Robin whooped as he flipped off another roof. Sure, Batman had his whole silent-as-the-night shtick, but Robin thought they deserved a chance to celebrate. After all, they had just finished sending Ivy off to Arkham again with hardly any casualties.
He waited for Batman to appear on one of the rooftops behind him before cartwheeling off the edge of his own, leading the way back home.
He was stopping to let B catch up again when he caught the scent. "Hey, B," Robin said in the comms. "Do you smell that?"
"No," B growled. "And you shouldn't be able to either if you followed the rules like you're supposed to."
"But B," whined Robin. "I can't smell anything. And you know I hate that."
"You're supposed to keep it on until decontamination. There could be something on your clothes that you could breathe in."
"There's not!"
"You don't know that for sure."
"Considering I never once got near a plant that spat things at me, I'm pretty confident. But enough about that. I smell an Omega."
Batman grunted. "They'll probably head to the nearest Omega shelter."
"But they smell so scared, B. Can't we at least make sure they're alright? What if they get jumped?"
Ahead, Batman paused before he shot off another grapple. He sighed. "Fine. We can go check on them."
Robin grinned.
"But put your rebreather on! They probably still have pollen on them."
Robin scowled but slipped his rebreather over his nose. A hop, step, and a jump later, he was in the alley where the scent was strongest. "Hello?" he called.
There was no answer.
"Is anyone there? It's just Robin. Are you alright?"
Still no answer.
Robin shuffled forward to the pile of boxes and knocked a few of them over. There was nothing behind them, but that was definitely where the scent was strongest.
Batman landed silently behind Robin. "Did you find them?"
Robin shook his head and unclipped the rebreather to search for the scent again. Immediately he was assaulted by the lingering stench of terror.
Robin coughed and held his nose. He could still smell it and it was making goosebumps break out over his skin. They needed to find this Omega. And fast.
Batman let out a slow breath.
Whoops. That was his you-did-something-wrong-and-I'm-frustrated-with-you-but-I-can't-do-anything-because-I'm-Batman sigh.
"Robin," B said slowly. "Why did you take your rebreather off?"
"Uh, to find the Omega?"
"Why did you take it off right here, where the Omega was hiding, where he could have contaminated something?"
"Um, because this is where the scent starts?"
"You couldn't have walked to the end of the alley, or gone up to the roof before taking it off so there's less chance of contamination?"
"Oh. Well, I feel fine."
B grunted. "Don't do that again."
Robin saluted. "Sure thing, B. Now come on. We got an Omega to find." He sprinted down the alley and across the street. Before he managed to duck into the other alley, he was scooped up by the collar of his uniform and spirited away to the roofs.
When they landed, Batman let go of Robin and slipped his own rebreather off. "We can track the scent from up here. It's safer."
Robin groaned. "Fiiiine."
Batman took a step and paused. "The Omega's a pup," he said. "And there's an Alpha with him."
"What? Really? Then we gotta save him! He's terrified, B."
Batman nodded and took off across the rooftops. Robin followed, hot on his heels.
Half a mile away, the scent disappeared into an old abandoned apartment building. It was dark—which wasn't all that unusual for Gotham—and crumbling. Several "No Trespassing" signs were posted on the fences around it.
It was the perfect place to take a kidnapped, in-heat Omega for some…privacy.
Robin shivered. "B," he whispered.
B just nodded toward the building and dropped onto the pavement in front of the building.
They needed to be fast. Batman would start at the bottom and work his way up while Robin would start at the top and work his way down. Anyone they came across was more likely to run down and find Batman than they were to run up and surprise Robin. Not to mention the scent had started on the ground floor and B was more likely to be able to follow it and find the pup and their abductor first.
Robin shimmied through an air duct and landed on the top floor. He couldn't smell anything in that room so he scoured the rest of the floor.
Nothing.
He found just as much on the next two floors. He updated B, who revealed the same results.
As Robin slid down the railing to the next floor, he started to doubt. What if they were in the wrong building? What if the Omega and their captor had gone into this building, only to slip out and go somewhere else? They were wasting time here.
Robin picked up his pace. He searched a few more rooms with no luck. He was just about to comm B and suggest leaving when he finally caught another whiff of the Omega's scent. This time, there was less of the rotting scent of leavemealone-scared-help and much more sweet heat and bitter ithurtssomuch-pain.
Robin growled and ran down the hall, following the scent. "B, I think I found them. I'm on the sixth floor. They're in apartment 621."
"Acknowledged," Batman grunted. "Do not engage alone."
Robin kept running. He was going to help that Omega. He could take care of himself.
"Robin. Did you hear me? Don't engage."
Robin still didn't answer.
The scent was getting stronger. He was almost there.
He darted around a living room corner and into a hallway. It looked just like all the rest of the apartments except the bedroom door, where the scent was emanating from, had broken plaster and abandoned furniture piled against the door. It would take at least ten minutes to move and make plenty of noise in the meantime.
Robin growled and looked around a bit. He could make noise to scare whoever was behind the door and hopefully they would leave the Omega alone long enough for rescue, but that also left the possibility that they would escape if there was another door.
He crept closer.
There was a crack in the wall near the corner of the wall, away from the door. It would lead straight into the room. It would be Robin's entry point. Robin approached the crack carefully, silently, and sniffed. Yep, this was definitely a way in. But it was too small for adults. Which meant the Alpha had somehow managed to pile the debris in front of the door after they had gone in the room. Or there was another entrance. But Robin didn't have time to look for it.
He peeked through the crack, trying to see what was on the other side. It was pitch black. He could hear breathing but that was all. The pain-ithurts-help scent was even stronger. So was the Alpha musk screaming possessiveness.
"B, I found a crack in the wall. I'm going in."
"Robin. Wait for backup. We don't know what's in there."
"I can smell him, B. He needs help."
"Robin—"
"Just get here fast."
Robin slipped through the crack. He fiddled with his domino and turned on the night vision. Now he could see a little better.
Most of the room was empty. He could see a pile of random supplies—water bottles, clothes, and random junk—in one corner. Nearby was a pile of blankets. The Omega puppy was sleeping in them.
Robin stepped forward and swept his gaze around the room again. He definitely smelled the Alpha so he was still here, or at least, hadn't left too long ago.
A growl came from the pile of blankets. Too low to be the Omega pup, but too high to be a very dominant Alpha. Which left a coward.
If this Alpha was so weak that it had to resort to kidnapping puppies to find a mate, then even as a newly-presented Alpha, Robin was more than confident he would be able to win a challenge battle.
Robin answered with his own growl. His vision went red. His ears were ringing. The Alpha had forced the Omega to stay in the nest with him after he had done…done that.
The opposing growl got louder and the bundle of blankets shifted. In a blur of motion, the Alpha—a much smaller Alpha than Robin was anticipating—shot out and attacked.
Robin met the attacker with a challenge howl and they fought with nails and teeth.
The Alpha swiped at Robin's face, aiming a punch at his abdomen at the same time.
Robin blocked both and held tight to the Alpha's wrists (they were tiny, why were they so small?). He leaned his weight forward to pin the Alpha to the ground for a submission bite.
The Alpha landed hard, wheezing as the air was knocked out of him, but bucked his hips and got a leg between himself and Robin. A kick to Robin's chest left him just as breathless as the other Alpha.
Robin backed off, coughed once, then charged before the Alpha had time to get up. He was going to win this fight, for the Omega, for the puppy. He plowed into the Alpha's legs, toppling them both.
The Alpha's head hit the ground with a smack. The Alpha whined.
Robin hesitated for a split second. There was something odd about that whine.
He tried to think past the fog that clouded his brain.
The Alpha used his distraction to wiggle his legs out of Robin's grip, kick at his jaw before scuttling away on all fours.
Robin dodged the kick and pounced, entangling the Alpha's legs with his own and wrenching the Alpha's arms behind his back. Robin leaned in before the Alpha could begin struggling again and bit down on the juncture between neck and shoulder.
The Alpha keened and went limp.
Robin panted hard. He still had the Alpha pinned. He growled one more time before he pushed himself to his feet.
The Alpha would stay down on his own for a few minutes. Robin had to find the Omega, make sure he was safe.
His mind was starting to clear. His vision widened from single-minded attack focus to encompass the entire room again. He could hear the pup crying in his nest, one hand pressed to his mouth as he tried to crawl out of his nest. Robin rumbled softly—safe-safe-protect-pack.
The little Omega cried louder. He stopped trying to get out and just curled into a little ball.
Robin knelt before the traumatized puppy and gently ran a hand through the pup's hair, lightly scenting him.
The terror-heat scent got stronger as Robin sat there. But now he could pick up another scent: protect-mine-safe.
Someone had tried to protect the pup. They had obviously failed.
"Please," whispered the pup. "Please. Please."
"Shh," Robin answered, gathering him into a hug. He was so small! How was he old enough to present? "It's alright. You're safe now."
The puppy whimpered.
"It's okay. It's alright. I'm Robin. What's your name?"
"Jason," the pup whined. "Jason. Please."
"Jason? That's a good name," said Robin.
The pup shook his head against Robin's chest. It couldn't have felt good against the hard Kevlar. "No," he whined. "Please. Jason. Don't hurt him anymore."
Robin was confused. "Your name's not Jason?"
The pup shook his head again and let out a pack call.
The call was answered from across the room.
From the Alpha Robin had just won a challenge fight against.
The Alpha's call tried to turn into another snarl but quickly petered into a whine followed by quiet sobbing.
Robin's head whipped around to stare at the Alpha.
Now that the half-rut fog had cleared from his mind, he got a better look at the Alpha.
He was tiny, almost as small as the pup in Robin's arms. Because the Alpha was just a pup as well.
Robin had just dominated a child.
"Stop," the Alpha croaked. "Leave him alone. He's just a pup. Take me instead."
Robin's grip on the Omega loosened in shock.
The Omega took the opportunity to fling himself at his Alpha and they curled around each other, both crying quietly.
This felt like a dream. Robin just kept staring at the two pups, cowering in a corner, one in the middle of a pollen-induced heat and one recovering from a submission bite. They were cowering from the Alpha that had just attacked them in their safe place.
They were cowering from Robin.
All three flinched when the crack that led to the room widened suddenly and the room was bathed in soft light.
Batman slipped through, holding a glow stick.
Robin stared at his mentor with huge, horrified eyes. "B," he choked out. "I think I screwed up."
Batman looked at Robin, then at the pair of pups quivering together. "Report," he grunted.
"I thought he was an adult," stammered Robin, "and I guess he did too and he attacked me. I went into a half-rut and just kept fighting him and got a submission bite." His voice got quieter the longer he talked until he was only whispering. "But he's not an adult and he was just protecting the pup. And now they're both terrified of me."
His throat felt thick and clogged. He wanted to curl up with B in their nest and forget this had ever happened. He wanted to go over to the pups and comfort them. He wanted to disappear into the floor, never to be seen again.
B sighed. He turned away from Robin and stepped toward the puddle of puppies, picking at the edge of his scent blocker. A wave of Alpha-protect-pack-home-safe filled the room and Robin couldn't help but relax a bit. B knelt to one knee out of arm's length from the pups.
They stopped crying—though one or the other would sniffle every few seconds—and stared at Batman.
"It's okay," said B softly. He pointed at himself. "I'm Batman and—" he pointed at Robin. Robin waved— "that's Robin. "We're trying to help."
The little Alpha growled wetly. "You don't get to help him." His voice dissolved into a soft sob again. "Please. Don't hurt him. You can have me instead. I won't fight. Promise. Just let Tim go."
B choked on a whine. His scent shifted to horror-disgust for a moment before it went back to protection. "No, baby. We're not going to do anything to you. We just want to make sure you're safe."
"Fine," said the older pup. "I'll come with you…and—and be…safe. Just leave him alone."
Batman shook his head. "I can't do that. I can't leave a pup all by himself. Do you really think he would be alright on his own? While he's in heat?"
Both pups started up another round of whimpering.
Robin took a step forward to comfort them.
They flinched at the same time Batman held out an arm to stop Robin.
Robin's face fell. Of course they wouldn't want him near. He had attacked them in their safe space. And now they thought they were going to be abducted.
"Alright. It's okay," soothed B. "But it's not safe here. We were able to follow your scent trail easily. There are probably a lot of other Alphas who could do the same. And they won't stop after one bite."
The Omega whimpered and hid his face in the little Alpha's chest. "It hurts," he whispered.
Robin pipped up, still keeping his distance. "If you come with us, we got medicine and stuff to help it stop hurting. And B's got all kinds of blankets you can use for a nest."
Robin could see the little Alpha glance between the dynamic duo and his pup, considering. Robin really hoped they would decide to go with them. It would be so much safer and he would have time to apologize properly.
"Alright," said the pup quietly. "But you don't get to touch him! I—I won't fight. Ju—just don't touch him. Please."
Batman nodded. "Okay. No one's going to touch him. And we won't touch you either."
The little Alpha looked unconvinced.
Robin felt his heart break. He knew he had gotten started on the wrong foot with these too, but the untrusting nature that had been burned into this pup went long past Robin's ineptitude.
"What're your names?" B asked.
The Alpha shifted uncomfortably. "'M Jason. That's Tim."
"Nice to meet you, Jason, Tim. Would you like to come home now?"
Because they were taking them home. And Robin didn't want them to leave. They were Wayne puppies now.