Chapter Text
Conner was nearly chopping at the bit to go hunting. Hayley and Anton had explained five times that he couldn't kill the Tyrannodrones because they needed them alive, which Trent was pretty sure the werewolf was still confused by, but he had just nodded. That had been the hardest part. The rest of them were fine with their jobs and involving the dinosaurs would make it even more fun. Kira and her pterosaurs would search the forest until they found a group. At that point, Ethan and his dinosaurs would work as a barricade. Trent and his Dimetrodon would go after stragglers. And the raptors, Conner's dinosaurs, and the werewolf himself would subdue them. They weren't sure if the nets were going to work too well, so Hayley and Anton had given Conner permission to keep them down if necessary while they found out.
After, they'd get them back to Anton's 'Tommy don't come in' lair and work from there. Hayley was going to be less involved, but part of it was making sure that Anton didn't do anything that would get them another Brain Lizard. That was the best that they could hope for, for now. They headed into the woods. Hayley looked at the group.
"Is everyone ready?" She asked. When they all agreed to various degrees, she looked at Kira. "Go."
Kira took off with the other two flyers following. They headed toward the Tyrannodrones and stayed high in the air as had been discussed before they had left. Trent was impressed by the formation as both of the pterosaurs stayed in a V formation right behind Kira. Kira herself was doing a good job of keeping an eye out.
Ethan and his group headed out next. They were slower than the others and would need time to get there, so leaving earlier was in their best interest. They made their way through the forest after Kira and her team. In their case, Ethan was on the Triceratops' back. She wasn't sure why that one had been designated unless it was a safety issue considering that Triceratops fought with horns instead of a tail as well as having the protective frill. Regardless, Ethan was whispering something or another to Triceratops, who seemed to nod and follow instructions.
Conner and Trent both waited behind with their partners. When it was time for them to arrive, Kira would let them know. Trent could see the fur ruffling on Conner's back from anticipation. The raptors were hopping from one foot to the other in their own version of excitement. Tyrannosaurus was still, watching the Pterosaurs intently. She would be the quickest once it started due to sheer size. Pachycephalosaurus stayed near Conner, ready to go at a moment's notice, as he bobbed his head up and down. In contrast, both Trent and the Dimetrodon were still and calm. Ready, but not bristling with energy like their companions.
Finally, Kira let loose her song and Trent and Conner's groups took off. Brachiosaurus had knelt down to let Hayley on his head so she could see what was going on. Anton didn't exactly get along with the dinosaurs due to his unwanted guest and Tommy needed to be as far from this as possible, which put Hayley in charge of watching the group and handling them. Fortunately, the sauropod was willing to help out to the best of his ability. If it looked like it was going badly, however unlikely that might be, she could use Parasaurolophus to get there quickly.
As it was, everything seemed to be going according to plan. The kids were heading in the direction that Kira had left for them. Ethan's group split up to circle around and stop the Tyrannodrones from fleeing. Conner's group spread apart for better distance. Trent was the one who had the net. If Conner was racing next to the dinosaurs, Trent kept up with Dimetrodon at an easy, for a vampire, pace. His companion was slower than Conner's group, but Trent's part didn't rely on speed. Conner's team closed in and then chaos occurred as the Tyrannodrones panicked. Trent had the feeling that they'd been trying to stay away from them.
Conner motioned and howled, to which his dinosaurs responded and began to close in. They raced back, only to fall into Ethan's group, who just pushed them back. Trent prepared himself and once they were in position, he readied the net. As the others surrounded, Trent easily threw it and caught most of them. The others kept the Tyrannodrones that weren't caught from him as Trent worked. He stepped back and waited. Once he was sure that it was going to work, he looked back where he knew Hayley was and nodded.
"Good," she said, knowing he'd be able to hear her. "Let Conner know that he can take down the others."
She wasn't sure if Trent told him or he heard her, but the rest didn't last long against Conner and his dinosaur team. Trent was focused on getting the others back with Dimetrodon's help. Hayley shared a look with the two dinosaurs with her. Everyone was pleased it was successfully over.
***
Hayley was thrilled that the kids managed to get the other Tyrannodrones to Anton with little help from her. She was focusing on ignoring that she was uncomfortable about the entire thing. It needed to be done and Anton's skills were in poison rather than the explosives and tasers that Hayley could build. They needed to make sure to get things ready as soon as possible so that the children had as much support as the adults could give, which meant that Hayley needed to adjust based on what she saw, not what Anton saw.
Anton was waiting for them, having set up a place for them to work. Now was going to be the hard part: Getting the kids to leave so that they could get to work. She shared a look with Anton who gave her the same look back. She looked at them. "You can stay while we're making things, but when we're testing, you can't be here."
"Why not?" Conner asked, looking completely put out.
"Because we don't want you accidentally getting hurt," she answered, which was only a half-truth, but it wasn't a bad one. Trent read through it and looked at the others.
"And because Uncle Tommy is already feeling bad about all of this," he said. "And they're trying hard not to make it worse. Teaching us to make poison and bombs probably isn't something he wants us to learn either, but that can be justified."
Hayley shrugged. "That too."
"We don't see a reason to make Tommy feel worse," Anton agreed. "So we would appreciate it if you'd go along with it for the time being."
Conner looked the most uncomfortable. Kira just was acting like she didn't care either way. Ethan seemed fine with that assessment and she was pretty sure that learning to make the stuff was what he wanted in the first place. Conner pushed forward. "But we need to be here so they don't get away!"
Hayley looked at him with a gentle smile. "Then feel free to keep an eye on the exits."
Conner blinked. He still didn't look happy, but she was pretty sure that he'd obey that one at least. "Fine."
"And work with Tommy on your fighting later," Anton said. That made Conner happier at least. The goal, however, was to make sure that Tommy didn't feel left out. This was necessary, but not involving him meant that he might feel on the outside with the rest of the family. They needed to make sure he didn't feel that way at all.
With all of that in place, Hayley showed the kids how she made her weapons. If they didn't work, she would go back to the drawing board and try to shift things around, but for now, it would work as a quick science lesson. She was counting on them not to be too interested, which worked for all of them except Ethan. She was nearly certain she could distract him with other things if she needed to, however. They did look at what she was doing with various levels of interest, though. Ethan, as she guessed, was extremely interested which meant that she'd have to watch him. She was pretty sure he couldn't actually manage to do it on his own. Kira was watching in the same way that she normally did: With a false detachment and a curiosity for if she could use it later. Conner didn't seem to understand it at all, but he did like to know what they were supposed to do. So, there was that. He looked over at the others.
"What does a 'taser' do?" He asked.
"Do you know what electricity is?" She asked. They all gave her a look. "I'm not saying any of you are stupid, I just need a point of reference to start with."
"Yes, we know," Kira said with a sweet smile. She nodded.
"Great," Hayley said. "So, have any of you ever been shocked or seen someone shocked by a loose wire or light socket?"
"Seen."
"Seen."
"Yes," Conner said. She really should have guessed it would have been him.
"It's like that but directed and I can choose how much electricity comes out," she said. "So I can use it to stop them."
"Oh," Conner said. "That's cool. I want to see."
"If we get in trouble, you can then. I have to test it," she said. She paused and looked at Trent and Anton. Trent, to her relief, was the one to speak up.
"She doesn't want us to watch that part," he said. He was half-right. She also didn't want to watch that part. Her disgust must have shown because they just all nodded. Ethan patted her hand.
"It's okay," he said. She wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure her that they weren't mad, that she would be okay, or that it was okay that she was more human than they'd probably like. Trent and Conner looked at each other and then back at her. Trent just gave her a knowing smile before heading off. Kira and Ethan followed. Conner looked at her for a minute.
"If they get away, scream. I'll be right there," he promised. "And I won't even look at what you were doing. Probably."
"You'll smell it anyway," she reminded him. He grinned at her somewhat joke and headed off. He paused.
"Do you need us to lie to Tommy?" He asked.
"No," she said. "And if you do, have Trent do it."
"Will do!" He said cheerfully. She waited until he was gone and then sat down.
"I said I'd handle it," Anton reminded her gently. She looked back at him with half a smile.
"I know," she assured him. "But I need to know how I can adjust it... I don't want to do this."
"I'll take care of it," he promised.
"The last time we left you alone, you created the lizard," she reminded him. He paused and then motioned for her to look over what he'd created.
"I won't do anything that you don't already know about," he promised. She paused for a minute and then nodded. "And I'll get you the information you need. Besides, you can keep an eye on the children from running back.
"I'm not going that far," she said. "If something goes wrong, I'm screaming."
"Good," he agreed. "I'm counting on it."
She headed as far away as she felt comfortable doing and waiting.
Eventually, Anton came over to where she was sitting and handed her notes. "That should be everything you need. It's not detailed."
"Okay," she answered. He motioned for her to head back to the house, which she did as he refused to touch her. She looked at his hands and could see why. "I didn't hear any of the bombs go off."
"They'll work," he said instead.
"Okay."
They headed inside and Anton moved quickly to the shower, making certain not to answer Tommy's questions. Normally, she'd be upset that Anton had put her in the middle, but he'd covered for her so she could do the same back. "Everything works."
"Hayley."
"That's all you need to know," she said firmly. "I'm going to rework a couple of things, Anton figured out dosages, but over all, we're done. And he doesn't need you to push him on it."
"But..."
"Tommy!" She finally snapped. "We're protecting the kids, okay? Drop it."
The aforementioned kids all tried to look elsewhere during that part of the discussion. Tommy sighed. "Okay, I just don't like it."
"Good," she said, pulling him into a hug. "I like it when your conscience is clear."
"Is yours?"
"Mostly."
"Anton's?"
"Not since the lizard."
"Right," he said, leaning his head against her shoulder. "But it will protect the kids."
It wasn't a question, but she nodded anyway. She felt a touch on her shoulder and jumped slightly as Trent gave her a smile back. "Conner and I made sure not to listen."
Conner nodded wildly. Kira looked at her sternly. "It made it very hard for them to listen for your screaming though."
"I appreciate it and I know you would have made it work," she assured them. Conner perked up.
"Really?"
"Really," she said. "Did you four take showers?"
Ethan nodded. "We wanted to leave it open for you and Dr. Mercer."
"I appreciate that," she answered, taking the shower as soon as it was offered. Anton had already masked the haunted look she knew he should have had on his countenance. It was only then, in the shower, that she realized that she hadn't heard a single noise from any of them while Anton worked and she wasn't sure if that was better or worse but it haunted her nonetheless.