{Journalism and raptor training} 1x1 with Natasha Romanoff.

[lavender moon]

Whoever this new person was, I got an awful vibe from him. One that made me want to sneer in disgust. I was able to control myself though. It was honestly Owens comment that got to me the most. "I should." I said quickly before nodding to him and this new guy. I took one last look at the beautiful raptors before walking off. I should have seen it coming. Owen didn't know me and I didn't know him. There was no reason for me to be upset or feel hurt that he had dismissed me. I got into my jeep and drove towards a large, volcano shaped building. All I could think about was Owen. It honestly made me angry that I couldn't remove his face from my mind. I got out of my car and shut the door.

I grabbed my notebook and walked into the room where my interview would be. I then sat down and waited.

~SkIp~

I felt as though it went very well. My representation had gone great. Now, I had to wait. I decided to go see the raptors as a 'show' was supposed to happen soon.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

.xxx of course I felt bad for what I had said and the way that I said it to dawn. She never asked for this, she didn’t know me well though to know why I act the way that I do. Especially when.. when it’s mentioned. Anything to do with my former life I have kept buried under a facade of fear of what it would do to me to reveal it. I took a second to breathe when she left before addressing Vic. I may as well ask him what he wanted and see if I could oblige..

~ sometime later

xxx I loathed this part of my job. These animals were not a circus and yet Masrani wanted me to act as though they were. It was all about eliminating that stigma. That raptors were killing machines and in some ways it was based in fact. Fact of animals that didn’t have the discipline from an adult who knew kindness kills all. Or at least allows your species to survive the decades. However I didn’t have a choice when it came to the show. I had to do so as apart of the agreement I signed when I appeared for the first time to join the IBRIS project. It had been going well so far, the show. All to plan. I walked carefully down the catwalk seeing the pig dart last blue following suit the three other sisters stalking close to the sides. An ambush, I’ve seen this before, I also know how to interfere. I raised my hand alongside the clicker in the other close to my chest. “Blue. Eyes on me” I was not harsh. Not harsh as I had been with Dawn. I could not get her out of my head. That’s when blue looked up and me and the next command fell from my mind.

xxx blue stared intently at me as though she were expecting me to react. The pig of course was ambushed by her other sisters as I had not told them to hold. They did what they did best, I screwed up but the beta still watched me. She shook her head and snorted seeming to know I had screwed up. Lovely, she wasn’t bragging about her victory as much as looking to see my distraction. Almost as though she could look into my souls knowing the troubled storm Within. Barry seemed concerned for me as he approached on the catwalk after I had lowered my hand. He knew something was up as tried to console me with some broken English. However I brushed him off and walked away. Vic seemed disappointed in me, I could see he way he watched me. I was in for a scalding later... today was not going to plan. Oddly enough reflected in how terrible the show had gone.

[lavender moon]

I watched as the raptors stalked the pig. They were like a single body. Moving as one, thinking as one. It was almost like they knew exactly what to do and had a plan on how to do it. Now this doesn’t mean I enjoyed the little show. I still don’t like that the animals were being put on stage. I watched Owen raise his hand and... do nothing. He wasn’t moving nor talking. Blue seemed to know this as she made a snorting noise as her sisters attacked the pig. Whispers spread like wild fire throughout the area. I looked away. My mind wondered what could possibly be distracting Owen from work. From what I knew he was rarely distracted when he worked with the raptors.


I watch as they moved everyone out of the area. They didn’t seem too disappointed. They had just come to see the raptors. What had I come to see? I continued to tell myself the raptors but, was I being honest with myself? I shook my head. I needed to check on Owen. I just don’t know how to and how the other people around the paddock would react. My phone buzzed and I looked at the number. It was the lady who had talked to me earlier. Clare. I picked it up and we talked for a few minutes. I got the job and I needed to get my report from the raptor paddock out to the press by the next day.

After a few moments, I left and got into my Jeep. I was bored at this point and it was getting late. Most of the attractions where shut down for the night and workers were getting off their shifts. I drove on for a while before stopping. There was a house with a motercycle parked next to it in the middle of the island. Really it wasn’t a house but same picture. I wondered if I should ask who it belonged to or not. I probably waited just a little too long to look like your average person.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

xxx next thing I knew I was bombarded with people asking why I was so distracted but even so I brushed them all aside. I didn’t want to talk to anybody about this. Which honestly was contributing to the problem in the first plsce. The bad thing was not all people liked being brushed off. Some would continue to throw their questions at you Untill they had been satisfied with their findings. This happened to be Barry today. He desperately wanted to know why the shift had happened, why all of a sudden I had become so distracted that I had managed to mess something up I’d been training for years to acomplish. I knew I had disappointed everyone who had waiting on me to see how the project was going. I felt like a failure, again. It was strange how common the feeling was for me. I had almost become numb to it in some cases. But at times like these where more was at stake I could really feel it weighing on me. Heavily for that matter.

xxx I carefully fed the four raptor sisters despite them having eaten already. It was not enough for all of them to live on. Echo and Delta were fighting over the hide. They seemed to do that, like two dogs playing tug of war. It was fun to watch some days, days when I didn’t feel as though the entire world hated me and wanted to see me fired. I am honestly surprised by how often success is (very little) Hoskins hasn’t shut down the program. He seems so invested in it there is no point in cutting funding or trying again. I suppose this was the blessing that was keeping me here on the island. Although I was given many other job offers-. I stopped my train of thought as I knew where it was going. Which was lucky as well as blue had snapped down on what I had given her almost taking my hand with it. I was far too distracted for this job right now. What on earth was bothering me so much? Was it Dawn? Or was it something else?

xxx driving home was nothing exciting. I parked my jeep under the covered area that I had built for it a while ago before stepping inside grabbing one of my manuals. My abode was littered with books, the one thing that managed to keep me sane all this time. However there was one that I hadn’t touched in years. The one thing I managed to escape with, my one line to the person I had cared for more than anything in the world. She’s gone now, but the book remains. The book that tortures me every time that I see it. It’s why it’s buried so deep in one of the stacks. The manual however was to work on my motorcycle, it had a few issues last time I was running it. Which I suppose happens when you get it from someone who is about to toss it.

xxx I stepped outside feeling the humid air slap me in the face. Thankfully inside was air conditioned as I could barely tolerate the heat. Which was ironic as the other job that I would have been given was san-Diego. Ha. How I would have enjoyed that. Besides the humidity my bike was outside ready for me to begin working on. The night was approaching fast but this would give me something to do. However before I walked down the steps I realized that I had forgotten to take my medications. Great. I walked back into the main room of my little shack (relief coming in the form of the air conditioning) and the sink had the blister pack sitting on the windowsill. I quickly popped my nighttime dose out of the package. A small glass was sitting beside it as usual and carefully I filled it with water drinking it down with the medication. The medication that managed to keep my mind at ease, the doctor on the island was unable to prescribe them being as what they were for. It was very specific to dealing with my mental stability and she was not trained in this area, just instead just a regular practitioner. She found me overly complex and I difficult a patient. Flying out the right doctor was costly for the project, however Hoskins figures it was worth it. Or it wouldn’t happen and I would have to leave the island myself to get a check up every couple of months to ensure the medication was working to it’s fullest potential. Thankfully, it was.

xxx satisfied that I had completed what I needed to do I stepped out of the house feeling the sunlight indicating sunset beginning to fade. It was beautiful to watch the sunset honestly it never got old either. The pink sky illuminated the fact that it would be lovely for sailing tomorrow. But that is unimportant. My thoughts drifted to the small flag I had tattooed on my back as I crossed to the motorcycle picking up a wrench. It meant ‘alpha’ which most found ironic as I never explained it’s meaning beyond that. They figured it was an attempt at me connecting my past to my future. How wrong could they possibly be? But I never cared to explain it to anyone, what’s the point? It’s a lack of understanding that leads to the stigma of anything, but in this case lack of understanding is needed. My eyes drifted up and I saw what appeared to be someone watching me. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. What on earth? Who is this? “can I help you?” I reached for my knife that was snapped onto my belt as I carefully placed the wrench back into the small stood I had sitting out.

[lavender moon]

My mind had wandered off to different places again. I was now watching the sun set. I thought about the other side of the world. Somewhere, someone was watching the sun rise high into the air. It was something strange to think about . I felt were relaxed as I sat there and thought. Now that I was thinking it wasn't very smart. I was just sitting there in the middle of no where, on a island, in front of someone's house. What a great way to get shot or kidnapped. Someone could've kidnapped and I could've just been sitting there. Doing nothing.

A familiar voice snapped me out of my trance. I grabbed my gun from my box. Why was that voice so familiar? For some strange reason it soothed me. I still don't know why it did. I just did. I slowly put down the gun. I looked up a felt hurt for a short moment. It was Owen. Here we were again. We seemed to follow each other without knowing it. It was so strange to me that we were pretty much everywhere together. Not together but just there at the same time.

His question sat in my mind for a while before I was able to respond. "Well, you could give me pointers to the housing complex so I can get there at some point between tonight and tomorrow." I'll admit, there was some sass and sarcasm in the sentence. It was just the tone around it. I was still slightly bitter from the way he had talked to me earlier. Which made no sense. He didn't have to be nice to me. We weren't friends. We didn't know each other. It was still honest. I did want to get home before it was pitch black. I also wanted some tea. I had been drinking tea every night before I went to sleep for years. Every since my old friend, Jess, had made it with me in 6th grade. We had only been bored and so we made tea.

It was odd to know that I had normal moments in my childhood between all of the sleeping on the streets alone and staying in foster cares. It reminded me of New York. I had stayed there for a few years and met my brother there. He was older than me but we loved one another so much. David. The name could bring tears to my eyes. He had died over seas. I remember the day I was told. I had been sitting there with my working search and rescue K-9 when Jace had told me. That was the year I stopped wanting to be around people and I had lost my passion for everything. It was why I was so good at kicking people out of my life. I didn't want to be hurt like that again. I had been given away by my parents and left by my brother. The thought hit me like a bullet that had shoot me back into reality where I waited for Owen to respond.

I really didn't want to have to sleep in my car, in the woods, at 12 in the morning.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

xxx I saw the stranger reach down to grab something. Probably a weapon. Which made me grasp the jolt of my knife despite it really doing nothing next to the power of a firearm. If the cloaked figure was pulling a pistol out I was a goner. Which got my heart racing, the need for survival beginning to overtake me. I could easily take cover but I fear I will not be fast enough getting to said places. I would be at the least wounded, again this depends on how well of a shot the shadowed figure in-front of me was. Which could be anything from someone who was in training with ingen Security and couldn’t hit the side of a barn door, or someone who had trained for years and served in the military. To my luck, the figure responded with a voice that appeared to be very familiar. It was Dawn

xxx it’s almost as Though dawn knew that I was here or something. Were her ears burning? Did she know that I was thinking about her? More importantly how terrible I had been in the last interaction that we had. So terrible that I considered telling her why I got so defensive when I had spoken to her. I had not been friendly in the slightest... I wanted to tell her how I felt about our last interaction. She appeared to be lost as well. Which was completely normal. The facility was confusing and often strange to people who are new to it. I fiddled with the wrench and stepped over to where here vehicle was. “are you not staying at the resort?” I brushed off her comment a little bit. I felt as though it were probably for the best anyways, it reminded me too much of someone else. I had a little while before my medication began to take effect, which was a little bit daunting as I felt all over the place. Or at least my skin was holding me from running in all directions all at once.

xxx this was also the perfect time for me to apologize for the way that I snapped at her before. I paused for a second before deciding on my choice of words. “I’m sorry about how I spoke to you earlier, it was uncalled for and just horrible of me. Vic wanted me to act out in such way, he knows how to push my buttons I guess” I shrugged. I then realized that my knife was still in my hand. I put it away carefully. I’m sure that there was no need for it now.

[lavender moon]

I began to wonder what he was thinking. He seemed a little frighten at first which was understandable. I almost wanted to say yes to the next question. That way I would have an excuse for trying not to get too close to him. Something told me not to though. I waited until he was done with his apology. "If we are being honest, I'm really alright. I'm used to it by now. I'm actually living here now that I got the job." I explained. I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. It was always hanging down and never stayed out of my face for long.

It was understandable. I know some people can be like that. Especially guys. I had a few friends like that. David, my now dead brother, had always been like that. It actually made me happy. For a few short lived moments anyways. I tried to hide the depression following the joy at the thought of my brother but any emotions caused by my brothers memory were hard to hide for reasons I couldn't explain.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

xxx I was immediately confused by her comment that seemed to make no sense whatsoever. What job was she talking about. Oh gosh had she talked to Claire? Now that could end in disaster. Just like the relationship we had, she was the one who was more interested in me than I was in her. There was still the factor that I was not ready to pursue a relationship with someone after what happened. The fact that it had crashed and burnt right after Claire and I spoke about living together. It ended after a fight that I knew the relationship was not going to make it through. Overall it was a waste of a month emotionally. I wished that the two of us had not even really attempted a relationship in the first place. But that is in the past now, I don’t have any hard feelings towards Claire. I can’t really put myself through that.

xxx it took me a second through my mixed up thoughts to be able to come up with a sentence that would make sense. “What job?” I asked her curious to know what she meant. I also thought about dinner. I hadn’t eaten anything yet and I was wondering if she had. Sure the cafeteria was closed but it wouldn’t be the first time that I broke in to cook something. In other words security would know it’s me. “are you hungry?” I asked her again adding to it. I hope that I can make my previous attitude up to her some way. Despite it being a little strange.

[lavender moon]

It was hard to see him clearly in the setting sun but I could tell he was confused. I hadn't really said anything about me doing an interview. I hadn't thought it would be important to him or anyone for that matter. He took a while to come up with the next thing to say. He ended up asking about her job. "I'm basically a reporter for the island and I'll just being going around and getting news out to the public." It was the simplest way to put it. The question on dinner caught me off guard.

Well what the heck. I don't have any better things to do tonight. "I am." I said. I knew everything was closed but I was just planning on waiting till the next morning to eat. I guess living on the streets at times gave me a smaller appetite. That didn't mean I wasn't hungry though. I was very hungry. I also wanted to just talk which I felt guilty about. I had spent the last few years of my life promising myself not to get close to anyone but technically, I wasn't getting close to Owen. I was only talking to him.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

xxx i was happy for her. She was doing well and apparently she managed to get a job on the island. Maybe pursuing this friendship would not be the worst of all ideas. It might be good for the project as well opening up new opportunities for myself and the raptors. Or at least get the word out to people that they weren’t all as they seamed. The old park gave the animals a bad name. Probably for a good reason too. But it was through the misunderstanding of what the animals needed that it all transpired. Which was a pity after all, raptors are spectacular creatures if you have the patience to be able to raise them and teach them right and wrong. They don’t have a moral code like we humans do. Which is hard for people to understand. Most visitors to the island seem to be perplexed by the concept of a wild animal. One that is not going to let you cuddle with it whenever the thought came about. Raptors were not domesticated which intimidated most that came to the park. “might I be the first to give you congratulations” it was not in the least sarcastic. It was truly genuine. She appeared to like the park. And if she wanted to stay she now had the opportunity to.

xxx now she appeared to be hungry and this was good. “to make up for my terrible behaviour earlier I’ll treat you to dinner. Besides, once you start working I suppose we won’t see each other much.” which was true to some extent. There was a very little chance that the two of us would see each other outside of work now that she was here. I already had a meal planned out for myself once I felt the need to go for it. It’s not like security would be shocked to see me. If anything it made their night more interesting. They often commented on how I made a burning graveyard shift a little more entertaining.