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Ian Malcolm grits his teeth. Pain shoots up his leg and his torso. He knows it's nothing, he just wishes his brain could remember that as well. It is mornings like this when he wishes he'd just lost his leg. It had taken a long time for him to admit that to himself, but he finally had.
He rolls onto his side to see the digital clock provided by the hotel. It is 7:45. Breakfast starts at eight. Even the thought of food when he's in such pain makes him nauseous, but Kelly is coming here to have breakfast with him.
"Curse you, Hammond," he mutters, fighting through the pain to get up and get ready.
Everyone knows you aren't supposed to speak ill of the dead, but Ian doesn't care. In this case, Ian has decided Hammond deserves it. Would the old man really deny him this if it made him feel better? He would like to think he wouldn't. Ian didn't ask for much money in way of reparations. His reputation was ruined. This is the only way he can ever imagine John Hammond paying him for the harm he suffered at Jurassic Park - and then on Isla Sorna! He can't forget Isla Sorna.
If it hadn't been for Sarah Harding, Ian would have slapped some sense into the old man and then left without another word. He would never have led a t-rex through San Diego. He would never have put his daughter, his goddess, his inspiration in harm's way.
"Hey, Dad! Just in time!"
Ian lights up when his daughter meets him at the elevator door. "Kelly!" He hugs her tight.
"Your leg hurting again?" she asks as he pulls away.
"A little bit."
He feels her hand against his back. She leans her head against his shoulder while they walk side-by-side to the dining area.
Ian grabs a couple cartons of milk, unsure if he can stomach much more than that, then finds them a table. Kelly takes a waffle, a bagel, some eggs and bacon, and a cup of coffee.
"You always did have an appetite," he laughs.
She smiles, digging her fork into the waffle. "An appetite like a triceratops!"
That was something Sarah had started when they first became a family. They had clearly bonded over what happened on Isla Sorna, even though the two girls had known each other before that because of Ian dating Sarah. The love of dinosaurs was something Sarah and Kelly had in common for many years - even through the nightmares, late nights, and early mornings.
The two sit in silent companionship. Kelly continues digging into her meal while Ian takes a sip of his milk. He is starting to feel a little better. The pain has diminished since he first awoke. He thinks he might be able to stomach some food soon. It usually takes longer, but it's always helpful when his daughter is safe and sound by his side.
A chime comes from his pocket as he receives a text.
"What'th that?" Kelly asks, her mouth still partially full with some eggs.
Ian pulls his phone from his pocket. "Oh, Ramsay sent me a message."
Kelly nods.
He opens the message. "'Are you, Dr. Grant, and Dr. Sattler free this afternoon for a coffee?' Hm. Did you have any plans for us today, Kelly?"
Kelly shakes her head. She swallows. "Don't you think you should talk to Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler before you make any plans, though?" She takes a drink of her coffee, watching her father over the brim of her cup.
He waves his hand. "Nah. They like when I plan things for them."
"Sure they do, Dad," she laughs.
"We are free," he utters as he types. "When and where?"
"You two are up early," Ellie's voice distracts Ian as she and Alan enter the dining area. Alan looks like he's still half asleep.
Kelly perks up. "How did you two sleep?"
Ellie nods. "Better."
Alan doesn't respond.
"Well, this should make you happy," Ian says, holding his phone up. "We have a coffee date scheduled for," -he takes a quick look at the reply from Ramsay- "two hours from now with Ramsay!"
Alan takes a sip of orange juice. "I don't feel like going anywhere today."
"I think we wore him out last night," Ellie laughs, rubbing her hand along Alan's back.
Ian frowns. "Well, Ramsay did ask for all three of us."
"I'll still come. We can tell Alan about it later if we need to. Or," she smiles, "why doesn't Ramsay join us for dinner tonight when Alan has had some time to rest?"
"Kelly, would you-" Ian hands his phone to his daughter. He has gotten faster at typing over the years, but his little girl is faster still.
She rolls her eyes, putting her fork down. It takes her a matter of seconds to type the proposal out and click send. It feels like it takes even less time for Ramsay to reply. She turns the screen towards Ian.
"'It's important. It can't wait. All three of you need to be here.'" Ian looks at Alan and Ellie, shrugging. "I guess Alan will have to take a nap later."
Ellie pats Alan on the shoulder. She stands. "Kelly, show me where you got the waffles. They look good!"
Kelly hops up. "I was just going back for seconds."
Alan takes another drink of his coffee.
"Unless you being so tired is for another reason…?" Ian hints once the girls have walked away.
The esteemed paleontologist stares at him over the rim of his cup. He slowly lowers it back to the table. "I couldn't sleep last night."
"I didn't want to get out of bed this morning." Neither of them have to say the words "nightmare" and "phantom pains," they just know. "Anyway, I think when we're there, I'll check for a morning cane."
Alan raises an eyebrow. "What- What is that? Some sort of..cappuccino or something?"
Ian stares at him for a second. "Wh- No. It's a cane, that I'll use in the morning, when I feel like I've been thrown through an outhouse by a tyrannosaur. Who in their right mind would name a cappuccino 'morning cane'?"
"How many of us have been in our 'right mind' since Nublar?" Alan counters.
The mathematician opens his mouth to reply, only to close it a second later. He takes a sip of his milk. Alan has a point.
"So, Alan," Ellie and Kelly rejoin them, setting their plates down on the table, "are you coming with us to see Ramsay?"
"Ramsay!" Ian leads Ellie and Alan to where the young visionary sits in the coffee shop.
The young man stands quickly when he sees them. He is smiling until they are all four seated.
Ian wasn't expecting him to be in town after the end of the trial. He was sure there were a million other places the boy would rather be. Guess he was wrong.
"So, what's so important?" Ellie asks.
Ramsay looks around. Something is definitely on his mind - something he doesn't want to bring up. His eyes are looking everywhere but at the three doctors. "Can-Can I get any of you some coffee? We, uh, we're waiting for one more person to join us."
"Hold on," Ian stops him, "you didn't mention anyone else. What's this about?"
“I’ll take that coffee,” Alan agrees.
Alan and Ramsay go to stand but Ian throws his hands out to stop them both. “Uh, no. No one is getting coffee until you tell us what’s going on.” He realizes that Alan may actually need that coffee, since he didn’t sleep last night, so he casts a rare apologetic look at the other man.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
They all spin around to face the fifth member of their meeting, Dr. Henry Wu.
Ian immediately deflates. “Not him!” He looks at Ramsay. “Why him?” He turns back to Wu. “Not you! I’ve had enough of you!”
Wu sits between Ramsay and Ellie, which is best for his own safety in many ways.
Ramsay takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Dr. Malcolm. I thought all four of you were owed this, since Dr. Wu could have been stuck on the island with you had things gone differently 20 years ago.”
Alan sighs, rubbing his face. “Ramsay, about that coffee?”
“Oh, right!” Ramsay stands partially. “Anyone else want anything?”
Once the coffee order is placed, Ramsay returns to his seat. He takes a deep breath and looks around the table - the first time he's truly looked at any of the others present.
"What did you call us here for, Ramsay?" Ian reminds him, annoyed that the boy hasn't begun speaking already.
"Right! Sorry. So. It's about Dodgson."
"Oh great!" Ian throws his hands in the air, throwing himself back in his chair. "My second favorite person!"
"Ian!" Ellie hisses. "What about Dodgson, Ramsay? I heard they couldn't find his body, that he died at the sanctuary."
Ramsay nods. "I'm sure he did. What you heard is right, his body was never found. What I have to say actually has to do with Isla Nublar and Jurassic Park."
Ian rolls his eyes. "I thought you said you looked into the Jurassic Park incident?" he asks Ramsay. "Dodgson wasn't there!"
"Uh, no, but Nedry was."
"You mean the man who set up the Park's systems?" Wu asks.
"Exactly."
Alan shakes his head. "What does he have to do with Dodgson? He worked for Ingen with Hammond and the others."
Ramsay shakes his head. "Not according to Dodgson."
Ian leans in, propping himself up with one elbow on the tabletop. "What are you trying to say, Ramsay?"
"Whew, okay." Ramsay takes a deep breath before beginning. "It was years ago, back when we were just bringing the sanctuary online. I had joined BioSyn because I had seen Ingen and Masrani fail in their attempts to watch over the dinosaurs. I found it kind of suspicious that BioSyn, lifelong enemy of Ingen, was going into the dinosaur game when their opponent had so valiantly failed." He shrugs. "Then again, maybe they just wanted to use it to prove they were better than Ingen.
"Anyway, I was already getting pretty close with Dodgson. He had taken a shine to me once when we met in the hall. I didn't really understand why but that was fine. It was a few months before I first went to his office for a one-on-one meeting with him. I saw this battered Barbasol can on one of the shelves while I was waiting."
"So he shaves," Ian shrugs. "What does this have to do with Jurassic Park?"
Ramsay shakes his head before continuing. "He walked in on me looking at this thing. 'Ah, noticed that did you?' I asked him about it and he told me this story of how he had hired some guy named Nedry, who worked on the first Jurassic Park. The Barbasol container was something he had given Nedry to transport embryo specimens.
"The plan was to turn off the systems long enough for Nedry to grab the embryos and get out of the main areas to the docks, where he would be escorted off the island."
Wu frowns.
Alan is already sitting up ramrod-straight at the mention of stealing embryos. Ian thought he could sit any straighter, until Ramsay mentioned the shutting down of systems.
Ellie looks furious. "I- I can't express how angry that makes me! You're telling us Dodgson is the one who caused that whole fiasco back then?!"
Ian nods slowly. "I knew there was something rotten about him. You know, aside from wanting to starve the world into buying BioSyn products by sending out swarms of giant locusts to eat the wheat of any field that wasn't BioSyn seed."
"We shook his hand," Alan mutters. He looks at Ellie. "We took a picture with him, Ellie."
"He was just laughing at us the whole time," Ian speaks what he knows Alan is thinking.
Alan starts to get up. "I think I need to go for a walk." He stops and slinks back into his chair when an ankylosaurus walks by the shop windows and door. "Never mind," he mutters under his breath.
Ian claps his hands, causing Alan to jump. Ellie just glares at him. "Well, anyway. He got what was coming to him. You know, if he truly died in his own sanctuary. Now we figure out what to do with this information."
"What do you mean?" Ellie and Ramsay ask.
"Do we take Dodgson's estate to court with this new information and get a payout? Do we do nothing?"
Wu shakes his head. "I feel I need to remind you there is no proof beyond what Ramsay has said. No one thought to look for a Barbasol can when they were looking for survivors."
"Of course not! Of course we didn't! You know what? Fine. We don't do anything." He freezes. There is one other thing they have to do with this information. "Uh, who's going to tell Lex and Tim?"