Work Text:
It started with a phone call. One minute, Edward Nygma was a law-abiding citizen, well on his way to putting his criminal past behind him. The next, he had been pulled into a mess by an 'old friend'.
"What sort of friend violates your parole for you?!", he mutters under his breath. Unless he could convince Gotham PD that he'd been kidnapped, he would go straight back to Arkham.
Penguin had called him up with an 'offer'-- either he drops everything and goes with Penguin's men that were due to arrive any minute, or Penguin would frame him for something big, completely destroying the clean life that Eddie had built for himself. He huffs out an agreement, but sets up a few contingency plans for himself.
He knocked over some of the furniture to make it look like there was a struggle, and left his shoes and jacket in the apartment. He walked gingerly to the waiting car, and made sure to goad the biggest thug just enough to get punched so that he could say there was a struggle.
'Owwww... At least I definitely look like a victim, now!' He sighs heavily.
When Nygma arrives, he's met with one of the biggest shocks of his life. Penguin has kidnapped the child of a mega-billionaire and was holding him for ransom.
'That idiot! Every cop in the state is going to be brought down around our ears! Sheesh... At least they won't blame me for masterminding it. I would never do something so messy..!'
By Eddie's count, the young Wayne heir had been missing for 36 hours, if the evening news' estimate was correct.
'But, what would they need me for..?' Eddie looked a little closer. The kid looked sweaty, sick even. He was trembling slightly, and a bit pale. A quick sniff of the air proved that he hadn't thrown up, and solved the puzzle.
'Shit, he's presenting... Probably feels like hell right now. And I would be the only "expert" that Penguin would think of. Imbecile!'
Eddie remembered what it was like for him when he presented as an Omega... He shuddered. Body aches, fever, and heavy sweating, for days. He had lost count after the first few days of agony. It shouldn't have been so bad, but his parents were long gone, and he was all alone. Without another Omega, or even an Alpha parent to look after him, the illness lasted twice as long-- the parental scent-marks that would stabilize his condition had long since faded. And without anyone to bring him food or water, it had been especially dangerous for him.
Riddler is shocked to find that Damian has no prior scent-marks... This makes him furious at Bruce Wayne. What kind of asshole will leave his kid unmarked like this? Even if he hadn't seen his kid recently, scent-marks take months to fade properly. Without the marks, children-- especially Omegas-- become incredibly unstable.
He thinks back to the pain he endured when he presented, already without his parents or anyone to help him through it, and he sees red. He makes up his mind to threaten the man after he's free. Riddler had been released from Arkham for almost a year now, but it would be worth going back if he could knock some sense into a rich jerk like that.
Damian is running a fever, and alternating between whimpering and sobbing softly.
'If adopting this kid is what it's going to take for him to feel better... Let's hope that he doesn't mind when he wakes up. Poor thing', he thought, pulling Damian closer to his chest. He nuzzles the boy gently, rubbing his jaw over Damian's neck. A soft purr comes from the young man and he nuzzles back.
Eddie can't help but purr at this. He had always wanted children, a family... it was almost unheard of for an Omega to be unmated and alone at his age. He sniffled a bit. Soon Damian's limbs were wrapped around Eddie like an octopus, clinging to him desperately. They both slept peacefully for the first time in a long time.
Eddie is awoken by a commotion outside the warehouse that holds their cell. He pulls away from Damian under the pretense of getting some water.
"Shh, baby, I'll be back in a bit," he whispered. Damian whimpers but huddles himself back into the many blankets that had been wrapped around them. Eddie places himself between Damian and the warehouse door just in time for it to burst open, with one seriously pissed off Red Hood entering.
"Red Hood!", he gasps. Red Hood takes out the remaining guards in the room, and advances on the cage, guns aimed at him.
"Riddler... I should've known!," Red Hood snarls. He fires a round through the bars into Eddie's shoulder. Eddie bites back a scream, then moves to crouch in front of the now-awake but disoriented Damian.
"I won't let you touch him... You'll have to go through me!", Eddie says, clutching his shoulder and baring his teeth. Red Hood advances sharply, keeping his guns trained on Eddie's skull.
"...That the Wayne brat?", Red Hood asks.
At Eddie's nod he continues, "What did you give him?? Tell me now and I may just let you live..."
Eddie's blood ran cold, "I didn't give him anything! I'm a prisoner too, if you didn't notice--"
"WHAT. IS. WRONG. WITH. HIM.", Red Hood bit out.
Eddie flinched, "He's presenting."
Red Hood tilts his head, then holsters a gun so that he can pull off his namesake helmet. His nostrils flared, and his eyebrows shot up.
"He's an Omega?!" Eddie tensed.
"Yes, and if you lay one hand--"
"NO! No, of course not! Jesus fuck, the kid's an Omega. Shit.", Red Hood scratches at his hair, then puts his other gun away.
"Look, it's not safe for him to travel that far, but we should move him to my hideout. You can keep a secret, right..?" Eddie's stomach dropped.
"I can't be involved in anything illegal, Hood. I've worked hard to get out of crime. I can't be associating with you." He looks down, "How about we take him to my place? If you can get us there, then that's... that's enough."
"...You never answered my question, Nygma. Can you keep a secret?"
"Uh..s-sure. As long as it's nothing illegal, I guess I can..." Red Hood takes off his jacket, scarf, and opens his shirt in one fluid movement. When the Omega scent hits him, Eddie almost faints from shock.
"You too??," he breathes.
"Yeah. So, I can take it from here. You can go back to doing whatever.. non-crime things you've been doing."
"I... kind of can't, though." At Hood's questioning look, he continues. "I scent-marked him."
"You WHAT--?? Oh holy HELL, why the fuck would you do that?!"
"Look, he didn't have any scent marks on him yet. It's a nightmare to go through presenting without them.. So I marked him." Hood took a few deep breaths to try to contain his anger.
"...He really didn't have any?" Eddie shook his head. Hood whistled, then shot the lock off the cell.
"Don't try anything," he half-heartedly warned Eddie. He pulled back the covers around Damian, who made a sound at the loss of blanket coverage, and sniffed at his neck. When he only smelled Eddie's scent mixing with Damian's, he couldn't help the growl that echoed in his chest. Damian tries to push him away but only succeeds in putting his hand firmly on Red Hood's bare chest.
"Shhh, baby, let me help..." Red Hood pressed the side of his nose onto Damian's cheek, waiting for the boy's permission. When Damian buried his head in Hood's neck, he quickly marked his scent where Eddie's already lay. There. Now he should only have the normal inconvenient symptoms of presenting... Fever, exhaustion, a need for a nest, and a tendency to cuddle with everyone and anyone.
When he went to pull back, Damian made a noise of protest. He had already wrapped his arms around Hood's neck, and wasn't letting go for anything. Hood purred and held him for a minute. It felt good to cuddle, but he had work to do...
"Nygma. Get over here."
"What..?"
"Take the kid so I can make a few calls.", Hood said, trying to separate himself from the little Omega.
"Oh! Um, right...", Eddie moved to sit on the bed, next to where Hood was trying to set the child.
"Come here, baby," he said, rubbing Damian's shoulder and wrapping his arms around him once Damian let go of Hood.
Red Hood pulls out his phone and dials a familiar number.
'Here goes nothin... Let's hope Babs can put two and two together in case Nygma hears her.'
"Hey Babs, it's Red Hood. Let Mr. Wayne know that I have his baby boy here, safe and sound!"
"...Hood? You found Damian?"
"Yeah, that asshole Penguin had him in a warehouse. Awful timing, too, the poor kid is presenting--" An audible gasp cuts through the line "--so we're gonna need a car sent over to the location I send you. You're gonna want to set up a guest suite for him and an Omega carer."
"...I'll make arrangements right away."
"See, here's the thing though... He's already got a carer here. They kidnapped another Omega to take care of Damian-- a real sweetheart," Hood grins at Eddie who reddens, "a man by the name of Edward Nygma. "
A hiss on the other end, "Riddler?!"
"He's an ex-con, but he stood between me and the kid. Like, even after I shot him. Your baby boy should be fine with him."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Hood."
"Trust me, the kid needs Nygma right now. I can't even pry him away," Hood lied, covering the fact that he was more than able to care for Damian himself.
"If you say so. Mr. Wayne is not going to be happy about this..."
Red Hood snorted. 'When is Bruce ever happy?!'
"Just make sure he has my reward money ready and waiting. And send that car ASAP!" Hood cut the line with a click.