The Clinic

"Oh, my God," Iris said as soon as Barry entered the car, "You reek of alpha!"

"Well, that's generally what happens when you let an alpha knot you," Barry said flatly, buckling his seatbelt.

"So, you went through with it then?" Iris asked as she pulled away from the AO bar.

She had never been to an Alpha-Omega bar, and she had no clue what they were like, but she imagined most people left them smiling, not looking miserable like Barry did now.

"Yeah, I went through with it," Barry said quietly, "And now I feel like the scum of the earth. A part of me hopes I don't get pregnant just so that I don't have to feel guilty about it for the rest of my life."

"Barry," Iris said sadly, "The alpha will never know the difference either way. You don't have to feel guilty. So many alphas sire children every day without realizing it."

"Still doesn't make me feel better about intentionally trying to trick him," Barry muttered.

Barry's mood wasn't exactly lifted when he got home. He walked through the front door to find Joe sitting in the living room waiting for him.

"Where were you?" he asked Barry sternly, "Iris said she was going to go pick you up, but she didn't say where you…."

Joe's eyes widened suddenly, and Barry knew. He had smelt him. Joe looked Barry over then, taking in his disheveled hair, swollen lips, and nearly buttonless shirt.

"What did you do, Bar?" he asked in a deadly quiet voice.

"Dad, don't," Iris said quickly, "It was my idea."

Joe walked over to them and scented Barry, wrinkling his nose at the alpha scent covering him mixed with Barry's own pheromones. He smelt like walking sex.

"I don't recognize the scent," he said sternly, "That's definitely not Eddie. Who was it, Barry?"

Barry shook his head, looking at the floor, unable to look Joe in the eye.

"I, um, I didn't…get his name," he muttered.

Joe's eyes widened.

"You let a stranger knot you?!" he roared, and Barry flinched away from him.

"Dad," Iris said, "You do realize that's exactly what the OHF wants to do to him in the clinic? At least this way, it was done on Barry's own terms."

"But it wasn't safe," Joe said angrily, looking back and forth between the two of them, "The clinic, as awful as it is, is at least a controlled environment. You don't have to worry about the alpha hurting you, or abducting you, or giving you an STD, or…"

Joe was at a loss for words.

"I can't believe you did this, Bar," he said after a moment, "I can't believe you would do something so dangerous."

"You sound like the OHF," Barry said angrily, causing Joe's eyes to widen in shock, "All you care about is my safety, like I can't be trusted to look out for myself because I'm a weak omega. You're acting like the OHF, trying to control every aspect of my sex life to make me the ideal omega."

"Bar," Joe said in a hurt voice, "That's not what this is. I'm not protective over you because you're an omega. I'm protective of you because you're my kid, and I love you. I'd react the same way if this was Iris. It has nothing to do with you being an omega."

"Well, sometimes it really doesn't feel that way," Barry said angrily before quickly climbing the stairs to disappear to his room.

Joe stared at him in shock as he watched Barry leave.

"Dad," Iris said, putting a hand on her father's arm, "He's just upset right now. He doesn't really think you're like the OHF. He's just really emotional now that he's off all of his suppressants. He's got years' worth of hormones catching up to him, and he's had a…lot going on tonight."

Joe sighed.

"I can't say I'm that surprised that he tried this," he said, "I wish he hadn't—I wish he had just taken Eddie's offer—but I can't say I'm surprised by it. What's done is done, I guess. Who knows? Maybe it'll work. Maybe he'll get pregnant."

"I hope he does," Iris said, "Even though Barry's kind of hoping he doesn't now."

"Why?" Joe asked in confusion, "Wasn't that kind of the point?"

"It was," Iris confirmed, "But he feels guilty about it already. You know Barry. The guilt of tricking an alpha into breeding him would eat at him for the rest of his life."

…..

Barry stared down at the test with mixed feelings. He felt both disappointed and relieved at the same time to see that it was negative. He felt some of his guilt lift a little, but only to be replaced by fear and apprehension as he thought about what this meant. He would be going into the clinic. He only had four more days before he was supposed to go in, and four days wouldn't be enough to do anything about it at this point.

Even if he went running to Eddie to take his offer, four days wouldn't be enough for him to go into heat, let Eddie breed him, and take a pregnancy test. The only thing that he could do to stop him from going into the clinic at this point would be to permanently bond with someone. Eddie had already offered to bond with Barry, but Barry couldn't do that to him. He didn't love Eddie, and it wouldn't be fair of him to trap the man in a loveless life with a mate who didn't feel the same way. Barry had no doubt that his feelings for Eddie would grow with time, but it wouldn't be fair to bond with him now when he didn't have those feelings.

No, all Barry could do at this point was go to the clinic.

…..

"Are you sure about this, Barry?" Joe asked him, giving Barry a worried look as they pulled up to the clinic.

"No," Barry admitted, "But at least this way I'll be free. I won't have to tie myself to a single alpha for the rest of my life, and I'll be letting Eddie off the hook. I couldn't let him do that for me. It wouldn't be right."

"I know, but this," Joe said pointing out his window at the clinic, "This isn't right either."

"I'll be okay, Joe," Barry said softly.

"They're going to pump you full of hormones, Barry," Joe said sadly, "They're going to strap you down and…"

"I'll be fine," Barry assured him, "This will all be over soon. Hopefully it won't take me too long to go into heat, and I'll be finished with it quickly."

"I wish I could go in there with you," Joe said sadly, "I can't stand the idea of you going through this alone."

"Don't worry about that," Barry said, "I'll manage. Besides, this isn't the kind of thing that I would want an audience for anyways."

Joe nodded.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "I guess not."

"Hey," Barry said, giving Joe as small, sad smile, "At least you'll be a grandpa."

Joe laughed lightly at that before sighing.

"Pop pop," he said, "My grandkids are going to call me pop pop."

Barry laughed.

"Okay then," he said, "See you in a few days…or weeks. We'll see."

"Good luck, Barry," Joe said, leaning over in his car seat to hug him, "Be strong."

"I will," Barry said as they pulled apart.

With one last sad smile at Joe, Barry opened his door and exited the vehicle, duffel bag in hand. Joe watched Barry walk toward the OHF building with a sick feeling in his gut. This wasn't right.

…..

"Hello, Mr. Allen," the receptionist at the front desk greeted him. She knew who he was of course. He had been coming here once a month for years. "Did you have your health screening today or a sexuality consultation?"

"Neither," Barry responded with a sigh, "I'm checking in for inpatient today."

"Oh!" she said, and then a wide smile formed on her face, "You've reached your mating deadline, huh?"

Barry nodded, not looking her in the eye. He didn't think he could stand seeing the calm smile on her face, as if they were simply discussing the weather and not the fact that he was there to be bred against his will.

"Alright, Mr. Allen," she said in a cheerful voice, "If you'll just come with me, we'll get you settled in."

She led Barry toward an area of the building he had never been in before. The building had three wings. The omega wellness and health promotion clinic that Barry usually had to go to. The pregnancy wing that he would probably soon be going to regularly if everything went the way it should. And the inpatient breeding clinic.

Barry's hands were clenched into fists as she led him led him down the hallway.

"We have our heat stimulation services in this room here," she said, pointing towards a door they were walking past, "This other room here is our breeding room. We'll show you what it looks like once you get closer to your heat. Over here we have our alpha rooms. Most of our paid breeders don't stay here indefinitely, but we always have rooms available should they desire them. This room here is our examination room where you'll be doing your checkups."

"What kinds of checkups?" Barry asked nervously.

"Mostly standard stuff," she answered, "Blood work, hormone tests, and eventually pregnancy tests to verify successful breeding. We also have it available in the case of any injuries."

"Injuries?"

"Some of our breeders can get a bit carried away sometimes," she explained, "Especially with omegas who have stronger scents than normal. They're not excessively violent or anything. When in sexual frenzy, alphas can just a get a little rough is all."

Barry narrowed his eyes at her. Not only were they going to hold him down and breed him, there was also a chance that they might hurt him? Iris had warned him that she had heard horror stories about things that happened in the OHF clinics, but it was another thing entirely to be casually told about it from an OHF employee herself. It made it sound so much more threatening.

"Aren't they monitored or something?" Barry asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice, "Do you watch them to make sure they don't hurt the omegas?"

"We've ensured total privacy for our paid breeders and for our clients," she stated, "We keep security cameras in the breeding rooms in case something more serious comes up, but we don't review the footage unless a major altercation has occurred. Otherwise, what happens in the breeding room remains completely private."

"Is there a way that I can arrange for a supervisor?" Barry asked quietly, "Someone to stay in the room and oversee that things don't get 'carried away'?"

She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Allen, but it is a part of our alpha employee contract that all breeding sessions remain completely private."

Barry glared at her.

"Mr. Allen," she said, "I'll arrange for you to meet with a counselor to talk about all of this when you get closer to your heat. For the time being, I suggest you put it from your mind."

"Okay, sure," Barry said sarcastically, "I'll just put it from my mind then. Easy."

She ignored his sarcastic tone and continued down the hall.

"This is our shower room," she said, "It's fully equipped to clean up before and after all heat stimulation and breeding sessions. I assure you, the shower room is quite private and enjoyable. Post sessions, however, you will be supervised to make sure you don't wash the alpha's seed from your body, or you might decrease your chances of a successful breeding cycle."

Barry blushed at these words.

"You're even going to have someone watching me in the shower?" he asked.

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"You're about to be going through several perineal exams, heat stimulation sessions, and breeding sessions, and you're worried about someone watching you shower?"

Barry looked away. He couldn't explain it, but his showers were very private times for him. To have someone watching him clean himself would be so…intimate. Fucking him for the purpose of breeding was one thing, but watching him privately clean himself was a different level of intimate for him. It somehow felt more personal.

"And here is where you'll be staying," the receptionist told him when they reached a door at the end of the hallway, "All of these last few rooms here are our omega quarters."

She opened the door for him, and Barry stepped inside. The room was small. There was just a small twin bed in the center of the room with a nightstand next to it and a dresser in the corner for Barry to put his stuff in. A door off to the side led to a small bathroom that consisted of only a sink and a toilet. Barry walked over to the bed and set his duffel bag down as he looked around the room. There was no phone, no TV, no books, nothing to help him to pass the time.

"What am I supposed to do in my free time?" Barry asked her.

"Really, you'll be surprised by how little free time you have here," she answered, "Most omegas use all their free time to rest after their sessions, but we also have the nightstand fully equipped with stuff to keep you occupied if you get bored."

Barry moved over to the nightstand to open the drawer. The drawer was filled with a variety of vibrators, lube, and dildos that even inflated at the base to simulate a knot. Barry stared at the contents of the drawer for a moment before turning back to the receptionist, a questioning look on his face.

"We encourage all of our omega clients to engage in self-stimulation," she told him, "It can help increase fertility and provoke a heat cycle quicker."

Barry closed the drawer. Something told him he'd be getting enough sexual stimulation here without needing to stimulate himself.

"That reminds me, Mr. Allen," she said suddenly, "I'll be needing your cellphone. Omegas are not allowed to make unscheduled calls while they're here."

Barry sighed. He had been expecting this, but he had still hoped they wouldn't take his phone away from him. Reluctantly, Barry pulled out his cellphone and handed it to her.

"I'll keep this locked up somewhere for you," she told him, "It'll be given back to you once you leave here. We want to minimize all distractions for our omegas so that they can focus solely on their heat cycles without being distracted by talking to their loved ones. We allow for occasional scheduled phone calls and sometimes visits, but we try to keep those to a minimum while you're staying with us."

Barry nodded reluctantly at her. He felt lonely already now that he had had his phone taken from him. He felt completely cut off from everybody now, and that was a scary feeling when he was in a place like this.

"Alright, Mr. Allen," the receptionist said, "Your doctor will be right in with you in a few minutes. Don't start unpacking any of your possessions yet. We'll be sending someone in here to do that for you."

"I can unpack my own stuff," Barry insisted.

"We need to search through it all to make sure you're not bringing anything in here that you shouldn't," she said gently, "Junk food, suppressants, contraceptives, that sort of thing."

Barry sighed but nodded. He didn't like it, but really it did make sense that they would feel the need to do that. They wouldn't be the OHF if they didn't try to control every little thing in his life. Barry couldn't say he was surprised.

When the woman left the room and closed the door, Barry heard a small click from the other side of it. Did she just…?

Barry made his way over to the door and tried the handle, giving it a small turn. It didn't budge. She had locked the door. For some reason this room seemed a whole lot smaller now. He walked back over to the bed and sat down on it with a sigh. It already seemed like a million years ago he was saying bye to Joe in his car. He felt so trapped and helpless here, and they hadn't really even started yet.