Chapter Text
Tony wasn’t surprised that they weren’t expected. If he had learned in his old pack one thing - they thought they were invincible.
He wasn’t surprised either that they didn’t know what to do when Beatrice, an Omega, attacked. Here, Omega’s didn’t fight. They didn’t try to kill someone. They just were there, being nice and pretty and quiet.
Tony certainly wasn’t ashamed to feel a satisfaction when Beatrice just stabbed an Alpha he had never seen before. But as satisfactory it was, as satisfactory (and a bit disturbing) it was watching Logan ripping someone’s throat out and Sam snapping someone’s neck - that wasn’t what he was here for.
He needed to find Obidiah.
~*~*~
Brock walked through the town that was somewhat silent, even though there was a fight taking place just behind him. They got a mission. Get out everyone who wants to get out. Everyone that wasn’t being stupid, as Fury had put it.
Where they would put those people, only God knew. According to that Stark guy there were quite a few Omegas that needed to get out, not talking about any Betas.
“Rumlow!”
Brock didn’t flinch, but that was his only success right now. He couldn’t change how he stared at the guy. Cain Mark or something. Someone he really didn’t want to see again.
“Didn’t know you joined that pussy pack. Let me tell you, that was a stupid idea. But if you wanna do a smart one, join us.”
Brock ground his teeth, carefully gripping his gun tighter before grinning.
“And why would I do that? Last time I looked we were a bit ahead of what you call pack.”
The guy (Marko. Cain Marko!) laughed, obviously believing he really had a valid reason.
“C’mon. I mean, sure, I saw some nice looking ass at that pack, but they all don’t know their place. Like, seriously, you could have a dozen of Omega’s here and no one would bat an eye. And they would act appropriately, too.”
Brock wanted to shoot him. But that would include being faster than Marko and if he remembered right, that guy was fast when he started.
Then Marko squinted at him and took a few steps towards Brock.
“Well, or are you still doing such stupid things as fucking other Alphas? I mean, sure, a hole’s a hole, but man, you can be happy only that faq got what he deserved. I’m still glad that I told the Alpha, corrupting a good guy like you. Except if yo….”
Before Marko could finish, before Brock heard the shot, he had already pulled the trigger, watching Marko fall.
The only one that got what he deserved was Marko. Who had been allowed to have a life while Jack was dead.
Brock took a deep breath and turned around again, walking towards the first house that reeked of fear.
Tasha had been right. It had been the decisions that were made in the past that made him who he was today. He just hoped she would understand that this had been a decision he needed to make to become someone else.
Brock raised his hand and slapped it against the door.
“Hey! Someone in there? I know it doesn’t look like it, but we're here to help if you want.”
~*~*~
Nick didn’t stay after it became clear that his people had the upper hand. As far as he could tell, not even that much fighting was taking place anymore. More confused Omega’s and some Beta’s were coming out of their house. He smelled… fire. But that wasn’t the smell he looked for. It was disturbing and dampened the smell of cinnamon and vanilla.
The same smell he had smelt on Phil when he had found him. A smell he was sure he would never forget.
Especially not when it became stronger and stronger. He would hate cinnamon and vanilla forever.
In the end, Nick stood in the doorway from a very nice brick house, big enough for a family. The whole house reeked and then a woman walked down the stairs, a bag slung over her shoulder.
She frowned, looking him up and down. Clearly deciding her next move. She decided to try to be nice to the Omega, because a smile crept up her face. She wasn’t bad looking, that he had to admit.
“And you would be, Omega?”, the woman asked, clearly used to getting her way. Nick just continued to lean against the door frame.
“The one who’s going to kill you. Any name I should ask for when we’re finished here to find some poor soul?”
The smile got wiped off from the woman’s face, replaced by an ungly snarl.
“Oh, so you’re the Omega that convinced an Alpha to give you the right to decide what’s going to happen?”
Nick raised an eyebrow.
“I take that as a no?”
She laughed and walked towards him.
“Well, well, aren’t you an ugly one. I would really like to know how you managed to corrupt some Alpha that much that he had to get replaced as an Alpha. I mean, you must admit, it must be tiring to pretend you’re okay with all that responsibility.”
Nick chuckled and straightened. He knew what picture he could make. He knew that he could look threatening. And he knew that it worked when he looked into that woman’s face, her smell picking up, just a tiny bit.
He bent forward a bit, smiling.
“It’s an easy trick. And an easy mistake. Coulson is an Alpha. But you threatened my pack, woman. The pack I am responsible for.”
He barely gave her time to process what he meant before he raised his hands in a fluid motion, turning her head hard and fast. Hearing her neck break before she fell down, her scent still strong as ever.
“You tried to kill the wrong guy, Missy.”
~*~*~
“Well, what do we have here? Shouldn’t you be home, begging for an Alpha’s cock?”
Wade bit on his lip, ignoring the Alpha that had talked to him. He was good at ignoring people. Okay, no, he wasn’t, but he was good at trying. And damn, he would try. He had refused to talk to Victor the whole morning, even though they both knew that this heat was stronger than the others. That this was the heat the medical staff had been talking about. The last one his body had before it would stop fighting the hormones.
And he damn well wouldn’t let some asshole Alpha ruin that for him.
A hand landed on his shoulder, gripping hard and trying to spin Wade around. It wasn’t easy. You couldn’t just move two hundred pounds of muscle. Wade had made sure of that. Victor had made sure of that when it became clear that people would try to attack Wade.
“Hey, bitch! I am talking to you? Or are the Alpha’s from your pack not worth it. Having to go somewhere to look for a good knot?”
Wade kicked back. Basing on the sound the guy made right in the nuts. He turned around looking at the man that now slowly stood up again, pain clear on his face.
"Okay, first - thanks, I am very satisfied with my Alpha. Second, I'm a Beta. Third, let's be real, you don't even look like you are satisfied with your knot, so you shouldn't offer it to some other poor soul."
The Alpha grimaced and then laughed. Before Wade could see the swing, he was already on the ground.
"Only thing I see here is a prissy bitch pretending to be something they aren't."
The fist came down again and Wade tasted blood.
"Maybe your Alpha should've shown you your place a bit better.", the Alpha continued. Wade heard the telltale sound of a belt getting opened and dove up, hitting with his head right into the Alpha's one, relishing in the howling sound that was paired with a loud cracking.
It was only when someone pulled him up and ducked his hit that Wade realized his hands were full of blood and that the Alpha was lying on the ground, barely recognizable anymore.
"He's dead. Can't do more."
Wade blinked, still staring at his hands in Victor's grip.
"You saw."
Victor didn't say anything, but at least he let go of Wade's hand.
"... you saw and didn't... do anything?"
"No. You can handle yourself."
"But..." Wade said, but didn't finish. He didn't know what to say. It didn't fit Victor's behavior. Not really... not how he must see him.
Victor sighed and pulled him in a rough hug before letting go again.
"You're my mate. You can handle yourself. No reason to step in. Now come on, Barnes' trying to calm down some kid that talks too much."
Wade stared after his mate, blinking away the tears. Swallowing down the lump in his throat.
Victor didn't step in. Not because he wanted to see Wade fail but because he knew what Wade could do.
Maybe, even though it was difficult, they could work through this. Maybe they were still fitting pieces in a puzzle.
~*~*~
Logan spit out. No matter how hard one tried, you couldn’t get rid of the taste of blood in your mouth. Just like it was almost next to impossible to get rid of blood stains on clothes. And it didn’t make a trustworthy picture. But then, based on what he had heard from some people, he doubted that a blood-smeared Alpha would be the worst thing anyone could ever see here.
A strong smell hit him. A mix of panic and distress and… hopelessness. He turned and looked at the house it came from. The door was open. No harm in looking.
“Someone in here?” Logan called out, but no answer. And then there was a small sob, somewhere upstairs. Logan swallowed and started to walk further into the house, only getting interrupted by an almost inaudible groan. There was more of that smell.
“Hello?”
He walked into something that must’ve been a living room at some point. Now, it was trashed. There was blood on the couch. Glass was broken. And a man laid right in the middle of all this mess, trying to stand up. Falling down again. The smell of distressed Omega stained everything. But what got him most was the fact that there was a stale smell to it. As if this room was used to it.
“Hey, bub. Careful.” Logan murmured and reached out carefully, not surprised when the guy tried to flinch away. He opened his eyes, staring at Logan without seeing him. Only panic was in there.
“..’ssie?”
“I’m Logan. You want help getting outside?” Logan asked, not sure if the guy could even really understand him.
“C’ssie… m’ daughter... “, the Omega murmured.
Logan blinked. The sob. That must’ve been her. Carefully, he sat the Omega up.
“Is she upstairs?”
The man just nodded, closing his eyes and opening them right away.
“Smart boy. Don’t sleep. I get her.”
The man didn’t do anything, just trying to fight off sleep. Logan slowly went up, almost gagging when he passed a room that smelled even worse than the living room. A look into it confirmed that it was the bedroom. Thoughtful he looked at the framed picture of some guy with the poor Omega and a small kid, not older than a few months. Right next to the outdated law most traditional packs still follow. Most traditional couples had those rules somewhere in their home.
Hell, he had them in Scott and his own home, too. He hated how twisted they seemed to be here.
He closed the door and walked towards the end of the corridor, the smell lightening a bit. Another note, something akin to content. And the sea. Logan opened the room where it was strongest, looking at a small kid, sitting in her bed. Not really crying but definitely in distress. She couldn’t have been older than nine or eleven months.
“Hey. You must be the sweet thing your Papa asked me about.” Logan said, already glad that she didn’t start to cry. He took her out of the bed, careful about the bunny plushie she kept holding and went downstairs again. The happy and fearful look on the Omega’s face broke Logan a bit more.
“Can… Can I have her?”
“Sure, bub. Your kid anyway.” Logan said, carefully putting her in the Omega’s arms.
“Thank you, Alpha. My Alpha… don’t know where he is… what’s happening? I’m Scott. This is Cassie.”
“Logan. Not Alpha.” Logan murmured, thinking about his Scott at home, who probably did school work with Kayla right now. Or prepared something sweet for her. Maybe talking to his mother.
“Your pack tried to take over my pack. We didn’t take that lightly. Wanna get outside? You don’t need to come with us, but if you want, we have the space.”
And damn well, if Logan would need to, he would bring that Omega back home. Scott would love it, would love to have another kid to dote on for a while.
The Omega shrugged but stood up, clearly used to moving even though being in pain. When they reached the porch, Scott sat down again, just looking into nothing, cradling his daughter to his chest.
“I just… thinking.”
“Good. If you wanna, one of us can be found at the square.”
Scott nodded and Logan walked away again, not looking around. Not wanting to see more Omegas, all having their own story. Betas. Alphas that were just looking out for their family as good as possible. Kids that couldn’t defend themselves.
And then he saw Tony, kneeling by an elderly man. Dead. Beaten. But just enough to be dead. Nothing more. And Tony just looked… as if he had closed a chapter.
“Feeling better, bub?” Logan asked. Tony nodded and looked up, eyes searching for something, someone. Another thing he needed to close up here, probably.
“Yes… he said how I would’ve fitted so well, if I would just see how a bit of tradition could help… and… I…. he’s the reason my parents… we need to get them out of here. Just… not being here.”
Logan nodded and thought about his Scott, sitting home because he wanted to. Because he had decided that he wanted that traditional life for him. Because he wanted to be a traditional Omega. Because he wanted to be there for their daughter, wanted to just… do something he liked. Not because he had been taught that this was the only way he could exist. But because he wanted to.
Logan hated how this dedication had been twisted here. How the responsibility an Alpha had to their Omega had been twisted here. No matter how traditional one lived, it shouldn’t be like that. It’s not about tradition if you only use it to prove yourself something.
Logan took out a cigar and lightened it, thinking about how their anniversary would be soon and that he needed to show his Omega that he was a special one in this strange world.