Chapter Seven ~ 5 ~
Title: Project: More Teeth
Author: Divine Dark Angel
Summary: If the I-rex had been prevented from killing her sibling, if someone had stepped in and stopped I-Gen and the people of Jurassic World from isolating them and had gotten them properly socialized, if they had been trained to know what they are…how would life be different for the I-rex sisters and the rest of the park?
Rating: M for mentions of death and a mature relationship.
Pairing: Owen/Claire, Oc/Katashi Hamada
Disclaimer: All characters that you recognize belong to and are copywrite of Universal. The recognizable plot items and other such things are also copyrighted to Universal. I am simply playing in the rich world they have created for us.
Note: Sorry for the delay everyone, and the shortness of this chapter….and that it's mostly fluff. I promise to get a real chapter out asap, the new job is kicking my ass!
Emma woke to a throbbing head and a weight on her chest, cold water falling on her skin. She blinked sluggishly and saw both girls mere inches from her face, forepaws resting on her bare chest. Their talons pricked her skin as they peered into her eyes, snuffling around her face and thrumming. Emma gingerly lifted her hand and felt around the back of her head to find a small knot under her scalp. Eyeing her fingers, she was relieved to not see blood. The girls kept thrumming as they nudged her with their wedge-shaped heads, urging her to get up. Emma understood the instinct, a downed predator is a dead predator in the wild.
With a groan she slowly pushed the girls' snouts away and gingerly sat up on the shower floor. Besides a dull ache in the back of her head, she didn't feel dizzy or nauseated so she got to her feet and turned the shower off. Wrapping herself in her towel she skipped her lotion routine and went out into the living room. Her wet hair trailed droplets of water behind her all the way to the closet, where she pulled on her 'Aussie Aquarium' shirt and a pair of yoga pants Owen had given her. The dark heather was broken by bright crimson print across her ass that read 'Alpha' and they both had a good laugh when he gave them to her. Wrapping her dripping hair in the towel, she went over to the couch and curled on the end with her head resting on the arm. The girls clamored up beside her, piling onto her legs and putting their heads on her stomach. The rhythmic thrumming lulled Emma's eyes shut again.
Katashi's patience was running thin as he waited by the hatchery for the girl's dinner. The workers in charge of carnivore hatchlings had accidently used the girl's portions of beef for the hatchery infants and were now trying to get the week's order packaged for transport. The sushi he had picked up from main street was tucked away in the 'people cooler' (a medium turquoise hard side printed with the Aussie Aquarium logo) and he wasn't worried about it getting warm so much as he was worried about Emma. Normally with him this late she would have texted him angry emojis and photos of the little monsters yawning or doing other things that look aggressive when viewed through the lens of a camera. He was almost two hours late due to the reports and interviews from the ACU intervention plus the mix up at the hatchery yet no text messages had hit his phone. The unusual silence was making him worry and the anxiety of not hearing from her caused him to send a quick text to check on her safety. Just as he was ready to abandon the meat altogether, the hatchery workers rolled out a cart with the girl's weekly supply neatly packaged in foam coolers. Katashi put his cooler on top of the cart and quickly walked the short distance to the exterior door of the 'I-rex Den'.
Punching in the code, he shoved the meat cart into the antechamber and shut the exterior door. Pushing through the interior door he was met with Nefret aggressively guarding the entrance to the den. She hissed at him before recognizing him and changed the hiss to a shrill whistle, butting her head into his knee. Nefretari's head popped over the back of the couch and whistled at him, bobbing her head in an effort to grab his attention. Katashi moved quickly to look over the couch and saw Emma curled into a ball with her head resting on the arm of the couch. Nefretari rested her head on her mother's hip, thrumming and looking up at him.
Katashi slowly reached forward, carefully watching Nefretari as he did so. The girls were erratic when it came to anyone approaching their mother when she was sleeping, usually he had not had problems. There was a regrettable incident when Emma had been in the shower and in a poor lapse of judgment he had startled her by walking in unannounced. Her startled scream had sent both infants into attack mode, leaving bruises on his thighs and forearms that would have been much worse had he not been fresh from a containment breach and wearing his protective gear. Nefretari watched him through narrowed amber eyes, clicking at him as he had heard the raptors do with Owen. Katashi slid his fingers through Emma's short hair, as he often did to wake her without startling her into wakefulness. That also did not end well, and his forearm bore those scars as well.
As he slid his large fingers through the soft strands, he paused as his fingers passed over a small knot on the back of her head. Feeling around, he estimated the size of the knot to be roughly the size of a silver dollar. He noticed there was no split in the skin which was an immediate relief. Katashi knelt in front of the couch and drew his fingertips across her cheek, tracing the delicate shell of her ear. Her eyes fluttered open, meeting his dazedly. A soft smile curved her lips and her hand reached for his face, tracing his lips softly with a fingertip. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she leant forward to meet him in a gentle kiss.
"Katashi….sugah. Where've ya been? Ah miss'd ya…" Her words were slurred together softly, blurred from sleep and her accent. Katashi's micro-smile made an appearance as his hand slid down her face to caress her neck.
"Ku`u Lei, I am sorry. There was a mix up at the hatchery with the meat for the little ones. It delayed me longer than anticipated. What has happened here? Why do you have a lump on your head?" Katashi kept his voice low, caressing her neck and the base of her skull.
"Ah slipped in tha shower, Nefretari startled me. Ah don' hava concussion, not nauseated or nothin'. Where 's tha girls?"
Emma's accent made it hard for Katashi to follow her when she was extremely tired or drunk. English was his third language, after his native Hawaiian and his mother's Japanese. By concentrating hard, he usually managed to follow her. "The twin terrors are here, do not worry. Nefretari is behind you, Nefret is guarding the door. They both appear to be fine. My concern is you, are you positive that you are well?"
"Ah'm fine luv, it's just a bump. It is adorable how you look out for me 'Tashi." Emma smiled at him, carding her fingers through his dark hair. "I promise I'm okay, but if you don't let me up to feed the kids we won't be. I can feel Nefretari thrumming on my hip."
Katashi helped her to her feet, retrieving the meat cart and setting two portions on the counter. The rest he placed in the 'carnivore' fridge, pulling their diner from the cooler and placing it on the counter in front of the barstools. He retrieved bottled water from the people fridge and placed it down next to the take out containers. After Emma fed the little ones and washed her hands, she sat down next to him and tugged her stool as close to his as possible. Throwing a leg over his, she popped open her take out and proceeded to eat her dinner with her fingers. Katashi side-eyed her deplorable table manners as he ate his dinner with his chopsticks delicately.
They chatted about work, his with the ACU and hers with the little ones and Nenet. He winced when she started to talk about her training plans for the girls, and placed his hand on her knee.
"Emma, I have news." Katashi waited until she finished dinner and pushed the take out container away from her. When she turned to face him, he steeled his spine and met her curious gaze. "Ku`u Lei, Director Mazrani has issued a mandate. The good doctor convinced him that you do not have the experience necessary to train the little ones."
"What?! That little prick wouldn't know how to train a bunny to eat carrots! Let alone two apex predators who are bio-enhanced and genetically engineered! Who the fuck does he think he is?! Ah wish Ah was less a lady 'cause ah would punch his ass riaght in tha face!" Emma tried to swing her leg down to get up and pace, but Katashi locked his large hand over her thigh and kept her in place. Her eyes were bright with rage and he could feel her practically vibrating under his hand. He stroked his hand down the long length of her thigh, attempting to calm her by touch.
"He attempted to convince the director to remove the Indominus from your care. He cited the lack of experience you have with land predators as a reason you could not handle them. The false containment breach added on top of that….it did not look good. He asked my opinon, and I told him that I have the upmost confidence in your abilities. I also confessed that I am not the most clear-headed when it comes to you. I may have also confessed that we are in an intimate relationship, and have been reassigned. Head of Asset Containment and Raptor Security."
"Ugh, more time with Owen. Joy. At least I still get you in the evenings, and days off." Emma's foot jigged up and down, her tension manifesting in fidgeting.
"About Trainer Grady…he's been assigned to supervise your training of the little ones. There will be joint training sessions between you and him, as well as the little ones. He will be here three or four sessions a week, and before you ask, yes I will be here to supervise." Katashi braced himself for her ranting, his shoulders locking down and his face settling into his neutral mask.
Emma put her face in her hands, refusing to meet Katashi's eyes. He allowed it for now, the slow glide of his hand up and down her leg his only effort to calm her. Emma's slow breathing turned into choppy gasps and her shoulders started shaking, Katashi got worried. Emma raised her face and Katashi leaned forward instantly, reaching forward to wipe the silvery tears from her face. She grinned through them at her tears, placing her hands over his on her face. Turning her head slightly, she placed a kiss on his palm and leaned her face into his hands for a moment.
"Emma, I-" Katashi started, but was silenced by her finger across his lips.
"Not now love, I'm tired and over today. It's been a long ass day and I would like to curl up and sleep now. Can you stay? Since you aren't my security captain any longer/" Emma traced her finger down his jaw to his collar bone. "Which poor sap inherited my freak show anyway?"
"I recommended Sgt. Jenkins. I will stay with you this night, and many nights in the future. Let us go to bed. We will speak more tomorrow."
With a kiss the two of them separated from each other to finish cleaning up the kitchen. Emma whistled for the girls and let them out into the paddock to do their business, piling their blankets into the nest they typically used when Katashi stayed over. She knew they would end up curled around her in the morning, but they usually didn't climb into bed with her until after midnight. The two came back in and piled into their blankets with joyful cheeps. Tumbled together, you couldn't tell where one ended and the other started. Emma glanced over them fondly as she dropped onto the mattress.
Katashi removed his uniform and folded it into the drawer he kept at her apartment. Stripped down to his boxers he slid into bed next to her, tugging her into his warm embrace. Emma traced the tattoo over his heart and placed a tender kiss behind his ear. Her head tucked itself into the crook of his neck and his arms closed around her slight form. Slow breathing evened out into sleep as he stroked her from the crown of her head to the small of her back. Katashi followed her shortly after, feeling the twins climbing up onto the mattress and curling their warm bodies around the two of them. Nefret's head rested on his hip, her sister's on Emma's, and the soft purring lulled them both into a deep sleep.
