Chapter Text
Day One
"Your CO spoke very highly of you."
The Manila envelope sat open in front of his interviewer. His service record, evidence of his expertise, his life history, all rolled into a convenient dossier. All of it, on display for the man he was hoping to be hired by.
"Yes sir. He taught me what I needed to know, he taught me how to survive."
"And survive you did Mr. Grady." The large man on the other side of the desk turned away from him. The computer chair squealing quietly as it turned. "Normally, I would just shake your hand and welcome you aboard; but island security is not why I invited you here."
"Sir?"
The man paused, gathering his thoughts before turning to stare Owen down. "Let's discuss your other skills."
When the interview was finished, Owen stepped out into the muggy evening air. The door behind him shut with a loud clap. Stepping down the stairs he left the cramped portable building grateful to be outside, even if the humidity was downright oppressive.
As he stepped out into the construction zone, the dust had finally settled as the workers had left, revealing more of the structure he had seen when he had arrived. The half-finished structure looked more like a large concrete box at the moment, but Owen knew an enclosure when he saw one. He could only guess at what Jurassic world was hoping to add to their collection. Since their opening five years ago, the theme park and research lab had successfully added three new species of dinosaur to their exhibits, and if this enclosure was an indication, they were well on their way to adding plenty more.
With a heavy breath Owen turned from the enclosure and headed toward the SUV that awaited him nearby. He climbed in and without a word, the security officer began driving him back to his hotel room.
He had tried making small talk on the way up to the construction site, but it seemed that the InGen security force was a tight nit group. Remaining quiet even after his efforts to break the ice.
At the moment, he was somewhat relieved by this fact, he didn't feel like talking either. He was still trying to wrap his head around his interview with Vic Hoskins. The man had tracked him down through contacts in the military and invited him to apply for a position at one of the most well-known parks in the world.
He was grateful, sure; this was an opportunity of a lifetime, and even now, he felt comfortable around these security officers. A job with the Asset Control Unit would be a good position that played to his strengths and military background.
But Vic wasn't interested in any of that. The Head of Security was far more focused on Owen's experience with animals. It made sense in a way, the ACU were equipped to handle any assets securely and efficiently. But the questions seemed oddly directed.
"How long have you practiced falconry?"
"Since I was twelve sir. My father taught me, though I've grown up around birds of prey all my life. But I gave that up when I joined the military."
"How long have you been training dogs?"
"Professionally? Only about three years. I was asked to help with the military handlers during my last year of deployment. Learned a lot. Carried it over to part time work when I was stateside."
"What do you think the most important aspect of animal handling is?"
"Respect, sir."
That answer had gotten a grunt out of him, but whether it was good or bad, Owen hadn't been sure.
"Explain."
And he had. Owen had spent the next two hours explaining how he handled, trained, restrained, and worked with the animals in his life. Then just like that, the interview was done. Hoskins shook his hand and told him to head back to the hotel. He would be contacted before the week was out.
The SUV bounced as it transitioned from a dirt road to the paved park roads. Awoken from his thoughts, Owen looked out in time to see them entering through the massive steel gates that marked the edge of the current park.
Jurassic world was a sight to behold. It was an island paradise, a corporate backed theme attraction, and apparently, one of the foremost facilities in paleological and genetic research. From the ridge they were driving on, he could see the attractions scattered throughout the park. Water slides, concessions and restaurants, petting zoos, and even in the distance he could just make out the newest attraction. The Mosasaurus amphitheater that had recently made the news.
It was their second publicly displayed predator. The crocodilian dinosaur had been added to the programs only a month ago, and already it was making attendance soar. She may only be the size of a dolphin at the moment, but she was expected to get much bigger in time.
Owen's thoughts continued to drift as he watched the park and foliage pass by. The maintenance roads ran along the edges of the park and connected to the inside of the park via large labelled driveways. This road led all the way to the southernmost part of Isla Nublar where the resorts and hotels were located. If he had been a guest, sandy shores, pools, and five star hotels would have sounded appealing. But right now, the bed sounded the most appealing.
"Can I take your luggage?"
Owen nodded tiredly as he stepped out of the SUV. "Thanks for the ride, but next time, let me get a word in edge-wise. All of your stories are great, but I'd like to share some of my own sometime."
The driver offered him a flat stare as the attendant unloaded Owen's baggage. As the door shut he rolled his eyes and pulled away from the loading area.
"You will be staying in room 203."
A yawn escaped Owen's lips before he could stop it. Without a thought, he grabbed his bags from the attendant with a grunt.
"203, got it."
The attendant huffed a little but made no comment and led him to his room. "Here it is sir, and here is your room key and park badge. There is a bar and grill downstairs and the complimentary breakfast is served from 5am to 10am. If you need anything feel free to phone the front desk."
"Thanks."
With that said, Owen was left alone. "Well I guess I should go grab some dinner" he muttered, sitting down on the bed to remove his boots.
He was asleep before the second boot came off.
Early the next morning, Owen was roused from his slumber to the sound of a phone ringing. Groggily, he searched for his phone, finding it in his pocket. Cracking a bleary he stared at the phone with disdain. It wasn't his phone ringing. With one final groan, he committed to waking up and answer the hotel line across the room.
"I'm coming, I'm coming, just stop ringing already" he grumbled to himself blinking the sleep from his eyes. With a little more force than needed he slammed his hand on the hotel phone and pulled it off the hook.
"Hello?" A bright voice sang through the line.
"Yes?"
"A car is waiting for you outside the lobby. The officer said it was urgent."
"Urgent? What's going on? What time is it?" He glanced at the cell phone in his hand waking it. "Why are you calling me at, at 4:30 in the morning?"
There was a muffled conversation on the line before the desk manager replied "Vic Hoskins has requested you presence at the lab, his men are here to pick you up. He said it is urgent, and the sooner you arrive, the better."
At Hoskins name, Owen perked up. "I'll be down in a moment, thank you." He hung up without waiting for a reply. Turning on a light, he quickly ran his fingers through his hair and straightened his shirt. He considered changing, but thought better of it. If Hoskins had called him this early, it was important enough that he would probably forgive yesterday's sweat stains. Tying the laces of the boot he had taken off, he stood and walked briskly out the door, stretching and stifling a yawn at the same time.
When he reached the lobby, he was greeted by two lightly armed security officers who regarded him with a curt nod and turned to lead him towards the SUV outside. This time as he was ushered into the car, he noticed that he wasn't alone in the back seat. Next to him sat an equally tired, but sharply dressed man. He was wearing a dark grey business suit had black rimmed glasses and a short cropped haircut. Before Owen could introduce himself, the man yawned once and looked him directly in the eyes.
"Congratulations on your new employment with Jurassic World and Masrani Global Corporation. My name is James Saunders and I will be assisting you through the legal process and waivers that are associated within the parameters of this job. Before we set off, I need you to sign this form stating your legal acceptance of the understood dangers of working with animals, livestock, predatory livestock, and the inherit risk of working around or near them."
A clipboard with a single form and a pen was placed on his lap. Owen glanced over the short waiver before initialing in a few places and signing the bottom. He handed it back to James who quickly slid the document into a briefcase at his feet before looking up to the driver.
"We're ready to move out." The driver just nodded and pulled away from the hotel.
Owen shut his eyes, content to have a new job and hoping to get a few minutes rest before being introduced to whatever Hoskins had needed. His eyes had just closed when the interior light of the SUV lit up, bathing the back seat in a warm glow. James handed the clipboard and pen before pulling a large stack of papers out of his briefcase and depositing them on Owen's lap.
"Let's talk about the Masrani Global's Non-Disclosure Agreement."
He could only groan and wish he had gotten more sleep.
When the SUV finally stopped at their destination, Owen had a cramp in his hand and Mr. Saunders had a briefcase full of his signatures.
"Have a good day Mr. Grady, and enjoy yourself, you are now part of the best theme park on earth!" Mr Saunders called out before the car door shut and Owen was left in front of a large doorway.
As he stepped through the door, he was greeted by a secretary who smiled too much for the time of day it was.
"Mr. Grady. Mr. Hoskins and Dr. Wu are waiting for you in Incubation Room Three. Just go through the doors behind me, take your second left and it will be the second door on your right!"
"Thanks, I guess. Do you have any idea why they need me here?"
"No sir, but you should be excited, they don't usually bring people to the lab. Which reminds me, Mr. Hoskins asked me to give you your updated security badge. This will give you access to certain facilities throughout the park. I'm not completely sure what facilities you will be able to access but I'm sure Vic can fill you in."
Taking the card from the desk, Owen thanked her and the door behind her unlocked with a metallic clank, allowing him entrance into the most prominent genetic lab in the world. He quickly made his way to Incubator Room Three and as he stepped in, he was greeted by a large sterilized room with several pod like machines positioned throughout the room. Hoskins and a man he assumed was Dr. Wu stood at the furthest left pod looking at the contents and talking softly.
"Hello, you sent for me Mr. Hoskins?"
The larger man turned and greeted him with a smile. "Owen my boy, glad we finally woke you! Don't tell me a soldier like yourself has started sleeping in!"
"No sir, just tired from the travel yesterday."
Hoskins let out a loud guttural laugh at that "Well buck up kid, this won't be an easy job, but I think you might be cut out for it! Now come, let me introduce you to Dr. Wu, our chief geneticist, the man behind the dinos." Wrapping an arm around Owen's shoulders, he ushered to Dr. Wu who simply greeted him with a smile.
"Good morning Mr. Grady. As Mr. Hoskins said, I am the chief geneticist here at Jurassic World. It is good to finally meet you, I look forward to seeing you work."
Admittedly confused, Owen offered his hand which Dr. Wu firmly gripped and shook before turning back to the strange pod behind him.
"I can see your confusion Mr. Grady, but understand that you were not invited here to work under Mr. Hoskins and the A.C.U. I requested your presence on behalf of InGen and our continued work to the future of genetic understanding. Come, take a look at our latest creations, the reasons I hired you, and your future here."
Seated inside the pods were four large eggs. Three of them were mottled brown in color and the fourth had a light grey tint. Each egg was a little larger than his fist, smooth and shaped more ovular than a chicken egg. Owen stared at the eggs a little longer before turning back to Dr. Wu.
"What species are these?"
"Velociraptor." The doctor paused "And what we hope to be our next attraction."
"And you want me to care for them? Look, I appreciate the offer, but I know next to nothing about dinosaurs other than what this park has done with them, let alone how to care for something like this."
"Not exactly, though you will care for them, we want you to try training them."
Owen took a step back staring at the doctor. "I don't know much about Velociraptors but I know how dangerous they can be."
Hoskins cut in, "So are birds of prey and even dogs for that matter, yet you seem to handle them fine."
"But I was trained to handle those! I had a trainer, a guide. I would be going into this blind with no resources."
Dr. Wu turned to Owen a tight grin on his face. "Science often requires risks, sometimes we have to simply understand the risk and try anyway. Someone had to be first to try taming a hawk or a falcon. Think about it Owen, you could be that someone, the first to tame a raptor.
"You don't tame hawks or falcons, they are always wild, and they work out of convenience not love or 'tameness'."
"That may be true, but humanity has done a good job of taming the wolf. Owen, you are one of few people uniquely suited to train an animal like this. Even with what little we know about raptors, we know they are pack hunters, sharing behaviors with both modern day birds of prey and wolves."
Owen paused, unsure of the doctor's response. He glanced down at the four eggs. The doctor took a breath and continued softly.
"This could be our chance to learn more about raptors, the discoveries you could make might revolutionize the way we work with predator animals here at the park, hell, this could change how we work with modern predators as well.
I won't deny that this could be dangerous. Raptors are quick, smart, and dangerous predators. They are apex predators, the top of the food chain. But the potential benefit far outweigh the risks."
Owen stood quietly, letting the doctors words sink in as he stared at the incubator. If he was right, this could be a big project, something that could change the very outlook of predators and how they were handled, both publically, and in captivity. Sure, it would be a challenge, but he felt strangely positive about his chance. There were risks, and he would need to be careful, but he might be able to pull it off.
He glanced at the doctor and Mr. Hoskins. "Will I be alone on this project?" Both men smiled.
"No Mr. Grady, this is an experiment, keeping all of our eggs in one incubator would be unwise." Dr. Wu responded "We have three more clutches, in fact, the third clutch hatched two days ago. The first clutch is our control group. They will be tricky to manage but may provide you with some resources into raptor behavior. The other two will be handled by people like yourself, but with differing methods I'd imagine. Our hope is that at least one of these clutches will grow into a pack that is trainable."
Owen let out a loud sigh and gazed at the four mottled eggs. "So what now?"
"Now, we wait for them to hatch. Which, incidentally is why we called you here this morning." As if on cue, one of the eggs wobbled slightly before returning still. Noticing this Dr. Wu excused himself and stepped out of the incubation room only to return moments later with an assistant who looked to be just out of college. "Miss Pierce, please take these three to nursery number three. Oh, and adjust their chart to check on them each hour, instead of every three hours, they will likely hatch sometime today."
The assistant nodded before opening the incubator and pulling the three tan eggs out of the warm pod. She proceeded load each egg carefully into a padded bag. When all three eggs were in the bag, she closed it and walked out, snatching a chart off the far wall as she exited the room.
Owen looked down to the remaining egg, a question forming on his lips, but the doctor beat him to it again.
"That one is for you. You will work with the others once they are a little older, once they have had time to socialize. We want this one to imprint on you."
Owen took a step back. His brow furrowing in thought. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea doc." Dr. Wu raised an eyebrow, but let him speak. "Imprints with raptors, I mean the modern birds of prey, can be tricky. They can relieve a whole host of problems but raise a number of new ones depending on how imprinted they are. If you are right in saying these raptors are anything like the birds I know, then imprinting could be like walking through a minefield."
"We are aware of this; that is why we only want you to imprint one. Should the imprinting go well, she will become your beta. If not, then we won't lose the whole pack."
"My beta?"
"Yes; we are hoping for you to become the alpha of this pack, the leader."
"The one in control" Hoskins blurted from the computer seat he had taken across the room.
"Precisely. If their pack mentality is anything like the dogs or wolves today, we are hoping you might be able to assert yourself as the leader. An imprint raptor could be useful in keeping the rest of the pack in line."
Owen stared at remaining egg, the raptor meant to be his beta. "Why is the shell a different color than the others?"
Dr. Wu's face lit with pride. "She is one of my own creations, her genes are slightly different, I selected some traits to help you train her and to help her imprint on you. The color though, is for you to better pick her out among the pack."
Owen let out another long breath. He was having a hard time processing everything they had just thrown at him. Silence filled the air as Owen just stared at the small egg in front of him. Hoskins quickly grew uncomfortable at the silence and began to fidget, looking for something to do. Dr. Wu on the other hand seemed content to let the man think.
Finally, Owen turned to them both. "I'll do it."
"Fantastic, then I will leave you to your work for the time being. This one should hatch soon. Bathrooms are down the hall on the left and someone will be by in a couple hours to check on you. When the egg hatches or should you have any questions please feel free to use the intercom on the wall by the door. Now if you'll excuse us, Mr. Hoskins and I have other projects to check in on."
With a short nod from them both, they stepped out of the door and were gone leaving Owen with the room to himself and one small raptor egg.
It was afternoon when the egg finally moved in earnest. With several demure wobbles, and soft knock from inside, the egg finally cracked open. Amidst the shell fragments and covered in a slimy albumen sheen sat a hatchling velociraptor. Owen stared at the young creature, letting it slowly become aware of its own life. It took its first full breath, spewing droplets of albumen from its nostrils. A few minutes later it opened its eyes and immediately locked eyes with the only other living creature in the room.
The little creature was magnificent. Her back was light grey, and covered in short spines that were actually small feather follicles. They surprised Owen, he hadn't expected feathers, not when the rest of the park dinosaurs didn't have them. But he liked them either way, they reminded him of the birds he had worked with. It made him just a bit more comfortable with trying this whole experiment out. But the most striking thing on her small body was the bright blue stripes that ran parallel down her back. Dr. Wu was right, he would be able to identify her much easier with those markings.
Owen and the hatchling stared at each other for several minutes. Not moving, just taking each other in. The young man was lost in this animals sharp eyes. Not minutes old, and she had a piercing gaze that rivaled any predator he had ever worked with. Lost in his thoughts, he finally made a move. Reaching slowly over to the small creature, he placed a hand on her back, almost cupping the entire animal in a soft but careful pet. She did not shy away, she only watched.
"I think I'll call you Blue." It was almost a whisper, a name meant only for her. The little raptor cocked her head at the quiet sound, the new sound, the sound of the one in front of her.
Owen brought his other arm towards her and his hand stopped in front of her snout. He felt her breathe in and take his sent, a soft whistle coming from her.
Then she bit his hand.
Little shit.