Chapter Text
~Sam~
The nightmare comes less frequently but Sam knows it well.
It’s his.
Like his blankets, his teddy, his treasures, his nest… the nightmare is his.
It took a while to understand what was his and what wasn’t.
It took a while to understand anything at all.
The blankets and teddy are in his nest, they can’t be taken away, no one can take them.
They’re nice, soft.
The nightmare isn’t soft but it’s just as much his as anything else. No one can take that away either.
Maybe he’ll wake up before the monster gets here, that’s a nice thought. He’ll wake up and be in his nest, surrounded by his blankets and treasures. His Teddy will have Alpha's scent. He can bury his nose in it and listen to the rumble of Alpha… asleep in the bed nearby.
Shame that’s not what’s going to happen though. Sam doesn’t have his nightmare in his nest. He knows exactly where he is: he’s with his monster, his whole world. His Alpha.
‘Poor Alpha’, Sam thinks through the fear, he’s probably already woken up, smelling his fear.
He’s sure his dreams are mostly nice these days.
Sam wonders why he can’t keep a hold of them like he keeps hold of his nightmare.
He wonders if it’s because when he’s dreaming he doesn’t know it, when he wakes, the pleasant thoughts meld quickly with the pleasant scent he’s held in. It’s too easy to forget happy dreams.
Maybe it’s because he shares the nice ones with his Alpha, then they aren’t his… not like this is. Not like his nightmare.
He wonders if all Omega’s have a nightmare that they keep.
Probably not. Hopefully not.
He’s not like other Omegas his age, they don’t have an Alpha yet. Some haven’t even presented and even less carry his status as a Prime.
He’s had his Alpha for years.
Most Omegas his age are just having their first heat… they all remember though, they remember who they were. They get help, they have treatments and care and medicine. He only had this, his fear, his nightmare… at the start, at least. He has so much more now, just, not here, not in this place.
Alpha says the presenting heat coming so early made something get switched in his head. Alpha doesn’t like talking about it though… Alpha tries to hide his guilt. Maybe that’s Alpha’s nightmare?
Sam will wake soon. He’ll wake and he will smell the guilt on his Alpha.
He’ll be scared when he wakes but he has to be there for Alpha, Alpha saved him. He wants to be strong for Alpha.
The nightmare has a strange way of sensing weakness, when emotions are strained, insecurity… all signs of his impending heat.
Alpha always scents his heat before he notices. Annoying.
Strange, Sam thinks, knowing the nightmare isn’t happening now but still being terrified.
It’s hard to blame a 14 year old Omega -or how ever old he is, they can’t be sure- for a preheat nightmare, especially when the nightmare is very real.
This nightmare is a memory.
He knows it will be over soon, the monster will come and he’ll wake up.
The monster will be there when he does, holding him close, comforting him.
God, he wants to wake up. Maybe he can get to himself this time, take little 10 year old Sam with him. Out of this memory, out of this fucking nightmare.
He shouldn’t swear, not even when he’s this scared, Alpha wouldn’t like it.
He should be good. He wants to be good.
He wishes he could reach out to his 10 year old self as he cowers in an alleyway. Sam feels bad for him, being trapped here… trapped in his nightmare. At least he gets to wake up.
It’s cold, he should be shivering from the freezing wind and even colder rain.
The wind hits him like fire.
The heavy rain pelts him like lava.
He sobs as his insides twist and his ears are ringing with a deafening buzz.
God it hurts. He doesn’t know what’s happening, how did he get here? How can his insides hurt so much when he feels hollow at the same time?
Stop it, be good. He’ll be here soon, he has to be good.
He tries to move his arm and can’t, it’s hard to grip at the hundred parts of himself that are hurting when his arm is broken.
He remembers this part most clearly, he wants to tell himself not to be scared, that it’s going to be okay but the fear won’t let him.
The monster with the red glint in his eyes has found him… sniffed him out. Hunted him.
Sam tries to reach out, tries to grab his 10 year old broken self and pull him out with him.
He never manages though, he’s always left there. In the nightmare, in the memory.
The first memory he has.
It’s not now. It’s not now.
He tries to cling to that.
The nightmare does this. It fights to draw him in, make him forget anything but this place.
He can smell him now.
It burns through his nose and straight through his core. It burns down there. He wants to scream.
Is this now?
He can only sob, curled small in the alleyway. Eyes shut so he doesn’t see the monster. It’s silly, thinking if he can’t see, neither can the monster. The monster with the red eyes.
There’s a gap in the relentless battering of the rain, a shadow of dark that’s visible through his eyelids.
The monster is here, standing over him.
He begs himself to open his eyes. When he opens his eyes he will see the red eyes of the monster and then he’ll be safe.
“Sam”
It’s still dark as he is pulled away from the trapped boy in his nightmare… by the monster with the red eyes.
He lets out a whimper and a whine as he’s pulled towards him.
Two huge arms wrapped around him, a hand on his back and the other on the nape below his collar.
He waits for the words before he dares to open his eyes, worried his mind is playing tricks, that he won’t wake up in his bed, with his Alpha.
Scared he’ll wake up still trapped in the nightmare.
~Alex~
“You’re safe, Sam. I’ve got you.”
Alex keeps his arms tight around the shivering Omega, wrapping one leg over both of his and pressing just a small bit of his much larger weight against him. Grounding. Held. His. Safe.
The Omega’s hands scrunched up and pawed at his chest, trying to grip on.
“Is…is this now?”
If Sam wasn’t having his nightmare, he might playfully tease the young Omega for sleep stripping.
His pre-heat often causes Alex to be woken up with his leg being humped.
The humping might be annoying at 3am but this… this is heartbreaking.
He can’t let Sam scent it, scent his heartbreak.
He keeps his voice low and his grip tight, “it’s now, baby, you're safe.”
He feels and hears Sam’s jittery sniffing in the darkness, searching for scent that will calm him… drug him, his voice as small and as needy as his touch, “please, need it, please Alpha.”
He wants to, he wants to give in and release as much calming pheromone as his Prime Alpha glands will allow but he can’t.
It kills him every time, knowing Sam’s comfort is an easy twist of his scent away… but Tom’s right; in the long run it’s hurting him.
Instead he gently -very gently- puts pressure on the base of his neck and weights him into the bed, held tight in his grip.
Alex presses his face to the top of Sam’s head and takes a long and thoughtful draw of the Omegas scent.
The fear, anxiety and heat tarnish the vanilla scent that he loves so very much.
“Sam, tell me where you are.”
“W-wh-with you… with Alpha.”
The voice is so quiet against his naked chest it would hardly be heard over an almost silent air conditioner that is across the room and high up on the ceiling.
“Who keeps you safe, Baby?”
“Alpha, Alpha… he keeps me safe, you keep me safe.”
Alex kissed the top of Sam’s head, waiting for his breathing to even out.
Sam’s shivering and breathing settles as he matches the rhythm of the muscled chest he is held against, “that’s good… you're my good boy… my safe boy… my Omega…”
He doesn’t stop gently whispering calming words and reminders of his safety, how he’s cared for and loved.
He doesn’t stop until the nuzzling against his chest stops and there is a tiny rumbling purr in its place..
That’s when he can release the tension in his muscles and softly lay another kiss on the tiny thing in his arms.
That’s when he can say -as he always does in the confidence of Sam’s sleep- “I’m so sorry, Sam.”
He is. He’s Sam’s protector. His Alpha.
Sam doesn’t talk about his nightmare but Alex knows what darkness is haunting him.
The purring boy in his arms doesn’t remember anything before that alleyway four years ago, there’s only one thing that could possibly cause such a scent of fear in his little Omega.
Him. That night when he found him.
He’ll hold him until morning. He owes him that, more than that. He’ll hold him and stroke small circles onto his soft skin, keep his scent balanced and calm.