I was informed that Owen's still shirtless. I uh... was supposed to have Echo find him a shirt when they were on their way back to the raptor paddock. And uh... I forgot. I mean... I completely forgot. Until RedLlamas said something in a comment. And then I'm like... OMG! Because sure, Owen can walk about shirtless for the rest of the story. That's awesome. BUT CLAIRE AND SIMON AND BARRY WOULD GIVE HIM SHIT FOR IT! So... I snuck in little reactions by Simon and Claire in

Raptor
Chapter 36: Dawn

The brothers were standing by the raptors, watching as they wiggled and chittered to each other. Delta was standing farther away, and Blue was between her and the brothers. But Echo was standing right next to them. Gray had his hand on her head and he was laughing. Owen stood back, his arms crossed and a smile on his face. He had seen how important Gray was to Zach, even if the teen didn't admit it. And it warmed Owen's heart to see how easy the raptors accepted Gray into their new family structure. And Owen could feel the excitement bubbling just under his skin. The prospect of a future with Zach that could include Gray and his girls, all getting along. A big, happy family. One that he'd never had growing up. One that he never really knew he wanted so bad, not until that moment.

The weird purring was back in his mind for a moment and he rolled his eyes to himself. It was weird. And it wasn't a completely unwelcomed sensation. The raptor had always been there, in the back of his mind, since his existence. But as more of a vague presence, unless Owen got overly emotional in some form. Then the raptor in his head would get just as emotional or worse. But Owen could just ignore him and he'd go away. But, as he stood there and thought about it, he realized something. He realized how many times he actually felt the raptor's presence in his mind over the last few days. And he felt... happy. Owen felt happy about it. He felt... at peace, finally, with what had happened to him.

And it all started with Zach. Zach, who was his everything.

He was definitely getting ahead of himself. They both were. But he couldn't help himself. He was so lost in thought, he hadn't heard Barry approach him. Barry grabbed his arm and pulled him back a few feet, breaking him of his little future dream. Owen turned to him and smiled.

Barry glanced down at his friend for a moment before meeting his gaze. "Owen, what happened?"

Owen blinked at him, then looked down. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm too awesome for shirts, okay?" He said, pushing his friend away gently.

Barry stared blankly at him for a moment.

Owen leaned closer and lowered his voice. "I had to shift to stop Blue. Echo found me a pair of pants. Nothing weird."

"Nothing weird." Barry repeated slowly, shaking his head. Then the man let out a sigh and looked away.

Owen watched his oldest friend and stopped, seeing the man's serious expression. "What?" Owen asked, worry in his voice.

Barry turned back to him and stepped closer. "I was not able to get to her in time." He said rather gravely.

Owen turned slowly. "Who?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Barry fished the ID out of his pocket. "Henry Wu." He said, handing it over.

Owen's eyes widened as his fingers touched the small, laminated badge. He stared at the picture for a moment and then looked away. He didn't know how he felt about the news. If blame for this whole fiasco was put on a single person, Wu was pretty high on the list. But so was Simon and Claire, if he was honest. And did that mean the man deserved to die? Wasn't he just doing his job? In a very sinister, twisted, underhanded way, of course. But that was how Wu always worked, wasn't it? Owen mulled it over in his head. He glanced back at Zach and Gray with the raptors. They looked so happy. A moment ago, he had been too. He let out a sigh and shook his head. "Watch them for me?" He said softly, looking at Barry. "I need a moment."

Barry nodded and reached out to touch Owen's shoulder. He squeezed lightly. "Yeah. Sure."

Zach was laughing as Gray and Echo made faces at each other. It was ridiculous but he couldn't stop. He practically doubled over for a moment, struggling to breathe. Blue stepped closer and reached out to touch her nose against his arm. Zach lifted his hand and shook his head. "Just... laughing..." He said, trying to catch his breath. He turned slightly and saw Barry heading towards them. Zach glanced at him and noticed Owen was gone.

"Hey Barry!" Gray smiled and waved.

Zach stepped back and turned. He caught sight of Owen walking away and he frowned. Where was Owen going? Had something happened? Zach glanced back at Gray, Barry and the raptors. They weren't really paying attention to him. He slipped away when Gray started talking to Barry. He hurried to catch up with Owen and followed him around to the front of the building. "Hey." Zach reached out to touch the man's arm. "What's wrong?"

Owen stopped and let out a sigh. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. "Delta killed Dr. Wu." He said softly.

Zach blinked and stepped up beside him. "The doctor guy?" He asked. "The one you took me to?"

Owen nodded.

"The uh... guy who... did stuff... to you?" He asked awkwardly.

Owen breathed out and nodded again. "Yeah."

"Oh... you weren't... close, right?" Zach rolled his eyes at himself. He knew he sounded stupid. But it was a subject he didn't really know much about.

Owen snorted and shook his head. "No. I hated him for what he did to me." He turned. "He... he sort of... ruined my life." Owen let out a sigh. He sunk down on the steps and leaned back slightly. "I love my girls, I do. But... my life was pretty much over the moment I stepped on this island."

Zach smiled slowly. "Isn't that a bit dramatic?"

Owen glanced up at him. Then he looked away. "Not really. Think about it. I'm not normal. I can never have a normal life. And before I can even consider dating someone, they have to think about that."

"Still sounds too dramatic." Zach said softly. He sat down beside Owen, moving a bit slower. "You act like... everyone wants a normal, boring life."

Owen glanced sideways at him for a moment. "This is certainly not boring."

Zach smiled and shook his head. "No, it's not." He paused for a moment and looked down. There was a note of hesitation in him. He bit his lip and fumbled with his hands in his lap. He had this want, this need to comfort the man beside him. To reassure him. To get that goofy smile back on his face. But Zach didn't know how. He felt lost in that notion. How to comfort a girlfriend... or rather a boyfriend. He'd only had the one girlfriend and their relationship wasn't really close or serious.

Owen was staring off into space, seemingly lost in something. Zach reached out slowly with his hand. He touched Owen's own hand tentatively. Owen glanced at him. And smiled. It wasn't the full, goofy smile that took up the man's whole face. But it was a start. Owen had smiled. And then he lifted his hand off the pavement enough to slip it in Zach's. Zach was in heaven and Owen was staring at him.

Zach cleared his throat. "Uh... do you..."

The lobby door behind them burst open and Zara stepped out, her eyes wide. "Where's your brother?"

Zach quickly pulled his hand out of Owen's and pointed, trying to sound casual. "Around the corner with the raptors." His voice squeaked a bit as he said it.

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"And Barry!" Owen added quickly, glaring at Zach for a moment. "With Barry... and the raptors." He looked up at Zara. "They're good, I promise. They're... very well behave... for Barry..."

Zara breathed out and shook her head, looking suddenly tired. "Alright." She breathed out. She rubbed at her forehead for a moment and then placed her hands on her hips. "Claire wants the boys inside and the raptors far away. They're going to start loading everyone into the ferry soon."

Zach tilted his head a bit. "It's ready?" There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

She nodded.

"So..." Zach glanced at the ground. "We have to leave soon?"

Zara nodded again. "As soon as possible."

"I'm staying." Owen said smoothly as he stood up.

Zara's eyes widened slightly. "Staying." She repeated. Owen nodded and she pulled out her phone. "Oh, just terrific." She said, placing it to her hear.

Owen quickly turned before she could stop him and hurried back to Barry, Gray, and his girls. "Hey. They're gonna load up the boat. You three." He pointed at the raptors. "Go back to the truck with Charlie and wait for me. And I mean it! Or I'm biting all of you and blocking Nemo from the TV!" The raptors raced off and Owen, Gray, and Barry joined Zach and Zara.

"That's what he said." Zara sighed into her phone. She turned as they walked over. She waved them towards the door. "We're on our way up. You can yell at him then." She pulled the phone from her ear and shoved it in her pocket. She opened the door. "Inside. Now."

"I think you're in trouble." Gray whispered.

Owen shrugged. "We'll blame it on Echo."

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

Owen was indeed in trouble. And Claire began yelling at him the moment he stepped into the room. There were a few people still left in the room. Vivian and Lowery were among them.

"You can't stay!" Claire snapped. "It's not safe."

Owen snorted loudly and shook his head. "Someone has to fix this mess!" He shouted back at her.

Claire shook her head. "We'll find another way."

"Oh yeah?" Owen countered. "How?"

"We'll... we can... uh..." She fumbled with the words and looked away.

"See?" Owen said smugly, crossing his arms. "I am the answer. Me and my girls."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Yeah, already tried that. Didn't work."

"With distractions!" He said, throwing up his arms. "Just me and my girls alone, we can do this." He glanced at Simon. "We can save your park."

Simon tilted his head. "Can you?"

Claire turned to Simon. "You can't condone this!"

Owen ignored her and nodded at Simon. "Yes. I think we can."

Claire's mouth fell open. "Simon!"

Simon ignored her as well as he stepped closer to Owen. "If you stay behind, it will be by your decision. I can't be held responsible for what happens."

Owen nodded quickly. "I'll like... sign a waiver or something. But I'm staying."

Simon let out a sigh and nodded. "I've seen what you can do. If anyone can... it's you."

Owen nodded. "Yes! Exactly!" He threw up his arms. "You understand my awesomeness."

Claire looked like she was seconds from exploding again.

Lowery quickly cleared his throat and interjected. "Hey." He snapped loudly. They all turned to look at him, some rather startled looking. "Uh... I uh..." He stammered for a moment. "We uh... got a call..." He said awkwardly. "We were supposed to start evacuating... at the... east dock..." He mumbled.

Claire collected herself quickly and nodded. "Yes." She turned to Zara. "Take the boys down for me. I'll be right down. I want to talk to Owen."

Zara glanced at Owen. "Good luck." Then she turned to the brothers and nodded. "Come on." Zach looked at Owen before letting Zara steer him and Gray towards the door.

Owen saw the look in the kid's eyes. He could feel it. And he wanted to follow and at least say goodbye. He watched as Simon followed and then he turned to Claire, hoping to expedite the situation. "I'm good, I swear."

She let out a sigh as she stepped closer. "I can't talk you out of this?"

Owen shook his head and held up his hands. "Nope." He backed towards the door slowly. "Super good."

She stepped towards him, following him slowly. "You are sure this is what you want to do?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"I just..." She paused in her steps and looked away. "I feel like we're leaving you behind." She admitted softly.

Owen let out a laugh and stepped through the door. "You sorta are."

"Because you won't come!" She snapped, moving to follow him.

With them gone, it was just Vivian and Lowery left in the room, sitting at their terminals. Vivian shook her head slowly as she stood up and grabbed her coat off her chair. She glanced at Lowery. She smiled at him sadly. "I guess it's our turn. You coming?"

Lowery turned and glanced at the screen. He let out a deep sigh. Then he turned and stood up. "Someone has to stay behind to help Owen." He announced in a rather dramatic voice. Then he stepped towards Vivian and reached out for her.

Vivian's eyes widened as she realized his intentions. She shook her head and stepped back. "Oh no." She said quickly, holding up her hand. "I have a boyfriend."

"Oh..." Lowery stumbled back. "Uh... I didn't know... you never said."

She shrugged slightly. "Well no, I'm at work."

"Oh... right." Lowery nodded. "That's great. Greeeeeeat." He strung out the work as he turned away from her and looked at the monitors. "Great."

Vivian tilted her head to the side. "Don't you like... have a thing for Simon anyways?"

Lowery's gaze snapped to her as his eyes widened. "I do not have a thing for Simon!" He said.

Vivian raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Really?"

Lowery cleared his throat and turned back to his chair. "I do not." He said as he sunk down in his chair.

She nodded slowly. "Owen know you're staying to help him?"

Lowery glanced back over at her and shook his head. "No."

She smiled. "Great. You gonna be okay?"

Lowery tilted his head to the side. Then he shook himself and turned back to his station, pushing his chair closer. "Yep."

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

"Ladies and gentlemen. We'd like to thank you for your patience. The next ferry will be leaving in 15 minutes. If you require immediate medical attention, please report to the nearest health service station. Thank you for visiting Jurassic World. We hope you enjoyed your adventure. Don't forget to visit the gift shop and remember. It's always happy hour at Margaretville."

Owen rolled his eyes as the robotic voice over the PA finished speaking. Did they have to include the leaving message? It sounded so... weird in this circumstance. He let out a sigh and glanced down at himself. Still no shoes, but at least Echo had found him an old shirt when he went to check on Charlie. So he looked less weird, standing back from the docks.

Barry was standing beside him, his arms crossed. "You sure about this?" He asked softly, leaning closer.

Owen was watching everyone with sad eyes. It was more than just Zach, he quickly realized. Or Gray. It was weird. He was suddenly plagued with the idea of missing Claire. And he was pretty sure he felt a pang of grief over Zara, too. He sighed and shook his head. It was definitely weird. But maybe it wasn't that bad. It had been a long time since he felt like he had a real family. Well... other than just the raptors. He shook himself and nodded his head. "No." He said finally, answering Barry. "But I'm doing it."

"You're crazy." Barry said.

Owen let out a laugh but before he could respond, there was a nudge at his back. Owen let out a sigh and turned. Echo was behind him, Delta beside her and Blue lagging behind them. Blue looked a bit conflicted. She wanted to know what was going on and wanted to say goodbye. But she also wanted to follow Alpha's orders.

Barry turned and stepped back. "Well, my friend, goodbye." He said, patting Owen on the shoulder. "Call me at some point, let me know you are still alive." He waved at the raptors as he backed up slowly. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he was nervous around them again.

Owen waved and watched his friend flee for a moment before he turned back to the raptors again. He wanted to be stern, he wanted to scold them and tell them to go back to Charlie. But he couldn't. He turned back around. And Zach and Gray were watching them. Owen smiled and waved at them. And then the brothers were walking over. "Behave." Owen said softly to the raptors behind him. "Stay."

"Hey." Zach said as they got closer.

Gray smiled up at Owen. "We wanted to say goodbye."

Owen laughed and reached out to ruffle the kid's hair. "You're aunt okay with that?"

Zach glanced over his shoulder Claire was facing away from them, her attention on whoever was on the other end of her phone. Simon and Zara were both equally occupied. Zach watched them for a moment longer. Then turned back to Owen. He shrugged and smiled.

Gray looked between Zach and Owen and back. Then he shook his head. "Stop staring at him at and kiss him goodbye before aunt Claire turns back around."

Owen's jaw dropped open.

Zach pressed his lips together in a tight line. "Thanks, man."

Gray smiled brightly. "You're welcome."

"Go away." Zach hissed, though there wasn't any real venom behind it.

Gray waved at Owen. "Bye! I'll miss you. I had a lot of fun before Ida tried to eat us."

Owen smiled down at him and gave the kid a quick hug. "Yeah, me too." He said easily.

Gray waved at the raptors and gave them each a quick goodbye. Then he turned and ran back over to Claire, Zara and Simon. He ducked around in front of them, between them and the boat, trying to keep their attention.

Zach looked at the ground. "He sorta found out." He said softly. "But he won't say anything." He added quickly.

Owen let out a sigh. He wouldn't worry about Gray for now. Instead, he stepped closer to Zach. "Zach." He said the teen's name softly and Zach looked up at him. "Think about your future. Think about what you want in life. Because whatever started between us... I feel like..." He paused for a moment. He didn't really want to get all heavy on him, but he wanted Zach to understand. "I feel like it's forever. I can handle that. Hell, I'm getting old. Should be in that settling down mind frame. But you... you're just starting your life." He said almost sadly. Zach opened his mouth to say something and Owen shook his head and kept talking. "Don't say anything now. Go home, hug your parents, make sure Gray's okay, and be safe."

Zach glanced away. "What about you?" He asked softly, his voice barely a whisper. "Are you gonna be safe?"

Owen laughed. "I'm as safe as I can be. I can handle myself."

"Yeah." Zach sighed and nodded slowly. "I guess you can."

"You need to go now." Owen said with reluctance.

Zach sighed again.

"I'd kiss you goodbye like your brother said... but we sort of got an audience. So come here and give me a perfectly natural, friendly hug." Zach stepped into Owen's space and the raptor Alpha pulled the teen against him. The contact was brief before they pulled apart. "I'll call you when I can."

Zach looked up at him hopefully. "You will?"

Owen nodded. "So you better get yourself a new phone."

"Zach!" Claire called out, waving at him. "We have to go now! There's a storm coming!"

Zach glanced back at her. "Coming." He turned to smile at the raptors. "I really wanted to play with you, Echo." Echo dipped forward and rubbed against him. Zach smiled and pushed her back. Then he turned and ran to catch up with Gray.

Claire was walking towards them. "Owen!" Claire said, stopping a few feet away, keeping distance from the raptors. "I wish you'd come with us."

Owen shook his head. "We'll be fine." The raptors stepped up beside him. "We'll get your park back under control."

Claire shook her head. "Simon says good luck. He says he'll drop off supplies when he can."

Owen nodded. "Just go, alright? Get your nephews and your girlfriend away safely. Don't worry."

Claire nodded curtly then turn.

Owen watched as they climbed up onto the boat. He waved one last time when they did. Then he breathed in deep and let it out slowly. There was a dull ache in his chest.

Echo tilted her head to the side, watching as the boat started pulling away from the dock. Then her eyes widened and she rushed forward. She let out a loud whine.

[Echo! Back!] Blue snapped at her.

"They'll be back." Owen called out. "Eventually. After we fix everything."

Echo turned and glanced back. [Charlie?]

Owen nodded. "Yeah. Let's go see if we can fix Charlie. And then find my phone."

Echo spun around at the word. [Phone?] She repeated. [Where?]

Owen tilted his head for a moment, thinking. He had it when he called Zach back at the hamster ball. And again when he had to text Zara a picture of the brothers. After that, he wasn't completely sure. But he didn't remember taking it out of his pocket for any other reason. But... he hadn't been wearing these pants... "Oh!" He breathed out as it dawned on him. "Back in the jungle." He said. "When I shifted to fight Blue. That's where it probably is."

Echo turned and ran. She didn't wait for permission or a response. She wanted to find Alpha daddy's phone. So he could call Trip and Squirrel! Yes! That's what Echo wanted! She ran as fast as she could. She didn't slow until she was far from the plaza. She breathed out and looked around. She waited a moment, listening. But she couldn't hear anything. She lowered her head to the ground and inhaled deeply. There was no sign of Ida. Just her and Trip and family. She followed the scent tracks to where she and Delta had run into the van. Then she followed Trip's trail to where Blue attacked him.

And that's where Echo found daddy's phone! It was in the bushes! Echo dug it out and picked it up with her teeth. And promptly cracked the screen. Echo's eyes widened as she dropped it on the ground. Did she... is it... she just broke the phone! She broke the phone! [Uh oh.]

THE END

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

Author's Notes: Ah! Thank you so much for going on this long rollercoaster with me over this last year! BUT IT'S NOT OVER YET! 8D The sequel should start in a couple days, right after I type up a little epilogue I wrote.