Chapter Text
Maisie stared out her bedroom window, wrapped up tightly in the new sweater she had received from Claire's sister - her aunt, Karen.
They didn't understand why aunt Karen had given her such a thick sweater. The Grady's lived in Costa Rica - which was warm all year round, excluding September, October, and November.
Those three months were always cold - but it was April, one of the hottest months where they resided.
Zach and Gray - her cousins - had delivered them similar gifts, a warm pair of fuzzy socks from Gray, and a pair of thick, soft pants from Zack. Maisie had initially been vocally confused, explaining that they had no need for such clothes now - it wasn't September yet - but the look on her parents face made her think twice, consider that maybe it was to prepare for the later months, where it would be cold and she would desire to be curled up in her new clothes, sheltered safely in her room from the cold, layered underneath her sweater, fuzzy socks, and pants, reading her rather thick - forty-thousand page book filled with knowledge and stories about the creatures that roamed the earth originally sixty-five million years ago.
Creatures that had terrorized her so when they had been just ten years old.
Creatures that had indirectly led to the death of her beloved grandfather - the first parental figure she had ever had.
Maisie would always be a Lockwood - she would sooner die than remove the Lockwood title from her name. They missed their grandfather so - they vividly remembered the horrific moment where they had found him, lying in his bed, still and limp - body still warm.
Maisie would never forget the fear and anger with whatever force had willed him to die - she wanted nothing more in those moments than collapse to her knees, to beg and plead and sob for him to come back. She still remembered how fast her expression and mood had changed when she realized what once was a steady beeping on his heart monitor screen was a solid, one note-beep, never changing or faltering.
She blinked, turning as they heard a gentle knock on the door. "It's open," Maisie responded, shifting her position to sit so she was facing the door. Owen stepped into the room, Claire following close behind him - both with smiles on their faces.
"Happy birthday, Maisie," Owen started, Sitting down on the edge of her bed. Claire knelt down beside the bed, close to Owen. Maisie gave a little smile, sitting up straight. Owen looked to Claire for a moment, before continuing to speak. "We had one more surprise for you - it'll explain the gifts aunt Karen, Zach, and Gray gave you." He finished, turning to look at Claire and signaling her to speak.
Claire nodded, looking back at Maisie. "In the past few years, Owen has been taking short trips to Isla Nublar - the island where all the dinosaurs came from - and he's been building a," she paused for a moment, thinking. "He's been building a cabin there - it's almost completed - and we've made the official booking dates and everything we need, we just need to start packing." Claire finished, both her and Owen falling silent, studying Maisie's facial expression for any hints of confusion - maybe even fear - but certainly not a look of shock and excitement.
"We're moving to Isla Nublar? The island filled with real breathing dinosaurs?" Maisie asked, excitement sparkling in her brown eyes. She let out a squeal of excitement as Owen and Claire nodded - she was going to be living on an island surrounded by dinosaurs - ones that she could be near without being in a zoo, or almost dying. She could finally study them, take notes of all their eating habits, learn their behavioral patterns - and learn much more than she ever would through her book. Her mood quickly shifted when she noticed the distressed glint in her fathers eye, falling quiet - inviting him to speak without having to say anything.
Owen cleared his throat, sighing. "We have just one issue that we need your help with," he started, looking to Claire - almost as if asking her if he should tell this to Maisie. When Claire nodded, he nodded back, and turned back to his daughter. "We need to rescue Blue and take her back to the island - Isla Nublar is her home, and she belongs there. The cabin is right next to the raptor paddock, I've been working on fixing it up in between building the cabin, and it's habitable for raptors again. The only issue is - Blue is locked in a highly secured zoo, and we need to--"
Maisie cut him off, sitting up straight. "You need my help breaking into a zoo and stealing your velociraptor back?" She asked, nodding slightly to herself when Owen nodded. She understood how important Blue was to him - she had seen the videos many times before, of Owen with the baby raptors. She still remembered all their names - Charlie, Echo, Delta, and Blue. The only one still alive - the only one who had a proper close bond with Owen. She thought for a moment - and then thought again, then once more, before looking up at Owen and Claire with a determined glint in her eyes.
Owen knew that look - that was her way of saying yes without words - something she had learnt to do in survival situations, with the more dangerous dinosaurs lurking around their home. Silence had become a survival instinct for the three - they all knew sign language, how to regulate their breathing patterns to match those of the predators that would lurk nearby, and how to run fast and camouflage if necessary - in which it almost always was.
Living with these beasts roaming the world freely, the Grady family was no stranger to the frequenting life or death situations - they had adapted, evolved, learnt how to survive and avoid the beasts - she knew Isla Nublar would be no different, but at the same time - Isla Nublar would be drastically different. These dinosaurs were living without the current presence of human life, their waters well protected by the Mosasaurus.
Claire gently kissed Maisie's forehead, ruffling their hair gently. "You don't have to come with us, it's going to be hard and dangerous to do - we have Ian Malcom and Sarah Harding's legal team backing us up just in case, and the help of Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler to get Blue out, in case everything goes south, so if you don't feel like you're up to handle this with us, it's--"
Maisie held her hand up, silencing Claire mid sentence. "I'm coming with you. I want Blue to see me as a friend, not as an enemy or a potential meal. If I help rescue her - she might recognize me as safe." She spoke softly, eyes locked with Claire, when shifting to Owen.
Owen gave a nod, standing up. "Well, that's decided. We make the move to Nublar in a week and a half, so we have roughly ten days to pack, and rescue Blue. If we start packing tomorrow, we'll have at least three days to plan our move before we can get Blue out." He helped Claire up, gently ruffling Maisie's hair. "We can't bring everything right now, so only pack the essential things - everything else will be staying with your aunt Karen and uncle Scott until we can retrieve everything." Owen finished, nodding slightly to Claire before stepping out of the room.
Claire looked back to Maisie, smiling at her. "Goodnight, Maisie. Get some rest, we have to pack tomorrow so we get an early start. The sooner we finish packing, the sooner we can rescue Blue." She turned the light off, and exited the room, shutting the door behind her.
Maisie stared at the door for a few minutes, before unzipping and removing her new sweater, setting it down beside her bed, and turning on her bedside lamp. Slowly, they adjusted the knob controlling the brightness of the lamp until it was dim, and barely luminating the room. Then, Maisie stood up out of bed, and paced around the room - touching the bedroom door, and then crossing the room to her window, touching the glass lightly. She repeated that for a few minutes, before closing the blinds, and double checking that the window was locked, and the closet was empty of any small critters - such as the Compys. Little scavenger dinosaurs that snuck into peoples homes and hid, scavenging the houses for food at every chance they got - sometimes killing the residents, whether it be elderly folk, young adults, or children. The Compys didn't care, as long as they had eaten their fill.
Once certain her bedroom was dinosaur proof and free, Maisie crawled back into bed, and under her covers, wrapping herself up tightly and covering her head with the blanket - this preventing any lurking dinosaurs that might have been able to peek through her window to see her. She stared at the light beside her bed for a moment, before reaching over, and turning it out. Light was a giveaway to any dinosaur nearby that there was life - and where there was life, to the beasts, there was food. Maisie didn't want to become food.
She lay awake in bed a few minutes longer, thinking - what essentials could she pack? More importantly - how would they rescue Blue, and what other creatures were lurking in that zoo that wanted to eat her, and her family?