106 – That's What He's Good At
April 29, Sat.
I was not able to meet with Nathan today. He refused to leave his room even after some coaxing from the professor. It seems he's going through a lot after fighting with his partner Reubert.
Of the two, the dominant omega, Reubert, seems to be more composed and in control of his emotions, but it might be that he is merely faking it. I could smell distress in his pheromones when we met him earlier. It seems he is reluctant to leave his mate, but he has no choice but to do so, because of circumstances that neither he, nor Dr. Webb would disclose.
My only hope is that Nathan would snap out of his depression soon, so that I could give him a proper check-up, as well as an MRI to prove the development of a womb in his abdominopelvic cavity.
"Aahmes!" I was surprised when Eric suddenly burst inside the lab where I was writing my journal.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"Louie was right, I just got a call from Blessing that Nathan ran away again!" he said, irritated.
"Do they know where he is headed?"
"Not yet, but I placed a tracer in his car and in his phone after that fiasco at Club A," the professor replied. "C'mon, we need to pick him up and drag him back home!"
Twenty five minutes later, we found ourselves in front of a nightclub in Malate.
"Over there!" Eric immediately spotted his nephew's car. He quickly approached it and looked inside. "Goddamn this idoit nephew of mine," he cursed beneath his breath. "He really never learns..."
"He is probably inside, Eric."
"Looks like it..." he glared at the flickering strobe lights inside the club and sighed. "Wait here, I'll go look for him inside."
"Okay."
Eric had just entered the club when I caught a whiff of Nathan's scent. I followed it and saw an ATV moving out of the parking lot. Quickly, I ran in front of the vehicle to stop it. The automobile jolted to a stop, just as its front tires went flat. I looked around and saw Wahid standing in a dark corner. He nodded ever so slightly at me.
"What the fuck! Are you trying to kill yourself?!" shouted the driver who rolled his window down to curse at me. "Get out of the way, bitch!"
"Aahmes! Are you okay?!"
Eric was suddenly by my side.
"I'm fine, Eric, Nathan seems to be inside this vehicle," I told him.
"Just what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" the driver continued shouted at us.
Eric looked dangerously at him and went up to his half open window.
"Nathan!" he called inside, "Get out of that vehicle this instant! Are you trying to wreck your life once again?!"
In reply, the vehicle tried to go backwards. I guess they haven't realized that their front tires are both flat.
"Nathan, come out while I'm still asking nicely!" Eric continued yelling.
I pushed him to the side, and faced the driver.
"That guy is sick," I told him. "He has a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease and you are all going to die if you fornicate with him."
"What the hell?!" said the driver who looked at the two people at the back seat, one of whom was Nathan.
Ten minutes later, the three of us entered a convenience store. Nathan insisted that he was hungry, so Eric decided to buy him something easy to eat.
"Can't we at least eat at a proper restaurant?" he complained as Eric bought him a hotdog sandwhich.
"And what proper restaurant do you think would still be open at this hour?" asked Eric. "You're just looking for a chance to ditch us, aren't you? At least in a small place like this, we could easily stop you from running away."
"Hmph. As if I could run off now," mumbled Nathan.
"Exactly. Now hurry up and eat your hotdog so I can take you back home."
"What for? I'll just sneak out again anyway." he mumbled.
"Just what is your problem?" Eric snapped at him. "Don't you even care about what your family? With all the bull shit you've done, don't you even feel just a little bit sorry for all you've put us through? All those sleepless nights while we waited for you to wake up in the hospital, all those problems we had to cover up... and now you sneak out of the house looking for trouble again?!"
"Would you stop acting as if you actually care about me?!" his nephew retorted. "Aren't you just trying to save me `coz you're not satisfied with the result of your goddamn experiment?!"
"This is not about the experiment, Nathan," Eric told him. "This is about you and your future! Just because your partner left you, is that reason enough to throw your whole life down the gutter?!"
Nathan looked at him and laughed.
"Is that what he told you?" he mocked us, "Fucking asshole in denial couldn't believe that I left him! And now he thinks he could scare me by saying he's leaving for New York?!" Nathan snorted. "Let him leave! The fuck do I care where the hell he wants to go? Does he think he's the only guy around who could fuck me!"
"Keep your voice down!" Eric hissed, glancing at the guy behind the counter who has been glancing at us since we entered the store.
"Are you saying then that anyone would do?" I asked him.
"You wanna try?" Nathan asked back, challenging me with his sharp gaze. "Wanna have some hands-on experimentation?"
Eric hit him on the head.
"Ow!"
"Just so you know," Eric told him through gritted teeth, "Reubert didn't say much when we asked him. All he said was that he's leaving for the US. He's going back to New York at the end of the month."
"Is that all?" Nathan asked as if he was hoping for something more.
"That was all. He wouldn't talk even when we asked him what the problem is."
"Hmph," Nathan looked away. "That's exactly like him. That's what he's good at, after all. Keeping silent."
Upon saying that, Nathan stood up and walked towards the door, leaving his food untouched.
"Where are you going now?" Eric walked after him.
"Wherever I go is none of your business."
"Nathan, your family are worried sick about you," I reminded him. "Please think this over."
"My family are doing just fine," he replied. "They have more things to worry about other than me. They're used to me acting this way, after all."
"Nathan, stop being a brat," Eric tried to stop him. "Don't make me any angrier or else..."
He simply looked at his uncle and laughed.
"What can you even do?" he mocked him. "You're just a good for nothing beta. What can you even do to an alpha like me?"
He turned his back at us then.
I looked at Eric who was left speechless, his eyes filled with pain, then at his useless nephew who cared for nothing but himself.
I took a deep breath and let it out, aiming my pheromones at the unappreciative brat who dared to hurt my beloved.
Nathan staggered as he reached for the door handle and fell to the ground.
"Nathan!"
Eric quickly ran to his side.
"Nathan? What happened?!"
"Don't worry, he'll wake up soon enough," I assured him.
"Did you..." he looked around the store and sighed. "Help me take him to the car," he said instead.
We carried Nathan to my car where we placed him in the backseat, then Eric sat on the passenger seat with a sigh.
"These damn brats... the older they get, the more stubborn they become," he said as I started the car. "Just a few years ago, it seems, that brat would follow me wherever I go... begging me to carry him... asking me to buy him candy... now he talks back to me like I'm some stranger he'd rather not associate with..."
"His fated pair just left him. We cannot blame him for his unruly behavior."
The professor gave a soft chuckle.
"You say that, but you're the one who just knocked him out."
"He was disrespecting you."
Eric laughed in earnest.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of his attitude when he wakes up. I'll give him a lesson or two about respect!"
I smile, knowing that he did not mean that at all.
"Shall we take Nathan home to his father?" I asked.
"Nah," Eric answered, "you saw what he did. He'll just run away again if he stayed there. He'll surely be looking for another alpha to fuck with."
"What do you suggest, then?" I asked him.
"Let him stay in our place for now. At least we can look after him there and treat him when he shows Pair Withdrawal Symptoms."
"You mean, FPS?" I corrected him, "Only marked omegas get PWS when their alpha partners leave them. Nathan was left by his fated pair, so naturally, he is suffering from Fated Pair Syndrome. Two of the symptoms have already manifested. He has become agitated and is looking for another partner to satisfy his lust."
"FPS or whatever!" Eric looked irritated. "This is all the Spider's fault! Why did he have to give Reubert a mission now?! And that idiot Reubert, why can't he just tell Nathan the truth?!"
"It seems to be a highly classified mission, too."
"Obviously! He's even trying to get me back into his team!" Eric gave a long sigh. "With the way he looks, I bet he's too fat and sick to be running around the field to babysit Reubert. That's probably why he want me to take his place."
"Baby sit?" I looked at Eric, "Why would Dome need a babysitter?"
"Haay..." again, another sigh. "Because he's just as stubborn as Nathan is. Remember I told you how he hates alphas? He doesn't discriminate between comrades, and keeps knocking them out even while in the line of duty."
"Is that so?"
"I remember, his first mission was when he turned 18. We went to this secluded area in Mindanao where a cult was said to have taken root," Eric recounted. "We found a group of alphas who created a pseudo religion that used omegas as young as nine years old as sex slaves... He killed three of their pastors on the spot, as well as a Special Gender Police SWAT member who joked about joining the cult so he could 'taste the virgins' too."
"Hmm... I guess you would not know just by looking," I said thoughtfully, "He looks quite harmless when we are together."
"Of course. You're an omega, after all, and I'm a beta," Eric replied. "From what I've heard, he has already killed at least three of his team mates in different occasions for molesting omegas on the job."
"Justifiable."
"Exactly, and that's why the Spider needs to guard him. He always has a double suppressant at the ready to stop Reubert from going too far."
"And he wants you to take his place?"
"I guess all that fat is keeping him from chasing after the DOME," Eric laughed.
We carried Nathan to one of the spare rooms when we got home.
Eric removed all the stuff inside, leaving only a bed, a small table and a chair, before locking its door shot.
"That brat would surely get mad when he realizes that we've locked him in the room," he reasoned, "at least he won't have anything much to destroy when he wakes up."
"What if he decides to hurt himself?" I asked.
"I doubt it," Eric replied, "the vain idiot loves himself too much to actually hurt himself."
"Then what do you call his plan to look for men to have sex with?"
"Didn't you say so yourself that it's a symptom of FPS? He's going half mad, he probably can't control his urges anymore." The professor went to the laboratory and took out one of the alpha inhibitors from our supply closet. "Let's give him a shot and hope he sobers down a bit."
"Wait."
I took the inhibitor from him and looked over its packaging.
"Inhibitors should only be used when the alpha is already in rut."
"Isn't it obvious that he's already in a rut?" Eric frowned at me. "Besides, this inhibitor is relatively safe for alphas, even when their rut is just about the start."
"But we are not sure if this is safe for pregnant people."
Eric frowned at me, his mouth ajar.
"Of course. Alphas don't get pregnant after all!" he jeered at me. "Just what the hell are you implying? Are you still thinking that my nephew has grown a womb and is actually pregnant?"
"We won't know for sure unless we give him an MRI."
"As if you could convince him to get one? You think he would just sit still long enough if you asked him nicely? Why, we're even planning to lock him up just to get him off the streets!"
"But if he is pregnant, then the zygote..."
"Haaay, nako, Habibi!" Eric sighed exaggeratedly. "Okay, okay, I'll use my new suppressant on him then! It's a good thing that moss I just purchased proved to be a good substitute for cannabis buds! It's all natural and safe for pregnant omegas."
"That would be ideal, professor," I quickly answered.
Eric gave another long sigh and went back to the storage to get some of his new samples. He then went to his nephew's room to administer the shot.
"Done. He'll probably be a little groggy when he wakes up, but at least he won't go into rut. So, are you happy now?"
"Yes, thank you, professor."
"Haaay, and now I need to call Louie..."
Eric took out his phone. It was quickly answered by his brother-in-law.
'Eric? Did you find Nathan?' he asked.
"Yeah, he's here with us, currently asleep."
'Thank God... thank you, Eric.'
I could hear relief from his voice, as well as from the people in the background.
"Tell everyone he's doing fine and go take some rest. I'll take care of Nathan for now, if it's fine by you?"
'Yeah, I guess I should leave him with you for now. Just... make sure that he's okay."
"Of course," Eric assured him. "Just leave the brat to me."