Prompt: A one shot about the day Blue was born! She was born a few days later than she was intended. Owen instantly fell in love with Delta, Echo, and Charlie so when Blue didn't make her grand entrance he was really worried.
Requested By: Kelshier (aka astolendarling)
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His heart felt heavy in his chest.
Three of the raptors he was meant to imprint on had made their grand entrance into the world, but there was one left. One solitary egg that remained uncracked.
He'd named the others already, the smallest of the three dubbed 'Charlie.' And Delta and Echo were asleep with her in the isolation cage.
Just one left.
Everyone had already written it off as a dud, and tomorrow they'd euthanize the raptor inside.
Owen understood their way of thinking, but he just couldn't accept it. His last little girl had to make it.
He wasn't sure why the sudden attachment to the unmoving egg, or the three other girls for that matter. They were dinosaurs. Dinosaurs that when they got big enough, would want to eat him.
But he just had this... overwhelming feeling that he dared not to label as love. He couldn't love them.
And yet, here he was, loving them all the same.
He was finishing up some evaluations on interns in the lab, seated beside the last egg, when you wandered in. You'd been put on third shift for the week, and you'd heard all about the issues with the fourth raptor.
You had to observe and document its changes each hour, along with all of the other tasks assigned on a normal night.
You're finding it a bit difficult to concentrate on your work. Every five minutes or so, you hear a deep sigh, and, as curiosity is getting the better of you, you turn to look toward Owen.
He's staring wistfully at the unhatched egg, eyes sad and full of worry. You hate seeing anyone in despair, especially Owen. He'd been very kind to you throughout his time here.
"How are you, Owen," You ask, coming to stand beside him, eyes locked on the egg.
"Could be better, I guess."
"How are the other girls?" You attempt to pull the conversation to something that will light his face in a smile, but it's not working.
"They're sleeping."
He's not opening up. So you take a different approach.
"Seen any good movies lately?"
You're moving toward the cabinet along the far wall, busying yourself as you await his answer.
When he doesn't reply, you glance in his direction, his bight blue eyes glued on the egg.
You clear your throat loudly, watching as he jerks his head up.
"Ah, what?" He asks, shaking his head to seemingly clear away cobwebs.
"Have you seen any good movies?" You reiterate, smiling softly at him. This must be really hard. Waiting and waiting for months to even see if he'd get the chance to train the Velociraptors, and now that he'd gotten the okay for them to imprint on him, the last of the four wouldn't budge.
"Before I got on the boat back, I went and saw The Avengers," he halfway smiles, and it's just enough to make you feel like you've helped at least a bit.
"You like it?" You ask as you replace some dirty test tubes that Dr. Hents left out with new, clean ones.
"Yeah- pretty good."
He's still distant, still worrying over the one who hadn't come yet.
You leave him be, knowing that if you keep pestering, he may get upset with you. He seemed to just want to be left alone.
It's an hour later, and you're working on some overdue paperwork when you nearly jump out of your shoes.
"Have you seen any good movies lately?"
Owen is standing right next to you, practically making you leap out of your skin. How did he get over here without you noticing?
"Sorry," he apologizes, "Just wanted to try and get my mind off the Beta."
"Oh," you calm yourself, trying not to think about how disheveled he looks. He must've dozed off for a few minutes while you weren't looking.
It's alarming how much you like it.
"I saw The Avengers last week on vacation," you smile, writing down a number on your clipboard.
He spends the rest of the night by your side, discussing movies, books, the park- what exactly your job is. He's a very interesting guy, and you can't help but want to know more about him. He follows you around the lab as you finish your tasks, every once in a while running over to the egg to make sure nothing had changed.
By four in the morning, you're trying to come up with ways for the night to never end- maybe even putting yourself on the line and ask him out, when something miraculous happens.
He'd stepped away again, intent on checking the egg.
"(Y/N)! She's hatching!"
Caught up in his excitement, your heart leaps in your chest, and you sprint to the incubator, watching in awe as the tiny raptor begins poking it's snout through the eggshell.
You step back, knowing that if it sees you first you'll be the one it imprints on, and neither you nor Owen can have that.
It has to see Owen as it's Alpha.
You back up, and begin watching him. That look of pure wonder in his eyes, as if it's his child being born. You can tell he's holding his breath, his body as still and strong as a rock.
He pulls away bits of shell, helping his little raptor into the world, whispering encouraging phrases to it. It's like you've all but disappeared.
