... IS THIS ANOTHER UPDATE?! WHY YES. IT IS! 8D Double update! If you haven't read the Mushy Stuff chapter, with mushy stuffs happening... then STOP! AND GO BACK! 8D So I haven't had a chance to read and reply to the few reviews I got last night. XD BUT I STILL WILL! And OH! I meant to comment in last chapter about chapter 19's comments. XD I thought it was funny that EVERYONE was happy Lowery noticed Zach's devotion and put 2 and 2 together. Everyone wants him (and other people maybe) to give poor Owen a hard time. :( POOR OWEN!

Raptor
Drop Anchor
Chapter 21: Operation Hatchery

Owen shook his head slowly. "You did nothing wrong, Zach. The Ida DNA... I honestly don't think was very stable."

Zach tilted his head to the side as he leaned forward a bit, closer to the screen. "How do you mean?"

Owen shrugged. "I can't even begin to understand everything Wu did but... my basic understanding is... mostly t-rex and velociraptor. I told you about the raptors that came before my girls."

Zach nodded. "Yeah. You said most died before hatching. Or right after. Except that one... Lulu?"

"Lala." Owen corrected.

"But... you said Wu like... damaged them?"

Owen shrugged again, looking away from the screen for a moment. "I suspected... I accused him. But... maybe he didn't. Maybe their DNA was just defective. And me... being me... after whatever Wu did whatever to me... that helped our girls to survive."

Zach suppressed the urge to smile when Owen said our. He wondered if the man even realized he said it, in such a casual, doesn't mean anything sort of way. After only a week of chasing them around, he was thinking the same thing. "You uh... you really think that?"

Owen sighed and shook his head. "No clue."

Zach glanced back at the sleeping raptors on the floor. They were still piled up, half lying on top of each other.

"As for the t-rex aspect..." Owen continued on talking. "He couldn't successfully recreate another t-rex. Rexy's still all we have."

"Oh yeah." Zach tore his gaze away from the sleeping raptors and looked back at the computer. "I wondered about that. Gray talked about her a lot. Why wasn't there another one?"

"Because Wu just couldn't do it." Owen answered. "I spent a lot of time in the science labs for a while. I overheard a lot. There was talk of trying to directly clone Rexy, see if that would take. But I never saw or heard of any results."

"That's a bit... sad." Zach said. He rather liked the giant, noisy girl.

Owen shrugged. "Anyways..." He said after a moment. "My point is... Ida's DNA... started really, really... flawed. And there's no way Wu purposely made her... like that... to lay eggs on her down. Some genetic anomaly or something weird. She was never meant to lay eggs. I was trying to be positive about the whole thing... because Echo really wanted more sisters... but I'll honestly be surprised if even one of the eggs hatch and live past the first month."

"That's really depressing." Zach said dejectedly.

Owen nodded slowly. "Yeah. But remember, we are talking about a dinosaur who ate her sibling when they were babies and managed to destroy the whole island."

Zach rolled his eyes. "Hardly the whole island." He mumbled out.

"She wrecked everything!" Owen insisted.

"The island's still intact." Zach pointed out. "She didn't like... blow it up."

"But she killed half the animals." Owen countered. "And investors. And tried to control my raptors."

Zach tilted his head at that. "She shoulda left them alone."

"Exactly!" Owen snapped, throwing his arms up in the air and jostling the phone.

Zach smiled for a moment and then let out a sigh. "So... you're saying it's not my fault Sunny died."

Owen shook his head. "Like you can really anticipate a storm knocking out the power. Just bad luck."

"And Ame?"

Owen paused for a moment and shrugged. "That was more Echo's fault, for wrecking the wall. Maybe Lowery a bit, too. For being so scared shitless of a small oviraptor."

"I don't think he saw the oviraptor." Zach said. "It was just a theory."

Owen shrugged. "Whatever. He still could of done something."

Zach shook his head quickly. "No, Lowery was right. He has to keep the whole island under control. He can't worry about a couple eggs."

Owen snorted and let out a laugh. "Whatever. He could have done both. But... whatever. Point is? Not your fault. In the slightest."

Zach looked away for a moment and breathed out slowly. Hearing those words, it was like a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

"Zach..." Owen said his name softly, barely a whisper.

Zach breathed out again and then took a deep breath. "So... you think it's safe to bring them here?"

"To the bungalow?" Owen nodded his head quickly. "Oh yeah. I did. Smaller, younger eggs. And remember, I already moved the Ida eggs once. In my jeep, across half the island, speeding and trying to avoid being caught by mommy."

Zach looked back at the screen and smiled. Then he sighed, once again, and leaned back. He crossed his arms and pouted slightly. "I just can't believe aunt Claire's gonna be here tomorrow!" He whined out. "She's gonna ruin everything!"

Owen let out a laugh. "I'm surprised she wasn't there the next day."

"Simon was keeping her away, I think." Zach said. "She's so gonna try to drag me away."

Owen laughed again. "Wish I could be there to see her try."

"I wish you were here with me..." Zach said softly.

Owen pulled the phone a few inches closer to his face. "Me too, babe. Me too."

Zach squirmed a bit under the intense stare. He coughed softly, clearing his throat. "So moving the eggs..." He changed the direction quickly. "Lowery gave me like... an island manual and Gray's helped me some. But I don't think I can take apart the incubator..."

Owen shook his head quickly and held up his hand. "Don't worry about the incubator. Get like... a big box or... desk drawer or something and an electric blanket. They have them in the supply closets at the lab. The eggs just have to be kept warm and stable. They don't need a machine to turn them and measure, weigh, scan, whatever the hell they do. The girls didn't have all that. And half the time I had them out of the incubator."

Zach smiled. "You carried them around." He said softly. "In a sling against your chest."

Owen nodded. "Yes I did. And they turned out great."

Zach nodded slowly. Then he paused. His eyes narrowed for a moment and he nodded his head sharply once. "Okay. That's it." He said softly. Owen was right. He needed to have the eggs here with him, all the time, so he could take care of them like Owen did. So he and the raptors could. He had to protect the ones left from Claire. Because if she found out? That would be bad. He jumped up quickly.

Owen frowned. "What's it?"

"I have to go get the eggs." Zach said dismissively.

"Now?"

Zach nodded. "Yeah. If Claire's coming tomorrow, I have to get them moved and set up before she finds out and tries to stop me."

"Zach..." Owen started.

Zach stood up, still talking softly. "Knowing her, she'll be here at dawn."

"Zach."

"Or before. She's probably on her way now."

"Zach!"

Zach turned and glanced around the small trailer. He could do this. He was sure. "I wouldn't put it past her showing up at midnight and then whining that it's too dark to so anything!" He said with a smile.

"Zach!" Owen snapped a little louder that time.

Zach paused and turned back to the screen. "What?"

"Are you... are you okay?" Owen asked slowly.

Zach nodded his head quickly. "I'm fine." He said.

"Then why do you keep running away from me?"

Zach stopped. He opened his mouth and then closed it. He glanced away from the screen. His eyes widened a bit. Had he really been doing that? He didn't mean to. And he didn't really know why he was doing it. Well... that was a lie. He did know. Fear over disappointing Owen. Of somehow messing up so horribly that Own rejected him again. He felt like his whole existence centered around Owen. Owen, the girls, and the island. And he just knew he was going to mess everything up. Zach bit his lip. "I'm not... running away." He said finally, still not looking at the screen. "I just have to do this."

"Zach, look at me."

Zach shook his head and turned his back to the computer. "No. I have to go now." He said softly. "Delta." He stepped closer to the pile of raptors and bent down. "Hey Delta." He whispered.

She opened her eyes and blinked at him.

"I need your help."

She craned her neck around and look at the other still sleeping raptors. "Just you." Zach said. "I need your help with the eggs."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Delta was a weird choice, he knew. He'd never been alone with her before. But Echo was too excitable, Charlie was still out, and Blue was left in charge. So that only left Delta to help. He needed to do this fast. Because he really had no clue when Claire was showing up. For all he knew, she was here already. "Come on." He whispered as they headed towards the jeep."We're gonna put the jeep in neutral and push it away from the trailer. Don't wanna wake up Echo."

Delta nodded her head quickly, like she understood. Zach opened the door. He reached over and opened the passenger door. Delta stuck her head in and pushed it the rest of the way open.

Zach shifted the jeep into neutral and slipped back out. He gripped the steering wheel. Delta lowered her head and pressed against the door. They two of them started pushing the jeep into the jungle. After about 10 minutes, Zach pulled up and stopped. "I think that's far enough."

Delta let out a snort and stepped back. She quickly pushed the door shut with her tail and then climbed in.

Zach smiled as he slid into the driver's seat. He shut the door and turned the jeep on. He hit the high beams and pressed on the gas.

Delta was the perfect little soldier. She did exactly what he asked, without question or delay, without thinking about it. She trusted his judgment. Zach glanced sideways at her, watching as they got out of the jeep. It was dark out and she immediately was on guard. She held herself taller and glanced around.

It was easy to overlook her in their odd family dynamic. Echo demanded the most attention. Charlie was injured. Blue was the one he tried hardest to impress. And that let Delta on the bottom. Sure, she was scary. They all could be, in their own ways. But Delta... Owen had said several times that she made comments about eating people. And she had killed Dr. Wu while under Ida's influence. But she was also the most quiet of the bunch, when they were all together. She seemed almost like a contradiction of herself.

She fell in step behind him as they walked towards the building. Zach pushed on the door and it clicked open.

Lowery hadn't been happy when they woke him up. "So... you're taking the remaining eggs." He said over the radio. "And just hiding out at Owen's. Permanently."

"You know her." Zach breathed out softly, bringing the radio closer to his face. "The second she gets off that ferry, she's taking over. She'll lock me up in a hotel room and shoot the raptors with tranq guns. And once she finds out about the eggs? She'll destroy them herself."

"Well... yes. Of course." Lowery answered quickly. "But if they aren't in the science lab... and you're hiding from your aunt... then you won't be hanging around here anymore."

Zach let out a sigh. "I think the raptors and I have to stay away."

"Okay. Cool." Lowery answered with a clipped tone. "I'll just stay up here."

Zach has sighed as he drove. "Keep the island running and fix everything Aunt Claire messes up."

"She'll mess everything up." Lowery said.

Zach smiled. "Once Owen is back, everything will be better.?"

"You really think so?"

"Yes." Zach answered quickly. "He'll figure everything out. He'll talk to Simon and Simon will make Claire listen. Then you can come over and we'll all hang out."

"Yeah." Lowery answered flatly. "We will."

Zach stepped inside and Delta followed. They didn't waste any time, just in case they didn't have a lot of time to waste. They headed straight to the lab. Zach glanced around and pointed at a large filing cabinet. "We need an empty drawer."

Delta nodded her head and turned. She stepped closer to the largest of the cabinets. She grabbed the handle to the bottom drawer with her teeth and yanked it out. Then she lifted her head and tilted it, turning the drawer upside down and spilling out its contents. While she did that, Zach found one of the supply closets. It was unlocked and he pulled it open. He found the blankets inside. And a small, battery operated generator. He pulled the generator closer and flipped on the switch. It still had a charge, just over half. Zach smiled and pulled it out. That would really help.

Delta brought the empty drawer over to the incubator. Zach followed and set the generator and blankets down. He plugged the blankets in and turned them on. He spun the dial up to 86 and then started fitting the blankets inside the drawer.

Delta bent down to watch and nosed at the generator.

"It's a battery." Zach explained as he fluffed the blankets. "And these blankets, they're electric. So they'll be warm enough that the eggs won't need the incubator. And the battery will make sure that even if the power goes out, they'll stay warm." He peeled back the blankets in the corner of the drawer and stuck the battery in. Then he stood up and stared at the eggs left.

Delta let out a soft, almost purring sound for a moment as she stood up and followed him.

Zach looked glanced back at her and smiled. He stepped closer and reached out to touch the eggs. The post-it notes with their names had been scuffed in the oviraptor attack. He'd taken a permanent marker and scrawled the names across the tops of the eggs, just to make sure he wouldn't mix them up. "We're taking the eggs home. Like we should have before the storm." Delicately, he picked up the eggs, one by one, and set them in the make-shift incubator.

The drive back to the trailer was just as uneventful. The eggs sat in the back seat and Delta leaned over the front, keeping her eyes on them. The rest of the raptors were still asleep when they arrived. Zach quickly brought the eggs in and then turned to Delta. He touched his finger to his lips. "Just go back to sleep." He whispered. "We'll show them tomorrow, alright?"

Delta nodded her head.

Zach smiled. "Thank you, Delta."

She breathed out and touched her nose to his chest. Then stepped back and settled on the floor without disturbing her sisters.

Zach climbed over the couch, still blocking the entrance to the small bedroom. The eggs were in their drawer, in the center of the bed. Zach breathed out as he ran his fingers over the names written on the shells. "Okay." He breathed out. "We do this right."