Work Text:
”Do you have some crayons I can borrow?”
Eddie looks down at the little girl tugging on the fabric of his shirt who appeared out of nowhere. He’s actually fairly surprised that one of his bodyguards let the pup get so close to him, but she looks harmless and she probably crawled under the booths to get there. Not exactly a threat to his life.
He’d just sat down here a few minutes ago, waiting on a colleague to meet him in the restaurant to strike a business deal. This quaint little diner was suggested as a neutral meeting ground, so his men are sitting in the booth behind him, keeping an eye on the door.
Apparently they don’t check the floors too.
“Ah. Sorry, no, I don’t have any. Do you want me to ask the waitress for you, pup?” Eddie asks her gently, wanting to help this child for some strange reason that he can’t explain.
He’s never had children of his own, no time for a mate or starting a family with the kind of dangerous life he leads. After all, nobody is fighting to mate with the scariest mob boss on this side of the Mississippi.
The little girl shakes her head rapidly to decline his offer, pigtails bouncing all over the place as she turns around to frantically point at a waitress taking an order across the diner. Eddie can’t see anything besides the uniform, but the child seems to react nervously to the sight of the only worker in the place.
“That’s my mama. He told me to stay at the table and be good and color by myself, but I broke the red crayon and I can’t finish my picture,” she states simply. “You have a lot of red on your arm, so I thought maybe you had a marker or crayon I could use.”
“Oh.” Eddie feels lost for words. He has little experience with pups at all, being an alpha and all. Kids don’t normally talk to him, too afraid of the tattoos covering his body. This pup apparently mistook his tattoos for drawing though. She’s way too cute to handle. Still, he wants to ask why anyone would leave their child alone at her own table instead of finding a babysitter for them. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any crayons. But why don’t you go back to your booth and I’ll see what I can do for you, sweetpea.”
She gives him a pleased smile at that.
“Okay. My name is Lily. What’s yours?”
Logically, he knows he should give her a fake name. He’s far too dangerous to be using his real one in public, but it’s not as if she knows who he is and he’ll probably never see her again anyway.
“It’s Eddie. Now skedaddle before your mama sees you,” he laughs, shooing her away.
As he suspected, she disappears beneath the table and pops back up at a booth in the far corner a minute later. He gives her a thumbs up and she responds by holding up a half finished picture on the back of a paper menu to show him.
Lily giggles at the horrified face he makes back, causing them both to smile at their game.
He’s still grinning like an idiot when a soft voice interrupts his game of charades with the child.
“Sorry for the wait. What can I get you started with, sir?”
Eddie looks up to see the waitress from before, finally catching his first real look at the most beautiful omega he’s ever seen. He’s dressed in a short uniform dress, complete with a pristine white apron and buckled maryjanes. While Eddie couldn’t catch the omega’s scent from across the diner, especially with the smell of apple crumble wafting in the air, somehow his scent is even sweeter than his soft face.
“Not a problem. I’m just waiting on a… friend. Just some coffee for now would be great.” The omega (Steve, his nametag reads) nods politely and begins to leave. He scrambles for a reason to make him stay a little longer. “But I could really use a red crayon if you’ve got an extra one lying around somewhere, sweetheart.”
Steve gives him a confused look at that, pausing like he’s not sure if Eddie’s messing around.
“A red crayon…?”
Eddie cocks his head to the side and grins, his usual move to charm attractive men and women. He really hopes it works on this attractive stranger too.
“Please and thank you.”
The omega glances over at where the pup is seated, looking suddenly worried. He runs a nervous hand through his gorgeous hair, seeming overwhelmed about something.
“Oh my gosh. If Lily bothered you, I’m so sorry. She’s a good girl, but she doesn’t have a fear in this world. I don’t have a babysitter right now and bills are tight since we moved, so I had to bring her here with me and she doesn’t really have any toys-” Steve stops abruptly, his face flushed red. “I’m sorry. You don’t need to hear about all of that. Let me- um, get you that coffee and I’ll make sure Lily doesn’t interrupt you again.”
Eddie takes the omega’s hand in one of his own before he can leave, unable to stop himself from trying to comfort the sweetheart in front of him. It’s clear that Steve is too good to be working in a place like this and the lack of a mating bite says that he doesn’t need to hide his advances anyway.
He places a kiss on the back of Steve’s hand.
“Why don’t you sit down for a second. You seem like you should relax for a while,” Eddie suggests kindly, gesturing to the seat across from him.
Steve looks unsure, glancing around at the half full diner in deliberation.
“Maybe just for a moment. I- uh, I haven’t taken a break in eight hours and my back is killing me,” he admits sheepishly.
That makes Eddie want to roar with anger, but his self control is iron clad and he can make the selfish owners of this establishment pay at a later time. Once he has Steve and Lily far away from this place and safe in his home, of course.
“That doesn’t seem very legal,” Eddie comments offhandedly, eyeing the way Steve winces as he sits and tries to get comfortable in the lumpy booth.
“It’s probably not, but it’s not exactly like I have a lot of options around here either, y’know?” Steve mentions as if it’s obvious what he’s referring to.
The alpha shakes his head slowly, looking for more explanation.
“I don’t follow, sorry.”
Steve grimaces. He awkwardly pulls at his collar to further expose his untouched mating gland in explanation.
“Not many folks will hire a dishonored omega with a little girl in tow. Lily and I are a package deal and that makes it a hard sell. So like I said, not a lot of options for us. Even less safe ones where I can keep an eye on my pup while I work,” he mutters, seeming ashamed of such an admission. “I feel like a failure for having to bring her here with me.”
It makes Eddie want to scoop them both up and run as fast as he can.
“All I see is a mom doing his best, sweetheart. You should be proud of yourself. I know what it’s like to work for every last thing in life and I can respect someone who doesn’t give up, even when everything is against you, Steve.”
The omega gives him a confused look for a moment before seeming to remember his name badge.
“That’s mighty kind of you to say, but it seems you know everything about me now and I know nothing about you. So what’s your story, tattoos? You don’t look like the usual clientele I get here.”
Steve’s use of the word ‘tattoos’ in place of a nickname makes Eddie snort. Of course, it’s the only visible and distinct thing about him, so he shouldn’t be surprised. Even just having tattoos makes him stand out in such a rural town as this.
“Oh, I hardly think you’d believe me if I told you, babydoll.”
“Try me,” Steve presses.
Eddie smiles at his stubbornness, reaching forward to take the omega’s hand in his again, thumbing over the back gently in a show that he’s not dangerous. Maybe to the people in this life who kill for fun, but never to someone like Steve or his little pup.
“My name is Eddie.” Steve’s face doesn’t change, he just waits patiently for more. “Munson.”
And there it is.
The way Steve’s mouth drops just the tiniest bit and his body goes tense, like he’s suddenly afraid of Eddie. Still, he doesn’t pull his hand away or make to leave the table. It’s promising at least.
“That Eddie Munson?”
He watches as the omega’s eyes flicker over his throat and catch on the ‘666’ tattoo standing out amongst the mess of other inked designs. It’s the symbol of the Hellfire Gang and anyone who knows of them is familiar with the number as a clear mark of initiation. Steve’s reaction is entirely rational since he’s head of the most powerful gang in the area.
“The one and only,” Eddie states calmly.
Steve takes a shaky breath. His exhale is a nervous laugh that bubbles out of his lips and he quickly slaps his free hand over it, trying to stop himself from making any more noise.
Eddie raises a curious eyebrow at that, not understanding the humor in this.
After a moment, the omega releases his mouth to undo the top two buttons of his dress, pulling the material to the side to expose part of his collarbone to the cool air of the diner. In red ink, ‘777’ is tattooed there clear as day. The mark of the only gang to come anywhere near close to Hellfire’s power.
“What-”
Steve interrupts him softly with watery eyes, “A generous present from my ex before he abandoned Lily and I for good. He cared enough to mark me as his property, but not as his mate, I guess.”
His mind is made up then. No more thinking.
Eddie may be scary, but his rival is a deranged alpha. Someone with no loyalty or mercy. If he marked Steve, he’ll never truly be free or safe with anyone else.
There’s only one person who can offer both protection and love to this sweet little family and that’s Eddie.
“Stevie, I know we just met and I’ll respect your answer either way, but do you trust me?” Eddie asks, attempting to look as sincere as possible.
The omega hesitates for only a moment as he searches Eddie’s face for something, then nods slowly in agreement.
“God help me, I think I actually do.”
“Then you need to leave this dump right now and go pack your bags. You and Lily are coming home with me, sweetheart.”