Pack

Chapter 1: Bed Of Straw

The first time that Edward had seen the Scarecrow out of costume, his eyebrows had shot straight into his hairline and any plans to tease Jonathan over showing such trust went straight out the window. Edward had to breathe in deeply several times before he accepted that the scent wafting off the other was indeed his real one.

How could such a tall, terrifying, dangerous man be an omega? It just didn't make any sense to Edward. Until the first time he'd seen Jonathan in heat, and then everything suddenly had made a lot more sense.

Edward and Jonathan were sharing a hideout for the very first time, and things had been going pretty well until Edward walked into the living room one day only for Jonathan to snap at him to sit down and eat breakfast.

Because Jonathan had cooked. Jonathan had cooked a lot. And he wouldn't let Edward leave until Jonathan decided that he'd properly eaten.

The way he took Edward hostage was not by brandishing his scythe or threatening him with Fear Toxin or even via blackmail, like he normally might've done. No, instead his pupils got absolutely huge and he made a low whining keen in the back of his throat every single time Edward tried to move away from the table.

Edward's brain registered omega and upset, and he might've not been an alpha but betas were still wired to keep omegas somewhat content, so he was stuck there until Jonathan was satisfied that he was full.

It would take a while for Edward to realize that Jonathan didn't just happen to be an exceptionally good cook, but that most people could cook better than Edward himself could. All the same, the Scarecrow's food was heaven in his mouth, and he found himself not entirely minding the bizarre situation.

When Edward got back home that evening, the situation only grew stranger. Jonathan pulled him into a hug practically the moment he'd stepped through the door, immediately tipping Edward off that something was very, very wrong — while they had hugged a few times in the past, Edward was always been the one to initiate it and Jonathan mostly put up with it only because they were both extremely touch-starved.

Jonathan squeezed him tight and started to outright whine that Edward had been gone for too long. Apparently Jonathan-in-heat wasn't okay with being left alone, unlike regular Jonathan, who usually preferred it.

Edward was fairly certain that Jonathan was going to pump him full of enough fear gas to drive him completely insane once his heat was over. But right then, Jonathan looked near tears and was making whining noises that sounded far too vulnerable for the normally caustic man and damn it, he was Edward's friend and he was in need.

So Edward just... stayed home for a week. He put up with Jonathan's overfeeding him and demands for cuddles and fussing over everything from Edward's wardrobe to his sleep schedule.

Edward made many discoveries during that week. One was that omegas could get a little crazy if they spent enough heats with only crows for company, and Edward silently vowed that his friend wasn't ever going to go through such an ordeal ever again if he could help it.

Another thing he learned was that nests were apparently not just some blankets shoved into a corner. While in heat, Jonathan downright insisted on being the one to make Edward's nest along with his own. It was the first time someone else had made a nest for Edward.

The nests Jonathan made were large and spread out, with barriers of pillows around them and few if any lumps. Edward had thought that nests like that were just a thing in books and movies, but no, apparently that's how most nests were supposed to be made.

That first night, Edward marveled at how warm and comfortable he was. The nest smelled faintly of Jonathan and safe and home and a lot of other things that nests were apparently supposed to smell like.

Edward almost felt like he had a pack. He knew it was a silly idea, but he let himself pretend for a week that he wasn't some abandoned beta that had to survive alone in the world.

The week ended eventually, though, and Edward resigned himself to the embarrassed fury Jonathan was sure to reign down on him.

Instead, Jonathan stared silently at him for a few moments, and then given him a hug. For just a second, Edward thought that maybe his friend's heat was running a little long, but no — Jonathan was stiff and his arms were just barely wrapped around Edward and he was looking away as if he could pretend he wasn't expressing affection if he couldn't see it. Just like he always did when he let Edward hug him.

A routine of sorts developed between them after that, though for most of each month they pretended it didn't exist. Jonathan eventually was able to keep a relatively good hold of himself during heats, after he went through a few without being alone, but he was still overly clingy and fussy during them. Edward was happy to stay with Jonathan during the week or so he really needed him, mostly because he cared for his friend, but partly so he could keep pretending that he had a pack.

Edward had never really had a pack. His birth bond with his parents had fizzled out pretty quickly, and his father hadn't ever bothered to reclaim him. He and Jonathan weren't really pack, only alphas could form pack bonds and neither of them had an alpha, but Edward still liked to pretend. Not that he ever told Jonathan that, of course.

Jonathan wasn't interested in a real pack. His pseudo bonds with his crows, Edward, and one overly-peppy psychologist lady he apparently had a friendship with were good enough for him. A real pack would require an alpha, and Jonathan refused to be tied down to the whims of some brute. Edward, whose main examples of alphas consisted of his father and Batman, found the stance perfectly understandable.

Then along came a silly little man by the name of Jervis Tetch, and their entire world went topsy-turvy.