Summary: Owen chats with Masrani and then with Barry

A/N: lsdkhgkdhg I'm so sorry, at least it hasn't been a whole ass year since the last update ;-;

Sorry it's a bit fillery, my big focus is in another fandom rn, but the plan is still to finish this (even if I have to churn out shorter chapters more often) Hopefully work doesn't kill me in the process dkgghhg


"So you hired me because of my abilities?"

Owen feels as if the ground beneath him has shifted, his balance disturbed by the series of revelations Masrani's heaping on top of him. Masrani has the same abilities as him, and though Owen finds he's not entirely too surprised by it, he's still having trouble wrapping his mind around what he's hearing.

"You're very accomplished in your field", answers Masrani, and well. Duh. A lot of Owen's success came from the strength of his abilities.

"You don't give yourself enough credit", Masrani hums, as if reading his thoughts, and Owen startles, completely out of his element with his boss confronting him over what should have been a secret, though at this point, he's starting to think the whole damn island knows. It's obvious by now that Masrani hadn't gotten his information from Adam, though where else he could have gotten it from, Owen doesn't know- Barry, he thinks briefly, but no, he hadn't known until a few months into their friendship.

"I just- how did you know? Who told you about… my abilities?" Owen asks, genuinely bewildered, ignoring the squalling of his pack in his head, as confused as his.

"That's confidential information, I'm afraid," says Masrani with a shrug, and Owen bites down huff of irritation.

"Look,"Masrani starts again, still in that quiet, calming tone of his, "I don't want you to be alarmed, you don't need to be. Separating you from your girls would be idiotic, no one else would be able to work with them, and they're happy to stay in line as long as you're working with them. I'm offering you a guarantee of safety to your and your pack; Hoskins won't be able to bother you and you'll have free reign of the restricted zone."

He sounds firm, convicted, and Owen has no doubt he means it from the look on his face, his tone, and he knows that as CEO of Masrani Global, he has the power, mostly. There's little for Owen to doubt, but still. Still, he's wary of this offer, of Masrani's motivations to give it to him. Surely there has to be more to it than just kindness, even if they're alike, maybe even past the obvious need for a reliable trainer because while that makes sense, something in Owen's gut warns him that there has to be more.

But what choice does he really have?

The girls are quiet now, waiting for his assession of the offer and while Owen doesn't entirely trust it… he gives Masrani a slow nod. If this is what it takes to keep his girls (and himself) out of Hoskins' hands, then so be it. He can deal with whatever consequences he may face from this later.


There's a hint of winter in the air, but the tropical climate of Isla Nublar doesn't pay it much mind, fading sunlight scorching across the island as the last dredges of the day pushes the sun towards the horizon. The sky's still a delicate shade of robin egg blue, faint, pale wisps that could be clouds seeming to melt in and out, as if carefully sewn in place, tinted powder pink by the streaks of golden encroaching dusk.

The water bottle in Owen's hand is cool, sweating against his palm, and he wonders if he could use it to weaken the heat of the stare Barry's giving him. He knows the situation isn't ideal and he'd explained that unlike Adam, Masrani had already known, had likely hired him because of his abilities, but Barry's still looking at him like he's been dangling himself like a goat in Rexy's enclosure, and while Owen understands the sentiment, Barry doesn't seem to understand that he's as frustrated by the situation as he is.

"You know I didn't really have a choice in this, right?" he reaterates, taking a sip from his drink and wishing he could go back to the paddock. At the very least to check on the progress of the I-rex enclosure if not to go curl up with his girls- it would certainly take his mind off the events of the past few days. It doesn't feel right having so many people know (and his stomach churns at the thought of how many others might be privy to his not-quite-secret; Wu or Claire or god forbid Hoskins), and through the bond he can feel Blue's own unease. The only person they'd told by choice was Barry, out of trust, and Owen had never intended for anyone else to know.

God, this was fucked.

Beside him, drinking a beer, Barry sighs, the tension leaking out of his shoulders. He rubs his temple with his fingers, and Owen is assured that he was wrong, that Barry does understand and is as frustrated with the situation as Owen, and not at Owen himself.

"Maybe if you ask nicely, Masrani will make Hoskins fuck off", Barry sighs, and it's enough to startle a laugh out of Owen. Barry offers him a small grin, though they both know that whatever marriage Ingen has cooked up with the military is too entrenched for even Masrani to get rid of him completely. He could stop him from bothering him at the paddock, sure, but only for a brief while and it wouldn't stop him from accosting Owen elsewhere. At the very least, Owen knows Masrani can keep him from taking his pack.

"Maybe he'll look the other way if I let Delta eat him," says Owen, and while the look Barry gives him is scandalous, it doesn't stop him from laughing, and Owen can sense Delta perk up in interest in her paddock. Roma, beside her, huffs in disappointment, and Owen jokingly promises her a piece.

They both settle into a quiet conversation, Barry grumbling about the interns, about how he wishes the program was just a touch stricter if only to keep the totally useless ones from bleeding in. Owen groans in agreement, and it's like their worries drain away, however momentarily. He clings onto the shred of normalcy, onto this small comfort because while Owen can't claim to have ever been normal (hard to achieve when he's never really had a gauge for it, even when he tried), he can pretend.

It'd been easier to pretend before he'd become the alpha of a raptor pack, when all he'd had to block out were bird calls and cat cries and the paper thin walls around his mind were enough, but Owen doesn't mind his girls so much. Their bond makes it easier to block out the noise of the park, shielding him from the pinprick sensation of so many large predators and turning the roar of herds into dull radio static, just outside his hearing range. He can talk with Barry in the sunset and pretend, if only for this one moment, that he's a normal guy, a normal animal keeper, and breathe.


Hope that was alright! Next chapter shouldn't take as long hopefully!

song title from Flick Of the Wrist by Queen