Dysfunction and Family

by ABD8220

Summary:

Dick is struggling to raise his younger siblings all on his own and give them a good life in the wake of poverty and the absence of their dead parent, Bruce. Things don't get easier when Jason is released from prison and struggles to connect with his son and the family after being away for so long.

Chapter 1

There aren't many omega prisons, as the caste makes up such a small portion of the population and an even smaller portion of the criminal population. They're lucky to have one only 3 hours away. Dick can save up enough money for gas to take the trip out there once every other week to visit Jason. This week is different, it isn’t just a visit, Jason is getting released. But, of course, it's on an inconvenient day and Dick had to take off work. Which has really made him stressed. Dick can't afford to miss work for even a day. They need the money as they're barely scraping by. But hopefully now with Jason going to be home, the younger man can get a job and make up the difference and contribute to the household income. Hopefully now things will be better with their pack omega back home. But most likely not. Just another person in their well overcrowded house for Dick to feed and worry over.

___

Among their family, there is Cass who is 19 years old and a beta and an absolute sweetheart. However, she has many problems that limit her from interacting in society and going to school or getting a job. She grew up with a condition that made her feral and now because of that she has trouble speaking and not getting overwhelmed and stressed out around new people. Makes it a bit hard to go out in public. She stays home most of the time and does online schooling and speech therapy and has slowly been improving. It's been very slow progress. Frustrating for Dick, though he tries not to show it. She always tries her best. He loves Cass. Plus it's not too bad having someone at home who can watch Tyler while Dick is at work and everyone at school. That way they save money on not having to pay for child care. Dick really appreciates her helping out in that way.

There is Tim who is 15 years old and a beta. The kid is wicked smart. He just needs to apply himself. Dick is still proud of the boy. If one of them is going to make it out of this life, it's Tim. Dick doesn't know how, because they can't afford it, but he's gonna find a way to send the boy to college. And hopefully Tim will graduate and get a good job as maybe a rich accountant or something and will make enough money to move and live life far away from this mess. That’s Dick’s dream for the kid.

There is Damian, he's 10 and an alpha. He's got some... behavioural issues. He was only 4 years old when Bruce died. Losing their mother was hard on all of them in the family for different reasons and in different ways. But Damian is the one most out of all of them that still hasn't been able to get over it. He was just a pup. His mother got taken away much too soon. It's not good for a pup's development to be without a mother. Dick tried to step up as a parental figure, but he's an alpha, it's just not the same. And Jason refused to step into the role of omega for their family. And Dick gave up on pushing it because Jason was a kid himself at the time, only 12 years old. Jason didn't need that burden. Dick shouldered it all himself. It was his duty as the oldest. As the alpha of the house. Dick tried his best. But still Damian longs for his mother. He acts out violently. He has an unhealthy obsession with being the absolute best at everything. His inferiority complex is deep. He has abandonment issues and always thinks he needs to prove himself. Sometimes it’s exhausting dealing with and Dick often feels lost and dismayed on how to help the kid. He does his best to try and connect with the young boy and support him in better handling his emotions in a more healthy way. He feels like he makes barely any progress with the kid. There always ends up being some kind of set back. Just like with everything.

There is Jason who is an 18 year old male omega. He's... He used to be such a happy kid.

Then there is Dick himself. 24 year old male alpha. He was 18 years old and so technically and legally an adult when Bruce passed. And so was thankfully able to get custody of his siblings. Which is much better than them all getting separated in the foster system. He was still so young back then, he had to drop out of high school with only a half year more to go and get a second job, and the burden was a lot. A disabled younger sister and 3 younger brothers. At the time, he had to prioritise certain things, and he focused most on caring for the youngests Damian and Tim. And Cass because she needed more extra help than the others. He maybe should've been there more for Jason. Jason was a tough kid, Dick figured he'd be fine. But... Jason slowly got worse and worse. He was in and out of juvie constantly. At some point Dick gave up on him. Dick shouldn't have done that. Jason got pregnant at 16. Dropped out of school. Dick blames himself for that. But getting arrested almost as soon as he turned 18 and became a legal adult, now that was Jason's fault completely, and Dick is still pissed about it. 5 months that asshole has been locked up in a real adult prison doing real time, no more short juvie stints and kiddie gloves now that the teen is an adult. Maybe the teen has finally learned his lesson, but it’s not likely at all. He’s getting released early from the prison for "good behavior." Dick will believe it when he sees it.

They've all got the same mom. Bruce Wayne, male omega, deceased. But all different sires, in various states of absent parent or unknown. Things were difficult on Bruce as a single mother, he struggled financially, but he always did his best to try to raise them all. He gave them things much more important than riches, a loving home and family.

Oh and there's Stephanie Brown. She's not related to them, but she's still family. Nice girl. 16 years old and a beta. Tim's longtime on and off again girlfriend. She's been living with them for years because her father is a piece of work. It is safer for her to live with them. Dick doesn't mind because she carries her weight and helps out with cleaning and cooking and stuff.

And of course there is Tyler, Jason's pup. Almost 2 years old. Adorable little boy. No idea the sire, Jason refuses to talk about it.

Together they're all crammed into a little 3 bedroom house in the rough south side of the city. It's falling apart, but they make it work. Cass gets her own room because she's the only girl. Though Steph sleeps in there too. Because Dick is most definitely not letting Tim and Steph share a room. Dick does not want to deal with another teenage pregnancy after Jason. And Cass doesn't mind sharing a room with the other girl because she and Steph have become friends. Then the boys Tim and Damian share a bedroom. Which unfortunately and unavoidably leads to many conflicts and fights because the two do not get along at all. Dick, as the oldest, has his own bedroom, Bruce's old room to himself. Well Tyler is in there too with his crib. The baby wakes Dick up at least 3 times a night with random crying. They make it work, because they have to.

___

Dick picks up Jason from the prison and the car ride home is awkward. Dick is not sure what to talk about with someone who has been locked up for the past couple months. He tries for small talk but when Jason doesn't participate he gives up after a while. Fine. Jay can be a moody teenager like he is. But when they get home, there is going to be some serious talks that Dick isn't going to let Jay get out of. A lot has changed in the almost half a year he's been gone. Jason is going to have to get with the program. But for now Dick will leave it be, that can all be discussed once the omega is back home and settled in.

Dick pushes open the front door. "Hey we're home!" He calls out, walking inside followed by Jason.

The living room is in its normal disorderly state. The TV is playing some kids' shows about spelling and words. Sitting on the couch is Cass who looks up at their arrival. She's got Tyler on her lap who's still engrossed by what's on TV.

Jason stops in the entryway.

Cass gets up, kid on hip to walk over. "Jay!" She exclaims, excited at seeing him. She goes for a hug but Jason takes a step back. Cass pauses and gives Jason some space. She understands not wanting to be touched or have social interactions everyone just expects you to. She's still obviously a little upset. She was looking forward to her brother being home, and he doesn't want to even hug her it seems. But then she sees where his eyes are locked on. Tyler. Jason's eyes look uncertain but longing.

But Tyler only has eyes for Dick. "Daddy home!" He squeals, holding his arms out happily to Dick who takes Tyler into his own arms.

Jason had been shocked to see how much his little boy had grown up in the time he was gone. But Jason was happy and excited, especially when Tyler spoke, the boy hadn’t been able to before Jason left for prison. Jason’s heart dropped when he registered that it was Dick who Tyler referred to as “Daddy,” and Dick didn't bother to correct it. What all did Jason miss, when was this decided? He understands it was probably easier and more convenient to go with than to explain to the 2 year old that Dick wasn’t the kid's father, but an uncle, and the kid didn’t have any parents because his real parent was in prison and his real sire not in the picture. Jason knows he failed to give Tyler a dad. But that doesn’t give Dick the right to step into that role. Jason’s heart breaks further at Tyler choosing to reach out to Dick over him.

"Hey buddy. You have fun today with Aunty Cass?" Dick asks.

"Yes!" Tyler says enthusiastically, his puppy scent lighting up.

Jason holds back a whine.

Tyler seems to finally notice the large man next to them. Eyes looking over the new person. He clutches Dick a little tighter.

Dick explains. "It’s Mommy, he’s home. You want to say hi to Mom? Give him a hug?" Dick goes to pass Tyler off to Jason but the puppy grips tightly onto Dick. "No!" He whines in a sound that is distinct fear.

Jason, concerned for his distressed pup, steps forward to him. But this just makes Tyler break out into crying.

Dick pulls the pup closer against him and places his little nose against his neck scent gland to calm him with comforting alpha scent. "Hey it's okay baby. You might not recognise him cause he's been... away for a little bit but this is-"

The world has faded out to Jason. He stands shell shocked. He feels heartbreak so deep within him. His puppy doesn’t recognise him, his puppy is scared of him. He thinks he's going to break, to collapse, to fall apart. He needs to get out. He needs to leave. So he does. He turns right around and walks out of the house.

Dick watches the door shut behind Jason in disbelief. Almost half a year of being gone and he walks out as soon as he gets home. Jason and avoiding his problems. Typical. Whatever, Dick can’t care about that right now when he needs to focus on calming a still crying Tyler.

___

 

It’s late when Jason gets back home. The sun has set and everyone in the house has gone to bed. Except Dick, he stayed up to make sure Jason got home. He watches the man walk in the house, a little unsteady, possibly drunk.

Dick assesses Jason in the poor lighting of the kitchen. It’s weird to be properly seeing the kid in front of him instead of behind prison visitation glass after almost half a year. Dick notices Jason has got a "lovely" new prison tattoo of barbed wire wrapping in a band around his right bicep and something written across his knuckles that’s too messy to be legible from where Dick is standing.

Dick motions to the new ink. "Cute." He says sarcastically. Ya having tattoos across the knuckles is really gonna help his omega brother succeed at life after jail and find a job that will hire him.

"Was bored. Probably was a mistake to let my cell block buddy, Glaslov, tattoo me." Jason shrugs, not caring.

Dick is gonna pop a blood vessel. An omega with knuckle tattoos. Great. No one could ever mistake his brother for a thug. Cause it wouldn't be a mistake. It seems to be true. Does Jason not care at all about getting a job or a mate? Those are things he should be focused on as a single mother with a pup to feed. That should be the priority over anything.

Dick breathes and calms himself. He’s well past trying to control Jason, he gave up on that years ago. Dick instead tries to find something nice to say. "You look good. Healthy."

Jason snorts. "Ya not much to do in prison except workout." He brushes past Dick to trifle through the fridge.

As he passes, Dick can really get a gauge on just how big Jason has gotten. He used to be such a tiny little kid. That is until he hit some growth spurts as a teen, then he was all tall and lanky and awkward. He's filled out his broad shoulders well. To be truthful, Dick didn't think omegas could put on this much muscle. Dick was being honest earlier though, Jason looks good. It fits him. You would never guess by just looking at him that he had a baby just 2 years ago. It looks like he might have abs under his shirt.

Jason pulls out a beer from the fridge.

Dick gives him an annoyed look. "You're not old enough for that."

Jason looks at him weirdly. "When have you cared?"

"I care." Dick protests.

"Whatever." Jason shrugs it off, otherwise he's gonna start a fight. He expertly opens the bottle against the edge of the counter and then brings it to his lips and drinks. Drinking is nice. He hasn't had alcohol in a while, obviously there is no alcohol in prison, and before that he was pregnant and then nursing so he couldn't.

Dick finally gets to it, ripping the bandaid off and addressing Jason walking out and just leaving earlier. "Where were you?"

"Getting cigs."

"And then after?"

"Doing stuff."

"What stuff?"

"None of your business."

Dick growls at his unruly pup.

Jason snorts. "That don't work on me. You ain't my mother."

Now Dick growls deeper. He's been the closest thing to a parental figure that Jason has had for the past 6 years.

Jason growls right back.

Dick knows that Jason can rumble and growl as deep as an alpha. Dick was prepared for it and to fight against it. But this sound was different. This catches Dick off guard. It was an omega growl, specifically a sound only a mother omega can make. It fucks up all of Dick senses. It’s a sound he hasn’t heard directed at him since Bruce was alive. It sends his brain on fritz. It's a cruel trick from Jason. Makes his alpha feel guilty for growling at an omega, and makes Dick hurt and yearn for his mother back.

Jason brushes past Dick. "I'm going to bed."

Dick just lets him go.

Jason stumbles his way up the stairs in the dark and into his room. He just kind of assumed things would be the same, but he finds that things have been moved in his room. He's too tired to figure things out. He flops down in his bed that seems to have a sleeping Tim in it. He scoots the younger boy over till he has enough space. It's a tight fit in the twin. But Jason is too tired to care, it’s been a long turbulent day, he falls asleep instantly.

Chapter 2

Jason wakes up to something uncomfortable poking him in his back. He shuffles around to look, waking up the other occupant on the bed. "Gross dude." Jason grumbles at Tim, his deep voice deeper with groggy sleep. Teen boys and getting morning wood. Name a more iconic duo.

Tim screams and pushes Jason out of bed.

"Ow! Fuck!" Jason curses as he lands on the hard floor first thing in the morning.

"Jason?" Tim asks.

"The fuck was that for!?"

"Waking up and finding some random person in my bed!"

"You fucking virgin!" Jason growls pissed off.

Dick busts into the room. "What's wrong!? Who's hurt!?"

"Just Jason." Damian says from his own bed having too been woken up by the commotion.

"Oh." Dick calms down with relief. "The fuck you do Jason?" Dick asks, pissed.

"Me?! Why do you assume it was my fault? Tim's the pervert beta with the hard on."

"You're the pervert! Crawling into MY bed."

"Well where the fuck is my bed!?" Jason snaps back in annoyance.

Dick sighs. "We moved stuff around. Steph is using your bed."

Jason gets up like he's going to do something about this.

"Nuh uh." Dick stops him. "It's Steph's now."

"And where am I supposed to sleep?" Jason growls.

"Figure it out. Maybe next time don't get locked up for months and you won't lose your stuff to the rules of finders keepers." Dick tells him.

"This is stupid." Jason grumbles.

"Sleep in the girls room. This one is crowded enough with Damian." Tim complains.

Damian nods in fierce agreement. Finally having something to agree with Tim on. Not wanting another occupant in the room. Tim was already too much.

Jason gives it up. He knows Damian has a weird obsession with knives and other pointy things. He was not about to get shanked over a sleeping space. He's had that enough in prison.

Jason goes downstairs and sits at the kitchen table with Cass and Steph. "Virgin-Boy doesn't want an omega in the room. Wants me back to bunking in the "girl" room." He complains.

"Tim? He is most definitely not a virgin." Stephanie jokes with a suggestive slurp of her drink.

"Gross." Jason sneers. Tim laying pipe. No way. And especially not with someone as hot as Steph. Steph must have screws loose or something. Jason just can’t believe it. “To be honest, I thought the actionless loser might just be gay."

Tim comes down stairs followed by Damian and Dick who has Tyler in his arms. "Nope. Not actionless. And not gay." Tim corrects Jason.

"Missing out." Jason says thinking of alpha cock and shifting in his seat. It's been a while since he's gotten laid. He's horny. Maybe he'll find some alpha to hook up with tonight. "Hey Dick what's your friend Roy up to these days."

"Nope. Stay away from Roy. He's too good for you." Dick instantly answers, knowing what Jason is getting at and shutting it down.

"He's a heroin addict." Jason says dryly.

"And yet still too good for you."

Jason scoffs. "It wouldn't be anything serious. Just a one night-"

"No."

"Ah fuck you. You should help your brother get some dick."

"Gross. TMI." Tim complains, setting down his spoonful of cereal he just poured. "Not while I'm eating breakfast."

"TMI? I didn't even say anything!" Jason complains. "Did what little I said make your pervert brain go wild? What were you picturing of me? Was it as good as your dream?" Jason teases vindictively.

Tim blushes and Dick chastises Jason. "Gross, Jay. Don't say that. What's wrong with you? Can you please just let this morning go."

"Ya whatever." Jason drinks milk directly from the carton.

Stephanie looks over at Tim. "This morning, that screaming we heard coming from upstairs, what was that about?"

"Nothing." Tim says.

"Tim tried to fuck Jason." Damian chimes in, happy to stir the pot.

Tim chokes and turns beat red. "No! It wasn't- I didn't- My body just reacted because Jason doesn't smell like pack anymore. He just smelled like omega. In my bed while I slept. Had like a wet dream. But I didn't do anything! I didn't even realize until I woke up hard."

"So you didn't cheat on me with your brother?" Steph teases.

Tim just glares. He is not in the mood.

"Sorry." Steph apologizes. "That must have been traumatic." She comforts her boyfriend.

"Hah? Traumatic for Tim? I'm the one that was assaulted." Jason grumbles petulantly just wanting to complain. Tim is always the little victim and Jason is always the one to blame.

Something finally snaps in Tim. "Oh like you care about being ‘assaulted!’ Shut up, Slut!" Tim spits angrily at Jason. Everyone goes quiet and Tyler starts crying at the loud yelling.

"Woah." Dick is taken aback. "We don't use that language."

"Oh but Jason can tease me and call me 'Boy Virgin' all morning. The rules are always different for Jason!" Tim continues not calming down.

Jason has gone quiet. Fists clenched. He gets up and walks right out of the house.

Tim rolls his eyes. "Oh so he can dish it out but not take it." He sneers.

Dick frowns. "Tim I get you're angry but you have crossed a line. Don't weaponize Jason's past assault."

Tim pauses and gapes. "Huh? Shit, in the past he was assaulted? I didn't know..." Tim looks over at Tyler "Is-"

"Let's not talk about it anymore." Dick suggests.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have implied Jason would enjoy getting assaulted. I wouldn't have said it to him if I knew."

"Tim. Later."

"Sorry."

"Let's all just get to school on time please. Finish your breakfast." Dick tries to usher everyone along back on task.

Dick has to make sure Tim and Steph aren't late for their bus to High School and Damian catches the bus to elementary school. Then Dick needs to make sure Cass gets to her tutor lessons. And that means Tyler needs to be dropped off at daycare. And Dick is probably going to be late for work. Great.

Mr. Wilson is going to chew him out for being late for his shift. And Dick is going to have to profusely apologise because he would like to keep this job. He actually likes working as a waiter for this diner, even if the manager is a former military man and so a total hard ass grouch.

___

Dick managed to get all the kids where they needed to be and not get to work at the diner too late. He only got chewed out by Mr. Wilson a little bit. He worked his shift and by the end felt exhausted and ready to clock out. It was a busy day and on top of that among his tables he had 2 dine-and-dashers, 3 people yelled at him for pointless reasons, and one girl gave him her number. So it was a long grueling day, but not too bad. And finally it was over… which meant he had to head over to his second job.

He bartends at this place called the "Nightwing." It's a further drive away than some other places. But that locates it closer to the nicer part of the city. Which means better tips. He was surprised he got the job. Figured rich people could smell the southside stank on him. Instead, he gets lots of flirting from both omegas and betas and even some alphas. He knows he has an attractive face, but what really sells him is he knows how to charm. That's the real talent of a bartender. Not just making drinks skillfully, but the customer service that makes people want to order more and come back another time.

It's well past midnight when the customers at the bar start dying down. And his manager releases him to go home and get some sleep. He's practically dead on his feet by the time he arrives back to the crumbling facade of their house. He sees Jason sitting on the front porch smoking a cigarette. Smoke wafting into the cold night air. He's shaking a bit from the cold. "How long have you been out here?" Dick asks.

Jason shrugs. "Don't have a key." He explains.

"You could've knocked on the door when you got home, someone would've answered and let you in."

Jason shrugs like he doesn't believe that.

Dick sighs, too tired to argue to Jason that he is welcome at his own home with his family, so instead he just brushes past Jason to unlock the door and head inside. When Dick looks back Jason hasn't followed he calls back to him. "Come inside, it's too cold out there, you'll catch a cold."

Jason follows but not without a snarking remark that "The cold doesn't get you sick, that's just a myth."

Dick rolls his eyes and ignores the brat. He reheats some dinner in the microwave for the both of them. And tells Jason to come sit and eat with him.

Jason dives into the food. He's always eaten quickly like his food is going to get stolen. Which is probably true from living with 4 siblings.

"So what'd you do today?" Dick asks, trying for some small talk to fill the quiet awkward atmosphere.

"I applied for some jobs this morning. I actually already heard back from one by the end of the day. They’re willing to have me start, beginning tomorrow. I'll be working in a warehouse stacking crates or whatever. And then tomorrow I'm also gonna see if I can get my old job back as a waiter at Crescent Moon club. Work the nights there."

"You're not working there." Dick says rigidly.

"Why the fuck not?"

"The club is trashy, and the manager is mean to you, and I don't like you selling your body. You always say you won't, you’ll only wait tables. But then I'll be short on rent for the month, and you'll show up the next day with large bills. I know what you do."

"So. I can do what the fuck I want. It's easy money."

"If Bruce was alive he'd kill me and then himself knowing his only omega kid is prostituting themselves-"

"Ya well good thing he's not alive then." Jason bites back.

Dick takes a breather in shock and steadies himself, and says serious and firmly. "I don't like it either. I'm telling you NO. I don't want you back in that place."

"My body. My choice. Asshole. I can fuck whoever the fuck I want. You ain't got any say in that."

Dick sighs. Jason is riled up. He's not gonna listen to anything. But Dick’s not done. "I think you should go back to school. Get your GED."

“The fuck do I need a high school diploma for? I'm doing just fine on my own without one.”

Dick raises an eyebrow and desperately holds himself back from saying something. What holds him back is that his anger is outweighed by his grief. Jason used to love school. Always loved to talk about how he was going to go to college after high school. Become a doctor or a writer or an engineer or something. “Well you'd do better if-”

Jason cuts Dick off. "Oh please. I have a long criminal list. A piece of paper saying I passed shitty public education ain't gonna help me secure a job. Not once they've done the background check."

“I just think-”

“I'm a fuck up. It's too late to start trying to set things right.”

Dick’s heart pangs at hearing his little brother say this about himself and Dick is about to protest it, however Jason grunts uncomfortably in pain and clutches his chest. Dick is instantly concerned. “You okay? What's wrong?” That's when Dick smells it. Milk. It's leaking and wetting the front of Jason's shirt. “Oh.” This is... “You should release it. It's bad if you don't-”

“I know!” Jason snaps. Getting up and pushing past Dick to the sink. Just pulling his shirt off completely. Squeezing his swollen tit and sending milk dribbling down the drain.

Jason has been trying to act like being home around his family and pup isn't affecting him. But clearly it is if he's starting to produce milk again. Even his body is craving being with Tyler. Dick doesn’t get it, why is Jason holding back? Why would he rather see milk get wasted down the drain rather than just feed his pup? Why is he avoiding his pup? Is this something like postpartum depression? Dick is starting to worry. But he knows if he says something Jason is just going to shut him out, probably yell at him, and their really bad fights often turn into physical scuffles. Dick doesn't want to ruin the tentative truce they have right now. Dick just got Jay back from prison. He doesn't want to scare his brother away. So he bites his tongue.

Jason grumbles. Pushing on his chest some more, but nothing more is coming out, but his boobs still look swollen and full.

"You, uh, need some help...?" Dick offers awkwardly.

"It's not coming out.” Jason complains. “Need some suction. Come over here and put your mouth on my tits." He commands.

Dick blushes in embarrassment at Jason's crass forwardness. But walks over. But pauses. Milk is usually for pups. However, any extra is also usually sometimes given to pack. Obviously grown adults don't need milk for nourishment to grow. But it tastes good and helps strengthen pack bonds. It's just that Jason has never offered milk to any of them before. Dick has never drank milk before. Well he did as a pup, obviously, but he can't remember that because that was such a long time ago.

"Well? Stop staring at my tits and get to it. Drink. It hurts." Jason whines. Lifting up one breast toward Dick.

With his broad shoulders and muscular body you could easily confuse Jason for an alpha. But with his shirt off and his chest out... Dick's brother was very "busty." Especially after having a kid. His hips widened and his breasts enlarged to carry milk for a pup. Dick awkwardly leans forward to latch his mouth onto a nipple.

"Ah! No teeth!" Jason complains.

Dick unlatches from the nipple. "Sorry." He apologises and tries again being more mindful of his teeth. This time seems to work better. Dick tastes milk on his tongue. And damn it tastes good as fuck. Soon the milk starts flowing steadily. It seems to be bringing some relief for Jason. Blush is high on his cheeks and he occasionally whines, but good whines of feeling good. Which makes Dick happy that he can help out his packmate.

"Other one now." Jason directs Dick to his other breast. Dick sucks and experimentally reaches up his hand to knead at the breast to see what helps the milk flow better. Jason seems to be liking it because he starts to contently purr. And fuck if that's not a sound Dick has deeply missed. He wants to savor this moment.

Soon Jason is out of milk. Physically, Jason feels good. But mentally, something feels wrong to him. He identifies the emotion as distress that he gave away all his milk when he has a puppy he needs to feed. His scent goes sour. He can’t control the spiraling negative reaction, he’s panicking. He feels this horrible deep seeded fear that he’s done something terribly wrong. He shoves Dick off him.

Dick goes stumbling back. "Woah hey are you okay?"

Jason grits himself to hold off a meltdown. "I'm going to bed." He announces and walks past Dick and to the girls room. Acting cold when really he was boiling with anxiety inside. As soon as the door closes behind him, he takes a breather. Get it together, Jason, he tells himself. But he can't.

Fuck. Why is he distressed? Tyler doesn't need him. He has "Daddy." Jason has been replaced as a parent. His pup didn't even recognize him. He's been away so long. He's a bad bad mother. He whines. The sounds ringing out loudly in the dark quiet room. He stifles it, thankful that he didn't wake Steph and Cass to be witness to his breakdown. He grips his arm trying to get it together, drawing blood. His instincts are screaming, he needs to do something. Maybe deep down he knows what, but he pushes it away. He's itching out of his skin.

He gets productive by scrounging around the room for used clothes with even a hit of scent on them. Piling them in the corner of the room. It's a pathetic nest. It does nothing to comfort him. He can't even build a nest, how can he provide for a pup. Tyler is better off without such a fuck-up in his life. Jason lays down in the "nest." He thinks he might be bodily shaking but he's trying to block out everything by squeezing his eyes closed as tightly as possible. Eventually he's worn out enough, he falls asleep.

___

Dick sits at the kitchen table for a little while after Jason has gone upstairs. Just thinking about some stuff. He's cracked himself open a beer. His body is buzzing with pleasant satisfaction from getting to drink pack omega milk. But mentally he's in turmoil. He’s worried about so many things that it's overwhelming. What cuts through this is the sound of a chime.

He reaches over to his phone. It's a text from the girl he's been seeing, Kori, or by her stripper name, Starfire. She must have just gotten off work herself. Her text reads: "Wanna see you tonight. I'm gonna come over to your place."

It's a bit presumptuous on her part, though what alpha isn't down to fuck at any time even past an acceptable hour when they should be in bed sleeping. He could reject the offer. Say tonight is not a good night. But he's kind of itching to get some pent up energy out. A good fuck might help clear some of his anxiousness. So he responds. "Cool. See u soon."

Kori shows up about 15 minutes later. She's gorgeous. Steals Dick’s breath away every time he sees her. She’s got Bronze, sun kissed skin. Blown-out red-orange hair. And a killer body, long slender legs, a snatched waist, and large breasts. She's a goddess. Some might look down on an omega for working in the "service" industry. But Dick feels lucky he even gets to touch her. Plus she's not even a prostitute, just a dancer. It's different.

She kisses him. "Hey handsome. I missed you."

"I'm busy for one day and you already miss me?" Dick grins playfully.

She smiles. "Yep." She lightly pushes him towards the stairs, being playful back. "Now let's get this show on the road before I slick through my panties."

Dick groans at that. He can smell the pheromones in the air. It seems she took a shower after work, so instead of smelling like a bunch of wanting alphas and a sweaty club, she smells only of herself and citrusy body-wash. It's a tantalising amazing smell, her omega scent. Dick is quick to pull her with him upstairs and into his room.

She giggles and lays back eagerly onto the bed they've shared many times before. Dick is so ready to dive in, but he pulls away. "Sorry. Just before we start, I need to make sure all my siblings are good for the night and tucked in and asleep."

She coos in approval. Dick appreciates her being understanding. He has actually learned a lot of omegas are very much turned on by him playing good alpha parent to pups. She is one of them. So he doesn’t feel too bad to excuse himself for a second.

He goes to the boys’ room and opens the door a crack to peer in. Damian and Tim are both sleeping soundly. He then checks the girls’ room. It’s super dark but he’s able to see the shape of Cass and Steph are also both in their beds peacefully asleep. He feels like he’s missing someone in his head count. But that’s probably just his normal paranoia. He ignores it. Everyone is tucked in and accounted for. And he’s practically dying with how much he’s burning to get back to his omega.

He quickly heads back to his room where Kori is waiting. She's gotten started and stripped down to just her underwear. "Fuck." Dick groans out under his breath at the sight of what's waiting for him. He practically rips off his shirt and dives into bed, pulling the covers over them. "Just try to keep it down so we don't wake Ty." He tells her.

"I know." She says. This isn't her first tango at Dick's place. She steals more kisses from Dick and leads his hand to her aching cunt.

Dick whines. It's going to be hard to keep his own end of this ‘be quiet’ rule.

Chapter 3

Morning light filters into the room. Dick wakes up and gets out of bed. It was a late night getting to sleep, but Tyler only woke him up twice, so Dick is feeling like he's lucked out on sleep. He's feeling more rejuvenated than he has in a while. He glances back at Kori still sleeping, messy red hair a halo around her head on the pillow. Gorgeous in the orange morning light. Maybe... If things were different, and Dick wasn't playing father to a whole house of kids... No, he shouldn't think about it. He doesn't have time for committed relationships. He should be happy to have a girl like Kori that likes casual. They don't need to define what they have, what they have going is good. Dick doesn't need to mess it up with sappy emotions.

Reality is right now he needs to make breakfast for 8 people, pack 5 lunches, 4 school bags, make sure Tim doesn't forget his homework, pay the electric bill, count what money is left, write up a grocery list for this week, and many more tasks he's putting off thinking about, like that he needs to make sure Jason shows up to his first day of his job. Dick realises that’s who he forgot in the headcount last night, he keeps forgetting he has an extra person he needs to take care of- No, not “extra,” Jay was just gone for a bit. This is his home too, he's part of the Wayne family head count.

Dick heads to the kitchen. Usually he’s too exhausted in the mornings to do anything other than pass out boxes of cereal to the kids to take their pick from. Today, he actually starts up the stove top and starts cooking up some scrambled eggs and bacon. Humming to himself while does it.

Damian is the first up. The boy wakes up at EXACTLY the same time every morning. Sometimes Dick worries about the kid not being... "normal." Dick doesn't know many 10 year olds that are so militant. The kid has gotten into working out too. Something about needing to be an alpha for the pack, to protect the "helpless" betas and pup. It's sweet, though a little annoying sometimes. Plus, he shouldn't need to do that, the kid should feel safe and protected under Dick's guardianship. Dick feels a bit like he's failing to provide a good environment for these kids.

Cass is soon up next, sitting down at the table next to Damian. Next is Steph who plops down in her seat. "Smells good." She compliments.

“Thanks.” Dick says and passes out plates. "I made eggs and bacon. Dish out what you want. Leave some for the rest of us though."

The three dig in happily.

Dick checks the clock. He'll give Tim about 5 more minutes to sleep in before he's waking the boy up, else they'll be late for school.

Next down is actually Kori who is carrying Tyler with her. "Morning!" Dick chimes, giving Kori and Tyler a kiss on the cheek each. Tyler giggles happily and babbles some incomprehensible baby gibberish. Dick smiles at the boy, the kid’s joy is infectious. "I made eggs and bacon. Can you cut it up in small pieces for Ty. I don't want him choking." Dick instructs Kori.

"Of course." Kori has been over for meals and has fed Tyler before, she knows how it goes.

Kori is a bit of a party girl, she doesn't seem the type to want her own kids, but she's sweet with Tyler. Dick doesn't want to burden her with the pup, he doesn't want her to think he expects it of her as an omega, but Kori doesn't seem to mind helping out. Kori sits down at the table with a plate of food for herself and Tyler.

"Hello Kori!" Cass greets. "Good morning!"

"Good morning Cass." Kori greets back with a smile.

Steph chimes in. "You stay over last night?"

"Yep." Kori replies.

Steph looks to Dick. "I thought we weren't allowed to have guests over past 9 pm." She taunts.

"I'm an adult. The rules are for the kids of this house. Turn 18 or start paying rent and you can break house rules too." Dick teases right back, finishing up another peanut butter and jelly sandwich and putting it into a lunch box.

Dick glances up from his work every now and then just to admire the scene in front of him. His younger siblings at the table contently eating what he prepared, his girlfriend with his pup on her lap helping him to eat pieces of egg. Dick's alpha feels happy, fulfilled, everything is right in the world, his pups are safe and happy and being cared for, he doesn't know why he's felt so anxious these last couple days.

Though he does need to wake Tim up or he's not going to have enough time to get ready and is going to miss the bus. Dick puts down what he's doing, he's going to go head upstairs and attempt the task that is trying to get Tim up and functioning in the morning.

However, first down the stairs comes Jason. He looks tired, so Dick tries to be cheerful. "Morning Jason. I made eggs and-" Dick is cut off by deep growling that is coming from Jason, he's not looking at Dick, he's focused directly on Kori and Tyler in her lap.

Kori looks startled at the large omega.

Shit. Dick quickly steps in to try to calm the situation. "Jason, this is Kori, my girlfriend. Kori, this is my brother Jason. You are currently holding his pup."

"Oh." Is all Kori can say, nerves crawling up her spine. The omega mother is clearly not happy she is holding his pup.

Jason just growls deeper, a glaze taking over his eye and going down into a ready to attack stance.

"Woah! Hey! Jay. Omega. Please calm down. Kori is a friend. Tyler, your pup, is not in any danger." Dick tries to defuse Jason.

Kori tilts her head back and whines, submitting to the younger omega, trying to placate him. Jason at least pauses at this. And Dick quickly takes Tyler from Kori. "Here, omega, it's okay. You can have your pup. He's all yours." Dick says calmly holding the baby boy out to Jason. This is a delicate situation. His other younger siblings are holding back whines themselves. The air is saturated with, danger, protect, threat, pheromones from their pack omega.

Jason looks down at the pup being offered to him, his pup. His mind has cleared a bit, and he's focused on chubby cheeks and big baby blue eyes. He's filled deep down with the strong urge to take his puppy into his arms and hide him away from the world and smother him in love and-

Tyler whines in fear of the situation. He doesn't know what's going on. He doesn’t understand why there are such scared and threatening scents in the air. Or why he's been taken from the embrace of the nice familiar omega with red hair.

Jason freezes with his arms outstretched to his pup. He quickly pulls them back. He has scared his puppy, again. He's such a bad omega. He overreacted and let his instincts take over. He's out of control. Tyler is scared of him and it's all his fault. Bad. Bad. Bad. All he does is hurt his puppy.

Dick frowns. "It's okay Jay." He tries to reassure, still holding out the kid to him. Just take your baby, Jason. Please. Dick doesn't know what's wrong.

Jason gives one last look at the scared pup before turning and heading to the front door, sliding on his shoes, grabbing his coat, and promptly leaving. Tyler doesn't need him. The pup was so happy eating breakfast before Jason's instincts went off and ruined it. His puppy was scared by him. It's better he leaves.

The door shuts behind Jason. Tyler starts crying. Dick comforts him with sweet words and his scent.

Everyone at the table is uncomfortable by what happened. "Dick, what's wrong with Jason?" Steph asks, breaking the silence now that Tyler has settled down and stopped crying.

Dick brow furrows. "Nothing is 'wrong' with Jason. He... just needs an adjustment period." Dick says, trying to reassure his own self. "Now finish up with breakfast and get ready for school. And someone needs to wake Tim up." Dick gets right back into running the ship. That’s what’s familiar and easy.

When the kids put their dishes in the sink and head upstairs, Dick turns to Kori. "Sorry about that. Jason is a little... feral."

"It's okay. I understand the reaction. Seeing some stranger holding your pup, it would freak any good mother out." Kori assures.

"Ya well Jay hasn't exactly been earning that ‘good mother’ title lately. He's been avoiding Tyler ever since he got back from jail. Won't even look at the pup. I was surprised he had the reaction he did to you. Figured he wouldn't care."

"Sometimes instincts don't make sense." Kori says.

"Ya but this has got me worried. Maybe I need to just accept that Jay was away too long and has decided to reject his pup. Or maybe I need to talk to an omega specialist or something. Jason isn't 'broken'... But... maybe he needs some help."

Tim comes downstairs rubbing sleep from his eyes. "It smells horrible down here." He complains. Instincts going on alert and waking him up. "What happened?"

Dick sighs. "Eat breakfast. You're going to be late for school."

___

 

Jason gets to work early. He doesn't have his phone or anything except what he left the house in, he didn't get to eat breakfast, and his boobs are already starting to hurt cause he didn't get a chance to squeeze the milk out this morning. But oh well. He needs to tough it up. And stop thinking about what happened with Tyler. The pup feels safer with and would rather be held by some new girlfriend of Dick’s than by Jason. It's fine, the kid has moved on from Jason. Jason should respect that and stay out of the boy's life.

Jason signs some more forms to make his employment official. He’s then led on a tour of the facility. His “tour guide” is an alpha man, late 40s, stocky. He explains the tasks and duties Jason will be expected to do with a gruff voice. And then just like that Jason is sent to get started working. This place seems pretty desperate for laborers, they hired Jason, a criminal, and got him working the very next day. The place is busy. Bustling. Trucks coming in constantly, getting unloaded and then loaded back up with stuff from the warehouse and sent back out. The sound of forklifts beeping incessantly and workers shouting at one another. People hauling boxes, pushing dollies, and stacking crates. Great, this is Jason's job from now on… Well, it could always be worse. Maybe Jason will look at the bright side for once… Nah. This is gonna suck.

Jason gets instructed to help load up a truck. He spends the next 4 hours carrying and stacking boxes alongside some other workers. Riveting stuff. His muscles ache and strain a bit, but there is a slight feeling of satisfaction that hard work can bring. He’s happy though when finally lunch break is called and work ceases for a reprieve.

Jason didn't have breakfast this morning and he didn’t bring a lunch. He kind of walked out of the house before that could be arranged. But he has cigarettes in his jacket pocket he pulls out. The nicotine will help him ignore the hunger. He leans against the outside of the building and lights one up. The smoke feels good in his lungs. He’s been craving a smoke for the past 3 hours at least. He breathes out. A moment of calm before he hears voices.

It seems that since it's a nice day outside, some of the other workers have come to eat lunch outside on the steps. Jason hopes they don't try to talk to him, he's not in the mood. But of course Jason is not so lucky. They notice him.

"Hey! You the new guy." One worker calls out to him.

"Yep." Jason says simply.

"Heard you a criminal." Another chimes in.

Jason doesn’t answer, continues to smoke his cigarette silently, and gives them nothing. Hoping they’ll get the message and fuck off. But they continue.

"What you get locked up for?"

"Don't wanna talk about it." Jason says back, letting the displeasure of this conversation melt into his words.

"Oh how mysterious." The guy jokes. "Come on, spill the beans." He eggs on an answer.

"It's none of your business." Jason growls, ticked off now. The alpha scent coming from the gaggle of them is clogging his nose and their raucous squawking voices are disturbing his peaceful break.

The guy seems a little offended and a little impressed at the same time. He laughs. "New kid has some bite. Might actually last a while at this job. Most newbies can't handle it."

Jason scoffs. "The job ain't THAT hard."

"Oh ho ho. Arrogant too."

"Nah.” A different worker pipes up. “You shoulda seen him working earlier. Kid works too hard. Got here early, worked all morning straight, loaded 10 trucks. Gonna make us look bad, get US fired."

The first guy whistles, impressed. "Guess those muscles aren't just for show then pretty boy. Though they're probably for that too. Bet you get lots of omegas." He jeers, obviously jealous, but trying to pretend it’s an insult.

Oh. Jason realises. They assume he's an alpha. Of course they do. Jason doesn't respond.

"Oh? Do you not have much luck with the omegas? You don't have a lunch. My omega packs me lunch every morning." The alpha brags boastfully.

"Meh, my omega is even better than that, she gives me a blow job every morning." Another alpha chimes in just to brag.

"Damn lucky. I practically gotta force my omega to be intimate with me nowadays. She complains it hurts to have sex after giving birth to our third. What a bullshit excuse. Omegas are made to get fucked and have kids."

The guys nod in approval like they know anything. "Omegas are selfish. They think they deserve special treatment and can do whatever they want. My brother wants a big family. But after their first kid, his wife claims it was too "traumatic" of a birth and refuses to have any more kids."

"What a bitch." The alphas all agree.

Jason has quickly realised it's a good thing these losers don't know he's an omega. Better they think he's "one of the boys." Now all he's gotta do is bite his tongue and hold back from challenging these assholes’ bigoted views. When he was younger he probably would've started a fight over it and gotten fired. But now, he just inhales another breath of smoke and blocks out the voices. His temper won't get the better of him, he tells himself.

Thankfully lunch break is coming to an end and Jason brushes past the alphas gossiping like they probably accuse and look down on omegas for. He heads inside itching to get to work and distract himself. Listening to the alphas talk about pups had gotten him thinking about Tyler and his chest hurting. He needs to head to the bathroom and release some of his milk out down the drain. But the guys get up and follow behind him.

"Hey newbie. A young attractive alpha like you, but you don't have an omega. There's gotta be something wrong with you then." He smirks looking Jason up and down.

"You weren't very interested in our talk about omegas." The guy says suggestively before turning to his buddy. "Bet he's gay or something."

"Oh is that what's wrong with you newbie? You gay?" He jokes. "Or maybe your dick doesn't work or something?" He playfully elbows Jason in the side, but it hits also against his chest.

Jason yelps in pain. His chest was sensitive from being so full. And that pressure against it was enough to hurt and send some milk squirting out, wetting the front of his shirt.

The alpha steps back in shock, confused by the growing dampness on Jason's chest. Before sniffing the air and figuring out. "Shit is that milk? That mean you really an omega, Newbie?"

Jason needs to head to the bathroom to take care of this situation, but he's kinda surrounded now. And aggressive and aroused alpha pheromones are choking up the air.

"Dang, who woulda thought, an omega, and one with a pup it seems. Aren't you a little young for that?" The man teases with a sneer.

"Bet he's a slut, just like every omega. Couldn't wait to get pupped. Bet he fucked the first alpha that came along that was nice to him."

Jason tries to not show any emotion to this insinuation, but he must fail because the alphas snicker. "Ya what dirtbag alpha you let knock you up cause he promised he'd love you but then left you. Bet he did. Who wouldn't smash and dash when you look like that, like some alpha. Bet all you're good for is a wet hole. Definitely not mate material looking like some freak."

Jason feels anger burning through him, but he just clenches his fists and shoves past them into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He's heard it all, heard even worse before. He needs to just breathe. He does not need to start trouble on his first day. He just needs to endure and put up with it. He's not going to let these assholes bully him out of a pretty good job. He's going to make some money, get his feet under him, and then maybe be worthy of trying to win his baby Tyler back. Some childish alphas are not going to ruin this for him.

He squeezes out his milk down into the toilet. Resolve strong to fight off the discomfort of doing this. Then he uses some paper towels to dry his shirt. Once he looks presentable, feels more like himself, and more calm, he heads out of the bathroom and to his station. His section manager snaps at him. "You're late getting back from lunch."

"Sorry I had to... take a bathroom break. I was informed during my training this morning that I'm allowed one per shift."

The manager looks annoyed. "Get to work." He barks. Under his breath he grumbles. "This is why you don't hire omegas."

Seems like the gossip has already made the rounds around the whole warehouse. Great. It's not like Jason expected gentlemen here. These types of jobs attracted alpha and beta guys who are too stupid or brutish to get a job anywhere else. But still. He'd thought they'd at least respect a hard worker and not completely shift and turn on him once they learn his secondary gender.

The next few hours are a pain to deal with. Besides the job breaking his back with lifting and arm strain. The alphas are much more annoying to deal with. "Accidentally" bumping into him, trying to trip him, catcalls, talking shit about him behind his back. He's too tall, too muscular, too fat, too skinny, his face is ugly, his face is hot. "Oh hey 'mega you should let me suck your tits." Followed by cackling laughter.

Jason expects it to die down after they've had their fun and gotten bored, but it doesn't. He feels like he's in high school all over again, not surrounded by grown working adults.

Eventually though, he only has half an hour left of his shift. He can do it. Just 30 more minutes and he can leave and go home and away from this.

Someone comes up behind him and pinches him on the ass and he's startled and accidentally drops the heavy box he was carrying. He hears a horrifying sound of whatever is inside breaking when it crashes against the ground.

"Damn. That's gonna come out of your paycheck." The man who caused it all laughs.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Whatever was inside sounded expensive. That could be Jason’s whole day's paycheck right there. Remain calm, he tells himself. Remain calm. He's started fights over much less. But just remain calm.

The alpha watches him with a sneer as Jason squats down to pick the box back up and assess the damage. "How you even manage to have a kid lookin’ like that? Seems like your body too fucked up for for that. Bet your kid came out messed up too."

The next moment Jason is stood up and clocking the shit out of the man's face with his fist. The punch sends the man stumbling to the ground. Holding his face. Wailing in disbelief and pain. "The feral bitch hit me!" He growls. "What omega thinks they can put their hands on an alpha!"

Jason growls down at the man, a deep dark angry sound that comes from down within and shuts the man up. "Talk about my pup like that and I will fucking kill you!" He's seeing red, he wants nothing more than to rip this man's throat out with his teeth. Instead, he turns on his heel and walks out on the job.

He knew he shouldn't have chosen to work in a place like this filled with looser alpha grunts. He's vibrating with anger. He wants to pummel something. Break something. He walks and walks. Eventually the anger fades and gives way to the distress.

He's fucked up. Big time. Punching someone definitely breaks his parole. He only lasted 2 days being out from jail before fucking up again. Why would he do that? Why can't he ever just control himself? He's going to go back to jail. CPS might even take Tyler from him, give him to some crappy abusive foster family. Oh God. Jason can't breathe. He's hyperventilating. Tears streaming down his face. He crouches down in the middle of the sidewalk and has a breakdown. People walk around him, assuming him just another lunatic on drugs.

He needs to get it together. Fix this. But there's no way to fix it. What happened happened. He can't take it back, or redo it. It's all a mess. He’s a failure. Fear, and regret, and self loathing consume him. His hands shake and his blood starts to go cold.

He realises he’s dropping.

Jason finds himself walking to a familiar apartment.

Chapter 4

Summary:

A chapter of porn with plot. Not entirely necessary for the overall story plot, can be skipped if you’d like. I have outlined in the chapter where the sex scene begins and ends. Or see end notes for full chapter summary.

Jason drags himself up the stairs of the apartment complex and knocks on the door. Prays for an answer. Thankfully after a minute of waiting the door opens to reveal the sight of a tall muscular alpha woman with long flaming red hair, Artemis Grace. He feels himself slump in relief at just her familiar presence and alpha scent.

“Jace?” Artemis questions. “I thought I told you we were done. And I thought you understood that because I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

“Can I come in? I don’t feel so good.” Jason says pathetically, looking up at his former girlfriend with pleading eyes.

“Art, who is that?” A woman's voice calls from inside the apartment. Jason sees behind Artemis in the apartment a tall gorgeous alpha woman with dark skin and dark hair. Oh. Jason realises Artemis must have a new partner. Of course she would, Artemis is great, super hot. He just wasn’t thinking, he didn’t realise Artemis would have someone already over. She’s busy. He should leave. He turns to go with a mumbled “Nevermind, sorry for bothering you.”

But Artemis looks at his sweating yet shivering scrunched up figure and drags him inside like a kitten. “It’s fine, Jace.” She shuts the door behind him. She looks to the other woman and explains. “This is Jason. We used to fuck.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’ve mentioned him before.” The woman says. She introduces herself to Jason. “I’m Akila. Are you, uh, okay? You don’t look good and you smell, well, horrible.”

“I think I’m dropping.” Jason admits ashamedly and pathetically, his voice creaking hoarsely and another violent shake travels through his body.

Artemis reaches out and feels his forehead. “Shit you’re cold and clammy. Jace, who should I call?”

Jason’s gaze is hazy and unfocused.

“Jason!” Artemis raises her voice to try and get his attention. She is distressed when he still doesn’t respond. “Shit.” Artemis curses. “Akila, can you help me?”

The woman quickly jumps in to help carry Jason to their bedroom and lay him down. “Can you get blankets?”

“On it.” Akila says and dashes out of the room.

Artemis looks down at Jason. Curled up. Shaking. Pale. “How did you let it get this bad, Jace?” Of course he did.

Artemis prides herself on being a really strong person, but right now she feels frantic and sick to her stomach. She is freaking out and feeling close to tears at seeing the strong omega looking like he’s on death's door.

Akila returns with a handful of blankets and Artemis wraps them around Jason in a makeshift nest. She rubs her alpha scent over him. She rumbles and coos at him. But it doesn't seem to be enough. “Jace. You need serious help. Do you have a mate or partner I can call?”

That gets a weak chuckle out of Jason. “Course not.”

“I’m serious. You need someone to knot you right now. Is there anyone that would be willing to help?”

Jason shakes his head. “You know I’m an asshole that burns bridges.” Jason thinks pitifully to himself that now he’s probably going to die because of it.

Artemis growls. “Fuck. I can’t just let you suffer like this.” Artemis takes Akila out into the hall. “He needs an alpha. I can give him what he needs. I know we’re together. I’m really sorry. But I need to do this.”

Akila looks upset. Her girlfriend is proposing cheating on her with this omega that just showed up at their doorstep. Akila doesn’t know what’s potentially worse, if Artemis is being willing to do this for just a fuck buddy. Or if Artemis and this omega man had such a previous deep connection that Artemis would still do anything for him. Akila doesn’t like it either way. Akila also knows she’s not going to stop her girlfriend from doing what she feels she needs to do. “Okay. I will leave you to it.”

“Thank you.” Artemis says, kissing her girlfriend and hurrying back to their room to help Jason.

Jason is too far gone to acknowledge or even be aware of her presence as she enters. She joins him in the makeshift nest and removes her clothes and then Jason’s clothes so they can have skin to skin contact. “Jason.” Artemis says. But the man doesn’t respond. “Omega.” She tries which gets a twitch. “I am going to fuck you. Is that okay?”

Jason whines in what sounds like agreement.

--(Smut starts below)--

“Okay sweetheart, just give me a second.” Artemis gets her hand on her dick and tries to rub it to hardness, but Jason just smells so sickly it’s killing any kind of arousal at having the man back in her bed spread out and wanting her cock. She needs to fix this or she’s not going to be able to get erect. “Jace.” She whispers sweetly. “You look so good.” She runs her hand over the swell of his plump breasts and then drags it down over his abs and back up. She tweaks a nipple. “So good omega. Always so pliant for me.” Artemis coos at him. “You’d put up a decent fight to pretend to be macho but then always let me have you however I wanted. You sure knew how to make an alpha happy.”

Jason is starting to flush and a slight scent of happy omega starts to fill the air. “Good omega.” Artemis praises knowing Jason has always been a complete sucker for any kind of praise. “Such a perfect omega. Such a good lay. So pretty.”

Jason mewls and that goes straight to Artemis’ cock. She can feel the warmth of blood filling out her dick now that the room isn’t smelling so bad. “You want to please Alpha, right Jace? You’re going to be a good boy? I need you to get wet for me then, so I can fuck you.” She presses her fingers against his pussy lips and rubs the sensitive nerves. She gives Jason’s small omega cock a few strokes too. Soon Jason starts to slick up and then it’s practically pouring out of his cunt. It smells good. Artemis is fully hard now.

“Good omega.” Artemis lines her dick up and pushes into that ready and needy cunt. It feels good. She also feels bad for doing this to Akila. She looks down at the omega that gasps so sweetly when she starts fucking him on her cock. She gets lost in it. Fuck.

She had only been with alpha women before Jason. She wasn’t totally sure why she chose to let the omega come onto her. She got charmed by the brash, unapologetic, scraggly man and became open to it. She thought an omega male might not be so different, same genitals for the most part as alpha women. It really was very similar. The main difference was how wet Jason could get and how sweet he smelled. Nothing like the thick alpha musk of most of the partners she had been with. It wasn’t a bad experience. But that’s all it mainly was, an experiment. She found herself going back to alpha women after Jason. She hasn’t considered an omega since. She doesn’t know what made Jason so different.

He is objectively pure gutter trash. Violent. Abrasive. So far from being a good, pure, and virginal omega. He was easy. Physically oversized for an omega. Butch. Unpredictable. Emotional. Broken. Prickly exterior. Gooey inside. Maybe Artemis liked that. She can’t deny the times they had together were wild and fun.

Jason cries out on a particularly deep trust. It’s a cute sound, pure wanton omega. He is flushed red from practically his head to his toes. That good, that means blood is circulating again and he’s not so cold and lifeless anymore.

“You take it so well.” Artemis grunts, trusting out and back in again. “You going to take my knot omega?”

That seems to interest the omega who perks up, his cunt clenching, and he hums in pleasure. Artemis smirks. Being with Jason was sure a boost to her ego. “Of course you want my knot. Don’t worry, I’m going to give it to you since you’ve been so good for me. Going to fill you up.”

Artemis can feel her knot swelling. Jason’s cunt stretches to accommodate. Damn. She’s forgotten what it’s like to be with an omega. She doesn’t think she prefers it to alphas, but it’s still good.

She grips onto his hips and trusts into Jason’s tight canal. Her knots blows locking them together and shooting cum deep into the omega’s womb. Jason cries out and spasms, coming on her knot. His small little cocks spurts sterile cum onto his belly. His eyes go all hazy and his scent is practically nauseating with how sickly sweet it is.

She is panting alongside the man as she slowly comes down from her own orgasm. She sits back a bit which tugs on the knot in Jason’s cunt. The omega whines in distress. “Hey. It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.” She assures, pulling Jason close to her and laying them down in a more comfortable position to wait for her knot to go down.

The omega seems exhausted and falls unconscious. She runs her wrist scent gland over his body and rumbles soothingly. She had meant to just clinically fuck Jason to help him out. But it got intimate. Once again she feels regret and disgust for causing Akila pain by betraying her like this.

Jason, in his state, senses even the slightest change in scent and whines and shifts in his sleep. “Sorry.” Artemis says trying to push the negative thoughts out of her head that are souring her scent and distressing the omega.

Eventually Artemis’ knot goes down and slips out. This jolts Jason awake and sends him spiraling back down. His scent sours like rotten fruit and he starts crying. Tears roll down his cheeks which become pale and cold again. “It’s going to be okay.” Artemis reassures. “Guess we’ve just got to do this a few more times.”

Artemis fucks Jason twice more before she is sure the omega drop has been broken and it’s faded and passed and Jason is okay. They both fall asleep shortly after.

--(End of smut)--
___

Artemis wakes up and instantly feels guilty. She didn’t mean to fall asleep. She double checks to make sure Jason is alright. He seems to be sleeping peacefully. So she quickly gets up and heads out of the room. She finds Akila in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Morning babe.” Artemis greets. “I’m so so sorry about all this. I’ll make it up to you. Promise.” She goes for a hug and Akila quickly side-steps.

Akila’s nose crinkles in disgust. “You smell like omega.”

Shit. “Sorry. Damn. I totally forgot.” Artemis feels awkward and embarrassed and regretful. “I’ll go take a shower.” She quickly hurries off. She scrubs thoroughly in the shower to make sure to get rid of any trace. She imagines how difficult it is to smell the scent of another on your partner. She is honestly really surprised and happy and so very grateful that Akila is still here and didn’t leave her after last night.

She returns to the kitchen. “Better?” Artemis asks nervously.

Akila just grunts and doesn’t make eye contact.

“I really am sorry. I need you to know I’m fully committed to you. What happened last night means nothing to me.” Artemis sounds desperate, almost like she is begging. Akila has never heard the headstrong woman sound like that.

Akila looks over and studies Artemis. She does seem sincere and genuinely regretful. Akila is willing to accept the apology and move on from this. But she is just also rethinking some things. As far as Akila had been aware Artemis was like her and only liked Alpha woman. She is confused how Jason and her even got together. This omega man also seemed much too young for her and not her type. The word Akila would describe the boy with, “pathetic.” Artemis hates that.

Just then Jason walks in. He looks soft with his tousled curls and flushed cheeks. He looks at Artemis with stars in his blue-green eyes. It makes Artemis feel guilty. Partly why she had to break their relationship off and why they weren’t together anymore. Jason had been falling for her, and she wasn’t looking to commit to the omega. She had only gotten with the guy for the purpose of experimental fucking. Jason deserves someone that is into him as much as he deeply falls for others.

Jason looks shy as he says, “Thank you. Seriously. I didn’t know where else to go. I really owe you.”

Artemis is the partner that has treated him the best out of anyone he has been with. It’s crushing to know that the only reason they aren’t together is because Artemis is gay or at least bi but has a preference for alpha women. And Jason simply isn’t that. He’d change himself in an instant. He hates himself. Hates his body. Hates his dynamic. It makes him weak. It makes him collapse and shake and go into drop simply because he feels overwhelmed with distress and rejected from his pack. If he wasn't an omega, maybe his life wouldn’t suck so much. It at least would have prevented him from getting pregnant… No, Jason doesn’t regret Tyler, he was the one good thing. But just about everything else sucks about being a male omega.

Or maybe the issue is really just Jason. He can’t blame his gender for why he is unloved. The issue is his complete failure to not suck at everything.

Artemis looks at Jason with pity, and a little bit disgust. “Jason, I want you out of my life for real this time. You cause me problems.” She says bluntly.

Damn that stings. Jason is startled, but not surprised. He accepts it easily with a remorseful look.

Artemis escorts Jason to the door. “Maybe when you grow up and start acting more responsible and mature we can be friends. But I don’t think my girlfriend will be comfortable with you coming around ever again.” Artemis gives him a firm look. Then she sighs in annoyance to herself, "I'm going to have to work really hard to regain her trust.”

Jason nods. “I’m sorry.” he knows he’s troubled her by showing up here. This is more kindness from Artemis than he deserves. “Thank you," he says and promptly leaves.

Artemis seems to be doing much better without him and instead with this woman Akila. He won’t ever bother them further. He understands why people don’t want him in their lives. He’s poison and people should stay away. All he has is his siblings and they only tolerate him because they have to because they are forever tied together by blood. But even Jason’s own son doesn’t like or want him around.

Jason's heart pangs and he quickly pushes away the dark thoughts. His hormones probably aren’t fully settled yet, it’s likely he'll go into another drop if he starts spiralling again.

Jason gets to walking down the cracked sidewalk to head back home and tries to ignore his troubled thoughts and instead focus on the steady sound of cars going by and just focus on himself putting one foot in front of the other.

Notes:

Jason shows up at Artemis(his past fling/girlfriend) apartment in the middle of an omega drop, hoping she will help him. However, he finds that she has a new girlfriend over at her place. Artemis is conflicted because she is in a monogamous relationship, but sleeps with and knots Jason to break the drop. Once it’s the morning she kicks Jason out.

Chapter 5

Dick is having a frankly down right horrible morning. He is monumentally stressed about the fact that Jason didn’t come home last night. Dick had been so proud of Jason for getting a job so quickly and was optimistic and thought it would be a good day. Of course it was not. Jason always manages to disappoint him.

Dick knows that Jason is tough and can take care of himself. But he’s still an omega. There are some evil people out there. Dick can’t help but imagine the worst possible scenario of Jason face down in a ditch somewhere, dead. And Dick couldn’t even find a little bit of solace in calling the police to help find him. No doubt it would not look good if his felon brother needs to be tracked down. The police are more likely to make things worse and throw Jason in jail, rather than help him. Probably by Jason’s own fault though. Jason does not react well to authority. It wouldn’t be the first time starting a fight with the police. Ya, all around not a good idea to call and involve the police.

Dick does try to call any other people who might know anything regarding his brother’s whereabouts. First he calls Roy. But he’s got nothing, he says he hasn’t seen Jason in a long time.

Then Dick calls Andre, who Dick thought was Jason's friend. Instead, the guy curses Dick out and says it’s a good thing he hasn’t seen “the bastard” or he’d “knock his teeth out,” and then hangs up. Dick has no idea what happened there to cause a fall out between the two. But Jason has a special talent for pissing people off.

Dick gives up on calling around because that’s the extent of the list of people Jason is in good graces with, as far as he is aware.

To top off an already shitty morning and make it worse, Damian and Tim are being even worse than normal this morning. Dick already has a headache from the two and their escalating bickering. He’s desperately trying to get Tim and Damian to listen to him. To get them to stop. They will not.

Jason strolls in the front door of the house. His ears are instantly assaulted by the screeching of the Demon-Brat and Timbo. Something gets thrown across the room and Jason has already had enough. He growls a deep omega mother sound and the room goes silent. The pups stop their fighting and seem properly chastised.

Dick wants to pull his hair out. He has spent so much time trying to build a relationship with Tim and Damian so they love and respect him and listen to him, and then Jason just comes in here with one growl and gets them to listen. Have the pups really been missing an omega parental figure this bad? One growl and they melt. Maybe it would have been better if Dick was an omega. Or maybe Dick needs to find an omega mate so his pups can have a proper mother figure. Not Jason. Who is pushing Tim off the sofa so he can sit in that spot, then plopping his dirty shoe covered feet onto the coffee table.

Dick is fuming at how casual Jason is being. “You were gone. You didn’t return home last night. I was so worried. But you just waltz in here like nothing is the matter. I thought you might have died!”

“Something came up. I didn’t mean to.” Jason insists. “I swear.”

Dick scents the air. He instantly goes from annoyed to beyond pissed. Jason smells of alpha and sex. “I was panicked and worried for you and you were really just off on a booty call!?!”

“No, it wasn’t like that.” Jason says, but Dick just knows it’s a lie.

Dick is furious at his brother. Dick has been so tolerant and supportive of this kid through everything, and yet he gives nothing back. Dick was understanding and there for him when the boy was moody after their mother’s death, then he was understanding when Jason was a teenager and became rebellious and started acting out, and then he was understanding when Jason became pregnant and his hormones and emotions were turbulent and explosive. Dick dealt with the brunt of it all under the belief that Jason would eventually get better. But here he is, an adult, and still causing him problems. Dick is at his breaking point. His pent up negative emotions bubble over in this moment and he lays into Jason. “You’re an immature, ungrateful, pain in my ass! At your age I was shouldering the burden of taking care of all of us. You can’t even handle a curfew, or being here for your one kid!”

Jason flinches and has a momentary look of hurt, before he quickly covers it up with rage, as he always does to shield and protect himself. “Fuck you, asshole!”

Dick growls back. “Nah, fuck YOU, Jason. I mean it. I’m sick of your shit!”

Jason is pissed. He got harassed at work, he definitely got himself fired, he went into a drop, he ruined whatever little good will he still had with Artemis, and the police will probably be showing up here soon to take him to jail for assault for punching his coworker. But now he’s also got to hear an earful rant from his obnoxious and controlling older brother. Hell nah. “You’re always on your high horse. Just leave me alone!” Jason stands up and turns to go and walk out of the room.

Dick blocks his way. “No you don’t get to keep just leaving when things get tough. I’m over with you avoiding all responsibility.”

Everyone in the room becomes tense and nervous. This is not going to end well. Dick and Jason notoriously get into brawls if arguments become too heated.

“Get out of my way, Dick.” Jason growls.

“No.” Dick growls right back.

“Dick, just let him go.” Tim requests, scared of what this is going to escalate to.

Dick doesn’t listen. When Jason goes to push past Dick, the alpha grabs the younger man to keep him from leaving. The two scuffle and end up on the ground, Dick on top. Dick grabs Jason by the scruff. “Stop.” He commands in his alpha voice. Growling down at the boy beneath him.

Dick expects Jason to try and fight it, instead the boy goes limp. Dick has only a second of satisfaction before he notices the omega is shaking. Tears prick at the younger man’s eyes and he starts whining seemingly uncontrollably with such a distressed note. “Woah hey Jason. What the hell? It’s okay.” Dick tries to comfort not understanding why the omega is having such an intense reaction.

The omega just continues to break down. Dick is panicking now. “Shit Jay, please get it together. I think you’re going to go into a drop.”

The omega whines and bares his throat. Dick looks down at hazy unfocused eyes. “Fuck.” Dick says and quickly scoops the younger man up. It's not easy, Jason is very heavy. When did his cute little brother get so big? But Dick manages to carry him upstairs and to his bed.

Dick sets Jason down among his sheets. He gathers a few of his dirty clothes and tries to make somewhat of an attempt at a nest around the omega. Before crawling into the bed alongside him.

Dick tries to project a comforting alpha scent. He rubs his scent glands against Jason's neck and all over. “You’re okay. I’m sorry. I’m not mad. Please stop.” Dick begs the omega, desperate for him to get it together before he goes into full drop which would be extremely dangerous.

Tim appears at the doorway. “What’s wrong with Jason?” He asks, distressed. “Is he going to be okay?” Damian stands a little behind Tim also looking unnerved and concerned. Cass and Stephanie appear in the doorway as well, seemingly having heard the commotion and being worried.

Dick looks at Jason, he’s still shaking. “I don’t know.” Dick admits. Dick feels so out of his depth here. He tries to talk and reason with the omega. “Jay. Tim and Damian and Cass are all here. They are worried. Is it okay if they come in your nest? They can help out. Scent you. Cuddle.”

Jason turns away with a huff of disagreement.

“What about Tyler? Do you want me to get your pup?” Dick offers.

Jason's scent sours further.

Shit, Dick really thought that could help, but that suggestion only made things worse. “Okay, nevermind.” Dick says, trying to comfort the omega. The 4 distressed people standing at the door stinking up the space with their nervousness are not helping. “Tim could you please-”

Tim understands that they are not being helpful right now. It’s best they help Dick out by not giving him more to worry over. “Ya, I’ll make sure everyone gets to school.”

“Thanks.” Dick says.

Tim ushers everyone away. Cass is really freaked out seeing Jason like that and she doesn’t want to leave. But Tim assures that all they can do right now is give Jason space.

Once the four have left and Dick hears the click of the front door closing as they leave the house for school, Dick feels a little more settled, at least that is taken care of, one less thing to worry about, he turns his full focus on Jason. Dick rumbles comfortingly at the omega and rubs his wrist gland over him.

Eventually, it seems the man is starting to calm down a bit. Dick reaches over and grabs his phone off the nightstand and texts his boss to let him know he’s going to be late for work.

Jason let out a wet pathetic mewl.

“Shit, Jay, I’m sorry.” Dick puts down the phone and quickly goes back to holding the omega. “I’m trying my best.” Dick whispers. Dick is trying not to break down himself.

Jason had Bruce as an omega figure for at least the first half of his life. Dick never has had anything of the sort. No alpha parent or role models in his life. He doesn’t know how to be a proper pack alpha. He tries hard, really hard, to do his best, but he always seems to not be enough, he always manages to get it wrong.

Dick as the pack alpha is responsible for the family’s well being. Jason dropping like this, is another failure of Dick’s. He doesn’t know what he’s done wrong this time. But that’s the problem. If he was a better alpha maybe he would just know and understand the problem and how to fix it.

“I’m so sorry Jay.” Dick whispers to his little brother.

They lay like that for a while, Dick holding Jason while he shakes. Dick runs his hand through the man’s head of dark curls. It reminds Dick of when Jason was a kid and used to let him do this. It’s been a long while since Jason has been willing to accept comfort from anyone. The fact that the omega is letting Dick touch him like this means he is really out of it. A part of Dick is enjoying it. He feels guilty for that.

After what feels like a long while Jason stops shivering and becomes still, his scent losing the distress and evening out.

“Jay?” Dick tries asking to see if the man has come out of his delirious state and is now more conscious.

Jason doesn’t say anything but his muscles give a slight twitch which makes Dick think that the man has heard him and is just ignoring him. Jason remains curled up tightly, facing away, staring at the wall. Other than refusing to talk to Dick, the omega seems fine now, not at risk of going into full drop anymore.

“I need to get to work, will you be okay if I leave you?” Dick asks.

“Fuck off.” Jason says with a growl to his voice. It’s comforting for Dick to hear because now he knows the man really is alright.

Dick gets up from the bed and takes a second to observe Jason’s curled up form. “Do you want me to call your job and tell them you won't be coming in today?”

“No need. I don’t have a job.”

“What do you mean you don’t have a job? You told me you did. Did you lie?” Dick is a little frustrated right now but tries to not let that show.

“I didn’t lie about that.” Jason snaps defensively.

“Where were you all of yesterday then?” Dick asks.

“Like I fucking told you, at my job.”

Dick senses he is pissing Jason off right now and the man is about to shut down if he continues pushing him. “Okay.” Dick says simply.

“What, you don’t fucking believe me?” Jason says getting defensive anyway and turning to glare at Dick.

Dick sighs defeated. “I don’t know, Jason.”

Jason grits his teeth in anger. “I had a job. I didn’t fucking lie about that, Dickhead. I’m just no longer employed there.”

“You got fired?” Dick asks. Dick feels a twinge of angry annoyance towards his brother for seemingly getting fired on his first day. But, Dick can't be mad right now. Not when the omega man had just looked so small and pathetic and defeated. All Dick has room for right now is concern and worry about whatever it is Jason is going through right now. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“No.” Jason snaps and turns back away.

Dick had noticed the tone in the man’s voice. He knows his brother well enough to know he is very upset and trying to hide it, and will bite Dick’s head off if he tries to pry further. So Dick drops it. Maybe the boy will be willing to talk to him later, (probably not.)

“Okay.” Dick says. He holds in an upset sigh when Jason remains turned away glaring at the wall. “I’m going to leave for work now. Call me if you need anything.” Dick says. “I’ll see you later.”

Jason doesn’t answer back. Dick wasn’t expecting him to. Dick gathers his things and leaves the house and heads to his job at the diner. He gets there very late, but he can’t be bothered to care. His family will always come first over everything.

Chapter 6

Jason lays in Dick's bed for the rest of the morning. He is sulking.

Even though Artemis helped him out of the drop, he knew he still had the lingering of being emotionally unbalanced and it was risky to get his emotions rattled over anything and fall back into a drop, he needed to be careful. But, of course he got into a fight with Dick as soon as he got home, the asshole always knows how to get under his skin and prod. Jason managed to almost fall back into a drop, just because Dick got mad at him and growled at him. How pathetic and embarrassing of him.

Jason doesn’t want to deal with the world right now. He wants to shrivel up and disappear. The police will be here soon. No doubt, the man that he punched would have reported him yesterday for physical assault, and the cops will have tracked down where he lives by now.

However, soon it's the afternoon, and still the cops have not shown up. Jason realises the man probably didn't actually file a police report. It would mean having to admit that what caused the incident was him harassing and inappropriately touching an omega. But the real reason is more likely that the guy is the kind of sexist asshole that would hate to admit to anyone more than anything that he, an alpha, got laid out on his ass by an “inferior” omega.

Jason is feeling a bit better with that worry off his chest. He’s not going back to prison, Tyler is not getting taken and put into the horrible foster system. Jason feels like he has a second chance to get things right this time, a do over. He's twitching with the need to do something. To prove he's not a worthless sack of shit. So he gets up and takes a shower.

Once clean, he feels even better. More like himself. More grounded again.

Jason dresses up nice. He even borrows a button up from Dick’s closet. He’s surprised when he puts it on and it’s actually tight on him. Dick was always the handsome one with the nice body and strong lean muscles. Jason had noticed Dick looks a little more thin. Jason feels guilty. The guy probably didn’t have much time to work out while managing the family without the help of Jason. Meanwhile, while Jason was away at prison, he filled out some. Which is quite the thought that he ate better in prison than what he could afford back home.

He likes being bigger, he thinks. He feels stronger. He tries to channel that confidence. Gives a flex in the mirror. Ya he’s got this.

____

Jason walks into the Crescent Moon. It’s early in the day, no one is here yet, the place doesn’t open for another like 6 hours. But he knows Maureen, the manager, will be here already setting up or doing other work. Sure enough he finds her in her office.

“Uh, hey.” He says to get her attention.

She looks up at him standing in the doorway and gives him a judgemental look with her resting bitch face. “Where the hell have you been? You stopped showing up for work months ago.” Her voice is scratchy from years of smoking.

“I got arrested. I’ve been in prison.”

Maureen does not look impressed.

“...Sorry… Can I have my old job back?”

She assesses him, eyes raking over him. “No.”

“No!?” Jason is peeved.

“This is an omega strip club. The goal is to cater to alphas.” She says simply like that explains anything.

“Ya, and I’m an omega.” Jason does not understand the issue.

“You look like an overgrown alpha.” She says with full honest harshness. “The patrons here don’t want that.”

Jason should wring this bitch-ass lady’s neck. So she would hire him when he was a small lean underage omega teen, but not now that he’s grown up. She’ll throw him aside, now that he no longer looks underage and waifish. Like the typical type for alpha bastards. No care from Maureen and the patrons that he really was actually underage and illegal.

Anger must show on his face and in his scent. Maureen comments, “And that temper. Reason number two.” She lists off, and then looks at him seriously, changing her demeanor. “You were a good employee, a hard worker, Jason. But not many people are going to put up with your issues for long, no matter how good a worker.”

“Screw you!” Jason wants to growl, but that would prove her point. He tries to contain the simmering rage. Nails digging into his clenched palms.

Maureen gives him a somewhat pitying look. “I really do actually appreciate you having worked for me Jason. In a way, I like you kid. So I’ll write you a recommendation letter or something if you want. I wish you luck finding work elsewhere, just not here.”

“Ya. Where?!” Where the hell is going to hire “overgrown” omega Jason.

“There is a club on West Broad street called the Black Mask. You actually might be exactly what they’re looking for. Try there.”

Oh okay. Jason feels his anger simmer out. It’s actually very nice of Maureen to help him out like this by giving him advice. He’s never heard of the place. He would’ve never known to try applying there. “Could I actually take you up on getting that recommendation letter?” Jason requests sheepishly, feeling embarrassed and regretful for getting angry earlier and potentially blowing what might’ve been a good opportunity.

Jason is surprised when Maureen actually writes a letter for him. Under that harsh exterior the woman might actually have some semblance of a soul.

____

It’s a long walk to the side of town where the Black Mask club is located, it’s closer to the fancier part of the city. It’s going to take a lot of time on foot to get there. Jason really wishes he had some money for the bus. Or, better yet, he wishes he had a car. His fingers itch to steal one, but he knows it’s a stupid idea to even entertain, he doesn’t do that anymore. He fills his time on the walk by reading over what Maureen wrote for him.

She describes him in the recommendation letter as being: “studious, diligent, and tenacious.” Which actually sounds pretty nice and generous. He didn’t know she thought these things about him. He almost feels touched.

Though it’s really the least she could do to write this for him. She owes Jason for not reporting her ass to the police for hiring him when he was an underage 17 year old. But he was thankful she gave him a job. He was desperate back then to prove to Dick he could contribute to the household income. He wouldn’t be a bum of a parent to Tyler. He’d prove to Dick that he didn’t need the alpha to take care of him anymore. He was old enough to be responsible and take care of himself.

He fucked up and certainly failed on that front. Like everything.

Jason gets lost in thought and before he knows it he’s found himself outside of what he assumes is the right building. He looks up at the imposing building, it’s daunting. The all black exterior and blacked out windows are a bit intimidating. It looks fancy. He’s not used to this kind of thing. Where’s the tacky neon lights, and signs posted in the windows promoting deals, and tweakers loitering outside? It looks clean and posh.

The small sign says they aren’t open yet, but he thinks he sees some people inside. He gathers up some courage before trying the door, it opens, and so he enters. He is greeted by a massive guy, likely security or a bouncer who gives him a look. Jason probably looks really out of place in his ill fitting button up, black jeans, and frayed sneakers.

“Hello. Uh, I’m here to apply for a job, if you have any openings…”

The intimidating man doesn’t speak, just motions to a door at the back of the club.

“Oh okay. Thank you.” Jason awkwardly makes his way back there. The door says “Ms. Li. Manager.” He gives it a knock.

Who Jason assumes is Ms. Li opens the door. She is a fierce looking asian woman with glasses and a sharp suit. She gives him a judgemental look that rivals Maureen even on her crankiest day.

Jason stutters. “Hello. Sorry to bother you. Uh, I was looking to apply for a job here. I’ve worked at a strip club before. So I have like experience… Oh and I actually have this recommendation letter… I don’t have a resume… but… uh I could maybe put something together…” He feels like he’s rambling but he’s getting more and more unnerved when the lady continues to just stare at him. He feels like he should stop talking.

Ms. Li doesn’t say anything. Just continues giving him a silent judgmental stare that trails from his head to toes in assessment. Jason feels awkward.

“You’re perfect.” She says which throws Jason off guard. She didn’t even look at his recommendation letter. “You can start tonight.” She says. That somehow throws Jason off even more.

“Tonight? Like today?!”

“Yes we open in about an hour, we need to get you sized and fitted. Then I’ll have you start out on the floor taking drink orders. Is this an issue?”

“No. No. It’s, that’s… I can do that.” Jason stumbles out.

“You don’t sound sure.” She remarks with distaste.

“No I am. I’m sure. I want this job. I can start tonight. Thank you so much for the opportunity… Could I maybe just call my brother real quick. I need to let him know I’ll be home late tonight, or he’ll freak out…”

“That’s fine.” The lady says unimpressed and motioning to her landline, “I’ll leave you to it.”

Jason calls Dick’s cell and the man picks up. “Hello. Who is this?”

“It’s Jason.”

Dick pauses on the other end of the line. “Jason, who’s number is this, where are you? I assumed you’d be saying home today.”

“Uh, so I got a job. That’s where I’m at right now. I just wanted to call to let you know that I won’t be home until late tonight. So like don’t worry.”

“How late? You better not be working at the Crescent Moon, I told you to not get a job there-”

“I didn’t!” Jason complains at Dick doubting him, even though it’s deserved because he definitely tried to get his job back there and is only not there right now working because he got rejected from the place.

“Okay, okay.” Dick assures, believing him. “I’m proud of you. Where did you get this job?”

Jason tries to find the best way to say this to Dick so he doesn’t freak out. “...A different club.”

“Jason!” Dick shouts on the other side of the line. There are a few seconds of Dick huffing. But then seems to get himself together. “Ok.” Dick says, clearly not happy, but having to accept it because of not being willing to fight Jason on this. He can’t control Jason's life and make decisions for him. “Just please no more under the table work. I worry about your safety. Don’t worry about money when it's tight, I will find a way to cover it, it’s my responsibility to handle it without you having to sell yourself. Please promise.”

“Okay. Promise.”

“Good.” Dick says. “I mean it too, Jason. If you-”

“I’ve got it. You’ll kick my ass.” Jason grumbles. “Bye, Dick.” He says and hangs up on his annoying older brother. There has been a warm feeling in his gut since this morning after having the older man help him through his almost drop. Most of that is overridden with his personal embarrassment and also anger towards the man for contributing to causing it all in the first place.

_____

 

Dick puts down the phone. Massages his temples. Tells himself everything is going to be fine.

“Who was that?” Slade asks.

Dick is a bit startled at his manager's presence. “Shit. Sorry for taking the call while on the clock. It was my brother, Jason.”

“Ah, the trouble maker one.” Slade says. “What’s he done this time? Is this going to affect you working today?”

“No.” Dick assures. “He actually hasn’t done anything wrong… this time. He just called to let me know he’ll be home late, so I don’t wait up or worry.”

“So then what’s got you stressed lately?” Slades asks.

Dick cringes at his boss having noticed his unsettled distressed state as of late, it’s likely been affecting his performance, of course the man would notice. “It’s everything else. He’s…” Dick struggles to find what he wants to say, so asks Slade, “You have kids right? Did the mother of your children ever… go through a period of rejecting any of the pups?”

“No. Never. That’d be concerning.”

Dick bites his lip in worry. “Thought so.” Dick runs his hand through his hair and decides to open up to his boss, he doesn’t know why, the older man likely doesn’t care about his personal family drama, but Dick has been keeping this all in and he really needs to just talk to someone. “I don’t know what to do. Jason is avoiding his pup. He won’t even TRY to connect with him. I don’t know why. It’s clearly affecting him. He almost went into a drop this morning. And I think it’s the main cause.”

Slade frowns. “Sounds like he needs a proper intervention. You can’t let this go on.”

Dick groans. “I know. I just…” Dick sighs and feels regret about what he is going to say. “Maybe… It’s better this way. Tyler has already gotten used to seeing me as his father. If Jason doesn’t want any involvement, maybe I don’t push it. I’ve been caring for the pup on my own for a while now. I raised my siblings, I know what I’m doing, better than Jason. I’m sure he’d make a good mother when he’s ready, but I don’t think he is right now.”

Slade scoffs.

“What?” Dick asks surprised, not expecting that reaction.

“As long as I have known you, you’re always trying to shoulder every burden. The pup is not your responsibility. You already have enough on your plate, you have taken on the care of all your siblings. Jason needs to get it together, carry his weight, and take care of his own pup. He’s an adult now. Time for you to stop babying him and picking up after his messes. Lay down the law. You’re the alpha, the oldest, the head of the house, right?”

Dick frowns, brows scrunching. “It’s not that easy. The more you force Jason to do something, the less he’ll want to and the more combative he’ll be.”

“Well, then use that to your advantage. Don’t try to push him to step up as a mother, do the opposite. Insist you have it handled and he should step away. If he’s so contrarian, he’ll end up doing what you actually want out of believed spite against you.”

“That’s actually… that might actually work.” Dick can’t believe he’s saying it, but Jason just might be bone headed enough to fall for it.

Dick is thankful for his boss. Slade might have a rough exterior, but he treats Dick well. He hired Dick even when he was young and inexperienced and didn’t have even a high school diploma or any other credentials. He lets him bring home leftovers from the restaurant for his siblings. He’s really a decent guy.

_____

Ms. Li had some gals help get Jason sized and dressed in an outfit. Then they do his hair and even makeup. Once they finish, they allow him to look in the mirror, and he is shocked when he takes it all in.

He’s dressed in black leather which crisscrosses across his body. Garters wrap around his thick thighs which they look like they are going to bust out. Most of his body does. The corset pushes up his boobs so they're spilling out the top. He's always been self conscious about his waist, but the corset absolutely snatches it. He got good hour glass proportions for a male. He can thank getting pregnant for helping him out in the department of wide hips and full breasts. They put him in heels, which he was surprised by. He was already very tall for an omega. He’d assume they’d not want to accentuate a feature of his that was un-omega like. But that seems to be what they are going for. The contrast. He looks breedable but also fierce. The makeup is smokey and sharp. He looks like a proper slut. He looks like some BDSM fetish come to life.

He’s not entirely sure how he feels about it. He feels awkward and out of place in the outfit.

At Crescent Moon they always tried to hide his features and attempt the hard task of making him look pretty and dainty. He was better at pulling off the softer look when he was younger, but even back then he’d never been a dainty omega.

He pulls the “slutty dominatrix” look off better. He could maybe make this work…

What has he gotten himself into? This seems like some hardcore shit.

Ms. Li gives him an appreciative look. “Thank you for being willing to work tonight. It’s really lucky for us. The boss is bringing some associates in tonight to host a business deal. We need lots of staff on deck tonight to make the place look good and give off a good impression.” She gives Jason a very serious look. “That means I expect perfect behavior. You will stay out of the way and let the more experienced staff handle their table. Let them focus on that while you handle the regular customers.”

“I understand.” Jason says. This place is pretty serious. It makes sense, it seems very high end, so high standards. It makes Jason nervous that he is going to mess up. There doesn’t seem to be much tolerance for that here. But hopefully if he can be successful under this pressure, that means he can make higher tips. No doubt the kind of people that come to a place like this have to have some good money.

He’s given a run down on the rules of the place. The drink specials they offer. The names of the other workers. A run down of the regular customers that usually come. How he should act. And then he’s sent out to go work.

It’s crazy how easy it is to fall back into the familiar motions of working this kind of job after not doing it for many months. Taking and delivering drink orders, giving flirtatious smiles, and light chatting. The only difference is trying not to look too awkward walking in heels he is not used to. And trying to pick up on the vibe of the club and the other workers he’s supposed to also be giving off. He thinks he’s right in that this place has a kind of sophisticated BDSM vibe going on. A mix of fancy suits, and leather. It’s not what he’s used to, but he thinks he’s doing pretty well. No one has yelled at him yet, so that must be good.

He’s taking a short break to chat with one of the girls working here named Margo. She pauses mid sentence. Jason looks over to where her eyes are looking.

Into the club has walked a tall pale man, with slicked back jet black hair, and dressed in a sharp all black suit. Next to him walks two men that Jason would describe as being straight out of one of those old mafia movies. They just have that old mobster look that’s hard to describe but obvious when you spot it. It doesn’t help that they are surrounded by a posse of men that look like bodyguards.

“Roman Sionis is here.” Margo says, looking a bit nervous.

“Who’s that?” Jason asks.

“The owner of this place.” She explains. “I’m probably expected to help out, so I’ve got to get going.”

“Oh okay.” Jason says and watches as she hurries off. Jason gets back to work himself.

Jason can’t help but occasionally glance over. The men have been situated at a large table near the back of the club. The area is partitioned off to be a bit more secluded and private. But sometimes when Jason walks by he can catch a peak.

The men sit around the table drinking alcohol and smoking cigars. They seem to be discussing something serious. Occasionally one of the girls will come by to refill drinks, but the meeting seems mostly private. Jason wonders what they are discussing over there. Ms. Li had just said they were going to discuss a “business deal.” But Jason’s not sure what that means or what industry these guys are in. They don’t look like typical business men, they look hardened with weathered faces and serious demeanors. Jason sees the way they clearly are armed with guns under their suit jackets and gold rings adorn their fingers. Are these guys perhaps really mafia guys?

Jason studies who sits at the head of the table, Roman Sionis. Apparently this is his boss. The man’s appearance teeters the line between suave and sleazy. Even from across the room Jason can feel the man has a dangerous aura.

Roman Sionis looks over and makes eye contact with Jason.

Jason freezes. Shit. He’s been caught staring. That’s not a good first impression. Jason gives an embarrassed smile and quickly hurries off to return to working.

If it really is some mobsters that are running this place, Jason does not want to draw attention to himself. These are some dangerous people. It might have been a mistake choosing to work here. But it will probably not be a problem if he just keeps his head down, works hard, and avoids any of that drama.

Chapter 7

When Dick comes home from working his second job at the bar, he's exhausted after a long day, which is everyday. But before he crashes in bed, he checks on all his siblings to make sure they are home safe and asleep. He peeks in each room and confirms they all are in their beds sleeping soundly, except Jason. Dick knows Jason said he wouldn’t be home until late, but Dick can’t help but still feel some slight worry. He ignores that worry. Dick knows he can let paranoia get the better of him sometimes. Jason is fine, he reassures himself. But he makes sure to leave his phone on the nightstand close by so he can hear it if it rings if Jason calls him again, just in case. Dick whispers “Goodnight” to a sleeping Tyler in his crib, then Dick slips into his own bed and falls asleep.

____

The next morning is Saturday, the one day a week Dick can sleep in. He has Saturdays as the one day a week he has off from working at the diner, and he has no kids he needs to usher off to school. He takes full advantage of this and normally sleeps until noon to at least try and catch up a little on all the sleep he's missed during the week. His siblings know not to disturb and wake him unless it's an emergency.

He expects to wake up feeling more well rested and refreshed. Instead he awakes to the sound of clanging at 10am. And any peace he had gained from the little extra sleep he got, is replaced by worry for whatever his younger siblings have gotten into while he's been sleeping in. He quickly gets up and trudges downstairs.

He walks into the kitchen and sees the sight of Cass holding a flashlight for Tim as he pulls out parts from the water heater. “What are you doing?” Dick asks, being too tired to even bother mustering up anger, he's exhausted by these kids’ shenanigans.

“The water heater conked out.” Tim explains.

“I tried to take a shower this morning and it was freezing!” Steph complains.

“I'm trying to see what the issue is, but I think the whole thing is just fried beyond repair.” Tim says.

“Great.” Dick says sarcastically. It's cold right now and only going to get colder as the fall weather turns into winter. Of course the water heater chooses now to break. He was looking forward to a warm shower, his other once a week treat, rather than enduring cold showers for the sake of saving money as he normally does throughout the week.

Jason walks into the kitchen from the living room. He looks a bit dishevelled. His curls are a mess, and he's got sleep lines on his face. It seems he spent last night sleeping on the couch after he came home. Dick is glad to see he got home safe.

Jason goes to the kitchen sink and splashes some water on his face to wake himself up. He yelps when it’s much colder than he expected. “Why is it so fucking cold?!” Jason complains, his voice rough from just waking up.

“Heater is broke.” Cass explains.

Jason looks to Tim who stands up wiping his hands off on his pants. “Well can you fix it?” Jason asks the younger boy who is supposed to be the little genius of their family.

Tim shakes his head. “If I could, I would have. The thing is completely kaput.”

“Great.” Jason says, repeating exactly what Dick said at the news that is very much NOT “great.”

“Alright everyone, empty out your pockets for the new water heater fund, let's count up how much we have.” Dick says and takes out the emergency fund saving jar which has a couple dollars in it, and a dead bug.

Damian contributes a couple coins from his pocket. Cass adds a whole twenty dollar bill.

“Uh where'd you get that?” Dick has to ask.

“Found it.” She says.

Dick doesn't know exactly what that means, but he's not going to question it.

Steph adds a packet of gum from her pocket.

“Wow, really helpful.” Dick says sarcastically.

“That's all I got. It's maybe worth a buck or something." She says with a shrug.

Dick has to remind himself he loves Steph, as to not blow a fuse at the freeloader.

Tim adds some money to the small pile on the table. It's more than Dick thought the boy would have. “What's that from?” Dick asks.

“Two people at school paid me to write their research papers.” Tim explains.

Dick grumbles. “Why can you do other people's homework, but not your own?”

“Doing my homework doesn't get me anything.” Tim says.

“It can get you good grades, and passing high school, and getting a good job!” Dick says back.

Tim shrugs.

Dick calms himself. He's not going to get into this same argument he always does with Tim right now.

Dick looks at the pile of money. It's barely anything. Dick mentally calculates how much it would be if he adds his latest paycheck. Still not much.

Jason pulls out a large handful of crumpled bills from his pocket and drops it in the pile.

“Woah. Where'd you get all that from?” Tim asks. Dick was wondering the same thing. Is this all from Jason's new job at that new club? That's a lot to make in one night. Where exactly is he working?

“New job.” Jason explains.

Tim seems to come to the realization of what the crumpled small note bills mean, and pauses in flattening one of the bills out, he drops it like he's been burned. “Ew! Gross! I don't even want to start to know where that's been!”

Jason rolls his eyes.

Damian looks confused. “Where would the money have been?”

“Alright!” Dick says, interrupting before Tim answers. “What's the count?” Dick asks.

“Not enough.” Steph says.

“Wow, thanks for the optimism.” Dick says sarcastically, he’s getting real annoyed at the unhelpful girl.

“Hey, I'm usually one for optimism. But online is saying at the cheapest a new water heater will be AT LEAST $2,000.” Stephanie says showing her phone search results to Dick.

Dick snatches the phone to get a look at that number. Google says it could be upwards of $13,000 for a new one. “Well fuck.”

“Could always just steal one.” Jason says.

“No.” Dick says quickly shutting that down. “How would you even manage to steal a whole ass huge water heater?” Dick asks rhetorically.

But Tim speaks up. “Well… we'd just have to take it from someone who wouldn't notice it missing.”

“I already don't like this idea.” Dick says.

“Nah, let him cook, I think he's on to something.” Jason encourages, like the bad influence he is.

“The newspaper has obituaries, right? So we see who has died recently, break into their house and take their heater, which they don’t need anymore.” Tim explains.

“Woah, that’s such a smart idea!” Stephanie says in genuine encouragement.

“Hell no.” Dick says.

“I also think it’s a good idea. I’m in on the plan.” Jason says with a grin.

Tim, Steph, and Jason rush to go and grab their coats to head out and enact the plan before Dick can stop them. Dick is going to have an aneurysm and die before he reaches 25 years old. “As the adult here, I’m telling you guys NO.”

“Well Jason is an adult too, and he signs off on the plan.” Tim says back.

Dick throws his hands up in defeat. He needs some coffee.

Just then crying can be heard coming from upstairs, Tyler must have woken up from a bad dream or something. Dick finds himself looking over to Jason. Dick doesn’t know why. The omega man just ignores the noise and continues to put on his shoes and hurry to join Tim and Steph in leaving the house.

Cass stands up from the table to go check on Tyler.

“I’ve got it.” Dick tells her and heads upstairs.

He scoops Tyler up and bundles him in a blanket in his arms. Dick rocks the boy and murmurs a lullaby until the kid calms down and eventually falls back into his nap. Dick is feeling tired himself. "What am I going to do about these reckless kids, Ty?" He whispers to the sleeping baby, amusement but also concern in his voice.

 

_____

 

Stephanie swipes a newspaper from the stand. Tim takes it and flips through to the obituaries to find their target. Through some thorough assessment, Tim deducts the perfect one. They’ve gotten lucky. An old man died at home yesterday, and has no surviving children or other family. Meaning no heirs to pass his house on to, meaning it’s now fallen to state government property to sell. None of the three of them have any issue with stealing from the government. In fact they consider it a civic duty.

They find an address and head over there to the house. The place is an old one-story brick house with some shabby shrubbery out front. They canvas the place while trying not to look too suspicious.

The neighborhood is quiet, there doesn't seem to be anyone around. They decide the best way to sneak in is to go around to the back. Jason expertly jimmies open the back door with experienced skill and the help of a little brute strength. And the three quickly hurry and slip inside.

The place looks like just about any old person's house. Though noticeably empty and quiet. Their footsteps feel loud as they make their way through the place to locate the closet which has the water heater.

Looking at the large thing is clear they maybe didn't fully think this through. “How the hell are we going to get this thing from here, all the way back to the house?” Jason remarks.

They ponder on it for a little bit. Stephanie comes up with an idea. “We passed a grocery store on the way here. I bet they have shopping carts. I'll get one and bring it here and we can use that to roll the thing back to the house.”

“Good idea.” Tim says and Jason nods in approval.

While Steph goes to steal a shopping cart, the two boys work on detaching the water heater. Tim seems to know what he's doing, so Jason mostly leaves it to him. Jason keeps watch but no one approaches the house, and no cops show up, so they must have been successful in not being noticed breaking in.

Eventually Stephanie returns successfully with the cart, just in time for Tim to finish unhooking everything. Jason and Tim and Steph work together to drag the water heater to the back door. Now the problem was getting the huge thing out of the house and down the back couple steps and into the cart. The back door and steps were narrow, one person was going to have to do this part.

Tim and Stephanie assess the muscles of Jason's arms, then look at him expectantly. Jason scoffs, “You think I can carry that fucking thing myself, let alone even pick it up? It's got to be hundreds of pounds.”

“I made sure it was empty of water. So the heater is at most 200 pounds.” Tim says.

Jason could maybe handle that. “Okay, but if I throw my back out from this, Imma kill you.”

“Just bend with your knees.” Steph chimes in.

Jason gives her an unimpressed glare. “Wow really? I had no idea. That will solve everything. Thanks for the helpful advice.” He sneers sarcastically. “OBVIOUSLY I'm going to bend my knees to pick it up! I'm not a fucking idiot!”

Stephanie huffs at getting yelled at but just stands aside to give Jason space.

He does a couple arm stretches. When he feels satisfactorily loose, he crouches down (with his knees) grabs hold around the thing and hoists it up. His feet are a bit shaky as he stands and tries to get his balance with the large thing.

“Careful!” Tim chimes in. “Keep it steady!”

“OBVIOUSLY, FUCKWIT!” Jason growls back at the unhelpful advice.

He takes some uncoordinated steps down the stairs. His arms burn in protest from the weight, but if he drops this thing he will definitely crush his toe bones into little pieces. He does not want flat pancake toes.

“Don’t drop it!” Stephanie advises.

“I'm seriously going to kill both of you!” Jason grunts as he almost kills himself trying to get this fucking thing down the back steps and he's got to hear the most obnoxiously unhelpful “advice” thrown his way like he's incompetent.

Tim and Stephanie watch on nervously as Jason does not make a graceful descent down the stairs and the heater lists concerningly. But Jason somehow manages to get to the bottom of the stairs and inelegantly drops the thing into the cart with a loud clang. But thankfully avoids breaking the heater or cart.

Everyone lets out a sigh of relief.

“Man, if you had dropped it and broken it, that would have been bad. We would've had to find a whole new house to rob.” Stephanie says.

“Or it would've been bad because I would've been crushed under the weight of it and broken all my bones and died!” Jason snaps.

“Ya that too I guess.” Stephanie says.

Jason considers pummeling the snot nosed teen. Unfortunately, it would make Tim upset if Jason beat up his girlfriend, though. So he focuses his anger instead on pushing the heavy cart with the heater to their house.

They make it a few blocks until they run into trouble. No doubt wheeling the thing down the sidewalk would draw some suspicion and attention. A cop car slows down to pull up alongside them.

“Ah hell. A fucking copper, great.” Jason grumbles in anger, quickly flipping up his hood to somewhat better conceal his identity.

Tim panics. “You stay out of this. I will do the talking.” Tim instructs knowing the interaction will not go well if Jason is the one to do the talking. Jason will get confrontational and they will all certainly end up arrested. But if it’s Tim, he can maybe smooth talk their way out of this. He doesn’t have a lot of experience, but he’s seen Dick work his magic plenty of times, so he has an idea of what to do.

The window of the police car rolls down and Tim practically sags with relief when he sees who it is. Familiar red hair and glasses. Barbara Gordon. Childhood friend of Dick. She’s nice.

“Hey guys. What are you doing?” She asks, eyeing the large water heater in the shopping cart.

“We bought this.” Tim declares. “From the store.”

Stephanie chimes in nervously. “Yep. Purchased it, like totally legally and all…”

Tim gives Stephanie a look to shut up and stop panicking or she’s going to give them away.

“Uh okay…” Says Barbara, still a little suspicious of what they are doing, and why they are acting a little weird. “Do you guys want any help? Maybe I could put that thing in the trunk of my cruiser.” Barbara offers, feeling some sympathy for them having to wheel it home from wherever they purchased it from.

“That’s okay.” Tim says. “We’ve got it handled. But thank you!” Tim gives a big wide smile, hoping it hides his nerves.

“Okay.” Barbara says. “Just make sure you return the shopping cart once you’re done.”

“Of course!” Tim says. “Wouldn’t want to steal. We’d never do that…”

Barbara eyes the man trying not to draw attention to himself. “Is that Jason? You staying out of trouble, kid?”

“Yep.” Jason lies.

“Okay, that’s good. Keep it that way.” Barabara instructs Jason, then gives them all a smile. “Well, I’ll see you guys around.”

“Hopefully not.” Jason mumbles.

Barbara overhears that and snorts. “Be good. Tell Dick I say hi.”

“Will do!” Tim agrees. “Bye Barbara.” Tims says and feels immense relief as she pulls away in the cop car.

“I thought we were toast!” Stephanie says, wiping nervous sweat from her brow. “Like she was going to look right through us and know we stole it.”

“Good thing it was Barabara. Probably the one and only cop in the whole city that doesn’t have a negative opinion of the infamous Wayne family.” Tim says and gives Jason a look because he is the main reason behind the notoriety with the police department.

Jason huffs. “You know what, how about you wheel this fucking thing home yourself.” Jason stomps off ahead leaving them behind.

Tim and Stephanie have to work together to push the heavy thing the rest of the way home.

Chapter 8

Dick feels himself bordering on drifting off to sleep while holding a sleeping Tyler, when he hears a knock at the front door. It’s too soon for Tim, Steph, and Jason to be back already. So Dick sets Tyler down gently in his bed, so as to not wake him, and heads downstairs to see who it is.

Dick opens the door which brings in a cold gust of wind and also one Kori Anders. The red haired girl looks happy, her cheeks a bit rosy, and an excited twinkle in her green eyes. She practically jumps into Dicks arms, giving him a kiss.

Now Dick is grinning. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

She smiles. “I thought I’d surprise you.” She gives a cheeky look and is then is kissing him some more.

Dick kisses right back and soon the kiss turns passionate. Her lips taste of cherry lip balm. She smells of her sweet sugary omega scent. Dick finds himself gripping her and pulling her closer.

Eventually they part with panting breaths. Kori gives a cute giggle. Her lips are red and plump from having been teased and bitten, Dick’s are no doubt the same. “I have something to tell you! I wanted you to be the first to know.” She says with bubbly excitement.

Dick can see her windswept hair and recognise her pink cheeks are flushed from probably rushing over here. It causes a warm feeling in his gut to know she got whatever news and was just so excited that she had to rush over here, and she chose him as the first person to tell this important news to. Butterflies flutter in his stomach.

Dick realises he thinks he really does love this girl.

It’s a shocking revelation, but one he thinks he’s been working towards for a while now, though.

Dick has never even allowed himself to entertain the idea of love. Not since his mother’s passing. He had his siblings to focus on taking care of. He couldn’t afford distractions for himself.

But, he never expected to meet Kori. They fit so perfectly together. She is so bright and positive and strong. She accepts Dick and all his flaws and his messy family drama. She is understanding and so kind. Dick can imagine himself marrying this woman, making her his mate for the rest of time in sickness and in health and all of that good stuff. He’s never felt this strongly about anyone before. It’s a bit scary, but also exciting.

In that moment he makes the decision he’s going to ask her to be official with him. But first, he’s eager to hear what’s got her so energetic and enthusiastic.

Dick closes the front door behind her and beckons her inside with a grin. “What do you want to tell me?”

“You know how I’ve been trying to get modeling gigs?” Kori says and Dick nods. “Well, I managed to get signed to an agency!”

“Wow. Kori, that’s fantastic!” Dick exclaims, heart lighting up in excitement for her. Now he understands why she’s so thrilled. Modeling is her passion and her dream. She has been trying for a while to get gigs, to get signed to an agency is even better. This is going to open up so many avenues for her. She really deserves it. Besides being drop dead gorgeous model material with long legs, killer body, and a beautiful face, she is also so hard working and a great person deserving of good things.

“I know!” She says, with an excited grin. “The agency is located out in LA so I’m going to have to move out there, which is going to be a lot. I’ve never been to California, but I bet it’s just as great as the movies make it seem. Beaches and palm trees. No more cold weather like this city.”

Dick pauses and feels his heart go cold. Any former excitement and happiness drains from his body. The agency is in Los Angeles, California. That’s the complete opposite side of the country. She is moving away. This is the end of their relationship.

He must not do well to hide his disappointed face, because she gives him a pitying look. “I’m going to be sad to leave. I’ll miss you too. But maybe you could visit me some time.” She says positively. It’s a nice thought on her part, but even she's got to know Dick can’t afford a flight or time off work to visit someone in California.

Dick wants her to stay. He feels a selfish urge to ask her to stay. Dick shouldn’t want Kori to deny the greatest opportunity of her life so she can stay living in their shit hole city just so they can stay together. She will have no trouble finding a new boyfriend, a new life. He should want her to move away. Kori doesn’t belong in a place like this. Dick is selfish, he will only hold her back. Him and his drama and problems. Kori is like a shining star. This place will dim her. He can picture her thriving out in California. Getting tan relaxing on the beaches, becoming a famous model, and appearing on magazine covers.

He waits for her to invite him to come with her, run away, live with her out there in sunny California. But she doesn’t. Because of course she doesn't. They're nothing more than a fling, just hookup buddies. They had both not wanted to put labels on anything, so they weren’t even officially girlfriend and boyfriend. Dick was the weirdo one envisioning a life with them together. Obviously Kori's future plans don’t involve him. And they shouldn’t.

Dick doesn’t even know why he feels hurt at the lack of invite. It’s not like he can move away from his family. He actually considers it though. Offering to go with Kori to California. He could start a life with her there. Away from everything. But he can’t. He has a duty to his family. Whatever Dick might dream of is stupid. He’s not good enough to ever leave this place. He knows where he belongs. The rundown southside of this crappy city. Taking care of a household of 7. No degree, no future. He was born into poverty, that’s all his life is and will be. He’s not a naive idiot to think otherwise. Only someone as bright and wonderful as Kori has the one in a million chance to make it outside of this life that they were born into.

“I’m happy for you.” Dick says and hopes he sounds truthful with his lying. He’s got a lot of experience putting on a happy face and lying for the benefit of others.

“Thanks Dick.” She says and gives him a hug.

He feels numb. He didn’t think a breakup could hurt this bad. It’s not even really a “breakup.” He hasn’t done anything wrong, there are no ill feelings, Kori is just moving away and so whatever relationship they had is ending. He feels ill that it wasn’t until now, when he realises he wants to take their relationship to the next level, is when it comes to an end, right before that possibility could even be explored.

“I’m going to have to pack all my things. Would you want to come over to my place and help? Maybe we could order takeout and watch a movie after.” Kori offers.

Dick should accept the opportunity to help her. Kori is his friend. But… “Sorry. I think I’m going to be too busy.” He says instead. Being selfish for once and prioritizing himself. He doesn't think he could handle it. His emotions are turbulent right now.

“Oh ok.” Kori says. “That’s okay.” It seems she's picked up a bit on Dick’s disappointed withdrawn mood. “You’ll at least see me off before I leave?”

“Ya of course. When do you head out?” Dick says. He can do at least that much for his friend.

“I have to leave for the airport tomorrow night.” Kori says.

That’s very soon. Dick won’t have time to process things, maybe that is good. Kori shouldn’t delay in chasing her dreams. Disadvantaged people like them need to seize any opportunity that comes along and grip on tight. People like them don’t get many opportunities like this. Deep down past all his horrible sad regret, is true happiness for her. “I’ll be there.” He says. He takes the initiative to give her a hug this time and walk her to the door and they say their goodbyes.

He shuts the door behind her and breaks down. Regret overtakes him. He should’ve allowed himself to feel. Then he would’ve recognized his feelings for her sooner. Maybe then they could’ve been something more. Maybe then things wouldn’t be happening like this with her choosing to move away. It’s a lot of maybes.

Dick knows the truth. Of course it was going to be like this. He’s stupid for getting his hopes up about anything.

Dick cries. He hasn’t cried in a long time. This feels like the bubbling over of his emotions from the past couple days, maybe the past many years he’s been holding it all in.

He tried to be selfish for once, fall in love, and look where it got him. This must be swift punishment. The universe proving he’s not allowed to have nice things, not allowed to dream and have hope, not allowed to prioritize himself when he has responsibilities to others.

Cass finds him there in the entryway. Back against the door, knees curled up against himself, hugging them. Crying. She panics. “Dick. Are you okay?”

Shit. He’s been caught showing weakness in front of his little sister. He’s supposed to be the one that keeps it together. “I’m okay.” He lies.

Cass of course sees through it. She’s really in tune to all communication that is not verbal. Scents and body movements. She comes over and gives him a hug.

She just holds him for a while and Dick finds himself melting into it, comforted by the calming beta scent of his sister. He closes his eyes and just enjoys this moment. Cass has always been better with physical affection than words. He appreciates it right now. He doesn’t want to talk about things right now, and no comforting words would make him feel better. But getting held like this is really helping. He’s usually the one keeping others together, the one giving consoling hugs to his siblings. It’s nice to be supported like this.

Dick is surprised when he feels another set of arms join them. He opens his eyes to see Damian has joined in on the hug. The boy must have smelled the distress of Dick, and come to see what the matter was, and decided to follow in the lead of his older sister. Dick’s heart becomes warm. Damian has always struggled with showing any affection. But he’s learning and getting better. The sweet boy is overcoming his issues around affection in order to comfort his older brother who is normally the strong one always there for him.

Dick feels like crying for a much different reason. The overwhelming love in his heart right now. Though things get hard, Dick is always so lucky to have his family. There for him, no matter what, no questions asked.

_____

 

Dick really wishes everything could be fixed with a hug. It definitely helped settle him. But that doesn’t mean he’s no longer upset about Kori leaving.

He needs to get out for a little bit. He retrieves his running shoes out of the back of the closet and goes on a jog.

He used to go on a run every morning when he was in highschool. Then Bruce died and he became more busy with responsibilities, but he still tried to go on a run at least a couple times a week. He's been neglecting working out completely these past couple months. Instead occupied with working overtime everyday to supplement the lost second income of Jason being locked up and unable to work and contribute to the bills. And on top of it Dick became responsible for taking care of Tyler. He’s been so busy, he hasn’t had time to take care of himself and his own needs and desires.

His lungs burn, but it feels good. It's a familiar feeling, the rhythm of his legs pumping, his heart beating, and his lungs working. He pushes himself.

He's frustrated though when he has to stop after a while to catch his breath. He's dismayed by this. When he was more serious about running and working out in high school, he used to be able to do a 5k without breaking a sweat. Now, he's out of breath running to the end of the block. He doesn’t want it to be like this. He feels upset at himself, upset at the circumstances he’s been put in. His athleticism used to be something he was passionate about and took great pride in. He misses that.

He remembers what Slade told him. Maybe it really is time to lay down his foot about some things. Mainly that Tyler is Jason's responsibility. Dick wants to be selfish for once and focus on himself and get back in shape. He wants to feel like he has the time and freedom to go on a run every now again, and not feel chained to his responsibilities to the kids. That's been his life for the past 6 years. And even before Bruce's death, he had a lot of responsibility as the oldest. He's been taking care of his siblings, and even Bruce too, for the past whole 24 years of his life. When does he finally get to prioritize himself?

He wants to know and find out: Who is Dick Grayson? As himself. Not Dick Grayson in relation to anyone else who relies on him: like his family or the friends and girlfriends he’s had throughout the years. Just him, and who he wants to be. It’s strange that that really is a foreign concept for him to be thinking about.

But he can’t waste his time thinking about such things. He has a family to take care of. And other priorities.

_____

Dick shucks his running shoes off at the door and heads into the house to the kitchen to come upon a sight. It seems the three teens had been successful in their heist. A “new” water heater sits in their house. Dick doesn’t care right now what poor dead guy this was stolen from, he’s happy to have hot water back. He’s a little bit proud of the resourceful teens. Of course he could never show that, he’ll give them a disappointed look and a lecture later on why stealing is bad.

They seem fine celebrating on their own. Jason cracks a beer open for himself and then passes one to Tim. Dick intercepts, snatching it. “Nope. Not old enough to drink.”

Tim pouts, but seems to accept the rule. It’s Jason that gives Dick an annoyed look for pretending to be a helicopter parent. “Tim is 15, almost 16, he can handle a beer.”

Dick gives a firm look back. “Well that’s too bad. Because it’s illegal. And as the responsible adult, I say no.”

Jason scoffs. “Responsible adult? You? I know you started drinking around that age. I did too and you didn’t care.”

“And look how you turned out. You’re not a very good or exemplary role model are you? Maybe a good example of what NOT to do.” Dick snarls back.

Jason stands in shock at Dick’s harsh words. Tim quickly tries to step in before it escalates. “Thank you Jason, but I’m good, I don’t need to drink. You can drop it.” He practically begs the omega. “I appreciate you too Dick for looking out for me.” He says to try to placate the alpha.

Jason swings at Dick. Dick is expecting it and steps out of the way. Jason goes for a follow up punch, but Cass is there this time, springing into action and grabbing Jason arm to stop him. “Stop it!” She shouts, sounding very upset, and getting in between the two.

They both freeze at their sister’s distressed scent and voice. “I don’t like when you two fight!” She says to them.

“Sorry.” Dick says to Cass and backs off. Jason glares at the older man.

“Please.” Cass begs.

The tension deflates from Jason's body, he unclenches his fists. “Ok. Sorry.” He says to Cass, rather than Dick. He leaves for the other room to cool off.

Tim is annoyed at Dick. “Why would you do that? You should know better than to provoke him.”

Dick scoffs. “Why is it my responsibility to not provoke him? Maybe he should not get upset by everything.”

Tim can’t believe Dick is acting like this. “What’s gotten into you?”

Cass speaks up. “He had bad day. Was crying.”

Tim looks to Dick in concern upon hearing this. His older brother doesn’t cry. He always tries to maintain a strong appearance for others. If he cries, he does it in private. Tim wonders what transpired in the short time they were gone to get Dick to break down enough that he let someone see him cry? “What happened?” He asks Dick.

Dick looks annoyed. “I’m fine.” He bites back. Dick goes and gathers up all the beer from the fridge, to keep the younger ones from drinking it, and takes it to his room where he locks it and himself in.

Tim doesn’t believe that Dick is “fine” for even a second. But he decides not to push, just lets the older man go. Tim is concerned though. He takes Cass and Damian outside to talk with them in private and ask about what happened with Dick earlier to make him cry. Steph seems pretty shook at seeing Dick act uncharacteristically like himself and joins them, concerned as well.

____

Dick flops down in his bed and just lays there glaring up at the ceiling. He's angry at Jason. Angry at Kori. Angry at himself. Even angry at Bruce. The asshole is the one that put him in this whole situation. It’s Bruce’s fault for getting pregnant, for not aborting him, and bringing Dick into this messed up shitty world. It’s Bruce’s fault, the collection of all his failures as a parent, the biggest of all of them being dying and abandoning Dick to be in charge. Dick thinks he hates his mother. Of course not as much as he hates himself, but it’s close.

He sits up and reaches for and cracks open a beer. The taste of alcohol is a familiar comfort on his tongue.

The reality is, in the past, Dick had felt like he had no room to chastise Jason for drinking when at the time he had often been strung out drunk dealing with the grief of their mother’s death and the stress of taking care of the family himself. He did well to hide it. He doesn’t think any of his siblings know how bad it had gotten.

When he was a teen, he had occasionally snuck a drink when Bruce wasn’t looking, or got a bit drunk at his high school friend’s house parties. He spiraled though after Bruce’s death. It wasn’t instantaneous, he held himself together for a while. But about 3 years in, is when it really started. That’s when he became 21 years old and had legal access to go to bars and get whatever he wanted from liquor stores. By 22 years old is when it was the worst and got to be a bad problem. Drinking became a daily thing to deal with his problems, or rather NOT deal with them. It was also the year he was most unavailable and inattentive to his siblings and Jason got pregnant.

That’s what made him start to want to make a change. But it was hard to change. Let go of an addiction. Drinking made him feel good. It made him feel worse overall when he’d think about how much he was failing himself and others. But in the moment it would always be so great. He cut back, somewhat, but he wasn’t strong enough on his own to fully quit.

He remembers sitting in the hospital while Jason was giving birth and being so filled with worry that Jason was going to die. 16 years old was way too young to be having a pup. At that age there were often complications. Dick spent the whole labor stressing that Jason was going to bleed out and die. When it was finally over, and Jason was okay, and the baby was okay, and Dick got to hold his nephew Tyler, a healthy little boy too precious and innocent for this world, that was it, everything changed for Dick. Dick had felt incredible resolve to change his ways. He got sober. He gave up drinking pretty much completely. It became something he rarely did. Only occasionally, in moderation, to celebrate a good moment. He made sure to never drink when he was feeling down. That’s what had caused his problems. He formed a more healthy relationship with alcohol.

He’s been better ever since for these past almost two years. He can’t even remember the last time he drank. Probably before Jason got locked up. He’s been so busy since then he hasn’t really even thought about drinking.

But here he is now finishing off the bottle…

Dick should stop. He looks over to Tyler in his crib sleeping. Tyler who has been his strength and motivation to not drink. Instead, looking at the boy now, makes him reach for another beer.

Dick had some kind of foolish hope that once Damian turned 18 years old, Dick could finally stop caring for others and start caring about himself. At 32 years old is when he’d finally get to start living for himself. He didn’t expect Tyler to become his responsibility. The boy is only 2 now which means Dick will be 40 by the time Tyler is 18. Only then can Dick finally be responsible for only himself. He feels immensely bitter towards Jason as he chugs the beer.

The baby boy should be Jason’s responsibility. Dick feels pissed that his own brother is shaping up to be a deadbeat absent mother. Leaving Dick to once again, as always, take care of the issues he creates. Dick feels angry on Tyler’s behalf to get such a shit mother. It’s Jason’s fault that Tyler won’t have a mother. It doesn’t have to be like this.

Dick finds himself finishing his third or fourth beer. He used to have more of a tolerance, but it’s been a while since he’s drank more than one or two beers. He’s starting to feel the tingling edges of being close to the precipice of being drunk. He also feels like he wants to take his anger out on someone and start a confrontation with Jason. Dick marches downstairs.