You want to know what Zeus said to Narcissus?
"You'd better watch yourself…"
When Will came around the corner and into view of the two occupants, they were standing beside a black piano with white French doors letting in orange sunset light behind them, and Will was faced with a firearm, a Glock 17, aimed at him across the short distance by Hannibal himself. It was leveled at the height of a person more or less as tall as Will…or rather, as tall as Charlie, and all Will could do was give Hannibal –holding something as banal as a gun- an openly unimpressed once over. Not only was Will overdressed –a miracle of miracles where Hannibal was concerned- but he was displeased and disappointed and not afraid to show it.
No, he wasn't afraid of Hannibal. He'd been through far too much too be afraid of death, its harbinger or its reaper. And besides, if Hannibal was going to kill him for any reason, it would not be with a gun, he was sure of that.
Will slipped his hands casually into his pants pockets as he tracked his eyes over the gun and up to Hannibal's face in a matter of sensationally slow seconds, until his blue-green eyes leveled with Hannibal's red-brown eyes…and while he was not afraid to die, Will was terrified that he wouldn't find recognition in those eyes.
He was afraid that maybe he'd been wrong, that this man was only a similar face and voice, a visual double but empty otherwise.
As it were, Nigel appeared unaffected but for the fact that he blinked once absently as his adams apple bobbed, throat clicking with a tense swallow. Gabi was frowning deeply, Will wasn't looking directly at her but out of his peripheral he could tell. She was wary, scared and confused, at first just because she'd never seen Will before and now he was there in her home. But then she was frowning because Nigel removed his finger from the trigger guard…and he…Hannibal, lowered the Glock down to his side.
Will felt it when Hannibal peaked through the cracks of Nigel, but all he witnessed was a subtle raising of Hannibal's chin as he lowered his gaze to the floor and pursed his lips, considering something.
"Nigel?" Gabi said the name like a question, glancing worriedly from Hannibal to Will. "Nigel, who is this man?" she shifted on her feet, gesturing at Will, who allowed his eyes to slide to her for a brief once over and she noticed, looking nervous when he met her eyes. Will tended to make people nervous in general though, and it was an uninteresting occurrence, so he looked back at Hannibal without a second glance in her direction.
Hannibal's lips parted on a quiet, short inhale as he tilted his head slightly, raising his eyes to look into Will's again,
"Forgive me my surprise, Will…" he paused, noticing how much Will enjoyed hearing his name said in that haunting accent and Will noticing how Hannibal seemed to enjoy saying it out aloud again after so long. Hannibal was just short of smirking as he continued, "…I never expected to see you again. It seemed highly unlikely that you would ever find me." His speech had returned to parts of the way Will remembered it, eloquent and articulate, not hurried and coarse, as when spoken by Nigel.
And obviously, Hannibal was as disconcerting for Gabi as Nigel had been for Will, because she looked at him with confusion and an unspoken question on her lips, having no idea how to ask what she was wondering, but she'd noticed the change immediately.
Will, on the other hand, had no such problem addressing the distasteful person-suit of Nigel,
"I'm not so sure that I have…" he said evenly, smiling tightly, "…found you, I mean." He added and feigned a frown, slipping a hand from his pocket and gesturing at Hannibal, "I don't believe you and I have been introduced, Nigel." He said the name with distaste and even some contempt.
Gabi frowned deeper, shifting nervously as she glanced between them, not understanding the exchange.
Hannibal raised his eyebrows and huffed softly from his nose, an indication that he was amused and his tongue slipped out to wet his lips, -his prominent lips, a unique mouth that Will didn't realize he'd taken so much notice of until right then- before the older man nearly smiled with those sharp teeth of his,
"No, we haven't…" he agreed, a fondness that previously only Will had been allowed to see revealing itself plainly right then in his expression, "…but then, what need have you and I to know the masks we each wear, when we already know what lies beneath."
Will smiled genuinely now, crooked and sincere and Gabi muttered a question in Romanian, directed at Hannibal, before she added,
"Nigel, who is this man?" and she got his attention by grabbing his upper arm, her hand on the skin there, her fingertips just beneath the hem of the short sleeve shirt Hannibal wore.
It was familiarity, the way she touched him…
…and it hurt Will physically when Hannibal turned to her with nothing even close to irritation in his expression, but rather as if he'd only just remembered she were there,
"I apologize, Gabriella…" Gabi seemed slightly thrown by the use of her full name and Hannibal realized it, "…Gabi." He amended in Nigel's tone, softer and smoother and false.
And when Hannibal went to touch her pretty face in what seemed to be an absent gesture, but which spoke of sexual physical intimacy, -the one and only closeness that he and Hannibal had never had with one another- it frayed Will's last nerve until it was exposed raw and he said slowly, warningly,
"I already have an incredibly intense desire to cut her throat," he said in an icy tone but with a flat, deathly calm expression, "best not do anything to seal her fate, Hannibal." Will said his name pointedly, waspish and not trying to curb it. Jealous and possessive despite not having the right to be…and so fucking what?
Hannibal had once isolated him and killed every other thing that held the threat of taking away Will's interest.
If Will chose now to return the favor, then that's how it would be.
Gabriella seemed to have had a hitch in her breathing, several actually, especially when Hannibal's hand stilled inches from her face and he regarded Will, apparently determining whether he believed Will's threat. And when Will raised an expectant eyebrow, Hannibal must have seen nothing but sincere viciousness in his eyes, because he glanced back to Gabriella and lowered his hand.
Will didn't feel satisfied, a part of him had been hoping Hannibal would give him a fucking reason.
"Gabi-" Hannibal got her attention away from Will with a quiet statement of her name and she blinked, breathing heavier than before, her hand on his arm sliding away, shaking lightly as she spoke before he could go on,
"Who is Hannibal?" she asked with more confusion, saying the name as distastefully as Will had said Nigel, and then she turned to glare at Will and somewhere under all of that prettiness, there was something ugly which revealed itself when she said, "How can you let him say that to me, why are you just-…"
"Hush, Gabi." Hannibal said somewhat sternly, calmly arresting Gabi's attention again and behind her pretty frown and dark painted eyes, the ugliness remained. It was an ugliness that made her glance at the gun in Hannibal's hand before looking at Will again, and the same ugliness that made her able to stand there and lie to Hannibal's face about the American boy…and of course she was ugly on the inside, because why else would Hannibal choose her and would she be with him? No one who was pure could love a monster.
But even though she wasn't pure, she was not a monster either, not even close, which was why Hannibal probably favored her exterior more than her interior for how it benefitted him, after all, Hannibal loved beautiful things. Did he 'love' her though or was it just a sex thing?
Will nearly blurted out that question just when Hannibal continued speaking.
To Gabi he said,
"Find the tape," and she opened her mouth to protest, "would you please, darling?" he deflected her easily with that smooth, brisk Nigel way of speaking. His stance was partially Hannibal-esque but still mostly the other person he was pretending to be. Will couldn't help staring, seeing him wearing the navy blue short-sleeve button down shirt that showed off his toned arms and upper body in ways Will had never seen underneath his bespoke three piece suits, was impossibly fascinating. Hannibal seemed so far removed from that proper man Will remembered.
With the casual clothes, the gangster gun, the longer, looser hair and the informal, quick tongued speech, -and a fucking tattoo- he seemed like an everyday man, or rather, an everyday criminal and it didn't fit, not for the Chesapeake Ripper to be so…typical.
Gabi placed a hand to her forehead, sniffing and pushing her hair away from her face,
"I don't even know where to start loo-"
"Charlie is an impulsive little twat, Gabi," Hannibal cut her off, a sign of his irritation even with the following small huff of laughter and a half smirk that this Nigel-suit seemed to favor, "he came gallantly to be at your side in a hurry and totally empty handed," he emphasized, "and he came from here, so, I think then that the VCR would be a good place to start, don't you?" it didn't sound like a suggestion, still, with the half smile on his face and with the slight tilting of his head, it made the instruction come across gentler.
Christ, he was hard not to look at, Will felt starved for the sight of him.
Gabi was having trouble not looking as well, frowning uncertainly and when her eyelashes fluttered and she looked at the floor, Will recognized her compliance. It was not so unlike his own had been once or twice when Hannibal had stared him down in the past. She made sure to look obviously at Will then, and Hannibal, who seemed to have a well of patience for her continued testing of his forbearance, stood quietly observing.
In response to her, Will bared his teeth in a silent sneer and her eyes narrowed at him. Had she claws to match Will's teeth and Hannibal had not been there, they might have went for one another's throats purely based on instinct. Metaphorically speaking of course, since in reality she seemed hyper aware of Hannibal's gun and Will was more inclined to using knives than to biting. Using teeth was Hannibal's forte. Still, it may have gotten physical.
Hannibal interrupted their glaring,
"He is my concern," he referred to Will, "he and I will discuss what needs discussing in a moment, your primary concern, Gabi, is finding me that tape." That statement too, though said politely, held a warning. Whatever this tape contained, it seemed to overshadow Gabi and even Will, for its importance.
It was not only unacceptable, it was tacky, the idea that the tape Hannibal was so intent on held something he was worried about, something incriminating…or perhaps, embarrassing? Why would he care so much about it, surely whatever pathetic life he'd built around this Nigel character wasn't worth that much concern.
"Hannibal." Will said, and it was only one word but it was a one word demand for the older man's complete attention. As expected, Hannibal's gaze slid from Gabi to Will as he turned his head and Will frowned at him, "What exactly do we need to discuss?" he asked irritably, his teeth clenching as he removed his hands from his pockets and held them palms up.
"Who is he talking about, Nigel, who is this Hannibal?" Gabi persisted, her arms folding across her stomach.
And for the first time since Will had entered the scene, Hannibal and Nigel seemed to blur together.
Hannibal turned to Gabi again with his jaw tensed in what Will recognized as restrained anger and then he brought his free hand up, the hand that Will had warned him about, lightly caressing it over Gabi's cheek and ear and further up…to where his long fingers tangled into her hair and gripped.
She made a startled gasping noise as Hannibal pulled so that her head went backward uncomfortably and her neck was bared, Hannibal stonily looking down into her blue eyes.
Will could see Hannibal in the older man's expression right then, but it was Nigel in his actions and when he spoke next, his words were a mixture of both men, polite but brusque,
"I'm going to ask you again to be quiet, do you think you could do that for me, Gabi?" he mock asked, not smiling as he added, "I think you can, darling, and I expect you will."
Gabi was both frightened and aroused, Will saw fear in her tense swallow but there was also heat in her cheeks and desire in the way she wet her lips as she nodded haltingly up at Hannibal, her eyes fixed on him intently.
Hannibal's eyes would focus on you in a way that could do that, could make a person forget their sensibility…
And it aggravated and irked Will to see how that look specifically affected her, to know that she knew a tangible form of intimacy with Hannibal that Will didn't, not even in a minimal way.
Will had thought he'd be kissed by Hannibal on three different occasions in the past, in those moments when Hannibal had held him that close –once, before being surgically gutted in Hannibal's kitchen, the second time, after stopping Will from shooting Peter Bernardone's lawyer and that final time atop the cliff after they'd killed The Dragon- but nothing had happened each time. And while the first time, Will had been anxious and the second time indifferent, the third time, that night after killing Dolarhyde, Will had been expecting and anticipating it.
But the kiss had never come, Hannibal had never crossed that line with him…he'd been both cautious of Will and a gentleman at the same time, courteous and decent about their bizarre courtship.
But this girl, this stupid, flakey, pretty red head, she looked as though she expected to be kissed right then.
She looked as though she wanted it and hated that she did at the same time.
She was conflicted and ungrateful to have ever had it in the first place.
Will had failed for a long time to realize what Hannibal was offering him, but now he knew. And yet here she was, having had the comfort of Hannibal's darkness and now still being willing to throw it away for Charlie.
But then, perhaps her Nigel was not the same –treacherously magnetic person - as his Hannibal had been.
"Intentions, Will…" Hannibal answered, making Will refocus on those eyes now looking at him, "…we will need to revisit, yet again, the issues you have with making decisive choices." He spoke casually, somewhere between Nigel and Hannibal, but he didn't sound as though he was looking forward to talking.
Will raised his eyebrows, feeling upset over Hannibal's words,
"My unpredictability used to intrigue you." He responded, biting back the maligning words that were trying to crawl out of his throat. The words he wanted to spit at Hannibal about leniency and worthiness and the lying bitch he held in hand presently, the bitch who didn't deserve his time of day, while Hannibal stood there wanting to discuss Will's place beside him after the bloodshed and murders between them?
It was ridiculous.
At least the bitch was finally silent, body tense, red in her face and worried, but gloriously silent.
Hannibal raised an eyebrow at Will, wearing a stoic poker face, just like old times,
"Unpredictability and indecisiveness are entirely different sets of behavior, Will. One can be capricious inside of a commitment, but one cannot be ambivalent in the same scenario. Indecisiveness renders any claim of commitment invalid." Hannibal paused to give Will a quick once over, "A fact I've long known, but was reminded of on more than one occasion by you." His tone went from business-like to completely cold as he looked at Will from a side angle, keeping his hand firmly in Gabi's hair.
Will couldn't help the unsettling and hollow grin that stole across his face, his stomach turning itself into knots,
"My…inten-tions…hah…ahah…" Will practically laughed the word out and then huffed a few more disbelieving sounds as he dragged a hand down over his mouth, wiping his smile away before gesturing toward Hannibal, "…you didn't know my intentions at the very end, Hannibal, you assum-…"
"I assumed I could not put myself in a position to trust you again," Hannibal cut Will off without even a hint of apology in his expression, "you set me up to be changed by The Dragon within undefined parameters with an open-ended outcome. And then you turned against Francis on a whim, taking your place at my side, in what felt to me like a final obstacle, overcome," he paused here and Will watched him clench his jaw, "only to betray both yourself and me again, when you pulled us over the cliff, plummeting us to what should have been our deaths." He finished coldly, glancing briefly at Gabi who was starting to look distressed, "I saved us despite your protean nature and spared your life despite my better judgment…" another pause, a tense swallow, "…my inconvenient compassion for you yet again intervened and I gave you another gift, I left you with your life, even after you betrayed me again, Will." He sighed now, whatever tension he'd built up leaving his body as he lowered his gaze to the floor, "Perhaps I've fostered a pattern of behavior in you with my unintentional mercy and reward and that is how you've wound up here." He sounded distant in thought over the subject.
Will's mouth was open, just about gaping and his breathing had increased at hearing Hannibal's words, all true if you didn't factor in Will's justifications for everything he'd ever did. But there would be no end to this misery if Will allowed himself to defend his actions in the past years. None of that mattered anymore. There needed to be a permanent truce. There were no obstacles left on Will's side and there was so much to say, so much to explain about what Will knew he wanted and felt for Hannibal, but with him being so cold and speaking to Will with such finality…
Will felt nauseous with unease when Hannibal looked at Gabi, his eyes tracking over her strained face,
"I found myself with no room left for forgiveness, Will, not even of the deleterious kind. So I locked you, as I knew you should be, away in my memory palace, in a room I haven't visited in a while. In it is the last moment I had with you, bathed in black blood, and it is the only one I needed for closure to the years of my life I gave for you." Hannibal was still looking at Gabi, an unreadable expression on his face that made her tremble visibly, her neck still bared and her eyes still fixed on him as he spoke, "And I have since moved on, I've chosen simpler, more easily attainable pleasures this time." he finished evenly as he gently let go of her hair.
She immediately took a step back and sucked in a shaken, relieved breath, carding a hand through her hair at the back of her head, glaring at Hannibal and then at Will, who clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes at Hannibal,
"Empty pleasures and simple minds," he spat, giving Gabi a distasteful once over as Hannibal regarded him again, "Or actually, a perfidious mind is a better description, since in the same breath she used to say she loves you, she was just as easily breathing a lie."
"You've lied to me." Hannibal responded quietly, an unmistakable sharpness to his tone as he placed his gun into the back of his pants casually.
"I survived you." Will stressed the word, saying it confidently and meaning it before he went on, emotion seeping into his voice, "I challenged you, I suffered you, I craved, bled, dreamed and mourned you, I fucking changed you Hannibal…" his voice turned threatening then as he took several steps closer, "…you are mine." He said with his own finality, stopping in the doorway of the room they were in.
Hannibal's eyes darkened, his head and body turning more toward Will and for a moment as they stared at one another, Gabi might as well have not existed.
And Will was not done,
"You want to know my intentions?" he asked with a bite to the last word, "What about her intentions, Hannibal?" Will made a sarcastic noise of amusement, because there was no way that Hannibal didn't know, "She's as likely to leave you for Charlie as she is to take her next breath." Will finished, grimacing in her general direction.
Gabi gasped quietly then and it was almost as if she was making Will's point for him.
"He is lying, Ni-ugh-…" her denial was silenced by Hannibal's hand seizing her throat, his entire demeanor was different now, Will's words had obviously affected him,
"I believe I asked you to be quiet, Gabriella, it is rude to keep interrupting." Hannibal spoke to her in a deadly voice that Will knew, the voice of a devil that paraded around as the man, Hannibal Lecter.
Will felt goosebumps rise all over his body at the sound of Hannibal's true voice.
Gabi was trying to grasp the large hand cutting off her air supply, frowning worriedly at Hannibal. Will found it curious that she didn't struggle more, she didn't even try to kick or hit Hannibal, almost as if she had been in that situation before and knew that fighting back would only get her properly hurt.
Hannibal ignored her,
"Tell me, Will, if I am yours, then in that same vein, with that same conviction, are you then mine?" his tone was still glacial, his eyes reptilian, as he looked away from Gabi to watch Will.
Will immediately opened his mouth to say yes, but then he stopped, because what was there to convince Hannibal he wasn't lying. Will, after all, was the only person who was capable of deceiving Hannibal with lies.
Hannibal was purposely overlooking Gabi's lies, giving her the benefit of doubt or something equally stupid, but he would not do the same for Will, never, ever again, Will had played him one too many times.
Gabi was gripping Hannibal's wrist tightly now, turning bright red in her face and her increased struggles for breath regained Hannibal's attention. Gabi must have seen something in his face that scared her, because her eyes widened and she tried to hit Hannibal in the face suddenly…but he caught her wrist well before she came close enough to land the blow and her closed fist opened slowly, her fingers twitching as Hannibal squeezed her delicate wrist painfully.
Her feet left the ground then.
But even as she started flailing her legs in a panic, red face becoming purplish, Will could tell that Hannibal was going to let her go. The distressed pleading wheezes and silent mouthed attempts of 'Nigel' from her bluish lips had arrested his attention away from Will.
Will felt furious when Hannibal did in fact release his hand from her throat a moment later.
He didn't hold on to her though, not like he'd done after he'd gutted Will…and she didn't stay close either, throwing herself away from him and falling to sit on the nearest surface, which happened to be the piano bench. It rocked slightly under her fallen weight as she held her throat and gasped into a coughing fit, taking in air too quickly.
"You've become too lenient…" Will grimaced as he watched her, "…too soft." He slid his eyes back to Hannibal.
"Gabriella is exempt from grievous violence." He mumbled, warning her with a final look to stay quiet before meeting Will's eyes again. Will's face twitched and he scoffed,
"Permanently?" he asked, disbelieving.
Hannibal tipped his head, not sparing the coughing girl another glance,
"Consequentially."
"Oh, what then, is it that, if she is loyal-…"
"She lives."
"…and if she forsakes you."
"She dies."
Will scoffed again, shaking his head, clenching and unclenching his fists,
"God would never look at things in such a banal manner, Hannibal." Will subtly mocked him, remembering their conversations from therapy about Hannibal's ongoing rivalry with an immoderate God.
Hannibal narrowed his black eyes at Will after that comment and the sight of it was actually more than a little disconcerting. Will enjoyed it nevertheless.
Gabi was wheezing, shaken and staring up at Hannibal now, her blue eyes wide in fear and disbelief.
Will glanced at her briefly, curious,
"And if she manages to kill you?" he asked with a frowning smile.
"She's incapable." Hannibal said confidently, disinterestedly.
Will raised his eyebrows, he couldn't question it, he assumed Hannibal was speaking from experience.
This girl may have had the opportunity and let it pass because she couldn't follow through.
Will had been there more than once.
Will looked at her for a longer moment then and she looked at him too, blinking at him with lightly wet eyes. Will hated to think it, but he was genuinely concerned that whatever Hannibal felt for her might actually be serious. And it was sad that it came down to such a pathetic question in the end, but Will saw no other option. Swallowing his pride, he looked at Hannibal and his upper lip curled when he asked,
"You would choose her…over me?" he sounded disgusted by the prospect, because he was.
Hannibal stared back at him for a few long seconds before he looked at Gabi without answering Will,
"The tape, Gabriella." He reminded her casually and her blue eyes snapped to him.
Hannibal raised an eyebrow as if to ask if she had something to say.
But she'd finally realized the seriousness of her predicament, perhaps had finally realized just how consequential her survival was after Hannibal had stated as much. She nodded, getting to her feet on shaking legs and running her hands through her red hair as she crossed between them and walked through a single door leading into what looked like a cluttered office.
Will looked at Hannibal at the same time as he glanced at Will. Gabi was not out of Hannibal's peripheral sight because the VCR was apparently right there, just inside the door of the office, where he could still see her. Will listened as she sniffed and clicked a button, the noises carrying in the quiet house followed by the sound of a tape being ejected.
He couldn't hold his anger in a second longer by that point,
"I'll fucking kill her." Will stated with a breathy laugh, hands relaxed at his sides, he was totally serious.
He heard Gabi drop the cassette she'd just retrieved with a clatter and Hannibal turned to look at her again. Will heard her sniffing more loudly now and he imagined her blue eyes were starting to gloss over with unshed tears.
Hannibal blinked from Gabi to Will,
"Would you really?" he sounded amused.
"You don't believe me?" Will raised an eyebrow, and when Hannibal looked at her that time, Will knew it was because Gabi was looking at Hannibal. Will spoke in an icy tone as he informed everyone listening, "I'll gouge her fucking eyes out first." He didn't know what her reaction was, but Hannibal looked amused, Gabi sounding panicked when she breathed out,
"Nigel?" in a distressed and uncertain tone.
"And then I'll cut her tongue out." Will added seriously, still staring at Hannibal.
Gabi had previously been more confident, bolder, but now that she was uncertain of whether Hannibal would keep her safe, she'd lost the bravado. Will was just about able to hear the sob that she let out.
She honestly wasn't a killer, but…she was definitely a liar.
Hannibal's lips quirked up at one corner as he watched Gabi,
"Play the tape, Gabi. I need to be sure it's the one our dimwitted boy, Charlie, said he'd found." He spoke in his Nigel-esque way, as though Will hadn't threatened her life and as if Gabi wasn't crying right then.
It really pissed Will off,
"Hannibal." He said sharply, raising his voice, despising that he wasn't being taken seriously.
But all Hannibal did was give him a look much like the one he'd given Gabi earlier, warning him to be quiet.
Will felt himself creeping up to the high edge of his patience end, while Gabi was doing as told, no more hesitation in her movements, Will could hear her reinsert the tape, rewind it back.
Hannibal was listening as Gabi set the tape to play, his head turned away from Will, apparently side lining him over a video tape and a girl. Will was reminded of Alana, who'd slept with Hannibal and Bedelia, who'd lived as his wife and those thoughts dredged up the feelings of that night on the cliff when he'd thought Hannibal would kiss him, should have kissed him and he had been disappointed. Maybe if Hannibal had kissed him, he wouldn't have pulled them off that fucking cliff in the first place.
Will clenched his eyes shut for a moment, banishing the useless 'ifs' and 'maybes' from his mind.
Presently, Will's new world, his actual reality, the one he'd christened with the warmth of Francis Dolarhyde's blood and that he had seen reflected clear as day in Hannibal's eyes on that cliff, was starting to tear apart.
He could hear the ripping in his ears, the sound morphing into a vacuous, cacophonous sound not unlike the one he'd heard in the rushing of wind passing over their bodies as they fell to the ocean.
His breath hitched and he opened his eyes again, shaking his head once and running a hand over his face to clear his head. He couldn't go there, Will couldn't go off that cliff again…he could not let Hannibal go.
He couldn't wake up and go to sleep alone in the world anymore.
He needed to make Hannibal see.
Yes, he'd taken Hannibal over the edge with him, literally, but Hannibal had done the same to him in different ways, all equally as violent and painful and dangerous. He needed to get the fuck over it.
The only question left was how could Will prove to Hannibal that he meant it.
Will was there, but it wasn't enough, the scenario wasn't new, he'd found Hannibal in Europe before.
It was different this time though, because Will wasn't there to forgive, he wasn't there to betray, this time he was there to merge, he was there to give Hannibal himself in totality, flesh and blood and bone and brain…and heart.
He wanted to say it, all of it, everything he'd been feeling…the longing…but Hannibal wasn't listening.
There was the sound of gun shots on the tape and Hannibal's expression soured slightly, his lips thinning as whatever he'd thought was on the cassette had just been confirmed, he'd found what he'd been looking for.
Gabi was obviously watching the tape too and Will heard her gasp at whatever she was seeing.
Will's mind was elsewhere though, racing to find a solution to his own problem of how to convince Hannibal he was different now. It had to be a game changer, it had to be something real, because Hannibal needed to know Will wasn't faking…
…and it was when Will once again flashed back to that night on the bluff, remembering how real the feelings had been between them, that an idea came to him. He started to walk toward Hannibal before he'd even fully thought it through. All he knew was that his words were not getting through to Hannibal and he was at the point of no return anyway, so what was one more risk.
Hannibal turned to watch him as he approached, almost unnoticeably he changed the stance of his feet,
"I advise you not to do anything we'll both regret, Will." He warned evenly as he positioned himself subtly for any violent attempt he perceived Will would make on him.
Will only had two words for him as he covered the remaining distance between them,
"Fuck you." He snapped a second before grabbing Hannibal by the back of his neck and at the same time tilting his head up just so, pressing his mouth to Hannibal's in a firm, well placed kiss. No more hesitating.
He was only just shorter than Hannibal so the angle wasn't difficult to land and Will held his mouth there, eyes half closed, exhaling heavily through his nose, entirely aware of the knife being held by Hannibal to the side of his abdomen, directly above the starting point of the scar Hannibal had given him years ago, the 'smile'.
Hannibal wasn't pulling away or pushing him off though and him holding the knife there didn't make Will want to pull away either, it actually had the opposite effect, so Will pressed closer and closed his eyes completely. At first Hannibal was unmoving, he didn't even breathe for a few seconds, but when Will pressed closer and allowed their lips to settle more naturally -Will's top lip sliding to fit between Hannibal's- the older man exhaled steadily and slowly against Will's face through his nose, relaxing.
His breathing was a calm contrast to Will's own shaken breaths.
Obviously, Will had never kissed a man before, but it didn't shock him that he enjoyed the feeling of Hannibal's lips against his own, warm and damp and soft, the obvious masculine fragrance filling his senses was a new experience but not a bad one. Will had been starved for contact for over a year and the only person he'd wanted near him was Hannibal, so it felt right, it felt good. And while Hannibal's clothes weren't up to standard and his hair wasn't quaffed, he smelled as good as he always had wearing the same expensive cologne Will remembered.
He was still Hannibal. No matter what person-suit he wore.
Gabi was quiet but for her shaken breathing and the knife Hannibal held was sharply poking Will through his expensive designer shirt, scraping against the fine scar tissue. And Hannibal still wasn't pushing him away, but he also made no move to embrace Will.
So Will drew back slightly, about an inch, his blue eyes fixed onto Hannibal's inscrutably dark eyes. They were breathing against one another's mouths, Hannibal's still calm, Will's still uneven. Seeing no reaction or change in Hannibal created a bubble of panic in Will's chest as he considered the possibility that he'd read Hannibal all wrong over the years, that he'd misunderstood Bedelia telling him that Hannibal was in love with him.
He worried then, in that critical moment so close and finally realized, that maybe Hannibal's love for him was –or had been- platonic.
Will's eyebrows drew together in concern and he brought his other hand up to join the one holding the back of Hannibal's neck. Hannibal's hair was splayed across his forehead and Will glanced from the strands of silvery brown hair up and then down, looking from Hannibal's eyes to his mouth before he breathed out,
"Hannibal?" it was a question, quiet and saying so much more than just the dangerous man's name. Will couldn't help that his tone carried some desperation, he just so badly needed to know that he wasn't wrong, that his empathy and understanding of Hannibal hadn't totally failed him, because even before Bedelia had said anything, Will had suspected something of that nature about Hannibal's feelings for him.
'Was I wrong?' he swallowed tensely, wetting his lips that were an inch from Hannibal's.
He didn't want to be wrong.
Hannibal's clenched jaw revealed a hint of tension as his eyes searched Will's face for whatever it was he needed to find there in order to believe. And Will bared his feelings, he didn't mask anything as he slid his hands down to grip handfuls of Hannibal's shirt front, keeping him close, eyes and body and even the knife digging into him, stubborn and daring.
Hannibal slowly brought the knife away and then up so that the point of it was settled against the soft underside of Will's jaw and Will held his breath…but he also tilted his head backwards, maintaining eye contact as he offered up his vulnerable neck, because this was it, there was no way he could go back to his old life and just as he felt Hannibal's death belonged to him, he felt his own death belonged to Hannibal.
If Hannibal wanted to slit his throat, while it felt anticlimactic in its crassness, Will would accept it.
But Hannibal didn't keep the blade there, he brought it higher and Will felt the tip of the knife touch against the two inch scar that the Dragon had left on the right side of his face. Hannibal quietly considered the raised, healed over flesh there with a light pinch between his eyebrows and his mouth pulling down at the corners in distaste. Because of course, no one besides Hannibal should have ever scarred him.
For a moment Will thought that Hannibal might find the scar off putting, because his neatly kept heard could only hide it so much, but then he was surprised out of his worries, when a smile stole across Hannibal's face, showing his sharp teeth that had been visible on rare occasion in the past,
"Even now…you still manage to surprise me." He said quietly, his tone closer to personal, as Will remembered it and he found himself grinning back, all teeth and a little unhinged, –but lovely in Hannibal's eyes- he exhaled an amused –and relieved- noise. But then he became serious again, raising an eyebrow and gripping Hannibal's shirt tighter, looking straight into his eyes as he confessed,
"I wanted to wake up from that fall…with you still there, Hannibal." He breathed out and Hannibal's smile faded fast, his eyes downcast and his jaw clenching. Will wasn't discouraged, "It was my final denial, my last moment of being alive in between the spaces of you and…everything that wasn't you, and I can't survive there anymore, I can't survive outside of…you." He couldn't explain any better right then, but he would, if Hannibal would just leave with him.
Leave Gabi and the tape behind.
Belatedly remembering Gabi, Will glanced over to find she looked scared and edgy but mostly confused as she watched them with a deep frown on her face. It was amazing she hadn't tried to run away…but then, they were in her house. Another, more likely possibility though, was that she didn't have anywhere to run to, nowhere to hide either.
Will looked back at Hannibal who was still contemplating the ground,
"Leave with me." He bit out, "Leave whatever this is, behind you."
Hannibal ticked his jaw to the side, eyes sliding over to where Gabi stood with another warning to stay put,
"The tape is incriminating, I cannot just leave it."
Will nearly guffawed. He suppressed it, but he couldn't help scoffing,
"Incriminating?" he sounded incredulous, "Hannibal…" he huffed out a laugh as he let go of Hannibal's shirt,
"…you're on The FBI's Ten Most Wanted list as well as being one of Europe's most prolific s-…" he stopped talking and glanced at Gabi, who stood eyes-wide, gaping and looking at Hannibal like he was a stranger. Will decided not to get too in detail about who Hannibal was in front of her and instead said, "What do you care about some tape that could incriminate you in some petty crime?"
Hannibal looked intensely into his eyes, an old emotion, one that was reserved only for Will and was also just reserved in general, seeping into his expression,
"I left that life behind." He said shortly.
"For what?" Will asked irritably, "For a gun-toting, gangster life that revolves around a fake red head who can only offer you superficial interest and false loyalty?" Will frowned, looking over Hannibal's expression and trying to discern what the man was thinking.
When he'd first met Hannibal he'd been unable to read the older man, but once Hannibal had let him in, there was no shutting Will out again, he saw things in every nuance and micro movement now, even when Hannibal didn't want him to,
"Why, why would you choose this life…this girl?" he asked the question aloud but he was internalizing the scenario, he was dissecting the possibilities, thinking how he knew Hannibal would think.
'Why would you choose a criminal life in which you'd be exposed to reckless people, why would you abandon your privacy, your erudition and pedantry? Why would you no longer need a high quality façade to hide behind…how could you change all that and still be…'
And as he watched Hannibal trailing his eyes over Will's face before licking his lips, trapping his tongue between sharp teeth, all with a sort of absence, the sight inspired the answer to Will's questions. His eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in confusion –and a degree of upset-,
"You've…stopped." He breathed out.
Hannibal's eyes moved sharply back to his and the older man didn't need to confirm or deny anything, because Will just knew.
Hannibal was no longer cannibalizing.
The information was staggering, but more unbelievable was how Will found he felt about it. If someone had told Will fourteen months ago that the idea of Hannibal no longer being a cannibal would disappoint and upset him, he'd have laughed hysterically. But now, standing and looking into formerly maroon eyes that appeared an ordinary dark brown, having lost their glint of blood-lust, Will felt winded.
He exhaled shakily, still aware of how close he stood to Hannibal but newly recognizing the weight on either side of his waist to be Hannibal's hands and liking it. Will placed a hand on Hannibal's forearm in a light grasp, surprised by how easy it was for him to fall into the unknown physical touches with the older man. He was frowning though, now trying to figure out a reason for Hannibal stopping,
"Why? Why would you…" he trailed off when Hannibal's hands tightened on his waist, almost exactly as they had that night on the bluff and Will slowly closed his eyes and exhaled, because he knew the answer, and he felt parts guilty and parts smug, "…because of me?" he asked quietly, but he didn't need to, it was obvious.
When he opened his eyes again, Hannibal was watching him and he simply inclined his head,
"I let it go…when I let you go, Will." He admitted quietly, accent thick and his lips slightly shiny with wetness, a touch red.
Kissable. Another thought Will would never have believed he'd associate with Hannibal.
He'd once found Alana to be kissable…and now he saw that so was Hannibal Lecter, just in a different, more intense way. A way that would need passion and teeth and lust and deviancy, no room to breathe or think.
The idea of properly kissing Hannibal, of surrendering to that mouth, came with an intense feeling of urgency…and macabre.
And Will smiled, his eyes on Hannibal's mouth, because he was tragically, desperately eager to taste death,
"I did change you." He stated quietly.
Hannibal swallowed audibly and quietly conceded,
"Yes, you did." His eyes lowered to Will's mouth as well before he leaned in and placed a quick, soft and almost sweet peck of a kiss to Will's belatedly puckered lips.
A cruel kiss. Too quick and too chaste.
When Hannibal went to draw back Will brought his hand up and grabbed Hannibal's shoulder, a handful of the older man's shirt, he was willing to ask for what he wanted,
"Hann-…" but he didn't have to because he was cut off by Hannibal's mouth connecting with his, open-mouthed and aligned at a slight angle so that he was able to deftly lick into Will's mouth once, slowly, before closing his mouth into a pucker over Will's responsive mouth easily, their lips damp and sensually affixed for a few seconds in which all Will could do was breath unevenly through his nose, before parting his lips to accept Hannibal's next kiss.
Will was vaguely aware of Gabi gasping and then breathing out a disbelieving 'Jesus, what are you…Nigel?' in a sincerely baffled and disturbed tone.
Will wondered what kind of person-suit Nigel was meant to be that she sounded so thoroughly confused and uneasy about what she was seeing…but he didn't wonder for long because Hannibal's mouth on his derailed any sparking trains of thought.
His hot mouth, the wet kiss, the sharpness of his teeth raking over Will's bottom lip as Hannibal allowed him reprieve to breathe for only a second before he assaulted his mouth once more, pressing their noses together and melding their mouths vertically, a new angle, different slide of their tongues, Will frowning, dazed, as Hannibal's hands grasped white knuckled fistfuls of Will's shirt at his waist.
Hannibal tasted like cigarettes and some kind of fruit laced alcohol, his cologne was as alluring and pleasant as ever, he'd always been broader and taller than Will, but it seemed more pronounced in that moment, with his chest against Will's, firm with muscle and his large hands gripping Will's lean waist, all that…as well as his skilled kissing. Hannibal was addicting and Will was sinking and spinning.
When Hannibal ended the kiss with the edges of his teeth, Will made a noise very close to a groan of irritation –he hadn't known he could ever want Hannibal so badly in that way- and the older man remained standing close, breathing calmly as he smirked subtly at Will's state. Smug bastard.
Despite his smile, his voice was deadly calm and perfectly predatory, perfectly Hannibal, when he spoke next,
"Remain where you are, Gabriella, and you will live to see tomorrow." He averted his gaze to the side where she stood. His words brought Will back to his senses and he inhaled slowly as he took a half a step back from Hannibal in order to look to where Gabi was, or rather, had been. Presently she was nearer to the other exit of the office which led out into the foyer.
She'd apparently finally decided to try and leave –smart enough at least, she wasn't holding the tape. But she clearly had no concept of the kind of predator Hannibal was if she thought he'd miss her trying to slip away. She was a mouse with her tail caught in a big cat's paw and he was simply toying with her.
Will looked at Hannibal, first at his defined jaw, lightly stubbly, over his prominent lips set in a straight line, no longer smirking and then over his finely shaped nose, up to his dark eyes, Will was just taking him in, noticing that his posture was proper now and his entire demeanor was no longer Nigel at all.
Will grinned, feeling triumph and anticipation prickle pleasantly under his skin at having reached Hannibal, having brought the man, the beast…the devil, back to him. He would never doubt Hannibal again, Will knew himself now. This was what he wanted and needed and he delighted in the thought of their future as he pursed his lips in a smile and savored the taste of Hannibal's mouth, turning to properly face Gabi as his smile split into something more intimidating.
Gabi was paler than was natural, she was shaking on the spot, frowning, confused and terrified by her uncertainty of what she was witnessing. Will too, had crossed over, he was in predator mode and he found himself raising a calm eyebrow at her when he informed her as The Dragon had once informed him,
"Don't run…I'll catch you." He said the latter part sounding amused.
And he would catch her, definitely by her throat, and he'd bring her back to Hannibal as a gift…a bloody offering to show his honesty, to show that he'd accepted his nature, a promise to Hannibal that he wasn't going anywhere.
She was looking at Will now and her fear intensified. Will was watching her like a hawk and Hannibal was smiling again, mouth closed and curved just so, he was mildly amused by Will's words and he was looking as close to himself as was possible in that moment.
Gabi's lips trembled as she took a chance speaking,
"N-nigel, I don't un-derstand." She breathed out, her eye makeup a running mess.
"Give me the tape, Gabriella." Hannibal didn't seem to care about explaining, not anymore.
Will clenched his jaw, irritated at Hannibal's insistence on having the stupid tape, despite that though, he remained quiet as Hannibal continued,
"There is a matter of settling this with Darko, the consequences of not doing so will be fatal for you." He elaborated to Gabi and Will wondered who the fuck Darko was and why Hannibal felt the need to help this person settle whatever this was. He hated even more that Gabi was probably going to survive this.
He felt jealous again and it reheated his ire.
Gabi blinked, tears sliding over her cheeks and causing her thick mascara and eye makeup to run even more,
"You are n-not…Nigel…what-…"
"Of the matters that are relevant and of importance at this time, Gabriella, that is not one of them." He cut her off, continually using her full name, remaining cold and unfamiliar to her but warming Will with recognition and relief more and more every second.
She took a deep breath then and shuffled a few steps nearer, stopping at the VCR and ejecting the tape again before removing it…and then she stayed where she was, glancing at the tape she held in both of her hands before looking at Hannibal with a watery frown,
"W-what about…about…Charlie?" she was an idiot to ask, this girl clearly just wasn't getting it and Will scoffed, looking at Hannibal after half rolling his eyes,
"Of all the things important and relevant, Hannibal, she asks about Charlie." It was said sardonically, a version of an 'I told you so' and Hannibal gave him a short reprimanding look that held an all too familiar fondness he'd developed for Will's smart ass comments in their time together…
…and Will near melted under that look, huffing out an involuntary laugh of delight and slipping his hands into his pockets as he deferred by stepping aside to allow Hannibal to deal with the stupid girl.
Hannibal regarded her then with slightly raised eyebrows, a condescending look even she would recognize as being intended and obvious,
"I'm afraid young Charlie is fated to die, Gabriella."
She shook her head, frowning and frowning so much,
"But why w-would you kill him when…when…" she glanced at Will and had the nerve to look bitter,
"When what?" Hannibal prompted, Will standing at his side quietly but ready to act if need be.
She inhaled shakily and raised her arms at her sides, glancing from Will to Hannibal,
"He's asked you to…to leave with him, Nig-…" she contemplates the name, pursing her lips briefly but then settles on it anyway, "…Nigel, and forgive me if I misunderstood," she says again in a bitter tone as if she'd been wronged, "but considering how you kissed him just now," bitter, bitter, "I thought it was obvious you were accepting his offer."
Will glanced at Hannibal when the man huffed softly, apparently amused,
"I'm genuinely surprised to find you jealous and even scornful in this matter, Gabi, when up until the point this afternoon when I gave young Charlie a makeover, you were content with falsely calling me your ex-husband."
Will blanched,
"You're married to her?" he snapped, turning to look at Hannibal with disgust and hurt.
Hannibal looked at him and parted his lips for a few seconds before answering,
"Nigel married her." He said nonchalantly, and when he looked at Gabi again, there was none of the fondness he'd had in his gaze or tone earlier visible anymore, he was completely detached, "No different than when I was husband to Lydia Fell as Roman."
Will exhaled irritably and sharply cut one hand through the air between them,
"No, no, very different, Hannibal, you weren't fucking Bedelia." He said brusquely. Hannibal looked at him then, contemplatively, probably wondering how Will was able to determine that fact so surely. Will decided to oblige him with an answer as Gabi watched on, completely lost, "I spent some time as Bedelia's patient in the wake of her courageous recovery from her drug induced 'Stockholm Syndrome'," Will made air quotes, "time spent with you." and Gabi made a confused sound. They both ignored her, "And we talked about you-…"
"Naturally." Hannibal quipped wryly.
"…-and I read her like an open book." Will raised an eyebrow, "She was oozing acrimony and envy behind her stone-angel face, sterile veneer and sedate cadence, bleeding her wonder, trying so hard to understand why you wanted me and not her." He smiled grimly, remembering wetness in Bedelia's eyes when they spoke of Hannibal being in 'love' with him, "And in all that time, the only thing she had to boast about was that she'd been with you behind the veil, as she liked to put it." He glanced over the sharp angles of Hannibal's face, not admitting to having traded his own jealous barbs with Bedelia, "She would have tried to needle at me about it if she'd been with you sexually, but she never did, and I understood it clearly in her as she already knew it about me, that neither of us had ever been with you that way." Will glanced at Gabi cuttingly, and she quickly looked away, blushing.
Hannibal stared at Will for a moment, looking somewhere between smug –probably entertained by the two of them essentially fighting over him- and pleased –because Will was bothered by Hannibal's sexual history in that he was excluded from it- but he didn't comment. Hannibal confirmed and conceded to Will's explanation with a courteous nod and then he tilted his head and said evenly,
"Will…"
But Will already knew what he'd say, that it was neither the time nor the place to go into all that. He made a frustrated noise,
"Just forget it." And he brought his hands up to wave away whatever placation Hannibal was going to try and apply to the situation, shaking his head and repocketing his hands, "It doesn't even matter, none of this matters…just…" he gestured at Gabriella, "…get this over with so we can leave." He said in a tone that was pretty close to demanding.
Hannibal looked fondly amused and all of those familiar looks just made Will feel like he was in love a little more every minute. And the word 'love' was the only one that fit for him.
"Who are you?" Gabi breathed out, apropos of nothing that was her business, and when Will made himself look from Hannibal to her, she looked perplexed, eyes teary and focused on Hannibal.
Will sighed, exasperated,
"He is no one you could understand nor could you ever actually deserve." Will said before he could help himself and then, on the spot, he decided to approach her, no longer interested in dragging this out or waiting on Hannibal.
Gabi took a step back but Will knew she wouldn't run, she was too frightened to actually flee and so he was upon her very quickly, stopping to stand a foot away, he looked down into her wet eyes. He'd never been particularly inclined to hurt females physically, so he did little more than grab her wrist in a firm grip, bringing her hand in which she held the tape, up between them, before he snatched it from her trembling fingers.
She flinched and released it without hesitation.
He let her go and she back stepped, sobbing anew and holding her wrist as if he'd hurt her.
Will stayed where he was as he lifted the tape to read the sharpied title,
"Cubbies win world series, 1995." Will said aloud and looked at Hannibal, entirely confident in taking his eyes off of the trembling girl just beside him, he frowned and Hannibal raised an eyebrow, not approaching but extending his hand in request for the tape,
"Gabriella's father was a nonsensical old man with little to live for besides his daughter and this single tape, which kept me in check, as it were, and also far away from Gabriella." He glanced at Gabi as Will approached and handed him the cassette, "I had been waiting quite a while for the day Victor finally dropped dead." He said casually and she sobbed again but Hannibal was looking at the tape he now held. "I cannot imagine why he would name it such a thing," Hannibal paused and looked up, looked at Gabi again, "but perhaps Charlie would know." He said with a hint of sarcasm, "After all, he seemed to know a great deal about things he ought not to have."
Gabi looked uncomfortable and livid, she was positively glaring at Will now. It amused Will when he looked at her again and found her seething at him and so he smiled at her in that unsettling way that he'd come into quite naturally, post meeting Hannibal. She swallowed audibly, still angry but also still afraid and Will, feeling petty, he raised his hand to run it lightly down the length of Hannibal's arm, from his short shirt sleeve to his wrist, Will's fingers catching on an expensive, thick linked bracelet the older man wore,
"You have the tape, Hannibal, now we leave." He intentionally stated and didn't request, because there was a fine line he was aware of, that he could walk with regards to Hannibal's leniency about his impoliteness.
Hannibal gave him a side-long once over, before he looked at him in the eye again and gave Will an imperceptible nod, a subtle acquiescence. He then handed Will the cassette to hold as he reached into his pocket with his other hand and brought out his cell phone.
Will frowned and so did Gabi. But while Will was confused, Gabi was distressed,
"No, Nigel, please don't." She pleaded and was brave enough to take a few steps forward toward the older man, only stopping when Will shot her a warning look. She shifted on the spot where she stopped, looking angrily at Will and then desperately to Hannibal, "Don't call Darko here." She said with a shaking voice, "Tell him you have the tape, tell him you'll destroy it…or, or meet him away from here, just…don't…"
Hannibal smirked, unlocking the phone he held,
"Expecting Charlie to pop in for a visit?" he asked knowingly.
She gasped, it was involuntary and such a pathetic give away that Will had to roll his eyes.
"Nigel please…" she pleaded again but Hannibal was focused on his phone.
He raised his eyebrows after staring at the device for a few seconds,
"It seems that Charlie won't be stopping by after all," he stated, holding the phone out to Will and nodding once. Will only needed a split second to understand what Hannibal wanted before he took it from the older man, "Darko has texted me to let me know he's waiting for Charlie at the youth hostel…" he informed calmly as Will switched the phone off and dropped it to the floor with a clatter, "…that doesn't sound very good for Charlie, does it Gabriella?" Will punctuated the question by bringing the heel of his Italian leather shoe down on the cell phone, once and then again and again, until it was cracked and broken in a few pieces.
Gabi was tearing up again, glancing between Will and Hannibal miserably.
Hannibal sighed, reaching out and gently stroking the back of his knuckles along Will's jaw line and Will shivered involuntarily, pleasantly, just barely managing to keep his eyes from fluttering closed, and having them open he was able to see the naked affection Will had missed seeing for so long in Hannibal's eyes,
"Do you have a car?" he asked quietly and Will nodded quickly.
And when Hannibal held Will's jaw with just the right amount of firmness and leaned in less than half the way between their faces, Will didn't fail the test, or miss the opportunity, he leaned in the rest of the way and eagerly allowed Hannibal to kiss him.
Once, softly and slowly, their lips dry and sticking.
Hannibal drew back then, visibly pleased as he wet his lips and shifted his hand to rest firmly on the back of Will's neck, turning to look at Gabi,
"I'll tell you what, Gabriella, I will let Darko know that I have the tape and that I am leaving Bucharest again, thereby absolving you of any further dealings with him." Hannibal offered and Will clenched his fingers against the tape he held but the weight of Hannibal's touch kept him quiet, barely, "He will not seek you out and as long as he doesn't know you've seen the tape, nor will he endeavor to kill you." he said with a smile, "Darko walks a fine line between being a gentleman and an uncouth swine, as you well know, but you also know he only acts violently when threatened or provoked." He finished and Will felt the pressure of his hand pushing Will in the direction of Gabi and in passing her, the exit.
Will's blood instantly sang in his veins.
Finally, they were leaving.
"Nigel…" Gabi breathed desperately, anger lacing her words, "…he'll kill…" She closed her eyes in hesitation as they neared her, tears pressed out of her eyes before she opened them again, looking at a point on the floor, "…he'll kill Charlie."
Hannibal stopped walking, as did Will, just beside her and he smiled, showing a few of his dangerous teeth,
"Of course he will."
She blinked rapidly at the simple response, eyes slowly rising to look at Hannibal again.
Pretty and blue and wet and pouring need for Hannibal's help,
"Please, don't leave it like this." and it was obvious then that she wasn't as afraid of Nigel as she was of this Darko person, or at least, she didn't have the same kind of influence over him and needed Nigel's help.
Will thought the entire scenario was ridiculous, but still he said nothing.
Hannibal looked disappointed and unimpressed with her,
"This desperate pleading does not become you, Gabriella, you must compose yourself." It was a warning vaguely disguised as suggestion, "I've taught you well, you are a strong young woman…" she stared at Hannibal then, composing herself unconsciously and Will saw her affection –her love- for Nigel as clear as day in her face, "…it is a pity that it has come to this, as I am quite fond of you." Will grimaced, teeth clenched. Hannibal noticed but said what he apparently needed to, "…cut your losses Gabriella, Charlie must die, but that does not mean you have to die with him."
Gabi shook her head, tears slipping from her eyes even as she tried to keep it together, and for the moment her distress was gone and she just looked honestly sad,
"The Nigel I knew, he loved me, but…but there was always a part of him I was afraid of…" she glanced at Will before looking at Hannibal again, apparently taking a moment for reflection, "…this…you are not him anymore, this person you are now, this Hannibal, he is real," she sniffed, "but doesn't he feel anything for me after all this time...would, would he really just leave me for this man?" she referred to Will, still having the nerve to ask as if she had any right to claim more of Hannibal's loyalty than Will could. And Will wanted to strangle her, his hands around her delicate neck, bruising, while he'd yell in her face that yes, Nigel was a farce, a lie, a fake, a manifestation of Hannibal's 'broken heart' over Will.
But when he tensed up, Hannibal soothed him with his thumb lightly moving against the skin of Will's neck, an affectionate, reassuring touch, before he spoke in a solemn tone,
"I'm afraid that where Will is concerned, neither you…nor I, ever stood a chance, Gabriella." And he said those words with such sincerity that Will was as sure as was humanly possible that he had and would never love anyone in the way he loved Hannibal, his chest swelling with pride, his body flooding with need and his heart with affection, all for Hannibal. There was a hollow part within him that could only be made whole by being with Hannibal.
Gabi just stared at the look they shared with one another, by that point she was just defeated and hurt.
Appeased, Will was close enough that he was easily able to lean in and press his face against the side of Hannibal's neck and when Hannibal's hand came up to run long fingers through the hair on the back of his head, Will said quietly,
"Let's go." he wasn't even surprised that he was able to be so openly touchy-feely with Hannibal, considering that he was never so inclined with anyone else before, but it felt right, it felt satisfying. So he went with it, enjoying the feeling of Hannibal's hand settling on his lower back, pressing Will forward again, to start walking.
As they passed Gabi, Hannibal said a few final parting words,
"Remember Nigel, but forget everything else you learned today, Gabriella." They stopped at the door and Hannibal looked at her side-long, a breeze filtering in from outside moving over their hair and clothes, "If you can manage that, I promise that we will never again cross paths…" he gave her a virulent yet sophisticated look, it was pure Hannibal Lecter, "…because trust me, my dear, you don't ever want to see me again." He threatened politely.
Will sent her a quick look that he hoped she understood meant 'you're lucky you're still alive, bitch', because that's what he was thinking, and then he walked out before Hannibal, expecting the older man to follow.
And he did.
It's like a stranger had a key, came inside of my mind
And moved all my things around
But he didn't know snakes can't kneel or prey
Try to break the psyche down…
They exited through the side gate of the house and Will looked around before crossing the street, heading in the direction of where he'd parked the car and he gestured for Hannibal to follow, noticing how the older man cautiously glanced around. When Hannibal fell into step beside him on Will's right, he took a moment to look at the tattoo on the older man's neck. It was as real as the skin it was permanently inked in to, a tacky and common picture of a woman figure slanting across the side of his neck.
Will hated it immediately because it was out of place on the man that Hannibal was.
Thinking of that made him ask,
"So…Nigel, huh?" he wasn't really smiling, but he was trying to look as if he was as they crossed the second street, walking briskly.
The wind kicked up, tousling Will's never-really neat hair and Hannibal's loosely styled gray-blonde strands. Hannibal did this thing then, where he casually swiped his hands over each side of his hair to push it back from his face and while it was so obviously a Nigel and not Hannibal action, it sent a shiver up Will's spine at how good the action as well as the strain of Hannibal's shirt around his biceps and shoulders, looked.
Whoever this 'Nigel' suit was, Hannibal had really gone very deep into it for him to absently act that way.
Will wouldn't miss it though, not for a second.
"Yes, Nigel," Hannibal glanced at him, watching Will go around to the driver's side of the small car he'd stopped at, "but perhaps we can talk about it once we're on our way out of Bucharest?" it wasn't actually a question.
Will just shrugged facially, not without some irritation, and unlocked the car before opening the driver side door,
"Where to?" He asked before getting in, followed shortly by Hannibal, who looked out of place in the small car.
"Is this rented under your real name?" He asked as he glanced around outside the car again.
"Yes." Will nodded, placing the key in the ignition and a hand on the steering.
"As is your hotel room?"
"Yes."
"Then we shall need to see you checked out of the hotel and the car returned before we leave." He decided and Will nodded, agreeing, it made sense. He started the car and pulled off the curb as Hannibal continued, "You will need a new identity after this." He informed with a quick glance at Will, "Your trail as Will Graham will end in Bucharest." He added, a tightness in his expression.
Will changed gears before taking a corner, fighting down the urge to get angry at Hannibal's lingering doubt,
"There is no trail, Hannibal." He said calmly, glancing at the older man pointedly before sliding his eyes back to the road. Hannibal didn't respond verbally, instead he just lingered his gaze on Will for a few seconds before he watched the road as well.
They were on the road for ten minutes, nearing the city center when Will shrugged,
"I will gladly accept whatever you choose for me," Hannibal glanced at him, "the identity I live with now is just barely passable and even less tolerable." He explained moodily as he turned into another road.
Hannibal nodded and after a beat, he smiled, small and personal,
"Permit me then, that your first name shall remain as it is." Hannibal watched Will side-long, "I find myself rather attached to it after all this time."
Will smiled at that, unable to help it, feeling his stomach filled with flutters, he gripped the steering wheel, nodding and glancing at Hannibal,
"Permitted." He said softly.
They fell silent after that, companionable and as comfortable as Will remembered it being. Nigel would be quickly forgotten and while the sting of Gabi having been Hannibal's wife would linger, she too, would fade from memory.
It's as if my feathers were wax
And your artillery lead
Do you like our bed?
Once they arrived at the hotel Will was staying at, Hannibal waited in the car while Will went in to collect his things and check out. It took about fifteen minutes before they were driving again, that time, in the direction of Calea Victoriei, the area in which Hannibal was currently staying at a hotel called Casa Capșa.
At the second hotel stop, Hannibal did likewise while Will waited in the car around the corner from the entrance and in less time than Will had taken, Hannibal came back out of the hotel, except he was empty handed as he approached the car. Will was confused at first, but when Hannibal told him to bring all of his luggage and anything else in the car that belonged to him, and to follow the older man, Will didn't question it. Together they carried Will's belongings –and the video cassette- around the corner and down the street aways, until Hannibal took a set of car keys from his pocket and unlocked a car nearby, across the street, the headlights flashing in the early evening blue and white washed light. It was a common, well-used car, a year 2000-ish BMW 3 Series compact in an awful red color, probably more than second hand by that point and the papers for it tampered with. Inconspicuous and hard to trace.
As they packed Will's luggage into the backseat and car trunk alongside Hannibal's stuff, the older man explained that he'd follow Will to the car rental place so he could return his car and thereafter they'd travel in Hannibal's car.
Will agreed, only too happy to follow Hannibal's lead because the man had always known exactly what he was doing and Will missed that about him, had missed him in general, in too many ways. He'd missed knowing he was inside of Hannibal's scope, in Hannibal's web of plans, no longer lost in the ether as he had been, miserably, for months now.
He drove to the rental company, with Hannibal tailing him, returned the car and afterward, once it was all handled and Will Graham was no longer in Bucharest on paper, he settled into the worn leather passenger seat of Hannibal's car. And it was only about five minutes into their drive when Will started to feel his tension ease away along with his worries, and he felt so exhausted, sleepless nights and stress all catching up with him now that he was finally able to let his guard down…completely.
With Hannibal. Only with Hannibal.
Finally…he had Hannibal…and this time, it was real and it was for good.
He exhaled slowly, relaxed and calm, feeling himself on the verge of falling asleep as he leaned his head back on the headrest. He only thought to ask where they were going when he realized he was close to drifting off. Hannibal's mouth was curved into a smile, he was glancing at Will with quiet appreciation when he answered, telling Will in a low, lulling voice, that he would drive them to Constanța, which was a city on the coast of Romania, approximately a two hour drive from Bucharest.
Will mumbled a question of where they would go from Constanța, almost asleep, his eyes half lidded and watching Hannibal, his expression soft and content and set on the older man's profile in the semi-darkness of the car. Hannibal's only answer was to tell Will to sleep, not to worry.
And Will didn't even bother to insist, instead, he trusted.
Nodding sleepily, he brought his hand up from where it had been settled on the seat beside his thigh, and he placed it lightly on top of Hannibal's hand –strong, lined with veins and sinew- where it was settled on the gear shift. It was a bold move in its tenderly intimate suggestion, something a couple did, something almost sweet…
…and Will's eyes eased closed, his chest warm with relief, when Hannibal's fingers parted so that Will's could slide and fit between them on the gear shift, interlaced and then secured when Hannibal lightly squeezed their knuckles together.
Deep six, six, six feet deep…
When Will awoke it was to a light hand patting his forearm and Hannibal's voice saying his name, quiet and deep in the silence of the dark car. He blinked a few times, squinting his slowly clearing vision from his arms –which he'd folded over his chest at some point-, to the bright white artificial light above the car, and then to Hannibal beside him in the driver's seat.
Hannibal was watching him, his eyes appearing completely black in the shadows cast by the bright light,
"We're here." He informed.
Will inhaled deeply, still waking up, he sat up properly from where he'd been leaning his weight against the car door and he swallowed and cleared his throat before speaking,
"Uh, where, where is here?" he asked tiredly, rubbing at his face with his hands before running them back through his hair and sniffing, managing to see clearer now, his eyes no longer trying to fall shut, he looked out through the windshield.
Will saw docks and rows of white boats and beyond that, the black of water.
"A yacht harbor." Hannibal answered simply before he opened his door and the car was filled with a fresh burst of sea scented air. Will inhaled deeply, and then quickly followed Hannibal as the man got out of the car,
"You have a yacht…?" Will asked over the roof of the car once he was standing outside, staring at the rows and rows of beautiful –and expensive- yachts of all shapes and sizes.
Hannibal smiled but didn't answer the question specifically asked,
"It was via sea travel that I left America in the wake of slaying The Dragon and I found I quite enjoyed it." He explained, looking at Will across the top of the car.
Will smiled,
"So you bought a yacht?" he wasn't all that surprised, Hannibal always had seemed too wealthy for his own good.
"Yes, Will, I did." Hannibal said with a smile of his own, leaning into the car to open the trunk, "Shall we?" he gestured to the backseat, suggesting they grab their belongings and get going.
Will nodded and opened the back passenger door on his side as Hannibal went to the trunk. Will grabbed the bags that were in the backseat as well as his designer suit jacket he'd tossed in there and he set it all down outside the car neatly before double checking for anything else afterward.
When he was sure he'd gotten everything out of the car, the last thing he was holding onto was the cassette and he shut the doors on his side just seconds before Hannibal closed the trunk,
"Do you have everything?" he asked as Will stood looking around the boat yard.
"Uh, yeah, I do, you can double check." He gestured to the car, looking at Hannibal again, watching how the lights cast shadows against his chiseled features.
Hannibal had ducked into the car again and Will continued to look around. They were in an expensive and more than likely private marina, a yacht club Hannibal probably had a membership entrance to. There were lights on in some of the yachts, people probably spending the evening in their lavish boats. Will would have been jealous if he didn't know he was about to be aboard one himself.
Will had thought Hannibal was double checking the car, until two minutes became five and he glanced inside to see what was taking so long. It was then that he saw the older man was wiping down the inside of the car - handles, dash, gear shift, steering wheel and seats. Will waited quietly then, not interrupting and rather enjoying the ocean breeze coming in from the water even as he pulled his suit jacket back on.
Hannibal took about fifteen minutes before he was satisfied with his work and after a final wipe to the outside handles and trunk, he locked the car up and they picked up their collection of luggage, walking through the parking lot and eventually climbing onto the docks.
Will was excited to see what yacht Hannibal owned, he'd never sailed on one, let alone been presented with the opportunity to actually sail one himself. Their shoes scuffed and knocked against the wooden planks as they passed several yachts in darkness, the roller wheels of Will's suitcase thudding loudly in the silence of the large area.
When Hannibal finally came to a stop it was at a slip and they stood at a finger dock between two yachts of different makes but nearly the same size, that being, they were both large yachts, Will estimated both were 40 footers. His first question would have been to ask which yacht belonged to Hannibal, but Will didn't have to because it was obviously the Carver C40 motor yacht on the left side of the slip.
Will knew it even before Hannibal leaned in with a smile and said quietly near his ear,
"Consider it the first gift of many I will give you, Will."
And Will was completely speechless, his stomach full of violently fluttering butterflies as he took in the sight of the yacht's name, an elegant black text vinyl decal on the back of the boat designed in Hannibal's professional calligraphic handwriting.
It read; Stag.
Love is evil
Con is confidence
Eros is sore
Sin is sincere