Hoskins finds the key. But in true fashion of combating the machinations of extremely clever, extremely aggressive hybrids, the key is oddly shaped, the lock very small; it's hidden in one corner of the mechanism, smooth enough in the metal to be easy to miss even with fingers passing over it. And Hoskins's fingers are shaking so bad that he can barely keep the key in his grasp.
This wasn't supposed to happen. The ground is still vibrating with intermittent explosions, and the klaxons blare in his ears, the red making his eyes water, his head aching. He knows what it is. The compound is under attack. God damn it, he knew they were coming, but how could Owen Grady possibly have made it past the blockades on the beaches, how could the raptors have breached the entire army of ACU guards surrounding the fences without sounding any alarms? He knows his boys. Knows them damn well. Raised them from birth. They never learned to be that subtle, and if there was one animal who could never resist even the smallest opportunity for bloodshed -- even at the cost of his own safety -- it was Omega--
All of a sudden the door to the dungeon slams open with a metallic crash, and Hoskins drops the keys.
He curses wildly, but doesn't dare take his eyes off the door, not even as he stoops unsteadily down and tries to feel around for the key. Then two dark shapes come flying out, one of them hitting the bars of the cage, the other one crumpling to the ground before Hoskins's eyes. They're the guards who were stationed outside the door, bloody and mangled. One of them had his chest caved in, shards of bone sticking out in the flashes of red light. The other one has no head.
Hoskins reels back from the bars, forgetting all about the key. Darkness coats his eyes, in the same instant that a dreadful purrrr curls its way to his ears, nearly inaudible beneath the sound of the alarms.
In the next flash of red, Omega is standing outside the bars of the cage door.
His claws are soaked in blood that's not his own, his whole body is vibrating with the adrenaline of killing, but for once Omega is not consumed by his own exhilaration. All of that was just necessary action, taken to get here, to find her, and he felt her pull him straight down to hell, a place he'll feel like the ghost of chains on his body for the rest of his life. But now that he's here, he doesn't see anything else but her.
And then -- Hoskins.
Blue is hurt, or sick, or both. Badly. Omega can see that at a glance, but more than that, Vic Hoskins is in there with her, alone with his mate, and he's responsible for this, for her pain -- and then--
And then--
He sees the weakness in his mate, the helpless splay of her body, and the open trousers dropping halfway down the trembling legs on that fat, disgusting sack of meat. In the instant that passes between seeing them, and realizing this, Omega's eyes widen, flashing white hot as his lungs constrict, and then suddenly the fire burns so hot that the burn turns to ice. Something utterly black descends over him, in that single heartbeat, everything in the world erased. Omega knows he's never felt anger like this. He didn't know what fury was until now.
The containment measures here are old and rusted. He is not. And there is nothing on this wretched earth that will come between him and his mate, least of all the hubris of InGen. Omega grabs the bars of the door, and doesn't bother with the lock. With a savage howl, he wrenches the entire thing off at the hinges and throws it aside to crash against his brother's cage, and then Omega throws himself at Hoskins and has his claws -- finally; finally -- around that disgusting throat--
Hoskins chokes, gurgles, terrified, and Omega's claws pierce skin, but then the compound rocks above them as another explosion tears down walls much closer to them this time. Omega quickly looks up, and then down at his mate as he comes immediately to his senses: she can't free herself. This place is going to come down on their heads before long. As much as he would love -- god, would he love it -- to scrape the bones out of this man, this god damn bastard who dared to lay a hand on his mate, he's not going to risk Blue's life for this.
His attention whips back to Hoskins, and in the next flash of red, he forces the man to his knees and slams a foot straight down on his leg. Flesh and bone crushes with a stomach-wrenching noise, and Hoskins shrieks; Omega lets him go, allows him to collapse in screaming agony back against the bars, and whirls to his mate's side, where he never should have left.
What have they done to her?
Omega doesn't waste time looking for the right keys. One by one, he grabs each chain and twists, pulls, presses a boot to the wall -- they shatter at the base, until Blue is left with dangling chains on her wrists and ankles, but she's free. And Omega's stomach roils, because when he pulls her into his arms, she doesn't have the strength to tell him to go to hell, and even in the flashing lights he can tell that her face is grey, her beautiful eyes (they should be so sharp, so bright) unfocused and dilated. There aren't enough ways to scorch the earth beneath the ashes of InGen to make them pay for this...
But he doesn't throw Hoskins a second glance as he dashes from the dungeon with Blue in his arms, cradled tight to his chest.
Above, there is nothing but chaos. The rooms over the dungeon are crumbling, broken; corpses litter the floor, of guards and technicians alike, and through the windows there are screams and yells and a bright orange glow. Another explosion bursts in the distance, quaking the earth, but Omega is steady on his feet, until they finally break out of the building and race across a compound that is slowly burning to the ground. They head straight for the trees, and Omega doesn't slow until he's brought his mate far from the devastation and up onto higher ground, into a deep thicket of tree roots and fallen leaves and the prehistoric flora of the island.
Omega kneels, and very carefully lowers Blue to rest on cool earth and soft grass. With the humans far away, all that's left in his eyes is the anxious worry, a sickening fear he hasn't experienced since the Indominus let her feel its claws. He knows what they've injected into her... her body wasn't meant to take this much. This was meant for him, and he's a monster. But Blue is better than him. Smarter. He should never have let this happen. He should have seen this coming...
He strokes back the tangle of her hair, both hands touching her face with a gentleness that has only ever belonged to her. Then he looks back toward the compound, and in his eyes narrow.
In an instant he's gone, a bolt of lightning headed straight for the battlefield down the hill.
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This wasn't supposed to happen. The ground is still vibrating with intermittent explosions, and the klaxons blare in his ears, the red making his eyes water, his head aching. He knows what it is. The compound is under attack. God damn it, he knew they were coming, but how could Owen Grady possibly have made it past the blockades on the beaches, how could the raptors have breached the entire army of ACU guards surrounding the fences without sounding any alarms? He knows his boys. Knows them damn well. Raised them from birth. They never learned to be that subtle, and if there was one animal who could never resist even the smallest opportunity for bloodshed -- even at the cost of his own safety -- it was Omega--
All of a sudden the door to the dungeon slams open with a metallic crash, and Hoskins drops the keys.
He curses wildly, but doesn't dare take his eyes off the door, not even as he stoops unsteadily down and tries to feel around for the key. Then two dark shapes come flying out, one of them hitting the bars of the cage, the other one crumpling to the ground before Hoskins's eyes. They're the guards who were stationed outside the door, bloody and mangled. One of them had his chest caved in, shards of bone sticking out in the flashes of red light. The other one has no head.
Hoskins reels back from the bars, forgetting all about the key. Darkness coats his eyes, in the same instant that a dreadful purrrr curls its way to his ears, nearly inaudible beneath the sound of the alarms.
In the next flash of red, Omega is standing outside the bars of the cage door.
His claws are soaked in blood that's not his own, his whole body is vibrating with the adrenaline of killing, but for once Omega is not consumed by his own exhilaration. All of that was just necessary action, taken to get here, to find her, and he felt her pull him straight down to hell, a place he'll feel like the ghost of chains on his body for the rest of his life. But now that he's here, he doesn't see anything else but her.
And then -- Hoskins.
Blue is hurt, or sick, or both. Badly. Omega can see that at a glance, but more than that, Vic Hoskins is in there with her, alone with his mate, and he's responsible for this, for her pain -- and then--
And then--
He sees the weakness in his mate, the helpless splay of her body, and the open trousers dropping halfway down the trembling legs on that fat, disgusting sack of meat. In the instant that passes between seeing them, and realizing this, Omega's eyes widen, flashing white hot as his lungs constrict, and then suddenly the fire burns so hot that the burn turns to ice. Something utterly black descends over him, in that single heartbeat, everything in the world erased. Omega knows he's never felt anger like this. He didn't know what fury was until now.
The containment measures here are old and rusted. He is not. And there is nothing on this wretched earth that will come between him and his mate, least of all the hubris of InGen. Omega grabs the bars of the door, and doesn't bother with the lock. With a savage howl, he wrenches the entire thing off at the hinges and throws it aside to crash against his brother's cage, and then Omega throws himself at Hoskins and has his claws -- finally; finally -- around that disgusting throat--
Hoskins chokes, gurgles, terrified, and Omega's claws pierce skin, but then the compound rocks above them as another explosion tears down walls much closer to them this time. Omega quickly looks up, and then down at his mate as he comes immediately to his senses: she can't free herself. This place is going to come down on their heads before long. As much as he would love -- god, would he love it -- to scrape the bones out of this man, this god damn bastard who dared to lay a hand on his mate, he's not going to risk Blue's life for this.
His attention whips back to Hoskins, and in the next flash of red, he forces the man to his knees and slams a foot straight down on his leg. Flesh and bone crushes with a stomach-wrenching noise, and Hoskins shrieks; Omega lets him go, allows him to collapse in screaming agony back against the bars, and whirls to his mate's side, where he never should have left.
What have they done to her?
Omega doesn't waste time looking for the right keys. One by one, he grabs each chain and twists, pulls, presses a boot to the wall -- they shatter at the base, until Blue is left with dangling chains on her wrists and ankles, but she's free. And Omega's stomach roils, because when he pulls her into his arms, she doesn't have the strength to tell him to go to hell, and even in the flashing lights he can tell that her face is grey, her beautiful eyes (they should be so sharp, so bright) unfocused and dilated. There aren't enough ways to scorch the earth beneath the ashes of InGen to make them pay for this...
But he doesn't throw Hoskins a second glance as he dashes from the dungeon with Blue in his arms, cradled tight to his chest.
Above, there is nothing but chaos. The rooms over the dungeon are crumbling, broken; corpses litter the floor, of guards and technicians alike, and through the windows there are screams and yells and a bright orange glow. Another explosion bursts in the distance, quaking the earth, but Omega is steady on his feet, until they finally break out of the building and race across a compound that is slowly burning to the ground. They head straight for the trees, and Omega doesn't slow until he's brought his mate far from the devastation and up onto higher ground, into a deep thicket of tree roots and fallen leaves and the prehistoric flora of the island.
Omega kneels, and very carefully lowers Blue to rest on cool earth and soft grass. With the humans far away, all that's left in his eyes is the anxious worry, a sickening fear he hasn't experienced since the Indominus let her feel its claws. He knows what they've injected into her... her body wasn't meant to take this much. This was meant for him, and he's a monster. But Blue is better than him. Smarter. He should never have let this happen. He should have seen this coming...
He strokes back the tangle of her hair, both hands touching her face with a gentleness that has only ever belonged to her. Then he looks back toward the compound, and in his eyes narrow.
In an instant he's gone, a bolt of lightning headed straight for the battlefield down the hill.