Kagome cackled to herself in delight. She'd caught Craig and Jen in the showers.

She'd caught them.

She cackled some more. As she jogged away from the very steamy shower, caressing her phone, she plotted. Because she was not a nice person, and Jen deserved every bit of anything she could plan for all that she had done. (Kagome would never forgive her for the crotch-less underwear, never.) She crowed in delight when she found Hendricks in the break room.

"Jen and Craig! Hundred on them fucking. Double or nothing on them doing it in places they really shouldn't because they might just get caught."

"Jen hates Craig."

"Hate sex is still sex." Kagome pointed out innocently.

"I'm going to take you bet fool child. I've got things to do with your money."

"Like that keeper over in the nursery?" She inquired. Hendricks glared down at her. "Give me a week to gather evidence."

"You're a filthy liar. I want an unbiased party to judge your info."

"Cooper or Lee. They aren't on our shift and quite frankly think that we're the worst people ever."

"You are. But I'll take Lee over Cooper."

"Bet accepted?"

"Bet accepted." Kagome smiled at him, all teeth. He sighed.

"Where are Craig and Meyers right now?"

"They're freshening up in the shower Henny-baby." She reached out to pat his arm. "Remember, two hundred dollars on twu wuv." Hendricks took a good-natured swipe at her and she ducked under his hand. She braced herself against his chest and looked up at him through her lashes.

"Losing is for the weak." With that, she threw herself backwards and away from him, narrowly missing a chair as she raced out of the room. She had a full minute or three of Jen and Craig Do Each Other on her phone. That money was hers. Kagome went to her locker to drop her gear off. She tucked her vest, tracker and assorted goods into her assigned space before closing the door.

She was proud that her scream sounded less like a scream and more of a yelp when Owen basically materialized into her space.

"Holy shit! Warn a person before you kill them with a heart attack."

"You've got a pretty healthy heart. I can't see you dying that way."

Kagome shrugged.

"Surprises, surprises, wherever I go. Which brings me to the question, raptor-boy. What are you doing here, and not at the paddock?"

Owen leaned on Jen's locker

"You were the one that wanted to meet the pack. That means we've a pack to meet."

Kagome blinked and snatched his hands his pockets.

"Really? Really! I thought Dearing was all about "no" and "assets aren't flowers" and the occasional mildly-worded "fuck offs". What changed?"

"I may or may not have decided that Claire really doesn't have a say in this. You're ACU. You've got clearance to be where you want to be."

"When I'm on-duty, yes."

"Well, then, I guess you forgot to clock-out today."

"You're the love of my life Owen. I want you to know that." Kagome said flirtatiously. She pressed a kiss to his fingers and peered up at him through her lashes. "Are we going raptor-gazing now?" She murmured against his skin.

Owen cleared his throat and pulled his hands from hers.

"Not if you do that. Do you have everything?"

"Sir, yes sir."

There was a loud guffaw and Craig pushed into the room.

"You've got her trained up Grady? Nice." He winked at her suggestively. "Do you gear up for him too?"

"Of course I do Craig. He really appreciates it when I put on the formal uniform. All business on top with everything lacy below." Kagome all but purred in response. Craig gaped at her, his eyes darting between her and Owen. Kagome bit her lip. "Sometimes, when I'm lucky, I get to be CO. But we're both winners either way." Craig's jaw dropped a little more and his ears flushed red. Kagome winked at him and turned back to Owen.

"Ready to roll?"

"Yes sir."

"Move out."

"Sir!" She grabbed her bag, spun on her heel and marched out of the room. Behind her, Owen murmured something to the sputtering Craig. She waved cheerfully at Jen as she passed her by and wished Hamada a good night.

Outside of the building, she dithered between heading to her truck or going to Grady's bike. When he strolled out of HQ, he motioned to her truck. She climbed into the cab and tossed her bag on the floor on the passenger side. She waited a moment for Owen, and then heard him start his bike. A bit confused, she followed him over to the raptor paddock.

A couple minutes later, she jumped out of her cab and moseyed her way over to where Owen had parked his bike.

"Hoskins isn't here, is he?"

"Like I'd bring you around him." Owen replied. "Barry's waiting, let's head up."

"Ah – okay?" Kagome followed him up the stairs. Se blinked when he pulled a clicker out of his pocket. She'd known he was training them raptors, but for some reason, she'd never thought of him using a tool commonly used to train dogs to train velociraptors. There was a call, and then the raptors came. Kagome gazed down at them

"That's Blue right? And that's Echo." She frowned as she looked at the other two. "Charlie's the one closer to the bushes?"

"Good guess."

"I try."

"We'll run a short drill, then you've got to go." He glanced at her and then away. "You stand over there –" He gestured, pointing to a catwalk that was against the wall. "And you don't move, got it?"

"Got it." She made her way over to the spot he had indicated. Below her, in the paddock, the raptors followed her movement, turning slowly to keep her in their sights. Kagome fought back a shiver and frowned. Faintly, she was reminded of Sesshoumaru's disregard for her when they first met. But, but this was less willful disregard and more calculating. Unlike Seshoumaru, they were not ignoring her.

"Eyes on me." Owen called, clicking the tool. "Delta, Charlie, eyes up! Echo, up!" He clicked the tool again. "Blue! Eyes on me!" Slowly, the raptors turned to face him, Blue's lip pulled up from her teeth in a half-snarl. She was the last to look away.

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Kagome stepped into the cage and rolled her shoulders back. Really, it was more than creepy the way that four pairs of eyes had locked onto her as soon as she had appeared in the gateway. She made her way towards Owen's side, feeling more uncomfortable the closer she stepped.

Blue's lips were peeled back from her teeth and she was hissing at her near-silently. Echo had gone still, too still. Kagome grimaced and stopped at Owen's side. He smiled down at her.

"These are my girls." He motioned to each raptor as he named her, and when the introductions were over, all four of them had fallen into that eerie stillness that Kagome disliked. He continued talking, but his words drifted as Kagome rolled her shoulders again and cracked her neck. The raptors continued to remain stock still. Kagome frowned. Glancing up at Owen, she noted he was gesturing animatedly at Charlie. She smiled at him and then turned back to Blue. Kagome let herself fall into that eerie stillness that the raptors were holding. Slowly, she reached out with her power, tamping it over and around the girls. They snarled, sensing something and Blue's eyes narrowed challengingly.

It took a couple of moments for Kagome to realize that she was growling at them, in a lower register that Owen couldn't hear. Her nails had hardened and she was all but snarling at the raptors. She grit her teeth and pulled back forcefully, shutting down instincts that she hadn't used in years. The raptors made a terrible, awful sound that sounded a lot like mocking laughter. Kagome dropped almost all of the layers between her power and the world, only keeping it from registering in a visible, physical way. The mocking sound died abruptly. Blue made a chirruping sound that Echo then Delta repeated. There was a tip of the head and then the four pulled back, retreating into their paddock.

Kagome drew her power back in and then froze, all too aware of the silence around her. She chanced a glance at Owen to see him staring into the paddock with a frown on his face. She closed her eyes in relief and then opened them. She saw a flash of movement from her left and turned.

"Barry! There you are." Owen exclaimed. "I was introducing Kagome to the girls."

"Ah. Did they get along very well?" The black man replied.

"As well as can be expected." Owen turned back to the paddock.

"What the actual fuck?" Barry murmured under his breath as he backed out of the cage.

Kagome heard him anyway.

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Kagome sighed as she rubbed her hair dry. Owen was on shift for another couple of hours and she really didn't have anything to do. She contemplated heading over to the park, but didn't really feel like dealing with the people. Sighing, she dropped the towel on her bed and pulled on a ratty shirt and some shorts. She hung the towel up, grabbed a book she'd been meaning to read and strode out into her living room.

Where she promptly screeched and threw her book at the man standing in the middle of the room.

Owen snagged the book before it could connect with his face and held his other hand up in surrender.

"Surprise?"

"What the hell!? You said you had a couple more hours!"

"I know, I know. Barry will let me know if there's an emergency."

"Owen!"

"Would you prefer I leave so you can enjoy your book?" He dropped his hand and flipped the book over. Kagome screeched again and scrambled forward. She snatched the book from his hand, spun and threw it into her room. She winced when she heard it connect with something.

"Kagome …" Owen started.

"Shut it." She interrupted.

"Kagome …"

"Nope." Kagome twitched when she felt him running his fingers through her hair.

"You've got hedgehog hair babe. Did you just get out of the shower?"

"I did." She turned to face him. He dropped a kiss on her forehead and tugged on a lock of her hair.

"It's adorable this way." She squinted up at him suspiciously. "Really."

"Why didn't you call?"

"And interrupt your time with Lady of Sin? Never." His lips twitched. "How did I not find the trashy romance?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really?" Kagome stepped in front of him when he tried to go into her room. "What's up babe? Why are you blocking me?"

"Grady. No."

"Grady. Yes." He grabbed her up in a hug and made his way into her room, grunting when her knee slammed into his thigh. "Stop that. Keep still." He stepped on the book and slid it backwards as he dropped her on the bed and followed her down. She stared at him suspiciously when he kicked off his shoes and pulled her closer.

"What?"

"I was thinking we should head off island today?"

"That would be great! Where to?"

"Here and there. Nowhere important." Kagome beamed.

"Sure, give me a minute to get dressed and do something with my hair."

"You've got all the time in the world." She pressed a kiss to his lips and rolled out of the bed and strolled into the bathroom. Owen waited until he could hear her fumbling with her hair products before he rolled off the bed and skulked out into the living room. He snagged the book from where it'd slid and then settled himself onto the couch. He cracked it open at a little over the halfway mark and started skimming.

An evil smile graced his lips before he began to read out loud.

"'Oh Mathew! She cried out as he nuzzled her quivering bosom. Oh!' She could feel a warmth between her legs, her core softening as she readied herself for his thick staff. 'Emma' He murmured against her heaving chest. Slowly, he took his lips from her pale, delicate breasts with their -."

Kagome descended with a screech of fury, grabbing the novel from his hands and tossing it over the kitchen counter. He caught her knee with his foot, and she toppled forward into his lap.

"I've changed my mind about heading off-island."

"What? Why?" Owen twisted, dropping her to the couch and caging her in with his body.

"First of all, I really would like to see these lacy, lacy things you wear under your uniform when no one knows." He lowered himself onto her. "And I really would appreciate it if you addressed me as sir for the rest of the afternoon." He pressed a kiss to her throat. "And I would love to see your bosom quiver as your core softens and readies itself for my thick staff." He snickered into her neck when she made an embarrassed sound.

"You won't let me live that down will you?"

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I did that?"

"The good kind." She replied shortly.

He nipped her ear and pressed a kiss to her jawline.

"We both know that's no fun." He levered himself off the couch. "Go get ready. I'll leave your book alone."

"Promise?"

"Scout's honor." She slipped off the couch and snagged her book from the kitchen floor before she disappeared into her room. Owen sighed softly and thought about dead kittens and puppies and why he shouldn't go into the room and drag her into the bed and have a great round or four of mind-numbing sex. For one, she'd looked genuinely delighted about going off-island. Two, he liked her. He didn't want everything they were to devolve into a purely physical relationship. Three, he desperately needed to think long and hard about the fact that her words earlier had brought a whole other side of him to the forefront, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Everyone had their kinks, but kinks weren't always compatible.

He sighed again.

Maybe he could jump in a waterfall or three while they were off-island. The cold water would do him some good.

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Kagome sipped at her drink as she glanced at Owen. He was joking around with the guitar player of the band at the tiny restaurant they'd ended up in. They both kept glancing her way and she was fairly certain that he was about to do something. She watched as he clapped the man on the back and then made his way back to their table.

"These empanadas are delicious." He snagged another from the basket on the table. "Anything else you want to try?"

"No. These are good." She took another bite of the one on her plate. He smiled at her before using his foot to pull her chair closer. She glared at him half-heartedly before popping the last of the pastry in her mouth. "What are you up to?"

"Me? Nothing." His smile shifted into a suspiciously innocent one as he stirred the straw in his drink. "I love this place."

Kagome eyed his suspiciously.

"It's great. How'd you find it?"

"It's more like it found me. I had a day or two to wander and I stumbled upon it."

"Mmm." Kagome took another sip of her drink. It was amazing. She really needed to tell the bartender he was magic. She frowned at the half-empty glass and Owen laughed.

"They do a great job, don't they?" She nodded. There was a clink as another glass was placed on their table. The bartender patted her on the back and then wound his way through the crowd.

Twenty minutes later the music started and people made their way to the tiny dancefloor, or utilized the space by their tables. Kagome smiled at the sight fondly. Really, only Own would take her to a restaurant/disco bar. She blinked when his hand appeared in her face.

"It's dance time babe, get over here." Kagome laughed and grabbed his hand. Drink in her other hand, they shuffled over to the tiny dancefloor.

Kagome couldn't remember a time where she'd had more fun.