Chapter Text
My love mine all mine (Brujay fanfic English version)
Nothing in the world belongs to me
But my love, mine, all mine
Nothing in the world is mine for free
But my love, mine, all mine, all mine
Things were changing in Gotham City. Since the officialization of the pairing law, the strangest couples have taken place. However, few had surprised the Gotnamite crowd more than the most recent pairing of Bruce Wayne and Jay Peters, a handsome and rebellious young omega who bore an uncanny resemblance to the billionaire's second son, brutally murdered in a failed hostage"taking years earlier. However, the general public refrained from commenting on the pairing. The cameras didn't capture much of the young man in the first place. Besides, the young man certainly seemed to have a positive effect on Brucie Wayne, eternal partying alpha, who refused to settle down. Jay's presence in his life had centered him and brought warmth back into his outlook, taking him away from partying and casual relationships and making him focus more on his family and his business, to whom he was devoting more time than before. They really seemed like a suitable pair.
So, in general, the tabloids stayed away from the new couple, except for a few exceptions. Vicky Vale was able to hint that the couple was very strange and that she was a little concerned about the young man's apparent age was he even of age? To which the Wayne Industries press office quickly responded with a brief statement where the mysterious Jay Peters clarified that yes he was of age (twenty"five and counting) and that his relationship with Bruce Wayne was very consensual and very private, not exposed for a bunch of strangers to gossip about, thank you very much. His charisma and ease with words in front of the press won him a following among the more curious Gotnamites, especially when they noticed the simplicity of the young man, who clearly hailed from Crime Alley, as indicated by the hard-to-eradicate street accent. In addition, the young man seemed to have some good combat skills, as seen in the footage leaked to the press where he saved his rich boyfriend from being kidnapped for the tenth time that month. Jay Peters was one of them, a simple and kind young man from Gotham through and through, Bruce Wayne seemed to be in good hands. And with that, press interest waned for a few months, until it all blew up with the headline, JAY PETERS IS PREGNANT? BRUCE WAYNE IS NOT THE FATHER? BATMAN RETURNS TO STEAL HIS OMEGAS by Vicky Vale.
* * *
Damien was confused and a little annoyed. A few months ago, he had noticed a subtle but noticeable change in smell on Todd, his new mother, no matter how much he refused to be called that. The change indicated that the omega was pregnant and Damien kept waiting for someone in the family to point it out, followed by one of those stupid pregnancy announcement parties about it. Such ridiculous practices were customary in this country, Damien had learned it a few months ago when Grayson got pregnant and before that when one of his classmates talked about his new baby brother and the festivities associated with it. However, no one was celebrating. Strange. Especially considering the circumstances of the pregnancy. Having a baby after being in a Lazarus pit was rare, Damien knew that. Shouldn't Jason be even more acclaimed for his accomplishments? His reproductive ability was excellent, even Damien realized that. So why wasn't anyone celebrating? He understood Grayson's cluelessness. With his own pregnancy and his overprotective partner, Damien hardly saw the man these days. Maybe he hadn't seen Todd pregnant yet. His ignorance was understandable. Of Drake Damien didn't expect much either, the man ran on almost no sleep and liters of caffeine most days. How he was still alive was a mystery. It was understandable then that he didn't notice the change in scent on Todd, especially with his inferior beta nose. However, Damien didn't understand how Pennyworth, or worse, his own father, the world's greatest detective, could miss this crucial piece of information. Not only was Todd gaining weight, an uncommon occurrence given their alternative lifestyle as vigilantes, but on more than one occasion he had lost his balance on rooftops as a result of his change from it. If Todd's special circumstances continued to be ignored, Damien would kill someone, probably father by an idiot. What was he thinking putting his cub and mate at risk unnecessarily? Was it common in this country to ignore a pregnancy until the omega announced it to the rest of the pack first? Strange... Damien would do more research on the matter and, in the meantime, keep a close eye on Todd and the new puppy. Because that was what cool uncles did, watch over their nephews. Damien nodded to himself, as he briefly reminisced about the wise words Kate Kane had once spoken. Sure, the woman had been a little tipsy at one of the famous Wayne galas when she said that, but who was Damien to judge when the woman received messages of such ancient wisdom? Damien now had a mission, to take care of his father's puppy, and consequently, Todd. And he was not going to fail in his mission.
* **
The last few months of Jason Todd's life had been good, if strange (and it wasn't just due to the slight increase in his waistline that made it increasingly difficult for him to wear his favorite pair of jeans and sweatshirt). Ever since he and Bruce decided to pair up, things had been strange and stranger. However, it was a good kind of strange, the kind where you step out of your comfort zone and, so far, Bruce had proven to be a good safety net.
Not only had they told the family that they were dating, who had reacted very unsurprised by the news, but also some members of the Wayne Industries board, such as Lucius Fox. Even the press had ended up finding out, as Bruce had insisted that they go out in public, like a normal couple.
It had been strange, but nice, to see that the old man was able to devote some of his free time to just the two of them as a couple. However, Jason made sure that neither of his brothers felt left out, and on more than one occasion their dates had ended up with a third member of the bat clan invited to their table. Jason didn't mind, he really didn't. Not when at the end of the night it was just him and Bruce, and a brief round of vanilla or kinky sex before patrol, or after patrol. Sometimes both. Hell, he was still young and hormonal and Bruce insisted on keeping up with him for some insane reason.
But, despite everything going smoothly in his family and couple relationships, to the point that Jason even took a part-time job at a local bookstore to support his new civilian identity, and was planning to start college online (literature with a major in 20th and 21st-century realist English literature, was that even a question?) a part of him couldn't help but think that this was just the honeymoon period, the calm before the storm. Part of him was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Bruce to tell him that being in a couple was a mistake, that they weren't really compatible, that Jason should leave the mansion immediately and be on his own again.
He hadn't realized how much he missed having a support network until he had his family watching his back again (literally, Damien had saved him from a couple of horrible falls lately, a consequence of his weight gain). Although Jason knew he would survive the loss (he had survived worse), and the more rational part of his mind knew that the family would not cast him aside again, even if Bruce was a full"fledged asshole and ended up with him because of this unforeseen event, Jason couldn't help but be distraught.
It seemed that, like so many times before, Jason had screwed up big time. And it was all, deep down, the fault of his impulsiveness. Again. That was his real hybris, dammit. He would go and do things without thinking, and then be surprised when the consequences of his own stupid actions came back to bite him in the ass.
Case in point: a few months ago Jason went into heat after patrol. He and Bruce (Batman at the time) had been minutes earlier patrolling the docks looking for a weapons drop from the Falcone or the Maroni, Jason couldn't remember exactly. All was going well, they stopped the bad guys, they saved the night, Gotham was safe once again. And then, Jason had started stupidly wetting his pants and Bruce had noticed. And Jason like a stupid man had said "B," and just that one letter had been enough for Bruce to understand that Jason was asking him to spend his rut with him. "Are you sure?" the Batman had growled, frowning worriedly under the cowl, and Jason had laughed in amusement.
In retrospect, by then he must have been a little high on pre"heat hormones, but he was definitely sane, though not thinking sensibly, because minutes later, when Jason was dripping all over the mattress of the nearest safe house and Bruce was so close to getting into him that he was clawing at his back and sobbing in despair, Bruce said, "Wait I must...we have to use protection"; and Jason stupidly retorted, "Fuck it, you're healthy, I'm healthy. I can't get pregnant down the shaft, please fuck me already, alpha, please." And Bruce had hesitated, his eyes glowing gold, but in the end Jason's sobs and pleas had convinced him to do it bareback and knot him up.
Jason had been very pleased then to break his self"control, his omega purring with happiness at being knotted by his alpha, even if Bruce had not yet marked him as his omega. He'd been on cloud nine, thinking they were finally really together together, not worrying about the consequences of his stupid actions because he was a sterile omega because of the well, right? Well no, dammit. Shit, nothing could go normal with him? Jason groaned, as he stared at the two little stripes on the fourth pregnancy test he'd taken today.
"Fuck," Jason sighed, running his hands through his messy hair, as he contemplated the trials and tribulations of his existence. In retrospect, it wasn't her increased appetite or her sudden weight gain that alerted him to this.
He thought perhaps he was going through a late growth spurt or other surprise omega development. Sure, twenty"five years was a little too late for that, but in Jason's life few things had gone according to the manual. No, what had alerted him that something was up wasn't the slight dizziness on some patrols (he thought it was bad food or something from the heat). What finally alerted him was the absence of his heat, coupled with the terrible, horrible, disgustingly despicable morning sickness; which, contrary to its name, could hit you at any time of day, even in the wee hours of the morning. They were literally THE WORST.
So, once he noticed all those separate symptoms, put them together and added two plus two, Jason noticed the damn pattern and the logical conclusion that screamed that he was a PREGNANT OMEGA. It still seemed unlikely, however, with his history with the Lazarus pit, widely known to be an involuntary sterilization machine. Even with the indisputable proof in front of his eyes, Jason doubted its certainty. Wouldn't it be a false positive? Okay, four false positives seemed like too many. But was it feasible? He needed to be sure, and for that, he needed to make an appointment with a specialist.
Parallel to his doubts, wandering, frantic thoughts raced through Jason's mind with no escape other than a giant anxiety spike. Did he want to be a father? Did Bruce want another child? Would they be good parents? Did Bruce really want to be a father? Logic dictated yes, see, Bruce already had about ten puppies adopted and some were even his own. Nothing said he didn't want another puppy. The man had assured him months ago that he had no problem adopting a couple more. So what was wrong with Jason? Why was he losing his mind over this? She should go to Bruce, tell him the news, hear his response, end this uncertainty. There was no point in eating his head off like this.
And yet Jason was hyperventilating, unable to process the fact that he was going to be a father. At the mere thought of telling anyone else this almost indisputable fact he was losing his mind. He looked at the sparkling engagement ring on his finger, trying in vain to gather courage. The courage would not come.
In the end, she ended up throwing up her lunch in the bathroom. Nothing new, that was the final clue that had told him that the last few months were not simply being out of balance from gaining weight from eating regular meals prepared by Alfred and many Italian dinners with Bruce by candlelight. No, it wasn't upset stomach, or pre"pregnancy dizziness, or anything Jason had thought of as clumsy excuses whenever the thought of pregnancy fleetingly popped into his head.
So, Jason had been in denial, but genuinely thought he couldn't have children because of the well. Fuck... The fact that he could tell his jealousy wasn't getting through gave him the clue that something wasn't right. That added to all the other symptoms.... And now here she was, with four positive pregnancy tests, wondering if almost hitting a building last night or the many rounds of wild sex with Bruce last week would affect the baby's health. Fuck, should I stop drinking wine and should I stop smoking yesterday? Should he stop patrolling too? His instincts itched with annoyance and Jason knew it was only a matter of time until he left the streets. He wouldn't put his baby at risk, not now that he knew it was there. In fact, he should make an appointment with a specialist, make sure everything was okay. Should he tell Bruce? Then they could both go to the doctor together?
Again carefully contemplating the glowing ring on his left hand, Jason contemplated his life options. Yes, Bruce had given him that ring a few weeks ago, but there were no children's plans on the table then. And yes, that stupid mating law demanded children, but Jason wasn't one to impose on himself, or his puppy for that matter. If Bruce didn't want this he would leave and raise his son alone. However, first he had to tell Bruce of this situation, even he knew that was the next logical step to take in these cases. Sighing, Jason gathered up all the pregnancy tests and placed them in the wastebasket in the bathroom in Dick's room. The idiot didn't even come to the mansion these days, too busy playing house with Deathstroke of all people.
For a moment Jason thought about using Cassandra's bathroom to hide the evidence, but he had some remaining common sense, or secondhand shame, for that matter. Dick and Alfred? They wouldn't judge him for his stupid mistakes. And they would give him room to freak out, though not too much...surely. Meanwhile, Jason needed to think of a way to tell Bruce they were expecting a puppy. Damn his life.