Alpha, Beta but Never an Omega

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Chapter 21: Step Down

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Catalina was this close.

Rodriguez gave her own shade, knowing Ryan had a natural talent that was good enough for this industry. He did however have a weak bladder…that was, weird, seeing as he didn't only while on a case. They pushed it as his attention deficit. The current post as a night patrol officer was allowed when the reality of it required his skill after a physical had revealed the beta part he had claimed was not his original diagnosis. Slade forged the slip and very well. , they excused the fact for that skill.

He was also a technology- prone boy wonder, which was enough to let Eric from their tech based department grab a bite before withering in a corner with his devices again. All three cells, one unit off.

Eric and Ryan had a buddy - buddy opportunity to get a bit more bro time knowing, seeing as he was an Omega, though Ryan had said he was more prone to Beta tendencies. The women in his offices just threw a shot at him, saying maybe never.

"They always think lower of what we've got. Just a bunch of power drunk beta – alpha mamas." Eric was from the Carolinas and went to school in the city here, finding himself trapped afterwards due to the rise in crime rates. "Gotham ever have that?"

"With the bat picking on us? It depended. He was for those impoverished, the women and children. Disabilities." Ryan sighed at the fact that Bruce was not so perfect to those that knew the real him.

Ryan tried to imagine his phone going off as his head turned to hope, hope that Slade was buzzing off for his little get-together in their local bar outside of work. It was a weathered day, wind… lots of it.

"They said that after Christmas," Eric bit into a chicken leg left on his plate, " that there was gonna be another el nino this year " Eric had one more sip of his beer, checking his phone before showing the article and the stats to his partner. His cabs were numbered through two, but his eyes looked groggily over the table. "That's a lot of wet walk- ins. The custodian is gonna get his mind blown."

Though it was kind of ominous, these things did happen, the el nino patterns. Global warming still existed in this society as it was. Nothing in another time could make him more likely to shake his head, as Ryan looked at the time.

Few more minutes, he sighed at his mental clock.

"You not gonna finish your pot pie, big guy?" Eric poked fun at how Ryan could eat and never seemed to gain.

"I have to get back earlier tonight, ah…but, Eric. Sorry!" Ryan put his fork down and apologized, though in a whisper. "I'll get the tab this time-

"Dude. I'm driving."

"Not a chance." Ryan put a finger up to wag. "You may be fine to, but hell no if I screw both our licenses over. Come on, dummy." Ryan ushered them with doggie bags and their tools tucked to the exit. "Night, Vince."

Vincent was a kindly ex con that had opened a wayward spot for those looking to reflect and slow down. His balding but wise eyes saw the ins andvoit if this city, making him a perfect intel aid in picture cases. His eyes on the ground fir a Nightwing.

"Next time you two slackers have gotta stay for karaoke." The owner raised a brow to Eric as he grinned a maybe with those witty green eyes. "When I got time, Vinny. And I'll bring my coworkers so we have loads of time to make you wait on us, sound fair?"

"Get him home, kid." Snorted the humored bar keeper. "Take it easy. Wind is nuts and picking up speed. Gonna be enough to get guys like you off the streets, then I can't complain.."

"That's what I said to Ryan, he almost wanted to be optimistic. Can you –

"TIME TO GO?" Ryan let his lip stop twinning as Eric was pulled away from the front counter. "But I was still sober!!"

/

They left the tab and Ryan checked his time. Ten….ten?? Almost…Thirty. Fuck …

"CAN we stop and grab something? Grocery still opened?"

Ryan perked up. He wondered is appeasing the beast in his bedroom woukd do the trick. "OK, Eric. Walk in a straight line for me, no hands."

"Dude! I'm as good as you, pretty – mega!"

Ryan flinched at that.

Eric stopped, the mood souring off of their glands' responses, even with blockers.

"You…you know I-

"It's fine. I'll call you a cab, I…need to ride it alone. How far is your place."

"Thirteen minutes. You?"

"Twenty." Ryan sighed, pulling out his arm as luck had it, a cab popped up.

"You got a ride?"

"Have a roommate." Ryan said with some waiting anguish in his eyes. "Go on. We have weird hours tomorrow. Evening shifts, right?"

"You, you do. I'm in but I'm calling in sick."

"Fine." Ryan huffed. "Sleep it off, but don't blame me for the rounds you took to the head."

"Pool is not a martial art, smart guy."

Ryan laughed softly as Eric waved him off, the cable waiting while the fee was paid up front. "In, kid?"

"Yeah, see you later." He saluted Ryan as the man was left before eleven to make the call. If it was twenty minutes, he could walk. He could face a mugger. He'd not touched the beer, not a fan. With high class society to record his tastes, there was no way.

/

He walked with his hands in his pickets, the streets still active yet not with people. Cars, which meant this wasn't a damned dump. Slade would only pick those for training , he bet.

Slade was not going to like the story, yet Dick wasn't drunk. He didn't want to lose a day off. The apartment was in view, the little things flitting by while his focus was on how to avert these tired eyes from him.

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As soon as he saw an easy to grip fire escape, he decided to come in the door window, doing that was way too risky.

He checked his pockets and with a cuss, found that one single card wasn't there. No extra key.

Key , not there. Window? Now being the only option. He remembered at the shower stall at work, he'd tossed whatever was from his breakfast abd lunch into a locker. That it was still in his lunch bag with the salad container and the Thai from a previous night, curdling to high holy before Maurice the janitor had to hose it all over.

All over…

Dick swallowed, embarrassingly.

Right, he was a catwoman now. Fixing his troubles by not getting caught red handed. Dick paced, thinking this was one fire escape he could sail up, though his head spun at what that would assure once he made it to his- Slade…the room!

Slade was kinky, but not a damned spanking man, right? It was a joke. He wouldn't go against their partnership for a little….

"Ugh…"

Dick shot that image down as he started up the fire escape. Damn be his entire time to sleep off welts as badly as his harassed ego on the way back home. Home, that had to be a false attitude he held around what it really was.

A cell, and he was tucking himself back into a cot with a straight jacket and everything.

/

Slade checked the clock on the stove, his restless behavior for one, the result of a little lenient action. This…result, of letting his bird out of it's cage, yet he had a drop that Dick was very close…Nighter was as much a stalker as he claimed in being for the job, only.

He moved to find the living room still set, the table and chairs and candles with a bottle of fine wine all in attendance, as if a lovely announcement would spring and a glass would be tapped for all to pay heed.

Nothing like that, he frowned. The food was put away to preserve its freshness. That darned smart ass had to have a damned good explanation. It was almost twelve, Slade had even granted himself a granola bar to not rava- .

"Kid is making me hungry for whatever I –

The tap - tapping was a faint creak on the floor fir a mortal, as Slade's abilities picked it up too easily. He grabbed a bread knife on the table and tip toed towards the sound of whining grunts. His eye geared over towards whatever was sneaking around in the TV room.

The light went on and he had to snort, typical cat suited morons., be damned.

Dick was halfway through the window. Ass out, one leg in while the other was struggling like a mouse in a wire trap.

Like said trapped animal, the deer's innocent face in these headlights was all Grayson, as his cheeky grin bordered on "busted." Slade put the knife down and pulled the kid out to fall into his chest, hands out to steady himself as they stood awkwardly against the other.

The alpha had just cleaned up, his fresh shampoo was sandalwood rich as a monastery. Dick seeped in a gasp as he was not being out go of so soon. Slade wanted that explanation, and Dick sensed something else brewing just below the surface, as if…he should fight but not yet.

Slade noticed that Dick was still stuck in time, until his nose perked up with a sniff over the older man's arm.

"Cooking?"

Slade let go briefly, starting off for the entryway into the dining room and kitchen island space. "Now that I see it, this place doesn't look like it does during the day at all."

"That's because you don't roam around after dark. Not anymore." He meant to add that Robin was more of a sly fix in the woodworks than Nightwing would ever claim to be.

Slade went to relight a few candles as their two faces shown brighter inside and along the dark hall to the kitchen. He walked then to the fridge, working on the display until it was as before. The food was exactly as his memory prescribed.

A cream soup, white as its contenders, a salad with nuts, veggies and a drizzle of what seemed a liquid golden dressing. Bread that didn't look too well toasted and been converted to a toasted batch of crumbs of even mini toasts . "We can use these to top the salad or to eat. They didn't need to be out this long."

Slade moved to the main, a bit of meat. Two pieces of salmon, and a pretty green asparagus batched up to suit each side of either plate. "Nothing too fancy. It's late. I can tell you've had next to nothing filling but that musk of your overworked coworkers."

Dick blushed and rushed to the seat, until he pulled his hand away. "That…we had plans, for what again?"

As if he'd not told him. Silly bird.

"You're off tomorrow, right? Evening shift. This will keep you sated until you head out fir that patrol and, well…" Slade plated them both, the parsley a pretty touch to the salmon while on its plate. "Butter?"

He reached out and took a pat, offering a piece to Richard as it was too peaceful tonight. Too misleading.

"I don't know, wait. You're mad, you have to be!"

"You're an adult, and that job location for a vigilante is the most secure place to stash my partner for a while. No one knows, Dick." Slade smiled over the table, reaching out to hand the bread toast to his little beta – mega hybrid. "It's only us. So, enjoy it while it lasts."

"SEE??" Dick jumped back, his hair up for those words seemingly a warning in the back of his skull. "What's the –

"There is no catch." Slade dropped the bread, hand flat to the table as the candles near stirred.

He gruffly got up, shoving back the chair as the boy watched, hard of knowing by now that this was an act after all.

"I cooked a meal because you work hard. I know exactly why you run around and how tiring it can be. My contracts right now are on hold and I can afford that."

Dick dipped his head, thinking Slade was upset, glaring back like he was.

"What I cannot afford, is a wasted meal."

Oh, rudeness. Right. Ever the disciplinarian.

"I am hungry, but not for anything other than food." Dick grumbled into the man's one eye.

"Did I say it was food , well? Ask yourself."

Slade sat back down and took to his soup. "Sit. Can you do that, or is the hero in you going to waste away while you're forced to succumb to hunger by tomorrow?"

"You have super senses, this is…just all entertainment for you." Frowned the cop. "Eric was drinking, I didn't bother. Last thing you'd want was to pull me out of a fight with some mugger ten minutes from here."

"You left your key and lunch back at the office."

"Hence, the window." Dick sighed. "I'll eat, to make…it up to you, but then it's to bed. I…need the sofa." His face was red from the hormonal struggle going on in his gut, he wouldn't tell Slade also that he might require a new dose of stronger suppressants. The fact that all of the coworkers he had were flirty alphas, it didn't sit well. Slade could maybe tell. The food was proof.

Slade shrugged. "That would help, in time, if you kept a better sleep schedule, Dick." The distance was only artificial. He'd kept his word going. "Then, wine?"

Dick's skin paled at the question.

So many omega had to be careful. It was why if he did have those tendencies, he'd never end up in that situation as long as it took to become the real deal here in Haven.

"N…" Shaking his head, he thought he could, until there came an episode of that sandlewood on his mind.

"Just, half a glass."

Had he said that?? He wasn't-

Hardwired for pleasure, his body was akin to want. Slade, he was being a romantic?

~ Certain scenarios in which omega should never be directly involved in is where the company of alcohol and drugs is concerned. These change the brain chemistry, the wiring of any omega will tell you that scent is the start. A few classified scents are inhibitors and lower the effect of blockers; mugwort, cinnamon , salty , sweet and herbs such as sage, lavender and sandalwood. One should take caution to alcohol as it reduces the effect of suppressants in those on specific treatments. Any questions, class?~

There were other things that turned omega into feral animals against their wills. Sweet, hot, soft …

Dick sat down. The wine by the middle of their meal was halfway gone as he opened up about the office, about his relationship with Eric going too well and about Rodriguez getting the wrong idea about his deserter syndrome for long toilet breaks.

"Hej! They even restricted….m, my coffee? Yu get that?? Coffee!"

Swedish now? The kid really didn't know how to hold his liquor. Slade poured a pinch more, not even feeling the flush to his arms or stomach as Grayson looked up at the man with a dopier grin than ever before.

Dick made a whooping sound that involved a roll of his eyes, neck bared as Slade dropped his jaw a little.

"Are …you too cold in here? Man, is it hot, or is it me, ah…?" He shoved off his jacket, tie laid on the side of the table with the soup now done. The bread had one piece left with a pat of butter.

Salt.

Golden raspberry dressing was still coating his salad plate.

Sweet.

Slade's musk had grown stronger, all encompassing as the room was MADE warmer on purpose. The candles didn't help, yet the boy was too loosened up to figure out that he'd been played.

Sandalwood.

The last spice. The very last was….

"I think….I could do this again. What time….is my shift?"

"Six pm. You're going to be doing rounds. A bit of practice since being picked up by Valentine so quickly, I could assist if you'd have me as a teacher." Guns were a bat – taboo. Dick didn't click with it as his eyes dimmed at the request. No, the offer.

Dick was soon by the end of the bread and salad, in a slurring mood, with his head fogged and eyes fuzzier. All of himself, still drooping for rest. The other, the merc was behind him as he wedged up his chin with those big hands massaging his shoulders rather tenderly.

"Yes?"

Slade looked at the kid as he sleepily tugged that goatee with a free arm up to not miss. Pulling on it as a bell to ring in a church theater, his reality was dwindling, a new one coming along more than he'd expected.

Omega…could….could it be for real?

The kiss was chaste, though welcomed through the hormonal haze, juniper uplift that was this berry scented half – a Mega's namesake cane into play. Slade would remember upon waking as they pulled apart gently, that scent was only just for him.

"Time for bed, then?" He smiled smugly down as the pouting puppy.

"The fish…don't…don't want to waste it."

Slade tipped up the kid's jaw up once more with a sympathetic expression, an orb staring down of one doubting that those trembling lips wouldn't taste the same by tomorrow. "I'll be sure to make sure it maintains that same flavor. Was this better than your bar stop, dear blue bird?"

"I'm stuffed, tired…" Sighed the lazy drunk at the table.

"You can sleep in tomorrow." Slade said. "I'll make your meals before you go off to the precinct."

Slade let Dick up without carrying him, just an arm over the one as he was comforted long enough to be left on the sofa in a new top and boxers. "Adjust the heat, will you?...I'm ok with the cold again." The kid yawned, Slade knowing by his watch that by tomorrow, that brat was going to be in an ice bath first thing.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to handle everything. Don't worry your pretty head. Sleep, now." He crooned, pushing the covers over Dick's body and neck in a mostly loving manner, as the boy was out as the dim candlelight.

The treatment was adjusted to never cross a line, and by the next few days that mark would be as proud as a smear across the reputation of the hero he'd turned out to be. Slade went to see to the clean up.

A grin remained on his face, that finally settled as a smirk once all was said and done. Soon after, he carried it pride - fully with the inner knowing that Nightwing wasn't going to do something that stupid again. Not unless it had him a full course supper for making an old man wait.

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Ohhhhh?

Slade said he was getting that kiss and unlike Dick he did his homework while the kid stayed a socialite like daddy bats. So, in the end, who won? Find out!