For Prompt Party 2019

Prompt 194: Jurassic Park/World AU

A/N: I've taken some liberties and added a little role reversal to make things more interesting. This will be based on the Jurassic World movie(s)

Robin Locklsey has always admired the polished glamour of a good suit.

Navy, straight-leg trousers, crisp white shirt (open collar, of course, to project a sophisticated, but casual persona), impeccably tailored jacket in the same navy hue as the pants, and a silk ascot to... tie it all together, if you pardon the pun.

From afar, his red tie appears to have a white polka dot print on it, but if you look closely, you can see that they're not dots, but rather tiny little dinosaurs forming the pattern, his own little homage to his place of work.

"Robin? He's just landed, the investors are with him," announces his assistant.

"Splendid. Thank you, Mulan," he tells her, pressing his palm into his carefully combed hair and propping it up just a little. He gives himself a once-over in the office mirror, making sure everything is in place. He represents one of the most famous companies in the world, after all, he should look like it if he's going to seal this deal.

He takes a deep breath and smiles, then turns and walks out in his leather shoes, following Mulan down the hall and into the Jeep waiting for them.

Today is gonna be a good day.

"Ah, Robin!" greets Triton King, the owner of the park. "Good to see you."

"Likewise, Mr. King," says Robin, turning his charm on as he is introduced to each of the investors by name. They're here on behalf of three different tech companies, King tells him, and they wish to find opportunities in Isla Nublar.

Robin, of course, already knows all this, but it's all part of the pitch. This is supposed to be an "unscheduled" visit, to see how everything works without anything being modified to persuade them to invest.

"Welcome, gentlemen, to Jurassic World," Robin announces, stretching his arm back towards the park entrance. "I promise you, you'll be amazed by what you find here."

They tour the indoor areas of the park only, to avoid the tropical heat, and Robin makes his best efforts to showcase all the interactive digital attractions and technology they offer. They stop at the petting zoo, where the baby triceratops do a great job of charming their guests, and then head to the lab, where both Robin and Mr. King explain the process of DNA splicing and how the dinosaurs are created by their world-renowned biologists.

"This is all quite interesting, Mr. Locksley," says one of the investors, a Mr. Gold, if Robin's not mistaken. "But I'd like to see something with more, um... teeth."

And there it is.

Throwing Mulan a furtive grin, Robin turns and nods his head to the man, and offers, "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to meet our newest attraction."

They all become pretty eager at the prospect, he notices, and uses the opportunity to educate them on the Indominus Rex, carefully sliding in the concept that there is a need for investment in order to maintain the specimen, given its larger-than-expected size and appetite.

Mr. Gold easily takes the bait.

"That sounds like something I'd like to put my money on," he says, and is met by the murmured agreement of the others. Robin feels Mulan subtly bumping her shoulder against him in praise.

The enclosure for the Indominus is bigger, the walls taller, thicker, stronger, and it all looks daunting when they approach. It's imposing, powerful, scary. Perfect.

"We're hoping to unveil the asset within the next two months, provided we secure enough funds to keep it fed and well looked after," Robin starts, leading everyone to the viewing tunnel.

Thick glass doors line the right side of the space, air conditioning providing a cool respite for their guests. There are soft white and blue lights on the left wall, a modern and simple layout to provide the best viewing experience.

The containment area is quiet, almost eerily so.

"Where is it? Where's this new species you've created?" asks John Midas, the owner of Midas Cyber Security.

"It's, uh... it appears to be sleeping somewhere," Robin explains, tapping the glass to call the animal (the glass is three feet thick, tapping it is futile, but they don't have to know that).

"David, drop her lunch in, will ya?" Mulan says into her walkie, and a static-y Sure thing, boss comes through the speaker.

The arm of a crane is seen coming in from above, dangling the bloody cow carcass right in front of the glass. And then they wait.

After a couple of minutes, a rumble echoes through the room, trees rustling and moving on the right-most side of the enclosure.

"Here it is, gentlemen," Robin announces, turning back to smile at his guests.

The Indominus walks into view, menacing as ever. All teeth and claws and pale, corrugated skin, towering over the trees, her eyes narrowed and snake-like, the slits thinning in the sunlight.

"My, my," says Mr. Gold, impressed. "Would you look at that."

The animal is moving slowly towards the food, growling softly as it inspects the meal, sniffing and looking around. It's almost as if it's... thinking. But that's silly. These animals aren't capable of that.

"She's white," Robin hears Mr. King whisper, and turns to address him.

"A consequence of her genetic design. Not exactly planned, but it does make her unique," he explains.

"Indeed," is King's reply, his eyes trained on the beast, watching its every move.

Suddenly, the Indominus growls, opening its giant mouth and ripping the carcass whole from the rope, pulling enough that the crane's arm breaks and falls into the enclosure, becoming a discarded piece of scrap metal in seconds.

Robin yelps, thankful that the creature's growls hide the sounds of his own gasps, and he turns to the investors with a nervous smile, ready to explain away this mishap.

But he needn't bother, because the men are staring at the dinosaur like it's a tree full of cash, some of them even clapping at the display before them.

"She's terrifying," says King, and the others excitedly express their agreement.

But King isn't excited. Not at all.

"Mulan, would you be so kind as to take our guests to the restaurant now and get them started on some drinks?" the man says in a low voice. Mulan nods politely, and turns to the gaggle of rich men now almost pressing their noses into the glass like children, the better to see the Indominus Rex as it claws at the piece of the crane on the floor, leaving marks on the metal.

"If you gentlemen would follow me," she tells them charmingly, "We'll start to wine and dine you so you'll never want to leave."

They laugh at her little joke, and walk behind her and out of the viewing tunnel, leaving Robin alone with Mr. King.

"Is something wrong?" he asks, and his boss frowns.

"That thing is too strong," Triton says. "Stronger than I was told she was."

"An unexpected side effect of the DNA combo used to create her," Robin assures him. "Nothing that can't be managed by our security task force."

"I'd like to have a behavioral specialist look at her and tell me that," Triton counters. "The army kid that was working with the raptors... what was her name again?"

"Regina Mills, sir," Robin says cautiously, already dreading this.

"Yes, Regina. I've seen some of her research. She's good. Have her take a look at this one and give us a full behavioral report. I want to make sure nothing's wrong with her."

"I'll bring her in right away, sir," Robin says through a gritted smile.

"Great!" Mr. King's chipper demeanor is back. He claps Robin on the back and congratulates him on a job well done, then starts to head out the way the investors did. "I'll leave you here to join her while she does her tests."

What? No. It's one thing to bring her in and another to force him to work with her. He's not even a dinosaur specialist to begin with, there's no point to him being there and letting her annoy him with her digs and insults.

"But sir—" he tries, but Mr. King is already at the door and speaking over him.

"I'll see you after I load these guys back into their boat. Thanks, Robin," he concludes just as the door shuts behind him, and Robin is left by himself in the tunnel.

The dinosaur has gone back to hiding somewhere in the enclosure, and Robin angrily kicks the glass, huffing before he, too, leaves the room, getting into another park Jeep and driving it out to the wilderness.

She lives in a trailer by the water, out in the middle of the herbivore reserve, with specimens roaming the land all around her, and every morning, she comes to the raptor cages and trains them. The raptor program is owned by Leo White, a weapons tycoon who had decided to branch out and put some money into the park. Robin has heard great things about the program, knows that they've made great strides in getting the animals to adapt to human interaction, though they only seem to be interested in interacting with Regina, everyone else is food.

Still, it's a great advancement. He knows the four raptors (each a surviving specimen from the four breeding groups they've started last year) have formed a pack, that they have a leader, and that they have recently started obeying orders, all thanks to Regina.

He finds her down there as he steps onto the top of the enclosure, watches as she plays with her clicker and sends the animals running after a pig. One click and they stop, two clicks and they attack, and then she whistles, and they run back to her, standing right next to each other and waiting for her next command.

They're short, lizard-like things; like oversized iguanas with tiny hands and sharp teeth, deceivingly gangly-looking in appearance, their faces elongated at the snout like crocodiles.

Not exactly cute and cuddly like the Triceratops, but they're fast, and smart, which makes for a fantastic display.

There's people here, watching her as she does her little show, and as soon as it's over and everyone claps, Robin makes his way to the steel-caged perimeter inside the enclosure to see her up close.

She's always been beautiful. The perpetual summer of Isla Nublar has given her skin a permanent sun-kissed glow, her hair threaded into a long, messy braid that hangs over her shoulder and bounces as she moves. She often dresses in the colors of her raptors, he's noticed, blues and greens and earthy browns and grays that let the honeyed shade of her eyes and the warm tint of her cheeks be the main features of it all, and today is no exception.

Dark gray trousers that hug her figure, brown boots, and a light blue shirt, her trusty leather vest full of pockets and buttons loosely topping the ensemble.

Stunning.

It's a shame they don't get along.

"What are you doing here?" she asks when she sees him. "It's been eight blissful months without seeing your face, why did you have to break that streak?"

"Believe me, if I could've avoided it, I would have," Robin grouses, brushing off invisible dirt from the end of his sleeve and then pulling slightly on his collar. It's hot out here.

She's sweaty, with dirt smudges on her arms, even one on her cheek, but she's turning back to stare at the raptors, all of them now crammed against the door to get closer to her. They're menacing, and Robin is entirely sure they'd tear into her if someone were to open that cage door right now, but Regina doesn't seem to care. In fact, she looks absolutely content, standing there as possible prey to the creatures she's raised.

"King sent me," he insists, pulling on his collar again. "Is there a cooler place where we can talk?"

"Just take off that ridiculous tie," she says with a roll of her eyes. "What does the man want?"

Robin scowls, feeling a drop of sweat rolling down his temple, but his ascot remains in place.

"He says we need your... expertise."

"Ah, there she is, my miracle worker," comes a low, pitchy voice from behind him, and he turns to find Leo White approaching them.

Robin doesn't get along with Regina Mills. But he absolutely hates Leo White.

The old man hugs her, his hands, Robin notices, settling dangerously low on her back, enough for her to pull back instantly and put some much needed distance between them. What a creep.

"You've made them obey commands! We can definitely do a field test now, this is amazing."

"I've told you before, Leo, you cannot weaponize these creatures," Regina tells him.

"These animals can take the place of soldiers and win wars in minutes, sweetheart, it would save lives and resources."

"You will not turn my raptors into military assets, Leopold."

"They're not yours, Regina, they're mine. And I will do with them as I please," he tells her, moving closer so he can rub her shoulder. Regina shivers visibly, and Robin's blood boils.

"No, you won't. You need me, without me, you've got nothing, and I'm not doing it," she replies firmly.

"As I was saying," Robin interrupts, putting himself between White and Regina when he sees the former reaching to touch her again. "Mr. King needs you to come in, Regina."

"Right," she agrees. "Let's go."

They leave White there by himself, annoyed, and head to the Jeep.

"Thanks for getting me out of there," she says, and she sounds genuine, no hint of sarcasm or insult in her tone.

"No thanks necessary," Robin tells her. "He's a douche."

"You know, you really shouldn't be calling other people that when you're wearing an ascot," she teases, and that's the obnoxious Regina he knows and... tolerates well enough.

"This is why it would've never worked out between us," he retorts, and Regina laughs.

"You mean, besides that horrible first date?"

"It was not horrible!" Robin defends.

"Who prints out an itinerary for a date?" she mutters to herself, but he hears her.

"I'm an organized person!" he rushes to explain.

"There's organized and there's basket-case obsessive," she counters, and he almost growls his frustration.

He tries to focus on his driving, ignores the little looks she gives him until she speaks again.

"You look good," she says then, surprising him for a moment before she goes right back to showcasing her bothersome personality by adding, "Stupid ascot aside, of course."

He rolls his eyes, but catches her grinning at him.

"Thank you," says Robin, taking a second to look back at her and say, "You look... tan."

"Wow, thanks," she says with a laugh.

"Tan and beautiful," he amends, and she winks at him and smiles her thanks.

The rest of the ride passes in companionable silence, and Robin thinks maybe working with her won't be so horrible this time around.

He should've known that was a pipe dream...