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“Is the armor really necessary?” Steve asked, crossing his arms.
Tony tilted his head and stared at Steve from behind the armor’s glowing eyes. It felt like a challenge, but so did everything else Tony did. That was the problem. There was a reason most fighting packs had only one alpha instead of the four the Avengers had. “You’re gonna want to fight me on this. It’s instinct, Cap.”
“I asked you to do this,” Steve pointed out, despite the burning humiliation of it. Alphas didn’t ask to be broken.
“I’m not sure all of you has quite gotten with the program,” Tony said, the smirk in his voice was audible even through the voice modulator. “You’re growling at me.”
Steve coughed. He hadn’t realized he’d been growling until Tony pointed it out, but Steve knew Tony put him on edge. The stink of his alpha pheromones was muted with the armor on, but not absent, not when they were in Tony’s space, the heart of the penthouse. “Can we just get this started?”
“Are you sure you want me to do it?” Tony asked, flipping on a dime to utter seriousness. “There are professionals—hell, other alphas on the team—I bet even Agent Romanoff has enough tricks up her sleeve to manage it.”
“I trust you, Tony, and I know you’re the right guy for the job,” Steve said, bitterly. He had to force the words from his mouth, but he meant them. If he was going to let anyone break him, it would have to be Tony.
“Alright. Then I’m going to need you to strip and get on the bed.”
The tone grated, but Steve did as he asked. He was doing this because he was tired of fighting his teammates—fighting Tony—every time they hinted at a challenge. Before Project Rebirth, Steve had always been a bit of a belligerent omega, but he’d always been in control when he decided to pick a fight, he picked them for the right reasons. As an alpha, well, he felt like a bully that just had to get his way.
Steve sat on the bed, naked. “I’m ready.”
Tony took a few steps forward, so the armor was looming over Steve. “Lay down, on your stomach.”
Again, Steve had to grit his teeth through it, but he followed orders. He reminded himself that they’d talked about this, they shared a common goal. He didn’t need to fight Tony. The point was to let Tony beat him down until submission was as natural as anything.
The bed dipped and creaked—and Tony was on top of Steve. All thought was gone. Steve fought back. He needed to get out. He needed to throw the alpha off. It was nothing but blind instinct, rejecting the alpha pinning him.
“Whoa, Cap. Easy there.” Metal hands locked around Steve’s wrists, pressing them deep into the mattress. “Steve!”
Distantly, Steve heard someone speaking to him, but surging adrenaline whited every semblance of thought from his head. He snarled, trying to buck the alpha off of him to little effect.
A hand—warm, calloused flesh—gripped the back of Steve’s neck. Instinctively, he stilled in that grasp, heart pounding out of control. His arms and legs were held down by the armor. “Come on, breathe. Calm down. You’re okay, Steve, you’re okay.”
Steve whined, still lost too deep in a sea of instincts to form words. He was pinned by another alpha—the thought was wrapped up in a thrilling bundle of anger, fear, shame, and underneath it all—arousal. The realization let some of the blind instinctual panic ebb away. He wanted this, didn’t he?
The hand—Tony—stroked the back of Steve’s neck. “That’s right, you’re being so good for me right now. Nice and calm. Are you back with me?”
“Nnnnnnngh,” Steve said.
“That isn’t a real answer.”
It took a moment to remember how to form words, but Steve said, “I’m with ya.”
“Perfect. Now tell me what you remember about what we’re doing here.”
“You’re breaking me into an omega.” An edge of guilt accompanied the thought of willingly throwing away his alpha status, but more than that Steve wanted it. “I asked.”
Tony pressed his fingers into Steve’s neck, causing him to melt just a little bit. “A+ response there. I know it’s confusing sometimes, when our instincts tell us one thing and our minds another. You’re doing such a great job though.”
Something about what just happened cracked Steve open, letting everything raw and vulnerable about him spill out. “I’m sorry I fought you.”
“Don’t be, sweetheart, you’re supposed to fight it. That’s how you get broken,” Tony said as he rubbed circles into Steve’s neck, applying just the right amount of pressure to Steve’s dormant nuchal glands to send his hips juttering. “Besides, a big, stubborn alpha like you? I’d have been more surprised if you just laid there and let me do what I’m about to do now matter how gentle I am about it.”
“No, before. On the mission.”
Another encounter with Hydra, it was pretty routine when all was said and done—except Tony said something, Steve couldn't even remember what, just that it was a Challenge, and Steve snapped. He ended up throwing Tony into a wall.
Steve was becoming the kind of alpha he had always hated and he couldn't stop it.
“Oh? That little scuffle? No harm, no foul, Cap. I was practically born to drive other alphas up the wall.”
“You’re pack. I shouldn’t—”
Tony stopped, his helmet folding back into the suit. “Hey, if you’re doing this out of guilt, we stop right here. There are better forms of conflict management.”
Steve shook his head and explained through shuddering breaths, “I—never even wanted to be—an alpha—but the serum—and I was no good as an omega anyway and everyone knew it. Peggy said—it suited me.”
Rough sobs racked Steve’s body. Steve couldn’t blame her, couldn’t blame anyone. It was obvious why no one wanted an angry, scrawny omega with defective heats. Besides, becoming alpha gave him opportunities. People listened to him now, respected him. They expected him to do great things now that he was an alpha and he was throwing it all away. It was selfish of him to give up like this, but he had enough of pretending he didn’t want it—didn’t want Tony.
Then Tony’s breath was hot in Steve’s ear, gently shushing him. “It’s okay, you’ll be a beautiful omega for me, won’t you?”
Steve nodded and tried to wipe his eyes on the sheets. Tony still had him pinned with the armor, so he couldn't really do a good job of it.
“You probably know better than most that the line between alpha and omega isn’t so clear cut,” Tony said, wiping a tear away. “Flip the right switches in the brain, get that endocrine system producing just a slightly different cocktail of chemicals, and next thing you know, you’re waking up to heats instead of ruts.”
Steve gasped when Tony’s hand gripped his cock, those warm callouses providing a tantalizing friction. If Steve hadn’t been hard before, he certainly was now.
“Of course, you’re the only omega that’s woken up to a rut instead,” Tony said.
“You don’t have to do that—touch my—nnngh.”
Tony’s teeth scraped down his neck, nipping at those nuchal scent glands. His hand hadn’t left Steve’s cock for a second, winding him higher and higher.
“Let’s get you ready for my knot. I’ve softened you up a bit, but I’m willing to bet you’ve still got some fight left you.”
“I don’t mean to.” Steve really didn’t.
“I know, sweetheart, but this doesn’t work if you don’t fight it.”
Tony planted both hands on Steve’s hips. Steve jumped at the touch, stomach twisting at the thought of what was to come. But Tony did little more than rub circles into his skin.
Tired of waiting, Steve said, “Just put it in. I can take it.”
“I told you I’d be gentle. Until you’re making your own slick, I’m gonna take my time warming you up.”
“We both know that isn’t how this works.”
Tony scoffed, “You’re supposed to fight me, but this isn’t the dark ages. We don’t have to torture alphas into omegas. We can take the forceful persuasion route with it. A controlled break.”
“Just fuck me already.”
“Don’t bite,” Tony warned, before shoving his fingers in Steve’s mouth. Steve very nearly bit down anyway, just to teach Tony a lesson, but his other hand did something amazing to Steve’s cock. Tony only removed his fingers when they were good and sloppy.
“Good boy.” Tony patted Steve’s head and Steve let out an embarrassing moan. “Besides...people might think that alphas can’t feel good taking a knot, but it just takes some finagling. And of course, at some point, the pills that Nat gave you will kick in and all of this will start feeling a lot better.”
Steve’s head span. He shouldn’t be turned on by this, he was an alpha, at least for the moment, but he wanted it as much as his instincts rejected it. The feeling was so heady, he could barely follow what Tony was saying.
“Though maybe you won’t need it. Can you still remember how to take a knot?”
“I’ve never—nobody ever—ngh.”
Without warning a spit-slicked finger plunged into him. Steve’s mind blanked out at the unwelcome intrusion. Another hand cupped his flagging erection while teeth pierced his scent gland. He struggled, trying to shake it all off, but nothing he did made a difference. Not against the armor, the alpha’s bite, nor that probing digit. He could barely clutch at the sheets. Steve felt terrifyingly helpless—until he didn’t.
Steve’s fear was swept away, leaving behind a vague sense of shame and defeat. The fact that Tony was so gentle with the preparation as he added one finger and then another, made it harder to bear. Gritting his teeth through pain was second nature to Steve, but a soft touch reached past all those defenses, to the longing deep inside him.
In fact, Steve hadn’t realized how much he missed this. He might not have had an alpha to help him through heats, but he’d been more than familiar with the other ways to relieve the fire that it lit inside him. Gradually he realized that Tony’s weight on top of him no longer felt oppressive, but welcome. Tony was taking care of him.
“Jesus, those meds must be really hitting you now. You smell like you’re in heat.”
Steve couldn’t deny that he was feeling pretty floaty, not unlike when he had a heat. He whined at the loss of Tony’s fingers.
This whole time, the armor had been moving around Tony, adjusting so he could move relatively freely while keeping Steve pinned. Only now, it slid away and Steve could feel the warm press of Tony’s skin against his. The thick length of Tony’s cock pressed up against Steve’s ass.
“Maybe you are. Maybe your body is so eager to be breed up that you went into heat at the first sign of being broken. You’re certainly wet enough.”
Tony plunged in and Steve keened. Tony’s cock was a bright, hot length inside of Steve. It was splitting him open, stirring him up inside. What’s more, Tony laid down claiming bite after claiming bite on Steve’s neck. Steve felt—he felt—conquered—owned.
“I can feel you clenching around me, you’re just begging for my knot, aren’t you?”
“No—ye—yes!” Steve said, not sure if he should deny it or not.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get what you want soon enough.” Tony coaxed Steve up, freeing him from the armor’s restraint. Tony reached up and pinched Steve’s nipples. Steve spasmed around Tony’s cock. “And then I’ll pour my come into you until you’re fat with my pups. Does that sound good?”
“Please!” Steve hardly knew if he was begging for the knot or the pups or something else entirely.
A few more thrusts and Steve could feel the stretch as the base of Tony’s cock filled out. Tony pulled out with a pop before thrusting his knot back in and Steve saw stars. He came.
With the tie formed, Tony’s thrusts slowed, remaining shallow as he came inside of Steve. Even he seemed out of words for the occasion. Lazily, he explored Steve’s body, bringing Steve to climax once more before the knot went down. He rolled off of Steve with a groan.
An unknown amount of time passed while Steve drifted in a boneless, fucked-out haze. He only stirred when Tony got up. Tony sent the suit walking off, while he set about cleaning up the both of them.
“Turn over.” Tony had a damp washcloth in hand.
“I can do it,” Steve said, reaching for the cloth.
Tony tossed it to him. “If you insist.”
Steve wiped up the mess on his skin. He hesitated before asking, “I’m not really going to—”
“It’ll be months until you have an actual heat. You aren’t even really broken yet. We’ll get you some contraceptives before that. If you want to continue with all this.”
“Then—”
“It’s called setting the mood, Cap. Getting into the right head space is everything. Whatever was said doesn’t really mean anything. I know you don’t want that.”
“You don’t know what I want.”
Tony gave Steve a long, measuring look and then said, “I suppose I don’t. You kind of threw me for a loop asking for all of this in the first place.”
Steve sighed. “Yeah, there aren’t many idiots out there that would throw it all away, are there?”
“More than you’d think. I’m not going to lie, I can kind of see the appeal.” Tony sat on the bed next to Steve.
Steve nudged his hand closer to Tony. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Tony said and took Steve’s hand.