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Tim always knew he was going to present as an Alpha.
It would have been impossible for him to do otherwise. Both his father and mother were Alphas, along with all of his grandparents. Apparently his great-grandmother had been a Beta, but they didn’t really talk about her.
So, he had known, since he was old enough to understand dynamics, that he was going to be an Alpha. And thus he was completely unsurprised when he presented as one.
He was a little surprised, however, when he presented as one at nine years old.
His parents had been as well, when they had come home a week later to discover their house smelling of new-Alpha, instead of the milk-pup smell Tim had when they had left for their trip a month before. They had rushed him to the doctor, but Tim apparently was completely healthy.
He just happened to present three years earlier than he should. Most people started presenting around age twelve, with most late bloomers finishing up around age sixteen. Girls tended to present earlier than boys, too; while girls might start as early as eleven, boys tended to present more around thirteen or fourteen. So if you looked at it that way Tim was four or five years early.
He tended not to look at it like such. Three years sounded a lot less drastic than five.
His doctor had some theories as to why Tim had matured so quickly. He had asked questions about Tim’s home life: his parents had said that they were often away on trips while Tim stayed behind at home, with their housekeeper checking in on him daily.
It was more like three times a week, but Tim knew not to correct his parents in front of the doctor.
The doctor also asked about Tim’s schooling: his parents informed him that, though by age Tim would normally be in fourth grade, by intelligence and maturity he had been placed into seventh.
“Well, there you are then,” the doctor said. “Being around the hormones of kids starting to present, as well as taking on less of a pup role and more of an adult one in his home life, it’s no wonder that he presented so early.”
Tim was relieved to know that nothing was wrong with him.
The doctor then asked about how their family’s pack bonds were. Tim’s dad thanked the doctor for his time, and they were out of his office within five minutes.
Tim had asked his parents about why he didn’t have a pack bond with them, once. His mother had sat him down to explain.
“We’re away from Gotham so much, Timothy. If we were bonded with you, it would put a lot of strain on the bond, and cause us all pain. Your father and I don’t want you to be in pain, so we decided it would be best to go without one.”
“You could have one with me when you’re here and break it when you leave?” Tim tried suggesting.
His mother shook her head. “Breaking a bond is difficult, and often painful for both recipients. It wouldn’t be worth it. Trust us, Tim, it’s better this way.”
Tim had to take her word for it. He didn’t know any different. But sometimes he wondered if pain would be better than the emptiness he often (always) felt.
Now Tim was ten. He had been an alpha for several months. School had let out for the summer, and he now had time to try out an idea of his: going into Gotham City and taking pictures of its nightlife.
And by nightlife, he meant bats. And by bats, he meant Batman. And Robin too, of course.
He had gotten the idea to do so years ago, back when he was eight and first discovered photography, and thought about how to combine it with his first obsession: superheroes. But Tim knew that a pup wandering around Gotham on his own was just asking to be kidnapped or trafficked, let alone one wandering at night.
But Tim was an Alpha now! No one messed with Alphas. And sure, he had a rather unintimidating scent, but it was still an Alpha one. If he stuck to the shadows and kept his head down, people might just think he was a short Alpha (which he technically was), and wouldn’t bother him.
The first night out Tim was nervous. The second night a little less so. By night three he had little to no fear at all.
Everything was going great! He was right, in the dark most people couldn’t see him well enough to tell that he was a kid. He tried to focus on and project the part of his scent that would make him seem the most tough. One time an omega walking towards him on the sidewalk smelled him and crossed the street, so it was working great.
He did feel a little bad about scaring her, though.
Tim wasn’t an idiot, though. He did his best to stick to the shadows, and when he could he made it up fire escapes and onto roofs, in order to stay out of the more public streets. And if that happened to bring him closer to seeing Bat Action™, then that was a nice bonus.
Tonight Tim was feeling pretty optimistic. Last night he had been able to snag a blurry photo of Robin as he jumped across the rooftops on the street opposite Tim. Tim’s hope was that if he hung out at the same roof tonight, Robin would come by again, and this time he would be prepared.
Tim was doing his best not to hum to himself as he made his way into the alley he would access the fire escape from. It was harder than it should have been.
Tim stopped all noise very quickly though, when upon entering the alley he heard some rustling behind some garbage bags.
“Hello?” Tim asked, before his brain caught up with him and he realized how stupid that was.
But when no mugger or other criminal jumped out at him, he figured he got away with it. Probably a racoon or something. Or a rat. Shivering, Tim moved quicker towards the fire escape, not wanting to hang around in the alley if it was infested with rats.
Tim had only moved a couple of steps closer when the rustling noise happened again, this time accompanied by a whine.
Tim hesitated. Maybe there was a dog trapped behind the garbage. “Hello?” he called out again, softly. “Is there a puppy there?”
Another whine, which seemed to be a pretty good indication. Tim inched closer to the pile of trash.
“I’m going to move this bag,” he said when he was close enough to touch the pile. “Don’t bite me, please.”
With a little struggle, Tim was able to lift the bag on top of the pile and set it on the ground. He looked down to see what was underneath.
And met the eyes of Robin.
“You’re not a dog,” Tim said, stunned, once again showing how little brain to mouth filter he possessed.
Then he shook himself. “I mean. Of course you’re not a dog. You’re a bird! Er, robin. You’re Robin. Robin, what are you doing in the trash?”
Robin didn’t answer. He just let out another whine. Tim reached out a hand towards him, and Robin flinched away, deeper into the garbage.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Tim said. He could tell that the hero was scared. “Are you hurt? Do you need help?”
Robin gave a little growl, but it was cut off with a wince, as though he was in pain.
Tim bit his lip, not sure what to do. “I’m just gonna…” he leaned in a little closer to Robin, and breathed in deep, trying to catch his scent so he might get a hint as to what was wrong.
It took a few tries before Tim was able to get anything. Robin had managed to hide himself in some truly foul-smelling garbage. But, as Tim finally registered his scent, perhaps that had been the point.
Because from what he could tell, Robin was presenting as an Omega. Right now.
“Oh,” Tim said, putting the pieces together. “I understand. But Robin, it’s not safe for you here. Omegas need to be in nests when they’re presenting, not trash. And we’re in Crime Alley. The outskirts, but still. If someone found you…”
Tim was young, but even he had heard horror stories about what happened to unsuspecting Omegas who went into heat out in the open. Especially in Gotham. Especially especially in Crime Alley.
Robin whined and tried to cover himself more with one of the trash bags by his side.
“No, I’m sorry Robin, but that won’t work. You can’t stay here,” Tim said. “If I found you, someone else could. Do you have a way to call Batman?”
Robin stared at Tim blankly.
“Um, Batman? You know…?” Tim held up his fingers by his head in an impression of Batman’s cowl. “Batman? Call Batman?”
Robin just blinked at Tim before whining again.
Tim brought his hands down and sighed. “Guess you’re at the nonverbal stage of heat.”
Tim tapped his fingers, trying to come up with a plan. He would call Batman himself, but he didn’t have his number. He could find and use the Batsignal, but he didn’t know where that was or how to use it. He could yell for Batman, but that might attract the wrong kind of attention.
Finally, Tim settled on what he figured was the best plan. “You can come home with me.”
Robin let out his loudest whine yet.
“No, no, it’s okay,” Tim reassured him. “I’m an Alpha. I’ll protect you.”
That had the opposite effect that Tim wanted, as Robin now was baring his teeth at Tim.
“No, I will! I promise I won’t hurt you. Here…” Tim rubbed his wrists together, trying to get his scent glands going. After a few seconds he stuck out an arm towards Robin, doing his best to project safe-help-won’t-hurt-safe.
Robin flared his nose a little as he took in Tim’s smell. He eyed Tim’s hand for a long moment. Then he bent his head forward, allowing Tim to touch the top of his head, effectively having Tim scent him.
Tim was ecstatic. He had done it! He had gotten Robin to trust him.
“Now,” Tim said as he rubbed the top of Robin’s head. “How do we get you back to my house?”
The solution had ended up being: rub some of the garbage around on Robin to hide as much of his presenting scent as possible. Then, Tim put his jacket on over Robin, not only as another way to hide his scent, but also to disguise his costume.
And then they got on a bus. Was it risky? For sure. But less risky than walking the miles they needed to travel. The bus driver wrinkled his nose at them, but didn’t say anything. The extra twenty Tim paid with probably helped.
When they got off the bus it was still half a mile to Tim’s place. It was slow going. A switch had flipped in Robin, and now instead of wanting to get away from Tim he couldn’t get close enough. He was wrapped around Tim, content to nuzzle into his neck and breathe in his scent. Moving seemed optional for him, but Tim knew the sooner they were behind locked doors, and had a bit of protection between them and the rest of the world, the better.
So Tim kept them moving, step by step. It was close to three in the morning when they finally made it to his front door, but the point was that they made it. When Tim pulled Robin inside his house, locking the door behind him, he couldn’t help but let out a small cheer of victory. “We made it!”
Robin gave a small yip. Tim wasn’t sure if he was aware enough to know what they were celebrating, but he appreciated the spirit.
“Okay,” Tim said. “Now what do Omegas in heat need?”
Tim, again coming from a family of all Alphas, had no idea. So he pulled out his phone and consulted the internet.
“Apparently you need food, water, and a nest,” Tim said as Robin rubbed his head against the top of Tim’s head (he turned out to be several inches taller than Tim, which he found unfair). “We can do that. Hm. This doesn’t say anything about a shower, but I think that should probably be added to the list too.”
Tim tried to have Robin do that first. Unfortunately, Robin did not seem to agree with that. He looked confused at Tim when he ran the water, and when Tim tried to leave the bathroom he tried to follow.
“No, Robin,” Tim said, pointing at the shower. “You need to shower. Show-er. You smell.” He waved a hand in front of his nose as an indication.
Robin just stared at Tim, and then slowly copied his movement.
Tim sighed. “If that was you telling me I stink too, then yeah, I know. Hm. I’d let you go without one, but then your nest would stink, and I don’t think you’d like that.”
In the end, Tim helped Robin take off as much of the uniform as possible (pretty much just the cape and shoes), took off his own clothes down to his underwear (he felt weird being so undressed in front of the hero but he told himself that this was to help Robin, and that he probably didn’t even notice), and they took a shower together. Tim scrubbed Robin down as best he could. He had to have him duck down so he could get his hair, but Robin was willing to do so.
Robin made no move to bathe himself, but he did reach out and help Tim when it was time to scrub his own hair. It didn’t help so much as get in the way and cause Tim to get suds in his eyes, but he appreciated the thought.
When Tim deemed them clean enough, they stepped out and Tim dried them both off as best he could with a towel and hair drier. Robin’s uniform still felt a little damp, but at least it didn’t smell any more.
Now that the lingering smell of garbage was gone, Robin’s scent was easier to make out. There was still a hint of milk to it, indicating that he had been a pup until recently, but his new, adult omega scent was coming through.
“Old books and sandalwood?” Tim said, breathing deep. “Smells good. Um, good job?” The internet had said that omegas liked to be praised while in their heat. Based on the way Robin perked up and preened, it seemed to be true.
“Come on,” Tim said. “We have a guest room you can make a nest in.”
Tim led Robin by the hand up the stairs and down the hall. Before they reached the guest room though, Robin suddenly stopped, and Tim would have let go of his hand had Robin not tightened his grip.
“What is it?” Tim asked. He looked at what had caught Robin’s attention.
Robin was looking into Tim’s open bedroom door. “That’s my room,” Tim said. “Do you want something in there?”
Robin looked at Tim and nodded. Tim took that as a good sign.
“Okay,” Tim said. “We can get whatever you want from there.” Anything to help the hero.
Robin led Tim this time into the bedroom.
Tim looked around. “What was it you wanted?”
Tim was so distracted in looking around, trying to figure out what Robin might want, that he was taken completely by surprise when Robin pushed him.
Tim landed on his back on his bed. Before he could get up Robin was jumping up onto the bed alongside him. He started rearranging the pillows and moving blankets around, wrapping one around Tim.
“Oh,” Tim said. “Do you want to nest here?”
Robin nodded. Another good sign.
“I don’t think I’m supposed to be in here, though,” Tim said. “The internet said that omegas only let family or mates inside their nests, and I’m not either.”
Tim started stretching a leg off the side of the bed in an attempt to get off, but froze when Robin started growling and glaring at him. Slowly, Tim moved his leg back inside the nest, and the growling lessened.
“Well, okay,” Tim said. “If you’re sure. But I was supposed to get you food and water!”
An Alpha provides for an Omega, the internet had said. Tim hadn’t finished his providing duties yet! He was being a bad Alpha.
Tim’s scent must have taken a turn for the sad, because Robin stopped trying to fluff up one of Tim’s pillows, and started rubbing up against him, whining, his scent leaking concern.
“I’m okay,” Tim said, trying to brighten his scent back up. “I’m okay if you’re okay.”
Robin eyed him one more time, as if to see if he was telling the truth. Tim tried to appear earnest. With one more nuzzle Robin seemed to call it good. But instead of going back to the pillow Robin instead wrapped Tim up in his arms, and brought him down so they were both lying on the bed. Several of Tim’s blankets were bundled up around the edges of the bed now, making a little barrier. Robin pulled one of the remaining blankets on top of them, and then went back to hugging and scenting Tim.
With his one free hand, Tim looked up on his phone how long heats were supposed to last. On average, they seemed to range from three to five days, though first heats were unpredictable. Some people’s first heats only lasted a day, others for a week.
That wasn’t very helpful for Tim. But, since his parents weren’t due back for another three weeks this trip, he probably didn’t have to worry. Just had to keep Robin safe until his heat was over.
Tim drifted off to sleep planning out ways he could help Robin, just like a good Alpha would.
They were two days into Robin’s heat, and they had settled into a routine.
Granted, ninety percent of the routine was “stay in the nest and let Robin cuddle him.” Tim had never taken so many naps, nor slept so well in his life.
The other ten percent of the time was getting Robin food and water, making sure he ate and drank, and sometimes taking another shower when the smell of heat got to be too much, or when Robin started feeling too hot. Tim knew heats increased body temperature, it was in the name after all, but when Robin started sweating and turning red he took it as a sign that he needed to cool off.
Robin was not a fan of any plan that meant Tim had to leave the nest. Tim hadn’t been able to get food the first time until Robin had fallen asleep and he had been able to sneak out of the nest. He had been downstairs in the kitchen, when the house seemed to shake with a loud, angry-mournful-alone-come-back! call.
Tim ran up the stairs, and crashed into Robin halfway, who had been running down them. Once they both got their bearings Robin literally picked Tim up and carried him back to the nest. It took an hour after that to convince Robin that they both needed food before he would let Tim leave again, but this time Robin came with him.
Tim wasn’t sure if it was good for Omegas to leave their nests while in heat. He was pretty sure it wasn’t. So he had Robin help him carry as many non-perishable food items and bottles of water as they could, and now there was a stockpile by the nest. Tim hadn’t left his room or the adjoined bathroom in over twenty-four hours now.
Hopefully Robin’s heat would end soon. Then he could feel better, and go back to helping Gotham.
A small part, a large part if Tim was being honest, of Tim would be sad when it ended, however. Tim couldn’t remember the last time he had spent this much time with a person in his house before. Even when his parents were home, they preferred to do their own things most of the time, and didn’t like Tim to interrupt them too much. He certainly had never slept in their bed before, let alone a nest. Nests were more of an Omega thing, and this was Tim’s first experience with one. So far it was pretty great.
At these thoughts Tim’s scent had taken on more of a melancholy tone, and Robin had been doing his best to rub it out. Tim was letting him try, when there was a sudden crash from downstairs.
Both of them froze. Tim knew there was no way that was a good sound. Mrs. Mac wasn’t due to stop by until tomorrow, and Tim’s parents were in Venezuela.
Quickly, Tim detangled himself from Robin and got out of the nest. Robin whined at him and made like he was going to get out too.
“No, Robin,” Tim whispered forcefully at him. “You stay here.”
Tim was the Alpha. It was his job to protect his Omega. So that’s what he’d do.
Tim looked around the room for anything that could be used as a weapon. He remembered a baseball bat in the back of his closet, leftover from his father’s failed attempt to get him into sports. Quickly and quietly Tim pulled it out of the closet, then tiptoed to his door.
Robin whined again.
“Stay here,” was all Tim whispered. He took a breath to steady himself, and brought himself up to his full height. Then he stepped out of his bedroom, locking the door behind him and pulling it shut.
There was no one in the hallway. Good. So the intruder hadn’t made it upstairs yet. Tim crouched down and hid himself by the top of the stairs, behind a half-wall that should stop anyone from below from seeing him. Then he waited.
There was no noise for several minutes, long enough that Tim started to doubt that he had heard anything at all. But then Tim heard a recognizable creek, from the step two-thirds up that always creaked if you stepped on it, and he realized that not only was the intruder still there, but they were almost upon him.
Tim braced himself, and waited for the count of five. Then he swung his bat out as hard as he could.
There was an “oof!” but not the sound Tim had been hoping to hear, which was the person falling backwards down the stairs. Unsure of what to do next, and panicking, Tim scrambled backwards, and turned to run down the hall. Maybe he could get the person to chase him instead of going for Robin?
Tim only made it a couple steps before something tackled him to the ground. The bat was pulled out of his hands, and thrown behind him, out of reach.
Tim’s face was pressed into the carpet. He tried growling as threateningly as he could.
Someone on top of him growled louder. Tim could now make out the scent of Angry-Alpha-Angry-Protect-Mine-ANGRY. It sort of smelled like a thunderstorm.
Tim tried growling again, but it came out as more of a whimper.
“Where is he!?” the Alpha behind Tim roared. Tim shook his head, refusing to speak. He wouldn’t give Robin up, not for anything.
To make matters worse, there was another creak from the stairs.
“B?” A male voice said somewhere behind Tim. Tim cursed in his mind. Now there were two of them.
Tim tried growling again, and the one of his back just pushed him deeper into the carpet.
“I have him,” the one holding Tim said. His voice was deep and growly. “Go start checking the rooms. I can smell that he’s nearby.”
A couple of steps as the second person got closer. “B?” he said again. He was now close enough that Tim could smell him. He stank of Anger, but also Fierce-protect-care-find-protect. Burning vanilla honey. An Omega.
“I know,” the Alpha said. “His smell is all over this one.” He leaned down closer to Tim. “You’re going to regret that.”
Tim didn’t risk growling, too worried it would come out as a whine again. The Omega walked past him now, moving closer to Tim’s room. Tim started squirming, but couldn’t get anywhere, restrained by the Alpha.
From his angle on the ground Tim could make out the Omega’s dark skintight pants and top, but not much else. Something about it was familiar, but Tim’s panicking brain couldn’t figure out what it was.
A couple doors away from Tim’s room, and there was a thump on the door from the inside.
“Robin, no,” Tim whispered. The Alpha above him growled deeply.
The Omega was at Tim’s door in seconds. “Little Wing? Is that you in there? Stand back, I’m going to break the door down.”
The Omega lifted up one leg, and did just that, bashing in Tim’s door with one kick. He took a step in, and Tim could no longer see him.
He felt tears filling his eyes. He had failed. He had failed Robin. He had failed his Omega.
A second later there was a yelp from Tim’s room, and Tim feared the worst. Then Robin ran out the door. He looked around frantically, before seeing Tim on the ground and running towards him.
“Robin-” the Alpha above Tim said, before Robin kicked him in the face.
Stunned, the Alpha loosened his grip, and Robin took the opportunity to grab Tim’s arms and pull him out from under the Alpha. Once Tim was free Robin pulled him a few feet away, sat down on the ground, pulled Tim into his lap, and wrapped his arms around him, growling at the Alpha.
His scent was taking a smoky edge, screaming Stop-mine-protect-mine.
The Omega stumbled out of Tim’s room, clutching his arm. “He bit me! B, he bit me!”
Now that Tim was sitting up, he could get a good look at the Omega. Or, should he say, Nightwing. But… but that would mean the Alpha was…
“I heard,” the Alpha said. Tim turned to look, and sure enough that was Batman, rubbing his chin. “He kicked me.”
“Stockholm syndrome?” Nightwing asked.
Robin growled louder at him. Mine-good-mine-protect-good-Alpha.
Batman looked at Robin and Tim, seeming to get a good look at the two of them and how they were positioned. “I don’t think so.”
Nightwing looked closely at them as well. “Oh. That’s a pretty small Alpha.”
“My name’s Tim,” Tim said shakily, though why he felt the need to say that he wasn’t sure.
“Tim,” Batman said. “How old are you?”
“Ten,” Tim answered honestly. There was no point in lying to Batman. Tim was a little surprised he didn’t already know.
He quickly started to explain. “I’m really sorry for kidnapping Robin! But I found him going into heat in Crime Alley, and I didn’t know how to contact you, and Robin wasn’t talking, and I didn’t want any bad guys to find him, so I brought him home and I was helping him with his heat here and would have let him go once his heat was done but the internet said that could still be another five days.”
When Tim stopped for breath Batman spoke. “You said you were helping him. How?” His scent had taken a dangerous edge again.
Tim explained. “I made sure he had enough blankets and was clean and ate and drank even though he really didn’t want to eat much and I would have gotten him better food than granola bars but every time I left the nest he got sad or dragged me back into it.”
“You were in his nest?” Nightwing said, his turn to sound menacing.
“I wasn’t going to be!” Tim cried out. “I swear! But he kept dragging me back into it and got upset when I left and I really liked being cuddled and I’m sorry I should have tried harder to leave!”
“...all you did was cuddle?” Batman asked.
“Yes?” Tim answered. “And sleep. And eat sometimes. Why? What else would you do in a nest?”
Batman and Nightwing looked at each other. “How long have you been an Alpha?” Nightwing asked randomly.
Tim still answered. “Since I was nine.”
They looked at each other again, seeming to pass along a silent message. Finally they nodded at each other and stood up.
“You’re coming with us,” Batman said.
Tim whimpered, and Robin squeezed him tighter. Oh no. This was it. Batman was going to throw him into jail for hiding Robin from him. Tim deserved it too. He just wished he got to stay with Robin for a little longer.
Tim stood up, encouraging Robin to stand up as well, and allowed Batman and Nightwing to cart him off to jail.
Jail turned out to be less of a jail, and more of a large, plush nest in his next-door-neighbor’s house.
“Wait, so Batman is Bruce Wayne?” Tim asked. Robin, who Tim had learned was Jason Todd, had been re-dressed into more comfortable pajamas, and was currently scenting Tim in the large nest. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, who was Nightwing, were standing on the outside of it. Jason growled at them when they asked if they could enter the nest, and so they stayed outside. Jason did allow them in the room, however, along with Alfred Pennyworth, a butler, who had dropped off the change of clothes and some snacks.
“Yep,” Dick said. “Don’t worry. It takes some getting used to.”
“I’ll say,” Tim said, thinking back to the last gala, when Mr. Wayne had dunked his head in the punch bowl.
“I have a few questions for you, Tim,” Mr. Wayne said. Jason let out a huff. “But they can wait until Jason’s heat is done. Are you sure you don’t mind waiting it out with him?”
“I’m sure,” Tim said. “I’d never been in a nest before. It’s really nice.”
Jason preened while Mr. Wayne and Dick shared another look. Tim wished they’d stop doing that.
“Well, if at any point you change your mind, you let us know,” Dick said. “For now, we’ll let you two rest up. We’ll talk more in the morning. If Jason’s anything like me, his heat will be over then.”
“Okay,” Tim said, leaning back into the nest, already feeling a little tired.
Dick left the room, but Mr. Wayne hesitated before leaving. “Thank you for protecting Jason,” he said eventually. “You’re a good Alpha.”
Tim couldn’t stop his pleased scent from erupting out of him, the cinnamon and cream overwhelming the coffee for a moment.
Jason started purring, letting out more of his own happy-content scent.
Mr. Wayne gave a small smile, and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Tim smiled and snuggled in next to Jason. As he drifted off, he could almost imagine a warmth growing in the center of his chest, filling up what had been empty for so long. Before he could think about it too hard he fell asleep.