Chapter Text
Will Graham knew that he was not a typical Omega but he wished that people would stop pointing it out to him, like Alana was doing now, “Will, it's unhealthy to go this long between heats.”
He fidgeted slightly with the frames of his glasses as he said, “I’ve had my heats.”
She was already shaking her head in disgruntlement.“You have not taken more than a day or two off since you started the FBI. There is no way that a week-long heat could have been had in that time frame.
He sighed as he said, “My heats are different.” He refused to explain why they were different, as she, like everyone else, would not believe him. They would try and convince him to do it the way that society told them that it should be done. He was not interested in that though, and no one would convince him otherwise, not Alana, not HR. No one. He was a grown-ass man and his opinion would be respected and not run over like it did not matter.
Alana frowned at him, “They're not that different, that you would never need to take time off. I am going to recommend that the agency put you on leave until your heats stabilize.”
Will fought the urge to roll his eyes, as he said, “Won’t stick. Already talked to the medical officer, and they have cleared my health.”
Alana snorted and said, “Well, you are not exactly the picture of health, are you?” Will checked the state of his body at that moment. He felt no pain anywhere, though he was a bit stiff. He checked his mind, and there was no broken, cracked wood in his forts. His mind was clear, and he was doing well at the moment.
He responded honestly, “I feel pretty good right now.” He felt relaxed like he was in control at the moment. The feeling was slowly fading away the longer he argued with Alana. Why did Alphas always assume they knew better than him? He knew his own body, what it needed to function well, and how often he needed to complete certain tasks to keep this health going.
He had experimented quite a bit during college, finding those limits for himself so others would not walk all over him with their assumptions like Alana was attempting to do. He would not give in to her, similarly to how he never gave into the knot heads of his youth, who were looking for a roll in the hay and refused to take no for an answer.
Alana ran her eyes over him, seeming to be looking for any possible imperfection. He was surprised to see the light blush on her face and wondered if she was looking to make sure he had regular heats so that she could be a part of it. That would never happen, and she would realize it if she actually listened to him instead of talking over him. She refused to take anything he said seriously, as if he was lesser than her due to his status as an Omega and his empathy disorder. He liked being able to read people so well, as it allowed him to judge the motives of being a part of his life. Everyone always wanted something from him, and Alana was not even the first, just the most recent in a long line of such people.
He did not understand why people seemed to think that he was controllable. If anything, he considered himself a wildcard, never quite doing things the way society thought that he should. He had confounded doctors his whole life, and it was not just his mind that got attention but the way he dealt with his presentation as well. Luckily, he had won the argument against having any scientific articles written about it, in return for allowing a few tidbits to slip out about his mind.
Nothing identifying but there were some intriguing theories that came about because of it so he could not find it in himself to truly mind, as those Doctors seemed like actually good people unlike most of the ones that he dealt with. He had been glad when they had decided to work with the FBI and was sad that he had not been able to work with them more often.
Most of his time was monopolized by Jack, to his displeasure. Jack was his least favorite team lead to work with if he was being honest with himself, always trying to push the limits that he put into place for his own health. He held strong though, not bowing to the Alpha.
Alana finally spoke, shaking him out of his thoughts, “If you are okay, then why do you look so shabby?” Her voice said that he was not going to get out of it, but he would, he always did when an Alpha confronted him. He looked down at his loosely fitting khaki pants from losing weight recently, from newly appearing food issues.
Most things just seemed unappealing these days but he would find a new food sure enough and put back on any needed weight. He was wearing a red plaid shirt with a brown sweater pulled over it. They were slightly worn but both of them felt soft against his skin and felt good when he rubbed it between his fingers as well, calming his anxiety. The outfit was finished with a pair of brown dress shoes that were freshly polished. He did not see anything wrong with his clothing choice.
He simply shrugged as he replied, “What’s wrong with my clothes? They are professional and comfortable.” He would easily admit to missing some of society's cues but he found no problem with that. He had no interest in learning what celebrities were supposed to be dating each other and who was cheating on whom. In fact, it bored him so he only looked into it if it impacted his work in some way, which was becoming more and more common.
If he had one more serial killer imitate the work of a movie, thus forcing him to watch said cringy movie, he would become a serial killer just to take them out. He did suppose that Buster appreciated the popcorn, followed by Max as a close second. The other dogs were more patient when waiting their turn, all of them knowing that begging would not get them the treat quicker.
Alana seemed almost taken aback by his words, and it thus slowed down her reply. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts before she finally spoke once more, “Comfort isn’t everything. You need to dress like you are in charge.”
He fought the urge to laugh as he said, “I have no problem keeping control in the classroom. In fact, they listen eagerly to my every word.” He had told them what he expected at the beginning of every semester and they quickly learned that he meant what he said. Questions would be sent to a discussion forum that he would answer only after class if it was not answered in the remaining parts of his lecture.
He would simply quote slides if that was the case. He would have writing assignments that made them think out of the box, and though they would struggle at times, they came out of it thinking in different ways, which helped them catch those who were previously thought uncatchable. It filled him with pride to see what they were accomplishing and he had a clipping book filled with those names that he recognized.
Alana frowned at that once more, as if she was not believing a word out of his mouth. If she could not do it, then there was no way he could do it, or at least that was what he read on her face. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, as no matter what she thought, he was not a fragile, nearly broken teacup. He was whole, healthy, and in control of his life, all aspects of it. He had even been to his Doctor recently and had gotten a clean bill of health. He had been with this Doctor for most of his adult life, ever since he moved to this area.
He had thought about becoming a cop in Louisiana, but the cops had been unwilling to hire an Omega, the prejudices still running strong in the south. So, rerouted, and decided to get a Doctorate in entomology, and take some psychology classes while he was at it to supplement what he could do naturally. It was a tough course load and he was always looked down on for the fact that he was an Omega, held at a seemingly impossible standard, but he had been able to achieve the degree on time, and had been recruited to the FBI.
He had calmly told them that he was not interested in field work but instead, he was more interested in doing lab work and teaching. He was always called in to consult on bug-based evidence brought to the lab, and that is how they found out about his mind. He was a little bit too good at putting things together, and thus caught the attention of the higher-ups, leading to his current situation.
He had been looking at a particularly interesting maggot when Jack had stormed into his lab, yelling about missing boys and needing his help right this very minute. He had carefully closed the petri dish with the maggot before staring at the man, and asking him what he was talking about. He was working on the Dickenson case for the next hour, and then he had two classes to teach after that.
He did not have time for any other work at the moment, as after this he had to go home to his dogs: those that he adopted and those that he fostered. He missed them when they left but he really only wanted six or seven permanent animals at a time, but he liked the challenge of helping them while they were there.
Jack then tried to drag him out of his lab space, but he had snapped, saying that he did not go into the field and that he could fill out the form to work with him that everyone else did and he would get to the case when he had time. The man had tried to insist but he had simply pressed the panic button that his FBI superiors made him have despite his protests that he had not needed the button. He was relieved that he had it now as the man was escorted out of the room.
A few days later, he got his first form from the man and thus started the badgering. He had just ignored him, putting on headphones to drown out the yelling, and focusing on the things in front of him. Alana had come a few days later, seeming to think he was too delicate for this work, seemingly trying to control every aspect of his life and not achieving her goal at all, despite what she seemed to think.
Alana finally stormed off to his relief and seemed to be heading off in the direction of the chief medical officer like she had threatened. She would get nowhere, the most that would occur is a review, and even then he would work while it occurred. He would be fine, and even if the Alphas did not believe that his type of heat was possible, they would definitely not believe what was occurring now.
He had mentioned that his heats were different but had not stated how. All his heats did was make him long for more contact with people and animals that he trusted but he had no urge for sex. In fact, his scent often did not change, though he may attract Alphas occasionally, but it was just his natural scent, nothing special about this time of the month. Most would not realize that he was in heat at that very moment, but he knew, as all he had wanted to do for the last few days was cuddle his dogs and nest, but that was not possible now as he had things to do and responsibilities to keep. He could take care of himself after all. He did not need an Alpha.