had the same effect as if someone had poured a bucket of ice cold water over them. 

“Shit-“ Lizzy shot upright, pulling away and covered her ears while Muldoon fumbled for the Jeep keys to stop the racket. 

Then silence. Deafening, smothering silence. Even the Rex was quiet. A single hadrosaur trumpeted in the distance.

She waited, unsure what to do next, she couldn’t read his expression in the dark, but he felt off. Something was badly wrong. 

“I’m taking you back now.” Muldoon said tersely. “I would really appreciate it if you just do what I ask this time.”

”Okay.” She knew better than to argue.

“That was out of order.” He continued icily. “That cannot happen again.” 

“Got it. Sorry.” Lizzy felt the heat rising in her cheeks. Goddamn embarrassment, flooding every cell. I can’t believe this. I’ve blown it. “I’m really sorry.” 

He didn’t respond as she shuffled into the passenger side and quietly buckled her seatbelt. He wouldn’t even look at her. She tried again, one last attempt. 

I’m using your first name so you know how serious I am. 

”Robert, I’m really sorry.”

Please believe me.

Please answer me.

She‘d never used his name before, ever. This wasn’t the pleading circumstances she wanted to use it for the first time. Not at all. 

Her efforts didn’t work. 

”Don’t do that.” Muldoon replied flatly, starting the engine while staring straight ahead. “We’ll deal with this in the morning.” 

Lizzy’s heart plummeted, her chest constricting, aching with that too familiar pain all over again.

Her stomach was flipping back and forth in sheer panic for the entire silent-and-not-in-a-good-way journey back to the lodge. 

She didn’t even bother trying for a goodnight as they parted ways to their own rooms. Neither of them did.  I’ve really done it this time.

Months of building a rapport, gone in an instant because of one false judgement. And what if he told Jeff what she’d done? What if anyone on the island, at InGen, found out what she’d done?

The rumours that had been swirling around would finally be true. There were names Lizzy would be called that she couldn’t just brush off anymore. Nobody would take her, or her work, seriously ever again. She’d be an outcast.

All terrible things. But worst of all was Muldoon refusing to acknowledge her. That was the reason she was trying her damnedest not to cry.  Stupid. Stupid, stupid idiot! 

It had turned out to be too much too soon. Maybe too much ever.

Why do I always do this? Why do I always ruin everything? 

***

Thanks for reading!

If a particular anecdote sounds familiar, I mayyyyy have drawn some inspiration from George of the Jungle (this is very important for later 🎶)

The story I envisioned Muldoon telling Lizzy is along the lines of Peter Capstick’s black mamba in the latrine story from Death in the Long Grass. If you want some idea of just how funny it is, I’ve read it multiple times and know what’s coming almost verbatim. I still laugh every time I read it.

And hearing Muldoon calmly recount one of the many times he’s almost checked out early would be, I imagine, quite hilarious.

I can’t believe I finally got to post this chapter. It’s been here since the very first draft, it’s quite special to me as New Year, or Hogmanay as we call it, is a much bigger deal in Scotland. A very important tradition is the first foot, which is supposed to bring you good fortune for the year ahead.

…I guess they did it wrong.

[heresthefanfiction]

Is This the End?

A job offer. A kidnapped clone. Two missing velociraptors and the mysterious locusts. Ten survivors.

One can't help but wonder, is this the end?

Chapter Seven, Land of the Frost, is up now!

AO3

“I worked at Jurassic World, with the velociraptors,” she responded. “And then I was on Isla Nublar when that volcano blew, and in California when the dinosaurs escaped.” She lifted her prosthetic up a little. “That’s where I lost this.” Kayla whistled. “Damn girl. And you came back?” Lizzy shrugged. “Anything for my friends.” Owen smiled up at her.

Tagging:

@themaradwrites @untestedtheory @wordspin-shares @lizisshortforlizard @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon

[sigmastolen]

Naturalists were the original biologists, and hunters and trappers were the original naturalists. No one knew more about a species -- the wheres, whens, and whys of its movements through the land and the seasons, its relationships with prey and rivals and mates-- than a person whose livelihood depended on that knowledge.

actually all these no-nonsense wildlife professionals in fuzz are making me want to take another shot at writing muldoon

[mauserfrau]

Not Rhack Wednesdays! On Thursday [15]

Not that there’s anything wrong with Rhack, but variety is the spice of life!

Now, you'd best be holding onto your socks for this one because @darkmagicdrag0n has posted not one but two new installments of A Queen With No Crown, which can also now be found on Ao3 if you like. Oh gosh, is that romance stirring? I believe it is!

The Rhysha art (well, it's not ALL Rhysha) continues at @michellespenscratchz , bunch of If you're so inclined to enjoy Sasha in a bikini and you should be. Well, there's a lot more than the bikini, but that's my favorite, I do confess.

@raidbossmadi has not only updated Familiar Path, Different Place with some high drama and dinos, but is now multific posting with The Edge of Chaos. Oooh, her Muldoon is really good too (esp. if you've read the books!)

Oh, and it looks like Mauser Frau is running a direct sequel to Satellite with mono no aware and chickens [links NSFW!]. What is up with that and all of the doctor stuff? IDK, why doesn't Troy have a doctor following him around canonically?

If you’d like your fic featured on Not Rhack Wednesdays On Thursday, the only requirement is that it not be Rhack (well, and you have to ask).  Calypso Twins angst is not required, but a plus.  Give me a jingle or @ me or whatever works for you.

My fantastic splash image is brought to you by @kingcharon whose commissions are open right now and who know has a lovely Patreon, if you would like to join. It's got art tips and coloring pages~

[lizisshortforlizard]

Living Dangerously - Chapter 30

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster?

A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs.

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: some swears, harassment and misogyny in the workplace

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @ocappreciation @wordspin-shares @howlingmadlady @arrthurpendragon @themaradwrites @starryeyes2000 @kmc1989 (please lmk if you would like informed of my sporadic updates)

Read on Ao3

Chapter 29 | Chapter 31

I Hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

It turned out be a different sort of sleepless night to what Lizzy had been hoping for.

The wrong kind. 

She had lain awake for what few hours remained until morning, tossing, turning, occasionally weeping. Any sleep she managed to grasp was fitful, feeling like it only lasted a few seconds at a time.

She kept replaying what had happened in the clearing, each time a little more painful. Wondering how she could have behaved differently. How it could have turned out better than this unbearable limbo in which she didn't know where she stood anymore. Whether she'd just forever destroyed one of the best professional relationships she'd ever had. 

It was all her fault, of course it was.

Why did she keep doing this? It felt eerily similar to the last time she’d engaged without thinking of the consequences. It had nearly ruined someone else’s life back then, as well as her own. History was repeating itself, and she only had herself to blame. 

And now, once again, she had to live with the uncomfortable reality. She’d argue that it clearly wasn’t taking advantage from either side, in fact Lizzy would be bold enough to say they were both very much in agreement. But InGen’s legal department probably wouldn’t see it the same way. 

Admit it, girl. You fucked up. 

Dawn came, and she finally forced herself to get out of bed and pretend to be human. She should be looking forward to going out into the park again and seeing her animals, now that she wasn’t alone and it was relatively safe to do so, but she was dreading it. Unsure what she’d do when she inevitably bumped into Muldoon again.

Pretend it never happened or meet him head on? 

I don’t think I have it in me this time. 

She was in the canteen, laying low, listlessly poking at her scrambled eggs with a fork. Lizzy had cooked them herself, but they were far from her usual standard and didn't taste of anything other than disappointment. 

She heard the familiar Jeep engine outside, and the shower of gravel as it ground to a halt. Lizzy shrunk down in her chair, staring at her plate in dread. 

I’m better at breakfast.

Be the one to wake me up in the morning.

God, why did I do it?

At least the coffee was worth leaving her room for. 

It was the first thing Muldoon noticed as soon as he walked in. She hadn’t brought one over for him, like she usually did. Message received, loud and clear.

The one small act she did for him almost every day, and he hadn’t even appreciated it properly until it had stopped. That was enough to get him to talk first. Armstrong did something when she made coffee. Invoked a higher power. Witchcraft. Somehow she always got it exactly right.

This wouldn’t do at all.

“Good morning.”

“It is?” She replied dully, glancing up with red-rimmed eyes. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

“You’re late for work.” He pointed out. “How are you doing?”

“Well, that’s a kick in the teeth.” She muttered. “But, if you’re genuinely asking? Annoyed. No, that’s not right. Vexed? Hm. Frustrated. Mostly at myself.” 

“Armstrong-“ Muldoon awkwardly stood in front of her. “I probably owe you an explanation.”

“No need. I thought you made it pretty clear, actually.” She felt the sting of rejection anew. It was more painful than she’d reckoned to talk about it. “You don’t owe me squat.”

“I could have handled things better.” He pulled out a chair to sit opposite her. “It all happened rather quickly.” 

“You were handling things just fine.” Lizzy gave up on her eggs, pushing her plate away before sitting back and folding her arms. “What changed?”  What exactly had changed? It was hard to explain, but what it came down to was-

“Too fast." 

She blinked, confused. ”Say again?”

Muldoon wished more than anything that Baker was around to keep him on the right track, guide him with what to say. 

”…moving too fast.”

”Well, thanks for the clarification.” Lizzy replied dryly. “And that’s…bad?”

It was, it didn’t feel right, to be suddenly rushing matters in the dark. Outside…fair enough, but in the back of a bloody Jeep?! 

Or maybe on the bonnet of his Jeep-

No, stop that. 

He wasn’t sure quite what had happened, but he’d forgotten his responsibilities. Keep her safe. And risking her career for the sake of one night together did not fall into that bracket. No matter how strongly he felt.  How he felt didn’t matter. Hadn’t mattered for a long time. 

“Don’t want one and done.” He tried to explain, despite the relentless stare from the other side of the table. “Can’t do it.”

Not with her. Everything or nothing at all. Anything else would never be enough. He was trying to voice that sentiment out loud, but he didn’t have the words. He barely had the syllables.

“It’s not right, either. We already knew that.“ Muldoon gave up. She’d have to trust him, he was doing his best. If she could still trust him. ”Does that help, at all?”

“Yes…” Then her face crumpled.

He looked at her closely. ”Are you lying to me?”

”Yes!” It all came pouring out in a high-pitched hurry. “You’ve been mad at me before and I’ve understood why. But, after, and when we were driving back-…I couldn’t read you, at all!”

Lizzy put her head in her hands and mumbled something beyond his range of hearing.

She thought he was angry with her? That’s what she was most upset about?

Muldoon reached out and gently but firmly pulled her hand away from her mouth.

”Again, please.” 

”…really thought I’d lost you.” She whispered. 

“Well, you certainly have a flair for the dramatic, Lizzy.” He kept hold of her hand, she let him.

”Are you implying I’m overreacting?” She choked out. “Because women love that.”

”To be clear, I’m not mad at you. I’ve never once been mad at you.”

”Are you sure?”

“Positive. Annoyed, maybe. Vexed? Once or twice.” Lizzy groaned when she realised what he was doing. “Frustrated…you get the idea.”

”Oh, that’s not fair.” She muttered. 

“But I’d find it very hard to live with, if you were dismissed because of something I did. Or might possibly do, if we were to, er-…” He looked uncomfortable. “-you know.”

"Suppose that’s a good point. Damn you for being so rational. I love my job.” She glanced up. “The people, eh...."

"Indeed, people are awful. Most people, at any rate." He quietly agreed. "This island would be bloody idyllic if we weren't going to be overrun by guests in a few short months.”

“So, where do we go from here?” Lizzy was already dreading the answer.

“I don’t think…we are going anywhere. You and I-" Muldoon looked resigned. "-have to carry on as before.”

“Like nothing ever happened?”

”I’m afraid so. Strictly professional.”

“But that’s not what I want.” May as well say it. 

“Nor me.” Lizzy wondered if him tracing circles on the back of her hand was conscious or otherwise. “But it’s what we have to do.”

Sobriety would be a distant memory if he was responsible for ruining her career.

“Still the funniest story I’ve ever heard.” She muttered after a few moments, breaking the tension.

“Good.” Her laugh. That ridiculous laugh that he couldn’t stop thinking about. “That’ll keep me going for a while.”

Lizzy nodded and managed a wonky smile. She felt like crying again, it seemed horribly like saying a goodbye. "We'll be okay, right?"

"I don't even want to imagine the alternative."

This is the right choice. This is the right choice. This is the right choice.

Doesn't feel right. Feels bloody awful. 

Lizzy tilted her head, pushing her body towards him, her candour returning. “Did you like it, though?” 

”Excuse me?” He had to have misheard, but the mischief in her expression was telling him otherwise.

”You heard. Did you-“

A noise from the doorway startled them both. Muldoon dropped her hand quick as a flash, Lizzy tried not to let her face fall in dismay. 

Kathy Baker was clattering into the canteen, struggling yet again with her bag, which looked even heavier than when she’d left before Christmas. 

“Found you, finally!” Kathy called and waved. "Oh, hey, you came back early! What gives?"

“Nothing.” In a role reversal, Muldoon quickly answered for them both, while Lizzy was the one who baulked.

“O-kay…jeez, answer faster.” Kathy gave up on her bag and abandoned it at the door, clumping over to their table, still in her winter boots. “Girl, before you ask, yes, I got the goods. Here, you’re welcome.”

She passed Lizzy a box of liquorice which was met with a pleased but slightly frantic ‘ooh!’. 

“Have you been crying?” Kathy asked her matter-of-factly. 

“Just allergies.” Lizzy sniffed and wiped her eyes, looking at the floor. 

“Uh-huh...” Kathy darted a quick glance at Muldoon, before drumming her recently manicured nails on the back of a chair, building up. "This is kinda perfect actually. I wanted to tell you two first out of everyone, obviously, but not over the phone. I, uh...I have some news."

The way she was avoiding eye contact with both of them, Lizzy could guess what it was. She quickly forced a smile. "You got the job?"

"Yeah, I got the job..." Kathy tried her best to look dismayed, before the grin burst through and she bounced on her tiptoes. "Guys, I got the job!"

Lizzy scrambled up to congratulate, quelling the geyser of rage, dread and panic that was bubbling up inside, feigning happiness for her friend. “What’d I tell you? You’re incredible!”

”I know, I’m kind of a big deal!” Kathy giggled, squeezing her tight. “First woman to ever hold the post in the history of the Smithsonian! I’m gonna have an office! I don’t have to work weekends anymore! I’m gonna have a life!”

“Alright for some.” Muldoon wasn’t so enthused. 

Kathy broke away from Lizzy, hands on her hips. “Go on then, let me have it.” 

"Well done. Knew you’d get it."

Lizzy shook her head. Damn man was proud as Hell, just doing his stubborn best not to show it. 

“It’s not the end of the world, I’ll be here for a while, until you can find my replacement.” Kathy pointed down at the top of Lizzy’s head and stage whispered pick her. 

“How long have I got?”

”Until August. “I can hang in there until August, right? What could go wrong before then?” Kathy laughed nervously then abruptly stopped at the alarmed look they both gave her. 

“Plenty.” Muldoon huffed.

Lizzy agreed with him. ”Best not to answer that.”

***

Kathy wasn’t the only one who brought Lizzy dessert as a souvenir on their return. 

Rico, the youngest but not least talented member the Carnivore Team was making his way towards her brandishing a Paupério tin that was far too dented and discoloured to be new. This looked promising unless, God forbid, it turned out to contain a sewing kit. Lizzy had been burned before. 

“For you!” He was calling to her as he jogged along.

Her face lit up at the sight. “That looks homemade, boy. Tell me it’s homemade.”

Rico caught up, handing her the tin. “From my mama, for you.”

“You really didn’t have to…” Lizzy tried to remain polite though she was dying to rip the lid off and tuck in. Dinner time was still achingly far away.

“Yes I did. She made me swear I wouldn’t touch any.” 

Have you been making friends, niño?

I have, at least one.

The strange Scottish lady was always nice to him, even if she was scarily forthright at times, and it had taken Rico a couple of weeks to figure out that she used certain rude words not as insults, but as terms of endearment.

“I’ve got good cigarros too if you want one, but don’t tell mama about those.” He tapped the side of his nose.

“Have you done something bad?” Lizzy asked warily. “I’m not being funny, but this is too much-“

“It’s just a thank you. You look out for me.” Rico said simply. “It was rough, at the start, but you wouldn’t let me stay in my room alone. I hated it at first, when you dragged me out all the time, but I know why you did it.”

His shoulders drooped. “When I can’t remember the word for something, you don’t make fun of me. The other guys still do, sometimes.”

Lizzy hadn’t really thought about it before. But he was around the same age as her brothers. And it was true, his English hadn’t been the best at the beginning. She knew all to well what it was like to be the outsider, not being confident to chip in when everyone else spoke a different language to you. She hadn’t wanted the youngest member of the team to feel left out or worthless.  The boy was good. Not long left school and already working for InGen? He was going places.

Rico was somewhat of a phenomenon. He was quiet and thoughtful, introverted, but he had a way with the dinosaurs that Lizzy was envious of. Even the most timid of creatures could be coaxed forward by Rico. He was just good at it. Something about how he spoke to them, how he moved, he had a calming influence. 

People had their favourite animals, and the reverse was equally true. The dinosaurs just liked him, most were comfortable being around him.

It had made other people jealous, some who weren’t as happy to just shut up and deal with it as Lizzy was. She had even considered asking Muldoon if Rico could become a handler for the infant raptor. He would be good for her, she was certain.

“It’s just banter.” She reassured. That was true enough, but one or two of the guys had a bad habit of pushing it into cruel territory. Words needed to be had. “Although Tom really is an arse. Don’t ever listen to him.”

She resisted the urge to ruffle Rico’s hair, like an unbearable aunt. He’s a grown man. He’s taller than you.

But he had such a baby face she couldn’t help but want to look after him. Maybe it was guilt. She missed her brothers by far the most out of all her siblings. It had been so long since she’d seen them.

“What would I do without you, kid?” She glanced down at the tin gratefully. “And your mother’s baking. Seriously, she could sell these.”

“You won’t ever find out.” He sidled closer, looking like he was getting ready to tell her a secret. “Listen, I want to see Africa. The Africa you and the boss talk about. See a wild elephant.”

“All these dinosaurs right here and you want to see an elephant?” She couldn’t help but smile. 

He laughed. “A wild elephant. Just promise you’ll take me along, next time you go, yes?”

”Sure. I might know somebody who could give you the tour.” Unable to resist any longer, Lizzy started breaking open the tin and she nearly teared up at how delicious the contents smelled. “Oh my God. Can you bring your mum too?”

He seemed to seriously consider it before nodding. “I’ll ask her?”

***

“Hey!" Later that day Kathy sneaked up behind her and tapped Lizzy on the shoulder. “Got a bone to pick with you.”

The old reliable Baker intuition was yelling loudly in her head, yet again. Niggling in her thoughts for several days. She couldn’t ignore it any longer. Kathy pointed a finger in accusation at her friend and cried triumphantly:

”You got laid!”

“What?!” Lizzy's eyes darted back and forth. "Shhhh!"

"You did!" Kathy gasped. "Oh my God, you did!"

”I did not!” Lizzy made a grab for her friend, trying to clamp a hand over her mouth, something, anything to stop her. “What the Hell, Kathy?”

“You’re, I dunno-“ The Team Leader wriggled free and shrugged, unconvinced. “-different?”

“Yeah, well. You’re wrong. Nothing happened at New Year.” Lizzy insisted. “Ro-uh…Muldoon and I went out for a drive, that was all.”

The at least partly true white lie that both of them had discussed and agreed on together.

“Who said anything about New Year?” Kathy raised an eyebrow.  “You…did?” Lizzy stalled helplessly. 

“I didn’t mention Muldoon, either. That’s where your mind went though, huh?”

”Er-“ Lizzy started to panic. 

”He came back early, to check you were okay, you were all alone here for a whole night and- oh, don’t give me that look! And ‘nothing happened’?” Kathy was still sceptical. “Yeah, right!”

She recalled the moment she had first suspected things may have changed between them. She peeked through the window just before she’d entered the canteen, nearly screamed in exhilaration and then saw how quickly Muldoon dropped Lizzy’s hand when he heard the door opening. Like a hot potato. Her heart had dropped just as quickly, and she caught the noise ready to burst forth from her throat in the nick of time.

Whatever had been going on, she clearly wasn’t meant to see. “Cross my heart.”

”Really? Nothing?” Kathy was still crestfallen. “You finally had the island to yourselves, and nothing at all?”

Lizzy considered how he had made her laugh harder than she had laughed in a long time, maybe even in her whole life. A moment that regardless of whatever happened between them now, she’d likely remember until the end of her days. 

Kathy was looking at her expectantly, while Lizzy’s memory was a mile or so away, in her favourite place in the park, with the stars above and the Rex rumbling away like a purring cat as the fire crackled.

”Well, not exactly nothing at all.” Lizzy’s mouth finally curved into a smile. “But if I told you, you’d probably never believe me.”

***

”Regis, why is my Jeep boxed in?”

”Uh…sorry Muldoon, I’m losing you-crrrhhhsshshhh.” The group of animal handlers all saw Ed discretely switch his radio off with a loud click. 

A couple of weeks into January, New Year a distant memory, but Lizzy’s stomach still flipped whenever she heard the park warden’s voice. Carrying on as normal was working, for the most part. But she couldn’t simply forget and move on. Feelings don’t just go away, you only adapt to get better at dealing with them over time. If you’re lucky.

Fortunately, a welcome distraction was in progress. Preparations were underway for an official event on the island. The front of the visitor centre was positively bustling. 

"Thought they weren't opening the park until the autumn?" Lizzy critically eyed the deliveries that were turning up left, right and centre. The  supply boat that morning had been sitting much lower in the water than usual.

"These are investors, idiot. They aren't guests. They need to see we’ve made good use of their money, so that they give us more!" Tom flicked her ear for emphasis, causing Lizzy to take a swipe at him, which he dodged easily. "Or we’re screwed. So Eddie’s gotta get his nose right in there."

"I don’t think they’ve ordered enough stuff.” When she turned back to look again, Lizzy could have sworn the number of boxes had somehow tripled.

”You’re doing a great job, buddy. Keep it up!” Tom yelled over to Regis, whose neck quickly turned red under his freckles.  “Don’t call me buddy!”

“Would you stop?” Lizzy elbowed him. “One of these days, he will throw something at you.”

”Hope it’s not gonna be valuable, cos it won’t have my good self to cushion the blow. He’ll miss.” His self-assurance was still grating.

”Wanna bet?” Lizzy remembered Trenton Thunder. “Baseball nut over there.”

”So Daddy played catch with him, big whoop.” Tom replied, grinding out his cigarette with his boot heel. 

“Can you guys make yourselves useful and keep an eye out for the ice sculpture arriving?” Regis trotted over to them. “I gotta go do a thing…”

”Yeah, sure. We basically get paid to stand around, anyway.” Kathy replied cheerfully.

“This event-“ Lizzy queried. “-are we invited?"

”Absolutely not.” Regis denied. “In fact, you in particular are barred, Armstrong, for obvious reasons.”

”Aw, Ed!” She feigned upset. “You know that just makes me want to go even more!”

“Ain’t gonna happen, Liz.” Regis carefully pulled a transparent plastic garment bag out of a box full of packing peanuts. It contained a very short, very red cocktail dress. “So quit asking.”

“That’s gonna clash with your hair.” Tom pointed out.

”It’s for María!” Regis snarled back at him.

“That’s not fair! Why does she get to go? You have catering staff flying over.” Lizzy was still on his case. 

Ed gave her a lopsided grin. ”Eye candy.”

”Huh?” Lizzy and Kathy said in unison, shooting each other confused glances.

“Okay, I see what happens.” Tom stepped forward. “Let me paint a picture for you, girls. You’ve got a lot of rich, lonely, powerful men in a room together, far away from their wives and mistresses, trying to prove who’s got the biggest dick. You need a little entertainment. Something pretty to look at. Grease the wheels.”

Regis clicked his fingers. “Bingo.”

“Oh, that’s disgusting. That’s disgusting.” Kathy was horrified. 

“Nobody touch anything.” Off Ed Regis went, garment bag slung over his shoulder. Presumably to find the unwilling future occupant of the dress. 

"Team Meeting, now.” Lizzy announced. 

The eight animal handlers huddled.

”I move that we do something. I want to find out where all their money's going. Because it sure as Hell isn't on the animals. Or us. Y’know, the people who actually do the work.” Lizzy's expression became stormy. "They're going to take advantage of her. And Ed's going to sit back, drink his lite beer, and watch it happen."

"In another win for human evolution, public relations manager achieves upright stance sans spinal column." Kathy muttered dryly.  “That’s cold, Kit.” Tom sounded impressed. “Attagirl, you’ll be as cynical as Liz and I by the time you leave this place.”

“Well, she has a point!” The Team Leader gestured. “We can’t leave María there alone. They’ll eat her alive.”

"So you agree?" Lizzy jumped on her chance. “I’m commandeering the situation?”

"Girl..." Kathy shook her head. "Girl, he's gonna kill you...getting involved…”

"I can handle Ed." Lizzy said confidently. 

"Ed's not the one I was talking about, sweetie.”

“We’re gonna see Liz in a dress? Looking like an actual woman?” Tom smirked at her expression full of disgust. "Hey, you gotta. It’s a formal. You’ll need something that doesn't scream 'I shovel crap for a living'." 

”Oh sure, let me just go pick one of my many ballgowns out of the wardrobe.” Lizzy gestured from her flyaway head to her mud-caked boots. "Are you blind?"

”You and María are about the same height. You wouldn’t look terrible in red, if it’s low lighting-“

”Jeez, Tom! Stop encouraging her!” Kathy moaned. “This is a terrible idea.” “As much as I hate to admit she’s right, better Liz than María.” The Texan stuck to his guns. “And you know it, Kit.” 

“That’s settled then. All in favour?” Lizzy called the vote. 

Six ayes were heard from the men before they looked to the Carnivore Leader for her choice. But she still hesitated. 

Come on, girl.

The seconds ticked by. Tom smirked confidentially at Lizzy before asking loudly:  “Kit, you wanna go grab Ed that cappuccino, or what?”

“Oh, I’m so gonna regret this.” Kathy wearily nodded. “You win.”

***

God, I'm starving. 

Lizzy had poured herself into the tiny cocktail dress meant for Maria, far more petite and less muscular than she was. The Haitian was more than happy to be relieved of her duties for the evening, kissing Lizzy on both cheeks before practically flinging the dress in the ethologist’s direction and gliding away down the corridor to do God-knew-what. Watering the plastic plants, probably.

The cheap fabric was working particularly hard underneath her arms and around the tops of her thighs. As well as doing hair and make-up, Kathy had reluctantly helped pile her into the nightmare dress and zip her up. She felt like an overstuffed sausage, and already had blisters forming from the high heels, rubbing her feet raw as she shuffled around with tiny steps.

But the place Lizzy felt most under-dressed was on her left hand.

She wished she’d had the foresight to put her engagement ring back on, which she still hadn’t found the willpower to shove in an envelope and send back to Simon. At least it would offer some protection for a few hours. Lizzy looked around the room. String quartet, ice sculpture, flowers everywhere…the opulence of it made her feel uneasy. 

She had a flashback to her apartment in the States, something Simon had divulged while complaining about a flamboyantly rich but cantankerous client as they were unpacking groceries together.  Very rich people didn’t show off how much money they had. They didn’t have to. They tended to be quietly generous and classy about it. People who acted like they were still trying to prove something, they might be well-off, but they weren’t rich rich. 

Lizzy herself had fallen for it in the beginning, but as time went on, increasingly often she began to suspect that Hammond was the latter. Everything for show. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

She caught sight of the man himself in the corner of her eye, amber-topped cane in hand, and remembered the reason she was enduring such torture in the first place. To secure better care, more money specifically for the dinosaurs. Lizzy tottered over, tugging the hem of her dress down as she approached. 

“John?”

He turned and looked at her blankly. She knew what he was thinking. You weren’t on the guest list. 

”It’s me, Lizzy.” She could forgive him a few moments hesitation, she’d probably never worn this much make-up in her life.

“Lizzy?” 

She began to get annoyed. What happened to ‘my dear old granny was a Lizzy’? Anyway, she’d always considered herself fairly memorable.

This was not a good start. 

“Doctor Armstrong? From Namibia?” She gestured helplessly, at a loss for what else she could say to jog his memory. “The ethologist.”

“It’s Mr Hammond, tonight, dear. If you don’t mind.” 

“Alright-“

“I’m fairly busy, I’m afraid. Why don’t you go and mingle? We’ll catch up later.”

“Wait, no-“ Lizzy knew well enough that there most likely wouldn’t be a later.

“Please, Miss Armstrong. Another time.” And he gently took her arm and guided her away, leaving her all alone, facing the wall as he resumed his conversation. 

Not quite sure how she had lost her hold on the situation, Lizzy vowed to try a different tactic. As she was busy scanning the rest of the venue for anyone who might be worth talking to, she didn’t notice one of the businessmen swanning over to her, until it was too late to get away. 

“Where’s Hammond been hiding this one, then?” American. Mid-West. Sweating profusely. “Forget the ice sculpture, why didn’t they just put you up on the table?”

Lizzy recoiled. “I’m a scientist.”

“Ah, she’s funny too. Not dressed like that, you aren’t.”

Lizzy really wasn’t a fan of being referred to in the third person.

”Really, she’s a PhD.” She flushed in anger. “She studies animal behaviour.”

And you’re behaving like an animal.

”Wait-“ He pointed at her face, closely scrutinising. “-I know you from somewhere-“

Not again.

In yet another event from her past that occasionally came back to haunt her, Lizzy had undertaken a couple of modelling jobs as a first-year student at NYU.

Nothing big. One or two jobs for the campus magazine, then it had kind of snowballed. She didn’t even know what some of the photographs were ultimately used for. But her face, and the rest of her, was definitely in print for something other than behavioural research. It offered a few extra dollars here and there, until Simon had asked her to stop, telling her she didn't have to worry about money now she was with him. She'd obliged, but it had been kind of fun, at the time.

It happened more than once in New York, sometimes a stranger, usually an older man, most likely on the subway would give her a funny look. She’d know exactly why, and she’d huddle closer to Simon and try not to make eye contact before they reached their stop.

New York and a tiny Costa Rican island, it seemed. Just her luck.

”No, you don’t!” She insisted and turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist and she had no choice but to turn to face him to keep herself from toppling over in her high heels. 

”How much-“

His grip hurt. Lizzy looked around in panic, searching for Ed Regis in the crowd. She didn’t want to make a scene, but if there was no other choice…Ed would help her, right?

Right?!

“Hey, back off, pal. The only one who gets to talk down to her is me.”

From somewhere close behind her came the low Southern drawl she both looked forward to and dreaded equally. The voice she hated being on the wrong side of, the one that meant trouble, had antagonised her time and time again. And she’d never been so glad to hear it defending her. 

Tom’s hulking frame cast a long shadow over both Lizzy and the strange man who was intent on getting to know her better.

“Look, here-“ The investor was bristling at the intrusion.

”Move along, now, buddy.” Tom gave him a firm pat on the shoulder, a little bit harder than was polite or necessary, but not enough to get him into trouble. “Trust me, you don’t wanna find out the price for this one. It’s measured in rounds, and I don’t mean at the bar.”

The stranger grunted unhappily and finally beat it, avoiding looking Lizzy in the eye. 

She relaxed slightly, her hands trembling. The smell of old cigarette smoke and cheap aftershave had never been so reassuring. 

“About damn time.” She tried to act breezy, but the words sounded forced. Lizzy was more shaken than she'd care to admit. She glanced down at her wrist, red finger marks already burned harshly into her skin. Shit.

”Ma’am.” Tom tipped the brim of his stetson towards her without the slightest trace of irony. He had gone all out for the occasion, wearing a bolo tie, white shirt, dress jeans with a big belt buckle and leather boots. A real-life cowboy.

Lizzy cleared her throat, trying to restore her bravado. “Didn’t know there was a fancy dress shop on the island. Where’s your tinfoil sheriff’s badge?”

“You get straight to Hell. This is my good stetson. I’ve not worn this baby since prom night.” He flicked the rim. “You realise how privileged you are, getting to see me in my good stetson, right?”

”You have more than one?” She stifled a giggle. “Didn’t know you moonlighted as a Village Person.” “You like a man in a hat.” He winked at her disarmingly, and her steel nerve buckled. 

”Piss off.” She muttered weakly. 

"There it is." Tom grinned in satisfaction. “On that note, what has your man got to say about you hitting the town, all dressed up?”

“Not my man, what are you on about…”

“Ah, I see. He still doesn’t know, huh?” He shook his head, tutting. “You are in so much shit.”

“I do what I like.” Lizzy scowled. “Although I don’t like this. Quite literally taking one for the team.”

“You scrub up pretty nice.” He gave her a sly look. “Trim your moustache, did ya?” “Ha!”

At the other end of the room, Lizzy spied Regis’ ginger head, still wearing his ever-present baseball cap (seriously, at a black tie?), jerk upright at the noise she’d just made. Lizzy quickly turned it into a cough.

“Insults aside, glad you’re here.” She meant it. "Dickhead.”

She meant that too. 

”Save it.” Tom grumbled. “I just didn’t wanna miss the look on Ed’s face when he sees you of all people gatecrashed his fancy event.”

“Keep telling yourself that, mate.” She didn't mind anymore whether he hated her or cared for her. It was a blurry line at the best of times. But she mattered to him, in some way, that much she knew and was grateful for. If he hadn’t intervened when he did…

One way or another, it would have gotten messy.

“How’s An Audience With Hammond going?” He interrupted her thoughts.

”It’s not.” She told him about how she had failed miserably at her mission. “I am very low priority on his list of people to schmooze tonight.”

Tom was eyeing up a tray of glasses making it’s way past them. “In that case, when in Rome-“

She scoffed. “Beginning to see the real reason you’re here…”

“They don’t got bourbon?” Tom grumbled at the sparse choice of red or white. “I hate wine.”

“The single malt is for much, much later this evening-“ The waiter somehow managed to look down his nose at the taller man. “-sir.”

”You’ll get what you’re given.” Lizzy took a glass of each colour and handed him the white. “It’s free.”

”How about a toast?” Tom sardonically eyed the blue InGen banner hung over the door, company slogan in italics beneath the ever-present logo. “To…Making Our Future.”

”Spare no expense!”

They clinked their glasses. 

“Hell with it. Let’s pound as much of this food as we can before they throw us out.”

”That-“ Lizzy waved over a tray of canapes. “-is the best idea you’ve had in weeks.”

***

“He was talking so fast, I couldn’t keep up, and he said Hammond personally asked him to make it happen!” Rico was hurriedly trying to explain as he stumbled into the control room after the park warden. “To show the investors.”

”That may be true.” Muldoon was barely keeping his anger in check. “But there’s a very good reason we stay away from that animal.”

”Not all of us.” Arnold added loudly as he blew smoke upwards, causing Muldoon to shoot him a venomous look. 

“I sincerely apologise, boss.” Rico continued, visibly trembling in fear. “H-how can I make this right?”

”Just stay out of the bloody way. Something like that, you really should have checked.” He dismissed him with a wave of his hand before shouting “Where’s Baker?!”

“Here, I’m here!” Kathy popped up from behind a console. “Ray called me, we’re watching her now. They weren’t kidding, she’s fast.”

Rico went mute, eyes downcast, he took the opportunity to slip out of the control room like a shadow while everyone else was bustling around. Nobody noticed. 

Muldoon moved around to look at the screen beside his colleagues. “Arnold, can you send out an alarm?”

”Manually.”

”That doesn't sound very efficient?"

“It ain't. As in, I’m going to have to go check the manual.” Arnold looked at him pointedly, cigarette dangling. “Or you can just grab a radio and alarm everyone all by yourself.”

”You’ve got to be joking.” Muldoon ground out. “There’s no system in place?”

“Looks that way.”

Meanwhile, Kathy was wringing her hands. All the procedures she’d gone over in her head. All her studying of emergency exits, muster points and evacuation routes. All her carefully constructed contingency plans and she still wasn’t ready for this.

“What are you going to do?” She hesitantly asked.

“What’s required.” Muldoon was looking for the key to the locker in his office. “Don’t interfere.”

Kathy solemnly nodded. “In that case, what do you need?”

“I need my best shot, for backup.” He grabbed his radio. ”Kennedy, come in.”

No response. 

”If anyone can see Kennedy, pass him a radio, now.”

No answer.

What a mess.  Muldoon conducted a quick head count. Only six animal handlers present. Baker-Esteves-Harris-O’Reilly-Palmer-Yamada-

Another was unaccounted for.  “Baker, where’s Armstrong?”

”Er…”

Oh, balls.

Muldoon impatiently took her by the shoulders. “Is she indoors, yes or no?”

”Yes, definitely.” No way would Lizzy be seen in that dress anywhere outside the function room. “Unless-“

His eyes narrowed. “Baker, it’s important for your lifespan that you tell me exactly where she is.”

Arnold had momentarily stopped typing, holding his breath. 

“She’s with Tom. If he smokes, she usually goes too.” Kathy confessed nervously. “I mean, they could be outside?”

***

”Nah, you’re doing it wrong. No chewing, you’ll be there forever. Down in one, like this-“ Tom was trying to show her how to handle an oyster.

Lizzy stared at the cold shell in her palm, the corners of her mouth downturned. ”Tom, it’s looking at me.”  

She’d eaten far more questionable things in her lifetime. But this was turning out to be her Everest. 

”Ah, forget it. These ones are just okay, need some tabasco.” He took the offending mollusc from her and swiftly dealt with it. “Better barbecued fresh, out on the water.”

“If you say so.” Lizzy wasn’t convinced. Sub-par oysters, she’d rather not take the chance. Yet more cracks were appearing in the InGen foundations. 

A very familiar silhouette caught her eye, making his way through the crowd to their secret corner of the room with purpose. He’d clearly spotted Tom’s stetson from the doorway. 

“Uh-oh, busted.” Lizzy whispered as Muldoon drew level with them both.

“Kennedy. With me, now.”

Lizzy tutted. He was clearly dismissing her as ‘just some girl’ Regis had flown in for the night that Tom had decided to try his luck with. It must have been the heels giving her an extra couple of inches that was throwing him off.

“Tom, I think you’ve pulled.” Lizzy nudged his arm. Muldoon did a double take at the familiar voice, only recognising who she was the second time around.

“Oh Christ, it’s you.” He frowned. “What’s happened to your face?”

“Rude.”

“Don’t like it.” He was looking her up and down in disbelief. ”And I can bloody well see what you had for dinner-“

“Stop staring at me.” Lizzy hissed through gritted teeth. “Surprise, I do in fact have a waist under the tattie cloths they pass off as uniforms.”

“Of course. Your waist is what’s drawing the eye.”

He wasn’t at all a fan of the look, but he still couldn’t drag his gaze away from her with everything…pushed up like that.

”Aw, Jesus.” Tom seemed genuinely upset. “Not cool, boss.”

”Why are you two in here, anyway, without your radios on?” Muldoon recalled the memo Regis had flashed around about keeping a certain animal handler away from the event at all costs. “No, never mind. I don’t actually care.” 

“I would love to know-“ Lizzy remarked sweetly. “-where exactly I would be keeping a radio on my person, in this thing.”

”Talking out your ass, no doubt-” Tom muttered. 

Another of the investors had broken off from the herd and started to sway his way over, bleary eyes fixated on Lizzy, and the parts of her body the dress wasn’t quite managing to cover. She could already see the words say, you look familiar forming in his head as she began to back away in fear. 

But she wasn’t alone this time. Both Kennedy and Muldoon abruptly stopped what they were doing and gave the interloper a hard stare so intimidating that he about-turned and wobbled straight back the way he’d came without uttering a single word to anyone.

Muldoon shook his head, looking like his motor was rapidly winding down. “Christ alive, I need to get out of here. I hate this sort of thing.”

Lizzy cocked her head. He doesn’t do crowds.

“So if you’re both done wasting time-“ He continued.

She quickly sobered, not averse to making a quick getaway herself. “What’s wrong?”

There was a faint rumble of thunder from outside and the overhead lights dipped and came back on with a flicker. The drone of conversation around them lulled, then resumed.

The next thing the park warden said made Lizzy’s ears ring and edges of her vision darken as the adrenaline kicked in. 

“Don’t react, either of you-“ Muldoon dropped his voice low enough that she had to crane her neck to hear him. “-but there’s an animal loose in the park.”

Son of a- Tom was already pushing past Lizzy, making his way to the exit doors, the sea of businessmen parting before him as he cleared a path.  

“Don’t react. I said don’t react.” Muldoon quickly turned to follow him. 

“Hang on-“ Lizzy caught up before he moved out of reach. “Which animal?”

Muldoon gave her a certain look while saying nothing, which told her everything.

Lizzy knew exactly which animal had broken out. 

“Oh-“ She reached for the wall to steady herself as the lights flickered off again and thunder boomed over the island. “Oh, no.”

***

Thanks for reading!

If you worked out what this chapter is leading up to I will personally send you a gift basket or something.

[lizisshortforlizard]

Living Dangerously - Chapter 31

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster?

A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs.

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: some swears, graphic injury description, use of guns

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @ocappreciation @wordspin-shares @howlingmadlady @arrthurpendragon @themaradwrites @starryeyes2000 @kmc1989 (please lmk if you would like informed of my sporadic updates)

Read on Ao3

Chapter 30 | Chapter 32

Separate Ways - Journey

“Oh my God.” Lizzy’s hand went to her mouth. 

“I’m fairly keen to contain the situation.” Muldoon kept his tone matter-of-fact. “You can imagine.”

Ed Regis had finally noticed something was awry and was shooting agitated glances in their direction. Lizzy chose to ignore him. “How did this happen?”

“Esteves managed to let it out.”

”What?!” It couldn’t possibly be true. “Rico knows better than that!”

”My thoughts exactly. Don’t worry, he’ll get the bollocking of his life once I’ve retrieved the blasted animal.” He turned to see her still following him. “What the Hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Uh, I think I’m coming with you!” Lizzy made to push past him so she could beat Regis to the door. “That’s my blasted animal!”

”Not a chance. Stay inside.” He blocked her escape. “You certainly aren’t going anywhere dressed like that.” 

“Oh, really? Well, you clearly know best. I’m sure I’ll be just fine, left alone with all these strange, lonely men.” She deliberately adjusted the neckline of her dress. “Uh-huh, perfectly safe.”

Silence. Lizzy could practically see the cogs turning.

“I’ve changed my mind.” He decided. “Keep up, Armstrong.”

***

“Seriously, boss?” Tom despaired. “She can’t even walk in that monstrosity, never mind run if something chases her!”

“Let me just go change!” Lizzy chewed him out. “Oh, wait. We don’t have time!”

Her hair was already doing its damnedest to escape the updo Kathy had painstakingly donated her entire collection of bobby pins towards. Stray curls were popping free all over her head. Tom tossed Lizzy his bone-handled folding knife that he’d kept tucked down the side of one of his leather boots. “At least sort your dress out, would ya? You’re gonna hold us up.”

He had a point.

She fumbled, only just managing not to drop the blade in the dark, and began hacking away at the hem. 

“Sorry, Ed…” The cheap material began to rip nicely, and then stopped after a few millimetres. She was no better off. 

“Christ’s…sake…” Lizzy struggled, grunting. What the Hell was it made from? Her palms were sweating and she couldn’t get any purchase on the material, infuriatingly it kept slipping straight through her fingers. 

“Leave it.” Muldoon took pity on her, bending down.

“But-“

“Don’t read into this too much.” He told her as he took hold of her dress and tore it from mid-thigh to hip as easily as if it were made of paper.

“Steady on.” Lizzy’s heart about near stopped. 

“Just get in the Jeep.”

”Right!” Lizzy hurriedly tore off her heels and flung them in the back of the vehicle, wincing as the gravel dug into her soles. It was a welcome relief, far less painful than the shoes.

“Was that good for you, Liz?” Tom muttered as Muldoon slammed his door shut. “Quick work.”

”Enough, Kennedy.”

Lizzy smacked the back of his headrest in retaliation. “Oops.”

“Hey! Watch it!” Tom protectively reached upwards. 

”They even make cowboy hats large enough for your big big head?” She couldn’t resist giving him back just as hard. “Or is that a custom?”

”Stetson. Stetson. How many times?” Tom clearly took serious offence. “It’s a goddamn stetson!”

***

They were following the raptor on her journey across the island, Arnold giving directions over the comm link, trying to stay parallel to her trail using the roads. They’d been driving for a while, but were drawing ever closer as the animal tired. 

The air was getting heavier, no stars to be seen that night, obscured by the black thunderclouds closing in on Isla Nublar. 

Lizzy was fully invested in the raptor hunt, keeping an eye on the road ahead from the safety of the Jeep, but her mind was unhelpfully wandering to other matters.

Against what Muldoon had warned her about, she was reading into the dress-ripping situation, heavily.

She couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

Her longing wasn’t helped by the man in question shooting her glances in the rearview mirror now and again. Like he knew exactly what was rumbling around in her head. 

“Bring your glasses?” Muldoon finally spoke.

”I refer you to my earlier answer, when you asked about my radio.” Lizzy reminded him. “If you can’t see it, then I don’t have it.”

“Just as well, I only brought two guns.”

“Boys hunting trip, then.”

In fact, looking at the pair of them in the front seats, it could almost be father and son setting out into the woods for a game shoot.

Lizzy nearly opened her mouth to taunt Tom about it, but thought better. She wasn’t that much of a dick, to bring up what was likely a very sore subject for him. Hell, she was one to talk, she had enough family issues of her own.

“She’s stopped.” Arnold announced to the Jeep. “Fifty feet to the south-east.”

“Radio silence then, please. Over and out.” Muldoon confirmed, putting the car in neutral and turning the ignition off.  “Don’t suppose you have a plan?” Tom drawled. “Or are we free-styling this, as per usual?”

“She goes to a marker now.” Lizzy interjected. “I’ll have to get close, but let me try.”

”She does what?!” Lizzy heard Tom mutter incredulously.

“Get close?” Muldoon wasn’t sure if he’d heard her correctly. “I don’t bloody well think so. That’s Sarah Harding levels of stupidity!” Fair enough, if Armstrong could make the raptor behave when there was a fence separating her from danger, and the dinosaur from a possible meal. But her bold proposal confirmed what Muldoon had suspected for a while.

Unless she’d made unbelievable progress in a few short weeks, the ethologist had been coming to study the raptor without him.

“Just-“

“I’m not having you do that.” He thought of the grisly photograph he’d seen of the Ruso woman’s mangled fingers. And the animal was much, much bigger now.

”Uh, guys-“ Tom tried to get their attention.  “It’ll work!” Lizzy persisted.

“Still no, Ar-“

”Guys!” 

“What?!” Muldoon and Lizzy replied at the same time. 

”There.” Tom pointed in a whisper-yell. “Shit, she’s right there.”

Lizzy squinted, then sure enough, she saw the eyes. 

All three of them got out of the vehicle, Lizzy silently passing the men the tranquilliser guns that had been propped up beside her on the back seat. 

The ethologist couldn’t help herself, she was drawn in. She edged closer, marvelling at the way the dinosaur just disappeared amongst the vegetation. Seeing her without an electric fence in the way or other obstacles in the way, she was stunning. The ideal predator.  As Lizzy watched, the raptor’s nostrils flared and she snorted sharply, catching a scent on the wind.

Her head jerked around, with a few irritable snaps of her jaws. Her third eyelid slipped across and then back again in a white film. Then the raptor fixed her stare on Lizzy, and the young dinosaur’s entire body stiffened. 

All three humans heard a faint sound, it took Muldoon a moment to realise it was a low but constant snarl, coming from the raptor.  It invoked memories of Africa deep in his bones, it sounded remarkably similar to the noise that came from the undergrowth when a big cat decided it had an issue with his limbs being firmly attached to his body, and was going to do something to rectify that.

He had no idea why the raptor had suddenly taken issue with her handler, but a more pressing issue was that Armstrong had nothing to defend herself with.

“Get in the car, now.” Muldoon pushed the ethologist behind him, blocking Lizzy from the raptor’s penetrating gaze. “Slowly.”

Thankful for her bare feet, she obeyed. She slipped like a shadow, shifting her body in reverse behind the door, then back into her seat with barely a sound. Lizzy left the door ajar. Impossible to shut it quietly.

The raptor had hunkered down in the bushes. Waiting for the humans to move first. Daring them. 

Just try it. See what happens.

No such thing as a clear shot anymore.

“Damn, if she bolts, we’re back to square one.” Muldoon muttered only just loud enough for Lizzy to hear, the pair of reptilian eyes reflecting amber back at them from the darkness.

“She wants to get to me. You square up to her, draw her attention, then Tom takes the shot from the side.” Lizzy suggested. 

“I know what I’m doing.” 

“Broadside is a bigger target.” She pressed. “Front on, she’s too narrow. And Tom can’t cover you at close range, the Jeep’s in the way.”

“I won’t miss.” Muldoon’s words were clipped, he wasn’t happy with her plan.

“Listen, the three of us have zero experience stalking this animal.” Lizzy pointed out. “Even you. We haven’t seen her hunt in the wild, I don’t have a gun to cover you. So let’s cut down the error margins.”

“Suppose.” He reluctantly agreed. “Kennedy-“

”I got it. Flanking now. Keep her engaged.”

The Texan simply disappeared, his tall form melting into the darkness without a sound, and the two of them just had to assume he was carrying out the plan as agreed. 

The raptor stood like a statue, still rumbling viciously.  Then she fell silent, and that was somehow more chilling. The eye of the storm. Her head cocked to one side. 

Lizzy realised the velociraptor could likely hear Tom’s footsteps, even if they couldn’t. The wind caught her hair and she realised they were upwind, shit- He could be in real danger.

“Close your door.” Muldoon clearly had the same thought.

Lizzy blinked, unsure she’d heard right. ”It’ll make a noise.”

“That’s the idea.” He didn’t take his eyes off the raptor. “Draw the bugger out.”

“If you’re sure.” Her stomach flipped from the thought of the dinosaur rushing at him. 

”Do it.”

Okay, you asked for it.

Lizzy slammed her door shut and the raptor snarled at the disturbance, getting more agitated as she took a few steps forward, unsure now her attention was split two ways.

Muldoon snarled back. ”Come on. Face me, you devil.” 

Lizzy could practically see the crosshairs zeroing in on the side of her body, unobstructed by branches. 

Now, Tom.

The raptor’s shining eyes dropped low to the ground and she was hunkering down to charge-

Take the shot take the shot taketheshot-

Her breath quickened at the incoming attack, then the pop to her side as Tom’s gun went off made Lizzy jump. 

The dinosaur screamed and turned away into the undergrowth, racing off with barely a rustle. 

“Stay there, Armstrong.” Muldoon was already striding forward to check. 

”Honestly.”

”Do I need to lock the damn door?”

No she murmured grudgingly. 

There was a muffled thump from outside the bright pool of the Jeep headlights. The raptor was down.

Tom materialised out of the darkness, grinning  happily. “I got her behind the ear.”

”Good lad.” The park warden clapped him on the shoulder as they went to find where the raptor had fallen. “Risky shot.”

“My favourite kind.”

“Show-off.” Muldoon nudged the dinosaur with his boot, then finally lowered his gun, calling to Lizzy, still in the Jeep. “Suppose you want to give it a once over?”

“Yes!” Lizzy was practically hanging out of the window with desperation. 

“Get out here, then.”

The ethologist piled out of the car and ran over to examine her animal. Muldoon should have been ordering the raptor loaded into the back of the Jeep as soon as possible. But he knew what she wanted. Lizzy appreciated being given a even few moments with the most intriguing creature she’d ever had the pleasure of studying.

She checked the raptor‘s pulse with two fingers under the jaw, watching her sternum rise and fall, marvelling at the animal she admired from afar but was never allowed to touch. She squinted and ran her palm over the crest of the dinosaurs neck. Were those pinfeathers coming through?

“Oh, rad.” She murmured, tempted to pull one out to show Henry Wu over breakfast the next day, but she resisted. 

“We’ve discussed how clever these ones are.” Muldoon stated, standing over her. 

“Many times.” 

“Hm.” He nodded. ”I wouldn’t be surprised if it remembers all that.”

***

“That worked out rather nicely.” Lizzy was relieved. Situation contained.

“Could have gone worse.” Muldoon agreed, pausing. “But we need to have a word, about you coming to visit it without me.”

”Oh, someone’s in trouble…” Tom whispered gleefully.

Lizzy looked extremely guilty, but didn’t have an answer. At least, not a convincing one. 

“I should have known.” Muldoon continued, trying to sound more annoyed than he felt. At this point, he wasn’t even fazed anymore. “Always forging ahead.”

“Sorry, I just-“ Lizzy ducked her head, knowing there was no point. “-I really want to give her the best chance possible. I truly believe she can be managed.”

”Well, that’s alright then.” The sarcasm was laid on thick.

”The breakout wasn’t her fault.”

“Not this time.” It was the same story with every zoo in the world, and there were always repeat offenders. The odd animal that just seemed naturally disposed to break everything. “That won’t be the last.”

Silence hung heavy in the cab of the Jeep.

“You’ve been training the raptor?” Tom asked dubiously. Was Lizzy imagining it or did he sound almost impressed?

She groaned out loud. She knew she couldn’t exactly count on the Lone Ranger to be discrete.

“I suppose it’s not the best-kept secret ever.” She grudgingly admitted. “But, yes, we-…well, I have.” 

Tom started roaring with laughter. “You got a death wish, lady?! That’s insane!”

“Tell me about it.” Muldoon agreed. 

“You let her do this shit?” Tom incredulously asked.

”She does what she bloody well pleases.”

”He doesn’t let me do anything!” Lizzy rolled her eyes. “You don’t own me, Muldoon.”

He glanced back at her again in the mirror. This time Lizzy was ready for him, she was chewing on her knuckle as she stared out of the window, and let slip a full-on grin.

And whose fault is that? 

She could see the smile in his eyes, even in the letterbox sized rectangle of glass. 

Tom was oblivious.

“I’ve heard some crazy stories on this island, but man…you gotta show me that! Sit, stay, lie down!” He started guffawing again. 

“Alright, it’s not that funny.” Lizzy said moodily, quickly tiring of being laughed at. 

“Play- play dead-“ Tom abruptly stopped laughing and sat up straight. “Oh my God, is that what she’s doing right now?”

He hurriedly turned around in his seat to check the raptor was still sound asleep in the back.  

”I like to keep her brain busy, she’s all by herself.” Lizzy explained. “It’s gonna pay off someday…though apparently not today-“

“We are not doing a test run when it’s already up here with stress.” Muldoon tapped the roof of the Jeep. “If you’re going to do that, get your affairs in order first.”

“She’s always stressed, what difference does it make?” Lizzy countered. “Being free range for an hour probably did her a world of good.”

Muldoon scoffed. “Well, I’m certainly glad you’re just as concerned about my stress levels.”

***

“I’m going to walk the fence. Check for damage.” Muldoon nodded at the dinosaur in the back of the Jeep. “You two deal with that.” “Hurry up and help me, Liz.” Tom was already sliding the raptor forward. “Before she wakes up for real.”

“Jesus, she’s big now.” Lizzy’s voice was strained as she lifted. “And solid.”

“Come on then, Miss Raptor Expert.” Tom huffed as they carried the dinosaur with awkward, shuffling steps. “She could have attacked us at any point, why didn’t she? She rushed me, I’da been screwed.”

”She knew she was outnumbered.” Lizzy said simply. “She didn’t have back-up.”

“They ain’t stupid, then?”

“Not at all.” She grunted, adjusting her grip. 

”Which begs the question-“ Tom  “What happens when she gets the friends they’re so desperately trying to breed?”

Lizzy fell silent.  “Better hope these fences are up to spec, that’s all I’m gonna say.” Tom muttered under his breath. 

The gate was still wide open. It was unsettling, difficult not to imagine an animal charging out of the darkness and nailing them both where they stood, though the only occupant of the paddock was unconscious right in front of their eyes.

“Hey, Liz. She’s got into something while she was out.” Tom was staring at the raptor’s jaws. “Look.”

”It’s fresh.” Lizzy frowned, her upper lip curling. “Really fresh.” 

The blood hadn’t yet clotted. The odd fleck of bright red dripped off and spattered on the ground, leaving a gory trail as they moved the dinosaur back into her enclosure. 

”Probably just a rat. Won’t need feeding tomorrow, even with the extra running around.”

”Yes, she will.” Lizzy pointed out something that never ceased to bother her. “Tom, she’s always hungry.”

”Growing still, ain’t she?” He seemed nonplussed. “No big deal.”

”It’s more than that. I know this animal. She would eat until she burst. And then look for more. She’s constantly hunting, it’s like a compulsion.”

”You think they ever starved her, as punishment?” He suggested. “That’s why she’s obsessed with food?” 

The thought honestly hadn’t occurred to Lizzy before. “That’s horrible.”

”They do things differently over on Sorna, don’t they?”

Lizzy recalled what Muldoon had told her. The production line. The mortality rate. Thousands of dead. InGen’s legacy built on the blood of infant creatures. 

“So I’ve heard.” Lizzy felt fiercely protective towards the raptor. Defensive in the same way that Tom had jumped in when she herself was threatened earlier that evening. 

Nobody messes with her but me.

It’s measured in rounds. 

“Shit, I can see her eyes moving.” Tom complained. Sure enough, the raptor was letting out faint croaks as she slowly woke. ”Hurry up, dickmunch.”

”Huh, that’s a new one.” Lizzy grunted. 

Muldoon had reappeared by then.

“Double and triple check that gate, both of you. Then check it again.”

Tom ironically saluted, rattling the gate hard once he and Lizzy were satisfied it was firmly closed. 

“Hop on.” Tom turned around, offering her a piggyback to the Jeep. “Mud’s pretty deep. At least, you’d hope it was mud.”

“What a gentleman.” She hadn’t minded until then, carrying on stoically with no shoes, but her feet were starting to get cold.

”I do have my moments.”

Lizzy winced as she heard the stitching in the dress creak and pop as she clambered on, despite taking a few moments to roll it up over her thighs. She wondered how long she had before it gave up entirely. 

“Shit, no-“ Tom realised his stetson was in the process of toppling off, headed straight for the sludge under his feet. 

Lizzy deftly caught it before it tumbled further downwards and propped it atop her own head.

”Thanks, Liz.” Tom muttered. “Mom got me that hat.”

”Stetson.”

She heard him rumble in humour against her stomach. “Yeah, right, stetson.”

When they got back to the Jeep the park warden seemed to be in a remarkably upbeat mood. Lizzy reminded herself he considered going out and finding things in the dark to be a good time. She knew from her own experience.

“Am I dropping you two off back at the party?” 

“Please, no.” Lizzy couldn’t find her heels in the pool of darkness that was the Jeep bed. She gave up and resigned herself to staying barefoot. “I’m done. Take us home.”

“Don’t you want to give Regis an aneurysm? I’d say this is an improvement.” Muldoon smirked at the state she was in.

Lizzy could imagine what she looked like, covered in mud, make-up smudged. Hair beyond saving. 

“Enough leg for you?” She wasn’t in a terrible mood herself.

”Too much for me, in every single sense.” Tom groaned. “I already regret those oysters but I don’t think it’s them making me feel green. Gimme my stetson back.”

“No, I like it.” Lizzy ducked out of his reach.

“Then get your own. You’re gonna bend mine all out of shape with your stupid big hair.” Muldoon just shook his head, knowing it was pointless to intervene, and reached for his radio.

“Baker, we’re done, over.”

“Great job, guys.” Lizzy picked up that Kathy didn’t sound as relieved as she should have been. “Turning in.” 

“Uh, Muldoon? We do have another problem, over.”

”What now?” He turned to Lizzy and Tom in disbelief. “I’m knackered.”

“Nobody can find Rico.” Kathy replied. “He’s gone.”

***

“What did you say to him?!” Lizzy was furious, she demanded to know as she stormed through the control room door at Muldoon’s heels. “Tell me!”

“I told him to stay out of the way.” He replied calmly. “Esteves, come in-”

Lizzy snatched the radio straight from his hand, taking over the transmission.

”Rico, it’s me. Please let us know you’re okay. I’ll come find you, if…if you want me to.”

”Over.” Muldoon reminded her. 

”…over.” She glared up at him. 

The radio crackled in response. “Shhhh!” Lizzy gasped in relief. “Guys, listen up! Rico, is that you?”

The overhead speaker was giving a constant weather report in light of the storm, it sounded like the shipping forecast, Spanish version. 

“Rico?” Lizzy strained to hear before swinging around to the rest of the room in anger. “Jesus Christ, somebody turn that thing off!”

Isaac dealt with the overhead while everyone waited, collectively holding their breath.  Only barely audible in the silence, the garbled words ”-izzy…help-“ finally came through. 

Then nothing but static. 

“Rico? Rico! Shit!”

”Folks-“ Arnold looked up from the security monitors, his face ashen. “Someone should call for Harding. I think I’ve found him.”

”Ray?” Kathy began to move around to try and see what had spooked him so badly. 

”Nuh-uh, Kit.” The engineer hurriedly covered the screen with his hands. “Trust me honey, don’t look.”

Lizzy turned, searching for Muldoon in the crowd. “We’ve gotta-“

The park warden nodded at her, before turning to Arnold. 

”Where?”

***

They found him quickly.

Gerry Harding took one look at Rico and demanded the helicopter pilot make ready to fly to the mainland. The investors, and Hammond, wouldn’t be leaving soon, anyway. The weather conditions were declining by the minute.

The rain was thrashing down, it looked like the pilot might be navigating through a storm, but there was no other choice.

Lizzy had ridden in the back of the Jeep to the site of the accident with Harding, tight-lipped and silent, clutching his equipment bag to his chest. Muldoon was driving right on the edge of reason, road conditions worsening by the second.

The manhunt began, following Arnold’s garbled directions, and she had been the one to find Rico, slumped face down, unmoving against a tree-trunk. He’s dead. 

That was her first thought. Her breath had hitched, the rest of the world falling away. 

No.

She swallowed down the bile pooling in her mouth and forced herself to move closer. She nearly cried in relief when she saw he was breathing shallowly, still clinging to life. 

Then she and Harding had turned him over carefully, and the veterinarian had sworn loudly, rocking back on his heels in disbelief and denial when he saw what he was up against. 

Lizzy felt like she was detached, watching events unfolding from outside her body. The state of Rico’s front, more outside than in, made her wish he was already dead, that she had never found him. A small, irrational part of her brain wished she had covered him over with a branch and left him, as if he were sleeping.

Anything would have been better than the impossible task ahead of them.

What’s that noise?

Jesus, it’s coming from him…

Sucking chest wound-

It’s flail chest, shit-

Looks like a collapsed lung too-

Internal bleeding-

Where’s the fucking chopper?!

Lizzy reached down, searching for his hands to hold-

His hands.

God, his hands. They’d been sliced to the bone, flesh ragged and chewed at the fingertips. She knew these wounds, she’d seen them before. He’d been slashed at, then grabbed and shaken as he’d tried to keep his arms up to defend himself. 

Lizzy glanced up at Muldoon, he caught her eye as he urgently spoke to someone on a second radio channel.

He had considerably more experience with animal attacks, he would know better than her if the kid could possibly make it out alive.

Muldoon paused talking, and gave a her small shake of his head.

Lizzy’s insides froze solid.

“Gerry-“ She’d started sobbing and panting in desperation.

”Pick a God and start praying, Liz.” The veterinarian interrupted grimly. “Because I can’t do this alone.”

“What do you ne-“

”An operating theatre. This is too big a job for out in the field.” Harding spoke quickly. “Talk to him, keep him awake. Do not let him fall back asleep.”

“Okay.” Lizzy replied shakily.

“There’s a good girl.” “Stretcher! Now!” Kathy was yelling orders. She sounded so far away. “Isaac, help guide the chopper down!”

“Mama, mama…” Rico moaned, reaching out for Lizzy’s face, leaving a smear of fresh blood and foamy raptor saliva on her chin. She nearly retched at the rotten stench, directly under her nose.

“Si, si, niño. Esta bien.” Lizzy regained her wits and reassured him in her weak Spanish, trying to find a part of his arms she could gently rub that wasn’t cut and bloodied. She wished she could hold his hands, she so badly wanted to.

Lizzy did her to best to comfort her friend, though she was trembling from a mixture of cold and shock, having to bury her face in her elbow to stop herself heaving from the stench on him. He smelled of death, of rotting flesh. “Cariño, it’s okay, it’s okay….”

Her eyes burned, tears mixing with the rainwater battering the entire team into the ground. The hot earth was turning into a swamp all around them.

“Ready, kid? This is gonna really hurt him.” Harding warned her. “We can’t wait for the pain meds to kick in.”

”More than he’s already hurting?”

”Good point.” The vet agreed as he took a deep breath and continued.

Lizzy had done her fair share of first responding, but didn’t expect Rico to suddenly shoot upright from the pain, so fast he nearly headbutted her, his eyes flying open like a reanimated corpse, before he groaned in agony and flopped back limply on the stretcher.

She looked to Harding for guidance, whose only instruction through gritted teeth was hold him down.

“Shit-“ She whimpered.

“What do we got- woah!” Ed Regis exclaimed, coming to a standstill at the sight of the youngest animal handler torn to shreds. “Jesus, what happened?”

”Get him out of here!” Lizzy commanded without tearing her eyes away from Rico. She wanted to protect him, shield him from Ed’s prying eyes. 

She knew now, whose fault this was. And it wasn’t the injured boy lying prone beneath her. Regis made it happen.

“Mama!” Rico screeched, beginning to thrash his limbs where he lay. The colour had rapidly leached from his tanned face, now he was grey and sallow. A disgusting mix of snot, blood and saliva was bubbling up with every laboured breath he took.

”I’m here, I’m here!” Lizzy cried frantically, worried she was hurting him more, regretting she hadn’t tried harder to learn his native Portuguese while she had the chance so she could comfort him better.  

Harding was still working as quickly as he could to stabilise the boy. The veterinarian looked harrowed, like he was barely holding back the flood himself as they manoeuvred Rico onto the stretcher.

Lizzy moaned in fear, repeating the same words like a mantra. “…gonna be okay, gonna be okay…I’ll take you to Africa, Rico, I promise, just hang on…”

His eyes were darting around under the lids, like he was lost in a nightmare. His lips were moving. The same words, over and over. She leaned in closer, barely able to hear him over the noise of the rain.

“Velo-ci-raptor…lo-sa-raptor….lo-sa-raptor...”

“Shit, we gotta get him to stop saying that.” Regis had crept closer and was shaking his head, talking partly to himself. “Say it was a construction accident, maybe a backhoe. Yeah, that’ll work…”

“Shut the Hell up, Ed!” Kathy, normally polite even under pressure, was on her last nerve, grappling with the stretcher wobbling dangerously over her shoulder. “Make yourself useful!”

”There’s nothing more I can do.” Harding admitted defeat, slumping backwards. “I don’t have the kit. He needs a doctor.”

”Aren’t you going with him?” It was more of a request than anything. Lizzy hated the thought of Rico abandoned in the cold metal shell of the make-do air ambulance by those who knew him best. 

The veterinarian looked through her, without really seeing her, helpless. “Honestly, it won’t make much difference now.”

Lizzy decided in a split second. “Then I’m going with him.”

”But Lizzy, you’re scared of flying-“ Kathy tried to reason, turning to Muldoon. “Stop her!”

Aviophobia forgotten, Lizzy was about to follow her wounded colleague into the helicopter when Regis laid a hand on her arm. She recoiled at his touch.

“I’ll take it from here, Liz.”

“He wants his mother, it’s the least I can do!” She snapped. “I’m going with him.”

“Not looking like that, you’re not. That’s gonna raise some eyebrows.” He cast a scornful eye over her ruined dress.

“Ed-“ Lizzy set her jaw and scowled at him.

“Liz-“ He mocked her. “-it’s my job to handle any dealings with the mainland. They’re gonna want to know how this happened-“

“And you’re going to lie!” She lost her temper and screamed at him.

“I have to!” Regis reached breaking point, roaring back. “You can’t lie for shit, Armstrong, so stay here!”

“There’s gonna be two casualties in a minute if you don’t let me on that damn chopper-“

“Are you threatening me right now, seriously?!” Regis looked past her to the crew standing on the ground, searching for someone to back him up. “Robert, call off your damn dog!”

“Fuck you, Ed.” Lizzy said with as much venom as she could muster.

Rico cried out weakly from his position on the stretcher.  ”Lizzy get back here, please!” It was Kathy alone who was begging for her to come back. 

“You don’t wanna do this.” Regis reiterated, and then the line that really got to her. “Think of him. You’re wasting precious time.”

Lizzy was still firmly grasping the safety rail of the helicopter. She and Regis, locked in a standoff, glaring at each other as the pilot yelled angrily while the blades sped up again.

For a second Regis believed she might launch herself into the body of the chopper anyway, weight limit be damned. 

With a last, haunted look at wounded Rico lying prone and bloody, Lizzy backed off, stumbling away from the helicopter.

Regis slipped on a pair of headphones and spoke into the mouthpiece to the pilot. “We’re set, let’s roll!”

Seconds later, they were already clear of the tree-line.

Lizzy stomped back to the rest of her colleagues, soaked to the skin, hair slicked down flat against her scalp, and got into Muldoon’s Jeep without a word. 

She sat, shivering and silent for an untold amount of time, fogging the windows up from how drenched she was while the rest of her team regrouped. The driver’s door clicked open, startling her. 

“Here, you’ll catch your bloody death.” Muldoon passed her a blanket, pressing it into her hands before she had even registered it was him. 

“T-thank y-you.” Lizzy’s teeth chattered, her knees knocking together as she took it from him, barely managing to cover herself. Still barefoot, her feet up to her mid-calves were caked in mud an inch thick.

“I’m s-so sorry, I’ve m-made a mess of your c-car.” Lizzy smiled maniacally from frayed nerves, focusing on something trivial to mask the pain.

”Wants hosing down, anyway.” Muldoon brushed her concerns off. “As do you.”

The other door clicked and Kathy slid into the back beside Lizzy, reaching over and tucking the blanket in where she hadn’t managed. 

”I s-should be in that h-heli-he-h-“ She couldn’t manage. “D-Dammit. Up t-there.” Lizzy could barely hear her own voice over the air-con blasting. 

“Lizzy, honey, he didn’t know who you were anymore-“ Kathy gently tried to reassure her. 

”T-That’s not the damn p-point.” Lizzy nearly yelled, then checked herself. “It m-matters to me.”

Kathy didn’t know what else to say that would help, she seemed to be only making her friend more emotional. 

“You did everything you possibly could, Armstrong, short of performing surgery.” Muldoon spoke up quietly from the driver’s seat. “Above and beyond.”

He seemed to get it right. Lizzy sniffed loudly and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, quietening down. “I t-tried. I r-really tried to f-follow.”

“I know. But I don’t want you up in that.” he pointed at the helicopter, then gestured out at grey sheets of rain still hammering down. “They’ll be lucky if they make it to Bahía Anasco in this, never mind over the mountains.”

“Son-of-a-bitch.” Lizzy was numb, freezing cold aside from the hot tears now spilling unchecked down her cheeks. 

“How far is Bahía Anasco from San José?” Kathy asked quietly.

“About a hundred miles.” Muldoon answered her. “There’s a headwind.”

He was telling them in fewer words it may as well be a thousand miles. Rico was running out of time. The choice was between the fishing village with the small, understaffed clinic, or nothing.

“Gosh, this is awful.” Kathy breathed. “We need to call his folks, don’t we?”

“In the morning.” Muldoon replied sullenly. “After Regis gets back. I’ll see to it that he’s the one to tell them, since he wants to be so involved.”

“No.” Lizzy fiercely insisted. “I’ll do it. I owe him that much.”

Kathy nodded. “Hopefully we’ll have an update of how long he’s gonna be in the hospital. God, I hope he’s gonna be alright, he sounded so scared.”

Muldoon glanced at her sharply. His Team Leader could still be so naïve. To him it was obvious.

As they watched the helicopter ascend into the low clouds and finally disappear from view around the far side of the island, Muldoon wondered if Armstrong was prepared to inform the boy’s family their son had been killed. Or if, like Baker, she still believed he had a hope in Hell.

He already knew. There was no way the boy was coming back from the mainland. 

Not alive, at any rate.

***

Thanks for reading!

So. Rico is the poor kid who ended up vomiting blood on Bobbie Carter and Manuel’s table in Bahía Anasco. Aaaand we’re now in line with the events of the beginning of the Jurassic Park novel. Christ, I need a lie down.

Assume that from now on, no-one is safe.

[ivorydragoness44]

I just wanted to say that I'm really looking forward to that Robert Muldoon x Reader fic, whenever you're able to do it. (I really hope this doesn't come across as pushy, it's really not meant to)

😄 It didn't come off as pushy at all. Don't worry. But lol, I'm looking forward to it too. It's still in the planning stages since it's 5 fanfics in 1 pretty much. I would love to have it finished for a Follower Appreciation event that I want to do; around June/July.

Looking at it right now, I have some dialogue that I'm confident will work for Robert Muldoon 🦖

Muldoon leaving in the morning for an early shift

Reader pretty much ambushing him in the Visitors Center 😆 (I can't wait to put the little details into full sentences)

Going to have lunch together (I wanna write the details of how the restaurant looks, dino decor 😍)

And 5. will be left as surprises. I can't wait to write all of this cuteness.

[lizisshortforlizard]

Living Dangerously - Chapter 28

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster? A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs. But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: few mentions of the ol alcoholism

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @ocappreciation @wordspin-shares @howlingmadlady @arrthurpendragon @themaradwrites @starryeyes2000 @kmc1989 (please lmk if you would like informed of my sporadic updates)

Read on Ao3

Chapter 27 | Chapter 29

Since You Been Gone - Rainbow

Several weeks later

Although the island would be virtually uninhabited over Christmas, InGen had shipped in an impressive Douglas Fir that was already shrivelling up and disintegrating in the tropical heat. It was dropping enough needles to make Marìa implore the Almighty for help every time she swept the floor, which was now a daily task. Someone had used the cherry picker to fling tinsel over the model skeletons in the atrium of the visitor centre. The Alamosaurus had a shiny blue party hat perched jauntily on top of its skull.

About as festive as you could wish for in a near-Equatorial country.  Muldoon wanted to meet with Lizzy beneath the skeletons before he began the long journey back to Kenya.

“I’ve done the best I can with staffing, but there will be two days at Christmas and again at New Year when you’re by yourself. I’ll be back on the third.” 

Lizzy nodded solemnly.

“You do not go out in the park by yourself on those four days you’re alone, do you understand me?”

”O-kay?”

”I don’t care what you see on those video monitors in the control room. I don’t care what alarms go off. It’s not your problem to fix. You make a note of it and tell someone later, but whatever happens you stay indoors.”

”Richardson said-“ She started.

“I don’t care. You do what I say.” He fixed her with an icy blue stare. “Screw Richardson and his half-baked ideas.”

”No, thanks.” She wrinkled her nose.

Muldoon didn’t smile. “Armstrong, are we clear?”

Lizzy sighed. “Yes, we are perfectly clear.”

He remained unconvinced. “The weather looks alright too, no storms forecast-“

”Seriously! I’ll be fine!” She reassured. “Go home, see the kid. Don’t worry about me.”

Satisfied his point had been made, Muldoon became apologetic. ”Sorry about all this.” 

Among the offers of come back to Oz, come back to Baton Rouge, come back to Lisbon, there would have been the offer of Kenya too, and not just out of politeness.

“You know I hate flying, it makes me feel very green. I’m the logical choice, anyway. No ties. No commitments.” She wiggled her fingers, conscious for the first time in a while that the weight of her engagement ring was no longer there. 

If it had to be anyone, it may as well be me.

Everyone else had parents, kids, significant others, siblings. Jeff was back in Newcastle for the festive period, with his own blood relatives. 

Lizzy had nobody.

“You can give me a bell me if you need to. Don’t care if its the middle of the night.” The park warden handed her a piece of paper with a Kenyan dialling code on it. “Doesn’t have to be work-related, either.”

Lizzy cleared her throat, unsure what he meant. “Got it. Thanks.”

”One last thing.” He reminded her. “Do not go near that raptor.”

“Aw, but I was planning to take her on a day trip to climb Sibo!”

”Not funny. If you remember one thing from this conversation, let that be it. No raptor.”

Kathy’s silhouette appeared in the double-doorway, dragging her chunky duffel bag, the contents threatening to burst forth from the zips all over the marble tiles. It looked like it weighed more than she did. 

“Travelling light, are we?” Muldoon looked her up and down. 

She waved him away, pushing her glasses back up her nose. “Hey, Minnesota is cold. You really think I’m walking over a snowy runway in my flip-flops?”

The park warden was still fixated on her luggage. He pointed to it with his boot. ”You’re going to make me carry that to the airport, aren’t you?” 

”No, no way!” Kathy made a show of exclaiming, before quietly muttering out of the side of her mouth to Lizzy. “I absolutely am.”

“Keep commenting on how heavy it is, how small you are, until he feels bad.” The ethologist suggested, but she knew her deceptively strong friend was able to lift and carry two straw bales at once.

“Oh, I plan to.” Kathy abandoned the bag on the floor and pulled her in for a hug. “Next year, I don’t care how far apart we are, you are coming for Christmas with my family. There‘s always gonna be a place set for you at our house.”

Lizzy managed to blurt out her thanks awkwardly. 

Promised I wouldn’t cry. Jeez.

“And this year-“ Kathy continued. “-if you feel ill at all then you just up and leave the island, okay? It’s not worth it. Call the mainland at Puntarenas…or my mom. I’ve set her as speed-dial two at Ray’s desk.”

“Nice surprise for him next time he tries to call Palo Alto and gets Momma Baker instead.” Lizzy grinned at her friend’s ranking system of who to contact in an emergency. “Just think of me when you’re raising a toast, okay?”

”I will not be cheersing anything this year-” Kathy denied. “-unless it’s with a juice box.”

Lizzy scoffed. “Like he’d know.”

”He’d know.” She insisted, sweeping her braids over one shoulder. “Muldoon said I could if I wanted, but we made a pact. The pact holds firm even if we’re not in the same place anymore.”

The Team Leader was in her mid-twenties, and fond of a beer with the guys, especially on Friday evenings after work. But she had decided to lead by example. 

“How’s it going? You helping him…stop?” Lizzy dared to ask. She’d been avoiding finding out for the past few weeks, in case the answer wasn’t what she wanted to hear. 

“Really good. You’ll be pleased to know he remains firmly on the wagon.”  Despite Kathy’s insistence he didn’t have to go all or nothing straight away, Muldoon had quit the booze cold turkey. The following weeks the island’s coffee usage had increased dramatically. He’d been shorter than usual with almost everyone. Kathy had taken the worst of it more than once, like a trooper. But so far, so sober. 

“That is really good.” Lizzy’s eyes darted past Kathy to see the man in question picking up and hoisting her friend’s ridiculously overpacked luggage over his shoulder without changing expression, as if it were nothing. 

“Yup. Really good.” She caught herself biting her lip. 

Tom swaggered in, minus any bags of his own. “Hey, I thought we already had the Christmas party? What’s with the gathering?”

“And I thought you were leaving on today’s ferry too? Where’s your stuff?” Lizzy wondered aloud. 

“Nah. Tomorrow.” Then louder, for Muldoon’s benefit. “Gotta reduce the amount of time this one has to single-handedly destroy the island. Right, boss?” “Christ. Don’t remind me.”

Tom’s gaze rested on Kathy, who looked very uncomfortable at the sudden attention. 

”I’m actually gonna miss you, four-eyes. Who’d have seen that one coming?” 

”Uh-huh…”

“Well-“ He ironically saluted before turning to leave. “Until next year, loser.”

“Now or never.” Lizzy elbowed her friend in the ribs. “I’m not doing it for you.”

Kathy gave her the dirtiest look possible before jogging after Tom. 

“Baker, we have to get going-“ Muldoon sounded exasperated, still holding her bag.

“Give her a minute.” Lizzy told him. “It’s important.”

”Kennedy of all people, is missing-her-flight levels of important? That’s new…”

”Wait, Tom!” Kathy called as she ran. 

The Texan turned and stared at her hurrying closer, confused.

”I, um-…I made you this.” She pulled a parcel out of her shoulder bag, it too was straining at the seams. “But I dunno how cold it gets in Texas, it’s probably useless…You know what, never mind, you don’t have to take it. It’s stupid.”

She hugged the gift close to her chest, wishing she could rewind the last thirty seconds. Why had Lizzy encouraged her to do this?! It was so dumb. He clearly still hated her. 

“You give that here, missy. I’ll be the judge of whether it’s stupid or not.” Tom held out his hands. ”Can I open it now?”

”Uhm…okay. Why wait, I guess?” She chuckled nervously then hiccuped. 

Tom tore the paper, making a performance out of doing it as slowly as possible while Kathy carefully awaited his reaction.

Muldoon huffed and looked at his watch. 

”Woah…is that-”

She’d knitted him a slightly lumpy scarf in the colours of the Texas state flag. Everyone had received a woollen item from Kathy as a gift, in the colours of their place of origin. 

”Dude, you made this? For me?” Tom couldn’t hold back a massive grin, and immediately threw the paper aside and tied the scarf in a loose knot around his neck. “Shit, that’s sick, man! It’s soft as all Hell! Sorry, Heck. Soft as Heck.”

Kathy let out a sigh of relief. She’d been half-expecting to be ripped to shreds for her handmade gift. 

“But I don’t have anything for you, Kit…”

”It’s okay.” She knew he’d been saving up to really spoil his little sister this year. Lizzy had told her as much. “I wasn’t expecting anything in return. But I made them for everyone else, and you actually work really hard, and-“

Next thing she knew, her face was pressed close to his denim jacket as he scooped her up in a bear hug.  

She couldn’t recall having physical contact with Tom before, doing her best to stay away from him unless she had no choice. As far as she knew, he didn’t do hugs. Not with anyone.

Kathy tensed, stiff as a corpse until she heard him rumble against the side of her head ”Thank you, darlin’.”

He sounded so genuine, and she buried her face in the fabric of his jacket, squeezing her eyes tight shut to hide how they were welling up. 

She relaxed into the hug. ”Happy Christmas, Tom.”

***

The two weeks that followed turned out to be uneventful, if very lonely, for Lizzy. On the big day itself she’d opened a few small gifts her friends had left for her, including a brand new knitted bobble hat. In the colours of Namibia, not Scotland. She had called Jeff in Newcastle at InGen’s expense, had a lengthy catch-up and a good laugh, then nuked some leftover macaroni cheese, the Christmas dinner of champions, before focusing on writing up her behavioural research she was in serious danger of falling behind with. Lizzy wondered if she’d ever get clearance from InGen to publish a paper on the behaviour of juvenile Velociraptor mongoliensis. Unlikely, but she had to write the damn thing first. 

She missed her elephants. 

Don’t go out into the park. She wasn’t an idiot, and Lizzy had to admit it was asking for trouble. If anything happened, nobody would find her for a very long time, that much was certain. God forbid she came to a sticky end because she fell and broke her ankle, or something equally stupid. 

But watching the dinosaurs on a video screen just wasn’t the same as being out there among them. Hearing the sauropods trumpet in the far distance was nothing like feeling the ground shake when they walked by. Seeing the dilophosaurs flare their crests near the river, smelling the Rex on the breeze and knowing in your gut she was nearby even if you couldn’t see her. You could just feel her. Lizzy missed the smallest things she’d started to take for granted in her job. 

She may not have her elephants, but she didn’t have her dinosaurs either. Neither did she have her new favourite, the little raptor who was her biggest challenge yet.  Lizzy wondered if there was a fellow lonely soul on Isla Sorna who had been given a similar task to her. If they had family they missed, or if they too had friends but were alone in the world.

Some local InGen employees came and went between Christmas and New Year, but she was soon left to her own devices for the second two-day stint of solitude.

It was far worse than the first time around. Lizzy thought constantly about using the Kenyan dialling code, or hitting speed dial two. But she always talked herself out of it. 

They don't need me bothering them. They see me every single day, they see their families hardly ever. God, give them some space. Stop being so bloody needy.

She kept trying to persuade herself of the passing of time, trying to think of things to do while she was effectively trapped indoors, all while debating if cabin fever was a legitimate medical condition and how long it normally took to develop. She wondered whether she could find Gerry Harding’s San Diego number and really piss Sarah off by calling him at home to ask. 

New Year's Eve, however, more than compensated for how tedious Lizzy's Christmas break had been. 

She was leaving the showers that night, minding her own business, and rounded the corner wrapped in her towel, humming, totally unprepared for who was waiting for her when she finally glanced up at close range through half-misted glasses.

“Shitting Heaven!” Lizzy shrieked, flattening herself against the wall in shock.

Muldoon was just there in the corridor, looking surprised, in the process of unlocking his door.

”You nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!” She accosted him when she recovered her wits, red-faced and angry now the fear had retreated. “Christ alive! Thanks for the warning!”

“Sorry, Armstrong.”

”Don’t give me Armstrong! Why the Hell didn’t you say anything?” She moaned, rubbing her forehead, heart still thumping with the force of a war cannon against her sternum. “You must have heard me coming!”

“Again, sorry.”

Lizzy’s eyes widened. She’d been enjoying singing loudly in the shower. Horribly out of tune, and she knew it. A one-woman rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. 

There was no way in Hell he wouldn’t have heard. She’d been performing the entirety of the song as a solo for the last five minutes.

The absurdity of the situation hit her, and she covered her mouth to stifle a nervous laugh. Now was not the time. She was still very much ticked off at him for ambushing her, and she wanted him to know.

“Why are you here?” Lizzy demanded, doing her best to regain control. The park warden was back a full four days before schedule. Not that she was counting down, or anything.

“Baker phoned me.” As if that was a perfectly reasonable explanation. 

“So?”

”She had a feeling. She was worried about you.”

”You came back because of a feeling? Someone else’s feeling?” It didn’t make sense to Lizzy at all. He didn't normally go in for superstitions, or anything of the sort. 

Muldoon recalled the previous night, and the fateful phonecall that led to cutting his trip home short. His daughter had answered and come to get him, tapping with her small hands covered by new wool mittens that she point-blank refused to take off, even when she was eating dinner, or sleeping.

“Baba, phone. Cat lady from…Min-ah-so-tah.” She’d pronounced carefully. 

Muldoon was then wide awake. Why in God’s name was Baker calling him at this ungodly hour? Who had died?

By the time he’d made it to the phone, she had been sobbing down the line, borderline hysterical. When he’d finally gotten some sense out of her, if you could call it sense, she told him she’d had the most terrifying nightmare. That the dinosaurs had all escaped and were roaming free, Lizzy was in danger, she was sure of it.

At first, he was sceptical. Just a dream, nothing to it.

Then she had uttered the magic word raptor, and Muldoon knew that made two of them that wouldn’t be going back to sleep anytime soon. 

What had he been thinking? What had InGen been playing at? Leaving Armstrong alone to man the island, all for the sake of someone keeping an eye on the place.

Were they really that paranoid that a rival would try and steal from them? With all the security systems they had in place? It was virtually impossible. 

Although he wouldn’t put it past the ethologist to send intruders packing, to be honest. Sub-par depth perception aside, she was still pretty handy with a shotgun. 

”Please.” Baker’s voice had steadied, suddenly clear and direct. “I need to know Lizzy’s okay. I can’t bear to call her, in case…But if you won’t do it either, I’m leaving for that island tonight-“

”I’ll phone her now. You do realise she’s probably fine?” Muldoon became aware he was trying to convince himself of that fact as much as he was Baker.

”And what will you do if she doesn’t pick up, hm? What will you do if she’s fine now, but you arrive back in a few days and something has happened?” Her voice rose in pitch. “Why did we leave her? On a dinosaur island?”

And then Muldoon did something very out of character. He hung up, waited a few minutes, and called Baker back to tell her Armstrong was fine, not to worry, have a Happy New Year. 

Then he quietly made his way to the airport in Nairobi. Only when he was on the first of several flights had it started to sink in, exactly what he was doing. What it all came down to.

He needed to see her. It’s for safety. This automation business is nonsense. Shouldn’t have left her. 

He reflected that his Team Leader and partner in sobriety wasn’t exactly making life easy for him. 

How it had taken every ounce of willpower he had not to answer Scotch, please when the heavily made-up air hostess had come around with the drinks trolley. 

And then came the worst, and most time-consuming part, finding someone on the Costa Rican mainland who fit the Venn diagram intersection of having a boat and being willing to sail to Isla Nublar at short notice.  Turned out not many of the locals fit both criteria. Not for cheap, anyway.

“Baker made a very strong case.”

”Right…” Lizzy was still baffled, and a little put out that the reason for him standing in front of her in her towel wasn't for anything other than safety. 

It was only because Kathy’d had another of her stupid dreams, that she was always convinced meant something more. Lizzy had lost track of the number of times she had reassured her that they were not. She wasn’t a prophet. She was just a worrier with an active imagination. 

After the ferry, Muldoon hadn’t stopped to drop off his backpack. He couldn’t find Armstrong at first, anywhere in the staff quarters. She wasn’t answering his calls to her radio, and for a second he had feared Baker was right. 

Maybe something had happened. 

Then he’d heard the God-awful “singing” coming from the women’s showers and it was the most beautiful sound Muldoon had ever heard because it meant Armstrong was alive and well.

Now, it wasn’t gratifying at all, it was just awkward, she was angry at him. And explaining he was back on Nublar ahead of schedule because of a dream, and not even his own, just sounded more and more absurd.

“Well…I’m okay. You can stop worrying.” Lizzy looked down at herself. “If I were dressed I would probably be okay-er.”

She became conscious Muldoon was looking past her, instead of at her, avoiding eye contact. As if he was nervous to look anywhere else.

She was still dripping all over the floor, hair in wet ringlets slicked to her forehead. 

By then, Lizzy just wanted to get back to her room and dry off. She smiled sweetly. ”Gonna make me walk past you like this, huh?”

“Er, no-“ He went back to opening his door, as he had been before she had rounded the corridor and nearly expired from fright. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Oh, thanks so much!” She replied sarcastically as he made himself scarce.

***

A couple of hours later, Muldoon reluctantly pushed open the door of the staff kitchen to a sight he never thought he’d witness: Armstrong standing over a stove, cooking.

“Hi!” She turned and waved at him.  Instead of her company-issued shorts and polo shirt that she usually lived in, she’d opted for jeans and a loose sweater. Her hair was still wet. She looked very different. Not in a bad way, either. 

“Sorry about earlier. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay. Ran into far more people wearing far less.” She brushed it off.

“Excuse me?”

”Joking!” She claimed hastily. “I was joking!”

So awkward.

Lizzy’s heart dropped.

Oh no, was this when she found out they only got on so well because they were both mad at the world? Because they liked complaining about the same things? Take that away and what did they have to talk about?

"Got your note."

"I can see, else you wouldn’t be here, would you?” She said bluntly. This was going nowhere. Lizzy couldn't take it. "Look, it’s fine. It’s honestly fine. I don’t care and you shouldn’t either. Thank you for coming back to check on me.”

She turned her attention away from the stove and cocked an eyebrow. “Though a phone call would have sufficed.”

”I realise that.”

“It’s a good thing.” She pointed the spoon at him. “You’re staying. I've been so bored without anyone around. Don't make me spend another evening talking to myself."

“Hm.” He agreed. “Can you even get a word in edgeways?"

"Nice to have an intelligent conversation around here, actually." Lizzy hid a smile. And we’re back.

“What’s that you’re making?”

“Stew?” She continued stirring. 

”Why does that sound like a question?”

“I think.”

”You…think?” He seemed to finally be  relaxing. “It either is or it isn't."

“I was making bolognese, but…something went wrong.” Lizzy explained, sounding deflated. She looked him dead in the eyes and admitted: “I actually haven’t cooked dinner in a very long time.”

"In that case, I’m pleased I went to so much trouble to get back here.”

”Give it a minute. It’s getting there.” Lizzy clamped the lid on the pot. Out of sight, out of might. If it burns, just call it Cajun. Gonna be great. So good. 

“Getting where, exactly?  Why are you going to all this bother anyway?”

“I thought-… you’ve had a really long journey?” 

“And you’re trying to finish me off in my weakened state, is that what you’re saying?” Muldoon deadpanned. “You want my job that badly?”

She threw her wooden spoon down on the worktop in a huff and folded her arms. “Please. I wouldn’t stoop to poisoning. Pitfall trap, maybe. Alright?”

The park warden peered over her shoulder at the wisps of black smoke starting to rise from the stove. “Armstrong, I think your-…whatever it is, is burning.”

“Completely intentional.” She wrinkled her nose. “I can manage.”

“Try it.” He dared her.

“It’s too hot-“

”Try it now.”

She caved, but couldn’t stop her face from screwing up like she’d just taken a hefty bite from a lemon. Lizzy knew there was no way it would be her best cooking effort, but it was bad. 

“Oh, Christ!”  She passed him the spoon, admitting defeat. “I give up. All yours.”

“Take a seat. I can salvage it.”

Quietly, from the battered cassette player in the corner Jimmy Page’s guitar riffs chugged along, Robert Plant wailing something about a flaming heart, every now and then the high notes swelling over the noise of the pots bubbling on the stove as they swapped places. Led Zeppelin IV. Lizzy had found a tape in Gennaro’s office while she was poking around. Didn’t know old Donald got the Led out, she’d thought. But imagining the lawyer with long hair and flared jeans, in the front row at Madison Square Garden was a thought that now frequently made her smile when she was bored.

“Ugh. Salvage.” She groaned, resting her head on a propped up arm. “That’s such an unfortunate word. I’m so sorry.” 

“S’alright. Like a challenge.” 

”I’m better at breakfast.” She defended herself. “I can do a decent fry-up.”

“And how does a man get you to sort out breakfast for them?”

She shrugged. “Be the one to wake me up in the morning.”

Muldoon almost dropped a knife but caught it before it could make a noise on the worktop. 

“I mean-“ Lizzy realised what she’d said without thinking. “Uhhh…”

He’d caught her succumbing to nostalgia, remembering grey dawns in New York, when Simon had offered to go out in the rain for bagels, and instead of leaving the apartment, she’d whacked some eggs on the stove. 

Looking back, there had been happy times. But perhaps it had only seemed happy because it was everything she’d never had before. 

Although she’d kill for a hot chocolate and a doughnut that always smelled better than it tasted from the cart they went looking for every winter in Times Square. That was one of their traditions.

Simon had been one of the people she'd considered calling over Christmas. He’d be spending a few days at his parent’s house upstate, no doubt. Same as always. But she’d ultimately decided no good could come from contacting him, even though she still knew the number off by heart. No scrap of paper or speed dial required.   It had ended for a reason. She had to remember that. Even though he’d never been brave enough to insult her attempts at cooking. 

Unlike some.

Her gaze fell on Muldoon again. 

”I’ll be conveniently absent then. State of it.” He grumbled. “Won’t be risking it even if we’re still alive tomorrow.”

”You’re so rude.”

“Could have tortured prisoners at Alcatraz with whatever that was.”

Lizzy cackled.

“Hey-…I‘m really glad you came back, you know?” She told him honestly. “My sense of humour isn’t wasted.”

Oh, who was she kidding? She’d missed him. Really missed him. 

“You didn’t phone.” It sounded accusatory when he said it. “Two weeks is a very long time to not hear from someone like you.”

I thought about it.

”I wanted to.” She answered quietly. 

I thought about you. 

Muldoon had an idea. 

Now he was back she could go out into the park again. They could both go out into the park, in fact. And with nobody else around, who would question them going out at night? 

Was it a daft thing to suggest? Probably. 

Armstrong had been distant the past few weeks before winter break. Giving herself space. Giving him space. 

But he had been trying. Succeeding so far thanks to Baker’s efforts. That girl really was something else, putting up with him in his worst moods.  And Armstrong was the one who’d asked him to spend time with her that evening. They could have quite easily existed without running into each other again for days. The place was big enough. But they were in this tiny kitchen together, her struggling to find enough space to set out plates and cutlery without bumping into him. 

The other staff would be arriving back in the next few days. 

Who knew when he’d have her all to himself again?

Didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous as Hell. It might not have been enough time for her to feel safe around him out in the jungle. She might still say no.

But it was worth a try. 

“Armstrong, would you-“

She dropped a bowl on the worktop with a clank at the critical moment. “Sorry, what?”

“Would you like to come for a drive with me later?”

“Why?” The frown lines appeared between her eyebrows. “Is something wrong, out in the park?”

“No-“

”I wrote everything up while you were gone. All the errors.”

”I know-“

”And I haven’t been near the baby raptor!” She added, a little too insistently.  “Armstrong-“. A touch sharply, to get her to stop talking so damn fast. Ask me properly. ”Lizzy. Would you like to see in the New Year with me? Somewhere more scenic?”

”Ohh…” Realisation dawned on her face, then a revolving door of emotions. Excitement, then uncertainty, then indecision. “If it’s a no, then-“

”I didn’t say no.” Lizzy interrupted. 

She wasn't sure if she was ready. Finding that bottle at the back of the staff lodge had knocked her sideways, upended her world. 

But she wanted to go with him, she wanted to so badly.

Really good. That was what Kathy had said. 

That was enough for her to smile and nod.

”Yes, please. I’d love that.”

***

Thanks for reading!

Is this going to count as a date? I think it’s going to count as a date! (Finally…) At the museum I used to work in the sauropod skeleton did indeed wear a party hat at Christmas. Also in Glasgow they put a traffic cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington’s statue on the regular…so it may or may not have been Lizzy.

[lizisshortforlizard]

Living Dangerously - Chapter 20

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster?

A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs.

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park Novel/Jurassic Park Film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: minor descriptions of surgery, bad language

Word Count: ~62.2k (21 Chapters) [incomplete]

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @howlingmadlady @arrthurpendragon @ocappreciation I never got around to posting this one at the time so you get 2 chapters today!

Read on Ao3

Chapter 19 | Chapter 21

St. Elmo’s Fire - John Parr

Muldoon was pleased. The experimental dilophosaur surgery was going ahead. Hammond had been convinced, eventually.

Not without a little blackmail from Armstrong, who he’d brought along to make his case. She’d played the part very convincingly, squinting hard through her glasses at Isla Nublar’s legal team sitting directly across from her.

Regis and Gennaro had started visibly trembling when she laid it on thick about suing InGen for damages, using all the right jargon to really make them sweat.

While she was doing what she did best, talking at great length and speed, Muldoon noticed Regis’ eyes darting everywhere around the room but at Armstrong. He didn’t dare look at her now. At least, not when he was there.

Good.

Now, they just had to capture a dilophosaur without getting too close. There was still no telling how far those animals could actually spit, and he didn’t have any staff willing to find out the hard way.

For certain, he’d need at least one other person who was a decent shot.

Too bad he wasn’t allowing Armstrong anywhere near that paddock.

Muldoon recalled when he’d broke the news she wouldn’t be getting revenge on the dinosaur who wronged her.

Armstrong had come crashing into his office, looking surprisingly cheerful after being in close quarters with Kennedy amongst the cleaning supplies.

“First of all-“ she started.

”You were acting like children.”

”He was! I-“

”Hurry up with the point you came here to make.”

“We’ve had a breakthrough.” Lizzy gently placed her hands down flat on the desk. “I found out why he’s been such a dick to me!” She sounded pleased with herself.

Muldoon just sighed, waiting for her to notice.

Lizzy corrected herself. “Right, sorry. Why he’s…a bit of a prat in general?” She was bouncing in the balls of her feet in excitement.

“Please calm down.”

“Can’t. We have an understanding now…” She trailed off, realising she was in danger.

She thought fast to keep to the bare minimum of detail. Outing Tom meant she would be outing herself too. And Lizzy just wasn’t ready to come clean with what a pathetic start in life she’d had before she started to fight back against the odds. Not to Kathy, not to anyone.

“His dad is awful. Really awful. He’s had it rough looking after the rest of his family.” She fumbled.

Muldoon just stared back at her for what felt like an age while Lizzy’s palms went clammy.

Shit shit shit. He’s figured me out.

“He told you that much?”

Lizzy nodded earnestly. Please move on.

“That’s a shame. But not really an excuse for how he treats you. Or Baker for that matter.”

Phew.

Too close.

“He needs help, without it looking like you’re trying. He’s close to Richardson, but-“ Lizzy screwed up her face “-Mike’s not a great person. And he wouldn’t listen to me anyway. So, I was thinking-“

Muldoon saw where this was headed. “No, I already have a child. Who I see far less often than my employees.”

Lizzy was exasperated. “Come on! Maybe some positive reinforcement could go a long way with him…”

“Positive reinforcement? You are an animal ethologist, not a psychologist.”

”Both ‘ologist’, aren’t they? Potato, tomato.”

”That’s not- never mind. Say what you mean.”

“I think you need to mentor him.”

Muldoon shook his head. “Honestly, Armstrong. That’s asking far too much.”

”It just might make life bearable for everyone. Please?”

“No.”

”You could let him tranq the dilo for Gerry?” Lizzy suggested confidently. “I’ve heard him bragging he’s a good shot. Maybe put that to the test?”

That wasn’t a terrible idea, come to think of it…

It was incredibly hard to say no outright.

Damn her, he couldn’t do it.

“I’ll think about it. I need to have a word with him anyway about exactly what happened when the dilophosaur attacked you.”

He had been putting it off so far. The prospect of having a chat with the lad alone made him distinctly uncomfortable.

”Oh, right, yeah-“ She adjusted her glasses. “Perfect.”

She was impossible. Who else would try so damn hard to help someone that had made their life Hell?

“While we’re on the subject, you aren’t helping fetch the animal in.”

“What?” She didn’t sound surprised, just disappointed.

“Until we get them all neutralised, you’re only allowed near one if it’s unconscious.” Muldoon shrugged. “You can take notes, write the surgery up as a report to give to Hammond. You’ll enjoy that.”

“Oh, will I now?”

“I know you will. You’d better.”

“Then you’ll talk to Tom for me?” Lizzy finished hopefully as she headed for the door. “Please?”

She just wasn’t going to let it go.

Muldoon nodded resignedly. ”I’ll talk to him.”

***

“Kennedy, a word.”

“I didn’t do it!” The Texan blurted out automatically as he turned around, then looked annoyed at himself. “I mean, uh-“

She really owes me for this one.

“When Armstrong was attacked by the dilophosaur…if I find out you got her back to Harding at anything less than the speed of light-“

“I had my foot to the floor boss, I swear it.” Kennedy insisted. “I couldn’t have gone any faster on that road without totalling the Jeep.”

“Rather admirable, considering the way you two behave?”

”She winds me up but, y’know…” Kennedy tried hard to say what he felt. He too, seemed painfully uncomfortable. “She gives it back. She gets so mad, her face goes all red. It’s…funny, I guess.”

“I thought it was more serious than that. You understand why I’m questioning the speed you drove at?”

“Dude, c’mon. I don’t actually want to hurt her, that’s messed up.” He muttered, clearly embarrassed. “But she’s way too bossy, and someone around here has to keep her on her toes.”

To even his own surprise, Muldoon chuckled. “I suppose that’s true enough.” The lad did have a point.

“Can I go now?”

“In a moment. One more thing.”

Damn Armstrong. Damn her and her big hopeful eyes, damn her to Hell, all her fault-

“Good work, acting so quickly.”

Kennedy looked startled. His mouth stopped its progress of curling up into a sneer and instead fell open. He grumbled quietly before turning on a dime and marching away.

”Thanks, boss.”

***

What is one supposed to do on their days off when living on an island, without a cinema, library or bowling alley? When none of your friends even have the same day off as you do?

Lizzy liked to observe. She’d sometimes tag along with her team anyway just for the Hell of it, or go to the beach with her notebook and camera.

She wasn’t the best at sketching in her coffee-stained book, but she liked it, to wind down. It was important to her, for all the good memories she’d eventually take away from the island.

And that day, observing was exactly what she was going to do. Observe a dinosaur being cut wide open.

Alone with Gerry Harding while everyone else played Whack-A-Dilo, scrubbing up for the surgery, a question she’d been dying to ask him was fizzing in the back of her brain. She felt like it would just explode out of her if she didn’t say it right that second.

“Gerry?” Lizzy knocked the faucet off with her elbow. “You’ve been divorced twice, now, right?”

The veterinarian hesitated, in the middle of tearing up great handfuls of cotton wool. “I’m not sure I like where this is going-“

“Serious question, do you regret getting married in the first place?“

Gerry answered instantly. “Not at all.”

“Huh.” Not the answer she was expecting, or hoping for.

“The only thing I regret is how badly it tore up Sarah, and Jess, both times it ended.” Harding looked the most pained she had ever seen him, even under the surgical mask she could tell it hurt still, years later. “Sarah wouldn’t speak to me for a long time.”

“I’m sorry.” She meant it, as much as she disliked her fellow ethologist. No kid deserved a fractured family.

“Why do you ask?”

”No reason.” She avoided looking at him.

“Hey!” Harding clicked his tongue and eyeballed her. “I need you sharp as a tack for this procedure. The first of its kind in the world. Whatever’s bothering you, get it off your chest before they turn up with the dinosaur. I mean it.”

”It’s nothing.”

Harding mock-gasped. “Let me guess. You got the hots for someone else! Is it me?”

“Oh, trust me, I’m just barely holding myself back from jumping your bones.” She shook her head. “No, I wish Simon would either move to Costa Rica or stop giving me a hard time about planning the wedding.”

Harding stared at her. ”Jesus. You don’t really want to get married, do you?”

“I just don’t think I’m ready yet. I’ve told him before. But I don’t think he’ll take postponing again very well.” Lizzy snorted. “He might actually break up with me this time.”

“Okay?”

”But if I have to go and pick out napkins and silverware, I might break up with him.”

She couldn’t think of anything more tedious and pointless. All that for one day’s use, for only a few hours? What a waste.

“This sounds very much-“ Harding snapped on a fresh pair of gloves. “-like you two need to sit down on the same continent and talk without worrying about the phone bill.”

“Urgh…”

”Instead of running off to yet another time zone. Or, maybe call it quits. If you’re already thinking about it, you probably need to just rip the Band-Aid off. Thank me later.” Harding was much more matter-of-fact than she would have preferred.

Lizzy started getting irate.

“He’s been in my life for ten years, Gerry! It feels like such a waste at this point, having to start over.”

“Yeah, so?”

“I hate waste.”

Harding had noticed, she always cleared her plate completely at dinner, even when she began to look a bit green. Always pushed back the washing of her uniform a day too long so it would last longer. Old habits died hard.

“Sure, if you call it quits you have to start from scratch at thirty-four, but would you rather that or another ten years of whatever you’re doing now?”

Ten more years of limbo? Where are we living? Who’s going to sacrifice their career for the other? ‘Liz, dawhl, when are you going to give my son a baby?’

“And getting married won’t fix something that’s already broken. Ha!” Harding rolled his eyes. “Took me two attempts to figure that one out!”

”I love him.” Lizzy insisted. “I still do.”

”But are you in love with him?” Harding pressed. “That’s the difference.”

“I…hm…” She didn’t have an answer for that one.

“Ah, ignore this old man. You do what you think is best.” Harding winked at her. “I may be a little biased since you’re still in the running to be wife number three. I’d have you, no questions asked.”

“Keep hoping, Gerry.” Lizzy joked, but she had an uneasy feeling clawing it’s way into her stomach, making her nauseous. His words were echoing around in her head, over and over.

…Am I still in love with him?

“Doubt you’d be by yourself for long anyway…” Harding muttered under his breath, not intending Lizzy to hear him.

“Yeah, right!” She called back. “Who’d want this?”

Christ, guess it’s true that if you lose your vision, your hearing improves Harding thought.

The vet shook his head, covering his slip-up quickly. “Doesn’t matter.” But he had to wonder. Armstrong was pulling his leg, she had to be. Couldn’t she see it?

“What do you-“ Lizzy was abruptly cut off by the radio on her belt crackling.

”Ready when you are, over.” Muldoon’s voice filled the small room.

A few seconds of silence. The vet and the ethologist waited, holding their breath.

Then Kathy’s voice. “She’s down and out. Great shot, Tom.”

Lizzy grinned to herself. So her advice had been taken.

Interesting.

Harding made a noise of approval and continued prepping.

”Oh, Lizzy- Remind me to chase Wu for the analysis on the saliva, can’t believe I even have to ask-“ The vet grumbled.

“Harding, so you know - Hammond’s en route, over.” Muldoon spoke up again.

The veterinarian swore loudly and set down his instrument tray with a clatter.

“And under no circumstances is that man allowed to scrub up! I do not want him in here peering over my shoulder.”

”Got it.” Lizzy nodded.

***

A peculiar sight indeed, Muldoon thought. The surgical drape covered the jaws and tucked-up head frill, with four scaly legs sticking straight up in the air at each corner of the operating table.

The animal handlers were all jostling for space outside at the tiny window, eager to get a better look at the live dissection.

Harding was poking around inside the creature with Kennedy passing him instruments and Armstrong keeping track of his progress in her notebook.

Muldoon could tell her tongue was sticking out with concentration under the mask as she sketched and annotated while Harding dictated his thoughts aloud to her.

She had been correct. Kennedy was an excellent shot, cool as ice when he calmly lined up his target. Even better than she was, though Muldoon had no intention of telling Armstrong that.

As Harding sliced through yet more layers of skin and muscle, Muldoon thought back to her own shooting practice with him, and how her stumble off the Jeep hadn’t been the end of the awkwardness.

***

Lizzy was still trying and failing to get her bearings on the bumpy trip back to base. It wasn’t her swollen tongue that made it difficult for her to talk. Her brain still felt a bit scrambled and she didn’t understand why.

At least the lisp had worn off.

“I thought you said no weapons were allowed on the island?”

“Weapons. Plural. This one is mine, anyway. Singular.”

Armstrong did seem to be in a better mood after their exploits out in the park. The woman was so peculiar, never a dull moment.

Although there was a burning question, a detail that he needed explaining.

“You’re left-handed but you shoot from your right, why?”

“I have to, my shoulder can’t take it. Aches for days afterwards.”

“Something happen?” He pressed.

“Dislocated it when I was in high school, never healed properly.” Lizzy answered in a clipped tone.

Don’t ask anything else.

Please.

“How did you manage that?” No such luck.

I fell out of a tree. I was playing hockey at school. I slipped down the stairs. Or some other casually delivered sentence that would stop his line of questioning in its tracks.

But she couldn’t lie for shit, and she froze up.

“Can’t say.” Lizzy shook her head and stared out of the window, refusing to continue.

Muldoon wasn’t having it. “That’s the second time you’ve gone mute when your past is brought up.”

Still nothing. Her refusal to talk was disconcerting. She’d even stopped blinking.

“Three times and I have to give the you can talk to me about anything spiel, except you seem to do that anyway whether I want it or not.”

Nothing.

Trying to provoke her into saying something smart back hadn’t worked.

He tried again.

“Your shoulder injury and the Day of Which We Do Not Speak, are they connected?”

Lizzy managed a small yes.

Thank Christ for that.

“Well, it’s a start.”

“Sorry-“

“Leave it. Talk about something else now.”

”Talk more?” That brought her back around as she couldn’t resist smirking. “I thought I was annoying?”

“Better annoying than upset.”

It was true. Left to her own devices, she would chatter near-constantly but without expecting anyone to fill in the gaps. If you said nothing, it didn’t matter to her. She’d keep going regardless, without the very rare silences being uncomfortable. Then something else would catch her attention and she’d start seamlessly on the next anecdote.

Life had been quiet for far too long. She was sometimes - often - not a bad distraction. And seeing her struggle this much to get her words out was deeply concerning for him.

She looked offended. “Am not upset.” But Lizzy’s hand went to her shoulder unconsciously.

“Come on, woman. Do better.”

“Alright, fine! I actually need help tracking something down.”

“Tracking is something I’m good at.”

“I gave Call-Me-John-Dear a copy of my thesis when I got here. I asked María and she hasn’t seen it. I need my reference list-“

“I know where it is.”

Her face lit up. “Great! Where?”

“I may have borrowed it.”

”Oh…why?” The Lizzy of ten years prior would have freaked out at internationally renowned wildlife consultant Robert Muldoon reading her work someday.

”To prop up one side of my desk.” He responded dryly. “Elephants are my area of expertise too, you know.”

”Yeah, but…you had trouble sleeping, or-?” She couldn’t believe it. Lizzy was convinced not even her examiners had read her thesis front to back. It had taken Simon three days to get through it, and he practically read for a living.

Muldoon did have trouble sleeping, but her thesis wasn’t the solution for that particular problem.

”Your comments on trophy hunting were surprising. I imagine they caused a stir when you had to defend yourself.”

That section was near the end. He really had read it. Actually read it.

She shook her head in wonder. “Yeah, you’re right. I got in trouble in my viva. Did you like it?”

“It had its moments. But I don’t think much of that Blacklaw fellow you kept referencing-“

“Oh, give over.” Lizzy was beaming again, past life forgotten.

She wasn’t upset.

Not anymore.

***

Harding sighed and put his scalpel back down with finality on the surgical tray. It had taken two whole hours to get this far. Kathy had been required to gown up and join them in the operating theatre halfway through, her only task being to dab at the vet’s forehead with a square of gauze every few moments.

“Gerry...?” Tom eventually asked. “You okay, man?”

“I can’t find it...can’t find where the venom is located, not without turning this into a necropsy. I give up.” Harding grunted in frustration and reached for his suture kit.

Even under his mask Lizzy could see him smile grimly without a shred of his usual humour.

”Anybody volunteering to tell Hammond this was a waste of time?”

***

”Oh, Raymond.” Kathy pushed a chair towards the console the technician was parked solidly in front of. “What. A. Day.”

The dilophosaur was on its way back to the paddock on the back of a Jeep. Meanwhile, Lizzy and Tom had drawn the short straws. She’d left them still gowned up, clearing the room after the surgery, throwing bloody gauze into a biohazard bag and collecting strewn-about instruments to be sterilised. They seemed to be working pretty well together for a change, with only the occasional insult ringing through the air.

But Kathy didn’t want to hang around as the argument between Harding and Hammond kicked off, so she’d headed for the sanctuary of the control room to update the technician on current events.

“How you doing, Kitty-Kat?”

”Surgery was a failure. Hammond threw a fit.” Kathy scratched her head, still itching from the elastic on the surgical mask. “And Lizzy…-“

”What about her?”

”I don’t know, Ray!” Kathy threw her hands up. “She’s…distracted! She’s just being weird around Muldoon! Weirder than usual!”

”You finally noticed that, huh?”

When Kathy spoke again her tone was dry. “What do you mean finally? You already did and you didn’t tell me?”

“I ain’t stupid.” Arnold gestured at the wall of video monitors. “Or blind. I got a three-sixty. I see a lot of things.”

“So what happened? She get struck by lightning or something?”

“Negative. But how long do ya wanna bet before they finally get together?” Arnold asked her casually. “It’s gotta happen. If that woman wants something she usually gets it.”

Kathy snorted. “There’s still no way. Lizzy’s taken.” She pointed out the obvious, sighing.

“Shame, I think it would do both of them a world of good.” Arnold chuckled. “Finally break some of the tension around here.”

Kathy secretly agreed. She may as well scribble ‘Catnip for Game Wardens’ in big letters on Lizzy’s forehead, set her loose in the park and arm Muldoon with a giant butterfly net. Sporting event of the century.

“Never say never, I guess…” She murmured, thinking aloud. “It’s happened before.”

She was playing with the beads on her braids, zoning out looking at the weather systems working their way across the screens, and only realised she’d made a terrible mistake when out of the corner of her eye she saw Arnold turn, painfully slowly, to stare at her.

Oh, balls…

“What did you just say? Now hang on a second missy-“

“I mean- not Lizzy, like, it wouldn’t be the first time colleagues , y’know-“ She was floundering, and Arnold wasn’t fooled.

“Nuh-uh. Don’t give me that. You weren’t being vague.”

”Forget about it, Ray.” Gotta keep Lizzy’s secret. I promised. “It doesn’t matter.”

”Maybe it wouldn’t if it was unrequited.” Arnold muttered.

That got her attention.

“Oi! Has Muldoon said something?” Kathy asked suspiciously. “So he does like her? Like her, like her? I was right all along? What do you know?”

“That depends. What do you know?” Arnold fired back.

She shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“Well-“ Arnold folded his arms across the back of his head “-neither can I.”

They glanced sidelong at each other for a few agonising moments.

“Damn you, Ray!” Kathy eventually groaned. “Tell me.”

“Nuh-uh. Can’t have you backing out on me now, Miss Baker. You go first.”

Kathy weighed up the matter, rocking back and forth in her seat. “Between you and me, okay? I’m trusting you.”

“Sure. Cross my heart.” Arnold picked up his mug to take a sip.

“A few years ago, Lizzy had an affair.”

Coffee sprayed everywhere.

“Jesus!” Arnold stood up hurriedly and dabbed the nearest monitor with his tie. “Shit-“

”Sshhhh! You can’t tell anyone! Especially not Muldoon!”

Arnold barely spared her a glance as he answered, still desperately trying to mop up the spillage threatening InGen’s expensive technology.

“I’m serious!” Kathy went quiet, struck with an awful thought. “Wait, what if they already have, y’know…”

Arnold scoffed. “Yeah, like Liz is that good of an actress! The girl can’t lie to save herself.”

“Huh. I guess.” She saw his point. The ethologist was many things, but at least she was honest, usually involuntarily. “Alright, your turn!”

“Well, shit. Hoped you’d forgotten.”

“Not a chance. Please, share.” Kathy mimicked Arnold earlier, folding her arms behind her head.

“Watch it, girl. You remember Ed Regis’ first day?”

”That God-awful meeting? Sure.” Kathy groaned at the memory of being mistaken for a barista.

“Before you arrived Regis was looking at Liz like he wanted to eat her.”

”Oh, Hell.” Kathy shook her head. “Big mistake.” To do such a thing in front of the likes of Harding, even Gennaro was a no-no, but Regis had effectively signed a death warrant with that move.

“He hasn’t said a word to Regis since. Won’t even look at him. If our so-called PR expert fell into the T-rex paddock, I don’t think he’d hurry to save him.”

“Wow…like Ed would have a chance, Lizzy still really does love Simon.” Kathy insisted.

“Yeah, I know.” Arnold patted his pockets for his cigarettes. “But she ain’t happy with that New York lawyer, if she was desperate enough to see him again then she’d just leave. And she hates flying.”

“You’re right.” Kathy huffed. “I’ve heard them talking. Well, arguing. He makes her sound-“

“Different.” Arnold nodded. He’d noticed it too, Lizzy was always quiet for a long time after those phonecalls. “I get it.”

They listened to the warm hum of the machines around them before Kathy spoke again. “What was the boss like before Lizzy got here?”

“I dunno…He’s been through some shit of his own. Liz told me she made him laugh the other day. Yeah, right! Like I’d believe that, I ain’t coughing up ten dollars with no proof…”

“What is it about her?” Kathy wondered.

“She ain’t the one to be a neat little housewife. He’s into that, I guess.” Arnold snorted. “She’s way too much for me.”

“Too much for most. Especially Ed Regis, sports fan!” Kathy smiled. “World of good, huh?”

“Mark my words-“ Ray looked at her over the rim of his glasses. “As sure as Sibo’s gonna spew lava again one day. I can tell.”

“You willing to bet money on that one, Ray?”

”Stake my life. And-“ He pointed a finger at her. “- it’s gonna happen without either of us meddling. So no messing around. She needs to realise on her own. They both do.”

Kathy wondered if her Grandma would see ‘the gift’ in Ray too, or if he was just doing an awfully good job of bullshitting her.

“They both do? Uh, pretty sure Muldoon’s past the realising stage-“

”Not him. The kid who’s still expecting her to settle down and be his neat little housewife. Ten years, no luck, You think he’d get the hint by now-“

The phone next to him began to ring, and Arnold’s attention was immediately diverted to the flashing red light on his console.

“Huh…call from Sorna.” He muttered before picking up. “Y’allo, Isla Nublar control, go ahead?”

Crackling. Bad line. Or…someone breathing hard. A woman it sounded like, possibly in distress. Then a barely audible murmur. What in the Hell-?

”Ray? What’s wrong?” Kathy’s forehead was creased at the expression on his face.

He shook his head and motioned her to be quiet.

”Ma’am, I’m sorry but you’re going to have to speak up.” Arnold said firmly. “Is there a problem over on Sorna?”

Clutching her own handset, eighty-seven miles away, Lori Ruso blanked on what she was supposed to be saying. She had it all planned out, but nerves had overcome her at the sound of Arnold’s voice.

All she managed to croak out was:

”Please help me.”

***

Thanks for reading!

I guess this chapter and the last are more soap-opera-ish than even *I* expected. Very…people-y. I’ve loved it, Ray and Kathy together are just too much fun and I absolutely needed to put in that particular book reference with the dilo surgery but I’m keen to get back to the dinos after this, since baby raptors are causing yet more issues over on Sorna…those rascals.

[lizisshortforlizard]

Living Dangerously - Chapter 19

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster?

A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs.

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: the usual swears

Wordcount: ~55.3k (19 Chapters) [incomplete]

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @howlingmadlady @arthurpendragonns (let me know if you want added!)

Read on Ao3

Chapter 18 | Chapter 20

Get The Funk Out - Extreme

Something was coming.

She was alone, walking down a lesser-travelled path through the rainforest. She could smell salt. The shore wasn’t far and the waves crashed unsteadily on the rocks. It was darker than it should be for the middle of the day. A storm was headed for the island.

Those details weren’t what made her palms sweat. She was being followed, watched, stalked, as she tried to remember how she got there. Or how to find her way back out. The trees all looked the same. No landmarks except the ocean nearby. She was lost.

There was rustling in the undergrowth dead ahead. The flapping wings of birds taking flight overhead made her start.

He- Hello?

Rustle rustle.

It’s just another bird. A really…really big bird.

More movement ahead of her. A low growl and twigs snapping. A flash of scales.

Scales?

Oh crap. Not a bird.

On her left, a branch moved. Her head whipped around and she was eyeball to eyeball, hazel to viridian with her second attacker. The real danger. Only this one had come from the side. She’d been ambushed.

Then the jaws snapped for her.

Run.

Kathy woke up with a sharp gasp to her alarm beeping angrily, her pillow gripped tight in clenched fists.

That same dream again. What was it, the third time now? This was getting ridiculous.

She reached for her glasses and stared at the mirror as her eyes focused, still sitting in bed. Blu-Tacked around the edges surrounding Kathy’s reflection, among the Polaroids of herself with Lizzy, Isaac and Ray were the family photos she’d brought with her from Minnesota. All her brothers. Mama and Papa. Grandma.

Since she was a little girl, her grandmother had confided in her that out of all the Baker siblings, she was sure that Katherine alone had ‘the gift’, whatever that was. Then again, Grandma was becoming increasingly wacky in her old age.

Yet Kathy couldn’t explain the overwhelming feeling she got sometimes, the prickle on her skin that told her don’t go there, don’t do that. It usually turned out to be correct, but she chalked it up to good luck and coincidences.

Never came through for her with the lottery numbers though, did it?

But the dreams, they were new. And they made Kathy uneasy. The feeling that something was coming for her.

She was on an island, and there was only so far she could run.

Enough was enough. Kathy decided to ask her best friend at breakfast if she believed that dreams could influence the waking world.

“No.” Lizzy replied bluntly, as Kathy had predicted she would. “I’m a scientist. We generally don’t. Sure, there’s instinct, or reflex, I guess-“ a sharp metallic tink tink as Lizzy tapped the scrambled egg ladle on the edge of her plate “-but that’s your reptilian brain talking. The primitive thing that tells you to duck and roll when the sabre-tooth cat stops finally stalking after you and charges. You want some eggs?”

“Primitive thing? If you’re talking about Kennedy again, Armstrong-“

Kathy hadn’t even realised Muldoon had joined the line behind them.

She huffed quietly, caught between them and suddenly invisible. Lizzy had been weird around their boss lately. She hadn’t said as much, but something had clearly happened out in the park when everyone else was told to clear the area for ‘shooting practice’. Kathy was considering getting Ray Arnold to pull the security tapes for her. Just to see what really went down.

All she knew was Lizzy had rocked up back at the staff lodge sounding like she had a fat lip and muttering something about falling off the Jeep. I fell. Sure. Heard that one before.

“I only engage with Tom after I’m caffeinated. You know this. Shame we don’t have sabre-tooth cats. Right up your street, Kathy. And maybe a herd of woolly mammoth for me.”

“M-hmm.” Bored. We were supposed to be helping me.

“Hammond had a-“ Muldoon started before thinking better of it. “On second thought, doesn’t matter.”

“He had a what? Not the flea circus again?” Lizzy had heard that story more than once already. They all had.

“Forget it. It’s not important.”

“You know I’ll find out anyway, right? I’ll annoy Donald until he tells me.”

”That won’t take long.” Muldoon muttered as he turned away to field a question from Rico.

Kathy cleared her throat impatiently. She was starving, and Lizzy was still hovering distractedly with the ladle, yet to fill up her plate.

The ethologist finally noticed. “What’s up?”

Kathy was staring meaningfully at Lizzy’s left ring finger as she answered. “Oh, nothing. I’m having creepy-ass dreams on the regular, but whatever.”

“No, I’m sorry, you’re right. This is important.” Lizzy smiled apologetically and finally loaded up Kathy’s plate for her. “Are you stressed?”

Kathy looked at her tray bashfully. “A little.”

Being Team Leader was hard, getting people to listen to her was practically Sisyphean. For all of Hammond’s spare no expense mentality, it was usually a struggle to get what she actually needed on the island, to do her job properly. But it was worth it in the end. The dinosaurs were extremely well cared for, perhaps even happy, because of her efforts.

But that wasn’t the worst part by miles. Tom was a thorn in her side. She had to psych herself up for a good few minutes before asking him to do anything. Playing her lines out over and over in her head before she said them. Scared he would downright refuse her. Then what? She’d have to go calling for help like a little girl.

Lizzy shrugged, satisfied that an answer was found. “Then that’s what it is! Seriously, I had this re-occurring dream around the time my thesis was due, that my examination panel was all hyenas, and every time I answered a question they would just laugh at me.”

“But-“ Kathy wasn’t sure. It’s more than stress. It’s got to be. It’s so real.

“Sorry, love.” Lizzy interrupted. “Dreams don’t mean jack shit.”

***

Word got around at breakfast that a new member of staff had arrived, and Gennaro was calling a meeting before the animal handlers dispersed to the four corners of the island on their morning rounds.

Apparently this person required a formal introduction, but for what, he wouldn’t say ahead of time.

“Morning, morning.” Lizzy surprised everyone by being the first handler to appear, sipping from an enormous mug of coffee.

She nodded at the red-haired man sitting quietly in the corner and smiled in greeting. As soon as he looked back down at his stack of notes she pointed at him and mouthed who the Hell is that? to Muldoon.

Be patient.

Lizzy tutted. “’Scuse me, need to crack a window. It’s bloody muggy in here already.”

As soon as her back was turned, the man cocked his head and let his gaze drift up her legs to the hem of her khaki shorts, daydreaming. Well, at least the island views are nice.

It was obvious he was caught staring too much when Muldoon cleared his throat.

“Sorry.” Edward Regis whispered quietly so the curly-haired woman couldn’t hear him. Damn. Not a good start on his first day.

Jesus, he was tired. He’d assured Hammond it was no problem to proceed with his new job the very same morning he flew in from the mainland at 3am. He was regretting that now. He hadn’t slept at all.

The breeze from the open window brought the smell of coffee wafting over to him from the curly-haired woman’s cup. That had to be genuine Costa Rican. He glanced around but couldn’t see a coffee pot anywhere in the room.

Now a group of young men were wandering in one by one, chattering away. They must be the animal handlers. His audience was here. Time to begin. But he could really use some caffeine.

Regis snapped his fingers at a pretty girl with braids as she walked into the room, bringing up the rear of the group. He failed to notice she was wearing the same uniform as the rest of them.

“Hey, sweetheart. Can I get a coffee? Cappucino?”

Kathy was already tense from her restless night and she just stared him down in disgust. “Around here, we get our own damn coffee. And don’t you dare call me sweetheart again, unless you’re the one bringing the drinks.”

Regis looked mortified while Lizzy and Isaac tittered to each other. Kathy sounded more and more like Ray Arnold with each passing day.

Muldoon intervened. “Baker is the Leader of our Carnivores Team. And she’s quite right. If you really don’t know how get a drink for yourself, ask Hammond’s assistant, not my staff.”

“My apologies. I just thought-“

“Yes, and Armstrong over there is the office cleaner, she just sits in on meetings for the Hell of it.” Was the scathing reply. Lizzy quietly let out an ohhhh until a look from Muldoon silenced her.

“Boy, tough crowd.” The newest recruit fidgeted with the collar of his polo shirt. This is not going well. “I’ll get started. My name is Ed Regis and I’m the guy for all your PR needs!”

Nothing. Not even a flicker.

Well, that wasn’t good.

By the end of his introduction the small crowd in the room seemed thoroughly bored. One of the older men, the veterinarian from the looks of it, was blatantly constructing a paper airplane right in front of him.

“Any questions?” Regis sighed with relief when it was over. He needed something stronger than coffee now, for sure. Wonder if there’s a bar here yet?

Lizzy immediately raised her hand, and as he pointed at her Regis noticed the stony-faced game warden smirk and stifle a laugh.

“Yes, you?”

”We don’t open until next year. We don’t have any public to relate to. Why are you here so early?”

Regis waited patiently for the sorry for asking that never came before awkwardly clearing his throat to answer.

“I may be mainly over on Isla Sorna until we open, filling more of a HR role. I understand they’ve got a couple of issues-“

Movement caught his eye. Gennaro was slowly shaking his head in the corner of the room. Shut your mouth.

“Uh, never mind. Not your concern.” Regis was starting to sweat. What had he gotten himself into? Hammond had been friendly, made the job seem so cosy, and these people sitting in front of him now were incredibly hostile. He checked his notes, fingers shaking. “‘Scuse me, just a sec-“

“But you just said you were in PR…and isn’t HR more for the companies benefit than the employees anyway?” Lizzy pushed for answers, she had the legal insight. “Why do we suddenly need it now? What’s happened on Sorna? Talk to me, Ed.”

Jeez, her confidence was sure as Hell grating. Nice legs, but too persistent.

Gennaro had clearly had enough, and took charge, leaving Lizzy hanging.

“Alright, I think we’re done here. Hammond wanted you all to know Regis’ face. That’s all. Don’t hesitate to bother him with any problems.” He continued under his breath as he motioned Regis to follow him from the room. “Now you can stop bothering me.”

Tom made a rude gesture at the retreating red head and a few of the other men chuckled.

Regis’ shoulders drooped as he realised they were heckling him from the room he had just left. He fought with himself to turn around and say something, a witty retort that would shut them up. But he wasn’t brave enough. Goddamn jocks.

“Hey, quit it!” Lizzy snapped.

Tom’s attention turned to her. “Yeah, guess you’re right. Better not scare him off. We’re gonna need carrot top to reassure the guests when you kill off yet another Hadrosaur.”

“Tom!” Kathy called out sharply, her forehead creasing in shock. “That’s enough!”

“Come on, Baker. Quit acting big. We all know you’re scared of me. Some Team Leader.” He snorted.

Lizzy practically breathed fire when Kathy’s name was brought up. “Leave her out of this. Your problem is with me. And I’m not scared of you.”

”Alright-“ This was escalating far too quickly. Muldoon got ready to step in, exchanging a look with Isaac. Hopefully the lad would have the sense to grab her if she launched.

They were both already on incredibly thin ice. Kennedy with him, Armstrong with Richardson. Maybe it was time for more drastic measures, short of knocking their heads together.

Lizzy grabbed two great clumps of her hair in frustration. “You have got to stop this. I thought things had changed.”

I can still see because of you. She didn’t care who heard. Their colleagues were all swapping worried glances. It wasn’t their usual back-and-forth anymore, that ended when Kathy was brought into it.

”Whatever gave you that idea?” Tom’s cheeks tinged red. Oh, he remembered all right. He was daring her to bring up the times he’d let his guard down before.

Muldoon was fed up of their drama. “That’s enough. You two, come with me.” They both hesitated. “Now!”

The scrape of chairs as they scrambled to their feet and left the room in a hurry.

“Never a dull moment around here.” Harding skilfully landed his airplane in the trash. “You want sedatives Muldoon, let me know.”

The Scot and the Texan elbowed each other in the ribs as they walked along the corridor, jostling to be first.

Lizzy prepared to stop as they passed the office doors. Park Warden…Animal Supervisor…Veterinarian. They were running out of options. Where were they going? ‘Out for a drive’ again?

Muldoon stopped dead and swung an apparently random cupboard door open. It was a cleaning cubby. Full of mops and brushes. And soon, two animal handlers.

“Get in.”

“Hey, look, I was just kidding around!” Tom insisted, but he wasn’t stupid enough to refuse.

“No way, he’s getting a time out?” Lizzy asked gleefully.

“You as well, Armstrong.”

“Huh?” No way she heard that right.

“Ha!” Tom couldn’t resist.

”I’m not asking.” Muldoon pointed. “In.”

“We literally just got a HR guy. This is definitely breaking some rules.” Lizzy moaned as she tried to squeeze in around Tom. “Get out of the way, loser. Christ Almighty.”

Kathy jogged up and stared in disbelief at her colleagues crammed in amongst the cleaning supplies before it was slammed shut. Muldoon frowned at her as he locked it.

“Not a word, Baker. This has to happen.”

“What if he hurts her?” Kathy asked nervously.

“If he wants to live to see another day, he won’t bother.”

“What if she hurts him?”

Muldoon seemed to genuinely consider the possibility. “Not enough space for her to wind up properly. It’s alright.”

“What if…something else happens?”

Kathy remembered what Lizzy had told her before. About that research student she initially hated. There’s no way the same thing would happen twice though, would it? Lizzy wouldn’t dare. Not again.

“What do you mean?”

Kathy chewed the inside of her cheek as she tried to figure out how to tell her boss it was a genuine concern of hers that his plan might work a little too well. “I, uh-“

“Baker, there’s an air supply. They’ll be fine. If this doesn’t make them work it out, then nothing will. One will have to go. I’m not putting up with it anymore.”

I hope it’s not Armstrong who goes. I might lose Baker too.

Forcing them to work the same jobs still hadn’t solved their personality clash like he’d hoped. This was a dangerous move that might raise some eyebrows, but there was nothing left to do except simply set them loose on each other and see what was left when the dust cleared.

They paused when María silently appeared behind them as if she had teleported through the wall. Hammond’s assistant blankly stared at the cupboard door while muffled shouting and cursing came from inside.

“It’s, uhm-…” Kathy glanced worriedly at Muldoon.

He waved a hand in front of María’s face to break her out of her trance.

“You have a key. Watch them until they calm down. They don’t come out, nobody goes in, alright?

María nodded. “Oui, monsieur.” And then, startling them both with a rare show of enthusiasm, she actually grinned happily. “Très bon!”

“You have got to be joking.” Kathy shook her head. Most unconventional. Nothing like this ever happened at the Smithsonian. “This is insane.”

“Come on. We’ve got work to do. If Richardson asks they locked themselves in by accident. Got it?” Muldoon motioned her to follow him.

“But it locks from the outside!” Kathy hissed as she strode after him.

***

The light in the cupboard flickered erratically. Tom was still thumping on the door while Lizzy yelled at him. “You couldn’t just shut your big mouth, could you!?”

“Big mouth? Big mouth!” Tom slammed his hand flat against the wall right by her head, looming over her. “You’re one to talk, Miss-Know-It-All!”

It was a proverbial red rag. Lizzy got right in his face and squared up to him. “Better a know-it-all than an insufferable prick!”

“You’re full of shit!” Tom roared back, wagging his finger at her. “Y’all just waltz in here, you with your goddamn ‘I’m a doctor’ and your fake accent, you really think you’re so much better than everyone else-“

“What on Earth are you on about?” What fake accent?

“That big-ass ring on your finger, showing off how rich you are all the time-“

“Hold it right there. I’m not rich.” Lizzy clicked her fingers in front of his nose, interrupting him.

“Holier-than-thou, spolit-“

“I’m not rich, asshole.” She repeated.

“Wait, what?” Tom quietened down. He looked taken aback, but not convinced.

“My fiancé’s family is. I’m not.”

“That’s bullshit! You don’t even know what poor is!”

That’s what this is all about? This is why he’s been such an ass to me?

“Look, ah-“ Lizzy plonked her butt down on an upside-down mop bucket. “Okay, here we go…I shared a bedroom with four brothers and sisters until I left home at fifteen. Our toilet was in a shed outside with no light switch. I kid you not, your arse would stick to the seat in the winter.”

“No shit.” Tom stared down at her in amazement. “We-uh, we got food stamps.”

“Absent father.”

“Abusive father.”

“Abusive mother. Checkmate.”

“Underage drinking.”

“Pfft, join the club. Teen pregnancy.”

“Dang, Liz-“ Tom was staring at her in shock. “Now, that is rough.”

“Mh-hm.” That one still really stung.

The atmosphere in the cupboard cooled down. Tom seemed like he couldn’t quite believe what she’d admitted to. That she’d just been so vulnerable in front of him.

“How’d you leave?” He asked her, almost shyly, after an awkward silence.

“I had this one teacher who wouldn’t take my shit any longer. She saw something in me, I guess. Everyone else confused bad behaviour with stupidity.”

Her guardian angel, Jennifer Crawford had stopped writing to her a few years back, and Lizzy couldn’t bear to go searching for the reason why. “You?”

“Something similar.” Tom scuffed his boots on the floor. “I was put forward for a sports scholarship. Still don’t know for certain who did it, but I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

“Teachers, man.”

”Yeah.” Tom found a box of paper towels to perch on, his knees squashed up close to his body since he was far too tall for their prison. “I don’t…I don’t really know why I told you all that.”

I do. Because we’re the same.

They both visibly relaxed as they sat there, hackles lowering.

Who knew they had some common ground. Poverty stricken childhoods. Then wrenched from the gutter of life by a single kind soul.

“Why do you talk like that then?” Tom wasn’t done interrogating her.

“Like what?”

“That’s not a Scottish accent.” He pointed out. “I mean, it is, but I can tell you’re covering it up. You make yourself easier to listen to. More propah. Ain’t that exhausting?”

“Just used to it by now, I guess.”

“My great-uncle Ned is Scottish and I can’t understand a damn word he says…” Tom muttered. “Why do you do it?”

“Think you just answered your own question.”

“You’re a hypocrite.” He shook his head after considering for a moment. “I know I sound like a backwoods hick, but at least I don’t pretend any different. Did you change the way you sound so your man’s family would like you?”

Lizzy opened and closed her mouth, thinking about the first time she met Simon’s veritable battalion of aunts and uncles, and how tired she’d grown of repeating herself again and again. She’d felt the rage swiftly boiling up at all of the whispered ‘does she even speak English?’ and ‘I can’t understand a darn word she says, can you?’ The term ‘poor education’ had been floating around a lot that day.

They just weren’t listening to her.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Tom gave her that infuriating smirk he was so good at.

“Possibly.” She growled at him.

“And there it is. That’s why you’re so damn loud all the time. You just want to make sure you’re heard.”

Lizzy scoffed. “Okay, point made. We’ve done me, now why are you such an asshole?”

Tom laughed and folded his arms.

“Just protective of what’s mine. I’m the oldest kid-“ another similarity they shared. “-I’ve always had to look after the rest.”

“How many have you got?”

“Twin sisters and a baby brother. He’s five now.”

Lizzy would have bet good money that like herself, Tom didn’t share a father with the rest of his siblings.

“I’ve- huh- never left Texas before. It was real hard quitting my job at San Antonio Zoo-“ Tom looked vacant, he was somewhere else, maybe back home. “-I worry about Mom, she always ends up with these shitty guys.”

“And you aren’t there to protect her anymore.”

“I got- I had my own place in San Antonio, but I still went home most days. Y’know. In case he came back. I’m bigger than him now.”

Lizzy went still, then clumsily tried to change the subject. She did know. “Least the money’s good here.”

“It’s great. Mom still gets pretty much all of my paycheck anyway. She needs it more than me.”

“Mine would just buy gear, or more drink with my salary.” She couldn’t relate. To have a parent who was present, and cared? Too much to ask for her.

“Yeah, okay Liz, I get it.” Tom’s moustache twitched as he smiled. He had a charming smile, when there wasn’t a sneer lurking behind it. “Your childhood sucked. So did mine. We ain’t competing right at this second.”

“Are we not?” Lizzy asked wryly. “I was kind of enjoying it.”

“Well, I guess we could keep going a little longer. For the sake of the others. I know how invested they are in our feud. Beats those awful telenovelas.”

“Fine, I’ll let you save face. For now.” Lizzy braced against the wall to stand up. “But maybe we should think about joining forces.”

I could use him on my side. He’s white. He’s male. He’s assertive. People will listen to him.

“Now that would really give them something to talk about.” Tom regarded her for the first time with something other than disdain. “Maybe you ain’t so bad, Liz.”

“Maybe likewise.”

“And…thanks for the uh- the uhm…the stuff.” Tom pointed at his eye.

“Arnica. You’re welcome.”

“It actually worked.” He snorted. “An eye for an eye. Two in your case. We’re even.”

Lizzy just nodded, unsure. She didn’t know whether she wanted to yell at him in joy or exasperation for being so contrary all the time. But maybe there was some decency there after all. Maybe, just maybe, they could work it out.

Muldoon was right. As-per-frickin’-usual.

She decided to go for the jugular. She just couldn’t quit, she might not get another chance for a while.

“Tom, who gave you that black eye?”

The corner of his mouth twitched downwards, like he was weighing up whether or not he trusted Lizzy. He really looked like he wanted to tell her.

But instead he turned away and thumped on the door twice.

“Hey! We’re good now, let us out!”

Lizzy slumped and shook her head. So, so close.

***

Thanks for reading!

This Lizzy/Tom thing has been in my head for AGES. I think of him as Season 1 Steve Harrington/Jamie Tartt from Ted Lasso.

But he looks like Dacre Montgomery as Billy. How’s that for a visual.

[ivorydragoness44]

March 2024 Recap

Warren Peace x Reader: Good Book

February 2024 Recap

Maul Monday Update (March 4th)

Darth Maul Coloring Book Poll

Choose the next insert reader poll (Jason Todd vs Warren Peace)

Maul Monday Update (March 11th)

Rinzler x program!reader Poll

Jason Todd x Reader: The Trouble with Dough is

Warren Peace x Reader: Interest

Maul Monday Update (March 18th)

Maul Monday Update (March 25th)

If I open fanfic requests Poll

Do you want a Robert Muldoon x Reader? Poll

Expected completion date for the Darth Maul Adult Coloring Book

[heresthefanfiction]

Shock and Terror

When Emily's father accepts an invitation to go inspect some park on a tropical island, the nine-year-old is prepared to have a blast relaxing in the sun and maybe seeing some parrots.

Not to almost die.

**Prequel to 'Believe You Can and You're Halfway There' and 'Don't Take Peace for Granted'**

Chapter Seven, Emily For Granted, is up now!

Fanfiction

"No, no, no. That's crazy."

Emily blew a piece of hair out of her face.

"You're out of your mind." Ray Arnold gestured with his cigarette. "He's absolutely out of his mind."

Ellie spoke up from where she was standing by Ian, "Well, wait a minute. What exactly would this mean?"

Hammond began to pace.

"We're talking about a calculated risk, my dear. Which is about the only option left to us." He stopped in front of Ellie. "We will never find the command that Nedry used. He's covered his tracks far too well. And I think it's obvious now that he's not coming back."

Tagging:

@lizisshortforlizard @untestedtheory @wordspin-shares@foxesandmagic @ocfairygodmother @ocappreciationtag @claryxjackson @a-song-of-quill-and-feather @zeleniafic [would you like to be added to the tag list?]

[heresthefanfiction]

Shock and Terror

When Emily's father accepts an invitation to go inspect some park on a tropical island, the nine-year-old is prepared to have a blast relaxing in the sun and maybe seeing some parrots. Not to almost die.

**Prequel to 'Believe You Can and You're Halfway There' and 'Don't Take Peace for Granted'**

Chapter Six, Control, is up now!

Fanfiction

"Emily. Emily sweetheart, can you hear me?"

A woman's voice spoke, muffled by the fog that filled Emily's head. A familiar voice.

"Emily, come on sweetheart, you can do it."

Emily groaned and opened her eyes. Everything hurt. Her head was throbbing, her body was achy and cold.

Ellie was kneeled over her, her brow pinched with worry.

Tagging:

@ocfairygodmother @foxesandmagic @lizisshortforlizard @claryxjackson @untestedtheory @a-song-of-quill-and-feather @wordspin-shares

[mauserfrau]

Not Rhack Wednesdays On Thursday [24]

Not that there's anything wrong with Rhack, but variety is the spice of life!

First orders of business:

@lackpassion who did our splash images, now has a Patreon and an Etsy freshly restocked with slasher pride. More goodies on the way!

Today’s Recs: ( 🎨 = art | ✍ = fic | 🤔 = thinks)

✍ Rebirth/Fleshmeat by @theopiumteaden [NSFW] You know, I'm always happy to NOT be alone in the Troyreen tag, but what if Katagawa and panties and OH MY CRAP GO READ IT.

✍ Edge of Chaos Chapter 10 by @raidbossmadi Now with 15% more Muldoon! And also 20% more chaos.

✍ Finding Ava Chapter 8 by @frankenjoly Hold onto your shorts, kids! We've got adventure incoming!

🎨 ✍ Illustration for "The Stars Align & Stuff" by @michellespenscratchz It's GLORIOUS.

🎨 We also have this wonderful SFM of Pirate Fiona by @monday-headache

🎨 @exjekyll is killing it with some B3 Sirens this week. Damn!

🎨 @darkmagicdrag0n has brought us lots of B3 OCs and also my personal favorite, sad Tyreen.

🎨 @azzhole-and-troyglodite is back!!

If you’d like your work featured on Not Rhack Wednesdays On Thursday, the only requirement is that it not be Rhack (well, and you have to ask).  Calypso Twins angst is not required, but a plus.  Give me a jingle or @ me or whatever works for you.

[mauserfrau]

Not Rhack Wednesdays On Thursday [21]

~Not that there’s anything wrong with Rhack, but variety is the spice of life!

First orders of business:

@lackpassion who did our splash images, now has a Patreon and an Etsy freshly restocked with ETHAN WINTERS KEYCHAINS. More goodies on the way! giant women? giant women

Today’s Recs: ( 🎨 = art | ✍ = fic | 🤔 = thinks)

🤔 I saw a really cool essay about Handsome Jack possibly suffering from bipolar disorder go by, but apparently I didn't manage to tap a like on it or bookmark it or anything. Derp.

✍ Divine Retribution Chapter 20 ~ Unbroken Blackbird IT IS BACK AWW YES also hello if this is secretly you i would like to squeak at you loudly and a lot if that is acceptable TY

✍ Edge of Chaos Chapter 8 ~ @raidbossmadi Rexie's coming to get you~.

✍ Finding Ava Chapter 7 ~ @frankenjoly A wonderful take on Ava, Maya and a plot you'd swear was made for them in this author's hands.

🎨 Glitched Out Tyreen ~ @darkmagicdrag0n It's spooky and adorable and you should absolutely check it out.

✍ Oh and I guess I wrote this travesty [NSFW]

If you’d like your work featured on Not Rhack Wednesdays On Thursday, the only requirement is that it not be Rhack (well, and you have to ask).  Calypso Twins angst is not required, but a plus.  Give me a jingle or @ me or whatever works for you.

As for me, I'm trying to get some more exciting stuff written, but then Square had to go re-release Legend of Mana... bah! Disrupt my summer writing, would you?