Disclaimer; I do not own the Jurassic Park/World Franchise or its characters, but I do own this story and my OC's

Enjoy!

"It's not the Raptor DNA"

Owen resisted the urge to let out a shaky breath as he watched his girls fearlessly glare at the line of trees in the all too silent jungle. He knew they had the Indominus' scent; Blue never made mistakes like that. When she had zeroed in on a target, be it a fleeing pig or his bag of Oreos left too near the cage, by God almighty she would get her claws on it.

He just knew this kind of silence was a very bad sign. He didn't like it, he didn't like seeing his girls in the front line. Charlie was still his baby for the love of everything, and she was stepping around nervously, looking to Blue for some reassurance; it killed Owen to see her in danger.

The men around him remained still as stone, and the only sign of life were the moving crimson, laser lines, searching fruitlessly for the white scales.

Owen could feel Barry's nervousness; these animals were his babies as well. Hell, Owen had even seen tough Blue give quiet purrs when gentle, soft-spoken Barry would coo at her.

Blue was fully aware Barry would never resist sneaking her an extra treat when she acted adorable for him. Shameless, little creature she was, but Owen never reprimanded her for it.

Now the blue-scaled raptor was standing tall and confident as she patiently waited for the prey to come to them. Owen bet his best gun she would fearlessly glare Death himself in the eye when he would come for her.

Owen tensed, and gripped his shotgun more firmly when branches snapped under large, heavy feet. His raptors froze before unanimously taking one step back as the white scales were brushed by midnight leaves. The Indominus was still half hidden in the cloak of the forest; he wouldn't give the signal to fire yet, she had to come out more.

It was a pity she wasn't that stupid.

Owen frowned when brave Blue took a confident step forward, and he was shocked when the Indominus met her peacefully. Why wasn't she attacking the raptors? The Indominus attacked anything and everything. She tore people in half, animals were poorly carved with razor talons, and even cars were smashed for the fun of it.

Why were his raptors witnessing a different side of her?

Owen watched the massive, bloodied jaw almost shiver as small, familiar, clicking sounds were made. He froze when Blue threw her head back in an enthused greeting, and the other raptors slowly inched forward to meet the muscular, white scales.

Owen forgot how to breathe, and he half heard Barry whisper, "Something's not right…they're communicating."

The shape of the bloodied muzzle caught Owen's eye, and he felt the heavy ball of fear form in his stomach as he took a proper look at the chittering Indominus rex. Her head wasn't bulky like a Tyrannosaurus, it was more cylindrical, and her neck had a graceful curve to it. The way she carried her claws was a mirror to the four carnivores below her.

He mentally smacked himself for not seeing the painfully obvious before. She had raptor DNA! It made sense now. Her ability to problem solve, her memory, that incredible speed and stamina. It was all raptor. He knew all too well that Velociraptors were capable of setting traps when they detected patterns; he had lost half his turkey sandwiches and Cheetos to his girls. Sly Echo would grab his attention, lure him away, and the others would snag their claws into his lunch bag while he tried to figure out Echo's sudden, odd behavior.

Barry always thought it was hilarious, and Owen had suspected him of assisting his ornery girls more than once.

Everything on that Indominus was a perfect blend of Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor. The size and aggressiveness belong to the rex. The shape, and intelligence were given from the raptor. Every trait could be assigned to one or the other.

Except for…

Owen frowned at the characteristic that didn't belong to either species. He slowly slid his gaze up to the Indominus, and carefully watched how she socialized. The movements of her head, and arms were not raptor. That cunning, malicious gleam in the smoldering red eyes only belonged to one species who had, several times over, proven itself capable of ruthless evil.

Owen knew the labs used other creatures' DNA to fill in the gaps to create the dinosaurs. He knew even his own raptors would not appear as they did if they had the pure DNA. He knew the scientists liked to use different DNA to see what would help the animals, or make them flashier. Charlie herself bore the patterns of the iguana DNA used in her coding, and even old Rexy was blessed with a longer lifespan.

But there was no way the labs were idiotic enough to even think of using that kind of DNA. There had to be rules and regulations to restrict the usage of certain animals.

Yet there was absolutely no denying what he was seeing right in front of him.

The Indominus was smarter than the average raptor. He knew the white scaled creature would be smart enough to set a trap to lure people into her small paddock. She had to know at least something would happen if she made those claw marks in the cement walls before hiding. She was smart enough to remember where the tracker had been planted; Owen would never doubt that. He would even see Delta give an irritated scratch at her own tracker along the muscled neck.

But how did the Indominus know it would be in her best interest to claw the tracker out? She shouldn't have been able to know the purpose of that device; she had never escaped before.

Or had the tracker been implanted in her after she had become too aggressive? Had she noticed how the keepers would seem to be aware of where she was after she had received the implant?

Raptors weren't smart enough to put that much together, but Owen knew a species who would.

Owen felt the shiver of fear crawl up his spine when the demonic, crimson eyes shifted to him, and bore into his soul. He could read every emotion going through her sick, twisted mind, and he softly said, "I know why they wouldn't tell us what they used to make that thing…"

Barry swallowed nervously when the raptors slowly turned their gazes towards the silent crowd of sitting ducks. He gripped his pistol more tightly as he hoarsely asked, "Why?"

Owen really didn't want to assume anything, but he never went against his gut instinct. That hateful, burning gaze wasn't Velociraptor. She didn't go out of her way to destroy man-made structures because of the temperamental Tyrannosaurus in her.

Animals didn't go out of their way to seek revenge when the world was cruel to them. Animals didn't pick a particular species to focus all forms of anger onto. Animals never felt the need to make a point with nature by going on a killing spree. Animals certainly never approached a clearly different species they had never seen before to hold conversations with them.

Owen didn't want to believe the scientists had been stupid enough to do it, but there was no denying the characteristics. Her hateful gaze was all too familiar, almost a mirror when he saw past the crimson color, and slit pupils.

Because those two, opposing, clawed thumbs on her massive hands certainly weren't Velociraptor.