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“Drake, have you seen Grayson anywhere?” Damian asked, poking his head into the library. “He borrowed my camera last week and never gave it back.”
“I think…” Tim said, not even bothering to look up from his research. “He’s in… the cave- kitch- no, gard- aha! It’s the empty coffee mugs, I knew it!”
“The empty coffee mugs…”
Tim furiously scribbled something down on a Post-it note and then looked up. “Oh, hey, did you say something?”
“I asked where Grayson is,” Damian said with a heavy sigh. “But since you don’t seem to know, I’ll be leaving now. Try and get some sleep in the next twenty-four hours,” he called over his shoulder as he left.
Damian went in search of his father next. Alfred was away on an errand run that would take all day, and Dick and Jason had gone off somewhere. But Damian really needed his camera back, and he did not want to pick through the mess that was Dick’s room.
Damian went into the cave. “Father? Do you know where I might find Grayson?”
Bruce slid out from under the Batmobile and sat up with a groan. He wiped his grease stained fingers on a dirty rag and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving a streak of black behind.
“Dick? He’s on a mission in Blüdhaven right now. Why?”
Damian sighed. “He took my camera.”
“Can’t you use any other camera?” Bruce asked.
“No, I already have the picture, I just need to download it. Ugh, I’ll just call him again.”
“He’s not going to answer your calls, Damian. It’s an undercover mission.”
“What? How come I didn’t know about this?” Damian asked, crossing his arms.
Bruce shrugged. “It’s nothing really important. He just gave me a heads up saying he’d be undercover for a week or so with Jason.”
“You let them both go undercover on the same mission? If it wasn’t anything big, why are there two people undercover?” Damian accused bitterly. “Couldn’t Todd just do it himself or something?”
Bruce smiled a bit. “It’s just a week, Damian. What do you need the picture for?”
“Tt.” Damian just scoffed and turned on his heels and stomped out of the cave.
~
“I.D.’s?” the bouncer grunted.
“Why do we need our I.D.’s?”
“’S the rules, ‘round here, mister. No I.D., no entrance.”
A heavy sigh. Two I.D.’s were procured and flashed at the bouncer. The bouncer nodded and let them pass.
The two men stepped into the club, immediately taking in the flashing strobe lights, the quiet chatter of the well-dressed alphas around the room. The bartender was chatting amiably with a couple guests.
“Ah, welcome, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Johnson!” The host stepped up to the two men, squeezed between them and put his arms around their shoulders.
“Claude,” the first man greeted cheerfully. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Claude laughed. “Nearly six months, no? It is good to see you again, Mr. Johnson. And your friend you wanted to introduce me to?” Claude turned towards the second man, who stared down at him with stormy eyes and a steely expression. Claude held his hand out, a bit nervously. “Mr. Peterson, am I right?”
Mr. Peterson’s eyebrows furrowed a bit.
Mr. Johnson laughed. “Oh, don’t mind him. He has a hard time warming up to others,” he said. “Doesn’t talk much, and I doubt he has any friends besides me!”
Claude quickly lowered his hand, grateful. The fancy suit Mr. Peterson wore did not conceal the bulging muscles underneath, and Claude did not want his hand crushed. He and his wife are currently separated, and all Claude has are his hands.
“Well, perhaps tonight we can change that for him, no?” Claude said. “Tell me, Mr. Peterson, what are your tastes in omegas? Sweet, shy? Feisty and sharp? Small? Tall?”
Mr. Peterson gave no reaction to any of them. Claude started feeling beads of sweat forming around his temples under Mr. Peterson’s judging stare.
Mr. Johnson laughed again, a bit more nervously than before. “Really, Claude, excuse him. He’s a virgin.”
Mr. Peterson’s left eyebrow twitched and his glare shifted to Mr. Johnson.
“That’s- That’s nothing to be ashamed of!” Claude said quickly. He did not want a fight breaking out in his club, especially on such an important night, in front of so many important figures. “Strapping alpha like you? No one will tell the difference!” he laughed weakly. “Well, I must go mingle with other guests now, but have a seat somewhere, talk with others if you wish. There are drinks and refreshments at the bar, so please, enjoy! The main event will start in a little less than half an hour.”
Claude quickly hurried off.
Mr. Johnson grabbed Mr. Peterson’s arm and pulled him to a booth in the back corner of the club. Mr. Johnson shoved Mr. Peterson into the booth first before sliding in right next to him.
“Loosen up!” he hissed. “You’re scaring people!”
“Me?” Mr. Peterson growled. “I’m scaring people? That man is selling omegas, Dick! In your own damn city!”
“Shout it from the rooftops, why don’t you,” Dick growled, elbowing Mr. Peterson in the ribs. The other man did not even bat an eyelash. “That’s why I asked for your help, isn’t it?”
“Great idea that was,” Mr. Peterson grunted. He sliced his hand across his neck. “I’m up to here in suppressants, and I feel like murdering someone because of it!”
“Why did you take so much, then?” Dick squeaked. “Jay, you know suppressants make you grouchy and apparently murderous, so why did you take so much? It’s only one night!”
“Because it’s around the time my heat usually comes around, and so I need suppressants for that, then extra to mask the entire fucking fact that I am an omega in the first place!” Jason hissed viciously. “I need a drink. Move.”
Dick sighed and slid out of the booth to let Jason out. “Drugs and drinks don’t mix, Mr. Peterson,” Dick called after him.
Jason turned around and flipped him the bird.
He went to the bartended and slapped down a crisp fifty dollar bill. “Give me two shots of vodka, and the least alcoholic thing for my friend over there.”
The bartender smirked. “So would that be water or apple juice?”
Jason snorted. “He’d be damn happy to have apple juice.”
The bartender laughed and poured him two shots of expensive ass vodka, and then a glass of apple juice. She drops a couple ice cubes in it and laughed again, shaking her head.
“Keep the change,” Jason said.
She shrugged and shoved the ten dollars she was about to give back to him into her tip cup. Jason easily carried the drinks back to their table. He slid the apple juice over to Dick.
“No sippy straw to go with it?” Dick asked sarcastically.
“I can go ask for one if you want,” Jason said. “I’m sure the bartender won’t mind also giving you one of those little umbrellas.”
Dick laughed and raised his juice to Jason. Jason did not even bother returning the move, just knocking back both of his shots. He barely winced through the burn.
Just then, they were approached by two female alphas and a male alpha.
“Mind if we join you?” asked one of the girls. She wore black leather pants with four inch heels. She also had a leather jacket over her white shirt. Her other female companion wore a sparkly blue dress. And the male was dressed similarly to Jason and Dick, but his blazer was thrown over an arm instead. “The other tables are full.”
“Sure!” Dick said cheerfully. He immediately scooted in. Leather slid in first, followed by Jacket Off. Sparkles stares at Jason expectantly.
Dick kicked him under the table, and Jason rolled his eyes and scooted over. Dick smiled.
“Sorry, he’s having a bad day,” Dick said. “My name’s Mark Johnson. That’s my friend Jayden Peterson.”
Leather smirked, her black lipstick curling and Jason thought it looked like a leech on her lips. “Lara Milton. That’s my twin brother, Sean. And that’s Kim, my best friend.” Leech-Lipped Lara eyed Dick, then Jason. “So, what are you two doing here tonight?”
“Isn’t everyone here for the same thing?” Dick asked. “An omega auction, right?”
Kim rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but she meant, why are you at an auction.” She scoffed shook her head like she cannot believe how stupid Dick was. Jason gave her a sideways glare, and she glared back sharply.
“Ah, my apologies,” Dick said easily, still smiling. “Well, I’m looking for a companion for my own omega, you see. She gets so lonely by herself when I’m away on business trips.”
“You trust to leave your omega by herself?” Sean asked, raising his eyebrows. He gave a low whistle. “That takes some balls, man. I would never leave my omega alone. Can’t trust them not to steal my money and run off. If I couldn’t bring them with me, I’d hand them over to Lara. My sister has the biggest collection of omegas in ‘Haven, you know?”
Dick’s interest piqued. “Oh, really? And how many is ‘biggest’?” he asked.
Lara smiled smugly. “Thirty-two. I’m looking to bring that number up to at least thirty-five tonight.”
“And why does one need so many omegas?” Dick asked. “Two or three, I can understand, but more?”
“Look, Mark,” Kim said. “Don’t go poking around in people’s private business, okay? Otherwise, you’ll end up making enemies out of people you don’t want as your enemies,” she snarled.
Dick raised his hands in surrender. “Just making conversation!” he said.
Lara rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Kimmy. It’s fine. She’s in a bad mood today as well,” Lara laughed. “I just like having a wide variety to pick from. It also helps when I throw large parties. Everyone can have fun with one or more omegas. It’s just convenient.” She shrugged. “I can invite you to my next party if you want to see.”
“Lara!” Kim said sharply.
“Oh, stop being so jealous,” Lara said, rolling her eyes at Kim. “No one’s going to take Giorgio, Kimmy.”
Kim just huffed and crossed her arms. Jason glared at her harder. She narrowed her eyes at him. “What?” she snapped. “Got a problem, big guy?”
“I just think you need to watch your mouth,” Jason said calmly. “Could get you in trouble with you snapping at stranger. Don’t want to make enemies with people you don’t want as your enemies.”
Kim sneered at him. “People like you?” she asked. “Or him?” she jerked her head in Dick’s direction. “I would not believe he even actually has an omega at home. And you?” she looked Jason up and down with disgust. “No, you’re probably do have omegas, but they’re all passed down from your rich daddy.”
“Kim-” Sean said.
“Ugh, I’m going to get a drink,” Kim scoffed. “Come get me when the auction starts.”
She scooted out and left.
Sean smiled at Jason apologetically. “I apologize for her behavior. Her favorite omega got pregnant recently and refuses to get rid of the baby.”
“She wants to get rid of the baby?” Dick asked.
Sean nodded. “Sure. Carrying a baby would ruin an omega’s body, as you know.”
“I’ve never heard that before,” Dick said, frowning slightly. “I’ve never seen that before either. I think pregnant omegas are really sexy.”
Sean snorted. “They are, but only if you plan on never using them again after they give birth. Even if you get surgery to have their body fixed, you can still feel the difference.” He wrinkled his nose. “It’s disgusting.”
“Really, now,” Dick said. His fingers tapped on the glass of his cup.
“Well, I make sure all my omegas are on suppressants and birth control, so I don’t have to worry about that,” Lara said. “Have you guys looked at the omega catalog yet?”
“No,” Dick said. “I wanted to see them with my own eyes to make sure they’re legitimate,” he said, his mouth still turned down in a frown.
“Smart man,” Lara said. “What about you, Mr. Silent?” she asked nodding at Jason.
He shook his head once, curling and uncurling his fingers around his shot glass. He can feel his anger pulsing under his skin, and itching to get out. Dick had been right. The alcohol made it harder to control himself. He wanted to flay every single one of these disgusting alphas. Then, he would push Kim down onto her knees and demand she apologize to Dick.
Maybe lick his shoes while she was at it. She seemed like the type who would force an omega to do that.
Just then, a curtain pulled aside on the far side of the club, and the lights dimmed. Claude stood on the stage, a mic in his hand.
“Fellow alphas!” he called. “Welcome to our semi-annual omega auction.” He smiled and nodded as applause and whistles arose in the air. “Today, we have ten omegas from all over the world. If you have taken a look at our catalog, you will see that they are of the finest specimen.
“I would like to extend my thanks to my two partners Hank Steelborne and Aaron Tristen as well. They have worked very hard to find these omegas for you all.
“Now, I know you have all been waiting all evening, so without further ado, we shall start with our first omega!”
Two burly men dressed in black brought a young woman stumbling onto the stage. She was blindfolded and gagged. Her wrists were bound behind her back, too tight for comfort. Jason’s eyes narrowed. From her stance, he could tell just how scared she was.
“This is Chloe. She is 20, but looks younger than that, if that’s the sort of thing you’re into,” Claude snickered. “Now, we will start this at $5,000.”
Even though it was the first girl, the numbers rose quickly. Neither Lara nor Sean tossed in any bids. Jason threw Dick a glance, but found the alpha mindlessly swirling his apple juice around in his cup like it was wine.
Jason had no idea what the fuck Dick was doing. Jason had gotten very little details about the mission. He only heard ‘illegal omega trafficking’ and agreed to help out. He never asked for any details beyond that.
Finally, Claude said, “$12,500 going once… twice…”
“$13,000,” Dick called out.
Heads turned towards him, including Jason’s.
The man that bid $12,500 glared at Dick. “$14,000,” he said.
“$17,000,” Dick said calmly.
The man said nothing else.
Claude beamed. “$17,000 going once… twice… three times. Sold, to Mr. Johnson!”
The omega was tugged off of the stage. Jason stared at Dick in surprise. He had no idea where Dick was going to get $17,000 to pay for the omega. But Dick did not look bothered at all. The ice in his glass clinked around.
“Charlie is our next omega. He is a bit older, 23. But he is strong and good for physical work. He has also got an exotic accent. We start at $5,000 again.”
Lara bid on Charlie. The numbers went even higher than the girl. Lara seemed rather determined to get him. Finally, it was just down to her and another man. Finally, the man gave up at $25,000.
“$30,000,” Dick called out. Silence in the club. Lara whipped around and sent a venomous glare to Dick.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she hissed. “That’s my omega.”
Dick shrugged nonchalantly. “Did not see you lay claim anywhere.”
Claude laughed excitedly. “Well then! Sold to Mr. Johnson once more!”
The auction continued. Dick stayed silent for every single omega until Claude started calling out “going once… going twice…” Then, Dick would call out an absurd amount of money no one else matched. Or if it did get matched, Dick would raise it.
Jason kept a mental tally in his head of how much money Dick was racking up. He had already “bought” four omegas, three females and one male. The other alphas in the club were growing angry as well, but Dick stayed calm.
Jason was starting to get worried for him. If all the alphas ganged up on them, Jason had no doubt they could hold them off, but it would not be easy.
By the fifth omega, Lara and Sean had left in disgust. Claude was starting to sweat on the stage as well.
“Oh, another one… to Mr. Johnson,” he said. “How many are you planning on buying? You’ll end up taking them all,” he said, laughing nervously.
More fuming glares shot in their direction. Jason saw some talking amongst each other.
“Where the hell are you going to get all this money?” Jason asked out of the corner of his mouth.
Dick smiled. “I’m taking it from Claude, duh. Wiring from his bank accounts right now.”
“Oh,” Jason said. Apparently Dick really thought this through.
By the eight omega, Jason found out what the other alphas were talking about.
“Let’s start at $5,000,” Claude said. The omega was a small, feminine boy. He had black hair, and he was trembling. He reminded Jason of Tim, when he was much younger.
“$100,000!” one man called out from the group of conversing alphas. Jason saw red. How dare those filthy-
“$500,000,” Dick said with a yawn. “And I’ll do an additional $500,000 per omega after him.”
“You can’t do that!” an outraged alpha said. “I bet you don’t even have the money to buy all these omegas, and you’re just bluffing!”
“Yeah!” came a chorus of agreements.
Dick blinked at them lazily. “Claude can attest. Do I have enough money?”
All eyes turned towards the sweating host. “Uh, he- he does,” Claude confirmed.
An alpha stomped up to their table. He was a big man, maybe even bigger than Jason. He had a huge scar going through one of his eyes. He slammed his fist down into the table, sloshing Dick’s juice all over the place.
Before he could even get a word out, Jason stood up and punched him in the face.
Dick finally reacted. “Jay!” he gasped.
“Do not say a fucking word to him, you disgusting fiend,” Jason snapped. The alpha growled and swung his fist at Jason. Jason caught him by the wrist and twisted his hand down, slamming it into the table. Dick’s juice practically dived out of the glass.
There was a loud cracking noise, and the alpha cried out. Jason kneed him in the balls and threw him onto the ground.
“Pathetic,” Jason spat. He glared at all the alphas around the room. “All of you are fucking pathetic! Instead of buying an omega like they’re fucking property, why don’t you go out and actually try and win someone over? You know, with dates, flowers, chocolates?”
There was a harsh laugh from the front. “That is amateur work,” the person sneered. “If I have the money, I will use it. Omegas are not our equals.”
“Yes, because they’re better than all you scum, and I’ll fucking show you.” He tore off his blazer, the loud ripping sound making one of the closer alphas jump.
Dick sighed heavily and sat down in defeat. He took Jason’s discarded scrap of expensive cloth and started dabbing at the spilled juice.
Jason marched into the group of alphas. Some had the sense to step back. But one of them stepped into his path.
“You’re just jealous because you don’t have the money to buy your own omega, and your friend doesn’t have the balls to fight for himself,” the alpha said, spitting in Jason’s face.
Jason’s grinned, his smile feral and wild. “Actually, that’s where you’re wrong,” Jason said. “Because my friend is the most loyal and kindhearted alpha in this entire city, and instead of using his hard-earned money on disgusting things like this, he uses it to spoil his omega properly.” He grabbed the alpha by the throat and lifted him up, squeezing hard. “$14,000. Is that how much you think your life is worth? Because I’m sure my dear alpha will be happy to compensate your family for your unfortunate death!” He squeezed harder and the alpha’s face started turning purple as he clawed at Jason’s hands.
“That’s really sweet and all, baby, but please don’t kill anyone!” Dick called from the back.
Jason growled and toss the man away. Jason made his way to the stage, and this time, everyone parted. Claude was sweating even harder now.
“Y-You’re not sup-supposed to be here!” he squeaked. “This is- This is an- an alpha o-only club!”
Jason sneered at him. “Listen, Claude, if this were an alpha only club, none of you trash should be here, fucking disgusting, pitiful excuses for alphas! How dare you even call yourselves that?!” He roared. Then he paused, thinking about what he just said. “Except you, Dickie!”
Dick gave him a thumbs up from the back.
Jason turned back to the crowd of alphas. He caught Kim’s eyes in the crowd. “Hey, Kimmy,” he said in a sickly sweet voice. “Remember me? I remember you, you fucking bitch. And I will remember you until the end of your sad excuse of a life. If I didn't have rules against badly hurting women, you would have your back snapped like a fucking Barbie doll.”
Her face went pale and she shrank in her seat. Breathing hard and angrily, Jason turned away from Kim and stepped towards the blindfolded omega. The two men holding him immediately moved away. Jason untied the boy's hands and his blindfold. The boy whimpered under the bright lights. Jason pulled him close.
“Shh…” he murmured. “It’s okay. I’ll get you out of here, okay?” He rubbed circles into the boy’s shoulder.
Suddenly a hand was slapped down on his shoulder. Jason reacted immediately, grabbing the hand and throwing the offender over his shoulder and off of the stage. The man crashed into one of the table, groaning weakly.
“I suggest you all fuck off,” Jason said. He found Lara in the crowd. “And you’d better let your collection of omegas go, not sell them, let them go. Then leave the city, or better, the country. Because if you don’t, I will hunt you down, and I must say, red will be a much prettier color on you than black, pet.”
Just then, he pulled a small metal ball out of his pocket and pulled the safety out of it. He tossed it into the crowd of alphas, and a white gas immediately started come out. Jason lifted the omega boy up over his shoulder and ran. He grabbed Dick on the way out.
“What is that?!” Dick asked, glancing behind them.
“It’ll make sure they forget they ever saw our faces,” Jason grunted. “They keep the omegas in the back, right?”
Dick nodded mutely.
They worked quickly to get the omegas free.
“Take them and call the police or something,” Jason said. “I’ll go get rid of the evidence.”
“Get rid of what evid-” Dick started to say. He turned around, but Jason was gone.
~
Damian was playing solitaire by himself with the news playing in the background. Suddenly, his ears picked something up, and his attention snapped to the screen.
“-we saw the Red Hood burning down a club in Downtown Blüdhaven. Eyewitnesses say that they saw Red Hood putting a bullet through the head of the club owner, Claude Crippler, and his two associates. This happened two hours ago, and right before that, there was an illegal omega auction taking place. Our sources say that all of the omegas made it out of the club safely, as did most of the guests. As the fires burn down, however, there are still five alphas missing, two females, and three males: Lara Milton, Kimberly Burks, Sean Milton, Jayden Peterson, and Mark Johnson. However-” the reporter stopped, pressing her hand to her earpiece. Her eyebrows furrowed.
She turned back to face the camera. “Breaking news, I have just received word that Blüdhaven’s very own Nightwing is now chasing the Red Hood towards ‘Haven’s north border. They are… shouting profanities at each other, and seem to be physically fighting, but could there be a hidden meaning behind their words? Here we have amateur footage taken just fifteen minutes ago by an eyewitness. Take a look.”
The clip was pulled up. As usually, it was horrible quality, and no definite shapes could be seen. However, there was someone chasing a bright red something across the screen. The camera followed it shakily, and words could barely be made out. “-told you I would deal with it!” Nightwing shouted.
“They’ll just end up in jail and paying their way out! Like you don’t already know this! It had to be done!”
“Please, Hood, don’t be rash! Just give me-”
The video cut off. Damian stared at the TV, blinking slowly. “Undercover mission, huh?” he muttered under his breath.
~
The next morning, Dick walked into the kitchen with a busted lip, a small cut on his forehead, suspicious bruise-like marks all down his neck, and his t-shirt ripped and hanging off his shoulder. Damian wondered if Dick even noticed at all as he murmured a tired ‘good morning’ and poured himself a cup of coffee.
As Dick sat down, Jason entered the kitchen. He only wore sweatpants, hanging low on his hips. He had a large bruise blooming on his left shoulder that looked a lot like the result of a solid punch. He ruffled Dick’s hair, pressing a kiss to the top of his head, and reached for his own mug.
Jason poured himself coffee, stirred in a splash of cream and sugar then sat down next to Dick, across from Damian.
Damian’s eyes flicked between them, still trying to figure out what was going on. Dick leaned into Jason and tucked his face into Jason’s neck, humming quietly. He had a tired smile on his lips. Jason wrapped an arm around Dick’s shoulders, playing with the ripped shirt.
Neither of them acknowledged Damian.
Damian just blinked at them a few times, sighed, and took a long sip of his tea.