Work Text:
Before he even walked into the tent, he could hear Blues' cries of distress and pain. His heart squeezed, and he found himself moving faster, needing to be by her side. It was his fault she’d been shot. He should have been more careful. He should have found a way to lead those men away, and now Blue was suffering because of him.
He opened the tent flaps and stepped inside, pressing a finger against his mouth to tell Zia to be quiet. Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell Blue was looking at him. He gently touched her, moving upwards until he was by her face. She cried in pain, and the two made eye contact. She had the same look as when she was young and needed his comfort. When the rain was too loud or she’d accidentally gotten hurt and wanted him to soothe her. She was too big for him to pick up, but he gently touched her head.
Her breathing came out in pants, and even if she wasn’t wearing a muzzle, he knew she wouldn’t hurt him. Zia said something, and he forced himself to listen. Trying to hide how much it hurt seeing her like this.
Blue kept wiggling and making sounds of pain. He soothed her by rubbing his hand against her neck. Looking down at Blue, he was reminded of his conversation with Claire when he told her he didn’t care what happened to Blue. It had been a lie then, and they both knew it. He was always going to come. He wasn’t going to let her die. Blue was his family, and he’d missed her.
Claire applied pressure, and Blue shrieked with pain, making his heart break even more. He hated the people who’d hurt her, and he hated himself for letting it happen and for not finding some way to talk them down and get them to back off and stay away.
In the background, he could hear Zia talking to Claire about a blood transfusion. Although Blue had her blood drawn before, she’s never had a transfusion, and it worried him. Blue kept whining in pain, wanting him to comfort her, and he tried his best. Claire and Franklin switched places despite the boy's reluctance. Pressing on her wound caused blood to squirt on him and made the kid freak out. He winced and lied about blood getting into his mouth, wanting him to focus on slowing the bleeding and keeping his raptor alive.
Although he didn’t want to part, and Blue didn’t want it either, he walked over to Zia and Claire, wanting to know what was happening. When she mentioned drawing the T-Rex’s blood, they all tensed. He could tell Claire was scared but also determined. She wasn’t going to let Blue die, and he couldn’t let her go alone. Even though everything was screaming at him to stay with Blue, he needed to go with her.
Walking back to Blue, he gently pets her head and tells her that he’d be back soon with something to help her. His raptor cried, not wanting him to go, and he forced himself to pull away, promising that he’d be back soon. His heart raced not from the T-Rex but Blues' cries as he forced himself to leave.
After almost being eaten by a T-Rex he made it back to the tent and back to Blue's side. She sniffed him, clearly unhappy that he’d gone near a T-Rex and he could feel her scenting him, trying to replace its scent with hers.
He rubbed her head soothingly, knowing it was going to hurt. Blue seemed to understand and pressed into his touch. Looking at the muzzle, he practically begged to take it off, knowing she didn’t like it and not wanting her to suffer more than she already was.
Both Zia and Franklin looked anxious, especially the latter, who quickly refused, telling them not to do it. Claire reassured them that it would be fine and Blue wouldn’t hurt them.
“Please, she’s too weak to do anything, let me take it off her.”
“Fine.”
Zia relented, and he sighed in relief as he took the muzzle off. Blue looked relieved as well, and her head cuddled closer, looking for comfort.
“It’s going to be okay.”
Zia pulled out a scalpel, and he forced himself to look away, not wanting to tense and make Blue even more anxious and upset. He reminded himself to keep calm, knowing Blue could smell what he was feeling. He needed her to know that she was safe and that they were trying to help her, even if it hurt.
Zia made an incision, and Blue cried out with pain. He kept rubbing her head and neck, trying to soothe her. She was so weak now that all she could do was pant heavily with the occasional whine as she was cut open. He noticed a tear fall and promised he’d make the men who hurt her pay. After what felt like forever, the bullet was finally removed, and they all sighed in relief knowing she was going to be okay.
Zia wrapped her wound, and they all settled into a comfortable silence. He didn’t know if it was because of the tranquilizers or the adrenaline crash, but he was exhausted. Blue seemed to agree with him and gave him a familiar chirp from when she was young and before she moved into the raptor pen. He found himself climbing onto the table, ignoring the others' surprise as he cuddled with Blue.
After being separated for so long, they both needed this, and it wasn’t long before they fell asleep, cuddled together. The others whispered around them, Franklin staring at them in disbelief. Claire just shook her head, trying to hide her smile.
“Just a boy and his raptor.”
“You’re all insane.”
Franklin sat back, looking exhausted, and Zia rolled her eyes.
“You’re one of us now.”
All three of them fell into silence after that, not wanting to risk waking either of them. Especially because Blue would be pissed if they did, and none of them wanted to deal with an angry raptor.