You sat on Owen's front steps drinking a beer and watching him work on his bike. He was always working on the damn bike. How long did it take to fix the thing anyway? Movement caught your eye. It only took you a second to see that it was Claire was coming for a visit. You rolled your eyes.

Reaching over, you flipped off the radio that had been playing softly beside you. Owen glanced at you. You used the bottle to gesture toward the car. "Incoming."

He turned quickly. "Shit." He came over to stand beside you. Snatching the beer from your hand, he took a long swallow and handed it back. "You suppose she's here to see me or you?"

You shrugged. Like Owen, you'd been working at Jurassic World long before the gates opened. The two of you had become quick friends and your trailer sat feet away from his. Whenever the two of you weren't working, odds were you'd be hanging out together. "Probably you," you said as she stepped out of her car to frown at the two of you. "I've got my radio."

You were the head of the Asset Containment Unit and you had never gotten along with the other woman. Mr. Masrani had given you free reign over your team and it pissed Claire off. She didn't like not being in charge of everything.

"Should you be drinking when you're on call?" she said as she approached.

"Hello to you to, Claire," Owen drawled back. That woman had no idea how many times he'd kept her from getting her head bit off.

"I'm always on call. What do you need?" you asked.

She licked her lips and straightened the jacket draped over her shoulders. You ran your eyes over her and frowned. Only she would wear a white business suit and heels to run around a dinosaur park. "Actually, I need Owen. We have a new asset and Mr. Masrani would like his opinion. For some reasons he values it."

"Is this about Chompy? Because I already gave you my opinion on her containment facilities. As there have been no changes, I can only assume you didn't forward my concerns on to Mr. M." You named all the dinosaurs. Mainly because it irritated Claire, but it was easier to talk about them if they had names.

Owen snorted and covered it with a cough when he heard the name.

"Her name is not Chompy. For crying out loud, she's the most fearsome asset at our disposal and you want to call her Chompy."

You stood and pushed past her to head to your trailer and get your gear. If Owen was heading over there, you weren't letting him go alone despite what Claire wanted. You'd follow in your jeep if you had to. "I'll agree with you on one thing. She's an asset all right because she sure as hell ain't no dinosaur."

"What do you mean she's not a dinosaur?" Owen called after you, ignoring Claire trying to get his attention.

"They pieced her together in the lab," you yelled back and soon heard Claire and Owen arguing. You slid into your tactical vest with its multitude of pockets and gadgets. You also strapped on your thigh holsters and grabbed your assault weapon.

Claire's eyes went wide as you stepped back outside. "Did you get a call?"

You shook your head. "Nope. Going with you to see Chompy.

Owen's back was to you and he turned when you spoke. His eyes went soft and he darted out his tongue to lick his lips. You glanced at the ground and smiled. It hadn't escaped your notice that Owen liked the way you looked in your gear. Unfortunately, he might grow suspicious if you started wearing it all the time.

"Your presence is not required," Claire snapped. "As you said, you've already given your opinion."

"Yeah, but you didn't listen." You shifted your gaze from her to Owen. "Your call, Grady. Regardless, you ought to change your shirt."

He looked down at the oil stains that dotted his white tee. "Damn it."

Your gaze followed him as he trotted into his trailer to clean up.

"Don't you think the tactical gear is overkill?" Claire asked.

You turned toward her with an arched brow. "Have you ever known me to overreact?"

She didn't answer. The fact was you'd been accused of being too laid back on occasion when it came to the dinosaurs. You just knew when to panic and when to go with the flow. It was one of the reasons Masrani had hired you to begin with. There was too much about their new dinosaur that they weren't revealing. Rule one in asset containment is to know the asset's strengths and weaknesses. And you didn't know shit about Chompy.

"Are you ready?" Claire asked as Owen emerged from his trailer.

He gave a nod. "Yeah, give me a moment."

She smirked and walked back to her car. Owen waited until she was shut inside before turning his attention back to you. "What is it about this thing that bugs you so much?"

"Too many unknowns. They didn't give a shit what they stirred together. They just wanted a new attraction. She's too smart, too aware." You shrugged, not knowing how else to put it. The Indominus was just...wrong.

"I'm just checking her out. There's no reason for you to deal with Claire for my sake. Stay here and I'll be back before you know it."

You sighed but nodded. "Be careful."

"Always," he answered with a grin that had your rolling your eyes. As if. "Besides, how can I take you on that date if I don't come back in one piece.

You arched a brow in feigned nonchalance even as your heart pounded. "I don't recall being asked on a date."

"I knew I forgot something. Lovely lady, will you please go on a date with me?" He was still grinning but you could see the worry in his eyes.

"Bout time you asked, Grady." You leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Go on, Alpha. I'll see you later."

***

While Owen was glad that you hadn't accompanied him to see the Indominus once everything went to shit, he also wished he'd brought you with him. You thought quicker on your feet than anyone he'd ever met and you might have been able to control the situation better than any of them had.

When he stepped into the control room he froze. The ACU was going after the Indominus. Your name was at the top of the screen and your voice echoed through the room as you argued with Masrani.

"I won't do it, Simon. They go in with lethals or they don't go in at all."

"Your job is to contain the asset. We have 26 million dollars invested in her. You can't just kill her." He attempted to reason with you, but Owen knew it would fail. You weren't about to put an animal above the welfare of your team.

"We will do everything in our power to take her down alive, but they have to have the option to kill if necessary. This isn't a pussycat we're talking about here," you argued. "It's your asset or your park, Simon. You choose."

"Fine. Fine. Do it your way," the boss finally conceded.

Everyone in the room watched the screens as you barked out orders about what equipment everyone was to carry and what formation they were to take. Owen stood in the back with his arms crossed as he chewed at his lip. You were good at this, he knew you were. That didn't make it any easier to watch.

"What is that?" Masrani asked as you picked up a chunk of flesh from the floor of the forest.

You tossed it aside and began to back up immediately. "It's fresh. She's here somewhere."

"That's her tracker," Owen spoke up. "She clawed it out."

"How would she even know to do something like that?" Claire asked.

"She remembered where they put it in." Owen's stomach churned. For the Indominus to do that, it was beyond smart. You were right, this was no dinosaur.

"Fire!" you yelled.

Owen stepped forward, his eyes glued to the screen though it was hard to follow the action. You were moving too fast. Gunfire and screaming were all that could be heard as your team was killed one by one. "Did you see that, Simon? It can blend in completely with its environment. This goes far beyond camo. It had a leaf pattern on the skin. This isn't an animal, it's a weapon."

Owen took another step forward.

"The tranquilizers bounced off the side. My ammunition won't pierce her hide and she shook off the electric prods. The only non-lethal options I can see are gas or drugging her food. Lethal's going to take some exploding rounds or some well-aimed rounds to the eyes. You better talk to that lab and Claire, give him my fucking report."

"What report?" Masrani asked but Claire didn't answer.

"She wrote up a report on the Indominus." Owen was talking to his boss, but kept his eyes locked on the screen that showed the footage from your camera as you crept through the undergrowth.

"Where the hell did she go?" you muttered just loud enough for the mic to pick up. A moment later, your yell cut through the room. The footage showed you flying through the air and landing with a thud. Your camera went to static and a second later, your vitals flatlined.

Owen's heart dropped. No. Not you, damn it. Not when he just worked up the nerve to ask you out. This was supposed to be the beginning, not the end. "You killed her." When no one responded, he said it louder. "You killed her." Tears blurred his vision but he could still see Claire spin to face him.

"It was her job, Owen. She knew the risks involved and she accepted them when she took the job."

"Bullshit," he yelled. "She didn't know shit about the risks because you wouldn't tell us a damn thing about that dinosaur you cooked up. This is your fault."

He stormed toward the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Masrani asked.

Owen glanced up to meet his gaze as he leaned over to press the button for his floor. "To find what's left of her."