Chapter Text
“Morning Langy,” you greeted your favorite attending, don’t tell Shen, as you bounded up to the hub desk where he was busy charting away as usual.
The slightly older man looked up as a giant happy grin blossomed over his shift wary face at just hearing your voice. “Since your life experience is not universal, I shall greet you for the correct time of day” he smirked. “Evening Starshine”.
You rolled your eyes at his sarcasm. “You know I could just as easily walk out of here and make you cover my shift,” you deadpanned, “don’t push it”.
“Uh huh, I’m sure you will” the omega mirrored your eye roll, but more dramatically. “I know you too well for that to ever be a threat”.
“Maybe I’ve finally found my dark side?” you countered as you wiggled your fingers at him like how Palpatine uses his force magic.
“Ha,” he shook his head, “I’ll believe that when I see it”.
You glared at him in response.
His eyes lit up with mischief as he stared back at you. “Aren't you the same alpha that like 3 years ago accidentally started courting a quarter of the staff?”.
Your cheeks turned a bright pink at the memory. “Why is that always your go to moment every time…” you tried to interrupt.
“And instead of just saying ‘it was a mistake’” he continued, ignoring your input, “you wrote individual apology cards, baked cupcakes, gave out flowers, and offered to take everyone out for an apology dinner”. He shook his head at the memory “face it, the darkest thing about you sweetheart is your scrubs” he laughed as you turned positively tomato.
Anytime you started giving the slightly older man shit, he would humble you by bringing up your embarrassing first month at the Pitt.
You were from a smaller town, and you got lucky with parents who, of course, had their problems but still loved you intensely and raised you to be a good and decent person/alpha. Your own alpha father was one of those men who was universally loved and selfless to a fault and you were raised to be just like him. You learned to jump into every situation and give 100% of yourself and ask for nothing in return.
So of course, when you started a new job in a new city you did what you knew aka treat everyone with love in your heart and respect on your breath. While it seemed to be working in the end you knew you’d catch more flies with honey, so you also started giving your new co-workers thoughtful little gifts as that’s just how you were raised.
However, in large cities like Pittsburgh nobody really did anything like that and with you being an alpha and giving gifts out individually some people started to assume that you were trying to court them instead of just befriend them. Especially as most of the gifts you gave were pretty hyper specific to the individual as you’re just an observant person by nature.
When you realized your mistake, aka enough people gossiped that Dana finally asked you about it, you were mortified beyond reprieve and did everything in your power to make it right, aka apologized profusely and started to do everything Langdon had just mentioned. You only stopped your humiliating apology train when Jesse pulled you aside and told you to relax and that no one was mad at you. In reality everyone just thought it was cute and kinda funny cause most alphas just didn’t act that way.
Over twoish years later and for most it was just a passing joke that barely anyone remembered or even mentioned, thankfully. Well, anyone beside the blue-eyed asshole attending in front of you.
“You’re still just jealous cause Jesse got a ‘prettier’ bouquet than you” you jested back as you crossed your arms and stuck your tongue out at him.
“…. Oh definitely,” he lightly smirked “I mean you gave him a freaking bird of paradise in his bouquet, … but that’s not my point”.
“It totally is,” you chuckled. “I didn’t know you that well, so I got you flowers to match your eyes, but do you ever recall that important detail? Noooo”.
The omega ducked his head to hide his slight blush as to this day he very much did remember those flowers and your reasoning behind them but like always, he wasn’t going to mention it.
“So, how’d she treat you today?” you asked, looking around the ER trying to redirect your conversation to something far less embarrassing.
He gave a half shrug as he copied your head swivel to survey the room along with you. “Ehh not too bad. A couple light traumas came in top of shift but besides that just mostly normal walk-in things”.
He smiled to himself as he went over the shift in his head. “Whittaker got puked on by not one but two separate babies, so that was exciting, and Mohan got another case to help with her research. Which brings her new total to 11 this month… I think”. He stood up from his computer as he thought about the rest of the day and gave a full body stretch “overall not too bad for a day shift”.
You couldn’t help but give him a once over as he stretched. His scrub top rode up with his movement revealing a sliver of skin on his hip, you were an alpha sue you, but when he subtly paused his movements, your eyes shot up to his face. You instantly clocked how his eyes creased slightly with a twinge of pain.
“Frank,” you frowned, “did you do your mid shift stretches?”.
He pursed his lips to try to hold back a fond smile at your concern “… nope”.
“Fraaank!” you sighed an exasperated sigh. “It only takes you what like five minutes and you know it only helps you feel better”.
He bit at the inside of his lip, blush fully returning. “I know, I know. It was a smoother shift, so I sat a lot more than I normally do. I didn’t think I would need to take my break, but yeah, I definitely did”.
He slightly twisted his waist to get some movement in “but, and you’re gonna be so proud of me, before you even got here I already decided to go to the gym and do a yoga class”. He pulled out his phone and showed you his lock screen that had a reminder notification from his gym’s app about his class “so you don’t even need to worry. I am on top of it”.
You shook your head and let out a fond huff of a laugh “I’m always going to worry about you. It’s my job since no one wants to take care of them self in this FUCKING PLACE!”.
The omega let out a warm laugh “we give all our caring to our patients. That’s why we can’t give it to ourselves” he squinted sassily at you “you of all people should know this”.
You side eyed the smirking man and scrunched your lips. “If that’s true then how come I can remind you daily to stretch, keep my two inactive suicide watch attendings from taking swan dives off the roof, all while cricking a neck, and watching over at least one student doctor?”.
The blue-eyed man just batted his eyes and smiled a smile he knew would annoy you with its adorableness “because you my friend are an overachieving alpha that was born with the ‘cares too much’ gene and we thank you for it”.
If you weren’t already so exhausted coming onto this shift, you would have rolled your eyes again but instead you just shook your head, lightly exacerbated.
Langdon caught your slightly subdued reaction and frowned “Speaking of being overachieving, what is this like your 9th shift in a row?”.
You shrugged and nodded “yeah… 14th actually”. You looked off into the distance of the bustling ER for a second and sighed “I will be so freaking grateful when these in and out days are over and everyone is back on shift… they’ll owe me big time” you tried to joke.
Langdon only frowned deeper “you know you don’t always have to be the one to cover an open shift, right? We’re all taking on a couple extra shifts here and there to cover but you’ve taken on the bulk”.
“If I don’t” you shook your head and shrugged “I couldn’t sleep worrying about the rest of you. You know that”.
And sadly, he did. While it was used more as a joke or plot in romance movies, alphas did tend to have their protective streaks and when it came to packs, they protected everyone and everything in them with their life. Back in the day they would pull hero moves like saving princesses or stuff like that but nowadays they just mostly tended to work themselves to death to make sure everyone else didn’t.
That’s why most workforces had ‘diversity’ rules stating that they wanted more betas but especially omegas on their staff. On paper it seemed like a nice thing to unburden alpha employees but in reality, they would overwork everybody and when the alphas would take on even more work to protect everyone else bosses would sometimes start adding more work and slowly letting people go or docking pay. It was illegal but hey, it still happened.
Even in their ED everybody knew they were understaffed but Gloria and the others in the ivory tower never did a thing about it because they ‘thought’ everyone was taking on the extra work evenly and no one was cracking. When in reality every alpha was pulling extra shifts, but nobody was really saying anything because there wasn't anything to say. Couldn’t talk the alpha’s out of it and upstairs didn’t want to talk about it or it would hurt their already ‘fragile’ numbers. It was just another one of those unwritten rules of the ER.
“Plus, with Santos and Kotaro out I’m the only senior resident we have, and the night shift wouldn’t survive without me”.
The dayshifter again rolled his eyes “if you say so”.
He picked up his open Red Bull can and held it out in your direction, shaking it slightly to draw your attention, “need some motivation for the road?”.
You frowned at the offending item “oh a half-drunk energy drink that definitely hasn’t seen the inside of a fridge in at least over an hour… thank you, but I’m good”.
“Suit yourself” he chuckled taking a quick sip “you’re the one who was just complaining that I’m ‘not taking care of myself’ and that the night shift wouldn’t ‘survive without you’ then you turn your nose up at my generous offer to share my life saving nectar with you”.
You slightly face palmed as you started rubbing your tired eyes.
“You know,” you sighed, “when I was hired on HR wrote in my job description that there were at least 7, maybe 8 self-destructive men who helped run the ER that I would work with on a daily basis. The rest would be filled by beautiful and confident women who would never need a thing from me,” you sighed again but this time more exacerbated “unfortunately I only attract idiots”.
A half smirk, half genuine smile filled Langdon’s face, and it made you slightly melt.
“Because I was the latest hire, I was tasked to look out for these silly men because under no circumstances could they ever EVER possibly look out for themselves”.
Frank shook his head at your dramatics.
“Luckily some of them have actually started caring for themselves, aka my baby Jesse and my baby Shen. Some of the others have moved to different hospitals which leaves me still in the care of three”.
You clutched your chest and laid your other hand on your head extra dramatically “and they are my toughest cases! They push me and pull me and put me through absolute hell but someday” you collapsed against the hub desk “someday I will make them care and then my life’s work will be complete!”.
Langdon started to slow clap at your theatrics before you both fell into giggles.
Laughing with one of your favorite men was significantly helping your spirit. You woke up bone tired but just being around him was putting a little pep in your step. Between flu season, a medical conference, and Ellis being on paternity leave you had only seen the inside of the hospital and your apartment for about the past month and it was really starting to wear on you, not that you let it show.
“Speaking of your life’s work Miss drama queen” Langdon said leaning in to gossip “I didn’t see Robby eat anything all day”.
You immediately turned to where the older man was sitting hunched over his computer typing at central. He looked as exhausted as he always did after a long shift and your chest lightly flared from your alpha protectiveness “I’m gonna kill him”.
Langdon laughed “I warned him you would, but does he ever listen to me? Nope”.
Before you could stop yourself, you marched over to Robby’s desk and cleared your throat “Doctor Robinovich”.
“Yes Doctor (L/N)?” he asked without even looking up.
“I was just informed you skipped lunch, again”.
A disgruntled growl slipped out of his throat as he took off his glasses and tried to rub the embarrassment of being caught off of his face “fucking Langdon”.
“I can not reveal my sources… but be nice” you playfully hissed.
“He does know as chief attending I could FIRE HIM!” he raised his voice at the last two words as Langdon walked past you both smirking.
“You love me too much Robinavitch” he joked before turning to you “I’m gonna drop off these discharge papers but I’ll be back to finish hand off in just a sec”.
You nodded after him before you turned your attention back to your current active suicide watch. You stared down at his sitting form which made him lightly begin to squirm under your alpha intensity.
“Langdon didn’t do his stretches!” the older omega blurted out, obviously trying to get the attention off of himself.
You looked over Robby as you took in his tired demeanor. His hair was all out of place, and his eyes had a faint pink ring around them, meaning he had cried at some point in the day. He was wearing his security blanket hoodie as per usual, but to his credit his sleeves weren't pushed up meaning he hadn’t had it on for long. Maybe Langdon had been telling the truth when he said it had been a good day.
You shook your head, giving him a knowing and disappointed look. “I already know about that, and he already told me the how, why, and what he’s going to do about it. Now I’m talking to you a man that for his third shift in a row has ‘accidentally’ not eaten. Making me have to play bad guy at the start of mine which you know I hate doing”.
You pulled your work bag half off your shoulder and rummaged in the front, pulling out two protein bars and a sandwich bag with a PB and J in it. You threw one of the bars down on Robby’s keyboard and lightly tossed the sandwich, so it fell into his lap.
“Eat” you scolded, pulling your bag back on.
“Uh oh. What you’d do to piss them off now?” Doctor Abbot’s calming voice chimed in from behind you as he walked up to the impromptu meet up. For one fleeting moment you thought you had finally beaten the night shift attending onto shift but as you turned and took him in, you immediately noticed that he already had a tablet in his hand. Which of course just made you sigh internally, maybe tomorrow you’d finally beat him onto shift.
“Someone didn’t eat lunch again” you growled, turning back to glare down at Robby. Your inner alpha grumbling with displeasure at the older man.
Abbot’s eyes widened from your growl before landing on Robby “Oh fuck, brother you promised yesterday” the older omega sighed out coming to stand next to you. He lightly bumped your shoulder with his own as a form of greeting which made you internally grin.
You picked up the 2nd protein bar you had pulled out of your bag and handed it to Abbot “you need to eat this as well”.
Robby started to chuckle, but your glare made him turn his laugh into a cough as he finally opened the zip lock bag and pulled out half of the sandwich.
Abbot frowned but still took the offered bar “what did I do?”.
Of your three omegas, Robby was the worst at taking care of himself. Since getting a decent therapist, he had slowly gotten better, but he still let things slip while on shift like missing meals or taking breaks in general. Abbot was second worst as he never took breaks, but he actually tried to keep on top of things. His worst habit was his roof visits, but he’d been doing them less and less over the past year or two. The best was Langdon, but that was more out of necessity than wanting to actually be good.
You flicked your eyes towards him and frowned “I just know you, Abbot”.
The night crawler frowned and looked at Robby who obviously found the whole interaction hilarious but also knew not to push it when you were already upset with him.
Watching Robby bite into his sandwich and Abbot open his bar made your chest lighten and your tiredness ease a little more. You were taking care of your little unofficial pack, and your inner alpha was very pleased. Yes, they were idiot omegas who weren’t taking care of themselves, but you were here to take care of them, and they were letting you. The moment you felt Langdon appear back beside you you had to hold back a happy sigh at having all your omegas safe and happy and in one place.
In reality they weren’t ‘your’ omegas obviously, but you had long given up fighting your inner alpha about that phrasing. From the moment you had met all three of them you had just clicked with them in a seamless way. You cared for them; you looked after them, and you were always there for them whatever they needed you. You loved them as any alpha should, and they liked and appreciated you back as any coworker/pack mate should, and it was enough.
“You ready to take over?” the blue-eyed omega next to you asked, bumping your hip with his own. The intensity of the movement caught you off guard and made you stumble slightly. You instinctively reached out to grab onto the closest thing which just happened to be Abbot’s sturdy and thick arm. Which of course made you blush profusely at having the strong omega’s bicep under your grasp.
“Sure” you eeked as you quickly turned from the group to cover your blush “let me just drop off my stuff at my locker real quick”.
You took a small breath and began to walk away “make sure they finish all that” you called over your shoulder to Langdon, who was already looking at both Abbot and Robby smirking.
“You think they ever get tired of being so bossy?” Robby asked chewing on a bite of your sandwich inwardly mewling at being taken care of by you as he took in Abbot’s very flushed cheeks with a knowing smirk.
“Are they bossy or just always, right?” Abbot asked back, eyeing the other two as he tried to will his blush away by sheer willpower alone. He took another bite of his already half-devoured protein bar as his other hand slowly rose to touch the place you had just held.
“I think the term you’re looking for is do they ever get tired of being an overly protective alpha with three idiot omegas in their care who obviously adore them more than life, but they have no idea about said feelings?”. Frank laughed wistfully “that answer is no, not as long as I’ve known them”.
Robby rolled his eyes “we seem to have this conversation all the time. And you always just try to phrase your answer so nicely just cause you’ve got a big old crush on ‘em”.
“They’re smart, they’re funny, they’re gorgeous, and they’re too caring for their own good” Langdon shrugged easily. “If they actually took me seriously, I’d let them baby trap me in a heartbeat”.
“Whoa Langdon!” Robby gasped at the other omega’s flippantness.
Abbot doubled over coughing after inhaling a bit of his protein bar mixed with his own spit in surprise “Jesus Christ Frank”.
“Oh, like you two wouldn’t do the same?” Frank just shrugged as a huge knowing grin claimed his face. “As Robby just said, we seem to have this conversation all the time. Like him being bitchy isn’t him just trying to mask his own giant crush on them".
Robby’s eyes widened at the younger man just saying their shared secret so openly. He said nothing in response but instead just took another bite of his sandwich.
“Busted” Abbot chuckled as he balled up the empty wrapper in his hand.
“Don’t think I’m letting you off easy about it either” Langdon smirked, lightly punching the other man’s arm. “You’re just trying to play it cool cause you know you’ve got them all to yourself for 12 hours straight you lucky bastard”.
Abbot’s cheeks immediately turned pink again as he looked everywhere but the other two omegas. You weren’t always on night shift, but you did tend to favor it which always made the gray-haired omega very very happy.
Frank and Robby shared a glance between each other, small smiles lifting at their mouths.
The curly haired omega finally shrugged away his slight embarrassment since there was no use denying what the other two omegas already knew. “Don’t you two have places to be that aren’t here” he huffed making the other two chuckle to themselves.