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Qrow tilted his head, tightening the muscles of his neck to try to alleviate the throbbing from the mating bites there. It didn’t work (of course) and he sighed, rubbing at them absently. He knew that James and Clover were both busy, understood that they had paperwork he didn’t because they were Atlas military and he was a contracted Huntsman but for some reason he’d believed the two of them would take at least some time to maintain the bonds they’d established with him. A stupid, foolish thought perhaps but one he’d held onto anyways. He might not have if they hadn’t been so insistent that they wanted the bonds even if it was an accident that had made them.
It was a shame that training, alone or with the kids, did absolutely nothing to distract him from the empty pulse. It was only marginally successful at keeping the dark whispers out of his thoughts.
Like the ones that told him he’d been wrong the whole time. That they’d lied about wanting the bond because they didn’t want to blame him for the accident that caused the bonds. Didn’t want him blaming himself for it either. The ones that told him he’d tied them down to an omega they would never want to be tied to.
After all, what else could it be but bad luck to have caused them all to be mated against their wills?
The only reason the bonds had even happened was because both he and Clover had gone into their mating cycles at the same time when giving a report to James. The mission had been a close one, close enough that even a normal alpha or omega could have been triggered if they were near enough to their natural cycle. Clover and Qrow were not normal though. They were hypers. Hypers were unpredictable even with suppressants, sometimes even going into a cycle without being triggered while taking the medication. A hyper’s cycle was strong enough to not only trigger everyone around them but drag them down into a feral cycle with them.
James, regardless of how strong an alpha he was or what his semblance could do, had stood no chance against the combined pheromones of two hypers locked in his office with him.
He’d held out long enough to get the three of them somewhere private and to send out a brief message that they would be unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances for the next few days before he’d been too far gone to do anything but follow his instincts. It was more than most alphas would have been able to manage and once they’re heads had cleared of the fever, Clover and Qrow had both been impressed. Qrow’s memories of the whole thing were blurred by his fever, mere flashes of sensations and feelings thrumming through the raw bond when it was forged. He could still feel it humming between them, more strained with each day that passed.
He wondered if the other two felt it.
There were studies that suggested that omegas were more sensitive to the mating bonds while others asserted that alphas were more susceptible. Qrow had seen both sides of it happen and though he wasn’t a scientist, it looked to him that sensitivity was up to the individual. Which, now that he thought about it, meant that even if James could feel the bond withering, he was probably ignoring it in favor of duty. Clover too, given how much he was dedicated to his job. Which meant that Qrow was the only one really suffering from the dissolution of it.
Meant he was the only one who really wanted the mating bond.
That realization was the reason he was making his way back to his own private quarters, instead of James’s, where the three of them had been staying since the bond was formed. It was why he was closing himself off from the others to let the bond fade, rather than seeking them out to re-enforce it. It was why he forced himself to go through his everyday actions, despite the way his head ached, the bond reaching out for mates that wouldn’t answer. It was why he stayed absolutely focused on every little thing, deliberately not letting his thoughts stray to either of the Atlesians. Through it all, even as he settled into sleep, he didn’t notice how he was absently clawing at the mating bites.
~*~
Winter frowned as she watched Qrow walk away from James, a frighteningly familiar slump to his shoulders. Not because it was the same hunched posture he had always walked with but because she recognized it from her mother. She had memories, old and faded with time and distance, of Willow standing tall and proud, spine straight and shoulders back as she mingled with the high society she’d been born to. She’d watched as her mother’s shoulders had bowed under the weight of a failed, neglected mating bond. Had witnessed the damage that had taken place over the years, becoming worse as her father took more and more control of the company until all of his attention was solely on the business. She’d done nothing to help her mother as she sought whatever peace she could find in bottle after bottle.
The realization that Qrow was struggling with the same thing, fighting to hold onto the bonds while James and Clover let themselves fall deeper into work, sent an icy shockwave through her. Dread running up her spine as she followed the natural progression of what would happen based on what she’d seen, what she knew.
Winter swallowed hard and set her mind to her job, delivering the status reports she was there to give. As soon as she was dismissed from duty, she went home and opened her scroll, searching for the laws she knew were there that would let her help Qrow. She’d watched her mother deteriorate for years. She wasn’t about to do the same with Qrow, not when he’d been working so hard to be better for himself. Qrow had quit drinking, had gone months without a relapse. She wasn’t going to do nothing and watch him fall back into bad habits. Not when she knew she could do something to help him.
It might take some time before things got bad enough that her intervention was needed but in the meantime, she could get all the paperwork done and out of the way. Qrow’s signature would be necessary for some of it but there was a good chance she could get him to sign it without too many questions. Or at least without him realizing that the reason she was doing it was for him and not for the kids following him. Then everything would be ready for her to make her move when the time came.
~*~
Qrow frowned down at the ridiculous amount of paperwork he’d been sent by Winter. The sheer amount of legal vocabulary was giving him a headache but he persistently, able to gather that it was for the kids' protection. It would allow them to stay together as a pack under Winter’s supervision if anything happened to him, which he was grateful for. The last thing he wanted was for Weiss to get yanked away from her real pack by her bastard of a father. He was already trying but they were able to fend him off so far. The paperwork, despite being way more than what Qrow thought was necessary, was another layer of protection. Another way to keep him away from her.
He signed the last of the documents, sending them back to Winter for finalization before he went to take a cool shower. It wasn’t something he normally did in Atlas but he was feeling warmer than usually the last few days. He was hoping that it was just his body fighting off a cold or something since it hadn’t seemed to be getting worse, but it bothered him that it wasn’t getting any better either. Just the same he was resting when he could and making sure to eat properly so the kids wouldn’t worry about him. They had enough to deal with now that they’d been given their licenses. Qrow settled in to sleep, pulling all the extra covers he’d gotten a hold of tight around him.
~*~
Winter felt herself on the verge of bristling as neither James nor Clover turned to acknowledge Qrow when he brought in the reports from the day's missions. She could smell the extra sweetness to him, barely noticeable beneath his natural scent on blackberries. She could see the red spots on his neck where he’d been clawing at the mating bites but neither of his mates looked up to notice and she pursed her lips when he walked away, the same defeated slump to his shoulders.
She clenched her fists below the ledge of the large table, astounded that the two were so blatantly oblivious to what was going on. The bond had been neglected to the point that it was trying to trigger a heat in Qrow, a last ditch effort to bring his mates back to him. And neither of them had scented it at all. Winter remembered vaguely her mother being taken to a hospital, so drunk in an attempt to ignore her rut that she’d come close to overheating to death because of the combination of fever and alcohol. She wasn’t going to let Qrow get that bad.
The signs were already starting, she knew that the fever would hit him soon. She just had to keep an eye on him so that she could escort him to the rooms in the medical wing that were specifically designed for such situations. It would have everything Qrow needed to get safely through his heat and in the meantime she would be able to take the first steps in showing the two alphas just how much they were letting their work take over their lives. Maybe if she was lucky this could benefit the three of them in the long run. But first, she knew it was going to hurt them all.
~*~
“Winter, is there something you need?” James blinked at his young specialist, taken aback a bit by the fact that she wasn’t in uniform and her hair was not up in it’s usual style. Beside him, Clover seemed just as caught off guard.
“Yes sir.” Icy blue struggled to meet his own eyes but when they did there was a sad determination in them that he didn’t understand. She held out a document for him and another for Clover and he felt like he’d been impaled on a pike of ice as he read it. The distressed noise from Clover told him he felt the same at the same time he felt it faintly over their bond.
“You want us to revoke our rights as Qrow’s mates?” The words tried to stick in his throat but he forced them loose, rough and uncertain as to what was going on. He knew Winter and Qrow hadn’t gotten along in the past but things had been better since Qrow had arrived in Atlas. Surely if she’d had a problem with the mating she would have said something sooner than this.
“Yes sir. I do.” Winter tipped her chin up, refusing to allow the tears to fall as she purposely backed the man she considered a father into a corner. “You are a strong alpha. You can lead us and take care of us and you do what you think is best for the greater good. Unfortunately for Qrow, that means there’s little left for him at the end of the day. The bond is doing more harm than good and you need to release him so that he can recover in order to properly fight in this war.”
“What?” Clover frowned, shoulders tight as he forcefully set the tablet down on James’s desk. “Qrow is fine. I’ve been with him on missions and-”
“Qrow is not fine!” Winter growled back, sending them both back a step at her fierceness. “He is currently in medical from a mating fever that happened because the two of you have not been taking care of the bond! His neck is raw from clawing at the bites you left and forgot and he can not keep going like this!” She paused drawing in a deep, calming breath before continuing. “It’s fine if you don’t want the bond, he’ll understand and so will everyone else but you can’t drag him down like this. He may not be able to take it and his pack will certainly not sit back and allow it to happen.”
The two alphas rocked back on their heels at knowing Qrow had hit such a low, James confirming it by pulling up the medical file that showed Qrow in isolation from a heat. Deep blue turned to the young woman who was trying so hard to pretend she wasn’t trembling while she tried to fix the damage they’d done before it was too late. James marveled at how much she looked like Willow with her hair down. Maybe if Willow had been an omega instead of an alpha, someone would have been willing to stand up for her the way Winter was for Qrow.
His first instinct was to go to Qrow, to help him through his heat like he was supposed to but the strong set of Winter’s jaw told him that she was ready to fight them on that. Clover must have realized too because there was an uncomfortable shift and a low whine while he tried to lock down the instinct. He straightened, meeting Winter’s eyes evenly and calmly.
“You are within your rights as second eldest in the pack to request we properly break the bond for Qrow’s health but you can not compel us to do so unless the risk to him is great enough to do permanent harm.” Something flickered in her eyes, something he wasn’t sure how to read, but he wasn’t done yet. “We are not at that point yet. A mating heat is only the first tipping point which means we can still save this bond if Qrow is willing to take us back. We have the right to ask him for forgiveness.”
That flicker seemed to turn to relief for a brief moment and James wondered about it. It haunted the back of his mind as the female omega agreed to rescind the request based on Qrow’s decision. It whispered incessantly while he prepared for bed. It clouded his mind as he tried to plan what steps would need to be taken to properly court Qrow and repair the relationship they’d nearly lost until he finally gave in and thought about what it could mean. James couldn’t figure out if she was relieved that they were trying to save the bond or if she was merely relieved that they were willing to make a clean break if that’s what it came to. Either way, he was glad she had brought it to their attention since Qrow obviously hadn’t planned to.
He felt a small amount of dark amusement at that thought. He’d been trying for years to get Qrow and Winter to get along. There was a bitter irony in seeing them bond so closely over him failing at his mating bond. It wasn’t how he had hoped to make peace between the two of them but if it made peace between the two and they were able to win Qrow back, he’d count it as an ultimate win. A little work put into it didn’t make it any less of a success after all. In fact it meant that the peace was more likely to last. He held onto the hope that they could get things sorted and that maybe Qrow and Winter could bond a little over things as he fell asleep.
~*~
Clover sighed as he walked the patrol, eyes out for any enemies but not truly as focused as he knew he should be. The conversation James and Winter had was still on repeat in his head and it had him going over every little thing he’d done since the bond had been made. Made him realize all the little things he should have done for Qrow but hadn’t. He knew stewing in his thoughts, focusing on all the mistakes, wouldn’t do much good. The best thing would be to acknowledge them so he didn’t make them again and move on in his thoughts but he couldn’t. Not knowing that Qrow’s health could have been put in jeopardy because of their negligence.
It would be a few days before they could visit him to ask if he’d allow them to properly court him, which was always a reminder that they’d jumped straight into the bond because of their mating cycles without any courting to begin with. He knew Qrow wasn’t a “typical” omega and hated being treated like one but it was a source of regret that they didn’t court him at least a little. Qrow deserved that much at least. Maybe not the way an Atlesian omega would be courted but something.
They could give him a repair kit for Harbinger instead of flowers, jewelry that would suit his tastes instead of the over jeweled things that Atlesian omegas usually wore. They could provide dust ammo for his weapon and new combat gear whenever something happened to what he had. Courting gifts that would have actual use and meaning to Qrow as a hunter and not as an omega. Things that would show they considered him a capable fighter and not a delicate flower in need of an alpha’s protection. He’d talk with James about it when he got back from his mission, though he was pretty sure the other alpha had already figured out everything that needed to be done.
Still, it was better to talk it out. If they wanted to save their mating bond they were obviously going to have to start communicating more and paying better attention to it. They would need to talk to Qrow as well, to convince him that he needed to speak up if he felt the bond was being strained on his end. If he was already this far gone after just a couple weeks then he was obviously more sensitive to it than either of the alphas and they were going to need him to let them know when he required something from them. They were going to have to word it in such a way that it didn’t sound like they were blaming Qrow for not saying anything but Clover was fairly certain that if they blamed their own lack of attention it would work.
~*~
Qrow smoothed out the blanket on the bed with a frown. He didn’t think he needed to stay any longer, his heat was over now, but the medical staff wanted to keep him for one more day for observation to ensure there were no adverse effects to going through his heat alone. Winter had already been by to explain what was going on since the last thing he remembered was feeling too warm and curling up in the corner in a pile of blankets and pillows. It seemed strange, almost surreal, to learn that Winter was defending him so fiercely. From Clover. From James of all people as well.
But it made him smile a little bit too.
It was nice to know he had another omega at his back, trying to help keep things under control. He’d always been surrounded by alphas and betas, even symp betas, but there were very few omegas who actively took up the kind of dangerous jobs that he and Winter were doing. Most of them only learned enough to defend themselves and their children if they needed it and then found other professions. Part of it was natural inclination but most of it was societal expectations.
Which brought up all the unwanted insecurities of no alpha wanting him because he wasn’t a proper omega. But Winter had assured him that the two alphas were coming to see him because they wanted to keep the bond they’d formed with him. The female omega had made sure he knew that the decision was ultimately his to make. If he wanted to keep the bond, she would withdraw the pack document to compel the alphas to let him go. If he didn’t want it, she would keep pushing it to force them to make a clean break.
Qrow wanted the bond though.
Maybe it hadn’t been a conscious decision on their part. Maybe the creation of it had been a complete accident or turn of fate. But he wanted it. He was happy to be bonded to them, so learning that they wanted to keep it as well was a huge relief. However….
It wasn’t enough to know that they wanted the bond and he knew that. They all had to work on maintaining it. They had to take care of it, nurture it and let it grow, if they wanted to really keep it.
There was a polite knock on the door that caused him to start. He hadn’t realized he had been so deep in his thoughts. A hand settled on his shoulder for a gentle squeeze before Winter walked over to let the two alphas in. Qrow’s nose twitched as they entered, the scent of their moods filling the room. It was odd, almost musty, and he tried to think of a time when he’d smelled it off of either of them before and came up blank. It made sense for Clover, they haven’t known each other long but James. Qrow didn’t think he’d ever caught this swirl of emotions from James before and they’d known each other for over a decade.
The two came to stand at the foot of the bed and Winter took her previous place near his shoulder, arms crossed while she watched them.
“Qrow…” James paused, taking a deep breath while he organized his thoughts. “It has been brought to our attention that we have not been doing our part to properly maintain the bond we established with you.”
“We’re sorry we’ve failed to notice the signs before. We should have been paying better attention.”
“Indeed, and if you will allow us another chance, we will do better in the future.”
“Uh…” Qrow rubbed the back of his neck nervously, feeling a light nudge from Winter’s elbow when he stalled too long. “Yea, sure. I mean. I wanna keep the bond and really… I should have said something sooner. I could have kicked down your office door and flipped your desk or something if that’s what it took to get your attention but I didn’t, so… I can do better too.”
James felt the tension in his shoulder ease a bit, enough that he managed a chuckle at the mental image Qrow had painted. “Maybe something slightly less dramatic but of course, you are always free to come and pull us away from work if you need us. As our mate, you should have been given free access before and it was our oversight that you weren’t.”
“We’ll be setting up a home for all three of us to live in too, so we’ll need your input to make sure it suits us all. We’ll need a place big enough for us all to have our own space so we don’t feel crowded.”
Qrow smirked at them both. “You’re both probably going to regret it. Especially if you’re giving me permission to put limits on how much you were but yea. I’m game for building a place for us all.”
~*~
It was a blessing that Qrow was willing to give their bond another chance but there was always a downside to such things. Which in this case meant they were basically at square one with courting Qrow, this time with the added bonus of having an overprotective omega scrutinize their every move with extreme judgement. Though it wasn’t such a bad thing, James supposed, considering that they hadn’t properly courted him in the first place. He only worried that what they thought Qrow would be acceptable courting gifts would not pass Winter’s judgement, though he tried to allay that worry by assuring himself that Winter might be watching but she was letting Qrow make the decisions.
So far Qrow had been pleased with their gifts, most of them suggested by Clover with James helping to pick out specific things he knew Qrow would like. Things like when Clover would suggest a repair kit and James would find one that had the tools he knew Qrow would need most and a case for it that the omega would like. Finding a place that all of them were happy with was proving a bit more difficult. Qrow liked being up high and was warmer in colors, something that reminded him of Patch and Tai and home. James wanted one that was apart from his work, so he could focus on his mates at home, but not too far away in case he was needed for an emergency. Clover was probably the most accommodating of the three, wanting only a place that was large enough to fit them all comfortably without any territory issues that might happen between two alphas and an omega that was used to being out in the open.
While things had not been going great in the search he was tentatively optimistic that he may have found a place for them. It was on the top floor of a tall building, which would please Qrow, and close enough that James could leap off the balcony and jog to work if he were inclined to do so. The walls were not painted yet either, which meant they could pick whatever colors they wanted for them, and the rooms were large enough that Clover was convinced they could all be comfortable. All he had to do was convince the other two that everything was perfect. Then they’d be able to start working on building the foundation of their bond and relationship properly. Clover smiled as he went to meet the two for the house showing, flicking his pin as he closed the door.
Nothing wrong with a little boost of luck when dealing with his two bondmates after all.