To the person who said they check for updates all the time: first of all, thank you, and I appreciate every single last review! Second, let me make it easier, as I noted this on AO3 but forgot to do so here: This fic updates in the evening on Tuesdays or very very early Wednesday mornings. So, if you check anytime on a Wednesday, the new chapter is sure to be up. 3 (My online class schedule runs Wednesday-Tuesday, so I usually have all my weekly homework done by Monday, which is why I do Tuesday updates before the new class week starts on Wednesdays.)

Enjoy the dinosaurs! :3

Dean and Castiel had been busying themselves with the touchscreen in the dashboard when the car suddenly began to move. Dean nearly fell back into the seat from where he'd been leaning up between the front seats, and Castiel laughed, sitting back in the seat.

"Welcome to Jurassic Park. Please sit back in your seats, and keep all windows and doors closed at all points during the tour. Thank you," a familiar voice said over the speakers in the car, and Castiel and Dean shared a look.

"Is that…?"

Gabriel's voice jumped in, and Dean could tell the man was grinning just from the tone of his voice. "Yep, little bro. The narration was all recorded by the man himself, Morgan Freeman. We spared no expense," he said, and Dean's eyes narrowed.

"You can hear us?"

"Look up, Dean. Higher. Higher, higher…there. Wave to the camera!" Gabriel said cheerfully as Dean's eyes finally locked on the partially hidden camera in the ceiling of the car, just above the windshield.

Castiel frowned, then reached over the front seat and popped the glove box open, tugging a small first aid kit out of it. Dean raised an eyebrow at him as he searched the box, coming up with a rather large Band-Aid.

"Castiel, don't you dare-" Gabriel's voice said, but he trailed off as Castiel leaned forward and covered the camera lens up with the bandage. They heard some cussing and a frustrated sigh, and Dean couldn't help but laugh, giving Castiel an appreciative look.

"Thanks. Feels less like a skeevy candid camera now," he said, and Castiel smiled.

"Last thing I need is to know he's watching me all day," he added, and Dean heard Gabriel scoff.

"I can still hear you guys!" he whined, and Dean was sorely tempted to start making some rather pornographic noises, but his attention was drawn to outside the car. They'd pulled onto a narrow path, thick foliage lining the sides of the road and brushing against the side of the car, and straight ahead there was a massive gate.

It looked like wood, but it obviously wouldn't be wood, just a convincing replica material. The gate had to be three stories tall, with the words "Jurassic Park" arching over the top in red letters. As the car in front of them approached the gates they swung open smoothly, and Dean wondered what kind of motors they had hooked up to those doors to automatically open them. They were massive, and had to weigh thousands of pounds.

"You can't say he lacks a flair for the dramatic," Castiel pointed out as they drove past the gates, and Dean swiveled in his seat to watch as they closed- and heavy steel bars slid into brackets on the back of the doors, keeping them tightly shut.

They were locked in with the dinosaurs now, just one fence between them and a whole lot of teeth and claws, their safety squarely put in the hands of Gabriel and the control room.

Maybe this was a good time to take up praying.

It was a bit of a drive to the first paddock, though it was a comfortable silence, both of them taking in the scenery. It was probably fifteen minutes through trees and grasslands before he could see the fence coming up close to the road, the foliage getting thicker on either side of the path, and he felt his heart speed up with excitement.

"The first dinosaur on our tour is the Deinonychus. These small raptors are now known to have joined up in loosely knit groups to bring down prey much larger than themselves," the narration said, and Dean looked out the window, straining to see anything in the foliage past the fence.

"So, like the travel size version of the Utahraptors?" Castiel asked softly, looking out the opposite window. Dean nodded.

"Much smaller, with more feathers."

"Feathers?"

"Yeah. The movies and books like to leave that out. Evidently the idea of giant vicious lizards having feathers doesn't add much to the intimidation factor," Dean explained, sure for a moment that he saw something dart through the ferns. He scolded himself though, sure that his imagination was just running overtime. He was on an island full of dinosaurs, after all.

"Guess they're not as interested in us as we are in them," Castiel said, leaning back in his seat. Dean sighed in disappointment as the cars pulled away from the fences, into a more open area. He'd really wanted to see them, even for a moment- but if the map on the screen was to be believed, there would be a lot more chances. He could count at least eight major paddocks, and those were just the ones big enough to show up on the island map.

"Reminds me of going to the zoo as a kid…you know. And the tiger was always behind the trees, or around the corner," he said with a chuckle, and Castiel frowned at him.

"I've never been."

"…You've never been to the zoo? Not even as a kid?"

Castiel shrugged, looking a little embarrassed now. "We were told it wasn't a productive use of our free time," he said, looking back out the window, and Dean felt a pang of regret for having upset him, even the slightest bit. "We had a schedule to keep."

Dean snorted. "Well fuck that," he said, and Castiel looked back at him, seeming amused by his spirited response. "You and me, Cas; when we get back to the mainland, I'm taking you to the zoo."

Castiel laughed in disbelief. "Aren't we a little old for that…?"

"Hey, you're never too old to go and watch them make an elephant paint a picture for you."

"They make the elephants…paint?"

"Man, you have really got to get out more," Dean said, shaking his head. "Like I said, as soon as we hit the mainland, I'm dragging you to the zoo."

Castiel smiled, just a subtle lift at the corners of his mouth, but for him it may as well have been a grin. "It's a date, then," he said, and then his cheeks reddened as he realized what he'd said. Dean may have teased him, if the Morgan Freeman didn't decide to be such a cockblock at that moment.

"The next exhibit on our route is one of Jurassic Park's finest. The Tyrannosaurus Rex is truly one of the fiercest land predators to ever live; its name even means 'tyrant lizard'," the narration said as they pulled into a wider section of road and the cars slowed to a stop. To the right was a massive section of electric fence, bright warning signs hanging on each section, and beyond the fence were more trees and ferns, though not as thick as some of the other exhibits.

To the left was some brush, and a small building marked with bathroom signs; evidently, they expected people to need those kinds of facilities at this particular exhibit.

He really couldn't argue with that.

"Think it'll show?" Castiel asked, looking out the window on Dean's side at the exhibit. Dean snorted.

"Might have better luck if they strapped raw meat to the top of the car."

"Careful. Gabriel might actually take that suggestion."

"Alright girls, stop gossiping," Gabriel's voice said over the speakers. "Hang tight, we're going to give the big girl some motivation."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this…" Dean muttered, turning back to the exhibit and watching carefully. There was a mechanical 'whirr', and then something began to rise up from the ground in the exhibit.

A goat. A goat tied to a platform that had evidently been set up for feeding, able to be wrenched up anytime the T-Rex needed fed.

"Seriously? That thing is like…an animal cracker compared to a Rex. He's feeding a 40 pound animal to a 7 ton eating machine," Dean said with a laugh, dropping back in the seat as the goat bleated miserably. Castiel watched it for a few moments before relaxing himself.

"Well, it's not like we won't hear it coming, at 7 tons."

"Yeah, just listen for Sam's girly screams," Dean said with a snort.

"I'm totally telling him you said that," Gabriel said over the speakers, and Dean cursed.

"I'm gonna cut every wire in this damn car until you go away, Gabriel," he snapped, and there was laughter from the speakers, then silence again.

Now all they could do was wait.

It was a comfortable silence again with Castiel, neither of them feeling the need to fill the space with chatter; instead, they rolled the car windows down and enjoyed the cool breeze that was starting to pick up, probably from that storm they'd seen on the monitors. It was a welcome relief from the sticky heat. Dean looked ahead and saw that Jo, Sam, and Crowley had the windows of their car lowered too, and Jo's sandals stuck out one window, feet crossed at her slender ankles. Knowing her, she was probably using Sam's thigh as a pillow while she read a book.

The T-Rex obviously wasn't hungry. By the time the cars started moving again the goat had lain down and was casually eating some weeds. Gabriel insisted over the speakers that they'd swing by again later, that the Rex seemed to like the evening hours better anyway.

"Maybe if they brought her something bigger to eat, she'd actually show up," Dean said, leaning against the door and dropping his head against the now closed window, the glass cool against his temple. And, after a few minutes of driving, that position was what allowed him to catch sight of something sticking above the tall grass, maybe a fourth of a mile off the side of the road.

And that something looked really familiar.

Without hesitating, he opened the car door and jumped out, glad that the cars moved agonizingly slow through the park. He heard Castiel say his name in surprise, but he was already stepping into the grass, the thing he'd seen now hidden from view as he stepped down into the field.

"Hey, Dean, wait! What are you doing?" Castiel asked, catching up and walking beside him.

"I thought I saw something-"

"Dean, I thought mom got the lesson about not jumping from moving vehicles in your curriculum somewhere," Sam interrupted as he caught up, though he looked more amused than upset, Jo not far behind him. Behind them, though, Crowley looked downright pissed.

"You'd think dinosaur experts would know that it's a bit dangerous to leave their vehicle in a dinosaur park," he snapped, smoothing down his suit jacket and wrinkling his nose at the grass as they pushed through it. Dean ignored him, because he could see over the grass again, that familiar shape, right on the other side of the grass…

He stepped into the clearing, and for a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

A Stegosaurus lay partially on her side in the shorter grass, the plates on her back sticking up just enough that Dean had spotted the tallest ones over the grass. Her breathing seemed labored, her eyes dull, and she didn't seem to notice their presence as she huffed out a breath and groaned.

"Jesus…" Castiel gasped out beside him, and then someone stood up behind the Stegosaurus, a man in khakis and a polo, with a beard and gentle blue eyes.

"Don't you worry, friends, I got her sedated. It's safe," he said, the heavy Louisiana accent clinging to every word as he stepped around to the dinosaur's belly. Dean didn't need any more encouragement; one of his favorite dinosaurs was right in front of him, alive and just like he'd always pictured it, and he found himself not caring about the risks anymore.

He stepped forward and reached out, sliding one hand down the Stegosaurus' side, the skin rough and bumpy under his hand. He grinned and pressed the other hand to her side, almost certain right now that he was dreaming, but this would be too real even for a dream; he was almost pushed backward by the sheer force of her just breathing in.

He knew Sam and Jo were already seeing her up close too, and he turned to look for Castiel, finding that the writer was watching him with a fond look and a soft smile. He motioned for Castiel to come closer, and the smile turned into a look of apprehension.

"No, I…I'm close enough here," he protested, and Dean shook his head, stepping over and grabbing Castiel by the wrist, tugging him over to the dinosaur's side.

"Someone offers you a chance to safely pet an extinct animal? You do it," he teased, putting his hand back on the Stegosaurus, memorizing the feel of her. Castiel shifted his weight nervously at first, then reached out and lightly touched her side, his touch feather light at first before he finally pressed his hand down.

"She feels kind of like an elephant," he said, and Dean smiled brightly, catching Castiel's eye again. And for one second, right then, he didn't even care about the damn dinosaur. Not when Castiel was smiling at him like that.

"What's wrong with her?" Sam asked, breaking Dean and Castiel out of their own world they'd been in. The man in khakis, who Dean could only assume was the vet, crossed his arms.

"Don't know surely yet," he said, watching as Jo knelt down next to the Stegosaurus' head. "She's lethargic, disoriented, got labored breathing…seems to happen every six weeks or so."

"Did you see these?" Jo asked, one hand on the dinosaur's muzzle, just behind the animal's beak-like snout. She pointed in its open mouth, and Dean leaned over the sprawled front legs to see- and sure enough, there were yellowish brown blisters on the dinosaurs tongue. The vet nodded.

"Yeah, those happen every time, too. We've run blood a few times, but it's not exactly like runnin' blood tests on a dog, you know? Don't even hardly know what we're lookin' for," he explained, and Sam came around to where Jo knelt. Dean knew that face; Sam was obviously deep in thought, and ready to solve a puzzle.

"Can I see your light?" he asked, and the vet handed over the penlight, watching over Sam's shoulder as he pointed it right at the animal's eye. "You said you sedated her?"

"Yeah, we did."

"These are dilated, though," Sam said, and the vet leaned in closer to get a better look.

"Well I'll be damned," he said, shaking his head. "So busy with the blood tests, missed the obvious there."

"It's got to be pharmacological," Dean said, beginning to understand what Sam was getting at. Castiel raised an eyebrow at him, watching as Sam stood and began searching the area with an expert eye.

"Pharmacological?"

"Probably local plant life," Dean explained, one hand still pressed to the Stegosaurus' side. "Either one of those extinct plants they stuck here, or maybe a modern plant the dinosaurs wouldn't know to avoid."

"Is this West Indian Lilac?" Sam asked, crouching down nest to a shrub that was flowering purple. The vet nodded, only glancing up from the dinosaur for a moment.

"Yeah, got those around here. The dinosaurs don't eat 'em, though."

Dean was already moving to where Sam was crouched down, hand touching the disturbed soil around the plant. "Are you sure…?"

"Pretty sure, brother."

Sam stood, brushing the dirt off his hands. "One way to find out," he said, turning and giving the vet a determined look. "Can we see its droppings?"

There was a groan from behind them, and Dean didn't have to turn to know it was Crowley. "Please tell me we're not going to let him dig around in shit," the lawyer said, but he got soundly ignored as the vet pointed to another part of the field, closer to the trees.

Castiel didn't look thrilled, but he followed as Sam, Dean, and the vet made their way to the patch of ground. "So I'm assuming you're the veterinarian Gabriel mentioned," he said, and the vet chuckled and nodded.

"That'd be me. Name's Benny Lafitte," he said, tugging out a pair of long plastic gloves and tossing them to Sam, who had found a rather sizeable pile of…well, shit. Dean wrinkled his nose, fully prepared to let his little brother handle this part.

"How'd you get roped into this, anyway?" he asked Benny.

"I was workin' at the San Diego zoo. Specialized in the big cats," Benny said, watching as Sam dug through the dung. Castiel looked vaguely ill as he watched on; the smell was incredibly pungent, even for poop. "Gabe came bargin' into my clinic one day, asked if I wanted to come work on a specialized game preserve. I mean, he wouldn't tell me what animals I'd be workin' with, but with the money he was offerin', I would've been an idiot to say no. And you know, I would've said yes anyway, even if I knew what all this was."

"Can't blame you," Dean said with a half smile, just as Sam stood up with a sigh.

"No berries. That doesn't make any sense, though. She has all the symptoms of Meliatoxicity," he said, snapping the gloves off and dropping them into a plastic bag Benny held out for him. "You said this happens often?"

Benny nodded. "Like I said, every four or six weeks, she'll come down with this. Within a few days she's pulled a 180, back to normal."

Dean looked back at the Stegosaurus, watching as Jo stroked its head, much like she would a sick dog to comfort it. Every four to six weeks…what did an animal do every four to six weeks that was different than normal?

It hit him while they were walking back to the dinosaur, and he came to a sudden stop. "Gastroliths," he said, and Sam, Castiel, and Benny all gave him odd looks, but he was already jogging back to the area where they'd seen the West Indian Lilac.

"Dean?" Castiel said, obviously confused, but also curious. Dean smirked and leaned down, grabbing a handful of small, smooth stones from the dirt near the plants.

"Gastroliths. We've found them in nearly every Stegosaurus dig site. They swallow small rocks to aid in digestion, and when the rocks are no longer rough, they regurgitate them and swallow new ones."

"Every six weeks," Sam added, grinning as the light bulb went on over his head. Dean held out his hand, and sitting among the smooth stones in his hand were undigested and partially digested West Indian Lilac berries.

"She's not eating the plant. She's eating the berries that fell off the plant and landed in the dirt and rocks."

Benny laughed. "Boys, you're hired. I'm keepin' you out here," he said, just as Crowley joined them, snapping his cell phone closed.

"Gabriel wants us back in the cars. He needs to get us back to the center before the storm hits. So let's move, ladies," he said, and Sam got one of those kicked-puppy looks on his face.

"If it's alright, I'd like to stay and help Benny with the Stegosaur," he said, looking at the veterinarian, who gave a smile and a shrug.

"Sure. I still need to draw some blood and do a few odds and ends. I can take you back in my truck when we finish."

"I don't care if you walk the thing back on a leash. I'd just like to not get this suit wet in a torrential downpour," Crowley snapped, turning to Castiel. "Cassie, darling, ride with me on this leg. I have some business to talk with you," he said, and Castiel didn't look happy, throwing a helpless glance at Dean before nodding reluctantly.

Dean nearly fell over when Jo threw her arm over his shoulders and gave him a bright smile. "Don't worry, Dean, I'll ride with you so you won't be lonely," she teased, rubbing her knuckles on his head before following Castiel and Crowley toward the cars.

Dean turned and gave Sam a look. "Be careful, okay? Don't stay out here if the weather gets shitty. And, uh…wash your hands before you eat anything," he said, and Sam raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be fine, Dean. I'm a big boy now, I can handle it," he said, following Benny back over to the Stegosaurus. Dean watched him go, then sighed and followed the other three back toward the cars, letting out an unhappy huff when he saw Castiel sliding into the front passenger seat of the front car.

Not that he didn't like Jo, but he spent 15 hours a day with Jo in the digging season. He didn't like anyone after spending that much time with them, usually.

He jumped into the driver's seat of the second car, ignoring the weird device hooked up to the wheel as Jo joined him, getting into the passenger seat. As soon as the doors closed, the cars began to move, pulling to the first turn-around point and using it to turn the other direction on the invisible track.

He was beginning to realize why they were calling the cars back; the clouds were rapidly gathering, and the ferns and tree branches were whipping in the sudden stronger winds that had begun to fire up.

"You really like him, don't you?" Jo asked, and Dean tried to fight down the slight blush, to no avail.

"He's a pretty cool guy, yeah," he said cryptically, but Jo saw right through it, pulling her hair back into a ponytail with a knowing grin.

"Pretty cool? Is that code for 'I want to ride that ass like the last ark out of the flood?" she asked, and for that she got a smack to the shoulder.

It was going to be a long ride back.

Ruby popped the last French fry into her mouth, watching as Gabriel glared at the camera feeds like they'd personally offended him. Or maybe stole his candy stash. Either one could result in that look.

"Don't feel bad, Gabe. We've still got two whole days. This storm will have all blown over by morning," Charlie said, far too cheerfully for Ruby's taste. She rolled her eyes and turned back to her monitor, checking the lines of code she'd prepared for what had to be the hundredth time.

She couldn't be too careful. After all, there could be no test run of her programming here; she had to get this right the first time, or she'd be absolutely screwed.

"But what if the next time we send them out, it's like this again? Two no shows and a sick dinosaur, Charlie. It'll be a disaster," Gabriel moaned miserably, and Charlie patted his shoulder and dropped a Tootsie Roll into his hand.

"Here. Eat some candy, you'll feel better," she said. "This is the very first tour. We can't expect it to be perfect. If you're really worried, we can skip the Rex's morning feeding tomorrow, so when we bait her on the tour she'll be hungry enough to jump for it."

That idea seemed to ease Gabriel's anxiety a little. He relaxed as he chewed the candy, and then he nodded.

"Right. Yeah, let's plan on that. I don't want them leaving without seeing the two biggest main attractions," he said, just before Ruby's phone started ringing, the obnoxious jingle immediately fraying her nerves; she'd been meaning to change that ringtone for forever.

She put the phone to her ear with a sigh. "Ruby Cortese," she said, the words short and clipped.

"Hello, Ruby," the reptilian voice drawled at the other end of the line, and she immediately straightened up.

"Hold on a sec," she said, standing and heading for the door. She gave Gabriel and Charlie a shrug. "Family stuff," she said, and they just shrugged it off and continued talking as Ruby stepped into the hallway and walked far enough away that she wouldn't have to worry about being heard.

"Alistair," she said, glancing around for any employees, but she was alone for once. "I told you never to call me before five."

"Change in plans," he said, as usual, straight down to business. "The storm is moving in quicker than anticipated. With Gabriel having all his non-essentials off the island by 5:30, the best we can give you is an 18 minute window."

Ruby took in a sharp breath. "Are you kidding? I've run this simulation a hundred times, Alistair, and the best I've done is twenty. You're asking me to shave two whole minutes off that? Do you realize how exact this has to be?"

He chuckled on the other end of the line. "I do realize, and I trust you to be able to get the job done. Especially if you want your money," he said. "You've got 18 minutes from the signal. That's all we can give you, Ruby. Our guy has to leave the dock at the same time Novak's ship does or someone is going to get nosey."

Ruby was surprised her grip wasn't breaking the phone. She paced, her jaw clenched as she tried to think of where she could possibly shave time off her carefully planned process.

"I should ask for a bonus for your ridiculous demands," she snapped, but Alistair didn't seem bothered.

"You'll still get them for us. I know you will, " he said, and that dangerous edge was back in his voice, the hint that if she didn't, things would not be going well for her. She swallowed hard and nodded.

"I'll get the damn things. Just have your guy at the dock on time, and give me every second you can," she snapped, and then she hung up before Alistair could make her even madder.

Two less minutes. She could manage that, surely- thirty seconds here, twenty seconds there, just a little bit quicker on everything she'd practiced. She could do it.

She had to do it.