Now I'm strong and I won't kneel/Except to thank who's watching over me

[fromfryingpantofire]

It had been a very long day so far. For Sam, that day mostly meant waiting, fidgeting with the present in his hands.

More than a few of the others had watched him as they waited, wondering what he was doing here and, more than once, Sam had found himself wondering the same. The Novaks were a family with a lot of wealth and a lot of connections, political and otherwise. He'd done his research. The family was full of Alphas and Betas, insinuated into massive companies and running more than a few of their own. They were old money and old power and most of those who had come to court were the same.

Not Sam. Certainly, the Winchesters were an old family, but they weren't wealthy by a long shot. They were involved in law enforcement, which wasn't exactly a rich occupation to begin with. Sam was going to law school, but his interest wasn't in making money but in helping people and putting away those who abused their positions and their power. But, long ago, John Winchester had made a promise to the Novak family because Mary Campbell had mated him rather than Michael Novak. That one of his children would be offered as a mate to the Novaks should there be a compatible one. It had been a sop, meant to quiet tensions between the families but nobody had thought much of it. Dean had been a Beta and Sam had been an Alpha and that seemed that.

Until the Novaks threw an Omega. Not unheard of, but rare. And, suddenly, Sam seemed to be the one Winchester with a chance, small enough though it might be.

He started when he heard his name called, pulling himself to his full height with the present clutched in his hands. He followed Zachariah Novak trying to ignore the feeling of unworthiness. He was an Alpha from a good line. There was no reason, other than money, to think he didn't have a chance here.

Comments

[freetobe]

One of the other alphas now turns to Sam, obviously perplexed. His name is Inias. He's young, but influential - and too influenced by his hard-lining mother. "Excuse me, but you say... if they end up pregnant, as if that's not an inevitable and desirable state."

Castiel looks from Inias to Sam. He can't pretend that he's not interested in this, that he's not hanging on Sam's every word.

A university where omegas are accepted, desired, protected... it sounds mad, to him.

It sounds... too good to be true.

Another alpha suitor, an older man named Crowley, snorts. "Nonsense. Alphas lead. Betas work. Omegas are bred. That's the way of it, boy." He's had three omegas, Castiel knows this. Childless unions. The first had an accident. The other two turned out to have... illnesses.

Zachariah likes him - his money, his influence. Castiel knows that union would mean certain death if he can't produce children for the man - the creature.

[fromfryingpantofire]

"It's not the desired state if you're unmated," Sam points out, not unkindly. Inais is younger than Sam, after all. "Think of the things you hear about Omegas who have had a child after an unfortunate heat where their birth control didn't work or they got caught out. It can be very difficult for them to find an Alpha that's willing to take on the child of another.

"On the other hand, pregnancy is difficult on Omegas. Especially males, who have no choice but to go through surgery to have their children." Did nobody take basic biology any more?

Sam glances to Crowley, eying the man up. He knows as much about the man as Castiel. Possibly more, honestly, because Winchester Investigations had been looking into him for a while. Dean hates the man almost as much as he hates Zachariah. "My mother, God rest her soul, would have taken that attitude out of your hide," he says after a moment. "My father was a Marine and one of the strongest Alphas I've ever known, and he treated my mother as a partner, not a trophy to be won and shown off. Our business wouldn't be where it is today without her. Nor would my father have lived so long after her death had it not been for my stepmother. Omegas provide balance to a family. Both parents are a child's first educator, so it's always bothered me, this idea that Omegas shouldn't be just as well educated as their Alpha. Do we really think that an entire fourth of our population isn't worth it because they have children?" He raises an eyebrow, looking at the others. "If so, I know a couple of Beta women that would love to educate you otherwise."

[freetobe]

"It's ridiculous," another Alpha pipes up, while Crowley ponders his scotch and Inias looks like Sam has actually given him food for thought. "They go into heat. If they prance around in public like that, they're basically just asking to be claimed. Sluts, all of them, if you ask me. An omegas place is at home with the kids. I work in the office all day, I expect my omega to be there with dinner, heavy with child, when I get home."

Zachariah nods in approval.

Castiel, meanwhile, looks at Sam in contemplation. As if he doesn't quite know what to make of all this. But there's a spark in his eyes, a certain interest. He still sits stiffly and eats little - but he does speak up again. "You wouldn't want that, Sam? To come home to warm dinner and a pregnant omega mate - you'd accept a childless omega bent over books?"

[fromfryingpantofire]

"And an Alpha doesn't have to have any control at all of themselves. They're just lead by their knots when the pheromones hit them, right?" Sam stared down the Alpha in question. "An Alpha doesn't have to take advantage of an Omega in heat. Any more than an Omega has to bend over for an Alpha in rut. If we're supposed to be leaders, we need to be better than that. If you can keep control of yourself not to attack the nearest Omega when you're in rut, you can control yourself not to attack one in heat, either."

His jaw clenches for a moment before Sam sits back, closing his eyes to take a long breath. The anger would do him no good. Once he was certain of his control, he turns back to Castiel. "I want children," he says, picking up his water. "But not at the expense of what my mate would like, too." His lips quirked up slightly at the corners. "Though I suppose I should find a mate who can cook. I'm pretty hopeless at it."

[freetobe]

Zachariah smirks at that. "Oh, but you and your mate aren't the only ones involved in most marriage contracts, dear boy. Castiel's union comes with a guarantee of fertility, and a requirement of impregnation within the first year. After all, we're not marrying him off just to provide a happy marriage."

Murmuring starts up along the table. This is news to all suitors - and it gets them all more interested again. It seems the Novak clan is trying to tackle the problem of unhappy, and barren omega unions - by putting even more pressure on the omegas to perform and stay happy and healthy. It's good for them - a contract that guarantees them offspring from this marriage within the first year.

Castiel pokes at his food. He smiles sadly at Sam. "I can make a decent sandwich."

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam stares at Zachariah flatly, clearly unimpressed. "Of course. Because that's useful. The chances of a pregnancy in the first year of a mating is only about ten percent because the chances don't go up until cycles sync up. So the chances are that you're already setting any union up for failure."

And considering the final say had to be Castiel's, it means he's setting the young Omega up for failure. Which will, in turn, only make it more difficult for him to have children.

He still dredges up a smile for Castiel, though. "I'm more of a salad man, myself."

[freetobe]

"Why, Mr. Winchester. It seems you have no faith in the prize at all. Or your own virility." Crowley smirks though. If they're lucky, this will prompt the Winchester pup to drop out of the race, and they can all go back to regular business tomorrow.

Castiel knows all this. He's been tested, proven fertile, then promptly threatened. His family expects him to breed, and fast. Not for a happy, healthy marriage, not for the sake of his own wellbeing, but so they don't lose status. They rarely produce omegas - so the moment they have one, it has to be the best, most fertile, most obedient little bitch on the market.

He nods, slightly, looking just a tad crestfallen. "I see." He has no idea how to make a salad.

[fromfryingpantofire]

"It's simple biology, not anything about virility," he replies. "Omegas don't react well to stress and duress. It sets their cycle completely off kilter. That's why you rarely see children from an unhappy mating." He doesn't actually look to Crowley, but he is the one with the greatest number of former mates. The rest of them are looking for their first.

The look in Castiel's face, though, makes him wish he hadn't spoken about meals at all. "That's okay. I'm sure that my brother would love to have somebody to teach. He likes to cook to unwind from the business."

[freetobe]

"The omega's fault, naturally. There's no need to be overly caught up on being unhappy when you have an alpha to provide for you." Yeah. That would be Zachariah agreeing with Crowley.

Castiel is young. He's grown up with this kind of talk and way of thinking poisoning his mind. But when his eyes meet Sam's, one thing becomes very obvious - while he doesn't truly know better yet, he has the potential to. There's a spark of curiosity in his eyes, a wish to explore the world Sam sketches out.

[fromfryingpantofire]

Which is the important thing.

It's underhanded and Sam knows it. He really would have been quite happy just being Castiel's friend, even with what Gabriel had sketched out to him about his family. Seeing it in person, though? Sam wants to get Castiel out of here. Somewhere safer, where he can be himself and not try to live up to these ideals that will only end up with him unhappy or, at worst, dead at the hands of a Alpha who just doesn't give a shit.

Perhaps, he hopes, he can do both. Only time will tell. For now, though, he's willing to glare at Zachariah but settle back, the the rest of the room wash over him. And never take his eyes from Castiel, even though they can't have a conversation at the moment.

[freetobe]

They have no proper chance to speak for the rest of the night. Zachariah and Crowley dominate the conversation - and it's rapidly becoming obvious where Zachariah's preferences lie. Crowley, after all, would bring the Novak clan the most prestige.

Castiel has a duty to fulfill, a duty to his family. And yet he finds himself glancing at Sam mmore often than not, wondering about this world that Sam has mentioned, that seems to wait out there, that's open to omegas. Wonders if he has the right to want for more than a soft bed in which to fulfill his mated duty.

Sam knows about the law, it's what his family business is all about, after all. Castiel could tell him - that he's fertile, but that he's not very fertile, that unless conditions are ideal, he will have a hard time conceiving. Zachariah has not even told him this - but Castiel overheard the doctor tell his uncle so. It makes the contract almost impossible to fulfill unless by rare chance. He can have children - but it's more unlikely than with most omegas that it will happen within the first year of his mating. Or very soon at all if he's stuck in the arrangement his uncle sees fit. The clause is only there so Zachariah can terminate a match Castiel decides on that Zachariah doesn't agree with. It also means, by default, he's selling a working, but still slightly defective product.

Castiel wonders what Sam would make of that.

He decides to find out the next night. He's allowed to spend some time alone in the gardens with every suitor invisible. Sam is last, again, and once again Castiel is very exhausted by the time he meets him, surrounded by trinkets and gifts that are more for his uncle than for himself. He smiles when Sam is shown into the garden. Tired, but not unhappy to see the young alpha.

[fromfryingpantofire]

Having made his decision to pursue this as best he can, Sam finds himself at more of a loss as to what to get for the second gift.

When he arrives, it's with...what's probably an odd gift to some. It's a fairly large plant pot, though the early stages of plants in it. Once she'd known why he wanted it, Ellen had practically pushed it into his hands.

Not for the prestige of a Novak mate, but because Sam cared.

"Is there a good place for me to put this down?" he asks, looking around and knowing Zachariah and probably Uriel are around somewhere. Mostly, though, he's looking for a good place to set it.

[freetobe]

Castiel's eyebrows slowly crawl upwards. It's a change of pace from his usual frown-of-deep-thoughts, and goes to show is surprise at what he sees here. Still he gets up from where he was seated beneath a tree, and looks around.

"I suppose... over here might be nice."

He indicates a nice, and so far rather empty corner of the garden, following Sam as he moves to put the plant pot down. He should be unimpressed in comparison to the expensive gifts others got him, but only finds himself curious.

"What is that, Sam?"

[fromfryingpantofire]

It's a fairly large pot, really. It only looks small because Sam's a big man himself.

He looks a little embarrassed, reaching up to rub the back of his head. "It's a mix of local wild flowers," he replies after a moment. "I'm not sure exactly what they are, really. But I know that it's a mix that's meant to be good for attracting bees."

A gift idea brought on by a panicked phone call to Gabriel the night before. The man was nice enough NOT to sound as smug as he probably was feeling when he told Sam about how much Castiel had loved bees. He'd been lucky that Ellen was already growing a couple of pots of the mixture. She and her mate, Bobby Singer, were both still partners in Winchester Investigations, even if they took a backseat these days to let Dean and Sam and Jo take the lead. But she'd always been like another mother to Sam, just as Bobby had been another father.

[freetobe]

"Bees."

The says the word flatly, but one look at his face betrays the nonchalant, unimpressed tone. Castiel's eyes now take in the flowers in an entirely different kind of light, as if they've gained a beauty most wouldn't even see.

As a child, Castiel had a bee plushie, and blue PJs with small bees buzzing around on it. He remembers the flowery fragrance hidden in the crook of his mother's neck, and how she'd call him her little bee, humming to him as if she was one herself. He'd followed the bees around the gardens, endlessly fascinated by the patterns of their flight, and never once scared of their sting.

"Thank you, Sam. You have a talent for choosing gifts..."

[fromfryingpantofire]

"I have my ways."

He owed Gabriel a good few beers after this. Something the other man would no doubt remind him of. But Sam also knew that the other Alpha worried about his cousin, which was why he was helping out Sam so much.

He glances around again before offering Castiel his arm. "This is one of your spaces, isn't it?" If he liked bees, gardens seemed to be the spot for it.

[freetobe]

"You could say that."

Castiel slips his hand through Sam's arm. It's old-fashioned, but it's what etiquette asks for. He's pleased that Sam is willing to do this, given that Zachariah and Uriel are never far. He's not sure if Sam would encourage Castiel to hang off his arm any other time, and that's... a rather dizzying thought.

He could grab Sam by the wrist and drag him. Or just start walking and expect Sam to follow.

And Sam... might even do that.

"I'm not allowed to do all the garden work myself. But the gardeners let me watch them and help with small things." He drops his voice. "Depending on whether someone is watching or not."

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam folds his other hand over Castiel's, starting to walk through the garden. "Show me your favorite spots, then?" he asks, keeping his steps short so that Castiel can keep up. Most of Sam's height difference is in leg, after all. It gives him a longer stride than might be comfortable.

He looks over the gardens as they walk. "Ellen Singer is more into gardening than I am. Her mate, Bobby, was my father's partner when he and my mother started Winchester Investigations. Dad and Bobby would do the leg work while Mom and later Ellen and Kate did most of the organization and accounting in the office."

[freetobe]

Castiel hesitates a little - not because of Sam, but out of thought. He knows what to show him, but doesn't know if Sam might understand. If anyone might. Finally, he leads Sam down a path that looks positively unkempt compared to the rest, half-hidden behind low-hanging willow branches.

"They did very important work, then." Strange, that. And... intriguing. "That's a very central part of any clan. We employ Betas there, exclusively."

The path opens up to a small, wild pond, surrounding by a seemingly randomly mass of flowers and plants and grasses. It's not planned, like the rest of the gardens are. It looks positively... grown, not planted. There's a crooked bench nearby, and assortments of flowers that don't seem to match one another even remotely.

[fromfryingpantofire]

"I think Dean would make some interesting noises if you told him he needed to stay in the office and do the accounts." Since Dean was the only Beta in the office. "Jo, on the there hand, might pay you to do it, as long as she has time to sell tickets and get some popcorn ahead of time. Well...mostly the popcorn."

Sam's laughing as he ducks under a low hanging branch just as they round the corner to the pond. He pauses at the sight, looking around it for a long moment before looking down at Castiel. "It's beautiful," he says quietly before leading Castiel over to the bench. There's still plenty of open space for Uriel and Zachariah to watch them and Sam is careful to let Castiel sit before sitting as far away as the bench allows. "This looks like a perfect place to come out for some peace and quiet."

[freetobe]

"Yes."

Castiel is glad that Sam understands, though hardly even surprised. Sam is wonderful like that. Something aches in his chest, and he's not sure what to make of that, suspects that it might be the distance between them that he knows he can never bridge. He's been brought up differently, and for the first time truly feels like less for it.

"I like to read here."

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam smiles, turning to face Castiel. Yes, they were brought up differently, but that doesn't mean he thinks less of Castiel for it.

His family, maybe, but not Castiel himself.

"What sort of things do you read?" he asks, head tilted out of curiosity. "I've always tended toward speculative fiction, myself. Or the occasional horror novel. And some Tolkien." Elves and dwarves didn't seem to deal in Alphas and Omegas. Or, at least, it was never mentioned in the books. But, then, there was no need for that before the clans came out.

[freetobe]

"History, more often than not. Text books on matters that concern my role in the household. Fiction... but only sometimes."

It wouldn't do to let an omega dream of other places, yearn for more, think themselves capable of adventure. Most heroes are alphas or betas, but still, it's best not to let Castiel start... thinking.

Or at least that seems to be the general idea.

He folds his hands in his lap.

"Did you know that centuries ago, it was common for alphas to earn the right to an omega by chasing them through the woods, and only claiming them if they could catch them? Some omegas eluded their prospective mates indefinitely."

[fromfryingpantofire]

"It's certainly a more fair system in a lot of ways. Pitting brains against brains, speed against trickery. In those days, if you couldn't catch your mate, you didn't deserve to have one." Oh yes, Sam's read his history. "In Japan, Omegas were taught to fight with pole arms so that they would be able to defend the clan if necessary. They were also expected to keep the household accounts and keep things running while the Alpha was off at war or court."

Okay, so at some point Sam and Cas have to play catch in the woods :p

[freetobe]

"I'm a fast runner."

It's spoken softly, almost too faint to be heard at all. Castiel isn't looking at Sam when he says it, but gazing out over the pond.

There may or may not be a pleased little smile playing along his lips. Or is that just the warm sunlight softening his features? Who knows.

"There used to be cultures in which everything was passed down through the omega line. Greater importance was placed on the person to give birth to a child than to the person who allegedly sired it."

He'll get in trouble for sharing this. His library will shrink down further. But Castiel has never talked to anyone about the history of his own kind before. It's... too tempting. Too refreshing.