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The taxi drops Pep Guardiola off at the gate of the AFA facility. Staring up at the imposing gates, the nerves that have been his faithful companions since he bought his flight tickets threaten to overwhelm him, but he steels himself. He is a seasoned alpha. This gate will not be his undoing.
It is now or never.
He has waited over a decade for this moment. More than once, he had been sure this day would never come. But standing here now, a few feet from the one thing he has wanted more than anything in the world, Pep can only hope he is not too late.
The security at the gate does not waste much time questioning his purpose for the visit, almost like, Pep thinks, they knew to expect him, but that is just wishful thinking. Ten years is a long time and he cannot, in good faith, expect Leo to still be waiting. Not after what Pep did. Not after all this time or all that Leo has been through.
Certainly not after the way they parted ways.
🐐🐐🐐
“You're back,” Leo sighs as his eyes flutter open. He nuzzles into Pep's touch as he struggles to untangle himself from what could be mistaken for an emergency nest, if there is an omega in it.
The sight alone is enough to cause his protective instincts which were already alert to go haywire. It unsettles Pep, the way his instincts respond to Leo. Neither him, nor his alpha has ever reacted to another alpha the way he does with Leo.
The alpha in Pep has always considered Leo an enigma. It would have been less concerning if he saw the younger alpha like a son, or even a younger brother, like most of the team does. But Pep's alpha has been ready to claim Leo from the very first day Leo smiled toothily at him.
The fact that the younger alpha accepts Pep's attention and behavior towards him, even when Pep lets himself get carried away sometimes. He finds himself treating Leo like some omega he wishes to court. Leo has never complained, never fought back.
Pep believes it had a bit to do with the young alpha playing alongside other much older and way more accomplished alphas while he, himself, is still green and finding his place on the team. It's enough to make most alphas submissive. But not to the extent that Leo accepts Pep's orders and commands.
Tonight though, Pep has crossed a line.
When he has walked into Leo's room, hoping for some quiet night in, for the both of them while the rest of the team enjoyed a night out in Vegas, the last thing he expects was to find Leo struggling against one of the hotel security guards. His need to protect and defend takes over so quickly he doesn’t even have any time to process it. He takes in Leo's torn clothes and his vision whites out. By the time Pep realizes himself, the alpha is lying dead at his feet, neck bent at an odd angle. Leo is pliant in his arms, the scent of his relief and contentment pouring out of him in waves as Pep scents and grooms him possessively.
The delicious smell is replaced by the acrid smell of Leo's fear as the authorities arrive, followed shortly by the rest of the team.
“I told you I would be back.” Pep smiles softly as he cradles Leo's face in his palm. His eyes lingers on Leo's lips for a moment before deliberately pulling himself away.
Better quit now that he is ahead. The last thing he needs is to make Leo's alpha feel emasculated right now. In his many years in the football scene, Pep has seen how far an alpha could go to prove their dominance if they feel undermined. Leo might be in shock right now, but he does not wish to push Leo's alpha into that.
“So, you're not in trouble?” Leo inquires, blinking up at Pep.
“None. It is self-defense. Any alpha would do the same in my position. I can not be penalized for following my instincts.” Of course, that is not exactly what happened, but Leo does not need to know that. Pep is free and that is all that matters.
Leo flinches at that like Pep had struck him and Pep curses himself. He does not think Leo is less of an alpha for being unable to defend himself, but he's seen how the police officers who answered the call looked at Leo.
He is not sure if apologizing would help, so he changes the subject. “Where is everyone?” The place had been filled with Leo's teammates when Pep was taken in for questioning.
“I wanted to be alone. Carles took them away.” Leo shrugs. “Can we go home now or do I need to go in for questioning, too?”
“We can leave. I called the pilot when I left the police station. He is ready when we are. The team has been informed.”
Leo nods, before blushing with embarrassment as he takes in the sight he makes on Pep's bed, surrounded by Pep's belongings. “I'll help you pack,” he offers and immediately gets to work, replacing Pep's clothes he had taken from the bag.
Pep does not have the heart to inform him that his time would be better spent packing his own bags, so he lets Leo be.
⭐
Thankfully, the hotel is just as concerned with their image as the club is, so the incident does not make it to the media. Still, everything changes between Pep and Leo after that incident.
Pep does not consider it a life debt, but the alpha in him already claimed Leo as his. He has to constrain himself, bringing the alpha in him to heel whenever they are together. It gets harder with each passing day, the need to mark, claim and let the whole world know that Leo is his and no one is allowed to touch him, or they would risk Pep's wrath, has grown stronger than ever.
But it will not be too long before someone snaps. Either Leo will take Pep's behavior as a challenge or Pep will lose control and do the unthinkable, which will make him no better than the security guard. Either way, Pep is a risk to Leo's career. It is with that in mind he decides he needs to get out. He will not renew his contract with the club.
He is lost in thought, thinking about how best to break the news when his office door opens suddenly and the young alpha who has monopolized his thoughts comes badging in.
“You're leaving?!” Leo asks with wide eyes, chest heaving like he has been running.
“Where did you learn that?” Pep asks, taking in Leo's disheveled state. It takes all of Pep's will to ignore the urge to gather him in his arms and offer him comforts.
“Carles said!” Leo growls accusingly. “He said you haven't renewed your contract, and Xavi mentioned you put your house up for rent.”
Of course, word gets out. What he wouldn't give to smell Leo at that moment, but the players are required to wear scent blockers to prevent confrontations.
When he does not respond, Leo looks at Pep with wide eyes, filled with hurt and betrayal. “Are they right?”
“Leo…” Pep sighs.
“It's because of me, isn't it?” Leo asks then, his anguish and self-blame clear on his beautiful face.
“Leo, no! Don't blame yourself.” He knew it would hurt Leo to see him go, but not once did he expect the young alpha to blame himself.
“Well, it's true! It's because I'm weak, and you— you had to—. I couldn't fight off the alpha myself. You had to step in. And now you're leaving.”
“LEO.” The command slips out before Pep can stop himself, but it gets Leo to shut up. He could not stand to watch Leo blame himself anymore. “I will kill everyone who dares to hurt you, and there will be no iota of regret in me. I will never regret anything I do to protect you, Leo. Do you understand?”
“Then why are you leaving?” Leo whines. It is a sound he has never heard Leo make before. Suddenly, Leo seems much younger than he is.
“Because,” he caresses Leo's face lightly, dragging his fingers from Leo's cheeks down to his lips. They're so close, he only has to shift his face a few inches down and they will be kissing.
Leo lets out a soft breath at his touch.
“Right now, I am the biggest threat to your safety and career. The things I want to do to you Leo, no alpha should have such thoughts about another alpha.”
“What if I wasn't an alpha?” Leo asks in a breathless whisper.
“But you are.” Pep withdraws then, breaking the moment.
“But what if?” He pushes, stepping into Pep's space. “Would you stay then?”
The way the words are said alerts Pep's instincts. He had always thought there was something off about Leo, but he never thought… “What are you saying Leo?”
“I'm saying I'm not alpha.”
“That is impossible.” The alpha in Pep believes Leo. Deep down, this would explain Leo's eccentricities. But the implications—
“Not really.”
“Beta?”
“Try again.”
The growl that rips itself out of Pep's chest reverberates throughout his office, as he hauls Leo in his arms, smashing their lips together and kissing him for all he is worth, while Leo sinks into the kiss, like it is all he has ever wanted
He is not sure how long they kiss. It could have been seconds or hours, Pep is not sure, but he pulls back eventually.
“The door,” Pep nods in explanation to the unlocked door when Leo makes a disgruntled noise and tries to resume to kiss.
“Oh.” Leo blushes prettily.
“It is good, because we need to talk.”
“Now?” Leo asks, flabbergasted, as the lock clicks into place.
Pep returns to his seat, dragging Leo into his lap.
“It can't. How did you get on an alpha team if you're omega?” Betas and Omegas have a merged team, the idea of an omega in an Alpha team is unthinkable. It puts the team and the club at risk. The fact that Leo has been dominating the sport since his debut will ruffle more than a few furs if word got out.
“When we arrived in Spain, it was with the intention to sign for the Beta-Omega team. But Rexach thought I would be wasted there. They came up with the idea to hide my secondary gender.” Leo shrugs self consciously. “Dad did not object. A few doctored reports and I was accepted into the alpha team.”
“Who else knows?”
“Are you asking if you're the last to know? Just the people involved in my signing, the doctor and Zlatan. I think Carles suspects but he has never said anything.”
“That's quite the secret.” Then he pauses. “How did Zlatan find out?”
“He visited unannounced, and caught me without my scent blocker.” Leo pins him with a look. “Does that mean you will stay now that you know?”
Pep sighs, tucking his face in the place where Leo's neck meets his shoulder. If he inhales deeply, he can almost smell the omega pheromones that Leo never lets out.
This is not the kind of life an omega should lead. Forced to hide and suppress his true nature. It's clear now why the hotel guard had targeted him. Leo has not brought him up since they left Vegas but Pep wished he had killed him more slowly.
“Leo, this complicates everything.”
“But how? Is it the age difference? You don't have to feel bad for wanting me. I want you, too”
“Sure, but if you allow me, if I let myself have you, I'll have you barefoot and pregnant before you can say jack. You are meant for much more, my love. The world is yours. You have accomplished so much, but there is much more that you can still achieve. It would be a disservice, to you and to the world, to rob you of that.”
“But—” Leo growls, frustration coloring his words. “What if I want that too?”
“You're twenty four years old, Leo.” Pep smiles. “There will be time for you to want a mate and a family. I will be no different than that guard if I let you risk everything you've worked hard and sacrificed so much for, just for a chance to have you.”
Leo knows he is right. He loves football too much to risk it all for Pep.
Tears drop from Leo's eyes as his words sink it. “So this is it? Goodbye?”
“Not today, and hopefully, not forever.”
“What? But you said —”
“I know what I said. But Leo, the way I feel about you, I have never felt this way about anyone before. It is not fleeting, and I doubt it will go away simply because I'm leaving.”
“So, you're saying?”
“I'm saying that I love you, Lionel Messi, and I want to see you succeed. And when that happens, when you accomplish everything you desire in football, I hope to be the one you want standing by your side when your dreams come true. And if this old man is the one you want, all you have to do is say the word, and I promise, I'll be there.”
“You promise?” Leo asks, his tears still flowing.
“On my life.”
🐐🐐🐐🐐
Pep shakes the memory off. Over ten years and he still remembers that day like it was yesterday. They have both come a long way, and no doubt have been changed by their circumstances in the last decade.
But Leo had sent a message. That had to mean something.
Pep had been concerned when Leo left Barcelona for Paris, but he had breathed more easily when Barcelona's medical doctor suddenly quit and found a job at PSG, just in time for Leo's medicals. It warmed his heart to the fact that he isn't the only one who loves Leo as much as he does, nor is he the only one who would do whatever it took to protect Leo.
Unfortunately, it might as well be, with how little progress has been made in football concerning allowing omegas into alpha teams. Betas has been allowed, but then, even the bias and sexism is rampant enough to send most of the Betas back to omega teams.
Surprisingly, Pep arrives at Leo's room without fanfare. He hesitates momentarily, suddenly unsure if this trip had been a mistake. Maybe Leo had not meant to send the invitation. It could have been a mistake or wrongly delivered to him. After such a long time without communication, it is not impossible. Receiving an invitation to celebrate Leo's birthday with him is weird, now that he thinks about it. Leo probably has a long list of people he wants to celebrate his birthday with. No way it is Pep he wants.
A decade later and the world still doesn't know the truth about Leo Messi's secondary gender. Pep could put Leo at risk just by being here. It would not be wise. Leo has worked very hard to be where he is today, to find the peace he has right now. The last thing Pep wants to do is to disrupt all of it.
Leo is not the wide eyed young boy who used to hero-worship him, he is about to meet with a man, the most accomplished footballer in the history of the sports. The greatest sports personality ever. Surely, he has not spent this entire time waiting for Pep.
He is still second guessing himself when the door swings and Pep almost drops to his knees, mesmerized by how absolutely beautiful Leo is.
“Thought I caught your scent.” Leo looks just as surprised to see him as Pep is to be here. “You came.”
“Well,” Pep grins, trying for levity. “You called.”
“I know but—” Leo shakes his head, still in awe. “You're here.”
“And I'm yours.” Pep shifts on his feet, wondering if he has redad this wrong. If Leo has called him here for something else. “If you will still have me, if it is not too late.”
“Never!”
With that, Leo drags him into the room, crashing their mouths together in a searing kiss.
Finally, Pep thinks, this is home. This is where he is meant to be.