Red²

by blueeyedrobin

Summary:

Jason was trying to imagine what it would be like to have your whole identity turned around like that. Most people knew if they were going to be an alpha or omega by the time they were eleven or twelve, and their first cycle, heat or rut, soon after. He’d never heard of someone going all the way through puberty as a beta and presenting when they were practically an adult.

Notes:

There is discussion of medical abuse of a minor, which occurs in the past and is not shown on screen. There is also general a/b/o sexism demonstrated by an off-screen character but which is implied to have been internalized by Tim to some extent. Please use your discretion!

This is implied to take place approximately around the time Bruce would have been lost in time but honestly the canon is super weak in this.

Chapter 1

The men on the concrete were rapists.

Well, attempted rapists, Jason supposed, though he wasn’t particularly inclined to split hairs about it. They’d been stopped before they managed to do anything more than scare the girl they’d been chasing, but they’d been pretty fucking confident, and they’d cornered her in a way that made Jason think they’d either gotten incredibly lucky, or they’d done it before.

They weren’t lucky anymore. One of them was curled up in a ball, hands clutched over his groin and not moving except to emit an annoying high-pitched whine that made the skin on the back of Jason’s neck itch. The other one was on his hands and knees, trying to scramble away from the other two women in the alley.

Poison Ivy was leaning against the brick wall at the front of the alley, looking disinterested and keeping watch. Harley was standing over the whining dude, bouncing a bright purple baseball bat off her calf and chewing gum.

Jason kind of liked Harley, now that she wasn’t wrapped around the Joker’s little finger.

Harley nudged the whining guy in the back with her boot - less than gently if the way the whining briefly increased in pitch was any indication. She watched him for a minute, then shrugged and skipped toward his buddy.

Jason was debating if this was the sort of thing that really required intervention when he caught the flash of red and black out of the corner of his eye.

Red Robin perched on the rooftop on the opposite side of the alley, cape still fluttering slightly at the edges. The kid braced his arms on his knees but didn’t appear overly concerned as he called Harley’s name.

“Let her have her fun,” Jason called across the rooftop. “They’re the ones who wanted to play.”

Red Robin flashed Jason a grin. “From the looks of them, they aren’t going to be able to play for a good long while.”

“Damn straight,” Harley said cheerfully. She was walking alongside the second rapist as he tried to crawl out of the alley, her purple bat dragging on the ground beside her. “You baby bats gonna help or what?”

“Baby bat?” Jason repeated. “Baby bat?”

“If the suit fits,” Red Robin said in a sing-song voice. “Harley, seriously, if you use the bat on him again we’re going to have to fight about it.”

Harley sighed enormously, shoulders slumping as she tossed the bat aside. Ivy caught it without looking up. “Fine but you guys are really interfering with my chosen coping mechanism.”

“Tell me about it,” Jason said with deep feeling.

Harley grabbed the second rapist by the back of his shirt and hauled him back into the alley, dropping him to the ground next to his still-immobile friend. Jason was starting to think Harley might have done some permanent damage there.

Jason exchanged a glance with Red Robin, then gestured somewhat facetiously for the kid to go first. Tim definitely rolled his eyes at him, but took the invitation, dropping into the alley next to Harley and the creeps. Jason followed on his heels, landing in a crouch next to them. “You’re lucky she caught you and not me,” he said, enjoying the way the guy’s eyes went wide and his skin went pale at the sight of him. “And you’re even more lucky the little birdie showed up. Consider your life choices while you’re rotting in a holding cell because the odds that a cape shows up next time to stop me from kicking your skull in are slim to none.”

Tim arched a single eyebrow at him but didn’t say anything, which was why Jason was starting to like the kid. Batman would have chewed him out. Nightwing would have just said his name in a disapproving way. Jason didn’t have the patience for either of them lately - he wasn’t actually killing anyone, so what business was it of theirs?

Tim ziptied the injured one, whose whines turned to slightly strangled sobs as Tim pulled his hands out from between his legs to fasten them behind his back. Harley leaned over Jason’s shoulder. “Want me to shut him up a little?”

Tim shifted position to tie up the other one. “I don’t think he can take any more discouragement,” he said.

Jason was about to say something when he caught scent of an omega in heat.

It was subtle, but unmistakable. He took another breath and very carefully held himself still so as not to startle Harley. If she was going into heat then a strange, and often unfriendly, alpha would only aggravate her.

Aggravate her and her alpha girlfriend, who was walking up behind them. Ivy struck him as the possessive sort, and she didn’t have a huge soft spot for Red Hood in general. Jason made sure to keep his hands where everyone could see them.

“Okay,” he said, keeping his voice brisk and businesslike. “Sounds like this is under control. Why don’t we head out?”

“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” Harley said.

Shit, Jason thought with feeling. There was no way in hell Harley was interested in Red Hood, but if she was falling into heat faster than normal her instincts might be talking for her. “No, I think we’re good. Red Robin, why don’t you call it in and I can-”

“You can stay right where you are,” Harley said, and Jason felt the bat come up against the back of his skull. Ivy had tossed it back to her at some point. Smart move. “I don’t want to hear any alpha bullshit from you.”

“Nope. I am very low on alpha bullshit,” Jason said.

“He is, actually.” Tim had gone still, hands held out in front of him. “What’s going on?”

Tim was a beta - most of them couldn’t smell a heat since it didn’t influence their own biology at all. He wouldn’t have noticed the scent, or had any warning that the confrontation was going downhill fast. Jason didn’t think Ivy would have any reason to target the kid if she thought Jason was the real threat, but he also didn’t want to risk it.

“Why don’t you let me and Red take these guys out to the street to wait for the cops?” he said. He was keeping his voice even and calm. He could take Harley in a fight if he had to, though odds were even she’d give him a run for it first, but Ivy was another matter. Ivy and Harley was not going to end well for him.

“Hood?” Tim’s voice had an edge to it, but he was waiting for a sign. The kid had a cool head, and he was smarter than almost anyone Jason knew, but he was painfully aware of the kid’s limitations in a fight. He didn’t want him anywhere around if Ivy decided Jason was a threat.

Harley pressed the bat harder against the back of Jason’s head - not hard enough to do more than leave a lingering bruise, but clearly indicating a desire for him to shut up. “He’s your alpha, Rob?”

Tim made a deeply skeptical sound that would have made Jason smack him in any other circumstance. “God no.”

“Rude,” Jason said, instinctively, and that was when the vines Jason hadn’t even felt wrapped around his calves and squeezed. He yelped in a very dignified way and only barely managed to keep from smashing his face into the ground. “Ivy, we don’t need to fight. We’re going to clear out, and everyone can go home happy-”

“He says you’re not his alpha,” Harley said, and there was an edge in her words, sharp as a blade and tinged with something worse than anger. Disgust, maybe. “You think we’re letting a crime alley rogue take an unclaimed omega anywhere? Especially a kid?”

“A what?” Tim said.

“I don’t hurt omegas,” Jason snarled. “I don’t hurt kids. I sure as fuck don’t do what you’re implying.”

“I’m not an omega,” Tim said.

There was a pause, and Jason risked lifting his head a little. He met Red Robin’s eyes and tried to subtly flick his fingers, telling the kid to clear out. Whatever was going on with these two would only get messier.

Tim shook his head, lips pressed together in a stubborn line. He stood, probably to get a better position in case he had to tackle Harley away from Jason, and took a couple of steps closer.

The scent of omega increased, and now that it was only a few feet away Jason could smell it mixed with the regular, familiar scent of Tim.

Double shit, he thought.

“Honey,” Ivy said. Her voice was a little thick, soothing, and now that Jason realized that it was his pack’s omega that everyone was getting worked up over, he had to bite back a snarl to warn her off. “You smell like an omega right now.”

Tim frowned, and from the look on his face the kid honestly didn’t realize what kind of pheremones he was putting out.

Why would he, Jason thought. The kid was a beta, had always been a beta, as far as Jason knew. He briefly entertained the notion that Bruce and Dick had hidden Tim’s real alignment from him to - he didn’t fucking know, protect the kid from him? It wasn’t like Jason had earned a whole lot of their trust until recently so maybe - the pit rages had turned him into a darker version of himself, but even then he hadn’t become one of those alphas. He hadn’t gone after unclaimed omegas or tried to force himself on anyone.

But he’d hurt Tim, and that would have been reason enough to hide something from him. Hell, if they had Jason couldn’t even blame them, though it stung a bit that they might still think he was a danger to the family, to the kid.

One look at Tim’s face told him that probably wasn’t what happened though. Tim was giving Ivy a wary look, like he was trying to figure out her game.

He doesn’t know he’s an omega, Jason realized.

An omega who was absolutely on the verge of going into heat. The scent was getting stronger just in the few minutes since this had started. It was coming up on him fast.

First heats usually did, if what Jason had learned on the streets was any indication. Jesus, he had a vulnerable omega in the middle of Crime fucking Alley.

“Red Robin,” Jason said, putting urgency into his voice. Praying that the kid trusted him enough to listen. “She’s right. It’s you.” He grimaced, because there was a chance this was going to provoke Harley into using that bat. “I can smell you.”

He could see the kid doing the mental calculations in his head, and wondered if he was debating whether or not he trusted his own still kind of estranged brother more than two of the most famous rogues in Gotham. He tried to project confidence and reassurance through the pack bond, but he wasn’t sure how well he and Tim could read each other yet.

“Watch yourself, Hood,” Harley said.

“I’m not going to hurt him,” Jason said, “but he needs to get the fuck out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere until Harley drops the bat,” Tim said, and he had that stick-up-his-butt tone that he had to have learned from Dick. “Harley, let it go, even if I am an omega, Hood wouldn’t hurt me. His opinion on rapists and rogue alphas is well documented.”

Harley visibly hesitated. The alley was thick with tension now - Ivy was putting off enough aggression that Jason could almost choke on it, and Harley’s scent was screaming “upset omega” in capital neon flashing lights. That was bad enough but Tim’s scent was souring as the situation went off the rails, and the combination of brother and omega and heat and worry was making every instinct Jason ever had want to eliminate the threat to his packmate. Unfortunately he didn’t think anyone, especially Tim, would be very happy with him if he shot Harley and Ivy while they were trying to do the right thing.

Ivy stepped in front of Jason and looked down at him consideringly, nostrils flared slightly as she breathed in. Scenting him, Jason knew, checking for lust or arousal. It was the same thing he’d have done in this situation but the very thought of reacting like that to a kid - to Tim - made him taste bile in the back of his throat.

Ivy looked away, caught Harley’s eye.

“I don’t like it,” Harley said.

“He’s a kid,” Jason snarled. “I’d shoot myself in the head first. Red, go home, I can handle this.”

The pressure of the bat eased off a little bit, but didn’t vanish entirely. “Baby bat,” Harley said. “You’re okay with him?”

“The only danger I’m in from Hood is if I try to take the last dessert.” A thread of humor laced through Tim’s voice. “Or wreck his bike. This? No. He’s safe. For any omega, but especially me,” Tim added, which Jason would die before admitting sent a bit of a warm rush through him.

The vines around Jason’s calves unwound themselves and pulled away. Jason waited until he heard Harley sigh heavily before he risked getting up.

“You prove him wrong and I’m coming after you, Hood,” Harley said.

“I prove him wrong and the Bat will get me long before you would,” Jason retorted. He took a couple of steps closer to Tim, waiting to see if the kid flinched away or acted wary of him, but he didn’t treat Jason as any more of a threat than he had the day before. Up close he could see that Tim’s skin was a little too flushed, his breaths coming a little too fast. He was further gone than Jason thought. “We need to get you out of here fast.”

Tim nodded, sharp. “I don’t feel great,” he said in a low voice that probably wouldn’t carry to Harley. “Dizzy and tired. Is it supposed to be this fast?”

“Not usually, but it can be.” Jason risked putting a hand on Tim’s shoulder, relieved when the kid just leaned into it a little. “Let me radio the cops to pick these guys up and then we’re out of here.”

A sharp burst of laughter came from one of the bound men. It sounded ugly, and when the guy looked up at them, his mouth was twisted into a sneer. “Red Hood, going soft on a cape? When word gets out you won’t be able to show your face in Crime Alley without everyone who sees it trying to take you out.”

“How is that any different from now?” Tim asked, under his breath.

“Shut up,” Jason told both of them.

“Look, let’s make a deal.” The creep gave Harley a wary look, then pinned his eyes on Jason. “You let me go, I stay the hell out of your way, and maybe I don’t tell anyone that you’re friendly with the Bat.”

In a moment of pure pettiness, Jason determined to get a bat emblem added to his costume at the first available opportunity. “Tell anyone you want. Half of them already know, the other half won’t believe you.”

“I’ll tell them about the kid.” The creep scrambled up onto his knees when Jason and Harley both took a step toward him. “Batman’s sidekick is an omega? An unclaimed one?” He grinned, and Jason briefly thought about making him choke on his own teeth. “Every alpha gangbanger and henchman in the city will be fighting for the chance to get their hands on him. Every streetcorner, every alley. He’ll be lucky if they don’t tear him apart by the end of the week. If you let me go, I’ll keep my mouth shut and we’ll never see each other again.”

Harley was staring down at him the way one would at an especially large roach. Jason was sort of regretting that Tim had stopped her from pulping the guy.

“Ignore him,” Tim said. He was leaning into Jason’s touch a little more than he had been before, though if he was seeking reassurance or just getting tired, Jason couldn’t tell. He didn’t smell any more upset than he already had, and his voice was calm. “Every gangbanger and creep in the city is already waiting for us.”

“I could hit him a few times,” Harley offered, hefting the bat up to her shoulder. “Maybe I’ll give him amnesia!”

“No head injuries,” Tim said, sounding for all the world like a tired soccer mom scolding a minivan full of rowdy kids.

“I’ll tell the Joker,” the creep said, and the whole alley went still. “I hear he’s looking for a new omega anyway, I bet he’d love to make one of you capes his little bitch. How long do you think that pretty little omega will last once the Joker’s got his mitts on-”

Jason shot him.

His emergency backup gun, the one with live ammo, was in his hand and the trigger pulled without any conscious input from his brain, which was a little alarming, but he couldn’t fault his instincts. The creep’s head snapped back, his brains splattering against the brick wall of the building behind him, then his body dropped to the ground without so much as a twitch. Jason shot the other would-be rapist without hesitating, then turned the gun on Harley before the sound of the gunshot had stopped echoing in the narrow alley walls.

“Oh please,” she said, thoroughly unimpressed. “Like I’d give the Joker anything besides a flamethrower to the face.”

Jason didn’t lower the gun. “If anyone comes after him,” he said, “if I hear a whisper on the streets about Red Robin being an omega, I’ll know it was you and I’ll make your lives hell.” He lifted his other hand from Tim’s shoulder and cupped the back of his neck, squeezing gently. “If anyone comes for him, I’ll make you bleed all over this city before I kill you. We understand each other?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Harley blew a bubble with her gum. It was bright blue. “Damn, Robby, I thought you said he wasn’t a typical alpha.”

“He’s not.” Tim was sounding a little fuzzy, like he was falling asleep. The scent of omega was heavy in the air. It was good they were in an alley, but if there was anyone inclined to cause trouble around, they’d be noticing Tim soon. “He’s better.”

Jason squeezed his neck again. “Shut up, Replacement.” He waited until Harley had moved away, heading for Ivy and the front of the alley, swinging the bat like a baton. “Can you climb, or are we getting into the sewers?”

Tim frowned. “Is Killer Croc an alpha?”

The very idea was terrifying. “Doesn’t matter, he’s in jail. Come on, kid, focus.” Jason glanced over his shoulder, scouting the rest of the alley. This wasn’t a good plan. The sewers would be safer, the rooftops would be faster but more visible - and there was the risk of falling if Tim got any more affected. “Nevermind, I’m gonna go steal a car. Can you wait here for a minute?”

“I think I can handle standing upright for a few minutes.” The kid shivered a little. “I can walk though. The sewers-”

It’d take too damn long. Jason would cut his own hand off before he risked the kid going into heat in public. “We need to get you home. This isn’t something you want to tough out in one of my safehouses, trust me.”

Tim gave him a narrow-eyed look. “You know a lot about omegas for an unbonded alpha.”

Jason blinked at him for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed. “Baby bird is jealous,” he cooed, watching Tim’s cheeks go a little pink beneath his mask. “I grew up on the streets, kid. You know what happens to homeless omegas? I helped a few of them, when I could.” He ruffled Tim’s hair. “If it makes you feel better you’re the only omega I give a shit about these days.”

“I’m not an omega, though.” Tim’s fingers curled around his wrist and dug in. “Or - I didn’t think I was?” He sounded confused, a little upset. “I wasn’t before.”

“We can figure it out at home.” Jason stepped back and watched the kid warily for a moment, but he didn’t wobble or anything so he wasn’t too far gone to manage alone for a minute. “Listen to me, if anyone comes in here, scream your head off.”

“I absolutely will not,” Tim said.

Jason sighed. “I’ll be back in five minutes. Try not to get abducted.”

Tim flipped him off.

Chapter 2

Summary:

Jason pushed open the door to Bruce’s room and had to pause there for a second, briefly overwhelmed by how familiar it was. Even the clothes on the floor looked like they hadn’t moved an inch since Jason had last been there.

It took less than five minutes to find a shitty car old enough that it wouldn’t have an onboard computer. He smashed in the rear window, popped the locks, and had it hotwired in less than thirty seconds. He pulled up to the alley and was half out of the car when the kid ran up and yanked the passenger door open.

“Keep your head down,” Jason said, putting the car in gear.

It was dark enough that no one could see inside the car, and by the time they made their way out of the city proper even the streetlights were few and far between. Jason kept an eye out anyway, not wanting to risk getting pulled over in a stolen car with a teenage vigilante going into heat next to him.

They’re only a couple of miles from the main entrance to the Cave, and Jason was about to suggest they walk the rest of the way, when the kid stirred beside him. “Will B be mad?”

Jason wasn’t expecting him to say anything. The whole ride home the kid had gotten quieter and quieter, slumping in the passenger seat like he was half asleep. The car smelled warm and comforting, like family, like safety, and if Jason wasn’t so worked up with the need to protect his pack he’d probably be dozing off at the wheel himself. “Batman?”

“Yeah.”

Jason blinked at him for a minute. “That I shot those guys? If he is he can shove it up his ass, you’re more important than his fucking code.”

Tim blinked back, cheeks pink and hair even messier than usual. “No,” he said, “that I’m - that this happened.”

The poor kid couldn’t even say it. Jason was trying to imagine what it would be like to have your whole identity turned around like that. Most people knew if they were going to be an alpha or omega by the time they were eleven or twelve, and their first cycle, heat or rut, soon after. He’d never heard of someone going all the way through puberty as a beta and presenting when they were practically an adult.

He didn’t realize he’d let the silence linger a little too long until the kid took a deep breath and turned away. “No,” he said firmly. “He doesn’t give a shit if you’re an omega. And he definitely won’t be mad at you when it’s nothing you can control. The only thing he’s gonna be mad about is that his big detective brain didn’t realize it sooner so he could get you some more effective blockers.”

“My detective brain didn’t notice either.” Tim was sliding lower down in his seat, arms wrapped over his stomach. “I’m sorry you had to kill those guys.”

“I’m not,” Jason said quietly.

He pulled the car over onto the shoulder, and then with Tim’s help shoved it off the road and well into the underbrush where it would hopefully go unnoticed for a few days. The hike to the Cave was a short one, which was good because Tim was dropping into heat faster by the second.

There was no one in the Cave when they finally came out of the tunnel - Bruce and Damian were patrolling somewhere in the Westside, he knew, and Dick would be at his apartment if he wasn’t on patrol. He didn’t realize he’d been hoping one of them would pop up and take the situation out of his hands until then. Well he was better than that, even if his own subconscious didn’t believe it. He rummaged through the lockers, grabbing clean clothes that belonged to the rest of the family, and tossed them to Tim.

“Strip,” he said, only realizing how bad that sounded after the word had left his mouth. “Not - you need to change,” he said hastily. “Get something more comfortable. Not - not strip -”

“Jay,” Tim said, ”please calm down, you’re freaking out more than I am.”

“I’m not freaking out,” Jason objected, then immediately undermined himself by turning his back as Tim started changing out of the costume. “Look,” he said, stripping out of his own costume until he was just wearing pants and a t-shirt. He kicked his steel-toed boots under the bench and hoped Bruce had meant it when he said Jason was welcome, because making a break for it through the woods barefoot was going to suck. “I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Everything about this is uncomfortable,” Tim said with great feeling. “But I don’t think you’re going to fucking rape me or something, and you stopped being intimidating literally the same day you decided to stop beating me up, so can we just.” He stopped for a minute, and there was just the sound of slightly panted breaths, and his costume getting dropped on the bench. “If you’re uncomfortable you can leave. I won’t be mad, or anything. I mean. You aren’t my alpha or my parent so it’s not like you’re responsible for me-”

“I'm your brother!” Jason snarled. “Like it or not. And you don’t leave family or omegas alone when they’re hurting, so shut up.”

Tim shut up. Jason heard him dressing in the borrowed clothes. “I like it,” Tim said quietly. “For the record.” He huffed a little laugh. “I, ah. Before all this. Back when I was still just following you guys on the news and internet, I used to pretend, you know.”

Jason turned around. He’d given the kid a pair of Dick’s old sweatpants, and one of Bruce’s t-shirts that swamped his frame and made him look like he was still twelve. He was hoping the clothes might help make up for the fact that the rest of the family wasn’t there. Omegas needed family around them when they had a heat, especially the first time. Poor fucking kid. His mom and dad were dead, his mentor/adopted father and big-brother were on the other side of the city, and all he had to get him through this was the asshole estranged packmate who used to try to kill him.

Well it could be worse. Damian could have been the one with him.

Jason left the Red Robin gear where it was. They could clean it up later. “Pretend?”

“That you were my brother. Or, well, that I was yours, technically I guess. I used to watch you guys and then pretend that you guys had come home and told me all about the people you helped and the bad guys you fought. I’d retell myself stories of things I’d seen you do, and pretend it was you or Bruce or Dick telling me.” Tim gave him a glance out of the corner of his eye. “I know, I know. I was a weird kid.”

He’d been a sad fucking kid. “If you ever tell Dickwing that he’ll burst into tears on the spot.”

“Making Dick emotional isn’t all that hard,” Tim said.

Jason let himself grin, then reached over and tugged the kid after him as he walked toward the stairs. “One time I made him tear up because I pointed out that homeless orphans don’t have cable television and he felt bad for me.”

Tim was still giggling when they made their way into the Manor proper. Alfred was walking toward them, the older beta’s expression stoic and apparently unconcerned to see Red Hood sauntering about the place. “Master Tim, Master Jason,” he said. “You’re back quite early, is everything all right?”

“No one’s hurt,” Jason said, and was briefly flustered when Alfred gave him the same intense once-over he gave Tim.

“I’m going into heat,” Tim said and there was such a note of mortification in his voice that Jason almost cringed in sympathetic embarrassment. “Apparently. Jason made me come home.”

“As well he should have,” Alfred said. He didn’t so much as blink at the news of Tim’s apparent new status as omega, treating it as if it were a perfectly expected thing to happen. “I shall prepare something for you both to eat, and some hot drinks. Shall I bring them to your room?”

Tim’s hesitation was visible, and Jason’s stomach ached for the kid. He clearly had no idea what he was feeling, or what would help. “Bruce’s room might be better,” he said. “Bigger bed. Lots of familiar smells.”

Tim looked alarmed at the idea, but Alfred nodded smartly. “Excellent suggestion, Master Jason. I shall meet you there.” Without waiting for Tim’s stuttering objections, Alfred spun on his heel and strode back to the kitchen.

“Come on.” Jason risked wrapping an arm around Tim’s shoulders and was relieved when the kid instinctively leaned into him.

“We can’t just take over Bruce’s room,” Tim objected. “Where’s he gonna sleep?”

“With you,” Jason said, giving him a sideways look. “Kid. What do you know about omegas?”

Tim’s silence was thin, and a little strained. “Not much, actually,” he admitted. “My… dad. Didn’t have a lot of good things to say about omegas. Said since no one in the pack was unfortunate enough to deal with that there was no reason to talk about such unseemly things.”

“Your pack was just you and your folks right?” Jason tried to think of everything Dick had ever mentioned about the kid’s previous family. “And they were both betas?”

“Yeah. I’ve known some omegas and I know how it all, you know.” Tim gestured somewhat grandly as they climbed the staircase. “Works. But text book kind of stuff.”

Jason pushed open the door to Bruce’s room and had to pause there for a second, briefly overwhelmed by how familiar it was. Even the clothes on the floor looked like they hadn’t moved an inch since Jason had last been there.

He dragged in a deep breath, smelled Bruce beneath the much closer and stronger scent of Tim. “Well you’re about to get a crash course.”

He planted a hand in the middle of Tim’s back and shoved him toward the bed. The kid went with only a little resistance, and Jason could tell that his instincts were fighting Tim’s natural tendency to not want to impose too much. Probably worried that Bruce would be annoyed or think he was being presumptuous. Jason pushed him to the bed, then planted one hand on each of his shoulders and spun him around before knocking him backwards so he sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.

“Stay here,” he said, and stalked out of the room. He knew which room was Tim’s and it only took a minute to gather up all his pillows, and the comforter from his bed. He marched back to Bruce’s room and dumped them unceremoniously over Tim’s head. He ran downstairs to snag the throw blanket Alfred liked to tuck around his legs during movie nights, then back upstairs to grab Dick’s comforter and pillows. He hesitated in the doorway of Damian’s room trying to decide if that was going to help or hurt the situation to bring something of the little brat’s. He finally grabbed a single pillow, figuring if it stressed Tim out they could just pitch it into the hallway.

Tim was still sitting on the edge of the bed where Jason had left him, his eyes hooded and skin flushed pink. He was holding Dick’s pillow against his chest like he wasn’t quite sure when he’d picked it up, but also like he’d fight Jason for it if he tried to take it away. He narrowed his eyes when Jason added Damian’s pillow to the pile against the headboard, but didn’t say anything or try to move it.

“Bedtime,” Jason said.

“There’s-” Tim hesitated and his cheeks went just a little pinker. “But there’s nothing of yours.”

Jason hadn’t slept in Wayne Manor in literal years. “Yeah, you’re gonna have to settle for the real deal there.”

Tim’s eyes widened a little. “You’re staying?”

Jason arched an eyebrow at him. “Yeah?” A sudden pang of uncertainty struck him and he hastily added, “If you want me to.” Omegas usually wanted family around them, especially during their first time, but Jason and Tim’s history was… tense enough that Tim might not find him very comforting. Hard to relax and feel safe when you weren’t sure if the guy next to you was going to lose his temper and beat you over the head with your own weapon, after all.

“I don’t want to be alone,” Tim blurted out. He stared down at his hands, still clutching Dick’s pillow. “I don’t - nothing’s wrong but I feel. Weird. I don’t know what to do and I don’t know if anything that’s happening is normal and I’m pretty sure if you leave I’m going to have a panic attack.” He gave Jason a thin smile. “Don’t make Bruce have to deal with that alone, Jason, his head will explode.”

It was probably wrong to laugh at their adopted father and his emotional reticence, but Jason couldn’t help it. “Dickwing would be all over that. Any chance to talk about someone else’s emotions.”

Tim snorted and immediately hid his face in the pillow. Jason gave into the temptation to ruffle his hair, then grabbed a fistful of Tim’s shirt and physically lifted him up, tossing him into the middle of Bruce’s frankly massive bed. The kid hit the mattress with a yelp and gave Jason a dirty look.

“Crash course lesson number one,” he said climbing up onto the bed after him. “Omegas like familiar scents, touches, and sounds when they go into heat. Family or good friends is best, but if you’re alone just grab a bunch of our blankets and pillows and it’ll help.” He flopped onto the bed next to Tim, leaving a little space between them. “Smell and touch are the big ones, I’ve had a few friends who were omegas and they get a little-” he caught himself before he said clingy. “Cuddly.”

“Cuddly,” Tim repeated in a flat voice. “I’m not really the cuddly sort.”

“Uh-huh. Big stoic baby bird,” Jason said. He ducked when Tim took a swing at him with Dick’s pillow. “Well no one’s gonna force you, but you know Dick would love to cuddle you if you give him half a chance. Bruce too, probably,” he added. “Oh my god, I bet this is gonna be so healthy for him. We should’ve found him an omega to adopt years ago.”

Tim gave him a dirty look, then immediately buried his face in his hands.

Jason laughed and threw one of the comforters over his legs. “Omegas also get a little possessive of their friends and family,” he said. “Crash course lesson number two. It’s normal.” He settled down, propped up against the headboard, careful to leave a couple inches between them, just in case. Neither of them was particularly touchy-feely, and considering their history he’d feel better about giving Tim the choice of whether or not to initiate physical contact. He did steal a corner of the blanket and pull it up over his lap. “Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when Bruce gets back.”

The kid barely needed the encouragement, squirming underneath the insanely soft duvet before sprawling out on his stomach, arms and legs akimbo, and going limp with a deep sigh, asleep almost instantly.

His hand is pressed against Jason’s hip. Jason is absurdly gratified.

Alfred appears a few minutes later with a tray of protein bars and cookies, a pitcher of ice water and drinking glasses, and two cups of tea. “Decaffeinated,” he said firmly, setting it all down on the bedside table closest to the door. “When he wakes up, please make sure he eats a little. I will prepare something more substantial for breakfast a bit later this morning.”

“You’re a saint, Alfie.” Jason eyed the cookies, but deliberately picked out a protein bar under Alfred’s extremely judgmental gaze. “Can you let Bruce know what’s going on?”

“Immediately. Is there an urgent need for his return?” Alfred studied Tim’s face for a moment, eyes softening.

“No, everything’s all right, but he’ll want to know.” Bruce was the family Alpha, and that meant he tended toward protectiveness and possessiveness in equal measure. The pack bond was probably already telling him something was weird with one of them, so better to make sure he had the information before he flipped out.

“I will bring Master Tim’s tablet, and the television from the upstairs sitting room as well,” Alfred says. “And for you, Master Jason?”

Jason was slowly sinking into the mattress. Between the soft comforter, the frankly ridiculously comfortable mattress, and the soft thrum of family, comfort, safe through the bond with Tim, he wasn’t going to keep his eyes open much longer. Me and the kid can make up for years of sleep deprivation over the next few days, he thought. “A couple of books? Something new, if there’s anything. I haven’t done much reading since I came back.”

Alfred gave him a smile that seemed kind of sad for some reason, before heading out to gather supplies. Jason sat there for a moment, letting himself go boneless and relaxed and tried not to think of the last time he’d been alone with an unconscious Tim Drake.

Then he sat back up and triggered his comm. “Oracle?”

A pause. Just a few seconds, probably while she finished a conversation with one of the others, but Jason had to push back the certainty that she was ignoring him. His paranoia was proven wrong when Barbara’s voice came over the line just a moment later. “Red Hood, this is Oracle. Do you need backup?”

“No, I’m not on patrol tonight.” He’s not sure if he’s pleased she was concerned about his safety, or annoyed she assumed he was in over his head. “I need to get a message to N before he heads in for the night.” He could text, but there was a better than even chance that Nightwing wouldn’t see it till he was home - or until he woke up in the morning, depending on what kind of night he was having. “But I don’t want to do it on the open channel.”

It was even odds she’d tell him to shove off - she snapped at Bruce for treating her like an operator sometimes, but he was pretty sure if he asked nice and told her it was a family emergency she’d take pity.

“Hold on. Let’s see if he can talk.”

There was silence for a moment, then the comm opened up again with the sound of rushing wind. Dickie was flying, wherever he was. “Nightwing? This is Red Hood.”

“Hood.” Nightwing didn’t sound excited to hear from him, but he didn’t sound unhappy either, and Jason figured that was about where their relationship was these days. “O said you needed to talk?”

“Everyone’s fine,” Jason said because the giant worry wart would come running back right that minute if he didn’t. “But can you come back to base tonight?”

“I can, sure. I’m almost done patrol anyway. What’s up?”

“No emergency. But I think Red might want to see you.”

A sharp inhalation, then the sound of rushing wind was gone, and Jason heard the sound of boots on concrete. Dickie had gone in for a landing. “Is Red Robin okay? Oracle said there was a shooting on his patrol, a couple of rapists. I guess Harley Quinn was spotted nearby.”

Oh, Jason was absolutely going to let Harley take the fall for that. “No one’s hurt, but I don’t want to talk about personal stuff over an open line. He could use his big brother tonight, that’s all.”

“I’m coming back now,” Dick said. “Tell him I’ll be there in an hour.”

“He’s out cold, so take your time.”

“You said he wasn’t hurt!”

“Asleep,” Jason stressed, a little alarmed at the tension in Nightwing’s voice. “He’s asleep, in a bed, and Agent A and I are both here. N - he’s fine, I swear.” He pinched his nose and tried to figure out how he’d managed to botch this up so badly. “I wouldn’t lie to you about that. He’s okay.”

“I know you wouldn’t.” Nightwing’s voice is still tense - Jason can imagine him vibrating in place with thwarted mother-hen vibes. “I’m coming back anyway.”

“All right. I’m getting off comms so use your phone if you need me.” Jason waited for Nightwing to confirm, then removed the earpiece and dropped it on the bedside table next to the tray. He sighed and scrubbed both hands over his face for a moment. Probably that could have gone better, but at least Dick was coming. Of them all, he thought Tim would be most comfortable with Dick, but there had probably been a way of getting him there without making him think the kid was dying.

Or being killed, possibly by you.

Jason stared through his fingers at the ceiling. Yeah, if Dick had thought that, Jason really couldn’t hold it against him. Brutally beating a guy’s teenage brother was a one-strike-and-you’re-out sort of situation. He knew that because if Dick or Bruce had ever put their hands on Tim or Damian the way Jason had…

God, he didn’t know how he’d ever forgive them. He couldn’t understand how they’d ever forgive him.

“Kid,” he said with a tired sigh. “It really would have been better if you’d crossed paths with almost anyone else tonight.”

He squirmed down until he was lying on his side, facing the door. He looped an arm over Tim’s waist and tugged the kid closer until he could feel the kid’s body heat and hear his breathing.

Then he closed his eyes and was out like a light.

Chapter 3

Notes:

This chapter has a brief discussion of omegas being abused sexually, mostly in the context of the League of Assassins, and also has a discussion of Ra's canonically being a weirdo about Tim having his heir. Please use your discression! The conversation starts shortly after Damian joins them.

Jason woke to the low, angry growl of an alpha.

He cracked an eye and peered over Tim’s head, deliberately keeping his body relaxed and still as he did. Bruce was standing in the doorway, hair still damp from the shower and his clothes sticking to him in places like he hadn’t even bothered to dry off properly. His eyes were locked on Tim and as Jason watched, his nostrils flared and the growl deepened, became more intense.

Technically, Jason’s place as Bruce’s son and, by extension, Tim’s brother, should be enough to eliminate him as a threat. Alphas within a pack didn’t have instincts to protect themselves or packmates from each other, the pack bond making the trust between them instant and undeniable. And Omegas inside a pack were family, not potential mates.

But Jason’s pack bond had been broken when he died, and when he came back it was such a ragged mess, stretched so thin, that Bruce and Dick hadn’t even known he was back. And he hadn’t had a bond with Tim, not then, not when he’d come back to Gotham seething with resentment and grief and hate and targeted too much of it on the fifteen-year-old who had become his brother while he was dead. The bond with Bruce and Dick and Alfred had slowly repaired itself with time and exposure, but it had been months before he’d felt the thinnest, most tentative of bonds start to form with Tim. Trust had been slow to grow between them, mostly because Jason had been determined to act like an asshole as often as possible, which made it hard for Tim to forget how they’d met. It was possible that it wasn’t strong enough for Bruce’s instincts to eliminate Jason as a possible threat to his younger son.

Jason took a deep breath, scenting worry, and surprise, and something he knew meant affection, but over that was a sudden, intense rush of a scent he knew meant Bruce was feeling protective, defensive. And over that was anger and the sharp tang of fear.

“Bruce,” he said carefully, keeping his voice pitched low and calm. “Do you need me to move?” His stomach clenched unhappily at the idea, but Bruce was their Alpha, Bruce was Tim’s pack leader and father. If he needed Jason away from the kid while he was almost defenseless, then Jason would do it, even if every one of his own instincts was screaming at him to stay close, to protect the vulnerable member of the family.

Bruce didn’t reply, but he took a couple of steps into the room, his growl dropping even deeper into a low, thunderous rumble.

Tim made a tired, distressed sound, and Jason felt him shift, starting to wake up. Bruce went silent instantly, crossing the last few feet to the bed. The mattress barely dipped as he sat down, back propped up against the mound of pillows, and gathered Tim into his arms. He set Tim’s head on his chest, just over his heart, and stroked his fingers through Tim’s hair. “Poison Ivy,” he said, his voice still low and tinged with anger. “And gunpowder.”

Oh. Yeah. Gun violence and an unfriendly Alpha - two things Bruce would never want anywhere near his kids under the best of circumstances.

“Ivy never touched him,” Jason said. He reached out slowly, telegraphing his movements just in case his presence had been part of what was setting Bruce off after all, and laid a palm on Tim’s back, fingers splayed to cover as much of his back as possible. Tim wasn’t that small, despite how much they liked to tease him for being short and stunting his growth with energy drinks, but he felt small in that moment, curled up asleep in his father’s arms. Jason left his hand there, feeling the echo of Tim’s heartbeat. “If anything, Ivy and Harley were trying to protect him from me.”

Bruce frowned at him. “From you?”

Jason grinned, showing all his teeth. “I am an evil alpha crime lord.”

“Yes, you’re terrifying,” Bruce said dryly, which was kind of hilarious considering how worked up he’d been about the Red Hood back when Jason first came back. Bruce pressed his cheek to the top of Tim’s head, inhaling deeply. “It’s good you were there.”

“He’s smart,” Jason said. “He would have been okay.”

“He is,” Bruce said. “I’m still glad you were there for your brother.”

Jason wasn’t sure how to reply to that, but Dick chose that exact moment to burst into the room and toss himself on the bed, saving him from having to think about it.

“Dick,” Jason snarled, snatching his arm back an instant before Dick would have landed on it.

The dick in question squirmed in between Jason and Tim, curling himself around the kid’s back and wrapping both arms around Tim’s waist while pushing Jason back an inch or two. Jason bared his teeth at the back of Dick’s head but didn’t try to fight him - at the end of the day Jason knew he had nothing on Dick when it came to brawling.

Plus Dick was just one more layer of protection between their omega and the rest of the world so Jason was pretty okay with the arrangement. He jabbed his thumb into the small of Dick’s back anyway, just to make a point. “Asshole.”

Dick pressed his face in between Tim’s shoulder blades. “You deserve it. You scared the hell out of me with that call.”

“I specifically said everything was all right.” Jason glared at Bruce over Dick’s shoulder. “I would like to submit a request to be an only child again.”

“No,” Dick said, voice muffled against Tim’s shirt. “Overridden.”

Bruce didn’t even bother to try to hide his grin. “I think you’re stuck with them.”

“All my little brothers,” Dick said happily.

As if summoned, Damian climbed onto the foot of the bed and knelt there for a moment, eyes narrowed as he surveyed the scene in front of him.

He had a wickedly sharp ornate dagger in his hands.

“Damian,” Jason said. He kept his voice even because Damian could be pretty sensitive if he thought you were accusing him of something, and Jason didn’t want to upset the kid’s progress by jumping to any conclusions. Also, even when he had been taking shots at Tim, Damian had never done it right in front of Dick. Maybe this was just how the betas protected omegas in the League. Armed vigils sounded about right.

Damian’s eyes flickered to Jason, down to Tim and Dick, then back to Bruce. “Things are different here,” he said slowly.

Bruce nodded. “They are,” he agreed. Jason didn’t think Bruce had any idea where Damian was going with this, either, but he didn’t seem worried.

“Richard says that if I am uncertain what is expected of me, I should ask.”

Dick twisted himself around a little so he could smile at Damian without letting go of Tim. “You can always come to us. We won’t punish you for not knowing something.”

Jason nodded, keeping his hands free just in case the question Damian was clearly gearing up to ask involved stabbing in any way.

Damian met Dick’s gaze, and Jason thought maybe some of the tension eased out of his shoulders. “My grandfather had,” he paused, clearly struggling with how to phrase it. “He had very strong feelings on the role omegas were to play in the pack.”

“I bet he did,” Bruce said, voice still mild but with a hint of steel in it. “I can almost guarantee you that he and I do not agree on what that role should be.”

That seemed to be the right answer, because a little more of the tension seeped out of Damian’s posture, though he was still holding the knife. “I-” He grit his teeth, and Jason felt kind of sorry for the twerp. He was clearly trying not to make Bruce mad, but he was practically vibrating with the need to say whatever it was he was saying. The kid was putting out a weird mix of fear and anger, but his body language wasn’t aiming any of that at Bruce, or Jason and Dick for that matter, so it was probably tied back to his grandfather.

“I will not allow Timothy to be treated as my grandfather treated his omegas,” Damian said. He held Bruce’s gaze the entire time, and it wasn’t a challenge, exactly, except the little brat was putting out enough intent that Jason was pretty sure he’d fight all three of them if he thought they were going to give him a reason. He smelled like stress, and even through Jason’s connection - even thinner with Damian than it was with Tim - the packbond was thick with uncertainty and a determination Jason could practically taste.

Jason tried but couldn’t for the life of him remember jack about omegas at the League. He’d been…. Well, he’d been pretty out of it for most of the time he was there. Even if his head had been clearer, as an outsider alpha he probably wouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near them anyway. Somehow Ra’s didn’t strike him as the progressive sort, so the League omegas probably got the short end of the stick.

“Neither will I,” Bruce said, and there was an angry growl to his words. One hand curled into a fist, Tim’s shirt bunched in his grip, as if he were prepared to stop him from being yanked away. “No one in this family would stand for that, Damian. No one in this family will ever allow any member of this pack to be treated like that.”

Dick had gone still next to Jason. “Do I want to ask?” he said.

Damian’s gaze flickered over them again. “In the League, omegas exist to serve the alphas.”

Old fashioned and kind of gross, but honestly some of the Gotham elite didn’t hold much more enlightened views, so Jason was a little surprised the kid was so worked up-

“Sex slaves, Dick.” Bruce said, and Jason barely stopped himself from growling. “Breeders. Their only purpose in Ra’s eyes is to shore up the ranks of the League.”

Jason met Damian's eyes. “Over my dead body,” he said, holding Damian’s gaze for a long moment. His youngest brother watched him for a moment, then nodded, apparently satisfied.

A burst of anxiety hit him through the pack bond at the same moment that Dick went completely tense beside him. Jason pushed himself up on one arm, unconsciously scanning the room for a threat. “Dick?”

“Nothing.” The anxiety was pushed down until it was just a thrum at the back of Jason’s head. “Sorry.” Dick unwound one arm from around Tim’s waist long enough to squeeze Jason’s wrist. He tilted his head back a little. Later, his eyes said.

Jason lifted one eyebrow, but didn’t let his expression change otherwise.

Tim sighed so hard that he almost dislodged Dick. “Sleeping,” he said into Bruce’s shirt. “M’tired. Damian, put the knife down and get up here.”

Jason couldn’t hold back a sharp laugh. “This family,” he said.

“I know,” Dick said. “We’re kind of great.”

---

Tim slept through breakfast, which was pretty normal for a first time. Alfred conceded to allow breakfast in bed as it was a special occasion, but refused to do any laundry related to maple syrup mishaps, or food fights. He left a tray of fruit and strict instructions to let him know when Tim woke up so he could bring him a real breakfast. Damian volunteered to help him haul the dishes back downstairs, and went to go feed the small zoo that was accumulating in the Manor’s backyard.

Jason waited till the door closed behind him, then sat up, kicking the back of Dick’s knee. “What was that?”

Dick kicked him back, then tried to shove Jason off the bed with his fat ass. Jason cracked his knuckles and gave serious consideration to trying to smother Dick with a pillow before Bruce cleared his throat.

Extremely pointedly.

Dick sighed and flipped over, squirming until he was propped up against the headboard next to Bruce. Tim was still out cold, his head on Bruce’s shoulder. Watching the old man try to eat without disturbing him had been kind of funny, but he’d refused to let Dick take him even long enough for breakfast.

“Do you think Ra’s knows that Tim’s an omega?” he asked.

Jason propped himself up on his elbows. “Tim didn’t know that Tim was an omega,” he said. “Trust me, I was there. The kid had no idea until it happened.”

“Seventeen is pretty old to present,” Dick said. “That must have been confusing for him.”

“Late bloomer,” Jason offered.

“Maybe,” Bruce said in a tone that made Jason’s hackles rise for a reason he couldn’t explain. “To your question, Dick, I doubt Ra’s could tell. None of us ever noticed and we’re his family.”

“Ra’s pays too much attention to him,” Dick said in a low voice. “I didn’t like it before, and I like it a lot less now. Tim said - “ He snapped his teeth shut around whatever he was about to say, and leaned over, putting his head on Bruce’s shoulder. “It’s in the mission report,” he said. “So I don’t think I’m breaking his confidence. But Tim said that Ra’s tried to force Tim to conceive a child with his sister, so Ra’s could have an heir from Tim’s bloodline.”

Ra’s tried to rape him, was what Dick wasn’t saying. By proxy, even, christ. Jason closed his eyes and exhaled until the spark of green faded from the edge of his vision.

“When was this?” Bruce asked.

“When he was in Paris. You were still gone. It didn’t happen, but you weren’t here when Ra’s came to Gotham. I could hear some of what he was saying to Tim at the end there, before Tim cut the comms.”

“You think he’s going to try a more direct route to an heir,” Jason said.

Dick’s voice was flat. “I think I wouldn’t put it past him if he ever found out it was an option.”

“There’s no reason he has to find out,” Bruce said. “Blockers work perfectly well in the field.”

“We should consider leaving it out of his medical file,” Jason said. “Don’t give me that look, old man. Ra’s is too good at getting his hands into things. If we know this information puts Tim at risk, then just don’t put it somewhere Ra’s can get to it. It won’t matter for ninety-nine per cent of the times he needs medical treatment, and the one time in a thousand it does matter, it’s not like any of us are going to forget.”

Bruce made a noncommittal sound. “Tim should be part of this conversation. We’ll hold off making any updates to his file for now, and talk about it when he’s awake.” He sighed heavily. “Speaking of which. Can you two stay with Tim? There’s a few things I need to look into while it’s still early.”

“Do you need help?”

“No, probably not. It’s just research and maybe a little footwork.” Bruce pressed a kiss to Tim’s forehead, then carefully shifted him to Dick’s waiting arms. “I’ll be downstairs if you need anything. Hopefully I’ll be back before he wakes up.”

Jason knew it was stupid alpha bullshit of the exact variety that Tim had proclaimed him to be better than, but he could feel every instinct he had start yelling as Bruce left the room. He made himself stay still - they were safer in the Manor than almost anyplace else on Earth, he reminded himself. Even if someone got inside, they’d have to go through Alfred, Damian, Damian’s dumb dog, Dick and Jason himself to get to Tim (assuming they were even after Tim) and Bruce wasn’t even gone, he was just downstairs.

Jason wasn’t an idiot - Dickie wasn’t as strong as him or Bruce, but he was faster than both of them, and a better fighter than Jason. Hell, he knew damn well that Tim could probably take any idiot that tried to start something, even in his current condition.

None of that helped stop the urge at the back of his head that was screaming at him about a packmate in danger and how the Pack Alpha had left and he needed to Defend. Jason was definitely capitalizing things in his head.

Dick squirmed down under the duvet then tugged Tim against his side, his arms around Tim’s shoulders, Tim’s cheek pressed against Dickie’s chest so he could hear his brother’s heartbeat and know he wasn’t alone. “Well come on, big scary alpha. You know you want to.”

Jason sighed. “Shut up.”

But he did climb over Dick so he could put himself between Tim and the door.

Chapter 4

Summary:

“He’s the same person he was yesterday,” Jason said. He didn’t lower his voice, because he thought Tim probably needed to hear this, but he made sure his tone was even with no hint of reprimand. “Your instinct is to protect him because he’s more vulnerable than usual right now, and that’s good. That’s what family does. But it’s no different than if he was sick, or got hurt on patrol.”

Jason did sleep - kind of a lot. He was vaguely aware of the rest of the family coming and going. Damian came back at some point, and Dick disappeared for a little bit before crawling over Jason to get back to his previous spot. Alfred came and sat next to Jason for a while, reading quietly, and Bruce came back a couple of times, just long enough to check in and make sure all his kids were where they were supposed to be.

Jason still couldn’t quite grasp that that included him. He’d been so angry for so long, so convinced Bruce had never cared, had abandoned him. And then he’d done his damnedest to drive Bruce away by hurting Tim and Dick and Damian, attacking the family he should have been a part of.

Was still a part of. Somehow.

He woke up sometime that afternoon. The curtains were drawn, but the sunlight coming in around the edges said it was mid-day. Alfred and Bruce were gone, but Jason could still smell them so they’d both been here recently. Damian was awake and sitting at the foot of the bed again like a guard dog, though he’d lost the knife. Or hidden it, at least. Dick was behind him, dead asleep, snoring just a little on every third breath, the way he had when Jason was a kid and Dick slept over in the manor.

Tim had shifted around at some point and was curled up against Jason’s back, his breath warm against the back of Jason’s neck. The pack bond was the calmest Jason thought it had been since he came back. The whole pack together, safe, resting.

Tim poked him in the back, right between his shoulder blades. “Hey.”

Jason reached behind him and smacked the top of Tim’s head. “Go to sleep.”

The kid just poked him again, harder, digging his fingernail in just a little. “No. I have to pee and Damian won’t let me move without informing the alpha.”

There was an edge in Tim’s voice that woke Jason up the rest of the way. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, scooting back so Tim could get out without having to climb over him.

Tim made a beeline for the ensuite - at least the kid wasn’t in the mood to make Damian and Jason sweat by going back to his own room, or the hall bathroom - and didn’t slam the door, but did close it very definitively.

“He’s the same person he was yesterday,” Jason said. He didn’t lower his voice, because he thought Tim probably needed to hear this, but he made sure his tone was even with no hint of reprimand. “Your instinct is to protect him because he’s more vulnerable than usual right now, and that’s good. That’s what family does. But it’s no different than if he was sick, or got hurt on patrol.”

“I don’t know what the protocol is,” Damian admitted. He had that blank expression he got when he knew he had done something wrong, but wasn’t really sure what, or why. “Omegas were never to be out of an alpha’s sight, ostensibly for their own protection, though now that I am older… I know Father doesn’t run his pack like Grandfather did, but I don’t know where the differences are.”

“It runs the same way it did yesterday,” Jason said. “Look, the omega thing - it’s just a thing. It doesn’t change anything except that Tim might need us to watch his back a few times a year. That’s it. He doesn’t need the alpha’s permission to do squat, we don’t treat omegas like that in this family.” The fact that they’d never had an omega in the family before was beside the point. Jason knew Bruce would back him up on that one. “Look, if Dick was injured, we’d still be here, right? Maybe a little less cuddling,” he added, just for the way the kid glared at him. “But we’d basically be doing the same thing. Because we look out for pack, whether they’re omegas or not.”

Damian nodded, looking a little thoughtful. Jason didn’t even want to know the shit they’d taught him about omegas in the League, but he probably needed to, if only so they could do some deprogramming.

“He’s still going to go on patrol,” Jason said. “He’s still going to fight Rogues one on one, and he’s still going to make his own decisions. And we’re still going to respect that.”

Damian nodded again, some of the furrow going out of his forehead. Jason wondered if just giving the kid a list of dos and don’ts might have made all this a lot easier.

The door opened and Tim shuffled back into the room, finger combing his hair out of his face and looking a lot less cranky with an empty bladder.

“I know you know the right thing to do,” Jason said. “If you didn’t know how to look out for pack you wouldn’t have threatened to stab me and Bruce last night.”

Tim snorted. “Tell me you didn’t.”

“I didn’t,” Damian protested. “Not in those words.”

“Bruce isn’t Ra’s,” Tim said, and something about the way he said that told Jason that Tim knew exactly how Ra’s treated omegas. He paused at the foot of the bed and ruffled Damian’s hair, which the brat tolerated with only a minimum of slapping. “But thank you.”

“I know I’m not an alpha,” Damian said slowly.

“Alphas aren’t special,” Jason said. “If Ra’s stopped believing his own bullshit he’d probably get a lot further.”

Damian’s eyes flickered over to Jason for a moment. Being a beta was a huge part of why Ra’s had disinherited the kid. Showing up in Gotham to find out that Bruce had chosen Tim and Dick, both betas, to be his sons had probably broken the kid’s brain a little.

“Regardless,” Damian said, “if anyone ever tries to treat you like that you may count on my assistance. Even if it’s Father.” His eyes flickered to Jason briefly, and the corner of his mouth tugged upward for an instant. “Especially if it’s Todd.”

“It won’t be,” Tim said. “Bruce is better than that.” He gave Jason the same sideways smirk Damian just had and very deliberately didn’t say anything else.

“Least favorite brother,” Jason told him.

“I can live with that,” Tim said. He was staring at the bed like it was his long-lost puppy but wasn’t moving to get in. “The whole room smells like pancakes.”

“French toast,” Jason said. “We didn’t want to wake you.”

“Asshole.” Tim eyed the door thoughtfully. He was alert, though his skin was still flushed. Jason briefly considered taking his life in his hands by checking his temperature. “Is there any left? I’m hungry.”

“Alfred saved you a plate,” Jason said. “Want me to go get it, or are you feeling up for a walk?”

Damian’s head whipped around to stare at him, eyes wide, before he schooled himself. Tim rolled his eyes. “Yes, I get it, enlightened alpha no go caveman on poor omega Tim. Get me coffee too.”

“God you’re a bitch when you’re tired,” Jason said, and went to go get his little brother some breakfast.

Alfred flat out refused to let Jason make any coffee. “This may be our only chance to get that boy to actually sleep,” he said, shoving a cup of cocoa at Jason instead.

“I just spent like, an hour convincing him we would still respect his choices.”

“I’ve never respected his caffeine consumption habits, and I never will,” Alfred said. “You may tell him so.”

“Yeah, if I want all my safehouses blown and bank accounts emptied.”

“If he were better rested he might be less prone to dramatic overreactions,” Alfred said. He stared pointedly at Jason for a moment as he loaded french toast onto a plate.

Jason grabbed a couple of Zestis out of the fridge for Dick and himself (and as a peace offering if Tim came for his life) and grabbed one of the coconut waters Damian liked. “If I’m not back with the dishes in an hour, tell Bruce I want to be cremated this time.”

“I will not,” Alfred said with a vaguely offended sniff. “But I will come get the dishes if you all promise to get some more rest. This family is in tragically deep sleep debt.”

He met Bruce at the foot of the stairs, while he was trying to juggle four beverages and a plate. Bruce took Tim’s cocoa and took a deep sip. “This isn’t coffee.”

“Take it up with Alfred,” Jason said. “You all done with your research?”

Bruce grimaced and took another sip. “Yes. For better or worse.”

“That bad, huh? You need us to go out tonight?” Jason could already feel himself getting tense at the idea of leaving Tim alone, but even his instincts knew that being alone with Alfred was as safe as being alone with the entire Gotham SWAT team.

Safer, really. Some of the worst alphas Jason had ever met were GCPD.

“No, it’s not related to patrol. It’s… personal.”

“You’re pregnant,” Jason said.

Bruce snorted. “That would be a surprise, yes, but less upsetting.”

“Is it about Tim?” Jason asked.

“Not exactly,” Bruce said darkly. “Tim’s parents. Or, his father at the very least.”

“Right, the guy who pulled the gun on you that one time.”

“The very same.”

“Ballsy,” Jason said, in a mild tone because who the fuck pulls a gun on Batman. Jason could admire it.

He paused outside the bedroom and stared at Bruce until he clued in that Jason’s hands were full and sheepishly got the door for him.

All three of his brothers were awake now, and Tim practically threw himself off the bed grabbing for the mug in Bruce’s hand. Bruce grabbed him by the elbow, both of them clinging to the cup. “This is empty,” Tim said.

“Duck and cover,” Jason muttered as he passed Damian a drink and set Tim’s french toast down on the bedside table.

“I have to talk to you about something,” Bruce said, easing Tim back onto the bed.

Tim’s face went mulishly stubborn. “If I hear one word about not being allowed to patrol-”

“Well, not tonight,” Bruce said, “but no, it’s-” He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “It’s personal, though. Do you want to talk privately?”

Tim knelt back on his heels, all hint of emotion wiped from his face. The bond thrummed with a thin sort of tension before even that shut off. “Depends. Are you trying to fire me?”

Dick winced into his Zesti.

Bruce sat down on the edge of the bed next to him, setting the empty mug on the floor and surreptitiously kicking it under the bed. “No. Nothing related to the job. But it might be unpleasant to hear.”

Tim sighed and rearranged himself till he was sitting cross-legged, facing Bruce. “No point kicking them out, they’ll just listen at the door.”

Dick’s voice was soft. “Tim, if you want us to give you a minute-”

“I don’t want you to go anywhere,” Tim said without looking back at him. “Just… what is it.”

“I owe you an apology, to start with,” Bruce said. “I went into your room while you were asleep.”

Tim looked vaguely alarmed, and Jason made a mental note to snoop around at the earliest opportunity to see what he was hiding that had him so worried. “Okay. Did you have a reason for that?”

“I… had a theory.”

Dick sighed. “Bruce, he was right here, you could have asked.”

“I didn’t want to wake him,” Bruce said, with an expression that said he knew perfectly well that wasn’t a good enough reason. “But Dick is right. I was concerned, but it’s still a violation of your privacy.”

“Tell me what your theory was and I’ll decide if you owe me an apology,” Tim said.

“I think there was a reason you didn’t know you were an omega until now,” Bruce said gently.

Tim nodded. “Yeah, me too. Which direction are you leaning?”

“Direction?” Dick asked. He was still sitting on the bed at Tim’s back, his whole body leaning in with the urge to reach out and touch. Jason could see his hands clasped in his lap so tight the skin on the knuckles was going white.

Tim didn’t take his eyes off Bruce’s face. “Either I’m a beta and I was exposed to or dosed with something that simulated a heat effectively enough to even fool my pack alphas, or…” His face twisted a little into something like grief and it made him look tired and younger than he was. “Or I’ve always been an omega and someone hid it even from me.”

Jason stared at Bruce over the kid’s head, Bruce’s words from the hallway echoing in his head. His parents, Bruce had said, or his father, at the very least. God.

“Your migraine pills,” Bruce said. “Last month, when you switched everything to the new physician, there was a problem with the prescription.”

Tim nodded like he knew where this was going. “The pediatrician’s office said all the records of my prescription were missing. Paperwork error.”

“Deliberate obfuscation,” Bruce said. “I remembered what you said, how the new physician gave you an updated prescription, and the pills looked different.”

“The old ones tasted like death,” Tim said. His shoulders were hunched as if braced for a blow. He clearly knew where Bruce was going with this. “And were a lot bigger. I assumed the manufacturer changed between refills. Or an offbrand.”

“That’s why I went to your room, Tim. I took one of the pills in the container left over from your last refill, the last one the pediatrician’s office filled. It tested positive for Betacon.”

Heat blockers, powerful ones. Dangerous ones. Meant for omegas who couldn’t risk going into heat for health or safety reasons. Jason had broken into a pharmacy once when he was still on the streets to steal a bottle for one of the working girls who helped him out after his mom died.

“Dad didn’t care much for omegas,” Tim said. His tone was detached, like he was talking about someone else’s father. “Thought they were only good for one thing.”

The sound Dick made was aching and wounded.

Tim turned a little, gave his brother a tired smile. “It’s all right, Dick.”

“It’s not,” Dick said, and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out this time.

Tim seemed to hold himself back for a split second, before he gave in and let Dick pull him into his arms. “Is it dumb that I’m more mad at him for hiding it than anything else?”

“It’s not dumb at all. It’s your body,” Bruce said and there was a low growl of anger in his voice. “You have the right to know. You had the right all along. It shouldn’t have been taken away from you.”

“He probably thought it would reflect badly on him.” Tim let his head drop onto Dick’s shoulder and closed his eyes. “Needed to maintain an image in society. And investors might have lost faith if they thought the Drake heir was some useless little-”

“Don’t,” Dick said in a low voice, and Tim stopped.

The pack bond thrummed with grief and regret and a miserable, resigned sort of fear that made Jason want to find the source and destroy it to stop the pain. Bruce was watching Dick and Tim with a pinched expression that said the bad news was still coming, and Damian was completely still, radiating indecision.

Jason met his father’s eyes and saw the same helpless need to fix this in Bruce’s eyes.

Tim took a deep breath that shuddered a little at the end. “Tell me the rest,” he said. Jason could hear tears, thick in his throat, he could smell the hint of salt beneath the quiet misery that was overwhelming the scent of family and safety that had been there.

Bruce reached over and gripped Tim’s ankle, rubbing his thumb over the top of Tim’s foot. “I consulted with Leslie Thompkins, Tim. The conversation was entirely in confidence, she doesn’t know I was asking about you. But she was… very concerned. Betacon isn’t meant for long term use. It’s not recommended to be used for more than one or two heats in a row. And it was never meant for use in children.”

Most omegas only had two or three heats a year, but Tim had been on this shit at least as long as they’d known him. He’d been twelve or thirteen when he stalked down Dick in New York, and weasled his way into the Robin costume. At least four years. At least eight heats.

“I started taking the pills when I was eleven,” Tim said. “I remember feeling really bad, and Mom and Dad fighting about something. And then Dad gave me the pills, and said I had a migraine and that if I didn’t want to get them anymore I would have to take medicine for the rest of my life.”

If Jack Drake had still been alive Jason would have ripped him apart just for the way Tim sounded in that moment. “Kid.”

Dick pressed his cheek to the top of Tim’s head and, if possible, curled around him even tighter. “How concerned is Leslie?”

“There’s no information on the effects of long-term use on a developing child, because no one in their right mind has done it and admitted to it. But side-effects in adults paint a worrisome picture.” Bruce squeezed Tim’s ankle. “We’ll need to get you to a doctor when you’re ready.”

“How worrisome?” Dick demanded, and Jason could taste his fear. “Is it - are we talking about his life or-”

“Irregular and unpredictable heats,” Bruce said. “And fertility issues, most likely. It interferes with some people’s ability to form pack bonds, which doesn’t seem to have affected you. It can also shut down the vomeronasal organ and make you unable to scentbond. There is also a significant risk that it can have a permanent effect on the heart if abused.”

“I can smell all of you just fine,” Tim said. “And I’m not real upset about not being able to get pregnant so that’s - maybe a potential bright side to all this.”

“Your heart,” Dick said.

“I’ll go see someone,” Tim said. “I promise.”

“You can’t take it anymore,” Bruce said, and there was a hint of Batman in that, a hint of Pack Alpha. “If you want a heat suppressant, we’ll find you a safe one, but Leslie said that coming off long-term use of Betacon and going back on would be dangerous. Even one time could do irreparable harm.”

“Yeah, okay.” Tim took a deep breath.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked.

“No,” Tim said. “It’s like you came in here and told me I was secretly a Kryptonian all along. It doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s not like anything has changed,” Damian said with a sniff. “You’re still troublesome and complaining.”

Tim snorted, and some of the tension seemed to go out of him, leaving him sprawled across Dick’s lap. “Thanks, Dami. I can always count on you to cut through the crap.”

Dick shot Damian a quick smile. “Fortunately we like you that way,” he said, rocking back and forth while Tim sighed.

“I’m tired,” he said plaintively.

Dick immediately flopped them over sideways onto the bed and rolled until Tim was pressed up against Bruce’s hip. “Then go back to sleep. All the heavy stuff can wait till you’re up for it.”

Jason caught Bruce’s eye and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Bruce blinked at him.

Jason sighed.

He could still smell a sour note beneath Tim’s usual scent, clashing with the calming, almost sweet scent of omega-in-heat. There was still something anxious and afraid in the packbond. It didn’t feel right to leave it there. Part of it was the alpha instinct to protect the omega, but most of it was Jason knowing how Tim tended to spiral and assume the worst.

His parents hadn’t wanted him as an omega - hell, they’d barely wanted him at all, from what Jason had heard. And between Damian’s past hostility, Dick’s fumbling of the Robin thing, Jason’s everything and Bruce’s emotional incompetence, combined with Tim’s tendency to assume the worst about everything constantly, Jason had a feeling leaving things to fester even for a day or two was just going to make all of them miserable at some point.

“You’re still Red Robin,” Jason said.

Bruce, Damian and Dick all looked at him. Tim didn’t. But there was a sudden burst of hope in the packbond.

“We still want you, whether you’re an omega or not.” Jason crossed his arms and glared at Bruce. “And if the old man ever loses his mind and tries to bench you over this, then I’ll challenge him for you.” He grins, just a hint of teeth showing. “All of you.”

Dick snickered, and Damian sighed the world-weary sigh of teenage boys who are forced to endure their families. Bruce laid a hand on top of Tim’s head and let it rest there for a moment. “Jason is right,” he said finally.

“Did that hurt to say?” Dick asked him earnestly, and Tim snickered.

Jason flipped them both off.

Bruce ignored them like a pro. “We still want you. As Tim and as Red Robin. We are always going to want you, no matter what changes.”

Tim tipped his head back a little so he could meet Bruce’s gaze. The kid looked sheepish, but the sour note was fading, so mission accomplished.

“I went to a lot of trouble to get you,” Bruce said, and there was an unusual softness in his voice, a fondness he wasn’t always good at showing that made Jason’s chest hurt.

Tim’s smile was soft. “Yeah, I guess I kind of did make you work for it.”

“Uncle Eddie,” Dick said with a deep sigh.

Wait, the kid had an uncle? Jason rolled his shoulders to ease up the sudden surge of defensiveness. The kid had living family that Jason didn’t know about? Someone who could stake a claim, challenge the packbond?

Someone who might not have needed or wanted to fight for a teenage beta, but an underage omega - that might be worth challenging for.

“Who the fuck is Uncle Eddie?” Jason demanded. His voice came out sharp, and demanding. Tim startled, staring at him wide-eyed, but Bruce and Dick just shook their heads.

“Uncle Eddie,” Dick said, “is the dumbest thing Tim has ever done.”

“I’ve done way stupider things than Uncle Eddie,” Tim said.

“Name three,” Dick said.

“I can provide examples if you can’t think of any,” Damian said. The kid was watching the exchange, sharp-eyed but with no obvious resentment. “I keep a list.”

“Who’s Uncle Eddie?” Jason demanded again. He knew Tim had secondary packbonds with the Titans - Kon, Bart, Cassie, a couple of others from back in the day - but he’d never noticed any other bonds. Christ, did the kid’s whole fucking family just give him up?

“He’s long gone,” Dick told Jason.

“He moved to Seattle,” Tim added. “Because Bruce terrorized him.”

“I had a simple conversation with the man,” Bruce said. “He was involved in my son’s life, I wanted to make sure we understood each other.”

“You threatened to send Deathstroke after him,” Tim said.

Bruce looked deeply offended. “I did not. I just reminded him that I could afford to, if he made it necessary.”

“I’m guessing Uncle Eddie wasn’t uncle of the year material?”

“He was a stranger taking advantage of a grieving child,” Bruce said. “My grieving child.”

“I wasn’t anyone’s, then,” Tim said.

“Lies,” Dick said. “I called dibs on you when you were thirteen.”

“And he wasn’t taking advantage of me, I hired him.”

Jason crossed his arms. “You hired your uncle?”

Tim shrugged as best as he could with Dick wrapped around him like an octopus. “My dad had just died and I couldn’t risk going to foster care.”

Damian’s gaze flickered between his brothers and father. “Wouldn’t father have taken you in once more?”

“He offered,” Tim admitted. “But I didn’t want him to feel like he had to.”

“Because you have issues.” Dick patted Tim’s cheek in an extremely condescending way. “Timmy thought Bruce was only offering to adopt him out of obligation. Meanwhile I spent most of that time talking Bruce out of increasingly life-ruining ways of getting Eddie out of the picture.”

“Deathstroke,” Tim sighed. “And I knew it wasn’t just obligation, Bruce had already brought me into the pack and you can’t fake that. I just didn’t want to be a burden.”

Jason slapped a hand over Damian’s mouth.

Tim snorted. “Let him go. Keeping it in will make his head explode.”

Damian twisted his head away from Jason. “I wasn’t going to say anything,” he snarled. “That was too easy, anyway.”

“Damian,” Dick said, but his expression was amused.

“For heaven’s sake,” Alfred said from the doorway. “Master Jason, if you were going to just let the food go cold I would have brought it to him myself.”

“Alfred,” Tim said. He tried to sit up, but Dick just held on tighter. “Alfred, Bruce drank my cocoa.”

Alfred pinned Bruce with a look that spoke of deep disappointment.

“Chocolate has caffeine in it,” Bruce said. “The boy needs to rest. I was just looking out for him.”

“Lies,” Tim hissed. It would have been more effective if Dick hadn’t chosen that moment to tuck Tim’s head under his chin as if he were trying to restrain a tantruming toddler.

“Master Bruce will go get you another cocoa,” Alfred said in a term that brooked no argument. Jason smirked at the abashed look on the old man’s face. “And Master Jason will go warm up your breakfast.”

Alfred shooed them both out of the room, though not before watching in vague despair as Bruce fished the cocoa mug out from under the bed. Damian took Bruce’s place, pinning Tim between him and Dick, and watched the alphas leave with sharp and thoughtful eyes.

“We’re blowing the demon brat’s mind by leaving them alone,” Jason said as he shoved the plate in the microwave (Alfred would not approve).

Bruce hummed. “It’ll be good for him. Tim too, probably. I think he’s internalized a lot of things from Jack without realizing it.”

“Was this your first clue?” Jason asked. “Or was it the everything else about him?” The microwave dinged and Jason grabbed the plate, throwing a paper towel over it to keep the heat in a little longer this time.

He looked up and Bruce was standing there with a fresh cup of cocoa, watching him with dark eyes and a little half smile and for a second Jason was fifteen again, and it was Sunday morning and Alfred had left them breakfast before going to church. Just the two of them, eating breakfast in their socks and trying to decide what they were going to do that day.

“I’ve missed you,” Bruce said. His eyes lingered on Jason’s face for a moment before cutting away, suddenly too bright. “Every day.”

Jason doesn’t know how to say the same thing, not when he’s spent the last couple of years refusing to admit it even to himself. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want me to stay. With Tim.”

The expression on Bruce’s face is entirely too aware. “No one thinks you’re going to hurt him again.”

“Because you’re all idiots,” Jason said.

“Because it wasn’t who you really are. Jason-” Bruce stopped himself, swallowed whatever was coming next. “I do want you to stay. Thank you, again, for being there when I couldn’t.”

Less than twelve hours ago Jason had been mentally planning his escape barefoot through the woods, so this whole domestic scene was giving him whiplash. “And if I wanted to come back sometime? When it wasn’t an emergency?”

“Come,” Bruce said. “Any time. For any reason.”

He nodded. Licked his lips. Made sure his hands didn’t shake. “And if I don’t?”

“Then I can come to you, if you prefer. But you’ll still be welcome.” Bruce swallowed. “Jay. I’ll still want you. I am always going to want you. No matter what changes.”

Jason couldn’t look at him. He felt like he was about to make a decision he wasn’t ready to make. “We’ll see how it goes.”

“That’s fair.” Bruce’s voice was rough, but he was watching Jason with the same little smile he’d given Tim a few minutes before. “We should get back upstairs before Tim climbs out the window for a Starbucks run.”

“The kid’s a gremlin, B. How the hell did you keep him in line when he was Robin?”

Bruce shrugged. “He was thirteen. I just threatened to ground him.”

Jason felt extremely skeptical. “And it worked?”

“God no, but it gave me the illusion of control.”

Chapter 5

The four guys in the alley were part of a human trafficking ring.

Jason had been tailing them for weeks, gathering intel on their associates, hideouts and routes. There was a shipment going out the next night that Jason was fully intending to interrupt, but he needed these four in their usual places for the plan to work.

Unfortunately, considering how hard Harley was swinging, Jason didn’t think any of them would be upright by tomorrow, let alone back at work.

“I’m not defending them, do you even know who I am?” Jason yelled as he jumped backwards to avoid a swing that whistled by so fast he could hear it.

Harley’s ponytails bounced as she took another swing at him. “Harley, don’t give the rapists amnesia. Harley, don’t bludgeon the kiddie slavers. You are harshing my groove, Hood!”

“Hey, the amnesia thing was on Red, I woulda been all for it.”

Laughter came from above them. “Did I just get sold out to a rogue by my own teammate?”

Jason and Harley both paused and looked up.

Red Robin was sitting on the ledge of the building above them, feet kicking air as he watched the fight. “Hey, Harley. Hey, Hood.”

“A little help?” Jason hollered, ducking the next swing from Harley’s bat and dodging to the side.

Tim laughed, but pushed himself off the side of the roof, hitting a fire escape landing a floor down and then swinging to street level.“You looked like you were having fun!”

“Rob!” Harley immediately checked her swing at Jason’s head and bounced up and down toward Tim. “We were worried about you. Do I need to actually beat his head in, or can we keep playing?”

“Playing,” Jason muttered under his breath.

“No, Hood’s a good guy,” Tim said. He slid Jason a sideways grin when Jason practically growled. “Even if he likes to pretend he’s a big scary crime lord.”

“All right,” Harley said, a little begrudgingly. “I guess he’s okay. Anyone who gives the Joker a big old middle finger is my kind of guy, anyway.”

Jason was glad the mask hid the slightly feral grin he could feel spreading over his face. “Next time he gets out, you and I could go pay him a visit. Express our disappointment in concrete terms.”

Harley spun the bat around. “Only if you leave the batkids at home,” she said. “DaddyBat is a buzzkill.”

“The worst,” Jason agreed.

Harley offered him a fist bump, then made explosion noises when Jason tapped her knuckles. “All right, well, my work here is done. You good guys can call the cops on these guys if you want.”

“Thanks,” Jason said dryly.

Tim had already zip tied the first guy by the time Harley disappeared down the back of the alley, swinging the bat back and forth and humming something under her breath. “Aren’t these your human traffickers?”

“They’re not mine, but yes.” Jason sighed. His options were about to be limited. He could raid the warehouse tonight and try to get the kids out before the ship came, or he could wait and try to go through with the original plan of redirecting the ship once the kids were safely onboard, and then ambushing and eliminating the crew out at sea. If half the crew didn’t turn up tomorrow, the odds were good the rest would panic and either change up the plan enough that Jason wouldn’t know what to expect, or worse, dispose of the kids entirely. “Wanna go raid the slavers and help me get thirty kids out of there before morning?”

“Sounds like a good time.” Tim zip tied the last guy and reported their location to Oracle, who would handle the cops. “But I have a favor to ask, first.”

Tim almost never asked him for anything - if he wanted muscle he had Bruce, if he wanted a brother he had Dick, and if he wanted information there was very little the kid couldn’t find out himself or get from Oracle. “You want me to shoot someone for you?”

“You’re very funny,” Tim said. He jumped, grabbed the edge of the fire escape and swung himself up toward the roof.

Jason followed because why the hell not. “So what’s up.”

Tim shrugged. “I’m not going to be patrolling for the next few nights.”

Jason nodded and instinctively checked him for obvious injuries. “Need me to keep an eye on your usual route?”

“No - well, actually yes, that would be good, if you want.” Tim coughed. “Uh, but mostly I was asking you to come stay at the manor with me.”

It took an embarrassingly long time for Jason to turn that one over in his head. Tim’s cheeks were getting pinker and pinker by the second and the kid had started to fidget when it all popped together. “Oh.” It had been almost three months, the kid was getting ready for another heat. And he wanted Jason there, for some fucking reason.

He took a quick breath, but couldn’t smell anything on the kid - Bruce had clearly upgraded his scent blockers. If Jason didn’t already know the kid was an omega he’d never be able to tell.

“Nightwing’s coming too,” Tim said finally, when Jason’s silence had apparently reached some sort of tipping point. “And B and Robin and Agent A, of course.”

Jason watched him for another moment, hiding behind the mask while he tried to figure out what the hell he’d done to earn that kind of forgiveness. Last time had been necessity, this was a deliberate invite. “Did I ever apologize for what happened at the Tower?”

“You’ve made it up to me. I think actions are more important than just saying something anyway.”

“God, you people are annoying,” Jason said. He pulled the helmet off, ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. It never should have happened, and it’ll never happen again.”

“I know.” Tim shrugged. “You told Harley you’d shoot yourself in the head before you hurt me. And you didn’t have to stay with me last time, not when I know you thought Bruce and Dick would be mad about it. But you did anyway.”

“That is the bare minimum of decent behavior, Red.”

“You don’t have to,” Tim said levelly. “If you want to just keep an eye on things out here, that’d still be a big help. But I want you to come.”

He remembered Tim offering him an out last time, too, absolving Jason of responsibility for the pack he kept claiming he didn’t want to be a part of.

“Yeah. All right. I’ll go back to my place after patrol and then come by in the afternoon.” That would give Jason time to pack some clothes and a book or two. And time for Tim to change his mind in case this was an impulse decision, or something he was doing for Bruce instead of himself.

The kid smiled and rocked up on the balls of his feet. “You’re a good alpha, Hood. And a good brother.”

Jason took a deep breath around the ache in his chest. “You can’t say shit like that in public, you’re going to ruin my reputation.”

“I’m pretty sure you ruined it yourself when you slapped a blood-red bat on your chest and started joining us for patrols.” Tim grinned, and Jason caught himself grinning back. “B almost cried the first time he saw it.”

“Oh, challenge accepted,” Jason said. “I bet we can get the old man to at least tear up. The whole pack in one place? Golden Boy back in Gotham, you being all brand new baby omega, the brat participating in pack bonding, and the problematic middle child promising not to shoot anyone for a few days. It’ll be easy. Twenty bucks I can make him cry first.”

“No bet,” Tim said immediately.

Jason didn’t bother trying not to smile. “Coward.”

“I like my money right where it is,” his little brother said. “Come on, you promised me a fight with traffickers. Should we call for backup?”

“You got it, Rob!” Harley Quinn popped up over the side of the roof, handspringing off the ledge before rolling into a ball and popping to her feet between them. She threw a hand over each of their shoulders and kicked up her feet, hanging off them like a toddler. Or Dick, Dick had definitely done the same thing before. Considering Jason was nearly six inches taller than Tim, it looked mostly awkward. “I’m in! Let’s go wreck some assholes.”

Jason seriously considered shaking her off for a moment, then caught Tim’s eye over the top of her head.

Tim shrugged. Jason couldn’t see his eyes behind the domino, but he had the tiny little grin that Jason had seen a few times before, usually right before the kid did something stupid that was going to give Bruce and Dick matching ulcers. “Well, you did want to make Batman cry.”

Jason was seriously considering the possibility that he loved this fucking kid. “Think we can convince Robin to monitor B for waterworks?”

“No, he’d be outraged at our callous disregard for Batman’s dignity,” Tim said in a tone that meant he’d absolutely heard that lecture before. “But I bet you Oracle will.”

“Harley, $20 to get into the pot. Whaddya say?”

She grinned. “I’m in, but only if Rob can spot me twenty bucks.”

Jason gave her a thumbs up, then shook her off his shoulder long enough to put the helmet back on. “It’s a deal,” he said, ignoring Tim’s increasingly vocal protests that he wasn’t even in. “If we can’t make him cry, pot goes to the first person to make him swear on comms. Ready?”

Harley grabbed Tim in a hug. “My first super hero team up!”

Tim pinched the bridge of his nose, looking for all the world like a mini version of Bruce. “We’re gonna get grounded.”

Jason pulled out his grapple gun and started running. “Last one there has to explain this to Agent A!” He heard Tim yell, Harley laugh - and his father’s exasperated sigh over comms before ordering Robin and Nightwing to provide backup.

Then Jason fired the gun and leapt, and for the first time since he was fifteen felt like he was really flying.