AN: Sorry it's been a while, I had to get some mushy romance stories out of my system before I could get back to the far more practical and sensible Muldoon. Right, now where were we? Ah yes, an insecure raptor, an annoying geneticist and pack of baby dino's to deal with...
The last couple of days had been a balancing act. Muldoon had been dividing his time between Priscilla, the rat pack and unfortunately Wu. Priscilla was by far the easiest to deal with. She put the fewest demands on him, wanting only to stay by his side. The baby raptors weren't too bad either, at the moment they only required regular feeding, but before too long they would need more space to develop both physically and socially. They'd begun to grow quite rapidly with the proper nutrition.
The nursery pens for the raptors were close by, when they were ready he'd move them out there. It had been easier for him to raise raptors here on Nublar, rather than down on Sorna with the rest of the juvenile dinosaurs. He'd liked to keep them nearby because raising raptors was much more involved than raising herbivores as the mental development of predators was far more complex. That was a product of evolution because of the means by which they survived. In the wild social structure was important to a thriving pack, individuals needed to understand one another to coordinate successful hunts. In captivity that development was hindered and he'd liked to keep an eye on them to make sure inhibited natural behaviours didn't become too skewed. This batch would be different though. They were going to get the chance to be free and after the disastrous introduction of the big one into the original pack that had to be a good thing. Raptors were obviously creatures that needed plenty of space.
As he watched them play he pondered how the group hierarchy would work in this particular pack. He didn't know how a complete raptor pack would function, having never worked with male raptors. Would the pack be patriarchal, matriarchal or ruled by an alpha pair? As far as he knew all the chicks were female but if the sex change theory held true and he had to guess, he'd say the pale one which was already exhibiting frog characteristics in the form of it's coloration, would be the one that would end up male if any of them did.
Increasingly he was getting to know their personalities. The pale one didn't start any fights but it finished them. The spotted one wanted to be in charge but didn't have the physical strength to back up her ambition. The smaller blotched one ran her own race but if anyone came into her personal space she made sure to let them know it was unappreciated.
The bigger blotched one was fairly laid back, and the little one, who ran with the rest of them now that she'd regained her strength, was a little way behind her siblings in terms of size and physical strength, but she had a fighting spirit and appeared determined to keep up with the rest of them. She'd taken a particular shine to the bigger blotched one, perhaps because of it's easy-going nature, and followed it closely, but if any of the others approached her she made sure to let them know she wasn't a pushover.
As he'd become more familiar with them he'd realised that not one of them was a true submissive, not like Priscilla. And with that realisation another had come; that the fear he'd seen in her eyes the day he'd introduced the pale chick to her was based upon rejection. She was the bottom of the ladder and he was the top. For every other member he added to the pack the distance between them would grow. And if she wasn't going to accept the babies, he'd have to continue to keep their care separate and that meant that what she feared had already begun. Time he'd normally have spent with her was dedicated to them now.
Priscilla's submissive nature wasn't a bad thing, it had proved her saving grace in the past. It was what had stopped the big one from killing her when she'd been introduced to the pack. If Priscilla had been any more assertive, she'd be dead now.
He wondered then if her submission was a matter of necessity rather than something ingrained in her personality. Maybe if she'd learned submission she could be taught dominance?
Dealing with all of them was a delicate balancing act but getting it right was a challenge he enjoyed. The intrusion of the scientist into the mix was not.
"What are we doing? We need to figure out a way off this island."
Muldoon had heard all this before. Wu made constant demands about leaving the island, but as far as he could tell made no conscious effort to do anything about it. There was no communication with the mainland, the raptors having destroyed the control panels at some stage before or during their battle with the Tyrannosaur. Deciding that the best way to avoid another pointless argument was to vacate the premises Muldoon declared; "I'm going to take the raptor for a run. If you don't want to be stuck here I suggest you follow me back to your house now." Without waiting for an answer he slung the SPAS over his shoulder and strode off, predictably with the scientist in tow.
They walked in silence for a while but invariably they fell to arguing again.
"Look Muldoon," Wu said, sounding like a broken record, "I've had enough of this messing around."
"Oh you have, have you? Perhaps you should have considered that before you created them..."
"You can't be serious? They're just animals. I was paid to do a job and I did it. It's as simple as that."
"There's nothing simple about this. Don't you feel any responsibility at all for what you've done? You're the one who tore them out of time and brought them to life. They didn't ask to be born. Can you really just walk away and leave them to their own devices now?"
"What are you suggesting? That we stay on this island forever?"
"No, of course not, but trying to give them their best chance of survival can't hurt, can it?"
"That depends on whether or not we get eaten in the process."
They'd arrived at Wu's excessive house. Muldoon made no effort to keep the scorn he felt towards him for his complete lack of compassion out of his parting comment.
"Wouldn't that be a shame?"
He marched off, leaving the scientist to roll in piles of cash, or murder defenceless mice, or do whatever other disgusting and heartless things he did when he was alone.
After depositing the insufferable Wu at the mansion, Muldoon climbed into a jeep. He felt much better away from the other man's presence. Free of any demands, he could relax for a while and spend some much needed time with a far more agreeable companion.
"Come on Priscilla, let's see if you can keep up." He put the jeep in gear and hit the gas. She broke into a steady jog, following the vehicle as he'd hoped she would. He gave her a minute or two to warm up before he pressed the pedal harder under his foot. She responded to the increased speed and picked up her pace, running faster than he'd ever seen her go before. Her captivity hadn't allowed her this freedom and she appeared to be revelling in the opportunity to use her body uninhibited and to it's full potential. She raced along beside him and stretched her stride out to overtake the vehicle.
She was incredible to watch, a finely tuned and optimal predator, superior to any animal that existed today. He drove until they ran out of road.
Their outing lead them to the dock. Muldoon intended to leave a sign of some sort in case anyone showed up. Not that he believed they would but the token effort would shut Wu up for the time being. He exited the vehicle and scanned the area, looking out over the blue-grey waves of the Pacific Ocean, once he was satisfied the surrounding jungle was clear. Out on the water he spotted something. The longer he watched the more certain he became that it was an approaching vessel.
It was supposedly what they had been waiting for but the sudden apprehension that seized him was completely at odds with that notion.
He had to make a decision. Did he wait and see who it was? Or did he head back to the compound now? If he stayed, he'd be rescued. It seemed like the obvious thing to do except for the fact that he didn't know the intentions of the newcomers. If they were Hammond's people, seeking to reclaim the island, they would not stand for a free range raptor. Priscilla was going to end up back in a cage or worse if he didn't get her hidden before they arrived. Even in the unlikely event that they were strangers who'd found the island by chance, hanging around to meet them with Priscilla present wasn't a good idea. If he did choose to go, to hide the raptor for her own good, these people might turn around and never come back. He might be stuck on the island permanently, or for a very long time at least. It all came down to one thing, a question he had to ask himself. Was her freedom worth the risk of potentially being left behind again?
