"Just need to hold it steady and..."
A loud knock the apartment door made Cisco lose his firm grip on the Lego and he dropped it inside the nearly complete battleship.
"God dammit!"
He got up from the couch and very calmly walked to the door. He wanted to rip the door open, but he couldn't. Couldn't risk exerting himself too much right now. Instead, he handled it gently, silently cursing whoever had the nerve to interrupt him and...
"Dante?!"
"Yeah, we arranged to get together tonight. Remember?" he flatly stated, blinking at the star wars pajamas.
"Oh, shit! That was today?! Oh, boy. Um," he let his brother in, scurrying off to the kitchen for his secret stash of money for ordering takeout and he started counting it out. Dante steps into the living room and sniffs, confused. The scent of motor oil, black silk coffee and cheap shampoo is everywhere. There's something else, too. He can pick up age, definitely older, definitely alpha. But what's that other thing? That was going to bug him until he figured out what it was.
In the meantime, he could address the other smell that he could identify.
"Alpha?" he called, stepping into the kitchen. Cisco winced and closed his eyes. He really should have known better. His shoulders scrunch up as he ever so slowly turns to face his brother. Cisco looks like he's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Dante throws his arms out slightly, waiting for a response. Then he spots the bite mark on his little brother's neck.
"It wasn't in my plans to tell mom and dad, so don't go spreading it around!" the other bites, pointing a finger at him.
Dante is flabbergasted. "But you bonded! You actually found someone willing to put up with you?"
Cisco groans, his expression drops and he plants himself down at the kitchen table. "Way to go, big bro. Your vote of confidence in me is just thrilling." It's flat, blunt, deadpan, pick something. Either way, it had Cisco slumped over the table peering up at him, a little hurt.
"Look, I'm sorry. It just came out of nowhere!" Dante sits down at the table across from him. "Who is he?"
"Oh, just a close friend...uuuhhh... Hey, want some coffee?"
"You don't know who he is, do you?" Flat, blunt, deadpan, again, pick something.
Cisco almost launches up from his seat, afraid of what he might be suggesting. "I'm not a slut! I know who the guy is! I don't just bend over for people! Why does everybody just assume that?! Just because I'm an omega doesn't mean-"
"-Whoa! Whoa! Cisco! Calm down! I didn't say that!" Dante is close to shouting, but he doesn't. Cisco's face softens, realizing he's lashed out when he shouldn't. He lowers his eyes and sighs, slumping further into the table and resting his head on his left arm. Dante hasn't attacked him, at least not deliberately. In fact the guy turned around after Cisco left their parents' home, trying to be somewhat supportive due to a guilty conscience. Which is more than can be said for their parents.
"I'm sorry. I guess I'm still getting over mom and dad... I'm trying, okay? It's just not that easy for me."
Dante swallows a large lump in his throat. "Why don't we do that Italian place you always liked? Rizzo's?" He's trying to change the subject rather than dwell on it. Cisco looks back up and smiles. He appreciates it.
"The baby doesn't like Italian," and it's said so softly that Dante almost missed it. Cisco bites his lip and gets up to finish counting money at the counter.
"Baby?!" So that was the odd tang in the air! "Does he know?!"
Cisco stacks the money nearly and grabs his cell phone. "Not yet. He's been...away on business."
Harry was back on Earth-2 prepping the lab so he could pass it over to someone else. Specifically Jesse. He's been gone for a while, too. He left a few weeks after Cisco's second heat when they bonded.
"We text. He'll call me when he needs a window home." The inside joke to his powers makes him chuckle. He dials for a Chinese place, places the order, enough for three people on a whim, and hangs up.
Dante sees the amusement in his eyes, and sees the utter love that he feels for this alpha. It's significant because Cisco hasn't expressed real love for anyone in years. Their parents are hardly deserving of it. And when he pulls his bottom lip in between his teeth, Cisco's eyes lower, become half lidded and hazy. He's remembering something. Dante could pick a memory if he wanted to, just to guess what his little brother was thinking about. Cisco's lower lip stays in his teeth, Dante doesn't move.
''So...you're not gonna tell mom and dad.'' It's a clear statement, and Cisco shakes his head in conformation. His parents don't deserve to know.
''Please. Tell them I'm pregnant? Can you see that conversation going down?''
Dante sighed, gave no answer and moved out to the living room. Cisco followed after about five minutes, with enough cash to cover the order. Dante eyes him. The haze is still present in his eyes. Something is rattling him inside; his lower lip is pulled back in by his teeth. He reaches up and rubs at a spot on the back of his head, twitching his eyelids a bit. An old head injury from years ago, and the cause for his need of contact lenses.
''Stop thinking about it, Cisco, it's in the past.''
The other blinks and shakes his head. ''Maybe for you.''
They sit and wait in awkward silence, trying not to dwell on childhood. There's a coffee table in front of them, where Cisco's battleship is sitting, nearly complete. Dante eyes it without much interest; he just needed something to focus on. A puny little red truck sits nearby, also made of Legos. In fact, looking around, there's a large number of Lego creations, from cars to ships to random scenes Cisco has created to pass the time.
''When is he supposed to back?'' Dante finally asks. Cisco has very clearly been bored and lonely going by the sheer number of things that have been made. Flowers, guns, animals, houses, the Tardis in a variety of sizes, a 2D version of R2-D2... Couches, race cars, helicopters, planes, miniature minions, fruit, a 2D Mario, Cisco was making anything and everything just to keep his hands busy.
''I don't know. I was planning on calling him later... When he gets back, I'm gonna have to take everything apart.'' It was a statement that was half whined and half humorous.
The clock ticks twenty minutes away and there's a knock at the door, signaling the arrival of their food. Cisco pays, Dante takes the bag and moves to the kitchen.
Two hours later, with the exception of three containers, all of the food is gone and Dante is grabbing his coat. Cisco watches him get ready to leave, afraid of what will happen when he gets home because he's covered in the scent of a pregnant omega. So his mother is going to find out one way or another. Dante picks up on it.
"Don't worry, I'm hitting a bar first. By the time I get out, the only thing she'll smell is alcohol and cigars."
Cisco nods, but it does little to douse his fear. That heavy, insistent, pounding knock is going to come at some point. Just a matter of time. Most omegas can't wait to tell their parents they're pregnant and bring their alphas home. Cisco feels like he's the only exception to the rule. He's dreading it and wondering how long he can hide it.
"Night, Cisco."
"Bye."
The door shut and Cisco dumped himself on the couch again, eyelids suitably heavy for the day he's had. Laying back and resting his head against a pillow so lumpy it should be a crime, he basks in the scent he can only recognize as his grumpy-ass, miserable-as-could-be, but perfect alpha. Harry was a grouch, yes. Harry could be a bigger dick than what he packed in his pants, yes. He was antisocial, robotic at times, chose to have a gray cloud looming over his head, Cisco could go on and on. And with every negative thing that came out of Harry, the more his brain screamed, ''perfect,'' ''mine,'' and ''I'm pregnant, he's the father, and I'm gonna give this kid everything mom never gave me!''
He's going to make a life for his child and give it all the love and affection that he never saw.
''Don't fall asleep on my account.'' Smooth, dry, and exhausted.
Cisco's eyes widen with joy and he grabs Harry's hand even though it's out of view. ''McKay! You fixed the Stargate!'' The groan that echoes through the apartment is totally worth it, in Cisco's opinion. The gate Harry used to get between the earths had been out of commission for a while and he'd finally solved the problem: one wire. One fucking frayed wire was the cause for the whole system crapping out.
''Yes, Sheppard, I fixed it. Cisco, I'm going to burn those DVD's.''
''I'll get new ones... Harry, what are you...!'' The older man has rounded and crawled onto the couch over him until his nose is buried in the nape of the Latino's neck, sniffing suspiciously. The engineer lays perfectly still, letting the alpha have this. There's his omega's scent pouring into his sinuses, and then there's a slight tang to the sweetness that is Cisco. This tang, he knows by heart. Harry drops his head against the younger's shoulder, inhaling deeply and moaning.
''Oh, Cisco... When were you planning to tell me?'' He nuzzles the crook of his neck and carefully shifts his weight so it's not bearing down on his stomach. The Lego battleship is spotted out of the corner of his eye as Cisco's arms embrace him tightly, eyelids fluttering shut at the warmth.
''Been keeping ourselves busy, have we?''
''You shouldn't have taken so long. Dinner's in the kitchen.'' Harry's home, Cisco is smiling, and for now, his fear of his mother is little more than a pile of dust.