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Jason considered himself to be a less than ideal role model. He had done some terrible stuff in the past and he didn't foresee himself on the straight and narrow in the future. Red Hood had blood on his hands. Jason's hands held the same stains. He generally wasn't the type of person you tell your pup to respect. In fact he was usually the opposite. Not that he minded, he wasn't keen on pups idolizing the big bad scary Red Hood who did more than beat up bad guys.
However Jason wasn't just a bad role model when it came to morals. He was a terrible role model in the designation department as well. Mom had been an omega, Willis an alpha. When Jason was taken in by Bruce, they had discussed him being a late bloomer due to malnutrition and abuse. There was a good chance he could have been an omega or an alpha but due to his poor health as a pup it was likely that he'd end up a beta. Jason hadn't minded. To be like Alfred was a blessing in his honest opinion and he knew plenty well how much more complicated life was for alphas and omegas.
He died a pup and rose an omega.
It hadn't made much sense, being an omega that was bigger than most alphas. Jason had been fairly certain that when he was dipped in the pit, Talia had been disappointed. For what it was worth, Jason was disappointed too. He was six feet minimum and weighed a little over two hundred and twenty five pounds. Thanks to his lifestyle, he was nothing but muscle and strength. A perfect alpha.
Except he was an omega. Tall, broad, muscled and strong. Wrong. He wasn't pretty or soft or interested in finding a mate. Because that was what a good omega was wasn't it? Everything Jason wasn't. He wasn't soothing, he couldn't even purr. A basic function of all omegas and he couldn't do it. He had tried and it just came out garbled and stressed. He was broken. So Jason resigned himself to the fact that death had continued to take from him. Take and take and take till he returned to the ground he had clawed himself out of.
Jason wasn't a good person and he wasn't a good omega. So of course Bruce didn't want him back in the pack. Even after everything, no matter what Jason did to try and redeem himself even just a little bit to Bruce, the alpha denied him. He never said it but Jason could see the apprehension, the distrust.
It was with this distrust in mind that had Jason frowning at the pup standing in his doorway. Though the kid wasn't really a pup anymore, Jason mused.
Tim Drake was the better pick. Jason's replacement. He felt anger simmer under his skin. Jason inhaled deeply and let it out. The kid wasn't a threat, Jason needed to be calm and composed. Tim fidgeted in the doorway, not stepping past the threshold. Jason stood there watching the pup. The pup stared right back. Jason sighed.
“Why’re you here, kid.” Jason said lazily.
Tim was flushed, “I'm… I'm not a pup.”
“Uhuh sure so what do you want, replacement?” Jason said tiredly.
It was a low blow to call Tim that and they both knew it. Jason regretted it just as Tim winced. Tim avoided Jason's gaze.
Suddenly Tim blurted out everything at once, “Can I stay here for my heat?”
Jason mentally stumbled and verbally replied with, “What the- no? Don't you have a pack? Shouldn't Dickface be coddling you to death right now? Why are you even here right now? Did you seriously trek across Gotham in heat, are you insane?”
With each scold, Tim seemed to shrink in on himself more and more. Jason groaned in annoyance before pulling Tim into his apartment and closing the door. He locked it just as fast, mentally hoping that no one unsavory followed Tim.
“I just- you're an omega?” Tim said like the answer was obvious.
Jason scoffed, “So? What's that got to do with anything?”
Tim frowned, “I… don't know what to do. So I- I thought that you could teach me? I don't know, okay?”
Something inside Jason twisted. Why didn't Tim know what to do for his own heat? Even at their lowest, his mom had always made sure he had a nest to sleep in. Besides, why wasn't Dick fawning over the kid right now? When Jason was a pup, before everything fell apart, Dick wouldn't get off of him and that had been before he had presented as an omega. Yet a quick sniff confirmed that Tim was unscented. So much so that Jason wrinkled his nose at the lack of pack scents. Tim should have everyone's scent on him. Yet he smelled like… like an abandoned pup.
Jason's omega stirred.
He sighed, “Okay I can't just send you back out there like this,” he waved a hand over Tim, “so you can stay till someone comes and gets you.”
Tim brightened, “Thanks Jason!”
Jason rolled his eyes, “Yeah whatever. Follow me.”
He wasn't really sure what possessed him to allow Tim of all people into his nest, but he had guided the younger one towards his room and by the time he realized what he had done it was too late to turn back. It made him itchy to think of another omega using his nest but when Tim entered the nest and then stood in it the itchiness morphed into frustration. Though Jason wasn't sure what made him more mad. The fact that Tim had decided a walk through Gotham while in heat was a good idea or the fact that the pup was old enough to have presented already and didn't know how to next let alone what to do during heats.
Jason ran a hand over his face as he entered the nest and pushed Tim to sit. The younger omega complied easily and watched curiously as Jason sat in the nest then began pulling out the walls of it and passing them to Tim.
“Just- lay them where you want them. Whatever makes your brain less itchy.” Jason said stiffly.
Tim nodded seriously and Jason almost laughed. Then he watched as Tim very tentatively moved and began to place things. It was slow going before suddenly Tim perked up and got the job done, then he proceeded to fix some of the other pieces of fabric that Jason hadn't disrupted. Good, he was learning. Jason hummed and stood, moving to leave the nest. He'd barely made it a foot out the nest before he heard a long desperate whine. Jason turned to see Tim flushed in embarrassment, hand over his mouth.
“I'm so sorry, it just slipped out!”
Jason raised an eyebrow, “I'll be right back, I'm getting you food and something to drink.”
Tim wilted a little, “Oh, okay. Sorry…”
He sighed, “Nothing to be sorry for, it's just instincts and we all have them.”
Jason quickly retreated then. As he gathered some snacks and water he tried not to overthink it. The desperate call for a pack. For him to stay. And Tim didn't even seem to know what he'd done. It was like the kid was apologizing for making the noise, like he had no idea he'd called Jason his pack. The lack of scenting, the lack of basic knowledge, and now this? Jason felt his omega seethe at Bruce for a whole new reason. He groaned knowing that this was likely going to bite him back later.
He returned to the nest and he felt his throat tighten at the sight of Tim asleep in his nest. Sure, Tim was borrowing it but that was his nest. And the omega pup was sleeping in it. Safe and sound. Jason carefully sat the food down and placed the water bottle he had grabbed next to it. Then with every ounce of stealth training he'd ever been given, he slipped back into the nest careful of waking the other omega. Once he was settled his brain was at a loss of what to do next. Why was he even back in the nest? Tim didn't need him in it so why? What was he even supposed to do in it while Tim slept? Jason quietly fussed as frustration builded. His omega was upset too. Pacing and anxious. Jason paused as his eyes landed on the sleeping pup.
Ah. Right. The thing that packs do during heats and ruts.
He was hesitant, extremely so, but Tim was asleep so he didn't have to worry about being judged. Slowly he moved closer to Tim and then gently scented the younger omega. His scent wasn't very omega-like either. Leather and gunsmoke. Perfect for someone who he wasn't. But it seemed to do the trick as his omega settled and Tim seemed to relax in his sleep. Then much to Jason's abject horror, Tim curled into Jason. He was absolutely certain without fail that if Tim was awake he'd be immensely embarrassed.
Yet Jason didn't move away. He stayed frozen as his omega happily purred at the trusting pup curled around him. The purr was soft and a little broken but there. He'd never purred before. Jason slowly lowered himself down to allow Tim to stay close.
Maybe he wasn't such a bad omega after all…