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The apartment was dark and quiet when Slade opened the door. Even his heightened senses only managed to pick up on the quiet hum of the refrigerator and the muffled noise of the city outside. He quietly reset all of the door’s locks and traps. A pained groan echoed across the house from the bedroom.
“Ah.” He breathed.
Boots off and set beside the door, he made his way toward the sound with near silent steps. He of course could have been completely silent, but a tiny fraction of noise was better than sneaking up on Jason in this state. A lesson he’d learned the hard way the first time.
The bedroom was darker than the rest of the apartment had been. Thick curtains were drawn to keep out even Gotham’s dim city lights. The scent of pain and frustration permeated the room, centered on the lump on the bed. As Slade stepped in, the pile shifted and Jason’s head unburied itself from the blankets. A hint of happiness edged into the scent, but was quickly covered again by pain.
Slade smiled and spoke as softly as he was able, “That explains why there haven’t been any Red Hood sightings tonight.” He carefully shut the door behind him. A quick glance around the room brought the situation into even sharper focus. The bedside table held a bottle of migraine medicine, a mug with damp, cooled tea leaves settled in the bottom, and a glass of water, mostly empty. The closest door was open. The second spare blanket was uncharacteristically left hanging partially unfolded from its place, clearly having been knocked aside when the main one had been grabbed for Jason’s makeshift nest.
He let out a small comforting rumble. “Do you want me to help?” He asked. Only years of practice balancing his instincts and Jason’s mile wide independent streak had kept him from scruffing him the moment he’d walked into the room. They both knew it would make him feel better physically, but giving over control that completely was not always something Jason could handle.
Jason’s nearly imperceptible “Yeah” was more than enough for Slade to drop all reservations and crawl onto the bed next to him. He curled around his omega protectively and placed his hand over the back of his neck. He pressed gently on the sensitive points just below his scent glands.
The smaller man slumped into Slade’s hold as relief swept over him. The pressure he’d been fighting off all day waned as his body gave in to the safety of his alpha’s hold. Immediately bone-deep exhaustion took its place, and he had no reason to fight it. He burrowed himself back into his nest and into Slade’s side and let himself drift off to sleep.