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lizisshortforlizard · 5 months

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Living Dangerously - Chapter 31

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

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

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

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

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

Read on Ao3

Chapter 30 | Chapter 32

Separate Ways - Journey

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

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

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

“Esteves managed to let it out.”

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

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

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

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

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

Silence. Lizzy could practically see the cogs turning.

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

***

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

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

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

He had a point.

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

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

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

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

“But-“

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

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

“Just get in the Jeep.”

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

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

”Enough, Kennedy.”

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

She couldn’t stop thinking about it.

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

“Bring your glasses?” Muldoon finally spoke.

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

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

“Boys hunting trip, then.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Just-“

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

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

“Still no, Ar-“

”Guys!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just try it. See what happens.

No such thing as a clear shot anymore.

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

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

“I know what I’m doing.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

”Do it.”

Okay, you asked for it.

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

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

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

Now, Tom.

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

Take the shot take the shot taketheshot-

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

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

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

”Honestly.”

”Do I need to lock the damn door?”

No she murmured grudgingly.

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

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

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

“My favourite kind.”

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

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

“Get out here, then.”

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

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

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

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

“Many times.”

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

***

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

”The breakout wasn’t her fault.”

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

Silence hung heavy in the cab of the Jeep.

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

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

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

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

“Tell me about it.” Muldoon agreed.

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

”She does what she bloody well pleases.”

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

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

And whose fault is that?

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

Tom was oblivious.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

“They ain’t stupid, then?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nobody messes with her but me.

It’s measured in rounds.

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

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

Muldoon had reappeared by then.

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

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

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

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

”I do have my moments.”

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

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

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

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

”Stetson.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Baker, we’re done, over.”

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

”Over.” Muldoon reminded her.

”…over.” She glared up at him.

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

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

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

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

Then nothing but static.

“Rico? Rico! Shit!”

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

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

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

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

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

”Where?”

***

They found him quickly.

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

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

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

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

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

No.

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

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

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

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

What’s that noise?

Jesus, it’s coming from him…

Sucking chest wound-

It’s flail chest, shit-

Looks like a collapsed lung too-

Internal bleeding-

Where’s the fucking chopper?!

Lizzy reached down, searching for his hands to hold-

His hands.

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

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

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

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

Lizzy’s insides froze solid.

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

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

“What do you ne-“

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

“Okay.” Lizzy replied shakily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

”More than he’s already hurting?”

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

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

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

“Shit-“ She whimpered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’ll take it from here, Liz.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not alive, at any rate.

***

Thanks for reading!

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

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

#jurassic park oc #living dangerously #welcome to jurassic park #oc: dr lizzy armstrong #jurassic park female oc #jurassic park #jurassic park fanfiction #my writing #jurassic park ocs #jurassic park novel #jurassic park fanfic #jurassic park fic #robert muldoon x female oc #robert muldoon #gerry harding #ray arnold #ed regis

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lizisshortforlizard · 9 months

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Living Dangerously - Chapter 27

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

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: alcoholism and consequences thereof, animal abuse in a circus context

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

Read on Ao3

Chapter 26 | Chapter 28

The King of Wishful Thinking - Go West

Lizzy still remembered the very first real elephant she ever saw. Tragically, not a majestic wild creature roaming the savannah. That particular elephant was a heavily scarred, cowering soul with a chain around her neck, from when she and her siblings had gone to visit the Kelvin Hall Circus that had descended upon Glasgow in the early 1970s.

Lizzy was still a kid, she honestly didn’t know any better, how cruel it was. The poor animal was entertainment. They all were, the lions, zebras and hyenas. And of course, the stars. The Big Attraction. The elephants.

Halfway through the act Lizzy had gotten the uneasy feeling something was wrong. The old elephant was twisting her trunk up in distress as she moved around the ring, the whites of her eyes showing. And God, the smell seeping through from the pachyderm lodgings at the back of the building was sickening, the heavy scent of ammonia and manure burning in her nostrils. They definitely hadn’t smelled like healthy animals.

The ringmaster had ignored the creatures’ discomfort and cracked his whip, the elephant mounting the step to begin her most impressive trick, walking the tightrope.

Lizzy’s heart had been in her mouth the entire time, the crowd had whooped and cheered, and then the old beast had collapsed, toppled to the sawdust-covered floor while coming off the platform at the other end of the tightrope, crashing limply to the ground and lying motionless.

The ringmaster had sworn, and struck the animal with his whip, over and over, but the elephant wouldn’t get up.

The audience had eventually been ushered out early. No money back.

She remembered covering her youngest brother’s ears as the twin bang-bang of the shotgun had risen over the jaunty pipe organ music, following them out of the door.

Lizzy lost her appetite for the circus after that.

As it turned out, a collapsing elephant and a collapsing Tyrannosaur made a very similar sound.

Isla Nublar, present day. The Rex had begun to sway drunkenly, worse by the second. Lizzy had gotten as far as pointing while stammering “T-tom…” before the dinosaur disappeared from view behind the fence with a long-drawn out grunt. There was an almighty racket of splintering wood as she crashed straight through a grove of monkey puzzle trees before she hit the deck, then ominous silence.

“Oh, Hell…I think my radio’s dead!” Lizzy clicked the call button on the side before whacking it with her open palm ineffectually. “Give me yours!”

”Dude, I haven’t got one…”

They stared at each other. The tyrannosaur groaned.

Going to have to run.

”I’m faster.” Tom took off through the trees like a hare before hounds, hurdling tree trunks and roots while Lizzy ran to the paddock fence.

***

Well, just beat my seven minute mile. Tom thought upon stumbling into the staff lodge. His calves were on fire. He began hammering on doors and yelling for the veterinarian. Someone had to be here, anyone.

Then he heard Muldoon and Baker answering him. Oh thank you Lord. Thank you Father for I have sinned.

“Really wrong?” Kathy quoted with raised eyebrows once he located the both of them. “What do you mean?”

“I dunno man, she just went down like a Goodyear blimp!” He leaned against the wall for support. “We might need the strong stuff.”

”The ‘strong’ stuff?” Muldoon raised an eyebrow.

Tom nodded. “The more permanent stuff.”

His frame of reference was old farm horses whose legs went out from underneath them, and seldom got up again. Tommy, got get the shotgun-

As far as he was concerned, the Rex was toast.

Meanwhile, Gerry Harding had emerged from his own room, blinking. “Someone call for a doc?”

“Emergency-“ Tom wheezed like an eighty-year-old asthmatic.

Gotta quit smoking.

“Exciting!” Harding instantly became more animated. “Let me go grab my kit!”

“Do you know where Lizzy is?” Kathy asked Tom quietly.

“With the Rex.”

Muldoon’s head snapped around nearly fast enough to give himself whiplash. She’s where?! “Not in the paddock with her?!” Kathy was alarmed.

”Well…huh-” Tom shrugged. “She wasn’t when I left…”

“Let’s hope that’s still the case.” Muldoon said glumly.

“What’s all this racket, then?” Richardson added to the chorus of voices in the hall.

“Mr Richardson, Rexy’s down. C’mon, help us.” Tom beckoned him out of his room.

“We clocked off at five today.” The animal supervisor didn’t seem enthused.

“Yeah, so?” He didn’t see the issue.

“Going into the park out of hours, and especially at night is not my business, Thomas.” The shorter man said irately. “It’s not yours either.”

Tom’s lip curled in irritation. He didn’t have time for this bullshit. An animal was suffering, and his boss didn’t even seem to care.

He couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hey, screw you, man.” He turned his back to leave.

”Thomas, if you go back out there with that lot tonight, I’m not giving you any more chances.”

Kathy overheard them.

Huh? What does that mean?

But her thought was forgotten quickly, gone in the flurry of activity as doors opened and yet more animal handlers flooded the corridor, all wanting to lend a hand as word spread quickly. She quickly tried to brief them all on a vague plan.

Rexy was a popular girl, it seemed.

“So be it.” Richardson muttered as he shut his door on the ruckus.

“Meet you guys out front. Hey!” Kathy snatched the car keys straight from Muldoon’s hand. She wasn’t forgetting the state he was in earlier in a hurry. “You can’t drive!”

”It’s a stick shift, neither can you, Baker!”

His voice followed her out into the night as Kathy sprinted for the garage.

***

“All right, folks. I think…-“ Gerry Harding concluded, removing the stethoscope from his ears and patting the scaly skin of the prone Tyrannosaur. “-she has a heart murmur.”

“Reptiles can have heart murmurs?” Kathy queried, extremely worried about the fate of one of her biggest charges. She’d honestly thought the big girl was a goner.

”They’re birds though, aren’t they? Dinosaurs.” Isaac nudged her.

”I presume anything with a heart can.” Harding said casually. “In the meantime, don’t be alarmed if it happens again.”

”So, if she collapses, just let her come around by herself?”

“Yep. I treated a Hyacinth Macaw for a heart murmur back in San Diego Zoo.” Harding recalled. “Sometimes he’d just fall off his perch. The keepers had to modify the enclosure for him.”

“We now have a fainting Tyrannosaur as one of our visitor attractions?” Muldoon couldn't believe it. “Oh, good. Hammond will be so very pleased.”

Harding was still mid-anecdote, undeterred. “Anyway, prescribed him beta blockers and he was still alive when I left the place, so I must have been right. Damn bird made sure to bite me on my last day, in fact.”

Muldoon made an unhappy noise.

”What’s wrong, buddy?”

“Harding, if you put the Rex on beta blockers, I’m going to have to be beyond careful if the damn thing needs tranquillised at short notice ever again.” “You aren’t beyond careful with that stuff anyway?” Harding sounded amused.

“I could end up killing it. Quite easily, in fact.”

Better not drink, then Lizzy thought bitterly. If it’s delicate work.

“We’ll weigh up the pros and cons in the morning.” Harding brushed worries aside with a huge yawn. “But, my professional diagnosis? Heart murmur. Needs meds. Got some math to do.”

“Dosage?” Lizzy asked.

”Mhhm.” He smiled at her grimly. “They’re usually in pill form, and I’m unsure if blockers come in such a thing as thousand-packs.”’

“That’s InGen’s problem to solve, not yours.”

”Yeah, but I hate having to ask the big bosses for things I might not get.”

Gerry missed his state-of-the-art veterinary clinic on the California mainland where he could send his staff out to collect obscure medications, and have them waiting on the desk in his office later that same afternoon. San Diego had the Good Drugs.

“You should know she doesn’t always eat every day either.” Lizzy pointed out. “And that, my darling, is yours and Muldoon’s problem to solve, not mine.” Harding countered sarcastically. “Maybe you can hide the pills in some peanut butter.”

And he chuckled at the thought of the small woman lobbing a soccer ball-sized lump of Jif into the Tyrannosaurus enclosure.

The team dispersed, but the vet motioned at Lizzy to help him carry his kit out of the enclosure.

Something was off, about the way she was acting around Muldoon, and she’d looked decidedly shifty when he’d left the responsibility of getting meds into Rexy up to the pair of them.

The ethologist did a double take when she noticed Harding was watching her intensely as they made their way back up the hill.

“What?” She demanded. “Why are you staring at me?”

”Did you and the big man have a falling out?” Harding asked matter-of-factly. “You haven’t said a word to him all night.”

”None of your business!” Her voice was an octave higher than usual.

Harding smiled knowledgeably. “That’s a yes. So, you’re free for dinner tomorrow?”

“I’d sooner contract malaria than be related to your daughter, Mister-Sarah’s-Dad.”

They reached the veterinarian’s Jeep.

“I am nothing if not persistent.”

”Pestilent, more like.”

“Seriously though, Liz, I’ve been thinking.”

”Well, that’s never good.”

“I did some research. You know how selective breeding for desirable characteristics in dogs can lead to certain health conditions?”

”I didn’t really, but I’ll take your word for it.” Lizzy had never owned a dog, despite desperately wanting one, especially when she’d lived in New York. She’d have been happy with a mongrel. But both Simon and their landlord had denied her. Allergies, Simon had claimed, sniffling for effect.

“Hip dysplasia in German Shepherds, dermatitis in Dalmatians, and blood clotting disorders in Bassett Hounds. Pre-disposal to cancer, leukaemia, brain tumours. Orthopaedic problems and hearing loss.”

”Jesus. Okay.” Lizzy frowned. Maybe her ex had done her a favour by refusing to become a dog owner. “Where are you heading with this?”

There was a faint cheer from the animal handlers.

“Gerry, she’s up!” Kathy called over from near the fence.

The veterinarian graced her with a nod and a wave. ”I also read that the Mesozoic had much higher concentrations of oxygen in the atmosphere than the present-day. And I got to thinking, these animals were made in the lab, right?”

“They’re poorly suited to live on a Costa Rican island in 1992? They’re all effectively asthmatic?”

“Maybe. If we consider them as birds, that animal is built all wrong. Look at her legs, the way she walks. She’s been selectively bred, like a pedigree dog. She looks like she’s skipped a few generations and gone straight to inbreeding depression. I don’t think real dinosaurs looked like that, at all.”

“Which I’m guessing is a problem, physiologically-speaking?”

”The problem is, this island is severely lacking in ethics.” Harding told her, as if the word tasted bad. “And heart murmurs are usually congenital.”

”You think Rexy has genetically-engineered hip dysplasia?”

“I think she’s in pain.” Harding said. “She doesn’t know any different, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it hurts her to exist.”

***

When the cavalry had arrived on the scene at the Tyrannosaur paddock with a screech of brakes, fortunately, Armstrong had not already scaled the fence into the paddock, Muldoon noted with relief.

Instead, she was hopping foot to foot near the gate, desperate to get inside. Yes, she was still breathing. No, she hasn’t gotten to her feet yet the ethologist confirmed. It was not more than ten minutes since Kennedy had raised the alarm. The boy was fast.

But of course, Muldoon couldn’t allow neither Armstrong nor Harding to do their jobs until he had done his.

Insurance shot. Not as dramatic, but it meant the dinosaur wouldn’t be waking up to surprise them all anytime soon.

Kathy and Lizzy had swapped glances while they were waiting for the gate to be opened, a wordless exchange. You with me? Team?

I’m with you. Team.

Guilty, tired grins and relief from both sides. Their falling out remedied with a single look.

They were going to be alright.

But Muldoon wouldn’t have her forgiveness quite so easy, Lizzy had already decided.

The Rex lay prone, blood slowly oozing out of her jaws from biting her own tongue as she’d fallen.

Flies were still buzzing in a black cloud, despite the temperature dropping and wisps of fog beginning to drift in off the sea as Harding began his examination, wrinkling his nose at the odour that followed the dinosaur around as closely as a shadow.

Now, panic over, the Rex up and on her feet again, Armstrong was still staying far away, helping Harding to pack his kit back into the Jeep, not even glancing up at him in passing.

Muldoon wasn’t a fan of the silent treatment. Not at all. The irony just made it sting more.

Now she stops talking. Of course.

“Armstrong?” She kept her head down, as if she’d heard nothing. Bloody woman was deliberately ignoring him. “Armstrong. Can we sort this out?”

Oh jeez. Here we go she thought.

“Sort what out?” Lizzy tried acting nonchalant when she finally spoke. “There’s nothing to sort. Everything’s fine.”

She still wouldn’t look at him, pottering around, mouthing numbers as she pretended to count hypodermic needles. He could tell she was faking it.

Lizzy soon realised her act wasn’t convincing enough and quickly turned to leave, hoping to slip away. But Muldoon’s arm shot out to stop her, blocking her escape route with his hand firm against the Jeep door.

“What are you doing?” She asked flatly.

”Five minutes.” He’d had just about enough of the selective muteness. “You’re being immature.”

“I am being professional.” She insisted. “I’m no longer mixing my work and my private life. They stay separate from now on. I should have done that from the start. Maybe Richardson had a point, for once.”

“Well, I don’t like it.”

“What you like is no long-…eh…none of my concern. I only want to talk about the dinosaurs while we’re at work, please.”

Her voice was getting increasingly louder. People were starting to stare.

Muldoon glanced at Kathy for help, who just shrugged and mouthed you got this.

Well, if Armstrong wasn’t above dirty tactics, neither was he.

Last resort.

“As you wish.” He paused. “Elizabeth.”

The ethologist froze.

Muldoon continued. “If you want to be professional, then it’s alright to use your full name, isn��t it?”

Kathy and Isaac, open-mouthed, began edging slowly backwards away from the epicentre.

“Oh, you-“ When Lizzy finally looked straight at him, her face was screwed up in annoyance.

Eye contact. At last.

“Five minutes. That’s all. Sort this out.” He dared her. “Come on, let’s have it.”

“On one condition.” She agreed frostily.

“Which is?”

She took a few deep breaths before she spoke, practically burning a hole in the ground with an intense stare. Most likely counting to ten, he imagined.

Good.

“My name is Lizzy. Not Elizabeth. Not Armstrong. Lizzy. Lih-zee.”

”I’m aware of that, yes.”

”Then use it.” She demanded. “Say my name.”

“Oh, snap.” Kathy breathed.

Isaac whispered “What’s going on?”

”I’ll explain later, hun. Just- shhh.”

“Alright. Lizzy-“ It’s fine. Got to compromise. It’s fine. “Can we please go somewhere else to discuss this?”

“Hm. Better.” One corner of her mouth turned up. “Okay, you’ve got five minutes.”

“Oh…my…God…” Kathy was beside herself.

”What just happened?” Isaac was stumped. “What’s the big deal?”

”Muldoon has used her actual first name, that I know of, exactly once before.” She checked side-to-side to see if anyone else had picked up on the significance. “That was the second time. Do you know how many times he’s called me Kathy?”

”Uh…never?” He hazarded.

”Correct!” Kathy pointed at the heavens triumphantly. ”Certainly never in front of the other guys. Ugh, I wish I’d snuck into the back seat. This is huge. Mega, even.”

“If you say so.” Isaac shrugged. He clearly didn’t care as much about behavioural nuances. “She kind of made him do it.”

”Mega!” Kathy announced again.

“Hey, want to go get a popsicle before we turn in?” Tom cheerfully appeared over her left shoulder. “Got a hankering for something cold.”

“I-…” Kathy nearly refused, given their shared history, but since truces seemed to be the theme of the night she decided to go along with it. And she never said no to ice cream. “Sure?”

***

“Well, I’m listening.” Lizzy stared straight ahead through the recently-mended Jeep windscreen.

“I am painfully aware of that.” Muldoon sounded anything but enthusiastic. “Makes a nice change.”

“Yeah, right. You lasted, what, four hours? Clearly missed me talking to you.”

“At me.” He corrected.

“At you.” She agreed. “Your turn.”

Just silence. Nothing happened.

Lizzy had just about had enough of him closing himself off at a time like this.

“Talk.” She prompted. “For once. Just talk. It’s me, for Christ’s sake.”

Muldoon honestly wanted to tell her everything, but where to begin? The words weren’t coming liked he’d assumed, hoped, they would, now they were alone.

Lizzy sighed, realising she was being a tad callous.

She saw how much he was struggling, and she felt bad for him. She’d been there herself. A long time ago. A mixture of too shy and too stubborn to say what was wrong.

She picked at the stitching on the Jeep’s seat covers under her legs.

God, she really didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to do this. It was so awkward. But she figured it was time. There was no point in him trying to explain his story if she wasn’t willing to share hers. She wanted him to understand why it hurt so much.

More than that, Lizzy did want to move on. She wanted him back.

She needed him.

Their relationship, professional or otherwise, could never be the same as before. But maybe it had potential to still work, somehow.

She’d have to put the effort in. They both would.

And now she had to swallow her pride and lead the way. Jeff would be so disappointed in her if she didn’t at least try.

Lizzy had been given so many second chances in life, she knew it absolutely made her a hypocrite to be unwilling to pay it forward.

“Would it help-“ she offered. “-if I went first?”

“First?” He seemed surprised at her offer. “Only if you’re sure.”

”I think I need to. I’ve been putting it off for a long time, you may have noticed.” She fidgeted in the seat, bouncing her leg. “Don’t say anything until I’m done. If I stop talking, just…give me a minute.”

Breathe. Just breathe.

Lizzy started in Govan. Not long after that fateful visit to the circus. This time around, every moment she felt the wall threatening to come up, she fought it back down, almost running out of air with how desperate she was to keep her momentum going.

As promised, Muldoon just listened.

She explained why she wanted; no, rather needed to be called Lizzy so badly. It was the name her dad had chosen for her. My wee Busy-Lizzy. All that she had left of him now except memories. Not even a photograph.

How every time she was called Elizabeth, as she elaborated with a sly glance sideways, it felt like someone was sticking a pin in her ribs.

Elizabeth, like her mother had insisted on calling her. Or the school writing home when she was in trouble. The hospital admission band on her wrist when she found out she wasn’t pregnant anymore.

She left that last part out, thinking it might have been a bit much for the park warden.

”Well?” She finished abruptly. “What’s the verdict?”

He nodded slowly. “A lot of things make sense now.”

Massive understatement. Why she had been cagey and stand-offish around her birthday. Why she shot from her right, instead of her dominant side. Why she had quite rightly wanted nothing to do with him anymore outside of work.

He understood.

She’d be well within her rights to be on a ferry bound for the mainland the following evening and never want to see him again.

Lizzy’s leg stopped bouncing, the flight or fight ebbing away with each breath. But the emotion need to go somewhere and was threatening to manifest in the form of tears.

Don’t cry. Do not cry. We’re not done yet.

Her shoulder ached.

“Now you.” Lizzy’s voice wobbled. “Come on, you were the one who wanted to sort this out.”

“I know.”

Muldoon was far from happy.

This sort of talk warranted a few measures of Scotch beforehand.

But that’s what got us in this sorry mess in the first place.

He started more than four thousand miles South-East from Govan, and not quite as many years ago. He finished with the offer that he couldn’t refuse from InGen that felt like a lifeline, and the decision to leave his daughter in Kenya with her maternal grandparents until things had settled down.

“It wasn’t supposed to be this long.” He admitted. “But I thought she might be better off without me, for a while.”

“No!” Lizzy insisted. “A girl needs her dad. I could have told you that twenty years ago.”

“I have considered bringing her out here.”

As long as it’s safe.

“You’ve got to!” Lizzy nodded excitedly. “Come on, it takes a village.”

”It’s her schoolwork that’s the issue…I’ll think about it. Maybe next summer.”

“I’d love to meet her.” She offered sincerely. “María can teach her French, Rico can teach her Spanish. I’ve got Biology covered.”

“We’ll see.” It was a nice thought, but Muldoon didn’t want to get too optimistic just yet. “So, how do we move forward from here?”

“You’re still on your own with the, uh…drinking, I’m afraid.” She smiled sadly. “That is the one thing I can’t get involved with. Just can’t. Sorry.”

Lizzy genuinely was sorry. She would have done her best to be supportive, but for the sake of her own well-being, it was beyond her.

“Not true.” Muldoon insisted. “Not on my own.”

”Oh?”

“Baker tells me she’ll help.” He paused. “Not quite sure how she’s going to manage that.”

“Oh...”

That made a rather large difference to Lizzy. Her own mother hadn’t felt the need to change. Tom’s dad didn’t either. But this was different, though foreign to her. Muldoon clearly wanted to turn matters around.

It felt a little early for hope, but still…

“If Kathy says she will, then she’ll find a way.” Lizzy agreed. “She’s the best. I’m going to miss her, if she gets that job. ”

“Makes two of us. I got very lucky with my team here, that they do as I say.” She smirked when he turned to look at her. “Most of the time.”

“It’s showing initiative!” Lizzy exclaimed. “Thinking outside the box!”

”The box is there for a reason.” He replied, completely deadpan.

She laughed, even though she was torn two ways. Instinctively wanting to trust him, but knowing there was a very good reason she couldn’t just yet.

“I appreciate how difficult this is.”

”Haven’t even started.” Muldoon grimly wondered what ideas Baker had up her sleeve.

“Not that.” She elaborated. “I meant talking about things that obviously make you very uncomfortable.”

“It’s better with you.” Lizzy noticed he seemed surprised with himself at being so forthcoming. “You’re easier to talk to.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

There was a long pause. Fifteen seconds, or five minutes. It could have been either. Lizzy didn’t feel the need to break it.

“I like having you around.” Muldoon eventually said gruffly.

“I like being around- ” She started before she could stop herself.

You. I like being around you. Or at least I did.

”What do you mean by that?”

“I mean-“ Lizzy hesitated. “Eh…I don’t know what I mean, actually.”

She deliberated, playing with the end of her braid before she answered him. “ The closest I can put into words is that…the silences are comfortable. Or maybe I’m just comfortable with the silence. That doesn’t happen very often.”

“Hm. I agree.”

“It’s loud up here, sometimes.” She tapped just above where the metal arm of her glasses sat against her temple. “I have shout to hear myself.”

Muldoon was suddenly struck with a horrible thought.

“You’re not thinking of leaving, are you?”

“Kathy did try to talk me into it.” Lizzy admitted.

“And?”

“Already booked my flight out of here.” She winked. “Nah, I’m not going anywhere. But don’t you be giving me reasons to start looking.”

“Would you go back to Africa?”

”Probably.”

“Namibia?” Would she consider Kenya?

“I…don’t know, I haven’t really thought that far-…Hey, what’s with the questions? I already told you, I’m not leaving!”

“Hm. Good.”

Baker’s words echoed. It’s just a job. You’ll get another one.

“Unless you call me the E-word again.” She said sternly. “That really is unforgivable.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it…Lizzy.”

If Kathy had been present she would have lost her shit. The third time. Twice in one night. “Uh…shoot, it’s been longer than five minutes. Way longer.” Lizzy pointed out, glancing at her watch. “Not long until we’re back at work again, actually. We should go home.” That wasn’t what Muldoon wanted. He felt like driving further into the park, into a more isolated corner where it really felt like The Wild. Staying up until the sun rose over the East side of the island. Finding out more about her. There had to be more to her story than a miserable childhood.

Why had Blacklaw decided to take her under his wing? Given this scrawny little city-slicker the benefit of the doubt in a place like Africa, that should have, quite literally, eaten her alive?

Why was she still standing, after no less than ten years of living in the wild?

She’d overcome the tremendously bad hand she’d been dealt in life. But Muldoon felt she hadn’t quite told him everything yet.

“Better get you back to the lodge.” Was what he mumbled instead.

”Yeah.” Could have been wishful thinking, but she sounded disappointed too.

When they pulled up he saw the curtains in Baker’s room twitch. Still awake. Checking they were both back safe.

Muldoon was about to let her go without another word. But he needed to know.

“Armstrong?”

“Yes?” She was already jumping down from the passenger side.

”We’re alright now? You and I?”

Back to Armstrong. Back to some kind of normality. Lizzy was honestly glad of it. Haven’t even started the difficult part yet. Her conscience reminded her.

”We’re alright. But…”

“But?” He was expecting bad news.

”We could be better than alright again.” She grinned as she slammed the door, leaning back through the open window on her forearms. “That depends on how badly you want it. Good luck!”

The she tapped the Jeep door twice, and was gone without looking back.

Muldoon leaned back in the driver’s seat, thinking for a moment.

”That bloody woman.”

***

Thanks for reading!

Yay, a Princess Bride reference!

But Muldoon saying “as you wish” to Lizzy has me wanting to skip ahead several chapters O.o

#jurassic park oc #living dangerously #welcome to jurassic park #oc: dr lizzy armstrong #jurassic park female oc #jurassic park #robert muldoon #robert muldoon x female oc #gerry harding #kathy

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