#lfaw

“Ruby, warn them!” David instructed hastily, nudging his head towards the giant screen above them.

David had barely finished his command and Ruby was dragging her headset up from around her neck, repositioning it over her ear. She pulled herself forward, the wheels of her chair just narrowly missing Walsh’s feet, before almost screaming into the mic.

“ACU team 2, this is central control! You need to alter your altitude!” Ruby’s heart pounded in her chest, her eyes flicking to the screen where the Indominus even looked like she was contemplating the exact angle of attack.

“Control, this is ACU airborne, can you repeat? Over.”

“Oh, God,” Mary Margaret gasped. “They didn’t hear you.”

“Uh oh,” Walsh taunted with a whistle.

“Dammit,” David grunted, the hairs on his arms standing on end. He grabbed Mary Margaret’s headset off of her desk, gripping the mic stem between his shaking fingers and lifted it to his mouth. She didn’t even realise it but Mary Margaret had grabbed his arm, hooking her fingers into the crook on his elbow and was holding him so tightly to stop the shake in her own hands. “ACU Airborne, pull up! Pull up!”

David’s warning came too late, the echoing roar of the Indominus growing louder before it was followed by the crunching on metal and the backwards whirr of rotor blades under stress where the huge dinosaur had leapt into the air and bit clean through the tail section of the helicopter. The control room filled with the sound of screaming, the high pitched yelling and panic that flowed from the surround sound speakers indistinguishable from man or woman as many of them turning into pained gurgling. There was a scrambling, the mics muffled by each team member as they clambered for brace positions under their leaders instructions, those that hadn’t been crushed in the initial attack audibly puking in the wake of their comrades in pieces.

Mary Margaret gulped down a lump in her throat, her eyes paralyzed and unable to blink away the imagined demise of each team member as their vitals flatlined on the screen in front of her. Her fingers were digging into David’s arm so hard he was sure she would leave a mark, but he let her, almost one hundred percent sure he hadn’t heard her breathe for a few minutes. After what seemed like an age, he slipped out of her grip and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to him and cupping his hand over her ear, trying his hardest to shield her from the horrific sounds.

“Mayday! Mayday!”

“We’re going down!”

“Help us! Lord, help us!”

The sound of yelling and the crunching of metal was drowned out by another screech from the dinosaur, the last images from the Captain’s body cam turning black inside of the Indominus' mouth when she clamped her jaws shut around the man. Tiny pinpricks of light danced across the image on the control room wall, spinning like bubbles in a washing machine as she chomped a few times, crushing the life out of the man who had once been sitting in the cockpit she had just ripped off mid flight.

A silence fell over the control room, static the only sound that everyone could hear coming from the two way communication. David relinquished his hold on Mary Magaret for a split second to turn off the radio comms with the now downed helicopter, a soft sniffle drawing his attention. Ruby had been crying and in the panic, as he looked around in the aftermath, it wasn’t just her. There wasn’t a dry eye in the entire room, employees consoling each other as if a hug would make everything that had just seen go away.

“Mr Nolan,” Ruby croaked with a watery voice.

“I know,” David assured her, stopping her from saying the words that she had to officially say. The rules be damned. David knew everyone was dead and he wasn’t about to make her say it.

“Well, looks like this thing really is unstoppable.” Walsh’s words were not even the least bit perturbed by the sounds he had heard or the images he had seen. The man had the gall to cross his arms over his chest and smile with glee, but that was soon laid to waste when, out of nowhere, David’s fist connected with his jaw, and the weasel of a man stumbled backwards.

“David!” Mary Magaret screeched, jumping to her feet so fast her chair toppled over when Nolan went in for a second strike, his clenched fist breaking Walsh’s nose with an audible crack.

“Son of a-,” Walsh cried, clutching his nose that was busy pouring with deep crimson blood.

“Those were good people!” David roared, looming over his hunched figure, Mary Margaret attempting to halt a third attack by hanging off his arm.

“We’re all good people!” Walsh shouted back, righting himself and squaring up to David and spitting blood onto the fabric of his shirt. “We all do things with the best of intentions, don’t we?” He cocked his head to the side, a blood stained grin accompanying his implication.

“This isn’t your fault,” Ruby offered to David with a snarl in Walsh’s direction.

“This isn’t your fault! This isn’t your fault!” Walsh parroted with a cocky grin. “God, aren’t you sick of your cheerleaders yet, Prince Charming?”

“I know what you’re trying to do,” David told the miserable man. “And I already told you once. The only way you’re going to set live raptors loose on this island is over my dead body.” David clenched his jaw at Walsh’s cocky smirk, his hand balling painfully at his side where he was sure he had split at least one knuckles because of the sting there.

“That won’t be entirely necessary,” Walsh announced, straightening up and running his tongue over the ridges of his blood soaked teeth. “You see,” he announced, sucking in a breath and closing the gap between him and David even more until their chests touched. “They say there is strength in numbers, which is good for you, because these two ragtag little groupies you’ve got going on here-,”

“Hey!” Ruby protested, matching Mary Margaret’s scowl.

“Oh, no offence,” Walsh nodded over David’s shoulder to the security guard stationed at the door, their matching sand coloured uniforms signaling their connection as he reached for the cuffs on his belt. “It’s real cute,” he said with a pout of his bottom lip. “But you know loyalty doesn’t cost a thing.”

“What the...What are you doing?” David demanded of the guard when his arm was wrenched awkwardly behind his back.

“At least not for me,” Walsh said out loud absentmindedly. “These guys are on your payroll.”

“You won’t get away with this,” Mary Margaret growled with a pink tinge to her cheeks from anger.

“Oh, honey, sit down before you break a nail,” Walsh spat, pushing past her and sending her crashing down into her seat.

The chair rolled backwards a little under her weight and the shy slip of a woman shrunk away from her previous bravado. David struggled against the guard’s hold, only caring that the brute of a man had decided it would be a good idea to touch a woman that he cared so much about. Despite his imposing height, the security guard was much bigger than David, and his opposition to his incapacity was futile.

“You’re going to regret that,” David spat through clenched teeth, shaking his shoulders in one more protest as he was hauled into the elevator.

Walsh sniggered arrogantly, making everyone in the comms room jump when he clapped his hands together as soon as the elevator doors slid closed with a ding. “Now that unfortunate matter has been seen to, and it gives me no pleasure to announce this, but the incapacitation of our fearless leader leaves me in charge as the highest ranking In-Gen official.”

Ruby made a sound in the back of her throat that sounded like she had thrown up in her own mouth and tried to swallow it.

“And our primary objective is to prevent further loss of life.” As if on cue, the elevator doors sounded its arrival again and the doors parted to reveal at least seven new men, all armed to the teeth with equipment and all sporting the ever fetching In-Gen sand coloured shirts. When they started pushing their way into the comms room and began setting up with bulky equipment without permission, it made Ruby’s emotions turn back into anger.

“Who are these guys?” she said with a sneer.

“I’m glad you asked,” Walsh replied without missing a beat. “You are all relieved of your duties,” he announced gleefully. “There’s a new team on the ground.”

“This is insane!” Ruby argued as a man she had never seen before plopped himself into her chair and tested the swivel action as if she wasn’t there. “You can’t do this!”

“So, without further ado,” he continued, ignoring her remark of disgust. “Let’s stop wasting money and kill this thing.”

--

Henry wasn’t sure if the sweat on his brow was from the exhilaration of driving on his own for so long, or from the humidity on the island. He had been driving for a while now but somewhere along his journey, and Henry was sure at which point, he had broken his watch. The face was permanently stuck on the time it had stopped, right about when Graham had thrown him off a cliff and into a river in order to save his life. He should have taken it off but it was a gift and even at his age, Henry was sentimental.

The Jeep was a bumpy ride, the old suspension as worn as it could have possibly been for a car that had been sitting, untouched in storage for over a decade. The ground underneath the almost still new tyres was even more uneven, damp and crumbly, making the wheels spin in the darkness of the forest, and as hard as rock in the open areas. The last time Henry has exited the woodland trail he has almost been bounced clean over the cracked windshield with the change in density of the track, only staying in situ because of his tight grip on the wheel.

Out in the daylight wasn’t a picnic either. Even without his watch, Henry could tell what time of day it was because of the blistering heat above him. The Jeep had no cover anymore, half of the leather having degraded overtime and the other half flying away in strips as he has floored it through the areas he knew were occupied by the more predatory dinosaurs. The sun had only got hotter, his clothes almost totally dry except from where he had perspired under his arms and down his back, so Henry knew it wouldn’t be long before the evening started to draw in.

The paddocks of Isla Nublar were not somewhere you wanted to be after dark.

The ground under the wheels suddenly turned to a more gravel like consistency and the Jeep rocked a little until it settled onto the new road. Henry slipped sideways in his seat and nearly toppled out, but he managed to grab on just in time to see the closed gate up ahead. Two huge rusted iron gates were blocking the path, years of erosion as well as bark like twines entangled in the brittle chains holding them together.

Barely visible through the leafless bindings was a danger sign for high voltage along the fence that Henry knew no longer existed, so, with a deep breath, he slammed his foot on the accelerator until it hit the floor. The engine roared in protest but the whole vehicle lurched forward, climbing the slight incline towards the huge, steel gates. Henry gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white, and pinching his eyes closed as tightly as he could, prepared for impact.

The Jeep hit the steel gates but it barely slowed, the weather worn chain giving out almost instantly and freeing the gates from its hold. Henry heard them fly open and when the Jeep continued its forward momentum, Henry peeled one eye open to see the damage. There was none to him, and none to the vehicle, just a powdery cloud of dust in his wake from where the dead foliage had been busted apart. With a quick glance over his shoulder, Henry smiled, letting out his breath and releasing the gas a little.

“Woo!” He declared, drumming his hands on the steering wheel in celebration.

He was running on adrenaline and not much else, every snapping twig or rustle of leaves setting him on high alert. He strained to listed over the sound of the engine, eyes wide and pupils dilated as he continued to drive through what seemed like a never ending paddock. Anything could be there and, in all honesty, Henry wasn’t all that excited to find out what. He pressed his foot a little harder on the gas when the Jeep met a steep incline and as it crested the hill, Henry was relieved to see the familiar compound up ahead where he knew Killian and Liam trained the raptors.

“Open the gate!” Henry shouted but his voice was lost behind the sound of the car horn as he slammed his palm into the middle of the wheel. “Open the gate!” He called out again, relieved but still scared half to death. He would feel much safer on the other side of the huge concrete wall, that was for sure. “Come on, open the gate!”

Two security staff stationed on top of the wall over the gate entrance squinted to see the vehicle as it approached. One cocked his head to the side, clearly confused, and the other simply let his jaw drop open in shock. The whole island was on lock down and no one was supposed to be anywhere except in the main compound or at their assigned posts, so they shared a quick, confused glance.

“That’s a first,” one muttered.

“Mmm,” the other hummed in agreement.

“Do you think we should-,” the first offered but was quickly interrupted by the sound of footprints pounding along the metal high rise boardwalk behind them.

“Open the gate!” Liam yelled, his words bouncing on every step he took. The two guards shared another look, gripping their guns a little tighter. “Open the gate,” Liam repeated gruffly as he reached them. “That’s Henry,” he breathed, a wave of relief washing over him at the sight of the boy. “Call Emma,” he ordered. “Tell her we’ve found him.”

--

Killian had been almost unable to move Emma from the spot when she had witnessed the ACU helicopter going down and once he had moved her to the safety of the forest, in the opposite direction to the Rex, she suddenly wasn’t much for words. He knew she felt guilty, but no matter what he had said to her in the heat of the comms room argument, he knew she wasn’t to blame for any of this. In fact, Emma couldn’t have been furthest from the blame. She was just the face of the island, there to make sure tourists were happy, and like most others, including himself, she had no idea as to what was being cooked up in paddock 11.

Emma felt like the worst person in the entire world. She was trying to simultaneously run the park and raise her son, but somewhere along the way, she had lost sight of what mattered the most. Henry meant more to her than anything, she just hadn’t shown it much. She was ambitious, and it had been kind to her, but at what cost? Now where was she? Ankle deep in the middle of a forest, hiding her tears in the humidity that was slowly washing the dirt from her face.

A hand on her shoulder shook her from her guilty daydream, and she quickly wiped at her cheeks, flicking the moisture away from her face. Killian’s hand was warm, much warmer feeling because of the sheerness of her blouse, and she couldn’t help but shiver a little. She had been fighting her feelings for him, she knew that, and whether he meant to or not, he had managed to wriggle his way back into her heart.

“He’s going to be alright,” Killian told her as he gave her shoulder a squeeze. He swung one leg over the fallen tree Emma was perched on and let the rifle he was carrying slip from his shoulder. He rested it against the gnarled bark, ignoring the way the moss that was growing on top of it was dampening his pants, and sat back with hunched shoulders and a sigh.

“I know,” Emma sniffed, wiping her blouse sleeve over her cheeks.

“Hey, look at that,” Killian smiled warmly. “You believed me for once.”

Emma coughed out a short laugh and playfully swatted his chest, and action that made Killian lean even closer to her in an attempt to extend their contact. Emma let her hand linger on his chest, right where his shirt was partly open, and Killian felt his nipples harden when she brushed over a few of the glossy black chest hairs that peeked out from the shirt there. In a split second decision that would either go in his favour or get him slapped, Killian covered her hand with his, flattening her palm over his heart that had begun a beat of rapid fire in his chest.

Killian stared at her until, slowly, Emma looked up from watching his hand on hers. The tips of his ears flushed hot with adrenaline and he felt his lungs draw in a much deeper breath than before, the slight curl of Emma’s fingertips against his chest making him gasp inaudibly. She would have felt it, no doubt about it, and he pressed her hand harder to his shirt in an attempt to feel her through closer to his skin. Emma’s eyes finally met his, her lips dry from being slightly parted, and her throat dry where she had forgotten to swallow.

“Killian,-” she began, but unlike other times she had said his name, this was different.

“I just need to know one thing,” Killian said hoarsely, his own throat suddenly parched. Like a nervous schoolboy he dipped his head and let his other hand reach around Emma’s back where it began to smooth down the fabric of her blouse, his lips turning up into a cheeky grin. “How have you been able to run in those heels?”

Emma chuckled, the vibrations from her laugh shooting up Killian’s arm and embedding the sensation in his soul. Her hand slipped from his chest and he let he take it, the feel of her fingertips already like a brand on his skin from the one night they had spent together. Killian felt her whole body relax, which was his exact intention when he has so brazenly placed his hand on her back, and it hadn’t escaped his notice that this time, she hadn’t pulled away.

“I have just evolved beyond the need for stability that flat footwear gives you,” Emma smiled. “I’d recommend heels, but,” she leaned forward and pretended to squint at the bottom half of Killian’s legs whilst sucking in a long breath through her teeth. “I just don’t think you have the calves for it.”

Killian had no witty retort, just a single, deep, reverberating laugh that escaped his open mouth as he regarded her with humour in his eyes. His tongue traced the ridges of the teeth at the side of his mouth, and he tilted his head back a little at her comment, enjoying the way she was smiling back at him for the first time all day. His eyes flicked between hers and her lips, dry skin there begging to be kissed like he was the only hydration on offer for miles. Emma was the same, his oasis in a sandstorm, her lips coaxing him closer when she bit her bottom lip playfully, but with all of the will he had left, Killian refrained from following the urges of his own body and pulled his hand from where it lay on her back too.

Emma missed the contact, even if she was reluctant to admit it, and when Killian rubbed at his jean clad thighs and cleared his throat in an attempt to regain some composure, her eyes fell to his hands and his scars there. She had seen them before, the skin ridged and twisted from primitive stitching that she had no doubt he had probably tried to do himself because of his stubbornness. As she recalled, it had no impact on the way he used his hand, but she knew that he must be embarrassed by them because of the way he had always tried to hide them around her. As if on cue, Killian finished his eager rubbing of his thighs and tried to rearrange himself so that the offending hand could be tucked into his pockets.

“Wait,” Emma said suddenly, softly, her thoughts jumping to words and leaving her mouth without coherence when she reached for his hand in an attempt to halt his hiding. “I mean,-”

“It’s alright, love,” Killian smiled, offering her his scarred hand once more when she withdrew hers. “You’re inquisitive, and that’s alright.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just,” Emma began, unable to find the words she wanted. To hide her awkwardness she tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and swallowed hard, cursing the humidity that had accented the red tint to her cheeks. “Which raptor did it?” She said finally, enclosing Killian’s had between both of hers and trailing her fingertips over the scars.

“What makes you think it was one of the raptors?” Killian asked her with an arched eyebrow.

“You leave your trailer for work and dating, and I haven’t heard about much of the latter lately,” she quipped.

“Ah, well, yes,” Killian agreed in his very British accent, his other hand reaching up to scratch behind his ear. “There was one that got away.” His scarred hand twisted and his fingers entwined themselves with hers, a wave of panic flooding over him when he thought she might pull away. She didn’t but was silent, unable to express herself over the huge chasm in her heart that someone had once made, one that stopped her communicating her feelings anymore. “It was Delta,” Killian said low, offering her a conversational relief. “I was stupid and, like and idiot, took my eye off the ball for a second.”

“How old was she?” Emma asked, seemingly more comfortable with the new conversation.

“Only a few weeks old,” Killian uttered, remembering the moment vividly. He had thought it a good idea to offer Delta a dead rat from the same hand he had just used to feed one of the other raptors, getting complacent and neglecting to wash his hands between feedings. The young raptors had been fed separately at first, to allow Killian to assess the best way they would integrate into a pack, but caught up in the excitement of his new job, he had forgotten protocol and gave Delta a rat from a hand that smelled of the very food he was offering. “It wasn’t her fault,” he assured her. “But it reminded me of what kind of animals we are dealing with on this island.”

Emma moved her hand towards her lap and pulled Killian’s with it. He let her, the sting of nervous sweat glands under his armpits unnoticed in the still wet patches of damp from the island’s heat. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you,” Emma told him whilst tracing the lines of scars on his palm. “If I had, maybe this dinosaur would be dead by now.”

Killian shook his head. “It is I who should apologise, love. I should never have yelled at you.”

“Damn right!” Emma teased, gripping his hand harder.

“You do realise you’ve agreed with me twice in the same conversation now?” Killian retorted with a smirk.

Emma just nodded, that stray strand of hair falling forward with the motion of her head once again. Killian moved his hand quicker than she could, smoothing his weathered fingers over the curve of her ears as he tucked it back into place, his thumb completing his move as it stroke her ear lobe. Again, Emma didn’t recoil at his touch and he felt the muscles of her throat swallow when he plucked a piece of tree bark from the rest of the hair behind her ear. The smile of her face was infectious and Killian mirrored it, but before either of them had a chance to say anything else, Emma’s phone rang and they startled apart.

She scrambled for the device she had tucked into her bra and Killian averted his eyes as she did so, only looking back when he heard her answer.

“Liam? What is it? What’s going on?” Emma said hurriedly, pushing herself to her feet and stalking away from the log they were sitting on.

Killian couldn’t hear what Liam was saying, but when she turned to face him, Emma’s face paled and he almost had to rush to support her when she threatened to topple in front of him. Her eyes welled up, pupils dilated so much that there was almost none of the honey green glaze left for him to see. He watched her chest heave before she thanked her friend and hung up, sniffing and wiping her eyes again just as he reached her, unable to bring himself to ask for the news he didn’t really want to hear.

“Is it Henry?” Killian pried delicately, gently holding her elbow.

All Emma could do was cover her mouth and nod, eyes pinching closed as more tears fell. Without a second thought, Killian pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly like he wished he had done that night. Words unspoken told him said she was thankful and that she needed his embrace more than she was letting on, so he just stood there in the soaking humidity of the island and held her. Emma’s hands found his biceps and she seemed to hold on there, her face buried into his chest and every breath inhaling him as she sobbed.

“He’s alive,” Emma sighed, her words muffled by Killian’s shirt.

“I told you,” Killian smiled, pressing his lips to the side of her temple and squeezing her a little tighter with his own relief. “I knew it, the lad is smart, resourceful,-” Killian began as she pulled away but Emma had other ideas when she wrapped her arms around his neck, stretched up on her toes and cut him off with a kiss.

There was no way that Killian could stop his reaction this time, not even if he had wanted to. Emma’s initiation gave him the green light, a wordless agreement from her that finally, after all this time and all of his patience, she was ready to validate his feelings. He cupped her face in his hands, her bottom lip still quivering from her emotional news, something Killian hoped he could soothe as he tilted his head and their lips slanted against each other in a whole new direction and made her moan.

Killian couldn’t stop the growl that escaped his throat when he pushed against her mouth and she pushed back, her fingers digging into the hair at the base of his neck despite its wetness and clutching hard, making him suddenly realise where they were. He had to push his feelings aside, despite his body’s reactions to the way Emma had flattened herself to him, every curve of her deliciously distracting as she writhed against him.

“Emma,” Killian mumbled against her mouth when she pulled his face back to hers when as tried to pull away. “Emma, love…”

“I’m sorry,” Emma breathed, gasping for breath. “I...I’m,-”

“I know.” Killian smiled warmly, thumbing the corner of her mouth. “Let’s get you reunited with your lad, alright?”

“You’re right,” Emma nodded, pulling herself from his arms and licking her lips. “Come on,” she told him with a pat to his chest as she breezed past him on her way back to the car they had left through the trees. “We can wait.”

The forest had opened up a little and fewer branches whacked Killian in the shoulder or the thighs. He loosened his grip on his handlebars and cast a quick glance over his shoulder to his brother. Liam was a little behind him, four wheels heavier and not as fast at two, and he gave Killian a nod, dropping his gaze to the GPS device attached to his handlebars. The four dots on the screen representing each raptor began to line up and he frowned, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling to attention with anticipation.

“They’re slowing down, brother,” he called out to Killian.

Killian grabbed the radio attached to his ammo strap near his shoulder, letting up on the throttle and slowing his bike. “They’ve got something,” he radioed to the support vehicle and Walsh in the comms room.

“Showtime,” Walsh announce with excitement, flashing a smile at Mary Margaret and Ruby who just recoiled in disgust.

Killian stopped the bike and held up a closed fist to signal the vehicles behind him to stop, which they did, skidding to a stop in the muddy forest opening. The mercenaries scrambled out the back of the truck, the sound of guns cocking and equipment being hauled behind him easily ignored. Killian needed to focus on the raptors, watch their every move and anticipate what they might do next. He might be the only person who could diffuse this situation if it all went wrong.

He slid his weapon from his back, lifting the scope to his nose level, peering over the weapon into the darkness where his raptors had stopped in a group and were chatting in their own language, stretching their necks and their clawed digits. Killian and Liam, also armed, approached the group in a low crouch, the mercenaries fanning out behind them to take up their own positions.

“You know what, no,” Emma said firmly when she saw the familiar scenario playing out on the tablet screen. She reached behind her and grabbed the window. “You’re not going to watch this,” she told Henry and pulled the window closed.

“Mom!” Henry protested, his voice muffled behind the metal plate.

When all four of the raptors stopped in a line, Killian knew something was about to go down. Without looking at each other they talked in low rumbles and small gestures of head bobs and tail flicks, the men behind them all taking up positions behind another fallen tree. The leaf debris stuck to Killian’s elbows when he braced himself on the log next to Liam, silence falling over the forest as they all waited.

As if on cue, the birds sprang from the trees ahead of them and the sound of thundering footsteps made the ground underneath their feet shake. Liam blinked in his brother’s direction, watching his intensity, completely still and focused on the danger that was ahead of them. Liam had been in the Navy too, but unlike his brother, he had never seen active combat. He swallowed hard, his trigger finger dancing over the spring loaded mechanism in anticipation, and returned his gaze to the wall of tree in front of them, the red dot sight lasers from the mercenaries dancing over the foliage.

There was a roar, unmistakably the Indominus, but it was different and Killian was immediately worried. It was a rumble, vibrating in the animal’s throat as she slowly pushed her way through the trees and dwarfed the four raptors in front of her. They looked at her, cocking their heads to one side and then the other, heads bowing like intrigued puppies. The Indominus got closer, coming to a complete stop and lowering her head to Blue’s level, the throaty snuffle noise preceding an open mouth roar that was much shorter than anything she had made before and when Blue returned the noise with eagerness, Killian knew exactly what was in the Rex.

“Something’s wrong,” Liam murmured, eyes fixed on the display before him. “They’re communicating,” he added in fascination.

The Rex chirped again, nudging its head towards each of the raptors as they returned her call. Red dots danced over her skin but she didn’t seem to notice as she called out to each of the raptors in turn.

“I know why they wouldn’t tell us what it’s made of,” Killian said in realisation.

“Why?” Liam asked dumbly.

“She’s part raptor,” Killian breathed, ignoring a bead of sweat as it rolled into the corner of his eye.

The Indominus sucked in air through her nose, the noise vibrating through the forest, shaking the trees that surrounded them. It was a raptor call, Killian recognised it instantly, and it was not good news. All four raptors turned towards the men behind them as the Indominus rose above them, a spittle of drool slipping out of her mouth between her razor sharp teeth.

Emma watched all of the raptor cams focus on one thing, Killian, their alpha. Emma watched as he stood up from behind the log, the foolish man, and stared at the scene before him. It was hard to make out on the grainy camera footage, but as Killian lowered his gun, Emma was sure she saw him gulp nervously and disbelief decorate his face.

“What’s taking so long!” Walsh grunted in the comms room. He reached over and grabbed Ruby’s headset that she had no longer been allowed to use, pulling the mic to his mouth with a huff of annoyance. “LIGHT IT UP!”

The mercenaries all heard the command and their leader gripped his rifle even harder as he focused down the sights on the huge Rex before him. “Engage!” he shouted and the sound of gunfire erupted around them.

Hundreds of bullets pierced the air like icy hail on a metal roof, most missing the target who had decided to turn tail and evade the assault. The raptors followed as if she was their new alpha, zipping through her legs and heading into the forest. One of the mercenaries overreacted and grabbed a rocket launcher, another one of his comrades helping him sit the weapon firmly on his shoulder before firing, a trail of smoke in the projectiles wake as it headed for the target.

It missed the Indominus, lighting a line of trees on fire as it exploded, the smell of damp firewood permeating the air almost immediately, but the explosion sent the enormous reptile flying onto her side. She cried out, losing her footing in the soft earth and kicked her back legs out at nothing as she tried to right herself. The trees behind her, ablaze with fire, creaked and cracked from the inferno engulfing them, one falling beside her close enough that she managed to claw at it for leverage and righted herself, the sound of her screeching growl becoming more distant as she disappeared through the forest.

“Watch your six!” Killian shouted out to the men on the ground around him, grabbing his gun and refocusing down his sight. “The raptors have a new alpha now.”

“Killian,” Liam whispered beside his brother as they followed the advancing mercenaries, the red lasers from their sights flickering through the smoke still lingering in the blast zone.

“I know,” Killian told his brother quickly, his face squished to the side of his rifle and his words muffled. “Be careful.”

The sound of raptors howling gave him pause. They were excited. New prey had entered their territory and a twig snapping behind him made Killian freeze up momentarily. The mercenary beside him continued to advance through the tall grass and before it was too late, out of nowhere, Echo screeched her reptilian cry and pounced on the man, claws extended, her jaws wide open, and the man didn’t even have time to scream before she had crushed his head between her jaws and his camera feed went down.

“Fire!” One of the other mercenaries shouted and the forest erupted in gunfire once more, a mess of bullets and criss crossed red light signifying their sudden panic.

Delta took out the next man, leaping from out of nowhere and using her huge rear claws to split his body open from neck to groin, the man’s guts spilling out onto the leaves that littered the ground. Walsh, watching from the comms room, was shocked to silence. He pulled the headset away from his ear but the sound of distorted radio signals and the cries for help from his men had already rooted themselves in his mind. He couldn’t blink, watching as one by one, the men grew more silent and all that was left was the hissing of disconnected comms.

“Oh my God,” Emma breathed, trying to keep her voice hushed in the cab so her son wouldn’t hear.

Killian strained to listen to his surroundings, the grasses around him stilling and the sound of men as they died fading away one after another. He tread lightly, careful not to disturb too much of the detritus at his feet, careful not to alert the Indominus or any of the raptors to his location as he stalked through the smoke. He froze when he heard the sound of crunching bone, a small tuft of tall grass right in front of him shuffling around, moving and shaking from side to side as the raptor behind it finished her meal. He heard a gulp and as he lowered his weapon, the head of Charlie popped up, her expression softening and her throaty noise of affection at the sight of him filling his ears.

Killian didn’t see the rocket before it was too late, a plume of white smoke and a flash of red fire sending him flying back into the forest where he hit the ground with a disgruntled groan. The grass in front of him was alight, flames flickering where Charlie had once been, the raptor nowhere to be seen. Tiny pieces of grass floated back down to where they had been thrown into the sky, the grenade that had been fired at Charlie leaving nothing but dust in its wake.

Killian heard more men shouting behind him, calling for a retreat, but he just had one man on his mind in that exact moment. Liam. His brother. They had parted in an attempt to find their raptors, but Killian couldn’t remember hearing his brother’s shotgun for a while, obviously indicating that he was out of ammunition. There were more rumbling noises, but that was the truck trying to escape the clearing, where it seemed quite a few of the mercenaries were having an issue trying to stay alive. He rolled out of the hole he had made in the ground from the impact of being tossed there, and grabbed his gun, running before he even got to his feet.

Liam was indeed out of ammunition and was down to a pistol, the one back up weapon that Killian had insisted he take. Liam was great with long and mid range weapons, but he hadn’t had much luck with pistols, something he was about to find out if he was ever going to be good at. He hunkered down behind a soaking wet log, the material of his shirt sticking to his skin where the tree bark dug into his spine, his pistol raised and his finger gliding over the trigger. Two mercenaries rushed out of the grass towards him, nearly getting themselves shot, hopped over the log like he wasn’t even there and then disappeared from the area of ATV’s and the truck they had rolled in on.

“Shit,” Liam muttered to himself. He was alone, but he hadn’t seen his brother leave with the others, so if Killian was out here somewhere, he was going to make sure he found him. What kind of brother would he be if he let his little brother perish out in the dead of night on an island that he was already sick to the teeth of?

Liam scrambled to his feet, pushing a branch aside as he ran, arms moving in time with his pace, keeping his body in forward momentum. As he burst through into a clearing he heard it, the unmistakable pounding of dinosaur feet and the backwards screeching cry of a raptor he realised was chasing him. He was the prey now. Hiding in some fronds that hung from the tree branches above was a hollow log and Liam prayed his feet didn’t slip as he approached it, diving into the darkness of damp, insects and rotting wood just in time.

It was Blue and he knew she didn’t see him in the same way she saw his brother. He wasn’t anyone to their pack, nothing more than a man who released a pig three times a day, but he was sure that wouldn’t matter one bit to the raptor currently tearing the log apart in order to get to him.

“Blue!” Liam cried out, pistol pointed at the hole the beast was gradually making larger like a terrier after a rabbit. Tiny splinters of deadwood fell onto his face, obscuring his vision just enough that he couldn’t get the shot, his legs trembling and his hands shaking. “No! Blue, no!”

Blue was special, there was no doubt about it. More human than raptor, intelligent and beautiful, she had managed to worm her way into Killian’s heart. Killian knew she shouldn’t mean anything to him, after all, he had four raptors in his charge, but there was something about her. Something that made her more than a mindless killing machine. Something that made her see him with as much affection as he showed her, not just as a baby but now, as she tried to eat his brother, he knew he could get through to her.

Killian raced back to his bike, turning the key and starting the engine before he had even swung his leg over the back of the bike and settled into the seat. Liam’s shouting resonated in his ears and with a swift prayer, Killian revved the engine and hoped that Blue realised he was calling her to follow him. He couldn’t vocalise like a raptor so he had taught the pack that the rev of an engine was a sign, a command to form an alliance and go on the hunt. Killian just hoped that Liam wasn’t too much of a temptation.

With a snarl, Blue looked up to listen for the engine. Her lips curled back, her blood stained teeth glistening in the headlight of the bike that she noticed right away. They locked eyes and Killian revved a few more times, forcefully twisting his wrist and making sure he had her full attention. She settled as if awaiting a command and so Killian whistled, her reply a roar of agreement when he dropped the clutch, spun the bike around in the dirt and then lead her away from the log and his brother.

Liam relaxed as soon as the sound of the bike became distant, slumping back into the rotting debris inside the log, gun still pointed at the hole Blue had made as he took a long steadying breath.

Emma’s eyes had been fixed to the screen in front of her, glad when most of the men had managed to evacuate. Her heart dropped and she felt sick to her stomach when she noticed on Blue’s camera feed that she was chasing Killian and Emma didn’t know if she was a willing beta following an alpha or a predator running down her prey. “Killian, no,” Emma muttered, the sting of tears pricking at her eyelids.

“Is everybody dead?” Henry mumbled from behind her. He has slid the window open again and had obviously seen enough to realise that things had gone south.

Emma flattened the tablet screen to her chest and shook her head. “No, no, everyone is fine,” she lied sweetly.

“Don’t lie to me!” Henry squeaked. “Is Killian okay? Mom, I’m scared.”

“Oh, Henry, it’s okay, I’m here,” Emma soothed, trying to reach through the tiny gap to pull him to her. Henry let her, awkwardly hugging her through the porthole.

His scream almost deafened Emma when a bloody hand splattered against the window and he saw it over her shoulder. Henry fell back onto his makeshift toolbox seat and slammed the window shutter closed, still screaming in terror. Emma spun to face the man at the window, one of the mercenaries who had clearly been injured.

“Get out of here!” He yelled, hammering his hand against the side of the truck. “Go! Go!”

Emma had no idea how, but she managed to get the truck started after what seemed like forever and after she had finished screaming at the top of her lungs. She threw it into drive and slammed her foot on the gas, the whole truck lurching forward as she did so, and a bang in the back prompted her to apologise for knocking her son off his perch. In reality, she hadn’t dislodged Henry at all, but the injured mercenary had decided to try and climb into the back of the truck and escape with them.

“Help me!” he pleaded to Henry, the young boy frozen at the horrific sight of the man’s arm hanging from his body. “They’re coming!” He screamed in a voice that didn’t match his macho exterior.

Henry couldn’t move, couldn't speak to answer and when he heard the intense high pitched cry of a raptor in excitement, he couldn’t look away when one jumped into the back of the truck and dragged the mercenary to the ground. Henry flattened himself to the back wall of the truck, fingers clawing at nothing for support as the soldier was ripped from the vehicle and then laid motionless and dead in the road behind them.

“Hold on!” Emma called out to him, her arms locked into position as she tried to steer the huge vehicle as it bounced along the pothole ridden dirt road.

The glass beside her suddenly caved in, the same, ferocious raptor squeal piercing her ears as one of the raptors broke into the cab and hung onto the side of the truck with such determination, Emma thought she was never going to get away. She screamed, matching the pitch of the raptor, who snapped its jaws, its hind feet clawing at the side of the door in a desperate attempt to reach her. A bump in the road dislodged it from its hold and Emma watched it tumble to the ground behind them, but as quickly as she had rid them of one, another came out of nowhere and then they were being pursued by two.

Henry watched as the two raptors pounded the earth beneath their feet, leaning forward with their eyes locked onto their prize, the small boy a measly morsel to them but game all the same. The truck was fast but he knew it was heavy and the raptors were swift, streamline killers who would catch up to them in no time. He quickly scanned the back of the truck and found some gas bottles strapped to the side, a flammable gas warning sticker freshly glued to the side. He pulled the strap and released the grey cylinder from its hold, rolling it to the back of the truck and out towards the raptors.

The cannister bounced and the lid broke open when it hit the ground again, spraying the raptors in a fine mist of smoke that he hoped would deter them. They simply dodged the obstruction, one hopping over the gas cylinder like it wasn’t even there and the other avoiding it by moving to the left side of the road. When she did, she noticed Emma inside the mirror and the petrified look on her face must have encouraged her prey drive, because she lowered her body to gain a burst of speed.

Emma’s eyes flicked to the mirror and back to the road, the raptor closing in fast. She wasn’t about to let the dinosaur get back into the cab so instead, she grabbed the wheel and turned it quickly, the whole truck lurching to the side and blocking the dinosaur's path. The raptor had no time to stop and plowed into a tree, the solid mass unmoveable by her flighty weight, and it sent her spinning across the road with an anguished roar. Another screech alerted her to the second dinosaur still in pursuit but she couldn’t see her in the mirror on either side of the truck.

Henry could. The dinosaur was heading straight for him in the back and the door flapping wildly around only served to alert her to his presence. The gas canister hadn’t slowed her down one bit, so Henry desperately searched the back of the truck for something else, finally laying his eyes on a long, electrified prong gun he had seen the mercenaries pack earlier that evening. He fell to his knees, sliding towards the back of the truck as he fiddled with the devices, trying to find a way to turn it on. The raptor kept coming, the pounding noise of her feet increasing as she gained a last boost of speed and launched herself into the back of the vehicle.

Her claws scraped the metal floor, a dust cloud appearing behind her where she was dragging her tail, and Henry fell back in fear. The dinosaur struggled to right herself against the slippery surface of the truck and it gave Henry enough time to find the switch, flick it and watch the two sharp prongs at the end of the rod dance with blue light. The raptor snapped her jaws, neck stretching in order to reach him, but Henry just let out a roar of his own and stabbed her with the electrified end of the weapon. She went stiff and then slid off the back of the truck, rolling along the road until she stopped, dazed and motionless.

“Hey, are you okay?” Emma called back to him, tapping a hand on the window.

Henry scuffled across to the window, a beaming smile on his face when he slid open the window panel and answered her. “Did you see that?” He exclaimed. “I can’t wait to tell Killian!”

As if he had heard his name, Killian appeared out of the trees on his motorbike and revved the engine to gain some speed towards the truck. Henry squinted at the headlight in his face, but when he realised who it was, his face erupted in elation.

“Killian!” He shouted with joy.

When Henry said his name, Emma looked behind her in the mirror and let out a sigh of relief when Killian moved up beside the truck. She struggled to keep the truck level, allowing him space next to her, but he managed and came up to her window.

“We have to get inside!” He shouted over the sound of his engine. “Follow me!”

When he made his way in front of the truck, Emma let off the gas a little, decidedly more calm now that he had arrived. She couldn’t explain the way he made her feel safe, even in the harshest of predicaments, but maybe, just maybe, she figured it was time to explore it a little more. With a few steadying breaths she reached for her cell phone, her whole body bathed in repose when she realised that she finally had signal. With a few taps on the screen she was calling Ruby, and she had never been so glad to hear the sound of her friend’s voice.

“Ruby!” Emma exclaimed. “We’re heading your way. Call in a chopper!”

--

The park was in panic. It had gone way beyond a simple fix, and Jon Merlin knew it. They were being evacuated, or so they had been told, but he knew from the fiasco with the first park, things would be missed or overlooked. As calm as anybody could be, he walked through the research lab he had conversed with Nolan in the other day. This time it was full of people in white lab coats scrambling to collect data and samples they had worked on for years. A perfect scenario for what he had planned.

“Everything must be accounted for,” Merlin barked at the technicians as he moved through to the back of the lab. “I want all back up generators online.”

Reaching a keypad at the research lab, he stopped to glance over his shoulders. No one was watching, all too busy following his commands to notice that when he pressed his thumb to the electronic scanner, the light turned green and a panel door slid open. As he stepped over the threshold, his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket, and when he pulled it out, Walsh’s name popped up on the screen.

“Where have you been?” Merlin snapped in a low voice.

“There’s been a change of plans,” Walsh said in an equally low voice. “The mission has taken a wrong direction. Everything has to be moved off site.”

Merlin shook his head as if Walsh could see him. “Listen, the embryos are safe here,” he told him, slightly confused. “They can live up to eight weeks on the back up generators.”

“No, you listen,” Walsh growled. “This park is going to be headline news by morning, and our little side project is about to get shot to shit,” he snapped. “I don’t want a bunch of lawyers messing around with something they don’t understand.”

Merlin was silent. Shocked. He knew that creating the Indominus Rex was unethical, but he had just been doing his job. He had just been doing what he was told to do, and not just by Nolan, but by In-Gen. Everyone wanted a new dinosaur that would make more money, greed as ever, playing at the forefront of every board decision. He had believed Walsh when he had said no one would get hurt, and he had believed him when he had persuaded him to create even more dinosaurs off of the books, a collaboration that he had promised would make them billions of dollars richer.

“Hey!” Walsh’s brashness shook him from his stupor. “Are you listening?” Merlin’s silence made him grunt. “I’m going to take that as a yes. Be on the roof with the assets in ten minutes. We’re getting off this island.”

--

The park’s central hub, the makeshift town that had existed in the visitor’s centre for over a decade was abandoned when Emma drove the truck through the welcome gate, hot on the heels of the bike in front of her. Killian stopped first and hopped off the bike, swinging his gun from behind his back and lifting it in front of his face. He surveyed the area, eyes twitching in their sockets, head on a swivel and ready to move at any sound that he might hear. Emma exited the truck behind him and he heard Henry’s feet hit the ground as he jumped out of the truck too.

“Get inside,” Killian rasped breathlessly. “Now, come on!”

He lowered his gun and ran behind Emma and Henry as they ascended the steps that led into the centre. The old doors were from the original park and Emma cursed a little inside at the stupidity of a new generation who hadn’t learned from Hammond’s mistakes the first time around. Henry bolted ahead, knowing the exhibition like the back of his hand.

“Control room is this way!” He yelled, pointing ahead of himself as his feet pounded the floor.

Emma was hot on his heels and Killian behind her, giving one last look over his shoulder before pushing forward. They had to pass by the research lab and as they did, the sound of breaking glass drew Emma’s attention. She slowed, confused Killian by doing so, but when he looked over to where she was frowning at a secret opening in the far wall, he realised that more had been happening than she had been privy to.

“They evacuated the lab,” she muttered in shock.

“The whole island is being evacuated,” Killian whispered, still on alert as he followed her to the back room.

“What’s that room?” Henry asked, clutching the fabric of her blouse tightly.

“I don’t know,” Emma whispered.

She reached the door and pushed it open a little wider, the sound of beeping filling her ears as they entered the room. Computers were still turned on, running what looked like algorithms that created new dinosaurs, showing an estimated outcome from possible crossings of certain genes. There were tanks too small for the snakes and frogs they housed inside stacked almost to the ceiling, various species obviously there to siphon more genetic information from.

It was like a mad scientists experiment display as they wandered around the apparently abandoned room. Killian glanced into a vivarium that housed a skink, a smooth lizard native to Australia, only this one had been modified to have a feathery down over it’s entire body. Henry stared into the barren glass tank an axolotl called home, only the usual aquatic animal was lounging around out of water with a huge sail type fin along the length of it’s back. Emma stared into the eyes of snake that she was sure blinked back at her only to yawn, it’s mouth widening enough for her to see a row of teeth along each side of its jaw.

A clattering sound made them all jump and they spun around to find In-Gen mercenaries carefully packing some frozen samples into a huge box. Liquid nitrogen, the cooling agent, created a smoke as they closed the lid, the two men clipping it shut wearing heavy gauntlet style gloves to protect their skin from the subzero temperatures.

“What are you doing?” Emma demanded. The park might have gone to shit, but she was still Head of Operations.

“I’m afraid that’s above your pay grade, honey,” Walsh scoffed as he emerged from the shadows with a smirk on his face.

“Where’s Merlin?” Emma snapped back.

Walsh smiled and it made her feel sick. “Dr. Merlin works for us,” he announced approaching them.

Henry poked his head out from behind his mother and nodded at the screen Walsh was standing next to. “That’s not a real dinosaur,” he told the man, equal parts confusion and intrigue lacing his words. The dinosaur was tall like a Tyrannosaurus Rex but with far more exaggeration to its hindquarters, legs more slender for speed and with a jaw that was twice as long as the one he had seen on the Indominus Rex. The 3D rendering spun around and the fake dinosaur flexed its fingers, longer, scythe like claws almost impossible.

Walsh looked down at the dinosaur on the screen, sighing and planting his hands on his hips that their project to create the new dinosaur had been discovered. “No, it ain’t, kid,” Walsh agreed. “But somebody’s gotta make sure this company has a future,” he added arrogantly.

“What are you talking about?” Killian snorted, amused by Walsh’s idea.

“Imagine,” Walsh began, pointing at the screen. “A dinosaur a fraction of the size of that one, deadly, intelligent, able to hide from the most advanced military technology, a living weapon, unlike anything you’ve ever seen.”

Killian made a noise in the back of his throat and Walsh narrowed his eyes at him.

“Millions of years of evolution, and what have we learned?” Walsh continued. No one answered. “Nature is the gift that-HOLY SHIT!”

Walsh was interrupted by the appearance of a raptor, Delta to be precise, the exact same one he had taunted earlier on in the compound. He scuttled backwards, losing his footing and falling flat on the floor, quickly scooting as far as he could away from the advancing dinosaur.

“Easy, easy boy,” Walsh tried to reason, the dinosaur simply growling in response.

Killian pushed Emma and Henry behind him, slowly stepping back towards the door they had entered through. He knew the look in Delta’s eye and it was more than just hunger. The dinosaur had sense and if Walsh had somehow wronged her, she hadn’t forgotten about it.

“We’re all on the same team,” Walsh insisted with a grin but it quickly faded with Delta came to a stop just inches from his feet. “Right?” He added in a shaky voice. His arm shot out to instinctively hold the dinosaur at bay and Delta tilted her head at him, intrigued by the way he had suddenly begun to hyperventilate. “Easy,” he said slowly and then Delta seemed to look up at him. “I’m on your side.”

Delta paused and made a snuffling noise in her throat. Killian moved a little faster, inching Henry and Emma towards the door because he knew exactly what that sound meant. It meant she was celebrating, that she was happy and, above all else, that she had found some prey to toy with. Walsh smiled, almost relieved that the dinosaur had stopped growling at him, but it wasn’t to last.

Delta grabbed Walsh’s arm, sinking her teeth into his flesh all the way to the bone where they scraped against the hardness there every time she shook her head in an attempt to dislodge the limb from his body. Her growl turned into a purr of enjoyment as blood flowed into her mouth and Walsh scratched at her muzzle, futilely trying to pull his arm free when she bit down so hard her jaws met. Delta did relent, releasing what was left of his arm, Walsh continued to scream because of a new wave of pain that releasing his arm had created. Delta eased herself back, the smell of blood making her pupils narrow before she surged forward and grabbed Walsh by the face with such force, she sent them both crashing through a sheet of tempered glass.

The middle of the room was where the visitor center had a holographic interactive dinosaur learning computer. Users needed to push a button to engage the learning module, complete with a life sized holographic version of the dinosaur they had chosen. As they ran passed it, Henry slapped an open palm to one of the glowing buttons, hoping, praying, that it would buy them some time. After a millisecond, the computer beeped and a full sized Dilophosaurus sprang up behind them, causing Delta to crane her neck back as she slid to a stop just in front of the dinosaur now in her path.

The hologram hissed, its neck frill flaring in aggression, something that since the first park opened, scientists had proved to be false. Henry ignored the inaccuracy because it had worked, Delta rearing and giving a screeching cry at the shaking dinosaur in front of her, claws ready to swipe as she began to circle sideways. The hologram didn’t move, repeating the hissing action as a narrator talked from the speaker behind it. Delta let out a roar, jumping at the intruder who dared interrupt her hunt, only to come out on the other side of the blue shimmer confused. She spun on her heels, attempting the move again but to the same result, giving Killian, Emma and Henry enough time to reach the front doors and slip outside without her noticing.

The heavy wooden doors were rigged to close behind them, so Killian led the charge down the steps in long strides, only to rush head first into another of the raptors. Blue, with her distinctive coloured stripe down her neck and body, was standing to full attention in front of them, eyeing the man she saw as Alpha with two morsels. Her yap of excitement told Killian she was keen to share his spoils, thinking that he had brought her food, so he put himself between her and Emma and Henry, puffing his chest out. He knew it might not do any good, not with the Indominus around, and especially when he heard a bang on the doors behind them and Delta appeared at the top of the staircase in search of her lost quarry.

She roared, moving down the steps slowly, deliberately, eyes with slit like pupils fixed on Henry. Killian turned to her, towering over Emma and Henry as he stared her down, reducing her cries to nothing more than a hiss as she circled them with her blood stained maw still dripping with her last meal. Killian’s grip on the gun tightened even more, his fingertips turning white as he instinctively lifted an arm to try and hold the raptors back, a move he would forever be weary of around Delta, but still hoping they understood his gesture.

The high pitched screech of a third raptor made Henry cry out, his small body bumping into his mother’s as Echo appeared beside them, her sandy coloured tiger like stripes almost flashing brighter with her excitement at finding prey. She took a step towards them, Killian watching her out of the corner of his eye and Emma and Henry huddled up behind him, the gap between them and the three raptors becoming ever smaller as the reptiles formed a circle around them.

“So, that’s how it’s going to be, eh, ladies?” Killian said softly, keeping eye contact with Blue. Even after all the times he had been there for his girls, fought to keep them as wild as he could, he would never fault them for simply being themselves. If they tore him limb from limb, he would never blame them. It was their nature, a nature that man had no right trying to tame.

The beta raptor growled, the sound in her throat more than anywhere else as she took a step towards the three of them. Delta and Echo were in attack formation, closing in on both sides, so there was no escape. Blue made an odd crackling sound again, her pupils dilating and her eyes flashing in the overhead lights as Killian slowly leaned sideways to put his gun down. The muzzle touched the ground first and without breaking eye contact with his beta, Killian let the barrel slide along the pavement until he had no choice but to drop the gun the rest of the way. The stock hit the floor with a clattering sound and he righted himself, face to face with Blue.

She had calmed somewhat, seeming to have her own internal conflict about the situation laid out in front of her. Her sisters cawed and screeched, eager to sink their teeth into what they saw before them, but they wouldn’t until Blue gave the word. And Killian knew it. His face was so close to Blue’s that each time she breathed, the hot, putrid air from her nostrils fogged his face. She blinked, a small affectionate grunting noise coming from the back of her throat as she simply watched her Alpha, a silence falling between them that made Emma start to shiver and sweat even more than the humidity had made her already.

Killian closed the gap even more, slowly raising his hand, trying to abstain from shaking. Blue’s lips curled back in a low growl of warning, her eyes flicking towards his hand as Killian moved it higher still, almost touching her snout. Blue snapped, not really meaning anything by it other than another warning that Killian promptly ignored.

“There, lass,” he whispered smoothly and Emma wondered how his voice managed to remain so even. “Easy.”

Blue snorted but allowed his advance. Killian watched her, knowing that he would have no time to respond now if she decided to change her mind about being amicable. He lifted his arm a little higher, moving to the back of Blue’s head, her beady eye swivelling in its socket as his palm made contact with the ridges of her reptilian skin and she let out a human-like groan.

“Easy,” Killian whispered, his words almost inaudible to Emma who clutched Henry to her even harder.

Blue relaxed a little, blinking her eyes a few more times as he growling turned into a purr at Killian’s touch, the approval of her Alpha all she was seeking. Killian’s fingertips reached the lock keeping Blue’s headcam fixed to her head and turned the mechanism towards himself, the click and snap of an opening buckle making Blue rear back a little. Her movement dislodged the head strap and the weight of the camera pulled it free, and it hit the ground with a smashing glass sound.

Blue simply purred again, the offending item now gone where it had previously been such an aggravation. Her eyes softened, subtly, so subtly that only he would have noticed, and Killian’s lips ticked up at the corners as he slowly lowered his arm.

“There, that’s better, isn’t it, lass?” He quirked an eyebrow at the raptor in front of him and Blue’s lips rippled a little, something Killian’s recognized she only did when she was pleased.

 They all stiffened when a roar sounded out from in front of them, morphing into a growl. Emma could barely stop herself shaking with fear, her eyes glazed over and fixed on the darkness. The raptors were one thing, but this growl was from something much larger, something more dangerous, unmistakably the Indominus Rex. Her hand wrapped around Henry’s so hard that he winced in pain from her fingernails, not even really noticing when his eyes fixed onto the ripple of water in the puddles as huge footsteps grew louder.

Blue whipped around, her tail almost slapping across Killian’s abdomen as the Indominus Rex appeared from around the side of a kiosk, the strewn chairs becoming a mess of mangled metal under her feet. The ground shook as she stepped forward, long, steady strides than made the ground beneath their feet feel like it was moving out from under them. Delta and Echo both switched positions too, still at Killian, Emma and Henry’s side, but now obediently focused on the much larger dinosaur approaching them.

The Indominus took a few more steps before coming to a stop and letting out a roar, the stench of rotten meat and fish coating them all in a fine mist from her breath where she was so close. Blue reared up, seeming to make herself higher, shielding Killian’s view. He was frozen in place, arm still outstretched as if he could control the huge, part raptor dinosaur just as he could with his own raptors, eyes burning with the need to blink where he was so focused on the threat in front of them.

The Indominus made a chirping noise, the size of her vocal cords making the sound much deeper and almost like a cough, but Killian knew it was unmistakably her trying to communicate with the raptors. More short barks followed, her massive jaws opening just a tad each time, her tails whipping to the side furiously and her claws clenching her hands into spiky fists as she spoke to her kin. Killian wasn’t a stupid man, and after their interaction in the forest, he knew exactly what she was trying to say. When Blue turned to face him with a hiss of her own, it was clear.

The Indominus wanted what Blue had. Three tasty bite-sized prizes.

Killian shifted his weight, inching back a little and letting his arm drop to his side. It wasn’t up to him anymore. Blue let out a series of yips, high pitched and almost like toddler chatter as she took in Killian and let her lips curl. She was trying to tell him something, Killian knew it, but he had never been in this sort of situation before. All he knew was that her eyes were soft, the ripple of her lips along her mouths edge was a good sign, a happy sign, and he had to have faith in her.

He gave her a quick smile and she seemed to understand, blinking rapidly in excitement. Blue was asking what to do, what her alpha wanted her to do, and Killian couldn’t stop the smirk on his face as he blinked, refocusing his gaze on the Indominus, and Blue instantly spun to face the Indominus with a screeching roar. Ragefully, the huge dinosaur roared back, the sound vibrating right through them where they stood, as she lunged forward and headbutted Blue out of the way, sending the smaller dinosaur flying into a nearby concrete pillar.

Blue’s body hit the hard surface so hard that the concrete crumbled like sand, exposing the metal rebars inside the column. Her tail flew out and hit a window, shattering the glass that spilled out onto the floor and created a bed of shards that her lifeless body fell onto. Blue lay still, the brightness in her yellow eyes disappearing as her eyelids closed and she exhaled hard. Killian had to rein in his emotions, turning back to face the Indominus with a renewed hatred for the hybrid as, satisfied with her actions, she took a menacing step towards them.

Killian’s arms flew out to the side and he tried to shield Emma and Henry as best he could, stumbling a little over a crack in the floor as he eased backwards and they moved with him. Emma began to cry harder, a whimper in her voice that he knew she was trying to hide from her son. Henry clutched the back of Killian’s shirt, pulling the material so it felt tight against his shoulder, but Killian ignored it. He stared down the rex, another huge step closer making him seem even more imposing than she already did, when Delta suddenly let out an almighty cry from beside them.

Killian’s head whipped sideways, watching Delta as she squatted low and tensed her claws against the ground. Echo joined in, mirroring her sister and roaring at the Indominus, the sound of the water fountain behind her lost in the sound. They were ready to attack, their claws flexing on their front feet eagerly, whole bodies tensed to the maximum so that every single one of their muscles was visible to their enemy. Killian’s stomach dropped and he inched another step backwards with Emma and Henry, knowing exactly what was about to transpire.

The raptors were asking permission from him, their Alpha.

Killian took a huge breath, steadying himself, before curling his bottom lip under his teeth and then whistling as hard as he could. The sound came out, thankfully, louder than all of the commotion around them, and the two raptors moved instantly. Echo was quicker, racing towards the Indomnius as low to the ground as she could, gaining as much speed as her legs would allow, before leaping into the air with an attack cry and sinking her claws into the side of the Indominus Rex. The larger reptile roared, trying to dislodge the smaller one, but Echo held on, tearing into the Indominus’ shoulder and sinking her jaws into the ridged bumps along her spine.

Delta was quick to join her sister, leaping onto the rex’s neck and digging at the skin there like a terrier, her claws effortlessly slicing through to the bone. With another angry bellow, the Indominus spun around, trying to dislodge her two attackers, disoriented and confused by their sudden mutiny. She tried to reach them, jerking her head backwards but unable to grab ahold of either of them, her claws ripping into her own skin as she changed tactics and tried to pull them off that way.

Whilst the dinosaurs were distracted, Killian saw their opportunity to reach safety, grabbing his gun for good measure. He grabbed Emma’s hand, knowing she would grab onto Henry’s too, and pulled with all his might, racing out of the situation under the tail of the Indominus Rex. Her tail swung around behind them, narrowly missing Henry as she smashed one of the fountains, sending shards of glass and droplets of water everywhere. Henry broke free from his mother, taking the lead and vaulting over the counter of a nearby kiosk, Emma following suit and both of them landing inside with a grunt.

Killian circled around the dinosaur in front of him, her piercing screech tearing through his ears like a needle. He ignored it, lifting the rifle to his face for stability and better accuracy as he looked down the iron sights and pulled the trigger. The muzzle of his gun flashed with orange, the short bursts of bullets hitting the Indominus right where he had aimed, more blood flowing out of the creature as she cried out in fury. The sound of the raptors pulling at her flesh made him pause, swallowing hard and trying to ignore the fact that they were probably too far gone to recall now. He had to be careful, lest they turn on him too.

The Indominus changed her stance, attempting to remove the two dinosaurs ripping into her flesh by dipping low to the ground. Her tail flew up, narrowingly missing Killian as he took shelter behind another fountain, the giant, orange glass sculpture a replica of a mosquito stuck in amber. He leaned against the glass, the material cold on his back, and fumbled with the mechanism of his gun, trying to reload the rifle with one eye on what was going on behind him. He took his eyes off the dinosaurs for a second, unable to reload the weapon without looking, and then looked up to see one of his raptors slide across the wet ground in front of him.

Echo righted herself quickly, almost coming to a stop outside of the small shop Henry and Emma were huddled inside for safety. Henry jumped a little, freezing to the spot he had made into a sort of teddy bear fort at the back of the kiosk. He was scared, but he couldn’t stop thinking, his brain churning over and over with the same thought.

“We need more,” he whispered to himself, counting on his fingers to confirm his thoughts.

“More what?” Emma spun to look at him from where she had been watching Killian over the counter and gave him a questioning frown. Henry nodded, half to himself and half to her, meeting her gaze.

“More teeth. We need more teeth,” Henry said quickly, still short of breath from running.

A moment of confusion for Emma was followed by a moment of realisation. Of course. Henry was right. He was always right. They needed more teeth because the Indominus was full of them, her hybrid status making her more formidable than any other carnivore that had ever walked the earth. There was only one way they were going to defeat her, for good this time, and that was, indeed, with more teeth.

“Stay here,” Emma whispered to her son, grabbing his face in her hands. Her thumbs brushed over his cheeks, wiping away the tears stains on his slightly red cherub cheeks. “I’ll be back, I promise,” she nodded. When Henry nodded back, Emma leaned forward and kissed his forehead, sealing her promise with the soft press of her lips to his skin.

Scrambling to her feet, Emma reached for the first aid box on the way. She slammed her hand against the latch, sending the lid falling until it hit a shelf, and grabbing the flare that was inside. She was going to need a little more help for her plan to work fully, so she also reached for the radio that each employee used to communicate around the park, the sound of static hissing from the speaker.

With a short, nervous breath that shook her entire body, Emma clambered over the kiosk counter, ignoring the sound of gunfire and the roaring shriek of the raptor that flew passed her and leapt back onto the back of the Rex once more. Killian watched, his brow pulling together in confusion, as Emma ran off into the darkness, the sound of her heels against the tarmac echoing into nothing as she got further away. He didn’t know where she was going, and he didn’t have time to find out before the Indominus shook the ground with another hefty step towards him.

Killian wasted no time when the opportunity to fire was so obvious, leaning against the yellow glass to stabilize himself and aiming straight at the massive reptile. One, two, three direct hits had her whirling around towards him, but she didn’t have a chance to see him because Echo was back on her, crawling up her back and sinking her teeth into the back of the Indominus’ neck. It was a fatal mistake, Echo’s blood lust blinding her strategy because it gave the Indominus time to reach around and clamp the smaller raptor in her jaws.

Echo’s high pitched shriek was cut short as her life ended, her body falling limp in the Indominus’ maw before she was thrown through the window of another nearby kiosk. Killian wasn’t sure what the kiosk was for, but when Echo’s body hit a still burning gas barbecue style burner, the canister of gas exploded and engulfed the dead raptor in flames. The Indominus spun around on the spot, trying to reach the other dinosaur terrorizing her, and when she whipped her tail into the amber sculpture Killian was hiding behind, it sent him racing for somewhere else to hide.

Chunks of orange glass littered the ground around him but he managed to dodge them in an attempt to reach the kiosk where Henry was already hiding. Just as Killian leapt over the counter, hip sliding against the metal surface and the arm holding his gun held aloft to balance himself, the Indominus managed to snatch up Delta in her powerful jaws and flung her aside like she was nothing. Killian landed in the kiosk silently, crouching down in front of Henry and silencing the boy with a single finger that he pressed to his lips. He cast his eyes sideways as if he could look behind him when the rumbling snuffle of the Indominus reverberated through the air as she searched for more prey.

The kiosk was plunged into darkness, the Indominus casting a huge shadow over the whole area as she walked past. Her growl was different now, somewhat infuriated, and Henry swallowed hard as her huge head and eye appeared in his view. Her pupil narrowed and she let out a roar at having found what she was looking for, the whole kiosk rocking from side to side as she bashed into it with her bulk. Toys and other merchandise tumbled from the shelves overhead, hitting both Henry and Killian, who had tried to shield the boy as much as he could with his bigger bulk.

Killian would die for Henry, he was pretty sure of it in that moment. He wasn’t his boy, but Killian understood what people said when they loved a child so unconditionally that they would be willing to sacrifice themselves for that child’s life. If the Indominus wanted Henry, she would have to go through him. Henry screamed, his voice so high pitched that the sound reminded Killian of just how young the boy was and how real his fear would manifest at that age. Killian cradled him in his arms, trying to cover his view, but when the Indominus punched a hole into the side of the kiosk and tried to claw them out with her scythe like fingers, Henry screamed even louder.

Killian pulled Henry with him as he flattened himself to the opposite wall, bunching the boy in his arms. The rex reached in further, one of her fingers nearly catching Henry’s leg, but Killian was too quick. He pulled Henry closer still, the razor sharp talon just missing the boy’s flesh and scoring a line into the concrete floor as she withdrew it, the sound of Henry’s cries echoing in Killian’s ears.

--

“Ruby! Ruby, can you hear me?” Emma yelled into the speaker of the radio in her hands. Her voice was jostled on account of her running so fast, and she nearly dropped it a few times, but when she released the button and heard Ruby’s voice return, she was so relieved.

“Yes! Yes, I’m here!” Ruby answered enthusiastically, pressing the one speaker headset to her ear so she could make out Emma’s words clearly. “Hey, where are you?” Ruby urged, eyes scanning the operations room as if Emma was there.

“I need you to open paddock 9,” Emma ordered, feet pounding the pavement as she ran, her ankles aching in her high heels.

“Paddock 9?” Ruby asked quickly, frowning. She slid her wheeled chair sideways to the gate control panel and shook her head at what she was seeing. Paddock 9 was huge, industrially built to house one of the islands main assets. “Are you kidding?” Ruby squeaked, entering the override code but hovering her fingers over the enter button reluctantly.

“Ruby, just do it!” Emma repeated, looking directly at the camera next to the paddock gate that she was sure Ruby was watching. The not so distant roar of the Indominus made Emma’s heart pound even harder in her chest and she gripped the flare in her hand even tighter. “Do it now!”

Ruby dropped her headset, fixing her gaze on the camera footage of Emma. She was dirty, ruffled hair and torn clothes, but definitely powerful as she stood outside the huge metal gates and stared into the camera defiantly. Emma tossed the walkie aside, the plastic device disappearing off the screen as Ruby fought with herself internally. Opening paddock 9 could be disastrous, and she had no idea what Emma was thinking, but she had to trust her. Emma wasn’t just her boss, but her friend, so with a grimace, Ruby touched the enter button on the screen and a siren sounded to warn of the gate opening.

There was a red light beside the gate’s keypad and it flashed and spun around in its little dome. A claxon sounded out and Emma took deeper breaths, hoping the shake in her legs would not hinder her plan in any way. She pulled the lid of the flare, a bright, red flame shooting from the end and bathing the whole area in a glow like a warning beacon. The smell of the flare filled Emma’s nostrils but she ignored it, watching, waiting, fighting her flight response as the four foot thick door rose in front of her.

The silence was broken but the even thud of footsteps, paddock 9’s occupant drawn to the sound of the door opening. Years of conditioning had taught her it was food that came through the door, day or night, saliva dripping from her worn toothed jaw as she made her way towards the red glow in the doorway. Emma stood fast, unable to make out anything in the blackness of the paddock in front of her, the ground shaking beneath her feet and the stench of rotting flesh wafting out of the trees as her fingers gripped at the flare even harder. This was madness. There was already at least one dinosaur full of teeth running free on the island, but the sound of rumbling breath told Emma it was too late to go back now.

She was here.

All Emma could see was darkness were two tiny pinprick glows that approached the light she held in her hand, growing bigger with each step the dinosaur took, its eyes reflecting the flare in the darkness. Emma, frozen to the spot, watched as, out of the darkness, a Tyrannosaurus Rex approached her, eyes fixated on the flare in her hand. When the dinosaur reached the threshold, Emma waved the flare a little, making sure she had her full attention, before spinning on her heels and breaking into a sprint away from the paddock gate and back towards the visitor center.

So far, Emma’s plan was working. More teeth, Henry had said, and more teeth she had found. Despite its lack of attention from the new visitors to the island in the wake of newer dinosaurs, the T-Rex was one of the biggest and most dangerous carnivores on the island. In fact, she was the exact same dinosaur that had been introduced to the original park, the beast matured and monstrous now she had aged by two decades, her body scarred to prove her superiority. Emma had to run faster than she had anticipated to keep out of her reach and when the deep, ground shaking footsteps behind her were lost behind a deep, guttural roar, she couldn’t help the panicked squeak that escaped her lips.

Emma’s ears buzzed with adrenaline, the water from the puddles she was stepping in soaking her feet, but she ignored it as she ran through the gates to where the Indominus was still wreaking havoc. The T-Rex was still behind her and she could almost feel the dinosaur’s breath on her neck as she rushed into the light, the Indominus noticing her at the last second before Emma launched the lit flare at the dinosaur and peeled off into the darkness.

The flare hit the Indominus in the shoulder, singeing the opening wounds she had sustained there and making her turn towards what had caused her so much pain. The flare was forgotten almost instantly when she laid eyes of the T-rex, the other dinosaur breaking through a skeleton with an almighty roar of dominance, challenging the Indominus who returned the roar. As the two dinosaurs took each other in, circling around and crushing debris beneath their feet, it was clear that it wasn’t just raptor in the Indominus. She was clearly part Tyrannosaurus Rex too, her thick thighs and three toed bipedal stance almost an exact mirror image of the older dinosaur in front of her.

Emma, who had been displaced by the T-Rex breaking through the skeleton, lay behind her newly acquired ally, staying as still as she could behind the T-rex as the Indominus tried to intimidate the other dinosaur with another piercing cry. Emma locked eyes with Killian who had stood up inside the kiosk at the sound of another huge dinosaur. Seeing Emma made his heart flutter, a relief washing over him, but she wasn’t out of danger yet, the two dinosaurs sizing each other up mere feet away.

The rex took a lumbering step forward and her deeper roar shook the whole kiosk. Henry was up now, curiosity overriding his fear. The T-rex had always been one of his favourite dinosaurs, powerful and mean, with a tiny brain that was attuned to just the most simple of tasks. Eating, breeding and killing. This was her island, and she would kill to defend it. When Henry moved a little too close to the front of the kiosk, Killian’s arm flew across his chest to stop him, just as the T-rex broke into a sprint, jaws agape and eyes wide with intent as she headed straight for the Indominus.

The two dinosaurs collided in a mess of teeth and claws, the Indominus having the reach advantage because of her long arms, but the T-rex getting the better of her when she grabbed her by the neck and crunched down through the Indominus’ slightly armoured skin there. The dinosaurs shifted position, the T-rex holding onto the Indominus’ neck as she spun them both around to gain more of an advantage. The Indominus lowered herself in an attempt to slip from the rex’s jaws, but it just aided the giant dinosaur in gaining more of a grip. One of their tails slammed into a lampost, sending the metal pole flying and sparks shooting from the damaged electrics so close to Emma that she was shaken back to reality.

The T-rex pushed harder on the Indominus’ skin, the ridges much tougher than her own, her teeth taking a while to pierce through. It gave the Indominus a window of opportunity that she took, circling her head out of the T-Rex’s mouth and then turning offensive, using her longer arms to claw at the T-Rex’s face. One of her sharpened claws dug in, slicing the T-Rex across the face, causing the dinosaur to stumble back a little, carelessly snapping her jaws in an attempt to end the assault.

Her foot slipped out from under her and the T-Rex fell to the ground, a desperate roar strangled in her throat when the Indominus clamped her jaws down on her neck. Her back legs flailed wildly, her only other means of defense, but it was to no avail, and the Indominus dragged her huge bulk sideways and tossed her aside where she smashed through the side of the kiosk Henry and Killian had been hiding in.

Killian rushed Henry aside, the open jaws of the T-Rex only just missing him as she cried out, her yellowed teeth mere inches from his face.

“Run!” Emma screamed, drawing Killian’s attention.

When the dinosaurs retreated out of the kiosk to continue their fight, Killian hustled Henry’s fear frozen body forward and out of the hole that had now been created in the side of the kiosk.

“Go! Go!” He ushered hastily, ducking to avoid debris when the Indominus overpowered the T-Rex again and sent the dinosaur crashing to the ground behind them.

They ran towards where Emma had hunkered down behind another fountain sculpture, this one of blackened lava rocks, her arms wide open and expectant. Henry rushed into her embrace, burying his face in her chest, his arms wrapped so tightly around her body that Emma thought she might break in half any second. Killian laid a hand on Henry’s back where it brushed against Emma’s and she looked up from kissing the top of her son’s head to meet his gaze. There was something in Killian’s eyes she hadn’t seen before, something that scared her a little, more so at this moment than any other, and she wanted - needed - to know if Killian felt the same way she did.

Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe the imminent danger, but Emma surged forward and grabbed Killian’s face with one hand, pulling his lips to hers where she kissed him as hungrily as she could with her son pinned between them. Killian kissed her back, pushing hard, his lips sliding against hers and his head tilting to accommodate her nose as it brushed his face, the tip cold from the night air. He felt the same, he always had, and despite this moment being that absolute worst time to figure it out, Emma wanted him as much as he wanted her.

The sound of the T-Rex roaring again broke them apart, the moment fading away in the anguished cry of the nearly defeated dinosaur. They both looked, Killian keeping a gentle grip on her elbow to stay tethered to her, and the T-Rex was down. She had sustained some injuries, fresh, red blood dripping from wounds as the Indominus towered over her and had her pinned to the ground by her head. There was a soft snuffling noise that came from the Indominus, victorious and pleased with herself, but it was drowned out by the call of a raptor that had everything with a pair of eyes looking towards the visitor centre doors.

The sound echoed again, a battle cry of sorts, as Blue came thundering around a kiosk with her head held high and her feet pounding the ground confidently. She raced towards the two dinosaurs, gathering speed with a lowered stance and a hiss of aggression declaring her intentions. The Indominus looked up in time to see her leap into the air, vault off of the downed T-Rex and attach herself to the side of her, Blue’s claws on all four feet sinking into her scaly flesh once more.

In the center of her back, Blue was unreachable, the Indominus violently shaking her body from side to side in an attempt to rid herself of the annoyance. Blue held on, jaws pulling chunks of flesh from the back of the dinosaur who had dared to oppress her and her sisters. The Indominus was not a raptor, she never would be, and distracted by Blue clawing at her skin, she had failed to notice the T-Rex had got back to her feet until her neck was once again in the vice grip of her jaws.

With a renewed energy, the T-Rex used her added weight to push the Indominus back until she hit the side of a building, the tall glass windows shattering and showering them with shards and sparks from a broken electrical outlet. The T-Rex ignored the Indominus when she cried out, desperately clawing at anything that would rid her of the assault. The T-Rex’s short arms were out of her reach and she rearranged her grip on the Indominus’ neck, twisting the collection of muscle and bone until the Indominus roared a pained cry.

Blue jumped between the two dinosaurs, using the T-rex for balance and cover when the Indominus managed to swipe a claw too close. The Indominus was running out of steam, Killian could tell, her raptor based genes built for sprinting and not a marathon. The energy she had exerted during this fight was taking its toll, and Killian used the opportunity to make sure Emma and Henry were on their way to safety. With a nod he motioned for them to move, all three of them running under the tail of the T-Rex as she, again, reasserted her grip on the Indominus by clamping her jaws shut around her head.

Henry led the charge away, through a shop that was partially open at both ends because it had no doors. Half way through the outlet, the sound of glass smashing made him skid to a stop, Blue sliding through the broken glass where she had been tossed from the back of the Indominus. The raptor simple rose back to her feet, none the worse for wear, and jumped back into the action, her shrill cry piercing the air as she leapt back at the Indominus Rex. The T-rex had the Indominus by the head again, shaking her own in an attempt to disorientate her foe. At one point, the Indominus wriggled free, but the T-Rex simple heaved her bulk into the other dinosaur who went crashing through an entire building where she fell onto her side with a groan.

The T-rex didn’t relent, chasing after the huge reptile and grabbing her by the head once more, blood from the Indominus’ previous wounds now restricting her sight. With a heaving sigh, the Indominus flailed her back legs, wildly kicking out at nothing as the T-Rex dragged the hulk of a dinosaur along the ground with her powerful neck muscles, finally tossing her aside like a rag doll where she crashed through a safety barrier next to the huge Mosasaurs lake.

The T-Rex and Blue watched from a distance as the Indominus rose to her feet, shaking her head from side to side like a wet dog, parts of glass and rebar sticking out of her body in all locations. One of her forearms had become limp and she was unable to keep herself steady as she attempted one last roar of defiance at the T-Rex. Defensively, Blue and the T-rex roared back, but there would be no more fighting between them, because, as she prepared to attack once more, the Indominus was grabbed by a gigantic Mosasaur. The monstrous aquatic beast breached the lake surface to beach itself on the concrete, taking the Indominus between her jaws and pulling her prey back into the lake to drown it.

A silent calm fell over the whole area, just the spark of electricity and the ripple of disturbed water the only sounds that could be heard. Blue let out an appreciative grumble noise in her through, the sound barely moving her lips as she took a tentative step back from the T-Rex. The huge lumbering beast simply stared at her, tired and weary from her fight, gave her a quick glance before heading off into the darkness of the island. Emma, Henry and Killian were all looking on, shocked by what had transpired, least of all Killian, who had never known raptors to work with any other species but their own. It seemed humans were not the only ones to band together for a common purpose.