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Tim trembled in his bed. He shared a wall with Jason – not a particularly thin wall, as the manor was of sturdy construction – but when Bruce and Damian’s lust was up, it didn’t matter. The house fairly rang with their snarls of dominance. As the pack’s only omega, he knew first hand what it was like to be taken by both their pack alphas simultaneously. It wasn’t terrible, despite the roughness and enforced submission. In fact, his cock was hard and he was sopping wet just from listening to it. But this wasn’t anything like the rare occasions when they shared Tim between them. This was punishment, designed to put an insubordinate beta in his place, and there was unlikely to be even the undercurrent of affection they generally showed Tim.
He winced at the muffled cry that leaked through the walls, and decided that he just couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and hurriedly made his way to Dick’s room at the end of the hallway. He knocked softly on the door, waiting till he heard a murmur from within before he entered.
No words were needed as Tim slipped between the sheets. Dick wrapped his arms around him and held him through another empathic shudder. It helped, though it did little to block the waves of humiliation and anger rolling off of Jason.
Tim crushed his hands over his ears, as though he could physically drown out the psychic pain. “Can’t you stop them?”
Dick stroked his hair soothingly. “It’s too late,” he said. “No one can stop them now.”
Tim gritted his teeth against a surge of anger, though he wasn’t sure if it was his or Jason’s. “You could’ve stopped them before. You could’ve talked to Bruce, talked him down. It didn’t have to be this way!”
Dick sighed into his hair. “Jason made his bed. I can’t always defend him, Timmy. At some point, he needs to learn his place in this pack, and understand that there are consequences for breaking the rules.”
Tim didn’t respond, though he suspected that Dick sensed his feelings on that loud and clear, even without empathic abilities.
“Hey,” Dick said, giving him a rough shake. “Look at me.”
Tim reluctantly turned over to face Dick. It was too dark to see much of Dick’s expression, but he could see his eyes shining softly in the dark.
“I love Jay – we all do. Believe it or not, this is for his own good. These rules aren’t arbitrarily put in place as a show of dominance, or to make your lives miserable; they’re there to keep us safe. Do you have any idea what could’ve happened to a lone beta wandering around in unclaimed territory? He could’ve been killed! And the fact that you knew and didn’t tell anyone – his blood would’ve been on your hands, Tim. You’re lucky I kept that part to myself.”
Tim growled softly in the back of his throat. “So why didn’t you tell them?”
Dick was silent a moment before he said, “I thought this would be punishment enough for the both of you.”
“You did this on purpose!” Tim hissed, jerking out of Dick’s arms. “I should’ve known better than to think I could trust you. You’re just as bad as they are!”
“If you mean that I care just as much about your safety as Bruce and Damian do, then you’re right, I am just as bad,” Dick snapped.
“Jason and I were fine by ourselves before you came along, and we don’t need your draconian rules to ‘stay safe’.”
Dick grabbed Tim’s shoulders and pushed him down into the bed, rolling on top of him in the process. “Fine? That isn’t the word I’d choose – stupid, reckless, dangerous, that’s what I’d call it. How long do you think a beta and an omega masquerading as an alpha and a beta can survive out there? How long before someone found out, and took you away from him?”
“Jay would fight for me,” Tim said. “He’d kill for me!”
Dick snorted. “I have no doubt about that, but at the end of the day, if a real alpha came along, he just wouldn’t be able to compete. He understood that, and he agreed with Bruce that this was the only way to ensure your safety. Bruce is doing his best to help you both, but your refusals to follow the rules or integrate into this pack are making it unnecessarily difficult on everyone.”
“Jay may have agreed to those terms, but that was before he knew what it was going to be like living here. After this, I wouldn’t be surprised if we hit the road come morning,” Tim said. “Now get off me, before I hurt you.”
Dick sighed, but he rolled off to sit next to Tim. “You would be making a big mistake if you left the safety of our pack. Gotham is not for those without strong protection.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Tim spat as he got up and stalked out of the room.
***
Exhausted, Tim finally fell into a light doze. However, when he heard Jason’s door open, he snapped instantly awake. A murmured conversation took place in the hallway just outside his door, one voice a deep rumble, the other slightly higher pitched. After a moment, their footsteps and voices began to fade away, until the house gradually grew silent. Tim waited several long minutes before he crept out of his room and slid into Jason’s, closing the door softly behind him.
The room was dark save for the pale moonlight shining in through the windows. He could just make out the dark hump in the bed. The room smelled strongly of sex and sweat, and the pheromones were enough to make his balls ache with unspent sexual tension. That, however, was not why he was here.
“Jay?” he whispered.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” Jason growled.
“Too bad, ‘cause I’m not going anywhere,” Tim said. He slipped into the bed and pressed a hand to Jason’s warm, sweat-damp face. “Are you all right?”
Instead of answering, Jason buried his face in his pillow and grunted something that may have been “fine”, but could well have been swearing. Knowing Jason, it was probably something in between.
“Hey, look at me,” Tim said.
“Go ‘way,” Jason mumbled into his pillow.
“Jay, how long have we been together now? You’ve seen me at my worst,” Tim reminded him. His first heat had not been pretty, but Jason had never once made him feel weak or pathetic throughout the whole humiliating affair. “I think you’ll agree, this is nothing compared to that.”
Jason sighed, and rolled over just enough to allow Tim to curl up next to him.
“See? It’s not that bad,” Tim said with a reassuring smile. He smoothed Jason’s damp, unruly curls out of his eyes.
“Isn’t it?” Jason snapped. “You do smell it, don’t you? The piss?”
At the mention of it, the intoxicating fog of scent and pheromones in the room seemed to engulf Tim, and he lost control for just a moment. “God yes,” he groaned, shivering hard as he reached down to give his aching cock a rough squeeze.
Jason gripped his shoulders and pushed them apart slightly. “Whoa, hey. I told you, you shouldn’t be in here.”
“It’s not just the pheromones,” Tim said as he very deliberately did not stroke himself.
Jason snorted. “Right, because I’m so sexy like this, drenched in scent marking piss, leaking cum out of my ass, and covered in bite marks like the pack’s lowest ranking bitch. Which, I suppose, is what I am.”
Tim shook his head. “I don’t see it that way, Jay. I…I like smelling Bruce and Damian on you. It makes me feel…pack.”
“Really? This turns you on?” Jason said with a disgusted wave at himself.
“See for yourself,” Tim said slyly.
Jason raised an eyebrow. He experimentally slid a hand between Tim’s thighs. Tim moaned loudly as Jason’s fingers slipped easily into his slick passage, brushing against that sensitive bundle of nerves just inside of him.
“You weren’t kidding,” Jason muttered.
Tim grabbed Jason’s wrist to stop him from doing that amazing thing with his fingers, though it killed him just that little bit. “It might be hard to believe, considering, but I didn’t come here for sex. I know I’m aroused, but I can’t really help that. I came here to make sure that you’re ok. If you don’t want to do this, it’s ok. If you just want to cuddle, I can do that. If you want me to go, I’ll go. I don’t want to do this unless you really-”
“Tim,” Jason interrupted. “Shut up.” He flexed his wrist, breaking Tim’s rather weak hold on him and pushed his fingers in deeper, curling and twisting them as he went.
“Ah!” Tim writhed against Jason’s hand, the sensations at once so good and not nearly enough. He let out a low pitched keen of frustration. He had been dancing on a knife’s edge of arousal all night, and his need was almost urgent. He reached up and clutched a fistful of Jason’s hair, yanking him face to face with him. “Take me, Jay,” he demanded, his voice husky with need. “Do it now. Show them I’m yours.”
Jason let out a dominant snarl that sent shivers down Tim’s spine. It would never quite match Bruce’s, but that hardly mattered to Tim.
“You don’t gotta ask me twice.”
Tim gasped as Jason entered him without hesitation. As always, it felt so fucking right, like coming home after a long day out in the weary world, like passion and strength and safety all rolled into one. Tim wrapped his legs around Jason’s waist and pulled him deeper, the omega in him reveling in the sensation of being filled, owned and dominated. With Jason, it was never just about the physicality of sex. There was an undeniable bond between them that made everything more intense, and more deeply fulfilling in a way he couldn’t really describe. Omegas weren’t meant to bond with betas like that – it was a special connection generally reserved for their pack leader, but things were confusing with Jason. He didn’t fit the mold, and he broke all the rules.
Tim mouthed at Jason’s neck, lapping greedily at the circles of raised welts left by Bruce and Damian’s teeth. He could taste their pack alphas on Jason’s skin, and smell their heady, intoxicating scent in the air. It was making his head spin, especially when he could still taste and smell Jason beneath it, that confusing mix of beta and alpha that was uniquely him.
Perhaps annoyed by the attention Bruce and Damian’s marks were receiving, Jason bit him hard on the shoulder. Tim arched up off the bed with a wordless cry, his hands coming up to clutch urgently at Jason’s back.
“Mine,” Jason grunted against Tim’s ear as he rocked into him hard and fast. He ran his rough hands all over Tim’s body, raking his dull nails down his chest and over his sensitive nipples.
“Yes!” Tim cried, hips snapping up to meet Jason thrust for thrust.
Tim reached down between them and fisted his own cock in his hands. He tried to match Jason’s rhythm, but it was too erratic, so he just slid his thumb over the sensitive head, using pre come to slick himself. Jason bit him again, over and over on his shoulders, his neck, marking him for his own.
“Yes, Jay ah-” he trailed off incoherently. He was close, so close. On the next thrust, he dragged a nail over the sensitive slit in his cock, and as if timed on purpose, Jason simultaneously gave his nipple a sharp twist. With all that pent up sexual energy he’d been holding back all night, that was all it took. Tim came with a muted scream, his body tensing as he spilled all over his hand.
When his body finally stopped shuddering and shaking with the aftershocks of his climax, he slumped back onto the bed with a satisfied sigh. He looked up to find Jason gazing down at him with a small smile quirking his lips and an almost wistful look in his eye.
“Did you…”
Jason shook his head. “It’s fine.” He ran his thumb over Tim’s swollen lips, and sighed as Tim flicked his tongue out to taste the mingled sweat and sex on his skin.
Tim glanced down and saw that Jason was rapidly losing his erection, and without coming, as far as he could tell. “Here, let me…” he said, reaching down.
Jason caught his wrist. “Trust me, I’ve had more than enough for one night.” He grabbed a wad of tissues off the nightstand and wiped Tim off before he laid down next to him. “Just…let me have this, ok?” he said, pulling him into a hug.
Tim wanted to protest, but he stopped himself. Instead, he rolled over and allowed Jason to spoon against him in a comfortable and familiar position. He exhaled softly in the darkness as fatigue began to drag at him. “I love you, Jay.”
“Go to sleep,” Jason said in lieu of reciprocation.
Tim rolled his eyes, but he was too comfortable to call Jason out on it now. Warm and safe and sated, he soon drifted off to sleep.
***
Tim woke early, or at least, he assumed it was early, because the sun hadn’t quite come up yet. The room was dark, with only a hazy, pre-dawn glow lightening the horizon. He was puzzled as to what had woken him, but then he rolled over and reached out, only to find nothing but rapidly cooling sheets.
He sat up in alarm and cast about the room. Jason was gone! His heart began to flutter against his ribcage. Quickly, he pulled on the pair of pajama pants he’d had on earlier and a random t-shirt he found on the floor. It smelled strongly of Damian.
“Jason?” he called into the adjoining bathroom. Silence was his only reply. He opened the bedroom door and went out into the hallway. Again, there was only darkness. Jason could be smoking, or getting a midnight snack, the rational part of his mind tried to reason. But the insidious voice inside him just pointed out that Jason’s bike was parked out front in the circle driveway. Unable to contain his fear, he broke into a run.
Reaching the front door, he flung it open and ran out onto the cold concrete driveway in his bare feet. He spotted him then, a shadow in the darkness.
“I hope you weren’t thinking of leaving without me,” he said, his voice unnaturally loud in the stillness of predawn.
Jason startled, almost dropping the helmet in his hands. “Tim. I…”
“How could you?” Tim demanded, advancing on him. “You promised!”
Jason set down the helmet and held up his hands. “Hey, now wait a minute. I promised I would take care of you, and I am. This is the safest place for you, and you know it.”
Tim’s hands balled into fists of their own accord. “What about what I want, Jay? Don’t I get a say?”
“Yeah, but you like it here, Tim. You love Dick, and Bruce, and the rest of them. The omega in you feels safe here in a way that you never have before, and you deserve to have that. The only reason you want to leave is because I want to leave, and you empathise with me too much. Once you remove me from the equation, you’ll slot right into this pack like you were born to it.”
Tim grimaced, but as hard as he tried, he couldn’t control the sting in his eyes from spilling over into hot, angry tears. “How dare you use my biology against me, you of all people? You don’t get to tell me how I feel!”
Jason half turned away. “Come on, don’t do this,” he said, his voice gruffer than usual. “You know I can’t protect you out there, and I need you to be safe.”
“So stay,” Tim said. He closed the distance between them. “I know Bruce can be a bit much sometimes, but-”
Jason let out a soft gasp as he inhaled the intoxicating cocktail of omega pheromones that Tim knew he had to be exuding, considering his heightened anxiety.
“I can’t,” he snarled, shoving Tim away from him hard enough to make him stumble. “I can’t live this way! Being here…it’s fucking torture. Don’t you understand? What I am in my biology is not who I am up here,” he said, gesturing at his head. “I’m an alpha stuck in a beta body, and I will never fit in, no matter where I go. I’ll always be a loner, travelling on the edges of pack territories and living on the fringes of society. You’re omega – you were built to be the heart and soul of a pack, and you’ll never be happy without one. I have to live this way, but you don’t. You can be happy here, with Dick and Bruce and Damian. You can live the life you were born to live.”
“But…you’re my alpha. I belong to you – we belong to each other. We’re bonded, for god’s sake! Do you have any idea what it’ll do to me when you leave?” Tim said.
“I know, and I’m sorry, Tim. You have to believe that. If there was any other way…” Jason trailed off with a shake of his head. “But I can’t fix what’s wrong with me. I’ll never be the beta they want me to be, and I just can’t pretend anymore.”
“But…I love you,” Tim said, because it was the truth, and really, what else was there to say?
Jason swallowed hard. “Then let me go.”
“No,” Tim said, his resolve strengthening despite the tears. “I can’t stop you from leaving, but I’m not going to make it easy for you. I’m not just some inconvenience that you can set aside whenever it suits you.”
“That’s not…” Jason snarled inarticulately, the sound echoing off the manor’s massive stone columns. “Goddammit, what do you want from me? There’s no happy ending here, all right? Whether we stay or go, there’s no way this doesn’t go down hard for one or the both of us. This way, at least one of us has a chance to be happy.”
“So I should be grateful, is that it?” Tim said acidly.
“No. Well, not exactly. I mean…fuck,” Jason swore, raking hand through his hair. “I don’t need you to be grateful, Timmy. I just need you to understand why it has to be this way.”
“Just because I don’t agree with you doesn’t mean I don’t understand,” Tim said. “Yes, staying together would be harder than breaking up, but life is hard, Jason, and it’s full of hard choices – the ones you make, and the ones made for you. There are no guarantees in life and certainly not in love, but at least we could’ve tried.”
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t gamble with your life like that. If that makes me a coward, then…I guess I’m a fucking coward,” Jason said.
“I guess you are,” Tim said, more spitefully than he’d intended, though he was too angry to regret it. Maybe later, but not yet. “You want to go? Go. You have my permission, not that you ever needed it.”
He wanted to see something in Jason’s eyes - regret, sorrow, even anger. But there was nothing swimming in those blue green depths but relief. Suddenly, he realized that he was the fool here, the only one fighting futilely for their relationship while Jason had already jettisoned him, like so much dead weight.
“What are you waiting for? Go!” he shouted, voice cracking with heartbreak, and not nearly as angry or defiant as he’d meant it to sound.
Jason was abandoning him. How else could he feel but betrayed? Before Jason could react, he turned on his heel and marched back to the manor. By the time he’d reached the front door, his tears had burned dry. He paused at the threshold with his hand on the door handle, tempted to turn back in the hopes that Jason had relented, but he stopped himself. To hell with Jason, he thought fiercely as he squared his shoulders and stalked into the house. This was his pack now, and despite it all, Jason was right. He would be happy here.