ADAPTATIONS
13 – The Raptor's Out of the Bag
The weekend arrived and was coming to a close without Pet leaving Quarantine. She had no desire to. Billy stopped by at one point to relay his condolences and in seeing she could use some pepping up, decided to stay. He left for a short while to retrieve a few movies from his room, but returned soon after and with a bag of popcorn, at that. Given the movie they saw on their first date, he figured her to a fan of action, adventure and horror based movies.
By the end of the first movie, Billy had managed to get his arm around Pet's shoulders to hold her close. She didn't make it all the way through the second when she fell asleep with her head on his chest. He knew she hadn't been sleeping well the past few nights and decided not to wake her.
Close to twenty minutes later, Derek came into the trailer to refill his water bottle. He gawked at the junior scientist disapprovingly. "Don't you have work to do? I'm pretty sure the Doc isn't paying you to sit around and do nothing."
"I am doing something, I'm cheering her up."
Derek swallowed a hefty swig of water. "Looks like to me you bored her to sleep. Some job cheering her up, there, buddy."
Billy snorted. "When's the last time you saw her actually able to sleep?"
Derek pursed his lips. "Better keep your hands to yourself and try not to cop a feel. Got it?"
"I'm not you," Billy chided back.
Derek scoffed and shook his head. "Fuck you, man," and disappeared into the back bunkroom.
Billy glanced down at the resting woman, half expecting to find her awake. He remembered her telling him once before how she was a light sleeper and tended to be wake easily. He was relieved to see she was still dead to the world. So, he lounged there and resumed watching the movie.
But for Pet, her unconscious mind was elsewhere. She was back on Isla Sorna and running through the dense jungle growth. Thunderous footsteps shook the ground beneath her as hot breathes reeking of rotted flesh wafted across the back of her neck. A T-Rex was closing in on her and she knew if she faltered even a little in her strides, it'd be the end of her. She had accidently ventured too close to the Rex's hunting grounds while doing her own hunting. Now it was just a matter of out running the massive predator, rather it be in speed or stamina.
It growled behind her, drowning out the sound of her fervent pants for a brief moment. She hadn't been on Isla Sorna for very long, maybe two or three months at most. Pet was fearful this was her end when she felt it's forward most teeth graze across her upper back. Her shirt's collar caught on one of its teeth, yanking her back and off to the side as the Rex swung its head. She landed harshly to the ground and tumbled before scrambling back to her feet and not a moment too soon. Powerful jaws were closing in on her and she knew it was now down to fighting her way out if she wanted to live. She shrilled out and lunged onto the Rex's head, burying her sickle talons into its snout and raking her hands' claws along the top and side of its head. It roared out in pain and anger just as she let out an ear-piercing battle shrill.
Billy was suddenly startled by the abrupt and terrific sound the sleeping woman made and almost fell off the couch.
Derek heard the sound, too, and charged into the living room. "What the…What did you do to her?"
"Nothing!" Billy was halfway off the couch, now, and trying to wake the woman up.
Derek shook her awake, unprepared for the clawed hand that came swinging out at him defensively until it raked across his chest. Though her raptor like eyes were wide open, she was still in a half sleep, half wake state. He took hold of her wrists and dared not release them, given the obvious lethality of her claws, dulled or not
His chest burned and was even bleeding a little where she struck him. "Pet! Pet! C'mon, snap out of it!"
It took her a moment to realize her current predicament and that she had been having one hell of a flashback dream. Her frantic raptor eyes looked from Billy's hazel ones and then up at Derek's worry stricken brown ones.
Derek gradually released his grip on her and questioned, "You with me?" Pet's breathing was still bordering hyperventilation. "It's okay. You're okay. It was just a dream." He backed away from her and sat down on the edge of the couch.
Meanwhile, Billy couldn't look away from her inhuman eyes, or get over the even more inhuman sound she made just minutes prior. "What is wrong with your eyes?" he questioned, sitting more upright to both get a better look at her and put some distance between them.
Pet squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away. "I-"
Outside light flooded the trailer the moment Muldoon opened Quarantine's front door. "What in the bloody hell is going on? I was outside helping Dr. Grant move some equipment when I heard Pet panic."
Pet opened her eyes to meet Muldoon's for only a moment before bringing them downward to avoid looking at Billy. She could only imagine the thoughts going through his head in that particular moment. "I had a bad dream, is all."
Nephew answered uncle. "PTSD is real. Looks like the raptor's out of the bag. I can't exactly say the cat's out of the bag since well, Pet isn't part cat."
Pet drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "It felt so real, like I was feeling it happen all over again. I was back on Isla Sorna. The Rex...he was chasing me." She peeled one of her hands away from her knees to gently touch a series of scars reaching to the base of her neck.
Hearing this surprised Billy. "Wait, you were on Isla Sorna?"
Muldoon scowled at the protégé recoiled at the opposite end of the couch. "You, come with me. We need to have a talk with your boss."
To say he wasn't nervous was a lie. Billy was absolutely terrified with whatever he had inadvertently gotten himself into. He didn't have a chance to question before the intimidating older man was exiting the trailer and motioning him to follow.
Muldoon brought the two of them to where he last remembered the dig site's senior scientist being beside a large tan tent housing the prepared fossils for pick up. Grant saw the two approaching him and knew anytime Muldoon was coming to him with that look on his face, it was for something serious.
Grant excused himself from the two volunteer workers he was assisting in arranging the prepared fossils to see what was going on. He just hoped his protégé wasn't in serious trouble for something he said or did to Veronica. "I take it you need to speak with me?"
Muldoon looked from junior scientist to senior. "Yes, if possible, and in private."
Grant nodded in understanding and led the two men to his trailer.
He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Didn't even know what to say. All Billy could do was sit there at the dining table, head between his propped up hands and stare. Though the story of everything had been told in thorough detail, he was still having a difficult time accepting it. A half human, half raptor hybrid. What the hell? This sounded more like something belonging to a huge mistake of a movie franchise follow up to even the works of a seriously whacked out story from some psycho distorted writer. But nope. This was very real and concerning someone he had a big crush on.
Grant and Muldoon exchanged similar concerned expressions. "Billy?"
The addressed man slowly exhaled a breath he had been holding and slid his hands over his face. "Uh..." was all he could answer with while shaking his head uncertainly.
Grant leaned back where he sat across from his protégé and cocked a smile. "Trust me, I felt the same way when I found out, though the situation was a lot different."
"Who else knows?" the younger man questioned in a strained voice. He looked up at his mentor over the tips of his fingers with fear laden eyes. Grant understood more than Billy could ever imagine.
Muldoon, who was leaning against the bar, answered. "Not that many, actually. I'd say about a handful or two. Some people at InGen suspect she's still alive and have been trying to kill for quite some time. All because of the threat she poses to the company. That is, if the wrong people find out about her and word gets out. Those remaining that know of her existence are trying their damnedest to make sure InGen never finds her."
Grant's cocked smile turned concrete in warning. "It is very important you tell no one about her. I don't care if it's your mother or one of your friends at the dig site. It is absolutely imperative you keep your mouth shut." Billy winced in fighting back the urge to be sick from shock. "What Veronica needs right now are people she can trust. Despite what she is and looks like on the outside, she's still very much human on the inside."
Billy rubbed his hands over his face, again. "I remember all those stories you and Dr. Sattler told me about the raptors at Jurassic Park when they got loose. How can you be so certain she won't do that, here? Or anywhere, for that matter?"
Muldoon continued. "I won't lie, she's not all pretty ponies and rainbows like she appears to be. She has the ability to kill and has killed in the past." The sickening weight in Billy's stomach was making him feel sicker by the minute, the more he heard. "That's only if you piss her off and threaten her life or the lives of anyone she considers friend and family. To her, they're one in the same since she's part pack-based animal. God help anyone who crosses our path the wrong way."
"Our?" Billy observed the scarred man through the corner of his eye.
"There's a reason I had Derek go with you two on your little date. It's not just because I don't trust you," Muldoon warned, "but to keep an eye out for anyone out to get her. Out in the wild, Veronica is very well capable of handling herself, hence how she managed to survive on dinosaur inhabited islands for the years she did. The city, however, is something completely different. That's where my nephew's strengths come in. That little shit has more street smarts than anyone I've ever met and can read people almost on point. It's why, anytime she leaves this excavation I make sure he's with her."
Billy huffed a laugh. "Here I thought he just didn't like me."
Muldoon continued. "He's uncertain of you. We both are." The words stung the young man a little and he winced. "But I know Veronica does. She's usually pretty good about sensing who's trouble and who's not. If she didn't think you could be trusted then she wouldn't let you as close to her as she has."
Billy shifted uncomfortably where he sat. With what he knew, now, he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue pursuing a relationship with the hybrid. A part of him felt extremely weirded out having a crush on a genetically created human-dinosaur hybrid. His face wrinkled up a little with his last thought. He couldn't deny she was decently hot, though.
