Fic: To Make a Nest (part 3/7)
Dec. 29th, 2014 10:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
majestic_duxkkinks and warnings in part 1
Go back to part 2
Go forward to part 4
--oo--
“So, were you ever going to introduce them to me?”
Sam blinked. So far all of Dean’s reactions had been unexpected, and this was no different. Sam was feeling just a bit behind the eight ball. “Who?”
Dean snorted then flung his arms wide. ”Seriously, Sam? Do you have some other gang you run with? These guys! Your beloved alphas.”
Ah. These guys. Sam considered the best way to answer. He quickly decided to go with the truth: it was the lies and misdirection from the both of them that had got them to this point.
“No. I wasn’t going to tell you about them, because…”
Dean never gave him the chance to finish. Butted in, bull headed as always. “You are such an asshole, Sam! These are your alphas, and if they’re important to you, why weren’t you going to introduce us?!” Anger and sadness vied for dominance in his eyes. “Beta brother not good enough to introduce to your lovers? Thanks a fucking bunch.”
Dean went to turn, but Sam wasn’t having any of that. He grabbed Dean’s arm, forcing him to face him.
“If you’d let me finish Dean, I could tell you why.”
--
Castiel’s whole body flinched the moment Sam laid his hands on Dean. He felt his wings tense, ready to launch himself across the space – who to grab he couldn’t say - when bigger, stronger, wings pressed his down. He glanced to his left in surprise. “Lucifer?” Then to his right. “Michael?” Before he had a chance to do more than flip his wings in annoyance (not that they moved, his older brothers were much stronger than he) Gabriel was in front of him, kissing him. And while that was nice…
“Shhhh…. I know what you’re going to say. And I understand, little brother. But look at them.” Gabriel grasped Castiel’s face, turning it towards the Winchesters. “They’re not hurting each other. And they need to sort it out in their own way.”
Castiel scowled. ‘Their own way’ was going to result in one or both of them getting hurt. He obviously didn’t want that for his nest mates. He shook his head, jerking out of Gabriel’s grasp. He then turned to Michael, ready to demand his brothers release him, only to have Michael lean down and kiss him
“It’s hard to watch, Castiel. I know that. Lucifer and I have done the same to poor Gabriel.” Castiel watched his two older brothers exchange looks, then shivered as he felt their wing tips brush against each other, caressing each other as they rubbed over his own wings.
“They’ll be ok, Cassy.” Although Lucifer spoke to Castiel, he didn’t take his eyes off Michael. “Sometimes brothers don’t know what to say, and getting physical can be like words.”
Obviously there was deeper meaning. But right now Castiel didn’t care. Right now Michael and Lucifer were feeling each other up over Castiel’s wings. They got on fine. It wasn’t them having the personal communication issues. Castiel glanced back at the Winchesters: Sam still had his hand on Dean, but it didn’t look as if he would be required to stage a rescue immediately…
Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of his brothers’ wings ruffling his feathers.
But only for a minute. He still wasn’t convinced Sam and Dean knew how to talk.
--
Although Dean was vibrating with strong emotion, he didn’t pull away. Sam allowed his hold to ease, at the same time giving him the opportunity to interrupt. Again. But Dean’s lips were firmly pursed. Great. Into stubborn jerk mode.
Sam was feeling slighted - and more than slightly pissed.
“Did it occur to you to wonder why I wouldn’t have told you? No? Maybe because of you Dean. Yes! I love them! I love each and every one of them more than I can say. They are perfect for me, Dean. Perfect! But I knew that when they found an omega, their omega, I'd have to leave. Despite loving them more than Heaven itself, I would have left when they formed a nest. And do you know why, Dean?" By this time Sam had dropped Dean's arm and was gesticulating wildly at him. "Because I would choose you, each and every fucking time. I would choose you and stay with you – even thinking you were a beta. You’re my brother and I love you.” Sam paused, breathing deeply. His voice had risen with every word, and he needed to be calm. When he could talk without shouting at his brother, he continues. “Even though I found my perfect mates I still would have chosen you.”
Dean stared at Sam for a minute. Well fuck. If that didn’t just take the fucking cake. How exactly was he supposed to stay mad at his brother now? He cleared his throat a few times, before gruffly replying. “Yeah, fine. Enough with the chick moments.”
Sam sent him a scathingly fond glance. Omega or not, Dean was still Dean.
A Dean who was highly skilled in hiding. A second, closer look was promising. Dean didn’t look like he was about to stab him, or walk out any more. Sam couldn’t help the little spurt of hope, that this could work. Right now, he and Dean were communicating. And that was a step in the right direction. He and Dean had never really talked about the important things: they had a fight, with yelling and mostly a lack of punching. Sam would walk out, and when he cooled down he came back, and they both pretended it never happened.
That wasn’t an option right now. He had to make this work, because this was forever. Dean could be part of forever.
Despite his best intentions, Sam felt his anger rise again. He knew it wasn’t fair to be angry at Dean, but fuck! Where was the trust? Dean always demanded that Sam prove himself, and Sam had done exactly what Dean asked, again and again and again. But when it came down to it? Dean hadn’t trusted him, not at all.
Closing his eyes, Sam forced himself to take slow, calming breaths. He couldn’t lose his temper now. It wouldn’t help. You love Dean. You love Dean. Sam kept repeating that, until he felt the anger drain away. Getting mad at Dean wasn’t going to help. And he did love Dean. Opening his eyes, he saw Dean staring at him, eyes wide and confusied. Behind him he could see his mates all together, Gabe was stroking Castiel’s face, while Lucifer and Michael were pretty much wing-fucking on Cas.
Sam felt his body warm, and his cock fill. His mates. His eyes darted to Dean again. His family. This was all he wanted. All he ever wanted. Right now he was fucking lucky that Dean hadn’t stuck a blade through his wings.
Sam wanted this.
Sam wanted this so bad.
Which meant Sam had to tell the truth.
“I… I’m sorry Dean.”
Dean blinked and felt his knees tremble. He sat heavily, more than a little surprised. What the actual fuck? Sam never apologised. Sam was all ‘I know best’, and ‘fuck you trying to tell me what to do’.
“I guess I never gave you any reason to trust me. I… I can’t believe I was such a bad alpha! That I didn’t even notice. And that’s on me – not you.” Sam took a deep breath. “So. There. I’m sorry.” He gave Dean a challenging stare. “Do you accept my apology?”
Dean rolled his eyes – seemed there was still a bit of the old Sammy in there. More than a little bit – but he still lifted a wing slightly (he didn’t want any alphas flipping out) and sniffed himself. Although he’d heard omega scents could calm a raging alpha, but he’d never heard of it changing a personality. That and he still wasn’t smelling too strong. He wrinkled his nose. The beta scent was starting to smell pretty gross now.
“Now that you’re around alphas, and your natural scent is coming though, the beta scent is going to smell worse and worse, until your wings lubricate properly. Oh – and if your wings hurt tell me. The research I did said that the wing powder can hurt when it reacts with wing oil.”
Dean blinked at his brother. “Huh?”
Sam offered him a small smile. “My research is a few years out of date, but I am pretty sure it is still valid. It was just a fantasy, but I always wanted you to be an omega. I wanted us to be in the same nest.”
Dean felt his heart start to melt. He’d never been able to stay mad at Sam. But they had to deal with things right now. Now wasn’t the time for easy forgiveness.
“You were going to rape me.”
He could feel the tension rise behind him. He ignored it – although ignoring four very stressed alphas was hard. Five really. Sam vibrated with intensity in front of him.
“Dean! No! It was always up to you!”
Sam’s words were sharp, and Dean jumped to his feet. He saw Sam’s muscles tense, ready to spring up. But then his little brother took a few more deep breaths. Forcing his wings to drop, forcing his pulse to calm. Allowing Dean to move as he needed to. When he was under control once more, he looked up at Dean, his voice calm.
“I would never do that to you, Dean.”
Dean raised an eyebrow. As it happened, he believed Sam. However… “I was kidnapped, Sam. Not only is that uncool, it’s fucking embarrassing!” Dean didn’t want to dwell on how that could affect his reputation. He pushed onwards. “You bring four strange alphas to our home – to my home - and allow them to take me. Without my fucking say so. And, Sam,” Dean punctuated his next words, jabbing his finger into Sam’s chest, “You. Didn’t. Say. A Word. Not a single fucking word! You may know and trust them, but I don’t!”
Dean winced as he heard breaths catch behind him. Ok, it was unfair. Slightly unfair. They’d shown they could kind of be trusted. But he hadn’t known that at the beginning. And maybe soon Dean wanted to spend more time with them. But not right now. Right now he was arguing with Sam. Dean brushed off his slight feeling of guilt. If they wanted him, it meant they got all of him, including the angry side.
And his angry side was prodding him to focus on Sam. Sam… the little brother who didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. Dean crossed his arms and stared at his brother. Who twitched a little, but just looked sulky. “I already apologised, Dean.”
What was it with all the whiny bitching? “That was a piss weak excuse for an apology, Sam! Let’s revisit it shall we? You were sorry you didn’t notice I was an omega. Does that cover it? Because I actually don’t care that you didn’t notice, Sam! What I care about is that you aided and abetted my abduction, and since that moment, you haven’t raised a single feather to help me!”
And wow. Was that really him? The ‘poor little me’ lines? Dean never got this… emotional. Sure Dean was angry at Sam, but what was with the amateur dramatics? Squaring his shoulders, he crossed his arms, and fixed Sam with a look. Time to see if this time Sam could come up with a decent apology.
--
Sam really didn’t know what to say to make it better. Dean was mad – and perhaps it was justifiable. No, Sam had to be honest here. It was justifiable. But Sam was mad too. Dean had been hiding from him – lying to him! And for years. Dean was an omega… Surely Dean understood how important omegas were? And Dean wasn’t just any omega. He was Sam’s omega, Sam’s home and nest. To now know that Dean had been there all along, when Sam had been fucking grieving, knowing that he could never have the nest he dreamed of. It had been hard. But he’d never considered anything else. Never considered leaving Dean behind.
A quick glance at Dean revealed a very stern expression. Despite the fact that Sam was angry – also justifiably angry in his opinion – this wasn’t going to get them anywhere. Yelling at each other wasn’t going to solve anything. And, Sam realised with a pang, he really wanted Dean to understand.
“Dean. I get why you’re mad.”
Dean snorted in disbelief. Sam wanted to scowl, but kept his face neutral. Dean did have reason to disbelieve him. From his point of view, a flock of alphas had invaded his home, threatened him and everything he stood for, and Sam, his brother and protector (even if he didn’t realise he was Dean’s protector) had just stood by and let it happen.
No.
Not just let it happen. Actively encouraged.
“I do. You were scared having all those alphas descend on you. And then I didn’t protect you.”
Sam looked at Dean through big sorrowful eyes: the effect was even stronger, given that Sam really was regretful of the way he caused his brother pain.
“Not scared, Sammy.” Dean answered a little gruffly, but his cheeks were lightly flushed with embarrassment.
Sam looked at Dean. Really looked at him. Despite his defensive posture and tight expression, his face looked more relaxed than he could remember seeing it – the deep lines between his eyes seemed to have softened, throwing his laugh lines into greater prominence. And, Sam was pleased to note, Dean’s wings were fluttering. Not with anger or distress. More in… anticipation. When Dean wasn’t paying attention his wings, they were decidedly flirty, flipping their tips, and flashing soft, sensitive under feathers…
It was frustrating to see them covered with the powder, although it was now starting to dissolve and drip off his wing tips. Sam fought to keep himself under control. He wanted to run his fingers through Dean’s feathers, to reveal Dean’s omega colours…
Sam must have stared too hard, too long, looking for a glimpse of Dean’s true colours, as Dean’s wings stilled, before curling protectively in on themselves.
“Sammy? What the fuck?”
Sam shook himself. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by Dean’s sexy wing displays. Displays which were only going to get sexier, his traitorous mind informed him.
Clearing his throat, Sam continued. “Like I said. I get it, Dean. I do. We came. We saw. We conquered. We never gave you a chance to decide what you wanted, and you never got a choice as to whether you came here or not. I get it.. But Dean… I swear to you, everyone… Me… Us… We…” Sam shook his head, not knowing how to say it. “We were all just…”
“Awed.”
“Amazed.”
“Excited.”
“Home.”
The words came from behind Dean, and he shifted slightly, noting the four alphas behind him. All currently looking at him. His fucking wings preened without his permission. He glanced at the alphas again, but none of them had moved. They were wrapped up in each other’s wings, and he couldn’t help but admire the play of gold and bronze and black and white. A quick glance at Sam’s blue-grey feathers, and Dean could barely stop himself from licking his lips. He’d love to see his brothers’ colours mixed in there. Dean snorted to himself. If he could bring himself to look at the giant bed in the middle of the room, he’d have a very good idea of what those wings would look like sliding over each other. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t acknowledge the bed. Not yet.
He focused again on the alphas. They really were a group of devastatingly attractive…
A movement caught his eye. It was Sam. Without moving his head, Dean noted the way Sam’s wings had drooped. And fuck it! Now Dean felt bad. What was it about Sammy that made Dean feel like the bad guy? Fucking unfair it was. He waited until Sam’s wings righted themselves, before turning to face his brother. He hardened his face: although he didn’t know how long he could keep it up, they had a conversation that they had to finish before they could move on.
Dean knew there was no point in lying to himself. He’d forgive Sam. Hell, he’d already forgiven Sam, and the rest of them. He’d known it for a while. As the wing powder dissipated, the alpha scent in the room had grown stronger and stronger, until Dean was unable to deny it.
Like it or not, this was his nest.
But it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to make them work for it.
--
Castiel couldn’t take his eyes off the brothers. Despite his own wrapping him tight with love and protection, he was uncomfortable, uncertain in his own skin. He’d fallen too hard too fast.
And it scared him.
He was an angel who felt deeply and strongly. Because of this depth, he was slow coming to decisions of both head and heart. Once a decision was made, however, it was because it was the right one. Because it was forever.
Castiel had been the fourth to join the flock. His alphas had wooed him for well over a century, which, when pressed, even Castiel admitted was a long time. When he’d made his decision, when he knew he wanted to spend his life with these alphas, because they were his flock, his forever, he still held out a few decades. Just because he didn’t like to be rushed. But finally, with a flutter of wings he’d committed. Because he wanted this forever. He loved his alphas with unshakeable passion.
Despite his misgivings that they may be rushing into things, he even loved Sam. It was a new love, still growing and changing. The flock had been courting Sam for only a year, and Castiel sometimes stressed at how fast everything was moving. But Sam would laugh, and take him in those big, strong arms, and Michael would soothe him, grooming his feathers and running his hands through Castiel’s hair until he purred.
Somehow, Sam had already wormed his way into Castiel’s heart. Maybe that was one of the gifts Sam brought to the flock – gentle change. Castiel could think of no other reason he was making such fast decisions.
So one year on, Sam was one of them in heart, if not in ceremony.
He’d felt bone deep sadness thinking about Sam leaving for his beta brother. They all had. He knew when Sam was there, he kept a wingtip on him at all times. Sam would just smile at him, sliding his primaries through Castiel’s. Knowing hurt. At the same time, he loved Sam more for it. For his love and loyalty. So even knowing they would part, Castiel followed his heart, and didn’t regret a moment of it.
They’d lie together, all five, wrapped around each other, speaking in excited whispers, with fevered caresses, of the omega who would make their flock a nest. What would be they be like? How would they complement the group? How could anyone make this better?
On clear days, when nature beckoned, they’d sit in the trees, sniffing the breeze, describing the beautiful scents, until someone (generally Gabriel) got bored and knocked someone (generally Lucifer) out of the tree, and then it was on. Alphas wrestling and playing and loving until the air was thick with sex and happy and they didn’t even think of what was missing. Not really.
Castiel often stayed up in the tree. He loved the scent of the land, and had always had a sensitive nose. It caused his flock a lot of distress in the beginning, when he had sniffed out what seemed to be the delicious scents of home and nest. One time they followed the divine scent of apple pie for miles. And while they still frequent the bakery, on the day it didn’t help the distressed alphas.
As he’d gotten older, he’d become more circumspect. He still smelt nest and mate and home, but he didn’t tell anyone. He’d follow it himself – his brothers wouldn’t survive another bakery incident. He’d followed many different scent trails through the decades. Centuries. Millenia. But it was always the same ones – apple pie, vanilla, and (weirdly) motor oil. But he’d never smelt them all together. Not until they found Dean.
Even then, he couldn’t believe how different it smelt when it was the flocks’ true omega. It was the moment a flock dreamed of! The moment when they would truly become a family.
It should have been a moment for rejoicing.
Instead, he would be forever ashamed that the one time he'd needed to take his time, he’d had so little self-control, that Dean – their omega – had been hurt. And scared, and not treated as he deserved to be treated. With love and care and respect. He’d acted like a fledging, reaching for what he wanted with no thought of anything else. He and Gabriel had practically danced on the clouds before flying home as fast as they could. (If one good thing came out of the mess (besides Dean) it was that Castiel beat Gabriel home. That had never happened. Ever. Gabriel’s six wings out-classed Castiel’s four every time. Except when it really mattered. He couldn’t help sending a smug little smirk to Gabriel, who raised one quizzical eyebrow in return).
That happiness hadn’t lasted long. Just long enough to realise what he’d done, what they’d all done to Dean. Since that realisation, he’d been high alert, completely focused on Dean, trying to figure out what would make him happy. And what would tempt him to stay with their flock. Even thinking about a rejection had his wings droop. Michael and Lucifer stopped kissing over his head to embrace him with wings and arms. They may not know what was wrong, but they knew something was. He felt their love and care. He felt their warmth. And he wanted that for Dean. With Dean.
He wanted Dean to choose them.
Castiel held himself tight within his brothers’ embrace. He didn’t want to rush Dean. He didn’t want to pressure Dean. And he couldn’t help his fear scent from filling the room. His brothers surrounded him with warmth, but they couldn’t hide their distress either.
For now all they could do was wait.
Heaving a deep sigh, Castiel snuggled into his brothers’ strength. No matter what Dean decided, he would respect that. He could respect that. He nosed along Gabriel’s hair, letting the soothing scent of sugarcane, cut grass, apple pie and motor…
Castiel raised his head, and stared at Dean. Dean still looked angry. Body lines straight and hard. His wings though… they fluttered delightfully. And now he smelt like mate? He took another deep breath – this one long and controlled. Lucifer pulled him tighter, thinking him distressed. He gratefully leaned into his brother. He nuzzled under the feathers, smelling wood smoke and cedar and plum wine. It was both heady and down to earth. Exactly what Castiel needed.
Dean was… Dean was indicating he found them acceptable. Castiel glanced up again. Dean’s body language hadn’t shifted. He was still angry. Angry angels didn’t happily jump on the mating bed. Angry angels didn’t make that choice. Castiel leaned into his brothers again, clutching them tightly. He heard their murmurs of concern, as they pulled him close, whispering love and support. Castiel let it sooth him, let him lie still in their arms. Despite every instinct telling him to jump up and grab Dean, he didn’t.
Because it really was Dean’s choice. It would be meaningless if Dean didn’t choose them.
--
Lavender. Honey. Ozone?
Something delicate wafted on the air. Delicate… yet strong enough to interrupt Dean’s intense staring match with his brother. Dropping his eyes (because he chose to, not because this was a dominance battle. And it totally wasn’t. Sammy was bringing out the big guns with the puppy dog eyes, and damn it was hard to ignore them!) long enough to subtly scent the air, Dean felt a thrill of shock shake his body.
Mate scent.
The room was a maelstrom of scents, unsurprisingly dominated by tension, fear and distress. Some was current, some residual. His own distress scent was residual, Dean was pleased to note. He'd calmed down pretty well, although he didn’t think any of the alphas realized that yet. The fact that they were pretending to not look at him, giving him space to… do whatever it was they thought omegas did, kind of backed that up.
In the midst of the heady mix of fear and guilt (ha!) and distress, Dean could discern his own mate scent. It was present, but subtle. Very subtle.
And that was good. That was very good. Because once he started pumping out the mating pheromones, that was as good as an agreement to bond. To an alpha at least. While Dean could pretty much admit to himself that he did want this flock, and while he couldn’t stop the thrill of excitement of finally finding his nest, mentally he wasn’t quite prepared to say it out loud.
He couldn't help but laugh to himself. Minutes ago he had been ready to throw himself on that (incredibly soft looking and attractive) bed. The fact that he was jumping from yes to no and right back again was proof that he wasn’t ready for this!
Father, in his oh so infinite wisdom, had given omegas one advantage (and as far as Dean could tell, one advantage only) over alphas: omegas had much better noses. Eminent angel scholars had studied the scrolls, but they couldn’t come to an agreement as to why omegas were given this gift. Ideas included better mothering and the ability to detect danger early (so they could hide the fledglings, or fly to get their alpha), were the most popular. The scholars all agreed that It certainly made Omegas more empathetic, theoretically making for a stronger nest.
Most importantly (currently) (or maybe formerly) it helped omegas avoid being bonded to flock of alphas which were not true mates. The scholars argued this also made for a stronger nest.
Technically it should have helped him to avoid this very situation; they should never have been able to scent him. If an omega was vigilant, they could sniff out trouble in the form of overeager alphas. And with a little help from Cousin Pharmaceutical, an omega could be pretty sure no random alpha would find them. Heck, the wing powder, beta blockers, and other scent products worked so well that Dean couldn't be sure when he met another omega. And if he wasn't sure, then there was no way could an alpha tell.
Of course the blocking products weren’t infallible. They needed fairly constant reapplication, and although Dean normally had a couple of hours grace so he could hide his omega ass, transforming once again into a beta, he did have to reapply. They also affected his ability to scent. Even with that disadvantage, Dean’d never worried that an alpha would get the drop on him. Even with a heavy cold, he’d always been able to scent better than any alpha.
Which meant that if Dean could barely discern his mate scent, it shouldn’t even be tickling any alpha noses.
Except…
He sniffed again. Yep. Lavender, honey and ozone.
Why would someone smell like ozone, Dean pondered, avoiding the important topic.
He couldn’t really avoid it though. It was bouncing around in his head, getting louder and louder until he couldn’t think of anything else: someone here knew. Even with his blockers nad his barely there scent wafting in the breeze, someone could fucking smell him well enough to start releasing their own mate scent. Dean had no idea who it was.
Ok, that wasn’t true. It was most likely Castiel, Dean thought, sniffing the air again. Cas had been the one to find him in the first place. And even here, in their nest, he’d been much more attuned to Dean than the other alphas. And “people skills” didn’t seem to be his strong point… which meant he was scenting Dean’s distress and acting on it. And that was great. Then. But now? Now the bastard could smell him too. He must be able to! There was absolutely no other trigger for an alpha to start exuding their mate scent. Father damned alpha with the scenting abilities of an omega. Dean chewed his lip: This was seriously unfair.
What could Dean do about it? Cas knew. He had all the proof he needed that Dean wanted to join with the flock.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Dean felt his heart rate sky rocket, his breath catch, his wings flick nervously. Fuck fuck fuck. His body was telling the alphas that he was ready to build a nest. But he wasn’t! He wasn’t ready at all! He tried to control his spike of fear, tried to keep his emotions under control, to stop his distress from filling the room. It wouldn’t do it upset the room.
Of course it was an abject failure. Dean couldn’t stop the fear scent seeping out of his pores.
Fuck. What was he going to do? He wanted to make the fucking decision when he was ready, not have it taken away from him! Without realising it, Dean’s wings had drawn in tight, cradling his body – as if that was any protection from an alpha, let alone a flock of them. In front of him, Sam was making soft noises, looking at him with worried eyes, hands waving vaguely (at the back of his mind he thanked Sammy – he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have attacked him…)
Sammy. Sammy was upset. Of course Sam was upset. Dean had just been yelling at him, spoiling for a proper fight. But now… now he smelt of distress and fear and flight and…
Dean pulled in on himself. There was nothing he could do against them. He laughed to himself. So. This was it.
He never thought it would happen this way, his own body betraying him. Even when they came for him, took him, he’d been more angry than scared. Confident he could deal with the situation.
Father damn it! It just wasn’t fair! He should have had at least a couple of hours more, enough time to find out how far these alphas would go for Dean. And more than enough time for Dean to make the decision, and not have it forced on him.
Taking a deep breath, Dean tried to relax. There was nothing he could do. Castiel’s mate scent was stronger now. He knew. He definitely knew. Now Castiel just had to out him, and inform the room that Dean now smelt like mate. That he was ready for them.
Fuck! He’d made himself relax, but he now felt his stomach tie in knots. Wave after wave of fear went through his body. Without thought, Dean rocked on backwards and forwards on his seat, shivering. He wasn’t ready for this. Sure his body was on board, but he wasn’t ready… Fuck. He was stuck in a loop. His fear spiking higher each time. He felt like he was going to pass out. But he couldn’t. If he did that it was surely the end…
--
“Dean…?”
Dean snapped back, eyes seeking Sam. He felt the other alphas, tense and ready to spring into action, but holding themselves back. Trying not to scare the hysterical little omega, he thought bitterly. He felt a bubble of hysterical laughter spring from his lips.
“Dean!”
Sam. That was Sam. Sam would help him. Sam always helped him. Sam was family. Fear filled eyes gazed at Sam. But maybe not this time. After all, Sam’d led the flock straight to him.
“Dean! You’re scaring me! You need to calm down! I want to help you. Dean! How can I help?”
Sammy was upset. Dean wanted to tell Sammy it was ok, it was all ok.
But it wasn’t. It wasn’t ok. Cas was going to tell everyone…
Dean felt his mind go blank. Vaguely he could hear Sam, hear Michael and Gabriel and Lucifer.
But crystal clear in its silence was Castiel’s voice.
Castiel hadn’t said anything. Castiel wasn’t saying anything.
It took a few moments for that to seep into his brain, but Cas wasn’t saying anything.
Dean whipped around, staring at the alphas. As a unit they flinched, he noted their arms tightening around each other. At any other time he would think it was cute, but for the nonce his attention was trained on Castiel.
Directly on Cas.
Most alphas would have said something. No, not said anything, acted on it. Most alphas would have already pressed his wings down, made him bare his throat.
Cas apparently wasn’t most alphas. Cas… was waiting for the other alphas to notice? Dean snuck a quick glance at the others. Distress. Uncertainty. Care. Love?
Not a single angel looked like they were going to touch him.
Well, except Sammy, who looked like he wanted to wrap his giant arms around Dean and never let go.
Was… was he safe?
He slowly allowed his wings to fall back, watching as the rest of the room mirrored his actions.
Dean slowly allowed his wings to drop, feeling his stomach ease as no one moved.
Oh. Dean closed his eyes in relief. He could trust them. He was safe.
--
He felt the tension seep out of the room as his own tension eased.
Wow. That was something Dean hoped never to repeat ever again. Maybe… just maybe he never had to again. Cas still wasn’t saying anything. He was allowing Dean to choose to reveal himself. Fuck. Maybe his instinct was worth listening to this time? It was telling him he could trust them. That they were his mates. And for the first time, Dean actually wanted it to be true.
Despite his (now incredibly embarrassing) freak out (he would not call it a panic attack), Dean realised he did trust them. Maybe it was because of Sam. Maybe it was biology. Cas definitely helped. Before his episode he was already starting to feel comfortable and could see himself here.
Dean could see a future here. It didn’t take a great stretch of the imagination. His body had already decided it felt right! And now his mind was getting on board. Maybe, just maybe these alphas weren’t the knot heads they initially seemed.
Dean felt a cocky little grin at the edge of his lips. He was feeling more like himself now. He had a quick recovery time. He dropped his eyes, allowing his lashes to cover his eyes.
He could still read tension in the room.
He could still feel the alpha distress at not being able to fix whatever was wrong.
And he could still see a lot of hard alpha cock. A lot of it…
Dean had always dealt with stress with sex. Generally by finding a willing beta, occasionally a lonely omega. And here he was in a room full of alpha. Sexy, seductive, alpha. Who knew what he was, and who wanted him.
Pursing his lips to stop from smiling, for the first time since he met them, he felt like his mind, body, and grace were in agreement. This was a flock that would look after him. Would they make mistakes? They’d already proved that. But they’d let him make his own mistakes too. Dean could live with that. Dean wanted to live with that!
First though, he’d have a little fun. Before he had a lot of fun.
He fucking well deserved it.
--
As Dean’s distress eased, so too did the alphas’. Michael cast an eye over Sam and Dean. Sam was obviously going to do his best to make it up to Dean, and as for Dean – Michael could have groaned. He recognised that look in his eyes. It could rival Gabe when he was up to his tricks. Well, it was much better than that distress… Which Michael still wasn’t sure what had triggered that. No one had moved. In fact, they were very carefully giving Dean a lot of space. And really? That was probably the most upsetting aspect. If he didn’t know what had happened, how was he supposed to stop it happening again?
Shaking his head, Michael attention returned to his flock, still huddling together. It wouldn’t do to have Dean think they were so weak. Not that Michael thought they looked weak. A small smile crossed his face.
They were beautiful. His flock, his alphas were beautiful. The interplay of feathers and wings was just…
A strangled growl from Lucifer stopped him.
“Mikey… glad you think we look good, but now is not the time.”
Michael blinked and looked down at himself. Ah yes. He was hard and leaking pheromones. Now was not the time to think about pressing Lucifers' wings onto the bed… Looking straight into Dean’s eyes as he claimed his…
A sharp tap on his head brought him back.
Michael cleared his throat noisily, ignoring the glares. “Right. Let’s get this room finished.” He overrode the disagreements. “Even if Dean chooses to leave today, we still want him to know what he can come back to.”
It wasn’t like they were going to argue with that. Even though they had already pretended to fix it up earlier, they could make it better. More like the home they wanted it to be. There was some sorrow in their movements, uncertainty, but not a single angel could stop hope from blossoming in their chests.
Dean was here.
Dean was still here.
Maybe he would choose them.
--
Michael stood back, watching them move about the room. Although he wanted to look at Dean, to burn everything about him into his brain, it wasn’t the time. And his heart ached for his flock. But there was nothing he could do. Except try and keep his mind out of the mating bed, he corrected himself. Lucifer sent him a glare. As if he could even read his mind. That meant that Lucifer's mind was in the mating…
Said brother stalked over to him. “I swear Michael, if you don’t stop that I will tie you up and douse you in those products that Dean uses.”
Every head turned. “You… You wouldn’t!”
Omega hiding products didn’t depress an alpha’s scent: it depressed their sex drive. And sure, and archangel could remove the toxins quicker, but still…
Lucifer crossed his arms. He was not joking. “Try me.”
Michael inclined his head, although his lips were compressed into a firm line. Nine times out of ten he could beat Lucifer if it came down to it – years growing up had shown that – but that one time when Lucifer was fully committed to something? Not a chance.
Michael laughed to himself. They all wanted the same thing, and Michael really didn’t want to throw his flock alpha pheromones into the mix, pressuring Dean. Ah Dean… if Dean chose to leave… They hadn’t known him long, but it was long enough. If Dean left there would be an unfillable Dean-shaped hole in all their lives. He’d imprinted as their omega. There wasn’t another one. Dean was it.
The thought of Dean leaving was enough to dampen Michael’s libido.
Maybe Dean would let them court him. Michael paused. No… even if Dean chose to stay now, they would court him. He glanced around the room, at Sam and Dean staring intently at each other, at Gabriel and Castiel, placing decadent pillows on the bed (and where the hell had they got pillows to match all their feathers?). The crowning feather (ha!) in their hat though was the soft blanket that Lucifer draped over the sofa. It was big enough to cover them all (not that they would ever need it, Michael’s wings were plenty big enough), but he could see that maybe they would want to…
It matched Dean’s eyes perfectly, both a beautiful, softly glowing emerald. He glanced at his two youngest brothers, who just exchanged shrugs. Well, Dad did always work in mysterious ways.
Castiel and Gabriel had thrown themselves back into making the space perfect. Lucifer, on the other hand, had been unable to relax. He’d turned his back on Dean, knowing he would stare otherwise. But his back was tense, the muscles rippling, his feathers splayed. That definitely explained the cranky little alpha moments. Luci never dealt well with uncertainty, Michael thought wryly.
So here he was, back tense, wings twitching and knocking over the candles. Cas had stopped arranging pillows and placed himself on fire patrol. But he didn’t scold Luci. Lucifer was just less able to hide what they were all feeling.
With a smile and shake of his head, Michael came up behind Lucifer, drawing him back and allowing his golden wings to press his brothers black ones down, soothing rather than forcing submission.
“Talk to me, little brother.”
Lucifer twitched. “What if we’ve totally fucked this up? What if we’ve scared him so badly we’ve lost our only chance…”
Before Michael could respond, Gabriel was there, pulling Lucifer down into a kiss.
“We haven’t! Not yet. Not completely. He’s still here, isn’t he? He could have walked out already. But he chose to stay, to listen. And if he’s not ready? We give him time. All the time he needs. We woo him. Properly.”
Castiel had been rather silent, a small little smile on his face. But he added his opinion here. “And feed him. “
As his three brothers turned to face him, Castiel shrugged. “He obviously likes burgers. And if I remember correctly,” (which he would, his brother’s knew. Castiel seemed to remember things fro before he was born) “, which I do,” he added a little smugly, “pie. I believe Sam said something about pie.” He smiled his small, incredibly self-satisfied smile at his brothers. “We can do that. And I think there are a lot of things Dean would do for pie.”
Lucifers wings started shaking beneath Michaels, and he quickly looked down in concern. But Luci was ok – laughing more than anything. “When did my little brothers get so smart?”
“Oh. We’ve always been this smart,” Gabriel responded, waving a hand airily. “You just never noticed.”
Lucifer chuckled more easily as he relaxed back in Michael’s arms, Michael took note of his brothers, who had returned to repairing what Lucifers wings had destroyed. They’d even replaced the candles, although now the candles matched their wings… There were even green ones to match Dean’s eyes!
He started to say something reproving, but Lucifer pulled out of his arms, and tugged firmly at his wing. “Leave them be, Michael.”
“This is not what our grace is for, Lucifer!” Michael was almost sure he hadn’t let the whine enter his voice. :Candles that match our wings?!”
Lucifer just sent him a serene smile. “You don’t like it?”
It wasn’t the point, Michael pouted. They were wonderful. Lucifer just chuckled pulling him in for a hug, before settling himself back against Michael’s chest. “It’s just a little thing, and look – they’re waiting to light them, so they don’t have to replace them again.”
Fine. Michael lost this battle. It wasn’t as if he wanted to win any way. He snuggled deeper into Lucifers’ back, shivering as Lucifers’ primaries stroked his, and his long fingers gripped his forearms. Ah well. There were worse ways to pass the time while waiting for the decision that affected your whole life.
Snorting with laughter, he ignored Lucifers’ curious look. If he was feeling this way, imagine the others! Michael was the least dramatic in the flock.
--
Sam was confused. Sure, you could argue that that was his general state of being, but now? He was really confused. Dean still smelt distressed. And he was acting distressed. But that was the key word - acting. At least, Sam thought he was.
If things had been normal, Sam would have called him on it, pinning him to the bed until he came clean. But things were not normal. Things were very far from normal. The tensely vibrating alphas in the background just evidence to the complete lack of normality. Sam felt their tension bleed into his own. Until he looked at them. And if that didn’t melt his heart… the way they were Mikey and Luci were wrapped around each other, while Gabe and Cas… played with candles? Sam shook his head. Didn’t matter what they were doing. Through their uncertainty he could still feel it. All that love. All that support. Sam wanted to be in there too. With Dean. He also wanted Dean in there.
He really wanted Dean to be part of this family.
Sam swallowed. It was Dean’s decision. He believed that, as he had from the start. And yeah, he had a bad way of showing it. He was just… taken by surprise. How often do you get everything you want actually just handed to you? But he never meant to hurt Dean. Never thought to! He hoped Dean believed him – them. Sam’s flock… maybe flock, was amazing. Oh god, what if Dean didn’t choose to mate with them? He would have to say goodbye, and it would be even harder, because it should all be so perfect.
Sam looked away, blinking tears from his eyes. Had he totally fucked this up? Had he totally ruined any chance they’d had of making their flock a nest?
Nest… Sam’s eyes crept to the bed. It looked so soft. So warm and welcoming. He wanted nothing more than to roll around with his family. Licking and biting and sucking and fucking. He wanted!
He blinked again. Goddamn it. He was such a fool.
--
Dean didn’t notice Sam’s distress. He was too busy dealing with his own body. The adrenalin left him needing to do something. He wanted to run or jump or fly very far away. But that was currently out of the question, so he settled for punching the air, stretching as wide as he could, arms shooting out. He didn’t bother repressing the sigh of relief as his back cracked and his wings shook loose.
Feeling a little more comfortable in his body, he could focus on the important things: figuring out the best way to torture his brother and his brother’s flock. Soon to be his flock, he amended, stamping down on the goofy grin that threatened to cover his face. Now was not the time. He had a younger brother to torment. So busy focusing on not feeling happy, he almost missed Sam’s instinctive flinch at Dean’s stretch, and way his hand dropped away even as he reached out to soothe.
Dean paused, frowning. This wasn’t right. Sam’s response had been worry for Dean. He didn’t want any one feeling sorry for him. He didn’t need fucking soothing. He needed respect. You didn’t respect people you felt sorry for.
How to handle this then? The… incident… had been unfortunate. But Dean was back, sassier than eve. Now he just had to show them all...
Before they’d been interrupted, Sam had been explaining how much he loved Dean (and a little part of Dean was awed and amazed at that. Another part kind of wanted to gag because emotions, but Sammy had always had to have feelings), and how sorry he was, but before he could really start grovelling, Dean started exuding distress and Sam he had trailed off.
Dean felt a smirk steal across his face. Time to play the poor little omega.
But before he could open his mouth, Sam was there, pouring out his freaking heart!
“I know it’s overwhelming, Dean, that we are overwhelming. But you have to understand! No one ever expected to find you. You! The perfect omega to make our flock a nest.” Sam’s cheeks coloured, but he stumbled on. “I mean, we knew that Father made us an omega, but never once though that it was you! The only omega who could give me – us – me! -everything we wanted.”
Sam looked at Dean, all serious and determined to lay bare his soul.
“I love you, Dean. I always have, and I always will. I made mistakes, and I’m going to make that up to you. And if you want to step away... If you want to take more time, or even…”Sam’s voice trailed off. He found the words hard to get the words out, but they somehow managed to slide past his lips,”… and even if you want to leave for good, Dean, I will support you. I will help you.”
Dean sat frozen. He didn’t doubt Sam’s words. He couldn’t doubt the earnest intensity. He did, however, want Sam to stop. Dean had never been comfortable with emotions. He preferred to tease til Sam got annoyed, that had been his plan: see how far he could push a Sam weighed down with guilt. See what he get from Sam… He was thinking more pie, and choosing the movies for a year. Not this! This was not what Dean signed up for! He just wanted to tell Sam all was forgiven, they could forget it and move on, so it would never be mentioned again.
Sam, however, was having none of it. He’d failed his brother today. No, not just today. Today had just been the worst. He’d been continually failed his brother. But it wasn’t going to happen again. Sam was not going to let it happen again. He needed Dean to understand. He needed to flagellate himself until all was forgiven. So Sam persisted.
“I let you down, earlier. And you’re right. I should have said something to stop it. Hell, I should have introduced you to my flock! I should have…” Sam trailed off again, on the edge of tears. How he managed to rally and pull himself back, Dean would never know. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what I should have done. All that matter is I didn’t do it, and it won’t happen again. Just know I’m on your side Dean – always on your side. I will always do what I can to help…” Sam paused to take a deep breath. “Maybe not always at the right time – I’m not Dad! - but I will always help because you are important to me. The most important to me.”
Dean almost turned away from the shining sincerity Sam radiated. It was painful! Sam’s eyes were clear (if tear filled, ha! He’d been right! Bitch was crying), his shoulders square, and his wings spread wide, ready to defend Dean. Sure, Dean was still annoyed, but he could feel it steadily bleeding out of his system. Dean felt warm affection flood his body. Maybe he’d had enough of teasing Sam. Dean decided that he’d had enough of playing hard to get. It’d never been his style anyway. Plus he had eternity to kick these bastards into shape. Ready to put them out of their misery, Dean opened his mouth, only to be cut off by his brother.
“So if you want to go…”
Sam trailed off again. What kind of alpha couldn’t finish his fucking sentence! Dean watched as his brother squared his shoulders. Again.
“So if you want to go, we’ll go.”
--
Lucifer had just opened his mouth to question Michael when Sam and Dean’s conversation floated across.
“…So if you want to go…”
The alphas’ reaction was instantaneous. It was through great effort that Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel and Castiel prevented their wings from rising high with agitation. As it was, Michael knew his wings had risen (but only a little. He was quite proud of that fact), the primary feathers sharp and pointed at the threat to his nest. Beneath him Lucifer’s wings shifted, and at the reminder Michael immediately dropped his wings, knowing it was the only thing keeping them down. Michael’s arms firmed around Lucifers chest, and he bent forward, kissing the nape of his neck. “It will ok, “ he whispered. “If he needs time, we give him time. If he wants wooing, we woo him. Now is the time to prove we are alphas of our word.”
“So if you want to go, we’ll go.”
The four angels tensely awaited their omega’s response.
--
Dean didn’t hear the gasps behind him, the clamouring in his mind much too loud. What? Did… did Sam actually say that? He’d said it earlier, but it was easy to say things in the heat of the moment. Sam would… Sam would actually…?
“You’d choose me over four manly alphas?” And if Dean added a little flutter of eyelashes, well, he could blame him?
Sam practically overbalanced he was nodding so hard. His wings (big, strong wings…) flared out to counterbalance his body. “Yes! Yes Dean… Every time!” Sam flicked his eyes to the group of alphas behind Dean. Dean had been wanting to look at them for a while, but didn’t want to be too obvious. So he took his chance.
And they were staring at Sam just as wretchedly as Sam was staring at them.
Oh for fucks sake! For a bunch of testosterone driven alphas, they were sure ready with the tears. It honestly made Dean a bit uncomfortable. Still, it showed they needed someone manly to help with all the hand wringing and handkerchief waving.
Dean bit his lip. Next move was his. Maybe he wasn’t quite ready to flash his wings, but if he just naturally stretched…
And just like that, every eye in the room was on his (still blessedly brown) wings. He couldn’t help chuckling to himself. Pervy bastards. This could be fun! Although he knew he was treading a very fine line: the wing powder was no longer powder. It had reacted with his wing oil, forming a thick, uncomfortable sludge. It itched and felt heavy. One strong flick and it would be gone, his wings naked, his nature revealed. He was generally home and washing and reapplying the wing products well before it reached this stage. Of course he’d sometimes pushed it – you can’t hurry good sex, after all, but it was generally at this point he extracted himself from whoever he was fucking and did some stop gap covering. Yet here he was now. One shiver away from exposing it all.
Generally that thought created fear. What would happen if he was found out? Now, however, it was arousing. Dean had never once wanted to show his wings, but now he was having a hard time controlling the quivers, from giving that final reveal.
--oo--
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7
Go back to part 2
Go forward to part 4
--oo--
“So, were you ever going to introduce them to me?”
Sam blinked. So far all of Dean’s reactions had been unexpected, and this was no different. Sam was feeling just a bit behind the eight ball. “Who?”
Dean snorted then flung his arms wide. ”Seriously, Sam? Do you have some other gang you run with? These guys! Your beloved alphas.”
Ah. These guys. Sam considered the best way to answer. He quickly decided to go with the truth: it was the lies and misdirection from the both of them that had got them to this point.
“No. I wasn’t going to tell you about them, because…”
Dean never gave him the chance to finish. Butted in, bull headed as always. “You are such an asshole, Sam! These are your alphas, and if they’re important to you, why weren’t you going to introduce us?!” Anger and sadness vied for dominance in his eyes. “Beta brother not good enough to introduce to your lovers? Thanks a fucking bunch.”
Dean went to turn, but Sam wasn’t having any of that. He grabbed Dean’s arm, forcing him to face him.
“If you’d let me finish Dean, I could tell you why.”
--
Castiel’s whole body flinched the moment Sam laid his hands on Dean. He felt his wings tense, ready to launch himself across the space – who to grab he couldn’t say - when bigger, stronger, wings pressed his down. He glanced to his left in surprise. “Lucifer?” Then to his right. “Michael?” Before he had a chance to do more than flip his wings in annoyance (not that they moved, his older brothers were much stronger than he) Gabriel was in front of him, kissing him. And while that was nice…
“Shhhh…. I know what you’re going to say. And I understand, little brother. But look at them.” Gabriel grasped Castiel’s face, turning it towards the Winchesters. “They’re not hurting each other. And they need to sort it out in their own way.”
Castiel scowled. ‘Their own way’ was going to result in one or both of them getting hurt. He obviously didn’t want that for his nest mates. He shook his head, jerking out of Gabriel’s grasp. He then turned to Michael, ready to demand his brothers release him, only to have Michael lean down and kiss him
“It’s hard to watch, Castiel. I know that. Lucifer and I have done the same to poor Gabriel.” Castiel watched his two older brothers exchange looks, then shivered as he felt their wing tips brush against each other, caressing each other as they rubbed over his own wings.
“They’ll be ok, Cassy.” Although Lucifer spoke to Castiel, he didn’t take his eyes off Michael. “Sometimes brothers don’t know what to say, and getting physical can be like words.”
Obviously there was deeper meaning. But right now Castiel didn’t care. Right now Michael and Lucifer were feeling each other up over Castiel’s wings. They got on fine. It wasn’t them having the personal communication issues. Castiel glanced back at the Winchesters: Sam still had his hand on Dean, but it didn’t look as if he would be required to stage a rescue immediately…
Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of his brothers’ wings ruffling his feathers.
But only for a minute. He still wasn’t convinced Sam and Dean knew how to talk.
--
Although Dean was vibrating with strong emotion, he didn’t pull away. Sam allowed his hold to ease, at the same time giving him the opportunity to interrupt. Again. But Dean’s lips were firmly pursed. Great. Into stubborn jerk mode.
Sam was feeling slighted - and more than slightly pissed.
“Did it occur to you to wonder why I wouldn’t have told you? No? Maybe because of you Dean. Yes! I love them! I love each and every one of them more than I can say. They are perfect for me, Dean. Perfect! But I knew that when they found an omega, their omega, I'd have to leave. Despite loving them more than Heaven itself, I would have left when they formed a nest. And do you know why, Dean?" By this time Sam had dropped Dean's arm and was gesticulating wildly at him. "Because I would choose you, each and every fucking time. I would choose you and stay with you – even thinking you were a beta. You’re my brother and I love you.” Sam paused, breathing deeply. His voice had risen with every word, and he needed to be calm. When he could talk without shouting at his brother, he continues. “Even though I found my perfect mates I still would have chosen you.”
Dean stared at Sam for a minute. Well fuck. If that didn’t just take the fucking cake. How exactly was he supposed to stay mad at his brother now? He cleared his throat a few times, before gruffly replying. “Yeah, fine. Enough with the chick moments.”
Sam sent him a scathingly fond glance. Omega or not, Dean was still Dean.
A Dean who was highly skilled in hiding. A second, closer look was promising. Dean didn’t look like he was about to stab him, or walk out any more. Sam couldn’t help the little spurt of hope, that this could work. Right now, he and Dean were communicating. And that was a step in the right direction. He and Dean had never really talked about the important things: they had a fight, with yelling and mostly a lack of punching. Sam would walk out, and when he cooled down he came back, and they both pretended it never happened.
That wasn’t an option right now. He had to make this work, because this was forever. Dean could be part of forever.
Despite his best intentions, Sam felt his anger rise again. He knew it wasn’t fair to be angry at Dean, but fuck! Where was the trust? Dean always demanded that Sam prove himself, and Sam had done exactly what Dean asked, again and again and again. But when it came down to it? Dean hadn’t trusted him, not at all.
Closing his eyes, Sam forced himself to take slow, calming breaths. He couldn’t lose his temper now. It wouldn’t help. You love Dean. You love Dean. Sam kept repeating that, until he felt the anger drain away. Getting mad at Dean wasn’t going to help. And he did love Dean. Opening his eyes, he saw Dean staring at him, eyes wide and confusied. Behind him he could see his mates all together, Gabe was stroking Castiel’s face, while Lucifer and Michael were pretty much wing-fucking on Cas.
Sam felt his body warm, and his cock fill. His mates. His eyes darted to Dean again. His family. This was all he wanted. All he ever wanted. Right now he was fucking lucky that Dean hadn’t stuck a blade through his wings.
Sam wanted this.
Sam wanted this so bad.
Which meant Sam had to tell the truth.
“I… I’m sorry Dean.”
Dean blinked and felt his knees tremble. He sat heavily, more than a little surprised. What the actual fuck? Sam never apologised. Sam was all ‘I know best’, and ‘fuck you trying to tell me what to do’.
“I guess I never gave you any reason to trust me. I… I can’t believe I was such a bad alpha! That I didn’t even notice. And that’s on me – not you.” Sam took a deep breath. “So. There. I’m sorry.” He gave Dean a challenging stare. “Do you accept my apology?”
Dean rolled his eyes – seemed there was still a bit of the old Sammy in there. More than a little bit – but he still lifted a wing slightly (he didn’t want any alphas flipping out) and sniffed himself. Although he’d heard omega scents could calm a raging alpha, but he’d never heard of it changing a personality. That and he still wasn’t smelling too strong. He wrinkled his nose. The beta scent was starting to smell pretty gross now.
“Now that you’re around alphas, and your natural scent is coming though, the beta scent is going to smell worse and worse, until your wings lubricate properly. Oh – and if your wings hurt tell me. The research I did said that the wing powder can hurt when it reacts with wing oil.”
Dean blinked at his brother. “Huh?”
Sam offered him a small smile. “My research is a few years out of date, but I am pretty sure it is still valid. It was just a fantasy, but I always wanted you to be an omega. I wanted us to be in the same nest.”
Dean felt his heart start to melt. He’d never been able to stay mad at Sam. But they had to deal with things right now. Now wasn’t the time for easy forgiveness.
“You were going to rape me.”
He could feel the tension rise behind him. He ignored it – although ignoring four very stressed alphas was hard. Five really. Sam vibrated with intensity in front of him.
“Dean! No! It was always up to you!”
Sam’s words were sharp, and Dean jumped to his feet. He saw Sam’s muscles tense, ready to spring up. But then his little brother took a few more deep breaths. Forcing his wings to drop, forcing his pulse to calm. Allowing Dean to move as he needed to. When he was under control once more, he looked up at Dean, his voice calm.
“I would never do that to you, Dean.”
Dean raised an eyebrow. As it happened, he believed Sam. However… “I was kidnapped, Sam. Not only is that uncool, it’s fucking embarrassing!” Dean didn’t want to dwell on how that could affect his reputation. He pushed onwards. “You bring four strange alphas to our home – to my home - and allow them to take me. Without my fucking say so. And, Sam,” Dean punctuated his next words, jabbing his finger into Sam’s chest, “You. Didn’t. Say. A Word. Not a single fucking word! You may know and trust them, but I don’t!”
Dean winced as he heard breaths catch behind him. Ok, it was unfair. Slightly unfair. They’d shown they could kind of be trusted. But he hadn’t known that at the beginning. And maybe soon Dean wanted to spend more time with them. But not right now. Right now he was arguing with Sam. Dean brushed off his slight feeling of guilt. If they wanted him, it meant they got all of him, including the angry side.
And his angry side was prodding him to focus on Sam. Sam… the little brother who didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. Dean crossed his arms and stared at his brother. Who twitched a little, but just looked sulky. “I already apologised, Dean.”
What was it with all the whiny bitching? “That was a piss weak excuse for an apology, Sam! Let’s revisit it shall we? You were sorry you didn’t notice I was an omega. Does that cover it? Because I actually don’t care that you didn’t notice, Sam! What I care about is that you aided and abetted my abduction, and since that moment, you haven’t raised a single feather to help me!”
And wow. Was that really him? The ‘poor little me’ lines? Dean never got this… emotional. Sure Dean was angry at Sam, but what was with the amateur dramatics? Squaring his shoulders, he crossed his arms, and fixed Sam with a look. Time to see if this time Sam could come up with a decent apology.
--
Sam really didn’t know what to say to make it better. Dean was mad – and perhaps it was justifiable. No, Sam had to be honest here. It was justifiable. But Sam was mad too. Dean had been hiding from him – lying to him! And for years. Dean was an omega… Surely Dean understood how important omegas were? And Dean wasn’t just any omega. He was Sam’s omega, Sam’s home and nest. To now know that Dean had been there all along, when Sam had been fucking grieving, knowing that he could never have the nest he dreamed of. It had been hard. But he’d never considered anything else. Never considered leaving Dean behind.
A quick glance at Dean revealed a very stern expression. Despite the fact that Sam was angry – also justifiably angry in his opinion – this wasn’t going to get them anywhere. Yelling at each other wasn’t going to solve anything. And, Sam realised with a pang, he really wanted Dean to understand.
“Dean. I get why you’re mad.”
Dean snorted in disbelief. Sam wanted to scowl, but kept his face neutral. Dean did have reason to disbelieve him. From his point of view, a flock of alphas had invaded his home, threatened him and everything he stood for, and Sam, his brother and protector (even if he didn’t realise he was Dean’s protector) had just stood by and let it happen.
No.
Not just let it happen. Actively encouraged.
“I do. You were scared having all those alphas descend on you. And then I didn’t protect you.”
Sam looked at Dean through big sorrowful eyes: the effect was even stronger, given that Sam really was regretful of the way he caused his brother pain.
“Not scared, Sammy.” Dean answered a little gruffly, but his cheeks were lightly flushed with embarrassment.
Sam looked at Dean. Really looked at him. Despite his defensive posture and tight expression, his face looked more relaxed than he could remember seeing it – the deep lines between his eyes seemed to have softened, throwing his laugh lines into greater prominence. And, Sam was pleased to note, Dean’s wings were fluttering. Not with anger or distress. More in… anticipation. When Dean wasn’t paying attention his wings, they were decidedly flirty, flipping their tips, and flashing soft, sensitive under feathers…
It was frustrating to see them covered with the powder, although it was now starting to dissolve and drip off his wing tips. Sam fought to keep himself under control. He wanted to run his fingers through Dean’s feathers, to reveal Dean’s omega colours…
Sam must have stared too hard, too long, looking for a glimpse of Dean’s true colours, as Dean’s wings stilled, before curling protectively in on themselves.
“Sammy? What the fuck?”
Sam shook himself. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by Dean’s sexy wing displays. Displays which were only going to get sexier, his traitorous mind informed him.
Clearing his throat, Sam continued. “Like I said. I get it, Dean. I do. We came. We saw. We conquered. We never gave you a chance to decide what you wanted, and you never got a choice as to whether you came here or not. I get it.. But Dean… I swear to you, everyone… Me… Us… We…” Sam shook his head, not knowing how to say it. “We were all just…”
“Awed.”
“Amazed.”
“Excited.”
“Home.”
The words came from behind Dean, and he shifted slightly, noting the four alphas behind him. All currently looking at him. His fucking wings preened without his permission. He glanced at the alphas again, but none of them had moved. They were wrapped up in each other’s wings, and he couldn’t help but admire the play of gold and bronze and black and white. A quick glance at Sam’s blue-grey feathers, and Dean could barely stop himself from licking his lips. He’d love to see his brothers’ colours mixed in there. Dean snorted to himself. If he could bring himself to look at the giant bed in the middle of the room, he’d have a very good idea of what those wings would look like sliding over each other. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t acknowledge the bed. Not yet.
He focused again on the alphas. They really were a group of devastatingly attractive…
A movement caught his eye. It was Sam. Without moving his head, Dean noted the way Sam’s wings had drooped. And fuck it! Now Dean felt bad. What was it about Sammy that made Dean feel like the bad guy? Fucking unfair it was. He waited until Sam’s wings righted themselves, before turning to face his brother. He hardened his face: although he didn’t know how long he could keep it up, they had a conversation that they had to finish before they could move on.
Dean knew there was no point in lying to himself. He’d forgive Sam. Hell, he’d already forgiven Sam, and the rest of them. He’d known it for a while. As the wing powder dissipated, the alpha scent in the room had grown stronger and stronger, until Dean was unable to deny it.
Like it or not, this was his nest.
But it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to make them work for it.
--
Castiel couldn’t take his eyes off the brothers. Despite his own wrapping him tight with love and protection, he was uncomfortable, uncertain in his own skin. He’d fallen too hard too fast.
And it scared him.
He was an angel who felt deeply and strongly. Because of this depth, he was slow coming to decisions of both head and heart. Once a decision was made, however, it was because it was the right one. Because it was forever.
Castiel had been the fourth to join the flock. His alphas had wooed him for well over a century, which, when pressed, even Castiel admitted was a long time. When he’d made his decision, when he knew he wanted to spend his life with these alphas, because they were his flock, his forever, he still held out a few decades. Just because he didn’t like to be rushed. But finally, with a flutter of wings he’d committed. Because he wanted this forever. He loved his alphas with unshakeable passion.
Despite his misgivings that they may be rushing into things, he even loved Sam. It was a new love, still growing and changing. The flock had been courting Sam for only a year, and Castiel sometimes stressed at how fast everything was moving. But Sam would laugh, and take him in those big, strong arms, and Michael would soothe him, grooming his feathers and running his hands through Castiel’s hair until he purred.
Somehow, Sam had already wormed his way into Castiel’s heart. Maybe that was one of the gifts Sam brought to the flock – gentle change. Castiel could think of no other reason he was making such fast decisions.
So one year on, Sam was one of them in heart, if not in ceremony.
He’d felt bone deep sadness thinking about Sam leaving for his beta brother. They all had. He knew when Sam was there, he kept a wingtip on him at all times. Sam would just smile at him, sliding his primaries through Castiel’s. Knowing hurt. At the same time, he loved Sam more for it. For his love and loyalty. So even knowing they would part, Castiel followed his heart, and didn’t regret a moment of it.
They’d lie together, all five, wrapped around each other, speaking in excited whispers, with fevered caresses, of the omega who would make their flock a nest. What would be they be like? How would they complement the group? How could anyone make this better?
On clear days, when nature beckoned, they’d sit in the trees, sniffing the breeze, describing the beautiful scents, until someone (generally Gabriel) got bored and knocked someone (generally Lucifer) out of the tree, and then it was on. Alphas wrestling and playing and loving until the air was thick with sex and happy and they didn’t even think of what was missing. Not really.
Castiel often stayed up in the tree. He loved the scent of the land, and had always had a sensitive nose. It caused his flock a lot of distress in the beginning, when he had sniffed out what seemed to be the delicious scents of home and nest. One time they followed the divine scent of apple pie for miles. And while they still frequent the bakery, on the day it didn’t help the distressed alphas.
As he’d gotten older, he’d become more circumspect. He still smelt nest and mate and home, but he didn’t tell anyone. He’d follow it himself – his brothers wouldn’t survive another bakery incident. He’d followed many different scent trails through the decades. Centuries. Millenia. But it was always the same ones – apple pie, vanilla, and (weirdly) motor oil. But he’d never smelt them all together. Not until they found Dean.
Even then, he couldn’t believe how different it smelt when it was the flocks’ true omega. It was the moment a flock dreamed of! The moment when they would truly become a family.
It should have been a moment for rejoicing.
Instead, he would be forever ashamed that the one time he'd needed to take his time, he’d had so little self-control, that Dean – their omega – had been hurt. And scared, and not treated as he deserved to be treated. With love and care and respect. He’d acted like a fledging, reaching for what he wanted with no thought of anything else. He and Gabriel had practically danced on the clouds before flying home as fast as they could. (If one good thing came out of the mess (besides Dean) it was that Castiel beat Gabriel home. That had never happened. Ever. Gabriel’s six wings out-classed Castiel’s four every time. Except when it really mattered. He couldn’t help sending a smug little smirk to Gabriel, who raised one quizzical eyebrow in return).
That happiness hadn’t lasted long. Just long enough to realise what he’d done, what they’d all done to Dean. Since that realisation, he’d been high alert, completely focused on Dean, trying to figure out what would make him happy. And what would tempt him to stay with their flock. Even thinking about a rejection had his wings droop. Michael and Lucifer stopped kissing over his head to embrace him with wings and arms. They may not know what was wrong, but they knew something was. He felt their love and care. He felt their warmth. And he wanted that for Dean. With Dean.
He wanted Dean to choose them.
Castiel held himself tight within his brothers’ embrace. He didn’t want to rush Dean. He didn’t want to pressure Dean. And he couldn’t help his fear scent from filling the room. His brothers surrounded him with warmth, but they couldn’t hide their distress either.
For now all they could do was wait.
Heaving a deep sigh, Castiel snuggled into his brothers’ strength. No matter what Dean decided, he would respect that. He could respect that. He nosed along Gabriel’s hair, letting the soothing scent of sugarcane, cut grass, apple pie and motor…
Castiel raised his head, and stared at Dean. Dean still looked angry. Body lines straight and hard. His wings though… they fluttered delightfully. And now he smelt like mate? He took another deep breath – this one long and controlled. Lucifer pulled him tighter, thinking him distressed. He gratefully leaned into his brother. He nuzzled under the feathers, smelling wood smoke and cedar and plum wine. It was both heady and down to earth. Exactly what Castiel needed.
Dean was… Dean was indicating he found them acceptable. Castiel glanced up again. Dean’s body language hadn’t shifted. He was still angry. Angry angels didn’t happily jump on the mating bed. Angry angels didn’t make that choice. Castiel leaned into his brothers again, clutching them tightly. He heard their murmurs of concern, as they pulled him close, whispering love and support. Castiel let it sooth him, let him lie still in their arms. Despite every instinct telling him to jump up and grab Dean, he didn’t.
Because it really was Dean’s choice. It would be meaningless if Dean didn’t choose them.
--
Lavender. Honey. Ozone?
Something delicate wafted on the air. Delicate… yet strong enough to interrupt Dean’s intense staring match with his brother. Dropping his eyes (because he chose to, not because this was a dominance battle. And it totally wasn’t. Sammy was bringing out the big guns with the puppy dog eyes, and damn it was hard to ignore them!) long enough to subtly scent the air, Dean felt a thrill of shock shake his body.
Mate scent.
The room was a maelstrom of scents, unsurprisingly dominated by tension, fear and distress. Some was current, some residual. His own distress scent was residual, Dean was pleased to note. He'd calmed down pretty well, although he didn’t think any of the alphas realized that yet. The fact that they were pretending to not look at him, giving him space to… do whatever it was they thought omegas did, kind of backed that up.
In the midst of the heady mix of fear and guilt (ha!) and distress, Dean could discern his own mate scent. It was present, but subtle. Very subtle.
And that was good. That was very good. Because once he started pumping out the mating pheromones, that was as good as an agreement to bond. To an alpha at least. While Dean could pretty much admit to himself that he did want this flock, and while he couldn’t stop the thrill of excitement of finally finding his nest, mentally he wasn’t quite prepared to say it out loud.
He couldn't help but laugh to himself. Minutes ago he had been ready to throw himself on that (incredibly soft looking and attractive) bed. The fact that he was jumping from yes to no and right back again was proof that he wasn’t ready for this!
Father, in his oh so infinite wisdom, had given omegas one advantage (and as far as Dean could tell, one advantage only) over alphas: omegas had much better noses. Eminent angel scholars had studied the scrolls, but they couldn’t come to an agreement as to why omegas were given this gift. Ideas included better mothering and the ability to detect danger early (so they could hide the fledglings, or fly to get their alpha), were the most popular. The scholars all agreed that It certainly made Omegas more empathetic, theoretically making for a stronger nest.
Most importantly (currently) (or maybe formerly) it helped omegas avoid being bonded to flock of alphas which were not true mates. The scholars argued this also made for a stronger nest.
Technically it should have helped him to avoid this very situation; they should never have been able to scent him. If an omega was vigilant, they could sniff out trouble in the form of overeager alphas. And with a little help from Cousin Pharmaceutical, an omega could be pretty sure no random alpha would find them. Heck, the wing powder, beta blockers, and other scent products worked so well that Dean couldn't be sure when he met another omega. And if he wasn't sure, then there was no way could an alpha tell.
Of course the blocking products weren’t infallible. They needed fairly constant reapplication, and although Dean normally had a couple of hours grace so he could hide his omega ass, transforming once again into a beta, he did have to reapply. They also affected his ability to scent. Even with that disadvantage, Dean’d never worried that an alpha would get the drop on him. Even with a heavy cold, he’d always been able to scent better than any alpha.
Which meant that if Dean could barely discern his mate scent, it shouldn’t even be tickling any alpha noses.
Except…
He sniffed again. Yep. Lavender, honey and ozone.
Why would someone smell like ozone, Dean pondered, avoiding the important topic.
He couldn’t really avoid it though. It was bouncing around in his head, getting louder and louder until he couldn’t think of anything else: someone here knew. Even with his blockers nad his barely there scent wafting in the breeze, someone could fucking smell him well enough to start releasing their own mate scent. Dean had no idea who it was.
Ok, that wasn’t true. It was most likely Castiel, Dean thought, sniffing the air again. Cas had been the one to find him in the first place. And even here, in their nest, he’d been much more attuned to Dean than the other alphas. And “people skills” didn’t seem to be his strong point… which meant he was scenting Dean’s distress and acting on it. And that was great. Then. But now? Now the bastard could smell him too. He must be able to! There was absolutely no other trigger for an alpha to start exuding their mate scent. Father damned alpha with the scenting abilities of an omega. Dean chewed his lip: This was seriously unfair.
What could Dean do about it? Cas knew. He had all the proof he needed that Dean wanted to join with the flock.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Dean felt his heart rate sky rocket, his breath catch, his wings flick nervously. Fuck fuck fuck. His body was telling the alphas that he was ready to build a nest. But he wasn’t! He wasn’t ready at all! He tried to control his spike of fear, tried to keep his emotions under control, to stop his distress from filling the room. It wouldn’t do it upset the room.
Of course it was an abject failure. Dean couldn’t stop the fear scent seeping out of his pores.
Fuck. What was he going to do? He wanted to make the fucking decision when he was ready, not have it taken away from him! Without realising it, Dean’s wings had drawn in tight, cradling his body – as if that was any protection from an alpha, let alone a flock of them. In front of him, Sam was making soft noises, looking at him with worried eyes, hands waving vaguely (at the back of his mind he thanked Sammy – he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have attacked him…)
Sammy. Sammy was upset. Of course Sam was upset. Dean had just been yelling at him, spoiling for a proper fight. But now… now he smelt of distress and fear and flight and…
Dean pulled in on himself. There was nothing he could do against them. He laughed to himself. So. This was it.
He never thought it would happen this way, his own body betraying him. Even when they came for him, took him, he’d been more angry than scared. Confident he could deal with the situation.
Father damn it! It just wasn’t fair! He should have had at least a couple of hours more, enough time to find out how far these alphas would go for Dean. And more than enough time for Dean to make the decision, and not have it forced on him.
Taking a deep breath, Dean tried to relax. There was nothing he could do. Castiel’s mate scent was stronger now. He knew. He definitely knew. Now Castiel just had to out him, and inform the room that Dean now smelt like mate. That he was ready for them.
Fuck! He’d made himself relax, but he now felt his stomach tie in knots. Wave after wave of fear went through his body. Without thought, Dean rocked on backwards and forwards on his seat, shivering. He wasn’t ready for this. Sure his body was on board, but he wasn’t ready… Fuck. He was stuck in a loop. His fear spiking higher each time. He felt like he was going to pass out. But he couldn’t. If he did that it was surely the end…
--
“Dean…?”
Dean snapped back, eyes seeking Sam. He felt the other alphas, tense and ready to spring into action, but holding themselves back. Trying not to scare the hysterical little omega, he thought bitterly. He felt a bubble of hysterical laughter spring from his lips.
“Dean!”
Sam. That was Sam. Sam would help him. Sam always helped him. Sam was family. Fear filled eyes gazed at Sam. But maybe not this time. After all, Sam’d led the flock straight to him.
“Dean! You’re scaring me! You need to calm down! I want to help you. Dean! How can I help?”
Sammy was upset. Dean wanted to tell Sammy it was ok, it was all ok.
But it wasn’t. It wasn’t ok. Cas was going to tell everyone…
Dean felt his mind go blank. Vaguely he could hear Sam, hear Michael and Gabriel and Lucifer.
But crystal clear in its silence was Castiel’s voice.
Castiel hadn’t said anything. Castiel wasn’t saying anything.
It took a few moments for that to seep into his brain, but Cas wasn’t saying anything.
Dean whipped around, staring at the alphas. As a unit they flinched, he noted their arms tightening around each other. At any other time he would think it was cute, but for the nonce his attention was trained on Castiel.
Directly on Cas.
Most alphas would have said something. No, not said anything, acted on it. Most alphas would have already pressed his wings down, made him bare his throat.
Cas apparently wasn’t most alphas. Cas… was waiting for the other alphas to notice? Dean snuck a quick glance at the others. Distress. Uncertainty. Care. Love?
Not a single angel looked like they were going to touch him.
Well, except Sammy, who looked like he wanted to wrap his giant arms around Dean and never let go.
Was… was he safe?
He slowly allowed his wings to fall back, watching as the rest of the room mirrored his actions.
Dean slowly allowed his wings to drop, feeling his stomach ease as no one moved.
Oh. Dean closed his eyes in relief. He could trust them. He was safe.
--
He felt the tension seep out of the room as his own tension eased.
Wow. That was something Dean hoped never to repeat ever again. Maybe… just maybe he never had to again. Cas still wasn’t saying anything. He was allowing Dean to choose to reveal himself. Fuck. Maybe his instinct was worth listening to this time? It was telling him he could trust them. That they were his mates. And for the first time, Dean actually wanted it to be true.
Despite his (now incredibly embarrassing) freak out (he would not call it a panic attack), Dean realised he did trust them. Maybe it was because of Sam. Maybe it was biology. Cas definitely helped. Before his episode he was already starting to feel comfortable and could see himself here.
Dean could see a future here. It didn’t take a great stretch of the imagination. His body had already decided it felt right! And now his mind was getting on board. Maybe, just maybe these alphas weren’t the knot heads they initially seemed.
Dean felt a cocky little grin at the edge of his lips. He was feeling more like himself now. He had a quick recovery time. He dropped his eyes, allowing his lashes to cover his eyes.
He could still read tension in the room.
He could still feel the alpha distress at not being able to fix whatever was wrong.
And he could still see a lot of hard alpha cock. A lot of it…
Dean had always dealt with stress with sex. Generally by finding a willing beta, occasionally a lonely omega. And here he was in a room full of alpha. Sexy, seductive, alpha. Who knew what he was, and who wanted him.
Pursing his lips to stop from smiling, for the first time since he met them, he felt like his mind, body, and grace were in agreement. This was a flock that would look after him. Would they make mistakes? They’d already proved that. But they’d let him make his own mistakes too. Dean could live with that. Dean wanted to live with that!
First though, he’d have a little fun. Before he had a lot of fun.
He fucking well deserved it.
--
As Dean’s distress eased, so too did the alphas’. Michael cast an eye over Sam and Dean. Sam was obviously going to do his best to make it up to Dean, and as for Dean – Michael could have groaned. He recognised that look in his eyes. It could rival Gabe when he was up to his tricks. Well, it was much better than that distress… Which Michael still wasn’t sure what had triggered that. No one had moved. In fact, they were very carefully giving Dean a lot of space. And really? That was probably the most upsetting aspect. If he didn’t know what had happened, how was he supposed to stop it happening again?
Shaking his head, Michael attention returned to his flock, still huddling together. It wouldn’t do to have Dean think they were so weak. Not that Michael thought they looked weak. A small smile crossed his face.
They were beautiful. His flock, his alphas were beautiful. The interplay of feathers and wings was just…
A strangled growl from Lucifer stopped him.
“Mikey… glad you think we look good, but now is not the time.”
Michael blinked and looked down at himself. Ah yes. He was hard and leaking pheromones. Now was not the time to think about pressing Lucifers' wings onto the bed… Looking straight into Dean’s eyes as he claimed his…
A sharp tap on his head brought him back.
Michael cleared his throat noisily, ignoring the glares. “Right. Let’s get this room finished.” He overrode the disagreements. “Even if Dean chooses to leave today, we still want him to know what he can come back to.”
It wasn’t like they were going to argue with that. Even though they had already pretended to fix it up earlier, they could make it better. More like the home they wanted it to be. There was some sorrow in their movements, uncertainty, but not a single angel could stop hope from blossoming in their chests.
Dean was here.
Dean was still here.
Maybe he would choose them.
--
Michael stood back, watching them move about the room. Although he wanted to look at Dean, to burn everything about him into his brain, it wasn’t the time. And his heart ached for his flock. But there was nothing he could do. Except try and keep his mind out of the mating bed, he corrected himself. Lucifer sent him a glare. As if he could even read his mind. That meant that Lucifer's mind was in the mating…
Said brother stalked over to him. “I swear Michael, if you don’t stop that I will tie you up and douse you in those products that Dean uses.”
Every head turned. “You… You wouldn’t!”
Omega hiding products didn’t depress an alpha’s scent: it depressed their sex drive. And sure, and archangel could remove the toxins quicker, but still…
Lucifer crossed his arms. He was not joking. “Try me.”
Michael inclined his head, although his lips were compressed into a firm line. Nine times out of ten he could beat Lucifer if it came down to it – years growing up had shown that – but that one time when Lucifer was fully committed to something? Not a chance.
Michael laughed to himself. They all wanted the same thing, and Michael really didn’t want to throw his flock alpha pheromones into the mix, pressuring Dean. Ah Dean… if Dean chose to leave… They hadn’t known him long, but it was long enough. If Dean left there would be an unfillable Dean-shaped hole in all their lives. He’d imprinted as their omega. There wasn’t another one. Dean was it.
The thought of Dean leaving was enough to dampen Michael’s libido.
Maybe Dean would let them court him. Michael paused. No… even if Dean chose to stay now, they would court him. He glanced around the room, at Sam and Dean staring intently at each other, at Gabriel and Castiel, placing decadent pillows on the bed (and where the hell had they got pillows to match all their feathers?). The crowning feather (ha!) in their hat though was the soft blanket that Lucifer draped over the sofa. It was big enough to cover them all (not that they would ever need it, Michael’s wings were plenty big enough), but he could see that maybe they would want to…
It matched Dean’s eyes perfectly, both a beautiful, softly glowing emerald. He glanced at his two youngest brothers, who just exchanged shrugs. Well, Dad did always work in mysterious ways.
Castiel and Gabriel had thrown themselves back into making the space perfect. Lucifer, on the other hand, had been unable to relax. He’d turned his back on Dean, knowing he would stare otherwise. But his back was tense, the muscles rippling, his feathers splayed. That definitely explained the cranky little alpha moments. Luci never dealt well with uncertainty, Michael thought wryly.
So here he was, back tense, wings twitching and knocking over the candles. Cas had stopped arranging pillows and placed himself on fire patrol. But he didn’t scold Luci. Lucifer was just less able to hide what they were all feeling.
With a smile and shake of his head, Michael came up behind Lucifer, drawing him back and allowing his golden wings to press his brothers black ones down, soothing rather than forcing submission.
“Talk to me, little brother.”
Lucifer twitched. “What if we’ve totally fucked this up? What if we’ve scared him so badly we’ve lost our only chance…”
Before Michael could respond, Gabriel was there, pulling Lucifer down into a kiss.
“We haven’t! Not yet. Not completely. He’s still here, isn’t he? He could have walked out already. But he chose to stay, to listen. And if he’s not ready? We give him time. All the time he needs. We woo him. Properly.”
Castiel had been rather silent, a small little smile on his face. But he added his opinion here. “And feed him. “
As his three brothers turned to face him, Castiel shrugged. “He obviously likes burgers. And if I remember correctly,” (which he would, his brother’s knew. Castiel seemed to remember things fro before he was born) “, which I do,” he added a little smugly, “pie. I believe Sam said something about pie.” He smiled his small, incredibly self-satisfied smile at his brothers. “We can do that. And I think there are a lot of things Dean would do for pie.”
Lucifers wings started shaking beneath Michaels, and he quickly looked down in concern. But Luci was ok – laughing more than anything. “When did my little brothers get so smart?”
“Oh. We’ve always been this smart,” Gabriel responded, waving a hand airily. “You just never noticed.”
Lucifer chuckled more easily as he relaxed back in Michael’s arms, Michael took note of his brothers, who had returned to repairing what Lucifers wings had destroyed. They’d even replaced the candles, although now the candles matched their wings… There were even green ones to match Dean’s eyes!
He started to say something reproving, but Lucifer pulled out of his arms, and tugged firmly at his wing. “Leave them be, Michael.”
“This is not what our grace is for, Lucifer!” Michael was almost sure he hadn’t let the whine enter his voice. :Candles that match our wings?!”
Lucifer just sent him a serene smile. “You don’t like it?”
It wasn’t the point, Michael pouted. They were wonderful. Lucifer just chuckled pulling him in for a hug, before settling himself back against Michael’s chest. “It’s just a little thing, and look – they’re waiting to light them, so they don’t have to replace them again.”
Fine. Michael lost this battle. It wasn’t as if he wanted to win any way. He snuggled deeper into Lucifers’ back, shivering as Lucifers’ primaries stroked his, and his long fingers gripped his forearms. Ah well. There were worse ways to pass the time while waiting for the decision that affected your whole life.
Snorting with laughter, he ignored Lucifers’ curious look. If he was feeling this way, imagine the others! Michael was the least dramatic in the flock.
--
Sam was confused. Sure, you could argue that that was his general state of being, but now? He was really confused. Dean still smelt distressed. And he was acting distressed. But that was the key word - acting. At least, Sam thought he was.
If things had been normal, Sam would have called him on it, pinning him to the bed until he came clean. But things were not normal. Things were very far from normal. The tensely vibrating alphas in the background just evidence to the complete lack of normality. Sam felt their tension bleed into his own. Until he looked at them. And if that didn’t melt his heart… the way they were Mikey and Luci were wrapped around each other, while Gabe and Cas… played with candles? Sam shook his head. Didn’t matter what they were doing. Through their uncertainty he could still feel it. All that love. All that support. Sam wanted to be in there too. With Dean. He also wanted Dean in there.
He really wanted Dean to be part of this family.
Sam swallowed. It was Dean’s decision. He believed that, as he had from the start. And yeah, he had a bad way of showing it. He was just… taken by surprise. How often do you get everything you want actually just handed to you? But he never meant to hurt Dean. Never thought to! He hoped Dean believed him – them. Sam’s flock… maybe flock, was amazing. Oh god, what if Dean didn’t choose to mate with them? He would have to say goodbye, and it would be even harder, because it should all be so perfect.
Sam looked away, blinking tears from his eyes. Had he totally fucked this up? Had he totally ruined any chance they’d had of making their flock a nest?
Nest… Sam’s eyes crept to the bed. It looked so soft. So warm and welcoming. He wanted nothing more than to roll around with his family. Licking and biting and sucking and fucking. He wanted!
He blinked again. Goddamn it. He was such a fool.
--
Dean didn’t notice Sam’s distress. He was too busy dealing with his own body. The adrenalin left him needing to do something. He wanted to run or jump or fly very far away. But that was currently out of the question, so he settled for punching the air, stretching as wide as he could, arms shooting out. He didn’t bother repressing the sigh of relief as his back cracked and his wings shook loose.
Feeling a little more comfortable in his body, he could focus on the important things: figuring out the best way to torture his brother and his brother’s flock. Soon to be his flock, he amended, stamping down on the goofy grin that threatened to cover his face. Now was not the time. He had a younger brother to torment. So busy focusing on not feeling happy, he almost missed Sam’s instinctive flinch at Dean’s stretch, and way his hand dropped away even as he reached out to soothe.
Dean paused, frowning. This wasn’t right. Sam’s response had been worry for Dean. He didn’t want any one feeling sorry for him. He didn’t need fucking soothing. He needed respect. You didn’t respect people you felt sorry for.
How to handle this then? The… incident… had been unfortunate. But Dean was back, sassier than eve. Now he just had to show them all...
Before they’d been interrupted, Sam had been explaining how much he loved Dean (and a little part of Dean was awed and amazed at that. Another part kind of wanted to gag because emotions, but Sammy had always had to have feelings), and how sorry he was, but before he could really start grovelling, Dean started exuding distress and Sam he had trailed off.
Dean felt a smirk steal across his face. Time to play the poor little omega.
But before he could open his mouth, Sam was there, pouring out his freaking heart!
“I know it’s overwhelming, Dean, that we are overwhelming. But you have to understand! No one ever expected to find you. You! The perfect omega to make our flock a nest.” Sam’s cheeks coloured, but he stumbled on. “I mean, we knew that Father made us an omega, but never once though that it was you! The only omega who could give me – us – me! -everything we wanted.”
Sam looked at Dean, all serious and determined to lay bare his soul.
“I love you, Dean. I always have, and I always will. I made mistakes, and I’m going to make that up to you. And if you want to step away... If you want to take more time, or even…”Sam’s voice trailed off. He found the words hard to get the words out, but they somehow managed to slide past his lips,”… and even if you want to leave for good, Dean, I will support you. I will help you.”
Dean sat frozen. He didn’t doubt Sam’s words. He couldn’t doubt the earnest intensity. He did, however, want Sam to stop. Dean had never been comfortable with emotions. He preferred to tease til Sam got annoyed, that had been his plan: see how far he could push a Sam weighed down with guilt. See what he get from Sam… He was thinking more pie, and choosing the movies for a year. Not this! This was not what Dean signed up for! He just wanted to tell Sam all was forgiven, they could forget it and move on, so it would never be mentioned again.
Sam, however, was having none of it. He’d failed his brother today. No, not just today. Today had just been the worst. He’d been continually failed his brother. But it wasn’t going to happen again. Sam was not going to let it happen again. He needed Dean to understand. He needed to flagellate himself until all was forgiven. So Sam persisted.
“I let you down, earlier. And you’re right. I should have said something to stop it. Hell, I should have introduced you to my flock! I should have…” Sam trailed off again, on the edge of tears. How he managed to rally and pull himself back, Dean would never know. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what I should have done. All that matter is I didn’t do it, and it won’t happen again. Just know I’m on your side Dean – always on your side. I will always do what I can to help…” Sam paused to take a deep breath. “Maybe not always at the right time – I’m not Dad! - but I will always help because you are important to me. The most important to me.”
Dean almost turned away from the shining sincerity Sam radiated. It was painful! Sam’s eyes were clear (if tear filled, ha! He’d been right! Bitch was crying), his shoulders square, and his wings spread wide, ready to defend Dean. Sure, Dean was still annoyed, but he could feel it steadily bleeding out of his system. Dean felt warm affection flood his body. Maybe he’d had enough of teasing Sam. Dean decided that he’d had enough of playing hard to get. It’d never been his style anyway. Plus he had eternity to kick these bastards into shape. Ready to put them out of their misery, Dean opened his mouth, only to be cut off by his brother.
“So if you want to go…”
Sam trailed off again. What kind of alpha couldn’t finish his fucking sentence! Dean watched as his brother squared his shoulders. Again.
“So if you want to go, we’ll go.”
--
Lucifer had just opened his mouth to question Michael when Sam and Dean’s conversation floated across.
“…So if you want to go…”
The alphas’ reaction was instantaneous. It was through great effort that Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel and Castiel prevented their wings from rising high with agitation. As it was, Michael knew his wings had risen (but only a little. He was quite proud of that fact), the primary feathers sharp and pointed at the threat to his nest. Beneath him Lucifer’s wings shifted, and at the reminder Michael immediately dropped his wings, knowing it was the only thing keeping them down. Michael’s arms firmed around Lucifers chest, and he bent forward, kissing the nape of his neck. “It will ok, “ he whispered. “If he needs time, we give him time. If he wants wooing, we woo him. Now is the time to prove we are alphas of our word.”
“So if you want to go, we’ll go.”
The four angels tensely awaited their omega’s response.
--
Dean didn’t hear the gasps behind him, the clamouring in his mind much too loud. What? Did… did Sam actually say that? He’d said it earlier, but it was easy to say things in the heat of the moment. Sam would… Sam would actually…?
“You’d choose me over four manly alphas?” And if Dean added a little flutter of eyelashes, well, he could blame him?
Sam practically overbalanced he was nodding so hard. His wings (big, strong wings…) flared out to counterbalance his body. “Yes! Yes Dean… Every time!” Sam flicked his eyes to the group of alphas behind Dean. Dean had been wanting to look at them for a while, but didn’t want to be too obvious. So he took his chance.
And they were staring at Sam just as wretchedly as Sam was staring at them.
Oh for fucks sake! For a bunch of testosterone driven alphas, they were sure ready with the tears. It honestly made Dean a bit uncomfortable. Still, it showed they needed someone manly to help with all the hand wringing and handkerchief waving.
Dean bit his lip. Next move was his. Maybe he wasn’t quite ready to flash his wings, but if he just naturally stretched…
And just like that, every eye in the room was on his (still blessedly brown) wings. He couldn’t help chuckling to himself. Pervy bastards. This could be fun! Although he knew he was treading a very fine line: the wing powder was no longer powder. It had reacted with his wing oil, forming a thick, uncomfortable sludge. It itched and felt heavy. One strong flick and it would be gone, his wings naked, his nature revealed. He was generally home and washing and reapplying the wing products well before it reached this stage. Of course he’d sometimes pushed it – you can’t hurry good sex, after all, but it was generally at this point he extracted himself from whoever he was fucking and did some stop gap covering. Yet here he was now. One shiver away from exposing it all.
Generally that thought created fear. What would happen if he was found out? Now, however, it was arousing. Dean had never once wanted to show his wings, but now he was having a hard time controlling the quivers, from giving that final reveal.
--oo--
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7
