Chapter 6

"Eyes on me," Owen demanded, looking down at his raptors who were starting to lose focus. "Charlie!" He waited until the unruly raptor finally looked his way, as he held his right hand up high, clicker held tightly in his left. He silently counted to three before pressing the clicker once and lowering his hands. "And go."

The raptors immediately took off for the tree cover, slipping out of sight, the only telltale sign of their departure being the few rustling branches left in their wake. Owen knew, however, that evidence would disappear soon with the raptors able to stay silent and still for long periods of time, especially when hunting as they lured in their prey. Or, in this case, when they just didn't want to be seen or commanded.

Today's training session wasn't followed by cheers and praise. The raptors had been continuing their streak of half following his instructions. Owen had been ready to tear his hair out over it all, feeling like they had been going backwards when it had clicked just how smart the raptors really were. Sure, they weren't following his instructions. But, it was because they didn't want to, not because they didn't understand him. It had hit him that the raptors were choosing to follow a different set of instructions every day. Commands that worked the day before would no longer work, and ones that hadn't worked suddenly would. They were messing with him. He wasn't sure if he should be proud or pissed.

Mostly, he was just aggravated. It was just one more thing in what felt like a long line of things in his life that just weren't working out. He'd been hoping the new year was going to mean that things would finally turn around. Put the old year and everything that had happened behind him and all that. Of course, it wasn't working out that way. It was a couple of weeks into January and it was looking to be the exact same as the previous year. Something was going to have to give.

Grabbing the now empty rat bucket, Owen headed for the stairs, exchanging nods with a few of the other workers, but not stopping to talk. He was, again, behind on his reports and he'd seen Hoskins arriving when he'd been training. He knew that meant his afternoon was going to be spent cooped up in his small office, trying to catch up. And then having to listen to Hoskins bitch and moan over the fact that things weren't more positive. There was only so much spin he could do and, most days, he wasn't willing to do any.

He handed the bucket over to one of the paddock technicians at the bottom of the stairs, before heading towards the small building that contained his office. It had been just over two weeks since his interaction with the Indominus, but he couldn't keep that off his mind either. He'd heard that Molly was healing, and would be back on the island soon, but he still felt guilty for being the one who suggested they go in. Molly hadn't put the blame on him, like she could've. She had said it was a joint decision between the two. But he knew the truth – that Molly never would've gone in if he hadn't suggested it.

Opening the door to the building, he was surprised that he could hear Hoskin's voice coming from within. It took him another moment, as he walked down the short hallway, to realize that Hoskins must be on the phone, as he couldn't hear anyone else. He paused in the doorway to his office, Hoskin's conversation piquing his interest.

"I heard they hired a behaviourist for paddock 11."

While Owen had gone by the paddock a couple more times, he hadn't been able to get much of a view of the dinosaur. Without more information, he hadn't been able to provide much more assistance, and he'd said so in a quick email to Masrani and Claire. He'd received a short reply saying they were looking at hiring a behaviourist, but he hadn't realized they'd already been successful. Probably the only time bureaucracy moved fast was in response to workplace injuries. At least something good was coming out of all of it.

He continued to hover in his doorway, shamelessly eavesdropping on the conversation. Not that Hoskins was talking all that quietly. And the building housed the shared lounge for all the raptor paddock employees, so there wasn't any guarantee of privacy.

"Have you had a chance to present our alternative?"

Alternative? Alternative to what?

"I know that they're still focusing on the Indominus. But… No… It is the right time… It's the best time, really. We need them to know that there's something else."

Owen walked a few steps closer to the lounge, where he could more clearly hear Hoskins.

"Our replacement idea is a good one. It's a great one. The Indominus is never going to meet their demands…"

What was Hoskins up to now? A replacement for the Indominus? While Owen had his doubts as to whether they were going to ever be able to show off the Indominus to guests, it was what they wanted. Bigger. Louder. More teeth. Did Hoskins have something even bigger in mind? He wouldn't put it past the man.

"If you don't want to be the one to tell them I will. … Oh, so now you're going to find your backbone? … Yeah, yeah. Sooner is better, don't forget that."

Owen scrambled backwards the few steps to his office, ducking inside as he realized that he could hear Hoskins moving towards him, grumbling under his breath. Owen had barely managed to sit down at his desk and and pull his keyboard towards him when he felt Hoskins' presence. He looked up to see him standing in the doorway.

"Grady," Hoskins said, swaggering into the room and plopping down into the chair facing him. "Just the man I wanted to see."

"What do you want?" Owen asked, logging onto his computer so he could look busy.

"Your reports."

"I'm working on them," Owen gestured to the computer in front of him.

"You're late."

"Yeah, well," Owen shrugged, not caring. "There really hasn't been much to say."

"Your contract states–"

"I can either be working on these or training the raptors. You pick."

"Your job is to do both. If you have to stay late, then stay late. Get them done," Hoskins stood as he spoke, pointing a finger at Owen.

"Yeah, yeah," Owen dismissed him.

"I mean it," Hoskins said, stopping in the doorway to look back. "You're not irreplaceable, you know."

"Whatever," Owen replied, although he said it softly enough that Hoskins didn't appear to hear him. Not that Owen cared. He knew he wasn't as replaceable as Hoskins thought. And, that as much as Hoskin's viewed himself as in control of IBRIS, it would take more than just him wanting to fire Owen to actually do so.

After he heard the outside door to the building slam shut, Owen leaned back in his chair. He was even less enthused to work on his reports now. And, to be honest, he was too busy thinking over the conversation he'd just heard.

Sitting up, Owen pulled his laptop closer, wondering if he could figure out what was going on. It only took him ten minutes to realize that he had no idea where to even look to find out information on this. And if it was a secret, then it was even less likely he was going to find it in one of the company wide emails that he'd been sent and had chosen to ignore.

Drumming his fingers on the desk, he debated what to do. It wasn't really his business, after all. And he only overheard part of the conversation, and only one side. It might mean nothing. Actually, it probably meant nothing.

Except it was Hoskins. And Owen didn't trust Hoskins farther than he could throw the guy. And Hoskins mixed up in some sort of run around on hybrid dinosaurs? Yeah, that felt likely. He knew Hoskins was getting frustrated at the lack of progress towards militarizing the raptors, it would be just like him to try to create a back-up plan.

Picking up his phone, he scrolled through his contacts. Who did he know who might have an idea what was going on? Or would have the ability to find out? He scrolled past her name twice, refusing to consider it, until he had to admit that the rest of his list came up empty.

Dammit. Why'd it have to be Claire?

Hovering over the button to call her, he found himself hesitant to dial. He wasn't even sure she'd pick up. This was business, not personal, but she might not assume that. Even after the visit with her nephews, which he was still surprised had happened, he hadn't heard anything else from her. And when he'd seen her a week ago, just in passing, she'd ignored him, not even a glance in his direction. He couldn't figure her out.

Scrolling back through his contacts, he settled on another name near the bottom. At least she wouldn't be able to shut him down this way.

o-o-o

"Your 3:45 is here."

Claire looked up in surprise to see Zara standing in her doorway. She didn't remember having a 3:45 meeting. In fact, she was pretty sure when she'd looked at her calendar earlier she had specifically noted that she had a solid hour break to get work done from three to four.

"Who?" Claire asked, knowing it would be useless to even suggest Zara was making up the appointment. Afterall, Zara was in charge of her calendar and had a better grasp of where Claire needed to be and when than Claire did.

"Claire."

The sound of her name caused her to look over Zara's shoulder where, to her surprise, Owen had stepped into view. Her meeting was with him?

"Mr. Grady," Claire nodded, watching as Zara stepped aside and Owen entered the office. She shot a look at her assistant, but couldn't give her the full force of the glare she wanted, considering Owen was standing in between the two. Zara just shrugged and shut the door behind Owen.

"Owen," he corrected her, moving towards her and taking one of the chairs opposite her desk.

"What are you here for?" Claire asked, ignoring the correction. She was confused when his gaze darted about the room, confirming the door was closed, before he leaned forward in his seat, his words coming out just above a whisper.

"Have you… heard of anything… new… being created?"

"New? We're always in the process of developing new assets."

"Yeah but…" Owen looked even more on edge and Claire wondered what she was missing, what dots he was expecting her to connect that she just wasn't seeing. "Not just any regular… dinosaur, Claire, I'm talking about…" he trailed off, gesturing vaguely with his hands. Claire was still struggling to follow what he was asking. Finally he huffed, leaning even farther forward, his voice dropping into a whisper, "The Indominus."

"What about the Indominus?" Claire asked, her voice remaining at a normal volume. Owen's gaze immediately darted around the room again, and Claire gave a heavy sigh. "Seriously, Mr. Grady. Just tell me what's going on?"

"Owen," he replied, and from his immediate wince Claire figured he hadn't meant to correct her that time, it was just becoming a habit.

"Owen," Claire repeated, rolling her eyes. "What about the Indominus?"

"Not the Indominus… well, not exactly," Owen paused, looking as if he was mentally debating whether to tell her.

"You set up this meeting," Claire reminded him. "Just tell me so I can get back to my work."

"Hoskins was talking about… well, I think a replacement?"

"A replacement? For what?"

"The Indominus."

"We're not replacing the Indominus," Claire disagreed. "Trust me, I would know if we were doing that. We've hired a behaviourist and are still working towards our opening date."

"Not immediately," Owen agreed. "It sounded more like… something that was in the works. A new… design?"

"And Hoskins just told you this?" While Claire had had previous interactions with Hoskins, he had nothing to do with the Indominus project. She wasn't sure why he would know or be involved with anything now.

"Well… I overheard a conversation–"

"Wait, you're coming to me based on rumours?"

"Not rumours, I heard it myself," Owen defended himself.

"You heard half a conversation and you're making some pretty big leaps here," Claire said skeptically.

"I know," Owen replied, frustrated. "I just… I tried to confirm it on my own, and, well, I don't have the access that you do. Or have any idea where to look, really. It wasn't my plan to come ask you."

"So why did you?" Claire was pretty sure there was nothing behind what he was telling her. She was sure she would've heard if there was, but it was the fact that Owen came to her, that was intriguing her most of all.

"Because–" Owen sputtered, looking annoyed. He looked away from her for a second, staring out the window behind her before he met her gaze and stated: "You brought your nephews out to see the raptors."

"Huh?" Claire was confused by the segue. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I… Why did you do that?" Owen asked.

"You invited them," Claire reminded him.

"No, I didn't, they asked," Owen replied. "Either way, you didn't have to bring them."

"Did you… not want me to?" Claire was unsure where this conversation was going. She thought he'd seemed happy to have them out there. Had she read it all wrong?

"No, I mean, it was fine that you did," Owen groaned, a hand coming up to rub at his jaw as he looked away from her again. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter."

"Why are you here?"

"I just… I keep thinking about the Indominus. And I know Hoskins' not happy with the pace of the raptor research. You're the only one I know who might be able to figure out if something else is going on," Owen said with a sigh. "Maybe it's nothing–" he held up a hand to stop Claire from interrupting, "Fine, it's probably nothing. But… what if it isn't?"

o-o-o

It was just over a week later and Claire couldn't stop thinking about the visit from Owen. As much as she hated to admit it, he had got into her head. Could there be something going on? Something that she didn't know about?

Her instinct was no, that she'd be involved. It was her job, after all, to know what assets were coming down the pipeline so she could be prepared. Introducing a new asset took a lot of work. The marketing campaign to announce it was, in her opinion, the easiest part. They gave them some pictures of it, described it, and the basics like height, weight, diet, etc and off the marketing team went. But before they could even get to that stage, the dinosaur had to be created and it had to be born and, more importantly survive (and the survival rates were still quite low). And then, it needed a paddock or somewhere to live and it needed a steady food supply. Often there were siblings or other dinosaurs involved, because, as much as Claire hated to admit it, Owen was right about the importance of socialization. Almost all of the dinosaur species on Jurassic World thrived when they were kept in a pack- or family-like environment. The T. rex and Mosasaurus were the main exceptions.

So she was sure that there wouldn't be another dinosaur in the works, not without her knowing. All of those steps, everything that needed to be checked off, she was part of that process. Not only that, but they didn't announce new species close together, preferring to wait at least a year or more between introductions. They wanted to get as much out of each attendance bump as they could. And if new assets and attractions were released too close together, people just waited for the second, so they could see both in one go. Not that Claire blamed them for doing so, she'd do the same if she was in their shoes, but marketing and business was often about getting people to make choices that may actually be against their best interests, while making them believe that they wanted to do so.

The afternoon Owen had visited her, after he'd left, she'd done a cursory search through her email, wanting to double check she hadn't missed anything, and she hadn't. Over the next couple of days, she'd casually brought up the concept (in a roundabout way of course, never directly) with Zara and also with Lowery and Vivian, but none of them implied they'd heard anything. And both Lowery and Zara usually had a solid in with whatever gossip was circling.

She'd been ready to just push it aside and put it behind her. She was right, he was wrong. And that feeling had been oh so satisfying.

But then she'd had a scheduled visit at the lab a couple of days ago. Just a normal one, nothing special, where she would get an update as to how the various projects were progressing and anything new they'd found. They were always searching for DNA from new dinosaur species and trying to improve the DNA they had already created.

It wasn't any one thing, exactly, that raised the red flags in her mind. It was more just a general feeling she got. Something seemed off. People were quieter than normal. And there were was more security than she was used to. She couldn't recall any recent incidents that would've led to that.

As she'd been getting an update from Wu, she noticed that there appeared to be an area of the lab that he was deliberately avoiding. When, as they had been finishing up, she'd wandered in that direction, as if she was just taking a look around, he'd actually intercepted her and gently redirected her to a different area. If she hadn't already been curious, she probably wouldn't have even noticed he'd done it, it was that subtle. Claire hadn't been able to figure out what was going on, or get to that area. Not without raising suspicions.

Could Owen be right?

o-o-o

In the end, Claire sent Owen a text message.

She had debated email or phoning, but knew from previous conversations, that text messages were the most likely way to actually reach him. He had told her, back when they were sorting out the when and where for their date, that he rarely had his phone on him, and even more rarely checked emails. But that he'd get around to checking his text messages, even if it took him some time to respond. She'd managed to bite back her frustration over it all (he did realize that he had asked her out, right? Didn't he think being reachable was part of the agreement?) and had said that sure, text was fine. Her phone, unlike his, was practically glued to her hand, or at least within arms length. She was not ashamed to admit it was the last thing she looked at before going to bed, and the first thing she reached for upon waking.

Being reachable was a requirement of her job. She just wished it was a requirement of most people she ever had to reach out to. It took Owen almost 24 hours to reply to her; 24 hours where she had gotten increasingly frustrated and annoyed by the whole process. He was the one who had asked the question, not her. If he'd wanted her to do something, he should at least be willing to respond in a timely manner.

When he'd finally responded, Claire replied immediately, wanting to catch him before he put his phone down again or lost it or whatever he had done with it previously. A few back and forth messages and they'd agreed to meet up at the Starbucks on Main Street the following afternoon. After their previous meeting, Zara had pestered her about what Owen had wanted. She had cooked up a story around the raptors, but wasn't convinced that Zara bought it. Claire didn't want him to come by her office again, since it was out of the ordinary for him to do so and it would just bring more questions. And as Owen hadn't wanted to raise suspicions in the first place, he'd agreed.

So now, Claire was sitting with her grande triple mocha frappuccino wondering where the hell he was. Okay, so he still had 5 minutes to arrive to be on time, but she had been 10 minutes early. Couldn't he be at least a couple? She only had so much time before she had to get back to her office, and she wasn't good at patiently waiting. Not in her job, where there was always more to be done than time to do it in.

"Hey."

Claire looked up from her phone where she'd been responding to emails as Owen dropped into the seat across from her, placing a cup of what looked like black coffee on the table between them. She saw a smirk cross his lips quickly as his eyes took in her drink, but he at least managed to refrain from commenting.

"Mr–Owen," Claire corrected herself, and watched as a genuine smile appeared on his face.

"Claire," Owen greeted her back, before getting to the point. "What's up? What did you not want to text about?"

"I looked into what you said," Claire admitted, watching as his eyes widened in surprise. What did he think she was asking him to Starbucks to talk about?

"Oh? Did you find something?"

"Yes, well… not really," Claire played with the straw in her drink, not meeting his eyes.

"Not really… what does that mean?"

She watched as he took a sip of his coffee, continuing to stir her own as a distraction.

"C'mon, Claire, you didn't ask me to meet up for no reason, did you?" Owen's grin turned sly. "Or, did you just want to see me again? I'm not going to let you trick me into a second date."

"Ugh," Claire tossed her balled up straw wrapper at him, watching as he laughed. "Let me remind you that I'm the one who doesn't want a second date. But… no, that's not why you're here. I couldn't find anything. Or, nothing specific. But then I was down in the lab the other day and, well, the security presence has increased. And that normally only happens when they're working on a new secret project, like before the Indominus was born." She took a sip of her drink, waiting to see his reaction.

Owen leaned back, sipping at his own coffee as he thought over her remarks. "It could be something else, right? Like a personnel incident or something?"

"It could be," Claire agreed. "But I haven't heard of anything, and I would've known about it. And, well, that's not all. When I was there, I noticed that there was a corner of the lab that Wu appeared to be avoiding. I tried to wander over there myself, and he directed me to a different area."

"Hm."

"Yeah," Claire nodded. "I mean, I know it's not proof-proof, but…"

"So, why are you telling me? Why aren't you asking Wu? Or Masrani?" Owen leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "What's going on?"

Claire grimaced. She knew he was going to ask this, but she still didn't want to answer. "If something's going on, if they're creating something new, I should be part of the process. I'm always part of the process." She looked down at her drink, trailing a finger through the condensation on the side, before looking up to meet his gaze, hating the vulnerability that was creeping into her tone. "Why would they be leaving me out?"

o-o-o

"How'd you talk her into a second date?"

Owen looked over at Barry, who was crouched beside Delta, checking over the raptor who was restrained in her harness.

"What are you talking about?" Owen said, focusing on Charlie, the raptor huffing and fighting her own restraint. He laid one hand on her neck, the other softly stroking between her eyes, trying to help her relax.

"People are talking, they saw you and Claire at Starbucks the other day," Barry shrugged. "Personally, I'm surprised she agreed after the disaster of your first date."

"He probably got down on his knees and begged, right Owen?" Barry and Owen both turned at the sound of the third voice, looking outside the caged area to where one of the ACU men currently assigned to the paddock was leaning on the rail watching them. For someone who was supposedly on guard in case something happened, Owen thought he looked way too relaxed. They'd be dead before he'd even have time to reach for his gun.

Owen just rolled his eyes in response. He didn't mind male bonding and some of the "locker room" style talk that happened around the paddock. He participated in it a fair amount himself. But, he also knew if he protested, it would be turned around in a "I think he protests too much" way. Better to just ignore it all.

"What are you guys talking about?"

As another ACU member wandered over, Owen turned back to Charlie who had been calming down, but was now getting agitated again. He tried to focus on her, checking her over as quickly as possible, while ignoring the others. It was hard.

"Owen's dating Claire."

"Claire who?"

"Dearing. You know her – the Operations Manager. The one who sends out all those annoying emails."

"Her?!" The response came out shocked, twinged with disbelief. "Why her? I mean… isn't she the one there was all those rumours about a few months back, the one who brought an itinerary on a date?"

"Did she do that with you?"

Owen felt his back stiffening at the remark. He risked a glance to the side over to Barry, who just looked at him with a eyebrow raised.

"Really? You're believing rumours now?" Owen finally said, turning to look at the two guys watching him.

"I don't know why you'd want to date her," the second guy commented. "Although, I'll give you that she's hot."

"Very hot," the first ACU member nodded. "And have you seen her assistant? British accent and a brunette?"

"I think she's engaged."

Owen just shook his head, only half listening to them, as they started comparing Claire and Zara, among others. It always amazed him how quickly people could and would blow up a less than 10 minute conversation at Starbucks into evidence of something bigger. At least they were no longer focused on him, he thought, as he turned back to finish up with Charlie.

o-o-o

She happened to be in the control room when the call came in. Emergency at Paddock 11. She found it hard to make out what they were saying through the speakers, but just watching Vivian's face pale told her enough. It was bad.

Claire realized as she was speeding down the dirt road that she'd been expecting something to happen for a while. Ever since the incident with the vet, and Owen's comments that it wouldn't be the last. She'd hoped that the new behaviourist was going to help. It hadn't been easy to find someone who was willing to tackle the job. Not that they could even supply much information to potential hires.

In the end, they'd gone with an internal promotion, moving Cooper Thompson from his position with the Baryonyx over to the Indominus. Claire had interviewed all the candidates carefully, trying to weed out ego and overconfidence. She wanted someone who would stand up to her, and not because they thought less of her, but because they strongly believed in what they were saying. Someone, she hated to admit it, like Owen. She'd have considered him for the job, except he was already neck deep in his raptor research, and she didn't think he'd take it anyway.

Cooper had been a tad arrogant in his interview, but his knowledge and work with the Baryonyx had elevated him up the list. While he wasn't scared of the job, he came across as someone with a healthy level of respect for the dinosaurs and what they were capable of, which was another bonus in his favour. And he'd been willing to make the switch, even knowing that the Indominus was already almost a year old, and information about the previous incidents.

Claire had given strict instructions that no one was allowed to be in the paddock with the Indominus. Not while the dinosaur was awake, at least. Vet checkups were still required, unfortunately. They had moved to lacing her food with a tranquilizer, with additional tranq darts used after the Indominus initially succumbed. And the visits had a strict time limit that everyone had to obey. No one wanted a repeat of what had happened to Molly.

Of course, that didn't explain what had happened now. If no one had gone in… how had the Indominus been involved? And Claire was sure the Indominus was involved. Vivian wouldn't have reacted the same way if it was just a construction injury. Either someone had disobeyed her order and gone in or the Indominus had got out. There had been a call for additional ACU support. Oh god…

Part of her, a large part of her, wanted to turn her car around. But she forced herself to continue down the road, and shortly she was pulling into the paddock. To her surprise, it was relatively calm. She'd expected people to be running around in panic. Or maybe a giant hole in the side of the paddock wall. Or blood everywhere.

Instead, there were a few clumps of people. They seemed to be grouped by type. She could see one of the mobile veterinarian vehicles over on one side, the back doors open and a few people gathered there. There was another group of what looked like regular paddock workers, gathered in a circle, a few of them smoking and a couple looking like they'd recently been crying. There was an ambulance, but the lights weren't on, and she couldn't see the EMTs. An ACU truck on one side had a couple of men beside it, and there were a few more she saw patrolling around the area.

As she got out of her car, the head of the ACU unit headed in her direction.

"Claire," Katashi Hamada said as he met up with her.

"Hamada," Claire nodded. "What happened?"

"Cooper Thompson was in the viewing area when the Indominus appeared to get upset," Hamada stated, leading her towards the stairs. "We haven't figured out yet what set her off, but she attacked the glass."

"She's done that before," Claire reminded him. "It's why we replaced it all."

"Well, she must be getting stronger," Hamada shrugged, opening the door and gesturing her into the area.

Claire had only taken a few steps in when she came to a halt, her gaze fixed on the viewing window in front of her. Or, more accurately, at what had been the viewing window. Instead, there was now shards of glass sticking out from the sides and a large gaping hole. Not only had the Indominus managed to break through the window, but Claire could see that a chunk of the floor had been destroyed as well, bent pieces of metal rebar sticking out.

When she finally managed to tear her gaze away from the hole, she noticed the EMTs. They were sitting off to the side, a stretcher beside them covered in a cloth. She blamed it on her state of shock that she didn't get the significance at first.

"Cooper?" Claire choked out, nodding at the stretcher before looking over at Hamada who had come to a stop beside her.

"She went right for him. He didn't stand a chance," Hamada said. He started to move forward, towards the window and Claire reached to grab his arm, stopping him.

"Is it safe?" Claire asked, gesturing towards the gaping hole in front of them.

"She's sedated right now. We can't have her roaming around with this hole," he answered, and he continued to the window, Claire following. She realized, taking a quick glance around the room, that there were a couple of other ACU in there, holding guns that were aimed down into the paddock. As she neared the window, she could see the slumbering form of the dinosaur below, red blood on its snout standing out against its white skin.

"How long can we keep her sedated?" Claire asked, her voice sounding hollow to her own ears.

"I don't know," Hamada replied. "We're looking into that. We can't have her awake with this breech, but there's also no where else to put her for the time being."

"That may not be a problem," Claire said, her mind whirling. "I need to phone Masrani."

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave me a comment or kudos. I try my best to respond to each, and apologize if I don't (I lose track sometimes of what I have/haven't responded to).

I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter or any predictions you have about what may happen going forward.

I'm working on chapter 12 right now and am *almost* halfway through my plan. So... lots of story to come. :) I'm really enjoying having the raptors to play with.