Chapter Text
Tony ran. He ran until there was a stitch in his side, until the air in his lungs was burning, until his heart beat so hard that he could hardly see a thing outside of white mist and lunging shadows.
And then he ran some more, because Brock Rumlow and the rest of his so-called Strike Team weren’t letting up at all. It was hardly fair, given that the little gang of Alpha-holes were encouraged to run sports and do track and field, and omegas like Tony were not.
What the hell reason should Tony, a posh and pretty little omega, need to the ability to get away. It wasn’t like he was going to reject someone like Brock, all Alpha’s alpha, big and strong and smelly. Was he?
Yeah, right.
Obviously the person who decided on the rules and what was appropriate behavior and what an omega would really want were either Alphas themselves, or had never met anyone like Brock.
Personally, Tony was beginning to hope his heart would explode and spare him the indignity. And soon, because they were catching up to him.
It shouldn’t have gotten so bad, Tony thought. He crouched near the side of a tree, hands in the bush around him, using the scrawny branches to hold himself up.
There were laws and rules and custom, and Tony was supposed to be protected, and just because he’d gone to a special school, he wasn’t the first one to try to break the mold, that had been done over and over since the sixties, and he just wanted to learn engineering, was that so bad, not go to the normal schools for omegas and betas to be sheltered and protected -- a lot of betas went to the Alpha schools, too, it wasn’t like he was the only one.
And he’d gone into heat.
He wasn’t supposed to. According to his calendar, he had a whole other week before he should consider taking a day off from school. The first day was always worst, and he’d been lucky a few times recently that it’d already been the weekend. Or, once, over the Christmas holidays. He was young, he was unbound, he only went into heat once a season or so, it wasn’t that bad, missing one day -- or two days -- every three or four months, right?
Except that he’d started unexpectedly. Maybe it was the failure in lab and the self-indulgent crying fit with chocolate ice cream that he’d indulged in that had triggered him, but around lunch that day, Tony started noticing that he was getting looks.
Looks with intent.
Double takes.
Even from the damn teachers, some of whom were alphas, even if they were kinda fat and lazy bound Alphas. No unbound Alpha could be trusted to teach a class with Omega students, so the saying went, and Tony thought that was just more secondary sexist bullshit, they weren’t animals, were they?
Tony caught a hint of Rumlow’s scent in the air and was willing to reconsider the idea that maybe Alphas were animals. Pigs, perhaps.
Snakes.
Pond scum.
Well, pond scum wasn’t really an animal, was it. More like a weed. Or, you know, mildew. Something gross and slimy.
“Well, there you are, little meggie,” Rumlow said, grabbing hold of Tony’s upper arm out of goddamn nowhere.
“Leave me alone,” Tony yelled, yanking his arm away. He managed it, but only barely, and he was pretty sure he was going to have goddamn Rumlow fucking fingerprints embedded in his bicep, and how was that for being marked?
Better, he thought, looking up into Rumlow’s brilliant brown eyes, than the alternative.
“Don’t know what the fuss is all about,” Rumlow said, grabbing Tony again and pulling him in, until Tony was up against Rumlow’s chest, toes barely scraping the ground. “We all know what you Megs want, don’t we? Just a strong Alpha to take care of you--”
“Well, if you see one, let me know,” Tony said, struggling to get away, because god damnit, it was supposed to be his choice and he didn’t want Rumlow.
Which seemed to be exactly the damn problem. He was in heat, he was supposed to want anyone with a knot to fuck him until he couldn’t see, wasn’t that right?
Tony got another whiff of Rumlow’s rut-smell.
No. It wasn’t right at all, apparently, because Tony did not want that, he didn’t want Rumlow touching him, and dear fucking Christ, he didn’t want Rumlow’s goddamn knot anywhere near him.
Tony stared up at Rumlow’s face and it was all he could do not to cry, scream, panic. Because he was going to get claimed, wasn’t he? Right here, right now, by an Alpha he couldn’t stand and then Howard was going to talk about how it was best, and he’d cut Rumlow a check and make Tony move out, like he was fucking disgraced.
The rest of Rumlow’s pack caught up, wild-eyed and eager, snarling like a passel of junkyard dogs. They didn’t even seem human to Tony anymore, just beasts, beast that wanted to tear him apart, and Tony considered throwing himself on Rumlow’s mercy. Just you, he thought desperately, maybe if it’s just you, I can stand it.
Rumlow ducked his chin and kissed Tony roughly, all scraping teeth and thrusting tongue and Tony coughed and spluttered and fucking bit down, because god damn it, no, he said no, he didn’t--
Rumlow pushed him onto the ground, where all the breath left Tony’s chest in a rush.
“God, you ain’t even worth it, scrawny little snip of a meg. Ain’t a curve on your body, bet you’re just like fucking a puddle of mud,” Rumlow said, wiping his mouth with disgust.
Of course that didn’t make any sense that it should sting and burn and hurt. Did he want Rumlow to want him? No, no, he didn’t, and it wasn’t that he was being rejected that hurt, Tony told himself, just that the words were ugly, and it didn’t matter that it was Rumlow who was saying them, because they’d been said before.
He was worthless, and the fact that even Rumlow recognized it, not even good enough for a fuck, a cheap fuck, and--
“Run, baby, run,” Rumlow told him, kicking Tony’s thigh a few times, making the muscle jump and ache. “Maybe if I catch you, I might have pity on you, give you the best time you’ve seen yet. If you lead me on a good chance.”
Tony almost went tharn, fear-flooded and limp. Like if he just lay there, maybe they’d get bored and go away. He wouldn’t be any sport, and if he could lay like he was dead, maybe it wouldn’t hurt. Maybe it would be over quickly.
But there was part of Tony that just couldn’t give up, wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. And maybe there was some satisfaction in chasing him, in making him run like a rabbit, but maybe, just maybe, he could get away.
As soon as he could scramble to his feet, he was gone, knee bleeding from where Rumlow pushed him, chest burning again, and he was being chased, he was an animal, just an animal, a fucking rabbit, but he was running and maybe Tony could be fast enough.
***
How could they just keep coming, Tony wondered. He stumbled into the ditch and couldn’t find the strength to get up again.
He knew he was leaving his scent everywhere, even when he tried to double back, he was in heat, damn it, he was leaving a trail behind him like chocolate and fruity pebbles -- Rhodey had told him that once, said it was nice, and damn it, Tony wished like hell that Rhodey was here, and not somewhere in the Air Force doing wonderful, no doubt patriotic things.
And there were more of them than there was of him. Where he had to keep moving constantly to stay out of sight, the pack of Alphas could surround him and drive him, and they did. Out of the park and out of the town and into the actual-facts woods, and if Tony had felt like a rabbit before, that was nothing compared to how scared and stupid he felt in the damn woods where he couldn’t see shit, and there were more trees and grass and streams than really, there should be.
There was nothing. There was nothing left. He couldn’t even find it in his chest to be afraid anymore, he was just exhausted, and if he was going to cry when they caught him, it was only because they were going to force him to do things that weren’t sleep.
Tony closed his eyes and gave up.
There was snarling, an actual fucking howl. Tony pulled himself into a tight little ball. Maybe they’d miss him in the dark, so busy posturing for each other.
They didn’t really want him, anyway, and that shouldn’t have hurt, but it did. They didn’t want to fuck him, it wasn’t desire. It was just random cruelty, and maybe--
Someone screamed.
There was more snarling.
Tony guessed that someone had found his trail, had realized that he was down and utterly vulnerable and they were going to claim their prize.
And someone else, Rumlow, Tony would have guessed, was objecting. Not because he wanted Tony, but because he had claimed Tony and he didn’t want anyone else to have what was his.
There was fighting. Nearby. Tony couldn’t even bring himself to care. He didn’t uncurl. He was a pillbug.
He was a rock.
He was...
Scooped up and tucked against a warm chest, and there was the smell of sweat and blood and of god, what fresh hell was this?
Tony whimpered.
“Shhh,” a deep voice said. He didn’t recognize the voice. “I’ve got you. Just hush.”
A hand dropped on top of Tony’s head, thick fingers gliding through his hair. He was being petted and cosseted, and, he came to realize, being fucking carried through the woods like he didn’t weigh anything. The person who was holding him was an Alpha, because of course he fucking was, and he smelled rich and warm and mouthwatering. Like pine trees and wood burning fires, like burned marshmallows and vodka. Like rare steak and a slice of hot pepper.
Tony buried his nose against that smell and kept his eyes closed.
Whatever this was, he didn’t want to see it.
Maybe he was goddamn hallucinating, so lost to fear that he was making up an impossible rescue.
Doubtful. Tony wasn’t the romantic type, and if some other Alpha was taking him away from Rumlow, it was because some other Alpha wanted Tony for reasons of his own. Probably nefarious reasons.
Tony couldn’t quite bring himself to feel anything more than a sting of panic over it. If it was some other Alpha, and he was about to be mated by someone he didn’t even know, was that better, or worse, than being forced by someone he did know and didn’t like?
***
Tony woke up almost entirely as expected. Laying in a fucking nest somewhere, with a heavy, hairy, naked person curled on top of him. That he was also naked wasn’t even a shock. It was almost so expected as to be fucking cliche.
The fact that the warm person smelled like a lightly toasted s’more, and was actually sort of comfortable and pleasant didn’t take away from the fact that Tony was naked. With an Alpha. Whose name he didn’t even know.
Tony took a mental inventory. Sans pants, he really would have expected his bits to be sore; someone divesting Tony of the burdens of virginity in a heat-induced rut wasn’t someone Tony expected to be gentle.
He was thirsty as hell; his jaw clicked as he swallowed, trying to work up a little bit of spit. He was going to have to try to get out from under the unknown Alpha, and without waking him was likely to be tricky.
Tony squirmed.
Yeah, tricky was a word.
The Alpha made a sleepy sound, stuck a cold nose in the skin at Tony’s throat. Tony flinched away from that frigid skin. Where the hell were they, anyway?
It was still dark. Tony wasn’t sure if he’d slept (being abducted wasn’t good for his time sense) long enough to have slept the day around. Probably not. He was thirsty, a little hungry, and he had to pee, but none of those things were so urgent as to indicate that he’d lost more than eight hours.
Despite that, there was moonlight streaming in through a nearby window, and the flicker of what might have been a dying fire nearby. A log cabin in the woods. How romantic. Tony thought he might swoon. Sarcastically, of course.
Tony tried subtle. It didn’t work. The Alpha laying on him weighed a ton. When that didn’t work, Tony tried wriggling and squirming and shoving. That didn’t work either. This guy had a serious case of the Monday mornings. Either that, or he’d worn himself out working Tony over while he was sleeping.
Which still didn’t make sense, because even if he was super, super gentle and kind, Tony was pretty sure he’d feel differently if he’d been taking someone’s knot in his sleep.
Sore. Sore-er, if that was a word. Because really, he was almost totally awake know and the various muscles he owned (they weren’t impressive and there weren’t very many of them, but he did have them. A bit.) were complaining.
The Alpha nuzzled at him, nose going by instinct to the crook of Tony’s neck where the secondary sex glands were, the smelly little bastards that had been making his life difficult since he was twelve years old.
And then the Alpha licked Tony’s neck.
Oh, gross, oh god, oh, yuck. Tony pushed, shoved, squirmed backward frantically. “No, no, no, no,” he complained. The Alpha was mostly unmoved.
Mostly.
He opened one light colored eye. “Hmmm?” Blinked a few times, sleepily. Gazed at Tony with infinite tenderness.
Those eyes were as silver as moonlight, wide and almost glowing and Tony’s breath caught in his throat, the whiff of Alpha hormones making him dizzy, lightheaded, hungry and horny all at once.
Inconvenient.
He was about to get pounded, Tony just knew it.
“Uh…” Tony managed. “Thirsty?” Please, please, please could he have a drink of water because being bent over, please?
He didn’t say any of that, bit down on it fiercely, in fact.
“Yeah, k,” the Alpha said. He stretched, rolled off. Sat up, showing off an absolutely ridiculous amount of muscular back and wide arms and broad shoulders. Scars. And a silver limb from the shoulder down that whined and shifted as he moved, some sort of high tech prosthetic. How had Tony not noticed laying on that? But it did explain why the guy was immovable as a truck. That thing had to weigh a ton.
“Oh, hey, wow, that--”
Tony stopped talking because the guy stood up.
Stood up and he was as naked as possible.
Naked and showing off the sort of ass that would make a werewolf howl, talk about a full moon, oh, dear god.
Tony choked.
The only reason, Tony told himself later, that he didn’t flee for the fucking hills as soon as the moon god was out of the bed was because Tony was also starkers, and running with his dick swinging just didn’t seem very comfortable.
It wasn’t at all so that he could check out the way the Alpha’s thighs moved, the way his hips swung, the way Tony could just catch a glimpse of round and dangling balls. The way he wanted the Alpha to turn around and strut right back to Tony, bare and on full display.
Hoooooly shit.
The Alpha crossed the room, dragged a bottle of something out of an old-fashioned ice chest. “Here,” he said, bringing the bottle back. Tony forewent getting a sneak peek in favor of making grabby hands at the bottle of window cleaner blue sports drink. He was so damn thirsty that his jaw clicked with every swallow and he was all but mewling with need by the time the bottle ran dry.
“Easy,” the Alpha said, trying to tip the bottle back down. Tony jerked to one side to continue guzzling. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, I ain’t… I’m gonna take care of you, you don’t have to worry.”
A spurt of blue drink dripped out of Tony’s mouth and down his chest. Take care of you. “Yeah, okay, that’s real reassuring there, dude. Take care of me and then take care of me. Yeah, I feel so much better.”
There was a quick flash of teeth in the semi-darkness. “We have more problems than you can shake sarcasm at, Omega,” the Alpha said, and the way that deep voice caressed the words absolutely did not send a shiver down Tony’s spine.
“I don’t know about that,” Tony said. “I got a lot of sarcasm.”
“So I’m gatherin’,” the Alpha said.
“So, why don’t you tell me what these problems are, I’ll tell you why they’re not problems, and you can just let me go,” Tony said. That wasn’t going to happen, Tony knew that already. Alphas who thought that Omegas had problems (and wasn’t that all of them, all the time, from you broke a pretty little nail all the way to you need a knot, baby, that’s all) were compelled to solve them. Usually in such a manner than benefitted the Omega not at all, but hey, it’s not like they counted as real people or anything.
“Heh, whatever you say, sugar,” the Alpha said. “Guess we’ll start with th’ biggest and work our way down. You’re--” he jammed a finger in Tony’s direction “--in heat.”
“Happens I knew that,” Tony said. “Unexpected and early, but no--”
“Don’t say no big deal, because I ain’t talkin’ heat markers, or startin’, or need t’ take a day off. I mean that jackass bit you, and you’re going to go full rut in like twelve hours. Ain’t you hungry, thirsty, an’ needin’ to nest up?”
Of course he was hungry and thirsty, Tony had just-- wait, what?
“Wait, what?” He reached for the back of his neck.
“Do not do that,” the Alpha said. “It’s swollen so bad I can see it from here, an’ if you don’t want to hurry up this onset, you don’t puncture it.”
Tony glared, then very, very gingerly reached for his scent glands, light fingered and hesitant. He could feel the heat off his skin before his fingertips even encountered the swelling, like a blister, at the base of his skull. “Rumlow bit me?”
“I guess, if that’s his name,” the Alpha said. “You weren’t conscious, an’ even if that was your Alpha, I don’t ‘prove of that. He coulda waited, an’... if I was wrong, he’s still skulkin’ out there in th’ wood and I’ll--”
“No, you weren’t wrong. He… I don’t want him. He doesn’t want me either, really, I don’t know what the fuck this is about, but. Rumlow’s not my Alpha.”
“Probably some sort of teenage bullshit proving thing,” the Alpha said. “Back in my time, people called it tag-mating, and it was just as traumatic as it is now. No one talks about it, so no one knows about it. It’s bullshit. It’s rape. I ain’t… I ain’t gonna do that to you, kid.”
“You don’t have to call me kid,” Tony protested. “I’m a full grown omega, legally an adult. I’ve got a name. I know even how to spell it.”
“Oh, I am impressed,” the Alpha said, his voice dripping with cynicism. “You gonna share it with me, or just brag about it?”
“Tony,” Tony said, sullen. “Tee-oh-en-why. Tony Stark.”
Well, that seemed to jolt something through the wayward Alpha, then he shook it off. “Bucky Barnes,” he said. “I ain’t gonna spell it out for ya, genius.”
“Okay, so Rumlow bit me and I’m about to go into my first official heat-rut. With an Alpha I don’t even know.”
Bucky shrugged one shoulder. “I’m not unskilled,” he said. “I won’t-- hurt you, or nothin’.”
“Yeah, no, no, I don’t think we’re going to be doing that,” Tony said, because he was pushing, he was still pushing. He wanted to know where the damn line was, where this Bucky was going to push back. Because honestly, it he was going to get fucked, Tony would just sort of like to get it over with. The anticipation was killer.
Bucky whirled on him, almost as if he’d heard that, and Tony promptly changed his mind, because Bucky was looking at him with intent, and Tony would take anticipation, oh, god, please… no…
“Okay,” Bucky said. “No riding through the storm, that’s okay. So, I take you home, you ride it through on your own with whatever toys and devices you’ve got set aside. You have kinda a miserable time of it, but your honor’s your own and we’ll all good.”
Tony inhaled.
He did not have toys and devices, Howard didn’t approve of that sort of stuff with the kind of fervent anti-biological hysteria that most beta males seemed to take on. He would suffer, and Howard would be around, probably crowing about how weak Tony was while he suffered.
“Uh…”
“Beta parents?”
“My dad is,” Tony said. “Mom’s a ‘mega. Was a bit of a coup for Dad, getting her to agree to the mating.”
“Poor bitch,” Bucky said, and Tony bristled. Alpha Bucky might be, but that was still uncalled for.
“She’s--”
Bucky flicked his fingers. “Sorry. Just can’t imagine going through enough of a rut-heat with a beta, especially one that got someone pregnant. Your dad’s gotta be something else.”
That was one word for it. Tony squirmed a bit, feeling a little loose in the muscle area around his backside. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t really want to talk about my parents’ sex life when I’m getting ready to have a rut-heat.”
Biology sucked. That was as simple as it was. And this was a problem. That Tony didn’t think he was going to be able to just think his way out of. Biology was fact.
“So, the choices are, go with you, go home, go with Rumlow?”
Bucky shrugged. He got another bottle of gatorade for Tony and handed it off, which Tony drank without thinking about it. “If there’s someone else you like, that you want, or a service, I can arrange it,” Bucky said.
Tony swallowed sideways, his throat aching. “So, you’d just, what, whore me out?”
“You are determined to take offense at everything I say,” Bucky said. “Are you always this charming, or is it a side effect of being scared?”
“I’m not scared.”
“Then what is it?”
Tony sighed and curled into the blankets on Bucky’s bed. He wasn’t scared. It wasn’t fear. It was just… “I don’t like my choices,” he said. “And I don’t like that I woke up naked with you and I don’t even know you, and you don’t seem to want me any more than they did, and I know I shouldn’t complain about that, but it’s just weird and none of this makes any sense.”
“Scared is faster,” Bucky said. “Easier to spell, too.”
“Asshole,” Tony muttered.
“Yes,” Bucky said. “That, too.” He sighed and sat down on the bed near Tony. The dip as he sat made Tony want to curl into it, push his arms around the man and bury his face in that vulnerable belly. “Look, you woke up naked because you were filthy, I only have one set of sheets, and I wanted you to be safe and warm, not covered in mud. There’s nothin’ sinister about that, an’ I’m sorry you feel like I was… takin’ advantage. I’m tryin’ real hard not to, ‘cause dollface, if you think I don’t want you, you’re real damn wrong about that. You’re-- pretty as hell an’ you smell fantastic, an’ it’s been a long damn time since I held anyone in my arm an’ felt anything real. So, if you’re feelin’ rejected, honey, don’t. I’m not doin’ that. Just tryin’ not to make you… what happened happened. Biology… sucks, an’ it can be real demanding. But I don’t have to be demanding.” Bucky was absently petting Tony’s hair as he talked, quiet and soothing and comforting. “I don’t have to do nothin’ that you don’t want. But I am gonna say, biology makes us all her bitch, and if you don’t want me, we better do somethin’ about you an’ this situation real quick-like, because this… you not wanting me. That ain’t gonna last, kid.”
Tony knew that. He knew that as much as he knew anything about being an Omega. That his lust would overpower pretty much every rational thought, that he’d be begging for an Alpha, even Rumlow.
Ug. Disgusting.
Tony’s lip curled up.
Tony sighed, then opened his mouth and gave voice to his doubt. He didn’t want to doubt, he wanted to be strong, he wanted to have a plan, he wanted to not be what he fucking was. “What do we do?”
“S’far as I can tell, we got two choices,” Bucky said. “You an’ I sign a temporary mating form, give us, what, say… six months, that’s the standard short. I take you through this heat, an’ maybe the next one if you pop again quick, although most people don’t after their first real heats. It’ll be a year or more, at least, til you gotta worry about it again. I’m on the hook for any pregnancy, if you get pregnant, and you don’t get a black mark on your reputation for slutting it up.”
“That’s option one,” Tony said. He didn’t really want to consider a temporary arrangement. Like all omegas -- like everyone, really -- he did sort of dream about love. A happy marriage, even if he’d never had any opportunity to see one, and the ones on the television sitcoms, while maybe some less with the hitting and yelling at Howard and Maria’s marriage had, were still not really something Tony wanted.
When he wanted anything at all, that wasn’t being able to build computers and being left alone. Tony eyed Bucky. Would Bucky leave him alone, or would he expect a lot out of Tony for the course of the mating, even a temporary, short term bond?
“Option two is let me call your parents -- and honestly, I should do that anyway -- or a friend that can take you through this heat, and that right quick now.”
Tony sighed. He considered it. “What-- aside from the obvious fucking me--” Tony coughed to a halt, swallowed, tried again. “What other obligations am I gonna have?”
Bucky shrugged. “Nothin’ that you don’t want. I mean, you cook?”
Tony snorted. “I order damn good pizza,” he said.
“You’re my kinda omega,” Bucky said. “I like pizza. But no, honey, I don’t want a cook or cleaner, or nothin’. Ain’t asking for you to take care of me. I mean, you’ll be my omega for six months, you’ll kinda have to stay here, but I can take you to school, all that. Whatever you want.”
Tony didn’t believe that, not for a hot damn second, but… could it be worse, to live in a stranger’s house than to live with Howard?
“Okay. We’ll try it your way.”
“Ain’t my way, darlin’,” Bucky said. “Just, the easiest way.”
***
His Omega, his. The refrain sung over and over and Bucky had to bite down on his lip to keep from howling with triumph.
It’d been years since anyone had looked at him as anything other than a complete failure. Missing an arm shouldn’t have implied anything like a loss of his Alpha status; he wasn’t less of an Alpha, less of a man, less of a provider, a lover, a thinker, a fighter, any of it.
And yet his status had slipped so hard it was at the top end of his abilities to drive off a pack of green, not-yet-rutted Alphas who were so busy chasing a scared, skinny Omega that they hadn’t even noticed them until he was on them with a knife.
And now, this precious, adorable Omega was going to bargain with his guardian? Was going to be Bucky’s, let Bucky take him through that first, life-affirming heat. After Bucky had defended his honor?
Bucky would have been overwhelmed and grateful for the attentions of any Omega, or so he told himself. But then he actually saw Tony, smelled him. Talking to him.
He was impressed with Tony’s quick wit, his determination in the face of his fear.
In short, the omega had spirit, and Bucky was fucking smitten.
It wasn’t fair to Tony, Bucky reminded himself, for Bucky to thrust all his shattered hopes and fears onto one terrified omega. He would be careful. He would take care. He would get Tony though this heat as gently, with as much joy, as he knew how to do.
And maybe, maybe, they could talk about the next heat.
And the next one.
Bucky tried not to eavesdrop while his new Omega was speaking on the phone to his father, but he had keen senses even at the best time, and just before protecting his mate wasn’t what Bucky would call his best time.
Eventually, listening to Tony argue with the man, he had to excuse himself. Bucky pulled on a pair of sweats, boots, and a tee, ran a quick perimeter around his cabin. Marked the shit out of his territory. The Amazon guy was going to come soon with food and it had better damn well be a beta delivery dude, because there was no way in hell any Alpha was going to be able to get close to Bucky’s place without having the deep scent of testosterone challenge right up in his fucking snout.
The little pissant Alpha’s scent still wandered around, but Bucky couldn’t find anything newer than a few hours. He’d probably pissed himself and wandered on home. Which was good, Bucky’s instincts were finely honed, and he’d probably kill that potential rapist bastard.
Finally, sure that Tony must have finished speaking with his father, he circled back to his house. It didn’t really matter at this point what the man said, Bucky was going to claim this omega -- his omega -- regardless.
He’d never seen anything quite like Tony Stark, delicate and beautiful and clumsy and dirty, with his long, callused fingers and his bright, brilliant eyes.
He had to admit, the set up had been romantic as hell, too. Cliched. Even, but fuck, Bucky would take it. Take it and be goddamn grateful.
The fact that it came at the cost of his Omega’s security, that Tony was going to have to feel in any way tentative or hesitant, burned Bucky up inside. He was going to find that pissant, Rumlow, after this was over and put the fear of God into him.
He raced back to the cabin in time to collect the grocery order and he was stowing packages by the time Tony finally came back into the room, one of Bucky’s shirts open over his chest, Bucky’s sweats riding loose on Tony’s hips. He was drenched in Bucky’s scent and it was all Bucky could do not to just drop the box of noodles in his hand and pounce.
“So?”
“What are you doing?”
“Nesting,” Bucky said. “I don’t know what all foods you liked, so I got a variety. Sports drinks and milk and fruits and stuff. You’ll want to eat.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess,” Tony said. He rubbed fitfully at the back of his neck.
Bucky gently untangled Tony’s hand from the bite. “I’ll take care of that in a minute,” he said. “What did your dad say?”
“He said you can fucking keep me, is what Howard said, okay?” Tony burst out. “I guess that stock lost value, now that he can’t promise some virginal omega to one of his damn business partners.”
Bucky took a deep breath and unclenched his fist. “We’ll deal with that, later, okay?” He didn’t know how to soothe Tony over this; it didn’t seem like Tony was upset, so much as angry and insulted.
“We’re dealing with a lot of stuff, later,” Tony pointed out.
“Okay, yeah, I know. Here, let--” he turned Tony gently, looking down at the swollen bite at the back of Tony’s neck. Rumlow’s teeth hadn’t quite broken the skin and let the gland release the hormones that would send Tony right into his rut, but enough of it had leaked out that he smelled divine, like something Bucky wanted to just lick at for ages.
“It’s not like fighting over an omega is unprecedented, so I’ll just--”
Tony was shivering under Bucky’s hand.
“Shhhh, shhhh,” Bucky soothed him. “It’s okay, I’m gonna just… take care of you, honey. I promise, it’ll be--”
He lipped at the swollen node, flicking his tongue over it. He could taste the sour-nasty-bitter of the other Alpha and he realized that he was fucking snarling, and he tried to dial it back, he didn’t want to frighten Tony, but--
“Are you purring?”
“This from the guy who’s puffed up like a pissed off housecat,” Tony muttered. “Get on with it, the anticipation is killing me.”
Another lick, and then Tony was pushing back into him, seeking that pressure, and Bucky slid a hand up his chest. That rabbit heart beat under Bucky’s palm and Tony was sweet and compliant in his arms, and--
Bucky bit down on the wound, Alpha canines sharp against the skin. The tang of Alpha taint faded away and Bucky was left with honey-sweet and sticky, pure omega fluid in his mouth, like a mouthful of watercress, a lick of pure cane sugar, a gush of minty smoothness… everything delicious and wonderful all at the same time, combined with a potent aphrodisiac.
They both groaned as Bucky sucked at the wound, plied his tongue soft and sure over the gland.
Tony made a noise, some noise, Bucky wasn’t sure what, and then he was writhing around in Bucky’s arms like some sort of crazy dream. He settled against Bucky’s chest and twined his arms around Bucky’s neck, offering his mouth up for kisses. Bucky pushed, shoved, lifted, until Tony was planted on the kitchen countertop. Bucky stepped in the cradle of Tony’s thighs and began a sensual assault on him. He pulled Tony’s lower lip between his teeth, suckled at the plump flesh there, and then thrust his tongue deep into Tony’s willing mouth.
Tony got a grip on the back of Bucky’s neck, fingernails digging in, thrusting his tongue out awkwardly, like Bucky was a cupcake and he was trying to get all the icing. Pleasure jolted through Bucky as Tony whimpered and whined, pushing himself against Bucky’s mouth. The delicious omega taste and smell, mixing with Bucky’s very own taste…
He could taste it every day the rest of his life and never be satisfied, Bucky thought.
His beautiful omega.
His.
Dad said you could just keep me.
Maybe I will, Bucky thought, fierce and protective.
“You have-- you have-- you have to claim me,” Tony was whining against Bucky’s throat.
“You’re mine,” Bucky told him, deep and snarling and possessive. “Mine. My omega.” He hitched in a breath, another, rumbled and reached for that command voice that he hardly ever used, a throaty growl, the Alpha voice. Subaudible and at the same time, very, very loud. “Mine.”
Tony made a very soft response to that, almost a mere puff of air against Bucky’s throat. “Yours, Alpha.” He drew back to look up into Bucky’s face. “You needn’t huff and puff and knock the house down. I heard you the first time.” He ran a finger down Bucky’s cheek. “I’m yours.”
He is touching me, Bucky thought. He is touching me and he belongs to me.
He hissed and grabbed Tony’s fingers, licking them thoroughly, sucking each digit with abandon. Tony’s eyes widened, and widened further, almost comically shocked.
“That wasn’t what I thought you’d be suck-- shit, Jesus Christ--”
Because Bucky was done with the waiting, he was done with all of that, and he was stripping Tony bare, and then he took all of Tony in a single, slick slide. He was barely even hard, yet, even in pre-heat the body needed some stimulation, and being nervous wasn’t always the best for maintaining an erection. But Tony was getting there fast, hardening inside Bucky’s mouth, against the inside of his cheek. Bucky slid his open, shaking mouth against the length of Tony, encouraging and echoing each low moan and shudder. He sucked and licked and nipped at the succulent flesh, hands moving up to tweak at Tony’s nipples.
Bucky pushed Tony’s legs wide and kept him splayed, ankles going over Bucky’s shoulders. Tony writhed in Bucky’s hold, not fighting to get away, but fighting to stay, fighting to relax, to enjoy it, to feel everything and to be everything. Bucky paused to look his fill of that lean, olive-skinned body, those toned muscles. Tony’s amber eyes were huge and shimmering with desires that he didn’t even understand yet. Just like Bucky craved, had desired in him, and from him.
“Mine, omega, say it,” Bucky demanded, and Tony gasped, whined, and obeyed as Bucky took him down again to the root.
Tony’s long feet curled against Bucky’s back, toes twitching with the onslaught of desire. His heels kicked against Bucky’s shoulder, and one hand was in Bucky’s hair, pulling and directing, even if he was directionless with sensation.
“Yours, yours Alpha,” Tony promised.
Bucky sucked Tony’s cock with as much skill as he could manage, taking the whole length of it down his throat, letting Tony fuck his mouth, using tongue and lips to tempt and tease. Tony propped himself up on one elbow to watch what Bucky was doing to him. Bucky’s dark head, curls tickling at Tony’s thighs, worked him over.
Tony threw back his head with a gasp and came, slick and eager, right down Bucky’s throat. He swallowed, swallowed again and it was so carnal, so intense, that Bucky nearly came himself, untouched. Bucky didn’t stop, couldn’t stop, until every last shiver had been wrung out of Tony’s lithe body.
“Oh, oh, wait--” Tony squirmed back as pleasure gave way to too much, but Bucky wasn’t ready to give it up, not just yet. Bucky lapped at Tony’s dick, then lower, over his twitching balls, and then-- “Oh, christ!”
He found Tony’s hole, laved at it with his tongue until Tony was twitching and squirming helplessly. Bucky pushed one finger against that hole, testing the muscle. Loose, from the oncoming heat, it would hardly be the work of a moment if he hadn’t cared so damn much about Tony’s comfort and joy.
He pulled away, wiped at his chin with his arm.
Tony lolled back on the counter, sprawled and shameless and looking utterly debauched. “Hey, uh… there’s like this slut in your kitchen, totally don’t recognize the guy,” he mumbled. “You might want to, I don’t know, keep him from wrecking the table. Or something.”
“Don’t worry,” Bucky said. “I ain’t plannin’ on lettin’ him get away.”
“You know, if I didn’t feel so utterly at peace with the entire universe,” Tony said, and oh, god it was fucking adorable how high as a kite on hormones he was, “I might resent that. I’m not your property.”
“You ain’t,” Bucky agreed, and he was particularly proud of himself that it came out as a sentence and not a challenge. He didn’t want to challenge Tony, he didn’t want Tony to feel anything that wasn’t proud, good, happy (horny!).
Satisfied. Bucky was a good choice, he was, he was a good Alpha, he was a good provider.
He wanted his Omega to be happy. More than anything, Tony’s unhappiness would be the breaking point.
“So, uh,” Tony said, hopping down from the counter and hastily trying to rearrange his clothing -- Bucky’s clothing -- to cover himself up. That would never do, and Bucky just as hastily started divesting him of it until they were both splendidly naked in the kitchen. “Not the I’m complaining, this is not a complaint at all, but uh… I thought I was supposed to be, you know, servicing you.”
“There’s time, honey,” Bucky said. “You know you’re going to be in heat for like a week, right?”
“Three to five fertile days,” Tony recited.
“Yeah, that’s the base,” Bucky said, and he slowly started leading Tony back toward the bedroom. “When your peak fertility is. But you’ll be at a higher performance rate for up to… ten days. We’re just getting started, honey.”
“Ten…” Tony’s voice spiraled up. “Ten days? I can’t miss class for ten days!”
“I’ll get all your work delivered up here,” Bucky promised. “We can work on it between--”
“Being nailed through the mattress?”
“Something like that. It’s really not as crazy as you’re making it out,” Bucky said. “I mean, you don’t even have to take my knot, if you’re not into it, I won’t-- I ain’t like that.”
“I’m…” Tony hesitated, then followed him all the way into the bedroom. “Confused.”
“You will be fine,” Bucky promised. “It’s not all mindless fucking. I mean, it can be, if you don’t treat it right, and you act like porno is all you ever do. But here’s the thing, like a real fight, Hollywood wants to show you the exciting bits, so they act… but… you can just jerk off a few times a day, make sure you stay hydrated. I’ll bite you once or twice. But the rest of it is just bullshit. We’re not animals, Alphas just act like that, because it gives them an excuse to stuff their knot in whoever they want without consequences.”
Tony was just staring at him. “Then what was that?”
“A blowjob?” Bucky asked. “I mean, it was supposed to feel good, an’ ease up on your hormones a little, but if you didn’t like it, I won--”
“Whatever you’re about to say, just don’t,” Tony said. “I liked it, it was amazing, it was wonderful, it felt incredible, and I will out and out cry if you say you’re not going to do it again, there will be tears, it’ll be ugly, and you don’t want that on your conscious.”
“I don’t,” Bucky agreed. “Come on, let’s just lay down a bit. You’ve got time before your body’s going to get pushy again.”
“What about your body?”
Bucky barely spared a glance for his battered and marked up body, preferring to appreciate Tony’s delicate, innate grace. “I’m fine, I--”
“Are we together, or not?” Tony demanded, crossing his arms over his chest, which looked ridiculous on anyone, especially if they were naked. Bucky chewed on his lip again. It wouldn’t do to be caught finding his omega utterly adorable.
No one -- not even an omega -- appreciated being compared to a baby rabbit.
Not even an omega who was as adorable as a baby rabbit.
Not, really, that Tony was -- he was pretty damn fierce, honestly.
“We’re together,” Bucky said, not quite sure where Tony was going with this.
“Then --” Tony took an aggressive step into Bucky’s personal space “-- if we’re together --” step, and he was poking Bucky in the chest with a hard finger “we’re together, and I’m going to have all of it. A proper rut-heat, an Alpha who acts like he wants me, and I’m going to take a goddamn knot, and if I get pregnant, that’s fucking great!”
Bucky blinked. “Are you getting carried away?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, then,” Bucky said. “Let’s back off the babies and getting window dressings for just a minute?”
“You don’t want babies?”
“I met you five hours ago,” Bucky protested. “This isn’t a Disney movie, princess. Babies are expensive.”
Tony blinked at him. “You really don’t know who I am, do you? I’m Tony Stark. Stark Industries? Like, richest omega on this side of the pond? No matter what my dad says, it’s not going to be that easy for him to get rid of me. You’re… Alpha, you’re on easy street, no matter what happens now.”
Bucky blinked back. They probably looked like a matched set of barn owls. “Oh. Uh. Still, dial it back, buttercup.”
“No,” Tony said. “Richest omega or not, I rarely get what I want, so for once, I just want to want something and I want someone to give it to me, and you’re fucking elected. So--”
Fine, fine. Consent, enthusiastic, even, obtained.
Bucky crushed his omega to his chest, wrapped that steel arm around him to hold him in place and kissed Tony like it was the last thing he was ever going to do. Knowing that he still tasted like Tony’s semen, knowing that he tasted like Tony’s omega fluids. Thrust his tongue in, over and over, mimicking the coupling that his body was aching for. (He was straight up lying that he could get through a whole mating cycle without at least desperately wanting to knot, even if he didn’t have to, he fucking wanted to. God, of course he wanted to, he was enlightened and kind, not made from stone.)
Tony practically pushed him into the bedroom, scrambled onto the bed. “I know you say it’s not that urgent, Alpha,” Tony said, whining as his breath pushed in and out of his nose, “but it is, it is, it is.” He made a throat sound, his hot amber gaze flashing as he focused on Bucky’s face. He propped himself up on the pillows, presenting, and if it was true that it wasn’t a need, just a biological compulsion, Bucky lost that thread.
Tony’s ass, ripe and pink and round and perfect, was the most delectable thing Bucky had ever seen and he wanted-- he wanted. Dear Christ. He tested the muscle again, tight and firm. He got the lube; he’d at least thought to order it, along with high calorie, easy prep foods, electrolyte drinks, fuzzy blankets, and everything else he could think of for a quick delivery, because lube wasn’t something that an unwanted Alpha really kept on hand at all.
He wet his fingers, and rather than go gentle, he pushed two fingers straight into Tony’s hole, twisting as soon as Tony opened his mouth to gasp.
“There you go, honey,” Bucky said, and if there was an edge of teasing in his voice, he didn’t care.
Tony pushed back into Bucky’s fingers, the tendons of his neck distended as a thin, breathless scream broke out of him. He was completely taken over by the sensations that Bucky was wringing out of him, begging and mewling incoherently, bunching the pillows under his chest to squeeze and knead at them.
Bucky didn’t show any mercy, kept fingering him open, tugging at the rim, twisting his fingers, scissoring them out relentlessly. Inside, he found that little nodule of Tony’s, worked it recklessly as Tony clenched and bore down on him.
It was bliss and perfection. It was more than he deserved. It was more than he even thought he needed, more than he was sure he could handle, and all he could do was keep doing it, listening to the words spill out of Tony’s throat, alpha, alpha, alpha, please, more now… Tony was sobbing the words, eyes squinched shut, tears leaking from the corner, and somehow, Bucky knew, he knew, everything was fine, everything was going to be fine.
He wrung another climax out of Tony, letting him spill onto the blankets, before he finally pulled back and away, crawling onto the bed after his sweet omega. Bucky’s breath was harsh as he bent over Tony’s body, slick with sweat, cool and fever hot at the same time.
Tony was splendidly omega male, long lines, almost too thin, but flat and perfect and sweet. Trembling under Bucky, like Bucky was something special. “Come on,” Tony begged, “I’m… I’m ready, Alpha, ready, please.”
With that, Bucky went batshit crazy. He couldn’t wait any longer, lined himself up and impaled Tony with one long, hard stroke, taking him all the way to the base in a searing lunge. Tony shrieked in shock, need, pleasure, and probably not a small amount of discomfort. Bucky leaned down, over him, and bit, bit at that bonding gland, the heat fluids spilling into his mouth. Fastened on like a bat and sucked.
He yanked Tony’s hips up to meet him, plunging in with thick, powerful strokes, never letting up with his mouth, setting a brutal pace. He was groaning, growling, with each stroke, with every thrust, like the animal he was, and Tony was pushing back against him, as if Bucky could possibly be forced any deeper, any wider, like the little animal he was. Tony’s hands clenched in the blankets, totally out of control, stretched and arched and wriggled. He reached back with one hand, grabbed Bucky’s thigh, fingernails scrambling for a purchase.
Bucky threw back his head, face contorting with astonished savagery. He bit down, again. With a last, compulsive thrust, he joined Tony in another climax. Muffled sounds of vicious pleasure came out of Tony’s throat and Tony clenched around the length of Bucky’s cock. Bucky’s hands were digging into Tony’s hips, holding him in place, pinning them in that perfect moment. Holding onto sensation, holding on to his omega.
He rocked, one last time, into Tony’s body and felt the inexplicable, unstoppable swelling of his knot and the way it locked in with Tony’s ring of muscle there, joining them together. Holding them fast. Almost gentle. Ah, there you are, yes.
Tony turned his face, gazed with sleepy satisfaction over his shoulder at an Alpha that wasn’t going anywhere. Bucky nudged forward as much as he could, kissed Tony’s mouth. It was wet and loose and sloppy and he couldn’t reach nearly as well as he wanted, but it was a kiss.They were fused together, one creature, yin and yang.
Alpha.
And omega.
Tony mumbled something, snuggled into the pillow until his face was flat against the mattress. Sounds liked “wrecked.”
“For a little bit,” Bucky said. He shifted, and they both groaned as their bodies twisted together, unable to break free, but eventually, Bucky got them spooned together on their side. It still wasn’t comfortable, mind, but it was better. Bucky’s knees had seen better days, really.
“Alpha?”
“Yeah, Tony?”
“How long are we stuck like this?”
“A while,” Bucky said. He shifted his hips and dragged Tony backward about an inch. He couldn’t feel any fluid on his thighs, so they were still sealed.
“I’m thirsty,” Tony complained.
“Next time, don’t be in such a hurry, and I’ll get us nested up proper,” Bucky murmured, patting Tony’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, just a few minutes more or so. Try to rest.”
“Next time?” Tony’s voice spiraled up.
“You wanted a knot, you got one,” Bucky said. “We’ll probably do this once or twice a day until the heat wears off.”
“I just came like five times--” Tony squeaked.
“Yeah, you’re amazing,” Bucky said, smug and proud.
“You’re going to kill me,” Tony moaned.
“It’s unlikely,” Bucky said. “It’s all right, honey, just relax. Deep breaths, I’m right here with you--”
A little more talk and soothing, comfort and kissed, and Bucky managed to get them unlocked. Ug, sticky. And sweaty. “Let me get you something to drink, an’ all cleaned up an; food and proper nesting.”
“Okay,” Tony said, waving a hand. “Chocolate milk?”
“Sure, omega, whatever you want.”
Bucky grabbed his sweats, padded out into the kitchen. Brought back a tray and then had to coax Tony to eat and drink. The omega was all but passed out by the time Bucky was cleaning cooling come and sweat off his skin.
My omega. Mine.
He kissed Tony’s forehead. “You sleep, honey,” he said, soft and soothing. “You’ll need all your strength.”
Bucky ate a few roast beef sandwiches while he got the nest set up.
Tony wasn’t the only one who was going to need strength.
Finally, situated, he climbed back into the bed with Tony.
“Alpha,” Tony murmured, and rolled over to snuggle against Bucky’s chest.
“I’m here,” Bucky said.
“I know. It’s… nice. I like it. You being here.”
Bucky swallowed hard, tucking his chin over Tony’s hair. “Good. I’m so glad to hear it.”
“S’eep now,” Tony said, sticking his nose against Bucky’s throat. “You’ll take care of me.”
“As long as you want,” Bucky promised. “Always.”