man destroys god || i. malcolm

14

Aria sat inside the boat, shivering. She'd always hated boats. Water, too. Traveling any way other than by car or otherwise on-ground transportation freaked her out.

Of course, there was the underlying panic trying to come forward that wasn't helping at all. Nick rubbed her back, which helped to calm her. He knew how she was feeling, but he didn't truly understand it. He wouldn't, not until after he saw one. "By the way, he's definitely jealous." He whispered to Aria, who laughed. Nick knew exactly how to help her mood.

Ian and Eddie were up on the deck, but if Aria even saw the water she would be sick.

The captain, followed by a young boy, came down the stairs and grabbed Nick by the shoulder. He started speaking in Spanish, and Nick was clearly not impressed with what he was saying.

They argued, but the captain beckoned for the two to go up on deck. Aria steeled herself and emerged into the daylight.

Nick went up to Ian, still being followed by the captain and his son. "Uno momento, uno momento. He says he wants to unload us here. He won't go any further up the river. He's heard too many stories about this island chain. He wants to drop us off and go anchor somewhere offshore."

Aria took this chance to get a real look at the Ian Malcolm of today. He had clearly aged with the stress of all the InGen bullshit. His hair was shorter, which wasn't something Aria was all too happy with. He still wore the same outfit, she'd never seen him wearing anything else. Well, she'd seen him not wearing it, if that counted. He had changed internally, too, she could tell. He didn't have the same carefree witty attitude that he had when Aria met him. He was sadder now, due to the traumatic events. He'd lost his overconfident charm, but he still managed to be so damn attractive.

"They call these islands, Las Cinco Muertes." Nick translated for the captain, who had been talking the whole time Aria was admiring Ian.

"What does that mean?" Eddie asked carefully.

"The Five Deaths." Aria muttered.

Eddie and Nick didn't seem too put off by it, but Aria could see that Ian's mind was running fast. She decided to make her first risky decision — there would be more — of the trip and approach him.

"How are you doing, being here again?"

She leaned against the railing, ignoring the sound of the water lapping against the ship.

"Not good. It's not going to work, Aria." He looked down at her. He couldn't help but notice how good she looked, even while mildly seasick.

"Then why are you here?"

"Why are you?"

Aria didn't like that non-answer. "I go where Nick goes. Hammond needed someone with the incredibly specific experience of being on a dinosaur-filled island."

"Yeah, alright. You're doing well, then? That Van Owen guy is nice." He didn't look Aria in the eyes as he said it. It was clear that he didn't think all that much of Nick.

Aria was surprised — and selfishly smug — to hear the bitterness in his voice.

"No, no, Nick's just my friend. We work together, he's my photographer and videographer, and I write the stories. I'm not exactly his type."

"I can't pretend I'm not glad to hear it." Ian smiled cautiously, still not fully facing Aria.

Eddie gestured for the two to come over to the shore and help unload.

They got into the car and Eddie pulled out a tracker. They got Aria caught up on their stray paleontologist, and the four of them trekked through the jungle, following her tracker.

"I put a location sensor in Dr. Harding's satellite phone, so we should get a reading."

"We're almost on top of her dot," Ian said, hurrying past Eddie.

Aria couldn't help but sense a deeper motive coming from Ian, beyond the good will to save someone from a dinosaur-related end. He knew this Dr. Harding woman.

"Over there." Nick pointed, pushing through the rest of them. He handed Aria one of his cameras and dashed through the shallow stream. They came upon a backpack, clearly hers. The team began shouting out for Sarah, but were quickly quieted by the rustling of a small herd of stegosauruses crossing in front of them.

Nick immediately began taking pictures, hitting Aria's arm to prompt her to do the same.

"This is magnificent," Eddie muttered.

Aria and Ian shared a look. They both knew that feeling all too well. "Yeah. 'Ooh, aah.' That's how it always starts."

"Then comes the chase." Aria finished. Despite the horrors of the Isla Nublar incident, she was still in awe from the stegosauruses.

Nick jumped up onto a log to get a closer look at the dinosaurs. Aria stayed behind, taking pictures from the lower angle.

"Hey, Nick!" A feminine voice shouted out, followed by laughter.

"I guess you got the jump on us, didn't you, Sarah?" He laughed along with her.

Sarah froze once she saw Ian. Aria's suspicions were true, then. Sarah quickly recovered and ran over to their engineer. "Hey, Eddie! Got a granola bar or something? I'm starving!"

Aria fished a CLIF bar out of her backpack and tossed it to the other woman. "I'm Aria Mayfield, I'm Nick's partner."

"Oh, I know all about you, Aria." Normally Aria would be creeped out by that, but Sarah seemed like a very genuine woman. "I can't get this one to stop talking about you."

She nudged Ian's shoulder. "Alright, Sarah." He muttered, glaring. So, they were... friends? Aria was endlessly confused about their relationship.

Sarah turned to Ian. "Did you see those animals? A family group, a pair-bond and a sub-adult, long after the juvenile was nest-bound. Every egg clutch I've seen has crushed, trampled shells. The hatchlings definitely stay in the birth environment for an extended period of time. That's conclusive."

Ian cut off her rambling by holding up her backpack. "Have you been attacked?"

"That's my lucky pack. That's how it always looks." She turned to Aria, who was hovering near Ian's side. "Is that a Nikon? Can I borrow that?"

Aria glanced to Nick, because it was his camera. He nodded, and Aria removed the strap from around her neck, handing it to the other woman.

Sarah hurried off down the stream.

"New girlfriend, Malcolm?" Aria grinned at him teasingly.

"No, no. Not anymore. We're good friends. Not roommates, though. We're normal adults that live on our own."

Aria smacked his arm, but didn't tease back. She was just glad that they still had their easy conversations.

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