I wander over to the gate and chirp, pressing my face against the cool metal bars as I call for some human company. Owen hasn't been around for a while and I'm worried. My sisters say that I'm paranoid and strange, but I miss the attention and affection. Something about human interaction is comforting.

A man I don't recognise notices me instead of Owen and I hiss as he moves closer. He smells bad, sour, as if someone has drenched him in bad wine and evil intent. He is pudgy. I wonder if he'll make me sick if I eat him.

"Aren't you a pretty thing," he drawls, standing as close to the bars as he dares. He smells like cowardice. "You're the one they changed." His face is suddenly closer and I snarl softly and recoil. "They said that you wouldn't make it past hatching," he breathes and I want to run far away. "How interesting that you're standing here, watching me like you can understand."

As I exhale, the air catches in my throats and makes a whistle. The man looks intrigued.

"Why are you near my raptors?" I give an excited trill as Owen approaches the man. His eyes are dark and stormy. Owen is angry.

The nasty man turns away from me and I take a step closer. His scent lingers and I think that it smells like death. "Owen," he welcomes, grinning. I can tell that Owen doesn't like this man. "I was just admiring your...lovely dinosaur. Marvellous, isn't she?"

Owen's voice is low as he says, "You can go now."

I don't understand why Owen is angry.

The fat man studies my handler for a moment and a deep growl starts in my throat. Owen doesn't react, but the nasty man does. He spins around and stares at me for a heartbeat and I bare my teeth, standing up a little straighter. I don't like this man. He smiles at me but he still smells like fear and I move a little closer. He backs away. I snort.

"I'll come back later," the man tells Owen. "We can talk them."

"Goodbye Vic."

So the man has a name. I watch him as he walks past Owen, bumping his shoulder. I do not like that man. I chirp at Owen as he turns away.

"Why are you leaving?"

He almost doesn't stop and I let out a softer chirp as he pauses. When he faces me again, he just looks sad. "They want to take you away," he says quietly, moving forward. I press against the bars to try and reach him. There is still the gap between us. I hate that gap. "They want to move you somewhere else. They know how smart you are. They know what you are, what you can do and they want to take you away."

"But I want to be here," I tell him. "I don't want to leave."

Owen sighs. "I don't want you to leave."

There is a silent pain that we share in that moment and I can feel it shudder through me every time I breathe. I don't want to get sent away. I want to stay here with my sisters and Owen. I have survived. I want to stay. Why do they want me to go?

I try and reach a claw through, I try to reach Owen but I can't get very far and I let out a small cry. "Owen."

"I know," he whispers back. "I know."

It's not fair, I want to tell him, it's not fair and I don't agree but he walks away and I remember that he doesn't understand me anyway. I step away from the gate and tip my head back, letting out a shrill screech full of anger and pain. When I stop, I think that Owen won't let them take me. He will fight to keep me here, with my sisters.

"Falcon?" Blue chirps from behind me. I see her standing in the bushes. She doesn't understand, nobody understands but Owen. I will not survive in isolation.

I just look at Blue with sad eyes and dart past her with a sad heart. I do not want to leave here. I might not have a choice. The thought hurts me and I am filled with the sudden longing to just go. I want to roam beyond the walls of my inclosure and I want to run freely. I want to live beyond my cage and I want Owen to be happy again.

Sometimes I want to go back to being nothing.

I can still smell Vic's sour scent and I glance back over to the gate. I swear that I can see him there, watching me, watching us. I want to know what he's thinking. I want to know what his plans are.

I do not want to be afraid.

*

Owen Grady stares at his roof and cannot sleep.

He'd been fighting the park directors for days, refusing to let them remove Falcon from his care. He will not let them take her away. Their argument is that Falcon is their most successful genetic experiment yet and they want to put her in isolation to study her.

Owen knows that Falcon isn't a normal raptor. He knows that she understands him, that she understands the world a lot better than the others do. He knows that the scientists had added a few strands of human DNA to her genetic code just to see what happened.

He knows that she will not survive in isolation.