Author's Note: Hello all! Thank you so much for the kind comments and reviews. I love seeing people theorize the fun ideas I might take with this. This story passed 150 kudos this week. Really did not expect that many people taking an interest.

I see that a lot of readers are excited about Owen and other JW characters potentially getting dinosaur forms, but I don't want to lead you guys on too much. I probably won't turn Owen and/or the Camp Cretaceous kids into dinos. It's a fun idea but isn't quite the vibe I'm trying for in this story. I might write another version of certain scenes where that happens just because it's a fun idea but it would probably be an AU of this story and just for fun. Obviously, this is just for fun too, but I'm treating this story a little seriously in a slightly edgy, "I'm overthinking the philosophies and experience of an immortal being" sort of way. You're still welcome to speculate but I don't want you guys to be disappointed if you're expecting Raptor!Owen later on and I decide not to do it. It's very unlikely.

Remember to Join the Discord. I haven't watched Season 3 and on of Camp Cretaceous so I'm planning a watch party sometime soon in the name of plot research. /GqC3S8aVSE

Chapter 10

A System of Order

Fiona was wringing her hair out. "Mom. I still can't believe you actually spent twenty dollars on ponchos." She was more unbelieving that her dad hadn't complained about it first.

Mrs. Flagstaff patted her daughter's sopping wet shoulder playfully. "I'm not the one still suffering the splash zone, sweetie. Honey, how is your camera?"

Fiona and Terri's dad beamed as he proudly showed them his video of the mosasaurus' tail appearing over the water before the splash blinded them. "This waterproof case is the best investment I've ever made."

"I smell like fish," Terri complained. But she was smiling, so she still definitely enjoyed the show.

"You do," Fiona said dryly.

Terri glared at her.

"That thing was massive!" Mr. Flagstaff said, happily replaying the video over and over.

Fiona couldn't help laughing at her family's enthusiasm. She was glad they were enjoying themselves, at least. The Mosasaurus was pretty cool, although she had never really been a fan of captive animals doing shows. It was one of the things that really bugged her about about the whole trip. But what was the alternative? It wasn't like these animals could be out in the wild. She and the guys dealt with the ecological disasters that similar situations caused on a near-daily basis. She huffed a bit. At least the Mosasaurus's lagoon seemed a decent size.

At least that's what she thought until she properly saw how big the fancy fish tank was as the show dropped the audience stands under the water level to the aquarium. It was big, but there was no way a creature like that wouldn't prefer the open ocean.

Fiona shuddered at the idea of the Mosasaurus getting out. That and the fact they fed her a great white shark. Sharks were vulnerable enough without having to worry about being killed by theme parks looking for a wow factor. What if she ever escaped? If they fed her great whites, wouldn't she think they were her natural food? What about the whale population?

Fiona was going to get frustrated if she thought about it any longer. It wasn't like there was an easy and ethical solution.

Ms. Moynihan would probably say something about some problems having no right answers.

Max probably had a quote he could pull out of his ass that would make sense…

"Well, I'm wiped," her mom's voice cut through the thoughts. "How do you girls feel about a late lunch?"

"Early dinner?" her dad added as they shuffled through the exiting crowd. He studied a slightly soggy map while listening to the conversation.

Terri groaned a little, knowing their parents would want to go back to the hotel afterward. There goes any fun for the rest of the day…

"I'm not really hungry yet," Fiona said. That was kinda a lie, but she was planning on skipping lunch and getting dinner with the guys and Ms. Moynihan. And Mr. Aaron. She had a bunch of questions for the man.

Well, they all did. The squad was curious just how much he knew.

Buzz probably had actual questions about the animals' diets. He had spied a glance at Ms. Moynihan's friend's security badge and asked Rodger to do a little research while on the tram shuttle from the ferry docks.

The guy wasn't just a dietitian in charge of the carnivores. He was Dr. Okesty, a well-published herpetologist who used to be a researcher before apparently switching to paleo-veterinary work when Jurassic World hired him.

"Ooh, then your Mom and I get some time to ourselves," Mr. Flagstaff said, wiggling his eyebrows and successfully earning a gagging noise from Terri.

Fiona just made a face.

"You girls go have fun and meet up with us later," Mom said, taking her husband's arm with an impish grin at her irritated and embarrassed daughters.

Terri and Fiona shared a glance.

"I was supposed to meet up with the guys," Fiona said, careful not to sound like she was complaining.

"Oh, I'm sure your team won't mind a tag-along," Dad said. "Especially since you're not supposed to be on any…" Mr. Flagstaff lowered his voice and whispered loudly. "Missions."

"Dad."

"I don't need a babysitter," Terri insisted.

"Terri, you're staying with either us or your sister. No buts about it," Mrs. Flagstaff scolded. "Don't you dare think of running off on your own."

"Fiona, don't let her out of your sight, you hear?"

Fiona sighed, knowing she lost the argument ages ago. "… Right, Ter. Come on."

"Have fun!"

Ten minutes later Fiona was considering where she might hide a body on a vivo-paleo theme park island. "Dispose" of the body was probably more accurate. If she found the right carnivore…

Did she really need a little sister? Surely her parents wouldn't mind if she was an only child again.

"I can't believe them…" Terri was complaining as if her sister would actually take her side. "I can babysit as a job but I need a babysitter here?! What am I gonna do? Swim off the island?"

Fiona poked her sister and snorted. "I will give you a hundred bucks to try," Fiona said dryly. "Would you give it a rest?" Fiona shook her head, unsure if she was annoyed or amused. "And keep up! We're meeting the guys at the tram station to the Gyrospheres."

"Can I drive?" Terri asked brightly.

"Eh…" Fiona grimaced. She knew it was a bad idea to introduce her sister to the joys of off-roading.

She should have picked another hobby for them to bond over.

Like painting. Their mom wouldn't complain about that. She still insisted Terri wear a helmet inside Fiona's SUV. Painting would have been fine.

Who was Fiona kidding? She knew she wouldn't last two minutes with a paintbrush. Terri knew it. Her mom and dad knew it.

Terri wasn't done. "I won't tell Mom and Dad about that time you skipped Aunt Martha's visit and went dino hunting inst—."

Fiona shushed her, glancing around for who might overhear. "What the heck is wrong with you? Grow up!"

"Then stop treating me like a little kid."

"Then stop acting like one."

"Where's the popcorn?" Caruso laughed.

Fiona turned around to see Caruso and Buzz approaching. She hadn't noticed them in the crowd.

"Hey kid," Buzz greeted Terri, tugging her sun hat down over her eyes.

"Hey Buzzard Breath," Terri sighed, righting her hat sharply. The nickname didn't have a mean-spirited tone behind it.

Buzz shrugged it off. Most of them knew Terri didn't mean it. The younger teenager was at that stage where she felt everything was a competition with her older sister. And apparently, that meant being sarcastic and acting tough when it wasn't always necessary.

"You get your pictures?" Fiona asked Buzz.

The other teen's face split into a grin. "Hell yeah. Some of the species they have here are wicked fast. And look at these colors!" He showed Fiona some of the shots he took. "I figured you might like some of the color schemes for your next car project. These guys have a big red crest and some green streaks. I know you think that scheme looks like Christmas, but I think you could pull it off with the right pattern. I'm definitely going back tomorrow."

While Fiona and Buzz chatted over the pterosaur markings, Caruso tried to call Max and Rodger while Terri waited impatiently, plopping down on the bench while she eyed the line leading to the tram. It was fairly early. The line was non-existent and it would be awhile before the next tram. She already felt like they had been walking around all day.

"Straight to voice mail," Caruso shrugged.

Fiona huffed. "Cell service has been spotty all day."

Terri frowned and looked up. "Watches?" she asked quietly.

Fiona shook her head. "Only in emergencies," she explained. "We don't want people to know we have them."

"Oh, right…" That made sense. She toyed with her completely normal watch.

Terri wasn't quite ready to be a full team member, but she was well on her way and Ms. Moynihan had been impressed by how much Terri had grown over the last year. She said so herself. Part of it was the girl learning how to play to her own strengths.

Terri glanced at her sister, who was busy talking with Caruso. The jealousy hadn't exactly ebbed completely. Some days (most of them) she wished she could morph like Fiona.

But one day at the lighthouse, Ms. Moynihan had sat Terri down while the others were out. The old woman was concerned Terri might be having ideas about purposely exposing herself to ooze should the opportunity arise. She proceeded to tell Terri several unexpected reasons why such a wish was dangerous.

Ms. Moynihan said Terri could tell Fiona what they spoke about if it hurt the sister to keep it a secret. But the schoolteacher said if Terri was willing to keep their conversation to herself temporarily, she'd rather bring her concerns to the older teens when she had more information.

Ms. Moynihan was very kind to the young teen, well aware that some might think it was unfair to drop heavy stuff on a fourteen-year-old.

Terri knew that too, but she was glad Ms. Moynihan respected her enough to share her concerns—concerns that she didn't want to think about while on vacation. Terri shook her head. She didn't want to think about the stuff Ms. Moynihan told her about. It just… made her sad.

Ms. Moynihan was very old…

While Terri was daydreaming, Buzz eyed the sky. It was looking a bit cloudy, despite the bright sun. Ever since they got their powers, he got into the habit of being aware of the weather after Ms. Moynihan drilled the importance into him of just what happens to a bird if it gets struck by lightning. Not his favorite lesson.

It had rained the previous day. He could still smell it in the air. But it probably wasn't going to rain that day. "Should we get in line anyway?" he asked.

Terri perked up. "Fiona said I could drive."

"I didn't say anything," her sister deadpanned. "They might not let you drive. We'll see what the age limit is when we get there."

"I'm fourteen."

Fiona rolled her eyes while the guys looked amused.

"Fourteen going on...four?" Buzz joked.

Terri scowled at him, crossing her arms. "You're not much older than me."

Fiona looked at Caruso as he finished up another call attempt. "Anything?"

"They aren't picking up."

"Well..." Buzz said eyeing the growing line, "They know we were planning on meeting up at the gyrospheres, right?"

Fiona sighed. "We might just have to wait."

"Oh come on. Do we have to wait for them?" Terri asked, looking at the line sadly as it steadily grew. She checked her watch. The tram was coming.

Fiona crossed her arms. "Yes."

"Not really," Caruso said with a shrug. "You guys can probably go ahead. We'll wait for them and meet you there."

"My feet hurt anyway," Buzz said, lounging on the bench and stretching out just to annoy Fiona's kid sister. "I could use a break." He cracked open one eye and grinned at Fiona. "Come on, dude." His smirk widened. "You're dying to get out there." He pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his camera bag and put them on before leaning back, looking like he was taking a nap.

"I can wait." Fiona rolled her eyes.

"Fi, please," Terri said, getting up as Buzz obnoxiously took up the bench. "If you go with me now—and let me drive—then you can go again with the squad and drive then. We can go twice!" She was glancing at the line, steadily getting more anxious as more people joined. "Use a ride with me to scope out the best paths."

"Good point," Fiona admitted.

Caruso laughed at Fiona's moral stress.

Terri whooped and dragged her to the line while Fiona yelled at the guys to promise to let her know when the others showed up.

"See ya!" Caruso said with a two-finger salute before sitting next to Buzz. "Ugh. Buzz, please tell me you're wearing deodorant."

Buzz snorted. "In this humidity? Dude. I probably sweated it off ages ago."

"Even the one I gave you!?"

Buzz snorted and looked at his friend over the edge of his sunglasses. "Even that."

Caruso leaned back. "Hm. Guess I should look into adjusting the formula for a tropical climate. I did some testing when we were in Hawaii."

"It's reef safe, right?"

"The sunscreen is," Caruso said. "I'm not sure about the deodorant. You don't wear it while swimming. But I should look into it. Buzz, reapply it or something."

"Can't. Napping."

The other teen rolled his eyes and grimaced as he nudged Buzz away from him so he had some room on the bench.

Buzz snickered.

"What's so funny?" Caruso asked, suspiciously.

"Fiona's going to be a pain the rest of the day. She probably already wants to murder Terri."

"Did you see her face when Ms. Moynihan said she'd pay for Fiona's family to come?"

"I think she's happy they came, just doesn't want to admit it. She loves her folks." Buzz laughed. "Hey, Ms. M offered the trip to my mom too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I think Mom was happy to refuse. Zoos scare her. Dinosaurs scare her. She wanted to visit my aunt anyway, and it's probably less stressful if I'm not there."

"Do I want to know why?"

Buzz huffed. "Okay, so you know how your dad was about football?"

"Uh…wanting me to have fun?"

"No, I mean how you thought he was. Before you told your mom and dad the truth. You thought he would be disappointed in you. Well, my aunt makes it very clear she thinks my mom should be disappointed in me."

"Hm. What's your mom say?"

"Oh, Mom is chill," Buzz laughed. "She wishes I'd do the dishes more and didn't play video games, but she knows I'm a free spirit. She loves her sister too though and I think she doesn't know how to tell my aunt off when it comes to me. I'm not gonna pressure her to defend me or anything. I get it stresses her out." He stretched a bit. "Basically, she's probably grateful she gets a break from Aunt Chrissy taking potshots at my hair. We'll laugh about it when we both get home." He looked at Caruso. "You know, I'm surprised your parents didn't come."

"Oh they wanted to," Caruso said. "But they already had a cruise planned and paid for. I was going to go with them but couldn't pass this up. We gave my ticket to a cousin. We were talking with Ms. M about them maybe joining us next week since we're going to be here two weeks anyway."

"Hey, that'd be cool. Show them the stegos," Buzz said, nudging the other teen. He leaned forward and dug his camera out of his bag to look over his pictures again while Caruso did some casual eavesdropping.

Caruso vaguely overheard a few workers down by the tram station exit talk about how there were a few spheres out of commission. Something about how the summer camp kids were taking part in the cattle drive yesterday and screwed a few up, but it wasn't their problem.

There is a summer camp!? Caruso made a mental note to ask Aaron about it the next time they saw him. They were probably too old to sign up for something like that, but it would probably be really fun. And expensive. Maybe Terri and Rodger's little brother might be the right age.

"I wonder what's holding Max and Rodger up," Buzz said, checking his watch.

"This is a bad idea," Max deadpanned.

"No. This is an experiment," Rodger insisted. "Do you really want to meet up with the others and freak them out unnecessarily when what happened could have been the T-rex just…having a bad day."

"Rodge. We both had a weird flight or fight response!"

"That doesn't mean anything. We have some…weird instincts. And those other people were weird if they weren't scared by being roared at like that. Just relax."

Max grabbed Rodger's sleeve and hissed as they stopped a few yards behind the crowd. "Dude. What if I get trampled?"

Rodger furrowed his brow and the two of them looked through the crowd at the baby dinosaurs in the petting zoo.

A baby triceratops sneezed and the little kid riding it giggled as his mom snapped a picture.

Rodger looked back at Max and raised an eyebrow.

Max looked back.

"…"

"…Shut up." Max huffed.

"I didn't say anything," Rodger said with a smirk.

Max frowned and crossed his arms, trying to think logically. Rodger was smart, but he could get a little caught up in his ideas. They needed to evaluate the situation and the risk. "Okay, what if the babies freak out and one of the kids gets hurt?"

"Don't just go right up to them!" Rodger said. "We're just going to walk a little closer. Just close enough for them to smell you and if they start acting weird, I'll give you the signal and you run away. We'll wait for the right moment. I think that group of kids' time is almost up. We'll do it while they're switching out."

"This is still a dumb idea."

"We need to test this!"

"Then you do it!" Max lowered his voice. "I'm a T-rex!"

"Exactly!"

Max pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't you think it's a little mean to scare a bunch of baby dinosaurs and make them think there's a predator around?"

Rodger closed his mouth. "Oh."

"Oh."

"Okay fine, you have a point. I'll do it. But now you have to be lookout. Don't get me trampled."

"Deal."

The two boys split up, Rodger getting in line to collect some feed pellets for the hand feeding while Max tried to find somewhere where there was a break in the crowd so he could get a good view of his friend and any of the little dinos around him.

"Aren't you a little old for this?" one mom commented as Rodger stood behind her and her son.

Rodger resisted the urge to glare at the rude woman. The polite response would have been to say that it was his first time there and he had wanted to come since he was a little kid. It wasn't like they let people pet the full-grown adults.

"No ma'am. Just a little too big to ride them." He stared at her pointedly.

The woman glared at him and ushered her son away.

Rodger shook his head and paid for his little cup of pellets. He wandered around, trying to pick a spot where Max could see him while also looking for a good test subject.

Okay, that sounded a little cold…. Uh. He looked around for a…new friend to meet.

That still sounded weird, even in his head.

He was so focused on trying to find a spot that he didn't notice someone trying to get his attention.

"Um, sir?" the shaky voice finally said a bit louder.

Rodger froze and looked at the ranger as she nervously waved in his face.

She and her partner who was holding a baby Gallimimus a little further behind her were staring at him in utter confusion.

"Uh…yeah?" he asked. Shit. Did he do something? Why were they staring? He really hoped that the rude woman didn't complain or something. He was not in the mood to deal with that shit. Was the Gallimimus reacting to him?

"Sir…" The girl stammered. "The pellets..." She cleared her throat. "The pellets are for the animals," the girl said slowly, looking like she was fighting either a laugh or a cry. But she looked more embarrassed and concerned than amused. "Um. If you like, I can direct you toward some…snack stands…" she trailed off looking panicked.

Rodger blinked at her. "What?" he said around his mouthful.

The ranger looked back at her partner for help, but he just shook his head unhelpfully, pursing his lips as he struggled to breath. She looked back at Rodger, looking even more nervous. "The…the pellets sir. I-I'm sorry, but they aren't for human consumption…."

It took Rodger another second before he looked down.

His cup of dinosaur food was half empty. He stopped munching at that point, now aware of the dry, gritty, and kind of piney taste in his mouth.

He looked back up at the girl, mortified.

"I-I have some food vouchers you can use if you want…" she sounded so unsure. "Technically they're just for staff but uh…" she looked away, red in the face.

"Um…" Rodger panicked and tried to ignore the warmth in his own cheeks. He frantically looked around for Max.

Max was across the milling crowd, leaning on a lamppost laughing so hard he looked like he was having some trouble breathing. Jerk didn't even bother trying to warn him?!

Oh shit. Oh shit. What the hell was he supposed to do?

"Sir…?" the girl asked again.

He didn't know what to do. He finished swallowing. "It's a nervous habit…" He reached into the cup for another small handful.

WHAT!?

And he walked off, still chewing as he internally screamed.

WHY DID HE DO THAT? THAT WAS THE WORST RESPONSE!

He didn't dare look back at their dumbstruck and confused expressions. He just walked away as fast as he could before the guy passed out and the girl started crying.

Max didn't say anything as Rodger met him at the lamppost and then kept walking.

"Shut up," Rodger said as Max continued to wheeze out his lungs, their experiment long forgotten.

Max shook his head. "You… y-you gonna finish that?" He gestured at the cup that Rodger was still holding as they speed-walked away from the petting zoo.

Rodger glared at him.

"Does it at least taste good?" Max asked as he took a few pellets. He immediately spat them out and tried to draw up more saliva to spit out the taste. "UGH!"

"Shut up."

"..."

Max waited at least five minutes of silent walking. "We need to see if Caruso likes them."

Author's Note: Remember to Join the Discord. I haven't watched Season 3 and on of Camp Cretaceous so I'm planning a watch party sometime soon in the name of plot research. /GqC3S8aVSE

I'm someone who might be a little too reliant on engagement and interaction so if you want to encourage me to keep up with a regular posting schedule, just leave a comment or two about something you noticed in the chapter. I should be less reliant on other people's attention but it sure is motivating to see people interested in something I worked on.