Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Presenting was bullshit.

Presenting late was even more bullshit.

Jason’s twenty for fuck’s sake. If he was going to Present, it should’ve been years ago like the rest of them.

He’s always had rotten luck though so why not this too.

What’s even more bullshit is that now he needs to run in The Chase.

He’s not sure if he’d necessarily call it archaic but he definitely doesn’t think every Omega has to run it. He doesn’t consider it a ‘right of passage’ even though alot of Omegas do. Granted, that could simply be because he’s Presented so late. Most Present in their mid-teens and then have a couple of years to daydream about it before actually running. Jason has- two? months to prepare.

And he’s a damn prince… who’s been on TV.

The Alphas are going to notice he’s running and swamp him.

It’s all a fucking nightmare.

He tries to ask Dick, but the older Omega has been busy with married life and, recently, being knocked up, so he’s been no help at all. Dick had also gone into his Chase wanting to be caught so… what advice he does share is not exactly helpful in keeping away from Alphas. Oh there’s the usual ‘find the pods’ and ‘stay near rivers’ but that’s all stuff he’d already gleaned from watching the run every year.

Every year… a week in spring so it’s not deathly hot out but the nights are warm enough so the Alphas don’t freeze. Of course they’re all in wolf from the entire time so their fur helps.

He just hopes it doesn’t rain…

Staring out of his room’s window, seeing the grey clouds makes him think they’re going to start the run in rain.

It’s all the same facility every year, but they’ve engineered the ground of the area so they can manipulate it how they want. It’s usually some sort of forest situation with lots of trees and some streams and a few open fields. Dotted around are small circular platforms. Omegas would have a bracelet that can activate the sensor that pops a protective bubble over said platform. Alphas aren’t allowed in them unless their bracelet is tagged by an Omega’s so it’s a guaranteed safe place to sleep at night.

The rooms they stay in for the first few days before are little more than nice hotel rooms: bed, bathroom with a tub, window to the outside, TV to keep the boredom away since wifi and service in general wasn’t allowed here. You couldn’t see a face and then go look it up. If you didn’t know them, tough luck.

Not that he saw the competing Alphas.

Well… he might have if he went down to the pool and gym and whatever during the start or end of the designated Omega times and catch sight of an Alpha loitering around while staff cleaned the space of pheromones.

He didn’t though. He went squarely in the middle of those times to avoid being seen. It was bad enough the other Omegas gawked at him. He didn't need Alphas stinking up the place, smelling interested. The only Alphas he’d seen beside the Alpha staff who were running reports and all that for the filming side of this televised event or the medical side of things was Bruce and Wally, Dick’s mate who’d been given a special pass due to Dick’s neediness. Jason wasn’t even sure why Dick was here in the first place. The older Omega got knocked up a few months ago and he finds his wolf form more comfortable so he’s not exactly good for talking beyond the song of their people.

Jason sighs and flops on his bed.

Just one more night.

One more night then he’s running through the woods for five days and trying to come out of it without an Alpha attached to him.

Day breaks and he heads down for breakfast after a few more hours. Bruce and Dick and Wally are all there waiting for him and then follow him back up to his room to eat. Bruce tries to talk strategy, but they’ve been over it a dozen times already. Jason knows about wind and directional patterns, how staying left is generally better, avoid fields unless you’re ready to bolt across them, etc.

There’s literally nothing else to talk about.

He's done what he can to learn how to control his scent... struggles with it a little still, but he hasn't had long enough to get the hang of it like everyone else. There's also the heat symptoms he's going to have that make him nervous. He's only had one Heat outside of Presentation and still not used to that at all. All he hopes for it that he's not slicking the entire time.

That shit's nasty.

“I just…" he cuts Bruce off, "I’m not going to eat inside for a week. I’d like to just enjoy my eggs please.”

“I understand. I just-”

“Leave it, Ok? The only one who can really help me is fursona-ing.”

Dick makes a noise, almost whining.

Jason tosses him a look, “Yea I’m talking about you. I could use your help but you’re being stubborn. Why are you even here?”

Dick starts howling, a long soulful call of their people. Wally joins him, both loud mouths making a racket.

“Can you not do that literally anywhere else-!” Jason barks.

Dick stops, stares at him, and snootily gets up, wolf talking as he goes. Wally follows because of course he does. The bark-grumbling continues down the hallway.

Jason rolls his eyes and finishes stuffing his face.

The clock hits 9am and he’s down with the medical team, getting prepped. They’ve given him a daily Heat accelerant tablet and he has the last one today. It’s not enough to send them all into a full-tilt Heat but it definitely makes their scents stronger and makes them a little more willing to find an Alpha. He also gets an opted-in injection of birth control because he sure as hell isn’t getting bit let alone knocked up on this Hunt. After that comes the GPS tag and ID chip. Both of those will be removed at the end. His medical exam had happened on the first day so he’s good to go on that front.

Thank fuck... That had been God-awful. He almost wants to claim 'medical trauma' for that bullshit.

After that comes the tech people. He gets the bracelet attached to his wrist and then shifts to make sure it stretches appropriately. It all works fine and he’s herded into the conference room where the rest of the Omegas are gathered. Once they’re all there, there’s a short Presentation to remind them of the rules. They’d had a more in-depth session on Day 1 but apparently they needed a refresher. Once done, they’re all loaded into a bus that takes them to the starting point. They all descend the stairs, shifting one by one until there’s a large group of wolves waiting to run. They mill around a little as camera drones fly over them, probably getting B-roll for whoever the announcer is to talk over. Unfortunately, Jason’s solid coat of russet fur isn’t exactly common so he’ll be easier to pick out in the group.

The starting gun fires and he’s off with the rest through the gate. There’s a field right out front and then acres of hilly forest and meadows. He has an hour to get as far as he can and hide. The trees are useless. He can’t climb them beyond a few of the thicker branches close to the ground. He’d try to for a cave but those tended to only have the one entrance and he’d trap himself in one so no dice. He does cross a stream and wades in it for awhile, hoping to dull his scent a little.

The Alphas’ starting gun goes off.

Jason heads the exact opposite direction, crossing a meadow or two and more streams and the river. He’d been running around for several hours before he hears another wolf. It comes up quick and then pauses in the underbrush. Jason sniffs the air, hoping for a scent. It’s blowing the wrong way though so he gets nothing. He growls and woofs at the trees. The brush moves and a wolf shows himself.

He’s big, dark… Alpha. His fur’s… iridescent… It shimmers in the light: blue, green, red…

Jason backs away.

Runs.

Chapter Text

The big black wolf keeps up with him, never close enough to attack, but definitely always there… always lurking.

Jason had been a little iffy on using the bubble pods since he was pretty sure it’d feel like he was trapped in there. Having an Alpha on his ass made him much more willing to go to one and at least be able to sleep in peace. He’d been circling one of the platforms for a few minutes, waiting for the exact moment when it would pop up for him. Once it does, he’s smacking his wolf-wrist on the sensor and darting inside. The door slides shut behind him and he finally sinks down, exhausted.

That damn Alpha…

A persistent fucker.

He was going to have to be better about evading him tomorrow. Heading too close to the exit gate too soon would mean he’d box himself in. He had to stay out here and he couldn’t stay in here… It’d disappear tomorrow unless it had an Alpha’s tag read, which would mean Bonding, or an Alpha’s tag within a certain perimeter, which would mean an unfair advantage for the Alpha since the Omega would have to come out only one way.

Jason was fucked.

The Alpha had been on him all day. There was no chance he was giving up tonight. Jason would have to come up with some way to get away and fast.

Maybe in the early morning before anybody expected anybody else to be awake.

He shifts back and checks the supplies, grabbing some of them to eat and then opens the door enough to throw some of them, including a water bottle, out into the yard. That was probably a mistake, showing he was good at caring for people, but Alphas didn’t have ready food sources out here and it was his prerogative to be a little nice… even if the Alpha was annoying.

Once full and watered, he laid down and shifted before going to sleep. When he woke up, it was a little later than he would’ve liked. The sun was already up so he decided against his plan of disappearing for today. Instead he ate again and drank some in preparation for a long day of evading the Alpha.

The bubble comes down which is surprising. He looks over the treeline and doesn’t see anything. The direction he should go isn’t clear. He knows where he’s come from… but the Alpha could’ve moved last night so there was no telling where he was. He scents the light breeze, doesn’t smell anything too close and decides that way is probably the best.

He bolts.

He runs his heart out, trying to get as much distance between him and the potential Alpha on his tail as possible. It’s probably an hour before he hits a stream he’s comfortable to stop at and drink a little. The water is good and crisp and he just hangs for a moment getting it in his fur and shaking it out. Once he’s good and refreshed, he looks around to pick a direction and hopefully throw-

The Alpha’s right there.

Watching him.

The big black wolf with iridescent fur and green eyes.

He doesn’t do anything.

In fact, he’s just sitting there, watching Jason play in the water.

Jason growls at him.

Alpha cocks his head, giving a low growling howl. It’s not threatening at all. The ears are even perked, tail hesitantly wagging in the underbrush. He does a little ‘raoh-raoh’ and the tail wags harder.

Jason wants nothing to do with it.

He shows his teeth and eyes Alpha as he leaves, darting off into the trees and keeps going. His energy runs out again after awhile and he has to sit. There’s a lovely patch of sun that he does so in. Another Omega trots by and they ‘woof’ at each other. That one keeps going and an Alpha slinks by a little later. Jason really growls at that one and the Alpha doesn’t bother with him.

The iridescent one is still there though.

Not many people can keep up with Jason so this is… well, he’d say it’s fun… if it wasn’t a mating hunt.

So it’s not fun.

But he’s a little impressed even if he’s annoyed that he’s apparently picked up the one Alpha who could get him if said Alpha was the aggressive sort.

They run around for several miles over the course of the day and end up at another pod. Jason gets inside without fuss. He eats again, noting that the stores in this one are less so somebody was in this one last night. Once done, some of the food and water is taken to the door and- He has… a feeling.

He shifts and pops his head outside.

Alpha is waiting there, in the yard, sitting up, tail wagging again.

Jason snorts a growl and noses the food and water out of the bubble before closing the door in Alpha’s face. He gets a polite ‘thank you’ bark but then nothing else all night.

The next morning, the bubble doesn’t go down.

Which irritates Jason.

Stupid dumb Alpha.

He pokes his wolf head out and-

Well Alpha is there and within the bounds of ‘danger’ but he’s not looking at Jason.

There’s a second, huge grey wolf who's also within the boundary.

Huh…

Jason’s not sure what to do. He doesn’t want to sit in here all day and let them have a standoff over him. But they’re also both too close. One of them would get him.

Unless they just… fought…?

But they’d be fighting over him and that’s just… so dumb.

The bubble drops. He stares like a deer in headlights for a second. Alpha barks at him from where he’s got the other Alpha far enough away from the pod to free Jason.

‘RUN’

Jason takes off in the opposite direction. His ass is moving, dodging and jumping trees and limbs and keeps going. He keeps going but paws are right behind. Big heavy paws belonging to a big heavy Alpha. He doesn’t know which one, but the black one hadn’t chased him like this. His pulse is racing.

He’s not sure if he can make it.

The pods won’t come up for awhile still so he has to keep going. He does try to jump into a tree, landing on a limb and trying to go a little higher… which lasts all of five seconds because the huge grey one also leaps and is on his ass. Jason about tumbles out the tree, hitting the ground hard and keeps going. The Alpha behind him seems to falter or something but Jason doesn’t care, He keeps going. The hills with the caves is the closest thing now. He goes and hops in and out of several, smelling himself as he doubles back and cursing himself for not being able to do better to control his scent.

That’s probably how the Alphas were able to find him even if they lost him.

He slumps into one of the caves and lays down, panting like crazy. When he’s finally managed to catch his breath, he lays his head in his paws and tries to nap a little. There’s still some time before the pods would come up so he should probably stay hidden until they might come up and then he should run for the closest one.

His ears twitch and he watches up to paws moving around outside. Harsh snuffling around in the rocks and dirt makes his heart jump. He slowly gets up and peeks…

The grey Alpha.

Shit.

Jason checks the light again and notes that it’ll be soon. He looks back at the grey, sees how he’s a little way off. Maybe he could…-

Jason bolts.

Jason runs.

He’s down the rocks, coming up to one of the platforms as the bubble pops up.

He’s so close-

The Alpha drops in front of him.

Large.

Grey.

With one eye.

He blocks the bubble entirely, pressing Jason back against the hill. His body’s low, hunting. Jason snarls at him, hackles raised. Grey backs him more, gets closer. Jason goes for the throat. Grey snaps back, rearing up and batting at Jason. They tumble, both trying to stay on top. Jason, despite being big, is smaller than Grey and a Commanding growl makes him pause just long enough for Grey to get on top of him. Jason struggles, wiggling to get away when he feels something poking him. He’s whining and crying, trying to bite.

It can’t end like this.

He wasn’t supposed to leave with an Alpha, much less an Alpha he doesn’t even know-

A flurry of black fur slams into Grey.

Chapter Text

The snarls are awful.

Jason’s not exactly a stranger to violence… but these two are actually trying to kill each other. Teeth flash and there’s growls and yelps. Somebody’s bleeding and Jason can’t tell if it’s Grey or if Black’s rubbed it on the bigger wolf.

And then black goes down and Grey;s on him, tearing into him.

The sound Black makes chills Jason.

He doesn’t even think. He just charges, barreling into Grey, jaw open to sink his teeth into his neck. Grey moves so Jason only grazes him, but he does make him bleed… and back off a little. Jason stands over Black, snarling. Black tries to get up but the best he can do is cover Jason’s throat with his face and growl.

Grey stares… and then slowly lumbers off, bleeding into the underbrush.

Jason gets off Black and noses him, whining a little. Black tries to get up and can’t quite get there. Jason bounces on his front paws, trying to encourage him. He looks around, spots the pod up.

Safety.

He barks a little and Black sees it. He looks at Jason, ears perked. Jason licks his muzzle and that gets Black to struggle up to his feet. He sways though and Jason gets close, letting the Alpha lean on him. They slowly make their way to the bubble and he smacks his tag on it and then gets Black to touch his to it too before going in. Black crumples to the floor and shifts. Jason ignores the body as he also shifts and then looks him over for injuries. Once he knows what he’s working with- and it’s not good- he goes for the supplies. There’s not much here, but Jason knows how to make due.

It was part of his prep training after all.

He douses his hands and then everything else in the hand sanitizer and puts one set of the gloves on. “Hey, hi. I need to clean this out, ok? Cuz I gotta stitch it.”

Black winces, mouth and eyes tight, “You know what you’re doing?”

“I’ve had training. The only other option is Medevac.”

“Well,” there’s a ghost of a forced grin, “Can’t do that, so…”

“Ok, Do you want something to chew on?”

“Just do it,” there’s a few deep shuddered breaths as Black braces himself.

Jason pours some of the water bottle over the wound, flushing it. Black tenses, grunting. His teeth show, fangs out as he fights the pain to stay still. Jason pats it dry, flushing it again, and then ripping the needle and sutures open. The light is not very good and Black, despite making a valiant attempt, doesn’t stay quite still. Jason still manages to sew him up and slap a bandage over the worst of it and then moves to the rest of the wounds. Black’s sweating by the time he’s done and Jason has to get behind him to sit him up and drink some water.

“There we go,” he croons a little, “That was really stupid.”

“Yea… worth it…” Black swallows and Jason slowly lets him back down.

He gets to cleaning up and throwing it all in the biohazard bags. Next comes the couple of blankets they’d have stashed here. One gets laid over Black who’s finally passed out in exhaustion. Jason checks his temperature and then eats something. A couple of hours later and Black’s slowly waking up.

“Hey,” he smiles a little, still looking sleepy.

“Hi,” Jason offers a small one.

“I’m Kyle…”

“Jason.”

“Nice to meet you,” he winces as he shifts around.

“Careful. You got tore up pretty good.”

“Yea,” there’s a grimace.

“What were you thinking? That wolf was huge.”

“Yea…” there’s a slow nod, “but you didn’t want him… and he was gonna take you whether you wanted him or not. He’d blocked off your way to get to a shelter so the only way you were getting out of there was submitting to him or… me challenging him.”

“Well… thank you… for that…”

Kyle shakes his head, “There’s no need to thank me for that. He should’ve left you alone.”

Something tiny stirs in Jason…

“Still… especially because I don’t really want to leave with a mate.”

Kyle swallows, “... Oh…?”

“I just Presented a few months ago… I thought I was a Beta.”

“Ah…” Kyle seems to understand that.

“I’m only here because I have to be.”

Kyle glances at him, “I’m sorry,” and then back at the ceiling, “That sucks…”

“Why are you here?”

“Similar reasons… I’d avoided it… I had-” he winces a little, “-this year to come on my own or next year when they hauled me in,” he swallows, “I do want a mate though. I’ve just been… busy… It’s just my mom and me… and I’m gone alot so… It’d be nice to have someone to come home to… someone who could also keep my mom company… It’s all kind of selfish when I say it out loud.”

“What do you do…?”

Kyle glances at him, “I don’t know if I can say actually… It takes me away alot though…”

“Oo… secrets…” Jason smirked a little, “That’s ok.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be…” he grins, “I can’t tell you what I do either.”

Kyle smiles a little around the pain, “I like to paint in my spare time… and draw… art really.”

“Mm…” Jason rolls to his stomach, “I like reading… although one of my favorite things to do is run through the snow… feel the chill in my coat but not be cold. There’s something peaceful and freeing about dashing through the quiet white…”

“I don’t think I’ve done that,” Kyle sounds contemplative, “I live in the south.”

“You should try it.”

“I bet you know where all the good trees are.”

Jason grins a little, “I do, actually.”

“You show me the good trees and I’ll show you a good beach.”

“Deal.”

Kyle’s quiet for a moment, “Family?”

“Some. Several siblings. Only one of my brothers has run so far. He’s going to have pups soon.”

“Oh really?”

“Yea… He’s decided his wolf self is more comfortable so he just hangs out and howls all the time.”

Kyle laughs a little, “That sounds terrible,” and then winces a little, “ow.”

“You ok?”

Kyle nods, breathing through it, “Not the worst thing to ever happen to me. I’ll be alright.”

“That’s not exactly comforting, you know,” Jason groused.

Kyle grins teeth at him and then huffs a sigh, “I’ll be alright… Just need some sleep.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Jason makes him drink again and then curls up next to him for body heat. Kyle asks a few ice breaker questions and Jason answers them to humor him. He finds out they’re both dog people and not overly popular in school… well Kyle wasn't. Jason was but only because of being a prince so he doesn’t count that. Neither of them are doing what they’d really like to be doing with their lives but are doing what they’re doing because it’s important. Kyle loves roller coasters but hates horror movies. Jason can’t stand roller coaster lines and thus isn’t thrilled with the rides, but he waited for over an hour to get his favorite living author’s signature. Kyle gets a kick out of that.

They quiet and then sleep. Jason gets up early, changing out the bandages. Kyle looks pale, his black hair not quite dry but not exactly soaked in sweat either. Jason’s torn on what to do. He doesn’t know Kyle and doesn’t know what the Alpha can take.

But…

This doesn’t exactly look good either.

“Morning,” Kyle slowly opens his eyes.

“Hey you,” Jason replies, “How’re you feeling…?”

“Eh… been better…”

“You should eat.”

“I should eat.”

Jason helps him up and hands him a protein bar and another water. Kyle eats and leans into Jason, head on his shoulder like he can’t keep it up. Jason lets him and then helps him lay back down. Kyle closes his eyes again for a moment and Jason…

Well that doesn’t exactly vibe right to Jason.

He leans over the Alpha to check his wounds again. The one on his side has bled again, through the bandages. Actually they all have but the side one looks wet, blood smudging on the floor.

“I need to rewrap those.”

Kyle nods. Jason tends to him and puts all the gross stuff in the biohazard bag. Once done, he just kind of… sits there… thinking. It’s only been a night but Kyle’s only gotten worse.

Jason feels terrible.

He heads outside, looking around. A white camera floats into view and he points behind him and then crosses his arms. The camera flips around, a sign that help is coming and he goes back inside. Kyle's given a pain pill and some more water and then some protein shake.

Chopper blades come from outside within thirty minutes.

Kyle wakes up, looking more alert than he has since yesterday, “What’s that?”

“Medevac.”

Kyle closes his eyes, sighing as he goes boneless again. He’s not happy, “Damn it.” His adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.

“I’m sorry… You’re- It’s bad. I can’t-You could have complications if you don’t leave.”

“I know… I just-”

Jason kisses his cheek, “Heal up. Ok?”

Kyle seems to force a smile, “Ok.”

The shelter dissolves as the team gets closer and will likely be deactivated for the rest of the Chase. A stretcher is placed near Kyle who’s helped up on it by Jason and a beefy medic. Jason holds his hand for a minute as they cross halfway to the chopper. He then squeezes it and lets go, watches as they load him up. He shifts as the chopper takes off and howls after it. Kyle doesn’t respond… not that he could, but a part of Jason still hoped to hear one. A part of him feels shattered, like a piece of him is missing.

Which is stupid.

They’d only been together for a night…

He howls again, long and mournful…

And then he rushes off before one of the other Alphas can track him.

Chapter Text

He runs all day, stopping here and there for a drink or a break, but he keeps moving. Downwind is best to keep his scent from the others. The wind keeps shifting though which is a little annoying but it does keep him busy.

The shelters pop up and he thinks about not going into one… for five minutes and then decides that’s stupid and finds an unoccupied one. This one’s been used alot, the stores getting low. It’s the end of day four now though so it’s a little expected.

He’s made it to the halfway point.

Three more nights…

Three more nights and he’s free of this whole thing.

Three more nights then it doesn’t matter anymore.

He tries to sleep and finds that… he’s cold… He’s missing a body…

Which is dumb because he only had the body for a night.

And he hadn’t even really wanted that body. He’d been running from that body for over a day. There should’ve been no reason for them to ever touch outside of that other Alpha being an absolute asshole.

And yet…?

And yet, he does miss that body, that Alpha…

It’s dumb…

It’s so fucking dumb.

… Kyle…

It takes a long while for him to fall asleep. He sleeps hard after that, but it doesn’t last long. Something in him is restless. His Omega’s upset.

Something is missing.

He wanders out, almost listless, on day 5 of this bullshit. There is little plan today… more of the same… run from Alphas. He really just wants to head back to the gate, but that’s where the Alphas who haven’t caught a mate yet will be hanging out, hoping someone like him stumbles up there.

An Alpha tries something but gets the hint and leaves him alone. He comes across a pair… being busy in the bushes… well it’s more like he smelled them and heard the Omega. They get a wide berth as he goes around to where he was headed.

He ends up near the edge of the space. It’s a false edge, made to look like endless miles of trees but is solid to touch. He doesn’t, to keep the illusion, but he does smell the concrete or whatever they use to divide this from the rest of the area around it… keep them contained. He stays there till about noon, just sitting and watching the trees and the sun move across the sky.

At least until the walls start to move.

They close in, slowly sliding closer, mowing over trees as they go. Jason backs and backs and then just turns tail and trots ahead of the walls that are shrinking the area, forcing them all into a smaller space. A couple of trees almost fall on him, but he either narrowly avoids them or they’re paused in their falling by the tech people… you know… because killing contestants would result in a public outcry and this whole clown show would be closed up.

Maybe he should let one fall on him…

If he’s wrong though…

He likes living and not breathing through a tube so… he’s not going to risk having a tree fall on him.

The closer quarters means he sees more of the pairs as he moves. There’s also the last few unpaired ones that are either also moving like he is or are in the process of pairing up. When the pods pop up for the night, it’s a fight to get to one first. He’s faster though and gets to one before the two pairs closest to that particular pod. He almost feels bad making them hang outside all night… buuut he’s the one who’s still got a neck to bite. So he takes the pod and pilfers through the very scant supplies.

His Omega paces which makes him restless and sort of nauseous. It’s the second night since Kyle was airlifted out and his Omega’s not over it. He’s annoyed about it as he settles in for another night of not enough sleep.

It’s still early when he gets up and leaves the pod. He noses the closest Omega who gets up and wakes their Alpha before both of them disappear into the bubble for the last couple of hours that it was up. He has no idea if they’re in there eating or sleeping or… other things… and doesn’t want to think about it. Thinking about this one means he has to wonder about the others and he really doesn’t want to.

He keeps moving, careful to stay far enough in the middle to avoid the Alphas. There’s alot of pairs just hanging around, waiting. It makes for boring TV, but there’s really nothing else to do. There’s very few singles left. Some of them are nosing each other and some of those Alphas catch his scent and get interested in Jason who runs away.

The third night is much like the others, a few hours of deep sleep bracketed by several hours of restless tossing and turning. There’s almost no food left either, at least in the pod he picked. It seems that either this was a popular pod, someone ate more than they should have, or those in charge didn’t store enough… which, given how long they’ve been running this thing seems unlikely since Bruce would’ve made sure whoever was in charge was competent enough to make sure they’d be fed for a week.

He chugs the last bottle of water in the place and chews a protein bar before heading out. There’s a wolf nearby, just outside of their tag being read. They eye each other… and the pod shrinks back down. Only the Alpha’s nose twitches… Jason adjusts slightly, ready to run.

The warning shot fires.

That’s it.

All he has to do now is get to the end gate.

Get to the end gate without a mate and he’s home free.

The Alpha hears it too… charges him. Jason takes off like his ass is on fire. The pace isn’t great, not for how far he has to go, but the Alpha is right behind him so he has to keep going, full speed. Eventually the Alpha does fall behind and Jason slows a little to rest a little and catch his breath. There’s still some distance to the gate and he’s going to have to rush it. Pairs pass him, eager to leave and go home.

Once he’s got his breath again, he takes off. It’s the last few hundred yards that are the toughest. He sees three in the brush, all of them rushing him, hoping to be the lucky one to grab him at the last second. Two get outrun, slower and weak from not enough food. The third still has some decent life in him and almost smashes into Jason’s rump. Jason eases to the same side which leaves the Alpha stumbling, having expected a crash and not actually having anything to stop him makes his legs get tangled up. Jason sees the video people at the end, cameras trained right on him for what will probably be one of the promo shots for next year. He snarls at that as he gets closer and then they’re rushing to get out of the way when he doesn’t slow down. Jason tears through the endline before finally stopping, pulling up short to turn around and sneer at the Alphas behind him. He growls barks and then howls in victory.

He’s done it.

He beat it.

He crosses the line Alpha-free, mate-free, and they can’t make him run again next year.

There’s cameras everywhere. People are screaming for his attention. He ignores them all to get to the handler who throws a robe over his back. Jason then shifts and stuffs his arms through the arms, tying the first clothes he’s had on in a week around his waist.

“Jason-!” Tim about screeches through the crowd.

Jason hunts, finds him, hugs him close, “Hey-!”

“You were amazing!”

“Jaylad!” Bruce scoops them both up. Tim lets go and wriggles away, leaving Jason with Bruce. The Alpha squeezes him.

“Where is he?” Jason asks, “Is he ok?”

“Who?”

“What do you mean ‘who’?” Jason pulls away, “Who could I possibly mean?”

“I… uh-”

Jason rolls his eyes and marches through the hoard of people and cameras and reporters…

Off the medical center.

Chapter Text

Finding Kyle’s room was a pain in the ass. At first, they pretended that there was no ‘Kyle’ there at all… then there were too many ‘Kyles’ and they couldn’t be sure which one was Jason’s Kyle. Which led to a very annoying attempt to describe Kyle and then his wounds which was dumb as hell because it wasn’t like the medical center was huge with floors and floors of beds. It was one… with like… maybe 10 beds. He finally has enough of the runaround and pulls rank on the damn nurse who stutters and leads him down to the room at the end.

He doesn’t hold it against her. He doesn’t. She’s technically doing her job.

However…

In the Chase, there is a certain amount of leeway given to people who run together. If they were together for a significant amount of time and one was medevaced, the one who stayed in had pseudo-mate privilege in trying to find them after… unless the patient had put them on a banned list or the one who’d stayed had been the one to harm the patient.

Jason had been neither of those and the entire staff would’ve known that so, unless he was on the banned list- would he would’ve told upfront- he had every right to go check on Kyle.

The Alpha is sleeping when he gets there. His face doesn’t look so beat up anymore and the monitors beep at what he assumes is a normal rate. He’s obviously been in surgery though which makes Jason pissed off.

Hopefully that asshole got arrested… ‘excessive force’ or something.

The room itself smells both of hospital and of sick Alpha. That second one isn’t so bad, but it’s still there, slightly acrid in the air. There’s almost a ghost of it harsher in the linens… like the sheets held however bad it had been. His Omega immediately settles at seeing him, smelling him.

This was him and he was ok…

His fingers itch, wanting to reach and touch but he shoves it to the back of his mind. He instead slumps into the chair next to the bed, ignoring the Chase coverage on the TV, and grabs one of those junk mailer magazines to flip through. It’s a newer edition, still a couple of months old though. There’s a column about the royal family in Themyscira when they’d traveled there for Princess Diana’s birthday ball. The author praised them for going and the good political standing they had with the Amazons.

The author also criticized them for ‘cultural appropriation’... because they wore clothes Diana herself had sent them to wear…

It was bullshit and Jason hadn’t felt any sort of bad about it. The theme had been ‘what if’ and they’d been given ‘what if they were Amazons’ costumes… which were pretty cool if he was being honest. He still had his and was secretly waiting for an event to wear it again.

The bed creaks a little as the blankets rustle and Kyle’s stirring. Jason closes the magazine and glances at the TV, seeing the last of the pairs trot across the line. The ending cannon goes off, signaling that the area’s empty and the ‘after party’ can begin. That seems to get Kyle the rest of the way to waking up. Jason slides to the edge of his seat, trying to skirt the line between ‘obviously there’ and ‘in Kyle’s face’ which… well, Kyle opens his eyes and drift to him almost instantly.

“Hey,” he grins.

Kyle looks both awed and yet maybe about to cry, “Jason…”

He gets closer and lets the Alpha cradle his face and press their foreheads together, “I did it,” and gives in, grasping Kyle’s hands with his.

There’s a wet chuckle, “I knew you could do it.”

Jason pulls away just enough to stare him in the eye, “Not without you, I couldn’t’ve.”

Kyle’s eyes mist, “I’m proud of you…. I… I watched the stream…”

“Yea?” Jason grins.

“Yea,” the Alpha’s smile is genuine if sad, fingers squeezing Jason’s, “That ending was amazing.”

“Eh,” Jason half shrugs, “We’re nothing if not dramatic…” he swallows, “I guess that also means you know who I am.”

Kyle’s face shifts, “Yea… I… I’ve known for awhile.”

Jason nods, feeling some kind of way about that, “Oh…”

“I didn’t-” Kyle hurries, “-not to start. I just thought you were…” he flushes, “really pretty… the red… but I got suspicious when I was actually able to sit and think… because that fur isn’t common and I knew you- a prince- was running.”

“But you didn’t leave me alone.”

“No.”

“Why.”

“Because I wasn’t entirely sure… but either way, your insistence at staying alone seemed like an easy way for things to go sideways.”

“You were guarding me…?”

“Kind of… If someone else had come up that I didn’t think had bad intentions, I would’ve let them try for themselves.”

“The big one.”

Kyle grimaces, “He’s an old man. You might know Slade Wilson…”

Jason’s spine chills, “Yea… yea uh, he tried to get Dick during his run… That was him?”

Kyle nods, “He’s dangerous…”

“So- wait… How are you fighting off Wilson with any sort of confidence?” Jason narrows his eyes, “You know who I am. Spill.”

Kyle looks sheepish, “I am… Kyle Rayner… of the Lantern Corps.”

Jason’s jaw almost drops, “Lantern? Like ‘King’s most trusted guard Hal Jordan Green Lantern’ that kind of Lantern?”

There’s a shy boyish half grin, “I’m a White Lantern.”

Jason is… floored, “A White???”

The elite of the elite.

The ones to show up when the shit’s gone to shit and turn it around.

They’re few in number, smart as hell, ruthless, loyal to the Crown.

“I saw your promotion form…” he says, not believing it, and then looks at Kyle, “You look really different out of uniform.”

The grin broadens, “I get that alot.”

He arches a brow, “Oh do you?”

“Not really.”

Because nobody except superior officers, Bruce, and the other Lanterns knows who’s a Lantern.

“Damn… A White Lantern… no wonder you thought you could take him.”

Kyle makes a face, “Yea… that didn’t go how I wanted it to.”

“You don’t say,” Jason snarks before he can help himself.

Kyle does snort though, “Wanna see it? It’s gnarly.”

Jason opens his mouth, pauses because he’s not sure-

“Just kidding,” Kyle grins, “It’s all taped up and shit, but I’ve seen it. It’s nasty.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For being there? For being why you were there? For that terrible patch job because I’m sure that didn’t help-”

Kyle slips a hand free and tugs on his hair, “Hey.”

Jason shuts up, looks at him.

“You. saved my life.”

Jason scoffs.

“I’m serious… I showed up here with barely enough blood left in my body to keep it running… I’ve had two transfusions and one while in surgery…”

Jason bites his lip, “I’m sorry. I should’ve called them sooner.”

“No… you were doing what I wanted… until it wasn’t tenable anymore…”

“But if I’d called them sooner-”

“I’m not blaming you for that…” Kyle is very earnest, “I’m not blaming you for any of it. You took me in there, patched me up the best you could with the supplies we had, tried to give me what I wanted, but called when it was clear I wasn’t going to make it. You-” he grips both of Jason's hands, “-did everything you were supposed to.”

“Still,” Jason looks down, picking at white blanket-thing, “Is there something we could’ve done different?”

Kyle's tone is gentle, “The only other thing would’ve been outright combat to kill him.”

Jason looks up.

The Alpha smiles a little, “-buuuut, that would’ve been frowned on by the public and… I wasn’t sure how you felt about it and and if I had gotten as violent as I can, you might’ve gotten hurt.”

Jason sits with that for a moment, “Well… thank you for saving me. I-”

“That’s literally my job,” Kyle cuts him off.

Jason shakes his head, “We’re all equal in there. I have as much power as the kid from Podunk Nowhere.”

Kyle stares at him, “As an Alpha, it’s my job to protect Omegas… especially from other asshole Alphas.”

Jason smirks a little, “You calling yourself an asshole then?”

Kyle sniffs, tilting his chin a little, “Maybe.”

“Cool… I don’t get along with non-assholes.”

The smile after that is a little sad.

Jason’s not sure where he misstepped and changes the subject, “Has your mom come up yet?”

He shakes his head, “I told her not to. It’s busy up here and she doesn’t need all the added stress of getting here and security and all that… She’s called though. Every day. And I’ll get a short leave after I’m discharged from here so she’ll have plenty of time to smother me.”

“That’s good,” Jason nods.

“How did the rest of it go overall? They didn’t show you much.”

“Oh… just kept running around,” he glances at the TV, “I’m sure my rewind will be all sorts of exciting.”

“Hate to break it to ya,” Kyle smirked a little, “I will still get the award for ‘most dramatic’.”

“Oh yea? You saw my exit. You think you can top that?”

Kyle gestures with a couple of swirling fingers, “Heli-exac.”

Jason makes a face, “Damn.”

Kyle laughs a little then winces, “ow.”

Jason jumps, “You ok?”

“Yup… I’m ok.”

“Do you need a nurse?” Jason’s halfway up-

Kyle grabs his wrist, “Nope. I’m good…”

“You sure?”

“If I said I’ve dealt with alot worse…?”

“That’s not a vote of confidence Mr. White I’ve-been-trained-to-work-through-various-life-ending-tortures Lantern.”

Kyle just grins.