The last half of this chapter did not want to be written. It still doesn't. So I chopped it in half. So you guys can have a chapter until it decides to write itself. So... have Echo! Also, I know nothing about eggs or hatching or nothing about anything. I'm sorta stupid. So... pretend all this stuff I write makes sense.

Raptor
Chapter 6: Breaked

He sank down on the couch, finally. Human again and freshly showered and dressed in a loose shirt and pants. He felt like a people again, he thought with a smile. A very tired people. He smiled again. People. Maybe he was so tired he was a little delirious. He felt exhausted and... human as his sore muscles sank into the cushions. "Sleep." He said loudly to the three tiny raptors that jumped on him as soon as he was settled. "Now. Sleep. I don't care if you're tired or not." He said, stretching out and closing his eyes. "You are sleeping because I need to sleep. And you're all babies. You should have to sleep. A lot." He yawned. "Babies sleep!"

Blue crawled up to his chest. She tilted her head, watching him a moment. Then she dipped her head down at bit at his shirt.

Owen let out a groan and pushed her away gently. "No, Blue. Sleep."

She darted forward and did it again. [Off.]

"No." He shook his head and yawned. "Too tired for raptor. I need sleep."

[No squishy.] She said, bending down to nip at the shirt once again. [This.] She pulled it up.

Owen blinked, trying to figure out what she was doing. "My shirt?"

[Off.] She let go of his shirt and stamped her foot. [Sleep here.]

Owen let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. "Fine." He moved to sit up and she jumped down to his lap with the other two. Owen quickly pulled his shirt off over his head and laid back down. Blue climbed back up as soon as he stopped moving and curled up. Delta followed next and Charlie came last. The last little raptor was more green than Delta, with black stripes along her back. At least they'd be easy to tell apart. Though with their quickly forming personalities, he didn't think that would be hard.

All three curled up together and Owen shook his head. "Well..." He said softly. "This is all my fault, right? Carrying all you around in that sling for a couple days. Though it was only a couple days. How did you..."

Delta let out a squeak, interrupting him. [Sleep.]

He smiled as he closed his eyes. Within moments, he was fast asleep. He really was exhausted from head to toe. The rise and fall of his chest lulled the baby raptors off to sleep as well.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Owen expected Echo to hatch the next day. And so, apparently, did Blue. He had set up the camera and had taken the three tiny raptors outside for the first time to try and distract her. But even him shifting and letting Charlie and Delta try to climb up his tail wasn't enough to distract her. She sat in front of the monitor, watching Echo's egg.

Owen stepped over her, his shadow covering her and the equipment. He bent down and picked her up, her tail held gently between his teeth. She squirmed a bit when he turned and stepped away.

[Echo!] She squeaked.

[Echo fine.] He said around her tail.

[No! ECHO!] Blue screamed at the top of her tiny lungs.

He set her down and she ran back over to the monitor. Owen let out a snort and shook his head. Blue refused to play games with the others. She just sat there, staring. She was a stubborn little thing.

[Break Echo?] She asked a couple days later when they were outside again.

Owen shook his large head. [No. Bad. Break hurt. Hatch.]

[Hatch Echo now!] Blue insisted loudly.

[No!] He growled again, louder. [Wait!]

[Now!]

[No!] He snapped. [Like break.]

[Break Echo?] Blue looked over at the last egg on the screen.

Owen let out a growl. [Hatch!] How many times did he have to explain it? Maybe they weren't as smart as he thought.

But when another day passed and another, he began to worry just as much. Maybe she wouldn't hatch. That had happened before. Well... three out of four was good, right? But he didn't want it to be. He let out a groan as he pulled the camera equipment towards him. He was calling Dr. Wu. Something he really didn't want to do. At all. Ever. He hadn't talked to the man since Wu dropped him off.

After a few moments, the doctor's smug face appeared on the screen. "Mr. Grady."

Owen crossed his arms and leaned back. "You alone?"

Wu nodded. "For the moment."

Owen turned slightly and looked down. "Get up here."

All three tiny raptors jumped up on the table. Wu's eyes widened and a smiled spread across his face.

Blue blinked at him and looked back at Owen. [What?]

"That..." Owen pointed to the screen. "Is an asshole."

She tilted her head, confused.

"Butthead." Owen said but they still weren't understanding. "Uh... mean guy?"

[Eat him?] Delta asked, moving closer to the screen to get a better look.

Owen smiled as he reached for Delta's tail. He pulled her back a few inches from the screen. "No you may not."

"You can understand them?" Wu asked.

Owen looked at the screen and shrugged. "She asked if we could eat you."

"Remarkable." Wu said, shaking his head. "They can understand you?"

Owen nodded his head. "Yeah, pretty much everything. Both human and... not." Blue let out an impatient squeak and Owen looked at her. "I don't like him. But he's a doctor. We have to be nice."

[Doctor?] Charlie asked.

Owen tilted his head, thinking. "He fixes... uh... sick or broken people... and animals... dinosaurs..."

Blue's eyes widened and she turned to the screen. [Echo!] She hissed. [Fix Echo!]

"He's not like us." Owen said.

Charlie tilted her head. [Not Alpha?]

"Fuck no." Owen said with a laugh and shook his head. "He doesn't speak raptor."

[Alpha speak.] Charlie said.

"What do they want?" Wu asked.

Owen looked at Wu. "They want you to fix Echo."

"Who's Echo?" The doctor asked.

"The last egg." Owen said, glancing at the incubator. "She hasn't hatched yet." He said sadly. "It's been four days since Blue hatched. Charlie and Delta hatched early the next morning, within an hour of each other."

Wu nodded slowly, his eyes scanning the three raptors. "Three is very good. Better than you should expect."

Owen narrowed his eyes. That wasn't the answer he wanted. Even if it was the same thought he'd had.

"Mr. Grady, it happens." Wu continued quickly. "You know this. You saw this."

Owen leaned forward on the table. "There has to be something!"

Blue chirped, loudly, nodding her head.

Owen didn't look at her, still glaring at Wu. "He says no, Blue, he won't help Echo."

Blue swung around and growled loudly. She snapped her tiny jaws and jumped at the screen. The monitor fell over with a loud thud on the table. Blue ducked down and looked back at Owen. She knew how important the big picture boxes were. She didn't mean to break it.

But alpha was smiling at her. "Good girl."

[Break?] She asked softly.

Owen shrugged. "Dr. Asshole Butthead will get us a new one if it is."

Charlie stepped closer to him. [Echo no fix?]

Owen let out a sigh and shook his head. "I don't think so, Charlie."

[Break Echo!] Blue said suddenly. [Now!]

Owen frowned down at her and shook his head. "No, Blue." He sighed out.

[Alpha fix Echo.] Blue insisted.

Owen shook his head. "I don't think I can."

[Break Echo now!] Blue repeated.

[Break!] The other two joined in. [Break! Break!]

[Break!] Blue didn't wait for a response. She turned around and jumped for the incubator.

Owen's eyes widened. "Blue!"

Charlie and Delta followed close behind her. Blue jumped at the egg. She opened her tiny jaws and bit into the side. She pulled the piece away as Charlie and Delta darted in to take pieces. Owen quickly pushed them away and bent over the broken egg. The tiny brown raptor was curled in a ball at the bottom.

[Fix! Fix!] Blue chanted.

"Shut up, Blue!" He snapped, smacking her out of the way. He gently dipped his fingers in and hooked them under the tiny raptor. He felt the tiniest of flutters as his fingers grazed her. His eyes widened. She was alive? How the hell was she alive? He pulled her out, cradling her delicately in his large hands. She was smaller than the others had been. She may have been smaller than Lala.

[Fix!] Blue snapped.

"Shut up!" He hissed down at her. "Come on." He held his arm out to the three impatient raptors and they climbed up and perched on his shoulders like parrots. Blue crouched down and tried to peek down at Echo. Owen crossed to the kitchen and had them jump down onto the table. He gently set Echo down. Charlie darted towards her. She stuck her nose to Echo's side and started licking her. Blue snapped at her and Charlie danced away quickly.

"Ease up Blue." Owen said, turning to grab the blender. "I think that's actually a good idea."

Charlie let out a happy rumble and resumed giving their new sister a bath. Delta joined her and Blue turned to watch Owen. [What?]

"I think she'd too... sick... uh... broken to eat." Owen said. "I'm going to make it... easier."

Blue took a few steps back, wiggled, and took off running. She jumped the two foot distance from the table to the counter.

Owen turned to try and stop her but was too slow. "Damnit, Blue!"

She jumped up on the blender and peeked down inside.

"Don't fall in!" Owen snapped.

Blue let out an indignant chirp. [Not!]

Owen shook his head as he pulled out the insect mash and some chicken broth. Blue watched intently as he poured both in the blender. Then he picked her up long enough to put the lid on and set her back down. She let out a loud squeak and jumped when he turned it on. "Easy, Blue." He glanced back at the others. "How's she doing?"

Delta stopped long enough to say, [Broken.]

He shut the blender off and pulled it off. Blue jumped on his shoulder and peered in as he opened it. Owen brought it closer to inspect. Oddly, it smelled good. He wrinkled his nose and shook his head. That was gross. Bugs and worms and broth should NOT smell good. Blue was trying to stick her nose in it. "No." Owen said, pulling it away. Blue let out a squeak in protest. "This is for Echo. After we get her to eat, maybe you can have some."

Blue jumped down and darted towards her sisters. [Eat Echo!] She snapped.

"Blue! Be nice!" He warmed up the good smelling gross concoction. And when he turned to the tiny raptors, little Echo was laying down with her legs tucked under her. But her large amber eyes were open and staring at him. He took that as a good sign.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

It was touch and go for the first few weeks. All Echo did was sleep and eat. She was so small! Blue stayed glued to her side most of the time. When she wasn't, Blue was harassing everyone else about her.

[Alpha feed Echo!]

[Charlie lick Echo!]

[Alpha hold Echo!]

[Delta talk Echo!]

[Alpha be no squishy for Echo!]

[Echo cold!]

[Echo hungry!]

[Quiet! Echo sleep!]

[Echo.]

[Echo!]

[ECHO!]

Owen was fine with Blue taking over. Blue was happy about it and the little runt raptor was getting spoiled. But she grew quickly. She got bigger and stronger and within a few weeks, she was a couple pounds bigger than the rest. Owen had to start watching how much Echo was eating. He started cutting her back a bit, not wanting her to get too fat and pose a health risk. And Blue noticed. And started slipping Echo some of her food when Owen wasn't looking. But Blue wasn't as sneaky as she thought. And Owen gave up. Let the little runt get fat. He'd just make her exercise it off.

But Echo was okay. Owen had his pack. His whole pack. And he couldn't wait to get started!

They were still too young to really start training. They at least understood basic commands and so far, listened pretty well. Owen was impressed. They were roughly three weeks old and already better than he could ever hope for, better than years of work with the dolphins. And so different. They were so much more than simple animals. The dolphins had been intelligent, no doubt about that. But the raptors, they were just... so much more.

They were like kids. They were like human kids. With teeth. The first few weeks, Owen took them outside as much as he could. He ran around with them, wrestled and played. He tried to act like he'd seen animals in the wild with their young. Most of the day, they'd spend outside. Then they would come back inside and eat. After that, Owen was always exhausted. He was getting better every day at the raptor. But it still took a lot out of him, a lot of energy. He'd collapse on the couch and turn on the TV. The raptors were fascinated by the box. The first few times, they bounced around it in circles, trying to figure out where the images were coming from and where they were going.

Owen tried to explain what it was for. Which was hard. In the end, all he conveyed was it was something he did before bed. He got tired, sat on the couch, and watched TV. Blue tried to argue, because Alpha didn't just watch the box at dark time. He sometimes turned it on at awake time. Or eating time. But it didn't matter. It became a daily routine. Sometimes, Owen even let the girls pick stuff to watch.

The first time they'd seen Finding Nemo, Charlie had chosen the fishy movie. She liked the bright orange color on the screen. Blue was confused. Delta was bored. And Echo became obsessed. They watched it a few dozen more times in that first month. They all warmed up to it. Blue was amused by the blue fish. [My squishy!] And Delta really liked the big shark. Charlie liked it when Nemo and his dad were reunited. And Echo focused on one word.

[What dad?] The youngest raptor asked.

Owen looked down at her wide, expectant eyes. "A dad is a parent." He said plainly.

She tilted her head.

"Uh... okay... give me a sec." He leaned back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling. How can he explain what a dad is to a parentless, juvenile dinosaur that was grown in a test tube? "Parents... are the ones.. who created you..."

Blue growled. [Dr. Asshole Butthead?]

Owen frowned and shook his head. "No... uh... that's not exactly right. Uh... in normal cases... parents create babies... and take care of them..." He nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Parents are the ones who take care of babies. They raise them and love them and shit like that."

[Like you?] Charlie asked.

Owen looked away. He tilted his head a bit and considered. Okay. So he'd thought about it before. But it just sounded weird.

Echo bounced up. [Dad! Dad!]

Owen shook his head quickly. "No, no, no. You don't have a dad."

[Alpha like dad?] Charlie repeated her question.

Owen let out a sigh. "Sort of. But no." He shook his head. "You have an alpha. Call me alpha."

[Dad.] Echo said stubbornly.

"Alpha!"

They settled down for a few minutes. Until Echo asked another question. [What mom?]