Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Louisiana was hot that afternoon, the close sweltering heat sitting uncomfortably around his shoulders and neck. Will had felt too hot all day, constantly swiping beads of sweat away from his forehead, the back of his neck and his upper lip. It was starting to become unbearable, but Will just kept wiping away the sweat.

He’d finished school and headed straight to the angling shop that was ten minutes away from the trailer park where he and his father lived. Will stopped by it nearly every week, gazing longingly in at the window displays of shining fishing tackle with wonder in his eyes. Today was no different. He slowed as he approached the shop, hitching his back pack over his shoulder a little as it slipped. God, he was sweating so much. He scrubbed a hand through his damp curls, back from his forehead, and gazed in at the display eagerly. He was so lost in staring at all the new tackle that he didn’t notice the figure approaching him in the reflection of the glass. It wasn’t until the hand clamped down on his shoulder that he realised he’d been seized, another hand clamped over his mouth to cut his screams short and smother him with the chemical soaked rag that sent him falling back into unconsciousness.

There was no one else on the street to see the fourteen year old boy be dragged into the waiting car except the sun that continued to blaze away above them.

*

When Will woke up he was still sweating. His head throbbed and he gagged on the taste festering in his mouth, sticking to his gums and teeth and tongue. His eyes were bleary, his vision spinning. The blurry vision wasn’t entirely new, as he hadn’t had a pair of glasses for months now, not since Gregory Aspin had punched him in the face and broke his old ones; him and his dad couldn’t afford things like new prescription glasses. When his vision came to he was in a stark white room. There was nothing in the room with him other than the bed he lay on. The bed he was tied to, in fact, as he tried to move only to find there were thick leather cuffs restraining his wrists and ankles.

What the fuck was this?

Will bit his tongue to keep back his cry of ‘hello’, quickly realising whoever had put him here did not have good intentions and he wanted to go as long as possible without having them in this room.

His dad was going to kill him. He’d be sick with worry, furious that Will hadn’t come home. Was it still the same day even? There was nothing but a slither of a window in the wall that the headboard of the bed was pushed against, his view of the sky extremely limited. It was still light outside, but that didn’t mean much. He could have been unconscious for days, or a few hours. He had no way of knowing. All he knew was that he was too hot.

Will lay there for hours. He watched the thin strip of window display the moving sun, watched the sky change. He was still sweating and his skin was itching and even his teeth didn’t feel right in his own head. Had they drugged him? He could see no signs of any needle punctures on his arms, but that wasn’t to say there weren’t injection sites in his neck or anywhere else on his body he couldn’t see. Will had been pushing down the panic attack for a good few hours now, but it was slowly starting to creep up on him. His lungs felt too small, shrivelled in his chest as he desperately attempted to suck enough air in. It felt like his skull would crack in two at any moment, searing pain licking over his brain. He twitched involuntarily in the restraints, spasms wracking through his muscles and his vision began to blur even more.

He started sobbing softly, turning his head into the pillow he rested on and rubbing his face against it for comfort as he cried.

This wasn’t right. This wasn’t normal, this feeling wasn’t natural.

The door to the room opened after what felt like another hour. Will barely had the energy to roll his eyes towards to door.

A woman stood there, softly shutting the door behind her before Will had time to catch a glance of what lay beyond the door. She was utterly non-descriptive. Mousy hair, uninteresting facial features other than a slight scar underneath her left eye, excruciatingly normal height and weight. Will sniffed the air. Beta.

“Hello William,” she murmured gently.

“What is this?” he croaked, amazed his voice still worked.

“You’re in heat,” she replied as she stepped forwards to the bed, noting Will’s flinch. “You’ve presented as an Omega.”

Will swallowed. “How do you... why am I here?”

Will received no reply to this. She simply stepped closer and closer until she came to the side of the bed. Will noticed the small bag with her. She placed it next to him on the bed and unzipped it, pulling out a water bottle. In a matter of seconds, it was unscrewed and held to Will’s lips and he frantically gulped it down.

“Careful,” she warned. “Don’t drink too quickly; you’ll upset your stomach.”

“What’s going to happen to me?” Will rasped out, eyes pleading.

She averted her eyes and ignored him again. She then slowly let Will finish the water bottle and then reached underneath the bed to pull out a small white basin.

“Do you need to relieve yourself?” she enquired, her face completely blank.

Will blushed. “I..”

She unclasped the restraints around his wrists and ankles and helped him to his wobbling feet. “I suggest you take up the offer now. I’ll only be returning every couple of hours to feed you, make sure you drink and give you the chance to relieve yourself.”

Will shuddered. “Can... I just- can you please turn around?”

She sighed and very gradually half turned her back, still poised to act. Will quickly made use of her offer and used the white basin, cringing at every single bit about this God awful situation. When he was done, she turned back round, strapped him back into the restraints, spoon fed him a pleasantly warm dish of salmon and rice and then left him alone, taking the basin with her. The door shut and he was alone again.

Heat. He was in heat. In a room on his own, with no idea where the fuck he was and some random Beta woman was spoon feeding him and making him piss in a pot. His very first heat. He hadn’t know he was an Omega. He was supposed to be a Beta, not a fucking Omega. He was so ordinary, so... so not-Omega that it made his skin crawl to even acknowledge what was going on. He had the social skills of a rock, he wasn’t graceful or delicate and he liked to go fishing for God’s sake, the most adventurous thing Omegas did was fucking ballet. He was everything an Omega shouldn’t be and he was absolutely terrified of what this heat was going to do to him.

His groin throbbed and another sob escaped his lips.

After a few hours the heat took hold of him and wrecked his body. He couldn’t remember what happened, there was nothing other than vacant flashes of consciousness; snapshots of mousy blonde hair pushing water bottles to his mouth, aches in his bones and his blood that sang out so badly he wanted to peel his skin off, his entire pelvic area feeling like he’d been impaled and flayed alive all at once as the days crept by and he still found no relief. He wanted to hold and touch and grab and scream and thrust but he couldn’t; all he could do was writhe in agony on slick soaked sheets and wail.

When it passed, he felt liked he’d had every drop of blood drained from his body. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t even lift his eyelids for more than a few minutes. He was beyond exhausted. He had, however, survived.

A few more days passed and he was starting to become hopeless. His dad was going to be out of his mind and there were probably people looking for him. He just wished he knew where he was. The woman said nothing to him whenever he asked any questions. She merely said hello most of the time and then tended to the quivering Omega in silence.
Will had nearly regained his strength back when she came to him one day with two other people. Two other surly looking betas that didn’t made eye contact and didn’t listen when he gasped in pain at their unforgiving hold on him when they removed him from the room. The woman simply gazed at him as he was dragged from the room, her face blank as always.

He was blindfolded as soon as he was out of the door he’d been staring at for what must have been two weeks and unceremoniously carried down a flight of stairs and out the building. The fresh air hit his skin and he’d never felt more amazing than he did in that minute, he sucked in a good lungful of air before being jostled into a vehicle – he assumed he was in the back of a van – and then felt dread settle heavily in his stomach as the van began to move.

He wasn’t sure how long they drove for, but it felt roughly like an hour. The van slowed to a stop and more jostling, more carrying and then he was dumped on his knees. He was kept blindfolded with his hands bound behind his back until footsteps approached and a pair of strong, calloused hands forced his mouth open and shoved a gag past his lips. He moaned softly in fear when those hands started to rip his clothes from him until he was completely naked. He could hear the distant murmur of a large group of people and he shuddered. Was that a good thing? Would he be able to scream out and ask them to help him or was this just another awful and bizarre part of this whole experience?
A while later he was shoved to his feet again and what he can only assume is a collar is secured around his throat. It has a leash, and he’s dragged along by it.
The voices are not muffled any longer. They were strong and ringing in his ears and he wants to crawl into a ball and cry and whimper and he wants his dad. He’s dragged forwards a few more paces and then his handler stops. The voices slowly dissipate into silence and his skin prickles at the knowledge there are eyes staring at his naked body.

“Thank you ladies and gentlemen.”

The voice is male, strong and resonates around the room and is very clearly not from Louisiana. Where is he?

“Here we have Number 12,” the voice begins, sounding as if he’s speaking into a microphone. “Male Omega, fourteen years of age and originating from Louisiana. He’s a sweet natured little thing and has just had his first heat a few days ago. He’s unmated, not bonded and is a virgin. It’s a real shame to let this one go, which is why I’ll be starting bidding at seventy thousand.”

The rest is a blur after that. Will takes the time to process the fact he’s being sold off in some sort of fucked up Omega auction and he is without a doubt going to be raped at some point in the future. Will tried his best to keep his whimpers locked inside his chest and shivers at bay, the only thing he could do in front of all these people, as he didn’t want them to have the satisfaction of seeing a trembling little Omega. He knew he stank of fear; his pheromones were behaving erratically now he’d presented.

“Last bid at three hundred and fifty thousand,” the voice called out. “Going once... twice...”

Will swallowed.

“Sold! Congratulations Mr. Verger.”

Chapter Text

Mason spent a long time just observing the Omega. He’d been delivered to Muskrat Farm promptly after his purchase of the boy, and all he’d done since he had arrived was sob. Mason let him cry, staring in wonder at the sheer quantity of tears that rolled down his face. Mason enjoyed the Omega’s tears.

Will couldn’t stop trembling. His body quivered like a trembling feather and he couldn’t stop the tears. He was still blindfolded, still naked, still tied up. He’d been placed on a bed and left to simply bleed salty tears into the pillow. He was well aware of the presence of the other man in the room; he could hear him breathing, hear him clear his throat occasionally. He didn’t come near him; he did not utter a word to him. Will just felt his eyes on him the whole time.

“You really do have a remarkable capacity for crying, don’t you?”

Will flinched at the voice, grating on his ears and making his stomach churn in disgust. The voice sent shivers down his spine, made his skin crawl. Will couldn’t summon his voice, so he simply bit down on his lower lip with tremendous force to cease his pathetically Omegan whimpers.

“Are you quite done yet?” the voice mused. “I’d like to finally introduce myself.”

Will tamped down on the next sob and held his breath, trying to focus on his breathing. His chest ached from the hyperventilating. He heard footsteps, felt the air prickle at the Alpha’s approach. A hand cautiously traced down the bare skin of him arm and Will gritted his teeth at the touch, trying his hardest not to jerk away from the unwanted contact. The hand stayed on his arm, resting just below his shoulder.

“Mason Verger,” he stated smoothly. “And your name is?”

Will sucked in a sharp breath. “Will.”

He sounded so broken already.

“Will,” Mason repeated.

There was silence then, sitting in the air between them like a third person in the room. Will wanted to rip his blindfold off, wriggle his way out of his restraints and run. His limbs ached so badly from the position he’d been forced into for so long and his neck felt wrecked. Mason watched the Omega breathe, watched the pull of skin over his delicate ribs as his chest rose and fell. He wanted to run his tongue over every available expanse of creamy Omega skin before him, wanted to wrench the boy’s head back and sink his teeth into his lovely little throat. He settled for stroking his thick, glossy brown curls, twining strands around his fingers. His hand travelled downwards, over his back to where his hands resided in their thick leather cuffs.

He deftly released the straps, letting the cuffs fall away. The Omega gasped, his lips falling open softly as he hesitantly pulled his arms up to his naked chest, curling in on himself even more.

“Thank you,” Will mumbled, quivering.

Mason reached for the blindfold next, cradling the boy’s head as he rid him of the blindfold. Mason grinned at the startlingly beautiful face of his Omega.
His milky skin was so satisfyingly smooth, stretched wondrously over the bones of his jaw and cheek bones. His nose rested rather marvellously between his full, plump coral lips and piercing sky blue eyes, thick and long lashes fluttering as his sight adjusted. Mason hummed in appreciation. Will’s eyes finally settled on him and Mason held his gaze.

“My, my,” Mason grinned wolfishly. “I know people who’d pay thousands for those eyes. Pluck them out and keep them in a pretty little jar. What do you think, Will?”

Will let out a choked sound and shrank back from Mason, but a hand clamped down on his shoulder to pin him in place.

“Mason pl-lease,” Will gritted out through clenched teeth. “I want to go home.”

“But this is your home Will,” Mason smiled again, his eyes glinting. “Your new home. With me.”

“I... this isn’t ok, you can’t just keep me here!” Will burst out, tears brimming in his eyes again.

“But I purchased you. For quite a lot of money too,” Mason sneered. “And you’re going to give me my money’s worth.”

“I don’t understand,” Will whispered, fresh tears spilling past his eye sockets and down his face.

Mason’s jaw twitched and he let go of him. He rose slowly, eyes drifting over Will’s body until they rested on his face. “You don’t understand... I’m sure that’s not true. Come now Will, surely you can’t be that stupid?”

“I don’t understand,” Will repeated, blinking his tears away. “I don’t know what’s going on, I just... I want to go back to my dad. Please, Mason, I just - ”

“You may as well count your father deceased because you’re never going to see him again. You’re not in Louisiana any more Will.”

“What do you want from me?” Will cried, exasperated and desperate.

“Just a few simple things,” Mason replied softly, a slow smile following his response. “Fun, mainly. But you’re an Omega Will. Use your brain and I’m sure you can remember the whole point of Omegas.”

Before Will could say anything else, Mason turned and walked away from him, leaving Will alone on the bed. He threw Will one last lingering look before he slipped out of the door. Will clenched his fists when he heard the door lock from the other side.

He was sick of being left alone on beds in locked rooms.

The room itself was bland. There wasn’t much in the room other than a bed, a wardrobe and Will. There was another door to the side of him, one that Mason hadn’t gone through. He slowly crept up from the bed, his legs shaky and coltish after not being used for so long. When his trembling fingers pushed the door handle down, the door swung inwards to reveal a bathroom. It was like the room; the bare necessities of a toilet, a sink and a shower.

Will turned to look at the window in the bedroom and observed. Dense thickets of evergreens composed a forest near the building, but Will couldn’t see much else. He most definitely was not in Louisiana anymore, just like Mason had said. Will stayed by the window for hours, wondering if anyone would pass by and see him. Maybe he could scream and wave and get their attention and they would call the police. Of course, nobody walked past and the only thing that changed was the position of the sun above him. It started to grow dark, but Will remained there. The window did open, he discovered, but only a crack. Not enough for him to even get an arm through. There was no window in the bathroom, and even if there had been Will knew it would have been the same design.

The door rattled, and Will’s heart shot to his throat.

That was the first time Margot ever saw Will.

Frozen, pale and terrified by the window. It was an image she would always have of the Omega, one that would often be repeated.

Will took in her apologetic, round eyes; her sad turned down mouth and felt her misery. Just like he’d felt Mason’s sadism. She looked like him. The same blonde hair and although their eyes held different emotions, they were similar.

She swallowed. “I brought you some food. I’m Margot by the way.”

Will said nothing and simply watched her place the tray containing a bowl of steaming pasta down his bed.

“I... I made it myself,” she murmured. “It’s not great but... I thought you might like something hot and filling to eat.”

“Thank you,” Will murmured, wincing at how hoarse and scratchy his voice sounded.

Neither of them moved, simply staying still in their places in the room.

“I’ll leave you to it then,” she said quietly, casting her eyes down and turning.

“Wait!”

She stopped, looking back at him.

“Can you... can you please tell me what’s going on?” Will begged, his eyes shining. “I’m so confused.”

“Did Mason not tell you anything?” Margot queried. “No, I don’t suppose he would have done. He... well, he bought you. Illegally from an Omega trafficking ring.”

“What does he want?”

“An heir, apparently,” Margot replied thin lipped and grimacing. “I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t even know I was an Omega,” Will stuttered out. “I don’t know anything about all of this.”

“You’re so young...” Margot sighed. “Mason isn’t a good man and I would say I’m sorry for what he’s probably going to do to you but I doubt it will make the slightest bit of difference.”

“He’s going to breed me,” Will dead panned, swallowing dryly. “He’s going to make me... make me - ”

“It’s best not to think about it,” Margot hushed him, interrupting. “I’ll do what I can to care for you but there’s only so much I can do. I’m so sorry.”

“Why can’t you help me get out of here?” Will pleaded. “You could get me out, couldn’t you?”

“No,” Margot huffed out, half smiling as her own tears started to form. “No, I can’t. I’m a prisoner here just as much as you are. The only difference is that I’m his sister. He has to let me out sometimes; otherwise people would start to question him.”

“Please,” Will mumbled, his throat getting thick with the brewing storm of sobs again. “Please Margot.”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “There’s nothing I can do. He’ll kill me, kill you... I – I can’t.”

Will simply stood there staring at her in desperation, his head swirling with hurt and dread.

She shook her head as tears began to cluster in her eyes, turning quickly and leaving the room. It locked again behind her.

Will simply sat down next to the tray and stared at the pasta until it went cold. When he started to feel faint with hunger hours later he used a shaking hand to pick up the cutlery and eat, sobbing miserably the whole time.

Months passed, and the only other face Will saw was Margot’s. She brought him meals every day without fail, and he slowly nurtured the soft spot for the other Omega he felt developing. He wanted to hate her, wanted to completely despise her for her refusal to help him escape. But he couldn’t hate those soft, sad eyes and uncertain smiles. She was kind hearted and treated Will gently and he was grateful for the one comfort he had at Muskrat Farm. Margot slowly started to divulge information to him, and he learned that he was in Maryland. He learned of the Verger’s Meat Packaging Dynasty, of the pigs and the abattoir and of Mason’s sick, twisted nature. He learnt of the abuse Margot suffered under her brother’s rule, of their cruel father’s will and of Margot’s wishes for Mason to die. Will didn’t blame her wanting him dead. He was awful to her.
Margot informed him that Mason hadn’t bothered with Will yet because he was waiting for Will’s next heat.

Will prayed every day that it wouldn’t come, but it did. His heat started three months after his arrival at Muskrat Farm and Mason returned to him.
He locked the door behind him and made no hesitation in pinning Will to the bed. Will begged and sobbed as coherently as he could, for what he wasn’t sure. Sometimes he begged Mason to fill him, fuck him and relieve the unbearable ache that crawled through every nerve in his body. Sometimes he begged Mason to stop, to get off of him, to please stop hurting him.

But Mason never listened to him, even when Will begged him to fuck him. He’d simply refuse Will when he begged to be filled, preferring to leave the Omega writhing and sobbing as slick dripped down his legs. When Will begged him to stop, he carried on. He’d dig his nails in deeper, hold Will so tightly he bruised and sink his teeth maliciously into tender parts of Will’s body. After the first few hours of Will’s heat, the fourteen year old was littered with purple star bursts on his neck, his wrists and thighs and there were oozing bloody bite marks on his ribs, his stomach and collar bones. Will drifted into unconsciousness a lot, not that it mattered to Mason. He couldn’t care less if the Omega was awake or not, as long as he got to drag his body over his cock and knot him, to sink his teeth in and claim.

On the third day of Will’s heat, Mason was fucking him on all fours. He gripped Will’s curls and forced his head into the mattress and snarled as he fucked him, ignoring the Omega’s whimpers and sobs. Just as he forced his knot past the tight, slippery ring of muscle, he lay himself over Will and buried his teeth into the tender mating gland in the back of Will’s neck.

A few months ago Will would never have dreamt he would be a bonded Omega at fourteen, locked inside of a cold, sterile manor in Maryland, getting fucked by an Alpha twice his age who’d bought him from a trafficking ring.

Will spent the rest of heat dazed, every muscle and joint in his body screaming every time Mason pushed him back down into the bed and ruthlessly took him. He managed to think of home in those moments. He thought of his father’s beat up old trailer and the crackling radio that sat in the kitchen and of how his father would sit down and listen to it every night with a bottle of whiskey in his lap. He thought of the heat, the humidity and the sun. He thought of their creaky little fishing boat and the cold waters he’d leap into to cool down on their fishing trips. He thought of his mother’s gumbo pot, of the stray dog he fed on the way to school and of his favourite ice cream stand he’d visit when he saved up enough money fixing old boat motors. He thought of Louisiana summer nights when the stars would glow above him in the inky sky and he’d whisper to the moon as he lay on the roof of the rusty trailer he called home. Will lost himself in those sacred little memories and clung to them for dear life as Mason ripped his skin and bruised his flesh.

It helped, a little.

Mason returned two weeks after his heat. He strode into the bedroom, grinning at Will. “It’s time!”

Will weakly lifted his eyes. “Time?”

“Time to see,” Mason hissed with a manic grin.

He all but threw the box containing a pregnancy test at Will’s head. Will stared at it, the sight alone of that little box making his stomach flip inside of him. “I don’t think - ”

“Nonsense,” Mason cut him off. “Do it. I expect you to do this after every heat Will.”

Will wearily picked up the box and inched into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him and tried his hardest not to hyperventilate as he clumsily unpackaged the little stick and used it with shaking hands.

He wiped it clean and thrust it back to Mason after he exited the bathroom, not wanting to look at the damned thing. “Here you go.”

Mason snatched it from him and then vanished from the room again.

That night Mason returned again, his face blank. He shut the door behind him and watched Will for a very long, silent moment.

“I’m disappointed Will,” Mason uttered, his voice low.

Will swallowed when he stepped forwards, sensing the anger pulsing through their bond. “I’m sorry.”

“Next time, I really do hope you don’t disappoint me,” Mason warned him, grinning like a shark.

Will half expected the first blow, but it was still a shock at the same time. He’d known at some point Mason would attack him like this, Margot had said so, but it still shocked him nonetheless. It still hurt when Mason’s hands struck his face again and again, when he shoved him to floor and his shoes landed between his ribs and collided with his back and chest. It still shocked him and still surprised him when Mason wrenched his trousers and underwear down and dug his fingers into Will’s mating bite and forced his way inside of Will, dry and unprepared. He bled, and it only seemed to encourage Mason. He tried to scramble free at first, but he was dizzy and his body was singing with sharp stabbing pains and Mason was so much stronger than him. He felt Mason lift his head up by fisting a handful of his curls, only to slam his face against the floorboards. Once, twice, three times and then a fourth for good measure. Will was just grateful his teeth didn’t seem to come loose.

Mason shoved away from him when he came, groaning into Will’s neck with hot breath. He rose to his feet, dragged his hand across his mouth as he observed the bloody, still Omega at his feet.

“Next time, Will,” Mason smiled softly.

Next time rolled around three months later, and Mason was even worse during his second heat with him. He struck Will repeatedly, ripped his hair out and left bites so deep Will couldn’t stop the bleeding afterwards. Mason had to call upon the aid of a nurse that worked for him to tend to Will’s wounds when he found the boy passed out from blood loss the day after his heat finished. The nurse said nothing, but the expression in her eyes was grim when she patched Will up. She didn’t even look him in the face. Mason came every day after that heat, simply coming to his room every day for an hour or so to either berate Will for not being more resilient to Mason’s treatment or to simply stare at him. When he finally brought another pregnancy test to Will, Will wanted to scream and hurl himself against the window. He did no such thing, of course, and simply plucked the box from Mason’s hands and went to the bathroom. He gave it back to Mason and Mason stayed in the room this time. Ten minutes passed and Will refused to look at that horrific plastic stick.

Mason was frowning. “Nothing’s come up. Nothing to say it’s negative or positive.”

Will felt sick.

“Oh well. Guess you’ll know soon enough,” Will muttered, keeping his eyes on the floor.

Mason grunted and left him alone again.

That night Margot brought him dinner, and she sat on the bed with him, warily observing the bandages on his body that covered Mason’s bites and scratches.

“What day is it?” Will murmured softly, breaking their silence. “I’ve lost track.”

“Tuesday,” Margot replied. “January 17th.”

“Oh,” Will breathed. “It was my birthday yesterday.”

Margot gave him a weak, broken smile.

Will just blinked and looked down at his dinner.

Another two weeks passed, and Mason visited him again. He was angry about something; Will could feel it in the tweaking of their bond and Will could see Mason’s body practically vibrating with anger. He could smell it in the oozing pheromones that leaked from Mason, filling their air with an unbearable weight. Mason wasted no time in reaching for him and Will just hoped he wouldn’t break his nose this time. He’d learned it was easier to simply let Mason take his anger out on him, because any noise or movement from Will enraged his Alpha even further. A few bruises were far more preferable than cracked ribs and a concussion. Mason just took what he needed from the Omega, which was why Will was here anyway. Mason didn’t care how badly it hurt Will when he crowded him against the wall and shoved his clothes away, breaching Will brutally and fucking him against the wall.

Will had gotten good at crying silently.

Except the pain this time was different. This time when Mason beat him and raped him, there were sharp stabbing pains in his abdomen and the Omega in him wailed.

“Mason, please!”

“Shut up,” Mason hissed, cracking Will’s head against the wall.

“Mason something is wrong, pl - ”

“I told you to be quiet!”

Mason sunk his teeth back into the mating bite, as he quite often liked to do, moaning at the blood that surged forth under his fangs.

Will sobbed helplessly as Mason finished, his chest heaving as the Alpha’s hips stuttered into him and he released inside of Will. Will felt the room spin around him and bile scorched his throat, his body forcing him to vomit against the wall Mason still had him pinned against.

“Something is wrong, something isn’t right Mason,” Will babbled incoherently, shaking violently.

“Disgusting little pig,” Mason seethed, striking Will across the face as the Omega tumbled from his grip to the floor.

It was only when Mason saw the unusually large amount of blood exiting his mate’s entrance that he realised what Will meant.

“How many weeks was it?” Mason asked bluntly.

“Your Omega was three weeks along in his pregnancy,” the doctor replied remotely, glancing down at said Omega, unconscious and wrapped up in sheets in his bed and looking so very small and fragile.

Mason said nothing and bid the doctor his leave. Margot watched quietly in the corner, heartbroken for Will.

“How dare he,” Mason breathed, barely a whisper. “How dare he keep this from me.”

“He didn’t know Mason,” Margot interjected, crossing her arms over his chest.

“He did,” Mason snarled, whirling round to face her. “He must have known.”

Margot just pressed her lips together and prayed that Mason wouldn’t beat Will into an early grave when he finally woke up.

Another three months passed. Mason spent his heat with him, and they carried out their usual procedure afterwards. Mason made him take two tests this time.
They were both negative.

Another three months. Negative again.

Another three months and this time it was positive. Will miscarried anyway, despite Mason refraining from laying a finger on him. He was five week pregnant when his stomach cramped up and he spent the next few hours dispelling blood into the toilet of the little white bathroom.

He cried that night. He cried a lot.

The months continued like that until it blurred into one big cycle. Margot watched him deteriorate as he spent day after day inside of the same room, counting the hours until his next heat hit and Mason visited him. She watched more injuries appear every time his womb remained empty, and watched him miscarry each time he became pregnant, either because of the stress that his cracked psyche couldn’t handle or because of Mason’s sadistic fits of rage that left Will sobbing and broken on his bed. She watched him grow older, watched his body change along with who he was. The timid, sweet Omega that had arrived at Muskrat Farm was left behind and Margot watched him become cold, empty and blank. Glazed over like a statue, a very pretty scarred statue that simply stood by its window every day and chewed the food it was presented with every day without really tasting it. She watched him grow silent.

Until one day it changed.

Will finished his heat, not feeling the severity of the bites and bruising holds anymore. He entered his heat with a small pool of dread sitting in his chest as usual, endured it in a haze of confusion and came out on the other side feeling sore and filled with an even bigger sense of dread.

Mason was oddly attentive after this heat. He lay with Will afterwards, something he hadn’t done since Will’s second heat with him when he was fourteen. He rested himself behind Will, wrapping himself around the Omega to cradle him.

“This time,” Mason whispered into his bloody, oozing mating bite that he liked to open every time Will had a heat.

Will just stared at the wall.

Will felt sick in moments like this. The Omega in him purred in enjoyment at the feel of his Alpha wrapped around him, desperate to nuzzle into Mason’s neck and scent him and stretch across his body and taste his skin. The other part of him wanted to put as much distance as possible between Mason and himself, wanted to rip the man’s throat out and gouge his eyes and break his neck. He never did either of these things, fighting both sides of his instincts. He simply lay limp in his Alpha’s arms, suppressing shudders when Mason’s hands stroked softly over his stomach and rubbed circles into his navel. Being an Omega was the most difficult thing in the world, Will had decided, and he loathed his bond. He detested being tied to a creature like Mason, because despite his contempt and hatred for the Alpha, his bond forced him to care about him. It made him want to lay down in front of a speeding train if it meant Mason would be happy.

In the days after his heat, Will found himself nesting. Nesting might not have been the appropriate term for it, considering he couldn’t make much of a nest with a single duvet and two pillows to which he added towels from the bathroom. It did little to comfort him but it was better than nothing.

He observed as his body went through the usual tell tale signs of pregnancy. He cringed every time he rubbed his swelling abdomen out of instinct, every time he threw up in the bathroom and every time he devoured bigger portions of food that Margot brought him. He slept more, felt his body ache in the usual places and his insides twisted between his hips. Mason didn’t make him take pregnancy tests anymore. He’d grown tired of seeing negative tests and positive ones that only resulted in bloody miscarriages weeks later. Will had started to lose track of the number of miscarriages, which disgusted him, but there had been so many in the past three years that his mind had blocked the experiences from his memory in order to preserve him somewhat. From the little Will knew about Omegas, they needed psychological treatment after a certain amount of miscarriages; the experience broke some Omegas. Will wondered what else he would have learned about Omegas if he had never been snatched from the street that day. He would have been taught things about his sexuality and biology in school, would have socialised with other Omegas and would have just lived as a normal fucking person.
But here he was. Pregnant for the umpteenth time and staring at the same four walls that had encased him for three years.

A month passed and there was no miscarriage. Mason was ecstatic. Will grimaced.

In the second month Will’s stomach sported a soft little bump and Will wanted to throw up every time he saw Mason look at it with glinting eyes.

In the third month Mason arranged for a doctor to make regular checkups on Will to monitor the pregnancy.

In the fourth month Will cried a lot and woke up screaming and sweating from night terrors.

In the fifth month, Margot held a trembling hand against the bump and smiled at Will with tears in her eyes.

In the sixth month Will started imagining what the baby would look like and smiled when he thought of having a tiny little body cradled in his arms.

In the seventh month Mason visited Will almost every couple of hours and gushed to Will about how proud he was, and how it had better be an Alpha.

In the eight month Will’s ankles swelled and Margot rubbed Will’s back and sang softly to him whilst he fell asleep at night.

In the ninth month Will finally realised how terrified he actually was.

He went into labour in the middle of the night, and fought with every ounce of strength he had to bring his child into the world. Mason had arranged for a midwife to help him, which Will supposed he was grateful for. After 5 hours of long, gruelling pain Will delivered the baby. Mason granted him all of fifteen minutes to hold the bundle of whimpering infant to his chest and feed the baby before he simply eased Will’s child out of his arms and carried it out of the room.

Will had been too dazed to even ask if it was a boy or a girl.

He was too drugged up on painkillers to realise what had happened in that moment, but when he came to the next day he practically screamed Muskrat Farm down to the ground.

Chapter Text

Will recognised, somewhere in the back of his mind, how animalistic he was when he woke up. Somewhere pinned beneath the weight of the feral Omega instincts that rushed forwards, Will the seventeen year old boy watched the scene unfurl in front of his eyes. He watched as his hands clawed at the door that barricaded him inside of this Godforsaken room and watched the skin break around his nails and his knuckles when he resorted to slamming his fists into the wood. Whatever locks Mason had installed on the door, they were serving their purpose beautifully.

Will began to throw his body at the door, not once wincing when his shoulders jolted with the pain from the contact. He was screaming, he also recognised in the back of his mind, an awful snarling sound that rang inside of his room. The fact he had given birth a few hours ago didn’t seem to matter to the Omega side of Will, as he had somehow mustered up a new found strength he had never experienced before, which was a surprising amount considering he weighed next to nothing. After his first year at Muskrat Farm, Mason had interfered with the one role Margot got to play in Will’s life. He began dictating to Margot what Will’s meals should consist of, gleefully watching the Omega lose weight rapidly over the last two years. It made him all the easier to pin down and fuck, which Mason revelled in. Margot tried to slip him extra bits of food when she could, but nine times out of ten Mason would inspect Will’s meals before Margot came to his room.

Will’s shoulders were bruising and his throat was growing hoarse from his screaming and yelling, but he didn’t stop. He was pretty sure his knuckles were broken and he couldn’t quite tell how many fingernails were still intact in his nail beds from scratching at the door. He felt dizzy but nonetheless found himself marvelling at how abundant the strength of an angry Omega was. Will could hear footsteps approaching, hurried and light, realising Margot was coming.

“Where is my baby?!” Will screeched, hurling himself against the door once more.

The lock rattled and the minute Margot’s form was visible, Will seized her and threw her to floor beneath him. He cared deeply for Margot, he truly did, but he was going to kill whoever kept him from the baby Mason had snatched from him.

“Will!” she gasped, scrambling backwards. “Calm down, it’s ok! I’m here to help!”

Will snarled and grabbed her by the shoulders, dragging her to her feet. “If you want to help me, take me to Mason. Now.”

She nodded fervently. “Yes, I will! But please, you have to be quiet or he’ll know you’re out of the room!”

“Take me to him now, Margot,” Will hissed through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing with a fury Margot had never witnessed before.

She swallowed and wriggled free from the other Omega’s grip, skirting nervously to the door. She placed a single finger to her lips, shaking and wide eyed, desperately hoping Will would try to remain calm to some degree. Will simply bared his teeth and snarled again.

Margot lead him through the door and out into the hallway. Will barely took any of it in. He was too enraged to take in his surroundings after staring at the same four walls for the past three years. He kept his eyes on Margot’s golden hair and moving form as she crept through the house.

She stopped outside of a deep mahogany door, her chest heaving. She paused and looked at Will for a second and then nodded. He flew past her and wrenched the door open.

Mason was inside as promised.

He sat on the edge of a ridiculously big bed, his head down and shoulders slumped as he stared at a bundle of blankets that lay in his arms loosely. He looked up slowly to take in Will, his eyes dead and dull.

“Will,” he murmured.

Will was shaking, and for once it wasn’t with fear.

“Where is my b - ”

“Get out of here,” Mason snarled, rising swiftly and clutching the bundle to his chest. “Get out!”

Will lunged himself at Mason, startling him and pushing him back down onto the bed. Will ripped the bundle from his arms, seething with fury. He barely noticed Mason freeze suddenly, his attention solely fixed on the child.

Will buried his face in the bundle of blankets, dropping to his knees and sobbing. He rubbed his hot cheek against the baby’s tiny, soft face, desperately scenting it. It smelt wrong.

“What’s happened?” Will choked out, his body going rigid.

He tore the blankets away, gripping his baby in his lap. When the blankets were gone Will stared at what lay before him.

A boy. He’d given birth to a boy. A baby boy that was cold and blue and not moving. A baby boy that was limp and silent and without a pulse.

Will trembled.

“Will,” Mason whispered above him, his voice cracking.

“What have you done?” Will breathed out, his body going into shock. “What have you fucking done?”

“He wouldn’t stop crying,” Mason garbled, sounding manic. “He wouldn’t stop and I...I didn’t know what to do. I lost it.”

“You killed him!” Will screeched, the first sob breaking forwards.

“I held the pillow d-down on his face to stop him crying,” Mason stuttered. “I didn’t know what I was doing. He wouldn’t stop...”

Will hadn’t expected the wave of calm to wash over him then, but it did. He took in a deep breath, letting his shoulders sink as he exhaled. He wrapped the baby back in the blankets ever so delicately and scooped him up into his arms. He walked over to the crib at the foot of Mason’s bed and tenderly placed his child down. Then he turned and faced Mason.

“I’m going to kill you,” Will announced sombrely to his mate, staring the Alpha dead in the eye.

Mason didn’t have time to move too far before Will was on him, throwing them back down on the bed once more.

It was odd to be the one pinning Mason down for once and not the other way around.

Before his mate could lurch up and throw Will off, he sank his teeth deep into Mason’s jugular and tore. Mason screamed as the chunk of flesh left his neck, squirming underneath Will. Will spat the chunk out and rammed his hands into Mason’s open screaming mouth, one hand securing itself around his bottom set of teeth and the other around his top row of teeth. The he pulled. Mason’s jaw cracked and the sound was so satisfying to Will’s ears, particularly when he started to make gurgling sounds. The Omega’s fists curled and were soon colliding with Mason’s face as the Alpha struggled underneath him, but Will sensed his defeat. He knew no matter how hard he fought back at Will, he was going to kill him.

Will watched his mate battle to keep a grasp on his consciousness as his eye brow split and his teeth flew out past his lips from his gums and his nose crunched and his face became one big bloody mess. Will’s hands were screaming but he couldn’t care less.

He spotted Mason’s beloved knife resting on the bedside table, the one his father had left for him that he used to stab his pigs with to ‘test the fat’. Will knew that both himself and Margot had been on the blade end of that knife before, grimacing at the mottled scar on his back from when Mason had plunged the knife in to the hilt one day. He’d twisted the knife so slowly and the pain had been horrific.

Will’s fingers plucked the knife from the side and he gazed down at Mason’s dazed, lolling head beneath him. He stared at his mate for what felt like hours, but really he knew was seconds.
Mason’s flesh slid easily away from his body as the knife danced along his face. Will watched in fascination as the knife separated strips of his skin from his face to reveal bloody sinew and muscle. Mason screamed, but Will barely heard him. He skinned the Alpha’s entire face and finished the process with slicing the tip off of his nose and cramming the offensive piece of flesh into Mason’s mouth. Mason still had a pulse in his neck when Will checked. This piece of information only enraged him more. How dare Mason have the nerve to stay alive when their child was dead.

With trembling hands, Will plunged the knife straight into Mason’s chest, snarling when limbs pathetically flailed beneath him. He brought the knife down again and again. Mason gurgled each time, but his arms and legs stopped moving after a while. When he stopped, Will stripped him of his shirt and rammed the knife in again, only this time dragging downwards. He forced the blade in deep enough for the incision to spill Mason’s guts from his torso, the stench of blood nearly making Will gag. It smelt foul.

Will sank a bloodied hand into the incision, delving his arm in until his hand brushed past still lungs to grasp onto the hard, muscled organ of Mason’s heart. He yanked the organ forth from Mason’s body ruthlessly and let the disgusting piece of his mate drop to the floor next to the bed.

Will let go of the knife, flinching when it clattered against the floor that existed somewhere beneath the pools of blood and guts.

When Margot entered the room again that night, knowing full well she was going to witness a blood bath, she found Will drenched in her brother’s blood, sat on the floor leaning against the crib whilst he held his son. He was shaking and delirious and cooing to the lifeless baby whilst Mason lay in a barely recognisable heap on the floor.

She swallowed and began the process of trying to work out how they were going to fucking deal with this.

She somehow managed to manoeuvre Will to her bedroom, where she gently eased him into an armchair by the fireplace. She knew better than to try and pry her nephew’s body from the Omega. She returned to Mason, and observed his body. Will had mutilated him severely, and there was only one thing she could think of. She left and returned again with a tarpaulin sheet big enough to fit Mason inside and dragged him, guts and all, onto the sheet. She rolled him up, tied up the ends securely and then moved his body to the top of the stairs in a combination of dragging and kicking. Knowing full well she wasn’t going to be able to carry her brother’s body down the stairs, sucked in a deep breath and pushed him. The body toppled down with hideous squelching thuds and hit the bottom. She then descended the stairs and began the laborious task of dragging the body from the house to the out building where Mason was keeping his ‘special’ pigs.

Margot knew full well they were going to devour her brother when she pushed his body into the pen with them.

The pigs shrieked when they spotted her atop of the platform that overlooked their overcrowded pen, their eyes glinting in a way that reminded Margot of her brother’s own eyes when he was in one of his sadistic rages. They squealed and jostled violently with one another until Margot took a deep breath and unwrapped her brother and with one quick movement shoved him over the side into the pen. The pigs descended on him like sharks in frenzy and she turned away when she saw the first tusked mouth close around his flesh.

She then headed outside and dumped the tarpaulin in a pile near the woods. She returned to the house, in a dream like daze, checked that Will was still sat in her room and then went to Mason’s bedroom to strip the bed sheets. The blood had soaked through the mattress too, which was going to be a hassle to get down the stairs.

She sucked in a deep breath and headed back outside with her arms full of bloodied sheets. She dumped them on the tarpaulin and then went back to the house and began to shift the mattress outside. She eventually got it out and hauled it over to the pile she was creating. When this was done, she headed back inside to her bedroom and peered in at Will. He was still sat there, rocking backwards and forwards with the baby. She gritted her teeth and approached him carefully.

“Will,” Margot murmured, placing a careful hand on his shoulder.

Will looked up at her smiling. Margot could see he wasn’t there behind his eyes.

“Isn’t he beautiful?” Will smiled brokenly. “I’m going to name him Jasper. Do you like it?”

“It’s a perfect name,” Margot agreed. “Will, please take your clothes off.”

“Mmhmm,” Will hummed, rising shaking.

Margot winced at the state of his bloody swollen hands and missing fingers nails. He was going to need a doctor, and soon; especially considering he needed care after giving birth. Before Margot could start thinking about infections and other post birth issues, Will’s arms extended and he smiled at her, his eyelids fluttering.

“Hold him?” Will asked.

Margot bit back the tears as her dead nephew’s body was placed in her arms. He was so tiny.

Will stripped his clothes and stood naked in front of her, gazing expectantly.

“Go get in the shower,” Margot said as softly as she could, walking towards her ensuite. “You need to wash the blood off you.”

“Sure,” Will agreed, stepping into the shower and switching the water on.

Margot flickered her eyes between the baby and Will as he absentmindedly washed himself. She wondered how long it would take for him to decline even further into this shocked, delusional state of shut down or to snap out of it and face the horror of what had happened. Will finished showering, the remnants of her brother washed down the drain, his skin itself usual creamy self again.

“Go and lay down in my bed, I’ll bring you Jasper,” Margot urged him.

Will obeyed her and crawled shakily into her bed. His arms outstretched for Jasper and she handed him to Will, grimacing as he stroked the dead infant’s face adoringly.

“Get some sleep Will,” Margot whispered. “You need it.”

Will simply hummed in response, not even looking at her. She sighed and left him closing the door behind her softly. She allowed herself to shed a single tear before she headed back outside, Will’s bloody soaked clothes in her arms. She dumped them on the pile too and then went to the outhouse next to where the pigs where kept. She could still hear them shrieking from inside. Margot located the bottle of gasoline and a box of matches and headed back to her pile. Shaking, she stripped herself of her own clothes that were covered in a mixture of Will’s and Mason’s blood and tossed them on top of the pile.

The gasoline sloshed over the items of clothing and the mattress and the tarpaulin and bed sheets. She doused it all heavily, and then dug her fingernails into her palms as she watched the lit match fly
from her fingers to the pile. It went up straight away, the flames licking over the bloodied items instantly. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there watching it all burn but her toes started to go blue and she was trembling with cold.

There would be time for this later, time to think. In the meantime, the sun was beginning to creep towards the horizon and Margot needed to get to work with bleach.

Hours later, Margot had cleaned the entire house from top to bottom. Her fingers were wrinkled and she was sure she was going to be smelling bleach for the rest of her life, but it was done. She finally went to the outhouse where the pigs were housed and leaned over the platform to peer down.

There was nothing in the pen other than Mason’s shoes and scraps of clothes and bones.

Margot returned to the house, brought a silent Will downstairs, sat him down at the kitchen table and rang the police.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“I need the police,” Margot. “A-and an ambulance, god, I don’t know!”

Margot spent the next five minutes crying into her phone, erratically explaining to the operator that Mason was dead and she’d discovered an Omega locked in one of the bedrooms with a dead baby.

When she hung up, she wiped away the tears and looked at Will. She grasped his thin, gaunt face in her hands and forced him to look at her.

“Listen to me Will,” she murmured softly but firmly. “The police and an ambulance are going to come. You don’t have to speak to them, not right now, but at some point you will. Do you understand?”

Will simply nodded.

“When you finally speak to the police, you need to tell them these very specific things, ok?”

Another nod.

“Mason bought you from the auction, brought you here, kept you locked in that room, did all those awful things to you. Yes? Tell them everything he did to you.”

A third nod.

“But do not tell them you ever met me. They can’t know that we even knew each other existed. I never met you, I never knew about any of it. This is important Will. I’ve done the best I can to cover up Mason’s murder but you have to tell them one day Mason just never came back to you and that I found you locked in your room and set you free. Tell them I was looking for Mason and then I found him in the pig house. He was eaten by them. Then I called the police.”

“What about Jasper?” Will whispered.

“I don’t know Will,” Margot admitted. “I just know they’re going to take you to the hospital and then they’re probably going to admit you for psychiatric help. God knows Mason drove you to it.”

“They... they won’t be able to help him will they?” Will asked, his voice thick with tears. “He’s gone, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Margot told him, fighting back her own tears. “I’m so sorry Will.”

Will bit his lip so hard it bled and simply nodded, not looking up at the other Omega as his tears landed into the bundle in his arms.

Margot wrapped her arms around Will’s bony shoulders, rocking them back and forth.

Margot slipped into a daze, jolting when the harsh knocking at the door sounded. She staggered to her feet, her eyes puffy and red and her voice hoarse. When she opened the door, she was swarmed with police and paramedics. She found her mouth robotically moving as she pointed to the kitchen to let the paramedics know where Will was before she turned to guide the police to the pig pen to find the sparse remains of her brother. Telling them she couldn’t bear to be inside the pig house any more after all of three minutes, she stepped outside in time to see the paramedics lifting Will and Jasper into the back of the ambulance.

Their eyes met as the doors of the ambulance slammed closed.

When Will woke up, he was in what he presumed to be a hospital room. He’d never been in one before and had only ever seen them on the TV he and his dad had once owned before they had to sell it to pay their bills during a particularly hard winter.

Will simply took in all of his surroundings once his vision focused. He felt dozy and detached from his body, but in a nice way, like he was floating off somewhere warm and pleasant. Looking down at his bandaged hands he realised he was probably on morphine. So this was what it felt like to be high. Will thought back to his neighbours in the trailer park and decided it was no wonder so many of them spent their every waking hour trying to get their hands on the stuff.

It felt wonderful.

In his daze, Will let his eyes wander to the plastic crib that lay next to his bed.

Jasper.

A nurse rushed to his room when his alarm began beeping to alert him that the heart monitor and IV had been removed from his patient. He found him collapsed on the floor, cradling the dead infant in his arms and sobbing.

“William,” he said softly, slowly moving to the Omega.

He knew how violent and territorial Omegas could be after birth, being one himself.

“Let’s get you back into bed, come on,” he insisted gently.

Will just trembled as the other Omega guided him to the bed. “Please don’t t-take h-im.”

“It’s ok Will, let’s just get you settled again,” he soothed him. “My name is Nick, I’m a nurse. You’re at the John Hopkins hospital in Baltimore.”

“Please don’t let them take Jasper,” Will sobbed.

Nick quickly rearranged the IV and heart monitor, his eyes softening when Will’s thickly bandaged hand grabbed his wrist.

“Jasper? That’s a lovely name,” Nick smiled. “Come on, lets’ get you laid back. That’s it, don’t worry. You just keep holding Jasper.”

“Am I going to die?” Will asked him, eyes floating on the ceiling as Nick quickly administered a sedative into his IV.

“No William, you’re going to make it,” Nick assured him. “You need to rest up and heal and then we’re gonna help you out, ok?”

Will blinked, almost certain he could see Mason stood in the corner of the room. He tensed and clutched Jasper even tighter to his chest.

“Don’t let... let him take Jasper,” Will slurred. “Don’t let him... let him...”

“Ssh, it’s alright,” Nick hushed him. “Nobody is going to hurt you ever again. I promise.”

Will found his mouth was too heavy to use then, so he simply blinked at Nick until he was pulled back into unconsciousness once more.

When he came round again, Nick was in the room once more, checking Will’s vitals. He smiled when he saw the other Omega wake up, giving him a tiny wave.

“Welcome back William,” he beamed softly. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know,” Will dead panned.

He glanced down to see Jasper was still in his arms to his relief. He was still here.

“Any pain?” Nick enquired.

“Everything just sort of... twinges,” Will supplied him, shrugging slightly. “It’s not too bad.”

“That’s good,” Nick replied. “We’ll make sure we keep your pain relief steady though. Your body has a lot of recovering to do.”

Will just nodded.

“You have some visitors, if you’re feeling up to it,” Nick informed him. “I’ll go get them if you like?”

“Who... who on earth would be visiting me?” Will mumbled, sluggishly sitting up.

“An agent from the FBI and a specialist Omega psychiatrist,” Nick responded. “Agent Jack Crawford and Dr. Alana Bloom.”

“What do they want?”

“To speak to you about what happened at Muskrat Farm. People have been looking for you since you disappeared and the FBI eventually got involved. It was a pretty huge case,” Nick replied hesitantly.

“If you’re not feeling up for it though, I can ask them to come back another day.”

Will went silent for a few moments, staring down at Jasper. “I’ll speak to them.”

“Positive you want to do that?”

“Yes,” Will replied tiredly, glancing up. “Can you... can you please put Jasper back in the crib?”

“Of course I can,” Nick murmured gently.

He placed the infant’s body back into the specially designed cold crib. It was designed to keep the body of the infant cold and preserved and was usually used for parents who had stillborn children and wanted to spend time with their baby at home before saying goodbye.

“I’ll go get them now,” Nick announced.

He slipped out of the room and Will waited for him to return. When he did, he scented the change in the smell of the air as the agent and the doctor entered.

Alpha and Beta.

He studied them. Jack Crawford was a large, intimidating man with eyes that bore into Will’s like he was reading his fucking mind. His jaw was stiff and he attempted to arrange his mouth into a smile for the pale, washed out Omega on the hospital bed. Alana Bloom smelled sweet and lovely, like the jasmine tree that bloomed next his trailer back in Louisiana. She was all soft, brown waves and rosy cheeks and gentle curves. She put him at ease at least.

Nick cleared his throat and shot Will a look. “I’ll leave you guys to it. Please let me know if you need anything Will. I’ll be right outside.”

Will nodded.

He watched as Jack and Alana settled themselves in stiff looking plastic chairs by his bed, chairs which Will thankfully noted were on the other side to where Jasper was.

“Good morning William,” Alana began, offering him a gentle smile. “I’m Alana Bloom and this is Jack Crawford.”

When Will didn’t respond and simply gazed at them blankly, Jack cleared his throat and sat forwards.

“Will,” Jack rumbled, his voice deep. “Can I call you Will? Or do you prefer William?”

“Will,” he croaked in response.

“Me and Dr. Bloom here work for the FBI,” Jack continued. “If you’re feeling up to it, I’d like to ask you some questions.”

“Sure.”

Holding back a sigh at the blunt response, Jack cleared his throat again.

“Well, first off, how are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

Alana’s heart softened at the hoarse, raspy Louisiana twang that sang through Will’s voice. “We understand how difficult this is for you to even begin talking Will. I just want to tell you that you’re incredibly brave and that you don’t have to answer anything you don’t feel comfortable with. All we want to do is help you.”

“I suppose the best way to start would be for you to maybe let us know what you remember? Maybe start off with what happened the day you went missing?” Jack encouraged him.

“I was looking at a display of fishing tackle,” Will swallowed. “I like fishing.”

“Uh huh,” Jack sounded. “And this was in Louisiana? Years ago?”

“Yes. When I was fourteen.”

“And what happened that day?”

“I was looking at fishing tackle and then someone grabbed me. Knocked me out with what I think was chloroform. I woke up in a room. I don’t know how long I was out for.”

“Did you see who took you?”

“No. They came up behind me. I only really ever saw the woman.”

Jack lifted an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“I woke up and I was having my first heat. I guess they smelt me on the street that day, smelt me in pre-heat. I had no idea. I thought I was a Beta. I... there was a woman. I was tied to the bed the whole time and I never saw outside the room. She came and fed me. I don’t know if I was still in Louisiana or if they moved me to another state.”

“And you never saw anyone else?”

“Not until after my heat. Two men came and took me away. I was blindfolded so I don’t know what happened after I left the room. They never hurt me. Suppose beaten Omega’s sell for less. Buyers don’t want spoiled goods.”

“Buyers?” Jacked repeated, his voice rising in pitch. “What do you mean?”

“It was an Omega trafficking ring. They were selling underage Omegas who’d just presented. They took me to an auction but I was tied up and blindfolded the whole time. I never saw a thing. Mason bought me.”

“Mason Verger?” Jack asked, his voice low and threatening.

Will gripped the sheets tighter and his eyes flashed to the cot at the mention of his name. Alana noticed this, and followed Will’s eyes to the crib.

“Is that your baby Will?” Alana asked softly, craning her neck slightly as she flickered her gaze between Will and the crib.

“Don’t go near him,” Will snarled, his eyes flashing suddenly as he sat up, his upper lip curling back to reveal his teeth.

Jack tensed and Alana held her hands up, eyes wide and earnest. “Of course. Of course not Will.”

Will gradually settled back, studying Jack and Alana intently.

“Mason bought me. He kept me in a room the entire time I was at Muskrat Farm. I never left it. I only ever saw him.”

“And do you think you can tell us what happened after you arrived at Muskrat Farm?” Alana asked softly, her eyes unwavering.

“Mason left me alone until my second heat came. He bonded with me. I didn’t want any of it,” Will bit out, his neck aching at the back where his mating mark was. “I don’t even know what happens now. I’ve never... I never learnt anything about Omegas. I was taken before I even knew.”

“And you know what happened when the ambulance took you from Muskrat Farm?” Jack asked carefully. “Why Margot Verger called the police?”

Will swallowed, looking down. “She found me in the room he kept me in. He never let her go in there, forbid her I guess. She was looking for him because he’d been missing for hours she said. She found me and Jasper and... and then she told me to stay where I was. I did. When she came back she was crying. She told me Mason had fallen into the pit he kept his pigs in.”

Jack nodded slowly. “And you say you never left that room Will?”

Will shook his head. “No. I’ve been looking at the same four walls for three years sir. I only met Margot for the first time before she called the ambulance.”

“How could she have not known you were in there?” Jack pushed.

“Mason never let her near the room. Guess she was just as scared of him as I was,” Will muttered. “I didn’t make much noise anyway.”

“Even when Mason was spending your heats with you? Even when you gave birth?” Jack asked incredulously.

“Jack,” Alana hissed. “That is completely inappropriate - ”

“It’s ok Dr. Bloom,” Will smiled weakly. “More inappropriate things have happened to me recently than Agent Crawford asking me those questions.”

“My apologies Will,” Jack sighed. “I appreciate how difficult this is to you and understand - ”

“No,” Will cut him off with a gentle murmur, barely a whisper. “You do not understand.”

Silence fell upon the room then.

“Then help us to understand Will,” Jack persisted. “The FBI has had your missing person case for years now, and suddenly you just appear out of the blue like that.”

“I’m sorry but I’m getting tired,” Will gritted out. “I don’t really feel up to answering much more.”

Jack drew back, his jaw growing tense again. “Of course. You’ve done really well Will. How does it sound if we come and visit you again when you’ve got your strength back?”

“That would be ok,” Will replied, glancing over at the crib once more.

Jack refused to look at the crib. He couldn’t quite push himself to look at the cool incubator that held the Omega’s dead child. He and Alana rose from their seats.

“Thank you for your time Will,” Jack said curtly, nodding to him.

He turned to leave and Alana hesitantly approached the bed to place a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“You’ve shown an amazing amount of strength today Will,” she praised him, eyes glistening with the beginnings of tears. “You should be proud of yourself.”

Will would have laughed at the statement if he’d had the energy. Instead he offered her a faint, weary smile.

“See you soon Will,” Alana called out as she and Jack left.

Will sank back into the pillows and nearly cried with happiness when Nick returned to his room and gave him another dose of morphine and sedative.

The darkness had never been so comforting.

Chapter Text

“You’re sure you wanna take him?”

“Sure I wanna... seriously Jack? You’re really asking me that?” Alana scoffed, baffled.

Jack’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I know what you’re like Alana. You have a total saviour complex.”

“Oh, so you’d rather him end up in some run down state owned psychiatric facility, forgotten about and left to rot?” Alana sniped. “No. It’s not happening. I’m getting him into Port Haven.”

“I never said that,” Jack sighed. “I just worry that you’ll get... attached. You need to remain professional, no matter how sorry you feel for Will Graham. You’ve been professional the whole time you’ve worked for the FBI and I don’t want that to change because of him.”

“Have you heard how heartless you sound? This is another human being we’re talking about, an extremely fragile one at that. Will needs compassion and professional care. I intend to try and provide him with that.”

“And what if you can’t help him?” Jack pointed out. “What if whatever Mason Verger did to him was so awful that he isn’t ever going to recover?”

“I don’t care. Will has no one, Jack. I’m going to get the help he needs and if I spend the rest of my career sat in a therapy with him, so be it.”

“About that. Do you reckon we should tell him about his father when we go back?”

Alana paused, looking out at the passing blocks of buildings and side walk until it all began to blur into one. “I’ll evaluate that when we next see him. He did so well today but I’m worried we might have pushed him too much. Telling him his father is dead too... that might just be the last straw for him.”

“He’s strong Alana. He had to be to survive being locked up with Verger for that long. I’m sure he’ll be able to handle it.”

Alana sighed and looked over to Jack. “How much longer until we get to Muskrat Farm?”

“About another fifteen minutes.”

They sat in silence after that, Jack’s eyes fixed on the road ahead of him and Alana fidgeting with the sleeves of her shirt and smoothing her skirt out over her thighs. Alana couldn’t stop thinking about Will’s hollow eyes and the intensity with which they bore into her skin. The Omega had looked so fragile, but was clearly anything but, as Jack had said. She wondered what therapy would be like with him, once she arranged for him to be admitted to Port Haven after he was well enough to leave the hospital. She wondered whether he would be silent, or if he would scream or cry or whether he would dead pan answers to her that he knew she wanted to hear. She immediately cared about the Omega, wanted to shield him from the rest of the world and make sure nothing hurt him ever again. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what Mason had done to him, but was determined to work through it all with Will.

Their visit to Margot would hopefully shine some light on what had happened to Will Graham in past three years.

Muskrat Farm was a vast sprawling estate, oozing impressive wealth. Alana’s eyes wandered to each of the out houses, wondering which one housed the pigs that had apparently mauled and eaten Mason Verger.

Margot Verger was beautiful. Alana’s eyes consumed her sleek glossy hair, her round sparkling eyes and her full, pouting lips. Her skin was creamy and looked so soft to touch, so much so that Alana had to steel herself and stop thoughts of what that skin would feel like to touch. She smiled gently at the Omega, trying her best not to breathe in too deeply the smell that lingered in the air around her. It was soft and warm, like fresh cotton and clean air.

“Miss Verger,” Jack greeted her. “I’m Agent Jack Crawford and this is Dr. Alana Bloom. May we come in?”

“I...,” Margot trailed off. “Yes. Of course.”

She ushered them in, showing them to the living room. They seated themselves and Margot perched herself on the expensive, stiff looking armchair opposite the sofa they’d sat down on. She looked petrified.

“Can I get you anything to drink?”Margot asked, her voice trembling slightly.

“No, thank you,” Jack declined.

“Nothing for me either thank you,” Alana joined him, smiling reassuringly at the Omega.

Margot shakily smiled back. “So, what can I do for you?”

Jack did his usual throat clearing. “Dr. Bloom and myself work for the FBI. We’ve just come from the hospital. We’ve visited Will Graham, the Omega that went missing from Louisiana three years ago.”

“Ah,” Margot responded. “How is he?”

“Will needs a lot of care and help,” Alana interjected. “But we’ll make sure he receives it. We were wondering what you could tell us about the night your brother died, and the past three years in fact.”

“I must... must go and visit him, when he’s ready,” Margot murmured, casting her eyes down. “I’m extremely worried about him. I just... everything with Mason, I haven’t even begun to...”

“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Jack offered, eyes softening. “Miss Verger, can you tell us everything you remember about the night your brother died? The night you found Will?”

Margot’s eyes welled up. “It was awful.”

Alana nodded encouragingly when Margot looked to her. “Anything you can tell us would be useful. Will’s disappearance has been one of the most important cases for the FBI in the last few years. And Mason’s death was... it must have been horrific for you.”

Margot swallowed and looked down. “Mason never once told me what was going on. My brother was always so secretive. He thought most things were none of my business, and apparently that even extended to... to this awful thing he’s done. I’m still struggling to get my head around the fact there’s been another person in the house for three years.”

“And there was nothing at all in those three years to indicate Will’s presence?” Jack asked her, brow furrowed. “Surely you must have heard or seen something?”

Margot shook her head. “Nothing. Your... colleagues from Forensics have been scouring my home all morning Agent Crawford. They informed me the room Will was kept in was sound proofed and I never saw that door open in three years. Mason wouldn’t let me near it and I had no reason to go in. It had always just been a spare room.”

“I apologise for the invasiveness at such a delicate time for you,” Jack responded honestly, uncharacteristically kind of him. “I hope the process wasn’t too disrupting but we have two deaths on our hands here.”

“One of which was accidental and the other I knew nothing about until I opened the door to that bedroom a day ago,” Margot replied, her shoulders tensed. “This whole thing is just... unbelievable.”

“Your brother’s death was certainly... unusual,” Jack replied. “The pigs he kept... I’ve never heard of live stock that attack and eat humans.”

“My brother was very cruel Agent Crawford. That’s the first thing you have to understand about all of this. He was sadistic and I’ve worried my whole life that he was ill and unstable. Everything he did, he twisted it for his own sick pleasure. He liked raising new breeds of pigs; it was a pass time of his - if you could call it that. Those pigs were abominations. He starved them and encouraged violence in their behaviour.”

“And you say he had an accident? Fell into the pit and the pigs attacked him?”

“Yes,” Margot breathed out, tears beginning to swell past her eye sockets now. “It was never unusual for Mason to be gone for hours, sometimes days. But he always told me when he was going anywhere. That day, I thought nothing of it; I thought he’d simply left the house for the day but that night when I couldn’t find him I- I went looking for him.”

“And that’s when you found Will and the baby?” Jack encouraged her.

“I nearly didn’t go into the room, not after the number of times Mason warned me to never go in. But... I was worried. So I opened the door and there was just... just this boy curled up on the bed, sobbing. I was so shocked I just stood there for minutes. Then I realised he was holding the baby. I could smell it, could smell that he’d just given birth but I could smell that the baby was... that it was dead.”

“What happened after that?”

“He was so scared,” Margot cried, scrubbing her hands across her eyes. “He was shaking and crying and wouldn’t let me go near him. I panicked, I just... I backed out of the room and told him I would come back with help because in the back of my head all I could think was that I had to find Mason and get him to help them, that Mason would have an explanation for all this...”

“So you went looking for him. And you found him.”

“In the outhouse where he kept the pigs. What was left of him anyway. All I could see was blood and scraps of his clothes and it became so easy to imagine how it had happened. That he’d simply gone out there to poke and prod at them and irritate them, like he always did. He liked to watch them fight each other. I... I can still picture it now, him walking onto that platform and leaning over too far this time and losing his balance and...”

Margot sucked in a deep breath as the tears continued to stream down her face. “I felt sick. I ran back to the house and even though I wasn’t sure if he could hear me, because he seemed like he was in a total state of shock, I told him Mason was dead. Then I rang for help.”

Jack nodded. Their stories matched up but something still didn’t feel right. “Thank you Margot. We appreciate your help. Once again, I’m sorry for the intrusion at such a complicated time.”

“What’s going to happen to Will?” Margot asked, voice quavering.

“He’ll remain in the hospital for now. They’re keeping him quite heavily sedated whilst he recuperates but once he’s discharged he’ll be admitted to Port Haven Psychiatric Facility. I’ve been assigned to his case and I’ll be looking after him at Port Haven,” Alana informed her with a tender smile.

“And the baby?”

“At some point there will have to be a post-mortem examination,” Jacked replied grimly. “We haven’t approached it with Will yet as he’s hardly in the right state of mind to discuss it.”

Margot stared at him. “Mason killed him.”

“Miss Verger, accusing your brother of killing the child is a serious statement to make,” Jack told her carefully. “One that we have to investigate.”

“I know what my brother was,” Margot gritted out through clenched teeth. “He was a monster. And I know he will have done a manner of unspeakable things to Will. He wouldn’t have hesitated to kill the baby.”

“Miss Verger, we’ll need you to come down to our head quarters to make a statement of this,” Jack responded, leaning forwards.

“Whatever you want,” Margot shrugged. “Although what can you even do? Mason is dead.”

“We’ll have to approach Will about this when we can,” Alana murmured. “We’ll need him to make a statement too, although I’m worried he won’t be able to do that for quite a while now.”

“I’d like to offer to pay for his hospital bills and any bills for his psychiatric treatment,” Margot informed them. “I’d also like to pay for the baby’s funeral when Will decides it’s time. It’s the least I can offer him after what Mason has done to him. How long will he be in Port Haven for once he’s discharged from the hospital?”

“Indefinitely,” Jack replied. “We don’t yet know the extent of the damage that was inflicted upon him. It may take Will the rest of his life to recover.”

Alana shot him a glare. “I’m going to do everything I can to ensure Will recovers and can introduce himself back into society. I want him to come away from this and be able to have the life he should have.”

Margot smiled weakly. “I doubt he’s really ever going to be same Dr. Bloom.”

Hannibal picked up the vibrating phone from his desk, observing Alana’s name appear. Settling his pen down and leaning back in his chair, he picked the phone up and answered.

“Good afternoon Alana,” Hannibal greeted her smoothly.

“Hey Hannibal,” Alana replied wearily. “Hope I’m not disturbing you?”

“Not at all. My last client of the day left my office about twenty minutes ago,” Hannibal told her, tapping his fingers against the sleek wooden desk he sat at. “How may I help you?”

“To be perfectly honest, I’ve had a really long day and couldn’t think of anything better right now than enjoying some beer and decent food,” she half laughed, her voice still strained. “Of course if you’re busy tonight don’t worry about it, I just wanted some company and a venting outlet.”

“My kitchen is always open to friends Alana,” Hannibal mused. “Seven o’clock this evening?”

“Perfect,” she sighed with relief. “You’re a life saver, thank you. I’ll see you at seven!”

“Goodbye Alana,” Hannibal replied, ending the call.

He turned the device round in his hands with long, dexterous fingers. Now the difficult task of deciding whether to cook liver or kidney.

Alana arrived at seven on dot, as she always did when she promised to somewhere a certain time. Hannibal greeted her at the door and led her to the kitchen, handing her a glass of the beer she so enthusiastically preferred whilst he poured himself his wine.

“So,” he began. “Please do tell me about your day.”

Alana grinned as she sighed, hand wrapping around the knife Hannibal offered her. “It’s been pretty full on. Do you remember that boy that went missing three years ago from Louisiana? Will Graham?”

Hannibal didn’t particularly take much of an interest in missing persons cases, however it was hard to not remember the name. It had been all over the news on television, the radio, his face and name plastered over posters and bus stops all throughout the country.

“Yes. How were you involved in his case?”

Alana didn’t glance up at the Alpha as she sliced the vegetables, sighing again. “He was found yesterday. There was a call from Muskrat Farm, you know the place that the Verger family owns? The police and ambulance went over there and found him. Mason Verger was dead and his sister had found Will locked in a room.”

Hannibal raised his eyebrows. “What a baffling set of events.”

“It was bizarre,” Alana grimaced. “Mason Verger was mauled to death by his own pigs and eaten alive. Margot didn’t just find Will though. She found...”

Hannibal glanced up at her, observing her hesitation.

“Jeez I don’t know how much of this I should be telling you,” Alana admitted. “It’s very delicate and hush-hush at moment, for the sake of Will’s protection seeing as he’s still a minor at seventeen.”

“Alana, please do not feel you have to divulge anything to me,” Hannibal assured her. “I respect the boundaries your professionalism sets in place for you. However, you are only human and you feel stressed, and you know that I would not become involved in your line of work or tell another living soul what we discuss. ”

“Always the outstanding therapist,” Alana chuckled softly, shoulders sagging slightly. “I do trust you Hannibal. It’s just that today has really sort of... shaken me I suppose. What that poor boy has been through...”

“You clearly care very much for him Alana,” Hannibal softly told her.

“Margot found a baby in that room Mason was keeping Will in. Dead,” Alana uttered, clenching the knife tighter. “They’d taken him to the hospital with Will, apparently he wouldn’t let the paramedics come near the baby. I went to see him today with Jack and he was just in this little cold cot next to Will’s bed. It was awful Hannibal.”

“Witnessing such trauma can often feel like we ourselves are immersed in it,” Hannibal responded. “It must have been difficult for you to have been in that situation.”

“Never mind what it was like for me, Jesus,” Alana muttered. “The things that Mason put Will through... I want to get him into therapy as soon as possible. There’s years of abuse and trauma that Will needs help sorting through. I don’t even want to think about what it’s going to be like for him when Forensics asks to perform a post-mortem on the baby.”

“Forensics?” Hannibal queried.

Alana nodded. “There’s reason to believe Mason murdered his and Will’s child.”

Hannibal paused from seasoning the liver in front of him. “And what reason would that be?”

“Margot Verger told me and Jack today that she believes – well, she said she knows that Mason killed the baby.”

“And what do you think happened?”

“Anyone capable of illegally buying a fourteen year old boy from an Omega trafficking ring, keeping them locked up in a room on their own for three years, beating them and raping them and force bonding with them and then forcing pregnancy on them... I wouldn’t put it past Mason from killing his own child.”

“It is... truly shocking to acknowledge we are capable of such feats,” Hannibal admitted.

Alana simply shuddered and resumed slicing the vegetables.

Hannibal fully acknowledged his own darkness. He embraced it, revelled in it and bathed in it. A secret darkness, of course, one that he controlled with impeccable discipline and care. He’d mastered the ability to kill without ever being found out or caught, and that was not something he planned on getting lazy about. Mason, however, clearly had a different darkness. One that Hannibal turned his nose up at in disgust. He’d never had any time for sexual perversion or sex at all for that matter; he’d never bonded with anyone and much preferred his celibacy. He had of course partook in sexual relationships many times in the past when he was younger, but now he was older and getting steadily closer to fifty he focused his time on his killing. Mating didn’t interest him anymore. He couldn’t picture himself bonded to anyone at all, never mind an Omega, and the thought of children was near painful for him. Losing Mischa was enough to make him feel physically sick at the concept of offspring. Never again.

When he and Alana finished preparing the food, they sat on the stools at the bar in the kitchen whilst the marinated liver and vegetables cooked in the oven. Alana took a gulp of her beer and rubbed her hands over her face tiredly.

“Will’s case is getting assigned to me and I’m going be his therapist when he comes to Port Haven,” Alana informed him. “I just hope that with time he can begin to recover.”

“What of his family? Will he not be sent back to Louisiana?”

“His father died of a heart attack last year. He has no other family. I suppose the closest thing he has to family now is Margot Verger. Jack thinks we should tell him about his dad when we next go to the hospital to see him, but I’m not sure telling him his father passed away is a good idea when he’s barely comprehending the death of his son. He’s so young, too young for all of this.”

Hannibal settled a hand on hers. “He may be. But it sounds to me as if he is a survivor.”

“So, this whole Omega thing,” Will began awkwardly, watching Nick flit about the hospital room with natural grace. “How does it work?”

Nick paused, throwing him a soft smile. “Well there are a lot of aspects to being an Omega.”

“I’m sorry,” Will mumbled. “I just never learned about any of it. I didn’t realise, I thought I was Beta until I got taken.”

“Hey, don’t apologise,” Nick chided him gently. “I’m more than happy to answer any of your questions.”

“I don’t know if I’m normal,” Will confessed. “I don’t know how Omegas really...work.”

Nick sat down in the plastic chair next to the bed. “Well there’s your scent for a start. Omegas have different smells to Alphas and Betas but each individual smells different too. We all scent each other, but you probably already know about that. You’re scenting me right now.”

Will flushed crimson. “I’m sorry. I never really got to learn what was and wasn’t polite.”

“I don’t mind Will,” Nick replied honestly. “Most people don’t, we all do it. Just slightly more... discretely. It’s different of course with close friends and families and mates.”

“My heats,” Will started cautiously. “I have them every three months. Is that normal?”

“Completely,” Nick assured him. “Omegas with regular cycles tend to go into heat every three months, usually lasting around a week and spend about two or three days in pre-heat. Those days are useful to get yourself somewhere you feel safe and prepare yourself.”

Will gave him a half hearted smile. “Safe. That’s an amusing concept.”

“I’m sorry Will, that was insensitive of me,” Nick apologised. “Anything that you want to talk about, you’re safe to do so with me.”

“When an Omega’s mate dies, what happens?”

“The mating bite fades within a few months, unless it’s replaced by a new mate’s bite. The experience is difficult, I won’t lie to you. Whilst the bite is fading you’ll experience extreme lows and anxiety and will possibly pine for your mate.”

“I don’t know how much they told you about me Nick, but I don’t think I’m going to grieve a mate like Mason, mating bite or not.”

Nick simply nodded, his eyes sad. “I understand Will. Nonetheless, there will be some neurological damage. It’s a biological feat you can’t escape I’m afraid, no matter how many bad feelings you harbour towards your mate. Whether you cared for him or hated him, your body will naturally react.”

Will drew a slow breath. “How long do I have to wait until my next heat after giving birth?”

“It’s usually six months until you body enters heat after giving birth.”

“I want suppressants.”

Nick pressed his lips together. “Ok. Well that’s something I can arrange for you to be prescribed. I’ll have to set you up an appointment with a doctor though.”

“Whatever needs to be done,” Will told him. “I am not going into heat again.”

Nick’s eyes drifted to the cold cot. “Of course Will. That’s completely fine.”

Will followed his eyes to the cot. “I don’t know what to do.”

Nick shifted in his chair. “No one expects you to do anything Will. You’ve only just been found again after three years and I know you’re not ready to talk about what happened yet, but you’re being amazingly strong.”

“I don’t feel strong,” Will whispered. “I feel like I’d shatter into a million pieces if he hadn’t already broken me.”

“Oh Will,” Nick sighed. “Do you want me to get Jasper - ”

“No!” Will blurted out, his throat growing thick and stinging with tears. “No. Leave... leave him in the crib.”

“Are you sure?” Nick asked cautiously. “You can take all the time you need to have contact with him. This process is entirely personal to you.”

Will swallowed. “I don’t think I can do this.”

Nick just nodded and gently squeezed his bandaged hand. Will had been at the hospital for five days now and was slowly beginning to grasp his reality. He was slightly more talkative with Nick, but silent with the other nurses and doctors. On the third day he stopped screaming whenever anyone came near Jasper. He’d slowly started leaving Jasper in the cot more than he wanted to hold him and today he’d only held his son once. Nick wasn’t sure if it was just a natural progression in his grief and bereavement or if Will was forcing himself to distance himself from his son.

Nick left after a few more minutes and Will dozed in and out of sleep for a few hours. A soft knock at the door later startled him awake and he watched with wide eyes as the door swung open.

“Margot.”

She didn’t say anything as she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. She looked as if she hadn’t slept since he saw her last and she seemed so drawn and pale. She cautiously lowered herself into the chair by his bed, eyes fixed on his face.

“How are you feeling?” she rasped, a weak smile flitting on her lips.

“I’m ok. How are you?”

“I’ve been better. Although I imagine you’re faring far worse than me despite what you say.”

“I suppose.”

They lapsed into silence then, simply staring at each other. After a few moments Margot rose from the chair and walked around the cot. Will tensed a little, but said nothing. Margot came to a stop when she reach the cold cot and stared at her nephew’s body that lay so still before her. His face was so perfectly formed. Perfect little ears, eyelids with curling dark lashes and round miniature nose and lips.

“May I hold him?” Margot asked, barely above a whisper.

“Of course,” Will replied.

Margot and Nick were the only ones who had ever touched his son, Will realised in that moment. No Alphas or Betas. He didn’t trust them, but somehow trusted other Omegas to understand and bear the weight of his loss.

“I’m so sorry Will,” Margot blurted out, her voice cracking as a cry broke free in the middle of her sentence.

Will watched her holding his son for a few seconds as small sobs jerked her body and tears rolled down her pale cheeks. “Don’t apologise to me Margot. It’s like you said to me the first time I met you. You can apologise but it doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference for what he’s done to me.”

“He’s so beautiful Will,” Margot sobbed quietly. “You know, I always wanted this. Wanted to have children. Mason forbade it. I’ve never shared a heat with anyone, never bonded. Can you imagine that? Twenty six years old and I’ve never even shared a heat with anyone.”

Will was astounded at her selfishness in that moment. How could she stand there holding his dead son crying over the fact she’d never been with anyone when he’d been forced into mating and pregnancy since the age of fourteen? He bit his tongue. He’d spare her this because she had lost her family too.

“What do you want Margot?” he asked stiffly.

Margot sniffed and wiped a hand across the back of her face to scrub away the tears. “I wanted to check how you are but felt like a complete idiot for that because of course you’re not ok, I didn’t need to come here to know that. I miss you I suppose.”

“You miss me?”

“Yes. A lot. I miss having you to talk to Will. I miss looking after you. The past few days, a lot has happened. There have been Forensics teams in and out of my house for days, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, given statements saying Mason killed Jasper...”

“What did you tell them?”

“I told them Mason fell into the pit, got mauled to death and was eaten. I told them I got you out of that room and that I’d never seen you before. I told them the story I told you the night you killed Mason.”

Will couldn’t look at her. He simply rested his eyes on his son’s body in Margot’s arms, cradled against her breast. “Good thing you’re such a great liar.”

“I’ve arranged for all of your hospital bills to be paid and for your psychiatric care to be paid for too,” Margot informed him after a long period of silence. “I wanted to offer to pay for Jasper’s funeral when you’re ready.”

Will felt a lump in his throat. “I... I haven’t thought about it.”

“It’s ok Will,” Margot reassured him. “You don’t have to think about it yet. I just wanted to let you know the offer is there.”

“I won’t say anything you know,” Will replied, finally looking up at her startlingly round eyes. “If that’s why you’re doing all of this. I don’t need you to offer to take care of stupid things like bills and funerals if you think it’ll stop me from going to the police and telling them what happened.”

“No! No, that’s not - ”

“Margot,” Will sighed. “It’s ok. I’ll keep telling them the same story. It’s just that I... I don’t really care if they know. The only person I’m keeping this lie up for is you. You were the one who decided to make it all look like an accident anyway. They’d just sent me to a psychiatric facility for the rest of my life if they knew I murdered Mason. Which is where it looks like I’ll be spending the rest of my time anyway.”

“You don’t know that Will,” Margot disagreed, frowning. “In a few years, maybe less, you could be in your own home with a job and friends and - ”

“And what? A mate? Children?” Will snorted sarcastically. “Don’t even bother. I’m not going to entertain the ridiculous idea I can be normal again after this so neither should you.”

Margot fixed him a long hard look and then turned to place Jasper back into the cold cot ever so delicately. “I’ll come see you again tomorrow. I’ll see if I can get you your own cell phone. I can keep in touch with you more easily that way. You can... let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Will sighed.

“You know, I... it might sound stupid to you Will but I consider you my family. The only family I have left. I’m going to be here for you no matter what, ok? Whatever you need,” Margot told him, her voice trembling and her eyes shakily resting on him for a few brief seconds as her cheeks flushed pink. “We’ll look after each other.”

Will regarded her for a moment then. When he didn’t say anything Margot’s shoulders sagged and she turned to the door, heading out.

“See you tomorrow Margot,” Will called out as she left.

He received a crooked, uncertain smile in response.

A week later, Will was discharged. Forensics had come to finally take Jasper’s body away for post-mortem.
Will could have told them then and there that the cause of death was asphyxiation but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Will was assured that they would have Jasper’s body for a few days at the most and then he would be returned to Will at Port Haven.

Port Haven was nice, but far too nice. Too many pastel colours, too many soft corners and gentle smiles and comforting meals. The other Omegas here seemed so emotional, Will thought, or maybe that was just how Omegas were and he was the one that was different. They were all mainly abuse victims, however some were here because their depression was too severe or because their anxiety was too consuming. There were a few that had also lost children, Alana informed him.

Alana’s office was light and airy and the walls were an inoffensive cream colour.

“Louisiana?” she repeated.

Will simply nodded, eyes fixed on the delicate patterns on the ceiling.

“Whereabouts would you want to scatter his ashes there?” Alana asked.

“The Bayou,” Will answered. “Dad used to take me in the summer when he wasn’t working.”

Alana nodded slowly. “And you’re sure cremation is what you want to go through with? Not a burial?”

“I’m not religious. I don’t see the point in a burial. If I cremate him... it’s kind of the only good thing I ever get to do for him. Set him free.”

“And what are you setting him free from Will?”

“This world and all the shit in it,” Will replied bluntly, his twanging southern accent thrumming through his voice.

“Did Margot tell you she’s arranged Mason’s service?” Alana enquired.

“Yes,” Will replied. “I don’t care. I’m not going.”

“Will...” Alana began, her voice unsure. “As Mason’s... mate, you’re legally required to sign paper work regarding his death.”

“Even if you were forced into being someone’s mate? Even if you’re underage? Even in this messed up situation?”

“Unfortunately yes,” Alana sighed. “It’s a completely ridiculous process and needs updating, but then again so do many of the laws regarding Omega rights.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Will replied dryly, resuming his staring session at the patterned ceiling. “You don’t get to learn much about Omega rights when you’re locked in a room for three years with nothing to do but stare out a window.”

“I’d be more than happy to teach you Will,” Alana offered. “I have books you can read and you’re welcome to use the computer in my office to read up on anything you like, and there’s the TV in the day room that has news channels on all the things going on in the world at the moment.”

“I don’t wanna watch the TV,” Will muttered. “I saw it the other day and all I saw was my face on a news channel.”

Alana just nodded and scribbled something down.

“I’ll sign the paper work. Just let me know when it gets here,” Will told her after a few moments of silence and scribbling.

“Will, I’d like to ask you some questions,” Alana asked. “You don’t have to answer anything you feel unable to. I just wanted to try and get a better understanding of what life has been like for you in the past three years.”

Will rolled his head back down to look at her. “What do you want to know?”

“I thought maybe we could talk about the first heat you had at Muskrat Farm,” Alana suggested.

“I went into heat. Mason fucked me and bonded me. What else is there to say?”

Alana observed Will’s coarse reaction and knew it was nothing more than a survival mechanism, nothing more than Will detaching from how terrible it had truly been to experience that event in order to preserve himself. The coldness in his eyes, on the other hand, was unnerving.

“How much of it do you remember?”

“It’s just blurry. Just flashes of stuff. It’s like that with all of my heats. I don’t remember much.”

“And the bits you do remember? What are they like?”

Will’s jaw tightened. “Just like any regular heat I suppose. I don’t know.”

“So you never felt unsafe with Mason during your heats? You never felt in danger or in pain?”

“I never felt safe with him once and the only things I ever felt were pain and that I was in danger,” Will smiled, his voice tight with sarcasm and bitterness. “I don’t know what heats are supposed to be like. All I have to go off is what he did.”

“Heats are meant to be spent with a partner you feel safe with and that you trust,” Alana murmured softly. “Someone who cares for you.”

Will just shrugged. “Great.”

Alana held back her sigh and clasped her hands together. “Will, what was Mason like with you outside of your heats?”

“I didn’t see him much. He fed me and that was it. I’d see him when he was angry or bored but other than that...”

“And when he was angry or bored? What was that like?”

Will smiled softly, but the venom behind it made Alana feel cold. “I was like one of his pigs Dr. Bloom. I was entertainment for him, an experiment, a hobby. When he was angry he would take it out on me and I took the brunt of his boredom as well.”

“Do you feel able to say what happened at these times Will? If you don’t I completely understand.”

“I’m sure you can probably guess,” Will spat at her through gritted teeth.

“I can guess, but that doesn’t mean I’m anywhere near to what really happened.”

“He’d beat me or fuck me. Sometimes he just used to sit on my bed with me and talk at me. Talk until it felt like my ears were going to burst, saying all this stuff to me. Sometimes I’d wake up at night and he’d be stood at the foot of my bed, just watching me. He wouldn’t leave, even when he knew I’d woken up and seen him. He knew it scared me. Sometimes I didn’t get to eat for a few days.”

“And this went on for the whole three years?”

“It only really started the first time I didn’t get pregnant.”

Alana fell silent.

Will blinked nervously and looked down at his hands. “It started off with just the beatings after my first heat with him but then when I had my second heat, the test didn’t show anything up. I wasn’t negative or positive. A few weeks later he came to me and he was angry about something. He... he was too rough and it turned out I was pregnant after all. I miscarried.”

“How old were you?”

“Fifteen.”

Alana’s heart wrenched and her fingers tightened around the pen she was writing notes with. “You were so brave.”

“It carried on like that the whole three years,” Will told her, frowning at his shoes. “I got pregnant after a lot of my heats and I’d miscarry after a few weeks, either because he got angry and couldn’t control his actions or it was my fault. Sometimes nothing had to happen and I’d just... I would lose it. That used to frustrate him. He could understand the miscarriage if he’d fucked me too hard or beaten me. He couldn’t accept it if it was my fault. He used to beat me even worse after that.”

“It was never your fault Will. None of this is your fault.”

“It was though. It always just was. One time he stabbed me he got so angry I’d lost the baby,” Will told her, a broken, honest smile appearing. “It just sort of went on like that until I got pregnant with Jasper.”

“Will,” Alana began carefully. “How many times have you been pregnant?”

Will’s eyes widened then, as if startled by the question. He went silent and his brow furrowed, as if he was concentrating on adding up.

Jesus, Alana thought.

“Seven, including Jasper.”

“And the other six pregnancies you miscarried every time?” Alana asked incredulously, wondering if her jaw would have dropped if she was not a professional psychiatrist.

“Yes,” Will replied, his voice becoming very quiet. “Mason just wanted me so he could have an heir. That’s all I was really there for.”

Alana swallowed and scribbled more notes down.

“So how did he take it when you told him about his father?” Hannibal enquired as he speared the slice of heart with his fork.

“He cried, a lot. Then he went silent for a whole day, according to his nurse at the hospital,” Alana replied, her voice heavy with morose. “I asked him about it and he said he’d already grieved his father. Mason told him when he was younger he may as well consider his father dead because he’d never see him again.”

Will had become a sort of shared project between Alana and Hannibal. She found herself confiding in the other psychiatrist about Will’s therapy with her, as she admitted she was struggling herself to make much progress. Hannibal offered her advice and listened, and each time he saw her next, whether it was days or weeks, she seemed only more frustrated.

“I just can’t seem to get through to him,” she admitted, unknowingly chewing the gas station employee’s heart between her teeth.

Hannibal almost smiled at the thought of his shocked face when he realised who had come for him. Rude.

“What do you think is stopping you from forming a relationship with him? Your patients normally take to you immediately.”

“Will is stuck in this mind frame that Mason forced him to create for himself; he just does as he’s told. I ask him questions and he answers them but there’s no feeling or sincerity behind it. He just seems to have completely detached himself from the trauma and he’s relaying it to me like a robot. I can’t get him to connect with himself.”

“Hmm,” Hannibal mused, swirling his wine thoughtfully. “Not an uncommon behavioural trait in victims of abuse. Perhaps change your approach?”

“I’ve tried Hannibal, I feel like I’ve tried everything,” Alana confessed. “He’s been with me for nearly a month now and we have therapy every day. I’ve tried to get him to interact in group therapy, I’ve tried to get him to write things down, and I’ve tried a million different approaches in how I’m asking him things... I even sent him to try the art therapy group last week.”

“Does he trust you?” Hannibal asked, watching her carefully across his dinner table.

“Will doesn’t trust anyone,” Alana laughed bleakly. “That’s the whole problem. I don’t think he even trusts himself.”

“He blames himself for Mason’s behaviour.”

“Parts of Mason’s behaviour, yes,” Alana confirmed. “Mason made him believe it was his fault that he miscarried so many times. Will blames himself for Mason’s violence in reaction to the miscarriages.”

Mason Verger truly did sound vile, Hannibal thought. He sounded like the exact sort of person Hannibal would delight in butchering and taking apart.

“Will had Jasper cremated yesterday,” Alana informed him. “I went with him to the crematorium.”

“How did he behave?”

“He just went through the whole process like he was in some sort of daze. He didn’t speak or even look at anyone. I’m worried he’s still in shock; I just can’t seem to get him to address Jasper’s death appropriately.”

“This may seem presumptuous of me Alana, but if you are willing to accept my assistance, I would be more than happy to serve as a... secondary unofficial therapist, of sorts, to Will,” Hannibal offered, settling his cutlery down carefully on his plate, steepling his fingers together.

“Trying to steal my patient, Dr. Lecter?” Alana joked with a soft smile.

“Ah, you see right through me,” he chided her in return. “But I must confess, Will Graham does sound far more interesting than my usual patients. And I feel as if I almost know him, we talk of him so frequently and in depth. I admit I am keen to meet him.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Alana sighed. “I don’t feel like I’m getting through to him, and maybe he needs a different kind of therapy. Maybe you can get him to engage with his past in ways that I can’t.”

“Perhaps. I would be eager to try.”

“How does ten o’clock on Tuesday sound?” Alana smiled, her eyes hopeful.

“It’s a date.”

Chapter Text

Hannibal enjoyed the calm at Port Haven. Alana’s mark was clear everywhere you went throughout the facility, including the calm of her personality. His nostrils flared at the smell of her scent that lingered in the reception. The room was also heavy with the smell of Omegas, and Hannibal mused what the air would have looked like if the smell was visible. A pale, curling rose coloured mist, perhaps? No, far too stereotypical to the aesthetics associated with Omegas. This facility housed the fractured and unstable, not the soft glowing Omega image that had been created in the society that existed outside of the facility. Hannibal personally detested the image that Omegas had been moulded in to. It was sickly sweet and unrealistic; it made Omegas out to be almost something more than human, something that ought to be handled as if it would shatter at any moment. Omegas were, in Hannibal’s opinion, the strongest out of the three secondary genders. Alphas, for all their pride and arrogance, were fragile beneath all the pretence. They flounced throughout their lives as if they were indestructible and although they admittedly possessed certain physiological traits that made them stronger and faster, Hannibal found them to be pathetic. They were wounded so easily, distracted by Omegas like children who’d had a shiny new toy dangled in front of them. Their pride was almost worth of his pity, Hannibal thought.

Betas were sturdy, and Hannibal liked to compare them to docile little donkeys or Labradors. They bumbled throughout their lives being the ‘norm’. Nothing special, just completely ordinary. They were stronger than Alphas in that they were not wounded by pride or the irritating need to strut and preen and show off. They were physically weaker, however, and didn’t possess the strength of Omegas or Alphas. Omegas were the true spectacle from a biological and psychological point of view. The patients at Port Haven were an example of that. Many of them had suffered extreme violence from unhinged mates and had been subjected to all kinds of emotional and psychological abuse. And yet, here they were. Surviving and receiving treatment and making their progress with fitting back into the world. Hannibal had never fathomed why they were made out to be fragile, delicate things.

Hannibal thought of what Alana had told him of Will. Will was certainly an example of Omegas being the sturdiest and strongest secondary sex. He’d survived a multitude of physical and mental tortures from Mason.

Hannibal admitted openly to his admiration of Omega traits, but that did not mean he wanted to socialise with them all. He disliked certain aspects of them, just as much as he disliked aspects of himself that were a result of his being an Alpha.

There were not many Alphas that worked at Port Haven, Hannibal noted. The ones that were employed at the facility were all bonded. He was certainly a rarity here, he mused to himself.

“Hannibal,” Alana beamed, appearing in the reception.

“Good morning Alana,” Hannibal smiled in return. “How are you?”

“I’m great thanks,” she replied. “A little... apprehensive, shall we say, but other than that I’m good.”

“Apprehensive about what, may I ask?”

Alana led him through the reception out into a corridor. “About how you and Will are going to get along.”

“Are you having doubts?” Hannibal asked. “I have no issue with calling all of this off if you think it’s a bad idea.”

“No, no,” Alana reassured him. “More apprehensive in that I’m nervous for him and unsure of how this will play out. I think it will be good for him to speak to a different therapist, but I’m merely empathising with him.”

“Empathising with him and feeling nervous for his sake?”

“I would be nervous if I was him,” Alana confessed with shy smile. “I’ve noticed Will doesn’t find it very easy to meet new people.”

They came to stop outside of a room with walls made completely out of glass, providing a complete view into the room. A small sign on the glass door read ‘DAY ROOM’. The contents of the room consisted of a handful of Omegas, soft looking couches, a few book shelves stacked with novels, a TV and fresh displays of sunflowers sitting in simple vases. There were elegant little lamps resting on white coffee tables and a sleek piano resting in the corner of the room. The wall opposite them was made of glass too and looked out at the gardens of Port Haven.

“That’s Will,” Alana murmured with a gesture.

Hannibal followed her movement to land his eyes on the Omega he’d been hearing about for a month now.

Will was sat on an armchair that was facing the garden. He sat simply staring out at the gardens, his pose unfaltering. Hannibal could make out a fraction of his face, a sweep of it visible from the angle he was sat at. His clothes looked too big on him, as if they were swallowing him. Hannibal found himself intrigued at Will’s statue like stillness.

“He doesn’t interact with the others,” Alana informed him as they stood there observing Will. “He doesn’t come in the day room very often, but he likes to just look out at the garden when he does. Sometimes he reads.”

“May you introduce us?” Hannibal asked with a warm smile.

Alana nodded, opening the door and stepping inside. Hannibal followed her inside, wrinkling his nose at the scent of so many Omegas in close proximity. It was just as well he was so controlled; he knew far too many Alphas that would be quaking from the overwhelming sensory stimulation.

They reached Will and Alana placed a gentle hand on Will’s shoulder just after she called out his name. Hannibal watched him flinch nonetheless.

“Will, this is Dr. Hannibal Lecter,” Alana introduced them, maintaining her cheerful smile.

Will turned his head to look at Hannibal. Hannibal’s mind immediately drifted to Rossetti’s 'Proserpine', one of his favoured pre-Raphaelite paintings. Will possessed the same wild hair and ocean blue eyes, his lips full and dark and his expression soft and mournful. Hannibal found himself oddly entranced for a few moments. He held his hand out and smiled gently.

“I know,” Will said quietly.

He held Hannibal’s eyes for a moment, flickered them to his still outstretched hand and then returned his gaze to the gardens. Alana cleared her throat uncomfortably as Hannibal dropped his hand. Hannibal acknowledged with a slight fascination that this was possibly the first time in his life he’d ever been shunned by someone, and an Omega at that. How curious.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Will,” Hannibal greeted him.

Will said nothing and simply shifted in his chair.

“Dr. Lecter has offered to give you some therapy sessions Will,” Alana persisted, her eyes taking on a hard glint. “Remember?”

“Yes, I remember,” Will responded lifelessly, his voice monotone.

Alana looked stumped and her brow furrowed, but Hannibal cut her off just as she opened her mouth.

“How about we take a walk in the garden Will, seeing as your attention is so intently fixed on it?” Hannibal suggested with an amused lilt to his voice. “It’s a pleasant day outside.”

“Sure.”

Hannibal would have normally deemed the response rude, in fact their entire interaction had screamed rude at Hannibal. Will just simply interested him with his blunt behaviour.

The three of them wandered out into the garden, Hannibal walking next to Alana and Will lingering a fair distance off to the side of them. Hannibal noted the rather extreme shaking that possessed Will’s hands, and when he felt eyes on him, Will jerked and brought his arms up to cross them over his chest and hide his hands, his shoulders tensing.

“It’s the medication,” Will muttered, not looking at him. “That’s all.”

“Ah, I see,” Hannibal agreed. “Unfortunately medication can have adverse effects such as tremors.”

Will’s jaw tightened in response.

“So, how do you feel about some sessions with Dr. Lecter, Will?” Alana asked, swiftly steering the conversation before it get tense again.

“If you think it will help,” Will mumbled, head down and shoulders shrugging.

“It has to come from you Will. No one is making you sign up for therapy with Dr. Lecter.”

“I’d prefer to call it having conversations,” Hannibal offered smoothly. “It’s all rather unofficial Will, merely an option available to you. Think of it as something akin to talking with a friend.”

Will’s mind brought forth images of Margot and him huddled next to each other on his bed, talking in hushed voices of Mason’s sadism. He shuddered.

“Alright,” Will responded. “I’ll try.”

“Excellent,” Hannibal replied, lips sliding up into a pleased smile. “Why don’t we begin now?”

“Here?” Will asked, stopping momentarily, wide eyes sweeping around the garden.

“Yes, unless you’d prefer to talk elsewhere,” Hannibal responded. “I see no need for the two of us to be sat across from each other in a stuffy therapy room somewhere.”

Will swallowed. “Yes. I think I’d like that.”

“I’ll leave you two to it then,” Alana announced. “Thank you for agreeing to this Will; I think it’ll really help. Dr. Lecter is a wonderful therapist... and a wonderful friend.”

With that she turned and left them alone in the peaceful grounds. Will noted with curiosity that Dr. Lecter was the first Alpha he’d been left alone with since he’d been whisked away from Muskrat Farm. Alana must really trust this man. He was appealing, Will had to admit. His scent alone captivated Will. It was dark and rich, full of flavour and so heavy he could almost feel it on his tongue. He felt almost dizzy at the heady spices and warmth that flooded his nostrils.

“How are you finding Port Haven?” Hannibal enquired politely.

“It’s... stifling,” Will admitted, keeping his eyes on the ground beneath him. “It’s so different.”

“Different from Muskrat Farm?”

“From everything. Everything here is too... soft,” Will told him, spitting out the final word as if it was acid in his mouth.

Hannibal noted with interest how un-Omegan this was. An Omega who disliked softness and comfort was unheard of. But no, Hannibal could see Will preferred something more real; gritty. He imagined Will in Muskrat Farm and its bleakness, then Louisiana with its sweltering heat and oily boat yards.

“Yes,” Hannibal mused, glancing down at the Omega. “I imagine it is rather different from Muskrat Farm and Louisiana. I suppose we have Dr. Bloom to blame for her love of pastels.”

Will snorted. “I suppose.”

Hannibal waited for him to speak again, and when he didn’t he simply focused his attention on the soft trickle of the stream running alongside them and sweet chirping of birds. Moments passed in silence like this as they slowly strolled through the grounds, neither of them speaking.

It was Will who broke the silence, to Hannibal’s surprise.

“Why did you want to meet me? To have ‘conversations’ with me?”

Hannibal smiled at him, fixing him with a firm look. “I confess I was rather selfishly intrigued. Alana has spoken of you quite often and I offered to assist her in your therapy.”

“What makes you think she needs assisting?” Will asked carefully, slowly beginning to pick Hannibal apart. “Has she told you how frustratingly unsuccessful my sessions are with her, how I just tell her what she wants to hear and I never open up properly?”

Hannibal smirked at the boy’s question, tweaking an eyebrow up in surprise. He was insightful, and Hannibal wondered how far this insight could extend into manipulation.

“Perhaps I felt a defensiveness for my friend and colleague when I heard of her patient who was stubbornly making her sit through such painfully unproductive sessions when she is merely trying to help you.”

“Oh, I see,” Will replied dryly. “So there’s a set of guidelines I should be sticking to, a proper way of doing therapy? A proper way of not being fucked up any more?”

Hannibal would have found the swearing crude if it had not come from the sweet, drawling Louisiana accent. “You admitted yourself you know you are not engaging with her. You were the one to bring in the word unsuccessful.”

“So you’re the bad cop then, come in to whip me into shape because Alana’s good cop approach isn’t working?”

“Therapists bear few similarities to law enforcement Will,” Hannibal grinned. “And I would like it if you were able to separate me from the role of therapist. I’m not here to take over Alana’s job.”

“So what are you then?”

“That is up to you,” Hannibal replied sincerely. “Although I would like it if we could become friends.”

Will simply hummed, growing quiet again.

“Alana cares for you very much,” Hannibal told him, admiring the striking line of his jaw as they walked. “She is merely striving for you to engage with the events of the last three years and begin to move towards recovery.”

“I worry she’s wasting her time,” Will sighed.

“You think yourself beyond help?” Hannibal asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know how to be this thing she wants,” Will confessed. “Dr. Bloom wants me to get better and get back out into the world, and I don’t know how to be that person. I don’t know if I’m capable of getting better or if I even want to. I don’t always feel like I have the energy to try.”

“Is there a particular reason you feel like you can’t recover?”

Will stopped, frowning as he gazed out at the row of trees covering the high brick wall that encased the garden. “I don’t really feel anything Dr. Lecter.”

Hannibal let them lapse into silence, regarding Will. He observed how he let his trembling hands hang freely at his sides and the defeated slouch of his shoulders. He looked so forlorn and rather incredible, Hannibal found himself thinking, so beautiful underneath all the marred scars and fatigue. He felt himself recoil from his completely unexpected and unwarranted attraction to the Omega, as the psychiatrist in him analysed with interest this fascination he was rapidly beginning to cultivate for Will Graham. It was a rather unpleasant combination, being so appalled at his instincts stirring to life after being dormant for so many years whilst he was also so intrigued at his Alpha reactions to the Omega. Hannibal hadn’t desired anyone in years; of course he admired beauty, he found himself helpless to his appreciation of beautiful and fine things. It was his weakness. He hadn’t, however, wanted anyone like this in so long. In years, he had not been curious as to what it would feel like to run his hands through someone else’s hair, to twine his fingers together with theirs, to press his head against another’s chest and relish in their heartbeat –

Stop.

Hannibal simply couldn’t let his imagination wander with Will, could not entertain any sort of vague notion or curiosity. He was underage for a start, at least thirty years younger than Hannibal. That in itself was unacceptable. He was undoubtedly damaged and unstable and technically still a stranger. It would be completely unethical and immoral for Hannibal to even allow himself to address his attraction to him. He would squash it, suppress it until it passed. He was, after all, the master of his emotions.

“A survival reaction,” Hannibal replied calmly. “We have the ability to detach from our emotions in order to preserve ourselves.”

“And what would happen if I attached myself to them again?” Will asked with disdain. “Would I lose it and go off the deep end?”

“There is only one way to find out I suppose,” Hannibal told him. “Think of it more like trying to dip your toes in the water rather than jumping in head first. A gradual emergence into your feelings would be the best approach.”

“How do I even begin to do that?” Will asked hoarsely, sounding tired suddenly.

“Tell me Will,” Hannibal began. “Do you have flash backs? Little snippets of memory that come back to you now and then?”

Will tensed. “Why?”

“It is often the case that when we are struggling to engage with our emotions and attach ourselves again that we are suppressing the events that have caused us distress in the first place. Flashbacks are our mind’s way of reminding us of what has caused us to feel detached. A prompt, if you will, that there are things in the backs of our minds that need addressing.”

“So I need to start remembering things?” Will asked. “Let myself experience it and then I’ll start to feel again and be able to move on?”

“Ideally, yes,” Hannibal responded softly. “It’s not always the case that this works though, and it can be a long, drawn out process.”

“I remember a lot of it though,” Will told him, frowning again. “I remember...”

Hannibal looked over at him, his face inquisitive. “Yes?”

“I... struggle to... to say it,” Will confessed.

They neared a bench and Will sank down on it, as if drained of his energy. Hannibal slowly lowered himself onto the bench, keeping a distance between them. Will sat hunched forwards, curling his arms around himself in an unconscious attempt to comfort himself. Hannibal could smell the sting of anxiety coming from Will, his scent becoming acrid and slightly bitter. Hannibal’s hands twitched reflexively, wanting to reach out and wrap himself around the boy.

“Do you find yourself struggling to describe what Mason did to you?”

“I don’t even want to hear it coming from my own mouth,” Will muttered darkly. “I don’t want him having any part in my life anymore.”

“And you feel that by even voicing aloud the things he did that he still controls you?”

Will opened his mouth but then closed it again, eyes fixated on his shoes. “When Alana talks to me about it, I describe it to her, but it doesn’t really fit what happened. I tell her that he fucked me, beat me, forced me to do things... I don’t tell her how much it hurt, or how much I cried or screamed, that I begged him and that... that I...”

“Will,” Hannibal murmured gently. “You’re starting the process already. Even just a few words can be enough to finally start healing.”

“I don’t know how to say it though,” Will gritted out in frustration. “I just have a bunch of stupid, broken words.”

“They are not stupid or broken. They are an admirable start.”

Will fell into one his silent moments then, a full five minutes passing before he looked up at Hannibal for a fleeting second, his astonishingly blue eyes filled with uncertainty.

“I haven’t even been able to tell Alana about Mason killing Jasper,” Will whispered suddenly. “I can’t... that’s the first time I’ve even been able to say it aloud.”

“You are doing incredibly well Will,” Hannibal reassured him. “This is a big step.”

“I guess so,” Will mumbled, barely audible. “I felt so guilty when I couldn’t say anything to the people that performed Jasper’s post-mortem. I wanted to tell them that I could make a statement, tell them what he did to Jasper but I just froze. I should have told the FBI, should have – ”

“Will,” Hannibal cut him off softly. “You do not need to put these pressures on yourself. Your main focus now should be on yourself and helping yourself.”

Will went rigid and turned to look at Hannibal. “Do you have children Dr. Lecter?”

Hannibal paused, eyes sweeping over Will. His eyes shone with the promise of feral anger and his lips were twitching, ready to pull back into a defensive snarl. Hannibal found it truly wonderful. “No. I have never bonded or had children.”

“Then you have absolutely no idea that it is physically impossible to ever put yourself first again once you’ve had children,” Will snapped, scarred knuckles turning white from the pressure of his tightened fists. “I can’t ever put myself first ever again. I have no desire to. I failed my son, Dr. Lecter and I am never going to forgive myself for it. I don’t deserve to help myself, not when I couldn’t even protect Jasper and do the one fucking thing I should have done as a parent.”

And that was when Will Graham cracked and allowed Hannibal to see past his mumbled vagueness. Will wasn’t letting himself recover because he felt he needed to punish himself for Jasper’s death. He blamed himself and was lashing out at himself and it made something inside of Hannibal twinge painfully.

“So not allowing yourself to recover is your own personal punishment for yourself for what you believe you’ve done wrong?” Hannibal asked, needing Will to confirm it.

“If that’s what you want to call it,” Will bit back bitterly.

Before Hannibal could speak again, Will swiftly rose to his feet and turned on Hannibal.

“It was nice to meet you Dr. Lecter,” Will stiffly forced out, his eyes looking misty and swimming. “I’m sorry if I’ve wasted your time today.”

“Wasted my time?” Hannibal repeated, nearly laughing. “No Will, of course not. The complete opposite in fact. I have very much enjoyed meeting you and being allowed to speak with you. I would very much like to meet you again if you would be so kind.”

Will grimaced, eyes flickering everywhere but Hannibal’s face. “I...”

“Of course, if you wish for me to cease any contact with you I will say goodbye and leave you in the good hands of Dr. Bloom.”

“No!” Will blurted out, his eyes wide and mouth twisting in shock at his outburst. “I mean I... I want you to come back if you... God, I’m sorry.”

“Please Will, it’s me that should be apologising,” Hannibal replied steadily. “I have clearly made you uncomfortable.”

“You can come back,” Will swallowed. “If you like.”

“I would like to very much Will,” Hannibal smiled warmly. “Thank you.”

Will just gave him a stiff, curt nod, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking back towards the day room, jerking his head to look back to ensure Hannibal was walking with him.

Hannibal very briefly allowed himself to inhale a deep lungful of the alluring scent that lingered around Will, a scent of comforting warmth and unknown undertones of something darker and more exhilarating. A wonderful combination, Hannibal mused to himself.

Will went straight to his room after Hannibal left, nearly hyperventilating after he slammed the door shut. He sank down to the floor against the door, drawing his knees up to his chest and placing his palms flat on the floor.

Ten toes. Feet. Ankles, calves, knees. Thighs, hips, stomach. Abdomen. Lungs filling up and deflating again. Heart. Collar bones. Shoulder blades and spine. Arms, elbows, wrists. Pulse. Hands, knuckles eight fingers and two thumbs. Neck and throat. Jaw. Teeth. Tongue and gums, cheeks and ears. Nose, eyebrows and eyes. Skull and cranium. Hair. This and this and this.

The process helped him to ground himself. Recounting as many body parts as he could forced him to focus on making sure he could feel his own being again, bring him down. By the time he was done, his chest wasn’t heaving with panicked breaths anymore.

What the fuck was that?

Who was this doctor that had just walked into Port Haven and stripped him back to his core within a meagre hour? Will felt well and truly rattled, shaken. Hannibal Lecter was dangerous, Will decided. No one had ever dismantled him that quickly and then simply watched with a cool gaze and a small smile as he told him to put himself back together again. No one had ever made him feel so on edge, made him so aware of every little thing about himself right down to point where the air around him felt like it vibrated from a single breath. Dr. Lecter made his blood sting.

Will reached a trembling hand up to the back of his neck to touch his mating bite. It stung to touch and had felt like it was on the fire the entire time Dr. Lecter had been with him. Will thought back to what Nick had told him in the hospital, about how he would experience pain in the small bundle of nerves and gland underneath the bite for a few months. He hadn’t said it would feel like he was getting burnt alive, like someone was flaying his skin from his neck and shoving scolding pokers into his nerves. It made Will nauseous.

He shouldn’t have agreed to meet him again. Stupid, Will thought to himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was like he hadn’t been in control of his own mouth, the words just pouring from him in a garbled mess, like vomiting at Hannibal’s shiny, Italian leather shoed feet. Why had he said he’d meet him again? Hannibal was going to chip away at every little bit of the walls Will had fortified for himself, sliding away one brick at a time. He could see it now. Hannibal walking in the gardens with him every day, sitting in his room with him by the window just so innocently dismantling everything he’d structured in his own head.

Will’s eyes focused out of their blurry state to stare at the tiny little urn resting on the bedside table.

You have absolutely no idea that it is physically impossible to ever put yourself first again.

It was true, and Will knew it to his core. Some nights he wondered whether he was really even a parent. He’d never nurtured Jasper, never held him properly, never rocked him to sleep or fed him more than once. He would never get to grasp on to tiny hands or stroke the first locks of hair or read bed time stories.

Will only wished he’d created a more intricate, violent death for Mason.

He remained on the floor, staring at the urn. His father’s solicitor – it had startled Will that his father had even been able to afford a solicitor – had written to him a few weeks ago to inform him his father had left him everything in his will. The money had been set up in an account in his name and was accessible at any point, the solicitor told him. Will had inherited the trailer and their old boat too. The letter had explained that the arrangements for the will had been set up the moment that Will’s mother had packed up and left when he was a few weeks old. Will never wondered where she was, where she’d gone to. Who she was. His father had always reiterated that Will didn’t need her. They got by just fine, thank you very much, just the two of them.

Will decided he would ask Alana to help him buy a plane ticket to Louisiana with the money his father had left him. He’d go and scatter Jasper’s ashes, visit the old trailer park one more time and then get his father’s solicitor to sell the trailer and the boat. There was no point in keeping it. There was nothing left for him in Louisiana anymore. There never really had been.

Chapter Text

Margot forced herself to take a series of deep breaths as she sat in the car park of Port Haven. It was raining today, a steady and miserable drizzle that seemed to seep into her bones. She had managed to get about five hours of sleep last night, which was more than she’d been getting most nights. Every time she closed her eyes she heard the shrieking of Mason’s pigs and saw his body slouched against his bed with his guts hanging from his abdomen, his skinless face.

Exhale.

She swiftly exited the car and made her way into the reception. The receptionist smiled at her, glancing up from the computer.

“Good afternoon Miss Verger,” she smiled brightly. “Here to see Mr. Graham?”

“Yes,” she mumbled, fumbling to put the umbrella down.

“Take a seat and I’ll let Dr. Bloom know you’re here.”

Margot lowered herself onto the plush sofa in the waiting room, eyes darting about nervously. She disliked Port Haven, nearly as much as Will did. It was too close to home, too much of a reminder that she could have ended up here as well. The law simply didn’t allow any comprehension for the possibility that Omegas could commit crimes; Omegas were just shipped off to psych wards rather than being arrested. They were too delicate, after all. The FBI wouldn’t have hesitated to send her packing along with Will if they knew she’d orchestrated this whole lie.

The soft step of Alana Bloom greeted her ears and she glanced up to take in the sight of chocolate waves, rose tinted cheeks and vibrant blue eyes.

Margot’s chest constricted.

“Dr. Bloom,” she smiled, standing up. “Thank you for allowing me to see Will at such short notice. I’ll make sure I get in touch next time.”

“It’s no problem at all Margot. You’re more than welcome to drop by any time,” Alana beamed sweetly.

As they walked, Alana glanced over to Margot. “You know, your visits here don’t always have to be about Will. I know you’re trying to provide a support network for him, but you need your own network
Margot. I’m always happy to talk if you need someone.”

“Offering me therapy, Dr. Bloom?” Margot chided her shyly. “I hope you’re not trying to get me to move in here too.”

“I’m not always on the war path trying to get everyone I meet admitted to Port Haven,” Alana chuckled. “I just can’t switch off the worrying, especially with Will. I know I couldn’t do what you’re doing and I certainly know I couldn’t sit alone at Muskrat Farm all day with no one to turn to.”

“And what makes you think I have no one to turn to?” Margot asked, raising a perfectly plucked and shaped eyebrow.

“Maybe that was presumptuous of me,” Alana admitted apologetically. “But am I wrong?”

“No,” Margot replied slowly. “No, you’re not.”

They reached Will’s bedroom and Alana knocked softly against the wood. The door opened a few seconds later and Will peered around the door, bleary eyed. Margot noted he still hadn’t put any weight on, his face still too thin. Too many protruding bones. His hair was mussed and unkempt and he smelt of a deep, dreamless sleep. The bags underneath his eyes bulged slightly when he smiled in greeting.

“Hey Margot,” Will croaked, his voice thick with sleep. “Come in.”

“I’ll see you later Margot,” Alana said politely, turning and leaving them.

Margot watched her leave.

Will shut the door behind her when she stepped inside and he dropped himself into one of the armchairs by his window. She joined him, sitting in the other chair facing him.

“I’m still not sure it’s ok that you’re paying the bills for this,” Will told her, rubbing his eyes and gesturing a flailing hand at the room.

“I’m sure Dr. Bloom would have found some sort government funding for you to be here regardless,” Margot soothed him. “She was determined to get you under her care.”

“Yeah. She was.”

They regarded each other for a few moments. Margot observed Will’s trembling hands and Will observed the half moons of purple sitting neatly beneath her eyes. Margot took in his rattling breath and nervous blinking and Will took in her unhealthily pale pallor.

“We look like shit,” Will remarked.

“That we do,” Margot agreed, grinning at him. “But then again I’m pretty sure we always have.”

“Living with your brother will do that to you,” Will laughed dryly.

“Living on your own does it too apparently.”

“I keep wanting to ask you if you’re ok each time I see you, but you don’t seem to be getting any closer to it, not close enough for me to ask,” Will sighed. “Maybe you should let me know when you’re nearly ok and then I can ask how you are without sounding like an idiot.”

“I’ll make sure I let you know,” Margot swallowed. “Sorry I can’t give you a time frame.”

Will shrugged. “S’alright. Same applies here I guess. Although I feel like I had a sort of break through the other day.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Last week. Alana’s friend, he’s a psychiatrist. She must have gotten so fed up with not getting anywhere with me she asked him to help out.”

“What’s he like?”

“Dr. Lecter is like no one I’ve ever met before.”

“Is... is he alright with you? He’s not one of those creepy Alpha therapists that use their profession as an excuse to fuck around with Omegas’ heads is he? Mason made me see someone like that once.
He made me want to be sick.”

“I don’t think anyone’s ever talked to me like he does,” Will admitted. “Alana and all the other staff here just seem to handle me with kid gloves, but he just... I don’t know, there was no act there. He was just honest with me. I liked it. Made me feel a little bit more normal.”

“What did you talk about?”

“About why I can’t get back in touch with how I feel. For the first time I said out loud that Mason killed Jasper,” Will murmured, his face twisted as if in pain. “I actually... actually told someone for the first time.”

“That’s...,” Margot began but trailed off. “That’s good? I don’t know. I mean obviously you need to talk about it but I know you’re finding it really hard Will. I just...”

“What, you think he’s playing mind games with me and getting me to say shit I don’t want to?” Will scoffed. “He’s not trying to trick me into something. There’s no reason to be suspicious of him.”

“I’m finding myself suspicious of pretty much everyone nowadays,” Margot breathed, her voice trembling. “I get so paranoid.”

“Paranoid they’ll find out you covered up Mason’s death?”

She nodded. “I keep thinking I’m going to get a knock at the door any day now and they’re going to arrest me and throw me in here with you because they know what I did. Because they know I lied to them and made you lie too.”

“You were protecting us.”

“And what if I didn’t do enough Will?” she hissed, eyes widening. “What if I haven’t said enough or I’ve said too much? What if there’s something I’ve missed?!”

“Margot,” Will said calmly, looking her dead in the eye. “The only reason they would ever find out I killed your brother is if either one of us tells someone.”

Margot sat back, sucking in a sharp breath, clearly struggling to concentrate. “Maybe I deserve to be found out. I’m just as responsible for what Mason did to you as he is.”

“Oh, don’t,” Will groaned, tipping his head back. “You want to take responsibility for that, Margot? You really want to hold your hands up and say you knew about the trafficking ring and you knew Mason was keeping me in that fucking room the whole time?”

“I’m an accomplice in all this Will,” Margot snapped, gritting her teeth. “I was involved just as much as Mason was. I acted as his fucking prison guard for God’s sake, and I just sat there and lied until I was blue in the face to Agent Crawford and Dr. Bloom! I denied it all, denied ever even knowing you when the whole damned time I was helping him keep you in that room!”

Will blinked, taking in her anger. “Yeah. Yeah, you did help him. Yeah, you did keep me there just as much as he did. You could have let me out at any time but you didn’t. You didn’t do anything because he would have found me the minute I set my foot off the property and he would have dragged me straight back. And we both know he would have made you suffer for it.”

“Jesus Will,” Margot exhaled, leaning back in the armchair. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Go and tell Dr. Bloom right now if you want. Go and tell her about how you saw me every day for those three years I was at Muskrat Farm, that you knew what he was doing to me. Go and tell her how you just closed the door and walked away whilst I killed your brother. Tell her how you disposed of his body, burnt everything that his blood had touched. Go and tell her if you really feel so bad Margot.”

“Will - ”

“No, Margot,” Will huffed, bristling. “Don’t sit there and relay to me all the things you’ve done because I know. I was there. Don’t tell me you feel guilty and you don’t know what to do, because you made your decision the minute you tossed Mason into the pit. You made that choice, and you know I don’t care if they know I killed him. I’m doing this for you, telling them the lies you want me to tell them because I care about you.”

“I’m scared Will,” Margot muttered, desperately trying to qualm the tears that were beginning to emerge. “What if this was the wrong thing to do?”

“If you think it’s the wrong thing to do, then I already told you; go and tell Dr. Bloom right now and tell the police the whole story. But you have to remember that you’ve already lied Margot. You can’t exactly go and confess everything now and expect not to face a harsher reality. If they know you lied to them, they know that we’ve been conspiring this whole time. They won’t take it lightly.”

“I feel like I’ve ruined everything,” Margot moaned into her hands. “I’ve ruined it.”

“Listen to me,” Will muttered, leaning forwards. “Just stop it. You made a choice and by making that choice, you decided for me too. So don’t sit there and tell me how scared or sorry you are, because you’ve had the freedom to choose this whole fucking time Margot. I don’t get that privilege, don’t you see? I don’t get to sit there and cry about all this like you do. I get being holed up in a fucking psych hospital with my son’s fucking ashes sat next to my bed.”

“I’m so sorry Will,” Margot sobbed. “You don’t understand how sorry I am! I hate myself for this, hate that I let this happen to you! You were just a child for God’s sake, you didn’t deserve any of this. I should have just helped you, I should have just gotten you out of there, called the police, I don’t know!”

“You were terrified of him,” Will sighed, softening. “I don’t blame you for feeling trapped. He hurt you too Margot. But don’t feel fucking sorry for me, I can’t stand it. The only one who deserves anything in this situation is Jasper.”

“This is all so fucked Will,” Margot muttered, gripping her hair in her hands. “I just want to fix it.”

“Fix it?” Will asked incredulously, almost barking out a bitter laugh. “This isn’t the sort of thing you can just fix. All you can do is commit to the situation you’ve created.”

“This is all my fault. All of this, I could have stopped it all. I could have just phoned the police the night those men dropped you off at the house and what would Mason have done? It would have been too late by the time they got there, he couldn’t have done anything to you then.”

“There’s no point in thinking about it now,” Will told her, casting his gaze to the window. “It’s done.”

Margot’s pale, fine fingered hand came to lay over Will’s shaking one, the fingernails half grown back now but the joints still swollen from healing, the bruises yellowing and the cuts and scrapes sitting there with thick, bumpy scabs. The sight of Will’s hands made Margot’s stomach turn and twist. They sat in silence, Will staring out the window and Margot staring at him.

“So this Dr. Lecter. You think he can help you?”

Will shrugged. “I want him to be able to. I just don’t know how to do the other part; how to be helped.”

“Well,” Margot sniffed, swiping a thumb over a deep scab on Will’s knuckle. “If he’s as good as you say he is, I’m sure you’ll work something out with him.”

Alana showed her out to the car park, the rain finally ceasing for a few moments.

“Dr. Bloom?” Margot murmured hesitantly before they said goodbye.

“Yes Margot?”

Margot felt like she’d oozed out into a Margot shaped puddle when that smile stretched up on Alana’s lips. “What you were saying before about needing a support network for myself. I... I’ve been thinking about it whilst I was seeing Will.”

“I see I made a point then,” Alana grinned.

“Yeah,” Margot smiled in return, hoping her smile wasn’t too grim. “I’d like to... I wanted to ask you how you felt about being part of that support.”

“I was hoping you might ask,” Alana admitted, her smile turning sheepish. “I’m happy to offer you a life line Margot.”

“I don’t want therapy,” Margot said quickly, a slight tone of panic slipping into her voice. “I just suppose I need someone to talk to. Someone other than Will.”

Alana nodded. “Of course. Did Will explain to you the situation with Dr. Lecter?”

“His therapist who’s not really his therapist?”

“Exactly. Think of it as unofficial, no strings attached. An outlet for you.”

A smirk pulled at Margot’s lips. “You’re making this sound like something slightly more than unofficial therapy Dr. Bloom.”

Alana blushed. “Please, call me Alana. Dr. Bloom is for when I’m at work and you’re not my patient Margot. And I’m sorry; I meant more along the lines of getting coffee together when you feel you need someone to talk to.”

Margot smiled and shook her head. “It’s alright... Alana.”

“Well you have my number,” Alana conceded, feeling uncharacteristically timid. “Call me whenever you need to.”

“Thank you Alana,” Margot murmured sincerely. “It means a lot.”

“It’s no problem.”

Alana dug her fingernails into her palms as she watched the Omega slip into her car and pull out of the car park and remained in the entrance to Port Haven until Margot’s car disappeared from sight. What did you just get yourself into, you idiot?.

Shaking her head as if it would clear out all thoughts of Margot Verger, Alana turned and strode back into the building. She had two more patients scheduled in with her that afternoon and then Hannibal had agreed to come over to see Will again. There were other things to focus on right now, things other than rounded blue eyes and unsure little smiles that made her so frustratingly distracted.

Hannibal had filled her in on his first meeting with Will after the Omega had abruptly ended their time together and had sent Hannibal back to Alana whilst he vanished to his bedroom. Alana wasn’t surprised by the flighty behaviour. Will often walked out of group therapy sessions and bolted himself in his room or refused to sit and eat even half of a meal before he was found curled up in a corner of the garden, aimlessly staring at the sky. Alana hadn’t expected, however, to find Hannibal so hung up about it. He seemed disappointed that Will had practically fled, but Alana just supposed that was because he wasn’t used to Will’s behaviour yet. He was used to neurotic patients who wailed in his pristine office and demanded his attention. Will didn’t demand anything of anyone.
Alana busied herself with paperwork and her patients for the rest of the afternoon, filling out new anti-anxiety prescriptions for both of her patients. It was something she did far too often, she felt. She hated dosing people up on medication, but the majority of the Omegas at Port Haven practically begged for the medication. It was the only way they could sleep at night most of the time. Alana reviewed Will’s medication notes after her last patient left her office.

The usual anti-depressants Port Haven prescribed. Heat suppressants as well. Alana pressed her lips together. Will rarely spoke of his sexuality to her. It wasn’t as if Alana expected him to, but she felt that a lot of Will’s problems stemmed from his struggle to accept that he had never had the right experience with presenting. It was just another thing he felt disconnected from. He hadn’t had the caring and careful environment Omegas needed for presenting. He’d been thrust into the worst situation imaginable and forced to deal with this bizarre new aspect of himself. Despite experiencing multiple heats and pregnancies and even child birth – things Alana had never herself experienced – Will still seemed to be uncomfortable with being an Omega, still couldn’t seem to grasp it. Alana had hoped that by being surrounded by other Omegas, Will would perhaps reach out to them and start un-scramble all of his confusion and frustration.

He hadn’t, of course. He’d barely breathed a word to anyone.

She knew the other Omegas talked about him. Knew they whispered to each other about the boy who’d been subjected to such awful things far too young. She knew he made them uneasy because he wasn’t like them. It was true they weren’t like other Omegas, but Will was different tenfold. He didn’t cry like they did, didn’t desperately seek out comfort and solace, and didn’t open himself to anything. He was cold and harsh and silent, and even to Omegas that were deemed fractured by the outside world, Will was abnormal to them.

Alana had come to the conclusion that Hannibal may be Will’s only hope.

“How has he been since we met last week?” Hannibal enquired as they walked to the dining room where Alana had spotted Will earlier.

“The usual. We can barely get him to partake in group therapy sessions, his sessions with me are almost painful he’s so reluctant to talk to me. He’s still not eating properly or attempting to socialise with the others.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hannibal told her earnestly. “I know it frustrates you so to watch him relentlessly dig his heels in. I imagine you feel quite stuck with him.”

“Stuck is right,” Alana agreed. “But I’m not deterred. He’s trying to throw me off, make me come to the conclusion that he’s a lost cause but I’m not budging either. We’re just as stubborn as each other I suppose.”

Hannibal simply smiled to himself, allowing Alana to go into the dining room before him. There were a couple of Omegas in the room, sitting together round neat squared tables, talking in low voices. Will was sat on his own, as Hannibal suspected he would be. He was slumped in his chair, one arm on the table propping his head up whilst the other hand gripped his fork and pushed his food around the plate. He was wearing glasses this time, Hannibal noted. Hannibal stopped himself before he could address the fact he found the look completely endearing.

Professional, Hannibal reminded himself. P-r-o-f-e-s-s-i-o-n-a-l.

Will glanced up as they neared the table. Hannibal noted with interest the twitch in his jaw and the slight dilation of Will’s pupils. His scent crawled into Hannibal’s nose, the same sultry, warm and promising scent. It was as if a hidden part of the Omega was whispering to him. There are things you don’t know about me, Dr. Lecter.

“Good evening Will,” Hannibal greeted him smoothly, offering him warm smile. “How are you?”

“Hello,” was all Will offered him in return.

“Will, I feel like I’m sixteen again and babysitting my neighbour’s child,” Alana laughed softly. “Doing the whole ‘you’re not allowed to leave the table until you’ve finished your dinner’.”

Will shrugged. “Well the nurse didn’t quite say it like that to me, but he may as well have. Apparently I need to eat everything on this plate if I want to leave.”

Hannibal seated himself at the table opposite Will. “You need your strength Will.”

Will merely sent him a half hearted glare before looking back down at the plate, fork scraping against the porcelain as he continued to push his food about. Alana sighed and placed a hand on Will’s shoulder.

Hannibal watched him flinch at the gesture just as he had done the first he met Will. Despite how soft Alana’s approach was, it still seemed to make Will recoil.

“Please Will, try to eat more,” Alana encouraged him. “I’m expecting that plate empty by the time you’re done talking to Hannibal.”

Will made a noise of disgust and glowered at her as she left. “Looks like you’re going to be here for a while then Dr. Lecter.”

“I have no issue with that.”

Will bit the inside of his cheek and attempted to suppress the heat that prickled down his spine at his response.

“Have you no appetite today Will?” Hannibal asked him, eyes drifting down to the plate of bland, unappealing food. He didn’t blame Will.

“No appetite today. No appetite yesterday. Just no appetite in general,” Will replied, his voice thin and worn out. “I’m pining, don’t you know Dr. Lecter?”

“You say it as though you disagree with yourself.”

“I don’t know what’s going on with me,” Will muttered, waving his fork in the air. “Just telling you what the nurses are saying. I’m pining for my mate apparently.”

The thought of it caused a flash of anger to burst into Hannibal’s thoughts. The thought of Will being mated to someone else was unpleasant to say the very least, and his reaction the situation was something Hannibal did not want to think about now. He didn’t want to think about what it meant that he felt anything negative whatsoever about Will being bonded to someone else.

“Perhaps. My guess would be that it is your son that is the cause of your disinterest in food, or any other meaningful activity for that matter. I doubt you hold much affection for Mason Verger.”

“No affection whatsoever other than the affection my biology dictates I have to feel,” Will bit back. “Hate isn’t a good enough word for what I felt for Mason. Unfortunately being an Omega means that you would want to die for your mate no matter how they treat you.”

“Was that what it was like being bonded to Mason?” Hannibal asked delicately, his voice careful and strained. “A biological urge to care for him despite hating him?”

“Alana told me forced bonds are always weaker, but prevalent nonetheless,” Will sighed. “It turns out I’m not exempt from that rule. Being bonded to Mason was sickening. I hated it, hated myself for it and hated him. I couldn’t help but want to... to make him happy. It was like some sort of sick joke. I wanted nothing more than to get out of there and run, but the bond tied me to him.”

“And now?” Hannibal pushed him. “How does your bond make you feel now?”

“I try not to think about it,” Will swallowed. “I try not to think about him at all. Even thinking of his face makes my skin crawl.”

I suppose that’s why I skinned him, Will thought to himself.

“The intimacy of a bond must be difficult to accept,” Hannibal murmured, his face thoughtful. “Having it forced upon you at such a young age must have tinted your feelings towards the whole concept of bonding.”

“I think it’s the most dreadful thing that has ever existed,” Will replied flatly, his eyes hard and unfaltering. “I don’t understand why we have to be vulnerable to the possibility that we can be tied to someone like that. The fact that Mason did the things he did and yet I was still forced by my biology to care about him in some way, just because he pinned me down and bit me... it doesn’t seem fair.”

“It sounds like you’ve given it a lot of thought,” Hannibal observed.

“Of course I have. I didn’t have much else to do while I was locked in that room. There are days when I wish I could just cut the scar from the bite away and remove my mating gland.”

Hannibal was slightly surprised by how brutally honest Will was being with him about such an intimate topic, one that many of his other Omega patients avoided and blushed over as if it was some sort of dirty secret. Hannibal then reminded himself that of course Will was so bleak and open about it, he was never subjected to the embarrassed attitude society approached Omega sexuality with. Will had had no one to talk to other than Mason about things like bonding and mating. Hannibal couldn’t imagine Mason being subtle about the topic.

“There are some countries that actually provide such services,” Hannibal informed him. “They have doctors that will operate to remove a mating bite and the mating gland.”

“Really?” Will asked, his interesting piquing. “What happens?”

“It’s a controversial procedure. A lot of the Omegas who undergo the surgery die. The physical stress of having a mating mark removed along with the gland is an extreme process for Omegas to go through.”

“And the ones that don’t die?”

“The research shows they all slip into severe depressions. There are a lot of suicides.”

Will sat back in his chair with a huffed sigh, clearly displeased by the news.

“Would you consider such a surgery?”

“Absolutely,” Will immediately replied.

“And what if in the future you changed your mind? If you came to regret that decision?”

“And why would I regret ridding myself of something I despise and never asked for?” Will asked sharply, narrowing his eyes at Hannibal.

Hannibal shrugged casually. “You may wish to start a family. You may wish to bond with someone at some point in the future.”

“You and I have very different versions of my future Dr. Lecter,” Will smiled weakly.

“And what is the future that you imagine for yourself, Will Graham?”

“One where there isn’t any children and there is no mate,” Will scoffed, the reaction defensive but clearly disguising the hurt beneath. “I won’t go through it again.”

Hannibal considered this for a moment then, regarding the fidgeting Omega with trembling hands in front of him. Will gazed back at him for an unusually long time, nothing like his normal fleeting glances and awkward shifting looks. He broke his gaze again, eventually, dropping it down to the plate in from of him on the table.

“I think,” Hannibal began softly, still watching him. “That if it was the other way around and I was in your position, knowing that I was capable of having a future and a life outside of Mason Verger would be the biggest act of revenge towards him. Knowing I could choose in the future, have the freedom to love who I wanted would be the worst thing possible for someone like Mason. It would make him turn in his grave to have worked so hard to make your life unbearable and then know you were happy and had the things he never wanted you to have.”

“I believe the point of revenge is that the other person experiences it, and experiences it deeply,” Will said lowly, his eyes flickering over Hannibal’s face. “What good would that version of revenge be to me when Mason will never know about it?”

Hannibal grinned.

Will wasn’t expecting the wide, gleaming smile that crept upon Hannibal’s lips and it made his skin feel hot and the shiny scarred flesh at the back of his neck throbbed.

If only you knew how wonderful you are, Will, Hannibal mused, finding himself utterly delighted with the subtle display of darkness presented for him. It was beautiful. He wanted to delve his hands into that darkness, immerse himself in, in Will. He wanted to nourish that darkness and watch it blossom under his guidance. He wanted to move across the table and trap Will in his arms and never let him go.

“Did you ever fantasise about killing Mason, Will?” Hannibal asked him, his eyes gleaming with knowledge of where he was steering Will.

What he did not expect was for Will to freeze in his seat and look as if Hannibal had just walked in on him completely nude. Will looked as if he wanted to crawl out of his own skin, and Hannibal fancied that he could hear Will’s heart crashing around messily in his ribcage. Will’s scent became clogged with fear, the scent curling around Hannibal’s senses.

“Excuse me?” Will choked out, his voice high and horrified and barely above a whisper.

“Did you ever think about killing him?” Hannibal repeated.

Will went silent again and averted his eyes to his plate of cold, untouched food. “I think I’d like to end this conversation Dr. Lecter. I’m not feeling very well.”

“Are you truly not feeling well, Will, or are you simply retreating as you did last time when I introduced a topic to you that you found uncomfortable?”

Will looked at him and Hannibal did not miss the soft, Omegan whine in the back of Will’s throat and the pleading in his eyes. It made Hannibal almost purr at the submission, made him want to taste the anxious sweat that was prickling on Will’s skin.

“I don’t feel well,” Will repeated through gritted teeth.

Hannibal watched him squirm in his seat and wondered how long he could keep Will trapped with nothing but his gaze, nothing but a commanding look that would make him slither to his knees if Hannibal wished it.

“Is there anything I can do?” Hannibal offered.

Will did look slightly queasy, to be fair. His skin had paled to an ashy grey and his hands were trembling even more than usual. His chest started to rise and fall more rapidly, more sharply and his eyelids were fluttering.

“Will? Can you look at me?” Hannibal called out to him, sounding a million miles away.

Will wanted to throw his plate of untouched food at Hannibal’s head he was so angry. How had he just caused Will to tip over the edge with a simple question, send him spiralling into the beginnings of a panic attack? He hadn’t had a single panic attack the whole time he had been at Port Haven and it seemed that all it took was one look and a few words from the Alpha and Will was diving head first into one.

“Will?”

He tried to clutch at the table but the ground felt like it was slipping away from him. He couldn’t breathe. The panic was rising in his chest like a rumbling tsunami, crashing through his senses and pulling any sort of sense he had along with it as he began to flail in his own mind.

He didn’t feel Hannibal’s hands touching him, didn’t feel him lift him out his chair and guide him out of the dining room. He didn’t notice the frantic whispers from the other Omegas in the room, didn’t notice how Hannibal was practically holding him up as sobs and choked breaths gurgled from his throat and his eyes rolled. The sweat was sliding over his skin and he felt like his lungs were going to burst. He couldn’t get enough air in and his skin felt like it was tightening around his bones. It was just like the moments at Muskrat Farm when all it took was a single smile from Mason to send him over the edge, to cower in the corner of his room and scream and plead.

Mason. Mason and his snigger and his cold, gripping hands and his hot breath in Will’s ear.

Will felt delirious.

The hands around him suddenly felt far too familiar and wrong, so wrong. He needed to get away, needing to wrangle himself free and run.

“No, no, no,” Will whispered to himself. “No, no, no!”

The hands around him did not relent their hold and Will felt like he was going to pass out. There were voices everywhere, all of them sounding exactly like Mason. Will could feel his nails digging into his skin and he waited for the first bite, the first fist. Mason’s face leered up in front of him, sneering at Will like he always did. Always so disappointed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry Mason,” Will sobbed, tears beginning to stream down his face.

God, he couldn’t breathe. His skin was on fire.

Hannibal watched Will squirm and shake as the orderlies and nurses took him from his grasp and attempted to arrange Will into the recovery position, but the minute Will went to the floor he began to scream. He was delusional, completely immersed in a full blown panic attack sent straight from the memories of Mason Verger. He was most likely reliving Mason raping him, no doubt hallucinating his dead mate was there in the corridor with them, pinning him down.

“Get off me! Mason no, no - ” Will screeched, hitting out at the nurse closest to him. Her skin cracked at the contact of his hand on her face.

She gasped and recoiled and Hannibal was about to intervene when Alana’s voice reached his ears.

“Will?!”

She hurried to him, eye wide with shock. “Will, can you hear me?”

“Mason, I’m sorry,” Will sobbed violently, turning his head into the carpet beneath him. He was practically vibrating he was shaking so much, still trying to fight against the orderlies and nurses that were pinning him down.

Alana attempted to reach out for him but quickly withdrew her hand when Will let out another heart wrenching scream, his sobs choking in his throat.

“The baby Mason, please the baby! Please don’t, the baby!” Will wailed into the carpet, convulsing as he shook and fought against the nurses.

“He needs to be sedated,” Hannibal told Alana in a low voice, not taking his eyes off of Will. “He’s going to either harm one of your staff or himself if he’s not sedated immediately.”

Just as Hannibal predicted, Will began attempting to claw at his own skin. The attempt was in vain, as Will’s fingernails were too blunt and not fully grown back yet. One of the orderlies released his grip on Will and darted down the corridor to the medical supplies room, throwing the door open.

“Will,” Alana uttered soothingly. “Will, I need you to listen to me. No one is going to hurt you. You’re in Port Haven. You are safe.”

“I’m sorry,” Will continued to blabber nonsensically, his eyes rolling his head as he gasped in a lungful of air. “I’m sorry Mason, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m - ”

“Got it,” the orderly grunted upon his return.

“His neck, we can’t keep his arms pinned down still enough,” one of the nurses instructed him.

The orderly nodded grimly and approached the flailing, sobbing Omega. He moved Will’s hair away from the skin of his neck and Hannibal saw his mating bite for the first time. It made him feel nauseous and that was not a feeling Hannibal Lecter was familiar with. The bite was deep and so thickly scarred, not yet beginning to fade after Mason’s death. The severity of the scar looked as if it would take longer than usual to fade. It looked like Mason had bitten and ripped into Will far too many times to count.

Will went alarmingly still when his hair was moved and he felt contact with his neck. “NO!”

The orderly injected him swiftly, the sedative flooding Will’s blood stream.

“No, no, no,” Will continued to sob, still struggling. “I don’t want it, I don’t want it Mason!”

“Ssh,” Alana soothe him, looking like she was about to cry. “It’s ok Will, you’re ok. You’re safe.”

“No... no I don’t want...,” Will began to slur, his movements growing weaker. “Mason...”

It took all of Hannibal’s strength to not go to the Omega, to stop himself from scooping him up into his arms and touching every part of Will. He wanted to bury his face in his neck and his hands in his hair.

Will finally went lax but still continued to shake as if he was nearly fitting. Soft, wordless mumbles fell from his mouth and were lost into the carpet, his eyes rolling hazily in their sockets as his lids began to sink.

“Jesus,” Alana breathed, shakily placing a hand in Will’s hair and stroking the curls. “What just happened?”

“Will said he did not feel well,” Hannibal told her, his voice sounding unusually hoarse and shaken. “He started having a panic attack and it escalated. Immensely.”

Alana looked up at him from where she knelt on the floor next to the quivering Omega. “This is the first time anything like this has happened to him.”

“He was doing incredibly well,” Hannibal told her. “He just seemed to turn suddenly.”

Alana looked back down at Will and let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. “We need to get him into bed.”

Hannibal stepped back as the orderlies gingerly gathered the limp Omega together and one of them picked him up. Hannibal felt a tense pang of ferocity at the sight of another’s arms cradling Will, one arm under his knees and the other around his torso as his head lolled over the side. He and Alana followed the orderly to Will’s room and watched as he placed Will down in the bed. Hannibal felt slightly overwhelmed at Will’s scent hitting him in the face like a brick wall. His smell was so strong here, clinging to every surface and resting in the air like dense fog. Hannibal clasped his hands together a little too tightly.

Alana was leaning over Will in the bed, pushing his hair back from his face and feeling his forehead like an attentive, worried mother. “He’s burning up.”

“You will have him monitored throughout the night, yes?” Hannibal asked her, frowning. “I’m worried Will may be suffering more from Mason’s death than he is letting on. The physical effects of the bond dissolving are clearly having a toll on him.”

“Of course,” Alana murmured. “I’m going to watch him myself. This is so unlike him.”

“It reminds me of an Omega who was my patient years ago. Her mate died and she started to lose an interest in everything. She eventually stopped coming to therapy and I discovered she’d been admitted to a hospital because she’d started fitting and hallucinating. She had to spend the next few years of her life sedated the effects of the bond dissolving were that bad.”

“That’s not going to happen to Will,” Alana stated determinedly. “He’s going to be fine. This is just an episode, I’m sure of it. Will’s only ties to Mason were the physical ones the bond created. He didn’t actually care for Mason. He never felt anything for him.”

“No, but his relationship with Mason was so complicated that I fear the trauma is causing the process to be even worse,” Hannibal disagreed. “This entire thing is upside down for Will.”

Alana fixed her gaze on Will, biting her lip. “I won’t have him subjected to touch therapy if you are about to suggest it.”

“I wasn’t. But it helps with some grieving Omegas.”

“Will is grieving his son, Hannibal. Not his mate. He doesn’t need an Alpha to swamp him with any unnecessary confusion that would result from touch therapy. Can you imagine how traumatic it would be for him? To have gone through the last three years petrified of the only Alpha you knew, the one you were bonded to, and then be told it would a good idea to let another Alpha get their hands all over him?”

“You are his therapist Alana, not me,” Hannibal replied swiftly, trying to maintain his composure. “I am not suggesting you send Will to touch therapy. You’re right, it would be traumatic for him to experience any sort of intimacy with another Alpha so soon after Jasper and Mason’s deaths. I am merely pointing out that some Omegas find touch therapy comforting and that it makes the grieving process less painful.”

“I am not letting any Alpha gentle him or touch him,” Alana almost growled.

Hannibal said nothing and instead focused on Will. He was breathing normally again now but his skin was still shining with sweat and a flush was started to spread across his cheeks and down onto his neck.

“I am beginning to care for Will too Alana; I understand why you immediately felt the need to help him,” Hannibal sighed into the darkened bedroom. “I hope that you will not mind if I visit Will tomorrow to see how he is doing?”

Alana’s form slowly softened, defeat gripping her. “Of course Hannibal. I’m sorry if I snapped before. I just find myself getting defensive over him, as unprofessional as that is. I just want what’s best for him.”

“Our regard for him is mutual,” Hannibal added. “However, it would do us both well to remember that Will should decide what is best for himself. He is not a child incapable of making decisions and it’s not for us to decide for him and let our bias creep into his life. We are not here to control him.”

“You’re right,” Alana agreed, then smiled softly. “As usual.”

The next morning Will woke up to the sound of careful, gentle movements in his room. His eyelids peeled back to reveal his dimmed bedroom. Everything was blurred for a few moments, until his vision began to focus a little. He sat up, his body aching, and a hand blindly scrambled against the bedside table for his glasses. He nearly shrieked when a warm hand came into contact with his, offering him the glasses. Will ripped them away, shoving them on to his face to look up at Hannibal.

Will blinked and said nothing. Hannibal went back to the small table the armchairs were positioned around. There were two small Tupperware containers sat on the table. Hannibal removed the lids, steam rolling out of the rounded plastic into the air, carrying a fragrant smell with it.

“Smells delicious,” Will croaked, his voice scratchy and his throat raw and burning.

“Silkie chicken in a broth,” Hannibal announced, setting a spoon into the container and carrying it over to Will. “Wolf berries, ginseng, jujubes, gogi berries and star anise.”

Will observed the contents of the bowl and raised his eyebrows. “You made me chicken soup.”

Hannibal paused for a moment, fixing Will with a look that he was pretty sure would have turned him to stone if possible.

“Yes.”

Chapter Text

Will managed to get three spoonfuls of soup down his throat before he lurched from his bed and stumbled his way into the small ensuite bathroom. Hannibal didn’t even have the chance to stand up before the door was slammed behind him and the muted sound of Will’s dry heaving reached his ears. Inside the bathroom, Will collapsed to his knees and clutched the porcelain bowl he leant his head over. His eyes stung as he vomited into the toilet, his skin breaking out into a sweat.

“Will?”

Despite the hazy fog settling over his mind as he wretched into the toilet, Will felt a warm bundle of knots tighten in his chest at the sound of concern in Hannibal’s voice.

“Go away,” Will shouted to the door, promptly emptying the next to nothing contents of his stomach.

Hannibal winced at the sound of the Omega being sick, fighting to not swing the door open and comfort him. “May I come in Will?”

“No,” Will snapped through the door. “I’m fine.”

More heaving.

“You do not sound fine William.”

Will gripped the porcelain even tighter, trying to calm the dizziness swirling inside of him. He felt awful. “This is gross. I don’t want you to see.”

Hannibal opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by more hacking noises. “Will, I was a surgeon for many years before becoming a psychiatrist. Bodily functions do not faze me.”

The toilet flushed and Hannibal heard water running. The door swung open and Hannibal came face to face with Will, remarking at how pleasing his height was, the top of Will’s artfully messy curls reaching Hannibal’s chin. The perfect height for the Omega to tuck his head underneath Hannibal’s chin and bury his face into his neck and –

“I’d rather you had nothing to do with my bodily functions, Dr. Lecter” Will muttered, attempting to imitate Hannibal’s sleek purring Lithuanian accent.

Hannibal found it an amusing sound in combination with Will’s southern lilt. “Was my chicken soup that awful Will?”

The Omega was sweating and his skin was pale, as if he’d been drained of blood. Hannibal could practically feel the heat radiating off of him in waves, knowing full well that if he placed a hand on the Omega’s forehead then he would be burning underneath his touch. He was most definitely feverish, his scent betraying the illness that was settling into him.

“No,” Will mumbled, moving past him to fumble a hand past the drawn curtains to slam the open window closed. “It was the best thing I’ve eaten in years. Is it just me or is it freezingin here?”

Will crawled back into bed, a shudder passing through him as he rubbed eyes tiredly. Hannibal carefully approached the bed, eyes sweeping over Will.

“How are you feeling Will?”

“Cold,” Will replied, wrapping his arms around himself.

“Just cold?” Hannibal asked dryly. “You are an awful patient Will. You’re clearly unwell.”

“Just as well I’m not your patient then, isn’t it?” Will retorted, attempting to send a glare Hannibal’s way. “I just feel tired, that’s all.”

“Do you remember last night at all Will?” Hannibal prompted him, frowning.

“Last night?” Will repeated, blinking in confusion. “I...”

“You suffered an episode,” Hannibal told him, his voice softening. “You had a rather severe panic attack last night and began hallucinating. You had to be sedated.”

“I did what?” Will spluttered. “What the hell happened?”

Hannibal knew he was possibly pushing Will’s boundaries, but he could not refrain from lowering himself to sit at the edge of the Omega’s bed in a rather desperate attempt to get closer to Will, which appalled him. Hannibal did not experience such pedestrian things such as desperation, not for anyone. And yet here he was, revelling in the fact he sat on the bed Will lay in as if it was somehow the greatest feat in the world. He wanted to strip the duvet back and lay down with Will, but this was a completely ridiculous notion.

“We were in the dining room and I brought up what was clearly a delicate topic for you,” Hannibal sighed. “I feel that I may owe you an apology. I fear the conversation pushed you into a panic and caused your episode.”

“So the chicken soup was a complete act of guilt rather than true concern,” Will scoffed, teasing him lightly. “I don’t remember it Dr. Lecter. What sort of... hallucinations did it seem I was having?”

“I believe you thought that Mason was attacking you,” Hannibal replied simply. “You repeated his name and kept telling him you were sorry. You were rather inconsolable and began pleading with him about ‘the baby’.”

Will went quiet and rigid, staring at his shaking clammy hands before him on the sheets. “Oh.”

“We were all concerned for you Will,” Hannibal continued. “Alana has been here all night to stay up and watch you. She left about an hour ago and went to get some sleep, but I imagine she will be wanting to talk to you later today.”

“What did you ask me that made me lose it that badly?” Will forced himself to ask, the words sour in his mouth. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

Will watched Hannibal hesitate. “Are you sure you want to know? I do not want to induce another state of panic in you Will.”

“Tell me.”

“I asked you if you fantasised about killing Mason.”

Will went quiet again as he had done last night when Hannibal voiced the question, however this time he simply laced his hands together and stared at the small, simple urn that sat on his bedside table. Hannibal followed his gaze and wondered what Will’s son had looked like. Rather like all newborns, Hannibal presumed. Tiny and red and screaming. So violent. But would he have had Will’s curling dark locks? His deep ocean eyes and pomegranate lips?

“Mason smothered my son to death,” Will stated simply, as if he was describing the colour of the walls or the state of the weather. “Because he couldn’t get him to stop crying.”

Will turned and met Hannibal’s gaze and Hannibal felt as if shards of ice were being shoved into his skin Will’s eyes were so cold and dark. “Of course I thought about killing him.”

The answer made Hannibal feel almost disorientated. “I suppose the world granted you a favour then when Mason died after killing your son.”

“I wouldn’t call it a favour Dr. Lecter. A small act that attempted to come close to justice, but justice would never have been possible in that situation. There is nothing that can make Jasper’s death even remotely more bearable, not even Mason’s own death.”

“Still,” Hannibal pushed. “There is something to be said of the timing.”

Will’s face remained blank and unreadable and Hannibal wanted to split his face open and climb into his head. He wanted to know what was passing behind those icy, dark eyes and what thoughts were bundling together in Will’s mind. He wanted to turn the boy inside out and possess the blood that ran through his veins.

“I want to trust you Dr. Lecter,” Will murmured. “Can I?”

Hannibal let his eyes linger on the pulse in Will’s throat and the bead of sweat trickling down his temple, the sheen that lay over his feverish skin and dampness clinging to curls. “I believe all strong friendships are based on trust Will. If we are to be friends I would like very much for us to trust each other.”

Will hummed, a small smile hovering on his lips. “You’re being vague Dr. Lecter. Can I trust you?”

“Yes, Will.”

Will titled his head to side, regarding the Alpha for a few moments but his eyes drifted to the crack of sunlight filtering into the room through the window between the slightly parted curtains. “I’m sorry you had to deal with my... episode last night. I’m guessing it wasn’t the most pleasant thing to witness.”

“Merely an insight into Mason’s treatment of you Will, an insight I am grateful for in order to understand you better. Do not apologise.”

“I don’t really get why you want any insight into that,” Will grumbled, his fingers twitching as his trembling hands slid into fists. One of the scabs cracked slightly from the pressure, the tiniest amount of blood oozing forth.

Hannibal watched the droplet of red with fascination. For a moment he wanted Will to tighten his fists until all of those coarse scabs split open and Will’s hands would become dressed in crimson and wetness. He wondered what it would be like to taste rivulets of Will’s life force streaming down his finely boned arms, his tongue spreading his blood across his creamy, scarred arms.

These thoughts of Will were becoming too frequent. He needed to cease this.

“Insight into what you experienced with Mason? Will, Mason is the whole reason you are here. Of course I would want to know as much as I could about what your life was like with him.”

“I don’t know what else to say about it,” Will cried out in frustration, his hands coming up to grab fistfuls of his hair. “Everyone wants me to get into all the gory details of every little thing he did to me but I can’t.”

“You can’t? Or you won’t?”

“Stop it,” Will hissed, snapping his head towards Hannibal. His eyes were no longer cold and now seemed to blaze. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what Will?” Hannibal asked innocently, not shifting from where he sat on the bed. “I’m merely asking you questions. I want to help.”

Will blew out a tense breath and Hannibal amused himself at the thought of Will having to count to ten in his head to calm himself. “Don’t think I can’t see when someone is playing a game with me Dr. Lecter. I can see exactly what you’re doing and it’s not going to work.”

“What I’m doing?” Hannibal laughed in fake disbelief. “Will, I’m doing as I have done since our first meeting. I’m simply trying to get you to connect with your past, trying to get you on the road to recovery.”

“You’re pushing me and I don’t appreciate you trying to control my head.”

Will threw the duvet back, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Hannibal’s hand immediately shot out to steady the boy when his legs buckled underneath him, his body unsteady. Will flinched and a soft whine sounded in the back of his throat at the Alpha’s touch, cool on his feverish skin. He backed away immediately, his legs still wobbling. Hannibal rose swiftly, noting how Will’s pale feverishness had escalated even more, his scent tinged with the smell of sickness.

“Will, you are not well,” Hannibal soothed him softly, not attempting to reach for him again. “Please, get back into bed and I will fetch one of the nurses.”

Will’s face twisted with confusion and he looked as if he was somewhere else. “I don’t feel right.”

“I know,” Hannibal hushed him, stepping closer. “Come. Let’s get you back into bed.”

“I don’t want to,” Will mumbled, backing away again. “The sheets hurt.”

“Then you can lay on top of them,” Hannibal pointed out, another step towards Will. “I do not think you should be on your feet right now Will.”

Will’s feet clumsily moved him further way from Hannibal. “I want... I want to be alone right now, Dr. Lecter.”

“Will please,” Hannibal sighed, getting closer to Will once more in their slow dance. “I will go and find a nurse for you. You’re quite clearly feverish and need - ”

“I need you to get out,” Will cut him off, his voice weak despite his best attempts to sound serious. “I don’t need your help.”

The cold wall hit Will’s back and with horror Will realised he’d backed himself up into the wall and there was no more room to put between himself and Dr. Lecter. The Alpha’s movements were minute and careful, but he was still getting closer. Will felt like he could vomit again, the sweat dripping down his neck.

A slow hand cautiously outstretched to Will. “As endearing as your stubbornness is Will, I’m afraid I must insist you lay back down. You look like you’re about to collapse.”

Will opened his mouth and it only took a few moments to realise he was actually collapsing, as Hannibal had said, a darkness grasping him and pulling him to the floor with arms that felt far too much like Mason’s. His eyes rolled back and he momentarily caught a glimpse of Hannibal’s worry riddled expression above him as he let go.

“Nice to see you again Mr. Graham.”

The voice was soft and familiar and Will opened his eyes to find himself back in a hospital bed, Nick’s pleasant presence hovering in the room with him. Will groaned.

Alana and Hannibal were stood at the foot of the bed, watching him intently. Nick was flitting about, fussing over him, and checking his IV and the bleeping machines around him.

“Fuck sake,” Will whined, scrunching his eyes shut. “Why am I here?”

“You collapsed and began fitting and vomiting whilst you were unconscious,” Nick informed him cheerfully.

“This is ridiculous,” Will hissed, grappling at the needle sitting in the crook of his elbow in attempt to tear it out.

“Will,” Hannibal nearly snarled, freezing Will in place. “Stop it.”

Will looked up at him startled and Alana shot him a look of disbelief. Nick cleared his throat, sensing the waves of irritation and disapproval rolling off of the Alpha. Hannibal ignored them both and kept his eyes trained on Will, refusing to relent his authoritative glare. Will’s eyes turned icy and his jaw tightened as he lent back against the bed, hand falling back to his side and leaving the needle alone. His gaze drilled into Hannibal’s, his eyes screaming betrayal at the Alpha for chastising him so, and it made Hannibal want to sink his teeth into the Omega’s neck and make him submit.

These futile Alpha reactions were exhausting, Hannibal decided. They had never been a problem for him before and he prided himself on his exquisite control over his biology and the Alpha instincts he inherently possessed. He had always been the epitome of calm and collected, controlled and cool, and now this frustratingly beautiful and marvellous and absurdly wilful Omega was unwinding the lose thread Hannibal had allowed to exist. He was fearful that soon the lose thread would reveal too much of him and it would be too late to do anything about his feelings for Will.

“I, er, have some new for you Will,” Nick said eventually, breaking the stifling tension and silence in the room. “We ran some tests on you whilst you were sedated to see if we could find the reason for your collapse. Dr. Bloom tells me you had an episode last night too?”

“Apparently so,” Will gritted out, tearing his glare away from Hannibal.

“Well we got your results back about twenty minutes ago,” Nick continued, looking nervous.

“What’s wrong with me?” Will begrudgingly asked, fiddling with the hospital gown. It itched his skin.

“It’s your heat suppressants,” Nick told him sadly. “The reason you’ve started fitting and getting feverish and feeling unwell is the medication you’re on. You’re having an extreme allergic reaction to them and prolonged use will deteriorate your health even more. Reactions like yours usually result in permanent brain damage.”

Will was silent but then his lips twitched and he burst out laughing. “You have to be joking, right? How can I be allergic to heat suppressants for God’s sake?”

“It’s a rare occurrence,” Nick admitted. “There are only handfuls of reports of intolerances so severe to the medication. Unfortunately some Omegas are just not compatible with suppressants and the consequences of continuing to take them are life threatening. I’m sorry Will.”

“I can’t...” Will trailed off, his eyes blinking hard. “What about other suppressants? There are other forms of it, aren’t there? Other pills I would be able to take?”

Nick shook his head with a grim expression. “Scientists and pharmaceutical researchers have only ever been able to create one successful suppressant. They’re trying new medications all the time of course, but... it seems our biology is notoriously difficult to manage.”

“There’s no other ways of stopping my heats?” Will asked desperately, his eyes frantic and pleading.

“None that anyone has been able to come up,” Alana answered him carefully, her eyes sympathetic. “I’m so sorry Will.”

“I am not going into heat again,” Will refused, shaking his head. “I won’t.”

“Will, your heats are something that you can manage,” Nick told him in an attempt to comfort him. “With the right environment you can experience them as stress free as possible and manage them.”

“Stress free?” Will spat, his teeth bared. “Do you have any idea what heats are like for me?!”

“Will,” Alana pleaded softly, trying to placate the Omega. “We’ll figure this out, please don’t worry too much. I’ll help you, we can - ”

“Unless you can operate on me right now and get rid of my fucking insides and all the fucked chemicals in my brain and hormones then I don’t see how you can help me!”

Alana lapsed into silence, clearly stung. Hannibal sent her what he hoped was a comforting glance but the Beta ignored him. Nick sighed and soothed a hand over Will’s hair in an attempt to calm him, but Will twisted his head away, his eyes brimming with tears as he began to tremble. Hannibal cut short the distressed rumble that was stirring in his chest, horrified at what the reaction meant as he kept his feet firmly planted on the floor to stop himself from going to Will and gentling him.

“This is just great,” Will bit out, his voice bitter. “This is just typical; of course I’m allergic to suppressants. I was an idiot for believing that I could just have this one thing, this one thing I got to choose - ”

“You still have choices Will,” Nick interrupted him, insisting. “This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, I promise you. There are plenty of ways of getting through yours heats.”

“I don’t want to get through them!” Will exclaimed. “Why does no one understand this? I don’t want to have heats, not ever again!”

“We understand Will,” Hannibal assured him, his voice so rich and soothing it made Will feel like a cat being stroked, flexing with pleasure. “No one is saying you are being unreasonable in your reluctance to experience any more heats. It is completely understandable.”

“Is it?” Will laughed sarcastically, sinking back against the pillows in defeat. “I just wanted to take some control back. I just wanted this one thing. That was all.”

“There’s still plenty of time until your next heat,” Nick reminded him. “It’s five months away.”

“It could be five years away or five minutes away and it still wouldn’t be ok,” Will lamented, the tears swimming in his sockets.

Hannibal was helpless to his cruel imagination. He thought of Will in heat and pictured him writhing on Hannibal’s silk sheets, smelling like heaven and emitting the most delicious sounds. He pictured him biting down on Hannibal’s pillows and his fingers turning white they would grip so hard at the headboard whilst Hannibal feasted on him. He pictured pressing himself against Will’s back and taking him, gripping his hair and ripping his head back and lavishing the pale column of his neck with claiming bruises. And oh, how Will would beg. Hannibal could hear it now... Hannibal, please! So good, oh God....

It was a wonder Hannibal didn’t find himself sporting an erection as he snapped himself out of his day dream.

Will returned to Port Haven the next morning after being kept in for observation overnight. The doctor and Nick had told him he would still experience bouts of fever and sickness for a week or so as the suppressants left his system and the nurses at Port Haven had been instructed to keep a close eye on him. Will had never felt more coddled and fussed over in his life and he detested it. He felt like a child, all the adults shushing him and pitying his fear and sharing knowing glances with each other. Poor little Omega.

When Hannibal had left the hospital that night, Will had felt like the world was crumbling a little, cracks starting to appear in his reality. He wanted the Alpha to stay, even if he did find the man completely impossible most of the time. He couldn’t fight the impulsive need to keep Hannibal in his presence and it made his stomach bunch up into knots at the thought of Hannibal walking out and leaving to spend the night alone in his hospital room. He wanted to see the man in the same way as he saw Alana. He wanted to see him as a weary necessity, someone he would begrudgingly admit he liked but tolerated for the sake of his situation. Although, Alana was growing on him. He found that he did actually like being cared for so intensely as Alana did for him and the Beta was slowly forging herself a place in Will’s heart. Not that he would admit that to anyone; there were only so many walls he was willing to bring down.

Hannibal, on the other hand, made Will absolutely distraught. The man dragged him from hot to cold in seconds, mentally flung him from one state to next and Will didn’t know if he was coming or going with him. One moment he was making Will want to purr and preen and slide himself against the older man’s body and the next he made Will want to put as much distance between himself and the Alpha as possible. Hannibal was dismantling him and it terrified him because he wanted more. He found himself wanting to let someone get closer for the very first time.

Which was precisely why Will accepted Hannibal’s invitation to dinner in four days time.

“Would you humour me and allow me to cook for you soon?” Hannibal asked when they were alone in the hospital room before Hannibal left.

Nick had gone to tend to other patients and Alana had stepped outside to answer a phone call.

“Cook for me?”

“Yes. Unless you are adverse to the idea of dinner?”

“You want to cook me dinner?” Will repeated, as if Hannibal had just asked him to sky dive into an erupting volcano.

“Yes, Will,” Hannibal smiled. “Is the concept so strange? A friend inviting another friend to dinner?”

“But I... I can leave Port Haven?”

“I think the change of scenery would do you wonders. Slowly introducing you to different environments again is a vital part of your recovery. Confining you to Port Haven after spending three years locked in a room would be detrimental, in my opinion,” Hannibal assured him. “Alana will allow it, I assure you.”

“You want me to have dinner? With you? In your house?”

Hannibal nearly laughed. “Will, it’s quite alright if you do not wish to - ”

“No!” Will half shouted, sitting up. “No, I do. I’d like to. If you would want me to?”

“Excellent,” Hannibal hummed, satisfied. “How does Saturday sound? I can come and collect you from Port Haven if you wish or see if Alana will drive you?”

“Would you... would you come and get me?” Will asked, trying his hardest not to blush or stutter, his cheeks tingeing pink anyway.

“Of course,” Hannibal agreed. “I look forwards to seeing you on Saturday then, Will.”

“Yeah,” Will mumbled. “Saturday.”

Hannibal did not push him any further, clearly noting the boy’s shyness and uncertainty, but allowed himself to visibly smirk and his eyes gleam with the small triumph. “Good night Will. I hope you sleep well.”

“You’re going to his house?” Margot spluttered, gasping.

The other Omega had strode into Port Haven no more than an hour after Will’s return from the hospital. Will cursed Alana for having Margot’s number and letting her know he’d been in hospital.

“Yes,” Will sighed in exasperation. “For dinner. I don’t understand why you think it’s so scandalous Margot.”

“It just seems a little personal,” Margot confessed, holding her hands up. “I know he’s not officially your therapist or anything but still...”

“The fact he’s not officially my anything is why it’s not a big deal. It’s not like he’s down on record as my doctor or therapist. He thinks I need to start getting out into the world anyway.”

“You must trust him a lot,” Margot said, her voice dripping with doubt and disapproval. “To go to his house alone.”

“Margot, that is exactly the attitude I don’t need,” Will snapped at her. “I actually feel like there’s something happening here. I’m starting to... well, to feel again. I feel fucking awful a lot of the time, I won’t ignore that, but I actually find myself enjoying stuff again. It’s... nice.”

“What does Alana think about it all?” Margot asked, pursing her lips.

“She thinks it’s a good idea too. She agreed with Dr. Lecter that it would be good for me to get out of Port Haven for a few hours,” Will sniped back smugly. “Dr. Lecter isn’t some villain Margot, jeez. He’s just trying to help.”

“And you never questioned why he’s trying to help? Why he gives up hours of his time to come here voluntarily, unpaid? Why he was so adamant he was never your official therapist?”

“That’s not fair Margot,” Will muttered, hurt. “Not everyone is interested in me just for sex! Are you hearing yourself? He doesn’t have some ulterior motive to get me into bed!”

“How would you know? The whole thing just reeks of creepy, narrow minded Alpha behaviour!”

“Oh, and there’s nothing unorthodox about you and Dr. Bloom?” Will scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You’re going around trying to poke holes in my friendship with Dr. Lecter when you’re the one who’s gagging to fuck Alana!”

“That is not true!” Margot spluttered. “Alana is - ”

“She’s what? Your friend?” Will mocked her. “Don’t shit all over my parade when you’re the one who has feelings for Dr. Bloom. Me and Hannibal are friends and that’s where our relationship ends. There’s nothing weird about it.”

“He’s old enough to be your father Will! He’s what? Thirty years older than you? Don’t you think that’s a little bit weird that a forty-five year old man is inviting a seventeen year old boy around for dinner?”

Will crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not letting you ruin this for me. Hannibal has never been anything but polite to me and just because you despise Alphas and think they’re all untrustworthy, I’m beginning to trust Dr. Lecter. This is important to me Margot. I just want to be normal again.”

“Will, I just don’t want you to get hurt again,” Margot admitted with a heavy sigh, grabbing his hand. “I care about you more than I’ve ever cared about anyone and I just want to make sure you’re ok. I know I’m shitty at showing it and I fuck things up – a lot - but something just doesn’t feel right about this.”

“Think about it,” Will persisted. “Dr. Bloom can’t sing his praises enough. You trust her, right? Trust her judgement?”

Margot slowly nodded.

“And you trust me?”

“Unfortunately,” Margot teased him.

“Oh, shut up,” Will muttered, but grinned back at her. “If you’re that freaked out by it why don’t you meet him? See for yourself that there’s nothing strange going on?”

“Maybe I will,” Margot said nonchalantly, inspecting her nails. “I think it would be quite interesting to meet Dr. Lecter. You and Alana never shut up about him after all.”

“Jesus,” Will breathed, rolling his eyes. “I feel like you’re the angry older sibling stomping around trying to suss him out, on the verge of death threats.”

“That’s because I am,” Margot joked, giving him a soft shove. “And you’re my bratty little brother.”

“Fuck off,” Will grumbled, swatting back at her. “Aren’t you meant to be busy swooning over Dr. Bloom?”

Margot just gave him a look.

Saturday eventually rolled around after a few tedious days. He went to his group therapy sessions, started reading a new book, went to his sessions with Alana, popped his anti-depressants, helped one of the orderlies plant a new tree sapling in the garden and even had a conversation with the Omega from the room next to him. It was safe to say that Alana was astounded.

“You seem to have come on leaps and bounds this week Will,” she beamed at him. “Has something changed?”

“Probably just a blip in the system,” he said sarcastically. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m not taking my heat suppressants anymore.”

“How are you feeling now you’ve stopped taking them?” Alana asked, pen poised above her notepad.

“I’ve still felt a bit feverish some nights and but I haven’t been sick since yesterday. I guess it’s slowly working its way out of my system.”

“That’s great news,” Alana announced, sounding pleased. “Hopefully another week or two and your physical health will get itself back on track. How has your appetite been?”

“A little better,” Will replied, shrugging. “I’m still not sleeping great but that’s not anything new.”

“Still having nightmares?”

“They don’t even feel like nightmares. It feels like they’re real,” Will admitted. “I wake up and I can’t tell if this is the dream. They’re too... vivid.

“And they’re still the same nightmares? Still the same thing happening each time?”

“Pretty much. Some nights they’re different but he’s always there. Waiting for me when I close my eyes.”

Alana sat back and gave him a soft look. “Margot says a similar thing. She says she sees his face the minute she shuts her eyes too.”

Will looked up at her. “We can’t really seem to get away from him.”

“You will one day Will,” Alana soothed him. “It won’t always be like this, I promise.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Will smiled sadly.

Saturday night arrived and Will felt like he was going to have a heart attack he was so anxious. He was practically nauseous with nerves and decided that if he did in fact throw up in Hannibal’s presence, he would just have to blame it on the withdrawal symptoms of his heat suppressants. And his and Mason’s bond dissolving. And some weird post pregnancy hormones or something. Maybe all the sedatives people had been stabbing him with were making him feel weird. Anything but admitting that he was nervous about his evening with Hannibal.
It was incredibly difficult to not empty the contents of his stomach onto the carpet in the reception when he saw Hannibal stood waiting for him.

He was dressed in one of his usual ridiculous suits, a pale grey chequered affair with a matching waist coat and a silk blue paisley tie. Will wondered if the man owned normal clothes. Like t-shirts or jeans. Clothes that weren’t imported from Italy or France that cost more than the meagre funding his father had left for him in his will.

“Will,” Hannibal’s low timbre sounded, making his toes curl. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Will mumbled, unable to look the Alpha in the eye.

Hannibal allowed him to remain in his shell and avoid his eyes, for now. It would be different, of course, when they arrived at his home.

They walked out to the parking lot and Will nearly laughed when Hannibal approached the monstrous Bentley.

“This is ridiculous,” Will chuckled one they had settled into the vehicle. “Nobody needs a car like this.”

“No, perhaps not,” Hannibal agreed. “But I’m sure you have noticed by now that I have quite particular tastes.”

“Yes,” Will agreed dryly. “I have.”

They spent the remainder of the drive talking about how Will had been since Hannibal saw him last. He told him about his therapy with Alana, planting the tree and the conversation with the Omega next door. He told him about Margot’s outrage at their friendship.

“Margot thinks you’re up to something,” Will laughed. “She thinks you’re taking advantage of me.”

“She has every right to be suspicious,” Hannibal replied. “Alana has told me that Miss Verger is quite protective of you. It is understandable she has little time for Alphas.”

“Hmm,” Will agreed. “I know. I got a little frustrated with her. Told her that not everyone is interested in me just for sex.”

“And how did she react to that?”

“She pointed out that I couldn’t be sure you weren’t and that you were most likely abusing your position of power.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Miss Verger thinks so little of me,” Hannibal sighed.

“She wants to meet you. I think it would put her at ease and I could mention your name without her jumping down my throat and telling me that I’m being groomed,” Will told him, smiling sarcastically.

“I would be honoured to meet her. She seems to be an integral part of your life, after all,” Hannibal mused.

They pulled up in front of the large, elegant town house and Will admired it. Looking at the building, it made sense that Hannibal would own a home like this, but Will couldn’t help but imagine Hannibal probably owned some sort of sprawling estate with a full blown mansion somewhere in Europe. They exited the car and Hannibal lead him inside the house, intently watching the Omega move throughout his territory. Hannibal knew he had liked the thought of Will wandering through his home, his mere presence pleasing, but he found himself bristling with smugness at the fact he had the Omega all to himself in his house.

Hannibal guided him through to the kitchen and turned to face him. “Care to be my sous chef?”

“I... ok,” Will agreed. “It’s on your head though if I fuck it up.”

Hannibal chuckled. “I promise I’ll take full responsibility.”

Will was amazed at how easy it was to slip into this reality. Standing by Hannibal’s side in his sleek, spotless kitchen, following his instructions as he diced vegetables and passed jars of seasoning and listened intently to Hannibal’s every word. It was the most pleasant distraction Will had ever had.

“You’re not being particularly analytical tonight Dr. Lecter,” Will commented, peeling the skin away from a potato.

Hannibal smirked. “Please Will, I would prefer it that you call me Hannibal. And I am not interested in trying to dissect any sort of trauma tonight. I merely want to learn more about you.”

“Alright, Hannibal,” Will responded, testing his name on his tongue. “What is it that you want to know?”

“Everything,” Hannibal confessed, letting his guard slip for the briefest moment. “But perhaps tell me about your life in Louisiana. You have never spoken of it before.”

“It was pretty normal,” Will said, a soft, fond smile stretching across his lips, one he did not realise he was producing. “It was just me and my dad. I was born in the trailer that we lived in and my mother took off after a few weeks. She left her jumbo pot. Me and dad liked making jumbo.”

Hannibal simply looked at Will then, and found himself amazed once again by the Omega. “Your mother left?”

“Yep,” Will replied, his lips popping around the ‘p’. “I never met her. Don’t know who she is, where she went or if she’s even still alive. It doesn’t really matter though, I’ve never known any different. Can’t miss what you never had, right?”

“It must have been difficult for you though,” Hannibal pointed out, delicately inserting buds of rosemary into the rack of ‘lamb’.

“It wasn’t,” Will told him, shrugging. “They were both Betas. My dad was everything I needed, I never felt like I was every missing out on anything. I was lucky to have him.”

Hannibal almost smiled at the thought of a younger Will, perhaps only a year or two old, finding his feet as he learnt to walk and navigate his way around a creaky little trailer surrounded by muggy swamps.

“It’s not really that interesting,” Will continued. “I did everything you’d expect a kid to do. I went to school, went on fishing trips with my dad... there’s not much to say.”

“Did you enjoy school?” Hannibal queried, his fingers sprinkling pinches of shiny rocks of sea salt over the meat. “I imagine your education is something you wish to continue to pursue at some point?”

“I didn’t mind it. It was pretty boring I guess, there wasn’t much that interested me about it. I was always going to stay, finish high school and all that. I wanted to go to college. Get a degree.”

“Wanted? Do you not wish to do so anymore?”

“I don’t think I can,” Will admitted. “I don’t really think it would work. I never even started high school. What sort of college would even look at my application?”

“There are plenty of online courses you can take and night schools you can attend,” Hannibal suggested thoughtfully. “You are intelligent Will. You would be ready to apply for college in no time.”

“I don’t really have the motivation for that right now,” Will sighed, knife slicing through potato like butter. “I’ve just about managed to get myself used to going to group therapy, never mind night school.”

“Not yet then,” Hannibal conceded. “But it is most definitely worth considering Will. You would excel.”

“You sound pretty sure of that,” Will grinned as he pushed the potatoes from the chopping board into the boiling pot of water with his knife.

“I find I’m right about most things.”

Will just rolled his eyes and grinned at the comment. Hannibal finished preparing the lamb and carefully slotted it into the oven. He watched the Alpha fish out a bottle of wine from a rack and pull himself a wine glass from a cupboard. He poured himself a glass, the brilliant purple, ruby wine curling around the insides of the glass. Will observed the bottle after Hannibal set it down, moving forwards and running a finger over the bottle neck carefully, fully aware that this wine cost Hannibal a small fortune.

“You’re so fancy,” Will teased him, grinning. “This wine looks like it cost as much as house.”

“It is one of my favourites,” Hannibal informed him, studying Will’s fingertips trailing over the glass. “I find it perfectly complements the meal we are about to have. Have you ever drank before, Will?”

He shook his head, curls bouncing slightly. “No. My dad liked whiskey though. Used to sit and drink it every night whilst he listened to the radio. I never saw Mason drink but I used to smell it on him quite a lot. Vodka martinis, the arrogant prick. Margot told me he used to make her catch some of her tears when he made her cry and collect them to put in his drink.”

“Did he ever make you do such a thing?” Hannibal asked, a strain of disgust seeping into his tone.

“He was too busy hurting me to think about that I suppose. When it came to me it seemed like he liked to get drunk off of watching me hurt.”

“Sadism can be an ugly thing,” Hannibal remarked. “The prolonged exposure to such behaviour is enough to break some people.”

“Sometimes I feel like it broke me,” Will told him, feeling and sounding so very small.

“And the rest of time?”

“The rest of the time I feel like it made me.”

Will wanted so badly to reach out to Hannibal, to feel his arms snake around his waist and clasp him close to his body. He wanted those large, skilled hands with their deft slim fingers to slide up the back of his neck and rub over the scar Mason’s jaws had left. He wanted Hannibal to cradle the back of his head and tip it back, pierce him with his gaze and sweep his lips across his forehead and his eyelids and his cheeks. Over the bridge of his nose and along his jaw, scrape his teeth over his chin and meet his lips with his own. He wanted to bunch his hands up in Hannibal’s suit jacket and fuse their mouths together and feel the warmth of his body seeping into him.

“You are strong Will,” Hannibal told him, stepping a little closer. “The experience has no doubt shaped you but your strength does not come solely from the scars Mason Verger left you with. You had such bravery to begin with to even live through it in the first place.”

“Sometimes I imagine other people going through it,” Will told him, nostrils flaring at the deep spices swimming in the Alpha’s scent. “Other people experiencing the things he did to me. I imagine most of them breaking. But I can’t even begin to imagine you in that room. I can’t imagine you being stripped and thrown to floor and having your bones broken. I can’t imagine your skin being soft enough to break and for your blood to stain the floor boards.”

“No?” Hannibal quizzed him, sidling even closer to him, relishing in the waves of sweetness rolling off Will. “What do you imagine instead?”

“I imagine you taking Mason apart with your bare hands the moment he opened the door. I imagine you breaking his neck and tearing him limb from limb,” Will confessed breathily, his eyelids heavy in his head as he began to feel almost dizzy with the proximity of Hannibal. “I imagine you make sure he is the one whose blood stains the floorboards and you don’t even blink as you break him.”

Hannibal found himself leaning down, closer to Will’s face, closer and closer and closer –

The timer beeped on the oven, breaking their hazy moment. Hannibal blinked and slowly pulled back, the sight of Will’s dilated pupils and flushed cheeks making him want to throw the boy on to the counter and ravish him. Will was very still, and breathing a little too hard and Hannibal could smell the sweet tang of slick coming from him. It was beautiful.

“It appears dinner is ready,” Hannibal murmured, his voice low and raspy.

Will was dying for Hannibal to slip back into that state again as they ate. He wanted to whisper sweet, seductive tales to Hannibal and watch the Alpha’s expression cloud with want and for his scent to betray him with the smells of attraction and lust. He wanted to crawl underneath Hannibal’s ludicrously fancy dinner table and settle himself between the doctor’s legs and rub his cheeks against his solid, toned thighs. He found himself wanting the Alpha to lay him out on the table and claim him, take him apart and mark every inch of his skin with his scent and his teeth.
He wanted him to replace Mason’s hold on him with his own. Will still sometimes smelt his mate, his bitter musk clinging to Will’s skin like grease and invading his senses.

“Is it normal to still feel like you can smell your mate after they’ve died?” Will outright asked Hannibal.
Hannibal, paused, looking up from cutting a section of meat up. “It’s quite common, yes. Many who have lost their mates claim they still experience their scent after their death.”

“How come you’ve never bonded with anyone?” Will asked him carefully, fully aware of how he was letting his fork slide ever so slowly from his mouth, his lips wrapped tightly around the shining utensil.

Will swore he saw Hannibal’s jaw twitch.

“I spent the majority of my youth focused on travelling and establishing my career. By the time I settled into a permanent work place in the States I found myself too preoccupied with work. Therapy does allow me more time to have a life outside of my work, but the thought of bonding is one that rarely crossed my mind.”

“Was there never anyone you met you thought you wanted to be with?”

“Not particularly. I have experienced some meaningful relationships in my past, but none I deemed substantial enough to warrant bonding.”

“The more you talk the more you make yourself seem impossible to please,” Will smirked, keeping his gaze on his dinner. “Was no one ever good enough for you?”

“I am not impossible to please Will,” Hannibal corrected him, his voice swimming with something lovely and dark. “Particular, perhaps, but not impossible. And bonding was something I never took lightly; I never truly found the right person.”

“And what about in the future? What if you met the right person then?”

Dearest Will, you certainly are pushing limits this evening, Hannibal internally grinned to himself.

“I cannot see into the future, Will, so I cannot give an answer to that. However it is not something I am against, at all. I believe that should I bond with someone in the future it would be one of the most important things in my life.”

“It’s the most consuming experience,” Will returned, his gaze falling on Hannibal’s smouldering amber eyes.

If only it had been you Hannibal, Will thought despondently. If only it could be me in your future.

The drive home was filled with pleasant talk of Hannibal’s love for opera and collecting art. He told Will of Florence and Paris and his favourite cathedrals and galleries. He told Will about his favourite French and Italian dishes, his favourite regional wines and the opera houses he visited. Boat trips to Capri and Sicily and vineyards in the rolling hills of the French countryside. Mediterranean summer night heat and the croaking of cicadas. French coffee shops lit up with glowing lights in the evenings and hazy, soft music spilling onto Florentine streets from busy little restaurants.
It made Will yearn for these places he had never been, and for Hannibal to show him it all.

“Thank you for such an enjoyable evening Will,” Hannibal uttered softly into the air of the car as he parked outside of Port Haven. “I would be thrilled if you would indulge me in having you as my guest again.”

“I’d like that,” Will responded, giving him a sweet, crooked smile. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Then you had better keep yourself on Alana’s good side. I would hate for her to deny you an evening of dining with me again,” Hannibal smirked.

“Don’t worry about that,” Will grinned. “I’ve got her wrapped around my little finger.”

Dark, beautiful boy, Hannibal’s inner voice crooned.

“Goodnight Will,” Hannibal said, his voice warm and like silk in his ears. “I hope you sleep well.”

“Goodnight Hannibal,” Will returned with another shy smile.

Hannibal watched him climb out of his car and walk through Port Haven’s entrance doors, relishing the gentle smile he offered to Hannibal in a final goodbye before he disappeared into the building.

That night Will did not dream. He did not see Mason’s face leering up at him and feel his hands on him or hear his voice or smell his scent. He did not cry in his sleep or wake up gasping for breath to find himself virtually swimming in his own sweat.
He simply slept.

Chapter Text

Alana felt as though she had planted a seed and was finally getting to watch tiny green shoots slowly unfurl into the stem of some mystery flower. She felt as though she’d watered this seed and fed the soil countless different amounts of nutrition, growth supplements, everything. She’d done all this, and still there had been no growth or sign of life from the soil. Until Hannibal had come along and tended to the situation. Alana wanted to be annoyed at the other doctor for swooping in and doing her job better than her, but watching Will slowly get better a little bit as each week went by was too pleasing to be annoyed at Hannibal. Yes, she wished it had been her. She wished that she had been the one to grasp her hands around Will’s bony wrists and drag him from the cliff edge and back onto solid ground. She’d wanted to help Will the moment Jack had called her and told her they’d found him after all these years; she’d been following Will’s missing person case from the beginning. Always found her heart twinging every time the news reports mentioned his name, that there had been another false sighting, another dead end and useless lead. The day she’d walked into the hospital room with Jack and had seen the Omega curled up amidst a nest of tubes and wires and humming monitors, she knew that she needed to help Will.

She’d thought that Will would need her to. Thought that they would need each other. It turned out that what Will needed was not Alana’s soft, warm words or her sympathetic expressions or her encouraging ‘baby steps’ approach. It turned out that Will needed sharp, clever words and cheekbones and to be picked up and hurled into the deep end and told to swim or drown. Will was proving to her that he was stronger than she had thought. She’d underestimated him.

Will had started smiling earnestly in their therapy sessions. He was doing it right now, offering Alana an honest little smile as he jogged his leg up and down sporadically, clearly nervous but in high spirits.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Will announced, still smiling. “I need your help with something.”

It flooded Alana’s heart with warmth to know Will needed her for something. “Of course Will. You know I’m always here to help you out.”

“I told you that I wanted to scatter Jasper’s ashes in Louisiana,” Will began. “I uh... I’ve never used a computer before so I thought that maybe you could help me? I need to buy plane tickets and -”

“Will,” Alana gently stopped him. “I would more be than happy to help you with that, but this is a big step. You haven’t brought it up with me since you mentioned it the very first time. It’s only been three months since you lost Jasper. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure,” Will replied immediately. “I just know that it’s going to start getting easier the minute I take him there and let him go. He doesn’t belong here Alana. He doesn’t belong in a psychiatric facility for Omegas on my bedside table. I want him out of Baltimore, out of Maryland. I’m ready to take him to Louisiana.”

Alana regarded him for a moment, taking in the determined set of his jaw and the fierce spark in his eyes, unwavering.

“If you aren’t going to help me I’ll find another way.”

“I have no doubt of that Will,” Alana smiled sadly. “I’ll help you, of course. But I want to suggest that you take a few days to consider this and think about it a little more.”

“I have been thinking about it though,” Will persisted. “I’ve been thinking about it for weeks, months. Since I got here. I’ve spoken to Hannibal about it too. I just never thought to bring it up again with you.”

It hurt, Alana observed, to know the Omega had been opening up so readily to Hannibal about his wants and wishes and his trauma whilst he fed her scraps of nightmares, blunt recollections of fractured bones and bloodied bathroom tiles that bore his miscarriages. She had to remind herself Will’s mind was not hers to force. He’d tell her more of his days at Muskrat Farm one day. One day he would be honest with her, but that day was not approaching any time soon and doing anything other than helping him get to Louisiana was only going to push that day further away from her.

“I’m guessing you want to go as soon as possible,” Alana sighed, flicking her gaze to the computer on her desk as she brought up a new web page.

“Yes.”

“I will have to organise for one of the nurses and orderlies to go with you. I have too many patients to see here that need me Will.”

“Or you could... you could ask Hannibal,” Will suggested sheepishly, refusing to meet her eyes. “He could take me.”

“Dr. Lecter is an extremely busy man Will, I’m not sure he could just drop everything -”

“I already asked him,” Will blurted out.

Of course you did, Alana thought to herself dryly. “Alright then. I’m assuming he said he would go with you?”

Will nodded gingerly. “Yes. He said he could reschedule his appointments with his other patients. I hope it’s ok?”

“If Hannibal has told you he can make the time to go I see no reason why not. It’s very kind of him to agree.”

“I don’t know who else I would want to come with me,” Will admitted, briefly meeting her eyes. “I want to go by myself. I want to do this alone. But I know you can’t legally let a psychiatric patient wander about on their own, so... Hannibal is the only person I think I can bear being there. Margot would be too much, too intense and I don’t want you to have to drop everything just to take me, it’s not worth your time.”

“But it’s worth Hannibal’s time?” Alana couldn’t help herself from asking.

Will’s eyes began to turn cold again. Alana cursed herself. “I said I wanted to go alone Alana, but I can’t. And you just told me you can’t leave your patients anyway.”

“Alright Will,” Alana gave in. “Pull your chair up, we’ll look at flights.”

Hannibal had given Will his number a week ago, and Will had not seen him since. He had a busy week of patients and was hosting a dinner party. It had crumpled something inside of Will to know he wouldn’t be seeing the doctor, but the fact he had deigned to give Will his number made it slightly less disappointing. He hadn’t rang him or text him once and Hannibal had not contacted him either.
Will sat on his bed as he turned the cell around in his fingers. The only person he ever contacted was his father’s solicitor and Margot, and she’d been the one to buy him the cell in the first place.

With a trembling finger, he punched Hannibal’s number.

He picked up on the third ring.

“Hello Will.”

He voice was like butter, melting into Will’s ears and making him shiver.

“Hey,” Will managed, scrunching his eyes shut. “Are you busy?”

“No, I am currently on my lunch hour. Is everything all right Will?”

“I’m going to Louisiana next week,” Will announced, biting the bullet. “Next Wednesday. Will you still come?”

There was a pause. “You’ve booked tickets for the flights?”

“Alana helped me do it this morning. Used the money my dad left me. Will you come?”

“Will, I told you that I would purchase the tickets when you felt re - ”

“Hannibal,” Will insisted, his voice verging on a whine. “I need to hear you say yes or no.”

“You already know my answer Will,” Hannibal told him softly. “But yes. I promised you I would come with you if that was what you wanted. My promise stills stands.”

“Thank you,” Will breathed out in a sigh of relief, slouching back onto his bed. “It’ll only be for the day and then the flights back are the next morning. Alana offered to find us a hotel but I told her you’d rather choose something.”

“I fear you’re beginning to know me too well Will. I’m becoming predictable,” Hannibal chuckled. “But I appreciate the sentiment. I will find something tonight and book it.”

“Great,” Will replied, his voice trembling slightly. “Thank you Hannibal.”

“You do not need to thank me Will. I’ll have Alana send me the flight details. I’ll see you next Wednesday.”

“Bye Hannibal,” Will murmured before he hung up.

Will wondered whether Louisiana was still the same, or whether it had somehow changed. Whether the swamps still sang with creaking, shady trees and chirping insects and splashing gators. Whether the streets still smelt of crayfish restaurants and warm concrete and musky river water.

He was sure it did, but still. Going home was going to be bizarre.

“I want you to call me the minute you land,” Alana instructed him, giving him a I’m-not-taking-any-of-your-shit-today-Will-Graham look. “Straight away.”

“I promise Alana,” Will sighed, giving her a soft smile. “The minute I get there.”

Alana’s fretful, motherly attitude towards him never failed to amuse him. Her lips were pursed and she was giving Hannibal a warning look. Hannibal gazed back demurely, the picture of smooth, unfazed calmness.

“I hope you find what you need Will,” Alana gently told him, grasping his hand in hers briefly. She was yet to get Will to be comfortable with an actual embrace. “I’ll be there to pick you and Hannibal up from the airport tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Will replied earnestly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Alana nodded and watched as the Omega shuffled into the waiting cab, clutching his duffel bag to his chest. Alana shared a look with Hannibal before he got into the car, one that Hannibal was unused to seeing from her.

“I’ll look after him Alana, don’t worry,” Hannibal assured her, opening the door to the cab. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Alana gave them a small wave as the cab pulled away from Port Haven, twisting her hands together nervously after the car disappeared from sight. She had been unsure about all of this the minute Will had asked her to book the flights, but she had learnt quite quickly that when Will had decided something, it was final. It was only one night after all, and Hannibal would make sure Will didn’t take a bad turn. The Omega was quite clearly comfortable with Hannibal, more comfortable than she’d seen him with anyone else and she could sense the depths of trust Will was forming to the Alpha.

She just hoped that Will’s return to his home wouldn’t be too painful.

Hannibal watched in amusement as Will kept close to his side as they headed towards their gate. His eyes never stopped flickering around him, constantly twitching his head at every movement.

“Are you feeling nervous Will?” Hannibal murmured.

“Kind of,” Will admitted. “I’ve never been in an airport before or flown.”

“It will be over before you know it,” Hannibal assured him, handing their boarding passes to the Beta checking passes at the gate. “It’s a fairly short flight, about two and a half hours. You can sleep if you want.”

“I think I’d rather stay awake,” Will replied, his mouth twisting as he shoved his glasses up his nose. “I want to see the clouds.”

Will’s unpredictable moments of heart warming innocence reminded him of how young the Omega really was. Hannibal found himself wanting to purr at Will’s wide eyed brilliance more often than he was comfortable with. He had never thought that he would have become this soppy mess after meeting Will, and yet here he was, behaving like some sort of love sick Alpha who pined and gushed over Omegas that merely had to breathe to get attention. It was comparable to those disgustingly sickly sweet romance movies that were always popping up in cinemas and on TV.

The pair boarded the plane after a short wait and Will sat frozen like statue the whole time, gripping the arms of his seat in a vice like grip, his hands glaring white from the pressure. Hannibal wasn’t sure if he was really even breathing he was so still, his eyes locked on the view out of the window. Perhaps he should have slipped Will some sort of sedative to knock him out for the duration of their flight. He did prefer Will awake and conscious however; it was far more interesting. But then again, the Omega had still managed to fascinate him in his sleep too. He had only ever seen Will asleep once before, when he had visited him after his panic attack the second time Hannibal had ever met him. He’d found Alana barely awake, slumped in an armchair by Will’s bed, head in her hands. He’d told her he would watch him, that she should go and sleep. He’d spent nearly thirty minutes simply watching the Omega as he slept. It was the only time Hannibal had ever seen Will without all of his walls up, unprotected by his conscious mind. He’d twitched in his sleep, frowned and sighed. He had gone rigid at one point, and Hannibal wondered what Mason was doing to him in his dream. Will had shuddered, let out a small whimper and then relaxed before rolling onto his side to face Hannibal and curling into the foetal position. The whole thing had been captivating and the image of Will’s sleep-soft face was burned into his retinas.

The plane took off and Will found himself gasping in horror at the sensation, his hand nearest to Hannibal flying out and seizing Hannibal’s wrist. He squeezed so hard Hannibal thought he may actually fracture the joint, but let Will grasp onto him.

“It’s alright Will,” Hannibal soothed him, slowly peeling his fingers away from his wrist as the plane levelled out in the sky as it ascended through the air. “See? It’s all ok, we’re up in the air.”

Will’s chest slowly deflated, stiffly turning his head to look at him. “Is it supposed to do that? Does that always happen?”

“Yes Will,” Hannibal smiled softly, letting his own hand linger a little too long on Will’s clawed fingers. “Every time.”

“Ok,” Will mumbled, slowly withdrawing his hand back to grip the chair’s arm. “Ok, that’s good. Ok.”

Will spent the rest of the flight jigging his leg up and down, tapping his fingers against his thigh, bracing himself to look out the window for all of three seconds before becoming overwhelmed and throwing himself back in the seat and clinging to the chair for dear life. Perhaps Hannibal should sedate him when they flew back tomorrow.

Two hours and thirty one minutes later, the pair landed in Lafayette Regional Airport, with Will looking like he’d died and been forcibly brought back to life. He decided he hated flying with a passion. Human beings were not meant to be up in the air like that in Will’s opinion.

When they stepped outside of the airport, Will inhaled as deeply as he possibly could, desperately filling his lungs with air that smelt and felt like home. He felt his shoulders ease immediately, felt a wave of relief pass over him that had been waiting to sweep through his body for nearly four years now. Hannibal watched him do all of this in the corner of his eye as he tracked down a cab. Will looked lost in thought as they stepped inside the vehicle and Hannibal wanted to speak, wanted to pry into his thoughts but Will looked so intently focused on whatever was going on in his head that Hannibal wasn’t sure he would have heard him anyway.

He did, however, nudge the Omega and remind him to call Alana.

He had booked the DoubleTree for their short stay, the Hilton hotel being the only accommodation he found acceptable in Lafayette. Will would no doubt roll his eyes and scoff and tell Hannibal he was a pretentious snob but Hannibal would not care; he almost looked forwards the Omega’s inevitable teasing. Will would probably be satisfied with sleeping on a bus stop bench if allowed to.

As predicted, the boy gave Hannibal a surly look when they arrived and got out of the cab, Hannibal paying the driver swiftly.

“Really? A fucking Hilton hotel?” Will ridiculed him. “You are the most ridiculous, snooty - ”

“It’s only for a night Will,” Hannibal reminded him as he gawped at the reception foyer.

“Which is exactly why it’s so - ”

“Shush,” Hannibal light heartedly scolded him. “I won’t hear another word.”

Will glowered at him. He maintained his silence as Hannibal checked them in, collected the key cards, rode the elevator up to their floor and came to a stop outside of their rooms. He handed the room key to Will with a raised eyebrow.

He snatched it from him. “You booked two rooms?”

“Yes,” Hannibal replied, as if it was obvious. “You sound surprised?”

“Who has the fucking money to book out two stupid hotel rooms just for a single night?” Will grumbled, more to himself than Hannibal. “Oh no, wait. Hannibal Lecter does, how silly of me.”

“You are impossible Will Graham,” Hannibal remarked, slotting his card into the door and opening it. “The rooms are connected so come through when you are ready to go and I will ask someone at reception to call us a cab.”

“Sure,” Will sighed, copying Hannibal and sliding the card into his door and vanishing, the door closing with a loud thud behind him.

Hannibal waited for ten minutes until the door conjoining the rooms gingerly creaked open and Will’s head appeared from around it. “I’m ready.”

Hannibal looked up from the map on his phone he was inspecting and nodded. “You want to visit your old home first, yes? I will need the address.”

Will just jerked his head in what Hannibal presumed was agreement and they headed back down to the reception. The cab arrived a few minutes later and Hannibal did not comment on Will’s silence as they got into their third cab of the day, clutching the small bag to his chest that contained Jasper’s urn.

“How are you feeling Will?”

“Wonderful,” he returned with a sarcastic eye roll.

“You do not have to use sarcasm as a defence mechanism around me. I hope that you know you can trust me and be open with me,” Hannibal commented firmly. “Or was I wrong in assuming our relationship had developed past you using rudimentary defensive responses around me?”

Will turned to look at him with hardened eyes. “This is difficult for me Hannibal.”

“I know it is,” Hannibal agreed. “Which is why I was hoping you would be more honest with me. That’s why I’m here, after all. To support you.”

“I’m trying,” Will replied weakly, looking out of the window and gripping the bag even tighter to his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s quite alright Will.”

They spent the rest of the cab ride in silence, the drive taking them about half an hour.

Cecilia was practically a ghost town in comparison to Baltimore. They drove through the town barely passing a single soul on the street, sometimes going nearly a full mile until another house or store crept up. It must have been such a simple existence to have grown up here, Hannibal thought to himself. When the cab pulled up outside of the entrance to the trailer park, the driver craned his neck and looked around at the odd duo sat in his back seat.

“You sure this is the right place?” he asked, his accent even thicker than Will’s.

Will gave the man a warm look, smiling a little. “Ouais, c’est bon.”

The driver grinned back as Hannibal paid him and they got out of the car.

“Soignez vous-autres!” the driver called out the window to them before driving away.

Hannibal stared at Will. “I wasn’t aware you spoke Cajun.”

He shrugged, staring ahead down the dusty dirt track that led to the park. “We all do around here.”

“You’ll have to forgive my lack of knowledge about your town’s demographics. The extent of the knowledge I have stops at the fact I know there are regions of Louisiana that speak Cajun French.”

Will grinned at him. “Yeah, and I bet it makes your skin crawl. The fact it’s all broken and mixed up with different languages and it isn’t the grammatically perfect version you probably speak.”

“Not when it comes from your mouth, Will,” Hannibal corrected him. “I find it fascinating.”

Will shifted uncomfortably, looking back down the track. “You wanna get going?”

“Lead the way,” Hannibal murmured, gesturing for Will to go ahead.

They walked down the track in hazy heat, only their breathing and the chorus of crickets and cicadas audible.

“I’m nervous for you to see it,” Will voiced into the thick warmth around them suddenly. “This is the last place I could ever picture someone like you. You’re too good for all this.”

“Will, if you think I am going to judge you - ”

“Please don’t,” Will cut him off. “Please just... don’t say anything. I don’t think I can listen to you be so calm and polite about this.”

“Would you prefer me to not speak until we get back to the hotel?” Hannibal asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just... I don’t want to hear you say anything about how you don’t care how shitty this place is or how you could care less about the fact I come from dirt. I don’t want your sympathy.”

“If that’s what you wish for,” Hannibal offered. “Although I do think it would be beneficial for us to talk a little, at least.”

Will just nodded and kept walking, his feet carrying him without even thinking about it. He could have walked through the damned park with his eyes closed, knowing every groove and dip in the dirt tracks beneath his feet, every rock and patch of bushes and crop of yellowing, dried out grass. The trailers still looked exactly the same, rusting metal tins bearing peeled paint and fractured wind chimes and dripping pipes and creaking porches. It was utterly bizarre to see Hannibal here in all his elegant glory, sticking out like the world’s biggest sore thumb. Tailored suits and eloquent vocabulary and graceful poises did not belong here.

They approached Will’s trailer and his heart constricted in his chest. It was just as he remembered it. The brittle wood of their tiny porch with the ancient rocking chair that shrieked as if it was going to fall apart from the slightest contact. The grubby, rain streaked windows and shredded screen door and the rust bucket mail box that Will had painted bright green when he was seven years old, ‘Eloi and Will Graham’ painted in wobbly black paint on the side. There was still a baseball sitting snugly in their gutter, the one Will had managed to get lodged in there when he was younger and had insisted his father spend all morning playing with him. They’d never bothered to fish it out. Their boat was still tucked away at the side of the trailer, the moss covered sheet covering it greying in colour and sporting patches of mould. Their fishing lures still hung like dream catchers above the front door, slowly rotating on their threads.

“Will? Do you want to go in?”

Hannibal’s voice tore him from his dazing state, realising he’d been stood outside the trailer simply staring for nearly ten minutes.

He took a deep breath and gripped the bag at his side a little tighter before he jammed his hand in his pocket and pulled out the keys with a fumbling hand. His dad’s solicitor had sent him the keys to the trailer in the mail a month ago. He cautiously climbed the three rickety steps up onto their porch, chewing the insides of his mouth to pieces. He pried the screen door open and slotted the keys into the main door lock, twisting. It swung open with a familiar groan.

The inside of the trailer seemed so small to Hannibal. It consisted of a small living area containing a beat up orange sofa and a slouching old armchair, a little coffee table resting between the two pieces of furniture. There was a shelf of books along the wall in front of him, all worn out paperbacks. To the right of him was a tiny kitchenette, featuring an oven, a tiny fridge, a gas cooker and a microwave. There were a few cramped cupboards and the fridge bore crumpled notes of paper pinned on with magnets and fading Polaroid photographs. Photos of a younger Will sat in a creaky old boat cradling a fish the size of his torso, grinning a triumphant, gap toothed smile, photos of him as tiny infant swaddled in blankets in a Moses basket, Christmas morning in his pyjamas as he sat beside a sparsely decorated Christmas tree. Will sat on their front porch as the sun tinged the sky purple and orange as it set whilst Will puffed his cheeks to blow out the candles on a birthday cake. Will with haphazard black marker lines all over his cheeks in an attempt to apparently copy his father’s beard. Will, a little older, maybe twelve, sat with his father on the steps of their porch with his hands buried in the scruff of a stray dog.

Eloi Graham looked a lot like Will. They had the same bone structure, same smile and same body type, one that Will would eventually fill out into. Eloi’s face sported constant week old stubble in all the photos, sandy blonde like the hair on his head, and deep crinkled lines on his face from years of sun and outdoor work. His eyes were a soft hazel from what Hannibal could make out, leading him to believe Will must have inherited his creamy skin, dark curls and ocean eyes from his mother.

Will caught Hannibal staring at the photos as they simply stood in the tiny kitchenette area of the trailer, giving him an expectant look.

Hannibal opened his mouth to speak, but Will stopped him before a noise could leave his mouth.

“If you’re going to ask me how I’m feeling, don’t” Will warned him.

“I wasn’t.”

“What were you going to say?”

“Those Rugrats pyjamas are rather becoming on you.”

“You complete ass,” Will hissed at him but grinning broadly. “I was eight years old.”

Before Hannibal could say another word, Will turned and wandered further into the trailer. There was a door ajar on his left, revealing a strip of shower curtain and sink. They came to two more doors,
Will glancing at the one on his right uncomfortably.

“Your father’s room?” Hannibal guessed.

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to go inside?”

“No,” Will replied after a moment of hesitation. “His solicitor said that’s where he had the heart attack. He was asleep in bed.”

Will reached out for the handle of the other door, opening it slowly. He stepped inside and Hannibal followed. Will’s bedroom was a sad affair. The tiny box room sported a single bed and a wardrobe and a lopsided book shelf. The walls were a yellowed white and held nothing to indicate Will’s character or his former life.

“Has it always been so empty?”

“I asked the solicitor to put this place up for sale. He had a removal team come round and clear it out but they still need to get rid of some of the furniture.”

“Will,” Hannibal began. “Selling your childhood home must have been a hard choice to make. Why do you want to sell it?”

“This hasn’t been my home for years now Hannibal,” Will told him, half heartedly kicking the leg of his bed. “What do I want with a rusty old trailer at the other end of the country?”

“But there must surely be memories and sentiment attached here?”

“I’ve got all my memories up here,” Will replied, tapping his temple. “There’s nothing here for me anymore Hannibal. I don’t have any family, any friends. There’s no reason for me to stay.”

“What if you decide you wish to move back to Louisiana in the future? You will eventually be discharged from Port Haven after all.”

“Then I’ll go buy an old boat and live on the docks,” Will smiled, shaking his head. “I was always going to leave this place anyway Hannibal. I wasn’t going to stick around for the rest of my life, going nowhere fixing old boat motors and nursing an addiction to whiskey like my dad.”

“Will you not miss it?”

“I’ve missed it every day I’ve been away from it,” Will slowly worded. “I miss my dad every day. I miss this crappy trailer every day and I mix being out on the bayou fishing with him all the time. But I can’t just cling on to all of this. I reckon my dad wouldn’t have wanted me to anyhow.”

“You’re being incredibly brave about all of this Will,” Hannibal praised him.

Will didn’t reply, simply looking around the sparse little room a few moments longer before he turned back to look at Hannibal with a sad, distant look in his eyes.

“I’m ready to go now. I didn’t want to stay here too long anyway.”

Hannibal nodded, letting him walk ahead out back into the front of the trailer. Will paused at the fridge, looking down at the Polaroid photos stuck haphazardly all over the appliance. He reached down and plucked them away from the fridge’s surface, neatly shuffling them into a pile and slipping them in the back pocket of his jeans. Will gave the trailer one last look before heading out the door, not looking back to see if Hannibal was following. He knew he would be.

Hannibal didn’t ask him where they were going as they began to trek through the park, the trees becoming more dense and thick around them until they seemed to have left the park, walking along a roughly marked out path through the heavy forest around them. It had always reminded Will of a jungle, the forest. The trees were so thick and dark, boasting thick, curling vines that hung around their branches and swayed above his head. The path down to the swampy waters of the Bayou Teche was barely maintained, foliage and nature creeping onto the path at every step. The hum of insects and croaks of bulbous frogs and toads was so familiar, comforting him down to his bones. Hannibal remained silent as they walked, which Will was grateful for. The Alpha could sense that Will had no use for his words right then, just his presence. He knew that Will wanted to be on his own to do this and Hannibal felt a pang of guilt at the fact he was here, feeling almost as if he was intruding on something so intensely private.

“I’m sorry I had to be here with you Will,” Hannibal told him. “I know you wanted to do this alone.”

Will didn’t look back or stop as they continued to trudge towards the water. “You’re right that I wanted to do this on my own. But I want you here too. I don’t know what would happen if I was by myself.”

“You’re worried you would behave irrationally?”

“Maybe,” Will replied with a shrug. “Maybe I would have just curled up on the floor in my trailer and never left. Maybe I would have thrown myself in the Bayou with rocks in my pockets.”

“Will,” Hannibal murmured, his voice sounding odd to his own ears. “If you are contemplating - ”

“Don’t worry Hannibal. I’m not going to kill myself,” Will interrupted, his voice cold. “And no, I’m not considering it and I haven’t considered it since I got out of Muskrat Farm. I’m here to say goodbye to my son, not end my life, so don’t start freaking out about safe guarding issues or any of that bullshit.”

“But you admit you thought about it when you were with Mason.”

“I thought about it nearly every day,” Will openly told him, as if it was nothing. “And I don’t think I was crazy for thinking about it. I think you would be crazy to not think about it if you were living in Hell every day for three years.”

“Did you ever attempt it?”

“Mason made sure there was no way I could. There was never anything sharp in my room, nothing to hang myself from or drown myself in, no medication lying around to overdose on. The windows didn’t open far enough for me to get an arm out.”

“How would you have done it, if you had the opportunity?”

Will fell silent, frowning to himself at the question. “That’s an odd thing to ask Dr. Lecter.”

“You do not have to tell me if you don’t feel comfortable Will.”

“I would have done anything. I didn’t care how I could do it, it just mattered that I could.”

Will abruptly came to a stop then, Hannibal drawing up short behind him before he had chance to contemplate Will’s answer. He didn’t realise how far they’d walked, now completely away from civilisation. There was no one around for miles. Just the two of them and the singing insects and croaking frogs and dark, muggy waters of the Bayou.

“We’re here.”

Hannibal looked over at Will, noticing the downturned corners of his mouth and the vacant look in his eyes. He was staring into the water below them, thick sets of reeds separating them and the Bayou.

“Do you want to talk about this first?” Hannibal asked him cautiously.

“I don’t think I really have anything to say right now,” Will breathed, not taking his eyes off of the water. “Maybe later.”

“We can take as long as you need Will.”

Will nodded and then slowly sank down to sit on the bank, placing the bag down next to him and fishing the Polaroid photos out of his back pocket to lay on the ground next to him, curling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around himself.

“Will you sit with me a little while?”

The Omega was the only person in the whole world that Hannibal would willingly cover himself in swampy dirt for and sit down with on the banks of the Bayou in the muggy afternoon heat.

“Do you think there’s anything after death?” Will uttered, breaking the silence with his troubled voice.

“I have no fixed belief on what happens to us when we die,” Hannibal. “I was raised to believe there was an afterlife, but life itself has suggested otherwise. It’s the one thing I don’t philosophise about. I am content to find out – or not – what happens when I come to the end.”

“I never knew anyone that died,” Will thought aloud. “Jasper was the first dead person I ever saw. The first I ever knew to die. And I didn’t really ever know him.”

“I do not believe that to be true Will,” Hannibal gently disagreed. “You knew Jasper before you brought him into the world.”

Will’s hand automatically twitched to his stomach, resting on his lower abdomen. “I don’t remember it. Mason had me drugged up the moment I went into labour and kept me like that until it was over. I remember he let me hold him for a few minutes after he was born. I can barely remember what he felt like, what he sounded like, I was that dosed up on God knows what.”

“You wanted to experience it all.”

“Every bit of it. I wanted to feel it all happen, every bit of pain. I wanted to hear him crying and make that bond with him when I held him for the first time.”

“The pain of losing a child is the greatest suffering we can possibly go through,” Hannibal conceded, following Will’s gaze to lazy waters below them.

“You say it as if you know what it’s like.”

“I acted as my sister’s father. I thought of her as my own child,” Hannibal confessed to him.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.”

“Mischa. She died, many years ago. It is far in the past now.”

Will went quiet for a while, hands slowly ripping up blades of grass with trembling fingers. “You know, you’re the only one who doesn’t say sorry to me. Everyone else is always so sorry, sorry that I was taken, sorry that Mason had me locked up for years. Sorry that my dad died, sorry that Jasper died, sorry that I miscarried so many times. Sorry that I was raped, sorry that Mason bonded with me. It just goes on and on.”

“I do not think you would appreciate or want to hear me apologise to you about those things. I think you would find it tedious.”

“I would,” Will agreed. “I’m grateful you don’t apologise. I think it would drive me insane if you started saying sorry too.”

“Then I shall only ever say I am sorry if I have wronged you Will, which I have no intention of doing.”

Will stood up then, leaving Hannibal sat on the floor. He approached the banks, pulling Jasper’s urn out of his bag. He turned and looked at Hannibal as he got to the edge of the banks, clasping his son’s urn tightly.

“I’m glad you’re here Hannibal.”

With that Will turned and climbed down the banks with ease, as if he had done so countless times before, which Hannibal presumed he had. He slipped down to the water with grace, looking the most sure of himself Hannibal had ever seen. This was where Will belonged.

He watched the Omega wade into the waters carefully, his footing so sure. The image was beautiful, Will stood so still amongst the black waters of the Bayou like it was the only place he truly belonged, the waters curling around him past his waist as hazy fingers of sunlight pried through the thick covering of trees over his head, stroking his skin and catching all his pale darkness.

Will removed the lid of Jasper’s urn, unable to bring himself to look inside at the baby’s ashes. He stared down into the water, imagining Jasper’s essence travelling out to the mouth of the sea and into deeper oceans, twisting into the water and eventually being drawn into the sky from the heat of the sun until he was caught in the winds and spread across the globe.

“This is the only thing left I can do for you,” Will whispered into the water.

The urn ever so slowly tipped over then, Jasper’s ashes falling like snow into the water. Will watched as the Bayou consumed his son, the water’s arms sweeping open and welcoming him to its darkness.

Will stood there in the water after the urn was empty and screamed in his head over and over I love you, I love you, I love you until the water made him shiver and he knew it was time to return to Hannibal.

When Will waded out of the Bayou, his face was wet with tears and a sob broke free from his throat.

Hannibal didn’t think twice about wrapping his arms around him when he flung himself wet and freezing against Hannibal’s chest. He buried his face in Hannibal’s neck and sobbed, his hands curling against the Alpha’s shirt as he sucked in needy breaths filled with his scent, soothing the fire in his veins. Hannibal folded his arms around his back tightly, rubbing circles into his ribs with his thumbs as he laid his cheek against Will’s curls. He inhaled deeply the Omega’s scent, so pleasant it made him shudder and his eyes slip shut.

“Hannibal,” Will whimpered into his neck, shaking.

“It’s ok Will, I’ve got you,” Hannibal soothed him, rubbing his cheek against his curls. “I’ve got you.”

Behind them, the insects continued to buzz, the frogs carried on croaking and the waters of the Bayou hummed as they carried away Jasper’s ashes.

Chapter Text

That night when they returned to the hotel, Will went straight to his room and shut the door. Hannibal contemplated simply walking through to Will through the door conjoining their rooms, but knew the Omega valued his space. He did not want to push Will away by forcing his presence on him, and so he simply went to his own room and showered, relishing in the hot steam and soap washing away the sticky fingerprints of the Bayou. He felt as though he could still feel Will’s body pressed against his, his hands still gripping at Hannibal and his breath clouding against his throat.

When he stepped out of the shower he looked down at his suit, covered in mud and water from where Will had pressed against him. Normally such a thing would have caused his lip to curl up and his eyes to glimmer with disgust, but the sight merely made him sigh; how could he ever be anything but fascinated by Will? He mused to himself that the Omega could dump his entire wardrobe into the Bayou and Hannibal would still marvel at him.

Hannibal spent the next three hours reading his emails, scrolling through his phone, sipping on the barely acceptable wine in the mini fridge and fighting the nerve shattering urge to fling the door open to Will’s room and forcing the Omega to be in his presence.

He got sick of it, eventually, and knocked on the door.

“Will?”

There was no answer and Hannibal slowly grasped the door handle. Maybe he was asleep, or showering. The door pulled inwards and Hannibal peered into the room.

The bed was untouched and the room looked as if Will had never been there. He went to the bathroom, knocking again.

“Will?”

When there was silence again, Hannibal flung the door open and found it as equally empty as the bedroom.

His nostrils flared in anger as he strode out of the room.

The restaurant, reception, bar, indoor pool and outdoor pool were all devoid of Will. Hannibal was livid to say the least. It was just as well for the boy that Hannibal cared for him, otherwise he probably would have been pushed to tear him limb from limb. He did not tolerate such things.

Steeling himself, Hannibal reminded himself that Will was most likely panicking. He had been through an emotionally draining day and had slipped into flight mode, as Omegas often did when faced with overwhelming mental pressures. However, knowing that Will’s sense of self preservation was somewhat lacking made the Alpha concerned he would do something to harm himself or get himself into an unwanted situation. Hannibal was not used to feeling possessive and the thought of Will alone here in Lafayette made his blood run cold. Anything could happen to him whilst Hannibal wasn’t by his side to ensure he was safe. He could be snatched off of the streets again and –

He refused to let himself imagine it.

On the other side of town, Will was stepping off of a bus to arrive at the cemetery. He knew Hannibal would be furious and looking for him, but he had not expected to actually get this far. He approached the gates to the cemetery, pushing them open and wincing at the wail the rusting hinges gave upon moving. He wasn’t sure how long it would take to find his father’s grave, but he would.
He’d spend all night reading every last grave stone if he had to.

It took him twenty minutes in the end. His father’s grave was tucked away in the corner of the sprawling cemetery, underneath a forlorn, towering willow tree. Will wondered whether he should have brought flowers, but he didn’t see the point. He’d never understood why people brought flowers to graves; they only withered away and died in the face of another’s more permanent death. He much preferred the tradition in Jewish grave yards of placing stones on graves. Stones were permanent. Flowers were not.

Again, his father’s solicitor had been the one to inform him of where Eloi Graham was buried in the letters they had been exchanging since Will had been living at Port Haven. Will observed the simple, granite stone that bore nothing other than the name ‘Eloi Graham’, his birthday and his death day. Underneath the dates was ‘Devoted father to Will’. It made his eyes sting with tears. Eloi had been the only constant in Will’s life. He’d helped his mother bring him into the world in their tiny, cramped trailer and had raised him. He’d taught him how to ride a bike, how to cast lines and the best fishing tackle for catching trout and carp and catfish. He’d taught him how to repair boat motors and had picked him up from his first day of school. He’d let Will crawl into his bed when he was small and the storms kept Will awake at night and he’d sat on their porch in the evenings with him and taught him the names of all the constellations above them in space.

And then they had been ripped apart from each other in one simple moment, just like that.

Will’s phone buzzed violently against his leg in his pocket and Will swallowed, knowing full well who was calling.

He pressed the answer button and held his breath.

“Where are you.”

It was not a question, but a stony statement that made Will’s stomach feel like it had dropped out of his body.

“I...,” Will began but found himself too overwhelmed to talk.

“William. Tell me where you are.”

“At my dad’s grave.”

“Text me the address.”

“Ok,” Will mumbled, tears forming in his eyes. “Hannibal, I - ”

“The address, Will. I will see you shortly.”

The line went dead and Will allowed himself a singular sob into the dusk of the cemetery before he gritted his teeth and sent Hannibal the address. The sun was sinking slowly towards the ground, the arms of swaying trees welcoming the glowing orb to the horizon. Will sank to his knees and knelt before the grave in silence.

“You’d know what to do,” Will murmured to the head stone. “You always did.”

There was no answer of course, and Will had expected nothing less, but could not help the craving inside of him to hear his father’s voice one more time.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Will continued. “This whole thing is so strange. I wonder what you’d say if you knew what was going on.”

There was no reply other than the sound of cars passing on the freeway in the distance and the sighing breeze. Will wasn’t sure how long he sat there for, his legs folded beneath him, but the sound of footsteps wrenched him back to reality and he realised his legs had gone completely numb and dead.

He felt the heat of Hannibal’s presence behind him, but did not turn round to look at him. He didn’t want to see the anger that was no doubt laying across the Alpha’s features or face the waves of disapproval that were rolling off of him.

“You could have told me you wanted to visit your father’s grave.”

He didn’t sound angry. Will turned around and looked at him, not hiding the tears that were rolling down his cheeks and dripping off of his chin and jaw. Hannibal stood there a few steps behind him, dressed in a new suit and looking as composed as ever. His face was soft and his eyes bore sadness in them, not the fury Will had been expecting.

“I wanted to come alone,” Will rasped out into the air between them. “I’m sorry.”

“Do you have any idea how dangerous this was?” Hannibal gritted out, frowning. “I had no clue where you had gone and anything could have happened to you.”

“But it didn’t,” Will pointed out, looking back at his father’s grave stone.

“But it could have,” Hannibal snarled.

It was the first time Will had ever heard the man sound angry and it made him want to crawl into the soil beneath him.

“I’m not a child anymore Hannibal,” Will tried to argue. “I don’t see - ”

“No. You do not see, at all. You do not see whatsoever how irresponsible this was. I am supposed to be looking after you Will, and how am I supposed to do that when you disappear?”

Will rose to his feet then, turning to look at Hannibal with betrayal in his wet eyes. “Hannibal, nothing happened to me. I’m fine, see? I just wanted to do this by myself. I was going to come back.”

“You could have been taken again Will,” Hannibal spat, his eyes bubbling with a growing darkness. “It is not safe for Omegas to go wandering around at night on their own. You may as well have been screaming for someone to take you!”

“This is ridiculous,” Will told him flatly, glaring. “You’re being paranoid. I’m more than capable of getting a fucking bus and walking around without being snatched up by someone who wants to sell me on the fucking black market Hannibal.”

He wasn’t expecting the Alpha to crowd into his space and tower above him, but Hannibal moved with a frightening speed.

“Do you think that the people who took you aren’t aware that you’re free again? Do you think they won’t have seen your face all over the news, won’t have heard about how you were found and are roaming around in the world again?” Hannibal seethed, baring his teeth. “For all they know, you could be giving statements to the police or the FBI about them, you could be a threat to them. Do you think they would not hesitate to take you again if they found you?”

“No one is looking for me,” Will hissed, not relenting and holding his ground as he continued to glare up at the Alpha. “You’re overreacting Hannibal! I can’t believe you’re being like this!”

“I am not overreacting William,” Hannibal shot back, his voice too calm. “You disappeared from the hotel without a word, you didn’t tell me where you were going and I’ve been looking for you all night. I thought you knew better than this Will.”

Will stepped back from him, shaking his head. “This has nothing to do with you Hannibal. I wanted to come here and visit my father’s grave, it wasn’t as if I was doing anything dangerous! Why can’t you just let me have my privacy?”

“I have done nothing but let you have your privacy,” Hannibal growled. “I have done nothing but let you have your space and given you room to breathe Will. All I ask for is for you to respect the fact you are still a minor and under my care seeing as Alana couldn’t come here with you. I’m responsible for you.”

“You are all the fucking same,” Will breathed out in disbelief. “All of you. You, Alana, Margot. All of you don’t trust me, you all want me constantly under your eye; want to know everything I do. It’s suffocating Hannibal. You may as well take a leaf out of Mason’s book and keep me locked up in the same room for the rest of my fucking life.”

Hannibal found himself lost for words for once. He simply stared at Will, trying to put his thoughts back together to reply with something comprehensible.

“Do not compare me to your mate,” Hannibal managed, everything in his instincts screaming at him to pin Will beneath him and snarl into the boy’s neck. “You are not a cruel person Will. Do not start to become one.”

“This isn’t like you Hannibal,” Will bit back, his eyes blazing. “But you’re starting to sound just like Alana and Margot and the way you’re acting, you don’t have any right to. You have no right to tell me what to do. You’re not my doctor, you’re not my family; you’re not my mate.”

Will had never seen Hannibal look so hurt or taken aback, and he immediately felt guilty.

“No, I’m none of those things Will. You’re right,” Hannibal murmured. “I have only ever tried to be your friend.”

Will stepped forwards and shakily reached for the Alpha, cautiously slipping his fingers around Hannibal’s large hand. “Then be my friend Hannibal, for God’s sake. Don’t treat me like I’m going to break, don’t try and hide me from the world like Alana and Margot. That’s not what I need from you.”

Will’s breath caught in his throat when Hannibal’s free hand rose up to cup the side of his face, his palm warm and gentle as his fingers curled in Will’s hair and his thumb brushed against his ear.

“And what is it that you need from me?” Hannibal asked, his eyes softening.

“I’m still trying to understand what I need,” Will told him earnestly, leaning his head into Hannibal’s palm. “But right now I need you to trust me. I trust you, Dr. Lecter. I’d like you to return that trust.”

Will pushed forwards and let his arms instinctively slide around Hannibal’s shoulders, resting his head against Hannibal’s broad, hard chest for the second time that day. Hannibal’s arms settled around Will’s slim waist and it was the first time Will found himself feeling safe since he had left Louisiana three years ago.

“I’m sorry Will,” Hannibal breathed into his hair. “I do trust you. I just find myself overwhelmed with the worry that something could happen to you. I would never forgive myself.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Will sighed against his chest. “I promise.”

An hour later found the pair sat in a tiny little seafood restaurant in down town Lafayette, one that Hannibal would not normally be seen dead in, but he was helpless to Will’s eager smile and his insistence that this was the best place in all of Lafayette to eat. They sat across from each other in the dimly lit restaurant with its warm, cosy orange walls and art deco lamp shades and the smell of cooking swimming in the air from the little kitchen at the back.

Will gushed with enthusiasm as he told Hannibal of shrimp linguine, Creole Jambalaya, oysters Rockefeller, seafood gumbo and oxtail soup. He insisted Hannibal would have to eat eggs Sardou with gulf shrimp and grits, crawfish boil and red beans and rice, Po-Boys and Creole bread pudding with vanilla whiskey.

“And Étouffée, and fried okra,” Will continued, waving his fork around enthusiastically before spearing another piece of crayfish that lay on his plate. “Étouffée is my favourite.”

“It would be interesting to see if I could attempt to cook any of these dishes,” Hannibal mused with a grin. “No doubt you would taste them and tell me only a native Cajun could cook them properly.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Don’t be stupid. You’d probably get it perfect the first time. You’re annoying like that.”

Hannibal merely hummed in amusement. They continued to eat in comfortable silence until Hannibal sat back and regarded the Omega.

“I owe you an apology Will,” Hannibal told him. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you so harshly before. It was incredibly insensitive of me and I’m just as unimpressed with my behaviour as you are.”

“You don’t have to say sorry Hannibal,” Will sighed. “I’ll admit I didn’t think it through and I shouldn’t have just disappeared but today has just been kind of weird for me.”

“Which is precisely why I should have been more understanding. Speaking to you like that at your father’s grave... it was inexcusable.”

Will grinned at him softly. “So, even Hannibal Lecter gets ruled by his biology sometimes. Even you can’t escape the fact you can lose your temper.”

“I usually have more sense than to let unpleasant primordial instincts get the better of me,” Hannibal replied grimly, looking rather disgusted at the thought of himself having something so human as instincts. “It appears I lose that sense when it comes to you.”

The dim lighting of the restaurant made Will seem even darker, his eyes like indigo and his hair as black as the waters of the Bayou he had waded through earlier that day. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Even after you saw how irrationally I behaved tonight?”

“Mmm,” Will smiled secretively to himself, his lids heavy. “I think that so far I’ve only scratched the surface of how separated I could get you from your senses. I haven’t even tried yet.”

Hannibal’s jaw tightened and he could practically feel his pupils dilating whilst his scent thickened. “Careful, Will.”

“I think it would do you some good,” Will continued regardless, leaving forwards a fraction. “Maybe you wouldn’t have such a stiff upper lip all the time if you just let go once in a while.”

Hannibal’s mind flashed to the blood and the gore he bathed himself in on his hunts, the ecstasy that sang through his veins as he created his art and settled himself into the role of God. He wanted to tell Will that he did let go, very often in fact, but just not in the way the Omega thought. His release was death, not the sexual catharsis Will had in mind.

“Would you care to explain, Will?” Hannibal nearly purred, returning the Omega’s grin. “I’m curious as to how I should ‘let go’.”

Will bit his lip, shaking his head as his smile widened. “Now you’re just being awkward Dr. Lecter. You know what I mean.”

“I don’t think I do,” Hannibal pressed him.

You started this, Will. You will finish it.

“I’m not sure it would be appropriate to explain it you,” Will teased him. “You might find it crass and I wouldn’t want to offend you.”

“I thought we agreed to be honest with each other Will,” Hannibal reminded the Omega. “After all, you said it yourself earlier; I’m not your doctor or your family. I’m your friend, am I not?”

“Alright then,” Will replied, his tone and his expression saying you asked for it. “As your friend I only meant that maybe you wouldn’t be so serious all the time if you were fucking someone. Sex is wonderful for your mental health, or so I’ve been told.”

“Is that your diagnosis then?” Hannibal smirked. “Fucking someone will cure my apparent seriousness?”

Hearing Hannibal say the words made Will blush, the swearing sounding so alien but appealing in the doctor’s mouth. “Worth trying I suppose.”

“And what if I’m happy to remain single and to maintain my ‘stiff upper lip’ as you put it? What if I have no desire for a relationship?”

“But are you happy, Hannibal?”

“Yes. I find pleasure in my work, my friendships. I haven’t felt the need for a relationship in a long time.”

“That’s a shame,” Will told him softly.

“You think it’s a shame I’m not fucking anyone?”

I think it’s a shame you’re not fucking me, Will mused in his head. “Maybe. I think whoever was with you would be lucky to have you. I think you would be incredibly... attentive.”

“May I ask why you think that?”

Will was unconscious of the way he bared his neck in a display of submission to the doctor as he leant forwards across their little table. “I think that because I know you don’t do anything half heartedly. Why would you be any different in bed?”

Hannibal fixed him with a pleased, levelled look, drinking in the creamy stretch of Will’s neck he offered before stopping the waiter that passed them and asking him for the bill. When he returned his gaze to Will he had retreated slightly, a lovely flush spreading across his cheeks. He said nothing for a few minutes and the Omega squirmed in his seat at the situation he had created.

At least it had been Will to cross this line first, and not him.

“As I said before, Will,” Hannibal rumbled across the table. “Careful.”

That night as Will lay in the amazingly soft bed of his hotel room, he sweated and twitched in his sleep. It was as if even whilst unconscious, he was hyper aware of the Alpha next door to him, only a few steps away. His dreams were filled with darkened rooms that night, of strong, broad hands curling around his neck and his wrists and purring foreign words into his ears as sharp teeth scraped against his pulse and deft fingers stroked his ribs and hips and thighs.

He awoke the next day nearly drenched in his own slick with an unbearable erection.

Returning to Port Haven was miserable. He had wanted to stay in Louisiana longer. Wanted more evenings of dangerous conversation in intimate little restaurants and lingering looks and drifting hands across the small of his back and to show Hannibal more of the backwaters of his home, to take him to his favourite lakes and sit by the docks and marvel at the Alpha’s amber eyes and sculpted cheekbones. He couldn’t have what he longed for though, and returned to Baltimore with a heavy heart.

Alana picked them up from the airport as promised and dropped Hannibal off at his home before they went back to Port Haven. Hannibal bid them both an equally frustratingly polite goodbye before heading into his house, not even glancing back at Will as Alana pulled away from the doctor’s home. When they returned to Port Haven, Will declared that he was tired after travelling and wanted catch up on some sleep. Once inside his room, he slumped down onto his bed and placed his phone next to him, staring at the device in determination as if he could somehow telepathically command Hannibal to call him or text him.

Thirty minutes of this relentless staring passed, and Will started to feel drowsy. He was about to drift off when he heard the buzz. He swiped the cell up, eagerly opening the message from Hannibal.

Are you free next Friday evening?

No actually, I’m busy staring out of my bedroom window and avoiding group therapy. Sorry

What a shame. I was going to ask if you would accompany me to the opera.

Maybe I could reschedule my broody staring out of the window session.

Wonderful. I will pick you up at 6pm.

Don’t you need a suit for fancy stuff like the opera?

Yes. Your suit should arrive in the next few days. Let me know if it needs any alterations, although I think the measurements will be accurate.

You are ridiculous Hannibal.

You’re welcome my dearest Will.

Will bit his lip and couldn’t stop the gigantic grin that spread across his face. He was right though, Hannibal was completely ridiculous. And perfect. And warm, and tempting and strong and since when did he sound like a love sick teenager?

The next day he went to his therapy session with Alana and she did not fail to notice the bags under his eyes and the bursts of red he had torn into his lip from biting it too hard.

“You look exhausted Will,” Alana commented. “Is everything alright? Do you need to see one of the nurses?”

“I just didn’t sleep too well last night,” Will sighed, shifting in his chair. “The usual nightmares. Except I woke up and found myself stood in the corner of my bedroom staring at the wall this morning.”

“You were sleep walking?” Alana asked, frowning. “That’s quite a development from just having nightmares Will.”

Will shrugged. “I used to sleep walk as a kid but I grew out of it. S’probably nothing.”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing to me.”

“Well if it carries on I’ll agree with you that it’s something.”

“Do you think that going back to Louisiana could have caused it?”

“It was just a bit of sleepwalking Alana, I didn’t have a psychotic episode,” Will grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “And going home was very... healing.”

“Healing?”

“Yes. I think it’s really going to help. I’m glad I went, I was even kind of sad to leave.”

“It was your home Will, I’m not surprised you were sad to leave. Do you think you’re ready to talk about what it was like to scatter Jasper’s ashes?”

“It was hard but it felt right. I feel... I don’t know, I feel kind of lighter. I haven’t let him go, but I feel like he’s in the right place now. I think I did the best I could to make this whole thing a little more peaceful.”

“I’m glad you feel that way Will, this is a huge step in the right direction. You’re doing so well considering you’ve only been at Port Haven for four months.”

“Alana... when do you think I’ll ever get out of here?” Will asked her hesitantly, unable to meet her eyes. “I know it won’t be any time soon, but I just... I don’t know.”

“Well,” Alana sighed, fiddling with her pen. “At least until you’re eighteen. There’s been discussion with social services that you’re going to need a psych evaluation regularly leading up to your birthday to determine how ready you are for the outside world. We were thinking that maybe once your heat has passed we could begin to evaluate you.”

“That’s a month away.”

“I know. I can push the timings back if you don’t feel you’re ready for anyone else to evaluate you, but seeing as you’ve been doing so well in the past month or so I thought it would ok.”

“I’m not good at having people picking around my head. They’ll evaluate me and decide I need to stay here.”

“They’ll continue to evaluate you every month or so Will, until we think you’re ready to leave.”

“Where will I go?” Will wondered, wide eyed.

“Wherever you want to go Will, although I would be happy if you chose to stay in Baltimore. You know that Margot has always said there is a home for you with her. And if you decided you wanted to live by yourself, I’ll help you apply for all the right government and social security funding, help you manage the money you’ll get from selling your father’s boat and the trailer - ”

“I want to go back to school. I want to go to night classes. I want to go to university at some point Alana.”

Alana beamed. “That’s wonderful Will. We could look for night classes right now if you wanted?”

“I’d like that.”

Friday evening arrived and Will found himself pacing his bedroom floor in his new suit. It had arrived precisely two days after Hannibal had invited him to the opera. The deep navy suit and matching waistcoat and tight, white shirt fit him like a glove along with the scarily expensive looking leather shoes Hannibal had sent him. He didn’t even want to think about how much it had cost and wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or surly about the fact the suit complimented his pale skin and dark hair and matched his eyes. The Alpha had even sent him mother of pearl cufflinks. It made Will uncomfortable, but at the same he couldn’t stop stroking the incredible fabric of the silky black tie and gently touching the glossy pearls in his cufflinks. He would insist Hannibal took it all back after the opera of course. There was no way Will could accept this, and had only managed to dress himself in the suit by convincing himself that it was more a rental situation; a loan of sorts.
His cell vibrated against his bed and he picked up to see Hannibal had text him saying he was waiting downstairs in the reception.

When he got downstairs Alana was stood talking with the Alpha, smiling brightly at him as they conversed. Hannibal was dressed in black, the suit clinging to him and folding around the wide set of his shoulders, his perfectly muscled arms and narrowed waist. His shirt was a stark white, juxtaposing the doctor in a wonderful monochrome. His hair was styled as it always was, slicked back without a single hair out of place. Will’s stomach twisted at the sight of him and he wondered how long it would be until the smell and sight of the Alpha would start to make him sweat. He was breathtaking.

Hannibal raked his own eyes up and down Will, drinking in sight of him in the suit he had chosen. The wave of satisfaction of seeing the Omega in clothes he had chosen was immense, the possessiveness overwhelming. Will looked even better than he had imagined he would. The suit enhanced every beautiful line and curve of his body, drew out the depths of his eyes and made his skin seem even more enticing. He smiled broadly at him.

“Ready to go Will?” Hannibal purred.

“Yes,” the Omega mumbled, keeping his eyes downturned.

Alana had not let the intense staring between the pair go unnoticed and she watched Will carefully. “I hope you enjoy the opera Will. I’m rather jealous I couldn’t get the evening free to come with you.”

“You were going to come?” Will asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Yes, Hannibal invited both of us but I have an evening lecture to give over at the training academy for the BAU. I promised Jack a few days ago,” Alana explained.

“Hopefully you will be able to join us next time Alana,” Hannibal smoothly interjected. “Or perhaps dinner sometime soon?”

“I’d love to,” Alana hummed. “You guys get going, you don’t want to be late!”

The drive to the opera house was a relatively quiet one. Will was visibly tense and it made Hannibal want to rub his hand over his knee and thigh as he drove with the other.

“Is everything all right Will?”

“I’ve never been to the opera before. I’m worried I’m going to embarrass you,” he admitted, looking out the window as they drove. “I’ve never even worn a suit before. I had to get Alana to do my tie for fuck’s sake.”

“Will, you could not possibly embarrass me even if you were trying to,” Hannibal reassured him. “You shouldn’t put yourself down. I appreciate it might not be the most comfortable environment for you and I’m simply grateful you agreed to come with me.”

“Well, I’m just going to say sorry now in case I make a complete idiot of myself,” Will replied dryly. “You’re going to have to explain to me what’s going on as well, I don’t speak a word of Italian.”

“I’d be delighted to,” Hannibal smiled.

The smell of so many people all at once was overwhelming to Will. They’d headed for the bar when they arrived at the opera house and the room was full. Will wondered for a moment whether he would topple over the edge into a full blown panic attack, but felt Hannibal’s hand splay out across the small of his back and press firmly.

“It’s ok, Will,” Hannibal whispered to him, bending down to speak into his ear. Will shuddered. “You can do this.”

“Can I?” Will choked out, eyes darting from every person in the bar.

“Yes, you can,” Hannibal confirmed, his lips grazing against his ear bor the briefest moment and Will jumped as if he’d been electrocuted. “I’m here, and nothing bad is going to happen to you.”

“Ok,” Will breathed out, shrinking further back into Hannibal’s warmth. “Opera. Crowded room. It’s fine. I can do it.”

The warm heat of Hannibal’s hand on the bottom of his back seeped through his clothes and he used the sensation to ground himself, unaware of how typical this behaviour was of mated couples, of bonded Alphas who could use simple little touches to ground their nervous Omegas. Hannibal, however, was fully aware of what he was going. He fully intended to give the impression that Will was his, the thought of anyone one else flirting with Will completely unacceptable. The Omega’s scent was so strong it was enough to make most dizzy; the intensity of Will’s dark sweetness had only strengthened since his bond with Mason had almost entirely dissolved, the bond bite now nothing but a small white mark on the back of his neck that would vanish completely soon. The smell of young, fertile Omega was hard to ignore, and one that was not bonded was even harder to ignore.

“Hannibal!”

The pair turned to see the grinning face of Mrs. Komeda. The Alpha’s lip stick was its usual blood red and her short raven hair was as severe as ever around her sharp face.

“Mrs. Komeda,” Hannibal smoothly greeted her. “How wonderful it is to see you again.”

“It’s been far too long Hannibal,” she complained, swiftly kissing either side of his face. “And who is this?”

Her eyes landed on Will and did not leave. Will shifted closer to Hannibal’s side, trying not to squirm.

“Will Graham,” Hannibal replied. “He had the good grace to accompany me this evening.”

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Komeda,” Will murmured, hoping he didn’t sound too awkward.

He took the Alpha’s out stretched hand and almost winced at her too-hard grip. “A pleasure to meet you Will.”

“How is Mr. Komeda, my dear friend? I have not seen him for a while now,” Hannibal asked, eyes growing dark at the duration of their hand shake.

“Oh, he’s well,” she replied. “He’s over there somewhere consorting with God knows who. I’d better go and check on him, but you will find me again during the interval Hannibal, won’t you?”

“Of course.”

She bid them goodbye and vanished back into the crowd. It took all of two minutes until Hannibal’s name was being called again.

“Oh, Dr. Lecter! I was hoping you’d be here tonight!”

The voice came from a plump, short little Omega with a rounded face and bright grin. His scent was remarkably bland for an Omega, Will noted, vaguely being able to smell something like lavender in the air around him. The scent of the Alpha next to him was incredibly strong, reminding Will of cloves and oranges and cinnamon. He was as tall as Hannibal and had a carefully blank expression, his dark eyes trained on Hannibal.

“Franklyn,” Hannibal sighed tersely. “How are you this evening?”

“I’m wonderful Dr. Lecter,” the Omega gushed. “Ah, how rude of me! This is my dear friend, Tobias. Tobias, this is Dr. Lecter.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” the Alpha smoothly replied, his eyes reminding Will of a shark’s.

“And oh, I don’t believe we’ve met before,” Franklyn remarked as his eyes eventually landed on Will. “I’m Franklyn Froideveaux.”

“Will,” was his blunt reply, gingerly taking the other Omega’s hand to shake. “Nice to meet you Franklyn.”

“Gracious, you sound as if you’re an incredibly far way away from home,” Franklyn noted. “Where is that accent from?”

“Louisiana.”

“I’m sure I recognise your face,” Franklyn waffled on, frowning. “Doesn’t he look familiar Tobias?”

Tobias’ dark eyes swept over Will, lingering on his throat a little too long. Hannibal bristled at his side. “Yes, actually.”

“Now, where have I seen your face before?” Franklyn pondered, tapping his chin. “Oh! Oh, it’s you! You’re the Omega they found a few months ago! You went missing and -”

“Franklyn,” Hannibal cut him off, his eyes thunderous. “Please, Will does not appreciate talking of the whole ordeal. For the sake of his discretion I’d ask you do the same.”

“I do apologise,” Franklyn spluttered, turning red. “How rude of me, I am so sorry Will.”

“Does Will not have something to say about it?” Tobias commented in an amused voice. “Surely he can defend his own situation Dr. Lecter.”

“Of course he can,” Hannibal replied icily. “Will is more than capable of fighting his own battles.”

“It’s just as well this isn’t a battle then,” Will gritted out through his teeth. “Excuse me, I’m just going to find the rest room.”

Will turned on his heel and left before another word could be said from the other three, heading straight to the bathroom. He locked himself in a stall, sitting himself down and trying to do the breathing exercises Alana had taught him. They helped a little, and he eventually emerged from the stall and washed his hands in the sink, his palms clammy and sweaty. When he finally retreated from the bathroom, he’d only taken a few steps forwards until the heavy weight of another body bumped into him.

“For God’s sake, watch where you’re going,” the Alpha hissed.

Will looked up at the bulky man and his glower. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you.”

The Alpha’s eyes dilated and his nostrils flared as he took in the Omega, a grin forming on his too large mouth. “It’s quite alright, it was my fault. I should have been more careful.”

Will opened his mouth to speak again and excuse himself but was cut short when the man caught his chin between his fingers and stepped far too close to Will.

“Goodness, such beautiful eyes you have,” he remarked. “But you must hear that all the time.”

Will wished he could jerk his chin out of the man’s hand but he was frozen. “N-no, not really. I’m sorry, I have to -”

“Please, let me buy you a drink before the opera starts,” the Alpha insisted, his teeth gleaming as he grinned. “An apology for my rudeness from before.”

“I really have to go,” Will insisted, squirming.

“Surely you can spare a few moments,” he purred, his hand sliding down to cup the side of Will’s slender throat, his fingers curling around the back of his neck. “There’s at least another fifteen minutes until the opera begins my dear.”

“Please, I need to get back to my...” Will trailed off.

His what? Hannibal wasn’t his Alpha, wasn’t his mate but the word had been hanging on his tongue nonetheless.

“I haven’t introduced myself, how rude,” the Alpha continued, ignoring Will. “My name is Peter Rosenthal.”

“It was lovely to meet you but I really have to get back to my friend,” Will told him, his voice shaking.

“I’m sure they won’t miss you for a few more minutes,” Peter growled, his eyes flashing. “Please, let me get you a drink. I insist.”

His fingers dug sharply into the back of Will’s neck and he felt as if his knees were about to give way at the Alpha’s touch, the pressure too close to where his bond bite had been, the last dregs of Mason’s bond weakly protesting at the contact from another Alpha. He knew exactly what he was doing, and any moment now his fingers were going to slip back the collar of his shirt and actually touch the soft, overly sensitive skin hidden by his clothes.

“Will. There you are.”

Will had never been so glad to hear that Lithuanian purr.

The other Alpha’s eyes flashed to Hannibal, his eyes sweeping over the doctor and growing dark; a threat to his claim on the Omega who was trembling beneath his fingers so exquisitely.

“Hannibal,” Will choked out shakily, his eyes wide and pleading and a whine stinging the back of his throat.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” Hannibal almost growled, his voice deathly. “I see you’ve met my partner though.”

A strong arm wrapped around Will’s waist and he was pulled back into the firm warmth of Hannibal’s chest, his lungs feeling like they could finally deflate. The other Alpha’s lip curled instinctively and he dropped his hand from the air where Will had been seconds ago.

“Really,” Peter huffed out with a look of disgust. “In all my years I’ve never seen anyone be so irresponsible as to leave their Omega wandering around on their own. You want to keep an eye on him, my friend.”

“Is that so?” Hannibal quipped back. “Perhaps I am wrong, but Will should be able to go to the rest room on his own without getting harassed on the way out.”

“Hannibal, it’s fine, really -”

“What do you expect when you leave an unbounded Omega like him unattended, you’re lucky nothing happened to him,” Peter snapped.

Hannibal returned his outburst with silence, his face unreadable and his gaze cold. The other Alpha waited for him to say something, the silence clearly unnerving him.

“I see,” Hannibal murmured. “If you’ll excuse us we’ll be heading to our box now. Enjoy your evening, Mr...?”

“Rosenthal,” he sniped back. “Peter Rosenthal.”

“Have a pleasant evening Mr. Rosenthal,” Hannibal murmured, something so sinfully dark and dreadful laying in the cold depths of his voice. “I hope the opera can provide more of an entertaining night for you rather than waiting around Omega rest rooms.”

The other Alpha spluttered, furious, but Hannibal was guiding Will away before he could say another word. He ushered Will along into the box Hannibal had booked, waves of bitter anger rolling off of him.

“Are you alright Will?” Hannibal fussed over him, grasping his trembling hands in one of his. “I’m sorry that you had to experience that, it was completely vulgar and rude.”

“I’m fine Hannibal,” he replied, smiling weakly. “Far worse things have happened to me than some stranger touching my neck. It’s nothing.”

“I do not like the thought of his hands all over you, it’s -”

“I am completely ok,” Will interrupted, squeezing his hand. “Now let’s watch this damned opera and you can laugh at me for having no idea what the fuck is going on for the next few hours and we can forget it happened. Please.”

Hannibal studied him for a moment and then nodded, finally settling back in his seat. “Of course Will. I’m sorry.”

“Shut up you idiot,” Will grumbled, smiling at him softly.

Will had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself spluttering when Hannibal swiftly brought his hand up to his lips and pressed a warm, chaste kiss against his fingers before folding his hands together over his crossed legs.

Will’s hand twitched to grab the doctor again throughout the entire evening, barely unable to watch the opera when Hannibal was in such close proximity to him in the dark, his scent so vibrant and strong in the box. Will wished it had some physical form so that he could bathe in it, tip it down his throat and consume it. When the opera drew to an end, Will swore he saw Hannibal’s eyes gleaming as if he was on the verge of tears. The audience rose to their feet and applauded and Will still did not take his eyes from the Alpha.

“I’m sorry Will, but it would be rude for us to leave with saying goodbye to a few people first,” Hannibal informed him as they exited the box, his hand falling against Will’s back again as if it were habit to him now. “I hope you don’t mind waiting a while before we leave?”

“No, of course not,” Will told him. “I’ll just make sure I don’t go to the bathroom on my own again.”

“I am still appalled at that man’s behaviour,” Hannibal snarled. “He shouldn’t be allowed out in public if that’s what he deems as acceptable conduct.”

“You never know, you might see his face in the papers one day for being arrested with assault,” Will said thoughtfully.

I will see his face in the papers when they report his death, Hannibal thought to himself, barely containing his anger. And a slow death it would be, the only acceptable end for him after daring to touch Will. Will was his.

Back inside the bar, waves of people ascended on Hannibal once again, all of them begging for his attention. Will gritted his teeth as every Alpha that Hannibal spoke to let their eyes linger on him too long, staring at him like they wanted to devour him.

“Such a lovely companion you’ve brought to the opera tonight Hannibal,” one of them drawled, smirking at Will. “How did the two of you meet? Oh, I can imagine it was so romantic.”

Will wanted to snap at the man and tell him that no, it had not been romantic whatsoever, and he had met Hannibal in a psychiatric facility for raped and abused Omegas after being held captive by a fucking maniac for three years.

“Just through a friend,” Will replied with a tight smile.

“Oh, isn’t he the sweetest thing,” the Alpha cooed, grinning lazily at Hannibal. “I have to say Hannibal; we’re all rather flustered over this new rendezvous. None of us thought you had any interest in a relationship, let alone an Omega. And such a charming one at that... but then of course you would have the best of the best, wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t know. What do you say Will? Would you agree I only have the best?” Hannibal smirked, looking down at Will who wanted to jam his elbow in Hannibal’s ribs for letting this happen.

“I completely agree; which is why I’m so confused as to why you wanted me to come with you. I’m sure there would have been far better companions for you to bring,” Will shot back, his smile forced and his eyes dark.

The other Alpha burst into laughter. “And he’s funny too. You’d better be quick Hannibal and get a bite on his neck, otherwise you might find him being whisked away by another admirer.”

Will fought to stop his jaw from dropping at the comment, nearly bursting out laughing. Hannibal merely smiled back at the man.

“It was lovely to see you Eric,” Hannibal announced, ending their interaction. “I’m afraid Will and I must be leaving now, but I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.”

“Have a wonderful evening you two,” Eric said, his voice dripping with suggestion. He even winked at Will. “I expect to hear happy news next time I see you Dr. Lecter!”

“Goodnight Eric,” Hannibal smoothly voiced.

Will wanted to sprint out of the bar and all the way back to Port Haven and throw himself at Alana’s feet and beg her to never, ever let Hannibal take him to the opera again. When they reached Hannibal’s car, Will slammed the door closed he was so angry.

“Are all Alphas so slimy and narrow minded?” Will hissed. “The fucking nerve of them, it was as if I wasn’t even there! Where the fuck do they get off, saying all that personal stuff about us? Why did they all think we were screwing each other?!”

Hannibal sighed and merely watched Will. “They are tiring, you’re right. And no, they had no right to assume such things about you.”

“How are you not angry about all of this?” Will demanded. “How are you being so calm about all of this? It’s insulting Hannibal, none of them even looked at me like I was person! They were all just undressing me with their fucking eyes and -”

“Will, it’s not worth getting worked up about. They are small minded people despite their best attempts to seem otherwise, and can’t comprehend that we were merely there as friends.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Will spat, livid. “Why did you just let them all think we were together?”

“Perhaps I wanted to amuse myself and pretend we were living different lives for an evening,” Hannibal replied, his voice low and his eyes dark.

“So you thought you’d just let them all think we’re fucking each other?” Will laughed in disbelief. “You thought you’d just play along with it and not bother to tell them we aren’t together, that you’re not courting me?”

“If that’s the conclusion that you’ve come to, then yes.”

“What are you doing here?” Will snarled, twisting his body in the leather seat of the Bentley to glower fully at the Alpha. “What game are you playing Hannibal?”

“I am not playing a game Will.”

“I don’t understand what you want from me,” Will whispered, confused. “One minute you’re acting like my fucking minder and pretending to be all ethical and professional and the next you’re buying me fucking suits to take me to the opera and letting everyone there think that we’re together! And ‘my partner’? You practically told that Alpha that grabbed me outside the bathroom that we’re sleeping together!”

“The term partner is an extremely neutral term and seemed entirely appropriate for describing the nature of our relationship,” Hannibal answered quietly. “You disagree?”

“I thought I was supposed to be your friend,” Will growled at him.

“So did I.”

“What?” Will gasped, unable to keep his jaw from dropping this time. “Why are you... what do you mean?”

“I’m afraid I find myself wanting to regard you as something other than simply my friend nowadays Will,” Hannibal confessed. “It appears my feelings for you have evolved into something immoral.”

“You’re fucking joking me,” Will deadpanned, his voice flat. “This is a joke.”

“I would never joke about my feelings for you Will,” Hannibal murmured softly, his eyes never leaving Will’s face. “I am entirely serious.”

“You... you’re attracted to me?”

“I am. I have been since I first met you. I’ve been trying to suppress how I feel from the beginning and the rational thing to do would have been to tell Alana I could not see you again, to have not formed a relationship with you at all and saved us from this. But it appears my need to be around you has overridden my morals every time.”

Will was speechless.

“I can only say I’m sorry Will. I’ve breached countless boundaries with you and knew what I was doing every time. I have been careless in allowing myself to be around you and let my feelings for you grow.”

“Don’t. Don’t say another word Hannibal,” Will uttered into the car. “Don’t sit there and say you’ve breached fucking boundaries or that you should have walked away after you met me.”

“I know this is upsetting for you to hear Will, but I must tell you -”

“Upsetting to hear?! It’s upsetting to hear you apologising for this when you know damn well how I feel about you!” Will seethed. “You know that I’m attracted to you too and you know that every moment I spend with you is torture because I can’t have you.”

Hannibal let a silence form in the parked car, mesmerised by Will’s heaving chest and the disbelief on his face. “I needed to hear you say it Will. I still do.”

“I want you,” he immediately replied.

“Say it again.”

“You self-righteous bastard!” Will hissed. “What do you want me to do, strip for you right here and get on my hands and knees on your back seat? Will that make it any clearer to you?! I want you Hannibal, in every way I can have you. I want you as my friend and I want you in ways I probably shouldn’t, but fuck it. I want every little bit.”

“Then you can have it,” Hannibal breathed, his pupils so dilated the ring of amber had nearly disappeared. “I want you to have all of it.”

Will threw himself across the small space between them, thrusting himself into Hannibal’s lap and pressing his mouth to Hannibal’s as if it were the only source of oxygen left in the whole world.

Hannibal’s hands immediately came up and seized Will, wrapping around him and constricting like a python, hands moving to every part he could grasp as if Will was going to vanish at any moment. He gripped his back and his waist and his arms and knotted his fingers in Will’s hair. Will’s own hands were clutching the sides of Hannibal’s face like it was keeping him from floating into space, his own personal point of gravity. Hannibal’s mouth was hot and perfect and delicious against his, tasting of champagne and sliding into a fevered dance with Will’s lips as he caught their tongues together and gripped the back of Will’s head with a fistful of curls.

He wrenched the Omega’s head back, his mouth seeking out Will’s throat. He groaned helplessly as Hannibal’s teeth scraped against his pulse and his other hand dug its fingers into his waist with a bruising force. Hannibal was greedy and kissed every inch of available skin in front of him, moaning deeply at the taste of Will’s skin as he lavished his tongue up the Omega’s neck and behind his ear.

“Hannibal,” Will stuttered, hands flying to his shoulders.

“You look so beautiful tonight Will,” Hannibal growled against his throat, stroking his hand down onto Will’s thigh. “They were all watching you, looking at how dazzling you are.”

“You’re a bastard,” Will gasped as Hannibal’s teeth pulled his earlobe between his lips. “You made sure they’d all be looking at me.”

“Yes,” Hannibal hissed. “I wanted them to see how perfect you are and I wanted them all to know they couldn’t have you because you’re mine, Will.”

Will trembled as Hannibal pressed their mouths back together and branded him with another searing kiss, somehow pulling Will even closer against his body, the action causing their groins to rub against each other. Will whined into Hannibal’s mouth, a violent shudder passing through him at the spark of pleasure whilst the Alpha growled, his teeth nipping at Will’s lips.

Will began to feel dizzy, lost in everything that was Hannibal Lecter. His grip was bruising and his mouth was punishing but it was perfect.

It was perfect until Hannibal’s hand stroked up his spine underneath his suit jacket and pressed down on the back of Will’s neck, just below his collar, right where the tiny little scar of Mason’s shrinking bonding bite was.

Will jerked back as if he’d been electrocuted but Hannibal’s hands kept him in his lap.

“Don’t touch me there,” Will gasped, his eyes growing wide with horror. “Don’t ever touch me there again.”

“Will, I’m sorry,” Hannibal immediately soothed him, stroking down his flanks. “Forgive me, I was careless.”

Will said nothing, staring at Hannibal as he regained his breath. He shakily brought a hand up to touch Hannibal’s lips, the Alpha completely still beneath him as he let Will collect himself. Will’s hand crept around into Hannibal’s hair, cording his fingers through soft, ashy blonde hair that was slowly transitioning into a soft grey, a tell-tale sign of Hannibal’s age in combination with the creases on his regal, handsome face.

“I’m sorry,” Will said with a shaky voice. “I didn’t mean to do that, I just... my bond to Mason is still dissolving. There’s still tiny little fragments of it left.”

“I understand Will,” Hannibal murmured. “I should have known better, do not apologise to me.”

Will lent forwards and caught Hannibal’s lips in a soft, sweet kiss before pulling back and resting their foreheads together.

“You’re going to ask me to take you back to Port Haven now, aren’t you?” Hannibal asked, running his hands over Will’s back and waist tenderly.

“Yes.”

Hannibal just nodded and allowed him to arrange himself back into the passenger seat, starting the car as Will clipped himself back in.

There was silence for a few moments until Hannibal’s hand came to rest on his leg nearest to the gear stick, just above his knee on the beginnings of the inside of his thigh.

“We’re going to have to talk about this,” Will uttered into the silence.

“And we shall,” Hannibal agreed. “But right now I want to be selfish and pretend that this is how we normally are and that I will not go home and spend all night thinking about you.”

“If that’s what you want,” Will breathed, fascinated at the subtle display of possession of Hannibal’s hand on his leg.

“For tonight, yes. It’s what I want.”

Port Haven loomed into their vision and Will felt his insides sink at the thought of returning. Would Alana still be here or would she have gone home? Would she still be giving her lecture at the BAU? She’d be able to take one look at Will and know what they’d done, he was sure of it.

“I don’t want to leave you,” Will confessed as Hannibal parked outside the entrance. “I want to come home with you.”

“As tempting as that sounds Will, we both know Alana will have me hanged if you aren’t returned safely to her care.”

“Will you call me? Tomorrow?”

“Of course Will, I will call you every day until I see you again,” Hannibal promised, taking his hand and kissing it again as he had done earlier that night.

“When?”

“Alana suggested I come to Port Haven to talk to you again on Monday.”

“Ok. Two days, I can do that.”

Hannibal watched him carefully, stroking his thumb over Will’s knuckles. “Thank you for coming with me tonight Will. I’m sorry it turned out to be such a tedious experience for you.”

Will laughed. “I’d say it was one of the bests nights I’ve ever had. Probably the best.”

“The best for now,” Hannibal murmured. “There will be better ones in the future.”

“Monday,” Will announced and darted forwards in a flash to press his lips against Hannibal’s one more time before scrambling out of the car and disappearing inside of the building.

Hannibal grinned to himself for the entire drive back home. In a few hours he would head out again and rip Peter Rosenthal’s hands from his wrists.

Chapter Text

Charlie Fitz had been working as a mental health nurse in Port Haven for nearly ten years now. He’d seen a lot of Omegas come and go during that time, and a lot of them come and never go. He liked to pride himself that he knew the minute the newest Omega walked through the door that he’d be able to tell if they were going to be a permanent patient at Port Haven. When Will Graham had been ushered into Port Haven under Alana’s fretful, attentive wing, Charlie found himself being stumped for the first time in years. The Omega was cold and blank and looked as if he had seen the icy planes of Hell and simply given a sigh before he strolled through them.

Will Graham was an anomaly; it unnerved Charlie.

Most of the blank Omegas Charlie saw admitted to Port Haven had that kind of emptiness that was the result of being so broken there was no other option for them but to shut down. They were the ones that sat in the day room blinking in their arm chairs, had to be spoon fed their meals in the dining room and had to be lead by the hand to and from their pointless therapy sessions. Charlie knew they still had to persevere with these Omegas, had to at least attempt therapy with them, but Omegas that damaged simply sat in their chair in the circle and stared into space. They were catatonic, empty shells and unreachable and the kindest thing for them was to live out the rest of their days in peace.

Will Graham was not one of the Omegas with a dull scent and glazed over eyes.

A second personal category that Charlie had created was for the Omegas that came in kicking and screaming and tearing their hair out. They cried in their sleep and their bedrooms were locked at night and there were no sharp objects allowed near them. They were angry or inconsolable during therapy and often attempted to fight other patients and staff. These were the Omegas that snarled and swore at the nurses and Dr. Bloom on their bad days and sobbed and lamented to them on their good days.

Will Graham was not one of the Omegas who was prescribed sedatives on a regular basis and constantly sported red, watery eyes.

There were Omegas in between, of course. There were Omegas that tried to strip naked and work their hands into the trousers of orderlies or nurses and asked with purring tongues if they could have a cock to gag themselves on. There were Omegas that smiled too much and bit their nails and never stayed still for more than two minutes and would laugh hysterically before bursting into shrieking tears when asked about their abusers. There were Omegas that tried to run away and insisted they didn’t need to be here and demanded to be returned to their mates, despite the fact their mates were the reason they were at Port Haven in the first place.

Will Graham was not one of the Omegas either.

Will Graham was entirely in his own category. He was polite and did what he was asked. They had to fight with him to eat, but that had been getting better recently. He was on a modest amount of medication in comparison to the other patients. He’d never attacked a nurse – other than the episode he’d had where he’d hallucinated a nurse was his mate and struck her across the face – and it was a rare sight to see him interact with the other Omegas. He didn’t talk in therapy unless spoken to and always gave clipped, cynical answers. They never had to force him into his shower as they did with some Omegas who refused to wash and he never moaned for his mate or woke up screaming in the night.

Which was why Charlie was so confused to see him simply stood in the day room at three o’clock in the morning as he did his hourly walk of Port Haven on his night shift.

All of the lights were on, blaring through the glass walls of the day room. He was stood with his back to the door, and the night was black outside, making his reflection stark in the glass walls facing the garden. Charlie hesitated, watching him. Will simply stood, dressed in a sweat drenched t-shirt and boxers, his hands hanging loosely by his sides. Then he turned and began to walk from each arm chair in the day room, touch it, and then move on. He did the same with the couches, and the book cases and the piano.

Charlie opened the door carefully and stepped inside. “Will? What are you doing out of bed?”

“ – and then we can paint the nursery yellow, can’t we?” Will was saying in a clear, smooth voice. “That will a nice colour for the baby.”

“Will?”

“No, no Mason I’m not painting it red. Red is too aggressive, I want the nursery to be bright and happy.”

“Are you awake Will?” Charlie called out, stepping even closer.

“And when the baby’s older we can paint their bedroom whatever colour they want. That will be nice, won’t it?”

“Christ,” Charlie mumbled under his breath, fumbling in his pocket to check there was a shot of emergency sedative ready in case Will got violent.

“And I want another baby as soon as I go into my heat after this one is born. You’d like that too, hmm?” Will continued to babble into the day room. “Mason, I can’t promise they’ll all be Alphas.”

Will stopped by the glass walls facing the garden again, his hands cupping his flat, empty stomach and sighing wistfully. “And then we can take them to Louisiana to see my dad. I’ll teach them to fish and take them out on the boat and you and my dad can sit on the porch and drink whiskey. Doesn’t that sound great?”

“Will, I’m going to take you back to your room now,” Charlie announced the sleep walking boy, getting closer to him. “You’re sleepwalking.”

“I can’t wait to tell my dad we’re expecting,” Will said to the window, his voice sounding so pleased despite the fact his face was like a stone and his eyes were somewhere else. “He’s going to be so happy, he’ll be a great grandfather.”

When Charlie’s hand gently curled around Will’s elbow the Omega didn’t even seem to feel it. He just continued to talk.

“Maybe I can have a baby with Hannibal too,” Will mused, his face expressionless still but his voice so full of wonder. “Do you think me and Hannibal would be good together? No? Why not?”

The mention of Dr. Lecter’s name made Charlie look over sharply to Will. Did Will have some sort of hidden attraction to the Alpha or was this just nonsense sleep talk?

“Well I think Dr. Lecter is wonderful. He would be much a better mate than you Mason. Maybe after the baby is born I’ll just let you have it and I’ll ask Hannibal to mate me. He’d let me go live with him, I know he would.”

Charlie pressed his lips together tightly as he guided Will back to his bedroom.

“You only ever wanted me for an heir anyway, those were your exact words,” Will muttered to his dream Mason. “So if I give you one, you’ll let me go and mate with Hannibal, won’t you?”

Charlie pushed Will’s bedroom door handle down swiftly.

“It doesn’t matter that you bought me, that doesn’t mean you get to keep me,” Will continued to sigh.

Charlie eased him back down into the bed.

The minute Will’s head hit the pillow, his open glassy eyes blinked very briefly. Then he bolted up right, a fresh wave of sweat pouring down his hair line and his chest heaving with breaths as if he’d just spent too long under water.

“Where am -”

Will cut himself short, staring around at the darkened bedroom as realisation slowly dawned on him. Charlie set his face into an expression of sympathy.

“It’s alright Will, you’re at Port Haven,” Charlie soothed him. “You were sleep walking. I found you in the day room and I’ve brought you back to bed. Is there anything I can get you? Something to help you sleep”?”

“No,” Will mumbled, turning his gaze down immediately as he blushed. “No more pills.”

“Alright,” Charlie sighed. “I’ll have to make a report you were sleep walking and let Dr. Bloom know in the morning. Are you sure there’s nothing I can get you?”

“I’m fine thank you,” Will replied carefully, still refusing to look up. “Good night.”

“Sleep well, Will,” Charlie murmured.

When the nurse left, Will got up again, drew the curtains and sat in the arm chair by the window until the sun came up.

“Have you slept at all Will? You look... I’m not sure exhausted is the word for it.”

“I’m fine Dr. Bloom.”

“I thought you were past lying to me. Change your mind?”

“I am fine. I’m not anything less, anything more. I’m completely fine.”

Alana regarded the purple crescent moons under Will’s eyes and the drained pallor of his skin and decided he looked absolutely grey.

“I think a light sedative to help you sleep without disturbance is a good idea Will.”

“I don’t want any more medication,” the Omega flatly shot back at her, his eyes fixed on his knees and utterly blank.

“I’m prescribing it for your sake Will, and under my professional opinion as your psychiatrist.”

“I won’t take it.”

“Do you want to sleep walk Will? This is the second time this has happened now, but last night sounded extreme. Nurse Fitz told me about it, told me all the things you were saying whilst you were sleep walking.”

“It’s nothing. It’ll pass, like everything else.”

“I really think it would be a good idea Will,” Alana replied firmly, her face tight. “It’s only to help you sleep through the night without getting up and wandering.”

“I don’t want more medication.”

“It would only be to help you settle into a more regulated sleeping pattern,” Alana argued. “I understand your reluctance Will, but I do think this will help you.”

“I’m sleep walking because I have three years worth of skeletons in my closet ranging from fetus sized to full grown Alpha. Don’t tell me that sedatives will stop me sleep walking Dr. Bloom.”

Alana tried not to show that she was taken aback by the cold, biting response. Will seemed to have reverted back to the icy bluntness he had presented her with when he first arrived at Port Haven, and it made something in the back of her mind break out into a panicked sweat to see that months of hard work could be flaking away.

“What are you so angry about Will?” she asked softly, frowning ever so slightly. “You don’t seem yourself today. You seem on edge.”

“I am always on edge.”

“Well, what’s making you more on edge than usual then?”

“I’m going to go into heat in a few weeks and I am terrified,” Will admitted openly, finally meeting her eyes. “My body is just responding to the panic that I keep pushing back.”

“Do you feel you may have another severe panic attack if you fully acknowledge you’ll be going into heat soon?”

“I’ll go into a panic attack and I won’t come out of it until my heat is done. I don’t want it to happen.”

“It’s time to start addressing it though Will,” Alana told him gently, attempting to edge him into it like a mother bird nudging a baby bird out of the nest for the first time. “Your heat is inevitable.”

“I’m worried I might shut down,” Will confessed. “I... when I had my heats with Mason, I used to just switch off whilst I was in pre heat. It was like my mind just packed its bags and left the minute I went into pre heat because I just couldn’t handle my heat. I’m worried it will happen again.”

“You might find you don’t go into that state,” Alana suggested. “You might find that because there are no threats to you here at Port Haven and you feel safer here, your mind doesn’t ‘switch off’.

“It will,” he softly insisted. “Mason might not be here to force himself on me when my heat starts but he’s still there when I shut my eyes. Even if our bond is only hanging on by a thread I still feel it pulling at me. My insides still hurt from what he did to me; it’s plastered all over my innards and my mind.”

“We can give you temporary pain relief during your heat. I’ll make sure there are nurses checking you every hour and that we do everything we can to make you comfortable.”

“Is it possible to be comfortable during a heat even if you’re not traumatised?” Will asked sourly. “Or are you going to lie to me and tell me that happily bonded Omegas have completely stress free heats?”

“There are other options, but I doubt you want to hear them.”

“Like what?”

“There are centres for Omegas who are un-bonded and don’t wish to spend their heat alone, for whatever reason. There are voluntary Betas and Alphas who get Omegas through their heats. It’s all very clinical and strictly professional. All volunteers have to have strict health and security back ground checks and are either infertile or have had vasectomies. Even then they’re required to use birth control.”

“I don’t know what would happen if a stranger tried to touch me during my heat.”

“Which is why I don’t think it would be a good idea for you. At all,” Alana replied with a shudder.

“Is there nothing else?”

“Some of the Omegas here that aren’t using suppressants get through their heats with toys,” Alana told him plainly, watching Will cringe at the word ‘toys’.

“Right.”

Silence.

“My options are feeling pretty limited right now,” Will told her, his voice threatening to begin shaking. “I don’t... what do I do?”

“Only you can make that decision.”

“I’m not asking you to decide for me, I just...” Will sighed, the frustration dripping from his voice. “I’m asking for advice.”

“Well, if I was an Omega,” Alana began, “and I was in your situation and had gone through what you have, I would want to stay here, take pain relief that was on offer and most likely end up using toys.”

“Fuck sake, that is not an image I want in my head,” Will groaned, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

“You did ask.”

“I need a while to think about it,” Will mumbled. “It’s going to be painful either way.”

“Of course Will,” Alana murmured gently, her eyes sympathetic. “I know this isn’t easy for you.”

“I want to talk to Margot about it. She’s the only other Omega I know.”

“Or maybe you could talk to the other patients here? If you got to know them you might not feel so confused, it could be good support for you,” Alana suggested.

“Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea,” Will sarcastically sniped, rolling his eyes. “Let me know when they stop banging their heads against walls for long enough to have a chat with me about their heats.”

“Will,” Alana scolded him. “That’s unfair and you know it is. The other patients here deserve just as much respect as you do.”

Will went silent and then stared at her for a while.

“What would happen if I went to one of those centres for Omegas who want someone to spend their heats with them? Considering I’m still seventeen?”

Alana cleared her throat carefully. “There are certain exceptions. Between the ages of sixteen and eighteen the official guardian of the Omega has to sign paperwork declaring they consent to it, along with extra security measures like extremely detailed background checks on the Beta or Alpha.”

“And you’re my official guardian.”

“Yes.”

“And they’re all sterile? And clean?”

“Yes, they’re required to be by law. It’s not a seedy brothel house, it’s more like a small hospital.”

“I heard of those places but I never paid them much attention; I always thought I was a Beta so I didn’t exactly educate myself about the options available.”

“Are you considering this option seriously?” Alana asked with a frown.

Will shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Alana slowly said, “but you’ve not exactly been discreet about the fact you can’t stand the thought of another person touching you, let alone spending heat with you.”

“Look at it this way Dr. Bloom,” Will sighed. “This might be a good thing for me. Maybe if I went and I just tried it, it might not be so awful. What if this pushes me past all these insecurities and it’s like, I don’t know, a cure or something? I go and spend my heat with someone else and it’ll help me get over Mason?”

Alana remained silent.

“Maybe if I do this I might be able to shake someone’s hand without breaking out into a nervous sweat because I’m terrified they’re going to break my jaw and rape me.”

“How will you even do this in the first place though Will? You just said yourself, you can’t even stand the most simple interaction or touch; how will you be able to spend your heat with someone and be that intimate when you can’t even shake someone’s hand?”

“I’m good at dissociating Dr. Bloom.”

Before Alana could respond, there was a frantic knocking on her door. It burst open, a frazzled looking orderly appearing.

“Dr. Bloom, you need to come quickly,” she panted. “Theresa’s broken into the medication room again and locked herself in, she’s threatening to overdose and -”

“I’m coming.”

Will blinked and suddenly he was alone in Alana’s office, the door wide open as he stared at the space the Beta had been.

So much for therapy.

Margot answered straight away when he rang.

“Have you ever been to one of those centres where Omegas can spend their heats with volunteers?”

“Hello to you too,” Margot grumbled, her voice sounding tired.

“Sorry.”

There was a sigh on the other end of the line and Will shivered in the cooling November air of Port Haven’s garden, trailing along the little garden paths snaking between the frost bitten grass.

“Yes, I have.”

“What was it like?” Will asked quietly, honestly.

“It...helped.”

“Mmm.”

“What’s this about Will?” Margot asked tersely.

“My heat is coming up in December. I don’t know what to do.”

“And you want to try an Omega Heat Facility?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“But... I thought, after Mason...”

“I don’t know Margot. I’m starting to wonder if it’ll help. Maybe it’s what I need to snap myself out of this, or maybe it’ll go horribly wrong and I’ll end up scarred.”

“You already are Will.”

“So you think it’s a bad idea?”

“I think it’s an odd idea. I’m not going to tell you what to do, I can only tell you about my own experience. It was all very efficient and professional. It was awkward at first, because I was nervous, but the... the Beta spending my heat with me was kind. It made it a lot easier. I only ever went once, before Mason started making me take heat suppressants.”

“I don’t even want to hear the word suppressants,” Will groaned. “The whole reason I’m in this mess is because my body hates me.”

“I’d rather have you struggling with your heats than having a heart attack or becoming brain dead,” Margot quipped. “I know it’s scary Will but the alternative is more terrifying.”

“I think I could do with being brain dead.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not.”

“No, I’m not.”

Margot went silent and then released a sigh eventually. “What does Alana think?”

“She wants me to spend my heat here, drugged up on pain relief with a dildo in my fucking ass.”

Will could almost hear Margot wincing. “Wow.”

“Mmm,” Will replied. “I’d rather be put in a medically induced coma than spend five days crying into my pillow because I can’t get what I need from a stupid fucking sex toy that’s supposed to mimic a knot.”

“I agree,” Margot replied dryly. “Betas go on about it as if sex toys can come anywhere close to being enough. It’s like telling Mozart he’s got a grand piano and an entire orchestra at his disposal when you give him a broken keyboard.”

Will laughed.

“Do you think you’ll freak out if you go to an Omega Heat Centre?” Margot asked, concerned.

Will shuffled his feet, kicking lightly at a small pebble in his path. “Maybe. Maybe not. Who can say how I’ll behave once I go into heat.”

“You can always back out of it if you change your mind,” Margot told him. “All parties have to sign paperwork before it happens that the Omega is free to end the arrangement at any time. You could be right in the middle of taking a knot and decide you want to end it and there’s nothing they can do but oblige.”

“Jeez Margot,” Will grumbled. “Thanks for the graphic description.”

“I’m just being honest,” Margot replied and Will could imagine her shrugging. “I thought it would be important for you to know. Have you spoken to Hannibal about it?”

Will went silent.

“I’ll take that as a no then,” Margot muttered. “Are you going to tell him you’re thinking about it?”

“No. I don’t think I could even if I wanted to.”

“Why not? It’s none of his business how you decide to spend your heats.”

“Well it’s just that... you know, he’s an Alpha and I don’t know how comfortable I am talking about my heats with him and...”

“Is that the real reason? Or the reason you’re telling me to cover up the fact you have feelings for him?”

Will gritted his teeth and glared at a pile of dead, drying leaves near his feet. “I have feelings for Hannibal as a friend Margot, how many times do I have to keep telling you?”

“You’ll have to keep telling me that until you break and admit that you’ve been attracted to him all this time and that I’m right.”

“Oh, and will you be admitting to fucking Alana any time soon then?”

“Oh, I don’t care about that anymore. I’ve been keeping that pretence up for months now.”

“So you are then? Fucking her?”

“Of course I am.”

“Gross, Margot,” Will mumbled at the pile of leaves.

“Nothing gross about it. We’re great together, in every way. What is gross, though, is the fact your forty-five year old ‘friend’ wants to get you into bed.”

“Would it be gross if I was eighteen?” Will snapped at her.

“It would be legally gross, so less gross. It would be acceptable gross. Still weird, but at least he couldn’t get done for statutory rape.”

“But it would be ok for a random forty-five year old Beta or Alpha to spend my heat with me just because Alana’s signature is on a few pieces of paper?”

“Hmm. You’ve got me there. It wouldn’t be ok, of course, but in that case no one would be screaming ‘sexual predator’ or ‘child molester’ because Alana would consent to it and there are so many security measures in place at Omega Heat Facilities.”

“This is bullshit,” Will growled.

“Just admit you have feelings for him Will.”

Will pursued his lips and straightened his spine. “I have to go. I’ll speak to you later Margot. Thanks for the advice.”

Will hung up before she could utter another word, stuffing his phone angrily back into his pockets and stomping back into Port Haven to brace himself for his long, tedious group therapy.

“And how did that make you feel Jane?”

Will was sick of hearing about feelings.

“Well, I-I felt so guilty,” Jane, the Omega in question stuttered. “I just felt like the world’s worst mate.”

“And is that why you tried to do what you did?” the nurse leading the session asked.

“No, no! I only went swimming, silly! Honestly, I keep telling everyone this, but no one seems to listen!” Jane smiled a little too widely, her eyes growing hysterical.

The nurse, Karen, thinned her lips. “Jane, you walked into the lake at the bottom of your house carrying breeze blocks that were tied to your ankles.”

Jane’s lips twitched. “I went swimming.”

The nurse gave her a long look before looking around the circle of Omegas. “Does anyone have anything to say to Jane about how she was feeling? Any thoughts on why she felt like she did?”

“Should have found a better way to do it,” one Omega muttered, a surly faced young man who constantly had bandages around his wrists. “One that wasn’t so obvious.”

“Yes, because slitting your wrists in a restaurant toilet wasn’t obvious Liam,” Jane snapped back, baring her teeth.

Will just watched the scene in amusement.

“At least he didn’t have any kids to think about, you selfish whore,” another Omega griped at her. “You have four. Or you did, anyway, social services won’t let you see them now.”

Karen looked flustered. “Wesley, that is really not an appropriate thing to say to Jane. Apologise to her immediately.”

“Why should I? Why should I say sorry to her when she got to have kids and then decided to try and fucking kill herself whilst I got landed with a body incapable of carrying children?!” Wesley seethed.

“You poisoned your mate and killed him,” Liam scoffed back at Wesley. “Some Omega you are.”

“He deserved it,” Wesley spat back. “He was going to leave me once the doctors told us I was infertile.”

Will began to zone out. It carried on like that for the next few minutes, the Omegas snapping and growling at each other whilst Karen tried to take back control of the session.

“ – well at least I could protect my children, unlike him,” a voice shouted.

Will raised his head slowly. It wasn’t often that the rest of the group’s violent outbursts turned on him, but it happened now and then. Apparently today was one of those days.

“Yeah, you heard me.”

The voice came from a pretty, blonde Omega with chocolate brown eyes and a mean set to her shoulders.

“He couldn’t even protect his newborn son, what sort of mother is that? To think he just let his Alpha murder his son -”

“You do not know a single thing about my situation. Shut your mouth,” Will cut her off, the monotone of his voice clearly making her squirm.

“How could you have just sat there and let it happen?” she sneered.

“I was given life threatening amounts of morphine and sedative and kept in a double locked room that could only be opened from the outside,” Will replied flatly. “I tried. I tried to get out, believe me.”

She looked away, uncomfortable. “I still think you’re a bad mother.”

“Yes,” Will replied. “I do too.”

“Will, your situation was entirely the fault of others,” Karen reprimanded him, startled at the Omega’s participation. “You know that.”

Will just looked at her blankly before settling his eyes on the blonde Omega opposite him in the circle that had called him a bad mother. He stared at her as he would do when he was staring at his hands or knees or feet when Alana or any other member of staff at Port Haven spoke to him. He stared at her like he had tunnel vision and did not take his eyes off of her other than to blink. She looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her up by the end of the group session.

Will tried not to think too much about how much her words burned. You’re a bad mother.

Monday finally arrived and Will found himself half tempted to tell Alana he didn’t want to see Hannibal he was that nervous. But then he remembered the feel of Hannibal’s fists in his hair and his mouth on his pulse and the way he worked Will’s body as if he was playing an instrument he’d been creating music with all his life.

Hannibal came to his room for this meeting.

“Will,” he smiled, as soon as he saw the Omega.

Will did not smile back. “Hello Hannibal.”

His scent held notes of distress and he wouldn’t meet Hannibal’s eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked carefully, slowly.

“Nothing. Just a bad day.”

Hannibal went to join him by sitting in the second arm chair by the window. “Anything in particular that’s making it a bad day?”

“I’ve started sleep walking and another patient called me a bad mother for letting Mason kill Jasper in group therapy the other day. It’s stuck in my head like a looping video.”

“Well,” Hannibal said grimly, “which one would you like to talk about first?”

Will didn’t look at him. He kept his eyes on the gardener below them raking up dead leaves. “Neither. I want to talk about what happened on Friday.”

“Of course,” Hannibal replied smoothly. “I wanted to say thank you again for joining me. I enjoyed your company immensely.”

“Clearly.”

“Will, if there is something you’d like to tell me, please do.”

“What do you want from me?” Will sighed, flickering his gaze to Hannibal for the briefest moment. “Truthfully. I don’t want any dressed up words or skipping around questions or indirect answers.”

Hannibal drew in a deep breath, watching Will. He remained silent and did not move his eyes from the Omega. The silence began to clearly frustrate him and his beautiful face turned stormy.

“What do you want Hannibal? Do you want a quick fuck and then to pretend this never happened? Or do you want me in a long term sense?”

“I’m not interested in a fleeting sexual experience with you.”

“So you’re interested in what then? Spending heats with me? Mating? Bonding? Moving me into you big fancy house and parading me around with my mating bite on display? Children?”

“I want whatever you will graciously give me. Whether that is simply friendship and nothing more than a kiss being kept firmly in the past or a full, vibrant future. I will take whatever you give me Will, because I starve for you. I will take however much you wish to let me have.”

“What if I told you I never want to see you again?” Will asked darkly. “What if I told you to leave and never come back?”

“Would it make you happy if I did that?”

Will glared at him. “Would you do it?”

“If it was what you wanted.”

“You’d pester Alana for updates about me all the time.”

“Naturally. It would be the only salve to spread on my wounds.”

“Do you presume I would wound you Dr. Lecter?”

“I presume that you will always act with your heart.”

Will scoffed and looked away again. “Stop dodging.”

“The heart is not a rational organ Will,” Hannibal murmured softly, drinking in the Omega bathed in pale, cold November sunlight. “If you were ever to hurt me it would be an action carried out purely by what you feel to be right. I could not blame you for that.”

“So I’m a silly, irrational Omega now then?”

“No. You are full of strength and passion and when I think of you I want to consume every look you deign to even give me because I crave your attention and your presence. If anything, it is me who is the irrational one.”

“I don’t feel very rational.”

“Attraction has its side effects unfortunately.”

“What if this is just my body pushing me into having feelings for you because you’re the only Alpha I’ve been exposed to since I lost my child and my mate? What if this is just a purely biological hiccup caused by my body trying to compensate for what I’ve lost?”

“Do you really believe that? Or is it a mere speculation?”

“I don’t know what I believe. I just know I want you to put me on my bed and rip my clothes off and make me scream.”

Hannibal’s breath hitched in his throat. “Will.”

“I want you to fuck me against the wall and call me names in languages I don’t understand and give me bruises that everyone will see,” Will hissed, his eyes shining as they penetrated the doctor. “I want your teeth in my neck and your knot inside of me Hannibal.”

“Will,” Hannibal growled again. “Please do not describe scenarios that I cannot make a reality.”

“Why couldn’t you make it a reality?” Will purred, slipping out of his chair. “You could put your hands around my throat right now Dr. Lecter, take me on the floor and I would make such lovely noises for you.”

“This is cruel of you Will,” Hannibal snarled, gripping the arms of his chair too tightly.

Will hovered above him. He placed one leg between the side of Hannibal’s right thigh the chair. “Tell me what’s stopping you.”

“We are at Port Haven,” Hannibal answered. “There are nurses and orderlies and Alana roaming about. It would be stupid to believe we wouldn’t get caught.”

Will’s leg slipped away from the chair and Hannibal wanted to cry at the loss.

“I can be quiet Dr. Lecter,” Will breathed. “Can’t you?”

He sank to his knees and Hannibal wanted to snarl. He settled himself between Hannibal’s thighs, resting his head against strong, toned muscle that lay beneath the fine, sleek material of his suit pants. Will stared up at him innocently as his head rested to the side, distorting his face a little. Another hand crept up Hannibal’s other leg, grazing against his ankle, sliding up his calf and circling his knee slowly.

“Anybody could walk in. There are no locks on your door.”

“Have they ever interrupted us before?” Will mouthed against his thigh, his lips parting to rub against his suit.

“That is beside the point and you know it is,” Hannibal hissed. He was gripping the arms of the chair so tightly Will thought the wood might splinter.

“No one will disturb us.”

A hand appeared to trace down the line of Hannibal’s zipper at the front of his trousers. Hannibal growled in warning, but the Omega maintained his soft, innocent gaze as he stared up at him, his pale, scarred hand running up and down his crotch with light fingers. Barely there, but enough to feel the pressure.

“There is only so much self restraint I have,” Hannibal warned him. “And I do not believe this is an action you wish to take Will, taking into account that you are still mourning and grieving and going through a difficult period.”

“Please, Hannibal,” Will whispered softly, his eyes so round and blue.

Hannibal bit back the groan in his throat at Will’s plea, the whole thing like something he’d dreamed up. Will, between his knees, begging for him. Hannibal wondered how much more he could get Will to beg.

“You haven’t thought this through,” Hannibal told him, unable to help the hand that came to the back of Will’s curls, petting him heavily. “I fear you do not really want this Will, and are only acting out of confusion and misplaced grief.”

“But you said,” Will murmured breathily. “You said however much I’ll give you, you’ll take it. You said you want me to have it all.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you are an extremely manipulative creature?” Hannibal muttered, his breathing harsh and his eyes gleaming.

“How do you think I survived Muskrat Farm?”

Before Hannibal could answer, Will squeezed him slowly through his trousers. Hannibal’s nostrils flared and his lip curled back, a low growl brewing in the back of his throat in warning.

“I am concerned you do not truly want this,” Hannibal continued, the hand in Will’s hair tightening suddenly. It made Will gasp.

“Dr. Lecter,” the Omega half moaned into Hannibal’s inner thigh. “I want you. You’ve made it quite clear you want me too, so why try to push this away?”

“Because we are in an unlocked room in an Omega Psychiatric Facility where a nurse could walk in and see us, report me to the police and I would never see you again,” Hannibal hissed. “I value your presence in my future far more than this moment of potential pleasure. Do not jeopardise our future Will.”

Will’s face went blank and he withdrew from Hannibal, moving like water as he vanished from the warm heat between Hannibal’s legs back to his chair.

“So you want the house and the white picket fence and the rosy cheeked children Hannibal?” Will asked, his voice oddly blank.

“I won’t take advantage of you,” Hannibal told him flatly, bristling. “You are still a minor in the eyes of the law. If someone were to discover we had engaged in any sort of sexual activity, it would ruin what we could have once you are older. I won’t allow myself to lose a future I could have with you because I could not wait two months.”

“Is that it? You won’t fuck me because I’m not legally an adult yet?”

“It is one of my reasons. I will also not take this further until you are eighteen because I need to be sure that you are not binding yourself to me in a desperate attempt to separate yourself from Mason. I want with every fibre of my being to save you, to help you. I crave to fix this all for you. But I will not let you become anything more than what we are now if you are dissociating with your grief over Mason and misplacing those feelings on your attraction to me. I’m not second guessing your attraction to me whatsoever; I know that you want me to mount you on all fours every chance you get but I need more than your physical need for me. I need your mind to well and truly want me too.”

The whine slipped helplessly from Will’s throat.

“Come here Will,” Hannibal sighed, well aware he was manipulating their pheromones and their natural Alpha Omega status.

Will scrambled into his neck. Hannibal wrapped his arms around him, pushing his own face into Will’s neck and inhaling as much of his scent as possible. He smelt like the ocean, like salt sea air and crashing waves and sharp cliff edges and white foam and winds that tore your skin open. It was wonderful. Hannibal purred as Will nuzzled his face against his throat, gripping his suit. He stroked the Omega’s spine soothingly. Will let out a high, keening sound of want.

“Ssh,” Hannibal breathed out against his ear, making him shudder. “Precious, wild thing. You understand me Will, don’t you? You understand why I must keep us at this place until you’re ready?”

“I’m ready now,” Will hissed.

“No, darling, you’re not,” Hannibal soothed him. “But soon. So soon; just two more months and then it will not matter what anyone thinks or says.”

“Alana will hate us.”

“She could never hate you. She will be angry at me, but she will become accustomed to it over time. It will be easier for her to accept at some point.”

“I’m not doing this because I’m messed up over Mason,” Will hummed against his throat, lips brushing over Hannibal’s skin. “I’ll be the first one to admit he fucked my head up. But that doesn’t mean I’m not capable of separating it from what I feel about you. I would have wanted you no matter what had happened in my life Hannibal. I would have wanted you no matter who I had been. It’s one of the only things I’ve ever been certain of.”

“You still need more time Will,” Hannibal disagreed gently. “I won’t force this. It’s too important to me.”

“I don’t need any more time,” Will insisted, sounding like he was going to cry. “It hurts to even think about waiting Hannibal.”

“Two months will have passed before you know it, my dearest Will.”

Hannibal smiled warmly, allowing himself to press soothing little kisses against Will’s neck and jaw and cheeks. It made the Omega purr and contort with happy pleasure in his arms and Hannibal didn’t think he’d ever seen a more satisfying sight. Although, Peter Rosenthal’s screams had been immensely pleasurable. The blood that pumped from his wrists after Hannibal had removed his hands was wonderful. He’d harvested Peter’s intestines and heart and tongue, being greedy and letting himself taking an entire leg too. He’d be able to make such a marvellous extent of dishes with all the meat. He planned on feeding Will the first lot of Peter’s body. He’d make him the most wonderful cuts of steak from the Alpha’s thigh.

He’d left Peter’s body on the roof of a well known brothel in the seedier area of Baltimore. He’d found out the man regularly visited the brothel, and more than one Omega had ended up in hospital after his visit. He had removed the man’s genitalia and placed the foul collection of body parts in his bleeding, tongue-less mouth. He was speared on a sharp pole through his neck, where an Omega’s mating gland would typically be and his hands had been speared through the pole before he’d hauled the Alpha’s body up onto the spike.

Not Hannibal’s finest work, but it had pleased him nonetheless.

Margot came to visit him a few days after Hannibal had been to see him. Alana had lingered, as she usually did, and had looked at the Omega as if she was her own personal sun. Margot’s eyes oozed affection. Will jokingly made sick noises and they had both glowered at him.

“I think I’ve made my mind up about my heat,” Will told Margot when they were alone.

“You’re going to the heat centre?”

“I’m going to try it.”

“Does Alana know yet?”

“Not yet,” Will sighed. “I wanted to tell her after I’d spoken to you. It’s easier to tell you. It’s easier to tell you everything. You’re the only one that really knows anything about me at all.”

“Not entirely true Will,” Margot murmured, her eyes dark. “But knowing the darker side of someone’s soul does make it feel as though you know everything about them. It’s such a vast place.”

“It is,” Will agreed. “It’s slightly less overwhelming I’m not alone in the dark though. I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t walking next to me in that dark.”

“I feel the same. I think the whole world would crash down around me if I was trying to navigate my way through the night on my own.”

“We would go down together, wouldn’t we?” Will asked, although it wasn’t a question. It was a statement, an observation.

“We would. If they ever found out I would be by your side through it all. This is my darkness just as much as it’s yours.”

They lapsed into fond, appreciative silence then, as they often did. It happened a lot when they had been at Muskrat Farm together. Sometimes there were just no words to say but they both understood perfectly what each other was thinking. They acknowledged that there was no point in voicing aloud Mason’s sickness and their own terror.

“I kissed Hannibal.”

“When?”

“Last Friday, when he took me to the opera.”

“And here I was, thinking you had been at each other’s throats long before that. You held out a while.”

“He won’t... won’t take it any further until I’m eighteen.”

“Well I appreciate he’s doing that at least,” Margot said dryly. “He’s not too knot-blind then.”

“Margot,” Will grumped, glaring at her. “He doesn’t want to risk never seeing me again and he wants to make sure I’m... that I’m not, you know. Still messed up over your brother.”

“And what do you want?”

“I want everything all at once.”

“Do you love him?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so,” Will swallowed. “But I know that I will. One day I’m going to wake up and it’s going to hit me like a brick wall that I love him. It feels like a premonition.”

Margot hummed. “I think I’m starting to feel like that about Alana. I think I might already be there, to be honest. I want her around every day and it’s... difficult when she’s not.”

“Don’t you hate being an Omega?”

“I hate that we form such deep, life-long attachments,” Margot muttered. “But I don’t hate that about my attachment to Alana. I hated it about Mason, and my father. I don’t hate it about you.”

There was quiet between them again for a while and Will thought about Margot alone in her vast mansion on Muskrat Farm. He thought about her wandering aimlessly, staring at the outhouse where she’d dumped Mason’s body into the pit of his savage pigs and the bonfire of blood soaked evidence. Then he thought about Margot turning away from the window and smiling at Alana calling her name.

It comforted him.

“Does Hannibal know you’re going to go to the heat centre?” Margot asked carefully.

“No.”

“You won’t tell him, will you?”

“I can’t. Not until after anyway. He’d stop me from going if he knew what I was going to do. I can’t ask Alana to lie to him about where I am either, she’ll find it strange if I want to keep it a secret from him. She’ll get suspicious.”

“You’d rather it was him, wouldn’t you? Rather he could be there for your first heat.”

Will smiled but looked in pain. “I want that more than anything. But he won’t. And I won’t be able to do it on my own and they won’t sedate me into a coma for five days. I can’t take suppressants. I don’t know what else to do. It would be too painful to stay here and go through it on my own, especially after spending every heat with Mason. The nurses here say heats are always more intense after you’ve had children as well, especially the first heat after birth.”

“He’ll be hurt,” Margot informed him. “But if he’s worth anything he will accept it, at some point.”

Will just nodded, pressing his lips together finally. He just hoped Hannibal would still want him afterwards. He wished for it so intensely it made him feel sick. Going through heat on his own at the age of fourteen strapped to a bed in an empty room had near killed him.

He wouldn’t do it again.

Chapter Text

Will could feel himself slipping.

Alana noticed it and so did Margot. The other nurses and orderlies saw it.

Will did not allow himself to answer when Hannibal called him and didn’t reply when he text him. He told Alana he did not want to see Hannibal leading up to his heat, which was only two weeks away.
Alana had winced at the thundering expression that had crossed Hannibal’s face when she had to calmly explain to the other doctor that Will did not want to see him for their regular sessions. Hannibal’s voice had never sounded so strained when he asked why.

“He doesn’t want to be around any Alphas in the weeks leading up to his heat,” Alana sighed.

“And has he gone into any further detail about why he wants this?”

“No. You know what Will is like, he only allows the smallest pieces to be divulged.”

“My experience of Will says otherwise. He divulges large amounts of his mind to me on regular occasions.”

“That might be the case with you Hannibal, but his relationship is different with me. I’m just following his request. To be completely honest with you, I’m not surprised he doesn’t want to be around any Alphas right now. His heats are a delicate subject, I wouldn’t take it personally.”

If only you knew, Hannibal sighed inside of his head. “Surely he must have said something else? It’s unlike him to not even answer any of my calls, out of the blue.”

“Will’s been having a tough time again,” Alana sighed, staring at her mug of coffee that was becoming too cold to drink. “He’s been sleepwalking a lot and his heat approaching has thrown him off kilter. I’m sure once his heat is over he’ll feel like his head is a little clearer.”

“He did not tell me he was sleepwalking.”

Alana felt disgusted at the little flicker of smugness that burst inside her chest. She wanted to scoff at Hannibal, chastise his possessive behaviour and say see? He doesn’t tell you everything after all. But she did not. She would never stoop to such levels.

“Yes,” she murmured. “The first time was very minor; he told me he just woke up stood in the corner of his room staring at the wall. The second time one of the orderlies found him wandering around the day room having a conversation with Mason. We found him in the car park one night, just sat down on the floor staring. He walks every night, but we’ve started locking his door when he goes to bed.”

“Does he remember when he wakes up?”

“Never. I suggested he starts taking light sedatives to keep himself asleep at night but he said he won’t take any more medication. I can barely get him to talk about it, but the nurses and orderlies sometimes hear him talking to himself from behind his door when they do their nightly rounds. I got too curious in the end and go to check on him myself most nights. I hear most of what he talks about, when he does talk. Sometimes he just stands or paces. ”

“What does he talk about?”

“Mainly he talks to Mason. Sometimes he talks to his children,” Alana answered carefully, her eyes guarded when they flashed to Hannibal. “And you.”

Hannibal remained silent, keeping his gaze steady on Alana. “I see.”

“He talks about grave yards and rivers and Paris when he talks to you.”

Hannibal fought to stop the bright, instinctive smile that threatened to split across his face. His Will was truly wonderful.

“And when he talks to Mason?”

“He talks to him about the auction he brought him from, tells him he forgives him for breaking his ribs and that he doesn’t mind that he hasn’t eaten in two days. He seems to think he’s pregnant in most of his dreams; he asks Mason whether he thinks their next child will have his eyes or Mason’s hair. That he wants them to play the piano, because he never learnt to play an instrument when he was young. Things like that.”

“Should I ask what his conversations with his children are like?” Hannibal asked grimly, pressing his lips together.

“He cries,” Alana sighed. “He always gets upset when it seems he’s talking to his children. He tells them he loves them and misses them. That he wants to hold them.”

“I suppose it is a small mercy he does not remember it when he wakes.”

“I think the fact he’s going to go into heat soon is making the sleep walking more vivid. More real for him,” Alana tells him, chewing her lip. “His unconscious is going into a panic, shut down mode whilst his body prepares for heat. I imagine the parts of his mind he’s not aware of are terrified of another miscarriage, of Mason forcing himself on him. All Will has ever known of his heats is that they are five days of pain.”

“He’s mentioned before that he does not remember his heats. That he dissociates so violently from the whole experience it’s like he closes his eyes and wakes up five days later with brief flashes of pain and the things Mason did to him.”

“Maybe this time his mind will run away from him as usual when he goes into heat but when there’s no pain or anything to be afraid of it, it’ll come tip toeing back and he’ll remember more of it.”

“I sincerely hope that is the case Alana.”

Will had been expecting Alana to look beyond baffled when he came and sat down in her office for his daily session with her, joined by Margot this time, the other Omega sitting next to Will opposite Alana and holding his hand tightly. He’d expected her to be shocked when he announced he wanted to go to a heat centre.

He hadn’t expected her to look so hurt.

“I never thought I would ever hear you say those words,” Alana admitted after minutes of stunned silence. “I don’t know what to say Will.”

“Then say you’ll support him and sign and the consent forms and you’ll take him when his pre-heat starts,” Margot cut in smoothly, her gaze cool on her lover.

“This is something I would have liked to have discussed in depth with you first,” Alana resisted, shooting a wary glance between the two cold, blinking Omegas.

Will and Margot were remarkably similar in that way, Alana had noticed. Both of them were cold, both of them possessed the ability to turn into stone the minute anyone prodded a little too deeply and they could both be so icy that it burnt skin to be in their presence. Mason Verger certainly ensured he had left his mark in the world before he departed from it. He may not have his physical, living, breathing legacy, but he got to have this; he got to leave behind two frost bitten souls.

“That’s why I’m here now.”

Alana looked at them both. “I don’t have a say, do I? I’m going to sign those papers no matter what we say to each other about this.”

“Yes,” Margot and Will chorused in unison.

“Are prepared for how difficult this might be Will?” Alana asked, ensuring her voice was stern. “How you might react?”

Will nodded. “I am. But the fact I actively want this and that I’ve been thinking about it since you told me it was an option I had makes me feel a little more at ease. It’s like you said, they’re all thoroughly checked out. No criminal convictions and they have to pass the psychological examinations by psychiatrists like you. No diseases, no chance of pregnancy. Just a medical service. And if I want to stop at any point, I can. And I will come crying back to Port Haven and let you say I told you so for the rest of my life.”

Alana just pursued her lips and turned her gaze to the computer to find the contact number for Baltimore’s Omega Heat Clinic Facility.

Will spent the two weeks leading up to his heat in a daze of quiet walks in Port Haven’s gardens, watching snow fall and ice wrap itself round the world around him. He went to therapy, ate his meals, stared blankly at the TV news reports and slept fitfully. He did not even look at his phone when Hannibal called. He couldn’t stand the thought of hearing the Alpha’s voice when he knew what he was going to do in the very imminent future. How he would betray Hannibal, despite the fact they were halted at the line of friends. There had been nothing between them other than that night after the opera, and yet it still felt to Will like he was crumpling his and Hannibal’s mutual trust and respect for each other up into a tiny, insignificant ball and tossing it aside. He wondered whether he would still think so much about his betrayal when he was in the middle of his heat, unable to think about much more than the sensation of being filled, again and again and again.

If he separated himself from Hannibal, only momentarily, it would make this easier for Will. He would be able to go through with this and spend his heat at the centre with a stranger who he owed nothing to, and vice versa, without feeling like he may as well have gone and wrenched Hannibal’s heart out. He knew the Alpha cared for him - I starve for you - and knew that this would tear Hannibal into pieces when he found out what Will had done.

But he would not be there for Will’s heat and Will knew his body well enough to know that going into a heat after everything he had been through would most likely push him past a point he would never return from. If Hannibal wanted to be able to even have Will in his future, this was the only option they had; Will told himself over and over this was the only way to for him to even be around for the potential future Hannibal had whispered of to him.

If anything, he was doing this for the sake of the future they both wanted so badly.

Baltimore Omega Heat Clinic Facility was a large, white building that looked like a hospital. It stood like a single white tooth amongst a shady lane of brown and redbrick buildings. It was clinical. Will liked that about it. It smelt neutral.

Alana hadn’t said a word to him on the drive over. Will wondered if she didn’t really know what to say. He didn’t try to communicate with her, either way. He just sat there and sweated into the passenger seat of her neat hybrid and twisted his hands in his lap and he tried to breathe like he wasn’t under water.

Will had filled out all the forms last week. Alana had written up a detailed description of Will’s physical and psychological background, provided them with his medical details and had made Will take his own psychological examination beforehand. The facility had volunteers who were more suited to dealing with Omegas like Will, Alana had told him. Volunteers who wouldn’t react badly to Will having a break down during his heat or being violent or anything other than the wanton, moaning image of an Omega the world liked to associate with heats.

“Good afternoon Mr. Graham,” the receptionist smiled warmly at them. “Thank you for choosing to use our service. If I could just get you to fill out these forms and...”

Will zoned out as the scent neutral Beta droned on, shakily signed his signature on the lines and dots that Alana pointed out to him and tried his best to stay steady on his feet.

He was vaguely aware of being guided through the building and into an elevator then being shown to a room that was white just like the rest of the building and smelt of completely nothing, just like everything and everyone here. The room was cold, which felt like heaven on Will’s skin, and was essentially an extremely clinical looking ensuite hotel room.

Will stared at the blankets they’d provided for him to nest with as Will’s assigned nurse kept talking at him. He thought her name was Carla.

“ – and here we’ve got the panic button in case you feel unable to leave the room,” Carla voiced, Will blinking at her. “Not that you will, but just as a precaution. We haven’t had anyone press a panic button for eight years now.”

“There’s plenty of food in the kitchen area too, enough for the duration of your stay. It’s all easily made foods with plenty of protein and nutrients to keep your energy up,” Carla announced, gesturing to the compact, efficient kitchen next to the door to the bathroom.

“If there’s anything else you need at all, there’s an intercom by the door that’s connected to the nurses’ office.”

Will blinked and managed to form a ‘thank you’.

“And you’ll make sure to remember your medication?” Alana pressed, her eyes concerned. “You’ll ask your volunteer to make sure you do?”

“Yes,” Will croaked.

Carla and Alana conversed in front of him and Will zoned out again. He sat on the bed and stared ahead of him whilst Carla said something about the Alpha coming up to meet him shortly so they could get to know each other before Will slipped from his pre-heat state into a full blown heat. She’d given him a small file, told him there was a photo and basic information about the Alpha in there.

Alana hugged him. He thought he might have said goodbye. Then he was alone. Alone for all of fifteen minutes, simply sat staring, until there was a knock at the door. By the time Will realised he was supposed to call out to tell whoever it was to come in, the door was opening already.

The smell of Alpha stung his nostrils.

He looked up to meet gentle, hazel eyes and nut brown skin and a thick shock of black hair. Strong nose, strong jaw and broad shoulders. He was a stereotypically attractive Alpha and it made Will want to sigh at the fact he was not faced with glowing amber eyes and cutting cheek bones and amused lips.

“Hello Will,” the Alpha smiled softly. “I’m Thomas, but you probably already know that; they gave you my file, didn’t they?”

“I haven’t looked at it,” Will found himself replying weakly, holding the Alpha’s gaze. “I’m sorry.”

Thomas smiled again. “It’s alright, no need to say sorry.”

“It would have been polite to at least read your file,” Will insisted. “I’m guessing you read mine.”

“Honestly, it’s not a problem,” Thomas assured him. “And yes, I did.”

“I’m wondering why you chose to be here after reading it.”

“Did you think it would scare everyone off? That all the volunteers would read it and decide they didn’t want to do this?”

“Something like that,” Will muttered, hugging himself. “I don’t have a great track record.”

Thomas moved to sit on the small couch near the kitchen area, not approaching him. “Well, it didn’t scare me off. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why did you choose to volunteer to spend my heat with me?” Will asked, his mouth twisting. “I can’t imagine I was first choice.”

“Because you intrigued me. Curiosity, basically,” Thomas openly admitted. “Why did you choose to come to the heat centre?”

“I didn’t have much choice,” Will told him, studying his laid back body language. “That sounded rude, again. I’m sorry.”

“A lot of Omegas who come here say that. They say they didn’t have any other option,” Thomas informed him, his gaze thoughtful. “I’m not here to analyse you Will, it’s not therapy. I’m here to help you through your heat. You don’t have to explain anything to me, I already read it all in your file. I just want you to know that.”

“My heats are difficult,” Will told him. “I don’t know how I’m going to act.”

“That’s ok. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it when we get there.”

“How are you being so calm about this?”

“I like to joke I don’t have the typical Alpha testosterone because I’m infertile. Makes me less of a prick.”

Will’s face split into a crooked smile. “That makes sense I suppose.”

“I’ve been volunteering here for nearly a year,” Thomas informed him.

“What made you want to do it in the first place?”

“My mate left me. She was sleeping with my sister. I thought fuck it, volunteered here and kept coming back. I guess it’s a kind of screwed up self-therapy as well as a need to help.”

“Oh,” Will breathed. “Did she leave because you were infertile?”

“Bingo,” Thomas murmured, a small smile playing around his mouth. “She left my sister after a few months anyway. Word is she’s with someone else now and they’re expecting their first kid together.”

“That’s pretty rough,” Will offered him sympathetically. “But it sounds like you’re better off without her.”

“I am,” Thomas agreed.

There was a small silence between them then, and Will was amazed at the lack of awkwardness.

“Can I get you anything?” Thomas asked, rising from the sofa. “Something to eat or drink? I’m gonna make coffee.”

“Coffee sounds good,” Will murmured, slowly getting to his feet from his place on the bed. He hovered by the sofa, watching Thomas make them coffee.

“I know there are more safety regulations and rules than you can count,” Thomas began, talking easily as he rummaged around the cupboards. “But is there anything I should know? Anything you need of me that’s not already in all the paper work?”

“I...” Will trailed off with a frown, not expecting the thoughtfulness of the question. “I’d prefer it if we kept this as formal as we can, which sounds stupid in itself but, I...”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Thomas smiled. “I just thought I’d ask. Some Omegas ask me to gentle them, say certain things to them, only take them in certain positions. That kind of stuff, you know?”

Will nodded. “I’m not great with other people touching me, which I know can’t be avoided but I’d like it if you didn’t touch me unless we’re... you know. In the middle of it. I’d like it if you didn’t touch my neck. At all.”

“Got it,” Thomas replied cheerfully. “Absolutely minimal and necessary touching only. I can do that.”

“Like I said before, I don’t know how I’m going to act,” Will mumbled, casting his eyes down. “So if I say anything weird or act weirdly please just ignore me. I mean, unless I get violent or whatever, but... I’m not explaining this very well.”

“I read the file Will. I know what you’ve been through.”

Will wrapped his hands around the mug of coffee offered to him. “Thanks.”

The tremors were getting slowly worse and his skin felt like it would slide from his bones any moment now.

“Thank you for doing this,” Will told him earnestly whilst he still had a grip of himself.

“You don’t need to say thank you Will,” Thomas insisted gently.

They drank their coffees. Will sweated. He spent twenty minutes fussily arranging the blankets into a miserable attempt of a nest, almost unsure of what to do with the pile of soft white blankets and pillows. He’d never had such luxuries with Mason. Just his clothes and bed sheets.

Will paced and Thomas simply watched him from the couch.

“Would you like me to try gentling you?” Thomas offered. “It might help a little.”

“No,” Will sighed, wringing his hands. “I’m just not used to this, that’s all. The heats I’ve had in the past, I just sort of went vacant as soon as my pre-heat set in and it was like I woke up when my heat was over. I’m not used to this waiting, to...”

“Maybe giving you coffee wasn’t such a great idea,” Thomas wondered out loud. “The caffeine probably made you a little anxious.”

“I’m going for a shower,” Will announced. “I’ll be out in a bit.”

Thomas just nodded and Will went into the bathroom, contemplating locking the door and then leaving it. He stripped and eased himself underneath the water. He washed himself rigorously, as he always did, scrubbing his skin to the point of being raw and turning the hot water up enough to begin to scald his skin. He allowed himself to gingerly trail his fingers to the lower half of his body, brushing them through the slick leaking from between his cheeks. He stopped himself before he could get a finger inside.

He brushed his teeth and towelled himself off, wrapping himself in one of the stone coloured bath robes hanging in the bathroom. He returned to Thomas, skin flushed and bare footed with wet hair.

Thomas smiled at him.

Will sat down on the bed and glanced through his file in front of him. “You’re only twenty four?”

“Mmm,” Thomas hummed in response. “You seemed surprised.”

“No, I just... Thomas, I like you,” Will gritted out, wincing. “And I sound so horrible for telling you this, but the only reason I’m here is because the Alpha I wanted to spend my heat with can’t.”

“I’m not hurt by that Will,” Thomas assured the Omega. “A lot of Omegas are in the same situation, where they can’t be with the Alphas they want to and have to come here for their heats.”

“He’s thirty years older than me,” Will told him. “And kind of my doctor.”

“Ah,” Thomas replied, giving Will a sympathetic look. “That does sound a little tricky.”

“He’s making us wait until I’m eighteen for us to be together,” Will continued, confused at his openness with the Alpha. Probably all the heat hormones.

“Being arrested for statutory rape wouldn’t go down too well for you two.”

“No,” Will agreed, cursing the sweat that was beginning to prickle on his skin again and the pull in his groin. “I didn’t want to wait, but he insisted. I haven’t told him I’ve decided to come here for my heat.”

Thomas gave him a grim look. “I understand that. I wouldn’t want the Alpha that was courting me to know I was spending my heat with someone else.”

“I’m worried he’s going to hate me,” Will confessed, clenching his shaking hands into fists. “I’m worried he’ll walk away from me when I tell him I had to come here for my heat because he wouldn’t spend it with me.”

Thomas got up and came to sit next to Will on the bed, keeping a respectful distance. “I don’t think he’ll hate you Will. And if he was the one who wanted to wait for you then I’m sure he’ll come to terms with your decision and you’ll get to be with him.”

Will just nodded and then leant over and kissed him.

Thomas was gentle. When Will bucked and hissed, he let him drag his nails across his skin and gracefully avoided Will’s teeth. He stroked the Omega’s sides and back carefully, pressed kisses into his hair. Will went from hot to cold, grappling to throw Thomas off of him one moment and then clinging to him like a leech the next.

He cried a lot too. Thomas hushed him softly when he did, wiping away Will’s tears whilst the Omega babbled nonsense into his ear between small, choked sobs, begging for a knot and apologising in the same sentence.

Will went rigid with some waves of his heat. That was when Thomas really saw how deep Will’s scars ran. The Omega would lay there, panting and sweating and whimpering but keeping his eyes closed and his arms around his face in an instinctive movement of protection whilst he held himself as still as a statue, letting Thomas move him and touch him. He didn’t emit any noises other than slow, trembling breaths and tiny whimpers. Thomas had never seen an Omega behave like that before during heat, contradicting his experience of the fervent energy and need they felt so intensely.

On the fourth day of Will’s heat, he changed. He acted more like the Omegas Thomas was used to, and it surprised him after three days of crying and apologising, snarling and fighting and blank rigidness. He kissed Thomas on the mouth like he needed air from him, his chest heaving.

“Alpha,” he whined in Thomas’ ear. “Please.”

It made Thomas shudder to hear Will’s voice dripping with want like syrup and sugar. “Will.”

“I need more,” Will groaned into his neck. “More, I can’t - oh, oh - ”

He demanded everything of Thomas and he did his best to give it to him, but in the back of Will’s mind, a voice that sounded alarmingly like a certain Alpha doctor stonily whispered to him. This could be so much more if it was Hannibal. He’d fuck you properly, you know he would.

Will’s last day of heat consisted of the same, keening groans and purrs and Thomas allowed himself the dangerous thought of getting to know Will better outside of the heat facility.

It couldn’t hurt, could it?

Will winced when he saw the extent of bruises and scratches he’d left on Thomas. He gingerly lifted a hand up to touch a blossoming bruise on Thomas’ chest.

The Alpha was stood at the foot of the bed, buttoning up his shirt as he dressed. Will simply sat naked on the bed watching him.

“I’m so sorry,” Will told him, his eyes wide. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know you didn’t,” Thomas soothed him. “Don’t worry, it didn’t hurt.”

He gave up dressing himself and sat down next to Will. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“What happened to ‘I’m not here to give you therapy Will’?” Will chided him teasingly with a weary smile.

“Just thought I’d offer,” Thomas shrugged. “But if you’re ok, forget about it.”

Will watched him, surprised at how he didn’t find himself fazed by his nudity as he sat next to the Alpha. The man had seen every inch of him after the five days of his heat after all.

“I... I actually started to enjoy it, towards the end,” Will confessed. “It was strange.”

“Uh huh,” Thomas responded. “Well, that’s good right? Means you might be able to get used to interacting physically with other people again?”

“I hope so,” Will agreed. “Thank you for getting me through this Thomas.”

“Thank you for letting me.”

They regarded each other then in a calm quiet.

“Do you feel like you betrayed him?” Thomas asked quietly, fingers brushing Will’s hair out of his face. “Your Alpha?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to let myself face my feelings about that when I get back to Port Haven.”

Thomas nodded and they fell into silence again. The Alpha stood, finishing buttoning his shirt and searching for his shoes. Will spotted the bath robe on the floor by the bed and slipped it onto his shoulders, tying the belt tightly around himself. He crossed his arms against his middle and looked down at his wriggling, white toes against the pale floor boards as Thomas pulled his boots on.

“Would it be weird if I asked for your number?”

Will looked up at him sharply. “I don’t know.”

“I like you Will. I want to get to know you better, if you’d let me.”

Thomas regarded the Omega, his creamy skin glowing with after-heat. He’d caressed every single scar he came across on Will’s body, astonished at the sheer number of them, biting his tongue when he saw the deeper ones. His eyes were so bright and Thomas felt like they pierced right through him, a startlingly blue blade. Thomas was cursing himself for feeling anything other than a gentle sense of amicability. This was why he was so good as a volunteer, why they invited him back every time to help other Omegas.

He treated them respectfully, they liked him and he did not form attachments to any of them.

“You think you would, because you just spent five days knotting me,” Will said softly despite his harsh words. “But you wouldn’t like to Thomas. I can tell you now you’d regret it.”

“Can’t I at least find out for myself?”

“I can’t be anything to you.”

“Because of your Alpha, I know. At least let me get to know you as your friend.”

Will sighed, his shoulders sagging. “Maybe I could use a few friends. But that’s where it stops. You understand, don’t you?”

Thomas nodded. “I can help you get through your next heat as well if you want Will.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Will murmured, handing Thomas his cell phone for him to add his number in to. “I’m eighteen next month. I’ll be spending my next heat with him.”

“I see,” Thomas replied, hoping he didn’t sound wounded. “Will you bond?”

Will didn’t answer him and simply took his phone back from him when Thomas had added his number. Thomas didn’t push it and simply rose to his feet, picking up his small bag lying on the sofa.

“Is there anything I can get you before I go?”

“You’ve been feeding me for the past five days,” Will grinned. “Don’t worry about it. Dr. Bloom is going to be here in about thirty minutes, I should get ready.”

Thomas nodded, hesitating by the door, getting one last look at Will. “Let me know if you get sick of being at Port Haven and want to spend an hour in a shitty coffee shop sometime. I’d be more than happy to bust you out.”

Will smiled back, fiddling with his bath robe. “Thanks. I’ll let you know if I need a get away car.”

Thomas left him with a warm, almost sad smile and Will found himself alone in the room. He sighed and got dressed, getting ready to head down to meet Alana at the reception.

Hannibal had called Alana a few days ago, intending to check up on Will, who would be in the second day of his heat.

“How is Will managing with his heat?” Hannibal had enquired as he sliced strips of Peter Rosenthal’s leg to make prosciutto flowers, the phone on loud speaker as he prepared the meat. “I thought I might make him a personal favourite dish of mine and bring it over tonight. Perhaps you could get one of the nurses to give it to him when he feels up to eating?”

“That’s very kind of you Hannibal,” Alana had replied, sounding confused. “But I thought you knew Will wasn’t at Port Haven?”

The knife froze against the meat.

“Will is not at Port Haven?”

“No, I dropped him off at Baltimore Omega Heat Clinic Facility yesterday,” Alana told him. “He didn’t tell you?”

Hannibal felt like his heart had stopped beating. “No. He didn’t.”

“I’m sorry Hannibal, I thought he’d spoken to you about it,” Alana apologised, her voice regretful.

“Will has not spoken to me in weeks and never mentioned going to a heat facility.”

“He was pretty adamant about it, and the nurses advised it would be best for him, from a physiological point of view. His body couldn’t have coped with this heat on his own, not after everything he’s been through.”

“When did he decide this?” Hannibal forced out, fully aware he was gripping the knife in his hands far too tightly.

Alana huffed out a breath. “Jeez, must have been a month ago? Maybe a bit less.”

“I see.”

“Is everything ok Hannibal?” Alana asked cautiously. “I’m picking him up in three days time, maybe you can have a session with him the day after? He’ll probably need a day to recuperate. I could drop him at your office if your schedule is too busy to come over to Port Haven?”

“If Will would be amenable to it,” Hannibal replied, his body quivering. “It would be good to resume our sessions again after such a long period.”

“Sure,” Alana agreed. “I’ll let you know how he is when I pick him up. He’ll probably call you, but if not I’ll be in touch. See you soon Hannibal.”

“Thank you Alana,” Hannibal managed. “Goodbye.”

When the Beta hung up Hannibal simply stared down at the leg before him on the counter. It was one of the few times Hannibal had been so enraged he was at a loss of what to do. He could drive to the heat clinic now and rip apart the Alpha who was knotting Will. He could file it away and deal with it later and continue preparing the meat. He could smash up his kitchen in a fit of rage, but Hannibal was not a callous man and valued his stainless steel kitchen appliances greatly.

He chose to file it away, the rage too much to comprehend. He would address it tonight when he took to the streets and sought his solace in blood and terror and gore and it would hopefully provide him the smallest bit of temporary relief from this anguish until he could see Will again.

The next day, Jack Crawford found himself stood over yet another corpse.

This one was another Alpha. They’d identified him as Simon Kingston. He had no connection to Peter Rosenthal, and this time the murder appeared to be a case of wrong place, wrong time.

They found Kingston’s body in the graveyard of St. Ignatius’ church. His wrists were bonded with rope and the end of each piece of rope was tied to the branches of two neighbouring trees. Suspended in the air by his wrists with his arms stretched out, Kingston had been mutilated, just as Rosenthal had. His throat had been slit and his chest was an open cavity, now home to hundreds of flowers. His heart had been removed and sliced in half, each half hammered into the palms of his hands with nails. His lungs were missing and his eyes had been removed and lay beneath his dangling, blue feet on the grass amongst a circle of flowers.

“Anemone means forsaken,” Jimmy prattled next to him. “Yellow carnations represent rejection, gardenias usually mean secret love. Yellow hyacinths stand for jealousy. Rhododendrons mean danger.”

“It’s like his own personal diary,” Zeller grimly conceded. “Dear diary, she doesn’t want me so I decided to go on a murderous rampage.”

“I think the sentiment was a little bit more artistic than that,” Jimmy snapped back, rolling his eyes.

“Well one thing is for certain,” Jack sighed, more to himself than anyone. “He’s in love.”

Chapter Text

If Hannibal Lecter could look tired, or distressed, or anything other than the perfectly smooth exterior he presented to the world, this was it. Not much, Will knew, but enough for him to notice the doctor wasn’t holding up too well. His eyes were strained and there were dark circles underneath them, his jaw tight and a slight graze across his knuckles.

Hannibal hadn’t said a word since he’d greeted him and Alana in his waiting room, bid Alana goodbye and ushered Will into his office. Will had briefly taken in the sleek interior of Hannibal’s office, allowing himself to gaze in appreciation at the balcony of books before he found himself sat opposite Hannibal in his painfully traditional psychiatrist-patient seating set up. They were apparently partaking in a staring contest, eyes fixed on each other in a solemn state of silence.

Until Hannibal broke it.

“I was thinking of hosting a dinner party soon,” he told him. His voice sounded thick, his accent heavier today. “Just a small event. For you, Margot and Alana. I’d like to meet Miss Verger.”

“That would be nice,” Will found himself replying, his mouth numb and his voice barely there. “Margot would like to meet you too.”

“I shall arrange it with Alana then.”

Will said nothing in return, continuing to stare at the doctor. He gripped his hands together tightly enough to turn his skin a screaming white, the pressure was so great. He was somehow managing to keep his breathing somewhat regulated.

“Why did you not tell me you were sleepwalking?”

Will suppressed the shudder that started to form at the base of his spine and drifted his eyes to Hannibal’s foot that was suspended in the air over his crossed leg. His ankle looked oddly delicate and fragile and Will’s mouth began to sting with a bitter copper taste as he imagined how easily that ankle could break, how the skin could be peeled back and expose the Alpha’s tendons and bone and –

“Will?”

“I didn’t think to mention it. I’m sick of talking about it every day to Alana, even though she’s there most nights to witness it.”

“Have you been sleepwalking since your heat finished?”

“I didn’t last night.”

“Maybe it was merely a build up on internalised stress caused by your worry surrounding your heat.”

“Probably.”

“Why did you do it Will?” Hannibal finally asked, his voice sounding so wounded. “Why did you keep it from me?”

“I didn’t have any other choice,” Will told him, his voice breaking as tears began to prickle in his eyes and his throat burned. “I couldn’t have spent my heat alone, my body couldn’t have coped with it. You can go and ask the nurses if you want.”

“I do not doubt their medical evaluation of you, or your knowledge of your own biology. You know your body best.”

“I wanted it to be you.”

Hannibal’s jaw twitched at the single tear that rolled down Will’s face.

“I wanted you to be the one who spent it with me,” Will insisted. “But you wouldn’t. So I did the only thing I could. This was about survival Hannibal, it was never about hurting you.”

“And yet you didn’t feel able to tell me about it? You hid it from me, and I had to find out from Alana that you were at a heat clinic,” Hannibal said lowly, almost spitting Alana’s name.

“I was scared of how you would react,” Will confessed, not bothering to hide his tears. “I’m still scared of how you’ll react now.”

Hannibal regarded him, tilting his head to the side whilst something incomprehensible flashed through his amber eyes. “Do I frighten you Will?”

“Sometimes,” Will admitted, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Sometimes I see behind the image you present to everyone else and it’s like I’m looking at something inhuman.”

“Do you think I would ever hurt you?” Hannibal pressed him, uncrossing his legs and leaning forwards.

Will cracked a broken, uncertain smile at him through the salt water running from his eyes. “Not unless it was for my own good.”

Hannibal’s face relaxed, smoothed out into a pleased state. “You think I’m hiding certain aspects of myself from the world. You see something behind the persona I present.”

“Yes. I see everyone else’s darkness so clearly. I see people’s addictions and their hates and their twisted prejudices and the strings of trauma behind their smiles and their words. I always have done. I see everyone’s insecurities as if they were my own. But I don’t see any of that when I look behind your curtain Hannibal.”

“What do you see Will?”

“I don’t,” Will whispered. “It’s like drowning in ink, like when you have your eyes wide open at night but you see nothing the sun is so far away from you. All I can do is feel and hear and smell. It’s so dark behind your curtain Hannibal.”

“And what do your other senses say? What do you hear and smell?”

“I smell blood and honey. I hear bones snapping and your voice in my ear like velvet.”

“And it doesn’t frighten you? Doesn’t make you want to run?”

“It makes me want to throw myself head first into you.”

Hannibal rose from his chair slowly, walking over to Will with calculated steps. He crowded him in the chair, leaning into his space so that their faces were inches apart. Will saw the glow of rage in his eyes, twisting with jealousy. Hannibal’s hand sharply caught his chin, keeping his face still.

“You will never go back to another heat clinic ever again,” Hannibal warned him, his voice barely avoiding being a growl. “You will never let anyone else touch you like that again. Do you understand Will?”

Will nodded, his eyes alarmingly wide. “I’m sorry Hannibal.”

“The thought of you in another’s arms makes me feel sick Will. It makes me want tear their throat out.”

“Hannibal, please,” Will whispered, a hand nervously rising to curl his fingers around Hannibal’s wrist. “You wouldn’t spend my heat with me. I didn’t have any other choice.”

“I shouldn’t have let you go there. I shouldn’t have let anyone else see you like that. I hate myself for it,” Hannibal murmured, skimming his nose along Will’s jaw, inhaling deeply. “Did he hurt you? Tell me Will. Tell me how he held you.”

“He was... Hannibal I don’t - ”

Hannibal’s hand fisted the back of his head with a handful of curls, wrenching his head back and forcing Will on to his knees from the chair before him as he towered above the Omega.

“Tell me.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Will gritted out, staring back defiantly at Hannibal through his tears. “I want to forget it happened.”

“And I want you to tell me what it was like,” Hannibal seethed, his eyes blazing.

Will ripped his head out of Hannibal’s grip and got to his feet. He stood in front of him, not caring that Hannibal was at least half a head taller than him, and held the Alpha’s unwavering gaze. Hannibal’s hands twitched at his sides.

“He was gentle,” Will spat. “He let me lash out at him when I was scared and he just held me tighter when I cried. I enjoyed it by the end. I kept asking him for more, for everything, and he tried but he wasn’t you. He wasn’t you and it made me want to scream because I knew the whole time he was fucking me that you would have given me everything and more.”

Hannibal let himself delve into Will’s mouth, not caring for manners right then. He gripped Will so hard he knew the boy would bruise, but that was what he wanted. He wanted every inch of Will’s skin to be marked by him. Will let him, tangled his hands in Hannibal’s hair and moaned into his mouth when Hannibal pulled him flush against his chest. He let Hannibal’s hands nearly rip his shirt from him, the buttons hanging on by a thread. He let Hannibal drag the offensive piece of clothing from his shoulders, let him dig his fingers into his skin.

Hannibal’s mouth moved to his neck and he lavished his throat as if he was a starving man setting his eyes open his first meal in years. He worked his way down, sucking bruises onto Will’s chest and sinking his teeth possessively into the rounded mound of Will’s shoulder, nearly breaking the skin.

Will gasped when he dragged his tongue along his chest and caught his nipple in his mouth.

“Hannibal -”

The Alpha growled against his sternum, sinking to his knees as he gripped Will by waist and his deft fingers unbuckled his belt, popped the button of his jeans and unzipped his fly.

“Did you imagine it was me, Will?” Hannibal breathed harshly against Will’s belly, sucking hard kisses along the delightful expanse of skin. “Did you imagine it was me knotting you, taking you?”

“N-no,” Will groaned. “I couldn’t; I knew you would never be so careful with me. You wouldn’t have touched me like I was going to break.”

“No,” Hannibal hummed in agreement, shoving Will’s jeans down to his ankles. “I know you are not so easily broken darling.”

Will whined as Hannibal’s hands smoothed themselves down the backs of his thighs and around his calves as he growled against Will’s hips and sucked brutally against the smooth skin that lay taught over his protruding hip bone.

“Beautiful,” Hannibal sighed, rubbing his cheek against Will’s lower abdomen. “So beautiful Will, and you do not even see it.”

“I’m not,” Will whispered, cursing the sudden bout of tears threatening to form. “Please don’t Hannibal.”

In a flash, the Alpha had Will bent over the arm of the chair he had been sat in moments ago, Will’s hands flying out to the other arm to brace himself whilst the doctor pressed himself against Will’s back, purring at the way their bodies fit together. He kissed Will’s shoulder blades, needled his teeth against the harsh bumps of his spine.

“I will make you see how wonderful you are one day,” Hannibal murmured against his back, his breath hot. “But for now I want to make you see that you’re mine. That no one has the right to put their hands on you ever again.”

Will shivered and pressed back into Hannibal’s heat, his breathing unsteady when he felt the hard length in Hannibal’s suit trousers. “I thought you were going to make me wait.”

“I had every intention of waiting until next month until I discovered someone else was knotting you,” Hannibal snarled. “My dedication to that decision has since disappeared. I will not wait for you any longer.”

Will bit his lip when Hannibal’s fingers crept beneath the waistband of his underwear, smoothing them down Will’s thighs to join his jeans at his ankles. He’d never felt so bare, so exposed. Hannibal pressed his lips to the scar on his lower back where Mason had stabbed him. The skin was white, raised and smooth, a neat incision that had sank down into Will’s insides like a diver plunging into water. Hannibal’s hands were rubbing circles into Will’s hips and his sides, his lips grazing every inch of his back.

“Hannibal,” Will sounded, squirming as the heat in his groin flared hotter. “I need – I need you to...”

“You need me to what Will?” Hannibal mused against his back, dragging his tongue along his ribs. “Tell me.”

“Anything,” Will croaked, instinctively pressing his hips back against the Alpha. “Please.”

“Anything?” Hannibal replied, the smile in his voice evident. “You’ll take anything I give decide to give you?”

“Yes!” Will hissed, throwing his head back as a hand curved around his hip and splayed out flat against his stomach, the other curling around to grip his throat whilst Hannibal slowly grinded his clothed hips against Will’s ass.

“What if I don’t want to let you have anything from me at all?” Hannibal asked him, purring against the shell of Will’s ear. “I could just tell you to get dressed again and drive you back to Port Haven.”

“You won’t,” Will shakily disagreed, his eyelids fluttering. “I know you won’t Dr. Lecter. You want to replace his touch with yours, don’t you? You want to get rid of his smell, anything he left behind on me.”

The hand around Will’s throat tightened enough to make Will go dizzy. Will moaned and Hannibal’s hands moved, two of his fingers prising Will’s lips open as he shoved the Omega down over the arm of the chair so his body was jostled into an almost triangle. Hannibal’s fingers slipped into his mouth and Will groaned around them, coating them with spit and flicking his tongue against the digits.

“When your next heat hits you, I am going to take care of you Will,” Hannibal hissed. “I’ll give you what you need darling, make sure you’re never empty. You want that don’t you? You want to feel me on every inch of your body, inside and out?”

Will choked out around Hannibal’s fingers, groaning loudly as they slipped past his lips. The Alpha’s hands squeezed his cheeks, humming in satisfaction at Will’s writhing as he bit down on his lip hard enough to break the skin and taste the pang of blood in his mouth. He trailed the tip of his finger over Will’s entrance, watching the Omega pant beneath him.

“You won’t even be able to remember his face once I’ve had you,” Hannibal growled, pressing the pad of his finger a little harder against Will’s hole, fascinated with the slick that was pooling there.

“You won’t be able to recall his name or what he felt like, because you will be completely consumed by me.”

“Hannibal, please,” Will whimpered. “I can’t – I...”

“Hmm?” Hannibal purred, amusing himself with dragging small, slow circles around Will’s slick coated entrance. “Would you like me to stop Will?”

“No!” he snarled, jerking frantically beneath the older man. “Don’t you dare!”

Hannibal stilled and pressed his finger even harder. “Do you think you can take my fingers Will? Or do you think it will be too much for you after your heat? Are you too sensitive?”

With the final word falling from Hannibal’s lips, his finger pushed past the tight ring of muscle, sinking into Will’s vibrant warmth. Hannibal’s chest rumbled with want and the Omega gasped, twitching.

“I want it,” Will gasped out, nearly sobbing again. “I want you to.”

Hannibal slowly withdrew his finger, watching Will groan at the loss before slipping it in again, soothing his other hand down Will’s spine. “If only you could see how wet you are for me. But you can feel it, can’t you? You can feel yourself dripping for me.”

Will made a high pitched keening sound, pressing his face into the arm chair as he shook. Hannibal teased him, edging his finger in and out of him at a snail’s pace, the pressure making Will’s insides scream in want for more. It wasn’t enough, not after five days of being knotted.

“I need more,” Will rasped against the seat. “Please, Hannibal, I – more, I can’t, I need more.”

A second finger pressed against his entrance, Hannibal’s hand gripping his hip with bruising force. He slowly pushed his middle finger in next to his index finger, smirking at Will’s pleading noises. His fingers stilled and Will sounded like he wanted to cry.

“If you want it Will, take it,” Hannibal shushed him, relishing the wet heat contracting around his digits. “Let me see you fuck yourself on my fingers.”

The noise Will emitted sound broken and strangled and it was beautiful. The Omega immediately sank straight down on Hannibal’s fingers, hissing when they didn’t stretch far enough like he knew Hannibal’s cock would when he fucked him. His hips stuttered as he pushed back as far as he could, squirming against Hannibal.

“Do you want another one Will?” Hannibal sighed wistfully, smiling. “Is two not enough for you?”

He wasn’t sure he could actually voice an answer to Hannibal, so he just nodded his head fervently, his arms shaking as he attempted to keep himself upright and not collapse in a heap in the chair. Hannibal marvelled at the way Will’s hole swallowed his ring finger, eagerly welcoming the added stretch. Will made a hissing sound and Hannibal felt his insides clenching tightly around him, as if Will was trying to drag Hannibal’s whole hand into the hot pool of slick within him. Will was shaking as if Hannibal’s office was the Arctic Circle, sweat glistening on the surface of his flushed skin. He moved desperately back and forth on Hannibal’s fingers, soft sobs and whines escaping his throat.

“That’s it darling,” Hannibal murmured, enchanted with Will’s burning heat. “I think you could take my knot right now, couldn’t you? You would take it whenever I wanted you to; you’d be so good for me.”

“Hannibal, fuck,” Will mewled into the chair, biting down on his forearm.

“Ssh,” Hannibal hushed him. “Let me take care of you Will.”

Will didn’t have time to even take his next breath when Hannibal held his hips firmly in place, ceasing his desperate thrusts against his fingers. He crooked his fingers inside of Will, brushing against the small bundle of nerves that made his eyes roll back in his head.

“Fuck,” Will keened, sobbing. “A-again Hannibal, again.”

Hannibal did not disappoint, flexing his fingers to rub slowly against Will’s prostate, a gentle but torturous pressure. He began to slide his fingers in and out of Will, curling them around his prostate every time he sank his fingers back into the Omega. Will clawed at the chair, his breath dragging, and Hannibal let himself fuck Will with his bare hand harder, speeding his movements up. Will’s body contorted underneath him, the image alone in his head of Hannibal’s thick, muscle corded forearm flexing enough to make Will’s cock strain with his impending orgasm.

Will’s insides contracted around him repetitively and his chest shuddered with each breath. His scent was overwhelming, heavy in the back of Hannibal’s throat and making his own erection throb, the sensation dizzying.

“Will you come for me now darling?” Hannibal crooned into Will’s ear softly. “I want to see it Will, I want to feel you ride it out on my fingers.”

Will sobbed.

“I want you to come just from my fingers inside of you. You can do that for me, can’t you? Come untouched, just because I desire it?”

“Hannibal, I can’t,” Will spluttered, his eyes rolling as his fingers caressed his prostate.

“Yes you can,” Hannibal insisted, letting his teeth graze over the smooth curve between Will’s neck and shoulder. “Do you want another finger Will? Would that help you, hmm? You may as well have my whole fist at that point.”

Hannibal’s fingers moved cruelly, rubbing his prostate and flowing in and out of him at a dizzying speed. The mere thought of Hannibal stretching him and filling him that far made Will’s made jolt forwards, his erection weeping. He didn’t dare let go of the other arm of the chair to touch himself. Hannibal would pin his wrists and make him rut against the chair.

“I’d like to do that to you one day,” Hannibal purred between his shoulder blades, kissing the skin tenderly. “Lay you out on my bed and slowly make you take one finger after the other until my whole hand is inside of you. Would you let me?”

“Yes,” Will cried out, trying to create friction against the leather arm chair and his member in an attempt for relief. His orgasm was building torturously slow. “I want that Hannibal, so much, I -”

“I don’t think there’s much you wouldn’t let me do to you,” Hannibal growled, sinking his teeth into Will’s back.

Will tried, he really did. He tried to reply, tried to do anything other than sweat and gasp and writhe but he couldn’t. He was getting so close and Hannibal’s pace was unrelenting and it was too much.

“I think you regret telling me you weren’t too sensitive,” Hannibal chuckled darkly. “You are, aren’t you Will? It will be so sweet to take you the day after your heat finishes. To watch you lose yourself as I fuck you, make you dizzy with it. It will be too much, but you’ll take it, I know you will. You’ll take it so beautifully.”

Will’s vision went blurry.

“That’s it Will,” Hannibal encouraged him. “Let me see.”

Will went rigid beneath him, his orgasm attacking him like an avalanche. He came with an open mouthed, slack face, convulsing in waves as he released all over Hannibal’s expensive arm chair and a scream caught in his throat.

“Beautiful,” Hannibal marvelled, his voice soft with amazement. “You did so well Will.”

Will gasped in fluttering breaths into the chair, his ass clenching in protest as Hannibal gradually withdrew his fingers. The air was thick with Will’s orgasm and Hannibal’s arousal, their scents dripping from the walls like the sweat rolling over Will’s ribs.

“Fuck,” Will managed to let out in a strangled breath. “Hannibal.”

The Alpha hummed in acknowledgement, stretching himself out over Will’s back and pressing him against the arm chair as his hands stroked his hair and his trembling arms. “It’s alright Will, I’ve got you.”

They stayed like that as Will’s breathing began to return to regulated breaths rather than the bone shattering gulps of air he’d been taking. Hannibal buried his face in Will’s neck and drank in the smell of sweet, hazy backwaters and tangy musk that smelt like Louisiana, like dense southern air and humid orange warmth.

“I came on your chair. I’m sorry.”

Will felt Hannibal grin against his neck. “Your pillow talk is outstanding Will.”

“You just fucked me with your fingers over an armchair,” Will deadpanned. “I see no pillow.”

Hannibal laughed, earnestly. “You are wonderful Will.”

He helped him dress, stroking his cheeks and combing his hands through his hair and kissing his eyelids. Will flickered his gaze to the evident erection Hannibal was still sporting but he shook his head.

“This was about you Will, not me.”

Will kissed him deeply, emitting waves of soft adoration for the Alpha. Hannibal savoured the feel of Will’s full, round lips moving against his and the sweet taste of his mouth whilst his heart beat trembled under the palm of his hand. Will kissed him until he felt dizzy again, pulling away with a gasp.

“Careful,” Hannibal murmured. “Or Dr. Bloom will come knocking at my door demanding to know why you aren’t back at Port Haven.”

“And you’d just look at her all innocent and say you had no idea when really I’d be locked in your bedroom,” Will teased him, rolling his eyes. “Wouldn’t you?”

“If I could bear to drag myself away from you to answer the door in the first place.”

“Mmm,” Will grinned. “I think I could do a pretty good job of keeping you where you are.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second.”

Hannibal eventually had to drive him back to Port Haven after more chaste kisses whilst curled up in his lap on Hannibal’s arm chair, marking him subconsciously with his scent. Hannibal returned the favour, kissing the Omega and nuzzling his throat and face until he was satisfied Will thoroughly reeked of him.

“I’d advise on perhaps avoiding Alana when you return,” Hannibal told him as he glanced at Will in the passenger seat. “Otherwise we may find ourselves in a slight predicament.”

“A slight predicament?” Will scoffed, scrubbing his hands across his face. “I’d be confined to Port Haven for the rest of my life and you’d be run out of Baltimore.”

Hannibal merely smiled. Will’s phone vibrated against his thigh where it sat in his lap, and he allowed himself to shoot a glance down at the lit up screen. A text message from someone called Thomas.

Will didn’t notice he had seen, picking up his phone and unlocking it.

“Margot?” Hannibal asked carefully.

“Uh, yeah,” Will lied. “I’ll ask her about coming to dinner.”

Hannibal gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “I’ll speak to Alana as well. I’m sure it will be a pleasant evening.”

After he’d dropped Will off at Port Haven, he returned to his office and sat at his desk with his tablet. He searched for Baltimore Omega Heat Clinic Facility and found their webpage. There was a section of the site for all their current volunteers. Hannibal rolled his eyes at how easy it was to find ‘Thomas’. There were several others with the name, but they were all Betas and Hannibal knew it had been an Alpha Will had spent his heat with.

Thomas Sadler was irritatingly attractive and twenty three years younger than him. He was a recent graduate from the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. There were basic medical facts and a brief summary of his history on the profile. Hannibal leant back in his chair and studied the Alpha’s smooth, tan skin.

Perhaps he would skin him first. He’d make sure it was a prolonged death, either way. He would create something beautiful and worthy of displaying to the world to show his devotion to Will.

Will was aware of every breath Margot took and every glance as Hannibal greeted them at his door. It was a bitter December night and the warmth of Hannibal’s house was heavenly. The other Omega stayed close by his side, her icy blue eyes taking in every detail about Hannibal Lecter.

He regarded her with a smooth expression of welcoming politeness, smiling warmly at her. She allowed him a vague, detached smile in return. Will found himself fascinated by their interactions.

“It’s wonderful to finally meet you Dr. Lecter,” Margot began, not allowing the Alpha to speak first. “Thank you for the dinner invitation.”

“I’ve been looking forwards to meeting you for quite a while now Miss Verger. Will speaks of you often, as does Alana,” Hannibal reciprocated. “Please, call me Hannibal.”

“I brought you some wine,” Margot announced. “Will told me you usually favour red meat, so I brought a bottle of red.”

Hannibal regarded the Rossignol Trapet she held out to him, taking it carefully from her. A clear declaration of her capability, her independence. Margot Verger only brought $300 dollar bottles of wine to dinner parties. Hannibal knew everything about the Verger family. He’d read up on them the minute he’d met Will. He wondered how long Margot was going to survive until her father’s will came into effect, unless she had found a loophole. She seemed the sort of woman capable of such manipulation.

“That is very kind of you,” Hannibal thanked her. “It will pair wonderfully with the meal I have planned.”

He showed them into the dining room and then excused himself to finish their dinner.

“I have to say, I didn’t think this was a scenario that would ever happen when I first met you and Margot,” Alana smiled at Will. “Seems rather odd that we’re all here.”

Will just hummed, his eyes continuously drifting to the door leading to the kitchen. Margot kicked him under the table.

They chatted idly whilst they waited for Hannibal, the smells coming from the kitchen mouth watering. He appeared again a while later, carrying their plates. He set Will’s meal down first.

“Langue d’agneau en papillotes,” Hannibal announced. “Served with a sauce of duxelles and oyster mushrooms.”

“It looks wonderful Hannibal,” Margot murmured, her eyes fixed on him as he set the plate down in front of her. “Thank you.”

There were a few quiet moments as they began to eat, Alana voicing a compliment to Hannibal’s cooking.

“So Hannibal,” Margot began. “How are you finding Will as a patient?”

Will glared at her. She truly was on the war path tonight. Usually he appreciated her protectiveness of him, but tonight it made his blood boil. But of course she would be interrogating the doctor tonight.

“I couldn’t possibly say,” Hannibal smiled back. “Will is not my patient, he is Alana’s.”

“Well, how are you finding him as your un-official patient then?”

“Will has come on leaps and bounds since his rescue,” Hannibal replied carefully. “He is a credit to himself.”

“I’m glad to hear that. He is a remarkable individual, isn’t he?” Margot continued, her eyes frosty as she stared Hannibal out.

“Margot, stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Will grumbled at her.

“I’m just singing your praises Will,” Margot smiled darkly at him. “I’m sure Hannibal has plenty of praise to give you too.”

“I think we can both agree that we are impressed with Will’s recovery so far,” Hannibal smiled carefully. “You must feel an awful lot of responsibility anyway, Margot. Are you seeking therapy yourself? I would be happy to offer my psychiatry services.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Will smirked. “Margot’s been going to Alana for therapy for quite a while now, haven’t you Margot? Nearly as long as I’ve been seeing you, Hannibal.”

“Yes,” Margot bit back, her smile tense. “Alana is a wonderful therapist.”

“Thank you Margot,” Alana smiled gently at her. “You’re a wonderful patient. Well, un-official patient.”

“That is unlike you to offer therapy outside of an official, professional environment,” Hannibal commented. “For as long as I’ve known you you’ve always persevered to do everything by the book.”

“Well, it was an exception,” Alana answered cautiously. “Margot had no other support network until I offered.”

“I wonder if our un-official therapy differs so much Will,” Margot asked with a sly smile. “What do you think? Do you reckon we have quite similar sessions with our doctors?”

“I think,” Will bit back at her, “that all four of us are very different. I think our therapy is as different as it could possibly get Margot.”

Hannibal smirked into his plate and Margot ran her tongue over her teeth as she looked at Will. Will glowered and Alana looked mortified.

Will was regretting to agreeing to this dinner party.

Margot helped Hannibal clear the plates after they finished eating, leaving Will and Alana to talk in Hannibal’s living room.

“I know you’re fucking him,” the Omega announced as she scraped the plates into the food waste unit Hannibal had pointed out to her.

“I know you know.”

“Then you’ll know that if you do a single thing to hurt him, I’ll come for you.”

“I don’t doubt that Margot. But I have no intention of doing anything of the sort.”

Margot rounded on him, knife clutched in her perfectly manicured hand. “You might not have any intention of it, but I don’t know you. Until I do, my promise stands. Will is the only family I have and I won’t let anyone hurt him again. Not after Mason.”

“Odd that you consider him akin to family after knowing him for such a short time,” Hannibal commented, turning as he rinsed the expensive Japanese knives he’d cooked with. “It’s only been six months, hasn’t it?”

“I thought Will would have told you.”

Hannibal went still. “Told me what, Margot?”

Margot glanced to the open kitchen door, then walked over to it and shut it.

“I think you and I need to have a conversation about Will, Dr. Lecter,” Margot replied thinly. “If you’re going to be invested in him, there’s things you should know.”

“And does Alana know these things?” Hannibal asked carefully.

“Not yet. I plan on telling her soon though. You understand, it’s difficult for me and Will to trust other people.”

“Why are you telling me this Margot?” Hannibal asked, frowning. “You’ve only just met me tonight and have no way of knowing I will keep your secrets.”

“It doesn’t matter that I only just met you,” Margot replied smoothly.

“I struggle to believe that you’re willing to confide in me off the back of Alana’s and Will’s trust in me.”

“Of course I’m not willing to confide in you based on their trust. I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you.”

“Then why, Margot?”

“Omegas are intuitive Dr. Lecter,” Margot smiled icily. “I see that you’re a killer too.”

Chapter Text

“You have a nice office,” Margot commented as she strolled around the room. “I like it.”

“Thank you,” Hannibal responded, watching her movements.

Margot had arrived at his office the next day to continue their conversation. Before Hannibal had the chance to reply to Margot, Will had opened the kitchen door, his eyes full of suspicion. They’d smiled and pretended nothing had happened and joined Will and Alana in the living room. When the three of them left, Hannibal had managed to catch Margot, asking her to meet him at his office the next day.

And now here she was, in all of her cold beauty.

Margot’s scent reminded Hannibal of sharp, tart berries and frost. It was an intriguing smell, but there was something off about it. Something lacking, an element that all Omegas should have. He inhaled deeper and realised what was amiss with Margot’s scent. Fertility.

Margot settled into the chair opposite Hannibal, sighing. “I don’t appreciate you scenting me, Dr. Lecter.”

“Please, I insist you call me Hannibal. I see no need for the formality,” he replied smoothly. “And forgive me. I overstepped a boundary.”

“Yes,” Margot replied flatly. “You seem to have a penchant for overstepping people’s boundaries. Mainly Will’s.”

“Is it overstepping a boundary when you are invited to cross over the line?” Hannibal shot back at her, smiling in amusement.

“It is when you’re in a position of authority and trust. You should know better.”

“I’m curious Margot,” Hannibal pondered, leaning back and looking at her. “Not that I doubt your feelings towards Will, but you protectiveness of him seems to extend far beyond that of an acquaintance.”

“I see Will as my family.”

“A strong statement to make about someone you’ve known for such little time.”

“Three years does not feel so small, Hannibal.”

“I see,” Hannibal smiled ruefully. “However I must admit I’m confused Margot. Police reports state you met Will the night you saved him.”

“A lie, obviously.”

“It would appear so.”

Margot watched him for a long moment, her pale blue eyes fixed on him. “I knew that Will was in my home the day he arrived when he was just fourteen.”

“A rather large secret to tell. One that would have serious repercussions if ever brought to light,” Hannibal replied. “Although you have your reasons for lying, I assume?”

“Of course I do,” Margot answered stiffly. “My interests have only ever been invested in myself and Will. We’re all that we have left and looking out for each other is as natural to us as it is to breathe air.”

“You say that you wish to protect Will, but is this not betrayal? Are you not double crossing him?”

“Let me explain,” Margot replied. “It’s all rather long and complicated.”

Hannibal simply gestured for her to begin, his face open with polite interest.

“Five years ago my brother had me sedated and ordered his personal doctor to perform a hysterectomy on me,” Margot began. “That’s why I smell strange. I have no uterus or ovaries and will never have children. Two years later he came home one day telling me he’d purchased an Omega from an auction and planned to breed him and give him an heir. Our father’s will dictated that the entire Verger estate and the business was to be inherited by an Alpha heir only, which is why Mason had me rendered infertile. He wouldn’t take the chance of me being able to have an Alpha child.

I’ve wanted to kill my brother for as long as I can remember. It only escalated when he took my womb. He was rubbing it in my face by bringing Will into our home but I think he suspected I wanted him dead. Getting Will to provide him with an Alpha heir meant that our father’s will stayed intact, on the off chance I snapped one day and killed him. I spent the next three years caring for Will as much as Mason would allow me to. I saw him every day and I was there for every broken bone, every miscarriage and I was the one who washed the blood off of him when my brother lost control.”

She took a deep breath, waiting for Hannibal’s face to show a sign of reaction but when there was none, she continued.

“Mason was sick. He was the most twisted, sadistic person I ever met. He used to say to me that once Will had given him multiple children, he’d get him pregnant again but this time the baby would be for me. He told me it would be like an apology gift for taking away my womb. Will was never anything more than a machine to Mason, he was no better than the pigs he liked to keep. I grew to love Will, Hannibal. I love him profoundly and will do anything to protect him.”

“And tell me Margot,” Hannibal prompted. “What things have you already done to protect him?”

“I was there when Jasper was born. Will didn’t know where he was or what was going on, Mason had him pumped full of that many drugs. He let Will hold Jasper for no more than fifteen minutes after he’d given birth. Then he took Jasper away and locked them in his bedroom. I was a coward. I should have gone straight after him, demanded he give Jasper back to Will, but I didn’t. I was terrified for Will’s sake, and he needed someone to look after him after he’d just given birth. When I was sure Will was going to be ok, I left him to sleep. I tried to get Mason to open the door, but there was never an answer when I called to him or knocked. In the end I gave up and a few hours later Will was screaming the house down. He’d ripped his hands to pieces trying to get out when I got into his room.”

Hannibal’s stomach turned at the memory of Will’s missing fingernails and broken, swollen knuckles.

“He demanded I take him to Mason, so I did. He must have heard us coming and unlocked the door. I just opened it and shut it behind Will after he went inside.”

“This is not the story you told the FBI, Margot,” Hannibal murmured eyes glinting. “Are you sure you wish to go any further?”

“You won’t go to the police or the FBI,” Margot sighed. “I know what you are Hannibal and I need to tell you this to make sure you’re not going to hurt Will. I need to see you truly care about him. And if you do go to the police, I’ll make sure they know what you are and that you never see Will again.”

“And what exactly is it that you think I am?” Hannibal asked with a polite small.

“You take people’s lives; you’re a killer.”

“You have an alarming amount of self assurance then, to come here and be alone with someone you believe is a killer,” Hannibal remarked.

“When I opened Mason’s bedroom door again, Will was the only living being inside that room,” Margot told him flatly. “Mason had smothered Jasper to death because he couldn’t get him to settle and stop crying. I want to tell you that Will murdered my brother for killing their son, but that word doesn’t seem accurate for what he did.”

Hannibal’s instinctive Alpha side purred with delight at the piece of information. He’d known from the start that Will harboured a darkened soul, could smell the shadows on him, but to hear Margot confirm it was like the sweetest poem he’d ever heard.

“And what exactly did Will do?” Hannibal pressed, his eyes flaming with joy.

“He butchered him. He beat him senseless and skinned his face with Mason’s own knife. He stabbed him in the chest until it didn’t really even look like a chest anymore and then gutted him and left his intestines hanging out of him.”

Margot’s hand trembled and she clasped them together. “I didn’t feel a thing. I was glad he was dead. Will wouldn’t let go of Jasper, so I put them both in my bedroom whilst I covered the whole thing up.”

“You pushed Mason’s body into the pit he kept the pigs in and they devoured him so no one would see what Will had done to him.”

“Yes.”

“You burned all of Will’s clothing and everything Mason’s blood had touched.”

“Yes. The mattress was difficult to get out of the house but I managed.”

“Then you washed all of Mason’s blood off of Will and rang the police.”

“After I bleached the whole house and made sure the fire had burnt everything enough to make it look like a bonfire. I made sure Mason’s body was gone too.”

“And you told the police you had no idea Will had ever been there, that Mason had died in a freak accident and you had no idea what was going on.”

“That just about sums it up.”

“Why did you do it?”

“Because I didn’t want Will to get committed to a facility for the criminally insane and knew that his best option was somewhere like Port Haven. I’d be charged and arrested if they found out I’d practically helped Mason keep Will there all that time. I fed him, bathed him when he couldn’t do it himself, helped him clean up the blood from all the miscarriages. I watched him bring my nephew into the world. With Mason dead, I was the sole perpetrator.”

“And you want me to know all of this because you think this is your chance to see whether I will betray Will or not?” Hannibal summarised. “A large risk to take, is it not?”

“It is,” Margot replied. “But you’re taking a large risk by having a sexual relationship with a minor and killing other people. If me and Will go down, you will too. I know you won’t leave him alone; I know how obsessive Alphas get and I also know how stubborn Will is. It’s out of my hands to try and end your relationship with him – for his own sake, of course – but I wouldn’t take away Will’s happiness. He hasn’t been happy since he was taken and I can see you make him enjoy life again.”

Margot smiled and Hannibal remained silent.

“Besides,” Margot concluded coolly. “There’s not a single scrap of evidence to prove what Will and I did, so even if you did betray him, the likelihood of anything really happening is near impossible. And then you will find yourself being charged with statutory rape and investigated for murder.”

“I assure you Margot,” Hannibal smiled, “that not a scrap of evidence would be found proving I have ever harmed anybody. Your assumptions that I have murdered people are farfetched.”

“You can lie to me all you want, it doesn’t faze me,” Margot responded nonchalantly. “But I know that you kill. I have an extremely good sense for these things. I’m not afraid of you Hannibal. I’m not afraid of death; if I was I wouldn’t have been able to cover up my own brother’s murder and still look at the person who killed him as my family.”

“No, I can see you are not afraid,” Hannibal noted dryly. “Perhaps I might ask that you withdraw your allegations that I am a murderer though; such things are harmful when they are not true.”

“I know what you are, you don’t need to keep the pretence up,” Margot laughed. “I have no intentions of telling anyone. I would never say a word to Will.”

“Do you not feel that you are betraying Will by telling me all of this without his knowledge or consent? This is not information I take lightly.”

“I’ve found that when it comes down to what’s best for Will, it’s best that he’s not aware of it. Will needs to focus on healing himself, not worrying about having to confess to you the things he’s done. And like I said; I’m just testing you Hannibal. I’m seeing whether you’d stick to what you say and never hurt him. This way I can be sure that if you do hurt him, I can remove you from his life with ease. I won’t allow anymore harm to come to Will.”

“You see it as your God given right to decide what’s best for him,” Hannibal said sharply. “Will is his own person Margot. Do you think you’re going to be able to control him for the rest of his life?”

“I’m not controlling him. I’m looking out for him, trying to protect him from Alphas like you,” Margot retorted. “I failed him when it came to Mason and I won’t let him be hurt again.”

Hannibal lent forwards, his lip curling slightly as he looked at the Omega. She held her ground. “Will does not need you to make decisions for him. My relationship with him is not something you need to concern yourself with. I know you think you’re only doing what’s best for him Margot, but all you’re really doing is jeopardising your relationship with him. Will won’t take this underhand plan of yours lightly.”

“You think he’d turn to you so quickly? That if it came down to it, he’d cut me out of his life and take your side?”

“Betrayal is not something I think he would take lightly and I will not do that to him; if you were to stab him in the back, he would find that unforgivable.”

“If I wanted to stab him in the back I would have called the police and had him arrested for murdering my brother, not help him cover the whole thing up,” Margot hissed, her icy eyes blazing as she bared her own teeth. “I intend to look after Will.”

“Why? Because your brother bought him, do you feel some sense of ownership over him? Or do you do it out of guilt? I imagine it is the latter; you’re compensating him for the years of abuse you allowed him to endure under your roof.”

“I couldn’t have done anything,” Margot muttered, glowering at him. “Mason would have killed us both.”

“No, Margot,” Hannibal said softly, startling the Omega. “Over three years there must have been plenty of opportunities for you to call the police and get Will out. You could have claimed to be part of that abuse, you know better than anyone that your brother caused you enough suffering. You could have been taken under a witness protection program, both you and Will. But you didn’t.”

“You have no idea what Mason was like,” Margot uttered, her face grave and her voice bearing a lifetime of pain. “You don’t know what it was like to live in fear every day. To not know if one day he really was going to snap and do irreparable damage.”

“I can only process what you and Will tell me, along with the police statements,” Hannibal murmured. “But you used Will just as much as Mason did. Siblings using one person to both get what they wanted.”

“That’s not true,” Margot rebuked, looking disgusted. “I’ve never used Will.”

“You both did; Mason got what he wanted when Will bore his son and you got what you wanted from him when he ended Mason’s life,” Hannibal pointed out flatly, his eyes guarded. “At least you are now trying to make up for it, in your own way, even if you are only causing more damage than good.”

“The whole point of this is that I’m not letting any more damage happen to him,” Margot snapped.

Hannibal sighed heavily, weary of her stubbornness. “I hate to rain on your parade Margot, but Will is eighteen next month. What will you do when you can no longer inform the authorities that Will is underage? There is nothing to prove your claims and Will would deny it all. You have no evidence that I have ever harmed anyone to back up your ridiculous claims that I am a murderer. I’m afraid this all seems rather futile and badly thought out.”

“No, I can’t make a move if you don’t harm Will until he’s eighteen,” Margot agreed. “But I can still have him taken away from you Hannibal.”

“You would tell the FBI he killed Mason.”

“Yes. He’d hate me of course, most likely try to get back at me by telling them I covered the whole thing up and helped Mason keep him at Muskrat Farm, but really; who are they going to believe over the unstable Omega who’s sank into psychosis after years of abuse and having his child murdered compared to the Omega who’s still a functioning member of society from a respectable family?”

“You’re not above destroying Will to keep him safe from any potential threat you think I impose on him,” Hannibal scoffed. “What a twisted love you have for him Margot.”

“Say what you will Hannibal, but I promised myself to keep him safe, even if that means putting him in a facility for the criminally insane to keep him away from you,” Margot smiled back politely. “How many times must I repeat that to you?”

“Let me explain something then, Margot,” Hannibal drawled, nearly spitting her name. “Will’s safety and happiness are my priority. Do not think for one moment I would not arrange for you to be removed from his life if I had reason to believe you were a potential source of harm to him.”

“Oh, please do be realistic,” Margot smirked. “Do you honestly think this fling you’re having with him is going to last? I’m surprised you don’t see what’s happening here, considering you’re the psychiatrist. Will has just latched on to you because you’re the first Alpha to swoop in and show him any sort of compassion or attention. Don’t think for one minute he would have looked at you twice if another Alpha had gotten there before you.”

“An interesting theory,” Hannibal replied coldly, not deigning to give the insult a proper reply.

“It’s not a theory, it’s fact. Will’s an Omega, an extremely damaged and unstable one. His biology makes him crave comfort from an Alpha after everything that’s happened to him; you know as well as I do that Omegas whose mates die are compelled to mate again as soon as possible. This isn’t love Hannibal, nothing as tangible as that. It’s just Alpha and Omega hormones, as per fucking usual.”

The swearing made Hannibal’s eyebrows rise. He was used to drawling cussing from Will’s soft, lilting Louisiana accent, but Margot seemed entirely above all that. It was odd hearing it come from her mouth.

“I’m sorry that you feel so threatened by my relationship with Will, Margot,” Hannibal offered her in a gesture of thinly veiled condescending. “It must be such a strain to be so consumed with other people’s private lives.”

“Hannibal,” Margot smiled icily. “We both care about him so let’s just try to do this without acting like children. I will continue to look out for Will and I’ll keep my promise; I won’t go to the police and take you away from each other.”

She haughtily rose to her feet then, smoothing out her blouse. “Cause him the slightest bit of upset and I will make you sorry you ever met him. Have a pleasant day, Hannibal, and thank you for seeing me. Perhaps we could all do dinner again soon, hmm?”

Hannibal said nothing and merely watched her as she smiled briefly once more before turning and heading out of his office, the smell of frosty berries and infertility lingering in the air.

He had to give it to her; she was fearless. But ferocity did not ensure safety.

Will started night school. Alana dropped him off and picked him up from Baltimore City Community College three times a week. The classes were fairly small and everyone there was older than Will. The other attendees were mainly all Betas, but there were two other Omegas and four Alphas. Will enjoyed his two hours three times a week at the college. It was the only small, personal space he got to have, the only piece of independence he’d ever had. Within three months, he’d be walking out with his GED. Then he could go to college. It seemed bizarre to even think that he had the chance to do such a thing, considering not even a year ago he had been locked in a room he thought he would most likely die in.

As he scraped his belongings back into his bag – his damn hands still shook despite being on the medication for almost seven months now – he felt eyes watching him. He stiffened and looked around to see one of his Alpha classmates watching. Will raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“Need a hand?” he asked softly, rising from his seat.

The others had all cleared out by now, their teacher heading to the door. Will gritted his teeth as the Alpha approached him.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Will replied.

The Alpha just watched as Will’s tremors worsened with nerves and he dropped his notebook as he attempted to shove it into his bag. “Doesn’t look like it.”

Will stooped down to pick up his notebook, finding the Alpha stood mere inches away from him when he straightened himself again. He smiled at Will, his eyes crinkling in amusement.

“Pretty shaky hands you got there,” he commented. “Must get pretty frustrating.”

“You get used to it,” Will snapped, clutching his notebook to his chest and stepping back. “My ride is waiting outside, I’m sorry.”

The Alpha merely stepped forwards again. His eyes were like mud and his skin looked as if he barely saw any natural sunlight, his hair a lank blonde. “You know, it’s pretty weird seeing you here. You look like you should still be in high school, never mind taking night school classes with a bunch of thirty-something-s.”

“Right,” Will deadpanned, shuffling closer for the door. “Anyway, I really have to go. See you around.”

A hand grazed against his palm as he all but fled the room, the Alpha’s eyes still crinkled from his grin.

“See you around Will.”

How’s night school going?

Will bit his lip at the text Thomas sent him. The Alpha had been messaging him every couple of days and it made Will’s gut clench with guilt. He felt like he was leading Thomas on, but he’d done nothing but give him short, clipped responses when he did actually bother to text back. Sometimes Thomas went days without a text back.

Hannibal was due to arrive at Port Haven soon, which made Will’s heart pound frantically between his lungs, but feel disappointed at the same time; he wanted to be in Hannibal’s office so that he could throw himself in the man’s lap. He couldn’t very well do that in Port Haven’s day room surrounded by orderlies and other patients.

It’s good thanks. How’s volunteering at the heat clinic?

The text came back in under a minute.

Glad to hear it’s going well! You should be proud of yourself. And I’m thinking of quitting volunteering there.

Really? How come?

I guess my heart just isn’t in it anymore. It all feels quite tasteless and jaded now.

Helping other people feels tasteless? You seemed enthusiastic about it.

Yes, but then I met you.

Will swallowed and stared at the text. He couldn’t do this to Thomas.

Thomas, we’re just friends. Our friendship shouldn’t stop your volunteer work.

I keep imagining that they’re all you. Not healthy, I know, but I can’t help it. Guess you fucked me up more than I thought you would, Will.

Maybe we should delete each other’s numbers.

I’m sorry if I’m making you feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to be honest with you.

I told you this could only ever be friendship. You knew this wouldn’t go anywhere, so maybe it’s best we don’t get in touch with each other again.

There was immediate response, and Will imagined Thomas sat in his home, snarling at his phone at Will’s rejection. But Thomas wasn’t like that; it was difficult to imagine Thomas losing his temper about anything.

I want to see you again Will

I can’t see you if you’re not willing to accept me as a friend and nothing else. I’m grateful to you for helping me through my heat, but that’s where it ended. I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have given you my number.

Please Will. I miss you. Just coffee? Nothing more, I promise.

The knock on his door startled Will.

“Come in.”

Will’s stomach sank when Hannibal’s form appeared from behind the door. He smiled at Will, looking so besotted with the Omega it made his legs feel like jelly. He locked his phone quickly and got to his feet and threw himself into the Alpha’s arms, inhaling his scent. Chocolate, spices, wood smoke and something that felt like home.

“Hello, mylimasis,” Hannibal rumbled, nosing through Will’s hair and scenting him back. “I’ve missed you.”

Will stretched up on his tiptoes and pressed his lips firmly to Hannibal’s. Hannibal parted his lips immediately, tangling a hand in the back of Will’s hair and gripping his waist with the other. Will sighed into his mouth and smiled against Hannibal’s lips, murmuring in contentment.

“How have you been?” Will asked, pulling back from the kiss and stroking his thumb across the sharp jut of Hannibal’s cheekbone.

Hannibal seated himself in the chair by Will’s window. “It’s been a rather testing week, I’m afraid. But how have you been, more importantly?”

“I’ve been ok,” Will replied, chewing his lip. “I’m liking night school. Anything in particular happen?”

“Just some rather troublesome patients,” Hannibal smiled smoothly. “Nothing too concerning. It seems that even I can find my patience wearing thin with some people.”

“Part of your job though I suppose,” Will replied grimly, stretching his leg out and skirting his foot over Hannibal’s gently. “Being a psychiatrist must be one of the toughest occupations out there.”

“It has its moment,” Hannibal sighed through his smile. “But tell me about night school.”

“It’s going really well,” Will replied, pulling his legs up to fold in on himself and rest his chin on his knees. “I like the teacher, he’s great. All the other people there are nice, apart from the one weird guy.”

“What has he done?” Hannibal asked in a tight voice, maintaining his smile.

“Oh, nothing,” Will dismissed, waving his hand. “He just always tries to get me on my own at the end of every class, always wants to talk to me about personal stuff. Doesn’t seem to know what personal space is.”

“That is unfortunate,” Hannibal responded, thin lipped. “You should report him to the teacher. Harassment is unacceptable.”

“It’s nothing Hannibal, really,” Will smiled softly. “I can look after myself anyway.”

Hannibal thought of Will, Mason’s body pinned underneath him as he skinned his face. “I have no doubt of that Will.”

They talked about Will’s classes more, of him getting his GED and applying to go to college. Hannibal’s heart softened at the shine in Will’s eyes as he talked excitedly about his future. At one point Will excused himself to go to the bathroom and Hannibal did not fail to notice his cell phone fall from his pocket to the chair as he got to his feet. Hannibal waited until he heard the bathroom door shut and then swiftly swiped up the phone. It didn’t take him long to read the messages from Thomas and quickly decide to text Thomas back asking him to meet him.

Can you meet me at Druid Hill park on Thursday at 12? Don’t reply to this text, the orderlies are checking everyone’s cell phones. Just meet me there.

Hannibal then deleted the message he’d sent to Thomas and placed Will’s phone back on the arm chair. He smiled sweetly at Will when he emerged from the bathroom again.

“It’ll be Christmas soon,” Hannibal smiled. “I’d like you to spend Christmas Day with me.”

Will’s cheeks flushed and Hannibal decided it was most positively one of the loveliest sights in the world. “That would nice.”

“Excellent.”

Thomas Sadler was sat waiting on a park bench near the entrance to Druid Hill when Hannibal spotted him. He was holding two takeaway containers of coffee in the bitter December air, chewing his lip and staring absentmindedly at a couple walking their dog together. The sight appeared to make him almost sad.

He startled slightly when Hannibal lowered himself onto the bench next to him. He glanced the older Alpha up and down before frowning slightly.

“I’m sorry, I’m meant to be meeting someone right about now,” Thomas smiled wearily. “Would you mind if they sat here? There’s a free bench right over there.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” Hannibal replied smoothly, his face blank as he stared back at Thomas. “Unfortunately Will wasn’t able to make it.”

Realisation dawned on Thomas’ face and he sank back against the bench with a sigh. “So you’re this wonderful, mysterious Alpha then huh?”

“And you’re the Alpha who spent Will’s heat with him,” Hannibal retorted, the disgust heavy in his voice. “The one who keeps harassing him with text messages.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “You want the coffee I bought him? Seeing as he’s not here.”

Hannibal regarded the container of coffee for a moment before shrugging and accepting the cup. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem. Would’ve gone cold otherwise.”

They sat in silence then, staring at out the park in front of them.

“Can we get this over with then?” Thomas asked dryly. “It’s getting too cold to sit out here much longer.”

“Your attraction to Will is rather inconvenient for me, when I am trying to court him,” Hannibal replied, sipping the coffee. It wasn’t as awful as he expected it would be. “You were nothing but a means to an end Thomas. You were essentially a tool to get him through his heat, nothing more.”

“A heat that you wouldn’t spend with him,” Thomas added calmly, his voice neutral. “His first one after getting out of that maniac’s house. The first heat someone else got to spend with him. It was a rather intense one, but they usually are after they’ve given birth. Are you regretting it was me who got that privilege and not you?”

“If you are trying to wound me please don’t waste any more time,” Hannibal smiled politely, keeping his gaze on the couple throwing a ball for their dog. “That pleasure is reserved for Will.”

“I’m not trying to wound you. I’m just trying to get you to see what an idiot you were by being honest with you. He was so sweet,” Thomas smiled, his eyes hard and his jaw tight. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it.”

Hannibal sipped his more of his coffee. “I have an entire lifetime of heats to spend with Will. Legally spend with him. You were an exception for extreme circumstances.”

“I still have welts all down my back from where he just lost it,” Thomas hummed. “Sometimes I try and reach around and open them up again. They’re wonderful.”

“You don’t know Will,” Hannibal shot back at him coldly. “Do not insult him by pretending to know who he really is.”

“I read all about him getting abducted and what that Verger guy did to him. The clinic has to brief you about Omegas who’ve been through things like that. So, I know about his trauma,” Thomas replied. “And I know him more intimately than you can ever claim to; heats are when you really see each other, in earnest.”

“It will only be another three months until I learn to know what Will is like in heat,” Hannibal sighed. “And I know him intimately Thomas. I know every spot on his body that makes his toes curl.”

“I’m guessing your promise to wait until he’s eighteen next month didn’t last very long then,” Thomas pointed out.

“I found myself unable to keep that promise when he returned from the clinic and I knew you’d had your hands all over him,” Hannibal told him truthfully. “You’ll understand that anyway. You’re actively trying to sleep with him outside of the heat clinic.”

“I bet you had a field day trying to replace my scent with yours,” Thomas chuckled. “And yes, the thought of having Will again is an extremely desirable one. Can you blame me for wanting to try?”

“I can, actually,” Hannibal responded. “Will is very obviously spoken for and the fact you felt it was acceptable to still pursue him is incredibly disrespectful and rude.”

“I’m not going to back down,” Thomas informed him, scrunching the empty takeaway coffee cup in his hand. “You’re only courting him. If you’d bonded with him, that would be a different story. But you haven’t, so as far as I’m concerned I will keep trying to get closer to him.”

“Do you really think,” Hannibal smiled dangerously, his voice laced with venom, “that Will would ever look twice at you? An Alpha who couldn’t even keep his first mate, with an income that could never support the two of you, who could never give him a family in the future? You’re pathetic; you serve the function of a mindless knot and nothing else Thomas.”

Thomas scowled. “That may be your opinion of me, but it doesn’t matter. I only give a shit about Will’s opinion.”

“Will finds you irritating,” Hannibal snapped. “You pester him and harass him. You have no idea who Will really is and you could never be what Will needs. I can only advise you to cease contacting him before he reports you to the police.”

“Or do you mean until you report him to the police?” Thomas scoffed. “You’re controlling him.”

“I wouldn’t waste my time reporting you to anyone,” Hannibal replied coldly. “I’d deal with you myself.”

“I don’t think you want to threaten me,” Thomas smiled, his eyes black with rage.

Hannibal got to his feet. “If you contact Will again and he does not report you, I will come after you. Please think sensibly about this Thomas. Chasing Will is pointless; he’s mine.”

Thomas simply sat in stunned silence as the other Alpha turned on his heel and walked away from him, his thick black coat flowing out behind him dramatically. There wasn’t much else to do then but stare down at the empty cup of coffee and wonder what the hell had just happened to him.

Chapter Text

Alana wasn’t expecting to see Jack Crawford hanging at the back of the classroom at the end of her lecture. Jack normally didn’t seek her out unless he really needed her for something.

“Impressive lecture Alana,” Jack smiled in greeting. “The BAU is really pleased with how well the trainees are coming along with you.”

“Thanks Jack,” Alana smiled in return, gathering her notes together. “I’m sorry I can’t stick around, I have to get back to Port Haven.”

“I actually wanted to ask you a favour,” Jack cleared his throat, clasping his hands together behind his back. “It concerns Will Graham.”

“What about him?” Alana asked cautiously, pursing her lips. “Is it something to do with Mason? I thought that whole thing had been ruled off as a freak accident. Unless it’s to do with Will’s son?”

“There wasn’t much to do in the case of Jasper Verger,” Jack told her, straightening his spine. “You already knew the autopsy came back confirming asphyxiation and seeing as Mason died hours after Jasper, there was nothing we could do.”

“So what do you want with Will?”

“We think we’ve found a lead with the Omega trafficking ring. I was hoping you’d be able to bring him into head quarters so we could ask some questions.”

“You’re behavioural sciences Jack,” Alana pointed out. “You don’t get involved with the underworld. Unless you’re being moved to the organised crime branch?”

“No, but I offered to bring Will in and sit in on the interviews,” Jack explained. “Seeing as I met him and personally know you, they approached me and asked if I could make it happen.”

“And is Will legally required to do this?” Alana asked sceptically.

“We were hoping we wouldn’t have to get an official warrant to legally bring him in,” Jack admitted, near scowling.

“Because you know that as his doctor and legal guardian I can declare Will unfit for such intervention and pressure if I think he’s not ready. If I think interviewing him would be detrimental to his recovery.”

“They want to get this over with sooner rather than later Alana,” Jack sighed. “Will’s story was huge news, it still is. We aren’t any closer to cracking down on that ring and if we don’t make progress soon, we’re in hot water. Not just from higher up but from public outrage.”

“Will is finally starting to move on with his life Jack,” Alana told him, frowning as she crossed her arms defensively over her chest. “I don’t want to set him back.”

“If he’s better I see no reason why he can’t come in to see a team for an interview.”

“Because Will is not better,” Alana said sharply. “Will is still struggling Jack; this is probably going to take him the rest of his life to recover from and I don’t want to see all his progress rendered to nothing just because you couldn’t wait for an interview.”

“Will is still in danger the longer this ring is operating,” Jack pointed out. “They took him easily the first time, they could do it again and this time do much worse than put him in an auction. They could kill him Alana; he’s a survivor who could give away information about them. Not to mention that the longer this ring is operating, the more Omegas are at risk. Do you know many Omegas are snatched each week?”

“I don’t want to know Jack,” Alana said, her voice strained and her face twisted. “I understand you’re under pressure to get this ring shut down, to stop any other Omegas being taken. But Will is still healing and I won’t let any extra stress come into his life.”

“Alana, this ring is not just a minor issue,” Jack shot back, trying to not raise his voice. “They’re a huge, international ring who deals Omegas to billionaires all over the world. They weren’t just there in Louisiana when Will was taken, they’re in every city in every state and that’s just in this country. We’ve been trying to shut them down for years.”

“And it’s awful and sick and wrong,” Alana agreed sadly. “They need to be stopped. But that’s not Will’s responsibility.”

“We only want a brief interview,” Jack nearly cried in exasperation. “A description of what happened to him.”

“He already gave you one when he was in the hospital when he was rescued.”

“That statement was given under extremely fragile circumstances with very little information. We’ve left him alone for as long as we could, let him have time to heal. But we need more information Alana.”

“Will already told you everything he knows.”

“We need his permission to access Mason Verger’s accounts and his banking history,” Jack snapped at her.

“Oh yes, all these bank accounts and secretive underhand dealings he knew about whilst he was locked in the same room for three years,” Alana scoffed sarcastically. “I can tell you now Jack, Will knew nothing about Mason. Mason didn’t share anything with him, he didn’t see Will as anything but a possession.”

“I’m not saying Will would know anything,” Jack corrected her. “But in the eyes of the law, they were still bonded mates despite the circumstances of which it happened. We need Will’s permission as Mason’s mate.”

“The law is bullshit,” Alana spat. “Will was forced into being bonded with that monster. Don’t make him go through this.”

“We need the sister too,” Jack continued. “We need more information from Margot on Mason’s history. The organised crime branch is hoping she’ll know something about what her brother got up to when he went to the auction to buy Will.”

“You’re pushing two very damaged people Jack,” Alana warned him, her eyes dark and protective. “You’ll be accountable if you push too hard.”

“An interview, with both of them,” Jack persisted. “That’s all we’re asking for.”

“It’s all you’re asking for for now,” Alana disagreed. “What about after Jack? What will you need from them after they’ve already given you everything?”

Jack’s jaw hardened and his nostrils flared. “There are hundreds of Omegas at risk every day whilst this ring is still active. Think about that Alana.”

“I am,” Alana bit back. “I’m thinking about the two Omegas at risk under my care right now. They need more time Jack.”

“There’s only so much longer I can hold the organised crime branch off,” Jack insisted. “They’re chomping at the bit to get Will and Margot in for an interview.”

“Well make them wait longer,” Alana instructed, gathering her things and storming towards the door. “Psychiatric care isn’t something you just speed up.”

With that she slammed the door behind her, leaving Jack stood in the empty class room with clenched fists and narrowed eyes.

Christmas was three days away when Jack got the call. Another body.

When he got to scene, it took all of his strength to not snap at every scurrying team member that skirted around him as if he was a ticking time bomb. Which he supposed he was, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Christmas was three days away and he wanted a break from death. But serial killers didn’t adhere to public holidays.

The body had been found in Baltimore’s National Aquarium. A janitor coming in for the early shift to clean up the aquarium before the working day started had found the body in one of the exhibits. The room held two vast tanks, one full of vibrant life and the other completely empty whilst repairs were being conducted on the filter system for the tank. The body had been found in the empty tank, as if the killer did not wish to disturb the peace of the other tank containing the fish.

There was a heavy display anchor in the very centre of the tank near the glass, surrounded by rocks and coral. The Alpha attached to the anchor by a chain around the ankle was a woman this time and her death was just as poetic as the others. Jack thought this one was more grotesquely artistic. The water made the whole thing so much more dramatic.

Her hair was a floating halo around her head, long dark tendrils weaving through the water around her. Her eyelids had been cut off to ensure her gaze was fixed and staring through the class, her skin an awful, saturated mess of wrinkles sitting around her frame. There was no visible major wound that would have caused her death and they wouldn’t know until the divers retrieved her body from the tank and she could be taken to the lab.

The killer had gone to the painstaking task of sewing pieces of seaweed and shells into her skin, her legs a costume of aquatic features.

“He’s sewn fish scales onto her legs,” Jimmy informed him as they approached the tank for a closer look.

“Turned her into a real life mermaid,” Beverly sighed. “It must have taken him days.”

“It looks like he kept her alive whilst he was sewing scales and seaweed and shells into her though,” Zeller added. “There should be a missing persons report for her.”

“Look into it,” Jack muttered blandly. “Hopefully it won’t be too hard to find out who she is.”

The woman’s arms drifted by her sides, floating in the water next to her slim waist and soft breasts. He’d impaled shards of lethal looking coral into her neck, creating a necklace.

“They took the heart,” Zeller pointed out. “She’s been sewn back up, you can see the stitching there.”

“Just one organ this time?” Jack enquired. “He normally takes a couple.”

“Just the heart as far as we know,” Zeller replied. “If it is him.”

“Who else could it be?” Jack scoffed. “Nobody else displays their victims like art after they’ve murdered them and harvested their organs.”

“I wonder what this one means,” Beverly pondered aloud. “This one feels so different.”

“It feels more like a display of affection rather than anger,” Jimmy agreed, studying their mermaid. “The others were all displayed cruelly. Peter Rosenthal at the brothel was impaled on poles and humiliated like an animal. Simon Kingston was a clear display of heart ache and rejection. This one seems more like he’s displaying his love. A gift.”

“Who’s he in love with though? And why only kills Alphas?” Zeller frowned. “Do you reckon he’s a Beta?”

“No,” Jack disagreed. “He’s an Alpha alright. He’s going after other Alphas to prove no one else can have whoever it is he’s trying to impress.”

“An Omega, then?” Zeller suggested.

“Considering Peter Rosenthal was impaled on a pole where the Omega mating gland is,” Beverly answered, “I’d say this an Alpha courting an Omega. Maybe Rosenthal had interest in the Omega and the killer took him out. His genitals were stuffed into his mouth after all...”

“And Kingston was a clear display of hurt. The Omega rejected him,” Jimmy agreed. “And now the killer thinks he has a chance with the Omega again, or perhaps someone else. This is different from Rosenthal and Kingston.”

“I think it’s the same Omega,” Jack said. “Whoever the Omega is, the killer is obsessed. He wouldn’t stop killing for him and start displaying bodies for a new Omega.”

“A Christmas present,” Beverly concluded. “And a rather grandiose one at that.”

“I’m sorry Hannibal but I can’t give permission for Will to leave Port Haven over night,” Alana sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. “I’ve only ever allowed it when he’s been sent to the hospital.”

“Other Omegas are allowed to go home to visit their families over the Christmas period,” Hannibal pointed out, raising an eyebrow. “Why would you keep Will here on his own all day? It’s Christmas Alana. He has no family and you and Margot are spending the day with your family.”

Alana’s face twisted in discomfort. “Well, I... I’m just ensuring Will is in a safe environment.”

“Alana,” Hannibal sighed this time. “Will has known me for practically as long as he has known you. He sees me at least multiple times a week. You’ve allowed him evenings out with me and for dinner at my home. Why is one night any different?”

“I just don’t like how it looks. Officially.”

Hannibal gritted his teeth.

“Come on Hannibal, you have to admit to yourself how it seems. An underage, unbounded Omega staying the night at the house of an older Alpha who’s supposed to be his psychiatrist?”

“You’re his psychiatrist. I have never claimed that title in Will’s life and you know that. Will is not in any danger or harm from me Alana and he never has or will be. Why are you so untrusting of me all of a sudden?”

“I’m not,” Alana insisted, folding her hands together on her desk. “I just think that the situation looks slightly odd to anyone outside the situation.”

“It is not the concern of anyone outside of ‘the situation’,” Hannibal argued, his voice flat. “If you were worried about things appearing strange you wouldn’t have let me spend time alone with him at all.”

“I’m liable if anything happens to him Hannibal,” Alana replied.

“So you’d rather he sat inside of Port Haven all day, with no one to spend Christmas with? I did not think you held such contempt for him Alana.”

“Contempt?” Alana spluttered, looking appalled. “What on earth makes you say that?”

“What other reason would you have for keeping him isolated at a time when everyone else around him is spending time with loved ones and friends? You know he abhors Port Haven. He does not like any of the other patients and has as little as possible to do with the staff. Spending Christmas Day alone is going to be extremely difficult for him.”

“Hannibal, I...” Alana trailed off, her face looking even more tired. “I just don’t think - ”

“Have you even thought about how this is going to affect Will?” Hannibal continued with his assault. “Will is going to be sat alone all day thinking about his son. He’s going to be thinking about how this would have been his first Christmas with his child. Do you not think he’s imagining sitting by a tree with Jasper, unwrapping presents with him? I thought you would have been more considerate Alana.”

“You know what? Fine,” Alana snapped, giving in finally. “I’ll allow it. But Will needs to be back at Port Haven on the evening of Boxing Day.”

“Wonderful,” Hannibal smoothly smiled, rising from his seat. “I’ll pick him up at eight on Christmas morning?”

“Sure,” Alana replied, tight lipped. “This is an exception Hannibal. Just because it’s Christmas.”

“Thank you Alana,” Hannibal forced himself to say, smiling tightly.

Only a month to go and Will wouldn’t be constricted to Alana’s ridiculous hold anymore. Hannibal knew that when Will’s heat came around in March the Omega would most likely not let him bond with him, but by the summer Hannibal fully intended on them being bonded mates. Social services and the Omega Psychiatric Institute of Baltimore would most likely declare Will fit to leave Port Haven on the condition he still received therapy from Alana and Hannibal was going to do everything within his power to make sure Will moved in to his home after he was discharged from Port Haven.

In his home and away from Alana and Margot and everyone else who had ever tried to interfere with Will’s life. It would all soon fall in to place, but in the mean time Hannibal had a Christmas dinner to prepare.

“Dad?”

Eloi Graham turned slowly to face his son. “Hey there Will.”

Will stiffly got out of bed, his ankles swollen and his head pounding. He looked down at his rounded, firm stomach and swallowed.

“What are you doing here? Have you come to get me out?” Will asked, frowning as he rubbed his pregnant stomach.

“I came to see you son.”

“Mason will kill you if he finds out you’re here,” Will warned him.

Eloi looked over at the crib that lay at the foot of Will’s bed. He walked over quietly, leaning over the crib to peer inside.

“I’m sorry I never got to met Jasper,” Eloi sighed, gazing down. “I woulda taught him how to fish.”

Will walked over to his side. He looked down into the crib and his throat tightened. The crib was filled with murky water, specs of grey ash floating amongst the heavy liquid like flakes of glitter in a shaken snow globe. “I’m sorry Dad.”

A warm, solid hand squeezed his shoulder. “S’alright Will. It was never your fault.”

They both looked down at Will’s protruding stomach.

“Come on,” Eloi murmured, taking his hand. “Somethin’ you need to see.”

“But we can’t get out,” Will argued, rooted by the crib. “The door automatically locks when it shuts.”

“That don’t matter here,” Eloi smiled softly.

Eloi walked him over to the door, grasping the door handle and pulling the door open as if it was weightless. Will said nothing as his father helped him slowly descend the stairs, his pregnant state rendering his mobility. They reached the kitchen of the Verger estate and Eloi beamed at him.

Inside the kitchen Hannibal was stood over Mason’s dead body as it lay on the huge kitchen island. His skin was crisped from being cooked, the smell of roasted meat hitting Will’s senses. At the table on the other side of the enormous kitchen sat three small children, looking only a few years apart between them all.

Each one of them had thick curls, two of them boys with hair as dark as Will’s and Hannibal’s amber eyes. The girl’s hair was a caramel blonde but her eyes pierced into Will as he looked back at a gaze that was a perfect carbon copy of his own.

Eloi seated the two of them at the table and Hannibal smiled as he began carving cuts of meat from Mason’s shoulder.

“It’s so nice to have Christmas dinner with my family,” Eloi smiled over at his son, settling his hand over Will’s.

Will screamed.

“Will! Will, you’re having a nightmare! Calm down!”

He blinked and found himself stood in the frozen garden of Port Haven in the anaemic sunrise. He was dressed in nothing but his underwear and a t-shirt and his toes were turning blue.

He swayed, his legs shaking beneath him. Warm hands grasped around his elbows to keep him on his feet.

“Where... what’s going on?” Will croaked, shivering with the approaching panic attack as his breaths shortened.

He turned to see the nurse who usually did the night shift, Charlie. Charlie sighed and began steering him back to the warmth of Port Haven, shivering himself in the cold.

“I’m sorry,” Will rasped, cursing the tears beginning to form in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to – to -”

“Will,” Charlie cut him off, smiling tiredly. “Don’t worry about it, ok? Let’s just get you back inside.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost six.”

“I don’t want to go back to sleep.”

“You don’t have to,” Charlie assured him. “It’s Christmas Day, remember? You’re heading over to Doctor Lecter’s.”

“Christmas,” Will repeated, blinking dumbfoundedly.

“Uh huh,” Charlie grunted in response, leading Will to the stairs to go back to his room. “He’s picking you up at eight o’clock. You may as well stay up.”

Will just nodded, clearly dazed. Charlie just sighed as he returned the Omega to his room with a weary look. The orderlies had stopped locking his door at night because his sleepwalking had come to an abrupt halt after his heat, but clearly it was not as dormant as they’d all hoped. Will looked down at his stinging, stiff toes and shuffled towards the shower as the sun strained and heaved itself higher into the sky outside, light slipping through the heavy snow clouds. He tried not to think of his dream - nightmare - as he showered. He tried not to think of his father’s soft familiar drawl or of the watery crib cradling ashes. He tried not to think about the warm glow of Hannibal’s smile as he carved Mason into pieces or of the piercing eyes of the girl who’d looked too much like him. He tried not to think about the all-too-real sensation of a swollen stomach and painful joints.

He tried to, but failed miserably.

“Hannibal, you didn’t have to do all this,” Will mumbled.

The Alpha merely smiled at him over the counter as he filled Will’s mug with warm, Chai tea. “I didn’t have to make you breakfast? Of course I did.”

“But you’re letting me be here on Christmas Day,” Will frowned. “It would have been enough to let me come for dinner with you, never mind breakfast and lunch and letting me stay here for the night.”

“‘Letting you’ is not the way I would describe it,” Hannibal mused. “I very much wanted you here and would have gone out of my way to ensure that we were together today.”

“I’m still not sure I understand how you managed to convince Alana to let me stay overnight,” Will wondered, breathing in deeply the enticing smells coming from his mug. “You must have gone out of your way.”

“I am not beneath guilt tripping Alana when it comes to you Will,” Hannibal confessed with a soft smile. “I made her realise that spending this day alone in a place where you hate and you do not speak to anyone would be cruelty.”

“She’s a pushover when it comes to my loneliness,” Will muttered into his mug, rolling his eyes. “She fusses too much. I’m not a child.”

“I imagine you feel lonely most of the time at Port Haven,” Hannibal replied as he pushed the plate of pancakes towards Will.

He’d told Will he would make him any breakfast he liked, and although Hannibal was not particularly impressed with the choice, Will still sat before a plate of golden, fluffy pancakes dusted with powdery sugar and sweet berries, buttery warmth melting into his mouth as syrup coated his teeth.

He moaned.

“Hannibal,” Will breathed out in contentment. “These are incredible.”

The Alpha walked around the counter to Will, tangling a hand in his hair and kissing his curls tenderly, smiling as he inhaled Will’s dark sweetness. “I’m glad you like them.”

Will practically inhaled the pancakes to Hannibal’s amusement, the sight of the Omega attacking food with such enthusiasm a rare sight. Will barely had an appetite for any dish Hannibal had ever seen him eat, other than those he made himself for the boy. Will’s weight had remained at a barely plausible mass, his bones still too sharp and his face still aching to fill out into the wondrous structure Hannibal knew he would soon take on. It was too easy to start comparing Will’s face to all of the chiselled, gleaming statues he’d admired in Europe and get lost in his mind palace.

When Will finished eating, Hannibal showed him into the living room.

“Even your tree looks like it cost the sum amount of a small house,” Will drawled, shooting him a teasing grin. “I bet those are antique, priceless baubles.”

“They are antiques, yes,” Hannibal smiled gently in response, linking his arms around Will’s waist as he pressed up against his back. “They have been in my family for generations.”

“Oh,” Will responded, blinking and subconsciously settling his hands over Hannibal’s arms where they pressed against his abdomen. “I can’t imagine your family. Is that strange?”

“No,” Hannibal assured him, nosing through soft curls. “I don’t believe I’ve ever really talked about them. You wouldn’t have much description to base your thoughts on.”

“Would you tell me about them?”

Hannibal settled them on the sofa. “We lived in a part of Lithuania called Aukštaitija. My sister and I were orphaned at an early age, but I still remember the Christmases I had with my parents and Mischa.”

“What was Christmas like with your family?” Will murmured, stroking Hannibal’s knuckles with his thumb.

“It was always a happy day,” Hannibal responded, fixing his gaze on the tree in front of them. “I suppose it was like a lot of families’ Christmas days. We ate together, exchanged presents and I remember there was even an obnoxious board game we all used to argue over. What was Christmas like for you, Will?”

“Dad would take me fishing because we could never afford presents,” Will stated simply, unfazed. “We’d get up early and get out on the Bayou in our boat and Dad always caught something without fail. We didn’t have the money to do Christmas dinner so we’d eat whatever we caught. We had these shitty fairy lights we’d wrap around the porch and put on at night. Before we sold the TV we used to watch Christmas movies before we went to bed. He’d always polish off a bottle of whiskey to himself on Christmas night.”

“A rather different experience from mine,” Hannibal smiled softly. “I suppose we’ll have to make a new kind of Christmas together.”

Will grinned up at him. “I suppose we will.”

“Would you like to open your present?” Hannibal asked him, stroking his hair back from his face.

“You weren’t meant to get me anything,” Will scolded him, frowning. “We agreed.”

“I couldn’t help myself. The thought of not getting you anything didn’t sit quite right with me.”

“I’m not impressed Hannibal,” Will muttered into his neck, a small smile on his voice nonetheless.

Hannibal simply hummed and pulled Will to the tree where a singular present lay wrapped beneath the spiky pine. He retrieved it and held the small box out to Will, who glowered at him before wrapping trembling fingers around the box. Hannibal watched in delight as he pulled the bow away and lifted the lid of smooth, golden box.

Will pulled the set of keys out of the box, his face scrunched into a frown of dread. “Hannibal. What are these keys for?”

“I would have wrapped the main present up but it would have seemed rather ridiculous to cover a boat in wrapping paper,” Hannibal replied, his dark eyes watching Will.

“Excuse me?”

“The keys are to your boat Will.”

Will studied the keys, finding the company logo on them. “A Sabre. A what, a 38 Saloon Express?”

“Yes.”

Will put the keys back into the box and handed it back to Hannibal. “No.”

Hannibal’s lips pulled down slightly and Will’s gut twisted at the saddened look. “You haven’t even seen it.”

“I know what those boats look like and I know how much they cost,” Will replied curtly. “I can’t accept this Hannibal. It’s too much; you shouldn’t have bought it.”

“Perhaps we could look for a different make of boat - ”

“Hannibal, that’s not the point,” Will laughed incredulously. “A boat is not... that’s too much. You can’t just buy me things like that, don’t you get it? Please, I’d be happier if you arranged for it get sold on to someone else. You must have more money than sense Hannibal, going round buying boats on a whim just because you can - ”

“Do you not like the thought of being able to go fishing again?” Hannibal interrupted, stepping closer. “I thought you might want that freedom.”

When Will looked up at his from his shoes there were tears in his eyes. “It’s too much Hannibal. Of course I want to be able to go fishing again, but Jesus, you didn’t need to buy me a boat for me to be able to do that. I can’t believe...”

“Will you at least come with me tomorrow to see it?” Hannibal pleaded, wrapping Will’s hands in his. “I’d very much like you to have it.”

“You’re insane. I think you’ve actually lost your mind Hannibal,” Will smiled through his watery eyes. “I would have been happy with a new pack of socks Hannibal, never mind a boat.”

Hannibal smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”

“Upset me?” Will laughed once again in disbelief. “I can’t – this is unbelievable.”

Hannibal didn’t have the chance to speak again before Will closed the distance between them and kissed him deeply, his arms slinking around Hannibal’s firm shoulders and his lips practically caressed Hannibal’s.

“You’re amazing,” Will whispered against his mouth. “Truly the most amazing person I’ve ever known. But I just can’t accept it Hannibal, on principle.”

“I see no reason why you should not accept it,” Hannibal replied, pressing his lips back to Will’s. “You like fishing, which you could do more easily with a boat.”

Will laughed against his mouth, pulling away. “Hannibal, you may as well have bought me house when you bought that boat. Those things have little kitchens and bedrooms and a shower in them. They have two engine rooms and flat screen TVs built into the walls and - ”

“You clearly know a lot about these particular boats,” Hannibal smiled. “Which means you must like them.”

“Well I – I don’t ... stop twisting my words. I know what those boats are like, sure, and they’re incredible. But I’m pointing all this out because I don’t need a double bed and LED lighting to go fishing Hannibal,” Will argued. “You’re forgetting I spent my whole life waist deep in the Bayou with waders on, not sat on what’s basically a small luxury yatch. My dad’s boat was a rust bucket that broke down every couple of months. This is just more than a bit crazy.”

“I’m sorry if I’ve offended you Will. I merely wanted you to enjoy yourself.”

Will stared at Hannibal, long and hard for a moment before making a humming noise in the back of his throat. “I’ll come see the boat with you tomorrow if it’ll make you happy. But I still want you to sell it on, give it away, donate it; I don’t care.”

“Excellent,” Hannibal grinned. “It’s berthed at Chesapeake Bay. We’ll drive out there tomorrow and you can see it for yourself. I’m certain you’ll fall in love with it.”

Hannibal had no intention of selling Will’s Christmas present and Will knew this too, deep down. He’d be keeping the boat and would get Will out sailing on it and catching fish if it was the last damn thing he ever did on this earth.

They spent the rest of their day enjoying Hannibal’s elegant cooking, talking about their childhoods and Hannibal endured a few hours of tedious Christmas movies that were on TV at Will’s request. It grew dark outside quickly and the evening found them slotted together on the sofa, Hannibal’s fire place blazing with warmth as they stared into the crackling orange before them.

Will looked up at the Alpha and stroked his fingers down his cheek, smiling in contentment. “This has been perfect Hannibal. Thank you.”

“Even though I put you through the stress of receiving a boat?” Hannibal teased, pulling Will closer.

“Yes, even when you did such a heinous thing,” Will retorted, grinning. “I want every Christmas to be like this.”

“Then it shall be,” Hannibal said simply, gazing earnestly at Will. “I would strive to make every day one that you enjoy Will.”

“Why are you so good to me?” Will asked suddenly, chewing his lip.

“Because I find you to be the most remarkable, precious presence I’ve ever found myself in,” Hannibal replied honestly. “I could spend a hundred lifetimes with you and still want another hundred, you fascinate me so. I’ve never found myself so drawn to anybody before.”

Because there is a bountiful darkness in you that I wish to spend my whole life exploring, Hannibal thought to himself. Because you skinned Mason Verger and then gutted him. Because I want to make you happy. Because your eyes are the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen.

“You always said you didn’t want a relationship,” Will remembered, fingers still drifting against Hannibal’s face. “Sorry I ruined that for you.”

“You’ve done nothing but open my eyes,” Hannibal corrected him. “And I didn’t believe I would ever find myself interested in another person long enough to sustain anything meaningful with them. And now here we are, promising that our next Christmas will be just as wonderful as this one.”

Will moved forwards and caught their lips together again, slowly and carefully. Hannibal cradled the back of his skull and slipped a hand under Will’s sweatshirt to palm over sharp ribs. Will sighed into their kiss, smoothing his hands through Hannibal’s hair and over his broad, muscled back. Will’s mind flashed back to Mason’s forced kisses, his unwelcome and quite frankly terrifying weight pressed on top of him and for a split second Will thinks he may have another episode. But Hannibal’s weight feels so natural against him, never uncomfortable and just the right amount of pressure to make Will feel as though he’s being covered and worshipped. His body practically sings with approval.

Will pulls away from their kiss, chest rising and falling a little quicker than usual. “I want you to take me to bed.”

Hannibal tenderly kisses the junction of his jaw and throat and ear. “Are you sure Will?”

“I’m completely sure Hannibal,” Will murmured. “I want you. All of it, every last bit.”

Hannibal drew them up from the couch and led Will to the stairs without another word. He held Will’s hand tightly in his own as he drew him into his bedroom, shutting the door softly behind them as Will’s eyes swept over the sleek environment of the Alpha’s room. He hadn’t expected anything less from Hannibal.

Will blinked and found himself sat on the edge of Hannibal’s excruciatingly comfortable mattress, feeling incredibly small on the bed that he was pretty sure could host a full blown orgy. He looked down to see Hannibal knelt between his legs, slipping Will’s shoes off. He watched in fascination as Hannibal pulled away his socks and kissed each of his bare feet, lips pressing gently to the white skin and fingers curling around bony ankles. The Alpha’s long fingers unbuckled his belt, pulling it free from the loops of his jeans. A gentle but firm hand pushed down in the middle of his chest to send Will back against the mattress, his wide eyes gazing up at Hannibal.

He crawled onto the bed on top of Will, thighs on either side of his waist as he bent down and softly kissed his parted lips. Will’s hands fluttered over Hannibal’s knees, sliding up his thighs to reach Hannibal’s own belt. He somehow managed to shakily unbuckle it and unzip Hannibal’s fly, pulling his shirt out from where it was tucked into the trousers. Hannibal paused to slide his jeans off and discard them on the floor and it only took a few more dizzying moment until the pair of them were freed from every last piece of clothing.

Will marvelled at the way their legs tangled together, the contrast of his slimmer, paler Omega legs twined between Hannibal’s long limbs dusted with darker hairs and bulging with toned muscle in certain places. Will’s hands skirted along the rippling tendons and muscles of Hannibal’s back, the feel of warm and firm skin layered over tightly wound muscles such a satisfying sensation. Hannibal’s cock grazed his own, the two rutting their hips together as they kissed whilst Will allowed small gasps to escape into Hannibal’s mouth.

Everything about Hannibal made his stomach twist and his heart tighten with anticipation, his skin prickling with goose bumps. Will allowed himself to address his curiosity as to how much his physical attraction to Hannibal was because the man was older. It was pleasing and Will couldn’t deny it. The fine lines of the map of Hannibal’s face, the streaked grey through his hair and his entire manner screamed of experience. It made a small fire burn in Will’s pelvis at Hannibal’s capability, a purely Omegan reaction to the knowledge that a potential mate was experienced and therefore better, more likely to be able to please an Omega and care for them. It worked the other way around; Alphas quite often sought out younger mates when their biology compelled them to be attracted to sweet, fresh faces and scents that exuded to fertility.

Hannibal was humming against his throat, lips sucking his skin in to his mouth just hard enough that it wouldn’t bruise. “I think I could spend days kissing you from head to toe.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Will replied lazily, his voice heavy with arousal. “I think I’d quite enjoy it.”

Hannibal smiled against his throat. “You smell wonderful when you’re like this. Still you, but amplified beyond belief. It’s overwhelming.”

Hannibal stretched up to kiss him again whilst one hand wrapped itself around the side of Will’s throat and the other ventured downwards to softly grasp Will’s straining cock and indulge him in slow, torturous strokes. Will hissed between his teeth and arched his spine at the waves of pleasure burning through him as the Alpha stroked him, his tongue lost deep in Will’s mouth. Hannibal held him in place as he flicked his wrist to work Will’s cock, the heat and pressure building in Will’s lower abdomen.

Will pulled back gasping. “I’m going to come if you keep doing that.”

“That’s what I’m aiming for,” Hannibal smiled slyly. “Don’t worry darling, I’m planning on bringing you to orgasm more than once tonight.”

Will’s breath caught in his throat and Hannibal’s wrist flicked again and he smelt so good - and then his spine was arching right off the bed into Hannibal’s chest as he came in hard spurts, gasping in the Alpha’s heady scent. His thighs soaked themselves with his slick, the liquid weeping out between his legs as he writhed in Hannibal’s arms.

“That’s it,” Hannibal soothed him, his eyes glazed over in wonder.

Will keened into his mouth, scrambling to pull Hannibal on top of him more and get between his legs. Hannibal let him, his arms caging Will’s head in on either side of the pillow whilst the Omega’s legs parted to let him settle between them.

Will threw his head back when the first finger stroked against his hole. “Fuck.”

Hannibal manoeuvred himself so that his head was between Will’s legs, running his tongue along the shining slick that coated his inner thigh, moaning at the taste. He trailed his tongue further inwards and slowly pressed his tongue over the Omega’s entrance. Will went rigid, crying out sharply, all the encouragement Hannibal needed to delve his tongue back in. Will’s thighs quivered on either side of him as he swirled his tongue against his hole and sucked, grinning at the delectable noises the Omega was making.

Will’s body swallowed his fingers just as eagerly as it had done when he’d bent Will over the chair in his office. Soft moans were getting caught in his mouth and throat as he wriggled desperately onto the digits, Hannibal watching with hunger as he tried to fuck himself on his fingers. He pinned Will to the bed by his hip, his large hand splaying out across his creamy skin.

“Hannibal, please,” Will whined, fisting the sheets tightly as a flush spread over his chest. “I want you in me.”

“Patience mylimasis,” Hannibal soothed him. “Let me have this; let me take my time with you.”

Will just bit his lip as his head fell back against the pillow. Hannibal stroked his fingers against Will’s walls, brushing over his prostate and making him swear into the heavy air of the bedroom. He grinned in satisfaction, rubbing his fingertips against the small bump whilst Will twisted with near unbearable pleasure beneath him. Hannibal’s three fingers were dripping when he pulled them from
Will’s body, meeting the Omega’s dark eyes as he slipped his fingers into his own mouth, tasting Will like nectar. Will hissed in satisfaction when Hannibal bent over him again and kissed him.

“Don’t you want me on my hands and knees?” Will managed to get out in between heaving breaths.

“No, darling,” Hannibal assured him, kissing his pulse point. “I want to see how beautiful you are when I take you.”

“Oh,” Will rasped, trembling. “Mason only ever had me on my hands and knees, I thought...”

“Ssh,” Hannibal soothed him, stroking back his hair. “We are different people Will and I want to cherish every part of you when we do this. Will you let me?”

Will nodded frantically, kissing Hannibal deeply in confirmation. Hannibal hooked one of Will’s knees over his shoulder and gripped the side of his throat again with the other. Will’s hands clung to his waist and hips as he lined himself up against Will, meeting his eyes and holding them as he slowly sank into Will’s welcoming warmth.

Will’s lips trembled in an open ‘O’ shape, his eyebrows arching down to almost meet together at the top of his nose and his eyelids fluttering. Hannibal growled into Will’s calf muscle that rested to his side, slung over his shoulder, nearly shuddering at the tight, wet heat around his cock.

“Perfect,” Will gasped out. “You feel so perfect.”

Hannibal kissed his leg, breath shaky as he slowly withdrew his hips a fraction before bringing their groins flush again. “More,” Will groaned, sweating. “Please Hannibal.”

Hannibal gently pulled his hips back as requested, a little further this time, and then sank back in again. Will writhed with each thrust, nails sinking into Hannibal’s flanks with delicious sharpness as Hannibal’s usually flawlessly styled hair fell into his eyes as he pushed into Will with purpose. Will’s breaths left his mouth as soft pants, the sensation of being stretched and pushed in to with such loving strokes making him feel dizzy. The bedroom was filled with Hannibal’s purring, his chest releasing constant rumbles of satisfaction at the sight of Will flushed and wanton beneath him, intently watching the way his cock slipped back into Will each time he pushed his hips.

Will scrambled for Hannibal, pulling his leg off of the Alpha’s shoulder and hooking his arms around his neck, bringing their chests flush against each other and Hannibal’s hips pressed against his ass. The position drew Hannibal in deeper, making Will choke on a moan and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head. Hannibal’s lips were on his ear, mouthing over his neck and his jaw whilst he whispered words dripping with endearment and adoration in a language Will didn’t understand. Will’s legs snaked around Hannibal’s waist and his ankles crossed over behind the Alpha’s back as his arms looped around his neck.

“Kiss me,” Hannibal hissed against his jaw, teeth grazing Will’s hot flesh.

He turned his head immediately, their lips meeting in a fluster of moans and tongues. Hannibal could feel the slick spreading over both of their lower halves as he rutted his hips against Will’s ass, wetness caressing over their thighs and seeping into Hannibal’s bed sheets. Bed sheets he would probably never be able to bring himself to wash again.

Hannibal’s cock kissed his prostate with every thrust, meeting the sensitive nub in an explosion of white heat every time and making sobs cluster in Will’s chest. Hannibal was fucking him so earnestly, every part of their bodies pressed together other than the momentary break in contact when his hips moved back. It was heavenly, Will’s blood thrumming through his veins and his balls drawing up tighter again. Hannibal felt him clench around him.

“Will you come for me again, mylimasis?” Hannibal purred into the hollow of his throat, his tongue snaking out to taste the gathering sweat there. “Is it that good?”

“Too good,” Will managed to get out, disorientated with pleasure. “I can’t... Hannibal -”

Hannibal growled against his pulse, teeth nipping against the Omega’s skin. His gums and teeth ached to bite. “Do you want my knot Will? Do you need me to fill you whilst you come for me?”

“Please,” Will whispered, the tight bundle of heat behind his navel constricting as his release approached. “Please Hannibal, knot – I need you to... to...”

Hannibal silenced him with a kiss and grinded brutally against his ass, swallowing Will’s splutters and whines.

His body contorted suddenly, jerking up against Hannibal’s and near sobbing as he came, his ass stretching as Hannibal’s knot wedged itself into his body. The Alpha hissed in pleasure, his eyes blazing as he withdrew from Will and found his teeth sinking into Will’s chest, just below his collar bone. Will writhed beneath him, gasping for air like he was drowning as his orgasm ripped through his body and he felt the hot gush of Hannibal’s come coating his insides and joining his slick as his knot pulsed.

“Oh,” Will keened, the room spinning.

Hannibal was shuddering above him, his own orgasm wracking through his body as he lapped at the broken skin on Will’s chest.

It seemed to last forever, the sensation of it making Will feel as though he had practically been invaded by Hannibal, breathing, smelling, seeing and hearing nothing but the Alpha. His touch was everywhere, his body fused with Will’s and it made Will see starbursts behind his fluttering eye lashes. Hannibal’s hands slid up his arms to his neck then to his face, kissing him like it was the first time his lips had ever met Will’s.

They didn’t speak as they lay tangled on Hannibal’s bed, locked together by Hannibal’s knot as they scented each other, hands roaming everywhere. Will’s body contracted around him once more, the movement making Hannibal shiver and tense as another wave of orgasm passed through him. Hannibal’s hold on him didn’t loosen once as they drifted further towards post-coital unconsciousness, eyelids growing heavy and lungs regulating themselves whilst sleep pulled them closer.

Will didn’t have the ability to speak then, his mind elsewhere. It was probably just as well, otherwise he might have said something stupid about love.

Chapter Text

Hannibal’s heart swelled at the sight of Will wrapped up in multiple layers of jumper and scarf and coat cautiously climbing up on to the boat. His cerulean eyes drifted over the bow of the boat from behind his glasses, his hands shoved inside of his coat pockets to keep them shielded from the biting December air. Hannibal held back a few paces behind, watching him slowly take step after step along the boat. He wanted this image to be burned into his memory forever; desperately scrambling to construct another section of his mind palace, his own personal body of water in the grounds of his mind cupping Will stood on the boat in the grey morning.

“Why did Margot come to your office to see you?” Will asked, trailing a hand along the railing as he stared down at the water.

Hannibal tried not to appear jostled by the sudden question. “She told you?”

“No. I smelt her on you that afternoon, smelt her in your office the next time I came over.”

“She wanted to discuss your therapy.”

“Don’t lie,” Will reprimanded him, the wind carding through his dark curls. “What did she want?”

“She was enquiring about our relationship,” Hannibal answered carefully, observing Will shuffle down into the cabin. He followed slowly.

“Is that another lie Dr. Lecter?”

Hannibal leant against the wall on his side, sighing. “No. She was intent on informing me that I would find myself in an uncomfortable position if she had reason to believe I had harmed you or upset you.”

“She had no right to do that.”

“She is adamant that she is only protecting you.”

“This is about us, Hannibal. It’s not about Alana, or Margot or anyone else. You should have told her to get out of your office and never come back.”

“She’s important to you. I didn’t want to offend her for your sake. And besides, I admire her protectiveness of you, despite its tediousness.”

“What did she say to you?”

Will had his back turned to him, fingers grasped tightly around the boat’s wheel. Hannibal took a deep breath.

“She told me she knew you were at Muskrat Farm the whole three years you were there. That she saw you every day, cared for you and tried her best to watch over you.”
Will’s shoulders visibly stiffened. “What else did she tell you?”

“I think you already know what she told me, Will.”

“No; I don’t. I need to hear you say it.”

He didn’t hear the Alpha move, but suddenly felt his warmth right behind his back. He didn’t move, just closed his eyes and waited.

“She told me that Mason’s death was not a freak accident at all.”

“Hannibal, don’t. I need to hear you say it out loud.”

“You killed him,” Hannibal murmured softly, his lips brushing against the back of Will’s ear. “You saw what he did to your son and you slaughtered him.”

Will swallowed, hands flying out to catch Hannibal’s arms to keep himself upright. Hannibal’s large, strong hands curled through his hair and turned him around, forcing Will’s face up to meet his eyes. Hannibal looked exhilarated and Will found himself breathless at his reaction.

“You near beat him to unconsciousness and then skinned his face,” Hannibal breathed, eyes shining with wonder. “You stabbed him repeatedly in the chest and then gutted him.”

Will didn’t care that he was shaking. Hannibal had seen it all already. “Are you going to tell the police what I did?”

“Why on earth would I do that?” Hannibal replied, his face clouding with distaste.

“Because I killed my mate,” Will mumbled in shock. “I went along with Margot’s lie and told the FBI that Mason’s death was an accident. I murdered someone Hannibal.”

“As did Mason,” Hannibal replied. “Do you think that he would have been arrested for what he did, had you not taken action? He would have most likely blamed you for Jasper’s death. Your instincts were to protect Will; how could anyone blame you for that?”

“How was it instinct to skin somebody? That might be a plausible explanation if I’d gone for his throat and choked him, but I didn’t. I brutalised him, Hannibal, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I did the only thing I could to make him pay for taking Jasper’s life.”

“Rage forces us to have tunnel vision,” Hannibal insisted. “You were pushed Will. You let him push and push for three years and you allowed him. But when he killed Jasper, it made you snap, made you lose control of everything you held on to so tightly.”

“How can you stand here with me knowing what I did?” Will demanded, his eyes flecked with hard flints of blue. “How can you even look at me knowing that I have the ability to turn into... into that?”

“You were reacting to the death of your child,” Hannibal soothed him, carding a hand through his hair. “He deserved it.”

Will flinched. “You don’t sound very much like a psychiatrist right now Hannibal.”

Hannibal’s eyes were dark as he slid closer to Will, smiling gently. “I would have done the same thing, if not worse. You’re not a monster Will, you don’t have to let the guilt keep plaguing you. I understand.”

“You don’t want to go to the police? Or at least even tell Alana?” Will asked in disbelief.

“I want to protect you,” Hannibal murmured, his voice like velvet. “What you did to Mason does not repulse me, Will. It only compels me to keep you safe even more than I already feel the need to.”

“You’d stay with me, knowing what I’ve done? What I’m capable of?”

“You could have taken hundreds of lives and I would still want to spend every moment at your side. Don’t you see Will?” Hannibal smiled gently, cupping Will’s face in his hands. “I want you to feel, to let yourself indulge in every dark part of your soul. It’s beautiful.”

“How can you think it’s beautiful that I killed somebody?” Will hissed, eyes growing wide.

“You didn’t just kill anybody Will, you sought revenge for your son and to right the wrongs Mason inflicted on you. That is what I find beautiful.”

Will shook his head. “Why the fuck did she tell you all of this?”

“Margot is testing my loyalty and trust to you. She thinks that by knowing what you did, I will either betray you or look after you. She threatened to go to the FBI and tell them about Mason’s murder in order to separate us if she believed I was bad for you.”

“She would have me thrown in a hospital for the criminally insane to keep us apart,” Will deadpanned. “She’ll stab me in the back to keep us apart if she thinks you’re going to hurt me.”

“I don’t think I possess the ability to ever cause you harm Will,” Hannibal told him softly.

“We all have the ability to hurt each other,” Will disagreed, frowning at him. “Don’t be naive Hannibal.”

“You think I could ever cause you upset? Intentionally hurt you?”

“That’s not... no. I mean we all have the capacity to hurt and maim and lie. It’s whether we choose to act upon it or not.”

“And are you thinking about acting upon your ability to hurt Margot?” Hannibal asked cautiously.

“Margot is all I have left.”

“Not strictly true, Will,” Hannibal corrected him. “You have Alana. You have me.”

“You don’t know me like Margot does. Alana is fucking clueless.”

“And how does Margot know you, Will?” Hannibal pressed, watching their breaths curl in fingers of steam in the freezing air. “How does she know you in ways I don’t?”

“Until you set my bones back in place, mop up my blood, stitch my face back together and spoon feed me because I can’t move a single limb and my jaw is broken, you don’t know me like she does,” Will answered, his voice hard but not intentionally cruel. It hurt all the same.

Hannibal grazed his thumb along Will’s cheekbone, grimacing sadly.

“Until you let me cry into your neck for an entire night because I lost another baby for the umpteenth time or sponge blood off my thighs after I’m raped, you don’t know me in the same way Margot does. She’s sick and twisted in her own way, I’ll give you that. I’ll be the first to admit she’s heartless. But for some reason she has heart for me, and as much as I want to lash out at her for threatening you, I can’t,” Will continued, swallowing hard. “I share a past with her, Hannibal. I never wanted to and I would give her up in a heartbeat if it meant I could erase that past and she would too, but we can’t. We’re stuck with each other and we’re stuck with what we did to Mason for the rest of our lives.”

“What about your future Will?” Hannibal insisted firmly. “What about the life you’re going to have? Do you honestly think you can ever be free of Mason if you carry this around with you your whole life Margot will keep you tethered to him for the rest of your life if you don’t make room for others.”

“Don’t try to manipulate me,” Will replied softly, a faint smile ghosting his lips. “You mean if I don’t make room for you, but I already am Hannibal. I’m already offering you everything I can. And you’re right; Margot is going to keep me tethered to him forever, but that would have happened anyway. I am always going to be connected to that monster.”

“You could break free from it Will,” Hannibal almost growled. “You don’t have to carry him inside of you anymore. Don’t you see the opportunity and freedom you have?”

Will wrenched himself out of his grip, his mouth twisting and his eyes flashing with pain. “Tell me something. Do you still hold Mischa inside of you? Do you still feel connected to your mother? To your father?”

Hannibal’s jaw hardened. “It’s not the same. I loved them.”

“I loved Mason,” Will spat. “I loved him because he sank his teeth into my fucking neck. Where’s the fucking justice in that Hannibal? He made me love him.”

“The justice was when you ended his miserable, pathetic life,” Hannibal snapped. “Your feelings towards Mason were purely based on your bond. It’s dissolved Will, it’s gone. You can love and b - ”

“I can bond with someone else?” Will cut him off, his eyes blazing with heat. “I can just get on my hands and knees and let another Alpha have me? Is that going make it all better Hannibal? Will that just mean I don’t think about him anymore?”

“I have not once implied that,” Hannibal said coldly. “I merely wanted to point out that such things have been proven to help. Omegas who bond again after the death of their mates adapt better to life again compared to those who never bond again.”

“I’m not like other Omegas,” Will muttered. “Omegas don’t do what I did. They don’t carve up their mates. And who would you have me shipped off and bonded to Hannibal? You?”

Hannibal’s nostrils flared and he stepped closer to Will again. “The entire reason I find myself wanting you is because you are not like other Omegas. You’re not like anyone else Will, and it’s breathtaking. And I would not have you ‘shipped off’ and bonded to anyone. I would have you set about your life making every decision on your own; I would have you making full use of your freedom.”

Will laughed bitterly and shook his head. “You don’t want me Hannibal. I’m not the glorified version of myself you’ve created in your head for some reason. I detest who I am and it makes me sick to know I’m capable of doing that to another person.”

“Don’t presume to know what I do and do not want Will,” Hannibal warned him. “And it hurts to hear you say those words; it makes me want to put you where I stand so you can see what I do.”

Will opened his mouth to reply, but tears started to clog his vision and his throat grew too thick. Hannibal’s eyes softened and he cautiously cupped Will’s jaw again.

“Trying to hurt me will not push me away,” Hannibal murmured gently. “Trying to cast yourself in a certain light won’t make me react the way you wish I would, but I understand why you’re doing it. I’m not leaving Will.”

“And why do you think I’m doing it?” Will asked through gritted teeth, swallowing the burning, harsh lump in his throat.

“Because you cannot fathom that anyone would want you knowing what you did. What you are. But what you are, Will Graham,” Hannibal rumbled, “is astonishing. You are stronger than anyone I have ever met and I find myself completely helpless to you. Devoted to you, even if you would push me away for seeing past the lies you tell the world. I don’t care for lies Will, I don’t care for what is right or wrong. Such things do not and never will apply to you. You’re exempt from it all.”

Will shuddered. “I am terrified Hannibal. I’m terrified of the world and how I’m supposed to fit in to it.”

“You don’t have to fit in to anything, mylimasis. And if there is ever a reason that you do need to, I will carve the world to fit around you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand you,” Will laughed honestly through his salty vision and stinging mouth.

“It’s not me you’re struggling to understand,” Hannibal sighed softly. “It’s yourself. What you did, Will, I know it scares you. But you have to remember in the face of Mason’s actions, the way you killed him was not exactly unfair. It was justified and it does not repulse me or make me think differently of you at all.”

“You’ll help me?” Will asked, eyes wide and pleading.

Hannibal nodded. “I would do anything you asked me to.”

Will fell into his chest, seizing his arms around Hannibal’s warm, solid heat. “I want to thank you but it doesn’t begin to cover it.”

Hannibal hummed into his hair, inhaling Will’s vibrant scent and grinning. “You can thank me by agreeing to keep your Christmas present.”

Will nipped his throat with his teeth but remained silent, letting them sway in the cabin of the boat and breathe in their scents that were starting to smell alarmingly similar.

“Have a good Christmas Will?”

Will flinched at the closeness of the voice, turning around to see the mud-eyed Alpha that sat behind him in class. “What?”

“Just asking if you enjoyed your Christmas,” the Alpha smiled. “I’m Gregory, by the way. I realised we’ve been chatting this whole time and I never introduced myself.”

“Right,” Will replied tightly, his voice harsh.

Gregory looked at him expectantly, not moving. “So?”

“So what?” Will snapped, clutching his bag tighter. “Listen, I don’t mean to be rude but I’d rather you didn’t try and talk to me after every class has finished. I can’t hang around.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Gregory apologised, his eyes flashing. “I was only being friendly.”

“Goodbye, Gregory,” Will muttered, pushing away from the desk. Hannibal was waiting for him outside.

“You know, it’s a real pity. What happened to you,” Gregory called out behind him, nonchalant.

Will froze, but did not turn back around. “What are you talking about?”

“I was horrified when they found you at the Verger estate,” Gregory continued. “When they pulled you out of that place and stuck you in that psychiatric nut house.”

“That’s really none of your business,” Will shot back at him. “Don’t you have anything better to do than stalk people in your fucking night school classes?”

“I didn’t need to do anything to find out,” Gregory defended himself. “It was all over the news. TV, newspapers, Internet... we couldn’t get away from your face.”

“That was nearly seven months ago,” Will retorted, eyes blazing. “Surely there’s new news by now.”

“What was it like?” Gregory grinned, practically vibrating with a sly, dark energy. “Living with Mason Verger?”

“I did not live with him,” Will seethed. “And if you speak to me again I will move myself to a different set of classes. I didn’t come here to be harassed by creeps like you. Stay the fuck away from me.”

Will darted for the door, sweat prickling down his back.

“See you next week Will,” Gregory called out behind him as he vanished through the door.

Will practically threw himself into Hannibal’s car when he got outside, breath ragged.

“What’s gotten you so flustered?” Hannibal quizzed him, frowning a little. “You smell... distressed. And like another Alpha.”

“The same weird Alpha who tries to talk to me every week,” Will spat, scrubbing his hands over his face tiredly. “Can we please just go? I don’t want him to walk out and see me with you.”

“Why not?”

Will shot him a warning look but then hissed as he saw the college’s entrance doors open seconds later, Gregory’s figure appearing in the fluorescent lighting. He smiled directly at the Bentley when he saw Will. Then his eyes trailed to the driver seat and he locked eyes with Hannibal.

“I’m assuming that’s him,” Hannibal said dryly, his voice dripping with disgust.

“Yes. Now can we please just go?” Will pleaded. “He’s a fucking creep.”

Hannibal did not move for nearly a full minute, staring straight back at Gregory who had not budged an inch. Hannibal’s eyes blazed and finally Gregory’s mouth twitched up into a sneer and he slunk away to the side and through the parking lot, disappearing from view.

“Did you have to be such a typical, pissy, territorial Alpha?” Will groaned as the engine purred to life.

Hannibal shot him a look and Will dropped his eyes and shut his mouth. The drive back to Port Haven was silent. When they arrived Hannibal shut off the engine in the dark, empty parking lot, studying the soft glow of Port Haven in front of them. They didn’t move.

“I’m sorry if I upset you Will. It was insensitive of me, but I don’t like the situation.”

“He’s just a sad nobody who finds it amusing to get under my skin,” Will sighed. “He’ll get bored eventually. He’s just messing with me because he knows who I am.”

“Your story is dying down in the news Will. Why would he... I suppose it doesn’t matter. There are all sorts of strange people in the world.”

“I wish you’d driven off when I asked,” Will grumbled. “He’s probably gotten all sorts of ideas now, the way it looked.”

“The way what looked?”

“Me, getting into your car and you being... you. He probably thought you were like... like – I don’t even want to say it,” Will winced.

“You think it looked like you are engaging in a sexual relationship with me in return for the basis of my financial situation because of the very obvious age gap between us,” Hannibal offered, smirking. “I believe people use the term ‘Sugar Daddy’ to describe such a set up.”

Will glowered. “Yes. That’s what he probably thought.”

“And you’re concerned that he would do something such as try and turn it into a story to sell to the media.”

“Probably,” Will replied, tight lipped and unease settling in the oceans of his eyes. “I’m surprised he didn’t try and get a camera out and photograph us.”

“Small mercies, Will,” Hannibal chuckled. “I will park out of the way when I next pick you up.”

Will just hummed, shaking his head. He leant over and chastely kissed Hannibal’s mouth, warm and gentle on his lips before he was throwing the door open. “I’d better go. I’ll see you soon?”

“Yes. And I expect you to actually tell me if you sleep walk tonight, not lie to me like you did about the last time,” Hannibal chided him. “Goodnight Will.”

The Alpha watched Will safely encapsulate himself in Port Haven before pulling away.

Hannibal saw Will for their usual ‘conversations’ the next week. He went to the Opera; they were still all mourning Peter Rosenthal. He analysed his patients. He had Will and Alana for dinner. He had Will over his desk in his office, eyes rolling and chest heaving with moans. He waited in the shadows of Baltimore City Community College the night Alana picked Will up and watched the Alpha that sneered at his Omega. He followed him.

Hannibal thought he knew a lot about most people, but he had not expected the man to be what he was.

“Thank you for coming in today Will,” Jack announced stiffly, glancing at him wearily as if Will carried some sort of contagious disease.

Will tried his hardest not to roll his eyes at the Alpha’s not so subtle discomfort. “It’s ok. I would have come sooner if I’d known you needed a further statement from me, but I’m guessing that’s Dr. Bloom’s doing.”

Jack cracked him a surprised smile. “Yes. I’ll admit I’ve been hounding her for a while now but she refused to let me anywhere near you.”

“She thinks I’m fragile,” Will replied tiredly. “I’m not.”

Jack just glanced at him and cleared his throat, opening the door to the interview room and leading Will inside. There were two Betas sat inside, two women. The sensible charcoal grey of their suits seemed utterly boring to Will, so accustomed to plaid and paisley and rich colours. But then again, not everyone was Hannibal Lecter.

“Good afternoon Mr. Graham,” one of them smiled, standing up to offer him a handshake. “Thank you for coming in to see us. I’m Agent Janice Williams and this is Agent Miranda Kennedy.”

Will gingerly shook her hand, ending the unwanted contact as soon as he could. Jack sat down next to him, opposite to the two Betas and watched them shuffle papers and click the recording device into action.

“So, Mr. Graham,” Miranda began. “I trust you’re finding life at Port Haven comfortable?”

“More comfortable then the Verger Estate, yes,” Will replied dryly. “Please call me Will.”

“Alright Will,” Miranda corrected herself with a small smile. “As Agent Crawford has already briefed you, we’re conducting this interview to create a more detailed report on what happened to you three years ago. We’re following a lead on the Omega trafficking ring that Mason Verger bought you from and were hoping you could shine a little light on it for us.”

Will rattled off the day, time and exact location he was at when he was taken. “I’m afraid I can’t give much more detail than what I already gave when Agent Crawford took the first statement. All I remember is somebody getting up behind me and putting a rag over my mouth soaked in chloroform. I was out in an instant.”

“Was this individual male, female? Were you aware of the secondary sex?” Janice quizzed him.

“From what I could tell it was a man. Chloroform makes it a little difficult to detect what someone’s secondary sex is,” Will replied coarsely. “You know. With the smell and all.”

Jack observed in amusement that the Omega was making the two agents look stupid.

“I see,” Janice replied tersely. “And in your original statement you say that you lost consciousness and woke up again in a room, alone?”

“I don’t know how much time passed in between passing out and waking up. I hadn’t felt right all day, the day I was taken. I felt ill and feverish but I had no idea I was presenting as an Omega; I’d always thought I was a Beta. When I woke up I was tied to the bed with restraints and I was in heat.”

“And did you have any idea where you were?”

“None. The room was bare and from what I could see out of the window from the bed was just the sky. It could have been anywhere.”

“And then your captor made an entrance?”

“She was a Beta. She came in and told me I was in heat, but she never told me anything else.”

Miranda nodded. “We’ll have to get you to give a description to a forensic artist, to create a visual profile. And of anyone else you saw whilst you were there. We can arrange for that next week.”

Will shrugged. “Alright.”

“Will, can you tell us what happened whilst you were in that room?” Janice pressed him, leaning forwards.

“I went into heat. I don’t remember much of it, other than that it was excruciating. The woman brought me food and water and used to untie me every couple of hours and make me piss into a pot. Lasted about five days,” Will responded flatly, his voice harsh and eyes gleaming.

Miranda’s lips twisted into a look of distaste. “And when your heat was over?”

“She came back one day with two other men, Betas. They untied me and blindfolded me before I got out of the room and put me in the back of a van, drove for about an hour. I’m not too sure. My sense of time wasn’t too great,” Will sighed. “I was kept blind the whole time. When we got to the auction I was stripped naked and collared.”

“Was there anything else you remember? Any noises or smells? Anything to indicate where this auction was taking place?”

“Nothing,” Will replied. “All I remember was the auctioneer definitely didn’t sound like he was from Louisiana and thinking that I was a long way from home.”

“Can you tell me what happened at the auction Will?” Janice asked, scribbling notes furiously.

“I could hear voices; I don’t know how many, maybe twenty? I was led on to what I guess was a stage; I had to crawl up some stairs. It was deathly silent when they saw me. The auctioneer started bids for me at seventy thousand dollars and it kept going until Mason bought me for three hundred and fifty thousand. I got hauled off again, shoved in to another van and what I’m guessing was a few hours later, I was delivered to his house. He had me put in the bedroom he kept me in straight away and kept me blindfolded.”

“Did Mr. Verger ever talk to you of the auction or who he bought you from?”

“I asked him the day I got there what was going on. He said he’d bought me.”

“And he never brought it up again with you or shared any other information?” Janice pressed eagerly. “It’s important that you remember as much as you can Will.”

“Mason went out of his way to only speak to me when he was tormenting me Agent Williams. He never brought the auction up ever again after I asked him what was going on,” Will gritted out, hands curling in to tense fists underneath the table. “That’s the only information I can give you I’m afraid.”

“Thank you Will,” Miranda murmured. “There is another matter we need your help with. A legal matter.”

“What do you need?” Will asked cautiously.

“Everybody who knows your case knows that you suffered greatly at the Verger estate. However, in the eyes of the law, you are still viewed as Mason’s mate,” Janice began slowly, wincing. “We understand this is indelicate of the law, Will, but in order for the FBI to access an Alpha’s financial history and accounts, we’re required to obtain permission from the deceased’s mate.”

Will blinked. “You’re right. That is indelicate. It’s downright offensive to even ask me, Agent Williams, because that implies I had some sort of choice in being bonded to Mason Verger. It ignores the fact that I was a fourteen year old that was snatched off the streets and bought like cattle in an auction.”

“We know Will,” Miranda agreed. “The law is... difficult. Unfortunately it is unbending when it comes to the bond status of Alphas and Omegas, even in this circumstance. We can’t touch Mason’s finances without your permission.”

“You honestly think you’re going to find an outgoing bank transaction to a trafficking ring?” Will laughed bitterly. “I can tell you now you won’t. Mason will have been planning to buy an Omega for years; the money won’t have been sloppily thrown around with such a huge financial footprint. I’d be surprised if you found anything.”

“You sound very sure of that Will. Is there something else you know?”

“I don’t know if Mason had a dozen secret, off shores bank accounts or if he kept his money under a damn mattress. I don’t know anything about Mason’s personal life because it was not my place to know. All I can tell you is that he was manipulative and sly. He wouldn’t have been stupid enough to get caught out so easily, unless his arrogance got in the way.”

“And Margot Verger? What would she know about her brother’s involvement in the trafficking ring?”

Will lent back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. “I don’t know. Considering Margot only discovered I’d been living in the same house for three years until the night Mason died, I doubt she knew anything about the ring. You would have to ask her.”

“Don’t worry, we will. We’ve scheduled her interview for tomorrow morning,” Miranda replied, clearly tired of the Omega’s bristly attitude. “I’d like to arrange a time for you to come in next week and spend some time with our artist to create a profile of the people you saw before you were sold.”

“Whenever. It’s not as if I have a ton of plans,” Will retorted dryly.

The agents wrapped up the interview and wearily watched him leave the room, escorted by Jack. Jack ushered him up to another floor, telling him he had a phone call to make before he could take him back to Port Haven. Jack’s office reeked of stress.

The Alpha didn’t notice Will staring at the photographs on top of his folder on his desk, his deep eyes swarming over the images. He flinched when he turned around and saw Will gazing at the photos in all their grisly detail.

He snatched them up. “I’m sorry Will. I shouldn’t have left those out.”

“Crime scene photographs don’t bother me Agent Crawford. Have you found the killer yet?” Will asked, his eyes gleaming with an intensity that intrigued Jack.

“No,” Jack replied. “But we believe it’s his first kill. He – I shouldn’t be talking to you about this. Alana will kill me.”

“It’s not his first kill.”

“What?” Jack shot back, face crumpling into a frowning storm.

“May I see them again?” Will asked, hand outstretched.

Jack cautiously offered them to him, pursing his lips as the Omega’s fingers trembled as he held the photographs. His face was utterly blank, completely smooth and neutral, but his eyes moved almost as if he was having a seizure. His shoulders hunched slightly and his lips parted.

“He’s killed before. Years and years ago. He’s getting older now and he wanted to relive the experience before he got too close to his own end,” Will murmured, not looking up at meet Jack’s gawping face. “You’re looking for a much older man, most likely an Alpha. He’ll probably be widowed but have children. His son doesn’t speak to him anymore.”

“How can you possibly know all of that from looking at those photos?” Jack deadpanned, his blood rushing in his ears.

Will looked up, eyes dizzy and distant before grounding themselves and locking on to Jack. “Alana thinks I have an empathy disorder.”

“An empathy disorder?” Jack repeated bluntly. “And an empathy disorder allows you to look at a bunch of corpses and know all that?”

Will shrugged. “It’s a polite way of saying I’m on the autistic spectrum with being out right, I suppose. The killer’s lonely. He wants to reconnect, but his son is the only family he has left and he won’t communicate with him anymore. So he reached out to the only profound connection he had anymore. It made him feel less lonely, knowing that he made that connection again before he died himself.”

“I don’t... alright. I’ll keep it in mind what you said.”

“Will you let me know if you catch him? If you arrest him in his house you’ll probably find a family photograph that he modelled the murder on. He was recreating his memories,” Will informed Jack softly, trying to placate the stony Alpha.

Jack nodded tensely. “I hope you’re right about this Will.”

Will returned his nod, refusing the urge to tell him he knew he was right. He’d placed himself in the photograph after all.

Chapter Text

Gregory was the kind of Alpha who people often ignored. There was nothing particularly striking about him and he was in all aspects average. Muddy eyes, ashy blonde hair, an oddly weak scent and a textbook standard physique. Hannibal wondered if he was wasting his time following the man, but the thought of Will alone with him after their night classes had finished and the room had emptied made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and his own Alpha instincts snarl with the need to protect. Doused in scent suppressants and treading lightly, Hannibal followed him from the college to soothe that twisting feeling in his gut.

Gregory left the college on foot, as Hannibal had watched him do the first night he’d seen him. He kept well back, noting he felt rather like a ghost at his lack of presence. He was silent, scentless and barely even felt his breath entering and leaving his body. Gregory practically twitched as he walked, nervously looking about every minute or so to look around him. Hannibal knew he hadn’t noticed he was being followed; he would have turned around and confronted Hannibal by now if he knew. Perhaps he was just naturally predisposed to nervousness, and the smarmy attitude he exuded in front of Will was purely for show. Whatever the case was, Hannibal found it amusing to see him so on edge.

Gregory had led them to one of Baltimore’s leafy, gated communities. Large, sprawling properties with picture perfect lawns and expensive cars lined the streets, gated security alarms and security cameras nestled into corners. Hannibal nearly rolled his eyes and sighed.

He managed to slip behind Gregory just as the security gates were closing to the drive of one of the houses. Gregory slipped through another gate, this one open this time, and around the back of the house. Hannibal kept to the shadows, gritting his teeth. Gregory opened a door at the side of the house before they reached the back garden, oblivious to Hannibal’s presence. Hannibal smoothly slid forwards and caught the door just before it clicked closed behind the other Alpha. He shut it softly but then slowly, carefully, opened it again, grateful the wood did not creak and the hinges didn’t wail. He peered through the small gap he kept the door open at, observing a set of stairs that twisted down and to the right, bright fluorescent lights gleaming on the smooth stone walls.

Hannibal waited, his ears twitching.

“Hey Gregory,” a faint, male voice murmured from below. “You’re back early.”

There was a soft sob from the basement, so clearly and painfully Omegan. Hannibal heard a sharp crack of skin on skin, his spine rigid.

“Shut up,” the second voice hissed. “I’m sick of your whining shit. I wasn’t lying when I said I’d cut you open and take your vocal cords.”

A soft laugh. “She’s still learning Gabriel. You know they take a few weeks to break in.”

“A few too many weeks if you ask me,” the other, Gabriel muttered. “I suppose it’s my own fault though. Not dipping in to your own stash and all that.”

“You would be an awful drug dealer,” Gregory chuckled.

A soft hum in acknowledgement. “How’d it go tonight?”

“The same. He ran before I could spend more than three minutes with him.”

“We should swap. You’re not getting anywhere with him and at least I know how to interact with Omegas. Fuck with their empty little air heads and get them to trust you,” Gabriel scorned him. “You were always better at finances anyway Gregory. You know I’m better with the people side of this.”

Gregory scoffed. “You like to think you’re better with people than I am, but you’re just good at smooth talking our customers into buying from us.”

“I’m not good at it. I’m exceptional,” Gabriel corrected. “Think about it anyway. You drop the pretence and let me go to these fucking night classes instead.”

“I think there would be a better way.”

A soft whimper again and a growl. “I swear to God, you little bitch - ”

“Gabriel, shut up. Listen. I have an idea for Christ’s sake,” Gregory snapped. “I think it’ll be good.”

“And what would that be, huh? I’m getting tired of your ideas. Unless you’re going to suggest we finally just take him like I’ve been saying for weeks - ”

“You could get in to the psychiatric facility. Pretend to be one of the nurses or orderlies. Maybe even a doctor; that means you’d get one on one therapy with him.”

“That Port Haven place?” Gabriel queried. “Seems like a lot of effort to go to just for one unruly Omega.”

“He’s talking to the FBI Gabriel.”

“I know, I was the one who had him followed, Jesus. The whole reason you’re going to these night classes is to get close but not too close; showing up at Port Haven to work there is pretty fucking close Gregory.”

“It would be perfect,” the Alpha insisted. “I could quit going to these night classes and you could get in such close proximity with him, he’d practically be handing himself up on a platter.”

“The reason I’m even bothered about getting him back is policy, remember? If it wasn’t a guarantee that we obtain all Omegas back if the buyer dies then I wouldn’t give a shit if he was living next door or dead. We have a reputation, Gregory, but I’m not going to suddenly drop huge chunks of my time for just one specific Omega.”

“Then we’ll have someone else go in.”

“We already have all of our men out getting us fresh stock around the clock. We can’t just put them on new jobs; the ones they already have are too important.”

“Then we’ll hire more!”

“Absolutely not! We have enough men as it is, you know that! Anymore and it’ll cause suspicion. You think with that fucking Graham’s case out that there aren’t going to be undercover cops trying to infiltrate us? We take on any more men and we run the risk of new staff being FBI. I won’t risk it.”

“Then what do you suggest, Gabriel? You won’t divert any of our men to get in to Port Haven and you won’t employ new ones in case they’re FBI. You won’t go in yourself and going to these night classes is pointless. Where does that leave us? We look like fucking idiots. Our sales are dropping because people are laughing at us and they think we’re unreliable Gabriel! Graham’s been floating around like the fucking fairy he is for six months now and we still haven’t got him back!”

“Then do something,” Gabriel snarled. “Maybe if you stopped stalling and just took him - ”

“Oh, because you’d know I get so many chances? You haven’t bothered to try and help once to get him back! He’s out that fucking door the minute the class had ended and straight in to a car!”

“We could always have her picked off, the Beta. Alana, isn’t it? Make it look like a wreck on the drive over to pick him up and whilst he’s waiting for her to come get him, take him.”

“It’d have to be an outside job. Can’t get any of our men to do it,” Gregory grunted.

“I don’t like dealing with hit men. They overcharge.”

“Well you’d better learn to like it or our only other option is to get you under a fake job at Port Haven. It wouldn’t even take that long. A month, at the most. Get you a few random night shifts so that you get the feel of the place, get to know how the security works. Then you can trip the security cameras and I’ll take him.”

“I still don’t see why we can’t take the cameras down now and just take him,” Gabriel sighed in frustration. “Just cut the cables and make it look like a random power cut. That way we’re in and out in one night and no one ever saw our faces. Well... other than Graham.”

There was a brief pause, heavy with looming silence. Hannibal gripped the door handle through his gloves.

“Someone else has seen me.”

“What?”

“There was an Alpha that came and got him the other week. He looked me dead in the eye.”

“Who was he?”

“How the fuck should I know?” Gregory spat.

“Because it’s our job to know things! We have to know every detail about Graham if we want to get him back,” Gabriel snapped. “Find out who he is. I don’t want to make a move until we know he won’t be trouble.”

“I think he’s fucking him.”

“You’re sure?” Gabriel pressed, his voice strained. “That changes the whole way we have to go about this.”

“I’m pretty sure.”

There was a soft scoff. “Maybe we could offer him a discount when we sell Graham on again.”

“We’re going to have to sell him on for next to nothing anyway,” Gregory sneered. “Used goods barely bring in any money. The only selling point we’ve got is that he’s definitely fertile; we’ll just have to hope there’s some bastard out there with a breeding kink.”

“Hmm,” Gabriel agreed. “If he reaches six months and doesn’t sell I’m just going to get rid of him. I’ll sell him to someone who just wants to cut him up.”

“I still don’t get why you sell to those clients. They’re bad news when they’re sloppy with the way they kill them. Remember that one who killed her Omega and then confessed to the police she’d bought him from us?”

“Yes. Of course I remember; I had her shanked in her holding cell before she could make it to her trial.”

“Listen,” Gregory sighed. “I want you to go in to Port Haven. A month, Gabriel, that’s all. A month and then we can haul him out, sell him on and forget he exists. I’m sick of losing sleep over the stupid fucking whore.”

“Alright,” Gabriel grunted. “Alright, I’ll do it. But just for the month and then I’m out of there. Understand?”

“Perfect,” Gregory agreed smoothly. “What’s the name of that lawyer you started using again? McKinley? I’ll have him draft you up a fake diploma and resume. We’ll get him back in no time, I promise.”

Hannibal withdrew from the door an inch, carefully shutting the door in silence again.

He’d followed Gregory thinking it would all prove rather fruitless. How mistaken he’d been.

“How was your interview with the FBI? I meant to ring you on the day and ask but found myself sidetracked,” Hannibal asked from the arm chair opposite him.

They were in Hannibal’s living room and Will was curled into a corner of the sofa, staring in to the fireplace Hannibal had just lit. Hannibal had chosen to sit and watch the Omega from the arm chair facing him, sketchpad resting on his knee as he softly sketched Will, pencil ghosting over paper as he shaded the dramatic shadows on Will’s face in the rich darkness of his living room.

“They want me to go and give a description to a forensic artist of the woman I saw when I was first taken.”

“The one that kept you in that room whilst you endured your first heat?” Hannibal asked, his voice tight.

“That’s the one,” Will sighed. “They want me to give descriptions of the men that took me to the auction as well.”

“Do you remember their faces very well?” Hannibal quizzed him, musing that he could probably sketch them now whilst Will described them.

“Not really.”

Hannibal glanced up, frowning at Will’s vacant voice and his blunt answers. “Is something the matter Will?”

“No,” he croaked. “I’m fine.”

Hannibal closed his sketchbook, setting it down with the pencil on the small table besides the arm chair. He rose to his feet, wishing Will would look at him. He reached the sofa and carefully sat down next to Will, nudging his legs out from his foetal position and pulling one of his feet into his lap. He stared at Will’s blank, empty face as he slipped his socks off and began to gently rub his foot, smoothing his thumb along the abductor hallucis muscle.

“I beg to differ,” Hannibal murmured. “You look as if you are entirely somewhere else.”

Will remained silent, still staring blankly in to the fire.

It made Hannibal’s mind twinge with worry at the sight. He had not seen Will like this in a while; he’d been like this when he first met him, of course. Silent and staring and empty and cold. It had only spurred Hannibal’s determination on further, relentless in his task of slowly deconstructing Will’s fortresses and stripping him back to the raw fleshy parts of his soul, vulnerable and perfect for Hannibal to settle himself in to and blossom inside of Will’s mind.

“How have you been sleeping Will?”

“I’ve not, really.”

“More sleep walking?”

“I keep waking up not knowing where I am. Who I am,” Will whispered. “I heard the others talking about me. At breakfast, yesterday. The Omega in the room next to me was telling all the others that she could hear me screaming all night.”

“Mason is still a recurring character in your nightmares.”

Will drew in a deep, shuddering breath and finally rolled his eyes over in his head to look at Hannibal, his voice startlingly blank. “I’ve been having the same nightmare since Christmas Day.”

“Do you wish to discuss it?” Hannibal offered gently, rolling his thumb over the metatarsal bone of Will’s big toe. “I am more than happy to listen. I get the impression it’s going to keep causing you disturbed sleep otherwise.”

“It’s Christmas Day in my dream,” Will began, reverting his gaze back to the fire. “I’m back at Muskrat Farm, in the room Mason kept me in. My dad’s there. He starts looking in the crib by my bed and it’s filled with Bayou water and ash and I’m about seven months pregnant again. He says he would’ve taught Jasper to fish and I tell him I’m sorry. He takes me downstairs and... and you’re there.”

“And what am I doing?”

“You’re in the kitchen. All four of you.”

“All four of us?”

“Mason’s body is lying on the counter and you’re slicing cuts of meat off of him for Christmas dinner. Our children are sat at the table waiting.”

Hannibal’s hands still on his foot.

“My dad sits down with me at table and he’s grinning, he’s grinning so much and he looks just like he used to and he says how happy he is to be with his family on Christmas Day. Then I start screaming and I wake up. I woke up slamming my head against my bathroom sink this morning.”

Hannibal’s hands immediately dart to his hair, feeling for lumps or lacerations. Will grabs his wrists.

“I’m fine.”

“Will, if you are beginning to harm yourself whilst you sleep walk, Alana will have no choice but to sedate you at night,” Hannibal fussed, his face crinkled into a worried frown.

“I’m hoping I’ll stop having the dream and I’ll stop sleepwalking,” Will sighed, sweeping his thumb over the pulse in Hannibal’s wrists. “I just... I don’t know what it means.”

“Your mind is mostly likely combining all the trauma you’ve experienced and mingling it into one horrific dream,” Hannibal told him, withdrawing his hands to start rubbing Will’s feet again. “You imagine me serving up Mason because it is similar to the method in which you mutilated him before you killed him and the children are most likely your body’s way of desperately trying to salvage something from all of the miscarriages. They might have been what your children looked like had you not lost them.”

“They weren’t Mason’s children,” Will croaked. “They were yours. Ours. They looked so much like you.”

“Then perhaps it was your subconscious telling you who you would rather have fathered those children.”

“Maybe. But I would have had seven children with Mason if they hadn’t died,” Will mumbled, blushing deeply. “I didn’t feel like I recognised them. I would have known in my dream if they were the children I lost. I would have felt them, I... it sounds strange but I just would have known them. They were... different. I knew they were mine but I couldn’t quite feel them yet. Like they were a distant island I was sailing towards.”

“It is completely natural for you to have dreams of that nature,” Hannibal soothed him. “Your body and the trauma that lies in your subconscious are at war with one another.”

“It didn’t feel like war,” Will confessed softly, staring at the fireplace. “I wanted them.”

“You long to have back what was taken from you,” Hannibal murmured. “Jasper has left a hole in your life that your mind is trying to fill.”

“It felt more like a premonition,” Will said quietly, frowning at the flames. “It felt like I was looking forwards. Even though my dad was there, everything else seemed... I don’t know. Like a promise.”

“Have you been thinking about having children again at some point in the future?” Hannibal asked, kneading his fingers up Will’s flexor digitorum brevis.

Will tensed. “No. I think about the children I’ve lost.”

“What was it like, being pregnant?” Hannibal asked carefully.

“It was terrifying,” Will responded. “I was too young, my body... I might have been fertile but my body still hadn’t developed enough. I think that’s why I didn’t get pregnant the first few heats. Then when I finally did start getting pregnant, I miscarried a lot of the time. I didn’t get the chance to come to terms with the fact that there was a whole other person growing inside of me. I’d spend the first few weeks in shock and at that point I usually miscarried before I could start to accept it.”

“What was it like with Jasper?”

“The same,” Will muttered, pushing his hair back from his face. “I was terrified. But then when I didn’t miscarry, I just felt dread. I was horrified that it was actually going to happen when I carried him for two months and still nothing happened. I just kept waiting, waiting every day for it to end. When it became clear that it wouldn’t, I couldn’t help but think about him. Think that he was going to be the only thing that made life bearable. I started to think that having him would give me hope and before I knew it, I was in love for the very first time.”

“It must be beautiful thing to love so purely and deeply,” Hannibal mused. “A love like no other.”

“It was overwhelming. I didn’t know I would ever feel like that; that I would ever feel anything other than despair ever again. But I lost him, just like all the others.”

Hannibal opened his mouth to disagree, to tell Will that no, Jasper had been taken from him, but Will turned his head and looked at Hannibal so intensely it made his mouth snap shut.

“You never talk about children,” Will stated. “Don’t you want them?”

“I never discuss them because I know that it is best for you to approach the subject, rather than having it thrown around so lightly as if one was discussing the weather. I would not be so insensitive Will.”

“I hate myself for it, but sometimes I think about us. Being a family,” Will confided in him, nearly flinching at his own words. “I know it’s ridiculous.”

Hannibal cocked his head to the side. “Ridiculous?”

“Yes,” Will swallowed. “I don’t get the impression you have any desire to have kids. Of course you wouldn’t want them with me, even if you did. And the thought of me having children again is just... you know what I mean.”

“I never allowed myself the time for a mate and a family when I was younger. I attached myself to the idea that I am simply the end of my line,” Hannibal answered truthfully. “And you do not know what your future holds Will. Don’t resign yourself to certainties.”

“I’ve resigned myself to you being a certainty in my future.”

“And you think there is a possibility you would one day want a family with me?”

“You said yourself I don’t know what my future holds.”

“I fully intend on being part of your future Will,” Hannibal assured him, taking his hands in his and kissing his knuckles softly. “And if children were added to that equation then I would go to any length to ensure we were a happy, flourishing family.”

Will’s cheeks tinged pink, his eyes falling to his lap. “I sometimes struggle with the fact that I’m so happy to have you, when it’s so soon after Mason. I feel like I shouldn’t be with you sometimes.”

“Do you feel guilt for the fact you are engaging in a relationship with me? Do you feel you should be the way you were when you first arrived at Port Haven?”

“Sometimes,” Will mumbled. “Sometimes I step back and wonder how I’m managing to do this with you. I feel like I should be flinching at the slightest touch, never mind wanting and enjoying having sex with you.”

Hannibal was about to reply when the shrill blaring of Will’s cell phone ringing cut him off. Will’s eyes went wide and his hands trembled more than usual as he pulled the phone from his pocket, being very careful not to let Hannibal see the caller ID on the lit up screen. Will stared at the phone, not moving to answer.

“Answer it Will,” Hannibal growled, knowing it could only either be Margot or Thomas.

Judging by Will’s sudden nervousness it was Thomas. The Alpha within Hannibal paced back and forth, guttural snarls forming in his chest.

Hannibal squeezed his ankle when Will looked at him in horror. “Will. Please answer the phone.”

He did, just before it rang out. “Hello?”

Hannibal’s acute sense of hearing picked out the lower pitch of a male Alpha’s voice, sighing internally.

“I can’t really talk right now,” Will responded, eyes glued to Hannibal and his voice shaking. “I need to go.”

Hannibal sent him a disapproving look.

Will swallowed. “I... yes. I am. It’s none of your business though.”

The soft pitch of the voice on the end of the line grew a little heated and Hannibal resisted the urge to smirk.

“I already said no,” Will hissed softly at something Thomas had said, gritting his teeth. “Look, I really need to go.”

The voice grew more aggressive. Hannibal’s lip curled up at the thought of the other Alpha getting frustrated at Will, knowing that even though Thomas seemed like he wouldn’t hurt a fly, his instincts screamed at him to intervene and protect the Omega.

So he did.

He held his hand out for the phone and to his amazement Will handed it to him within a heartbeat, looking almost relieved.

“Good evening,” Hannibal murmured.

“Are you serious?” Thomas spat down the phone. “Do you control his phone calls now as well?”

“No. I don’t,” Hannibal answered simply, gaze trailing over Will’s face as his eyes slipped shut and he tipped his head back, baring the pale expanse of his throat that Hannibal ached to bruise.

“Taking people’s phones off of them in the middle of a call seems like extremely controlling behaviour, Dr. Lecter,” Thomas growled, his name sounding like acid in his mouth. “Put me back on to Will.”

“Why?” Hannibal mused gently, finding Thomas’ outrage rather entertaining. “What do you want?”

“I want to speak to him. Obviously,” Thomas deadpanned.

“May I ask what the nature of the conversation is about?” Hannibal pressed him, eyes still glued on Will’s startlingly statue-still form. “Are you calling to declare your undying love for William? I’m afraid he’s already taken.”

“Stop playing your sad little games,” Thomas snarled. “Put Will back on.”

“Will does not want to talk to you,” Hannibal replied smoothly. “I fear you may find yourself being reported for harassment if these unnecessary phone calls and text messages continue.”

“I’d rather you came and dealt with me yourself,” Thomas sneered. “Or are you just half heartedly courting Will? If you were doing it properly you would have come after me by now.”

“Oh, I assure you. I am doing everything properly when it comes to Will,” Hannibal growled, delighting in the shudder than ran through Will’s body. “Please do not attempt to contact Will again or I will take you up on the offer of dealing with you myself. I’ll be advising Will to block your number anyway after this call.”

“He’s not yours to control!” Thomas exclaimed, the panic in his voice evident. “I just want what’s best - ”

Hannibal ended the call before Thomas could go any further. Will finally opened his eyes and looked at him.

“I’ll block him,” Will rasped, eyes swimming with fear. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologising for?”

“You clearly know who Thomas is. I’m not sure I want to know how you know who he is, but I’m sorry I kept his number. I’m sorry he kept getting in touch with me.”

“You can’t be held responsible for another’s actions Will. Even if you ignored his texts and calls that wouldn’t have stopped him from getting in touch with you.”

Will regarded him for a moment, his eyes dark. “I thought you would be angry.”

“Oh, I am,” Hannibal responded airily. “I am beyond furious with him, though. Not you, mylimasis.”

“I could have deleted his number and blocked him. I didn’t.”

“No, you did not. But I’m not angry at you, like I said,” Hannibal soothed him, leaning forwards to draw himself closer to the Omega. “I just wish you had told me.”

“How did you find out?” Will breathed, watching Hannibal’s predatory body slink closer to his.

“He calls you and texts you a lot. I was bound to see his name at some point come up on your phone, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out who he is.”

Will shifted to allow Hannibal to settle between his legs, heart thumping. Strong, large hands settled to cup his face and Will sighed in satisfaction at the comforting sensation of lips brushing against the exposed skin over his clavicle. He curled his fingers in Hannibal’s own hair, biting his lip when Hannibal drew back to look him in the face.

“Nothing has happened with him, other than the heat clinic,” Will whispered.

“Are you mine, Will?” Hannibal asked softly. There was no maliciousness or cunning behind the question. Just openness twinged with a forlorn expression, seeking honesty.

“I... what do you mean?” Will stuttered, frowning.

“I mean quite simply that; are you mine?” Hannibal repeated. “Do you wish to have me, and only me, comfort you? Do you wish me to be the only one who shares moments like this with you? Do you want to share my bed, a seat at my table, a place in my heart?”

Will stared, mouth falling open softly.

“I do not share, Will. If you truly, honestly want this then I insist on exclusivity. I won’t hold you whilst I know there is even the slightest chance you may be held by another. I won’t offer you anything more if I know you harbour feelings for someone else,” Hannibal continued, pressing a soft kiss to Will’s Adam’s apple. “I won’t lie and say I am not selfish, but it seems I have always been selfish when it comes to you. I want your mind and your heart and soul completely, utterly to myself. Do I have it, Will?”

“You always have, Hannibal,” Will replied breathily. “I have always been yours.”

“I promised to protect you,” Hannibal purred, pressing their bodies closer together. “I don’t break promises. Let me look after you, darling.”

Will just nodded and handed Hannibal the phone. “Delete his number. Block him. I don’t care.”

“Later,” Hannibal murmured, nudging the phone aside. “He can wait. I can’t.”

Will groaned softly into the kiss the minute Hannibal’s lips pressed against his, dark and sweet and tasting like the honey and soy that had coated the ribs Hannibal had fed him that evening. Will’s hands tightened in Hannibal’s hair, venturing further into the kiss with deeper movements, running his tongue along the Alpha’s, squirming at the tight hold he had on his waist. Will felt like there was a beehive swarming behind his navel, buzzing with a swarm of insects. Hannibal rolled his hips and Will sighed into the kiss, gripping Hannibal’s hair harder in encouragement.

Will always found himself amazed at the speed in which the doctor could remove both of their clothing. Will shuddered as his warm, dry palms skimmed over his naked shoulders and sides, the fire swirling and crackling behind them in the fire place. Will fancied that this was probably akin to a cheesy romance movie. Slow, tender sex on the sofa with a roaring fireplace in the back drop. How cliché of them.

Will wasn’t expecting to be so swiftly manoeuvred, but the next thing he knew, Hannibal had rolled them to switch positions. Will found himself straddling his lap, Hannibal underneath him and gazing up at him adoringly.

“I want to watch you, like this,” Hannibal breathed a little raggedly, eyes shining. “I want to see you take your pleasure.”
Will bit down the groan at Hannibal’s words, steadying himself by placing his hands against Hannibal’s shoulders. “I’ve never... not in this position before.”

Hannibal stretched a hand up, twining his fingers through Will’s curls and brushing his cheek with his long, dextrous thumb. “It’s alright. I’ll guide you, but I’m certain you’ll find your way. You are remarkable in all aspects, after all.”

Will’s thighs were sticky with slick. “I want you to watch me use my fingers first.”

Hannibal snarled. “Yes. Show me, Will, now.”

Will slowly turned his body away from Hannibal, shifting in his lap so he twisted around with his back to him and faced away. He knelt forwards a little, bracing one hand on the arm of the sofa and stretching the other around as best he could. Hannibal rumbled at the first hesitant flutter of a finger against his entrance.

“Push it in, slowly,” Hannibal instructed him, hands digging in to Will’s thighs so hard it would bruise. “That’s it, slowly. A little more Will.”

Will whined, the first digit slipping easily past the ring of muscle into hot, wet heat. “Do you like how it looks?”

Nails clawed into his thighs. “I adore it. I adore you.”

Will bit his lip as he wiggled his finger further into his body, sighing softly at the ache in his arm from stretching around. He cautiously pushed his finger in and out in slow, repetitive strokes whilst slick dribbled downwards out of him and dripped onto Hannibal.

“Push your middle finger in now too,” Hannibal rasped, voice oozing with pleasure. “Gently, not too fast.”

Will obeyed, his second finger creeping in to join his index and he moaned lowly at the extra weight and pressure. “A third?”

“Find your prostate first,” Hannibal commanded him. “I want to watch you make yourself squirm, force yourself to get oversensitive before I have you.”

Will’s breath stuttered and his fingers sank deeper, exploring the cavity of his insides as he searched for the small, rounded nub. He felt Hannibal sit up behind him and run his things through the slick soaking Will’s thighs. He shivered as the Alpha gathered the viscous liquid and teasingly moved his hands to his chest, jerking forwards in surprise with a gasp when he rubbed slick sweetened fingers against his nipples.

“Oh,” Will softly gasped out, a wave of almost unbearable pleasure rolling through him. “That’s... that feels good.”

Hannibal hummed behind him, a hot burning heat. “Have you found your prostate yet Will? Concentrate.”

Will’s fingers probed further and he brushed against it, freezing as his eyes rolled slightly in his head at the sensation. “There.”

“Good boy,” Hannibal crooned, rolling his nipple between his fingers. “Circle it slowly, around the edges.”

Will did. He nearly cried.

“Just like that,” Hannibal sighed softly. “Keep going. Does it feel good Will?”

“Y-yes,” he stuttered, panting. “Not as good as you though.”

Hannibal smirked, tweaking his left nipple. “You respond so exquisitely when I play with you mylimasis. It’s wonderful.”

“Hannibal, I need more,” Will whined, face scrunching up.

“Another finger,” Hannibal soothed him. “Then you have can my knot, darling. Then you can take all you need from me.”

Will sobbed against the arm of the chair, eagerly pushing a third finger in with the other two. “Thank you.”

Hannibal watched in wonder as Will dragged his fingers in and out of his body, squelching with copious amounts of slick whilst he rubbed against his prostate and shivered. He’d never seen such a captivating sight before. He grinned when Will cried at the sharp pinch of his nipples followed by soothing circles rubbed against the hard, peaking mounds of flesh.

“Hannibal, please,” Will whimpered. “I’m ready.”

He pressed a kiss to the base of Will’s spine and leant back against the sofa, smiling lazily in amusement at the way Will hastily clambered back around to face him, the fire throwing beautiful shadows up his pale, naked form. He clasped a hand around Will’s right hip and squeezed his left thigh with the other, humming as Will rose up to position himself over Hannibal’s straining, weeping erection whilst he hitched his own knees up slightly to bring the soles of his feet flat against the sofa.

“That’s it darling,” Hannibal breathed out as Will’s hand wrapped around the hot flesh of his member and he began to sink down.

He easily breached the Omega, his body welcoming Hannibal in the way his lungs welcomed each breath of air. He slipped inside, a moan escaping his gleaming lips as Will rocked down slowly, taking inch after inch of him.

“So good,” Will murmured, eyes slipping shut as his head fell back. He sank further and further until his ass was flush against Hannibal’s groin and he’d swallowed his erection whole.

“Is that better? Now you’re full and stretched out?” Hannibal purred, eyes darting over every inch of his body. “You look divine Will.”

He thrust ever so lightly upwards into Will, settling his hands around the Omega’s sharp waist. He pulsed around his erection, trembling and open mouthed as he braced his hands against Hannibal’s chest, scraping his nails through the hair scattered over his pectoral muscles. Will didn’t need any encouragement to begin manoeuvring himself steadily up and down over Hannibal’s cock, his pale thighs clenching with each movement. Hannibal met him every time he bore his hips down, pushing upwards further into the wet heat that enveloped him. He watched in fascination as beads of sweat rolled down Will’s neck and his chest, the shadows from the fire and the dim lighting from the lamps scattered around the room making him look virtually glistening.

“Hannibal,” Will shakily breathed out, head falling back as he rode him. “Feels so good like this, I...”

“Ssh,” Hannibal soothed him, gripping him harder around the waist and thrusting up harder. “I’ve got you.”

A whine emitted from the back of Will’s throat and his upper teeth clamped down on his bottom lip, plush and firm, looking as if he was sinking his canines in on a segment of fleshy blood orange. Hannibal guided him, the extensor carpi ulnaris muscles of his forearms flexing and straining underneath his skin as he dragged and pushed Will up and down his cock. The sweetest noises were pouring from Will’s mouth, soft lilting moans and gasps that made his stomach tie itself in knots and his chest vibrate with purrs and growls of satisfaction.

Will bore down heavily, grinding their pelvises together whilst Hannibal’s hands slipped around the back of him and to his cheeks, grabbing handfuls of flesh and squeezing the firm, white globes. Hannibal grunted in surprise as Will rolled his hips, lip curling back from feral pleasure at the way the Omega worked his cock with his body whilst his chest heaved with dense pants.

“Want to feel your knot Hannibal,” Will whispered, eyelids barely open they were so hazy and heavy from pleasure. “Please, I - shit, you feel so - ”

“Make me,” Hannibal snarled. “Make me give it to you Will, take it.”

Will shuddered and his hips rolled in a circular motion once more against Hannibal, ass clenching and encouraging his knot to inflate as he moved faster, sliding himself up and down over his erection desperately. It was maddening, feeling Will move so frantically but it still not being quite enough.

Until Will leant forwards and buried his face against Hannibal’s neck and bit down on his shoulder like a wild beast. Hannibal hissed, eyes rolling back and bucking up into Will hard enough to make him cry out and grow rigid as his own orgasm built, Hannibal’s knot swelling and pushing eagerly past the tight ring of muscle at Will’s entrance. Will’s body hungrily swallowed it, locking them in place and contracting around him to milk his orgasm. Will sobbed through his teeth into Hannibal’s neck as he encircled his erection; a couple of fevered strokes and Will was coming against the Alpha’s stomach and chest as he quivered.

They sank against each other, chests heaving and hands trembling.

“You’re amazing,” Hannibal whispered into his hair, arms locking around Will’s deflated form and holding him tight.

“I feel like I don’t have any bones in my body,” Will mumbled against his throat, fingers gliding up to inspect the bite on his shoulder. “I bit you.”

“You did,” Hannibal breathed. “It was wonderful.”

“I... I’m sorry,” Will blushed. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Biting me is not something you should be apologising for. I practically encourage it.”

“I just... I don’t know. I always thought it was something that Alphas should do rather than Omegas.”

“A rather outdated and quite frankly idiotic prejudice,” Hannibal smiled, stroking Will’s hair back from his face. “In fact bonded pairs are proven to be much happier and have a stronger bond when both partners have mating bites.”

“But Alphas don’t have mating glands that activates bonds?” Will frowned, hand fluttering up to touch the back of his own neck where Mason had bitten him.

“We do,” Hannibal smiled again. “It was just never made common knowledge because the ridiculous patriarchal system within our world decided it would be belittling for Alphas to be bitten back.”

“Where?” Will demanded, eyes gleaming.

Hannibal collected Will’s fingers in his hand and pressed them against the front of his neck, just above the hollow of his throat under the thyroid cartilage of his larynx. Will’s fingers pressed down curiously and Hannibal let out a soft sigh, grinning.

“I think the concept is beautiful,” Hannibal murmured, heart sinking as he began to feel his knot deflate. “Shared, equal ownership of each other. Which really isn’t ownership at all, but a union.”

“Would you... if you were bonded?”

“Of course I would. I could not think of anything more fulfilling than having a mate bite me back and create an even stronger bond.”

Will hummed thoughtfully, fingers lingering against Hannibal’s throat. “I don’t feel him anymore.”

“Do you think Mason’s bond has fully dissolved?”

“He’s still... there in a sense. Kind of like faint whisper every now and then. But I don’t feel him like I used to. He’s still in my dreams but I think the last threads keeping our bond together have snapped. Dissolved.”

“How does it feel?”

Will crouched forwards and slipped free from Hannibal, shifting to curl himself against his side with a thoughtful frown. “It doesn’t feel like I thought it would.”

“What did you expect it to feel like?” Hannibal queried, burying his nose in the Omega’s curls.

“Like I was free, weightless. Happy, maybe,” Will sighed. “I just feel lost and more alone. I feel like I need to replace, like my body is screaming at me that this is wrong and I need to be bonded again.”

“A perfectly normal bodily reaction,” Hannibal commented. “The majority of Omegas who lose a mate experience the need to bond again.”

Will simply buried his face into Hannibal’s chest once again.

IwantyouIwantyouIwantyou, bitemebondmebondme - Stop.

Will drew in a shuddering breath and shut his eyes. It was too much, too soon and Will cursed the universe as his brain forced him to recall the memory of Mason holding their son’s blue, dead body in his arms. Too much, too soon.

But, perhaps, soon.

Chapter Text

Jack’s thumb hovered over Alana’s name, hesitating. His cell phone seemed too heavy in his hands. He was exhausted but that was nothing new to him.

He pressed call.

“Hey Jack,” Alana answered cheerfully. “Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year,” Jack parroted, squeezing his eyes shut. “Any plans for tonight?”

“We’re having a small party of sorts at Port Haven for the patients,” Alana replied, the smile in her voice evident. “I was going to try and arrange for some fireworks, but loud noises aren’t the best for trauma patients. So just a dinner party and a later bedtime than usual.”

“Sounds more exciting than my New Year’s Eve at any rate,” Jack chuckled. “Listen Alana, I’m ringing because there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Sure,” Alana replied smoothly. “How can I help Jack?”

“When Will came to Quantico for his interview with the organised crime agents,” Jack began carefully, “I had to go up to my office before we left to grab some files.”

“Ok,” she replied carefully. “Did something happen?”

Jack paused, drumming his fingers against his desk. “I left some crime scene photos out on my desk. Will saw them.”

“Jack,” Alana scolded. “Was he ok? He didn’t react badly to them did he?”

“No, no,” Jack assured her. “He just... he looked at them and profiled the killer. To near perfection.”

“What?”

“He told me you have a polite term for saying he’s on the autistic spectrum,” he answered dryly. “I believe you call it an empathy disorder?”

“It’s the only way I can summarise it,” Alana defended. “Will has an astounding capacity for empathy. He can read people like some kind of damn psychic.”

“I went out on a limb and took his advice. We changed our approach and within days we got a new lead. We arrested him this morning,” Jack told her. “He was just what Will told us he would be. Older Alpha male, divorced and his only son didn’t speak to him anymore. Will even told us we’d find a family photograph in his home similar to the murder scene he constructed. There was a photo of his family at some birthday party; he’d gone out of the way to dress his victims in the same party hats and balloons.”

“That is...”

“Incredible?” Jack finished for her, tight lipped. “How can he possibly have that much insight?”

“It’s like he almost steps inside of your mind,” Alana admitted. “It can be... unnerving, how accurate he is about people. I have a theory that it’s a result of a mutation of natural Omegan sensitivity to others.”

“A mutation? A pretty huge mutation if you ask me,” Jack muttered incredulously. “I know Omegas are sensitive to emotions and mood and atmosphere, but this... this is something else Alana.”

“He has a gift,” Alana stated simply. “And I know where you’re going with this Jack.”

“And where exactly would that be, Dr. Bloom?” Jack asked sourly.

“You are not involving my patient in any crime scenes. No investigations, no lab reports, no autopsies. Do not even discuss your work with Will,” Alana snapped. “It’s out of the question.”

“Will is not as delicate as you think,” Jack insisted. “He’s gifted Alana. Do you know what an asset he would be to the FBI? He could go to the training academy and be profiling within no time, he’s -”

“He’s a fragile, traumatised boy,” Alana cut him off. “Will could not survive in that environment Jack. He hasn’t even experienced the world yet, how could you expect him to throw himself into yours?”

“Will’s world and mine are more similar than yours Alana,” Jack disagreed. “We both know how dark the world can be; and he survived Mason Verger for three years. You really think he wouldn’t cope working for the FBI? He would excel.”

“He already is excelling Jack. He doesn’t need to be placed back in an environment where he has to face death and pain.”

“I don’t think you understand how perfect for this job he is.”

“He’s not a tool. He’s seventeen and a psych patient under my care. If I even suspect that you’re grooming him, I’ll - ”

“He’s going to start making his own choices soon Alana,” Jack sighed, interrupting her. “Or are you going to tell him what to do with his future?”

“It’s a no, Jack, and it’s final. Don’t ask me again.”

The line went dead and Jack gritted his teeth. He’d let Alana be angry at him for the rest of their lives if it meant he got Will Graham on his team, and Jack had always prided himself on his resourcefulness. He’d make it happen.

Will continued with his night classes. Gregory’s presence disappeared and he didn’t see the Alpha again. He had therapy with Alana. He had dinner with Hannibal. They went to a museum and Will gazed adoringly at him whilst the Alpha talked about classical sculpture methods and then gave him a blowjob in his Bentley afterwards. He had meetings with social services and the Omega Psychiatric Institute of Baltimore. They evaluated him and declared him fit to leave Port Haven after two more months of care there. His eighteenth birthday approached. The sleepwalking became less frequent.

Hannibal watched from Alana’s office as Margot and Will strolled through the gardens of Port Haven below him. Incessant clicking and typing from Alana’s computer prickled the silence of the room.

“All done,” Alana announced. “Sorry about that Hannibal, I promised I’d email a colleague back just as you turned up.”

“It’s quite alright,” Hannibal smiled warmly as she joined him at the window. “I’m sorry for intruding on you during your office hours.”

“Not a problem, you’re always welcome to drop by,” Alana dismissed him, waving a hand. “It’s Will’s birthday, after all. I was expecting you!”

Their gazes both fell to the Omegas in the garden below. They were going at a snail’s pace along the path, arms linked together and heads bent in conversation.

“I really have no idea why they’re out there,” Alana said, breaking the quiet. “It’s freezing.”

Hannibal cocked his head thoughtfully. “The rather poetic side of me fancies neither of them feels the cold; they are quite cold enough themselves. Although perhaps they simply wanted privacy.”

“There’s privacy in Will’s bedroom,” Alana pointed out half heartedly. “But I know what you mean about them being cold. They share that, don’t they?”

“I believe that it is becoming less true for Will, though I can’t say I know if this applies to Margot. But at the beginning, yes; they were both certainly frozen to their cores.”

“And now they’re thawing,” Alana concluded. “The stain Mason left behind on them both grows fainter every day.”

“Will told me his bond has completely dissolved now.”

“Did he?” Alana asked wearily. “I’m glad to hear it. He hasn’t mentioned it to me.”

“Alas, we both know there are many things Will does not mention to you that he does to me,” Hannibal remarked, without malice in his voice. “We have different relationships.”

“Margot thinks there’s something more to the two of you,” Alana murmured. “I tell her she’s exaggerating. She’s letting her protectiveness for Will cloud her judgement.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to elaborate Alana. What precisely does Margot mean?”

“I have a... a professional curiosity in regards to Will. That, and I feel the need to look out for him. Margot thinks your professional curiosity in him is not so professional at all.”

“No,” Hannibal hummed, eyes trained on his Omega. “It is not a professional curiosity. Will is not my patient and is under no medical care of mine as doctor. This has always been the case.”

“I know, but... she thinks your relationship is like – like how mine is with hers.”

“And what exactly,” Hannibal quizzed her, “is your relationship with Miss Verger, Alana?”

“I love her.”

Hannibal raised his eyebrows.

“I care about Margot, deeply. I want her in my life as a friend, a partner, a lover. It just so happens that luck is on my side and she wants the same from me.”

“And did you not begin your relationship with Margot as I did with mine and Will’s? An unofficial therapist? Just having ‘conversations’?”

“Well, yes but - ” Alana fell short on her words. “It’s different Hannibal. Will is...”

“What are you trying to say, Alana?” Hannibal sighed.

“But you don’t feel like that about him,” Alana laughed, as if the whole thing was ridiculous. “You see him like the son you never had. Will’s mature enough for you to consider him somewhat of a friend.”

“How would you know how I see him?” Hannibal asked sharply, back stiff.

Alana nearly flinched. “How else could you possibly regard him? Your relationship with him is a caring, paternal one.”

“Why must I see him like that? Do you assume that is the hole we are filling out in each others’ lives? Him the son I never had and I the father he lost?”

“What are you trying to say, Hannibal?” Alana asked curtly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why are you pushing my explanation away? I’m defending you from Margot’s ridiculous accusations.”

Hannibal pressed his lips together as he watched Will laugh musically at something Margot said, her face stretching up into a bright grin. He turned to the Beta and regarded her.

“Excuse me Alana, but I’m afraid I am eating into my schedule. I promised Will an afternoon out for his birthday, if you remember?”

“Yes. I remember,” Alana replied icily. “What exactly does this afternoon entail?”

“Will told me his father took him fishing every year for his birthday,” Hannibal informed her. “I offered to take him fishing at Chesapeake Bay then have dinner with him.”

Alana’s shoulders relaxed a little. Paternal. Son he never had. See? He’s even doing the things his dad used to do for him.

“Sounds like a nice afternoon,” Alana mumbled, suddenly feeling drained from Hannibal’s intensity. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. It’s very kind of you Hannibal.”

“I believe it is Will who is carrying out an act of kindness, but nonetheless, I’ll endeavour to make sure he enjoys his birthday. Eighteen is an important birthday, after all,” Hannibal replied, voice sleek and purring. “He’s an adult now.”

Alana walked with him to the door, grabbing her coat hastily. “Legally, yes. But I still see him as that boy who’s face flashed up every couple of days on my TV when he went missing four years ago.”

They descended the stairs.

“Is that so?” Hannibal mused. “I suppose it makes you uncomfortable to know Will is going to be leaving you in two months.”

“God, don’t even mention it,” Alana muttered, voice bitter. “I’m going to be heartbroken.”

“He’s ready. They wouldn’t have approved him otherwise, and from a psychiatrist’s point of view, I too can see Will is ready to slowly integrate himself back into some semblance of normalcy. He will never achieve that by staying here.”

“This is a healthy environment Hannibal,” Alana scowled. “Will is safe and cared for here. Thrusting him out into the world so soon seems barbaric.”

Approaching the doors to the gardens, Hannibal sighed. “It would be barbaric to keep him confined to Port Haven as well. He may not be locked in the same room like he was at the Verger estate but this place is going to start seeming like an even larger prison to him soon enough.”

“That’s not true,” Alana said, shaking her head vehemently. “Will is free to go to night school, he goes out with you regularly, he receives visits from Margot. I’ll be encouraging him to apply for college after he gets his GED.”

The frosty grass crunched underfoot as they headed towards the two Omegas. “Maybe you should ask him Alana. You might find Will does not feel as free as you believe he does.”

Alana glowered at him, but quickly fixed her face into a smile at the sight of Margot’s startlingly bright eyes sweeping over to them.

“Hello Dr. Lecter,” Margot smiled, calculated and smooth.

She reminded Hannibal a lot of himself.

“Hello Margot,” Hannibal politely returned, turning and smiling at Will. “Happy birthday Will.”

The Omega smiled shyly from behind the upturned collar of his coat, scarf covering the lower half of his face. “Thank you Hannibal.”

Alana’s eyes shot between them. “Well, we’d best let you and Doctor Lecter get on with your birthday plans, Will.”

“Stealing him away from us already, Dr. Lecter?” Margot smirked, her eyes blazing with ice. “Shame on you.”

“Margot,” Will grumbled, disentangling himself from the other Omega. “Stop being rude.”

Hannibal watched in amusement, Alana appearing flustered and Margot bristling with contempt. “It seems we all just can’t get enough of you, Will.”

“I’ve noticed,” Will huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets and stomping away without another word.

Alana raised her eyebrows. “What was that all about?”

“It appears we’ve upset him,” Margot answered dryly, eyes glued on Will’s retreating figure. “He hates attention.”

Hannibal sighed and swiftly bid them goodbye before Will disappeared completely from sight, leaving Alana and Margot stood side by side in the gardens.

“So,” Margot began, “you seemed a little off with Hannibal.”

“We had a disagreement,” Alana answered tiredly.

“I find that difficult to believe,” Margot teased, her gloved hand reaching down to squeeze Alana’s wrist. “You worship the ground he walks on. It’s as if he can do no wrong.”

“I was just thinking...about – well, about their relationship,” Alana admitted. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“Are you finally starting to see what I mean about them?” Margot mused, lips twitching up in a triumphant smile. “It’s not exactly platonic, Alana.”

“I want to believe that it is.”

“Don’t be ignorant when it’s right in front of your face,” Margot scolded her. “It’s clear they have feelings for each other.”

“It’s completely unethical,” Alana gritted out, clenching her fingers around Margot’s hand. “He’s thirty years older than Will, for God’s sake, and he’s meant to be in a position of trust as a psychiatrist.”

“Will is older than his years,” Margot said softly. “He has never seemed young, even when I met him four years ago.”

Alana glanced over at her. “It’s still strange, hearing you say that. Knowing you knew him all along.”

“You know I couldn’t do anything Alana,” Margot sighed. “There would have been hell to pay had I even breathed a word about Will’s presence at Muskrat Farm.”

“I know,” Alana reassured her. “I understand Margot. Do you think I should say something to them? Try to nip it in the bud before it turns into something else?”

“Don’t,” Margot murmured, shaking her head. “You’ll only find a fully blossomed flower.”

“The patience required for fishing has always astounded me,” Hannibal commented as he watched Will’s thumbs stroke over the handle of his fishing rod.

Chesapeake Bay was quiet that afternoon, only a few other boats visible in the distance on the dark water. Will shifted in his seat, glancing momentarily up to Hannibal.

“Mmm,” Will hummed. “I’m not too sure whether I’ll actually catch anything, but I’d love to see if I could get a striped bass. They’re huge out here.”

Hannibal leant against the side of the boat, perching there and regarding Will. “Alana and I had an interesting conversation when I arrived at Port Haven.”

“Oh?”

“She told me Margot has been discussing the nature of our relationship with her.”

“Alana doesn’t believe her, does she?” Will asked cautiously. “I told Margot not to mention anything to Alana, but - ”

“It doesn’t matter too much. Alana was going to find out the truth sooner or later; I just would have rather it be later.”

Will turned his eyes away from the water, gripping his hands a little tighter around the rod. “Why? Do you want to keep us a secret?”

“I’d kiss you in a room full of people if I could,” Hannibal told him gently. “But we run the risk of Alana jeopardising your release from Port Haven. If she knows about our relationship she will most likely find a way of keeping you with her for longer and forbid me from seeing you.”

“You want to wait until I’m officially discharged from Port Haven,” Will concluded. “What am I going to do, Hannibal? Where am I going to go after I get discharged?”

“I assumed that much was obvious,” Hannibal smiled in amusement. “You cannot go back to Margot at the Verger Estate and do you really wish to be housed God knows where through government funded housing? They could put you anywhere in Maryland, maybe even a crisis shelter for abused Omegas.”

“You want me to live with you.”

“I have told you on numerous occasions that I’m going to take care of you Will,” Hannibal smoothly replied, smiling a little. “If you would allow me to, I want to extend that to your living situation.”

“I don’t really have anywhere to go,” Will uttered out on to the quiet of the water. “It’s only just sort of... hit me. There’s no one waiting for me back in Louisiana, I couldn’t live with Alana, I won’t go back to Muskrat Farm. All that’s left is you.”

That’s all there will ever be.

Hannibal stepped forwards carefully twining his gloved fingers through Will’s hair. “I’m not sure you know how happy it would make me to have you in my home and to share everything with you.”

“My next heat is due around the time I get discharged.”

“Please do not even mention another heat cli- ”

“I want you, Hannibal, don’t be stupid; I just... want to make sure this is something you want for definite too.”

Hannibal gazed silently at him for a moment. “Will; you should know by now I do not do anything I don’t wish to.”

“I would be out of your hair before you knew it,” Will breathed out, looking up at him. “I want to enrol at college, so I could apply for dorms and move out of your house when college starts.”

“You can think about that when the time comes Will, you don’t have to worry just yet.”

Will regarded him for a moment before turning to look back out at the water. “Do you think you could make some coffee? Please?”

Hannibal sighed softly but nodded, kissing Will’s curls before retreating into the cabin to make them coffee. Hannibal gritted his teeth as he did so, knowing full well that Will’s reluctance to fully accept Hannibal’s genuine offer was his disbelief that Hannibal could fully, truly want him knowing what he had done to Mason. Knowing that he was, technically as Gregory and Gabriel had put it, ‘damaged goods’. While it was true that Will was damaged, it was not in the sense that Gabriel had implied. Will was traumatised from his ordeal at Muskrat Farm, but his worth was entirely separate from the fact he had been bonded, mated, had miscarried on several occasions and also given birth. None of that mattered that Hannibal, and the Omega’s trauma quite frankly made him even more besotted with him. He was fascinated by Will’s psyche, by his sharp mind and unprecedented strength. He was captivated by his nightmares, by his panic attacks and sleepwalking; he wanted to rifle through it all and then fix it for Will.

But he craved Will for his beautiful, unwavering darkness over all. It was what truly made him worthy as Hannibal’s equal and it made the Alpha’s blood sing to know that Will had the ability not just to kill, but to go further. Any other Omega may have just seen red and strangled their child’s murderer in a fit of rage, perhaps even stab them. But Will had mutilated Mason and thoroughly extracted what little justice and revenge he could for Jasper’s death. Hannibal permitted himself to very briefly imagine what lengths Will would go to in order to protect their child; bloody and snarling and glinting eyes and simply marvellous.

Hannibal, lost in his thoughts, almost startled at the sound of a heavy, slick thud coming from the above him.

He was back on the deck in seconds, coffee forgotten. “Will, what’s - ”

The Omega was bent over a fish nearly as big as him, tenderly freeing it from his hook, eye glazed over in the blank state of calm and well practised reflexes; Hannibal watched the Omega’s movements and noticed they were as ingrained in to Will as it was to breathe, the purest of motor reflex skills.

“You’ve caught one.”

Will grinned, sharp and startling white teeth amongst that slash of red lips set in to creamy pale skin. “Striped bass. I reckon it’s about twenty five pounds or so. They get up to about forty, isn’t that crazy? And they can get up to almost two metres long.”

Hannibal watched in amusement as Will babbled to him about the morphology of striped bass, calmly slipping the hook free from the enormous fish’s lip. The Omega’s hands slipped around the small blade by his leg where he crouched, the bass contorting at his knees.

“You don’t mind if I get blood on your fancy boat, do you?” Will asked with a sly grin as he looked up at Hannibal. “I have to kill it humanely and quickly, which unfortunately involves some blood but I’d rather that than let it suffocate to death.”

“It’s your boat Will,” Hannibal murmured in fascination. “You may do whatever you wish.”

The sharp blade point pierced the fish about three centimetres up from its eye socket. Will had to press a knee down to keep its body still as it briefly convulsed, it was so large.

“Iki Jime,” Hannibal commented. “A traditional Japanese method of quickly and efficiently killing your catch.”

The fish stilled.

“You still haven’t told anyone that I killed Mason,” Will stated suddenly, eyes focused on the fish. “Why?”

Hannibal frowned at the outburst. “I thought I already explained to you Will; I don’t want you any less because I know the truth.”

“You see,” Will began, smoothing one hand down the fish’s metallic scales, “I think you’re letting your attraction to me cloud your judgment. Unless your morals really are that twisted, why else would you be comfortable with me? How do you know that you can trust me, considering I’ve lied to everyone I’ve ever spoken to since I left Muskrat Farm?”

“You did not lie because you wanted to. You did it for Margot’s sake,” Hannibal responded calmly. “Lying to everyone was a necessary step to keep you out of a facility for the criminally insane and to stop Margot being arrested for her involvement. And my morals are purely my own Will; however, you are an exception in all things.”

“What if I snap one day?” Will asked, looking up at him through dark, thick lashes. “What if all this, the way I am now, is just temporary and I’m actually damaged beyond repair? What if one day I lose my grip and try to... I don’t know. I’m scared I might try to hurt you one day.”

“Will,” Hannibal said softly, crouching down opposite Will over the fish. (Which was quite a ridiculous scene, Hannibal decided). “You have a knife in your hand right now. You could attempt to stab me if you wanted.”

Will’s face twisted in disgust. “Don’t be cruel Hannibal. I’m telling you how scared I am and you’re - ”

“I’m trying to prove you could not hurt me if you possibly tried.”

“You don’t know that,” Will spat. “I spent three years not being able to look Mason in the eye, but I butchered him!”

“Imagine it was me, Will,” Hannibal pushed, eyes glinting. “Imagine in ten years, you and I are bonded and I attempt to hurt our child.”

“Stop it,” Will hissed, recoiling as his hand tightened around the knife. “Stop it Hannibal.”

“It would be even worse, darling. Because you wanted me, wanted our life together. Wanted a family with me, and I betray you. You come home one day to find our child in a pile of broken bones and blood, just like Mason left you when he was - ”

“Stop it,” Will snarled, his eyes on fire. “Shut up.”

“I’d turn around and smile at you, reach out to you over their lifeless body and try to embrace you. Think about it Will, no asphyxiation from being smothered, but ripped apart with my bare hands and - ”

“Hannibal - ”

“Maybe you’d drop to your knees and try to bring them back, but you wouldn’t even know which body part is which after I mutilated our child so badly.”

Will saw red, lip curling back from his teeth and threw himself at Hannibal.

The knife came inches from Hannibal’s throat before Will blinked and found himself pinned face down on the deck, cold wet wood pressing against his cheek, arm twisted behind his back and a knee shoved harshly into his spine; it was almost identical to how Will had pinned and killed the bass before. The knife cluttered from Will’s hand, rolling just past his fingertips.

“You sick fucking - ”

“Is this how you felt when Mason killed Jasper? Did you throw yourself at him, beat him into unconsciousness?” Hannibal breathed into his ear, his weight impossibly heavy against Will’s back.

“Get the fuck off me,” Will seethed, squirming underneath the Alpha.

Hannibal snarled, his instincts bristling. “What would you do to me, Will? You’d flay me alive, wouldn’t you? Go on, let me see; throw me off.”

“Stop!” Will yelled, kicking violently. “Just fucking stop!”

“Fight me off,” Hannibal growled in his ear.

Will snarled and lurched back against Hannibal, not even managing to shift him the tiniest fraction. Will sobbed as strong, slim fingers dug into the nape of his neck where his mating gland was, paralysing him.

The Alpha pressed himself forwards, nosing through Will’s curls and inhaling deeply. “You couldn’t harm me even if you truly wanted to Will. Don’t you see?”

Will just bit down on his lip, growing limp and lax against the wooden deck. Hannibal pulled back, releasing Will from his brutal grip and getting to his feet. Will turned over, sitting up and gazing up at Hannibal.

His fingers grasped around the knife and he fluidly moved to his feet. Hannibal anticipated another swipe to his head or jugular, but froze when Will backed away and held the blade to his own neck, pressing in to the throbbing pulse point of his marble like neck.

“Will.”

“You proved your point Hannibal. I can’t hurt you, not physically. Maybe even in a rage I can’t get at you, not like I did with Mason,” Will murmured, eyes wild and frantic. “But I can hurt you in other ways. Do not underestimate me.”

The blade pressed down harder, near to breaking the skin. Hannibal’s face split into a feral, crawling grin that spread across his face like swamp water as the first beads of red burst around the knife and Will’s smooth neck.

“Oh, Will,” Hannibal sighed, his voice light and in awe.

He strode to the Omega, Will’s gaze hard and unwavering. He dropped the knife to the floor and claimed Hannibal’s lips as he neared, the Alpha’s hands tangling in his hair and cradling his skull as they kissed. Hannibal plunged his tongue into his mouth, drawing a soft moan from the Omega.

He wrenched his head back and bit down on his neck, where the knife had been moments ago. “I have never, ever underestimated you, darling.”

Will gave him a fixed look, cerulean eyes swimming with electricity. “Push me all you want Hannibal; you’re welcome to. But you won’t find my breaking point. Mason made sure he destroyed it.”

Will didn’t let him answer, surging forwards and gripping Hannibal’s shoulders as he kissed him again, cold and fierce and bursting with sea salt.

The blood seeping from the fish at their feet started to stain the deck.

“I don’t want to go out to eat,” Will muttered, frowning as Hannibal’s dextrous fingers nearly pressed the call button to ring the restaurant. “Please...I just want to stay here. With you.”

“But it’s your birthday Will,” Hannibal pointed out, lowering his phone. “Do you not want to eat out?”

“I want to stay here with you and make something out of this huge fucking fish I caught,” Will answered simply, eyes open and honest. “And then I want you to take me upstairs and make me forget who I am.”

Hannibal smiled. “Well then. You’d better start gutting your fish. It’s about as big as you, after all, it will take a while to prepare.”

Will’s shoulders relaxed in response and smiled at the doctor in thanks. Hannibal watched in amusement as Will perfectly and methodically gutted the striped bass and expertly sliced it open to de-bone it. Will was meticulous, neatly extracting the fish’s skeleton. Hannibal wondered what he’d look like stood over a fresh kill, knife in hand as they worked side by side and gutted their prey. Perhaps Thomas or Gabriel or Gregory. Will would be glorious, coated in crimson and elbows deep in the guts of an insignificant other.

After investigating further into Gabriel and Gregory, Hannibal had uncovered enough to know they were most definitely a threat to Will. It hadn’t been hard to host a dinner party, seek out an inebriated guest whom Hannibal knew had unsavoury tastes and discretely lock him inside of his office. He’d strapped the man to the chair, settled opposite him and used his strobe and hypnosis techniques to put him under.

“What do you know about Omega trafficking rings?” Hannibal deadpanned.

“There’s one here in Baltimore. The Brandt twins oversee the ring,” Edmund answered, eyes blank and hazy as he stared ahead at nothing.

“And who, exactly, exactly are the Brandt twins?”

“Brothers, an Alpha and a Beta. Gregory and Gabriel Brandt.”

“I see. And they communicate with other members of the ring?”

“As far as I know; I only go to their auctions. They’ll ship in requests for you from different states and countries or if the ring thinks a certain Omega will sell better somewhere else.”

“So, if an Omega was taken from Louisiana, they could be sold here in Maryland?”

“Yes, it’s entirely possible.”

“What else do you know about Gregory and Gabriel?”

Edmund blinked. “They’re very accommodating. I’ve never actually bought anything from their auctions, but I attend them all the same. They run auctions in different locations each time.”

“Such as?”

“Different safe houses mainly. Sometimes in abandoned buildings or industrial estates, sometimes underground.”

“Where and when will their next auction be?”

“June 1st I believe. The location is always a secret until the night before, for security purposes. There’s a very select guest list.”

“And how would you recommend one acquires themselves a place on this guest list?”

Edmund’s eyes were like milk. “You have to pay your way, of course. And that’s only if someone on the inside recommends you.”

“Did you ever meet Mason Verger at one of these auctions?”

“Oh, yes. He went to quite a few auctions, but he was very particular with what he wanted. The Brandt twins ended up having to search further afield for the type of Omega he wanted.”

“Were you there at the auction when Mason bought the Omega?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me about it.”

“There were a lot of bidders. They were all extremely interested, I can’t say I blame them; I nearly started bidding myself and I never bid,” Edmund stated flatly. “But he was Mason’s. He was going to outmatch any bid.”

“Get in touch with the Brandt brothers. Tell them they have a potential client who is willing to pay a small fortune for a request. Give them the name Lewis Jamieson and tell them to contact him on this number.”

Edmund mindlessly accepted the small, neat card containing a name and number. “Yes, Dr. Lecter.”

“Thank you, Edmund,” Hannibal muttered. “You’ve been extremely helpful. Now, when I click, you are going to wake up. You will not remember me bringing you into this room or anything that has occurred here. I spoke to you briefly when you arrived and enquired about your mate’s health, but was busy for the rest of the evening hosting and cooking. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Dr. Lecter.”

Hannibal’s fingers snapped together.

Hannibal had slathered fillets of the fish with homemade sambal and honey, wrapped in banana leaves and baked, served with sticky jasmine rice and bok choy and garlic chives. Will wondered who the fuck had banana leaves lying around their house, but quickly reminded himself he was with Hannibal, after all. He moaned around every bite, nonetheless.

“Have you considered learning to drive at all?” Hannibal asked quietly. “It may prove useful when you are eventually discharged from Port Haven.”

Will froze. “Please tell me this isn’t your way of subtly trying to tell me you’ve bought me a car.”

“No, Will. I haven’t bought you a car, although I am intending to offer to pay for your driving lessons.”

“And then you’re going to ‘offer’ to pay for a car at some point down the line,” Will sniped back. “I bet you have one picked out already.”

Hannibal’s jaw twitched. “You’ll have to forgive my constant need to want to provide for you.”

Will tilted his head to the side, regarding Hannibal. “I would really appreciate driving lessons Hannibal. Thank you.”

“You would?” Hannibal asked, eyebrows rising in surprise. “I was weary of actually booking anything because of your reaction to the boat - ”

“Because it was a fucking boat Hannibal, and it cost more than what I managed to sell my dad’s trailer and rust bucket boat for,” Will drawled, rolling his eyes. “And it’s your boat by the way. I’m refusing to accept it as mine. I appreciate being able to go fishing and get out on the water but that thing is well and truly yours.”

Hannibal bit back his reply and took a deep breath. “But you are open to the idea of driving lessons?”

“I suppose,” Will answered, chewing the inside of his cheek. “I’ll pay you back, of course. You might be waiting a while but you know, I am eventually going to be able to get a job and - ”

“It’s your birthday gift, darling,” Hannibal cut him off with a small smile. “Please just accept it.”

“Alright,” Will sighed, shoulders sagging in defeat. “Thank you, Hannibal.”

The Alpha cleared their plates and shortly found himself being tugged up the stairs to his bedroom. Will kissed him insistently, hands clenching the ashy, grey streaked hair falling forwards into Hannibal’s face. Will moaned at the feel of warm, large hands pressing into his waist, drawing him closer.

“I want you,” Will breathed against his lips, “so much.”

“Is that so?” Hannibal murmured, beginning to undress Will. “Tell me about it, mylimasis.”

Will gasped as his bare skin was revealed to the air. “All the time, Hannibal. It’s infuriating.”

He was tossed back against the bed, watching Hannibal’s eyes blazing with dark flames. The Alpha quickly shed his own clothing, expensive garments pooling in a pile on the floor by Will’s. Desire and arousal rolled off the doctor in waves, Hannibal’s heavenly scent making him shiver.

“When I’m in therapy,” Will groaned, hands curling around his throat, “I think about you. I think about how good it feels to have your hands on me, how it makes my skin prickle.”

Hannibal crowded against him, kisses searing into Will’s shoulder and chest. “Not very productive use of your therapy time, Will.”

Will swallowed as Hannibal shifted him to roll on to his left side, slotting himself behind the Omega. “When I’m sat there in group therapy staring at all those blank fucking faces, I think about you pinning me down and taking me - ”

Will whimpered as Hannibal’s fingers swept along the pooling slick on his thighs, growling in satisfaction.

“I think about all the things I can do with you when no one else is around,” Will breathed, feeling dizzy. “Fucking me on the backseat of your car, pressing my face against the expensive fucking upholstery and your teeth in my neck - oh, fuck - ”

Hannibal pressed an eager finger into Will. “I must insist that you pay more attention in therapy, you shouldn’t be allowing your mind to wander so much.”

Hannibal pressed harder against the length of Will’s back, slotting perfectly together as Hannibal rutted on Will’s thigh and worked him open at a leisurely pace.

“I think about ruining every new pair of bed sheets you buy,” Will gasped, rolling his hips back. “I think about you fucking me all over your house until the whole place is filled with the smell of us.”

“Would you like that?” Hannibal snarled softly into the Omega’s ear, scissoring his fingers. “For others to walk into my home and be overwhelmed with the smell of your satisfaction? Would you want them to sit in my living room, knowing you’d ridden my cock on the very same settee hours before?”

“God, yes,” Will spluttered, eyes fluttering. “Hannibal, please - ”

Hannibal’s fingers curled, exploring Will’s prostate and making him arch beautifully in his arms. “Beautiful, Will, you have no idea how - ”

“Fuck me,” Will hissed in demand, bearing down on the pressure of Hannibal’s fingers that were nowhere near enough. “Now, please, Hannibal – I - ”

Hannibal sank his teeth into Will’s shoulder and pushed in with ease. Will groaned in relief, sighing and smiling blissfully. Hannibal, squeezed his hip and adjusted their thighs to slot against each other as he cradled Will on their sides and fucked into him slowly.

“God, that’s nice,” Will moaned, reaching back and twining a hand in Hannibal’s hair. “How do you feel so good?”

“I like to think we were perfectly designed for each other,” Hannibal breathed in reply, hot exhale on Will’s neck.

Will bit his lip, head lolling back and bearing his throat in submission to Hannibal’s sharp fangs. He rolled his hips smoothly against Will’s ass, pulling nearly all the way out before pressing back in again, deep and stretching. Will’s whimpers were beautiful, the scent of his slick clamouring Hannibal’s senses whilst his internal muscles contracted around his erection. Hannibal nuzzled his face into Will’s neck, cautiously letting his lips graze further back as he thrusted harder into Will.

The Omega squirmed and gasped when Hannibal kissed the back of his neck where his mating gland was, smooth skin now free of Mason’s hideous bond bite. Hannibal’s gums ached to sink his teeth into Will’s pearly flesh, to taste his sweet blood and feel skin break beneath his fangs. He settled with fevered licks and kisses, knowing if he let his self control slip, Will would not react well.

Will’s fingers tightened in his hair, squirming around Hannibal. Hannibal prayed his fingers would bruise around Will’s hip bone; he wanted to know that underneath his clothes Will was walking around bearing Hannibal’s mark, wanted to know that he’d left traces of himself on the Omega.

“More,” Will demanded through clenched teeth. “Fuck Hannibal, more, I need - ah!”

Hannibal slammed himself deeper into Will as he dragged the Omega back at the same time, grunting at the way Will’s body sucked him in even further, desperately clinging to him. Will let out a high keening noise at Hannibal’s unforgiving, snapping hips and the Alpha hissed against his neck and carefully sank his teeth down on Will’s mating gland.

Not enough to break the skin, but enough to send Will over the edge and diving headfirst into his orgasm.

His body convulsed around Hannibal, bearing down and pulling the Alpha into his own orgasm, moaning into the back of Will’s neck through his teeth.

They lay together, panting as Hannibal’s knot twitched inside of Will, arms locked around each other as Will’s body milked him.

“You’ve never done that before,” Will commented breathlessly.

“I got slightly carried away,” Hannibal replied, swallowing. “I apologise.”

“I remember that night at the opera I asked you never to touch me like that again,” Will recalled. “But that felt... I don’t if incredible is the right word for it. More than that.”

“A combination of your bond to Mason being fully dissolved and your own mental state having come on leaps and bounds since then,” Hannibal murmured, nuzzling Will’s curls and jaw. “All the same, I’m sorry I did it without you knowing I was going to.”

“I want...” Will trailed off, eyes glassy and cheeks rosy with a post-coital haze.

“It’s alright Will,” Hannibal soothed him. “You don’t have to explain anything right now.”

Will burrowed back further into Hannibal’s warmth, practically purring at the way the Alpha’s arms held him so possessively to his chest. “My next heat, I... you’ll spend it with me?”

Hannibal stilled, wincing at the way the tension in his body nearly pulled his knot from Will. “Is that what you’d want?”

“I wanted it to be you the first time around,” Will breathed in honesty. “There’s nothing stopping us this time.”

“Are you sure you’ve considered it thoroughly?” Hannibal pressed. “I want your absolute certainty.”

Will craned his head around to look at the doctor. “Hannibal, we’ve been sleeping together for a while now, why are you suddenly so concerned?”

“It’s different, Will. This, I know you want. Sexual contact outside of your heat is not the same. I only wanted to be clear that you wish to spend your heat with me, considering I know how traumatic they’ve been for you.”

“You’re the only person on this Earth I think I’ll ever want to get me through my heats,” Will confessed quietly. “I can’t bond with you. But I wouldn’t want it any other way, than for it to be you. I trust you.”

“I would not presume you wished to bond Will, I completely understand that,” Hannibal reassured him. “I do not expect anything from you, but the things that you do grant me, it’s an honour to receive them.”

Will twisted around in his arms, Hannibal’s knot slipping free with a pull of slick. Will smiled teasingly, rubbing his thumb over Hannibal’s sharp jaw.

“Even just a kiss?” Will laughed softly. “What if that’s all I ever allowed you for the rest of our lives?”

“Then I would treasure each one and savour them. I’d be grateful,” Hannibal told him honestly, smiling back warmly. “Every time I get you hold you like this, I file it away in my memory like buried treasure. I adore you, mylimasis.”

Will flushed a deep pink, dropping his stormy eyes and ducking his head to the crook of Hannibal’s neck. “I don’t deserve this.”

“You deserve everything the world can offer. I have every intention of giving you everything you could ever wish for.”

Will smiled back teasingly, but his eyes remained slightly weary. “I’d be a spoilt brat.”

Hannibal’s eyes glinted. “No. You would be perfect, and happy and mine.”

Will had no response, so he simply dove forwards and kissed him again.

Chapter Text

The new orderly that did the night shifts on Mondays and Thursdays made Will uncomfortable. He tried to reason to himself that most people made him uncomfortable, however this orderly was just... off. His eyes were too sharp and his smile was practically predatory. Will would have assumed he was an Alpha if it wasn’t for the quite obvious muted, dull Beta scent that clung around him. Alphas were typically tall and naturally well muscled, and whilst the man was clearly physically fit he was still too small to be an Alpha. He was polite and was never anything but friendly towards the other staff and in particular the patients, but he unnerved Will all the same.

He was charming, and overly charming people put Will on edge. Other than Hannibal, of course. He also looked alarmingly similar to Gregory, the strange Alpha from his night classes. Not identical, perhaps, but enough to baffle Will and make him flinch.

“You’re up late Will.”

He nearly startled at the voice, snapping him out of his daze. Will blinked, eyes shooting to the name badge on the Beta’s chest - Benedict Davies - and swallowed. He glanced away from the orderly to the clock on the day room’s wall. The book slipped from his fingers to his lap in the arm chair he was curled up in.

“I couldn’t sleep. Dr. Bloom said it’s alright for me to come here and read when I’m having a bad night,” Will defended himself, shrinking back into the chair slightly. “Do you want me to go back to my room?”

Benedict shook his head, shrugging. “I don’t see why. If Dr. Bloom says it’s alright.”

Will nodded and watched him, expecting him to leave. He didn’t. He stood and stared thoughtfully at Will.

“Nightmares?” Benedict asked curiously.

Will frowned and looked away. “Something like that.”

“Hmm,” Benedict hummed. “Growing up, my brother and I shared a room. He used to have awful night terrors, you know? He used to wake me up screaming most nights.”

Will briefly glanced at him. “How come?”

Benedict wandered to the book shelf in front of Will, trailing his fingers over the spines. “We grew up in a fairly rundown neighbourhood in Chicago. Shootings, that sort of thing. He watched our older brother get shot when we were six years old. I suppose it never really left him.”

“Jesus,” Will muttered, grimacing. “Did he grow out of it?”

Benedict’s fingers stilled, resting on a copy of a book he couldn’t see the title of. “He doesn’t sleep much now that he’s older.”

“I know how that feels,” Will sighed.

“The night shift nurse tells me you refuse medication to help you sleep,” Benedict commented, shifting a book out of its place and nonchalantly flicking through it, not looking up at Will. “Why’s that?”

“Is this a three am therapy session?” Will smiled, his voice blunt and his eyes tight.

Benedict glanced up from the book. “Hardly. I wouldn’t have the slightest clue what therapy would be like, seeing as I’m just an orderly. More just a friendly conversation.”

“Orderlies don’t usually take so much interest in me.”

Benedict smiled softly, holding his hands up. “I’m intruding, aren’t I? I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You were cutting quite a lonely figure in here all by yourself in the middle of the night.”

“Well I am,” Will bluntly replied. “Alright, I mean. I’m fine.”

“But not fine enough that you can’t get back to bed,” the Beta pointed out.

“It would seem so. Funny thing, trauma.”

Will shifted to his feet, closing the book and giving Benedict a level look. “I’ll get out of your hair. I’m sure there’s other jobs you have to do on your shift.”

“Not that many,” Benedict replied quickly, flashing a toothy smile. “Night shifts usually don’t get much more exciting than watching the security cameras and doing hourly walks of the building.”

“Who ever would have thought,” Will murmured, staring down at his bare, white toes. “Goodnight.”

Benedict watched him walk to the door, unmoving. “You know, you’re different than what I thought you’d be.”

Will’s hand paused on the door handle. “Excuse me?”

Benedict slotted the book back onto its place on the shelf almost tenderly. “I knew you’d been sent here, after they found you. I don’t think you quite realise how big a story your disappearance was. It was all over the place, every day. Constantly shoved in the world’s face. And then the reports were everywhere again when you were found, and obviously they never went in to every detail, but still... after what happened, I thought you’d be different.”

“Oh,” Will mumbled, flushing red. “Sorry to disappoint.”

Benedict let out a soft laugh, slipping his hands into his uniform trouser pockets. “I thought you’d be like the others here, but you’re stronger than that, aren’t you?”

“If you say so.”

“Of course, only you really know what went on in that place,” Benedict continued. “Is that what keeps you up at night, Will?”

“Listen,” Will sighed, “if this is just an attempt to find out what happened to me at Muskrat Farm - ”

“It’s really none of my business,” Benedict interrupted, eyes cold. “I have a good idea of Mason Verger’s character anyway.”

“I really don’t think you, do,” Will said hoarsely. “Unless you’re familiar with monsters.”

Benedict smiled smoothly. “I’ve met a few in my time.”

Will looked at him through guarded eyes, shoulders tense. “Is that so?”

“Monsters are everywhere, Will,” Benedict replied calmly, stepping closer to Will. “Hiding behind smiles and suits and good credit scores, behind well kept lawns and dry cleaning bills. You just have to look a little further and the cracks start to show. But you already know that, don’t you?”

“Everyone has secrets, I suppose,” Will replied slowly, frowning. “Don’t you?”

“I have my fair share. You too, I imagine.”

“There’s more to everyone than meets the eye. Some people are just better at hiding it than others.”

“I do hope you’re not trying to tell me I’m not one of the better ones,” Benedict smiled, shark like.

“Oh, I don’t doubt you’re one of the better ones,” Will replied, clasping the door handle tightly. “You’re just going out of your way to make sure I know you are. You wouldn’t be lazy enough to let your guard slip by accident.”

“Insightful, aren’t you?”

“An Omega thing, apparently,” Will retorted dryly, wrenching the door open. “I’m sorry, but I think I’m going to head back up to my room now. If you’ll excuse me?”

Benedict smiled again and gestured to the open door. “Of course, Will. I hope you sleep well.”

Will just gave him a curt nod before all but darting from the day room, leaving Benedict stood alone and inhaling deeply the sweet tang of Omega he was all too used to.

Hannibal was sharpening his knives when the phone call happened.

He carefully set down his favoured Gyuto cooking knife – it was worth every penny of the thousand dollars he’d paid for it - and reached for the disposable cell he’d had ready and waiting with him since he’d hypnotised Edmund.

“Good evening,” he answered smoothly.

“Good evening, Mr. Jamieson,” the voice replied. “I hope I’m not calling at an inappropriate time.”

Hannibal rolled his eyes. “Not at all. Thank you for getting in touch.”

“It’s not a problem,” the voice replied. “My name is Gabriel Brandt, however our mutual friend must have already mentioned myself to you.”

“Yes. Edmund was most helpful in acting as the middle man for setting up our communication,” Hannibal returned, heading in to his office as he talked. “I trust he passed on all the correct information to you.”

“He did,” Gabriel answered. “New customers are always welcome, at discretion of course.”

“Of course,” Hannibal parroted, settling himself at his desk. “And I also trust he passed on my message to you?”

“He informed me you were eager to browse our products,” Gabriel lilted, the smile in his voice evident. “And for an incredibly generous price.”

Hannibal’s eyes glued themselves to his sketch of Will left on his desk. “I have a rather unorthodox request, I must admit. I am not interested in your typical auction set ups.”

“I see. You’re enquiring to make a direct deal, I assume?”

“I see no point in attending your auction,” Hannibal answered, stroking a thumb down the edges of one of Will’s charcoal curls. “I would outbid any other attendee at your auction and felt it easier to cut out unnecessary procedures.”

“It’s rare that we comply with such requests,” Gabriel stiffly answered. “But please do continue.”

“I want a very specific Omega,” Hannibal informed him. “One you have sold before.”

There was a pause on the line. “That is a rather unorthodox request.”

“William Graham,” Hannibal offered smoothly. “You sold him to Mason Verger four years ago, I believe. I’d like to double what Mr. Verger paid for him.”

“Will Graham,” Gabriel deadpanned. “An unusual request, Mr. Jamieson. Are you sure you would not rather come along to one of our auctions and view our other items? They will be... fresher, if you will. An Omega like Will Graham is not, personally, worth the price you are offering. Surely you would like something with more value for your money?”

“Oh?” Hannibal smiled, gritting his teeth and clutching the arm of his chair tightly.

“Well, it’s just that buying an Omega like Will is... I do not wish to be rude, Mr. Jamieson, but most clients wish to purchase Omegas that are younger and not so tarnished. For the money you are offering, we would be able to procure a much more desirable - ”

“I would not pay so much for another Omega,” Hannibal cut him off. “I meant what I said when I told you my request was very specific. I think, Mr. Brandt, it would be foolish of you to turn down my request. Will Graham will not fetch you so much money in auction; you and I both know you will not receive such an offer for him in that situation. I am not interested in buying any other Omega.”

“Of course, Mr. Jamieson,” Gabriel smoothly replied. “I understand. Will is not currently in our possession at the moment, however we are hoping to have retrieved him within the next couple of weeks. I’m sure you’re aware that he is under protective custody and care since the death of Mr. Verger, however it is our policy to re-collect any stray Omegas. For our own security reasons, you understand. It would not fare well if Will Graham discussed the ring with the police.”

Hannibal gritted his teeth again. “Oh, I completely understand. It would not do well to have an Omega such as Will wandering around freely and giving information about the ring to law enforcement. To be blunt, Mr. Brandt, I am rather pressed for time and would like to get back on track with our discussion. I would like to make my purchase by the end of February, if possible.”

“I think we can make that work. Is there an exact date you wish to collect him?”

“February 25th, perhaps? I would also need you to ‘collect’ him no more than twenty four hours before I meet with you.”

“We will try our best - ”

“It is not a request, Mr. Brandt,” Hannibal nearly snarled. “It will be done or I am withdrawing my business.”

Another pause from the end of the line. “Yes, Mr. Jamieson.”

“You will be paid once Will is handed over and I expect you to personally carry the deal out yourself. I will permit you to give him a dose of sedatives for when you extract him from the protective custody he is in, but I must make it extremely clear; if there is a single hair out of place on his head you will regret ever agreeing to do business with me.”

Hannibal could nearly taste Gabriel’s anger over the phone. “Normally we require the full sum before handing over the Omega, however I will make an exception for you Mr. Jamieson.”

“Thank you,” Hannibal replied stiffly. “February 25th then. I will message you the time and location I wish for the transaction to take place and after that you will not contact this number again. Thank you for your help.”

Gabriel was half way through saying goodbye when Hannibal hung up. He swiftly messaged the last of his details to Gabriel’s number, letting him know when and where to meet him with Will. Once the texts had been sent, he disposed of the phone and found himself sat before his sketches of Will again.

Will, head propped up in his hand as he rested his arm on Hannibal’s dining table, staring intently at him over their empty dinner plates. Will carefully sliding the hook from the mouth of the fish he had caught on his birthday, brow furrowed in concentration and hair tousled with wind. Will stretched out in his bed, sheets draped around his hips as he grinned hazily at Hannibal with flushed cheeks.

He stopped at an older sketch.

It stung slightly, looking at his drawing of Will waist deep in the Bayou, Jasper’s empty urn clutched to his chest as he stared at the water beneath him. He remembered perfectly the way he’d looked; as if the depths of the Bayou held the answers to everything, just out of Will’s touch. Like the water offered solace and an answer to all of the mess that was Will’s life. He’d been shivering when he eventually waded out of the water, collapsing against Hannibal’s chest and feeling so small and breakable. He remembered he’d known, then. That he would go to any length to make Will happy again. To have him by his side and share their darkness together.

Hannibal shut his eyes when he came upon the drawing of Will crouched by his father’s grave in Lafayette. He wondered what recipe he could construct out of Gabriel Brandt. He would have liked to have gone after Gregory too, but he couldn’t raise too much suspicion. Killing Gabriel would be satisfactory, especially after the disgusting way he’d spoken about Will. Having Will tranquillised for this whole ordeal was going to make life much easier, despite the uncomfortable twinge it gave Hannibal to think about anyone shoving a needle in to his Omega. It meant he could quickly kill Gabriel and transport his body and Will back to his home in no time. He’d store Gabriel in his basement and return Will to Port Haven, the caring Alpha hero as always. He would shame Alana for her abysmal security and for letting Will be taken from the place she so regularly insisted was safe. Then, he would return home and create art out of Gabriel Brandt’s body for his Omega.

Alone and without his twin, Gregory Brandt would either crumble or go into hiding. The Maryland section of the ring would be shaken by Gabriel’s death and it wouldn’t be difficult for Hannibal to throw another dinner party and hypnotise Edmund again. The man would turn himself into the police and confess everything he knew about the ring.

It would take a little time, but Hannibal was patient. It was what made him such an excellent predator, after all.

“So, do you want to talk about the sleep walking?” Alana asked, pen hovering above her notepad. “The orderlies have asked if I think you need to start having your door locked again at night.”

“And do you?” Will shot back, eyes reminding her storming oceans.

Alana paused, watching him carefully. “Part of me hopes this is just random. That you’ll start sleeping through the night again, but I don’t want to take any risks. Not after that time we found you in parking lot. I still don’t understand how you got out - ”

“Then start locking my door again,” Will cut her off. “I can’t predict any of this Dr. Bloom. I don’t even know I’m doing it until I wake up somewhere that isn’t my bed.”

“This whole situation would be easily remedied if you agreed to take extra medication to help you sleep.”

Will sighed, picking at his nails. “Will it make you happy if I take it?”

Alana’s brow twitched up in surprise. “You’ve always refused to even discuss extra medication.”

“I could just bear the thought of taking anti-depressants. If you think my sleep walking is going to become a problem, which it probably will, then prescribe me something. I’m getting used to being dosed up on pills,” Will replied dryly.

Alana’s pen tapped against the notebook. “Alright then. I’ll start you off on two milligrams of eszopiclone and see how you go from there.”

“Alright.”

Alana allowed the silence to stretch for a few moments whilst Will fiddled with a hangnail on his left thumb and stared at his shoes. She sighed and put her notebook and pen back down.

“Do you know where your aversion from medicine comes from, Will?”

“I don’t have an aversion. I just don’t... like it. We never even had aspirin when I lived with my dad, he didn’t really like the idea of any sort of pharmaceutical stuff. Suppose that’s what you get when you grow up in the back waters of Louisiana. When I was at Muskrat Farm, I... I don’t know. Mason would try to sedate me sometimes and I just... how can something be so powerful that you don’t even know you’re giving birth?”

Alana’s face softened. “The doctors that cared for you when you arrived at the hospital let me see your chart. Mason had given you nearly lethal doses of flunitrazepam, Tramadol and morphine.”

“I don’t know what those are, other than morphine.”

“Flunitrazepam is an extremely powerful sedative and Tramadol is also a strong painkiller.”

“Well,” Will said bluntly, “nice of him to make sure I wasn’t in pain.”

Alana almost winced.

“Although he was probably more intent on making sure I was so high I didn’t know what was going on rather than not feeling pain.”

“You could have died from the doses he gave you Will,” Alana told him softly. “It’s just lucky that you got to the hospital when you did.”

“Sometimes I wish I had,” Will whispered softly, refusing to meet her eyes.

“You wish you hadn’t survived the ordeal,” Alana struggled to say, brows knitted together in a harsh frown.

Will nodded. “I don’t... I’m sorry, I just... God.”

“It’s ok Will,” Alana soothed him, leaning forwards in her chair. “You’ve been so incredibly brave since you’ve been at Port Haven. It’s ok.”

“I’ve been here eight months Dr. Bloom,” Will gritted out. “I don’t feel like I’ve made any progress at all.”

“Will, you have been through hell and back. It’s unsurprising that it’s taken you this long to finally start opening up properly. All of this, all the nightmares and the sleep walking and the panic attacks, do you really think that it’s unusual after all the things you’ve been through?”

“Tell me how I do this,” Will croaked, his voice breaking as the tears welled in his eyes. “Tell me how I grieve, Dr. Bloom. Tell me how I stop hurting, how I stop thinking about my dad and Jasper.”

“You won’t,” Alana said to him softly. “You won’t ever be able to shift them from your heart completely. Grieving them is going to take you more than a few months Will, don’t you see? You’re doing incredibly well but it’s important that you understand it’s ok to slip up. It’s ok to have bad days, bad weeks even, because this is your grief. This is your time to take as many days or months or years to reconcile your loss and to learn how to live without them.”

“I don’t feel like I can,” Will weakly admitted, his voice barely there. “I don’t feel like I have the fucking energy anymore.”

“That’s ok Will. If you need to take a step back and gather your strength again, then that’s what you should do.”

Will scrubbed a hand across his burning, tear stained face. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Alana softly scolded him. “You don’t owe anyone an apology.”

Will’s eyelids fluttered shut and he sucked in a sharp breath. “I miss him. I miss them both, but Jasper... it’s different, you know? I’d already come to terms with my dad, in a way. Mason told me from day one I may as well consider him dead, that I’d never see him again. I always hoped in the back of my mind somewhere that I would. Even if it was just one last time. But it turns out Mason was right.”

“What was it like, the last time you saw your father?” Alana pushed gently, not wanting to stop Will’s unusual openness and make him falter if she pried too hard.

“It was the morning, really early. The sun was only just coming up, he was always awake early to go to work. I got up around the same time. I said goodbye to him in our trailer after breakfast. He told me to have a good day at school and that he’d see me that night. That we could make Jambalaya for dinner.”

Will dug his nails in hard into the palms of his hands and stared resolutely at his feet. The clock on Alana’s wall ticked heavily in the silence of her office, making his skin crawl. He wanted to sink into the floor, for the walls of her tediously neutral cream office to grow arms and pull him behind the brickwork. Alana remained silent, letting him sink his teeth so hard into his lower lip the skin started to rip slightly.

“I dreamt about Jasper last night,” Will murmured eventually.

“Different from the ones before?”

“Yes,” Will breathed, throat tight. “I dreamt he was older. He was maybe three or four. He looked a little like Mason and it made me feel sick. I dreamt I was digging a tiny little grave for him and he just stood by my side and watched me do it. I... I stepped down in to it when I was done and carried him down with me. I just lay there with him and I couldn’t stop saying sorry; it was like I’d run out of air and die if I stopped for even a moment.”

“You feel guilty for his death when it was completely out of your control.”

“I was supposed to protect him,” Will gritted out, nearly spitting the words. “I’m disgusted with myself every day that I didn’t. That I wasn’t enough. I didn’t deserve to have him.”

“Will, you know that is not - ”

“It is true. I failed him before he could even be more than two days old. It’s unforgivable.”

“Mason warped your mind into believing that you were responsible for what he did to you, for what happened to Jasper. None of this has ever been your fault. I know you don’t feel comfortable with talking about everything that Mason did, but Margot has told me enough for me to know that - ”

“Margot is full of shit,” Will cussed, his usual soft, easy drawl turning harsh.

Alana’s lips twitched into a displeased position. “Margot was terrified. She thought that she was protecting the both of you.”

“Margot has only ever looked after herself,” Will spat, eyes glistening with rage. “I know she told you. She told you about how she constructed one big lie about all of this. Did she tell you about the nights she’d wash the blood off of me? About the nights she had to set my shoulder back in place and how she would stitch my lip back up when Mason lost his temper? Three fucking years of it, Dr. Bloom. Don’t you dare defend her.”

Will had never seen the Beta look so horrified or shell shocked.

“She told me, yes,” Alana said softly, trying to placate him. “She told me she knew you were the whole time, but she was too terrified to call the police. She lived in fear every day that she may make one wrong move and it would push Mason over the edge. She thought he’d kill you both if she ever did anything.”

“I wish he fucking had,” Will snarled, baring his teeth. “I wish he had fucking killed one of us, or both of us. Because maybe then, Jasper wouldn’t have suffered like he did. He wouldn’t have even been born.”

Alana looked like Will had struck her, the pain so clear in her eyes. “Will - ”

Will stood up, seething. “No. You have no idea what it was like in that hell hole. Margot can spin you as many lies as she likes, whimper and manipulate you into thinking that she was some terrified little Omega. You don’t even know her, Dr. Bloom. You don’t know what she did or what she’s capable of. Margot is not weak or innocent. We’re all as fucking guilty as Mason is.”

“What on earth are you talking about Will?” Alana demanded, rigid with tension.

“Why don’t you ask her for yourself?” Will laughed darkly, bitterness dripping from his voice. “You know, seeing as she’s so keen to tarnish my relationship with Hannibal. Why don’t you ask her the truth about herself?”

“Margot has not tried to tarnish anything!” Alana insisted.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Will grinned icily. “Christ, she really has got you wrapped around her little finger, hasn’t she? She’s the one that you want to be careful of, Dr. Bloom. Not Hannibal.”

“Margot simply raised her concern that Hannibal’s relationship with you did not seem completely professional,” Alana answered carefully, watching the Omega pace around her office.

“She’s playing you,” Will muttered viciously. “Ask her what really happened that night the police came to Muskrat Farm. Ask her how my mate, her brother, really died.”

Alana nearly yelled out in frustration as Will stormed to the door, disappearing out of the room with a slam of the door before she could react properly. She sat there a while, in simple shock, staring at where Will had been sat for their session. She tried to comprehend Will’s words, his sudden flare of anger and wondered where the hell it had come from. Exhaustion, perhaps? Hormones? His heat was next month, after all. As well as the end of his night classes and the steadily approaching date of his discharge from Port Haven.

Stress, Alana told herself.

Will was just stressed, and traumatised and young and –

She picked up her cell phone and called Margot, holding her breath the whole time.

“Hey there, Dr. Bloom,” Margot chimed, her voice light and teasing at Alana’s professional title. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Tell me what really happened to your brother. No lies, no twisting the truth. I’ll know if you’re lying, Margot,” Alana blurted out, gripping the phone tightly. “I’ll ask Will what really happened if you don’t tell me the truth; he’s angry enough at you that he’d be completely honest about it.”

A pause, and then a sigh. “What did he say?”

“He’s furious at you for talking about his relationship with Hannibal,” Alana quipped. “That’s as much as I can really say.”

“Patient confidentiality?” Margot asked. Alana pictured the tired, weary smile she had said it with.

“Please Margot.”

“I can’t tell you this over the phone, but you need to promise me something first.”

“Then I’ll come to you, tonight,” Alana said firmly. “What do you need me to promise?”

“Do you love me, Alana?” Margot asked softly.

You don’t know what she did or what she’s capable of. Will’s words rang inside her head like a klaxon alarm.

“Yes.” The words fell past her lips anyway, because it was true.

“You want to keep Will safe, don’t you?” Margot pressed further, her voice slightly strained. “You need to promise me this. You need to promise that if I tell you, you’ll help me keep him safe.”

“Of course I – Margot, what’s this about?”

“I can’t tell you right now, but tonight? You’ll come and spend the night? I’ll explain everything,” Margot sighed tersely. “I just need to hear you promise that you’ll help me keep him safe.”

“All I’ve ever wanted to do was keep Will safe,” Alana murmured, her heart clenching with sadness for the boy. “But if it’s that important to you to hear me say it, even if you already know it, then yes. I promise to help you keep him safe.”

“Good,” Margot swallowed. “I’ll see you tonight.”

The line went dead and Alana stared a little too long at the wall ahead of her.

Chapter Text

Alana was nearly out of breath by the time she found Margot.

She’d arrived at the Verger estate and had spent the last ten minutes wandering around the vast manor house, calling out Margot’s name. She eventually found her upstairs, her nose desperately trying to follow the scent of the Omega. The door was wide open, Margot’s figure silhouetted against the harsh February sunset.

The room was small and barren other than a simple bed and wardrobe. There was a door leading to an ensuite and the window allowed for a view of the vast bodies of pine trees that surrounded the estate.

“Margot?” Alana murmured, lingering in the doorway. “Is everything ok?”

Margot stayed statue still by the window, her back to Alana. “I used to find him stood like this nearly every day. Other than when he couldn’t get out bed because
Mason had hurt him too badly. He just used to stand and watch. Well; it looked like he was always watching something, but I know he was in his head. It was only place Mason couldn’t get to him.”

Alana’s eyes swept around the room and she swallowed. “This was the room Mason kept him in.”

“Yes.”

“Nothing but these four walls for years,” Alana muttered, nearly shuddering. “It must have added to the mental torture so much.”

“Will’s tolerance for pain is exceptional,” Margot replied softly, finally turning her head and casting Alana a blank look over her shoulder. “I’d go as far to say that it is limitless.”

“I can see why you would think that,” Alana sighed, wringing her hands fretfully.

Margot shifted and walked to the bed, slowly sinking down on to it. “So much happened in this room. All the pain, the grief... Jasper’s birth.”

“Is this where Jasper died?” Alana hesitantly asked, the words tasting bitter in her mouth.

“No,” Margot murmured. “Mason took him to his bedroom and killed him there.”

“Another lie,” Alana said slowly, regarding her lover. “There seem to be an infinite supply of them.”

Margot’s shoulders slumped and Alana had never seen her look so tired. She stepped forwards cautiously, feeling so wrong about being in this room with the knowledge of what had happened here. She gingerly sat down on the bed next to Margot and tried her hardest to not imagine Mason’s hands pinning Will’s wrists to the bed and sinking his teeth into his neck.

“Not an infinite supply,” Margot disagreed softly, refusing to meet Alana’s eyes as she stared ahead. “But enough of them.”

“Do you know,” Alana began slowly, “how difficult it is for me to carry this information Margot? It’s on my conscience always, knowing that you were part of all of this. That you saw Will every day for the whole three years he was here.”

“I was selfish,” Margot murmured. “You can tell me I was, I don’t mind. I lied to make sure I wasn’t investigated, that the police didn’t see me as a perpetrator.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell them?” Alana pleaded, eyes wide. “Why did you do all of this?”

Margot sucked in a deep breath, steeling herself. “There are things that happened in this house that only Will and I know about. Things that change everything, all of this. I’ll tell you, if you ask me to. I don’t think I could deny you that, that I could lie to you anymore than I already have done.”

“What Will was talking about this morning in therapy,” Alana said, frowning, “whatever this big secret is, it’s enough to put the both of you in prison, isn’t it?”

“We will lose everything,” Margot agreed simply, staring ahead with a grim hardness in her face.

“Will might argue that he already has lost everything,” Alana pointed out. “He lied for you. Not for himself.”

“He did. He told them everything I wanted him to, because I asked. I would be arrested and Will would be taken from Port Haven and most likely dumped into Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.”

“I don’t know if I want you tell me what really happened here Margot,” Alana confessed, biting down on her lip.

“But you need to know,” Margot concluded for her, slipping her hand down to tangle their fingers together and staring down at their entwined fingers with determination. “I’ll tell you. But I won’t be hurt if you decide to go to the FBI afterwards. I just ask that you keep Will safe, keep him out of this. He doesn’t need any more pain Alana.”

“Will is not leaving my care until he’s discharged next month,” Alana replied firmly.

Margot was quite for a moment, staring relentlessly at their hands. “Mason did not die in the outhouse where he kept his pigs.”

“Mason’s death wasn’t an accident. When Will woke up after he’d given birth to Jasper, he was out of his mind. I’d never seen him like that before, but looking back of course he reacted the way he did. Mason had broken him so thoroughly, and his body was screaming at him to look after the baby that had just been ripped away from him. He was screaming and crying in this room, trying to get out. You remember his hands, when he was sent to the hospital?”

Alana nodded, the memory of Will’s raw, bloody hands flashing to the forefront of her mind; crooked fingers with about maybe two nails remaining on all the digits, swollen knuckles and ripped flesh that had scarred thickly over the Omega’s skin.

“I let him out,” Margot continued, blinking. “I took him to Mason’s room. I don’t know what I was expecting to happen, but I think deep down I was hoping for it. I was always too much of a coward to ever do it.”

“When I came back an hour later, Mason was dead. I didn’t know what he’d done to Jasper, but I found Will sat on the floor, just holding him and crying. He was delirious. I looked at him then and I knew I had to do something. It wasn’t good enough that I’d just let this happen to him for all those years; so I put him in my shower and held my nephew and then I put them in my bed and cleaned it all up. I burnt everything and then pushed Mason’s body into the pit with the pigs. Then I called the police.”

“Will murdered Mason when he discovered he’d murdered their son,” Alana said breathlessly, freezing. “I don’t... I don’t know how to react to this.”

Margot lifted a delicate shoulder in a half hearted shrug. “I imagine you’re going to spend a long time not knowing how to react to this.”

“How?” Alana demanded, tears prickling in her eyes. “Tell me what happened.”

“It was violent,” Margot swallowed. “There wasn’t much left of Mason. Like I said, Will, he... he just lost his mind. I don’t think I can tell you exactly what he did, but Mason’s death was not quiet or brief.”

“And you just covered it all up? Just like that?”

“I burnt everything. The mattress, Will’s clothes, the bed sheets. I bleached the whole house,” Margot muttered, her eyes slipping shut. “I wrapped Mason’s body up and pushed it into the pit with the pigs to make it look like an accident. I lied to all of you.”

“Why?”

“Because I panicked,” Margot answered simply, finally opening her eyes and turning to look at Alana. “I can’t be the only person in this world who’s gotten too deep into something and then had no choice but to carry on with the lie.”

“This isn’t exactly a small thing, Margot,” Alana said, dumbfounded and staring in disbelief at the Omega. “Do you realise how much this changes?”

“It doesn’t have to change anything,” Margot suddenly hissed, stiffening and looking at Alana with gleaming eyes. “What would be the point? Mason is gone, Jasper is gone, Will is fucked and so am I. Just because you know what really happened doesn’t - ”

“Margot, you and Will lied,” Alana retorted, pulling back from her. “To the fucking FBI, Margot, Jesus!”

“It’s not exactly the first time someone has lied to them,” Margot replied dryly, lips thinning. “What would they do anyway? Throw Will away and lock him up in some nut house? Send me to one of those Omegan prisons?”

“I would make sure Will stayed at Port Haven, there’s no way I would let them put him in the BSHCI,” Alana bit back, frowning as she scrubbed away the tears of hurt spilling down her face. “And I don’t know what they would do to you Margot. They most likely would see you as responsible for coercing Will into lying too; they’d increase your sentence for manipulating him.”

“I won’t go down for this,” Margot snapped, eyes blazing. “My whole life Mason made every day miserable and painful for me. All I wanted to do was protect Will and myself. I won’t let anyone take that away from us.”

“Margot, do you even realise how big this - ”

“Of course I realise,” Margot said quietly, her voice icy. “I’m not an idiot Alana.”

“I don’t know what you expect me to do,” Alana confessed, her voice trembling. “Do you know the position this puts me in? You’re making me choose between the law and my colleagues and friends and between you and Will.”

Margot’s hands curled themselves in her hair, cradling the back of Alana’s head gently. She swallowed as the Beta’s tears flowed freely, pale blue irises clouding with betrayal. “You love us.”

Alana flinched. “Of course I do; I love you and Will dearly. But this isn’t right to lie, Margot, don’t you see?”

Margot slid closer, eyes searching Alana’s face for a crack in her morals. “They’ll take both of us away from you.”

Alana’s trembling fingers curled around one of Margot’s wrists. “I...”

“Don’t even say it won’t happen, because you know it will,” Margot breathed. “They will take Will away from you and then he really will go crazy locked up in some psych ward. They’ll arrest me, and I don’t think I could see you again. I don’t think I could bear to look at you, knowing I loved you and trusted you but you turned me in.”

“Do not manipulate me,” Alana snarled softly, but made no move to pull away from Margot’s grip in her soft chocolate waves.

“Then don’t give me a reason to,” Margot hissed through her teeth, inches away from Alana’s face. “Let me see the proof of my trust in you. If not for me, then for Will. Do you really think you could do that to him?”

“Why did he never tell me?” Alana whispered, her throat thick with tears. “Why now?”

“He’s lashing out at me,” Margot answered gently. “He’s angry that I told you about him and Hannibal. This is him evening things out.”

“You didn’t have to tell me,” Alana pointed out. “You could have told me he was making it all up.”

“If I didn’t tell you, he would have done it eventually,” Margot sighed. “And I wanted it to be me that told you, if the time came.”

Alana shook her head. “This all so messed up Margot.”

Margot’s smile was weak and crooked and exhausted. “You don’t have to tell me that. I already know.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Alana admitted. “I don’t know if I’ll ever look at Will the same. If I can ever look at you the same.”

“Will you leave me, now?” Margot asked quietly, pulling back a little.

“I don’t want to,” Alana replied, shoulders sagging in defeat. “Despite everything, I don’t want you to go. And I don’t think I could ever hurt Will like that. He’s been hurt enough.”

“We need to protect him,” Margot insisted, grazing her manicured thumbs over Alana’s cheekbones.

“He deserves better than this,” Alana answered, eyes hardening. “He deserves better than this mess you’ve created Margot.”

“I think you’ll find it was Will who created the mess when he murdered my brother,” Margot muttered, eyes down cast. “I just tried my best to clean it up.”

“You should have called the police the day he got here,” Alana argued, gritting her teeth. “God, he could have been spared so much pain. He could have gone home, Margot, he could have gone back to his father and been a normal teenager!”

“Do you honestly think I don’t consider that every day?” Margot laughed bitterly. “I know I should have called the police, I know. But I was terrified. I didn’t have the ability to think straight, you must understand that? I thought he would kill us both before any sort of help managed to arrive. Mason never let anything happen outside of his control.”

“I understand you were terrified Margot,” Alana replied stiffly. “But knowing what all of this brought Will to, knowing that Mason pushed him to snapping and that you dragged him along with all these lies; it makes it a little difficult to not wish you’d just called the fucking police.”

Margot hung her head, looking ashamed for the first time. “I’m sorry.”

Alana nearly laughed. “It’s not me you should be apologising to. It’s Will.”

“The whole world owes Will an apology,” Margot replied bitterly. “And I know he doesn’t want to hear mine.”

Alana didn’t reply then, lost for words. She simply let Margot crawl into her arms, burying her face in the crook of Alana’s neck and sobbing quietly whilst she stroked her glossy hair. She let her own tears fall as she gazed at the room around her, wondering how many nights Will had spent in this room crying himself to sleep. Wondering when he finally stopped crying because it brought no relief to him anymore. She wondered whether that was a bloodstain there on the floor boards she could see. It probably was.

She clutched Margot a little tighter.

Will found himself sat in Hannibal’s office the next morning, the pair of them seated across from each other in the Alpha’s oversized leather chairs. Hannibal had taken his usual pose, settled neatly back into his chair with his hands politely folded in his lap, one leg crossed over the other whilst his foot dangled before him and his face a map of calm, paper thin creases. Will studied him intently.

“How did it feel,” Hannibal asked softly, breaking the silence, “when you killed your mate?”

Will blinked.

Hannibal’s face remained unreadable and smooth.

“I... I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do,” Hannibal gently disagreed.

“Anger is the closest emotion to what I felt when I looked at Jasper and realised what he’d done,” Will answered carefully. “It was beyond any emotion I’ve ever felt.”

“And when you looked at him and realised you wanted to take his life?”

“I looked at him and knew he had to die; I knew it more clearly than I’ve ever known anything in my whole life,” Will swallowed. “I’d never been so sure of anything.”

“You did what felt natural, what felt right.”

“Killing Mason felt... just. It felt like the natural order of things,” Will confessed eyes boring a hole into Hannibal’s knee. “What else could I have done?”

“Nothing, Will,” Hannibal assured him. “Killing him was your response to all the torture he put you through, retribution for what he did to your son.”

“I felt powerful,” Will whispered. “I felt justified and in complete control.”

“Because you knew he had to die, at your hands and your hands alone. Certainty of what we know we must do always makes our actions feel justified.”

“I ripped his throat out,” Will murmured, “and I didn’t want to stop. I just kept going. I kept tearing and ripping at him until there was nothing left to do to him.”

Hannibal wanted to tell Will that there was always more to do. That there were infinite ways of displaying the bodies, that there was an abundance of body parts to extract. Organs, skin, bones, blood... there was a multitude of recipes for all these things.

He didn’t, of course. Will would recoil, stare at him and realise what he was. And Will could not know the full extent of Hannibal’s darkness, not yet. It would take years of work, Hannibal knew. Years of work of nourishing Will’s own darkness and healing the wounds Mason had left, filling the void that Eloi Graham and Jasper had left behind. Hannibal nearly grinned with excitement at the thought of it all; he would spend a lifetime fixing Will if he had to. Anything to see Will be whole, in ways he never had been before.

To see him truly, truly smile.

“Instincts are a powerful thing,” Hannibal mused, eyes sweeping over the depths of blue in Will’s irises. “We are governed by them more so than we like to admit.”

“Do you think that’s what made Mason what he was?” Will wondered, his voice dark. “Was it instinct for him to be so cruel to me? I can’t accept that it was instinct he was acting on when he killed Jasper.”

“The thought of a parent killing their child out of instinct seems impossible,” Hannibal replied. “But there are cases of it, plenty of them in fact. Mothers who believe they are left with no option but to take their child out of the world, that death is the only way to protect them. Infanticide is more common than any of us would like to admit.”

“Mason was not trying to protect Jasper,” Will muttered, fingers twitching on the arms of his chair. “He killed him because he acted impulsively, like he always did. He did things to get what he wanted, and wanting Jasper to stop crying apparently made it acceptable to kill him.”

“He took everything for granted,” Hannibal sighed. “A twisted mind, indeed. You were disposable, as was Jasper. Killing his child out of petulant, immature anger would not have bothered him. You could have always given him another child, another heir.”

“I don’t know what he expected. I don’t understand how he could have possibly thought I could keep going,” Will gritted out. “If I hadn’t killed him, I would have killed myself. I couldn’t have gone through another heat.”

“Do you ever wish you could see Mason again, to ask him why? To ask him anything, tell him anything?”

“I don’t need to know why he raped me or beat me. I don’t need to know why he bought a fourteen year old boy from a trafficking ring. I don’t need to know why he did any of it,” Will muttered. “And if I ever saw him again, I would tell him to go back to hell, where he belongs.”

“Do you think that is where your mate is now, Will? In Hell?”

Will went quiet once more, his hands trembling slightly more than they usually did. His antidepressants truly were an awful thing, Hannibal decided.

“No?” Hannibal mused, watching the Omega intently, eyes drinking in the movement of Will’s pale throat convulsing as he swallowed.

“He’s in my head. In my bones and in my blood,” Will breathed out. “He exists in my nightmares. I don’t think I’ll ever be free from him.”

“I can tell you that you are wrong, but I doubt you would find that the slightest bit comforting,” Hannibal replied gently. “He will continue to slip away from you, piece by piece, until he’s a fragment of a shadow in the very deepest part of your mind, nothing more than a spectre. Look at how much you’ve shaken him off already; your skin is free from his bonding bite and you have no scar at the back of your neck anymore. You bravely parted with Jasper and set him free in the only way you felt possible. You’ve experienced a heat without him and are about to enter into the outside world, away from Port Haven. He has no place in your mind anymore Will.”

“One day,” Will mumbled, casting his gaze away to the sunlight streaming in through the gaps of the curtains, “I hope I’ll wake up and I won’t feel the urge to peel my own skin from my bones to rid myself of his touch. One day I’ll wake up and I won’t feel sick to my stomach.”

“Do you ever feel guilt for his death?” Hannibal wondered.

Will slowly shook his head. “No. I feel no remorse or guilt at all for killing him and that terrifies me; it makes me wonder what sort of monster I am really am.”

“You are not a monster Will.”

Benedict Davies’ softly smiling face appeared in his mind, leaning against the book shelf and regarding him curiously. Monsters are everywhere, Will. Hiding behind smiles and suits and good credit scores, behind well kept lawns and dry cleaning bills. You just have to look a little further and the cracks start to show. But you already know that, don’t you?

Will thought of the pure adoration in Hannibal’s eyes when he’d pushed the knife into his own neck on the boat. He thought of the way Hannibal practically purred as he described to Will how he could harm their theoretical child in an attempt to get Will to lash out. He thought of the way Hannibal’s jaw twitched when other Alphas even looked at Will , the way his smile was too tight and Will could see the cogs turning behind his eyes. He thought of Hannibal’s complete serenity and calmness at Will’s confession to killing Mason, agreeing that gutting and skinning him was a completely reasonable reaction. He thought of well controlled reactions and carefully calculated words and timed movements, like every single minute detail in Hannibal’s life was tuned to perfection. Unnaturally so.

“What would you know of monsters, Hannibal?”

Hannibal smiled. “Psychiatry opens many doors to many places and many people. Some of those people and some of those places are not pleasant or safe, Will.”

“But I’m not one of them?”

“You are charming and fascinating and you have a beautiful soul,” Hannibal told him sincerely, eyes shining. “I cherish you. But you are not safe, Will. You are too powerful, too strong to be safe.”

“I want to be safe,” Will rasped, his throat hoarse.

“Safety can be found in other places other than the mundane and tedious.”

“After spending the last few years not knowing whether I would have my neck broken or whether I would be gutted for simply looking the wrong way, the mundane seems rather appealing Hannibal. Beautiful, even.”

“You have mundane now, Will,” Hannibal pointed out. “You sleep in the same room every night, are woken up at the same time every day by the same faces and fed the same thing for breakfast. You have group therapy every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning and on Tuesday and Thursday mornings you have therapy with Alana, as well as sessions with her on Wednesday afternoons. You are permitted four hours in the day room and recreational room every day in between the hours when you are not sat in the same dining hall and therapy room. You walk up the same path every time you wander in the gardens and say hello to the same nurses every evening and every morning when you queue up to receive your medication. Tell me; are you content with this mundane at Port Haven?”

Will blinked, shocked. “I...”

“Do you enjoy looking at the same four walls of your room every day? The same meals each week, the same screams in the night from the Omegas around you. The same time for the same thing, over and over, for the rest of your life if Alana had her way.”

“You know I want to leave,” Will croaked weakly, frowning. “You know I said I want to stay with you after I’m discharged, why are you...”

“I am simply trying to point out to you that you can feel whole without a routine similar to that of a prison inmate, Will. You are free to go wherever you wish and do whatever pleases you when you come to stay with me,” Hannibal informed him. “I do not want you to be alarmed when you are discharged, as you may find the lack of routine outside of Port Haven difficult to adjust to.”

“I’ll be fine,” Will smiled faintly. “I’ll still have some routine. I’m still legally required to go to therapy four times a week with Alana on the terms of my discharge. I’ll find something to fill my days with outside of that, before I enrol at college.”

“I have no doubt that you will. I just hope that the change will not be distressing. You have gone from one extreme environment to the next. Port Haven may not have been the same sort of prison that room in Muskrat Farm was, but you still view it as constricting, don’t you?”

Will nodded, chewing his lip. “I’ll be fine Hannibal. How could I not? I’ll get to be with you every day.”

Hannibal’s smile made his bones feel like butter. “Every day.”

Will seemed to decide that their therapy was over then, Hannibal noted with amusement, as the Omega picked himself up out of his chair and settled himself in Hannibal’s lap with his lips brushing along his cheekbone.

“One day I’ll cut my face in half on these cheekbones,” Will mused airily, lips pressing over bone. “They’re as sharp as knives.”

“I’ll have to make sure you are careful then, won’t I?” Hannibal smirked, gripping Will’s waist as he breathed him in deeply.

Will’s approaching heat made him smell even more delightful than ever. Like honey and magnolias and sunsets. It made Hannibal’s heart flutter, his pupils dilate and his mouth water. He yearned for Will’s heat to come quicker, becoming sick of only being able to imagine it. He wanted Will’s feverish warmth on his tongue and to sink into the pores of his skin. He wanted to bury himself in the Omega’s desperate need and to have every single one of his senses filled with Will. It would be beautiful, in every way possible.

He pulled back from Will’s warmth, cupping his face in his large hands and searching his stormy blue eyes. “This will be the last time I see you for our ‘conversations’.”

Will froze. “What?”

“I decided that it would be best for me to stop seeing you in a professional manor until you are definitely discharged from Port Haven,” Hannibal rumbled. “I know I have never been your therapist or doctor or anything official. But Alana still holds me accountable as someone in a position of trust, and she will use it against me when she discovers the exact nature of our relationship.”

“But... oh. If you stop seeing me now for our ‘conversations’, she doesn’t really have any right to accuse you of taking advantage of me. If you stop seeing me like this you can say our relationship only really began after you stopped giving me therapy.”

“Yes,” Hannibal answered in his accented purr. “You will come to stay with me and eventually the true nature of our relationship will become apparent to her, but at that point she cannot complain I have done anything wrong, from a professional point of view. I stopped being your therapist before our relationship began, as far as she will ever know.”

“You,” Will murmured in between kissing Hannibal’s jaw, “are extremely manipulative.”

Hiding behind smiles and suits and good credit scores, behind well kept lawns and dry cleaning bills.

Hannibal’s teeth sank softly into Will’s earlobe and he gasped, arching forwards in the Alpha’s lap. “You may call it what you wish Will, but I am merely doing what I have promised you. I told you I would take care of you, no matter what, and I intend to do exactly that.”

“I know,” Will breathed out, eyes slipping shut. “Thank you Hannibal.”

Monsters are everywhere, Will.

Chapter Text

Will was unsure if he was dreaming or not when he felt the small scratch against the delicate skin of his left inner elbow. Then his eyes fluttered open and he sucked in the scent of another, presumably the figure hovering over him in the darkness of his room. Will let out a small whimper before a hand clamped down on his mouth, eyes bulging in terror.

“Hush, it’s alright,” the figure murmured. “It’s just me, Benedict.”

Will jerked away, his head spinning. “What did you just inject me with?!”

“Keep your voice down,” Benedict snapped, his voice sending shudders down Will’s spine. “It was just a mild sedative. You were screaming in your sleep.”

“Only nurses... supposed to do that,” Will slurred, finding himself falling back against his pillow and blinking at the ceiling. “Not allowed.”

“Just be quiet Will,” Benedict sighed. “Everything is fine.”

Will tried to lift his arms but a blackness was creeping in at the centre of his vision and his arms felt like led, as if his veins had been filled with stone and his muscles frozen like ice. He tried to yell, but his voice box felt as though it had been slashed to pieces, nothing but a trembling sigh escaping his parted lips. A hand carded through his hair, lingering against his skull almost tenderly.

“Such a shame, what happened to you,” Benedict murmured. “The price we could have fetched for you if that animal hadn’t been so careless with you.”

Will just blinked, his mind growing increasingly fuzzy. He felt arms slide underneath him, fingers fastening in a secure grip on his pyjamas and then he was being lifted, hoisted off the bed as if he weighed nothing at all. He watched as his bedroom disappeared from sight and he was faced with the underside of Benedict’s chin and the ceiling of Port Haven’s dormitories, passing through corridors and towards the fire exit stairs.

“Although, it’s not as if your new Alpha is paying next to nothing for you, like he should be doing,” Benedict continued to murmur softly. “He’s paying double what Verger paid for you, God only knows why. He was quite adamant that he had you and only you.”

The fire exit door opened swiftly and the cold February air hit Will instantly, his skin prickling into goose bumps at the bitterness. Benedict continued to ramble on gently above him.

“I would have had you for my own Omega, if Verger hadn’t offered up such a good price for you the first time round. Do you remember that, Will? When we met for the first time all those years ago? I think you’re more beautiful now than you were then.”

Will grappled with his consciousness as he was gently slid into the trunk of a car, head lolling against Benedict’s arm. He looked up at the Beta as he stood surveying Will for a moment, his face completely blank.

“Sleep tight, Will.”

The trunk closed and Will’s hold slipped, the drugs in his system lulling him into an easy darkness.

Hannibal waited with his hands clasped behind his back as he stood in the freezing warehouse, thankful for how warm and thick his coat and gloves were. He tried not to think of the coldness that felt so similar, the bitter temperatures that had bitten his skin as a child in Lithuania.

Gabriel Brandt’s car headlights lit up the inky darkness outside and Hannibal tensed as he heard the engine stop and silence descend upon the abandoned land. He’d parked his own car far away, walking the rest of the distance to the warehouse. A gentle click outside notified him of the driver’s door opening and then softly shutting, footsteps crunching over the gravel. Hannibal fixed his face into a smooth, unreadable mask when he saw Gabriel’s silhouette appear in the doorway of the warehouse.

“Good evening, Mr. Jamieson.”

“Hello, Mr. Brandt.”

The silence was stifling.

Gabriel stepped forwards, closer into the warehouse that was lit by a single bulb dangling low from one of the beams above their heads. Gabriel looked similar to Gregory, but clearly not enough for Will to be alarmed and mention to Hannibal that Gregory’s look alike was now working as an orderly in Port Haven. Although, Hannibal mused, even if Will had noticed the similarity he probably wouldn’t have said anything to Hannibal. He’d try and pass it off as not wanting to cause Hannibal any worry.

“I’d like to make this as quick as possible, Mr. Jamieson,” Gabriel uttered, breaking the silence. “I require to see proof of the money you have offered for the Omega.”

Hannibal nodded, slotting his hand into the breast of his coat o retrieve the thick envelope nestled in the inner pocket there. Gabriel stepped forwards and Hannibal offered him the envelope. The beta accepted it and glanced briefly at Hannibal before opening the enveloped and swiftly counting the wads of bills in there, as if it was as natural to him as breathing. When he’d finished, he handed it back to Hannibal and nodded curtly.

“Thank you, Mr. Jamieson. I’ll go and retrieve the Omega for you, if you’d like to just wait here,” Gabriel said softly, but his jaw was clenched tightly.

“Of course.”

Hannibal waited until Gabriel was a few feet ahead of him before heading out of the warehouse, holding his breath as he moved forwards, his footsteps silent. Betas had poor hearing anyway, Hannibal reminded himself. The other man didn’t notice him as he walked to the trunk and opened it.

Hannibal struck then, hands smoothly reaching out and strangling Gabriel in a chokehold with nothing but a soft grunt and an exhale of breath.

He dropped at Hannibal’s feet with a heavy thump as his dead weight hit the ground. Will was curled in on himself inside of the trunk, completely unconscious and oblivious to it all. Hannibal would have liked to have stayed and admired his peaceful, sleeping state all night but he had to move quickly before the Omega’s sedative wore off. No doubt Gabriel had given Will a dose high enough to render a rhinoceros unconscious, but Hannibal wasn’t going to take any risks.

Checking Gabriel’s pulse and finding it beating away steadily, he moved Gabriel into the warehouse and then lifted Will from the trunk and began the walk to his car. It took him a little longer than he would have liked, but he couldn’t help but glance around every few minutes and pause to listen for any other signs of life. Hannibal gently lowered Will into the back seat of the Bentley and laid a blanket out over his body, one he’d bought in preparation for Will’s heat. Nesting blankets and throws and pillows were useful for Omegas in heat, and although Hannibal knew Will had never had the chance to properly nest before, it was important he started practicing the behaviour in order to make his heats a little easier for himself. With Will safely stowed away in the locked car, Hannibal dressed himself in his plastic suit and made his way back to the warehouse. He picked Gabriel up and slung him over his shoulder, the familiar heavy weight of a body something he’d grown used to after all these years. He knew people stared at the unusual bulk of muscle he bore for someone who spent their days sat conducting therapy and hosting dinner parties, but never found himself having to explain the extra muscles. Hannibal simply let them put it down to a trait of being a thoroughbred Alpha.

The drive back to his home in Baltimore was exhilarating, with Will slumbering in his back seat and Gabriel unconscious and stowed in his trunk, encased in layers of plastic that would prevent any form of evidence making a home in his car.

When he arrived back at the house, he parked in the garage and brought Will inside first, laying the Omega out on the sofa in his living room. He then hoisted Gabriel in, carrying him straight to the pantry and into the basement. He unhooked the shackles from the bar across the ceiling, fastening the manacles around each of Gabriel’s wrists and then the larger one around his neck. The Beta stirred slightly as he was forced into a standing position when Hannibal secured his ankles in place into the chains on the floor, his eyelids fluttering. Hannibal had him blindfolded and gagged before he could wake up properly. He double checked the fastenings once more until he was satisfied there was no way Gabriel could move, administering a large dose of sedative just to be sure – not enough to spoil the meat, however. The Beta lolled in his chains, gurgling softly as Hannibal switched off the lights and headed back upstairs.

He would take his time, killing Gabriel.

The sight of Will asleep in his living room made Hannibal release a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. His thick, dark curls were a messy halo around his head, his chest rising and falling gently as he slept.

Hannibal gave in to the urge to wrap himself around him.

He went to the Omega and carefully slotted himself behind the boy, moving him as if he may break. He wrapped his arms around Will, burying his face into the nape of his neck and sucking in a greedy lungful of his scent. It was tainted with sedatives and the smell of Gabriel Brandt, but it was undoubtedly Will’s smell. It was rapidly becoming the only scent Hannibal found soothing, far more comforting than the smell of blood or fear or herbs and spices. He craved it as if he was almost developing a dependence on the Omega’s scent and Hannibal found himself not caring in the slightest.

Normally his attachment to another would be startling and alarming. He held everyone at arm’s length, from the faces he saw every couple of months at the opera to Alana Bloom, whom he saw at least once a week and considered to be one of his closest friends. And he wasn’t simply just attached to Will either; he was completely captivated. Hannibal was not quite ready to yet address the whispering voices that sang of love, despite knowing deep down that Will had moved in and set up camp in his frozen, barren heart. The Omega occupied every space possible within Hannibal, and he gladly gave up his everything to the boy. Surrendered it, even; it was well and truly Will’s.

Will’s upcoming heat was becoming more and more apparent. Hannibal had noticed the small changes over the past few weeks, the way Will seemed slightly dazed and lacking in energy. He’d been more open with Alana, desperately searching for comfort and emotional connectivity. When they’d been alone, he’d reached for Hannibal more often than usual, subconsciously letting his hands linger against the Alpha. He had not seen Will for a few days now, both of them agreeing to forgo each other’s company until Will was discharged as agreed.

He’d missed the Omega intensely.

Will sighed in his drug induced slumber, eyes rolling behind the papery skin of his eyelids. Hannibal brushed his lips over the bridge of his nose, pressing chaste kisses over fluttering eye lashes.

Will eventually stirred and Hannibal withdrew, getting to his feet and reaching into his pocket for the cell phone.

“Ha... Hannibal?” Will slurred, eyeballs rolling in their sockets and his breathtaking face twisting in pain. “What...?”

Hannibal stooped down, checking Will’s pulse and feeling his forehead for a temperature. “It’s alright Will. Do you know where you are?”

“Your house,” he rasped, blinking groggily. “My head hurts.”

Hannibal sighed softly, pressing a kiss to his curls. “Do you remember what happened?”

“I...” Will struggled to sit up, shaking hands clinging to Hannibal desperately. “The new orderly, Benedict.”

Hannibal almost rolled his eyes at Gabriel Brandt’s fake name. “I need you to try your best to remember what happened Will.”

Will swallowed, his face grim. “I woke up and he was in my room, at Port Haven. He... oh.”

Will reached down and tugged up the sleeve of his pyjama top, frowning at the small, bruised purple dot where he’d been injected. “Benedict drugged me. He started talking to me about some new Alpha that was going to...”

The Omega’s voice trailed off and Hannibal’s nostrils flared at the creeping odour of fear that began to tinge Will. Will paled, gripping the fabric of his soft cotton shirt tightly, his next inhale of breath getting stuck somewhere in his throat as his eyes became glassy. “Fuck.”

Hannibal slid his hands into Will’s hair keeping their eyes locked together. “It’s alright Will, just breathe. I’m here, nothing bad is going to happen to you.”

“They came back for me,” Will choked. “I was so stupid, how could I have thought they wouldn’t come for - ”

“Will, please. Focus on your breathing. You’re safe now, I promise you,” Hannibal hushed him, willing his pheromones to soothe him.

Will pulled Hannibal closer to him. “Why am I here, Hannibal?”

“You turned up at my door about fifteen minutes ago,” Hannibal lied, stroking Will’s hair as he clung to him. “You were out of breath and were clearly drugged. You were incoherent, babbling about a man that had kidnapped you and was going to sell you again. You somehow managed to answer a few of my questions before you passed out. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up again.”

“I don’t remember,” Will murmured, his breath shuddering. “I don’t remember anything after Benedict got me into his car.”

Hannibal smiled internally. “I fear that the trafficking ring somehow managed to track you down again. Benedict was most likely reclaiming you to sell you on again in another auction.”

Will felt like an ice sculpture in his arms, like one of the ornate works of art Hannibal sometimes liked to decorate his dinner parties with. He idly wondered whether he’d be able to create his own ice carving of the Omega and put it on display for one of their shared dinners.

“I’m going to call Alana and the police,” Hannibal murmured. “It’s going to be ok Will, I promise. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Will made a sort of whimpering noise, clearly lost in his head as his mind reeled with memories of god knows what, his scent pungent with sheer terror.

Sighing, Hannibal rang Alana.

“Hannibal!” Alana all but yelled down the phone. “Oh god, please tell me he’s with you!”

“Please Alana, slow down,” Hannibal drawled, pinching his nose. “Will turned up at my door about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Shit,” Alana cursed, noises sounding heavily in the background. “I didn’t think his sleep walking was going to get this bad - ”

“Will was not sleep walking Alana,” Hannibal cut her off sharply. “He’s been drugged. By one of your members of staff, an orderly named Benedict?”

Alana swallowed audibly. “I’m coming over.”

“That will not be necessary,” Hannibal replied curtly. “I will drive Will to Port Haven now. In the meantime you should call the police and tell them your patient was kidnapped and drugged by a man working for an Omega trafficking ring posing to be one of your staff. Will managed to divulge that much information to me, at least.”

“What?” Alana hissed down the line.

“Will passed out shortly after arriving at my house, but he managed to tell me that Benedict kidnapped him and told Will he’d be selling him to another Alpha,” Hannibal muttered, getting to his feet. “Hopefully Will can explain more when we arrive back to Port Haven and the police can make a statement.”

Hannibal hung up and felt his heart clench at the sight of Will. He was on the edge of hyperventilation, his fingernails digging so tightly into the palms of his sweating hands Hannibal suspected they were going to break the skin soon if he continued. The Omega was like a rag doll in his arms when he lifted him to his feet and attempted to guide him to the front door. Will swayed, his legs buckling beneath him like a new born calf, and his hands flew out to cling to Hannibal’s shirt. He looked as if he might vomit.

“Hannibal,” Will whispered, his voice barely there. “Hannibal, please.”

Hannibal lifted him into his arms and carried him. “I’ve got you, mylimasis.”

“Don’t let them,” Will moaned quietly into his neck. “Please don’t let them take me back, I can’t, I can’t do it again!”

“Will,” Hannibal murmured firmly as he strapped the Omega into the passenger seat. “Nobody is ever going to take you away from me, do you understand?”

Will’s eyes found his, wide and pleading and terrified. “Do you promise?”

“I swear,” Hannibal growled gently, his eyes hard like flint. “I won’t allow anyone to ever take you again.”

“I don’t to get sent to another auction,” Will sobbed, inconsolable.

“You’re not going to be bought again Will,” Hannibal insisted. “You’re mine, you know that. I will not let anything or anyone separate us.”

Will weakly nodded, swallowing. Hannibal moved around to climb into the driver’s seat and with a deep breath, began the drive back to Port Haven.

“Will!”

Alana’s arms drew the Omega in close and tight, stiffening when Will bore his teeth and snarled at her, his eyes wild and blazing. Will flinched out of her arms and withdrew into Hannibal’s solid chest, needing to feel the heat and presence of the doctor. He clung to Hannibal’s coat as his chest heaved.

“Will?” Alana murmured softly, cautiously stepping forwards. “It’s alright, it’s just me. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that.”

“This,” Will hissed viciously, “is your fucking fault.”

Alana looked as if Will had just threatened to break her legs. “Please, Will, I know you’re angry and confused but - ”

Will stepped away from Hannibal, glowering at the foyer filled with police officers warily watching him. “How the fuck did you manage to hire an orderly who was part of a trafficking ring, Alana? The same fucking person who sold me to Mason!”

Alana recoiled, her face ashen. “Will, you have no idea how sorry I am about all of this. But we need to get you somewhere quieter right now so you can talk to the police and have one of the nurses check you over.”

“Your office,” Will spat, walking straight past her without a second glance to the hall beyond the reception foyer.

Alana, Hannibal and two of the officers warily followed the Omega.

One of the offices, a female Beta, caught Alana’s shoulder. “Is he stable enough for this right now?”

Will rounded on them, his eyes blazing with a fear fuelled, adrenaline soaked rage. “I’m not fucking deaf. And I am completely capable of answering your questions.”

No one uttered another word until they were all seated in Alana’s office, Hannibal dragging his chair over to Will’s and trying his hardest not to glare at Alana and the two officers.

The other officer, a male Alpha, sighed and smoothed his hands over the report book. “Well, let’s start from the beginning. Will, in your own time, please tell us what happened.”

Will fixed his thunderous gaze on Alana, the stormy seas in his eyes crashing violently as he stared her out. “The orderly working here called Benedict Davies snuck into my bedroom and drugged me. He injected me with something and then dragged me out of my room. I couldn’t move or speak, I have no idea what it was that he injected me with. He was saying things about how much money my new Alpha was paying for me, despite what Mason did to me. I remember him saying... saying he would have had me for himself if Mason hadn’t paid so much money for me the first time around. ‘You’re more beautiful now than you were then’, he said to me.”

Will sucked in a deep breath, trying his hardest to fill his lungs with as much of Hannibal’s calming scent as possible. The Alpha officer nodded encouragingly at him.

“He carried me out of the fire escape and put me in the trunk of his car. I don’t remember anything after that, I blacked out. I woke up at Hannibal’s house.”

The officer glanced at Hannibal. “I’m sorry, I never caught your name, Mr...?”

“Dr. Lecter,” Hannibal provided him smoothly. “Will and I have not seen each other since our last and final therapy session together. I acted as a secondary, unofficial doctor of sorts for him; Dr. Bloom asked me to help with Will’s case several months ago. I stepped back from that role since Will is due to be discharged from Port Haven soon.”

“And how did Will manage to find himself in your home?”

“I woke up to hear my door bell ringing and someone knocking on my door. Will was on my door step, clearly high and incoherently rambling about a man kidnapping him to sell him to a new Alpha. I can only surmise that somehow Will managed to escape from whoever took him and found his way to my home in his delusional state.”

“Dr. Bloom tells me you’re prone to sleep walking,” the officer pointed out. “How do you know this wasn’t a night terror and you managed to sleep walk your way to Dr. Lecter’s house?”

“Because there is a fucking injection site in my arm and I know when I’m awake and when I’m not,” Will snarled. “Benedict Davies is missing and you’re going to find footage on the security cameras of him unlocking my bedroom door and dragging me out into a car.”

“We have an officer going over the security tapes as we speak, they began surveying the tapes as soon as we got here,” the Beta officer replied calmly, regarding Will with a level gaze. “Could you describe Benedict’s car? Anything about him that might help us?”

“I have no idea what his car looked like other than the inside of his trunk,” Will muttered. “I never spoke to him much, he was always on the night shift. The only interaction we had was when I’d wake up from sleep walking and he used to make sure I went back to my room.”

“And what did the two you speak about?”

“He used to bring up my... disappearance. He made it quite obvious he’d looked me up before he started working here. He was just strange, all round.”

“I think it’s quite obvious what’s happened here,” Hannibal quipped, looking at Alana with feigned disgust. “Benedict has worked here as an orderly in an attempt to get closer to Will, familiarise himself with the security system and then simply took him. It’s a miracle Will is safe, Dr. Bloom.”

Alana winced. “Hannibal, I had a background check run on him. I have background checks ran on all my staff. He had a pristine record and impressive qualifications that made him entirely appropriate for the job. I had no way of knowing this would happen!”

“Listen,” the Alpha officer cut in, eyes weary. “I think the best thing to do right now would be for us to finish up watching the security footage, run a patrol of the grounds and the building for any suspicious activity or clues and then pass this on to the FBI. Trafficking rings are, unsurprisingly, the business of law enforcement higher up than Baltimore state police officers. Especially one of this magnitude and the individuals involved. They’ll be concerned that Will was taken again.”

“I imagine you’ll be stationing officers to watch the premises,” Hannibal deadpanned, maintaining his bristled, displeased appearance. “It would seem foolish not to, considering how powerful these people are. If they can swoop in and take Will as easily as they did tonight under the normal security measures Dr. Bloom has in place, I think it would be wise to have some extra security.”

“Of course, Dr. Lecter,” the Alpha officer agreed. “We’ll have some of our officers stationed here until the FBI decides how to handle this.”

Will watched them all talking around him, not taking any of it in. He felt their eyes on him, watched them moving, but none of it registered.

It wasn’t until he felt the pads of two firm but gentle fingers pressing into the pulse of his neck that he was dragged back to what was happening in Alana’s office. Hannibal was stood over him, fingers against his neck whilst he stared intently at the face of his sleek watch on his wrist.

“What are you doing?” Will rasped.

“Checking your vitals,” Hannibal murmured. “Alana and I agreed you probably wouldn’t appreciate a nurse fussing over you right now.”
Will just blinked and stared at Alana. Alana looked away, her eyes filled with tears as she hugged herself.

“Did you tell Margot what happened?” Will asked bluntly.

“I told her I had to come to Port Haven for a patient emergency,” Alana sighed, briefly looking over at Will. “I need to call her and tell her what happened.”

“Don’t let her come here,” Will told the Beta sharply. “I don’t want her here, not now. I don’t feel up to dealing with her.”

“Of course Will,” Alana conceded, watching Hannibal’s fingers on Will’s neck.

The Alpha pulled his hand away. “Your pulse is a little slow, but not alarmingly so. Whatever Benedict gave you will most likely wear off within the next twenty four hours. I need to check your temperature and your respiratory rate and a blood test will most likely tell us what drugs he gave you.”

Will just nodded as Hannibal smoothly checked him over, humming to himself as his feather light touches drifted over Will. He gritted his teeth when he felt the needle sliding into his skin to draw his blood, looking pointedly at Alana.

“Will,” Alana began when she felt his glare on her again, “please try to understand I’m just as confused as you are.”

“But I’m not confused,” Will snapped. “It’s quite clear what’s happened. I was kidnapped by some criminal working for a trafficking ring and nearly sold off to some sick Alpha again. Because you hired him. All you’ve done for the whole eight months I’ve been here is tell me I’m safe, Alana. I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve told me that this is the best place for me to be and look at how fucking wrong you were. How could you let this happen?”

“These are powerful people we’re dealing with Will,” Hannibal interjected. “It would have been easy for them to create a fake persona, steal an identity, whatever it took. They have the resources to infiltrate any hospital.”

“That doesn’t make this ok,” Will seethed, clenching his fists. “I blacked out! I don’t know what happened in between leaving Port Haven and waking up at Hannibal’s house! They could have done anything to me!”

Alana’s eyes widened. “Are you in pain anywhere? I’ll have a full physical examination done for you Will, including a rape kit if you - ”

“Don’t,” Will snarled. “Just stop Alana. I’m not in pain and I’m not letting anyone do a fucking rape kit on me.”

Hannibal was internally grinning like the Cheshire cat. Will was furious at Alana, which only worked in his favour; it would push Will straight into Hannibal’s arms. Alana didn’t have a leg to stand on after this.

“I have to admit Alana,” Hannibal sighed, “even if you could never have known who Benedict – if that’s really even his name – was, surely your security measures should have been tighter. He virtually walked out of here with Will in his arms and no one knew about it.”

Alana took a deep breath, as if she was trying not to scream. Hannibal almost felt sorry for her; almost. “The security cameras were all switched off. The officers watching the footage couldn’t find anything on the tapes after the start of Benedict’s shift. He deleted it all, turned the cameras off. The security guard here had no reason to follow Benedict on his night round of the building. It wasn’t until Benedict didn’t come back he realised anything was wrong and he contacted me.”

“Why did he have access to Will’s room? It was locked,” Hannibal dryly pointed out.

“All the night staff nurses and orderlies have access to patient bedrooms,” Alana replied weakly. “Hannibal, Will, you can’t begin to imagine how sorry I am about all of this.”

Will got to his feet. “I don’t care how sorry you are. As far as I’m concerned, you may as well have helped him carry me to his car. I could be getting tied up in some random Alpha’s bed right now Alana!”

“Will - ”

“No!” the Omega snarled. “I am sick to death of the way you’ve treated me Alana! You float about here like it’s paradise on fucking Earth and like I should want to stay here! You’re so naive to think I was ever going to be safe at Port Haven! I swear to God, I have never looked forwards to anything as much as I’ve looked forwards to the day I’m discharged from here.”

“You’re over exhausted Will, you’re not thinking straight,” Alana attempted to placate him, stepping forwards. “You’re upset and that’s completely understandable, but I think we should talk about this in the morning.”

Will’s face was blank. “I want to fucking hit you right now, Alana.”

Hannibal nearly choked on his breath. It was glorious, watching this side of Will come to life. His complete outrage and fiery temper that twisted so delightfully in the dark depths of his mind, snarling and pacing behind his quietly furious exterior. He wanted so badly to watch the Omega fly off the handle, to set his teeth in Alana’s neck and cease her condescending nonsense. He marvelled at their difference; whereas Hannibal was calculated and calm and emotionless in his darkness and violence, Will was as scorching as the sun. He was like wild fire, burning and compassionate. It was the smallest insight Hannibal currently had into what it must have been like when Will killed Mason.

“I hate it here,” Will spat. “I hate everything about this place. What will it take for you to stop handling me like I’m glass?”

“I have only ever done what I deemed appropriate for your mental stability Will,” Alana answered back, her expression sour. “You have to understand, as a doctor and your friend, I’ve only ever had your best interests at heart. I’ve done as much as I can to try and help you recover.”

Will scoffed, and it was scathing. “The only thing you ever did to help me was introduce me to Hannibal. You’re a shitty psychiatrist Alana, for all your care and your fucking naivety. If I hadn’t gotten away tonight, do you know what could have happened to me?”

“I don’t want to think about what harm could have come to you, Will. I’m just so thankful you’re back and you’re unharmed,” Alana pleaded, her eyes wide.

“No; let’s think about it,” Will seethed. “Let’s think about the fact I could have been shipped off to the other end of the country or even to a different country. Let’s think about the fact I could be getting raped right now or having the shit beaten out of me. Do you know what they do to Omegas like me, Alana? The ones that get put back into circulation after their first buyer either dies or doesn’t want them anymore?”

Alana opened her mouth but Will cut her off.

“Mason told me. He loved to threaten me with it, loved to tell me what would happen if he got bored of me and sent me back to auction,” Will hissed. “Omegas like me, we get bought by Alphas who either want fucking brood mares or Omegas to kill.”

Alana reached out a fumbling hand for him. “Please Will. Please just try to calm down.”

“I was never safe here,” Will growled. “Ever.”

Neither Alana or Hannibal moved to stop him when he stormed out of Alana’s office, the door slamming behind him. Alana looked as if she might cry. Hannibal was simply focusing his efforts on not grinning like an idiot at the way the night had unfolded. It couldn’t have gone any better.

Chapter Text

Time passed in a blur for Will after that night. He found himself going through the motions of life on autopilot, blinking and waking up to find days upon days had passed. He felt like his waking life was an endless night of fevered dreams and sleep walking. He blinked and found himself with his GED certificate in his hands and night classes over. He blinked and his bags were packed and he was signing his papers for his discharge from Port Haven. He blinked and found himself hanging his measly collection of clothing in the closet next to Hannibal’s impeccable suits.

“I feel like I’m losing time,” Will found himself murmuring.

Hannibal looked up from his tablet, hand half paused as he reached for his coffee. “For how long?”

“Since the night Benedict took me from Port Haven.”

Hannibal lifted his mug to his mouth slowly and drank. “Have you been discussing this with Alana?”

Will’s jaw clenched and he looked down. “You know I haven’t. I know that the two of you discuss my therapy still.”

“Alana is slowly coming to the conclusion that therapy with you is futile and she should refer you to another therapist,” Hannibal informed him. “She says you’ve resorted to your previous behaviour, that you only provide answers she wants to hear and are otherwise mute.”

“I don’t want to have therapy with her anymore,” Will admitted weakly. “I never have.”

“Then I’ll prompt her into a referral,” Hannibal conceded. “I could always suggest some therapists I know to her, if you like?”

“I just wish... I know it’s stupid but I just wish that if I have to have any sort of therapy it could be with you,” Will sighed, rubbing his temples.

“You know that isn’t possible Will,” Hannibal reminded him gently. “The terms of your discharge from Port Haven were that you must continue with therapy. I cannot be approved of as your therapist, not when we are living together and quite clearly in a relationship.”

Will squirmed in his seat. “I feel like I’m going to be in therapy for the rest of my life.”

Hannibal smoothed a broad palmed hand over Will’s fingers as they nervously picked at the skin around his nails. “I know you hate it, mylimasis. But you’d be amazed at how different it can be if you find a therapist who you can form a strong relationship with.”

“I have a strong relationship with you,” Will grumbled, threading their fingers together.

“And you also spend your nights in my bed,” Hannibal grinned wickedly. “Not something social services or the Omega Psychiatric Institute of Baltimore would approve of.”

Will sighed, getting up from his stool and going to Hannibal, needing to inhale the Alpha’s scent and feel solid heat and muscle under his hands. Hannibal welcomed the embrace, wrapping his arms around the Omega and kissing his forehead.

“Your upcoming heat is likely a factor as well, Will,” Hannibal reminded him. “Heats affect your mental capacity as much as your physical capacity.”

“I know,” Will muttered, hiding his face in Hannibal’s neck. “Can you come and lay down with me? I feel drained this morning, I’m sorry.”

“Of course darling,” Hannibal assured him, shifting from his seat.

A few minutes later found Will curled in Hannibal’s bed, resting with his head on the doctor’s chest as he ran his hands through his hair and rubbed soothing circles over his back.

“I’m sorry I’m so needy,” Will mumbled, keeping his eyes firmly shut. “It must get on your nerves so much.”

“Far from it,” Hannibal disagreed. “I enjoy being able to do small things like this for you. You’re perfectly within your rights to have someone treat you with care, Will.”

“I’m just still too used to the way Mason was,” Will sighed. “I keep expecting you to start acting like him.”

“Never,” Hannibal immediately replied, frowning. “Never would I do anything to hurt you Will. It makes my blood boil to think of the way he treated you.”

“What would you have done?” Will wondered aloud, growing sleepy. “If you’d known me when Mason owned me?”

“I most definitely would have taken you away from him. I would have killed him for what he did to you,” Hannibal answered honestly.

Will stayed quiet, listening to the strong thump of Hannibal’s heart beat in his chest. He traced faint patterns against Hannibal’s shirt, staring absentmindedly at the wall ahead of him. “I feel like it should bother me that you so openly admit you would have killed Mason. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

“Because you got there before anyone else could,” Hannibal murmured. “I suppose it only fair that you were the one who got to decide his fate.”

“For a therapist you say some extremely immoral and concerning things Hannibal,” Will softly chided. “You kept mine and Margot’s secret, you never breathed a word to the FBI about what really happened to Mason... you completely violated the line between the therapist and patient relationship; bearing in mind I was still a minor at that point too.”

“That’s all true,” Hannibal agreed. “And yet here you are.”

“I find myself caring less and less every day about which laws dictate right and wrong, evil and good,” Will admitted. “I can’t bring myself to care about my own moral compass being completely broken.”

“It’s not broken Will. You decide your own rights and wrongs based on your deepest, rawest emotions,” Hannibal corrected him. “You should never ignore your gut feeling.”

Will turned slowly, gazing up into his eyes. “Is that so?”

Hannibal nodded.

Will paused, searching Hannibal’s face intently. “I see you, Hannibal.”

Hannibal stiffened against Will’s body, his hand stilling where it rubbed against Will’s back.

“Don’t worry,” Will breathed. “I don’t see all of you, not just yet. But I see enough.”

“And what do you see?” Hannibal quietly asked him, studying his storm dark eyes.

“Enough to know that you’re dark,” Will murmured. “But I already told you that, told you that it’s like drowning in ink behind your curtain when I pull it back. But my sight is starting to adjust to that darkness, very slowly.”

Hannibal waited, not breaking his gaze from Will. You truly are such a wonderful, wonderful boy.

Will shifted up slightly, gripping Hannibal’s shoulder. “You’re alone in your darkness. You always have been; no one has ever been granted access to what’s really in your head because you know they would recoil. Behind all your smiles and your manners, you’re furious at the world.”

“And to think Alana described it as an empathy disorder,” Hannibal softly replied. “It is a gift, Will.”

“You keep everyone at arm’s length. Nobody gets to see how disgusted you are with them, they never realise the atrocities they’ve committed,” Will continued.

“Do I disgust you, Hannibal?”

Will gasped as the Alpha swiftly gripped onto him and rolled their bodies to pin Will against the bed, hands latched on to his arms and their faces inches apart.

“You are the one person in my life that doesn’t, Will. Far from it. I find myself wishing to spend every moment possible around you, find myself wondering how I can make you smile every day for the rest of your life.”

Will’s hands shook as they reached up to touch Hannibal’s face, a sickly combination of his medication and his nerves. He skimmed his fingers tips over Hannibal’s lips and cheekbones. “Hannibal?”

Hannibal gently caught a finger in his mouth, his eyes patient and listening.

“I think I love you,” Will found himself saying, the words barely registering as he heard his voice dancing in the air between them.

Hannibal stilled, looking as if his brain was hot wiring as he decided whether to cry or smile or laugh or anything, anything other than hovering above Will like a statue with his lips parted in sheer shock and joy.

“I’m sorry,” Will breathed, lowering his lashes. “I shouldn’t have - ”

Hannibal’s lips crushed against his, silencing him. Will’s hands jerked up in surprise before settling into a tight grip in Hannibal’s hair as their lips moved together in a searing, desperate kiss.

“I’m sorry, I’m an idiot, I should never have said that,” Will rushed out in one breath, breaking away from their kiss. “God, you probably think I’m - ”

“I think you are the most amazing creature I have ever met and I consider myself lucky that you’re here,” Hannibal interrupted him, eyes swimming with overwhelming feeling. “And if you wished it Will, I would give you anything, do anything for you. I’ve wanted to offer you my love for so long now, but found myself hesitating. I didn’t think it would be returned.”

Will smoothed his hands through Hannibal’s hair. “Say it.”

“I love you, Will.”

“Say it again.”

“I love you,” Hannibal breathed. “I love you Will. I love you.”

Will found his cheeks aching with the smile he bore as he kissed Hannibal until they were both breathless, not stopping even then for air. He found himself wishing he didn’t need air, found himself wishing he could survive simply on Hannibal and Hannibal alone. What else would he ever need?

Hannibal was in his office when his cell phone rang.

Franklyn looked horrified at the sound interrupting his speech, the tears brimming in his eyes spilling down his face.

“I’m incredibly sorry Franklyn,” Hannibal murmured, retrieving his phone and observing Will’s name on the caller ID. “I’m afraid I must take this call, please excuse me.”

Hannibal stood and answered the call, retreating to his desk and keeping his back to Franklyn. “Will?”

“I’m sorry,” Will breathed raggedly down the phone, sounding in pain. “I’m sorry, I know you’re seeing patients and you’re working but I - ”

“It’s alright Will, just tell me what’s wrong,” Hannibal soothed him.

“My heat,” Will mumbled. “I know I should have waited until you got home but I just... please Hannibal.”

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes,” Hannibal smoothly replied, back stiffening. “Just settle yourself in bed for now, try and rest until I get there.”

“Thank you,” Will sighed in relief.

“I’ll see you very soon,” Hannibal told him, hanging up.

Franklyn looked more neurotic than ever when Hannibal turned and faced him again. Hannibal sighed and braced himself.

“I’m afraid I must prematurely end our session for today, Franklyn,” Hannibal informed him, gathering his notes as he talked and barely glancing at the Omega.

“I’m extremely sorry. I will have your session refunded within twenty four hours.”

“But Dr. Lecter,” Franklyn spluttered, eyes wide and cheeks flushed red. “I really do think I need to finish this session with you! I’m afraid of how unstable I’m feeling and - ”

“Franklyn, I’m afraid I have a personal emergency I cannot ignore,” Hannibal responded curtly, sliding his notes away into his brief case and locking his desk drawers. “I will try and arrange a referral for you this evening if I have the time, if you feel you are in desperate need to talk to a professional.”

“But I need to talk to you, Dr. Lecter!” Franklyn insisted, getting to his feet. “Dr. Lecter, do your patients not take precedence during your working hours?!”

“My working hours are over, as of now, and will be for the rest of the week,” Hannibal all but spat at the hysterical Omega. “As I said, I have a personal emergency that I cannot ignore and must attend to immediately.”

Hannibal shrugged his coat on and retrieved the keys to his car. Franklyn’s curled fists trembled.

“It’s that Omega, isn’t it?” Franklyn accused him, eyes gleaming. “The one at the opera months ago.”

Hannibal wrenched his office door open, trying his hardest not to glower at his patient. “Please, Franklyn. I must insist you leave my office, otherwise you will find yourself locked in here for a week once I leave and lock up.”

“This is outrageous,” Franklyn declared, aggressively seizing his coat and storming towards the door where Hannibal lingered. “To think you’re abandoning your practice just to rush to the whims of some - ”

“Franklyn,” Hannibal cut him off, steeling himself. “I will re-arrange our appointment. Until then, you may contact another therapist for appointments if you wish.”

Hannibal received a glare and nothing else as the man strode from his office, his overly rich and pungent smell tainted with anger and disbelief. Hannibal wrinkled his face at the smell and locked the office up as soon as Franklyn disappeared from sight, gritting his teeth in annoyance.

Hannibal tried his hardest not to break any laws as he drove back from his office to his house, praying Will was in bed and hadn’t gone wandering outside in some sort of heat induced zombie-like state.

The Omega, thankfully, was quite clearly still in the house when Hannibal entered. He could smell Will from downstairs, his mouth watering at the thick sweetness swimming in the air of his home. He locked the door behind him and went straight for the stairs, climbing two steps at a time. Hannibal was unused to this fevered frenzy he was acting with, his usual careful and monitored behaviour seeming virtually impossible to employ when he knew Will was writhing in his bed.

“You came,” Will choked out the moment Hannibal entered his bedroom.

His lithe, pale form was stretched out in the dark sheets of Hannibal’s bed, a thin sheen of sweat covering his skin and his eyes glassy and heavy.

“I told you I would,” Hannibal murmured, breathing in deeply. “Of course I came.”

“Thank you,” Will groaned into his pillow, turning his head away and sucking in the smell of Hannibal on the sheets. “I’m sorry I called whilst you were at work.”

Hannibal shut the door behind him, placing his brief case down. “Will. Please do not apologise for such pointless things.”

Will just made a soft whimpering sound in the back of his throat, glancing warily at Hannibal. “I don’t know... know how this is going to be.”

“Whatever you feel you may need or want, Will, you know you only need to tell me and I will do it,” Hannibal reminded him. “Is there anything you wish for now? When did you last eat or drink anything?”

“Breakfast with you this morning,” Will told him. “I started feeling weird after you left.”

Hannibal pursed his lips. “I should have stayed home. I’ve known your heat was approaching for a while now, but I couldn’t detect how quickly it would come upon you.”

Will shook his head vehemently. “Hannibal, I don’t want to hear you chastising yourself right now. Right now I just want some water and for you to get in bed with me.”

Hannibal didn’t need to be told twice, swiftly going downstairs to retrieve armfuls of water bottles and cold, pre-prepared meals he’d had stored in the fridge for Will’s heat. He pondered on how he had quite enjoyed Will demanding things from him as he headed back upstairs, unfamiliar with Will ever demanding anything before. He wondered how unrestrained Will would become when he was in throes of it all, completely gripped by his body’s urges and needs once the heat truly settled in.

Will nearly downed the bottle once he opened it. “Bed.”

Hannibal smiled in amusement, unlacing his shoes as he sat on the edge of the mattress. Will watched him impatiently, fingernails raking up and down the tops of his arms and leaving red marks in their wake. Hannibal moved to lie down next to the Omega, but a trembling hand pressed back against his chest.

“I want – I – clothes, off,” Will managed to grit out, frowning and pawing at Hannibal’s clothes insistently.

Hannibal stripped quickly.

Will sighed in relief once they lay together, skin on skin, hands reaching for every part of Hannibal in reassurance. Hannibal simply let Will arrange him on his bed, observing the way he fidgeted with the bedding and pillows, uncertainly smoothing out the nesting blanket Hannibal had been keeping folded at the foot of the bed since Will had moved in.

“You’re unused to nesting,” Hannibal remarked. “Just do whatever feels comfortable, Will.”

“I know but it’s – it’s your bed,” Will grumbled, curling against Hannibal’s side and running his hands through greying chest hair.

“I’d like it if you considered it yours, too.”

Will just made a humming sound into the side of Hannibal’s neck, slotting their legs together. Hannibal encircled him in his arms, letting his scent and warmth wash over Will. Will embraced him back tightly, seeking out as much of Hannibal as he could. The Alpha could smell the heady slick coating the insides of Will’s thighs.

“Whatever you need Will,” Hannibal murmured. “It’s yours to take.”

A soft snarl sounded in Will’s throat and Hannibal found the Omega hovering over him, straddling his hips. He met Will half way to kiss him, curling a strong and possessive hand in the curls at the back of his head. Will sighed contently into their kiss, hands bracing against Hannibal’s shoulders. Hannibal settled his other hand against Will’s hip, savouring the taste of him against his tongue. Will began to unconsciously roll his hips slightly against the Alpha, kissing him with harder purpose and biting and nipping at Hannibal’s lower lip.

Hannibal gave up attempting to control the snarling, gnashing Alpha instincts that were screaming inside of him and gripped Will tight enough to bruise as he rolled them to pin Will down beneath him on the bed, burying his face in his neck and leaving a necklace of mottled bruises there, biting and sucking the pale expanse of skin quivering under his mouth. Will sighed in bliss, fingers gliding along the broad planes of Hannibal’s back, shivering in delight at the way the muscles rippled as Hannibal shifted above him. Hands wandered everywhere, followed by lips, and within minutes Will was dizzy and almost certain there wasn’t an inch of him that hadn’t been bitten, kissed and caressed.

It was beyond satisfying to hear the strangled moan that broke free from Will when Hannibal sank down onto Will’s straining length, humming at the hot flesh in his mouth. Will gripped the sheets tightly in his bunched up fists, face contorting with spasms of pleasure as Hannibal swirled his tongue over the head of his cock, hollowing his cheeks out and sucking hard on his member. He tried not to kick Hannibal as his legs flailed out when a finger gently dipped inside of him. Hannibal did nothing to stop the growl that rolled in his throat, vibrating against Will’s flesh and making the Omega buck underneath him.

Will attempted to warn Hannibal that his orgasm was approaching, but two more fingers sank inside of him and he froze as they immediately sought out his prostate. With an unexpected burst of heat flaring through his groin and the pressure of Hannibal’s wet mouth lavishing his cock, Will cried out as he began to shake with his orgasm, coming down Hannibal’s throat as a gush of slick pushed past the Alpha’s fingers and stained his bed sheets.

He spent the next thirty minutes cradled against Hannibal’s chest, nose buried into the dip between his shoulder and neck and listening to the doctor’s heart beat. Hannibal murmured to him in a soft, purring language he couldn’t understand, stroking his hair and circling his fingers over the nape of his neck where his mating gland was until the next wave of heat hit.

Hannibal attempted to bring Will to orgasm through his mouth and hands again until Will snarled at him and outright demanded that he fuck him.

“I swear if you don’t fuck me into the bed right nowbreathe again when Hannibal sank into him, easing the fire that licked along his skin and the itch than nestled in his veins. Hannibal pulled in and out of him in firm, strong strokes and it was perfect, perfect except for the aching need to feel a set of teeth sinking into the back of his neck.

Will threaded his fingers through Hannibal’s hair, keeping their upper halves tightly knitted together as the Alpha pushed into him steadily.

“No matter what I say about bonding or even if I beg you to bite me, ignore me,” Will hissed in his ear as Hannibal rolled his hips.

“You have my word, mylimasis,” Hannibal rumbled into the side of Will’s neck.

Will lasted twenty four hours until he was begging for Hannibal to bond with him.

“Please - fuck, please Hannibal, I need you to, I need you to bite - ”

Hannibal silenced him with a bruising kiss, grunting as he thrust forwards into Will. The second day of Will’s heat was proving to be intense, the Omega stirring every two hours or so and seeking out Hannibal’s warmth with insistent kisses and roaming hands. He’d mounted Will countless time today, gripping the boy’s waist as he snapped his hips against his behind as he presented for him on his hands and knees, the bed creaking in protest beneath them and thumping against the wall.

Will’s fingers were knotted and white knuckled as they twisted in the sheets and clutched at pillows, his eyes filled with tears as he bit down on whatever fabric was in front of his face. Sweat had plastered his hair against his scalp and hair line, damp curls stuck to his forehead as his eyes rolled in pleasure.

“Hush, Will,” Hannibal murmured quietly but firmly, grinding against Will.

“But I need you to, please!” Will sobbed. “God, I want you to, please! Please Hannibal, please!”

Hannibal growled, digging his fingers into Will’s mating gland. “No, Will. We agreed on this.”

Will nearly wailed.

Hannibal just made soothing little sounds for him as he eased his knot into the Omega, sighing in satisfaction as he released inside of Will. His body milked Hannibal’s knot for seed it would not receive, desperate for the pair to be bonded and mated in ways they couldn’t.

Will settled for gentle kisses to his mating gland as he clenched around Hannibal’s knot through the condom, the Alpha settling them onto their sides as they waited for his knot deflate and to sleep.

On the third day, Will hallucinated.

Hannibal paused when he noted how quiet and rigid Will had gone whilst he hooked Will’s leg over his shoulder, kissing his ankle and circling his hips as he rocked into Will’s tight, wet heat.

“Will?” Hannibal asked, slowing his thrusts. “Are you alright?”

“Yes Mason.”

Hannibal froze. “Will?”

Will blinked, his eyes glassy as he stared forwards at nothing and remained statue still. Hannibal pulled out, smoothing Will’s hair away from his face. Will remained on his back with his legs raised and bent at the knees, hands still besides him.

“Will, can you hear me? Do you know where you are?”

“I can hear you. We’re in my room, like always,” Will breathed, still staring ahead at nothing. “Why have you stopped?”

“Because you just called me Mason.”

“That’s your name,” Will replied, monotone and flat. “Would you like me to call you something else?”

“Will, you’re hallucinating,” Hannibal murmured softly. “I’m not Mason, I’m Hannibal. You’re at my home in Baltimore and Mason is dead.”

“What a strange thing to say,” Will commented quietly. “Have I done something wrong?”

Hannibal’s hand slid down to Will’s neck and the Omega’s breath caught in his throat. “Will, I need you to try and focus on where you are and who you are with. Mason is not here, do you understand?”

“I don’t understand why you’re saying all this Mason,” Will replied, swallowing. “Please just... I’m sorry, please tell me what I did wrong?”

“Nothing, Will, you have done - ”

“If it’s about the last miscarriage I promise, I promise this time we’ll have the baby,” Will rambled breathlessly, eyes beginning to swim with panic.

“It’s alright darling,” Hannibal sighed, hand slipping around the back of Will’s neck and seeking out his mating gland. “Sleep, Will.”

A firm kneading of Will’s mating gland was all it took for Will to curl into Hannibal’s side with a whimper and lie there shaking as he drifted into blackness. He woke up a few hours later, snarling and clawing at Hannibal until he realised who he was and where he was. Hannibal attempted to gentle him, but the Omega shook him off and straddled his lap to ride him aggressively, crying the whole time about wanting Hannibal to bond with him.

On the fourth day, Will was content with slow, sleepy mating. They mainly fucked laying on their sides as Hannibal mouthed at his mating gland and lazily fucked Will into soft, glowing ecstasy. Will came with shuddering gasps and quiet moans, smiling hazily as Hannibal’s velvety voice purred affection and endearment in what Will assumed was Lithuanian. Hannibal mapped out the lines and starbursts of bruises, teeth marks and scratches on Will’s body in fascination.

“Normally I used to dread seeing the marks Mason left on me after heats,” Will told him as Hannibal cradled him to his chest. “I like seeing the marks you leave.”

Hannibal merely responded with a rumble in his chest and scraping his teeth against Will’s ear lobe.

On the fifth day, Will woke up clear headed and content despite the aches in his body. He reeked of Hannibal and it was glorious; there were finger shaped bruises all over his hips and neck and wrists and he wanted nothing more than to parade those marks in front of the whole of Baltimore. See? I’m owned, claimed, mated; Hannibal is all mine. Except there was no bond bite at the back of his neck, despite the bruising around it. He was most definitely not bonded to the Alpha, and whilst his mind forced him to count through the numerous reasons why this was a good thing that they were not bonded, he couldn’t help the sad and mournful part of him that lamented the lack of their bonding.

For a moment, Will allowed himself to imagine what it would be like if he and Hannibal bonded during his next heat. He smiled the whole time he thought about it.

Chapter Text

Jack Crawford looked decidedly unimpressed as he settled into the bar stool at the island in Hannibal’s kitchen, his lips tightened into a disapproving grimace. His eyes were dark as they followed Will carefully making coffee with Hannibal’s contraption – what was wrong with regular old filter coffee? Will wondered –, his hands folded together on the counter top.

“I have to admit, I was surprised when Alana told me you’d come to live with Dr. Lecter,” Jack uttered, breaking the awkward silence in the kitchen.

Will shrugged, briefly glancing up at the Alpha. “Well, I’m not surprised that you’re surprised.”

“I didn’t realise the extent of your... friendship with Hannibal.”

Will’s eyes flashed in warning when he looked up again. “Oh?”

“You must realise how it looks,” Jack replied, frowning. “Your Alpha doctor moving you into his house after you get discharged from a psychiatric facility?”

Will admitted it was maybe a little unnecessary how harshly he set down Jack’s coffee in front of him. “No, I understand completely. But Hannibal was never my doctor, not in the way Alana was.”

“Technically, he’s not breaking any laws, but...”

“No, he’s not; which is why I don’t understand why you’re talking about it like there’s an issue, Agent Crawford,” Will said sharply, angrily adding sugar to his coffee.

“Because there’s room for reasonable doubt that from his position of power and responsibility for you, he coerced you into a relationship,” Jack answered bluntly, jaw set firmly.

“Hannibal did not coerce me into anything,” Will gritted out, gripping his mug tightly. “Look Agent Crawford, if you came here just to interrogate me about my relationship with Hannibal, which is quite frankly none of your business, then I’m afraid you’re wasting your time.”

Jack didn’t bother to cover up his obvious irritation at Will’s response. “Please, Will. Call me Jack. And I didn’t come here just to enquire about your relationship with Hannibal.”

“Then why are you here, Jack?”

“Because the man who kidnapped you from Port Haven last month was discovered dead last night.”

Jack sighed at the pained look on Will’s face once he’d gotten his sentence out, reaching down to retrieve the manila envelope he’d brought with him. Will paled visibly, setting down his mug of coffee and gripping the counter top so tightly his knuckles turned white. Jack slid the envelope across the counter to him slowly, watching his face.

“I’m breaking a lot of rules here, Will,” Jack warned him. “I shouldn’t be showing you these files.”

“You want me to look at them. Why?”

“Because you were one of the last people to see him.”

“I really do hope you’re not insinuating that I had anything to do with - ”

“No, Will, I’m not suggesting you had anything to do with his murder,” Jack interrupted. “But I want to ask you if you’ll lend me your sight. Take a look at the file and tell me if you can pick up on anything that we can’t.”

Will crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “You’re the FBI. Why are you asking a completely unqualified stranger to look at crime scene photographs and reports?”

“Because you’re an unqualified stranger who has an uncanny ability to get inside of the heads of killers and see why they did what they did, how they did it.”

“I’m not a tool, Jack. Does Dr. Bloom know you were planning on visiting me?”

“No. No doubt she’d tell me that I’d be disrupting your mental wellbeing and emotional recovery by showing you files like this.”

“She would,” Will replied curtly. “Jack, I can’t help you.”

“Can’t?” Jack grimaced. “Or won’t?”

“Both,” Will nearly hissed at him, his temper growing short at the Alpha’s insistence. “I don’t want anything to do with this. I don’t want to know what happened to him, I don’t want to know anything about the entire ring. Why is that so hard for you to grasp?”

Jack raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “I thought you would care. I thought you’d want to help, that you wouldn’t want any other Omegas falling into the hands of these criminals.”

“What does Benedict Davies’ death have to do with more Omegas getting snatched and sold?” Will snapped. “Just because he died doesn’t mean the ring is going to collapse, they’re going to carry on operating as usual!”

“His name wasn’t Benedict Davies,” Jack corrected him. “That was just a stolen identity he was using whilst he was working at Port Haven. His real name was Gabriel Brandt.”

“So what?” Will sighed impatiently. “Of course it was a fake name. Jack, if you want this ring to get shut down maybe you need to start by taking a look at the fucking sleazy Alphas in elite social circles all over this country who are getting away with purchasing Omegas like they’re fucking cattle - ”

“I understand you’re angry about what happened to you, Will,” Jack interrupted, glowering. “But there’s only so much I can do. I’m behavioural sciences, not organised crime. I’m only involved in this because one of the ring’s major operators was butchered and strung up like an animal.”

“I don’t want to know Jack.”

“Just look. Please.”

Will shook his head and steeled himself as he all but snatched the file from Jack. “Once. I will do this once for you, Jack, and only because I know it’s the only way to get you out of this house.”

Jack smiled encouragingly as Will’s shaking fingers spread reports and photographs across the counter. Will didn’t meet his eyes, choosing instead to focus on squashing down the nausea swelling in his chest at the sight of Gabriel Brandt’s body. The glossy photographs seared themselves into Will’s brain as he studied them. Brandt had been displayed in an empty room in John Hopkins, forced into a position of submission on his hands and knees strung up with wires; it was the classic Omegan pose of presentation when in heat. He’d been skinned with meticulous precision, including his scalp. He skin lay in a neatly folded pile by the door. Around him in the most wondrous mosaic was hundreds upon hundreds of dollar bills, sitting around him in an expanding circle with Brandt at the very centre. He was missing organs too; his liver, kidneys and intestines had disappeared.

“What killed him?” Will murmured quietly.

“He was drained of his blood, completely,” Jack informed him. “But after we got his body into the lab, we found he’d been through a lot more than that before he died.”

“Tell me.”

“His killer broke almost every bone in his body. The little blood samples we managed to get indicated he’d been kept awake with adrenaline, stimulants. Hallucinogenics , that kind of thing. He was awake when the killer removed his organs and when he was skinned. His lungs contained water and we found bruising that indicates he was water boarded at some point too. After his intestines were removed the killer extracted his eyeballs and forced him to eat them.”

“The killer had him locked away for at least a few weeks.”

“It was a drawn out process of torture before he died, yes.”

The sound of a car door shutting in the garage had Will nearly jumping out his seat as he startled, Jack’s head quickly snapping round.

“I presume that’s Dr. Lecter coming home?” Jack enquired, not bothering to hide his disapproval in his voice.

Will nodded, turning his gaze back on the photos before him. “What... what ward was this room in?”

“The neonatal ward. It was right next to the room where several infants were being treated.”

The door opened to reveal Hannibal as Will’s heart sank in his chest and his lungs tightened.

“Agent Crawford,” Hannibal smiled pleasantly, rising an eyebrow in surprise. “A surprise visit?”

“Something like that, Dr. Lecter,” Jack responded. “I thought I’d drop by and see how Will was doing.”

Will was currently gripping the photographs in his hands so tightly the images were in danger of being ripped in two. His chest was heaving, his eyes glazed over and blank as he lips fell open slightly in horror.

“Will?” Hannibal called out, moving to his side the moment he noticed the tense coil of Will’s rigid spine and the waves of pure fear rolling off of his scent.

Hannibal nearly snarled when he saw the crime scene photographs. “What is this, Agent Crawford?”

“I wanted to borrow Will’s insight,” Jack replied, unashamed and hard faced as Will tried to kill the pathetically Omegan distressed whimpers in his throat. “His kidnapper was found in John Hopkins last night.”

“And you thought it appropriate to show him such graphic photographs?” Hannibal snapped, not bothering to stop his lip from curling up as he bristled, snatching the photos from Will’s white hands.

“I can’t do this Jack,” Will whispered, his voice barely audible.

“Will, you haven’t even tried, I’ve seen what you can do,” Jack insisted, eye gleaming. “Maybe if you came to the crime scene and experienced it for yourself you’d be able to - ”

“If I go to a neonatal ward full of premature babies fighting for life to see where the man who kidnapped me and was going to sell me was displayed? Are you even listening to yourself right now, Jack?” Will spat, thrusting the file back at the Alpha. “If I go to your damn crime scene I’ll be leaving in a straight jacket to Port Haven.”

“You don’t know that,” Jack argued, leaning forwards. “You’re stronger than you think Will.”

“You don’t even know me!” Will snarled, throwing his hands up in desperation. “You wouldn’t have come here if you did! Do you honestly think I can walk in there and work out who killed Brandt? It’s too much Jack, it’s too close to home.”

“I think,” Hannibal interjected, placing himself between Jack and Will, “it would be best if the FBI kept their crime scenes to themselves and didn’t call upon the assistance of someone who is technically a victim in all of this, who is far from capable of facing scenes that would only cause a major setback in their recovery. Will’s stability is not something I will allow you to be detrimental to, Agent Crawford.”

Jack rose to his fee from his stool. “And what position are you saying that from, Dr. Lecter? Will’s guardian? His doctor? His mate? Because as far as I know, you’re none of those things.”

“Please, Agent Crawford,” Hannibal smiled tightly. “I don’t wish to stir up any animosity. I’m simply speaking from a medical point of view and as someone who cares greatly about Will’s wellbeing. Forcing him into situations where there are sources of extreme stress with the possibility of causing even more damage to his recovery would be unacceptable. Surely you can understand my concerns?”

“And my concerns are getting a serial killer behind bars where he can’t take any more lives,” Jack replied lowly. “Will can help with that.”

Will stood up, moving from behind Hannibal to look Jack in the eye. “No, Jack. I can’t help you. It’s too much and I shouldn’t even be involved in this in the first place.”

Jack shook his head slowly. “You’re wasting your gift Will. You could be helping to save lives.”

Will swallowed down the lump that formed in his throat and blinked past the stinging tears in his eyes. “I’m trying to save my own.”

Hannibal saw Jack out after that, the other Alpha finally relenting when Will refused to budge from his stance. At the door way, Jack paused and eyed Hannibal up and down before he turned to leave and get into his car.

“I hope you know what you’re doing Dr. Lecter,” Jack murmured.

“In what sense, Agent Crawford?” Hannibal replied tersely.

“In regards to Will Graham.”

Hannibal paused, his face infuriatingly polite and neutral as he stared back at Jack. “I’d like to suggest that you do not seek Will’s assistance on any further instances such as this one. Placing him in environments in which he is faced with acts of violence and murder are damaging to his mental state. His empathy will always make him suffer far more greatly than you or I ever will, Jack.”

“Will is too compassionate to refuse to help,” Jack argued, frowning. “And it comes to him as naturally as breathing air does. I see no reason why he can’t lend his insight.”

“The reason why is because Will can’t walk away from even the simplest every day interactions without taking a small piece of the other person with him. Do you realise what it would do to him to walk away taking pieces of a killer’s mind? After everything that’s happened to him Jack, it’s a small miracle he’s a stable as he is. I think we’d all do well to remember precisely what happened to him on Muskrat Farm.”

Jack said nothing, sighing as he looked down at his hands twisting his car keys around. “I thought I’d give you a heads up, Dr. Lecter. Our agents are going to be interviewing individuals with medical backgrounds in the Baltimore area over the next couple of weeks.”

Hannibal quirked an eyebrow. “May I ask why?”

“Because the person who killed Gabriel Brandt also killed Peter Rosenthal, Simon Kingston and Marie de la Cruz – I assume you heard about her, the woman found in the aquarium.”

“I hear she was transformed into some sort of mermaid.”

“All of these victims were tortured prior to their deaths. All of them had organs removed and were then displayed in public places for us to find. The precision and attention to detail on the bodies is painstakingly accurate and clinical. Someone who’s used to operating on and dealing with the human body killed these people.”

“I fall into that category then,” Hannibal replied dryly, whilst inside a warm fire burned in his chest at the absolute glee he felt at Crawford’s descriptions.

“Your background as a surgeon means we have to,” Jack admitted. “It’s nothing to worry about though. Just procedure.”

Hannibal smiled. “I’ll be expecting a visit from one of your agents then, Jack.”

Two weeks later, Miriam Lass’s missing person report was filed.

“Where were you?”

Hannibal paused as he was midway through removing his coat. “Good evening Will. Or rather good morning.”

They both glanced to the clock which signalled 4:50 am.

Will waited in silence, clasping his mug between his hands. Chamomile and something tea. Hannibal said he’d grow to like the taste. He was still trying to find it in himself to like it.

“A patient called my emergency number. A suicide attempt,” Hannibal lied. “I had to attend to them. I didn’t want to wake you, mylimasis.”

“How are they?” Will murmured, glancing down at the tea.

“I got there in time,” Hannibal murmured, moving closer to twine his hands through Will’s hair and inhaling deeply at the Omega’s scent. “They’re on suicide watch at the hospital now.”

“Does that happen often?” Will asked. “It’s not the first time I’ve woken up and you haven’t been there.”

“More often than you would think,” Hannibal lied once again. “However sometimes I do rise early for other reasons; a sudden burst of inspiration for a new composition on the harpsichord, new research ideas...”

“I thought I wouldn’t mind waking up alone,” Will said quietly, letting Hannibal press kisses to his temple and forehead. “It seems I’ve gotten used to being around you rather quickly.”

“I’m flattered you’re so comfortable around me,” Hannibal told him, stroking down Will’s neck. “However, I am sorry you woke alone. I hope it wasn’t too distressing.”

Will remained silent, raising the cup to his lips to sip the too-hot chamomile and something-or-other tea. Hannibal continued to sigh gently as he scented Will, hands caressing over his shoulders and lips fluttering over his skin.

“Do you think...,” Will began but trailed off, frowning at the mug. “Never mind.”

“What is it?” Hannibal pressed.

“It’s not important,” Will mumbled.

“Will,” Hannibal smiled gently, his eyes soft with fondness, adoration. “It is always important when you fail to finish your sentence and tell me it’s not important.”

Will sucked in a shuddering breath. “Margot came by the other day.”

“I thought she had,” Hannibal murmured. I smelt her. Your skin smelt of frost and winter berries and infertility.

“She...,” Will trailed off again. “God, I’m sorry. I’m making a mess of this.”

“Take your time,” Hannibal soothed him. “Perhaps we should return to bed and you can think about how you wish to tell me about whatever is troubling you.”

“I don’t want any more time to think about it,” Will said forcefully, pulling away from Hannibal to get to his feet, chamomile tea abandoned on the counter. “I’ve been thinking about it since I woke up and you weren’t here.”

Hannibal went still, waiting.

Will took a deep breath again, trying to gather himself. “I realised, when I woke up and you were gone. I realised exactly how I feel. What I want.”

“And what is it that you want, mylimasis?”

Will swallowed, his eyelids fluttering shut. “You.”

Hannibal stepped forwards cautiously, taking Will’s hand in between his two large ones. “You already have me. Completely.”

Will’s eyes opened, swimming with ocean blue. “I don’t though, do I? Margot pointed it out to me. She was talking about how she feels she doesn’t really have Alana, not truly. They aren’t bonded, after all. And then when I woke up tonight and I turned expecting to see you laid down next to me and you weren’t - it made me realise I’m terrified of losing you. Of losing this.”

Hannibal raised the Omega’s hand to his face, folding Will’s fingers to cup around his cheek as he kissed his wrist. “You won’t lose me Will. I’ve promised you that from the beginning.”

“Then bond with me.”

A single, rapid heartbeat of silence, as Hannibal realised just how badly he’d been yearning to hear Will say those words since he first laid eyes upon him in Port Haven, and then he was drawing Will closer, pressed flush against his body and kissing him like his entire life depended on it. Will made a startled gasp into the kiss, hands flying out to steady himself on Hannibal’s chest and shoulders. He sank into the kiss moments later, moaning softly as Hannibal gently nicked his lower lip, softly exploring Will’s mouth with his tongue and sliding their lips together in a perfectly timed waltz.

Will’s hands scrambled at the Alpha’s clothes, pushing them away insistently. Hannibal obliged quickly, shedding his shirt before his own hands sought out the hem of Will’s soft cotton t-shirt and yanked it up over his head, tossing it to the side. Will’s purr of satisfaction at the feel of their torsos pressed together had Hannibal gripping the band of Will’s boxer shorts and slipping his fingers beneath the edge of them. Will pressed against him harder whilst he fumbled with Hannibal’s belt buckle, working it open and then fighting with the button and fly of his dress pants.

Hannibal’s teeth sank into the junction of Will’s shoulders as they undressed, hands curling around the Omega’s waist and hoisting him up on the counter of the island, bringing their groins flush together and drawing a soft, strangled gasp from Will’s lips. There was a livid reddish-purple bruise on Will’s creamy skin when Hannibal pulled away, the sight of it making him want to growl and sink his teeth back into Will until he hit bone. Will’s hands clutched the sides of Hannibal’s head, holding him in place as they fervently kissed in a frenzied state and Hannibal slid his fingertips through the pooling slick between Will’s legs.

He pushed two fingers inside of the Omega, smiling at the trembling whimper it elicited from Will. He worked him open quickly, neither of them caring about the finesse of it all right then; Will was practically clawing at Hannibal’s bare shoulders and biting at his lips, snarling softly into his mouth as Hannibal scissored his fingers and returned his bruising kisses.

Will threw his head back, his mouth open slack as his brow furrowed in pleasure when Hannibal lined himself up and eased his cock into Will’s blissfully tight, velvet heat.

“Yes,” Will hissed, tearing the skin on Hannibal’s shoulders his nails dug in so tightly.

Hannibal reclaimed his mouth in a searing kiss, setting up a brutal pace as he snapped his hips and thrust into Will with a possessive force. Will scrambled for purchase on the counter, arms stretching behind him and bent at the elbows as he was fucked on the edge of the island, the cool marble stinging the warmth of his skin on his back and buttocks.

Hannibal’s grip was like a vice on his hips, adding to the collection of claiming mottled, purple flowers there already from all the previous times they’d fucked like this.

“Mine,” he snarled against Will’s lips, moving a hand to grab a fistful of curls.

Will groaned, his elbows giving way and he slumped back to lay flat over the counter on his back, staring up at Hannibal with half lidded eyes, face contorted in pleasure. “Yours, always.”

The heat building in his stomach was too much and he squirmed fitfully against the marble island counter top, rocking up to meet Hannibal’s thrusts. The Alpha snarled and snatched Will’s legs up from around his waist to push them back against Will’s chest, titling him up and allowing him to thrust into him deeper. Will’s eyes were rolling his head, bloodied nails raking over Hannibal’s forearms.

“Knot me,” Will whispered, swallowing as his skin shone with a sheen of sweat from the heat of their fucking.

Hannibal leant down further, mouth latching on to the side of Will’s throat as he curled his fist around his cock, stroking him skilfully in time with his thrusts. Will’s strangled moan made Hannibal sink his teeth in further, sucking violently against the beautifully scented skin of his neck. The Omega arched up against him, back rising up off the counter as he twisted underneath Hannibal. Hot, pulsing liquid spilled over his fist as Will came, whimpering and spasming as his orgasm washed over him.

Hannibal swore his vision blurred as he came, pressing his knot past the taut muscle of Will’s opening and filling the Omega. They gasped and moaned in unison, hands scrambling to clutch tighter at each other with racing hearts and messy kisses.

Later, as Hannibal carried Will towards the stairs in his arms with the Omega’s head nestled in the crook of his neck, Will’s hand curled around his throat.

“I take it that was a yes,” Will whispered.

Hannibal laughed into his curls as he nudged the bedroom door open and laid him back down in his - their - bed. “If you need me to vocalise it, then yes; I want to bond with you Will, more than anything.”

Will clung to him as he lowered himself down to lay next to him, wrapping his arms tightly around Will’s smaller frame. “Thank you Hannibal.”

“I should be the one expressing gratification, mylimasis,” Hannibal purred, nosing at Will’s pulse in his neck. “It is a gift.”

The bedroom grew quiet again in the dark, and Hannibal was certain Will had fallen back asleep when there was nothing but easy, gentle breathing filling the room after a while.

“I keep wondering what would have happened to me if I never met you,” Will murmured in the silence. “It makes me feel sick.”

“What do you envisage would have happened?”

“I’d still be at Port Haven,” Will sighed. “That’s for sure. Unless I totally lost my grip and tried to kill myself.”

Hannibal went rigid. “It pains me to think of you hurting that much Will.”

“What reason would I have had though, realistically?” Will wondered aloud. “I have no family and I owe Margot and Alana nothing. Not enough to stay alive for, anyway. I often think the only thing keeping me focused in those first few months after Mason and Jasper died was you. I didn’t like you, really, to begin with.”

“I know you didn’t,” Hannibal smiled gently in the darkness. “You were uncomfortable around me.”

“I’ve always known where to put myself,” Will confessed. “You made me feel like I’d never find that place again. I always knew my place with my dad, with Mason and Margot, with Alana... it wasn’t so simple with you.”

“And now?”

“Now I know it’s here, besides you. That’s my place,” Will told him softly, pressing his lips to Hannibal’s jaw. “It was so confusing for so long. Knowing you were in this bizarre sort of authority role but not really, not like Alana ever was; just hanging in between the whole time, treating me like no one else ever has before. You never pitied me or ever did anything condescending. You never tried to control me like everyone else.”

“I think you would have gone for my jugular if I had ever tried to control you,” Hannibal teased him. “But even so, I have never had the desire to control you, Will. I will admit though, I’m consumed daily with the want to treat you in ways I shouldn’t.”

“What sort of ways?” Will asked cautiously.

“I wish to possess you,” Hannibal answered simply. “To keep you to myself at all times. It’s like something at the back of my mind is constantly longing to be the only thing you will ever need or want, to keep you by my side and watch you flourish.”

Will paused, the only sound their breath and heartbeats. “If I should find that idea unappealing, I don’t. It sounds awful but the thought of being somebody that you obsess over is... comforting.”

“I could delve deeper into that and analyse your childhood attachment issues and your obvious unhealthy relationship and bond with Mason, but I won’t,” Hannibal chided him lightly. “I think you’d throw me out of bed.”

“I would,” Will laughed in response. “You know better than to psychoanalyse me.”

Hannibal’s fingers ghosted over his face in the dark, tracing each dip and line of Will’s bone structure. Their breathing slowed into synchronisation, sleep tugging at their minds.

“I promise to be whatever you need me to, Will,” Hannibal murmured as they drifted.

“Just do me a favour and let me know if you have any plans to lock me inside a room for three years after we’re mated,” Will muttered sarcastically. “I can’t promise it’ll be easy for me all the time Hannibal. I’m sorry.”

“I know,” he reassured the Omega. “Bonding after the death of your first mate is not something I expect to be simple for you, despite the things Mason did to you. It would be difficult for any Omega. But you get a little better every day, even if you don’t realise it. And if your next heat comes and you’ve changed your mind then I will - ”

“Hannibal,” Will cut him off. “I was begging you to bond me during my last heat. I’m not going to change my mind. If anything I’m only going to be even more in love with you when my next heat hits.”

“Beautiful boy,” Hannibal murmured in fascination as he stroked Will’s cheekbones with his thumbs. “You’re truly wonderful, Will, do you know that?”

Will shifted forwards and pressed their lips together tenderly. “You’re an idiot. I’m going to pass out now, if that’s alright with you. I’m pretty exhausted.”

“Of course, mylimasis,” Hannibal grinned. “I’m sorry you woke up on your own. I’ll try to make sure it doesn’t happen again, suicidal patients permitting.”

Will responded with a soft, sleep addled grumble and burrowed further into Hannibal’s arms.

“Nothing? Not even a damn strand of hair?!”

Beverly winced, pausing to look up at Jack from where she crouched. “If there is, we haven’t found it yet Jack. We’re being as thorough as ever.”

Beverly was pretty sure Jack’s ears would be emitting steam right now if it were possible. Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, eyes shut. Beverly got to her feet, ignoring the seething Alpha to step back and observe the tableaux once more.

The couple, an Alpha and a Beta, had been displayed in a gory homage to Rodin’s The Kiss. The Beta, a young man in his mid twenties, had been identified as Martin Kershaw. His mate, an older Alpha female, had been identified as Serena Kershaw. Their tongues had been harvested along with cuts of muscles on their thighs and backs. They been sewn together to keep them in their position, their lips sealed together with resin. They looked oddly peaceful, Beverly thought.

She glanced over at Jack, wondering if he was about to self implode. He was taking Miriam’s disappearance hard; he’d pushed her to follow a lead she’d picked up on, told her to trust her gut. And now she was gone, as if she’d never even existed, and everyone on the team knew Jack felt responsible. Jack’s boss was raining down hard on him after all; Miriam hadn’t even become an agent yet, still a trainee.

Turning her attention back to the deceased couple in front her, Beverly sighed deeply. Lounds had somehow sunk her claws into the case and now their killer was being dubbed as the Chesapeake Ripper. The Ripper had been killing in sets of three, they’d realised, but this had thrown them off. They’d all assumed Gabriel Brandt had been the first of another set of three, after Marie de la Cruz had been the last victim around Christmas time. Except this time, they were faced with two corpses, not one. Did this count as two in one go? Was there going to be another murder?

Questions swirling around her head, Beverly headed back over to Zeller to help him take samples before Jack could lash out at her again.

Chapter Text

The rhythmic motion of Margot’s fingers combing through her hair helped ease Alana’s distress somewhat, the gentle motion giving her something to ground herself on.

“It’ll be ok, you know,” Margot murmured. “It doesn’t seem like it right now, but that will change.”

Alana swallowed. “I can’t help but feel like I wasted a lot of my time.”

“No, that’s not true,” Margot softly disagreed, sighing as she shifted to prop herself up on an elbow. “You helped Will, there’s no denying that.”

“And look where it got me,” Alana gritted out through clenched teeth. “He resents me.”

“Will is difficult with everybody, Alana,” Margot reminded her. “He gives everyone the cold shoulder. You, me, the staff at Port Haven, the FBI, the nurses at the hospital...”

“Except Hannibal,” Alana muttered bitterly. “Will looks at him like he’s God’s gift to the world.”

Margot narrowed her eyes. “Are you seriously jealous of Hannibal Lecter?”

Alana glanced away from the Omega’s icy stare, frowning. “I’m not jealous, just... it’s a little hard not to be put out. I tried so hard to help Will and now he won’t even see me for therapy anymore, but he moved in with Hannibal.”

“Your relationship with Will is nothing like Hannibal’s relationship with him,” Margot pointed out dryly. “You were only ever a therapist, a guardian at the most. Hannibal... well. I don’t know how much you want to hear about their relationship.”

“I’m fully aware of the fact they’re sleeping with each other,” Alana groaned, covering her eyes. “I don’t need you to go into details Margot.”

“It’s not just sex Alana,” Margot sighed, her hand finally stilling in Alana’s hair. “Will speaks about Hannibal pretty seriously.”

“Of course he does,” Alana cried in exasperation. “Hannibal swooped in and placed himself in some sort of sick and twisted Alpha hero role! In Will’s head, he thinks they’re in love but his biology forced him to latch on to the nearest Alpha that seemed safe after all the trauma his body went through.”

“I think - ”

“I just never expected Hannibal of all people to stoop so low,” Alana continued, “he’s never been anything but professional and level headed, but of all the things he could have done, he went and virtually preyed upon an Omega young enough to be his son after - ”

“Alana - ”

“ – Will spent years locked up, getting raped and beaten and forced to - ”

“Alana - ”

“ – carry children he never wanted! Hannibal completely abused his position of power and - ”

Margot shifted to sit astride the Beta’s lap, firmly placing a hand on either side of Alana’s head on the pillow, glowering down at her impatiently. “Would you just pause, for a moment?”

Alana sucked in a deep breath, looking ruffled as red tinged her cheeks.

“You said it yourself,” Margot pointed out, “that Hannibal has never done anything like this before. So you know that he’s not some predatory creep who makes a habit of sleeping with young patients who are vulnerable. I’m not defending their relationship, because I don’t feel comfortable with it either, but just think about it.”

Alana remained silent, staring up at Margot with an unimpressed gaze.

“It’s wrong,” Alana replied bluntly. “I couldn’t care less if it was love at first sight for the two of them or whatever bullshit lie he’s spinning off about his relationship with Will, Hannibal should have done the professional thing and ignored any feelings he had for Will.”

“Maybe,” Margot sighed. “But look at it this way. You saw Will start to improve when Hannibal got involved with his recovery. You’ve seen for yourself that Hannibal has only ever been respectful and caring towards Will and Will has never said a single negative thing to you about him. Hannibal is helping Will get back on his feet and the whole time I’ve known Will I have never seen him happy – except now, with Hannibal.”

Alana’s eyes slipped shut as her jaw tightened again, clenching in frustration. “You want me to just accept this and be pleased for them?”

“Will’s a consenting adult - ”

“Who has some pretty major issues with relationships and intimacy!”

Margot pulled away from the Beta, shaking her head. “Fine. Let it keep you up at night; I’m sure it’ll really get you somewhere, focusing so much on other people’s relationships whilst you completely disregard the one that you’re in.”

Alana sat up sharply. “Don’t. Don’t do that Margot, you know it’s not fair. You know how much I can’t help but care about Will - ”

“What isn’t fair is the fact that I’m supposed to be your partner but someone who isn’t even your patient anymore receives more of your attention than I ever have!” Margot snapped, fisting the bed sheets. “Jesus Alana, I’m not asking for much! I adore you but I feel like I’m always fighting for your attention!”

“Margot,” Alana murmured softly, reaching out and settling her hand around the nape of the Omega’s neck. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you felt like that. I thought...”

“How could you realise when you don’t stop and actually see how much time you invest in your work and your patients in comparison to your relationship with me? You don’t even realise how much on the back burner you put me. You don’t know what I want from our relationship.”

“Then tell me – tell me now, what do you want?” Alana pleaded gently.

“I want us to move in together. I want you to spend more time on our relationship rather than your work but specifically Will - you need to back off. He’ll reach out if he needs you, you don’t need to spend so much of your energy worrying about him.”

Alana sat back against the head board, blinking. “You want to move in together?”

Margot smiled tiredly. “Yes. I want a future with you Alana, I’ve known I wanted it for a while. I just got sick of waiting for you to see how serious I am about us.”

“Ok,” Alana breathed slowly. “I... yes, Margot. I want that too, I’m just so sorry I’ve been so wrapped up in - ”

“Don’t keep apologising for it,” Margot cut her off with a smile. “Just pack your things and come and live with me here.”

Alana didn’t get to reply before she was being dragged down into a kiss, Margot’s legs tangling with hers and their bodies moving together in the slow, easy dance they’d gotten so used to.

“I don’t know if I can do it,” Will mumbled, his voice deflated and flat.

Hannibal eyed the envelope sat on the counter in front of the Omega before looking back up at him. “Would you like me to open it?”

Will shook his head, grimacing. “This is stupid. It’s just a letter.”

“An important letter though,” Hannibal reminded him. “Which I am sure will contain positive news.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Will groaned, head falling into his hands. “What if they don’t want me and they just laughed at the fact I even applied in the first place?”

“Then they are depriving themselves of a brilliant, unique mind,” Hannibal reassured him firmly.

Will said nothing, finally reaching forwards and seizing the envelope, glowering at the John Hopkins University stamp on the front. The paper ripped as Will tore the envelope open and tugged the letter out.

Hannibal watched him in silence as his storm blue eyes scanned over the letter. Will’s shoulders sagged and he set the letter down.

“Well?”

“They’ve accepted me,” Will murmured quietly. “Hannibal, I know for a fact that you must have done something because there’s no way that a college like John Hopkins would even look at my application.”

“Will,” Hannibal smiled gently. “You’ve been accepted because - ”

“Because you fixed this whole thing!” Will cried out. “Nobody gets into John Hopkins, their application process is ridiculously difficult and they only accept people who are clearly going to do well and - ”

“Darling,” Hannibal cut him off, reaching for the letter. “You clearly impressed them. Yes, I recommended that they should think carefully about your application but ultimately you were the one who got yourself a place there. Your interview and supplemental essay were outstanding.”

Will clenched his jaw, scraping a hand through his hair. “I don’t know if I can do it. How can I do this when I haven’t even sat in a class room since I was fourteen?”

“You breezed your way through night school,” Hannibal pointed out. “You wrote an exceptional essay and application for John Hopkins and since you left Port Haven you’ve spent every day studying and reading.”

Will shook his head, barely listening. “It’s not enough. I won’t last a day Hannibal.”

Will didn’t hear Hannibal move from his seat and walk around the island to position himself behind him in an embrace, nose diving into the crook of his neck and kissing Will’s soft, pale skin gently. Will gradually relaxed from his stiff posture, sinking back into the familiar warmth of the Alpha, sighing.

“Stop gentling me,” Will grumbled, gripping Hannibal’s arms tightly nonetheless.

“I understand you’re worried. I know you’re apprehensive and unsure, but just look at how well you’re doing. Four years ago, did you think that you would be sat here now, reading your acceptance letter for a college you never thought you would even be able to apply for?” Hannibal asked.

Will sullenly shook his head, inhaling Hannibal’s scent deeply.

“And if you do find yourself struggling, which I doubt will happen, I will offer you all the support I can possibly provide,” Hannibal assured him.

“That’s cheating,” Will grumbled. “You can’t help me out Hannibal, you lecture there sometimes.”

“Do you think I care about that?” Hannibal smiled wolfishly. “You know I would do anything for you darling.”

Will twisted around in his seat, staring up at the older man. “And when people inevitably find out about us? Other professors and students?”

“That’s their issue if they have a problem with us,” Hannibal responded firmly. “I could only ever feel proud and lucky to inform people that you’re mine.”

“Does it bother you I don’t want other people to know about us?” Will asked cautiously, averting his eyes.

“No; if you wished to keep our relationship a secret because you were ashamed of me then it would bother me. I agree with you that other students and professors may treat you differently because of me, but I won’t deny it if anyone brings it up Will.”

Will slowly nodded, chewing his lip. “I’m not ashamed Hannibal. I just know people will act weird around me once they find out. Just look at the way Alana and Agent Crawford treat us.”

“Their judgements are valid,” Hannibal replied neutrally. “I understand how it looks to them; the older, perverted Alpha swooping in and taking advantage of a young Omega who has suffered a great ordeal.”

“It’s not like that though,” Will nearly hissed. “I love you.”

“And I love you too,” Hannibal replied solemnly. “But to the rest of the world I’m just taking advantage of you. They seem to think you’re so damaged beyond repair you would say yes to anyone and anything.”

Will eyes flashed with their dark gleam that Hannibal adored. “I might be damaged but I’m not vulnerable.”

Hannibal drew him close, eyes slipping shut and a faint smile tugging at his lips as he envisaged Will snarling above a bloody, screaming Mason Verger. The way Will’s chest would have heaved and his pupils would have blown as he ripped and stabbed and clawed at his mate.

“Far from it,” Hannibal agreed. “You are the strongest person I have ever encountered Will Graham. I couldn’t have chosen anyone more perfect to be my mate.”

Will stayed quiet for a while, just listening to the sound of their breaths and pulses synchronising. “What do I say when people see my bond bite?”

“Tell them whatever you wish,” Hannibal hummed. “I will be as non-descript as I can if I’m ever asked about mine.”

Will glanced up curiously. “You still want me to bite you back when we bond?”

“Of course I do,” Hannibal smiled. “I’ll admit I find myself slightly impatient for your next heat to arrive so we can finally be mated.”

Will blushed, smiling a little as he glanced down again. “Really?”

Hannibal tipped his head up, slipping his fingers underneath Will’s chin. “I find myself wanting it more than I’ve wanted anything in my whole life.”

“I’ll be yours,” Will whispered against his lips. “And you’ll be mine.”

The Alpha merely grinned as he closed the gap between their lips and kissed Will deeply, cradling either side of his head with his hands and imagining Will’s teeth scarring into the front of his throat. The mingling of their blood would be divine. Will’s flesh breaking beneath his teeth, the gush of hot life spilling into his mouth as he bound Will to him, forever... the image in his head stroked the dark shadows that swelled in his chest and Hannibal found himself nearly purring as he imagined it.

Time was moving quickly and more bodies seemed to be piling up in front of Jack.

Zeller sighed next to him in the lab, staring disdainfully at the corpse in front of them, gutted of nearly all organs. “There’s nothing worse than a serial killer in love.”

Jack merely swallowed as his gaze burrowed into the space where the body’s liver had been, too tired to point out that serial killers were incapable of love.

Alana found herself stood too often outside of the room that had been Will’s at Muskrat Farm. Sometimes she would look down and notice her hand was hovering over the door handle, tremors running through the sinew and bones of her hand. She stopped herself every time before she could open the door, her throat dry and her ears ringing. Since she’d moved in with Margot to the ridiculously oversized mansion, she’d noticed herself dwelling more and more on Will. She hadn’t heard from him in weeks other than when he had visited her at Port Haven to inform her he’d gotten a place at John Hopkins. She’d gritted her teeth and smiled and beamed, telling Will how wonderful it was and how proud she was. And Alana really was proud of him; he was recovering remarkably well. Almost too well. Hannibal had promised to report everything back to her about Will’s welfare and since leaving Port Haven to live with Hannibal, Will’s night terrors and mood swings and states of hysteria had suddenly vanished, according to the Alpha.

“Hannibal isn’t hiding anything,” Margot had sighed wistfully as she idly flicked through a magazine in one of the many lounges. “Will is better. You’d be surprised how healing having the right mate is.”

“Except they’re not mated.”

“Yet.”

Alana’s look could have turned her to stone, Margot fancied.

“Alana,” Margot smiled gently. “If you’re that worried about him, call him. Turn up at Hannibal’s house. He’s not a prisoner for God’s sake, you can go and see him.”

Alana wrung her hands fretfully. “I know but it could push him away and...”

“I’ve told you before. You’ll only push Will away when you become intrusive. Going around to check up on him and talk to him isn’t intrusive. Ordering him about and telling him what is and isn’t good for him, however, is intrusive.”

“I know,” Alana muttered, rubbing her temples. “Fine. I’ll go and see him.”

Margot just smiled in encouragement before leaning over to share a gentle kiss with her other half.

Hands, all over his body. He couldn’t see, but that was better. The sunlight hurt his eyes.

“It’s alright Will. I’ve got you.”

The voice was like velvet in his ears, stroking his brain. Will shuddered as the sweat gathered on the surface of his skin, tongue feeling too big for his mouth.

A flash and he shivered. There was blood streaked across Hannibal’s face, his hair in disarray. He was glorious. Crimson and black seeping into the white of his shirt, his knuckles bloodied and his lip burst as he smiled a small, ghastly thing across his mouth.

“Just breathe, darling.”

Will’s eyes rolled as he twisted, feeling the solid matter beneath him vanish, falling suddenly and yet so slowly into nothing. His heart thumped in his throat and Hannibal’s chin dripped with blood. So much of it.

“Don’t you understand, Will? Don’t you see that this is what you were made for?”.

“Wake up, Will.”

A soft murmur.

“It’s just another bad dream.”

“I want nothing more than to see you by my side, coated in the blood of those that you graced with your savagery. It’s beautiful, Will.”

He jerked, the shadows of horns leering within the corners of his vision. Blank, empty eyes just staring and staring and its head tilting as his leathery black skin crumpled and it reached for him and –

Will screamed and looked down to see Hannibal beneath him on their bedroom floor, his hands around the older man’s neck, clenched far too tightly. Hannibal’s eyes were practically shining with awe as the corners of his lips curled up in sheer delight.

“Mylimasis,” he breathed, slowly reaching up to peel Will’s stone like talons away from his throat.

“What are we doing down here?” Will croaked, heart pounding.

“Just another nightmare,” Hannibal soothed him, running his large hands up over Will’s wrists and forearms. “Come, let’s get back to bed.”

Later, when they lay curled together beneath Hannibal’s silk sheets in the warm glow of the lamps dotted around the room – left on at Will’s insistence that he couldn’t stand anymore darkness – Will reached up and cupped the Alpha’s face with one of his hands. Their eyes searched each others’ earnestly.

“Why were my hands around your throat?” Will breathed, his voice almost breaking.

“You were most likely acting out whatever it was you were dreaming,” Hannibal offered, stroking away an errant curl on Will’s forehead. “Your heat is nearly here, anyway. It’s not uncommon for all Omegas to behave slightly more violently around this time.”

Will’s eyes glazed over as he stared at a spot past Hannibal’s shoulder, swallowing. “It felt real.”

Hannibal sighed softly and twisted the lock of a stray, chocolate curl around his finger as he sank his hand into Will’s hair. “Your mind has an abundance of demons waiting in every corner, Will. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that you suffer like this.”

“It sounds childish,” Will breathed, his voice ragged and small, “but I just want... I just want you to hold on to me and tell me that everything is ok and it’s always going to be ok, no matter what – even though we both know it isn’t. I just need you to... I’m sorry, it’s stupid.”

Hannibal’s eyes softened and he cradled Will closer, eyelids slipping shut as Will burrowed his face into the juncture of his neck and shoulder, inhaling deeply. “I will fix this for you, darling. I wish you could wake up tomorrow and feel whole, but it’s going to take a while to get you there. But it will happen, I promise. And everything is ok, Will, right in this very moment; there’s just us. In a few days when your heat begins, all you’ll ever need to do to feel grounded again is reach inside to feel the connection our bond will create. You’ll feel me there, with you. I’ll always be there.”

“Thank you, Hannibal,” Will uttered, voice laden heavy with sleep.

Hannibal simply held him as they drifted back to sleep, mind occupied with hazy images of how he’d imagined Will at his last kill, his hands cupping the intolerably rude valet’s kidney in his hands like fine china.

“I’m really glad you felt up to having a visitor Will,” Alana beamed brightly at the glowering face she’d come to care for so enormously. “I appreciate you having me over.”

Will smiled tightly, breaking the glare on his face Alana realised he didn’t even seem to be aware of. “It’s alright. I can’t promise I’ll be very good company for long though. My uh, heat... you know. It’s only two days away now, I can get a bit... tetchy.”

“I won’t stay too long, don’t worry. I more just wanted to check up on you one last time as we probably won’t see each other again for a while.”

Will raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

Alana cleared her throat, turning her eyes down to her coffee and nodding. Will studied her, waiting for her to explain. He let the silence drag, wondering how long he was going to have to sit waiting for more. Alana remained silent.

“Is this... some sort of power game?” Will asked tiredly, lips thinning. “Or is there a reason we’re sat here in silence?”

“I’m going away for a while.”

“Away.”

“Yes. With Margot,” Alana replied, her voice careful. “I’ve come to the realisation that I am far too invested in my work and everything else but Margot. I’m afraid I’ll lose her if I don’t show her how much I do actually care about her and our life together.”

Will slowly got to his feet, his muscles aching. He turned to make more coffee, deciding that keeping his face hidden from view gave him at least some sort of advantage in this conversation. “What, so the plan is to whisk Margot away on a vacation for a few weeks and then suddenly it’ll fix all your problems?”

“More like permanently.”

Will paused, only slightly. “Permanently. To where?”

“Somewhere we can start afresh. We were thinking of heading to Montreal.”

“So you’ve both already arranged it all. What will you do? Teach? Start up a new practice? Paint Margot’s nails for her all day?”

“Will,” Alana sighed. “Margot wants you to sell Muskrat Farm.”

Will nearly choked on his coffee. “Excuse me?”

He finally turned to face her, gripping the handle of his fresh mug of coffee a little too tightly. Alana studied how white his knuckles were, swallowing the remnants of her own drink before sitting a little further back in Hannibal’s kitchen chair.

“We’re moving, Will. Permanently. We’ll be out of your hair and Margot and I can start again together, bond with each other... just move on with our damn lives. I wake up every day and look at her and wonder if today will be the day the FBI knock at our door and want to take her away for all she’s done. For all you’ve done.”

Will remained stoically silent.

“We’ve been talking and if Margot and I move away, you and Hannibal get to have your life and we get to have ours without being so stressfully wound and up and involved with each other all the time. But we don’t want Muskrat Farm sat empty. We want it off our hands, off of your hands too and for it to be somebody else’s problem.”

“And because in the eyes of the law, I’m the owner of Muskrat Farm. Because Mason is dead and I was mated to him.”

“Yes.”

“I’d rather burn it to the ground than sell it in that case. Have it demolished.”

“I don’t blame you. But Margot was born there, grew up there. Her entire life has been centred around that place. Sell it and you can keep the money if you want - ”

“As if I would want a single penny from the sale of that - ”

“Then give the money to Margot. Donate it to a domestic abuse charity. Put yourself through college with it. Just... once it’s sold we can move. We can start again once we don’t have that place to worry about anymore.”

Will pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, screwing his eyes shut as a headache began to cluster in his temples. “Jesus Alana...”

“Please Will. We don’t care what happens with the money, we just want to get on with our lives as quickly as possible.”

Will crossed his arms and leant back against the kitchen counter. “Fine. If Margot arranges it all, I’ll sign whatever documents you need me to. I’ll give her the money if she wants it. I certainly don’t.”

“Are you sure? Will, the sale you’d get on that place... you’d be comfortable for ten lifetimes over. You could do whatever you wanted, you could easily pay your way through college - ”

“I am comfortable, Alana. I’m comfortable now, for once. I don’t want a single penny from that house, I don’t need it. Hannibal would never let me pay for myself through college anyway.”

Will immediately regretted the words.

Alana’s shoulder stiffened and she looked positively disgusted. “Yes, I’m sure he wouldn’t.”

“I’m not going into this Alana.”

“That’s fine,” Alana smiled bitterly, getting to her feet and gathering her things. “You’re free to fuck up your life as you wish Will.”

“What?” Will spat. “Are you serious?!”

Alana shrugged her jacket on, her face livid. “I’m not here to talk about Hannibal. I came here to wish you goodbye and good luck Will. We’ll be in touch regarding the sale of Muskrat Farm.”

“Didn’t come here to talk about... are you aware of how pathetic you’re being?” Will scoffed. “How can you just say you’re not here to talk about him and then tell me I’m fucking up my life by being with him?”

“Money is just one way he’ll keep you trapped,” Alana answered bluntly, slinging her bag onto her shoulder and turning to leave. “You’ll be totally financially independent on him and when things go horribly wrong and you realise what a big mistake you’ve made, you’ll be stuck between a rock and a hard place; it’ll either be living on the streets or in a shelter with no support or staying with him and being miserable because you can’t financially support yourself.”

“How dare you?” Will snarled, baring his teeth. “How could you say that to me?”

Alana decided she was past caring at this point. “It might be all sunshine and roses now Will, but give it time and you’ll realise he’s trapped you in a web so thick and so dense you don’t know which way is up or down. He’ll make sure he is all you have and without him you’ll have nothing.”

Will stood in silence, gobsmacked. “I can’t believe you’re actually saying all these things. I know you hate him Alana, but what gives you the right? You’re supposed to be my friend!”

“That’s why I am saying it. I’m saying it from a place of concern,” Alana deadpanned, refusing to back down. “I’m sorry if it hurts to hear it Will, but it’s a classic case of domestic abuse and manipulation. This is just the early part of it, the early signs of what he’s really up to. It’s a long game.”

“I thought you were finally starting to respect me,” Will smiled bitterly, a wave of stinging betrayal and hurt crashing over him. “I thought you... never mind Alana. Whatever you say. Just send me to fucking paper work for the house when it’s ready and get the fuck out of my house.”

“I’m sorry we said goodbye like this.”

Will blinked, realising there were tears in his eyes. “Clearly not. Otherwise you never would have let it happen like this.”

“Goodbye Will,” Alana sighed, turning and heading straight out the kitchen door.

Will merely sat and listened to the front door open and close, Alana’s car door opening and closing and then soft sound of tires rolling back down the drive.

“Got to hand it to you Margot,” Will whispered softly into the silence of the house. “You sure as hell showed her how to be a cold hearted bitch.”

Chapter Text

Hannibal had cleared his schedule in advance this time for Will’s heat. The last thing he wanted was to be sat in therapy with Franklin again only to have to cut it short and leave the Omega throwing a tantrum in his office. No, this time everything felt far more structured and planned, as far as heats went. In the days leading up to his last heat, Will had been drowsy and had suffered from aches and pains but his mood had been fairly stable. This time around, the difference was stark. Will had been walking from room to room aimlessly with tears brimming in his eyes one minute and then slamming doors and snarling at Hannibal the next. The tumultuous behaviour he was displaying wasn’t unusual of pre-heat state of mind but it still surprised Hannibal somewhat; especially considering how much they’d both been looking forward to this heat so they could finally bond.

Will was pacing the living room, fidgeting with anything he could get his hands on and cursing under his breath. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days and there was a manic twitch to his movements.

Hannibal opened his mouth to speak but then quickly closed it upon seeing the glare Will gave him when he caught his eyes.

“Don’t,” Will muttered. “Don’t ask if there’s anything you can do.”

“You haven’t even let me try gentling you,” Hannibal pointed out. “I only want to help Will.”

Will paced a little more, wringing his hands. “I’m sorry. I just...”

“It’s alright, it’s only a few hours away. I know you must be feeling horrible.”

“I do feel horrible. But it’s not... Hannibal, they’re moving away. Margot and Alana.”

Hannibal shifted to his feet, frowning. “When did they tell you?”

“Alana came here, a couple of days ago. She’s moving to Montreal with Margot and they want me to sell Muskrat Farm and Alana told me I’m fucking up my life by being with you and that I’ll have no one to turn to when all of this goes wrong and I didn’t want to say goodbye to her like that and Margot isn’t even answering my calls and - ”

“Will,” Hannibal cut him off, approaching slowly with his hands held up. “Slow down, just a second. It’s alright.”

Will’s chest heaved and he scrubbed at his watery eyes in frustration. “I didn’t think I cared that much about them, Alana especially. But I don’t want them to go. I didn’t realise...”

“Whatever their plans are, it’s not important right now,” Hannibal soothed him, edging closer still. “There’s nothing either of us can do for the next few days and it wasn’t fair for Alana to put you in this situation with your heat so close.”

“What if I don’t see them ever again?” Will asked, his voice breaking slightly and the tears spilling.

“I find it very difficult to believe that you won’t see them ever again,” Hannibal smiled gently, finally reaching Will and carefully taking one of his shaking hands into his.

Will swallowed and watched Hannibal lift his hand up to his mouth and kiss his knuckles slowly. “Will you talk to them? Tell them I’m sorry?”

Hannibal frowned a little, pulling him closer. “Come here Will.”

He finally went, crumpling into his arms and releasing a shaky breath as he buried his face in the crook of Hannibal’s neck and wrapping his arms around his waist. Hannibal pulled him taut against himself, sighing heavily. They stood still for a moment, the air thick with Will’s heady, sweet scent.

“I’ll talk to them if you want, but I won’t be apologising on your behalf. You’ve never had anything to apologise for,” Hannibal murmured. “Now, please. Will you let me take you to bed? You’re wearing yourself out with all this stress.”

Will just feebly nodded, too tired to talk anymore. He drifted to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, dozing as Hannibal undressed him slowly. He’d no doubt wake in a few hours in the full swing of his heat and clothes were going to be pointless for the next couple of days. Hannibal stripped himself down too, settling into bed next to him and letting the Omega sleepily manoeuvre him so Will was resting with his head on Hannibal’s chest and their arms around each other, the momentum of their chest rising and falling with breath eventually syncing with one another.

As Will slept, Hannibal let his mind wander. Montreal was ideal, he thought, however seeing Will’s sadness at the prospect of no longer having Alana and Margot near was uncomfortable. He’d lost too many people in the last year and losing Margot and Alana together at the same time would no doubt fracture him even further. But he’d bounce back from it, surely... after all, there would be new acquaintances and friends to meet when he started at John Hopkins and soon enough Margot and Alana would just become friends he thought of fondly and scarcely ever saw. They would become just another part of his past and Will would undoubtedly move on.

It also meant Hannibal could breathe a little easier with the pair gone. Alana’s disdain and suspicion of him would be gone along with Margot’s threats and accusations. If nothing, their move to Montreal would make Hannibal’s life simpler even if it was difficult for Will at first. Margot’s removal from Will’s life would distance his past with Mason and Muskrat Farm and eliminate the constant threat hanging over their heads of whether they’d eventually be discovered for Mason’s death; Hannibal could keep Will closer to him, eradicate any influence Margot would continue to have over him as he healed from everything that had happened to him. It would all work out. It had to.

“There,” Will gasped, throwing his head back on silk sheets as his back arched up off of the bed and his nails sank into Hannibal’s biceps.

Hannibal smiled as he leant down to lick the inviting pale column of Will’s neck, shining with perspiration and bobbing up and down as he swallowed for air. Hannibal’s hips rocked gently against Will’s drenched bottom half, sliding in and out with ease as he nudged the small bundle of nerves inside of Will that had him seizing up and gasping. He gripped Will’s bent legs at the underside of his thighs as they moved against each other, the noises pouring from Will’s mouth sounding heavenly to Hannibal’s ears.

“You promise you’ll do it? We’ll bond this time?” Will panted, reaching up to lock his fingers around the back of Hannibal’s neck and staring intently into his amber eyes.

“I promised Will,” Hannibal huffed, smiling softly. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Except I do, Will. I lie to you all of the time, for your own good. I lie about so many things you would probably realise you don’t know me at all if you ever started to see through it.

Will smiled back, leaning up to kiss Hannibal and sighing at the way their lips connected and the heat of Hannibal’s tongue in his mouth. Hannibal shifted them further up the bed and eased Will’s legs around his waist and laid himself out flatter as Will’s arms looped around his neck and dug his fingers into Hannibal’s shoulder blades.

“I love you,” Will breathed into his ear as Hannibal rested his head into the side of Will’s neck and gently pulled at his skin with his teeth.

“I love you too,” Hannibal returned immediately, tightening his grip on the Omega.

They remained in that position, clinging onto each other as the room was filled with Will’s soft gasps and the creak of the bed beneath them. They came together laid like that, chests heaving and hands stroking up and down any available surface of skin. Will drifted away into sleep moments later and Hannibal followed him, knowing the next time he woke he’d be more frantic and in need and both their energy levels would be spent. The next time he woke he’d bite Will and finally bond them.

Hannibal stirred first a few hours later, turning over to see Will still asleep besides him. His eyelids twitched with the movement of his eyes darting around beneath them and his fingers clenched and unclenched the fistful of sheets he held. His hair was beginning to stick to his neck and forehead as his body’s temperature continued to grow with his rising heat and there was a soft rosy flush to his cheeks and chest. Careful not to wake him, Hannibal quickly rose to use the bathroom and head downstairs to retrieve more water for them both. He doubled checked all the windows and doors were locked whilst he was down there, the irritable, paranoid Alpha instincts inside of his brain swirling forwards at the prospect of anybody else entering his home and taking Will from him.

When he got back upstairs Will was sat upright, knees pulled to his chest and his teeth gnawing his lower lip bloody. His eyes were wide and panicked when the door opened but immediately glazed over when he saw Hannibal in the doorway, kneeling forwards and reaching for Hannibal.

“It’s alright Will,” Hannibal soothed him. “I was only gone for a few minutes.”

“Don’t care,” Will gritted out, trembling fingers locking around Hannibal’s wrists and yanking him back down to the bed with him with considerable force.

“Stay...stay here.”

Hannibal simply nodded and moved down to kiss him, allowing the Omega to snarl into his mouth in warning and dig his nails into Hannibal’s neck whilst he bit down on Hannibal’s lower lip.

A few moments later, Will was on his hands and knees keening underneath the Alpha as his tongue lapped at his entrance and savoured the sweet taste of Will, of slick and sweat and pheromones.

“Hannibal, Hannibal,” Will groaned, sinking down as his arms buckled underneath him and his chest rested on the bed with his rear end up in the air.

Hannibal hummed against his soft skin, tongue lavishing over his hole as he gripped each of Will’s cheeks in his hands with such a possessiveness that it made Will’s blood sing. He kept going until Will was nearly crying into the pillows, squirming uncontrollably and begging for him.

“You taste incredible Will,” Hannibal murmured against his skin, biting down on the fleshy junction of where thigh met buttocks and grinning at the way Will yelped. “Do you want me inside of you now?”

Will craned his neck to look back at the Alpha and the venom in his eyes was overwhelming. “Yes.”

Hannibal rose to his knees and soothed a hand down Will’s spine, enjoying the feel of each bump and ridge under his palm. He secured his hand firmly around the nape of his neck and pushed the Omega down as he lined himself up and slid slowly into Will’s welcoming heat. The effect was immediate, Will spasming beneath him and groaning as he clenched the twisted sheets beneath him. He bucked against Hannibal, desperate for movement but Hannibal snarled quietly, pushed his neck down further and digging his fingers deeper into his neck as he held still inside of Will.

“Please,” Will whimpered. “Please Hannibal, move.”

“I will,” Hannibal rumbled lowly, exhaling heavily through his nose.

Will continued to twist, panting like he’d just completed a marathon and desperately trying to push himself back against Hannibal’s groin. Hannibal took in the sight of him so wanton and lost in his heat and reveled in the image, capturing each detail in his mind as he painted the picture of Will beneath him permanently into his mind. It joined the secluded room of other memories of Will like this, sprawled in every position Hannibal had ever had him, the sounds of his gasps and moans and sobs bouncing off the walls of this room in his mind.

Hannibal slowly drew back from where he’d been flush against Will and then steadily rocked his hips forwards again, the Alpha inside of him gnashing its teeth and snarling at the sound of Will practically sobbing at the movement, his whole frame shaking. He kept going like this, slowly pulling back and forth inside of Will and marvelling at the way Will’s body reacted, the way his insides hysterically tried to suck him in further and kept clenching around him. It was like heaven.

Will’s brain was foggy, his mind blank except for the overwhelming need for Hannibal to fuck him. He surrendered to the darkness that rid him of his rationale and let his body take over as every touch and sound felt like electric. He tongue felt too big in his mouth, his mind incapable of forming words as nothing but soft keening whimpers and cries fell past his lips as Hannibal pushed him further into sensory oblivion. All he needed now was to feel the skin at the back of his neck burst and the pain of Hannibal’s teeth breaking through layers of tissue into the small gland resting close to the surface of his skin, for his saliva to penetrate the gland and mix together with his blood stream and make him Hannibal’s, finally.

And then, then he could bite him back. He could pin Hannibal beneath him and sink his teeth into the hollow of Hannibal’s throat and they’d be whole.

Hannibal’s hips snapped against Will, the sound almost deafening in the room mixed with their grunts and breaths and moans. The Alpha suddenly surged forwards over him, taking Will by surprise as he let out a yelp at the sudden movement. Hannibal snarled in his ear as Will jerked underneath him, breath caught in his throat and his heart pounding.

“Will,” Hannibal panted into his hairline, teeth skimming along the shell of his ear whilst he dug his fingers in hard enough to bruise the Omega’s pale skin. “Will, mine.”

“Yes, yes – yours Hannibal, I want - ”

Hannibal cut him off by twisting his head round to scrabble for his lips, kissing him like a starved man and thrusting faster into him. Will sobbed into the kiss, his eyes rolling in his head as Hannibal’s length pressed so accurately into his prostate each time and his insides hugged the Alpha to him subconsciously. Will felt like he was about to pass out, his climax rising closer and closer and the heat twisting in the pit of his stomach becoming unbearable.

He almost did lose his grip on consciousness then, suddenly, when Hannibal’s mouth skimmed over the skin at the back of his neck and then there was pain followed by a burst of euphoria as the Alpha’s teeth ripped into his neck. He orgasmed violently, flailing underneath Hannibal and almost screaming as he kicked out and jerked but he held Will fast and hissed, sucking harshly against the open wound his teeth had just created.

“Hannibal,” Will choked out, wave after wave of the most intense orgasm he’d ever felt hitting him like high tide, eyes rolling in their sockets and tears streaming down his face as his cock twitched and spurted into the sheets.

He felt like he’d died and been reborn.

Dizzy and disorientated, he let the Alpha pull him and move him and found himself sat astride Hannibal with the Alpha planting his heels into the mattress and smacking his hips up into the Omega above him, desperately clinging to him as he fell forwards to suck at the mating gland at the front of Hannibal’s neck.

“I’m going to knot you,” Hannibal growled in his ear. “And you’re going to bite me, because you’re mine Will, you’re my Omega - ”

Will cut him off with a wild kiss, gasping into Hannibal’s mouth as he felt his knot pushing past his rim and nudging inside of him. Tears still streaming down his face, Will rose up as he felt Hannibal stiffen and jerk up beneath him with a trapped cry in his throat and instinctively sank his teeth into the hollow of Hannibal’s throat as he came.

Hannibal saw stars and tasted blood in his mouth as he orgasmed and felt Will’s teeth break the skin of his throat. His body felt on fire and it was glorious.

Will wasn’t sure how much time passed then, Hannibal’s blood staining his teeth and lips as he lapped at the bite he’d just created and felt like every fiber of his being was being electrified.

When he came around again they were lying on their sides spooning, Hannibal’s knot still throbbing inside of him and filling the condom. The Alpha’s tongue was pushing and pressing against the back of his neck where he’d bitten Will and he realised there were soft, trembling whimpers escaping his mouth as Hannibal held him.

“Hannibal?” Will croaked, blinking as the room span before him.

Hannibal tightened his grip on him but remained silent, licking harder against the bond bite.

“I think I just died,” Will mumbled, waiting for feeling to return to his toes slowly and spread up his legs.

“No, Will,” Hannibal hoarsely replied. “We did it. We bonded.”

“Fuck. We did, we... we’re bonded,” Will breathed out in disbelief.

“You are amazing, mylimasis,” Hannibal cooed at him in a way Will had never heard before, the sound making every hair on his body stand up and a shudder run through him. “I love you, so much.”

“I love you too,” Will smiled weakly, struggling to find the strength to fight the push at his eyelids and the ache beginning to spread throughout his body with exhaustion. “Hannibal, I want to stay awake...”

“Sleep,” Hannibal replied immediately. “Go to sleep darling.”

Normally Will would have resisted but the command, as gentle as it was, seemed to shut his body down like a light switch had been turned off and he found himself falling headfirst into a deep, deep sleep.

Will’s heat continued for four more days and was filled with more frantic, possessive fucking and the both of them repeatedly reopening their bond bites and sinking their teeth into each other’s necks at every chance they got. The bond bites would scar deeply and thickly, and Hannibal couldn’t wait for the whole world to see his Omega possessing such an intense mating mark. His own mating mark would be covered by suits and ties and shirts the majority of the time, but the thought of the scarring peaking over the line of his collar when he moved in certain ways sent tingles of excitement down Hannibal’s spine. Patients sat in therapy with him, members of the audience at operas, even at stores where check out assistants would catch glimpses of the bond bite... it was a wonderful feeling.

The best part about all of it though was the fact that the ring of teeth marks left by Mason Verger was gone forever. Faded as they had been by now, the fact that the faint trace of them that was left had been replaced by Hannibal’s bite was beyond satisfactory. Any hold, any memory, any trace of what Mason had over Will had been stripped away utterly and now the Omega was ridden of him, replaced by Hannibal.

Hannibal had never thought he’d enjoy the thought or sensation of bonding so much, but on the last night of Will’s heat as he watched the Omega sleep in a curled up ball amongst the flurried nest he’d made for himself, Hannibal decided it had been the most important and memorable experience of his life. He finally felt a sense of being whole, like every piece of his life had slotted together in a bizarre array of events to lead up to this perfection that would be the rest of his life with Will by his side as his mate.

Chapter Text

Hannibal glanced over at the sullen look on Will’s face and felt the tiniest, smallest twinge of guilt that was quickly overridden by protectiveness and the certainty that he was absolutely doing the right thing. Will had refused to look at him since last night when they’d had their ‘argument’; Hannibal refused to believe they had arguments, just minor disagreements. They were too perfect for each other to do something as mundane and pathetic as arguing...

“I’m not going then,” Will spat, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Darling, don’t be ridiculous,” Hannibal smiled softly. “You can’t miss your first day of your fall semester.”

“I’m not going if it means you’re going to drive me there and everyone will see - ”

“See what? See you with your mate?” Hannibal interrupted, raising a brow.

Will’s arms fell to his sides and his face twisted as if he was in pain. “You know full well that’s not what I meant. If I didn’t want to be seen with you in public why have I been out in Baltimore with you and had you introduce me to people as your mate? You know I’m not bothered about people knowing I’m with you. It’s the fact that this is a chance for me start something on my own and not have someone hovering over me!”

“How else would you get to college?”

“A bus? Any other form of transport like normal people do? My legs?”

“I dislike the idea of you using public transport. It could be dangerous.”

“Jesus Christ Hannibal,” Will groaned, slumping down into the armchair opposite the Alpha. “I barely ever leave the house on my own. I want independence.”

“You do have independence,” Hannibal replied carefully, fully aware that Will had an incredibly valid point.

“I don’t feel like I do. At all,” he snapped. “If I didn’t keep failing my fucking driving test I could drive myself to college. Please just let me make my own way there tomorrow. Please.”

“What if the bus breaks down or you get the wrong bus or you somehow end up lost?”

“We could get hit by a truck and die in a wreck tomorrow on the way to college,” Will dead panned in reply, eyes fiery and dark. “You can’t say you don’t want me to make my own way to college because of stupid things like the bus breaking down.”

“Unlikely,” Hannibal sighed, casting his gaze back down to his novel. “I’m sorry Will, but I’m not budging on this one. I’d like to drive you there myself and see you get there safely and on time.”

“If you drive me there,” Will began, “then you’re letting me take the bus home.”

Hannibal’s jaw stiffened. “Will, I can’t say I like that idea either.”

“You’re my mate, not my fucking minder,” Will grumbled, biting him thumbnail. “Please Hannibal.”

Hannibal looked up from his book with a hardened stare, unashamedly letting his pheromones clog the air and tugging on the connection of their bond he felt inside of him and between them. “I’m sorry darling, but no.”

Will’s face twisted once more at the sensation of Hannibal overriding him, dominating him through their bond and his eyes welled up with frustrated tears. He simply stood up then and left the room, treading slowly upstairs. Hannibal heard the door of one of the spare rooms slam shut and the following ring of silence that echoed throughout the house. He sighed, tipping his head back and looking at the ceiling above him. Having a younger mate had proved somewhat tricky at times, this instance being one of them.

Later when Hannibal retired upstairs to go to bed, he lingered outside of the spare room. There was silence, until –

“Go away Hannibal.”

Hannibal gently opened the door, peaking in at Will’s form in bed. He lay with his back to the door in the darkened room. “I’m sorry Will, ple - ”

“Get out, please. I’m trying to sleep.”

Hannibal didn’t need to be told a third time. He quietly retreated and shut the door softly behind him, sighing again. It was going to be a difficult task taming Will.

“Mylimasis,” Hannibal murmured, reaching down and touching Will’s hand where it lay on his thigh. “Please don’t start your first day off like this.”

Will turned his head to look at him, his eyes cold. “Don’t you have clients to get to?”

“They can wait,” Hannibal replied.

“My class starts soon. I have to find where I’m going,” Will pointed out.

“I know.”

Neither of them made a move, staring each other down. Hannibal broke first, realising he’d pushed the Omega far enough since last night.

“Please call me when you’ve finished for the day and you’re on your way home.”

Will’s eyes widened a little bit. “I can come home by myself? You won’t pick me up?”

“I won’t.”

Will smiled softly then, leaning forwards. “Thank you Hannibal.”

His name sounded like honey, rolling off his tongue like syrup and the car was filled with sweet pheromones, Will’s scent caressing his senses. Manipulating him before he changed his mind. Sweet, clever boy.

Their lips met and Hannibal plunged his tongue into Will’s mouth, claiming him and possessively cradling the back of his head in his hand. He let his hand wander down to Will’s bond bite, half visible over the collar of his shirt and pushed his fingers down past the fabric to gently squeeze it and dig his nails into the healing flesh. Will immediately went like jelly in his arms, whimpering into his mouth.

“Not fair,” Will whispered against his mouth as they pulled apart.

Hannibal smirked and unabashedly continued to scent his mate, leaving his touch against Will’s pulse points and his clothes until he was satisfied Will thoroughly reeked of Hannibal.

Will weakly pushed him back, looking dizzy. “I really have to go.”

“Have a good day darling,” Hannibal purred. “I love you.”

“I love you too, even if you are a pain in the ass,” Will grumbled, leaning forwards to give him one last peck before swiftly grabbing his bag and exiting the car.

Hannibal waited until Will had disappeared from sight in the sea of bodies making its way into the college entrance, eyes trained on the boy’s shrinking figure. Today was going to be a long day.

Will’s first day so far had consisted of introductory sessions with his new lecturers and tutors, syllabus breakdowns and ice breaker activities with the other students. Lunch rolled around soon enough and he found himself sat at the back of the canteen picking at the sushi Hannibal had lovingly prepared for him. He felt utterly out of place and nervous and slightly like he was back in school but at the same time, he felt wonderful; he was actually doing it. He was at college. He wasn’t sat in a locked room in Muskrat Farm nursing a broken arm or waiting for another miscarriage to happen. He was free.

A shadow cast across the empty table he sat at and he looked up cautiously. An Omega and a Beta stood before him, nervously smiling.

“Hey there,” the Beta smiled, his teeth slightly crooked in a charming way. “Is it ok if we sit?”

“Of course,” Will smiled back uncertainly, sitting up a little straighter. “I’m Will.”

“Theo,” the Beta replied. “This is Yvette.”

“Hi Yvette,” Will greeted her.

“Hey,” she returned shyly. “How’s your first day going? You were in our classes this morning.”

“It’s been ok,” Will shrugged. “I mean I haven’t really felt like we’ve done much today but it’s still nice to get the first day over with.”

“Oh yeah, it’ll take a while for it to pick up and the actual work to start,” Yvette replied. “I uh, took this course last year but had to drop out half way through. I’m lucky enough that they let me come back and start the year over again.”

“Yeah, that’s lucky,” Will smiled gently, not prying into why she’d dropped out. “So did you guys know each other before semester started?”

Theo nodded. “Yeah, we actually live on the same street and went to high school together but Yvette was a year above me.”

“Oh that’s cool,” Will commented awkwardly, unsure of whether he was doing the whole ‘interacting with peers his own age’ thing the right way. “It’s nice to know someone before you start, it’s pretty daunting.”

“I suppose so. I mean I was pretty nervous when I found out I’d been accepted into college but I’ve been more excited than anything,” Theo grinned. “I can’t wait to get stuck into the programme.”

“Will, that sushi looks amazing,” Yvette commented, eyes glued to Will’s lunch. “I love sushi. Where’d you buy it?”

“Oh,” Will faltered, smile breaking. “My mate made it, but I don’t know where he got the fish from or anything...”

The following awkward silence was inevitable. Will cast his eyes down again.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone this young with a mate,” Theo chimed in a few moments later, his smile unsure. “That’s fine though! You know, it’s just pretty... rare.”

“I know,” Will mumbled feebly. “We only bonded a few months ago.”

“What’s his name?” Yvette enquired curiously, leaning forwards. “Their scent is pretty strong on you.”

Will blushed, hard. “His name is Hannibal. Sorry about the scent, I...”

“Hey, don’t apologise,” Theo shushed him. “It’s not as if I can really smell pheromones anyway, Beta nose and all. How did you guys meet?”

“We met a year ago, through a friend,” Will sort of lied. “We hit it off pretty quick I suppose.”

“I think it’s great,” Yvette said kindly. “If you know what you want, go for it I say. It shouldn’t matter if you guys are young.”

Will internally winced at that, forcing himself to laugh a little and unable to bring himself to tell her that he was the only young one out of him and Hannibal. “Yeah, I suppose.”

A short silence fell upon the three of them again before Theo cleared his throat. “Wanna head to the next lecture with us? It should be starting soon.”

“I’d like that,” Will smiled earnestly at him, eyes shining. “Thank you.”

“It’s alright, you don’t have to say thanks,” Theo brushed him off.

“I’m just... I’m not very good at people, as stupid as that sounds for someone who’s doing a psychological and brain sciences degree,” Will mumbled nervously.

“So I appreciate it.”

Theo’s eyes softened a little and he shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Wanna get going?”

The trio stood and made their way to the next lecture hall, however Will felt Theo’s eyes boring hard into the back of his neck the minute he turned his back to him, staring down the top half of Hannibal’s bite on his mating gland.

Maybe tomorrow he’d wear something with a collar a little higher.

Will gritted his teeth and rubbed his eyes as he glanced over the timetable for the bus. Other students were stood around waiting too but the stop was pretty empty considering most students lived on campus and in dorms. Giving up trying to decipher the timetable, he turned shyly to a woman stood by him to ask whether the next bus stopped near Hannibal’s street.

It did, thankfully, and once it had arrived and Will had paid and sat down at the back of the vehicle, he pulled his phone out to call Hannibal.

He picked up on the first ring, of course. “Hello Will.”

“Hello,” Will greeted him tiredly. “I’m on my way home now. I worked out which bus to get.”

“I’m glad,” Hannibal rumbled over the line, sounding relieved. “You sound tired.”

“A little,” Will admitted. “Today wore me out more than I thought it would.”

“It was bound to be overwhelming I suppose,” Hannibal soothed him. “I’ll have dinner nearly ready when you get home, if you like.”

“It was still good though,” Will smiled wistfully. “Dinner sounds nice. I’ll see you later Hannibal.”

“Goodbye, Will.”

Hanging up, Will settled back in his seat and let his mind wander a little as the bus made its way through town. He’d nearly drifted off to sleep when he jumped suddenly, realising he was only a stop away from home. It still felt strange, calling it home. It was slowly starting to feel like a home too. The house smelt like Hannibal and Will intermingled together in the most intoxicating new aroma. There’d been small tweaks to Hannibal’s impeccable home as the months passed with the two of them learning to live together. Will’s favourite brand of cereal in the cupboard, which Hannibal turned his noise up at in disgust but still bought for him regardless. Fishing lures Will had crafted and was in the middle of making lay around on a desk in the study, books Hannibal would never have bought lining shelves and coffee tables, wardrobes filled with Will’s clothes and shoes and nesting blankets stored away in cupboards that emerged every three months.

Getting off the bus and wondering whether it was just a rare moment of silly optimism caused by his first day at university, Will felt like things were starting to feel stable and just ok again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt any sort of stability, the memory of it stretching back to muggy days as a child in a trailer park in Louisiana with his father. But now, he had a home and a mate and he’d made not one, but two friends today on his first day at university. He almost felt like bursting into laughter right there in the middle of the street as he wandered towards the house.

Hannibal noticed the slight little smile on his lips as soon as Will walked through the door and felt his insides warm at the sight.

“Welcome home,” Hannibal called to him from the kitchen doorway, watching his mate kick his shoes off.

“Hey,” Will smiled. “How was your day?”

“Rather ordinary,” Hannibal smoothly replied. “I spent most of it distracted thinking about you, but that’s nothing unusual.”

Will approached him, chuckling a little. “You’re ridiculous, do you know that?”

“Oh, I’m entirely aware of how ridiculous I am,” Hannibal teased him, pulling him into his arms. “But I don’t care when it comes to you.”

Will stretched up and kissed him eagerly, his mouth warm and soft and lovely and Hannibal realised then just how much he’d missed Will during the hours of their separation. Hannibal held him tighter, sighing into the kiss.

“Come and tell me about your day, dinner is almost done,” he murmured into Will’s ear before planting a gentle kiss on his forehead.

Will followed behind him and helped him carry their plates through to the dining room. Sitting down, Will observed their elaborate meal for the evening.

“And what are we eating tonight?” Will asked, glancing up at his mate.

“Coratella con carciofi. Purple artichokes served with spring lamb's liver, lungs and heart,” Hannibal announced, delicately picking up his cutlery. “I hope you enjoy it.”

“Isn’t it a little late in the year for spring lamb?” Will teased him as he cut into the meat.

Hannibal’s lip twitched in amusement. “I am forever grateful for the invention of freezers.”

Will rolled his eyes at him but smiled the nonetheless and continued to eat. Hannibal couldn’t help but steal glances at Will eating, as he always did whenever he prepared a meat dish. Just as there was an entire room dedicated to Will’s heats and every sexual experience they’d shared together, there was the dining room in Hannibal’s mind filled with images of Will savouring every person he’d ever killed and cooked for him. Tonight consisted of Gabriel Brandt’s liver, Simon Kingston’s lungs and Marie de la Cruz’s heart.

After dinner, the pair ended up in the living room, Will stretched out on the sofa with his head in Hannibal’s lap and Hannibal’s fingers twining through his hair lovingly.

“So tell me about these two friends you made,” Hannibal murmured, savouring the feel of Will’s silky locks slipping through his fingers.

“Yvette’s an Omega and Theo is a Beta. They went to high school together but Yvette’s a year older and she started the degree last year but dropped out half way. They let her come back and start from scratch this year. They’re both really nice.”

“It must have been exceptional circumstances for her to taken back onto the programme,” Hannibal observed.

Will shrugged. “I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to pry or make her feel uncomfortable. She’ll tell me why if she wants to at some point I guess. Oh, and I told them about us.”

“How did that go?”

“Yvette asked where I got my sushi from. I told her my mate made it for me.”

Hannibal felt a small flare of pride and contentment at this. “And they didn’t react negatively?”

“No,” Will sighed contentedly as Hannibal’s fingers continued to card through his hair. “They were just surprised. I mean I didn’t say much about us, just that we’ve only been bonded for a few months. I didn’t... say anything about the age gap and I said we met through a friend.”

“Hmm,” Hannibal sounded neutrally. “You don’t have to tell them anything you don’t want to.”

“I know, but people are going to find out eventually.”

“We’ll deal with it when it happens,” Hannibal answered simply, leaning down to kiss him.

Will grazed his fingertips along Hannibal’s sharp, cutting cheekbones and stared intently at him. “Can we go have a bath together?”

“Of course,” Hannibal purred, shifting Will gently away from him. “I’ll go and start it now.”

Bathing together was one of Will’s favourite things to do. He relished in being surrounded by hot water frothing with Hannibal’s bath foams and salts that smelt and felt like heaven and probably cost a small fortune. Hannibal would always lay behind him with Will nestled between his legs as he rested against his chest, content with listening to nothing but their breathing and feeling the thump of Hannibal’s heart against his back.

Once they’d settled into the water Will sighed blissfully, slipping his eyes closed. “I’m glad your bath is big enough to fit us both in.”

Hannibal simply hummed in response, lifting his hands to gently work the muscles of Will’s neck and shoulders. “You’re tense.”

“Then fix it for me, Alpha,” Will whispered softly with a streak of mischief in his voice.

Hannibal nipped his neck, smirking but continuing to massage the knots beneath his fingers. Will groaned as he did so, squirming slightly at the more painful spots. It wasn’t long until he felt Hannibal’s erection straining against his back.

“Will,” Hannibal said lowly, “I’m going to have to get you out of the bath if you keep making those noises.”

“We don’t need to get out,” Will grinned, moving forwards onto his knees with his arms resting on the edge of the bathtub. “See?”

“Yes,” Hannibal replied, sounding almost choked. “I can see.”

Hannibal slipped a finger through the mass of bubbles clustered around Will’s entrance, delighting in the soft gasp it drew from the boy. Overcome with desire, Hannibal shifted forwards to get himself closer to Will. He circled the pad of his index finger over Will’s puckered hole, leaning in close to kiss his perineum. Will hummed in satisfaction, arching his back and Hannibal took the invitation to sink his finger inside.

“How does it always feel so good, even when you’re only using a single finger?” Will laughed, looking back at Hannibal with dark eyes.

“I have exceptional fingers, clearly,” Hannibal shot back at him, slowly sliding his finger back and forth a little.

Will bit his lip and his cheeks flushed even more with the heat of the steam wafting from the bath water and the pleasure Hannibal was causing him. A few moments later, Hannibal added a second finger, adoring the way Will’s body welcomed whatever he gave him and hungrily sucked the digits in. Slipping his hand beneath the water to grasp his own erection, Hannibal took a hold of himself and began to slowly stroke in time with the thrusts of his fingers. He crooked his fingers a little as he pushed them deeper, knowing exactly where Will’s sweet spot was.

Will mewled when he found his prostate, grip tightening on the edge of the tub. Hannibal grinned at the sound and continued to lazily stroke his erection as he rubbed his fingers against the small bunch of nerves inside the Omega.

“Good boy, Will,” Hannibal breathed heavily as Will started to shake. “Does it feel good?”

Will nodded violently. “You know it does, you fuck.”

Hannibal slipped a third finger in then, enjoying his view immensely. “Will you do you something for me darling?”

“Yes,” Will replied immediately, back arching as Hannibal twisted his fingers.

“I want you to take my whole hand.”

“Oh fuck,” Will cursed, hanging his head and sucking in a sharp breath. “Do you think I can?”

“Of course you can,” Hannibal rumbled. “Your body will take whatever I give it.”

Will whimpered, his erection straining and weeping underneath him at Hannibal’s words. “Ok. I’ll try.”

“Beautiful boy,” Hannibal praised him, leaning forwards to kiss the base of his spine.

He gently worked in his ring finger, shushing Will as he shuddered at the stretch of the extra digit. One of Will’s hands slipped from the edge of the tub where he was propping himself up to take his weeping length in hand, sighing shakily as his head drooped to rest against his remaining forearm.

“I want you to tell me if it’s too much,” Hannibal murmured from behind him.

Will barely heard him but managed a faint nod which he assumed Hannibal registered, too consumed by the exquisite burn and stretch pulsating through his lower half. His nerves prickled as he listened to the slosh of water as Hannibal stroked himself, the shuddering inhale and exhale of his own breath and the droplets of sweat and water rolling down his neck and down along his curved spine. His knees began to ache a little from being pressed against the porcelain base of the tub and the pressure of his head trapping his forearm against the solid edge of the tub was beginning to become uncomfortable too, but none of it mattered when he felt his body reacting so pleasantly to Hannibal’s delicately precise touches and movements. The slow dragging motion of fingers as they glided in and out, the maddeningly deliberate furl and unfurl of Hannibal’s fingers as they rubbed and stroked against his prostate each time... Will felt like his heart was about to combust.

His body went rigid as Hannibal slowly eased a fourth finger in besides the existing three, a groan catching in his throat as his hand faltered on pleasuring himself as he stroked his erection.

“You’re doing so well,” Hannibal hummed behind him, placing another kiss to the base of his spine and stroking the backs of his thighs with his spare hand.

The Omega within Will purred at the praise, a warm fluttering feeling in his chest at the knowledge he’d pleased his mate. Hannibal stilled his hand, letting Will get used to stretch for a moment before cautiously resuming pumping his fingers back and forth, never failing to catch Will’s sweet spot every time.

“Just one more now, Will,” Hannibal told him, shifting in the water behind him. “Can you do that for me?”

“Yes,” Will whispered, eyes glazed over and lost in the immense pleasure that was coursing through his senses.

Hannibal tucked his thumb into his palm and watched in amazement as Will slowly, slowly swallowed his whole hand, his knuckles disappearing followed by his palm until he’d sank his hand all the way in up to his wrist. Will was shaking, panting heavily and leaking slick from his hole in slow pulses.

“Oh Will,” Hannibal sighed in adoration. “You’re taking it so beautifully, look at you.”

“Hannibal,” Will croaked, sounding distant and a million miles away. “Please may I come?”

His inner instincts snarled at the beauty of Will’s submission, the unusually Omegan behaviour such a rarity from Will that Hannibal delighted in every second from it. Will never normally submitted to anything, not that Hannibal ever really made him, but to hear him even ask to have his release was enough to make Hannibal want to snarl and tear his bond bite open again.

Gradually twisting his fist inside of the Omega, Hannibal found his breath escaping him in ragged bursts.

“Soon,” he answered. “Just a little longer.”

Will whimpered but didn’t contest, simply biting back down on his lip and letting his hand drop away from his cock. Hannibal tested Will’s capacity for movement then, pulling his fist back slightly. Will sounding like his was choking on the air and it made Hannibal smirk, encouraging him to slowly start fucking Will with his fist. Will’s body complied perfectly, sucking Hannibal back in every time he drew away and clenching hard around his fist and wrist when he pushed back in. Soon the Alpha was steadily fucking him, enjoying every whimper and moan that elicited from Will’s mouth.

“Hannibal, pl-please,” Will stuttered. “I want to come.”

“Then come,” Hannibal granted him. “Come for me.”

Will stroked himself a total of three times before he spasmed forwards with a sudden lurch, bath water sloshing up the sides of the tub and he came hard with a cry, releasing into the hot water beneath him. The sight and sound of it all tipped Hannibal over the edge of his own pleasurable cliff, grunting as he spilled into his hand and savoured the violent clenching of Will’s inner walls as he rode the last few waves of his orgasm. Gently easing his hand out from the Omega once his muscles had relaxed enough, Hannibal seized his mate and dragged him back to turn him around and kiss him, deep and hard. It was possessive and messy but adoring, the two clinging to each other amongst the foaming bubbles and steaming water.

“That was...” Will mumbled, looking decidedly disorientated. “I...”

“Did you enjoy it?” Hannibal asked, smoothing his curls back from his face.

Will just nodded, dumbfounded and lost for words.

Hannibal smiled smugly and kissed him again, sighing blissfully into the kiss.

“I think I need a shower now though,” Will stated in the same lost, distant voice.

They both glanced down at the floating remnants of the act they’d just committed and sweet tang of fresh sweat resting on their skin.

“Perhaps a good idea,” Hannibal agreed. “You go first.”

Will glanced up through wet lashes, looking even more tempting and flushed and Hannibal found himself wanting to savage the boy again. “Can... I might need some help standing up. I can’t feel my legs.”

Hannibal beamed inside, entirely smug and amused but helped Will out of the bath without another word and guided him over to the shower. He left him to wash himself and drained the bath, wrapping a robe around himself as he went to turn down the bed for the night and retrieve water for them both. Will was stood shakily squeezing toothpaste onto his toothbrush at the sink when Hannibal returned, a soft cotton towel wrapped around his narrow, sharp waist.

Hannibal took a moment to simply observe him, leaning against the door frame.

His skin was smooth and spread across his skeleton like cream, and where it wasn’t smooth it was marred with thick scars. They ranged in texture and shape and colour, creating a bizarre map of lines and marks across his back and front. His back was the worst, a canvas of small knotted scar tissue from singular stab wounds and longer, jagged lines that varied from a blotchy purple and red colour to stark white. The one he’d always been fascinated with the most was the scar from the knife Will had told him Mason used to always carry around with him; the knife he used to test the depth of the fat on his livestock. It had sunk deeply into Will’s lower back, sitting perfectly on the left hand side between hip and spine. It had healed to form a smooth, white scar that was one of the smaller of Will’s collection of marks. He found himself drawn to that scar the most because he knew the knife that had caused the very scar had stabbed and slit Mason’s body apart and open like butter under Will’s rage.

“Stop staring,” Will muttered as he dropped his toothbrush back into the pot, wiping his mouth.

“I can’t help myself,” Hannibal purred. “You’re delightful.”

“I’m not,” Will immediately disagreed. “I’m disgusting.”

A small flame of rage lit within Hannibal then and his nostrils flared. “You, Will Graham, are singlehandedly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve seen forests and landscapes and frescoes and cathedrals, paintings and star filled nights that would bring tears to the eyes of most men but I’d gladly forget every other piece of art I have ever seen if it means I get to look at you. I know you don’t like the marks he left behind on you, inside and out. But I think every single hair on your head and cell of your skin is perfect.”

Will blinked in astonishment, silent by the sink. “You’re the most over dramatic man I’ve ever met in my life.”

“And you’re beautiful,” Hannibal conceded. “Don’t let me ever hear you say again that you’re disgusting. It’s just a plain and simple lie.”

Will shook his head with a smile. “I’ll keep that thought to myself next time then.”

“No,” Hannibal disagreed, moving forwards to shed his robe and step into the shower. “You’re not even allowed to think it.”

“Overdramatic,” Will echoed as he headed out the bathroom, allowing himself to smile a little once his back was turned to Hannibal.

Will’s second day at John Hopkins passed by him in a blur, as did his third day. The days dragged for Hannibal, finding himself disgruntled and unfocused on his clients and only able to think of Will and the seemingly vast distance between them whilst he was at his office and Will was at university.

Will’s fourth day was his first encounter with Adam, whose name he only found out after the whole ordeal. He’d been sat at a table in the canteen with Theo and Yvette, eating the lunch Hannibal had insisted on preparing for him again, when the cloying stench of Alpha hit his nose and his heart began to thump a little erratically. Of course Will was getting used to Alpha scents by now after living in his little bubble of Omegas and Betas in Port Haven, but sometimes certain scents made him hypersensitive.

Will felt a body brush past behind him and then winced as he heard a scuffle and a curse follow. He glanced behind him to see a man untangling his foot from the strap of his bag that he’d tucked underneath his chair, looking disgruntled and glaring at Will.

“That’s a stupid place to leave your bag,” the Alpha spat at him. “Be more careful.”

Will immediately snatched his bag back from the floor and shoved it under the table, sighing. “Sorry.”

The Alpha eyed him up unapologetically, nostrils flaring as he scented Will. He took in Will’s glowing, glass like skin and startlingly blue eyes, the perfectly fitted and clearly expensive clothing he was wearing and the soft twang of his southern lilt and found his mouth watering at the Omega before him. But then as he breathed in deeply and smelt the deeper, richer notes of what was clearly another Alpha intermingled with Will’s own scent, it clicked in his brain. He glanced down to observe the stark, vibrant scarring of a bond bite on the Omega’s neck and smirked.

“Hey, you’re that Omega, aren’t you?” he grinned, interrupting the conversation Will had turned back to with Theo and Yvette. “Everyone on our program is talking about you.”

Will slowly turned back around and gave the Alpha a bored look, which only riled him up further. He’d wanted fear and submission in Will’s eyes, not disdain. “Excuse me?”

“You’re the Omega that’s bonded, aren’t you?”

Will gritted his teeth and turned his back to him again, hating the fact his bond bite was on show. He nearly choked on the drink he was sipping when he felt the Alpha kick the leg of the chair he sat on none too gently, jolting him forwards.

“Did you just turn your back on me whilst I’m talking to you?” the Alpha asked in disbelief.

“It appears so,” Will answered dryly. “What do you want?”

He bristled, crossing his arms over his chest and doing nothing to hide his blatantly threatened Alpha reaction. “It’s rude to ignore your superiors when they’re talking to you.”

Will could feel the distress radiating off of Yvette across the table from him and how uncomfortable Theo felt and decided to let the Alpha have his way for their sake. “Ok, well, I’m sorry.”

The Alpha looked appalled. “You have got to be the most badly behaved Omega I’ve ever met, and to think you’re bonded too. How does your Alpha put up with your shitty attitude?”

Will turned around completely then and stood up out of his chair to face the Alpha, who clearly wasn’t expecting a physical reaction from Will at all. “Listen, I apologised for the fact that you were stupid enough to trip over a bag that was tucked under a chair but you really are making an idiot of yourself now. What are you even doing? Do you actually have anything you needed to say or can I go back to my lunch now?”

“Did you seriously just talk to me like that?” the Alpha gawped, dumbfounded at Will’s words. “You’re fucking unbelievable, who the fuck is your Alpha? I’m going to them exactly how rude and arrogant you were to me - ”

“That’s great, but you can you just go now?” Will cut him off, lip curling in disgust.

Speechless, the Alpha simply blinked and stood staring at Will as he sat back down with his back to him again, leaving him with no other choice but to back away and walk off from the table in silence.

As soon as he felt his presence gone from behind him, Will’s shoulders slumped and he felt the adrenaline crash and his hands begin to shake. “Who the hell was he?”

Yvette looked pale and shaken as she sat across from Will, her eyes wide. “His name is Adam, he’s on our programme in second year. I think he’s part of the student body council too.”

“Of course he is,” Will replied dryly. “God, that’s such a fucking Alpha thing to do.”

Theo cleared his throat. “His family are known for being pretty significant benefactors to the university. Like you said, typical Alpha.”

“That,” Will spat, brandishing his fork around with an angry wave, “is everything I hate about Alphas. When they speak to you like that because they think they’re entitled to, and the fact his family probably bought his way into university... it makes me mad.”

“I can see that,” Yvette laughed nervously. “He’s going to be really pissed at you. He’ll probably try something again.”

“I know,” Will sighed. “I wasn’t just going to let him be so vile though without standing up to him.”

“You’re a lot braver than I am, that’s for sure,” she smiled weakly, her eyes soft and sad.

Will’s mind flashed back to standing over Mason’s twitching, mangled body and the calm sense of power he’d had in that moment before blinking back in to focus and smiling at Yvette with the overwhelming need to protect her. “He’s not that scary Yvette. People like him are just childish bullies.”

Later on when he’d finished for the day, Will walked out to the parking lot by himself to meet Hannibal. He was picking Will up today, insisting that he wanted to go and spend the evening on Chesapeake Bay on the boat seeing as it was such a warm, pleasant evening. Will never said no to the opportunity to fish.

Hannibal was stood by the car talking to another professor when Will approached, his eyes lighting up as soon he saw him and an endearing smile splitting across his mouth. The other professor was another Alpha, around Hannibal’s age but slightly shorter than him and dark haired with a neatly shaped beard.

“Will,” Hannibal smiled warmly, making the Omega’s heart flutter at how handsome he was. “This is Dr. Laghari, an old friend of mine. We studied together at medical school, a long time ago.”

“Nice to meet you, Will,” Dr. Laghari greeted him formally, trying his best to keep the quizzical look out of his eyes as to how Will and Hannibal were connected.

It only took one concentrated inhale to smell how they knew each other.

“This is my mate, Will, Dr. Laghari,” Hannibal cut in before another word could be said, pulling the Omega close to his side with a firm, warm hand around Will’s waist. “Will has just recently begun his degree.”

Baffled and also terrified of Hannibal Lecter, Dr. Laghari put on his best front. “Wonderful, Will. What are studying?”

“Psychological and brain sciences,” Will murmured quietly. “You’re a lecturer here?”

“You must have an incredibly talented mate, Dr. Lecter,” Dr. Laghari smiled tensely. “I guest lecture in neuroscience often, yes. I doubt you’ll ever be subjected to one of my lectures though Will, unless you choose to venture into surgery.”

“I doubt it,” Will replied, finding the whole interaction with the other Alpha draining and unsettling as waves of confusion and disapproval rolled off of the other doctor at the stark age difference between Hannibal and Will. “We should get going Hannibal, don’t you think?”

“Of course darling,” Hannibal soothed him, stepping towards the Bentley slowly. “It was good to catch up with you again Dr. Laghari. Good luck with the rest of the semester.”

“You too, Dr. Lecter,” the other Alpha politely replied. “It was nice to meet you Will.”

Dr. Laghari quickly exited the scene, heading off down the parking lot to his own car. Will visibly sagged as soon as he was gone, looking exhausted. Hannibal moved closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and tilting Will’s chin up with a finger to gaze on his face.

“Are you alright Will?”

“It’s been... a long day, to say the least,” Will muttered, secretly enjoying the plain concern written all over Hannibal’s face. “Wanna get out of here?”

Hannibal nodded, leaning in and giving him a soft, firm kiss on his lips before drawing apart from him as they got into the car. At the entrance of the main building of the university, Adam stood watching as the Bentley pulled away and out onto the main road, taking in what he’d just seen. The bonded Omega in the year below him being fawned over by an older Alpha in front of another professor... the utter shame of it. Did his mate know he was seeing this older Alpha? The older Alpha who looked remarkably like Dr. Lecter from this distance, whom Adam had attended a guest lecture by in his first year. Adam was pretty certain the Omega’s name was Will, and that was all he needed to do some digging on the little rat.

Chapter Text

Adam didn’t see Will Graham the next day, leaving him frustrated and impatient. He’d spent the whole evening searching for anything about the Omega, staying up until the early hours of the morning when he’d found a lot more on the boy than he’d bargained for and now he was going to have to wait until next week to be able to put him in his place. He’d hardly believed his eyes when he discovered who Will really was, scrolling through countless web pages of news reports and shitty sites of conspiracy theory threads on missing persons reports. There was so much. He hadn’t been able to find anything on social media, discovering the Omega had never had a single account on any platform. It was frustrating, but Adam had still found out enough. And now, he had the opportunity to dig more over the weekend.

“Hey, Omega,” a sneering voice called from behind him.

Will considered walking on, keeping his back turned and making his way to his next lecture. But he didn’t. He didn’t, because he was sick of Alphas treating him like he wasn’t even a person.

When he turned around, Adam’s smug face and towering form were approaching him. He stank of adrenaline and venomous confidence, his eyes blazing as he neared Will. Will drew in a deep breath, determined to stand his ground.

“Can I help you?”

“You can, actually,” Adam responded, baring every single one his sharp, bright teeth as he smiled. “Listen, Will... that is your name, isn’t it? Will Graham?”

“It is,” Will answered sourly. “Is this going to take long? I’ll be late for my lecture.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Adam smoothly replied, slinging an arm around Will’s shoulders and quickly ushering him into the nearest class room that so conveniently happened to be empty. “This won’t take long.”

Will ripped himself free of the Alpha’s grasp, stepping away immediately with a scowl. Adam shut the door behind them, closing in on Will again.

“I did some reading this weekend,” Adam grinned. “About you. You’re remarkably pretty Will, all things considered, do you know that?”

He knows. He knows about Mason. Will’s heart beat unbearably loud in his ears and he struggled to maintain his calm exterior. Adam came closer, inches apart from Will’s face as he bent down to invade his space.

“You’ve got quite the past, haven’t you?” Adam murmured, eyes rapidly scanning over Will’s. “It wouldn’t surprise me if your story even pops up in some lectures here at John Hopkins. Maybe someone’s even writing a paper on you right now. You’re quite the case, I have to say.”

“What do you want?” Will demanded, proud of how steady his voice was.

“You annoy me,” Adam replied bluntly. “I don’t like you and I don’t like your attitude. Omegas should be polite to their superiors, and the way you’ve spoken to me is disgusting. So, I want an apology.”

Will couldn’t help then but pull on the bond between Hannibal and himself, sending signals of distress. “Then I apologise for my behaviour. I’m sorry I offended you.”

“That’s cute,” Adam smirked again, his face far too near. “But that doesn’t cut it, I’m afraid.”

Will sighed, struggling to resist the urge to flee. Adam would only like it, no doubt. “Then what?”

“I know about you and Dr. Lecter,” Adam mused, a hand floating upwards to twist a lock of Will’s hair around his finger.

Will flinched back from the touch immediately, earning him a snarl from Adam who only followed him. The Alpha backed him against the wall, his scent clouding Will’s senses like oil on water.

“Does your mate know that you’re fucking Dr. Lecter?” Adam quizzed him. “Do they know you’re cheating on them and fucking an older man? It’s disgusting, Will. You must be a real slut, having an Alpha at home and then sneaking off to fuck Dr. Lecter too. Do you want to add a third Alpha to the mix? If you can schedule me in, that is, I’m sure you must be pretty busy with two Alphas to please.”

Will blinked in utter shock. “I... Jesus Christ. Did you see me with Dr. Lecter last week or something?”

Adam laughed. “Of course I did. You were all over him in the parking lot last week, in front of another professor too. You’re shameless.”

Will shook his head, grinning in disbelief. “Wow.”

Adam backed away a little, expecting desperation and horror. “Something wrong, Will?”

“Are you done yet?” Will grumbled, gripping his bag a little tighter. “I really will be late for my lecture.”

“Don’t you care at all that I know all this dirty stuff about you?” Adam scoffed, looking beyond puzzled. “I could ruin your time here at John Hopkins. I could ruin any future you might have as a professional after university.”

“And how would you do that?” Will snapped. “What happened to me when I was child isn’t something that I could have prevented and I did nothing wrong. It’s in the past and the fact you’d even try and shame someone who’s a victim for what happened to them is shocking.”

“Everyone would treat you like a freak,” Adam hissed. “Do you really think you could walk around here without people staring and whispering at you? Nobody would want to approach you and if they did it would only ever be some creepy psych student wanting to pick your brain and use your story. And what about Dr. Lecter?”

“What about him?”

Adam frowned, deep creases lining his forehead. “Don’t you care about that? You’re fucking bonded and you’re sleeping with a guy who’s old enough to be your father, a guy who lectures here? You’d be excluded from university!”

Will shrugged. “I have to go. Can you please move?”

“What...” Adam trailed off before shaking his head. “Are you fucking stupid? Are listening to anything I’m saying? It would be a fucking scandal if everyone found out about you and Dr Lecter.”

“Whatever you say,” Will muttered through gritted teeth. “Excuse me.”

He didn’t wait a moment longer, shoving past Adam who was too confused to anticipate the movement and too slow to stop the darting Omega from disappearing out the door. He was left stood alone in the empty class room, wondering what on earth had just happened. How had Will just not cared about all of those threats? He could have sworn he had him by the balls...

Walking out of the last lecture of the day, Yvette nudged Will gently as they were making their way to the exit. “Will?”

“Hmm?”

“Wanna go get something to eat with me and Theo? There’s a nice cafe about five minutes walk from here, what do you think?”

Will’s grin was so bright at the offer that Yvette couldn’t help but smile back, until the smile faltered and Will visibly withdrew into himself. “I... let me just make a phone call, do you mind?”

Theo and Yvette both shook their heads, letting Will scuttle off to the side and rummage for his phone from his bag.

He chewed his lip nervously as he waited for Hannibal to pick up.

“Good afternoon darling,” Hannibal’s gentle voice breezed down the line, calming him immediately.

“Hey,” Will sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m... I was gonna ask you if I could do it but then I realised how ridiculous that was because I don’t need to ask your permission to hang out with friends after college so... yeah. I’m just letting you know. I’m going to a cafe with Theo and Yvette right now. It’s on campus so I won’t be home late and...”

“I’ll come and pick you up when you’re done,” Hannibal soothed him. “Is everything alright Will? You sound a little distressed and I felt you panicking today, earlier on in the afternoon. It lasted quite a while.”

“It was nothing, I just left my bag in a different lecture theatre and had to run off and get it,” Will lied smoothly, hoping Hannibal didn’t see through it. “I’m fine now, I promise.”

“I see,” Hannibal replied, not giving anything away with his voice. “You’ll call me later then and I’ll pick you up?”

“Sure,” Will agreed, glancing back to where Yvette and Theo were waiting. “I love you.”

“And I love you too,” Hannibal returned, savouring the soft, sweet lilt of Will’s voice every time he said those three words.

Hanging up, Hannibal looked down sadly at the meal he was in the middle of preparing for Will and himself. Sighing, he scraped Will’s portion of the ingredients back into the containers they’d come from; they’d keep until tomorrow, or could be made into something else for Will’s lunch this week. He never got tired of the satisfaction he felt at providing for the Omega, carefully crafting all of his meals in the knowledge that he was nourishing and caring for Will with each bite he took. At least now he’d have time rifle through his rolodex for his next source of meat.

“You ok?” Theo asked. “You’re looking a little distracted.”

Will paused, looking up at his new friends. He trusted them, oddly enough, despite only knowing them for a couple of weeks. He trusted them in a way he’d never trusted Margot or Alana, but then maybe that had been because Margot was as twisted and as dark as he was, and Alana... well, Alana had just become part of the whole messy package of it all despite her best efforts to help and heal. Yvette and Theo felt pure, somehow, untainted by any of the things Will had dragged along with him through his life so far. They weren’t a part of the things Will was trying to move past, and perhaps it was selfish, but Will saw them as a chance to further his healing and movement.

“Can I tell you guys something?”

They both sat up a little straighter, nodding.

“Of course you can,” Yvette smiled warmly. “What’s up?”

“Adam sort of... threatened me today,” Will confessed. “He pulled me into an empty class room and started saying all of this stupid stuff to me and it just... got to me, I guess.”

“What was he threatening you about?” Theo asked with a frown. “You two don’t even know each other.”

Will fidgeted in his seat a little. “I don’t mind if you guys go and read up about it but I think I’d rather tell you myself, first. When I was fourteen I was abducted and... it was on the news and stuff. They were searching for me for three years and there was another big story when they found me.”

“That’s... that’s big stuff, Will,” Theo began, clearly shocked. “Where were you all those years? Who...”

Will wrinkled his nose. “Muskrat Farm. His name was Mason Verger, he... bought me.”

Will couldn’t bring himself to look at their faces to see their reactions and instead fixedly stared at his hands on his lap.

“Oh Will...” Yvette gasped softly. “That’s just... how could he threaten you with something like that?”

Will tipped his head back, fighting back the ominous sting of tears that was beginning in his throat and eyes. “He thinks... god, this is stupid.”

“Hey, you can tell us,” Theo told him firmly. “We could go and report him, Will. What else happened?”

Will laughed bitterly. “He thinks that I’m... fuck. He saw me in the parking lot last week, kissing my mate when he picked me up at the end of the day.”

“But why would he bring that up?” Yvette frowned. “Sure it’s unusual that someone our age is bonded but that’s not something to threaten you with?”

“My mate is kind of older than me,” Will mumbled, chewing his lip aggressively. “And he saw him and thought that he wasn’t my mate and that I’m cheating on my mate.”

“Wait,” Theo back tracked. “But he doesn’t know who your mate is?”

“I never told him that the man he saw me kissing is actually my mate,” Will sighed. “He thinks my mate is someone younger and that I’m cheating on them.”

“How much older?” Yvette asked cautiously.

“Quite a lot,” Will admitted, wincing. “But he’s... he’s a doctor and sometimes he lectures at John Hopkins and Adam knows who he is and - ”

“Why didn’t you just tell him?” Theo pointed out. “If you just told him that he was your mate and not someone you’re cheating on with he would have shut his mouth straight away, right?”

“I don’t know,” Will groaned, his head falling into his hands. “I’m not ready for everyone to know.”

“Does he lecture on our program?” Yvette prompted him.

Will just nodded.

“This whole thing sounds insane,” Theo admitted. “I’m sorry Will. Adam is just a straight up dick.”

“I know you’re probably freaking out Will,” Yvette said gently, “but you do realise Adam doesn’t have any ground to stand on? If he goes around telling people about what happened to you and about the abduction then that’s just going to make him look bad, not you. People will end up disliking him for telling everyone private information about you.”

“It’s not private though,” Will laughed bitterly. “I held off as long as I could reading anything that’s out there about me, but... it’s all there, every single thing that happened to me. Where I’m from, how I ended up being sold in an auction, being locked up for three years and all the stuff he did to me. It’s all there, for everyone to read.”

Theo shook his head. “Nobody is going to treat you badly because of those awful things. But I get it. Even if they don’t treat you badly, why on earth would you want everyone to know anyway?”

“Exactly,” Will sighed heavily. “It’s fucked. And I can’t just let him go around telling everyone that a lecturer at John Hopkins is having an affair with me, not when everyone knows who he is and they’ll soon find out who I am.”

“Then if he brings it up again just tell him,” Theo insisted. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“People haven’t reacted very well to finding out about me and Hannibal before,” Will admitted. “I don’t want him turning up to guest lecture and having other students and professors whispering about him behind his back.”

“But technically, if he’s not done anything...” Yvette pointed out, but even she could hear how futile her observation was.

“It doesn’t matter that he’s not done anything wrong. People aren’t going to care that our bond is perfectly legal. All they’re ever going to see is that he’s older and then it’ll be even worse when they find out what happened to me, they’ll think he’s some sort of predator. What if he loses his job?”

“Hey, I’m sure it’s not gonna come to that,” Yvette disagreed. “They can’t do anything if he’s never broken a law.”

“Someone could make something up, start a rumour. What if they say he attacked a student? Or that he had an affair with someone underage?”

“Will, it won’t come to that,” Theo assured him. “I get that you’re stressed about this but you can’t let Adam shake you up this much.”

“I know, I know,” Will sighed. “This whole thing is so stupid.”

“We’re not gonna let that idiot ruin anything for you, ok?” Theo voiced. “And if he does try anything then there’s no way the university can just let him stay there, they’d have to make it a legal case on grounds of discrimination or something.”

“I’d rather it didn’t have to come to that in the first place and the whole thing just dies off on its own,” Will said, feeling utterly deflated. “Thank you for listening to me guys. I just don’t want to have to report this or make it a big deal, I’ve had enough reports and law suits and police in my life to last me a lifetime.”

Yvette nodded sympathetically. “Of course you have. We’ll try and support you whatever way we can, ok? Just make sure you tell us if he tries anything again. And anyway, I’m sure Hannibal would deal with him if you told him what Adam’s done.”

Will grimaced. “I’m planning on never having to tell him about Adam. He’d lose it.”

“At least you know he’s got your back,” Theo smiled. “And we have too.”

Will tried to picture it in his head, Hannibal discovering Adam’s threats and the way he’d react. He’d never seen Hannibal angry before, more just... quietly deadly.

When he called the Alpha around thirty minutes later to come and get him he felt an urgent need to see his mate as soon as possible, the distance between them finally starting to feel unsettling. Yvette and Theo left at the same time as him, the three of them walking out together. Hannibal’s Bentley was there in the parking lot as promised and he almost winced when he saw his friends’ widening eyes as Hannibal got out of the car. He nervously shuffled towards his mate, turning back too look at Yvette and Theo.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow?” Will smiled weakly.

“See you tomorrow,” they both chimed at the same time, unable to stop staring at Hannibal.

“Hey,” Will mumbled as he approached, welcoming Hannibal’s touch in the form of a hand on the small of his back and a gentle kiss on the forehead as he opened the passenger side door for Will.

“Mylimasis,” Hannibal replied simply, closing the door once Will was seated and walking back to the driver’s side.

He levelled his gaze with the staring Beta and Omega still stood outside the cafe, blatantly fixated. He forced his best smile, the one he put on for clients and Jack Crawford and opera acquaintances. They both smiled back warily, their reactions a little slow. They started walking out of the parking lot after Hannibal had pulled away and begun the drive back home.

“Did I just imagine that?” Yvette asked, still shell shocked.

“I don’t think so,” Theo replied. “I don’t really know what to say.”

“I have so many questions,” Yvette admitted. “When Will said he was older, I didn’t think he’d be that much older. I was thinking maybe like ten years, not... nearly thirty? How old do you think he is?”

“Mid forties? And stinking rich as well, by the looks of it,” Theo added. “Do you think... surely not...”

“What?”

“Sugar daddy?”

Yvette sharply elbowed him in the ribs. “Theo.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “It’s just the first thought that came to mind.”

“I doubt it,” Yvette disagreed. “I did kind of recognise him though. I went to one guest lecture he gave last year before I dropped out. He was fascinating.”

“Is it bad I really want to go to one of his lectures now?”

“I guess not, I mean I’m curious too,” Yvette hummed. “Maybe he’ll give one soon, even if it’s not our level.”

“Or we could just talk to Will about him?”

“I get the feeling it’s a sensitive subject Theo,” Yvette pointed out, thin lipped. “I don’t blame him. And I doubt we’re going to be getting an invitation to dinner any time soon.”

The next evening Yvette and Theo’s phones both buzzed with text message notifications from Will asking if they’d like to come around for dinner. Hannibal is a great cook, I promise.

The evening had passed smoothly with no awkward silences or pauses of uncomfortable moments. Will’s nerves at having outsiders in their home quickly passed once Hannibal took charge of the conversations and played the role of the perfect host with ease.

That was, until, Theo mentioned Adam.

“Hey Will, did anything come of all that stuff with Adam?” Theo asked, his tongue a little loosened by the wine Hannibal had served with their meal.

They’d both been a little startled by Hannibal’s offer of wine seeing as neither of them were yet twenty one, but he dismissed their hesitance by launching into a tirade, insisting it would only make the meal better and that it was a completely acceptable part of European culture, vehemently labelling America’s drinking laws as uncivilised and restrictive.

Will just rolled his eyes at the onslaught, sipping his own wine silently.

“Oh... no, nothing else has happened,” Will replied quickly, resisting the urge to kick Theo under the table.

“That’s good, because Yvette and I were both worried about you, y’know?” Theo continued ignorantly.

Will could feel Hannibal’s eyes burning into the side of his face.

“I haven’t seen him around college this week, but hopefully it stays that way,” Theo announced, looking deadly serious.

“An unpopular student you know?” Hannibal queried, innocently sliding his fork into his mouth with his usual elegance.

“It’s nothing,” Will insisted.

“You haven’t... oh,” Theo plundered, eyes widening in realisation. “Yeah, he’s no one Dr. Lecter.”

“Ah, but you’ve made me curious now,” Hannibal smiled warmly, eyes sparkling. “Especially since I’ll be giving a lecture at John Hopkins in two weeks.”

Theo cleared his throat. “He’s really no one, just an unpleasant guy in his second year of the degree.”

“Is that so?” Hannibal mused.

“You didn’t say you were lecturing,” Will muttered quietly.

“It completely slipped my mind darling,” Hannibal replied innocently. “And what about you, Yvette? Do you dislike this Adam too?”

You bastard, Will thought. You know she’ll answer all your questions because you’ll pull some Alpha pheromone bullshit on her and play on the fact she’s an Omega and quite clearly shit scared of you. You utter ass.

Hannibal must have felt Will’s anger through their bond because he sent his mate a demure look through his lashes.

“I can’t say I’m a fan, no,” Yvette supplied, glancing nervously at Will. “He’s known around college for being kind of... nasty.”

“And what ‘stuff’, may I ask, was Theo referring to?”

Yvette went red in the face, clearly distressed at Hannibal intensity as she shot Will an apologetic look. He didn’t blame her for cracking. Anyone would under Hannibal’s pressure, Omega or not.

“He was pretty rude to Will the other week,” Yvette admitted. “He tripped over Will’s bag somehow in the canteen and got mad at him about it and then just insulted him for no reason.”

“I see,” Hannibal responded, his voice void of all emotion. “Did it extend past that altercation?”

“Hannibal you sound like a fucking detective questioning a murder suspect,” Will cut in, snapping. “Lighten up. It’s nothing, honestly.”

Theo choked a little on his drink, unable to comprehend that anyone could speak so coarsely to an Alpha so sophisticated and put together; hearing it come from Will’s mouth in his soft southern twang to top it off made it almost hysterical.

Hannibal raised a brow at his mate. “I’m only making sure everything is alright.”

“Well it is,” Will gritted out, clutching his knife and fork a little too tightly. “Ok?”

Hannibal smiled pleasantly at Yvette. “Is it, Yvette? I hope Will isn’t lying to me.”

Yvette’s face look practically pained. “I...”

“You understand, I’m only concerned for him,” Hannibal purred, his voice like butter as his pheromones and glinting eyes targeted Yvette. “I can’t help but be protective of Will, after everything.”

Will wanted to stab his fork into Hannibal’s thigh.

“Well, he apparently made some, uh... threats,” Yvette mumbled. “I don’t think it’s really my place to say much more Dr. Lecter, and I don’t really know the full extent of what happened. I wasn’t there.”

“Of course,” Hannibal soothed her, reaching to refill her wine. “I apologise. It can be like drawing blood from a stone sometimes trying to get Will to tell me what’s bothering him.”

“Hannibal,” Will forcibly smiled. “Didn’t you say you’d made dessert?”

“Especially for this evening, yes,” Hannibal shot back.

“Oh, I couldn’t eat another thing,” Theo insisted. “Dinner was incredible Dr. Lecter, thank you. Will said you were a good cook but that was incredible. I’ve never eaten anything like it.”

“Theo, you do flatter me,” Hannibal grinned playfully. “Then I insist you both take dessert home. I’ll go and get some containers for you to take back with you.”

Will waited until Hannibal had cleared all their plates and disappeared to the kitchen before he reached for the wine and angrily poured himself another glass.

“Will,” Theo uttered, nearly whispering. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Will grumbled, gulping his wine. “He’ll get over it. He’s just over dramatic and over protective.”

Yvette reached across the table and placed her hand over the top of his. “I’m sorry too Will.”

Will just smiled a little hazily and shook his head. “It’s ok guys. Thanks for coming tonight anyway, he was bugging me about cooking for you and meeting you. ”

“Thank you for having us,” Yvette earnestly told him. “He’s very charming, Will.”

His very charming mate appeared again then, brandishing expensive looking Tupperware that Will was pretty certain cost about seventy dollars per box, containing the crème brûlées Hannibal had made. Theo and Yvette thanked them again for dinner and hosting them whilst Hannibal called them a cab and soon enough he was alone with his mate again, his friends vanishing out the front door.

“So,” Hannibal began immediately. “Do you want to tell me who Adam is?”

“Do you know,” Will sighed, “I can’t be bothered to fight over this, so yes. You win. I’ll tell you, because you’ll wrangle it out of me anyway.”

Hannibal looked a little disgruntled but let him continue, waiting patiently.

“There was the whole stupid thing of him tripping over my bag, calling me a rude Omega, a load of other bullshit about him being my superior,” Will explained dryly. “Then he grabbed me the other day, pulled me into an empty class room and then threatened to spread it around the university what happened with Mason. He also seems to think I’m having an affair with you and that my mate is a younger Alpha he’s never seen before. Are you happy now?”

“What did he want?” Hannibal asked slowly, his voice incredibly low.

“I don’t know.”

“A threat implies some action on your part to prevent him spreading those rumours.”

“What does every other Alpha want from me Hannibal?” Will snapped, turning to glare at him. “He mentioned something about being the third Alpha I’m sleeping with so take what you will from that.”

“So you’re saying that another Alpha has insulted you and attempted to blackmail you into performing sexual favours for him and you didn’t think to tell me.”

“Apparently not,” Will sighed heavily. “Can we go to bed now? I’m tired.”

Hannibal silently let him head upstairs and shower, maintaining his cold exterior as he cleaned away the last of dinner and locked the front door. Will was stood by the window absentmindedly chewing his thumbnail when he entered their bedroom, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts and one of Hannibal’s jumpers that he’d taken a liking to when he felt ill or was in preheat, the soft cashmere threaded with Hannibal’s scent comforting to him. The sleeves were too long on Will and the hem hung just below his groin.

It made Hannibal’s mouth water.

“I’m sorry for making dinner uncomfortable,” Hannibal apologised. “I hope you aren’t displeased with me.”

Will shook his head, still staring out of the window at the darkened sky with glazed over eyes, not really seeing. “I know you worry.”

Hannibal crossed the room to gently take him in his arms and kiss him, handling him like he would shatter at any moment. Will gradually returned the kiss, seeming to wake up as their lips and tongue danced together. He gripped Hannibal’s shoulders tightly, briefly pulling back from the kiss to look at him with flushed cheeks.

“Bed.”

Hannibal gave in to the urge to pick Will up, carefully depositing him on the bed and feeling his erection grow as Will began to pop open the buttons of his shirt to reveal his broad, muscled chest. He stripped quickly, pushing one of Will’s legs up to settle himself between them like he’d been created solely to fit together with him. He eased Will out of his sweater and bent down to kiss his pale, smooth pectoral muscles, smiling at the soft gasp he received when he licked over Will’s right nipple. Male Omegas bodies were incredible, able to undergo drastic metamorphosis between the two sexes like a caterpillar unfurling into a butterfly. Usually their chests were smooth, hard muscle that had the ability to morph itself into fat and ducts to plump up into small breasts when pregnant and after childbirth. Their bodies quickly morphed back again when children no longer needed to be nursed, ready to bloom again as soon as the next pregnancy occurred.

Hannibal couldn’t help but imagine Will pregnant, the image arousing and magnificent in his mind. His sucked hard on the nipple in his mouth, earning him a wanton moan from the body beneath him. He moved down Will’s body, taking the time to kiss and lick each scar Mason had left on the front of his body. There were admittedly fewer here, but enough to make Hannibal wince nonetheless. The thought of Will’s back being hurt was slightly more bearable to him, but the idea of Will’s soft, vulnerable front being damaged and jeopardised by Mason’s sadism made him feel sick.

Will shuddered as Hannibal kissed the cluster of burn marks by his left hip from a time when Mason had dropped lit matches on to his torso out of boredom one day.

“You’ve never told me what these ones are from,” Hannibal voiced against his skin.

“Matches,” Will panted, eyes slipping closed and head titled back against the sheet. “I lost track of how many he lit and dropped on me.”

Hannibal sank his teeth into the marks before him, snarling slightly. He kissed across the taught expanse of Will’s stomach, all signs of pregnancy gone. Will had put more weight on since he’d arrived at Port Haven and left, but even more so now that he was living with Hannibal. There still wasn’t an inch of fat on him, despite Hannibal’s best efforts, but he had filled out into his adult body properly now that he was no longer the emaciated shell Hannibal had laid his eyes on a year ago. His stomach bore no indications of pregnancy, which was another remarkable trait of male Omegas; no matter how far their skin stretched or pulled it returned to its original form with little more than a singular stretch mark in most cases, especially the younger the Omega. Their cells were just entirely different from any other gender or sex, constantly mutating and regenerating. Omegas had been the envy of Beta women since Hannibal could remember, the cosmetic industry constantly targeting Beta women with products and procedures boasting of ‘Omegan elasticity’.

Kissing Will’s firm stomach felt like satin beneath his lips, peppering every available inch with his lips. Will squirmed, a light smile playing on his lips.

“That tickles,” Will giggled, grabbing Hannibal’s head and yanking it away. “Come here and kiss me properly.”

Shifting them so Hannibal lay behind him in a spooning position, he gently worked Will open whilst he kissed him. He carefully scissored his fingers, tangling their tongues together as they kissed until Will gripped his forearm and pulled it away, angling his hips and staring impatiently at Hannibal. Grinning, he aligned himself and eased his way into the warm, slick coated insides of his mate, groaning once he was fully submerged in Will and pressed flushed against him. Will was soft and pliant in his arms, smiling hazily through the pleasure and Hannibal began sucking bruises into his neck and tugging softly on Will’s erection.

Neither of them lasted long, bodies thrusting and sliding against each other blissfully. Will came first, as always under Hannibal’s touch, biting down on the pillow in front of him as Hannibal fucked him with short, close thrusts. He followed shortly after, spilling inside of Will with a final push of his hips and panting heavily into Will’s chocolate curls. He felt his knot slide easily forwards into his mate, locking them together as they came down from their climaxes and held tightly onto each other. Will was barely conscious, quiet purrs falling past his lips as Hannibal nosed at the back of his neck at his bond bite and kissed over each purple bruise he’d left littered across Will’s pale throat.

He never got tired of how sweet it was making love to Will.

Two weeks later Hannibal arrived at John Hopkins for his guest lecture on identity disorders in homicide cases. Not a topic he found particularly arousing, apart from his patient Randall a few years ago who’d believed himself to a primordial beast, but it was certainly a pleasant break from having to listen to Franklyn Froideveaux sob over how he wanted his friend Tobias to just notice him. Franklyn was most definitely going to shorten his life by ten years, Hannibal had decided, the man leaving him drained and exasperated after every therapy session.

He’d dropped Will off this morning as usual on his way to his office and had now returned for his scheduled afternoon lecture, surveying the university he’d familiarised himself with over the years he’d been in Baltimore. It hadn’t changed much over the years, the building welcoming him back as he entered the university to go and check himself in as a visitor for the afternoon. He found the lecture theatre with ease and set himself up as he waited for the students to start milling in. It was a full turn out, as usual, his lectures always drawing the curiosity of new and old students. He remembered the first time he’d seen Alana in one of his lectures, sat right at the front and furiously scribbling down every word he said into her notes.

She’d been so much more optimistic and vibrant then as a student, years of running Port Haven dragging her down to the scattered, stressed mind he saw her as now. Or at least, she had been. Perhaps Montreal was starting to soothe her mind.

Hannibal launched into his lecture after greeting the room, enjoying the feel of all the eager eyes and keen ears on him. It never failed to stroke his ego, having a room full of minds focusing solely on him and hanging on his every word. He felt eyes resting on the rather obvious bond bite at the front of his throat, the beautiful shape of Will’s teeth burned into his skin. He’d taken to wearing shirts with collars cut as low as possible to display his bond bite, the feeling of eyes trained so obviously in shock on the bite never failing to make him purr inside with satisfaction. It was practically unheard of to see Alpha’s with returned bond bites and Hannibal most certainly wore his with pride.

“And that,” Hannibal rounded off, “will conclude today’s lecture. Any further questions can be directed to the email address that was displayed on the first slide, or you may ask your tutors to pass your contact details along to me. Thank you, everybody.”

The room gradually emptied around him as Hannibal packed away his things, however that did not mean he was unaware of the presence of one student still remaining firmly seated at the back of the room. Straightening up with a sigh and eventually turning his attention towards the student, Hannibal kept his face completely blank.

The student was an Alpha, typically tall and broad shouldered with cropped brunette hair and a strong jaw line. He very obviously thought he was attractive and powerful from the way he held himself and the tedious overexertion of Alpha pheromones into the room.

“May I help you?” Hannibal asked him quietly, slipping his hands into his suit trouser pockets and tilting his head to the side.

The Alpha got to his feet silently, slinging his backpack over one shoulder and deliberately making his way slowly down the aisle of stairs until he stopped a few feet in front of Hannibal, looking him up and down with flared nostrils.

“I’ve never seen an Alpha with a bond bite before,” he mused, finally speaking. “Quite a rarity.”

“I’m aware,” Hannibal replied shortly, assuming he was speaking to Adam. “Was there something you wanted to ask about today’s lecture?”

“Alphas with bond bites are usually seen as weak, aren’t they Dr. Lecter? Or so society dictates,” Adam continued, ignoring him. “Owned by their Omegas rather than the other way around.”

What a frustrating and ostentatious man, Hannibal thought to himself.

“Society is unfortunately flawed by outdated patriarchal insecurities,” Hannibal shot back, eyes dark. “Returned bond bites are nothing to be ashamed of. Quite the opposite in fact.”

Adam raised his eye brows, lips tightening. “Although maybe it’s an Omega magnet, having a bond bite. Is that how you got Will Graham to hop into bed with you? Make it seem like you’ve got an appealing soft side?”

Hannibal smiled cruelly. “Oh, you must be Adam.”

He looked a little surprised at Hannibal knowing his name, but did his best not to falter. “Will’s spoken about me, how flattering.”

“He reluctantly informed me that you’ve been prying into our personal lives after I pressed him to tell me why he came home distressed one day,” Hannibal replied dryly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Adam puffing his chest out and standing straighter. “You’ve made quite the mistake, it seems.”

“Mistake?” Adam snapped.

“Yes,” Hannibal smiled once more. “This is Will’s bond bite on my neck you’ve been so carelessly slandering.”

Adam’s face immediately crumpled. “Will?”

Hannibal took a step closer to Adam, amused at the way he flinched and tried not to step back. He leant closer to the other Alpha’s head, nearing his ear. “If you so much look at my mate again I will make sure you regret ever opening your mouth to him in the first place. Is that clear, Adam?”

“You can’t threaten me,” Adam hissed, caving in and retreating from Hannibal with wild eyes. “I can report you and have you suspended for this.”

“Do you know the last time the laws of this country were updated in relation to bonded Alphas and Omegas?” Hannibal asked, closing in again. “Surely you must know, you’re an intelligent boy Adam.”

Adam remained silent, glowering at Hannibal.

“No?” Hannibal sighed in disappointment. “1734. A long time ago, don’t you agree? If you were to report me for threatening you, or whatever other ridiculous accusation you’d like to procure, I’m afraid it would be as if you were right back in the eighteenth century. Alphas who threaten bonded Omegas don’t have a leg to stand in regards to how their mates choose to deal with the Alpha threatening their Omega.”

“That’s bullshit,” Adam snarled at him.

“As I said before, society is outdated by patriarchal insecurities,” Hannibal smiled in fake sympathy. “But then, you choose when that does and doesn’t suit you, don’t you? I have no wish to make this into an ordeal, as much you would like to. There will be no need to report me to the university, or to anyone for that matter, for threatening you because this is where it ends.”

“You don’t get to just speak to me like that,” Adam spluttered.

“You seem to have a lot of issues surrounding your status as an Alpha, Adam,” Hannibal informed him, mocking him with fake concern. “Perhaps you’d like to make an appointment for some therapy sessions? I’m well versed in therapy for angry little Alphas like you who think the world owes them something. Have you ever looked into therapy for superiority complexes?”

Adam was dumbfounded, blinking rapidly and lost for words as Hannibal continued smiling at him.

“As I said,” Hannibal finished off, “don’t speak to my mate again. Don’t look at him or approach him. Forget you know anything about him. You’d like to keep your place at university, wouldn’t you? They take Omega harassment here very seriously, you see. I think they’d take it even more seriously if it was Will. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Adam begrudgingly replied. “I’ll keep quiet for now, Dr. Lecter. But you and that little bitch of yours are going to be sorry for this in the end.”

“Goodbye, Adam,” Hannibal snarled at him, grabbing his briefcase and throwing his coat over his arm as he exited the lecture room, blood boiling.

Will was due to finish the day at the same time as him and he was waiting by the car as promised when Hannibal arrived at the parking lot. Will immediately sensed the darkness and disgust rolling off of Hannibal as he approached him, letting him pull Will into a bruising kiss without a word as soon as he was near enough to grab him.

“Let’s go,” Hannibal growled as they broke apart, opening Will’s door for him as always.

A little dizzy, Will glanced up as he got in the car and his stomach dropped as he found himself looking dead on at Adam, stood by his own car a few foot away from them and watching them intently. His face was sullen and his eyes bore into Will’s with an intensity that made him feel nauseous.

“Hannibal, what happened?” Will asked cautiously as they pulled away, refusing to look back out the window at Adam.

“He approached me at the end of the lecture I gave this afternoon and was incredibly rude,” Hannibal responded. “I told him to stay away from you or he’d lose his place at university.”

“Hannibal,” Will gasped. “Please tell me you didn’t!”

“It was unacceptable the way he’s spoken about you previously and what he said today,” Hannibal dead panned. “He needed to be reminded his behaviour is abhorrent.”

“His family are huge benefactors to the university, there’s no way - ”

Hannibal laughed bitterly. “I couldn’t care less who his family are or what they do, Will. I won’t let him treat you like that. If he even looks at you again the wrong way I want you to tell me.”

Will tipped his head back against the car seat headrest and gritted his teeth. “I doubt he will. I still can’t believe you did that. What did you say?”

“I told him to never approach you again and offered him therapy for his painfully obvious God complex and out of control Alpha behaviour.”

Will just blinked, still staring at the roof of the car. “I wish I’d seen that. But I also don’t. What if he does something to lash back out at you? I’m sure with the people his family knows he could do something to hurt you in some way.”

“He’s more than welcome to try and lash out at me,” Hannibal smoothly replied. “I look forwards to it.”

“I don’t like this,” Will told him firmly, shaking his head. “I want it going down on record I don’t like this and I think talking to him like that was a bad idea.”

"Noted, Will,” Hannibal sighed.

They spent the rest of the journey home in silence.

That night, after Hannibal had fucked some of the anger out of himself by having Will twice, once in the shower and another time over the arm of the sofa, he awoke in the middle of the night. Will was dead to the world, sleeping deeply next to him in a ball curled into his side. Gently dislodging their tangled limbs, Hannibal shifted out of bed and donned his clothes before heading down to the pantry and through the trap door to the cellar. He slipped on his plastic suit over his clothing and headed out for the night.

“It’s been a while Jack,” Zeller sighed, peeling off his forensic gloves tiredly.

The body was another Alpha male. He was young and fit and healthy and came from a typical upper middle class family. He was, on paper, a model citizen.

This time the killer had taken his tongue and both legs, leaving him a bloody stump of torso and arms and head. He’d been displayed on the steps of Baltimore’s police station, right under their noses and it was terrifying. Propped up on the steps, his arms had been stretched out and held thick stacks of bloody paper work, which after hours of reading and reading, all turned out to be reports and complaints filed against the young man from Omegas ranging back to when the Alpha must have been in his first year of high school. In replacement of his tongue, the killer had arranged a small bouquet in his mouth.

A singular daffodil for regard and chivalry but also misfortune, according to Jimmy. White heather for protection and tansy for hostile thoughts.

“So he sexually assaulted Omegas,” Beverly wondered aloud, crossing her arms over her chest. “Is our killer on some sort of vigilante mission now, or is this just another message for the object of his affections?”

“It’s a warning,” Jack sighed. “He’s protecting whoever he’s attached himself to. He could have bonded and could be making a statement about his ability to protect his mate.”

“Do you ever feel like we’re still living in the Stone Age?” Beverly muttered under her breath. “There’s being ruled by your instincts and then there’s this...”

“It’s clear what he means right now, clearer than the others have been,” Jimmy replied, studying the clean cut where the Alpha’s legs had been taken. “Why his legs? Usually he takes a couple of organs as trophies.”

“We’re going in circles,” Jack admitted in defeat, shaking his head. “We’re no closer to getting this guy than we ever have been. He’s fucking us in the ass, hard.”

Beverly rolled her eyes at the comment and Zellar’s face soured.

“I have a phone call I need to make,” Jack announced with a sudden determination, turning on his heel and heading back for the car. “I’ll see you back at the lab.”

Inside the car and away from the gore, Jack scrolled through his phone until he found Will’s number. He’d held off contacting the Omega for a couple of months now, their killer appearing to be laying low and refraining from killing sprees for the time being. But the Ripper was making a mockery of Jack and his team now, and he’d quite simply had enough of it.

“Hello?”

Will sounded groggy and Jack realised it was only six in the morning. “Sorry for waking you Will, but I need your help. Please, I’m desperate.”

Silence followed on the line until the Omega sighed and Jack heard rustling and footsteps.

“Sorry, I just had to come downstairs. I didn’t want to wake Hannibal up,” Will informed him. “There’s been another one?”

“There has. Please Will, I know you’ve refused in the past but I had to ask.”

Another silence and then a sigh. “I’m at university today but I don’t have any lectures this afternoon. If you want me to come and look I can this afternoon but only for an hour.”

Jack’s shoulders sagged in relief. “You’re saving my life right now Will. Thank you.”

“I’m at John Hopkins, you know where that is right?”

“I’ll call you when I’m on my way. See you later Will.”

Hanging up, Will headed back to bed, unsurprised to find Hannibal awake and sat up in bed idly scrolling through his tablet with the bed side lamp on. His eyes flickered to Will as soon as he appeared again and down to the phone in his hand.

“Early morning call,” Hannibal remarked.

“It was Jack,” Will replied, too tired to lie.

“What did he want?”

“Just some stuff for a case.”

“And you think it’s a good idea to be looking at corpses?” Hannibal asked nonchalantly as he continued scrolling through his tablet as if he’d just asked Will what the weather was like outside.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Will grumbled, flopping back into bed in an attempt to get back to sleep before he had to get up for the day. “But he needs my help and I want to give it to him. If it means people are going to stop getting murdered then why shouldn’t I?”

“I dislike the idea of you helping Jack,” Hannibal countered with a sigh, placing his tablet away and rolling over to lay facing Will. “But I can’t stop you.”

“No,” Will agreed. “You can’t.”

It hurt slightly, to see the sadness that flit across Hannibal’s face and tweaked at the invisible connection of their bond but Will held his ground. Hannibal disapproving of his involvement was nowhere near as terrible as all the pain the victims and their families had felt so far by the same killer’s hands.

Sighing once more, Hannibal simply lifted his arm to invite Will to curl back up against his chest as they both fell back asleep for a few more hours.
Well, at least Will slept. Hannibal kept himself wide awake, wondering how long it would be now until Will realised who his mate really was. Weeks? Years? Never?

No, Will was far too intelligent to spend the rest of his life ignorant of who Hannibal was. He would undoubtedly discover the connection between the Chesapeake Ripper and himself. The question was, how would he react? If discovery was inevitable, then Hannibal needed to start planning straight away. There would have to be arrangements made, money withdrawn, safe houses secured... paper work and passports, phone calls to certain contacts. He would not let himself be incarcerated; Hannibal wasn’t made for life in a box. He would simply have to remove himself from Will’s life and wait it out for him, give the Omega space and time until he decided he needed Hannibal again. Because he would need him again; there was no way they could survive without each other now that they were daully bonded. Will’s instincts would kick in as he began to wither away and the Omega would seek him out in every corner of the earth no matter how he felt about Hannibal’s true nature.

And if he hated Hannibal? That was fine. Hatred was better than nothing, better than feeling emptiness towards him. Hatred could be stroked and soothed back to adoration and love. Hatred and love were two sides of the same coin after all; Hannibal wasn’t above some psychic driving and manipulation to win Will back. It would be a long game when Will finally discovered the truth, but that didn’t matter to Hannibal. He knew mating with Will would inevitably change his life and disrupt everything, but that didn’t matter. He was prepared for the worst and as long as the end game was the two of them together, Hannibal was ready for whatever happened along the way.

The ideal outcome, however, would be Will’s acceptance. The possibility that the darkness Hannibal knew for a fact resided in Will could take hold of his mate was thrilling. Will’s ability to slip so easily into a killer’s mind and wear their skin was fascinating. Perhaps Will working with Crawford would be better for Hannibal in the long run; it might chip away at any remaining morals Will had the more he thought and felt like other killers. The power in that darkness was irresistible, and who was Will to say no to its smooth caress? Hannibal certainly hadn’t all those years ago in Lithuania and now he spent every day riding on the wave of that power. He was in control thanks to that darkness and Mason Verger’s butchered body was proof that Will was capable of the same savagery as Hannibal.

Either way, life was about to get incredibly interesting for the pair of them.

Chapter Text

“His name is Samuel Ramsay,” Jack informed him as he held the lab door open for Will. “He was twenty four.”

“And he was found with all the reports of complaints against him?” Will murmured, blinking at the harsh fluorescents overhead.

The lab was empty, the body laid out like a doll on the table before them. Zeller and Jimmy had cleaned him up, gone through everything with a fine-toothed comb as usual and found nothing. Not a shred of fabric, hair or fingerprint.

“He was strangled,” Jack continued, watching Will approach the body. “We believe his life was ended before the killer began mutilating him.”

“But normally he keeps them alive,” Will mused, eyes flickering over the corpse below him. “He likes the power he gets from keeping their life hanging on by a thread whilst they’re suffering. He never lets them bleed out until he’s finished what he set out to do.”

“You’ve done your background research.”

“Just news reports,” Will admitted. “That, and Freddie Lounds’s shoddy journalism. She provides a little more on the graphic side of things.”

“Tattle Crime,” Jack replied grimly, thin lipped. “So you know his patterns?”

“They’re all Alphas, other than the Beta who was part of that couple killing,” Will answered. “Some of them appear to have done nothing at all, and then there are the ones like Samuel. The only pattern is that there is no pattern, Jack. He doesn’t care who they are, they’re just... pigs to him.”

Jack remained silent, a frown settling across his forehead. Will walked around the body once in a full circle, eyes trailing over its blue tinted flesh and the flowers protruding from its mouth.

“He’s not a vigilante,” Will continued, blinking slowly. “He’s just doing bad things to bad people who deserved it, in his opinion. He can’t tolerate rudeness.”

“But what about Marie de la Cruz? Simon Kingston? Martin and Serena Kershaw? What did they ever do? I know that Peter Rosenthal and now Samuel Ramsay ended up being sex offenders, but what about the others?”

“They all did something, in some way. I’m not sure we’ll ever know.”

“How did he select them then?”

“I told you; rudeness. All of them must have done something, however minor, to upset him in some way. Maybe they cut him off at a junction, accidentally knocked a drink on him sometime and didn’t apologise. The Ripper can’t tolerate any form of rudeness.”

“I know it doesn’t really count to say this about a murderer, but this guy is insane. There’s always something, whether it’s a sexual or religious motive or even an illness...”

“He’s not ill,” Will sighed. “And he’ll appear completely sane to the rest of the world. You said you’re looking for doctors?”

“The way he handles the bodies is too precise and methodological,” Jack answered, hands slipping into his pockets. “We’ve questioned near enough about every doctor in Maryland now, and believe me there are a lot.”

“He wouldn’t be found so easily,” Will murmured, still fixated on Samuel’s body. “He’ll know you’re scouring the earth for him. He’s rubbing it in your faces that he’s right under your nose and always has been.”

“What do you mean?”

“He isn’t moving around, not really. He’s sourcing victims from different cities and different states, but Baltimore is his. He’s not going to budge just because you’re turning over rocks looking for him. He’s not there, Jack. He’s hiding in plain sight.”

“And that’s why he’s so theatrical every goddamn time?” Jack growled.

“He’s an artist,” Will corrected him. “He’s creating tableaus. He elevates meat into art, he... it’s how he expresses himself.”

“And the missing body parts? All the trophies he takes?”

It was Will’s turn to frown then. “They’re not trophies, Jack.”

“Then what the hell is he doing with them?”

Will’s gaze was steady and level as he looked at the Alpha, head tilted to the side curiously. “You haven’t worked it out yet?”

“Worked what out?”

“He’s not taking all these organs and limbs and muscles home to stash away in a keepsake box Jack,” Will insisted. “He’s talented at more than one thing. He plays god, he’s an artist and he’s a hunter. What purpose does hunting serve if anything other than to survive?”

“How have any of these murders been about survival?” Jack almost spat at him, losing his grip on his temper slightly. “You said yourself, he sees them as pigs. He does bad things to bad people to make himself feel good, because he thinks they deserve it. He does all of this just because he can.”

“Jack,” Will said carefully, “he’s eating them.”

Jack fell silent.

Will tiredly moved himself to sit in a chair opposite the autopsy table, staring blankly at Samuel’s body. “I worked it out when I read about Marie de la Cruz. She was a gift, for sure, but he couldn’t help but take. He doesn’t leave a single one of them without taking from them, even when they’re displays and gifts like she was. Taking her heart was the most significant part of it. She was supposed to be whoever his beloved is. He’s the anchor that was keeping her secure and afloat and he believes that he’s elevated his lover into some sort of magical state. She was so tenderly and painstakingly evolved and changed and he believes that’s what he’s providing for his partner. Despite all of that, he couldn’t stop himself from taking at least one organ. Whether it’s skin or a tongue or a liver, they all get used. He eats them.”

Jack looked ashen in his face, an expression of horrific realisation residing in his eyes. “You’re sure?”

“I know. If he kills again, Jack... I want to see the crime scene. I’ll be able to feel him properly then, rather than hamming bits of information together from articles and websites.”

“I don’t know when he’ll next make a move.”

“We can’t know. We can’t predict when someone will be rude towards him again.”

Jack just shook his head, grimacing as he purposely avoided looking at Samuel Ramsay’s sawn in half body.

Weeks dragged by into the eventual drag of months. The bodies stopped appearing. Will was excelling on his program, enjoying every day at college. He felt more in love with Hannibal every day, which was somehow possible. Theo and Yvette were still firmly his two closest friends, however he was starting to become friends with other students too. He finally passed his driving test and got his license, Hannibal immediately gifting him with his own car; a completely over the top Mercedes, but it was the most modest car he’d stoop to buying over the other options he’d considered for Will.

Life was seemingly perfect, except Will had never felt more on edge in his life. Hackles constantly raised, he felt like a nervous wreck with every waking hour and he was exhausted.

Even when he’d been locked up in Muskrat Farm he’d quickly learned to give up on feeling anxious or stressed; he’d resigned himself to the idea of imminent death and before that unbearable years of torture. But now, when every aspect of his life was fulfilling and wholesome, he felt his worst.

Hannibal had caught on to it, of course. Will couldn’t hide anything from him.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong yet or am I going to have to continue to wait?” Hannibal asked him casually one Saturday afternoon as they prepared lunch together.

Will paused, knife in hand as he methodically sliced up carrots. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re stressed,” Hannibal observed. “What’s bothering you Will?”

“Nothing is bothering me,” Will replied honestly. “Everything is... it’s all good, Hannibal. I mean it, I... I’ve never been more content.”

“And yet...”

Will gritted his teeth and continued to dissect the vegetables before him. Some sort of Lithuanian stew, Hannibal had mentioned. Good for winter. It was getting closer to winter, anyway.

Where was his life going? Where had each day gone?

He blinked in realisation.

“We’ve been together for almost a year now,” Will blurted out, almost shell shocked. “How has it been a year?”

Hannibal met his eyes with a soft look. “It has. Although I believe we don’t have an official anniversary date, do we? Maybe we should just decide on one...”

Will was vaguely aware of the continuing rumble of Hannibal’s voice as he carried on speaking, but zoned out. He didn’t really see the chopping board and the knife before him anymore.

He didn’t see anything.

Will woke up lying on the sofa in Hannibal’s study, blinking at the ornate ceiling and light fixtures above him. The sky had darkened considerably outside, but the days were shorter now and it seemed to be dark by early evening.

“Will?”

“Yes?”

“How are you feeling?”

Will slowly sat up, wincing at the biting ache at the back of his head. He looked down to see his left hand bandaged, blood seeping through the dressing a little.

“Ok.”

“Do you remember what happened?”

“We were making lunch and now... now I’m here,” Will sighed, tracing the splodge of blood visible on the bandage on his hand. “I passed out?”

“You did,” Hannibal answered, appearing into view and settling himself by the Omega to press the back of his hand against his forehead and feel his skin. He felt like ice. “You suddenly fainted. The knife slipped as you fell and caught your hand. It should start scabbing up in a few days, but I’ll keep an eye on it.”

Will just nodded, feeling blank. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologise for,” Hannibal soothed him, kissing his forehead. “Would you like to get into bed? I can bring you some of that stew if you’re hungry?”

“I don’t... why did that happen?” Will asked, frowning in confusion.

“You’re clearly feeling more stressed than you thought. Is the workload at college getting too much? You know I offered to help any time you felt you - ”

“No,” Will cut him off. “I’m not struggling. I’m enjoying it, it’s... I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Hannibal remained silent, studying his face.

Will slouched forwards into his mate in defeat, feeling tears pricking his retina. He felt like a child, crawling into Hannibal’s lap and hiding his face in his neck, inhaling deeply in attempt to comfort himself with his mate’s smell.

The tears came from nowhere and before either of them knew it, Will was sobbing hysterically into Hannibal’s neck. Hannibal held him tightly, running his hands up and down Will’s back whilst he made soothing rumbling sounds in his chest unconsciously in an attempt to calm Will down.

It didn’t work.

The crying continued and Will felt like he wasn’t in control of his body, as if something had just simply pushed him aside and taken a hold of him.

It hurt, but it didn’t at the same time. Will realised he couldn’t remember the last time he had cried like this.

“Darling,” Hannibal whispered. “Will, it’s ok. Just breathe, you’ll strain your lungs and make your headache worse.”

Sniffling miserably, Will tried his best. His sobs eventually morphed into pathetic little hiccups and muffled cries, still refusing to remove his face from the crook of Hannibal’s neck. He felt as if he was four years old again, climbing sobbing into his father’s bed after a bad nightmare had woken him and left him screaming.

“Hannibal I’m sorry,” he moaned pitifully, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as the Alpha gently pried him away from his neck.

“Don’t apologise,” Hannibal insisted, shifting them to wrap Will’s arms and legs around his neck and waist.

He simply stood and carried Will upstairs like that, cradling him to his body as Will continued to cry silently. His body was limp and unresponsive as he undressed him and settled him into their bed, concern etched into each line of his face. Will’s eyes were blank and milky, his mind clearly someplace else. Hannibal tentatively stayed by his side, pulling up a chair to the side of the bed and stroking Will’s hair carefully as he appeared to drift off into sleep.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, gazing at the boy laid before him, but soon his stomach snarled at him and Hannibal realised how hungry he was. Confident that Will wasn’t going to wake if he left for a while, Hannibal headed back downstairs and ate a morose meal by himself in the kitchen, too fretful and worried to set the table and eat in the dining room. He couldn’t remember the last time he hadn’t eaten in the dining room.

Will was still asleep when he returned upstairs and had burrowed himself further into a nest of bedding, only the tufts of his curls visible from the top of the sheets. It was getting closer to Will’s last heat of the year and would be their third together. Hannibal found himself anticipating it with an almost childlike glee; there was no better feeling than the way they devoured each other during Will’s heats. He’d kept track of Will’s cycles closely from the beginning, since his time at Port Haven and up until now, coming to the conclusion that Will’s cycle was nothing out of the ordinary in terms of irregularity for an Omega of his age and health. Hannibal had wondered whether all the miscarriages he’d suffered had affected Will’s body, but so far he seemed to have been unscathed by the trauma. His Will was strong and resilient, in spite of it all.

Which was why he was concerned about Will’s sudden bout of fainting today and the way he’d withdrawn into himself upon waking. He’d noticed Will had seemed frayed around the edges a lot of the time in the past few weeks; however he’d simply dismissed it and put it down to the stress of adapting to a life of normalcy. Hannibal had checked and Will wasn’t falling behind or struggling with college, quite the opposite in fact. The only thing he could pin point Will’s relapse down to was the very early stages of preheat, in which it was common for Omegas to become scatterbrained or anxious, or the inevitability of old demons rising within him again.

Hannibal was well aware that Will wasn’t better, so to speak; he never would be. He would spend the rest of his life scarred and branded by what Mason had done to him and there was nothing Hannibal could do to fix that. He himself was a prime example of what trauma at a young age did to the mind and now here he was over thirty years later, still very much the product of violence and horror. Will was never going to be any different; all he could do was put himself through the pace of everyday life and let Hannibal nourish him and care for him.

He would never get his childhood back and he would never see his father again. He’d never regain all the experiences he’d lost out on that every other young person got the chance to have. He was never going to get Jasper back and perhaps that was the biggest reason why he would never be whole again. Will hadn’t spoken about Jasper in months, it occurred to Hannibal, the two of them far too wrapped up in their newly found domestic bliss and Will’s new ventures at college. But Jasper wasn’t something Will could just shut away at the back of his mind and the lack of his talking about Jasper was reason for concern in Hannibal’s books.

Perhaps it was time he reached out to Bedelia.

Hannibal woke to the sound of shattering glass. The room was dark and cast in shadows. He reached for Will next to him, groggily stretching to grab him out of instinct only to find the bed empty and cold. Will had been out of bed for some time. Sitting up and flicking on the light by the bed, Hannibal registered the time displayed on the clock telling him it was three in the morning.

He turned to survey the rest of the bedroom and found it empty. He got out of bed, quashing the rising panic inside. The ensuite was dark and empty.

Flinging the door open, Hannibal headed out on to the landing, turning lights on as he moved. He saw the main bathroom’s light on, warm yellow spilling out of the crack between the door and the frame. He could hear Will’s heavy breath and the stench of fear behind the door.

“Will?”

He pushed the door open gently, grimacing at the sight before him.

Will was crouched on the floor in the middle of the bathroom surrounding by bloodied shards of crystal and glass. His expensive gilded mirror above the sink was hanging off its hinges and devoid of any glass. Will’s whole body seemed to be flecked with small cuts from where the glass had caught him, in particular his hands and feet bleeding. It was as if he’d scooped the glass up in his hands and crumbled it to pieces like sand, shards of glass protruding from the oozing skin of his hands. The Omega was blankly staring ahead of him with the same not-there look in his eyes, not really seeing.

“Will, are you awake right now?” Hannibal asked cautiously, stepping into the bathroom.

“I thought I saw him.”

“Saw who, Will?”

“Mason. The Ripper. I don’t know.”

“Were you sleep walking?”

“I...”

Hannibal sighed and approached him a little more. “I’m going to put some shoes on so I don’t cut my feet. I’ll be back in just a moment.”

Will simply sat waiting, not registering the pain in his limbs and feet and hands. He didn’t hear Hannibal return and only noticed his mate was back when he felt himself being lifted like a rag doll into his arms. Hannibal took him back to their bedroom and into the en suite, settling him on the chair he’d dragged in there.

“I’m getting blood everywhere,” Will remarked, blinking slowly.

“It’ll clean up,” Hannibal assured him.

Neither of them spoke as Hannibal began the pain staking task of plucking the glass from Will’s skin, each piece falling into the metal bowl on the floor with a soft plink sound. Hannibal’s hands worked quickly for someone who’d only woken up a few minutes ago, an attribute Will put down to his years as a surgeon on call in the emergency room. It began to feel almost therapeutic, the soft click of tweezers and plink of glass on metal. Will almost felt like he was about to fall back asleep, his head nodding as he remained propped up in the chair.

“Stay awake for me Will,” Hannibal encouraged him, caressing his cheek. “I’m almost done.”

“Mhmm,” Will sleepily sounded, eyelids sagging. “M’tired Hannibal.”

“I know you are. Not much longer now.”

Will barely managed to stay awake for the remainder of the glass extraction, gazing in wonder at the way the blood glinted off the glass in its new metal home.

“It looks beautiful,” Will mumbled, barely audible.

Hannibal followed Will’s eyes to look at the bowl of blood and glass and admired it with him. “The glass?”

“The blood. It’s sparkling.”

It took a lot of Hannibal’s strength right then to not let his head fall forwards onto Will lap and moan and lick at the little trickles of blood on his thighs. “I suppose it is.”

Will kept himself awake a little longer as Hannibal checked him over once more and then began dabbing and wiping him with antiseptic from his medical kit, not even wincing or hissing at the burn on his open wounds.

“Are you in pain?” Hannibal checked, puzzled at the complete lack of reaction from Will at the burn.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t even moved a muscle as he’d had glass extracted from his skin.

Will shook his head, smiling weakly. “Guess I’m pretty desensitised to pain by now.”

Hannibal pursed his lips, not appreciating the light attempt at humour. “I’m sorry Will.”

“It takes a lot more than this to hurt me Hannibal,” Will sighed, leaning forwards and resting his forehead against Hannibal’s where he knelt before him on the bathroom tiles. “Are you done?”

“Not yet. I’m going to bandage your hands and feet then you can get back to sleep.”

It didn’t take long before Will’s feet and hands were delicately bound and he was laid back in bed. He blinked at the ceiling in the soft glow of the lamp by their bed, waiting to see if Hannibal wanted to talk about it tomorrow or not.

“How do you feel?” Hannibal asked softly by his side, sat up next to him and peering down at Will.

“Numb.”

“Physically or...?”

“Both.”

Hannibal sighed deeply, sliding down to place himself in a more comfortable position. “Do you remember anything?”

“Not really.”

“Is that the truth?”

“Probably not,” Will whispered, his voice cracking. “Can we do this tomorrow? I’ll clean up the mirror too, I promise.”

“As you wish, mylimasis.”

Hannibal turned the lamp out. Will fought the sleep, afraid to wake up again, but it took over him anyway.

The next morning was awkward, as Will had predicted. He awoke to find Hannibal gone from bed, all traces of the destroyed mirror gone and the smell of freshly brewed coffee coming from the kitchen.

Hannibal was stood over the stove when he came downstairs and plated his breakfast up in silence.

“Just a simple protein scramble of egg and sausage,” Hannibal told him quietly, sitting down opposite at the breakfast bar and sipping his own coffee. “You haven’t eaten in almost twenty-four hours.”

Will almost moaned at how good it tasted in his mouth as he began to eat. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Hannibal waited in silence, watching him eat.

“I was sleepwalking.”

“You haven’t done that in months.”

“I know. I woke up and I wasn’t sure if I was really awake or if I’d finally gone insane because I swore I could see him stood in the mirror behind me and then... it’s like I didn’t have control over my hands. I was just breaking the mirror all of a sudden to get rid of him.”

“Who did you see Will?”

“I thought it was Mason at first but then I wasn’t sure. Something told me it was the Ripper.”

“You’ve never seen the Chesapeake Ripper,” Hannibal strategically pointed out. “Nobody has. Not knowingly, anyway. No one knows who he is.”

Will shrugged. “I felt him.”

“You felt him?”

“Yes. I just knew. I don’t know how else to explain it to you.”

“I have to admit I’m worried about you Will,” Hannibal confessed. “Do you feel yourself slipping at all?”

Will visibly flinched, wounded by the question. “Slipping?”

“Yes. This could be the start of a potential relapse. I’d rather address it with you now than be faced with an irreversible problem later. Do you see?”

“I’m not...,” Will trailed off, staring at his half eaten breakfast. “Are you going to send me back?”

Hannibal bristled. “If you’re referring to Port Haven, no. I’m not sending you anywhere. I’m simply proposing you may need to seek therapy again. These sorts of things take years of counselling and help Will, not a year in a psychiatric facility.”

“But I’m better,” Will whispered, hardly believing the words he spoke himself. “You know I am, you know I’m not like I was when I first arrived at Port Haven.”

“You’re not better Will,” Hannibal softly disagreed. “You couldn’t possibly be better after what happened to you, not this quickly. You went through things that would break most people. It only occurred to me yesterday that I can’t remember the last time you spoke to me about Jasper.”

Will’s face crumpled.

“Darling,” Hannibal pleaded, reaching across the breakfast bar to touch his bandage covered hands. “I just want the best for you.”

“I don’t want to talk about something I can’t even begin to understand,” Will spat back at him, ripping his hands away from underneath Hannibal’s. “I haven’t spoken about Jasper because I realised I can’t even begin to fathom that whole part of my life.”

“Burying it will make your insides rot,” Hannibal retaliated, sliding into psychiatrist mode.

“They’re already rotten,” Will snarled, his walls most definitely up now.

“They’re not Will. You are not,” Hannibal insisted. “Your future is so full of opportunity and potential but the things that happened to you need to be healed.”

“Hannibal I can’t,” Will choked out, his voice gut-wrenching. “I can’t heal from this, and even if I can, the fact that it’s a possibility is so far removed from reality I can’t address it. I was a parent Hannibal. I grew another fucking life inside of me for nine whole months, and for what? For me to not even be able to remember exactly what his face looked like? I don’t deserve to heal, not after what happened to Jasper.”

“It was never your fault Will. What could you have done, drugged out of your mind?”

Will stood up then, pale and shaking. “You won’t ever understand, so don’t.”

“I’m not saying I understand darling,” Hannibal murmured, eyes assessing Will’s turbulent body language. “I can’t understand because I will never experience what you did. But it was not your fault.”

“Why the fuck are you bringing this up?” Will hissed, tears beginning to spill from angry eyes. “I don’t walk to talk about Jasper.”

“I brought it up because last night you collapsed, shredded your hands to pieces with a bathroom mirror in your sleep and now you’re insisting you’re to blame for something you were helpless in. I brought it up, Will, because I am ultimately a doctor who can’t ignore the early signs of deteriorating health.”

“Except you’re not my doctor,” the Omega seethed. “You never have been.”

“I’m your mate Will, I - ”

The plate came hurtling past his head with a soft whistle before Hannibal could react, shattering into pieces against the wall behind him.
Will’s eyes looked murderous.

“Don’t,” Will warned him, his voice barely sounding like his own as the tears continued to roll down his face. “Don’t you dare.”

Hannibal remained incredibly still. “Will.”

Slamming his hands down on the counter before him and leaning forwards with a snarl ripping across his mouth that Hannibal had never witnessed before, Will stared into his eyes with the rage of the flames of hell.

“I will talk about my son when I want to,” Will hissed. “I will talk about Mason when I’m ready. You don’t get to push me into talking about a single thing before I say so. I could go the next twenty years of my life without uttering Mason’s name or Jasper’s name ever again and that would be the end of it. Don’t kid yourself into thinking you can get into my head Hannibal.”

“I’ve never once insinuated I have the right to get into your head.”

“But you want to, don’t you?” Will snapped, his eyes still ablaze. “Are you forgetting I see behind everything you do? You’re not as righteous as you think you make yourself out to be Hannibal. I lived through three years of keeping my mate out of my head before and I’m sure as hell not going to let you start picking your fingers through my brain.”

“Your ability to see me like no one else does is one of the reasons I mated with you,” Hannibal breathed, slightly in awe of this dangerous, burning side of Will he barely knew. “I don’t want to get in your head Will. I want to help you blossom.”

“That’s the same thing in your eyes! You want me dark and twisted like you!”

“I want you to reach your full potential.”

“I need you,” Will spat. “I need you and you need me and I love the very bones of you Hannibal, but my god, you frustrate me. You think I’m too pure and too naive, I know you do. Do you think I’d be able to love you if I was pure? The only reason I’m able to be with you and I’m able to get inside the heads of murderers for Jack Crawford like no one else can is because I am not pure. I’ve seen every kind of violence imaginable in the short time I’ve been on earth and you think that just because I smile gently at you and trot along with my sweet, stupid fucking friends at college that I’m not just as dark as the man leaving corpses all around the city?”

Hannibal merely sat in stunned silence at Will’s outburst.

“I stopped being pure the minute I tore out Mason’s throat,” Will said with a quiet rage in his voice. “The minute I tore Mason’s throat out and I enjoyed it.”

Hannibal was torn inside. Some mad, illogical part of him was screaming to let Will just know, to just tell him that all the murders had been for him, gifts for him in demonstrations of his devotion to him. He wanted to tell Will he’d been providing for him, serving him up the flesh and bones of the dirt he elevated into art. He wanted to smother Will, plead with him to join him, to love him utterly and bathe in blood with him. They’d be like gods together.

The other part of him was screaming to keep calm. Don’t let him know, not yet. He has to work it out on his own, he’s already on his way to doing so.

“I’m sorry Will,” Hannibal breathed. “I just want you to know I don’t underestimate you. I don’t think you’re naive. I think your mind is beautiful.”

Will’s face shifted from fury to cold and blank. “I’ll see a therapist when I decide to. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

Silence fell in the kitchen and Will stared at the shattered remnants of the plate on the floor. He had nothing left to say, so he simply turned and left the kitchen as his insides burned. Hannibal remained seated, unsure what he was meant to do. He wasn’t used to not being in control of every situation he got himself into, willingly or otherwise; Will had shaken him and he found himself delighting in it.

He only realised how long he’d been sat staring into space when he heard the front door open and close and the purr of Will’s car engine come to life.

Hannibal eventually gave in and rose to his feet and began picking up the fragments of the shattered plate on his kitchen floor. Mirrors, plates... what was his Will going to break next?

When Will came home hours later, it was almost dark and he looked like a ghost. Hannibal could smell the tang of sharp, cold air on him and the brine of water and fish and motor oil. His lips held a blue tint to them and his hands were trembling a little more than usual as a result of his medication and the cold.

“You came back,” Hannibal murmured in slight awe, his eyes lighting up. “I wasn’t sure when you’d come home.”

Will remained silent, stood in the door way looking half dead.

“You went to Chesapeake Bay?”

“Yes.”

“I take it the fish weren’t biting today?” Hannibal commented.

“They were,” Will croaked, his voice hoarse with the oncoming cold he’d no doubt caught. “I let them go again.”

“You don’t usually ever do that.”

“I didn’t feel like cleaning up the blood today,” Will responded, skin becoming greyer and greyer as the seconds dragged on. “Hannibal, I’m sorry.”

“You’re hurting Will,” Hannibal remarked softly. “Lash out at me all you want.”

“I didn’t mean to... to get so angry,” Will confessed, swaying in the door way.

“Come and sit down, you look dead on your feet,” Hannibal suggested tenderly, holding a hand out to him from the sofa.

Will came eagerly, all but collapsing next to him as if he’d been waiting for permission to enter the room. “I’m so sorry.”

“Apologies are unnecessary.”

“I want...,” Will trailed off, still shivering with cold. “I want you to be happy. Are you sure you can be happy with me?”

“Always.”

“What if I ruin things?” Will whispered, sounding terrified. “What if I fuck all of this up?”

“How could you possibly ruin anything Will?” Hannibal sighed, his voice almost pleading with him. “There’s no such thing as mistakes between us. I only ever want to support you.”

“I’m so tired,” Will wheezed, eyes slipping closed. “Being by the water made me realise.”

“You’re probably coming down with a cold,” Hannibal reassured him.

“My soul feels tired,” Will uttered, sounding completely broken.

Hannibal paused, slowly reaching up to Will’s hair and stroking through his waves. “Would you like to go away for a while?”

“Away?”

“Yes,” Hannibal rumbled comfortingly. “We could spend Christmas abroad when college finishes for the winter break. I can take some time off. We can go away for the whole of December if you want.”

“That would nice,” Will sighed sleepily. “Anywhere would be nice if it’s with you.”

Hannibal leant down and nosed through Will’s hair, scenting him and stroking the side of his throat in a not so subtle process of gentling him, massaging his bond bite with feather light touches that left Will purring in his lap like a kitten. The sound was interrupted by the slow, long growl and rumble of Will’s stomach and Hannibal pursed his lips in disapproval at the way Will visibly winced at the pang of hunger.

“Stay here,” Hannibal soothed him. “I’ll go and make you something to eat.”

Will just hummed in agreement, sleepily letting his head fall against the cushion of the sofa when Hannibal eased himself away from underneath him. His eyes slipped shut and his breathing slowed, a little colour finally returning to his alabaster cheeks.

When Hannibal returned to rouse him for food, Will was thoroughly passed out and unresponsive to his name being called. Gritting his teeth at the thought of another meal being wasted, Hannibal salvaged what he could of the food he’d prepared and stored it away in the fridge to be consumed tomorrow. Will still hadn’t moved when he came back to the living room, dead to the world. His eyelids twitched in his sleep and he was mumbling something under his breath in the depths of his sleep. Hannibal crept closer, curious to comprehend the broken sounds coming from his mate.

“Yeah... it was, it was a real big one dad... ’m gonna... Étouffée? Yeah... yeah I’ll go get it,” Will slurred in his sleep, a small frown creased between his brows.

He looked so incredibly young in his sleep in that moment and it made Hannibal skin itch to protect him.

“...Mais papa, quand est-ce qu'elle rentre à la maison?” Will mumbled in his broken Cajun French.

Hannibal’s heart clenched at the sound of it. The last time he’d heard Will speak French was when they’d been on their way to scatter Jasper’s ashes in the bayou.

The frown deepened in between Will’s brows and his nose wrinkled. “Elle ne veut... pas de nous? Non... no, she might... reviens pour nous.”

Hannibal marvelled at the workings of Will’s unconscious mind, slipping between the two languages in hazy confusion and slurred words, his voice a rasping whisper in the otherwise silent room. Querying with his father when his mother was coming home; why didn’t she want them?

It tore at something inside of Hannibal to see Will chased after by his misfortunes even in his sleep, something he remembered far too clearly for himself when he’d woken himself up in his sleep years ago, night after night, pleading in Lithuanian for his parents and sister to stay.

“Oh Will,” Hannibal sighed, tracing his fingertips over Will’s shoulder. “If only I could bring them back for you.”

Will made a soft sighing sound in his sleep, rolling onto his back. “Et tu? Oh, it’s ok... the crayfish, I know... ç'est bonne.”

Hannibal smiled, half in amusement and half in anguish for his mate. He lifted him delicately from the sofa, his limbs dangling, and carried him to bed for the second night in a row.

He’d carry him every night if he had to.

Hannibal drummed his fingers against the surface of his desk, considering. Will drifted around the room before him, unaware that he was scent marking Hannibal’s entire office after he’d walked in and smelt the previous Omega who’d just left their therapy session. Will had simply appeared in his waiting room, head tilted as he sat reading a textbook on hereditary schizophrenia that appeared to be almost as big as he was. Pulling his attention up to Hannibal when the door had opened, he’d begun to smile in that endearingly bright, sweet way of his until he’d seen the Omega Hannibal was escorting out and his smile paused in its ascension like a broken elevator.

Hannibal had nearly purred at the very obvious rage Will felt at that fact his Alpha had just been confined in a room with another Omega and a vigorous inhale through his nostrils confirmed to Will the young woman before him was unbonded.

He was yet to explain the reason for why he’d dropped by his office on a Friday lunchtime unannounced, occupied completely with ridding the room of the scent of the Omega who’d been here.

“Are you almost done? I’m afraid I don’t have long for my lunch break today,” Hannibal mused aloud to his mate, secretly enjoying the display of possessiveness.

“What?” Will rounded on him snapping out his trance blinking harshly. “Oh... sorry, I...”

“It’s alright,” Hannibal smiled, lips twitching up in the corners of his mouth. “Was there something you needed, Will?”

Will drew closer, his sweet scent infiltrating Hannibal’s senses. He was sliding to his knees between Hannibal’s thighs before the Alpha could blink, snugly fitting himself between the desk and Hannibal’s body.

“Will?”

“I missed you today,” Will admitted softly, resting his cheek on Hannibal’s thigh and staring up at him, somehow, innocently.

His eyes were like sapphires in his skull, drawing Hannibal in. He was helpless to Will.

“Is that so?” he rumbled, tangling a hand in curls at the back of the Omega’s head. “So you decided to drive all the way here from John Hopkins during your lunch hour to tell me so?”

“Yes,” Will whispered, eyelashes like threads of black silk on his pale skin as they fluttered. “Would you like me to leave, Dr. Lecter?”

Will’s fingers trailed over the slowly forming erection in Hannibal’s suit, encouraging the flow of blood to his groin with a gentle squeeze. Hannibal sucked in a sharp breath as Will bit his lip, wide eyes still staring up at him, and unzipped the front of his trousers with an agonisingly slow motion.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Hannibal snarled, clenching his hand tighter in Will’s hair.

“Good,” Will breathed, shifting to lean forwards and press his lips against his groin in an open mouthed kiss.

He mouthed at the bulging shape of Hannibal’s length in his underwear through soft cotton, taking his time easing his cock free.

Hannibal nearly balked at the sudden hot mouth that swallowed him whole without warning, barely having time to register the air hitting his member before Will had sunk down on him. He tipped his head back against his chair, releasing a ragged breath. Will hummed in satisfaction, the vibrations seeming to travel into Hannibal’s navel. He didn’t move, simply sucking hard on the hot flesh in his mouth with his eyes fixated on the bob of Hannibal’s throat.

“Will,” Hannibal gritted out behind clenched teeth.

He finally withdrew, his cheeks hollowing out as he continued to suck his way up Hannibal’s length unbearably slowly. Hannibal held his gaze, lips parting as his chest heaved with pants and he watched in delight as Will suckled around the head of his cock tenderly. They didn’t break eye contact once, Will beginning to whimper around his cock at the intensity of Hannibal’s gaze but unable to break away.

The lewd sight of Will’s cherry coloured lips stretching around his member, slathered with saliva and the quake of want in his mate’s pupils soon had Hannibal’s breath shortening to broken pants and his toes curling in his shoes. Hannibal grunted as his orgasm neared, Will’s head bobbing in earnest, sucking hard around the head of his cock each time he pulled up; the wet heat of his mouth and tongue was exquisite.

He spilled suddenly into Will’s mouth, gasping and clutching at his mate’s head, keeping him in place as his hips twitched and he pushed forcefully up into Will’s waiting, open mouth.

Will drew back when he was done, breathless and wide-eyed, dragging the back of his hand over his open mouth as he swallowed.

“Come here,” Hannibal growled.

Will clambered into his lap immediately, kissing the Alpha desperately the minute he was seated around Hannibal. It was a bruising, claiming kiss and it was exactly what Hannibal wanted at that moment, relishing in the way Will sank his teeth into Hannibal’s bottom lip and rubbed his thumb over the bond bite at the front of his neck.

When they pulled apart, both of them were gasping for breath.

“Where did that come from?” Hannibal murmured in awe, reaching for Will’s belt buckle.

Will swatted his hands away, shaking his head. “I have to get back to college.”

“That’s rather cruel of you darling,” Hannibal muttered, squeezing the beautiful bone structure of Will’s hips beneath his palms. “I’d very much like to return the favour.”

“You can, tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

Will averted his eyes suddenly, fiddling with Hannibal’s tie. “I’m going to be home late tonight.”

“And how late is late?” Hannibal enquired, not bothering to hide his displeasure at the information. “Where are you going?”

“Theo invited me and Yvette to his friend’s party.”

“A party.”

“Yes.”

“I’m having trouble imagining you drinking yourself stupid at an idiotic fraternity house party.”

Will shifted uncomfortably in his lap. “I want to go.”

“Why on earth would you want to go to something like that?” Hannibal asked, sounding positively disgusted. “You’ll be surrounded by all sorts of - ”

“Hannibal,” Will cut him off pleadingly. “I want to go to at least one shitty house party in my life and drink with my friends and wake up tomorrow with a hangover I am most definitely going to regret. If I hate it, which I probably will, I’ll never go to one again. I just want... I want to experience the things everyone else does. I’m over missing out on things because someone else has taken chances away from me.”

Hannibal paused, surveying the sad tilt of Will’s mouth. “If I receive a phone call in the middle of the night from a police officer asking me to come and collect my drunken mate from the police station who’s been drinking underage I’m not going to be impressed Will.”

“I don’t doubt for a minute that wouldn’t impress you,” Will smiled weakly, finally meeting Hannibal’s eyes. “But that won’t happen, I promise.”

Hannibal’s face crumpled with concern then, sighing heavily and carding a hand through Will’s hair before it came to rest cupping his face. “I’d like it if you could text me throughout the night to let me know how you are and when you’re coming home. And if you could refrain from vomiting anywhere I’m going to have to scrub.”

Will rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to go crazy Hannibal, I just want to experience at least one party with my friends.”

“If you don’t text me back I’m going to assume something is wrong.”

“I will text you,” Will promised, leaning forward and kissing him firmly. “I have to get back to John Hopkins.”

Hannibal remained silent as Will gathered his things, seeing him out the door with another soft kiss and watching the Omega disappear out the waiting room. He didn’t like it, at all, but he wasn’t going to stop Will from trying to be a normal student. He doubted he was going to sleep much tonight, predicting a night of sleepless worry.

“Why do people drink this?” Will gasped, scrunching his face up in disgust. “It’s vile.”

“It’s vodka,” Theo shrugged. “I don’t think you’re meant to like it.”

Will pursued his lips at him. “You guys were all innocent the other week when Hannibal offered you wine, now you’re gulping vodka like it’s water?”

Yvette giggled, cheeks rosy. “Yeah but that’s different. Drinking at house parties underage and having someone so put together as Hannibal offering you wine is totally different. Isn’t it, Theo?”

Theo nodded in confirmation. “Totally different.”

The trio was grouped together around the back door that led into the garden, the door left ajar as smokers drifted in and out of the house. It was a little quieter here than the rest of the house, neither one of them drunk enough yet to put up with the pulsating thump of music blaring through the front of the house.

There were bodies everywhere and the floor was getting sticky with alcohol and Will was failing to see what was so wonderful about house parties yet, waiting for the ghastly vodka to kick in and make him enjoy it.

“Maybe you’re one of those freaks of nature who doesn’t get drunk,” Yvette wondered aloud, stabbing a finger towards Will. “Y’know? Or maybe Hannibal’s built up your tolerance with all that wine.”

Will snorted into his drink. “I don’t think so. I don’t sit around getting drunk with Hannibal every night Yvette, I don’t know what you imagine my life is like.”

“Oh yeah?” she grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. “I bet you guys get up to a hell of a lot during your evenings.”

Will blushed, deep red, and nudged her playfully. “None of your business, I’m afraid.”

Yvette set herself off into a series of giggles and Theo was left grinning but rolling his eyes all the same.

The night continued much like that, lolling around the quieter parts of the house like the wallflowers they were, giggling and getting further into the depths of their inebriation. Hannibal dutifully text him and Will dutifully replied, squinting to make sure there were no errors in his message. Hannibal would never let him live it down.

“Hey, Theo!”

The three turned to see another Beta approaching, grinning like the Cheshire cat. His pupils were too dilated and his jaw twitched.

“Hey Harry,” Theo smiled back, merry. “How’s it going?”

“It’s good man, real good,” Harry chattered back, his body vibrating. “Hey, who’re your friends?”

“This is Yvette and Will,” Theo supplied, smiling towards his friends. “Guys this is Harry, he’s one of my mom’s friend’s son.”

Harry’s eyes were unnerving and Will found himself pondering deeply on what drugs he’d taken.

“Nice to meet you, Yvette,” Harry smiled widely, shaking her hand a little too abrasively.

He turned to Will and his smile somehow grew. Will half-heartedly returned it through the haze of his newfound drunkenness.

“Will,” Harry said as if he was tasting the word in his mouth, trying it out. “Nice to meet you.”

In the distance, neither of them noticed Adam surrounded by a group of Alphas watching the scene.

“So you enjoying the party guys?” Harry asked, jaw swinging as he spoke.

“It’s ok,” Yvette answered. “We’re not exactly the life of the party as you can probably guess.”

“Hey, that’s not the attitude,” Harry jokingly chastised her. “You gotta put yourself in the crowd Yvette. The guy over there’s been looking at you all night, haven’t you noticed?”

They followed Harry’s pointed finger to an Alpha lounging against the wall by a table overflowing with bottles of booze, chatting idly to another student. He was typically tall and handsome, as Alphas were, and Yvette immediately blushed.

“Really?” Yvette stammered. “Me?”

Harry nudged her. “You’re cute! Why wouldn’t he be into you? Why don’t you go talk to him?”

Yvette considered it for a while, and then with a sudden motion, squared her shoulders as she knocked back the rest of her drink and swallowed. “Fuck it. I’m gonna do it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Harry cheered her on, clapping her on the back as she straightened her shirt and made her way over to the Alpha.

“Geez, I’ve never seen her like that before,” Theo laughed, gulping back of his own drink.

“Good for her, I say,” Harry chuckled, swiping for a half drunk concoction of god knows what sat on the window ledge by Theo’s head.

Will watched as he downed it.

“Theo,” Harry began after he’d consumed the mysterious concoction. “Why don’t you get out there yourself? I’m sure you’re gonna get lucky tonight too.”

“I don’t think so,” Theo smiled, shuffling his feet. “I’m not into one night stands.”

“Aw, come on,” Harry pleaded, shaking his head. “Even if you just get someone’s number! What else are parties for?”

“I’m not gonna just leave Will to - ”

A loud crash from the right of them interrupted Theo, all heads turning to see where the commotion had come from.

A girl, a Beta by the looks of her, appeared to have misjudged her balance and had gone toppling over in a puddle of alcohol, hand flying out and grabbing onto the stand beside her that an incredibly expensive vase perched on top of. Said vase was now in pieces around her and she sat there helpless, looking mortified.

“Now’s your chance,” Harry hissed suddenly, shoving Theo forwards. “Go help her before someone else does!”

Theo stumbled forwards at the push, hesitant and looking back Will with questioning eyes. Will stepped forwards to follow him but found Harry’s hand hooking around his elbow and holding him back.

“He’s got this,” Harry insisted, still laughing. “Let him have this chance Will! He could be in with a shout here.”

Theo waited, looking at Will still. Will faltered but then backed down, smiling gently.

“I’ll wait here for you Theo,” Will reassured him. “Go help her out.”

It wasn’t long before Will found himself alone in Harry’s uncomfortable company, chewing his lip and watching Theo help the girl up to her feet and smiling gently at her. She immediately blushed at his help and seemed to be insisting she was ok, but gripping Theo’s upper arm tightly in spite of it all.

Will didn’t see the tiny pill slip from Harry’s hand into his cup and dissolve into his drink. He didn’t notice Harry looking over his shoulder and nodding curtly at Adam, who had remained calmly waiting by the stairs. If he’d spotted Harry earlier on in the night he would have seen Adam lurking in the same spot and would have seen the five minutes of conversation exchanged between the two of them before Adam dropped the small bag of white powder into Harry’s hand as payment for what he was about to do.

It only took a few more sips and meaningless conversation with Harry until Will started to slur incomprehensible words and sag forwards into Harry’s chest, his tongue feeling ten times too large to fit his mouth and his brain foggy. His limbs felt like jelly and Harry’s face began to slide into barely recognisable shapes.

“Harry, I don’t feel too good,” Will stammered out, blinking harshly. “Can you... is the bathroom upstairs?”

“Sure thing Will,” Harry smoothly replied. “Had too much to drink? Come on, I’ll show you where it is.”

“Thanks,” Will told him, dragging the ‘s’ out like a damn snake.

Harry slipped Will’s arm over his shoulder as he all but dragged the woozy Omega towards the stairs. Adam had moved already, vanishing upstairs to the bedroom he’d told Harry to bring Will to.

“Nearly there Will,” Harry informed the Omega whose head was lolling like a rag doll.

“I r’lly ‘ppreciate it, Harry,” Will slurred, his southern twang making his voice so thick under the roofie Harry barely understood him.

“Here we go,” Harry murmured, opening the door before them as they reached the end of the landing.

Adam was sat waiting inside, swigging whiskey straight from the bottle in the corner of the room. Two other Alphas were in there waiting with him, one sat on the bed and the other leaning against the wall opposite as they chatted to each other.

Adam looked wrecked, Harry noted, and it wasn’t just the haze of too much whiskey in his eyes that Harry saw; pure, utter contempt resisded there. What Adam had against this Omega, Harry didn’t know and didn’t want to know; he’d gotten a decent lump of coke out of this whole ordeal and that was all he cared about.

“Hey Harry, are we... is this the bathroom?” Will mumbled beside him.

Harry ignored him, leading Will to stand by the bed. “Here he is Adam. I want the other half of my payment.”

Adam grunted and thrust with his chin to motion towards the bag sat on the bedside table, eyes fixed on Will. Harry let the Omega go, wincing as he swayed and toppled onto the bed in one swift motion, coughing pathetically. He swiped up the bag and hurried towards the door, pausing before he left as Adam got to his feet. He glanced over at the other Alphas nervously and then back at Will, fully aware of what was going to happen to the incapacitated boy.

“Hey Adam,” Harry called nervously. “You’re not gonna do anything too bad are you?”

Adam looked at him, lip curling. “None of you fucking business, rat. Now get the fuck out.”

“Alright, I just... never mind,” Harry mumbled, clenching his fingers tight around the bag of white powder in his pocket and scuttled out the door.

Will felt like his limbs weighed a tonne each. “Harry?”

“He’s gone,” Adam cooed softly at him, standing over Will and watching him move and twitch like a slug that had just been doused in salt. “It’s just you, me and a couple of my friends now Will.”

Said friends remained still on the other side of the room, knowing they just had to wait their turn. Adam got first dibs.

“Who’re... Adam?” Will managed to get out, squinting through the blurred kaleidoscope that was currently his vision. “What’re... y-you...”

“Ssh,” Adam soothed him, stretching over the Omega to flip him easily onto his front. “Just be good now Will. You might even enjoy this, who knows.”

Will’s distressed whimper was lost into the sheets of the bed, desperately scrambling in his head to regain control of his body. “You... why can’t I move?”

Adam ignored him, humming when he saw Will’s bond bite. “Dr. Lecter really took a chunk out of you, didn’t he?”

“S-st...stop,” Will pleaded, tears beginning to fill his eyes whilst his head spun.

“I don’t know what that word means, Will,” Adam whispered right in his ear, sending a shudder down his spine and his stomach churning with nausea. “He embarrassed me, Will. He made me look like a fool. Now I’m going to make him look like the idiot.”

Will heard the tear, but couldn’t feel the fabric gone from his back as he registered Adam had torn his shirt away.

“Jesus,” Adam cussed under his breath as he took in the mottled mess of scars that was Will’s back.

Will wanted close his eyes and for all of this to be a bad dream.

“These are pretty nasty Will,” Adam remarked, flicking his finger against a particularly jagged scar that ran the expanse of his shoulder blades. “How does Lecter fuck you looking at these? You’re vile, did you know that?”

“Adam ple...ase,” Will gritted out, close to sobbing.

He didn’t want to cry. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. If he’d learned to hold the tears back with Mason, he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Adam make him cry.

“Please what? Please fuck you? Please spread your filthy whore legs?”

“Pleass...e stop!” Will panted, feeling like he was pushing against a brick wall as he tried to move his arms and legs. Nothing seemed to work anymore.

“I’m gonna get tired you saying that pretty soon,” Adam growled at him in warning. “You’d be better off just shutting your mouth.”

Will shut his eyes when he felt Adam’s fingers slide around the waistband of his trousers and yank them down. Adam must have noticed because he wrenched Will’s head up by his hair and snarled. He twisted Will on to his front with a violent jerk and his hand felt like ice as it struck across his cheek. He hit Will again and he tasted the blood in his mouth before he realised his lip had split.

“If you shut your fucking eyes,” Adam grinned manically, “I’m going to have to get one of my friends over there to hold your head down and keep those eyelids of yours wide open Will. You got that?”

Will thought he nodded, but he wasn’t too sure. The line between reality and whatever reality wasn’t in that moment seemed to blur. It was as if an old part of Will’s brain had been activated the minute Adam had struck him, a quiet voice murmuring in the back of his mind that sounded alarmingly like Margot telling him to just stay still, just do what he says; don’t move, don’t breathe just let him. It’ll be over quicker that way, less painful.

Adam tsked his tongue at the map of scars on Will’s front too as he climbed on top of the Omega, malice glinting in his eyes.

“You’re ugly, Graham,” Adam sneered, the whiskey putrid and hot on his breath.

Will felt sick. So, so sick.

“Real fucking ugly, yet you’re lucky,” Adam continued, a dead weight atop of him. “You know why you’re lucky? Because even though you’re disgusting to look at, I still wanna fuck you. I can still get it up despite how awful you are; ain’t that something?”

Will remained silent, letting his eyes focus on the bland white ceiling before him and waited for it to over. It had to be over, at some point.

“What’s the matter Will?” Adam grinned at him viciously, leaning down and licking up Will’s neck up to his jaw line. “Feeling a little hazy?”

Silence.

Adam hovered right over his face, gleefully waiting to see the terror in Will’s eyes. Except there was none. There was nothing in his face at all and he simply stared straight past him at the ceiling. Adam felt like he was staring down at a brain dead vegetable, not a drugged Omega. It infuriated him.

He struck Will again, snarling.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you,” Adam snapped, the palm of his hand cracking across Will’s slowly reddening cheek and snapping his head to the side from the impact of the blow.

The Omega didn’t even wince.

“Are you fucking with me Will?” Adam demanded, wrenching his head back again by his hair. “Trying to prove a point?”

Silence, again.

“I know you can fucking talk, I made sure to give you enough that you’d still be able to,” Adam seethed with bared teeth.

Will’s glazed over eyes remained fixated ahead of him and his bleeding mouth stayed firmly shut.

“Fuck this,” Adam cursed under his breath. “I’m going to make you scream.”

Will registered each blow to his face, the sensation of being dragged off of the bed and dumped onto the floor. He felt the blunt force of shoed feet colliding with his sides and chest. He simply lay there like a rag doll, shut off. In survival mode.

Don’t look at him. Just breathe. He’ll get bored soon and leave. You know how this goes.

“Make a fucking sound, you stupid bitch!” Adam yelled, chest heaving from the exertion of sudden physical activity. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Will’s bloody face remained as still and as empty as ever, his form just a limp bundle of limbs and torso at his feet.

“Adam,” one of the Alphas interrupted on the other side of the room. “I’m not into this. I wanted to get my dick wet, not break his jaw.”

Adam whipped around, eyes wild. “Then you can leave. Nobody is asking you to stay.”

“I’m going to,” he muttered, already at the door. “This is fucked man.”

“Say a single word to anyone and I’ll kill you,” Adam snarled at him on his way out.

The door clicked closed without another word. The other Alpha go to his feet after taking one more look at him.

“I’ll leave him to you. I’m not sure I want him anymore, this whole thing got weird.”

He was gone before Adam could reply, the two of them alone.

“You see?” Adam laughed hysterically. “You’re too fucking weird and ugly to rape, Will. Bet that doesn’t feel too good, does it?”

Will just breathed.

Adam’s onslaught continued in his attempt to get Will to even grunt in pain, but nothing seemed to phase the Omega. It was exhausting.

Adam spat on his face, dragging Will’s dead weight back on to the bed. “I’m just gonna have to fuck you and get this over with Graham. I’ll make sure to take a couple of memorable photos though, don’t worry.”

Will simply blinked, not really registering what he was hearing. It didn’t matter what Adam said, as long as he got closer to finishing.

“I wish you’d fucking fight back,” Adam growled at him as he ripped away Will’s boxer shorts. “You’re draining all the fun out of it.”

Will’s body, in spite of all the scars, was a delectable sight. Adam’s mouth watered and he wasted no time in arranging Will onto his front and grabbing his hips to be lifted into the air.

It was as he was unzipping his jeans and freeing his cock that he heard the strangled scream and gasp behind him.

He whipped around, eyes wide with shock as he realised he’d been disturbed.

“Get the fuck away from him!”

It was Will’s whiny Omega friend, Yvette. An Alpha stood behind her, a smile that was half formed on his face dropping into a look of horror.

Stumbling, Adam tucked himself away and darted for the door, shouldering past the Omega stood in his way and slamming her against the door. The Alpha behind her snarled and near tackled him to floor as he tried to run, the pair of them tumbling to the floor. Adam wasted no time in slamming his foot into the Alpha’s face as he scrambled to his feet, sending him flying back to the floor. He took off then, sprinting down the stairs and through the house to the front door.

Yvette ran to Will, tears budding in her eyes. She threw a nearby blanket over his shivering body, unable to unsee the labyrinth of scars on his pale flesh. Will simply lay there in a heap, seemingly unable to register what was happening around him.

“Jake!” Yvette cried out, turning to see the Alpha she’d just spent the last hour kissing and whispering to like a school girl stumbling to his feet, his nose bloody.

“Is he alright?” Jake mumbled through a mouthful of blood, dazed.

“It’s my friend, Will, he...” Yvette panicked, sobering up quickly. “His phone, can you see his phone anywhere?”

Blood dripping from his nose, Jake spotted it amongst the pile of Will’s ripped clothes, handing it over to Yvette’s stretched out hand.

“Are you gonna call an ambulance?” Jake asked as Yvette breathed through her shaky tears and scrolled through Will’s cell.

“N-no, his mate... I should call him, he’ll know what to do,” Yvette mumbled.

“His mate?” Jake frowned, eyes darting to Will and searching for his bond bite but Yvette had thoroughly covered him with the blanket.

It took barely a second to find Hannibal’s number, Will’s phone only containing about six contacts.

Yvette tried to stop the tears and calm herself as she waited for Hannibal to pick up.

“Hello darling,” Hannibal sounded groggily over the phone, his accent thicker; he’d obviously been in the middle of a deep sleep.

“Dr. Lecter, it’s me, Yvette.”

“Yvette?” Hannibal repeated, the frown visible in his voice. “Where is Will?”

“I-I’m with him now but... I don’t know what to do Dr. Lecter, you need to come and get him,” Yvette pleaded. “He might need to go to the hospital, I don’t know.”

There was immediate rustling over the line as Hannibal was obviously dressing immediately. “Has he drank too much?”

“No,” Yvette whispered. “He... he disappeared about an hour ago, he... Dr. Lecter I don’t know how to tell you.”

“Is he conscious? Are his air ways clear?”

“He’s awake, yeah but he’s... you’ll see what I mean when you get here. I’m gonna try and get him out to the front of the house and wait for you there,” Yvette replied, her voice trembling.

“Text me the address. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The line went dead and Yvette’s fingers felt numb as she text Hannibal the address, dread welling up inside of her. Will was still unresponsive on the bed, simply staring and blinking and breathing.

“Will?” Yvette called, gently shaking him. “Can you get up and walk? Dr. Lecter is coming for you.”

He didn’t answer, rigid and frozen underneath the blanket and utterly lost.

“Jake, do you think you can carry him out? I don’t know if I can lift him on my own and I don’t want to make a scene getting him out of here,” Yvette asked, her eyes wide with fear. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was gonna be dragging you into this.”

Jake nodded, stepping forwards and wrinkling his nose at the stench of distressed Omega pheromones, the smell strong enough to make him want to whine. “I’m more than happy to help Yvette. Don’t worry.”

Jake lifted Will carefully, grimacing at Will’s bloodied face and made sure the blanket was kept firmly around his body, only his head and bare, dangling feet exposed. Adam had stripped him entirely.

“Where did that piece of shit run off to?” Jake growled, following Yvette downstairs.

Yvette just shook her head, weaving through the crowd of sweating, drunken bodies to get to the front door. She hadn’t seen Theo since she’d approached Jake and didn’t have the time or patience to look for him now. They managed to get Will out, trudging down the end of the front garden and hovering by the sidewalk, looking up and down the street for an approaching car.

“I guess we’re gonna have to call it a night after this,” Jake wondered aloud, shifting Will in his arms. “How are you gonna explain to his mate what happened?”

“I have no idea,” Yvette swallowed. “He’s always so calm and composed but when he finds out, I...”

“Who is his mate anyway? I haven’t ever met anyone our age before who’s mated.”

Jake was answered by the sound of an engine and tires approaching, the headlights of the Bentley startling. The engine died and the driver’s door slammed within seconds, Hannibal appearing.

He paused, momentarily, taking in the scene before him. His eyes flickered up to the house, observing the scattered crowds on the front lawn watching them and then stepped forward.

“Give him to me,” he commanded to Jake, his voice flat and his eyes blazing. “Get in the car, both of you. Now.”

Neither of them needed telling twice, Yvette climbing into the back as Hannibal laid Will down on the back seat and Jake climbed into the passenger seat.
Hannibal got back in front of the wheel after he’d laid Will down and peeled away from the sidewalk, needing to get away from the house and all the prying eyes as soon as possible.

“Explain,” Hannibal snapped.

Yvette drew a deep breath. “Uh, this is Jake, Dr. Lecter. I’d wandered off from Theo and Will to speak to him and um, it was about an hour later when Jake and I found Will upstairs in a bedroom with Adam. He... he ran as soon as we came in.”

“Does your nose feel broken?” Hannibal asked quietly, glancing at the bloodied Alpha next to him.

“I think so,” Jake replied, ashamed of how weak his voice sounded in front of such a powerful, thoroughbred Alpha.

He felt too overwhelmed by the whole thing to care too much.

“I’ll see to it for you after I’ve tended to Will,” Hannibal informed him. “Thank you, both of you.”

“You don’t need to say thank you, Dr. Lecter,” Yvette insisted. “I just hope that Will’s ok, I...”

“He’s gone into a catatonic stupor,” Hannibal informed her. “He’ll ease himself out of it eventually. I’ve seen him like this before.”

“Does he not need to go to a hospital?” Yvette whispered, eyes wide.

“I’m perfectly capable of looking after him myself Yvette,” Hannibal sharply replied, glancing at her in the mirror. “I know how to tend to him. He doesn’t respond well to strangers or hospitals when he’s like this.”

“Is this... is he like this because of... y’know, what happened?”

“It’s a survival mechanism he developed from when he was abducted, yes,” Hannibal answered curtly, eyes fixed on the road. “He’s somewhere else right now, I’m afraid.”

“And his injuries?” Jake asked. “Is he gonna be ok?”

“I’m going to make sure of it.”

Silence fell in the car until Yvette let slip a quiet sob.

“Dr. Lecter I’m so sorry,” she gasped, tears streaming. “I had no idea Adam was even at the party tonight, I didn’t see what happened but I think he was spiked. He hurt him so much...”

“Did you see who spiked him?”

“The only other guy we spoke to tonight was a Beta that Theo knows, his name was Harry, I think,” Yvette mumbled, scrubbing a hand across her face. “It could have been him. I thought it was strange how long he spent talking to us.”

“Did Adam sexually assault Will or has he only physically attacked him?” Hannibal asked bluntly, hands tightened on the steering wheel as he pulled into the driveway.

“When we walked in he was attacking Will, I never saw him touch him like that but I don’t know how long they were up there for or what happened before we found him,” Yvette confessed, wracked with guilt.

Jake and Yvette wearily followed Hannibal into the house, Will’s body still bundled in the blanket. Yvette had his ripped clothes and phone in her arms, lingering in the entrance with Jake once inside.

“I’m going to put him upstairs and then I’ll call you a cab,” Hannibal informed them. “Wait in the kitchen or the living room, whichever you prefer.”

Hannibal turned sharply then, disappearing up the stairs with Will. Yvette shakily laced her fingers through Jake’s and nodded to the living room. “Let’s go wait.”

The pair sat side by side in silence in the living room staring at the vast fireplace before them.

“This is fucked,” Jake whispered hoarsely.

Yvette simply nodded. “Not how I was expecting tonight to end, I’ll be honest. I’m sorry.”

Jake nudged her. “It’s alright. Maybe we could... never mind.”

Yvette turned and looked at him, her eyes softening. She shakily placed a hand on his cheek, appreciating the warmth of his sharp jaw line. His nose was still bloody and trickling, dripping down onto his shirt. His eyes were as warm as the skin on his face when he looked back at her, a tired smile pulling at his lips.

“I don’t really want to be on my own tonight,” she mumbled shyly.

“I don’t want you to either,” Jake agreed, hand slipping around the slim wrist of her hand cupping his face. “Do you want to come back to my place?”

“If it’s ok,” she breathed, appreciating the genuine softness in his voice and eyes. “I won’t be a bother, I promise.”

He smiled a little wider before wincing at the ache in his face. “I’ll try my best not to bleed on you during the night.”

Yvette grinned, blushing as she chuckled and looked away. She withdrew her hand at the sound of footsteps but stayed seated close to Jake. Hannibal appeared in the door way with an ice pack and a small first aid kit.

“May I take a look at your nose?” Hannibal asked politely, far too together for someone whose mate had been attacked.

Jake hesitated. “It’s ok Dr. Lecter, I mean I could just leave it, I - ”

“I insist. It’s the least I can do after you’ve helped Will.”

Jake couldn’t argue with that and let the other Alpha carefully inspect his face, his touch light and clinically precise.

“Is it difficult to breathe?” Hannibal asked as he wiped away the blood all over Jake’s nose and mouth. “Lean forward a little and keep your head upright, please.”

“Yeah,” Jake admitted begrudgingly, not wanting to seem weak in front of Yvette.

“It’s definitely broken,” Hannibal told him. “I assume it was Adam that attacked you.”

“I sort of tackled him as he tried to run out the room,” Jake answered, wincing as Hannibal ran his fingers down the bridge of his nose.

“He kicked Jake in the face,” Yvette muttered, frowning.

“It hasn’t changed shape so you shouldn’t need to see a doctor,” Hannibal informed him. “It’ll take anywhere up to three weeks to heal. “Ice your nose for fifteen minutes every day, several times a day, as inconvenient as that may be. Take plenty of anti-inflammatory painkillers and if you get any more bleeding pinch your nose above your nostrils if it’s not too uncomfortable and keep your head upright.”

Jake just nodded as Hannibal dabbed antiseptic over the split skin on the bridge of his nose and carefully placed butterfly strips over the cut.

“Keep this as clean as you can, it’ll be healed in a few days,” Hannibal continued. “Take some painkillers as soon as you get home.”

“Thank you,” Jake mumbled under Hannibal’s hands as the doctor handed him the ice pack, gingerly pressing it to his nose.

“Is Will going to be ok?” Yvette asked, worrying at her lower lip with her teeth.

“Will is a lot stronger than he looks, Yvette,” Hannibal reassured her, however his smile was tight. “He’s been through much worse, I assure you. I can get him to call you tomorrow night, if you like. I imagine he’ll be feeling better by then.”

“He doesn’t need to go to the hospital?” Jake asked, voice muffled behind the ice pack.

“It’s nothing I can’t treat myself at home,” Hannibal replied, sighing. “I’m afraid he’ll be shaken by this, of course. It’ll be a setback in his recovery.”

“And what about Adam?” Yvette asked, his name like acid on her tongue.

“He’ll be dealt with.”

Yvette pressed her lips together and looked at her feet. “He’s not going to stop Dr. Lecter.”

“We shall see,” Hannibal smoothly replied. “He’s not going to walk away from this lightly.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Yvette murmured. “I just can’t believe he actually did this to Will, it’s...”

“He’s weak,” Hannibal replied sharply. “And a coward. I suspect he’ll be hiding under a rock somewhere by now.”

Hannibal called them a cab, the pair drowsy and drained by the whole evening. When it arrived, Hannibal saw them out, pressing a wad of bills into Yvette’s hand to pay for the taxi.

“Dr. Lecter I can’t take this,” Yvette insisted, handing it back.

“I owe you an immense deal for how you saved my Will tonight,” Hannibal smiled softly at her. “I imagine Will won’t be in college next week. You’re more than welcome to visit him, I’m sure he’d appreciate the company.”

Yvette hesitated on the drive way, glancing between Jake stood by the cab and the driver’s impatient face and then towards Hannibal’s warm, honey eyes.

“Thank you Dr. Lecter,” Yvette sighed eventually, caving. “I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”

Hannibal watched the pair get in the cab and the vehicle pull away, grateful that Yvette existed in that moment.

Stepping back inside and locking the door, Hannibal wearily trudged upstairs to the bedroom back to Will; his mind wouldn’t stop reeling with all the possibilities of how he could break the man who’d hurt his mate.

Chapter Text

Will wakes up feeling fuzzy. He’s felt it before, a while ago.

Morphine. It’s so sweet.

He’s aware of something that’s most likely pain resting in the deep layers of tissue of his body but the morphine eases it, soothes it away like ironed out creases in clothing.

His vision is blurry and it takes a while for him to fix his gaze and for objects to take shape.

He can hear birds and the faint hum of engines far away. The mattress and sheets around him feel like clouds.

He realises Hannibal is with him, peering over the edge of his note book of client records and observations at him. His face is neutral but there is a yearning in his eyes that he seems unable to hide. He doesn’t speak and they simply stare at each other for a while until Will turns his head to side, lips falling open as he realises he’s thirsty.

“Water?” he rasps, barely audible.

Hannibal stands in one smooth motion, coming to the bed and helping Will sit up before helping him with the glass of water waiting for him. Will attempts to gulp it in one but Hannibal eases the glass away.

“Will, slowly,” Hannibal murmurs so gently it makes Will think his voice would feel just like the cotton wool of morphine currently coursing through his body. “You’ll make yourself sick if you drink too much at once.”

“Sorry,” Will croaks, his voice a little more pieced together. “Lie down with me?”

Hannibal obliges immediately, moving his body with such care to not jostle Will that Will wants to roll his eyes, because he’s not made of glass and he’s not going to just shatter, but then he couldn’t possibly ever chastise Hannibal for caring about him. Will craves it right now.

“What day is it?” Will asks, realising his voice sounds too slow and slurred.

“Saturday. It’s three p.m.,” Hannibal informs him, amber eyes searching his face and fingers tenderly taking his wrist to feel his pulse.

“Adam attacked me.”

Hannibal said nothing, his nostrils flaring and his jaw tightening.

“I don’t remember...” Will trails off, lost and frowning.

“What’s the last thing you can recall?”

“I stopped taking it in after he started hitting me,” Will informed him, noticing how empty his voice sounded. “What happened?”

“Yvette and a friend of hers found you. I believe they walked in on Adam before he did anything sexual; he fled as soon as they found you and Yvette called me. I came and got you and brought you home.”

“Am I in shock?”

Hannibal paused. “Whatever you’re feeling now - or not for that matter - is most likely a combination of painkillers and shock, yes.”

“This isn’t going to be fun in a few hours.”

“We’re going to deal with it together,” Hannibal soothed him, kissing his knuckles. “I’ve tended to you physically, but I’m prepared for whatever comes later Will.”

“What injuries do I have?”

“Your right collar bone is fractured and you have heavy bruising to your sides but none of your ribs are broken. None of your organs were damaged and there’s no major internal bleeding other than the bruises you’ll see. Your lip has a few stitches but should heal without scarring and the rest is mainly lacerations and bruises on your face and head.”

He glanced down, noticing there was a sling cradling his arm for his broken collar bone, the morphine wiping even that detail away from his awareness.

“Not too bad, I guess,” Will tried to joke, but it came out wrong and felt too real.

Because it certainly wasn’t as bad as it had been in the past.

Hannibal’s eyes were soft and his face was just wholly sad in that moment and Will found himself wanting to comfort him, wanted to pull him close and make him rest his head in the crook of Will’s neck or against his chest like he was a child and not a forty-five year old man. How very Omegan of you, a voice trilled in the back of his head somewhere.

“Why does this keep happening to me Hannibal?” Will wondered aloud, blinking at the ceiling.

“I wish I knew,” Hannibal sighed, his eyes still sad. “It makes me want to keep you in this room at all times where no one else can hurt you ever again, but that would only make you seem like the problem. The problem is out there, resting in the hard wiring of far too many Alphas.”

“I wish they could all be like you.”

Hannibal imagined it, for a moment; there would be barely a soul left in the world if all Alphas were like him.

“I’m not without my faults.”

“I can’t think of any right now,” Will mumbled, eyes slipping shut. “What’s going to happen to Adam?”

“He’s already been detained.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.”

Neither of them said anymore on the matter, until Will opened his eyes again and languidly rolled his head to the side to look at Hannibal.

“Will I have to testify as a witness in court?”

“I’ve arranged for you to make a statement in place of a court appearance,” Hannibal reassured him. “As soon as the police found out who you are and your history they agreed it was not in your best interest to have you go through something as stressful as a court appearance.”

“I won’t see him ever again?”

“You won’t. I promise you won’t.”

Will smiled a little, or at least that’s what he hoped his face was doing through the morphine fuzz. “I want to hold you but I don’t think I can move.”

Hannibal ever so carefully manoeuvred them with the gentlest of touches so that his arms were wrapped around Will and their legs tangled. Will relished in Hannibal’s scent, inhaling his favourite fragrances of burgundy and sandalwood and vanilla. It rolled in the back of his throat like honey and he purred in satisfaction.

“I wish the two of us could just go and live on a desert island,” Will sighed blissfully. “But you like the opera too much for that.”

Hannibal felt his stomach flip with adoration for Will, wanting to consume him entirely. Will said the most endearing things when he was high. “I’d give up the opera for a desert island with you. I’d give up everything.”

Even the killing?

Hannibal was startled at his own answer to that; it would break him to give it up, but he found himself wanting to nonetheless if it ultimately came down to Will and his most well kept secret.

How peculiar.

Will called Yvette that night when he woke up after another nap and Hannibal had handed over more painkillers to him. Not morphine this time, as his injuries weren’t serious enough to warrant such a strong drug, but Will remained high and hazy anyway. He stayed in the room whilst Will sleepily conversed with the other Omega, monitoring it all. The call lasted only a couple of minutes, with Will insisting he was fine and telling Yvette multiple times how wonderful morphine was. He ate some of the soup Hannibal had prepared for him after their phone call, the ‘broth’ that Hannibal had slaved over for him before only for Will to brand as ‘chicken soup’ and then promptly vomit it back up; that had been months ago, when they were still getting to know each other and Will’s heat suppressants had been making him sick.

He remembered the occasion with an odd fondness.

“It’s still chicken soup,” Will slurred as he settled back against the mound of pillows Hannibal had inserted underneath him. “You can throw as many berries or whatever the fuck they are into it, it’s still just chicken soup.”

His accent thickened under the weight of painkillers and exhaustion, the Louisiana drawl rolling off of his tongue heavily. It amused Hannibal, to say the least.

“Hannibal?” Will called out, his eyes so closed they were mere slits in his face.

“Yes?”

“Why’re you so fancy? You don’t make any sense, you jus’ live in this big house all by yourself with all these shiny expensive things an’ you got all this money and it just doesn’t make any sense to me, y’know?”

“I don’t live alone anymore though, do I?”

Will shut his eyes and Hannibal thought that he’d finally drifted back to sleep, but they fluttered open again and he realised Will had only been blinking. “I’m really high... did you give me morphine again?”

“I didn’t,” Hannibal soothed him, unable to resist stroking a hand through his curls. “Just some strong painkillers.”

“But you didn’t even answer my question,” Will grumbled, frowning through the fog in his brain. “All your money... I don’t understand.”

“Don’t tire yourself out darling,” Hannibal grinned affectionately, hand still roaming through waves and curls. “Sleep if you’re tired.”

“Not ‘til you answer my question,” Will insisted, his bottom lip sliding forwards a little.

“Old money,” Hannibal sighed. “My family has always been wealthy. Now will you sleep?”

Will gave him a look that was probably meant to be threatening, but came out rather the opposite. “I will. But I still wanna know more. When I’m not high.”

“When you’re not high,” Hannibal agreed, leaning down to kiss him chastely on his swollen, stitched lips. “Sleep well, Will.”

Will was asleep by the time Hannibal had straightened and looked down at him once more.

Will didn’t return to college the following week, as Hannibal had suggested. Yvette and Theo both went to visit him a couple of times, bringing him the assignments he’d demanded from them since he was missing out on college work. The pain subsided eventually and Will refused to keep taking the painkillers Hannibal handed him unless the ache was particularly bad. He didn’t like the way they’d started to make his skin itch. Hannibal helped him make his statement for Adam’s trial. Yvette and Theo informed him he’d been kicked out of John Hopkins and charged with sexual offense in the third degree and sentenced to serve nine years. Will asked Hannibal how Adam had ended up with such a severe sentence, to which Hannibal replied he had an excellent lawyer.

“You went to his trial, didn’t you?”

“I did. I finished work early and went to watch.”

Will gnawed at his itching lip, to which Hannibal frowned and swept his thumb across the healing flesh in warning. His stitches had come out that morning.

“I want to ask but I also don’t,” Will confessed, gazing up at Hannibal whilst the man’s thumb was still sat on his lower lip.

“He would have been charged with a much more serious felony had he actually been given the chance to act out what he’d intended. He looked troubled when he was sentenced, to say the least,” Hannibal provided for him. “I don’t imagine he’ll fare well in prison. He’s far too arrogant.”

Will hummed, kissing Hannibal’s thumb. “I’m glad he’s gone.”

“Likewise,” Hannibal replied dryly, biting his tongue to refrain from informing Will of his true feelings and intentions towards the Alpha that had dared to touch him.

Will studied him silently, his sea blue eyes sweeping over each minute detail of Hannibal’s face and stature in a way that Hannibal couldn’t read; it killed a small part of him inside every time he couldn’t decipher what Will was thinking. His mate was unsurprisingly good at guarding his face when he wanted to.

“I’m sorry, Will,” Hannibal breathed softly into the silence of the bedroom. “I failed you.”

“You didn’t.”

“I did, miserably,” Hannibal disagreed sharply. “I let you get hurt. He would have done whatever he wanted with you if Yvette hadn’t found you. I failed to protect you and I - ”

“Please don’t pull the berating, self-deprecating Alpha act,” Will cut him off, his voice just a little too cool. “It doesn’t suit you. What happened was beyond your control. I’m never going to let you keep me locked up inside because it’s the only way to stop the outside world from hurting me again. I’ll live my life regardless, Hannibal. You couldn’t have known what would happen, so please; don’t let me hear you beating yourself up and apologising like that.”

“I can’t help but feel responsible,” Hannibal admitted. “I’ve only ever wanted to look after you Will.”

“You do,” Will reminded him. “Every day, Hannibal. You do everything for me. You’ve been taking care of me since I first met you at Port Haven.”

“I want to do more,” Hannibal told him quietly, eyes down cast.

He’d never felt more vulnerable, flayed open and raw. Only Will could ever cut him like this without even knowing he was doing it.

“What more could you possibly do?” Will laughed in disbelief. “Look at the life you’ve given me, just... I can’t believe you don’t see how much you’ve done. Hannibal, I have everything I could ever want and more, I - ”

“It’s not enough.”

“Then what?” Will laughed again. “If everything you’ve done so far isn’t enough, then what?”

“I would turn back time for you if I could,” the Alpha murmured into the air.

Will shook his head, wincing at the pain the movement caused. “I wouldn’t want that.”

Hannibal looked up sharply at him, eyes questioning.

“I never would have met you if you turned back time,” Will smiled. “I’d still be an orphan; my dad’s heart was never going to keep going with the shitty lifestyle he had, a heart attack was inevitable. If none of this had ever happened, I’d probably be barely scraping by, still in Louisiana and who knows if I even would have graduated high school. I’d either end up mated to someone I only just about tolerated or I’d spend the rest of my life alone. I don’t want that, not when I have this. When I have you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know I was meant to be with you,” Will softly told him, voice floating through the air from the bed. “Everything that’s ever happened to me since I presented led me to you. Surely someone as romantic as you can appreciate the notion of fate?”

Hannibal’s lips twitched into a smile. “It pleases me to hear you say that.”

“I love you Hannibal.”

Hannibal knelt down on his knees by the bed in reverence to Will, savouring the sight of his beautiful, scarred mate. “I love you too, mylimasis. Endlessly.”

Will smiled the best he could without splitting his lip again, which only served to make him giggle at the ridiculousness of it all. Hannibal softly huffed in amusement along with him and remained knelt by the bed, kissing each scar and mark on Will’s forearms, wrists and knuckles. Of course he appreciated the notion of fate. How could he not?

Will healed, quickly. This time he had painkillers and proper medical supplies and Hannibal’s undivided attention; the days of Margot’s hurried care in the middle of the night when Mason was asleep was over. At Muskrat Farm, Will had only ever known barely sufficient drug-store painkillers that Margot bought when she could; even with medication she’d had to be careful in case Mason had questioned why she was always buying so many painkillers. She would slip into his room at night, silently, rousing Will from a broken sleep and trying her best to muddle her way through bandages and butterfly stitches. The only time Mason had permitted Will a visit from a nurse was the time he’d nearly beat him to death after a few months of being there or if he’d suffered a particularly bad miscarriage. Will was shocked at how quickly the healing process was with Hannibal.

“Being near your mate helps,” Hannibal informed him when Will mentioned it. “The bond helps the stimulation of antibodies and strengthens your immune system.”

“No wonder it took me forever to get better at Muskrat Farm,” Will muttered.

“One reason, amongst many,” Hannibal agreed quietly.

Will returned to college eventually, pushing himself to catch up with the work he’d missed whilst Hannibal had kept him housebound. He’d wanted to return earlier, but Hannibal had very firmly put his foot down on that issue; Will was going nowhere until he’d made a full recovery from his injuries.

He was partly grateful Hannibal had made him take so much time off, as it meant he wasn’t wandering around John Hopkins looking like he’d been run over. The bruising on his ribs and flanks was still there, currently a yellowing brown shade, but the bruises on his face were fading quickly. His face was no longer swollen and split and the places where his skin had broken and bled were now just small clusters of scabbing skin that wasn’t too noticeable. He’d quite clearly been attacked, that much was obvious; but he no longer looked like ‘Frankenstein’s monster’, as he’d named himself after seeing his face in the mirror for the first time after the attack. Hannibal had vehemently disagreed and proceeded to spend the rest of the day telling Will how beautiful he was. Will secretly enjoyed it.

Yvette and Theo welcomed him back with careful embraces.

“You can hug me properly,” Will grumbled, rolling his eyes at their feather light touches.

“Your arm is still in a sling,” Yvette remarked, pursing her lips. “We’ve got to be careful.”

“You sound like Hannibal,” Will sighed, aware he was being dramatic but not caring all that much.

“But Hannibal is a doctor,” Theo pointed out dryly. “I value his opinion on how healed you are way more than yours.”

Will gave him a playful glare.

It was easy, to a certain extent, slipping back into the routine of college; he felt warmth from within when he was back with Yvette and Theo and found comfort in the regiment of scheduled lectures, seminars and essays. It wasn’t as easy, however, to ignore the wary glances and stares and hushed voices he suddenly felt. People knew. It seemed that Adam’s expulsion from John Hopkins had not been a quiet affair and news of what he’d done to Will travelled quickly; subsequently it seemed that it had spread amongst the student body that Will was a trafficking victim too, along with his relationship with Hannibal.

He knew it would happen at some point, that he’d feel this kind of vulnerability; he just hadn’t expected it to shake him so much. At Port Haven, Will didn’t feel out of place with his situation. Everyone around him was a victim of abuse in one way or another and all the staff at Port Haven were used to it as well. But in the real world, away from the pastel prison of soft padding and medication, people stared and gawked and whispered. Will couldn’t really blame them. He was well aware of the rarity of his situation outside of a psychiatric hospital and how shocking it was to the normal person that someone like him was sat in front of them in the lecture theatre. Every scar on his body, hidden or not, felt ten times thicker and he began to wonder whether other people could even smell it on him; could they smell the medication he took for his anxiety and depression? Could they smell the broken bones and blood loss and miscarriages? Could they smell Mason on him still?

Will shrank. Hannibal saw it but held his tongue; the last time he’d suggested therapy to Will he’d nearly had his face split apart from a plate hurtling at his head.
Instead, he simply left Bedelia’s business card on the breakfast bar one morning when he’d had to leave for work early and Will was upstairs showering before breakfast.

It was gone when he came home from work and found Will curled up with his lecture notes on the sofa. He didn’t mention it again.

Thanksgiving came and went. They spent it on the boat on the dark, calm waters of Chesapeake Bay with the glowing lights of the boat stroking over the bay, eating grilled fish Will had caught. Will insisted he didn’t like turkey and every Thanksgiving he and his dad had sat down to a meal of whatever they’d caught that day. Hannibal happily obliged, not caring an ounce about holiday tradition that year.

Will finished college for the Christmas break, finally caught up on his assignments with bags under his eyes and a cold, sheepishly avoiding Hannibal as much as he could so he wouldn’t notice any sniffles and coughing. It lasted a few hours until Hannibal had him bundled underneath blankets on the sofa in his home study whilst Hannibal worked, dosed up on flu medication and drinking a concoction of whisky, honey and lemon.

A week into the Christmas holidays Hannibal announced he’d booked flights and arranged for them to have a winter vacation.

Will narrowed his eyes. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Hannibal smiled, his face warm. “You’ll enjoy it. We leave next week.”

“How do you know I’ll enjoy it?”

“I believe you told me you didn’t care where we went when I originally mentioned the idea to you,” Hannibal chided him with a grin. “Don’t you trust me?”

Will sipped his honey and lemon brew, blew his nose aggressively and gave Hannibal a deadpan stare. “No.”

“Then it should be all the more exciting.”

“It’s somewhere warm, isn’t it?” Will demanded, hands on hips as he stood in the doorway of Hannibal’s study two days before they were due to leave.

Hannibal glanced up from his client notes, smoothing down a non-existent crease in his suit. “Yes.”

“The Bahamas.”

“There are lots of other warm places besides the Bahamas.”

“So not the Bahamas. Where?”

“It’s still a surprise.”

Will had glared and turned on his heel, storming from the room. Hannibal smirked and went back to his work.

“I’ll go into heat whilst we’re away.”

“I’m aware.”

Will’s face fell. “But... but it’s safe here and it’s not going to get in the way of anything, I can’t just go into heat in a hotel where there are - ”

“It’s just as safe where we are going as it is here,” Hannibal told him mildly, slicing up onions. “We won’t be in a hotel anyway.”

“I don’t want to spend a vacation in heat Hannibal,” Will sighed in frustration.

“You won’t be in heat the whole time we’re there Will. I’d planned for us to be away for the best part of December.”

“We’re going away for a month?”

“Yes, roughly a month.”

“But what about your clients?”

“They’ve been temporarily referred to another psychiatrist and can contact me in emergency situations through Skype.”

“And you still won’t tell me where we’re going?”

“Will, we’re leaving tomorrow. You don’t have to wait much longer to find out,” Hannibal reminded him. “Have you finished packing?”

“I have no idea what I’m supposed to pack,” Will grumbled, deciding he was most definitely not enjoying Hannibal’s method of ‘surprising’ him. “Especially not for a whole month.”

“I’ll finish your packing tonight then before bed.”

Will huffed, announced he was going to spend the rest of the day with Theo or Yvette, whichever one of them answered the phone first, and that Hannibal was thoroughly stressing him out with his over the top attitude. Hannibal simply smiled pleasantly at him through the whole verbal onslaught and sighing, continuing to making dinner preparations for that evening.

“Cuba.”

“I suppose the surprise ends here,” Hannibal mused, settling a warm hand against the small of Will’s back as he steered him towards the terminal for their gate.

“You’re seriously taking us to Cuba for a month?”

“Not quite a month, Will.”

“Shut up,” Will teased him, unable to help the grin spreading across his tired face.

Hannibal had woken him at the ungodly hour of 5:00 am, helping him slip into the cab waiting to take them to their airport whilst Hannibal ferried suitcases into the car and locked up the house in the dark early hours of the morning. Will had fallen back asleep straight away as the cab pulled away from the house, head lolling against Hannibal’s shoulder. He’d stumbled through the airport, trailing behind Hannibal and only uttering a word when coffee was pushed towards him in the waiting lounge before their gate was announced.

Will slept through the flight too, for once grateful at Hannibal’s insistence on luxury when they sat down on large seats that extended themselves into beds with the push of a button. Hannibal simply occupied himself with stroking his thumb over Will’s knuckles and watching his sleeping face until the sun started to break through the dense clouds they travelled through, casting his eyes between the sun rise and Will’s unconscious form. The flight lasted almost three hours, and when Will awoke upon landing he still seemed disorientated and fuzzy.

It wasn’t until they set foot in Havana and Will’s nostrils flared at the inhale of warm, southern air that he seemed to finally wake up a little.

They picked up a hire car at the airport, Will incredibly amused to see Hannibal behind the wheel of a Chevrolet older than Hannibal himself, and drove. Will took in every inch of Havana as they drove, the violent bursts of colour flashing through the car window. The buildings started to dwindle, the roads became quieter and lush green started to seep into the landscape. Hannibal turned the car off the main road and continued their journey until they arrived at their final destination.

The villa was a white slash amongst thick emerald green, a cobbled driveway sitting before the building with space to park the car. The air felt rich and heavy with humidity and thriving forestry around them, the only sound that of running water and wildlife hidden amongst the trees. They lacked any neighbours, the villa standing alone in a small paradise of its own. Neither of them spoke as they entered the villa, Will simply drinking in the beauty of his surroundings. The interior was elegantly simple, marbled floor and high ceilings and smooth white walls with dark oak furniture.

Pausing by the marble tiled stair case, hand skimming over the wrought iron handrail, Will caught Hannibal’s eye and held him steadfast in his gaze.

“Thank you Hannibal.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Hannibal returned politely, setting the suit cases down at Will’s feet before wrapping Will into his arms. “Do you like it?”

“Of course I like it. It’s all beautiful.”

“I’d hoped this would be a chance for us to relax for a while. You’ve been stressed a lot recently.”

“I don’t think it’ll be possible to be stressed here,” Will grinned, resting his head in the crook of Hannibal’s neck. “Even with my heat.”

“There are worse places to spend your heat.”

Will simply kissed him, arms sliding around his neck and tongue dancing fiercely with Hannibal’s.

They spent their first week lounging around the villa; Will slept like the dead every night and woke blissfully with a smile every day in the late morning. They ate local produce of fresh fruit and bread, cured meats and daily caught fish that they bought every couple of days from the small market that was a ten minute walk or so from the villa. They cooked together, drank rich coffee from beans harvested nearby and sold at the market, explored the property’s small jungle. The back of the villa contained a courtyard made of lovingly crafted marble and limestone, hammocks and sunken beds and a fire pit and even a small outdoor kitchen area. The trees hung low in the courtyard, providing a leafy canopy during the day that Will liked to watch birds flit between and then gaze at the clusters of stars visible through the gaps of foliage at night.

Hannibal drove them to the beach one day, the pair sitting close side by side eating fresh mangoes and basking in the sun. Hannibal watched Will wade into the sea to cool down, floating in the water with glazed over eyes and slowly bronzing skin to return to him salty and wet and grinning. He’d never loved Will more.

Will felt like his body had been eroded back to nothing and built up again slowly, the disgust he felt at Adam’s attack and the piling layers of stress and anxiety peeling away. It was all replaced with deep slumbers and singing birds and sunshine and doughy bread still warm from the bakery and rich Spanish language that made his ears twitch with pleasure. It was as if his small haven in the cool white villa with Hannibal had fixed him magically.

All of this was perhaps why he didn’t notice any of his usually pre-heat symptoms until it was too late to ease himself into it.

The sun was setting and Hannibal was feeding him small cubes of rich, dark chocolate as they lounged on the sunken bed by the fire pit. Hannibal was idly sketching, Will stretched out beside him like a cat basking in the warm rays of golden hour, occasionally opening his mouth at the soft pressure of chocolate and Hannibal’s fingers when the Alpha paused from sketching to feed him. The old radio they’d found in the outdoor kitchen that somehow still worked was buzzing quietly on the counter a few feet away from them, sounds of rolling Spanish words and intricately plucked guitar strings drifting out into the courtyard.

Will felt his skin start to prickle uncomfortably, opening his eyes and frowning. The tell tale ache slowly began to flare around his abdomen and hips as his heart rate pushed and he realised. He barely managed to sit up before he felt his whole body flush with warmth and he began to sweat, slick starting to lubricate his entrance.

“Hannibal,” Will gritted out, nails digging into his mate’s arm.

He looked up immediately, pencil paused in mid air. “What is it?”

“My heat is starting,” Will told him, his voice rising with a small whine.

The dilation of Hannibal’s pupils was immediate, the Alpha placing down his sketchpad and pencil and reaching for Will. He went immediately, crawling onto the Alpha’s lap and tucking his head against his chest and inhaling Hannibal’s rich scent in an attempt to comfort himself.

“Would you like to head inside?” Hannibal offered quietly, broad hands stroking up and down Will’s back.

“Can we stay here for a while?” Will asked, clinging tighter. “I’ll move soon, I promise.”

Hannibal simply nodded, silently administering soft touches as he gentled Will. Will sighed in appreciation, savouring the way Hannibal’s skin felt like velvet against his. He lasted all of twenty minutes before the itch to nest and move got too strong. Hannibal had packed Will’s usual blankets he used for nesting, leaving them folded neatly on top of the chest at the foot of the bed on the day they’d arrived and unpacked.

Hannibal left him alone to nest for a while, busying himself in the kitchen with small meal preparations for the next few days. Will drew the curtains in the master bedroom, twitching and moving furniture restlessly for reasons that he’d usually find made no sense; he didn’t care to dwell on it too much, letting his body do the decision making for him as he sank deeper into his heat.

Will was in the middle of stripping when Hannibal returned, holding out to him a glass of the guava juice Will had been drinking enthusiastically since they’d arrived. He took it, placing it on the dresser, and then returned to undressing himself. He was too hot but wanted to burrow himself in the bed, his skin feeling sensitive to the very air around him.

A few hours later, after more nervous pacing and restless room re-arrangement in the nude, Will was raking his nails down Hannibal’s skin and violently tugging him to the bed.

“I can’t,” Will snarled. “I can’t take it anymore Hannibal.”

“It’s alright,” Hannibal soothed him, his voice low and vibrating. “Just take what you need.”

Will did.

He pushed Hannibal down flat on the bed, hands on his shoulders and bit into his bond bite. Hannibal jerked at the sensation, hands flying up to grab Will’s hair and waist. Will moaned at the taste of blood seeping into his taste buds, his mouth wet and red. He licked at the re-opened wound, the primal Omegan part of him dancing with joy at the sight of the blood and broken skin. A knee jerk reaction, Hannibal snarled in return at the sting of pain and pleasure at the hollow of his throat.

Will kept him pinned there, eyes wild and dark as he reached behind him to hold Hannibal’s length in place for him to slide himself down. Hannibal stopped him with gripping hands and a warning snarl, lurching forwards to move Will away.

“We need protection Will,” Hannibal reminded him, panting as his arousal strained.

Will whined, attempting to crawl back into Hannibal’s lap only to be pushed back again. He was lost in the fog that had settled over his mind, one thing and one thing only important to him now. Hannibal hastily managed to retrieve a condom and put it on, Will’s teeth and hands trying to stop him with each passing second. As soon as Hannibal finished putting the condom on Will had him pinned again and was sinking down onto his erection with his head tipped back.

They moaned in unison, experiencing the penetration differently but feeling it together nonetheless through the golden threads of their bond. It felt incredible, more vibrant and visceral than the heats they’d shared before; this was their first heat together bonded, Will realised in a small conscious part of his brain. How different it was.

He rode Hannibal with laboured breaths, fingertips digging into Hannibal’s shoulders and abdomen. Hannibal watched Will move himself above him, keeping his hands gripped tightly onto Will’s hips and buttocks as slick shone over both their skin and the room was filled with the noises of their joining.

Will calmed after the first knotting, content and purring as he patted unconsciously at Hannibal’s arms and hair as his knot swelled inside of him and locked them in place. Hannibal shuddered violently beneath him with each release, both of them moaning as another wave of orgasm coursed through Hannibal’s body.

It continued like that through the night, Will’s body burning hot with fever as the bed grew near damp with slick, blood and sweat and the air filled with snarls and moans.

The following day was much the same, their bodies tangled and flushed red with scratches and bruises. Hannibal sated him with his mouth and fingers when he was too tired to mount Will anymore, the Omega coming apart under his hands with shaking orgasms and tears rolling down his cheeks as he begged for Hannibal’s knot. They sprawled across the bed in every position as the hours dragged by; Will on his knees and sobbing into the mattress, Hannibal cradling them in a spooning position as his hips thrust in small, precise movements, Will on his back with legs locked around Hannibal’s narrow waist like a vice lock. Hannibal lost count all the ways in which their bodies rolled and collided with each other over the next few days.

Will was soft and pliant on the last day of his heat, as he typically was. They were both kneeling on the mattress, Will pressed against the headboard at the wall, palms flat on the wall. Hannibal was mouthing of the junction of his neck and shoulder, arms wrapped around Will’s waist as he circled his hips against Will’s backside.

Will was crying again, squirming with pleasure and his voice raw.

“Hannibal,” Will sobbed, face twisted with pleasure. “Hannibal. Hannibal.”

He choked on Hannibal’s name over and over, the word falling past his swollen lips with broken awe and pleasure and an utter sense of overwhelming stimulation.

The sound his mate so deliciously broken, sagging in his arms and crying with pleasure was enough to tip Hannibal over the edge for the umpteenth time, breathing shakily into Will’s damp curls. The swell of Hannibal’s knot inflating inside of him pushed Will into an orgasm that was so intense and sensitive it almost hurt, eyes rolling back into his head as he came against the headboard. Will didn’t recognise the noises falling from his lips as Hannibal shushed him gently, stroking his hair back from his face and kissing his neck with adoration.

Will felt dizzy with exhaustion and pleasure as they lay together afterwards, neither of them speaking as they regained their breath.

The usual ‘I love you’ sat in Hannibal’s eyes rather than his words this time and Will felt it somewhere deep inside of him.

After Will’s heat had finished, he felt an urge to get out of the villa and explore. They went hiking through the thick hills near the villa, trekking along a footpath carefully carved out through the trees and rocks. They visited another beach, nature reservations and animal sanctuaries, which Hannibal immediately regretted.

“Hannibal, please,” Will begged, on the verge of tears.

“Will, we can’t bring a dog back to Baltimore,” Hannibal sighed, not even looking at the small animal in Will’s arms.

“But I can’t just leave him here,” Will pleaded. “He chose me.”

“A dog couldn’t have possibly - ”

“He’s coming home with us.”

“Will, no.”

“Why not?!”

“Because I have no wish to look after an animal or have my home ruined by one.”

“But we’d build him a pen in the garden!” Will insisted. “I’d house train him, he wouldn’t be a problem at all.”

“Why would you want to go to all of that fuss for an animal?” Hannibal nearly groaned.

The puppy in Will’s arms was contentedly licking at Will’s fingers, happy to be receiving touch and affection. The woman volunteering at the receptionist desk was giving Hannibal a knowing look; a look that most definitely said you and I both know you’re going to give in so you’d better just listen to your Omega.

Hannibal bristled.

“Hannibal I promise you won’t have to do anything,” Will continued, nuzzling the puppy. “I’ll train him and walk him and feed him and he’ll be my dog, you won’t have to worry about him.”

“I’ll have to worry about him if he’s in my house,” Hannibal pointed out dryly. “Dogs are a big commitment and you have to prioritise your degree Will. I don’t have time to look after a pet and neither do you.”

Will looked broken. “Hannibal, please. He won’t be a bother. He can’t just stay at a shelter his whole life without a family or anyone to love him.”

“Someone else will adopt him.”

“You don’t know that!” Will snapped. “He could be put down soon! He’s only a baby for god’s sake Hannibal.”

Hannibal finally felt himself relenting, which he knew he eventually would. It was Will, after all. He couldn’t deny him anything.

“Dogs need time and commitment Will.”

“I know,” Will sighed in frustration. “I had dogs growing up all the time Hannibal, I know how to look after them.”

“I’m having nothing to do with it,” Hannibal reiterated. “It’ll be your sole responsibility. If I think for a minute you’re falling behind on work for university it’s going straight back to a shelter.”

“I won’t,” Will insisted, eyes lighting up. “I promise Hannibal, you won’t even notice he’s living with us. He can be my Christmas present from you!”

Hannibal simply shook his head, pursing his lips and reaching for the clipboard of adoption and transportation papers the volunteer smugly held out to him as Will lathered the puppy with pats and kisses.

Christmas day arrived. They woke up to late morning sun drifting into the windows of the villa’s master bedroom and filled their morning with lazy love making and lingering kisses. They showered together and Hannibal cooked breakfast, Will sipping on the freshly squeezed orange juice from the oranges they’d found on a hike the other day. They’d agreed that if there were to be any presents at all this year they would be small gifts, after Will had snarled at Hannibal for a good hour about how ridiculous he still found it that Hannibal had bought him a boat last year.

Will stiffly handed Hannibal the small gift wrapped box he’d brought with him from Maryland, chewing his lip nervously. “I feel like I shouldn’t have gotten you anything because nothing I could get you will be good enough but then I couldn’t just not get you anything and - ”

Hannibal silenced his nervous rambling with a kiss. “You didn’t have to get me anything because you don’t have to. I will love whatever your gift is Will.”

Will’s stomached flipped when Hannibal opened the small box, sagging in relief when he looked up and smiled at Will with genuine appreciation and gratefulness in his eyes. Will had scoured for months for the right gift, eventually settling on a new set of drawing pencils for the Alpha. They came in a set of twelve and were all hand carved, crafted from the finest graphite and imported from an artisan specialist in Germany. It screamed Hannibal, and Will frankly had no idea what else to get him. It had made a small dent in the meagre funds left of Will’s own personal money that had come from the sale of his father’s boat and the trailer in Louisiana, but it was worth it to see the soft gleam in Hannibal’s eye.

Will glared when Hannibal handed him his own box. “Letting me adopt the puppy was your present to me.”

“Please Will,” Hannibal insisted. “This was your present before we set foot in the animal shelter.”

Will unwrapped the present, revealing a jewelry box. He glanced up at Hannibal only to receive an encouraging smile before prying open the lid of the expensive looking leather box. Inside, nestled in velvet, was a platinum necklace. The piece consisted of delicate, thinly shaped chains interlocking perfectly together. Will pulled it out of the box and cupped it in his hand, the metal cool and slinky against his skin. A small pendant was attached to the necklace, two thin platinum circles interlinked and overlapping each other, a symbol that had been used for thousands of years to represent the status of mated Omegas and Alphas. It was beautiful and subtle and felt like silk against Will’s skin.

“Hannibal, this is beautiful,” Will breathed. “I... thank you.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Hannibal purred, the Alpha inside of him preening at Will’s acceptance of his gift. “May I?”

Will twisted so Hannibal could fasten the necklace around his throat, admiring the way the pale shade of Will’s skin looked with the metal.

Will turned around again, diving at Hannibal suddenly to kiss him, sending them both to the floor from where they’d sat cross-legged across each other. Hannibal smiled into the kiss and gripped Will tightly as they shed their clothes again and their bodies rolled and fused together for the second time that day on the floor of the villa’s living room.

The evening consisted of quiet conversation and their bodies intertwined together in the courtyard, the pair of them gently swaying on one of the giant hammocks. Hannibal had asked what Will wanted for their Christmas dinner, to which Will had snorted and replied it was just going to be a normal dinner because as he’d demonstrated before, he couldn’t care less about holiday traditions but he definitely wouldn’t say no to paella.

And so they ate Christmas paella at the stone table in the outdoor kitchen, the sky filling with stars above them and the ground around them littered with tall pillar candles and lanterns.

As they lay back in the hammock again after dinner, the sun vanished and the sky became full of other far away burning suns. Hannibal murmured to him about constellations and mythical stories and Lithuanian folklore and Will thought to himself he’d started to forget what pain was.

Their third week in Cuba drew to an end. Will insisted they do at least a couple of stereotypical tourist activities before they flew back to Maryland. They visited Old Havana, took a day trip to visit the city of Trinidad, wandered through the galleries of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and strolled along the Malecon. They found a small bar one evening not too far from the villa, at Will’s request to try Cuban rum.

It turned out to be stronger than he’d anticipated, his face flushing and drunken giggles setting in after only two drinks.

“Hannibal, you’re so pretty,” Will grinned at him across the small table they sat at, head resting in hand and gazing at the Alpha. “I bet you know it too, don’t you?”

“I’m afraid the rum’s gone to your head already Will,” Hannibal remarked in amusement.

“I think so,” Will agreed. “I like it.”

Hannibal chuckled, only to be cut short by the sensation of Will’s foot creeping up his inner calf, stopping at his knee. He raised an eyebrow at the boy. “Is there something you wanted, Will?”

“To say thank you,” Will murmured, leaning forward and inching his foot past Hannibal’s knee. “For lots of things.”

“And what would those things be?” Hannibal enquired, deciding to take him up on his flirtatious game.

He so rarely saw Will like this, entranced at how seductive he could be when consciously deciding to do so, albeit under the influence of Havana Club rum.

“For bringing me here, for one,” Will answered, tongue pushing against his lower lip briefly. “It means a lot to me.”

Hannibal’s eyes followed the movement of his tongue, captivated. “It’s been my pleasure.”

“I want to say thank you for letting me adopt the puppy,” Will grinned wickedly, eyes flashing. “I’m so happy you agreed in the end.”

Hannibal playfully rolled his eyes. “The things I will do for your happiness push all of my boundaries, it would seem.”

“Mmm,” Will agreed, eyes trailing over the sharp cut of his mate’s cheekbones and squared jaw appreciatively. “I want to thank you for that too. I’ve never been happier.”

“That’s all I want,” Hannibal confessed, eyes softening. “That’s all I’ll ever want Will.”

“You didn’t have to do any of this for me,” Will sighed quietly, foot pressing against the inside of Hannibal’s thigh. “But you’d do anything for me, wouldn’t you?”

“I would.”

Will’s eyes darkened even more and his face grew closer. Hannibal wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline and lust that was affecting Will in that moment or the rum.

“How far would you go for me?” Will pushed.

“As far as you can possibly imagine,” Hannibal uttered, leaning in too. “I would do unspeakable things.”

“I want to hear you say it.”

Will’s foot was so near his crotch now.

“You know what I would do,” Hannibal breathed, pupils dilating massively. “I believe I’ve told you before.”

“Unspeakable things,” Will repeated, lashes fluttering and voice drawling with his southern lilt. “You’d hurt anyone that hurt me.”

“You know I would.”

“Would you kill for me, Hannibal?”

The question hung heavily in the air and the answer lay deep in Hannibal’s eyes. Will knew without hearing him say it aloud.

“I feel like that should scare me,” Will whispered. “It doesn’t.”

“Anything, Will,” Hannibal murmured. “No matter what the cost.”

Will shuddered at the deep baritone of Hannibal’s voice and closed his eyes for a moment, imagining Hannibal dark and coated in blood. He pressed, teasingly, into Hannibal’s crotch and drew a soft growl from the Alpha.

“I want you to take me back now,” Will breathed, short of breath.

Hannibal simply nodded and they left the bar.

When they got back to the villa, they didn’t make it to the bed. They settled for the sofa instead, Hannibal sinking to his knees as if he was in the middle of an act of worship whilst he pushed Will to bend over the arm of the sofa. He spread Will’s cheeks and lavished his tongue against his hole, hungry to hear sweet cries from Will’s throat.

Will writhed beneath him, groaning at the feel of Hannibal’s tongue working him open and rubbing against his fluttering entrance. His legs began to shake, weak with pleasure, and Hannibal held him up as he drew his fingers through the leaking slick Will’s body started to produce. He pushed the clear, viscous liquid back inside of Will with two dextrous fingers and slowly scissored Will open to take his cock.

Will’s chest was heaving by the time Hannibal was finished, rising to his feet to wrap a hand around the front of Will’s throat from behind as he lined himself up. Will gasped as he sank inside, the following moan vibrating against Hannibal’s hand around his throat. Hannibal gripped Will’s hip with his spare hand and pulled the Omega back against him as he began to fuck into Will, relishing in the Omega soft moans.

“I want to hear you say it Hannibal,” Will cried brokenly, face twisted with pleasure. “Say it.”

Hannibal purred lowly, strong enough for Will to feel the vibration in his back where Hannibal’s chest was pressed against him. A small part of Hannibal screamed no, to not tell Will the truth of the depths of his devotion, of his obsession. How far he’d go for Will, to keep him safe, to keep him happy. To avenge him, to please him, to care and provide for him. But Hannibal knew Will wouldn’t believe him, not truly; this was just some sort of twisted dirty talk spurred on by ancient instincts, from a time when Omegas relished in the sight of Alpha violence. This was no longer about survival and evolution; this was just Will tapping into a dark, unused part of his psyche.

“I would kill them, Will,” Hannibal snarled into his ear, hips snapping brutally against Will. “Anyone who tried to hurt you or take you away from me. I would kill for you.”

Will came, convulsing and coming apart in his arms, Hannibal’s hand so tight around his windpipe that Will’s vision blurred. He left bloody trails on Hannibal’s arms as he trembled and whimpered through his orgasm, nails raking away the layers of tissue beneath them. The violent clench and pull of Will’s walls as he came drew Hannibal’s own orgasm from him, spilling heavily inside of the Omega with a fractured cry and panting breath.

They both collapsed onto the sofa, heads reeling. Will lolled in his arms, lips parted as he panted and gripped onto Hannibal. When his grip loosened, Hannibal peered down at him to see he’d fallen asleep, face still flushed and the sweetness of rum and lemon on his breath. Hannibal allowed himself a little longer than needed to observe Will’s sleeping face and memorise every detail, stashing it all away in his memory like buried treasure.

Hours later, Hannibal stirred awake to the sound of retching. He’d carried Will to bed and turned all the lights off to send the villa into calm darkness, the nocturnal wildlife surrounding their villa singing and chirping in the trees outside. The lamp by the bed had been turned on and the bedroom door was wide open, a vague light creeping in from the bathroom down the hall. Wearily, Hannibal eased himself from the bed and pulled on a robe as he slipped to the bathroom. The last time he could remember hearing Will throwing up was when he’d been ill from his heat suppressants.

He rapped the door twice with his knuckles. “Will?”

“I’ll be out soon.”

“May I come in?”

“No.”

“I heard you vomiting.”

As if to reiterate Hannibal’s point, Will’s body responded with another round of retching and vomiting.

“I think the rum didn’t go down too well,” Will replied weakly a few moments later. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll get you some water,” Hannibal sighed, hovering hesitantly.

More retching and coughing.

Hannibal padded back down to the kitchen to retrieve Will water and some painkillers, deciding to quickly brew some ginger tea with fresh root ginger whilst he was down there. It was the least he could do for Will’s nausea.

Will was back in bed when he returned, looking washed out and almost grey. He gave Hannibal a strained smile when he appeared, shutting the bedroom door behind him.

“Ginger helps with nausea a little,” Hannibal explained, tenderly handing him the mug. “Some painkillers too for your headache.”

“My head doesn’t feel too bad,” Will informed him, wrinkling his nose before sipping the brew of ginger. “It’s more just the nausea.”

“Take them anyway,” Hannibal murmured, leaning forwards and gently kissing his forehead. “Sip your water. You’ll only be sick again if you drink too much at once.”

“Thanks doctor,” Will teasingly mumbled, smiling tiredly over the mug at Hannibal. “You put with a lot from me.”

“It’s nothing I don’t want to do,” Hannibal returned, sliding back down into bed. “I enjoy taking care of you.”

Will narrowed his eyes at him in jest. “You’re not going to make me sick on purpose are you? Keep me housebound so I’m all feeble and need taking care of?”

“I think you’ve been paying far too much to your lectures at John Hopkins,” Hannibal mused, stroking the delicate bones of Will’s ankle. “You don’t have to be scared of factitious disorder by proxy Will.”

Will grinned through the queasiness, rolling his eyes. “I forget I’m mated to an esteemed psychiatrist.”

“How you flatter me,” Hannibal chided back, watching as Will continued to scrunch his face up at the ginger tea. “Is the taste too strong?”

“I think it’s helping but it smells and tastes disgusting,” Will replied, grimacing. “Thank you though.”

Will painfully finished the tea, setting the mug down and slumping back down into bed. They both drifted back to sleep in exhaustion, the day’s heat and alcohol and sex – and in Will’s case bout of vomiting - tiring them out thoroughly.

Three days later saw them board their flight back to Maryland. Hannibal had intended them to stay longer but Will was eager to get home so the rescue shelter could send them the puppy he’d adopted sooner. The animal had been left at the shelter for the remainder of their vacation and Will had begun to stress about the animal staying there for too long. In all honesty, it suited Hannibal returning a few days earlier, as it left him with more time to plan for his New Year’s Eve party. He was planning quite the dinner party.

He waited until Will’s puppy arrived to announce to him that he was going to be hosting a dinner party, wanting Will to be at least somewhat distracted to prevent him from becoming too anxious at the prospect of a party.

Will had spent the whole day laid on the floor with the dog who he’d named Winston, cooing at the small yipping ball of fur as if it was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen. The floors were already littered with puppy training mats but Hannibal had drawn the line at Winston’s food and water bowl residing in the kitchen. The room which housed Hannibal’s washer and dryer and storage cupboards was more than adequate. Will sighed and accepted Winston’s fate of being banished to the laundry room. The laundry room, however, was bigger than his bedroom he’d had growing up so he found it hard to feel too put out.

“Did you hear what I said Will?” Hannibal called from the door way, observing Will and his new obsession.

“Hmm?”

“I’m going to be hosting a dinner party for New Year’s Eve,” Hannibal repeated, waiting for his reaction.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Will mindlessly replied, miles away. “I’ll make sure I’m out of your hair. I’ll see if I can stay over at Yvette’s with Theo or something.”

“I’d intended for you to be at the party, Will,” Hannibal said, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. “Won’t you join me?”

Will looked up from Winston, blinking. He sat up right, pulling the puppy onto his lap and letting the animal chew on his finger. “You want me at the party?”

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because...” Will trailed off, frowning. “Hannibal I’ve never been to a dinner party in my life. It’ll be full of the people you go to the opera with, they’re all far too... proper. They’ll hate me and I’ll embarrass you.”

“I could care less what they think,” Hannibal reassured him. “We’re a mated couple Will. I’d enjoy the first chance we have to host guests in our home as mates.”

“Hannibal,” Will smiled, almost sympathetically. “I’m not... they’re not going to see me as ‘mate’ material. It’s fine when you take me to the opera and fancy restaurants because they think I’m arm candy, but at home? They’ll expect you to have some beautiful Omegan mate the same age as you that comes from a wealthy family like you, who speaks elegantly and has fucking airs and graces and – you see? I did it just then. They all think I’m trailer trash and I can’t even say they’re wrong.”

“They all know we’re mated,” Hannibal pointed out, ignoring Will’s rant. “There have been numerous occasions when we’ve appeared as a couple in my social circles and informed people we’re mated.”

“Home is different,” Will sighed, casting his eyes down. “I have no idea what being a host at a party even involves, I’ll just show you up. Out there it’s different, I can just sit by you and look pretty and stay quiet but here?”

“I can cancel the plans I had in mind if you’re really against the idea.”

“No!” Will blurted out, startling Winston. He soothed the puppy quickly before looking back up at Hannibal with uncertain eyes. “I know that you don’t care what people think Hannibal. But you have to understand that you have a certain... image.”

Hannibal quirked an eyebrow. “I’m aware of the aesthetics of my lifestyle choices and appearances.”

“Then you understand that an Omega you dragged up from the dirt from a trailer park in Louisiana doesn’t fit in with those aesthetics.”

“On the contrary, I disagree Will. I find you fascinating and charming and beautiful.”

“But nobody else does,” Will laughed dryly, shaking his head. “I’ll be there if you want me to be Hannibal. I just can’t promise I won’t ruin things or that people will be comfortable around me.”

“Anyone that even remotely upsets you would never be welcome as a guest in our home ever again,” Hannibal responded firmly, lip tilting in disgust at the thought of someone offending Will.

“We’ll see,” Will smiled sadly, returning his attention back to Winston.

Hannibal’s dinner party rolled around soon enough and before he knew it, Will was stood in the kitchen awkwardly tweaking at the pearl cufflinks Hannibal had bought for him the very first time he took Will to the opera. He couldn’t help but feel like an additional decorative ornament in Hannibal’s home, clothed in a suit that would have his father turning in his grave and his hair styled back to reveal his face he was so used to hiding with glasses and a fringe. The necklace Hannibal had bought him for Christmas lay snug around his neck, the pendant sitting in the hollow of his throat and visible against the milky skin exposed there with the top buttons of his shirt undone. The edges of his bond bite peeked over the top of his suit collar at the back of his neck; everything about tonight seemed to scream to the world that he belonged to Hannibal.

Part of him reveled in the fact. Part of him recoiled, the part that still despised his Omegan status and the general hatred he’d developed for biology since he’d been locked away at Muskrat Farm.

The smell of food was overwhelming and the small team of caterers milling about the kitchen assisting Hannibal and were more than enough to set him on edge, never mind the hoards of guests that had slowly begun to arrive.

Hannibal appeared in the doorway just then, eyes locking on Will’s stiff, nervous form lurking in the corner of the kitchen as he watched the caterers.

“Will,” Hannibal smiled softly. “Won’t you come and speak to some of our guests for a while?”

Will looked sick at the thought of it. “Do I have to?”

“It would be rude to hide in here all night darling,” Hannibal reprimanded him gently. “Perhaps a glass of wine to calm you down?”

“I’m not drinking.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t want to drink, if I drink when I’m nervous I’ll have too much and embarrass you and myself.”

“Never mind then,” Hannibal smoothly continued, offering Will has arm.

In truth, Will was still slightly traumatised from the rum incident in Cuba. The thought of alcohol ever since then had been an unpleasant one.

Taking Hannibal’s arm, Will attempted to slot himself into the role of smiling, polite Omegan mate for Hannibal’s sake and prayed tonight didn’t end too disastrously.

He sucked in a sharp breath and clung a little tighter to Hannibal as they exited the kitchen together to face their guests.

Chapter Text

Will’s cheeks were beginning to hurt from all the forced smiling; forced smiling at people that were beginning to wear away at his patience. He’d known how they would react, but seeing the palette of disbelief and shock horror - and in some cases, disgust – smeared across the face of every guest he’d spoken to tonight was a hard pill to swallow. Mrs. Komeda was the only one who’d appeared delighted at the sight of Will and Hannibal’s bond bites and Will guessed that this was because her own Omegan mate was far younger than she was. The lines around her face she tried so hard to conceal made Will think she must be in her mid-fifties, whilst her mate appeared no older than his early thirties.

Hannibal had swanned off to the kitchen to inspect the canapés and left Will stood with Mrs. Komeda, huddled in a corner as the Alpha droned on about her winter vacation to Bali with her mate.

Will tried his best to stop his eyes and mind from drifting, gaze flitting around the room searching for Hannibal to come back and watching the other people milling around their living room. He supplied her with well-timed ‘hmms’ and other small appreciative noises to make her think he was genuinely interested and listening.

“But what about you, anyway?”

“Me? I’m sorry, what do you...” Will trailed off, blinking rapidly.

“Your little getaway to Cuba! I want to hear all about it!” Mrs. Komeda beamed, leaning in close. “Oh, I bet Havana was wonderful. I went there myself, many years ago as a young woman. Never wanted to leave the place!”

“Oh, it was great, yeah,” Will smiled nervously, gripping his glass of water a little too hard. “We really enjoyed it.”

“And I see you had a little fun whilst you were there too,” Mrs. Komeda winked, even nudging him gently against his arm. “I’m so delighted for you.”

Will felt his face flush red to the tips of his ears. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, don’t be coy Will, you don’t have to keep secrets from me!” she laughed, although Will found it more akin to a cackle. “I’ll keep my lips sealed, don’t worry.”

“Mrs. Komeda, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Will dead panned, beginning to feel his hold on his patience slip.

“Alright, I’ll play along,” she chuckled, winking at him again. “It won’t be long though before you’ll have to give up your secret.”

“What secret?” Will demanded, turning his body to face her full on and closing the distance between them. “Mrs. Komeda, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Her face fell, slightly. “But surely you know, dear William? Oh my... I hope I haven’t ruined anything for you.”

“Would you please just tell me what you’re talking about?” Will begged, the pool of dread beginning to form in the pit of his stomach.

She latched a bony hand around his wrist, face sombre. “You’re expecting Will, didn’t you know? You and Hannibal must have had a rather successful heat whilst you were away in Cuba.”

Will burst out laughing.

She looked taken aback, her hand falling back to her side. “Is there something the matter Will?”

“That’s not possible,” Will grinned, shaking his head. “I’m sorry but you’ve got the wrong idea Mrs. Komeda. There’s just no way. How did you even begin to think that anyway?”

“I’m pretty confident of my ability to tell when someone is expecting,” she replied with a tight-lipped smile. “You’re glowing, I’m surprised Hannibal hasn’t noticed! And your scent has changed too! All topped off by the fact you’re not drinking anything alcoholic.”

“I’m not glowing, it’s just the lighting in this room; it’s just Hannibal trying to be dramatic and create atmosphere lighting. And I haven’t noticed my scent change at all. I’m not drinking because it doesn’t mix well with my nerves. I was a bit anxious about tonight.”

“Perhaps I’m wrong,” she sighed, raising an eyebrow at him. “But I’d be willing to bet you I’m most likely right. You must find out straight away Will.”

“There’s nothing to find out,” he insisted, shaking his head and stepping back from her. “Without being too crude or personal, Hannibal and I are always protected during my heats; which isn’t something I really want to be discussing with you, by the way.”

“Well nothing is for certain,” Mrs. Komeda replied severely. “It’s unlikely either of you will have noticed anything had gone wrong in the heat of the moment. Even if you two got close again very soon after your heat wasn’t quite finished it’s possible.”

“I know when my heats are finished, thank you,” Will all but snarled. “And Hannibal would have noticed. He doesn’t make mistakes.”

“A mistake? Oh but Will, wouldn’t this be the most wonderful thing for you two?” Mrs. Komeda cooed, her eyes misting over. “I’d so love to see such dear friends of mine complete another chapter in their lives!”

Will was starting to feel dizzy. “I’m sorry Mrs. Komeda but you’ll have to excuse me. I need to go and check if Hannibal wants any help in the kitchen.”

“Of course!” she trilled, flapping her hands at him. “And don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret! Even from Hannibal! I’ll be expecting good news soon Will!”

Will said nothing more, turning on his heel and striding out of the room. He headed straight for the downstairs restroom, bolting inside and locking the door.
Will let himself sink to the floor slowly, sliding down the back of the door with his hands clasped over his mouth in order to silence the half sob, half scream that was currently pouring past his lips. His face was wet within seconds, tears pouring down his face and his body shaking with sobs and shuddering breaths.
He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that but he let himself cry and shake until his throat felt raw and his eyes were sore and puffy. He needed to think.
She was wrong. She had to be wrong. There was just no way this could be happening. She couldn’t possibly be able to tell anything about a change in his scent, she’d met Will only a handful of times and that surely wasn’t enough to get used to someone’s scent so much that you’d notice such a drastic change. Pregnant Omegas didn’t notice scent changes until they were nearly four months gone, not weeks. Will would know if he was pregnant. He’d been pregnant so many times before he knew deep down in his core when something was different after his heat, even this early on at only two and a half weeks.

Mrs. Komeda was wrong. She just was, Will told himself, and that was the end of it. She was a nosy, interfering idiot.

He couldn’t do this right now. Now was not the time to be hysterically sobbing by himself in a locked rest room whilst his home was full of guests and his mate was offering up fucking canapés. No. He’d squash this, just for tonight. There was no point in worrying now when he was meant to be helping Hannibal with this stupid dinner party and Mrs. Komeda was absolutely wrong. Hannibal would have noticed a split condom, would have noticed something was wrong the minute it happened. He would have seen it and told Will straight away. There was just no way this was true.

Will steeled himself with his tally of reasons why Mrs. Komeda was wrong, striking out all the possibilities and repeating over in his head that it just. Was. Not. Possible.

He splashed his face with water, rubbing around his eyes to help relieve the redness. A few deep breaths later, Will unlocked the bathroom door and slipped back out into the living room and tried his hardest to blend into the background in the hopes that nobody would notice him.

“There you are.”

The thick, low rumble of his mate’s voice and sudden overwhelming scent made his skin break out in goose pimples, a shudder running down his spine. An arm slipped around his waist and lips brushed his bond bite from behind.

“I’d started to think you’d disappeared for good,” Hannibal murmured, his voice like velvet in Will’s ears. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine,” Will replied, impressed at how believable his voice sounded. “Is dinner almost ready?”

“Almost. I’m afraid you missed out on the canapés, I couldn’t seem to find you anywhere.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll try not to disappear again.”

“Good,” Hannibal purred, squeezing his waist slightly. “I’d hate to have to go searching for you for my New Year kiss.”

Will blushed deeply, turning his head into Hannibal’s firm, solid warmth. “I didn’t think you were one for public affection.”

Hannibal grinned wolfishly, bending down and capturing Will’s lips in a deep, slow kiss. Will gasped into his mouth in surprise, hands immediately flying up to grip the tops of Hannibal’s arms and his eyes fluttering shut. Hannibal pulled him tighter against his body, tongue delving into his mouth and teeth daringly pulling at Will’s lower lip as he broke their kiss. Hannibal smirked at Will’s shocked expression and the deep pink flush across his cheeks.

Will could feel the stares of numerous pairs of eyes digging into his back.

“I believe dinner is almost ready,” Hannibal informed him as if nothing had happened, linking their fingers and casting his eyes over the room.

A single call out to the rest of the room that it was time to take their places at Hannibal’s table had the living room emptying and the dining room filling up. Will took his usual place at the table, Hannibal at the head of the table to his left. Mrs. Komeda was sat three chairs down from him on the other side of the table, occasionally glancing over at Will throughout the entirety of their meal. Will gritted his teeth and kept his head down, listening intently to the conversation Hannibal was having with the guests sat near them and inputting when it was required of him. It was all fine, until the conversation turned to Hannibal’s and his relationship. There was a Beta couple sat by them that Will recognised from evenings at the opera and exhibition opening nights he’d been to with Hannibal and the other was a lone Alpha from the opera; Will vaguely remembered his name being Eric.

“I must say Hannibal,” Eric began, fork hovering in the air by his mouth, “I’m so pleased for you and Will. It’s fantastic you’re finally mated.”

“Yes,” Hannibal replied neutrally. “I believe you said something along the lines of I’d ‘better be quick and get a bite on his neck’. It was the first time you met Will, I believe.”

Eric looked flustered. “I don’t quite recall. The drinks are quite strong at the opera house, wouldn’t you agree Dr. Lecter?”

“I prefer to stay sober to enjoy operas,” Hannibal smiled pleasantly, satisfied at what a fool Eric was making of himself. “Nonetheless, thank you for your congratulations. Will and I are incredibly happy.”

The Beta woman sat next to Will smiled at Hannibal, the heavy earrings encrusted with rubies swinging by her neck as she turned to look at him. “I was so surprised Hannibal! You kept it such a secret from us all!”

“Will and I value our privacy. Don’t we, Will?” Hannibal mused, trying to engage Will.

“I do,” Will smiled sheepishly. “Hannibal values it for my sake.”

“Well, I can imagine you wanted to keep it quiet, what with you being so young and all, Will,” Eric input, sniffing. “Another reason for us all to be so shocked.”

“I can see why you would be shocked,” Will replied carefully, his eyes guarded as he met Eric’s gaze and refused to be intimidated. “People expect convention, after all.”

Hannibal relished the sight of his mate stepping up to Eric’s confrontation.

“Age is such a funny thing, isn’t it?” Eric smiled coldly at Will. “Especially when it’s such a noticeable thing between a mated couple. I have friends with children the same age as you Will... I have to ask, how did your parents react to finding out you were mated to someone nearly thirty years older than you?”

“Oh, I’m like Hannibal,” Will snapped back, eyes narrowing. “I’m an orphan too.”

Eric’s faced faltered again and he cleared his throat. “I suppose that made your relationship a lot easier then.”

“Yes. I suppose it did,” Will shot straight back, refusing to let Eric get under his skin.

Eric retreated after that, letting the conversation fall away from the topic of their relationship. Will endured the rest of the dinner in near silence, only speaking when answering a question. Hannibal and Will finished eating around the same time and Will appreciatively looked up at his mate when one of Hannibal’s warm, large hands came to rest atop of his on the dining table. Their fingers slotted together and Hannibal refused to follow Eric’s gaze every time the Alpha looked down at their hands so openly twisted together in front of him.

Dessert was bearable, Will keeping his head down again and interacting as little as possible. His skin was crawling with nerves and the overwhelming flow of energy in the room from so many people. He tried to keep as still as he could, resisting the urge to fidget and twist in his seat as it would probably embarrass Hannibal. He started to wish he was drinking after all; perhaps it would make this whole ordeal easier.

“Mrs. Komeda seems to be trying to get your attention,” Hannibal commented quietly, not looking over at her. “She’s rather fond of you.”

“She’s nice enough,” Will gritted out, glancing at the empty wine glass in front of him. “I think I’ll have some of that wine, after all.”

“Of course,” Hannibal replied smoothly, pouring Will a glass in one swift motion.

Will raised the glass of rich, fragrant red wine to his nose and inhaled as he looked over at Mrs. Komeda. She raised her eyebrows at him in shock, the two lines of hair almost disappearing into her hairline as Will held her gaze and took one long gulp of the wine. Will swallowed and set the glass down, his face blank as she grimaced at him and shook her head in disapproval, finally looking away from him.

Will resisted the urge to curl his lip and snarl at her.

See? I’m not. I’m absolutely not in the situation you think I am..

The rest of the evening passed bearably enough, the wine helping Will endure it a little more. The New Year’s countdown began before he knew it and he found himself huddled in his thick overcoat in Hannibal’s back garden as everyone waited for the sky to be filled with bursts of colour from fireworks.

“Three...two...”

Hannibal titled Will’s face up towards his and smiled softly. “Happy New Year Will.”

“One!”

They kissed as their guests around them cheered and clapped and the sky erupted into gunpowder explosions of reds and greens and violets, golden flowers breaking out through the night sky as they saw in the New Year.

“Happy New Year Hannibal,” Will whispered as they pulled apart, only to lean back in and capture Hannibal’s lips again.

Will awoke the next day feeling not so fresh. Hannibal was still asleep next to him, hair tousled and face lined with sleep. He’d stayed up after all the guests had left and cleared away the mess from the party, dismissing Will to bed when he’d drunkenly and tiredly attempted to help. He hadn’t even woken up when Hannibal finally came to bed, only stirring once in the night and feeling his skin brush against Hannibal’s form, reaching for him and slotting his body closer to his.

Will felt his stomach turn and quickly got up, leaving the bedroom as quietly as he could and dashing downstairs. The restroom downstairs was the furthest away from their bedroom, the chances of Hannibal hearing him slim. Will locked himself inside in time, collapsing before the toilet bowl and emptying his stomach into the porcelain before him. With a groan, Will shuffled to sit against the wall, head in hands. Surely it was just the hangover. He had drunk too much wine, that was all. He wasn’t used to drinking so much alcohol in one night, especially such rich wine. His body was rejecting such large quantities of alcohol - that was all it could be.

Except he couldn’t quite convince himself of that, which was why he shoved on the nearest pair of shoes he found in the foyer of the house and grabbed his car keys and wallet.

Aware of how ridiculous he looked in pyjamas and shoes, but not really caring because he was going to Walmart for god’s sake, Will drove to the nearest store. It was the only place he could think of that would be open on New Year’s day. He reached the store after a short drive, parking in the virtually empty lot and tried to stop himself from running through the doors. He headed straight for the aisle marked out with health and beauty, keeping his eyes downcast and his coat tightly pulled around him. Will felt nearly out of breath when he finally paused in front of the shelves stacked with pregnancy tests, eyes roaming over his options. His hand darted out and he grabbed a box that contained three tests, turning and hurrying towards the checkout. The building was nearly deserted and the elderly Beta woman barely looked at him as she scanned the box and racked up his total.

He couldn’t get back to his car quick enough, throwing himself inside and swallowing the lump in his throat. Seemingly on autopilot, Will started up his car engine and drove to the nearest gas station. It seemed to be his saving grace that Baltimore was so quiet on New Year’s day, most stores closed and everyone too hung-over and tired to emerge from their homes yet.

Locking himself inside of the seedy restroom, Will fumbled with the box stuffed into his coat pocket as the light flickered overhead. He tossed the instructions aside, knowing full well how the tests worked after having to take so many at Mason’s request. The wait was agonising. He sat on the lid of the toilet, hands clasped together between his knees and stared at the used hypodermic needle lying at his feet, eyes misted over. He didn’t realise he was shaking until his phone buzzed and snapped him out of his daze. Switching off the timer, Will reached for the test resting on the edge of the sink.

He sobbed as he gripped it in his hand, trying to brace himself and looked down at the little display window on the stick of plastic.

Positive.

Will immediately grabbed the second test.

Another ten minutes passed.

Positive.

“Fuck,” Will whispered, repeating the word over and over like a mantra as he pulled the third and last test from the box.

He rocked back and forth, head in hands as he waited for the timer to buzz again. The tears flowed freely, salty and stinging his face. The air was too cold. The light was making him feel nauseous, flickering erratically.

What was he going to do?

The timer sounded. Will scrubbed his face and reached for the final test.

Over five hundred miles away, Margot Verger was rudely awakened by the sound of her cell ringing. Blearily blinking her eyes and lifting her head from the twisted mass of sheets and pale limbs she lay in, her hand patted down the floor beside the bed in a disorientated attempt to grab the gadget before the call ended. Alana groaned from somewhere besides her - or underneath her, Margot wasn’t really sure – and rolled away from the offensive noise. Margot’s gut twisted when she found her phone and saw Will’s name on the caller ID.

“ ‘llo?” Margot rasped, sitting up as her head span.

She was pretty sure she was still drunk. She’d only gone to bed a few hours ago.

“Margot,” Will breathed, sounding small and broken and terrified. “Margot.”

Margot sat up a little straighter then, rubbing her eyes. “Will. What... Will it’s ten a.m. on New Year’s day.”

“I know,” he said, his voice cracking and sob escaping. “I’m sorry. I... I need you.”

Margot glanced behind her, Alana appearing to have drifted straight back to sleep. “Let me... just give me a minute Will. Hang on.”

Margot stumbled to her feet, grabbing a robe off of the armchair by the door of the bedroom and slipped out, quietly clicking the door shut behind her. Moving down the hall, she crept downstairs and dragged herself into the kitchen. Will remained silent on the line, the only sound his shaky, sobbing breath. Margot winced at the scrape of the chair against the kitchen floor tiles and set herself down with a pint of water and a box of aspirin.

“Ok,” Margot began, drawing in a big breath. “What’s happening?”

“I’m sorry I haven’t spoken to you in so long,” Will whispered, his voice echoing wherever he was. “It’s been almost four months since I spoke to you.”

“I know,” Margot grumbled. “That doesn’t matter right now. What’s wrong Will?”

“I didn’t know who else to call,” Will croaked, the tears so heavy and evident in his voice. “Everything has gone wrong Margot.”

“Where are you Will?”

“A gas station restroom.”

Margot frowned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Why?”

“I didn’t want to have to do it at home.”

“Do what?” Margot hissed, sitting up straighter. “Will please – if you’re thinking of doing anything to hurt yourself - ”

“No,” Will cut her off. “No, it’s not that.”

“Then what’s going on?”

“I’m... fuck, Margot,” Will trailed off, sounding completely defeated. “I’m sorry. I don’t... I can’t seem to even be able to say it.”

“Then this is going to be a pretty useless phone call if you can’t even tell me why you’ve called.”

Silence.

“Will?”

Margot listened to him take a deep breath and the exhale, the sound shaky and scared.

“I just took three pregnancy tests.”

Margot blinked in shock, speechless.

“I don’t know what to do Margot.”

“They were all positive.”

“Yes.”

Margot sagged forwards, cursing under her breath. “Jesus Will, I thought... I thought you and Hannibal would be using protection since you can’t take heat suppressants.”

“We do,” Will insisted. “We always use protection for my heats. Always. Which is why I’m so fucking confused.”

“When was your last heat?”

“Middle of December.”

“Ok,” Margot swallowed. “Ok, we can work with that. You’ll be able to get a medication abortion, have - ”

“Abortion?” Will repeated.

“Yes, Will. Isn’t that what you want?”

“Margot,” Will spluttered, voice sounding astounded. “Margot, I only found out a couple of minutes ago, I’m not even processing all of this right now. It hasn’t even sunk in yet, I... I don’t know what to do!”

“I think you should go home,” Margot sighed, sipping her water gingerly. “Go back to sleep. Take a few days to think. Don’t think of yourself as pregnant, just think about your options. You can come up here for a while if you want, Alana would be pleased to see you again. Will... please don’t tell Hannibal yet.”

“I can’t keep it from him Margot,” Will wheezed. “He’ll work it out soon even if I don’t tell him.”

“Do you want to keep it?”

“I can’t answer that yet,” Will whispered. “It’s different. If I was anyone else I’d be able to weigh it out. But you know that it’s not as simple as that for me.”

“Of course I know,” Margot soothed him sympathetically, trying her hardest not to let the memories of bloody bathroom tiles and Will’s broken sobs resurface.

“But just think about where you are right now Will. You’re in college. You’re nearly nineteen. You’ve got a whole lifetime ahead of you for a family.”

“I know,” Will whispered. “But I... this whole thing is fucked Margot.”

“You need to ask yourself, deep down, what it is you want,” Margot told him gravely. “You need to find the answer to that in your gut and don’t listen to whatever your head is saying. Somewhere deep down you’ll know whether you want this or not.”

“I don’t know if I can do it again,” Will choked, his voice sounding agonised. “All the other miscarriages, Margot. Jasper.”

“Exactly,” Margot sighed. “Can you go through that again?”

“But I don’t know if I can go through an abortion,” Will sobbed. “I can’t choose between either.”

“There’s not much I can say right now Will,” Margot admitted in defeat. “I can’t choose for you. I can’t tell you what to do or not do. All I can offer is that you come up here for a few days. Maybe Alana could talk with you.”

“I have to tell Hannibal,” Will cried. “It’s his too. He has a right to know Margot.”

“You don’t have to tell him yet.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself. I want to tell him.”

“If you want to tell him then maybe you need to ask yourself whether you could actually go through with an abortion.”

“I don’t know if I could.”

“Then you’re left with one very clear answer, aren’t you?”

“I’m so scared,” Will rasped, another sob making his voice crack. “I’m terrified Margot.”

Holding back a groan, Margot downed another mouthful of water. “I can be back in Baltimore tomorrow night.”

Will was quiet on the other end of the line, contemplating.

“I’ll come and stay with you and Hannibal for a while if you want me there,” Margot pushed. “I’ll even be there with you when you tell Hannibal if you want. Or I’ll come with you to a clinic if you decide to - ”

“No,” Will interrupted, voice wild with panic. “I mean – no, I don’t know if that’s what I want yet. But having you here... I want you here.”

“I’m going to have to tell Alana.”

“Do you have to?”

“She’s going to think it’s strange if I just up and leave for Baltimore if I haven’t seen you in four months. I’m going to have to explain why it’s such a sudden trip.”

“Alright,” Will gave in.

“Get yourself home,” Margot told him firmly. “Go back to bed. I’ll call you tomorrow morning.”

“Alright,” Will mumbled, voice still thick with tears. “Thank you Margot.”

“Goodbye Will.”

Margot hung up, placing her cell down in front of her. A small creak behind her had her turning suddenly to look behind her, heart dropping at the sight of Alana’s form in the kitchen doorway.

“How much did you hear?” Margot sighed, turning her back to her again.

“I heard enough.”

Margot simply nodded, staring at the wall in front of her.

Will embraced her as if she’d just pulled him from a burning building, sagging in her arms and breaking down into tears the minute his head was buried in her neck and his arms latched around her. Margot froze, shocked at the display of affection from the other Omega; she didn’t think she’d ever received any sign of affection from Will the whole time she’d known him. Stiffly, she returned the hug, aware of the curious stare they were receiving from a neighbour across the road unpacking groceries from their car.

“You’re here,” Will breathed in astonishment, pulling back and blinking at her through his tears as if she was some sort of apparition. “You actually came.”

“Of course I came,” Margot softly returned. “You know I’ve got your back no matter what.”

“And I’ve got yours,” Will finished, smiling wearily.

“So, can I come in?”

“Oh!” Will gasped, stepping back as if in a daze. “Of course, come in! I’m sorry. Do you want me to get your bag?”

Margot noted the uncharacteristic show of manners from Will, unnerved by how much he seemed to have changed since she’d left for Montreal.

“I’m all good thanks. I packed pretty light.”

Will showed her in, let her leave her bag by the stairs and then wandered through to the kitchen. Margot watched in silence as he nervously flitted about the kitchen, his hands noticeably shaking and his jittery behaviour.

“Do you want some tea?” Will asked, not even looking up at her as he started to fill the kettle with water. “We have some camomile tea, it’s very nice.”

“We?” Margot snorted. “Or do you mean Hannibal? Where is he by the way?”

“He’s out late at a conference,” Will murmured, still not meeting her eyes.

Margot opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the skittering of claws on wood and a soft bark. Nearly jumping out of her skin, Margot looked down to see the source of the noise; a sandy, shaggy puppy with large brown eyes staring up at her, its whole body wiggling with excitement.

“This is Winston,” Will informed her, beaming proudly. “I adopted him from a shelter.”

Margot crouched down to pat the puppy gently. “He’s lovely Will. Although I’m surprised Hannibal let a dog come to live in his house.”

“Hannibal does anything he thinks will make me happy.”

Margot stood slowly, watching Will. “And are you?”

“Not right now. I was happy. I was the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. Now I’m just...” Will trailed off, absentmindedly bending down to make a fuss of Winston.

“You still haven’t told him, I hope.”

“It’s killing me not to,” Will admitted, shoulders slumping as he stood back up straight and turned to the boiled kettle. “I’ve only known for a day myself. I wanted to tell him as soon as I hung up with you yesterday.”

“What did you tell him about my visit?”

“I just told him we arranged an impromptu reunion,” Will murmured quietly, pouring water into the teapot over the earthy coloured teabags. “He didn’t ask too much into it.”

Margot didn’t say anything else, just let him busy himself with making tea for them that she knew neither of them really wanted and then let herself be led into the living room with Winston trotting happily behind them. Margot perched herself on an armchair, observing Will looking far too small and washed out sat in the middle of Hannibal’s vast cream sofa.

“You look like shit,” Margot deadpanned, figuring she might as well start the conversation off somewhere.

Will looked up at her with appreciation in his eyes, for some strange reason. “I think I needed to hear someone say that to me. I’ve missed having someone being real with me.”

“Sunshine and roses gets boring very quickly, Will.”

Will wanted to tell her that it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. He wanted to tell her that he’d been looking at corpses for Jack Crawford and had been suffering anxiety attacks and throwing plates at Hannibal’s head and smashing up mirrors whilst sleep walking and getting off on hearing Hannibal tell him that he would kill for Will. He wanted to tell her that he’d been roofied at a party and stripped naked and beaten black and blue and that he’d nearly been raped. He wanted to tell her that the line between Hannibal and himself was blurring at an alarming, terrifying rate and the darkness he’d always felt reside in his mate was starting to feel more and more like his own every day.

He didn’t though. He just sipped his tea and stared at his feet because it was all a bit much to tell someone after only being with them for all of twenty minutes.

“Nice bond bite, by the way,” Margot commented, inspecting the painting above the fireplace.

Will’s hand immediately flew to the back of his neck, blushing. “Yeah. That’s a thing. That happened.”

“Was that planned too?” Margot queried. “Or was that another surprise?”

Will winced at her phrasing. “It was planned well before my heat. It was a few months ago now.”

“Congratulations.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“No, I don’t.”

Will nodded, thumb rubbing over the handle of his cup. “I understand.”

Margot sighed, tilting her head to one side. “I’ve missed you Will. I’ve missed you more than I thought it was possible to miss anyone.”

“I’m sorry it ended badly with Alana,” Will mumbled. “I didn’t mean for it end turn sour.”

Margot waved him off, pulling a face. “Don’t even worry about it. She’s too bitter and hot headed when it comes to you and Hannibal. She’s cooled off a little now though. Montreal has been good for us.”

“What did you tell her about coming here?”

“She heard the whole phone call. I didn’t realise she was listening.”

“Oh.”

“She was shocked, at first. And then she was angry and then she got stressed. The usual Alana cycle of chain reactions.”

Will smiled a little. “Sounds about right. She’s not... mad at Hannibal and me is she?”

“She’s furious at Hannibal but she values your feelings too much. That’s why she hasn’t driven down here herself and ripped his head off. She’s learnt that the distance we have from you and Hannibal is healthy.”

“She’s mad at him for something he isn’t even aware about.”

“Not for long though, I’m assuming,” Margot sighed. “Have you thought any more about it all since yesterday morning?”

Will chewed his lip somewhat aggressively. “I’ve thought a lot of things. Tried to imagine every scenario possible.”

“And?”

“I’m even more lost than I was yesterday.”

Margot shrugged. “You’ve got time. Don’t rush this.”

“It’s not like that though, really. Is it?” Will murmured, watching Winston curl up on the floor at his feet.

“You know you don’t want an abortion though,” Margot pointed out. “I can tell you that right away. The way you spoke yesterday...”

Will paled. “I don’t want to put my body through that, for a start. All the reasons after that why I don’t want to end this pregnancy are a bunch of twisted feelings and values shaped by the trauma of miscarriages and Jasper’s death.”

“Nicely put.”

Will sat back on the sofa a little, staring at the ceiling. “I think that if I wasn’t me, I would have gotten rid of it. Another me would realise that college and a career don’t go particularly well with a pregnancy at nineteen years old.”

“But you’re not another you.”

“No,” Will agreed. “I’m this version of me where everything about pregnancy and children is a warped and terryifying ordeal.”

“It’s been more than a year since you lost Jasper,” Margot remarked, finding it difficult to say herself. “How much have you even mourned him? Grieved him?”

“Hannibal wants me to see a therapist again,” Will muttered, jaw clenching.

“Of course he does. It would take an idiot to not see you still need help Will.”

“Guess I must be the biggest idiot I know then.”

“Will,” Margot said softly. “If it was someone else, one of your friends, even me; what would you think of them after all they’d been through? Three intense years of death and pain and isolation?”

“I’d think they probably needed to spend the next couple of years seeing a psychiatrist.”

“Exactly,” Margot replied, nodding. “And you had a brilliant psychiatrist. Two of them. Except one of them you pushed away as much as you could and the other one you mated. If Hannibal is saying you need to see a therapist, listen to him.”

Will levelled his head to gaze at her. “The last time he suggested it I threw a plate at his head.”

Margot raised her brow. “Probably not the best idea.”

“Probably not.”

“Did it feel good though?”

“It felt... satisfying.”

Margot laughed. “I can imagine it did.”

Will sat forwards again, chewing at his lip once more. “Margot, how do I tell him?”

“Well, preferably not whilst you’re having a break down in a gas station restroom.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Thank you. Wonderful advice.”

“You’ve got to think about it. Do you want him to find out through some subtle hint or are you going to flat out tell him?”

“I tried to imagine what it would be like if I just left the pregnancy test in the bathroom for him to find.”

“And how did that go in your imagination?”

“I got bombarded and it overwhelmed me and I had a panic attack,” Will answered dryly. “But at least I didn’t actually have to say the words out loud. I could just let him know without saying anything.”

“Maybe slightly cowardly,” Margot commented, “but effective nonetheless.”

“I don’t know how he’ll react.”

“He’s obviously going to be over the moon Will,” Margot murmured. “He’ll be ecstatic.”

“And then I’ll ruin it for him. Because I’m terrified and unsure about all of this and I’ll doubt whether I’ve made the right decision the whole time and whether I’ve ruined my future and -”

“You won’t ruin your future,” Margot interrupted, frowning. “Sure it’s going to make getting your degree more complicated, but plenty of people do it. You can re-sit whatever modules you miss and take summer classes next year. Are you also forgetting you’re mated to a man who would probably hire a personal nanny so you could finish your degree?”

Will fidgeted, wringing his hands. “What if he doesn’t want to have a child?”

“He loves you, Will. As much as I disagree with your relationship, it’s clear to anyone how devoted to you he is and how serious he is about you. You wouldn’t be mated otherwise.”

“That doesn’t automatically mean he wants a baby with me,” Will fretted, his eyes wide. “He’s lived his whole life doing what he wants and not being tied down by anything and now I’ve come along, all of a sudden he’s mated and now I’m trapping him with a b - ”

“Stop,” Margot gritted out, holding her hand up. “Stop right there. Will, no one was holding a gun to his head and forcing him into a relationship with you! He actively pursued you, crossed so many professional boundaries and put his neck on the line to start this with you. He was the one who wanted you to live with him after you were discharged from Port Haven and he was the one who got you a place at John Hopkins; which I’m not saying you don’t deserve, by the way. He’s the one who’s provided you with everything you have to this very day, from credit cards to the clothes on your back to a fucking boat, for god’s sake. He mated you; there’s no going into any of that without considering that children were a possibility.”

“What if he’s not ready?”

“I don’t care if he’s not ready,” Margot snapped, folding her arms. “This is about you. This is your body we’re talking about, your wellbeing and state of mind. Stop thinking about everyone else for a minute. Have you honestly convinced yourself that you’re being selfish by wanting to keep it?”

Will’s eyes brimmed with tears. “What if this is the end of our relationship Margot? What if he leaves me because he doesn’t want this?”

“He’s not going to,” Margot insisted. “But you’re not going to believe a word I’m saying until you speak to him yourself.”

“What if...” Will trailed off again, a horrified look crossing his face. “What if I miscarry again?”

Margot clenched her hands into fists at her sides. “Will. Your body was too young to carry a pregnancy to full term back then. You were malnourished and your stress levels were through the roof and Mason injured you badly. You were never given access to any medical treatment or had any checkups. It’s not like that anymore. The chances of you miscarrying again are nothing like they were at Muskrat Farm.”

Will swallowed the lump in his throat. “Seven. Seven pregnancies. How do I know my body can put up with another one?”

“Hannibal would arrange for you to see the best doctors there are. He’d watch you like a hawk for nine months.”

Will lapsed into silence, staring a nothing. Margot rose from the armchair, settling herself down on the sofa next to him. She carefully laced their fingers together, squeezing Will’s hand and counting the small flecks of scars she could see on his hands.

“I know that you’re scared and rightly so. But it’s going to be different this time around,” Margot promised him. “If you decide that this is what you want, that is. You have plenty of time to change your mind.”

“I feel like the easiest thing would be to just put me in a coma for nine months and wake me up after I’ve delivered it,” Will whispered, tears still thick and heavy in his voice. “I wouldn’t be awake to stress about anything then.”

“And miss out on doing this properly with someone you love?” Margot smiled gently. “Will, this can be an experience you’ll cherish if you let yourself. What if this is your chance to finally heal?”

Will flinched. “Another baby doesn’t make up for everything I lost Margot. It doesn’t suddenly mean I didn’t suffer.”

“I’m not saying it’ll make up for anything. But it’s going to change your life and you can take this as a fresh start. Seeing a therapist throughout your pregnancy would help you prepare for the new life you’ll have. I know that having Jasper wasn’t your choice but you loved him, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did,” Will murmured. “I miss him every day.”

“Think of this as your chance at happiness again,” Margot suggested carefully. “If you choose to keep it, this could be your second chance Will.”

Will nodded feebly. “I think maybe seeing a therapist would be a good idea after all.”

Margot relaxed a little. “That’s great Will. You’re being really brave. Do you need help finding one?”

“Hannibal left me a number for someone,” Will answered quietly, scrubbing his free hand that Margot wasn’t holding across his face at the tears tumbling down his cheeks. “I’ll think about calling them.”

“When are you going to tell him?”

Just as Margot finished speaking they heard the sound of Hannibal’s car engine thrumming outside, signalling the Alpha’s return home.

Will tensed beside her.

“Tonight. I’ll tell him tonight.”

Hannibal watched Margot like a hawk, suspecting the Omega’s presence back in Baltimore. He didn’t for one minute believe that this was just an impromptu, last minute reunion as Will had told him yesterday and he was well aware that Will and Margot knew he didn’t believe them; he was just too polite to pull them up on the lie. The pair of them played out their rouse well enough, Hannibal had to give them that. Neither of them batted an eyelid or seemed the slightest bit on edge, leaving Hannibal quietly seething at being left in the dark and lied to.

Dinner passed in the same maddeningly polite fashion. His mate smiled and conversed with Margot as they caught up on each other’s lives. Hannibal noted that Will avoided the topic of Adam attacking him like the plague and only spoke of how he was faring with his degree, the new friends he’d made and their trip to Cuba. Margot talked of Montreal and the cold and Alana and Hannibal thought it all suited her rather well; distance and frost and infertility.

A stark difference to the warmth and glow of Will, Hannibal’s heart softening immediately upon glancing at him and feeling their bond radiating between them like spider-spun threads of eternity. He devoured Will with his eyes, drinking in each movement and breath and smile as the three of them sat and ate.

It was late by the time they retreated from the dinner table, Will yawning and announcing he was going to call it a night. Margot silently helped Hannibal clear the table, carrying plates into the kitchen with him in silence.

Hannibal couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Why are you here Margot?”

Margot didn’t even look at him, simply handing over the plates to be stacked into the dishwasher after she’d rinsed them.

“I’m here for Will.”

“Meaning what, exactly?” Hannibal sighed. “Here to whisk him away in the middle of the night in some attempt at a rescue mission because Alana has finally decided she can’t stand our relationship any longer?”

Margot set the plate down on the counter and rounded on him. “I don’t think either you or Will realises just how much you’ve become alike. I noticed it with him first, of course. He’s actually polite now. And you? You’re starting to turn sarcastic and mistrusting, aren’t you Hannibal?”

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Hannibal smiled smoothly, picking up the plate she’d set down.

“But you’re both good at hiding and secrets. You always have been,” Margot remarked, rinsing the last plate. “I hope you haven’t forgotten that I can see exactly what you are, Dr. Lecter.”

“Yes,” Hannibal replied in a withering tone. “I remember precisely all the wild, fanciful things you accused me of. I take it you still believe your own lies.”

“Excellent, Hannibal,” Margot murmured, folding her arms over her chest. “Do keep up the pretence. You’re a creature of survival, after all. Just like our Will.”

“Margot, whatever your reason is for visiting Baltimore so suddenly, I do hope you change your mind and tell me,” Hannibal concurred, closing the dishwasher and starting its cycle. “Would you care to join me for disgestif? I have an excellent cognac recently imported from my wine merchant in France if you’d like to try some.”

“Thank you, but I think I’m going to turn in for the night soon. The travelling tired me out for than I expected,” Margot politely declined, leaning against the counter top. “One quick thing though, before I go to bed.”

“Of course.”

“You love Will, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Hannibal replied immediately, the response a knee jerk reaction. “Why do you ask?”

“I can see, very clearly, that you adore him. You risked a lot to start your relationship with him. You moved him into your home, mated him. He has everything he could possibly want. You support him, care for him; you make sure he’s happy. You’re quite the devoted mate, Dr. Lecter.”

“I do all of those things out of love and with gratitude that I’m able to do them in the first place,” Hannibal responded. “Have you a reason to doubt my intentions?”

Margot paused for a while, simply surveying him. “To start with I doubted you. To start with, you only appeared to me to be pursuing something you wanted; because what Hannibal Lecter wants, he gets. Just in the same way what my brother wanted, he got. Except now you have Will, you treasure him. Mason played with him like a toy, told me that as soon as he finally had an heir from Will he’d dispose of him.”

“I don’t wish to repeat the words that describe what your brother was.”

“Inhuman would be a polite way of beginning to describe him,” Margot murmured quietly. “My point is that I believe you and Will are good together and that you’ve got your little happily ever after, as unorthodox and as taboo as it is. I only want to know if there’s anything that would start to break apart this life you’ve built for yourself and Will.”

“There is nothing.”

“You’re so sure, aren’t you?” Margot smiled sadly. “I’m only suggesting that you consider the fact not everything is under your control and it never will be. You’re a control freak Hannibal; how are you going to respond when you finally can’t have everything your way?”

“I’m perfectly aware that it’s not possible to have everything my own way,” Hannibal carefully replied, a quizzical smile on his face. “What are you suggesting, Margot?”

She stepped closer to him, close enough that her scent overwhelmed him and he could each breath and heart beat her body emitted. She spoke low, as if it was only the two of them in the whole world.

“You need to be prepared for changes and you need to make sure you’re not caught out. I don’t care about you, I never will. I only care about Will and so do you; whatever it is you get up to in the shadows Hannibal, you need to be careful. It’s not just you that you have to worry about anymore.”

Hannibal remained silent and still as she backed away, pausing in the kitchen doorway to look back at him.

“You’ll see what I mean, soon enough. You’ll understand why I’m here.”

With that, she was gone, the soft sound of footfall on carpet the only noise until even that drifted into silence and was ended with the soft click of a door upstairs. Hannibal resisted the urge to pluck up a kitchen knife and follow her, instead turning the lights out and heading to bed himself. It would be rude and inconvenient to kill Margot. He wouldn’t upset Will like that.

When he entered their bedroom, Will was emerging from the ensuite. Steam followed him out, his skin soft and warm from the shower and his hair damp and curling at his neck and jawline. His cheeks were flushed pink from the heat and he smelt divine, the most wonderful combination of Hannibal’s expensive soaps and oils and his own scent. Smoke and magnolia and honey and...

Different.

“Hannibal?”

Something deeper.

“If you’re not too tired I was wondering if I could talk to you about something.”

It smelt warm, somehow.

“I kind of lied about the reason Margot came to visit.”

It was driving him insane. It was so rich yet so subtle that Hannibal wondered how on earth he hadn’t picked up on it yet. Their scents blended together so heavily these days, perhaps that was how he’d missed it.

“I asked her to come because I really wanted her...her support, if you want to call it that.”

He couldn’t distinguish exactly what it was but it was mouth-watering. And yet... familiar. Familiar because he recognised his own scent in it.

“Hannibal, are you listening?”

He blinked, realising he’d been simply stood staring in the doorway with his nostrils flaring. Will had moved to perch nervously on the edge of the bed, wrapped in a bathrobe and fiddling with the hem of it, frowning at him whilst his eyes were almost pleading.

“I’m sorry... I got distracted for a moment,” Hannibal apologised, shutting the door behind him and moving to stand in front of Will. “I’m listening darling.”

“Margot came here because I needed her and I panicked and...” Will trailed off, casting his eyes down. “I don’t think I can actually say the words out loud to you so I’ll just have to show you. I hope you don’t hate me for not being able to say it.”

It was Hannibal’s turn to frown then as Will reached into the pocket of his bathrobe and pulled something out. He kept it clenched in his fist, taking deep breaths and still not meeting Hannibal’s eyes.

“Will?”

He extended his arm out to the Alpha, slowly unfurling his fist and offering him the contents.

Hannibal slowly, slowly raised his hand and picked up the three small plastic sticks that lay in Will’s palm.

He felt breathless, for the first time in forever.

It’s not just you that you have to worry about anymore.

Chapter Text

There were few times when Hannibal had been rendered speechless in his life. The first was the death of his family when he was child. The second had been when he’d made his first kill in Paris. The third had been when Will had handed him three positive pregnancy tests.

“Hannibal?”

Will’s voice sounded small. Scared. It sounded like the Will he’d known last year, flinching at shadows and full of hopelessness.

“Will.”

He didn’t know what else to say. He looked up from the tests to meet Will’s gaze; he looked terrified and pale. Hannibal found himself slowly moving to kneel before him where he sat on the bed, tests still sat in the palm of his hand. They were both silent for a few moments until Will released a shaky breath.

“I’m sorry,” Will whispered, his voice thick. “I’m sorry Hannibal.”

Hannibal’s head jerked up in response, face cracking. “Sorry?”

“Yes,” Will managed to get out around the lump in his throat. “I don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry.”

“Will, how could you possibly...” Hannibal trailed off, astonished. “How could you apologise for this? Will, this is incredible.”

Will’s eyes widened. “You’re not upset?”

Hannibal felt his face break into a genuine smile of joy, pure and simple. He put the tests to one side on the bed and scooped Will’s hands up into his and kissed each finger and knuckle and found himself softly laughing.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be disappointed,” Will mumbled weakly, appreciating the soft caress of Hannibal’s lips over his hands.

Hannibal’s head fell into his lap, arms cradling Will’s hips. “Oh Will. Never. I could never be anything but amazed.”

Will kept quiet, unsure of what to say next. He was still feeling completely lost and turbulent, but seeing the way Hannibal’s eyes had lit up and his voice dripped with joy aroused something warm and content inside of him. Hannibal lifted his head, his eyes shining. He was still smiling.

“I can smell it on you,” Hannibal purred, climbing up onto the bed and hovering over Will. “Your scent is different and I only noticed it this evening.”

“Mrs. Komeda smelt it too at the party,” Will muttered, watching as Hannibal moved over Will and tenderly laid his head on Will’s stomach, settling a hand there too and tugging apart Will’s bathrobe.

“How long have you known?” Hannibal asked, voice still soft.

His warm palm connected with Will’s bare, flat stomach.

“I found out yesterday. I didn’t want to believe Mrs. Komeda but it turns out she was right after all. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you straight away; I rang Margot as soon as I found out and she offered to come back.”

“Will,” Hannibal said softly, sounding as if he was in a dream. “The world could be ending right now and I’d only care about this; you. Nothing else matters right now.”

A baby. He and Will were going to have a baby and he daren’t say the words out loud in case this was all a dream and his moment of bliss was shattered. Hannibal turned his face to kiss Will’s stomach, still grinning and purring. Will’s hands tugged him gently and he followed their pull, moving up his mate’s body to settle between his legs and bring himself to Will’s eye level.

“Hannibal, I’m... god, this is stupid. I wish I could be as happy as you; I’m terrified.”

“No, it’s not,” Hannibal hushed him, nosing along his jaw and kissing the creamy skin before him. “I can’t find the words to describe how happy I am darling. That doesn’t mean I’m not aware of how you must be feeling, you’re bound to be experiencing so many thoughts and emotions.”

“Margot thought I wanted to get rid of it,” Will confessed quietly, eyes fluttering shut.

Hannibal stilled above him, lips pausing by Will’s pulse point in his neck. “And did you?”

“I considered what it would be like,” Will croaked. “And then felt sick at the idea. And then felt sick at the thought of pregnancy and birth and then all I could think about was Jasper and all the miscarriages I had.”

“Darling,” Hannibal soothed him, hands stroking along his neck and through his hair. “Will, it’s alright. You’re safe now, you must remember that. You’re safe and I’m going to look after you. Both of you.”

“It’s a bunch of cells Hannibal,” Will shakily replied. “Please don’t start talking about it like that yet.”

Hannibal caught Will’s chin with his deft fingers, holding his gaze. “What do you want Will?”

“I don’t want to get rid of it,” Will shakily replied. “But I’m frightened and I can’t stop thinking about Jasper.”

Hannibal nodded slowly. “We have plenty of time to work this out Will. Nearly a whole year. It’s only a few months away from being a year since you were discharged from Port Haven and look at how far you’ve come since then.”

“I’m pregnant again,” Will couldn’t help himself from gritting out, tears clouding in his eyes. “I feel like I’ve spent my whole fucking life being pregnant.”

“You resent the pregnancies forced on you by a monster,” Hannibal commented gently. “It’s different this time Will.”

Will blinked hard, shaking his head. “I’m starting to edge closer to the ‘yes’ line in my head about the situation I’m in. But that doesn’t change the fact that this shouldn’t have happened. This is awful timing and we didn’t plan for this, we haven’t even talked about what we’d do in this situation because we were so sure we’d never be here; at least not this soon anyway. I only just started my degree and my head is still fucked from what happened with Jasper. I’m not even nineteen yet Hannibal and I’m mated and knocked up.”

“All of those things are true,” Hannibal admitted, somewhat reluctantly. “But we can make this work Will, I promise you. I’m sorry, first of all, for not being more careful during your heat. I can’t say I know how it happened or what point in your heat it occurred, but something must have happened with the condom. I can’t apologise enough for not noticing Will, truly.”

Will smiled bitterly. “It’s starting to seem like some sort of sick joke. Like my body can’t help but be pregnant.”

Hannibal only looked thoughtful. “I can only reason that we’re both incredibly fertile for this to have happened. Bonding has been known to increase fertility in numerous studies on Alpha Omega bonds and mating; the newer the bond the more likely it is.”

“How am I going to keep up at university?” Will nervously pointed out, chewing his lip. “I’ll be due around the time I have to start the fall semester of my second year and won’t be ready to go back until March and what will the point be in going back that late on in the year?”

“You’d be allowed to catch up on whatever you’d be missing Will,” Hannibal assured him. “I’ve known it happen for other students. They usually catch up during holidays or stay back and repeat a year.”

“I don’t want to have to do that,” Will sighed. “I didn’t work my ass off at night school and spend months studying to get into John Hopkins just to have to start from scratch.”

“I know you don’t want to experience any setbacks but college is going to be difficult with the amount of time you’ll have to take off. Unless you wish to return as soon as the baby is born.”

“I...” Will struggled, frowning. “I couldn’t... the separation, that soon. It would be too much.”

“I would take time off work if you wished to return sooner than six months,” Hannibal promised him. “But we can deal with that when we get to it.”

Will nodded slowly, suddenly feeling exhausted. “I’m sorry I’m putting a down on this, when you’re so happy. I’m just struggling to be pleased or excited when all I can think about is how wrong everything could go.”

“Nothing is going to go wrong,” Hannibal insisted, hand twitching subconsciously against Will’s stomach. “I’ll arrange this week for you to start seeing an OBGYN and get you regular appointments. We’ll organise your first check up and you’ll be due your first ultrasound around mid February.”

“It still doesn’t feel real,” Will murmured, more to himself than anything else.

Hannibal kissed his temple and sighed softly. “It probably won’t for a while.”

Will turned to look at him, eyes drifting across his face. “You honestly want to do this?”

Hannibal’s arms tightened around him and he nodded. “I’m positive Will. I’m going to be here for you the whole way through, no matter what you need. You’ve given me the greatest gift possible, just when I thought I had everything life had to offer.”

Will couldn’t help but smile at Hannibal’s earnest response. “We’re going to do this. We’re actually going to have a baby.”

“We are,” Hannibal uttered, voice light with awe. “Is it childish of me to say I wish we could meet them right now?”

“Impatient, more like,” Will corrected him, glancing down to the hand on his stomach. “You’re not going to let me go for nine months, are you?”

“I fear you’ll probably hate me by the end of it.”

“Impossible,” Will disagreed, nervously placing his hand on top of Hannibal’s. “We’re going to have to learn so much.”

“I can’t wait.”

“I’m going to repeat that to you when you’re fumbling with a diaper at four in the morning, running on two hours sleep.”

“I’m confident I can have that skill up to scratch by the time the baby arrives,” Hannibal teasingly replied. “I am excellent at most things, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Will’s elbow jabbed him in the ribs. Hannibal welcomed it, grinning.

“We need to stop talking like this so soon. It’s only a three week old bunch of cells. We’ve got such a long time before we can start talking about sleepless nights.”

Down the hall in the spare bedroom, Margot laid on her back, gazing at the ceiling. The house was quiet and there was no sign of any sort of commotion, so she could only assume Will either hadn’t told Hannibal yet or he had and it had gone well. Which of course it would; it didn’t take a genius to see that Hannibal adored Will, loved the very bones of him. A baby was going to make their life even more unbearably loved up than Margot already thought possible, but she knew well by now that Hannibal didn’t do anything by half measures. He loved Will with an overwhelming force, with every ounce of energy he had and it made Margot wince at the thought of it. How Will coped with such intensity was beyond her; she’d always thought Will needed someone calm and laid back like she’d found in Alana. Alana was sweet and Margot had never felt so loved before in her life, but seeing even just the way Hannibal and Will looked at each other as if there was a whole world burning in the other’s eyes... it was too much for her.

Margot couldn’t help but imagine how Will was going to be after the birth. It was either going to make or break him, having Hannibal’s child. She hoped, of course, that everything went well for him. The last thing she wanted was for Will to feel unable to cope with being a parent or for all his trauma to resurface with a newfound vengeance, but the pessimistic voice in her head that she’d never been able to rid herself of insisted it was a possibility and a very real one at that. The sense of duty and responsibility she’d always felt for Will flared up as she lay there, unable to sleep, and the idea of moving back to Baltimore sprung into her mind.

It wouldn’t have to be a permanent move; she and Alana could just rent somewhere for a year or so back in Baltimore and keep their home in Montreal. Alana could even stay up there, if she wanted. It wouldn’t be forever, more just a sort of support network for Will in the first few months whilst everything would be so chaotic. Margot could even look after the baby when Will returned to college... he’d most likely want her instead of a stranger minding his child, and Hannibal would have to agree with Will.

It could be a small taste of something she’d never have. Just a brief, small taste.

“You seem to be in a good mood today Dr. Lecter,” Franklyn remarked, linking his fingers together in his lap. “Not that you’re ever in a bad mood! That’s not what I meant at all.”

Hannibal braced himself, looking up from his notes. “I see your tendency for paying too much attention to other people’s emotional states still needs some work Franklyn. We’ve discussed how being hyper vigilant of others is an unnecessary stress factor for you, no?”

Franklyn’s face dropped a little. “Well yes, but I... I didn’t mean it like that, only in that you get used to how someone behaves and after all, we’ve known each other for a while now, haven’t we? You just seem to be a little cheerier than usual!”

Hannibal held back his sigh. Only ten more minutes of Franklyn’s appointment remained.

It was now February, and time was moving with a startling pace. Hannibal felt like he’d blinked and suddenly a month had passed. Will’s nineteenth birthday had been and gone, an altogether quiet affair. Alana had even come down from Montreal to see him and Hannibal had been pleasantly surprised at how accepting she’d been of everything. Margot had become somewhat of a constant in their life, visiting Baltimore every couple of weeks to see Will. Hannibal didn’t like it but he also couldn’t do anything about it; Will wanted her there and was benefitting from her company, the other Omega a soothing presence for him. Hannibal, however, kept her at arm’s length and put up with her for Will’s sake.

Today was an important day, however, and he wasn’t going to let Margot or Franklyn or anyone ruin it for him. It was their first ultrasound appointment. Will was well into his eighth week of pregnancy and his first appointment had finally rolled around.

“Yes, well,” Hannibal smiled forcedly, clearing his throat. “Thank you for noticing Franklyn but as I’ve said many times before, your appointments are about focusing on you.”

“Oh I know, I know Dr. Lecter but happiness is infectious, don’t you think?” Franklyn smiled brightly, leaning forwards. “I must ask, how is your mate?”

“Will is very well, thank you,” Hannibal replied carefully, keeping his face neutral.

“I’m glad to hear,” Franklyn smiled again, a slight nervousness returning to his face. “I hope I’m not prying Dr. Lecter, but you’ve been missing from the opera for quite a while now. I was just shocked, that’s all, seeing as you’re such a patron of the arts.”

“I prefer to spend my time with my mate, nowadays.”

“Of course! It’s just that I thought you ought to know there are rumours I’ve heard at the opera, since you’ve stopped attending...”

Hannibal quirked a brow. “How unusual. I have to say I don’t care for rumours and gossip.”

Franklyn nodded eagerly. “Neither do I! Tobias and I were talking to Eric, you know Eric don’t you? Well anyway, he said that he heard from someone else that they’d been told by Mrs. Komeda that the reason you’ve not been to the opera in so long is because your mate is expecting! How ludicrous!”

“I see,” Hannibal replied calmly. “I must have a word with Mrs. Komeda.”

“Oh, but don’t tell her I said anything to you,” Franklyn hurriedly added, sweating a little. “I don’t want to get involved in all the gossip! Although, I was wondering if there was any... truth, behind it?”

Hannibal glanced down at his watch, relieved to see Franklyn’s appointment was over. “I’m afraid our time is up Franklyn. Was there anything you’d like to discuss next week for your appointment?”

Franklyn went through his usual routine of joking how quick the hour had gone, taking too long to gather his belongings and lingering in the doorway for an unpleasant amount of time.

He looked positively hurt as he stood in the door this time. “So it’s not true then, Dr. Lecter? It really is just a rumour?”

“My office and the opera are not the place for the discussion of my private life and I’d appreciate if it if you could respect those boundaries Franklyn,” Hannibal tiredly replied, itching to snarl at him. “Good afternoon.”

Hannibal shut the door and rested his head against the wood, closing his eyes and listening to the retreating footsteps on the other side. Keeping Franklyn at arm’s length was becoming increasingly more difficult as time went on.

Hannibal left his office to pick Will up from college, the hospital only a fifteen minute drive away. Will looked tired as he approached the car, not so gracefully flopping into the passenger seat.

“Hey,” he yawned, rubbing his eyes. “Ready to go?”

“Of course,” Hannibal murmured, leaning over to turn Will’s head and briefly kiss him, their lips warm and soft against each other. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m tired,” Will sighed, stating the obvious. “I was too nervous to sleep last night and my lectures today have been so intense they drained me a little and now I’m too tired to be nervous about the appointment. Oh, I threw up at lunch too.”

“What was it this time?”

“None of the food you made me,” Will smiled. “It was the smell of Theo’s lunch. Tacos are a no go, apparently. I managed to get into a rest room in time but it’s getting a little harder to keep it a secret from them.”

“When do you want to start telling people?” Hannibal asked carefully, focusing on the road.

“At least after the first trimester is over,” Will answered, chewing his lip. “You said the chance of miscarriage decreases significantly after 12 weeks right?”

Hannibal nodded. “Yes. The beginning of the second trimester is usually when people announce their pregnancies.”

“It’s hard keeping it to myself,” Will admitted. “I want to tell them but I’m nervous.”

“You don’t have to tell anyone until you’re ready.”

“Well I won’t be able to hide it for much longer anyway,” Will pointed out, glancing down at his stomach.

“You have at least another month until you start showing, I believe,” Hannibal hummed, pulling into the hospital car park. “We’ll need to go shopping for maternity clothes.”

Will glanced wearily up at the hospital in front of them. “Can I skip out on that part? I’ll let you buy what you want. The thought of going shopping for maternity clothing does not appeal to me at all.”

“I never thought I’d see the day where you actually asked me to choose your wardrobe for you,” Hannibal laughed softly.

“Growing another person is tiring,” Will grumbled. “I don’t have the energy to care about clothes.”

They sat side by side in the waiting room for the appointment, Will’s head resting on Hannibal’s shoulder as he watched other patients and staff come and go through the halls through heavy lidded eyes.

“William Graham?”

Will stirred, looking up to see the sonographer stood peeking her head around the door of the ultrasound room. She smiled warmly at him as he and Hannibal got up and approached, holding the door open for them. Will watched her take them in and mused what an odd couple they must look to the outside eye; Hannibal with his frivolous suits and tailor made coats and face as if it had been chiseled from marble and then Will. Will with his unruly curls and plain (but still tailor made and expensive at Hannibal’s insistence) clothes and his rolling southern accent in comparison to Hannibal’s refined Lithuanian purr. All of that, and then of course their obvious age difference. Will still winced every time someone new mistook Hannibal for his father.

Will watched her take in the top half of Hannibal’s bond bite visible over the collar of his shirt, watched her glance over the traditional platinum bond-mate necklace that hugged Will’s neck and felt himself relax when she simply blinked and continued to smile. If she was judging them, she didn’t show it. It was a nice change.

“How are we doing this afternoon?” she asked warmly, smiling. “My name’s Jenna and I’ll be doing your ultrasound for you today.”

Will inhaled the air discreetly as she turned her back for a moment and raised his eyebrows. Her scent was muted, but undoubtedly Alpha. The dulled down scent must be down to scent blockers, Will thought.

“A pleasure to meet you Jenna,” Hannibal smoothly replied, folding his coat over his arm and taking a seat on the chair next to the bed.

“You must be...” Jenna trailed off, flipping up a page on her clip chart. “Dr. Lecter. Nice to meet you. So, are you excited about seeing your baby today?”

Will stared at the bed and found himself feeling numb. “Very excited.”

The lie stung, a little.

“So William, or do you prefer Will?”

“Will.”

“Hop up on the bed for me Will,” Jenna instructed him, patting the bed.

Hannibal smiled encouragingly as he sheepishly lifted himself up on the bed, resisting the urge to pull his knees to his chest and cover his stomach. Jenna fiddled with the machinery around her, humming gently. Hannibal watched the blank screen intently, eager to see ultrasound image.

“Alright, so your eight week scan is important in checking everything is developing normally and making sure the baby is in the right position,” Jenna began, probe in hand. “We can find out your estimated date of delivery and how many weeks along you are. Now, if you can just lift your shirt for me please Will.”

Will did as asked, watching as she tucked paper towels into the waistband of his jeans and then spread gel over his stomach. It was cold and tingled and he flinched a little. Hannibal noticed the movement straight away, a warm hand interlacing fingers with Will’s on the bed besides him.

Will didn’t notice he was holding his breath as Jenna pressed the probe against his skin until she glanced over to him and smiled softly. “Just try and take some relaxed breaths for me Will.”

Hannibal squeezed his hand as they waited for the screen to form its image. Jenna remained silent, paying attention to the equipment around her. The grey tone imaged finally appeared, the probe sweeping across Will’s abdomen and then pressing harder as Jenna applied pressure.

“And there’s your grand reveal folks,” Jenna grinned, stilling the probe.

Hannibal felt as if the world stopped turning for a moment, the image of Will’s womb before them on the screen. There, lying at the bottom of the screen was their child. The baby was nothing more than a tiny curved form with barely discernible features, slight lumps on its body that would slowly grow into arms and legs. It was the most incredible thing Hannibal had ever seen in his life.

“So I’m picking up a fetal heartbeat and the baby’s position is fine,” Jenna informed them. “It looks like everything is developing as we’d expect it to be at this stage. Congratulations.”

Will didn’t realise he was crying until he felt something wet drip from his chin to his collar bone. He quickly wiped his hand across his face, biting the inside of his cheek. He turned and looked at Hannibal and grinned.

“Can you see their little arms and legs?” Will asked, amazed. “It looks kind of like a lima bean.”

Hannibal laughed gently, smiling back. “I can see darling, yes.”

They both spent a few more moments gawping at the screen, watching the tiny creature before them.

“I’ll print some scan pictures out for you?” Jenna offered.

Will nodded eagerly. “Yes please.”

“Were you able to work out a due date?” Hannibal asked, finally tearing his eyes away.

“I think you’re going to be looking at September 20th,” Jenna replied, wiping away the gel from Will’s stomach. “Meaning you conceived sometime around December 15th, is that right?”

“That’s when my last heat started,” Will answered, pulling his shirt back down.

“Obviously babies make their own minds up about when they’re ready, but September 20th should be your official due date. I’m always a little sceptical about giving too much of a precise due date,” Jenna smiled.

“It seems so far away,” Will murmured, eyes trailing down to his still flat stomach.

He and Hannibal walked out of John Hopkins as if in a dream state, climbing back into the car and staring ahead in silence.

“I can’t believe we got to see it,” Will finally said, looking down at the scan photos clutched in his hands. “I know people do this every day but it still feels surreal. My brain can’t seem to connect that the thing we saw on that screen is really inside of me.”

“You did so well,” Hannibal praised him, stroking a hand through his curls affectionately. “I hope it’s put your mind at ease about everything being normal and healthy with the baby.”

Will trailed his fingertip over the lima bean shaped form on the photo, nodding. “It has. I’m glad.”

Will didn’t feel up to going back to college for the rest of the afternoon and Hannibal had no more clients so they simply headed home. Will kept himself wrapped up when they returned and went straight into the garden with Winston, engaging in a mindless game of fetch that both of them seemed to enjoy, the act beyond Hannibal’s understanding. Instead, he busied himself in the kitchen making Will ginger tea and himself coffee. Will’s irritation at the lack of caffeine in his life was slowly beginning to subside; very slowly.

Hannibal stood in the doorway leading out to the garden from the dining room, mugs in hand and watching Will play with Winston. Will stood upright and turned to look at Hannibal, smiling. His nose and cheeks were flushed red with the bite of the cold air and his hair lay in a disarray of curls around his face. His lips were almost the colour of cherries and his smile seemed even brighter than usual.

He walked back to Hannibal, gratefully accepting the hot mug but still wrinkling his nose at the initial taste of ginger. Hannibal pulled him close, savouring the feel of Will’s head tucking underneath his chin.

“What do you think we’re having?” Will wondered aloud.

“The time old question,” Hannibal chuckled. “What would you like to have?”

“I don’t care, really,” Will admitted, inhaling Hannibal’s deep, comforting scent. “It’ll be... strange, if it’s a boy obviously. Although I hope they don’t present as an Omega when they’re older.”

“Whatever we have, it won’t make a difference to how much we love them,” Hannibal murmured. “Being an Omega doesn’t have to be a negative thing Will. I know you don’t exactly like your biology, but they may have an entirely different experience of it to you.”

“We’re going to have an Alpha or an Omega, either way,” Will pointed out. “But that’s a long way off.”

“Years and years,” Hannibal agreed. “I’ll be an old man by then.”

“You already are,” Will teased, nipping the exposed skin of Hannibal’s neck in jest.

Hannibal smiled, but remained quiet, contemplating. “I’ll be in my early sixties when they’re your age. You’ll be in your late thirties. How bizarre that seems.”

“As long as you’re around for all the important things I don’t care how old you are. If your knees have given up on you and you can’t give piggy backs I suppose I’ll have to do it,” Will laughed, nuzzling his head back underneath Hannibal’s jaw.

“I never saw myself having children,” Hannibal admitted, watching Winston sniff at one of the rose bushes. “Today has made me think a lot.”

“I bet you never saw yourself having children with someone like me, anyway.”

“I never dared to hope I’d be lucky enough to meet someone like you. To meet you, more precisely.”

“You’re corny as hell, do you know that?” Will smirked. “You’re going to be such an embarrassing dad.”

“I’ll be nothing of the sort,” Hannibal insisted, smiling nonetheless. “You wouldn’t let me.”

“No,” Will agreed. “I wouldn’t.”

“I have to admit Will, I’m a little surprised you came back to see me. I thought our first meeting might also be our last.”

Will regarded Bedelia, head tilted. “I don’t particularly like therapy. I suppose I didn’t keep that a secret last time we saw each other.”

“No, you didn’t,” Bedelia agreed. “You’re allowed to dislike therapy. I dislike a lot of things that are good for me, yet I still do them precisely because they are beneficial in the long run.”

“Have you told Hannibal I’ve started therapy with you?”

“I haven’t. It would be a violation of practice to speak about a client like that.”

“I haven’t told him either but that doesn’t matter; he’ll know soon if he hasn’t guessed already.”

“Will he not mention it?”

“I don’t think he will. He knows I’m too proud and stubborn to admit I gave in and started therapy again, therapy with a psychiatrist he recommended to boot.”

“Admitting you’re proud and stubborn...,” Bedelia trailed off, face eternally smooth and neutral. “Does this not impact on your relationship with Hannibal?”

“Hannibal would let me continue to see you for years and never mention it if that’s what I wanted. He’s too lenient with me.”

Bedelia’s face barely moved an inch. “It’s been shown that survivors of situations similar to yours, ones of abduction and abuse, can sometimes manipulate their partners when they enter into relationships after their abusive situation has ended. It’s a survival tactic that can be difficult to relinquish once an abuse survivor returns to everyday life.”

“Just because I know Hannibal is too lenient towards me doesn’t mean I have manipulated him or that I intend to. Playing on Mason’s emotions wasn’t a survival tactic I had available to me.”

“Would you like to talk about the idea of survival and how you feel you survived your captivity?”

Will clenched his jaw, glancing down at his feet. “I’d like to talk about everything but that seems impossible. Partly because so much happened I feel like I’d never get through it all and partly because I feel like I’ve been gagged every time I try to talk about it.”

Bedelia remained quiet for a moment, thinking. Will looked up at her again and felt unsettled at how perfect she was. Golden and beautiful and poised and every single word pronounced with such care, everything thought through from the gentle waves of her hair to the emphasis on each vowel and consonant that floated from her mouth like falling rose petals.

“How much do you know about post traumatic stress disorder Will?”

“I know a few things.”

“Have you ever heard of a form of therapy used on PTSD patients called EMDR?”

“Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. I’ve read a little about it but thought it sounded farfetched.”

“All therapy is farfetched when it’s first introduced into the psychiatric field,” Bedelia pointed out. “It’s still a relatively new form of therapy.”

“It sounds like bullshit.”

“Many would agree with you. It’s worth trying however, if you struggle to even begin talking about your trauma.”

“Are you diagnosing me with PTSD?”

“You were diagnosed with complex PTSD when you were first screened at Port Haven Will.”

“You have my files,” Will murmured, his voice accusing and clearly displeased.

“I like to have as much information as possible about a client so that I can tackle the problem head on. What’s the point in therapy if you’re stumbling around in the dark, haphazard and stabbing blindly?”

Will smiled. “I see why Hannibal likes you.”

Bedelia didn’t return the smile. “Are you willing to try it? We’ll only proceed with it if you’re comfortable.”

Will sucked in a deep breath and stared hard at the pointed ends of Bedelia’s high heels. “I’m willing to try it. I didn’t tell you at our first meeting, but I’m not really here for me or because Hannibal pushed me into it. He suggested I start therapy again about four months ago and I ignored him.”

“Then why are you here Will?”

“I found out I’m pregnant.”

Bedelia simply nodded, eyes trailing down to his stomach. “I can understand how that might prompt you into seeking psychiatric help. Children push you to do things you wouldn’t normally do, all for their sake, and they aren’t even aware of it. We held them accountable for trying to make better life decisions.”

“I don’t hold this baby accountable for anything. It just became a reason and a wake up call that pretty soon I’m going to have to teach and shape and influence another sentient being’s entire life and I can’t exactly do that when I’m at risk of having episodes.”

“You mentioned having episodes at our last meeting,” Bedelia hummed, smoothing out her skirt. “Would you elaborate on some of your past episodes and what you mean by that term?”

“I dissociate. I go blank and it’s like I wake up feeling disorientated and I got dropped into the room out of nowhere. Everything I do turns fuzzy and I’m not sure why I do things or sometimes that I did it at all.”

“What was the most recent incident?”

“I was attacked at a party a few months ago. I was spiked and he was hurting me and all I could do was go blank, I went somewhere else. Hannibal called it catatonic stupor.”

“Do you recall going into these states when you were being abused at Muskrat Farm?”

Will nodded, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Have you ever been violent during these states Will?”

“I’ve been violent when I’ve been sleep walking. I lost control once recently at Hannibal. He was suggesting I go back to therapy and I lashed out.”

“The level of abuse you endured undoubtedly damaged what we would call a healthy response to an emotional situation controlled by your amygdala. Violence in your sleep and your waking hours is to be expected at some points, depending on how you perceive certain environmental stressors and your state of mind at the time.”

“I... sometimes I get worried that I don’t have the right perception of... environmental stressors.”

“As in you feel in danger in situations that are typically mundane?”

“No,” Will replied slowly. “More like my sense of danger is broken. I’m worried that I like dangerous situations.”

“It’s a possibility that you do,” Bedelia replied honestly. “Abuse victims often seek to recreate the environments they escaped. We crave what we shouldn’t logically want and attempt to seek out the familiar.”

“I don’t want to do that,” Will gritted out, swallowing.

“Is there an aspect of your life you’ve altered to recreate the danger you felt when you were abducted?” Bedelia asked, tilting her head like an owl. “Perhaps a new friend or dangerous place? Even the pregnancy?”

“No,” Will sighed. “My friends are all good people and I don’t go anywhere dangerous. The pregnancy was unplanned; it was the last thing I wanted, in truth.”

“Then what makes you worry you’re trying to seek comfort in danger?”

“Hannibal.”

Bedelia’s mouth twitched, the first sign of a reaction at anything Will had said. “You believe you mated someone who provides you with the comfort you subconsciously seek out through dangerous environments.”

“Hannibal is dark,” Will uttered, the back of his neck burning around the edges of his bond bite. “I knew that before I mated him.”

“Hannibal Lecter has his own personal demons, despite the man he presents to the rest of the world. Are you presented with the same image, Will?”

“I don’t know what I’m presented with,” Will admitted. “He tries to cover up that darkness but I’ve always felt it and I see it like it’s my own, even more so now that we’re mated; sometimes he lets it slip on purpose, I believe.”

Bedelia inhaled deeply through her nose and then exhaled through her mouth, her rosy lips parting ever so slightly to let the breath past. “Do you feel like you’re in danger around Hannibal?”

“Never,” Will immediately replied, frowning. “But I can’t ignore the fact my instincts scream at me that he has the full blown potential to be dangerous. Dangerous to the rest of the world.”

“I’m obliged by the law to report it, if you think there’s a possibility you could be in danger Will.”

“You know Hannibal well, Bedelia. You would have done something about it a long time ago if you suspected anything. You won’t inform anyone that Hannibal is dangerous.”

Bedelia lifted her chin a little. “You want to be in control by the time your child is born.”

“I want to be the best parent I can be. I want to be ready and strong, which feels pretty impossible right now.”

“The things that happened to you will take longer than nine months for therapy to ease. These kinds of things take a long time to heal.”

“Then I’d like to start as soon as possible.”

Bedelia simply nodded. “Let’s begin then, shall we?”

Chapter Text

“It’s been months since there was any activity from the Ripper,” Will started, holding his breath. “What makes you so sure it’s him this time?”

“You’ll understand if you see it for yourself,” Jack responded gravely, his voice tinny and crackling over the phone. “I’d appreciate it if you could come and take a look.”

Will paused for a moment, hand stilling in Winston’s fur as the dog’s ribcage rose and fell with sleepy breath. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“I’ll send you the address.”

Will shut the door of his car gingerly, the noise seeming to shatter the deathly quiet encasing the scene. Jack was walking towards him already through the field, the set of his mouth and jaw stern as always. Will stuffed his hands into his pockets, waiting for Jack to near him as he shivered in the chilly March air.

“Thanks for coming Will,” Jack greeted him, nodding in thanks. “How are you?”

Will was almost shocked at the enquiry after his wellbeing, so used to Jack being all business. “I’m fine thank you. It’s been a while.”

Jack jerked his head to the side, motioning to the scene in front of them. “Are you ready for this? These things can be a shock to the system when you haven’t been around them in a while.”

“I don’t get shocked so easily anymore Jack.”

They reached the tape sectioning off the crime scene, Will ducking under as Jack lifted the tape for him. Will kept his gloved hands deeply rooted in the pockets of his coat, ignoring the glances he received from Jack’s team working around them. Jack stayed a step behind him, letting Will approach the body at his own pace.

The Ripper had chosen an Omega woman this time. She was laid on a mound of white roses, fashioned in a way that that rose up off the floor by a few feet and just long enough and wide enough to cradle her body. She was a small woman and her skin seemed even paler than the roses she lay amongst. She was dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono, the fabric a rich jade green. Her hair was spread out around her head like a fan and an odd looking spear, coated with dried and crusting blood, had been placed between her clasped hands that lay over her stomach.

Will stiffened as he felt Jimmy approach, his hands clasped behind his back.

“So far I’m thinking this is a nod towards the Japanese goddess Izanami,” Jimmy began, rocking on his heels. “She was the goddess of creation and destruction in Japanese mythology. Her story says that she and her husband created the lands by stirring a spear gifted from other gods into the water beneath them from the heavens.”

“Is that all there was ever written about her?” Will asked quietly, eyes glued to the body.

“She and her husband had many children that were considered deities and they created more land. She died eventually and her husband travelled to the underworld to bring her back but once he realised what death had done to her he fled,” Jimmy supplied him.

Will simply nodded, stepping closer to the body.

The top half of her kimono had been ruined with the spread of blood stains like the swell of ink dropped on paper. There was a single stab wound to her heart, her chest cavity impaled cleanly and all the way through her body to puncture through her back.

The murder weapon lay peacefully in her hands.

There wasn’t a single drop of blood on the roses that Will could see and she looked peaceful on her funeral bed, Will thought. Sad and beautiful, but peaceful nonetheless. The Ripper had cut into her jaw and cheeks with his usual surgical precision and Will couldn’t work out what he had taken this time.

“She’s Japanese too, I’m assuming?” Will called over to Jimmy, briefly looking back at him.

“The Ripper would never be so careless as to select someone who wasn’t Japanese to represent a Japanese goddess,” Jimmy replied grimly, his lips thinning.

“He’s been as thorough as usual.”

Will didn’t reply, simply focusing on the body before him. The pendulum swung.

I watch you and select you when the time is right. You’re almost boring, how easy you are to overpower and how little of a fight you put up in comparison to some of my previous victims. Almost boring, but then you spit in my face; your last act of defiance before you die. I remove your parotid, sublingual and submandibular glands as punishment. The spear slides into you like silk, neatly breaking through the barriers of flesh and sinew and bone. It pierces straight through your heart and I push further until the satisfying sensation of the spear breaking through the other side of your body travels up the weapon and into my hands.

Your eyes bulge, your mouth parts despite the pain of the incisions and I see the ghost of fear dancing in the pools of your eyes. It twists and shines there so beautifully as your body shuts down and the blood runs like a river from the wound. I lay you down gently once your pulse is gone and clean away the dribble of blood staining the corner of your mouth along with the incisions I made to remove your salivary glands. After I have done this, I remove the slim muscles of your calves, staunch the bleeding and sew the split skin back together. It looks odd, the shape of your legs with no calf muscles.

You appear so delicate on your funeral mound of roses, piled up in my own personal effigy to Izanami.

Will opened his eyes, inhaling and looking away from the woman in front of him. “Check her legs.”

Jimmy glanced to Jack and the Alpha simply nodded. Jimmy carefully pushed back the material of the kimono and the trio took in the sight of her mutilated calves.

“How did you know?” Jack asked.

“He didn’t want to take something that would ruin the work he’d created. He wanted to take something more discreet, something that he could cover and hide. The kimono did that for him,” Will answered.

“But he cut up her face?” Jimmy pointed out. “It sort of takes away from the idea of ruining his work.”

“Izanami was the goddess of destruction and creation, didn’t you say?” Will reiterated to him. “Destruction entails violence. Violence entails physical injury. He finds that beautiful, in this instance. She’s not marred or ruined. They’re battle scars and proof of her last act of resistance she put up against him. The last thing she could do was spit at him, so he took her salivary glands.”

“And he’ll eat them too?”

“He wastes nothing. Every part has its use.”

Jack dismissed Jimmy, the man begrudgingly trailing back to the sidelines. He turned to Will, eyes hard and determined.

“How do you know that’s what he did? Why he did it?” Jack demanded.

Will shuffled uncomfortably, wanting to shrink further back into his coat and scarf. “I see it in the same way the killer does. I can look at the body and feel all of it. Why, how... it’s just there when I immerse myself with what I’m presented with.”

“What was he feeling when he killed her?” Jack asked, glancing back to the bloodied kimono on her body. “Why did he turn her into some warped representation of some Japanese goddess?”

“Because he understands that creation and destruction are stuck in the same cycle and are destined to run into one another no matter what. He’s... ruminating over something. This is wistful, an exploration into something he’s starting to see differently. His philosophy on life and death is being questioned or changed and he saw this particular goddess fit to symbolise that.”

“And when he killed her? Did you feel what he felt?”

“He feels nothing except power when he kills,” Will answered straight away. “Divine power.”

“It makes him feel like god when he kills.”

“Being god feels good Jack,” Will muttered. “Better than anything else in the world. He craves it.”

Jack shook his head, walking away from Will and over to Beverly’s statue like figure waiting a few yards away from him. Will remained still, staring down at the spear lying in the cold dead hands of a woman resting on a bed of roses.

“Hannibal,” Will grumbled, his voice warning. “I’m trying really hard right now to just sit and drink this stupid tea and not throw up or cry and or break something out of anger.”

“I’m sorry,” Hannibal apologised immediately, withdrawing the warm heat of his body away from Will.

Will regretted it immediately, seeing the slight hurt in his mate’s eyes at the rejection and sighed, beckoning him back. Will had woken early, unable to sleep and feeling restless. He’d been up throughout the night, traipsing back and forth to the bathroom to either vomit or relieve the aggravating pressure on his bladder. In the end he’d given up, going downstairs to get himself some of the ginger tea Hannibal religiously stocked up on for him, brewing large vats of it and heating it up any time Will turned queasy. Will had hidden himself away in the library, flopping down onto one of the sofas with a blanket and had switched on the radio in an attempt to lull himself back to sleep. It hadn’t worked of course, his body and mind too awake to return to sleep.

Thirty minutes later Hannibal had appeared in the doorway, face creased with momentary panic and worry until he saw his mate bundled up beneath blankets and clutching a mug of ginger tea and looking utterly fed up with the world. He’d joined Will on the sofa, sliding in next to him and gentling him with soothing strokes to his neck and shoulders and hair.

Hannibal’s hand instinctively found Will’s stomach these days, eagerly seeking the small bump that had begun to form. Will was now in his second trimester at fourteen weeks, the signs of his pregnancy beginning to show. Whilst Will found it endearing the way Hannibal didn’t seem to be able to stop himself from cradling the bump he was now sporting, he sometimes wanted to prise away Hannibal’s hands and snap at him to leave him alone; he needed space when he was irritable after all.

“Come back,” Will sighed, tugging on Hannibal’s shoulder.

His mate did exactly as he was told, returning to their original position but this time keeping his hands well away from Will’s stomach.

“Is there anything you need?” Hannibal murmured, voice low and velvety.

Will shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about today. The new Ripper victim.”

“What was it about this one?” Hannibal asked, fingertips stroking over the pulse in Will’s wrist.

“I felt closer to him this time, closer than I ever have before.”

“It scared you how deep you found yourself in his mindset.”

“It scares me every time I look at a body and become the killer. It’s gotten easier to deal with, but this time I felt so... immersed in him. It made me wonder, how much alike he and I really are. I started to wonder what it would be like if I met him, talked with him. Would I even feel disgusted or scared? Or would I just feel like we were kindred spirits? That’s the part that scares me.”

“Did you tell Jack?”

“I couldn’t,” Will muttered, shaking his head. “I just wanted to pretend it didn’t happen and got in my car and left as soon as they didn’t need me anymore.”

“You have to be careful darling,” Hannibal told him softly, concern ebbing at the edges of his voice. “Taking away pieces of a killer each time is risky business. You need to be able to separate yourself from it when you leave.”

“It’s not too bad at the moment,” Will insisted. “Jack will have me look at cold cases or files that are incomplete and that’s fine; I don’t get pulled in so easily then. It just when he calls me and asks me to come to stand in front of a murder scene... it’s just as well it only seems to happen once in a blue moon.”

“More like every couple of months, from the pattern the Ripper has developed,” Hannibal disagreed quietly.

“I’m trying to understand his timeline. But I can’t, because I’m not there to see his life unfold around him. I don’t see the things to which he responds to, the events that make him create these tableaus.”

Hannibal traced the shape of Will’s ear, thumb brushing over the shell of it delicately. He wanted to turn Will’s face towards him, to lock eyes with him and pour his soul out through a single look. To have Will simply look at him and feel himself stood in front of all the tableaus and works he’d created. All the acts of devotion in response to Will, each murder scene Will talked about a gift just for him. He’d stood in front of the monuments Hannibal had crafted for him so many times now, oblivious to their purpose.

Oblivious to the skin and bone and muscle and organ he carved up and served on Will’s dinner plate each evening.

Oblivious to blood Hannibal had spilt just for him. Oblivious to the fact he’d mated and kissed and held the monster Jack Crawford had been losing sleep over for years.

Oblivious to the fact he was carrying the child of said monster.

Hannibal simply continued to stroke Will’s curls in a slow, sweeping caress and watched as the Omega’s eyelids eventually began to droop and he fell back asleep once more.

The coffee was slid across the canteen table towards him slowly, Theo’s long fingers prodding the drink towards him. Will looked up in a daze at the Beta across from him, meeting his concerned gaze.

“You look like you need a caffeine boost,” Theo smiled gently. “Your bags are starting to get bags Will, you looked like you were falling asleep in the lecture before.”

Will cleared his throat, staring down at the steaming cup of coffee his mind was screaming at him to gulp down. “I’m good thanks Theo. I just didn’t sleep very well last night.”

Yvette clicked her tongue, poking her fork at her salad. “You look like you haven’t been sleeping very well for weeks now Will.”

That’s because I haven’t, Will wanted to snap. Underneath the table his hand subconsciously rubbed his stomach through the thick layers of oversized sweatshirts he’d taken to wearing in an attempt to hide the roundness forming in his lower abdomen.

“Are you sure everything is alright Will?” Theo asked, eyes searching Will’s face for an answer.

“I’m all good,” Will insisted. “Maybe I’m just coming down with something.”

Yvette’s fork clattered down onto the table. “Alright Will, time to cut the bullshit. What’s really wrong?”

Will almost flinched, hand pressing hard against his stomach. “Nothing is wrong Yvette. You guys really are over exaggerating this, you know that?”

Yvette leant forwards over the table, her eyes narrowing at him. “You smell different. You take random afternoons or mornings off of college. You’re all of a sudden really picky with your food and you look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”

Theo nudged her slightly, frowning. “Jeez Yvette, this isn’t an interrogation. Will, we’re just worried and you know you can always talk to us, right? We just noticed you’ve been behaving a little differently.”

Yvette rummaged for something in her bag, withdrawing a pamphlet and slapping it down on the table. “Will, we’re your friends and we care about you too much to let you do this to yourself.”

“Excuse me?” Will choked, eyes widening. “Do what to myself?”

“There’s this free programme for young people I found that runs every Monday night, it’s all confidential and you can get some real help there!” Yvette cried, waving the pamphlet in his face.