Chapter Text
Chapter Eight
He'd only answered the call because he had to.
After all, Dr. Lecter set off every red flag in his mind. He left him feeling on edge in a way very few had ever managed, a fact exacerbated by the fact that he was his son's psychiatrist.
Then there was the strange interaction he'd witnessed between the two the night before.
"Everytime I think I've figured you out, you do something that completely contradicts what I'm thinking."
Dick's voice had been so casual, as if they were discussing something trivial like the weather and yet, underlying it was a deeper meaning. One he hadn't understood.
"And what is it that you have found, Will?" Cautious, yet curious.
Then Dick had kissed the man.
While he'd suspected that there was a more intimate relationship between the two, but seeing it had been jarring, especially with the way Lecter often watched his son with both possessiveness and something else. Something too dark to be love, yet resembled it so clearly.
It was only these suspicions that led him to answer the phone call, even as Dick's shattered confession rang in his ears.
"B, please tell me you got Dick away from him." She'd greeted him and he shared a look with Tim and Jason, both of whom looked confused.
"Dr. Lecter?"
"Yes! B, he's- I'm pretty sure that the man is a serial killer. A cannibalistic serial killer."
His blood went cold.
"Explain."
"Alright, so Lecter has been all over the world before he settled in Virginia. In Italy, while he was working as a physician, there were several unsolved murders and disappearances. In many cases, the victims that were found were missing parts of their body. Usually an organ or a limb. Pieces we would normally take from an animal and cook. The media nicknamed the killer Il Mostro de Firenze. He was suspected, but ultimately another man was convicted. Then, when he moved to become a psychiatrist, he left Florence and came here. Since he has been here, whatever city he is in has found itself with multiple unsolved murders, all of them resembling those in Florence even if the CoD is different."
"He's Dickiebird's psychiatrist." Jason whispered, before his eyes widened, green tinging their depths. "That bastard fed us people! He's been feeding Dick people!"
Tim blanched. "And you said his cooking was better than Alfred's."
Barbara cut back in. "We have to get Dick away from him. Should I co-"
"No!" Bruce cut her off, his voice harsh though he tried to soften it. "No, stay there and keep an eye on Spoiler and the others. We can handle things here."
She hesitated then he heard a shuffle. "There's something else."
He wanted to scream, yet held his ever famous composure, if only barely. "What."
"Catalina Flores," She spat the name out like acid. "She's joined the division that you said Dick was in. Just in case he's interested in seeing his ex-" He hung up.
"What are we going to do?"
He looked at Tim, then at Jason, both of whom looked sick yet determined. "Lecter first. He's closer to Dick. Then we deal with Flores."
"I'm going to kill her." Jason warned, pit madness lurking in his gaze and Bruce felt his lips curl just slightly, his own eyes flashing.
"I know nothing."
It was the first time Jason had grinned at him in a long time.
*/*
"I know."
The declaration sounded damningly loud in the wake of the accusations thrown by Will's family, and Hannibal couldn't help the way his eyes widened in response to them. Wayne and his sons looked just as stunned, their own eyes wide as they looked at the man that was once one of their own. Meanwhile Will raised an eyebrow at their silence, dark amusement clear in his gaze even as it skirted over them.
"Did you honestly believe that I had no idea? I suspected something was off the moment I met you, Hannibal. But I thought you were just a passing occurrence so I let it lie. Then when we were searching for Hobbs, I figured out there was something dangerous about you. The only people that knew we'd discovered where hobbs was, was me...and you. It wasn't hard to figure out that you'd tipped him off, but I couldn't figure out why. So I had an acquaintance look into you. What he found was...extensive."
The psychiatrist tensed. "What exactly did you find?"
The slighter male shrugged. "Everything. From the death of your parents and your sister, to your murder spree in Florence. But, I fall hard and I fall fast. So, I played along. Besides, you're far from the first monster to whisper in my ear. You're not even the first to try to break me, or even succeed. I was curious about what I would become this time."
"And if he made you kill someone?" Jason snarled at his brother. "Would you be able to pull the trigger, Goldie? Would you be able to kill someone, even knowing they did nothing wrong but look tasty to your pet cannibal?!"
Hannibal scowled at being called a pet, but found himself curious as to what Will's response would be. Just as it had before, it brought about silence.
"It wouldn't be the first time."
Jason's eyes widened, while Tim blinked incredulously. "What?"
Bruce pursed his lips. "Joker."
"You knew?"
"Ra's told me after everything. When I was surprised that you didn't attack him like I did. Especially when I knew you and Jason were still talking after you moved to Jump."
Will shrugged. "I beat him to death with the same crowbar," he said calmly. "Ra's brought him back."
Hannibal swallowed thickly, feeling a flare of arousal at the thought of his mate covered in blood, brought down to his most savage level. Pictured the rage he must've felt, the carnage he'd most likely left behind.
He'd always known that a beast lurked behind those striking blue eyes but a confirmation of the fact…
Still, something about this conversation was niggling at him. Ra's al Ghul and Joker were not names associated with Bruce Wayne, beyond Joker killing the man's son years previous. However, they were names associated with Batman, Gotham's vigilante.
Come to think of it, Batman had come about only a month after Wayne's seven year disappearance, his weapons and technology more expensive than most of Gotham's residents could afford.
Then, just after he'd adopted Richard Grayson...Batman had gained a Robin. This also coincided with the glimpses of the scars he'd managed to catch whenever Will's clothing shifted enough to show skin.
There was also the curious disappearance of Batman's former protege, Nightwing. The hero had seemingly vanished from the face of the earth after the destruction of Bludhaven, which would fall in line perfectly with the timeline of events Will had given the night before. The only thing he didn't understand (or like) was his mate's assertion that Hannibal hadn't been the first to turn that beautiful mind against him.
Will was his mate. His to shatter and reshape. The fact that someone else had gotten there first sent thrills of jealousy racing through him and set the taste of copper off on his tongue. It also made him curious as to why the other predator had let the beautifully shattered man go.
Wayne accepted his son's words with a soft sigh, then looked back at Hannibal, his blue eyes colder than the iciest tundra.
"The only reason I haven't taken you down yet is because I have other problems to worry about. But make no mistake, I will take you down." He slanted a glance at Will, who looked fascinated by the confrontation. "Whether Dick wants me to or not."
Hannibal raised an eyebrow. "And will this happen as Batman or as yourself?"
The man didn't even look rattled. Instead, his eyes flashed with something darker than one would expect from one of the world's biggest heroes. Yet he didn't answer, and despite himself, Hannibal found himself curious on what he would've said if he had.
*/*
Eventually, the kid would learn not to trust him.
A single blue eye surveyed their surroundings curiously, a small smirk crossing their owner's lips.
When he'd found his former apprentice lying in an alley bleeding to death all those years ago, he'd never expected this to be the outcome. After all, he's been trying for over a decade to break the young man, had done horrible, despicable things to shatter that ironclad will and yet, when it had happened, he'd been furious. He'd hidden it, though if the way the kid flinched from him while they'd been at his safehouse, not well, watching as Billy treated the kid's wounds.
Sending him to William Graham had been the worst best decision in his man had been the one to get the former hero to let down his guard and had also helped him begin to heal. Losing Graham had only damaged the younger man's psyche even more.
Then came Jack Crawford and Hannibal Lecter. With every crime scene the former dragged his apprentice to, every killer he forced the man into the mind of, he only forced the kid closer to the madness that had been dogging his footsteps for years. It was only the kid's will that kept him from falling into it.
Lecter, now Lecter was a different story. The man seemed determined to force the kid over the brink and drag him back out broken but better. From what he'd been told, the man's interest in his former apprentice was nearly obsessive and worse, the kid was just as interested.
Adding in the Bat and his clan was just the spark needed to ignite the powder keg, and that was probably the only reason he'd allowed the Bat to find Lounds' article after spending so long fielding the others.
It was also what had brought him to Virginia. With his gift.
"Put her in the car."
A string of curses reached his ears and he smirked darkly as he watched Wintergreen drag the red head to the waiting car, her green eyes blazing.
All the while he couldn't help but wonder if the Kid was prepared for what was coming.
He doubted it.