Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Just leave me alone! You think you can keep me contained just like those dinosaurs!” Maisie yells, slamming the front door to the wood cabin. She slumps down on the front porch to lazily tie up her red converse, bolts towards her BMX bike and rides off into the forest. Claire and Owen know she won’t go too far, she is a homebody after all, and despite sometimes being completely clueless about the danger she could be in, deep down, she does know there are people who could be after her.

Owen just sighs, slapping his face with the palm of his hand dramatically. Claire reaches for her own boots but Owen grabs her forearm, stopping her.

“Just leave her, she’ll be back.”

Claire’s face scrunches up in worry, and she blows a piece of rogue red hair out of her face.

“What did I even say?” She whispers exhaustingly under her breath, looking up at Owen. “It’s like I can’t even say anything without causing her to blow up in my face! She makes me the bad guy when all I do is worry about her!”

Owen sits down by the front window at their kitchen table, pulling his wife onto his lap.

“You should know by now not to take it personally, Claire. She’s strong-willed and has been living with us for almost two years. She’s finally starting to get comfortable, starting to grow up. You’ve seen her. Just yesterday she came up to me with a crate full of toys and told me to donate it. She doesn’t want to be a kid anymore.”

Claire sighed again.

“She’s 12, Owen! That’s still a kid. She doesn’t understand the dangers out there! People who want to kidnap her! You’ve seen it on the news. People are trying to hunt her down like a pack of wolves.” Her voice cracked like she was about to cry. Owen brought a hand up to her back to comfort her, while he kept his eyes fixed on the setting sun outside.

He nodded.

“If she’s not back in a half an hour, I’ll go look on horseback. I haven’t seen any dangerous dinosaurs out there, but you never know.”

——

Maisie couldn’t go back anytime soon. She was much too mad, and besides, she did have to prove a point somehow. Claire and Owen were pretty much the only people she had talked to in the past year and a half. She was homeschooled and had no friends except for literally a horse. Owen’s horse, to be exact, and maybe some chipmunks Claire would allow her to feed peanuts to. Claire’s family had come to visit once, and she had gotten to meet Zach and Gray, her cousins. However, she hadn’t seen them since Christmas. To make matters worse, she wasn’t allowed to have a phone or even an iPad; she was barely allowed to watch television, especially the news, and she was getting too old for most of her toys. Now all that was left was reading books and drawing. 

Maisie sat down at the base of a tree, picking at the mossy patch right by her left thigh. She scoured her surroundings for any signs of life, but couldn’t hear nor see anything. She wasn’t lost; thanks to Owen and their many hunting treks through the woods, she could navigate it quite well, but there was something absolutely thrilling about being this deep and far away all by herself.

A smile crept up on the girl's face, and she laughed to herself as she stood up from her spot. She ran a few steps before laughing again, this time taking off into a full-on sprint. It was the most fun she’d had in forever. Lately, with everything that’s been going on, it was so rare for either of her parents to find a good chunk of time to spend with her. Things she wanted to do. Sure, she went hunting with Owen and helped them both with chores, but most of the playing was left for herself. 

Hopping across a small creek, Maisie noticed the sun was starting to set. Despite how mad she was at Claire, she really didn’t want to worry her or Owen. She was just about to head back when she heard a faint screech in the distance. She travelled a few meters west, her ears open until she finally came across the source of the noise.

It was definitely a baby dinosaur, and the screeches were those laced with pain. It had wings, and the left one, as well as its hind foot, were wedged between two rocks, causing a tear. It was littered with cuts and looked like it had fallen off the cliff above during a rock slide or something.

Maisie could tell it wasn’t dangerous, as it wasn’t showing any signs of aggression. She placed her hand on the dino’s crested forehead and it let out another scream.

“Oh you poor thing,” She whispered. “You need help, or you won’t last the night. There are too many predators. Where’s your mama?”

Obviously, the dinosaur wasn’t gonna answer, but it seemed to take comfort in her voice.

“Come on, I’ll take you to mine, she and my dad will know how to fix you up. You’ll be better in no time,” She said as she freed the dinosaur from its rock prison

The dinosaur was a bit heavy, but nothing she couldn’t manage. It was only about the size of her torso. She hoisted it up and got a good grip, making the trek back to the cabin. She left her bike there, opting to run back and get it in the morning. Besides, like Owen always says to her, an animal's life is worth more than any amount of money or object.

As she walked back, she attempted to scan the animal in what little light she had left. She had never seen nor heard of anything like it. Not that she really knew that much about dinosaurs compared to Owen or Claire. It had wings like a pterodactyl, but its head was horned and crested like a lambeosaurine. To make it even more strange, by its small front feet and long, large back feet, it was bipedal. Honestly, it looked like three dinosaur species were mixed together and that was the offspring. It was very much a black sheep compared to all the other dinosaurs Maisie had seen in the past few years.

As the cabin finally came into view, Maisie's arms were growing tired. She had had to put the dino down a few times on her trek back, but a dull ache had finally started to set in her forearms. Owen was just starting to tack up his horse when he spotted Maisie emerge from the clearing.

He walked over, not even acknowledging the dinosaur at first.

"We were pretty worried. Where were you?" He yelled, but Maisie could tell he was more relieved than mad. He had expected her to be back by now.

"I needed a break. From you and Claire." She scowled. Owen rolled his eyes, finally noticing the obvious lump in her arms.

"What the hell is that?" He asked, taking the injured dinosaur from his daughter's arms. 

"It was hurt, had its wings and legs caught inside a rock. I wanted to free it and I thought you or mom could help."

Owen was too caught on the term of endearment that slipped out for him to figure out what to do. 

Maisie smacked him, snapping him out of his trance. "Hello?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about what to do," It was a lie, Owen always knew exactly what to do.

"Okay, go clear the second stall's storage, just put all the saddles and feed in the hallway for now. We can lay down some fresh straw and he can rest in there for now."

Maisie nodded, trotting off to the barn. Owen followed her, although much slower, and by the time he got there, Maisie was already spreading straw.

Owen's horse, Remy, looked across the barn curiously at the baby dinosaur.

Owen placed him down on the bed of clean straw, scanning the strange-looking animal for injuries. Maisie was right. The thin, leathery skin of the wings was torn, probably inhibiting the poor thing from ever flying again before it even got the chance to learn. Although those injuries were not life-threatening. Owen was more worried about the obviously crushed leg.

"Can you go get Claire? Ask her for help, and grab the first aid kit for Remy. It's the best we've got right now."

Maisie tossed him the rather large first aid kit and then ran to the house to get Claire.

Owen splinted the leg while he fixed up the plaster. There was no vet for miles, and he was pretty knowledgeable with dinosaur veterinary skills from working at Jurassic World with the raptors, so this seemed to be an easy fix for him. 

Within the next twenty minutes or so, the baby's leg was all wrapped up and plastered in a tight cast, and its wings and other small cuts were all bandaged up. Maisie sat at a distance with Remy, watching with tears in her eyes. The little screams of the infant dino caused her heart to be broken. It was so helpless and definitely would've died if it wasn't for her.

Finally, the two adults stood up, brushing off their legs and stepping out of the stall.

"Alright," Claire started as Maisie hopped off the hay bale, "That should do it. It's a good thing you found the little guy, he was injured pretty bad." Claire winked at her, and despite her being mad hours before, she couldn't help but crack a smile of pride. Owen stared at the dinosaur silently. He looked like he was trying to figure something out. 

"So," Maisie broke the silence, peering up at her parents. "What kind of dinosaur is it?"

Neither Claire nor Owen answered immediately, their faces both twisted in confusion. Claire tilted her head.

"I... don't know." She said first.

"Me neither. I've never seen anything like it," Owen agreed with his wife.

"You both don't know what it is?" Maisie asked, "But you're like, the most expert-est of all experts on dinosaurs! How can you not know what it is?"

Owen sighed, Leaning against the stall door and locking eyes with Claire.

"I know, that's what worries me."

Chapter Text

The next morning, Maisie had woken up at the crack of dawn so she could sneak out to see the little dinosaur. From the small amount of sleep she had gotten due to the creaky floorboards and squeaking screen door, she could tell that Owen and Claire had woken up many times throughout the night to check on him.

Maisie rose out of bed and quietly got dressed. However, the smell of coffee and bacon degraded her spirits as she realized Owen and Claire were already awake. They were mumbling under their breath, trying not to wake the girl in the echoing cottage.

“Hi,” She said, taking a seat at the kitchen table with Owen. Claire walked over from her place at the window to give Maisie a kiss on the top of her hair, setting down a plate in front of her. She pulled away at the affection, although secretly, she was happy to know Claire wasn’t mad anymore.

“Mornin’ kiddo,” Owen said, barely looking up from his laptop. Maisie went to peer over his shoulder.

“What are you looking at?” She asked, stealing a piece of toast off his plate and smothering it with Nutella.

“We’re trying to contact Zia and Franklin. Maybe they might be able to help us out with this mysterious dinosaur. But it looks to me they’re across the ocean, London time.” He pointed to the small location signal on Zia’s email account.

Claire sat down, placing down the rest of the breakfast.

“She and Franklin are very busy, especially with DPG issues. The number of breeding facilities and black market sales that have been going on lately is absurd. They must have started to spread to Europe.”

Maisie lowered her head. She was sure Claire didn’t mean for that to hurt her, but this was all technically her fault. She was the one whole let all of those dinosaurs out into the real world. No matter how many times Claire and Owen convinced her it was the right thing to do, she felt guilty every time she heard her parents talk about the new attacks, black market sales, abuse, and more. The list goes on.

Maisie cleared her throat, taking her Nutella toast with her as she stood up.

“I’m gonna go check on the dinosaur,” She said, heading for the door. Usually, she would ask. ‘Can I do this,’ or ‘may I do that,’ but she wasn’t asking. She needed to see him, and something she didn’t need right now was her parents telling her no for the millionth time.

Claire stood up too, and Maisie’s eyes shut as she prepared for impact.

“I’ll come with you, make sure he and the horse are fed. I’m not sure what he would eat, but I’m sure the ferns from the forest are adequate enough. That’s what all the other herbivores from around here eat.”

Maisie nodded, surprised. She didn’t really want Claire to come with her, but she was surprised she even offered. Yesterday’s rare moments of freedom were the most fun she had had in ages. But it’s not like she could say no, especially because she was trying really hard to make an effort after their blow-out yesterday.

Claire grabbed a big Rubbermaid bin from their supply room and they walked to the edge of the forest, silently picking the large, green leaves from the fern plants. The family hadn’t seen a herbivore for months, so the ferns were left to grow untouched, large and prehistoric-like.

They picked in silence, and quite honestly, Maisie found it a bit awkward. She felt bad for the way she acted, and she wanted to say she was sorry, but she just didn’t know how to. Thankfully, Claire broke the silence by speaking first. Maisie wanted to audibly sigh in relief.

“Listen, Mais…” She threw another armful of ferns into the bucket, squishing them down with her foot. “I’m sorry I yelled yesterday, I was just scared when I got back from town to see you and your bike gone."

Maisie leaned against a tree, picking off a peeling piece of birch bark.

“You yell a lot. And you’re scared a lot.”

Claire sighed, coming to stand beside her.

“I’m sure you’re aware that there are people out there looking for you. And Owen and I love you. It’s our job as your parents to protect you and make sure no harm comes your way. With everything that has happened these past few years, the news articles I come across, pictures of you, reporters saying they’re looking for you…I couldn’t imagine coming home from a grocery run to find you gone forever, Mais. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Maisie felt like crying. She didn’t know what to say. All her life, she never had parents. A true mom and dad who loved her. Sure she had grandpa, and she loved him more than life itself, but by the time she could understand what family was, he was too old to really take care of her. All that was left was Iris, and she wasn’t a very loving person. Claire and Owen took her in when she had no one. They could have just left, she wasn’t their problem. But they took her in, treated her like one of their own, and all she had to return the favour was a butt load of sass and attitude. Defiance and selfishness.

“I’m sorry,” Maisie whispered, looking up at Claire. “I’m the one that should be sorry. You are my mom and dad and I never listen to you. You know what’s best for me and I never listen. I’m mean and selfish, and you still want me. Why?”

“Oh, sweetie,” Claire wrapped the small girl into her side to comfort the now crying girl. “We love you. That’s what moms and dads are for. And you are right, we do know what’s best for you. So all we ask for is a bit of compliance when we tell you something is dangerous or unsafe. We really don’t want to see you hurt.”

Maisie sniffed, leaning into Claire’s touch. “Okay. I love you too.”

Claire kissed her forehead, pulling away. “I think this should be enough food for the little guy. What do you say we feed him his breakfast?”

Maisie nodded as Claire tucked the basket under her one arm. She reached for Maisie’s hand with the other, and Maisie took it.

“Are we good?” Claire asked.

“Yeah, mum. We’re good.” She squeezed Claire’s hand, and she could’ve sworn she saw tears in the older woman’s eyes.

When they got to the barn, the little dinosaur was curled up in the back corner.

Maisie undid the latch, slowly approaching him to say hello. She crouched down, giving his forehead a pat.

“He looks like a dragon,” Maisie laughed as the dinosaur’s head nudged her thigh.

“He does,” Claire agreed, placing the fern leaves in front of him. He gladly munched away.

“There are many species of dinosaurs that are dragon-like, with the wings and the bi-pedal stance. But none like this. I’ve never seen the deep purple colour, and the front arms attached to the wings like this. And the crested head.” It seemed like a wonder to Claire, and Maisie could hear that in her tone.

Maisie nodded. “I think we should name him Spyro, like the little purple dragon,” She laughed, remembering the times she would spend at the manor on rainy days playing the video games that featured the little friendly dragon.

Just then, Owen entered, sliding the barn door shut behind him.

“Oh no, we are not naming him!” He joked.

“What? Why not?” Maisie asked, standing up.

“Because names mean commitment. It means you get attached. He’s not a pet, Mais.”

Claire crossed her arms. “You named Blue and her sisters.”

“That’s different!”

“How?”

“I raised them from babies.”

Maisie cleared her throat. “Spyro’s a baby too.”

Owen sighed, going quiet. He couldn't win this fight. Especially when Claire was backing Maisie up.

 “Fine, I think Spyro fits him well. Don't come crying when he gets to be ten feet tall and able to live on his own though.”

Maisie rolled her eyes, a hint of a smile gleaming on her face. She was glad her parents agreed to take Spyro in. It gave her a project, something to do in the secluded forest.

“Where did he come from, if you don’t recognize him?” The girl asked both her parents, but neither of them knew how to answer. There were so many possibilities. Deformities. Mutations. Asexual breeding. The list goes on. But Maisie didn’t know any of that.

“What if… someone created him? Like how Jurassic World used to genetically create dinosaurs like the Indominous Rex. What if someone created Spyro?” She asked.

Owen entered the stall, attempting to get a better look at Spyro, who was still contently eating his breakfast.

“You might be on to something, Maisie. But if some secret corporation was creating dinosaurs, what would their reason be? And why a friendly herbivore? Especially if they have the abilities to create something monstrous and worth millions…”

Owen trailed off. This was going to require a lot more thinking than either he or Claire had thought.

Chapter Text

“Maisie, I want you to show me exactly where you found Spyro. Maybe we can find out where he came from.” Owen said, grabbing his vest off the back of the chair. They were back inside the cabin, just finishing up lunch.

Maisie nodded, chugging the last of her apple juice.

“I have to get my bike, anyway. It’s not too far away, maybe half an hour north by foot.”

Owen stood up, walking over to his tranquillizer gun from where it hung by the front door.

“Why do you need that?” Maisie asked, eying the older man carefully. It's not like they'd be in any danger. Maisie hadn't seen a carnivore in real life since she had first met Owen and Claire, which was almost two years ago.

He sighed, slinging the gun over his shoulder and adding darts to his vest pocket.

“You never know, it’s better to be safe than sorry now.”

Maisie nodded. That was her doing, after all. Owen and Claire tried to keep her as far away from the media, but she still saw bits and pieces from looking over her parent’s shoulder on the computer, and late at night eavesdropping on the TV when she should be in bed. Dinosaur attacks were so common these days, that it felt like every other day someone was hurt or killed by them. But never near here, it always seemed to be in more urban areas, or the outskirts of them anyway.

They made their way by foot, Maisie showing Owen exactly the paths she took into the forest yesterday. Owen paid attention to the environment around them, keeping his eyes peeled for any clues as to the direction Spyro came from.

“Owen! This is where I found him,” Maisie pointed to the large boulders under the cliff, just up ahead.

Owen knelt down, inspecting a few droplets of dried blood from where Spyro lay injured yesterday.

“I’m just gonna grab my bike,” Maisie pointed to her BMX, which lay a few meters away against a tree.

She turned away, but Owen’s head snapped up, grabbing her forearm.

“Maisie, don’t move.” He growled low, moving his eyes slightly to the right.

There stood a large carnivorous dinosaur, trying to stay hidden behind a rock. If Owen hadn’t spotted a yellow, glinting eye peaking from a small hole, Maisie would have come face to face with it.

The monstrous beast now knew it was spotted, jumping out and letting out a loud roar.

From what Owen could tell, it was yet another dinosaur he had never seen before. It stood at least ten feet tall, its jaws open and eyes narrowed. The thing was smart, the way it hid from the pair as they trekked through the thick brush, waiting to strike at the perfect moment. It looked like a small, condensed version of a T. rex, not as slim and narrow as a raptor, and more intimidating. It let an ear-piercing screech before taking a few steps forward, its hungry eyes threatening Maisie and Owen.

Maisie whimpered, not daring to look towards Owen.

“Owen…” What do we do?” She cried.

“Don’t move, keep your eyes locked on her at all times. I'm going to slowly load the tranquillizer gun…”

She gulped as the dino seemed to understand, locking eyes with Maisie. She stepped back as she stepped forward. Maisie felt like her heart was beating a million times a minute.

The beast slowly looked toward Owen, seeming to know exactly what he was doing. Owen worked without even looking at the gun once, keeping his contact with the dinosaur.

In one swift move, he pulled the gun and shot, directly in the neck. The dino let out another ear-piercing wail, lurching forward and slashing Owen in one fellow swoop before it ran away. 

“It didn’t work! Maisie cried, but the dino dropped about 25 metres away, falling unconscious.

"It will," Owen grunted in pain. He had his eye's shut tight, now oblivious to the dinosaur. "Just wait for her to fall."

Maisie now noticed her dad was injured.

“Owen! Dad!” She ran to him as soon as the dinosaur fell, inspecting his wound. It wasn't too deep, as he pulled away at the last second, but they definitely needed to get back to the cabin as soon as possible.

“Maisie,” He grunted, her name falling off his lips in pain, “You have to shoot it again, the first tranquillizer won’t last long enough,”

Maisie nodded, nervously picking the gun off the ground. She pointed it right at the dino’s neck, her hands shaking.

“You can do it, kiddo.”

She shot, and the dart landed right beside the one Owen had shot only minutes before.

Maisie dropped the gun, grabbing her dad’s hand. They started to run, Owen looking down at his chest periodically to see if the blood was seeping through. It seemed to be just a surface scratch; nothing a little patching up wouldn’t fix, but it could’ve been a hell of a lot worse if he didn’t move out of the way in time. That dinosaur had immensely strong claws.

They made it work; half running, half walking back to the cabin. Owen had been through a lot worse, and he seemed to keep it together more than Maisie, who was trying hard not to break down at the state of her father. He grunted in pain what felt like every other step, clutching his chest with one hand, and using his other to wrap around Maisie’s shoulders for support.

As soon as they made it to the clearing in the woods, Maisie panicked when she realized the truck wasn’t there.

“Claire’s not here!” She said to Owen, panicked. “What if she had to get away…”

Owen shook his head, “She probably just went into town,” He grunted. But as soon as he said that, he could hear a truck pull up their makeshift driveway.

“There she is now!” Maisie said, pulling her dad off the ground where he sat to rest. He made it up halfway, before toppling over, yelling in pain.

“Dad? Dad!” Maisie cried, trying to help him off the ground. It felt like he fell into fire, the once ‘minor’ scratch turning into a searing pain every time he moved his body.

Maisie left her dad in the middle of the front lawn, running to her mother who was on the other side of the property.

Claire couldn’t understand Maisie’s incoherent words; she was sobbing; scared. 

“Mom!” She cried, sprinting as fast as she could towards Claire, “Mama! Dad’s hurt really bad!” She tried to get the words out, but all Claire could hear were sobs with words mixed in.

Claire knelt down, grabbing Maisie’s arms with fierceness.

“Calm down, Maisie. Tell me what’s happened.”

She took a deep breath, tears still running down her cheeks.

“Dad. We came across a dinosaur. Another one. But it was a carnivore, like a small T. rex. We tranquillized it but it scratched him. We didn’t think it was bad, he pulled away enough that it wasn’t deep but he’s in so much pain he-“

That was enough for Claire to hear.

“Where is he?”

“Over by the fire pit,”

She ran like her life depended on it; like she was the one being chased by that monster of a dinosaur. They found Owen in a different position than when Maisie left him. He had managed to pull himself up into a sitting position but was breathing heavily like he had just run a marathon.

“Oh my God, Owen.” She murmured, unbuttoning his buttons and vest as fast as she could to inspect the wound.

“Maisie, grab the first aid kit,” Claire asked with plea, but Maisie wasn’t listening. Her eyes were fixed on the sheer pain displayed on Owen’s face.

“Maisie!” Her head snapped towards her mother. “First aid kit, now!”

She nodded, running off.

Claire ripped his shirt off, gasping at the sight. By what Maisie had said, he managed to run back to the cabin no problem, not in too much pain. She was expecting a wound of course, but not like this.

It wasn’t deep, just like Maisie said. Or bloody, for that matter. But it was seriously infected, a bright yellow liquid causing the skin around the wound to bubble, the irritated flesh spreading to his ribcage.

Maisie was back in a flash, thrusting the bin of gauze and disinfectant into Claire’s arms.

Maisie screamed at the sight of the wound.

“It looks infected!” She said. Owen raised his eyebrows.

“That can’t be possible," he winced, struggling to get the words out, “It hasn’t even been a half an hour,”

Claire shook her head aggressively, tears pouring. That's when it hit her.

“Not infected. It’s poison. The dinosaur must’ve had venom in its claws. We have to get you to a hospital. Fast.”