Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was a slow afternoon at the station, and two peculiar detectives had just returned from a chat they both would have preferred to avoid

"Watts, did you really have to tell Mrs Jenkins that her garden was dead?" Murdoch tried again as he handed the file back to one of the constables

"I didn't say her garden was dead." The other corrected, "I just told him it looked like an archaeological dig gone wrong."

"Now, what would be less bad than telling her it was dead?" he retorted, already sensing the impending screw-up

"It's a matter of perspective, Detective Murdoch.
A matter of perspective."

"And getting almost bitten by an Alpha is a matter of perspective?"

"That's because Alphas are too touchy."

The older man rolled his eyes, just wanting to get back to his office to work on his invention (or " a too complicated toy" if you asked a certain inspector).

But just as he was entering the office he noticed something: Where the hell was his jacket?
He remembered that he hadn't actually taken it with him, and neither had his hat (that's why everyone had looked at him strangely), which was also missing.

He looked to see if he had left those on the coat rack near the entrance, but nothing was there.

After a couple of minutes he finally decided to ask someone.

"Watts. Have you by any chance seen my hat?" He asked, distracting the younger detective from his chess game with Henry.
"And jacket?"

"You left them in your office." He answered calmly.

"Actually..." Henry began. "I saw George take them, before he went off to talk with the inspector."

"Good. And where is he?"

"I don't know, he hasn't come back." He replied a little perplexed "But he seemed tense"

"Tense?"

"Yes, he was all red.
I asked him what was wrong, and he told me he wasn't feeling well"

"Ok.." William thought for a moment, especially because George was calm that morning "Where's the inspector?"

"Away for the moment, a family matter." The constable added, then went back to the game

"Thank you"

He returned to his office, a little bit confused by the thing, and thought about calling the man's pension to see how he was.
He went to the phone, and dialed the number, then waited several minutes.

No answer, which surprised him.
He looked at the clock, he still had an hour of work to do before he could go home, and he still had to finish his invention.

Time passed quickly, but he still had the question of where his Omega had gone, he was somehow stressed not to find him nearby.

A sudden call, just as he was taking his things to leave, took him away from his thoughts.
A constable was in front of him, and he seemed annoyed.

"Detective Murdoch, there's someone who would like to speak to you." The man said, pointing to the main room.
"We have a complaint."

"What kind?"He leaned against the desk, waiting for the answer

"A simple theft of money after a work visit.
She says that this one seems to have scammed other people in the past" He leaned in slightly to whisper something "And frankly she seems pretty pissed "

A clack of heels could be heard in the distance, and a face already familiar to the man appeared
She was indeed pissed (Rightly so)

"Miss Newsome" He greeted cordially, trying not to look tense "What a good visit?"

"Hello Murdoch." She greeted, less than enthusiastically "I hope they already told you why I'm here.
Some bastard scammed me, not paying me for the lawsuit I was defending.
I can't get to contact him anymore!"

"You said he's done scams before."

"Yes. After he stole my money I found out that three other colleagues of mine had had the same problem." She replied, angrily.
"Find him, he owes me a lot of money."

"Don't worry."He reassured her, taking the complaint.

However, he noticed something strange, the woman's jacket seemed... scratched.
Or rather, it seemed bitten at the edges.
And then it had a strange smell, a mix between lavender and expensive perfume, which contrasted with her spicier rut.

"Uhm, am I wrong or is your jacket and..." He tried to sound discreet "Scratched?"

The woman sighed, as if it wasn't the first time someone had asked that.

"Nina's in heat." She revealed, looking around to see if anyone was hearing them.
"She stole my jacket the other night to make a nest, and she has a bad habit of biting."

He remembered that Omegas did indeed make nests when they came into heat, often with their Alpas' (and apparently Beta too sometimes) belongings for comfort.

"You already..."

"Is that a question to ask a lady?!" She exclaimed indignantly.
"...Okay, yes, that's why I'm a little nervous."

"Sorry, just asking."

"Anyway, where's George?
I didn't see him when I came in."

"Him? Looks like he left early, Henry told me he wasn't feeling well and was all red.
He even took my jacket and hat, for some strange reason...
...
Wait a minute-"

As soon as the gears in her head stopped turning, she jumped up from her chair

"Sorry, I have to go, we'll solve your problem." He quickly excused himself, then strode away

"Wait, where are you going?" She asked confused
She walked out of the office, but he was already well away

Some time later~

Luckily he managed to take the first available carriage, and to return home in a short time
The sun had almost set, and the first lights of the neighborhood were turning on as usual

Now he was in front of the door of his house, smelling the fragrance of his wife even from there
He knocked, to at least announce his presence, before opening the door

As soon as he entered he saw Julia in front of him, calm
The smell of cinnamon was very strong, and a note of old paper could be smelled in the guest room

"Hello Will.
Just in time from what I see." The woman commented "He is in the guest room."

"Why didn't you tell me that he was starting his heat?" He asked, a little panicked

"He told me that it had just started, and that he didn't want to disturb you at work, since you had gone out with Watts on some business." Her replied
How the hell did you forget your hat anyway?"

"Distraction?" He ventured, receiving an amused look from his beloved
"Wait, I'll go and see how he is." He concluded

He reached the room (we had to add rooms in this fucking house for plot reasons (thank God Murdoch is not a professional house engineer))

The smell of ink and paper was getting stronger and stronger, making the man's body tingle

He opened the door gently, trying to make little noise

The room was in shadow, but he could see his lover's nest clearly

The latter was curled up in the center, clutching the missing objects and one of Julia's shawl

He could hear the man enter, and calmly sat up, locking eyes with him

"Will!" he exclaimed a little sleepily "Good evening."

"You too.
Are you okay?"

"Yes. Let's say.
I'm just hungry, and I want you."

"Ok ok calm down, I'll make dinner and then we'll take care of you.
I see you have something that belongs to me."

"Yes, sorry Will but I saw them on your coat rack, you weren't there and I thought about it."

"Nah, it's not a problem, the important thing is that you're comfortable.
I love you."

"I love you too."

A quick kiss followed, and William went to prepare dinner for that evening, more relaxed than before