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Throughout Owen's career in comparative psychology and paleontology focused on vertebrate species, he was able to construct a connection to a field of research built on speculation that the Jurassic Reboot initiative would figure out they needed. Despite what InGen's self-concieved notion of being the only commodity in the re-establishment of dinosaurs existence, there was one thing that didn't translate through numbers and the biomechanics: these dinosaurs were living animals, and needed to be treated as such. So, InGen secured insurance the dinosaurs won't only live but survive and stabilize by absorbing Owen, and a staff which orchestrated similar vocations to lead them to the same position, into the program.
In short, Owen got in, Owen got raptors, and Owen raised those raptors.
Succeeding in all other measures to finally be able to study in an immersive replicated pack dynamic he'd spent so long reading about, Owen could conclude one thing: Raptors are really fucking smart.
Which goes without saying. Not a ground breaking discovery; he's studied the predatory and pack behavior, read Dr. Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm's papers (reports a bit more frantic and angry about being on the opposite end of the food chain, but nevertheless accepting their intelligence), they all come to the same conclusion. But, yeah, it's really hard to concentrate on any other in-depth analysis of mental capacity of an animal when it's somehow found a way into the home of the person studying them.
Owen's initial reactions to seeing Blue squeezed in halfway through his trailer door and stuck outside unable to fit in follow in quick succession to three main points:
- Jesus Christ, that's the funniest thing he's ever seen.
- How'd she figure out he lived here--that's incredible somebody get Vic--
- No. No, there is no Vic here, Owen is alone with a confused raptor learning about spatial collisions. Owen is alone in his home with a raptor. Owen alone raptor.
The processing faction of Owen inspects this information, screaming with intense attempts at self-control while the very human part of Owen says to get out somehow-now-don't-care-how-much-these-guys-like-me-now-need-to-get-out. Owen's never really liked that side of himself so shuts down both and lets the newly established self he's created take over again, like it has predominately for the past however many years.
Owen is alpha, and crouched down, not meant to attack or intimidate, but to let Blue know this is his territory. Her head, the size of the cabinets she almost hits it into, spins to investigate. Raptors speak in their stances, vocalizing when the situation calls for it, but their eyes say more than Owen could ever hope to duplicate. Blue's eyes are wide, flicking from his to just past him, her head bouncing up and down.
Before Owen can try to figure out what that is, something that's never happened before something Owen doesn't know how to respond to, the world begins shaking and Owen is knocked backwards from his no doubt incredibly intimidating pose. The trailer jumps back and forth, swaying the cabinets and Owen, along with it. During his inefficient attempts at steadying himself from this sudden onslaught, Owen is able to track down the cause of the trailers destruction.
Blue is still bobbing her head, mouth half open, when she's not barking an odd combination of yelps, tongue lolling. Her torso and back show her to be shaking along in time with the trailer. Owen only has a moment to be startled by and worry about Blue's apparent malfunctioning (maybe they were animatronics all along), when he pictures his old dog Tricie greeting him after work.
Holy shit, this is an excited velociraptor. This is a happy velociraptor. This is a velociraptor mirroring his smiling. This is an excited, happy, smiling Blue. This is probably the greatest discovery Owen will ever make in his profession.
This excited, happy, smiling velociraptor named Blue is going to destroy the compartment he calls home and crush him under it.
"Whoa!" Owen shouts, banging his head against the edge of his table booth's ends. "Ow--shit, okay. Whoa, Blue, calm down a bit you're going to kill, papa!" He grabs the table and uses the leverage to hoist himself up, and position himself to hold out a hand. "Take this slow, all right Blue? Unfortunately, this is supposed to be my home and I don't think you'll like me sleeping in the cave with you guys. I snore." Blue stops shaking, Owen stops shaking, the trailer stops shaking, but Blue continues in her movements and spaced barking. "Um, okay, help me out a bit. How'd you get here? Why'd you get here? Where're your sisters?"
Which is precisely when Blue is yanked backwards by a mysterious source, and none of those questions become an issue anymore, Owen's only worry is making sure Blue hasn't learned to fly--
And he runs into Echo's face ramming in, pushing him back to the ground. She's reciting the same dance Blue was a minuet ago, but adds in her own distinctive off-pitched shrieking, and ow, Echo is living up to her name she shouldn't let loose her voice power inside.
Owen doesn't mean to grab his ears, and curl up into himself where he's sitting, but there isn't much other way to respond to Echo's pitch.
The shrieking stops abruptly, and Owen looks up. Echo remains but is stationed further down the steps, bobbing her head against outlined background of Charlie, Delta, and a grounded Blue, waiting outside. With closer inspection on the distanced movements of Charlie and Delta, Owen sees similarities in their physical patterns to when they find him during their tracking-hide-and-seek practice runs.
"Did you--did you guys track me? All the way out here?" Owen stands and makes his way outside, Echo walking backwards giving him space to leave but still close by. Tracking-hide-and-seek was a controversial pastime Owen had added to make sure the girls were getting enough activity, besides the contained hunting, by leading a self directed free run in which he would ride his motorcycle in no particular pattern in designated Jungle roaming area. They responded well to the outside cage time, and it seemed to add a level of stability in the pack, knowing everyone was together and following each other. Owen had never intended the method to go into any more practice than occasional activities, but here they were. Outside his home. By themselves. 300 Miles from their base.
"Oh my God, you tracked me all the way out here!" Owen laughs, and jumps onto Echo, nuzzling the side of her head. Echo's previous dance intensified and she began screaming again, this time along with Blue, Charlie, and Delta who also pounced next to him and Echo, but Owen didn't care about his ear drums because his girls were smart, his pack was together, and they tracked him.
They tracked him.
Out here.
To his home.
Outside of their. Cage.
"Oh my God, you tracked me all the way out here," Owen stopped laughing as the squad continued on their victory dance. "Fuck, you guys--okay, wait no the park is probably breaking now. How'd you get out of the cage--no, hold on first things first." Owen sprawled to sprint back into his place to retrieve the walkie talkie that would calm down everyone in the Velociraptor care staff somewhat, but he's pulled backwards by a soft but firm tug on his sleeve.
Blue is hanging on by the end of his shirt, definitely not happy anymore, deflated and whining in small broken off barks of distress. Delta rounds his other side and blocks the door, as Charlie pushes him with her nose away from the trailer. "Hey, I know the place isn't that great and I don't exactly want to live their either but I kinda need to get my--" Owen stops. He focuses on the scene in front of him, lets that brain that got him here work out what's going on.
This is an extraction.
He turns his head and tries to put as much calm assurance he can in his voice, "Blue." Blue stops her tugging and looks up by cocking her head and subsequently turning his arm over. He pets the underside of her head, and stares her in the eye. "I'm okay, there's no danger. Everyone's alright. I need to get my supplies, then we can go back home. Okay? You're okay, I'm okay, we're all okay. I just have to tell Vic. You don't want him on raptor babysitting duty again, he's not fun." Through his talk, Blue had started to ease off and straighten up, scanning the area nearby, still not trusting the environment but trusting Owen enough to let him go. Charlie was no longer pushing him along the trail they had excavated, and seems to have relaxed by Owen's certainty. "Three seconds, I promise," Owen walked slow as Delta left her blockade of the entrance, not before hissing at it, and rubbing her head against his arm as he passed, but still everyone was cooperating and calm.
Once inside, Owen himself wasn't as calm but restrained his flailing to trotting towards his walkie talkie and exiting immediately.
"Vic?" Owen calls in after tuning into the correct station. Static and distant yelling greet him. "Vic? Hey, sorry, listen the raptors are here I don't know how they got out but--"
"Shit, kid, are you still alive?" Vic's voice manages to make its way through the hysteria lining as backup noise.
"Uh," Owen takes a quick glance around. "Yeah, should I not be?"
"The park--it's--the cages are--everything's falling apart--Indinomus--fuck,"
"Hoskins, what's going on."
"Dinosaurs are out, people are--" the static takes over and Vic's connection goes out. Owen can fill in the rest, he's on his motorcycle before he can even try to process what's happening.
His girls surround him, securing him in the middle and checking around. He turns to Blue, "You went to find me after you got out?" Blue shrugs her head around as if to say, did you miss that whole trailer invasion? He smiles around, despite his gut pulling against itself inside him. "Thank you." They all face him, and Owen is struck by a sudden and real knowledge that these are his raptors, they are his pack, and they have his back. "Let's go save the day, huh?" Owen revs the engines and heads towards the park.