Chapter Text
It was all too quiet in Wolf Trap Virginia.
Jack Crawford and Alana Bloom had been driving for what seemed like hours, Will hadn't been home all day, nor at work. He was never late like this, not on purpose.
"How do we always end up crawling after Will Graham like he's a lost puppy?" Alana leans back in the car seat, she'd been dragged along by Jack ,as always the man who claimed he preferred to work alone was begging for her to come help when everything had gone wrong. "its been hours. he's probably back home by now."
"Alana i have some of my men at his house, he's not there. they're looking over and over-"
"Well maybe if you didn't push the poor man so much, he wouldn't have gone and done this would he?" She groans, hands coming up to grab her hair in handfuls and then just sighing and just quietly leaning her head into her scarf, tired, and wanting to go home, Of course she hadn't meant to snap, but worry was falling upon her more and more each moment. As well, the overwhelming urge to sleep right there in the car began to grab at her, and Jack constantly having the heating on full blast was not helping her case in any way. A silence had fell in the car, the only sound was the rumbling of tires over cobble road- It was 1am now, and the land before them was only illuminated by a set of headlights. Time passes, and soon tires screech, halting Alana's train of thought to turn to Jack.
"What, have you found something?"
"Look ahead Alana."
Alana sits up from her previously slumped position in the car seat, and her eyes go wide, just as Jack's had.
In front of them stands a bloody Hannibal Lecter, carrying a weakened Will Graham in his arms. They look messy, Hannibal's usually elegant, formal attire is ripped, torn, he has blood splatter up his face and shirt, as well as sweat all over himself. Will on the other hand, was seemingly asleep, blood dripping from a shirt messily tied on his neck. Amidst the eerie glow of the headlights, his silhouette stood stark in contrast against the darkness. To say he was drenched in blood was an understatement, an unsettling crimson seemed to cling to his skin, his breath came in ragged gasps, the air thick with tension and fear. He held Will closer, a man weakened and pale, his body portraying the struggle he had endured. His eyes, once awake with life, now flickered with the dim flame of fading consciousness. The headlights bore down on them, casting long shadows along the cobble, a deer in headlights.
Jack slowly emerges from the car with a gun trained on Hannibal, the crunch of gravel underfoot getting closer.
"Dr Lecter." He approaches, with a steady hand, he kept his gun trained on them, his expression unreadable behind the mask of shadows at this time of night. Hannibal tightens his hold on Will discreetly, shifting him to a more covered position.
"Jack, would you mind giving us some help getting home?"
"Shut up."
Jack steps closer, his voice slicing through the tense air, sharp and commanding. "Put him down, now!" he orders, his words carrying the weight of authority born from years of experience in his job. Hannibal complies, setting Will down as careful as he knows how.
"I assure you, I didn't hurt him, Jack." He raises his hands in a gesture of surrender, his voice calm but tinged with desperation. "I didn't hurt him," he protests again, his words a plea for understanding, yet his face void of any significant emotion traceable to guilt.
"Then who did?" He keeps the gun facing Hannibal, as Alana steps in, examining Will.
With steady hands she takes a different approach, she begins to examine him, her touch gentle yet sure as she assesses his condition with practiced precision. Her brow furrows in concentration, and her expression focuses as she works to unravel his injuries.
"Bitten." she murmurs, her voice a whisper carried on the equally as biting night breeze. "Bitten alot, actually. But there's no sign of serious damage. Except bruised hips."
At this moment, with a nod, she turns her attention back to the weakened figure lying at her feet, her hands moving with purpose as she works to clean the very human bites. "Lets get him in the car, Jack, he needs to go home."
Jack scoffs, dropping his gun to his side, he looks at Hannibal. "I trust you just found him like this Dr Lecter, you wouldn't lie to me, correct?"
Simply he gets a nod in return, as they place Will across the backseat.
-----
The next morning arrives as Will awakes with a groan in his bed, feeling a pair of arms around him, he snorts and then chuckles.
"They nearly caught us, huh?"
"Next time remind me not to bite. I've developed a taste for you. I fear it may become dangerous."
Will chuckles again at that, sitting himself up. It was of course risky to do such an intimate act at the sight of their last ready-to-be-found crime scene.
"And next time ill try not to fall asleep afterwards."