A/N: Consider this to be post CA:TWS/Thor: Dark World and not Age of Ultron compliant. Oh, and it is totally AU in an A/B/O world. Backstory on this A/B/O verse is included as you go, but feel free to let me know if it wasn't clear enough!
I wrote this for Darcyland Secret Santa on Tumblr. bulmavegotaku - I found this so difficult to keep at a one-shot, so I hope you enjoy anyway!
When I moved into the Avengers Tower, my tour started out as a hybrid between self-guided and not since my tour guide was an AI named JARVIS, and he couldn't exactly walk around with me. We'd made it from the tower lobby, to the elevator, and the ride up alone and as planned. About two steps into the common floor foyer, and a redhead popped up in front of me.
"Hi," she said, peering curiously at me.
"Hi," I responded.
Either this woman had the best suppressants known to man or something was off with her because she didn't have any kind of scent at all. And even betas usually had a scent detectable by omegas.
"I'm Natasha," she told me, and my mind immediately took the name and filed it under Holy-Shitballs-That's-The-Black-Widow. I thought I managed to keep the curiosity and panic off my face, but her husky laugh told me I had failed. "Yes, that Natasha. And no, I don't have a designation. It was taken away from me when I was just a child."
"Oh," I frowned at the information. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm not. Not anymore," she told me before she started walking. From her body language, it was clear that I was to follow, so I did.
"Alright, up this flight of stairs you'll find a series of floors belonging to Tony at the top, penthouse level. Bruce is one below, and then Clint and I are one below that. Obviously, Tony is an Omega, and he's bonded to Pepper. Bruce's designation got wiped out in the incident that created the Hulk, but, just an FYI, the Hulk himself is an alpha. But don't worry, that's way less dangerous than it sounds. He knows he can't mate with humans. Clint is a beta, but we're married since we can't bond."
You see, many years ago, like Revolutionary War times, there were no alphas, betas, or omegas. But gradually they'd started popping up around the turn of the twentieth century,m. So around the time Captain America and his buddy Bucky were born, society was only beginning to understand that something was happening. And they didn't understand what. In fact, it wasn't until Steve Rogers became Captain America, and some sort of super alpha, that the world started paying attention to those changes.
It was estimated that in 1940, only about 5% of the population had a designation of alpha or omega, and everyone else just was what humans always had been. And the chances of an alpha actually meeting an omega, and finding a compatible one were quite low. So marriage was still the norm. By the time 1989 rolled around, things had balanced out a bit more. Then 30% of the population had a designation, and that was enough that the third group had been given a classification as well- betas.
Everyone was generally able to determine another person's designation by scent alone. There was a defining quality to an individual's scent that was alpha, beta, or omega as appropriate, and was only rarely missing. Usually that meant someone was blocking their scent (often an omega nearing heat who didn't want to attract unwanted alpha attention). Beyond those base scents though, most people would smell either indifferent or bad to you. A compatible match (or matches), however, smelled delicious and the scent was almost impossible to ignore if it was anywhere in your vicinity.
As it had been discovered that betas were capable of bonding with each other, an alpha, or an omega, marriage had started to fall by the wayside. Most considered bonding to be the ultimate promise of forever, as it was extremely difficult for someone to reverse a bond, so most didn't even bother with the marriage ceremony.
Still I could see why if your designation had been stripped, you might take comfort in a marriage ceremony. I couldn't imagine how that was done to her, but the woman standing in front of me's face told me that she didn't want me to ask the question nor did she want my pity.
Instead I nodded my head, and she continued giving me the rundown. "Thor and Jane are on the floor immediately below this one, and you know that they're a bonded alpha and omega. Under that is Captain Rogers and Bucky Barnes. They're a bonded pair of alphas but are surprisingly stable."
Alpha/Omega or Alpha/Beta/Omega relationships were considered to be the most stable configurations. Beta/Beta pairings were really dependent on the couple because the strength of their bonds were usually highly variable. Omega/Omega relationships were rare, but they were still considered to be much more stable than Alpha/Alpha matings which were few and far between.
Regardless, it was possible for alphas to be with alphas, but those relationships tended to be volatile, prone to fighting and extreme shows of… passion. More often than not they fizzled and died without at least a beta to smooth things over between the two alphas. An omega was greatly preferred. I wondered if it was something to do with the Super Serum that made Steve and Bucky able to sustain such a relationship, but I figured "good for them" if they made it work.
And probably it was good for the world to see a functional Alpha/Alpha relationship as they had a bad reputation and were therefore often discriminated against.
"They insisted that an entire floor was too much space," Natasha was telling me. "So Tony put a guest suite in part of their floor. That's where you'll be staying, but don't worry, everything is completely separate. And they're both stand-up guys. You'll be safe from them. Not to mention that Tony has the best air filtration system money can buy, so you'll be safe enough from each others' scents, if you find them to be compatible. I'll take you down there shortly, but I wanted to show you this area first as most of us spend the bulk of our free time here, and you're welcome to do so as well."
She quickly moved about the largely open space showing me the huge kitchen and telling me that I was welcome to anything in it, and to just let JARVIS know what I wanted to add to the shopping. When I asked if I could cook for the team, she told me I was certainly welcome to but didn't need to feel obligated to do so.
"What about having guests?" I trailed off, distracted by the delicious intertwined scents of vanilla and cinnamon. Not sure I wasn't drooling, I watched as Captain America and Bucky Barnes himself strolled in looking all muscular. They had clearly been working out because their scents were thick enough that I felt as though they were wrapping around me like a warm blanket.
"Hmmm, what?" I asked Natasha, aware that she was trying to get my attention. Forcibly, I shifted my gaze back to her.
"You asked about having guests. Did you mean someone in particular or having a party?" she asked, smirk on her face.
"Oh, I meant my boyfriend, Ian. He was my intern back when Jane and I were still in England. Then you know, Thor came back, we did the whole evil space elves thing, and then Ian sort of became my boyfriend," I trailed off lamely, well aware of how dubious I'd just made our relationship sound.
Bucky looked cocky as he said, "must not be an alpha because I can't smell a damn thing other than you, Beautiful. You smell like a shortcake Steve's Ma used to save up to make for his birthday, and not a hint of alpha on you."
I looked over at Steve who was nodding enthusiastically, and all I could mutter was, "he's a beta."
Steve just smiled sweetly and said, "well, let us know if you decide to shake him loose because, Cookie, I can already tell you're everything this jerk here and I have been looking for."
"I have a boyfriend," I stuttered lamely, internally freaking out over the fact that the specimen that was Captain America was interested in me. He and Barnes were each about a fifteen on the hotness scale that went from one to ten, and together they were just unrankable. Me, I figured I was an eight on a good day when my clothes fit just right and my hair was behaving.
"We heard you," Bucky told me, sounding not at all concerned. "The Punk here's just telling you to keep us in mind. Just in case you get lonely somewhere down the line."
After that, Steve and Bucky popped up everywhere. Sometimes individually and other times together. Anytime I needed something reached off of a shelf that was too high, one of them was there to get it for me. At times it seemed like whenever I wanted something, they would have it ready and waiting for me. It would have been spooky if it wasn't sweet.
And I didn't know how to bring it up with Tony, but his state of the art air filtration system definitely wasn't made with super soldiers in mind. To me it seemed like their scents were everywhere, usually mingled together and tormenting me with the idea of being with both of them in every way and every place imaginable. Somehow their smell even followed me into the science labs when I went to work.
The months rolled on, and from time to time I'd find myself imagining what it would be like to actually be with Bucky and Steve. We spent a lot of time together, but they were always so careful. They'd brush against me and get into my space, almost as though they were reminding me that they were there and alpha, but they never pushed or made me uncomfortable. It was an effective way of respecting my relationship choice while making sure to stay firmly out of the friend zone.
As though two alphas who smelled that good could ever be in my friend zone.
Ian was cleared to visit the Tower, but he rarely did, complaining about the "alpha stench" that lingered in my apartment and the common rooms. Of course, when I defended them saying they smelled good, things took a turn for the worse in our relationship. From then on, he rarely dropped by my place, and he stopped even walking me past the lobby after our dates.
It all came to a head at the beginning of a movie night that I'd whined until Ian agreed to attend. I'd spent hours cooking up all my favorite appetizers and treats, as well as any that I knew the others tended to favor. When Steve and Bucky came in and saw me putting together strawberry shortcakes, they got dopey smiles on their faces and swiftly started helping me. We worked together harmoniously, and it just seemed natural when I ended up finishing early with their assistance and found myself chatting happily between them on the couch, waiting for everyone to arrive.
I was laughing at a dorky joke Steve had made when the elevator doors wooshed open behind us. Turning, I saw Ian and tried to force my natural smile and happiness to stay on my face as I rose to greet him.
"Am I interrupting something?" he hissed in accusation as I pressed myself in for a quick kiss.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Steve and Bucky paying us no mind while they chatted with the rest of the team who had also begun filtering in.
"What? No!" I rushed out, internally wincing at how unconvincing I'd sounded. "Bucky and Steve just helped me with the food, and we were relaxing and celebrating our success while waiting for everyone to get here."
A look of pure disdain crossed Ian's face, and he told me, "I don't want to do this anymore, let's go out."
Immediately, I stiffened up and put my arms across my chest, "do you have any idea how much work I put into this? It's difficult enough to find a date that will work for the team, let alone getting Pepper and Jane to also be able to attend. I've been cooking all day, and I'm excited. There's no way we aren't going to do this. Come on, they're the only family I have left."
I didn't care that I was begging at that point, and Ian obviously didn't either. "No. We're leaving. This was a stupid idea, and you're an omega, so we both know you're going to do what I want in the end."
Ah, there it was. Stupid Ian fell into the ignorant belief that "omegas are weak and submissive, and their opinions come last."
He reached out and latched onto my arm. When I pulled back, I couldn't help the surprised yelp of pain I let out as he tightened his hold and tried to drag me out of the room and onto the elevator. Motions inhibited by anger, I tried to get loose while digging into the holster on my belt Natasha made me promise to always wear to try to unhook my taser, knowing that hitting him with it while he was holding me was a bad idea.
As much as I'd thought they weren't paying us any attention, Steve and Bucky were there in a flash. Bucky grabbed onto Ian's arm with his metal one and twisted and applied pressure in such a way that Ian had no choice but to let me go. The instant I was free, Steve gently guided me back and safely behind him.
Bucky slammed Ian into the wall, and got in his face, growling. The noise was dangerous and low at the same time, and I couldn't tell if there were actual words leaving him or just sounds. Thor angrily strode forward and said to Bucky, "let me take care of this disgrace who would hurt and bully a gentle omega so. You and Steve make sure Darcy is okay."
In that moment I realized that I was crying, and Bucky clearly heard it. His head tilted to the side, and he tensed, growing at Ian one more time before letting go. Looking over at Thor and seeing an angry rest of the Avengers team behind him, Bucky nodded and swiftly moved over to Steve and I. Steve stayed protectively between Ian and I as Bucky swept me up into his arms and walked steadily away. Over his shoulder, I watched Steve stand guard until we made it out of sight, and then he appeared before me once more in a rush.
Instead of taking me to my apartment, the guys took me to theirs. Probably I should have panicked at the gesture, but I felt so safe with them and knew they would always protect me above all else, even if it was from themselves.
Steve rushed ahead of us, presumably opening doors as I nuzzled into Bucky's neck and took deep, slow breaths of his scent. Belatedly, I realized that Bucky had slid with me into their oversized bed, and Steve joined us from the other side.
I rolled onto my back, and their hands drifted over me, reassuring themselves that I was uninjured even as they buried their faces in either side of my neck. There they seemed soothed by my scent as they pressed kisses and occasional nips so gentle I could barely feel them to the skin they found there.
Deep in my throat, a whine formed and eventually broke free. In response, the guys eased back and took turns pressing chaste kisses to my lips and forehead. Steve pulled me so that I was resting against his chest, and murmured gently to me, "that was traumatic, just rest. We aren't going anywhere."
I instinctively took them at their word and reached back to find Bucky's metal hand with my own flesh hand. Intertwining our fingers, I pulled it over my hip and around me, so he was forced to spoon into me from behind while I snuggled my front into Steve. Content in my alpha sandwich, I complied and drifted off to sleep.
What I'd intended to be only a nap turned into the best night of sleep if had in a very long time. At least until the nightmare struck.
In my dream, I was running away from the Dark Elves, but this time instead of Ian being there to smash them with a car, they caught me. One was latched onto me and had my arm firmly gripped in his hand.
With his free hand, he reached up and pulled off a mask to reveal that it was actually Ian. In reality, that would make no sense, but as I was firmly in the hold of the dream, I started to panic about Ian being evil all along.
For some reason, Dream Me called once for Thor but then started screaming for Steve and Bucky when he didn't come and I couldn't get free. Eventually, my little bit of self defense training from college and a few sessions with Natasha kicked in and I reared back, punching him in the face.
As soon as my fist connected with something tangible, I woke with a start. Steve had my fist encased gently in his own hand, having caught it when I took a swing at him.
He released my hand, and I brought both up to rub over my face, "Jesus, sorry."
Bucky was still cuddled up around me, rubbing my arm soothingly, and he told me, "that's okay, Darcy. Believe me, between the two of us we understand about nightmares."
"Want to talk about it?" Steve asked gently.
Sitting up, I shook my head and said, "London mixed in with my brain working out last night's events."
Bucky was looking smug as he said, "you were calling for us to help you."
Shrugging I said, "maybe it's because I could smell you in my sleep. And every damn day for the past couple months in every corner of the Tower at that!"
I caught Steve giving Bucky a look, and pointed a finger at him while mock accusingly asking, "what did you do?"
"Well," Steve rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down at me, eyes plaintive. "We said we wanted you to keep us in mind, and I may have suggested that we stack the deck in our favor a bit."
"We made sure to linger in the hallway and common rooms when I knew you'd be by soon to make sure they smelled like us," Bucky told me.
"And the labs too!" I said with a laugh. "I never could figure out why the labs smelled like you when you usually do your best to avoid them!"
Bucky and Steve shared a perplexed look, and a few seconds later we simultaneously guessed, "Natasha!"
I laughed a little and when the silence fell, it was rife a mix of anticipation, hope, and also nervousness. Sitting up and leaning against their headboard I looked down at my fingers and made myself ask, "so…?"
"Awww, come on, where's my brazen omega?" Bucky cajoled. "Always willing to tell us exactly what she wants."
"She doesn't want to butt in anywhere she doesn't belong and ruin two very good friendships with some of her favorite alphas in the world," I said bluntly.
Steve cleared his throat in a way that had me looking up so he could catch his eye. "I'm pretty sure we made it clear from day one," he told me. "We're very interested in adding you to what we have, but we don't want to 'just sort of become your boyfriends.' So we'll give you some space if that's what you need, and when you're ready, we'll let the wooing begin. If you're ever ready, that is. If not, that's okay too. But you should know we'll be playing for keeps."
"Haven't you been doing that this whole time?" I asked in disbelief.
"No," Bucky said. "We've been trying to respect you and your relationship with that no good-"
He cut off when Steve elbowed him in the ribs and simply explained, "even if you weren't bonded, it wasn't right to outright try to take away someone else's girl. But now that we wouldn't have that same concern, we have more room to maneuver."
I thought about it, and I knew that things with Ian and I had been nothing more than a farce since I'd met these two gorgeous men sitting here with me. I also knew that I couldn't ask for two better alphas. They cared about me, listened to my opinions, and valued all of me, not just my designation. As long as there was actual chemistry between us, I was happy to take the leap and commit, knowing I'd never find even one person better for me. And this way I got two!
"Can I try something?" I asked looking between the two.
I could swear Bucky was reading my mind with the grin he shot me as he smoothly answered, "whatever you want."
Because he was the first to answer from where he was still stretched out on his side on the bed, I decided he got first kiss. Leaning down, I eagerly captured his lips with mine. For about half a second, I had control of the kiss, and then Bucky took over. His tongue was determined as it pressed its way into my mouth, but once inside his tone switched from urgent to teasing. I allowed myself to just enjoy the sensation of kissing him for a few minutes before pulling back when I heard Steve groan behind me.
Easing back, my lips had barely left Bucky's when I felt Steve's hands grab onto my hips. He spun me carefully around, and once I was facing him, he set a demanding pace with a kiss of his own. As I lost myself in that kiss, I felt him pressing me back into Bucky who eagerly wrapped himself around me from behind and took up pressing kisses to my neck.
When he pulled back and looked down at me eyes blown wide with lust, I stayed where I was, smiling up at him.
"I know what I want," I reassured both men.
So saying, I lifted up my hair to give them easy access to the bonding glands high on either side of my neck. I was hoping they'd trust me instead of debating or insisting on dating even though I knew what I wanted, and I wasn't disappointed. They shared a look over my shoulder then both moved in to bring me officially, completely into their bond.
Best. Decision. Ever.