Chapter Text
Lance stared with disdain into the now empty bottle of suppressants. He had always carried multiple bottles in his jacket and though each bottle was a good size, they had now been in space for 2 years. Lance knew he would run out at some time, but had been trying to prolong the inevitable for as long as possible. For the last year he had only been taking the pill every other day.
Lance had no idea what to expect from his first heat or when to expect it. His parents had put him on the suppressants the day he presented at 15 and he had taken them ever since. Now at 20 he felt woefully unprepared for what was sure to come. He had no idea when his cycle would be and could be nothing but fearful of the apparent need that came with the heat if the books he read were anything to go by.
No one on the ship had any idea he was an omega and he preferred it that way. Right now they were a happy mostly functional little pack. Pidge and Hunk were betas, Shiro and Keith were alphas, and up to this point, thanks to the suppressants everyone assumed Lance was a beta as well and he had gone along with it. Allura and Coran were just themselves, it seems the Alteans did not have the same hierarchy as Humans. They had finally mostly wrapped their heads around what alpha, beta and pack meant to the humans. Now they were going to have the omega dynamic thrown in their face. Not just an omega, but a male omega.
As Lance sat on his bed and stared into the now despised empty pill bottle he worked through his limited options. The way he saw it he had three options. He can attempt to suffer through his heats alone when he had them, which sounded awful. He can talk to Shiro and see if the alpha would be willing to work out a friendly arrangement and help Lance through his heats. Or he can talk to Keith and.....no.....no fuck that. He had two options. Beg Shiro to help him or suffer.
As far as Lance was concerned Keith was an insufferable ass. It irritated the shit out of him that he had a crush on the guy. It really was disgusting, but Keith was just perfect. He was hot and a great pilot and a great fighter, but his attitude was shit. Lance just did not need that in his life. Keith already thought he was so much better than Lance, the last thing Lance needed was to have to rely on Keith for something. Besides Keith was probably one of those alphas that bought into the idea that male omegas were wrong.
He could just imagine it now, Keith lording Lance's weakness over him. On the off chance that Lance swallowed his pride and asked for Keith's help he would probably make Lance beg for it and from what Lance understood about heats, he would beg like....well like a bitch in heat. So, no Keith was definitely not an option.
With all of this crashing around in his head, Lance left his room to find Shiro. In the end it came down to that he didn't want to go through this alone and Shiro was their leader, at the very least he should know what was going to happen.
Lance found Shiro on the bridge. Of course Keith had to be there as well. The two were discussing something with Allura. Not wanting to interrupt, Lance turned and started to leave when Shiro called out “Hey Lance, did you need something?”
“I don't want to interrupt. It can wait.”
“It's not important, and we were just finishing. I've always got time for a teammate. What's up?”
Allura excused herself, but of course stupid Keith leaned back and crossed his arms like he thought he should be included.
“Um if you have a minute I was wondering if I could talk to you about something....” Lance paused hoping Keith would dismiss himself. When he didn't Lance continued “maybe we could speak in private somewhere. It's personal.”
Keith snorted “Whatever, I have more important shit to do anyway.”
Shiro let out a heavy sigh, wondering why the two always seemed to rub each other the wrong way, “Why don't we go ahead and use a conference room, just to make sure no one else bothers us.” He could tell Lance was upset and antsy.
They left the control room and headed for one of the small, rarely used conference rooms. Once inside Shiro took a seat and indicated Lance should do the same.
Lance sat down and began playing with the frayed edges of his jacket as he so often did when he was nervous “So, I guess I have something that I feel like you as our leader should know and I also have something that I guess I am asking for your help with if you are willing.”
Shiro sat patiently waiting for Lance to continue. When Lance just sat there staring at his hands without saying anything Shiro prompted him “Do you want me to start guessing or....”
“Yeah.....I mean no....sorry this is really hard for me.”
“Lance, just take a deep breath and spill it. Like ripping off a bandaid.” Shiro gave a reassuring smile “I assure you whatever it is we'll get through it and you won't have to do it alone.”
Lance snorted “Right, OK.” he took a deep breath and just threw it all out, like total word vomit “I've been on suppressants since I presented as an omega at 15. I had a bunch with me when we came here, but I took my last one this morning. I've never actually been through a heat, so I have no idea what to expect and I am basically terrified. I don't even know when I might go into heat since I have no awareness of what kind of cycle I have or anything.”
Shiro felt like he had been punched. He couldn't count the number of times in the last two years that he had felt gratitude that no one in their group was an omega. This would complicate things a lot. They really didn't need anymore complications than they already had.
Lance watched as a range of emotions crossed Shiro's face, none of them good. He felt like he might be sick, “Shiro, I'm sorry. Are you mad?”
“What? Lance no I'm not mad....I just.” Shiro sighed heavily “ This is going to seriously complicate things and really throw off the team dynamic.” As soon as he said the words he wished he could take them back as he watch Lance fight back tears.
“Right. I really am sorry. I don't know what to do. I mean...we know Allura can fly Blue..... maybe.....I guess........if you need to......you guys could leave me somewhere.....a nice inhabitable somewhere preferably” His voice cracked on the last and he now had tears freely flowing. He didn't expect Shiro to be excited, but he felt like he was going to lose the only family he had right now.
Shiro stood and rounded the table to crouch down in front of Lance who was now refusing to look at him. He felt like an ass, he would seriously hurt anyone who treated his omega like he was treating Lance right now. “Lance, look at me.” when Lance raised his head enough, Shiro continued “That's not what I meant. Never in a million years would we abandon you. I promise, everything will be OK. We'll figure something out. Maybe Pidge can come up with a synthetic compound from some of the alien plants she has been collecting and studying.”
Lance rubbed at his eyes to try and stop the flow of tears “yeah, sure. OK.”
Shiro stood as Lance did and turned to follow Lance to the door when he remembered something else “Lance. You said you had something I should know, but also that you needed my help?” He paused to see if Lance would say anything however when the younger Paladin just stiffened instead Shiro figured his hunch was right. “You were going to ask me if I would help you through your heat.” It was a statement not a question so Lance chose not to respond. “Lance I can't.”
Lance's shoulders sagged, he had figured as much “It's cool Shiro. You have a lot on your plate and you don't need helping some weak, pathetic”
Shiro cut him off “Lance stop. That's not it. I literally can't. I am mated.”
Lance looked up in surprise “ Shiro, that's....I didn't know. I'm so sorry. It must be really hard being away from her.”
Shiro nodded “It is. The worst part though is not having any idea where he is or if he is OK or hurting. I know he is alive because of our bond, but that's it.” Shiro put a little extra emphasis on the word he.
It took Lance a minute to process through what Shiro had said “Wait you mean....Does Pidge know?”
“Yes. I ended up telling her to make her understand that when I make the decisions I do I am not doing so with a light heart. I needed her to realize that no one wants to find Matt more than I do.”
They stood in silence for a minute before Shiro very carefully said “You know I am not the only alpha here.”
Any traces of sadness immediately vanished from Lance's face to be replaced by irritation “No way. Nu uh. Not happening. I don't need that smug bastard lording his alphaness over me. Besides, you of all people, having a male omega mate, should know how heavily we're discriminated against. He will probably just look down on me even more than he already does.”
“Lance. He's not like that. I think if you gave Keith a chance you would be surprised.”
“Look Shiro. I know that you guys grew up together and he is like a brother to you. He respects you and that's why he treats you the way he does.” Lance went back to sadness “You know what sucks, I see the way he acts with everyone else and I wonder, why he can't be like that with me. He respects everyone here more than me. This is definitely not going to help me earn his respect.”
With that he turned to leave the room.