Owen's heart beat heavy in his throat as he watched the one egg continue to crack. Was he really ready for this? Was he going to be good enough? Sweat formed on his brow as another piece of egg fell off. The tip of a talon poked through and Owen gripped the side of the incubator to keep upright. The thought of actually being responsible to raise and train the raptor hatching had his knees shaking. He was both nervous and extremely excited to be taking on this challenge.
"Owen you need to bunker down and be ready for them to imprint on you." Henry Wu directed as he stepped beside Owen.
"Yeah, I know." Owen waved him off as he studied the one egg that shifted slightly. "Come on, girl." he whispered to the egg. His eyes focused on the additional cracks, his hands in tight fists as he fought the urge to help her escape.
"Heart rate for egg C is dropping." Andrew informed the small group.
"What does that mean?" Owen concentrated on the egg Andrew was now studying.
"We have to remember some of these raptors may not survive the hatching process." Andrew tried his best to keep the annoyance towards Henry out of his voice as he spoke to Owen.
Seeing these animals as living, breathing, magnificent creatures was not common among the scientists. Andrew hated the word experiments or assets that he's heard many of the lab workers and scientists use, including Henry. The dinosaurs Andrew cared for, he had a deep love and respect for. Something he clearly saw in Owen's eyes.
"May not survive?" Owen repeated as he leaned over to watch the still egg. The one beside it caught his attention as a long crack appeared down the side. "Egg B?" Owen pointed towards the egg and turned towards Andrew.
"Yes," Andrew answered, leaning in beside Owen to watch the process.
"She ok?" Owen asked, turning back towards the monitors.
"B?" Andrew clarified. "Yes, she's got a strong heartbeat."
"How's C?" Once Owen knew the two making progress were fine, he focused on the struggling egg.
"Still dropping." Andrew gave a heavy sigh and shook his head.
Owen knelt down in front of the incubator and touched the egg lightly. "There has to be something we can do. She needs help."
Andrew let his chin drop to his chest as he shook his head. "I wish we could save them all, but she's too weak and probably won't survive hatching."
"So we can help her." Reaching for the egg again, Owen pulled off a small piece that was ready to chip off.
"Trust me, I know how you feel. She's fading fast—" Andrew started and Henry was quick to finish his sentence.
"— It'll cost more to keep it alive than it would to just create a new one. Don't worry though," Henry said as he gestured towards four eggs far in the corner, scientists huddled around them. "Those four over there are backup."
"Backup?" Owen stood straight, eyes narrowed at Henry.
"Another batch. They will be used to replace any that don't survive here." Henry clarified.
XXX
"Claire, raptor eggs are hatching." Zara's voice rang through her intercom.
"Ok, on my way down, thanks, Zara." Claire answered as she said her final goodbye to Mr. Masrani.
By the time Claire made it to the lab, one egg was significantly ahead of the other three. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the lack of progress. "What's wrong with the others?" Claire asked Henry.
"Relax, Claire, they will all come on their own time. Though C won't last." Henry said softly, stepping closer to Claire. "I'd like to rid of the egg, but Mr. Grady insists on trying to see it through hatching."
Claire sighed heavily, knowing just how much money was lost on a single egg not hatching. She paused as she watched Owen, deep in concentration at the four eggs in front of him. As much as she wanted to just dispose of egg C, she couldn't break Owen's trance.
Peeling her eyes from Owen, she turned towards Andrew and lowered her voice so not to disturb Owen. "Dr. Carter, five more minutes with egg C."
His head snapped in her direction, surprised by her words. She usually immediately demanded anything showing signs of not surviving be taken away. He watched at she quickly glanced away, her gaze falling back on Owen. Andrew watched her for a moment, his eyes flickering between Claire and Owen. No matter how many times he begged her to just open the budget more to help give some of the newborns a fighting chance.
Despite Claire keeping her voice down when she spoke to Andrew, Owen heard her request. He turned slowly to glance back at Claire once he didn't hear Andrew respond. "Oh come on, Claire, five more minutes? She's hatching. She's trying."
"I understand, Mr. Grady, but you have the healthy raptors you should be focusing on. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do." Claire explained.
Andrew snorted, causing Claire to glare back at him.
"I mean, spending thousands of dollars on an asset that has a very slim chance of surviving in the first place is not practical." Claire corrected herself. "That money could be put towards the research to avoid these defects in future developments."
The room fell silent as Owen decided on arguing right now was going to take away from the raptors hatching. He turned back to the incubator, watching as egg A moved along, chipping away at its shell.
Stepping beside Owen, Claire watched as the 1st raptor poked off its third piece of shell. Owen immediately bending over to try and peek inside the now large hole.
Claire stepped back the moment the first raptor fully hatched. She fell in step beside Barry as they allowed Owen to be the only one beside the nest as the raptor emerged from her shell.
Watching Owen closely, Claire studied the way his whole world gravitated towards the first hatchling. Henry had thrown gloves towards Owen, but he ignored them and took the squeaking baby into his bare hands. The room fell silent as he cradled the newborn in his hands. The baby raptor looked up at Owen, eyes locking as she gave a small squeak.
"Hi, there…" Owen hesitated as he studied her features. He knew he was able to name them, so he made sure to take that process seriously. Her blue stripe stood out to him. It made her look unique from any raptor he's ever seen. "Blue," he finally sighed, nodding towards Andrew who wrote down the name.
Smiling down at the raptor in his hands, Owen marveled over just how tiny she was. She fit perfectly in his hands. It was almost hard to believe something that looked so innocent would grow up to be one of the best hunters in the world.
"C has flatlined." Andrew said softly, his hand reaching out to lay lightly on Owen's arm. "I'm sorry," he apologized both having to interrupt his moment with Blue and to have to deliver that news.
He placed Blue in the nest and lifted egg C. Cradling the unhatched egg, he contemplated on pulling the shell away to see what the baby looked like inside, but Henry snatched the egg away claiming it was to be evaluated for its weaknesses.
Before Owen could say anything, egg B broke free and struggled to make a sound. Owen reached for that one, mesmerized by the similar blue stripe down its side as Blue's. Though this one's stripe was more faint.
"Damn," Henry shook his head as he watched the baby struggled to lift its head.
"What?" Owen asked, reaching out and protectively holding the raptor closer to him.
"She's got a birth defect. She won't make it." Henry informed him, looking down at Blue, squawking up at Owen. "Your healthy one, there, will kill her. Survival of the fittest."
"So what will happen to her?" Owen asked, holding the quiet raptor up to look more closely at it.
Andrew sighed heavily. "We will put her down humanly."
"But there's nothing wrong with her." Owen protested.
"I know," Andrew agreed, his voice quiet. If there was one thing he hated about his job, was having to let an animal go without giving it a fair chance to fight.
Henry stepped towards Owen, placing a hand on his shoulder. "These animals are not like your dolphins. They will kill anything that slows them down, doesn't matter if they are siblings or not. These creatures are pack hunters. The weakest ones will be picked off first."
Owen glanced down at Blue who was desperately trying to get his attention. He didn't need Henry to tell him what these raptors are capable of, but it was hard to look passed the innocent look on Blue's face as she gave a long squeak.
"Owen, you need to focus on the healthy one. There's only a small window to form any sort of bond. Right now it's looking for comfort, and food" Henry told Owen as he reached for the infant still cradled in his hands. "Andrew will take care of this."
At the sound of his name, he gave a heavy sigh before taking the quiet raptor away from Henry, cradling it just as gently as Owen was. Watching Andrew as he walked away, his eyes shifted to Claire as she stepped aside for Andrew to leave the room.
"How many live ones?" Claire asked, Henry, avoiding Owen's eyes. There was too much pain there. The same look Andrew had coming home many nights from a rough day. Claire learned a long time ago to stop letting the dinosaurs get to her the way they did with Andrew. She saw too many to even realize the ones that didn't make it. There were always another batch of some species to focus on.
"So far just the one Owen named Blue." Henry informed her.
Ignoring the conversation going on behind him, Owen reached for Blue once more, her squeaks quieting down as he cradled her. Her eyes blinked open and met Owen's, both starring at the other. Smiling slightly, Owen caressed the side of her tiny snout with his thumb. "Hi, Blue." He said softly, bringing his hands up closer to his face to study her a little more. Her eyes searched his features, doing the same to him.
"Here," one of the nursery techs handed Owen a syringe full of thick, dark brown liquid. "She needs to eat."
"This?" Owen twisted the syringe in his hand.
"Yes, it's ground up meat."
"Yummy," Owen frowned as he brought the full syringe to Blue's open mouth. She immediately responded, gobbling up the mush Owen fed to her. "Good stuff?" Owen chuckled as bits dribbled from the corners of her mouth.
Moments after she ate, Blue curled herself in a tiny ball, fitting perfectly in Owen's palm as she fell asleep.
By the time he got her settled in her new nest, Owen remembered the last egg that was still in the incubator. Looking at the empty space two techs were cleaning, Owen called out for Henry, finding him, Barry, Claire and Hoskins standing around the four eggs from the other batch. "Hey," Owen said as he approached them. "Where's the last egg?"
"Didn't make it." Henry responded, his voice muffled as he checked up on the eggs.
"So that's it? Just because she didn't hatch as fast as Blue, you give up on her?"
Hoskins turned towards Owen and gestured towards the four new eggs. "Look, these may be stronger and more viable for our project."
"These are living, breathing animals." Owen argued, "You can't just dispose of them whenever you want."
"Let's walk." Barry tugged at Owen's shoulders.
Allowing himself to be pulled away he caught Claire's eyes once more before Barry guided him out of the lab.
"He's got a lot to learn." Henry shook his head and went back to the eggs.
"He will." Hoskins spoke quietly, smiling down at the four new eggs.
Claire stood, debating whether she should go talk to Owen, or focus on the paperwork that will be waiting for her from the three raptors that didn't survive. Rubbing her forehead, she took a deep breath and excused herself.
She bumped into Owen and Barry in the hall on their way back to the lab, something she planned on trying to avoid. The three stood silently, Barry suddenly taking an interest in reading a poster on the wall, while Owen stared hard at Claire.
Nibbling her bottom lip, Claire shifted uncomfortably. She had no idea what to say. An issue that eventually built a wedge between Claire and Andrew. She never knew how to sympathize with him when he had to put one of the dinosaurs down. It aggravated Claire that he never understood her argument in just how much money was invested in each asset. Sometimes it's just cheaper to put them down. Many nights were spent having the same argument. It was an argument Claire could feel if she opened her mouth right now.
"So what's the word of the four eggs?" Owen finally broke the silence.
"Good. They all seem to be on track." Claire answered.
"Do you know how it went with Dr. Carter?" Owen asked, lifting his hand to scratch the back of his neck.
"No," Claire licked her lips. "I won't know anything until the morning."
Owen nodded as his gaze shifted towards the lab doors. "I should check on Blue."
"Yeah," Claire agreed. "I have you set up at the resort. Just check in at the front desk and they will get you a key to your room."
Owen tilted his head, confused. "I have my own place…"
"I know," Claire answered immediately. "Being that Blue needs a lot of attention from you right now, Mr. Masrani and Mr. Hoskins agreed to have you close to the lab. The resort is just a short walk away." She explained.
"Go." Barry urged. "Blue will be sleeping for a while. I can take the next feeding. She should get to know me as well."
Owen nodded in agreement, unable to cover his yawn. What time was it anyway?
"I can show you…" Claire shifted uncomfortably. "If you'd life."
Perking up, Owen couldn't deny a request like that. Especially from Claire. He nodded once, turning to use his index finger to stroke Blue's head as she slept. "When would her next feeding be?" Owen wondered. His focus turning towards Andrew as he walked back into the lab.
"Next feeding is about four hours from now," Andrew paused as he looked down at his watch. "So around 1am. Next after that is 4am."
"I got the 1am feeding." Barry volunteered. "You get some rest and come for the 4am feeding."
Owen gave a weak nod, realizing just how long of a day it's been already. "Ok, fine. I'll sleep in the damn resort."
"Come on," Claire offered, her eyes avoiding Andrews, which she could feel watching her closely. "I have my car, I'll drive you."
Owen couldn't help but smirk as he watched the flush spread across her cheeks. "I thought you said it was walking distance." He teased.
"Ok," Claire shrugged. "Then walk." She turned to leave as Owen hurried after her.
"No wait!" He called as he followed her out of the lab.