It was long after her afternoon classes had ended and Alana Bloom was still in her office. In the still of the night, the university was a very good place to let her worries fade as she worked. She understood why Hannibal had spent so many evenings at his office but when he was her mentor. She had walked in with a question and woken him up many times. She smiled at the memory and she followed his example and thought she'd get some grading done but that impulse had died as soon as the sun went down and instead she fell asleep on the beige leather sofa.
Hannibal Lecter had been in universities many times since he had stopped working in one. Walking through campuses always made him want to take a shower if he was honest with himself. But this time, as he walked through one and stepped in a teacher's office, he didn't feel the need to take a shower to wash the grime off.
He got nostalgic.
Slipping inside the office he closed and locked behind him the door with the sign Dr Alana Bloom, psychiatry on it and took in the form of the sleeping Alana. She was on her back; legs stretched out and crossed one arm on her stomach and the other behind her head. She looked like a sleeping angel. Slipping his shoes off he crossed the room to reach her.
He felt as if he had slipped into the past. Once upon a time he would walk into his own office and there she'd be; naive, wide eyed and thirsty for knowledge. He had fed it to her and in the process they had become friends - and more according to her classmates. Now they were more than friends, he could do what he had wanted to do then.
Smoothly he knelt to her level, reached out and smoothly stroked her face. A soft moan escaped her lips and his raised in a smile.
"Alana"
He whispered. Her eyes fluttered open
"Hi"
She murmured sleepily. A few moments later her mostly sleeping brain fired on all cylinders and she sat up straight and scooted away from him
"What are you doing here?"
Hannibal blinked and put on one of his innocent expressions.
"I came by to take you to dinner"
He replied smoothly. Too smoothly Alana thought images of a very alive Freddie in Jack's office running through her mind. It occurred to her that no one would listen to her if she needed help and that no one knew where she was.
"Don't you have an appointment with Will?"
She asked not bothering to hide the sarcasm in her tone. At first after the man she had a crush on tried to have her mentor and lover killed she had been dumbfounded as to why Hannibal would want to be alone with Will (the man who tried to kill him twice!). The course of this past month though had answered her silent questions and Hannibal's look of pure hatred the previous day when he kissed her hand and asked if she been to a shooting range. She had steered clear since and drowned her sorrows in chocolate chip ice cream.
"Not tonight"
Hannibal offered her a smile that made her heart race and sat next to her, only for her to jump out of her own seat and walk to her desk.
"You should have asked me earlier. I have a terrible headache"
She lied. Badly. Hannibal's eyes lost their warmth and coldness spread through him. She knew something, he had suspected that was the case when he smelled the gunpowder on her hands, but now he was sure. He was always careful so he knew she hadn't found anything from him so... who knew?
A part of his brain began moving things around like puzzle pieces to see what fit and where. Another part began setting out her death. Maybe an accident, or a "random" mugging? He knew the solution but he had to face the reasoning too.
He was using her as an alibi that first night. He needed someone to verify he was at home when in fact he stepped out to fetch Dr Gideon. He had intended to drug her and offer to let her spend the night when she'd feel too sleepy to drive, just to spite Will. He hadn't intended to sleep with her but they had and they kept doing so, almost daily for a month. Why? Why had he kept her close? Was it to keep her away from Will or because he simply wanted her there and Will was the excuse he told himself?
He was snapped out of his reverie when he heard the lock on the door and snapped around to see Alana holding her coat with her hand on the door.
"You even think of walking away I'll spank you to within an inch of your life"
He warned in a serious tone. She gasped and brought her eyes up to look at him over her shoulder. He always lost control when they had sex and he spanked her once. In response she had bitten him hard enough to draw blood. He still bore the mark on his arm near enough the scar from Matthew Brown.
He stood and crossed the room to her just as she let her coat and bag drop to the ground with a thud and did the same. Their lips were touching and the fire generated connected them. Later neither would remember who initiated the desperate contact.
Alana lost her shoes as Hannibal lost his vest and shirt, the sleeves of it inside out and missing a few buttons. Three kisses later her dress was pooling at her feet and Hannibal was falling backwards trying to step out of his pants.
They made it to the sofa their lips never separating, they moaned loudly against the other when she settled on and around him. They moved against each other in desperate frantic movements; no teasing and no playing. Only seeking the fulfillment and completeness the other could bring.
Later they held each other close with vice like grips as their hearts slowed down to an acceptable tempo.
"Don't ever leave me"
He whispered in her hair; all plans of killing her forgotten as his brain had ceased functioning.
"Never"
She murmured against his neck, her lips brushing his skin in a soft kiss, all evil thoughts of the past 2 days slammed inside a box and the key tossed away. Her heart had made the choice when she walked away from Will and to Hannibal a month ago. Yesterday's events gnawed at her brain but she had always been led by her heart.
"Are you okay?"
He asked running his fingers through her sweat slicked tresses. Alana She hummed softly and pulled back to him in the eyes.
"More than okay."
He swept his thumbs across her tear stained cheeks with a slight look of regret, worry and tease in his eyes.
"I wanted to do this since you woke me up in my office all those years ago"
He shared drawing a smile on her lips.
"Why didn't you?"
"It wouldn't be appropriate of course"
Alana's voice was hoarse from her screams and Hannibal's stern tone made her chuckle against his chest, her hand playing with the fire hairs there. Hannibal tried and failed to hold back the soft purring that emerged from his lips at the touch.
He leaned in and kissed her almost sweetly whilst moving his hands soothingly over her thighs; it was the closest thing to an apology he could muster for having used her.
"I wouldn't have minded"
She said and the touch of apology turned to branding of possession. He shifted forwards and began to pull himself to a stand still buried inside her and her arms and legs wrapped around him.
"Hannibal what are you doing?"
She shrieked laughing. Hannibal turned them around and laid on the sofa holding her between his body and the back on the sofa, the leather warm and sticky and strangely homely. Looking her in the eyes he slid in and out of her in one smooth powerful motion. She groaned and nibbled against his neck in submission.
"Don't leave me"
She mumbled his hot skin. She wanted him, wanted to feel him pressed against her, wanted to feel him hard inside her for as long as possible. No matter what the dawn of the sun would bring.
"Never."
He wanted her too.
As Alana fell asleep tight around him, Hannibal's mind began working again and he got the answers he wanted. Jack's aversion to the liver packing omelet, Will's sudden change in attitude considering murder and cannibalism, even Alana's shooting range visits. They knew and they were coming for him.
He looked down at the sleeping angel in his arms. He thought he could leave her behind when it was time to leave but now he knew better. He would alter his final plans.
"Alana?"
"Mhm?"
"What are your thoughts of Paris?"
The end