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Tim had a slight feeling that hiding inside the laundry cabinet wasn’t the brightest idea he could have had. There were far better ideas (multiple options, each one more tantalizing and better than the previous one), but it was too late to back down unless he wanted to be found.
A thing he wanted to avoid at all costs. He crouched down, careful to not make more noise than the necessary, and squinted through the small slit of the wooden cabinet he was hiding.
He settled in a more comfortable position and waited. While Tim knew Alfred was probably downstairs helping the rest of the family, Tim didn’t want to take a chance.
In a family-like his even the tiniest sound could raise suspicion. Tim focused his blue-cerulean eyes on the dark red and black fabric laying not too far from him. Multiple colors that Tim wanted, no, needed to get his hands on.
His fingers ached to touch and mold them into the perfectly neat looking squares Jason often built his nest like. Scent every inch of his future nest so it could mimic the safe smell everyone loved to nap or doze off. Rearrange each fabric so it could be as inviting and pleasant as Jason’s or how his Dad’s nest felt like.
Probably his instinct playing the part, the submissive side every Omega had, that sadly none of his newest family knew about. Not that Tim didn’t trust them! He respected them enough. But there was something so deeply personal and fragile in letting his secondary gender know to the rest.
Especially if you consider that was one of the reasons his previous pack was not able to survive.
Tim fiddled with his hands, deep in thought.
His mom often told him that an omega should always prove their worth. A small pang of sorrow bloomed in his small chest at the thought of her. Although her absence didn’t hurt as badly as it used to, Tim still mourned over the loss of his parents. He still had the occasional episodes whenever the melancholy attacked.
Moments that were getting fewer in numbers and intensity as time went by.
Tim took a deep breath. Now it wasn’t the time to get emotional. He could already feel the familiar cramps in his stomach and nausea slowly climbing up to his throat. Inevitable symptoms of his heat coming up soon.
Time was playing against his favor. He needed to prove his worth and what better way than to make a nest? After all, nests were a big deal. Unlike flowers, clothes, or food, making a nest took effort and time.
It meant hours of picking which cloth or fabric would recreate the safe, comforting, and enclosed space every member wanted to have. Usually, the omega of the pack (prime, the little voice inside his head corrected, prime omega) or another family member with a prominent position—usually another omega—were the ones in charge of making them.
For the Wayne pack, nests were an essential thing. They were the perfect place to crash after the post-patrol rush. A warm and cozy place filled with a soothing “happy-family-pleased-welcome-back” smell. If done well nests could soothe and reinforce bonds. An important thing considering how easily bonds could break between pack members.
Tim knew from experience how presentation could affect a pack’s dynamic, especially if said pack was not prepared for. If not done correctly, presentation could easily disrupt the balance between pack members. After the horrible and traumatizing experience of seeing how his dynamic affected his previous pack, Tim would not make the same mistake again.
After two long days of scavenging for all necessary objects, getting a hold of those clothes were the last items Tim needed. But it wasn’t the fresh pile of clean clothes and waiting to be delivered that interested him. No, it was more of the other used clothes that were currently resting in the laundry baskets that Tim needed to get his hands on.
A low rumbling sound broke the silence and to his surprise, the source came from no other than his own chest. A comical frown appeared when he noticed it. Tim only prayed that Alfred wasn’t there or else he would have a hard time explaining why he was purring to the sight of used clothes.
Embarrassing would be a word, perhaps mortifying the correct one because only omegas did that. Like the rest of the pack, Tim could be sneaky. At least he hoped Jason hadn’t been lying to him when he said it during training. He would grab the clothes, run back to his room. Start building and then… then...
A moment of sudden indecision clouded his mind.
If Tim was honest, he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He knew practically nothing about nest building apart from the basics; a top base for a solid foundation, two layers of blankets, and the innerlay for the extra padding and comfort. Every scrap of extra knowledge had been gained by secretly observing what Jason, the prime omega of the pack, did.
Tim didn’t know if that would be enough. The anxiety accentuated when he realized he’d been staring at the set of clothes Alfred had stored in the laundry room for far too long.
No more stalling, he decided.
One hand pushed part of the cabinet to get a clearer view. Tim held his breath, expectantly and when his sensible ears caught no sound nearby, Tim attacked. His scrawny looking arms reached out for the basket, and as soon as Tim got a hold of it he clutched it tight to his chest.
The first part of the mission is done! Tim thought with a grin and scrambled out of the room. He ran fast—or well, as fast as his legs could take him—with the clear intentions to go back to his room except just as he was about to climb the stairs when he heard a familiar cough behind him.
Tim froze on the spot.
” Master Tim,” The old and somewhat tired voice, depending on the day and who went to patrol, of Alfred echoed through the long and not so vacant hallway. “May I ask why you are wandering in the middle of the night? I thought you had gone to sleep.”
Tim held tighter the clothing basket enough that the tip of fingers went white. A pause and Alfred added this time with more curiosity.
“And why are you holding a basket?”
A small and frightened whine escaped through his mouth, which made Tim flinched. People only whined when there was something to hide.
“Just went to grab a snack!” Tim quickly replied out and opted to run to his room. As soon as he closed the door, he pushed through all the available locks and exhaled. Not without shouting. “Goodnight Alfred!”
Time passed quickly and after two long arduous hours of working Tim swiped the sweat off his brow and carefully inspected his work. While it wasn’t like the nests Jason built when he was stressed—filled with every cushion and that could serve as extra padding. Four layers of perfect color matching fabrics placed precisely on top of each other for extra coziness—, his version was somewhat…
Functional, Tim decided and crouched down to sniff the pillows and the improvised three-layer bedding made up by oversized jackets, used t-shirts, ties, and even an apron he managed to sneak in.
A small purring sound appeared when he caught the scent of his pack mates laced together; the earthy and potent smell of Dick and Alfred, the safe-protect from Bruce that always emanated, and in between the soothing welcome back smell from Jason that made him purr stronger.
Something was missing, Tim concluded. He breathed deeper into the pillows decorating each corner of his nest and knit his brows, concerned. Like the last piece of an unsolved puzzle, it tug harder his instincts because it needed fixing.
Tim stretched harder the fabric, re-fixed each corner, folded, and unfolded the clothes into neat-looking squares that were supporting the nest’s wall. Tim even went to re-check if the innerlay was soft enough. Determination clouded the young omega’s mind and accentuated his will to show his worth. But no matter how hard he fixed it and changed the nest, it wasn’t enough... something was missing.
Tim just didn’t know what exactly. Judging by the smell of must-fix-anger, he was beginning to grow frustrated.
A knock disrupted his thoughts and made him raise his head.
“Tim?” A voice came from the other side of the door and Tim hissed, sparing no time to show his pearly white teeth.
The voice sounded familiar but Tim paid it to mind as there were more pressing matters to solve. Where is the mistake? Tim thought frantically checking the first layer, then back to the interlay. He could have sworn he had put an extra sweatshirt somewhere.
The voice decided to speak again, this time more confused.
“It's Bruce.”
The hissing stopped and instead was replaced by a small oh from the younger omega. His eyes darted to the door and to the nest, not knowing how to proceed. Especially now that his nest was all types of wrong and still couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the picture and...and—
“Alfred mentioned to me you were acting weird all day.” His heart quickened at the mention of the butler. “Is everything alright?”
“Everything is fine B” Tim replied, but he knew there was no way to hide the panic-frightened-scare smell. “Just tired that’s all. Will join you soon for dinner in a moment. I’ll be there in five!”
A pause before Bruce added.
“What’s that smell? Are you okay?”
He blinked.
“Yeah?” Tim said with absolutely no intentions of that reply ending up as a question and winced when the safe-hi-hello from outside turned into a sour something-wrong-need-protect that made Tim’s nose itch.
“Can I come in? Or do you want me to call Jason?” A pause before Bruce added this time more carefully. “I can fetch Alfred if you want.”
Tim parted his lips open with clear intentions of saying another excuse but there was only so much an omega in the near of his heat and still mourning his previous pack could withstand. Much to his horror, his instincts overrode him and a painful whine escaped from his lips. He clasped his mouth in his effort to muffle the sound but there was no doubt it had been noticed as a soft rumbling sound was heard from the other side of the door.
His eyes widened.
“Can you open the door, please?” The only response he got in return was another whine that made the growling sound grow stronger. The smell turned into “family-in-danger-must-protect” to which Tim whimpered.
“Tim? You’re starting to worry me. Do you mind if I come in?”
Crap.
“Give me a minute,” He said dejectedly and dragged his feet to the door, trying his hardest to ignore his instinct telling him to not open the door unless he fixed his nest. He went to open it and quickly closed it behind him, almost afraid to show what was going on in his bedroom.
The concerned gaze of Bruce standing right outside his doorsteps only made Tim want to run back to his nest. Tim stood there with his heads down as Bruce checked and sniffed every inch of his body, looking for injuries. A normal habit every Alpha did to his pup to check if something was wrong.
When the older Alpha found no injuries, Tim found himself engulfed into a tight vice hug. The omega whined at the injustice because no, he was not a pup, and tried to get out of his hold but with no luck.
"Had a tough day?" Bruce asked as he rubs his cheek against Tim's face and gently nipped his neck.
"I'm fine," Tim lied but his voice sounded muffled against Bruce's sweater. He heard a sharp intake of air and a nose gently inspecting his neck.
"You smell weird, son."
Tim felt a hand on his forehead lightly, checking his temperature to which he moaned softly. The cold hand felt wonderful to his feverish forehead and Tim leaned his head against Bruce’s hand chasing for more contact.
Maybe that was why Tim didn't notice the quick flash of concern on the older alpha’s face.
“You do have a slight fever but I don't think it is anything serious. If it spikes again we’ll call Leslie,” Bruce commented, retracting his hand to which Tim (secretly) mourned. The older man frowned when he noticed the quivering form. “You’re shivering.”
“Nah B. Probably just the stress,” Tim said to which he regretted two seconds later as Bruce concerned smell grew ten times stronger. His eyes watered at the scent.
“Okay, got worried for a second,” Bruce continued and gently nudged him, with clear intentions of ushering him out of the room. ” Let’s go downstairs, shall we?”
But Tim’s instincts rebelled and remained to the spot. To which Bruce stopped altogether when he noticed the pup not following and glanced back, confused.
“Tim?” He called, but no matter how hard Tim tried, he couldn’t move an inch.
“I can’t,” Tim said, his tone anxious. Hands already twitching to go back to fixing the nest. He just couldn’t leave. “I can’t leave my room.”
“Why?”
“I can’t.”
Bruce sniffed him one last time and entered his room, with clear intentions what was happening. Only to stop when he finally noticed the medium-sized nest, neatly tucked in the corner of Tim’s room and the teen shying away.
“Do you like it?” Tim said and swallowed hard, fighting the urge to flee. “It was going to be a surprise and…”
He left the sentence hanging up in the air and winced when he didn’t hear an answer which okay look, the nest was fine. Tim knew it was fine. It had a good blanket/pillow ratio, and the walls were tall enough to hide.
But Bruce wasn’t speaking.
No words were coming from his mouth, and he had this pinched look on his face that was the same expression people made when they didn’t want to offend someone.
And while Tim knew there were worse things to worry about, every minute that passed was making Tim think he’d accidentally overstepped in his effort to impress. Or worse, insulted in some way the pack’s prime omega ability to create a nest. An important aspect Tim knew Bruce and the rest of the pack was very proud of and oh god, what if he did?
His legs started bouncing. Another sign Tim wanted to retreat, flee, ran away from the situation he just made. This was a dumb idea, Tim concluded when he saw Bruce’s face look more constipated than it already was.
In fact, and on a closer look, Tim could see why Bruce would be offended. The nest’s corners were messier. The fabric didn’t color match and there were fewer pillows and oh for knot’s sake, there was a freaking ketchup stain. How did he not notice that from the start?
“You build this all by yourself?” Bruce said and raised his head to look eyes on him to which Tim flinched.
“Sorry,” Tim apologized, taking a step back. “This was a dumb idea. I will put everything back-”
“Wait Tim,” Bruce said with a shake of his head and went to touch his shoulder but Tim evaded his grasp with ease.” I’m not mad. But you’re trembling and feverish and--”
“I don’t know what I was thinking.” Tim raised his hands up in surrender. “It all happened quickly-”
“On the contrary, I’m honored you made this-”
“Let’s leave and forget this ever happened-”
“It makes me extremely happy but son, how long did you know of this-”
“I can disarm it if you want,” Tim blurted out with clear anguish in his eyes. Everyone knew how omegas valued a nest. He looked down and added.“Please don’t tell Jason-”
“It’s a lovely nest, Tim.”
“I understand you’re not happy with it. I don’t like it either, there’s something’s wrong with the foundation and the bedding,” Tim rambled off and then cocked his head to the side when he heard the last bit. He looked at Bruce with his mouth open, accented by the expression of shock. “Wait, you’re not mad?”
“I’m not mad, Tim,” Bruce reassured him. “This changes nothing and I’m sure no doubt Jason will be proud.”
“So you don’t find it...weird or wrong? Because it feels wrong” Tim said the last part with equal parts in shame and distaste. “I have tried to fix it but no matter what I do it still feels off.”
Bruce remained quiet, absorbing every word of his pup, and offered him a smile. He patted the nests invitingly and accommodated himself. Tim swiftly followed, still not knowing how that would fix his nests. Later, Tim would learn that feeling only got over with someone resting in their nest.
Primitive instincts as Jason would say.
Bruce awoke to the sound of the door opening. He wrapped his arms a bit more tightly around the smaller omega napping and offered his pointy fangs at whoever had dared to enter. A chuckle broke the silence and was the only warning Bruce got before he caught sight of the familiar white streak.
“Kid went hard, uh?
“Jason,” He called his elder son. A soft whine broke the silence to which Bruce hushed and cradled closer Tim. “You came late.”
Jason smirked. He approached them and closed the gap, with all intentions of joining them. The elder omega lets out an appreciative whistle when he saw the intrinsic details surrounding the nest. So, the cat’s out of the bag?”
Bruce's mouth quirked with what looked like annoyance.
“You knew of this?” Bruce asked and there was no doubt that if he didn't have a kid in his lap, he would have his arms folded over his chest and staring in disapproval. Typical Bruce. “And didn’t think to tell me?”
“Of course I knew B,” Jason replied, almost offended by the question. He stuck both legs in and settled near the left side of the nest and sighed. ”Who do you take me for? Kid was scared as shit when he arrived, to spook to even talk unless commanded. ‘Kept asking questions on how to build one, so I figured he would tell you in time.”
“Makes sense,” Bruce pondered out loud, gently rubbing circles on the young boy dozing off in his chest. “So you’re not angry?”
“Why would I be angry?” Jason snorted and smiled at the loud purring sound coming from Tim, sleeping without a care in the world. “He’s a kid. Scared kid, let me add you because not everyone builds a nest to declare they're an omega. I do not remember if I built one like this when I presented. Just told my momma’ instead.”
“You think it has to do with his previous pack? Tim has made great advances with us but,” Bruce trailed off and stopped himself. Everyone knew how much the older alpha blamed himself for not getting Tim sooner. “It pains me he hid this part of himself for so long, and-”
“Trust me. If Tim didn’t love us he would have left from the start. Kid’s traumatized, let me tell ya’.” Jason interrupted him and wriggled closer to the alpha. “I sometimes wonder how they had the balls to leave a pup alone and unsupervised in that mansion for so long. Hope those fuckers rot and never come back.”
Bruce’s eyes hardened at that.
“The contract states they’ll never have him again.” Bruce pointed out. “We have multiple witnesses on our side. I saw how both Jack and Janet signed it. Even still-”
“Let me guess,” Jason interrupted with a roll of his eyes. “You feel guilty of not telling Timmy the truth?”
“I do not know if it was a good idea to agree with Jack's clause. The judge said it would benefit and speed Tim’s mourning,” Bruce said regretfully and then added, just in good measure. ” I will still tell him. He deserves the truth in due time just…”
“You’re scared he will resent you when you tell him his pack never died in the first place and instead they decided to ditch him at the first chance they got?” Jason quipped back with an arched eyebrow. Then snorted and patted Bruce’s shoulder. “Timmy’s a smart kid. He’ll understand.”
“Dick’s going to have the time of his life with the news,” Bruce growled but there was no bite to his word. He didn’t get a reply as Jason started purring in sync with Tim. Multiple questions filled Bruce’s head. How long has Tim been hiding his nature? When did he present? There was no doubt that when their heat synced up it was going to be a headache to deal with...
“Stop it,” Jason snapped out, swatting him right in the arm. “I can almost hear your thoughts from here old man.”
“Just thinking Jason,” Bruce said softly, eyes going back to his bundled up pup and his other son. Jason yawned deliberately and more happy-warmth filled the room, enough to make Bruce feel drowsy. His eyelids felt heavy but that didn't stop him from adding. “Oh, and Jason?”
“Yes?”
“I know what you’re doing. Stop.”
Jason barked a laugh and tucked his head under Bruce’s chin, giving him no more option to relax.
“Settle down old man,” He whispered conspiratorially much to the alpha’s displeasure, who was slowly drifting to sleep. “We’re going to nap and nest, whether you want it or not.”
And so, they did.