A/N

We have a potential heart wrench warning!

Because it involves death.

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"I Was Never Alone."

"There we go, Kiddo. You should be back to your sweet self by morning."

Elise good-naturedly licked the white pill off Dr. Gerry's hand before she swallowed it. He wiped his slimy hand off as he added, "And if Owen's draggin' his ass to get you here, you know where I'm at; just knock. I usually sleep on the couch here; I'm too lazy to walk to my house every night."

Owen let out a chuckled as he hosed the floor off. Elise had calmed down immensely after Dr. Gerry had come in; she seemed to adore him for squirting Alexa off.

Owen knew he loved Dr. Gerry all the more for it.

Zach and Gray were immediately put to work by the old vet, and they actually liked helping make Elise feel better. The snow scaled dinosaur was much warmer towards them now, and had even begun to gently blow air on Gray when her nose was briefly cleared of snot.

Once in a while, Owen's radio would crackle, and loud laughter roared over it. Lowery swore he would somehow make a remix of the sneeze before bestowing the gift to the world. It sounded like Control had briefly stopped working to simply play the interview over and over again. Owen hoped to see it again, and the two boys intended to get a copy of it as soon as they got back; Owen was amazed Claire hadn't said anything about their absence.

Owen wished she wasn't so busy, and he could see she wanted to spend time with her nephews.

Maybe he could get them together for another dinner tonight, and Claire would forgive him for letting them tag along.

Owen was pulled from his thoughts when the old vet said, "Alright, you're good to go. I don't think you'll need a shot of anything, but if you start to feel worse, I need you to tell Owen, okay?"

Elise knocked on the invisible door as she quietly sniffed, and Gerry gave a gentle smile. He reached a hand out to her, and Elise met it with her index talon as the vet fondly said, "You're a good kiddo, Elise? You know that?"

Her tail gave a soft swish, mindful of Owen, and she answered, 'Yes.'

Owen couldn't help laughing at her answer. She gave him a dry look that told him how many times she had been called good in the past few days. What else was she supposed to answer with? Gerry only chuckled as he began to go down the steps, but he slyly said, "Keep Owen on his toes, Kiddo. Good 'ol Blue is losin' her touch for the sake of Oreos."

Elise gave a playful croon; she felt much better after her warm shower, and Gerry had attached a different nozzle that would squirt out soap suds with the water. Elise had absolutely loved it.

Owen never thought he'd ever live to see a vanilla scented dinosaur.

"You know Blue still has my boot."

Dr. Gerry gave a loud snort before he retorted, "Good, you looked like an idiot working with animals while wearin' those expensive, prissy things."

Zach burst out laughing while Owen rolled his eyes at the vet. Dr. Gerry waved them off as he disappeared back into his office, and Owen led the way out of the Shower Room. Elise gave a wide yawn as she paused by the vehicles, and Gray suddenly asked, "Hey, Uncle Owen, was that lady right?"

Owen's foot slipped on his clutch, and he looked up as he said, "About what?"

Gray shyly gestured to Elise, who was occupied by two butterflies fluttering around her nose, and he said, "Is it wrong to sell tickets to see her?"

Owen leaned on his handlebars as he turned his gaze to Elise. On one hand, it was wrong to sell tickets to make money off of her when he wasn't sure she fully comprehended the marketing of this system. It was wrong to own a human, but he couldn't help thinking her as part of a circus; almost, and he would never voice this ever, but almost part of the freak show.

But even those people had, at some point, consented to that.

Owen pressed his lips when Elise had suddenly snapped her jaws around said fluttering butterflies, and she looked immensely pleased with herself. She had just enough human in her, but there were so many dinosaur traits that muddled them. Where did the human in her begin, and the animal merge with it? He would need to talk to Claire about this, they had to be careful. He didn't want to hurt Elise, and the park would look immoral by using Elise like that.

Owen finally realized he hadn't answered the question, and he finally said, "You know, I'm not sure, but I think it would be good to explain everything to her. If she's fine with it, then good."

Zach raised an eyebrow when Elise zeroed in on another butterfly, and he quietly asked, "And if she isn't?"

The jaws snapped again, and another butterfly left this world before Owen answered, "Then we'll have some problems...but we have to do what's best for her. Claire is a good woman, and she's got a clear head most of the time. She cares about this park, and you guys. She ran across this whole island in those ridiculous shoes looking for you."

"Is it healthy for her to be eating butterflies?"

"Probably not, Elise, quit eating those; I don't want you to get even sicker."

Owen rolled his eyes when Elise replied by sneezing her next target away. The butterfly had been hit with such force, that a single, tattered wing fluttered to the ground. Zach watched it hit the ground, and he quietly whispered, "You know, sociopaths start off with insects, then animals..."

"Well, then she's not one, because she went right after the humans first."

The two grimaced at the dark joke, and Owen smacked himself for not censoring his words. He quickly distracted them by revving his bike, and Elise spared her next, fluttering target to follow the two vehicles racing down the road.

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Owen was grinning wildly as he almost pulled ahead of Zach; the kid was a good racer, and he didn't play dirty. Once in a while they would slow down to let Elise catch up, but that competitiveness was just too much.

Elise was content to go her own pace anyways.

They rounded the clearing of trees, and Owen immediately smashed the brakes when he caught sight of the white car parked in front of Elise's paddock. Zach did the same, and they cringed when Claire's bright red hair stood out in the distance. They shared a glance as Elise caught up. She snorted at them, but continued on her way back home; she was tired. She wanted to go back to her comfortable nest.

Owen held his breath before sticking his hand out to Zach as he said, "It was good knowing you."

Zach gave his hand a firm shake as he somberly replied, "Same here."

"Try to make sure there's something left of me to bury?"

"And I'll even come back for Elise. Gray and I will talk to her."

Owen couldn't ask for any more than that as he led the way over to Claire.

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Elise paused by the large doorway of her paddock as she looked down at the small redhead. She looked even smaller when she wasn't standing in that room where glass would separate them. Elise had never cared for the way Claire would peer into her home; she looked at Elise like she was a weird looking tree.

At least Owen had always looked at her like a living creature.

Claire felt the piercing gaze, and Elise was satisfied by the fact that she had given eye contact. Maybe Owen had talked sense into her thick skull, but Elise wasn't sure; she didn't always catch everything Owen said. He was little too, so his voice wouldn't always reach her ears.

Why did people always try to talk so quietly around her? It only irritated her to not be able to hear what they said, and she didn't know how to ask them to repeat themselves. She wasn't in the mood to play twenty questions with Owen right now; she would learn later. Her nose wouldn't dry up, and everything smelled weird.

A small sound from Claire caught Elise's attention, and she lowered her head to the little human's level. Elise respected that the redhead didn't give any ground to her; Elise knew Claire was some sort of leader around here. Was she the Alpha of the humans on this island? Owen was Alpha to his raptors, but he didn't seem to order people around.

Claire did, and she looked different than other humans. Elise had never seen red hair before, but the white clothes comforted her; it brought back a fuzzy memory she couldn't quite recall. It irritated her to try and remember the images, but the feeling was never forgotten.

It was one of the few comforting ones she could visit when things were a little too quiet, and lonely in her paddock.

Owen had given her more happy memories, and so did Barry. Elise loved Barry. Barry didn't get into fights like Owen did. Elise thought he was stupid for trying to pick a fight with all those men. She remembered how they dressed similar to the ones she met by the river, and she knew she could just eat them again.

But Owen had asked her not get violent. Elise appreciated that he asked, and never ordered. He knew she was powerful, he respected that power. In turn, Elise thanked him by giving him her trust, and he hadn't failed her.

It was easy to lead the idiots away; Elise knew they mistook her for a dumb creature, but Owen didn't. Elise respected him for that.

Elise was pulled from her thoughts when Claire suddenly asked, "Are you feeling better?"

Elise blinked at her, and wondered why Claire would even care about that. She knew the redhead cared about Owen; it was the only reason why Elise hadn't eaten her. Maybe she was trying to be polite. The Indominus was starting to get a comprehension on what polite was; human manners seemed odd to her. No growling or snapping of teeth. It was weird to make the odd gestures with her hands, but it was an absolutely euphoric feeling to actually communicate with humans.

Elise would forever treasure Owen for giving her that gift; it seemed like the other urges lessened when she was learning human behaviors.

Claire shuffled, and Elise realized she hadn't answered her question. That was apparently rude. She lifted her left hand before closing it into a fist like Owen had showed her, and then she made the same gesture that apparently meant yes.

Elise did feel better.

Claire flickered her gaze to the clawed hand, and she slowly nodded before replying, "Well...I'm glad..."

Elise thought Claire just looked downright uncomfortable, but at least she was looking at her like a living creature. Maybe Claire had humbled a little. Elise flickered her gaze to the slowly approaching vehicles; Claire had to be an Alpha of some sort around here. Owen had acted like he had been caught doing something bad at the sight of the white car.

Were Claire and Owen the only Alphas of this place? Gerry smelled like an Alpha, and he talked like one too. Maybe there were different types of Alphas on this island. Elise didn't concern herself with it; she had her place. She was part of Owen's pack, and that was enough for her though she wished they would learn more sign language soon. She wanted someone to actually hold a conversation with. Maybe Owen would let her talk with Blue and her sisters; they had been amusing.

Elise turned her gaze back to Claire when she realized the redhead was peering into her paddock. Elise didn't like anyone going into her home; she had smelled Gerry's scent in there, but he had stayed clear of her nest. He seemed to have mostly stuck to the area that had soft trees she liked to chew on. Barry had been in there as well, but he stayed close to Gerry.

Elise didn't trust Claire to respect her lines. She wasn't part of the pack, but Owen did like her. Elise wasn't going to be tolerant of a trespasser though; she would give one warning if Claire tried to go in there.

Luckily she didn't take a step towards it, Claire only looked at her and said, "It is kind of small...isn't it?"

The tone was quiet, and almost shamed. Elise didn't understand it, but she detected no ill will from Claire. Maybe...sympathy? Owen did that a lot, and Barry was just warm and fuzzy to her. She liked the warm and fuzzy.

Elise glanced into the paddock; it was getting smaller, or she was getting bigger. Elise felt like she wasn't done growing; sometimes her legs would hurt, and then she'd be taller than she remembered. It used to be really big, almost too big, and she would get lost.

Elise wasn't sure how to communicate that she was content with her home, but she agreed it was getting small. Elise only made a low, rumble that never seemed to panic humans. They liked quiet, low sounds; not hissing or snarls. Claire blinked at her, but they turned their heads when Owen finally stepped off his bike. He seemed to be wary of Claire, and Elise gave a reassuring rumble to let him know the redhead was not a threat.

Owen wasn't sure why Elise was tolerating Claire's presence, but he wasn't about to complain. The two boys bravely walked behind him, and Elise flicked her tail before disappearing into her paddock. Owen watched her leave, and Claire asked, "Dr. Gerry took care of her?"

There was absolutely no anger in that tone, and Owen was immediately suspicious of it. Claire should had torn his head off by now. Zach and Gray seemed uneasy as well, but Owen nodded as he replied, "It's just a little cold. She should be back to normal in just a few days."

Claire glanced back at the paddock before looking at her nephews. Zach was ready for the chastising, and blinked when she asked, "Did you enjoy watching Elise sneeze all over the reporter?"

Now Owen wasn't sure if he was talking to Claire. She looked like Claire, but she sure as hell didn't act like her. Zach was thinking the same thing, but Gray gave a wide smile as he answered, "It was funny. Aunt Claire, will you let that one get posted on the internet?"

A small smile pulled at Claire's lips, and she finally said, "Well, they did want an interview, and people already enjoy videos of...Elise. I had asked Lowery to edit the video before posting it. Jurassic World doesn't take kindly to trespassers, and Jackal News needs humbling."

Zach and Gray looked absolutely excited, and Claire gestured to her car as she said, "I brought you some sandwiches. I had a feeling you two would tag along with Owen when you woke up before I did."

They gave sheepish grins before bolting over to the car, and Owen raised an eyebrow when they were out of hearing. He couldn't help a sly grin as he said, "Miss Dearing, where were you on our first date?"

Claire playfully smacked his arm, and Owen's grin widened. He quietly added, "Things are going well then? Everything is going smoothly?"

Claire glanced at her nephews before biting her lip quietly; Owen knew that look. It was the bad news look, and he asked, "What?"

The redhead sighed as she tucked her hair behind her ear, and she softly said, "Everything is going smoothly, except for...it's InGen."

Owen darkened immediately; he knew they would be back. Claire caught his dangerous look, and she said, "They tried to seize your raptors."

"What?!"

"But they never legally owned any of them since it was Jurassic World who supplied them. Your raptors are safe, but..."

Claire looked back at the paddock before taking another step towards Owen. She paused before saying, "But we don't own Elise; we owned her sister, but InGen owns Elise. They want to seize her, and take her to Isla Sorna. Apparently they have their own research lab there where the dinosaurs haven't broken into."

Owen felt the air leave him as the blood in his face drained. Claire panicked when he swayed, and she added in a panicky voice, "I'm fighting them! I have my best lawyers on this, Owen. I'm suing them for legal rights to Elise."

Owen swallowed, and reminded himself to act calm. He had to keep a cool head about himself, he still had illegal options to go through if things didn't work with the lawyers, and he took a deep breath before saying, "Okay. Okay...so how is that going to work?"

Claire looked like she wanted to stick her hand out to steady him, but she decided not to as she replied, "InGen didn't provide any security to Elise, so it should legally be their fault for how she got out. I read the contracts, we only agreed to raise Elise and her sister until she was five years of age. She turned six a week ago."

Owen held his breath, and glanced around before saying, "And?"

He was glad when Claire didn't give him a look for not getting it. She simply said, "That means InGen has legally been responsible for Elise for over a year now, and look what happened under their watch? Nothing happened when we took care of her, but she escaped when InGen was supposed to be preventing that."

Claire finally did roll her eyes at Owen's expression, and she said, "If we can prove that we are the more responsible company for Elise, then we should get rights to her."

Owen licked his lips as he finally nodded. He glanced at the paddock as he quietly asked, "How much human is in her?"

Claire shook her head when she replied, "I don't know; we don't even have a complete list of what she's made of. We only found a partial that was left behind during the evacuation, and it was what we already knew."

Owen nodded, and the two were silent for a few seconds. Claire glanced at her nephews sitting in her air conditioned car when Owen suddenly said, "Promise me you'll try to argue for her human side in there."

"What?"

Owen gently touched her arm as he said, "Please promise me, if things won't go our way, you'll argue that she's too human to be owned by anyone. Even if it means you can't use her as an attraction without her consent."

Claire bit her lip thoughtfully, and Owen loved that look. She was cooking up a scheme. He waited eagerly and she gestured to the paddock as she said, "Why don't we go talk to her right now? As much as...well she scares me...she's definitely a little smarter than most people. The court date is still a couple weeks away, and if we get her consent now, then we won't have a problem with anyone. If we have to say she's human, then we'll already have some paperwork to prove we've been doing things right. We'll keep this under the table; it'll be one of our final cards."

"Do you know how beautiful you are?"

Claire raised an amused eyebrow when Owen added, "And dangerously smart?"

The redhead only raised her fist before knocking on the invisible door, and Owen burst out laughing as he followed her into the paddock.

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Elise cracked open an eye when she heard the leaves in her paddock crunching from one pair too many feet, and she knew those footsteps.

Only one human here made clicks when they walked.

Elise could feel her irritation rising as she rose from her comfortable nest; she thought Owen would be smart enough to realize that she had only been tolerating Claire for his sake. She wasn't going to welcome the redhead into her territory.

Elise silently peered through the trees as she glared at the two walking along the trail. Owen seemed incredibly happy, and even a smile tugged at Claire's face. The Indominus tilted her head at that; Claire looked much kinder when she smiled.

Elise decided to make a soft sound to grab their attention; if Claire would be respectful then Elise had no reason to be hostile. It was amusing to see Owen jump, but his soft smile only made Elise feel good. He was always happy to see her.

Owen was a rare treasure.

"Hey, Baby Girl. Claire and I needed to talk to you about a few things."

Elise figured that much. Claire certainly wouldn't traverse through here without good reason. She slowly slid past the trees' branches before curling up in front of the duo. She wanted to sleep, but Owen wouldn't bother her without good reason.

She watched the two, small humans sit on a smoother rock, and Elise rested her head on her forelimbs to put them all at the same level. Owen seemed to like it when she did. It hurt her neck sometimes, but she was getting used to it.

Owen shuffled a bit, not sure how to start the conversation, and blinked when Claire decided she would speak. Elise's crimson eyes flickered to her when Claire said, "Elise, I think you're intelligent enough to have a good understanding of what's going on around you. I did watch that reporter, and she had made some valid points. Do you know why we're here on this island? Do you know what we do here?"

Elise did not, and she lifted her hand to sign, 'No.'

Owen translated to Claire, and the redhead paused to gather her thoughts. She bit her lip, trying to pick a place to start, and she finally said, "This island is called Isla Nublar, and on it is what we call a park. People pay money to come here because they want to see the dinosaurs on this island. This park is called Jurassic World, and this is the only place to come see dinosaurs safely."

Owen saw the mild confusion in Elise's eyes, and he pulled out his wallet as he showed her.

"This is money, Baby Girl. It's how humans get what we want. If we want food then we give a certain amount of this in exchange for the food. It's valuable to us. We use it to get things we want like territory, clothes, even homes."

Elise suddenly scrunched her nose as her eyes went wide with confusion at the money. Owen couldn't help his laugh at her baffled expression, and he let go of the dollar when she gingerly picked it up with the tips of her claws.

Elise had thought humans were intelligent. This was dirty, green, and thin paper; it smelled bad too. It had a picture of a weird human's face on it, and she couldn't comprehend why humans even had this. Why not simply take the food, or hunt for it yourself? What value did this hold? Elise let out a distressed whine when she realized she might have allied herself with the wrong species, and looked down when Owen comfortingly said, "Elise? Baby. Don't worry yourself over why humans are like that. I just need you to understand that we use money to trade things instead of fighting over them."

Elise wasn't comforted by that, but she gave the dollar back, as Claire continued, "You need to understand that all the animals on this park are dinosaurs. They don't exist anywhere else on this planet, and that's why people want to see them; they're rare."

Elise could vaguely understand that, and she rumbled for Claire to continue. The redhead scratched the back of her head as she tried to explain, "You see...Jurassic World...creates dinosaurs. The very first animals here weren't born; they didn't have parents. People who work for this park made them."

That went over Elise's head completely. She understood that dinosaurs came from eggs; she had passed a nest of cracking eggs, she watched those babies come into the world. Elise had also seen another dinosaur, a long necked one, laying the eggs. She put two and two together that babies came from the adults.

But how did one create a baby without parents?

Elise shoved some dirt and sticks towards the redhead before gesturing to the pile with her snout. Claire raised an eyebrow at it, but Owen laughed as he said, "Baby, we don't make the dinosaurs out of dirt. It's really hard to explain, but all we need is some blood to start off. I won't try to confuse you with the details, but we have...really smart people, called scientists, who know how to create baby dinosaurs. Like Blue, and her sisters; they don't have parents, they were made."

Elise blinked, but the raptors had seemed perfectly normal to her. They were healthy, they communicated fine, and were brave, loyal creatures. She supposed it wasn't bad if they were 'made'; not when they functioned fine.

Elise was pulled from her thoughts when Owen scooched forward as he said, "See, dinosaurs used to be extinct; they had all died a long time ago. Humans didn't even know dinosaurs had existed until we accidentally dug up a skeleton of one. Do you understand that?"

Elise thought about it. That made sense as to why they had to 'make' a dinosaur if there weren't parents around to bring more hatchlings. Elise relaxed a little, humans may have been dumb with their green paper, but she knew it would probably be very difficult to create a creature from only crimson blood. She had no idea why humans would want to bring back dead things; dead things should stay dead, but she knocked on the invisible door.

Claire glanced at Owen, and he knew she was concerned about Elise not fully comprehending the situation of what they were saying, but he motioned for her to continue. Claire turned her gaze back to Elise, and said, "That's the purpose of this park. To show people animals who had died a long time ago. People like to see dinosaurs, but sometimes they get bored. So when that happens, the park brings in a new dinosaur to get peoples' attention again. It's our way of encouraging people to spend their money here."

Elise was sure she was understanding this correctly. Dirty paper was valuable, and humans created ways to hoard it. This 'park' was just an elaborate way to go about it.

Claire paused at the low rumble before she continued, "The reason why you are here is because...well, you were supposed to be our next big attraction to bring people in."

Elise immediately narrowed her eyes as she gave a sharp hiss. She would not be used in this ridiculous scheme. She didn't like crowds of people; she was not going to allow herself to be used like this. Claire winced, but quickly said, "Let me explain!"

Elise would give Claire one chance to give an explanation. She relaxed her posture slightly, but couldn't help her lip curling the slightest. Claire bit her lip as she glanced to Owen for help, and he said, "Baby, I want you to understand something, okay? We care about you. Which is why we are explaining all of this to you. We think you have the right to know these things..."

The Indominus paused as she stared at them suspiciously. She had a feeling she would be hearing things she did not want to know. She gave a low rumble, and Claire took a deep breath before saying, "People were getting bored with regular dinosaurs. So...we decided to create a...hybrid; a mix of dinosaurs...and that's what you are..."

Elise wasn't sure what Claire meant by that, and she turned to Owen for a better explanation. He pressed his lips before standing as he said, "You know what Blue is, right? She's a Velociraptor."

Blue was ornery, brave, and smart. That's what Elise knew. She supposed the creatures that Blue looked like were called Velociraptors. Owen was a human, Claire was a human, Blue was a Velociraptor. So, if Blue was a Velociraptor, then so were her siblings. Elise understood that, and she knocked on the invisible door.

'Yes.'

Owen smiled at her; it was his proud, happy smile. He knew she was smart, and it always made him happy when she proved it.

Owen then scratched his head as he explained, "Well, you have Velociraptor in you. You're kind of like Blue, but you have other dinosaur blood in you."

Owen paused as he let out a sigh; this was much harder than he thought. He didn't want to crush Elise by being too blunt, but he didn't want to lie to her either. Owen glanced up at the confused eyes of his tough baby before he said, "The scientists basically took blood from one dinosaur, and mixed it with blood from other dinosaurs, and that's how they got you."

Elise scrunched her nose as she tried to comprehend that. She was a mixture? She wasn't one or the other? Why would they do that? So what was she? Were there more like her? Owen seemed to be reading her thoughts, and he gently said, "You're the very first one, and...the labs haven't made anyone else like you. You are the only one like you..."

Elise immediately lifted her hand to sign, 'No.'

Elise remembered that she wasn't the only one. She knew she wasn't the only one of her kind. She had the comforting memories in her head; she knew those weren't a lie.

The two blinked at her, and Owen winced when Claire bluntly said, "Well, you're the only one of your kind who is alive. We know you had a sister, and we know she's dead."

Owen gave a dry look at Claire, but she didn't notice. Elise kept an unreadable expression, and Claire suddenly asked, "Why did you eat your sister?"

"Claire!"

The redhead glared at Owen as she retorted, "No, I want to know, Owen. If I am going to use all my resources to defend her, and keep her safe on this island, I want to know why she ate her sister. None of the dinosaurs here do that, and people certainly don't do that."

Claire turned her sharp gaze back to the Indominus, and Elise seemed caught off guard. She suddenly bared her teeth, but Claire refused to back down. Instead, she crossed her arms, and said, "Elise, people are trying to take you off this island because they own you. I own the dinosaurs here, and I can do what I want with them. I use them to make money because they're animals, and they don't think like a human. They only use their instincts to push through life, but people are thinkers. For whatever reason, those labs gave you human blood, so now you can think like us. I am trying to stop those people from treating you like you're a dumb animal, but I need to know who I am defending. I don't want to defend someone who ate her own sister unless you have a really good reason for doing it. Why did you eat her?"

That was a huge bombshell Elise was not ready for. She was property? She didn't have a choice in what she wanted in life? She wanted to stay with Owen, but she couldn't because other people decided they would use her for dirty paper?

Dirty paper?!

Elise slowly rose with a dangerous snarl. She would not be leaving this island; she would sooner die than stoop to being used by humans. She knew how to use others; she had used Blue and her siblings to destroy those humans. Granted, she felt terrible afterwards, and did her best to offer her condolences to the grieving sisters, but Elise had used them.

And now these weak, fragile, little squishy things thought they had the power to use her for their own means? Elise could feel that red rage clouding her calm thoughts as her lip pulled higher. Claire took a step back, and Elise knew she held no real control over her. The control humans had created were false illusions, and dumb animals their victims. Elise would remind them again, she would humble these arrogant creatures.

A sharp, quick whistle startled Elise from her rage, and she sharply glared at Owen. She felt that anger die some; he wasn't a normal human. He never bore her ill-will, and his pack loved him as their Alpha. Elise had been so confused when Blue and her sisters openly defied her for sake of this squishy human. Elise had been completely startled from her murderous rage when Owen had shielded Blue with his own body.

A human risked his own fragile, little life for something that wasn't even a human.

Elise had never heard or seen such a thing before. She had seen that fear rolling off him, but there was something else she had never been given before; respect. Owen immediately respected the power she had. He knew she could easily kill him, and he never tried to convince her otherwise. He never tried to pick his weapon up against her, but instead extended a bare, harmless hand.

Elise knew she had to belong somewhere in this world; outside the paddock. Something about humans had always aggravated her; she somehow knew it was unfair for her to be stuck in the pen, alone. She had tried to communicate when she was younger, and lost her temper when they didn't understand. Then they never came back in until Owen, and the other two, squishy humans trespassed.

Owen understood though, and he gave her a way to speak to humans.

Elise immediately knew Owen was a precious treasure when she had seen his raptors stand fearlessly next to him. They had not been used by him; he took care of them, and his scent had mingled with theirs. She had been astounded when he offered her a place in his pack. A human? Offering a place in his dinosaur family? Even in her heavily sheltered life, Elise knew a ridiculous idea when she saw one. Yet, the appeal of family was enough to soothe an open wound in her soul. She hurt less around Owen.

Elise lowered her head, and gave a gentle shiver of her jaw as the soft croon was made when she lightly nudged him. She was so afraid of hurting Owen; he was so tiny. Humans were so easy to pull apart; Elise never wanted to see any hurt on Owen.

Owen was a good human. Owen was good because he took the time to explain things to her. He offered knowledge and comfort rather than harsh words and hurtful weapons. Elise adored Owen for his rareness. He had shown her more, wonderful humans, and happy memories to visit when she felt alone in the dark.

Elise would try to be more patient, and do the same as Owen.

Because Owen was good, and she wanted to be good.

The kind hands rubbed along her scarred scales, and Elise only wish she had the words to say what she thought. Owen made gentle sounds, and he gently said, "We're just trying to understand you, Baby. You're brand new to us, and we want to understand you before someone tries to make up lies about you, okay?"

Elise raised her head up before taking her left hand. She held the closed hand towards herself before flicking her finger up.

Like an idea had hit her.

'I understand.'

Owen chuckled at her, but Claire remained serious. She wanted her answers, and Elise supposed she would have to answer her question as best she could without violence.

Because that is what Owen would do.

Elise lacked the words, but she had something else. She gave a low rumbled before disappearing into the trees, and Owen blinked at that. He glanced at Claire as he said, "I guess we follow..."

Claire only huffed before marching over the thick leaves, her heels sinking into the rich soil, but she ignored it. Owen followed her, and wondered what trick Elise had waiting for them.

He was surprised when they came into the clearing, and Elise was curled up on front of her cave. Her large back was to them, and Owen scrambled when Claire made to step over the trench. She gave an indignant squeal when Owen had suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist before hauling her back.

"Owen!"

Elise didn't like angry words being used at Owen, and she turned around with a snarl. She would start with the non-violence tomorrow. Owen immediately stood in front of Claire as he quickly said, "Easy, Elise! Claire didn't know about the line, okay?"

Elise wished she could tell Owen how much of an idiot he was sometimes. Elise knew Claire wasn't aware what the purpose of the line was. She would need a warning before consequences. Elise was mad because Claire had yelled at Owen.

Regardless, Elise gave an irritated huff before glancing down at the trench she had made not long ago. She was happy Owen continued to respect her lines.

Now it was time for understanding.

Elise took her hand before wiping the dirt over the trench, and filling it. She had made the line because she hadn't trusted Owen yet. Barry was adorable to her, but she didn't want him past the line either.

Elise trusted Owen now; he would be gentle.

If not then Claire's white clothes would be turning red pretty soon.

Owen stared at the moved dirt before slowly turning his gaze up to Elise. He pointed at the ground, and asked, "I'm allowed over there now?"

'Yes.'

"Is...Claire allowed over there?"

Elise flickered her gaze over to the confused redhead. She didn't trust Claire to be gentle. Owen quickly offered, "How about I go over there first then, okay"

Elise also wished she could tell Owen how much she loved him for making solutions that made everyone happy.

'Yes.'

Owen let out a breath as he glanced at Claire before gingerly following the large Indominus. Owen wasn't sure what he expected, but he blinked at the shallowness of the vine-like cave. He glanced at Elise before kneeling down in front of it. The top of the cave didn't even go past his hips.

Owen peered inside, and saw the cement wall of the paddock at the back. The arch of the cave seemed to have been molded from sticks and dried mud; dead leaves had also been added to reinforce the structure. The vines dangled to create a curtain at the mouth of the little cave that Owen had gently pushed aside. He looked at the moss covered ground, and blinked.

"There's nothing in here..."

Elise snorted at him, and a small snot bubble popped on her nose before she wiped it off. Owen watched her large hand pile some plants on the ground before gently pushing them away.

"Oh..."

Owen turned back to the cave, and stuck his hand in. He was very aware of Elise's attentive gaze. It was more intense than when he had pulled the glass shards from her neck. There was something very important in here, and now Owen was afraid to move the moss.

What if it was an egg? Could she reproduce asexually? Owen bit his lip as he gently plucked a small piece of moss off, and held his breath at the tan underneath. He risked a glance at Elise, and her eyes were only focused on his hand.

Another piece of moss was brushed aside as more of the almost, dark amber was revealed. Owen frowned when he had removed enough moss, and was suddenly met by the eyeless sockets of a small skull.

Owen almost forgot about Elise as he pulled the rest of the moss off until he was staring at the small, arched skeleton. He gently traced the curve of the skull before brushing his fingers along the sharp, crowded teeth. The shape of the skull was familiar, and he moved the foliage until the forelimbs were revealed. It had been completely undisturbed, and Owen could clearly see the two, little thumbs attached to the small hands that could easily be enveloped in his own.

Owen turned to Elise, and softly asked, "Is this your sister?"

'Yes.'

He snapped his gaze back to the brown skeleton, and two things immediately jumped out at him.

The skeleton was undisturbed.

And Elise had created a cave to protect her sister's remains.

If Elise had eaten her sister, then the bones would have been pulled apart, and ribs pushed aside; he couldn't even see teeth marks on these bones. Owen startled when he glanced down at the mouth of the cave; the dirt had been indented down in a familiar shape.

Elise had been sleeping in front of this little cave frequently.

"Elise...did you kill your sister?"

Owen glanced up at her, and she was pleased how he asked the right questions immediately.

'No.'

Elise watched Owen run his fingers over her sister's remains as softly as possible. She knew Owen would be gentle; she was glad her trust was well placed. She was glad Owen could finally meet her sister. Small One, Elise had always called her, even long after she stopped moving.

Elise still talked to Small One; she had told her about Owen and Barry. She told her about the outside world, and how big it was. Elise knew Small One liked all the nice people Elise had met. She liked the pretty flowers Elise had brought back from outside the paddock, but they were both sad when they turned brown and ugly. Elise had removed them after that.

Owen turned to the redhead as he called her over, and Elise trusted Owen to make sure Claire would be gentle with Small One.

Owen gave another, sad glance at Elise that she didn't understand. She thought Owen would be happy to finally have his question answered. The one she had refused to answer.

Elise realized her sister wasn't alive, but a part of her forced her to pretend she was for sake of her sanity. It made Elise feel better, and sometimes she could still catch her sister's scent.

Technically speaking, Elise had never been alone in her paddock.