Chapter Text
Death has a funny way of working.
Harry has been reborn plenty of times. However, being a dinosaur takes the cake.
At least he's got a functioning parent to show him the ropes.
~~~~~~~
Harry snapped his jaws at the tool presented to him. He didn't like the way the light from the ceiling reflected off it and into his eyes. He didn't like any of the lights in his room. They were too white and had an underlying humming noise that made him restless. He wondered how badly he'd have to act to get the people watching over him to cut the lights early.
A sigh, "Now Jr. That's not a chew toy. You're supposed to drink from it."
Harry knows that. The damned thing was just annoying when he didn't need it for feeding purposes. He vocalizes this thought by giving a loud cry. With a last headbutt to the metal contraption, he runs to the other side of the room where he peeks through the steel-like holes.
On the other side of the fence is the gargantuan figure of his parent. His mother in this life. The powerful form of a tyrannosaurus lay sedated as the veterinarians looked over her form. Her deep rumbles were heard through the fence and Harry found that he liked the sound of her breathing. He sure liked it far better than the noises in his room.
She's unconscious at the moment. Harry had been unconscious as well until a good hour ago. His energy was just starting to return to him and he wanted to know what was going on. He vaguely remembers talk of being moved.
"Isn't he still supposed to be knocked out?"
A snort. "It's Jr. The vets and scientists have almost given up trying to figure out the stuff he can do."
Harry ignored the two voices coming from the speakers on the ceiling. One was easily recognizable as Harry's heard him plenty of times. He was usually accompanied by a female but today Harry didn't know who the other person was.
"Didn't they rule in favor of high metabolism?"
"The vets ruled in the favor of high metabolism. The scientists are still searching."
Harry snorted through his nose. However he didn't move from his spot near the fence. Instead, he tucked his hind legs under him and leaned against the metal. He watched the men and women work around his mother. He heard snippets here and there of her health. A few comments on how to fit she was for her old age. He gave a satisfied warble. His vocal cords weren't fully formed yet. All he could give were high-pitched cries and a warble here and there. He was nothing like his mother yet.
Speaking of, Harry heard a shift in her breathing. Too subtle for the humans to hear but he knew what it was. For the year that he's known her, he's always heard her make that noise when she was beginning to wake. Normally it would take a few moments, but with the sedatives, Harry didn't know.
Still, he decided that warning the humans would be better than them finding out on their own. So he hopped up on his legs and gave a little cry. He headbutted the fence for good measure.
"Uh, Jr? " The voice from one of the intercoms Harry often ignored inquired.
Harry gave another cry. This one garnered a response from his half-sedated mother. She exhaled loudly through her nose which startled the workers. They moved faster around her and the lift under her pushed forward at a slow pace out the double doors that Harry knew was an opening to their territory.
Harry let out a huff that reminded him of a baby sneezing when the voice tried calling him again. He was trying to help. If his mother were to wake up with that many humans around her and Harry on the other side of a barrier she would be furious.
Harry watched as she rolled through the entrance of the double doors on her side before he left the fence. He ran to where he knew the entrance of his was and gave out a cry. He needed to be there before she woke up fully.
"Easy Jr. They're closing the door and coming over to you in a second."
"You know he can't understand you right?"
Harry snapped his jaws with a huff. He could understand them perfectly. He just never reached most of the time.
"Yeah, well he likes being spoken to. It calmed him down, see?"
Harry was no longer huffing at the door but his tail wagged faster than before. He did inwardly appreciate the voice that would talk to him through the speakers now and then. His mother would always find the voice annoying but Harry was happy to be addressed from time to time. The voice even gave him the nickname "Jr."
Though he wished he could still be named Harry. There was no way for him to communicate with humans. His arms were too short and his claws weren't even fully developed. He doubted they'd be helpful when he got older. He could already feel how limited their motion was compared to human arms and hands. So writing and any form of hand language were completely out.
Though he could gesture, they would take a lot of work and motor skills he hasn't gained yet. It would probably be years before that.
So for now, Harry was Jr. Son of "Rexy."
Harry gave a short squeal when his smaller door began to open. He waited patiently for just enough space to squeeze his body through to bolt. The workers on the other side gave a startled yelp when he charged forward.
"Annnnddd there he goes! " The voice says. Harry decided to humor him with a happy cry as he paced over to his mother. He ignores the humans retreating through the door.
Harry runs over to Rexy and begins to circle her, checking her over. Her breathing was becoming less sedating and Harry could hear a rumble now and then. He decides to give a softer cry to see if it gives any effect.
An amber eye slowly opens. It's a bit dilated and it takes a few more moments for Rexy to focus her gaze on Harry. He makes other sounds and nudges her snout.
The eye roll closed again and Rexy gives a deep inhale before letting it out. She shifts a bit, trying to force her legs up and under her. Harry watches as one leg wobbles and it becomes obvious she's still out of it. She makes another rumble before settling down again.
Harry shivers his jaws. Before taking in his surroundings. Judging by how bright it was and the shadows it was around midday. Rexy did nap around this time after she walked him around the territory. It was a routine they made when Harry was old and strong enough to walk on his own.
Harry, however, wasn't ready to nap. He counted being sedated as his noon nap and he could feel how hyper he was now. He could leave but he knew if Rexy woke up without him she'd be upset about being separated from it.
He'd have to wait then. He huffed again before climbing Rexy's tail and back. He tucks his legs under him and nuzzles her shoulder. He feels the loud exhale she does when he settles. It takes him a while to settle. He focused on counting her breaths and feeling her warmth. He knew she didn't have long so he didn't mind.
He was just about to recount the scars on her neck when her breathing changed again. Harry felt her grumble before she stretched. Taking this as his cue to move he slid down her back when she began to shake the sleep out of her head. He circled when she began to look side to side.
Harry butts his head against her jaw after she lets out a dinosaur's equivalent to a yawn. The sound was loud and deep. He butts her jaw again before moving away. She needed to get up and move before their feeding time. Harry was starting to get hungry. He garbled at her and she grumbled back that he could go ahead.
Harry decided to wait and watch as she stood on her legs. She swayed once before righting herself. When she started to walk Harry followed closed by.
—-
Before.
'Jr' was a surprise .
Rexy had been acting strange for a good two weeks. She was more snappy with her handler, Micha. Usually, the old dinosaur would follow a strict routine. Wake up at eight in the morning. Then Micha would watch from her patrol for an hour before it was time to feed her the morning goat.
Today Rexy was early and she was irritated. Micha had almost dropped his coffee when she appeared thirty minutes early. Say what you want but the rex could be silent when she wanted to be. The only reason Micha noticed her was when she came to the artificial log and growled.
Micha blinked, a bit nervous at the sudden schedule change. This wasn't like Rexy. She'd had the same routine for years. A change would mean something was happening or something had happened to disturb the peace she made for herself. What could disturb a t-rex? Micha didn't want to know.
Rexy rose to her full height. Tail swishy threatening behind her as her amber gaze practically pierced Micha. However, she did nothing more. It took Micha a few seconds to realize that Rexy was waiting to be fed. This was the usual place for her to stop when she ended her morning walk. The paddock would open and a couple of goats would run off. Lucky for Micha, they were always ready when Rexy woke up.
Micha took the hint and began to punch the code to release the goats. For normal feedings that weren't scheduled, he liked to let them loose so Rexy could get her exercise. The staged feedings always had a goat tied to a pole in front of the artificial logs that held the crowds. In the mornings Rexy seemed to prefer the extra exercise. On those days she seemed to have a bounce in her step and was more tolerant of the crowds.
The first goat doesn't even make it a meter past the doors before Rexy has it in her jaws. Another odd sign. She would usually give chase. However, today she wasted no time with her meal. Micha winced.
The smaller goat took off while its partner was breakfast. It too didn't get far. Rexy gave a small roar and easily caught it in between her teeth. She clenched her massive jaws and the animal gave its final breath with a wet gurgle.
Instead of finishing her meal, Rexy let the animal lay limp in her hold. Micha almost raised an eyebrow at the action. Maybe something was wrong with it. Was it sick? Was she going to throw it away?
Instead, the tyrannosaurus began to walk into the trees of her forest. The goat still hanging in her jaws. Micha did raise an eyebrow here. Rexy never saved meals and took them back to her nest. She had no reason to. She always ate out in the open before doing another walk.
Micha watches those forest scales disappear into the jungle. He would note this down on today's report but he would make a big spectacle out of it. In his mind, Rexy was kind of old. The oldest dinosaur of Jurassic World. So maybe it was starting to get to her? He'd just have to see if this was just one occurrence or if it was the new routine.
One is an occurrence. Two is a pattern. Three is a habit.
Well, that's how Micha thinks the quote goes. He probably mixed up a few words but he gets the meaning.
After the fourth day, Micah accepts the change in routine. Control had done surveillance on Rexy's paddock and found nothing out of the ordinary. So Micha accepted the change as something Rexy deemed necessary. He wasn't going to question the oldest thing on the island.
This new schedule persists and breaks at the two-week mark.
Micha had gotten used to Rexy coming thirty minutes early now. He had set new alarms and everything to get used to her new schedule. So when she didn't appear on time he decided to give her an extra thirty minutes to see if she went back to her old schedule. When she didn't make that time he felt something was up again.
He goes over to the monitor panels and checks the cameras. There's no sign of Rexy at the small lake. She's not around the walls and she is not in sight of any other cameras around the small jungle.
Tapping his walkie talkie he turns to the control channel.
"Anyone on this morning in Control?"
"Lowery. " Is the response. If Micha remembered correctly he was the guy that collected the plastic dinosaurs and left them in random places. Micha would often find a t rex around his station from time to time.
Holding in a snort at the random thought, Micha answered, "Can you do surveillance on Paddock 9? Rexy isn't here for her breakfast. She likes her routine, you know?"
Control had more flexibility when it came to cameras. They could find heat signatures as well and check out any blind spots. One blind spot Micha knows for sure is Rexy's nest. There wasn't a camera there because Rexy kept breaking it. They thought it was well hidden but she would always find it the same day and would take personal offense to see the thing.
"Heat signature says she's in her nest. She's awake and moving around but she's keeping a close distance. Wait a minute-"
Micha rose an eyebrow at the other tone in the last sentence. "Everything alright?" He hoped nothing bad happened. Claire would throw a riot over Rexy.
"There's another signature in there-"
Micha felt himself freeze over. Had someone from maintenance or ACU gotten in there? There was no way someone was stupid enough to sneak in and Micha would have gotten a notice the week before if Rexy's paddock was going to have any changes.
"Lowery-"
" There's a baby rex in there!"
Multiple voices exclaimed over the walkie talkie and even Micha was thrown for a loop.
"A what?"
"Get Claire on line 1-"
"Aint no way-"
" Oh my God, it's already so big though. How long do you think it was there-"
"When did the scientists even place it?"
" Where did it come from-?"
Micha was whirling. That doesn't make sense. Rexy was the only t-rex here. Had been for the past six years. They had a clutch of t-rex eggs that came with her when they moved her from Sonar. However, they didn't make it through the move. From what he's heard the lab never made another batch.
For Rexy to have a child organically was impossible because there wasn't a buck around. So the labs had to have done it. The question was why didn't the lab inform anyone? What was the purpose of just dropping a baby rex in her paddock? There was no way it could have been an egg. Micha thought about the last two weeks. Rexy had been bringing goats back to her nest. Meaning the dinosaur had to be old enough to eat some of it. Micha had been to the labs before and knows they always fed the babies through a bottle or tube.
Then it finally settled in his mind. Somehow their Rexy had a kid. The signs had been showing for two weeks.
Two weeks!
How the hell did Control not see that?
" Boss said to follow basic procedures. The lab will have to sedate Rexy and Jr.-"
" Jr. Lowery, really?"
"-I don't see you all naming him. Anyways boss says they're gonna put sedatives in Rexy's food. Hopefully, she and Jr. will be knocked out and the lab can check him for everything and find out where he came from."
Micha wiped a hand down his face, "Alright. She hasn't had breakfast yet so it should work. Anything else?"
" She's still hovering around her nest. I think she's waiting on Jr to climb out. Or try to, he keeps falling. We'll give you the clear when the food's ready."
Micha sighed. Some tension he had in him went out with the action. "Alright." At least they knew the cause of Rexy's behavior and nothing too drastic had happened to her.
Well besides becoming a parent.