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Kori is on the hunt for Raven when she smells it. The scent of a heat. So thick and sweet and tantalising that she immediately smacked a hand over her mouth to stifle the scent. It bathed her tongue like a heavy blanket.
And beneath that sweet-smelling pheromone, Kori could pick out the familiar scent of something clean like lemons or fresh linen. A smell she can only ever associate with her best friend. With Robin. With Dick.
Pack omega heat nest heat omega pack find him find omega find pack protect pack heat omega sooth help protect find—
The scent toys with the instincts at the back of her mind, that alpha desire to protect and keep save her loved ones. She cannot help the little growl that escapes her throat at the thought, and instead of going towards the smell, Kori urges herself away from it, down into the lower levels of the tower.
“Vic!” She calls, unable to stop the desperation from leaking into her tone. She finds him in the kitchen — where he usually is on this Saturday: stress-baking. And playing very loud music. “Vic!”
“Hmm?” He jolts at her yell, scrambling to turn the volume of his music. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Dick!” Kori cries. “I think he has entered his heat!” Her hands are shaking, her nerves and her instincts are going haywire to track down the omega in heat and snuggle with him, making sure he’s protected and safe and loved as he goes through such a vulnerable process. “I am an alpha, Vic,” she admits miserably, “I cannot risk going in there— I will not scare Robin, intentionally or not.”
Vic frowns. “Robin’s not scared of you, Kori,” he says, “I’m sure you’d be welcome for his heat.”
“He should be with his pack.” Kori says seriously. “Can you get Batman online?”
“Batman is in Gotham.” Vic counters, “Four hours away.”
Kori lets that sink in for a moment. “We are stuck.”
“No, what we are is good friends. And we’re not going to make Robin ride out this heat by himself.”
She frowns. “What do you propose?”
“Beast Boy and Raven are out on patrol at the moment.” Vic tells her and Kori finds herself nodding. “I’ll let them know the situation and sort everything out for us to be able to hunker down for the next few days.”
“I shall tend to Robin?” She asks nervously. The alpha inside her purrs, satisfied, and the idea of spending Robin’s heat with him. She’s a good alpha. She would protect him. “What if he doesn’t want me there?” She fiddles with the ring on her finger. “I do not wish to intrude.”
Vic levels her with a dry stare and Kori feels herself grow red under it. “Kori,” he says, “Out of anyone, I think Robin would trust you the most with his heats.”
She swallows, “How do you know that?”
Vic laughs, “I have eyes.”
<><><>
Robin’s room is shrouded in darkness. There, in the shadow, Kori’s eyes can pick out a lump in the middle of his double bed. The scent of sweet heat rolls over her, thick enough to feel like she’s inhaling smog, and Kori is winded for a brief moment before she grapples for control of herself again.
The sheets have all been pushed to the sides of the bed to form a barrier, and the rest of his nest is covered in blankets and pillows and other soft things.
“Robin?” Kori calls quietly. Her instincts are going haywire. “Robin, are you feeling adequate?”
The body in the nest whines — a high pitched, needy thing — and Kori’s alpha instincts urge her across the floor towards the bed before she can think better of it.
A pair of bright blue eyes prick up from the swaths of blankets and watch her hazily as she approaches. They’re wary at first, and there lies a beginning of a growl in his throat— but when Robin seems to recognise Kori, the growl tapers off into a purr.
“Robin?” Kori asks again. “Is this your nesting heat? Do you require anything from me?”
One palm emerges from the blanket pile and grabs onto her hand. Robin whines again and tries to tug her forward. Then, a single word that makes her heart stutter in her chest.
“Master?” Robin rasps, his voice slipping into a keen as he positions himself further out of the blankets. Kori’s voice freezes in her throat.
She has dared to risk forgetting.
Robin had spent seven months with Deathstroke. That means there’s a chance— there’s a change Robin had to spend his heats with the assassin. And deep down, Kori knows that the Terminator is not the sort of alpha that would appreciate heat blockers.
That means that he—
Oh Gods.
“No, Robin,” she whispers, “It is Starfire: it is Kori.”
There is a beat of silence, then a strangled noise, “Kori?” He croaks, and she melts with relief.
“Yes, Robin, it is I,” she heads a little closer to the bed, and a thrill of satisfaction shoots through her as Robin keens, high and needy, as her scent permeates over the thick smell of omega heat. He reaches out to tug her into the nest again.
Despite the instinctual part of her brain that wants to leap into the bed and hold onto Robin tight and sink deeply into the alpha side of her, Kori has never been one to miss out on the expected rituals. Instead, she shakes off his hand — as much as the saddened whine makes her heart panic — and dips her head instead.
“This is a lovely nest, omega,” she says quietly, respectfully. The whine cuts off abruptly into surprise. “May I enter?”
There’s an exasperated huff — something so typical of Robin that she can’t help but giggle as the hand emerges again and pulls her into the nest. The smell of heat is even stronger here — of needy-cuddly-stay-with-me and Robin wastes no time tugging her down beside him.
Kori tries to be as delicate as she can with the nest, she doesn’t want to disturb his meticulous efforts. Robin, however, makes it clear he doesn’t seem to care much as he bundles a blanket over her, chuffing unintelligibly.
“Is everything alright for you, Robin?” She murmurs.
He hums, and when his words come out, they’re clumsy and slow, “Where’s B?”
“B?” She echoes. “By that, do you mean Batman? I am very sorry, Robin, but Batman is not here right now.” She swallows, “I understand if you would like me to leave, as I am not the alpha of your pack and I do not wish to make you uncomfortable in any way—“
She goes to roll over. Robin grabs her. “No,” he whines drowsily, but with no room for disagreement. “Alpha stays.”
Once he’s tucked her in, coated her in a blanket full of Robin’s scent, and maybe a little bit of Raven’s, Robin attaches himself to her side, burrowing his face into her neck and inhaling at her scent gland.
He trills, satisfied. The vibrations in his throat thrums against her skin and this time Kori doesn’t swallow back the contended chur that emerges from her throat in response. Her alpha side is finally satiated, and with that, Kori can sink back into her instincts the way Robin has and enjoy the feeling of her pack tucked up against her.
She knows she shouldn’t check – it’s been over a month since Robin returned to them after Deathstroke’s grip, but she still finds herself burrowing into his neck and checking for that metallic lilt that had coated Robin’s entire body whilst he was with Wilson.
Kori doesn’t really want to think about what the implications of that are.
Robin had been drenched in his scent, but had always refused to comment on it. He would brush off any attempt at question or concern, and spent almost an hour in the shower after the mission had been over. Kor knows he was trying to scrub away the smell of Deathstroke.
And she can’t help the palpable relief that strings up inside her when she inhales his scent and all she smells is fresh citrus and coffee and linen. He smells like Robin, and, Kori notes, somewhat wryly, he smells a little like her, too.
That makes her prouder than she’d like to admit.
Because the titans are her pack. She might not be theirs, and it’s not an established thing, but to Kori, these are the packmates she wants to cuddle up with, spend heats and ruts with, the people she wants to protect.
With that final thought, and Robin tucked up against her chest, Kori finally lets her alpha instincts wash over her and seize control, content and safe in her omega’s nest.
A disturbance at the edge of her senses rouses Kori from the sleepy-instinctual-daze she had let incase her mind. Someone intruding on the nest? Beside her, Kori’s omega shifts and burrows closer. But that doesn’t soothe her frayed nerves.
There’s something happening.
With a little growl of warning, Kori lifts her head and peers through the darkness. Three figures stand at the door.
Kori growls again. Intruders. They have no scent. She doesn’t know them. They could hurt her omega. She tucks Robin tighter against her at the thought. He hasn’t noticed the intrusion, and Kori wants to keep him as relaxed as possible. If that means dealing with these intruders herself, so be it.
Kori growls again, louder this time, and sits up. She directs Robin’s limp head into her lap and cards her fingers through his hair. It’s surpassingly soft without all the gel he usually cakes it with, floppy down to his ears and slightly curly.
Someone is closer to the bed— a dark, hulking figure equipped with a cloak — but carries the undeniable weight of an Alpha.
Threat, her instincts murmur like silk against the shell of her ear. Threat, threat, threat.
Robin whines and that’s when Kori realises the amount of defend-protect-attack pheromones she has been releasing, potent enough to even temporarily trump Robin’s heat scent. She hesitates for a moment, then bends over to check on him, nuzzling into his throat and only stops when Robin sighs, happy again, and the smell of aggression has faded. Someone twitches and Kori’s gaze snaps back over to them.
“Easy, easy,” They say in a low voice. Not one she recognises. “Easy, Kori. It’s just us.” They don’t smell like pack. She bares her teeth in the beginning of a snarl. Having strangers so close to the nest, so close to the omega, has never gone well. Defend him, her alpha side urges . Defend the omega.
“Oh shit,” says another voice, this one higher and raspier. “Uh, guys? We should probably take our scent blockers off, right?”
A beat.
“We’re idiots.” Says the first voice. Kori growls again, confused, agitated at the fact that these strangers aren’t leaving. Then— suddenly, she’s flooded with the scent of pack. And Kori just melts. Robin must subconsciously detect the shift too, as he cracks open an eye, even with just a slip of consciousness on his face, to purr invitingly at their guests. Kori cradles him closer.
Vic, as expected, also uses the traditional form of asking permission to enter the nest, before the beta slowly peels back the covers and tries his best to lay down on Robin’s other side without disturbing anything. Robin makes a noise somewhere between amused and irritated and pulls Vic in the rest of the way.
After that, Beast Boy dives into the nest and wiggles around until he’s resting on Robin’s leg like a cat. It’s always best to have every member of the pack touching the omega in some respect during a nesting heat, so Kori can’t find it in herself to complain even as Robin turns away from her a little to press his nose into Vic’s scent gland.
Raven is more apprehensive as she sinks into the nest. She’s never been one for physical touch, and Kori watches her a little warily as the other alpha lurks for a moment before picking her position inside the nest. She awkwardly lays down on the side of Robin’s legs opposite Gar and wraps her arms around his slim waist. Kori huffs and draws her own arm over the top of both Raven and Robin. She doesn’t miss the way Raven relaxes into her touch.
Robin tries his best to ensure they’re all comfortable — he busies himself with ensuring they’ve all got plentiful pillows and blankets wrapped around them. Kori stays ;limp - as she also advises the others to do - as Robin mother-hens them. It’s sort of nice to be looked after. Robin has always looked after them. And finally, when they’ve all chuffed their contentment, does Robin lie back and snuggle back where he was originally against Kori.
The room still smells like Robin, like a sweet omega heat, but now has also been infused with the smells of the rest of Kori’s pack – the clementine, slightly sterile smell of Vic, Gar’s toffee, Raven’s scent of fresh pages.
Kori rubs her nose against Robin’s scent gland again and her inner alpha can’t restrain the joy that she feels when Robin presses tighter against her with another happy purr. The whole pack is here, all pressed against her omega in some way, and Kori’s brain chants safe safe safe, she knows it to be true.