Chapter Text
He blamed himself. How could he not? He hadn’t known. It didn’t occur to him that it wasn’t his fault because she had never told him. That detail was unimportant. He was an alpha, a good one. His enhanced sense of smell, reflexes, and instincts had saved his life more times than he could count, but they had missed what was right in front of him. He inhaled. He could smell her now, no doubt about it. He ran a hand up her bare spine, gently and she shuddered under him, whimpering slightly, even in her sleep. He pulled her close and she accepted the contact, sighing and drifting further into sleep.
Felicity’s skin was still warm, burning with a fever that was not going to break for at least another day. He was relieved she was resting. She was going to need it since his instincts told him this was going to take longer than usual. He’d never heard of an Alpha and an Omega passing a gentle heat together and assumed it would take them longer than normal. He knew he should rest too, but he simply couldn't close his eyes. After everything she’d been through, he had to protect her. His biology was mixing with his overprotective personality in the worst way possible. He knew it. He didn’t care. He considered it justified.
<---<<
At first, no one had noticed. The Glades had just fallen, and the first few missing Omegas were assumed to be dead, buried under rubble. He’d been about to leave, to head back to the island, when the first victim had been found. Then the Alpha in him wouldn't let him go. He might not have had a relationship with any of the taken Omegas, but he still considered them his responsibility. He’d stayed and helped Digg and Felicity with their search for the kidnapper. He planned to leave after they found him, but then another victim had been dumped the next day, and the next. His plans were postponed indefinitely.
Felicity had contacted Lance. She’d been trembling and unusually quiet when she did so. She’d been that way throughout the case. She’d been terrified. If only she’d told him. He’d have done more for her.
He and Lance met on a random rooftop, Felicity and Digg listening over comms. He filled them in on the strange details of the case. All the victims were omegas, male and female. All of them had been on suppressants. All of them used lotions, perfumes, and other products to mask their pheromones. All of them were unattached, and all of them were focused on their careers. None of these things were uncommon, especially among young omegas of any gender. Before the invention of suppressants in the 1980s Omegas had been forced to have children very young. Most did not get careers, something Omega rights groups had pushed scientists to change. There’d been a backlash, and still, almost four decades later, many conservative groups insisted that allowing Omegas to suppress themselves, to let them be anything other than breeders was unnatural. Hence why they called themselves the Naturalists.
It was ridiculous, Oliver knew. Any halfway decent alpha knew that his or her place was not to dominate an omega but to care for them and help them, to make them happy. If an Omega wanted a career they should be allowed to do so. If they wanted to find an alpha as soon as they presented and reproduce to their heart's content, that was none of Oliver’s business. If they wanted to experience their heat and take pregnancy preventing drugs after that was a perfectly valid choice. Oliver had enjoyed time with many such omegas before the island. If they wanted to suppress their hormones forever and never have a heat or bear a child, then Oliver had no right to judge. If Alphas and Betas were allowed to do as they pleased, then why not allow omegas the same courtesy. Something in his gut told him though, that this serial kidnapper did not share his views.
Lance confirmed that fear when he told Oliver the most disturbing detail. Even though all these omegas had been suppressing their Omega biology, when they were found, drugged and confused, but unharmed, deposited within blocks of an Omega shelter, they were all in an advanced stage of heat. No injections or drugs could prevent it and they all had to ride it out. The Green Arrow growled when he heard this news.
“Impossible,” Felicity whispered over the comms.
“How?” Oliver hissed, through his voice modulator. “It takes months for suppressants to work their way out of an Omega’s system.”
“Yes,” Lance admitted. “We don’t know how this kidnapper is doing it, but he must be giving them a drug. We think he might be dosing them with something, to...experiment on them.”
Felicity had drawn in a sharp breath and Oliver had only been able to hear a rushing sound in his ears. A heat was a deeply personal thing for an Omega. It was timed with their hormones and if it went unfulfilled they could suffer permanent damage or even in some cases death. It was a personal choice to allow it to unfold or hold it at bay, and the sometimes violent actions of political groups who believed otherwise had driven Omegas deeper underground. Suppressing themselves to the point that most of their friends and family did not know their status. It made them vulnerable to this new predator, who seemed to be able to find them despite the suppressants.
SCPD released public safety warnings and alerts on the third day a victim had been discovered. They urged the public to report any missing Omega, waving the usual 24 hours waiting period. But no one knew when to call in. The victim’s friends and families weren’t even aware they had been taken before their loved one was found weeping on the streets in a deep state of heat, past the point of coherency. When they were later interviewed by the police everyone would insist they hadn’t known. They’d assumed they were a Beta who overslept, forgot their phone, didn’t get the message, or simply forgot the plans. Whatever this bastard was doing to these omegas it was over so fast no one even had time to blink.
It overwhelmed Oliver and made him feel sick. It even touched a nerve in Digg, who was a Beta. Felicity was shocked into silence. Oliver, recognizing the urgency, brought Roy into the fold. He hadn’t planned on turning to his sister’s boyfriend. He’d been determined to keep all things Hood related as far from his sister as possible, but Roy had proven himself when he saved so many lives during the Undertaking, and he himself was an Omega to Thea’s Alpha. He was an outspoken Omega rights advocate and Oliver knew he’d be taking this very personally. He needed that drive to help him. He also wanted to keep Roy close by as he was at risk.
These omegas were being taken and experimented on against their will. None of them could remember where they were or what they’d been doing. They had vague recollections of things they’d done throughout the day they were snatched, but witness accounts seemed to indicate these memories were from hours before the actual abductions.
“Whatever drug he’s giving them to force the heat must also alter their short term memory,” Felicity hypothesized, her fingers flying over the keyboard. At the time, she was trying to determine if he was picking his victims from the suppressant manufacturers' shipping list but had no luck. There were five different brands of suppressants and the victims used all of them. Nothing changed. A new victim was deposited every day.
Oliver hit the streets. Lance interviewed witnesses, the victims, and even the Alphas who’d been called in to help them through the forced heat. Oliver put the fear of God into everyone he could. No one had any leads. The only commonality Oliver and Lance could find in everyone’s stories was in something the Alphas all said. The shelters did their best, trying to determine the Omega's preference for a male or female alpha. Giving them the services for free and providing the pregnancy preventative drug after. But often, since these omegas were unattached they were with strangers during the heat. All the Alphas who were with them said some variation of the same thing. Since the Omega hadn’t chosen to go into heat, since they’d explicitly been trying to avoid it and had it forced upon them, the Alpha’s felt like they’d been complicit in the assault of an Omega. Matters were not helped by the fact that these omegas were always past the point of speech and logic. Their kidnapper dropped them off when they were so far gone that by the time they were found, brought to a shelter, and an Alpha was called, all the Omega could do was whimper in pain. It made the Alphas’ skin crawl to be pawns in this sick kidnapper’s game.
Dressed as the Arrow, Oliver offered the only words that made any sense to him.
“What is happening is not your fault. You did the best you could, in an impossible situation. If you hadn’t stepped in, they could have died. You took care of them after a horrible thing happened. That makes you a good Alpha.”
It didn’t seem to help. Roy started advocating for funds to start support groups. He wanted multiple for the victims of the Undertaking, and multiple for the victims of the kidnapper, Omega and Alpha alike. Oliver got QC to give the money. He offered Verdant as a meeting place, and so during the day the club was filled with victims of different crimes against humanity. At night people came to drink and party. The contrast was deeply upsetting to everyone.
Felicity had stayed under everyone’s feet without their knowledge, looking day and night for their kidnapper. Oliver had sat with her. She was quiet for once, which allowed him space to grieve Tommy and let him consider the best ways to go about looking for the bastard. He doubled his patrols. Roy came with him, and Digg took to driving around the city in his van. No one came up with anything. The closest was Felicity who noted one day that all the victims spent time in the Glades. They weren’t necessarily from there, some volunteered with rebuilding efforts, some worked or lived nearby, but all of them spent a decent portion of time in the glades. Oliver passed the information along to Lance and everyone honed in their search.
The night before the worst day of Oliver’s life, Felicity had been at the Foundry for thirty-six hours. The tenth victim, Erik Enderson, had been discovered. She’d gone into a frenzy at the point, looking through algorithms and randomly checking traffic cams, hoping to see something. Oliver had forced her out, telling her to go home, take a shower, get some rest. He’d come to care about her, maybe even love her for her tender presence these past few stressful ten days. She knew when to babble and distract him. She knew when to let him brood. She knew when to suggest that he stop trying to break the training dummies and go on patrol. But more than anything else, she was light. His one source of light, keeping him tethered to his new goal. Don’t kill anymore.
He watched her go, knowing in his bones that he didn’t care if she was a Beta. He’d marry her, someday, when it was safe.
The next day was Monday, and it was not unusual for her to not be at the Foundry first thing. She had a job. He and Digg were looking over the results of her searches when Oliver’s phone rang. He glanced at the number and felt a moment of panic. Lance was calling his Non-Arrow phones, as Felicity called it. Did he know?
“Hello?” Oliver asked, pressing the phone between his ear and shoulder. There was a pause, as Lance took a shaking breath.
“Queen?” he started. “I-” he broke off, swallowing. “Have you been following the cases of the kidnapped Omega’s?”
Oliver blinked. Why was Lance calling Oliver Queen and not the Arrow about the kidnappings?
“Yes,” he said. “You going to accuse me of kidnapping and drugging Omega’s now?” It came out a growl.
“No,” Lance’s voice nearly broke. “I’m sorry. I know we have a complicated relationship and I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you-”
“Tell me what?”
“I just got a call from the Omega Center, downtown. I’m here now, and-”
“Was there another victim?” Oliver asked, voice rising. He checked his watch, it was early for another victim. Usually, they popped up in the night.
“Yes, there was and it’s...you know her.”
Oliver blinked. He knew her? He didn’t know any female Omegas. Sure there were suppressants and lotions and such, but he was more honed than your average Alpha. He’d know.
“I don’t know any Omegas,” he said, flatly.
“They all say that,” Lance muttered. Oliver blinked again, face morphing into a blank slate. He was compelled to glance at Felicity’s empty chair.
“Who is it?” he asked.
“She’s a friend of yours, I think. I’m not sure what your relationship is with her, but I know she works at Queen Consolidated and has been helping you out with the Club and the support groups since Tommy-” Lance stopped himself, taking a deep breath.
“Quintin,” Oliver said, voice deadly, a weight settling on his chest.”Who is it?”
“Felicity Smoak.”
“Felicity,” he repeated her name, in a whisper, his hands trembling, as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Digg’s head shot up.
“Oliver,” Quintin said. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know your relationship with her, but I need you to come down here. You have to...help her.”
Of course, he did. If Felicity was an Omega, if she’d been taken, if she’d been hurt, if she was in heat, he didn’t want anyone else to touch her. He was overwhelmed for an instant by the territorial instinct that flooded to his surface and he barely was able to suppress a growl.
“Of course, I’m coming.”
“Oliver,” Lance said. “I’m so sorry to have to ask you this. I know you didn’t put yourself on the Alpha register when you got back. You have to understand I wouldn’t ask you unless it was dire.”
“I’m coming, Quintin. I would be upset if you called in some random Alpha for her.” He was grabbing his coat. Digg, already grabbing the keys to the car. They both knew what state she had to be in. It took a moment for Quintin’s words to process.
“What do you mean, dire?” he asked, taking the stairs to the foundry two at a time. “Isn’t it always dire by the time they’re found?”
“She’s reacting differently,” Lance explained. “She’s behaving violently. She won’t let anyone touch her, not even an Alpha that happened to be here for registration purposes.”
“Another Alpha touched her?” he growled, only remembering to lock the foundry door because Digg tisked him.
“Cut out the defensive bullshit. I don’t give a damn if you’ve been dating her or fucking her or having some kind of unrequited affair with her. She’s in pain and it’s in her best interest to get an Alpha to her as quickly as possible.”
“I know but-” He climbed into the car, Digg already turning over the engine before he’d even closed the door.
“It doesn’t matter Queen. She kicked him, thrashed around, and bit him. I’m the only person she’s let near her.”
“Not even the doctors or nurses?” Oliver asked.
“No,” Quintin said. “They think she’s hopped up on adrenaline and between that and the heat, it’s impossible to reason with her.”
“But then why has she let you near her?” he asked, covering the speaker to give Digg the location. The Beta’s eyes shot up when he realized they were going to the shelter. Oliver knew Digg understood, given the timing of the abduction, there was only one reason Oliver would be needed at the shelter.
“They think it’s because she knows me. She trusts me. They think she needs an Alpha she knows.”
“I understand,” a lump was rising in his throat upon hearing about her condition. His light, his precious Felicity. She’d been an omega the whole time and he’d missed it. He’d let her get abducted right out from under him. He’d failed her.
“Ten minutes,” Digg said, pulling onto the highway. Oliver relayed the time to Lance and hung up with a snap.
“Digg,” Oliver said, scrubbing his face.
“I know,” the other man said. “I’m so sorry it has to happen like this.”
It felt like decades, not minutes before they got to the downtown shelter. It was in keeping with the kidnapper to leave the Omegas at different shelters. He kept no discernible patterns. Walking through the door he gave his name to the front desk. He could see the tension radiating off the receptionist and staff as they moved.
“Oh thank god,” someone coming down the hall said. He turned to see a doctor in a lab coat. Oliver took in the name tag, it just said Smith. The man jerked his head down the hallway, and Oliver, muttering a quick goodbye to Digg, followed. His friend stood in the waiting room, watching Oliver go, too deeply sad to move.
Dr. Smith took him to a room on the second floor. It was normally reserved for Omegas going into heat with a partner, soundproof, but like a hotel room in every other fashion. The door was open though, and Oliver could hear the whimpers from all the way down the hall. He made it to the door in seconds. The smell of pheromones hit him like a brick wall. He could almost see it, the smell was so thick. It took all his self-control to not grab Felicity and have her way with her. If it wasn’t for her wild desperate appearance he might have.
She was still wearing the same clothes she’d left the foundry in. She’d had them on for 48 hours and they were soaked with her scent. Her make up had smudged and her whole body was flushed, turning red, her eyes dilated, hair was undone, chest heaving with shallow heavy breathes. She was flailing in bed, looking for something only he could give her.
“Felicity,” Dr. Smith began, stepping into the room. She screamed when she heard his voice and tried to launch herself off the bed at him, Lance grabbed her from behind.
“It’s okay,” he said, making eye contact with Oliver, his face pale. Oliver knew if this didn’t work they’d be out of ideas. “Felicity it’s okay. Oliver’s here.”
She seemed incapable of speech, she could only whimper, scream, and cry. She didn’t even seem able to support herself. Her legs gave out and Lance buckled under her sudden limp weight. She’d have hit the floor if Oliver hadn’t stepped in and caught her. Seeing she accepted his touch Lance and the doctor let out a sigh. She was crying, knuckles white on his skin. She was hot, burning up under her clothes. Oliver could feel the tips of his fingers, taking on her heat and it made him deeply uncomfortable.
“Leave us,” he growled, unable to keep his voice measured. Lance was gone in an instant and Dr. Smith closed the door, locking it. Oliver wasn’t sure what held him back. She was clawing at him, pulling at his henley, too far gone to work her hands properly. He’d have to undress them both. He paused, tilting her head back, looking into her eyes. They were blown, but it was the tear tracks that had the biggest effect on him. He wiped at them, inhaling deeply. The smell of an Omega in deep, unsatisfied heat, assaulted him, but he was prepared for it. He looked underneath it for the subtle smells. It was all faint, overpowered by her biology, but it was there, Felicity’s smell, her shampoo, and something that smelled like warm sunlight on rocks. She took her first deep slow breath and he inhaled again. On the third whiff, he was able to smell the fear, the terror, and adrenaline. She was in fight or flight. He squeezed his eyes shut, his own desire overtaken by guilt. He took half a second to vow to himself that he would destroy who did this to her.
He pressed his forehead into hers and the contact seemed to soothe her. She found her voice for a second.
“Oliver,” she breathed, and hearing her name spoken like that with all the pheromones in the room broke him. He brought his lips to hers, gently cupping her head.
<---<<
Oliver had helped a few Omegas through heats before the island. They’d been friends, associates, hookups, women he’d cheated on his beta girlfriend Laurel with. He was familiar with how a heat was supposed to progress. He’d given into his alpha before and had wild passionate hormone-driven sex with many women, who meant nothing to him. This time he gave into his alpha but was shocked when his alpha didn’t want maddening wild sex. He wanted to take care of the trembling omega before him. He’d never heard of gentle lovemaking during a heat but found the idea of doing anything else abhorrent.
He satiated them both once. She was still far gone and trembling. He felt horrible seeing her so vulnerable. She hadn’t elected to let him see her like this. He remembered what the other Alphas had said, and was disgusted with how empty his responses had been. All he could do was try to help her, take care of her. He lifted her from the bed, kicking their clothes into the corner. He’d burn that outfit for her and reminded himself to text Digg to bring her a change of clothes. He carried her into the bathroom, and pulled them both into the shower, collapsing on the floor, cradling her in his arms so she didn’t knock against the tile. He reached up and turned on the water, wanting to wash away the horror she’d been through. Her sense of smell would be very sensitive when she came back into herself. He wanted all traces of her abduction washed from her skin.
She pressed her lips into his chest, just missing his Bratva tattoo. He cradled her head and pressed his nose to her temple.
“Oliver,” she murmured.
“Felicity,” he answered.
<---<<
“Oliver?” she whispered, eyes half-open, lips parted. He hadn’t been sleeping. They’d been in this room for over 24 hours and he couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he thought he heard footsteps. Maybe the abductor coming back for her, and he’d growled himself back to wakefulness.
“Felicity,” he breathed, sighing in relief. He pulled her into his arms. Her skin was still hot and her head was lolling from side to side, with his movements. “You’re okay,” he whispered into her skin. “You’re with me.”
“You’re naked,” she said, smacking her lips. “I’m dreaming,” she muttered. He released her for a moment to get the glass of water from the bedside table. He tilted her head up so she could take a drink. She smacked her lips again, sounding less dry this time. “Good dream,” she murmured, sleep claiming her again.
<---<<
He knew the moment she was fully herself again.
He wasn’t sure how long it took with the others, but it seemed forever to him. He was terrified. He’d never been with an Omega as far gone as she’d been. He called downstairs and talked to Dr. Smith several times, who assured him that she was still within the normal range for someone who didn’t get treatment till such an advanced stage. Though he’d been unable to get out of bed, unable to not touch her for any length of time longer than it took him to use the bathroom, he’d been in contact with Digg. His friend had a go-bag waiting in the Bently whenever they were ready to be picked up. He also told Oliver that two more victims had been found, though none of them had gotten violent like Felicity.
He was running over the events in his head, making note of the time when she left Verdant, what they’d talked about, as he’d walked her to her car. The time it’d been when she’d texted him she made it. He knew Lance would want to know everything. He ran over the details, again and again, only interrupting himself to wonder why she’d reacted to the drug so violently. His musings were interrupted by a deep shuddering breath and a gagging sound.
He swooped around the bed, grabbing the empty trash can and kneeling beside Felicity’s side of the bed, offering it to her. She emptied the contents of her stomach, which was mostly bile since she’d had nothing to eat for at least thirty-six hours.
“Oliver,” she whispered, rubbing her face with one hand, touching his cheek with the other.
“Lie back,” he whispered, still feeling an impulse to take care of her. She let her head thunk on the pillow. Her eyes were unfocused but he could hear the wheels turning in her brain. He didn’t know where to start, but he didn’t need to. He could almost hear the click of things falling into place in her brain, and she took a deep shaking breath, tears springing to her eyes. He climbed over her, back into bed, pulling her into his chest, cradling her.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered into her hair. “If I’d known-”
“It’s not your fault,” she said thickly. “I should have told you, but I thought...there are so many of us, and when all this started I took steps to hide myself. I wiped myself from the shipping list and started having the pills sent to QC under a pseudonym. It seemed like enough, and I didn’t want you or Digg or Roy to not be looking for him because you were protecting me.”
“Felicity,” he said, growling a little, letting her feel the vibrations in his chest. “You’d have been worth it.”
She didn’t answer. She swallowed and pressed her face into his skin.
“I don’t want you to feel guilty, Oliver,” she said so softly he almost didn’t hear her. “I know I didn’t choose a heat, and I know that they couldn’t ask me for input when I arrived. But I’m glad it was you. If I’d been able to, I’d have asked for you.”
“I,” he said, his voice suddenly thick. “I didn’t want our first time to happen like this. I wanted you to remember it.”
“I remember you arriving,” she whispered. “It’s hazy, but I remember you coming in, and I remember being able to let go because you were there. I felt safe. I still feel safe.”
“I will always keep you safe.” He pulled her closer, deeper into his flesh, relishing the smell of her, heat not fully out of her system yet. “Never again am I letting you go.”