It's Not The Raptor DNA

Chapter 5

"Literal Line."

"So, you want to tell me how you got brave enough to just walk up to Elise, Barry?"

Owen smiled as he continued to hose down the large Indominus rex, and she relished having her scales cleaned. The Veterinary Building was massive, and had even been built with a large shower room. It felt eerie having it so empty, but Owen would take that over a crowded building.

It was added after an unfortunate, accidental spraying of pesticides over the large paddock that held the majority of their herbivore herds. The animals' sensitive skin had absorbed the chemicals, and had grown ill. They had lost several animals before figuring out the problem, and Hammond had built the Shower Room as a precaution in the case of 'next time'. It had hardly been used, but Owen was glad to put it to use now as he stood on the large platform while gently spraying the water over Elise.

Barry chuckled as he leaned on the rail, and Elise began to rub the grime off her snout before he answered, "Well, Lowery had actually seen you stop her from attacking Blue in the plaza. He caught that all on tape, and Claire had to really fight him before he agreed to keep it off YouTube. He showed all of us though, and I figured it would be fine if I showed up quietly."

He paused when Elise opened her mouth widely, and Owen squirted water into it. The stream of water went between her teeth, and she crooned a thank you before she turned to her other side for Owen to hose down. Barry smiled at her before continuing, "Claire wanted the girls put back into their pen, and I brought Scott with me, you know, the new kid Blue almost ate."

Owen nodded as he snorted, and Barry added, "He drove the pickup with the trailer in it, but he wouldn't come out. He really shat himself at seeing Elise, but you were sleeping so I figured everything was fine. I got the trailer door open, and the girls followed the treats. I had another guy follow us on a jeep, and he left with Scott to put our girls back."

"And Elise just watched?"

Barry shrugged as he replied, "I saw her do the sign language with you, Owen. I didn't yell or scream around her, I just acted calm, and gave her some acknowledgement to be polite. I introduced myself after the girls were in the trailer, and she showed me the slashes on her shoulder that needed stitches. I figured you had told her that I would do those, and she let me. She had really watched Blue's reaction for guidance."

"We're going to have to do something about Elise's location; she needs to be near the pack. It won't do her any good to have her sitting alone in her paddock; she'll just go right back to square one."

Barry gave him a sideways glance before quietly saying, "Speaking of that…"

Owen shook his head, and answered, "Still working on that; I don't know how I'll convince her to go back in there."

Barry sighed heavily as he wiped his face; he looked tired and worried. Owen continued to run the water along the large, white scales, but paused when Barry suddenly said, "I brought Charlie home…"

Owen only gave a solemn nod, and winced when Barry softly added, "We can…take care of her when we have Elise settled. I figured you would want to be there…I asked Scott to dig a good hole near those rose bushes Charlie was always staring at…"

Owen sighed quietly, but nodded again. He didn't trust himself to speak, but he gently nudged his friend. Barry sniffed suddenly before hastily wiping his face, and Owen didn't judge him for it. He admired Barry for being able to even talk about it; Owen just wasn't comfortable with crying in front of others.

But Charlie was worth the "embarrassment" of crying in front of others. Owen decided he would allow himself to cry while laying his baby girl to rest. There were some souls who were worth showing raw emotion for. What was the point of growing to love someone if you wouldn't allow yourself to show how much you would miss them when they left?