"Mr. Ward, I've told you once, if not a hundred times just in the past week, Mr. Coulson has said no. I have said no. I don't care if you single handedly funded the entire program, Mr. Ward, the raptors stay on Isla Sorna!" She looked fed up. She was fed up. Both hands were securely resting at her waist line, her right sitting just above her sheathed bowie knife. Strands of brown hair were sticking to her forehead and neck, both of which saw beads of sweat forming thanks to the hot and humid tropical air. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, but it provided little relief in the midday sun.
"And that's what you told him? For real? Word for word?"
"Word for word, Trip. I swear to god, just because he put the most money into the raptor program he thinks he owns them," Skye groaned, finally relaxing enough to lean over and wipe the dirt and dust from the knees of her jeans before she walked the couple of feet over to sit on the bench next to Trip, who was under the shade of a large palm.
"But it's in the contract, girl. The investors can clamber for their dinos all they want, but all the genetic rights still belong to Jurassic World. We own the dinosaur, they get to present," The taller man pat his coworker on the shoulder while shaking his head, "You know, Samsung presents the Mosasaur! That sort of thing. They get fifteen percent of the profit from the viewings for investing."
"Yeah I know, but somehow Hydra and Co. presents the Velociraptors doesn't sound like a very good idea. There is a reason we keep them on this island and don't transfer them to Isla Nublar. They're too dangerous. They're the most intelligent dinosaurs known to man, and I can barely control them. He wants to send them to an island that sees close to twenty-two thousand visitors every day. You know Natasha has gotten out of containment here before. How many people would he be endangering? All of them, if all five got out. It's a bad idea. If people want to see velociraptors they can take the Isla Sorna fly over tour like everyone else," the trainer threw her head back with a groan, staring up at the bright blue sky, sparsely dotted with clouds, through the leaves of the palm tree.
"People are always going to want what they can't have. You know that. In the fifteen years the park has been opened, how many new species have we had to breed here to keep attendance at the park up? You'd think people would just be excited for dinosaurs, but no," Trip shook his head and took a glance at his best friend. This Mr. Ward had been harassing her about the raptors for well over five years now, and thankfully Mr. Coulson had refused all of his offers. They both knew the man wanted more than to just show off what his money had created. What was the point of Skye having to train them for obedience if he just wanted them in the park? No, he wanted them trained and obedient for something, but it wasn't Jurassic World.
"You know Bobbi was hella excited when Samsung commissioned the mosasaur. Her big baby has been the main attraction for five years now. Considering it was your Rex before that, and the sauropod field before that, it's about time they come up with something else," Trip nudged Skye with a playful smile, and the girl rolled her eyes, "Maybe it is time for your raptors."
"Yeah right. They'll breed something stupid, like a carnotaurus or something. Get a couple of those to replace the T-rex, then we can move her back here. I do miss her. She was such a pain though," Skye chuckled, but was startled silent when the phone in her pocket began to ring and vibrate. She pulled it out swiftly and looked at the time.
"Feeding time?"
"Feeding time," Skye confirmed and shoved the device back into her jeans and pushed herself up off the bench. "You got an egg pick-up scheduled for the weekend?"
"You bet. I've got some stegosaurs and a trike I need to get from the lab. They should be hatching by then. Your new rex ready yet?" Trip asked, standing as well and stretched before he had to return to work as well.
"If they ever call. I don't know what's taking so long. If they want to add another grownup to the paddock I'm going to need to raise the new one here before they take her," Skye shrugged and then waved goodbye. She rolled up the sleeves of her shirt just a little more and situated her leather vest back into position as she walked towards the dusty, gravel parking lot of one of the many staffing centers. The brunette mounted her motorcycle and was soon speeding down the dirt road into the distance, heading for her raptor enclosure.
"Simmons, we need you over here." Jemma sighed and turned to look over her shoulder at Fitz, who was waving her over. He was standing by the egg nursery, doing something on the control panel.
"If you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Jemma tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice, but it wasn't a very easy job, especially not with Ward and Coulson trying to wrangle her into another project.
"I trust you with this assignment, Simmons, you've already done an excellent job with the Indominus Rex and we expect another great product from you." Coulson stopped her just as she was turning around, and it made the scientist want to roll her eyes. Personally, she thought it was too soon to begin designing another dinosaur, especially since the Indominus Rex had yet to become a public attraction and they didn't know how creating a new type of dinosaur would affect park ratings. Ward had insisted that his company wanted to sponsor another attraction, another carnivorous attraction, and Jemma was beginning to wonder if there was a reason he wouldn't just accept sponsoring the Gentle Giants petting zoo or something of that respect. Coulson seemed to agree, pointing out that it had taken the Indominus Rex five years to be fully ready for show, so she should get started on the next attraction right away if it needed time to develop.
"I will begin work as soon as we're not so backed up with current demands to increase the population in other paddocks." Jemma finally gave in, knowing it wasn't going to be her choice anyway. Being the head scientist didn't give her any decision making privileges, she was only there to fulfill the demands of her superiors, and if she didn't agree with them, they wouldn't be too keen on letting her stick around and keep her job.
"Make another creature as terrifying as Indominus, and Hydra Co. will be glad to fund the entire program." Ward said to Jemma's back. She finally rolled her eyes, knowing they wouldn't be able to see. It had taken her a year to perfect the Indominus Rex's genetic code, and she didn't think there was a way to make a scarier dinosaur unless it wasn't a dinosaur at all. She wouldn't be surprised if they asked her to make a dragon next, put wings on a T-rex or even Indominus.
"What is it, Fitz?" Jemma asked, looking down at the tablet on her arm and looking over the data she was receiving from the incubator. After a moment, she didn't need her partner answering her question at all. The readings on several of the eggs were showing advanced processes, meaning they were nearing the time to hatch, but it was the Tyrannosaurus Rex that appeared as if it was ready.
"Should we give the carnivore handler a call?" He asked as Jemma observed. Fitz was more of the technology engineer than a biologist, that's why he and Jemma worked so well together, the two of them were a duo capable of every aspect of their work.
Jemma swiped through a few controls on the tablet and a light flicked on underneath the correct egg. The shadow of the hatchling showed it was much larger than the last time it was checked. It also shifted inside, reacting to the light. It was definitely ready to hatch, and Jemma expected it to within the next hour or so.
"Yes, I'll go make the call. Have one of the other biologists finish the reports on the other eggs." Jemma handed Fitz her tablet to pass on to another scientist and walked over to the phone and the list of contacts. She caught her lower lip between her teeth as she picked up the wired phone and brought it up to her ear. With any other call, she would have had to drag her finger down the posted list and find a name, but Jemma already knew where Skye's name was on the page. Her heart raced as she dialed the number, as it did every time she talked to the woman who trained the raptors. Something about her made her ramble and stutter and blush. It might have been because she was so intimidating, but Jemma had already begun to accept that it was something else. She tended to ignore it, though, as they were technically coworkers and someone like Skye would never be interested in her.
After Jemma dialed, the phone rang only twice before someone on the other end picked up. She was greeted by Skye's voice, and Jemma readjusted the phone in her hand and pulled her collar away from her neck slightly. It was a nervous habit she'd developed recently.
"Hello? This is Jemma Simmons from the Creation Lab, am I speaking to Skye Johnson?" She asked, even though she already knew Skye's voice and knew she was talking to the correct person.
The carnivore expert had literally just stepped out of the velociraptor enclosure and was heading to the paddock's storage room when she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. Whoever it was was very lucky that they hadn't caught her feeding the raptors since it involved an hour long training process to build up their cooperation before the feeding part even began. Skye had been steadily working on increasing their focus and her beta, Natasha, could easily keep on task for upwards to an hour or more. The others were a little less focused, but both Skye and Natasha helped to keep the other four raptors on task.
"Sure is. You'd better be calling about my T-Rex. I've been waiting for it for over a week now. I was expecting it last Tuesday. They can't take another Rex from Isla Sorna until that baby is at least six months old and who gets crunched down on by corporate when the dinosaur isn't ready for transfer the day it says on the chart? Me, not you lab techies, so you'd better have some good news," Sure it sounded a little harsh, but the sun was hot and training was stressful and with Mr. Ward and May both breathing down her neck for dinosaurs, she was not in a pleasant mood.
Everything had been thrown off schedule, and normally some things around the island were off by a day or two, but never by a week. May ran a tight ship and she expected her island to function just as well as Isla Nublar, minus the theme park, that is. Isla Sorna was site two for the genetics lab. All dinosaurs were raised on this island until deemed fit to be viewed by the public. If a dinosaur at Jurassic World grew ill, it would be transferred to containment on Isla Sorna to be treated and another dinosaur from the second island would take the place of the first at the park. It was a good system, one that worked well when everything was in order.
Jemma scoffed, her embarrassment gone and replaced by annoyance. Leaning against the wall now, Jemma even placed one hand on her hip as if Skye was actually there and would be able to see her body language. Skye was completely out of line in snipping at her, if anyone had the right to complain, it was Jemma. In her opinion, the handlers were the only ones who ever got any credit for dinosaurs, just because they fed them and trained them they thought they were so much more important. Why did she have to call it her T-rex? Jemma was the one who made it, spending an insane amount of time creating its DNA so it wouldn't be genetically identical to the others, managing to find and fill in every gap in the 20,000 genes that made up its genome with the genes of other animals while also managing to keep it similar to the dinosaurs kids read about in books.
"I'll have you know that we 'lab techies', as you so simply put it, face corporate scrutiny as well!" Jemma couldn't help it, something about Skye also made her incredibly defensive when she wasn't a blushing mess. It was either one or the other, there was no in between. "They have their jaws locked onto the back of my neck as well, and it isn't my fault the Tyrannosaurus rex hasn't been born yet. I write their genetic coding and fertilize the eggs, not summon them into existence with magic. Would you have rather had me pump it full of steroids and make it hatch prematurely? I didn't think so." Jemma lectured, ranting and taking out more frustration than she should on the other woman. People in the lab were starting to give her stares, especially Fitz, but Jemma ignored them. She gripped the phone tightly in her hands and didn't wait for a response from the ignorant, irritating carnivore handler. "The T-rex should hatch within the hour, so you better come over here and do your imprinting nonsense correctly and on time so I don't have to start over."
The brunette was already on her way to her motorcycle when she stopped mid stride, just holding her phone to her ear with a rather bemused look on her face. Apparently she had offended the lab worker, which she supposed she really should apologize for. They did, after all, actually make the dinosaurs, as Ms. Simmons had so 'politely' put it, but something about the other woman's irritated tone triggered something in Skye. She couldn't help it. The need to snip back came a bit too naturally, especially after working with raptors. They could be very snippy indeed.
"Alright, Alright. I'll head over there. Don't get your knickers all in a bunch, okay?" Yes, her attempt at the woman's British accent could have been better, but it got the point across. She had to stifle a snicker as it crept its way up her throat before she pulled the phone away from her ear and pressed her thumb to the long red button at the bottom. She shoved the phone back into her pocket and strode the rest of the few feet to her bike, slinging a leg over the side to straddle it before she put the key in the ignition. She revved the engine a couple times, starting it up. The bike was old, very old. It had belonged to her late father and it sounded like it could use another one of its monthly tune ups.
The lab was all the way on the other side of the island, or, well, at least closer to the coast than she was. The raptors were kept towards the back, center of the island, a good central location that kept them well contained if they were to escape from the paddock. It wouldn't take long for Skye to arrive at the main research and creation lab of Isla Sorna, the second, smaller lab being on Isla Nublar and mainly used as an attraction in itself for the park. Hopefully though, it would be long enough for the scientist to calm down. She would do her imprinting right, there was no doubt about that.
Jemma made a frustrated noise and practically slammed the phone down, but there was also a blush on her cheeks. No matter how rude it was of Skye to make fun of her accent like that, she would always be embarrassed at any mention of her underwear from the other woman. Hopefully everyone else in the lab would just assume her face was red because of frustration, and it fooled everyone. Well, it fooled everyone except for Fitz.
"So what was that all about?" He asked with a smile as he sauntered over to his best friend. Jemma straightened out the collar of her lab coat to try to get back into a professional mindset and rolled her eyes at Fitz. It was clear that he knew about her slight crush on Skye and he was always sticking his nose into her business.
"Nothing." Jemma grumbled, finding her way back to her lab station and continuing some paperwork she'd been trying to finish before Coulson and Ward interrupted her and she had to call Skye. Fitz wasn't buying it though, and he didn't have a task at the moment, so he pulled another rolling chair up next to Jemma and sat down, staring at her expectantly. It only took the one look to crack her, Jemma was far from an introvert and was easily made to spill.
"She's an annoying, ignorant, rude person, and she always makes the lab smell like sweat and outdoors when she comes in here." Jemma was complaining needlessly now, even if the outdoor smell thing wasn't actually Skye's fault. Fitz began to laugh, and Jemma threw a glare at him that shut him up. She didn't know why he always had to think everything that annoyed her was funny. Fitz held up his hands in surrender and pushed himself away on the rolling chair with his feet, a knowing smile on his face. Jemma brushed it off and got back to work, though she still couldn't wait for Skye to get here anyway, no matter how annoying she was.
It was the better part of an hour before Skye came strolling up to the automatic opening doors of the research building, trailing dirt into the building as she moved inside. She didn't need a map to get around like some of the other asset handlers did. The brunette had memorized her way the first few times she had come here to pick up her raptors. To work with such creatures, one needed to be just as smart as they were, and Skye took pride in her intellect, even if it was a different sort from the people who worked in this building.
She took the elevator two floors up, rolling up her sleeves a little more so she could enjoy the cool of the inside air before having to go back out into the heat. She stopped at a set of glass doors and took out a flat plastic card from a pocket in her vest and swiped it down the panel to the left. The control panel turned green and she heard the familiar click of the doors before they slid open and she made her way into the hatchery. She shoved her ID card back into the vest pocket and rubbed her hands together, stepping into the overly warm room where the eggs that were about to hatch were kept.
"Excuse me, science folk. One Skye Johnson here for a Tyranny pick up, please. Long overdue, if you ask me…" The last part was mumbled as she shoved her hands into her pockets and idly kicked her boots against the floor, causing some more dirt to fall loose onto the ground. She didn't think much of it. Dirt was a daily part of life for her, along with a lot of other dirty things. The brunette found it odd how everything in the lab was so…clean all of the time. It would drive her nuts. A little grime did some people good.
Jemma looked up from the work she was doing on her tablet when Skye walked in, dirty as ever, and Jemma made a face that was half displeased and half flustered, scrunching her nose up and glancing once over Skye's person while also feeling heat in the tips of her ears. Skye clearly didn't know she was standing in front of the same person she spoke to on the phone, the handlers often made no effort to get to know anyone in the lab. It would be hypocritical for Jemma to judge her based off of that, Skye was really the only person worth remembering that she'd met besides her friend Bobbi, though she couldn't understand why. Maybe it was just because the girl so easily got a rise out of her. She looked down at the tracks Skye had left coming in and couldn't help but be slightly annoyed, but she was glad at least that it wouldn't be her job to clean up after her.
"Right, um... right over here." Jemma said anxiously, and she hated herself for how stupid she sounded. Skye would definitely know who she was now, there weren't exactly a whole lot of people with an English accent working in the lab. It was harder to maintain her confidence when she was face to face with Skye instead of on the phone, and she clutched the tablet against herself slightly. She couldn't help the way her mouth went dry or the way she stared at Skye's toned, tanned arms for a moment. She forced herself to turn away and lead the handler to the T-rex egg, which had been separated from the others at this point. Skye had gotten there just in time, the egg was beginning to rattle.
A sly smile spread over the raptor trainer's face when the lab techie began to stumble through her words. She was the one who had yelled at her over the phone. Somehow the tiny little woman that she was didn't seem like much of a threat now that they were face to face. Little lab arms and little lab legs. The heaviest thing she probably had to lift was that tablet Skye noticed she was carrying quite closely to herself. Her nature seemed to get the better of her once more.
"Ah, you're…" She drew a blank and frowned. "Damnit, what was it…Mittens…kittens…synonyms…Simmons!" Skye snapped her fingers as she tried to get her brain to remember the woman's name, "Simmons, you're Simmons." She pointed her finger, waggling it a little bit as she was led over to the egg, "You've got quite the temper on you, Simmons. Did you straighten yourself out…down there?" The brunette grinned, circling her finger in the air now as it pointed down and she abruptly laughed at the look on the smaller woman's face. "Not so tough now in person, facing the one who actually deals with the grownup dinos and not baby ones, huh?" Skye winked and turned her attention to the egg.
Simmons had been right. It had been about an hour since she had left the Velociraptor paddock and the egg was already shaking. She was glad she had come when she did. The shell was starting to crack and Skye quickly leaned over the small sandy enclosure it was kept in. "You might want to keep your hands back. Their bite is still wicked, even at this age. Besides, I can't be distracted. I have to do my imprinting correctly now, don't I?" The brunette held her hands at the edge of the sand, watching as the crack became two, and then three, and a piece of egg shell fell into the fine grains of earth. "That's it little lady, keep on working…"
Jemma was sure her face was beet red now, there was no doubt about it. Skye's teasing was having such a tremendous effect on her that she was frozen in place, stuck and not really sure what to do now. At least Skye remembered her name. She shouldn't care though, she shouldn't care whether or not Skye knew who she was. It probably would have been better if she didn't. The handler's second comment about her underwear had Jemma as embarrassed as she thought she could possibly get, though she quickly wished she had knocked on wood after that thought because she tripped over her own feet when backing away from Skye and the small enclosure to make sure the dinosaur didn't accidentally see her first.
Despite her humiliation, Jemma was also still frustrated with the other woman. She just waltzed into the lab acting all calm and collected and started teasing to her and talking to her like a child. It was annoying that Skye was telling her things she already knew, but she would never point them out. She already knew the T-rex had a strong bite as a hatchling, she was the one who reconstructed the genetic code for its jaw when it was missing a component.
Even though Jemma really wanted to run away and get back to her lab work and away from Skye, where she was comfortable, another part of her kept her in the room to watch the imprinting process. She found it fascinating, and more than that, she liked getting a little glimpse at what handlers did. When she had been first hired for the job, Jemma had been thrilled, naturally, but she had also been a little disappointed at the lack of field work. It didn't take long for her to get used to staying in the lab or the employee living area nearby, she still wished she actually got to see some of the dinosaurs up close once they'd left the lab.
"Atta girl, you're doing great," Skye continued to speak to the egg as more and more shell began to break off of the tiny T-Rex that was curled up still in the hardened shell. "What's your number huh? Number seven…look at you, you're really lucky. That's a lucky number you got," The brunette knew it was important to pair her voice with the first moments of the dino's life outside of its shell. Her new experiences today would stay with her throughout her life and it might help both of them out in the long run. Working with the raptors would be a much different story if Skye hadn't imprinted on them this way, been with them since day one. They knew her and they trusted her. The program hadn't worked quite as well with the other carnivores, their intelligence being lower and all, but progress had still been made. The four Tyrannosaurs on Isla Sorna all knew her voice, and one of the two on Isla Nublar did. The first T-Rex, the one that Hammond had originally constructed, did not.
Skye smiled at last as the rest of the shell gave way and the Rex tumbled forward out of her broken egg, standing on wobbly legs and letting out a series of squawks that Skye couldn't help but remind her of birds. They were the closest relatives to dinosaurs after all. She raised one of her hands, catching the baby's attention, and its wide grey eyes transfixed on her. With her other hand, she reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out a limp, dead, white rat.
"I've got a treat for you, yes I do. My Lucky girl," Skye took her other hand away as the hand with the dead animal became visible to the baby. It snapped at her, but Skye was quick and pulled her hand back just enough to not get bitten. "Ah ah, bad Lucky, be patient…"
The baby Tyranasaur began to squawk again, sniffing the air and shuffling its feet, when finally it shut its mouth, Skye held the rat by the tail over the baby's mouth. Its large jaws snapped shut over the rodent and began to chew. The brunette leaned back, brushing off her hands against one another and put them on her hips, "Well done. You'll be a spunky one, that's for sure."
Jemma made sure to stay silent while Skye worked. It wasn't difficult, because she was already watching with fascination. No matter how many times she saw baby dinosaurs hatch, it was still incredible with every new life. She swallowed a lump in her throat and her face scrunched up, however, when the handler revealed that she'd been carrying a dead animal with her this whole time. Once Skye appeared to be done with the imprint, Jemma finally spoke up, some of her confidence returned.
"Do you always keep a dead rat on your person?" She asked skeptically, a small laugh betraying her and escaping her throat.
"Only when I know I have to come and feed a cute little baby dinosaur," Skye grinned and watched as the small T-Rex continued to crunch down on the rat until it was all gone. The glass began to raise back up from the bottom of the enclosure, containing the baby dinosaur within as the brunette turned around to look at the scientist.
"Try not to be jealous, I only brought one and cute baby dinosaurs beat out cute awkward scientists," The raptor trainer shrugged, grinning at her teasing, which she found to be quite fun. She was starting to wonder why she didn't request dinosaurs more often, but then she remembered that most of the time she got some other lab techie that was less amusing to mess with than this one.
"Anyway, I'm sure you've got lots of post hatching tests to get to with her," Skye motioned back towards the baby rex with her thumb, who was now curled up sleeping around the remains of her shell. "I assume you'll have her sent to the T-Rex paddock by tomorrow? I normally check on them just before lunch, so if she could be there by then so I can acclimate her to the enclosure, that would be great. Also my pal Triplett is waiting on a Triceratops, I think? Do you think maybe you could get that sped up or…no? Because he said one at the park just died and they need to take another one from here to keep up the numbers, so she will need to be replaced ASAP to keep the system running, you know? Great work you do here doctor. A plus," Skye gave her a thumbs up and gently pat the enclosure glass, "See you tomorrow, Lucky. Doctor Knickers is gonna take great care of you."
The brunette gave a sly grin and winked at the blushing scientist before she shoved her hands back into her pockets and made her way back towards the sliding doors. "Oh and just send the paperwork to my office, I'll sign it when I get the chance. She looks good!" The brunette was already back through the doors and walking down the hall towards the elevator before she could hear a reply, if there was one at all.
Jemma blushed and watched Skye leave without saying another word. Every time Skye opened her mouth she managed to socially cripple Jemma even more. She couldn't tell if the carnivore handler was complimenting her, making fun of her, or a little bit of both. Jemma wasn't even sure if she was flustered or annoyed, both feelings were often brought on at the same time when it came to Skye.
"That is not my name." Jemma told the baby dinosaur, as if it would somehow pass that message along to Skye tomorrow before lunch. She was only slightly disappointed that her encounter with Skye was over, another result of her dramatically mixed feelings for her. It wasn't every day they hatched a carnivore, and it wasn't only Skye that came for them, so it would probably be quite some time before Jemma saw her again. They didn't exactly cross paths often, Jemma was hardly allowed to leave the lab unless she was specifically ordered to, her position as head biochemist had her at the top position in the lab and she was incredibly busy for most of her waking hours.
It was for this reason that she handed over the tablet with the T-rex's information on it to another scientist to do the routine medical examination while she got back to the massive mound of paperwork she'd been lagging behind on. She watched behind her towards where Skye had exited, for some reason hoping she'd forgotten something and would come back, but she quickly shook off the feeling and got back to work.