icebreaker

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/38666388.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandoms: The Batman (Movie 2022), Batman - All Media Types
Relationship: Edward Nygma/Bruce Wayne
Characters: Edward Nygma, Bruce Wayne
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics,
Alpha Bruce Wayne, Omega Edward Nygma, Penis In Vagina Sex,
Boypussy, Vaginal Fingering, Knotting, Unhealthy Relationships,
Attempted Murder, Dubious Consent, Morally Grey Bruce Wayne,
Conditioning, Manipulation, Power Imbalance, Edward Nygma Has BPD
| Borderline Personality Disorder, Rough Sex, Biting, Accidental
Bonding, Forced Relationship, Altered Mental States, Claiming Bites,
Arkham Asylum is Terrible, Prison Sex, True Mates, Praise Kink,
Cunnilingus, Gentle Sex, Oral Knotting, Breathplay, Cock Warming,
Feeding Kink, A lot of Bruce using edward's biology against him to keep
him under control, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Overprotective, Scent Kink,
Pampering, Sexual Assault, Intersex Omegas, Feminization, not really its
just different gender roles and expectations, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Kink,
Pregnant Sex, Rape/Non-con Elements, not between bruce and edward
tho, Minor Edward Nygma/OC, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Riddlebat
babies
Language: English
Series: Part 4 of Riddlebat Omegaverse Fics
Stats: Published: 2022-04-28 Completed: 2023-05-15 Words: 60,031 Chapters:
12/12
 icebreaker
by Sasspiria

Summary

Instead of sending a bomb to his house, the Riddler decides to take care of Bruce Wayne
personally. This changes everything.

Notes

It's about time someone wrote some dirty a/b/o for these two!! Guess i have to do everything
myself huh.

Some notes on this:

- both edward and bruce are around 28-30 in this and close in age.
- theres a lot of unfairness, sexism etc in the way that omegas are treated, in typical a/b/o
fashion. Edward uses that to his advantage when he can but its mostly a crapshoot, just like
real life :D
- lots of fuckiness with gender roles, presentation and expectations because i love that shit.
- This is the exact opposite of a slow burn
- will venture into dubcon because neither of these idiots know how to communicate and
Edward is v inexperienced of course
 Chapter 1

“Hot date tonight?” One of his co-workers, a woman named… Shaileen, if he recalled
correctly, asked Edward pulling him out of his thoughts on what he wanted to do to Gotham.
He hummed as he turned towards her, a question in his gaze. “It’s just…” She gestured at his
outfit. “You look nice when you make an effort, Eddie. You should do it more often.”

He smiled out the side of his mouth to hide his distaste at the nickname and the backhanded
compliment. Everyone here called him ‘Eddie’ even though he hated the winsome, childish
name and had told them as much before. “Thank you. Something like that.” He affirmed
before turning away and preemptively ending the one-sided conversation.

Shaileen smiled to herself as if she had just done her good deed for the day, making small talk
with the weird, mousy omega who obsessed over his crossword puzzles and ate all his
lunches alone. He knew they all thought he was a freak – and he didn’t care, he was building
something greater than all of them.

And he wasn’t going on a date tonight. Truthfully, he’d just returned from a funeral. He’d
watched Gil Colsom crash the mayor’s funeral in his Sunday best before donning his mask.
The whole thing had been absolutely thrilling. He was almost expecting Colsom to cut the
game a little short to save himself – he seemed like the type to fall into self-saving cowardice.
But he didn’t mind, in fact he was just getting started.

He was incredibly giddy as he thought on the next target on his list – Bruce Wayne. At first,
he had thought of something impersonal – sending a bomb to his shitty, fancy little
penthouse. But that wasn’t enough. He had been waiting to get his hands on the boy
billionaire – the only orphan that anyone in Gotham gave a damn about.

He spent a few weeks casing out the place, watching his minimal staff – just a housekeeper
and a butler, which surprised him a little. He expected a spoiled prince like that to have a
fully staffed bathroom – come and go until he had perfectly figured out their schedules.

Tonight he was going to strike, Bruce Wayne would never see him coming. Not until it was
much too late and the whole damn city would be left with the aftershocks of Bruce Wayne’s
oh-so-tragic death.

“Oh please” He whispered to himself, distaste brewing in him the more he thought about it.
“Like he’s the only sad little orphan in the world.” He grit his teeth and his lips curled into a
sneer at the thought of him. “…Thinks he’s so fucking special.”

“What was that?” Shaileen asked him, still standing in ear shot. Her voice climbing high with
curiosity as she looked at him. Curiosity turned to suspicion quickly, or it would if he didn’t
circumvent it.

Edward gave her a fake smile, “Nothing. Just thinking out loud. These accounts are…
frustrating.” He said, “Uh, anyways, have a good day.” He muttered awkwardly before
scrambling back to his cubicle to meander around for the rest of the day, pretending to be
busy so no one would bother him anymore.

After work, he headed straight to midtown. Took a taxi and paid with cash so there wouldn’t
be a paper trail. He headed into Wayne Tower and politely asked the receptionist at the front
desk for directions to the bathroom and pretended to go there after she pointed the way.

Then he found somewhere quiet to hide and waited there until the perfect moment to slip in
to the penthouse. He was easily forgotten, the woman at the front desk wouldn’t remember
him and neither would the taxi driver. Why would they? He was just some unremarkable little
nobody, he was just quiet little Edward Nashton. Nobody ever looked at him twice.

He’s an entirely different person when he dons the mask, even his build is different. No one
would ever be able to recognize him, not until he decided to turn himself in. He smears scent
blockers over his throat and sprays some cheap alpha cologne over that to cover his tracks as
he dons his coat – the kind the scumbags at the Iceberg Lounge wear to make themselves feel
like the big, strong alphas they all thought themselves to be.

The sins of the father, he thinks as he prepares himself, must be repaid with the blood of the
son. He was going to make Bruce Wayne bleed. He was going to slit his throat and leave him
in a puddle of his perfect rich boy blood.

It wasn’t hard to break into the penthouse – it never is, these rich idiots don’t think much
about security because they don’t have to. No one expects the violence and horror that is
inherit to Gotham to come home to the source.

He would love to torture Bruce Wayne, really, he would love to make him ache for hours but
he didn’t have the time for that. He estimated a 45 minute window where his butler and
housekeeper were both consistently out. So he would have to make this all very quick. He
had ten minutes to kill – literally.

Then he would watch, from a distance, as poor little Bruce Wayne was discovered dead on
the floor of his perfect little mansion.

He sneaks in, quiet as a ghost, and watches Bruce for a moment before he strikes brutal and
quick with a hypodermic syringe filled with enough horse tranquilizers to knock him on his
ass. He wouldn’t be knocked out, but he’d be easier to control this way. Then Edward would
slice his throat with a knife emblazoned with the Wayne family crest – he had taken it a long
time ago, found in the wreckage of the orphanage when he was a child – and he would leave
his next clue for the Batman in his mouth.

It would be perfect, he thinks as he runs towards him. Perfect, perfect, perfect.

He sticks the needle in Bruce’s arm and punches it down about halfway before the alpha
staggers back and looks at him with wild eyes. He notices something smudged around them –
like makeup or… paint. Its an odd fashion choice, he thinks, but he doesn’t have long to
contemplate it because his victim wasn’t down yet.
Edward was manic as Bruce pulled himself to his feet, barely dressed as he was. “You
shouldn’t even be standing.” He said, “You’re a lot stronger-” He stopped and his head
dipped a little, like he had been dosed with horse tranquilizers too. He stumbled over his own
feet, feeling… weird. He frowned and shook his head in an attempt to shake off the feeling.
“Y-you’re a lot stronger than you look.” He said again, wavering on his feet. He inhaled
through his nose, deepening his voice through his modulator once again. Focus.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong, but he couldn’t stop now. He had to
finish things.

He wavers as he approaches Bruce, babbling his plans in a vain attempt to keep himself
upright. He feels like he’s been drugged too. He feels so many things, his thighs squirm
underneath his baggy costume and he bites his lip to stop himself from whimpering. “I’m,
I’m gonna fucking… rip out your heart.” He says, as if to remind himself of what he was here
for.

Bruce Wayne noticed the weakness in his gait and sprung into action. He moved to grab
Edward’s wrist and disarm him, but that just sent the Riddler into a panic and he started to
slash the knife desperately at him in an attempt to get him bleeding. Bruce’s hand came up
and he sliced him through it – but that had not been his intention.

The blade was stuck in Bruce’s hand and he turned it around, looking at Edward with such an
intense look in his icy blue eyes that it almost scared him. Set him off his game in a way that
no one ever had the chance to before. His breath hitched a little as Bruce lunged towards him.
The two of them toppled over and landed on the ground, Bruce Wayne on top of him –
straddling him in much the same way that he had straddled the Mayor during his first kill.

Distantly he wondered if Bruce felt as thrilled as he had been, to have the upper hand on him.
He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for a kill shot that never came. What happened next
was much worse, because Bruce used his bladed hand to slash at his mask, tearing it right off.

The Riddler screamed bloody murder as he was unmasked, shocked and vulnerable
underneath all that Army Surplus gear. Weak, even. A small man wrapped in plastic wrap,
hiding in an over-sized coat like a little boy playing dress up. With the hand that wasn’t
currently impaled on a sharp blade, Bruce slapped him.

It wasn’t a particularly hard slap, but it stung enough to make him stop screaming. To shock
him out of his state of rage. “Y-you did something to me.” Edward gasped, as if this was
some kind of grand epiphany. “Y-you son of a- fucking stupid rich piece of shit, alpha scum.
I’m going to, I’m going to-”

A hand came over his mouth and locked around his jaw and he screamed behind it, indignant
at the insult. “You’re not going to do anything. Alfred is going to be back any minute. And
you are-” All of a sudden a short and stout elderly woman came in and looked at the scene in
shock. “Dory! Call the police.” He holds up his impaled hand, “…911 too.” He added
reticently.

Dory, the housekeeper gasped and nodded before frantically making her way to the landline.
“I should have cut the phone lines.” Edward says behind Bruce’s hand, his voice low enough
to be growling. It was just his luck that something like this would happen when he finally
took a swing at the target he felt some of his deepest ire towards.

“Shut up. Shut up.” Bruce growled at him and Edward spit at him behind his hand. He felt
the impression of bruises forming around his jaw. He would be black and blue by the time the
cops came and dragged him away.

Officers came quicker than they would have if it was anyone else other than the prince of
Gotham and Edward is hoisted to his feet, his coat ripped off in the process as he struggles –
its humiliating, but he can’t stop himself from fighting. He wasn’t supposed to be arrested
yet, this was not how he had planned things. And his plan had been so perfect! It just wasn’t
fair that Bruce Wayne would ruin it by not dying like he was supposed to.

Bruce was quiet and resolute as he watched the Riddler be cuffed and dragged away, hissing
and cursing at him the whole time. He ignored the twisting in his stomach, the prickling
sensation at the back of his neck and most of all he ignored the insane urge to stop them.

It’s not long after he’s taken to Arkham – early, he reminds himself in a self-punishing sort of
way, how had he let himself ruin things like this? – that he’s sitting in a doctors office with a
small, blonde beta woman gently examining him. He’s well past fighting at this point, so he
submits to all her tests and answers her questions dutifully.

Until he gets to the point where she’s feeling around his neck and goes, “…huh.” as she feels
at his bonding gland. “That’s…odd.”

“What’s odd?” He croaked, looking at her with wary eyes.

“It’s just...very recent.” She says, sounding distracted as she thought aloud while her fingers
gently pressed against his lymph-nodes and bonding gland. The feeling of being touched
there made him shiver and he tried not to shrink away or run from it. “And no bite. Or a
healed one, I suppose. Must be a strong bond if it still seems so fresh, they must be worried
about you. When did you bond with your alpha?”

He frowned, “I’ve never bonded with anyone.” He said, in a small voice. It was impossible
that he would have. He had always tried to keep away from people and ignored what little
romantic attention that he got.

“Yes you have.” The doctor tells him with utmost confidence. “It’s okay, really, I just need to
call them and get permission for things like suppressants and other medications. I can’t give
you anything without permission.” She explained, as if he wasn’t intimately aware of how
precarious his position in society was. He ignored everyone for a reason.

He doesn’t say anything, just looks at her with a hollowness in his eyes. He couldn’t be. “Oh
you really don’t know.” She realized out loud and then she was quick to try and comfort him,
an equally alien feeling. “It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s probably just a spontaneous bond, they’re
rare but they do happen.” She explained gently, as she realized how precarious this situation
was.
He knew what a spontaneous bond was – it was something people loved to romanticize, like
it was soulmates or something, but the real reason for it was purely utilitarian. It was all
about genetic compatibility. His stomach dropped as everything comes into focus at once –
why he had gotten so weak during his attempted assassination of Bruce Wayne. Why it felt
like he had been dosed with horse tranquilizers too, why Bruce Wayne hadn’t hurt him more
and just held him down until the cops arrived.

“Bastard.” He said out loud, getting angrier by the moment. He had been right – Bruce had
done something to him, he had changed the path of his life dramatically with just one sweep
of his palm across his cheek. After he reluctantly tells them the name of the only alpha who
has ever touched him for a prolonged period of time anywhere in his life, the mood changes
dramatically.

He would have thought that they wouldn’t believe him, but its worse – they do. They believe
that he has bonded with a man that he tried to kill and now they’re afraid to mistreat him
because of the potential consequences of messing with the prince of Gotham’s property.

It makes him feel a little sick inside when they move him to a private room, far away from
any other inmates, and refuse to let him leave it – for his own good, they tell him. There’s
nothing for him to do but request visits from Batman and watch the news coverage of his
arrest on TV.

He’s the first omega serial killer to grace the cells of Arkham in over a century. It pleases him
to know that he’s going to be famous, even if he didn’t succeed in doing everything he
wanted. He had so many plans for this city, all down the toilet now because of Bruce Wayne’s
perfect, privileged touch ruining everything.

But at least no one would ever forget him now, no one can take that notoriety away from him.

For three days, this is what his life is. Sitting in his cell and watching the TV at the nurses
station. He takes whatever pills they give him and he eats his meals obediently, he tolerates
doctors appointments and being prodded at by psychologists. He’s quiet as a fucking church
mouse. The only noise he makes is to ask Batman to come and see him whenever someone
brings him his meals and pills.

That’s all he really wants, to see him in the flesh one time. To look into his eyes and
apologize that they couldn’t have seen things through. That it couldn’t be him claiming
Edward instead of the one that had and ruined everything in the process. He deserved that
much, he was sure.

On the fourth day, Batman comes to see him and Edward stares dreamily at him from his cell,
“It’s you.” He said, equally as dreamy. “Your mask is amazing, I wish you could have seen
me in mine.”

Edward was giddy, delighted to look in his eyes at last. He feels like he’s floating on a cloud.
Finally face to face with his idol – even if everything else had broken apart, he at least had
this. Batman has beautiful eyes, crystalline and blue – movie star eyes, the kind of eyes that
jumped out at you and made you want to melt and stare. He’s so beautiful in person, just like
Edward had always assumed he would be.
“I saw your tape.” That’s the first thing that he says to Edward, standing straight and tall and
looking at Edward with a sort of levity that he cannot properly wrap his head around. So
serious.

Edward giggled at that, a bemused look in his eyes. “Of course you did.” He said, “Y-you
were supposed to look at it after bringing Falcone into the light but I guess its better than
nothing.” He sighed wistfully, “It could have been, it could have been so good. We could
have done it together if things didn’t get cut so short!” He ran a hand nervously through his
hair. “But its still good its still salvageable. It’s, it’s good that you’re here-”

Edward’s rambling was cut off short as Batman interjected with a question. “Where are the
bombs located?” He asked. “It’s not too late, you can still make things right.”

Edward’s face fell. “You want me to stop, but you- I don’t understand? I thought we were in
this together!” He said, “You helped show me what I had to do and I showed you the
corruption and- it was perfect, we were supposed to… this is not how things were supposed
to go.” His voice is tiny on the last note. It’s like he can feel his heart breaking, shattering in
little pieces and falling down into the pit of his stomach.

He feels betrayed. Like he’s been led along this whole time. Tricked into landing himself into
Arkham all because he wanted to impress his hero. Didn’t he understand that Edward did this
all for him?

Batman’s expression is still so stern, made even more so by the dark make up and cowl he
was wearing. “What did you think was going to happen? That I would like this?” He asked
and then, “What is wrong with you that you think I would want you to do this? This is sick.”
He says, disgusted with Edward. “You’re sick.”

Edward was practically pouting at this point, he couldn’t believe that things had turned out
like this – so rotten and wrong. “How could you say that?” He asked, wavering on his feet
and feeling lightheaded. This was worse. Worse than his failed attempt at taking down Bruce
Wayne. Worse than being interrupted before he had completed his mission.

As if he’s not already hurt enough, Batman continues on. Rubs salt in the wound when he
reminds Edward of the little boy that had found the mayors staged body. “So that’s all you
care about? Some poor little rich boy?” He asked, the thought making him gnash his teeth a
little. Of course it was all he cared about, it was all anyone ever cared about. Not like he had
ever mattered half as much as a pretty, pampered child that would wash away their tears with
their riches. “It’s not like he’s an orphan!” He snapped, aggravated. Then he turned away and
crossed his arms over his chest, “Fine, I see how it is.” He said solemnly as he had taken to
pacing around in front of the window.

“If you want to ruin things, if you want to destroy what we could have done then fine. See if I
care.” He said unconvincingly before giving him all the information that he wants. He spends
the rest of the morning, screaming into his pillow until a guard with sedatives comes into his
room to shut him up. By that point his voice has broken and he feels hollow inside.
Bruce manages to resist going to see Edward – The Riddler, he reminds himself – for nearly a
month after he tells him the rest of his plan. It was monstrous, what he had wanted to do and
it was good that he stopped him. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about him.

All the time – it was unnatural, or maybe too natural. A prickling sensation on the back of his
neck and a strange, cloying worry about him. He kept thinking about the day that Edward had
broken in and tried to kill him, the strange feeling that had started to bother at him shortly
before he had struck. It was like he knew he was there, but his blood was pumping too
heavily in his ears to do much about it.

Fighting Edward off was different than the fighting he usually did. He’d been struck by the
most insane feeling, that he didn’t want to hurt him. That was strange enough, the fact that he
didn’t ignore the feeling and focused on disarming his assailant instead of beating him was
even stranger.

Things had probably hit peak weirdness when a doctor at Arkham had called to inform him
that he might have bonded with the crazy man who tried to kill him and also could he please
give them permission to prescribe him some anti-psychotics? He’d remembered going
through the five stages of grief on that call in under ten seconds, skipping over Denial
because he knew on a bone deep level that it was true.

So now he was here at Arkham and he had no idea what to do with himself. His hands are
shaking in his pockets as he’s led inside the room by a hulking beta guard who smiled at him
in a sleazy manner and told him to have fun before closing the door and leaving the two of
them alone. As he approached, Edward jumped and turned over from where he was laying on
his cot. He sat up and haphazardly put his glasses back on and squinted at him, a strange
expression on his face. Like Bruce was some puzzle he was trying to solve, one that he didn’t
care for.

Sitting in his rumpled Arkham uniform, Edward didn’t look like a serial killer. Bruce
supposed that most of them didn’t. It was just that… he was sweet looking. Nice smile, kind
eyes behind glasses that were a little too big for his face. He was endearing looking. Maybe
he was even someone that he might have had a passing attraction to if he noticed him on the
street.

Things would have been easier, he thought, if he met him on the street before all this killing
started.
Maybe he could have stopped him, maybe saved him from himself. Or maybe that was just
wishful thinking and nothing would change.

“No one is supposed to be in here.” Edward pointed out, his tone a little nervous. He’s acting
skittish enough that Bruce wonders if he’s convinced himself that he was the one who tried to
kill him and not the other way around. It doesn’t fit with the profile of him he has built in his
head – but who really knows with someone like him?

“I am.” Bruce replied. He’s probably the only one not on the prison’s payroll that is. He’s
Edward Nashton’s alpha, he has conjugal visitation rights.
Edward pauses at that and nearly pouts. He fidgets with his fingers and hums. “What has
many teeth, but cannot bite?” He asked.

Bruce scoffed at the impromptu game and wondered if he was always like this. If it was some
kind of compulsive ritual that he had to indulge in – he could understand that, he had many of
his own – or if this was just how he comforted himself when stressed. “You, if you know
what’s good for you.” He says and then promptly hates himself for saying anything. God, he
feels so weird.

He doesn’t really feel like himself, its like his sanity is waning at the edges. His eyes travel
down to focus on Edward’s mouth. Said omega gives him a book like, ‘Really, Bruce?’
before he speaks to him in a flat, deadpan tone. “A comb. Jeez. That was an easy one.” He
giggled nervously, brushing his hair out of his face with two of his fingers. “What are you
doing here?”

What was he doing here? This was probably a huge mistake. Knowing that didn’t stop him
from taking a step towards the omega. Looking down at him. “Just wanted to remind myself
that you’re locked in here.” He lied. “You’re a monster. You belong in here.”

That put Edward on the defensive, he stiffened and his posture went almost disconcertingly
straight as he looked at Bruce. “If I’m a monster what does that make you?” He asked,
“You’re the one who-” He tensed again and grit his teeth. “There must be something severely
wrong with you if you did this to me just by touching me.” He snapped, “Guess you really
are just like your father.”

That hit a nerve. Bruce took another step towards the omega, “Shut up.” He snapped back in
warning.

Edward kept on pushing, as if he would lose something if he did not keep speaking. “Oh I bet
you just looove this.” He accused, spreading his arms out wide around him. His eyes went
vivid green with rage. “This is just another chance for you to look down on the rest of us and,
and act like the hero when really you’re just some pathetic, sad little nothing with a daddy
who died trying to cover up how crazy his wife was-”

“I said shut up!” Bruce raised his voice and grabbed Edward by the arm forcefully. The
omega went stiff and a meek noise escaped him as Bruce forced him to his feet. He realized
that they were practically the same height in that moment – Edward might even be a little
taller, not that his height had ever done much for him. They were so close that they were
practically nose to nose, so close that they could kiss if either of them moved even an inch
forward, before Bruce pushed him into the nearest wall.

He gasped at the feeling of cold pressed against his back as he was cornered. He expected
more violence, and if he was being honest with himself he was hoping for it. Violence would
make sense to him. It would be easier to comprehend than the warmth flooding his face and
the weakness in his knees. He didn’t like this uncertainty.

Maybe if Bruce punched him in the face, he could pretend that the darkness in his eyes was
from rage and not… something else. Things took a drastic turn, like he’s been thrown an
emotional curve ball when Bruce dove in and nosed at his neck. Too close. “You smell so
much better without that junk all over you.” He mumbled in Edward’s ear. “Don’t ever wear
it again.”

Edward opened his mouth to say something to that – maybe tell him off for thinking that he
could tell him what to do with his body – but the only thing that comes out of his mouth is a
pathetically uttered, “U-um-” that comes out almost under his breath, like a sigh.

Bruce’s hands came underneath his shirt and forcefully shoved it upwards. “W-wait.” Edward
started to say, but before he could get a word in edgewise, teeth were nipping at his throat and
he whimpered. Bruce’s hands were already moving lower, low enough to grasp at the front of
his trousers and tug them down quick enough to rip the seams of his terribly unflattering
prison issue underwear as he did so.

Bruce moved him like he weighed nothing, turning him by his hips until he facing away from
him. He gasped at the feeling of cold air hitting his cunt and squirmed a little, embarrassed by
the way that his body was reacting to being touched like this. He was wholly inexperienced
with anything like this. He’s only been kissed once and that was a middling experience he
hadn’t ever thought he would want to relive.

He didn’t know what else to do but try to cover himself, more out of shame at his body than
anything else, but he was quickly circumvented when Bruce grabbed his arms and folded
them behind his back roughly and pinned them there with one hand while the other moved
down to brush against the lips of his cunt with a light enough touch to make Edward’s
knobby knees wobble until he stumbled against Bruce’s, feeling the expensive coarse fabric
of the alphas expensive clothing brush against his bare skin.

He made a small noise as Bruce’s fingers slide inside of him. Eased along by how
embarrassingly, stupidly aroused he was – he shouldn’t be, he scolded himself, nothing about
this should be enticing to him. Bruce’s hands were “I haven’t worked a day in my life” soft
and he feels that intimately when his thumb brushes over Edward’s clit. He almost stumbles
again, but Bruce lets go of his arms in favor of wrapping an arm around his waist to steady
him and Edward can feel Bruce’s dick – stupidly hard, for him of all people – pressed against
his back.

He feels entirely out of his depth. Even more so when Bruce kisses him on his neck and
whispers to him, “I’m gonna fuck you now, okay?” in such a confident way that Edward
knows he’s not asking permission so much as letting him know what was going to happen.

He doesn’t know what to say to that, doesn’t even trust his vocal chords to properly articulate
any of his jumbled thoughts. Time moves a little slowly, like his brain is lagging and the next
thing that he knows, he’s bent over his shitty little prison cot with Bruce Wayne leaning over
him.

The feeling of being pinned down, a hand clamped around the back of his neck to keep him
still, was strangely relaxing. It reminds him a little of the feeling he got when his head was
wrapped in plastic, like he can’t breathe a little, but in a good way.

It makes everything else feel a little more intense, his senses going into overdrive. The sound
of a zipper sliding down rings in his ears before something thick smacks down onto his thigh.
His legs spread a little on their own, like his body is moving on auto-pilot as the alpha sinks
his cock into him.

He whines in disappointment when the hand clamped around his neck goes away, which
morphs into a sound of shock when Bruce dives in to bite down in the sensitive spot in the
crook of his neck – where he would have been bitten if this was a normal bond and not…
whatever this was.

“There.” Bruce mumbled as he pulled away, the scent of blood filling the air as the bite mark
on Edward’s neck started to bleed a little. “Now we’re even.” He started fucking him in
earnest then, pressing Edward into the lumpy mattress with each and every thrust inside of
him.

A pressure starts to build inside of him and he starts squirming against Bruce in a desperate
attempt to get more friction, more contact. His fingers scramble against the sheets for
purchase as Bruce’s hand knots in his hair and pulls his head back, lifting him up in time with
his thrusts.

Edward feels himself go limp as a rag doll when he cums, laying placidly as Bruce scoops
into him, chasing his own pleasure until he cums and his knot swells inside Edward and the
two of them are locked together in a twisted embrace. With no other reproach, Edward let
himself relax underneath the alpha like he was a security blanket that was worth billions.

He closed his eyes, exhausted by everything that had been done to him – both physically and
emotionally – but something in the way that Bruce was still touching him told him that this
wasn’t close to being over yet. They were just getting started.
 Chapter 2

Arkham Asylum is an incredibly lonely place. It’s even more lonely because Edward is kept
in isolation away from other inmates for his own safety. He had never intended to be here for
long, after he completed his mission Batman was supposed to break him out not leave him
here to rot, but here he was!

The only time that he would leave his cell would be to go to his therapy sessions, which were
unproductive almost always. Edward had nothing to say, no matter how much Dr. Strange
pushed at him. He just kept quiet and stared at the clock. It wasn’t like there was much for
him to say to the doctor anyways, he didn’t understand him. It seemed like no one did, they
all thought that he was crazy or hysterical – not to be taken seriously.

That wasn’t how he wanted to be remembered, but the assholes who ran this city saw a
narrative that they could spin about him. That there was nothing to fear about the status quo
Gothamites, because nothing was going to change because The Riddler was just some
deranged omega who was put in his place by the prince of Gotham himself.

Edward sighed as he thought about Bruce, feeling strange all over about that whole affair. It
had been three days since he had come to see him, three days since he had roughly taken his
virginity, three days since he spent several hours in his cell looking at Edward like he was
prey as he bent him in all sorts of positions. He had never… no one had ever looked at him
like that in his life.

No one had ever… desired him, the feeling of being wanted was absolutely alien to him. The
fact that it was Bruce Wayne – the billionaire asshole, the smug bastard who had lived his
whole life with a silver spoon in his mouth – just added insult to injury. For the first time in
his life someone wanted him and it was the last person that he had ever considered would
want anything to do with him.

Not that he would want him to. He hated Bruce Wayne, or at least he had. He tried very hard
to hold onto that hate. To keep it close to him like a friend that would never let him down.
For the longest time, it had been the only thing he could rely on – his anger, his hate. He
could keep surviving, keep himself from crumbling if he remembered everything that had
been taken from him and if he kept his eye on what he was going to accomplish.

Edward sighed and tried to collect himself, the quietude of his cell was grating. The only
thing he could do was pace around, take a shower in the corner of the room or talk to himself.
All three of those activities were quickly getting stale.

He decides to take a shower, his third of the day. It’s really the only place he gets any
semblance of privacy, so of course he’s drawn to it. The shower is utilitarian, pressed against
the far corner with a privacy wall surrounding it.

He strips himself down and wanders into the shower cubicle before pressing the timed water-
saver button on the shower to turn it on. The water pressure isn’t great and it comes out
scalding half the time, but he’s honestly used to worse. As water cascades down his back he
lets his mind wander. Then he lets his hands wander too, sliding down his stomach and in
between his legs.

It’s not like he’s a chronic masturbater or a pervert or anything – before being arrested
Edward did not even really consider himself a sexual being at all, he was too afraid of his
own desires and traumatized by the religious dogma that he had been brought up with to
indulge in what the nuns would call self-abuse.

Even still, he moans as his fingers brush against his clit, mimicking the way that Bruce had
touched him – exploring his own body with a curiosity that he had never allowed himself
before. Losing his virginity so recently, he’ll blame, has made him more curious about
himself. And he’s just so damn bored in this cell that there’s not much else for him to do but
explore that curiosity.

He thinks about the way that Bruce had treated him, how aggressive he was. He can’t help
but imagine what would happen if he came to see him now. Would he come in here and see
Ed touching himself, his legs shaking and lukewarm water cascading down his back, and
want to have another chance at him?

Edward could almost feel him right there, pressed against him. A hand on the back his neck
as he crowded him into the corner of the shower stall before he whirled him around so that
they were facing each other. Maybe he would kiss him too, he hadn’t gotten the chance to last
time.

He’d lift Edward’s leg up onto his shoulder and Ed would have to hold on tight as Bruce sunk
his cock inside of him, stretching him open a little more with every violent flex of his hips.
He had been surprised by his strength the last time he visited, the way he was able to haul
him around so easily.

It made him shiver, just thinking about it. His touches got a little more frantic as he imagined
Bruce manhandling him out of the shower, pressing him up against the wall where people
could see him. It would be embarrassing, but he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it.
Everyone would see how desperate he was.

Maybe he would protest, just a little bit, he’d squirm and try to get the upper hand. But it
would be useless. Then Bruce would put his arm around his neck and hold him steady as he
took him-

“Nashton. Nashton!” A guard calls from the doorway, sounding already at his wits end with
the omega inmate. “Get dressed. You’ve got mail.” Fuck. Of course one of these pigs has to
come in and bother him right when things are getting good.

Edward huffed, “C-can’t you just leave it by the door?” He asked, dreadfully aware of how
whiny he sounded. He was just… so close. He could almost taste his orgasm on his tongue
and this prick was ruining it. Unfair really.

“No. Get out of the shower.” The guard snaps, knocking on the wall impatiently. Edward
huffed at that and turned off the water before drying himself off with his solitary towel and
dressing himself in his prison uniform again.
He sits down on his bed, hair dripping wet and his clothes clinging to him uncomfortably. He
feels not unlike a wet cat and he squirms a little in his discomfort at the thought that he’ll be
stuck feeling like this until they finally dry.

He watches with disdain and the guard pushes his package into his room and realizes exactly
why he couldn’t just leave it at the door. It’s a big box and he looks at it curiously. “You
know, you’re really lucky, Nashton.” The guard tells him as he opens the box up. “Most of
the inmates don’t have someone willing to pull strings for their comfort like you do.”

The guard has the audacity to sound disapproving as he says it and Edward rolls his eyes, it’s
not like he had asked for anything. He didn’t expect special treatment. He watches as the
guard pulls out several fleece blankets and a few pillows and places them on his bed. His
fingers subconsciously go to touch the soft material of the blankets as he watches the guard
grab the rest of the things from the box.

There’s a journal and a few novels as well as some activity books with various logic puzzles
filling their pages, those go on his bed on top of the blankets and pillows too, along with a
box of crayons, he assumed, to write with. His fingers itch to look into the contents of the
books, but he keeps his hands folded in his lap and he keeps his expression neutral.

He has the strangest feeling that if he shows any sort of positive emotions about it, it will be
taken away from him. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone did something like that to
him. Given him hope that he could have something nice only to take it away and mock him
for thinking he deserved anything.

The guard left him not long after that and he allowed himself to relax, for just a moment,
before his brain started to scramble with desperation to arrange the pillows and blankets into
a suitable nest that he could hide in for the rest of the day. It’s probably the single most
Omega thing that he’s ever allowed himself to do.

After his visit with Edward and the subsequent things that he had done to him, Bruce had
started researching omegas – what made them tick, what they commonly liked, how normal it
was for them to be violent… things like that. He had a lot to learn, if he was going to be
bonded to someone like Edward.

He felt entirely out of his depth here. These past two years, Bruce had decided against
entering into any relationships – less complicated that way and it felt unfair to whoever he
was with. But it seemed like his body had made that decision for him. Made that decision for
the both of them, really.

It had been a mistake, going to see him in Arkham, but it was like he couldn’t stop himself.
And it had just gotten worse when Ed started speaking. Logically, he had known at the time
that Ed was just lashing out because he felt trapped but that didn’t change how he reacted. He
had been angry and lustful in equal measure and he took it out on the omega in a way that he
wouldn’t have done if he was at all in his right mind.

The strangest thing about it was that he didn’t regret a moment of it, that in and of itself
should be a red flag for him. It is, but not enough of one to stay away for long because a few
days after that he’s sending Edward a care package and after a few more he goes to visit him
again.

When he comes to see Edward again, the omega is burrowed under his blankets. Bruce can
barely see the top of his head poking out from under them but he notices the outline of a book
pressed against the blankets. “Nashton! Get up. You have a visitor.” The guard that leads him
in snaps and the omega practically jumps out of his skin, the blankets falling down so that
they sat awkwardly at his shoulders.

Bruce noticed pink marks all over Edward’s face, impressions left by wearing his glasses too
long and falling asleep with them on his face. The sight was a little too endearing and he
scoffed under his breath as the omega blinked at him, like he was surprised that he bothered
to come.

After a moment the guard left them alone and Edward huffed sullenly, “Are you going to
come and sit down or are you just going to keep staring at me like a creep?” He asked. There
wasn’t much real venom in his words, it was like he was just saying them because he didn’t
know how to treat Bruce in any other way but with hostility.

Neither of them were used to this. “Like you’re one to talk.” Bruce mutters, even as he moves
to sit down across from where Ed is curled up on the blankets, looking strangely domestic for
a serial killer in his little nest. “I see you got my package.” He adds.

“Oh that was from you?” Edward deadpanned in response, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I thought it came from one of my many adoring fans.” He sighed through closed lips, rolling
his eyes. Some followers, he thought bitterly, they hadn’t even bothered to try and speak with
him since his arrest. He was sure that his channel must have gone dead and everyone was
scrambling to distance themselves from him.

Bruce did not seem to catch the joke. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable in here. It
seemed like you might be last time I saw you.” Which is a half truth. His mind has been
partially occupied by thinking about the omega these past weeks, about the conditions he was
living in, and decided to send him a few things to calm that cloying worry about him.

The other reason was purely utilitarian, maybe even a little manipulative. He needed to learn
how to control Edward and he figured a dangerous serial killer who liked him was probably
easier to handle than one who hated him with a passion.

“It’s prison, I’m being punished.” Edward replies in a petulant tone of voice. “It’s supposed
to be uncomfortable.” That was kind of the point, wasn’t it? He was supposed to be punished
in here. He understood punishment, understood carceral justice and retribution. Even if he
didn’t agree that he had done anything wrong, it was obvious the city did. In a sense he was
more comfortable with the punishment and cruelty than he was the alphas mercurial
kindnesses.

“No. You’re supposed to be rehabilitated here.” Bruce pointed out, his affect flat like it
usually was. It was always hard to get a read on him because of that. He was so… mellow.
Even with the bond it was like they were on different frequencies. Frequencies that had
overlap, but not enough to be the same.
Edward snorted at that, “You can’t possibly be naive enough to believe that.” He said, so low
that it was almost under his breath. The silence told him everything he needed to know.
“Wow you actually do believe that.” He breathed. Then he had the sense to be offended about
it. “Oh my- just how sheltered are you?!” He snapped.

Bruce had the audacity to look offended at that, “I’m not sheltered.” He argued.

Edward smiled then and it wasn’t even snide or condescending. It’s progress, Bruce thinks,
baby steps. “Yes. You definitely are. But it’s okay. Guess I can’t blame you for it.” He said,
“That’s the price of your privilege. No one ever bothered to teach you how the other half
lives.”

The alpha sits a little closer, making a non-committal noise in response to the goading
response. He’s not really interested in arguing about his wealth or Ed’s ideals about them. Ed
hummed as he noticed the stitches on his hand, remembering how he got stuck in here in the
first place. “Does it hurt?”

“What do you think?” Bruce replied blithely, like he didn’t care. He didn’t, really. Nothing
that either of them said or did would change the fact that it had already happened. The only
thing they could do was move past it.

Ed shrugged, “I thought you were going to stab me back, but you just cut my mask off.”
Bruce might have nicked him in the process, but it wasn’t like he actually hurt him. He
probably could have hurt him if he wanted to, he didn’t know why the alpha had been so
inclined to pull his punches with him.

“That’s because I’m not a murderer.” Bruce replied, his fingers moving to grab at the blankets
before he could even think to stop himself. He pulls them away and Edward looks confused
at him for a moment as the blankets get tossed behind him.

Edward giggled as Bruce’s hand moved to his thigh, touching him in an entitled way, like he
owned him. “Oh I’m sorry. Is this your idea of foreplay? Scolding me?” He asked, clearly
amused. “Hey, riddle me this-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Bruce pulled forward and kissed him. Edward squeaked
and went impossibly still before melting, letting Bruce kiss him all he liked. “No riddles.” He
whispered, in between kisses. It wasn’t like the clumsy, fumbling kisses he had experienced
before with handsy boys that bullied him at the orphanage. It was very different.

“Okay, okay. No riddles. For now.” Edward mumbled back, allowing the alpha to press
against him, his hands wandering over his hips to move between his legs and stroke his pussy
through the cheap material of his prison uniform. His legs shifted apart on their own until
they were far apart and he was arching his back into Bruce’s touch.

He was acting much more lewd than he had ever thought possible for him. A delirious
fuzziness overcomes him as he’s touched and touched and touched. Bruce kisses him again
before he pulls away and tells Edward to lay back. The omega easily does as he’s told,
allowing Bruce to move over him and pull his trousers off of him. He allows himself to look
at him questioningly, with confusion blazing in his green eyes. A question that Bruce answers
with a kiss first before he says, “I’m sorry I was so rough with you last time. I know it was
your first time.” A statement which makes Ed blush and stutter.

The omegas brain short-circuits a bit when he kisses him gently on the lips and adds, “Let me
make it up to you.” before he moves down to press a kiss against his clothed clit. Edward
moaned softly, feeling a little slick come out of his cunt just from the slightest bit of attention.
It was a little embarrassing, how sensitive he was. How easily he let Bruce manhandle and
manipulate him into a strange, submissive head space.

Bruce’s hands move to his hips and squeeze them briefly before rolling his underwear down
his thighs and dropping them carelessly on the floor. He lifts Edward’s legs up and hefts them
over his shoulders before lowering himself so that he’s at face level with the omegas’
glistening pussy.

He’s already so wet that slick is sliding down his thighs, much to his own embarrassment.
Edward blushed down to his shoulders as Bruce spread his puffy folds apart. He whined and
squirmed a little bit, wondering if he looked weird or-

His train of thought was interrupted as Bruce darted forward with his tongue, swirling around
Edward’s clit briefly before digging in to eat him out with an enthusiasm that Edward
wouldn’t have thought him capable of otherwise. Without even thinking about it, his hands
start running through Bruce’s hair in an almost fond manner.

He doesn’t tug or put much force into his hold on the alphas hair, even if he wanted to he
feels far too boneless to put any strength into his touch. He just weakly pets at Bruce to keep
touching him and making him feel good. A part of him feels pathetic for being so easy, but he
can’t help himself.

His legs lock around Bruce’s shoulders and arches into his mouth as he cums with a litany of
pathetic mewls. He doesn’t let Bruce go for a full minute, wanting him to be as close as
possible to him. In that moment he wanted to meld into Bruce’s skin and attach to him like a
parasite. Before he’s ready to let go, Bruce grabs his legs and pulls them up off of his
shoulders and sets them aside.

Edward struggled not to pout as he looked over at the alpha. “H-have you done that a lot?
With other people I mean.” He can’t stop himself from asking, from getting a little jealous at
the thought of it. He doesn’t even know why, he hates Bruce Wayne. He’s supposed to hate
him at least. That was how it had always gone, he had watched Bruce from a distance and
envied how much he had that Edward didn’t.

And here he was, pining over him like some pathetic school girl. Ugh. He wanted to curl up
and die at the prospect of this… this bond was doing strange things to his head. When Bruce
touched him and was close to him his head got fuzzy and his body became so compliant that
it was like he was possessed. Possessed by hormones and lust and need.

“No.” Bruce replied and Ed lets out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t realized he had been
holding in. “I don’t date much.” He adds, the answer is vague enough to be interesting and
Ed waits for him to elaborate. Because he’s Bruce Wayne though, he doesn’t elaborate and
just lets the answer sit in the room.
“So mysterious.” Edward mocked, truly only a little annoyed at the vagueness. “Do you use
that line with all the criminals you fuck?” He asked, wriggling his brows in a salacious
manner. He even made himself grin at the alpha, like he was telling a dirty joke.

Bruce allows himself a smile, a small one, as he scoffs under his breath. This time at least, he
catches the sarcasm in Edward’s tone. “No. Just you.” He replied as he moved off the bed.

“Wow, I feel so special.” Edward replied. Bruce hummed noncommitally and knocked on the
door to signal for the guard. Edward frowned, “Y-you’re leaving already?” He asked, trying
not to let the neediness slip into his voice. He failed at that, probably made himself look even
more pathetic.

Bruce shook his head, “Not yet. I brought you something.” The alpha explained. “I had to
have the guards check it for contraband or… something, before I could give it to you
though.” After a moment a guard comes in, giving Edward a long suffering look before he
hands Bruce a box.

Edward straightened a little bit too much. “A present? Another one?” He asked, “You don’t
have to give me anything.” He expected to just be left to rot here in prison, part of him had
wondered if Bruce would just keep him locked up here until his sentence wore out and he
was released. Then he’d probably find somewhere else to lock him up.

Bruce just gave him a look in response to that, “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s my responsibility to
look after you.” He replied, like Edward was being silly. Maybe he was, he had trained
himself from a young age to not ever expect anything – not kindness, not gifts, not comforts.
He had been told throughout his childhood by the nuns at the orphanage that he was
worthless and dirty, that no one would want to adopt an omega.

He had conditioned himself to become cold and withdrawn as a result of that mistreatment.
He expected nothing from anyone and gave nothing to anyone in response. But a part of him,
a sick sad part of him, started to feel a bit of warmth as Bruce handed him the box. “Open it.”
The alpha said.

Edward let out a long suffering sigh as he took the package and gingerly opened it up. “Oh.”
He exclaimed as he pulled out his gift. It was a simple cashmere cardigan, very soft and
expensive looking but simple. It probably cost more than anything that Edward had had in his
closet before being caught and taken here. It was the nicest thing that anyone had ever given
him, probably, and he was being given it while locked up in prison – by a man he had tried to
kill no less.

The irony of this was not at all lost on him.

“I’ve gotten reports that you’re anemic from the doctors.” Bruce explained after a moment,
“Figured you must be cold in here.” Edward felt a shiver go down his spine at the reminder
of the chill in the air.

Edward didn’t know what to say for a moment. He felt… odd. Then he bristled, trying to
remember himself. And his principles. “You can’t buy me.” He hissed.
“I’m not trying to.” Bruce replied, “And I wouldn’t have to ‘buy you’ anyways. You’re
already mine.” He adds coolly, like he was just stating an obvious fact.

Edward made an indignant noise at that, but his fingers gripped at the soft material of the
sweater before he could stop himself. God it was so soft and nice and- “No.” He stopped
himself, pushing away the article of clothing like it had burned him. “No, no, no, no!” He
turned towards the alpha, “What are you planning?” He snapped, looking so different all of a
sudden. His eyes were brighter and his pupils seemed to dilate manically.

“I’m not planning anything.” Bruce replied honestly, forcing himself to remain as neutral as
possible.

Edward was not convinced, even a little by that. “You can’t just-” He stammered, not
speaking coherently, “And, and, and, how little you must think of me that you just think I’ll
just fawn over you like everyone else because you, because you what you give me some
stupid sweater like that’s supposed to change anything!” He stopped, out of breath and
sniffled in upset.

Bruce just watched him, waited for him to say whatever he wanted to say. “Y-you’re family
has sooooo much blood on their hands and you-” He pointed an accusatory finger at Bruce,
“You are covered in it, everything you own is covered in blood, blood, blood. It makes me
sick, you make me sick.” He snaps and moves towards Bruce, angry and flailing like he
wants to hurt him.

The next thing that Edward knew, he was on the floor on his belly. His hands were pinned
behind his back and Bruce Wayne was on top of him. He screamed into the floor, hating how
easy it was for the alpha to dominate him. Bruce did not match Edward’s anger though, he
just shushed him and nuzzled against his sensitive bonding gland.

He kept Edward in place on the floor as he screamed and spat curses at him and told Bruce
that he hated him. Little by little, he started to calm – his anger giving way to quiet upset. He
could feel the omegas heart beating at a rabbit-like pace, probably on the verge of a panic
attack. He kept his hold on Edward, not letting him out from underneath him while he
muttered soothing nonsense to him.

The worst of it was almost over when a guard runs in, slamming the door open. “Hey! Stand
down, Nashton-” He starts to bark, but Bruce interrupts him with a sharp glare.

“I’ve got it under control. Get out.” He said coolly. The guard did not leave though, he stayed
near the door with his hand trailing towards the taser on his belt. “Are you deaf?” Bruce
snapped, anger in his voice for the first time since he had arrived. Edward stiffened at the
sudden change in mood. “I said we’re fine. Now, go before I report you for violating our
privacy.”

The threat is enough to convince the guard that it’s not his problem. The door closes and
Bruce lets out a sigh of relief as the guard leaves them alone. Edward sniffles and rubs his
cheek into the dirty tile floor. “Of course they listen to you.” He says bitterly. “Everyone
listens to you but no one-” He stopped, a sob tearing through his throat. “I’m n-not supposed
to be one of you. I hate you. I hate you all.”
Ah. “You’ll get used to it. It’s not so bad.” Bruce replied quietly, his fingers stroking
Edward’s bonding gland as he spoke to keep the omega docile and pliant. A necessary evil,
he tells himself, but still a bit of a dirty trick. “You won’t be in Arkham forever. It’ll be easier
to adjust when you get out.” He says in a placating manner.

“What am I supposed to do?” Edward was practically squeaking, his voice hoarse from
screaming and crying. Bruce just continued to coddle him as he tried to wrap his head around
things. “Live in your fucking ivory tower with your stupid butler and all your stupid, tacky
rich people shit?” He spat, like it was a worse fate than hell.

Bruce gentled his grip on Edward just a little bit, adjusting him so that the two of them were
sitting up. He kept on touching his bonding gland to keep him calm though and soon enough
the omega was laying against him, sleepy and halfway content but still sniffling and huffing.
“Where else would you live?” He asked.

Edward doesn’t reply, he just sniffles and lets Bruce touch him gently. They stay like that,
mostly silent until visiting hours are over and Bruce is forced to leave. As he’s escorted out,
he notices Edward grabbing the cardigan and slipping it on before hiding in his nest of
blankets to sleep.

It’s progress.
 Chapter 3
Chapter Summary

BRUCE you are so manipulative :///

Bruce starts visiting Edward regularly after that. He would come and bring him gifts before
pressing him down and touching him – always making him cum with either his hands, mouth
or cock. At some point, Edward started to look forward to these visits despite himself.

He wondered if that was what Bruce was trying to do, to train Edward to lust after him and
crave his attention. If that was his plan, Edward thought it was Machiavellian – but worse
than that, it was working on him. Maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised at that though. He
had been given so little affection throughout his life that it was easy to get hooked on anyone
who was willing to provide it to him.

Even if he had thought of him as someone he hated, his mind had started to bend under the
concrete pressure of the alphas kindness. It was entirely irrational and unfair, but that was
how his mind – and especially his subconscious – had decided to react to this situation. It was
entirely unfair and he would just have to learn to deal with it.

When Bruce came to visit that day Edward was sitting poised on the bed, looking almost
excited to see him. He knotted his fingers together and had a shy expression on his face.
Bruce smiled gently and moved towards him to sit next to the omega.

There must be something really wrong with Edward, because the next thing he knew he had
his arms wrapped around Bruce’s waist and his cheek was pressed up against his chest. He’s
sure if he looked up, he would see a bemused expression on Bruce’s face. But after a
moment, the alpha wrapped an arm around him and tucked his chin over the top of Edward’s
head. “Is something the matter with you? You’re never needy like this.” Bruce asked him.

Not that he minded, he liked seeing Edward like this. Bruce could get used to seeing Edward
being sweet and pliant and so very omega like this, could get used to the sight of him curled
up in bed waiting for him to get home. It was a nice thought.

Edward frowned, “You’re doing something weird to my brain.” He mumbled. “You’re

trying… trying to reprogram me.” He accused in a tiny voice, there was no venom there. He
just sounded morose. Like he felt helpless and out of his depth. “Trying to turn me into some
little house omega.”

In response to that, Bruce’s fingers dip under his shirt to grope at one of Edward’s sensitive,
budding omega tits. Edward moaned softly and arched into the touch while Bruce kept
touching him. “Would that be so bad?” He asked, “I’ve been taking good care of you haven’t
I? I provide for you, make you feel good.”

Edward whined and pressed forward a little more, keening in both pleasure and distress. “It’s
not supposed to be this way though.” He whispered. “It wasn’t supposed to be you.” He’s
disappointed in himself for being so easily manipulated, for letting Bruce control him and put
him in his place with so little effort. All it took was a few orgasms, some presents and a few
well placed touches and he was falling to his knees for the alpha, it made him feel pathetic.

“But it is me.” Bruce told him, not unkindly. “We’re both going to have to live with the fact
that we’re bonded now. There’s nothing either of us can do to change that, you know that.”
Edward nodded and, as if to reward him, he tipped the omegas chin up and kissed him on the
forehead.

Edward made a small, mewling noise in the back of his throat and Bruce smiled gently.
“Doesn’t matter who you thought I was or the things you’ve done. We can move past it and
we can do good things together. Could even be happy with me, if you let yourself.” He
promised.

Edward felt himself dropping a little more, with every small touch and sweet word that Bruce
said to the omega, into a strange state of mind. It was like his head was all stuffed up with
cotton balls, he felt floaty and more than a little stupid. Bruce tipped his chin up again, kissed
him again which just made the feeling intensify a little more. “Look at me, Edward.” Bruce
demanded in a low voice, one that called to Edward’s most base impulses and of course the
omega obeyed.

“There you are. Look so pretty like this.” Bruce mumbled, stroking Edward’s cheek with one
hand until the omega was pliant and melting against his touch while he kept on teasing at
Edward’s small breasts and nipples. Edward was pretty sure this was grooming behavior, the
kind of gentling touch that he had been so continually denied throughout his childhood, only
more intimate because this was his alpha doing it to him and not a parental figure. It felt nice.

Little by little, Edward found himself sinking down onto the ground eased along by Bruce’s
distressingly gentle touch. Then he was on his knees in front of the alpha, looking up at him
with wide eyes and a dazed expression spread across his face.

Bruce was looking down at him, looking pleased as punch, as he unzipped his trousers and
wrestled his cock out of the confines of them. His cock was already heavy and hard in his
hand as he gripped it tightly, a drop of precum fell down onto his fingers. “Open up for me.”
He directed.

Edward’s mouth fell open obediently and Bruce made a sound of approval, “Did you know
that your eyes change color?” He asked in a low voice, tracing Edward’s lower lip with his
thumb in a thoughtful manner as he spoke. “When you’re aroused they turn this minty color,
it’s so pretty on you.”

Edward shook his head and squeezed his thighs together, feeling the urge to squirm and touch
himself already. He didn’t understand how Bruce could do this to him, it didn’t feel fair.
“Touch yourself.” The alpha mutters in that low voice that drives him crazy and his fingers
move to rut against his sensitive clit.

He’s already dripping wet and it fills him with shame to think he’s so easy. He makes a small
noise of distress as Bruce’s hand cups the back of his head and guides his mouth down onto
his cock. Bruce is big enough that he seriously worries that he might not fit, but somehow he
does. “Shh, there you go, good boy.” He praises the omega easily as Edward drools around
his cock, taking him in deeper and deeper by the moment. “So good for me. Such a good
little omega.”

Edward soaks up the praise, keens and moans in response to it. It feels almost as good as the
feeling between his legs, being told that he’s good and pretty. It leaves him thirsty for more,
makes him want to work to get more and more of it. He cums with a whine and slumps
forward, going still and pliant like a little doll in his alphas arms as he gently fucks his throat.

When Bruce cums, he holds Edward’s head down, forcing him to swallow down the cum that
fills his mouth. Edward looked up at Bruce, his eyes filling with overwhelmed tears. In
response to that, the alpha plants his hand on the back of his neck to keep him still as his knot
swells and catches around Edward’s lips.

For a moment, Edward feels the urge to panic set in but Bruce’s hand on his bonding gland
calms him down. “That’s right.” He says, encouraging Edward to submit more and more. It’s
hard to breathe with his mouth stuffed full like this, he has to struggle to get breath in through
his nose. “Just submit to me, look so good like this. I want to do this to you all the time when
I have you home with me.” He promises darkly. “Keep you nice and sweet for me on your
knees.”

Edward feels his mind fog more and more, his vision getting fuzzy around the edges. He felt
like he was being suffocated, like he was going to die choking on Bruce’s cock. And the
strangest part was that he didn’t even mind, he felt fucking exhilarated. He was all sleepy and
dumb, living and dying by the mercurial interests of his alpha.

He focused on the feeling of hands in his hair and the sound of Bruce’s praise, letting it wash
over him like the cleansing waters of a baptism. Things get darker and darker and darker until
he finally closes his eyes, his mind going completely silent for a moment which was such a
rare occurrence it might as well have been caused by divine intervention instead of the
alpha’s knot.

He closes his eyes for just a second, or at least that’s what it feels like, but when he opens his
eyes again he’s laying back on the bed but now he’s sitting in Bruce’s lap and Bruce’s cock is
inside of him with one arm wrapped around his waist to keep Edward upward and steady.
Edward made a small noise as he roused to wakefulness. “That was… you overwhelm me so
much.” He said pitifully.

He felt so entirely out of his depth, it was a feeling he didn’t like one bit – feeling so out of
control. He knew that Bruce could tell that this bothered him, but it didn’t stop him from
pressing him more and using his knowledge of Edward’s body to control and manipulate him
more and more. It was cruel.
He could feel Bruce smiling against his shoulder, pleased to hear that he was affecting the
omega so. “I got you a little something.” The alpha told him. Edward started to pull away and
Bruce held onto him a little tighter. “No, no, stay right here. You don’t need to move for this.”

Edward pouted at that and huffed a little, feeling that he wasn’t going to win any battles here.
“What did you get?” Bruce was always getting him little things – books and blankets, fancy
soaps for his showers. He probably had more nice things here in Arkham than he had while
he was a free man and wasn’t that a depressing thought?

Bruce presented a little box that looked like it came from a restaurant and Edward eyed it
curiously as Bruce opened it up to reveal a slice of a fancy fruit tart with a chocolate drizzle
on top of it. It looked delicious, as well as incredibly rich. He wondered what fancy coffee
shop or bakery that Bruce had gotten it from, somewhere midtown probably.

Edward moved his hand towards it, excited to eat something other than bland hospital-meets-
prison food for the first time in so long, but Bruce grabbed his wrist to stop him before he
could. He looked at the alpha with an offended expression, as if to say ‘how dare you?’ with
his expression before Bruce tipped his head back to give him an open mouthed kiss.

Edward sighed into it and closed his eyes, allowing himself to reciprocate the affection.
When Bruce pulled away his eyes were hooded and dark with lust, a sight that made Edward
flush down to his collarbones.

Then Bruce brought a little plastic fork to his mouth with a bit of the tart stuck to the end of
it. “See, you don’t need to do anything. Just sit here and let me take care of you.” He said. It
actually seemed like something Edward might want, he had never had the chance to be cared
for and coddled in any capacity.

It would be easy, he thought, just to let go. It’s just that… there were so many things stopping
him from allowing himself to do that. His own pride, for one, his mixed feelings on Bruce for
another. Just maybe a month ago he had hated the alpha enough to try and kill him and now
he was letting him do all these things to his body and head.

And it was incredibly difficult to wrap his head around things with the way that Bruce was
touching him and talking to him now in these low tones like he was telling a secret to set him
at ease. With how close the alpha was pressed against him while Edward had no choice but to
sit on his lap and keep his cock warm. With how gentle he was being with Edward,
dominating him and overwhelming him all the while. It doesn’t seem fair that he should be
able to do that to Edward without so much as raising his voice.

Bruce gave him another piece of the tart, and then another. With every bite of the pastry that
was delivered to his mouth he felt a little headier. A little more relaxed. He could feel himself
getting wetter just from the pampering, his thighs getting soaked with his own slick as
Bruce’s cock slowly filled inside of him. They were both getting excited.

When there was nothing left of the fruit tart Bruce pushed him down onto his belly and
pitched his hips forward to fuck into him. “Fuck.” Edward whispered into the scratchy
Arkham sheets, “You feel so big in me.” He said a little louder, loud enough to make Bruce
thrust deep inside of him and squeeze his hips as he fucked into him harder.
Edward whined and rubbed his cheek against his pillow, “At this rate your gonna get me
pregnant and I’m gonna be waddling around this cell alone.” He mumbled, his tone
somewhere in the gray area between aroused and fearful about the prospect of pregnancy, as
well as sorrowful about the idea of going through it alone. It would probably be inevitable
that he’d be having the next Wayne, since he couldn’t seem to resist any of the alphas
advances and he’s not on anything to prevent it – no suppressants, no birth control, nothing.

When the doctors had suggested to take him off his suppressants because they thought that
long term usage of them had contributed to his neuroticism, Bruce had told them to take him
off of his birth control while they were at it. Edward had thrown a fit about that when he’d
been informed of that – a full on childlike tantrum, where he was shaking and crying,
throwing things and calling Bruce every nasty word in the book. It was his body, he had said,
he should be able to decide what was done with it.

His therapist had informed him, speaking in a saccharine voice like she was talking to a child
and not a fully grown adult man, that he had lost the privileges to choose what he did with his
body when he had killed three people and nearly destroyed the city. After he heard that he
became so livid that Bruce had had to physically hold Edward down and bite into his throat
until he went limp and his anger turned to sorrow, then passive acceptance.

It was entirely unfair, he thought, how Bruce could just do whatever he wanted and Edward
was beholden to all these double standards and rules, everyone else seemed to think they
knew what was best for him. This wasn’t new of course. Of course it wasn’t. It had always
been kind of like this, it was just even worse now that he actually did belong to someone else.

Bruce responded to that by kissing down Edward’s back and muttering, “Good. I want you
nice and full and pinned down by your own weight.” The omega shivered when he heard that
– feeling so many different things at once. He felt a distinct sort of helplessness that Bruce
could just do that if he wanted to him and there wasn’t much he could about it. He felt fear
rush through him at what a pregnancy would do to him on both a physical and mental level –
every other omega that he had met had changed after they had a child and he wasn’t sure that
he wanted to change. But intermittent with all of that was a strange sort of arousal at the idea
that he’d belong to Bruce on some deep, inalienable level.

He’d be possessed by the alpha, his body would change from the inside out all because of
him. As much as Edward liked to tell himself that he hated Bruce Wayne, he knew that his
feelings about him were far from how they had been the day they had first confronted one
another. It was hard to suss out exactly what he felt, but it wasn’t hatred anymore… it was
just something he had never felt for another person before. It was all so alien to him.

Edward let out a little sigh as Bruce shifted on top of him, fucking into him deeper and
harder. The omega whined again, feeling himself getting close, all the while Bruce punched
little moans out of him with each and every thrust. His cunt was pulsing around Bruce’s cock
and his hips were aching with exertion from pitching them up to meet in time with the alpha’s
thrusts.

At some point, Bruce grabbed his wrists and held him down as he started to erratically chase
his own pleasure. Edward felt his mind going dull and he quickly came on the alphas cock.
Bruce fucked him roughly for a bit more before he came himself, his knot swelling inside of
Edward almost instantly.

Bruce moved Edward onto his side and pulled him ever closer as the two settled down.
Edward let out a sleepy sigh and grabbed one of his pillows so he could hug it to his chest.
“You’re doing something to me.” He accused for a second time that visit, only there was less
venom this time. He just felt so out of sorts and exhausted.

Bruce shushed him and pressed a kiss behind his ear. “I’m helping you, that’s all you need to
know. I want you to get better so I can bring you home and stop coming to this depressing
place three times a week.” He assured Edward, speaking so low that his voice may as well
have been a rumbling purr against the omegas ear. Edward felt himself relax just a bit more,
going even limper in the alpha’s arms.

“But it’s not… I don’t feel like myself?” He replied, with so much unsureness as if he didn’t
understand why he was questioning it. Why was he? He felt good right now, relaxed. Maybe
it would just be better to allow Bruce to take control for him. It would certainly take a load
off of his mind.

“You know, you’d be a lot happier if you stop overthinking things.” Bruce told him, in
between little kisses and nips to his neck.

Edward scoffed and held his pillow a little tighter. “I’m not…I’m not overthinking things
okay? I’m just-”

“Being paranoid?” The alpha guessed. Another kiss, more sweet treatment that set Edward’s
brain on edge. Had him both preening from the attention and wanting to push him away.

“No! See you’re doing it, I don’t know what but you’re doing something to me I can feel it.”
Edward accused. If they were facing each other, he might have smacked him in the chest. So
maybe he was being a little paranoid but he had always had a good sense when it came to
these things. He was smart and he was a natural born survivor, he knew how to protect
himself.

None of this felt like it was… how things were supposed to go. He was still clinging to this
fantasy, that he could have executed his plans and bonded with Batman, belonged to the man
whose attention he had been desperately bidding for all this time. But none of his plans
worked out and he didn’t fully understand why? He had done everything right, his plans were
concrete and Bruce should have died that day at his hand, it was just a biological fluke that
ruined everything.

Bruce didn’t bother to say anything to that, but he hugged Edward a little tighter and nuzzled
against his bonding gland. They stayed like that until visiting hours were over and a guard
came and called Bruce out. When Bruce finally left, Edward had the strangest urge to cling to
him or call him back. It was awful, feeling so needy for someone that he was meant to hate.
He curled up on the bed and hugged his arms to try and ignore the feeling of it.

God, what was happening to him?

Bruce stood in front of one of the voluminous windows in Wayne Tower, staring out at the
city. He could see the tiny island that housed Arkham from it. He wondered how much
Edward could see from the tiny window in the corner in his cell, if he was feeling lonely
trapped in his little cell.

“Something the matter?” Alfred asked, pulling him from his thoughts. Bruce started and
turned around, looking at Alfred with wide eyes.

“It’s just… I need a drink.” He said, pressing his forehead against the window as he stared
down Arkham like he was waiting for the old hospital to grow legs and run off, forcing him
to pursue it like some kind of beast.

Alfred was always terribly indulgent and overly patient whenever Bruce got into one of his
moods so he was quick to bring him something – brandy in a squat glass with a few ice cubes
floating in it. Bruce looked at him with a grateful expression, “Thank you.” He said.

After a moment that stretched so long it may as well have been an eternity, he turned away
from the window and blocked it out in his mind for the moment. “Things are probably gonna
have to change a bit when Edward gets released.” He said offhandedly, as if he was just
thinking out loud.

“You seem so sure of that.” Alfred replied, barely hiding the wariness in his tone at the
concept. It bordered on contempt, Bruce couldn’t blame him for feeling that way. “That he’ll
be released from Arkham after everything that he’s done.” Bruce nodded jerkily in response
to that. He’d been hearing what people were saying, Arkham officials and lawyers alike – no
one knew exactly what to do with Edward.

The fact that he was an omega complicated things somewhat and the fact that he was Bruce’s
made things even more complicated. There was debate over whether or not he could even be
considered responsible for his crimes on a legal level because omegas, especially bonded
ones, had more protections than rights.

Usually when an omega acted out, when they committed (usually non-violent) crimes or
acted erratically it was viewed as a failure of the system and they were put in the custody of
the state if they were unmated.

If they were bonded, their crimes were usually viewed as the responsibility of their alphas.
They would be the ones who had to pay for what they did – usually in a monetary fashion
followed by getting the omega help. The strange thing was that technically, all of Edward’s
crimes had been committed before he had bonded with Bruce so there was debate over what
could be done about him – if anything.

In fact it seemed likelier by the day that they were just going to throw their hands up and
deposit him into Bruce’s custody just so they wouldn’t have to deal with the liability
anymore. At this point, Bruce was convinced he’d be out by the end of the year. A long
enough time for everyone to forget about him so he could be quietly released – there was
never a dull day in Gotham, soon someone would rise from the ashes to show Edwards
crimes up and he would be left as a footnote in the city’s colored history.
Bruce frowned at the thought of the alternative, of Edward being locked away even still. “I
don’t want him trapped in there anyways, its not good for either of us.” His instincts are all
on edge with Edward being so far away, he worries over him and feels awful when they’re
separated.

It’s distracting, sometimes when he’s out on patrol his mind wanders to Edward without even
meaning to. It’s nearly gotten him into trouble a few times, gotten him on the wrong end of
some mugger’s fist or worse. He always makes it through, but he knows it wouldn’t be like
this if the omega was somewhere that he could trust him to be safe.

Arkham is far enough away to cause that sort of worry and there’s a non-zero chance that
something could happen to him there without Bruce being there to shield him from it. It was
just one of those feelings that he had, that something bad was going to happen and he
wouldn’t be there to stop it.

Another inmate could attack him, or a wayward doctor would try and take advantage of him,
he could get caught in the crossfire of a riot or be subjected to some unethical therapies. He
didn’t even like to think about it and yet the thought of it still bothered at him far too often.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was out by the end of the year.” Bruce replied after a moment,
as if he had forgotten that Alfred was even there before he bothered to speak. “If not sooner.”
He hopes it’s sooner, but he doesn’t dare voice that. Alfred wouldn’t get it.

“You’d think there would be an uproar about that.” Alfred pointed out, “He’s still a killer.”
He adds, not hiding his contempt this time. Then with visible disapproval he points out, “And
he terrified Dory.”

“Yeah, you’d think.” Bruce agreed reluctantly, “But you know, it’s one of those things where
they’re just waiting for the news cycle to calm down to give him back to me, I think.” He’s
not above pulling strings to get him out of there if they don’t.

“We should probably increase security around here then, if that’s the case.” Alfred replied,
though security had already been improved there was no such thing as playing it too safe
when someone dangerous was involved. “Probably make your, erm, Bat Cave, a little less
convenient to get to from here. He seems like the intolerably curious type.”

Bruce shrugged halfway, “Yeah he is the type to figure it out. I don’t know, we can block off
the exits. I’ll just have to take the long way back up here whenever he comes.” He’d probably
have to tell him eventually, just to prevent there from being some big backlash when he
inevitably figured it out because dishonesty was obviously a trigger-point for the omega and
the progress that he’d made with him could be destroyed after – what Edward would see as –
a betrayal like that.

“Well then, we should probably get started on renovations then, soon. If he’s going to be out
as quickly as you say.” Alfred said dutifully.

Bruce opened his mouth to say something to that when the two of them were interrupted by
Dory coming in, “Excuse me, Master Wayne?” She said timidly and the two men turned
towards her. “There’s a couple of people asking for you downstairs. They seem important.”
She elaborated. “They said they’re from Arkham?”

“I told you.” Bruce whispered to Alfred before thanking Dory for letting him know. Bruce
was quick to take the elevator down to the lobby. He expected to see some representatives
from Arkham – lawyers or what have you – but he didn’t expect to see Edward crowded by a
few orderlies.

The omega was obviously sedated, he was barely able to hold himself up aided by two
hulking orderlies on either side of him. Edward smelled sickly sweet and he was panting
desperately, it didn’t take a genius to figure out he was in heat. “Is he being released
already?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Just emergency furloughed. Administration figured that you wouldn’t want to spend a week
trapped in that dinky little cell.” One of the orderlies replied. “We should be back here in a
week or so when his heats over.”

“Alright.” Bruce said as he grabbed Edward, noting that he was still loosely cuffed – which
felt like it was for show. Even stone cold sober the omega wasn’t much of a physical threat,
he had always attacked his victims from behind to get the upper hand.

As soon as they made contact, the omega held him tight. Edward nuzzled against Bruce’s
neck as he clung tight to him. “I’m dying.” He said pitifully as Bruce wrapped his arms
around his middle to hold him tightly. “This is going to kill me. You’re going to kill me.” He
said.

“You’ll be fine.” Bruce promised, “Just gotta get you upstairs, okay? I’ll cool you down and
give you everything you need.” He added, before cupping Edward’s jaw and kissing him with
a feather light sort of gentility. Edward nodded shakily and allowed Bruce to lead him along
to the private elevator that led to his penthouse.

Bruce looked at the orderlies meaningfully, “Uh, it’s fine. I can take him from here.” They
nodded and handed him the key to his restraints – though not before adding that it was totally
up to him if he wanted to unlock them. It was a sleazy suggestion and maybe it said
something untoward about Bruce that he decided to keep the cuffs on him for tonight. Maybe
tomorrow too, it all depended on how things worked out.

He quietly took Edward up the private elevator that led to his penthouse, allowing the omega
to lean on him and moan quietly. “Shh, it’s alright. We’ll be safe up there and I’ll take care of
you. Get you out of these clothes and get you something to eat before we do anything else.”

Edward rubbed his cheek against Bruce’s shoulder. “I feel so hot. I’m going to die. This is
going to kill me. You're going to kill me, this is your fault.” He whimpered, like he was
mournful.

Okay. That was a little dramatic. “When’s the last time you’ve had a heat?” Bruce asked as he
brushed Edward’s hair out of his eyes.
Edward struggled to answer, “Um… I… I was seventeen the last time so a decade or so?” He
replied with heavy uncertainty.

“Jesus.” Bruce breathed, “No wonder you’re acting like this. You know that could have killed
you right?” He’s sure that if Edward was lucid enough he would roll his eyes and start to
argue that he could do what he liked, even if doctors hadn’t approved. He’d go on a whole
rambling tirade that would start off about omega rights and bodily autonomy that would
somehow morph into a rant about Gotham’s Elite keeping him, specifically, down.

Instead of all that, Edward’s reply was muted. “I’m fine, I’m fine...I'm totally... I'm fine.” he
mumbled, practically slurring his words like a world class drunk. He stumbled a little and
Bruce had to hold him up, which wasn’t troublesome for him.

“Really? You just told me that you’re dying.” Bruce pointed out, having taken to rubbing his
back in a soothing manner to calm the omegas nerves. Edward whined and swooned against
him, trying to get closer and closer to the alpha.

“B-both can be true.” Edward mumbled sullenly.

The elevator stopped and Bruce led him along inside. He didn’t say a thing to anyone until he
had Edward in his room. He sat the omega down on the bed and stripped him down –
uncuffing him momentarily to take off his shirt before redoing his restraints.

He liked the sight of him like that, but more importantly it seemed to calm Edward that
something was inhibiting him. He cupped Edward’s jaw and kissed him before he pulled
away to get the omega some food and water as well as collect himself in the process. It would
be one hell of a week.
 Chapter 4
Chapter Summary

heat chapter!! and a little bit of plot...

Edward lay on his back with his thighs spread on Bruce Wayne’s luxurious bed spread,
shivering and whimpering as his pussy constantly leaked with slick. He had been shamefully,
submissively wet while Bruce sat him on his lap and fed him. To the part of him that was still
alert it felt shameful, but Bruce seemed so pleased to see the omega desperate and dependent
on him like this.

Now Bruce was boxing him in his arms, holding himself up with one arm while the other
gently cups Edward’s cunt, teasing his folds apart with his fingers. Bruce liked to tease him,
he thought bitterly, he liked to drive him crazy by making him feel good but not good
enough. Maybe outside of a heat, he could tolerate it but during one it bordered on cruel. “B-
bruce please…” He whined.

“What?” His ministrations stopping entirely.

Edward groaned, “I swear if you don’t touch me I’ll kill you.” Maddeningly, Bruce’s
response to that was to leaned down and kiss his throat – as if Edward was the least
threatening thing in the world. The omega groaned and pitched his hips up, rutting up against
the air. “You’re so mean to me.” He whined.

Bruce smiled at him before giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek, far too innocent for what
they were doing. “Oh I’m nothing if not nice to you, sweetheart.” He replied.

Edward shakes his head at that, “Terrible. You’re terrible.” he said, pressed a hand to Bruce’s
chest. “If you don’t touch me I don’t know what I’ll do-” He was interrupted by the sound of
his own shocked gasp as Bruce slid his cock inside of him.

“Better?” Bruce asked, voice low in his ear as he fucked into him at a leisurely pace. Edward
nodded weakly and wraps his arms around Bruce’s neck and nuzzled his cheek into Bruce’s
shoulder. “Okay, it’s okay, I’ve got you.” Bruce promised, taking pity on him finally as he
started to fuck him in earnest.

Edward whined and squirmed underneath him, it was good but it wasn’t enough. “Bruce… I
need something else.” He whimpered, pawing at his chest helplessly. “I… can I ride you?”
He asked. “I really want to ride you, please please please let me ride you.” He babbled in the
alpha’s ear.
Bruce pulled out of him then, sitting up and pulling Edward into a sitting position as well.
Edward’s body was trembling with anticipation as Bruce looked him over. Edward looked
incredibly unsteady on his limbs. “Are you sure you can handle that? Physically, I mean.” He
asked, a little concerned.

Edward leaned forward to cup Bruce’s face and kiss him, “I want to feel you deep inside of
me, I want to see how deep I can take you.” He said breathily as he pulled away from the
kiss. Then Edward started pushing at Bruce’s chest and the alpha gave in, letting himself fall
back so that Edward could climb on top of him.

The omega grasped Bruce’s cock with shaky fingers to hold it steady as he lowered himself
onto it. He let out a low gasp as he let Bruce’s cock fill his pussy up. He took him slowly,
inch by inch until Bruce was bottomed out inside of him.

Edward leaned forward and pressed his hands onto Bruce’s chest to hold himself steady as he
lazily rode his alpha. He moved in slow, sleepy moments and paused every so often to kiss
Bruce just as lazily. Bruce, for his part, was happy just to enjoy watching Edward move on
top of him and touch him gently.

His hands slid over Edward’s slightly chubby stomach and up his chest to fondle at his barely
there breasts. Edward tipped his head back as he was touched, moaning sweetly. He thinks
that he could probably cum just from being touched like this, but its even better with Bruce’s
cock inside of him.

He slumps over when he cums, becoming entirely useless in the matter of moments, which
both of them should have expected. He lets Bruce take control after that – the alpha takes a
hold of his hips and uses them as leverage for his slow and deep thrusts. When Bruce cums
and his knot swells inside of Edward, the omega slumps over entirely – laying his head on
Bruce’s chest. Bruce’s arms came around him, holding him close as the two of them caught
their breath.

“Better?” Bruce asked him again, as his hand pet down Edward’s back in an almost placating
manner.

“Much better.” Edward replied, nuzzling his cheek against Bruce’s pec. He inhaled in the
alphas scent and hummed. “You know you don’t smell nearly as rich as the rest of this place.”
He said.

Bruce chuckled at that, “Is that right?” He asked.

“Yeah, this whole… what do you call it here? A penthouse?” He guessed.

“I call it home.” Bruce replied, not unkindly.

Edward huffed, “You know what I mean.” He snapped, “It’s just… it smells like money. If I
was led through here blind, I would know I was in a rich mans’ home. But you… I smell
leather and oil on top of something a little smokey. It’s nice.” And he smiles sleepily to
punctuate that sentence.
Bruce brushed Edward’s hair back, “I like working on old cars. That’s probably why you
smell leather and oil.” He commented in a casual manner. Then he gently grabbed one of
Edward’s wrists and brought it to his face to scent him, “You smell earthy and sweet, but not
too sweet. Like wildflowers.” He told him. “I love that scent.”

Edward flushed down to his shoulders and coughed awkwardly, “Well. Anyway, your house
smells a lot wealthier than you do, I thought that was pretty funny.” He said in a small voice,
unsure what to do when Bruce said something sweet or complimentary to him.

Bruce’s hand came down to pet at his hair and Edward let his eyes close. He felt like he could
melt, laying there in the arms of a billionaire like he was a precious thing – something to be
coddled and protected. It wasn’t long until Edward fell asleep like that.

Bruce did not go on patrol that night, did not feel like he could leave Edward alone when he
was so vulnerable, but he did spend a few hours in his cave, looking over cases as he
processed the reality of having Edward in his home like this. Having Edward right there
made everything that had transpired between them so incredibly real. Almost too real.

It really spoke to how ill prepared he was to have the omega in his home, he didn’t even
consider that Edward would have his heat so soon or that the officials at Arkham would send
him here. But at the same time, he was glad that he was here. Even with the potential danger
that having him here brought, it felt better to have him here than in Arkham.

The animal part of his brain felt soothed by the omegas presence, knowing that he will be
safe here at Wayne Tower in a way that he wouldn’t be if he was anywhere else. He would be
protected and kept safe from the dangers of the city here. A part of Bruce was actively
dreading the moment that the Arkham officials came to pick Edward up, in a week. He
internally debated just taking custody of the omega for good and refusing to let them take
him.

He could probably get away with it. He had the resources to facilitate a coup like that, the
only thing that really stopped him from doing exactly that was he worried that Edward might
find out about his secret identity if he did when he wasn’t prepared. If he told Edward about
that, he wanted it to be on his own terms.

Bruce frowned as he thumbed through the file that he had been halfway looking at. The case
was horrible, a serial rapist targeting omegas that were living on their own in the city – again,
his mind wandered back to Edward and it felt just a little bit more personal. Edward could
have been one of those poor omegas, shaking in their apartment after being held at knife
point for hours.

It was upsetting enough to think about this sort of thing when he didn’t have a name and a
face to the kind of person that it would effect. He’d have to solve this case and quickly put
whoever was doing this away or he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about Edward shaking
and crying in his apartment, being held down and taken advantage of by someone much more
physically adept than he was.
His mind never once stopped to remember what the omega was capable of, it was like all the
things that he had done were water under the bridge in Bruce’s mind. Edward might have
been a killer, but it felt like something in the omegas past – a black spot on his psyche,
something that could have been prevented if someone had stopped him from crossing that
line, not an inalienable part of him.

He blamed the fact that the omega had been softening up towards him for that, it was easy to
forget what he was capable of when Bruce experienced him as a strange, playful and clever
omega that he was bonded to instead of as a monster incapable of any depth beyond that. He
couldn’t push Edward away with how they were entangled, so he was letting himself get
close without even meaning to.

Perhaps he was letting himself get too close, if such a thing was possible.

Bruce sighed and typed up a potential profile of the criminal he was looking for – he would
start investigating with vigor when Edward’s heat was over, he promised himself – before
deciding to go back up and check up on Edward. He’s quiet as he makes his way up to his
room, not wanting to wake the omega up so suddenly.

As careful as he was, Edward whimpered in his sleep as the bed dipped beside him and in his
sleep he made searching motions, little grabbing motions with his hands. “Alpha…” He
mumbled in a wanting manner, like he was craving Bruce to be coiled around him again.

Bruce’s hand moved down to stroke his thigh from where it met his knee to his hip. “It’s
alright.” He soothed, speaking in a low and sweet voice. “I’m here, Edward. I’m here for
you.” He promised. He moved down to lay next to him. By instinct, Edward huddled up
against him – his arms winding their way around Bruce’s neck in his sleep.

Edward slowly rose from his slumber, blinking up at him with a bleary expression spread
across his face. “Where did you go?” Edward asked, “I woke up and you weren’t there.” If he
wasn’t feverish in the throws of heat, he probably would not let himself be so openly and
brazenly needy.

“I had to take some calls.” Bruce replied, brushing at Edward’s hair in an absentminded
manner as he spoke. “Didn’t mean to leave you alone for too long, I just got caught up and
lost track of time.”

“Do you do that often? Take calls.” The thought of anyone important depending on Bruce,
who he knew as the man who seemed to only wear faded old band shirts and seemed to sleep
until three PM on the best of days, was a little funny to him.

Bruce smiled at him, “Not if I can help it, no. But sometimes Lucius or someone else at
Wayne Enterprises needs my input and I am still on the board so I answer.” He replied.
Edward giggled sleepily and nuzzled his cheek against Bruce’s hand.

Edward’s lips pressed against the alphas palm in a playful manner. “I’m hungry.” He said
when Bruce lifted his hand to reveal Edward’s face.
Bruce gently disentangled their limbs and got up off of the bed. “I’ll go and see if Alfred can
bring us anything. You want anything in particular?” If Alfred wasn’t awake, he would take
care of it himself – they had frozen things and leftovers, things that Bruce couldn’t really
mess up.

Edward hummed in thought, “Ice cream?” He tried. “I like sweet things.”

“I know you do. He’ll probably see to it that we eat something normal, but I’ll see what I can
do.” Bruce replied, “Just wait here.” He directed, as if Edward could go anywhere without his
clothes and in the state that he was in right now. He covered Edward with one of his blankets
before circling around the bed to exit the room.

Bruce walked out into the hall and made his way to the kitchen. It was just his luck that
Alfred was sitting there, making himself a cup of tea. “Oh good, you’re still awake.” He said,
relieved that he wouldn’t have to be the one cooking in here.

“There’s a serial killer down the hall, of course I’m awake.” Alfred replied, “How is he?
Causing any trouble?” He asked, seeming alert at the possibility that the omega would run
out guns blazing to attack Bruce at the first opportunity.

Bruce shook his head, “No, he’s being… sweet. A little needy, you know, but that’s to be
expected I think. I was a little worried that he’d try and snoop around but he doesn’t seem to
be interested in leaving the bed.” He explained.

Alfred sucked in his teeth, “Probably for the best.” He said. He didn’t like the idea of the
omega wandering around the penthouse unsupervised, especially in the throws of heat. It
would be bad enough throwing him off of the scent of anything that

“Definitely for the best.” Bruce affirmed, before explaining why he came out there in the first
place. Edward was probably driving himself crazy waiting for Bruce to come back to him.
“He wants ice cream.” Bruce added, less than helpfully. “I told him you might not be
convinced.”

Alfred scoffed, “I’ll see what I can do.” He said.

Bruce came back to the bedroom to see Edward sitting up, waiting for him in bed, with a
blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a pillow sitting in between his legs. He looked
very tired, like he was forcing himself to stay awake. He probably was. “Hey.” Edward
greeted with a lazy smile spread across his face. His expression was almost coquettish.

Bruce replied to that by sauntering over to where the omega sat. He leaned over to box
Edward in his arms and the omega responded by practically jumping onto him. His arms
wrapped around Bruce’s neck and he pulled him down on top of him with all his might. He
grunted with effort, but he got what he wanted because the next thing that he knew Bruce was
laying on top of him and he was still clinging on fiercely. “You’re so clingy right now.” Bruce
couldn’t help but comment as Edward hung off him.

“I should be allowed to be clingy, after what you’ve done to me.” Edward accused, though
there was no venom in his words, just a sort of sleepy contentment that didn’t match what he
was saying.

Bruce hummed at that, “Oh. What have I done to you now?” He asked.

“You made me want you.” Edward replied sourly, as if that was the worst thing that the alpha
could do to him. Edward’s feelings on Bruce were so hot and cold that he probably did
process it as something terrible, that he actually wanted him. “You did something to my
brain, reprogrammed me and now I want you.” Edward was pouting a little now, “It’s terrible.
You’re terrible.”

Bruce was smiling down at Edward, he couldn’t stop himself from it. “I’m sure that must be
awful for you. I’ve wanted you this whole time, so I’m used to it by now.” He replied.

Edward huffed, “Don’t say things like that.”

“Why not? It’s true. I think about you all the time.” Bruce told Edward, like it was some
secret. “I worry about you being in Arkham without me being there to protect you. I think I
might just keep you here when your heat’s over, because I feel much better having you close
to me.”

The omega frowned and looked like he was struggling to explain even to himself why, but the
things that Bruce kept telling him only served to make him feel more nervous. “Well…
because-” He started to say, only to be interrupted by the door opening. At that moment,
Alfred came in with a cart filled with food – Edward saw pancakes and waffles, toast and
sliced fruit, poached eggs and most interesting of all two silver bowls that each had a single
scoop of vanilla ice cream. Edward did not ever get to eat like this, but especially not in
Arkham, so he was excited. He sat up, ramrod straight, nearly throwing the blanket that was
covering him aside.

Alfred was professional enough not to comment on Edward’s behavior, opting to just settle
the cart close enough to the bed so that the two of them could serve themselves. Bruce
thanked Alfred while Edward piled a plate high with food, he already had a piece of toast in
his mouth when he remembered his manners and added, “Mm-hmm! Thank you!” Even
though it was muffled by the food that he had in his mouth as Alfred left them to eat.

Bruce wrapped an arm around his waist and insisted on feeding him. The omega lets himself
go limp like a spoiled cat as the alpha dotes on him – feeding him better food than he’s ever
had in his life, surrounded by so much wealth it makes his head spin a little. His principals
are screaming at him for being so easily domesticated, but in his heated state all he can think
is that he could get used to this.

Edward’s heat swung back into full gear not even a few hours later. Edward found himself
laying on his belly, mewling out pleas for Bruce to just touch him. “Please.” He whispered,
arching his back prettily and craning his neck up in a submissive manner to entice the alpha.
“Please, please, please, Bruce I need you.” He was practically sobbing at this point.

Bruce shushed him and rearranged his limbs so that he was on his hands and knees, “It’s
okay, baby, I’ve got you.” He promised. Bruce’s hands slid up the backs of his thighs,
appreciatively touching Edward’s body.

“Please, please, please…” The omega mumbled in a high, desperate, keening voice. “I need
you, I need you, I need you…” His body was trembling with anticipation and need. “I need
you so bad, Bruce. I need you to touch me. Knot me. Take care of me.” He babbled out his
demands endlessly and with an exhausted sort of tenor.

Maybe if Edward was a little less delirious, Bruce might have toyed with him a little. But the
omega was so pathetic and needy at that moment that he decided to take pity on him and slide
his cock into Edward’s cunt. Bruce boxed him in his arms as he slowly thrust inside of him.

Bruce took a gentle pace with him, fucking Edward gently and allowing the omega to bounce
back onto his cock. The two of them moved together with a strange sort of synchronicity, like
their bodies understood each other better than their minds could possibly comprehend and it
doesn’t take long for either of them to cum.

“Can we take a shower?” Edward asked as Bruce pulled out of him and he flopped down on
the bed, feeling exhausted. “I feel so gross.” He added sourly. He was covered in sweat, his
own slick and Bruce’s cum and he was sober enough to feel nasty about it.

“Can you stand?” Bruce asked, his hand trailing down Edward’s back as he spoke. Edward
didn’t seem like he could do much of anything with how well fucked he was.

“I don’t know. I think I’ll manage.” Edward replied sleepily. “I can try at least. I need to be
clean.” He added with a lazy giggle.

“We can take a bath instead.” Bruce offered, “Should be easier on your legs.” He added.
Edward nodded sleepily and huddled in Bruce’s arms, allowing the alpha to scoop him up in
his arms. Edward hung onto him, his legs wrapped around Bruce’s hips and his arms wrapped
around Bruce’s neck as he carried him into the adjoining bathroom.

Bruce sat him down on the toilet as he ran the water and Edward watched steam pile up out
of the gigantic tub – it was big enough to comfortably house the two of them. It had been a
while since Edward had gotten the chance to take a bath, maybe even years – it was one of
those luxuries that he viewed as intrinsically out of the question, it just wasn’t one of the
amenities provided to people in his income bracket in Gotham. His last apartment didn’t have
a tub, only a leaky shower.

So naturally, he was a little excited to jump into the tub and relax in the water. He was a little
excited to enjoy most of the luxuries here that he had never been entitled to before, if he was
going to be bonded to someone as rich as Bruce was he may as well let himself enjoy the
perks wherever they may appear.

When he’s finally allowed to sink down into the water, he lets out a sigh of relief. The water
was warm and soothing around his body as it sloshed around him and Bruce. Bruce was
sitting behind him and he had an arm coiled around Edward’s waist.

With his other hand, he gently tipped Edward’s head back before he lathered his hair with
shampoo that smelled like coconut milk. Edward mewled at the feeling of being pampered
like this. He liked being coddled and taken care of, even if the feeling was strangely alien.

No one had ever treated him like this, he had never been pampered or treated like something
worth pampering. When he was a child in the orphanage, he had been tormented by the other
children and made as an example by the nuns. He wasn’t spoiled or given nice things, if
anything he was on the lowest tier of a totem pole that was already speared in the dirt.

Bruce treated him differently than anyone else had, he was kind to Edward – even when,
especially when, he didn’t exactly deserve kindness. Edward felt himself going soft at the
genteel attention that he was on the receiving end of whenever the two of them were in each
others presence. He was getting used to being looked after by an alpha – he had never really
thought that he was suited for bonding, he was too damaged and mentally unwell. He was too
opinionated. He wanted too much for himself.

There were lots of reasons that he would never be wanted, but here he was – despite all his
reservations on the matter – he was bonded with an alpha. At some point in the near or
distant future he would be living with the man full time, maybe at some point in the future
he’d be having his children.

It was… a lot to process.

Especially when he had expected to be killing Bruce Wayne not becoming involved with him.
As Bruce bathes and washes him, these are the things that fill his head – he is filled with both
anxiety and excitement about his future here. A part of him that is fruitlessly naive thinks that
maybe in this position he can do more good, maybe he can influence Bruce to change things
in Gotham for the better. It’s really all he can do, make the best of a very strange situation.

The two of them got out of the bathtub, feeling much better than they had before. Edward felt
much lighter and cleaner than he had in a long time. His muscles were not coiled so tightly
anymore and he felt relaxed in a way that he doesn’t think he’s ever felt before. Was this how
rich people felt all the time, he wondered? Were they just relaxed all the time? Did they
always feel this good?

Edward wrapped a towel around his body – and again, he marveled at how nice it felt on his
skin – and sat on a comfy armchair, that had a few shirts hanging off of the back of it.
Edward found himself leaning into the clothing to take in Bruce’s scent among the fabric.
“What are you doing?” The alpha asked, amusement in his tone.

Edward smiled guiltily, “Nothing.” He said. Bruce moved over to where Edward was sitting
with his knees pressed up against his chest. Bruce leaned down to kiss him and Edward
instinctively wraps his arms around Bruce’s neck to pull him in closer.

The two were so wrapped up in their embrace that they didn’t realize that the door had
opened until they heard Alfred awkwardly cough to direct their attention. “Sorry to bother
Master Bruce. Edward. But there’s something you should see, on the television.” That got
Bruce’s attention and he pulled away from the kiss. “Edward, you should see this too, it
concerns you as well.” He added grimly.
“We’ll be right out.” Bruce replied, with a short nod. “Thank you for letting us know,
Alfred.”

Edward put on one of Bruce’s shirts and a pair of boxers so that he was decent before
opening the door to see what Alfred was so bothered by. They followed Alfred out into the
hall, curious to see what the matter was that both of them were called out for. For the past
few days, Alfred had left the two of them mostly to their own devices in their room.

Edward sat down at the couch in front of the television to see what was so pressing. He was
greeted with the sight of someone – but most likely a man – wearing his costume, wearing his
mask. The omega’s curious expression dropped into a frown immediately. He already had a
bad feeling.

The fake Riddler was standing behind a large, middle aged man that he was holding up by the
scruff like a misbehaving kitten. Edward recognized him vaguely and he searched his mind
for who it could be. “Good evening, Citizens of Gotham.” The copycat greeted as he traced
the man’s throat with the back of his knife.

“Is that Quincy Sharp?” Bruce asked.

“He looks familiar. I keep trying to place him but…” Edward sighed as he trailed off, “Who
is he?”

“He’s one of the administrators for Arkham.” Bruce explained. “He’s been very annoying
about you receiving special treatment, can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to throw a
donation at the hospital to get him to shut up about my gifts for you.” He rolled his eyes,
“Still. Wouldn’t wish this on anyone.” He added awkwardly.

“Of course.” Edward replied in a distracted tone as he watched the recording. It looked like a
live stream that had been captured while it happened.

The copycat stood up to full height, forcing Quincy to his feet as he did so. Quincy was
gagged with duct tape but he was screaming behind it – obscenities and pleas for mercy all in
the same go. At the same time he was sluggish, like maybe he had been drugged – or he was
already sporting a head injury. He probably wouldn’t be alive much longer if he was.

“Let’s play a little game with our friend here.” The copycat said gleefully, “Now Mr. Quincy
is a bad man. He experiments on the poor sick people in Arkham, he takes bribes from Bruce
Wayne.” The fake Riddler spat Bruce’s name out like it was poison. “In a just world, men
like this would have nothing. They would be nothing. But this is not a just world, we have to
make our own justice here. We have to fight for it.”

“Sure likes to hear himself talk doesn’t he?” Bruce muttered as he sat down next to Edward,
putting an arm around him to comfort the distressed omega. Edward didn’t reply, just leaned
in close – it was so odd, watching a pale imitation of himself swagger around like this. He
felt disturbed not by the torture but by having his own identity ripped from him.

He had understood, before this, that he would likely never be the Riddler again. Bruce was
slowly domesticating him with kindness and presents and sex that he enjoyed a little too
much. By the time that he left Arkham, he would probably be a much more docile version of
himself – he had come to accept that that would be his fate.

The Riddler would be a curiosity, a conversation starter in the near future. He could hear
Bruce telling the story with humor, “How did me and Edward meet?” He would tell people
who asked, years from now, “Oh, well it’s a funny story. He tried to kill me.” And everyone
would laugh. Edward had started to accept that this would be his fate. He expected to live a
quiet life of relative comfort – there were worse things that could have happened to him, after
all.

But this… he hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t expected a copycat to take his role away from
him and use it for their own purposes. Maybe he should have known that something like this
would happen, but he had naively believed that his followers respected him more.

“What do you think a man like this deserves?” The fake Riddler asked the chat. An
outpouring of responses came through the chat – they told the copycat to cut out Quincy
Sharps tongue, disembowel him, gouge out his eyes. They were bloodthirsty and Edward
watched with a detached sort of interest to see what would be done. He knew that this would
effect him just as badly as if he had done it himself.

“This is disgusting.” Alfred hissed, but he couldn’t look away. None of them could.

The fake Riddler started to laugh, “So many suggestions!” He exclaimed with glee. “Oh how
about this, I’ll give you all a riddle and the first person to answer it gets to choose how he
dies!”

“That’s a terrible idea.” Edward muttered to himself, sucking at his teeth nervously. “No
control over what happens…the variables. So messy.” As a killer, Edward had been
fruitlessly meticulous. He planned for everything, he didn’t do spontaneity – this copycat was
already so different from him, it made him a little sick that he thought he could take his place.

“I am not alive, but I grow; I don’t have lungs, but I need air; I don’t have a mouth, but water
kills me. What am I?” The copycat recited, chittering with glee as the answers poured out.
Edward’s expression soured. The answer was obvious. “Yes! That’s right. Fire. How should
he die, TheRealJimJones? I’m dying to hear your input.”

The answer came out a second later. Disembowelment. Not a pretty way to go, very messy.
How was this guy going to clean this up? Would he even bother? It probably spoke to
something very unwell about Edward that these were the questions that he was plagued with,
instead of good-natured concern for his fellow man.

“We don’t need to see this.” Bruce started to say, but Edward was leaning forward – watching
unhappily, but watching nonetheless as Quincy Sharp was tortured and gutted for vague
corruption and having the audacity to cooperate with Bruce making his life in Arkham a little
nicer. He had to see this through, as grotesque as it was, he needed to see this through.

After a grueling process, Quincy was dead. He had suffered and bled like a stuck pig
throughout the whole ordeal. Edward felt something about it, he told himself that it was
probably sympathy. He wasn’t a total monster after all. “Edward Nashton. The original
Riddler.” The copycat sounded giddy and starstruck as he mentioned Edward’s name. Edward
rolled his eyes, a look of disdain marring his features. “This was all for you. I hope that
you’re impressed.”

The recording ended and just like that, the fragile peace and relaxation that Edward had felt
had shattered. The television turned to two anchors who were nervously speculating what this
must mean for the average Gothamite, if there was going to be more death and chaos in
Gotham.

Edward curled into Bruce’s arms, unsure if there was anything else that he could do. His life
had just gotten much more complicated and all he could think to do was burrow his face into
his alphas chest like some damsel. Bruce held him tight and comforted him, told him that he
would protect him and keep him safe. The omega let the comforting words wash over him,
even though he felt on some deep primordial level that this wasn’t the last he would see of
this copycat and he knew – that he was not the target of his aggression, but something much
worse even if he didn’t quite comprehend the specifics just yet.
 Chapter 5
Chapter Summary

this chapter is plooottttyyy

Also warning for what could be loosely described as sexual assault between edward and
an oc character in this chapter, for plot reasons.

After a week living in the lap of luxury at Wayne Tower while he suffered through his heat,
Edward was returned to Arkham. It was one of those things that felt inevitable, even though
he didn’t want it to happen. Really, Bruce was more bothered by it than he was, but neither of
them could do anything about it for now.

The first thing that happens after they check him in, hose him down and strip search him for
contraband, is take him to see his therapist. Hugo Strange is head of psychiatry at Arkham
and for some reason, he has taken a vested interest in Edward’s care. Edward thinks he’s a
creep whose trying to be upwardly mobile, maybe he wants to get in Bruce Wayne’s good
graces. Maybe he just wants to look at him like he’s a science experiment. He is the first
omega serial killer to spring up in a long time, maybe he wants to write a book about him.

Edward sits in Strange’s office, his arms crossed over his chest and a petty, annoyed
expression spread across his face. That sour disposition only intensified when the doctor
walked into the room. He really did not like him. “Hello Mr. Nashton. How was your week?”
He greeted pleasantly.

“What’s there to say?” Edward replied, already standoffish. “It was heat. I might be pregnant,
but we don’t know yet. I hope I’m not pregnant, that would suck to have a baby here. Oh
yeah and someone stole my identity and is masquerading around with my face!” He snapped,
getting angrier and angrier by the second as he thought about it. It was so unfair.

“Right. I heard about that.” Dr. Strange replied, “Do you have any anxieties about that?” He
asked, in that cloying ‘let’s talk about it’ voice therapists always liked to use when they pried.
“Are you worried about your safety?” He asked, a leading question.

“No?” Edward replied, “Should I be worried about my safety?” It did not even occur to
Edward that he would be targeted. Why would he? He wasn’t corrupt or evil. He wasn’t one
of Gotham’s elite, at least he didn’t think he was. This fake Riddler had no reason to target
him.

“The Riddler-”
Edward stopped Dr. Strange in his tracks before he could even think about finishing that
sentence. “No. No, no, no, no! That… thing out there is not the Riddler! IIIII’m the Riddler.
He is just some guy!” He snapped. “He’s not worthy of the title, it’s… it’s not even
something he would be allowed to wield if he was. It’s me. It’s who I am! Was. Am.”

Dr. Strange sighed, “This copycat is obviously fixated on you.” He explained, “He might be
obsessed with you. You know better than anyone how obsession can make people do crazy
things.”

Edward scoffed, “What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked, patience running thin as he set
his mouth in a grim line.

“Your parasocial obsession with Batman is the reason you’re in here, after all.” Dr. Strange
reminded him patiently.

Edward couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “That-” He huffed, terribly offended. “That’s
different.” He said. “I respect Batman. I would never do something like this to him. I would
never take his identity!” He snapped.

“Be that as it may, your parasocial delusions-” Edward scoffed, but Strange kept on talking.
“Your parasocial delusions are the reason that you targeted three high ranking Gotham
officials and tried to kill Bruce Wayne. This copycat might have the same thoughts about
you.”

Edward let out an aggravated sigh, “Oh my god, I know.” He snapped, digging his fingers
into the couch cushions that he was sitting on. “I know. I know. That’s why I’m rotting in this
awful place. I get it. I did a bad thing and now I’m dealing with the consequences.” He said,
not sounding the least bit sorry.

At this, Dr. Strange decided to change the subject. “Why don’t we talk about your
relationship with Bruce Wayne?” He asked, as if Edward had much of a choice in the matter.

Edward frowned, “What’s there to talk about?” He asked. “He’s fine. He’s… I don’t know.
He’s Bruce Wayne.” He said lamely. “He treats me well, considering the circumstances. I
guess.”

“I’d say. He’s been making inquiries into your security here and he’s been working full time
with a team of lawyers to get you an early parole.” Dr. Strange replied, “You’re very lucky to
have someone like that in your corner.”

“Yeah that’s what everyone keeps saying, how lucky I am.” He huffed quietly. Bruce had
been steadily growing on him in the past month or so, but it didn’t change the fact that he
found his wealth grotesque and the fact that he was so willing to use it to get Edward special
privileges irked him in some way that he couldn’t possibly describe.

He liked to think that he still had principals, even though he was wearing a cashmere sweater
over his prison uniform that probably cost more than he had paid for his apartment. Even
though he was at the point where he accepted all of Bruce’s gifts and trinkets. Being with
Bruce makes him feel like a class traitor that has abandoned his principals, but he doesn’t
have much of a choice in the matter and it’s gotten easier and easier to live with the more
time he spends with Bruce.

He doesn’t even really hate him anymore, maybe he never did. Maybe he hated some
cardboard cutout version of Bruce Wayne that he had built up in his head after years of
having nothing while he had everything. Maybe he had spent years being unfair to him,
mostly in the safety of his own angry thoughts, because of that. “Maybe they have a point.”
He finished lamely.

He hopes that he does get out of Arkham soon, that Bruce can pull enough strings and oil
enough palms to get him released – at least then he won’t ever have to deal with another
painfully awkward therapy session with someone trying to wring him out for details like a
wet towel.

Edward woke up in his cell to the sound of screaming and chaos. Something was wrong. The
door to his cell was open. All the doors were. The whole situation was weird and Edward
worried that one of the other inmates would wind up in his room if he stayed there. So he put
his glasses on and carefully made his way out into the hall, looking for a safe place to wait it
out.

There was utter chaos going on in the halls, inmates were running through them and fighting
with the guards and each other. “Jesus Christ.” Edward muttered to himself, trying to edge
away from the many scenes of violence taking place before him.

Edward sighed and shook his head, he didn’t have a great lay out of Arkham but he was sure
if he could make it to the second floor, where all the therapy offices were, he could wait it out
without much trouble. He ran through the hall, making his way halfway through before he
heard a loud banging noise – like a gun going off – and he jumped out of his skin.

He put his hands up over his ears, as if that would protect him from any undue harm. He
collected himself and continued walking, despite the feeling that he felt like he was being
watched. There was a prickling sensation on the back of his neck and an anxiety that
permeated around him as he walked closer and closer to the elevator.

It was only when he got to the elevator that he realized how screwed he was because the
doors would not open. Edward guessed that they were out of service. He groaned as he
smacked his hand against the firmly shut doors, as if that would make them magically open.
“Ugh… open up.” He whined petulantly for a moment, before turning away and looking to
find another route.

He turned around to see that there was a man standing in front of him – or behind him, until
he turned – and he gasped in surprise. It was an alpha, that much he could tell from the short
distance and he was bigger and taller than Edward – which, Edward was not small, so that
gave him pause.

The alpha began to approach him and Edward just froze. He was looking at Edward in a way
that the omega was more than familiar with. A nervous, appeasing smile broke out across his
face. It’s the sort of nervous tic that comes from years of being one of the only omegas in a
very religious orphanage, where all the unwanted attention that he got was presumed to be his
own fault.

At the orphanage, he had been told that omegas were natural born Jezebels. Whores who had
the capability of being the Madonna if only they kept their legs closed and weren’t weak
enough to throw themselves at the first alpha that would take them. Only when they were
married, would consummation and heat be without sin. Edward had spent years afraid of his
own body, afraid of his own desires, because of the things the nuns had taught him.

But it had also left him with a lot of strange coping mechanisms to deal with unwanted
attention. Often being polite was the best way to deal with a strange alpha, at least until an
omega could get themselves away. Sometimes, he might go on the offensive but looking at
this guy – who must be about 6’4, at least – Edward didn’t think that was a good idea.

“It’s, it’s you.” The stranger said as he approached Edward, awe in his tone. He was dressed
like one of the custodial staff, but Edward would bet that he didn’t work here judging by the
bit of blood on his collar. The idea of some poor working class guy getting killed for no
reason made Edward feel incredibly uncomfortable. They didn’t deserve that.

Edward backed away a few steps, until he hit the wall. “It’s me?” Edward parroted, “Are
you…are you one of my followers?” He asked carefully. That would make the most sense,
unfortunately. He understood the way he was being looked at right now. It was the way he got
looked at when he got catcalled as a teenager, or bullied by older boys at the orphanage. It
was predatory lust and it made him distinctly uncomfortable to think that what he had
thought was camaraderie between revolutionaries could easily be twisted into something so
base – all because he was an omega.

The stranger nodded. “Come with me. I’m going to get you out of here.” He offered, as if that
was such an enticing thing to offer. Maybe if Edward still thought he could accomplish his
goals he would take him up on the offer, but he couldn’t. Not when he and Bruce were
bonded. He had to get what he wanted another way, maybe start a new renewal fund – fix the
city with Bruce’s resources – but he couldn’t be the Riddler anymore. At least not in any
material way.

“No thanks.” Edward replied placidly, still smiling and friendly because he worried that any
misstep would set this guy off. “I don’t need a prison break.” Which was true, because at the
rate he was going he would be out of Arkham soon enough anyways and moving on with his
life. A failure as a revolutionary, but at least one that got to live in a gilded cage in the care of
an alpha who was attentive to his needs. It could be a lot worse.

It seemed to set him off anyways, “What do you mean you don’t need a prison break?” He
asked and he moved forward again, backing Edward up into the wall. He slammed his hand
next to Edward’s head and the omega gave a start. “I did this all for you!”

Edward did not reply with what he wanted to say, because he really wanted to tell this guy
off. He didn’t want or ask for any of this. He didn’t want to have his mask taken from him.
He didn’t want to cause chaos in the hospital that he was imprisoned in. He didn’t want
people who did nothing to deserve it to die for utilitarian reasons like getting a disguise.
He sighed and tried to maintain his polite facade, “And I… appreciate that. But I didn’t ask
you to do this and I don’t really know you, so-” He stopped dead in his tracks as the alpha
grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly. It got harder and harder to maintain his
composure, the alpha was grabbing him so hard that he was going to be left with bruises after
all this was done. “Y-you’re hurting me…” He said pathetically.

“I’ve been following you for a really long time.” The stranger told him, which just filled
Edward with dread. “I just… I need to make you understand.” He said, strangely calm.
“You’ve been… you’ve been confused by Bruce Wayne and his type, but you could be so
much more. You could still make a difference.”

Then Edward just sighs, his patience utterly obliterated. He wasn’t some stupid, helpless
thing that couldn’t think for himself and how dare he suggest that he was. “It’s over.” He
says. “The Riddler is done, I’ve been forced into retirement and I’ve learned to live with
that.” He shrugged.

Then the alpha did something entirely unexpected, he grabbed Edward hard again and leaned
in to nose at his throat. Edward went entirely still, completely frozen with fear. He had no
idea what to do. “You smell so-” Edward closed his eyes and blotted out the strangers voice.
He let it wash over him as he forced himself to disappear.

He opened his eyes, just in time to see that Batman was standing behind his assailant. He
watched with wide eyes as he grabbed the alpha and punched him so hard that he slammed
across the room. It was an impressive feat, because his assailant was bigger than Batman too.
The bigger they are the harder they fall, he supposed.

Edward let out an undignified squeak as Batman lifted him up like he weighed nothing and
threw him over his shoulder. “Hold on tight, Riddler.” He said and Edward immediately
understood why when he unleashed a grappling hook and anchored it to one of the railways
on the second floor, where the therapy rooms were.

Edward could not stop himself from shrieking as they went up, he held on so tightly to
Batman that he was sure he’d be bruised under that suit. He was so close to Batman that he
should have been able to smell his scent – but there was nothing, not even the weak scent of a
beta.

It was like he was totally neutralized, like he was a man without an endotype. That was
impossible though. He was sure Batman was an alpha – he just had to be – but he was using
something to hide his scent. Of course Batman would want to hide all aspects of his identity,
Edward did the same thing when he was on his mission. He wondered if it was something in
his suit that neutralized his scent and that got him wondering just how wealthy the man
behind the mask must be if he can afford all this fancy tech.

They were on the second floor when Batman let him go, or to put it more accurately, when
Batman pried the omega off of him. “Wow, I can’t believe that Batman saved terrible old
me.” He said in a dazed tone, giggling a little out of dizziness.

Batman predictably did not respond. He was just so serious. He led Edward into one of the
empty rooms and made him sit down. “Stay here.” He ordered harshly, “Lock the door and
don’t let anyone in. When it’s over, someone should come and get you.”

“Bruce?” He asked, hoping that his alpha would be there for him. He needed him to comfort
him and tell him that it would be okay. A part of him was angry at himself for being so weak
and dependent, but the rest of him overpowered that feeling with a plain as day neediness. He
wanted to be protected and cared for, he didn’t want anyone else to hurt him. If that made
him weak, so be it.

Batman paused oddly, but quickly readjusted, “Someone is bound to call him.” He said
gruffly before he turned away. “Stay put.” Edward huffed, feeling useless. But he did as he
was told – he locked the door and hid himself away after Batman left. It wasn’t like there was
much else that he could do in this situation anyways. He wasn’t a physical person and he was
wary of getting on the wrong end of another alpha who thought he could just touch him
however he pleased. No one was allowed to touch him like that except his alpha, it was only
okay when Bruce scented him and nuzzled against his throat.

He huffed again and folded himself up on one of the therapeutic couches in the room. He was
so worn out, both physically and emotionally, that it didn’t take him long at all before he
passed out on the couch and fell into a fitful nap.

When he woke up again, there was a small group of people surrounding him – a couple of
people from Arkham’s administration were there and a few police officers, as well as Bruce.
Bruce looked plainly agitated and Edward moved to grab Bruce’s hand to get his attention.
Bruce jumped a bit when he turned towards the omega, but his expression instantly gentled.
“Hey,” Bruce said, “How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Not good.” Edward replied, “What the hell happened?” He asked, rubbing the sleep out of
his eyes as he spoke. The agitation in Bruce’s gait returned in full force at that and he
clenched his fists, looking like he was ready to punch someone.

“There was a security breach.” Bruce explained, but he was gritting his teeth. “Or, not a
security breach. A sting operation. The cops and the administration found evidence that the
copycat was tracking Arkham’s security system and decided to fake a lapse in security to get
a hold of him.” Bruce was getting more and more livid by the moment.

“Oh.” Edward exclaimed, feeling a little blank before he fully processed the implication of
what his alpha had just told him. “W-w-wait, so they used me as bait?” He asked, hoping that
he was wrong but knowing that he wasn’t. Of course the cops and the hospitals
administration would work together, putting Edward in danger to catch a killer that targeted
them.

“You were never in any real danger.” One of the officers explained. “We had the situation
under control,” Edward scoffed at that, remembering the riot. “We just had to draw that sicko
out of hiding.”

Edward frowned and bit his lip, “He touched me.” He said, feeling uncomfortable and
unclean at the memory of it. He felt disgusted with himself. “I saw Batman knock him out,
tell me you at least arrested him.” He said.
“Well…” One of the Arkham staff trailed off, sounding guilty but not nearly guilty enough to
justify what they had done.

Edward rolled his eyes, like of course they fumbled this. “Oh my god, you pigs are
worthless.” He said.

“So, Edward was assaulted. He could have gotten killed and your plan didn’t even work out.”
Bruce pointed out, “Is there anything else that I’m missing?” He asked rhetorically. Edward
frowned and closed in on himself, bowling over in his seat. His stomach hurt, like something
was rotting and festering inside of him. He put a hand over his midsection, in the hopes that
that would help stop the rotting feeling. It didn’t.

“Mr. Wayne, if you could just calm down-” One of the Arkham staff tried to argue, but Bruce
wasn’t having it.

“Calm down? You want me to calm down after you put my mate in danger. He could have
been killed!” He snapped back at them.

“I don’t think that the copycat wants to hurt Mr. Nashton.” One of the cops replied. “The
fixation on him seems to be… how do I put this… romantic?” He explained, as if that didn’t
almost make things worse.

“He touched me. He. Touched. Me.” Edward said again, though it seemed like no one was
listening to him. He was used to being ignored but it never made the sting go away. “He
grabbed me and tried to scent me.” He said, so quiet that he could barely hear himself speak.
It was like he was in shock.

Bruce looked at Edward with concern and sat down next to him, letting Edward pull himself
into Bruce’s arms. “Oh, so what you’re telling me is he wouldn’t have been killed. Just
raped.” Bruce said in a deadpan, acidic voice.

“You don’t need to be so dramatic, Mr. Wayne.” The cop replied, disdain hidden underneath
the facade of respect he put on.

“I don’t think I’m being dramatic enough.” Bruce replied as he stood up. Edward was sad to
not have him to cling to, but he didn’t react beyond that. He was too overstimulated to
properly show how he was feeling so he hid himself in a protective shell of his own making.
His expression was steely as he watched Bruce argue on his behalf. “Maybe I should get
really dramatic, let the press know what you did to Edward.” He threatened. “I’m sure The
Gotham Globe would love to run a piece on the corrupt sting that the GCPD ran here.”

That got their attention. Edward might have been a killer, but he was still an omega. People
wouldn’t take kindly to the idea of a helpless omega being used as bait for a murderer, there
would be all sorts of tawdry stories about how Arkham Asylum was willing to put omegas in
danger of being assaulted or killed in order to make their jobs easier. It was a bad look.

Two of the Arkham staff looked at each other warily, “That’s really not necessary, Mr.
Wayne.” One of them said. They looked at Edward, wanting to use him as leverage in an
argument. “You wouldn’t want to put Mr. Nashton in an embarrassing situation, would you?”
They threatened Edward’s pride openly, like they were more than willing to hurt him to
protect themselves.

“I don’t mind.” Edward replied, eyes burning with angry tears. He had already been
humiliated by what had happened, there was no way that things could get any worse for him.
Bruce looked at him with understanding for a moment before he turned back to continue
arguing with everyone on his behalf. Edward let all of their bickering wash over him as he
tried to center himself, to forget every awful thing that had happened that day.

His attention was only drawn once again when a woman with a sharp, high strung voice cut
in. Edward recognized her from television, though he did not know her name. She was one of
Arkham’s foremost PR people. “Maybe we could work something out, Mr. Wayne.” She said
and Bruce turned to her with hostility and interest in his eyes. He let her say her peace.

An hour later, Edward Nashton – The Riddler – is quietly released from Arkham Asylum in
the custody of his alpha. The fact that he could go home was one bright spot in this black day.

Edward was dazed when he arrived at Wayne Tower, Bruce’s hand on the small of his back
the whole way up. Everything that had happened in the last few weeks had shaken him to his
core. He had a copycat stalker who had broken into Arkham and… assaulted him. There was
really no other way to describe what happened. It felt like an assault. It left him feeling dirty
and like he was violated.

He sighed and turned into Bruce’s embrace, allowing his alpha to hold him close as the two
of them made their way up the private elevator to the penthouse – because the one that
Edward had snuck into during his first trip here had been closed off for good, which Edward
found pretty amusing.

“You’ll be safe here, okay?” Bruce mumbled as Edward clung to him tightly. “We have
around the clock security, I’ll set you up with a bodyguard whenever you leave and I sure as
hell won’t use you as bait for some psycho.” He still couldn’t believe that they had done that,
he was both livid and in shock that Arkham and the police would use Edward like that.

Maybe he shouldn’t be, after all Gotham is a corrupt city that’s crumbling at the foundations.
He doesn’t want it to be like that, though, he wants to fix the city both on a small and large
scale. He wants to stop the criminal gangs roving the streets and the corruption that seems to
be seeping from every system that the city has in place. He wants to fix it all.

“I hate this.” Edward whispered into Bruce’s shoulder, “I feel so powerless.” He confessed.

“I know.” Bruce replied, in as comforting a manner as he could manage. “I wish I could just
snap my fingers and make this all go away, but-”

“That’s impossible. I know.” Edward smiled weakly and looked at Bruce with a bit of
fondness in his eyes. “I understand, you’re just a man Bruce. You can’t do everything. You’re
not Batman or another superhero like that.” He tipped his head back down and rested his chin
on Bruce’s shoulder.
Bruce let out a little scoff, one that Edward just barely caught. He looked at Bruce again,
curiosity brimming in his eyes. “What? What’s so funny?” He asked.

Bruce shook his head, “It’s nothing.” He said. Edward looked like he wanted to ask
something in response to that, but the next thing that he knew the elevator doors opened and
Bruce took the opportunity to lead him into the penthouse.

The two of them walked inside to see Alfred poised by one of the tables, leaning over to dust
the delicately carved wood. “Back so soon?” Alfred questioned, in lieu of an actual greeting
when he noticed their presence. He looked at Edward pointedly, obviously surprised to see
him hanging off of Bruce’s arm looking so lost.

“There was an incident at Arkham so I got Edward out early.” Bruce explained, because
Edward didn’t seem to want to speak. The omega frowned and crossed his arms over his
chest, his body language closing off as he made himself look small. “I’m going to get that
place shut down if it’s the last thing I do.” Bruce muttered as he walked off.

Edward just stood there for a moment. He felt incredibly uncomfortable in his own skin. He
looked at Bruce, who seemed agitated by everything that he had seen. There was an
aggressive, protective energy that permeated around him. It simultaneously calmed Edward
and set him on edge.

“Do you think I could borrow some clothes?” Edward asked pathetically, looking down at his
prison uniform with disdain. “I want to get out of this crap.” He added, even more
pathetically. These were the same clothes he was wearing when he had been grabbed and
scented against his own will, he could still smell the foreign alphas scent on him. It made his
skin crawl.

“Yeah, yeah of course. We’ll uh, we’ll throw those out.” Bruce replied, gesturing at his prison
uniform in a disdainful manner. He probably felt the same way that Edward did, annoyed by
the lingering scent of the copycat. Or one of them. “Um, tomorrow we can- I’ll take you
shopping so you can have your own wardrobe.” He offered. “In fact, I’ll take the whole day
off tomorrow and we can get you whatever you need. And do whatever you like.” He added,
strangely earnest.

Edward paused and flushed at the idea, “I don’t need anything fancy, you can just… I don’t
know, have Alfred or whoever grab some things from Walmart or something. I don’t know.
I’m not really a fashion person.” He rambled, because he truly didn’t know what he would do
with himself if Bruce made him go to one of those fancy department stores and try things on
for hours.

He had never had the opportunity to lavish himself with fine things, he was sure that he’d
make a fool of himself in the upper class shopping districts. It would be like that scene from
Pretty Woman, but only more embarrassing, because Edward always seemed to make every
social situation end up with him as the laughingstock.

Bruce did not seem impressed by that. “Don’t be ridiculous. You need things, Edward, and
it’ll help you settle in.” Then he gentled his disposition just a little bit, “Besides, it might help
take your mind off things.” He added.
“… I suppose you have a point.” The omega acquiesced after a moment or two of sullen
silence. “But I’m not going to fawn over your wealth just because you can buy whatever you
want. You can’t buy me, Bruce.” He said petulantly, but with no real venom. It was like he
was play acting a role.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Bruce reassured, “And I already told you I don’t need to buy you
when you’re mine.” Edward huffed at that, but did not argue because it wasn’t something that
he thought he could argue with. It was just a fact – he belonged to Bruce Wayne.

Edward felt strangely sullen for the rest of the night and he clung to Bruce’s side as much as
the alpha would allow him to. He was practically sitting in his lap as they ate dinner together,
Bruce coddled him and held him close – petting Edward’s hair and stroking his bonding
gland as they ate.

By the time that they put the dishes away, Edward was feeling a little better – but the stink of
the asylum was still on him and he desperately wanted to get it off. “Can we take a bath
together?” He asked, mumbling the words into Bruce’s neck as he clung to him.
 Chapter 6

The next morning, Edward woke up in Bruce’s – and he supposed, his – bed, curled up
around blankets. It was early enough that it was still dark in the room, the natural light barely
giving him enough to see where he had left his glasses on the table next to the bed.

He frowned and stretched after putting on his glasses. Then he quietly made his way out of
the bedroom. He wanted to explore his new home, he hadn’t gotten the chance to the last time
he had been here. He walked through the halls delicately, looking at the beautiful architecture
of the place.

Everything here was so pretty – it all screamed wealth. Again, Edward felt that bit of
revulsion at himself, at how easily he was drawn in by pretty baubles and a bit of comfort. He
just hoped that being connected to Bruce in the way that he was would help him pursue his
goals in another way.

Edward saw himself as more of a revolutionary than a reformist – and boy, wasn’t that
obvious given his history – but given no other option he could take the nonviolent approach.
If nothing else, it would be useful to have someone as powerful as Bruce Wayne so close to
him. He thought about that as he explored around his fancy new home.

Penthouse on top of Wayne Tower had four floors and so many different rooms that it made
Edward’s head spin a little bit. Some of the rooms were locked – a decent amount of them –
but in the ones that weren’t he saw more bedrooms than anyone should really need. Other
kinds of rooms too, the kind you’d only find in a mansion – sitting rooms and parlors and sun
rooms. It was all so posh.

He supposed that that meant that when he and Bruce had children – which could be as soon
as nine months from now, Edward reminded himself wearily – they wouldn’t need to do
expanding. The omega wasn’t even entirely sure if the place was capable of being expanded.
It was already… so much.

As he made his way out of one of the rooms he was stopped by Alfred, Bruce’s butler. He
had only spoken to Edward once or twice before, so it made sense that he was looking at
Edward with much more suspicion than he was afforded by Bruce. He likely didn’t trust
Edward as far as he could throw him. “What are you doing?” He asked, looking at Edward
like he thought he was going to go crazy and try to kill him any moment now.

Edward, for his part, just looked bashfully down at his hands. “Oh, I was just exploring.” He
explained shyly. “This place is so… grand. I don’t know how you and Bruce don’t get lost in
here.”

Alfred lightened up at that noticeably. “Would you like a proper tour?” He asked.

Edward nodded at that, “That would be… nice. I guess. Sure.” He said, allowing himself a
tiny smile at the prospect of being shown around.
“Excellent.” Alfred replied, “Come along then.” He ordered and Edward was quick to follow
behind him as he led Edward down the hall. “I’m assuming Master Bruce is still asleep,
then?” He asked, as he led Edward into one of the rooms. It was covered wall to wall with
books.

“Yeah, I didn’t realize he was such a night owl.” Edward replied, looking at the grand room.
It was the kind of place that he would be blissful to spend hours in. “He was up all night, it
seems.” He added, only a little bothered by that. He would have liked to be able to cuddle
with the alpha, but it seems Bruce was busy with other things. Fine.

“Yes, he does that sort of thing often.” Alfred replied, sounding a little distracted. “This is the
library, you can borrow anything you like. Just make sure to take care of it.” He said. Edward
hummed as he looked in the room, he’d probably end up spending a lot of time here. He
loved to read.

Alfred led him along through the other rooms, showing him guest rooms and parlors while
occasionally expounding on some bit of trivia – a piece of furniture that Martha had painted
on one of her good days, or a painting that Thomas had purchased or a room where Bruce
liked to hide in when he was a child. Things like that.

He was glad to hear about it, though, because he was sure it wasn’t something that Bruce
would share himself. Either because he didn’t remember or because he was so weird about
his childhood memories that he refused to acknowledge the past himself. It sated his curiosity
about the alpha, at least for now.

“Um, did Bruce tell you about what happened at Arkham?” Edward asked as they walked
around the hall. He wasn’t even entirely sure if he wanted Alfred to know, it seemed like the
butler wouldn’t much care for him no matter what had happened to him. “There was um, that
is to say there is…”

“I heard about the copycat. I am truly sorry that that happened to you.” Alfred said, “We
didn’t expect you to come to live here so soon, it’s just that we were quite unprepared for
your arrival. There were things we needed to change, adjustments we needed to make…”

“What did you have to change?” Edward asked, looking at Alfred curiously.

Alfred paused and Edward squinted at him. “Well, for starters we had to find a replacement
for Dory because she quit when she found out that you were coming back because she is
terrified of you.” He explained.

“I’m not scary.” Edward replied, offended.

“You broke into Wayne Tower and tried to kill Bruce. She’s the one who walked in on that
and she has a weak heart. So we’re out a housekeeper for now.” Alfred pointed out.

“… Fair.” Edward admitted after a moment. The two of them went on with the tour for some
time and by the time that Alfred had shown him most of the penthouse he was so
overwhelmed by how much space there was in the place that he had never bothered to ask
what was up with all the locked rooms.
It was around midday when Bruce decided to take Edward out for the first time since he had
been arrested. He needed new clothes and it was only a matter of time before he would need
to be introduced to the public as Bruce’s mate.

It was one of those things that Bruce didn’t believe had a chance to go very well, but seeing
as they didn’t have much of a choice in the matter it was best to just get it over with.
Currently, Bruce was standing out in the hall waiting for Edward to come out and show him
one of his new outfits.

He had been quick to hire a stylist to help Edward get a wardrobe suitable for an omega of
his station. Edward was not too excited to be led around a department store by some tiny,
bubbly blonde beta woman who seemed interested in making him dress every bit like the
spoiled housewife he would no doubt be turned into.

He suffered through it because he was sure that he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.
The stylist had piled outfits upon outfits in his arms, occasionally asking him his opinion on
them – which was something he had no business giving, his opinion on fashion. He had never
cared about fashion, never saw the point and he was much too poor to care about frivolous
things like that.

When he was living on his own, he bought all of his clothes at thrift stores and didn’t bother
trying to pretty himself up. He never saw much point in it, he had always doubted that there
would ever be an alpha that wanted him and he wasn’t sure if he had wanted to be bonded
anyway.

There was something frightening about being bound to an alpha, the hierarchy of a bond
between alpha and omega had always given Edward pause. There was a sort of implicit
inequality – a benevolent stewardship that alphas had over their omegas. Alphas took care of
their omegas and in return, the omegas would submit to them body mind and soul.

That had always scared Edward. Picking the wrong alpha could have terrible consequences,
this was even more precarious in a situations like Edward. Bruce and he didn’t court or fall in
love prior to their bonding, their biology had decided they needed to be together. If Bruce
wasn’t as decent an alpha as he was, Edward could see himself in an awful situation with
someone who had power over him.

Someone who he had, incidentally, tried to kill.

Edward frowned, shifted from foot to foot as he dressed himself in one of the many outfits
that had been picked out for him. It felt a little embarrassing to have all his clothes picked out
for him, like he was a little kid that had no sense of what he wanted but it was just something
he’d have to deal with for now.

The clothes were overtly feminine and made for omegas, lots of dresses and short skirts.
Everything was made of fine material that Edward was too poor to be even looking at. Or he
used to be, at least. He supposed he was wealthy now. He put on one of the dresses and
buttoned it up in the front. It had a skirt that flared out and cap-sleeves. It kind of reminded
Edward of something you’d see a ‘60s housewife wearing.
It was comfortable though, strangely enough, and it was tailored to fit his body in a flattering
way. His hips looked rounder, his waist a bit slimmer and his meager breasts more filled out
in the dress. He pressed his mouth into a thin line and turned to the side as he eyed himself in
the mirror. He pressed his hand against his stomach, feeling the slight bit of pudginess
underneath the dress and sighed.

Then he walked out of the dressing room to meet with Bruce and the stylist. When he walked
out, the stylist squealed and clapped. Edward struggled to remember her name for a moment
before it came to him. Madeline. “Oh, look at you! You look so sweet. I knew this would suit
you, great for your image.”

Edward scoffed, “My image.” He parroted, the words stuck on the roof of his mouth like
something tacky and sticky.

“Yes,” Madeline replied, “Now that you are out of Arkham, it’s good for you to project a
certain kind of image.” She explained. She put her hands together in front of her, in a delicate
gesture. Edward rolled his eyes. “We, that is to say Wayne Enterprises, we think that it would
be good to paint a narrative of a reformed Riddler. We’ve tested it and the story works, it sells
well, no one wants to believe that an omega is capable of what you did. We just need you to
play the part.”

“Oh my god, you’ve been speaking for thirty seconds and I’ve already had it up to here with
this fucking corporate speak.” Edward snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Edward.” Bruce started and the omega just gave him an exasperated look.

Madeline smiled, it was not a nice smile. “Oh this isn’t corporate speak, corporate speak
would be to let you know that you’re bonding does very well with the eighteen to thirty-five
demo but not so much with the tough on crime crowd, which is an over-represented group in
Gotham. So we need to make sure that it at least looks like you’re rehabilitated. Okay?” She
explained in a sugary sweet voice.

“Oh my god.” Edward muttered, rubbing the side of his face as he stepped away from
Madeline and her fake smiles. “This is… this is too much.”

“Edward…” Bruce said again.

“I’m not a media person.” Edward muttered, spiraling a bit. “I’m not- I’m not… I can’t do
this. I can’t do this.”

“Edward, come here.” Bruce snapped, an alpha’s command in his voice. Bruce had never
done that before, used his voice to compel the omega. Not when Edward tried to kill him and
not during one of his breakdowns in Arkham. But he did it now.

Edward practically tripped over his own feet to do as he was told and soon he was wrapped
up in a tight embrace. Bruce was holding him and Edward blinked for a minute, surprised,
before melting into it. “Edward, you need to calm down.” Bruce told him, speaking in a low
voice. “It’s not that dire.”
“Shut up.” Edward scoffed, but rubbed his cheek against Bruce’s shoulder. “This is stupid
and you know it.”

“Maybe, but she’s got a point.” Bruce replied, “You do need to at least appear sorry. And you
do look good in that dress. Nice.”

“Shut up.” Edward said again, but there was a tiny smile on his face. He tried everything else
on without much of a fuss and tried not to think about how much more complicated the
copycat would make things. Not just for him, apparently, but also for Bruce.

The longer that Edward was free from Arkham, the more surreal that he felt. A part of him
wondered if he truly should be locked up in Arkham for the rest of his days. At least in a
place like Arkham, until the incident happened, things had been simpler.

All he had to do in Arkham was sit around and wait for Bruce to visit him. He didn’t have to
even be much of a person, as long as he was eating his meals and taking his meds Bruce
would reward him with puzzles and soft blankets and treats from outside. Now he had to deal
with press and media training and then the copycat, it was just so much to deal with.

Things weren’t going to be simple anymore, they were going to be incredibly complicated
and there was nothing that Edward could do about it but roll with the punches. And he hated
rolling with the punches, he hated unexpected change and he hated his plans being disrupted.

Yesterday, he had gone shopping with Bruce and worked with a stylist to construct an image
for himself that people would… like. Truthfully, he didn’t think that it would work out, he
had never been very likable. For most of his life people had either ignored him or treated him
like a freak. No in between, he rarely made friends and he often found himself a social
outcast in most situations.

Now he was laying in Bruce Wayne’s insanely luxurious bed, wearing slinky lingerie as he
waited for him to come in and take him. This part of being an omega was much easier for
him to handle than all the rest of it – the public stuff and all the PR he could do without, but
he could handle being with Bruce without any trouble. That was the easy part.

Or at least, it was easier than dealing with rich assholes and crowds of people who either
thought he was a vindictive murderer who got off on a technicality or he was a wayward
omega who never would have been capable of what he did if not for the influence of his
followers online. As if he couldn’t think for himself and it was all some plan cooked up by an
alpha or a beta who used him, it was insulting to his intelligence.

While Edward was in the middle of his spiraling thoughts, Bruce walked in with an agitated
expression on his face. Edward sat up and watched him, he was on the phone and he was
quietly arguing with someone on the other end of the line. “–I don’t really care what kind of
story you want. He’s not doing it.” He snapped at whoever he was speaking with. “Look, you
understand he’s a person? Not a thought experiment or something you can sell to advertisers.
And he’s been through a lot of trauma already, he doesn’t need a vulture like you digging
around in his head to get a story.”
Edward flushed, realizing that Bruce was talking about him. He had not expected to hear his
alpha being so… protective over him. Whoever was on the other line had a sharp retort, but
Edward couldn’t hear the specifics. “I’m his alpha,” Bruce said, “The answers no.” Then he
hung up the call.

Bruce sighed in aggravation and turned towards Edward. “You’re wearing lingerie.” Bruce
said, deadpan and with a dry mouth as he looked at Edward. His eyes lingered over the lacy
bralette and the delicate ruffles of his panties, the way everything hugged his body in a
flattering way. “Suits you much better than whatever they gave you at Arkham.”

Edward drew his knees up a little and spread his thighs. “Who was that on the phone?” He
asked, more out of pure curiosity than anything else.

“Vicki Vale.” Bruce practically hissed her name. Oh. So they must have some personal issues
then, Edward thought. “She wanted to interview you. I told her no.” He explained.

“I thought I was supposed to talk to the press.” Edward reminded. “You’re having me media
trained for that very purpose.” Not like he didn’t need it. He was even more awkward and
camera shy than Bruce was and he was famous for how much of a recluse he had grown to
be.

“The press. Not tabloid vultures like Vale.” Bruce explained.

“Sounds like you’ve got a history with her.” Edward pointed out, curious as to what could
make Bruce so on edge about some… reporter. She didn’t seem to be worth the emotional
trouble she was causing his alpha.

“Something like that.” Bruce muttered, but didn’t elaborate. Bruce sat down on the bed and
his hand trailed over Edward’s bare thigh, from his ankle up to his hip. “You know, I think I
picked these out for you.” He said, “I knew they’d suit you, you look so pretty all dressed up
for me.”

Edward smiled at Bruce, “You like it?” He asked, his voice pitching up a little as he smiled.
He looked down at the lacy thing he was wearing. It was black and emerald green and made
of floral lace and silk. It fit his body snugly and wearing it made him feel… good. Confident,
in a way that he rarely was.

Bruce’s hand moved in between his thighs to caress his clothed cunt through his panties. “I
like it a lot more than I could easily put into words.” Bruce replied. Edward’s breath hitched
as Bruce rubbed his clit through his panties, before gently pushing him down on the bed so he
could move over him.

Edward watched as Bruce stripped himself of his shirt and pants, balling up each article of
clothing and carelessly throwing it to the side. His underwear got the same treatment and
before Edward could even process what was going on, Bruce was pulling the fabric of his
underwear to the side before sliding his cock between Edward’s folds.

Bruce thrust his cock into Edward with a sense of urgency that the omega did not truly
comprehend, it was like he was marking Edward as his. But that was silly, because he already
belonged to Bruce in every way that mattered. It just went to show that Bruce was an alpha
through and through. He was just as pigheaded and possessive as the rest of them.

Edward whined as Bruce’s cock filled his cunt, stretching him in all the right ways. Bruce
always felt so big in him, always fucked him so deep that his eyes rolled in the back of his
head when he bottomed out inside of him.

Bruce fucked him deep and hard, marking Edward’s skin with his teeth as he moved inside of
him. The only thing that Edward could do was wrap his arms around Bruce and hold tight as
he was ravished. It spoke to how desperate he was to be touched when he came, untouched
on Bruce’s cock. Bruce did not take long to cum after him, filling him up and leaving him
leaking after a moment when he pulled out.

Edward felt a little fuzzy as he baked in the afterglow, as he often did when Bruce
overwhelmed him like this. He lay underneath his alpha, a foggy expression spread across his
face. “Your scent is different.” Bruce noted. Edward cocked his head, asking how without
forming the words to do so. He was too tired to speak, too overwhelmed. “Sweeter. More
enticing. You look healthier too. Getting out of that place must have been good for you, I
guess.”

“It’s only been a day.” Edward mumbled sleepily, making grabby hands so Bruce would get
the hint and hold him. After a moment or two, he did and he wrapped his arms around
Edward’s midsection to keep him close. “Not that much could have changed, right?”

“What else could it be?” Bruce asked and Edward did not know how to answer, because he
really wasn’t sure. He didn’t think anything was different about him and he wasn’t sure how
Bruce could so easily pick up on it, but he did. “You must feel a little happier, is all.” He said,
“It’s a good thing.”

“Maybe.” Edward shrugged, not wanting or caring to argue about it. He did feel a little better
being out of the asylum, he also felt overwhelmed by every new thing that was disrupting his
routine, but he liked being able to be close to Bruce. Maybe the answer was simply that he
was happier here and his body knew that things would get better over time. He hoped that
that was the answer.

Edward was woken up in the middle of the night by the awful feeling of nausea crawling up
his throat. He stiffened and jumped out of bed, running to the bathroom with as much
urgency as he could manage while half asleep and miserable as he was.

He spent about half an hour hunched over the toilet, spilling his guts out and sobbing
intermittently as he let everything out. By the time that he was finished, he was whimpering
and his face was flushed from his tears. He washed his mouth out to get the taste of sick out
of it and went back to bed.

He was so tired that he almost didn’t notice that Bruce wasn’t in bed with him. But he did
notice and he frowned at the empty spot in the bed. Where could he have gone at this hour, he
thought. It was weird, but his body felt so…heavy that he decided to just let it go. Maybe he
was just getting something from the kitchen, he told himself so it was easier to stop worrying.
He hoped that his sickness was just a one-off, that maybe he had eaten something that didn’t
agree with his stomach. His hopes were quickly dashed the next night when he woke up in
the middle of the night again and ran to the bathroom. When he returned, Bruce was gone.
Again.

Not only was his alphas absence strange, it made a part of him – a small and vulnerable, very
omegan part of him – feel like he was being abandoned when he needed someone there to
comfort him and rub his back. He just felt so awful.

By the time the third day of vomiting and feeling abandoned, Edward was sick of it. He
stayed up after he predictably was woken up by his own nausea and sickness. He sat up in
bed, his arms crossed over his chest with a stern expression spread across his face. He was
going to give Bruce a piece of his mind and find out where the hell he’s been disappearing off
to.

It was nearly morning when Bruce returned to their room. He looked a mess, his hair in
disarray. There were bruises on his knuckles and grease stains on his fingers. “Uh-” He
muttered as he locked eyes with Edward, who had the most displeased look on his face.

“Where the hell have you been?” Edward snapped, in lieu of any greeting.

“Uh-” Bruce exclaimed again, obviously unprepared for the ambush.

“Where did you go?” Edward asked again. “You never go anywhere, so what are you hiding
Bruce. It has to be something terrible-” Edward started to ramble, thinking of all sorts of
gritty and gruesome things that his alpha could be up to.

“Driving.” Bruce explained a little too quickly. “I take drives out on my bike, helps me clear
my head. That’s all.”

“Well… I wish you would have said something.” Edward mumbled, his lip quivering a bit.
He didn’t know why this was so upsetting to him, but it was. “I’ve been getting sick these
past few days and I really needed you to be there for me.”

At that, Bruce cautiously approached. He sat next to where Edward was poised and put a
gentle hand on his knee. “How long has this been going on?” He asked, keeping his voice
low and warm in the hopes that Edward would be comforted by the register.

“Three days? I, I, I wake up and you’re not here and I’m all alone and sick and I-” Edward
stopped speaking entirely and swallowed down a sob. He usually wasn’t so sensitive but all
he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry because he felt like he had been abandoned.

Bruce closed the distance between the two of them and kissed Edward on the top of his head.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you alone when you were feeling so down, I had no idea.
Why didn’t you tell me or Alfred that you were feeling unwell?” He asked, rubbing Edward’s
thigh as he spoke. He was doing everything in his power to project a calm sort of energy that
his omega could latch onto. He hoped that it would soothe him, but he wasn’t confident in his
ability to do so.
“I thought it was just a one time thing but it kept happening.” Edward explained in a tiny
little voice that was reminiscent of a kid being caught doing something they really shouldn’t.
Bruce stroked his neck and pulled him into his arms.

“It’s okay. We’ll go to the doctor today.” He said, “I’m sure it’s nothing.” Edward huffed and
held on tight to the alpha, feeling so little and vulnerable as he was held tightly. “It’s okay.”
Bruce said again.

Around midday, the two of them took a drive downtown to the doctors office. Edward was a
little shocked by how… nice everything was here, the last doctor that he had seen had been at
a free clinic and the office was a mess with nowhere to sit. He had to keep reminding himself
that he was of another class now. Rich people got to hang out at fancy doctors offices where
they had coffee machines in the lobby and soothing music playing overhead as they waited.

Edward was feeling so needy that he grabbed onto Bruce’s hand and held it tight as they
waited for his name to be called. For his part, Bruce did a good job at putting up with every
needy motion that Edward was going through.

“Edward. Edward Nashton?” A perky nurse came out of the door and called his name.
Edward jumped up, pulling Bruce along with him because he refused to let the alpha go.

“That’s us.” Edward said to the nurse and she smiled politely before walking them through.
Soon enough he was led into an examination room and given a few tests by the nurse before
the doctor came in to see them.

His doctor strode in after several minutes, holding a thick binder in his arms.
“Congratulations Mr. Nashton, Mr. Wayne.” He said. He sounded a little distracted as he said
it while looking over what Edward assumed was his file. He wondered if his past as a serial
killer was written in there, in between his allergies and all the broken bones he had
accumulated as a kid.

Edward pursed his lips, “Congratulations for what?” He asked.

The doctor chuckled, “You’re expecting. A few weeks along, according to your urinalysis.
Again, congratulations. The whole city will be pleased to hear about a Wayne heir. Or two.
Too early to tell if there’s twins.”

Edward blinked at that. Bruce blinked too. “But we’ve only had one heat together.” Bruce
pointed out, like it just didn’t seem possible. “Isn’t it a little soon?”

“Only takes one time to take, Mr. Wayne.” The doctor replied in a tone that suggested he
thought Bruce was being ridiculous. Stupid.

“That’s… true.” Bruce admitted.

“Yep. That is true. That’s how babies are made.” Edward mumbled in a small voice, feeling
shell shocked at the realization. He was pregnant, of course it made sense. The nausea was
morning sickness and the mood swings that he had been experiencing were due to hormones.
He knew it was a possibility that it was going to happen sooner or later, he just assumed it
would be… later. Very much later, maybe a few years down the road.

Edward continued feeling like there was a tinny sensation in his ears, blocking out all the
noise as the appointment continued on. He wasn’t there, mentally. His hand kept touching his
own stomach, like he felt like something was going to burst out of it. It was a ridiculous
thought, but it stayed with him until they were in the car and Bruce was speeding off back
home.

Edward shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he came back to himself. “Are you upset about
this?” He asked, keeping his voice little. It was like he was afraid to speak at a normal
register, like he thought it would just anger the alpha even more. If he was angry in the first
place, Edward had a hard time reading Bruce – especially right now when his brain was so…
full.

Bruce looked over at Edward, a strange expression on his face. “What?” He asked, as if he
hadn’t heard Edward clearly the first time.

Edward flushed and wrung his hands out. He felt so… vulnerable now, like he was always
two seconds away from bursting into tears. He wondered if it was going to be like this the
whole time. Or maybe it would get more intense, he would become more emotional and
erratic. Great.

His emotional state wasn’t great at the best of times, he could only imagine how obnoxious
things were going to get when he couldn’t stop himself from crying like this. “You know…
the pregnancy. Are you mad about it?” He asked again, playing with his fingers even more in
his nervousness.

“Why would I be mad? No. I’m not. I’m… surprised. It’s not a bad thing. I just didn’t expect
it to happen so soon.” Bruce explained, speaking rapidly. His eyes drifted over towards
Edward, filled with concern. “I took you off your birth control and suppressants for a reason.
I think having a child would be good for you. Good for both of us.” Bruce had wanted
children for as long as he could recall, wanted a family that he could keep safe and protect
from what had happened to him. He had even considered adopting before Edward had crash
landed into his life.

“I’ll probably be a bad mother. I’ll mess something up.” Edward muttered, so low that Bruce
barely heard him say it. Back when he was in the orphanage, he and the other omegas had
been delegated to watching over the babies and children. Edward had had to watch so many
of them needlessly die because there wasn’t enough warmth or food or whatever else that
babies needed.

Over the years, Edward had come to blame himself – at least in part – for their deaths. He
always wondered if there was something, anything, that he could have done to save them
from a horrible death where they cried their little lungs out because they didn’t understand
what was going on and why they were in so much pain.

“I don’t think that’s true. You’ll do just fine and you’ll have help. Lots of help.” Bruce said,
as if that was that. Edward huffed, not knowing what to say to that. He wouldn’t know until
he actually had the kid, but his anxiety about the situation still shone through.

To calm himself down, Edward fiddled with the radio. He flipped through various stations to
distract himself until they got home. It didn’t exactly work out that way because the station
he landed on was quickly interrupted by a newsflash. “Attention citizens of Gotham. Mayor
Real has announced a curfew following the brutal murder of Governer Lieberman by the
Riddler. The official was on the campaign trail when he was kidnapped and executed by the
killer. The city will be under lock down after eight PM until this murderer can be caught.
Stay safe out there, Gothamites.”

“Not the Riddler. Just a copycat.” Edward mumbled, his hand closing over his belly. He
really did not want to deal with a murdering stalker while he was pregnant. It was all too
much. His head span and he quickly shut the radio off. He wondered if things were ever
going to get less complicated for him.
 Chapter 7
Chapter Summary

bruce ur preg kink is showing

Tap-Tap-Tap…

Edward huffed as he carefully typed in the password to enter the private chat server where
the Riddler Copycat’s followers – some of which were his old followers, he reminded himself
bitterly – were grouped up.

It wasn’t hard for him to track down a couple of his old followers congregated online and
stalk them around, watch their interactions until he found a link to a discord server. It wasn’t
the real server, the one where they would be crafting their plans and communicating with the
Riddler copycat, but it was a step in the right direction.

He had crafted a false online identity in the weeks prior. He played the part of a pathetic beta
in his mid 40’s who was put upon by life in Gotham. It wasn’t a difficult role for Edward to
play, if anything he had to tone down his pathos to make himself more believable as a beta. A
lot of the struggles that Edward went through had to do with his endotype. A middle-aged
beta had a different set of issues and Edward had to learn how to play to that.

He was not a very good liar or actor, but it was easier when it was just him behind a screen.
No one could look at his face for tells or listen to the tremor in his voice to detect the
deception at hand. From there on out it was easy to gain the trust of a few of them. Then all
he had to do was wait for an invite. He knew how these things worked.

He sighed as he watched the chat, waiting for someone to greet him. He always felt awkward
being the first person to say something either in person or online. It didn’t take long for the
others to take notice of his presence. His username was generic and bland – John47, like the
kind of generated username for someone with too little creativity to think of one for himself.
It was perfect for his purposes.

Xx_FVCKGOTHAM_Xx: Hey! Look who it is! Glad you made it to the server. This is the guy
I was talking about, he’ll be a great fit here.

John47: Yes, I’m glad to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Edward frowned as he looked at the little notification that said, “Several people are typing…”
Bruce wouldn’t be happy if he knew that Edward was doing this. But Bruce didn’t need to
know everything. Edward needed to do this, he needed to track down the creep that stole his
identity and misappropriated it. He would expose this copycat and let the Riddler persona
truly die. Then he and Bruce would work on fixing things in Gotham in the annoyingly
earnest way that he seemed to think would work. He would try and see things his way, for his
alphas sake.

A chorus of “welcomes” came in the following moments and Edward let out a little sigh of
relief. The bit of anxiety he had that they would be able to sniff him out from across the web.

JumpinJaxFlash: Hey did you guys hear about what that traitor did?

They were talking about him. There was no doubt in his mind that his followers felt betrayed
by his… change in tactics. Maybe they even had a point in their feelings of betrayal, but what
else did they expect Edward to do? He had been forced into this situation, he didn’t choose to
bond with Bruce or to develop these pesky feelings for him. He quickly typed up a response.

John47: What did he do now?

JumpinJaxFlash: Bitch is pregnant. He’s bringing in another Wayne into the world. That’s the
ultimate betrayal.

Edward’s hand instinctively went around his belly to protect the pup that was growing inside
of him. A protective growl rose out of him, His hindbrain went crazy at the idea that someone
might hurt them. He took a breath to try and calm himself, remind himself that they couldn’t
get to them here. There was nowhere safer in Gotham than where he was now.

John47: That’s disgusting.

N0M0reLi3s: well what do you expect? They’re all whores. Not surprising he’d abandon his
principles the minute that he got his.

‘They’ of course meant omegas. Edward ground his teeth a little. He’s not at all surprised that
these guys are omegaphobic. It’s a common prejudice among betas and alphas, omegas are
both treated like spectacles or prizes while at the same time being reviled for their endotype.
People thought omegas were inferior, that they were only good as breeding stock or wives. It
was another thing that had made Edward’s life hard, another thing that made things difficult
for him.

Sometimes he wondered if he would be a little bit less fucked up if he was just a regular old
beta, or if he was always destined to turn out like this.

JumpinJaxFlash: Still. It’s fucking disgusting. Breeding with a Wayne should get you
waterboarded.

Edward jumped up from his position hunched over the laptop as he heard footsteps approach
outside his door and he shut his laptop closed, hiding it just in time before Bruce walked into
the room. He smiled nervously at his alpha, hoping it wasn’t obvious that he was just doing
something dangerous – maybe even foolish. “There you are.” Bruce said, sounding relieved.
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“Sorry. I just… wanted to be alone.” Edward refused to meet Bruce’s eyes. He really was an
awful liar and Bruce wasn’t an idiot. He might just see through him. A moment passed and a
look of concern crossed Bruce’s handsome features.

“Is something the matter?” Bruce asked, keeping his voice low and gentle. “You look a little
pale.” He pointed out as he gripped Edward’s chin to examine his face more clearly. Edward
blushed at the closeness between them.

Edward didn’t know what else to do but put his hand on his belly, rubbing it in a discontent
manner. “I just… I feel a little…” He mumbled and he found himself shaking, trembling with
anxiety and a sort of overwhelmed fervor. The next thing that he knew, Bruce had pulled him
into an embrace. Bruce could be maddeningly sweet in his strange way, it made Edward feel
a bit guilty.

“Shh, it’s alright. You don’t have to say. Let’s get you out of this room though, I don’t like
you isolating yourself.” There was a hint of that compelling alpha tone in his voice. Bruce
has been using it more and more lately to mollify him. It feels a little like a violation, but
when Edward hears him talk like that he’s so soothed that he can’t figure out why it bothers
him in the first place.

Edward follows Bruce out into the hall and walks with him wherever he wants to take him.
They stop in the kitchen and Bruce encourages him to sit down at the table. “Ah, there you
are.” Alfred commented in a blasé manner. “We were wondering where you hid yourself all
day. I suppose Bruce must have found you in one of the rooms.”

Edward smiled nervously, “Was I really gone all day?” He asked, feeling a little
uncomfortable with that revelation.

“Mm-hmm, you must be hungry after hiding all day.” Alfred replied as Bruce circled around
the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee.

“Can I have some?” Edward asked. Alfred’s coffee was always delicious, even when it was
just black.

“Caffeine’s no good for the baby.” Bruce replied, with a shake of his head.

“Come on, it’s just one cup.” Edward whined, wringing his fingers together. He supposed that
he shouldn’t be surprised, he hadn’t had a cup of coffee in over eight weeks, since he had
found out about his pregnancy Bruce had been extra careful about what Edward was allowed
to consume. It was incredibly annoying, but he appreciated the fact that his alpha cared
enough about their pup that he was willing to be a bother about it.

“How about some herbal tea? Or a smoothie?” Alfred compromised.

Edward huffed and leaned forward, cupping his face in his hands. “I guess a smoothie sounds
nice.” He replied, complacent with the compromise. Alfred went to work making that
smoothie for him. Not five minutes later he had it ready for Edward to drink, set up in a fancy
cup with a straw.
Edward gratefully took the drink in his hands and nervously sipped at it. It tasted like mixed
berries and honey and he moaned a little as he sipped from it. He still wasn’t used to food
that didn’t come out of a package yet. The omega gave a quiet little huff, “Thank you
Alfred.” He mumbled and watched as Alfred moved around the kitchen to whip Edward up
something for lunch.

Bruce’s hand moved to stroke Edward’s hair and Edward felt himself melt a little at the
contact. Bruce’s hand moved a little lower to stroke at his bonding gland until his shoulders
drooped and his eyes felt heavy. “There.” The alpha hummed, “You look more relaxed now.”

Edward glared halfheartedly for a moment before he let it go and slumped against Bruce. He
huffed tiredly and mumbled, “I feel so heavy.” to his alpha, as if Bruce could do anything to
fix it.

“You’re not that far along. It shouldn’t be affecting you that much yet.” Bruce pointed out, to
which Edward shrugged in reply. He still felt like he had to carry himself differently. He had
always been a little chubby, but now his belly was rounder and it stood out a little. His
clothes were getting tighter around his middle and his back had started to ache regularly.

“Well it is. I feel awful.” Edward mumbled sourly, brushing his cheek against Bruce’s
shoulder to get more comfort from him. Bruce continued to stroke Edward’s hair and
massage his pulse point, switching between the soothing motions in a somewhat random
manner.

Bruce’s other arm circled around his middle to stroke his newly rounded belly. It felt nice, the
alpha was so gentle with him that he couldn’t help but feel soothed by his touch. By the time
that Alfred brought him something to eat, Edward was practically molded against his alpha
and making small contented noises. Not unlike a cat purring.

Edward ate his food slowly and delicately, taking his time to eat. The whole time that he ate
Bruce pet his hair and rubbed his belly in a soothing manner to encourage him to keep eating
until his plate was empty. He pushed his plate away from him and huffed quietly, turning his
face into Bruce’s chest and clinging to him.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek into the coarse fabric of Bruce’s shirt. He heard a
chuckle above him before he was pulled in closer. It didn’t take him long to drift off while
clinging to his alpha like he was a lifeboat and he was stranded in the ocean.

Edward sat on his knees, his fingers splayed across his spread thighs. He was entirely nude
and looking up at his alpha with a hazy, lustful expression. Slick poured out of his bare cunt
and seeped onto his thighs as Bruce cupped his chin and lifted Edward’s gaze to his.

Edward whimpered and rubbed his thighs together, feeling the wetness between them. The
scent of slick and sex permeated the air. He could sense how aroused Bruce was, could see
his hard cock straining the confines of his trousers. “I can smell how wet you are.” Bruce
muttered, stroking the underside of Edward’s chin as he spoke. “It’s sweeter now that you’re
pregnant, more fertile. I can’t get enough of it.”
The alpha’s eyes roved over Edward’s body, taking in every inch of him. His gaze lingered on
Edward’s breasts, which had gotten bigger over the last few weeks, swelling up with milk.
His puffy pink nipples were stiff peaks on his chest, erect with arousal and want. Then there
was his stomach, which had started to show almost immediately after his pregnancy was
announced. It had swelled up around rounded out in such a way that he looked a little further
along than he actually was. It suited him. It suited him a lot.

Bruce doesn’t think he’s ever seen anyone look as beautiful as his omega did right then.
Pretty and bred full and all his. “Open your mouth.” He finds himself demanding, his voice
rough with lust. He’s nearly growling and his pupils have dilated a bit – almost like he’s in
rut, but not quite. Edward’s mouth obediently falls open and he moans prettily with need as
Bruce pulls his cock out and the head of it presses against his waiting tongue.

Edward moans again at the taste of the alpha on his tongue and wraps his lips around it
before hollowing out his cheeks and taking him even deeper. He looks up at Bruce and his
eyes water as he takes in the ragged expression on his alpha’s face.

Within seconds, Bruce pushes his head down until his lips are touching the base of his knot.
He keens and ruts his hips into the air as Bruce uses his mouth. “Good little omega, all
mine.” Bruce mutters in that rough and low voice, every decibel of it intent on taking
possession of the omega on his knees in front of him. Edward’s eyes continue to water until
tears spill over onto his cheeks and down his chin.

“Taking me so well.” He continues on as he pilots Edward’s head up and down his shaft. “I’m
so proud of you, sweetheart.” The praise goes straight to Edwards head. It makes his heart
flutter and his pussy clench around nothing. He really, really wants Bruce’s knot.

Edward’s face is red from crying when Bruce finally allows him to pull up off of his cock. He
takes a grateful breath and whimpers again, drooling a little more. He feels weightless,
mindless and so close to orgasm that he might explode if he doesn’t really soon.

As if sensing his desperation, Bruce pulled him up by his hips and lifted him up into his arms.
The next thing that Edward knew, he was spread across Bruce’s thighs. His legs were splayed
wide as Bruce sunk him down onto his cock. Edward threw his head back and moaned,
cumming almost instantaneously as his alphas cock filled him up.

“So good, so good, so good…” He babbled mindlessly as Bruce lifted him up and down on
his cock, fucking him just the way he needed to be fucked. Edward rolled his hips in time
with Bruce’s manhandling. He tipped his head back again and moaned openly, gripping
Bruce’s shoulders as he whined and rutted against his alpha.

Bruce came inside of Edward with a grunt, his knot swelling up and locking the two of them
together. Edward whined and practically fell against Bruce, he was so tired and satisfied.
Bruce locked his arms around Edward’s waist and held him firmly. “I’ve got you, Edward.
Mine. All mine.” Bruce muttered in a voice so low and rough that it may as well have been a
growl. There was a streak of possessiveness in everything that he was doing from the way
that he was holding Edward, to how his voice sounded when he muttered nonsense into his
ear.
A few hours later, Edward was showered and dressed plainly in a little pleated skirt and a
comfortable blouse before being led out of the penthouse and into a town car. They had an
appointment with the OBGYN that Edward was dreading. The anxiety that always
surrounded him about doctors was bad enough, but it was made even worse by his terror that
something was terribly wrong with the pregnancy.

It was just one of those terrible feelings that Edward had. So many things had gone wrong in
his life and he had already dealt with so many traumas that it only made sense that his (first?)
pregnancy would end in disaster. He didn’t tell his fears to Bruce because he was sure that the
alpha wouldn’t understand why he was so worried.

Bruce has been touched by misfortune, but he didn’t think that it had followed the alpha
stubbornly throughout his entire life. That was the way that Edward felt about his own life,
that he had been relentlessly hounded by grim things happening in his life without any sort of
rhyme or reason why.

The first bout of misfortune had happened when he had been born as an omega instead of just
a beta and it had all gone downhill from there on out. His mother had abandoned him, his
father had abused him until he died and left him an orphan. Things continued on like that for
most of his life. Every time that Edward would convince himself that things couldn’t get
much worse, another bad thing would happen. It didn’t take long for it to drive him a little
crazy.

Bonding with Bruce had been another thing that he would have counted as misfortune, but
there was a strange silver lining to it. That silver lining being that he had somehow managed
to fall in love with the alpha, being bonded was something that Edward never thought he
would have for himself.

Now all he could do was imagine ways that this reprieve from a hellish existence would be
ruined and dashed apart. Edward sat on a medical cot in a doctors office, wearing a thin paper
gown as he waited for his doctor to come and check up on him. He waited with baited breath
to be told what awful thing was wrong with his baby. There had to be something.

His doctor walked in with a cheery smile on her face. “Good afternoon Edward, Bruce.” She
said, her tone full of professionalism. “How has everything been going the past few weeks?”
She asked, looking at Edward specifically because the omega was the only one that could
properly answer.

“Uh, fine. I guess.” Edward mumbled. “No worse than usual I guess. I can’t have coffee
anymore so that’s not great, but I’m dealing with it.” He crossed his arms over his chest in a
display of discomfort.

“Have you been experiencing any abdominal pain lately?”

Edward rung his hands, “Why? Do you think there’s something wrong?” He asked, his
anxiety spiking again.

“Just a standard question.” The doctor informed patiently.

“…No. I haven’t been experiencing any pain.” Edward finally answered.

“Any swelling?”

“…Some. That’s normal though, right? It’s not painful or anything.”

“Mm-hmm. And you’ve been taking your supplements and eating your recommended
meals?”

“I think so.”

“That’s good, that’s good. Lay back please and we’ll continue on with the ultrasound.” She
directed and Edward did as he was told, laying back on the medical cot. A paper blanket was
laid over his lower half and his gown was raised to expose his swollen belly.

Edward flinched as a cold to the touch gel was rubbed over his stomach. The doctor turned a
monitor towards him so he could see it when she pointed out his child. He flinched again
when she brought a medical device out and laid it on his stomach, gently gliding it back and
forth.

The doctor started to monologue about the state of the baby. “Now there you can see the head
and-” She quickly stopped and paused. “Huh.” She said, “That’s odd.”

“Is something wrong?” Edward asked.

“N-no, I don’t think so. It’s just… there’s more than one head here.” She explained in a
distracted sort of way.

“What?!” Edward exclaimed, shooting up a bit. He was ready to start panicking, the thought
that there was something terribly wrong with his baby circled around in his head. He
wondered if his kid has sprouted extra heads.

Bruce, who had been quiet up until this point, spoke up then. “Maybe you should be a little
more clear. Is there anything wrong?”

“Oh. No! No of course not, I just didn’t expect to see that you were having multiples.” The
doctor explained. Then she smiled nervously. “Looks like triplets. Nothings wrong, um,
you’ve just got three healthy babies on the way. We might have to do a blood test to
determine the sex of all three of them, it’s a little crowded in there, but as far as I can tell they
look like they’re growing just fine.”

Edward blacked out from shock.

Bringing one child into the world was enough of a surprise, but to find out that he was having
three at the same time was almost too much to comprehend. It didn’t even seem possible,
Edward kept expecting that he was going to wake up in his dingy apartment and this all
would have been some strange dream.
Edward hadn’t come down from his state of shock until they were back at the penthouse and
Edward was laying in bed. Luckily for him, Bruce had made sure to get copies of the
ultrasound so Edward could appreciate it when his state of mind was a little less shaky.

Right now, Edward was sitting down with a spread of those ultrasound photos in front of him.
Bruce was right next to him, hand on his belly as Edward looked over the photos. The
ultrasound pictures didn’t look like much of anything – Edward couldn’t make out which
parts were supposed their heads and which bits were their feet – but somehow, it got to him
emotionally anyway.

It was just the fact that these were his kids! They were growing inside of him and he already
felt some sort of primal connection to them. He already felt protective over them and he
wondered what kind of people they would grow into. He wondered if Bruce felt this sort of
kinship to their future pups too or if it was just because Edward was carrying them that he felt
these things more intensely.

If anything, Bruce seemed to be more preoccupied to the changes in his body. His hands
often moved to stroke Edward’s swollen belly or cup his full breasts that had quickly
developed in the past few weeks. Sometimes, when they were in bed and naked the alpha’s
fingers would seek out the stretch marks that had accumulated on his breasts, hips, thighs and
stomach.

Whenever Edward would ask him just what he thought he was doing, Bruce would just kiss
him somewhere on his body and tell him how beautiful he was. It was all very weird, but
Bruce was kind of a weird guy in general so he decided not to pay it too much attention. It
was probably better that Bruce found his body erotic than if he found him disgusting. He
didn’t know what he would do with himself if Bruce didn’t want him anymore, insecurities
about being abandoned permeated his mind. It was the kind of anxiety that was almost
impossible for him to push away.

He let out a little huff as Bruce pulled him closer, pressing a kiss to his bonding gland which
made Edward shiver and crane his head to the side to give the alpha more access to him. He
whimpered as Bruce nipped at his neck, taking the sensitive gland in between his teeth and
nibbling on it before he let it go to suck a bruise into his neck. “You’re ridiculous.” He
muttered, hoping to be biting but just coming across as pathetic.

“And you like it. Don’t even pretend you don’t love the attention.” His alpha chided, nipping
his neck again. Edward let out a little huff and looked down at the photos, his fingers gliding
over the ultrasound as if he was trying to commit every inch of the photos to tactile memory.
“And I can’t help but want to touch you when you look like this.” He muttered.

Suddenly Edward found himself pushed down on his hands and knees. He whimpered as he
was made to present himself on the bed. One of Bruce’s hands pressed down in between his
shoulder-blades, forcing him to bend his elbows and press his face into the mattress.

With the last bits of his dignity in tact, he grabbed the photos of the ultrasound and pushed
them away to a safe location on the bedside table. Bruce grabbed Edward’s plush hips and
squeezed them as he leaned over to kiss Edward’s back. His skirt and underwear were pulled
down and his shirt was pulled up off of him. Bruce kissed his neck again and he whined.
“You’re so lovely like this. Going to keep you bred and full.” His alpha growled in his ear as
he slid two fingers in the omegas pussy to feel how wet he already was.

“D-don’t I have a choice?” Edward asked, challenged. Maybe his tone would have been a
little harsher if he could get his voice to stop wavering. In response to that, Bruce fucked his
fingers into him a little deeper, a little rougher. “’m I just breeding stock to you?”

“You’re mine. My omega and you’ll do whatever I want you to.” Bruce growled, stopping to
nip at Edward’s ear, tugging at the lobe before he let go. “And if I want to stuff you full of
pups until we have a full house then you’ll just have to learn to like it. Won’t you?”

Edward whined and shook his head, “G-goddamn ch-chauvinist.” He mumbled, only to
squeal when Bruce slapped his ass a few times. The alpha leaned back and watched his round
ass jiggle from the impact. He squealed again and again as he was slapped over and over
again.

Bruce didn’t stop until his ass was red and stinging, Edward trembling from the sudden
violence. Then his alphas hands were massaging his ass in an almost apologetic manner.
“You know, you look so sweet and innocent when you’re not mouthing off.” He hummed
down to the omega, his tone edged with a faux sweetness. “I know you’ll look even sweeter
when I’ve got my knot inside of you.”

That was the only warning that Edward got before Bruce was shoving his cock inside of
Edward’s cunt. Edward moaned and instinctively clenched down on the alphas shaft. Bruce
always felt so thick inside of him, he could never get enough of the way that it felt when it
was fucking him open.

Bruce grabbed him by the waist and held him down firmly, using them as leverage to piston
his hips forward and back. He fucked Edward rough and deep, while the omega underneath
him let his mouth fall open so moans could tumble from his lips.

“Gonna keep you like this, my pretty little omega. All mine.” Bruce grunted down to him, his
voice rough with lust and possessive fervor. By this point, Edward had gone non-verbal – the
only thing that he was able to verbalize was little, “Uh-uh-uh” sounds and moans. All he
could manage to do was let his alpha have his way with him.

By the time that Bruce came and knotted him, Edward felt mindless and boneless. He was a
little puddle of omega on the mattress. He huffed as he was pulled into Bruce’s arms and
arranged into a loose embrace. “Did you really mean that?” He asked.

“Mean what?” Bruce asked.

“That you want to keep me pregnant.” Edward replied with a flush. It felt kind of dirty, like
some kind of fetish that was going over Edward’s head because of his lack of sexual
experience outside of what he had done with Bruce.

“It’s certainly a thought I don’t mind.” Bruce said casually, his hand coming down to pet
Edward’s stomach.
“You’re so weird.” Edward mumbled sleepily as Bruce pulled him into a tighter embrace. “I
can’t believe you get turned on by… this. So weird.” He wrinkled his nose, like he had just
caught a whiff of something strange and off putting.

“You really think its so strange that I find you stunning like this?” Bruce muttered and
Edward’s blush just deepened. “Of course I do. You’re glowing, absolutely gorgeous.”
Edward had no idea what to say to that, he just shied away from responding entirely by
burying his face in his alphas chest and keeping himself there until he fell asleep.

When Edward woke up again, it was the middle of the night and Bruce was gone. Sometimes
he would just disappear and the omega was left lonely and without his alpha. The last time
that Edward had confronted him about it, he got a cagey response. A part of him wondered if
he was being lied to, but he couldn’t prove it in any real way. It just felt like he was being
deceived. But Bruce wasn’t here for him to call him on it and he was too tired to fight
anyways.

He sighed and put a hand on his belly. “Guess it’s just you and me for now.” He mumbled
down to his stomach, as if anyone could hear him. He wasn’t sure if his pups were far along
enough that they could process anything outside of the womb. Still he kept on talking. “I
don’t know where he keeps running off to. Where could he even go?” He sighed, “I dunno,
maybe I’m just being paranoid. I get like that, always have. You will all probably get like that
too, you have half my genes.”

It was incredibly soothing to speak to someone who he knew for sure wasn’t able to judge
him, “But it’ll be nice to have company in the house. And you won’t be orphans like I was.
I’ll make sure to stop this copycat before things get any worse, I’ll keep all three of you
safe.” He promised that he would do better than his parents did. He wouldn’t abandon them
or abuse his children. They wouldn’t have to suffer like he did and they would never have to
be alone.

He would find the identity of this copycat, expose him and put him away. Then Edward,
Bruce and their children could be safe. That was all he wanted – to be safe with his mate and
pups, it would be unfair to be denied this one thing.
 Chapter 8

Bruce stood on the rooftop, right near the signal. Just moments before, Gordon approached
him with a grim expression on his face and a manila case file in his hands. “Another one?”
Bruce asked, his disposition dampening slightly. This Riddler copycat didn’t show any signs
of stopping, if anything the violence was ramping up to an exponential rate.

A rate that made very little sense for just one man to be committing, unless he could split
himself in two. “So, what do you think?” Jim asked, as Bruce looked the file over. The last
attack had been a bomb that killed a lower income family. The attack before that, however,
had been up close and personal. A high powered attorney had had her throat slit. Both crimes
occurred in the same hour.

“There’s a team. Or a sect. It’d be impossible to do this much in an hour without one.” Bruce
muttered, his fingers tracing the picture of the second crime scene in a thoughtful manner as
he spoke. He hoped that poor woman didn’t suffer much, but she probably did. She probably
suffered a lot.

“That much is obvious.” Gordon replied. “But I don’t know, first a bombing then an
execution? Seems so disorganized.”

That gave Bruce an idea. “Is the crime scene still preserved?” He asked.

“There was nothing to preserve of the bombing, but the other victim… I can get you there,
but you have to keep a low profile.” Jim told him in a serious voice.

“I always keep a low profile.” Bruce muttered.

At this Gordon couldn’t help but snort. “Sure you do man.” All the same, Jim didn’t hesitate
to offer Bruce a ride to the crime scene. Bruce didn’t take him up on the offer, preferring to
get there separately and meet there.

It didn’t take long for Bruce to make it to the apartment where the victim- Jessica Aldridge
was her name, She was a corporate attorney who lived alone, she didn’t have family in
Gotham and she seemed to be married to her work judging by all the case files strewn about
her otherwise luxurious apartment.

Bruce reminded himself to think of this woman as a human being and not a statistic, despite
the fact that a lot of lives had been lost. He didn’t want to let himself become cold and
unfeeling about this, the sanctity of a human life mattered more than anything else.

Bruce did a walk through of the crime scene, visualizing himself as Jessica in the moments
before her death. He looked at the blood spatter on the otherwise pristine carpet. Bruce
noticed something odd about the pattern of blood, there was a smaller splatter not far from
where she had obviously died.

“What’s that?” Gordon asked as he noticed where Bruce was looking.

“It looks like she was struck in the back of the head, then moved here.” Bruce pointed out,
“She bled, but very little and then when she was incapacitated…”

“She was taken to her execution.” Gordon finished the thought.

“… Yes.” Bruce agreed, then looked back at the case files. It would be better if he could have
been on the scene right after the murder, but he had been attempting to keep a low profile. He
worried that Edward’s release from Arkham would lead to a connection between Bruce and
Batman. He couldn’t have that.

“She was bound to a chair before she was killed and afterward… she was posed and
blindfolded posthumously.” Bruce said. “That’s odd.” He muttered.

“What?”

Bruce took a step back to get a bigger picture of the crime scene. “Why would they bother
posing her like this, no one can see it.”

“Maybe it’s a message for us?” Jim suggested. “Or the GCPD at large.”

Bruce shook his head, “No these people don’t care about the cops. They don’t care about me.
All they care about is-” He stopped when he noticed something sitting on the far table. It
was… inconspicuous, but undoubtedly not one of Jessica Aldridge’s possessions. He walked
towards it and picked it up. It was a small box, about the size of a box of chocolates but a
little bit thicker.

There was an inscription on the front of it – To Edward, it said in flowery script. He opened
the box up, trying not to let any aggression out onto the flimsy package as he did so. Inside of
the box was a greeting card – similar to the kind that Edward had used during their game of
Cat and Mouse, but not authentically vintage like his were.

He frowned and opened it up, “I’ve got a secret. Can you keep it? Little Miss Corporate
Attorney couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.” Bruce rolled his eyes at the crass humor,
whoever this copycat is, he was certainly not as much of a wordsmith as Edward had been.
“She told me everything, I’ll lead you to it, my future wife.” Then Bruce noticed something
taped along the back of the card. He pulled it out to reveal a cipher, solving this would most
likely lead to that ‘Everything’ that the copycat referred to.

Then it clicked and he had no idea how it hadn’t occurred to him before, “These murders are
courting gestures.” Whoever had killed this woman was likely the leader of this team and
they wanted Edward. Bruce wouldn’t let that happen.

Edward sat, with his knees underneath him and a gaming controller in his lap. Bruce was
busy today so he was stuck inside playing Elden Ring. Things could be worse, though, he
knew. He could be back in Arkham instead of hanging around a luxury penthouse in his
pajamas all day.
Still. He missed his alpha, he wished that he was here with him to gentle him. He wished that
Bruce was sitting here beside him, ready to comfort him and tend to his needs. Instead, Bruce
was at some fucking business surrounded by a bunch of suits instead of looking after his
omega. It wasn’t fair.

Edward sniffled quietly, pressing down a little harder on the controller buttons as he played to
dull his frustration down. It didn’t really work as well as he might have liked. His body felt
heavy with anxiety, his shoulders sagged and he couldn’t stop himself from worrying his
bottom lip between his teeth as he played his game.

On his second, or third cheap death against a mob of nameless enemies Alfred walked into
the game room. “Ah, playing your games again, Edward?” He greeted.

“It’s fucking bullshit but its better than staring at the wall all day.” Edward mumbled.

“You could come help me in the kitchen.” Alfred offered, though judging by his tone he
didn’t believe that that was something that Edward would be interested in.

Edward snorted at that, “Thanks, but no thanks. I’d rather wait until I resign myself to
becoming a stereotype of a stay at home omega.” He muttered, rolling his eyes a bit at the
thought. It’s not as though he would mind helping out if Alfred needed it, but he had always
been so separated from his identity as an omega that doing things associated with being one
felt like he was relinquishing what little control he still had. He wasn’t ready to do that quite
yet.

Alfred did not seem offended to be hearing this, “Fair enough.” He said, “Would you at least
like something to eat? I don’t think you’ve had much today.” He had been in a low grade
depression all day, so that wasn’t really a surprise.

“Yeah. I’ll eat. Bruce would be upset if he found out I haven’t eaten all day.” Edward
mumbled, fidgeting with the controller a little more. “Try not to make it too healthy. Its not
gonna kill the pups if I have something fried is it?”

Alfred chuckled at that, “I’ll do my best.” He said and then retreated from the room, leaving
Edward to do what he had been doing. Edward let himself become enraptured in his game
and it wasn’t long until the door opened and someone walked in, drawing his attention.

A smile broke out across his face as he turned towards the door. Bruce was standing there and
Edward was immediately bounding towards him to pull him into a hug. “You’re home.” He
said, his smile widening his face. “You look tired.” He added as he pulled back to look his
alpha in the eye.

“Exhausted is the word I would use.” Bruce replied and Edward cooed in sympathy, his hand
moving up to stroke the alphas cheek.

“I’m sorry.” Edward mumbled sympathetically. At this, Bruce pulled him into a kiss. Edward
allowed himself to get lost in the affection, kissing Bruce back just as enthusiastically as he
was kissed.
“Come help us with dinner.” Bruce murmured against his lips as he pulled away from the
kiss. Edward pouted a little at that, but did as he was told. He gently grabbed Bruce’s hand
and gripped it for security as the two of them made their way to the kitchen.

The two of them got set up to work chopping tomatoes and onions while Alfred did all the
hard work with everything else. Bruce was hopeless in the kitchen, but he tried to help
whenever he could and he had been not-so-discretely asking Alfred to help teach him how to
cook so he could provide for his omega. Edward usually helped with dinner, but he’d been
getting sluggish about it as his pregnancy got father along – a fact that Alfred didn’t seem
bothered by.

Dicing up tomatoes and onions wasn’t too much work for him though, in fact he really didn’t
mind helping. He just wished that he had the opportunity to be alone with his alpha after
being without him all day.

The three of them worked together until they had a delicious orzo pasta with grilled chicken
all cooked up and ready. When they sat down, Edward made sure to curl up close to where
Bruce sat. he wanted to be as close to his alpha as possible. Bruce was thankfully very
indulgent of Edward’s post-partum neediness and allowed the omega to cuddle up so close
that he was nearly sitting on his lap.

“How was everything today?” Edward asked, his fingers gently stroking Bruce’s arm as he
spoke. “Anything interesting happen?”

“I wouldn’t call sitting in multiple meetings for hours very interesting. It was mainly logistics
and budgetary overviews, I struggled to stay awake.” Bruce muttered in response, “I’m just
glad to be home back to you.”

Edward nuzzled his cheek into Bruce’s chest. “Did you hear there was another murder?” He
asked quietly. “A bombing… some family got killed. I don’t know… what they did, I don’t
think they did anything to deserve it.” He rounded down his shoulders, clearly upset about
the death of the family.

His frown deepened. “They killed the kids too, I don’t think that’s-” He stopped himself from
speaking more, putting a hand on his belly in a protective manner. Targeting children seemed
even more upsetting to him now that he was pregnant.

“I thought I told you not to worry yourself about that copycat? The stress isn’t good for the
pups.” Bruce gently admonished.

“I know I just. It’s hard to ignore.” He mumbled.

“The police are looking for the copycat.” Alfred pointed out, as if to remind him that this was
only temporary.

Edward scoffed at that, “Yeah we can always trust in the competence of Gotham’s police
force.” He muttered to himself.

“Fair enough.” Alfred muttered.

Edward deflated a little more, obviously getting more and more upset by the existence of the
copycat as the murders went on. Not only because they were taking something that Edward
viewed as part of himself, but was also perverting it to ends he didn’t agree with.

Edward ate the rest of his dinner in sullen silence, he refused to respond to any prodding from
Bruce or Alfred. He stayed like that, sullen and silent with a deflated disposition. It wasn’t
until he and Bruce had retired for the night that the alpha decided to do something about it.

Bruce had a stern expression spread across his face, “Strip.” He demanded, his tone firm and
very… alpha.

Edward balked at that, “Seriously, Bruce?” He asked, “All this, this talk of murder and… and
death and you want to have sex?” It was almost funny to him, how ridiculous it was. How
ridiculous Bruce was, really. His alpha was absolutely ridiculous.

But Bruce didn’t seem to find it so funny. “Strip.” He said again, “I want to see you, all of
you.” He practically purred and, as ridiculous as Edward found the whole thing he couldn’t
stop his breath hitching a little at the command.

Edward licked his lips nervously, “Oh… o-okay.” He mumbled, suddenly feeling very shy
and unsure about himself. Edward’s fingers were nervous and shaky as he unbuttoned his
cardigan. He kept missing the buttons and his fingers kept slipping, it was like he had
forgotten how to undress himself he was so nervous.

After a moment or two of fumbling, Bruce grabbed his hands and pulled them to his front.
“So wound up, aren’t you? I see. Don’t worry. I’ll do it for you.” Edward whimpered but
allowed the alpha to strip him down layer by layer until he was trembling and naked before
him.

One of Bruce’s hands moved forward to cup Edward’s breast, his thumb circling along a
puffy pink nipple. Edward made a small, wounded noise at the contact against his sensitive
skin. “You’re so sensitive.” He murmured as he continued to tease and toy with Edward’s
nipple.

“I missed you.” Edward whispered brokenly, “You were gone all day and all I could think
about was how much I missed you and all these other terrible things.”

“Well I’m here now.” Bruce muttered as he pinched Edward’s nipple, tugging on it harshly.
Edward cried out softly, his knees going a little weak as Bruce toyed with him. “And I know
you’re worried about the copycat, but you don’t need to be. All you need to concern yourself
with is taking care of me and our pups. Alright?”

“But-” Edward started to argue, but Bruce was quick to cut him off with another tug at his
nipple. Then all he could manage to do was whimper pitifully.

“But nothing. All you need to do is take care of yourself so our pups come out healthy. That’s
what you want, isn’t it?” He asked and Edward nodded. Of course he wanted their pups to be
healthy and safe. Bruce stroked his cheek gently and he sighed, leaning into his alphas touch.
“That’s what I thought. Get on your knees, Edward.” It was a command, gently spoken.
It was easy for Edward to listen, to fall down onto his knees, easy for him to submit himself
fully. He looked up at Bruce to see him subtly smiling down at him as he carded his fingers
through Edward’s hair. “You look so pretty on your knees.”

Edward blushed at that, looking up at his alpha with starry eyes. “You always say the
strangest things.” He muttered, as if he didn’t believe it.

“Is it really so strange for me to notice how pretty my pregnant mate is.”

“Maybe not.” Edward acquiesced, then he darted forward – taking the silence as a chance to
do what he wanted. His fingers unbuttoned Bruce’s trousers and he pulled his cock out,
feeling it twitch in his fingers. He looked up at Bruce with that lost, desperate expression as
he gently stroked his cock.

He leaned forward and took the head of it in his mouth, gently suckling on the glans of
Bruce’s cock before he took him deeper in his mouth. His eyes flitted up at the alpha, looking
for approval and he got it. “You’re getting so good at this.” Bruce muttered as he pet his hair.
“Perfect omega.”

Edward hummed around his cock and took him in a little deeper. He was eager to please as he
sucked his alphas cock, taking him in just deep enough so he didn’t start gagging. The whole
time Bruce murmured praises and touched him gently, right up until the point where he
grabbed the omega by the hair and pulled him off of him.

“Did I do something wrong?” Edward asked, practically the picture of innocence.

Bruce shook his head, “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I just need to fuck you now.” He
said, strangely earnest and deadpan at the same time. “Go lay on the bed. On your side.” He
ordered and Edward was quick to obediently draw himself up to his feet before moving to
crawl on the bed.

He lay on his side as he was instructed, his hand moving to nestle protectively over his belly
as he got into position. Bruce sidled up behind him and Edward closed his eyes, feeling
strangely safe with the alpha so close to him.

Bruce wrapped an arm around his middle, covering Edward’s hand with his own as he thrust
forward and slid his cock inside of him. Edward gasped at the feeling of being filled up. “So
good.” The omega mumbled, his voice laced with sweet little moans. “So, so good.”

Bruce kissed his shoulder as he bottomed out inside of him. “You feel perfect around me.” He
murmured into Edward’s skin. Edward gasped and whined, rocking his hips back into
Bruce’s as the alpha fucked him.

The two of them moved with the kind of synchronicity that only a perfectly mated pair could
achieve. Words of love were spoken and they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other as
pleasure climbed up, up, up until they collapsed from the force of their mutual orgasms.

Then Bruce’s knot was swelling inside of him and they were locked together. Bruce pulled
him in a little closer. He pressed kisses over his neck and nuzzled his scent gland. Being
knotted left Edward with a heavy, relaxed feeling. Like he had just finished a particularly
luxurious meal.

It was easy for him to relax, for him to let his eyes become heavy and glazed. He was right on
the precipice of unconsciousness when he felt it. It was like a fluttery feeling in his stomach,
then a light jab. “Oh!” Edward exclaimed, placing a hand on his stomach. Then he felt it
again – one, two, three little kicks. “Bruce I just felt… something.”

“What’s the matter?” Bruce muttered and Edward responded by grabbing the alphas hand and
placing it on his belly. Luckily for him, the pups kept kicking – if anything they got even
more active now that they knew their father was there.

“Do you feel that?” Edward asked quietly, a smile splitting across his face as he spoke. There
was an almost child-like excitement in his voice.

He could feel Bruce’s grin against his neck. “They’re very active aren’t they?” He hummed.
“One of them’s gotta be an alpha. I bet he’s riling the rest of the little pack up.”

Edward rolled his eyes, “That’s an old wives tale.” He muttered.

Bruce seemed amused to hear that, “It was true for me. Around the second trimester I just
started kicking and moving around a lot. You know better than anyone that I came out an
alpha, don’t you?” He teased, thrusting forward just slightly so his knot would pull on
Edward’s cunt. “And as it so happens. You’re second trimester is coming up.”

Edward whimpered at the feeling. “Th-that doesn’t mean anything. For all we know they
could be all omegas, or betas. These little tells that people rave about aren’t actually tells.
Everything you’ve pointed out is conjecture and coincidence. It’s, it’s confirmation bias is
what it is.”

“Why don’t we bet on it?”

Edward scoffed, “I don’t have anything to bet.” He muttered, only a little bitter at his lack of
ownership over much of anything.

“You’ve got plenty on offer.” Bruce practically purred. “How about this? If I’m right and one
of the triplets, or more, is an alpha then I can put another pup in you as soon as you recover.”
Edward almost choked on dry air at the sound of that.

He knew that Bruce liked the sight of him pregnant. It was a thing, he assumed, for a lot of
alphas. They liked the sight of their omegas swollen with child as often as possible. It
satisfied some primal urge within them and it was a little more prominent with Bruce. With
Bruce it was a downright kink though, one that Edward was strangely interested in
entertaining – if only because they had the resources.

He liked the idea of having a full house with pups running around all over the place too, it
was a strangely comforting idea. He had never pictured himself getting the chance to be a
mother. Long ago he had accepted that he would probably never bond or have children – that
no one would ever want to deal with him as a mate. But here he was. Bonded and with pups
on the way.

“What if you’re wrong?” Edward asked, his voice lilting upwards a little in interest.

“I’ll give you whatever you want. Anything.” Bruce promised, though it wasn’t like Bruce
didn’t already do this.

“… I’ll think about it.” Edward eventually muttered, knowing he would likely buy into the
wager.

The Batsuit clung to Bruce’s skin as he walked into the remains of the burned down house
where the copycat had massacred a family for seemingly no reason. It still felt like it was
burning down around him, the ashes were still hot. They shouldn’t be, it had already been
weeks since the massacre.

And yet, he still felt that heat. Bruce took a breath to ground himself, reminding himself why
he was here. There was evidence here, something that the copycat left… for Edward to see.
Edward wouldn’t see it though, he had been keeping a close eye on the omega specifically so
he wouldn’t have to deal with the stress of the copycats games with him.

He hoped that that would be enough to protect him, but he could never be sure. Edward was
stubborn and too smart for his own good. He knew that the omega wanted to get rid of this
copycat himself, but it wasn’t safe for him to do so. He needed to learn to submit and trust
that his alpha knew best.

Bruce’s attention turned back to the task at hand. Bruce walked through the scene, trying to
get into the copycats head. Everything that he – or them – was doing was all for, from their
perspective, Edward’s benefit. He thought that he was courting Edward, proving himself one
murder at a time.

The disgust for the copycat Bruce felt was potent as he walked through the room that the
family had been in before they had been executed. They had been forced into this room and
forced on their knees before their throats were slit. One by one. Then the house was bombed.
It was… disgusting and vile, what had been done to them.

Bruce looked through the charred remains of furniture for anything of interest until he
noticed a shiny rectangular package. It’s a letter encased in flame retardant packaging. Bruce
grits his teeth, knowing that there will be another clue and another message for Edward
inside. Another ‘courting gift.’

He decides to leave then because he doubted there would be much left here that he could use.
He would go back home and work on the cipher from the other crime scene. It was a short
trip back to the tunnel that led into his ‘cave’ underneath Wayne Tower.

It was unsettlingly quiet as he parked his bike. Usually there was some sort of sound around,
the sound of a leaky pipe or the tower settling above him. But there was nothing, it was
ominous. Bruce felt like an intruder in his own home.
Then, Bruce heard a sharp clanging noise and the distinct sound of footsteps clambering
forward. Bruce curses to himself and moves a hand to his belt – ready to attack whatever
intruder or rogue managed to find his headquarters.

“You don’t have to be vigilant Bruce. It’s just me.” Edward’s soft voice rings out from the
darkness as he steps forward until he’s in the light. The omega was dressed casually in his
pajamas and kept a protective hand over his pregnant tummy as he made his way forward.

Then he was right in front of Bruce. In front of Batman, with the most heartbreaking
expression spread across his face. He knows that he can’t deny his identity, not to Edward,
not right now. So he says the only thing that he thinks he can say. “How did you find this
place?”

Edward scoffed and placed his hands on Bruce’s armored shoulders. “It was an accident. I
was looking for the library and I came upon your secret elevator. Imagine my surprise at what
I found.” His eyes trailed over Bruce’s mask. “I should have known. It’s so obviously you.
Maybe I didn’t want to make the connection.”

Bruce didn’t say anything, just let Edward process things for himself. “Were you ever going
to tell me? What you are? What you do?” He asked. Maybe before Edward would have been
angry, but it was clear he just felt crushed. Disappointed that he could not be trusted with the
full scope of his mates identity.

“I was.” Bruce replied and that was the truth. “I was going to tell you, but things got…
complicated.”

Edward arched a brow. “Complicated?” He parroted, his tone a little insulted.

“Your pregnancy and the copycat. It complicated things.” Bruce replied, in that deadpan way
that he often spoke. “I worried if I told you that you would get yourself hurt doing something
you’d regret.”

Edward scoffed at that, crossed his arms over his chest. “Like what?”

“Like trying to go after that copycat yourself.” Bruce pointed out. Edward paused, his
expression morphing from one of offense to surprise.

“You think I would do something so stupid.” He says, “You think I would put myself in
danger, while I’m pregnant because of… of what? My ego? My pride?” He goaded,
becoming more irate by the moment. He thought Bruce respected him. “Do you really think
I’m so stupid?”

Bruce huffed, pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I think you’re far too smart for
your own good.” He replied. “You’re too curious, too ambitious. And you’re fragile right
now, whether you want to be or not.” He looked pointedly at Edward’s stomach, swollen with
pups. “I worry about you, because you’re mine. My omega, mine to take care of. I just
wanted to protect you.”
He understood what Bruce meant and he nodded in understanding, even though he still felt
hurt that he had kept this from him. He rounded down his shoulders slightly, “I understand.”
He mumbled in a dry, carefully emotionless tone. He dug his nails into his arm to assuage his
own discomfort with the situation. “Will you at least be honest with me now?” He asked,
feeling strangely vulnerable all of a sudden.

Bruce nodded jerkily, “You’ll want to take a seat. I’ll tell you everything I know.” He
promised.
 Chapter 9
Chapter Summary

d'aww look at these two communicating and working like a team finally 🥰

The night before, Edward had been feeling restless. There was a sort of wanderlust that his
pregnancy had inspired in him. He felt the drive to explore Wayne Tower, to look in all the
nooks and crannies of the penthouse.

He spent hours in the library, reading books and researching about the Wayne family history.
He would cook in the kitchen with Alfred, work on projects and when he had the time and
privacy he would do research on the copycat – research that felt pointless more and more by
the day. He would do anything to keep himself occupied.

That night, he had been bored out of his skull. Bruce was out somewhere – like he often was
at night – and even Alfred was gone. So he was left alone in the penthouse, alone to languish
and worry over everything that had happened.

So, Edward was left to his own devices and he spent that time wandering around the
penthouse. He walked through the halls, his hand pressed against the wall to feel the elegant
crowning on it as he moved forward.

There were so many rooms in the penthouse, It would take forever to explore every bit of it.
So he took comfort in whatever explorations he could manage. He took a turn down one of
the halls and found himself in a small room that almost looked like a hall closet. But there
was something about the room that interested him.

He looked around the room, finding it incredibly suspicious. He didn’t exactly know why, but
it was suspicious to him. He looked around the room, it was mostly barren and seemed to be
untouched, but the strange thing was that it was absent of dust. Some of the rooms were
completely barred off and dusty, Alfred didn’t even bother cleaning them because they were
in extreme disuse.

This was not one of those rooms. This room was clean and smelled of lemons, like it had
been cleaned just today. Maybe it was just his boredom, but Edward felt like there was
something here right underneath the surface. He ended up finding out what exactly was
underneath the surface when he knocked out the false paneling and discovered an elevator.

“What the hell?” He muttered to himself as he walked into the elevator, taking it down. His
curiosity was getting the best of him now, and he was interested to see what was down there.
He took the elevator all the way down and found himself in what he could only assume was
the basement.
Thing is, it didn’t look like a basement. It looked like a high tech hideout. There were
computers and a mounted TV on one of the walls, as well as a lot of things that Edward
didn’t know how to describe. It was… weird. These kind of things shouldn’t be in a rich
man’s basement, he thought.

Curious, Edward started to scrounge around the place, looking for more evidence of what
was going on here. He looked through various files and found… his letters to the Batman.
“Huh.” He exclaimed out loud as he tried to rationalize why Bruce would have these.

No logical answer came to mind… except for the crazy idea that Bruce was Batman. It was
really the only way that he could have these on hand, but Edward refused to believe it. He
didn’t want to think that Bruce would lie to him, that his hero and his mate – who he used to
despise – were one and the same. He didn’t want to think that the answer to who was behind
the mask was so obvious.

Edward sat with the cards and his thoughts until someone arrived. He wasn’t even all that
surprised when it was Bruce – dressed in the Batsuit. And now, Edward was sitting in this
cave of Bruce’s, with all this tech surrounding him. Bruce was standing in front of him,
looking at a loss for words. The alpha pinched the bridge of his nose again, “I really did want
to tell you, you can even ask Alfred-”

“Alfred knows?!” Edward asked, aghast that he had been told before him.

“He’s known for a long time. He’s one of the people who helped train me.” He said, “Most of
them don’t know as intimately what I became though.” Edward pursed his lips and waited for
Bruce to continue.

Bruce sighed, like this was terribly difficult for him. Edward gave him a break, because it
probably was. The alpha paused before he started to explain how this was all so new for him,
he was still figuring everything out and he never expected to be mated to someone so quickly
after he had taken on the mantle.

“But that’s not an excuse. I know.” Bruce clarified, “I should have told you from the
beginning, and its good that you know now. Is there anything specific you want to know?”
He asked, his voice gentle and calming to the omega’s overwrought senses.

Bruce moved down onto Edward’s level, so he was kneeling in front of the omega with his
hand on Edward’s belly. It was hard to be mad at him when he looked this contrite, which
was probably the point. The alpha gently stroked Edward’s pregnant tummy as he thought on
it.

Edward looked down at his alpha suddenly, his expression full of guilt. “I… have something
to tell you too.” He confessed and then looked down at his hands, as if ashamed. “I, um, I
stole one of your laptops and I’ve been using it to infiltrate the copycats group.” He said in a
voice so small and full of shame.

Bruce straightened up then, looking at Edward in disbelief. “Edward they could have tracked
you down, you could have gotten yourself hurt.” He chided. “These people are obsessed with
you, who knows what they would do if they could get their hands on you.”
“I wasn’t going to do anything dangerous!” Edward promised, “I just wanted to figure out
where they were, then I would have sent in a tip to the police. I know I can’t do anything like
this, even when I’m not…as big as a house its not a good idea. I’m not a physical person.”

Bruce nodded. “I don’t suppose there’s any way I could get you to stop infiltrating them?” He
asked.

Edward shook his head, “I have to make them stop. I can’t be the Riddler anymore, but that
doesn’t mean someone else can just walk in and take my place for me.” He said stubbornly,
letting Bruce know that this was the one thing that he wouldn’t – and couldn’t – compromise
on.

Bruce sighed under his breath and nodded again. “Fair enough.” He said after a moment.
“But if you’re going to do this, you need to be transparent with me about it. Alright?”

Edward nodded, he didn’t think he could allow himself to deny Bruce that. “I’ll tell you
everything.” He promised, going further. His hands moved to cup Bruce’s face. “I don’t want
to keep secrets from you anymore.” He whispered.

At this, Bruce pulled forward and kissed Edward. The two of them kissed and kissed until
they were both out of breath, hanging onto each other for dear life. They both sunk onto the
ground, their troubles forgotten for the moment, and Edward desperately clawed at Bruce’s
suit in a vain attempt to get it off.

Bruce chuckled and gently took Edward’s hands in his own. “Patience, you don’t need to rip
the suit.” He said with good humor.

Edward whined at this, “You’re so mean.” He replied with a little pout. “All I want to do is
show you how much I love you and you’re making fun of me for it!” At this, Bruce pulled
him into a kiss to quiet him and Edward accepted it.

The omega didn’t have to wait long to see Bruce out of the suit, because the next thing he
knew Bruce was stripping himself down without the omegas frantic assistance. Soon, Edward
was overdressed for what they were doing in his cute pajamas.

Bruce idly traced the cartoon-y pattern on Edward’s breast before he unbuttoned his top and
pushed it off of him to reveal the flimsy camisole that he wore underneath. “You are so
beautiful, you know that?” Bruce muttered into Edward’s collar as he dove in to kiss him
along the slope of his neck.

Edward whined and shook his head, but Bruce wasn’t having that. He continued kissing
Edward, his hands squeezing and groping his full breasts as he pushed his camisole upwards
so it was bunched up at his shoulders. “So pretty, my pretty little omega.” He said.

Edward squirmed his thighs a little in a vain attempt to get closer to his alpha. In response to
this, Bruce gently pushed him down so that he was laying on his back on the floor. Edward
shivered at the cool feeling of stone against his sensitive skin.
He makes a small noise as his pajama pants and panties are pulled down off of his legs and
tossed to the side. Edward sighed and drew his knees up, giving Bruce a good look at his
pussy. Edward could feel himself getting wet, slick dripping out of him just from the
anticipation of what Bruce was going to do to him.

Bruce didn’t wait any longer to get inside of Edward, pushing the protective cup he wore
aside and slamming inside the omega’s cunt with enough force to make him gasp at the
impact. “Bruce…!” Edward whined as the alpha slid inside of him.

“Shh, shh, I know. You’re so good for me, Edward.” He grunted as he moved inside the
omega, setting a deep and loving pace with him. “Such a good boy…” He mumbled. Edward
wrapped his legs around Bruce in an attempt to bring them closer.

The two of them fucked on the floor like a pair of horny pups, Edward held Bruce close
while Bruce muttered sweet words to him in between thrusts. The two were so enamored, so
obsessed with each other in that moment, they only had eyes for each other.

It wasn’t long until Edward was coming on Bruce’s cock, the alpha not far behind him. The
two of them held each other in a warm embrace as they came down from the high of their
mutual orgasm. They were both so relaxed, so happy to be close to each other like this.

Eventually, they parted and sluggishly helped each other dress before they made their way to
the elevator, back up to the penthouse. Alfred was certainly surprised to see Edward and
Bruce – clad in his gear from his nightly patrols – walking hand in hand.

“Erm,” The butler exclaimed, looking at the two of them. “Master Bruce, you’re certainly out
late. Was there, perhaps, some sort of costume gala tonight?” He asked, playing it as cool as
he could manage.

Edward smiled tightly and intertwined his fingers with Bruce’s again. Bruce hummed, “It’s
alright, Alfred. Edward knows now. We, uh, we worked it all out.” He explained.

Alfred looked visibly relieved to hear that, “Good, that’s good to hear. Ideally there shouldn’t
be any secrets between mates.” Edward nodded and his smile got a little more lax, he hugged
onto Bruce’s side and clung to the alpha as he led him along to bed.

As Edward curled up in bed besides the alpha, he felt assured that things were going to be
better moving forward. Knowing the truth made him feel so much more confident – in his
relationship with Bruce, in the pregnancy, in his place in this pack.

As Edward’s pregnancy went on, the more pronounced his symptoms were and the more
pronounced Bruce’s alpha instincts to protect him were. So here he was, six months along,
walking along the sidewalk of Gotham’s upper class shopping district hand in hand because
Bruce didn’t want to let him out of his sight.

Edward sighed, alphas could be like that. Brash and overbearing, Bruce might have been the
worst about it that he had ever come across. With him, it was like the natural domineering
disposition that alphas had was just that much more pronounced.
“Can we go get ice cream?” Edward asked as he noticed a high end ice parlor at the end of
the block. He even tugged on Bruce’s hand to draw the alpha’s attention to it. Bruce nodded,
not one to deny his omega much of anything, and allowed himself to be tugged along.

When he walked in, the man behind the counter smiled as he took notice of Edward’s swollen
belly. “Pregnancy cravings?” He guessed. Edward giggled nervously and Bruce pulled him in
a little closer. He was still not entirely used to the bizarre way that people took interest in him
now that he was pregnant, people asked him questions about his pups and wanted to touch his
belly.

It was as if they felt entitled to know every little thing about him, that his pregnancy made his
private life just that much more public. It was a little overwhelming, if Edward was being
honest. He wondered if people would act like that once he had his pups or if this was just
about the novelty of seeing an omega swollen and heavy with triplets.

Edward walked over to the counter, relieved that he wouldn’t have to wait in line, he leaned
over and looked at the menu. This place was expensive and upscale, some of the things on
the menu Edward didn’t even recognize. He turned to Bruce, “What do you think we should
get?” He asked.

Bruce wrapped his arms around Edward’s waist and pulled him in close as he looked over the
menu. It was always better to indulge the omega when he got like this. Usually, Edward was
incredibly independent but there were times when he acted every bit the stereotypical needy
omega who needed their alpha to make decisions for them.

Bruce loved when Edward got like this, when he clung to him and depended on him for every
little thing, it made him feel like an even better provider. “Hm, how about chocolate vanilla
chocolate gelato?” He tried.

“What’s the difference between ice cream and gelato?” Edward asked. “I’ve never had it
before.”

“Hm, I don’t really know. It’s Italian. I think it’s thicker and sweeter?” He guessed, not
entirely sure if he was correct.

“I guess that sounds good, you’d know better than me.” Edward replied in agreement, leaning
back as Bruce gently rubbed his pregnant belly.

“So, I suppose that’ll be one large serving to share instead of two.” The vendor behind the
counter suggested. Bruce nodded in agreement before sliding over his credit card. The two of
them sat down at one of the tables, curling up together in the confines of each other’s
company.

Bruce fed Edward spoonfuls of the treat, which Edward gladly accepted. He giggled as he
tasted the sweetness of it, “This is better than regular ice cream.” He said, “Good pick.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Bruce’s lips. “You’re so cute.” He said.

Edward blushed and looked down at his hands, “I’m not cute.” He denied, even as he secretly
hoped that Bruce kept on complimenting him.

Bruce gently grasped his hand, his thumb stroking over Edward’s pulse point. “You’re very
cute.” He disagreed, “Especially like this.” Edward snorted and took in another spoonful of
gelato. He knew exactly what Bruce was referring to.

“I’m as big as a house. With legs. Chicken legs.” Edward said, with a sour little pout. “I’m
like if Baba Yaga was an omega with anxiety issues.” He whined. Bruce scoffed at that,
taking to massaging the scent gland on Edward’s wrist to soothe him a little more.

“You’re too adorable. Witch hut body and all.” Bruce teased. The two of them smiled at each
other, both enjoying the others company greatly. It was really a perfect day out with his
alpha, so inevitably, things had to take a turn for the worst. It all happened so fast, one minute
they were enjoying their date and in the next Bruce was pushing Edward into the car because
there was a bank robbery at Gotham National Bank and he had to stop it.

“But we were supposed to spend the day together!” Edward whined, “You promised it would
be just you and me, we were supposed to go see a movie after this.” Never before had
Edward felt so jealous of a criminal. This petty jealousy he had had the opportunity to pop up
much more often, after all Bruce was obsessed with taking down the crime in Gotham.

“I know, I know.” The alpha hummed sympathetically. His hand moved to Edward’s neck to
pet at his bonding gland in an attempt to calm him. “I want to give you all the attention in the
world, sweetheart, I do. But Gotham needs me, you need to understand that.” Bruce told him
in no uncertain terms, letting him know that he wouldn’t – couldn’t – budge on this, even if
he wanted to.

“I understand.” Edward mumbled, pouting the whole time as he let Bruce strap in his
seatbelt. The two of them drove back to the penthouse in silence – utilitarian from Bruce’s
perspective, but sullen from Edward’s – and they were back home quickly.

Edward kept his pout up as Bruce led him up to their shared room. “I’ll be back as soon as I
can.” He promised, cupping Edward’s chin to pull him in for a chaste kiss. The omega was in
such a bad mood that he almost turned his head away and denied him this. Almost.

Then Bruce was on his way down to his little cave, to dress up in his suit and take down the
bad guy like it was his only purpose in life. Edward flopped down on the bed, feeling
abandoned by his mate. He sighed and curled up on his side, hugging himself protectively.
“At least when you three come out, you won’t be able to run off at all hours and leave me
whenever you want.” He said to his unborn pups in a churlish sort of way.

Maybe it was selfish, but he couldn’t help it! He was a needy omega who wanted to be the
center of his alpha’s universe. He wanted to soak up all the attention that Bruce had to give, it
was never enough for him. So having their time together cut short really stung. He thinks,
maybe, if he wasn’t so heavily pregnant and more emotional because of his condition he
wouldn’t let himself throw a fit about it.
Knowing that it was late enough that Bruce would probably stay out and do his nightly
patrols once he took care of the bank robbers, Edward didn’t expect to wait up for the alpha.
So he wandered to the library and found a novel to dig into to abate his loneliness.

It was times like these where he felt like being mated to Batman really sucked.

Edward lay curled up in his makeshift nest of blankets and pillows and some of his and
Bruce’s clothes to keep their scents intermingled and close, his laptop in front of him as he
logged into the private server that the Riddler copycat had set up.

He was slowly but surely gaining intel on the group, getting into their inner circle and
learning about them. In real life, Edward was painstakingly shy. He didn’t know how to deal
with people face to face, but things were easier online. He could pause and think about how
he wanted to respond, he could make himself appear much more put together than if it were a
direct communication.

Another thing that was handy about anonymous online communication was that nobody
knew his endotype unless he told them. And nobody in this group even had a clue who
Edward really was, he was just some faceless beta as far as they were concerned. That’s
exactly how the omega wanted it.

Edward chewed on the pad of his thumb as he watched the chat sprawl by. They were waiting
on a livestream from the Riddler and people were talking among themselves, mostly about
their plans.

N0M0reLi3s: Can’t wait for the big night.

Edward perks up at that, when he had been active as The Riddler he had planned something –
a finale of sorts for his spree. He realized now, that it was probably a bad idea. Too many
casualties, too many variables. Maybe his pregnancy helped him realize that, that he wasn’t
the only person that mattered anymore.

He took a shaky breath and started typing.

John47: What’s the big night?

He tried to be as casual as possible, hoping that it wouldn’t alert too much suspicion. If it was
what he thought it was… that wouldn’t be good. He thinks about the original plan, where
he’d blow up the seawalls and take out the rest of the city. Even at his most vigilant moments
as the Riddler, he hadn’t been fully sure if he should go that far. It had always been
something of a contingency plan, something he cooked up at his lowest – when he thought
there was truly no saving Gotham, that it had to be purged in a holy flood to heal – and his
group had been very approving of the plan.

Of course they were, he thought at the time, they were just like him. Now he wasn’t so sure.
N0M0reLi3s was taking a while to reply, which worried Edward. He hoped that he hadn’t
pushed too much.
N0M0reLi3s: Riddler will probably tell you when the stream starts. We’re getting close to him
making an entrance. This should be good :)

Edward pursed his lips as that, of course they weren’t going to just tell him. That would make
things way too easy. Way too simple. All he could do was wait until the stream started. He
crossed and uncrossed his legs in a nervous fashion, waiting for the Riddler to appear.

Thankfully for the sake of Edward’s nerves, that didn’t take long and soon the stream started
up. The Riddler appeared on his laptop screen, all dressed up in the uniform. Edward pouted
at the sight of it, remembering how it felt to wear it. How freeing the mask was.

He pushed the thought from his mind and focused on the task at hand. “Good evening
everyone. I see that since we last spoke. I’ve been watching your progress these past few
weeks and I’m impressed. The elites are quaking in fear now, we just need to keep things to
really hammer it in that there’s a new world order in Gotham and they aren’t on top of the
food chain anymore.”

Edward rolled his eyes at that, despite the murders most of Gotham’s wealthy seemed to be
unbothered. The arrogance of the rich and powerful was so intense and their hubris was even
worse. Not much would be able to scare them. It was at times like these that Edward wished
he could solve problems the old way, just by purging the lot of them – keeping only him and
Bruce alive to govern the city.

But he couldn’t do that anymore, not only because Bruce would be so disappointed if he
killed again but also because he had pups to think about. Edward didn’t really care before, if
he rotted in Arkham but now it wasn’t just him he had to worry about. If he did anything
illegal, the GCPD wouldn’t hesitate to lock him up. And there was no way he would ever be
willing to abandon his children, he wouldn’t be like his own mother.

Edward squinted as he watched the chat roll by. People had moved on from celebrating their
violence to talking trash about him. They were calling him a bitch and a whore, saying that
they should kill Edward when they took out Bruce Wayne. His hand went to his belly
instinctively, protecting his pups from any outward threats.

There was also a lot of sexual comments, people talking about fucking Edward – turning him
into a cumdump after they killed his alpha. Because that was all omegas were good for in the
eyes of some, they were just sex objects to be used and abused.

The Riddler, surprisingly or not, did not seem to agree with their assessment of him. “Edward
is just confused.” He said, “He’s being manipulated by the elites, by Bruce Wayne and his
people. We just need to bring him back to us. Make him understand that he belongs with
people like him, not with parasites like Bruce Wayne.”

Edward rolled his eyes again. “So fucking patronizing.” He muttered to himself.

“What are you watching?” Bruce asked, startling Edward to his presence.

“Oh, uh, Riddler stream.” Edward replied, sounding far off and distracted. He couldn’t look
away from the screen, even if he wanted to. “Trying to get some intel.”
Bruce hummed and walked into the room, sitting down on the bed next to Edward. He put an
arm around Edward’s waist and held it there as he watched along with his omega. Bruce
tucked his chin in the crook of Edward’s neck and watched along with him. “Have they
revealed anything yet?”

Edward shook his head, “Not much, unfortunately. They have plans but they’re being…
cagey about it. I don’t want to push too hard, I don’t want them to get suspicious.” Bruce
nodded at that, understanding the logic of that.

Bruce frowned as he looked at the chat logs, “They’re saying a lot of disgusting things about
you.” He noted.

“They’re also talking about murdering you. Doesn’t that bother you?” Edward pointed out.

“Not really. I know they want to kill me. I’m not concerned.” Bruce replied. As far as he was
concerned they would come for him again and again until he took them down. But that didn’t
mean that he was okay with hearing them spout terrible, sexist things about his mate.

“Cocky.” Edward muttered, scoffing a little as he said it. Edward bit the inside of his cheek as
he noticed another one of the chatters – someone that Edward had spoken to in private before
– call him a traitorous whore who needed to be put in his place. That stung.

“Enough talk about Edward, tonight I have something planned.” The Riddler continued and
the two of them stopped speaking, paying rapt attention to what he had to say. “Not the big
night yet, we’re not prepared for it just yet. But something exciting.”

“Get on with it.” Edward muttered to himself. The chat seemed to agree, everyone was
asking what they were going to do.

“The Arkham Observatory is a disgusting display of wealth.” The Riddler continued on, “I
think it would look much better as a crater.”

“Shit.” Bruce muttered. He could only imagine how they were planning to blow it up. The
Arkham Observatory was in the middle of the city, there would likely be a fallout – as well as
many lives lost in the process – if it was destroyed.

Edward frowned and looked towards Bruce, “You should go there.” He said, “Maybe you can
stop it. Hopefully there’s time.” it was the best they could do for now.
 Chapter 10
Chapter Summary

yoooooo its been so long since i updated this fic sorry, but i revised my outline and i
have the next few chapters already planned out instead of just being vibes. so updates
should be smoother until its complete

Notes: there is sexual assault in this chapter towards the end. its not super explicit and
theres no, uh, penetration but it does happen and its framed as being really gross. so.
yeah.

Bruce made his way to the Arkham Observatory, suited up and intensely focused on the task
at hand. He couldn’t let his thoughts drift to Edward, even though the omega was always
occupying his thoughts in one way or another. It would probably do wonders for Edward’s
ego, to know that he had such an effect on Bruce. On Batman, even.

When Bruce arrived at the observatory, there was already chaos, every door and window was
sealed shut and there was vulgar graffiti of question marks all over the building. Bruce had no
idea how they managed that.

There was no unsealed entrance, so Bruce had to make one. There was a large skylight
overhead and Bruce grappled up to it. It wasn’t difficult to jump down and force his way into
the building. He landed on the top floor with a heavy thud and he grimaced, hoping that no
one heard that.

Of course, things didn’t exactly go his way because the next thing he knew a man dressed as
the Riddler was approaching. This was definitely not the copycat, just some lackey. “What
the hell?” The lackey said and before he could process what was happening Bruce was on
him in a flash.

Bruce had him in a sleeper hold in moments and he was out for the count. Bruce dragged him
out of sight before continuing on with his reconnaissance. Bruce quietly moved through the
rafters of the building, keeping an eye out for more of the goons or even the Riddler himself.

He didn’t see that, what he did see instead was a group of…children. Bruce swallowed in
discomfort, letting himself falter for just a moment before he put himself back together. The
children were bound and gagged, sobbing as they looked at him plaintively.

They did not cry out for him though, they were too afraid to do anything but whimper. Bruce
carefully analyzed the room for any traps or signs of wrongdoing when he saw it. There was
a trap encircling the children, blades overhead.
The sight was horrifying. What did those children do to deserve this? What sort of corruption
or wrongdoing had they done to be used like bait and slaughtered? Edward would not
approve of this, he didn’t approve of anything the Riddler copycat had done but this was so
much worse than anything else the copycat had done. This was disgusting. Wrong. A level of
violence even most evil people would balk at.

“It’s alright.” He said lowly, “I’ll get you out of this.” He promised. It occurred to Bruce that
they might find him frightening too, he might find Bruce frightening if he was a child in the
same situation as them.

The trap was a mass of blades hanging over the children’s heads, weighed down by a
counterweight. Bruce launched himself at the blades, using his own weight to overpower the
counterbalance as he quickly maneuvered the bladed trap into the far wall. The trap sliced
into his hands – he would have to have Alfred give him stitches when he got home – but
otherwise it didn’t harm him or the children.

The only problem was that it caused a fair bit of noise. Bruce leaped off of the trap as the
door open and launched himself out the door, slamming it shut so the children were kettled
away from any gunfire or danger.

There were five of the Riddler’s goons as the doorway. Bruce had to be careful to work the
men against each other as they took their shots at him. He grabbed the gun of the closest
assailant, twisting it back on him as bullets rang out to give him covering fire to get away.

It was easier to fight them off from that point, the men were not very adept at hand to hand
combat, so it was no problem for Bruce to use them against each other until they were all
down. Bruce walked forward after he took them down.

Another group came into the onslaught as Bruce fought them off too, with a bit more
difficulty. He was bleeding now, he noted. He felt a little lighter, but he would keep going
because he would have to keep going. After taking down the second group of thugs, Bruce
heard the sound of loud clapping.

“Wow.” The Riddler copycat said, he kept up that rhythm of sarcastic clapping as he walked
towards Bruce. He was, like the rest of the group, dressed in a copy of Edward’s costume. He
was masked and every inch of him was covered. The only thing that he could really tell about
the man was that he was tall, taller than Edward and taller than Bruce too.

Bruce grit his teeth and readied himself for a fight. “You know,” The Riddler copycat said, “I
never understood Edward’s obsession with you. You just seem like another rich man
cosplaying.” He sneered as he stared down Bruce behind his mask. “I mean, you have to be
right? With all that tech, there’s no way you’re one of us. But he just loves you, worships the
ground you walk on. Must be nice.”

He sounded bitterly jealous and Bruce had to stop himself from laughing. If only he knew
how close he and Edward were. If only he knew that Bruce had gotten the omega pregnant
and had him waiting at home for him right now. If only he knew who was behind the mask.
Bruce kept a stony expression spread across his face, not revealing any of his thoughts. “Do
you feel guilt for everything you have, is that why you dress up like an animal and beat up
drug dealers?” The copycat asked.

Finally, Bruce answered. “I do what I can because I have to.” He answered vaguely. “It’s my
calling. You wouldn’t understand what it’s like to have one of those.”

At that, the copycat barreled towards him. He was filled with rage and hate for Bruce as he
slammed him into the wall. “The world would be a much better place if you were not a part
of it.” He snarled, slamming Bruce’s head back into the wall.

Bruce groaned, his vision whiting out for just a moment before he got a hold of himself and
started to fight back. The copycat was massive and strong, but Bruce was a technically better
fighter. The two of them scuffled and fought for some time. It took nearly all his strength but
eventually, Bruce managed to get the man away from him.

He let out a scoff and spat out a little bit of blood. The Riddler Copycat’s mask was frayed
and he was laughing, laughing at Bruce. “I don’t have time to waste on you.” He said, as if
Bruce was nothing to worry about. As if he was nothing at all.

He pressed a button on a phone. Bruce realized what it was immediately, the countdown on
the bombs being activated. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes to save this festering husk of
corruption.” He said, before he turned and ran, jumping out of the nearest window.

Bruce did not bother to try and pursue him. The hostages were far more important. He cursed
to himself before frantically searching for his communicator. He called Jim Gordon up and
didn’t wait for more than a second after he answered to start asking for help. “Gordon, get a
bomb squad over here as soon as possible.” He said tiredly.

Jim answered quickly, “The Arkham Observatory, right?” He asked, just to make sure.

“Yes, get here as quickly as possible. The Riddler set a timer for fifteen minutes. There are
hostages I have to get out of here.” He explained in a rush, moving towards the room where
the children were.

He ended the call quickly and moved to tend to the children. He leaned down to their level
and extended his hand toward each of them as he led them out of the building. “It’ll be
alright.” He promised. “Everything will be okay.”

He didn’t know if that was a promise that he could really keep, but he felt the need to assure
the children that were shaking and crying. After getting the children out, he ran back into to
look for more hostages. There were a few adults, maybe teachers on a field trip or parents.

It was easier to get them out than the children, there were no traps keeping them in place. Just
rope and cloth gags. Bruce escorted all of them out and got them a safe distance away before
he returned to the building to aid in locating and disarming the bombs. It would be a long
night.
Bruce didn’t come back until the early hours of the morning. When he did return he was
absolutely exhausted. He felt good though, no one had died and he had even managed to tie
up a few of the Riddler’s goons and arrest them. It wasn’t over, because it never was, but they
were getting closer to a world where Edward and their pups could be safe.

Their pups… Edward was so close to giving birth. He was already eight months along. Soon
the triplets would be born and they would be thrust into parenthood. Bruce had to get rid of
the Riddler copycat before then. He had to make this world safe for his babies, all of them.

The copycat – the real one, the leader – had gotten away in the scuffle of arrests and rescues,
which was aggravating. Bastard was slippery despite his sheer size.

Bruce took off his suit and took the elevator up to the penthouse after he showered. His hand
was still aching, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore so he wasn’t too worried about it. He made
his way to the kitchen, grumbling to himself in annoyance as he did so.

When he arrived in the kitchen, he was surprised to see Edward there. The omega was sitting
with a book at the table and a plate full of breakfast foods that he lazily picked at. “What are
you doing up so late?” Bruce asked, looking at Edward with concern.

“Oh, I woke up about an hour ago.” Edward said. “It’s… my back is hurting and it makes
sleeping harder.” He explained, “So I decided to just get up and make myself something to
eat.” Then he sighed, “I’m so pinned down by my own weight its a miracle I can even get to
sleep at all. Look at me, I’m as big as a house.”

“You look gorgeous.” Bruce dismissed warmly. He couldn’t help the response, there was
something so pleasing about the sight of his mate heavy with their pups. And he thought
Edward carried pregnancy exceptionally well. His skin glowed and his natural curves were
even more pronounced. He looked like something out of a painting, something holy and
beautiful – meant to be worshipped.

Edward huffed at that, “Yeah, well-” He started to argue, but then he caught sight of Bruce’s
brutalized hand and gasped in shock. “What happened to you?” he asked in a voice so pitiful
that Bruce had to wonder if the injury was much worse than he originally thought.

“There was a trap, some kids being used as bait. I saved them, none of them got hurt, but I
sliced my hand in the process. Doesn’t hurt anymore and its not bleeding so I’m not all that
worried about it.” He answered as Edward looked at him disbelievingly.

“They used kids?” Edward asked, horrified. His hand went to his belly instinctively,
protective of the life growing inside of him. Most people found hurting children especially
heinous, Edward was no different.

“Yeah. They’ll be alright though.” Bruce promised, “None of them got hurt.”

“I hope so…” Edward muttered, “Physically, at least, if not emotionally.” And then he looked
at Bruce’s hand again. “How did that happen?”
“There was this bladed trap, I had to use my own body as a counterbalance to get it away
from the kids and the blades sliced into my hands.” Bruce explained, “Is it really that bad?”
He asked sheepishly.

“Yes. Oh my god, you could have nerve damage.” Edward said, like he couldn’t believe that
Bruce wasn’t bent over in agony. “It really doesn’t hurt?”

“It’s throbbing a little, but I can deal with it. I’ve learned to process pain in a way that makes
it easy to ignore.” Bruce explained. “I was going to have Alfred tend to it when he wakes up,
I didn’t want to bother him so early in the morning if its not bleeding.” He would probably
need stitches, he thought, but it wasn’t the end of the world.

Edward let out a little huff and walked towards him, “Well at least let me put some
disinfectant on it and wrap it.” He offered. “I might not know how to do field medicine but I
can do that.”

“It’s really not necessary, baby.” Bruce replied, “It’s gonna be fine, I’ll have Alfred fix it up
in a couple of hours.”

“But it would make me feel better.” Edward told him with a pout.

That was enough to make Bruce relent. “Alright.” He said indulgently, “Do whatever you
need to.”

Edward smiled gratefully at that, before moving to go and get peroxide and some gauze from
one of the bathrooms. He returned quickly and directed Bruce to sit down at the table. Bruce
did as he was told, laying his hand down flat with his palm up so that Edward could tend to it.

He winced as Edward cleaned the wound, rubbing away all dried blood that had accumulated
on his hand gently. “Well at least you can feel that.” The omega mumbled, “Gives me hope
that you don’t actually have nerve damage.”

“I already told you, I’ve learned how to process pain differently so I can keep going.” Bruce
replied, just a little annoyed. “I don’t have nerve damage. And I’ve gotten worse injuries.”

“Well I wish you could turn it off, it scares me a little.” Edward mumbled as he started to
tightly wrap up his hand with gauze and medical tape. Bruce’s annoyance faded then, Edward
was just worried about him. Of course he was, Bruce was out every night fighting crime.
What he did was dangerous and there was no doubt that Edward felt a little responsible for
his injury tonight. It was his followers that had caused it after all. “There, that’s the best I can
do.” Edward said, pulling Bruce out of his thoughts.

Edward’s expression was sweet and loving, Bruce didn’t think that he would ever get used to
how sweet Edward was. Despite everything that he was capable of and everything that he had
done, Edward was a very sweet and tender-hearted person.

Everything about Edward was a contradiction. He could be violent or he could be gentle. He

could be mercurial or he could be steadfast. He could be cruel or he could be as sweet as
could be. That was Edward, His Edward. His confusing, strange little omega.
Bruce tensed and untensed his wrapped hand. Edward had done a good job. He was still
kneeling down in front of Bruce, looking up at the alpha with a hopeful expression spread
across his face. “Is that better?” He asked.

Bruce ran his fingers through Edward’s pretty chestnut hair. “You did a great job, you should
have been a nurse instead of an accountant.”

Edward giggled at that, “I would have snapped a lot earlier if I had to work in healthcare.” He
said. He looked back at the stove as he pulled himself up to his feet. “Are you hungry? I can
make you something to eat.” Bruce nodded at that and Edward got to work in the kitchen.

He didn’t often get a chance to cook for Bruce, usually Alfred took over those duties and
shooed everyone else out of the kitchen. Alfred’s cooking is divine, everything he makes is
nearly gourmet. Edward’s cooking is nowhere near as extravagant, but he was not hopeless in
the kitchen.

He makes scrambled eggs, toast, and pancakes for Bruce and the alpha takes it gratefully.
“Thank you.” He said, looking at Edward intensely. “How are the pups treating you?” He
asked.

Edward huffed a little, “They’re being terrible.” He whined. “Kicking and fussing all night,
giving me all these cravings… I think they just wanna get out of me.” He said, “And honestly
I want them out too! I want my life back, I want to drink coffee and take walks and… and
everything.”

He was also excited about the prospect of motherhood, he wanted to hold his pups to his
chest and feed them and love them. He wanted to dress them and care for them and do every
little thing for them that he had not been given. He would be as good of a mother as he could
be, he promised himself that his pups would never feel unloved or neglected.

“Any day now they will be.” Bruce said sympathetically.

“Any day now.” Edward agreed with a smile as he rubbed his belly. The two of them finished
their meals and cleaned up after themselves before walking hand in hand back to bed. Bruce
held Edward all throughout the morning. He kept a protective hand on Edward’s belly and
held him close.

He would get the Riddler copycat, he would get him and keep Edward safe. His own sanity
depended on it.

A few days after the failed attempt at destroying the Arkham Observatory, Edward was
feeling a little stir crazy. The heaviness of his pregnancy made him feel even more pinned
down. He decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. This was Bristol – Gotham’s
nicest neighborhood, he wasn’t really worried about anything happening.

But still, he decided not to say anything to anyone because he knew how Bruce got
sometimes. He could be so overprotective. Edward understood why, but it was also a little
annoying. Edward could take care of himself, he would argue, he wasn’t some helpless little
doll that needed to be kept in a gilded cage.

It wasn’t like Bruce kept him trapped here in the penthouse – though some people would not
blame him if he did such a thing – but he was always so worried for Edward’s safety. He was
naturally domineering in the way most alphas were, but that was mixed in with an
overbearing need to protect that was rooted in his identity as a vigilante. It could be a lot to
deal with.

Edward was usually expected to have an escort when he left Wayne Tower, but he didn’t
want an escort. He wanted to go outside and be his own person for an hour or two. He did not
have this urge to fly off and be outside often, usually he was a textbook agoraphobic.

He wore a sundress and a pair of tennis shoes and grabbed a bit of cash so he could get
something at the local coffee shop. He couldn’t get coffee – because Bruce would kill him for
doing that – but maybe he could get a smoothie and something sweet to eat with it.

All he wanted was a bit of fresh air and a nice experience. He knew that he couldn’t go far
from home, both because it would worry Bruce too much if he did that and because he just
physically couldn’t walk that far, but going around the corner would be a nice excursion.

Bristol looked so much different than the rest of Gotham. It looked nice and safe, there were
townhouses in the distance and little on the same street where Wayne Tower was. Wayne
Tower was both Bruce’s home and the location of Wayne Enterprises headquarters, so it was
in a walkable neighborhood.

Edward walked around the corner and made his way to a local cafe. He walked in and smiled
at the barista behind the counter, “Hi,” He said pleasantly before he started to order
something for himself – he decided on a fruit smoothie and a blueberry muffin. Nothing too
extravagant, just something to justify sitting here with his book while he ate.

It was nice to be out of the house, he had been going absolutely crazy spending every single
day inside with nothing to do. He enjoyed the atmosphere of the cafe for as long as he could
before he decided that it was probably time to go home. He hadn’t been gone for even an
hour but he hadn’t told anyone that he left and he knew they worried over him so much.

Edward left the cafe and started to walk back to the penthouse when he heard the sound of…
weeping? He frowned as it occurred to him that it might be a child crying. Instinctively, it set
something off in him. A primal sort of protectiveness reared up inside of him.

What if a child had been hurt, he couldn’t help but wonder. As far along in his pregnancy as
he was, his maternal instinct was getting more and more obvious and powerful. He couldn’t
really fight the urge to follow the sound of crying. He followed it and followed it along until
he found the source of it.

It was a child, a very small child – they were only maybe five or six years old – looking
frantically around as they cried and cried and cried. Edward leaned down to their level,
wanting to comfort the pup. “Hey.” He said, “What’s wrong, pup?” He asked.
The child was a little blond haired boy, sweet looking as can be, he sniffled quietly as Edward
tended to him. “I, I can’t find my mommy.” He said. “I don’t know where she went.” He
sobbed.

“Aw, poor baby.” Edward mumbled. “It’s okay, I can try and help you find her.” He offered,
“Where did you lose sight of her, baby?” He asked.

The little boy gently grasped Edward’s hand. “I’ll, I’ll show you. Can I show you?” He said,
there was a strange switch in tone. Just barely there, but Edward noticed it. He took it as
nervousness. He was probably so scared after losing sight of his mother.

Edward nodded and allowed the boy to take him to wherever he had lost sight of his mother.
The two of them walked around the corner. He took Edward to a quiet little alleyway – even
the alleyways in Bristol were nice and clean, he thought ruefully, delicately patterned streets
and clean brick and mortar walls surrounded Edward and the little pup as he frantically tried
to find his mother.

“Sh-she was here. And then she was gone.” He said.

“Okay…” Edward mumbled, thinking that this child had probably been abandoned. He felt
horrible for him and wondered what he could do to help. “I’ll tell you what, we’re going to
find a…” He cringed, “Nice policeman and work this out. Okay?”

The little boy nodded. Edward smiled at him encouragingly before he turned around. He let
out a gasp as he was, before he even registered that someone was even in front of him,
grabbed. Something thick with a pungent smell covered his mouth and nose and he quickly
began to feel faint even as he attempted to fight off his attackers.

Not even a thousand feet from his home, Edward had been taken.

He began to drift off as he was thrown into the trunk of a car, his hands taped and a gag
shoved in his mouth. Even being in a safe neighborhood like Bristol didn’t protect this from
happening. Consciousness came and went for the next few hours, when he was wakeful he
worried about the child. What did they do to him, he thought. He hadn’t heard him scream,
maybe they had left him alone. But that thought also worried him, that poor child had likely
been traumatized by what he saw.

He woke at some point later and he wasn’t in a car anymore. He was sitting in a dark room,
bound up with tape. He groaned in pain, there was a stinging sensation in his mouth and nose.
He didn’t know what had caused it.

He sat there alone, in that chair that he had been bound to for what felt like hours. The room
he was in, wherever it was, was cold enough that it made him shiver in his sundress. He was
so cold and alone in this room and all he wanted was to go home. He should have just stayed
inside and kept himself there.

Edward shifted as he heard the sound of heavy footfalls approaching. His back stiffened and
he sat up as much as possible. His kidnapper must be coming down the stairs. He took a
breath to prepare himself, wondering what kind of horrible person they might be.
He recognized the costume he was wearing immediately, same olive green army jacket and
coarse pants that Edward had crafted for himself. He was vaguely aware that his followers
had made dupes of his costume. The only difference between his costume and what this man
was wearing is he was not wearing a mask.

The man who was wearing the costume could barely be called that. He was younger than
Edward, maybe even a teenager. He had sandy blond hair and dark eyes, freckles on his nose.
“You’re awake. Good. A-are you hungry, do you need anything?” The copycat Edward
nervously, like he was trying to play the gracious host.

Edward scoffed. “Who the fuck are you?” He snapped, he was already so tired of all these
games.

The Riddler copycat laughed, “Oh, sorry, yeah you wouldn’t know would you. I’m Alex. I’m
your biggest fan.” He said. Edward doubted that.

“What did you do to that little boy?” Edward asked, his brows knit in annoyance and worry
for the child.

Alex laughed again. Edward wondered if it was a nervous tic. “Sammy! Get down here.” He
yelled, loud enough to make Edward’s ears ring a little. Edward let out a breath as the little
blond haired boy descended down the stairs. He looked at Edward with a miserable
expression. He wasn’t happy to be here. “That’s my little brother. I didn’t like tricking you
but. You’re confused.”

“Confused.” Edward parroted, feeling sicker and sicker by the moment.

“That fucking parasite, Bruce Wayne.” Alex spat out Bruce’s name like it was poison. “He’s
manipulating you with his riches and, and, and, the bond he forced on you is compelling you
to change your principles I just know it!”

Edward frowned and opened his mouth to say that Bruce hadn’t forced a bond on him, it had
been a spontaneous bond. Neither of them had chosen it. Alex just kept on rambling, unaware
of what was going through Edward’s head. “He’s tricking you and making you think you
have to abandon the cause.”

Edward sucked in his teeth and then sighed. “I’m not abandoning the cause. I’m just
changing my methods.” He said slowly. “Alex, you have to let me go. Bruce will be looking
for me soon, I’m very heavily pregnant. I’m going to be having my pups any day now.”

“You, you can- you can keep them.” Alex said, which completely through Edward for a loop
for a moment. “Once I kill Bruce Wayne, I’ll claim you so you won’t get sick and I’ll claim
your pups too. I’ll take care of you. It’s the least I can do, after you enlightened me.” He said.

“I don’t want that.” Edward said through gritted teeth. “I want. To go. Home.” He practically
snarled.

Alex stiffened for a moment and then he dove forward, forcing his mouth on Edward’s own.
Edward was stiff as a board and unresistant as the teenage alpha kissed him. After a moment
he realized he was doing something else, he looked down and noticed that he had his cock
out and he was rutting it against Edward’s thigh.

Alex had grabbed his face and held it one hand so he couldn’t move away, all he could do
was take it. Take the kiss and take whatever else he wanted to do to Edward. There were
many moments in Edward’s life where he felt helpless, but this had to be one of the worst
ones.

The movements against his leg soon became erratic and he realized that Alex had cum. On
him. He groaned in displeasure. Alex stopped kissing him then, he let Edward go. Let him
turn away and grimace in disgust. “Please just let me go.” Edward sobbed, “I don’t, I can’t do
this anymore. Just let me go home.”

He felt awful and tired and pathetic. His body was so heavy and exhausted. He just wanted
Bruce to come and hold him, to rub his feet and tell him that everything would be okay.

“You’re just confused.” Alex said again, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. “When I kill
Bruce Wayne the spell will be broken.” He stood up and readjusted himself, watching
Edward’s miserable expression turn to one of despair. “It’ll be better once he’s gone and he’s
not clouding your mind with his nonsense.” He promised, like that was going to help Edward.

Edward flinched when he leaned in again, this time to give him a kiss on the cheek. “You’ll
see.” He promised, “It’s like pulling a rotten tooth. It hurts, but it’ll help you in the long run.”
He explained as he moved back to grab something thick and heavy. Edward didn’t even get
the chance to shriek before it slammed across his head, knocking him out almost instantly.
 Chapter 11

Bruce paced around the floor of Wayne Tower, nervous and agitated all at the same time. He
had come home and Edward wasn’t there. This had never happened before. The omega
occasionally went out for a walk around the neighborhood, but he rarely strayed far. He
couldn’t really go far in his condition.

So Bruce had quickly become worried and decided to call the police, even though he was
wary that they wouldn’t be very helpful. Still, what else could he do? As Bruce Wayne, he
didn’t really have a lot of options for tracking Edward down.

“I should have put a tracking chip in him.” Bruce muttered as he waited for the cops to arrive.
“Something like this was bound to happen, I should have prepared. I should have-” Bruce
sighed, becoming more and more frustrated by the second with the situation.

“He never would have put up with it.” Alfred said as he put down a glass of water on the
table for Bruce to drink, “And you know it.” He added, with a bittersweet sort of humor.

“I should have done it even if he was kicking and screaming about it.” Bruce grumbled. It
was his job as Edward’s alpha to keep him safe. Especially when he was like this, so
vulnerable and easily hurt. Bruce’s mind couldn’t help but conjure up terrible scenarios of
what could be happening to his omega.

He knew those copycats had something to do with it. But he hadn’t tracked them down yet, at
least not the leader. He had managed to interrogate and arrest a few of them, but they were all
dead ends – both because they were devoted to the cause and because they really didn’t know
the full extent of what their leader was planning.

The worst case scenario would be if the leader had Edward. He was obsessed with Edward, in
a way that suggested that he’d do things to Edward, unsavory and sexual things that made
Bruce’s skin crawl at even the concept of the thought.

A knock at the door pulled Bruce out of his head and he moved to open it. He greeted the
handful of cops at the door with an exhausted expression. “It took you long enough.” He
practically snapped at the officers.

“Bruce…” Alfred cautioned, not wanting Bruce to cause a scene. It wasn’t that he didn’t
understand Bruce’s worry, he did, but he knew that that wouldn’t get them anywhere. The
cops might just leave them if Bruce was too aggressive about his mate’s well being.

“Edward was kidnapped. He could be being tortured and raped right now. He’s a heavily
pregnant omega and these guys are just… what, taking a break before they even get here?”
He snapped. He knew that Edward was in distress. He could feel that much, through their
mental link. He couldn’t get much more than that, the vague feeling that something was
wrong with Edward whenever he called to him.
There were three officers in total. The first of them, a detective in plainclothes, stepped
forward. “We apologize Mr. Wayne.” He started, trying to ease the tension that was sitting
heavy in the air between the lot of them. Bruce wanted to scream, he wanted to throw a
punch at the officers.

He didn’t do that. He controlled himself, for Edward’s sake and for his own. “There was a lot
of traffic downtown.” The officer continued as Bruce stared him down coolly.

“I’m sure.” Bruce said, through gritted teeth. “Now, if you’d like to do something about my
missing mate that would really be helpful.”

Another officer, a rookie by the look of it piped up. “Are you sure he didn’t just run off?” He
asked.

“Martinez!” The detective snapped.

Martinez didn’t back down, not entirely. “All I’m saying is he’s got a history. Maybe he ran
off to help those Riddler knock offs?” He suggested.

“He’s eight months pregnant. He wouldn’t get very far without a lot of help. He doesn’t even
like going in car rides often because he gets car sick now.” Bruce replied in a tense voice,
“Never mind the fact that he’s happy here and he doesn’t want to leave. Never mind the fact
that he loathes the copycats. Even if he did want to run away he has no way to get around. He
doesn’t have a drivers license or even a bank account, because he doesn’t need those things
here, we provide everything for him and he doesn’t have to worry about a thing. He has a
credit card, which he used this morning to buy a cup of coffee from a local cafe and hasn’t
used it since.” He explained, trying not to get angrier than he was.

“I didn’t know he was pregnant.” Officer Martinez said apologetically. “I don’t keep up with
the tabloids. I’m sorry. I uh… I guess we’ll look into it, right?” He turned towards the
detective. Bruce didn’t know how to respond to that. He was so frustrated that he couldn’t
really speak without something nasty coming out of his mouth. So he kept quiet.

The third officer, who had been relatively quiet up until this point, finally spoke up. “We
understand, Mr. Wayne, and we do take your concerns seriously.” He said in a placating
manner, “Edward will be listed as missing. Now is there anything you could tell us that could
help us figure out what happened to him?”

Bruce sighed, “Edward was trying to move on from his crimes as The Riddler. He’s been
through therapy and we were working through the trauma that caused him to do such things.”
He explained, “He’s excited to be a mother, we’re having triplets. He’s due any day.” He
added, worry showing through in his tone. “It’s these copycats, they don’t want him to move
on. The leader of them had to have taken him, he’s obsessed with Edward. Dangerously
obsessed.”

Edward woke up with a terrible pain in the back of his head. Every inch of him ached and he
shuddered in his binds. He whimpered as he looked around the room, it was still the same
dingy space that he had woken up in last time. So this wasn’t a nightmare. He had really been
kidnapped.

He groaned and snapped his head against the back of the chair to quell his feelings of
frustration. “This is so unfair.” When Edward had first been arrested, he was sure that his
followers had abandoned him and some of them had. He would have preferred it if they all
stayed away… to this.

He would have preferred anything to this. Anything to some random alpha who had
developed an obsession with him to kidnap him and bring him… here. Wherever this place
was. Whatever this place. Another circle of Hell as far as Edward knew.

Looking around at the peeling wallpaper though, Edward doubted it was that interesting. He
shuddered as he thought about his kidnapper. Alex. He was just some mentally ill teenager!
Edward couldn’t believe that the ringleader that had been terrorizing him and Bruce for so
long was… just some kid.

Maybe not a kid. But he was definitely younger than Edward, which was surprising. Edward
would have thought his stalker would be in his age range. Or older. He expected someone in
their forties maybe, someone with resources and know how. That’s not what happened.

Instead, he was sitting taped up in a musty bedroom, kidnapped by some eighteen year old
alpha who was obsessed with him. He had to figure a way out of this. Somehow. He couldn’t
physically overpower Alex, at least not head on. But he would probably need to do
something about him if he wanted to get out of here.

Suddenly the door opened, Edward let out a fearful noise – a little chirp as he futilely
squirmed in the chair that he was bound to. The door swung fully open and Edward saw
Alex, again. Edward forced himself to calm, looking at Alex with a level expression. He let
out a shaky breath and forced a polite smile onto his face. “Hi.” He said nervously, trying not
to show how agitated he felt.

“Hey.” Alex replied, grinning at Edward gleefully. Edward tried not to cringe away from him.
He barely managed to stop himself from doing so, but he did keep still as Alex approached.
“I thought you might be hungry.” He said,

Edward did not trust that whatever his captor would feed him would not be drugged, but he
knew that compliance was his best way forward. So he nodded. “Could you, um, could you
untie me?” He asked, in what he hoped was a voice that came across as sweet and inviting.

It made him feel a little woozy, thinking about what he was doing. What he was thinking
about doing. Edward didn’t even know if he could do it, seduce his kidnapper. He didn’t
think very highly of his appearance or charisma, but obviously there must be something
enticing about him if Alex was so enthralled by him that he decided to kidnap him.

Alex stiffened as he thought about it. “Why?” He asked, sounding a little suspicious.

“It’s just… I’m kind of uncomfortable here.” He said. “This chair is so stiff and my back
hurts. I’d like to lay down.” It wasn’t totally a lie. He was uncomfortable, but he also knew
that if he was going to bond with Alex and gain his trust he’d need to have some range of
freedom. It was his only option if he wanted to get out of here before Alex tried to kill Bruce.

No. He wouldn’t let it get that far. He would stop him before he got to that point, no one
would hurt his alpha. He wouldn’t let that happen.

Alex looked like he was really struggling with the concept for a moment, “Um, okay… I
just… give me a minute.” He said, before turning away and walking out the door. Edward let
out a groan as the door slammed shut and he was left alone.

He thought that he must have done something wrong, that he was only going to be set back in
his efforts, until the door opened and Alex reappeared. He untied Edward from the chair that
he was tied to and escorted him to a bed that sat on the other side of the room. “This should
be more comfortable for you, right?” He said, as he secured a chain to Edward’s ankle and
tied it to one of the bedposts.

“Yeah, thank you.” Edward said, through gritted teeth. He knew that it wouldn’t be that easy
though. He would have to keep working at Alex and gaining his trust.

“Let me get you something to eat.” Alex muttered, “You must be starving. Do you want
anything special to drink? I have, um, coke or beer- well you can’t have that because of…
yeah, the pregnancy. I think we have juice-”

“Just water.” Edward said curtly. “Thank you.” He was trying his damnedest not to let his
discomfort show, he needed Alex to trust and like him. To view him as a confidant. He had to
play to his stalkers delusions, even though it made him want to crawl out of his skin. He just
had to. He saw no other way out of this situation.

There was a chance that Bruce would find him soon, but he didn’t know how long it would
take. He didn’t think that there was anything on him that Bruce could use to track him. He
didn’t know if Bruce would be able to track him down without help before Alex tried to kill
him.

Edward would not let that happen. He would kill Alex before he touched a hair on his alphas
head. Even thinking about it, he knew that Bruce wouldn’t approve. Bruce didn’t ever believe
that killing was necessary. He had a bleeding heart like that, but Edward understood that
violence was a tool.

A tool that Edward planned on using to his advantage as soon as he had the opportunity.

Alex returned after several minutes, with a plate of food and a glass of water in hand. Edward
sat tensely on the bed as the alpha approached. “Do you mind if I sit down?” He asked as he
set the tray down next to Edward.

“Not at all.” Edward replied, in what he hoped was an accommodating manner. Just be nice,
he told himself, you want him to like you. He reminded himself of this over and over again.

Alex smiled, seemingly blissfully unaware of Edward’s discomfort. “Are you still mad at
me?” He asked.
Edward smiled back, “No, I’m not mad.” He said, “I just… got upset. Bruce is the father of
my future children.” He said, in as placating a manner as he could manage. He put a hand on
his stomach. “I feel a closeness to him because of that, you know? It’s hard for me to think
about him being hurt.”

He thought he was talking like a goddamn Stepford Wife. Everything he said came out
robotic, practiced and rehearsed. He didn’t think that he sounded very convincing, he didn’t
really know how to come across as more convincing – he was not a good liar, he had always
been honest to a fault. But he was giving Alex what he wanted, so the alpha didn’t seem to be
bothered by it.

That was good for him. Maybe he could keep this up, he thought. A part of him just wanted
to sit and wait for Bruce to save him, he wanted to curl up in a ball and hide forever. He
wanted to bite this fucking creeps face off. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and throw
things. He wanted to do all these things at the same time.

But he was getting ready to pop. He was gonna have these pups soon and he had to get out of
here before that or it would be too late.

“That’s why I have to get rid of him! He’s done something to your brain.” Alex said,
strangely convicted that this was the truth. That Bruce had broken him somehow. It was
funny, maybe he had. At some point, Edward had been convinced that that was the truth. He
just didn’t care anymore. Because he loved Bruce. Because Bruce was his alpha.

“Right.” Edward said with a tight lipped smile. “And how do you plan on doing that? He’s
not easy to kill.” He asked, in such a light voice. Like they were talking about their favorite
movies instead of how his stalker planned to kill his alpha. Edward bit down on his lower lip
to stop the hysterical giggle from bursting out of his lips.

“It’ll take me a few months. But I’ve got something planned, I know a guy whose in good
with Falcone. That’s how we’re gonna get him. Apparently Falcone and the Waynes have a
history.” He said.

They did. Bruce’s parents had called in a favor with Falcone years ago, to quiet a journalist
who wanted to do an expose on Martha Wayne’s mental illness. Falcone had quieted him
with a bullet. For a long time, Edward viewed that as a source of corruption from the
Waynes. Now he just thinks they were naive and didn’t understand the consequences of what
they were dealing with.

“A few months, huh?” Edward asked shakily.

“I know it seems like a while, but it’ll make it easier to have some time away from him
before I get rid of him. It’ll make the break easier.” He said in a gentle voice. “I know you
think you love him, but you don’t really. You’ve just been led astray. You’ll see, you don’t
want to be one of them. You’ll see.”

At least that meant that he had some time to figure a way out of this. At least he had time on
his side.
It had been a few days since Edward had been kidnapped. Alex had taken off the chains on
the third night. Edward was sure that it was a test, so he didn’t try to run or attack him like his
instincts were screaming at him to do every time he looked at Alex.

Alex would come to see him multiple times a day, every time that he brought Edward
something to eat. Edward would tepidly eat the TV dinners that he had heated up for him
while they talked. Edward tried his best to form a connection with his stalker. He asked him
lots of questions. About his life and his interests. Anything he could learn.

He learned that Alex and his brother Sammy had been abandoned by their parents and left
alone in this brownstone last year. Alex had almost had to drop out of high school, he had
barely been able to graduate because he had to take on a full time job to feed themselves and
keep the lights on.

Sammy had, as Alex told it, gone quiet after their parents left. He rarely talked. He still had
trouble speaking, three years later. It had taken a lot out of him to speak to Edward, but he did
it because of how important it was. “I was really proud of him, you know, for not choking.”
Alex had said.

Edward hadn’t known how to process learning about the alpha. Really learning about him as
a person was… jarring. He didn’t really want to think about Alex as a person. He didn’t like
thinking of the people he killed as, well, people. They were targets. They were scum. He
went after people who deserved it first and foremost.

Alex deserved it, he decided, but this was purely self-defense. He was a victim too. He had
been exploited and abused by the city, abandoned by his family. Edward felt for him. If he
thought there was another way out of this, if Alex didn’t come across as extremely delusional
and dangerous, Edward would do that. But there was no other option, he was not getting out
of this house without blood on his hands.

Edward would not take pleasure in killing him, he knew. It was a grim prospect. It made a
rock sit at the pit of his stomach as he paced the confines of his room. The room that he was
trapped in. Apparently, it had been Sammy and Alex’s parents, before they had left Gotham.

There was a big bed that sat in the middle of the room, Edward was grateful that he got to
sleep somewhere. His back ached constantly and he would need to rest a lot so he would have
the strength when it came time to kill Alex.

He had scoured the room on the first night that he had been set free from his chains. Under
the dresser, so far back that he almost couldn’t grab it, he had found a paring knife. When he
found it he was sure that it was a blessing from God and he made a note that he would go to
church more often when he got out of this.

He would kill Alex with it. But he couldn’t just run at him with a knife. He’d be
overpowered, no, he had to figure out a way to get him when he was at a weakness. When he
surprised or tired and out of it, that’s the only way he could get out of this unscathed.

A rap at the door knocked Edward out of his thoughts. Thinking that it must be Alex coming
to give him a meal and talk to him again, he straightened himself up. “Come in.” He called.
The door opened and a little boy walked in. Edward pursed his lips. “Hey.” Sammy said. He
spoke softly now, so soft that Edward had to strain his ears to hear his words.

“Hello.” Edward said tepidly. Sammy had not come to see him once since he had been
kidnapped.

“Alex will be here soon. He’s here.” Sammy said. “In the house.”

“Alex says you don’t talk.” Edward replied.

“I don’t have a lot to say.” Sammy replied. “Except… sorry. I didn’t want to.” He said,
looking down at the floor.

“I know.” Edward replied. At that, Sammy turned away and left. The door locked behind him
and Edward let out a sigh. He felt terribly for Sammy, knowing he would leave him all alone
without even his brother. But he wouldn’t kill him, because he wouldn’t need to. That left a
pit in his stomach too, one that he would internalize until he was safe enough to process it.

It did not take more than ten, maybe fifteen minutes for Alex to come in with what Edward
guessed must be dinner. He set it on the table and Edward forced a smile on his face. “Hi.”
He said in a light, breezy tone.

“Hi.” Alex replied, setting the TV dinner down on the table next to the bed. He sat down next
to Edward on the bed.

It was then, that a plan stirred forward in Edward’s head. Maybe it was the only really option
that he had. Edward turned towards him, “How was your day?” He asked, feigning interest.

“It was… you know, exhausting.” Alex said with a lazy grin. “But it’s alright. I like coming
home to you. It will be better when Bruce is dead and you’re mine.”

Edward let out a sigh from his teeth before he dove forward and kissed Alex. Alex was
surprised at first, but soon began to reciprocate the kiss. Edward kissed and kissed him until
the alpha was limp underneath him and relaxed.

Then he moved to straddle his lap. He smiled down at Alex, looking at him firmly as he
fumbled with the alpha’s belt. He pulled Alex’s cock out and stroked it, staring intently as he
pleasured him. At least he would go out enjoying himself, Edward told himself.

Alex did not question Edward’s motives, he just leaned back and enjoyed himself as the
omega jerked him off. When Edward sensed that Alex was getting close, he got his knife
ready with the hand that was not occupied. “There you go.” Edward whispered encouragingly
as the alpha came and in one quick moment he slit his throat.

Alex dropped on his back, a look of surprise etched on his face permanently. Blood had
sprayed all over Edward’s face and down his dress. He let out an exhausted huff as he caught
his breath before moving to grab the keys from Alex’s pocket.

He unlocked the door and stepped out into the hall. Sammy was standing in the hall, on the
steps of the stairs. He just looked at Edward, sad and resigned to the life that had been dealt
to him as the omega walked down the steps to the front door. Leaving him behind once and
for all.

Edward’s body feels heavy as he exits the house. Never before had killing taken such a toll
on him, it used to feel invigorating, but now he just felt tired. He wanted to go home. He
wanted to take a bubble bath and then curl under the blankets. He wanted Bruce to hold him
tight and never let him go.

He lets out a miserable sob as he walks down the empty street, past worn down houses and
fences with chipped wood and even more worn down paint. He didn’t know where he was
going, he didn’t know where he was. He had to get home. He had to get home.

He walked down several streets, ignoring the shocked expressions of passerbys as he sought
out a neutral location. He didn’t know how long it took him, but eventually he came across a
corner store. He had no idea how long he had been walking when he found it. He walked
inside, feeling his consciousness fade more and more by the second.

As he entered the store, the handful of people inside gasped in shock. At the blood on
Edward’s body, at his full pregnant belly. “I… I need help.” He said weakly. That was the last
thing that he was able to process before everything went dark.

The next time Edward woke, he was in a bright room with fluorescent lighting that was so
intense that it made his eyes ache. He whimpered and tried to cover his eyes with his hands,
“No, no, no…” He mumbled deliriously, as he tried to blot away the light.

He heard the sound of the door opening and he whimpered more, everything was so loud.
“God it is you.” Says a voice, a familiar voice. A calming voice. A voice he loves.

He opens his eyes and sees him. His alpha. “Bruce.” He sobs.

Bruce leans forward and brushes the hair out of Edwards face. “You’re okay, Edward, you’re
okay.” He said.

Edward let out another sob. “I don’t feel okay… It’s so bright and loud in here.” He said in a
tiny voice, almost childlike in tone. At this, Bruce moved to turn the lights off. He let out a
tiny sigh of relief as the bright lights stopped assaulting his eyes. “Thank you.” He
whimpered.

“Is that better?” Bruce asked. Edward nodded, letting out another sob. “You’ve been through
hell. It’s gonna be okay though. I don’t think they’re gonna

“I got rid of him.” Edward whispered deliriously, quiet so only Bruce heard him. “I had to lie
and trick him, but I did it. He won’t hurt you, I made sure he won’t hurt you.”

Bruce shushed him and moved to stroke his bonding gland to calm him. Edward mewled
softly and sobbed as Bruce comforted him. “It’s okay. I’ve got you, Edward. I got you.” He
kept muttering to the omega until he calmed. It took about twenty minutes of gentling for
Edward to get to a point where he didn’t feel utterly miserable and bordering on hysterically
emotional.

“Do you think you can tell me what happened?” Bruce asked, moving to sit down at a chair
next to the hospital bed. He gently grabbed one of Edward’s hands and held it, so they would
still be touching and the omega could receive comfort from it.

Edward squeezed Bruce’s hand back. “I didn’t, I didn’t do anything dangerous is the thing.”
Edward started, “I didn’t go after them directly or do anything like that. I know I’m in no
condition…” He sighed, “I just went for a walk around the block, to clear my head. They
tricked me. He had this kid and the kid pretended to be lost and he got me in this alley and
that’s where he took me.” Edward explained. “It was stupid I just, I didn’t, I couldn’t just
leave that little kid there alone.”

“He used your compassion against you.” Bruce replied. “It could have happened to anyone.
You’re not stupid Edward, you know that.” He said firmly.

“My compassion.” Edward parroted. “My maternal instincts more like. They’ve been going
crazy since you put these pups in me.” He huffed.

“You’re going to be an amazing mother.” Bruce said earnestly. Edward smiled despite
himself, he was so tired that he could feel himself wanting to collapse into the blankets again.

“I was so scared. I thought he was going to kill you.” Edward rambled. “He kept talking
about it. I, I played nice with him to gain his trust so I could get out and he would talk about
hurting you and I just wanted to throttle him.”

“You got out of there.” Bruce reminded him.

“I left that kid there. I don’t know if he’ll be okay.” Edward kept rambling. “It makes my skin
crawl thinking about it but I just can’t trust him. Not after he tricked me that first time.”

“He’s not your responsibility. You’ve got your own pups to think about.” Bruce soothed.

“Maybe not. I still think… I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m saying. Everything is so
loud.” He whispered, he was vaccinating between whispering and talking. He felt so
overstimulated.

“I wish I could make it quieter for you.” Bruce murmured, petting Edward’s hair to soothe
him. “Hey, how about… I’ll go to the cafeteria and get you something nice and warm to
drink. Do you think that would help?” He asked.

“I want a hot chocolate.” Edward mumbled. “Maybe. Maybe it will help.” He agreed.

Bruce walked off to the cafeteria. He needed to aid his omega and give him some space.
Edward had just been through hell. He needed Bruce to be there for him, no matter what. It
took about fifteen minutes for Bruce to make it down to the cafeteria and order a hot
chocolate in a styrofoam cup for Edward.
When he returned though… things were much different. Edward was sitting up and moaning
in pain, holding his stomach. “Bruce,” He cried out. “I think somethings happening!”

Bruce almost dropped the cup of hot chocolate as he moved to get a nurse for Edward. They
had the worst timing, Edward was going into labor. He was going into labor now and there
was no stopping it.
 Chapter 12
Chapter Summary

finally complete!!!! who says i never finish things? (i do ;p)

Edward was in labor for eighteen hours. It was a long and arduous ordeal. Bruce stayed by
Edward’s side the whole time, holding Edward’s hand and soothing him as he cried and
moaned in pain. But soon, it was all worth it as Edward held one of pups in his arms.

He had two girls and a boy now. He hadn’t even named them yet, hadn’t even thought about
it much but as he held his first girl in his arms her name came to him. “Hello little Maria.” He
said in a soft voice. “I’m so happy you’re okay and you’re here.” He mumbled. “I didn’t
know if…”

As he spoke to her, Bruce walked in. Edward sniffled and looked at Bruce. “Her name is
Maria.” He said in a voice that was wet from the sobs trapped in his throat. Bruce approached
slowly and quietly, moving to sit next to the bed where the omega lay sniffling. “We can talk
about the other two’s names it’s just… Maria seems right for her.”

Bruce smiled at her gently, looking at the pup that Edward was holding. “Maria, huh?” He
said. “That’s a beautiful name.”

Edward nodded, tears falling down his cheeks as he did so. “I wasn’t sure we were gonna
make it.” He whispered. “I thought we were gonna be stuck there. I had to… the things I had
to…” He babbled endlessly, not knowing up from down at that moment.

Bruce shushed him. “Everything’s gonna be alright.” He promised.

Edward leaned in and breathed in his daughters scent. “She’s so calm.” He said, “I can
already tell… she’s good. She’s so good, Bruce. She’s a good person. You can already tell
she’s gonna be such a good person, she’s gonna do so many great things.” Edward sobbed.
“They’re all gonna do good things because they have… they’ll be loved.”

“Edward.” Bruce interjected, his hands hovering over Edward’s. He clasped Edward’s wrist
and the omega looked at him with such a lost expression.

“I’m sorry.” Edward said, looking down at their intertwined fingers. “I don’t know why I’m
acting like this.” He practically whispered.

“I do.” Bruce replied, “You’ve been through a lot. Your whole life, but especially these past
few days. But you’re safe now, Edward. I’m going to make sure that your safe. If I have to
keep you locked up in Wayne Tower then that’s what I’ll do. You’ll be safe there at least.”
Edward let out a weak laugh at that, “What, you want to lock me up in the penthouse? Keep
me barefoot and pregnant too?” He challenged and then scoffed. “Chauvinist.” He said in a
small, teasing voice.

Edward looked down at Maria, who was sleeping peacefully. “I just want her to be happy.”
He said in a small voice. “All of them I want them all to be happy. It’s all I want. I was us to
be happy too.” And before Edward even realized it, tears were falling down his cheeks again.

“We’re going to be happy.” Bruce promised firmly, moving forward to stroke Edward’s face
as the omega sobbed overwhelmed tears. “Hey, hey, hey. I’m gonna get our pups from the
nursery, bring them here. Okay?” It was the first thing that he thought of to calm the omega
down and judging by the way that Edward reacted.

Edward’s eyes widened a little and his tears stopped for the time being. He nodded, watching
as Bruce got up. “Thank you.” He said in a small voice. He wanted to see his pups, he wanted
to have them in his arms.

It didn’t take long for Bruce to return with a nurse who was carting along a bassinet with
their two other pups laying down next to each other, with a teddy bear between them that they
shared. Edward’s heart clenched in his chest as he watched them get closer and closer.

The nurse looked unimpressed with the whole lot of them. “You know,” She said as she
stopped the bassinet next to Edward’s bed. “We’re usually supposed to keep the newborns in
the nursery overnight for observation, but Mr. Wayne insisted that you see them. Someone
should be coming periodically to check that there have been no complications.” She
explained.

Edward smiled nervously at her, wanting nothing more than to bundle his children up in his
arms and keep them close to his chest forever. “Thank you.” He said. Edward moved close to
the bassinet, peering at his pups with a childlike sort of delight. Those were his children, his
babies, his pups. The nurse let out a quiet sigh, writing something on Edward’s chart before
she left Bruce and Edward alone.

The two of them finally had the opportunity to coo over their children in peace. The two of
them spoke in hushed tones as they cuddled with their babies. They ended up talking about
what they would name them, because that was an inevitable thing to wonder upon.

“What do you think of Thomas?” Bruce asked, seeming a little nervous as he asked about it.
Edward understood the nervousness that he had, especially because Edward knew who he
was naming him after and the way that Edward had felt about the man.

“After your father?” Edward asked, even though the answer was obvious. Bruce nodded.
“Wow, you really idolize him. Even after all this time.” He said. Maybe at the beginning of
this, Edward would have said it with venom but he was just intrigued at this point. He didn’t
understand how Bruce could be so devoted to the parents that had left him an orphan. Wasn’t
he angry at them?

“He was great.” Bruce replied, “I don’t really know how to explain it better than that. But he
was amazing, a perfect father.” He said. “I’m glad I got to spend the time I had with him. My
mother too.”

“Aren’t you mad that they left you?” Edward found himself asking.

“For a while I was. It wasn’t their fault what happened, but…” Bruce trailed off, “I don’t
know, I was so angry for so long. I missed them more than I was angry at them for… not
being invincible. I still do. I miss them more than anything.”

“What was it like?” Edward asked, “Being loved by your parents?” He looked at Bruce
hopefully. “I never was. I don’t think so at least. I want to do better for our pups but…” He
sighed. He didn’t know how to finish his thought.

“I felt safe. Like no matter what, they would always be there to catch me if I fell or got hurt.
They were always looking out for me.” Bruce explained, “I know that’s not something
everyone has, even if you have parents. I’m lucky I had the time I did with them.”

“Safe.” Edward repeated, he felt himself getting misty eyed at the thought. He had never had
the chance to feel safe. He had always been scared and miserable, struggling to survive. It
was the last thing he wanted for his children. “Thomas is a nice name.” He finds himself
saying before he even thinks it through. “A good name for a boy. A good boy. He’s gonna be
a good kid.”

After that was decided, they kept talking. Talking about everything and anything except for
what had happened when Edward had been taken. Neither of them wanted to think about it.
They just wanted to move past it. Edward didn’t want to think about killing or manipulating
or anything like that.

He just wanted to move on from The Riddler. He had become The Riddler because he didn’t
think he had any other option. He would have been killed, he was sure of it, if he didn’t fight
back and take down the people who had ruined his life from the moment that he was brought
into this world.

He wished that he could have finished the job. Falcone deserved to die. Maybe one of the
various copycats would handle it. Maybe someone else would. It was out of his hands for
now. He had plans to help the people of Gotham however he could, Bruce had the resources
that he could expect to do that.

He wanted to change things, he didn’t want to have to kill to do it anymore. Murder is

bloody, uncomfortable work. In the moment, Edward enjoyed the power of it, but he hated
the idea that it was the only way he could fix things.

They named their second daughter Helena, it just came to them while they talked. It was a
beautiful name, it rolled off the tongue eloquently. He couldn’t wait to get to know his
daughters and son, he wanted to be as close as possible to them.

The doctors refused to discharge Edward until he spent the night for observation. Edward was
not happy at all to hear this – he did not like hospitals – but none of the hospital staff was
willing to take a risk when it came to Bruce Wayne’s omega.
For his part, Bruce did his best to make sure that Edward was comfortable. He had the nurses
bring him extra pillows and blankets, he got him hot chocolate and spoke soothing words to
the omega to help him relax.

Edward watched his pups as he lay in bed, waiting for sleep to take him. It didn’t take long.

The next morning, Edward was woken up by the sound of crying. He practically jumped to
full alertness, moving towards the source of the noise to grab for his pups. They were all
crying, which made this even more difficult.

Edward took Thomas into his arms first. “Hey baby.” He said softly. “Oh, you’re hungry
aren’t you? I’m sorry.” He said sympathetically as he raised the babe to his chest to feed him.
It took a few moments for Thomas to properly latch.

The moment he did though, he quieted down and his siblings crying just got worse. Edward
felt terrible, he felt like he was hurting his children by not being able to provide for them all
in the same moment.

Edward rocked back and forth as he fed his child. “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay…” He
rambled as he tried to calm them all. When Bruce entered the room, he looked helplessly at
the alpha. “I- Bruce I can’t feed them all at the same time! Can you see if they have
formula?” He was already so overwhelmed and the worry that he had been too busy with the
copycat started to root through his head.

What if he couldn’t handle this? What if he turned out to be a terrible parent because this was
all too much for him? He hadn’t even really thought about what kind of parent he would be.
He had never expected to have children, before everything happened with Bruce no one
wanted him and now… now he had all this and he didn’t really know what to do with it.
“Please.” Edward begged Bruce in a small voice.

“Yeah, of course. Just hang tight, okay? Just hang tight. I’ll be right back.” He said. Edward
nodded, feeling less and less like he had any grasp on the situation by the moment.

After a few more moments, Edward put down Thomas – hoping beyond all hope that he was
satisfied – and picked up Helena to feed her. As he did so, he apologized to her and told her
that he was so sorry that he hadn’t been more prepared to take care of them. That they
deserved better and he felt like an awful mother for how things had turned out.

By the time that Bruce had returned with a nurse who was holding some equipment and a big
tub of formula under her arm, things had calmed down a lot. Edward had been so
overwhelmed at first with his children, so worried that he would mess things up but once he
got out of his head things were a little simpler.

He had moved onto feeding Maria and his other two pups were back to sleep. The nurse
smiled as she set down the formula and the medical equipment down on a counter off to one
side of the room. “Oh, look, mama’s got everything taken care of. He’s a natural, Mr.
Wayne.” She said in a chipper voice.
She smiled at Edward sympathetically. “Looks like you managed just fine on your own, but
it’ll be easier when you get a supply of extra milk so you can always feed them. Usually we
handle feeding the pups for the first night but as I understand it you wanted to co-sleep?”

Edward nodded, “I needed to be with them, after everything that happened…” He trailed off.

She nodded, “That’s perfectly understandable. Someone should have helped prepare you for
the morning but things were a little hectic last night as far as I know.” She explained.

“I don’t think the nurse last night liked me very much.” Edward said softly, feeling small.
“She got annoyed when Bruce asked to bring the triplets into our room.”

“Well she’s not here anymore and you don’t need to worry about her.” The nurse replied
gently, “But I have formula and a pump for you to take care of excess milk and keep a back
up reserve for whenever the little ones get hungry. You can take this home, your insurance
will cover it. Um and, well, have any of the pups had any issue latching?” Edward shook his
head, “That’s good! That’s great, sometimes babies have issues and it makes things more
difficult but that’s not a problem you’re gonna deal with. How are you feeling? I know
multiples can be so overwhelming.”

Edward let out a hysterical giggle, “That’s a way to describe it. I’m terrified.” He said. “It’s
just so much and I’m worried I’m gonna ruin things.” He confessed.

The nurse leaned down to Edward’s level, looking at him as he fed Maria. “I think you’re
doing great.” She said, “It’s your first day as a mother and you’re already juggling those kids
like its second nature. I know it’s a lot at first, especially with multiples. I don’t know how
I’d manage. I only have one pup and he drives me up the wall. He’s a handful. But you’re
doing good! And you’re gonna have help. Things will be so much easier once your
discharged, I’m sure of it.”

Edward found himself nodding along as she went on to explain the minutiae of everything
else, how to work the breast pump and how often his pups will need to be fed. She also told
him that they were gonna work on getting him discharged before lunch, which Edward was
incredibly happy about. He wanted nothing more than to go home.

By the time the nurse left them, Edward was much more relaxed. He was smiling even and
when Bruce asked him what he was so happy about all he could do was say, “I think
everything’s gonna be okay.”

It would be. He was sure of it.

Alfred had been busy while Edward was in the hospital. When Bruce and Edward return
home with the triplets in tow, he has already gotten the nursery ready with a military like
professionalism and precision to his actions.

There were three lovely cribs set up next to each other, with just a little bit of personal space
for each of the pups. He had even decorated and furnished the room so it was nice and
comfortable, with space for Edward or Bruce to sit and play with the children.
When Bruce saw it, he let out a sigh of relief before thanking him. “It was the least I could
do,” Alfred replied, “You two have been through a lot.” He said. “Edward, especially. Where
is he, by the way?”

“Oh, he’s uh, in the sun room. Having a cup of coffee and a cigarette now that he’s not, uh,
carrying anymore.” Bruce said, letting out an amused chuckle. “I don’t want him leaving the
penthouse until we’re sure that there’s not gonna be any more incidents so I’m letting him do
pretty much anything he wants other than that.”

The two of them were sharply interrupted when they heard the sharp buzzing of the intercom.
Before Bruce could even process it, Alfred moved towards the door and mumbled something
about how he wondered who it could be.

Bruce didn’t have to wonder about that for more than a moment though, because soon
enough he was standing face to face with Gordon. Bruce did his best impression of non-
recognition, because as far as Gordon knew they had never met.

“Afternoon officer,” Bruce said in as casual a manner as he could manage. “Anything I can
do for you?” He asked, tense and protective over his omega already.

Gordon was a lot more professional and polite with Bruce than he was with Batman.
“Afternoon, Mr. Wayne. I understand Edward Nashton was released from Gotham General
this morning. I have some questions for him.”

At that, Bruce felt a little more protective. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He’s the victim
here and he just gave birth. He’s been through a lot, so I really don’t need Gotham police
harassing him-”

“Woah, woah, woah! Mr. Wayne that’s not what this is about.” Gordan said, “I just have
questions about what happened, so we can get to the bottom of this.” He explained, “Okay?
He’s not in trouble, I just want to make sure that we’re all on the same page about that. I just
have some questions.”

“Okay.” Bruce said after a moment. “Okay, yeah, just let me… he’s in the sun room relaxing,
come with me.” Bruce muttered.

When they arrive, Edward is curled up asleep on an ornate bench with a swing attached to it.
Bruce leaned down and gently roused him. Edward started as he woke, looking at the alpha
with a startled expression. “Hey baby,” Bruce said to him, stroking his face. “Taking a nap?”

“I didn’t even realize I just got so tired…” Edward replied, sounding embarrassed as he said
it. He looked at Gordon with an unhappy expression as soon as he noticed him. “What’s he
doing here?” He asked, venom in his voice without even meaning to have that edge there.

“Oh, yeah, this is um. Officer?” Bruce looked at Gordon expectantly.

“Lieutenant. It doesn’t matter though.” Gordon supplied.

“Right, this is Lieutenant Gordon. He just wants to ask some questions about what
happened.” Bruce explained gently, unfortunately no matter how gentle Bruce was about it it
did nothing to make Edward feel any less uneasy about the whole situation.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, he kidnapped me.” Edward hissed. “He kidnapped me and
assaulted me and- and he was gonna kill Bruce! He told me that he was going to kill Bruce, I
was defending myself-” Edward started to ramble endlessly.

“Baby, you’re not in trouble.” Bruce said firmly, but gently. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Okay.” Edward whimpered. “Okay. What do you want to know?” He asked, trying to keep
his voice stable as he said it.

“Can we, uh, can we talk in private?” Gordon asked. Edward looked at Bruce for a moment
before he nodded.

Bruce was tense, standing there. He didn’t want to leave Edward all alone with a cop. “It’s
okay. I can handle it.” He said as he moved to sit up. Bruce looked at Edward, still soft from
his pregnancy and vulnerable looking and knew that he couldn’t let him do that. Even if he
could.

“No.” Bruce said, “It’s not. Anything you have to say to Edward you can say in my
presence.” He was firm on this, wouldn’t change his mind about it.

Gordon sighed, “Alright.” He said, “I can respect that.” Gordon let out a sigh, “Well, I only
really got one question anyway. Have you made contact with your uh, fans since you’ve been
arrested.”

“No. Well. I tried to find out who they were, just watching their streams and stuff but they
didn’t know it was me. They don’t like me now that I’m bonded.” Edward explained,
“Why?”

“Because they’re just gone,” Gordon said, looking aggrieved and confused at the thought of
it. “All traces of them, just… gone! Disappeared without a trace, no sign of the websites or
servers or that they existed at all. I thought maybe you’d know their next step.”

Edward shook his head, “I’m sorry. I don’t.” He sighed, “I didn’t even expect… when I
started this, it was a website I had to stream playing 2048 and then I got radicalized. By this
city. It broke me. It broke all my followers. I don’t know, maybe after what happened with
Alex they just want a second chance to make things better for themselves. Or maybe they
ended things. I was thinking about doing that before.”

“A second chance.” Gordon parroted. “Is that what you would call this?” He asked.

“I don’t know what else I would.” Edward said. “I know you probably think I’m a monster,
but I’m never gonna hurt anyone again. I just want to raise my pups and work on… trying to
help this city however I can with Bruce’s resources. I want to help people who are just as
broken as I’ve been by this city be better.”
“Hm,” Gordon exclaimed, “Well if you don’t, one of us will stop you. The police-”

“Batman.” Edward chimed in, he was smiling. “He’ll stop me if I ever decide to murder a
high ranking official. But I won’t. I have my children to think about, they’re more important
to me than anything.”

Without any other warning Edward got up and walked away. Gordon didn’t expect this and
he followed Edward out the room. “Hey, uh, Mr. Nashton you can’t just-”

“It’s okay, I’m not running. I’m just checking on them.” Edward said. He took the short
journey to the nursery before turning to Gordon. “Do you have any more questions?” He
asked, not waiting for Gordon to answer before he walked in the room.

Helena was awake, gurgling a little. She started to sob as she noticed Edward and Edward
was quick to pick her up and pulling her to his chest to feed her. He looked at Gordon
expectantly, waiting to hear what the officer had to say.

Gordon was shocked by this. How blasé Edward was about all this. It hadn’t occurred to him
until now that Edward really had no intentions going back to his life of crime. “Uh, no.”
Gordon said after a moment. “I don’t have any more questions.”

“Good.” Edward said, his attention already derived away from the man. “Bruce, can you see
him out? I think they need me here.” He said in a foggy, distant voice.

Bruce nodded and led Gordon to the door. “Did you get the answers that you wanted?” Bruce
asked as he got to the foyer that led to the elevator that led to the rest of the tower.

Gordon shook his head, “Gonna be honest, man, not really. This is a mess and all I can do is
hope these freaks don’t come running back. I’m not so worried about him though,
motherhood’s done a number on him.”

“Oh, Edward. Yeah, he just loves those kids more than anything. He’s not gonna do anything
to put them in danger.” Bruce replied.

“So you two plan on just, moving on from the past year?” Gordon asked, “Just, that’s it?
Pretend none of this happened and its all normal?”

“I wouldn’t say we’re gonna pretend none of it happened but I don’t want to hold it over his
head.” Bruce replied, “Edward was unwell. Is unwell. But he’s doing better now that he’s
bonded with me and he has his pups. He wants to help the people of Gotham, I think he’s
always wanted that he was just… he didn’t think he had any other option.” He explained.

“I really don’t envy you, man, but if this works for you…” Gordon said. “Then it works for
you.”

“It does.” Bruce agreed. He and Edward would move forward and work towards a better
Gotham. In the end, that was all that they could do. Hope and work for a better future.
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