Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bruce waffled outside the door with confusion, hand poised to knock. Was this really a good idea? If the text had come from any of his children other than Jason, he’d really be doing this a lot more carefully, but, well…Jason rarely asked for anything from him.

That morning, Bruce had received a text from the man with nothing but an address. He’d tried to ask questions, but gotten no response. Calls went straight to voicemail. He’d looked up the address, seen it was tied to this apartment building outside of crime alley, which honestly, for the location, didn’t look like a bad place. When he tracked Jason’s location via his phone, it did show as being inside this building.

That didn’t mean that this wasn’t a trap. Bruce hadn’t even known whether to wear the suit or not. He’d opted not to, because if this was some kind of a kidnapping situation, well, the text came to Bruce’s phone, so Bruce was probably who they were expecting to turn up.

At the end of the day, there’s no way Bruce wouldn’t show up, for any of his kids, just to be sure. It was still unnerving.

Just as he was about to knock, the door opened, startling the shit out of him, although he’d never admit it. All he registered was a shock of red hair. He drew back, preparing himself to be attacked, before the figure at the door tilted their head up and Bruce could see it was Roy Harper, clutching a small child. He relaxed instantly.

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Roy declared, obviously frazzled. He plopped the child down, right there in the hall. “Listen, can you watch her for a second? I just woke her up. I’ll be right back, I just need to grab our things.”

The child blinked big, sleepy eyes up at him. Based on the context clues, Bruce could assume that this was Lian Harper, although he hadn’t seen her in ages. She was small, with dark hair and gray eyes, a sweet, sleepy expression on her face. Bruce was even more confused about what was going on now, if that was possible.

“Are you Uncle Jay’s dad?” Lian asked, quietly.

Bruce nodded. “I am. You’re very smart, how did you figure that out?” Bruce asked good-naturedly.

“You look like him,” Lian said, with a childlike simplicity. Bruce’s lip quirked up in amusement, but she wasn’t done. “You smell like him too, but your scent is…stronger.”

Bruce’s heart sang, learning that Jason still carried the pack scent despite their distance thrilled his alpha. Lian walked over to him then, tugging gently on his pant leg.

“I want up,” she requested, lifting her arms out to him.

And Bruce, well..he didn’t want to step on any toes, but he wasn’t in the business of saying no to puppies, when he could help it. He bent and placed his hands under her armpits, lifting her gently.

As soon as she was situated in his arms, she wrapped her little arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder and curling in close. Bruce felt warm from the top of his head to the tip of his toes, delighting in her small snuggles and sweet milky puppy scent. It wasn’t fair that Oliver had a grandchild before he did, especially not one this cute. Bruce had more children, he should’ve been first. Roy and Dick were on the Teen Titans together, so they had to be around the same age. He should speak to Dick about this, encourage him to settle down.

On second thought, Damian would have a conniption. Maybe their pack was good as-is, for now.

“Uncle Jay was right,” Lian said softly. “You are strong.”

Bruce smiled softly to himself. “Oh, yeah? What else does he say about me?” He asked, curious.

“That you’re a bastard,” Lian declared easily, yawning. Bruce choked on a laugh. That sounded more like Jason. “And that if I’m bad, you’ll come steal me from my daddy, put me in a cape, and make me fight crime.”

And that….was concerning. “That isn’t true. He’s just messing with you. I don’t steal pups,” Bruce insisted, which wasn’t…fully accurate, but one slip-up shouldn’t count against him. “And you shouldn’t repeat language like that. Your Uncle Jay has a potty mouth.”

Lian nodded sagely. “I know, because he also told me you’re the safest alpha in the whole wide world, and that I can always trust you to protect me in an emergency.” It was said with so much conviction that Bruce wanted to sob. “Also, I’m allowed to say bad words, as long as I use them right, and I don’t say them in front of Grandpa Ollie, or at school. Daddy said so.”

Thankfully, Roy came back then, bag slung over his shoulder and holding a small pink tablet, because Bruce wasn’t sure how much more of this conversation he could handle. Roy smiled at them knowingly.

“I know she looks like one of your brood, Bruce, but you can’t have her. She still has a dad,” he teased.

“Oh, ha ha,” Bruce replied, deadpan, passing Lian back to her father and instantly missing her warmth.

“Okay. I’ve got scent neutralizers going, I plugged them in as soon as we realized, so hopefully that helps, I know you’ll be more sensitive with-“ Roy started before being cut off by his daughter.

“I want Uncle Jay,” She whined, sticking her thumb in her mouth and pushing her face into Roy’s neck.

“Honey, I told you. We’re not gonna see Uncle Jay for a little while. You and I are gonna go stay with Grandpa Ollie, and Uncle Jay’s daddy is gonna take care of him here, at our house. Okay?”

Bruce was genuinely, deeply lost now. Not that he hadn’t been the entire time, but just- “Wait, is Jason sick? Or hurt?” He asked.

Roy just blinked up at him, a confused look on his face. “Uh, he’s in heat?”

“What??” Bruce shrieked, instincts instantly flaring.

“Wait, you didn’t know?”

“No, I didn’t-I-wait, what exactly is going on here?” Bruce asked, pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off the oncoming headache.

“You’re telling me he didn’t tell you anything?” Roy asked, flabbergasted.

“No, he very much did not. I just got a text message with this address. I thought I might be walking into a trap.”

“And you still came??” Roy screeched.

“Well, yes, to make sure he-“ Bruce stopped. He didn’t need to defend his decisions, not when there were more important things to worry about. “It isn’t important. Just tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t believe that stupid bastard didn’t tell you, he promised me he was-I- okay, hang on. Just a second.” Roy handed Lian to Bruce again, disappearing back into the apartment. Bruce had half a mind to follow him, but, well, he’d been given the chance to snuggle a puppy, and she really was sweet.

“Is Uncle Jay in trouble?” Lian asked, conspiratorially.

Bruce sighed. “I stopped being able to get him in trouble a long time ago, Lian. He likes to get me in trouble.”

Lian giggled, nuzzling at Bruce’s neck, mixing their scents together, and Bruce went very, very still. He was trying hard to ignore all the instincts screaming at him to abscond with her. Just for a little while. He would bring her back. If he hadn’t just been informed his son was in heat somewhere on the other side of that door, he probably would’ve.

Roy came back, handing Bruce a small envelope with his name on it. “Here, read this before you go in there. We’ve really got to go, he’s getting antsy. Be very careful, we’re really not sure how well this is gonna work. No sudden movements.”

Bruce nodded, looking down at the note in his hand, accepting that he probably wasn’t going to be able to figure out what was happening until he read it.

“Um, could I have my daughter back?” Roy asked, snapping Bruce’s attention back to him.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Bruce passed her over sheepishly.

“Thanks. Tell your Uncle Bruce bye, Lian.”

“Bye-bye,” she said, waving at him adorably. Bruce’s heart clenched in his chest.

“Uncle Bruce?” He questioned, acting like he wasn’t obsessed with the idea.

“Uh-huh, your sons are her uncles, so it just makes sense. Just don’t tell Ollie. Listen, text me if you need anything. I know you probably know my number, somehow.”

Bruce just grunted in response, refusing to either confirm or deny. He did, of course, know Roy’s number.

“Alright, seriously, don’t go in until you read the letter,” Roy directed as he walked down the hall with Lian, who waved over his shoulder at Bruce until they disappeared around the corner.

Bruce slid his finger under the flap, opening the envelope with a quickness. He felt stupid standing there in the hall, but Roy had seemed serious.

“Bruce,” the letter began. “If you’re reading this, it’s because I’m dead. Again. Sorry, not funny. It’s because I’m a fucking coward, and I chickened out of telling you my plan to your face, and there are things you need to know. Since coming back, my heats have been bad, dangerous. Torturous. I don’t want to do this alone anymore. I thought, maybe, I could spend it with you, before trying to introduce anyone else. I might not recognize you. I might freak out, or get violent. If I do, do NOT let me hurt you. You can bite me, if you have to. Dick and I practiced it. It’s not that bad. I didn’t tell them I was asking you to do this, I didn’t want to hurt them, but I have to make sure it’s safe first, and I trust you not to hold back on me. You can do whatever you need. Do not let anyone else around me, not until you’re positive it’s safe, and don’t let your guard down when you do. I’m dangerous, Bruce. I’m writing this with a clear head, and I’m giving you blanket permission to get in my nest and to do whatever else I ask for, or whatever you think I need, if it doesn’t put anyone else in danger, because I know you’ll worry about my consent. If you don’t want to do this, you can call Roy at any time, and we’ll go back to doing what we usually do, just don’t tell Dick. Thanks, and I’m sorry for springing this on you…-Jason.”

Bruce was overcome with emotion. He didn’t know what to feel. He was sad, and almost-hurt, maybe, that Jason thought Bruce wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him, even to subdue. That Bruce wouldn’t jump at this chance, that he’d call Roy to come back. That was definitely something they’d need to have a conversation about, at some point. But also…his son wanted to spend his heats with their pack again. Wanted to spend his heat with him, specifically. And yes, maybe it was because he was scared to hurt anyone else, but still, it meant something.

All Bruce could think was that this was really something to have sprung on you at ten AM on a Tuesday, wasn’t it? He stood by Roy’s door, hesitant. Not knowing what to expect. Then, he just barely managed to pick up a muffled keen from inside, and that was that. His son needed him.

He pushed the door open, entering slowly. Jason wasn’t anywhere he could see him immediately. The scent of the space was carefully, chemically neutral, and Bruce hated it. It was unsettling, and burned at his nose, but Roy had been smart to do it. Trying to care for a packmate in heat while being drowned in another alpha’s scent would be a nightmare. There were toys scattered around the living room, and Bruce dodged them carefully, preventing himself from disturbing anything in the space.

He assumed Jason would be wherever his nest was, and if he had to guess where the bedrooms were, they’d be in the back. He carefully made his way to the back of the apartment, where there were three doors in a hall. Two bedrooms, and a bathroom. One of the bedroom doors had a hasp and a staple for a padlock, but the lock itself was thankfully missing. Bruce had just a second to catalogue this and feel sick to his stomach about Jason’s “back-up plan”, about what he and Roy “usually do”, before a low hiss reached his ears. Jason could smell him.

“Jason. It’s me, Bruce. You’re safe. It’s just me. I’m going to open the door, okay?” The hissing settled slightly but continued, and there was no verbal response to reassure him. Still, he wouldn’t know until he tried. He pulled the door open, holding his hands up, and was finally hit with his son’s scent instead of the chemical neutralizers, confirming that his heat had fully set in.

Jason stalked the room, a crazed look in his eye, clearly agitated, teeth bared back in a snarl. His head snapped to Bruce, and he settled into a defensive stance.

“Hey! Hey, easy, buddy. I’m not gonna hurt you. I promise. It’s just me. You’re safe,” Bruce reassured, still holding his hands up and making himself as small as possible.

Jason sniffed deeply, and some recognition seemed to flicker across his face. He dropped to the floor, whining. Bruce tried to come closer, but he snapped his head up and hissed again.

“Okay, alright. Don’t come closer. I hear you, Omega. I’m just going to sit right here, would that be okay?”

Jason appeared to consider it, before giving the tiniest nod. Bruce sank down, relieved. Alright, baby steps. He could do this. He kept his posture loose, non-threatening, sitting across the floor from his son. Jason looked pained, and it broke his heart.

“Are you okay, Omega? Is there anything I can do for you?” He offered, gently.

Jason whined, backing away slightly.

Okay, too fast. Let him come to you. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’ll stay right here. You come to me if you need something, okay?”

Jason whimpered, crumpling in on himself, and every part of Bruce was screaming at him to run for him, to gather him up in his arms, but that would ruin everything. Jason had to feel ready.

“I’m here whenever you need.” He reassured, settling back to watch Jason carefully. Bruce felt for their bond, wondering if he could use that, but it was completely silent, heavily blocked off. He tried to use his scent to project calm, protective alpha, but was worried about overdoing it, making Jason nervous. Jason looked miserable. It hurt like a hot rod pressed against his ribs to watch any of his kids suffer, but this was exponentially worse.

“Alpha,” Jason muttered, looking up at Bruce pleadingly.

“Yes. I’m here. Do you want to come see me?”

Jason shook his head aggressively. “Stay,” he whined.

“I’m staying right here. I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe, Jason.” Bruce waited to see if Jason would say more, but he didn’t. Just started whimpering uncomfortably, rocking back and forth. The agitated behaviors were killing Bruce, but he said nothing until Jason started scratching at his arms in distress.

“Jason,” Bruce spoke low, keeping his voice calming, “don’t do that, sweetheart. I know you’re uncomfortable, but you can’t hurt yourself.”

Jason whimpered, once, short and cut off, but he stopped, instead digging his nails into the carpet. It seemed to ground him a bit, so Bruce let him. Eventually, Jason seemed to settle enough to stand up, and Bruce’s heart leapt as he thought he might come to him, but he didn’t. He did, however, apparently feel comfortable enough to turn his back on Bruce, because he went to his bed.

Bruce watched as Jason started constructing a nest, pride emanating from deep in his chest. He’d be fine if this was the closest Jason let him his entire heat, if he just curled up in the nest and let Bruce stand guard. He could live with that, hell, he’d be glad to do it. He wasn’t really sure how effectively he could take care of Jason like this, especially without Alfred to take care of food, but, well, he’d take what he could get.

Eventually, he would need to call the Manor, come up with some story to explain to Alfred that he wasn’t coming home for a few days. Jason had been very adamant about just Bruce until he knew it was safe, and he knew that if his other pups found out about Jason being in heat and Bruce heat-sitting, they’d show up. No matter what Bruce said, one hundred percent, no questions about it, especially Dick.

Bruce seriously doubted that Jason would do anything to hurt his siblings, he honestly felt like they would help him a lot, he was more comfortable with them than with him. That hurt, still cut deep, but he understood. He’d made many mistakes in his life, many mistakes with his children, but he was trying to be better. He felt like he and Jason were making progress, and he supposed this was proof of that. He didn’t want to break Jason’s trust, so he’d do his due diligence of making sure it was safe before involving anyone else. Jason finished the nest, stepping back and examining it.

“That’s a very good nest, Chum. You did a nice job,” Bruce said, and smiled to himself as he watched Jason preen.

“Alpha. In.” Jason pointed to the nest intently.

“Why don’t you get in the nest, Jason? You made it so comfy. Wouldn’t that be nice? I’m good here,” Bruce tried to reason.

Jason snarled aggressively, and Bruce wondered where he had gone wrong. “In, TOGETHER,” Jason insisted.

Oh. Okay. Yeah, right. Together. Sure, that was fine, Bruce could do that. His heart wasn’t soaring higher than it had since before Jason died and came back with a rejection on his lips, or anything. “You want to get in your nest together, Jay? Are you sure?”

Jason snarled again, then stalked up to Bruce. Bruce froze, not wanting to startle the man. Jason wrapped his hand around Bruce’s wrist and tugged. Bruce went easily, considering briefly that this really had been a kidnapping plot, and he was under the influence of some strange new drug. No matter, he would die before trying to shatter this illusion, if that indeed was what it was. Jason led him gently, snarling and snappish though he was, to the side of the bed, then stood there staring at him like he was waiting.

“Okay. I’m gonna get in…” Bruce said, pausing to give Jason a chance to change his mind. He just continued to stare, so Bruce kicked his shoes off and slowly climbed in, telegraphing every movement. Once he was settled, he turned and looked at his son, who was still just staring. “This is very nice. Do you want to get in too, Jay?” Bruce asked, gently.

A look of mild distress crossed Jason’s face, but it was quickly replaced by deep longing.

“Jason. I’m your alpha, your dad. You’re safe with me, I promise.” This seemed to work, as Jason finally climbed into the nest, settling on the opposite side of Bruce, just watching him with those big, fearful eyes. “Good job, Chum. You’re doing so well, I’m very proud of you,” Bruce stated, a rumble working its way out from his chest. The noise seemed to change something in Jason because suddenly, he was quickly wiggling towards Bruce, resting his head near his chest so he could feel it. The tension melted out of his body, and Bruce just tried not to break. “You can come closer, Chum. It’s alright.”

Jason wriggled the rest of the way over, fully lying on Bruce’s chest with a little shudder.

“Very good. Can I scent you?” Bruce asked, pushing his luck.

Jason nodded, quick and brief, more of a single movement of the head, but Bruce took it. He ran his wrist from Jason’s jaw down his neck, Jason truly becoming putty in his hands. He was warm, but not concerningly so. Bruce wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to stop worrying about his kids' temperatures when they were in heat or rut again, not after Tim’s terrible ordeal. He repeated the motion a few times, until Jason whimpered.

“Please,” Jason said.

“Please, what?” Bruce asked, pausing his movements in case Jason wanted him to stop.

“Please don’t leave,” Jason muttered, pressing his face into Bruce’s neck. “Tired.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Jay. You can sleep,” Bruce promised, bringing his hand up to Jason’s hair at the back of his head and stroking it the way he had liked in the heats they had gotten to spend together. Within ten minutes, Jason was asleep.

/|\ ^._.^ /|\

“Huh, thought so,” Dick mused, staring up at the computer in the med bay. Tim sat next to him on the cot, a scowl on his face, and gauze pressed to his arm where Dick had taken the blood sample that had just finished analyzing. Dick had been needling him into letting him check for days, finally saying he’d get Bruce involved if he didn’t.

“What, that I’m perfectly fine?” Tim snarked.

“Nope,” Dick said, popping the “p” with self-satisfaction, unthinking about how that would sound.

“What?” Tim asked, anxiety spiking in his voice.

“Oh, fuck. No, I’m sorry. You’re okay, you’re not like, dying or anything,” Dick rushed to reassure.

“Then what?” Tim scoffed, giving Dick a dirty look for scaring him.

“It’s your hormones. They’re out of whack again,” Dick told him, and at the look of worry on his face, he quickly clarified. “Not dangerously so, this time. It would take a pretty big trigger to get them there again, like presenting was, but one of the omega sex hormones is pretty high. Another is a little low. I think it might be tied to a hormone disorder.”

“You’re seriously telling me that first I presented late, and now I’ve got some kind of hormone disorder? That’s bullshit,” Tim whined childishly, removing the gauze from his arm and tossing it aside to be incinerated later.

“I mean, technically, the late presentation is tied to the hormone disorder. I’m not a doctor, but you’ve definitely bought yourself a trip to Leslie’s!” Dick chirped, trying to lighten Tim’s mood a bit but very obviously having the exact opposite effect as Tim scowled at him. “If I’m right and that’s what this is, there are treatments, medications, Tim. You’ll be right as rain in no time,” he soothed.

“What are the symptoms?” Tim asked,
resignedly.

“The one that’s low, that can cause anxiety, depression, more mental type effects…” Dick started.

“Well I don’t have any of those,” Tim cut him off. “So maybe I’m fine.”

Dick gave him a look, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, no more than usual,” Tim amended.

Dick rolled his eyes. “The normal amount is none, Timmy. Now, the high one..that’s got a whole slew of physical symptoms, many of them also tied to a late presentation. Lack of appetite, fatigue, insomnia, stomach pain, chills…any of that sound familiar?”

Tim just scowled at him.

“And, it can also cause…” Dick started to read directly from the computer's display, “‘a strong, trance-like reaction to high levels of alpha pheromones’, which, if you’ll remember, is exactly what I was worried about, for the record.”

“It was fine, Dick. I wasn’t in a trance. Just..hazy,” Tim insisted, rolling his eyes.

“Do you remember it?”

“What?”

“That day, the time in between me biting Jason and Jason’s nightmare. Do you remember it?”

“Well, no, but-“

“So then I was the only lucid one there to remember, and I’m telling you, it was odd.”

Tim flinched, hard, and Dick instantly realized his mistake.

“I don’t mean-“

“It’s fine.” Tim cut off, breath coming fast.

“You weren’t odd. Just the situation. You were fine.”

“I said it’s fine,” Tim snapped.

Dick sighed, deciding to drop it before he agitated Tim into a fight. “Well, you’re not patrolling with this,” he said, gesturing at the computer. Which, in hindsight, wasn’t the best way to avoid a fight.

“That’s ridiculous. I’ll be fine, I’m perfectly functional. I can wear a respirator, like Jason does,” Tim insisted, but Dick still didn’t feel comfortable.

Dick sighed, shifting. “I don’t feel comfortable letting you out until Leslie clears you.”

Tim jumped up to his feet, irritation clearly wound tight around his body. “You don’t get to bench me, you can’t make that call!” He shouted, jabbing a finger at Dick. “You’re not Batman, not this time.”

And that stung, probably more than Tim had meant it to, but Dick pushed it down, knowing what Tim was going through. “Well, I’m telling Bruce all of this, obviously.”

Tim looked at him in shock, eyes wide with betrayal. “This isn’t fair! I didn’t ask for this!”

Dick’s heart broke, and he stepped closer to his little brother, holding his arms out for him. “Oh, Tim. Come here. You’re alright, this could have an easy solution, we don’t know-“

As soon as Dick got close enough to wrap Tim in his arms, Tim snapped, lashing out and shoving Dick’s arms down and away from him. “Stop! Stop treating me like a fucking baby. You always do this. I’m grown, I’m a vigilante, I am competent! Being an omega doesn’t change that! I don’t need this! I don’t need you!” Tim’s voice had continuously risen, until he was screaming the last words, immediately fleeing from the makeshift room afterwards.

Dick could hear him stomping through the cave, the bats stirring in his wake until he was angrily stomping up the stairs. Dick’s first instinct was to go after him, but he decided it was probably best for them both to have space right now, before anyone said something worse that they would regret.

Dick was hurt, of course he was, but Tim’s outburst wasn’t unwarranted. Dick did baby Tim, he knew he did, and it was fully intentional, but it wasn’t about him being an omega. When he’d first met Tim, the kid’s hyper independence had really freaked him out. His physical needs were mostly covered, his parents spent a fortune keeping him in the best boarding schools, but he was used to not having any adults caring for his emotional needs. He did everything on his own, and he was proud of it. Bruce had been all too ready to take advantage of this independence, pushing him harder in training and on the field than a Robin had ever been pushed, determined to ensure his absolute safety, but neglecting as much emotional care, the reassurances that he and Jason had been granted. After Jason, Bruce just didn’t have it in him, and Tim wasn’t asking. Dick wasn’t going to stand for that.

Any time Dick had tried to help Tim at first, he’d snap, always insisting he could do it himself, that he didn’t need help. That he had to prove himself. That was the part that scared Dick the most, the fear that Tim felt he had to be good enough to “earn” someone’s care. So he’d kept pushing, aggressively babying the kid, watching the way he seemed to melt under it before he would fight back. Once he’d really broken Tim’s shell, gotten through to him, he’d absolutely flourished under Dick’s affection. Truly, he responded to being babied incredibly well, seemed to recognize Dick wasn’t being condescending, especially since he was the only one who ever really treated Tim like the kid he was, while still respecting him as the vigilante he’d become. Even when he got bratty about it, it felt like more of a token struggle, just trying to show that the kid who wanted to do everything for himself was still down there, and he’d give in to Dick quickly.

Dick could admit that he had gotten more intense since Tim presented. Especially since almost losing him. Now, there was a heavy level of instinct involved in it, a desire to keep his omega packmate safe and care for his every need. He could recognize, that with the circumstances, it was maybe a little too much, and maybe Tim needed some of that independence back. Dick had perhaps, been overbearing. He decided that for the time being, he would give Tim space to calm down, because this would require more conversation, and he wanted them both to be level-headed.

In the meantime, he shot Bruce a text, letting him know they needed to talk. Idly, he wondered where the man had gone off too.

/|\ ^._.^ /|\

Bruce clutched Jason to his chest, rumbling deeply and allowing himself to project safe, mine, protect, son through the room, now that he was fairly certain Jason wouldn’t react poorly, seemed to be comforted by the more alpha actions he showed, as long as he was careful and didn’t move too fast.

Jason woke with a gasp, stirring against Bruce’s chest. Bruce’s arms tightened on instinct, and Jason froze. Bruce loosened his arms instantly. Jason lifted his head up, blinking at Bruce in surprise. His eyes seemed clearer.

“Bruce,” he mumbled, but he didn’t rush to pull away.

“Hey, Jay. Your head a little clearer now?” Bruce asked. He raised his hand to Jason’s hair, slightly hesitant now that Jason seemed more present, but he leaned into the hand, and Bruce ruffled his hair.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Still sucks, but it’s better. Did I….” Jason trailed off, licking his lips. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, Jason. You didn’t even try,” Bruce reassured.

“Really?” Jason looked at him, hopeful. “I, ah, wasn’t sure I’d recognize you.”

“I think you did, at least on some level. You were pretty nervous at first, but, well, here we are. How are you feeling?”

“I….” Jason’s face crumbled then, and tears gathered in his eyes. Panic spiked in Bruce’s chest, he hadn’t seen Jason cry in years, and he was ill-equipped to handle it now. “I’m being selfish.”

“You’re not,” Bruce instantly reassured. “Even if you were, that’s allowed right now.” He cradled Jason’s face in his hands, but Jason pulled away, tucking his head under Bruce’s chin.

“No I-“ Jason whimpered. “I am, because I have you, and it’s so much fucking nicer than any heat I’ve had since the pit, and this was my own idea but-“ his breath hitched, “but now that I know I probably won’t go crazy, I just, I want to go home,” he wailed.

Bruce’s heart stuttered in his chest, he couldn’t remember the last time Jason had called the Manor home. “You do?” He asked, gently.

“I do. I want the Manor, I want Alfred, I want Dickie and Tim, and I-I even want Damian,” he cried, snuffling into Bruce’s chest.

Bruce was weak to his children’s whims, maybe, but he truly, deeply believed that it would be okay, and if Jason wanted to go home to the Manor, well, it would be best to do it when his head was level. “Okay, Jason. Let’s get you home then, buddy,” Bruce said, easily, pressing a kiss into Jason’s forehead.

“Really? We can? You’re sure It’s safe?” Jason pulled away to ask, fragile hope on his face.

Bruce nodded. “Yes. I’ll take care of everything, you don’t need to worry,” he reassured.

Jason took a shaky breath. “Okay. Let’s go home.”

Chapter Text

Bruce made quick work of getting Jason’s stuff ready to go, as he didn’t know how long Jason would be lucid and figured it would be best to get him to the Manor and with his brothers before the next wave. Honestly, he would’ve just left immediately, but he didn’t think Jason had many clothes or things at the Manor and he wanted him to be comfortable. He bustled around the room, packing Jason a bag while Jason watched from the nest, slightly tense at the distance.

“Do you want anything of Lian’s or Roy’s?” Bruce asked gently as he zipped the duffel, watching Jason carefully.

Jason’s eyes widened, scent spiking with longing before it snapped back to normal and he deflated. “No.”

“It’s alright if you do,” Bruce reassured.

“But Dick-“

“Will deal. If he gets upset, I’ll deal with it. They’re important to you,” Bruce stated with finality.

“There’s a pink stuffed elephant in the nest in the living room. I want it,” Jason said softly, avoiding Bruce’s eyes.

“Okay, I’ll get it for you, I’ll be right back. I’m going to call Dick while I’m out there and let them know we’re on our way, okay? Is there anything else you need from out there?”

Jason looked anxious at the prospect of Bruce leaving, but shook his head.

“Alright, I’ll be quick.” Bruce stepped up to the side of the bed, running his wrist over Jason liberally to coat him in his scent before stepping out. As he walked to the nest, he grabbed his cellphone, realizing that he had actually missed a text from Dick already. He called him without reading it, since he was on a time crunch. He located the elephant easily, sitting in a place of prominence in the living room nest, and he picked it up gently, smiling to himself. It reminded him of Zitka, Dick’s stuffed elephant, one of the only possessions he’d come to Bruce with. Speak of the devil, his son picked up the phone right as that thought crossed his mind.

“Bruce! There you are. I was about to send out a search party. Where are you?” Dick asked as Bruce walked to Jason’s bathroom, grabbing the bat-grade scent blockers he knew he’d find there.

“Listen, I’m kind of in a hurry. Jason’s in heat. I’m bringing him home to the Manor, we’ll be there in about forty-five minutes, probably,” Bruce told his son as he grabbed a few scent blockers from the box, returning the box back to the cabinet and starting to walk back to Jason’s room.

“What, now? already? Did he call you?” Dick asked, rapid fire.

“Something like that. Listen, we can talk more when we get home, but I need you to explain something to Tim and Damian. This is Jason’s first heat back and the trauma is a little intense, so we need to be more careful. Very gentle, calm. Don’t overwhelm him.”

“Yeah, Tim and I have already been preparing, but we’ll fill Damian in. This isn’t great timing, Damian is so close to presenting, and I was trying to get ahold of you to tell you that Tim’s got some crazy hormonal issue going on, but, honestly, we’ll deal. I’m just so relieved that he’s coming home,” Dick’s voice broke a little, wavering. “Did you see the locks?” He asked, quietly.

“Oh, I saw. I’d rather not think about that right now. What do you mean hormonal issue, is Tim okay?” Bruce asked, stressing.

“I mean, he’s pissed at me, and he’ll need to see Leslie, but it’s not time sensitive. Worry about Jason, I’ve got things under control until you get here,” Dick said.

Bruce didn’t find that extremely reassuring, but he was trying to exert more trust with all of his children, especially Dick. He needed to make it clear how much he valued his help in managing everything. So he agreed, and they exchanged goodbyes. Bruce pushed into Jason’s room, depositing the elephant into Jason’s lap.

It was clear Jason had been crying while he was gone, blinking up at Bruce with red-rimmed eyes and sniffling. Obviously being apart had been unpleasant or painful for him. “Hey, Jace, I’m back, you’re alright,” Bruce softly reassured. “What’s the elephant's name?” He asked, trying to distract his son.

Jason took a big breath, leaning his head against Bruce’s stomach, and Bruce brought his fingers to the hair on the nape of his neck again, stroking it gently. “Stella. Roy and I took turns trying to win her for Lian. I won.”

Bruce’s lips quirked up into a quick, small, smile. “Of course you did, you're every competitive.”

“Yeah, well. It’s mostly mine, anyways. Lian just scents it for me and pretends it’s hers,” Jason said, bringing the elephant up to his face and briefly nuzzling it before tucking it into the duffle with the rest of his stuff.

“She’s a good pup,” Bruce said, pulling back from Jason. “Are you ready to go?”

Jason nodded, going to stand up. Bruce stopped him.

“Hang on. I’m going to put some scent blockers on you, first,” Bruce told him, holding up the sheet.

Jason made an extremely displeased noise, leaning away from Bruce with a snarl.

Bruce froze, he needed to proceed carefully, he didn’t want to do anything that could trigger the next wave of Jason’s heat before making it to the Manor, or agitate him.

“I know. I know it’s going to be uncomfortable, and I’m sorry. I just don’t want Bruce Wayne traipsing around a heated-up omega in crime alley, we’d be massive targets. You only have to wear them until we get into the car, then you can pull them off, I promise. Okay?”

Jason seemed to war with himself for a minute, staying pulled back from Bruce. Bruce waited with more patience than he thought he was capable of, knowing now was not the time to push. Finally, he relented, nodding and leaning forward and bearing his neck for Bruce.

“Good, Jason. Thank you. We’ll go as quickly as we can so we can get these off, okay?” Bruce stuck the blockers to either side of Jason’s neck, and then his wrists, quickly. They weren’t going on patrol, so those were the only glands he really needed to block, it would keep anyone who wasn’t extremely close to them from being able to catch Jason’s scent.

Jason whimpered in pain as he pulled his arms away from Bruce, and Bruce felt it like a dagger in his stomach. He hated to hurt his son’s sensitive scent glands, but this was the best option. They’d be fast.

“Alright, let’s go. My car is in the parking garage at street level,” Bruce encouraged, helping Jason to his feet. He wobbled for a second, and Bruce steadied him. “Do you want me to carry you?” Bruce offered.

Jason snorted. “You can’t carry me, old man. I’ve got this. Just give me a second.”

“I can absolutely carry you. Especially on my back. I’ve trained for that,” Bruce said, cocking an eyebrow at his son. “I have to be able to get you out in an emergency..”

Jason flushed, obviously embarrassed and seeming slightly overcome with emotion. “Right, well, let’s save that for an emergency. I don’t want to hurt your back. Just help me balance.” Jason offered Bruce his arm, and they made their way to the car like that, Jason immediately ripping the scent blockers off the second they had the doors shut.

/|\ ^._.^ /|\

Dick managed to get through explaining to Damian that Jason was in heat and on his way to the manor, how careful and unprovocative they had to be, fairly easily. He even managed not to laugh when the little puppy, almost-baby alpha tried to pretend to be wholly uninterested while also asking a thousand questions, and then immediately began pacing around the house with agitation making sure everything was “ready” once Dick let him go.

He was much more uneasy about talking to Tim, which was odd. Talking to Tim was easy for him, always had been, but he hadn’t seen him since their argument, which was also abnormal. Tim hated to let an argument sit, it made him nervous, and he’d always track Dick down to apologize and talk out his feelings as soon as he was calm. Tim didn’t even like other family members letting their arguments sit, he loved to play mediator and follow whoever was the most mad to help them talk it out. Now, though, it had been nearly an hour since he’d screamed at Dick in the cave, and Dick hadn’t seen a trace of him. Their bond was carefully shut off, which Tim rarely did.

Dick knew Tim was in his room, so he went to the door warily, knocking gently.

“Come in.” The voice was flat, devoid of any emotion. Dick pushed the door open, and his heart stuttered in worry at what he saw. Tim was lying in his bed with his back towards Dick, several blankets around him bundled up by his head, as he stared at the wall. He made no move to turn towards Dick.

Dick felt slightly less worried when he noticed that Tim’s special nesting blanket had been abandoned bunched up at the foot of the bed, even though every other blanket was wrapped around him. That certainly sent a message. Everyone in this family was so damn dramatic. Dick tried not to roll his eyes.

“Jason’s heat started. Bruce is bringing him home.” Tim didn’t physically react at all, didn’t even stir.

“Okay. I’ll come down when he gets here,” Tim told the wall, still completely deadpan. Dick knew he had been just as overjoyed as him about getting Jason in a place where he felt comfortable enough to be vulnerable like that with them, he should’ve at least looked at Dick. His worry spiked again.

“Tim…” he started, coming into the room. The closer he got, he could see that Tim was just limp, listlessly despondent, genuinely staring a hole in the wall.

“I know I owe you an apology, and you’ll get it, but I just can’t do it yet,” Tim stated, flat.

“Don’t worry about it, Tim. You had a point and I-“

“Can we not do this right now?” Tim cut off. Dick flinched, coming closer to the side of the bed.

“Are you okay?” He asked, reaching for his brother’s arm.

“Please don’t touch me,” Tim said, still without looking at him, and Dick’s hand froze in midair. He really felt that if he could just rub his brother's arm, sit by him, and pull him into his lap, he could make him feel better. Then he realized that maybe that would just be what would make him feel better, and it wouldn’t be for Tim’s benefit at all, especially if it erased everything he had been working with Tim on about consent. He pulled his hand back. “Thank you. I’m fine. I’ll come down when Jason gets here, I promise. I just need a minute.” Tim sighed.

Dick really, really didn’t feel comfortable leaving him like this, but if he wanted to fix things, he had to. “Okay, Tim. I love you.” He started to leave.

“Dick?” Tim said, finally turning his head to look at him as he turned back towards Tim. “Can you send Dami in here?” He asked, softly.

“You want Damian?” Dick asked, surprised, a little confused, and trying not to feel hurt.

Tim nodded.

Well, at least he wouldn’t be alone. “Yeah, okay. He’s being a little fussy about Jason, but I’ll tell him you want him,” Dick told his brother, fighting hard to keep any detectable hurt from his voice.

Tim nodded again and turned back towards the wall. Dick left.

/|\ ^._.^ /|\

Tim was lost, emotionally adrift. He felt like absolute shit, but it was like he was so upset that he felt nothing at all. He just wanted to give up, stare at the wall until he felt something. He was too tired.

Robin was, had always been, an escape for him. He was fully aware that it wasn’t the most healthy thing, but no one in this family had healthy coping mechanisms. Robin was always being snatched away from him when he needed it most, and that wasn’t fair, especially when it was Dick trying to take it again.

He knew that Dick wasn’t trying to be malicious, or condescending, knew he didn’t hold a shred of bigotry towards omega superheroes, that he was just worried, but, well. Knowing something wasn’t true didn’t always stop the hurt. He just wanted to know everyone still saw him as strong and capable, still trusted him, no matter what his body was doing. He was not a puppy, not anymore. Tim had truly never been a puppy in the typical sense. He hated to feel like his family had more faith in him at thirteen than now, at nineteen, all because of a designation.

It wasn’t really because he was an omega, they still trusted Jason. It had to be something he’d done, something that wasn’t right about him. A hormone disorder was just more proof that there was something wrong with him on an even deeper level than he had assumed. He wasn’t trying hard enough, he was letting people take care of him too much, he needed to go back, stop accepting the comfort, the help.

A knock at his door broke him of his thoughts. Damian.

“Timothy? Richard says you require me?”

He didn’t know why he’d asked for the kid. He just didn’t want to be alone, but he didn’t really want to be with Dick either, not right now. If he wanted to prove he was strong enough to be on his own, he couldn’t go crying to his little brother.

“Never mind, Dami! I’m okay, I don’t need anything!” He called. His voice cracked at the end. Damian pushed the door in.

“Timothy?” Damian walked right up to the side of the bed, staring at him. “Are you sick?”

Tim sighed. He’d activated the little bit of alpha that was already showing in Damian’s behavior, his development. Now he’d never get rid of him. “No.” He remembered what Dick had discovered. “Er, maybe. But not like a virus. Something is up with my hormones,” he told Damian, rolling over on his back so he could look at him.

A look of stress crossed Damian’s face, briefly. It would be kind of cute if he weren’t already annoyed about being babied. “How can I help?” Damian asked softly, and that..dammit, that really was cute.

“I’m okay. I thought I needed help, but I don’t,” Tim said, as resolutely as he could.

Damian’s eyebrows creased, and he pressed a hand to Tim’s forehead. Tim unconsciously leaned into the touch.

“You don’t look so good. Have you eaten?” Damian asked, taking the hand away. Tim tried not to chase it, but he was a second too late, and Damian clocked it. He made a clicking noise with his tongue, sitting next to Tim and bringing a hand to his hair, stroking it gently. Tim lacked the energy to make him stop, but it wasn’t because he liked it, or needed it. It wasn’t.

“I know you don’t really like touch,” Tim said, softly, instead of answering the question. Damian wouldn’t be satisfied with the answer.

“Being touched by or touching you is…tolerable,” Damian told him with a frown, like he was trying to figure something out. That was glowing praise, coming from Damian. Tim tried not to preen. “What’s wrong?” Damian asked, finally, obviously being unable to find what he was looking for on Tim’s face.

“Dick and I got in a fight,” Tim told him. “He wants to tell B to bench me.”

Damian’s scent spiked in anger and indignation and his hand tightened in Tim’s hair for a second, loosening with an apologetic pat when Tim winced. “But…why? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“He’s worried about the hormone thing. Apparently, I’m real sensitive to alpha pheromones right now. I did something weird, freaked him out, and now he doesn’t trust me. He doesn’t want me to patrol until I see a doctor.” Tim tried to keep the pout out of his voice, but it was hard.

Damian’s face twisted. “That isn’t true. Richard trusts you a ton. The most, probably.”

“He did,” Tim confirmed, “not anymore.” His eyes filled with tears, and he was so relieved to be feeling something that he didn’t even mind. Damian, however, looked panicked. “It’s okay, I’m okay. I needed to cry.”

“But, Timothy, you’re wrong. He does still trust you, I know it. He just wants you to be safe.”

“He’s babying me, Damian. He’s constantly fussing. The only explanation is that he doesn’t trust me anymore, now that I’m an omega.” Tim started to cry more, curling in on himself. Damian continued to pet his hair, half frozen.

“I don’t understand. Isn’t a good alpha supposed to care for the omegas in his pack? Richard just doesn’t want you to get hurt.” Damian sounded panicked, and Tim hated it, but he couldn’t get a hold of himself either. He didn’t know how to answer Damian. He wasn’t technically wrong, but he didn’t want to reinforce any stereotypes either. Usually, Dick was the one to handle these kinds of questions.

“Alphas and omegas take care of each other,” he finally settled on, finally able to get a handle on his tears, and taking shaky breaths.

“Right, but doting on you helps him just as much as it helps you. He told me that. Alphas like to care for their pack members, Timothy. They especially like to protect them, and Richard thinks he’s protecting you by making sure Leslie says you’ll be safe if you go out, I’m sure of it.”

Tim hadn’t really thought about that before. That the doting wasn’t anything negative, just Dick’s preferred way to indulge his instincts. That it was just as comforting for him as it was for Tim. If that was true, well, maybe Dick really didn’t think he was incompetent after all. Tim would just need to lay down some better boundaries about being controlling, and maybe things would be fine.

“You’re a really smart kid, Damian,” Tim told his brother, taking a deep breath as his tears stopped altogether.

“I know.” Damian’s face creased with stress for a moment, before he leaned in close to Tim. “Did you know Todd was in heat?”

“Yeah, I know. Dick told me.” Tim thought, secretly, that he’d probably feel a ton better when Jason got here, being curled in a pack nest sounded real nice right about now. He just hoped Dick wasn’t too mad at him.

“Do you think…” Damian looked away from him, pulling his hand out of his hair to instead bring them to his lap, where he stared down at them. “Do you think he’s going to want me around?” He asked, quiet, insecure.

“Oh, Dami. I don’t really know what he’s going to want. This will be his first heat with anyone since he came back, and the others…they weren’t good.”

“I know. I’m just..worried, that he’ll want everyone else, and I’ll be stuck on the outside. I’m not nice,” Damian confided, staring out Tim’s door window to his balcony beyond it. Tim’s heart broke for his little brother.

“I really don’t think that would ever happen. You’re doing better, we all are,” Tim tried to reassure. “When I was in heat, I wanted you so bad, wanted my whole pack. It hurt, to be away from you,” Tim confided quietly, running his wrist over Damian’s spine, scenting him subtly.

Damian looked at him with wide eyes. “Really?”

Tim nodded. “Yeah. It was kind of scary. But it was really nice, when we were all together. It will probably feel the same, for Jason, I think.”

“Young masters! Master Bruce’s car is in the drive, your brother is here.” Alfred called up the stairs.

Tim sat up, wrapping an arm around Damian in a brief hug. “C’mon, let’s go. It’ll be fine.” He grabbed his nesting blanket off the foot of the bed, wrapping it around his shoulders as he and Damian left the room.

/|\ ^._.^ /|\

Dick stood pacing in front of the parlor window, waiting anxiously for Bruce and Jason to make it into the house. He needed to lay eyes on his brother, ensure he was okay.

Tim and Damian came down the stairs, and Dick’s eyes flicked to them. He smiled softly when he saw that Tim was wrapped in his blanket, and Tim gave him a shaky smile back as he came to stand by him. His eyes were red-rimmed.

“Are we okay?” Dick asked, softly.

“Yeah, we’re okay. We need to talk more later but I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Tim answered, leaning into Dick’s side.

“It’s okay. I understand. You’ve got a lot going on. I’m sorry I unilaterally tried to make medical decisions for you.”

Tim sighed. “You were probably right. It’s probably not safe. It’s just not fair.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I really do think it’s gonna be okay, though. They’ve got all kind of treatments for this stuff.”

Just then, they heard the front door open, Bruce and Jason stepping into the hall. Jason keened. All three of them rushed to the parlor entry, gathering around the opening. Jason’s eyes snapped up to them. They were a little foggy, but mostly clear.

“Give him some space, he’s alright. He’s hitting another wave. We got here as quickly as we could.” Bruce said. Bruce was supporting Jason with his body, and Dick wavered, trying to decide if it would be alright for him to come and help. Bruce jerked his chin towards Jason’s other side and nodded. “Slow,” he instructed.

Dick took careful steps towards them, telegraphing his movements. Jason whined a little, then seemed to recognize his scent.

“Dickie,” Jason mumbled, leaning towards him. Dick came forward quickly, catching him before he could face plant out of Bruce’s arms. He was glad Tim’s use of the “dickie” nickname during his heat seemed to have brought it back, he had missed it.

“Hey, little wing. Careful there. Don’t want to fall.” Jason nuzzled his face all over Dick’s arm that was wrapped around him. Dick giggled. It tickled. “How are you feeling?”

“Cold,” he murmured.

“Let’s get him to the couch,” Bruce directed. “Boys, look out.” Tim and Damian backed away from the entry, unsure exactly what they should do as Dick and Bruce brought Jason to the couch, settling him. Dick sat next to him wrapping his arms around him and rubbing his shoulders, trying to bring back some warmth. “I’m gonna go speak to Alfred in the kitchen, I’ll be right back, now that Dick has you, okay?” Bruce asked Jason softly.

Jason nodded, leaning into Dick’s side. Bruce set his duffel bag down and quietly left.

“Puppy, Omega,” Jason murmured, reaching for the other boys in the room. Tim went immediately to his opposite side, bundling up against him. Damian got closer, but froze, hesitant. Jason grabbed him, tugging him into his lap. Damian squeaked, and Dick prepared to intervene, but he settled.

Dick was surprised, but pleased. Damian looked so sweet curled up in Jason’s lap like that. He kept his opinions to himself, not wanting to make Damian self-conscious.

Damian frowned, poking at Jason’s scent glands on his neck. “You don’t smell right,” he insisted.

“Scent blockers.” Jason whimpered, remembering how they hurt. “While we walked to the car.”

Damian frowned harder, leaning forward and starting to lick over the gland.

Jason whined. “I don’t like that,” he gasped, and Dick gently pulled Damian away by the hair.

Damian yipped, displeased, batting Dick’s hand away.

“Sorry, had to get you to stop. Don’t scent mark him like that right now, the glands are too sensitive, here, use your wrists,” Dick said, bringing his wrist to Damian’s neck and rubbing over it to demonstrate. “Be gentle.”

Damian copied him on Jason’s neck, and Jason relaxed, melting a little. A small purr started, and Damian looked at Dick with wide, thrilled eyes.

“Good job,” Dick whispered, shooting him a thumbs-up. Damian preened, turning back to Jason and curling under his neck. “Someone should build a nest,” Dick said, glancing at Tim.

“I’ll do it!” Tim hopped up, and Jason whined at the loss. “Here, do you want my blanket while I’m gone?” Tim offered, wrapping it around his shoulders.

Damian attempted to push it off with a huff. “He can’t have blankets, Timothy. He’s too hot.”

“He’s not hot. He’s cold. The blanket is fine.” Tim tucked it back around him.

“He has a fever!” Damian said, insistent.

“Yeah, a heat fever. It’s normal. He’s fine. Let him have the blanket!” Tim snapped.

Jason whined, leaning away from the noise.

“Guys, stop it. The blanket is fine, Damian. His fever is low grade, Tim’s right, that’s just part of a heat,” Dick intervened, not wanting to overwhelm Jason. “Be more careful, please. No arguing. He’s hitting a wave.”

Tim caught on to the uncomfortableness in Jason’s scent and started to tug on Damian’s arm. “Come build the nest with me Dami.”

Damian looked between Tim and Jason, his face wrinkling with worry. “But…”

“Jason’s okay, Dick’s got it. You should learn anyway, if you’re gonna be an alpha. A good alpha makes a nest when his omegas aren’t able, you know.” That worked, Damian carefully distanced himself from Jason, standing up and going with Tim.

Dick tried not to laugh. Tim had caught on to the exact brand of sweet-talking he used on Damian, too. Tim turned and winked at Dick on the stairs.

Dick mouthed “thank you” before turning to Jason, pulling him close, and wrapping him tighter in Tim’s blanket. Jason relaxed some, curling on Dick’s chest. He nuzzled, and Dick started to scent him. The purring came back. “There we go, Jason. You’re doing well. Do you need anything?”

“Mm. Stella.” Jason pointed to his duffel, and Dick leaned up to grab the strap, dragging it towards them and starting to rifle through it. There was a small pink elephant on the top. Dick assumed that it was Stella, he pulled it out, and Jason reached for it, taking it from him and tucking it under his chin.

“That looks like Zitka, but pink,” Dick said, secretly delighted by it.

Jason nodded. “Mhm. That’s why Roy and I picked it out. It’s Lian’s, I won it.” Dick felt warm, thinking about Roy and Jason picking Lian a stuffy that reminded them of him.

Bruce came back into the parlor, coming over behind the couch and stroking Jason’s hair where he rested on Dick’s chest. “See, I told you Dick would be fine with the stuffie,” he said. Dick felt terrible to think that Jason had felt like he couldn’t bring something of Lian’s or Roy’s, but with his reaction to learning they were secondary pack, well, it made sense.

“I love the stuffy. It’s a great stuffy. I’m glad you have Lian’s scent,” Dick reassured.

Jason smiled, growing more foggy every second. He looked about ready to just fall asleep. Bruce seemed to realize the lack of noise, glancing around the room.

“Where are the boys?” He asked.

“Making a nest for us. I assume they’re in your room.”

“Mm, nest.” Jason sighed.

“Yep, we’re all gonna get sooo cozy snuggly in a big nest,” Dick affirmed, just to make Jason laugh. It worked. A few seconds later, he was dozing on Dick’s chest, Bruce still stroking his hair gently.

“What exactly is going on with Tim?” Bruce asked, now that Jason was asleep and wouldn’t worry.

Dick sighed. “I did some blood work, he’s got something going on with his hormones. One of the omega hormones is high, the other slightly low. It explains a lot of his symptoms, including the trance thing. I think it might be Styers syndrome, but Leslie would know for sure.”

“I see. That does make sense. Why was he upset with you?”

“I’ve been a little much, lately. He got mad because I told him he couldn’t patrol until Leslie cleared it, but I went about it the wrong way, and it just built on a frustration I think was maybe already there. We’re alright now, but we’ll need to talk more later,” Dick explained to his dad.

Bruce clapped him on the shoulder. “You guys will work it out, you always do. For the record, he absolutely can’t patrol until Leslie clears him, so really, you were right.”

“He knows and agrees, now. It was my delivery.” Dick explained.

Bruce nodded. “Well, I’ll call her later and see when she can see him. I’m a little worried this heat is going to have you all in a tizzy, with Tim being affected by our pheromones, and Damian so close to presenting.”

Dick laughed. “It will be okay, we’ll work it out.” Tim came to the head of the stairs then.

“Nest is ready!” Tim called down. Dick looked at Jason’s sleeping figure, hating to wake him up. He sighed, bringing a hand to his shoulder.

“No, wait!” Bruce stopped him, coming over to the other side of the couch. “I’m gonna carry him!” He said conspiratorially.

Dick laughed. “Bruce, there’s no way you can carry him. Especially not up the stairs.”

Bruce gave him a challenging look. “Watch me,” he said, scooping his son into his arms and standing with a grunt.

Tim squealed. “Ah! I can’t watch.” He ran down the hall, back into Bruce’s room as Bruce walked towards the stairs.

“This is crazy, you do know that, right?” Dick asked, following Bruce, stressing.

“It’s fine,” he said, starting to climb the stairs. He managed to make it all the way up without stumbling, and turned to Dick. “He’s my baby. I can carry all my babies.”

Chapter Text

Tim curled into the nest, watching in obvious thrilled amusement as his dad carried his roughly refrigerator-sized brother into the room in his arms like a tiny, delicate little pup.

Jason woke up when Bruce was almost to the bed, letting out a startled squeak at finding himself in the air that made Tim laugh. He seemed to accept his reality quickly though, settling back into Bruce’s arms, heat fully turning his brain to mush at this point. He would be so embarrassed if he were more lucid right now, and Tim found that hilarious.

“Put him here!” Tim insisted to his father, wiggling over in the nest to make a spot for his brother. He knew he was kind of acting like a puppy right now, but he just didn’t have the energy to fight it off with his whole family around him and happy. “I built the nest, so I get dibs,” Tim asserted.

Bruce smiled indulgently. “Oh, is that so?” He asked, sitting Jason down next to Tim, Tim immediately curling around him possessively. “Well, it’s a very nice nest, so I think that can be arranged.”

“I helped,” Damian groused from the side of the bed, not wanting Tim to get all the credit.

“You can have Jason’s other side, for your help,” Tim allowed with a false good nature, knowing that wasn’t what Damian meant.

Damian’s eyes went wide and his face flushed. “I want the edge,” he mumbled.

“You know the rules of nesting with your whole pack, Damian. Puppies and omegas in the middle!” Bruce asserted, winking at Tim, catching on to what he was doing.

“I won’t be a puppy for long,” Damian argued.

“Mm, no. You’ll still be a puppy. Just a newly presented one,” Dick inserted from the doorway, laughing at his brother's obvious ire. “Now, do you want to lie by Jason, or in between Tim and me?” Dick asked, not giving him another option.

Jason snarled from where he had, up until this point, been happily draped around Tim. Tim startled.

“My puppy,” Jason insisted, grabbing Damian’s wrist and yanking him into the nest unceremoniously. He rolled over onto him, pinning him. “You can’t have him,” he snarled over his shoulder at Dick, licking the side of Damian’s face once, much to Damian’s displeasure, and then making sure to cover him in his own scent.

“Uh, Richard?” Damian squeaked.

“You’re okay. He’s not going to hurt you,” Dick soothed. “Don’t move, just stay very still, I am slightly worried he’d scruff you,” Dick pointed out, slowly approaching the bed.

“Oh,” Damian tensed. “I really do not like that.”

“I know, so just stay still, it’s going to be fine,” Dick told him, still approaching the bed with his hands up.

“My puppy, mine,” Jason hissed to himself.

“Oh, so he can say it, but when I say it, it’s creepy,” Dick groused, rolling his eyes.

Jason looked up, meeting Dick’s eyes. “Close enough,” he grumbled at him. “My puppy. And..” Jason looked over at Tim, seemingly just remembering he was there. “My omega!”

Tim tried not to laugh. Instead, he keened, calling for Jason, like the good older brother he sometimes had the capability to be. Jason rolled off of Damian, going immediately to Tim and giving him much the same treatment. Tim pretended not to be delighted, but he loved it, wiggling happily where Jason had him pinned.

“Chum?” Bruce called, and Jason looked at him, some recognition crossing his face. “Dickie is your pack, remember? He’s one of your alphas, honey. So Damian and Tim are yours, but they’re his, too. Can you share? Let him in the nest to help protect your babies?”

Jason appeared to think it over, turning to Tim and leaning close to whisper to him. “Do you want the alpha?”

“Hmm,” Tim said, pretending to consider.

Dick whined his irritation, low and undignified.

Tim laughed. “Yes. I want them both,” he told Jason.

Jason looked stressed, wrapping his hand in Damian’s shirt as he tried to wiggle away. “Okay. Just for you..”

“You’ll like it, I promise. Our alphas are very good cuddlers,” Tim assured Jason, feeling slightly bad for messing with his brother when he was so foggy.

“May we get in your nest, Tim?” Bruce asked, coming over to Damian’s side of the nest and watching Jason carefully.

“I think we should just agree it’s our nest, because once you guys get close and start putting off pheromones in reaction to Jason’s heat, I’m gonna get too weird to give you permission to get in anyway,” Tim said, insecurities flooding back in now that he was faced with what was about to happen.

“Tim, honey. It’s alright. I didn’t mean it like that when I called it odd, it’s just a strong reaction. You’re not weird,” Dick told him.

“Okay…just…yeah. I’m sorry.” It really did make Tim feel better to hear. Like, emotionally, he was just extremely raw right now, and it helped to hear his brother affirm that he didn’t think he was being weird. This kind of thing came with a lot of insecurity for him, he wasn’t raised knowing about pack behaviors and healthily engaging in them, had a constant fear that he was doing everything wrong.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Bruce soothed, climbing into the nest. “As long as we’re all being respectful of each other's boundaries, no one is going to be shamed for any instinctual reactions or behaviors. This is pack time. You’re all okay.”

Dick climbed in on Tim’s other side, wrapping his arms around his middle. Tim tried not to melt into him as badly as he wanted to. Jason pressed his face into Damian’s neck, nuzzling into his scent gland.

“Mm, maybe be a little less tactile with the puppy, Jason. He gets touched out,” Bruce said, softly.

“It’s alright. He can,” Damian corrected, his face flushing. “He’s in heat. Whatever makes him feel better is fine.” He looked at Jason then, “just…don’t scruff me. Promise.”

“I promise, no scruffing,” Jason affirmed, still nuzzling. “Such a good puppy.”

Tim tried hard (and failed) not to laugh at Damian’s face, flushing deep red as he tried to bury it in Jason’s hair. Dick smacked Tim’s arm softly, but when Tim turned to look at him, he was also grinning.

“Shhh,” Dick whispered, winking at Tim. “You’re doing well, Jason. You too, Dami. You’re both being good, thank you.” He said, and Tim smiled when Jason started to purr. Tim would never admit it, but he started to feel a little jealous of the attention Jason was showering on his little brother.

Tim keened, quietly, and Dick’s arms tightened around him, stroking his stomach soothingly. His head started to swim, a bit, but he shook it off with determination, grabbing Jason’s arm and tugging.

“Omega,” he whined.

Jason turned to him then, fussing. “Do you feel left out, sweet thing?” He asked, clucking gently at him.

Tim decided, fuck it, he wanted his cuddles and this was the one time he could get them guilt-free, with everything swirling in his head. He nodded, pouting.

Jason rolled over onto his back, tugging Tim up into his arms, where Tim could lie with his head on his chest, and he nuzzled the top of his head.

“Shh, you’re alright. I’ve got you,” Jason soothed, like Tim was the one in heat.

Tim felt slightly bad, stealing Damian’s attention, but he chirped happily, rubbing his face into his older brother’s neck.

Damian yipped then, and it seemed to surprise him just as much as it surprised everyone else in the bed, other than Jason. Jason reacted without hesitation, pulling him into his other arm and letting him rest his head on the other side of his chest.

“Shh, both of you. I have enough love to go around,” He said, and Damian was very pointedly avoiding everyone’s eyes, blushing red as a tomato. Dick and Bruce somehow both pressed in closer then, without communicating, but boxing the three of them into the center of the nest. Tim physically felt the effect that had on Jason, the way he just melted, so happy to have the youngest pack members in his arms and his alphas within reach. Tim knew how good that felt, especially in heat.

Bruce started to rumble, and Tim’s head was spinning, getting extremely floaty. He didn’t want that. Not right now. No matter what Dick said, it was weird, and he knew it. He wanted to be present.

“Damian,” he called, and the pup turned to him, blinking sleepy eyes. “Can I see your hand? I need your wrist.” It was perhaps a testament to how affected Damian currently was that he offered Tim his hand without question. Damian might be on the brink of presentation, but as of right now, he still smelled almost entirely of puppy, and that’s what Tim needed. He took his brother's hand gently, pressing it to his face, where he could breathe in his brother’s milky puppy scent directly from the source, the scent gland at his wrist. Damian’s fingers curled around the back of his jaw, and Tim tried not to melt over it, just breathing.

It worked, for a while. Clearing his head even as it uncomfortably forced his mood from feeling like a pack-spoiled omega to a fierce protective caregiver, causing him to milk up pretty insistently. It was fine, he could ignore it. He just wanted a clear head. Speaking of milking up, Jason should start producing milk at any time, and that would be uncomfortable for him. Tim idly wondered what he would do, before Dick pressed in even harder at his back, and started to rumble. That was it. Pup scent or no, Tim lost his solid grip on reality, feeling his head get just as fuzzy as his two brothers were on pheromones.

The nice thing about it, though, was that he no longer cared that he was feeling it, he just felt blissful. Tim dropped Damian’s hand, wriggling up Jason’s side to his neck, where he pulled a small bit of skin into his mouth, starting to suckle it.

“Oh, does the baby omega want to nurse? That’s good. You’re too small, sweet thing,” Jason cooed at him, pushing his mouth off his neck and lifting his shirt while guiding Tim’s head down, encouraging him to latch. Tim did, some distant part of him acknowledging that it was maybe not kind to do this in front of Damian, but, well, it would make Jason more comfortable anyway, and he wasn’t thinking clearly enough not to be selfish.

His head cleared enough to feel guilty when the overwhelming feeling of pure longing slammed into Tim’s chest through their bond, almost painfully. The bond carefully, quickly shut down after that, but it was too late. Tim had felt it, so had everyone else. Tim made a mental note that he needed to offer to nurse Damian more, he hadn’t been sure exactly how to approach him about it outside his heat, if he would even still want it, but obviously he did. Like, very, very much so, did he, apparently.

“Don’t be jealous, puppy. You can too,” Jason told Damian, trying to tug his head down as well, to the other side, but Damian stayed firmly locked in place.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to,” he said.

“Jason..” Bruce started, but Jason cut him off.

“What? They can share. They’re very good, they won’t fight. Will you, puppy?” Jason asked Damian, looking at him with so much soft reverence. Tim just hoped Jason would remember none of this, because he would avoid them for ages if he did.

“You don’t usually like to nurse-“ Dick started.

“I want to. It’s uncomfortable not to, and he wants it. Why are you fighting it, puppy? Let me feed you.”

“…can I?” Damian asked, looking at Bruce. Tim had half the mind to feel guilty that no one had fought Jason on feeding him, but, well, again. That wasn’t as abnormal as wanting to nurse Damian.

Bruce sighed. “He did tell me I could give him whatever he asked for, in the letter,” he told Dick. “Go ahead.”

Damian didn’t hesitate, finally letting Jason guide his head down and latching with enthusiasm. Damian reached out, curling an arm around Tim’s back, and Tim and Jason both started to purr about it, instantaneously. It just felt real nice, objectively.

“Be careful, Damian. Gentle,” Dick fretted, before turning to Bruce. “What letter?” He asked, bringing a hand up to Jason’s hair and scratching his head gently. Jason got even softer over it.

Tim knew Jason just felt really, really good right then, is all, and that made him feel even better. The purring wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.

“Jason left me a letter, to tell me he was in heat,” Bruce answered.

“What??” Dick questioned, obviously lost.

“Don’t worry about it, the point is, I think this is fine. He’s obviously not upset about it.” Bruce gestured to Jason, protectively curled around his nursing younger brothers and purring up a storm about it.

“Yeah, I just, I don’t know. Feels like we should be careful. I don’t want anything to go wrong, or for him to be angry when he’s more lucid..” Dick mused, still idly scratching Jason’s head the way he seemed to like.

“It will be fine, Chum,” Bruce reassured. “All we can do is follow his lead, and if he wants to tandem nurse, well, who am I to stop it? It’s good for them, anyway. Their bonds, and hell, Tim probably needs the nutrients even more than Damian does, right now.”

Tim heard his name and tried to pay attention, but then Damian started to puppy rumble, and really, that seemed much more important. He brought his own hand to his brother's back, patting gently.

“Yeah, probably. He’s not eating, Bruce. I don’t think he’s had anything today. He was supposed to fast for the labs, then we fought, and he was in his room until Jason got here. I’m trying my best, but he’s just not getting better,” Dick stressed.

“Leslie will know what to do. You can’t stress so much, it isn’t your responsibility. Besides, Tim made it fairly clear that he needs us to stress about him a little less, right? Maybe there’s just too much pressure. We can give him some space, he’s shown that he’ll ask for help when he needs it,” Bruce suggested, starting to run his fingers through Damian’s hair. The rumbling increased, much to Bruce’s delight, and to Tim and Jason’s.

“Objectively, you’re right, and I know I’m doing too much, but I worry he won’t, and if I don’t push it, he’ll just wilt away to nothing. He works so hard,” Dick shared, anxiously clutching at Tim.

Jason picked up on the change in his scent, whining.

“Shhh, don’t worry so much. It’ll be okay. We just have to trust him. I think it’s important that we show him we do, right now. You’re stressing Jason out, be calm.”

“You’re right, sorry.” Dick chuffed softly at Jason to calm him, which worked pretty immediately.

Damian stopped nursing, curling into Jason’s side and falling asleep. Tim himself was still going, sluggishly, but he could feel sleep coming for him, too. He couldn’t focus at all on Bruce and Dick’s conversation, even though he knew it had to do with him. He figured if it was something important, well, someone would fill him in later.

“I didn’t think he’d be like this,” Dick whispered to Bruce. “So…maternal. I thought he’d be more panicky, I guess.”

Bruce snorted. “Do you remember his early heats? He claimed you as his puppy, didn’t let you out of his sight, pinning you in the nest and keeping me out until I convinced him I was no threat to you, and you were twice his size then. Now he’s got a real puppy packmate, and a packmate that isn’t quite a puppy but needs a lot of the same amount of emotional care a puppy would, plus Lian. I’m thrilled that he’s still like this. It means…well, it means that my son is still in there somewhere. That that man…that monster, he didn’t take all of him from me. Neither did the league, nor anything that came after,” Bruce choked out, suddenly emotional.

Dick reached out for his father, running a hand over his arm. “You’re right. He’s perfect.”

That was the last thing Tim even half registered before he fell asleep, too.

When Tim woke up next, his head was clearer. Jason and Damian were still asleep, and Bruce too, surprisingly. Dick was up, lying on his back, scrolling through his phone. When he noticed Tim was awake, he set it down on the nightstand, turning and giving Tim his full attention.

“Hey, Timmy,” he said, with a gentle smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Mm. Good,” Tim answered, voice coming out scratchy. He rolled away from where he was curled around Jason, going instead to lie by Dick. Dick smiled at him, grabbed a water bottle off the nightstand, and offered it to him.

Tim took it and tried to crack the seal, but his sleepy limbs weren’t cooperating. Dick took it back, going to open it for him, but then froze. Tim could feel his stress through their bond.

“It’s okay. You can open it for me, I don’t mind,” he said, voice still extremely scratchy. Yeah, that water would feel nice, so, anything to get it quicker, he told himself.

“Sorry,” Dick apologized with a smile, cracking it open before handing it to Tim. Tim guzzled the water, eventually sputtering on it, and Dick immediately went to pat his back, before again, freezing and putting off an air of stress.

“Quit acting so weird,” Tim blurted, immediately blushing tomato red and flinching. Just maybe his head wasn’t as clear as he thought, because that was not a well-thought-out statement, clearly.

Thankfully, Dick just laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m just…not exactly sure what your boundaries are.”

Now, it was Tim’s turn to be stressed. He really didn’t know how to explain what was going on in his head to his brother right then, that's the thing. Everything just felt so hard, and so, so raw. He wasn’t feeling secure at all, but didn’t feel like he could ask for reassurance. He truly didn’t know how to explain that he liked Dick taking care of him, that he liked the physical affection, the nicknames, the fussing, but that he needed to feel like they didn’t really think he was a baby, that they knew he could take care of himself. He didn’t know if it was okay to want those things, to still want to feel…treasured, the way only Dick could really make him feel, while still feeling competent.

His distress must have shown on his face or in his scent, because Dick’s face took on that soft look, and he held his arms out for Tim. Tim dove into them, tucking his head and fighting the tears.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, Tim?” Dick asked softly.

Tim sniffled. “I just- I don’t know how to ask you for what I need,” he answered, just as quiet.

“Anything. You can ask for anything, Tim. I’d do anything for you, just tell me what’s on your mind, don’t worry about how it sounds,” Dick reassured, squeezing him.

“Do you trust me?” Tim asked, hated how broken it came out, but, well. Dick told him not to hold back.

“Oh, Tim. I trust you implicitly. More than anyone else on the planet, maybe,” Dick breathed, pressing a kiss to Tim’s head before tucking his head over it.

“Even though I’m an omega?” Tim asked, holding his breath.

“Oh, Tim. Oh, baby. Of course. Of course that doesn’t change anything, were you worried about that?” Dick sounded just as broken as Tim did, and Tim especially hated that.

“Not really, it’s just…well, it feels a little bit like you don’t trust my judgement, or you think you’re in charge of me, and the only thing that changed is presenting, so…”

“That isn’t it at all. I’m just- I’m scared, Tim. We almost lost you, and it was fucking awful. I held your basically unconscious body as close to mine as I could in the car, all by myself, and I didn’t know if you were gonna make it. If it was going to be our fault, if you didn’t, because we didn’t make how dear you were to us clear enough. I’ve already been through that once, I couldn’t do it again,” Dick gasped, and Tim realized then that he was crying. Tim reached up, brushing the tears away while Dick continued. “And now…now, the thing that almost took you away from me is still affecting you, and I logically know that the scary part is over, but I’m still so worried. I’m so sorry that I’ve been so bossy, that you thought it was because I didn’t trust you. I do trust you, and I know you’re doing your best, and I’ll do my best to show you that. I won’t baby you so much, I promise.”

“Well, it’s not…it’s not the babying, so much. Not really. I like feeling like you care. I just thought- I thought that I had to act like I don’t need the cuddles and the nicknames and the scenting, to get you to trust me again, but I’m really, really bad at pretending that, because I do want it, I do like it, I’m just worried it’s wrong for me to want it,” Tim finally confessed with a small whimper. Finally given permission, Dick wrapped his arms around him, tight, pressing him as close to his chest as he could.

“Of course it’s okay to want it, Tim. It’s natural. Your pack is supposed to be a safe place for you to get that stimulation, angel. We will never think anything differently of you. Taking care of you helps me just as much, I love being your big brother,” he reassured.

Tim felt so, so relieved, curling up in his brother's lap and knowing that nothing was wrong with him, knowing for sure that Dick didn’t think any less of him.

“We’re going to see Dr.Leslie as soon as this heat is over, Tim. Bruce is gonna call. She’ll know what to do, and everything won’t be so hard, anymore. It’ll still be different, your body needs to get used to being an omega, but it won’t be so hard, especially emotionally,” Dick told him. “After that, well…I think we’ve all been doing a lot better, I know we have, being all together like this is proof, but, well…I think maybe family therapy might be a good idea.”

Jason groaned from his spot in the nest, wrapped around Damian but apparently awake. “Count me out,” he insisted, obviously feeling more clearheaded too.

Tim laughed. “You were awake for that?” He asked.

Jason had the decency to look sheepish, at least. “Just the end of it. Sorry, I figured you guys needed that.”

“No, it’s good. Thank you,” Tim said, coming back to Jason’s side. “How do you feel?”

“Mm, better. A little sore, but honestly, this is the least torturous heat I’ve ever had, maybe. I’m not even leaking or anything.”

Tim looked guilty then, and Jason’s eyes went wide.

“Oh my god, I nursed Damian, didn’t I?”

“I mean, technically, it was both of us? So like, I’m sorry?” Tim squeaked.

“No, no, it’s good, I’m just…remembering all that and oh my god, I’m acting like a total freak, this is humiliating.” He covered his face with a moan.

Bruce seemed to be awake, too, now, grumbling low in his throat. “Don’t talk like that.”

“No, but I am. I’m mother-henning worse than Dickie does, oh god. I can never show my face again.”

Tim giggled, and Jason shot him a dirty look. “What? We know it’s just your heat. Your reputation as a badass is intact.” He lay his head on Jason’s chest. Jason brought his arm up, wrapping it around him.

“It better be,” he grumbled.

“Okay, but, seriously,” Dick butted in. “Family therapy.”

Bruce scoffed. “Absolutely not.”

“But-“

“No.”

Tim giggled, snuggling Jason tighter. In that moment, he couldn’t be happier.