A/N: I should not be doing this. I have sixteen stories and this is now the seventeenth. I really shouldn't be doing this...if only I hadn't watched the Jurassic World movie...I own nothing except my character and her life.

Chapter One

Raising her head, Rowan stared at the sky.

It was beautiful. A clear, crystal blue with fluffy whisps of almost blindingly white clouds drifting aimlessly; at the mercy of the wind. Her thick, reddish-brown curls were ruffled and unruly, a side effect of her twisting and running her fingers through it for the past two hours. Her lips were raw from her nibbling teeth. The lower lip was fuller than the top lip, a fact that frustrated her on a good day and depressed her on a bad day.

Sighing, Rown climbed to her feet; timid hazel eyes locked on the ground.

She longed for a day when she could walk with her head unbowed but considering her almost parilyzing fear of talking to people- that wasn't going to be happening any time soon. Her shoulders curved inward; her bodies best attempt at helping her go unnoticed. Fading into the background was something Rowan had down pat. In fact, her wallflower tendencies were legendary; or at least that's what her older brother says.

A brief, fond smile flitted across her face before it was gone.

Dragging her feet, Rowan entered the house through the back door, the hinges squeaking and creaking as it opened and shut. When her brother was still with her- before he got shipped off to a different county with the Marines- he used to joke the hinges sounded like an old ladies complaints. Then he'd wink, chuck her under the chin and whisper he'd teach that old lady a few tricks. Without fail, that always prompted a giggle out of her.

Now he is a 30 year old medic healing wounded soldiers in whatever 'classified' area he has been assigned to. He looks just like her with the hazel eyes- a mix of green and reddish brown- and thick reddish-brown, curly hair. On him though, the features are just...more. He is 5 years older and the best big brother a girl could ask for.

All her life, Brady has been there. He is her handsome and heroic (and sometimes idiotic) big brother. And she, his ever faithful admirer. She strove to make him proud. More so since their parents passed away 3 years ago. She had only been 22 and still in collage. Despite her differences with them, she adored them with all her heart. It had been a big blow to her. The only way she got through it was with the support of her older brother.

Their parents had died in a car crash- a fact that had Rowan petrified of cars until about a year ago. As it is, the only way she will get in a car is if she a) did a thorough check, b) trusts the driver, c) is the one driving or d) all of the above.

The shrill ring of the landline makes Rowan jump about three feet in the air; her hazel eyes flaring wide with panic and her heart thundering in her chest. Clutchng the cool laminate brown counter, Rowan flung her head around, searching for the source of her alarm. The phone rung again, vibrating violently in the holder, the plastic cracked and yellowed with age.

Lunging forward, Rowan reached for the phone. As clumsy as always, her bare feet (covered in mud), slipped on the tiled floors and she went down in a pained heap; yelping as she smashed her head on the metal handle of a drawer, banged her knee and somehow managed to get her hair caught in a crack running the length of the side of the counter. Her head and knee throbbing with pain, Rowan blinked back the tears burning in her hazel eyes; the swimming liquid highlighting the green in her eyes.

The phone rang again and she scrambled to her feet, shifting her weight onto her left leg; her head bent out at an awkward angle as she reached her fingers to the wall as far as they could go. The painful tugging on her head had fresh tears rising in her eyes but Rowan refused to let them fall, choosing to sink her teeth in her lower lip in her effort to hold them back.

A whirling sound broke the silent struggle and Rowan froze, knowing that was the sound of the answering machine kicking in.

"H-hello -" The female voice sounded vaguely flustered but determinedly grew more confident as she spoke. "I am Kara Levy, personal assistant to Claire Dearing- the Jurassic World Operations Director?" A small, startled squeak escaped Rowan- along with all of her breath and her heart; it escaped by plummeting down to her knees. Renewing her struggles, the petite 25 year old reached out to the old phone with one hand, yanking at her hair with the other.

"Come on!" Rowan begged her hair, the phone and whatever deity was supposed to be watching over her.

"I am calling because we have a job opening here for a Velociraptor specialist. Your old professor- Professor Grant was offered the job but he turned it down. He recommended you as his best student and the most qualified for this position, so we are offering the job to you but it will not be open for long-" Gasping triumphantly, Rowan freed her hair and yanked the phone out of the holder, cradling the worn plastic against her ear; heedless of the knot of reddish-brown brown curly hair left behind in the crack.

"Hello!" Rowan squeezed out, gasping a little from the pain and the nameless fear swelling in her chest at speaking to a new and unknown person.

"Is this Rowan Main speaking?" The woman asked, a cultured air to her voice. Automatically flinching at the sound of her last name- memories of cruel schoolyard bullies and their taunts flashing through her mind (Main sounds like man! Manly Rowan, Rowan the tree-man!)- before she closed that door in her mind. Ducking her head in a low and non-threatening manner, Rowan briefly nodded her head before realizing she would have to verbalize her response.

"Uh- yes ma'am. Rowan speaking." She answered softly, gently rubbing her sore scalp and sinking into the closest wooden chair. Her throbbing knee sent a wave of pain through, causing her to wince and bite back a gasp.

"Excellent! Ms. Main, the job offer I was talking about. Are you interested?" The woman- Kara Levy asked briskly. Shrinking into the chair, Rowan''s heart began to pound in her chest; the rapid pace causing adrenaline to flood her body. Every part of her was trained on the plastic phone in her hand and she didn't know what to do. This...was an opportunity that would not come around twice. Rowan had dreamed of Velociraptors ever since she watched a documentary about them with Brady when she was 6 years old. To be on the same island as them...her heart raced; a mix of fear, excitement and longing racing through her veins. "Hello? Ms. Main? Are you interested in the job?"

"Yes!" Rowan sat in shock, unaware of the answer she was going to blurt out. That had escaped from her mouth before she even processed her mouth moving. She clapped a hand over her mouth, internally dying from shame. A heated blush crawled up her neck and cheeks, setting them ablaze with a red not unlike the setting sun she watched at night.

"Excellent! I will have the file about your new job faxed over with the application. We will need you to fill everything out, especially the packet about rules and regulations. Can you tell me what number to fax these over on?" I could but may I? Rowan thought sardonically. Brady was a stickler for speaking 'properly' and when she was growing up, he would constantly correct her until she finally picked up the same habit as him.

"Y-yes, ma'am." Rowan stammered, shocked at her rude thoughts. She rattled off the number, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. Her palms were sweating so much that she struggled to hang up and and drop the phone back in the cradle. Once she did, Rowan hobbled over to the cabinets painted a shade of robin's egg blue- her mothers favorite color. She pulled a door open, searching for the pain relievers. Her knees insistent throbbing was...unpleasant.

Finding the bottle, she swallowed one dry and headed upstairs to the office. Rowan tried not to look too closely at the cluttered room as memories threatened to drift through her brain. This had been her dad's office. She had spent countless hours in here as a kid, playing with her toys or sitting on her dad's lap as he did paperwork.

Rowan turned on the fax machine, hearing the familiar whirl as it flickered on. Most of the machines in the house were old and outdated. Her mother and father hadn't really liked new technology. They left that to their kids.

The fax machine began spitting out papers and Rowan stared for a second before scrambling to get each and every paper. Some were shot clear across the room and Rowan felt more tears burning in her eyes as every step she took sent pain shooting through her knee. Rowan struggled to get each and every paper and by the time she finished, she had three thick packets. Hazel eyes wide with surprise and shock, Rowan sat back on her heels and ran her hands through her rumpled reddish-brown curls. A hopeless feeling began washing over her and Rowan was tempted to let it but she straightened her rounded shoulders, scooped up the three stacks and left the room, shutting the door and limping across the hall to her room.

It was decorated the same way as when she was six but with a few additions. Her walls were covered with posters of Velociraptors, posters of the old Jurassic Park logo, posters of Alan Grant and caricature pictures of her and her families faces blown out of proportion. Rowan had long since torn down the one of her and replaced it with a poster of a Velociraptor. She didn't like to see pictures of herself because as a child she had struggled with weight. She was not a small child but as she grew older, she shed pounds up to a point where she was almost unhealthily skinny. It is an ongoing problem with Rowan, one that she has yet to fix. She wants to be healthy but doesn't know where to start.

Dropping the stacks of papers onto her desk, Rowan pulled out a pen and began to go through them, appreciating the distraction Claire Dearing gave her.