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After the events on Isla Nublar, the Costa Rican government had insisted on closing down the whole of Ingen's operation. Geneticists and game keepers alike had evacuated Site B on Isla Sorna, leaving the guardianship to a small security force from the Costa Rican army. Perhaps that was their first mistake because a bunch of soldiers knew nothing about herding gallimimus and brachiosaurus, they knew nothing on how to control the deadliest killers on the planet in 65 million years--T-Rex, spinosaurus...and velociraptor. So it was of little surprise to Alan that they had ended up abandoning the island and its monstrous creations leaving more than just overturned water trucks and still-full vending machines behind. They had lost men too for there was no large primate on the island that could account for the skull and bones that Erik had found and used as a weapon to fight off the hungry chicks in the pteranodon nest.
Within five years, the jungle had taken back most of the land cleared by man, with vines threading through broken glass and twisted metal. Eventually, the complex and airfield would be gone, crashing down like the stairs of the pteranodon observatory, and then the island would belong solely to the dinosaurs.
Man and velociraptor were never meant to share the same world. If it had not been for some cataclysmic event 65 million years in the past then primates would have stayed up high in the trees to avoid their main predator and rival. They would not have spent time on the ground digging for roots and picking berries at their leisure; they would not have found shelter in caves and mastered fire. Velociraptors would have ruled the world and given 65 million years of evolution, Alan suspected that they would be the ones building space shuttles and sending others of their kind to the moon, with primates on the verge of extinction, kept as exhibits in a zoo. It was a sobering thought to realize that man's dominance had rested on the whim of natural catastrophe--on a large meteor that sent a dust cloud enveloping the Earth, blotting out the sun and killing much of the vegetation that was the food source of the velociraptors' prey. The key to survival was adapt or die. Primates and small mammals had survived because they had adapted quickly, requiring smaller amounts of food to survive and able to find shelter and warmth, but the massive herbivore dinosaurs had starved to death, and after they were gone, most of their predators followed them into extinction.
Hammond had brought them back from extinction and now only the cataclysmic event of a nuclear device landing on each island would send those creatures back where they belonged. However, watching the pteranodons flying majestically towards new breeding grounds told Alan that they had already left that option far too late. As Malcolm had once said, life finds a way, and Alan suspected that more than just one species of dinosaur had already found a means to spread from Isla Sorna, perhaps already breeding on other islands in the small chain known as Las Cinco Muertes--The Five Deaths.
Five years on, he still remembered the velociraptors; he recalled their harsh barking calls and the intelligence behind their cold reptilian eyes. They had haunted his dreams, bringing back memories of fighting for not just his life but Ellie's and for Hammond's grand kids, and yes, for Ian Malcolm and Hammond too.
The situation he found himself in now was worse. Far worse.
When he passed the eggs across to Mrs. Kirby as the alpha female velociraptor bared her razor sharp teeth, Alan was convinced that part of him had already died. Surviving the loss of Billy would be near impossible as he wasn't certain if he could adapt to the emptiness of his life without him. Billy's presence--his boyish charm and enthusiasm--was connected to so much of Alan's life; to the dig, to the university, even to the long boring seminars used to gain grant money for continued research. It had taken losing Billy for Alan to realize exactly what he had lost.
Now he had him back, bloodied and torn but very much alive, and Alan knew he had to evolve; he had to adapt to the knowledge of what he wanted from Billy or let his feelings for Billy die, even if that sealed his own fate. The problem was not so much a fear of revealing his love but in knowing if it was returned, aware that he could lose Billy if he said nothing but, equally, he could lose him if he spoke up.
As he stared at his battered hat--probably rescued by Billy as they floated down the river together--he thought back to all those moments shared. Alan recalled the easy laughter at the dig and the way Billy often reached out to touch his arm or his back. He remembered the way Billy's lips pursed and his eyes narrowed a fraction whenever one of the female helpers flirted with Alan, and the way Billy would saunter over and charm that woman away. Except it wasn't just women. He'd watched Billy charm away men too, before setting them to work as far from Alan as possible. With a frown, Alan realized that he only ever saw them for a few weeks before they were replaced whereas others returned time and time again.
He was a scientist, a paleontologist. He was used to digging up tiny pieces and fitting them back together like a 3D jigsaw puzzle, sometimes of massive proportions. Applying that same logic to his relationship with Billy was starting to yield a different theory to explain Billy's actions. He'd stolen the velociraptor eggs in the hope that they would fund the dig for another ten years, and that implied that he wanted to stay with him even after he finished his thesis and gained his own doctorate. He'd done it for both of them, and had nearly died trying to redeem himself in Alan's eyes.
The slight thud as the helicopter landed on the US carriers' deck brought him back from his new theory and he kept his seat as Billy was taken off first, catching and holding Billy's gaze until the last possible moment as the stretcher moved through the door. Any doubts fled from Alan immediately, burned away by the intensity of love and need in the pain-filled eyes. For once, technology didn't hold him back as he unclipped his seat belt and followed on behind. No one stopped him but then he guessed they wanted to check over the whole group anyway as all of them were sporting cuts and bruises from their ordeal on Isla Sorna.
A medic asked him to sit on the bed next to Billy and that suited Alan just fine--until they drew the curtains between them.
"Alan?"
The fear and pain in Billy's voice gripped at Alan's heart but the medic wouldn't allow him to rise and draw back the curtain, so he called out instead, "I'm here, Billy. I'm here."
"Don't go," Billy whispered hoarsely, in direct contrast to his plea as the pteranodon attacked.
"I...I won't. Not this time. I'm not going anywhere without you." He took a deep breath. "Who'd protect me from the damn tourists?" he added dryly, trying to ignore the shake in his voice. The small chuckle he gained in response took away some of the worry and Alan relaxed a fraction, allowing the medic to treat his cuts before they became infected.
"Alan?" The pain-filled voice was softer this time but still laced with fear. With recent bad history between them, Alan could hear the unspoken question. Were they good? Was he forgiven?
"Still here. We're going to be alright, Billy," he stated, hoping that Billy would hear the deeper meaning that offered both regret for the harsh words spoken in anger, and forgiveness for the act of theft from the velociraptor nest that had brought on those words.
"Okay." This time Alan heard the relief and knew Billy had understood.
Alan smiled and let the medic carry on with his job. Somehow he and Billy had survived Isla Sorna and its monsters, so perhaps adapting to a new relationship between them--one built on love--was not such a harrowing prospect after all. Certainly, Alan wanted to try.
END