Chapter Text
“what did you say?” zanka asks slowly, staring at the nurse who came in eisha’s place.
she clears her throat, “you are pregnant, here are the results.”
the paper that has been held out for more than a minute finally captures zanka’s attention. now, after the second time, he takes it. she bows and leaves him to process. he stares at the page in his hands, eyes wide and empty — going over all the words. it all comes to the end result: he’s pregnant. a month in.
how- obviously he knows how.
when- he, he wants to pretend it wasn’t then.
who- fuck.
zanka crumbles the paper in his hands, his teeth grit as his eyes glaze over. fuck, fuck, fuck!
who has ever heard of a cleaner having children? one thing is recruiting children but another thing is actually having them. their job isn’t suited for such things. their job is dangerous, toxic gas, toxic water, all things that can put them in high risk situations. situations zanka always has to be in. what a joke!
what. a. joke.
zanka can’t believe it. just how unlucky is he? a disgrace. he can already see the face of disgust from his sister, from his brother, if they were to hear word of this. if they were to see him. he can already hear the mockery, the comments, the murmuring. the highly esteemed omega cleaner who got knocked up on a mission. the one who could care less about dating, the one who was always centered in the job, is fucking pregnant. the anger boils down and zanka can only scrub his face.
then, he laughs. because of course but has to happen to him. he always goes to a battle prepared but this?! a child!?
he pauses — why is he acting like he has to keep it? he’s a month in but there’s still enough time. enough options. he doesn’t have to. why would he? having a child with that stupid man’s face? with his insane eyes. his annoying laugh. his scary mentality. his messy hair.
a constant reminder of his constant defeats. it pisses him off.
there’s a crack that startles him, then enjin’s voice from the communication choker. “yo zanka, where you at? we have a mission.”
zanka inhales sharply, looking at the scrunched up page in his hand. then he radios back, “on my way.”
whatever, it will be a problem for later. zanka can worry about it after. it’s no biggie, he won’t keep it, it won’t be his problem soon.
he rummages through his bag, taking out a scent blocker. the reason he cam was because rudo said he smelled like milk and then zanka realized his heat hasn’t came. he slaps it on and takes a deep breath before heading out. no one will know. just him.
“there you are!” riyo exclaims happily when he slumps into the car.
“alright, let’s go!” enjin yells while slamming into the gas pedal.
everyone knows enjin drives horribly. zanka can hear gris yell out a warning, everyone fully pressed into their seat until eventually they get used to it and go lax. enjin probably slowed down a tad bit, but it’s enough for them to feel relief. zanka himself relaxes in the seat, looking outside at the ruins and trash piles. he zones out, caressing lovely assistaff while riyo talks and talks with rudo and someone else. it feels normal, zanka feels calm with that.
“does your stomach hurt?” a voice asks.
zanka blinks, looking away from the window to face follo. he gives him a question stare, “what?”
follo glances down briefly, “you’re just… your hand on your stomach.”
”don’t tell me you need to take a shit!” enjin barks from the front, “i’m not stopping for anyone! we’re almost there!”
zanka looks down and he visibly pales. he’s been caressing his stomach the whole time!? ugh. he quickly composed himself, glaring at follo.
“just hungry.”
”i have snacks!!” riyo squeals and throws a granola bar at each of them.
rudo makes a noise of disgust, only to morph into one of joy when riyo hands him a candy bar. again, everyone moves on from him and chats quietly over the loud music enjin blasts. zanka isn’t really one to talk, his silence isn’t strange.
arriving to the site they’re meant to inspect, they all get to work. zanka trails behind all of them, seeing how everyone divides into groups of two. zanka measly wanders solo, no one would question it anyways. the mission is just to see if there’s any sightings of strange activity. everyone else went upstairs, zanka stays on the first floor of the large building. if it’s as calm as it is he’ll join everyone upstairs.
he kicks a can and huffs into the eerie silence. he can hear follo and rudo argue upstairs, the walls must not be as thick as they seem. everything looks fine, everything is fine. except for him. in this silence the weight in his stomach (more precisely his womb) feels impossible to deny, to ignore.
“coin for your thoughts-“
zanka spins around and slams lovely assistaff at the speaker. the voice triggers his fight immediately, blood going cold and heart hammering. he breathes heavily, eyes wide as jabber stumbles to the side. he growls when the alpha looks over with a wicked smile, a hand wiping off blood from his mouth.
“wow! i thought you’d at least let me finish before attacking me!” he giggles, oozing with glee. “zanka! did you miss me that much!? were you prepared for me? you were- woah!” jabber jumps back when zanka swings again. “hey let me finish talking!” jabber sulks, genuinely looking upset.
zanka pants, glowering at the idiot. “the fuck are you doing here!? what are you guys up to now!?”
jabber tilts his head, “can i not see my mate?”
silence.
zanka is hearing funny. his mind feels funny. his blood goes cold.
“so you’re not happy seeing me-“
”i’m not your mate.”
again, silence.
then, jabber smiles, pointing, zanka braces himself for mankira- “of course you are! i imprinted in you!”
zanka slumps again, he might just lose strength in his legs. “what? the hell are you talking about!? you haven’t imprinted shit on me! all you did was-“ zanka’s skin goes hot, eyes stinging. “you just jumped me while i was hallucinating on your venom!”
“yeah!”
”yeah?!” zanka slams the hilt of lovely assistaff against the floor, his free hand pulling at his hair. “you’re a piece of shit! you took advantage of me! you- you knotted me! i have to solve this shit alone now because you’re freaky ass couldn’t keep it in his pants!”
jabber rolls on the balls of his feet, humming as he listens. “you liked it though-“
”I DID NOT!”
jabber pouts, “you told me it was good!”
”I SAID NO SUCH THING!” zanka screeches, and wonders why the others aren’t coming down!? he can’t take on jabber no matter how much he wants to. he’s not good enough yet-
“we were having a good vibe! i thought we could do it again-“
”I WON’T BE DOING ANYTHING WITH YOU!” zanka growls, “don’t get close!”
“zodyl said that he can’t play with me anymore because i have to be with you! he said mates have to spend time together!”
zanka is going to lose it. “we aren’t mates! you haven’t even bit me! like hell you will either!”
jabber frowns, getting a little irritated. “you’re calling zodyl a liar?”
“i’m calling you stupid, do you even know how mating works!?”
jabber makes a face, “duh! we have sex, we mate, like animals do!”
”WE AREN’T ANIMALS. we’re humans and humans mate by biting! sex is just sex and-“ zanka swallows, “that wasn’t sex. i didn’t consent.”
“you were in heat and told me to help you!” jabber argues, looking around as if someone else would back him up.
“what?” zanka breathes out, staring at jabber like he grew a third head.
heat..?
“no, i… wasn’t…”
jabber frowns again, “yeah you were. you had a flash heat, that’s what cthoni said. my venom caused that, your flash heat overrode the temporal paralysis and you were just squirming and whining and i thought you were hallucinating so i sat down to watch my venom take effect until i realized what was happening which didn’t happen until you started saying you needed me.”
what?
”huh? need what?” jabber asks, amused at zanka’s red face and sweaty skin. “more venom?” he asks excitedly.
“you’re lying,” zanka swallows.
jabber shakes his head ferociously, smiling eerily.
zanka’s hand flies out and grabs jabber’s sleeve. the alpha is tugged down, defenses long gone when the scent of heat filters inside his nose. the scent blocker zanka had on his neck lifted from how sticky his skin became. zanka smelled divine, so potent- so addicting- his pupils go wide.
“need whats in your pants, idiot.”
“i love when you curse at me! it’s so romantic!” jabber gleams.
all while zanka’s world is going static and closing in on him.
then, a portal opens up behind jabber. zanka can’t get his defense up, everything has left him numb. he looks at the blue haired woman who pops her head out, bored but angry eyes landing on them.
“we need to go, time’s up. you have a minute if it’s that important.” and she leaves, but the portal stays open.
jabber groans, stomping his feet like a child —
“you got me pregnant.” zanka says.
jabber freezes, slowly turning back to face zanka again. for once, zanka sees a different expression on jabber. an expression he can’t quite make out but it must reflect his own as well.
“and you won’t meet it, ever.” zanka bites, anger reviving his body. “and i want you to live with that.”
because if he learned anything from his father, from his life — a child means everything to an alpha. it means honor if it’s exactly how they want it. and if not? it’s an ache they have to live with for the rest of their lives.
jabber blinks slowly, “what-?”
“let’s go!”
and jabber is yanked back into the portal, leaving zanka in the cold, empty first floor.