Garfield woke in utter darkness, sinking into the downy soft mattress that signified his current masters' bed. He shifted, ready to get out from underneath the arm thrown around his waist, but the strong hand splayed over his naked hip drew him into the comfort of the body behind him.

"No," Dick said with masculine authority. The alpha was semi-erect underneath his cotton sleep pants, but there was no sign he was interested in congregating. In fact, both Dick and Bruce limited the copulation vastly to his last heat. He knew kid gloves when he saw a pair and these two were literally a pair.

Garfield reached out in the darkness and touched the bare chest of another alpha, Bruce. The man caught his hand, drew his knuckles to his mouth and gently pressed a kiss to his skin before tucking his hand up against his body. Now he was extremely trapped between two overly-hot bodies. He didn't need to touch lower on Bruce to know he also wore sleep pants.

They were better than Lobo, but it left him confused. They didn't want his omega traits. He held his breath, trying to fight the inner panic when Dick squeezed his thigh and Bruce squeezed his hand. Neither alpha was asleep. The room was too dark to tell if Bruce had his eyes open. He couldn't tell about Dick, even if he turned to look at him. He slowed his breathing.

"What are you thinking?" Dick's fingers danced so softly over his skin, tracing his hip down the dip of his pelvis, but never touching him in his personal regions. The alpha was careful how he touched him outside of the heat, as if it would add to the objectification, but nothing could change what he'd been through and who he became due to it.

He swallowed. "Alpha would not be please with this omega's thoughts."

"Garfield," Dick sighed against his neck. His fingers moved up Garfield's torso and into his hair, carefully pulling the strands away from his neck and ear. "Take ownership of your name. Omega doesn't suit your personality."

"Please," Garfield whispered. Dick pressed his lips to the back of Garfield's neck. He pressed his body back against the alpha, hoping both alphas would do something he'd be more familiar with, more so than what they actually wanted from him like the person he'd been before Lobo.

Dick placed a hand on his hips, stilling him. "I will do this for you outside of heat, when you actually want it from me. Until then, I won't allow you to use this in order to avoid conversation. Something really bad happened to you, and that's due to the very little society understands about omegas. I could've protected you better. If it hadn't come as a surprise, you wouldn't have run."

He would've ran from this, before he realized how utterly amazing an alpha's body heat was. Dick and Bruce did nothing to hurt him, yet he still felt odd to be back at the mansion as more than a guest. Bruce squeezed his hand as if sensing his thoughts. Both men were too perceptive.

oOo

Dick sat in the plush chair, staring just beyond the Justice League appointed therapist's shoulder. The older man diligently took notes, asking few questions and letting him talk. He wished the therapist would interrupt him, but the man allowed him to fill the room with noise, which was nothing less than his voice.

"I'm exhausted. Nothing you suggested, works. Garfield refuses to sleep in the bed if he's not knotted. He will go straight to the floor and won't take any blankets. I can't leave for school or work because he only eats if an alpha tells him to so Alfred is spinning his wheels. I don't know how to put balance into our lives. I don't know him anymore," Dick rattled. He hated when he rattled. It made him feel like a child. Bruce could convey years of research into one word. He didn't glean that talent.

"You need an alpha to babysit," the therapist said.

"What alpha would be willing to babysit an omega? Most alphas would feel it was beneath them…" Actually, he knew one alpha that would be willing to do it. He sat upright. "Excuse me, I need to make a phone call."

"Send Garfield in," the man said.

He nodded as he pulled his mobile phone from his back pocket. God, he really hoped this worked, because he was running out of options. He opened the study door and stared at Garfield sitting in a plush chair. The markers were untouched, the white printer paper was unblemished and the three books they carried in for him to read while he was waiting hadn't moved from where Dick left them on the edge of the coffee table.

"Garfield, it's your turn," he said.

Garfield stared at him with the biggest emerald green eyes before pulling himself up out of the chair. At least he stayed in the chair this entire time. The last visit was like all the others, ending with him coming out to tell Garfield to go inside and finding the omega on the ground in his omega waiting pose.

Garfield walked by him, careful to keep their shoulders from touching. Dick waited in the doorway long enough to see if Garfield would take a seat in the chair without being told. He didn't. He waited with his hands placed in front of him. This was why they changed therapists three times in two months.

"Sit, Garfield," the alpha therapist said. The omega fell into the chair with his hands in his lap.

Dick inwardly sighed and shut the door, knowing that the therapist had very little chance of getting Garfield to open up. He opened his pocket notebook and jotted another note to a list of places that might get Garfield to open up; Zoo.

oOo

Garfield sat in front of the television, though he hadn't been watching it. The alphas found old reruns of his favorite cartoons, but animation no longer held much interest for him. With his head bowed, he listened to the soft voices. Master Bruce and Master Dick didn't talk like normal people. Their conversations were brief and cryptic. Their conversation was about him, always. They wanted him to pick his own clothes and dress himself. They wanted him sitting at the table, eating with a fork or spoon; drinking from an adult glass not a plastic kid cup. They wanted him to read the newspaper and hold conversations. They wanted him to lay in a bed and stop waiting for them to tell him what to do. None of that, he could do.

The harmonious doorbell chimed and the estate grew momentarily alive, though it was only the four of them present this morning. The therapist left, along with his primary care physician. He couldn't remember what day it was, but he was sure the private instructor for the Omega and Me yoga class wasn't today. Jesus. He hated that yoga class. It was more about touching than anything and Lobo never touched him outside of sex. It felt awkward now, having someone want to constantly hug or hold him and he knew he was disappointing his masters. He could see it in the few times he looked up from the floor.

He listened to Master Dick's clothing as he left the space. The visiting room wasn't far from the door. Sound traveled in the estate's hush; bolts being unlocked and the sound of the door opening.

The voices were low, but he caught the surprised hitch in Master Dick's breathing. "You all came?"

There came an answer. The group entered and the door was shut. Garfield sniffed the air, catching the scent of incense, motor oil and warm sugar long before the group entered the room. He kept his eyes plastered to the floor, though his memory would never forget the smell of his team. His face burned with embarrassment. He wished the floor would swallow him whole. He didn't want anyone seeing him like this.

"Man, this is cruel. You make him sit like a waiting omega?" Cyborg asked. His sass made the last word go up in question.

"It's not what you'd think," Dick sighed. His master signed a lot, sometimes vocally, but mostly with his shoulders in the smallest of movement. "Look. I need to get to school before I get kicked out of my classes for the semester. Can you look after him for the day?"

"Dude, not a problem," Cyborg said. "But can you get him out of that pose?"

Garfield's jaw tightened. He refused to sigh least any of the alphas took it as discontent. Master Dick and Master Bruce had yet to hurt him, except for forcing him into humiliating therapy and yoga classes. And for what? Who didn't want a properly trained omega… except maybe them?

"I'm working on that," Dick said, annoyed. "Look. He needs to eat. If you don't tell him too, he won't. He might not go to sleep until someone gets home. I give," he stopped talking, to heave another vocal sigh. There was a heavy weariness to it. "I give any of you permission to comfort him. I prefer he sleep in the bed, but if you can't manage it, there is a large dog bed on the floor. Make sure he sleeps on it."

Comfort? There were many forms of comfort for an omega, but Garfield wasn't like all those omegas in the badly outdated handbooks. He was a good omega, much like Alfred. He was a service animal, but he did not need love or comfort or anything else his Masters thought were needed.

"We got this covered man. Go do what you have to do," Cyborg said.

Dick crossed the room and leaned down, kissing him on the forehead and rubbing his fingers under Garfield's chin. "I'll be home after class and my internship. Try to have fun, Garfield. Cyborg use to be your best friend."

His master left. He had no idea where Bruce was, though he could guess the older alpha was equally consumed with his affairs. That left him alone with three alphas, all of which had very distinct smells. It should've been alarming, but it brought a sense of familiarity and almost comfort. He stared at Cyborg's metal feet, aware that Starfire and Raven were floating. They gave off a temperate wave of energy like a radiating pulse so timid, it was easy to ignore like the brush of a breeze from a fan.

"Okay! Everyone heard friend Dick. We must set our alarms for every fifteen minutes for a feeding!" Starfire said. Up close, she smelled more like vanilla cupcakes than the scent of sugary kool-aid like he originally thought.

"He's not a baby bird, he can go without eating every fifteen minutes," Raven said. She smelled like sandalwood, sage and the dark arts which wasn't as sour as he originally thought when he first met her years ago. "I'm not dealing with an omega who is overfed and throwing up."

"Besides, we can't eat every fifteen minutes or it will get in the way of what I have planned," Cyborg said.

oOo

"Do it! Do it!" Cyborg chanted.

A mega-large, double decker pizza was in front of them with a mug of root beer to refill their cups. Two years ago, he would've been up for the challenge, but Cyborg obviously didn't get the memo. He couldn't eat this stuff. Lobo would be so mad at him. So he remained with his hands in his lap, stuck in the curved booth seat between Starfire and Cyborg. Raven sat at the edge, ready to get the hell out on a moment's notice.

"Maybe we should chew his food first and vomit it into his mouth," Starfire said.

Raven rolled her eyes. "He's not a baby bird."

Cyborg grabbed a slice, letting the cheese ooze over the pie cutter as he moved the offering to a plate. The smell was intoxicating. Garfield found his mouth watering, which was bad. He gritted his teeth. His willpower was limited. Raven was explaining omega customs, something he really didn't want to listen too, but caught the tail end of "so rare, but not birds".

"Okay, you know what you got to do," Cyborg said. "If you eat this pizza, you'll get us twenty free tokens just like the old days."

But these weren't old days and he couldn't turn into something that could swallow the pizza whole. He glared up at Cyborg before he caught himself, but his old best friend started laughing. The quiet females made him uncomfortable. Garfield glanced at the table, then immediately regretted it. There was nothing to look at that wasn't filled with temptation.

"Garfield, you eat or I'm going to force you to eat," Raven growled. Her magick bubbled around him, black as her demon soul, but not unfriendly. The bubbles burst with loud pops, but bubbled around him again in warning.

"Garfield," Cyborg said. "Last warning, dude."

Garfield tentatively touched the food in front of him. It'd been a favorite of his years ago. His stomach growled. He raised the hot dough to his mouth and took a small bite at the edge. The melted cheese, tomato sauce, mushrooms and black olives made his eyes roll to the back of his head with pleasure. This was good. Almost better than sex… almost, except now he was having sex with two alpha superheroes and it was so much more comfortable and enjoyable than it had been with Lobo, but he wouldn't allow himself to get complacent or comfortable. He couldn't forget his sole mission now that he was an omega, though neither alpha held him to those standards. It was now up to him to hold himself to those standards.

Garfield glanced up and saw a familiar face moving among the games. He stared hard, but the crowd swallowed the person in question. The hairs on his arms rose in response to the flashback. He glanced at the team he used to be close to. They were swallowing pizza quicker than he ever would now with his training. He stared at the pizza on his plate and then back up at the games, willing that familiar face to take root again.

"Dude, you have to be hungry. We'll play games in a moment," Cyborg said, misreading the situation as he clapped him gently on the shoulder.

It wasn't an invitation to eat, but he picked up the pizza, chastising himself for the rudeness as he inhaled the greasy, cheesy triangle. He wiped his fingers on the napkin, noting the grease, than glanced up again when he felt tension at the crown of his head. It was consuming. He looked up and found the same person staring at him. It'd been a few years, but Kyd Wykkyd looked wonderful. Garfield swallowed hard, suddenly nervous and self-conscious about who he'd become.

Kyd wasn't wearing his villain costume, but he'd recognize him anywhere, even in jeans that hugged a lithe waist and a long sleeve, button down shirt that accented his shoulders and tapered waist. His hair was short and spiky. His eyes were crystal clear and sharp.

Garfield's heart pounded with adrenaline and excitement. Another omega was in the same vicinity, how rare an actuality, besides Alfred whose behavior was confusing at the best of times. He opened his mouth then promptly shut it. It was too daring for a trained omega to speak without being spoken too. Everything inside him pounded with adrenaline and fear. He swallowed it because this was so important.

He opened his mouth again and suddenly he had everyone's attention. They were practically leaning in to see what he would say. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Bath… bathroom."

"Yes, of course, do you need us to go with you?" Starfire said.

"He's got this, Star. He's a Titan," Cyborg said, with a firm hand on his shoulder.

Garfield blushed. He hadn't been a Titan in years, and the stone in his stomach said he wouldn't hold up in a real fight. Cyborg moved out of the seat and he easily slid out, feeling the weight of their eyes on him as he made it through the bleeping and whistling game systems that begged for players or were even louder due to the players. The game room was dark and as soon as he was around the corner, the air shifted, popped and opened with Kyd standing in front of him. He was in motion before his mind thought better of it. He threw his arms around the man who was now, taller and more solid than him, sturdy in the shoulders and torso.

Kyd's arms wrapped around him, slow and unsure, but finally his hands took purchase and pulled their bodies close, body heat mixing with scent, but Garfield didn't care. The relief in his chest gave way and he snorted with a burst of laughter and sadness. Kyd held him tighter and nuzzled into his neck, silent and reassuring.

"I didn't know what happened to you." Garfield cleared his throat the second he felt his eyes tearing. There was no reason to cry as he pushed Kyd at arm's length, but Kyd caught his wrist, making it impossible to push him any farther away. Those expressive eyes said so much. Garfield shrugged. "Yeah. I'm okay."

Kyd's eyes slid to his neck where the collar clung to his throat. He barely felt the weight of it anymore. It wasn't the worst thing he had to deal with and there weren't bruises. The doctor declared at his last visit that Garfield was two pounds closer to a healthier weight.

"I'm okay. They aren't that bad," Garfield said. He chuckled at Kyd's raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I didn't think I'd be saying that, but, you know, it's not as bad as it was."

He saw the news report the first week he was at the Justice League's private headquarters. The news kept repeating the details on the attack at the hospital, the one that he caused when he pressed the fire alarm and ran into the main part of the hospital. He'd been pregnant and scared. Now, no longer pregnant, he carried the guilt of his actions. He put so many people at risk when Mammoth came through like a tornado.

Kyd pulled him in again, but this time, he wasn't prepared for the gentle kiss that was far too intimate. Garfield gasped and Kyd slid his tongue between his lips. It was brief, but said so much more than words could express. The ex-villain let him go and he stepped back to catch his breath, surprised and completely confused by the action. The kiss was so gentle and it made his heart flutter. Kyd was wild and free. He swallowed. That's when he smelled it, another alpha that was extremely close.

He pushed Kyd behind him out of a habit he thought he lost years ago. Terra kept her distance with her gloved hands raised in momentary surrender. It took only a second to realize the new situation.

"She's your alpha?" he asked, under his breath.

Kyd nodded. Terra's blond hair was longer and curled over her shoulders. Her three inch heels made her tall and lean, like a model in spandex. He stood frozen. Was she friend or foe? Kyd didn't seem worse for the wear. The omega squeezed his arm in reassurance, but he couldn't calm his instincts.

Terra kept her hands up to placate him. "We've been looking for you for years. We can help you get out of this."

She nodded towards his collar and his hand instantly went to his throat.

"I need it," he said, barely above a whisper. He was talking back… to an alpha and she didn't frown or show any anger for it. Her face remained soft and her body language approachable, like his ex-teammates. Everyone wore kid gloves with him, even a possible enemy. It was awkward.

"We can figure this out together," she said. "Come with us BB. We have a halfway house for omegas looking to escape their owners. We can get you setup in a community that is safe without omega laws."

"Where are there no omega laws?" His voice was growing steadily stronger. Omega islands were just a rumor.

Terra smirked, "Omega laws only apply to omegas. So stop being an omega."

Garfield's brows furrowed. He glanced back at Kyd. He was an omega, at least when they met back at the junkyard… but he didn't smell like any gender now.

"Hey, what's going on?" Starfire said. Her energy filled the space with white hot, electric currents that stretched out like a bubble. The video games glowed with the extra energy.

"Terra!" Raven hissed.

Kyd reached for Terra and him. Garfield subconsciously stepped back, out of his reach and shook his head. Kyd's dark eyes went sad, and the two disappeared in a flash. He remained by the wall, holding a hand to the collar and tried to remember how to breathe.

"Are you okay BB?" Cyborg asked.

BB, Beast Boy, a name that he thought was completely lost and though he heard it more times today then he had in years, suddenly it clicked. He was still a changeling. He nodded and allowed Starfire to wrap an arm around his shoulder. She wanted to be protective, but he hadn't been afraid of Kyd and strangely, not of Terra either.

They lead him back into the chaos of the arcade. The combined sounds instantly became the soundtrack of his inspiration fighting for space among his thoughts. But could he still be the type of individual he wanted to be or did that interfere with what the alphas thought he should be?

"We should get home," Raven said. The fun was over. "I don't want to be the one explaining to Dick that Kyd Wykkyd is back and he has an alpha alliance."

Alpha alliance? That was a definition he wanted to ask about, but the alphas were somber and he had no interest in trying to talk before he was spoke to, at least not yet.

The car ride back was strained.

oOo

Garfield sat on the couch since the last alpha in the house became super insistent about it. Plus, Cyborg was once his best friend. It had to be okay to sit next to the large and strangely empathic ex-teammate. Cyborg didn't give off heat, but the gears in his chest gave the slightest humming noise, not similar to a heartbeat, but radiated life just the same. He caught himself leaning in, every time the sound started to lull him to sleep.

If Cyborg noticed, the alpha said nothing. They were watching something silly, something he'd love two years ago. A small portion of the scenes made him laugh and he tried catching himself, but the sound burst out, strange and familiar and a twist of so many exotically wrong things about being a trained omega that was now making noise. Cyborg clapped him on the back and chuckled too, but said nothing against it as they fell back into a comfortable silence and watched Space Monkey's a spinoff from the Banana Monkey game they loved playing.

Cyborg nudged his shoulder. "You know dude, you've never been at a loss for words. I'm surprised you don't have something to say right now."

Garfield shrugged and Cyborg frowned. There had been a time when there was nothing that couldn't be discussed between them. That was before he knew what it meant to be omega. He shifted under the weight of Cyborg's sympathetic stare.

"What do you want to talk about?" He offered. Too many strange things happened today and he was still confused. Even now, he treaded on thin ice speaking so openly with an alpha.

Cyborg's brows rose. The man was nothing if not patient. "I don't know. Anything I guess."

Anything. What a broad term. Garfield shifted on the couch to face the alpha that was half machine and half man. He remained the same, right down to his shiny, metal fingers. Garfield hesitantly reached out and brushed his fingers against the metal, expecting it to be cold, but the wires within gave the metal a humanlike heat. Cyborg remained still, allowing him to grow familiar with something he'd known years ago. He brushed his fingers through Cyborg's metal fingers, feeling the solidarity of the metal in its resting state.

"Can… can alphas control themselves?" he asked. Both Bruce and Dick seemed very controlled, but he couldn't remember all the details of those few days and nights.

Cyborg shifted. He didn't look uncomfortable, but his body was heavier than most and even if he couldn't feel the miniature annoyances of being more human, he still acted as though he did. "Most alphas can control themselves to a point, but instincts are hard. Like when I saw Terra today, I wanted to fight and protect. It's a weird feeling, but you have very strong protective skills too. You don't lose your hero status because you present. You were born and raised to be a fighter."

Garfield blushed and turned away, catching a shadow at the edge of his vision. When he turned full on to look at the person who joined them, it took a second to register that it was Dick back from his internship. Garfield's heart shot to his throat as he slid from the couch and sat on the floor. He barely caught disappointment in Dick's face and felt even guiltier.

Cyborg stood. The couch and the wood floor moaned from his accustomed weight. "We ran into Terra and Kyd Wykkyd at the arcade." The silence stretched when he paused. "There was no real trouble, but they didn't stick around once we showed up."

The silence stretched. Garfield risked a glance upward at Dick who silently sighed. "Were you able to have a nice time out before that?"

"Yes." There was warmth in the word, like the days when nothing mattered beyond video games, pizza and bad guys.

Garfield's heart fluttered with the memory that didn't just warm his skin, but warmed his very soul. He glanced up again when Dick stood in front of him, but the alpha's attention was on the other alpha.

"Thank you for staying the day," he said. His voice was low and full of masculine heat.

"No problem. I'd like to play video games here next time," Cyborg said. "Maybe see if Alfred can stock more sodas. I want to be hyper when I'm playing."

Garfield watched Dick's face while the alpha wasn't looking. The smallest of smirks quaked the edges of his lips. It was nice. The alpha nodded and Cyborg left the room and then the house. The minute they were alone, Dick pulled him onto the couch and resumed the television watching. He smelled like the summer heat and a fast food lunch, though not even the slightest bit of grease made it to his clothes. The gel in his hair gave with gravity making the spikes less spikey. Underneath the outfit, perfect for any young man going into business, was all hard, warm flesh.

"Did you enjoy your day?" Dick asked.

Garfield hummed softly in agreement to the question. It earned him a very small, comforting squeeze that made him wonder why he hadn't ended up in his leader's arms so much sooner, besides training when he'd end up tossed to the floor with Robin straddling him and frowning, encouraging him to fight harder. Was he the only person that changed? Because it almost felt like that's what Dick was doing now, encouraging him to fight harder. He wanted to ask, but couldn't.

"Did Terra threaten you?" he asked. The questions were simple, but nothing simple crossed through those vigilant eyes. Dick was thinking hard, piecing together what the alpha and omega would want and why Kyd didn't just run off with him again like he had so many years ago. He wondered that too, why they didn't push harder for him to follow.

Garfield shook his head no. They'd been openly concerned, about his predicament, but they didn't know how far worse it'd been only months prior. He sighed, feeling something strangely familiar in the way it warred with his conscious, as if both omega awareness and self awareness were no longer lining up. He bit his lip and forced himself to go boneless against the alpha.

Dick subconsciously held him tighter, pulling him in closer.