AN~ Thank you to everyone who has read and commented so far! Hope you're having a great Valentine's Day. I've been taking time to get this chapter out so you have a bit to enjoy. Again, comments are greatly appreciated and please share with all your friends who you think may like this!
Visiting the Indominus had been a sobering experience. It showed Dany exactly what could happen when humans tried to play God. The creature had no place in this world, and it seemed as though she knew it.
Owen took Dany back to get settled before inviting her to the Main Street. The park was currently closed but restaurants were open for staff with employees. They were seated outside by a glass fire pit, drinks in hand while an order "Pterodactyl Wings", or cleverly named Buffalo wings, was placed in front of them.
"So, tell me what you really think of Wu's little creation," Owen said, plucking three wings to put on his plate. "I can tell by the look on your face."
Dany had ripped a bit of meat off a flat, dipping it in ranch before sticking in her mouth, shaking her head as she chewed and swallowed. "Honestly sort of sad. They've created a monster and they could have at least given her a better shot by getting someone to imprint on her when she hatched, but by not doing so—can you imagine what she's going to be like when she's an adult?"
"They have no idea what they're getting themselves into," Owen shook his head in affirmation. "You know what happened to Jurassic Park all those years ago, right?"
Dany nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately. InGen seems to have a pattern."
Owen snorted. "I work with InGen, not by my own accord. You don't have to tell me," He replied, taking a sip of his beer. "They see the possibility of making these things into weapons. It's what they want to use the raptors for and it's just...when did we forget they're animals and not machines?"
"Since Hammond and his labs decided they could create prehistoric life," Dany said.
"To be fair, Hammond actually cared about the animals and their well being. When InGen got involved, and when Wu realized what he was capable of was when it went completely haywire," Owen explained. "I gotta ask, Wu called you the 'youngest dragon'. Got me curious."
There wasn't really a question in Owen's remark but Dany for the gist of his inquiry. "There's a lot of mythology that goes into my family's history. So much that it seems to have overshadowed fact so greatly that the fact was never really remembered. They say that my family was the 'Blood of the Dragon', that House Targaryen was started by Aegon Targaryen and his two sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys Targaryen. The blood of Old Valyria had used blood magic to have a connection with dragons, of which they rode into battle, great winged creatures that breathed fire on their enemies."
She was sure Owen thought she was mad at this point, and when she dared to lift her eyes to meet his face, there was no ridicule, no mocking, but he studied her intently, listening to every word.
"Hell, if we could bring dinosaurs back, who's to say dragons couldn't have existed?" He pointed out with a shrug, lifting his beer glass to his lips. "But that's pretty incredible to have such an extensive family history, something with so much lore and detail."
"I suppose. It just makes me wonder because there's so much legend veiling the history. The line between reality and fantasy always seemed like such a grey area," Dany mused thoughtfully. "It's odd to think others know my family history and lore better than I do sometimes."
"So Old Valyria? I didn't even know a place like that existed." Owen commented.
"According to modern maps, it doesn't, but they say it's where our relationship with dragons began. Following the Doom and the Fall of Valyria, Old Valyria is supposedly in ruins. Nobody dared to venture there and who knows if it even exists now, or ever did." She said, drawing a breath. "Okay, this entire evening can't be about me, how did you come to work with the raptors?"
"Well, Wu put me in charge of a clutch of three eggs, I'd worked in animal behavior and training prior, so once they hatched, they imprinted on me, I trained them, spent most waking hours with them and developed the relationship I have with them now,"
Dany nodded softly, mulling over what Owen said. She could only imagine how amazing it was being able to spend so much time with and have such an incredible bond with these creatures like he had. "What're their names?" She asked.
"Blue, Charlie, Delta, and Echo," He responded, and Dany could see the warmth in his eyes when he talked about them. It was obvious they were so much more to him than just features in the park.
"Those are so pretty, they're fitting for them," Dany said with a grin. "How'd you jump straight to 'B' in the alphabet?"
"Well, Blue was going to be 'Alpha', but when she hatched it was pretty obvious she was supposed to be Blue." He said. "No other name fit her as well."
"She's the one with the blue stripe down her side?" Dany commented, tilting her head. "She seems to be the one who you're closest with."
"You know what's interesting? When they were hatching, I did a couple temperament tests on them—all of which we got on video, and anytime I pretended to show weakness, pain, anything like that, the other girls were quick to move in for the kill. But Blue? I've worked with a bunch of different animals but I've never seen one show any sort of understanding of emotion or empathy like she does." Owen explained. He seemed completely engaged now, talking about a subject that he spent so much of his days on, that took up so much of his life. But what he told her had Dany absolutely fascinated.
"So many people don't think animals are capable of that." She said, a little incredulously. "That they don't experience emotions to that degree of complexity."
"That's what's so interesting, a lot of them don't. None of the ones I worked with did, not to that degree. But not Blue. She came up and showed compassion and empathy, checking on me to make sure I was okay. Ever since then, she and I have had something special," Owen admitted. A softer smile played across Dany's lips, nodding carefully.
"I've only been around them once, from a distance, and even then it was obvious what kind of relationship you two have," Dany told him. There was a beat of silence between them for a moment, and Owen seemed to just study her. As though for the first time here the emotion and compassion he saw in these animals was being validated. There seemed to be a shift in his expression, one Dany couldn't read.
"Listen, until they get you hooked up with your own charge, why don't you help me with the raptors? It'll give you a chance to get to know them, and then you can kinda get a feel for them and what you're getting yourself into."
Dany seemed to consider the offer for a moment but everything within her screamed at her to accept. "That would be great, I'm sure there's a lot I can learn from you." She said.
"Then it's done, you start tomorrow," Owen said with a grin. "I warn you, it's not gonna be easy."
"I've seen the supervisor," Dany said with a laugh. "I don't think anything here is going to be easy.
+
Later that evening when Owen dropped her off at the bungalows, Dany immediately went in to take a shower. Steam rose at an alarming rate to almost anyone else as the heat immediately choked the small bathroom. But where it would be considered too hot for most, almost scalding, for Dany it was perfect. She liked the heat, it made her feel clean, invigorated. As she stood under the streams of water, her mind raced. What was going to be her purpose here? What would happen when it opened?
What all would she get out of learning under Owen?
They were all questions that raced through her mind as she scrubbed herself, washed her hair and got out of the shower, a warm flush spread across her fair skin from the heat of the water. She poured herself a glass of wine from some grocery shopping she'd gotten done earlier and set to work looking at her laptop until she could barely keep her eyes anymore, finally succumbing from the fatigue of travel and went to climb into bed.
The next morning, her day started. She took a Jeep over to the raptor compounds and set to work. The raptors were a bustle of nervous energy that morning, the instinct to hunt running high. Owen was feeding when he'd noticed a part of the chicken wire lining the already steel fencing having been pulled off and Dany volunteered to go in and get it.
"Alright, I'll keep them busy, but just be careful," He warned. Dany went inside the octagon and while the four were distracted by Owen tossing rats down for them, she went to the side of here the wiring was coming undone and knelt by the fence to fix it.
She was lost in focus when she felt a heavy presence come up behind her, heavier than a human and a deep throated rattle made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. The creature bent to study her, it's muzzle moving into her space as the soft trill of a raptor, wary and territorial, made Dany freeze in her spot.
"Dany, do not move," Owen ordered. "Don't say anything—don't even look at me. Delta is right behind you."
Out of the corner of her eye, Dany could see the hooked claw on the foot of a raptor just within her line of sight, her breathing at a halt. She didn't move, but was sickeningly aware of how easily the raptor could jump her and it would be over. She could feel the phantom weight and tearing of claws and teeth that were so close, making that terrifying scenario in her brain more real than for comfort. She heard Owen calling to Barry to try to get in there and a bustle of activity.
She couldn't move, frozen to the spot and not wanting to give Delta any reason to attack. The raptor's breath was hot and rancid in the side of her face, and she gripped the fence so tightly her knuckles went white. Delta uttered a bone chilling snarl as she seemed to investigate the newcomer, seeming to trying to decide whether it was worth the attack. But what could Dany possibly do in defense? She had a screwdriver which she could potentially plunge into the tough scaled skin but she'd be dead before she could even do much harm to the dromaeosaur practically on top of her now.
"Delta, come here! Leave it!" Barry ordered once the gates were opened. Delta whirled around with a squeal, uttering a hiss as she seemed to stand nearer to Dany.
Shit, she's resource guarding. Shit shit shit shit...
"Delta abort." Owen barked sharply. But Delta wasn't budging. Her almost obsessive interest in Dany made her all the more worried, since this was the behavior predators exhibited toward prey. But she was suddenly aware of the presence of another raptor.
That's it. I'm dead. The whole pack is after me.
But that was hardly the situation. With a squeal, hissing and barking of two different raptors, Dany flinched and ducked down as the two raptors started tumbling toward her in a ball of of hissing, shrieking, claws and fury, the weight of two animals equating that of a small pony hitting the bars with a thud just as a metal door got shoved open.
"Dany!" Owen shouted, and Dany didn't think twice. She all but rolled toward the door before scrambling on all fours. Owen grabbed her by the back of her shirt and yanked her through it, shutting the door behind her. Once she was in safety, Dany brought a rush of air into her lungs, feeling like her heart was going to beat out of her chest as she collapsed to her knees, trembling as the the spike of adrenaline wore off.
"Jesus Christ, are you okay?" Owen knelt beside her, laying a hand on her back and one on her upper arm. "Are you hurt? Did she get you?"
"No—no, she didn't," Dany said breathlessly. She could have sworn she'd stopped breathing the second Delta had approached. "I'm okay. I've never felt so close to like, that was the end. I was sure she was going to jump on me."
"I'm not gonna lie to you and tell you she wasn't considering it," Owen said. He was still kneeling beside her, his hand running gently along the backs of her shoulders while trying to calm her into some semblance of normal breathing. "You handled that in every right way you could have. You froze, you didn't run. Had you ran that would have triggered her to chase you, and you wouldn't have gotten out of there."
"Well, no shit," Dany gave a light snort of a bitter laugh. "I know you don't run from a bipedal predator known for speed."
"Thank God for that," Owen said with a light grin, trying to lighten her spirits a bit as she sat up more on her knees. "The minute I was yelling at Delta though, Blue was in there. She jumped her first."
"I didn't realize that until she actually went after her, I thought I was about to get double teamed," Dany said with a helpless laugh. "She gave me enough time to get out of there."
There was another slam of a gate as Barry jogged over to them, sweat beading on his bald forehead.
"Are you alright? Putain d'enfer—you could 'ave been killed." Barry said breathlessly.
"She's okay, a bit shook up but she's okay," Owen told him, and Dany looked up and conceded with a thin, weak smile, nodding.
"She shaved about ten years off my life, but I'm still alive," Dany said lightly.
"Which is a good thing because we need you," Owen said, squeezing her shoulder before offering her a hand to help her to her feet, which Dany accepted. "At least try to stay alive until the park opens."
That prompted a laugh from Dany, and the rest of the day finished off with a little less excitement.
+
A couple weeks had gone by, and Dany continued working at the raptor pen. She was gradually developing a rapport with Blue, who she could now at least drop a rat for and the slate blue raptor would get close enough to her, snatch the rat and leave without showing any sort of aggression. Delta would still peruse around her as though trying to check her out, but there was no further outward aggression, but Dany didn't trust her nearly enough to turn her back to her.
Echo was indifferent, albeit curious but it was Charlie who would follow Dany around. If she reached out she was met with a hiss, but each day brought the baby of the pack closer and closer as Dany worked around the octagon, watching her and trilling curiously, tilting her head like that of a bird. Owen laughed and told her she had a co worker now, and Dany couldn't leave a wheelbarrow unattended without the youngest of the pack pulling it over when she wasn't looking. Eventually, Charlie would greet Dany at the door and stay just out of reach of touch. It was like a cat, demanding attention but wouldn't allow you to touch her. If Dany had her back turned, Charlie would come up and stick her muzzle against the nape of Dany's neck, which made her jump out of her skin almost every single time. Owen swore it was because of her reaction that Charlie kept doing it.
Meanwhile, Dany found that she and Owen spent more time together. Merely in a budding friendship, talking about the Raptors, different training ideas. But the more time they spent together the more Dany noticed Claire's animosity toward her, either responding to her questions in a clipped tone or just ignoring her altogether. While it sort of unsettled her, Dany refused to let the red head's actions get under her skin.
The next Friday, a party was thrown on behalf of Dany joining the Jurassic World team by some of the other trainers. It was a hot, humid summer night and the park was due to open in the next coming months. A barbecue was hosted on Main Street by the Mosasaurus lagoon and Dany was more than happy to be able to have the evening off and spent time with her colleagues.
Her long silvery blonde hair was partially clipped back and fell to her mid back in loosely curled tendrils, and she wore denim shorts and a knitted white crop top. Once she got to Main Street, Owen was the first one to spot her, as well as Zara, who Dany had gotten surprisingly close to.
"Hey, she made it!" Owen announced with a grin. "Lemme grab you a drink. Beer? Wine? Something harder?"
"Surprise me." Dany replied, giving him the freedom to choose whatever he saw fit. Owen took the opportunity enthusiastically and went to the bar. Zara looked from Owen's back to Dany with a wicked grin, sidling up to her.
"Just in case you're wondering, Owen has been watching for you to come out since this started," She mentioned casually, when it was obvious she meant for it to be anything but. "And Claire has been absolutely furious over it."
Dany's brows shot up, fully engaged in the gossip with her newfound friend, and though she couldn't understand why Owen would be watching for her, she was intrigued.
"Why would she care? She's made it painfully obvious she has no interest in Owen," Dany said, looking toward the taller woman.
"She doesn't, they've been on and off to no avail but now that he's expressed interest in someone else, and that someone else has been spending more time with him, it drives her mad."
Dany blinked and a snort of a laugh. "You think Owen is interested in me? We work closely together, I don't think it's anything more than a working relationship."
"Right, because a work colleague watches for your arrival like a smitten puppy," Zara teased lightly, giving Dany's arm a light nudge. "Come on, you must see it, you've been with men before, haven't you?"
Dany gave a wry smirk. "Yes, I have, and I'm not nearly drunk enough to be having this conversation.
Zara laughed. "Well, don't fret because Prince Charming is coming back now to fix that problem."
Sure enough, Owen had come back with a couple solo cups. But after Zara's words, Dany was noticing more about Owen. That boyish charm mixed with an authoritative stoicism. He was blunt, friendly with at aloof, and for the first time Dany saw a little more warmth in his eyes when they fell on her.
"Dany, you seem like a vodka cran kinda girl, and a Chardonnay for Zara, per her request." Owen said as he handed both of them their cups. He would have, in fact, been correct. Dany didn't pick favorites when it came to vodka. That had to be her hard liquor of choice.
"Did you ever bartend, Owen?" Zara asked.
"There may have been a time I moonlighted as a bartender, not a very good one, mind you, but I tried," He said with a grin.
"Well, you nailed this one, thank you," Dany said, shooting him a grateful smile then took a sip of her drink.
"Owen!" All three of them turned to see two women and another man approach them. The guy clapped Owen on the shoulder, a beer bottle in his hand.
"What's going on, bro?" He said, his chocolate brown eyes meeting Dany's. He had dark hair and seemed to be at least moderately from around the Costa Rica area, a very mild accent tinting his words. "Daenerys, right?"
"Dany," Dany corrected lightly, not wanting anybody to have to struggle with her full name. The guy offered a hand.
"Aaron Morales, glad to have you on the team," He said brightly, and Dany shook his hand with a nod and a smile.
"Aaron's working with the Mosasaur. Aaron, Dany has been helping me with the raptors until Wu finds her a charge. And here we have Jessi Perez and Erika James. They work with both any of the pteranodons, dimorphodons, all of those, and the herbivores."
"Great to have you, Dany," Erika said with a nod and a smile.
"We've heard a lot about your work. Are you excited?" Jessi asked. Dany nodded.
"I am, this was something I dreamed about as a kid and never thought it would ever be possible," She explained. That seemed to be a collective opinion, and the night was spent on ugh them all drinking, talking and enjoying themselves. At one point, Claire did in fact approach her.
"Congratulations on coming into the Jurassic World family," She said with a rather insincere smile. "I hope Owen is helping you learn the ropes with the raptors."
"He is, he's been a huge source of guidance, I've learned a lot from him." Dany responded, still smiling but after her first encounter with Claire and the way the woman had been behaving toward her, she preferred to keep her at a distance.
"That's good, I'm sure you can learn much more from him as well." Claire said casually, standing beside Dany as they watched the going inside between the other people attending the party. "Just, between us, and from my own experience with him, I would keep it that way if I were you, just work buddies."
Claire's comment caught Dany off guard. "What do you mean?"
"I'm just saying that it would be in your best interest to keep your relationship with Owen professional. He's sort of a troubled guy, a little difficult." Claire said with a shrug.
Now Dany could see what the red head was doing, and her eyes narrowed. "I don't think of Owen in the way you think," She said. "Also, I fail to see how my personal life or relationships are any of your business."
"No, they're not," Claire responded, seeming puzzled by the obvious defensive stance Dany had taken to her words. "I'm just saying I've been down that road, I'm just looking out for you."
"Right," Dany returned, now more wary of Claire's intentions.
"I'm serious, I want to see you stick around, and I just don't think Owen thinks very highly of women. He's always been very controlling, he's got to be the alpha. I'm just saying if you want to make your life easier, I would avoid that at all costs."
Dany had had enough of the conversation. "Well, I appreciate your concern and advice, even though that hasn't been my experience with him."
"You also haven't been here long enough to get the full experience with Owen Grady," Claire pointed out.
"Well, again, I don't see him in the way you seem to think I do." She said. Claire eyed her scrutinably.
"Maybe not, but he seems to see you in that way."
Dany had to bite her tongue. "It was lovely talking to you, Claire, but I'd better go mingle," She said, her tone a little more pointed than it had been before as she turned to leave.
"Enjoy your evening, Daenerys," Claire responded as Dany walked away toward the Mosasaurus tank.
She climbed up into the stands and took a seat, watching the enormous marine reptile swim around the tank, catching a glimpse of the long, scaled back only to see the tail breach for a fraction of a second. As she watched, she found herself lost in thought, lightly flicking her nail against the edge of the cup. She wasn't sure what bothered her more, Claire inserting herself in Dany's business, or the thought that she might be right.
And if she was, why did Dany care so much? Why did she let it get under her skin?
Footsteps on metal caught her attention and she saw Zara climbing up into the stands to come sit next to her.
"Hey, you alright?" The dark haired woman asked. Dany gave a shrug with a dry smile, shaking her head.
"Yeah, I just had a weird conversation with Claire," She said. Zara's pale green eyes immediately narrowed and her brows knit together.
"What do you mean? What did she say?"
"Oh she mentioned Owen and just suggested I keep our relationship professional. I said I failed to see how it was her business and she started telling me all this nonsense like he was difficult and controlling and didn't have respect for women." She said and Zara snorted.
"That is rubbish. Owen may be firm with his raptors but he has never been anything but chivalrous and respectful. He's a very easy to please man, is completely happy with going on a walk or watching movies with pizza and beer and Claire is a wine and dine type of girl. She was too high maintenance for him."
"So none of what she said is true?"
Their conversation was interrupted by another set of footsteps and she turned to see Owen climbing up the stairs with a wrapped gift in the shape of a long rectangular box. When he saw both Dany and Zara on the bleachers, he shot them both a quizzical look.
"Hey—you guys hiding out up here or something?" He asked. Zara's eyes cut to Dany in a secret glance, starting to stand.
"Just chatting, I'll leave you to it," She said. "Also, Dany I suggest anything you want to know, lay it out on the table."
With that, she turned to leave and Owen looked back at Dany, tilting his head.
"What was that about?"
"It's nothing," Dany said, shaking her head. "You stealing away, too?"
"A little bit, I wanted to give you this. Sort of a 'welcome to the team' gift." He said, sitting beside her and handed her the box. It was relatively decent in weight, and Dany began pulling the taped sides away from the wrapping. Once it was free, a wooden box was as beneath the wrapping paper, and as she unlatched it, there was black felt covering nesting three scaled eggs, one black and red, another green and tan and one cream and bronze, all twice the size of a large avocado. When she realized what they were, her violet eyes widened.
"Dragon eggs?" She said, looking to Owen.
"Allegedly. I highly doubt they're real, maybe just painted, but I thought they were cool and fitting. You could put them on your coffee table or something. But either way, you have your dragons in spirit," Owen commented. Dany's expression softened as she looked down at the eggs, running the pad of her finger over them. They felt like stone, but she could swear she felt an odd vibration from them. She felt warmth, but just chalked it up to the warm Costa Rica evening.
"They're beautiful, Owen, thank you," She said, truly touched by the sentiment, looking at him with a soft smile.
"I'm glad you like them," He said with a light grin. "So, you wanna tell me what actually happened?"
Dany sighed, closing the box. "It's stupid, really, but I just had a weird conversation with Claire."
Almost immediately, Owen's brows furrowed. "What did she say to you?"
"Oh she just was asking about me working with you and if I was learning a lot, then went into suggesting I keep my relationship with you strictly professional."
Owen's eyes darkened. "Because clearly she sees everything even if we're not seeing it." He responded tersely, not directed toward Dany but she could hear his annoyance. "What were the omnipotent Claire Dearing's reasons behind that?"
"She told me how you were sort of controlling, difficult, and that you didn't have a lot of respect for women, basically," She said, her eyes focused on the grain of the wooden box. It was a really uncomfortable conversation to have, especially considering the idea of taking anything further hadn't even been breached yet. But while Owen seemed annoyed at Claire, he didn't seem put off by it.
"You've been around me enough in just a few weeks, what's your take on what she said?" Owen asked.
"I told her that hasn't been my experience with you," Dany responded, though she couldn't shake the feeling of apprehension. She'd only really known Owen a couple weeks.
"Here's the thing, I'm a pretty easy guy. We don't even know where this is going, and really there's no rushing into anything, so I'm not sure where Claire gets the right to have any sort of narrative about what this is. Also, the reason why Claire and I didn't work out is because the one date we went on, she printed out an itinerary for the night out. She couldn't drink tequila because of a diet she was on and she complained about me wearing board shorts when we're in Central America. She's high maintenance and I drove her crazy, so we never ended up working out."
Something about that made Daenerys feel more at ease. "She really does come off as high maintenance, and sort of rigid." She said with a soft chuckle.
"Oh, you have no idea," Owen said wryly. But his expression softened. "I invited you to work with me with the raptors because I respect what you've done and the skill you've shown me, regardless of your gender and believe me, I know they're not easy, and they imprinted on me and still test me. But you've been incredible with them, and I can't wait to see what you accomplish when you have your own charge."
Dany nodded softly, and Owen stood up, giving her shoulder a light squeeze. "The night is still young and the bar is still totally full, come on down when you're ready,"
As he turned, Dany looked his way. "Thank you again for the dragon eggs, Owen," She told him, and Owen paused and looked at her with a soft, half smile and brisk nod before heading back down.