The day before their trip up north, there had been a little surprise waiting for Owen outside. The girls had squealed with delight, both Echo and Charlie demanding to be the first ones to ride in it, but thankfully all of the excitement had been redirected into making sure they had all their belongings packed, because the caravan was moving out at first light.

And just before dawn the next morning, all seven raptors and their human 'parents' loaded up and set off down the mountain, Blue in the front seat of the new truck with Owen, acutely aware of Omega dozing in the spacious backseat. Unusually excited, since she was the first one to ride in Owen's new truck, Blue examined all the knobs and dials with interest, quickly discovering what each one did, activated, and programmed.

"Wow," she observed, scrolling through the media center in the middle of the dashboard, "this thing's loaded." She pressed a few more settings, then smirked. "The doc must really like you, or something, Owen." She was teasing, of course, but there was a bit of a fond light in her eye which hadn't been present in a long time.