"TONY!"

Pepper's voice came from right above where he was working, nearly drowning out the music that was playing. His head jerked up, ramming squarely into the hood of the car he was working on. The tool in his hand dropped, clattering into the engine compartment as he swore loudly.

"Shit! What the hell Pepper."

When Tony ducked out from under the hood it was to be confronted with a very angry delta. Wiping his hands on the rag he had thrown over his shoulder he tried a charming grin. The woman was having none of it.

Her finger stabbed into his shoulder, "When I told you to get an assistant I did not mean steal my assistant!"

Holding his hands up and backing away slightly he said, "Woah, hey, I didn't steal your assistant…"

She strode forward, her heels clicking loudly against the floor as she stabbed her finger into his shoulder again, "Then why the hell did I come into work today with a request from her for a month off that had already been approved by you."

There wasn't a lot in this world anymore that scared him. Pepper Potts' temper just so happened to be one of those things.

"Okay, let me explain…"

Pepper's hands fisted on her hip, "There is nothing to explain. You give her back to me. You can't just take anything you want without consulting me. Find a different assistant."

"I don't want her to be my assistant…"

"Well, you can't sleep with my assistant either!"

Tony grinned, "Even if she turned out to be my omega mate?"

Pepper's eyes narrowed, "Is she?"

Shrugging Tony ignored the question and said, "She's trying out being our pack omega."

Whatever Pepper had been expecting him to say, he could tell that it wasn't this. Her eyes closed and she pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment before she said slowly, "Ellie says she's a DCI omega. That she doesn't react or affect alphas."

With a snort Tony waved that away, "You know as well as I do that omega biology is so much more complex than that bullshit way of thinking."

Crossing her arms, Pepper's foot tapped, "Be that as it may, I've seen her interacting with alphas at work and I'd have to agree with her. She doesn't seem to react or affect them."

"Come with me."

Tony headed over to the elevator asking Friday to take them to whichever floor Ellie happened to be on. A minute later he was leading the way out on the common floor, holding his hand out to stop Pepper and nodding towards the kitchen where Bucky was sitting on the counter as Ellie spoke to him over whatever she was cooking.

The former Winter Soldier was smiling and laughing as she spoke to him, completely and totally relaxed. Tony heard the sharp intake of breath from the woman next to him.

"In the two years he's been here I don't think I've ever seen him smile," Pepper said quietly.

"I have, but it is rare and usually only Steve can bring it out—usually because of some shared memory. But look at them Pep. Look at their body language. Tell me that alpha isn't being affected by her. She's been here three days and she's already got the Manchurian Candidate looking almost normal."

Pepper sighed heavily and Tony continued, "She's still convinced she can't be what we need. We know she is. She's only agreed to stay a month. If she's not convinced after that you will probably get her back."

Pepper shook her head, taking out her phone and starting the email to HR as she said, "I'm not getting her back. Looks like I'll have to start the whole process all over again."

By Tuesday, I started to understand a little better how the team functioned. With seven alphas, plus Hulk, three deltas, and two betas the core pack was quite the large one. There were also secondary members of the team, though as yet I hadn't met any of them nor would I be expected to connect with them like I would with the others.

I had expected to feel completely on the outside of things for quite a while, but oddly enough I didn't. I almost felt like I'd always been a part of things. Comfortable with people who less than a week ago I would have said were beyond intimidating. Accepting the physical contact almost all of them wanted and seemed to need from me with barely a blink of my eye.

Closing the fridge, I jolted a little when I saw Clint leaning against the counter right next to where I was. He smiled, "You seemed to be quite lost in thoughts. What were you thinking about?"

Moving around him I set the food in my arms on the counter and avoided meeting his eyes. Every time I was close to Clint in particular, desire started to curl inside me and I was still uncomfortable about that. For so long I had been taught that omegas own wants and needs were secondary, and it felt wrong to want to continue what had started that first morning between us. So far, he hadn't continued things since that morning—which made me think perhaps he had only been riding on an instinct he didn't actually want.

Continuing to avoid looking at him I stiffened when arms wrapped me from behind and Clint's nose rubbed against my neck. His voice was a low purr as he asked, "Why are you anxious, pretty omega?"

For a moment my brain doesn't register the question; stuck on the feeling of his body pressed warm against me, his breath tickling my neck as his hands spread wide across my stomach. Clint turns me around in his arms, his eyes examining my face carefully. Then his hand is curling around my neck and he's kissing me.

My hand curls around his wrist, like I needed the anchor to keep from floating away as his tongue swipes against the seam of my lips. Opening for him, I hear the low hum he makes as his tongue slips in to dance with mine. His other hand, which started out on my lower back, slides down over my ass as he pulls me closer to him.

Clint doesn't pull away until an accented voice sounds from behind him, "Can't you wait until after breakfast has been made?"

His hand squeezes my ass a final time before he's turning away from me to glare at the man leaning against the fridge with a wide grin on his face, "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

Pietro shrugs, "No. I'm starving."

Shaking myself out of the dazed state I was in, I hurry to return to cooking as I say, "Something will be ready soon. Why don't you guys go do something else and I'll let you know."

Within 30 minutes everyone who was in the tower had filtered in, except Tony who according to Friday was in the lab and had been for a good 14 hours. When I asked her to inform him I got a response back that he had no plans to come up.

Remembering that one of the things they wanted me to do was to make sure they took care of themselves, I headed to the elevator and rode down to the lab. The music hit me the moment I walked through the doors. Tony was bent over a table that was littered with tools, bits of metal and parts.

"Tony?" I said loudly when I was close enough I suspected he would be able to hear me.

"Go away," was the only response I got back.

Walking around the table until I was standing opposite of him I leaned on my elbows on the table and asked, "Whatcha doing?"

Tony paused, his head coming up as if he was actually focusing on the fact it was me standing in front of him, "Why are you down here?"

"I made breakfast. Friday said you've been down here for 14 hours already and you haven't eaten anything."

He grunted and returned to what he was bent over. I leaned further forward, trying to see what it was, but it just looked like a jumble of wires and metal to me. He straightened again, "What are you doing?"

"Watching you work. If you won't come eat breakfast, then I'll stick around until you decide that you will."

"That's preposterous. You can't do that," he was scowling at me.

Shrugging, I rested my head on my hand and said, "Of course I can. Isn't that what you told me to do?"

"I don't recall that being a thing."

He had put down the tool in his hand, almost like he hadn't even realized he did as he stared at me. I straightened up and shrugged as I said, "I was told I'm supposed to make sure you take care of yourselves. So, that's what I'm doing. You need to come and eat something."

"Fine, I'll come and eat something and then I'll come back down and work," Tony pushed away from the table standing up and walking with me to the elevator. Once the door shut, I casually called out, "Friday?"

"Yes Miss?"

Tony was staring at me and I ignored it as I glanced up and asked, "Would you be able to lock Tony out of the lab for the next….oh 12 hours or until he gets at least five hours of sleep?"

"Hey! You don't have the authorization to do that!" Tony was protesting but Friday interrupted him.

"Of course I can, Miss."

His face registered outrage as he said, "Friday, she absolutely cannot do that. What are you thinking?"

"Sir, you authorized me to listen to her in any way she needs me to in order to help her in her role as pack omega. My programming says that this counts as that." The AI responded.

I led the way out onto the common floor, Tony trying to convince me to reverse the order I just issued and I was shaking my head. Several of the others were still sitting and eating as we joined them and once he sat down I put a plate of food in front of him before grabbing my own.

"What did you do to get him so riled up?" Natasha asked as Tony begrudgingly started to eat.

"I told Friday that Tony can't return to the lab for the next 12 hours or until he gets at least five hours of sleep," I explained as he scowled down at his food and everyone else stared at me in surprise.

"You can do that?" Sam asked.

"Apparently so," I said with a shrug, "I was told I'm supposed to take care of you all right? Make sure you all take care of yourselves? I'm just doing that."

I had no idea where this confidence was coming from. Not only that I had no idea how I had slipped so easily into a role that just days ago I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do. Yet here I was, doing exactly that.

After everyone had finished eating I started to clean up, but Tony's hand grasped mine as I went to pick up the empty plate in front of him. His eyes had darkened some and he said, "If you insist on sending me to bed like a child, you need to come with me."

"Excuse me?" I was vaguely aware of Clint watching from across the table, his coffee mug lifted to his mouth as he sipped at it.

Tony stood up, his hand still locked around my wrist as he looked down at me now and said, "You are coming with me."

He started to pull me away from the table and I started to protest and point out I had to clean up but he just growled and said that someone else could do it. He pulled me down the hallway to the pack bedroom and through the door. As the door shut behind us and threw the room into gloom, I looked around as my eyes.

Like most of the bedrooms I'd seen so far, my own included, the pack room had a pit bed. This one was giant, and I suspected it would easily fit everyone and perhaps several others on top of that. It was heaped with pillows and blankets and Tony's hands were nudging me forward towards it until I was climbing down into it.

He climbed in, stripping clothes off as he went. Flopping down and shoving blankets and pillows around until he was satisfied, Tony tugged on my hands until I overbalanced and landed on the bed next to him. Then his arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me tight against him as his face buried in my hair.

There was a soft knock on the door to my room and I looked up from counting the stitches on my needles in surprise. It was quite late and as far as I knew, most of the people who were still in the tower were in bed. Several of the others had gone out on some short mission earlier in the evening.

The knock came again and I set my knitting on the side of the bed and climbed out to answer it. Clint was leaning against the door frame, immediately standing straight when I pulled the door open.

His eyes traveled over me, leaving my body feeling like fires were igniting under my skin in their wake. When his eyes met mine, I took in the fact that they had darkened.

I swallowed against the sudden dryness in my throat so that I could ask quietly, "Clint, why are you up?"

"There is something more important than sleep I want right now," Clint's voice is equally low but there is a seductive quality to it that makes my heart race.

My thoughts were racing as fast as my heart and the most I could manage to get out was a strangled, "Oh."

Clint steps closer to me, his arm sliding around my waist as he eases me back against the door frame. His lips glide over mine, his tongue slipping easily in as I open for him without him even needing to seek permission.

It leaves me dizzy, needy, and breathless so that when his mouth moves along my jaw to the spot behind my ear I need to grip the front of his shirt to ground myself as my knees turn to jello.

Clint's voice is backed by a purr as he nibbled along my neck and said, "Let me in, baby. I wanna make you feel good."

It felt like my brain was misfiring as my body started to ache and yearn. I wanted to but I was still stuck on the fact that there was a certain purpose for omegas and I wouldn't be useful for that. It was the reason that I had so little experience. No one wanted an omega that was broken.

"Let me in, omega," Clint's teeth started to nibble on my ear as one of his hands stroked along my hip and his knee nudged my legs further apart.

"Clint," my voice was breathy as my eyes fluttered and my stomach clenched when he started to suck lightly on the spot behind my ear. When he hummed in acknowledgment I continued stumbling a little as nerves warred with the pleasure that was slowly building inside me, "Clint, I'm a…I haven't ever really…"

He leaned back, his hand curling around the back of my neck as he tilts my head back, "Are you telling me you've never had sex?"

I could feel a flush creeping over my neck and face as my eyes dropped and I just nod, not trusting my voice. Pretty sure I might have just ruined things before they even started, I began to try and step away. But Clint's arm banded tight around me as he yanked me against his body and he said, "Well, that can change. You just have to let me in."

Bringing my eyes back up to his, I find myself nodding. The simple yes was all that was needed before he was pivoting into my room, his foot shutting the door behind him as his mouth found mine again. There was a lot more heat and urgency in this kiss and he was walking me back towards my bed.

We broke apart just long enough for Clint to get both our shirts off and tossing them aside. He started to settle me back against a pile of pillows I had since gathered into the nest I was making in my bed but paused before he pulled a faded purple shirt out from under the edge of one of the pillows.

He looked at it for a moment and then his eyes darted to my face, which was starting to heat up and asked, "Is this my shirt?"

It absolutely was his shirt. I had pulled it out of the laundry one of the first nights here because his scent was so strong on it. I wasn't sure why I wanted it for my nest, but I did and so I snuck it into my room and tucked it away.

I snatched it from him and stuffed it out of sight, "Um. Maybe."

His eyes seemed to glitter with humor as he hummed and pulled me against him where he was stretching out, "Good to know where it went."

One of his hands skimmed down my side and over my hip to grip my thigh as he brought my mouth back to his. When his fingers slid from my thigh to brush against where the cloth was still covering me, a deep groan resonated in his chest.

Clint nudged me until I was laying on my back as he tugged on my panties until I was shimmying out of them. Settling on one elbow, he watched my face as his fingers slipped over me, tracing through the slick that had started gathering the moment I opened the door and found him there.

His movements were slow and teasing as he nibbled along my neck until I was whining with need.

"Tell me what you want omega," the rough huskiness of his voice in my ear had more slick just pouring out of me as I whined again. I seemed unable to actually form words at this point and I felt his lips curl against my skin as he chuckled.

"Is this what you want?" He slipped his fingers inside me as he asked the question.

"Yes…" it gasped out of me even as his fingers pressed and dragged over my walls. The heat that had been building in me seemed to hit boiling point all at once as Clint's fingers pumped in and out of me.

When Clint's teeth scraped lightly over the junction between my shoulder and neck, it boiled over and I came. My fingers had dug into his arm, leaving small crescent shaped indents behind as his fingers continued to move inside me, dragging things out until my legs were shaking and my breath was ragged.

Pulling his fingers from me, Clint laughed when I let out another whine. He lips pressed against my shoulder as he said, "Such a needy little omega aren't you?"

He rolled, his mouth seeking mine out as his hands shifted my legs until he was settled between them. Leaning back, I watched his face as his hands traced slowly down my body, fingers seeking to memorize every inch. Then he was pulling one of my legs up his hip as he braced over me, his face inches from mine.

My hands wrapped around his back as he eased slowly inside me and his head dropped to my neck as a growl rumbled out of him. I felt the tension in his body as he stilled when he was seated fully inside me.

"Don't stop." The words tumbled out of me and Clint brought his head up far enough that I caught the way his grin flashed before he rolled his hips.

Any control he had snapped and one hand yanked my leg higher so that every thrust hit the perfect spot inside me. I could only hold on as he drove us both hard and fast to a peak I didn't know it was possible for me to reach. There was a near constant low growl coming out of him as his teeth scraped against my neck and his pace started to get sloppy.

I felt as his knot started to catch and he suddenly bit gently against my neck shoving me over the edge so that I was coming hard. Clint swore as he slammed deep inside me, his knot popping as he followed me into bliss.

Clint collapsed against me, his breathing almost harsh in my ear as I slowly came back down. I attempted to shift under him, his body weight pressing hard against me.

"Sorry," Clint grunted out as he shifted to roll, taking me with him until I was sprawled over his chest. It was a move I didn't think was possible while tied together, but he made it seem like it was easy.

"Better?" He asked as one of his hands stroked down my spine and the other arm tucked under his head.

I nodded, my head resting comfortable against his chest as I reached out and let my fingers trace over the tattoo that covered his left arm. He pulled it out from under his head so I could continue to follow the path my finger was tracing.

Clint's fingers traced light patterns along my back, drawing a contented purring from me as I felt myself drifting. Just before I dropped into sleep, I felt Clint shift once more, turning to his side and tucking me against his chest as he yanked a blanket from nearby over the both of us. The last thing I felt was his lips pressing against the top of my head before I dropped out completely.

There was a soft beep and my eyes immediately opened. Friday letting me know that it was 3 a.m. in a way that hopefully wouldn't have woken any of the others. It surprised me just how easy it was to get used to sharing a bed with other people. Not just a single person but at times multiple persons; such as last night when I was pulled into the pack room by Wanda. Sam, Natasha, Pietro, Clint and Tony all joined us in the room.

Opening my eyes, I saw I was still curled into Clint's side. He had one arm thrown over his eyes while the other was pillowed under my head. Tony had claimed the spot behind me, and was currently pressed against my back with his arm wrapped around my waist, hand tucked up under the thin shirt I had worn to bed as a nightgown to spread warm across my stomach.

When I started to shift, needing to get up to start the process of baking what I had planned to do today, Tony huffed in my ear and his arm tightened around me. His body rubbed against my back, the boxers he was wearing doing nothing to disguise the fact that at least a part of him seemed to be awake. He huffed again, his nose buried in my neck as his hand slid over my skin and he pressed harder into my ass.

My eyes fluttered as my body started reacting to his touch and the sharpening of his scent as his face rubbed against my shoulder.

"Tony…" I kept my voice low but the whine was still there as he rubbed against me again. He grumbled sleepily and I carefully elbowed his side to encourage him to move.

Five minutes later, after much wiggling and squirming I was finally able to get away from Tony's sleepy neediness and padding out to the kitchen.

Bundling my hair up and out of the way, I pulled out the ingredients I would need and set about working on baking the various muffins and other goodies I wanted to make for the weekend. Tony's attention as I tried to get up had left me feeling worked up and antsy. It wasn't something I was used to feeling; something I was struggling with trying to understand. For the first time in my life, outside of the time of my pseudo-heats, I was dealing with feeling horny.

I was humming to myself when I sensed Bucky. Looking over my shoulder, I sent him a smile. He was scratching at his stomach as he yawned widely. Nodding towards where some muffins were already cooling I said, "If you are hungry now, those are ready. I've got a bit more to do here before I start the actual breakfast."

He hums as he moves further into the kitchen and I try to ignore the lurch the sound causes in me. Rather than heading for the food, Bucky moves closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning down to bury his nose in my hair. I'd learned pretty quickly that Bucky especially was very needy when it came to physical touch. Nat explained that it was likely a result of spending decades under the control of HDYRA and the abuse they put him through.

"Smell really good doll," his voice still had that heavy rasp of sleep as he inhaled deeply.

I wiggled out from his grasp to move over to the oven and pull out the tray that had finished, and even as I'm trading it out for the next Bucky's back. He's right there on my back, his arms stroking down my hips and back up as his lips start to ghost over my neck. There's a low growling hum coming from him as his hands start to slid further up under the shirt I'm wearing.

A small squeak of surprise came out of me when he spun me, lifting me up without a thought and settling me down on the counter and wedging himself between my knees. When his teeth scraped lightly over one of the scent glands in my neck, his fingers pressing into my hips I could feel the need to submit swelling up in me.

"Bucky…" my voice cuts off when he growls lightly. There was a very obvious dampness growing between my legs as he continued to rub against me.

The sounds rumbling out of him deepened until I whimpered in response and one of his arms wrapped around my back to pull me towards the edge of the counter, pressing my center against his hips as his teeth scrape over my skin. His growls edged into a purr as one of his hands snuck between our bodies, starting to rub over me as his face rubbed against my neck.

"Bucky!"

The voice was sharp and had Bucky bristling instantly. The growls he had been making cut off and dazedly, I looked around to find Steve standing in the kitchen.

"Go away Steve." Bucky's voice was nearly a snarl even as his nose ran along my neck and caused me to shiver.

"Bucky. You need to step back. Now." There was a lace of command in Steve's voice and Bucky's back stiffened as a low growl emanated from deep within his chest. For several humming seconds, nothing happened but then Bucky's fingers tightened once on my waist before he stepped back. Steve stepped up, telling him to head to his room and he'd make the call. He watched until Bucky had disappeared up the stairs and then Steve turned towards me.

Blinking slowly, I looked up into concerned blue eyes as he stepped over to me and brushed his fingers along my cheek, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm….fine. Did I do something wrong?"

Steve shook his head, helping me down from the counter as the oven went off again and said, "No, honey, Bucky's just going into to rut."

I froze with the pan halfway out of the oven, panic licking in my gut as the meaning behind the words hit me. Was I supposed to do something about that? Wasn't that what omegas did for alphas in a pack? Did they expect me to do that as the only omega here?

As the anxiety started to overwhelm me, I felt the pan taken out of my hands and Steve's hands were rubbing over my arms as he tried to get my attention, "Hey, Ellie. Honey. You need to relax or else you're gonna drop again."

For a moment his voice sounded tinny in my ears and then I inhaled sharply and the sound returned to normal. I focused on his face watching as he studied mine carefully as he asked, "What happened?"

"I…Bucky's rut…am I?" I couldn't seem to form a complete sentence but after a moment Steve seemed to understand what I was trying to say and he shook his head.

"Oh, no. We'd never expect you to do that. That's not why we wanted you Ellie. We use clinic omegas. I'll call the one that comes for him and she'll be the one who helps him through it."

I took a deep breath, feeling an odd feeling of disappointment bubbling up that I shoved away as I nodded. There was no reason for me to be feeling disappointed. I listened as Steve made the call that would apparently bring the omega that Bucky used to the tower.

As he hung up the phone I asked, "Do you all have an omega come here?"

Steve leaned against the counter, "No, the rest of us go to a particular clinic. But Bucky is a bit of a unique case. He tends to get really nasty nightmares if he sleeps away from home, and his rut schedule is all over the place with no regularity so it is easier to bring one here for him."

I nodded and transferred cooled muffins into a basket and set it aside to start on the danishes. Steve watched me for a moment, before he asked, "Are you sure you are okay?"

The answer was no. I was even more worked up than I was earlier but there wasn't much I was going to be able to do about that. I would just have to wait it out until I calmed down.

"I'm okay Steve, you should go on your run before it gets too late. I'll have breakfast ready by the time you get back." I dismissed the concern that I could read off him with a bright smile as I moved around the kitchen again. He hesitated for a moment longer before nodding curtly and heading to the elevator.