The Barry chapter did NOT want to get written. The only reason I can think of as to why... is that chapter 8 is Zach and Gray chapter. And it's almost done. So is 9 and 10. I skipped waaaaay ahead. XD So have a slightly more rushed/forced chapter than I'd like so we can end this ginormous impromptu prologue and get to Zach.

The final scene of this chapter follows chapter 1 as like a wrap up to the prologue.

Raptor
Chapter 7: Dirt

They kept growing, like little weeds. When they were a month old, they were too big to be sleeping on him. And Owen told them this. Echo had whined and Blue had growled. [Bad squishy!]

"You're too big for squishy!" He snapped back at her. They'd been placated when he said they could sleep beside him in his bed. And when they were up to his knees, he decided he needed help. He needed someone he could trust. Someone he knew he could work with. Someone who had knowledge of animal training. Someone like his good buddy Barry from the Navy. Who was totally going to freak out. And it would be hilarious.

"We are going to call Dr. Wu." Owen said one afternoon, pulling out the camera equipment.

[Dr. Asshole Butthead!] Blue growled.

Owen smiled and nodded and called Wu. "I need help." He said after Wu answered.

"You said I couldn't have access until they were at least four months old." Wu said. "By my calculations, I have another two months..."

"And I meant it." Owen said quickly, interrupting him. "Not you. A Navy buddy of mine." He gave his friend's information to the head of the program, some Hoskins guy he still hadn't met, and a week later, Barry arrived.

"Alright!" Owen clapped his hands together. "Line up."

They were outside. The sun was shining and it was warm and the girls just wanted to play. Charlie pounced on Echo and Blue snapped at Charlie's tail and Delta snapped at Blue for being hard on Charlie and then they were all rolling around and snapping at each other and Owen felt bad for having to break them up. But he had to. This was important and he needed them to pay attention.

"Hey!" He snapped loudly. All but Echo stopped and looked at him. Echo took the opportunity to pounce on Charlie. "Echo! Stop!"

Echo turned to look at him. She tilted her head and looked at him as if to say, what? Me? Spoiled brat.

"Yes, you." He said, pointing at her. "Line up. Now." He pointed to the ground in front of him.

Echo let out a squeak and puffed out her chest but did as told, standing beside Charlie. They all settled in and looked up at him curiously.

"Okay." He said. "We have an important visitor today. A human."

[Like Alpha?] Charlie asked.

Owen shook his head. "No, not like me."

Blue growled. [Like Dr. Butthead Asshole?]

"Oh hell no." Owen shook his head again. "Not a doctor and not an asshole."

Delta let out a bored snort and tilted her head. [Can we eat him?]

Owen rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No, Delta. We don't eat people."

Delta sunk to the ground and pouted.

"He's a friend of mine." Owen said. "He's like family. You have to be nice. You can't eat him!" He said, looking pointedly at Delta. "He... uh.. he'll probably be... scared. He's never met a raptor. Four tiny ones will be a lot for him."

[Alpha raptor?] Blue tilted her head, confused.

Owen shook his head. "He doesn't know. When I show him, he'll be really scared. We don't want him to panic and hurt himself so we have to be careful."

Echo stepped forward and nudged his leg. [Nemo?] She asked sadly.

Owen looked down at her and shook his head. "Not now, Echo."

Echo pouted and blinked at him. [Later Nemo?]

Owen sighed. "Yes, later you can watch Nemo. But not now." He pointed a finger at her. "Now we are waiting on my friend. Focus."

[Squishy!] Echo said with an excited squeak.

"Yes!" Owen snapped.

[My squishy!] She bounced a bit.

Owen rolled his eyes and shook his head. He was getting nowhere with them. Maybe he needed to start them on a training program or something. Maybe some tracking drills or hunting. Something to help them focus their minds and energy. Maybe that would help with Echo's short attention span.

All five of them turned as they heard the tires. "Stay." Owen commanded, glancing back at them. "Stay!" He turned as the jeep came into view. Owen waved and jogged forward as it pulled to a stop.

The man stepped out, a large smile on his face. "Owen. You ass."

Owen smiled and breathed out a long breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Something familiar. Someone he could trust. He stepped towards him and hugged the man. "You don't know how good it is to see you." He said softly.

Barry hugged him back for a moment, tight, and then pushed him away. He peered at Owen oddly. "I was told you have been out here alone for a couple months."

Owen let out a laugh and nodded. "I haven't gone crazy, I swear." He held up his hands. "And I'm not... completely alone." He said awkwardly.

Barry's voice dropped and he stepped forward. "The... dinosaurs... are really here?"

Owen nodded. He turned and whistled.

Barry frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Calling them." Owen answered.

Barry's eyes widened. "They are out here? Loose? They are not in cages?"

"They're still babies." Owen said, holding up his hands. "They're tiny. Well... they used to be tiny." He said with a smile. "They're bigger. But they're still small. Just... relax. I already told them they couldn't eat you."

Barry rolled his eyes and shook his head. "That's... really comforting."

Owen nodded. "It should be. They listen to me." He titled his head slightly. "Most of the time..."

"Most?"

Blue came strutting towards them, the others following her in a line. They moved slowly, their eyes on Barry. They stopped beside Owen, all of them looking at Barry curiously. It was the first time they'd seen another person in... person. They'd only seen Dr. Wu a handful of times over a computer screen.

Echo darted forward and stopped at Barry's feet. [Nemo?] She chirped loudly.

Barry's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards. He tripped over himself, landing hard on his ass in the dirt.

"Echo!" Owen shot forward and grabbed her. "Sorry. Echo's a bit... special. She doesn't listen as well."

[Nemo!] Echo insisted loudly.

"I said later." Owen hissed.

Barry tore his gaze away from the raptor in Owen's arms and looked up at him. "Later?" He repeated slowly.

Owned sighed and shook his head. "She wants you to watch Finding Nemo with her. It's her favorite movie."

"The dinosaur wants..." Barry blinked and shook his head. "Owen, you've been out here too long."

Owen set Echo down and pointed at her. "Stay." He looked back down at Barry. He stepped towards him and held out his hand. Barry grabbed it and Owen helped his friend up. "I need to show you something." Owen said.

"More than them?" Barry asked, glancing at the raptors behind him.

He let out a sigh and started unbuttoning his shirt.

Barry's eyes flitted down and back up. "What are you doing?"

"We've been friends for a while, right?"

"Yes." Barry answered slowly.

Owen pulled off his shirt and dropped it on the ground. His hands moved to his pants and he paused. "You trust me, right?"

"Owen, what are you..."

"You trust me?" He repeated.

Barry nodded. "Yes."

"I need you to keep an open mind. And don't freak out." He quickly pushed his pants down and shifted, as fast as he could. And Barry screamed like he was getting eaten. Owen quickly shifted back and tried to talk his friend down but Barry jumped back in the jeep and sped out of there.

Owen sighed as he crossed his arms and shook his head. "This is why we don't tell anyone Alpha is half raptor." He took a deep breath and breathed it out slowly. He looked down at the raptors and smiled. "Don't worry. He'll be back." He shook his head. "I hope."

Delta tilted her head to the side, watching the line of trees where the jeep had disappeared. [Dirt scared.]

Owen looked down at her and frowned. "Barry. His name is Barry."

[Dirt.] She repeated.

Owen shook his head. "No, you can't call him Dirt."

Delta blinked at him. [Why?]

"Because you can't!" Owen snapped.

[Dirt! Dirt! DIRT!]

Owen rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Echo stepped towards him. [Nemo?]

Owen nodded and breathed out. "Yeah, we can watch Nemo."

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

Two days later, Owen found Barry at the pier. The man was packed and ready to leave on the next boat when he called Owen and told him that. Owen took it as a good sign. His friend was in the process of fleeing and had at least a small note of doubt. "Barry..." He started as he walked towards him.

Barry held up his hand and Owen stopped immediately. "I have a few questions."

Owen nodded and held up his hands. "Yeah. Sure. I'll tell you everything. But..." He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Not out here in the open."

Barry was silent for a moment. Then he slowly nodded. "Alright. Where?"

Owen smiled. "My Bungalow?"

An hour later, Owen sat down on his couch, all four raptors immediately jumped up and fought over sitting in his lap. Echo won, which wasn't a surprise, and the others snuggled against him. Barry stood, leaning slightly against the counter in the small kitchen. He was quiet, watching Owen with the raptors. Owen was smiling and laughing at them. He stuck his tongue out at them and one seemed to copy him. "Owen..."

[Dirt talk!] Delta wiggled excitedly.

Owen's eyes widened and he poked the raptor. "You can't say that!" He hissed.

"Have you always been... this way?" Barry asked slowly.

Owen looked at Barry, giving his friend his full attention, and shook his head. "No. When I got here... something... I don't know." He sighed. "Crazy ass doctor did something to me."

"You can... control it?" Barry asked.

Owen nodded quickly. "Yes."

Barry's eyes dropped to the raptors. "And them?"

Owen smiled and shook his head. "They're normal. For extinct animals. They listen pretty well. But they're a handful."

Barry nodded slowly. "You talk to them? And they talk to you?"

"Yeah." Owen said with a nod.

Barry nodded slowly. "You want me to... help you... train them."

"Yes." Owen nodded again.

Barry took a deep breath and stepped around the table. He walked towards the couch. Delta jumped up and bounced towards him. Barry stopped as she came closer. [Dirt!] She squeaked excitedly. Barry looked up at Owen.

"She uh... said hi." Owen said, shaking his head. "No biting!" Owen warned.

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

They understood Owen almost from the moment they hatched. Owen never really thought about it or questioned it. They just understood him and he understood them. That's just how it was. But they didn't understand Dr. Wu or Barry, the first time they'd met. But after a few meetings, they'd slowly learned. Well... they learned to understand Barry.

It helped, Owen was sure, that he'd called Barry family. The raptors held family in high regards. And it helped that Delta formed this weird, fast connection with the new family member. Over those first months together, they'd learned to communicate with each other. Not as well as with Owen, of course, but enough to all get their points across. Barry still refused to go inside the cage with them, though. Not since they got too big for the bungalow and moved into the raptor paddock..

Delta tried to get him to. She really wanted him to play. But he didn't and it amused Delta to see the hesitation in his movements. [Dirt play one day!] She chirped happily to the rest. One day he would play with her.

They still refused to acknowledge Dr. Wu. The others had been willing to learn from the doctor in the beginning. But Blue wasn't. She ignored him, still holding a grudge against him for not helping Echo. The evil little brat had convinced the others to ignore the Dr. as well. Owen had given up on even trying long ago. The doctor's involvement and interest was gradually decreasing. The video chats were few and far between.

The guy in charge, Vic Hoskins, had started hanging around as soon as they moved in. Owen explained to the girls that he was a boss, too. Delta said he looked tasty. Charlie said he was nosey. Echo said he smelled funny. And Blue just growled. A lot. They took to watching him, in a cold, calm, calculating way. They refused to interact with him, which pissed him off. He called them stupid several times.

"Why are they so stupid?" He'd snap. "All they do is stand there!"

But they weren't stupid, of course. Oh no. They were really smart. All of them. Even Echo. Special little Echo who'd been the runt and who was slowly gaining more weight than Blue. They all knew exactly what they were doing. They just didn't care. They'd seen the way the vile man treated their Alpha. The man did not deserve their respect. He earned his nickname when Owen had called the man a Dickwad under his breath. The raptors asked what that mean, and Owen explained that's what the man was.

"Hoskins is a dickwad." Owen said. "He's an awful, horrible, loathsome, hateful, despicable man." He explained. "Dickwad."

[Dickwad.] The raptors repeated.

Owen nodded. Then he paused for a moment and tilted his head. "Expect... he still is sorta my boss so... he's in charge... so..." He shrugged. "Sir." He nodded slowly. "Sir Dickwad."

[Sir Dickwad.] And Hoskins' nickname was born.

It wasn't that they had trouble with respecting leadership roles. At least not exactly. They didn't respect Wu. That was his own fault, when the man refused to acknowledge Echo's importance to their family. Hoskins fault was on Owen's clear distaste for the man. But the raptors respected Barry. He was family. And Owen, of course. He was Alpha. And they respected Claire, to an extent, before they even met her.

It was a few weeks after they first met Sir Dickwad. Claire hadn't been to the raptor paddock since before the raptors were moved in. She'd seen pictures and videos and she'd watched the live feeds of them being introduced to their new environment. She was satisfied. She didn't need to meet them in person. She had more important things to do, like running the park, she always said when Owen asked.

Owen hung up the phone and let out a sign. He leaned over slightly enough to shove his cell phone back in his pocket and rubbed at his forehead.

"What?" Barry asked.

They were outside, both sitting on the ground. Owen was sitting on the inside of the fence, the raptors around him, and Barry was on the other side of the fence. They weren't doing anything. Just idly hanging out when she called. "Claire." Owen breathed out. "She informed me that she can see me sitting with them and it is unsafe. She says I need to leave immediately."

Barry let out a laugh. "Well... you are and you should. They are wild animals and you are on camera and you're trying to convey normalcy."

Owen nodded slowly. "Yeah... we need a way to fake the camera." He said, looking down at the raptors. "It's been nearly a month since we had to move here. And I'm going stir crazy, not being able to run with them."

"I'll look into it." Barry said.

[Who phone?] Echo asked, tugging on the hem on Owen's shorts to get his attention.

"Claire." Owen answered.

All the raptors looked at him. They all conveyed confusion, tilting or shaking their heads.

"Uh... Claire..." Owen repeated. "Uh... she's the big boss of the island..." He paused and blinked for a moment. "We've not talked about her?" All four raptors shook their heads. "Huh..." Owen breathed out and glanced at Barry. "I guess Claire never made it into one of our lessons."

Barry let out a laugh and shrugged. "I do not know how that is possible." He said. "You whine about her a lot." He added with a wide smile. "If you were children on a playground, you would be pulling her pigtails."

Owen ignored his friend as he looked down at his girls. "Don't listen to Uncle Barry. Claire... she's the main boss."

[Like Alpha?] Charlie asked.

Owen shook his head. "No, she's completely human."

[Like Dr. Asshole Butthead?] Delta asked.

Owen shook his head again. "No, she's not a doctor. She's... just in charge."

Blue snorted loudly. [Like Sir Dickwad?]

"Oh fuck no!" Owen shook his head quickly and waved his hand. "No, Hoskins just thinks he's in charge. He acts like he's big shit but he ain't. Claire Dearing, she's the real boss. She's the one who can fire me."

[Fire?] Charlie repeated.

[Fire Alpha?] Echo's eyes widened.

Blue shook her head. [No put fire Alpha!]

Delta nodded her head. [We eat Firelady!]

"No, no, no." Owen shook his head, trying to quiet them. But all the raptors were getting worked up. They were on their feet, bouncing around angrily and snapping their jaws.

Barry watched them and tilted his head. "Uh... what did you do?"

"She's not... made of fire." Owen tried to explain. "She can just fire me... like... make me leave the island." That only made them more upset and louder. Owen breathed out as he stood up. He held out his hands. "Hey! HEY!" It took a few tries but he finally got them to settle down. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? She won't fire me because I'm the Alpha, okay?"

But Firelady stuck. Owen tried a few times to explain what fire from a job meant. And that she wasn't on fire or something. And it didn't help that the day they finally saw her in person, it had been windy and Claire's short, bright red hair danced a bit in the wind.

[FIRELADY ON FIRE!] Echo had screamed. [SAVE HER!]

Owen had laughed and gave up trying to explain.

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

Owen yawned widely as he stepped into Dr. Wu's office. He was thoroughly exhausted. Barry's fifteen more minutes with his raptors turned into nearly two hours. He hurt all over. Playing tag and chase and hide and seek. Echo was the best at the latter. He was never able to find her. One of these days, he had to find her hiding spot. He smiled. They were just like little kids. He had to keep reminding himself that they were animals. Wild animals. Like super wild animals. Super, duper… he yawned again. He needed a week's worth of sleep.

"Mr. Grady." Wu appeared in front of him. "What brings you here?"

Owen didn't hesitate to pull off his shirt. "Girls drew blood." He said with a smug smile. "They're getting good. They're learning, they're smart." Wu stepped closer and peered at the tiny lacerations on Owen's chest. He pulled on a pair of gloves and probed him. Owen flinched a bit. "Really good." He was exaggerating a bit. But Wu didn't need to know that. Except Wu didn't really seem interested.

"None of these are deep." He said. He quickly dressed the wound with a large piece of gauze and had Owen put his shirt back on. "Take a break and let it scab over. When it stops bleeding, you can take that off and let it breathe. It should heal fine with minimal or no scarring."

Owen studied him for a moment. He didn't seem the least interested in the raptor's progression. Come to think of it, Owen's last few reports, Wu had seemed checked out. "It was Blue." Owen went on. "She had the others distract me and she…"

"They're doing good." Wu said, interrupting him with a wave of his hand. "I expected them to." He said with a smile. "I knew they would."

Owen frowned. Something in his head suddenly clicked. "You did something to Lala's batch." He said slowly. "You sabotaged them somehow. You knew they'd die." He said a little louder. "You wanted them to die. This isn't about them. This is about me. You wanted me to agree to do anything for them like some sick, twisted form of consent for whatever shit you did to me."

Wu smiled again, looking pleased with himself. "Let me put it to you like this. Either way, we will have a raptor exhibit."