Chapter Text
-At Titan Tower-
Nightwing, Starfire, Flash, Beast Boy, Raven, Troia, and Aqualad were all gathered in the Tower’s meeting room going over plans for their next mission.
Nightwing was at the head of the table, in front of a computer screen mapping out the plan, while the others sat around the table.
Nightwing clasped his hands together, “Alright Titans, we need to invade their base of operations tomorrow night. I’ve already gone over the plan, now, any questions?” They were raiding a facility that had tied to a cult they were investigating, the mission had been planned out for weeks. Everything had to be meticulously planned.
But as Nightwing was about to move onto the next phase of his plan, the tower’s phone line began to ring and a name popped up on the screen instead.
Dick looked at the screen in confusion, “It’s Alfred.”
His girlfriend, Starfire tilted her head in alarm, “Alfred? That cannot be good right?” She’d lived through enough Bat Family crises to know when something bad was coming.
Dick clenched his teeth, “He only calls when there’s trouble.” And usually Alfred would call his phone, but be left his phone in his room on the floor above. So for Alfred to call up the Tower directly couldn’t be a good sign.
“Well answer it already!” Wally urged his friend.
And so he did. Dick pressed the answer button on the computer, “…umm…Alfred?”
They heard Alfred breathing heavily on the other side of the line, “Master Dick! Thank goodness, we have a situation…” he spoke urgently, taking in quick breaths.
Dick’s entire body stiffened in alarm, “What happened?!” His mind ran through possibilities, did Bruce get hurt, did one of his brothers get hurt, did someone blow up Gotham?
“Master Clark is missing!” The butler muttered.
Dick’s eyes widened in surprise, “What?” And even his teammates got up from their seats.
“How the hell is Superman missing?” Wally asked in skepticism.
“I think the better question is how do you lose a flying alien?” Garfield chimed in, though not very helpful.
Alfred made a noise of surprise on the other end, “..Master Dick?”
“Sorry Alfred, your on speaker. But what happened to Clark?” Bruce had gone missing before, granted that time he’d gotten himself kidnapped. But for Alfred to sound so nervous and worried, it wasn’t a normal disappearance.
The butler sighed, “Well I suppose you are all aware….” So he ripped the bandage, “…Master Clark has entered his heat, and Master Bruce has been on an incredibly important undercover mission for nearly a month.” He’d been out on an undercover mission with John Constantine of all people, originally he was to go with Zatanna, but she’d become unavailable. There had been an emergency with a council of demons….or half demons, Alfred wasn't sure. But since it involved magic, Bruce had told Clark it was safer if he stayed home with the kids and watched over Gotham.
This time Beast Boy chimed in. “Shit, aren’t they bonded?” Because while the Justice League didn’t know that Superman was an Omega, aside from those whom he trusted the most, as he deemed it safer if word didn't get out, and all the press thought he was an Alpha. Seriously, Lex Luhtor would probably have an aneurysm if he found out he'd actually been fighting and trying to kill an Omega, instead of the big scary Alpha who’d come to use Earth to build a harem, as he’s so likely put it. All the younger heroes were aware, since Bruce always welcomed them in his home, treating them like his own pups. So naturally when he began courting Superman and started bringing him over to the manor, all the young heroes became aware.
“Yes” Alfred replied on the phone.
Starfire gave her boyfriend a look of concern, “Well that cannot end well.”
Dick took in a deep breath and tried to stay calm. “Okay, but what does that have to do with Clark being missing?” Because being in heat was one thing, it wasn’t great without Bruce being here, but it was manageable. But being missing while in heat, was an entirely different story, especially for someone like Clark. Most of his heats were spent with just Bruce, inside the safety of a red sun room, as Clark tended to lose a bit of control over his powers when under the stress of heat. So who knew what he’d do while missing, in heat, without his mate to calm him?
Alfred cleared his throat, here came the more uncomfortable part. “Well, when bonded Omegas go into heat without their alpha, they tend to get…frantic and seek comfort in other ways. And well, Master Clark started making a nest in the nesting room and asking for his pups.” The ‘nesting room’ in question being the red sun room, where Clark and Bruce would spend their heat and rut. It wasn't a prison to contain Superman, it was a huge room, with a king sized bed and an adjacent bathroom. Bruce had installed a book shelf and tv so they could stay in bed in between the waves of heat or rut. It had red sun lamps in the ceiling which someone would have to activate from outside the room once they were inside and Bruce made sure to lock the door.
“….” Everyone was silent on the other end.
So Alfred continued, “I told him his pups would arrive soon and to continue making a nest while I prepared some tea. The door was open, I told him I would call you or the others to come aid him, but when I returned Master Clark was gone!” Just gone, probably flown out of the Waynor with superspeed before Alfred ever fetched the kettle to make tea.
“Where did he go?” Raven asked her teammate.
Because Dick knew Clark and his Omega the most outside of Bruce of course. Back when Bruce and Clark started dating, and going on missions with him as Robin, Clark would always treat him like his pup. He was protective, maybe even more than Bruce, he’d bandage his wounds, and they'd all nest and cuddle together after very exhausting missions. A good place to look could be the Fortress of Solitude, but if Clark was looking for his pups…”Alfred do you think..”
“I do believe he’s gone after his pups” Alfred reached the same conclusion. “I don’t know which of you, but one of you is bound to find him.”
“Can’t you just track him or something? Did B seriously not put a chip on him or something?” Wally asked.
“Master Bruce would never do such a thing” true, he’d never put a tracking ship on him, on his suits though….
‘Okay’ Dick’s mind said, it was definitely time to panic, “Shit, we need to find him before someone else does.” What if a rogue found Clark? What if Lex Luthor caught him? What if he got hurt?
Wally ran over to his friend, “Alright let’s chill, how bad could it be?” Dick gave him an ‘What the hell did you just say look’. “He’s going after the Robins right, so he’s not in danger. If he finds one of you, you’d keep him safe.”
Well Dick couldn’t argue with that, all his siblings would protect Bruce with this life, “Still, we gotta find him.”
“And how do we find a frantic Omega with superpowers that could be anywhere?” Beast Boy asked.
Aqualad turned to him, “Can’t you like, track his scent?”
Beast Boy rolled his eyes, “You got something with his scent on it for me to smell?”
Aqualad’s face fell, “No.”
“Just call up your siblings” Troia suggested.
Dick’s mind was spinning. Okay, so his dad was god knows where, would even know if where to look for them in his Omega high mind? He needed to focus, he needed a plan, the mission they were working on just got thrown out the window. He slammed a hand on the desk, “Okay, everyone stop! Alfred, stay at the manor in case he comes back.”
The butler sighed, he just wanted to know where his son went. “Alright Master Dick.” But he ended the call.
Dick then focused his attention on the team, “Okay Titans, meeting is over. I gotta go call up my brothers.”
“We can help!” Kori spoke up.
“Yeah, Clark always helps us” Wally chimed in.
“They say heats without your mate is worse than normal, it’s our duty to help” Aqualad added.
“An Amazon always helps someone in need” Donna joined in.
Dick smiled, his mind was racing, his instincts at his dad getting hurt were going into overdrive. But he was glad to have his friends with him to help. He took in a deep breath, “Okay so we have to cover as much ground as…”
But then the tower’s alarms began to go off. A red light went off and an alert sign popped up on the computer’s screen.
“Security Alert!”
“Security Alert!”
“What’s that?” Raven asked.
Wally walked over to the window that overlooked the entrance to the tower, “Oh my god I it’s Superman!”
Dick practically ran to the window and looked down towards the ground. And right there, he saw Bruce, in pajamas, banging on the door. He could feel his scent growing sour at the sight, he had to get to Clark. But before he could get far, the wall exploded!
All the Titans were sent flying back, not that much but they surely felt the impact. The only one to not feel anything was Dick. He’d closed his eyes as the wall came crashing down, but when he opened them, he understood…Clark had caught him, currently carrying him like a koala.
Clark’s hair was a complete mess, like he’d been either pulling or messing with it, so unlike his styled back Superman hairstyle. He was wearing pajamas, and those were messy too. And his pupils seemed dilated.
“Clark!” Dick yelled to get his attention, the smell of Clark fully hitting his nostrils. Usually Clark’s scent during heat was sweet and calming, and nostalgic from his younger days. But right now, the scent was bitter, the scent of an Omega in high distress. It felt wrong coming from the usual happy go lucky Clark Kent, but here they were.
“Need pups!” Clark cooed, rubbing his cheek against the top of Dick’s fluffy hair. He then started looking Dick’s entire body over for any injuries, “Pup could be in danger!” Once he was satisfied with his search, he started scenting Dick, letting out a very happy noise, “Pup is safe!”
“Clark!” Dick tried to get his dad to put him down. Usually Clark would get the title of mother, but Dick never called him that. To him, both Bruce and Clark were his dads But at least Clark’s scent was a little less bitter, showing his happiness at seeing his pup.
“Pup” Bruce hugged him tightly, making them float in the air.
“Ahh..Clark, too tight!”
But Clark didn’t care, keeping his grip tight. “Need to nest, need to keep pup safe!”
And just then, the rest of the Titans got back on their feet. All catching the scent of the frantic Omega in the air.
“We’re here” Donna spoke up, mostly wanting to make sure Superman didn’t drop her friend..
“What’s..oh!” Garfield took in Kal’s condition, none of them had ever seen him so wrecked.
Dick sighed and tried speaking with his dad, “Hey Big Blue are you okay?” But the Omega just let out a happy coo as he kept scenting his pup.
“He’s out of it” Wally pointed out the obvious.
“Totally out of it” Garfield agreed.
Clark then finally noticed the others and spoke rapidly, “Alpha is gone, he’s been gone for a long time. And without Alpha who’s gonna protect pups? Need to nest, need to keep pups safe!” And he clung onto Dick a little more tightly.
“Well I guess we call up Alfred and that’s that” Garfield spoke up again.
“See, nothing to worry about.”
But Dick gave them a glare, “I’m not sending him back.”
“What?”
Dick looked at his dad again, at the man currently holding him like when he was a pup and hid him inside his cape. “I know it’s irrational…but without B, his Omega thinks it needs to protect his pups. He ran from home just to find me, sending him back would be cruel.”
“I agree with Dick” Kori said in his favor.
Raven tilted her head, “So what do we do?”
Dick knew what to do, “Hey Clark, you put me down. We can’t make a nest like this..” a distressed Omega had to be cared for, and the tower provided more than enough space and supplies for them to do so.
Clark perked up at that, “Nest?!” Yes, we wanted a nest.
Dick nodded, “Yes, you can nest here at the tower.”
Clark gave a cheerful smile and his scent got sweeter, “Pup will help make a big nest? Big nest, to fit all pups?”
Dick smiled nervously, getting all the pups would be hard. But he’d build a nest, “Sure, let’s go.”
With that, he was lowered back to the ground. And they all took Clark to their living room, the wall was a problem for later. The living room was spacious, it would fit a nest. And Dick addressed the group in his commanding leader voice, “Alright Titans, new mission. Make a giant nest!”
“And how do we do that?” Garth asked.
Donna was next, “Amazons don’t have secondary genders, I don’t know how to make a nest.”
Garfield rolled up his sleeves, “Can’t be too different from an animals’ nest, just get a bunch of soft things.”
Dick sighed, guess this would be a learning day. “Get a bunch of mattresses down here!”
Wally raised an eyebrow, “You wanna build it here? In the common room?”
“It’s the safest place, we can all keep an eye on him, and it’s easy access to the kitchen. Trust me, he’ll get hungry.” He’d lived through enough of Bruce’s heats to know how this would go down.
But then Clark gently tugged on his arm, “Pup?” At least that was one thing Clark had control over, he was always mindful of his super strength when cuddling. Dick only hoped that would change, as they did not have red sun lamps at the tower.
Dick looked at him nervously, “Yeah.”
“Where are the other pups? Where’s Conner, Tim, Damian, Jonathan..Jason!” His voice grew louder and panicked. Because while both Bruce and Clark loved all his kids equally, their inner Alpha and Omega had an obvious favorite, and it was Jason! Bruce saw him as the pup who died in his arms, while Clark saw him as the pup that died while he’d been away, that he’d gotten there when it was too late. Both saw him as the pup whom they failed to protect, so obviously when he came back, Jay became the pup they clung to the most. “Where’s Jason! Pups could be in danger! Need to make sure pups are safe!” And he let go of Dick and tried flying towards the door.
“Oh no you don’t..” Dick held his dad by the waist to prevent him from leaving, “…Star help!”
Star flew to stand in front of Clark, blocking his passage to the door, lIt’s alright, the other pups are okay.”
Clark shook his head and let out an unhappy sound, “No, need to see them. Need to know pups are okay!”
Dick used up all his strength to hold Clark back, but Kori’s words seemed to have soothed him a little. “Okay, guys this is worse than I thought. Activate Tower lockdown protocol!”
And so the Tower went into lockdown, locking all windows and doors, only opening them with a passcode. Which again, normal Batman would easily be able to get in, but Dick was confident that right now that would be impossible.
And while Dick and Kori were holding Clark back, the others were arranging a giant nest as instructed. Wally had run to all the vacant rooms in the tower and brought in eight mattresses and arranged them together to form one giant mattress. Raven had used her powers to move the sofas and lounge chairs in the living room around the mattress, forming a shield, but also a great support to prop pillows against. Donna and Garfield had run through several rooms and brought back as many pillows and blankets they could carry so Clark could arrange them how he liked. And Garth had fetched several bottles of water and snacks from the kitchen.
“We’re building a nest, what else can we do?” Garfield asked as he dumped a pile of couch cushions into the giant nest enclosure.
“We need to get my siblings here. It’s the only way he’ll calm down” Dick replied. It was the only way, if Clark wouldn’t calm down until all his pups were within his sight, they had to get them here.
“Should be easy” Wally said sarcastically as he finished arranging the mattresses together.
Dick grunted, “I can’t go, he’ll go crazy if I leave.”
“Uhh Dick!” Kori called out to him. And that’s when Dick noticed, Clark was scenting Kori!
“Need to scent pups!” The Omega said as he covered the girl in his scent.
Kori didn’t mind, she was actually quite surprised at how similar Dick and his parents were, Bruce would scent her sometimes back when she was younger and her and Dick began dating. Then all the scents kind of blended together when Clark joined the picture. But one thing didn’t make sense, “Um Clark, I’m not your pup.”
Clark, stopped what he was doing and looked at her with a pout, “Yes you are. You mated one of my pups, you’re also my pup!” He said it like it was obvious and continued what he was doing.
Dick sighed, again! “Okay, now Star can’t leave.”
Wally laughed at the situation, he’d helped out his family member through this sort of crisis before. “Just tell us where to go.”
Dick was once again grateful at having his friends here. “Okay. Wally, can you go get Tim and Conner in Mount Justice?”
Wall nodded and took off, “Already on it!”
“Tell them to bring nesting supplies, and for Kon to bring his red sun lamp!” Dick yelled after him. Tim had built a red sun lamp for Conner when he’d presented as an Alpha two years ago and they were living part time at Mount Justice.
“Got it!” He heard his friend say.
Dick then turned to the others, “Garth, I think Cass said she’d go to the Gotham harbor today. Can you go get her?”
Aqualad finished placing the water bottles and nodded, “Of course my friend.” He then left through the kitchen as to not give Bruce ideas.
“Donna, can you call Artemis and find the Outlaws, I have no idea where Jason is.” And Jason was the most crucial one needed. Because Clark,’s Omega would probably have a fit if all the pups showed up but no Jason.
Donna finished putting down all the fluffy blankets she’d found, “I’ll call her now and get to them. We won’t fail Superman!” She flew off to go call her fellow Amazonian.
Dick then turned to the remaining team members, “And that leaves Jon and Damian, they went to spend a week in Smallville. I guess Clark wasn’t anticipating his heat.” Or maybe he’d thought that Bruce would have been back by now, but it didn’t matter right now.
“Well get them” Raven assured him. And Garfield agreed as they left for Smallville.
“Thanks guys…woah. Clark!” Dick had barely finished sending his team off when Clark grabbed him again and plopped him into the nest.
“Pups help me work on the nets!” Clark declared as he started going over the materials the others had brought. He loved making nests of all the soft things he could find, Alfred would complain sometimes that all the blankets and sheets in the manor would have to be washed after Clark’s heat hit.
Dick just accepted it, “Fine.”
Then Kori put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry Dick, the others will be back soon.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. They just have to make it back before he’s fully under. And I have to call Alfred!” The challenge would be leaving the nest without triggering Clark.
“There, now the pups are safe!” Clark said in triumph as he started organizing the pillows against the couch barrier of the nest.
Dick gulped, how could he sneak away from an alien that could hear his heartbeat all the way from a different planet? “Hey Clark?”
“Yes pup?” The Omega looked at him with worry, he’d be heartbroken if his pup didn’t like the nest.
“I have to go to my room..”
“No” Clark shut him down firmly, “Pups stay in the nest!”
“But I have to….” He tried coming up with an excuse Bruce would accept in a state like this. “…I need to get my…clothes! Won’t the nest be better if it smells like your pups?” He got it, the one thing no Omega could ever resist. The scent of people they loved in their nest.
Clark took the bait and nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, I want clothes!” He was so proud of his pup for having such a good idea, he flew over and ruffled the young man’s hair affectionately.
So Dick started making his way out of the nest, “Okay, so I’ll go get clothes. I’ll bring some of Kori’s too!”
“Come back fast!” Clark said, still a little worried. And Dick had no doubt that Clark would come after him if he took too long.
“I will” he promised, then bolted to the elevator. “Phew, didn’t think that would work” he patted himself on the back.
He got to his floor and raced to his room, he quickly got his phone and texted Alfred to let him know Clark was safe.
From Dick, to Alfred
‘Alfred, Clark showed up at Titan Tower. We’re building a nest and working on getting everyone here. He’s safe.…but please try contacting Bruce.’
And less than a minute later, he got a reply.
From Alfred, to Dick
‘Thank goodness. Keep him as calm as you can. I will try to make contact with Batman and Sir Constantine from the cave.’
Dick sighed in relief. He really hoped Alfred could get Bruce to come home. But he couldn’t keep his hopes up.
He moved fast to gather some dirty clothes for Clark/’s nest then made his way to Kori’s room across the hall for some clothes. She probably wouldn’t mind if he just took a sweater and some pants right?
He got as much as he could carry and made his way back to the now nesting room. And when he got there Clark, as expected, came running to him.
“Dick!!”
“I got the clothes!” He handed them to the purring Omega.
“You took a long time” Clark scolded lightly.
“Sorry” he apologized and made his way to the nest, where his girlfriend was arranging blankets over the mattresses. She’d learned a lot about nest making from her boyfriend and eventual mate. Most people assumed that since Dick had grown up with Bruce and Clark as his parental figures that he'd learned all his nesting abilities from the alien, but he'd actually learned a lot from Bruce. Because when he'd first adopted Dick, Bruce knew the pup was grieving and needed comfort, so despite being an Alpha he did his best to make a nest in his room so Dick could have a place to feel secure. They’d often lay there some the hard days, they'd fall asleep cuddling in the nest, watch movies, eat snacks, sometimes Dick would even convince Alfed to join them in the nest with his puppy eyes.
Bruce actually buold some pretty decent nests, hed leamed how by watching his parenstb make them when he was little. But then their little nests got bigger when Cklark came along. Clark appreciated B’s effort, he even praced the barriers bRUCE would make around the nest with pillows to keep the pups safe. But kryptonians preferred their nests to be ultra solf, perfect for cuddling, and Clark would spend almost an hour every time weaving blankets and sheets toegtehr until he felt happy with his nest.
“Now stay in the nest” Clark instructed as he laid the clothes down for him to go through and figure out where they each went.
And Dick sat there watching. He felt like he was a pup again, like when he’d bring his clothes to Bruce’s room where they’d make a nest and then cuddle for the rest of the dad, and eventually with Clark too. Where they’d watch movies on the tv in Bruce’s room, or Clark would tell him Kryptonian stories like the adventures of Nightwing and Flamebird.
He had to admit he did miss it a little as he got older and moved out, letting them nest with his younger siblings. Part of him missed the clinginess, the scent, he missed being their pup.
He watched Clark arrange everything in the way he wanted, and once he was down he pulled both Dick and Kori close so they could cuddle.
And as he took in Clark’s scent which was back to fully sweet now, Dick thought to himself that maybe…maybe helping out during this heat wouldn’t be that bad