i saw jurassic world: fallen kingdom yesterday n i enjoyed it so much i thought our characters deserved a bit of an emotional ending to close this journey

this takes place right after the ending of the movie (contains spoilers)

they deserve happiness :'(

—

The car is shaking slightly, troubled by the narrow and rocky road. As the sky is gradually turning darker, rare stars springing up, Maisie is falling asleep. The little girl's head falls onto Claire's shoulder, and soon it's her entire body that leans into the woman who gently strokes her hair, allowing herself to finally let out a deep sigh.

"Where to, now?" she whispers to Owen, whose eyes set on the rear-view mirror to meet hers.

"I said I have a house to finish" he gives her a small smile, trying his best not to make everything seem like a big deal.

But they've escaped a genetically modified reptile and all the dinosaurs ran away, so unfortunately everything was a big deal.

"Off to yours, then."

"I thought you didn't want to sleep in my van?" the young man raises his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"Owen, it's not about us right now" Claire shakes her head, looking down at the girl sleeping on her lap. "We need to take care of her until we figure something out. And, well," she shakes her head. "After what we've been through, I'd happily sleep in any van."

"Okay, you give the orders ."

Owen manages to give her another painful smile and focuses on the road, turning the headlights on.

They remain silent for the rest of the drive, each lost in their compulsive flashbacks and thoughts. It feels like a dinosaur could appear at any moment, tearing the car apart and shredding them into pieces. They've come close to this many times, but nothing could accustom one to death's threat.

Claire ends up falling asleep as well, her head gently resting on Maisie's. Owen just lovingly glaces at them from time to time, something he'd never do if the ginger was wide awake. He wonders whether to truly confess his feelings, but now was certainly not the right time. They had to recover first.

The little group arrives a couple hours later, which causes the young man to grudgingly wake them up. It it is past two in the morning and the outdoors have gotten completely murky, the crickets playing their nocturne and a cold breeze making the trees swing. The campfire died long ago.

Claire is the quickest to awaken so she wraps the brunette girl in a blanket, vigorously stroking her limbs to warm her up as they emerge from the car. She keeps her by her side as they follow Owen to the van.

"It's not the most comfortable thing to sleep in, but I'll try to make it better" he promises, unlocking the door and switching the lights on.

The place vaguely smells of beer and wood, but at the moment it seems like the best shelter they could ask for even though the furniture only consists of a table, a few stools, a small couch and an individual bed covered with many layers of bedsheets. If they put them on the floor, they would probably make great makeshift sleeping-bags.

"Maisie, are you hungry?" Owen asks, already taking a packet of biscuits out of the kitchen cupboard. "You need to eat something, I'm not dealing with you passing out. Here, have some milk and biscuits." He invites the little girl to take a seat as he settles the food on the table, then turns around to face Claire. "A beer?"

The woman nods, accompanying Maisie to the table. They sit next to each other, Claire pouring the milk in a glass and serving it to the girl.

"Will we be okay here?" she quietly asks after thanking the ginger. She seems very tired and lost, her eyes still puffy and strands of hair messily falling onto her cheeks.

"We will" Claire reassuringly rubs her back. "You'll feel better after a good night of sleep."

"Thank you for not leaving me behind" she whispers, then stars nibbling on a biscuit.

Owen and Claire exchange sorry looks, both incapable to decide what to do with the child. She was lovely, and so, so brave, but they couldn't keep her, even if only from a lawful point of view. Her grandfather being dead and Mills being an asshole, she still had Iris though, the house keeper and girl's nanny. With a bit of luck, the old lady could've managed to escape the house and still be alive.

Once Maisie finishes eating, Claire puts her to sleep in the bed, tightly covering her with the bedsheets and kissing her goodnight.

"I believe that we did the right thing," murmurs the little girl before the ginger goes away. "They're just like us" she repeats.

Claire tilts her head and offers her a weak smile. "I believe so too."

However she doesn't know who she's trying to comfort.

Owen turns the lights off at the back of the van, the young woman joining him on the sofa. He hands her a beer, slightly shifting away to give her more space, but she gets closer. They may be exhausted and shaken, but her presence manages to warm his chest. Suddenly, he feels like laughing.

"How are we even still alive" he lets out a nervous chuckle, taking a long sip of alcohol.

"I don't even know. A bit of luck, maybe?"

"Yeah, must be it. I didn't know your rodeo skills were so good" he teases, recalling the blood they had to get for the transfusion Zia did to Blue.

Claire rolls her eyes, giving him a tired smile nonetheless. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Silence takes over them again, Owen's momentary joy wilting. Considering everything that happened, it was more of an anxious reaction to almost dying than real cheerfulness.

He raises his beer. "Cheers?"

"Cheers."

They clink the bottles together, Claire's hand brushing his. Then she eventually lets her cheek fall onto his shoulder, and after a couple seconds of hesitation, he softly slides his arm behind her back, reducing the already short distance between them. That is how things often work for the pair; discreet touches and actions that spoke louder than words.

He is tempted to tease her again by saying I thought it wasn't about us but restrains himself, not willing to ruin the moment. He looks down at the ginger young woman instead, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Not only is she beautiful, even in the dim lights and with the patches of dirt on her skin, but also strong and empathetic. The way she's changed over the past years made him fall in love with her, and he's found himself wishing she would've wanted to live in a van near the forest way too many times. Above all, he respected and admired her deeply — she didn't think twice about going on that island and saving the dinosaurs.

Feeling his gaze, Claire glances at him, giving him a rapid but fond smile. She wasn't best at expressing her feelings, but the young man certainly did make her feel things.

Owen leaves a tender kiss on top of her head and their fingers find their way to each other, interlacing. He feels strangely appeased, yet something keeps hurting. Something that used to make him happy, something familiar that he was always associated with. Something by the name of Blue.

She deserves freedom just as much as he does, perhaps even more, and it may be egoistic, but he can't stop thinking about the way he raised her. The first time he stroked her, the way she somehow cared about him, her witty eyes lightning up when she would see him; her remembering him. All these details start piling up in Owen's brain, making a bud of sadness sprout inside his throat.

He hasn't noticed it, but his grip on Claire's hand has tightened as well.

"Owen" she calls, looking up at him, eyebrows angled upwards in concern. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing" he tries to sweep away the sorrow, but his voice is weak and his pupils sting. "It's just Blue."

He knows she'd understand.

"No, actually it's.. it's not just Blue. Blue wasn't a just" he adds with a stutter. "She was the most brilliant, courageous and empathetic dinosaur I've ever known" the young man blinks several times, putting his free hand over his mouth as his breathing trembles . "She was unique, she... she was my friend."

"She won't forget about you" Claire states in a whisper. "She loved you. No one's ever seen such a strong bond between a human and a dinosaur before."

"But she's gone now. I should be happy for her, I try to be, but.." Owen quickly wipes his eyes. "I'll miss her."

"I'm sure she will miss you too, but that was the right choice" the ginger young woman brings his fingers to her lips. "She's going to be happy out there, she's going to know what it's like to live without cages."

He nods, attempting to smile at her through the tears forming in his eyes once again. "She'll be alright."

"She will" Claire huddles up to him and Owen wraps his arms around her, holding her close as he buries his nose into her hair. "We all will."