Chapter Text
Kent stayed dutifully through the duration of the first knot and a second pitch, only leaving briefly to retrieve water for both of them.
He came back from the kitchen red-faced and clinging to an armful of water bottles and the unmistakable packaging of heat snacks.
“Alfred sends his well-wishes,” he stuttered out to Bruce, dropping the snacks on the bedside table, “And a few others I’m…not going to repeat, if that’s okay.”
Bruce agreed, largely only because the third pitch was coming along alarmingly fast. His gaze settled on Kent’s bare chest, drawn to the way his abdominals and pecs curved under his skin, taut and powerful.
He followed Kent’s abs down to the v of his hips, on display under the low-slung sweatpants he’d pulled on. He felt his concentration slip even further, remembering the way Kent’s --
“Bruce?”
He shook his head, looking up at Kent. “Sorry. I was--”
“You’re fine,” Kent reassured, sitting next to him on the bed. Bruce leaned in immediately, chasing the scent of pleased alpha heatyoursmine, “I was calling you for a few seconds. That next pitch is hitting hard, isn’t it?”
Bruce would never admit to the soft, ringing whine he let out as Kent’s hand pressed against his forehead, checking his temperature.
“How do you feel?” Kent asked. His hand dropped, taking its cool, soothing comfort with it.
“Like I’m in heat,” Bruce said, slightly hoarse. He let out a relieved breath as he leaned into Kent’s chest, pressing his forehead into the alpha’s skin like he could burrow there.
A hand tilted his chin up, forcing him to open his eyes.
“Hey,” Kent said, a hint of a growl on the edge of his voice, “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
Bruce looked down, hating himself for the motion. He knew, instinctively, that Kent’s growl wasn’t for him, but the rawness of heat had him lowering his gaze before he could stop.
“My…past heats weren’t enjoyable,” Bruce said, stepping around the memories of sweat and cramps and Jason, “I detoxed from my suppressants on my own.”
A soft scent slipped into his mind -- Jason’s almost-presented smell, strongest when he breathed it in from his curls, holding his pup close.
Kent growled softly, drawing him from the memory. He opened his eyes to the alpha kneeling in front of him, throat bared slightly.
“Bruce,” he said, catching his gaze with wide, pleading eyes, “You could have killed yourself, doing that.”
Oh, he was aware. Alfred had voiced his opinion on the heats until he was blue in the face. The only saving grace had been Jason, and the minimal -- if scientifically proven -- impact having pups in the nest had on a solo heat.
“I had my pup,” Bruce murmured, wanting nothing more than to quell the sharp scent of alpha concernfearworry in the air. “He helped.”
Kent leaned back on his heels slightly, throat still bared. “Jason,” he said softly, “Right?”
“Jason,” Bruce agreed, feeling his throat begin to ache. Somehow, it was even more painful to remember under Kent’s earnest gaze.
Oh, Jason.
“I’m glad you had him,” Kent said, his scent deepening into a calmer, more melancholy version of alpha approval.
The unsaid hovered between them: I’m sorry you lost him, too.
Bruce swallowed around the fire in his throat, nodding his thanks to the alpha. He let out a soft gasp as Kent surged up, pulling him into a hug.
His back hit the bed, followed by his head. Kent covered him entirely with his body, arms wrapped around Bruce’s shoulders and legs caging his hips.
Bruce waited for Kent to begin the next round, exhaling softly and relaxing under his weight.
A soft purr vibrated against his chest instead, instantly relaxing the rest of the tension he’d managed to keep in his body. Pure, omega bliss flooded his brain as Kent held him tightly, lips grazing his neck.
Oh. Oh.
The pain in his throat slowly softened, leaving behind only the dim, bittersweet memories of Jason’s smile.
He blinked away tears, returning Kent’s hug with a desperation he’d deny later upon pain of death.
“If you wanted me to be quiet,” Bruce quipped, when the silence drew out too long, “You could just tell me to shut up.”
Kent’s purr hitched with a brief growl, almost like a hiccup. He pulled back from the hug, looking down at Bruce sternly.
“I don’t want you to be quiet,” Kent said, frowning, “I just want to…help.”
Bruce swallowed, feeling his throat close up briefly.
“You’re helping,” he said, admitting nothing, and yet everything. “Thank you.”
The smile Kent directed his way could have lit up the night sky. His scent flared with alpha happiness, causing Bruce’s to sweeten reflexively in response.
He watched as the scent hit Kent, the alpha’s pupils dilating as he inhaled omega heathappyapproval.
Kent’s hands moved from his shoulders down to his hips, gripping them with a pressure that had Bruce moaning softly. Fresh slick bloomed between his legs, warm and pleasant where before it had been burning and uncomfortable.
When he looked up at Kent’s face, the alpha’s eyes were almost entirely pupil, glazed slightly as they roved up and down his body. He was breathing quickly through his mouth, incisors flashing behind his lips.
Bruce shuddered, feeling the obvious attraction -- and the scent of alpha desireneedmore -- like a thrill up his spine, heat and pleasure flowing through his pelvis and into his legs.
“Again?” he asked, whined, up at Kent. Heat had made him talkative, and he hated it, but right now? Right now, it was everything, to ask and be heard. To be wanted.
Kent’s smile -- dazed, eager, endearing -- was more than answer enough.
Kent fucked him into the mattress obligingly, hard and soft in equal measure as Bruce ebbed and flowed with the waves of heat. He rode Kent several times when the urge intensified, knotting himself as the alpha moaned underneath him, hands gripping his thighs and hips bucking wildly.
In the haze of heat, he was reduced to heat and movement, slick around Kent as the alpha bent him forward and backward, kissing him with bruising pressure and endless, whispered praise.
The first bite -- a soft, testing nip against his collarbone -- had him coming suddenly in the middle of a pitch, clenching down hard on Kent’s cock and whining his pleasure as waves of slick ran down his legs.
After that, Kent was insatiable, biting every free patch of skin until Bruce was half-mad with pleasure, sobbing as he came again and again, perfectly attuned to the feeling of teeth in his neck and weight on his back.
Every knot was a promise, no matter how rushed or slow. Kent always asked -- a gentleman, even drenched in heat pheromones -- a soft, gasping can I? against his neck that Bruce was powerless to deny.
As soon as Kent’s knot caught, the instincts in the back of his head -- furious from decades of denial -- quieted, evening out into a kind of bliss he could only cling to, peace in his bones and warmth in his chest.
Kent held him through every one, purring softly and checking his temperature intermittently. He covered Bruce with his body and -- one notable time -- growled at the sound of Alfred’s footsteps in the hallway.
Alpha instincts, he’d claimed, to Bruce’s amusement. You smell so sweet right now. It’s not my fault.
Any other time, Bruce would have disagreed with that claim, but even he could smell himself, this far into the heat. Unlike the bitter, burnt sugar smell of his suppressant heats, his scent was soft and relaxed -- sweet and slightly spicy, deepened by the pheromones of a compatible mate.
The next pitch, Kent ate him out until he was whining and begging, half mad when the alpha finally pushed into him. He was dizzy with pleasure, hot and leaking slick outrageously across the bed.
He leaned his head back as Kent began a vicious, targeted series of thrusts, eyes rolling back into his head as he reached the beginning edge of his orgasm.
“Gonna fill you up,” Kent breathed against his neck, sounding breathless as his hips snapped up, “You want that? You want me to fill you up?”
Bruce felt his entire body react to the words, heat rolling through his pelvis. He moaned wordlessly, nodding as he pushed back into Kent’s thrusts desperately.
“Gonna to fill you up with my pups,” Kent murmured, smelling like alpha approval, edged in something almost like hopefulness, “You want that? You want another pup?”
Bruce let out a cry, feeling his pelvis begin to clench down. He sobbed out an affirmation, feeling the answer in his heart.
Yes, I want that, he thought as his orgasm exploded between his legs, almost painful in its intensity, I want that more than anything. Please.
Kent fucked him through his orgasm, growling softly in approval. His knot began to fill shortly after Bruce finished, an intoxicating pressure against his cunt that had him spreading his legs wider instinctively.
Without a word, the alpha caught his hips, lifting them up slightly as he thrust up into Bruce, locking his knot deep inside of him.
They moaned as one as Kent came, spurting heat inside of him as Bruce rode through the second, weaker orgasm of Kent’s knot. He clenched down, milking every last drop as the alpha gasped above him.
Bruce drifted, body relaxing as the knot pulsed within him. He felt Kent stir briefly above him, repositioning them on the bed as his instincts dictated.
“Gonna sleep,” Bruce murmured. It seemed like a good thing to mention to Kent. “...’kay?”
Somewhere above him, the alpha laughed softly, a hand smoothing across his forehead.
“Sleep,” he said, and so Bruce did.
“No,” Bruce gasped, pulling his pup to his chest, “Jason. Jason.”
He could barely scent him under the bitterness of ash and blood. He pushed his nose into Jason’s curls, desperate to smell his pup.
Death clung to Jason’s hair and skin, unmistakable. He let out a sob, tucking his pup’s head under his chin as his world crumbled around him.
He was here. It should have been enough. It should have been. He was --
A voice spoke somewhere above him, accompanied by the sharp tang of beta worryfeardespair. Hands grasped his shoulders, shaking him vigorously.
No, he thought, clinging to Jason’s body with a determination written into his very marrow, I won’t. I won’t leave him.
He clenched his eyes shut against a wave of ash, protecting Jason’s face with his hand. His perfect pup, with soft, delicate lips split open and his shattered teeth peeking through the gashes.
Above him, the worried voice had turned to yelling. There were sirens in the distance -- close than he’d normally ever let them get.
Bruce curled around Jason as another wave of ash blew across them, burning embers scattering across his armor.
He was here now. And here, he would stay, wrapped around his pup. Kneeling in fire until it took them both.
Something sharp jabbed into his neck, unerringly finding the small gap between his cowl and the gorget. Ice flooded his veins, numbing every nerve in his limbs instantly.
He fell backward, arms loosening. Jason’s body folded forward, slipping from his grasp into the ash and debris.
Bruce blinked up at the burning ceiling, fingers twitching toward his pup as the last of his feeling left him entirely.
He woke up in Kent’s arms, mouth filled with the lingering taste of ash.
Stretching slightly, he took inventory of his mind and body, feeling that same, eerie clarity he’d experienced after the first pitch.
Years of exhaustion and injury seemed to have been erased overnight. He felt clear-headed and revitalized, even as his instincts hovered in the back of his mind, unsuppressed.
He realized, distantly, that Alfred’s cautioning against long-term suppressant use might have had some merit. Now -- likely fully detoxed from any of the suppressants he’d been taking -- it was like a veil had been lifted from his mind.
The heat had ended. An abridged heat, like Bruce had envisioned -- less than 48 hours, by his estimation.
“You smell like you’re thinking,” Kent groaned, tightening his arms so Bruce was pinned against his chest, “Stop that.”
“Stop…thinking?”
“Mhm,” the alpha said, pushing his face into Bruce’s hair and inhaling, “S’too early.”
Against his better judgment, Bruce let himself curl up against Kent’s chest, breathing in the fading notes of alpha attraction and heat pheromones.
“My heat’s over,” he said into Kent’s pectoral, another realization.
“Mhm,” Kent repeated, unperturbed by his revelation, “Ended a few hours ago.”
And he was still…here?
Bruce swallowed around something bitter, shifting slightly in Kent’s arms.
“You didn’t have to stay,” he said, even as the instincts in the back of his head basked in Kent’s hold around him.
That seemed to wake Kent fully. The alpha blinked his eyes open, staring down at Bruce.
“Do you want me to go?” he asked softly, sleepy blue eyes searching Bruce’s face.
No.
Kent snorted, likely smelling his dislike for the idea. His arms tightened around Bruce, then released, freeing him.
“We need to talk about our next steps,” Bruce said, sitting up slowly. He winced as something in his neck pulled, brushing a hand absently against the spot.
He didn’t miss how Kent’s gaze instantly sharpened, roving across his chest and shoulders. The alpha didn’t speak, but the air grew heavy with minepossessivelust, strong enough to make Bruce lose whatever thought he’d formed.
“Luthor,” he said, pressing his legs together so Kent wouldn’t smell the fresh slick that had just coated his inner thighs, “We need a plan.”
Kent blinked, exhaling. With some concentration, he nodded, reining in his scent.
“What do you suggest?” he asked.
Bruce glanced at the bedside table. The clock indicated it was sometime in the early afternoon.
“By now, Luthor will have guessed we didn’t kill each other,” Bruce said, struggling to form his thoughts into the cold, calculated order they usually had, “He mentioned a backup plan. It’ll be something to do with the kryptonite.”
Kent nodded. “You said he would have moved it by now.”
“We need to find out where,” Bruce agreed.
“I can do that,” Kent said, sitting up, “Give me a few hours. I’ll find it.”
Anxiety flickered in his chest, a glowing, sickly green.
“You won’t get near the kryptonite,” Bruce said, confirming, “Not until we have an idea of what he’s planning.”
“Just recon,” Kent said, smiling at him boyishly. Wrapped in the remains of his sheets, it was infinitely charming, “I promise. He won’t even see me.”
Alfred’s voice filtered into his mind: Famous last words.
“I’m serious,” Bruce said, holding Kent’s gaze.
“So am I,” Kent replied, sobering. His scent deepened, taking on a note of protectiveness, “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“You’re leaving now?” Bruce asked, hating the reflexive ache in his chest. It must have been mirrored in his scent, because Kent’s expression twisted.
“I know your heat just ended,” he said, hand twitching toward Bruce’s on the crumpled duvet, “but you’re right. Luthor could be on the verge of something any minute now.”
Bruce bit back the vulnerable, omegan protest rising in his throat, nodding along with his own words.
“I’ll start scanning the satellite data from the last two days,” he said, moving to get up, “Alfred will have an update, I’m sure.”
Kent turned bright red at the mention of Alfred, no doubt remembering his accidental challenge during the heat. “Right.”
“I’ll be in the Cave,” Bruce said, pushing to his feet with a wince, “You know how to get in still?”
Kent’s eyes roved up and down his body, lingering on his collarbones and hips with an intensity that burned.
“I do,” he said, nostrils twitching, “You should shower before you see Alfred.”
Bruce frowned, glancing down at himself. “I—“
Bruises littered his chest and neck, dark and purple against his skin. Dried slick and come caked his thighs, mixed into the lingering, heady pheromones of heat.
Oh. Yes, a shower seemed like a fantastic idea.
Kent shot him an unfairly attractive smile, winking. With a burst of air, the bed was empty, afternoon light streaming in from the now-open bedroom window.
Bruce let out a sigh, wondering if Kent could hear it.
In the bathroom mirror, Bruce examined the bite marks and bruises spanning his neck and chest. He pressed on one across his left hip -- Kent’s favorite part of him, it seemed -- and felt only the thrill of being claimed and desired, with omega pleasure overlaying it all.
He was thoroughly, thoroughly claimed, and it seemed to please Kent just as much as it secretly pleased him. The alpha’s scent was on every inch of his body, slightly spicy and tinged in possessiveness.
The water spurted slightly behind him, reminding him of his task. Bruce shook away the lingering sparks of his heat, turning toward the shower.
Just as he was about to step into the water, there was a polite, familiar knock.
“Sir,” Alfred said through the door, “You have a visitor.”
Bruce glanced at his reflection in the mirror, hesitating.
“I’ll…be right out,” he said, reaching out and shutting off the water, “Thank you, Alfred.”
“Of course, sir.”
After a moment of confusion -- the number of people who knew the exact address of the lake home was extraordinarily small -- he pushed a hand through his messy hair and grabbed a robe off the hook, pulling it on.
The bites on his neck and upper chest were still visible, even after cinching the robe’s belt as tight as it would go. There was nothing to do but lean into it, really.
Bruce prayed that Kent stayed away until after his guest left; the alpha’s presence would only spark more questions. Not that the obvious, fresh bruises on his neck wouldn’t, already.
He pushed open the door, striding into the hallway and rounding the corner into the living room.
“Lex,” he said, pausing at the doorway, “This is a surprise.”
The other omega gave him a thin, insincere smile from his position on the couch. He set aside a mug of tea, standing to greet Bruce.
“It’s good to see you,” he said, pushing out a wave of sugar-sweet welcomehello, “How are you feeling?”
Well fucked. Exhausted. Raw. Uncertain. Determined. Lost.
Bruce chose none of those words, pasting on a smile he didn’t feel as sickly-sweet omega concern leaked from Lex, filling his nose.
“Rested,” he said, smoothing a hand across the front of his robe, “What are you doing here? I could have met you somewhere.”
They sat down in an overly-choreographed dance, Bruce waiting until his guest was seated to join him in the facing chair.
Hopefully, Kent’s scent had dissipated enough that it would be unrecognizable to Lex. With the pheromones of heat still circulating in the house, the odds of the other omega pulling a familiar scent out of the mix were…not zero, but low.
“I’m sure you’re not eager to leave home so soon,” Lex replied, words dripping with suggestion, “Would your little boytoy even let you?”
Still half-sunk into instinct after the end of his heat, it took everything he had not to growl at the thinly-veiled implication.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” he said, uncrossing his legs and leaning back. He didn’t miss the way Lex’s eyes lingered on his throat, eyeing the marks with something almost like…envy?
“Ha!” Lex laughed, waving a hand as the slightly bitter scent of jealousy intermingled with his scent, “I just figured, any alpha who marked me up that thoroughly must be…impressive.”
He was, Bruce thought, a tiny thrill of heat going through his gut, he really was.
“Impressiveness doesn’t necessarily imply possessiveness,” Bruce said, watching as Lex’s face twitched slightly, “As you know.”
“Of course,” Lex said easily, smiling, “But they tend to go hand in hand, don’t they?”
“Sometimes,” Bruce said, agreeing without really agreeing.
His compromise seemed to amuse Lex, who leaned back on the couch, mirroring Bruce. The other omega raised an eyebrow, looking Bruce up and down.
“I haven’t seen you this… refreshed in a long time.”
It was said -- again -- with such implication, Bruce couldn’t help the slight flinch.
“How kind of you,” he said, recovering with as much grace as he could muster, “The last few years have been…difficult, as I’m sure you know.”
Lex’s eyes flashed. “Of course. My apologies for bringing it up.”
Bruce nodded, letting their conversation fall into somewhat-strained silence. He waited out the other omega, keeping his scent flat and collected.
“Well,” Lex said, slapping his thighs and moving to stand, “I should let you get back to resting, shouldn’t I?”
Bruce stood, following Lex to the door. He kept a careful distance between them, pausing a few feet away from the other omega.
“It was so nice catching up,” Lex said, hovering on the threshold, “We should do this again.”
Before Bruce could answer, he was pulled into a tight, crushing hug. Lex inhaled deeply, nose hovering just above his neck.
It was beyond improper, but not something Bruce could challenge without reason. He bore the scenting with a grimace, praying whatever lingering scent from Kent the omega picked up was diluted enough to be unrecognizable.
Lex pulled back from the hug after a long moment, eyes flashing.
His scent -- sickly sweet as always when he was playing the charming omega -- shifted, taking on the tang of unripe berries, like it had at LexCorp.
“I’ll see you soon,” Lex promised, stepping out onto the entryway, “Ta!”
Uneasiness lodged in Bruce’s stomach as he watched Lex’s chauffeured car crawl up the road and out of sight.
The soft scent of worriedrelieved beta reached him. Bruce inhaled, grateful for the opportunity to clear Lex’s scent from his nose.
“That bodes well,” Alfred said, joining him in the doorway, “Quit conniving, isn’t he?”
It was very pack-like, watching the unfamiliar omega leave the property together. They waited as one, until the perimeter alarm for the main road gave a soft beep from the entryway.
Bruce exhaled, shaking his head to clear the instinct still rattling around in his mind. He turned to the beta, tugging his robe tighter around his waist.
“He’s planning something,” he said, “Whatever it is, we need to move quickly.”
“Quite,” Alfred agreed, nose wrinkling, “After you bathe, of course.”
Bruce threw up his hands, heading for the bedroom. “I’m trying!”
“Indeed,” Alfred said, following him down the hall with amusement clear in his scent, “And you should try a little harder.”
Bruce closed the bathroom door in the beta’s face, muffling the sorely-missed, familiar sound of Alfred’s laughter.
Kent returned to the Cave in the early evening, appearing by the monitors with a sudden rush of air.
Bruce looked up from his perusal of satellite images , raising an eyebrow. “Well?”
“I think I found out where the kryptonite went,” Kent said, leaning against the desk, “but you’re not going to like it.”
Bruce leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. He didn’t miss the way Kent’s eyes followed the motion, darkening slightly.
“Well?” he repeated.
Kent sighed, gesturing vaguely in the direction of Metropolis.
“The Fortress,” he said, “in Metropolis. He has men going in and out with boxes. It has to be there.”
Bruce frowned, turning back to his screens and pulling up the feeds on downtown Metropolis.
“What could Lex do with kryptonite in there?” he asked, glancing sideways at Kent.
“I have no idea,” Kent replied, smelling distressed, “That place is a mausoleum. I didn’t even know Luthor had access to it.”
Bruce growled softly, angered on Kent’s behalf. Kent froze, turning to stare at him.
“I…excuse me,” Bruce cleared his throat, turning back to his screens, “We’ll need to break in tonight. Lex won’t wait, now.”
Kent tilted his head, curious. “He won’t?”
“He dropped by while you were out,” Bruce said, flicking through a half-dozen feeds and counting security guards around the Fortress absently, “Tried to scent me. Not sure if he found what he was looking for, but it’s likely.”
The growl that emanated from Kent’s chest made every hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
“He scented you?” Kent asked through a growl, smelling furious.
“He tried,” Bruce said dismissively, “I think he was looking for your scent.”
He didn’t have to look to know that Kent’s gaze had darkened. The smell of possessive alpha was usually abhorrent to him, but filtered through his unsuppressed instincts -- and the lingering rawness of heat -- it gratified something deep in his chest.
“Can I,” Kent cut off, clearing his throat awkwardly around his growl, “Can I hold you? Just for a moment?”
Bruce turned his chair around slowly, lips parting in surprise.
Kent wanted to hold him. Outside of heat?
“...fine,” he said, with an aloofness he didn’t feel, “You--”
The alpha’s arms were around him a half-second later, pulling him up out of the chair and against his chest. Bruce let out a surprised breath into Kent’s neck, feeling the alpha burrow his nose in his hair and inhale deeply.
“You don’t smell like him,” Kent said, sounding relieved. And muffled.
“I took a shower after he left,” Bruce explained, even as the alpha’s arms tightened around him, “Are you alright?”
“Mhm,” Kent said, his growl rattling into a half-purr against Bruce’s ear, “I just needed to…to hold you.” he swallowed, purr cutting off as he swallowed, “Is that okay?”
Yes, Bruce thought. He nodded, unable to voice the thought out loud.
“Okay,” Kent said, pulling back after one final, lingering squeeze. His cheeks were pink, voice slightly strained with embarrassment, “What’s the plan?”
Bruce turned back to his monitors, considering.
The Fortress clawed bitter memories from Bruce’s mind the second he set eyes on it from the sky. He forced them down, focusing on the memory of Kent from several nights ago -- kneeling, tears in his eyes -- instead.
Slipping past the military security and extraneous Kryptonian defenses was easier than he would’ve predicted, largely due to Kent’s x-ray vision. It didn’t hurt that one of the guards was almost, if not entirely, asleep at his post.
Military security had nothing on LexCorp, it seemed. Bruce made a note to check in on whoever Lex had hired for his research park if he survived the night. They’d at least been challenging.
Inside the Fortress, Kent’s gaze took on a steely, determined quality. He directed Bruce wordlessly past the scaffolding and into a hallway, pulling them into a small alcove layered in asymmetrical silver scales.
“I can hear Luthor’s heartbeat up ahead,” the alpha explained, voice hushed, “in the Genesis chamber.”
Bruce nodded, recounting the schematics and blueprints he’d sliced from Lex’s servers, and later the drive he’d cloned from the LexCorp hub.
He didn’t want to think about what Lex Luthor could do with Kryptonian reproductive technology. The possibilities were all unspeakable.
With renewed urgency, he glanced at Kent, finding the same, resolved determination in his eyes.
“Let’s go,” Bruce murmured.
Together, they wove through the hallways, Bruce following his memorized map and Kent hunting after Lex’s heartbeat.
A few minutes later, Kent halted in front of a large, silver door. Bruce glanced behind them, clearing their backs before nodding.
The alpha pressed something, and the door slid open, revealing a large, debris-covered room, half-sunk into orange, murky water. Mechanical tendrils spanned the height of the walls, curving into the destroyed, gaping ceiling above.
Lex stood on the edge of the Genesis chamber’s pool, his back to the door. The cuffs of his pants were wet, like he’d been standing in the waters recently.
Underneath Lex’s authentic, bitter, unripe-berries scent, the chamber smelled like death and something uniquely Kryptonian Bruce had come to associate with Kent. It was perverted, however, by the acidic scent of the Genesis waters and the lingering, sickly-sweetness of decay.
Kent’s gaze narrowed in on the pool. His scent instantly soured with shock, eyes widening and lips parting.
“Ah, the happy couple arrives!”
Lex spun around, clapping loudly. Bruce noted the bandage around his left hand, just below the scent gland in his wrist.
“Welcome!” the other omega exclaimed, “Hope it didn’t take too long to find the place. I know it’s a bit of a drive from Wayne Manor.”
Kent’s jaw tightened at the implication, glancing at Bruce. Bruce pursed his lips, urging calmplanfocus as he stepped around the alpha, slowly circling behind Kent so he could get a closer look at the pool.
A foot and a half under the surface, General Zod’s decomposing face stared up at him through several layers of debris. His body glowed a sickly, soft green, coloring the orange water around his extremities a murky brown.
Bruce racked through the possible scenarios in his mind, and found he didn’t like any of them. His gaze flicked back to Kent, who was looking increasingly pale.
“Well, I’m glad you could join us,” Lex didn’t seem to mind the silence, smiling at Kent as sour attractionenvy filled his scent. “We’re having a little pack reunion. Would be a crying shame if you two weren’t here.”
Bruce wrinkled his nose involuntarily at the suggestion of being pack. He watched disgust roll over Kent’s expression, until the alpha’s scent deepened with it too.
“Pack?” he asked, without his modulator. It didn’t seem to matter, now that Lex knew who they were.
“Pack,” Lex agreed, smiling past Kent’s shoulder at him, “Kryptonian societies were built upon them. Even their armies were family units. Centered around omegas. Can you believe that?”
“Krypton is gone,” Kent growled.
“Gone is a bit of a mischaracterization,” Lex said, shrugging, “It flows in your very veins, Clark Joseph Kent. And in his.”
Bruce followed Lex’s bandaged hand toward the pool, catching a flicker of movement under the water’s surface. Something uneasy curled in his chest, buoyed in instinct.
“What have you done?” Kent asked, forcing the question through the growl in his chest. Bruce could feel his anger and outrage like it was his own, burning and horrible.
“Just a little pack bonding,” Lex said, cradling his bandaged hand with a vague smile, “The rest…well, you’ll see.”
Under the water, Zod’s body twitched suddenly. Bruce took an involuntary step backward as Kent’s scent flared out in horrified disgustangerfear.
“I wouldn’t have had to go to the trouble if you’d just killed him,” Lex said, overlooking Kent entirely to speak to Bruce, “I made it easy, Bruce. You had the kryptonite under your fingers."
At the sound of his name, Kent let out a low, warning growl. Lex continued to ignore him, staring openly at Bruce, something manic in his eyes.
He was reminded, suddenly, of the confrontation in the research park. Lex had looked past him then, dismissing him as another alpha. But now…
Being the center of Lex’s attention was never a good thing.
“You were too weak to kill him,” Lex continued, as Zod’s body gave another aborted twitch, “Even all dressed up like an alpha, you’re still like me, aren’t you? Just an omega grasping at stars.”
Bruce said nothing, staring down the other omega. Waiting.
“Shy?” Lex teased, pushing out a parody of his sugary sweet party scent into the chamber, “That’s fine. You have a few more minutes to decide.”
Zod’s body twitched violently, spilling water over the edges of the pool. A hand grazed the surface, ghostly white and pruned.
Next to him, Kent’s eyes were wider than he’d ever seen them, flickering with the beginning sparks of red. He moved even further in front of Bruce, placing himself between him and the pool.
“Whereas you,” Lex turned to Kent, pulling something from his pocket, “Have a much shorter timeline, I’m afraid.”
The other omega lifted a simple metal collar into the light, holding it up for Kent to see. It glowed the same, sickly green as Zod’s body, impossibly bright in the small space.
“Kneel and accept me as pack omega,” Lex said, hate in his eyes and attraction still curling through his scent as he gazed at Kent, “Kal-El, last son of Krypton.”
Kent snarled, rearing back with fangs bared.
“Are you insane?” he asked, furious.
“Last chance,” Lex said, dangling the collar out with a mockingly pouted lip, “Really? No takers?”
He and Kent both flinched as Zod’s body sat up in the water, revealing glowing, decaying skin. His eyes opened, a milky, flickering red landing instantly on Lex.
Next to him, Kent became impossibly pale. He made a pained noise, but remained in front of Bruce, fists tightening.
Lex smiled down at Zod, pushing out something indecipherable in his scent. Immediately, the Kryptonian -- an alpha, Bruce could barely smell him under the scent of decay -- stood, stumbling out of the pool and heading for them.
Zod took two normal steps before launching himself across the room, hurtling toward Kent with a burst of super speed.
Bruce ducked, looking over his shoulder just in time to see Kent hit the wall in Zod’s grasp.
The alpha immediately pummeled Kent in the chest, slamming glowing-green fists into his abdomen as the alpha groaned, eyes clenched shut in pain.
Despite his best efforts, a low, distressed growl slipped out from between his teeth. At the edge of the pool, Lex let out an amused snort, stuffing the kryptonite collar back in his pocket.
“Worried about your alpha?” he asked, stepping toward Bruce with a twitching, eager smile, “You shouldn’t be. If he can’t survive a challenge, he’s not exactly worth it, is he?”
“It’s not exactly a fair challenge,” Bruce growled, watching as Zod released Kent, only to throw him into -- and through -- the far wall of the chamber.
Lex shrugged again, a jerky, uncoordinated twitch of his shoulders. “Life isn’t fair. You know that as well as I do.”
Disgusted, Bruce turned to join Kent in the fight, going for his grapple gun. A hand grabbed his shoulder, halting him in place alongside a burst of genuine omega worryconcern.
“I wouldn’t,” Lex said, digging his fingers down until Bruce could feel them, even through the armor, “I told Zod not to touch you, but I’m not sure he’ll remember. He needs reminding after all that kryptonite I infused into him, you see.”
Bruce turned around, glaring at the other omega. He pulled his grapple gun out anyway, loading it in clear, pointed rejection of Lex’s warning.
The omega tilted his head, considering.
“Did you know that Kryptonian matings are almost 100% fertile?” he asked, pouring ice into Bruce’s veins with a simple question, “99.8%, according to the files here. The odds of you being with child -- even a human at your age -- are astronomically high.”
It was a struggle to keep his hold on the grapple gun. He tightened numb fingers around the handle, staring down at Lex in utter disbelief.
“I’m not pregnant,” he said, vowing it to be true because it had to be, “It’s not possible.”
At his age -- after years of suppressant abuse, of alcohol and working himself to physical exhaustion and peak fitness -- it would be a medical miracle. Even with Alfred’s most fervent wishes, it was -- simply not possible.
Luthor shrugged again, gaze flicking down to the armor covering his stomach. Something distant and wondering filled his eyes, shifting his scent with hope.
“Maybe not,” he said, “but I can’t take that chance. Not with the future of our pack at stake.”
Our pack.
Behind him, Kent let out a pained, ringing yell. Bruce fought down a wave of revulsion, baring his teeth at Lex.
“Make him stop,” he said, gesturing at Zod, “Now.”
Lex wavered briefly under the burst of pheromones he’d let out unintentionally, pupils dilating and eyes widening. After a pause, he shook his head, smiling up at Bruce.
“I can,” the omega said, oozing delightfear in contradictory waves, “But I won’t.”
Bruce growled, looking frantically across the room at Kent. Zod had him up against the wall, glowing hands gripping the alpha’s skull and squeezing slowly.
Kent’s scream was like a lance in his heart. It grated at something deep inside of him, long dormant and wanting.
Without thinking, the instincts in the back of his head begging, demanding, he grabbed Lex by the throat, shoving him face-down into the chamber floor.
The other omega hit the ground with a pained moan, something -- likely his nose -- crunching under his face. Bruce knelt across his shoulders, sinking his teeth into the back of Lex’s neck and tearing.
Warm, sickly-sweet blood flooded his mouth as Lex convulsed underneath him. Instincts vibrating through his chest, Bruce leaned back and roared, a challenging wave of noise and pheromones snapping through the room.
Against the wall, Zod froze, Kent still grasped between his hands. He turned to look at Bruce, eyes flickering the same, alpha red Kent’s had in the clearing.
“Stop,” Bruce growled, still holding Luthor face-down on the chamber floor, “Now.”
He pushed as much of his command as he could into his scent, watching as Zod wavered under the onslaught of pheromones.
“Stop,” he repeated, baring bloodied teeth at the alpha and begging him, silently, to listen. “Stop.”
I’m pack omega now, he thought viciously, watching as realization dawned in Zod’s deadened, glowing eyes, His blood is on my teeth. I won.
Zod’s hands loosened, dropping Kent to the floor. The alpha -- paler than a sheet, and bleeding from several wounds -- slumped against the destroyed wall with a groan, eyes fluttering closed.
Bruce pushed up from Lex’s back, getting to his feet. He pointed at the Genesis pool, putting every ounce of command and pack omega into his voice.
“Get in,” he ordered, surprised when Zod began to move toward the pool, "Stay there.”
The alpha staggered into the water, lying down on his back with jerky, uncoordinated motions. He looked up at Bruce, whining softly for confirmation.
High on the feeling of being obeyed, Bruce nodded numbly. Go.
Zod’s eyes closed. He slipped fully into the water, taking the last of the sickly glow of kryptonite with him.
Across the room, Kent inhaled suddenly. Bruce felt relief sink through his bones, letting out a soft, questioning whine.
The alpha pushed up onto his feet, still bleeding sluggishly. He stumbled over to Bruce, eyes wide and mouth slack.
“What…” he cut off with a pained noise, putting a hand to his throat, “What happened.”
Bruce glanced at Lex -- still face-down on the floor -- and licked the blood off his teeth absently.
“He pack bonded Zod…” Bruce shook his head, pushing down the instinct to grab onto Kent and just breathe him in, “I had to make him stop. He was going to kill you.”
Kent’s scent held no anger as they drew closer -- only relief and the slight tinge of painworryconfusion.
Trembling arms wrapped around him, drawing him close. Bruce shut his eyes, feeling something hot and right sink into his gut as Kent’s scent layered his own.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” the alpha whispered into his hair.
“Me?” Bruce asked, muffled against Kent’s shoulder. It was becoming a familiar position for them. “Zod nearly killed you.”
“Nearly,” Kent emphasized, amused. He pulled back from the hug slightly, looking down at Bruce with red, flickering eyes. “Are you okay?”
Bruce swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. He nodded, directing Kent’s attention to Lex.
“We have to do something with him,” he said, “And Zod. He’ll be--”
Lips crashed into his own, surprising him. He gasped, leaning back as Kent kissed him with bruising, burning pressure.
He could taste Kent’s strength returning, heady and spicy under his tongue. He moaned into the alpha’s mouth, feeling strong, clever hands descended toward his hips, tightening around the armor and belt there.
Kent pulled away just before he ran out of air completely, smiling down at him with blood-flecked lips.
“Pack omega,” he panted happily, “Does that make you mine, too?”
Bruce glared at him, leaking omega irritation and the softer, sweet notes of relief into his scent. Kent’s eyes glazed over briefly, pupils dilating.
“We’ll see,” he murmured, forcing down twisting, churning indecision in his gut.
Lips grazed his neck, and he shut his eyes, leaning against his alpha.
His second official action as Kryptonian pack omega -- a name bestowed by Clark -- was to inter Zod’s ashes into a grave in Smallville, Kansas.
After a long moment of consideration in the Genesis chamber, they’d reached the decision to euthanize Zod together.
The alpha -- twitching in uneasy sleep under the water -- was clearly in significant pain. Thanks to Lex’s bastardization, pure kryptonite flowed through his veins, poisoning him slowly even as it turned him into the perfect weapon.
I could see it in his eyes, Clark recounted, standing above the pool with a dull, distant expression, I hated him for what he did to Metropolis, but…no one deserves that agony. Not even him.
They quietly euthanized Zod’s sleeping body in the waters of the past -- and under the watchful eye of Krypton’s future. His ashes swirled in the orange liquid, coalescing into a medium-sized grey cube at the behest of the ship.
Lex -- still near-catatonic from the vicious, challenge bite Bruce had ripped into his neck -- was deposited into the waiting arms of the military police a few minutes later.
The remaining kryptonite -- separated from Zod’s ashes and condensed down into pure, glittering mineral -- was secreted away in Bruce’s belt, and later deposited in a lead-lined container in the Cave.
Now, standing above an impressively small grave under a grey, Kansas sky, his newfound authority -- dubiously granted -- seemed to leave him entirely.
Clark shook his head silently, jaw tightening. After a long, thoughtful moment, he grabbed the shovel and began filling the grave.
“Lex Luthor,” he said, in between shovel-fulls, “is a bastard.”
Bruce nodded, unable to find fault in the alpha’s words.
“Did he say anything to you?” Clark asked, abandoning the shovel and stamping on the wet earth to level it out. “About why he did it?”
Bruce stared at the grave as it evened out into unremarkable, Kansan dirt. In his pocket, the pregnancy test burned against his leg, hidden and unused.
“Nothing sensical,” he said, because it was the truth. Lex’s ravings about a future pack had been exactly that -- the ravings of a madman. “I’m sorry.”
Clark wiped his forehead, smearing dirt across his face. He set the shovel into the dirt, turning to look at Bruce.
“I thought this wouldn’t mean anything to me,” he said, gesturing at the filled grave, “but it still hurts.”
Bruce nodded, pulling his coat tighter around himself.
“Burying Jason was the worst day of my life,” he said quietly, “I went into a shock heat right at his grave. I barely remember it.”
Clark shook his head, wrapping his arms around Bruce without hesitation.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t think to ask if it would be…hard for you to be here.”
“It isn’t,” Bruce replied, leaning into the warm, reassuring heat of his alpha. Clark made a pleased noise above him, tightening his hold.
In the distance, Ma Kent -- a kind, if stern beta woman -- stepped onto the back porch, watching them with folded arms. Alfred joined her a moment later, wrapped in several scarves and coats to brave the cold wind.
“There will be more,” Bruce said, breaking the silence, “Like Lex. Looking for kryptonite. Or power. Or both.”
Clark sighed, pulling away from Bruce. In the fading light, his eyes were a vivid, deep blue. Determined.
“We’ll be ready,” he said, with such inherent, alpha confidence, Bruce raised an eyebrow.
“We?” he said, looking back at Clark over his shoulder.
“Yes,” his alpha said, pulling him back in against his chest with a soft, rumbling purr, “We will.”
Bruce closed his eyes, leaning back into his alpha’s grip and exhaling his worries -- existential, instinctive, and practical -- into the bitter, Kansan wind.