Chapter Text
After the shared moments of intimacy at the farm Hannibal had dared to hope that Will had forgiven him. Instead as soon as they had returned from the hospital Will had moved the crib into the spare room he’d taken to using and when either were required to talk things were uncomfortably polite, something even more maddening to bear than the cold silence from before.
“She’s so beautiful,” Will murmured, a sentiment he had found himself repeating recently.. Although he had been transfixed from the first moment, his daughter had been over a month old before he’d been permitted to hold her.
“It’s natural to worry,” Hannibal had assured him. “But we mustn’t too much, she is strong.”
“There may still be…complications,” Will said quietly. It hurt to say so now he knew, as Hannibal would as well, that stressed circumstances such as had been at her birth rarely left the child unaffected.
“Which we will look out for and deal with accordingly if needed,” Hannibal finished, hands guiding his gently to his feet.
Will flinched at the touch before he could stop himself, startling the sleeping baby in his arms. “I’m sorry darling, shh, sorry.”
Hannibal pursed his lips at the way his mate still automatically pulled away from him, rising to his feet to leave them alone.
Treading lightly Hannibal paused outside the door to the living room and closed his eyes for a long breath to focus on the two complementary sweet scents before drinking in the scene.
Will sat curled into the corner of the couch cradling the baby to chest, the expression on his beautiful features suggesting he was as delighted by the creature before his eyes as the alpha was. He could make out the low sound of Will’s drawl but not the words as he murmured to the baby while she ate, the hand of the arm not supporting her body tracing through her short dark hair, slowly forming into loose ringlets. The alpha couldn’t help the feeling that he was intruding on such a peaceful, beautiful moment that he half drew back from the doorway but couldn’t quite bring himself to look away.
For weeks he had felt almost a stranger in his house and the initial frustration had faded to grief as for the second time in his adult life (perhaps third in his total memory) he felt uncertain of how to move forward ultimately helpless to change his situation. It could only be Will’s decision if they were to continue together indefinitely and if the omega could not forgive him the best Hannibal could offer was his absence. Please, never let it come to that…
“Either come in or go away, it’s creepy to lurk in doorways like you’re up to no good.”
Hesitantly Hannibal stepped over the threshold and moved to sit on the couch, leaving just enough space as to be respectful. Will had sounded amused rather than annoyed or complacent and he took some heart in that.
“I apologise,” he said sheepishly. “I was quite taken by the view.”
He glanced down at the soft bundle, tiny limbs wriggling and large dark hazel eyes, the only feature that seemed her very own, moving between her parents with focus only an infant could quite manage. Tentatively he leaned a little closer to stroke a finger over Audrey’s downy head and cheek. Something akin to amusement crossed Will’s face and allowed the gesture without pulling back.
“How are you feeling?” Hannibal blurted out. He immediately wished he hadn’t spoken, shocked by his own discomfort at the silence.
“Fine, same as before.” Will chewed his lip as if fighting off a laugh at the alpha though he couldn’t bring himself to be anything but pleased at that. He imagined kissing those lips curled so sweetly into a cheeky and all too knowing smile, but resisted the temptation.
Hannibal was startled from his thoughts as Audrey unfurled her fingers from playing with Will’s sleeve to grab his thumb, gripping on automatically.
“You can almost forget how strong they are,” he mused, memories taking him to another child so long gone with less pain then it once would have.
Will couldn’t help a small smile at the tender expression on his mate’s face. The last few months had not been easy even though Hannibal had attempted to give him the space he needed without complaint, granting that regardless of his concession at Muskrat Farm the omega had still not reached the point of tolerance for everything else that had been done. He had tried not to think too much on the fact that regardless of what happened now he had actively sanctioned his alpha’s crimes by lying.
Every possible scenario had played through his mind even imagining for a brief moment asking Hannibal to stop; the Ripper had an element of whimsy but he was not impulsive to the point of fulfilling a desperate need by killing. The gaps of up to several years between bodies being found suggested that he could resist the temptations but then again, Will reminded himself with a shiver, those were only the ones left on display. How many more were brought to the table and quietly disposed without any one being the wiser?
Instead he had allowed himself to get lost entirely in his baby. Despite the limited bonding time during the first few weeks of her life it wasn’t long before she started to recognise him and was visibly comforted by his scent.
They did not speak again as Audrey finished and Will adjusted the weary baby to coax out a burp.
“May I?” Hannibal happily took the drowsy baby and averted his eyes politely as Will adjusted the nursing bra and he buttoned his shirt.
“We need to talk.” Will spoke so quietly that Hannibal almost missed it. He nodded gravely.
“I see.”
“Could you put her to bed?”
“Of course.”
Already half asleep it did not take long to settle Audrey but Hannibal lingered beside the crib in the spare room for several more minutes trying to steel himself before going downstairs.
Will did not seem to have moved and kept his eyes fixed on a point on the carpet stubbornly.
“I’ve been thinking over what I should say, what I already have,” Will began slowly.
Hannibal swallowed before speaking to try and prevent his voice from shaking so clearly. “Nothing was said that has not been deserved.” Hannibal sat back down, relived when Will didn’t retreat from him and allowed his chin to be tilted up gently. The sadness on Will’s face was enough to make his own chest ache. “If you asked me to stop I would do that gladly. Or if you cannot bear my presence any longer…I would leave.”
Will looked up at him sadly. “Could you go through with that? Either of those, even if that meant withdrawing from Audrey’s life as well?”
“Only if there was no other way to reassure you and one day earn back your trust even if you never forgive me. Nothing matters more to me than you and our child.” Please believe me, my love
Will slumped against him as silent tears finally began to fall past his dark, flattened lashes. Carefully he lifted the omega closer to wrap properly in his arms. Will remained limp against Hannibal’s chest as he pressed a kiss to the crown of his head though careful to avoid his nape. Emboldened he brushed another kiss over the boy’s closed eyelid, tasting the salt of tears mixed with his sweet skin and couldn’t help the quiet, pleased growl that rumbled through his torso. Will jerked at the noise and began to struggle and push against the older man’s arms.
“Hannibal don’t, please.” Will pushed him back though reluctantly and pushed himself off the couch. He only fled a few steps before pulling to a halt, slim shoulders shaking as he stared anywhere but at his alpha.
“I’m sorry,” Hannibal said.
“I know you are,” Will murmured. “About everything. Through your mind everything you’ve done, even,” he paused painfully. “Even taking away Abigail was for my benefit. Eventually you realised you had overplayed your hand and tried to change and repair the damage. I understand what you are trying to do now but I can’t just forget that you killed her because she became…inconvenient?”
Will knew his own perception of Abigail had been somewhat stilted because he needed her to be a success story to make his own feelings in response to killing her father alright. Maybe it was that selfish hope that kept him from seeing the truth about her for so long, a fact deep down he knew to be true, but she was still an innocent girl pushed into making impossible choices by others. If he was able to forgive that, what did that make him? He looked back at his mate sitting like a pristine gold stature as the mask was pulled back into place though he could see the cracks at the edges.
“Is that your answer?”
“I don’t know.”
Hannibal remained motionless for over an hour after Will had quietly gone upstairs. Finally going to bed himself Will’s words still hung heavy on his mind, keeping him from sleep. Imploring him to be a better father than he had been to Abigail in the end… All those actions done for Will even if he now regretted the pain the measures he’d taken had caused but he would always choose to protect and serve his mate.
The knock on the door startled him and Hannibal stayed still a heartbeat before recognising the familiar scent of his mate and the fact that he had been able to surprise him spoke volumes. Will closed the door behind him but remained standing nervously against the wall.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” he admitted. Illuminated in the scant moonlight from the open curtains and stripped down to the thin t-shirt and underwear he wore as sleepwear the omega looked so sad and vulnerable that Hannibal again forced himself to refrain from reaching out. Instead he pulled back the corner of the bedsheets and patted the on the empty side of the bed, looking across at his mate hopefully. Will considered for almost a minute before padding across the carpet and perching on the edge of the bed.
“If I asked you to stop there’s an equal chance of you only do so for a while, or just lying that you will and trying to hide it from me. Audrey deserves her father to be around and not to have to live under the cloud of what he was,” Will paused, arms moving to wrap around himself. Hannibal longed to pull the omega closer and provide the comfort he was trying to conjure himself, to cradle him in his arms or lap as he once would have done but restrained himself.
“I won’t ask that but I will tell you that from now on you will learn to deal with everyday rudeness the way everyone else does because there are some creatures that don’t deserve the air they breathe but not for the crime of bumping into you without apologising or anything else that trivial.” Will glared at him as the alpha opened his mouth but easily changed his mind. “If that’s too much … then I may as well start trying to live without you now.”
Hannibal tentatively covered Will’s hand with his own, relief flooding him as the slim fingers twisted to grasp his own back. “I accept those terms.” As he began to pull back Will’s grip tightened as the omega’s other hand burned itself in his hair and pulled him forward, kissing him hard. Hannibal wrapped his arms about Will’s waist to pull him closer, the omega eagerly grabbing his shoulders as he moved to straddle the older man’s lap.
Hannibal broke off the kiss to pull Will’s t-shirt off over his head and began pressing kisses to his neck, moving down his chest. Will gasped as his mate’s lips brushed over one sensitive nipple, letting himself go lax in the older man’s arms. He heard Hannibal chuckle as he lowered him to lay on his back and roughly pulled down his damp underwear. Hannibal paused to admire his mate, drinking in his beautiful face flushed with arousal, the smooth planes of his stomach, lovely little breasts for nursing and the sweet scent of slick. He struggled to remove his own clothing, nearly ripping his confining pyjamas pants in his haste.
Hannibal pushed Will’s legs further apart to access his wet hole and pushed two fingers into him, spreading the digits and perhaps working more roughly than he should have. His alpha instincts roared at him both to take the omega and fuck him hard and fast, to leave his marks over every inch of skin to show the omega and anyone else that he was claimed. At the same time another part urged him to savour him with the gentle care that befitted such a treasure. Hannibal knew he was close to falling into rut and forced his mind to calm.
Will moaned as his alpha finally lifted his legs to wrap about his waist and pushed his cock into the waiting body. He clung to his mate’s shoulders as Hannibal fucked him barely aware of the marks being sucked and bitten into his throat like a collar above the scar of his mating bite. Will came first just as the alpha’s knot began to swell and moments later Hannibal followed him, collapsing on top of him.
Slightly breathless he gripped Will by the waist and shoulders to roll them so Will was on top more comfortably.
“I’ve missed you,” Will said softly, coiling his fingers through the coarse chest hair as he snuggled closer to his mate. He felt the alpha’s arms tighten around him protectively.
“Not as much as I have missed you.”
“Always a competition, doctor?” Will teased.
“Behave.” Hannibal shifted his hips to draw a disgruntled gasp from his mate, followed by an even more endearing sound of surprised pleasure as the alpha came a second time, releasing another spurt of warm liquid into the omega’s body.
Will lay still until he felt the older man’s knot beginning to soften and gingerly levelled himself off to let it slip free though he made no attempt to move away to the other side of the bed, much to Hannibal’s pleasure.
“How would you feel about going away for a little while?” Hannibal asked after a few minutes.
Will propped himself up on his elbow to look down at the alpha. “Where?”
Hannibal stroked down the slope of the omega’s back absentmindedly. “It has been some years since I visited Italy and Audrey is old enough to fly safely. There are many beautiful places I would like to take you to.” Hannibal moved his hand back up to cradle Will’s face. “And for a chance for us to get to know one another anew, if you would allow that.”
“I’d like that.”
“Right now I don’t know if there is anything I could refuse you.”
Will smiled again more mischievously lips brushing the pad of Hannibal’s thumb. “I’ll let you know if anything occurs to me.
……………………..
Epilogue
The sunlight was streaming in as Will woke, later than he normally would have even on a weekend with an increasingly curious toddler in the house. It had taken some time for Audrey to begin sleeping through the night and several more months for him to stop that worrying about her stopping breathing in her sleep and any other number of things as a result of her being premature although no problems had shown themselves yet.
When finally his mind was made up entirely the omega spoke as honestly as he could without treading old ground and as yet had nothing to regret over it.
As he headed downstairs the soft murmurs of his mate’s voice alongside their daughter’s babbles and fragment sentences brought a smile to his face. Hannibal stood by the kitchen island putting the finishing touches to a breakfast tray, Audrey nestled in the crook of his arm.
“Good morning my darling,” Hannibal looked up with an impish smile.
“Good morning.”
At the sound of her mother’s voice the little girl wriggled to get down, arms outreached and drew a chuckle from her father as he handed her to his mate.
“Hey baby,” Will smiled as he happily accepted her, the sight of their child still filling him with the same joy as the first time. Audrey threaded her little hands through her mother’s shirt, letting her head rest against his shoulder. He allowed a moment to nuzzle the girl and breathe in the soft, sweet-smelling dark hair slowly starting to curl.
“What’s all this?”
“We were hoping to surprise you.” With his hands freed he took the opportunity to wrap an arm around Will’s waist and tilt his chin up into a kiss.
It was a delight to see his mate and child together and one that continued to fascinate him daily. Hannibal had never doubted that Will would flourish as a mother and saw that same fierce love and devotion he’d glimpsed long before their daughter had been born over and over. With Will back at the academy and once again fielding calls from Jack Crawford, an occurrence that frustrated him but accepted as a tie Will could not quite sever yet (although as a small token to keep Crawford temporarily distracted and further undermine any lingering suspicions, he had arranged an anonymous tip to lead to the abandoned warehouse that Mirriam Lass had been housed in since her disappearance) the few days spent at home with their daughter were only made more precious.
Retiring to the home office after dinner he started reviewing some paperwork that had started to pile up while Will put Audrey to bed. As little as he cared for the majority of his patients in comparison to the prospect of quality time spent with his family he did still have a duty of care that would be rude to neglect. He had just begun to put away the finished notes when the door opened, Will sinking down into his chair with a sigh. “She’s finally down.”
“And you look close to exhaustion yourself,” Hannibal said, nodding to the assortment of files still spread out on Will’s desk. “What creatures has Uncle Jack got you chasing now?”
Will didn’t bother to chastise the nickname. “Abel Gideon escaped. Again. I’m surprised the security around him lapsed enough a second time but Chilton is a few points past incompetent. He may only still be in a job because no one else wants it.”
Hannibal smiled at the jab as he pushed back his chair, crossing the short distance to stand by his mate though the sour hint of stress in his scent vexed him. “Was there not another trail of bodies in his wake?” he asked, remembering the way the former surgeon had extracted revenge two years earlier.
“He managed to convince a relatively new orderly that he was having a heart attack, knocked him and the nurse on duty out and escaped out through the medical wing. It’s odd but I don’t think he’ll do anymore harm. It would have been easier to kill them but he didn’t.” The omega picked up his forgotten cup of tea, grimacing at the first sip as it had already gone cold.
“Never stop believing in people’s ability to change and surprise you, Will,” Hannibal said. “If they try.” Hannibal reached to brush the haphazard curls back from his mate’s face.
Will’s eyes automatically dropped shut at the touch and tipped his head back invitingly. Hannibal let his hand stroke lower down the omega’s cheek to his neck, brushing the old mating scar to knead the sensitive skin of his nape.
“Ugh that’s a little corny for you, isn’t it? We’ll never know what made Gideon kill his wife but the rest…wasn’t supposed to happen. I think I can live with myself if he gets away this time.” Will opened his eyes and looked up at his mate.
Hannibal bore in mind a promise he had made to be more selective in his choices of meat. Perhaps not every single one of the pigs would be in Will’s mind worthy of the punishment served but he could not be certain of that. Even if Will may not ever entirely agree on that front, nor was he ready to face it openly, Hannibal had seen him grow more tolerant beyond merely appreciating the artistry behind the violence. Although Hannibal would not activity steer him towards that path again he hoped Will would willingly hunt with him one day rather than just partake in the spoils, something that he could see a growing likelihood of coming true. That was enough.
The alpha smiled at the soft sigh of contentment from the omega as he was gentled, drinking in the sweet sound and feel of his mate. It also occurred to him that with their daughter asleep a floor above a somewhat rare opportunity was presented.
Will whimpered as the alpha moved away from him and immediately felt embarrassed over the pathetic noise. There had been so many times he’d denied himself the comfort of his alpha’s touch, craving it even as he had struggled through guilt and horror at all the man had done and his own part in it by his silence. Now he needed it. He raised an eyebrow as his mate moved around him to the desk gathering the stacks of files and paperwork into a neat pile to place on the floor. Hannibal turned back and gently pulled the omega to his feet before nudging him back against the desk
“What are you-” Will cut off as he was lifted onto the desk and his mouth immediately
captured in a more indulgent kiss. Hannibal pushed Will down flat against the wooden surface before drawing back to work open the omega’s belt.
“Here?” Will asked even as her lifted his hips to make it easier for Hannibal.
“Why not?” The alpha knelt to remove his shoes and pulled his jeans and underwear down at the same time.
Will could feel slick already dripping down the insides of his thighs as his whole body was pent up preparing for his heat cycles to start up again, squirming as large hands spread him open and locked in place at his hips as instead of fingers he felt the man’s tongue against his hole.
“So eager,” Hannibal murmured, pinning Will in place as he squirmed. Like his scent Will’s essence had changed in favour yet no less enticing. He felt the moment Will tensed in his grip before falling limp again and rose to his feet. Hannibal paused to pull Will’s shirt stained by his orgasm off to land by his other clothes before pulling him forward to edge of the table into his arms and kissing him again.
Will felt a little lightheaded but didn’t miss the evident hardness of his mate’s interest pressing against him and slipped his hand down between them to stroke him through the material of his trousers. Hannibal chuckled at the sweet intent and gently lifted Will off the table, holding him up as he turned him. The omega struggled to find his feet as Hannibal set him down and let the table take his weight as he was eased down, bent over the surface. He sighed out contentedly as kisses were peppered down his neck to his shoulders and let his legs slide further apart at the sound of a zip being opened behind him.
Hannibal pushed into him almost aggravatingly gently, accompanying his movements with kisses and caresses to Will’s neck and down his sides. With his little mate so pliant and reeking of delicious approaching heat it didn’t take long for his knot to fill, sucking hard on his claiming bite as he flooded Will’s insides.
Hannibal carefully let himself down to cover the smaller body with his own conscious of Will’s bare skin though the low burning fire in the grate still let off enough heat to keep the room comfortable. The stress he’d been able to smell before had now dissipated to sleepy contentment.
Will did not resist being carried back upstairs, supported through a shower and finally laid down on their bed. Distantly he wondered if he should feel embarrassed even if he knew the reason for his fatigue, his body preparing to push through a week of breeding, but found himself enjoying his mate’s quiet care and smothering. It was good to trust the man he loved again and knew he would never have cause to doubt him again.
Hannibal crawled into bed beside Will and pulled the sheets up over them both. Inhaling deeply from the curls tickling his nose Hannibal wrapped his arms around his mate, hands folding over the omega’s once again flat belly. There was not a guarantee that Will’s next heat would produce a result though with the natural heightened spike of fertility and more aggressive cycle that generally was the first heat after an omega had given birth it was very likely.
“I love you, Will.” A hint of vulnerability still lingered in his voice even if it was far from the first time he had said those words. Will turned his head to look at him, smiling softly as he moved on of his own hands to rest beside Hannibal’s.
“I love you too.”
For all the control he held in such high regard, the high walls he had built long ago, Hannibal could not deny that his heart and mind both belonged entirely to Will now and no future he envisioned did not contain the omega by his side. A truth that he once would have been viewed as a problem now only gave him delight and anticipation for all the possibilities to come.