A/N - If this looks like the same premise as my fic "Burning Through my Darkest Night," that's because it is. This is the fic I originally wanted to write, but I was new to omegaverse and couldn't wrangle it back then so it turned into JaySteph. Finally could get the original idea written! Same set-up, but of course it veers off into completely unique BruSteph territory. My favorite disaster couple!
"Bruce!" Tim's voice on the phone said in a panic. "They took Steph - I didn't know, she never told me - Bruce, you gotta save her, please -"
"Took her where? Who's got her?" Bruce said tersely, already running through a mental list of Cluemaster's enemies who might be holding a grudge against the incarcerated rogue.
"She's an omega, Bruce," Tim choked out in a voice filled with tears. "She wore Alpha scenters and never told me and you know she acts like an Alpha. How was I supposed to know?" he started to whimper. Bruce automatically rumbled a soothing Alpha growl through the phone even as he felt the knifelike knots twist up his stomach.
Damn his independently driven Batgirl! If she would have told him, he could have protected her - had her hide out at the Manor while Bruce Wayne and the scant few morally-intact citizens he had managed to muster tried to overturn the recently passed Mating Laws via legal means. Batman and company, of course, were working behind the scenes, organizing underground shelters to hide as many unmated omegas as they could from the capture crews.
Steph and her fucking independence, Bruce thought with a silent groan. Her determination to never appear weak or incompetent suddenly took on new meaning, but why on earth she hadn't trusted the Bats with her true designation once the Mating Laws had passed - not to mention during the pandemic, when omegas were at the highest risk for infection and death -
"She's already been taken to the Central Care Center?" he asked with a sinking heart.
"Yeah," Tim sniffed. "Her mom told me. You know how they're offering rewards for unmated omegas?" Nausea gripped the Alpha's stomach.
"Tell me he didn't," Bruce said tautly.
"He absolutely did," Tim growled, and despite being a Beta, his fury drove his register low enough to almost mimic an Alpha's roar.
Fucking Arthur Brown. Bruce didn't regret stopping Steph from killing her father way back when, but he was suddenly filled with deep regret that he'd thrown Cluemaster into Arkham instead of the Phantom Zone. What kind of father - but there were more pressing issues at hand.
"Tim, once she's been booked at the CCC, her legal status is fixed," Bruce said in dismay. "We can break her out, but she'll remain legal property of the state. She'll be a permanent fugitive and if she's ever caught, she'll be forced to become an unmated breeder as punishment."
The current state of the world was chilling and filled him with disgust, but even worse, the chances of overturning the Mating Laws in court any time in the next decade seemed non-existent. Not that he would ever stop trying, with all the money and lawyers and outraged, upstanding folk he could persuade to join him, but he was also a realist - and the reality was, Steph was in deep trouble.
"I know. She's screwed, Bruce," Tim said hopelessly. "That's why you've got to go buy her as your mate." Bruce's brain turned to white static.
He couldn't - no - that was ridiculous - he -
"They force you to forge the bond at the facility," he said blankly. "I won't be able to fake a mating bond, Tim."
"I know," his son said in confusion, as if Batman was being uncharacteristically slow to the party. Maybe he was? Because what other option was there -
Oh, hell no. Surely Tim wasn't suggesting -
"Bruce, you have to mate with her. You're the only unbonded Alpha out of all of us," Tim very much was suggesting, as if this was a perfectly rational solution.
"I'm - I'm Batman," Bruce stuttered out as a rebuttal.
"And?" Tim scoffed. "She's Batgirl. You'll keep each other's secrets, Steph will be free and safe, and we can all go back to fighting to undo this hellscape."
"Tim, I don't think Steph would want me as her mate," Bruce said numbly, feeling as if his mouth was stuffed full of cotton. She wouldn't. He and Steph did nothing but fight and argue. Not to mention, she'd been his Robin once, so now his mate? No, no, no. There had to be another way.
"You have to convince her it's for her own good," Tim said firmly, a growl sinking into his voice. Bruce felt the room spinning - or maybe it was the world.
"Please, Alpha?" Tim whimpered in a higher register.
Fuck.
"Mr. Wayne," Alpha Stewart Johnston, head of Gotham's omega Central Care Center, said in surprise. "I'm afraid we don't give tours of the facilities to misguided rabble-rousers," the Alpha smirked, "but I can assure you that the Health Department conducts regular inspections of the omegas in our care. They've yet to file a complaint," he said, drawing a nail file across a fingertip.
"I'm here to buy an omega," Bruce gritted out. Alpha Johnston's eyebrows went up as a disbelieving laugh fell from his lips.
"Are you a hypocritical turncoat or an untalented comedian?" Johnston asked, highly amused.
"Neither," Bruce growled. "A family friend has been impr-" imprisoned might not be the best word choice, he belatedly realized. He cleared his throat. "She has been remanded here," he said gruffly. "I'm going to buy her as my mate."
"Oh, no, I'm afraid you're not," Johnston said with an oily smile. Bruce felt his hackles go up and the scent of Alpha aggression wafted out of his pores.
"The omegas here are for sale to unmated Alphas, are they not?" he said tersely.
"They are, yes," Johnston said smoothly. "But we conduct very thorough assessments of potential Alphas to ensure that our omegas are mated with none but those who will treat them with the level of care necessary to produce multiple, healthy pups for years to come. Unfortunately, Mr. Wayne," the Alpha smiled, "you don't meet our criteria."
"I've raised several pups," he argued, narrowing his eyes.
"Mm, yes," Johnston hummed, "but you've made it more than clear that you're fundamentally opposed to the CCC's core mission of producing a viable, sustainable world population."
"I am not against repopulating the planet!" Bruce snapped. "I am against sexual slavery."
"Which renders you most unlikely to produce pups from a union with one of our omegas, I'm afraid," Johnston sighed. "Better luck elsewhere, Mr. Wayne," he smirked.
"How much do you want for her?" Bruce growled.
"Our omegas are priced according to their health and age and projected number of pups," Johnston said. "But they are not for sale to you at any price," he repeated.
"Not how much for the omega," Bruce said, leaning forward in his chair. "How much do you want to process the sale?"
"Mr. Wayne!" Johnston said, bemused. Bruce didn't flinch.
"Government jobs don't pay very well, especially these days," he said, holding Johnston's gaze in an unblinking stare. "And the cost of living has skyrocketed, hasn't it?" the billionaire mused. Johnston's eyes grew thoughtful.
"We all have our principles, of course," Bruce said lightly. "But everything has a price, Alpha. Isn't that so? After all, I'm here to buy an omega, aren't I?"
"Ten million," Johnston said, after a long pause.
"Done," Bruce said immediately, pulling out his checkbook. Johnston blinked and coughed on his inhale. "Write up the paperwork for the sale. You get your money when I sign," the billionaire instructed, scribbling out a check.
"And who is the lucky omega?" Johnston said, slowly pulling out a form as an incredulous smile began to fill his face.
"Stephanie Brown," Bruce said as he finished signing his check. Johnston's pen scratched a line across the Bill of Sale and he began laughing so hard that he started wheezing.
"You're paying ten million for her?" he managed to hack out. "Good God," he gasped in bemusement. "Have you met her?"
"Yes," Bruce said shortly. "As I said, she's a family friend."
"Well, you have my pity, Mr. Wayne, and that's a fact," Johnston said, wiping tears from his eyes. "I wouldn't care what kind of BFF that one was with my Pack, I wouldn't mate with her if you paid me," he snorted. "You must be the dumbest sap that ever lived," he chuckled.
"I'm also the richest," Bruce pointed out with an icy glare.
"A fool and his money are soon parted," Johnston quoted with a mocking laugh. "Sign here," he said, shoving the paperwork at him.
Much to Bruce's annoyance, Alpha Johnston insisted on accompanying the Beta handler and himself to Steph's cell. Oh, they called it a den, but a prison by any other name…
"I do hope your purchase will soften your attitude towards the work we do here, Mr. Wayne," Beta Sullivan breathed in a tone accompanied by so many placating pheromones that Bruce would have mindlessly agreed like a zombie had he not conditioned himself against hormonal reactions since childhood.
Sullivan had to be one of the most powerful Betas that he'd ever encountered, making him wonder how, exactly, the CCC was finding their handlers. It was no surprise that they'd need the strongest Betas available to keep the kidnapped, soon to be forcibly-mated-raped-and-endlessy-pregnant omegas calm.
Maybe they were enhancing the Betas' natural pheromones with a drug? He'd have to look into that, Batman decided. Disrupting the efficacy of the handlers might at least render the CCC temporarily unable to take in any more omegas. But first, he had to save Steph.
By mating with her.
Johnston grinned in sheer delight as Beta Sullivan stopped in front of a door and rang a serene sounding chime.
"We always announce our presence to the omegas before opening the door," the Beta beamed at Bruce. "And we never enter their den while they're present. It's important to keep their hormones in optimal balance at all times so they are fully fertile and primed for conception when they are mated."
"How thoughtful of you," Bruce sneered, making no effort to mask his disgust. The Beta refused to be affected, however, and kept a calm smile on their face as they opened the door.
A hardcover book came flying through the opening and would have hit Bruce in the face, if he hadn't acted on reflex to throw his hand up, deflecting the book at the last second instead of catching it.
Unfortunately, that meant that the bolting omega hit him smack in the chest as she ran from the room, barreling into him with a sharp elbow to his solar plexus, and rebounding off his ribs to grab the Beta's head, which she slammed into the wall.
They collapsed with a groan and Bruce felt the onslaught of drowsy pheromones that they emitted as they fell, which made Steph waver and stumble, but she rallied to send a kick towards the Beta's face - a kick designed to smash an eye in and fracture the socket. As well deserved as it would have been, a blow like that could kill someone if a bone fragment accidentally pierced the brain, and that would be incredibly problematic - so, with an internal sigh and a giant yawn, Brucie Wayne fell directly into Steph's foot, as if felled by the Beta's sleepy juice.
"Bruce?" she said in shock, finally registering his presence.
"Excellent news, omega," Johnston leered from his position well to the side of her den door as she stared at Bruce with wide eyes that were confused but hopeful.
"You have been purchased by an Alpha," Johnston announced to her. "Beta Sullivan will escort you to the mating den as soon as they have collected your bed linens for your Alpha's use." Beta Sullivan was rather unsteadily rising to their feet and had to hold onto the wall for a minute before they managed to stumble into the cell to strip the bed.
"We provide each of our omegas with their own sheets and nesting material, of course, in order to enhance their comfort during the mating ritual," Alpha Johnston said blandly to Bruce.
"What nest?" Steph spat. "You think any of us are locked in our cells nesting, you fucking piece of shit?"
"We here at the Central Care Center thank you for your time with us and wish you many healthy pups in your future, omega," Johnston replied breezily.
"Go fuck yourself," she snarled at him.
Ah, Steph. Always a delight, Bruce thought, although this time, he couldn't agree more with her attitude.
"Congratulations, Alpha," Johnston chuckled, turning on his heel and walking off down the hall.
"Wait, you?" Steph said to Bruce, blinking up at him. "You bought me, B?" she said in a suddenly thready voice, and he couldn't tell if she was sad, or angry, or hurt, or relieved.
Clearly she'd taken his lessons about controlling scents in public to heart, which normally would have made him proud, but in this case just made him nervous. God, he hoped she'd understand and see the logic behind Tim's plan.
"This way, Alpha," the Beta said, emerging a little shakily from the cell with the bedsheets in a cotton drawstring bag.
Steph was still staring up at Bruce looking more vulnerable than he had ever seen her, and without thinking he rumbled out a low, comforting purr and reached out to scrunch up the nape of her neck in a soothing scruff.
"Tim called me," he said as a little sigh crept out of her throat. She melted into his touch, and he found himself unwilling to let her go, so he slid his arm around her shoulders as they began to follow Sullivan down the hall.
"We couldn't let you get sold to a stranger," he awkwardly continued explaining. "There didn't seem to be any other solution than buying you myself," he said somewhat hesitantly, searching her face for a clue as to her reaction.
Her eyes were filling with tears, and Bruce was about to hate himself, when Steph suddenly flung both arms sideways around his chest and unleashed a flood of grateful-relieved-protected pheromones. His purr was louder this time, and he paused their steps to pull the omega closer against him so that he could scent her, rubbing his forehead against her temple and hairline, letting her smell the promises of safety that he emitted.
"I was so scared, B," she whispered in his ear, too quietly for Beta Sullivan to hear.
"I'm here now," Bruce said, feeling an unexpectedly tender warmth in his heart. When had he ever, ever seen Stephanie Brown afraid? But here she was actually trembling as she hugged him, and the scent of distressed omega was activating every one of his Alpha instincts.
He turned sideways in her arms to face her so he could fold her tightly into his chest while he nuzzled her hair. Steph sighed into it and buried her face against his pecs. The two of them would have stayed that way longer, except the Beta was clearing their throat and trying to scent them into a sense of urgency. Bruce didn't even try to hold back his snap and snarl, which made the Beta whimper and cower.
"Forgive me, Alpha," the Beta squeaked, looking absolutely terrified. They probably weren't used to Alphas being able to resist their pheromones, and Bruce shouldn't have been revealing that he could, but he was anxious about his omega and more than slightly nervous about mating with her - and dammit, they'd been having a nice moment.
"The mating den is just at the end of the hall, Alpha," the Beta mumbled with eyes cast down.
"Yeah, that's right, bitch," Steph muttered as they resumed walking. "Fear my Alpha."
And Holy Fuck, Batman.
Bruce had never, ever considered himself a typical Alpha. He preferred to spend his ruts alone with sex toys and he'd conditioned himself so relentlessly over
the years to not react to omegas out of an Alpha's innate sexual instinct that he'd thought himself nearly immune, but at Steph's words?
He was hard.
The Beta had just finished explaining the fully stocked fridge and kitchenette and Bruce was ready to slam the door in their face in relief, when they pulled out a syringe and an alcohol packet from their apron.
"What is that?" Bruce said suspiciously, quickly plucking the medication out of their hand, because no way in hell were they injecting Steph with anything, but he needed to analyze its contents in the BatCave later.
"It's a heat inducer, Alpha," Beta Sullivan answered, lowering their eyes in submission. Bruce stared. "The inducer ensures a pleasant mating ritual for the omega and fosters a sense of happiness in their bond with their new mate," the Beta explained, as if Bruce wasn't already fully informed about the devastatingly addictive effects of the (clearly formerly) illegal street drugs.
"Thank you," he coughed out. "I'd prefer a natural mating, but I'll keep this on hand in case we need it," he said firmly, starting to usher the Beta out the door.
"Best wishes for many healthy pups," the Beta politely intoned right before Bruce clicked the den door shut after them and turned the lock. He and Steph looked at each other with exclamation point eyebrows over the drug, which he carefully placed on a side table.
"I'll just text Tim to let him know you're safe," he said, pulling out his phone and moving next to her so she could see him running scans for hidden cameras and microphones in the room.
"I'm so grateful he called you," she said carefully as he casually strolled over to inspect the bathroom, but he could smell the sincerity of her words.
"Me, too," Bruce answered, repressing a shiver at the heart shaped tub but noting the decadent selection of bath salts and bubble baths. He let out a relieved sigh as his Batscan finished.
"We're all clear," he said, moving back into the bedroom suite where Steph was still standing awkwardly, twisting her fingers.
"Good," she muttered. Bruce let out a fondly exasperated sigh as he walked over to her.
"Why on earth didn't you tell me you were an omega?" he asked, reaching both hands up to cup her face and pressing their foreheads together in an affectionate caress.
"You know why," Steph said, a little smile tickling her lips as he began to scent her more deliberately, rubbing his forehead along her hairline.
"Humor me," he half-growled, with a little smirk on his face.
"Because of this, B," she huffed out in frustration. "Look at you! You're not even yelling at me! You're being all soft and gentle, 'cause I'm a fragile, scared omega who needs a big, strong Alpha to scent and protect her."
"Would you rather I yelled?" Bruce asked her, raising an eyebrow. "And asked you how in God's name you could be such a fucking idiot as to not tell us you were an omega? Not to mention letting yourself get captured and booked into a government omega processing center with no good legal options for rescue?" he said levelly enough, but giving her a ferocious Batglare that made her swallow nervously.
"No," she whispered. "Being soft and gentle is fine, Alpha. Thank you." He snorted, breaking the tension, and reached out to scritch her head.
"You always have to be difficult, Stephanie," he sighed with fond resignation.
"Yeah, well," she shrugged. "It's my superpower."
"Mm," he hummed, feeling dangerously amused.
"So," she said, squaring her shoulders. "What's the plan? We break me out and I hide for the rest of my life in the BatCave?" she said, sounding brusquely resigned to the idea. Bruce twitched in shock and swallowed.
"B?" she said curiously, now the one giving him a look.
"I thought you understood," he said, clearing his throat uncomfortably and sitting tentatively on the edge of the bed so that he wouldn't have to meet her eyes.
"Understood what?" Steph said slowly, looking confused. She sat down on the soft pink ottoman across from him and raised her eyebrows, clearly expecting an answer. Bruce took a deep breath and let it out raggedly.
"Steph," he said slowly. "The plan is for me to become your mate." Steph stopped breathing. Bruce only wished that was the reason why her face was turning bright red.
"You don't even like me," she gasped, swaying slightly. Good thing she'd sat.
"Of course I do," he protested in dismay.
"We fight all the time," she argued. "When have we ever been in the same room and not had an argument?"
Definitely not today, but who was counting?
"You were wearing Alpha scenters!" Bruce scoffed. "Of course I always felt combative towards you," he said dismissively, as if he hadn't had the exact same thought at Tim's outlandish solution to their Steph problem.
"And what, you think I'm gonna roll over and be all submissive for you now because you know I'm an omega?" she snarled. "I'm more than my designation, B!" she full on growled.
But without her Alpha scenters on, Bruce could smell the fear and panic and anxiety underneath her aggression. For once he didn't mind his genetic Alpha instincts kicking in to soothe a distressed omega. He let out a deep purr instead of a predatory growl.
And he had to admit, it felt damn satisfying to see the tension suddenly fly out of her shoulders as she shuddered in hormonal response and automatically keened out her worry to her Alpha. It felt natural to lean forward and scent her neck and jaw while purring over her, and when she nuzzled her head into the hands that he found stroking her hair, Bruce felt a possessive swirl of energy rise in his chest.
"Be my mate," he pleaded, daring to press a kiss to her cheek. "I'll take good care of you, omega," he purred. "I'm a big, strong Alpha," he flirted.
"B!" Steph spluttered in laughter, but her pheromones said she was charmed. Bruce hummed as his hands slipped from her hair to her waist.
"You don't like big, strong Alphas?" he teased, pressing a kiss to her jaw now that made her smile and turn her head into her shoulder to try to hide it. She didn't push him away, though, or snarl, and her pheromones now smelled pleased-flattered-interested. Bruce smiled and began slowly trailing light kisses towards the corner of her mouth.
"You're old!" Steph half-heartedly whined, turning her head even farther away from his wandering lips, but unable to hide her teasing smile or mask the scent of her increasing pleasure.
"Given your relationship with your father, you probably have what's colloquially known as Daddy issues," Bruce said helpfully. "Perhaps you'll find my age turns you on," he cheerfully suggested.
"Oh MY. GOD," Steph swore, swiveling her head to stare him down. "You are seriously fucked up, B," she said with deep certainty, but he saw the giggle trying to break through.
"I'm trying to focus on the positives," he said with a straight face, despite how badly his lips wanted to twitch. "Logically evaluating the potential mutual benefits of our mating will no doubt make it easier for both of us to accept," he said serenely.
"So me having hypothetical Daddy issues and you being a DILF is a positive?" she dryly drawled.
"In this situation, yes," he primly answered.
"We can't do this," Steph snorted, but her scents said she was amused and open. "You get that, right?" she said though. "It's insane," she insisted. "We'd have to fuck, B," she said dramatically.
Doth the omega protest too much, Bruce wondered, because he was catching whiffs of omegan arousal in the air. Something she'd said gave him pause, however.
"Fucking is worse than being bonded?" he asked her, scrunching up his brow in surprise. Steph's mouth fell open and her enchanted floral scent wilted into a foul, wounded-disappointed-rejected stench.
"Thanks a lot," she muttered, turning her back on him on the round ottoman and crossing her arms over her chest. Bruce stared at her heaving back, wondering what the hell he'd done. He rapidly replayed his question in his mind, but came up empty.
"Stephanie?" he said tentatively, reaching out to brush her arm with gentle fingertips.
"Oh, I get it," she growled angrily, still refusing to face him. "To you, I'm just another blonde omega to stick your dick in. Big deal. All the sex you have, you can probably just ignore the fact that it's me. But the unavoidable hell of having a mate in your head - ah, there's the rub," she drawled sarcastically. "Can't Bat-tune out a mate, huh?"
"No," he said in confusion. "Not to my understanding. Steph," he pleaded helplessly, staring at the tight muscles in her angry back. "I wasn't insulting you," he explained. "And I don't have very much sex," he added. "Not nearly as much as Brucie Wayne leads people to believe."
"B, you said having me in your head was gonna be the worst thing ever!" she cried in frustration, spinning back around to glare at him. "How is that not insulting?" she demanded, throwing her hands up in the air.
"I didn't say having you in my head would be the worst thing ever," he replied with a frown. "I said I thought being bonded would be harder than the act of having sex. And I didn't mean for me. I meant for you, because you prize your independence so much. Not to mention the fact that regardless of who it's to, you're still being forcibly bonded."
"Oh," Steph said softly, the anger draining away as quickly as it had come. "I'm sorry. I thought -" she bit her lip. Embarrassed-confused-hopefulness sweetened the air.
"Maybe I didn't phrase it as well as I could have," he said gently. Her eyes flew up to his in surprise, and her whole essence softened. Tendrils of omegan longing danced across his senses. "I would do my best to be a worthy mate, omega," he softly rumbled with complete sincerity.
"B!" Steph quietly gasped, somewhat awed and quite touched by his promise, if his detective's nose could be trusted.
"I'll let you bite me, too," he added. Her jaw fell open.
"You will?" she breathed out, wide-eyed. "I didn't think - you're Batman," she whispered.
"I'm yours, first and foremost," he firmly declared. Steph's breath hitched, but a second later she was gnawing on her lip and nervously twisting her hands in her lap.
"How'm I supposed to handle being mated to you, B?" she muttered in frustration.
"What specifically bothers you about it?" he gently asked, hoping he wasn't accidentally insulting her again. "Maybe we can figure out how to mitigate the distressing factors," he quickly added as an extra explanation, just in case.
"The bond is gonna be so awkward," Steph said quietly. "You've known me since I was a teenager, and you've been my mentor. You're so much older than me and way more experienced, plus you're Tim's dad, and you're Batman. Not a lot there that can be mitigated," she mumbled.
"Do you think I'm hot, though?" he boldly asked. Steph squeaked and flushed bright red.
"B!" she gulped, hiding her face with her hands. Hm. Not exactly a negative reaction, he decided.
"I mean, I have won People's Sexiest Man of the Year three times," he said thoughtfully. "I'm sure you weren't able to avoid seeing the magazine covers at the grocery store. I've also been told - repeatedly - that I look damn good in a tux, and I know you've been to Wayne Foundation galas," he went on. Steph was breathing a little harder now. Panic attack? Possibly. But Bruce suspected that he was onto something. In fact -
"You called me a DILF!" he announced triumphantly.
"When? I did not," Steph spluttered in a panic.
"When we were discussing your daddy issues."
"I don't have daddy issues -"
"Does someone want to be a good girl for Daddy?" Bruce growled, deep and low and, he hoped, seductively.
"B," Steph keened breathlessly. "Come here," she whispered, leaning in closer. He smiled and leaned in to meet her.
"The next time you say that to me," she softly breathed over his lips, "I will rip your tongue out and strangle you with it," sheroared in a damn good approximation of an Alpha growl.
"Bad girl it is," Bruce nodded. Steph screamed.
"Look, we can't leave until we mate," Bruce said pragmatically to Steph's back after a half hour of icy silence.
"Then I guess we're staying here forever," she said in a bored voice. "Who do you think will become Batman? Jason? Or Dick? Oh, or Damian," she said in a low, gleeful voice. "I bet Damian kills them all and ascends the throne."
"You're not helping," Bruce sighed, pinching his eyebrows.
"Neither are you!" Steph snapped at him. "How the fuck did you think coming here to mate with me was helping?"
"You can't leave here without an Alpha mate!" he yelled back. "I am a mateable Alpha! Besides, it was Tim's idea," he sulked.
"Oh, because we all know that Tim has the world's greatest ideas," she said sarcastically. "Did you hear me put him on the Replacement Batman List? No? And now you see why," she snarked. Bruce groaned and thudded his head against the wall.
"Seriously, trying to clone Conner after he died didn't give you a clue that maybe Tim wasn't the best person at coming up with ideas?" she vengefully added.
"That was a long time ago," Bruce poo-poo'd.
"That was last year!" Steph yelled.
"A lot has happened in a year!" he protested.
"Tim gaining a lick of common sense wasn't one of them!" Steph snidely informed him.
"Read any good books lately?" Bruce politely inquired after another interminable length of silence.
"Seriously?" Steph said dryly.
"Why not?" he said easily. "What were you reading in your cell? It seemed quite dense." Steph bit back a giggle.
"I wasn't reading it," she tried to scowl. "It was a pregnancy primer they shoved at us."
"A weapon in more ways than one," Bruce nodded sagely.
"Oh, my God. You're such a dork," Steph groaned.
"The pen is mightier than the sword," he continued with a wicked gleam in his eye.
"Stop," she pleaded, covering her ears.
"Speaking of swords, do you really mean to tell me that you've never fantasized about me? Not even once?" he smoothly demanded. Steph squawked and glared at him.
"Have you ever fantasized about me?" she countered, planting her hands on her hips and going on the attack.
"God, no! I've known you since you were a teenager," he said, faintly appalled.
"Ok, then," she firmly nodded.
"Ok, nothing," he scoffed. "You didn't answer my question, omega," he purred.
"It doesn't matter if you're objectively hot!" she snapped. "I could live with fucking you, but you're forcing me to mate with you!"
"Being forced to mate was a given as soon as you got captured," Bruce frowned.
"Yes!" Steph yelled. "That's the problem! For all of us omegas here!"
"A problem which you propose to solve how, exactly, if we don't mate?" he asked her somewhat snidely.
"Break me out," she shouted. "You're Batman. Why didn't you come here prepared to break me out?"
"And what happens after I break you out?" he shortly demanded, feeling his patience dissolve. "You'll be marked for life as feral. Don't count on any laws being changed any time soon, Steph. We'll be lucky to get them changed in the next twenty years and even that's a long shot," he snapped. Steph huffed and looked off to the side, folding her arms over her chest again.
"I can hide," she sulked.
"Yes, we can hide you in the BatCave or in safe houses," he said tersely. "But is the life of a hermit something you actually want? Consider it, Steph. Never going outdoors again except as Batgirl. No social life outside of the Wayne pack. The threat of becoming a forced breeder constantly hanging over your head should you get recaptured," he glared at her.
"I'm Batgirl -" she started to growl in annoyance.
"And yet here you are in the Central Care Center," he finished harshly, his voice dropping into an Alpha rumble of displeasure. Steph flinched. He sighed.
"Stephanie," he said, before realizing that he still sounded far too impatient. "Steph," he amended, softening his tone and reaching out to brush the loose hairs on her face behind her ear. She stared him down with angry tears in her eyes.
"I realize this is not an ideal situation, for - you," Bruce hastily coughed out at the last second, biting back the "either of us" that he so desperately wanted to point out. "But I think that being marked feral and going underground is a far less ideal option than becoming my mate," he said as gently as he could. Steph sniffed.
"We could have sex first," he suggested, "since that sounds more palatable, and then our hormones will kick in and make the bites and the bond easier to deal with."
"Until the hormones wear off and I have to look you in the face afterwards," she sulked.
"Well, maybe after we're mated, you'll like my face," he teased. Steph snorted.
"Fat chance," she said shortly. "Not with how many mean thoughts you'll be thinking about me. Which, lucky me, I'll be tuned into 24/7. 'All the reasons why Batman hates Stephanie Brown, here on WBAT. All Steph hate, all the time,'" she snarked.
"I don't hate you," Bruce protested in true confusion. "Why do you keep insisting that I do?"
"Spoiler, stop running around my streets. Stephanie, you're fired as Robin," she intoned in a bad impression of his Batman growl. "And let's not forget how you didn't even quarter-ass my training," she said in her own charmingly scathing voice.
"Steph, none of that was about you," Bruce softly pleaded for her to understand. "None of it. I swear. I'd just lost Jason," he said, feeling the lump in his throat even though his lost son was once again alive and well. "Tim figured out my identity and blackmailed me into training him, or else I would've turned him away, too. I fired you because I was too scared of losing you," he confessed.
"You reminded me so much of Jason," he sighed. "With your fire, your passion, your utter love for being Robin. I know it was cruel to take that from you, but when you disobeyed my order and got captured, all I could see was Jason's broken body in the warehouse -" Bruce gulped.
A comforting omega whine filled the room and suddenly Steph was kneeling on the bed next to him, wrapping her arms around his heaving shoulders and cradling his head while she offered up soothing purrs. Bruce instinctively leaned into her embrace and clutched his would-be mate, keening the low wails of an Alpha's mourning cry.
"Shh, I got you," his omega murmured. "It's ok, B. Jason's alive now. He's back, he's alive. He was probably giving you shit about something this very morning," she comforted him. Despite himself, Bruce managed a wet chuckle.
"Last night on patrol, but close enough," he sniffed.
"See? It's ok," she kept soothing him, even though he was prepared to straighten his back and pretend he had himself back together. But Steph began pressing little kisses into his hair, and scritching his scalp, and, well - he wasn't going to be able to hide anything from her as soon as they mated, so why was he trying to now? With a sigh of relief, he slumped his face into her neck and wrapped himself even tighter around his almost-mate.
"There you go," Steph murmured, still rubbing his back and caressing his head.
"How you can possibly think I don't like you…" he muttered into her heavenly scents as he sunk down into her well of comfort. Steph froze. He lifted his head to look up at her, and got a noseful of stunned-aroused-rapture.
"Um…" she stammered, looking down at where he was still cozily entrenched in her arms.
"Can I kiss you, omega?" Bruce boldly asked, his warm breath wafting over her mating gland and making her shiver. Steph held his gaze for a long minute, then slowly nodded. He gently hauled himself up the slightest bit, and pulled his left arm out from around her back so he could cradle her cheek, instead.
"I think," he slowly rasped, "that you and I will get along just fine, baby." He dimly registered her eyes sparkling as he closed the distance and met her lips, and he smelled her relief-acceptance-hope fill the air. She willingly opened her mouth after only a few brief moments of gentler kisses, and the sweet tenderness of their more intimate kiss seemed like a happy surprise for both of them.
One kiss turned into several, until he was cradling Steph on his lap and stroking her hair as she cuddled against him, finally more or less at peace.
"I still don't understand how I got on the capture list," she finally grumbled. "The Alpha scenters should have worked," she complained with a slight whimper. "I've always worn them, ever since I presented. No one knew I was an omega except my parents - not even Tim. My mom registered me as an Alpha. I don't know how the CCC caught me," she said. Bruce suppressed his soul-deep groan.
"Did you know they were offering rewards for omegas?" he tried to say gently. Steph gave him a startled look.
"No one knew about me," she repeated. His eyes filled with pity.
"Your dad knew," he said softly. A wailing omega keen filled the air right before she started sobbing. Bruce cradled her in his arms, emitting soothing purrs and rumbles while he rocked her back and forth.
"That ASSHOLE," Steph choked out. "It was his idea to get me Alpha scenters in the first place," she sobbed. "To protect me from his criminal friends. And now he sells me to legalized sex traffickers?"
He didn't know what to say to that, because what could be said? Arthur Brown was a piece of shit. Bruce sighed and snuggled Steph even tighter, and he couldn't help but notice that it was rather a lovely feeling to see and feel and smell his upset omega gradually being lulled into a peaceful calm by his own doing.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled into his collarbone when she'd eventually quieted down.
"I think tears are a normal reaction to a parent's betrayal," Bruce protested.
"No," Steph muttered, flushing a little. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was an omega. And now you're being forced to mate with me. You never wanted a mate, and I'm sure you would have wanted me least of all, and -"
A protesting Alpha growl cut her off mid-sentence.
"I won't deny it's begun as an awkward situation," Bruce said slowly to her startled gaze, "but I have no doubts whatsoever that you will be an exceptional mate, Stephanie," he said firmly. "The best I ever could have asked for." His sincerity scented the air, surprising both of them.
Steph slowly smiled, before sighing in contentment and burying her face against his neck. The purrs that he let out this time had a spicy sexual overtone - one that his mate approved of, judging by the way that she nuzzled deeper into him as her scent sweetened.
"I wouldn't have stopped you from being Batgirl if I'd known you were an omega," he softly murmured.
"You would have looked at me differently," she said quietly, flicking her eyes up to meet his.
"Yes," Bruce said dryly. "I might have occasionally looked less like I wanted to throttle you," he said, making her giggle.
"Maybe I liked you looking like you wanted to throttle me," Steph softly admitted, as she ran gentle fingers up his chest that made his breath hitch.
"And why would you have liked that?" he said, nudging at her cheek with his nose.
"Because it meant you were paying attention to me," she mumbled, leaning forward to bury her face in his chest as she slipped her arms around his neck. Bruce purred, low and raspy.
"I'm going to give you all the attention you need from now on, sweetheart," he rumbled into her ear. He didn't miss the little sigh that escaped Steph's lips or the way that she melted into him at his words. He pulled her tight against his chest and rubbed soothing circles on her back for a long minute before gently letting her go.
"I'm going to get you a snack to eat while I make you a bubble bath," he said, squeezing her waist, "and then I want you to take a nice long soak while I build us a nest, ok?"
"B," she breathed out in wonder. "Are you crash courting me?" Bruce couldn't keep the sneaky grin from spreading across his face.
"You deserve more," he said honestly, "but I'm going to give you the best I can with what we've got." Steph leaned in and kissed him, long and appreciative, tasting deliciously of omega and lavender and vanilla. Bruce sighed and nuzzled her cheek when he pulled away.
"It will be my honor to be your mate, omega," he formally declared. "Which reminds me," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a ring box. Steph bit her lip and got tears in her eyes when he opened it to reveal a matched set of mating bands inlaid with diamonds, along with an amethyst solitaire ring.
"These were my parents' bands," he said. "I didn't have time to get new ones, but -"
"I love them," Steph assured him, choking on a tiny sob.
"The amethyst wasn't my mother's courtship ring, but I know you like purple better than blue," Bruce mumbled a little shyly. "I found it with her other jewelry."
"Thank you, Alpha," Steph said softly, looking up at him with a light shining out of her tear-stained face that made him swallow as rich emotion filled his heart.
She offered him her left hand, and Bruce slid the courtship ring on, followed by the mating band, before lifting her hand up to his lips to press a kiss to the rings. Steph gave him a watery smile as she took his father's mating band and slid it onto his own finger, kissing it into place, too.
"Sit and eat something," Bruce told her in a voice far thicker than he had expected. He cleared his throat as he went over to the refrigerator and took out a fruit, granola and yogurt parfait, that he handed to her with a spoon from the tiny kitchenette.
"I'll go get a bath ready for you," he said, gently cupping his mate's cheek in his hand. The smile on her face brought an answering one from him that stayed on his lips even after he kissed her forehead and went into the spa-like bathroom to start the hot water for the tub.
Maybe having a mate wasn't going to be the worst thing, ever, Bruce realized with giddy butterflies in his belly. And maybe the fact that it was Steph wasn't actually a bad thing at all.
"Stay," she begged him, clutching his shirt in her hands, when he led her to her waiting bubble bath a few minutes later.
"I was going to build a nest -" he stammered in surprise.
"I don't want a nest here," Steph said softly. "Let's soak and snuggle, and then fuck and bite each other in the tub. And then go home," she said with longing.
"Home sounds good," Bruce agreed with a small smile.
"Maybe you sound good, too," Steph mumbled, sliding her hands down to his hips. "As my mate."
"Really?" he said, hardly daring to hope, although he stepped closer. Steph shrugged, looking at the floor.
"You're not the problem," she said. "You're amazing. It's me, and what you think of me. Or what I think you think of me."
"What I think of you," Bruce said, reaching out to brush some loose hair behind her ear, "is that you're tenacious, brave, optimistic, formidable, and full of love. And maybe you do drive me crazy sometimes," he smiled, "but maybe I like being driven a little crazy," he guiltily admitted. A smile tickled the corner of Steph's lips.
"Really?" she asked him back.
"There are very few people on this planet who can get underneath Batman's skin," he grinned. "It's a little exhilarating."
"Exhilarating, huh?" Steph smiled up at him, sliding her arms around his waist and propping her chin up on his chest.
"Thrilling, even," he murmured down to her, as his arms tightened around her back.
"Thrilling," she echoed with amused approval.
"Maybe everything up until now has been our mating fight," he chuckled.
"Damn long mating fight," she snorted, but with affection.
"Well, I'm Batman and you're Batgirl. What did you expect? Neither one of us likes to lose," he smirked back.
"Maybe neither one of us is…?" she said tentatively.
"I know I'm not," he said softly.
"Me, neither," Steph whispered back.
"But if you tell Tim I said that, I will claw your damn eyeballs out. I'm punishing him for this for at least a year," she sassily added not a second later.
"It'll be our secret, baby," Bruce purred with a grin.
Much to Tim's dismay, it was. (For all of twenty-four hours, but point made. Some people just weren't cut out to be Batman.)
The End
A/N - Thanks for reading!
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