Ian Lynn Malcolm

Malcolm sat in the dark limousine. The decor, in black leather and highlights of silver fit seamlessly with his own style. He should have appreciated it but he didn't. He hated it. One thing  broke the sea of black, a bone white, worn bamboo cane topped with a beautiful piece of amber. He let his mind wander as he stared at the amber.

Stegosaurus, gift, wife, hope, promise..mistakes.. death, injury, destruction.. there were words attached to this cane. He had to set it aside before he threw it. While the anger welled up he knew if he broke the cane he would regret it. He had carried the cane for 6 months. Hammond had given it to him when he was hospitalized. It was too short to use properly but Ian had chosen to carry it instead of a cane he could use for his own demolished leg.

"Dr. Malcolm?"

Ian didn't look up from the cane now sitting beside him.  The response was unexpected. Lexi, who had spoken crawled into his lap as if she were still the child he met many years ago. She curled up crying despite being a nearly grown woman now. Malcolm held her because there was nothing else to do. Nothing else anyone could do.

His mind was jolted back to the prison in Costa Rica. Lexi, he had held on to her as the guards hit him. Grant had been beside him holding Timmy and they both had Ellie pinned to the wall behind them. The guards were trying to separate them but for Malcolm things were a matter of pride. When they had been imprisoned Hammond had one request, that he protect his grandchildren. That he and Grant made sure no harm came to them.

Malcolm relived the breaking point when Lexi screamed and started to slip from his grasp. Ian had startled Grant when he grabbed the man who had been hitting him. Ian was in the midst of a fevered delirium when he beat the man to death with his bare hands. He had killed the man before he realized what had happened. Still Lexi had clung to him like some koala Joey a poacher was trying to unseat from its mother.

Malcolm brokered a deal. He was taken away into isolation but the prison, for whatever reason, kept the bargain and did not separate Ellie and Grant from the kids. He learned much later that they thought he was possessed by an evil spirit. Luck of the chaotic universe and his fever unburdened him from the torture he was sure he had endured but couldn't remember.

"I can stay with you and Timmy an extra day." It was all he had to offer. There wasn't anything he could do to protect her from death. Hammond's had been long and drawn out. The vultures descended trying to take the dinosaurs. Those who knew him recognized that Hammond lingered to protect the animals and spite those waiting to piecemeal his work. Ian admired him for the tenacity to be such a thorn in the side of others. It was one of the many things that he and Hammond had occasionally agreed on, that simply living when you were supposed to die could make your enemies suffer.

Now Hammond was gone. Hammond had made bad decisions but they would be nothing in the face of the decisions now coming out of the corporate rumor mill. The vultures didn't even let the man be buried before they had started divvying up his estate, the park, the facilities, anything they could claim as theirs.

Lexi finally nodded to Ian's question. "What's going to happen to grandpa's dinosaurs?"

"Uh." Ian didn't want to think about this angle. "...All new mistakes in a long line of bad mistakes."

"Will they be hurt?" Lexi sat up brushing her hair from her wet face.

"Oh." Ian laughed full of cynicism. "No, no. The dinosaurs will be fine... uh.. the people, they are in danger if they are foolish enough to be involved."

"More people will die?" Lexi spoke but Ian could see the fear of the child in her expression.

"I'm afraid it is inevitable." Ian straightened up and shook his head in dismay. "If the people involved are looking for money, uh.. they always are. They are so preoccupied with money. They want to package it and market it and sell it. A lot more people are going to die."

Lexi picked up the cane from the seat and held it for a time before speaking to Ian again. "Dr. Malcolm?" She only continued after a long pause. "Grandpa trusted you. Can you keep the people safe?"

Ian lowered his face into his hand dreading what he had to say next. "I have been right before but..uh.. they never listen until it is to late. People will have to die before they will listen to me. If they listen to me."