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Will hiccupped and wiped away the tears even as more followed. As he took off his glasses to wipe away the blood, he heard Hannibal’s footsteps as he returned and sat beside him.
“Will.” He said, his voice even and smooth as ever.
Just as he was replacing his glasses and wiping his nose on the orange blanket he saw a pale blue handkerchief being held out to him.
He mumbled a quiet ‘thanks’ as he wiped his nose and realized it was quite possible that the fancy square of fabric cost more than his entire outfit.
“These…” He heard the doctor say as a bouquet of deep crimson roses was set in his lap, “are also for you. I will be waiting in the car when you are ready.”
With that, Hannibal Lecter walked away.
-----
Will Graham sat on the settee across from his desk whilst Alana Bloom had her hand on Will’s shoulder. She was quietly telling him to calm down, stroking his arm as the man clutched his hair and tried not to go into full panic. The woman was completely oblivious that the unexpected physical comfort she offered had only stressed Will more.
Rage swelled at her ignorance of Will’s discomfort, but more importantly he felt… Jealousy, a deep possessiveness for Will.
“Dr. Bloom,” He said in his smooth accent while rising from his desk “I am going to request that you leave.” He did not want anyone besides him showing Will kindness, he would not allow outside manipulations or distractions.
“What? Are you joking?” She said sharply, her hand still on Will’s shoulder.
“You do not want me to have to ask again.” He replied just as sharp.
As she left swiftly in a huff, Hannibal returned his full attention to Will. Slowly he sat where Ms. Bloom had been sitting, but kept his distance a tad farther away.
“Will. I want you to open your eyes.” The FBI investigator did as told, still shaking with his arms folded stiffly in his lap. “Now hold your breath and count to ten before letting it out. I want you to look at me while doing so.”
After a minute or two of more shallow hyperventilation he raised his eyes to Hannibal’s and held his breath as directed.
“Again.” Hannibal said as Will released the air. “I want you to repeat this over and over until you feel yourself returning to normal.” He watched for several minutes making eye contact with him, analyzing the way his pupils slowly contracted and his breath stopped sounding so ragged. Hannibal would only have his way if Will was completely dependent on him, and him alone.
“I am going to touch you now.” Will looked away at the words and his shoulders tensed again slightly. Hannibal moved forward with intent and rested his hand on the other man’s bicep before gently pulling him into an embrace. Will sagged against him, the shaking did not subside however. He rubbed his face into the fancy lapels of Hannibal’s suit, breathing in the deep musky scent.
“Shh, shh, my dear Will.” He ran his fingers through Will’s dark curls selfishly, rubbed his upper back slowly as if he were a small colicky child. “I’ve got you now.”
-----
After he had given Will the roses and Will had accepted, he was very close at all times. Will would not have expected PDA from a man like Lecter, but he was always possessively resting a hand on the small of his back, offering him his jacket when the air was chill and misty. Once he even kissed Will on the cheek and wrapped his arm around him with a smirk at the vivid blush Will had as they were leaving a crime scene where a witness had been sexually harassing Will as he tried to interview her.
They were by a lakeside crime scene, bodies floating like buoys in the water, covered with leeches, and Jack Crawford adjusted Will’s glasses while asking if he was okay. Hannibal almost growled and had he not been such a polite man he might have indulged himself.
Instead he came up behind Will and wrapped a firm arm around his waist, tugging him against his side. No one was allowed to touch Will, comfort him except Hannibal.
“I assure you Jack, that he is being very well cared for.” He said in a terse, but polite voice, hiding the dark swell of anger that rose whenever someone interfered with his manipulation, before practically dragging Will away from the awful man and into his car where he promised to take Will home and cook a nice lunch for him.
Will gave him an odd look before he smiled and turned to rest his head on the window.
-----
He was lying in Hannibal’s bed with the man curled around him. Lips quivering, he opened his eyes and looked at the man sleeping peacefully beside him. His face was smooth and devoid of emotion, peaceful. No, there was no way that he could be this monster, the man who shredded people to bits and devoured them.
Then Will had another revelation.
He shot out of the bed and ran into the bathroom, vomiting into the toilet. Sweating, he retched again.
The lights flicked on and the monster was at his side in an instant. “Will? Will are you ill?” It asked, soothing fingers running through his hair, touching him and oh god did Will want to be sickened by the touch, to push him off and run away to hide in a corner and scream. All he could do though was retch again because he still wanted this.
Will looked up into the monster’s eyes and that was how Hannibal knew that Will was not sick.
He had discovered Hannibal’s secret.
Before Hannibal could react, Will pushed himself forward burying his head into the other man’s chest, nuzzling his chest hair and letting out ragged dry sobs.
“It’s you, oh god it’s been you this whole time.” He cried softly, scratching at Hannibal’s arms. To Will’s surprise Hannibal embraced him, hands shaking violently and he felt him nod. Pulling Will fully into his lap he leaned against the bathroom cabinets and held him close. He did not want it to end here, it seemed too short. He knew that two of his three options were fading and he would have to choose the one disliked most.
Will sobbed for a long time. He knew what he ought to be doing, that he was not safe here in this serial killer cannibal’s arms. He needed to call Jack, to run, to find help, but all he could do was cling to Hannibal and cry.
“I can’t. I should call them and turn you in but I can’t.” He mumbled, covering his face.
Hannibal didn’t say anything. He just kept holding Will close and stroking his hair, gazing blankly at the bathroom tiles, the words not completely registering. Perhaps his plan to take Will, fill him up with kindness and make him loyal, so loyal he would never tell... had it worked?
“Tell me why.” Will demanded in a less than intimidating voice. “Tell me you monster.”
Hannibal swallowed. “Because I wanted to.”
Minutes of silence passed. Will looked up and caught Hannibal’s eyes. In his mind he pictured the same face looking back at him with razor sharp and bloody teeth but he couldn’t connect it with the person who was sitting right in front of him. There was a monster behind that face but all Will could see when he looked was the man. Tears smudged his face, eyes red and puffy but Hannibal still thought this mess sitting in his lap was beautiful.
“I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t.” Will whispered, reaching up to cup Hannibal’s cheek. “I shouldn’t, but I still love you.”
He pressed his lips to Hannibal’s, tasting the man that had tasted so many others. He pulled away. “Are you even capable of love?”
Before that moment, before Will, Will sitting, touching, crying. At any other time before he would have said no.
“Only you.” He said.
Will nodded. “You won’t kill me will you?”
Hannibal looked at him, eyes black. “I find I much prefer you alive, with me.” He paused, stroking a piece of hair out of Will’s face, regaining control. He had Will, he would not have to kill him because Will would not betray him. “We will discuss this… ordeal in the morning. Now, I think back to bed.”
-----
Will smiled solemnly. “I feel like I’ve dragged you into my world.”
“I got here on my own, but I appreciate the company.” Hannibal replied with a short smile to match Will’s.
Leaning forward, despite the room crowded with agents and Jack Crawford mere steps away, Will reached out and with his thumb gently wiped away the blood from Hannibal’s lips.
Hannibal had previously only once considered claiming Will as more a friend, the second time they had met in his office. The soft swipe of the thumb made him reconsider. Perhaps a romantic road would be a more efficient way of making Will dependent on him.
-----
“Will? Are you at your home?” Hannibal asked, checking the clock and seeing it was 2:46. It crossed his mind as to whether Will was having nightmares or if he had been sleepwalking.
“Oh god, I shouldn’t have called you.” Will said, his voice shaking, as if he knew that Hannibal had looked at the time. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“My good Will,” He said sharply but not cruelly “I’ve told you, never apologize for needing my help. What is wrong?”
“I- I just couldn’t sleep. I’ve been having nightmares and I was scared. I’m sorry for bothering y-“
“Shh. Now where are you?”
“I’m outside of my house.”
“Listen to me.” Hannibal said, going about getting ready to leave. “I want you to return to the house and go inside. Then you will turn on all of the lights. When you have done that I want you to return to the living area and sit with your dogs until I arrive. I will be there soon with food.”
“Okay.”
“Do you wish for me to stay on the line until I arrive?” Hannibal asked seriously.
“U-um, no.” Will said. “I’ll be okay until you get here.”
“Very well. I will be there shortly.” With that he ended the call and got into his car, setting the lamb chops and chocolate cake on the passenger seat. He took a moment on the drive out to Wolf Trap to feel gleeful at the opportunity that had presented itself.
Will was sitting on the floor curled up with his dogs waiting for Hannibal. When the door opened Will let out a sigh of relief and sat up. Hannibal was wearing jeans and a t-shirt which Will was surprised the man even owned. He settled himself in the kitchen and motioned Will over. As he approached, Hannibal opened the Tupperware and Will groaned.
“Thanks.” He said as he took the tub from Hannibal and turned around to settle on his couch. A moment later Hannibal sat next to him, also eating.
“I don’t remember the last time I ate on a couch.” He said after swallowing.
“You don’t seem like someone who would.” Will said shifting himself and accidentally moving closer. Hannibal either did not mind or did not notice, but Will wasn’t going to bet on the latter.
“Now tell me why you called me over.” He said, taking another bite and glancing at Will.
“I… had a nightmare. God, I sound like a child. You shouldn’t have to deal with this. I mean you’ve only known me a few weeks.”
“Tell me about the nightmare.” Hannibal said, dismissing the rest of what Will had said. He listened attentively.
With a sigh Will looked at the food in his lap. “It was the stag, the raven feathered stag. It was matted with blood and he was there. Hobbs. We’re in the forest and the soil is soaked in blood. I can’t run it’s too slick. I try and fall. The blood starts pouring out of my mouth and feathers too. I’m choking, suffocating and he laughs. Hobbs changes into Tobias...” Will trails off for a moment. “He says he’s killed Abigail, Crawford, you.”
By the end his voice is shaking and he has set down the lamb chops on the coffee table.
Hannibal will excuse the waste of food this time, in return for Will’s trust that he has displayed tonight by calling him. He can see that where Will normally would have dealt on his own, now he will call Hannibal; where he might have asked someone else for advice, he finds comforting words in Hannibal’s office; and where he would have fell into a panic attack, he might now fall into Hannibal’s arms just as easily.
He stares at him for a long moment before reaching up to tangle his fingers in Will’s hair and pull his head down to rest on his shoulder. Will lets it happen and closes his eyes with a sigh. Hannibal knows that now is the moment he could easily capture Will’s heart. That he can take it, take his love, take all of him and make him his, his and no one else’s if he wants to. Will trusts him implicitly and that gives Hannibal a deep satisfaction that he is the one Will chooses to run to. He decides to wait, just a little longer.
“Sleep.”
“I’m not sure I can.” He says, enjoying the hand rubbing his head. He’s surprised that Hannibal’s shoulder is warm, comfortable, and strong. It is completely unlike the marble he might imagine.
“Try.” Will is positive that those are lips on his forehead.
He does not say anything, only nudges a bit closer and tries to fade into
unconsciousness.
-----
It was inevitable that one day, Will would discover Hannibal’s true identity. So option one, Will would have to die. Or two, he would have to bind Will so tightly to him, so closely attached to him that when he did find out he would not want to give Hannibal up.
Hannibal rather fancied the second of the two, he thought as he watched Will wander around the second level of his office.
“What you need is a way out of dark places when Jack sends you there.”
-----
“Hello Will.” He says, setting down his briefcase and striding towards his desk. Will stops spinning and smiles beatifically at him.
“Hello Dr. Lecter.” He says in an extremely poor imitation of Hannibal’s accent.
“May I ask why you are in my office inebriated without my permission?”
“Jack.” Will says, suddenly looking very sad. “Do you wan’ me to leave?”
“Hm. No, you are fine for the moment.” He says, finding the one word explanation to be enough.
They were silent for a time, Hannibal watching Will and Will sipping wine and making funny faces at the bottle.
“Les’ play doctor.” Will says looking up at Hannibal. “I’ll be tha’ doctor and you go lie down on tha’ lil’ blue sofa.”
Hannibal raised a brow and without a word he turned and sat on his settee, looking at Will. He would humor him for a few minutes before taking him home and tucking him into bed. He supposed he would have to cancel his afternoon appointments, but he didn’t really mind.
“You gotta lie down. Thas’ how psychiatry works.” Will slurred as he shuffles the items on the desk and finds a pen and notepad.
Hannibal exhales through his nose before leaning back to lie on his “lil’ sofa”.
“Tell me ‘bout your childhood.” He said, again attempting to imitate Hannibal’s accent.
“What would you like to know?” He replied, folding his hands on his stomach.
“Um, wha’ever you want?” Will said confused, not sure what a psychiatrist might say beyond this point.
“I come from Lithuania as you know. I had a mother and father and a little sister. We lived in a nice house, I played in the forest with my sister. I liked to capture small animals.” He neglected to mention that he killed whatever he caught.
“And does tha’ make you feeeeel?” Will asks, scribbling away on his pad.
Hannibal thinks about it for a moment. “Nothing. It does not make me feel anything.”
Will stops scratching and looks at Hannibal.
With Will still watching he stands and walks over to look at the pad. There is a poorly drawn Will standing beside an equally poorly drawn Hannibal. There is a little smiling sun and a disproportionate square house. Will had drawn several dogs and a little heart in the air between him and Hannibal.
“May I have it?” Hannibal asks.
“Sure.” Will says tearing it out and handing it to him.
He looks at the drawing a moment more before folding it and placing it in his breast pocket.
“Time to go home my good Will.”
-----
The man was bent, Hannibal could clearly see, but not broken. As Will talked, Hannibal realized he did not hate Will like he hated most others. Rather he found him interesting. A soft man who didn’t really know how to care for himself but took care of his dogs, a man who enjoyed teaching but hated what he taught, a man who saved lives and destroyed his mind while doing so.
Will is easily manipulated. He was fragile in mind, lonely, and his love would be easily given to the first person who cared to take it from him.
Hannibal wondered if he could attain it if he so desired, if that would be the path that would make Will keep his secret when he found out.
-----
How she had gone undiscovered before Will had found her was a mystery, but it had been him to find the giant claw foot bath. The girl who was still barely alive with heavy rusted manacles chaining her inside, stabbed in not vital areas to die slowly, bits chopped off and left in the bath. When Will had touched her face in horror she had awoken and began screaming.
Hannibal ran up to the porch of the house as Will was lead out. A bright orange blanket was put around his shoulders by an EMT.
“What did he see?” Hannibal shot at Jack Crawford, wrapping his arm around Will and pulling him away from the grasp of the agents.
Will was silent, face blank, just gazing numbly at the blanket he was wrapped in. When he felt Hannibal, he moved into the warm arm and tucked his head under Hannibal’s chin, smearing the man with blood.
The other man seemed preoccupied by his argument with the other profiler.
“How was it that this girl, who was still alive, went unnoticed?”
Jack sighed, rubbing his face. “I don’t know. She died as they tried to carry her out. Her body was heavily mutilated. It’s a shock that she was still alive when Will stumbled across her.”
He stared down at Crawford intensely. “I will be taking Will with me now.” He turned and led Will away from the chaos.
About a 10 minute walk away from the house, down it’s long winding driveway, he found a bench.
“Sit.” He ordered and the other man minded numbly, tugging the blanket closer.
Hannibal crouched, very unlike himself and looked Will in the face. “I am going to go get the car. I presume you will be okay for a few minutes?” This was not how Hannibal had planned his advances, but he wondered idly if it would work in his favor, when Will was at his most vulnerable.
Will nodded.
“I will return soon.”
As Hannibal left, a few tears escaped Will’s eyes for the girl who had died. For the few moments that Hannibal would be gone he grieved for her, wishing that he had not been the one to find her. With a sniffle he wiped his nose on the bloody orange blanket and waited for Hannibal to come back.
-----
Perhaps Will was the real monster for still desiring it.
-----
Will is sitting on the couch in Hannibal’s office, with the doctor behind the couch. A hand rests on his shoulder as the other pushes his brown curls back from his face.
“Do you wish for me to drive you home?”
Will is silent and a moment later Hannibal asks again.
“Are we dating?” Will says, twisting to look at him, giving Hannibal a curious expression.
“I had thought I had made my intentions clear...” He replied, bending and leaning over the back of the couch so that he was face to face with Will. “With the roses. However, it is what you make it. If you wish for to call it dating that is okay. If you wish to call me your boyfriend or perhaps your lover, that is alright too. If what you want is to just be friends it is not too late to choose that either.” It is only words and it will never really change that Will and his relationship always going to be molded into what Hannibal wants it to be.
Will felt his skin prickle with goose bumps and he could smell Hannibal’s breath, minty and musky. “Are you sure you want me?” Will asked redundantly, as if Hannibal Lecter ever did anything he was unsure of. “I’m... damaged at best. At worst...” He shrugged.
“Will.” He said, tilting his head and his eyes darkened intimidatingly. Will felt his face heat up and he wanted to turn his gaze away from the doctor’s intensity but before he could Hannibal’s hand reached out and gripped his jaw tightly, tilting his head back and forcing eye contact for a moment. Then his lips were on Will’s, covering them smoothly. It was kept closed mouthed for a few seconds before turning his head and pressing ever so closer, just enough to make Will open his mouth pliantly. Will could taste something... dark as Hannibal licked into his mouth greedily. He continued the kiss, gripping Will’s jaw and deepening it, making sure Will knew who was in control. After half of minute he pulled back.
Will let out a small sound at the loss, his lips now damp and pinker. His mouth was slightly open as Hannibal admired the sight for a moment and was internally gleeful at how well he was entangling Will in him.
“With me you will never be alone. I wish to care for you, I enjoy spending time with you, and now I find I rather like kissing you. I want you to be mine, and mine alone.” Hannibal was slightly surprised when he realized that nothing he had said was untrue.
Will was looking up at Hannibal like he was prey who had been caught and wasn’t entirely concerned with it.
“Okay.”
Hannibal smiled and released his jaw.
-----
A young girl had Will cornered against his desk, her short skirt climbing her thighs as she touched his chest. He was sweating, shuffling, knocked something off the desk but the girl paid no heed to his nervousness.
When Hannibal walked in on the scene, boxed lunch for two in hand, he had stiffened unpleasantly.
“Um, please stop. Not interested. “Will practically squealed as she groped him, avoiding eye contact at all costs.
Will saw it coming before the girl did.
Hannibal had set down the lunches on one of the tables and strode over to grasp the girl by the shoulder and turn her roughly. Will shrank down at the intimidating storm behind Hannibal’s eyes.
“You are not to look at Will again, or speak to him. You are not to come into the classroom again. You will also never sexually harass anyone else. Understood?” He said in a clipped tone.
The girl squeaked and nodded.
“Then leave.” He said releasing her shoulder.
After she had fled from the room he turned to Will.
“Oh god, I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry at me. I was trying to push her off but she just wouldn’t-”
“Shh.” Hannibal moved close, crowding Will back against the desk. “I am much aware that you would not intentionally be unfaithful me.” There was the unspoken words that Hannibal was aware that Will knew exactly who he belonged to.
He then pressed close, leaning into Will, palms flat on the desk as he kissed Will searingly. His hands scrabbled at Hannibal’s back for purchase, sliding off his jacket and dropping it to the floor as a tongue invaded his mouth filthily. Hannibal was a hot line digging into every crevice of Will, a hand reaching up to pull his head back, exposing his throat. He bit, kissed, licked, sucked, marking Will up as thoroughly as he could so no student, no person would ever mistake Will for anybody’s except Hannibal Lecter’s. Bravely, Will found his grip on Hannibal’s ass, pulling him impossibly closer.
Smiling slightly against neck, Hannibal shifted his hands to Will’s ass in return and lifted the man onto the desk and pushed him back, spreading him out.
“I am going to fuck you on this desk.” He said smoothly as if telling Will about the weather, as he unbuttoned his own shirt. After it was set neatly on the desk he began on Will’s.
Will moaned low and lifted his leg slightly to pull Hannibal a little closer. He could almost hear the man purr as his thick cock rubbed through several layers of cloth against Will’s ass.
The plaid shirt was now splayed wide open, displaying Will hot and flushed for him. He licked one long stripe up the pale expanse of lightly haired abdomen, his saliva cooling and making the Will wriggle. He unbuttoned the man’s jeans and tore them down, taking his his shoes off along with them.
“You’re not wearing underwear.” He stated gazing predatorily at Will stretched on the desk only half in a the plaid shirt and naked all else. His hard, pink cock lying on his stomach and just starting to drip.
Will blushed and looked away from the intense stare. “I just hadn’t done laundry in a while.” He muttered, suddenly rather shy at his own nakedness while Hannibal was still wearing pants.
Hannibal chuckled, rubbing a circle on Will’s belly as he kneeled. As he placed Will’s legs over his shoulders he heard him say “Wha- wait, Hannibal what are- oh, oh, oh.”
There was nothing tentative about Hannibal and it carried over into sex. He spread Will’s cheeks and licked him hard. Mortified but pleasured nonetheless, Will’s flushed brightened from his cheeks all the way down his chest as Hannibal licked him raw, almost devouring him. Pushing Will’s thighs apart to open him wider, Hannibal pressed in a finger alongside his mouth. Papers fluttered off the desk and Will gasped, thigh muscles tensing. Hannibal leaned back to nibble on one as he pushed in another and fingered Will viciously. Will’s lips trembled at the burning sensation and strained to stretch his legs just a bit wider. After twenty minutes or so of more licking, stretching, finger-fucking Will had a few tears in the corners of his eyes and a pool of precum on his belly as he wordlessly begged Hannibal to get on with it.
“You are ready.” Hannibal said, removing his fingers, leaving Will so very empty. Will leaned up on his elbows as the other man stood and then proceeded to unzip his fly.
Will huffed in excitement when he saw Hannibal pull out his lengthy red cock and lined it up with his ass. He watched as Hannibal played with him, grinding the head of his cock against Will’s asshole, using his hand to rub circles on Will’s belly again. When he finally began to push into Will, there was a thunk as the man let his head fall back onto the desk.
“Ahh, Ha-Hannibal.” He reached down to stroke himself but another hand smacked him away and began tugging at him instead. Hannibal jerked him steadily, occasionally twisting his hand or tracing the head of Will’s cock with his thumb to smear precum.
Once he was fully inside he moved his hand to hold Will’s hip as he began to pull out again. Over and over again, slowly speeding his pace he began to fuck Will hard.
“Look at me.” Hannibal said, as he pushed in again mercilessly. He did not like how Will’s eyes were squeezed shut tightly, he wanted Will to see him while he took him. He let go of Will’s cock and gripped his jaw. “I said, look at me. I want your eyes open while I fuck you.”
Will’s eyes fluttered open and Hannibal traced his thumb, still wet, along Will’s bottom lip.
“Gorgeous.” he mumbled. Will’s hair was sweaty, his hair sticking to his face, and his face was a ruddy pink. He stared at Hannibal with eyes half open and his face calm with pleasure.
He went back to stroking Will’s cock determinedly. Will moaned and wriggled but his eyes never left Hannibal’s.
Leaning down, he breathed in deeply against Will’s cheek. “My sweet Will.” He whispered as he licked along his jaw and wiped away one of Will’s tears from overstimulation. With a gasp and with both hands flying to Hannibal’s hair Will’s come dribbled out over Hannibal’s lithe fingers. Will shook as he came, his muscles clenching and a multitude of sweet sounds pouring from him lips that went straight to Hannibal’s dick. As Will relaxed after a moment, Hannibal lifted his to rest on his shoulders for a second time and continued fucking Will steadily.
Will watched him with fascination, as the man took him. He felt raw inside and out, his sweat cooling. He had a little moment of wonder that Hannibal’s usually impeccable hair was actually mussed, that it had been ruffled by Will. He reached out a hand to stroke the man’s chest and as he did Hannibal’s dark eyes flared and his hips stilled pushed fully against Will as he came inside of him, with a short sound.
Then it was over and they both slumped visibly. Hannibal leaned down to rest his elbow on the desk and breathed slowly for a moment, pushing Will’s hair out of his face. Will smiled a little and tried to arrange Hannibal’s hair in return.
“That was... wonderful. I hadn’t known how jealously affected you.”
Hannibal stared at Will for a moment. “You are mine, I felt I needed to remind the world of that.”
Will chuckled at Hannibal’s seriousness. “I have twenty five minutes until my next lecture. Still want to have that lunch?”
-----
Will nodded, knowing that is was Hannibal’s polite way of telling, not asking. It had been three days since his nighttime discovery of Hannibal’s identity. Things had been quiet and somewhat awkward between them. Hannibal had been out of the house with his appointments, Will had gone to his lectures, and when they came home Hannibal surprisingly served only vegetarian meals. There was yet to be a discussion as Hannibal had said.
Hannibal rose and took his dishes to the kitchen. “Don’t keep me waiting.” He said, pressing a brief kiss to the top of his head. After the man left Will began to shake and set down his fork. They hadn’t kissed, or talked, and definitely hadn’t had sex since Will had figured it out.
He worried for a moment, as he heard the water turn on upstairs, that Hannibal might be planning to drown him, had decided he wasn’t sure Will could keep his secret. Taking a deep breath Will convinced himself that Hannibal was probably not going to kill him, that if he was he would not have given Will a chance to run.
He hoped Hannibal wasn’t planning on sex either because Will wasn’t sure he could do it.
Knowing Hannibal would be annoyed at his rudeness later, he left his unfinished food on the table and went upstairs. He would be more angry, Will thought, if he believed that Will had refused him. As he stepped into the bedroom and stripped off his clothes the water stopped. He took to the time to put them in the laundry basket. Goosebumps crawled on his flesh as he stood alone and naked in the dark. The light under the door was like a beacon and he drifted towards it.
As he opened the door and blinked at the light change, Hannibal lifted his head from its reclined position and opened his eyes.
“Come.” He said, gesturing for Will to join him.
Slowly he walked over and lowered himself into the steaming bath, hot water enveloping him as he rested his back against Hannibal’s chest. He lifted an arm to wrap loosely around Will, moving his head forward to rest on Will’s shoulder.
Feeling like he was cuddling a starving lion, Will let out a shaky breath and gazed blankly at his and Hannibal’s feet in the far end of the tub.
“You are afraid of me.” It was not a question. “Before, you were merely found me intimidating at times, but now that you know you find me truly terrifying. Did you worry before you came up here that I might have tried to kill you?”
“Yes.” Will said, bringing up a hand to cover Hannibal’s resting on his chest. “I can’t help the fear. The bodies I see at crimes scenes, the nightmares I have about them, and then knowing that those are the kinds of things you do. That you do the same things as Hobbs did.” His voice rose in pitch slightly as he spoke.
Hannibal was silent for several moments, pressing kisses to Will’s neck.
“Why have you only been serving vegetarian for the past few days? Surely you didn’t decide to stop just because I found out?”
Hannibal chuckled and squeezed Will. “Of course not. However I do have a measure of consideration. I was going to give you a few days, perhaps even a week before I fed you meat again.”
Will felt his stomach churn.
“Perhaps Will,” Hannibal said quietly, lips brushing his ear “If you gave into the darkness it would not repulse you so.”
“Are you...?” Will shook his head. “Are you trying to convince me to... become your partner in crime or something?”
“Not the words I would have chosen.” His attention drifts for a moment. “There is a... great potential in you Will. There is darkness that lies right beneath your skin that in the past months you have tried to smother into submission.” He turns to look at Will, his jaw and cheek in the forefront of his vision. “I think you should let it out.”
Will sat in silence wondering how to say no and if he even could. Hannibal traced lines over his body and Will felt as if Hannibal was stroking him fondly as if he were his possession.
Will swallowed. “How is this going to work? How can I stand idly by when I know what it is you do? How can I ever eat anything you make me again if it has meat in it?” His voice shook.
“Exactly as you phrase it. You will stand by and do nothing, or you will join me. As for meals... you will have to convince yourself that you don’t know or come to terms with the fact that you have consumed human meat and enjoyed it. The only difference between now and then is that you know the true nature of what you are putting into your body.”
There was a long pause as Will’s mind tried to wrap itself around the utter surrealness of the situation.
“Hannibal... the cannibal.” He muttered absentmindedly and feels the man behind him turn to stone. There’s a sudden chill as Hannibal dumps Will off of his lap into the water and gets out.
“Hannibal!” Will said as the man exited, dripping and not bothering to grab a towel. “I’m sorry!” He calls as the door shuts.
He is left alone in the bath and feels a heavy guilt.
-----
Will sits across from Hannibal uneasily. He’s eaten a few bites of eggs, fairly sure that it would have been difficult to put... human into them, but for the most part he’s just scooted his food around on the plate with a fork and grimaced. It feels like his stomach is full of snakes but he can’t deny it smells mouthwatering.
He internally judges himself for wanting to eat.
Will looks up at the Hannibal who is chewing and staring at him.
“Is... this is?” He says brokenly gesturing to the plate.
Hannibal swallows his food. “I am not going to answer questions you already know the answer to.”
Will frowns.
“Eat.” Hannibal says, returning to his own meal.
Will looks back down at his plate and lifts a piece of bacon gingerly between his fingers. It’s thick and greasy and it smells heavenly but his mind screams no.
His heart is beating hard and he keeps telling himself, no, no, no...
and he takes a bite.
His first instinct is to run, to retch it out of his body, to scrub the foul deed out of his mouth. Then he swallows.
He eats all of his meal and he doesn’t know what to think about the pleased look on Hannibal’s face as the man carries both of their empty plates to the kitchen.
-----
“I would like you to stay with me from now on.”
“Hm?” Will asks looking from the dark window to Hannibal’s face. “Like for the night, or like... move in?”
“Both.” Hannibal says coolly. “I would like you to stay tonight in particular, but I would also like you to stay more permanently. I wish to have you close at all times, to be in my care and mine only.”
“What about my dogs?” He said and Hannibal almost smiled that that was Will’s first concern.”
“I will allow them, but not in the house. Only outside.”
Will blinked, surprised that he would concede to having them at all. It revealed just how much he was willing to do to keep Will. He turned from Hannibal to look out the window. He’d been with Hannibal for almost five months now, and known him for at least seven or so. The man had taken care of Will in any way a person could, feeding him, helping him sleep, and pulling him out of crisis after crisis. Will chewed the inside of his cheek as he realized just how... dependent he was becoming. Before Hannibal his mind had been like a glass of water on the very edge of a table, if breathed on it might tip and shatter. Then Hannibal had picked him up and drank all the water out, taking all of Will and making him a part of him, as if he lived inside the man, hidden from the world and couldn’t leave. Will didn’t know if it was love, but it might have been.
“Yes.” Will said, reaching out and touching Hannibal’s hand on the steering wheel.
Hannibal smiled.
-----
Hannibal is in front of him, elbow deep in a body, blood spatter on his face. The body is that of an overweight man. His stomach is sliced open, the flaps of his skin pulled back just like Will’s plaid shirt had been when Hannibal had fucked him on his desk so many months ago.
Will’s body starts to shake, he feels his vision make strange jumps as it had been when he shot Hobbs and tried to keep the blood from spilling out of Abigail’s throat. Strange details jump out at him. The way Hannibal’s ears were translucent in the light of single bright bulb, the blood spatter shaped like a heart on his chin, the startling red and whites of everything. There’s a cool blankness that changes to bloodlust in Hannibal’s eyes as he lifts out one of the man’s organs. Will feels time slow down as Hannibal looks at him, realizes he is there and sets down the dripping heap of flesh.
He knows he has seen something he was not supposed to as Hannibal walks towards him. He has invaded something very private and he’s like a rabbit who is too close to the wolf to run. His blood is rushing to his head and he can hear his heart like stag’s hooves as it runs. Loud and all he can see is the blood on Hannibal, he can smell it, thick and hot and coppery.
Hannibal reaches up, only a few inches away from Will. He drags the tips of his fingers across Will’s cheek, leaving streaks of crimson, traces his mouth and painting it a dripping cherry as Will stares. He pushes his fingers into Will’s mouth and he can taste blood, blood that is not his.
He’s shaking so hard now that he can barely stand. Hannibal’s eyes are black, pupils fully dilated. Will feels like he’s drowning as Hannibal kisses him, smearing blood between their lips.
Will cannot scream, he can only stand still and kiss back.
-----
“I can’t sleep, not when I don’t know what kinds of things I’m going to dream about. Am I going insane?” He asks pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes.
“No. Insanity is not a word I would apply to you Will.”
“You might not, but I think a lot of other people would.”
Hannibal pauses and then rises from his desk. Across the room he pulls down a small box from one of his bookshelves.
Walking back over, behind the couch he sets it in Will’s lap. He scrunches his brow and adjusts his glasses.
“Are these chocolates?” He asks since he can’t read the fancy German words and there’s no picture, but it looks like a box that would have chocolates inside.
“Yes. Eat some. You are distressed and I find that chocolate calms many people.” He says as he returns to his desk.
Carefully Will lifts the lid. The inside has a deep brown tissue paper covering the little slots that the chocolates are in. He picks one out of the box and pops it in his mouth self-consciously. He puts the lid back on the box and tries to hand it back to the doctor as the chocolate melts and fills his mouth.
“Have a few, I insist.” Hannibal says, gently pushing the box back towards him.
Will swallows the candy and nods. “Okay.” He feels odd with Hannibal gazing at him intently as he eats another. He does start to feel slightly better he thinks to himself.
“They’re really good.” Will says swallowing his second and licking his lips.
Hannibal stares at him over folded hands. “Another.” He says firmly and it is an order, not an offer.
Slowly, Will picks up another and places it in his mouth, now hyper aware of the feeling of being observed, much like a small bug under a microscope. He feels like a possession. Hannibal’s presence fills the room and it feels like being suffocated, the moment before it starts to get really uncomfortable. His gaze lingers as Will licks his fingers and then rubs them on his jeans. He closes the box and sets it on the desk.
“Thanks. I do feel somewhat better.”
Hannibal nods. “Good.”
-----
“You need to press harder, crush him. Make him embrace his death.” Hannibal murmured in Will’s ear as he choked the young man wriggling around under him.
The man was a rapist, he deserved to die, Will had rationalized earlier when sitting in the car with Hannibal. Now he couldn’t think rationally, he could only feel, feel a black wave swelling in his head threatening to hit and wipe out everything, to drown everything else about him in darkness. He sat on the man’s stomach, knees in the damp forest soil, choking him and crushing his throat, hearing thin bones crunch. The world was a brown and olive blur except for the color of the man’s eyes which were grey. It felt primal to watch his skin pale and feel the life ebb away, it felt satisfying but also terrible. Will could hear all three of their heartbeats in the silent wood. Two strong and fast, thudding with life and power as one faded and fluttered like a bird that had been shot.
The man stopped struggling and was suddenly not a man anymore, but a body. There was nothing left in him anymore that made him a man, a person. Just a heap of flesh was left. Will didn’t move. He felt Hannibal’s lips on his neck, hands running down his sides.
“You can let go now Will. He is dead.” Hannibal gently pried his hands off the body’s neck.
Will gasped as if he had been the one being strangled. His hands did not shake as they were pulled away, he mind felt smooth as if submerged in water and the entire situation felt extremely surreal.
“Oh god.” Will said, feeling the slippery slick feeling leave his mind and a panic washed in to take it’s place. “Oh, oh, oh, god.”
“Shh.” Hannibal soothed, running a hand through Will’s hair, crooning against his cheek “You’ve done it now. For the second time really. Did you enjoy it?”
Will gasps in air, adrenaline taking over and the fear fades into an impossible high. “Yes.” He chokes out. He’s was being pulled into Hannibal’s world of blood, flesh, and darkness. Will thought he was drowning because he was in too deep, but someone was holding him under and he couldn’t escape himself.
His heart skips a beat when he hears Hannibal whisper, “Just wait until you use a knife.”
-----
It was Jack Crawford who first said something.
He caught Will at the end of one of his lectures, striding up to his desk as the room cleared. Will was popping an aspirin and took off his glasses.
“Will.” He said, greeting him.
“Jack.” Will replied tersely, replacing his glasses.
“Are you an Dr. Lecter in a relationship now?” he asked, glancing at the papers on his desk, littered with books and pens.
Will’s back stiffened at the question.
“Does it matter?” He said defensively. He hadn’t planned on discussing his relationship with the FBI, or anyone really. It wasn’t that he expected to keep it a secret, not with the touches and words and looks that were not even attempted to keep behind closed doors. It was his though and he didn’t want to share the details of his new thrilling, somewhat terrifying in the best ways thing with anyone except Hannibal.
Jack raised his brow at the hostility in Will’s voice. “It was a simple question, and no, it doesn’t really matter. Just curiosity... I like to know what’s going on with you.” He paused. “He’s good for you, I can tell.”
Will stared.
“Surely you didn’t come just to discuss my love life.” He bit, still wary of Jack talking about his thing with Hannibal.
“No, I didn’t.” He sighed, rubbing his face. “There’s been another one, we need you to come down.”
Will went.
-----
When he was with Hannibal there was only room in his mind for the man, and often even when he wasn’t there.
He manages to find something to say so that they can stop sitting in silence.
“Sometimes... I wonder if I ought to applaud them for their creativity. These killers certainly can come up with things even I have trouble wrapping my head around.”
“You are very good at wrapping your head around theirs though, assuming their mindset. You understand them better than they understand themselves most likely.” Hannibal uncrosses his legs and rests his elbows on his knees, looking at Will closer. “It troubles you that your empathy allows you not only to understand, but to sympathize. Perhaps to even discover aspects and feelings in yourself that you did not know before.”
Will stood suddenly and swayed before regaining his balance.
“Can’t. I can’t... listen to you say this. I don’t want to think about any of this, I just...” He stepped forward pushing Hannibal’s shoulder back and climbing into his lap. “I need something.”
For a moment Will was able to enjoy the look of slight surprise on the man’s face.
“I don’t want to think at all, can you help me with that Dr. Lecter?” He said tracing Hannibal’s shoulders with shaking hands.
“I think I might be about to do something.”
Will’s hands tightened like clamps on his shoulders, fingernails digging in as he surged forward and kissed Hannibal open mouthed and desperate. He reached up to grab a fistful of Hannibal’s hair, making sure he was staying right with him and grinding down on his lap.
Hannibal is internally amused at Will’s desperate play for some feeling of power. He wondered when the last time Will felt he was in control, perhaps when he had killed Garrett Jacob Hobbs? Hannibal let Will play his game, let him pretend he had some control if only for a minute. Then he would tear it all down and remind Will that he was his and that he was the one with all the cards.
As they kissed, if it could even be classified as kissing and not a form of cannibalism, Hannibal could feel them both stiffening. Will wriggled on his lap and breathed in his stuttered way against his lips. His covered cock rubbed on Hannibal’s stomach and he pushed his ass down on the thick length eagerly. His legs strained to spread wider but the chair limited his movement.
Hannibal gripped Will’s ass and kneaded it through his khakis, eliciting a whine as he circled where Will’s hole would be. He knew the friction was just right to be not enough. He palmed his ass one more time before reaching up to lift off the man’s navy sweater. Will wasn’t kissing anymore, just moaning and trying to get as close to Hannibal as possible. A pale hand reached up and lightly pinched Will’s nipple.
“Mm.” Will twisted uncomfortably. “N-no.” He said, pressing back down again.
Hannibal acquiesced, releasing it and licking a stripe up Will’s jugular instead and tracing down the man’s stomach. He felt fine hairs under his hand and he dipped his fingers into the rim of Will’s pants.
Will may have been on top, may have felt powerful when he had asserted himself to Hannibal, but there was no doubt now that Hannibal was in control now. He deftly popped the button while reclaiming Will’s lips. Will gasped as Hannibal bit his lip and pulled out Will’s cock at the same time, giving it a firm stroke and squeezing the head lightly.
Will’s hands hastily found their way down to Hannibal’s bulging slacks and released the man in return. He stroked his hot length several times, succeeding in getting a low sound out of the man. Then Hannibal moved a hand to the small of Will’s back, scooting him in a little knocking his hand away to take both of them in his hand, rubbing them together, squeezing the heads and smearing their precum together. Will let out a stilted sound and rested his forehead against Hannibal’s.
“Is this the first time you’ve been with a man?” Hannibal asked, his voice still maintaining a fair amount of composure.
Will whimpered, his hips canting up into Hannibal’s hand, fucking into it and against the other man’s cock.
“Answer me.” Hannibal said, stilling his hand.
“Ahh.” Will moaned out in frustration. “Y-yes, yes, now please don’t stop.”
Hannibal resumed his pace, hand trailing up Will’s back to his hair. Pulling back his head and rubbing a thumb over both heads, he bit Will’s collarbone.
Will yelped with surprise and jerked before his come spilt out. His thighs squeezed around Hannibal’s and he dug his nails into the other man’s shoulder blades.
“You come so prettily.” Hannibal mumbled against Will’s flushed neck, coming himself, semen mixing with Will’s and leaking down their cocks.
After a moment of slumped panting, Hannibal tugged his pocket square out and wiped off his hand before wiping up Will and his messy genitals. All the while, Will blushed and stuttered “Aren’t you worried about ruining that?”
Hannibal ignored his protests as he set the cloth on the side table, to be dealt with at a later moment, then tucked them both back into their pants. Will stayed where he was, shirtless and fiddling with the lapel of Hannibal’s jacket, grateful nothing had gotten on it.
“Are you planning on sitting in my lap all night?” Hannibal said as teasingly as a man of his seriousness could. “Or would you like to get up so I can take you to my home and prepare dinner?”
Will’s blush brightened and extended down his chest. “N-no! I mean, I wasn’t planning on staying in your lap all night. Dinner sounds good.” He got up quickly, legs slightly stiff from the chair. As he bent to pick up his sweater he felt a cool hand trace his spine.
“Next time, I will have you fully nude...” Will shivered and straightened to face him. “and I will fuck you.” Hannibal’s eyes gleamed.
Will swallowed and feeling a little hot suddenly wondered if it would be sooner rather than later.
-----
She came and snapped his hearing protection muffs. He winced and set down his gun, pulling the muffs off.
“So you and Lecter, huh?” Katz said, with a smirk. “I would’ve pegged him for a boy lover but not you.”
Will bit his tongue and moved to put the protection back on.
“Did I offend you?” She asked, still grinning. “I don’t mind, I just want to know. So do you guys do it in that swanky office of his?”
Will tossed down the muffs and tried to walk away. He did not want to talk about it with Jack and most definitely did not want to discuss it with Katz.
She grabbed his arm. “Hey, I’m just messing with you. Don’t get so uptight about it.”
Will didn’t look at her.
“Honestly, its good that you have someone Will. You need someone.” She let go of his arm and he walked away. He didn’t want to share anything, he only wanted Hannibal.
-----
Will watched with horrible fascination as Hannibal explained everything he was doing with surgical precision. He had shied away when Hannibal had offered to let him watch as he removed the rapists kidneys that Will had killed. He had refused, hiding behind a tree while Hannibal did his work.
However a few weeks later when Hannibal had suggested that Will take a walk with his dogs, perhaps go visit a friend he was suspicious.
“Why?” He asked, not moving from his place on the couch with papers for his next lecture surrounding him.
Hannibal pursed his lips, he had obviously hoped to not have to explain himself. “I have brought something home and I do not wish for you to panic or be upset.”
Will trembled. “What is it?”
Hannibal considered him for a moment, then apparently decided Will’s fragile mind could handle it. “I’ve brought home a body. I think you would prefer not to be in the house while I butcher it.”
Morbid curiosity consumed Will as he told Hannibal that he didn’t need to leave. Hannibal did not say anything when Will followed him down to the basement.
When he first lay eyes on the woman on the metal table, he felt dizzy and almost turned around. She was naked and the light painted the room in a clinical way. It smelled sterile and his mind swirled.
Hannibal retrieved a square stool and set it near Will.
“The process take me approximately four to six hours from start to finish. You may wish to sit.”
Will nodded, staring as Hannibal walked over to the table. He noticed the array of tools, mostly knives.
Hannibal picked up a medium sized one. “First to go is the skin.”
Will watched as Hannibal’s hand moved the knife smoothly through the olive skin. Blood spilled out and it filled Will’s vision. He drowned in the sight of Hannibal’s white hands lifting skin and turning red, like they had been dipped in raspberry syrup. His head felt heavy and his eyes were stuck open as red flesh was uncovered and sliced, as organs were visible and cut.
Time passed with a certain surrealness as Will watched the body slowly come apart. His mind was thrumming wordlessly with feelings he could not name as Hannibal cut into flesh, tore at it. At first terror had been like an electric current holding him in place, nothing except gore penetrating his numbness. Then slowly as the body opened like a flower and gave all its nectar till it was empty and gone, his mind came back. Coherency returned to his mind and he began to understand the things Hannibal was telling him. It carried through the room, describing every movement with medical accuracy.
“It is done.” Hannibal said laying down the knife. On a separate table was a small mountain of tupperware.
Will tried to say something, but his voice broke. He cleared his throat and tried again, “Ahm, so... done?” He repeated back to Hannibal, still slightly dazed.
The table was empty except for smears and puddles of blood, some dry, a few still wet.
Will stood and time slowed down again as he walked over to Hannibal, his hand running along the table and touching the mess. He stepped around the table to stand right in front of the man.
Hannibal tilted his head to the side slightly as Will reached out his clean hand to smooth the doctor’s white collar. Will turned his face to look at the table, letting his hand linger.
Hannibal allowed him to look for a minute before he touched his chin to guide Will’s blue eyes back to him. He leaned down his lips almost touching Will’s. Will’s breathing grew haphazard, his hands lowering to squeeze Hannibal’s hips as he leaned forward for a kiss, but Hannibal moved back just enough to avoid it.
“Why?” Will said, hands gripping his hips tightly, smearing blood on one side of that bright white shirt.
“Because these are two worlds that should be kept separate. I do not want these to bleed together and poison each other.”
”I do though.” Will whispered.
“Do you understand what you are asking, my good Will? Or perhaps you understand completely and are not so good after all.” Hannibal regards him for a moment. He thinks to himself that this may be the moment that Will surrenders completely to the darkness Hannibal has been offering him.
Will’s breath shook as he leaned up again to kiss Hannibal and this time he allows it. Will kisses him hard, desperate, devouring it all in a search for something to hold onto as his last barrier breaks, his last resistance. He’s not giving up, just letting Hannibal take it all away, just giving into what he has been hurtling towards his whole life. There is only so long you can pretend you’re a killer until you become one.
As Will tries to unbutton Hannibal’s shirt, the man intervenes and grips his wrists. He struggles mildly as Hannibal hisses in his ear. “Are you done resisting yourself? Is this what you want? To live in this world, to forsake anything left you might have of normalcy? For me to fuck you on this table, in the blood of another until you scream and break?”
Will groaned, still resisting Hannibal’s strength.
“Tell me Will, is this what you are asking me to do to you?” He says, voice dropping to a bone chilling whisper.
“I don’t want it.” Will’s voice cracking again. He feels goose bumps as Hannibal observes him. “I need it.”
“Very well.”
Hannibal released his wrists and stripped Will quickly, balling up clothes and tossing them into the corner of the room. When Will was nude and pale, knees knocking like a colt, Hannibal began to undress himself. Roughly, once undressed, he turned Will away and pushed him face down onto the table. He held him there, his head in a pool of blood, and it soaked into his dark curls. Will gasped and heaved as his thighs were spread. The blood was cold and the table colder. His body felt taut, strung like a bow as Hannibal pushed into him, no preparation. He screamed as he felt like he was being split.
All he can think about is how Hannibal’s madness is like a tendril, reaching out into the dark. It too, is dark, making it inconspicuous as it destroys and consumes all it touches. When it approached Will Graham, it is unsure of what to do. So the madness, instead of consumption, had wrapped around Will’s own crazy. It twisted around it like a snake, every string and thread twining around until he is bound so intricately and tightly that he is not sure where his mind begins and where Hannibal’s ends.
Hannibal’s madness had consumed him in a different way than anything else before. It had mad Will into something very similar to itself and made sure to keep it close so that it could be kept forever.
Blood drips down his thighs, smudges on his cheek and the pain is so intense that it’s almost like ecstasy. His mind is high, high above as his feels himself wash away with every thrust. He moans and cries Hannibal’s name, because he can’t remember his own.
As the man comes inside of him, Will releases too with the taste of blood and love on his lips.
-----
“I have found that they relieve stress, calm patient’s anxiety, and often dispel nightmares.” He says, setting the cup back down. “It is... an unorthodox method, but I believe it will help you.”
Will’s eyes flick curiously from Hannibal to the cup, from the cup to Hannibal. He adjusts his glasses and smiles sardonically.
“I will... drink some if you do.”
Hannibal considered him for a moment. They are in his kitchen, the same place he offered them to Abigail.
“Very well.” He hands the cup to Will and pours another.
“Have you ever taken them yourself, or only given them to patients?” Will asks, swirling the contents in his cup.
“Honestly?” Hannibal said “No, I have never taken any illegal drugs myself.”
Holding his own cup he looks at Will. “And you?”
Will purses his lips and raises his brows. “Oh I’ve... dabbled. Marijuana, acid, nothing like crack or something.”
Hannibal nodded. “Let us drink.”
And so they did.
-----
The pavement was dark grey and the sky only a little lighter. His plaid shirt was soaked within minutes, his hair dripping into his eyes. His body was cold but he ignored it, walking down the street. The occasional passerby would give him an odd look at his lack of coat or umbrella but he didn’t notice.
He just had to get away, get out of the house of horrors. He didn’t want to sleep on soft silky sheets with a serial killer tonight, didn’t want to eat the fancy meal with god knows who in it, he didn’t want to feel those black eyes look and the pale fingers touch him.
He walked and walked until it was dark. It was still raining when he stopped and sat on the side of the road heedless of the mud. He was past town, out in the countryside on a dirt road. His feet hurt and he felt dizzy. He let his head fall between his knees. Combing his fingers through the mud, he held his breath.
Count to ten and look at me.
He could hear the hooves of the stag. He was walking towards him in a dark suit, handsome with sharp teeth and gentle, bloody smile.
Count to ten and look at me.
Will chanted the words to himself, finding comfort in the things he had run from as he sat in this dark cold place. He strode right up to Will, long fingers curling around his throat as the monster bit right into Will.
Count to ten and look at me.
The monster pulled back, mouth wet with fresh blood, flesh hanging from his mouth.
His vision faded to black and there was a loud sound before his lost consciousness.
-----
His skin crawled as he stared at the door, unmoving. He heard the little car drive away. They had lived in a little house on the road and heard him yelling. When they found him passed out they had shaken him until he woke and led him into the house. In the morning he told them he had sleepwalking problems and they offered to drive him home.
He didn’t know why he had asked them to take him here and not Wolf Trap.
He walked up to the door and tried the handle, unlocked. He entered cautiously, shutting the door behind him with a click. Will considered calling out to see if Hannibal was home, but he thought better of it at the moment. Walking up the stairs he stripped off his clothes, dried with mud. After washing his hands and arms with a washcloth he decided he could wait til evening for a shower. He was pulling on a sweater over a t-shirt when he hear a sound.
Hannibal stood in the doorway. After a moment of staring, Will slunk over awkwardly and rest his head on Hannibal’s shoulder. Hannibal allowed it for a moment before he pulled him away and pushed Will’s hair back, cupping his neck.
“Where. Were. You.” He demanded quietly.
Will felt dazed by the frightening demeanor.
“I, uhm, I went for a walk. I had a panic attack and this old couple helped me.”
He could tell that Hannibal knew that this was not the entire story. He did not have to tell him to continue.
“I just... I needed... some time to digest,” Will internally cringed at his choice of words. “I can’t be in this house all the time. I’m either here or at crime scenes and its just too much, too-” Hannibal put a finger to his lips.
“Do not ever try to leave me again.”
Will stared and nodded, the unspoken words of what would happen if he did rang in his ears.
-----
They are in his sitting room on a rich emerald sofa, cross legged and staring at each other.
Will’s head sways, a butterfly lands on Hannibal’s shoulder, impossibly violet before flickering out of sight. “I feel...high.”
Hannibal stares and then grins wider than Will has ever seen. It’s feral and terrifying as it takes up the man’s face but then he laughs and Will laughs too.
Hannibal leans forward, still grinning. “Me too.”
They laugh some more and Hannibal gets up to put music on. It’s classical of course and Will stands, weaving offbeat to the sound. He does an odd slow dance over the Hannibal. His head falls back sluggishly, then rolls back around to look at Hannibal.
“I think... you might just be my best friend.” He says to Hannibal.
Hannibal focuses on the swirling darkness of Will’s hair, so very deep and then looks in his eyes. His possessiveness rears around suddenly, he wants Will to be closer. He imagines what his insides might feel like, dripping through his fingers but brushes the thought away.
“You are mine.” It is not a reply, but Will understands it as one.
“Dance with me.” Will says, still dancing his heavy, goofy dance. Hannibal rests a hand on his shoulder and joins with his own stilted dance.
-----
He is still in his bathrobe, the sun just starting to shine.
Will huffs darkly. “I’m sorry its so early.” He feels guilty for waking Hannibal up, but he’s starting to feel himself slipping away at the edges and doesn’t know who else to turn to. It doesn’t feel like there is anybody else.
“Never apologize for coming to me,” Hannibal says. When he first read Will, saw that he was lonely, craving friendship, love and because of that easily manipulated, he had not expected it to be quite so easy. Coaxing Will into trusting him, coming to him when he was afraid was as simple as it would be with a dog. “Office hours are for patients, my kitchen is always open to friends. Onset of sleepwalking in adulthood is far less common that in children.” And Will was rather childlike after all in his attempts to connect with people besides serial killers.
He pauses to put sugar in and stir it before handing it to Will, who accepts it gratefully.
“It could be a seizure.” Will says.
“I doubt it, good old post-traumatic stress.” He considers his cup for a moment. “Jack Crawford has gotten your hands very dirty.” But perhaps not as much as I could. He continues in his thoughts.
“As I’m forced back into the field.” Will grumbles, taking a sip of his coffee.
“I wouldn’t say forced, manipulated would be the word I’d choose.”
Hannibal bit his tongue at the thought of hands besides his guiding and manipulating Will, because that was it, wasn’t it? Everyone was manipulating Will Graham, but perhaps none as well as Hannibal.
“I can handle it.”
“Somewhere between denying horrible events and calling them out lies the truth of psychological trauma.”
“So... I can’t handle it?” Will says, slightly confused.
As Hannibal eases his mind with words and lies, he considers this new action of sleepwalking and how it will make Will that much easier to play into the palm of his hand. He wants to hide Will away from the world, keep him close and placated with no comfort besides his.
Will changes the subject abruptly from the question asked. “You said Jack sees me as fine china for special guests...” His voice gets shaky in a way Hannibal finds charming and amusing as he continues. ”I’m beginning to feel like an old mug.”
Hannibal smiles slightly at the metaphor. “You entered a devil’s bargain with Jack Crawford. It takes a toll.”
Will mutters, “Jack isn’t the devil.” Saying it more to convince himself than Hannibal.
“When it comes to how far he’s willing to push you to get what he wants, he’s certainly no saint.”
Will does not answer, simply stares into the cup and it makes Hannibal wonder where he falls on the spectrum of devil to saint when it comes to Will Graham.
-----
He sat on the edge of his desk, talking with Will about Eldon Staments. “When you shot Eldon Staments, who was it you saw?”
Will is facing away from him and shakes his head. “I didn’t see Hobbs.”
“Then it is not Hobbs ghost that is haunting you, is it? It’s the inevitability of there being a man so bad, that killing him felt so good.”
Will’s voice is dark and taut, piano strings strung too tight about to snap and lash out. “Killing Hobbs felt just.”
That is when the third option appeared for them. Perhaps there was a chance, very slim, but maybe Hannibal could lure Will, manipulate and twist him into the darkness by his side by appealing to his sense of justice. So much potential to be unlocked with that mind, a path that had previously been unconsidered now seemed to be the favored option. A Will Graham who was not only in the minds of serial killers for a day job, a man who would become what he imagined was a tempting image.
“Which is why you’re here, to prove that sprig of zest is from saving Abigail, not from killing her father.” Hannibal has to bite his tongue to keep his voice from showing the excitement at his new discovery.
“I didn’t feel a ‘sprig of zest’ when I shot Eldon Staments.”
“You didn’t kill Eldon Staments.” Hannibal replies simply, a wave rising inside him of bone chilling eagerness to find the key that will unlock Will’s inner demons.
Will appears conflicted. “I thought about it. I’m still not entirely sure that wasn’t my intention pulling the trigger.”
“If your intention was to kill him, it is because you understand why he did the things he did.” He suddenly wants Will to understand him too, to comprehend the rush he feels. “It’s beautiful in its own way.”
Will turns suddenly to look at Hannibal, suspicion in his face.
“Give voice to the unmentionable.”
“I should’ve stuck to fixing boat motors in Louisiana.”
“A boat motor is a predictable problem, easy to solve.” Will sinks into one of the black arm chairs as he speaks. “You fail, there’s a paddle. Well where was your paddle with Hobbs?” Hannibal rises and moves to sit in the arm chair opposite Will.
Uncovering his face, will says in a voice just above a whisper, “You’re supposed to be my paddle.”
Hannibal sits. “I am. It wasn’t the act of killing Hobbs that got you down was it? Did you really feel so bad because killing him felt so good?”
Will shakes but Hannibal does not offer comfort today, only waits to see what he will say.
“I liked killing Hobbs.” He whispers, eyes filled with fear.
Hannibal feels likes he’s reeling. Not yet, he thinks. Not yet, but one day. One day those eyes will not be filled with fear when they think about killing.
“Killing must feel good to God too, he does it all the time, and are we not created in his image?”
His words have been getting sloppy in his excitement, almost obvious, but Will is so distressed he can’t see it.
He’s still shaking as he says “It depends who you ask.”
Hannibal is mildly annoyed at his avoidance of the question. “God is terrific. He dropped a church roof on thirty of his worshippers in Texas while they sang a hymn.”
Will is verging on hysterical, but Hannibal can’t stop. “Did God feel good about that?”
“He felt powerful.”
And oh God, did Hannibal feel powerful.
-----
There is a body of a woman in front of him. The corpse is in the dressing room, carefully set up to be looking in the mirror. Her eyes have been gouged out, her lungs taken and her dress and hair immaculate despite the gore of her flesh.
“What did this one do?” Will says blandly, stroking Hannibal’s chest.
Hannibal’s grin is feral as he looks into the mirror, gazes at Will twined around him from behind with dark eyes.
“She was fixing her makeup when she stepped on my toes.”