The sudden, unexpected rap late on Steph's fire escape window an hour before she was supposed to leave for patrol made her stomach sink. Tim must already have some news. That was fast, Steph thought miserably.
But to her surprise, it wasn't Red Robin, but Red Hood who was leaning against the railing, brawny, muscular arms crossed over his chest.
"Hi…?" Steph said slowly as she opened her window. Did Red Hood know who she was? They'd never crossed paths before and Steph was of the private opinion that this was most likely a good thing. Had he stalked her? Learned her identity?
"Hey," he rumbled in a low Alpha growl that sent stupid shivers down her - um. Anyway.
"Can I help you?" Steph asked in confusion.
"Believe that's my line," he smirked. Huh? "You want to talk out here or inside?" he asked her. Well, Steph wasn't sure how she felt about inviting a strange Alpha into her den, especially when it was Red Hood, but if he knew her identity then she didn't exactly want to talk on the fire escape where someone might overhear, so…
"Come on in," she decided. Red Hood grabbed onto the top of the window frame, hopped up, and swung both bulging thighs through the window at the same time. Oh.
My.
Oh my.
Annnnd now he was standing in her den, not wearing a scentblocker and smelling absolutely delicious and seeming three times as big up close as he had out the window.
"Heard you needed a mate, Batgirl," he said without preamble.
"Who the hell did you hear that from?" Steph gasped.
"Mommybird," he smirked.
"Nightwing?" Steph hesitantly guessed, feeling good and confused now. Was Red Hood friends with Nightwing? How - what -
"Dick?" Hood spluttered before breaking into genuine laughter. "God, no, I don't talk to that asshole," he wheezed. "I meant Mommy Oracle."
"You know O?" Steph gaped instead of asking the question she really wanted to ask, which was how the hell did Red Hood know Nightwing's secret identity?
"Oh, me and Barbie go way back," Red Hood winked at her from behind his domino. Steph's brain short-circuited. No one knew Oracle's identity outside of the family. No one. And no one with any regard for their life would ever dare to call her Barbie. Who the hell - wait -
"Are you offering to be my mate?" Steph stuttered with wide eyes.
"Yeah. I mean, if you want," Red Hood said. "Barbie said you didn't have anyone to ask and we're both masks, so," he shrugged. "She figured I'd be better for you than some douche from the Justice League."
"And why is that?" Steph asked warily.
"Duh, cuz I'm from Gotham," Red Hood scoffed. "Your neighborhood, if my ears ain't mistaken, Narrows," he teased, drawing a begrudging smile onto Steph's face. "Unless you'd rather mate with some Alpha prick who orders you to believe that Coast City is the shit," he snorted.
"What I'd rather do is not mate with anybody at all," Steph said sharply.
"Hey, I know, 'mega," Red Hood said softly, making a hairpin curve into gentleness. "These Mating Laws are fucked up. But they ain't gonna change before your month to pick your own mate is up, so…" he trailed off and rubbed the back of his head.
"I figured we could just bite each other and then go about our own lives like we been doing," he offered. "We wouldn't have to fuck except for our heats and ruts," he said, "and I sure as hell won't breed you."
"Oh," Steph said softly. She chewed on her lip. Compared to what any other Alpha would likely expect from her as a mate, Hood's offer didn't sound too bad - if, you know, she overlooked the fact that he was a crimelord. The whole forced mating thing was horrific from every angle, but at least Hood was willing to give her as much freedom as he could. She could do a lot worse, at least as far as Alphas went.
As far as masks, though? What had Red Hood done to win Oracle's respect and trust? Steph had assumed that O thought as badly of the rogue mask as B and Tim did. But clearly, she didn't - especially not if she'd shared her freaking identity with him!
"I could really bite you, too?" Steph double checked as she waffled back and forth.
"Course," Hood said in surprise. "I ain't looking to have uncontrolled power over anybody," he said firmly.
Well, that was huge. Steph had made up her mind years ago that she would never, ever mate with an Alpha, because she'd grown up watching her dad control and abuse her mom, using his Alpha command combined with their mating bond to force her obedience.
If a mated omega was allowed to bite their Alpha back, it would neutralize their mate's added power, Steph had always heard. Of course, her dad hadn't given her mom that privilege, and a lot of Alphas didn't. Sometimes even after promising to! Which had made Steph resolve to mate with a Beta or no one, until the government had ripped her freedoms away a few weeks ago.
"Ok," Steph finally decided, drawing in a deep, shaky breath. "Yeah. All right." Hood seemed sincere and if he backed out of the second bite, she could tell O, who would tell B, who Steph was quite sure would physically hold Hood down if needed so she could bite him.
"All right," Hood smiled at her. "So…" he said, shifting on the balls of his feet a little bit. "Should I bite you now, or…?"
"Might as well get it over with, I guess," Steph sighed. Two weeks of her month to choose her own mate were already up and she'd been getting more nervous by the day.
She didn't know a lot of Alphas. Dick was already mated. Tim and O and Cass were Betas. Batman was an Alpha, but Bruce Wayne was supposedly an omega, so even if Steph had wanted to mate with him (which, ew. she did not) she couldn't. He had to find an Alpha in the League willing to be his fake civilian mate.
Steph had been meeting up with all the well-meaning suggestions of willing Alpha civilians they knew from Oracle and Commissioner Gordon and Tim and Dick and even her mom, desperately hoping to find someone she could stand being mated to, but after she'd eventually rejected every single one, B had finally stepped in. He'd kindly but firmly suggested that he would ask around the Justice League for willing mates, of whom she should pick one.
"I'll help you decide," B had said reassuringly. "Full intel and unfiltered personal opinions, and you can chat with all the female and omega League members about their positive or negative impressions of their Alpha colleagues as potential mates, but Steph, you have to make a decision before the government takes it out of your hands and assigns you a mate. A mask is better than a civilian; at least you'll still be able to be Batgirl."
Steph hadn't been able to disagree. It majorly sucked, but it was unfortunately her best option. Or, at least, it had been, until the elusive and mysterious Red Hood had shown up at her window five minutes ago.
Babs was right, Steph reassured herself. Someone from Gotham was the best option, especially if Hood was going to let her bite him, too. Plus, he wasn't even going to act like her for real mate! He was going to leave her the hell alone (except for when their biology wouldn't let them) - and for that part, well, at least he was hot.
Imagine if she'd gotten stuck with Booster Gold! Steph sighed and moved closer to Hood so he could bite her, feeling way more than a little nervous.
"Here, lemme text you first so you have my number for when you need it," Hood said, though, stepping back and pulling his phone out. "When's your heat due?"
"Next month," Steph mumbled, not even wanting to imagine how scary and awkward that was gonna be. She'd never had sex with an Alpha before. Tim used to help her out with her heats back until he'd started dating Conner, but then Cass had politely and apologetically turned her down when Steph had asked if she'd be willing to step in. ("Ace," Cass had explained. "Me… sex … ew.")
Steph hadn't had anyone else she trusted to be with when she was so vulnerable, so even though she hated spending her heats alone with her toys, she did. Under normal circumstances, she'd be excited to have a heat partner again, but in light of the whole Alpha-mate-stranger-crimelordness of it all, she'd way rather still be kept company by her vibrators.
"Oh, good, cuz my rut's not for two months," Hood was cheerfully answering as he tapped her number into his phone. "Hopefully your heat will trigger my rut early and we'll get synced up. It'll make my ruts a lot easier," he said as he typed. "For you," he added quickly, suddenly glancing up. "Cuz you don't know me and don't want it, I mean."
"Lucky me. Guess sex with me won't bother you at all, huh?" Steph said dryly, trying not to think about how much it was gonna bother her.
"It bothers the fuck outta me that you won't want it and don't have a choice," Hood flatly contradicted her with blazing eyes. "But I'll make it really good for you, 'mega," he rasped in a lower tone. "Promise." Steph's tummy lurched and flipped. Suddenly, she was shivering deep in her core. Fuck, Hood was hot, wasn't he? Stupidly hot. Especially when he started talking about how good he was gonna - um.
Yeah. Well. Winning the sex lottery wasn't gonna make up for being forced by the government to mate, especially with a stranger, but it wouldn't be the world's worst consolation prize, either. How many other Alphas out there would give two shits about making their unwilling omega happy during sex? Not many, Steph would bet.
"I have a choice and you don't, but I'm not gonna take pleasure in fucking someone who doesn't really want it, no matter what a heat's telling her," Hood added as he put his phone away once hers buzzed with an incoming text. Huh. He was kinda sorta a gentleman despite his murderous track record. Way to go, O, Steph thought to herself. She was beginning to see why Babs had sent him over here.
"So why are you mating with me, then?" Steph asked him as he stepped closer into her space, pulling his gloves off and beginning to scent her forehead with his wrist. Her knees sagged a little bit as his flood of non-Pack Alpha pheromones hit her. Oh, God. He smelled like old books and bergamot tea and rusty metal. Ok. Yeah. Sex maybe would not be bad at all. Hopefully. Fingers crossed, bridges not yet.
"Cuz you're Batgirl," Hood smiled down at her as his wrist slipped down her cheek to her neck. "You're a badass."
"Oh," Steph breathed out at him while her eyes expanded with wonder.
"You need help. Gotham heroes gotta stick together," Hood added as he tugged her bare wrist up to encourage her to scent him back.
"Tell that to Batman," Steph snorted. Red Hood barked out a delighted laugh.
"See, I knew I liked you," he grinned. Steph smiled back up at him as she streaked her wrist across his skin, mingling her scent with his and swirling their hormones up like a twisted ice cream cone.
"Well, I appreciate it," she sighed. "You. Doing this. It's not how I wanted to mate," she mumbled, blinking away tears.
"I know, 'mega," Red Hood rumbled sympathetically, making Steph's insides squirm in response to his deep bass. He nudged his nose up against her cheek and nuzzled her a little bit, caressing his scent over her forehead a little more with his left wrist while his right hand traveled down to her hip. Steph hesitantly slid her wrist that was scenting him around his neck and held on.
"You ready?" Hood asked in her ear. Her insides were flopping like a fish out of water, and she wasn't ready at all, not ever - not to mate and especially not with an Alpha, but -
"Yeah," she forced herself to say. So much for romance, she thought sadly. She'd always figured that if she ever did mate (to a Beta, obviously) it would have to be to the love of her life, because she'd been sure that no one less could persuade her that mating was worth it. Too bad the government didn't care about persuasion. They dictated and threatened, and now she was about to get bitten by someone she didn't even know. Speaking of which - oh, no.
"Wait, what's your name?" she asked quickly as Hood's lips started trailing down her cheek towards her jaw.
"Oh," Hood said, sounding surprised. "Jason," he said after a slight pause, giving her kind of a funny look. "Jason Todd."
"Ok," Steph sighed in relief. He was staring at her like he was waiting for something. Oh. "I'm Stephanie Brown," she said. "Everyone calls me Steph."
"I know. Barbie told me," Jason smiled at her, but his eyes still looked a little puzzled. His name did sound kind of familiar to her, but Steph couldn't place it. He was from the Narrows, too, though. Maybe he'd had ties to her dad Cluemaster, or something? Like through a family member, obviously, because he wasn't much older than she was. Well, whatever. They could swap childhood horror stories another time.
"Um. I'm ready. Go ahead," she whispered, screwing her eyes shut in fear and nausea and heartache and - the flood of cared for-protected-comforting pheromones that suddenly punched through her terror made her reel. A strong arm wrapped around her back as she stumbled and clung tighter to his neck for support. "Wha-?"
"Easy, Steph. I got you," Hood softly rasped as her eyes flew open. He held eye contact with her for a long minute until her breathing evened out and grateful tears were pricking her eyes, before he lowered his head and began licking a stripe over her mating gland. Steph couldn't help it; she whimpered and her bare toes curled against her linoleum floor. Hood chuckled softly, his breath warm against her tingling flesh. He dragged his tongue slowly over her mating gland one more time, and then bit.
Oh, FUCK. FUCK fuck fuck - "Owwwwww!" Steph howled. Was it supposed to hurt that much? Mating was supposed to feel good! People online said getting bit was the hottest, most erotic moment of their lives! What the hell? Steph gasped and thrashed against Jason's fangs that were clamped down tight, letting the mating juices flow, binding her to her Alpha, her jailer, her overlord, her abuser, her mate -
A harsh, guttural growl made her freeze. Her brain skidded to a halt across the ice.
"You're ok," Alpha murmured a second later as soon as he pulled his lips away, licking up the blood as he went. And suddenly, she was. Her body went lax in her Alpha's arms. Omega swayed as he held her, stuck on static, instantly soothed with two words from her Alpha. A panic button was flashing somewhere deep in her mind, but omega couldn't move, couldn't bring herself to look at it. She was ok. Her Alpha said so.
"Bite me back," Alpha ordered.
"Yes, Alpha," omega automatically answered. Her head was swirling. Mate-obey-Alpha-bond-
"You don't have to 'Yes, Alpha,' me," her mate frowned. Omega cringed.
"Ye- o- ok," she stuttered out in horror. Her mate sighed.
"Good girl. Go ahead and bite me, 'mega," he said more gently. An ocean of relief swept over her, so much so that an involuntary purr slipped out. She didn't have time to ponder it, though, because her mate was tugging her close with the arm slung around her waist, and gently pushing on the back of her head, guiding her lips to his delicious gland. She could taste him on her tongue before she even licked him, and her purrs were flowing out as strong and energetic as a vacuum cleaner, even as she sunk her little omega fangs down into his gland.
Her mate jerked and stiffened for a minute, before the hand on her head slid into a caress that stroked over her hair before sliding down her neck and along her back. Two powerful arms became silk ribbons, slipping and sliding over her trembling body as Steph clung to her mate.
Her mate.
Her mate her mate her mate her -
Jason let out a low groan as she unclenched her jaw and then he carefully let her go out of his arms.
"How you feeling?" he asked her, searching her eyes and sniffing her pheromones.
"Better. Ok," Steph replied, drawing in a raggedy breath. She was Steph. Steph. She was Steph and she was mated to Jason and - God. She was mated. To Red Hood. Mated. Mated mated matedmatedmated -
"Yeah?" he asked her, looking a little skeptical. She took a deeper breath, all the way down to her toes, and let it out before nodding. "So… you want me to go now? You gonna be all right?" he asked her. "I can stick around for awhile if you need me to," he offered.
Yes. Stay. Fuck her. Claim her. Make her his.
"You can go," Steph said evenly. "I'm fine. Really. Thank you," she added, reaching up to gently touch her still oozing bite mark.
"You sure?" he asked one more time, still not looking convinced. Steph nodded. She was Batgirl, dammit. She was not a quivering, needy, pathetic omega mess. It was just a bite. Just a mating bond with a stranger. It didn't mean anything except her freedom from a tyrannical, abusive, government-assigned mate. Jason was planning to leave her alone to live her own life and that was perfect. Exactly what she wanted.
All lies from her new mating bond saying otherwise would be completely disregarded because that's what they were - lies. Steph made her own choices, thank you very much. Two little bites weren't going to change that.
"Ok, well, try to give me a few days heads up on your heat so I can wrap up whatever I'm working on and clear my schedule," Jason said as he slowly reached down for his gloves.
"Will do," Steph said, pleased that the 'Yes, Alpha,' was only a faint whisper on her tongue now instead of a siren call.
"All right. Well… I'll see ya around, Steph," he said somewhat awkwardly as he turned to leave. Which was fine. Completely fine. She wanted him to leave. Jason meant nothing to her.
She only had to repeat that to herself alone in her apartment about twenty thousand times after he left before she finally gave up on taking the night off and put her Batgirl suit on.
"Steph, what are you doing here? You just got mated!" Babs gasped when Batgirl slunk into the Clocktower some time later, desperately needing a friendly face and intel on someone, anyone, to punch to take her mind off matematematemate -
"Hood told you?" Steph asked, her fingers straying again to the now covered-with-scentblocker bite.
"Yeah, he texted me," Babs answered, frowning at her. "You can't patrol for at least a week! Why'd you come out? Is Jason sleeping? Does he know you left?" Babs asked with increasing agitation.
"Why can't I patrol?" Steph gaped at her, ignoring the rest of the unusually sexist commentary, which wasn't at all like her mentor. Steph didn't need her Alpha's permission to patrol! What the hell was Babs going off about?
"Because of the amped-up mating hormones," Babs answered, looking at her like she was crazy.
"I'm wearing a scentblocker," Steph said, looking at Babs like she was the crazy one.
"Scentblockers don't work against a fresh omega mating bond," Babs stared at her. "Stephanie," she chided. "How could you not know that?" Steph's mouth opened and closed.
Because I wasn't planning on ever getting mated! she wanted to scream. Because this was forced on me by the government!
"Who wears scentblockers except us Bats?" she angrily answered instead. "How the hell was I supposed to know? You didn't say anything about it!"
"Because I figured you'd be spending your mating week in your den like a normal omega!" Babs retorted, throwing up her hands. "Not running around flaunting your mating hormones for every Alpha in a two mile radius to get high off of! Come on downstairs, I'm driving you home in the van. You can't go back out like that. What was Jason thinking, letting you out like that?"
"I didn't ask him!" Steph sniped right back.
"Stephanie!" Babs stared at her in horror. "You left without telling him? Van. Right now," she breathed out in panic. "Come on," she yelled, racing her chair towards the elevator. Steph sighed and trudged after her.
"Why are you so freaked out?" she groused as they sped towards the basement. "Jason ain't gonna care."
"Steph, you have a fresh mating bond. He's as hormonal as you are! He's going to freak out that you left the den if he wakes up and finds you gone! He could go primal, take that as a sign of rejection and abandonment, that he's failed you as an Alpha. For fuck's sake," Babs snapped at her, like all of this was somehow Steph's fault.
First of all, how the hell was she supposed to know any of that? People weren't supposed to get mated to strangers! Anyone Steph had known who'd gotten mated in the past had wanted to spend a week nesting with their partner. She'd thought it was just a tradition. Not, like, a genetic mandate.
Was that why her veins wouldn't stop thrumming with matematemate and her skin felt itchy and hot and clammy all at once and why mind-over-mating was utterly, completely failing her? Oh, God. She numbly climbed into the passenger seat of the van and had barely put her seatbelt on before Babs took off, tires squealing as she deftly manipulated the hand pedals.
"Call me as soon as you get upstairs and let me know if Jason's ok," Babs ordered her when she pulled up way too quickly to be safe at the foot of her fire escape. "Hopefully he's still asleep. Go!" she ordered when Steph didn't get out quite fast enough.
"I'm going," she grumbled.
"Stay inside and NEST for the rest of the week!" Babs called after her. Steph sighed and jogged up the fire escape, grateful at least for the small amount of exertion, because she'd felt ready to burst into flames on the ride back. She wanted Jason so bad she felt sick. Little black dots were spotting the corners of her eyes now, and nausea was swirling in her gut, and anxieties were creeping up her spine.
Jason hadn't wanted to spend a week nesting! He hadn't even wanted to be mated, really! He'd only done it to be nice and help her out. Oh, God. She'd survive. She would. She just had to get through this week and then the hormones would wear off and she'd be ok again, until her heat, anyway. She could do it. She wasn't gonna call him. She was tough, she was strong, she was Batgirl, and she was nobody's omega. Not even her mate's.
She breathed out a sigh of relief when she got to her window and pushed it open. She crawled inside and promptly crumbled. Stale, empty air greeted her as she collapsed to the floor. Mateless. Empty. Alone. Her den didn't smell like mate. Her mate wasn't there. Her mate had left her. He - he - he wasn't really her mate, Steph reminded herself with great force of will.
She gritted her teeth and called O.
"Jason's fine," she said tightly. "Still asleep."
"Thank God," Babs breathed out. "Now stay put!"
"Yep. Will do," Steph muttered before hanging up. Oh, God. Her head was pounding. The nonmateness of the air was suffocating her. Her breaths started coming faster and faster, shallow and raw and painful. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. With trembling fingers, she found Jason's number.
"Steph?" he answered on the first ring. "Are you ok?" he asked immediately. Was it her imagination, or did his voice sound kind of ragged and panicked?
"No," she choked out. "I need - I didn't know - O said there's hyperstrong mating hormones -" she could hardly speak for gasping.
"Oh, shit," Jason breathed out in horror. "I thought I was going crazy. I was seriously considering sedating myself to keep from coming back over, felt like I couldn't stay away, which is insane -"
"Please come back over," she whined with tears leaking down her cheeks. "Hurry."
"Don't have to tell me twice," he groaned in relief. Yeah, Jason did sound as messed up as she was, Steph realized. His breathing was heavy and hoarse, too. "Guess we both got the short end of the sex ed stick, huh?" he managed to quip, though.
She heard his door slam and his heavy boots thumping down stairs, fast fast fast, like he was as needy as she was. At least they were both in the same boat. That was slightly less embarrassing than it only being an omega thing.
"Um, I mostly skipped sex ed to make out under the bleachers," she admitted with a giggle, forcing herself to focus on the sound of her mate's breathing, the sound of his feet. "Which, you know, was not not sex ed, but …"
"I died before I took it," Jason said back. "And I guess either B thought I was too young for the big mating talk before then, or else he was too cowardly to have it with me."
"B, Batman?" Steph asked in sudden confusion. "And what do you mean you died?" she demanded.
"Oh… shit. Uh. Hang on one sec. Lemme put the helmet on," Jason said right before she heard his motorcycle rev. Relief flooded her bones that he wasn't hanging up on her, but what the actual hell? Thankfully it was only a few seconds before he was back.
"So, Batman. Yeah. Uh. I was his son. The second Robin. Died, came back, became a crimelord, now we hate each other, you know. Just your basic family drama," he said, sounding a little more than a mite uncomfortable.
"Oh, my God! You were Narrows Robin?" Steph screeched.
"Narrows Robin, huh?" he said, sounding sexily amused.
"We all adored you," she babbled. "You gave us so much hope, that a kid like us could be Robin, too. Made us think we could be better, get out and make something of ourselves. We had a club," she burst out. "We tried to get you to come to one of our meetings."
"A club?" he repeated, sounding slightly dazed. "Wait - the Robin's Eggs?"
"Yes!" Steph screamed. "We invited you -"
"- by getting onto the roof of the Police Station somehow and turning on the BatSignal," Jason finished for her, his words suddenly tumbling together. "B was so. pissed," he laughed in awe.
"More at the cops than us, that they didn't have better security," Steph giggled. "He just kinda gave us a lecture about the BatSignal being for emergencies only and how dangerous it was to climb on roofs. God, he did not like when I pointed out how you did the same damn thing, though."
"Wait, that was you?" Jason gasped. "Little blonde sassmaster on the roof?"
"One and the same," Steph giggled. "You were so flattered, too, oh my god," she swooned. "I know you totally would've come to a meeting if you could have."
"I was going to," Jason choked out. "I meant to. I just - Joker -"
"Fuck," she whispered. "Jason. I was devastated. We all were. I cried for weeks -" she cut off, suddenly embarrassed, as memories of her despair and subsequent depression flooded her. The Robin's Eggs had disbanded, most of her friends' once bright ambitions extinguished when faced with the grim reality that a Robin could fly out of the Narrows, but not for long before they came crashing back down to a grave.
Not Steph, though. She had clung to her faith in Narrows Robin, vowing to make his angel proud, to show him that he wasn't the only Narrows kid who could get out and be a superhero. That his story didn't end with Joker. That one of his Robin's Eggs would hatch, dammit!
And now he was not only not dead, but her mate? Her freaking mate?
"'M sorry I made you cry, Sunshine," his warm voice rasped, drawing her attention back to their phone call.
"I became Spoiler for you," she said in a funny, breathless voice. "And Batgirl. I wanted to make you proud -" she cut off, flustered, as her tummy flip-flopped and her heart pounded.
"Is that right?" her Robin sexily drawled in her ear. "Well, I'd say you succeeded, sweetheart." Oh God. She was wet. She was mated to Robin. She was about to have sex with Narrows Robin, and he was flirting with her and complimenting her and - ohgodohgodohgod.
"Why didn't B tell me you were Red Hood?" she stammered, feeling dizzy from more than just her mating bite. "Or O? Or any of them? What the fuck?"
"I dunno," Jason said. "I was sure as hell surprised when you asked me what my name was earlier. But not gonna lie, kinda relieved you aren't such a celebrity gossip hound that you automatically recognized it when I told you. Guess that shows how much B and them talk about me, though," he muttered more bitterly.
"I - yeah," she mumbled, not sure what to say to that. Jason was right - nobody in the family ever talked about him, to the point that no, she hadn't remembered his actual name. Which had to suck for him, no matter how sweetly he was trying to slice it on her behalf.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
"Don't be, Sunshine," he immediately said. "Fuck 'em. O's the only good one of the bunch. Maybe she figured you already knew."
"Yeah, just like she figured I already knew about mating hormones and scentblocker fails and everything else," Steph grumbled. "Excuse me for being a dumbass."
"Um, I think the word you're looking for is hot," Jason laughed. "Ms. Makeout Under The Bleachers Girl." Her cheeks flushed and she bit back a smile. "Hey, I'm just pulling up," he added. "Be there in a minute."
"Thank God," she moaned. At least talking on the phone had helped distract her from her growing neediness, but only just. She still wanted to shriek and shred her scentless nest to pieces in a hopeless rage because her mate wasn't in it.
"Aw, I got you, sweetheart. Don't worry, Narrows Robin is gonna love his hot little Robin's Egg up real good," Jason growled, dropping his voice into some Alpha bass before hanging up. Steph squeaked and blushed from her head to her toes. Fuck, she was wet, and her body was thrumming for matematematemate -
Her window suddenly slid open, making her jump out of her thoughts.
"Fuck, 'mega," Jason groaned in relief, crawling in over her head, seemingly unperturbed by finding her slumped under the window in a heap and casually somersaulting over her. He immediately pulled off his helmet and domino and gloves, followed by his jacket and t-shirt. Steph whined and her mouth watered as his rich scent began wafting towards her.
"God, yes," she mumbled, not even realizing that she was crawling towards him until she was in his lap and pressing her chest up against his and licking over the bite that she'd made on his mating gland.
"Let's get you out of this," her matematemate said, tugging at her cowl.
Oh. Yeah. She was still wearing her Batgirl suit.
"You're braver than me, trying to go out tonight," Jason chuckled softly as he began to strip her way more quickly and efficiently than she'd ever managed on her own, and to her rapidly waning embarrassment, she let him.
He knew how to unlock her Batbelt without getting shocked, and he found the hidden catches on her suit no problem, and she lolled against him, unresisting as a paper doll, sniffing and sniffing and sniffing his perfect, heavenly, belongingtoherandonlyher scent as he pulled first one arm and then another out of her suit.
"Be right back," he smiled at her nose, smacking a quick kiss on her cheek that was nuzzled up next to his before sliding her off his lap so he could get her boots off. His hands were on her hips before she knew it, pulling them up in the air and tugging her suit down so fast she almost felt dizzy. His own boots and pants came off next, and oh holy God. He was naked underneath, naked standing up, naked with his already hard Alpha cock swinging over her right in front of her face. Eep.
"C'mon," he grinned, unabashedly leaning down and scooping her up in her sports bra and underwear, nestling her all against his naked self as he carried her to her nest and carefully laid her down in it.
"You have to scent it," Steph said immediately, on instinct. "My nest. Scent my nest," she bossed. "And I need your clothes," she ordered, scrabbling to her knees and reaching out grabby hands for them.
"Yes ma'am, omega," Jason twinkled at her with amused, sparkling eyes. Oh. That made her go all soft and melty inside, and she smiled back at him, pleased. He snatched his shirt and pants off the floor and handed them to her before he clambered naked right into her nest next to her. She didn't have time to get nervous before he was moving to the far edge, rubbing his wrists and OH MOTHERFUCK HIS COCK - he was rubbing his ALPHA COCK all over HER NEST. Oh God.
She couldn't breathe. She gasped and inhaled a big desperate lungful of air - and suddenly she had all the oxygen in the world, rich and humid and filled with mate's scent mate's need mate's want matematemate. Her chest softly expanded and Steph melted down into her nest, still clutching Jason's clothes to her chest.
Mate, she fought fuzzily and happily. Mate mate mate -
"Did you want to weave those into the nest, 'mega?" her mate asked her, suddenly crouching over her with a tender smile on his face. He reached his hand out and traced it over his clothes, down the curves of her belly, down to her womb. Steph whined, pleased, as he began to caress her skin with his shirt. "Maybe not?" he teased, gently tugging it out of her hands. "Maybe you want to let Alpha scent you up with it, instead?" he grinned at her as he slid it lower.
Steph huffed out an impatient whine and quickly shoved her panties off, before reaching up and pulling off her sports bra, too.
"Yes. Do that," she beamed at him when she was fully naked. "I like that idea, Alpha," she purred at him, deliberate and seductive.
"Oh, me, too, 'mega," he darkly hummed as he went back to rubbing his shirt over her belly. He traced her curves a few times before dipping it lower, down over her mound. Steph's breath hitched and she bucked against his hand.
"You like that, 'mega?" Jason purred at her as he began to knead and massage his t-shirt with deep, probing circles over her ovaries. Steph whined and raised her hips higher to encourage him. "That's it, sweetheart," he whispered as he dragged his t-shirt lower, lower, dipping it with one finger into her dripping slit and rubbing it over her trembling clit. Steph huffed another lungful of mate-filled air as he traced his fingers over her nub, through his t-shirt, in lazy, circular motions.
"Mate," she breathed out, with a tiny omegan whine slipping into the end of the word. Jason's eyes lit up.
"That's right, sweetheart, your mate's here," he reassured her, his Alpha scent flaring. Possessive-want-mine flooded her nest and Steph jumped in terror, instinctively scrambling away from him before she realized what she'd done.
"Steph? You ok, honey?" Jason asked her with a frown, letting go of his shirt and drawing back on his haunches, further away from her. Safe-protected-calm scents wafted from him as he carefully mimicked her pose, wrapping his arms around his drawn up knees.
"I'm sorry," she gasped, unable to stop the sudden burst of nervous tears leaking from her eyes. She gulped as she unwillingly filled the nest with fear-danger-terror, before scrubbing at her face and taking a deep breath in and out.
"What are you scared of, sweetheart?" Jason asked gently, continuing to send comforting scents her way without moving towards her. "Me?" He didn't sound offended, she was relieved to note, but genuinely curious.
"Not you. I like you. But I've never been with an Alpha before," Steph admitted with a deep blush. Jason's scent flared, sharp and spicy and feral before abruptly muting into nothingness.
"Sorry," he immediately mumbled, flushing bright red. "Damn Alpha instincts. I didn't mean - I won't be - I'm not gonna go all Alpha on you and I'm definitely not gonna touch you unless you want me to. Ok?"
"Ok," she said softly. His level of control was impressive and frankly, reassuring. Being able to stop his scents like that, in an instant? Off of a fresh mating bite, too? His steadiness was surrounding her like a shield now, and she reminded herself that he'd been planning to knock himself out rather than give into his earlier unexplained itch to come back over to her apartment uninvited.
"What scares you about me being an Alpha?" he gently persisted. "The knot?"
"No," she shook her head. "I crave knots. You don't even know. I have toys -" she broke off, biting her lip and feeling slightly embarrassed.
"So not the knot," he grinned easily, though, making a pun instead of an innuendo. And it was a little thing, but it wasn't. How many Alphas would've leered or made a lewd joke about not needing toys anymore now that she had the real thing? Instead of just listening. Steph felt a little more of her anxious worries evaporate.
"It's the whole Alpha thing in general," she said miserably. "My dad was so abusive to my mom, which was terrifying to grow up with, knowing an Alpha could do the exact same thing to me one day," she sniffed. "And being an omega turns me into such a needy, hormonal mess during sex anyway, so adding an Alpha to that, plus a mate? God, I'm already going so primal brained," she groaned. "It makes me feel so vulnerable." Jason hummed.
"I'll never hurt you," he promised. "And you already bit me back, so you know I can't brainwash you. And I promise not to ever use Alpha voice on you, but I know that's a lot to take on faith, especially with an abusive Alpha in your past."
"I do believe you," Steph assured him. "But sometimes the Alpha pheromones scare me anyway." He nodded in understanding.
"I'll try to keep them tamped down," he said. "I'm sure getting mated out of the blue was anxiety provoking enough on its own, but you also weren't expecting to have sex with me tonight," he said. "It's no wonder you're scared."
"Yeah," she agreed. "It's a lot," she admitted. "It was all a lot. But I want to have sex - God, I need to," she sadly moaned. "Pretty sure we both do," she said, looking at him for confirmation. Jason grimaced and nodded.
"I imagine you'd feel much safer, though, if I was an Alpha you knew and trusted," he sighed.
"I do know and trust you," Steph mumbled in embarrassment. At his raised eyebrows, she blushed and bit her lip. "You're Narrows Robin," she reminded him in a tiny voice, not quite able to meet his eyes. "My Robin."
"Oh, honey," Jason purred at her approvingly. He crawled up her nest to sit next to her, bumping their shoulders together as he swiveled his head to look her in the eyes. His hand gently traced the side of her face. "I'm still your Robin. Always will be. Despite punk ass little pretenders showing up and taking my mantle," he added with a faux-sulk.
"Tim is a very nice person and to be fair, he was trying to save B from turning into a psychopath," Steph pointed out as she stared into the kindest, warmest eyes she'd ever seen.
"Details," Jason scoffed as he wrapped his arms around her and tugged her in close to his chest. "Tell me the truth," he whispered in her ear, before nudging her nose with his. "Did you have a crush on me way back when, my little Robin's Egg?" he grinned at her.
"Duh," Steph smiled back at him. "You were such a badass."
"Still am," Jason smirked.
"I wanted to be just like you," Steph said.
"You are," Jason said in a husky voice that sent shivers up her spine. Her little gasp was swallowed by the soft kiss he leaned in to press to her mouth. "I never in a million years when I was Robin ever dreamed I'd get to have a mate as amazing as you," he rasped when he drew back.
"And once I became Red Hood, I didn't think I'd get to have a mate at all," he said, "being a fucked up crimelord and all. But I especially never thought I'd have a badass omega mate who kicks butt like nobody's business," he grinned at her. A happy little noise flew out of her throat.
"And you care so much about helping people," he added as he nuzzled her head, "and you ran around on your own to stop your dad, which hello, MAJOR badass. Even I didn't do that," he smiled against her throat. "I just jacked the tires off the Batmobile," he giggled.
"Shut up!" Steph gasped at him. "You did not!"
"Geez, they really don't talk about me, do they?" Jason muttered, his mood suddenly dimming.
"Fuck them," Steph savagely growled. How dare they hurt her mate and make him sad! "You're mine and I'm going to talk about you all the time, to everyone. And tell them how sweet and kind and hot and respectful and safe and strong and -" Her mate growled and grasped her face with both hands to suddenly sear her with a ferocious kiss.
Steph keened and leaned into it, her arms finding their way around her mate's torso as she kissed him back, fiery and proud and fierce.
"Robin, Alpha," she panted when he dropped his mouth down to her neck. It didn't hurt this time when he bit her. Hot waves of arousal shot through her body as slick poured out of her hole, while she melted under his fangs, feeling safe and claimed and secure. "Mine," she hummed against his ear while her fingers tangled into his curly hair and pressed him tighter into her gland. "Mine, mate, yours -"
"All yours, Robin's Egg," Jason growled at her, right before kissing her again, hot and deep and wet, with her blood and juices coating his tongue. Steph shivered against him and dragged her fingernails down his naked back.
"Jason," she murmured, tugging him over her chest as she maneuvered herself down to lay on her back. His eyes went sexy and hooded as he covered her body with his, gently grinding his cock against her. "Fuck, yes," she gasped.
"Yeah?" Jason smiled at her. "Feels good?" She smiled back and nodded, so he kept up his slow rhythm. "You feelin' a little more relaxed now?" he asked softly as she whimpered and panted around his gently persistent hip rolls. "Not so freaked out with me? Cause I can always just jack off, and get you off with my hand. Or get you some of your toys, if you want to do it yourself. I don't want you feeling all scared if we have sex."
"'M not - not so scared now," Steph slurred, because the fact that he was asking was reassurance in and of itself. "Was just the pheromones. Had no idea you were Narrows Robin when you bit me," she mumbled. "Or when I called you after. Can't believe I get you as my mate," she sniffed, blinking away tears. "I never thought - and you died -" she gulped.
"I know," he murmured. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry!" Steph choked out. "You don't have to apologize - not your fault - I was so sad - can't believe you're alive and you're mine," she sniffed. "I would've picked you," she admitted in a rush. "If I could've picked anyone in the world to be my mate, I would've picked Narrows Robin," she smiled up at him.
"And I would've picked the sassy blonde who told B where to stick it," he told her on a soft, husky laugh. Steph's eyes brimmed with happy tears as he leaned down and kissed her, long and sweet and steamy. Steph sighed as she looped her arms dreamily around his neck and wound fingers in his hair.
"Wait, we'll be mates for real now?" she asked just as his fingers began creeping down her stomach. "And live together and fuck for fun and not just hormones?"
"Of course, baby," Jason huffed. "As if I'd ever be satisfied without my little Robin's Egg by my side, now that I know it's you."
"Good," Steph smiled in relief. "And if you thought I sassed B on the roof back then, wait until I get to boast to him all the time about you being my mate." Jason laughed, low and delighted. Rough fingers gently teased over her stomach.
"So it's ok to keep going?" he checked with her as his fingertips danced around, giving her tingly butterflies that made her grind up into him more tightly.
"Yeah," she smiled at him. "I'm ready."
She might have been scared of sex with an Alpha, but sex with her Robin? Best. Thing. Ever.
Bragging endlessly to B about what a good mate Jason was, though? Strong second best.
The End
A/N - Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Tumblr as River9Noble