Chapter Text
Will Graham was lying in bed panting and gasping for air, swimming in sweat. With his thin damp shirt clinging to the tight muscles of his back and stomach and his curly mop of dark hair tousled even more severely than it normally was, a stranger could almost confuse this scene for the aftermath some very *strenuous* activity. As the thought crossed Will's mind, he laughed mirthlessly. While his bed was often host to a litany of moans, screams and sweat , they were all his own.
His work with Jack and the FBI, The Chesapeake Ripper and all his grim works of art, was enough to keep him awake most nights or to supply fresh re-imaginings of it all in his nightmares. But at least the work kept him busy and The dogs were there to keep him distracted. The Work and The Dogs. Those were the only two things keeping Will going, keeping him from recreating the bathroom scene from the Royal Tenenbaums. That always seemed like a peaceful conclusion to him. A quiet ending to a very sad, very small existence.
Will gave his head a little shake, as if to shoo away his suicidal ideations, and slowly rolled his thin frame out of the soggy bed. He made his way through the creaking old house, shuffling in his slipper feet to the kitchen to feed the aforementioned dogs, who were now jumping at the sight of their beloved master.
Will wasn't really sure how he had ended up with such a motley crew of strays. The first had made its way in through an open back door and seemed so at home that Will didn't have the heart to ask him to leave. The others had come the way most unwanted dogs do: found on the side of the road on the drive home from work or waiting for him expectantly on the porch, hungry and dirty after too much time spent outside. All the better, Will would think to himself as he would hold a new addition to the pack. The world isn't often kind to sad, scared little things like us, we should stick together when we can.
Now that all 6 of the mutts were happily diving into their breakfasts, Will turned his attention to stripping the sheets off the bed and changing out of his damp, sticky night clothes. Granted, it was only to change into an extremely similar outfit ( sweatpants, baggy t shirt and his favorite cardigan) but at least these were dry. He caught his reflection in a hallway mirror on the way back to the kitchen and studied himself more intently than he had in the past weeks.
Dark hair, dark rimmed glasses and dark circles under his eyes- The most defining characteristics of his face. They were complimented by a thin suggestion of a beard and moustache that Will normally tried to keep manicured, although now, he couldn't remember the last time he had seen his razor.
Things had been hard for Will lately, not just the work , or the nightmares but, something else. Normally he would have talked to Hannibal. He was Will's therapist after all, even if they treated each other more like equals than doctor and patient. But this was different, this was something Will had never talked to anyone about. Not therapists, friends, coworkers, not even Dr. Bloom. Alana was the person Will was closest to in the whole world, which was exactly why Will had kept this from her.
She knew something was wrong, even asked Will to talk to her about it all a few times. But he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if she looked at him with hate or disgust. So, he relegated her to looking at him with concern and sadness, which wasn't easy but it was better than the alternative. So he kept people at a distance, he stayed away from social gatherings and dating apps and only let people see the parts of him that they would find digestible. Acceptable.
But this time , this retreat was different. This one went on much longer than the others had. Will had let Jack know that he needed a few days off, but when he didn't come back into the office the following Monday, Jack had simply emailed to let him know that he could take even more time if he needed. Something about "back logged vacation" and Quantico "still being there" when he got back.
Will had found it interesting how easily the whole situation had been taken care of. Jack knew how to handle blood and guts, good guys catching the bad guys. but he was helpless when it came to matters with much less black and white answers, so he backed away as gracefully as possible. Will didn't resent Jack for this, actually it was quite the opposite. It made things easier when people didn't pry.
Alana liked to pry. Will guessed that was an occupational hazard, but he wasn't interested in opening this can of worms with her. He had always preferred fly fishing anyways....
While he was chuckling to himself over his own dad joke, Will's thoughts were interrupted by 3 sharp raps on the screen door. As it sat on its hinges unlocked, this caused it to bang loudly against the wooden door and start the dogs off into a loud chorus of barks and howls.
Will's brow furrowed, not because of the cacophonous canines, but at the oddity of a knock on his door. He never had guests and was fairly certain he hadn't ordered a pizza without knowing it, although he he had done it once while sleepwalking so this wasn't fully outside the realm of possibility. Will pulled his phone out of his pocket to check for the "Order Delivered" DoorDash notification only to find that it had died overnight. His mind began racing as the knocking ( and in response, the dogs) began again.
" Coming!" Will shouted , fruitlessly attempting to smooth both his hair and wrinkled shirt on the way to the door. All the scenarios Will could conjure up to explain why someone would be knocking on his door were increasingly horrifying. Had the Ripper left another of his grotesque art displays for Will to decode? Had something happened to Jack? Or Alana? Will craned his neck towards the kitchen to do a quick head count of the dogs. 1,2,3,4,5...….6. . Will breathed a sharp sigh of relief. In most situations that caused Will anxiety, he could calm at least a small portion of his mind by confirming that all the dogs were safe.
The stranger at the door knocked for a third time, but luckily they had held the bouncing screen door in place first so the noise only elicited a small grumble from one of the older dogs. Oddly considerate, Will thought as reached for the chain lock on the inner door. He fumbled with it for for a few moments, then finally slid it into place. He cracked the wooden door open slightly. "Hey, sorry for the hold up , I was just dealing with - "
Will stopped mid sentence. he was caught off guard by the sight of Hannibal Lecter. His long frame draped effortlessly in the rocking chair on the porch, he looked to all the world like a relaxed houseguest waiting to be let inside by his host. But when Hannibal snapped his gaze from the distance to meet his ,Will felt like he had been dropped through the ice on Lake Thoreau. The intensity in Hannibal's stare could be unnerving on a regular day, but seeing it outside of the confines of his office was enough to make Will want to throw up.
"Well, Im glad I was able to pull you away from whatever was keeping you, Will. I was worried I was going to have to start scratching and begging at your door like one of your strays."
Will shifted his weight and cleared his throat ,trying his best to not to seem flustered. " Yeah, sorry about that. The dogs... and m-my phone died and..." he trailed off , failing miserably.
In what appeared to be a single smooth movement, Hannibal lifted himself from the rocker and was standing in front of the small opening in the doorway. Although he was only a few inches taller than Will, he seemed to tower over him this moment.
" So what's it going to be Will? Are you going to invite me in or should I start scratching? I'd rather like to avoid begging, if I can help it."
Will closed the door for half a second to pull off the chain lock and then flung it open widely, " Yeah, shit, I'm sorry Hannibal. Come on in, its been kind of a weird morning for me, I'm all over the place"
Hannibal moved into the house like a panther being led into a new enclosure: controlled and quiet, but scanning the area for exits and threats to make sure no one got the upper hand on him. He draped his charcoal pea coat over the back of the overstuffed leather chair that occupied the corner nearest the front door, revealing the dark checkered 3 piece suit he was wearing. Hannibal ran a large hand down each of his sleeves to smooth them and, once satisfied with his appearance, turned his attention back to Will.
" Well, it's good to see that you are still among the living. I had my concerns when Jack told me you had taken some time away from Quantico, and I will admit I became a bit worried when you stopped taking Dr. Bloom's calls. But then-" he stopped, lightly clicking his tongue and shaking his head.
Will hated how theatric Hannibal could be sometimes, like every serious conversation was an opportunity to show off how much smarter and cooler he was than you. " Yeah, I took some time off and I guess my service has been weird or something and I missed a few of Alana's calls. I dont know!" Will snapped " In any case, what does that matter? I doubt you drove 2 hours to lecture me about playing hooky and the importance of phone ettiquete. What are you doing here Hannibal?"
Hannibal raised his eyebrows slightly , but this was the only reaction he gave. "Well, it may not have been the reason for my visit, but it seems like some lessons in etiquette are in order."
Will exhaled hard through his nose and ran his tongue over teeth in lieu of telling Hannibal to fuck off, " Okay, fair enough. Fine. My apologies. Please continue with your very interesting recitation of all the people that I've let down by being a rude piece of shit that stays in his house all the time and doesn't return calls."
A very strange expression crossed Hannibal's face, but only for a moment. Will had barely noticed the change, but it seemed to him like sadness. Embarrassment, maybe? But it was gone as quickly as it had arrived, replaced by the same unreadable 'human mask' that Will imagined Hannibal put on every morning right before he finished the pretentious Balthus knot in his tie. Hannibal continued, although he seemed to be carefully choosing his words, out of anger or concern Will couldn't be sure,
" But then, you did something that I was unable to accept. You failed to appear at my office for our scheduled appointment. And when I could not reach you by phone, well " Hannibal held his hands out to Will, palms up " I really had no choice but to come to your humble abode to see for myself."
Will cocked an eyebrow, now more drawn in by Hannibal's dramatic musical way of speaking than he was annoyed by it " See what?"
Hannibal allowed a small smirk to betray his otherwise placid expression ," I wanted to see if you had actaully gone through with one of your self-pitying exit strategies or if you were just behaving like an anti-social boor , as I have always known you to be."
Will shot Hannibal a middle finger and a scowl. This caused an actual smile to creep across Hannibal's lips
" Well, I think I've gotten my answer."