It's not the Raptor DNA

A/N

Hey guys! Thank you so much for your reviews, but I am having problems with seeing any reviews you've posted in the past 18 hours or so. I'm not sure why it won't let me view your reviews, but I hope the problem gets sorted out. I'm not sure if the PM is being glitchy either, but regardless I just wanted you to know so no one thinks I'm ignoring your comments.

Anyways, please enjoy!

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"You Are My Sunshine."

Elise hadn't been too happy when she had finally woken up. She had bared her teeth angrily before disappearing back into the thick jungle as she ignored Owen calling out her name. She wasn't in the mood for any more shots or magic tricks.

It should have been her clue when Gray had said trick.

Elise had gone out of her way to throw mud on every camera she found, and she had accidentally hit a few live birds. She felt kind of bad for that, but it was satisfying to hear Lowery's confused, indignant whining every time a camera went down.

She avoided Owen, and even Barry, for the next few days as she stuck close to Rexy for the most part. She wasn't in the mood to even be around Tim. She didn't want to see any humans. She didn't like how it made her feel when she realized she had passed out because of the little tube.

Owen sighed as he stood at the entrance of the empty jungle. He had really wanted to focus on Elise's sign language, but the Indominus wasn't in a cooperative mood. He knew she'd come around eventually. She would miss him way too much.

It was complete insanity at Jurassic World for the past few days. Owen felt like Claire really should have pushed the re-opening date to another week, but she had to prove to the board that she was a capable, no-nonsense leader.

Her workers were already planning her assassination.

They were working round the clock to repair all the damage, the labs were scrambling to recover lost data, and ACU was combing over the island for prion infected scavengers.

The Triceratops had been infected with prions. She was the first one the labs had tested. ACU had backtracked on her trail that led all the way to the northern beaches; they had found her footprints in the sand. They had also found dead Compsognathus, compys, on the beach. ACU wasn't sure how the first one had gotten the prions, but the half eaten corpses clued in to how the others had caught it.

Claire had ordered ACU to gather all corpses found on the island for proper disposal. Owen had a feeling a lot of scavenger species on the island were going to suffer, but Claire wasn't willing to risk the park. She was hoping the disease would wipe out all the infected ones.

They still hadn't discovered the source of the prions, but Owen knew it wasn't his girls. There was no way it was them.

But the little, dark thoughts in the back of his head just wouldn't shut up about it.

Tim had been losing sleep over Rexy as well, but he was sure she didn't have it. She would have died already, and the old lady was still feisty.

But no one could find Elise, and Owen had convinced himself that she was just super pissed at him and not a rotting corpse with torn grass around her.

The park was scheduled to open tomorrow, and no one seemed ready for it. No one had the cheery mood Jurassic World was known for. The fear of closing for good seemed to be hanging low in a suffocating way. Even some of the animals seemed depressed. Owen's girls sensed their caretakers' stress, and they didn't like it.

Owen felt bad for Rick, the Triceratops handler. He had already lost three members of his herd, and he was forced to split up the herd for their own safety. Prions were spread through bodily fluids; blood, saliva, and infected tissue.

The first Triceratops from Rick's herd had caught it from the mystery Triceratops after she had tried to clean the wounds. Rick hadn't noticed her weaving around the plains, panting hard, and drooling over the grass until it was too late. The other Triceratops had grazed over that grass, and caught it before doing the same thing.

Now Rick was waiting for Dr. Gerry to come put four more Triceratops down after they had begun to exhibit the same signs. Bakhita was one of them, and Gerry didn't know if she had caught the prions before or after fighting Rexy.

Claire agreed with Gerry on keeping the Gyrosphere ride closed until they could spray some kind of disinfectant along the plains, or wait for the prions to die. She had also set the barriers up so that all Triceratops would be separated from the other herds as it seemed to be staying close to that general area.

The inspectors deemed it safe to open the park so long as the guests remained out of the tainted fields north of Isla Nublar. Claire was relieved to know there were no problems in the Gallimimus Valley; that was one of the more popular attractions in Jurassic World.

But they still hadn't received the test results for the Raptor Squad, Elise, or Rexy.

Owen would admit he hadn't slept very well for the past few days, and the vets were overwhelmed with taking blood samples. The labs were under the most pressure, Owen did not want to be in the new Chief Geneticist's shoes. He had to get the results out quickly, but he couldn't mess anything up.

Owen pressed his tongue against his teeth before giving a shrill whistle, and waiting. Jackie wanted him to keep an eye on Elise's stitches. Those threads were carrying a lot of weight, and he needed to make sure they wouldn't get infected. But Owen had a feeling Rexy would tell Tim if something was wrong. She hadn't been eating her kills, but gently scooping them up before disappearing back into the jungle. All the signs of a good mother going back to her hatchling.

Owen continued to wait for the telltale of the loud thuds, and sighed when the forest continued to remain ever silent. He really hoped Elise was fine; it wasn't a good feeling having the cameras down. The fence separating the two hadn't been repaired since they seemed to get along, and Claire planned to make a door of some sort so Elise would be able to visit Rexy when she pleased.

Assuming they hadn't caught anything.

Owen wasn't even sure if he would be sitting in the corner of that dusty log tomorrow. If Elise had prions then she really would have to be put down. Owen didn't know how to explain that to her.

Owen dully looked down at his hip when the radio gave some static, and Lowery said, "Hey, Owen... Uh, listen, Claire wants you to go over to the false log to oversee how things are going. She had a cleanup crew there doing the final touches on it."

Owen raised an eyebrow, and Lowery added, "Okay, she knows they can dust the log off, but the crew is too afraid to clean the outside of the window without you there. They're afraid of Elise."

Owen swept his gaze around the silent trees before leaving through the small door as he said, "I don't think Elise is too keen on seeing any people at the moment."

Owen made sure the door was locked behind him, and Lowery asked, "Still hasn't shown up then?"

Owen gave a sigh as he said, "Yep. How are things elsewhere?"

It was quiet on the road Owen walked on, but Lowery sounded a little depressed when he said, "Eh. It doesn't feel like, you know, hooray we're opening. It's more like...I don't know. I guess the mood of the park will depend on Rexy's results...I don't think the park will do very well without her..."

Owen had to admit, even though he had hardly paid attention to Rexy before, he had paid some attention to her. She was a comfort on the island to everyone. Several workers were livid when they found out Rexy could be infected with prions. No one wanted to see the big boss put down, and there were a lot of workers who were angry with Owen and Elise.

They wanted someone to blame. If Owen had been there, then maybe Rexy wouldn't have felt the need to fight for Elise. If Elise hadn't even been there in the first place, then it wouldn't have mattered if Bakhita had roamed around an empty paddock.

Owen never really cared what others thought of him, but something about being in the Break Room with other handlers just made him feel unwelcome. He didn't feel like the 'badass' who had rode his motorcycle with his pack of raptors before stopping the rampaging Indominus with a wave of his hand.

He felt like the guy who had gotten Rexy killed, and she wasn't even dead yet. He was also the idiot who riled up the old lady for no good reason, and needed to keep his animal in her own pen.

Owen was sure he would blame himself if Rexy died. Something seemed so wrong about continuing Jurassic World without Rexy.

Owen sighed again as he walked over to the top of the log; he could see the men looking around warily, and he said, "Yah, I get what you mean."

Owen knew things had to look bad when Lowery was quiet before offering, "You know it's not your fault, right? I'm the one who pushed the button..."

"But I didn't go with Elise to inspect her paddock."

"...Ya, I know...I don't know what you would have done against and angry Triceratops though..."

Owen wasn't sure either, but he didn't think it would lessen any of the angry glares he was receiving. Even the petting zoo people were pissed at him, and he had no idea why.

Owen had briefly wondered if it was because he had fought so hard to keep Elise alive. She had caused a lot of destruction and death on her rampage. Owen wasn't sure if she had intentionally broke into the Aviation Paddock, but several people were still hurt over Simon's death.

Even Claire was saddened to find out her assistant had unintentionally eaten by Lilly.

Owen leaned on the rails on top of the log, and he said to the workers, "I don't think she's nearby, but I doubt she'll come over if she sees you guys."

Absolutely none of those workers looked convinced, but Owen motioned for them to get moving. They didn't try to make conversation with him, and Owen was already missing the quiet, isolated comforts of his raptor paddock. No one bugged him there, it was just him, Barry, and the girls.

People didn't bug him here either, but they silently threw him dirty looks.

As Owen had said, Elise didn't show up, and the workers soon cleaned up before leaving. The Head Manager briefly paused to let Owen know the inside was decorated, and ready to go for tomorrow.

Owen had no idea how the hell they 'decorated' the inside of the viewing log, but he doubted it would have colorful pictures that would boost his mood. However, he was the handler so he probably needed to give it a look over just in case something needed to be picked at.

Plus he had nothing else to do. The girls were fed, and they had gone through their daily exercise routine.

Owen found it kind of odd to hear his own footsteps echoing in the concrete tunnel. It sounded so loud, and he wondered how loud it would be tomorrow.

Owen was surprised to see things actually didn't look too bad considering. There were even some dim lights that didn't reflect in the clear, clear glass. It was cool in here, and a relief from the muggy weather outside. He slowly walked by the framed posters that held diagrams of Elise. They showed size comparison, the species used in her mixture, and some random facts about age or growth rate.

But nothing personal.

He didn't even see her name.

There were a few benches pressed against the wall, and Owen glanced at the warning posters next to the glass. Warnings to be quiet, to not tap the glass, or even use flash cameras. He looked down at the floor to see a line not to cross, about a foot away from the glass.

It made Owen sad for some reason.

He continued to stare at the line for a few minutes before jumping when a voice said, "You know, I'm told handlers and their animals kind of act like each other. I'm starting to believe it with you."

Owen blinked at the tired looking, but gently smiling, Tim standing at the entrance of the tunnel. Owen glanced back at the line before asking, "How so?"

Tim snorted as if it were obvious, but he answered, "Well, Elise has gone MIA before show day, and it seems you like to avoid people just as much. She scares people, you scare people..."

Owen couldn't help dryly adding, "Workers don't like her for no reason, workers don't like me for no reason. It's not like we enjoy being alone, Tim. Sometimes it's just easier."

Tim gave a quiet whistle that echoed in the room before he said, "Deep, man."

Owen snorted, but Tim elbowed him playfully as he said, "Ah, come on. I think everything will turn out fine. If Rexy is acting like her normal self, then I know Elise is fine too. You should be excited, man. You and Elise are going to be the stars tomorrow."

"More like the targets..."

They stared out the window for a few minutes before Tim suddenly chuckled. Owen glanced at him questioningly, and he said, "You and Elise are funny. Don't pay attention to the other handlers. Rick has every right to be upset, but we didn't cause that. I know people are concerned about Rexy, but Mama would have let me know if she wasn't feeling well."

"You do know if Rexy dies, then I might as well write my own will."

Tim gave a short laugh, but Owen said, "With my luck, her heart will give out or something, and people will go after me for riling her up."

"I think she's in pretty good shape for forty."

Owen snorted as he rubbed his neck, and said, "No kidding. I never ran so fast in my life. Elise had to fake my death before Rexy left to go get her food."

Tim suddenly grinned widely before saying, "I saw that little bitty crumble that you broke off."

"It broke right in front of her, Tim. Jesus Christ, I thought I was going to burst into flames. I have no idea how you sneak into the paddock."

Tim gave a sideways glance at Owen with a small smile, and he quietly said, "Just about everyone else says the same thing about you. I still have no idea what made you think you could stop Elise from attacking."

Owen stared at the leafy, emerald leaves coloring the thick jungle, and he answered, "I never thought that. I was just protecting Blue as best as I could, and Elise happened to snap out of her rampage."

Tim blinked at the silent man before shaking his head in amusement. Time finally nudged Owen again as he said, "C'mon, you'll be in here all day tomorrow. There's fresh doughnuts in the Break Room."

Owen snorted as he followed Tim out, but said, "I'm not touching any food in there. I just know they're going to lace something before giving it to me."

"I think you're exaggerating, Owen."

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Owen really did try to make up an excuse to avoid the Break Room, but Tim insisted he just brush the glares off. Owen was pretty sure Tim had never had people angry at him before. He could actually feel himself growing defensive when the innocent, blue door was opened, and he mentally cringed at seeing the petting zoo keepers were talking amongst themselves. They greeted Tim enthusiastically, but gave Owen angry looks.

Owen rolled his eyes loudly as he leaned against the counter of the nice room.

It was almost like a house in itself with a kitchen, and living room to relax in. There was a nice TV on the wall, and the furniture was well taken care of.

It was nicer than Owen's own bungalow, but nowhere near as comfortable to him.

Tim looked right at home though, and he offered a cup of coffee to Owen, but he declined it. Owen flickered his gaze to a woman with dark, curly hair when she asked, "Too good for our coffee, Mr. Dinosaur Tamer?"

Owen gave a dry look as he retorted, "Nope, I just don't feel like drinking whatever you might have slipped in it."

Owen glanced at Tim as he added, "I hope you don't get the shits tonight."

Tim chuckled as he sipped his drink, and Owen crossed his arms; refusing to make any conversation with anyone. A heavy silence filled the room, and Tim broke it by asking, "So, how did you come up with the name Elise?"

Owen didn't want to talk about Elise in front of others, he felt like they would ruin it for him, but he answered, "She likes the song, Fur Elise. Barry wouldn't let me name her Foxtrot, so we picked Elise. Lowery wanted to name her America."

The curly haired woman snorted from her table, and Owen knew better than to acknowledge her, but he couldn't help himself from asking, "Something funny?"

She leaned back in her chair as she looked him up and down once, before snapping, "Actually, yes. I love irony, and it is really ironic that you gave that freaky monster such a pretty name."

"Monster?"

Owen kept a calm demeanor, but he frowned at her. She seemed genuinely surprised, and she asked, "Have you looked at the Indominus? She doesn't look normal; she's freaky. Especially with those crooked teeth, and red eyes. Those scientists were not nice when they blended all that DNA together."

Owen was momentarily startled by the sudden rage in his gut, and he would swear before God Almighty, that he did not have the ability to stop himself from saying, "Well, it seems to be a similar case with your looks, doesn't it?"

Owen had a habit of knocking things over when he was mad, and he pushed the pile of white napkins off the counters. They spilled in a sprawled mess on the floor, and Owen added, "Don't ever insult my girls. You just stick to your petting zoo, and I'll stick to my girls."

Tim pressed his lips when Owen walked out, and he winced slightly when the door was shut hard. He sighed at the mess on the ground, and another zoo keeper growled, "What's his problem?"

Tim rolled his eyes as he bent over to scoop up the napkins, and said, "You guys are."

Owen grumbled to himself as he walked back to Elise's paddock. He would try to find her one more time before going back to his home. He really didn't want to be around other people now, and he wasn't looking forward to tomorrow.

Owen gave a quiet curse as he slid the keycard through the door before looking up when a man in a safari outfit yelled, "I hope you get that crooked mouthed freak's diseases!"

Owen lowered his brows, and silently declared war on the petting zoo as he retorted, "I hope one of those saddled midgets head-butts you square in the balls!"

He slammed the door behind him, and gave another curse before yelping at the mass of white scales. Owen clutched his chest as Elise tilted her head at him. Her crimson eyes briefly flickered to the door, and Owen really hoped she hadn't heard any of that.

"Hey, Baby... You still pissed at me?"

Owen really hoped not, and he even gave his best pouty face to help sway Elise. She seemed more confused by the expression, but she signed, 'No.'

Owen let out a sigh of relief as his day got a little better, and he said, "That makes me so happy, Baby. I was really worried about you. Are you okay? Is your leg hurting? I can go get some pills from Dr. Gerry if the leg is hurting a little too much."

Owen knew he was babbling, but he just now realized how much he had really missed seeing his girl. He missed seeing that face, and those expressive, crimson eyes. It felt so weird to not talk to her for the past couple days, and Owen couldn't help tackling her hanging hand.

Elise crooned at him as she scooped him up, and Owen grinned at her.

"I missed seeing my sunshine. So, don't ever disappear on me like that again."

The fondness warmed Elise's eyes, and Owen simply relaxed in her hand. He didn't find her to be an ugly creature. She was definitely attention grabbing, but Owen was by no means repulsed by her.

And her jaw didn't seem that crooked to him.

"Is Rexy doing a good job of taking care of you?"

Elise gave a single nod. She had been bonding with the Tyrannosaurus quite well. As impatient as the old dinosaur was, Rexy didn't mind Elise constantly pressing against her when they weren't walking. Elise loved their grooming sessions, and she liked patrolling the territory with Rexy. They had even explored her own paddock before returning for lunch. They curled close to each other when they slept, and Elise felt like she was staring to fit in somewhere.

Rexy had been concerned when Elise limped back to her nest after the needle incident. Elise didn't feel like leaving the nest, and Rexy decided she wouldn't push the Indominus on it. She had only comforted.

Rexy was taking a nap right now, and Elise had missed seeing Owen. She knew he never intended to frighten her, and he had a good reason for it needing her blood, but she simply wasn't ready to deal with that trauma at the moment.

Owen gave a warm smile at her as he said, "I'm glad she adopted you. I feel better knowing Rexy is there to take care of you. She's a good mama, even if she wants me dead."

Elise snorted at him as her lip curled into a small smile. She brought her hands a little closer to her chest before rumbling at him. Owen batted her talons playfully as he said, "Ready for tomorrow?"

Elise blinked at him before giving a single nod. Owen was happy for that, and he said, "I'll have Lowery tell you when to come by the log, and I'll be right where you can see me, okay?"

Elise crooned at him; she still wanted him outside with her, but she was sure there was reason for him needing to be inside. She really didn't care, it didn't sound like anything interesting would happen.

Owen stretched loudly in her palm, and Elise tilted her head at him. He gave a sheepish grin before excitedly asking, "Want to learn more sign language?"

Elise's thrilled croon made Owen happy, and he slyly said, "I'll start with the profanity, Baby. Everyone learns the curse words of a new language before anything else...it's a human thing."

Owen was secretly hoping she would flip off a petting zoo keeper. He wondered if he could get his girls to recognize the scents of those employees. They were smart enough for that. Maybe he could train them to flip them off whenever they saw a petting zoo employee.

"Let's start with the simple, but always classy art of flipping the bird."

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Elise was in a good mood as she strolled past Rexy's nest. She liked learning the curse words, and Owen had started to teach her how to scribble the odd pictures in the dirt. He called it the alphabet. She still wasn't quite sure of the concept, but it was fun to learn something new; her mind was being put to use.

It was easy to follow Rexy's scent, and Elise figured it was time for the final feeding before they would go to bed. Owen had spent most of the day teaching her, and she was hungry. She didn't want to wait for Rexy to come back with food.

She found the Tyrannosaurus crunching her jaws around a black cow, and the golden eyes glanced at her. Elise remained respectful as she dipped her head submissively. Rexy gave a pleased rumbled, and she allowed half the cow to hang out of her mouth before pressing it to Elise's to share.

Elise liked how cows tasted. Goats had an odd after taste to them that left her wanting to wash her mouth out with water.

The white dinosaur swallowed her half before snuggling her nose underneath the powerful, warm jaws of her new mother. Elise liked cuddling close to Rexy, and the elder seemed to like it as well.

Rexy pulled away to begin cleaning Elise's jaws, and the Indominus relaxed under the loving affection. Aside from the hiccups with the the needles, Elise really couldn't be happier with her life.

Elise cracked open a crimson eye when she heard a kind chuckle, and she saw Tim standing on a platform high above them. She liked Tim, and he warmly said, "Well, hey, Elise. We were starting to get worried about you; I hope you talked to Owen for a bit. It was driving him crazy not seeing you for so long."

Elise knew that much; Owen had been extra clingy, but she liked that. He liked sitting in her hand while playing with her long fingers, and she liked being close to him.

Elise gave a low rumble before hearing a soft scoff. She blinked at the woman standing next to Tim, and tilted her head at the curly hair. Elise had never seen curly hair before; humans were certainly diverse in their hair.

"I still think it should have been put down."

Elise didn't understand what the woman had meant, but she recognized the tone. It was hard, and mean. Elise didn't like that, and she narrowed her eyes. Elise was happy when Tim immediately exclaimed, "She can understand us, Debra!"

Debra didn't seem to care, and she snapped, "Good, then it'll understand this."

Elise stiffened when the woman pointed her finger, and coldly said, "You should have been killed for all the trouble you caused. You aren't a real dinosaur; you're a crooked mouthed freak who is going to scare all the little kids tomorrow. Claire is going to realize you're a waste of time and money, and she'll think the same thing about you."

Rexy paused from her grooming, and gave a dangerous growl when she heard her tall son snarl, "Debra! That is enough!"

Debra only rolled her eyes, and Elise snapped her jaws to grab her attention. Elise knew exactly what to do in this situation thanks to Owen.

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Owen hummed cheerfully to himself as he gave the Observatory Room a final look over. It didn't seem so bad now that he had made up with Elise. Maybe she really was his sunshine in a way.

Owen planned to change a few things around in the room when he had the time. Maybe he would add Elise's name somewhere, and a few things so people could actually get to know her.

No one was going to care if she could grow over fifty feet. But maybe they'd be more likely to remember she liked classical music.

Owen crossed his arms as he stared into the jungle before the sound of clicking heels caught his attention. Only one woman wore ridiculous shoes like that, and Owen turned to see Claire pause at the doorway.

He immediately saw the large, yellow envelope, and he knew those were the lab results. Gerry had ordered those results come in before the park opened. The seal was broken, and he slid his gaze up to her blue eyes; silently asking for an answer.

Owen didn't like it when those blue eyes welled with tears, and Claire sniffed as she hurried over to Owen. He startled when she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, and he felt the warm tears on his shoulder.

Owen swallowed as he tried not to panic, and quietly asked, "Claire...? Are...are those the lab results?"

She nodded quietly, and gave another sniff as she tightened her grip around him. She said in a thick voice, "I-I got the results for Rexy, Elise, and your girls."

She didn't say any more than that, and Owen felt the heavy ball of fear in his stomach when he whispered, "Well? What are the results?"

Claire pulled back, and she carefully wiped her eyes to avoid smearing the makeup. Owen shifted nervously on his feet, and bit his lip. Claire suddenly let out a watery laugh as she said, "They're all clean, Owen. They don't have prions; they're okay."

"R-Really?!"

Claire nodded happily, and Owen finally realized she was crying from sheer relief. Owen let out a huge sigh, and a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders. He couldn't stop himself from throwing his arms around Claire, and the two simply hugged each other happily as they gave relieved laughs.

Claire quietly sniffled again, and she quietly said, "I know things are going to be okay now. We got Rexy with us."

Owen was beginning to realize just how much of a rock Rexy was to Claire. He only hugged her more tightly as he said, "She's got our backs, and she's taking care of Elise; really good care. Her leg looks a lot better today."

"You finally found her?"

Owen chuckled as he said, "She knows where the door is, and I taught her some new sign language today. She says she's ready for tomorrow."

Claire nodded happily as she said, "I am so happy she's feeling better. I can't wait for her to learn how to talk to us. I want to hold actual conversations with her, I can only imagine how witty, and smart she is."

"I'm teaching her how to write too."

Claire smiled as she said, "That's even better. Did you teach her anything else?"

Owen froze when his radio crackled; there was no way fate would damn him like that. Claire pulled away, and stared at the radio when Tim said in a stunned voice, "Hey, um, Owen? So, Elise decided to share dinner with Rexy, and...well, Debra, the lady with curly hair you met, said some pretty mean things to her. I took care of it; everything is fine, but I was just wondering where Elise learned to flip people off because...damn she did a good job at it."

Claire disapprovingly glared at Owen as she put her hands on her hips. Owen pressed his lips when she asked, "Did you teach Elise how to flip people off?"

Owen did, and he was very proud of his girl for telling Debra to fuck off.

"Ehm..."

"Owen!"

Owen shrugged as he sheepishly said, "What? The petting zoo people are weird, and they started it! I'm teaching Elise to stick up for herself."

"Through vulgarity?!"

"Hey. People loved it when Rexy got pissed, and smeared the glass window with bloody goat chunks. They'll go crazy over a dinosaur who can flip people off."

Owen beamed when Claire gave an exasperated sigh as she began to walk out.

"Goodnight, Claire! I'll see you tomorrow, Beautiful!"

Owen burst out laughing when Claire only flipped him off. Tomorrow would be a good day. He had won today's battle against the petting zoo.

Owen would be sleeping like a winner tonight.