A/N: So I love this pairing, even though I've never actually read any of the Batman comics. So if anything seems too off-character or more OOC... that's why! Also please note that this story deals with Alpha & Omega aspects!
Edward Nigma fidgeted in his seat. The dingy hard metal of the chair teetered slightly from side to side, and the Riddler glared at the companion sitting at the unbalanced, and quite frankly damaged, recreational-room table across from him. The other man was new in Arkham, new since two weeks ago, and obviously sick in the mind as he had, and continued to, gush about his beloved Alice.
There was something unsettling about the man, and Edward felt his nose twitch a bit. A sweet scent, like apple-cinnamon, lulled from the other man, and Edward frowned in displeasure. The scent was just sickening and it was surprising to see that no one had jumped at the chance to claim this clearly ripen omega. He interlocked his fingers together for closure and peered up at the other omega.
He half glared at the other as he made pleasantries with his alpha. He couldn't tell if his alpha was infected by the fowl stench emanating from the other or just genuinely curious of this mad individual.
Either way he felt a pang of jealousy course through him and he wanted nothing more than to snap at the other omega, and break his neck if need be. Especially as he observed the other's fingers casually drift over-top his alpha's own fingers.
His alpha, however, seemed unaware of the seemly tension between his own omega and this new prospect.
Edward groaned a bit and shifted in his seat. His mind raced bitterly as he felt a sharp pang below his stomach and felt himself growing increasingly heated. He lifted his right hand up and waved in front of his own face, fanning himself and finding just the teeniest bit of relief.
His hand waving caught the attention of the other two occupants at the table, and he lowered his hand in defeat. His body shivered and he felt cold sweat slide down from his brow.
A voice called out towards him, and Edward shook his head slightly. He turned to his alpha and noted that the steel-cold blue eyes were burning against his own.
"Are you okay?"
Edward wanted to snap at the question but could only shake his head as he wondered why his body was acting out. His alpha, however, stood quickly and silently.
"I'll be right back," he murmured before slinking away.
Edward groaned more openly now that his alpha had disappeared. He placed his arms onto the table and laid his head on his arms, squirming as another wave of random spasms hit him.
A hand, cool and soft, gently touched his clenched left hand, and the Riddler glanced at the hand before lifting his head up to squint at the other. The other omega smiled sweetly, his shaggy-like blonde hair curling behind his ears, making them seem bigger than they were, and his buckteeth sticking out made his face seem larger and more rounded as his grin grew wider.
Edward felt hatred course through him as he observed the other's peculiar smile.
"Eddie" the other began softly, "I'm not trying to steal Crane away from you."
Edward snatched his hand back as if it had been burned. "I never assumed you were," he muttered disdainfully.
The other omega kept giving him a wolfish grin. "Why else would you be going into a phantom heat, hmmm? This is clearly not the work of the Caterpillar's mushrooms."
"What the fuck, Tetch!" Edward stood up from his chair in a rush and accidentally knocked it over.
Other inmates glanced over curiously in their direction.
"Jervis," Tetch corrected, "My name is Jervis, Eddie."
Edward snarled and could feel an increase of sweat rolling down the back of his hairline and down his spine. The air suddenly felt very tight and stale, and the bright orange Arkham issued pants felt damp and constricting.
He swallowed thickly as Jervis studied him.
"Eddie calm down!"
"I-I," Edward babbled incoherently, while feeling the dampness of his pants become heavier. He stumbled backwards and found himself shaking a bit. He looked at Jervis, who seemed completely concerned for him.
"You'd take good care of him, won't you Jervis?" Edward whispered while his heart began to beat painfully.
"I'm not trying to steal your alpha, Eddie!" Jervis snapped, but the remark was lost on deaf ears.
Jervis cursed as the Riddler bolted, undetected, from the rec room.
A shadow fell over him and the table, and Jervis was startled to see Crane had returned. The alpha was holding a small bottle of aspirins in his left hand and he placed them on the table while looking bewildered at the absence of his omega.
"Where'd he go?" Crane demanded.
"He said he wasn't feeling well," Jervis mumbled, biting his bottom lip in worry.
"Ah, he could've waited until I got back with the aspirins, the stubborn fool."
Jervis blinked unsurely at Crane as the once brilliant psychologist lowered himself down into his vacant chair, seemly unaware of the predicament his omega was beginning to go through.
"Crane, I-" Jervis stammered, not sure how to place the proper words, "I think Eddie is about to have a phantom heat!"
Crane's facial expression was neutral, if not a little colder, and Jervis shivered underneath the stern look. Crane shifted himself up higher in his chair and looked like he wanted to attack the other man. Jervis shivered again and lowered his head down in act of submission.
"I would know if Eddie was going into heat," Crane snapped irritably.
"Phantom heat," Jervis corrected, "It's different than regular heat. It's brief and sometimes very painful if an omega is ignored by their intended. It can also be brought on by many different ways, most notably by an alpha biting them outside of a planned heat. Unfortunately, I think this phantom heat has been triggered by his territorial jealousy against me."
"Jealousy?"
Crane stiffened suddenly in his stead and Jervis could deduce silently that Eddie must have fallen into the beginning waves of his false heat. Crane swallowed thickly and licked his dry bottom lips in a futile attempt to collect his thoughts.
"Phantom heat?" Crane muttered.
Jervis nodded solemnly. "Go to him."