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Pain rolled through Jason’s stomach and with it, fear flooded into his veins.
He gripped the bedspread, knuckles going white with how tightly he was gripping the fabric. The thick comforter, which had once felt so secure, now felt suffocating. It felt it was pinning him, that it would hold him down and expose his new presentation to the world.
Because that was what this was.
The ache that felt like it was slowly cracking him in half was him becoming an omega and going into his first chick heat.
Jason gave a wet sob that stuck to the back of his throat.
He didn’t want to believe it.
He was hoping to be an alpha, strong and untouchable. He could have bared being a beta. But an omega? The most vulnerable type. The designation that got whispered away into Gotham’s underbelly and rolled onto strangers’ beds.
Jason wasn’t dumb. He knew what happened to omega chicks during their first few heats. It was an alpha’s favourite time to prey upon them; they were old enough to adopt their sickening sweet, alluring smell, but young enough that they didn’t carry the risk of pregnancy.
He had seen exactly how ravenous alphas got because of the smell of those first few heats.
Jason sat up in bed and shook the heavy blankets off of him. His skin felt two sizes too small and his wings felt itchy. He flapped them and a small cloud of down puffed around him. His flight feathers had finally finished coming in last month, but he still had an annoying amount of baby fluff that had yet to be preened out.
An ugly, acidic feeling burned in the back of Jason’s throat as he thought about Bruce preening him now that he was omega. The alpha had also been nothing but gentle but would that keep? Would he be able to resist now that Jason was … alluring?
He shivered at the thought.
Just yesterday, he had been safe, he had been a child, he had been something to protect and now…
He wanted to scream.
He still felt young and scared and incredibly vulnerable, but as he slept the world’s attitude towards him shifted.
Bruce’s attitude towards him could have shifted and that was more terrifying than anything else.
Jason had just begun to feel safe here.
Now, in a single night, it had all been taken away.
Jason fumbled on the bed before slipping off. The air was chilly and the hardwood floor was biting against the soles of his feet. Bruce must have not turned the heat on yet despite the incoming fall.
Jason turned towards the window and stared out at the rapidly changing season.
It would be the worst time for Jason to run away. Winters had always been hard on the streets but at least they had been relatively punctual. He had had months to prepare and steal away scraps of fabric that would keep him alive through the season.
Jason would be unprepared now and he didn’t want to think of how quickly the cold could kill him.
The urge to scream almost overtook him again.
He had thought those nights were over. He had thought he had found his flock that that he could grow up safe with his father and his broth—
Jason’s mind froze as a new thought dawned on him.
His brother.
A beta.
A wave of relief rushed through him.
Dick, the beta, who wouldn’t react as much as an alpha who might even…
A fresh bout of tears came up but they weren’t from fear.
Dick had always promised to protect him and he had never looked at Jason in that way. Dick whose designation meant he wouldn’t turn into a monster because of Jason’s heat scent.
If he could wait out his heat with Dick, then he could stay in the Manor up until his next heat in four months. It wouldn’t be too cold then hopefully and even if it was, he would have had time to prepare.
It could work. Jason could live in this flock for just a little longer.
He padded towards the window and nudged open the glass. The rush of cold air instantly made shivers run down his spine, but he ignored them. He whipped out his wings and spread his feathered tail. The wind ruffled his wings and tried to keep them spread and strong.
He hadn’t had much experience with flying. His tail feathers hadn’t completely come in. His flight feathers were still pretty new. He wasn’t completely sure if they were strong enough to carry him to Bludhaven.
But he couldn’t stay here.
Jason took one look back at his room, unsure of when he would be coming back. A small childish part of him hoped it was soon and that his room wouldn’t be changed when he returned.
His insides twisted and before he could talk himself out of it, he jumped into the sky.
Dick was finished with patrol, showered and collapsed onto his bed. It was approaching 4 a.m. which was about three hours later than he usually patrolled but he had gotten involved in a drug bust that ran late.
Fortunately for him, he had two strokes of luck: 1) he miraculously didn’t get a scratch on him, despite how hard the goons had tried and 2) he didn’t have to wake up early tomorrow.
He could finally get his beauty sleep.
Not like he needed much of it, but it always helped.
Dick squirmed in his bed, his wings flopped gracelessly around him. His feathers were still a bit ruffled from the Nightwing wing armour he wore and the remnants of the identity hiding paint.
Ideally, he would have had a preen from a flockmate, but one of the sad truths of living alone meant there were no flockmates around.
He sighed, letting himself miss his little brother for a moment.
Jason was so cute at this age and part of him was afraid that by living alone he was giving up the chance to be a good big brother to the kid.
And Jason needed a brother. He needed people to be there and stay . He had had too many people give up on him and throw him away. Dick couldn’t let himself become one of those people.
Dick closed his eyes and let his body go limp in his bed-nest.
Tomorrow he will make a trip back to the Manor.
Dick woke up the first time to the sound of scraping.
He groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. He brought his wings up and tried to seal off the sound. His feathers puffed with his agitation.
He knew feeding that stray cat was a mistake. Aunt Selina had warned him about how quickly strays could decide that someone was their people. But how could he resist? The kitty was so skinny and its scruffy black fur and wary eyes reminded Dick of Jason. He had even started calling it ‘Jaycat’ in his head.
Dick had thought he would be forced to lure the cat inside with cans of tuna; he didn’t think it would get bold enough to start pawing at his window.
The scraping was muffled through his wings and he felt himself beginning to be pulled into sleep again.
His last thought was a brief wondering about why he smelled something sweet.
Dick woke up a second time to brown feathers.
His feathers weren’t brown.
He shot up reaching for the escrima he kept by his bed, but before he gripped it he was stopped by a young chick chirp.
He froze, feathers puffed up as much as they would go and wings half spread and was hit by an omega in heat smell.
The chirp he recognised, but he didn’t recognise the smell.
“Jason,” he whispered, reaching down to prod at the messy huddle of feathers. Jason was mantling his wings forward and completely hiding his body behind a curtain of feathers. He even fully spread his tail feathers to be an extra shield.
The chick stayed curled into a tiny ball and his wings trembled.
Dick softened his wings, relaxing them into something less intimidating, and began shifting his scent.
All betas could control their scent and make it resemble an alpha’s or an omega’s if they wanted it too. Usually, Dick stayed pretty neutral, letting his own unique beta scent draft off him around the Manor. Nightwing, though, was an alpha, half for the intimation factor and half for the extra identity protection.
Dick could be an omega if his little brother needed that too.
Silently, he sweetened his scent and copied it from the memories of his mother. He took her spices and freshly popped popcorn and made it his own.
It was so nostalgic that it was a tiny, sharp knife into his heart.
He had forgotten some of the details of her face. He had forgotten the tiny nuances of her voice. He never forgot how to copy her scent, though, or how to keep her memory alive through wearing it on his body.
He could see the chick reacting. His trembling was growing fainter and his wings were becoming more relaxed. The terror that thrummed right below the heat scent was beginning to break apart.
“Little Wing,” Dick cooed, putting the quiet rumble of a purr into the words. “What happened?”
Jason gave a heavy sniffle and peeked out to Dick from behind a wing.
“Isn’t it obvious?” He spat, his anger not quite hiding the scared shaking in his voice. “I presented.”
Dick purred loudly and settled down next to his brother. The kingfisher drew up one of his bright blue wings and draped it over the chick. He scooted Jason in closer and nuzzled into one of Jason’s downy wings.
“You did,” he said softly. “And you came to me.”
Jason didn’t say anything but he did uncurl. He revealed his blotchy face, red from tears, and the ruffled state of his cream-coloured coverts. He looked so vulnerable and Dick couldn’t help but nudge him closer.
The lammergeier chick went willing and let Dick mold his small body against his and fully mantle the boy under his wings.
“I wanted to feel safe,” Jason whispered, so quietly that Dick almost didn’t hear.
It was only five words, but they walloped Dick more than any punch he had ever received.
It struck him and drove a deep, earth-shattering, life-changing feeling straight into his heart.
Intellectually, he had always known that Jason looked up to him. He had seen the way the chick gravitated toward him and subtly hid behind Dick’s wings when strangers got too close.
But it had never seemed so important up until that moment.
He didn’t know what to say, so instead, he just drew his arms up and settled beside his brother to fall back to sleep.
Dick woke up with an armful of purring brother.
He blinked, his brain still foggy from sleep. He remembered Jason crawling into his bed, deep in heat and searching for safety, but he didn’t remember much before that.
Had Bruce dropped him off? Would Dick walk out to see the man crashing on his couch?
He thought about it for a moment, but was interrupted by Jason murmuring and nuzzling his face into Dick’s coverts. One of his hands had grabbed a fistful of Dick’s feathers and it was cute, but it was also extremely uncomfortable.
“Jason,” Dick whispered, nudging the boy. “It’s morning, Little Wing.”
“No,” he grumbled, flipping over to turn away from the kingfisher. “I still feel weird.”
Dick huffed and forced Jason to roll back over. “I know bud, but we gotta get some food in you. Once we’ve had breakfast, we can come back to the nest.”
Jason gave him wrinkled-nose, suspicious, little glare.
“You promise?”
Dick stood and lightly stretched his wings before folding them against his back. “I promise. I need to preen anyways and it’s much better to do it in a nest with a flock mate.”
Jason sat up his hair and feathers a complete mess. A couple of round down feathers stuck in his hair at odd angles and made him look even more adorable. Dick fought the urge to rush back over to him skip breakfast and start preening instead.
Jason grumbled but managed to climb out of bed and stumble his way to Dick. He yawned, his movements clumsy and he slumped into Dick’s side when he reached him.
The kingfisher huffed and used one of his wings to shepherd Jason into the kitchen. He plopped the chick onto one of his barstools and pulled out his phone to do a quick morning check, only to find it dead.
He shrugged when the screen didn’t turn on. He must have forgotten to plug it in last night. He sauntered into the kitchen, plugged it in, and went to work on making pancakes from the boxed mix he had hidden in the cupboard.
He wasn’t exactly a chef, but he could handle pancake mix that you just needed to add water to.
“So Jason,” he said as he stirred the mix. The vulture chick perked a little at his name. “An omega, huh?”
The chick instantly deflated and rested his head on his folded elbows. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “I guess so.”
Dick frowned as he poured the batter into the pan.
“Is that not the designation you wanted?”
“No,” Jason hissed vehemently, his wings flaring out behind him. “It’s the worst one.”
Dick’s frowned deepened and he turned. He took in his little brother, miserably melted on top of the kitchen island, wings slumping and his in-heat scent souring. He looked so tiny like that and Dick’s heart ached at the site.
The kingfisher gave an affectionate smile and came forward. He heightened his omega scent, making himself smell absolutely material for the anxious chick.
“Jason, being an omega doesn’t make you the ‘worst one’”, Dick murmured gently, leaning across the counter. “It doesn’t change anything.”
Jason shook his head, almost looking close to crying. “But it changes everything, Dickie! Bruce is going to—“
Suddenly, the chick was cut off as Dick’s phone screamed to life.
Hey, sugar daddy
Hansel needs some sugar in his bowl
Dick’s head shot up, feathers rising on the bend of his wings.
“Speak of the devil,” Dick laughed trying to force some levity into the kitchen as he went towards the screaming phone. It didn’t look like it worked because the chick seemed to get impossibly smaller and sadder looking.
He sighed, ignoring the 65 text messages (65? Really Bruce?) to answer the phone call instead.
“Hey, B!” He chirped into the phone, his tail wiggling happily. “What’s up?”
“Dick,” the eagle said, his voice absolutely wrecked. “Dick, Jason is gone.”
The kingfisher raised an eyebrow and twirled around to stare at the lammergeier chick who was most definitely sitting at his kitchen island.
“He is?”
“Yes, he isn’t here. I looked all over the Manor and he’s just gone. I don’t know how someone got in. None of the alarms are set off.”
Dick’s tipped his head to the side. “Is this your idea of a joke?”
The alpha practically growled into the phone. “You think I would joke about this, Dick?”
“No, but he’s ri—“
“Dick!” Jason yelped, pointing across the kitchen. “The pancakes are on fire!”
The pan on the stovetop hissed and Dick’s eyes widened as suddenly a blaze flickered to life.
“Shit! Sorry, Bruce. The kitchen’s on fire. I’ll call you back.”
Bruce shouted into the phone, but Dick clicked it off.
The small fire hissed and every single feather on Jason’s body was standing up on end.
“Dick! It’s screaming.”
“Don’t worry, Little Wing! Big Bird’s got you.”
Dick grabbed the pan and dunked it into sink. The fire gurgled to its death and Dick sighed a breath in relief.
“See, we’re good. Everything is fine.”
The firm alarms went off and the sprinklers suddenly gushed water from the ceiling.
Jason glared at him as the small chick got progressively wetter.
They had to evacuate the building.
Jason shivered underneath Dick’s wing as they huddled together next to the building. The chick was pressing closer into his side, his shivering nose pressed into Dick’s golden coverts. They were both completely soaked and the crisp autumn air just made the cold bite into their bones.
Dick pressed his wings in tighter.
“This sucks,” Jason murmured and the lammergeier chick’s hands clutched onto Dick’s shirt tighter.
Dick couldn’t even deny it.
It did suck.
“Don’t worry, Little Wing. We’re still good. Bruce is coming to pick us up.”
The chick’s head suddenly shot up. “Bruce is coming?”
At first, Dick thought it was out of excitement, but then he felt the chick begin to tremble up against his wing. His face went pale and his fingers worried around one of Dick’s coverts.
“He’s coming here? Can’t we wait? Just untilI don’t smell like my heat anymore?”
Dick’s mind whirled.
Why would Jason be worried about smelling like his heat?
Before Dick could interrogate him about it, Bruce’s Mercedes screeched to a halt and he burst out of the car.
“Dick! Jason!” He yelled, his wings flaring in what Dick recognised was a protective movement.
He smiled at his flustered Dad and went to greet his flock alpha, but Jason’s shaking hands held him down.
“No,” he whispered, his eyes wide and terrified. Those small hands tugged at Dick’s feather. “No, please don’t leave me.”
Every single protective instinct in Dick burst forward and the chick’s words from last night rang in his ear.
“You came to me?”
“I wanted to feel safe.”
Jason felt safe with Dick.
And, for some reason, he didn’t feel safe with Bruce.
Dick surged forward, his wings and tail feathers spreading and he snarled from the back of his throat. He put himself between the eagle and the chick. He sharpened his scent, being both protective alpha and ferocious omega at the same time. It was a potent mix and he knew he smelled positively dangerous.
His flock leader skidded to a halt, surprise blooming across his face.
“Dick?”
“Why is he scared of you?” Dick questioned, wings arching menacingly. “Why was he terrified enough to run away the moment he presented?”
Bruce tensed, but his wings remained soft and unthreatening. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“Your chick is scared of you, alpha,” he sneered the last word. “He wouldn’t be scared for no reason.”
Bruce’s face went tight just like it did when he got punched in the gut. The eagle’s wings drooped more and he looked completely lost.
“Dick, I genuinely don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t even know that Jason had presented.”
The kingfisher searched his flock leader’s face and only found earnestness. Things weren’t adding up in Dick’s mind. He knew Bruce. He had grown up with the eagle and knew that the man would sooner throw himself in front of a bus than hurt a child.
But he also couldn’t deny Jason’s frantic shivering against his back.
He glared at Bruce and then whirled around, bringing his wings forward to completely encircle Jason into the tent of his feathers.
“Jaybird,” he whispered and realised that the chick was crying. Big fat tears rolled down his cheeks and his skin was getting blotchy. Dick’s heart ached from behind his ribs.
“Oh chickadee,” he said and he nuzzled his cheek into Jason’s, clearing away the tears. He spread his dual alpha and omega scent all over Jason’s face. “What are you afraid of happening?”
“I’m an omega,” Jason whined, his voice still breathy and afraid. He almost looked close to the point of making scared, little chick peeps. “Alphas hurt omegas. They do evil things to omegas.”
Dick felt like his rib cage was getting cracked in half and spread apart. He resisted the urge to clutch the chick in close.
“Jason, Bruce would never hurt a chick.”
“I know,” Jason cried. “I know, but when he smells my heat, he’s not going to be able to control himself.”
Dick warbled a comforting sound from the back of his throat and pressed their foreheads together.
“Bruce isn’t like that. He’s a good alpha. He would never hurt an omega like that.”
Jason whined. “But how do you know?”
Dick stood, unwrapping his wings from the shivering chick. “Because I can prove it.”
The kingfisher straightened and broke the chick’s grip. The little bird peeped behind him, making scared chickie noises, but Dick ignored them to face Bruce.
The eagle head tilted in surprise at Dick’s sudden attention, especially when Dick began walking towards him.
The kingfisher shifted his scent, getting rid of the alpha and heightening the omega. He smelled fully like an omega, and once it was set in place, he put himself into honeyed heat. He sweetened his smell, calling up the memories of his mother and the heats she spent clutching him close through.
He knew that he smelled alluring, enough to make most alphas go weak in the knees, and he coupled the smell with a soft, seductive sweep of his wings.
“Dick, no!” Jason cried behind him but he kept going forward.
Instead of tantalised, though, Bruce just looked confused.
Dick flirtatiously cooed from the back of his throat and Bruce’s face twisted. He looked mildly disgusted but didn’t push Dick away even when he affectionately slotted his wings underneath Bruce’s. The kingfisher got on his tiptoes and nuzzled along the underside of his father’s jaw.
“Dick, sweetheart, I appreciate the affection but—“
“Jason thinks you won’t be able to control yourself around an omega in heat,” Dick said, leaning his head into the crook of Bruce’s neck. He could feel the pulse of Bruce’s heart pounding in his ear. “I’m showing him you can.”
Bruce hummed and gently pressed a chaste kiss onto Dick’s forehead.
“Thanks, chum.”
“Get away from him!” Suddenly a furious ball of feathers shoved into the small of Dick’s back. “I’m the real omega! You want me, not him.”
Jason was desperately trying to wedge his way between Bruce and Dick.
“You want me,” he gasped, spreading his wings out to their full, pre-teen length.
Bruce sighed and he knelt down, keeping his wing language as gentle as it could be.
“I don’t want anything from either of you, except for the two of you to be safe and into some dry clothes.”
Jason hissed. “You want us undressed!”
“I want you warm,” Bruce gently corrected. Then, he leaned forward to gently scent the top of Jason’s head. “I don’t want anything else.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
“Dick smells like an omega in heat right now,” Jason observed. “Don’t you want to fuck him?”
Bruce made a choked noise and Dick disguised a laugh behind a cough. He pretended not to see the quick glare Bruce sent him.
“No, Jason. I would never do that to my son.”
“Even when he was throwing himself all on top of you? Did you think about it at all? Even for a second?”
“No. Not even for a second,” said Bruce with complete earnestness.
The chick’s gaze was so furious and he didn’t look convinced. Bruce would be dead twice over if looks could kill.
“If I ever see any sign that you are going to change your mind, I will rip your wings off.”
Bruce chuckled and the alpha brought his wings forward to gently brush the wrists of them against the top of Jason’s wings.
“Jason, if you ever see me acting like that towards one of my children, I give you complete permission to kill me however you want.”
The boy searched Bruce’s face, trying to find a lie or any trace of deceit, but the eagle was open and honest. He had nothing to hide.
Finally, the chick huffed, his downy wings spreading and his tail wagging.
“We’re at an understanding, then.”
Jason stood tall and stoic for another second, before he collapsed forward into Bruce then his strings had been cut. Bruce caught him instantly.
“I want to go home now, alpha,” Jason whimpered into his shirt. He looked a hundred times more exhausted than he had moments before. He began shivering again and Dick was reminded of how wet both of them were.
“Of course,” the alpha promised, standing up and lifting Jason with the motion. Jason’s thin arms encircled the man’s neck.
“Let’s get you both home. You’ve already had an eventful day and I don’t even think it’s noon yet.”
Dick smiled and followed Bruce into the car. He really hoped Alfred would have some piping hot chocolate waiting for them when they got back.