Chapter Text
Alpha, Omega and Beta. The three classifications everyone is born with, but don’t know until the age of thirteen. Why our biology determines to find out our classifications during the most hormonal time of your life is beyond me. Of course, with your classification comes your marks, another thing that shows up when you present. I am not sure why being a teenager means going through puberty, presenting not just your classification but your mark, dealing with school, drama and every other thing under the sun. But I guess that is just biology, right? My name is Samantha, but you can call me Sam. I presented seven years ago now and things have never been the same since.
I remember my thirteenth birthday so vividly. I woke up to my mom knocking on my door and walking in with a tray of food with a tiny wrapped gift sitting on the corner of the tray. I sat up in my bed and watched as she walked to me and set the tray on my bedside table. She looked at me and smiled. “Good morning, sweetie! Happy birthday!” she said and gave me a hug. I returned the sentiment and smiled when she pulled back. “Okay honey, I want you to know your father would be so proud of you no matter what you present as. Just as I am.” She said with tears pooling in her eyes. My father died last year in an accident, my mom never told me the details saying I was too young and wanted me to remember my dad in the most positive light possible. I smiled at my mom, she was such an inspiration to me.
My mom is an omega, and my dad was her alpha. When he died she was a wreck, but she pulled herself together for my sake and beat all the odds against her and got a job to support us and began working full time. She was a clerk at the post office, nothing glorious but it paid the bills and allowed her to keep the house my father built for us.
I got out of bed and began walking to the full body mirror. I was wearing a tank top and shorts so it would allow me to see any marks I had. I kept my head down as I walked up to it, and with a deep breath, I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes widened a bit as I saw not one mark I like I was expecting, but at least four. My breath hitched as I studied them, with shaking hands I lifted the hem of my tank top and saw two more marks.
On my ankle, I had a silhouette of a ballerina on pointe, on the front my thigh I had an arrow, the side of my left thigh had a blue circle looking thing, the inside of my right arm had a circle with red and blue circles with a star in the middle, my ribcage had a green double helix, and my hip had a red star. I stared at my body in disbelief, not sure how to handle what I was looking at. My lip quivered as I stared at myself, feeling totally overwhelmed.
My mom was watching my reaction carefully, I turned around to look at her with tears threatening to spill over to my cheeks. “Oh baby, it’s okay. Come here.” She said with her arms open. I ran to her and hugged her, she pulled me onto her lap and ran her fingers through my hair. “Multiple marks are totally fine sweetheart, it just means more people are going to love you and take care of you.” I began crying harder at that, “Momma it isn’t just a few marks, I have six!” I exclaimed before I began sobbing into her chest.
She shushed me as she rocked me back and forth in her arms. We waited for my body to present itself with my classification next. The slick that began forming between my legs and the way my body began to get uncomfortably hot confirmed what I was worried about, not only did I just find out I have six marks, but I presented as an omega. I began crying even harder and she rubbed circles on my back. “Baby girl, I am so proud of you! There is nothing wrong with being an omega, I think I would know.” She said with a wink. I let out a wet laugh and tried to wipe away my tears on my arm. She brought me over to the bed, urging me to sit down.
“Your father and I bought this when you were just a baby.” She said grabbing the present off the tray and walking it back over to me. She handed it to me, and I held it in my shaking hands. I untied the ribbon and ripped off the paper. It was a black velvet box. I opened the box and saw the most beautiful bird necklace with diamonds on the wings. I gasped and hugged my mom. “Momma, it is beautiful! Thank you, I wish dad was here to see me with it.” She grabbed it and told me to move my hair and turn around. She clasped it around my neck and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I guess I will leave you to it, darling, I know how it is for an omega when they present for the first time.” She chuckled and left.
I watched her close the door softly, holding the pendant around my neck as I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath in, curling in a ball as the pain in my stomach began to take over all other feelings. I laid on my side, holding my pillow close as my heat started. I whimpered, gripping the pillow tighter as I felt the slick drip down my leg. I thought about the new marks, the six new marks. Life was never going to be the same now.
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That was seven years ago, now I am twenty years old and off into the world all on my own. I work as a barista in the coffee shop in Stark Tower. When I got transferred, I immediately called her to tell her where the job was. We figured out who some of my soulmates were a couple of years back when I was a still in high school. We watched the battle of New York from our little home in Illinois with wide eyes. We came to find out the blue circle thing on the side of my thigh was in fact the arc reactor in the chest of none other than Tony Stark himself, then during the battle of new York in 2012, we found out the star surrounded by circles on my arm was Captain America's shield. Let that sink in, not one but two of the Avengers were my mates. When we realized that I almost shit myself.
Slowly, the pieces began to fall into place. A few years back there was an incident with Captain America in Washington DC, resulting in a lot of information being released on the internet. That information included a man they called the Winter Soldier, who’s arm donned the same red star that was displayed on my hip.
After I found that out, I decided to leave our ranch Illinois and moved out to New York the moment I turned eighteen. I got lucky and found a studio apartment about five blocks away from Stark Tower where I began making a life for myself, holding out hope that one day I might meet my mates. I lived in New York for three months before I found a job at a local coffee shop in Manhattan. That was now two years ago. I quickly climbed the ranks at the shop, landing the position as the general manager.
Stark Tower had placed an ad for a coffee shop to rent out space in their lobby for a coffee stand. Somehow, our little shop landed that gig and I was asked to transfer locations. That led me to where I am now.
I have been working as a barista in the tower now for a couple of months, yet I have never seen any of the Avengers. I have met Tony’s personal assistant, Natalie, more than a couple times though. On more than one occasion I have been known to sneak a photo of her and send it to my best friend, Karla. I wasn’t much of one for finding women to be physically attractive, but lord did Natalie have a body on her.
I was usually the opener for the coffee stand, but I was put on the closing schedule today. Or, at least I thought I was. I stayed out a little too late last night, knowing that I didn’t have to go into the shop until later in the day. Turns out, I had the date wrong and I was still supposed to be opening today.
My phone rang loudly from its place next to my head, jolting me awake suddenly. I fumbled around for it, eventually finding it shoved under my pillow. “Hello?” I answered groggily, my hangover still very much present this morning. “Sam. Where are you?” I heard Brian, my coworker, ask fervently. “Uhhh. At home?” I answered, rubbing my face and peering at the clock on the wall, seeing it was a little past eight in the morning. “You are supposed to open! I don’t have the keys and the morning rush is going to hit! Get your ass over here!” he said quickly before hanging up the phone. I stared at my phone in confusion, before his words hit me. “Shit!” I cursed, rushing to get off the bed. I was still in my outfit from last night, a silver strapless top with fitted jeans. My world spun as I got up quickly, but it didn’t stop me from stumbling into the bathroom.
I grabbed my toothbrush, brushing my teeth as I quickly grabbed clothes from the pile off the floor. It was September, and the weather was nice, so I grabbed one of the scoop necked work shirts I had and a pair of jeans. I hopped around the room, trying to hurry before I ran back to the bathroom. I spat out the toothpaste, rinsing my mouth out and running back to my small closet and grabbing my sneakers I kept in there for work.
I was stuffing my feet into them when my phone rang again. I groaned, grabbing it and answering without checking the Caller ID. “Hello?” I asked sharply, rushing to the kitchenette and grabbing my keys. “Well good morning sunshine.” my mom’s voice rang out. “Hi, mom. Hey, I am running late for work. Can I call you back on my break?” I asked, locking my apartment door and bounding down the hallway and stairs. I waved goodbye to the landlord who was at the receptionist's desk, rushing down the sidewalk towards the tower that sat above all else in Manhattan.
“I thought you closed today?” she asked, not hanging up like I wished she would. I huffed in annoyance, trying to smooth my blonde hair out of my face as I pushed through the morning crowd. “Yeah, well so did I. Guess I had the dates wrong. I stayed out way too late last night too.” I said, sending a dirty look when a guy shoulder checked me. Gotta love New York.
“Who did you go out with?” she asked, making me laugh despite the fact I was quickly running out of breath. I was not one for exercise. “Karla. She is in town until tomorrow. We went to some underground bar, met up with some guys from the day’s past.” I said, smiling when I heard my mom laugh.
“Lord I miss seeing you two. How did you get into a bar?” my mom asked in a teasing tone. I snorted, jogging towards the tower that was now within fifty yards. “Fake ID, duh. Look mom, I just got to work. I will call you later. Love you.” I said, hanging up the phone and rushing into the building.
Brian was bustling around the stand, trying to explain he could only take cards until the register was opened. I ran over to him, grabbing my apron from the wall and throwing it over my neck. “Bout time. Jesus, what happened to you?” he asked, laughing lightly when I bumped him out of the way with my hip. “Went out last night. Thought I was closing.” I said, opening the register before calling up the next customer.
By some miracle, we made it through the morning rush with little issues. Most of these people were our regulars who worked for Stark Industries, so they were patient and most of them laughed when they heard about what happened.
“Oh to be young again.” one of the elder women, Theresa was her name, sighed wistfully when I gave her the coffee she ordered. I smiled at her, resting on the counter behind me when our last customer grabbed their order and went off to their day. Brian let out a slow breath, shaking his head. “Well. Good morning, Sam.” he said with a smile. I shook my head, saying my good mornings to him. “How was it?” he asked, leaning on the counter across from me. I smiled, shrugging my shoulders.
“Oh you know. Underage omega illegally sneaking into a bar. It was a fuckin blast.” I joked, before my eyes flickered up and my breath caught in my throat. “Shh! Quiet! It’s Natalie!” I hissed, smacking Brian on the shoulder when the redhead sauntered towards us. She was looking at some papers in her hands, her red hair bouncing with each step she took in her sinfully high heels.
“Act cool!” I whispered, glaring at him when he laughed at me. “I see your little crush hasn’t gotten any better.” Brian teased when I looked into the side of the espresso machine and tried to smooth down my hair. “Shut up! Have you ever seen someone as good looking as her?” I hissed out, standing up straight when she looked up and made eye contact with me.
“Good morning, Samantha. Brian.” she greeted us, setting her papers on the counter. “Good morning, Natalie. How are you this morning?” I asked, trying to lean on the counter casually. She smirked, her eyes shining with amusement. “I am well, thank you. You look like you had a long night. Out too late?” she asked, a coy smile breaking out. I blushed, typing her order into the computer. She always got the same thing every morning. Iced Americano, black coffee with two teaspoons of sugar, a green tea, two black coffees with nothing added, and one cappuccino.
“I guess you could say that.” I snorted, shaking my head as I remembered last night. “Where did you go?” she asked curiously, leaning on the counter. I coughed, trying to keep my eyes forward as I made her order. “Village underground.” I said, smirking at her shocked face. “Damn. I haven’t been there in years.” she said with a laugh.
“We should go sometime.” I said, pausing as I realized what I said. I looked up at her, seeing her eyes locked on something on my neck. My hand went up to my neck, feeling my necklace that hasn’t come off since my thirteenth birthday. Her hand went up to touch her collarbone, looking up to meet my eyes. Her eyebrows knit together, and her head cocked to the side a little before she shook her head a little.
“I’d like that a lot.” she said, a smile gracing her features. I nodded, reaching under the counter to grab a piece of paper and wrote my phone number on it. “Well whenever you get a free moment, give me a call and we will get together.” I said as I handed her the paper with my number.
She reached out, grabbing it with a smile. I couldn’t help but catch a glimpse at her upper right arm, pausing when I saw the same mark I had sitting there. It was unmistakable, Captain America’s shield. She caught my eye, winking at me before reaching for the drink carrier and resting it on top of her stack of papers. “Are you free tonight?” she asked, backing up slowly. I nodded, not believing what I was hearing. She nodded, a true smile breaking out on her face.
“Well, I need to go. I will text you?” she asked, holding up the paper. I nodded, my heart beating fast in my chest. She smiled again, turning on her heel and walking to the private elevator at the right side of the lobby. She is the only one I have ever seen use the elevator, so I assumed it was because she was Mr. Stark’s personal assistant.
She disappeared behind the doors, leaving me to stare at the closed doors. “How is that for a turn of events?” Brian’s voice spoke up from behind me, startling me a little. I turned around to see him wearing a smirk, making me blush even more than I already was. “Not a word, Brian. Not a word.” I said before turning to clean up the mess from this morning.