Isla Sorna

[cerhadivision]

2
For bluebetabitch

When you spend a long time building something with your own two hands, it becomes difficult to wrap your mind around the idea of the work being done. Owen grew up around that kind of mindset, and knows very well how it feels to be in the same grip. But he doesn't mind. That's the thing about having a family: it expands, and the world around it needs to expand with it. Little by little, the house came up around them, and they settled into it, and he's never really stopped working this little world of his over like an ever-evolving project that he loves with his whole heart.

They're settled here. Officially. No one can deny it, and even though Owen still has dreams sometimes about InGen -- or anyone -- hunting them down to rip the girls, or even the boys, out of his hands, those fears evaporate every morning. The girls get along as well as any sisters do, and even the squabbling has died down in recent months; the boys have adapted beautifully, and although Chi and Psi still exhibit behavior that looks odd alongside the girls from time to time, they no longer struggle to meet expectations that were completely alien to them for most of their lives.

And then there's Blue and Omega.

The difference in Blue between her youth on Isla Nublar, and the young womanhood that quite clearly blossomed in the Santa Lucia Mountains of central California, is not only noticeable, but striking. Always the one he could rely on over the others, Blue has managed to develop into a creature that is both an extension of his right arm and yet still a highly independent person who no longer looks to him quite so often for cues; she still values her space and her privacy, but those withdrawals from the pack just to brood and sulk have all but disappeared. And while Blue's temper will always strike fear into the hearts of her siblings -- adopted or otherwise -- she's learned to balance it with patience, a trait that would always thwart her more than any other. Until now. Owen always wanted Blue to learn that balance between animal instinct and human rationality, and he knew she'd get there in her own way sooner or later. Now, it seems she has, and it's a beautiful thing to see.

Then, as if her own transformation wasn't enough, she'd somehow managed to turn her mate into an entirely different person.

If Blue's maturation is impressive, Omega's has been nothing short of miraculous. All right... Owen is a professional behaviorist; he knows there's no such thing as miracles, only hard work and dedication. Only this time it wasn't his. It was Blue's time, effort, and uncharacteristic affection that turned a furious, hateful killing machine into something that could be now what he might have been then, before InGen had their way. Omega lives in the house now. He eats when they do. He joins the family in their gatherings, as long as Blue is with him, and although his temper is still zero to 60 when roused, these days it's much harder to set him off than it used to be, even if that wouldn't be saying much. He prefers his mate and solitude over anything else, but his violently aggressive tendencies have been all but curbed for the sake of keeping Blue happy.

For obvious reasons, Owen has kept a close eye on them both from day one, and even from the very beginning Omega has treated Blue like the center of the universe. Owen himself has salvaged his share of abused, wild animals -- it's literally part of the job -- but he knows without question that no one could have done this but her. And her success is absolutely indisputable.

Case in point: today, Omega's dislike for interacting with unfamiliar people had outweighed his desire to be with Blue as often as possible, and instead of throwing a tantrum he simply hadn't gone with her down the mountain.

For Barry, it was supplies; Echo wanted clothes; Blue was only interested in procuring necessary parts for her nearly-restored 1979 Pontiac Phoenix Firebird, a task built upon very specific requirements and one which she would never entrust to any of her siblings. The day is very nice for a sojourn into the city, considering the length of the drive: blue skies and a mild breeze, not quite so far into spring that the air is anything more than comfortably warm. Psi is helping Delta collect chili peppers and the new experimental plums. Chi fell asleep in the grass up the hill. Charlie is giving Owen a hand with replacing some worn poles along the stone steps leading down to the boys' den, when they hear the familiar sound of the Jeep rolling up the long hill that serves as their driveway.

Only, it sounds like it's coming up fast.

Owen and Charlie look at each other, and immediately drop what they're doing to meet the car just as Barry rolls up, screeching to a stop and diving out of the driver's side to rush around to the passenger door. He looks frantic. And he's helping Echo out of the car. She looks like she's about to pitch right off her feet.

"Owen!" Barry calls out urgently, eyes widening immediately as Owen rushes to them. "Owen!" He has to wrap an arm around Echo's back to keep her standing. And then, to Owen's surprise and dread, Barry yells again. "Omega!"

Owen doesn't actually know where Omega has been this whole time. But suddenly he's there next to him, clearly as alarmed at being summoned as Owen was to hear it, and Owen can practically feel the tension in the male raptor's body triple because they both realized the same thing: that Blue is not with them.

"They took her," Barry says, breathless, and the bottom falls out of Owen's stomach.

Echo tries to rouse herself, flopping a little, mumbling in groggy frustration as she tries to shake off whatever is wrong with her and help explain. But Barry keeps his hold on her and barrels right through it.

"It was InGen. They had an entire strike force, Owen, the streets are chaos now. They used non-lethals. Tranquilizers. Echo took a direct hit, but they left her behind. All of them were focused on Blue." He looks at both of them, Owen and then Omega, panicked and desperate. "They came for her."

The weather was gorgeous a minute ago. Now the entire world is ice. Owen's heart has stopped, his breath is gone. Delta and the boys come running up, but he barely notices them. Beside him is Omega, frozen; then suddenly the raptor whirls to him, eyes wide, and the fury -- the fear -- in them is apocalyptic.

Omega doesn't say a word, but Owen immediately finds his voice. "Go get her."

The male raptor is gone like a bolt of lightning. Owen turns and strides quickly to a hidden cache beneath the porch. He pulls out two assault rifles and a hell of a lot of ammo as Charlie shrieks behind him, "Why aren't we going with him?!"

"Because we're going to follow him." Owen tosses a rifle to Barry, and gestures sharply for everyone to get into the car, including the still-dizzy Echo. "After Isla Nublar, Omega found us in less than a week on nothing but Blue's scent and pure instinct. This time he knows where he's going. We'd only slow him down." The motor is still running. Almost before every door is shut, Owen jerks the Jeep into gear. His last words are almost a growl to himself. "With any luck, all we'll have to do is clean up."

The Jeep screeches in reverse, turns, and roars off down the mountain.

Comments

[bluebetabitch]

There was blood on her hands when she woke. And, judging from the scent, no one's she knew. Blue gagged, stomach churning alarmingly. Her head throbbed, her vision was dangerously cloudy and unfocused, and when she tried to move, panic immediately set in when she realized she was chained! A scream rang in her ears, echoed from her own throat, and she whipped her hands up to scratch at the collar around her neck, and a length of chainlink nearly smacked her in the nose. Her wrists were also shackled!

She screamed again, this time the sound carried overtones of murderous defiance, but when she tried to rise, her knees and feet refused, tumbling her back to the cold floor once again. Rising upset her stomach again, and Blue leaned over, heaving up nothing but gagging nevertheless. Slumping back down again, she absently licked the blood from her fingernails and hands, trying to remember just what the hell had happened.

Her last coherent memory, when she focused on it, was coming out of the auto parts store with Barry and Echo, kibitzing over the prices of vehicle parts, then she'd felt a sharp pain in the back of her shoulder and the world had gone white. She recalled Barry whipping out his pistol, Echo screeching nearby, but Blue had been unable to respond, as her legs and arms had gone limp and useless.

...then she'd woken up here, in this nightmarishly familiar steel box.

A snarl rippled her throat, a myriad of scents and sounds revealing to her exactly where she was: Costa Rica, on the island of Isla...Sorna, more than likely. She'd been born and raised on these islands; she'd recognize them anywhere. The smell of damp, of trees, of wet warm earth. She jerked at the restraints out of sheer reflex, not expecting them to give but unwilling to simply lie there and take it. They refused to give, naturally, and she strained against them again, imagining she actually heard one of the links creak, but then a new set of sounds and scents caught her attention and Blue whipped around, a true growl emerging this time as the most hated visage in all of her history emerged on the other side of those steel bars, leering at her.

"Well, well, well, lookit you, little girl." Hoskins leaned his arms through the bars, smarmy smile broad. "Welcome home, baby Blue. We've been missin' you around here, yes we surely have."

The security guards behind him were forced to drop their rifles and press hands to their ears, so piercing was the shriek that bombarded them in response.

[bluebetabitch]

Blue sat in the window of her bedroom, gazing silently out over the California mountainside. Summer had finally arrived and the pine trees were thick with needles and cones, birds were rearing their chicks in the branches, and squirrels were leaping from one tree to another, greedily harvesting the food they'd need for the coming fall and winter months.

This--was home. Her sisters and the rest of her family were all here, wonderful, loving, caring, and concerned. Worried about her. Speaking in low voices when they believed her attention elsewhere. It was enough to make her teeth grind. A month. A month since she'd last seen the hills of Big Sur, laughed and loved with those she held most dear in all the world.

But now, a shadow loomed.

Unseen by all, it lurked, waited patiently in the back of her very own mind. Always eager to pounce, it remained hidden just until she believe she might have left it behind entirely, then CLANG!--she was back in that white bare cell, her wrists and ankles bound to the concrete floor beneath that rickety little cot, and a leering, drooling Vic Hoskins was standing over her--

Blue jerked back with a panicked snarl, trying to catch her breath again. She hugged her knees, curled into the corner of her room's large window soaking up the bright summer sunshine, trying to feel warm again. She leaned her forehead against the cool glass, feeling sweat begin to bead all over her skin. Closing her eyes, she fought a sniffle.

Would it ever just...go away? Would it ever stop?