longsufferingly

Title: A Cracked Engine Block
Author:

poor_choices
Fandom: Supernatural RPS
Pairing: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics, MPreg, references to sexual abuse.
Word Count: 3100.
Summary: It's hard not to hear about a single, pregnant omega moving to a small town. Jared is a little curious.
Notes: I am obviously attempting to set a record for most knotting fic that does not involve actual knotting. Like you do. Also, in this alternate universe, the town of Bigfoot, Texas is whatever I want it to be. The real Bigfoot, Texas is not.
Disclaimer: Lies and untruths.

Jared had heard about the new guy. After all, a male omega showing up pregnant and without an alpha is kind of a big deal, especially in a town this size. There's only so much news to begin with.

He heard Welling and Rosenbaum in the bar chatting about him at the bar last night--must be a slut if he's knocked up with no mate and don't much like guys, but if he's got a wet hole, I wouldn't say no once the kid's out--and he had to grit his teeth and do his best not to pick a fight. Jared's big, tall, and pretty strong, but he's a beta, as everyone reminds him every day, and fighting with a couple over-testosteroned alphas wouldn't have made anyone's night better. Especially his.

So he knows about Jensen Ackles coming to town, but he's still not prepared to be confronted by the very pregnant stranger at the front desk of the library. Judging from the guy's stomach, Jared thinks he must be in his third trimester. He wonders what happened to Jensen's alpha, why he decided to move to a whole new town this far along in his pregnancy. He wonders if Jensen really decided in the first place.

Jensen clears his throat. Jared realizes with a flush that he was supposed to be answering a question. "Um," he says. "Sorry?"

"I said," says Jensen, sounding irritated, "I need some help books."

"Oh," says Jared. "Of course. "What subject?"

Jensen gives him a withering look. "Pregnancy."

"Oh," says Jared. "Oh." He flushes. "I swear I'm not usually this much of a failure, okay?" he says, giving Jensen a smile. "Or I am, but I'm usually more endearing? My night job went really late, so--"

"It's fine," Jensen says irritably. "But you can stop thinking about bending me over to take your knot. Just because I'm not mated doesn't mean I'm always up for it."

Jared stares. "I, uh. I didn't think that. I'm not judging or anything. And I'm a beta, so I don't even have a knot."

It's Jensen's turn to blush. It makes the freckles on his nose stand out, and Jared is charmed. Not that he's got a chance--omegas have never shown much interest in him. "Sorry," Jensen mutters. "I might be projecting a little."

"It's okay," says Jared, leading Jensen to the self-help section. "You're not the first person to assume I'm an alpha," he says, with a smile. His dad and his brother both are--he was a total surprise. "And I've already heard about the kind of shit people are saying to you, so--" Jensen blanches, and Jared holds up his hands. "I work at a bar," he says. "My night job."

"Great," says Jensen, scowling. "Fantastic. I always wanted to be the subject of bar gossip."

"Sorry."

"Let's just agree to stop apologizing, okay?" says Jensen. "You've convinced me you're not a dick. I'm hormonal and should be cut a little slack. Everyone is good."

Jared laughs. "Deal. I'm Jared, by the way. Welcome to town."

"Jensen. But I assume you knew that."

"News travels fast."

"Obviously." Jensen sighs, leaning back against the wall. He looks tired. "Shit. This was such a mistake."

Jared smiles. "Listen, I know you don't know me, but--if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm friendly and a good listener."

"So's my dog," says Jensen, but it's not unkind. He smiles. "It's nice of you to offer. I'll definitely keep you in mind, man."

Jared smiles back. Jensen is--cute.

He bites back the temptation. Jensen is an omega, and he's pregnant, and he's clearly not looking for anything right now, even if he did like betas.

"So, here are pregnancy self-help books," says Jared. "I've heard good things about What to Expect When You're Expecting, but no personal experience."

Jensen gives him a teasing smile. "What, no cute litter of freakishly tall betas at home?" he asks.

"I'm gay," says Jared, shrugging.

"So am I," says Jensen. "Somehow I still managed to get knocked up." He gives Jared this defiant look, as if he's tempting him to ask.

Jared doesn't give him the satisfaction. "Well, if you ever want to get--something non-caffeinated and non-alcoholic and talk, you should let me know. I'm here weekdays, and I work at The Bird and the Bee bar most nights. Not that you should be coming to bars or anything."

Jensen laughs. "Just being near alcohol doesn't actually hurt babies," he says. "I'll keep you in mind. Thanks for your help, Jared."

Jared tries not to look too smitten. "Any time."

*

The truth of it is, there just aren't many single, male, non-alphas around. Jared doesn't mind dating alphas in theory, but in practice, he's a bit too independent to generally have it go long. There's a week or so of pretty decent sex, and then it falls apart.

So it's natural that Jared would be interested in Jensen. He's been single for a while, and here's an attractive, single guy breezing into town.

It's natural. Really.

"Do you serve water?" Jensen asks. Because, of course, the night Jared is dwelling on his stupid crush is the night that he shows up.

Welling and Rosenbaum are looking down the bar with interest; everyone else is too, come to that. Jensen is pointedly not paying attention to anyone but Jared.

"We do now," he says, with a big smile. It's been five days since he saw Jensen at the library. He was kind of starting to give up hope. Not seeing someone for five days takes some effort in Bigfoot. "How'd the book work out?"

"Pretty shitty," says Jensen. "Whoever recommended it led you astray."

Jared gives him a glass of water. "Well, you should stop by again. I will find something better. You've threatened my librarian honor."

"Is that a thing?" asks Jensen.

"It is now."

Jensen laughs, ducking his head. Jared tries really hard not to want him. "Well, we can't have that," says Jensen.

Jared grins, and then, of course, Welling comes up, right into Jensen's personal space, pressing against his back.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?" Welling says, and Jensen's whole posture goes so rigid Jared's afraid he'll break under the strain of it.

"Tom, don't harass the other patrons," Jared says. "Either order something or go back to your table."

"He's not even drinking," says Welling. "He's not a patron. Besides, I'm just being friendly."

"I'm serious, Tom," says Jared, letting more steel into his voice. "You want a beer, I'll give you one."

"You gonna make me go, beta?"

"He's not," says Jensen. "You're going to go because I don't date assholes anymore. I don't need a knot, I don't need a drink, all I need is for you to leave me the hell alone."

"You're gonna regret that," says Welling. "A beta like Padalecki isn't going to give you what you need when you're in heat."

"I'm crying on the inside," says Jensen. "I've had enough knot to last me a lifetime. For the last time: fuck off."

Welling doesn't move away from Jensen, but he refocuses on Jared. "Give me that beer."

"Other end of the bar," says Jared.

"Seriously?"

"You think my don't harass the omegas policy suddenly doesn't count because it's a guy?"

"I figured I was doing you a favor, Padalecki," says Welling. "Maybe if you fought me off, he'd give you a sympathy BJ. When's the last time you got laid? You might as well be a fucking omega for all you use your dick."

"Get out," says Jared. "You've clearly had too many. I don't wanna see how much worse you get." He curls his lip. "Don't make me call the bouncer. He's all alpha, and you know it."

"Fuck you," says Welling, but he leaves and even takes Rosenbaum with him.

Jared sighs and leans back against the wall. "I'm sorry. Just because the town's tiny doesn't mean we don't have more than our fair share of asshole alphas."

"It's okay," says Jensen. "I didn't think it was going to be some kind of alpha-free utopia." He sighs. "Do they--is he always like that with you?"

"Like what?"

"I never really met a beta who got abuse like this," says Jensen, making a pattern in the condensation on his glass.

"Well, I'm tall, and pretty big, and my brother and my dad are both alphas, so everyone thinks I should be. They think it's funny that I'm not."

Jensen sighs. "Sorry," he says.

"Everyone gets it sometimes, I figure," says Jared, shrugging.

"Not male alphas," says Jensen.

Jared smiles. "Maybe sometimes."

"Maybe," Jensen agrees, but he sounds dubious.

"I'm not going to ask, by the way."

"Ask what?"

"Anything substantial. But you could tell me why you picked Bigfoot. Of all places."

Jensen laughs. "The name, obviously. How could I resist?"

"The population is under 500 people," Jared points out.

"And yet you still have a bar and a library. What more do I need?"

"That reminds me, I've been wondering. Do you have a job?" Jared asks, sliding Aldis another beer at the end of the bar. "I've heard a lot of rumors, but nothing that plausible."

"I didn't think that was what the rumors were about," says Jensen. He scratches behind his ear, ducking his head. "I'm a writer, actually."

"A writer?"

"Yeah."

"Anything I've heard of?"

"I was going to say probably not, but I guess you're a librarian. You probably hear of a lot of stuff."

"I do," says Jared. "But no Jensen Ackles, so either we don't carry you, or you use a pen-name."

"Pen-name," says Jensen. "You might carry me." He pauses. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"My lips are sealed," says Jared. "No one will ever know you write books I can't name using a pseudonym I don't know."

Jensen laughs. "That's all I ask."

*

Jensen is back at the library on Monday. Jared still doesn't know a lot of things, but he feels like he can ask most things, except about the mysterious alpha.

"So, I need a better book," says Jensen, sliding What To Expect When You're Expecting back to Jared. "And maybe a new librarian. One with taste."

"Is this the hormones, or are you always this charming?" asks Jared, grinning. "Just so I'm prepared for the rest of this friendship."

"I think the baby is actually making me a little nicer," says Jensen. "If you can believe it."

"I don't really want to," says Jared. He considers Jensen for a long minute. "I have a better recommendation for you, but you have to earn it."

Jensen raises an eyebrow. "Seriously? Is that how libraries work now? Do I have to complete a quest?"

"I want to know if we have any of your books."

Jensen laughs. "You would," he says. "I could just find a book on my own."

"Without my expert guidance? You'd be lost."

"You're something else, you know that?" Jensen asks, shaking his head.

"Something good, right?" says Jared.

Jensen smiles. "Yeah. Something good." He considers. "Come on. We'll go see if you've got anything of mine."

*

Jensen's book is called Alpha Female. It's in the young adult section, and Jared's read it.

"I need to do recommendations for kids!" he protests.

Jensen smirks. "So you read a lot of teen girl books."

"You write teen girl books," Jared points out. "And it's actually pretty good."

"My best friend in college was an alpha, she told me a lot about what it was like for her in high school," Jensen admits. "We actually dated for a while, but it was mostly just out of spite."

"Oh?" asks Jared.

"When you're a male omega or a female alpha, everyone assumes you're gay before you've started thinking about sex. We didn't like the assumption, but--"

"But you're gay," Jared supplies.

"Yeah," says Jensen. "And so is she. She has a mate--a nice girl named Sophia. They're very happy together."

Jensen doesn't say it, but Jared can hear the implication loud and clear: they're happy, and Jensen isn't.

*

After that, Jared and Jensen start hanging out. Nothing earth-shattering--they have lunch some days, Jensen comes to the library to write or just hang out. He doesn't come to the bar often, but Jared doesn't blame him; going to a bar with obnoxious alphas when you can't even drink has got to suck.

Jensen doesn't get any less attractive. He complains about how he's getting bigger and he hurts all the time, but Jared just wants him, all the time, like he's never wanted anyone. Jensen doesn't seem to have noticed, which Jared guesses is good. The guy has a baby and a mysterious past; he doesn't want to deal with a stupid beta and his stupid crush.

"Do you know a seven-letter word for benevolence?" Jensen asks from his seat at the table at the library. He has his laptop, and he's supposed to be working.

"Aren't you finishing a chapter?"

"I have a process," says Jensen. "I don't expect you to understand."

"Do you have any letters?"

"Third letter a?"

Jared hums. "Let me--"

"Jensen," someone says, and Jared watches tension run up Jensen's back and over his whole body. He's moving out from behind his own desk and toward Jensen in seconds, instincts telling him he needs to protect Jensen even if he's no good at it.

"It's okay," says Jensen, looking up at Jared with a small smile. He turns to the voice, expression hardening. "What do you want, Grey?"

The man is tall, but not as tall as Jared, broad-shouldered and scowling. He's an alpha, and Jared would challenge him in a second, but he's not an alpha, and Jensen isn't his anyway.

"I want my child," says the man, Grey. It's not a surprise, hearing that this is Jensen's alpha, but it makes Jared's lip curl up all the same. Grey's eyes flick to him. "I'm impressed you found someone who would take another alpha's child, but I guess betas are desperate."

"It's not your child," says Jensen, voice cold and firm. "You don't get to have a thing to do with my life."

"I--"

"You lied to me," says Jensen. "You badgered me for fucking months, and when I was finally horny and desperate enough to let you fuck me, you lied and told me you were wearing a condom. You don't get to say a goddamn thing about my life or my child, and if you don't get the fuck out of here, I'm going to call the police."

"No one else has a claim to you," says Grey, but Jared can see his confidence ripple and waver. "He's a beta."

The word's clearly meant to dismiss Jared, but he's never felt more dominant, or more angry. This guy lied to Jensen, got him pregnant, chased him away from his home, and he still has the audacity to think he deserves this child. Jared wants to rip his throat out with his teeth, like an alpha would.

"I have a claim to myself," says Jensen, calm and sure. It cuts through Jared's anger, makes him realize he doesn't have to be like this. Jensen is an omega, but Jensen can take care of himself. "I don't have to belong to anyone to not belong to you."

"And you're okay with that, beta?" asks Grey, with a sneer.

"Are you kidding?" Jared asks, before he can think better. "I think it's amazing."

*

Jared isn't entirely sure how his admiration for Jensen's independence turns into a fist fight--alphas really make no sense--but he's bigger than Grey and works out all the time, so he wins in no short order. Jensen, pragmatically, calls the police while Jared is busy, and Chad and Aldis pick up the call, so even if Jared had started it, they'd be on his side.

"I like police corruption when it works for me," says Jared.

Jensen has a warm cloth and is cleaning his face. He's awfully close. "Certainly better than the alternative. Not that you did anything wrong."

"I don't have any right to challenge an alpha to a duel."

"You didn't."

"I didn't," Jared agrees. He pauses. "You didn't tell him I wasn't dating you."

Jensen raises his eyebrows. "It didn't seem like a priority, given everything else that was going on."

Jared flushes. Of course it didn't mean anything. He's kind of an asshole for even thinking about it. "Right," he says.

Jensen cocks his head. He's way too close for Jared's current comfort. "You--oh," he says.

"It's not a big deal," says Jared.

Jensen laughs softly. "You must be really hard-up."

"Not really," says Jared, surprised.

"You have a crush on a pregnant omega."

"So?"

"So betas don't even like omegas."

"Uh, no," says Jared. "I like omegas fine. They don't like me. No knot."

"I'm kind of over knots," says Jensen, and it's so casual. Jared knows that tone. He's used that tone himself.

"Oh," says Jared.

"But I'm still pregnant."

Jared leans in and kisses him, soft, against the side of his mouth. He wants to pretend he missed, but he really doesn't quite have the guts.

Jensen catches his cheek and turns his head gently, catches his lips for a real kiss, soft and slow, the cloth damp against Jared's jaw for a lot minute, until Jensen pulls back.

Jared smiles. "I like kids," he says. "I read a lot of kids books. I'm very prepared."

"For what, exactly?"

"Reading to your kid. For the next twenty years of his or her life."

"Oh," says Jensen, with a pleased smile. "Well. I might have angry alphas come and try to claim me sometimes."

"I work out a lot."

"I have pepper spray and a lot of repressed rage."

"Awesome," says Jared. "So, do you want to get dinner with me sometime?"

Jensen's smile is slow and gorgeous, and Jared would kiss him, if he didn't want an answer. "Took you long enough," he says.

"You're really kind of pushy, for an omega."

"Well, you're kind of tall for a beta. So shut the fuck up."

*

The next day, Jensen comes into the library with two sandwiches.

"There's no food allowed."

"Shut up," says Jensen, laughing. "This is a date. I bought you lunch."

Jared's smile softens. "You didn't have to."

"Well, you're a beta, right? I can't expect you to call all the shots."

"So you're going to bring me illegal food and just expect me to fawn all over you?"

"Pretty much," says Jensen. "It's going to work, right?"

Jared laughs. "Yeah, it already did."