How Life Finds a Way

Chapter 8:

The Jurassic Films are all owned by Universal Studios, Amblin, and Legendary Pictures.

1. I'm back! For now at least. Sorry for not posting in so long. College and a job happened, but now I have bit more time on my hands. I hope everyone is doing okay in this crazy time.

2. Also, forgive the lack of action this chapter. It'll mostly be character building between Alan and Alice on Alan's day off. After this we're getting into the main story leading up to the events of the movie.

3. Hope you guys enjoy!

[Cretaceous Cruise 10:30 A.M.]

If someone had told Alan Grant that he'd be waking up on a Saturday morning and NOT going to work, he'd have laughed in their face and told them to go away. Now, he found himself slipping on a life jacket as he watched Alice talk with the person overseeing the attraction.

He'd never really had time for canoeing or white water rafting growing up, but he knew how to from watching Ellie do it.

Alice said it would be fun, and he didn't really have anything better to do with his day off. He still cursed Masrani for that, but he supposed that he could see the man's reasoning behind it. Masrani could tell when his employees were getting too stressed. He was a good people reader.

"All set?" He turned to see Alice smiling brightly at him, her long hair tied into a ponytail.

"As set as I'll ever be." He sighed, throwing his hiking pack over his shoulders and clipping it over his chest.

"Come on Alan, lighten up. We're here to have fun! And would it kill ya to smile?" She chuckled, patting him on the shoulder.

"I am smiling." He gave her a neutral quirk of his lips that almost didn't pass off as a smile. Almost.

"Now you just have to have some fun." She took him by the hand and led him down the riverbank to where a two person canoe sat in the flowing water.

While Alan wasn't new to the feeling of holding hands, it seemed that Alice had a much different effect on him. He found himself not wanting to let go, despite what his mind was telling him, that such gestures were childish in nature and that he was above.

"Hope you have good balance." She laughed as she took the first step into the boat, steadying herself into the front of the canoe.

"Yeah, yeah… You better be the one with good balance. You're the clumsy one here." He mumbled nervously as he watched her. Alan then took his time to step in to the back seat of the canoe, carefully adjusting himself so that they wouldn't tip over with the slightest wobble.

He stopped his little wobbling when he heard giggling, curtesy of Alice. Picking his head up to her he gave a slight frown mixed with an amused look.

"Enjoying the show?" Alan asked as he gave a grunt, finally settling down into the seat of the canoe.

"Very much so." The redhead grinned with enjoyment, looking back at him with half her body turned to him and the other half turned forward.

"Well I'm glad someone is so far." He mumbled as he got himself situated in his seat, picking up his paddle.

"Come on Alan the ride hasn't even started yet, how can you know if it's fun or not if you haven't tried it?" Alice asked, turning back around and picking up her own paddle.

"Well for one I'm not too keen on being flipped over in this boat today, so if one of these dinosaurs does it then I'm done." He said, only half seriously. Of course he wouldn't quit when Alice had taken so much time to plan out a schedule of stuff for them to do.

"For the third time, relax Alan. Most of the time they won't even mess with the tourists unless they offer food." Alice laughed at him.

"Yeah, well I'm holding you to that." He shot back, a small smirk of his own taking his face.

With that, the two left the sandbar that their boat was beached on, letting the flow of the stream carry their canoe for a while. Alan was glad that he'd brought his hat, knowing that the unforgiving Costa Rican sun would beat down on his neck without shade.

The atmosphere was soothing and refreshing, the only noise that could be heard were the chatter and laughter of nearby tourists and the water of the river running, off in the distance in front of them the honks and gentle roars of herbivores could be heard.

"Have you done this before? Or do you do it often?" Alice asked as she began to row with her paddle every now and then to keep their speed and momentum up, as well as their direction, not wanting to ram into other canoes or the sandbar.

"What?" He asked, not clearly knowing what she meant.

"Canoeing. Have you gone canoeing before?" She asked again, more clearly this time.

"Once or twice." He answered her after thinking for a moment. "It was years ago, though. I was a kid."

"Oh yeah? Is this a possible sneak peek into the past of the mysterious Dr. Grant?" She asked with a feigned innocent curiosity.

"Possibly." He rolled his eyes and shook his head at her antics.

"What about you? I can only imagine that you do this a lot." He countered her question with the same one.

"You got me." She giggled before nodding. "I try to stay varied in the activities I do. Back home we did a lot of snowboarding, skiing, and sledding. I hike a lot. I swim, so I'm not entirely opposed to it if we do in fact tip over." She added that last bit with a chuckle.

"Good to know one of us doesn't mind if this thing sinks." He mumbled in response.

They then discussed their personal interests with each other, as far as athletics and outdoor activities went. For Alan, that mean anything outside of digging up dinosaur bones.

Things were pretty peaceful for a while between them. Time seeming to fly by without them noticing until they were deeper into the ride, now being surrounded by lush vegetation. It was then that the pair noticed that humans were no longer the only ones on their path.

A large Apatosaurus let itself be known to them as it waded through the water to get to the trees on the other side, using its long neck to reach up and pluck leaves from its branches. Both Kayakers and Canoers alike paddled around the gentle giant, not wanting to spook or disturb the creature from its feeding, but also observing all of its beauty as they passed it by.

"Apatosaurus Ajax. One of the only dinosaurs here that are actually from the Jurassic Period." Alan said, reciting the animal's species name as he had with every other dinosaur on the island, in wonder of the giant herbivore as they slowly floated by it.

The giant sauropod had not a care in the world for anything going on around it, most likely having grown use to the presence of humans in its life.

"Ajax? Like the cleaning stuff?" Alice asked with a smile, knowing that it would get a response from Alan.

"You and Owen really can't help yourselves can you?" He gave her a raised eyebrow, having had his moment ruined.

"Oh whatever do you mean Dr. Grant? I was just ignorant to what the animal's name was." She said, sticking her tongue out at him.

This earned her a splash of water to the face, curtesy of Alan's canoe paddle.

"Ah! Alan stop!" She laughed and squealed at the same time.

[Gyrosphere Valley, 1:30 p.m.]

"Are you sure we can or should be doing this?" Alan asked as Alice pulled him through a long crowd of people who were waiting patiently to ride Jurassic World's most famous ride.

After miraculously surviving the Cretaceous Cruise without flipping the canoe or spooking one of the large herbivores that littered the river, the two made their way back to Alan's jeep for the next thing on Alice's list. Riding the Gyrospheres.

"Duh, what's the point of having VIP passes if we're just gonna sit around and wait for a ride all day?" She answered him as she bobbed and weaved her way through the crowd of people, already halfway to the check-in station.

"Oh I don't know Alice, maybe because all of these people paid a ton of money to leave their homes halfway around the world, and they have a limited time to experience these things before they have to go back?" He shot back at her as they finally made it to the station.

"Yeah, and who are the ones who makes sure this place is up and running twenty-four seven so these people can enjoy themselves? Cut yourself some slack. The least everyone can do is wait just a few minutes longer at your expense." She told him once they had gotten to the check-in attendant. A short, lanky guy stood at a podium where he was scanning tourist's ID bracelets.

"Good afternoon Ms. Dearing." The Gyrosphere Operator said with a little enthusiasm in his voice, though the kid looked mostly bored than anything.

"Hey Josh, looking busy as usual." She replied to him with a small smile, flashing her pass to him, before motion for Alan to do the same.

The paleontologist stepped forward with a neutral expression, though the operator matched with his own, scanning Alan's pass before allowing them to pass without trouble.

"Enjoy the ride." He said as if he'd rehearsed the line millions of times before, though he lacked any sort of emotion when he said it, which no one probably noticed.

Passing through the gate, the pair climbed into the closest Gyrosphere, with Alan sitting in the left seat and Alice in the right seat. If anything happened while out on the ride and they needed to get out of the giant glass ball Alice would be closest to the door so she could get out first. Alan never wanted to take those kinds of risks with the lives of his friends.

Once the Gyrosphere rolled out of the station, full control over the ride was relinquished to the little joystick in the middle of the vehicle, where a small screen was.

"Hey there! I'm Jimmy Fallon, and welcome to Jurassic World!" The world famous comedian popped up on the little screen, seemingly knowing a lot about the ride they were on.

Alan had to roll his eyes at that. He knew full well that the company had paid him to make random facts about the ride, though it impressed the dinosaur expert that he was still able to stay true to his title as a comedian.

"How did I not know this would be a part of the ride?" He asked himself aloud, his tone between annoyance and amusement.

"Aw come on Alan, don't tell me you don't like Jimmy Fallon! He's like, one of the funniest guys ever!" Alice said with a laugh, slightly pushing him.

"Oh whatever." Alan puffed out, looking back down as the comedian had gotten some fake Dilophosaurus venom on himself, fainting.

"I've seen this guy before on TV. He's really not that funny, you know almost all of his material is scripted right?" He asked her incredulously.

"That might be, but it's that way he presents his material Alan. Who do you think would listen to all of those boring lectures and tours you give if you lacked any emotion or passion while giving them?" She retorted back.

"Boring? Did you just call my tours boring?" He asked with feigned hurt, as if her words had cut deep within his heart.

"Well I was just speaking everyone else's mind." She answered, glancing away from him, before slowly rolling her eyes back to him.

"Then how come I'm the only one who ever gets their lectures filled up with seats?" He asked back.

"Pity points. We all feel so bad we ask everyone who walks through to go and sit through your talking." He shrugged nonchalantly. A little too nonchalantly.

"Pity points…" Alan stared at her with wide eyes.

"Alan?" Her expression went from confident to slightly fearful. Alan looked like he was about to pounce on her.

"Why you little…"

Alan then threw all of the weight he could that wasn't being held down by their safety belts against Alice, tickling her sides.

"Alan!" She squealed out in uncontrollable laughter, unable to put up any resistance because of him putting his weight against her.

"Alan stop! I can't breathe!" She was wheezing at that point, barely able to inhale any breaths.

"Why should I?" He asked with a strained grin, as he put up more effort to keep her from struggling.

"Okay, okay! I take it back!" She almost couldn't get the words out because of her laughter.

"Are my lectures boring?" He asked, continuing to put on the pressure.

"No! Alan! You're lectures aren't boring! Stop, I can't breathe!" She begged one final time, before Alan let up on his assault.

"I didn't think so." Alan crossed his arms with a smug smirk on his face.

Alice had to control her breathing and wipe the tears from her face. She hadn't laughed that hard in ages, though she didn't want to experience it again.

It was then that both were alerted to the presence of a Triceratops, who had been basking in the sun, until the approaching Gyrosphere had disturbed its rest. It gave a lazy grumble, before slowly standing up to move out of the machine's way.

"Wow, just look at her." Alan said, suddenly struck with awe at the sight of the creature.

He'd seen a Triceratops millions of times at Jurassic World, as it was part of his job description to observe and work with the animals, but something about this moment was different.

"Triceratops was always my favorite dinosaur, even as a kid." He stated almost in a whisper, as if his breath had been taken away.

He glanced to his right, seeing that Alice had fully recovered from her fit of laughter, but now had her attention on the giant herbivore as well, the same look of awe and imagination that he could guess was showing on his own face. He then looked down, feeling her hand intertwine itself with his.

Even as nervous as the gesture made him, it felt right. He liked the feeling of warmth she brought when she was around him. It was comforting, and it radiated the same joy that she showed on a daily basis. Normally a response that would've been made from Alan would've been to instantly retract his hand at the contact with another, but not this time.

This time Alan would give in. He actually wanted to see where his friendship with Alice would take them. Without getting in the way of work and the other way around.

He would decide to leave their hands the way they were, going on to point a finger of his free hand at the roaming dinosaur.

"She was built like a bull. About twelve to sixteen thousand pounds. Being hit by one of these things would've been like getting run over by an eighteen wheeler with horns. She was the perfect prey for T-Rex, not too easy, but just the right amount of challenge. Any time a predator went for one of these things, they put their own lives at risk." He commented with enthusiasm.

Alice glance to her left, observing Alan's features. He spoke with such vigor and excitement. This was truly his environment. He thrived here at Jurassic World, and she knew that, she had known that. That was one of the things she'd come to admire about Alan Grant in the time that she knew him.

No. Alan Grant's lectures were in fact not boring. They were quite enlightening.

[Employee Suite, 10:39 p.m.]

The rest of Alan's paid leave day off had gone on much better than he had originally thought it would. Though he figured that he had Alice to thank for that. Without her there he would've no doubt have been miserable the entire day. He had to hand it to her, she knew how to brighten the mood even just slightly.

After the Gyrosphere ride the two went on the Gondola Lift and the Monorail, though Alan rode those on a somewhat regular basis so it wasn't anything new to him. He'd actually found himself the center of attention on their little rides, as little kids and teenagers alike had recognized him from his multiple appearances at the Visitor's Center and many of his thesis papers that he'd published during his time at Berkeley.

Being urged by Alice to suddenly started giving a tour, after having just mocked him for giving "boring" lectures, Alan gave the idea a long and hard thought before agreeing.

Alan had found himself giving a tour for almost two hours, he and Alive having made multiple trips one the monorail much to his dismay, though with Alice and many eager faces ready to learn something he couldn't help himself. Alice didn't seem to mind either. They were supposed to go to the Mosasaur feeding, and then the Pachy Arena, but both were in the middle of their last shows by the time the pair had showed up. Completely exhausted, they would both go to Margaritaville for dinner. Both of them had decided to end a good day off with a five star meal. A good steak with fries.

"You know, there are some really rough looking guys in here. Bet we could take'em if we wanted to." Alice grinned as she downed some beer.

"Really? And let Owen miss out on all the fun?" Alan asked, returning a grin that matched hers.

While it was true that the trio had gotten kicked out of Margaritaville multiple times for bar fights breaking out, having been started by either Owen or Alice, Alan wasn't too keen on not having their cavalry for backup.

"Aw he'd just slow us down. I bet you and I could take the whole place by storm if we wanted." She retorted, her mouth half full with fries.

Alan had to give her that. She wasn't exactly a prim and proper woman like Claire, but she took care of herself like one.

"I dunno about that. The three year old behind you has been giving me the stink eye since we got here, he looks pretty intimidating." He joked, pointing to an infant in a high chair behind her.

"Well then I guess I'll cover you." She flashed a sly grin, making an obvious wink at him.

They'd had a blast. Though the much talked about bar fight never came, but it was a blast nonetheless.

Alan couldn't remember the last time he'd had so much fun in one day, but he knew he wished it would last forever. After today he'd be back to the grind, back to Masrani's secret project.

He shook those thought from his head. He wanted to enjoy what was left of the night, though he knew that would be coming to an end as they approached the employee hotel. He couldn't say that he wanted to let the night end there, but he knew that he would have to wake up early the next morning, and he wanted a head start.

There was an unusual, but comfortable silence between the two as they rode the elevator up to the floor they lived on. Neither noticed how close they were to each other, but it didn't matter, as they had grown comfortable with any amount of distance with each other over the course of the day. Once free from the elevator, Alan had been slightly surprised once more when Alice had grabbed his hand for the third time that day. It's not that he didn't like the action, he was just still getting used to it.

The silence continued for the remainder of their walk to their doors, but came to an end once they reached their residence.

"Uh…" He'd surprised himself by being the first one to speak.

"So-"

"You're welcome." She'd cut him off, giving him a calming, yet energetic smile.

Had she known that he was going to thank her for such a fun and relaxing day?

"Sorry, I should've told you I'm good at reading mind. It's a secret super power. Years of practice." She gave him a small smile.

"Well that would've been good to know." He laughed, instinctively squeezing her hand gently.

"But yeah, thanks, for everything today. God knows it would've been miserable by myself." He shoved his other hand in his pocket, looking at her with a small smile of his own.

"Anytime Alan. You know I'm here for you, if you ever need anything, anything at all." She reassured him, returning the squeeze.

"Right…" Alan trailed off, almost losing himself in her green eyes.

She'd been having the same problem as well, though Alice had been having the same problem ever since she'd met Alan. She was used to the feeling, but she still could never seem to break her hold over the trance, nor did she want to.

Blinking himself out of space, Alan realized that they had been standing in the hallway for a while now.

"Well it's getting late, I suppose we should end the night on a good note." Alan said, giving the slightest of smiles.

"Oh… Right. Yeah, you're right." Alice shook herself free as well, returning a small smile, but this one seemed to be forced.

Did she not want the night to end?

The redhead had slowly let go of Alan's hand, giving him one last smile before turning to the door of her suite.

The paleontologist couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart for the abrupt end in their moment, turning to open his own door without a second thought. He stopped himself suddenly, halfway through the door, turning to Alice.

"Hey Alice?" He called her name.

She instantly perked up at his voice, hearing her name she turned around, green eyes meeting blue ones.

"Yeah?" She asked.

He thought for a long moment. He knew without a doubt that the words that were about to come out of his mouth were the ones he wanted to say to her.

"Would you maybe want to, I dunno… would you wanna-"

"Yes!" She interrupted him again, excitement in her voice.

"But you didn't even-"

"A date?" She asked curiously, though the excitement remained.

"Yeah, but how-," He was cut off again.

"Mind reader, remember?" She tapped her forehead.

"Right… I guess I'll get back with you on a date then?" He asked, unsure of himself.

Alice was inside her door in a heartbeat, slamming it shut after he'd finished his question. Before he could question what had just happened, he heard a loud, high pitch squeal of joy followed by victorious laughter coming from her room.

"Yes!" He heard her shout.

Alan could only shake his head, a permanent, but small smile having made its way onto his face.

Stepping inside his suite and closing the door, he felt his phone vibrate. Digging it out of his pocket, he saw that it had been an email from Dr. Wu.

Alan froze at what he read. His breath hitching and getting caught in his throat. The moment of truth was here.

"They're hatching."

Alan would not being getting any sleep that night.

I hope everyone enjoyed the new chapter! Sorry again for the long absence, life happened. Hopefully many more will come afterwards!