Chapter Text
The thing was, Lando knew – objectively, at least – why he was feeling a bit twitchy and irrational this weekend. It was always the same, once his pre-heat truly started to settle. With Carlos he’d been possessive as what his Omega hindbrain perceived to be his Alpha – even before they mated – and with Daniel he’d been clingy, preferring to stick close to the Beta whenever Carlos couldn’t be around, but with Oscar…
Lando glowered at Oscar’s Race Engineer in what he thought was a menacing manner as his own Race Engineer, Will, sidled up next to him. The Beta’s scent was neutral – as always – but his expression was carefully amused.
“Alright there, mate?”
“Oscar’s qualified well – better than me,” Lando pointed out distractedly, gaze still fixed on the way his rookie teammate’s brow was furrowed with stress. “So what’s Tom on about, upsetting him like that?”
There was a couple moments of silence, wherein Will’s head quietly swiveled between Lando, Oscar, and Tom, before –
“Lando, are you… with your pre-heat, I mean…” Will trailed off, a bit awkward, rubbing self-consciously at the back of his neck before just coming out with it. “Are you perhaps feeling a tad protective of Oscar right now?”
Lando finally turned away from Oscar and Tom to blink owlishly at Will, completely flummoxed, because –
“What?”
Will’s lips were pressed together in a tight line, which Lando knew meant his Race Engineer was trying not to laugh at him, which was rude, because –
“What?”
“He’s not upset, Lando,” Will finally responded gently. “Focused, sure, and a bit stressed, maybe, but he’s okay, yeah?”
Lando huffed, gaze trailing back to the rookie in question.
It would be easier if Lando could just smell him, but they had both applied scent-blockers – something especially important for Lando, who knew his pre-heat scent was starting to thicken the closer he got to his actual heat – so he couldn’t smell Oscar, couldn’t discern from this distance if what Will said was true, so instead Lando finally pushed off the wall he’d been propped up against, resolute.
“I’m going to go check on him,” the Brit announced aloud as he strode toward the duo, leaving Will to trail behind him, muttering something about Tom being accustomed to Lando’s antics.
Whatever that meant.
―――
Lando could only watch as they rounded the first corner – Max on his left – as Carlos locked up and squeezed Oscar too tight against the wall, the duo coming together before at least one piece of Oscar’s car went flying.
“What the fuck was Carlos thinking,” Lando snapped – just to himself, thankfully, his radio decidedly turned off as he swears vehemently at his mate.
How could he endanger not only himself, but their pu – Lando’s teammate that way?
“Is Oscar okay?” Lando demanded, finally switching his radio on. He’d watched his teammate fall back, but had eventually lost sight of the younger man’s matching papaya car as they raced up Eau Rouge. Carlos, at least, was still in it, despite a rather glaring hole in his sidepod.
“He’s fine, but he has to retire the car,” Will admitted. Then, “Focus on your race.”
Lando did – or at very least, he tried to, despite the way his instincts were screaming at him to check on Oscar himself – especially when he passed the damaged McLaren at Turn 11, his teammate already out of sight.
―――
Once he’d hoisted himself out of the car and gone through all the standard post-race checks, Lando couldn’t find it in himself to be bothered with pleasantries. At very least, Carlos had also been forced to retire his car on Lap 23, so Lando didn’t have to worried about accidentally strangling his mate in full-view of the media.
Instead, he could focus on finding Oscar and making sure that he was actually okay.
If the mechanics inhabiting McLaren’s garage were surprised to see him barrelling into the space far earlier than he usually would be post-race, they were wise enough to keep their mouths shut.
Which left Lando free to storm his way into Oscar’s Driver’s Room, where – thankfully – his teammate was lounging on the couch.
He’d also washed – or perhaps sweated – off his scent blockers, so Lando could smell the lingering distress and frustration swirling within Oscar’s normally mild eucalyptus and mint scent. Lando was sure his own scent – definitely detectable after a full-length race – wasn’t much better, but Oscar at least had the decorum to not say anything outright, though he did scrunch his nose at whatever Lando’s own ginger and lime-tinged scent was doing.
“Lando?”
In lieu of a verbal response, Lando found himself in Oscar’s space, tilting the younger man’s head this way and that before lifting his shirt, looking for seatbelt bruises –
“Lando!” Oscar yelped, wiggling away with a little giggle. “Mate, what’s gotten into you?”
Lando chuffed, vaguely recognizing that he’d let himself fall a little deep into his instincts, before moving forward to resume his inspection. Weirdly, Oscar let him, though the younger man’s brow was furrowed in confusion, until –
“Lando, mate, I’m okay, yeah?” Oscar offered. “Car took the worst of it – I barely got jostled around.”
Lando chuffed again, disbelieving.
“I’m okay, Lando,” Oscar promised gently. “Promise.”
Lando’s own inspection had revealed much of the same, so he pulled back – but brought Oscar with him. They’d be comfier in Lando Driver’s Room, in his nest. Unlike Oscar, who rarely constructed his own nests, Lando always took the time to carefully construct a nest in whatever space he was inhabiting.
Upon stepping back into the hallway though, the duo came face-to-face with Oscar’s trainer, Kim, and Lando didn’t hesitate to hiss, drawing Oscar closer to him.
“Oscar?”
“I’m not sure, Kim,” Oscar admitted sheepishly. “I’m okay, but I don’t think Lando’s exactly convinced of that?”
Lando merely hissed again as he shifted to move them towards his room – and the waiting nest – carefully keeping himself between Oscar and Kim, despite the fact the Beta had never shown any sign of being remotely threatening.
“I’ll talk to Jon,” Kim offered.
Lando didn’t give Oscar the chance to respond, practically shoving Oscar back into his Driver’s Room and shutting the door firmly behind them. He had Oscar bundled up in what he knew to be his teammate’s preferred blanket before the Australian could object.
“I’m sorry,” Lando forced out, actual words still challenging, as he settled back in against Oscar’s side – a position that had both of their backs towards the farthest corner of the door, while also affording Lando a clear view (should anyone else decide to enter their space).
“I – it’s okay, I’m just not sure that I understand?” Oscar offered.
“It’s my pre-heat, I think?” Lando explained. It was easier, now, to push aside his instincts and actually explain, with Oscar safe and unharmed in his nest. “With Carlos, I tend to be a bit possessive, and with Daniel I was pretty clingy, but with you…”
Lando trailed off awkwardly, opting instead to hide his face in the crook of Oscar’s neck.
“You’re feeling protective,” Oscar guessed.
Lanod nodded mutely, a bit ashamed now that whatever temporary insanity had gripped him earlier was abating. Oscar must think he was nuts, or else very, very strange.
“You can probably go, now, I think,” Lando mumbled.
Instead, Oscar started purring, a hand reaching up to card through Lando’s sweaty curls as the younger Omega snuggled closer.
“I don’t mind,” Oscar admitted. “And if it helps… I’m happy to cuddle.”
Oscar sounded so sad as he said the last bit that Lando pulled back for a moment, a comforting rumble erupting from his chest without any real, conscious thought about it.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Oscar shifting uncomfortably, capitalizing on the opportunity to hide his own face in the crook of Lando’s neck now that Lando wasn’t hiding in his, resulting in his response being a bit hard to decipher.
“It’s just… he’s your mate.”
Lando snorted.
“He’s also an idiot,” Lando responded without hesitation.
“I know the Stewards declared it a racing incident, but…” Oscar trailed off, voice sad and small. “I don’t know what he was doing. I was there and he just turned in like I didn’t exist.”
As if summoned by Lando’s newly incensed rage – or else Oscar’s sadness – Carlos himself chose that moment to poke his head into the room, big brown eyes matching the worried notes floating around in his citrus and jasmine scent.
“Lando, Jon said that probably you were in here –”
Whatever the Alpha had been about to say was cut off by Lando’s simply furious hiss.
How dare the Alpha come into this space, near his nest, right now. As if he wasn’t the reason that Oscar sounded and smelled so sad, as if he wasn’t the cause of Lando’s earlier anxiety and distress. No matter that he was Lando’s mate, he’d very nearly hurt Lando’s pu – teammate, and the Brit was seething.
“Lando?” Carlos asked, clearly still worried. “Mi amor?”
“It’s okay, Lando,” Oscar tried to soothe, but his purr was stilted and forced, which only served to incense Lando further.
“Get out,” Lando snarled, shifting to position himself more firmly between Oscar and what his mind currently perceived as a threat, despite objectively knowing that his mate would never intentionally harm him or Oscar.
Off the track at least.
“Is Oscar in there?” came another familiar Australian voice from somewhere beyond Carlos.
And then Mark was shouldering his way through the crack Carlos had previously opened in the door, eyes scanning the room for his protégée.
Which meant that suddenly the room was full of the scent of not one, but two Alphas, scents of citrus, jasmine, cedar, and rosemary invading what was supposed to be a safe space, and Lando couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t, couldn’t, couldn’t –
“Get out!” Lando practically screamed, canines flashing as he snarled and hissed. His instincts were clouding his mind again, words fleeing his mind as his Omega took over, and all he could think of was how to protect Oscar from two larger Alphas.
Thankfully, Carlos seemed to understand that Lando was on the brink of utterly losing control, and without another word he simply grabbed Mark and dragged the older Alpha from the room, the door slamming behind them.
In the ensuing silence, Oscar wrestled himself out from where Lando had essentially buried him in blankets, pillows, and teamwear in his haste to hide him from the Alphas in their space, purring and cooing desperately as he tried to calm his teammate.
“It’s okay Lando, I’m safe, you’re safe,” Oscar murmured as he gentled Lando down from the feral edge he’d found himself on. “Carlos and Mark would never hurt us, you know that Lando. We’re safe.”
Lando whined, wrapping himself around Oscar.
Thankfully, Oscar still seemed to be willing to cuddle, despite how absolutely deranged Lando was being, which was nice, because the Brit could recognize that he was being a tad bit unreasonable about the whole thing.
Carlos was Lando’s mate.
Mark viewed Oscar as his pup.
Neither Alpha would ever hurt them – at least intentionally – but Lando’s brain didn’t seem capable of comprehending that right now.
Thankfully, the team wasn’t foolish enough to try sending in another Alpha. They also opted to completely bypass Betas, which was probably for the best, given Lando’s earlier reaction to Kim. Instead, the next time the door to Lando’s Driver’s Room opened, it was Charles’ distinctive lavender and bergamot scent invading their space, and Lando felt himself relaxing instinctively at the familiar comfort of the scent, trusting that the other Omega was there to help, even through the haze of whatever insanity had gripped him in his pre-heat.
“Oh, Lando,” Charles cooed. “C'est correct, petit, je vous protège toi et Oscar maintenant, d’accord?”
“I still don’t speak French, Charles,” Lando grumbled, but he didn’t protest when the Monegasque climbed into the nest – uninvited – with them, chuckling as he did so.
“I will keep you two safe now, yes?” Charles offered.
And somehow, wedged between Oscar and Charles in his nest, only their comforting scents wrapped around him, for the first time all day, Lando felt his instincts begin the relax.