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It started, as did most things that Bruce detested, with a bang and a flash of light. But something about this particular bang and flash of light was different. He could already tell. It absolutely reeked of something otherworldly, probably something he was going to have involve either Zatanna or Constantine on, and that something that sent his Omegan instincts into overdrive.
He threw on his Bat-suit and called for his mate, his Alpha. He would not face this unknown situation alone. (That particular occurrence or rather hard-headedness had caused a more than few fights between Omega and Alpha. Bruce hadn't even known the Kryptonian could have a secondary gender, until a particularly dangerous mission had put Bruce's life at stake, and Superman had nearly gone feral just to get to him).
Batman heard the telltale sound of air cracking indicating the Super landing in the Cave. Batman was already at the Batcomputer bringing up images of Gotham to see where the energy had spiked. And of course, it was confirmed to be magic. Why did he expect it to be anything else? He could already feel the beginnings of a particularly nasty headache forming right behind his left eye. He took a moment to take something for the building pain and hoped for the best, even though he knew that Tylenol wouldn’t touch the migraine. But he didn’t want to take anything stronger and risk throwing off his scent or his instincts.
He raced over to the Batmobile and hopped into the driver's seat. He knew from experience that Superman would be flying low overhead, both to keep an ear on him and to listen for whatever they were headed towards. The HUD in the Batmobile guided him towards the quickly fading energy spike.
The armored tank rolled to a stop outside of a narrow alley. It was too narrow for the vehicle to fit so Batman jumped out and put it in lock-down mode. The only people who could override it were Agent A, Superman, Nightwing and Batgirl. Robin was too young to drive yet, although Batman was aware of the fact that Nightwing had stolen the car and taken Robin out for a joyride or two.
Batman indicated to Superman the need for stealth. Superman nodded, although Batman got the distinct impression that the other hero rolled his eyes. Before he stepped more than about six steps into the alley, he smelled it…them. He smelled them. Five of them. Little. No older than about seven for the oldest. Then, he stopped short. Because yes, he could smell the five of them, but that was all he could smell.
Well, he could smell a few other things. He could tell that the oldest was roughly around seven, and that the youngest was a literal baby, probably less than a year. All of them were male. The set of twins were probably around three, leaving the second oldest to be around five.
But.
BUT.
None of them had presented. All of them smelled like what Batman imagined magic would smell like. (A bit of lightning, a dash of salt, a hint of sulfur, and the tiniest pinch of mint, and the entire thing unnerving as hell). ALL of them smelled like pup/scared/help/stayback/scared. All of them still had that faint milky scent that belonged on all pups, regardless of their secondary genders. And ALL of them had the faint beginnings of abandoned puppy smell. Which, if not taken care of, and quickly, would mean a slow and painful death for the five of them. Batman’s Omega chuffed in fear for the puppies.
Four heads snapped up at Batman’s call. The oldest of the group attempted to shove the others behind his small body. Not that it helped. The second oldest was, indeed, holding a baby. There was no way all four children would be able to hide behind their…brother?
They didn't smell like pack, not yet, but the oldest certainly acted like the others were his family. And Bruce knew from experience that family wasn't always blood.
Batman dropped to a crouch so that he wasn't looming so menacingly over the children, and produced another Omega purr. The oldest two fought against his call, but he could see the younger three start to relax.
“Stay back!” The oldest shrieked. Batman could see him attempting to bare his fangs, but he also acted like baring fangs was a new concept.
“Don't hurt us!” The second oldest sobbed.
Batman took a moment to really look over the kids. They all had black or dark hair. The second oldest had a shock of pure white just peaking out at the widow's peak. what he could see, three of them had some shade of blue eyes. The second oldest seemed to have more of a teal or sea foam green. The second oldest had a shock of pure white just peaking out at the widow's peak And the baby had emerald green eyes.
He signaled for Superman to use his x-ray vision on them to check for fractures or other injuries. The Super whispered that he didn't see anything. And they didn't appear to be malnourished.
There was something niggling at him about both of the older boys. Something almost…familiar, even with the white hair on the second oldest.
“I'm Batman. I'm a superhero,” he called softly.
At his name, one of the twins gasped and slipped free from his brother's grasp. He toddled up to the Kevlar-wearing hero. “Like Ba’man n R'bin?” He asked excitedly, with a little lisp.
“Yes. Exactly like Batman and Robin,” the hero responded.
“Dickie. Jayburb. Dan-Dan. Dami. He's Batman,” the boy squealed happily while clapping his hands. Batman heard Superman's Alpha growl in his ears. It was all protective and growly, a clear sign that the nearby Alpha had adopted them just as much as Omega had.
Yeah, these kids were coming home with him.
And then the names of the first two made him freeze. And he took a deeper, closer look at them. Because how could he not recognize Dick or Jason, even if they were younger than he’d ever seen either one of them. At the same time, he knew, without any doubt, that these were not his Dick or Jason, even as he reached for their pack bonds, because his Dick and Jason were swiftly approaching his location.
Robin dropped into the alley slightly behind Batman, the moment he did, four of the five kids seemed to relax further. It was almost as if the younger Omega's very presence was indeed, magic.
Within moments, Batman had the baby, Damian, strapped against his chest. Dick had relinquished the baby rather reluctantly. But Robin had convinced him that Batman absolutely would rather die than let anything hurt the boy.
And of course, the pièce de résistance. Superman had made his presence known. There was something about his Alpha pheromones and Alpha rumble that soothed the kids. The boy that had originally squealed about being with Batman had let out an even higher-pitched pure, unadulterated scree of happiness at seeing the red and blue clad hero. Then, he clapped his hands and asked for uppies.
“Timmy, no!” Dick had exclaimed at seeing his younger brother so enamored. But it was too late. Superman had already picked up the tiny toddler. He had only held him for long enough to get him settled into the Batmobile, and then, he climbed into the vehicle instead of flying back to the Cave.
“Nightwing. Robin. We’ll meet you back at the Cave. Agent A, I’m bringing back five puppies that will be needing help,” Batman said.
Nightwing and Robin giggled. After all, they’d been taking bets on when either of Bruce’s personas found and adopted another kid. Granted, they hadn’t expected five at once. But, it was only a matter of time before it happened again.
The Batmobile pulled into the Cave with a gentleness that Nightwing, Robin, Superman, nor Agent A didn’t seem to believe possible. And then began the biggest fight the Cave had ever seen began. Getting scared kids a much-needed medical evaluation. Younger Dick and Jason didn’t put up too much of a fight. And surprisingly, neither did the baby. However, Timmy and the one called Dan-Dan, which they later learned was short for Danny, screamed and shrieked and attempted to throw themselves out of the Alpha and Omega’s arms more than once.
Not even Bruce’s Omega purr nor Clark’s Alpha rumble could calm them. Bruce frowned. Because that…that just screamed of something akin to medical trauma. And Bruce hated to think of the implications of that.
Eventually…eventually all five boys were screened and deemed free of injury. And while they smelled faintly of abandonment, Alfred determined that it was more than likely a direct result of whatever magic had caused them to be transported to their dimension than true abandonment. Which was a good thing.
It meant that other then worrying about the absolute basics for the kids, like Omega milk and formula and diapers for the baby, and some softer foods for the twins, and clothes for all of them, they wouldn’t need to worry about rushing pack bonds. They could sit the younger Dick and Jason down and explain what was going on and how their biology was changing and giving them the option of joining their small but growing pack.
And sure it would be confusing having two Dicks and two Jasons, but Bruce was sure that they would be able to manage.
Bruce’s next, and most immediate step was milk for the baby. But Alfred was already on top of things. As soon as Bruce appeared at the top of the stairs with the baby swaddled close to his chest, the butler handed him a warm bottle.
Bruce handed the baby to his Alpha as they made their way to the family nest. It had been a while since Bruce had needed to make it up. Jason’s last heat was roughly four weeks ago, and since his heats were still irregular, they weren’t expecting another one for another few weeks. And Older Dick had presented as an Alpha. But it would be nice to have to both pack Alphas present to guard so many littles. It would also be nice to have another Omega to cuddle the littles as well.
Once the nest was to Bruce’s liking, he took the baby back from his Alpha and ushered all of the sleepy littles inside. Their sleepy little puppy pack calls pulled at his heartstrings. The twins were squished up next to his sides, while the older boys were outside of them. The baby was in the crook of his left arm. Jason slid in on the side that wasn’t occupied by the baby. Dick took one side of the nest, and Clark took the other side to make sure that all sides were thoroughly protected.
As he drifted off, the last thought in his sleep-muddled head was that the presence of all of the new littles, especially unpresented, unbonded, stressed-out littles, would likely send him into an early heat. He made sure to communicate that to both HIS Alpha, and the other pack Alpha. They both rumbled back at him, already aware of his pre-heat pheromones that were going wild.
Tomorrow…tomorrow, he would contact one of the magic users to find out how permanent the littles’ situation was. But for tonight, tonight he was content to let sleeping pups lie.
Bruce’s purr was the last thing any of them heard before they descended into a sleepy puppy pile.