Title: "...Unto The Breach..."

Author: Della 

Rating: PG For this chapter, though could go to PG-13 and even NC17 later on... not sure...

Keywords: Jurassic Park - Alan and Ellie

Category (s): Action/Adventure and Romance

Spoilers: Tiny bits of the First and also the Third... Though nothing that gives anything away...

Warning: For later on... Possible graphic violence and heavy angst

Feedback: It's what really makes the world go round... So, yes please... blindbadger@netscapeonline.co.uk

Archive: This can be found at Christie's site Daaefa... Anyone else who would like it, I have no problems with that, though would appreciate a little note letting me know where...

Summary: Not for love and not for any amount of money on Earth, did Dr Alan Grant think that he would be returning to Jurassic Park... Hee... Hee... Hee... He can't of heard of me then... Cos that's exactly where he is going...

Disclaimer: Anything and everything, barring the story itself, does not belong to me... Sigh!!!... Wish Alan Grant did, but he doesn't... Sigh!!!... He and all the others in this story belong to Steven Spielberg, Michael Crichton and any others that have lawful claim to Jurassic Park... No infringement is intended, nor any offence... Please don't sue me...

 

*          *          *

 

"Hey, Eric, what brings you to the sunny side of Montana...? And at a dig, too...?" Billy asked the young man standing before him. He could see he'd grown an inch or two since the last time they'd met. Put on a pound or two. But other than that, there still remained every evidence of the young man he'd first met; especially the ferocious curiosity that had him liking the young man. They were very much alike in that sense. Though they'd been scared witless on Isla Sorna, both had come away with a desperate need to want to go back again.

 

Eric shrugged his shoulders at him, but his eyes belayed his lack of interest; they sparkled with excitement, "Dr Grant invited me up, so I guess I sorta thought I might as well come and have a look."

 

Billy grinned at that, "You sorta thought, huh...?" Billy chuckled, "Yeah, right, Eric..." and he chuckled some more.

 

Eric shrugged again, but in submission this time. "Yeah, alright, I guess I really wanted to come..." Then he frowned a little. "But, it's not like it's like what we saw on Isla Sorna..."

 

"Hey, Eric, you made it then...?"

 

Eric turned to the new voice and smiled. Nodding, he said, "Yeah, finally got here..." He held out a hand to the man that inspired him in so many ways.

 

Alan Grant grinned, then patted himself down. Dust flew off of him in every direction. He decided to get the handkerchief from his pocket and then wiped his hands. Once they were as clean as he could get them he took the hand offered to him and shook it hard. "You've come at an excellent time, Eric. We've just dug up a full baby skeleton... A Velociraptor..."

 

"Really... Can I see...?"

 

Alan laughed and said, "Thought you might want to..." He held out an arm, waggling his fingers to silently urge him forward, and added, "Come on, I'll show you where it is..."

 

Billy looked on and grinned at Alan and Eric's retreating backs. 'For someone that wasn't too keen on kids,' he thought, 'Alan Grant sure had a way with them...'

 

Then he thought on Eric's last observation. 'Not that it's like what we saw on Isla Sorna...' Yeah, he couldn't agree more. He missed that place, even though when he'd left it, he looked like a pincushion. He'd never got to study the things that had captivated him at such an early age, and he was sorry that he'd missed the chance. And that had been down to his own stupidity in the first place. He still didn't know why he'd taken the raptor eggs. He'd told Alan the first thing that had come into his head, but he knew now that it wasn't true...

 

He'd been thinking that he'd never get as good-a chance as he'd had to raise a raptor and study it in safety. He shook his head. 'Maybe...' he thought, 'Alan'd been right when he'd said that I was as bad as those that had built the place... 'Maybe...'

 

********

 

Alan took Eric to the site of the skeleton.

 

There was a bit of commotion. Excitement spread very quickly from one to the other, as the last of the diggers brushed away the last of the dust that covered the fossil. Once he'd done that, there was an almighty cheer.

 

Alan looked at Eric, who was quickly glancing, from him and to the skeleton, in quick succession. He grinned. "This, Eric," he proudly announced, "this is a palaeontologist's true dream. A real live fossil of something that existed before time..."

 

Eric wasn't sure about that, but he was so caught up in the excitement around him, that, before he knew it, he was nodding in agreement.

 

Alan then looked around at those that had helped his dream come true and happily announced that it was time to open the champagne that he always had for such an occasion. Another rapturous cheer echoed around the site and steadily the diggers left in a line, away from their hard labours that had been fruitful; that had been worth every second of every day it had taken to reach this point of discovery.

 

Alan covered the site with tarpaulin and then led Eric away. "So," he said, "how are your mom and dad...?"

 

Eric chuckled, "They're good, but I think they realise that maybe they love each other, but can't live with each other... again..."

 

"Ah," Alan nodded, "Sorry..."

 

Eric shrugged, "Hey, it's okay... It was really good to see them together, but I didn't hold out much hope that they'd get along again..." He then looked up at Alan and said, "So, did you tell her...?"

 

Alan looked at him with puzzlement. "Hmm...? Tell who, what...?"

 

"Ellie... Did you tell her...?"

 

Again he looked at Eric with puzzlement, "I'm not sure I understand, Eric... Tell her what...?"

 

The young man sighed. "You know, you're not much better than my parents... You know that don't you...?"

 

Alan continued to frown.

 

"So you *didn't* tell her..."

 

"Tell her *what*...?"

 

Eric sighed again, "That she was someone you could always count on and that you owed her a lot..."

 

Alan felt the warmth of embarrassment flush his cheeks and he hung his head with shame when he said, "Ah, well, ah, no, no I didn't tell her..."

 

"You scared what else might've come out...?"

 

Alan chuckled, "Now you've really got me, Eric..."

 

Eric shook his head and grinned, "Nah, I don't think so... You know exactly what I mean..." He then nudged the doctor on the arm and grinned even wider.

 

Alan could feel the warmth glow and really hated himself for the feelings he had towards Ellie. He had denied them for such a long time now, that the slightest reminder of them had him behaving much like a pubescent school kid. He shook his head, then whispered, "She's a married woman, Eric... Too late..."

 

"Yeah," Eric nodded in agreement, but shrugged as well, "but then so were my mom and dad... And they're not now..."

 

Alan looked at the young man to the side of him with pure astonishment. "You expect me to wish for Ellie to get a divorce...?" He mentally cringed, because, if he were honest, it had been something he'd hoped for, for a little while, at the beginning.

 

He remembered when they'd gotten back to civilisation. Ellie had been waiting at the airport. He shook his head as the remembrances tumbled one after the other.

 

******

 

"Thank you, Doctor Grant, for saving my boy..." Mrs Kirby muttered and hugged him tightly.

 

He smiled, "I think you should be thanking Eric for saving me, Mrs Kirby..."

 

She looked up at Alan and smiled proudly, then kissed him on the cheek and moved away.

 

Paul Kirby came forward with a hand out, "Thank you, Doctor Grant, for everything... We'd still be there if it hadn't been for you..." He then dipped his head a little, as he added, "And I'm sorry that we kidnapped you..."

 

Alan took the hand offered and shook it. He smiled and said, "Think nothing of it... I just hope there's others that can support the dig at Montana..." He then said to them all, "I'm really an unscrupulous man. Money means a lot to me when it comes to supporting the dig... I suppose I wouldn'tve been there in this first place if it hadn't been that way..."

 

Paul Kirby laughed at that, "Yes, well, we can't thank you enough for being that way..." He then shrugged, " I just wish there was something we could do to help..."

 

Alan also shrugged at that, "I'm sure something will come up..."

 

"It will, Doctor Grant..." Eric assured him.

 

Alan smiled at him and then watched as the Kirby's left; holding each other tight, a little afraid to let the other go. He continued to watch them for a while, hoping that whatever differences there might have been between the adults, could be sorted out and that Eric would then have a stable home life... It was important...

 

When he couldn't distinguish them from any other passenger moving around, Alan then turned and started to make his own way out of the airport. He breathed in deeply the night air. It felt good to him. He dropped his bags onto the ground and raised his hand for a cab. He then briefly stumbled as a body impacted with his own. He would have apologised, had they not been holding him too tightly around the chest.

 

"Oh God, Alan..." a voice whispered to him.

 

He recognised the voice, looked down and smiled. "Ellie..." he whispered back, his heart stuttering with the force of his feelings towards her.

 

Ellie stepped away from him, wiping the tears from her face, then she thumped him on the arm, and, her voice rising with the fear she had felt, she said, "Do you know what you did to me...? Calling and then nothing...?"

 

He shrugged "You were the only one I could think of..." he said, his voice thick with affection, then added, "Besides, you did say I could call about anything, at anytime..."

 

She started to laugh, watery and shaky with emotion, and said, "I guess I did, but I hadn't really thought that that of all calls would have been the call you would have made..." She then lightly thumped him on the arm again, "Don't ever call me like that again..." she warned him.

 

Alan chuckled, "If the choice had been mine, Ellie, I'd've said a bit more than I did, but the Spino was really intent of having me and the others for dinner... Literally..."

 

Ellie'd let go of him at that point, and then grasped his arms again. He'd always wondered what she had been thinking. So many things passed over her beautiful face, at such a rapid pace, that the moment he thought he knew, something else appeared compounding his original thought... Or had it been his own wishful thinking...?

 

*****

 

Alan felt a nudge on his arm again and blinked with surprise at the source. He looked down into the grinning face of Eric and blushed again.

 

Eric laughed and said, "Guess you were thinking about it again... You know, the other stuff that might've come out if you'd told her..."

 

"Maybe, one day, you just might find out why, Eric..." Alan chuckled at him.

 

"Hey, Dr Grant," Eric enthused at him, then pointed away from the Trailer, "looks like you might get your chance now..."

 

Alan frowned but looked in the direction of where Eric was pointing. He felt his heart leap into his mouth. There, with Billy leading her down, was Ellie. He felt his whole being tingle with anticipation of seeing and talking with her again. With a smile on his face, he stopped and waited for them both to get to him and Eric.

 

When Billy got to Alan, he smiled at him and said, "An old friend decided to pay a visit. She wanted a tour, Alan... So, tour her..."

 

Alan chuckled and watched a while as Billy then took charge of Eric and led him the rest of the way to the Trailer. As they disappeared behind the door, Alan then turned back to Ellie with a smile on his face. She was like sunshine to him.

 

Ellie returned his smile and took the step it took to get to him, and embraced him. "Hello, Alan..." She kissed his cheek and then stepped away, looking at him. Though it had been sometime since the Isla Sorna incident, the fear she had felt when she had received his call still consumed her. She had thought she had lost the one man that she could count on. The one man that had always had her squealing like a child with excitement. The one man that had made it all worth while.

 

With that last thought came the regret that she had ever left him. Maybe she should have waited a while longer...? Maybe he might've changed his mind about kids and the having of them...? Maybe she shouldn't've been as hasty as she was, but then, she did have two adorable kids that had come out of her hastiness. She then thought of the last quip that he'd made to her when he'd last visited...

 

'Last of my breed...'

 

He'd seemed so regretful... So sad at the thought... But it was something she agreed with. He was the last of his breed. She then wondered what a child, from the joining of her and Alan, might have looked like... Would it have the same eyes as his...? Green and always sparkling with amusement and laughter. Would it have the same ferocious determination that he had and would it have the same sense of dignity he possessed...? She then mentally shrugged... 'A mute point, I think, Ellie...' she thought with regret.

 

Alan, asking her something, stopped her thoughts in her tracks. She blinked to try and recover senses, then muttered, "Sorry, Alan... What did you say...?"

 

He chuckled at her. He'd seen the same flickering emotions as the last time they had seen each other, but like then, he decided to ignore them. Then he said, "You wanna see the skeleton...? It's a baby Velociraptor..."

 

Ellie nodded. She'd heard from Billy that they'd not been far from finally digging the whole thing, intact, out of the ground. She then smiled and said, "What do *you* think...? It's the only reason I'm here..." She frowned briefly then when she saw a flicker of disappointment cross Alan's features, but it was so quick... 'Could it have been my wishful thinking...?' she thought.

 

With that thought, she then linked arms with his and then let him lead her to the site.

 

*******

 

Eric pulled back the curtain from inside the Trailer and sighed. He turned to Billy and muttered, "You know, I thought the older you got, the wiser you got...?"

 

Billy shrugged, "Well, that's what they tell me..."

 

"So why haven't Ellie and Dr Grant got it together...? I mean it's obvious, yeah, that they fancy each other... So why haven't they gotten it together...?"

 

"She's married, isn't she...?"

 

Eric nodded.

 

"Well," Billy chuckled, "that's as good a reason as any, don't you think...?"

 

Eric shrugged and nodded at the same time, "Yeah, but like I said to Dr Grant, it might not always be that way." He then paused a moment, before adding, "What's she doing here anyway...? I mean, she's got two kids and a husband at home, so what's she doing here...?"

 

Billy shrugged. "Catching up on old friends...?"

 

Eric ignored him and carried on, "She looked like there was something up when you were walking with her..." His eyes lit up then. "Hey, you don't think that she's got problems at home and she's, you know, come to Dr grant to tell them to him, and then Dr Grant'll tell her that she's someone he's always counted on and that she's never let him down...? And then she'll tell him something... And then..."

 

Billy laughed out loud at that point and held up a hand to stall Eric from further comment. "C'mon, Eric, I... I think you've had your quota for the year on that one..."

 

"Yeah, but what if...?"

 

"Yeah, what if... A big what if, Eric, and something that you shouldn't meddle in... Okay...?"

 

Reluctantly, Eric nodded, sighed again and then moved further into the room. He looked about himself and found the trailer more than a little crowded. If truth be known, yeah, he'd come to see Dr Grant and his discovery, but he'd also wanted a chat with Billy... He wanted to ask him something... He turned back to Billy and said, "Do you think we can go outside...? I wanna ask you something..."

 

Billy shrugged and then nodded, "Sure..." He then put the plastic cup that had held a small drop of champagne onto a panel, turned and left the Trailer.

 

Eric followed.

 

********

 

Alan and Ellie stood at the edge of dig site, looking down at the fossil in the ground. Both deep in their own thoughts.

 

Alan kept glancing at Ellie. Her hair haloed by the noon sun. Her face, though in shadow for the most, soft and yet lively against the elements. Something about Ellie always sparked a life inside him that, with her leaving, always died somewhere along the way towards the discovery of things long since dead... Until the next time... Until like now... He sighed. He then turned to her, bolstering his courage, and said, "Umm, Eric reminded me of something today..."

 

Ellie looked at him with a smile. "He did...?" she replied.

 

"Yes he did... Something that I'm a bit ashamed to admit to..."

 

Ellie frowned a little with puzzlement.

 

Alan's head dipped a little from looking at Ellie. He could feel his uncertainty building in him, but he opened his mouth and then forced the words from him; before he would never say them ever. He then nodded and whispered, "On Isla Sorna, Eric had asked me who I'd called and, when I told him who, why I'd called you. I told him that you were someone that I'd always counted on and... and that you'd never let me down... What I'm ashamed of, is that I'd forgotten to tell you that, you see, when I'd gotten back..." He looked up to see her reaction and was pleased to see a smile.

 

Ellie laughed a tiny embarrassed laugh at him, then shrugged. "Oh Alan... You might be the last of your breed, but what a breed..." She then gasped with what she had admitted and turned away from him in embarrassment. "Okay," she whispered, "just forget I said that..."

 

Alan took her by the arms and turned her to face him. His heart was hammering in his chest at what she'd just admitted to him. He could feel his blood rushing around his body, making him slightly dizzy. This was about as exciting as when they'd discovered that Hammond had a T-Rex on his park. But so, so much more so... "Ellie...?" he called back at her, "Ellie, I know this is not the right time, but I've got to tell you. I shouldn't, I know, it might complicate things, but if I don't tell you then I never will... And I don't like the thought of that..."

 

She nodded. "Go on then," she whispered back at him.

 

He gulped back the fear that had surfaced along with his love for Ellie and said, "I love you, Ellie. Always have and always will..." He then lifted her chin, so that he could look at her, and added, "I'm the last of my breed, and for the first time ever, I wish that I weren't..."

 

Though she felt her heart burst at what Alan had just said to her, Ellie still stepped away from him. Her face scrunched up into a look of utter pain. 'If only...' fluttered into her brain. But she had to stand firm. He had said the one thing that, if said before, wouldn't have driven her from him. But he hadn't said it then and now she had another life, away from him; one that had her missing him more with each passing day, but a life that demanded her presence there.

 

She looked up at Alan, standing before her, his head bowed, shuffling his feet. He was waiting for an answer, but her mind was numb with all that could have been and wasn't and with all that is and might not have been. She said the first thing that came into her head. "I'm married, Alan. I have two adorable children that go with that marriage. Why now...?"

 

Alan shrugged, though truthfully he wanted to take back every word he'd just said. He'd seen her look, felt her step away from him. Now he'd lost her as a friend. 'Way to go, Alan...' he thought dejectedly. Aloud he said, "Forget I even said it... Sorry..."

 

Ellie shook her head and took one of the steps back towards Alan. "No, I think I deserve an answer..." she whispered, "Why now, Alan...?"

 

He shrugged again, "Maybe because I can't have you, Ellie. Maybe because you *are* married and have two of the most beautiful children. And maybe because of that, I'd like *not* to be the last of my breed. But, I guess, mostly it's because I *can't* have you, Ellie, that I said what I said."

 

Ellie took the other step towards Alan and thumped him hard on the arm. He looked up at her with a mixture of surprise and hurt on his face. 'Good...' she thought, then whispered, "Do you know how long I waited to hear you say something like that to me...? Do you know how many disappointments I had to get through because you didn't say something like what you've just said to me...?" She stopped at that point, feeling the tears of heartache reawaken in her. She sniffled them back and then added, "And now... now you wait until I can't do anything about it..."

 

He hadn't want to hurt Ellie, it had been the farthest thing from his mind, but seeing her tears and hearing her voice, he knew that was exactly what he'd done. He took her in his arms and, as he smoothed her back, he said, "I know and I'm sorry..." When he felt her shudders subside, he added, to lighten the mood, "I guess my timing's about as off as Hammond and his park..."

 

Ellie laughed at that, all watery and wobbly, it had to be said, but still it was a laugh. She lightly thumped him on the arm, this time, and said, "I'd say..."

 

He pulled away from Ellie and held her at arm's length, drinking in everything about her. Then he let her go and whispered, "You're a good woman, Ellie, and this is my fault. Mark was right when he asked you to marry him, it's something I should have done, but didn't..." Alan shrugged at that point and added, "My loss, Ellie, not yours..."

 

Ellie shook her head at that and replied with, "No, it's my loss too, Alan, but not as great as yours, because I found Mark and... and I do love him. Still, I guess there will always be the 'what if...' when it comes to you Dr Alan Grant..." She paused, before adding with a smile, "And I'd rather have the 'what if...' than nothing at all..."

 

Alan chuckled at that and said, "So, we're still friends then...?"

 

Ellie linked her arm in Alan's, turned them both away from the site and as she started off towards the Trailer she said, "I'd say..." and laughed.

 

*****