YOU GLARED AT Owen and his sarcasm, mentally cursing how nonchalantly he could throw away their Velociraptors. "What about Blue?" you hissed, fingers tightening around your glass. Owen only shrugged silently.

"There's a plane leaving tomorrow. If you're coming, be there," Claire slid the location across the table and you rose to leave. You stared mournfully at your brother.

"I'm still going, with or without you."

Then you left him in silence. Claire gave you a ride home, where Zach awaited in the living room. You collapsed onto his lap with a sigh. This was going to be hard.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Zach questioned in concern, lifting your head to study your face.

"Zach," you reached up to place your hands over his, [color] eyes locked against brown. "I'm going to save the dinosaurs."

His eyes widened in shock and he pulled away, blinking rapidly. "Not only is that illegal, but dangerous! What if you get eaten? What would I do? I can't lose you!"

"Honey, relax. I'll be fine," you tried to reason with him, a confident smirk making its way onto your face. "Dear, you're with a badass bitch. D'you really think I can't handle myself? I've saved you before, haven't I?"

Zach had to fight a smile at the way you crossed your arms and cocked your hips. His muscles did relax, running a hand through his dark hair. "Alright, fine. But I'm going with you."

You snorted, "no, you most definitely are not."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you aren't."

"Yes."

"Nope."

"Yep."

"Nu-huh."

"Yeah."

"Fight me."

"Wait, what?"

"Beat me in an arm wrestle, winner gets to choose who goes and who stays," you offered as a compromise. In your free time, ever since the Jurassic World incident, you'd been working out, trying to strengthen yourself to better protect your loved ones. You knew Zach was strong, but you also knew he didn't do much aside from morning jogs. You felt pretty confident in your abilities.

"Alright, fine," Zach nodded and you both cleared a spot on the table, situating each other opposite. As you clasped his hand, you locked eyes with him.

"On three," you declared.

"One.." Zach counted.

"Two..." you said.

"Three!" Your hand instantly began to sink toward the tabletop and you gritted your teeth, earning the lead. You pushed Zach's hand as far as you could, twisting his wrist to give you an advantage. After several moments of struggling, you slammed Zach's knuckles onto the table.

"Boom, bitch! I won, take that!" You danced triumphantly, a smug smile on your face.

Despite the weight of your compromise, Zach couldn't help smiling at how ridiculous you were. He stood, pausing your victory celebration by wrapping his arms around your stomach.

"I'll stay," he promised quietly, "but only if you be very, very careful. I mean it, Y/n, if you.. if you... I.."

You turned in his embrace to face him, placing hands on either sides of his face. Your thumbs traced lazy circles under his eyes as you gently pulled his head down to rest your foreheads against each other. You stared into his chocolate eyes.

"I promise I'll be okay. I promise I'll come home. I promise that nothing will ever tear us apart." you told him sincerely, kissing his nose, "I love you."

A mournful smile crossed Zach's face and he blinked slowly, kissing your nose too. "I love you too. I'll help you pack."

You both pulled away, although your hand was clasped in his, "of course," you nodded.

The next morning, after a long, drawn-out goodbye with Zach, you arrived and began packing your luggage into the plane. Franklin and Zia were there, and Claire had been the one who'd driven you.

"I'm gonna die," Franklin was whining about the plane being too dangerous and set for crashing. "There are drones bigger than this thing!"

"You're more likely to die riding a horse than in a plane," Zia chastised and they began their arguing again.

Finally, you were ready to leave. You boarded the plane with the excited women and reluctant Franklin. You had just sat down when Claire exclaimed, "Owen?"

You twisted around to see a tired Owen rubbing his eyes. "Took you long enough," he grumbled, coming to sit beside you.

"Owen, this is Zia Rodriguez," Claire gestured to her, who waved with a friendly smile, "and Franklin Webb, system analyst."

Owen turned to Franklin curiously as he shifted nervously in his seat, "Nervous flyer?" he asked.

"Would you ride a thousand pound horse with big wheels on the sides?" Franklin replied, almost sarcastically, and you rolled your eyes. What a dramatic little boy.

"You're talking to a Grady, Franklin, remember? Owen here even rode a damn motorcycle through the jungle with a pack of Velociraptors!" You retorted, laughing at Franklin's surprised and almost disgusted expression as he seemingly recoiled.

"We're not compatible. At all," he said.

Owen turned to toss you a smug smile, which you returned. It seemed this trip would be even more interesting.