A/N - TW: sexual slavery referenced. No non-con between main characters. Omegaverse.
Lemons ahead. Read at your own risk!
Standard disclaimer: This is a work of fiction for entertainment purposes only. Killing people is wrong. Don't do it.
Steph swallowed. The Alpha waiting for her inside the mating den was tall, taller even than B, and muscular, too, with a white streak of hair in the middle of his black locks.
He looked hot, in all honesty, but considering he was there to forcibly mate with her, Steph didn't consider his attractiveness a plus.
"Your omega's bed linens, Alpha," the Beta beside Steph said, handing the cotton laundry bag over to the Alpha looming over her. The Alpha took them without a word and held his hand out for Steph, who flinched and didn't offer hers in return.
The Beta took her reaction in stride, mentally pushing her into the den to her waiting Alpha with a strong burst of suggestive pheromones, and then wishing her a happy mating before sliding the door shut and locking it - from the outside.
Apparently they'd had an issue with an omega trying to escape yesterday, hence the new outer door locks. Steph wasn't surprised, but hearing the lock click was such a hopeless sound that she couldn't help shivering as she stood before the Alpha with her eyes carefully cast down into a submissive stance.
Her soon-to-be mate, the Alpha who'd purchased her like a sex toy, a breeding machine, a status symbol, surprised her by letting out a soothing purr. Well, maybe he wanted a more pliable fucktoy. It surely wasn't out of kindness.
Since the pandemic had decimated the world's population over the last year and left most betas sterile, the government had shocked the country by passing the hotly-debated Mating Laws a few days ago. Under the new laws, unmated omegas would be 'housed' by the government and 'paired' (read:captured and sold) to 'suitable unmated Alphas,' who Steph suspected would be not only the richest, scummiest Alphas in existence, but also the ones who best bribed the Central Care Center Alpha.
Because there were certainly not enough unmated omegas to go around, so having an omega to show off, especially full of pups, would increase any Alpha's social standing exponentially, not to mention the side benefits of reaping all of the financial incentives that the government was now liberally offering for each new pup produced.
Steph wanted to fight the Alpha in front of her with every fiber in her being, but she couldn't risk getting labeled as feral. The omega who'd almost escaped yesterday? The 3C-Alpha had coldly explained to all of the other inmates (Steph refused to refer to herself and her fellow prisoners as 'guests') that the recaptured omega had been marked feral and, as such, was "best suited to life as an unmated breeder" - and he wouldn't even get to keep his pups. They'd go to whatever Alphas paid the hefty fee for the privilege of siring them.
It was horrifying.
Besides, this Alpha who'd bought her held himself far too confidently, with the air of a trained fighter, and Steph was smart enough to know when she was beaten. Maybe it made her a coward, but she'd rather have as painless a rape and forced mating as possible.
She tried to keep her breathing as even as she could and to control her scents like her mom had taught her to do as the Alpha stretched his hand forward to cup her jaw and tilt her face up to meet his gaze.
"Spoiler alert," he said in a playful voice, making Steph jump, because there was no way this strange guy knew - he couldn't - but he was bending forward until his lips brushed her ear before he whispered, "Eggplant is my favorite color."
Steph stiffened. What. The. Fuck.
"That's nice," she said blandly.
"What's the matter, Blondie?" the Alpha chuckled. "You don't recognize me without the dashing red helmet?" Steph inhaled on a sharp gasp as her heart lurched.
"Hood?" she said in a trembling voice, hardly daring to hope, but he was grinning and saying, "At your service, omega," with a cute little half-bow that he was barely upright from before getting the wind knocked out of him by Steph flinging herself into his arms.
"How did you even know? What are you doing here? Oh, my God," she babbled in tear-filled relief as all of the fear and dread she'd been carefully hiding leaked out in tremors that she could no longer hold back.
But Hood's arms were wrapping her up tight in a bear hug, and he was purring and scenting her and emitting a flood of pheromones that promised so much safety and protection that Steph melted into him in a semi-hysterical mix of laughing and crying.
Hood scooped her up and carried her to a carefully constructed nest, plopping himself down inside of it with her in his lap, and oh - it smelled like spicy bergamot and crumbly yellowed paper and cigarette smoke instead of sterile 3C sheets - and Steph curled herself into a little ball in his arms.
"S'ok, Blondie, I got you," Hood rumbled, rocking her as he nuzzled her hair with his nose and pressed little kisses to her scalp.
"How did you know I'd been taken?" Steph asked him again, rubbing her runny nose on her arm.
"I went and asked your mom where you were when I didn't see you around last night," Hood said nonchalantly.
"Shut up," Steph said, staring at him. "You did not."
"You shut up," Hood grinned back at her. "I totally did."
"Why?" Steph gaped at him. "You didn't know I was an omega, right? I always wore scent blockers. Why did you go looking for me?" Hood stared at her with great amusement, like she was really, really dumb but in a super cute way.
"Sweetheart," he said very slowly, reaching a hand up to caress her cheek, "please tell me you had at least a little clue that I've been working up to asking you if I could court you."
Steph flushed a deep red, but Hood wouldn't let her dip her chin to look away from him.
"I mean, I knew you liked flirting with me," she mumbled.
"Uh huh," Hood said, his eyes twinkling.
"You were that worried about me after only one night without seeing me?" Steph said in a tiny, pleased voice. Hood smiled and pressed his forehead to hers, giving Steph the loveliest melty feeling inside.
"A night without you is a day without sunshine, Blondie," Hood said. "And anyway, when have you ever been gone all night from your mom's house?"
"Well, some enemies of my dad's kidnapped me this one time before you came to town, but my mom didn't notice I was gone," Steph muttered, looking sad.
A low growl slipped out of Hood's chest.
"You know their names?" he said with a ferocious look on his face. Steph bit her lip and slowly nodded. "Good," Hood grunted. "Make me a list when we get out of here. I'll take care of it."
"Ok," Steph whispered, feeling a tiny bit of guilt in her stomach, because she knew how Red Hood took care of people, but - well - she didn't want to be kidnapped again. Especially now that everyone knew she was an omega. Not to mention, there was something awfully cozy and delightful about a hot Alpha (who Steph liked) wanting to protect her, so despite the guilt, Steph found herself softly purring up at Red Hood.
He answered with deeper Alpha purrs of his own, and pulled her ever closer into him so he could scent her again, slower this time - over her hairline, her ear, her jaw, her neck - and Steph felt a rush of nerves as he gently inched towards her exposed mating gland, and he met her eyes with a smoldering gaze before leaning in and scenting that, too.
Steph shivered low and wet, and a little gasping moan slipped out of her, making her Alpha rumble back at her as he began pressing kisses to her gland and licking over it. Steph dug her fingernails into his back and arched her back as she let out a much louder purr while some slick gushed out of her onto her thighs.
Hood grinned against her neck before kissing that, too. He worked his way over her face and was about to kiss her on the lips when Steph suddenly jerked her head to the side and said, "Wait."
"Oh," Hood said, pulling back. "We can slow down. I didn't mean to rush you -"
"No," Steph giggled, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. "I don't want to slow down. I just want to know your real name before you kiss me." Red Hood began to chuckle along with her.
"Jason," he said, running his hands up and down her sides. "Jason Todd."
"Jason," Steph repeated, testing out how it felt in her mouth. "I like it," she smiled up at him, idly wondering why his name felt vaguely familiar.
"I like hearing you say it," Jason smiled back, beginning to lean in again before hesitating at the last second, his lips hovering over hers. "Now I can kiss you?" he double-checked.
"Now you can do a hell of a lot more than kiss me, since you apparently already figured out my name, stalker boy," Steph said happily. "But you can start with kissing," she grinned.
"So cute, Stephanie Brown," Jason mumbled with the hint of an approving growl as he closed the distance between their lips, not hesitating to slide his tongue into Steph's conveniently opened mouth. She moaned as he stroked his tongue along hers, and the tingles she'd started to feel when he'd scented her mating gland began sparkling through her core.
Steph pulled herself closer to Jason and kneeled in front of him on the bed, pressing her chest up against his while he kept kissing her, slow and sweet and dizzying, and she could smell his arousal thick all around her, and it was turning her on as much as his kisses, especially as his scent mingled with the smell of her ever-increasing slick and became absolutely intoxicating.
"'M sorry I can't court you the right way, Steph, like you deserve," Jason breathed into her neck, in between a trail of kisses. Steph shivered as Jason hitched up the ridiculous shift dress they forced all the omegas to wear, and when his hand made contact with her bare ass cheek, Steph supposed that not being allowed to wear underwear was maybe, just this one time, no longer the worst thing ever.
"You came to rescue me," Steph sighed against Jason's cheek as she looped her arms around his neck and collapsed against his gorgeously muscled pecs while his strong hands rubbed and caressed her butt, his fingers not quite dipping down into her slick but teasing her. "This is the best courtship ever," Steph said sincerely.
"Still, I'm gonna make it up to you when we get out of here," Jason promised with a sexy smile as he slid one hand up along her back, under her deliberately loose-fitting dress. Steph whimpered and leaned closer into Jason, making him smile.
"Aw, you like that, baby? I'm gonna pet you so good, omega," her Alpha purred at her. "Gonna make my good girl a soft little puddle in my arms," he promised, and Steph clenched her cunt on a reflex as more deliciously scented omega slick ran out.
"Please, Alpha," she whimpered, feeling the hormones that she usually fought to suppress rising to the surface.
Steph normally hated what Alphas did to her. She raged and fought against the urge to submit with all her strength, on a normal day. But now? In Red Hood's arms? Hell, in his nest that he'd made just for her? For the first time in her life, Steph let herself feel the hormonal rush of submission, and God DAMN, it was good.
A needy whine escaped her throat, and an answering growl came from Jason that made her stomach flip with anticipation and desire.
"Honey, I would have loved you no matter what your biology was," Jason rumbled over her as he gently reached for the hem of her shift and tugged it off over her head. "Hell, I was gonna court you even if you were an Alpha," Jason grinned at her, his sharp canines slipping out from under his lips at the sight of Steph, naked.
She purred and reached her fingertips up to them, tracing their points until Jason pressed little kisses into her palm.
"But sweetheart," Jason said, supporting her with his arms as he slowly lowered her down to the bed, "you being an omega? I'm the luckiest Alpha that ever lived," he said as he carefully laid Steph out in their mating nest, the nest he'd clearly made and scented himself with his own bedsheets and blankets from his den, because they were patterned and worn down from many washings, and deeply soaked with Hood's scent, much more than a quick swipe across his glands would have done.
Steph let out a happy sigh as the flood of Jason's Alpha pheromones washed over her, bathing her in protection and arousal and need and a craving for his touch. Jason leaned down and scented her mating gland again before sliding his hands from her shoulders down to her breasts, fondling them with both hands, making Steph gasp and moan.
"Jason," she whimpered as he gently petted and caressed and squeezed and pinched. "Alpha," Steph keened, her voice going higher.
"You like that, omega?" Jason asked her with a sexy smile. "You gonna let me fill you up with pups one day, make these beautiful breasts swell with sweet omega milk?"
"Yes, Alpha!" Steph whimpered, clutching the blankets under her as she writhed under Jason.
"Good girl," Jason growled, low and rough, before lowering his mouth to a tit and licking her nipple, slow and thorough, before sucking it into his mouth.
Steph howled in pleasure, trying to thrash her hips around underneath him, but Jason was kneeling over her, pinning her to the nest with his glorious thighs and teasing her sopping wet cunt with his still covered but rock hard cock.
Steph felt like a waterfall was rushing out of her into their nest, she was so wet, and Jason slid a hand down to her folds while he kept sucking on her tit. The raunchiest moan that Steph had ever heard slipped out of her own throat when Jason's fingers parted her, and Steph began to lose her mind as Jason traced a calloused finger up and down her slit while continuing to suck on her breast.
"Alpha," she panted. "God - Jason," she begged, feeling a decadent lack of control take over her that made her want - want - want -
All of a sudden, Jason's mouth and hand were gone, and he was tugging his shirt off over his head and unbuckling his pants, freeing his hard, thick cock that looked like it would fill omega up so full and perfect. Steph didn't even realize that she was making high, reedy whines until Jason was completely naked and he was chuckling affectionately over her, bending down to lick and nip at her ankles while he massaged each foot, slow and sensual, before stroking long, wet stripes of his tongue up her calf and massaging those, too.
He worked his way higher and higher up her legs, driving Steph crazy with impatience and increasing need, until he was finally inside her thigh, sucking a deep bruise before lightly nipping it with his teeth. Steph gasped and bucked against him, drowning in desire.
"Alpha, please, please," she begged.
"Such a good girl for Alpha," Jason rumbled before finally, finally giving into the temptation and licking omega's sticky, wet cunt, slurping up her slick and making Steph keen and moan as he went from swirling his tongue deep inside her hole to sucking her clit like a juicy orange and back again.
"Alpha," Steph gasped, arching under his tongue. "Baby, please," she panted as Jason licked her into a frenzy. "Please, Alpha, please make me come," she begged helplessly. "Please, baby, please -"
Alpha growled loud and low, and the vibrations mixed with his unrelenting tongue action, coupled with some gentle teeth thrown in for good measure, suddenly tipped her over the edge. Steph came hard, wailing and shaking and moaning and quivering around Alpha's tongue as he lapped up her hot slick that came gushing out in even more abundance.
"God, Jason," Steph managed to mumble as he worked her through each tremor and aftershock.
"Baby," she finally breathed out when she came down. "That was amazing," she moaned, as Jason stretched out long over top of her, brushing her hair off of her face with warm hands.
"Totally amazing," he said, sounding breathless and awed himself. "I've never -" he swallowed.
"Me, neither," Steph admitted, her face softening.
Jason made a happy little whine and then he was scenting her again, rubbing his forehead all over her temples and cheeks and neck, down to her mating gland. Steph's breath hitched as he slowly and deliberately scented over her gland before looking back up at her.
"Should I bite you now?" he asked her. "Or when I knot you?" Steph chewed her lip, torn between both options. Finally she burst out laughing.
"I can't decide!" she said, squeezing her arms around Jason's neck a little tighter. "They both sound so good. You pick," she said, smiling up at him with all the sunshine that he apparently loved.
And either Jason was a mirror or else he'd swallowed the sun, too, because the radiant way he beamed back at her lit up Steph's heart and filled her with a scorching heat.
"I love you so much," he said to her, and Steph keened and wrapped her legs around her Alpha's waist to hug him with every limb as her eyes filled with tears.
"I love you, too, Jason," she said back to him, absolutely meaning it, because she'd been crushing on him for months at this point, with the way he somehow found her every single night when she was out as Spoiler and sweetly flirted and bantered with her. And not only that, but how Red Hood had matter-of-factly begun training her almost as soon as they'd met, becoming the first person to really teach her how to actually, properly fight.
So to know that the Alpha of her affections not only loved her, but had also come to rescue her from slavery and rape and hell? Yeah. It wasn't a traditional courtship and mating, but Steph couldn't be happier with her about-to-be mate.
"I want to bite you when I knot you," Jason said, burning her up with his eyes. "If that's ok?"
"Yes," Steph purred in excitement, pulling his face down to hers for a flurry of kisses. "Gonna make me come so good on your knot, Alpha, when you make me your mate," she said seductively, and Steph swore she felt Jason's cock get even harder against her mound. Hm.
"Such a strong Alpha, making me feel all safe and protected in his arms," Steph cooed, leaning into their biology, because it really did feel damn good, and her praise was making Jason leak Alpha pheromones three times as strong, which was making her even wetter and needier, too.
"Baby," Jason said helplessly, looking absolutely wrecked before even fucking her, and completely delighted about it. "God - Steph," he purred, capturing her lips in desperate kisses now, deep and sure and possessively claiming, and that was Steph's throat letting out little whimpers and growls as her hands tugged through his hair to pull him even closer, and her chest swelled up with happiness.
Jason reached down for her slit and got a handful of slick so he could lube his cock up really good.
"Don't want to hurt you," he said, but Steph just smiled.
"It's ok," she promised. "I want you so much. And I'm so happy it's you, Jason," she said, blinking away more tears. His eyes looked a little misty too as he lined his cock up and slowly started to slide inside her.
Steph gasped when he brushed against her hymen, and fuck, it did hurt, but Alpha was purring so loud that she found herself relaxing into it, and he was muttering, "Good girl, Alpha's got you," and waiting to push deeper until she was limp and trusting in his arms.
"Alpha's omega," he growled as he thrust past her barrier, and Steph was so far gone in her lax submission that the pain only made her keen, because she was full of Alpha - Alpha - Alpha - inside her and his scent in her nostrils and his tongue in her mouth and he was over her, protecting her, and Alpha was making omega his, and Steph wanted that more than anything.
"Fuck, baby," Jason panted over her mouth, his eyes blown wide. "You feel so fuckin incredible," he said, looking dazed with wonder.
"You're so big," Steph mumbled back, trying to process that she'd just lost her virginity - like - she had an actual cock inside of her, holy fuck. It still hurt some, yeah, but she felt so deliciously full and Jason's pheromones were lulling her into such a pleasant, fuzzed out state, that Steph didn't even mind the pain.
"Are you ok?" Jason asked her with some concern. "Should I move yet?" he said.
"I'm so good," Steph said, feeling a little drunk. "I'm full of my Alpha," she smiled up at him.
"Aw, Stephie," Jason said, his face going soft and lighting up with joy. "I love you," he said, pressing a deep kiss into her mouth.
"I love you, too," Steph said when he pulled back. "Fuck me, please, Alpha," she begged.
Jason grinned wide and sexy as he pulled his hips back, and when he thrust up into her, Steph moaned and clutched him a little tighter. Jason was moaning, too, as he found a rhythm and began fucking her, slow and deep, and kissing her wet and romantic.
"Can't believe I've got Red Hood inside of me," Steph whispered against his lips. "I've wanted to fuck you for so long," she admitted.
"Yeah?" Jason grinned at her, twisting his hips into a really good spot and making her cry out.
"Yeah," Steph whimpered as he began to grind into the same spot with more intensity. "Every time I fingered myself, I wished it was you," she panted.
"Fuck," Jason rasped, losing his rhythm for a minute. "Sweetheart," he said, looking absolutely dazed by his luck and his omega.
"You could have had anybody," Steph said, looking up at him. "I can't believe you wanted me. And you waited for me," she said, tearing up a little.
"Of course I waited for you," Jason said tenderly, reaching a hand up to stroke Steph's hair. "As soon as I met you, I was gone. I knew you were it for me."
"Alpha," Steph whimpered happily, dragging him back down into a kiss. Jason growled over her and began thrusting again, swiveling his hips deliciously on each thrust until he found her favorite spot again and began to drive into it, with a fast, hard snap of his hips, followed by a slow, deliberate grind, that had Steph mewling underneath him in no time.
"Jase - JASE!" she suddenly screamed, tensing up and clutching all around him. "Oh, God - don't stop - don't -" Jason pounded into her relentlessly a few more times and then Steph's pussy was seizing up and convulsing around his cock as she screamed and moaned and arched underneath him, and she felt Jason's knot begin to swell as he started to come inside her.
Suddenly his teeth were on her mating gland, biting down sharp and sure and claiming her, and Steph came harder than she ever had in her life, choking on gasps and wailing moans and writhing on her mate's knot that was making her come and come, as the Bond started to fall into place between them and Alpha filled up every sense in her body.
"Bite me, Steph," omega dimly heard Alpha growling at her as an order, and her teeth found his gland as he pressed her head to it and omega bit down hard, taking Alpha as surely as he'd taken her. Alpha jerked and moaned against her, and suddenly Alpha was in her brain, in her heart, in omega's soul.
Omega's eyes glazed over as she fell into subspace, safe on her Alpha's knot and in his arms, peacefully blissing out to transcendental planes of existence she'd never before visited but already loved. And Alpha was with her, purring out his approval and love and pleasure and possession, and omega was content.
Steph came back to consciousness with another consciousness in her head.
"Alpha," she purred happily. "Mate!" she said in wonder.
"Mine," Alpha growled back at her, washing her in love.
"Always, Alpha," Steph smiled as she blinked her eyes open. Jason grinned into her sleepy eyes and then he was kissing her, so happy and excited and relieved and overwhelmed and so, so in love with her. Steph's purrs eventually overtook his kisses, making him chuckle and suck kisses onto her mating gland, instead.
"My hero," Steph said softly, reaching up to run her fingers through Jason's hair.
"My mate," Jason said back, nuzzling his head into her neck. "God, I was so worried I'd be too late, Stephie," he said. "I would've killed every Alpha in the place and then killed the one who claimed you twice as slow," he said, "but if you got raped -" he said, choking up.
Steph wrapped her arms tight around her mate.
"I didn't," she soothed him. "You came," she said. "My perfect Alpha," she murmured, pressing little kisses into his shoulder. "And you are like twenty times hotter without the helmet on, by the way," she said, "and you were already a twelve."
"A twelve, huh," Jason smirked at her.
"Your thighs earned you extra points," Steph giggled. "And I cannot wait to get the fuck out of here, but when we get home to your den I so want to ride those bad boys," she said mischievously.
"Please, yes," Jason gulped.
"I love you," Steph said, feeling how happy her words made him.
"I love you, too, baby," Jason said, pressing his forehead into hers. "My Spoiler," he said contentedly.
"My Red Hood," Steph said back. "Batman's really gonna hate me, now," she laughed.
"He doesn't hate you," Jason protested. "He worries about you. Doesn't want you getting killed like I did."
"What?" Steph said, frowning.
"Oh," Jason mumbled, turning a little pink. "Um. I was the second Robin. Got killed by Joker. Came back. Became a crimelord. Fight nonstop with my dad."
"Wait, is your dad Batman?" Steph said, her eyes going wide. Jason nodded and without speaking, flashed images of -
"Bruce Wayne?" Steph gasped. "Who's Robin, then?" she said. "The current one. He won't tell me and it's so unfair, 'cause he knows my name but won't tell me his."
"To be fair, you're exceptionally easy to follow home," Jason smirked, prompting Steph to stick her tongue out at him, which prompted Jason to suck it into his mouth, making her laugh into what ended up being an awfully nice makeout session.
"Robin's Tim Drake," Jason said when they finally came up for air. "Rich neighbor kid."
"Oh," Steph said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
Jason's soothing purr enveloped her before he said, "I know, baby. That's how I felt the whole time I was living with Bruce. What's a rich guy like him doing adopting a dirt poor kid from the Narrows?" he said.
"Robin could have told me," Steph muttered, feeling hurt well up in her heart again.
"He should have," Jason agreed. "B should have let him, by now, or he should have done it on his own. You're obviously trustworthy. They should have been training you, too," he added. "Seems like B just wants to let kids die around him left and right since I bit it."
Steph sighed.
"You train me, though," she said softly, nuzzling her head into Jason's chest. "And you didn't tell me your name, either."
"You didn't ask," Jason said. "And you didn't know I knew yours."
"I'm so glad you did," Steph admitted.
"I had to take care of my girl," Jason smiled, planting another kiss on Steph's lips. "And I would've told you my name if you asked," he mumbled against her jaw a minute later.
"Yeah?" Steph asked him. "And taken the helmet off?" He nodded.
"Oh," Steph said softly, running her fingers through his hair.
"Besides, I was gonna ask soon if I could court you and then I would've told you," Jason added, blushing a little bit. "I just wanted to be sure you'd say yes before I asked," he said.
"Yes," Steph said, gazing up into his eyes with her arms looped around his neck. "Yes - yes - yes," she said, kissing him between each word.
Jason let out a deep purr that Steph echoed, snuggling tighter into him. They held each other for a minute until Jason finally sighed.
"Want to get out of here?" he said. "I'd rather snuggle and fuck you again in my den than here," he said.
"Hell, yeah," Steph said with bitter passion, rolling off of him. "Can we go see my mom on the way home?" she asked him. "So she knows I'm safe?"
"Of course, sweetheart," Jason said, his heart suddenly glowing with radiant embers, and - oh. It was because she'd called his den home, and she could see and feel him so clearly through the bond, and -
"Being mates is amazing," Steph said in awe. Jason smiled and kissed her one last time.
"Totally amazing, Stephie," he happily agreed.
"Jason," Steph said in sudden guilty alarm as they started getting dressed. "What about the other omegas trapped here?" she said, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.
Jason let out a mournful whine.
"We're working on it," he said, but his depression was evident. "Nobody expected the vote and capture squads to happen so fast," he said in frustration, and Steph nodded her agreement. Who knew the government would actually move quickly, for once in the history of the world?
"B and Rich Robin are trying to use their money and influence to challenge and overturn the Mating Laws legally," Jason said, "although that will probably take years," he growled. "I had started putting together an underground network of omega shelters just in case, when it looked like a vote might actually happen," he said, "but the reclamation started so fast. I wasn't ready," he said with self-loathing.
"You were trying," Steph said, rubbing a soothing hand on his bicep.
"Well, there's a long way to go," Jason sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Oracle's been working her ass off the last couple days, cataloguing who gets taken and reaching out to their social networks to find safe potential mates they'd actually want, but we gotta figure out how to visit the omegas here in the Central Care Center to let them know their options. B already said he'd pay the fees for whatever Alpha they want."
"And the bribes?" Steph said wryly.
"Yeah," Jason said. "Exactly."
"Can't we just break everyone out?" Steph asked him, frowning as she pulled the stupid shift dress over her head. "If Arkham inmates can do it, we heroes certainly ought to be able to."
"We could," Jason said slowly. "But the omegas will legally be marked as feral if they're caught. And unless the laws get changed," he said, swallowing, "they might prefer to be mated to one Alpha and keep their pups, even if the Alpha's an abusive asshole, instead of becoming a forced breeder."
"God," Steph murmured in sympathetic horror, shivering. "Yeah. That's a big risk to take," she said.
"We'll figure something out," Jason promised her. "We can at least break out the ones who prefer to run. And we won't stop fighting until every omega in the city is safe. At least they're all trying to avoid getting captured, now that they know what's happening," he said. "And we're spreading the word every way we can about Red Hood's omega hideouts," he said.
He looked at her.
"I should have asked you if you were an omega," Jason said apologetically. "But you didn't say anything about being scared the last few nights since the vote went through, even though you knew the squads were out hunting omegas. And you never acted like an omega," he mumbled, looking down.
"I mean, I'm thrilled you are," he said quickly, looking back up and caressing a hand over Steph's cheek. "But I kind of had you pegged as an Alpha," he said. Steph laughed in delight before sobering up.
"I should have told you, maybe," she said quietly. "But my mom forged my paperwork and registered me as an Alpha when I presented," she said. "She was scared of my dad's criminal friends abusing me if they knew. And Mom's always had me wear scentblockers, even at home, so that no one would ever smell an omega in the house," Steph said.
"And I'm even on heat suppressants," she added in confused frustration. "Or, at least, I was until they captured me yesterday," she said. "I thought I was safe. I was so sure -" she said, her misery rising.
"Um," Jason said, swallowing hard.
"What?" Steph said suspiciously, suddenly trying really damn hard not to look through their bond, because she had a bad, bad feeling -
"Your dad reported you for the reward," Jason said softly. "Your mom told me. She was about ready to storm Arkham and kill him. I told her I would, if you wanted me to," Jason said, looking so, so sad for her.
Steph gulped and felt tears threaten as her heart shattered and broke into tiny pieces that cut her, sharp and vicious.
"I know I put him in prison," she sniffed, trying so hard not to start crying, "but - to set me up for lifelong rape? And a forced mating?" Steph said, her voice finally wavering and cracking into sobs.
Jason growled low and comforting and pulled his mate into a tight hug.
"I know," he growled against her hair, rubbing soothing circles on her back with a strong hand. "I hate him. Say the word, and he's a dead man," he said.
"I don't know," Steph whimpered. "B stopped me from killing him once already," she sobbed. "He'll be so upset if I let you do it," she cried against Jason's shoulder.
"I don't have to," Jason said gently. "And you don't have to decide right now, either," he said. "But it's on the table," he said firmly. "Ok?"
"Ok," Steph mumbled, sinking into his hug and soaking up her Alpha's comfort and love.
Despite where they'd had to mate, it still made Steph a little sad to help Jason bag up their mating nest back into the laundry sacks he'd brought his bedding in.
"I'll rebuild it for you at home, Stephie," Jason promised, whining in sympathy and giving her a sweet kiss. "And we can pack up your real nest material from your mom's house and add that in," he said, making Steph purr in pleasure.
Because they sure as hell were leaving the disgusting 3C sheets here at the Central Care Center, still in the bag that the Beta had passed them off to Jason in. As if a nest built out of her terrified-angry-panicked pheromone filled bedsheets would ease a forced mating!
Jason snarled in rage at the Beta who tried to inspect Steph's mating mark before allowing them to leave the den, causing the attendant to scamper back and expose their throat in submission pose as they dropped to their knees, trembling with fear.
"We're mated," Jason spat at the Beta. "And we're leaving."
"Yes, Alpha," the Beta murmured. Steph was sure they could smell the mating pheromones swirling all around them, and besides, her neck and mark were already exposed by the scoopy low collar of the shift dress. Fucking rude, to try to put their hands on her to double check. They're lucky Red Hood hadn't killed them, Steph sulked to herself.
"Damn straight," Jason whispered in her ear as he guided her down the hall and to the stairs with his arm wrapped protectively around her waist. "I'll do it when I come back," he added, making Steph giggle, even though he clearly wasn't joking.
Because she hated every single staff member here. They were all complicit in mass incarceration and rape and sexual slavery, and as far as Steph was concerned, they all could die and go to hell.
They will, Jason thought to her. Eventually. I have a list of names.
Steph sighed. It wasn't a perfect solution. It wouldn't save the omegas who'd already been traumatized and brutalized and sold. But she and Jason and the Bats would help each and every one of them, no matter how long it took, Steph vowed to herself, and she felt her mate's firm agreement flowing through their bond.
Oracle didn't want to give it to me at first, Jason thought to Steph as he scrawled his signature with a scowl in the main office to verify his acceptance of his purchased omega in healthy condition. But, she hacked the 3C and has a list of the Alphas who've bought omegas so far, he thought. I have a feeling purchases might slow down when every rapist ends up dead soon after leaving, he silently smirked as he and Steph finally stepped out into fresh air and her freedom.
"I hope so," Steph said, leaning into her mate's side. "I hope B finally appreciates you and stops giving you crap about killing, too," she added, once they were safely inside Jason's beat-up car, with their bags of nesting in the backseat. "Killing the bastards is the only way to free the omegas they've purchased, after all," she sighed.
"Even then, we'll have to move them to my secret shelters," Jason said, "or they'll probably get recaptured and resold."
"Fucking assholes," Steph whimpered, wiping a tear away. "How the government could do this to us…"
"I know," Jason said grimly. "The population drop has everyone scared and panicking, but to turn to sexual slavery as a solution to rebuild society…" he trailed off in quiet misery.
"I love you," Steph said softly, reaching out to hold her mate's hand as he drove them away from her prison. "And thank you," she added.
"Baby, you don't have to thank me," Jason said, squeezing her hand tight. "Because if anything had happened to you, I would've died inside," he said. "Worse than with Joker. I love you more than anything, Steph," he said.
"And we'll fight this," he added. "Together." He paused.
"Technically, um, you're Wayne Pack now," he said. "I haven't been a good Pack member since I came back from the dead," he admitted, "but now? My family doesn't look so bad anymore," he said.
"Not so bad at all," Steph agreed with a sigh. "But," she added, suddenly sending heat flaring through their bond, "if any of them do try to bitch at you, they're gonna have to come through me first. And nobody messes with my mate," she declared proudly.
"There's that Alpha," Jason giggled, ending on a pleased purr. Steph winked at him.
"Only in public," she said, dropping her voice down to a husky whisper. "Cause the only Alpha I want in our nest is you," she purred at Jason. "Alpha," she said, wrapping the word in a seductive caress.
"Good girl," Jason growled, showing his teeth.
"Only for you," Steph smirked.
"Wouldn't have it any other way, omega," Jason grinned, leaning in for a kiss.
The End
A/N - Thanks for reading! Comments are much appreciated.
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