A/N
Hey guys! So, I'm just going to direct your attention to the rating of this story. It is rated 'T'
I know I act a little unpredictable with how I drive this plot, but I am aware of the rating. I know some of you even read this to your kids, and that confuses me because I'm no longer sure of how old most of you guys are. So, to be safe, the worst I do is make sad chapters, get a little gory in my deaths, and swear colorfully.
Enough of you got concerned about a possible 'forced sexual relations' between Carnifex and Elise that I feel like I needed to say something. I don't mind the reactions I get with the sad chapters or even what I do with Bridges, but those concerns disturbed me.
I will never write about that kind of stuff. Never will this story deal with that topic because that is not appropriate for this rating, it serves no purpose in this story, and I just don't want to write about it. I have my limits too.
Anyways, I just wanted to clarify that with you guys because most of you don't know me as a person, and you don't have other stories to read in order to get a feel of how I tend to write.
Thank you guys for taking the time to read that!
I don't own the lyrics to P!nk's 'Raise Your Glass'
More importantly, thank you for your reviews, I do appreciate them, and have a good day/night!
"Boys Are Very Bad."
The stiff, blonde hair that was normally slicked back was now a ruffled mess from hands running through it too many times. Bridges hadn't slept at all last night; he had been worried, busy,
And mortified.
Wu hadn't handed over Elise's life expectancy; he handed over a diagram of the Indominus' reproductive organs. Bridges really couldn't believe the Frankenstein Wu had pulled here. As much as Bridges liked Elise, and he truly liked her, she was not normal looking. Her parts weren't blended together correctly like he would have expected.
It was like Wu had designated certain species to show certain body parts, and they didn't mesh. The feathers along Elise's elbows stuck out terribly, her nasal and maxilla bone on the front of her skull didn't blend with the frontal lobe; it bulged out. Her feet almost looked Tyrannosaur, but those legs bore more resemblance to Velociraptor. The hands were damningly human, and even Bridges could see it in the crimson eyes.
It sounded cliché when he thought about it, but there was no denying what he saw when he first met Elise. He had been baffled by all the emotion running through her eyes.
He liked Elise when he realized she easily figured out his games, and she immediately began to play. Elise was lots of fun, and she was smart.
Bridges rubbed his eyes tiredly as he tried to make sense of the large words that looked like gibberish to him. He tried not to wonder how much money it had cost for Wu to put a Spinosaurus reproductive system in the Indominus. It was giving him a headache, and he ignored the blonde strand sticking up in the air.
It probably cost a few million when it was all said and done.
Bridges couldn't stop his groan as he rested his head on the cool walnut wood. A few million gone down the drain; he didn't even want to breed an Indominus and Spinosaurus, and he was the only one who really fought for them.
Why hadn't Wu considered the obvious? It didn't matter if Elise could carry Spinosaurus hatchlings because Bridges knew damned well she didn't act like a Spinosaurus.
And that meant she wouldn't understand the courting ritual if, by some unfathomable miracle Bridges would never encourage, her path crossed with Carnifex's. She didn't even look like a Spinosaurus; how the hell was Carnifex supposed to put that much together? Elise looked more like a Tyrannosaurus, and Bridges had already conditioned Carnifex to react very differently whenever he saw one.
Could Elise even socialize with another Spinosaurus? They weren't social creatures like the Tyrannosaur. Bridges could test that theory out if he brought a recording of Sobek's roar. The man sighed again as he tried to calm his hair; he needed a shower, but he was feeling lazy today.
But he groaned when the notification popped up; he knew exactly who it was just because she had great timing like that. Bridges was tempted to ignore the call, but Wu had robbed him of that luxury. The blonde hair was smoothed down further, and the tie straightened out before Bridges wiped his teeth. He cracked his neck, and gave his winning smile.
"Good morning, Miss Dearing. What do I owe this pleasure?"
Claire looked like she had slept well, and her makeup was on point. She never reacted to his compliments, and she merely said, "Good morning, Mr. Bridges. I just wanted to let you know that Elise is getting along wonderfully with her trainers."
Bridges perked up; that was good news he had been dying to hear. It had sincerely worried him about Elise getting along with Derick and Sam.
"Really? That's wonderful. Are they going to start training soon?"
Claire nodded as she looked over some paperwork, and said, "Mr. Grady and Mr. McCoy started last night; they wanted to see the capabilities of Elise's sense of smell. It will be good to see if she can track down animals who have knocked out their trackers."
"And Mr. Visser?"
"If Elise proves she has a strong sense of smell, then he wants to see if she can be taught to possibly look for illegal items. Jurassic World gets a little overwhelmed sometimes, and we have caught guests with illegal substances in their possessions."
Bridges allowed a real smile to grace his face as he leaned back in his chair. Claire raised an eyebrow, and he said, "Miss Dearing, I needed to hear that; it's good to know my investors can immediately see progress. Is this going to be taped?"
Bridges relaxed when Claire nodded as she said, "Elise will be wearing a camera similar to what we placed on the raptors when we get it built. Until then Mr. McCoy will be doing the recording."
"Wonderful. Are they starting the training right now?"
Claire shook her head as she glanced at her watch.
"Elise is doing her show right now, and they wanted to give the scent a chance to dilute to challenge her. They will most likely start after her second show; around noonish."
Bridges was not going to complain at all, but he paused when Claire suddenly asked, "Do you have any more records on Elise?"
Bridges slowly glanced to the window off to the side; he was on the part where it talked about the finer details of the oviduct, and how Wu kept the theorized shape of what a Spinosaurus infundibulum would have looked like.
He didn't think Claire wanted to read about that.
"Mr. Bridges."
But he had damned himself by looking at it like a moron. He scratched his head before slowly saying, "It is completely useless, Miss Dearing, and depressing on my end. Dr. Wu apparently decided to make Elise…fertile."
Claire lowered her eyebrows before saying, "That would be useful actually; we can perhaps get a better feel on what to expect from Elise. Breeding seasons and whatnot; I want to know if her system is similar to a Tyrannosaur."
"Her system is not. The report doesn't really go into detail about that; it's more diagrams and explanations of the reproductive organs themselves. There is a brief page on theoretical mating behaviors."
"Regardless, I want those records."
Bridges wasn't feeling very energetic, and he gave a shrug as he sent it over. He watched Claire scan over the words before her eyes paused on a specific word.
"A Spinosaurus?! Absolutely not, Mr. Bridges!"
Bridges would not be yelled at for Wu's screw ups, and he exclaimed, "I didn't know he was going to do that! I wanted the Indominus infertile and the size of a Velociraptor at most! It's wasting too much money on the finer parts of reproduction when animals in warfare probably won't last longer than a few years."
Claire curled her lip at the very word, but she coolly said, "I suppose Dr. Gerry can gather what useful information he needs from this."
"He knows what the five syllable words mean; my vocabulary begins to dwindle at the four syllable words."
Claire gave a rare snort before dryly saying, "You're funny once in a while. I assume you will be watching the training session?"
Bridges nodded; he could shower, eat, and get a quick nap in before heading over. Elise was a doll, and she kept him on his toes. He wanted to see what she could do, and he wanted to be there for her first training session.
"If I'm not there, you can assume me dead, my dear."
Claire only wished as much and she gave a nod at the charming smile before closing the window. She let a disapproving frown set in her face as she glared at the curse word.
Spinosaurus.
Claire hated them, and she had absolutely no intent of ever allowing such a weird looking creature on her island ever again. Elise looked perfectly normal compared to the mutated fish dinosaur thingy.
Claire wondered if Bridges was still in contact with Wu somehow; he had to have been. He had seemed so shocked by that email that there was no way he had been holding out on her. Either he had recently discovered it, or Wu had sent it to him.
Claire was leaning more towards the latter.
"Alright, Sunshine; you ready to do this?"
Elise gave a nod at Owen's eager grin. His excited energy was infectious, and she was happy to be out of her paddock again. They were in what Owen had called the Restricted Area; that meant guests weren't supposed to be over here. She glanced at the dark, thick jungle before the shiny metal of Sam's camera briefly caught her eye. They had spent a lot of yesterday just talking, and Elise decided she liked these two.
Derick was funny. Sam, he said he liked to be called Sam, was more serious, but Elise detected no ill-will from either of them. Elise turned back to Owen when he pulled out Derick's coat, and said, "Here's what you need to do, Baby. I need you to find Derick as soon as possible; he's a lost guest in the Restricted Area who is injured. You need to find him before any possible rogue dinosaurs can get him or his injuries kill him."
Elise glanced at Owen's hip when the trainer's voice suddenly said, "I'm okay, it was just a thorn in my sock. We can pretend my leg is busted though, so don't let me die, okay, Elise?"
The Indominus made a whistling croon, but Sam growled, "You aren't allowed to leave just yet. I asked Dr. Gerry to come by to take some vitals, and look at your foot. I don't want to be accused of running an injured animal into the ground."
Elise tilted her head; Sam was very much like Rexy when he growled. The tone was harsh and scary, but the words themselves were kind. She didn't understand why there was so much protocol as Sam called it. Apparently people called investors wanted solid proof that Sam and Derick weren't lying about training her. Elise just wanted to go find Derick.
He was going to 'die' if they didn't get moving.
Owen's hip gave another crackle, and Lowery said, "Hey, Owen, I figured out how to get the camera on Elise; I'm headed over right now so don't do anything, okay?"
Elise also didn't understand why these investors wanted recordings of everything. That was the purpose of the camera. It meant people could see what the camera saw as many times as they wanted; those recordings were called videos.
"Alright, Lowery, but hurry up. I want to get this started."
Elise kneaded the ground with her claws in anticipation. It had been a long time since Owen had been so excited to do something; even their lessons had mellowed into quiet, focused sittings. Owen was getting much better with the resonating chamber, and Elise swore it had improved his attentiveness to the girls' talking. Owen was starting to pick out the little hints that clued into a conversation.
Blue was just as sharped tongued as Owen had always imagined.
Owen had been content to gently swing in Elise's hand while they waited, and Sam suddenly asked, "Where's Commander Blake?"
Owen blinked; he was not Blake's babysitter, and he answered, "I have no idea; I'm going to assume at his job."
Sam glanced up with a dry look as he retorted, "I know Elise is your kid, but Commander Blake is the leader of ACU. Don't you think Elise should train with him so they can get a feel on each other before shit actually hits the fan?"
Owen leaned back into the hand and grinned widely when Elise gently nuzzled him. He had no idea how they weren't sick of each other by now, but he certainly wouldn't complain. He batted her nose when he said, "I don't think Blake wants to be here; besides, Elise is going to be for Emergency ACU, and those guys almost never get used."
"Almost, Owen; I don't do things half-assed just because some guy isn't happy with changes. I'm going to talk to Miss Dearing about having Blake in some of our exercises."
Owen grimaced; he was suddenly less excited for training. He didn't blame Blake for his reasons of disliking Elise, and he was perfectly fine with attaining peace through avoidance. It was what he was doing with Debra, and it was working wonderfully. Rick said she was in a much better mood, and Owen wasn't getting too many concerning death threats from disgruntled owners of ruined pants.
He wasn't sure what to do with a man who had lost family; he would need to explain things to Elise before that shitstorm would rain mercilessly on them. He didn't want to get caught in that without an umbrella.
Elise pulled him from his thoughts when she gave a delighted croon, and he looked over to see Dr. Gerry's white pickup bouncing along the road. Gerry was crazy driver who somehow never managed to spill his Diet Pepsi when he drank from it. Owen would feel like he was shoved in a paint shaking machine, but Gerry drank from his bottle like he was sitting in the smooth, almost gliding monorail.
Sam waved the dust from his face, and raised an eyebrow when colorful Jackie, energetic as always, burst from the passenger's side.
"So raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways!"
Owen slid onto the ground before Jackie bounced in front of Elise, shaded blue hair bouncing in a tight ponytail.
"All my underdogs!"
Elise gently held a talon over Jackie who responded by grabbing it with a hand as she spun on her foot. The white scales shivered to match the rose tattoo with the deep, blue background, as Jackie continued, "We will never be, never be anything but loud and nitty gritty, dirty little freaks!"
Elise garbled a few time, and Jackie stopped her singing when Gerry hobbled over. He looked like a tired parent who had seen plenty of loud singing in a closed car. His back gave a small crack when he straightened out, and said, "Alright, Kiddo. We'll make this quick so you can get to your game of ditching Owen in the jungle."
Elise would never ditch Owen, and she scooted him close to her side to show it. Owen couldn't help his laugh as he playfully bumped into the white scales, and Jackie started humming as she snapped her blue gloves on. Elise lowered her head to Jackie's face level before puffing air onto her. Jackie replied by giving a loud kiss on the scarred nose, and smiled at the adoring croon.
Gerry hid the half smile under his brush mustache while he hobbled over before extending his hand.
"Can I see that hand, Kiddo?"
Elise obliged as Jackie began to gently look over the foot. She seemed pleased with how things were healing, and Elise didn't limp as much. It would hurt if she pushed herself too much, but she knew her limit. Sam had made it perfectly clear that they would stop if her injuries were flaring too much.
It was important to learn everything with a clear, calm head.
Owen did gentle stretches as he checked the binding of his side before the white car grabbed his attention. He didn't know Claire was going to show up, but he certainly wouldn't complain. He still wanted a third date with her.
They were both just really busy.
Sam wasn't going to rush the vets, but he seemed relieved when Lowery stepped out of the car with a box in his arms. Elise was happy to see he was out of his little box, and she made a soft trill. Claire's face lit up in a loving smile at the dinosaur, and it melted Owen.
Claire loved his tough baby, and Owen was falling hard for Claire.
But Owen wasn't going to become outright oatmeal mush around others; it wasn't how he was raised. He didn't stop his smile though, and said, "I didn't think I'd see you out in the wilderness again."
The half-smile pulled at Claire's lips as she gently ran her hand along Elise's cheek. It was such a rare sight to see Claire be openly, and tenderly, affectionate, that Owen almost didn't hear her say, "I wanted to be here to support Elise on her first day in training."
That was it. Owen had fallen face first, rug ripped from underneath him, and fuzzies galore in love. He had found a woman who completely adored his girl with all the pure love of a mother, and Owen doubted he would ever see a woman as Claire's equal after this. She could shoot a gun, she knew how to lead people, she could run in those damned ridiculous shoes, and she loved his girls like he did.
Cupid didn't even shoot an arrow this time; he chose to mow Owen's ass over with an eighteen wheeler semi-truck going at full speed.
Claire didn't notice Cupid's most recent roadkill, and she gently stroked Elise's cheek as she said, "I want you to do your best, but don't get flustered if you don't get it the first time, okay? Owen will help you through it."
Elise gave a single nod before she suddenly turned her head to Owen. Elise blinked at him as her vision distorted until she could see all the heat.
Owen looked like he had a dangerous fever; especially in his chest. Why was his chest so warm?
She turned her gaze when Lowery was in front of her, and he dryly said, "No cuddling this time, okay? I may be your uncle, but this uncle is no huggy. I am fragile."
Elise blinked at him, but she stared at the silver circle in Lowery's hands. She recognized another camera. She flinched at the sharp rip sound, and froze when Lowery just stuck the camera to the side of her head. Elise continued to blink in confusion, like a cat shoved in a costume, before Owen quietly asked, "Did you just duct tape a camera on Elise?"
"I call it the finest of American ingenuity. I have securely fastened our recording device."
"You duct taped a camera on Elise's head!"
Lowery shrugged as he admired his handy work; they didn't have anything else to use at the moment. Elise still had no idea what to make of the thing stuck to the side of her head. She just stared blankly as she tried to make sense of this experience. Lowery gave the camera a few wiggles to make sure it was on good, and he pressed the button on the side before pulling out his radio.
"Hey, Control, are you getting the feedback?"
Owen waved his hands in front of Elise when Vivian said, "We got it; looks good. Your fly is down."
Lowery jumped as he snapped his gaze down, but rolled his eyes when all was well. Owen was snapping his fingers now, but Lowery became distracted by a bouncy, blue ponytail. Jackie crinkled her nose in a happy smile as she snapped the gloves off, but didn't hear Lowery say, "Whoa."
Owen raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Lowery. The man was no longer on earth as his mouth hung open unintelligently, and blinked slowly.
"Um, Lowery? …Lowery? Buddy? You there…?"
The tech-geek was gone; ignoring Owen, but he suddenly snapped back into rigid life when Jackie began to walk over. Elise was distracted by the object stuck to her head when Lowery's heart began to hammer hard enough for her to hear it.
He looked like he had a fever like Owen too. Elise wondered if Lowery was sick. The fiery orange that had blossomed all over the tech-geeks body suddenly retreated to the chest and face. Elise tilted her head.
What was Lowery afraid of?
"Aw, Cutie-Pie, you look so cute with your little camera on. You look like an awesome spy."
Elise didn't know what a spy was, but she was getting concerned about her uncle. Lowery had grown incredibly quiet and afraid; Elise didn't like that. She was an Alpha to this pack, and pack comforted one another when needed. Lowery was family, and he needed comforting.
The tech-geek yelped when Elise gently snagged him into a warm hug against her chest. Hugs made everything better, and Jackie immediately said, "Aw! That's so cute. Elise, I think you give the best teddy bear hugs."
Owen agreed, but he was concerned about Lowery's sudden change in behavior. He opened his mouth to ask, but was distracted by Claire gently pulling him aside. He gently brushed her arm just because, and she quietly handed him stapled papers. He frowned at the diagram of Elise, but Claire began to point at highlighted sentences.
Elise finally let go of Lowery as she gently set him down when she felt he had calmed down some. She grew confused when the fear returned full force as Jackie said, "I don't think we've met in person before. You're Lowery right?"
Jackie stuck her hand out, and Lowery somehow managed to get himself to move. He gently grabbed the hand, oblivious to the dinosaur literally seeing all his fear, and he cleared his throat as he awkwardly said, "Um, yep, that's me. You're um…J-Jackie, right?"
Jackie nodded as she let go of the hand, not noticing the extra sweat that had suddenly built up on Lowery's hand, and Elise carefully tasted the air around him. He smelled stressed, and Elise didn't understand why. Jackie needed to help Lowery get better because she was a doctor.
"Absolutely. Not."
Elise startled; she had never heard Owen so angry before, and she didn't understand why he looked so livid at a piece of paper. Were there bad words on the paper? Owen had gone pale, and stepped away when Claire tried to put a calming hand on his shoulder. Owen was having none of this blasphemous garbage, and he shook the paper as his voice continued to get higher.
"Over my dead body, I will not allow this to ever happen, this is bullshit. No. No. No. No."
Elise tilted her head, but Owen let out a half crazed laugh when he seriously asked, "Are there Spinosaurus out there?"
Claire wasn't sure what to do with this, and she tried to take the crumpling paper back as she said, "Mr. Bridges has at least one, a male."
Owen briefly flickered his protective gaze over to Elise before he dangerously said, "I swear to Jesus, Mary, Joseph, all the Disciples, and every damned saint above, that if I see a living Spinosaurus even look at this island…"
"Owen, you need to calm down."
Claire hadn't meant that impatiently; she was concerned about Owen's health. Wu hadn't been very sensitive in his wordings and descriptions of the Spinosaurus courting process. Elise grew a little afraid when Owen exclaimed, "No! I don't want any of that to ever happen to Elise! My baby deserves a mate who will love her forever, not that! She's never been around boys before, I-"
Owen suddenly stopped as he fearfully stared at his baby. She was so innocent that it killed Owen. He chewed his lip nervously before walking over to her. Elise wasn't sure what to do, but Owen grew very serious when he said, "Baby, I am going to talk to you about boys, okay?"
Elise glanced at Lowery when the geek quickly walked away as he announced, "I'm leaving! I'm not staying around for another Birds and Bees talk; I went through that once, not happening again."
The Indominus shifted; she was confused. She liked birds, they sang so pretty, and honey bees were good for the world. Owen had said they kept all the plants alive; that was an important job, and Elise always made sure she didn't squish the good caretakers of plants whenever she would lay down.
Claire placed a hand on her forehead when Owen simply said, "Elise. Boys are bad news, do you understand? Don't ever turn your back to a boy, don't bring him into your paddock. Actually, just give them a good knock on the head if you ever see a boy."
Owen thought about that, and he clarified, "A boy dinosaur; those are very bad. If you ever see one, especially a Spinosaurus boy, you will immediately come get me and Rexy because we will take care of it."
Lowery overheard that, and he shivered at the threat. He could only imagine the hellfire that would be unleashed on this world between Owen and Rexy if Elise ever got hurt.
Elise tilted her head, and Claire finally clamped a firm hand over Owen's mouth as she patiently said, "Owen; she's six."
Owen narrowed his eyes, but Claire calmly said to the confused dinosaur, "Sweetie, Owen is just being a protective father. I'll talk to you about this a little later, okay?"
Elise slowly nodded, and Claire smiled before she checked her watch. She frowned as she excused herself to make a call, and Owen quietly hissed, "Boys are liars! They only have one thing on their mind!"
Claire cleared her throat, and Owen glanced at her before whispering to his girl, "You will bring any dinosaur boy you find to Rexy and me immediately."
Elise was pretty sure all the dinosaurs here were girls; Claire had said so, and she had never met a boy dinosaur. What was wrong with boy dinosaurs? Were they mean? Regardless, Elise nodded to calm Owen down. Claire would explain everything later, and Elise didn't want Owen to be upset.
Owen immediately gave the warm smile that made Elise feel good about herself, and he said, "That's my girl; you're too smart to be fooled by a boy."
Claire walked back over as she sighed, "I thought Mr. Bridges would have been here by now; I know he really wanted to be here…"
She frowned at her phone; Bridges never not picked up her calls, but she shrugged as she said, "We'll wait a few more minutes before we can get started."
Gerry rolled his eyes as he went back to inspecting Elise's wounds and taking her vitals, and Lowery shyly stared at Jackie when she wasn't looking. Owen felt better now that he had warned his girl about the malicious dangers that were boys.
But Claire glanced at the watch again.
Was it safe for her to assume Bridges had died yet? He was mean for getting her hopes up if he wasn't dead.
