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Getting home was at once the best and worst moment of Darius’ life.
It was also dramatic as hell, so that probably played a part.
The plane trip back to the States was tense. Everyone had absolutely refused to be separated, even though they lived in completely different states. It took Yaz threatening to hijack the plane herself, and Brooklyn talking security out of arresting them to get them all on their way.
It didn’t help that all of the Camp Fam was expecting something to go wrong on their way home. It was something they’d come to expect: the sky is blue, grass is green, a disaster happens every time they point vaguely homeward.
So, the hours were filled with whispered conversations, white-knuckled grips, and a fair bit of swearing everytime they hit turbulence. Mae had been left in Costa Rica, recuperating in a local hospital. The doctor who’d taken a look at her injuries had turned several different shades of pale and grimaced. Naturally, the reaction had made Darius really nervous. It was the same look the doctor had had looking over his dad’s scans.
By the time they landed though, anticipation had overtaken fear. Sammy was trembling, Yaz kept pacing. Darius himself kept falling into a spiral of "I can’t wait to see them” to “oh shit mom is going to kill me. What do I even say?”
The landing gear extended, and slowly, way too slowly, the plane came to a halt. The doors were opened, and the pilot came into the cabin.
Everyone stilled. Darius’ breath caught in his throat.
The pilot smiled, “Welcome home.” he said, gesturing for them to disembark.
Unsurprisingly, Kenji was first off the plane, flying past the rest of them with a whoop. Yaz was right behind him, followed closely by Sammy. Brooklyn started after them, Darius on her heels before he realized Ben hadn’t moved to follow them.
“Ben?” He turned, experience telling him it was fear holding his friend back.
The other boy’s face was twisted in terror. “What if they hate me?” He asked.
Darius made his way back to Ben, offering him his hand. Ben regarded it warily “They won’t. And if they do, Yaz can kick their ass.”
Ben cracked a smile, and grabbed Darius’ hand. Brooklyn poked her head back in the door. “You guys coming?”
“Yep” Darius answered, “Just had to give one last pep talk.”
Brooklyn let out a short, choked laugh. They made their way to the terminal together.
Sammy, Yaz, and Kenji were waiting for them at the top of the ramp, hovering impatiently.
“We did it.” Brooklyn said, looping her arms around Kenji and Yaz’s shoulders.
“Uh, yeah we did!” Kenji cheered.
“C’mon, let’s go.” Darius said, tears forming in his eyes.
Together, they stepped out into the terminal, and into a flurry of cameras. Of course someone had leaked their arrival time. Typical.
Instinctively, they all flinched back from the noise and flurry of questions. It was too loud, too bright.
Darius fought back the urge to run and hide, reminding himself that there were no dinosaurs here. That they were safe.
Brooklyn pushed upfront to stand next to him, her face set determinedly. Her right hand held Kenji’s, her left she tangled in his right. Ben grabbed his other hand, already linked with Yaz and Sammy.
Together, they walked out into the fray.
Later, Darius wouldn’t remember the walk. He wouldn’t remember the questions, or the microphones shoved in his face. He would remember the feeling of Ben’s hand in his, the flashing lights and the odd texture of the carpet.
He’d remember his thundering heart, and his brother’s voice cutting through the din.
“Darius!” His brother appeared out of the crowd, waving frantically.
The world around him fell away, his brother looked so much older . His mom too.
“Mom! Brad!” He yelled back.
Dimly, he heard his friends peeling off, dropping hands and calling out names as people emerged from the crowd.
He broke into a sprint, running faster than when the Indominus was chasing him.
Darius collided with his brother first, throwing his arms around his middle and burying his face into his chest. Brad staggered, letting out a wet laugh.
“Thank god.” He heard him murmur, arms wrapping around him in embrace.
Darius pulled away after a second, looking up at his older sibling with a grin. “So, I probably should’ve taken that shower.” He began sheepishly.
Brad stared at him, then whacked his shoulder. “That’s not funny, not even remotely.” He said, though the corner of his mouth was twitching.
“Darius.” His mom grabbed him in a fierce hug. “Thank god you're alive.”
“Mom.” He greeted in response, throat closing.
Seconds later, he was crying into her shoulder. He felt Brad’s arms surround both of them, and Darius let the world fall away.
He was home. He’d made it. He’d made it.
After what felt like hours, the hug broke a part.
His mother wiped her face. “Let’s go home.” She said, hand on his shoulder.
And Darius hesitated, glancing towards the other reunions. His mom’s hand tightened.
His friends were all staring back, watching him. Darius felt something begin to expand in his chest, and he took a step back towards them, shaking his mother away.
He watched as Sammy gently disentangled herself from her parents, and Yaz stepped back, chin high. They met in the middle, fitting together in a wild array like they always have for the past nine months.
“Guess this is it.” Brooklyn said, forced cheer in her voice.
“Guess so.” Yaz replied despondently. Silence fell.
Darius felt his throat begin to close again. “No.” He blurted out.
One last time they looked at him, waiting for another hair-brained scheme, wild idea, or stupid decision. One last time they listened.
“This can’t be it. We’ll see each other again.” he promised, tears dripping down his face.
“Camp Fam forever!” Sammy sniffed.
He hugged her first, patting her back before relinquishing her to Brooklyn. Yaz stared at him a second, then surged forward and squeezed him hard enough that his ribs protested. Kenji was next, and Darius let himself be swallowed for a moment before gently pushing him towards Ben.
Brooklyn was next, and he held her a moment longer than the rest.
“Bye, Dino-Nerd” His partner in crime whispered, tears dripping onto his neck.
“See you later, Superstar.” He whispered back, and she let out a hysterical laugh as she pulled away.
Darius turned around and found Ben standing right behind him. The other boy pulled him into a hug too, albeit brief.
“See you around Darius.” Ben said, standing tall, so different from when they met.
Darius nodded, throat too tight to speak. Ben seemed to understand anyway.
He looked around one last time, memorizing how his friends were in the moment. Ben, with the remnants of his blue shirt still tied in a bandana. Kenji with his beard. Sammy with her frizzy hair, and Yaz with her tracksuit ripped on one shoulder. Brooklyn with her brown roots and pink hair.
He gave them one last smile, then turned and walked back to his mom and brother.
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 years later …
Darius fixed his tie, slightly nervous as the reporter, Victoria Adams, sat down across from him.
After brief introductions, they were live on national television, and Darius was wondering why he agreed to do this.
“Mr. Bowman, thank you for agreeing to speak with me.” Adams began pleasantly.
“The pleasure is mine, Ms. Adams.” He replied, only slightly stilted.
She smiled, perhaps sensing his nerves, and forged ahead.
It started off with innocuous questions, about his health, his family, what his teaching job at the University of Colorado is like. Soft balls.
Gradually, though, they began to veer towards what they were really going to talk about: Jurassic World.
Darius was ready for her, mostly. Or at least he thought he was until he was under the scrutiny of one of the best reporters in the US. It was like she knew where he wasn’t telling the whole truth.
Ugh.
“Darius, are you aware that you are the only Camp Cretaceous survivor to not have been interviewed at all since your homecoming?” Adams questioned, leaning forward.
Darius nodded, “Yes.”
“Why are you breaking your silence now, on the anniversary of the park’s evacuation?” She was circling, watching him for weakness or dishonesty.
He thought through the question before answering. “Well, Kenji told the story about Toro all wrong.” Darius jokes.
Adams’ laughed politely, and someone on the camera crew started to tease him gently. Darius smiled, slightly more at ease, before he continued.
“No, in all honesty, it’s because people are talking about returning to the island and trying to rebuild.” He started, and Adams nodded wisely.
“Brooklyn and Kenji have already commented online about the proposal. They had some strong opinions.” the reporter remarked. Darius laughed, internally wincing. He’d read those tweets. ‘Strong’ was a kind description.
“I can’t say I disagree.” He shrugged, “I love dinosaurs, but it has been proven twice now that it isn’t safe. It can’t be safe.”
“Do you support leaving the island alone?” She honed in.
Darius sighed. “Yes, I do. People going back there will only result in more lives lost, on both sides.”
Adams dipped her head in understanding, likely reading between the lines.
“Let’s talk about your time on the island.” She suggested, Darius gestured for her to continue.
“Several of your fellow survivors have said that the only reason you all survived the early stage of your ordeal was due to your knowledge, and your leadership. What made you take the lead?” The reporter leaned in, finally going for the hard questions.
Darius met her gaze evenly. He’d seen the interviews too.
“In all honesty, it wasn’t something I consciously thought about. We’d just been chased by a man-eating dinosaur, knocked off a zipline, and had our only safe space completely destroyed.” He explained, the memory as vivid as it was nearly a decade ago.
“Everyone started panicking and arguing, and I remember thinking about what my dad had told me before he died.” He faltered here, trying to explain how he’d just… stepped in.
Adams was scrutinizing him, marking his hesitation.
“And I just told them to stop, told them we needed to find an adult. And from there they kinda just, followed me. I still don’t know exactly why.” Darius finished clumsily.
Victoria Adams leaned back, studying him before continuing.
“What was it like, being hunted?” Adams asked bluntly.
He barely flinched, taken aback. He’d prepared for the question, but not for the bluntness of the delivery. Still, he kept his cool.
“It’s terrifying.” He admitted, “To know that something intent on killing you is waiting for you to make one mistake. Waiting for you to be a second too slow so that it can eat you…” He trailed off. “There’s really no words to describe the entire sense.”
Adams now was gazing on him with sympathy, or maybe pity, and oh did that rub Darius the wrong way.
He forged ahead. “It wasn’t all bad though. We weren’t constantly hunted. There were good moments too.”
Adams raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “Good moments? On an island full of man eating dinosaurs.”
Darius grinned cheekily, practically hearing Kenji’s groan.
“Well, not all of the dinosaurs wanted to eat us. Ben spoke at length about Bumpy.” He began. Oh Yaz was definitely rolling her eyes from wherever she was.
“But yeah, there were moments we had a lot of fun. Planning out the tree house that Yaz showed you. Dancing under the stars in pitch blackness to terrible music left behind by one of the counselors. Running around on Mainstreet and finding dinosaur shaped walkie-talkies with robot-mode.” Darius reflected back on all of the mundane days where they weren’t fleeing from the local theropods.
“Finding the watering hole was really special. Celebrating on the boat that we used to escape Nublar before we left. Hanging in Kenji’s penthouse while on the hunt for supplies. We had days when nothing happened, and we played games and took turns riding on Bumpy.”
“It wasn’t all terror. It wasn’t all death. There was life too, and good times. Dinosaur related or not.” He finished, taking great joy in the slightly confused expressions of the camera crew.
There were things that he didn’t mention, like how they had all come to enjoy the quiet of the park. Or how they’d all scribbled stupid messages on Yaz’s ankle brace because there was nothing better to do. How once she was better, they used to race her to see who was fastest (Yaz won every time, with Ben and Kenji tied for second. It was something that they both bragged about.). There were times when they all sat around the fire and told stories, or curled up when the nights got a little chilly. Or the time that Brooklyn found an old bottle of nail polish and painted everyone’s nails.
Adams tilted her head. “The others never spoke about any good moments.” She challenged.
Darius grinned again, sharper than earlier. “No one ever asked. All anyone wanted was the horror story. Never the whole truth.”
She looked slightly affronted at his words, but he pushed on.
“If it had been all terrible, I wouldn’t teach about dinosaurs. I wouldn’t have ever agreed to this interview. I would’ve cut my friends out of my life and gone acting like nothing ever happened. Nothing is ever completely terrible. That’s not how the world works.”
“You don’t trust the media, do you Darius?” Adams said.
He shrugged, “I do, but I also know how people work. Nublar taught all of us a lot on that front.”
She frowned at that, but Darius knew that almost everyone who followed their journey knew about their series of betrayals. He didn’t need to expound on it.
“The point is, my friends and I didn’t just suffer. We overcame too. Nublar was as much a playground as a cemetery. The dinosaurs were, for six months, our neighbors and our hunters. There isn’t a way to summarize all of what we went through without looking at both sides.” Darius gently nudged the topic away from his inherent distrust of other people.
And to think, he’s the most trusting of the group. Ben would be cackling.
“Speaking of your counterparts. How long has it been since you’ve seen them?” the reporter refocused.
Darius sighed again, missing his friends like a limb. “Since the airport actually.”
Something, not quite surprise, but near enough, flitted over her face. He inclined his head
“I’ve been in touch of course, texting, facetime, but we’ve never been able to see each other in person in years.” He explained.
And he missed them. Missed Kenji’s antics and Sammy’s enthusiasm, and its sharp contrast with Yaz’s biting sarcasm. He missed Ben’s particular brand of humor and Brooklyn’s one track mind. He missed how they could have an entire conversation without saying a word.
He missed the easy camaraderie and the feeling of working in a team. It had been too long, and nothing had ever filled that hole completely.
Darius almost wished they were here, if only for the entire country to watch them terrorize this poor reporter with their collective lack of self-preservation.
“Well, you must miss them.” Adams remarked, eyes flicking back to something behind him.
“You have no idea.” He responded, resisting the urge to turn around. If he did, he’d be teased for eons by Kenji for being ‘paranoid’.
“And here I thought you’ve been avoiding us all these years.” a new voice emerged in the lull.
Darius whipped around, heart stuttering.
Brooklyn stood proudly just behind him, eyes glittering in amusement. She was dressed in her signature pink color, albeit a dress instead of a jacket, brown hair braided back.
“Brooklyn!” He yelped, jumping to his feet and practically leaping over the chair.
She laughed brightly and flung her arms around him.
“Holy shi-” She began, and he motioned at the cameras frantically. “-taki mushrooms, you got tall. Facetime did not do you justice” She finished with a smirk.
“Nice save babe.” Kenji drawled, stepping out from the shadows.
“Kenji!” Darius lunged, grabbing the other man in a hug.
His friend patted him on the back. “Hey Dino-Nerd. You literally talked to me yesterday.”
“Yeah, but I haven’t seen you in longer. What are you two doing here?” He exclaimed, pulling away to scrutinize his friend.
Holy crap, Brooklyn was right, Facetime did not do any of them justice. Kenji was a giant, towering over both him and Brooklyn. Stupid genetics.
The other man was dressed in a suit, but, in classic Kenji fashion, had discarded the tie somewhere and replaced it with sunglasses. He had a tiny captain hat pin on his lapel, which made Darius grin.
“Wow, I see how it is.” Yaz said, followed by a punch in the shoulder that could only be Ben.
“Hi Darius!” Sammy squealed, grabbing him from behind.
“Did you guys conspire against me or something?” Darius laughed, completely ignoring the flurry of the camera crew behind them.
Ben let out an eerie cackle. “Something like that.” His suit was the exact opposite of Kenji’s, with the coat and tie done exactly right. His tie had tiny ankylosaurus on them, so small it wasn’t noticeable until you were standing right in front. But they were there.
Darius hugged him, and the other two girls. Sammy was wearing a floral blouse and dress pants. Yaz was wearing a dark blue pantsuit, her hair brushed out and let down.
“This is insane. How are you all here?” He refused to cry on live television, but it was a near thing.
Joy, warm and bright like liquid sunlight, filled him. His friends were here, in this moment, like they’d never left.
They all exchanged mischievous glances. Oh boy.
“Three months of planning, wheedling, and pleading.” Brooklyn began dramatically.
Sammy took up the rest of the sentence, “Until we finally got you to accept Ms. Adams’ invitation.”
“From there, it was a simple matter to book tickets and meet up here.” Kenji finished triumphantly.
“Honestly, I thought we were being a little obvious. You’re losing your touch.” Yaz said smugly. Brooklyn was nodding emphatically from his other side.
Darius stared at them, briefly thinking back to all of their recent conversations. In every single one, they’d asked about his latest interview offers.
Damn. He’s never gonna live this down.
“I must be.” He replied, shaking his head in resigned exasperation.
Victoria Adams made her way over. “Now that everyone is here, shall we get to the main event?” She asked sweetly.
Darius shot a betrayed look at his friends, who all cackled in response.
“Shall we?” Sammy said, an impish grin on her face.
‘Oh no.’ Darius thought faintly, ‘They are going to hate us after this.’
He shared a look with Ben, who’s expression seemed to say “Good”.
They sat down on the hastily assembled chairs. Darius ended up in the center, with Brooklyn and Kenji on his right , and Ben, Sammy, and Yaz on his left.
“So,” Brooklyn sat forward, green eyes narrowed. “Where do you want to start?”
End