Tooth and Nail

Proposition

Olivia swiped away the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She'd already been working at the dig site for hours, and to her dismay, it was only 10:00. She watched as the people around her continued to flick away dust from the fossil they had recently discovered. Why Olivia decided to become a paleontologist was beyond her.

She hated the heat, and had no real interest for digging up old bones. The only reason she did it was for her brother and her growing love of Dinosaurs. Her favorite however was of course the Velociraptor, which happened to be what they were uncovering. She loved the way they moved. How they hunted. And she couldn't get over how intelligent they seemed to be.

"Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler... Um other Dr. Grant, we're ready to try again." Someone from the dig team informed the three.

"I hate computers." Allen groaned as he stood up. He was covered in dirt from head to toe, much like his sister and girlfriend.

"The feelings mutual." Ellie chuckled along with Olivia.

"C'mon you two." Olivia said, rolling her eyes as she jogged down the hill. She laughed seeing Ellie and Allen trudge down after her. "What took you so long?" She smirked.

"Our bones don't move that fast, Liv." Allen mumbled, throwing his arm around her shoulders as they walked towards the canopy.

"How long does this normally take?" Ellie asked, holding herself up on her knees.

"Should bring an immediate return." The tech guy informed the team. "You shoot the radar into the ground and the bone bounces the image back."

"Bounces it back." The siblings
shared a look. This technology was far too complicated for their liking.

"This new program is incredible." The tech guy marveled. Olivia just rolled her eyes. She couldn't understand it if she had written instructions with a diagram taped across the front. "A few more years development and we won't even have to dig anymore."

"Where's the fun in that?" Allen asked. Olivia let out a snort as she leaned against her brothers side.

"It's a little distorted, but I don't think it's the computer." He pushed some more buttons.

"Post-mortem contractions of the posterior neck ligaments." Olivia spoke as she observed the creature.

"Velociraptor?" Ellie asked, knowing she and Allen would have the answer.

"Yes, good shape to." Allen agreed. "It's five, six feet high. I'm guessing nine feet long." He pointed at the screen. "Look at these..." He trailed off as the screen went haywire.

"What'd you do?" The tech guy asked.

"He touched it." Ellie laughed.

"Unfortunately my brothers not machine compatible." Olivia said, nudging his shoulder in amusement.

"Oh shut up. Hell they've got it in for me." He grumbled, nudging her back. "And look at the half moon shaped bones in the wrists." He marveled, carful not to touch it again.

"It's no wonder these guys learned how to fly." Olivia commented. A chuckled could be heard from the whole crowd. "No, seriously." She said turning to them. "Maybe dinosaurs have more in common with present day birds than reptiles." She shrugged.

"She's not wrong." Allen added. "Look at the pelvic bone, turned backwards, just like a bird. Look at the vertebrae, full of air sacs and hollows, like a bird." Allen explained, tracing his finger along the skeleton.

"Even the word Raptor means bird of prey." Olivia grinned, loving when she was right.

A little boys voice pipped up. "That doesn't look very scary." Allen turned to glare at him. "More like a six foot turkey."