Although the return trip hadn't been an entirely pleasant one, both Will and his dogs were pleased when he finally made it back. As it was a cold night, he even let them remain on his bed, well, a few of the small ones at least, as he slept. It didn't stop the nightmares, though he might have been able to go back to sleep a bit faster knowing they were there watching over him.

This lasted until 5 in the morning, when he suddenly remembered his impending visit with Abigail and his mind rejected any thought of further sleep. It didn't help that the small headache he had gone to bed with had somehow flared up over night and he had dry swallowed a couple of aspirin before he had even made it out of bed. This is how come 7 AM saw him on his hands and knees as he scrubbed the grime of the bathroom floor, when a knock sounded at his door. This was surprising, as he hadn't heard a car and his dogs had waited till that moment to warn him of the intruder on the property. Frowning, he put down the scrubbing brush, glad that he had gotten dressed for the day at least, as he went to answer it.

'Good morning Will.'

'Uh, good morning Alana,' Will said, guessing at the reason she was there from the apologetic look on her face. 'Please, come in. Do you want a drink? Coffee? Tea?'

'Water, thank you,' Alana said and Will headed into the kitchen to grab a glass and a mug from the cabinet. Alana may not have needed the caffeine, but he was starting to feel he was in need of some.

'You know, if you wanted to tell me that I can't visit Abigail, you could have just called,' Will said as he handed her the water, but instead of confirmation, he was met with a startled look.

'Not at all, of course you visit Abigail,' Alana said, though her expression turned sheepish. 'I came here to apologise for last night. I was childish and rude, and I'm sorry. It's just...' She heaved out a sigh, looking down at her hands. 'He was my mentor and I really like him, have for a long time, but I don't know if it was just never the right moment or if there was never a right moment. Then he meets you and suddenly... did you know that you were basically all he would talk about before you got there?' Will shook his head in surprise. 'Wanted to know if I knew about your family, about what foods you liked, were you seeing anyone, were you considering seeing anyone...' Will could feel himself blush. 'He said it was only because you were to be his patient, but he could have just asked you.'

'I'm sure it doesn't mean anything,' Will said, trying to get his mind not to go there. It was hard not to, though, when an attractive, intelligent alpha was apparently interested in you. 'Besides, as you said, he is my psychiatrist. Nothing can happen.'

'Would you want it to?' Alana said quietly. 'I don't know. I mean, I barely know him and he will be trying to get into my head and you know how much I enjoy people doing that,' Will said, though he guessed Alana was probably hoping for a definitive no, but that was the best he could do.

'Okay,' Alana said, and reached into her bag, pulling out a piece of paper. 'Here is the address and phone number for the Port Haven Psychiatric facility in Baltimore. They will be able to direct you from there.'

'Thanks,' Will said, accepting the piece of paper and within two minutes that was all that remained of her visit.

When Will arrived at the facility and signed in, he couldn't help but feel like everyone was staring at him. He knew it was probably his paranoia talking, along with his lack of comprehension as to what he was even doing there. It wasn't like he was family, friends of the family or even involved in the case, he was just a guy who happened to sit down and talk to her for five minutes while waiting to talk to someone. He'd felt sorry for her though, he still did and he guessed that was good enough.

It didn't take long to find Abigail's room and when he did he saw she was sitting up on her bed, reading a book, though he couldn't tell what it was. Not sure what was proper courtesy in these types of situations he knocked and waited for her to look up.

'Will, you're really here. I was worried you were going to change your mind and not come after all,' Abigail said smiling as she put the book aside. 'Come in.'

'It's good to see you Abigail,' Will said, entering the room and taking a seat by the bed.

'I guess you're wondering why I asked you to come and the truth is, I'm not really sure,' Abigail said. 'I just have this feeling that if anyone could understand what I have been going through, it's you.'

'How are they treating you?' Will said.

'I hate it here,' Abigail said and forced herself out of bed in a burst of energy. 'All the other girls here talk in little baby voices and the others; they either treat me like I'm broken or like I'm a monster.'

'Hang in there. I'm sure it won't be much longer and you will be out and able to start your life again,' Will said, but rather than cheering her up, her face fell.

'That's just it. As bad as it is, I don't know anything about living on my own,' Abigail said sounding panicked. 'I have no money and everyone knows who I am, who my father was. What he did to all those girls. I have already received a dozen rejection letters from different colleges and half of them I haven't even applied to yet.'

'Hey, it's okay. Sure it's going to be a bit rough for a while, but don't you have any friends or family who would be willing to take you in for a while?' Will said and Abigail shook her head, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. 'What happened?'

'Mum was an only child and I never knew her parents, but dad's family... they don't want anything to do with me. They think that I was the one killing th-the girls, not dad and... Meanwhile everyone at school thinks I killed them too. Only Marissa has been standing by me, but her mum won't let her anywhere near me,' Abigail said and Will really couldn't stand seeing her look so upset and found himself moving to hold her tightly without any real conscious thought.

'I know it's not much, Abigail, I will be here for as long as you need me to be,' Will said, pulling back to look at her. 'But for now, why don't you tell me a bit about Marissa? What do you two like to get up to together?'

'Well, she's a beta, like her mum. I think that was part of the reason dad didn't take her. The other girls were alphas, like me,' Abigail said, her voice becoming stronger now they had shifted to a safer topic. 'She absolutely hates yoghurt, can't even stand watching other people eat it. She has ever since she found out that they make it using bacteria; which actually does kind of sound a bit gross, especially the names of the bacteria, like streptococcus thermophilius. It sounds like a disease or something.'

'It does a little bit,' Will said with a laugh at Abigail's expression, which had turned mildly disgusted. 'She really doesn't like traitors though, hates them,' Abigail said, sounding like she agreed with her friend on this topic. 'I think it was because her dad walked out on her. Apparently he found an omega to hook up with and not even a daughter was enough for him to want to stick around. He sends her cash on the holidays and her birthdays, but she just donates it to some charity or another. Doesn't want his money.'

'How does she get along with her mum?' Will said and Abigail shrugged, her eyes becoming distant.

'Okay, I guess, or at least they used to. They aren't anymore... because of me. Because Marissa wants to help me get through this, but her mum's scared,' Abigail said, the pain returning to her voice. 'And I get it. I do, but I just want my best friend back. I don't know how I am going to do this without her.'

'I'm sure her mum will come around, but you will just need to give her a bit more time,' Will said, sitting beside Abigail and finding the strength to hold her eyes somehow.

'So, you wanted to know a bit of what we got up to?' Abigail said, sniffling, before breaking the eye contact to think. 'Well, when we were thirteen, we were at a summer camp together and there was this group of really mean girls, not just alphas, but betas and even an omega. Marissa said they were only there because not even their parents wanted to put up with them. Anyway, they were teasing this one omega girl named Bethany, short, a bit chubby, wore glasses and her face was basically just one large freckle. The worst part was, she was the younger sister of one of those mean girls. Well, Marissa couldn't just let that slide so we...'

For the next hour or so Abigail just talked about her friend and Will could see why she had been drawn to both Marissa and the FBI. It was also somehow different listening to Abigail talk about her life than it had been listening to Alana and Hannibal. With them Will had felt like an intruder, but with Abigail he felt like he was being let in on these big secrets and he genuinely enjoyed listening to the mischief she had gotten up to.

'Will,' Abigail said as she was being called away for her afternoon therapy session. 'You'll come back and visit me, won't you?'

'Sure will. I have to if I want to find out how you managed to get stuck singing Christmas carols to the elderly at Easter,' Will said smiling and Abigail grinned back, all traces of tears faded. 'Also, Abigail, if you want, when you are able to, maybe you could come and visit my house and meet my dogs.'

'You have dogs? As in plural? How many?' Abigail said, almost sounding as though it was the best thing she had ever heard.

'I have six: Buster, Maggie, Cherry, Willow, Joe and Toffee,' Will said, enjoying the wide-eyed expression Abigail had. '

Okay, you totally have to let me meet your dogs,' Abigail said, sounding a bit reverent. 'I think you might have just become the coolest person I know.'

'Well hopefully you won't change your mind when you meet them,' Will said. 'Just remember, call me if you need me and I will talk to the staff about visiting again soon. I might even bring some of my psychology books if you want. Some of them are a bit old, but...'

'I would love that,' Abigail said jumping up. 'I better get going though, they get cranky when I'm late.'

'See you soon Abigail,' Will said and with a wave, she was gone.