Archive of Our Own ^beta

“We need your help,” Clary Fairchild said, stepping out of the elevator, clipboard pressed to her chest. “The USN sent over your file and we’re incredibly impressed.”

Alec raised an eyebrow. “Who’s impressed? Garroway Global or AlicanTech?”

Clary pursed her lips. She was Garroway Global through and through. Alec had done his homework and he knew she was the daughter of the exec, Luke Garroway. He wasn’t entirely sure who actually ran things in the labs, but the whole thing stank of AlicanTech interference. Alec had worked for them before, escaped once, and he wasn’t particularly interested in going there again.

“I won’t deny that AlicanTech are the ones paying your check, Mr. Lightwood, but it’s Garroway Global that ultimately decides whether or not you’re acceptable for the position.”

“What exactly is the position?” Alec asked, as they walked through a corridor that was whiter than his father’s pressed shirts. “I was hurried below ground pretty quickly and I’ve been in the military long enough to know what that kind of secrecy means.”

Pushing open a set of windowless doors, Clary guided him into another corridor, though this one was walled on one side by floor to ceiling windows. Through the glass, Alec could see scientists poring over computer screens, incubators, and clipboards. There were eggs in all of the incubators, some large, others barely bigger than a chicken egg.

Clary gestured at the lab, dropping the clipboard to her side. “Your work with the NMMP was of particular interest to us.”

Alec stepped closer to the glass. He’d seen eggs like this before, often with reptilians and larger birds. “What are they? I don’t recognise them.”

“You wouldn’t,” Clary said. She met and held Alec’s gaze. “How do you feel about dinosaurs, Mr. Lightwood?”

Fuck. Alec had heard of the Isla Nublar incident like every other person with the remotest connection to AlicanTech. He hadn’t thought of anything beyond it; his work on the Marine Mammal Program had been more important back then, and he’d always had strong opinions on the involvement of genetic enhancements and playing around with things that shouldn’t be; the return of the dinosaurs had seemed ridiculous and not serious enough for consideration.

Than Jace had managed to get involved.

“If you’ve read my file, you know my brother was on Isla Nublar.” Alec had thought he was free of this. “I don’t particularly care to know more.”

Clary made a face at Alec’s mention of Jace and he filed that away for further consideration later. “That’s a shame. Your sister was quite insistent that we get you involved.”

“Izzy’s here?” Alec said, before he could stop himself. He hadn’t spoken to Izzy in months, after a brief message that she was doing something important and would be on radio silence for the foreseeable future. Alec and his siblings had been in the military most of their lives and he was no stranger to lack of communication. Now he knew where she had been secreted off to. “What is she doing?”

“I can’t tell you that unless you’re willing to come on board.”

Alec hated to be blackmailed into anything, and even if he did miss his siblings, he wasn’t going to let his heart make the decision for him. “You haven’t even told me what I’ll be doing. I’m not going to agree to anything until I know exactly why I’m here.”

Tugging a keycard from the pocket of her pants, Clary scanned it through the door lock and waited for the light above it to turn green. “I want to introduce you to someone who can probably explain this better than I can.”

Alec wasn’t sure he wanted to step through the door; he had the feeling that if he did so, he was going to end up agreeing to whatever Clary was about to show him. Curiosity, as it so often did when anything fauna was involved, won out and he followed Clary through the door.

Some of the scientists looked up at their entrance, but most continued on with their work. Alec couldn’t help but linger on the eggs. Some were cracked, others freshly laid. More still were being warmed by low lights and straw. The thought of tiny dinosaurs gestating inside each shell was a little beyond him.

“Alec,” Clary said, guiding him into an office set away from the main labs. “I’d like to introduce you to Dr. Bane.”

Alec looked up and immediately froze. The man sat behind the desk, currently smiling up at him, was the most attractive guy he’d seen in a long time. With artistically styled hair, makeup and not a little glitter, he was as far out of the classification of scientist as Alec’s brain could conjure up.

“Magnus, please,” Dr. Bane - Magnus - said as he stood, rounding the desk. “And Alec is it?”

“Lightwood,” Alec said stupidly. “Uh, Alexander, yeah Alec, Lightwood.”

Clary's lips quirked up in amusement, but it was Magnus’ amused and charmed smile that Alec was hung up on.

“Pleased to meet you, Alec.”

“You too.” Alec felt awkward in his own skin, hot and unsteady. “So, you’re a scientist?”

“Geneticist actually.” Magnus was clearly not a typical geneticist. He was dressed in a flashy shirt and tight, black pants, jewellery hanging from both arms and around his neck.

Alec was painfully aware that he was instantly attracted to the man. He had long ago come to terms with his sexuality, but it was something else to have it unceremoniously shoved in his face after being so careful to keep it under wraps while serving. “You created those dinosaurs?”

Magnus nodded, looking pleased with himself. “Not alone, obviously, but I did pioneer the cloning process. Every egg you see out there is a culmination of thousands of hours of work, and the care and attention of so many people.”

Alec was impressed, though still apprehensive. He didn’t believe in tampering with things that should be left alone, and Izzy had always been the one fascinated by the science behind things. “I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with me.”

“Clary didn’t tell you?” Magnus shared a look with Clary and then turned to Alec, gesturing back out the door. “Let me show you something.”

Everyone seemed to want to show Alec something and it was irritating. “Can’t you just tell me? I’ve been dragged from here to there and I still have no idea what I’m even doing here.”

Magnus, unphased by Alec’s anger, nodded. “I understand you have questions, and that you’re undoubtedly tired after your journey to the Island, Alec, but I promise this will be worth the wait.”

Alec doubted it, but finally left the office. Magnus fell into step beside him, and Alec could hear the click of Clary’s heels on the floor as she followed. The three of them wound their way through the incubators, until they came to a secluded area in the lab. The incubator here was large, bathed in a soft orange glow. Four solid, large eggs were sat in a bed of straw.

“This is my magnum opus,” Magnus said, resting his hands on the edge of the incubator. “And, if you’re willing, your new project.”

Alec eyed the eggs skeptically. “In what way?”

“Well, most of the dinosaurs that hatch here have a handler,” Magnus explained, nodding at some of the eggs scattered around the lab. “They stay with the eggs until they hatch, nurse the babies until they’re old enough to be moved out of the lab. We’d like you to nurture these particular eggs.”

“Why these?” Alec wanted to reach out and touch, but he kept his hands to his sides.

Magnus was apprehensive, but after another shared look with Clary, seemed to give in. “Your work on pack behaviour is essential in the raising of these particular dinosaurs.”

Something about what Magnus wasn’t saying set off alarm bells in Alec’s head. With mounting horror, he understood why the eggs looked so familiar. “Velociraptors. Jace sent me pictures of the eggs. You’re actually breeding Velociraptors after what happened the first time.”

Magnus opened his mouth, but it was Clary that answered. “For behavioural purposes. They won’t be introduced into the park until-”

“You’re turning this into an actual park?” Alec said, incredulously, cutting across whatever else Clary had to say. “Did you learn nothing from Isla Nublar?”

“I assure you,” Magnus said, a dangerous edge to his voice, “that I learned a great deal from that incident. Don’t presume things about me, Mr. Lightwood, and I won’t make the same mistake with you.”

Alec shoved aside the guilt. “My brother was on that island and he barely came out of it alive. What the hell are you people still doing messing with things you don’t understand?”

“I understand more about the dinosaur genome than any other, and I would not have entered into this project if I did not think it could work,” Magnus snapped, drawing himself up to his full height. “We learn from our mistakes. Can you say the same?”

It was a low blow and Alec felt as if the breath had been punched from him. He gripped the edge of the incubator. When he had recovered sufficiently, Alec refused to look at Magnus, and instead turned to Clary. “I want nothing to do with this. Whatever mess you’re making here you can clean up on your own.”

Without waiting for her, Alec stalked out of the lab and away from whatever opportunity they thought they were handing him.

There was no flight off of the Island until the next day and Alec was pissed.

The desk clerk was decidedly unhelpful, asking if he had clearance to leave, if Miss Fairchild had approved his leave, blah blah. Alec smacked the desk and stalked away, wishing there was a balcony or door or something that meant he wasn’t cooped up underground.

“You’re being a bit of a brat.”

Alec’s head snapped up, instantly recognising the voice. “Izzy.”

Izzy was dressed in a white lab coat, but managed to make it look extremely fashionable, as she did everything else. His sister was every bit as glamorous and beautiful as he remembered and he was painfully glad to see her. “Hi.”

Pulling her into a hug, Alec rested his chin on top of her head. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Izzy said, before pulling back. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not a brat.”

Alec was still furious. “Clary mentioned you were here. Don’t tell me you have anything to do with this, Izzy. Jace-”

“Is every bit as involved with this project as me,” Izzy said, surprising Alec yet again. At his confused look, Izzy sighed, tugging him over to some chairs set along the back wall of the main office. “After Isla Nublar, you know how messed up Jace was. The military wouldn't take him back, mom and dad wanted nothing to do with him, so he came to stay with me.”

“I didn't know that,” Alec admitted quietly. He and Jace hadn’t spoken much since Jace’s return.

“You were deployed,” Izzy said, kindly. “Jace didn’t want to tell you because you would have come straight home.”

Alec would have; his siblings means everything and one hint of trouble would have him on the nearest plane home, even if that would risk court martial. “So what happened?”

“I got a call from Magnus - Dr. Bane.” Izzy smiled, her eyes soft. It was startling to see that Izzy obviously cared for Magnus. Alec studiously ignored the flash of jealousy he had at that. “He wanted to apologise to Jace for what happened, and to make amends. He had a project that he wanted both of us to work on.”

“Jace agreed to that?” Alec couldn't believe that; from everything he’d heard about Isla Nublar, Jace wasn’t one to do a one-eighty and agree to work with the very creatures who had previously tried to kill him.

“Not at first,” Izzy admitted. “I jumped at the chance to work on a project like this. Splicing genomes to make new species, Alec. It was fascinating and I know, I hated what happened to Jace as much as you, but this was different. This was correcting the mistakes made then. I could help and make sure nothing like that would ever happen again.”

Alec shook his head. “I still don’t see what this has to do with Jace - or me.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “Jace is here, Alec, on this island. I’m sure Magnus told you about handlers?”

Alec nodded, distracted. “He said something like that. Jace is here? Where?”

“Probably out in the park.” Izzy didn’t say anything else, but she didn’t have to. Alec was no fool; he could make the connection.

“He actually agreed to be a handler, didn’t he?”

“Agreed and is. A damn good one, actually.” Izzy looked and sounded proud.

Alec didn’t understand any of this; had his family lost control of their faculties?

“Are you all insane? Can you not see that the same thing is just going to happen again?”

“Alec-”

“No, Izzy,” Alec pushed Izzy’s hands away. “You’re going to get yourselves killed. Can none of you see that?”

Izzy’s expression turned angry. “Can you stop worrying about the implications of something for one second. Appreciate the beauty and wonder in what we’re doing here, Alec.”

Alec snorted. “You’re creating animals that shouldn’t exist and putting them on display; you’re exploiting their existence, turning a profit and think everything’s okay with that?”

“So which is it,” Izzy said, quietly. “Worry for your family, or disgust over the treatment of the dinosaurs?”

Alec opened his mouth to answer, but couldn’t find the words. He was worried, not just for his family, but for every person who would walk through the gates of the park.

Izzy looked sad and disappointed. “I hoped if anyone would understand, it would be you. You’ve always loved animals the most of any of us. Think of the good we could do with these creatures, Alec. Bringing them back into the world and appreciating their beauty and intelligence.”

“However much I might want that, the safety of every person here is more important. What if something goes wrong?”

Patting Alec’s leg, Izzy stood. “If there’s one thing you taught me, Alec, it’s that if I worry constantly about what might go wrong, I would never do anything.”

The words cut deep and Alec couldn’t do anything but watch Izzy walk away.

Clary arranged a flight back to the mainland for him, as well as giving him an access card to the facilities. He was restricted in where he could go. Refusing to be a part of the project left him out of certain areas, though the labs were not one of them.

Alec found himself gravitating back there, late that night when he was sure the crew would be slim at best. He wasn’t wrong; there were three scientists manning the incubators, and the door to Magnus’ office was firmly closed. Alec leaned against the glass, eyes drawn to the incubator at the back. The Velociraptor eggs were barely visible over the rim of their tray.

One of the doors swung open and Alec was startled to see Magnus enter.

“I didn't think you’d be back,” Magnus said, his tone hard.

“I’m sorry,” Alec blurted out, flushing. “I was rude this morning and I didn’t think, I thought I could, I was worried.”

Magnus didn’t say anything for a moment, tight-lipped and staring into the lab. “Do you know what I thought the first time I created a dinosaur egg?”

The question startled Alec, but he shook his head anyway.

Magnus folded his arms, fingers dancing along his elbow. “I stared down at it and wondered if I was doing the right thing. I was worried that it would get out of control and people would get hurt.”

Alec said nothing, just stared at the eggs scattered about the lab. He thought of Jace, of the fear in his voice as he’d explained what had happened on Isla Nublar.

“Then it did. People died because of something I had made, something I brought into the world.” Magnus turned to look at Alec, his eyes dark and haunted. “I have to live with that every day and I could have let that stop me, I could have chosen to give up and never try again. I didn’t, just like you didn’t.”

Alec closed his eyes, refusing to give in to the memories that were trying to surface. “That was different.”

“Perhaps,” Magnus agreed, though he didn’t look convinced. “Your pod might not have killed anyone, but dolphins you trained and loved and nurtured were taken from you. Would you do anything in your power to get them back? To improve on what went wrong?”

“Of course I would, but my pod weren’t extinct. I wasn’t messing with nature!” Alec gestured at the lab. “This shouldn’t even be happening.”

“So dolphins are natural mine detectors, are they? Everything you did as part of the NMMP was humane and safe?”

Alec couldn’t say that and they both knew it.

“Perhaps there’s a major difference in what we’ve both done, Alec, but I’m trying to learn. We’ve restricted which dinosaurs we bring back. We give them handlers and attention and enclosures that are extremely safe. We don’t mess with the genetics beyond filling in gaps so that we have a complete DNA structure.”

“But a park?” Alec crossed his arms over his chest and rest his forehead on the glass. “Do you honestly think that’s a good idea?”

“I want to share my creations with the world, Alec, but only if that’s in a safe environment. I wouldn't have agreed to this if I didn't think it would be safe."

Alec wasn’t entirely convinced, but there was something about what Magnus was saying that made him want to believe. Grasping for a change of subject, he thought of Jace. “Izzy said Jace was a handler here. Which dinosaur did he get?”

“Thankfully for your brother,” Magnus said, smiling for the first time since he’d come into the corridor, “he bonded well with the herbivores. He’s down with the Triceratops.”

Alec snorted, unable to shake the image of Jace with a giant three-horned dinosaur. It was so very Jace that Alec had to smile. “That sounds about right.”

Magnus looked thoughtful for a second. “When do you fly out?”

Alec shrugged. “Tomorrow some time. Clary didn’t specify.”

“Yes,” Magnus said. “She’s good at that. Perhaps, then, you have time to check in with your brother?”

Stunned, Alec turned fully to face Magnus. “Clary said I couldn't go into the park.”

“Miss Fairchild might be the boss in here,” Magnus said, grinning mischievously. “However, out in the park, I think you’ll find that I outrank her.”

Magnus was actually fascinating.

As they rode out of the park in a jeep, Magnus driving and Alec reclined in the passenger seat, Magnus kept up a steady stream of talk. He told Alec about the discovery of the amber, of splicing DNA and creating the first dinosaurs. He talked of the rebirth of the project after Isla Nublar, and of trying to choose which dinosaurs would be the most safe.

“Why did you create Velociraptors? Aren't you trying to keep out the dangerous ones?”

“We have a Mosasaur and a T-Rex,” Magnus said, neither of which inspired Alec with confidence. “Dangerous is relative. The T-Rex is the original from the first park. She’s old and set in her ways. You’d be surprised how alike they are to other animals. The mosasaur is fine as long as she’s fed on time.”

“And the Velociraptors?” Alec asked again.

“That would be on AlicanTech. They ask, I create.”

That didn’t make sense. Alec frowned. “So why bring me in? I’m not being a part of an AlicanTech project.”

Magnus smiled, giving Alec a pointed look. “Hence Clary bringing you in. She doesn’t want the Raptor project to be in AlicanTech hands. They want to train the Raptors to be weapons.”

That was ridiculous, dangerous, and stupid. “What difference could I have made?”

Magnus was quiet for a moment, but Alec could see him thinking about the question. He was fascinating and alluring and Alec found himself wanting to keep talking, to know everything. “I want to know as much as I can about the Raptors. Imagine pack hierarchy, how that must work. The original pack were extremely intelligent and organised. They’re dangerous hunters, yes, but no more than lions or any other wild carnivore. Aren’t you curious?”

Alec wanted to say no. He wanted to leave and never look back. Animals had always, always been his weakness though, and the longer he stayed here, the more worried he was that he was going to give in.

“Oh wow,” Alec breathed, climbing out of the jeep and looking out onto the plain. The grass stretched out for miles, framed by a ring of trees. Scattered around the common were Triceratops of varying size. It took Alec’s breath away. “I can’t-”

Magnus was stood beside him, and Alec could feel the heat of his gaze. Rather than look at the beauty of his own creation, Magnus was choosing to look at Alec. Alec tried not to think about what that might mean.

“Alec!”

Alec looked up to see a familiar figure jog over from amongst a small herd of Triceratops. Decked out in ratty jeans and stained t-shirt, Jace looked completely at easy and happy. It was the first smile Alec had seen on his face since he returned to the mainland. “Jace.”

Like he had with Izzy, Alec pulled Jace into a hug, relishing the feel of his brother solid and strong beneath his hands.

“What are you doing here?” Jace asked when he pulled away. “Izzy said you were leaving.”

“I was - am,” Alec said, unable to keep from glancing at Magnus as he did so. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d, you know, be anywhere else but here.”

There was a vicious white scar above Jace’s left eye that was a painful reminder of why Alec thought that. Jace didn’t seem to mind, completely at ease. He put his hands in his pockets and nodded out towards the herd he’d just left. “I thought so too. Then Izzy got the job here and I kept thinking; what if, you know? What if things could change. What if we could make it good, make it safe. Then Magnus showed me the eggs and I just - Alec, this is amazing. These creatures, extinct for thousands of years and suddenly they’re here again, real and breathing. I wanted to be a part of that.”

Alec sighed, beginning to realise that perhaps there was something in what everyone was saying. He couldn’t shake everything though. “It’s dangerous.”

“Perhaps,” Jace said, shrugging. “But so is being deployed overseas into wars. So are so many other things. But I have a chance to be a part of this, to help show people how respecting creatures like this instead of bending them to our will is the better way. Isn’t that what you were always saying?”

“I-” Alec didn’t know what to say. “You really like it here?”

“I do.” There was no pause, just certainty. Jace gave Alec a bright smile. “Stick around, Alec. You might find you like it too.”

Alec found himself back in the labs.

Following Magnus meant that he slipped in behind and was able to observe. Magnus was efficient and quick, but always attentive. He had a special smile he reserved just for the eggs and Alec could well imagine how much love went into each and every strand of DNA, into every press of a hand to shell. Magnus cared about what he was doing here, and though the worries were still there, he seemed inclined to make good on his word to change things.

Alec was impressed, intrigued, and fascinated by the prospect of what was happening here. Threading his way through to the back of the room, Alec was drawn once more to the Raptor eggs. The thought of AlicanTech getting control of them and turning them into weapons that would be allowed to run free and wreak havoc wasn’t one Alec wanted to contemplate. They would have no regard for the Raptors themselves, only the results they could bring; wasn’t that the mistake the first park had made, the mistake Magnus was trying so hard to rectify?

“What are you thinking about?”

Alec straightened, backing up a little from the incubator. “Nothing.”

“It’s okay you know,” Magnus said, eyes glinting with understanding. “They are fascinating to think about.”

Alec hesitated only a fraction before nodding. “I can’t imagine any good coming from AlicanTech getting their hands on them.”

Magnus scowled. “I would destroy the eggs before I let that happen.”

Startled, Alec looked up, meeting Magnus’ eyes. “Are you serious?”

“I didn’t bring them to life to make them into weapons, Alec. I want to nurture them, learn from them. I don’t want to destroy them - or anyone else through them.”

Looking at Magnus, at the passion and love he had for Raptors not yet born, Alec let the last of his reservations fall away.

“You won’t have to do that.”

Magnus frowned, confused. “What?”

Alec looked back at the eggs, unable to hold Magnus’ gaze as he spoke. “AlicanTech won’t be able to use them at all if I take that job, will they?”

When Alec finally dared look up, Magnus’ smile was bright and vivid and something Alec was sure he would never forget.

“No,” Magnus said, eventually. “I don’t suppose they will.”

Perhaps this was the start of something terrifying, Alec thought briefly. Or, if the smile Magnus was still giving him was any indication, it was the start of something amazing.