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A Heated Aftermath

Regaining consciousness and rather wishing that he'd remained in tired slumber, Bane kept his eyes tightly closed as he took stock of the situation with all the wariness of prey fearing a possible predator in his vicinity. Robin was sprawled out on top of his chest still, and his omega's breathing suggesting that Robin was still fast asleep and unlikely to wake easily, thank the Gods. If the fates were merciful Robin would stay that way. For hours, preferably. Or however long there was before Robin's heat finally subsided for the last time and left them both in peace.

But the fates were never merciful, particularly where he was concerned, and so it was with a fatalistic mindset that Bane opened his eyes to look blearily around him, blinking the world back into focus with resigned resignation.

First Bane looked down to confirm that Robin was indeed asleep and not watching him with crazed, carnal intent. He looked to be unconscious. Good. That confirmed Bane allowed his gaze to switch off to the side where an old fashion style clock had been mounted on the wall, wanting to get a sense of the time that had passed since last he'd checked.

A few hours had passed since the last time he'd looked at it, which Bane knew did not bode well for him. That meant Robin had had a few hours to regain some semblance of strength and could wake up and demand to be serviced at any minute. And while he had too much self control to groan in despair Bane allowed himself the small luxury of a wince as he closed his eyes to block out the world again. He too needed to conserve his strength after all.

When Bane opened his eyes again it was to look in the direction of the table that had originally been situated beside the bed, now overturned and lying on the floor along with countless wood shards from the bed. Or what had once been the bed. Now it was just pieces of lumber that thankfully hadn't impaled them once the structure had given out on them. If there'd been a headboard…

And still they probably had splinters in their flesh that they'd failed to notice while in the throes of Robin's heat. He'd have to remember to look them both over thoroughly once they were both clear headed enough to do so properly.

The water bottles he'd placed on top of the table had ended up on the floor as well, most of them empty at this point from what Bane could see from his present position. He'd managed to keep them both decently hydrated during the whole ordeal thus far, but he'd need to get more water if this wasn't over. And now that he was thinking about it Bane realized he was thirsty, and there had to be at least one that still had some liquid in it somewhere on the floor.

Unfortunately Bane didn't see any that were in easy grabbing distance when he looked. Or at least not in his line of vision. And getting up would mean moving. Moving meant the possibility of waking the man currently using him as a body pillow.

He could wait a while longer for the water.

Looking down at his mate's dark hair, which was looking far from its best at the moment, Bane found the strength somewhere to lift a hand up to stroke the wild back strands down. Not that they stayed down.

The small sound Robin made in response had Bane freezing like a deer in headlights. Curses.

But Robin just nuzzled his face against Bane's chest for a moment before going still again, his head once again resting over Bane's heart.

Phew.

And how the mighty have fallen, Bane thought darkly as he dropped his hand back to his side. Done in by an omega far less than half his size.

Robin had warned him that he would come to regret insisting that his former pet be returned to his omega status and right now Bane was willing to admit that perhaps he'd been wrong and Robin right on the matter. Perhaps leaving the other man as a Beta would have indeed been the better choice, children or not. Though surely all heats couldn't be this bad. Every year hundreds, if not thousands of alphas survived satisfying their omegas during their heats. And Bane was no ordinary alpha. He was in the prime of his life. Ergo this could have been no ordinary heat. Please Gods, let it be no ordinary heat. A one time test of strength and endurance that he had, as lowering as it was to admit, passed by the skin of his teeth if it was finally over.

He was at least able to take some comfort in the fact that what they'd experienced only partially resembled what Bane knew about the whole heat process. Admittedly he didn't have any firsthand knowledge but Bane was fairly sure he wasn't wrong to think that this had been no ordinary heat. The way Robin had gone back and forth between being…aware of him for lack of a better word, to a nymphomaniac who couldn't have cared less who was mating him so long as his ass was being filled as quickly as possible-Bane could admit that he hadn't liked those times very much. It had been too impersonal. That HE was the one Robin wanted, that his mate preferred to see him during sex and was in no way repulsed by his appearance or feared him...well that fact made up for a number of Robin's other flaws.

A low groan followed by, "Fuck."

Silently echoing the sentiment Bane waited to see what Robin would do next.

More muttered, somewhat garbled swearing followed the first curse and then Robin's arms were coming up and the omega was using them to prop himself up a little as Robin raised himself up enough so that he could look Bane in the eyes.

His eyes were clear, Bane noted immediately. That was good.

"For the record…we aren't having sex again for weeks. Possibly months. You even try and pet my ass without permission and I will cut you. Got it?"

Ordinarily he would argue, but right now…

"I agree to your terms."

"Damn fucking right you do." And having apparently used up all his strength Robin collapsed back onto Bane's chest, his arms hanging limply down. "Fuck my ass hurts."

"Are you injured?" He'd tried to ensure that no harm came to the other man while in the throes, but Robin hadn't been all that controllable. And rather single minded when it came to his need for something in his ass at all times regardless of Bane's thoughts on the matter.

"I don't think so. We're going to need to look for splinters though."

"Indeed."

"And to paraphrase Brody, 'We're going to need a bigger bed' if we ever come back here. One not so breakable. And a new mattress."

Given that the mattress was no doubt full of splinters, having thankfully shielded their bodies from the worst of it, Bane thought the last part didn't need stating. Instead he asked who Brody was just for something to say and distract the omega with.

Thus Bane found a movie called 'JAWS' being explained to him. It sounded utterly ridiculous to him.

"It's actually pretty decent. Don't read the book though. It's hands down one of the worst books I've ever voluntarily read from start to finish. And seriously, I can't believe I'm sleeping with a man who's never seen 'JAWS'. That's just wrong."

Bane didn't think that deserved a response either.

"God I feel so gross right now. Tell me this place has a shower at least."

"Yes."

A thoughtful sound. "So being the big, strong alpha that you are…you could carry me to said shower, right?"

Fuck

A finger poking into his chest. "Bane?"

Could he close his eyes and fake being asleep? No. The conniving fox would just 'wake' him up. In a possibly violent fashion knowing Robin.

"Right now you need to rest. You're obviously exhausted."

Robin actually snorted at that. "Do you REALIZE how covered we are in bodily fluids right now? Not to mention how we smell right now? We SMELL, Bane. And I am NOT sleeping again until we both shower. I have to sleep on top of you, remember?"

"You would have never survived The Pit." Bane muttered in retaliation, trying to buy himself some time to come up with an excuse that would hold water with his mate. He'd be having some luck with that if his brain was less exhausted and wasted.

"Bane…I'm an omega. Of course I wouldn't survive The Pit. I'd have been dead within a day. Less than that." Another poke to his chest. "I fucked what brains you have out, didn't I? I'm now the Brain to your Pinky."

He wasn't sure what that meant exactly but Bane was fairly sure that the punishing pinch he gave to Robin's ass was justified.

)

Yelping in reaction Robin jerked up and then flopped back down again with a loud groan that seemed to echo in the small space. And then the omega pinched Bane's side in retaliation, which Bane shrugging that off without actually shrugging. Too tired. And it wasn't like that had hurt at all.

"What the fuck did I say about leaving my ass the hell alone!"

"That had nothing to do with sex."

"Jackass."

"Just go to sleep."

"No. I am-you know if I had mated with Bru-."

"Hush, Azizi." Bane commanded before his mate could finish that sentence. Not that he didn't have a very good idea what Robin had been about to say. And who the other man been about to throw in his face. But as long as it wasn't spoken Bane figured he didn't have to deal with punishing Robin for it.

"Azizi? What the hell? What does that even mean? And why does it sound so familiar? Was it a name from 'Aladdin'? Why am I thinking-shit. Bane, what does that mean? And you sure as fuck better not be calling me anything stupid or I will make your sorry. There are fucking wood shards everywhere, remember? And I'm obviously in better shape than you at the moment."

Shaking his head, and sadly he had no one but himself to blame for this, Bane sat up and told his mouthy mate to hold on to him if he wanted to be carried to the shower.

Robin's arms came up to wrap around Bane's neck in a surprisingly tight grip that irked him on a primitive level given his own weariness.

"Don't think you're off the hook about the azizi thing. I will find out what it means."

Rather than comment on that Bane slipped his hands under his mate's thighs to get a grip on him and then slowly and carefully Bane stood up on the wrecked mattress with Robin clinging to him. Bane didn't even want to think about what Robin would do if he dropped his mate on his sore rear end. But his legs held both their weights and Robin was smart enough not to comment on how long it took Bane to walk across the mattress and then make his way through the room while avoiding the obvious pieces of bed debris.

The 'bathroom' was just big enough to include the essentials and room to maneuver around them. Carefully.

Pulling aside the curtain strung across the small shower stall Bane stepped inside with Robin still in his arms, though he shifted his grip to Robin's hips once they were inside. If he had to get up than Robin was going to have to stand on his own two feet as well.

While keeping his arms wrapped around Bane's neck and leaning all his weight against him, it seemed.

Since he'd turned so that Robin had his back to the showerhead Bane switched to wrapping one arm around the omega's waist while the other turned the tap to get the water flowing. The pipes rattled a little, and the water came out in fits and starts for the first minute or two, but that was probably for the best since it meant the water was tepid in temperature by the time it really started streaming over Robin's body. The pressure wasn't good enough for it to do more than mist over Bane's body.

"Fuck that's better." Finally moving a little Robin tipped back his head so that the water hit more of his hair.

Appreciating the view once he'd visually confirmed that there were no obvious injuries he needed to be concerned about, Bane contented himself with watching the water run through his mate's hair and over Robin's beautifully formed body rather than attempting to get clean. The only way his mate's body could be improved upon as far as he was concerned was if it was rounded with his child.

"Quit imagining me pregnant."

How had he known…

"What makes you think that's where my mind is?"

"Look where you hand is, Genius."

Ah. His right around was still wrapped around Robin's waist to keep him steady, but Bane's other hand had drifted over to splay his fingers against the smooth skin of his mate's belly without his conscious thought. He removed it with regret.

"I might basically be an omega now, but it will take a while for the change to be complete. And I still might not be able to have kids, FYI. Then you'll have shot yourself in the foot for nothing."

"Shot myself?"

"It's a saying. As in you've screwed yourself over for no good reason."

"We'll have you looked over when we return to the compound."

Robin's expression made it clear how much he was looking forward to that. Which was to say not at all.

Lapsing into silence seemed best for the time being as Robin revived enough under the water to turn around to take care of his front while leaning back against Bane's chest.

"I need a haircut."

Watching Robin finger comb his hair Bane hoped he wasn't 'shooting himself in the foot' by stating that he liked the longer length.

"Of course you do. It gives you more to hold on to."

More to hold on to? What did he mean by that? It wasn't like Bane was going to start dragging the often infuriating omega around by his hair. Yes he enjoyed stroking his fingers through the man's hair, and fisting the strands while Robin was-oh. He got it now.

Robin's smirk made it clear he was aware of where Bane's thoughts had gone.

"Your turn to get under the water. Cool off a little."

Too grown up to roll his eyes Bane settled for gripping Robin under his arms so that he could take the other man with him as he turned them around so that his back was now to the shower, the water hitting him instead. The cool water felt pleasant on his skin even if it did remind Bane of how the idiot once again cuddling against him had nearly given himself hypothermia.

He needed to remember to properly punish the idiot for that later.

"So does my heat seem done to you?" Robin asked after a couple minutes. "It feels done to me."

"It's your heat, not mine. But I'm cautiously optimistic."

"You? Optimistic? Shit. Did Hell freeze over too while I wasn't looking?"

"Winter will be coming to Gotham soon, yes."

"Burn." Wearing a look of delight Robin grinned at him. "Nice one."

Even if he lived a hundred years more Bane doubted that he would ever fully understand just how his omega thought and saw the world.

Telling Robin to move back so that he could turn around Bane waited until the omega complied before they awkwardly moved around each other so that Bane could maneuver into position.

"Man this takes me back to the shower in my first apartment. Once I was out of the home, I mean. Fuck that whole place was tiny. And always smelled like crap perogies thanks to the restaurant one floor below. Not that the apartment I was living in when I got snatched was that much better, no Wayne Manor, that's for fucking sure, but it had an awesome shower. And a tub I spent a lot of time soaking in. You're not a bath type, are you? You probably think it's either a waste of time and water."

"Both methods of bathing have pros and cons." Dunking his head under the water one last time Bane stayed still for a moment and then he turned the water off. "Time to get out."

"Let me get out first. It'll be easier that way. Probably." There was laughter in Robin's voice as he said it.

Turning his head Bane watched Robin push back the curtain and slip out of the shower before following after him, accepting the towel his mate threw in his direction with ease. The shower had rejuvenated both of them, it seemed.

Or so he thought right up until his mate dropped his towel onto the floor, gave Bane his back, and then braced his hands against a wall for support as he rested his forehead against the brick.

Bane would have preferred that Robin had turned to him for support.

"Fuck I'm wrecked. This better be a one time fucking thing because of the whole delaying my heats for years thing. More of this will kill me eventually. Not to mention you'll have a shit ton more scar tissue from being bitten and scratched to hell. Have you seen your back and shoulders right now? You look like you were mauled."

No. Though he could certainly feel both.

"Can we go home now? I am so ready to get the fuck out of this place.'

Home.

Bane smiled, glad that Robin had his back to him now. It wouldn't do for his Azizi to see it and realize what he'd just said.