Hey guys! Sorry it took a bit of a wait for this one! I just started my new semester at college, going into my junior year. It's gonna be a busy one, but I'm looking forward to squeezing in some writing here and there to keep me sane ;) Anyway, enjoy this next update, and let me know what you think!

The line is long for Jurassic World's famous gyrosphere ride in the park's herbivore safari plains. The two scofflaw runaways, Henry and Roland, wait patiently for their turn in what Roland playfully mocks as the "large hamster ball". In the short period of time taking the monorail north to this attraction, the boys have come to feel a sort of kinship that stems from this particular circumstance in which they find themselves. While both sharing the exhilarating feeling of finally being on their own and the fact that they ran away, Henry and Roland fed off one another's excitement, making the pair to be quite the team.

"So what's it like having your dad be a dinosaur trainer?" Henry asks curiously to an impatient Roland who shuffles from foot to foot beside him.

Roland shrugs, kicking at a loose stone. He watches it roll a few inches away, stopping only when it hits the sneakered heel of an oblivious person two people down from them in the line. "It's cool," he says, looking towards the older boy. A slow grin appears across his lips. "Papa tells me all kinds of cool stuff, like how to make the dinosaurs listen to you. He says when I'm older, I can be just like him if I want." Roland smiles proudly.

"That's awesome," Henry remarks, returning the curly brunette's smile with a genuine one of his own, "I wish my mom had a cool job like that."

"But you said she's the boss of the entire park," Roland reminds, "That's pretty cool to me."

Henry shrugs a shoulder. "It's boring," he states in distaste, "It would be so much cooler if she was like, I don't know, working with the mosasaurus or something." He sighs before scoffing, "But she's too dignified for that."

Roland tilts his head. "Dignified? What does that mean?"

"I mean she's too proper and…clean. She wouldn't want to get her hands dirty, you know?"

"Papa gets his hands dirty a lot," Roland says innocently, "Sometimes he comes home and the whole front of his shirt and pants are dirty. And his boots track mud." He giggles at the mental image of his father coming into the home looking less than his usual debonair self.

Henry laughs. "Yeah, I bet Mom and he would get along real nice," he breathes with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.

Roland's eyes widen almost comically. "Do you think they would?" He gasps.

"No," Henry snorts, slightly perplexed upon witnessing the young boy's deflated look. What's gotten into him?

"Aww."

"Why 'aww'? You've never even met my mom, have you?"

Roland shakes his head, tossing his curls this way and that. "No," says he, "I don't think she's even met Papa. He doesn't talk about her." There's a slight pause before suddenly the boy gasps again. "What if she doesn't even know who he is?"

Henry tilts his head, highly confused. "So? The place is big. I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, it's not like she would have any time for him anyway."

"Hey!" Roland's eyes narrow, looking all offended. "Why not?"

But the older boy shakes his head, quick to correct himself. "No, no! I don't mean it like that. That's just her." He sighs, abruptly lowering his gaze towards the ground. "It's like she doesn't even have time for anyone nowadays."

Roland frowns. "Even you?" He asks, to which Henry stiffens and shakes his head in sudden disregard. The abrupt change in body language intrigues the young boy.

"Never mind," Henry mutters with a wave of his hand, "Forget I even brought it up."

"But you did," Roland points out, "Tell me."

"No, Roland," Henry says, giving the boy a stern look, "I said forget about it."

"But—"

"Next up!"

Henry blows out a sigh of relief, thankful to be saved just in the nick of time by the ride's operator. Immediately, the subject is dropped as the two boys make their way towards the open gyrosphere. Roland forgets the earlier conversation the second he slides in with a giant grin plastered to his face.

After being buckled up inside, the circular door is latched tightly closed, effectively sealing the two boys into the transparent shatterproof sphere. Once they receive the 'go ahead' by the operator, Henry takes command of the gyrosphere's joystick and presses it forward. Immediately the sphere slides smoothly, the hard glass exterior rotating forward as the wheels below carry them out into the open fields.

The short ride, via helicopter from the now ruined Indominus Rex's paddock, back to the park's control center, is tense. Though, tense is but a euphemism for what the atmosphere feels like in this small cabin of the ACU chopper. The air is frozen, ready to shatter to pieces like a thin sheet of ice, should anyone dare to even breathe in another's direction.

So Robin keeps his eyes focused forward towards the approaching center and its helipad. But also in his periphery, he carefully regards Regina's outward demeanor. The little movement that she dares to make says more than anyone blatantly flailing around panicked and in horror at what had just happened. Facial features rigid and with that long vein bulging from her forehead, the CEO sits as stiff as a doll. The only gestures she makes is that with her lower lip, which she keeps trapped tightly between her teeth, and the wringing of fingers hovering above her lap. Robin doesn't know whether or not to interfere on her evidently unconcealed dark thoughts. But he does worry that she'll end up at least with a bloody lip otherwise. However knowing her, a gentle admonition, though even with all the best intentions, is an act that would prove to be lethal. And the trainer would rather not die an unnecessary death. He'll pick and choose his battles. Because as for the moment, there are many.

The helicopter lands smoothly and all passengers sit as if in a daze while the rotor blades slowly come to a halt and the engine is cut, leaving everyone in a dead silence. It's Graham who makes the first move, clamoring out from the passenger front seat. Robin turns his head and looks to Regina. He swallows hard, feeling the need to voice something. While at the same time, he's not exactly sure as to what he should say. Strangely enough, the trainer's first instinct is to comfort the visibly anxious CEO. But before he can make up his mind and open his mouth, Regina is unhooking her seatbelt, unlatching the backseat passenger door, and sliding out, without so much as a look in his direction.

Heart heavy, Robin follows, keeping a healthy distance between himself and the brunette as they make their way from the helipad and down into the control center. Internally, the trainer finds himself amidst an inner civil war between being absolutely furious with Regina and feeling deeply sympathetic for the woman whom he knows has tried so hard to live up to her father's ambition only to have everything destroyed. But, perhaps all is not lost just yet. The Indo-Rex is loose, but there is still time for damage control. There is still hope.

However, all of Robin's desperately optimistic notions fly right out the window the moment Regina, Graham, and he walk through the doors of that center control room. The second the CEO steps through, activity ceases as all eyes shoot towards her. Distressed, revolting, and contemptuous, every single person stares Regina down, condemning her as if she had just committed some kind of immoral sin. And the humiliated, almost broken, look in the brunette's eyes as she took in everyone else's is enough to sink Robin's heart even further like a stone in water. Now, sympathy trumps anger. And more than ever, all the trainer wants to do is comfort. He wants to reach out his hand and draw her into his arms and tell her that everything will be okay, that it's not her fault. But again, like the fool he is, Robin does no such thing, only clenching his jaw tightly in deep turmoil—in fear of both his own emotions and of the CEO's, should he embrace her and make her feel even weaker in front of all her employees.

Of course, their anger towards her is irrational. But when in fear, there is a fine line between fury and fright. And what each worker doesn't know, is that beneath all of the anger and agitation is the terrified person looking up to their tenacious CEO for guidance and protection.

Robin watches Regina as she tries to keep herself composed, despite the murderous glares. Her lips only stay parted in horror for a moment at the scene before she pulls herself together, pries her eyes from David's wife Mary Margaret who sobs in the arms of one of the staff, and takes a deep breath.

"Everyone, remain calm."

Robin wordlessly follows Regina as she quickly descends the stairs to the control room floor. Standing behind the master terminal is Nottingham with his gaze nauseatingly righteous and fixed on the simmering brunette. He shouldn't look so confident, for Robin knows all too well that the scene that's about to unfold between Phillip and Regina could very well be nothing short than equivalent to the Indominus Rex encounter from before.

"Regina, I—"

"Save it," the CEO snaps.

"You know I did everything I could to—"

"I said 'save it'. This is all your fault."

Phillip glares at her. "I'm not the one who asked two men to walk straight into that paddock, am I?"

Robin watches Regina swallow hard. He knows very well that she's at her wits' end trying to keep it together. But then, Graham steps around her, facing the offended chief of security.

"It was my idea," the operations manager says nobly.

"And she was stupid enough to agree," Nottingham hisses, effectively making the younger man cower, Regina stare agape, and Robin's blood boil.

And that's just enough to have the trainer stepping forward, having no qualms now in taking action and putting an end to this ridiculous game of who's to blame. "That's enough," Robin barks, defending the still dumbstruck CEO. He glances towards Regina who stands stiffly, lips tight and cheeks red. "What matters now is the animal on the loose. And if we don't act quickly, she'll tear this island apart."

"And how exactly are we supposed to do that, when we don't even know where the hell it is or in what direction it's headed?" Regina questions after finding her voice. She pins Phillip with a deadly stare.

Nottingham raises his hands. "Just an oversight, remember?"

"An oversight that cost us all greatly, not to mention your job soon, if you don't turn that fucking tracker back on right now."

The chief of security sighs, shaking his head as if he's the victim in all of this. "Fine," he says, looking towards the computer screen in front of him, "Fine." He pulls out a flash drive and slides it into the USB port.

As Robin watches Phillip type in the code, he can't help but feel a rise in his own suspicion of the man. Upon glancing at Regina, the look he reads on her side profile says the same. However, he doesn't have time to contemplate it much before there is a beeping sound and a large blinking blue dot shows up on the main control screen's map.

"Looks like she's headed south. The paddock is four miles from the closest attraction and she's moving fast," Graham states, eyes narrowed at the screen, "I'll call for a park-wide alert."

"No, no!" Regina interjects quickly, her hand flying to grasp the manager's mid-flight as it travels up to his earpiece.

"Regina!" Robin protests.

The CEO whips her head around to glare at him. "No!" She repeats, "I will not let news of this incident travel beyond these walls. You all know very well of the repercussions should that happen."

"Regina, you can't be serious. This is a monster we're talking about here," Robin says, eyes wide with disbelief at the brunette's logic, "We have to warn people."

"True, but there is still time," Graham replies, swiftly coming to the brunette's defense. Robin can't help but glare daggers at the man. "Surely, this is something that the ACU can handle quietly."

"Quietly?" Robin challenges, his temper rising even further, "You have got to be kidding me."

"Robin!" Regina berates, "Are you seriously going to challenge every single thing we say?"

"Yes, because this whole thing is madness!"

With an acute roll of her eyes, the CEO turns her head from him, promptly choosing to ignore the trainer. "Graham?"

The man nods. "One thing that has kept this park running is its ability to deal with these types of situations. Back then, they didn't have the equipment that we do now. ACU can handle this."

"Don't count on it," Nottingham scoffs under his breath. Robin raises his brows at the utterance.

"What was that?" Regina demands, looking to the man who simply blinks at her.

Phillip shakes his head, snorting. "Nothing," he says, shooting her a haughty smirk, "Nothing."

It takes twenty minutes for the ACU troopers on call to suit up and prepare to subdue this prowling Indominus Rex. And in that time, Robin sits amidst anxious people in the control room, puzzled over the events that have happened thus far. He shares a look with Graham, a quiet mutual understanding of the confusion as to why the tracker was disabled in the first place. However, even with this suspicion placed on the park's chief of security, Robin knows that all attention would be turned towards the escaped Rex. It worries the trainer that such a distraction would give Nottingham the perfect opportunity to continue on with whatever he's planning. Robin can't help but feel that the dismantlement of the tracker is but the first step in a much larger scheme.

The trainer looks up at the master control screen, eyes widening at the shaking images of the cameras attached to the troopers' jackets as they march their way through the forest. "They're going after her with non-lethals?" Robin breathes, brows furrowing together.

Regina shakes her head. "We've got twenty-six million invested in this asset," she states, "We can't just kill it."

Robin shakes his head slowly, not being able to suppress hopelessness, not only for the men at risk but also for the brunette who can't seem to understand the absolute precariousness of the situation—or maybe she just simply denies it. But the trainer can't be certain of the latter. He wonders what it would take to change the mind of the brunette whom he knows to be one of the most stubborn he'd ever encountered. If it's not the carnage in the Indo-Rex paddock to shake her walls, then what?

"Regina, you need to call this off."

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me," Robin snaps, his blue eyes flashing. "Call off this mission!" He persists, "Right now, I mean it, Regina. These men are going to die!" Beside him, Graham swallows hard, looking to the wide-eyed brunette for the command.

"You're not in control here!" Regina barks exasperatedly.

Robin watches in deep frustration as she crosses her arms, turning from him to gaze back up towards the screen.

"I admire your effort, pal." There's a sudden whisper in the trainer's ear, making him jump. He feels a hand clap his shoulder. Immediately, Robin shakes himself from the grasp. "I like how you're trying so hard to defend her and—I don't know—preserve her image or whatever," Nottingham continues beneath his breath. Robin glances towards the brunette who stands just a few feet away, thankfully unaware. With a frown, he turns his head back towards Phillip whispering in his ear like the seeming conspirator he is. "But the truth is, no matter how hard you try, she'll just keep digging herself an even bigger hole. So, take my advice before she brings you down with her. Give it up. It's really not worth it."

The plains are as tranquil as they should be. All is quiet and peaceful as Henry and Roland travel over the grounds. The gyrosphere carries the boys smoothly over the grassy terrain. From the triceratops, with its hard bony frill protecting its neck and its long pointed horns, lumbering towards a small bush; to the parasaurolophus, sporting a curved horn as an extension from the nose all the way out towards the back of its head, having a drink at the small watering hole; all the way up to the towering long-necked apatosaurus that shakes the trees from above; the sphere brings the boys nearly up close and personal with each of the species present in the area.

Safe behind the transparency of the glass, Henry and Roland take their time gawking at the un-extinct creatures. For they are a true sight to behold. Henry looks to Roland as the young boy can hardly keep himself buckled in his seat; his little nose pressed up against his side of the glass.

"Aw, I wish we could pet them. I want to know how they feel," Roland muses.

Henry smirks, shaking his head amusedly. "Just because they're herbivores and they only eat plants doesn't mean you can just walk right up to them," he says, "They're just as dangerous as the meat-eaters too, you know."

"Aww!"

"You know they probably feel like a lizard or something," Henry consoles, still continuing to smirk at the unsuspecting boy, "Go and pet an iguana or something, and you'll know exactly how it feels."

"It's not the same, though!" Roland huffs, crossing his arms. His petulant pout is adorable.

Henry laughs softly. "Look, I'm trying here," he breathes, "At least you get to see what they look like in real life." He lifts his head all the way towards the sky, staring up at an apatosaurus that stands just about a hundred feet away. It's neck is so long and head so high up that Henry has to squint into the sunlight to be able to see the dinosaur's face properly. "My mom really does have an amazing park, I'll give her that much," he murmurs.

"So what ever did happen between you two?" Roland asks, remembering the conversation from earlier, "You never told me."

Henry frowns, groaning at the fact that he must encounter this yet again. "It's not any of your business," he retorts, "Why do you think something happened anyway?"

"Because," Roland replies boldly, "I can just tell—the way you were talking about her before the ride. What gives?"

Henry shrugs. "Nothing," he answers, avoiding the young boy's gaze whilst he concentrates on moving the gyrosphere further into the valley. It's quiet for a moment as he hopes that Roland will drop the topic of conversation as quickly as he did the last time. But this time, there isn't much of a distraction, and the boy continues to stare at him with a curious and expectant look on his face. Henry sighs deeply. "Just, you know how moms are, you know?" He begrudgingly confesses, "All overbearing but at the same time never really having much time to actually spend with the kid. Well, at least mine is. I don't know about yours, but—"

"My mom died when I was a baby," Roland states softly, emitting a sad sigh as he looks away and towards the open view of the plains.

"Oh," Henry whispers. He's suddenly hit with a wave of both pity for the young boy and guilt for his own issues towards his mother when Roland doesn't even have one. He finds these feelings humbling, something he's not quite sure what to make of at the moment. "I'm sorry about that."

Roland simply shakes his head. "I don't remember her," he admits kindheartedly, "But Papa says she had brown hair just like me with some curls too. He said that she still loves me and is with me in spirit. But, I don't really get that."

Henry nods. "Yeah, it's hard to understand," he agrees. "My mom says the same thing about my dad. He left her when I was five because I guess things just got complicated. We never heard from him again." He looks to Roland, smiling gently. His brown eyes are kind towards the young boy. "I guess we both have just one parent all to ourselves, huh?"

"Yeah," Roland agrees before adding, "And Belle. She's my nanny for when Papa is away at work. She's nice and all, but I miss him when he's gone. And he's always working."

"That's like Mom too," Henry acknowledges, "She's working all the time and never has enough time for just me. And she expects me to listen to all her rules and follow them. But what's the point in doing that if she's never home, you know? I know running a whole business and park is a lot but—I don't know." The older boy sighs dejectedly. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Roland look sympathetically at him with his little brown eyes wide and sad. It compels Henry to continue confiding in his unexpected friend. So he mutters, "She missed my poetry reading," with his voice hardly audible.

"Your poetry reading?" Roland inquires.

Henry nods. "I'm a bit of a writer, I guess you could say," he explains, "and I won a poetry contest for the state. So at the ceremony, I had to read my winning poem out loud onstage to everyone." Henry closes his eyes, shaking his head in dismay. "I was really excited because Mom seemed so proud of me when I told her the news. She kept going on about how it was such a great accomplishment. But on the day of the ceremony, she never made it to watch." He opens his eyes, rolling them annoyedly. "She said that whatever kept her away was urgent."

"That's awful," Roland replies, shaking his head. His blunt remark prompts Henry to laugh humorlessly at the young boy's blatant truthfulness.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"I know Papa would never do something like that," Roland states.

"Mmm," Henry hums before chuckling humorlessly, "Then, I guess my mom could use a guy like him, right?"

Roland nods, grinning at the idea that suddenly brings that childlike delight (that's never too far away) back into his eyes. The young boy's mood is infectious and immediately lifts the melancholic cloud that had settled within the sphere. It sets another welcoming smile back onto Henry's features. The reason for Roland's keenness on the idea of his father and Henry's mother meeting (along with the sadness that they haven't met from the conversation before) starts to dawn on the older boy.

However, the moment only lasts shortly before suddenly there's a crackling in the radio system's speaker, and the screen on the small dashboard between them lights up. Henry stops the gyrosphere.

"Due to technical difficulties, all our exhibits are now closed. Please disembark and return to the resort."

At the announcement, Roland is immediately sinking into his seat, a deeply disheartened look dimming his features. "We've only been out here for fifteen minutes," he whines sadly.

Henry shakes his head at the screen. "Nah," he counters before looking towards Roland. A more deviant smirk spreads his lips. "We can stay out for a little longer."

"But they just said to go back," Roland reminds.

"I know, but we can just a few more minutes," Henry insists, "Don't worry. We'll be just fine." He points towards a more shaded part of the valley, towards a cluster of trees. "See? We haven't even explored that part yet." Roland shoots him a skeptical look, however the older boy can tell that he is fighting back yet another enthusiastic grin. "We'll just have a look and then be back before they realize anything. And if they do, remember I'm the boss's kid, so they won't give us trouble. It'll be all good," he reassures, once more urging the gyrosphere into action.

"Okay," replies Roland who now can't help but beam at him. "Let's go!"

The whole control room stands silent, listening to the screams of the troopers as they scramble in vain to try and take down the Indominus Rex. Feeling the most twisted version of a dejá vu, the entirety of the staff along with the operations manager, chief of security, CEO, and trainer, watch in horror at the events unfolding before them. For Robin, the experience is all the more worse. It's one thing to be one of the poor near-helpless people running for their lives. But to see it happening as a witness, knowing that exact fear that they're all experiencing, and knowing that there's absolutely nothing that can be done, is something completely different. The knowledge that something could have been done to prevent this, to prevent all of this, just makes it even worse. Oh how Robin hates it when he's right. He's not able to help the burden of guilt that overtakes him. He should've pushed harder in favor of calling off the mission. He should have done something, anything, to prevent more lives being lost. But at the same time, he can't stifle the unadulterated and almost hateful rage that burns like an inferno beneath his skin for the woman who continues to turn a blind eye, making her all the more responsible for those lives lost. Surely, this is not the Regina that Robin remembers. The woman that Robin remembers would not be so foolish as to risk more lives to capture this monster with non-lethal weapons. Surely, the lives of her employees are worth far greater than the money wasted on a rampant beast, this science experiment gone horribly wrong.

"Evacuate the island," Robin states, finally bringing himself to stare at the wide-eyed, shaken CEO. How many times is she to witness the carnage before she can come to her senses? Was once not enough?

Regina gazes at Robin. And what he sees so clearly in her dark orbs, a terrified and almost heartbroken expression, gives off an innocence that puts him right back on the steps of her student apartment—that moment he said goodbye. It's enough to soften the anger that rages inside. But, only slightly, in this tug-o-war of emotions.

"We'd never reopen," she whispers out.

"Regina, I can't believe you would even consider dragging this out, keeping everyone including yourself in danger. This has already gone on for far too long."

"Do you really think that my father would wish all of this to go to waste, for the park to be seen as yet another failure?" Regina fires back.

"But it already has. And now, people have died, which I'm sure is exactly the opposite of what your father intended." Robin groans, furiously tugging on his hair. "Are you really willing to risk having even more blood on your hands? Now you have live ammunition ready for use in emergency situations. You have an M134 machine gun in your armory. Put it on a chopper, and obliterate this thing! Because that thing out there, that's no bloody dinosaur." He fervently shakes his head. "Raised in captivity and in complete isolation, seeing people, guns, all this, for the first time—she will kill anything that moves. She's intelligent, and fast."

The CEO glares at him. "I will not turn this island into a war zone."

"You already have!" Robin snarls, "The moment you authorized its creation, you have. You need to step up and do what needs to be done, or really, you will lose everything and not just the park."

Regina blinks at him, clearly affected by his words, which hold the harsh truth. But Robin continues to stare her down, telepathically willing her to make the right judgment call for once—to shut down the park, and rid it of this ungodly creation for once and for all. However, all that leaves her lips is the curt, "Mr. Locksley, if you aren't going to help us, there is no reason for you to be here."

"Why?" Robin shoots back as red begins to blur his vision, his patience having finally worn thin, "Because I'm the only one making sense? Because you know that I'm right? Maybe I make you feel uncomfortable, make you realize that you and your whole crew, the lot of you, fucked up! I'm not the one so blinded by my own ego that I decided to go and make my own fucking dinosaur."

With that, he's storming past them and weaving his way through the throng of computers towards the exit, leaving behind the entire room speechless and the CEO with cheeks a profound shade of red and her form shaking with anger and deep humiliation yet again.

And the last thing he hears before he slams the door closed, after all that he had just said, is simply the issue for the closure of all attractions only north of the resort.

The sun is blinding when Robin steps back out into the bustling Main Street. His mind has made the decision: get Roland and get off the island. Because if nobody is going to listen to what he has to say, to his words that could potentially save all of their asses, then there is no use in trying; not when he has his own son whose safety is of the utmost importance. It's with that thought that the trainer is then pulling out his cellphone, though immediately frowning the minute he sees several missed calls from the exact person he'd intended to dial.

"Robin, fuck, I'm in so much trouble…"

"What?!" Robin exclaims as his footsteps halt right in the middle of the busy street. "What do you mean, John, what's going on?"

"It's Roland, he must have taken off. I've been trying to find him all morning!"

"Bloody fucking hell!" Robin curses, raising a hand to his forehead. "Where have you searched?"

"All of the attractions north," John answers, "He's nowhere to be found. I'm about to head south."

"No! No, stay up there in case he comes back. Keep looking, restricted areas, everything. I'll look around Main Street… Bloody hell John, I told you to never let him out of your sight."

"I know, but he must have taken off when we were dealing with the raptors. He was gone when I got back to the bench. I've been trying to call you!"

Robin groans, bringing his hand down from his forehead to pinch at the bridge of his nose. He screws his eyes shut. "I know, I know. Just, find him. And keep me updated." Without another word, he's cutting the call and shoving the cell back into his pocket.

Heart now racing, the trainer jogs off in the direction of the nearest attraction, Tyrannosaurus Kingdom, all the while interrogating any and every staff on the way if they have seen a lone boy of age eight, short, and with curly brunette hair—as if Roland's the only one.

In deep disgruntlement, tourists shuffle towards the exits of each attraction at and north of the Visitor's Center. It's the typical scene whenever there's some sort of inconvenience. There's groaning, complaining, unhappy tourists demanding refunds, impatient children whining to their equally irritated parents. In the Mill's Creation Laboratory, the situation is no different. Though, as visitors file towards the observation room exit, the CEO of the park pushes past with purpose to get inside like a fish moving upstream. Offering small apologetic smiles that don't quite touch her eyes, Regina moves briskly towards the lab's restricted area. That is, the area behind the glass observation windows in which the real creators of the park sit hard at work in their research to better improve their groundbreaking techniques in gene modification.

At the very rear of the lab, the scientists' chief geneticist locks up a case of preciously preserved dinosaur DNA. He looks up from the chest's keypad just in time to see the brunette make her way into the room. With one of those furtive smirks, so characteristic of him and his guileful personality, the short man rubs his palms together as he stands, carefully eyeing Regina's dour demeanor.

"Ms. Mills," Dr. Gold purrs as she steps through the glass door, "What can I do for you?"

"The Indominus Rex," Regina declares, "I need you to tell me what the hell it is that you made."

Gold chuckles, shaking his head. "You know I'm not at liberty to reveal that information. Genetically modified animals are known to be unpredictable."

"It has killed people, Gold."

The man dips his head. "That's unfortunate." When he looks back up at Regina, his unapologetic smirk returns. He steps forward, bringing himself to stand before her, a bit too close for comfort.

But the CEO stands her ground, her eyes set hard upon his scheming features. "You're a bastard," she growls.

"Oh!" The imp can't help but laugh mirthlessly, "Why do you always have to assume that I'm the bad one in this?"

"Because I know you. You're always up to something. And right now, that smirk you're wearing just gives me all the more reason to suspect."

"Regina, Regina," Gold sighs, "Why do you have to do this? Maybe if you stop accusing me for once, you'll realize that I'm here for your own good—like I've always been." He lifts a hand to gently brush the backs of his fingers against the brunette's warm cheek. He's not able to hold back a smile as he sees a visible tremor run through her.

Regina's breath hitches at the coldness of his touch as she suppresses the shiver. It's now that she finally takes a step back, drawing herself up even taller in a vain attempt to remain strictly aloof and professional. "Just tell me what you know of the Rex, starting with why the asset hid from thermal technology, and maybe I'll reconsider you to be otherwise. "

Gold simply shakes his head, moving to lean up against a desk. "I used strands of DNA from tree frogs to help adapt it to a warmer climate. Perhaps their ability to modulate their infrared output has carried over."

"It's highly intelligent, like it was planning to escape by hiding from the cameras, like it made us think it had escaped." Regina frowns.

"We used part of velociraptor DNA to give her that enhanced intelligence," Gold replies, "But we still have yet to perfect it—to control it."

"It's a monster, Gold." Regina shakes her head. "How could you—"

"How could I?" Gold interrupts, standing once more, "What do you mean 'how could I'? You asked me to create this new creature. You told me the park needed something exciting, something terrifying."

Regina stiffens. "But what it's doing, what it has done. And the fact that you can't control it—"

"You know you can't have an animal with exaggerated predator features without the corresponding behavioral traits."

Regina growls aloud, raising a hand to fist her hair at the crown of her head.

"I really thought better of you, Regina," Gold patronizes, prompting the CEO to viciously curl her lip. "You should know this—"

"And I know that you know exactly what you were doing," Regina hisses, approaching the little man with the grace of a feline, "Make no mistake. You will pay for what you've done."

She stares down the bridge of her nose. If looks were as deadly as that of the Indo-Rex's bite, Gold would be a goner. But of course, the friction doesn't last long. For it's then that Regina's cellphone suddenly rings, slicing through the tension between her and Gold, as she reaches into the pocket of her suit jacket with a huff.

"This isn't over," Regina bids warningly before answering her cell. "What?"

"Regina, what the hell?!" Yells the breathless voice on the other end. It's so loud that the CEO has to hold the phone slightly away from her ear. "I've been trying to call you all fucking morning!"

Regina glares into the receiver. "I've been busy," she snaps before sighing, "How's Henry?"

"That's why I've been trying to call you, Regina. Henry's missing. He ran out on me!"

At this, Regina's eyes bulge as her heart suddenly stops, blood running cold and sending a chill down her spine. "What?" She whispers.

"Yeah, I've been trying to look for him all over the place!"

"No," Regina chokes, "No. Henry would never just run away. He knows better than that!"

"Well he has, Regina. And I hate to say it, but if you hadn't—"

"What, Emma, what? What is it that I hadn't done?" Regina bites, not quite able to believe that her assistant would chose this exact moment to berate her about her decisions. Lord knows that today she has had enough of that already. The CEO shakes her head as she can hear nothing but a strained groan on the other end of the line in response to her vitriolic reply. "Just find him," she then growls through gritted teeth before cutting the call and forcefully shoving her cellphone back into her pocket.

With one last glance at the imp who had simply been watching the whole time, sporting a look as if to say "oh well, that's what you get" written across his face, Regina is bursting back out through the doors of the lab, followed by those of the observation room, and jogging down the hall.

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