Loving The Alpha

Owen Grady

The bar is quiet when we enter, and Eleanor and I choose a booth to sit in while Claire grabs the drinks. Eleanor slides in first, and I sit next to her. She waits eagerly for Claire; the two of them talked non-stop in the car. I guess they were excited to see each other after all these years.
Claire quickly walks over to the table, carrying three beers. She seems keen to talk to us, and I dread to think what she is going to ask.

"Owen." Eleanor squeezes my thigh to grab my attention, and I grin.
"What?" I ask.
"Claire is trying to tell us something."
We both turn our attention to Claire, and I sigh.
"Is this about how you are going to save the world?" I question, resting my left hand on top of Eleanor's while grabbing my beer with my right.
"Well, I'm trying, at least. You can't just run away from everything." Claire mutters.
Eleanor tenses slightly, but I know Claire's statement is aimed at me.
"We know why we are here, Claire." Eleanor says softly.
"Yeh, Lockwood's little flunky called us." I quip. "Rescue op. Save the dinosaurs from an island that's about to explode – what could go wrong?"
"I'm going." She whispers.
Eleanor's hands move to the top of the table and grab Claire's.
"Don't." Eleanor mumbles.
Claire shrugs her shoulders, pulling her hands away from Eleanor's. "I don't have a choice."
"What?" I scoff. "Of course, you have a choice."
"So, what, I should just build my own cabin, play pool, and drink beer all day while these dinosaurs go extinct?" She mocks, anger seeping into her voice.
"Yeah." I state matter of factly. "I like pool."

Claire's blue-green eyes switch from me to Eleanor, and I know what card she's about to play.
"Blue is alive."
I nearly choke on my beer, and Eleanor glances down at the sticky table.
"Jesus, Claire." I mutter.
"You raised her, Owen. You both spent years of your life working with her. That's how the two of you met and fell in love. You're just gonna let her die?"
Eleanor remains silent, and I squeeze her thigh reassuringly.
"Well, yeah." I say with as little emotion as I can muster.
Claire stares at the two of us in disbelief.
"Come on, Eleanor, you're not going to say anything?" Her voice is pleading. "You're both better people than you think you are. April and Lowery have been working tirelessly with me on this. This is our chance to save the dinosaurs."
"You should write fortune cookies." I grumble.
Claire exhales in annoyance.
"Forget it, I ... there's a charter flight leaving tomorrow morning." Claire begins to collect her things and slides out of the booth. "You're both on the manifest. I just wanted to let you know."

The two of us watch in silence as Claire storms away and out of the bar.

Once we return home, I grab my laptop and open it up, pulling up an old video from when the raptors were babies. Blue is the first thing I see as the camera focuses, and my heart aches as I watch Blue, Echo, Delta, and Charlie when they were babies.

"Whatcha watching?" Eleanor asks as she stands behind me and wraps her arms around me.
"This is the first time Blue and the others showed signs of communicating with each other." I smile.
Eleanor laughs.
"They were so cute; I wish I could have seen them that small. Maybe Blue would have liked me more if I'd helped raise her."

I scrape the chair backwards, and Eleanor walks around and perches herself on my lap. She holds me tight like she is trying to get every inch of our bodies touching each other. I can tell that something is troubling her; she keepings nibbling at her bottom lip, and her eyebrows are slightly drawn together in thought.

"We should go, Owen." She says, her blue eyes staring into mine. "Claire's right; we can't leave Blue to die."
I shake my head slightly. "We can't. That place was dangerous with the dinosaurs behind fences; now, they are all free. Plus, there is the small matter of the active volcano."
"Lockwood will have his best people on it. He will have all of the best equipment, tracking devices, hell, he's probably even got an army there." She sighs, pressing her forehead against mine. "We have to try."
My hand moves from her thigh to her chin, and I tilt her head up, so she is looking at me.
"I can't risk losing you, Nor-Nor."
She grins. "We survived last time, and with you by my side, I feel like I can take on the world."
I laugh loudly. "That was cheesy."
Eleanor leans forward slightly and captures my lips with hers. The kiss is slow and meaningful, a kiss filled with love.
"I can't force you to go." She mutters, inches from my lips. "But I have to try. Even if we don't succeed, I have to know that I did everything I could for her."

Eleanor stands up and pulls out a duffel bag from a cupboard. She starts packing some clothes, her back towards me as she works methodically. I sigh loudly and stand up, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her into my body.

"Do you really think that I am going to let you go alone?" I question, nuzzling into her neck.
She laughs as my stubble tickles her soft skin.
"You and Claire are going to need some sort of muscle. I don't trust any of Lockwood's guys to keep you safe."
She spins around in my arms and kisses my lips.
"Our hero." She mocks. "What would we do without you?"

Smirking, I pick Eleanor up and throw her over my shoulder. She laughs loudly as I walk over to the bed and throw her onto it. Her small hands grab my t-shirt and pull me down with her, and I quickly put my arms out to stop me from crushing her.
"How should we spend our last night before our possible deaths?" I ask; a cheeky grin splits my face as I gaze lovingly into Eleanor's blue eyes.

Eleanor wakes me up early, and the outside is still pitch black. She is already dressed, ready to go. She throws a navy-blue t-shirt at me.
"Get up, sleepyhead. We have a plane to catch."
With a loud groan, I quickly get out of bed and freshen up before meeting Eleanor in the car. She smiles brightly as I start the engine.

We arrive at the airfield before anyone else, and I quickly load our bags onto the plane. Eleanor climbs in and waits for me at the back of the plane. The two of us nervously wait for Claire to show up, and just as the sun creeps over the hills, Claire steps onto the plane. Her eyes land on Eleanor and me, and the two of us grin.

"Didn't think you were ever gonna show up." I smirk.