Shay had to think about that for a moment.

"A little ragged, actually," she said. "I mean, raptors are usually high-strung, but she looked like she's been going non-stop for a while. Granted, I was trying to figure out how to break the Mexican standoff without getting mauled, but, I mean, she was right there. She wouldn't let me get any closer, even with Indy and Garnet there, so I wasn't able to get a look at the cage to see what kind of shape it's in."

"...Huh. Okay." Owen was quiet for a moment. "She's always been protective, sure, but it sounds like she caught you kind of far out from the cage, even. Sounds a bit... strange."

"Regardless, I need to be able to scout the cage," Shay said. "I have to make sure it's safe for the engineers and sciencey people to go in and fix things up, and Blue's not letting that happen. I'd really appreciate having someone here she'll listen to."

Owen sighed and briefly hung his head. "You want me to go back to that island." He was quiet for a few moments. "Gimme a day or two to talk to Claire and figure a few things out."

"Owen, I promise, I wouldn't be asking if there was any other way," Shay said. "But Blue won't listen to anyone but you."

"Doesn't mean it won't still take me two or three days to get there, kiddo," Owen said, sounding amused now. "I'll let you know when I've got more details, alright? Just stay away from Blue for now."

"I'll see if I can't mark a half-mile perimeter around the cage on the GPS maps," Shay said. "I still need to scout the woods and map Regina's turf; we can't have anyone running into her unawares. But I'll do what I can to steer clear of Blue until you get here."

"Good. Get your sister outside, don't let her fall into a computer," Owen said with a grin. "I'll see you girls in a few days."

"I'll see what I can do," Shay said, grinning. "Let us know when you're on your way so we can clear some space for you."

"Will do." Owen hung up, sighed, and took a moment to hang his head because seriously, his life. And then he went to go talk to his wife about this.

Shay hung up as well, and went to see what she could do about updating some of the GPS maps. She had to somehow keep herself busy until Owen could get there.

It took four days for Owen and Claire to be able to get out to the island, during which time Jalia, at least, made progress. But she was happy to see Owen. And a whole bunch more supplies.

"Oh, good!" she said with a grin when she saw the chopper with supplies and Owen and Claire heading their way.

Shay was out with Indigo and Garnet when the chopper arrived. But she definitely noticed when her raptors perked up at the new sound, and out of curiosity, she whistled quickly to give them permission to investigate. She followed behind them on her bike, and signaled them to slow down when she realized they were heading towards the park. She signaled for them to stop entirely once she saw the chopper coming in, and she grinned.

Owen hopped down and helped Claire out, grinning when he saw Jalia waiting for them.

"'Bout time," Jalia said. "Shay's been going nuts waiting for you."

"I bet," Owen replied, grinning. "Saw her from the chopper, I'm surprised she wasn't here before we even landed."

"The kids have never seen a chopper before," Jalia said with a shrug. "But she'll be here soon, I'm sure." She did walk over to give him a hug.

Owen returned the hug.

"So what's the status on the island so far?" he asked.

"About half of everything is operational," Jalia said. "We haven't been able to get a read on the whole island yet, but we've got the basic territories mapped out, at least."

"Good, good," Owen said. He glanced around. "This place is going to need some major overhauls, I can see that already."

"Oh yeah. It's structurally sound, but also not really meant to be living quarters," Jalia said with a shrug. "The engineers have been freaking out about things but not things I need to worry about so not my problem."

"We'll see," Owen said.

Shay appeared right about then, without her raptors.

"Owen!" she said, grinning. She went over and hugged him.

"Hey kid." Owen grinned, returning the hug. "Looks like your two are doing fine." He nodded at the raptors.

"Doing great," Shay said, nodding. She'd had Indigo and Garnet wait a ways off, since she knew how Claire felt about dinosaurs of any kind bigger than a baby triceratops. She looked at her uncle. "Let Claire get settled here, I really don't think we should leave Blue on her own any longer than we absolutely have to."

"I'll show Claire to the rooms we're using," Jalia volunteered.

"Thanks," Owen said, nodding to Shay. "Got an extra bike I can borrow?"

Shay looked a bit apologetic.

"I've got a four-wheel," she offered. "Or you can take my bike and I'll take the four-wheel."