Of all the things I´ve lost, I miss my mind the most
“Fucking fuck!” Tony exclaimed as he closed the apartment door behind him, one hand running through his already pretty unruly hair as the other threw the single key on the “Home is where the Pizza is”-keychain on the small side table.
“Oi! Impressionable young ears present!” His fellow Omega Clint exclaimed from the living room floor, where he was entertaining two young pups – his own daughter Kate and Tony´s son Peter. Peter looked up and gave his Papa a little smile before focusing back on the army of stuffed animals in front of him while Kate just giggled as Clint tried to cover her ears to protect her from further profanities.
Tony mumbled a distracted “Sorry” before sitting down on the couch, brushing aside a sippy cup and a wooden block – green with a huge A on 2 and a picture of an Apple on the other 4 sides – with the practiced ease of a parent of a 2-year-old.
“I take it the day didn´t go well?” Clint asked, sitting next to his friend and pulling him into a loose hug. The smell of OmegaNiceWarmHomeCalmPupsSafe did a lot to calm Tony´s nerves but it wasn´t much actual help.
“Went about as good as I expected.” Tony mumbled as he started to draw distracted circles on his still small baby bump. “Don´t even know why I bother anymore. It´s the same everywhere. Will your Alpha be joining us? Are you gonna need a second look around the place with your Alpha? Is your Alpha okay with only seeing the place when they sign the contract?” Tony muffled his frustrated scream against Clint´s shoulder in an attempt to not scare the pups.
The thing was, Tony didn´t have an Alpha. What he had where a whole lot of painful memories, more scars than he knew how to hide – both physical and mental – and the two most precious gifts ever to come out of a fucked up situation.
The problem was that the other thing he also didn´t have – and kind of desperately needed – was an apartment for him and his pups to stay at. And for that, according to the present legislature, he needed an Alpha. Because the current people in power – mostly Alpha knotheads that all seemed of the opinion that the only time an Omega was allowed out of the bedroom was to make a sandwich for their Alpha - had decided that the minds of Omegas where to fickle to allow them to sign contracts, including work contracts and lease agreements, requiring an Alpha related by blood or mating to sign for them.
And since the only blood-related Alpha Tony still spoke to on a regular basis was still several weeks from being born – let alone able to sign something (and wouldn´t that be just like those stupid knotheads to let a newborn sign a contract that their Omega parent wasn´t allowed to sign just because of…biology?) – and just the word “mate” had him break out in a cold sweat, Tony was at a bit of an impasse at the moment.
“You know you are more than welcome to stay here with us. Sam doesn´t mind and Katey-Kat loves having Pete around.” Clint pulled Tony closer, one hand rubbing soothing circles into his back. “And I´m starting to tolerate your presence as well.” He made sure to keep his tone light, make the teasing obvious and soften any possible sting with a quick kiss to the top of Tony´s head.
“Rude…” Tony mumbled, not actually offended, before pulling away a little. “I know and it´s not that I don´t appreciate it. But…I really don´t want to be a burden. There are currently 5 people here, before too long there is gonna be a sixth – and judging by his kicks a pretty loud one at that. And I just don´t want Sam…or you…to get mad and…”
Tony broke off with a shudder and Clint pulled him back into his arms, shushing him. “You are not a burden Tony. Not on me, not on Sam, not on anyone. We love having you here and that extends to both of your pups. I might hate the circumstances that brought you to my door, but I love that you are here with me, where you are safe and cared for.” Clint sniffled, the confession having brought tears to his eyes. “You are welcome to stay here as long as you like, I mean it. But if you´d rather find a place of your own, I promise we´ll help you with that as well. Sam deals with stupid bureaucracy on a daily basis and I´m still the king of finding loopholes, I´m sure when we pair this with your natural genius, we´re gonna come up with something.”
<<<>>>
“Shit, shit, shit…” Bucky mumbled, trying to stave off the oncoming panic attack by focusing on the uncomfortable plastic chair he was sitting in, the voices of the people around him, the smell of the floor polish that was so common in public buildings – but his eyes kept on going back to the small backpack placed between his feet. The small backpack that contained all of the Alpha´s earthly belongings (aside from the couple of cardboard boxes that his sister had stored for him in her basement, though he had no idea how his highschool yearbook and little league jersey where going to help him at this point in time) - including his last clean shirt and his wallet with exactly 23,75$ in it. Which wasn´t enough, wouldn´t be enough, just like him, not enough…
Before Bucky could spiral down an anxiety-filled rabbit hole, a calm voice pulled him from his own thoughts. “…and now she obviously refuses to eat anything that isn´t ball-shaped and Clint blames…You back with me Buck?” It was Sam Wilson, his former counselor here at the VA, sitting on the chair next to his, just close enough that Bucky could feel the warmth of another body next to his without feeling crowded by his presence.
“Yeah…” Bucky replied, before clearing his throat because his voice sounded like it hadn´t been used in days. “I was just thinking about some…stuff.”
Sam folded his arms in front of his chest and leaned back. “Obviously wasn´t kittens and roses…wanna tell me about it?”
Bucky huffed out something that in another life could have been a laugh. “You asking as my therapist?”
“Technically not your therapist anymore, Buck. Just asking as a friend who is honestly a little worried to find you here at 10:15 on a Wednesday. Not to sound like your ma, but shouldn´t you be at work?”
“Got fired.” Bucky rested his elbow on his knee, letting his long hair fall in front of his face in an attempt to hide from what is sure to be disappointment coming from Sam. “Again…”
Sam let out a long breath, which Bucky recognized as the intro to his "problem-solver" mode. Sam was analytical and focused like that, tended to think things through and plan ahead. Not jump headfirst into any stupid, half-baked idea he could find like Bucky tended to do. That's why Sam had the steady job and the perfect family while Bucky had... well, "nothing" was a pretty good word for it.
Sam was talking about possible job leads and making a few calls, but Bucky interrupted him "Don't bother... Unless you can find me something that's gonna pay me like 800$ by Friday, it's gonna be the least of my problems." Now it was Bucky's turn to take a deep breath before confessing. "I'm late on rent. Pierce said if I don't pay in full by the end of the week he's gonna kick me out."
The sudden way Sam turned his whole body towards him almost gave Bucky second-hand whiplash. “Wait, you need a place to stay?” He sounded almost giddy and Bucky wasn´t sure whether he was supposed to be offended or scared. “I think I have an idea.”
Scared it was then…