Chapter Text
Jurassic World was both a biological wonder and a nightmare. In the last year, Masrani Global had created a monster of their own design and, not unlike Frankenstein's monster, it had gotten free to wreak havoc on the park. The incident had been carefully swept under the rug with copious amounts of money and the part had thrived. Then animal rights activists had turned their attention towards the dinosaurs.
Although Jurassic World had recovered from the Indominous Rex incident, very vocal animal rights activists could be trouble. Therefore a solution to satisfy them had to make created. After three weeks of debating with the board of trustees, invitations were sent out to individuals that were very involved and trusted in animal rights communities. Six came back as confirmation.
Rachel Warring and her boyfriend, Cole Trenton, posed the highest risk to Jurassic World. While Cole had a bachelor's degree in Zoology that helped him determine whether or not a habitat was suitable for the creatures inside, Rachel was simply a well spoken fanatic. She and Cole had been known to set wild animals loose from zoos and preserves, regardless of dangers posed to the people around them. They would be closely watched during their entire visit to ensure that none of the dinosaurs "accidentally" broke loose from their enclosures.
A Biologist and a Paleontologist, Matt Harper and his wife Jody, also agreed to come. Matt had been involved in careful animal rights inspections of several zoos and reserves. He was known for not acting until he had all the facts and making sure their was a plan of action to fix the problem. His wife helped him as often as she could and was well known in the field for her studies on prehistoric predators. They would bring with them their eight year old daughter, Allie, who was home schooled. She traveled wherever they did but was normally well behaved.
Grace Kimmel, a Zoologist who had done ground breaking research on African elephants and now worked to implement her findings in zoos in order to make them healthier for the animals, sent back her own confirmation. So did Marine Biologist and trainer at Sea World, Adam Walters who had done an incredible amount of work at making the training and living conditions of animals at the theme park more like their natural environment.
These six, with the addition of Allie Harper, would be given unlimited access to most the animals at the park, with the exception of the dangerous predators, for exactly twelve days. After those twelve days, they would give a statement about the conditions of the animals in the park that would hopefully silence the rumblings of near fanatical animals rights activists that were sure the dinosaurs in Jurassic World were being mistreated. It sounded like a great plan. On paper.
*
Claire Dearing was anything but pleased when she received the email from Simon Masrani. After running the park during the i-rex disaster and nearly losing both her job and her life, she had thought everything else would be simple to handle. Returning to the park had been nerve wracking but relieving as well. The audit had run smoothly. The grand re-opening after the disaster had gone without a hitch. After a year of things running as smoothly as they ever would in a theme park full of prehistoric creatures, Claire had allowed herself to relax a little. Then Masrani had dumped this on her lap.
She stared a the open folders, looking at pictures and profiles. She understood the necessity of placating the animal rights activists but she didn't like that two people notorious for releasing dangerous animals would be in her park. She doubted the Dan Carter would like it either when she handed the folders over to him. The team was set to arrive on Friday at exactly seven in the morning, an hour before the park officially opened. Masrani had requested that Claire personally meet them at the landing strip and escort them to their rooms for the next twelve days. She was also to give each of them contact information for the trainers, Carter, and herself in case they required anything during their stay. She had two days to prepare.
Claire pressed a pale hand to her forehead as she tried to create a plan of action. The trainers would have to be told about what was coming. She would need to speak to Elias Lorenzo, who was in charge of all technical aspects of the park, and Dan Carter about upping security and keeping a close eye on Rachel Warring and Cole Trenton. She would need to talk to Owen.
That thought stopped her in her tracks. Showing animal rights activists the Velociraptors was a nightmare waiting to happen. Especially with Owen standing in the midst of them. Most people at the park understood that what Owen Grady had with his raptors was special. Unfortunately for them all, the animals rights activists probably wouldn't see the same thing. They'd see predators degraded, turned into pets or work horses, instead of pack animals following their alpha. A sigh escaped her mouth and she reached for her phone. She would need to talk to Owen first. Then she would hand copies of the files over to Lorenzo and Carter.
Owen came back from pack time at sunset only to find the light on his answering machine blinking. The message was from Claire, a simple request for him to come talk to her when he had time today. He made sure his girls were settled and headed for her office.
Carter and Lorenzo were there when he arrived, talking to Claire in hushed but frustrated voices. Several folders were spread across the park manager's normally immaculate and Claire appeared a little frazzled as she spoke with them. Owen rapped once on the door and three heads turned to acknowledge him. Claire gave him a weak smile while both Carter and Lorenzo lifted their hands in greeting. "We'll be done in just a moment," she said, voice firm, before turning back to the other men. They spoke for a moment longer before the conversation faded out. Lorenzo left with barely a nod to Owen but Carter paused, looking the other man in the eyes. "Be ready for a bombshell," Carter warned before leaving the office.
"What was that all about?" Owen asked, approaching Claire's desk, and she let out a heavy sigh.
"Recently animal rights activists have been very vocal about not trusting the care of the dinosaurs in the park," she said. "So Masrani decided to allow a select group access to all the animal enclosures for twelve days. Staring on Friday."
Owen absorbed that quietly for a moment before asking, "This Friday?" Claire nodded and there was another moment of silence before he added, "All the enclosures?"
"All of them," she confirmed grimly. "Even the raptors."
The tumultuous wave of emotions that swept over him at those words caught the attention of the pack. His girls closed ranks around him, not sure what had him so worried but willing to defend him from whatever came their way. The fight with the i-rex had made Isla Nublar their territory, their home, and they would fight for it. He breathed out slowly, allowing their protectiveness to calm him.
Ours, they told him with calm certainty. He agreed with them silently, turning back to Claire.
"I'm sorry about this," she told him. "But the orders come from Masrani himself. I've been trying to get in contact with him half the day but his secretary insists he's in the middle of an important meeting and can't come to the phone."
"It's okay, Claire," he reassured her. "I'll talk to him." She nodded, appearance still worn with worry. It was obvious that she didn't approve of this step, or the short notice she had been given. Still, there was nothing either of them could do about it. "Do you have plans for dinner?" he asked, not liking the strain he saw on her features. He and Claire might not work as lovers but she was one of his closest friends and their history only pulled them closer together. She shook her head once, eyes staring almost blearily past his shoulder at the wall. "Eat with me?" he offered. "We can stop in at Sunrio's and you can relax for an hour before you have to go back to making this work."
"I don't know," she hedged, lips pinched into a grim line as she shook her head to clear it. "There's so much work that needs to be done and I'm already behind."
"Eat first," he pressed. "You'll work better on a full stomach."
For a moment he thought she was still going to refuse. Then Claire nodded once and rose. "Let's go," she said, face still pinched with tension, and offered him her arm. He took it and guided her out of the neat office that had been turned to chaos by the events of the day, determined to wash some of the stress away from her before he returned to his girls.
That night, his dreams were full of the i-rex disaster. The raptors kept him distanced from it all, but he watched as the creature worked to decimate the creatures in the park and the people that created her. He slept through the night, but he did not sleep peacefully.
The pink sunrise roused him from his dark dreams. He stretched, showered, ate, and checked his messages quickly, before stepping outside. His girls were waiting for him, sending out eager calls from the paddock. Their eagerness to run slipped into his mind, become his own. It lightened his steps as he walked to the fence, unlocking and unlatching the door. He stepped into the paddock and his girls swarmed him joyfully. Blue nuzzled his shoulder, growling lowly at the lower ranked pack members when they jostled too much, almost shoving her away from her chosen spot.
Owen rubbed a hand over scaly heads as they chattered happily to him. "Ready to run?" he asked.
Run, Blue confirmed in his mind. Her pack sisters agreed with her. Charlie was wriggling with excitement, bumping into Delta and Echo. Echo started bouncing as well but Delta rumbled at them in irritation.
"Muzzles first," he told them and got unhappy, warbling noises in reply. They pouted, as much as raptors could pout, while he put the muzzles on but didn't others protest. They knew the rules and, despite all they'd done for the park during the i-rex attack, they were still required to be muzzled until they reached the restricted area.
Once they were muzzled, he started the motorcycle. Despite the muzzles their joy still reverberated over the pack bond, rushing through him. They ran alongside him, only pausing to remove the muzzles before they started to run again. Claire had sent out a message this morning, announcing a park wide meeting between herself and the trainers this afternoon. A second email, not longer after the first, had informed Owen that since they had already spoken about the matter at hand, he was not required to attend. That meant he could set aside today as a pack business day, which was good considering that he might not get another chance for twelve days.
His girls were puzzled as to what was going on. They understood the concept of someone who spoke for those who could not. It was what Owen did as alpha, expressing the pack's needs to others. What they didn't understand was why anyone would think they were unhappy. Through their alpha, they could distantly feel the other dinosaurs at times, something they were still not overly pleased about, and knew that they were happy. The large amount of preternatural trainers that were attune to their dinosaurs made sure that the creatures in Jurassic World were happy and healthy. That any human would think otherwise was nothing but foolishness to them.
It seemed like foolishness to Owen as well.
He knew that animal rights activists had helped animals in the past, but the creatures in Jurassic World weren't a pony or even a tiger. Most of the people in animal rights groups didn't necessarily know what to do with a tiger or how to help it. He doubted they would even know where to begin when it came to judging whether or not one of the creatures in Jurassic World was happy.
They stopped when the sun was high in the sky, Owen settling against a tree while his girls roamed.
Come with me?
Blue's question had him closing his eyes and sinking into her mind, allowing the feelings of the pack push away the little bit of tension that refused to leave. Months since the disaster with the i-rex that had pushed the pack closer together had seen him steadily improve on being what, he told the other trainers, was essentially a backseat driver. Blue was still the easiest to ride with, but he was constantly improving with the others.
Relaxing in his beta's mind, he experienced the world through her eyes as she ran, studying her surroundings. The pack spread out around them, not hunting but simply enjoying the time to play in the jungle. Animals fled, fell silent, or let out warning cries around them, but all was peaceful. Nothing larger threatened them and nothing was hunting them. Owen settled in for the ride as Blue turned towards the sea, allowing himself to truly relax for the first time since Claire had given him the news.