Authors Notes: A little relationship development and some cute fluffy stuff with sex and plot. Enjoy that.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hannibal.
Beta read by: Spocktacular!
10: Unraveling
You know me; see me often as I am close to you. Will sat in silence, bathed in blood, at the large fold out table in the middle of the basement.
I have a medical background as evidence by my work, by my art. His breaths were slow and shallow as he stood lost in the shadows of his mind.
I have been to your house, met your dogs; know that they are where your heart lies. He stared at the salad bowl of flesh and bone, trapped in the mind of the Ripper, as the Ripper.
I know the secret of your gender, know that you are no longer working for the FBI, know that you are still tracking my cases and receiving my gifts.
I have asked you to dinner, professing my love with the art I leave for you and you alone; a love you have accepted with open arms.
You know me William, what is my name…
"Will," he corrected, blinking from his trance and speaking to the floral eyes of a pig. He didn't remember doing that though, pulling the eyes from her corpse and replacing them with carnations.
He didn't remember buying carnations.
"God, how long have I been down here." He lifted his glasses, rubbing at tired eyes and instantly wished that he hadn't. He was covered in blood.
Glancing to the red face of his watch Will couldn't help but cringe, it was entering the early hours of morning, he must have spent the entire night just staring at the pig and thinking about the Ripper, as the Ripper.
But he'd never been so close, never been so intimate with a killer as he had been that night. Will had so nearly become him, if only for those few hours, not just imagining but participating in gutting that woman, preparing her into something more useful than the pig she was, turning her into a beautiful courting gift for his Omega.
What was worse was how much he'd enjoyed it, killing the bitch who'd refused to work with him because he was beneath her, justan Omega.
"The Ripper enjoyed it." Will scolded himself, swallowing back the sour of bile on his tongue. "Don't get confused," He warned himself, "You're too close to lose yourself by getting confused." So close the name nearly sat on his tongue.
If he could do it again he might finally find his answer, if he did it again Will wasn't so sure he would be able to come back. It had been a very dark and consuming place inside those walls. And he'd never felt so safe in all his life; the all-consuming fear that haunted him day and night couldn't control him when he was the one with the knife.
"I need to see Hannibal." Will realized, turning his back on the gruesome display and making for the stairs; the pull of denim sticky with drying blood on his thighs quickly reminded him of the pristine condition of Hannibal's house and how he was about to ruin everything the man owned with pig's blood.
Standing at the bottom of the stairs he stripped himself of the stained clothing and walked up the stairs, "Please be in bed." Will prayed, easing open the door and taking quick glances in either direction before briskly moving toward the nearest door and what he hoped was another bathroom. Checking again that Hannibal wasn't coming down the hall he opened the door and peered inside.
On a bright note, he had found his laptop, on the downside Hannibal had stayed awake waiting for him and was looking questioningly at the naked, blood-drenched Will leaving red fingerprints on his door. "Uh, bathroom," he tried to explain, knowing he would have to ask for a map after this.
"Next door to your left," Hannibal answered calmly returning to his sketch to give the naked man some privacy as he hurried to the next door and disappeared with the sound of it's close. Smiling at the half-complete sketch beneath his fingers, Hannibal wondered if Will would take insult to the touch of madness he'd added to his eyes, the cool intensity of control and violent derangement, or if perhaps he would hold more distrainment towards being drawn sprayed with blood and his hands buried in the body of his lovely realtor. With the hints he'd been leaving behind, Hannibal didn't expect his beloved to take much longer discovering who he was and then he would have his answer when he framed the sketch in his favorite sitting room.
Rising, Hannibal left the piece to be completed at a later date.
When Will came out of the shower nearly an hour later, his skin red and raw from the vigorous scrubbing, he found a set of blue satin pajamas folded on the bathroom counter and a note on top asking him to go to bed. "You should know better than that." Will scoffed, pulling on the underwear provided and leaving the soft fabric where it was, he didn't wear satin to bed, didn't wear anything more than his boxer-briefs and cotton undershirt, anything more would only be ruined by night sweats, and after what he'd done that night Will had no illusions of a good night's sleep coming to him, three in the morning or not.
Leaving the bathroom Will found the blood had been wiped from the door knobs and wood frames he'd touched during his wander; the floor spotless of any tracks he may have brought around the house. Feeling guilt swell at the thought of Hannibal in the basement cleaning up his mess, Will opened the door to the overwhelming scent of bleach. Coming down the stairs he saw the carcass gone along with the table and entrails, Hannibal pouring the pink contents of a bucket down a large double sink he had failed to take notice of, he could have scrubbed most of the blood off there before going up stairs if his mind hadn't been so muddled. Instead he'd made a bread crumb trail of blood through Hannibal's house and the Alpha had cleaned it up before he'd had the chance. "I was going to do that." Will ventured, still watching him from the stairs.
Hannibal smiled, glancing back at his mate, his floor would need another wash before he would be satisfied, but it was clean enough to let the Doctor sleep. "And I would have let you if this was not a murder scene of your own making." Because Will would have cleaned every ounce of the blood seeing it as the woman's he'd so feverously killed, not as the pig's that it had come from; something that Hannibal would have let his mate indulge in if he did not have certain appearances to maintain for the time being.
"I didn't mean for you to clean up after me, not last night, not tonight." Will frowned, disappointed in himself for having been such a poor mate to the Alpha who obviously cared for him. He'd been only tolerable to Hannibal since his order to sell; something that Will had to admit had been made in his best interest, even if he hadn't been impressed with his way of enforcing it.
"Due to the circumstances, it is fine, though I would request that you clean up after your own activities from now on, and refrain from bringing home livestock." With a hand on the small of his back Hannibal led Will up to their bedroom, finding himself rather pleased with the notion of having the Omega warm his bed again, it was worth every ounce of blood he'd wiped from the floor. "Where are the pajamas I had laid out for you?" He changed topic.
Will gave him a look, "I already ruin your sheets." He stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "As it is I think I should be sleeping on towels." In fact he had done just that on a number of nights when sleeping in the guestroom.
Though the idea of having Will wrapped in soft ocean blue satin was a tantalizing thought, he could not complain if the man was determined to sleep all but naked. "I enjoy the thought of you wrapped in silk and satin, it is a very pleasant fabric to have against one's skin." He left him in the bedroom disappearing into the ensuite. "You've certainly enjoyed it's feel more than once."
"Are you flirting with me Doctor?" Will called as the door closed, the sound of water running was his answer.
Never one for socializing, Will could count the number of times he had been flirted with on his fingers, and three of those instances now belonged to the Chesapeake Ripper; but it was a nice feeling, especially after having the Alpha take care of him the last two nights, even if only in sending him to bed while he handled the make shift crime scenes. But it was enough to make Will feel like an ass for boycotting their room for so long, pissed as he'd been.
Pulling the blankets back and folding them across the end of the bed to reveal soft silk sheets of crimson red, Will discarded his underwear and waited for Hannibal.
Ten minutes later the Alpha emerged, hair only slightly damp from being toweled, but otherwise dry and dressed for bed. "I was not expecting this kind of reaction to the flirtation." Hannibal said, unbuttoning his night shirt as he approached the grand bed, eyes drinking in the sight before him, Will laid out across the crimson sheets, his cock in hand making gentle slow strokes, his skin becoming flush with arousal as he awaited his Alpha.
"It's been a while since we've flirted." He smiled at the toned stomach, always amazed at how much hard muscle was hidden beneath the Doctors waist coat. "It's a thank you," He said, watching as Hannibal paused in his undress, "It's because I want to, not because I feel I owe you." He corrected, "I'm not a whore."
Rude when scared, rude when nervous, both a brand a fear, Hannibal mused, resuming his task. "No, I would never think that of you." He confirmed, "I simply do not want you feeling as though this is an obligation, if we are to make love it must be something you want."
Releasing himself he reached up, taking Hannibal by the waist and pulling him down on top him, "I want to." He confirmed, leaning forward to capture him in a kiss, his arms wrapping around the Alpha's shoulders to hold him against him as their erections brushed, bringing a quiet moan to Will's lips with the friction.
"I've missed your company," Hannibal spoke against satin lips, his hands skimming the heated flesh of his flanks, finding their way around the small of his back to hold the Omega closer against him. "Our bed has been lonely without you."
"Liar," Will smiled, nipping his lip as they kissed, "Our bed could never miss someone who sweats lakes and wakes the house screaming."
Hannibal buried his nose in soft chocolate curls, taking in the scent of everything that was Will, "I have missed your company, the shouting only bothers me when I am not there to help you settle your fears afterword."
Will frowned, looking at strong shoulders and old scars, his fingers tracing along some of the fine lines and his mind wondering what Hannibal might have done to acquire such scars, "Why do you care so much? The whole bonding experience had been a mistake on both our parts. You don't have to fake anything for me," It was the first time he'd ever witnessed true displeasure cross those usually careful features.
"I would never disrespect you by pretending to have any feelings for you that I do not hold. What happened between us in Wolf Trap can be explained as nothing short of a 'happy accident', I would have been forced to refer you to another psychiatrist had it not occurred." He forced Will to meet his eyes, letting the edges of anger flicker across maroon.
It took the empath a minute to process what he was saying, not because he couldn't read it in his face and in his eyes, but because he couldn't believe what this man was saying. "You liked me before?"
"It was part of what made your scent so irresistible to me Will, I have held an interest in you for some time now, it was something I knew sooner or later would ruin our doctor/patient relationship and need to be addressed." He captured his lips in a feathery kiss, "I understand that you have been rejected before, but know that there is nothing forced on my part, this is exactly what I want."
"I'm broken Hannibal, bad goods, you could do a lot better than me."
"I don't want better Will; I want you, and everything that comes with it."
The next kiss was passionate, Will throwing his arms around the other man's shoulders and holding him close. This man loved him, wanted him exactly as he was with nothing fixed or changed, it was something Will knew he would never find again.
Spreading his legs to better accommodate his lover, Will wrapped the long appendages around the Alpha's waist, locking his ankles at the low of his back; he could feel the head of an erection pushing against the cleft of his ass and he wanted it inside him. Arching himself into the kiss and the touch, he rocked against the swollen head, letting his demands be known without lifting his lips from the fevered kiss.
Feeling his lover's growing arousal, Hannibal complied, slowly pushing himself into the sex so not to hurt his eager lover, the entrance tight from lack of stretching and wet with slick.
"Let me know when you have adjusted," Hannibal whispered over soft moans that parted lips.
"I want to feel you, I don't want to adjust," Will said, pushing down onto the heavy flesh stretching his insides. He felt full with the thick member inside him and he didn't want any of that feeling to fade away with relaxed muscles and well-prepared flesh; he wanted to feel as much of the man who loved him as possible.
Trailing nips and kisses from his stubbled jaw to the crook of his neck as he set an easy pace, taking his time pleasuring the pliable man beneath him.
Will moaned his name, arching to meet each leisurely thrust of his Alpha, leaning back into the pillow as waves of pleasure coursed through him, feeding the fire in his belly with each movement, but it wasn't enough, would never be enough, short of crawling inside the flesh of the man on top of him Will would never be as close as he needed to be right then.
Powerful hands held him close to the alpha's body, one arm looped beneath his lower back to control the pace and the other supporting his head bringing him up to meet kisses when they trailed the length of his throat back to his lips.
"I love you, Will," He murmured, accent made heavy with arousal. "I will always love you." He whispered warm against his ear, listening to the catching breaths of his Omega as the confession brought him closer to his edge, pushing a hand between them he captured Will's member, running the pad of his thumb over its sensitive tip, smearing beads of pre-cum across its head, making Will give shuttering gasps as the thrusts continued, their pace picking up as the pair came closer to their breaking point. "And nothing will ever take you from me."
Will came, coating their abdomens and his hand with hot fluid, smearing it between them as Hannibal laid himself back across him, looping his arm around him once more and pushed deeper inside, burying his face in the Omega's neck to lose himself in his scent as he focused on his own pleasure now that his mate had been sated.
Gripping his Alpha with feelings of want that had not been so strong before, he moaned his name again as he felt the warm heat empty inside him, the Alpha stilling as he spilled his load deep within.
They remained that way for several minutes, enjoying the feel of skin to skin and spent between them, their breaths slowing to normal.
Splaying his fingers through ashen hair Will silently stared about the room, loving the lazy kisses that continued to grace his neck, Hannibal seemingly content to remain nuzzled up against his throat for the time being as he analysed the room he'd avoided for nearly a month.
A few things had changed since he's last slept in Hannibal's arms and his fingers stilled when he caught sight of one of them, something not quite right within their room; a vase sitting on the bedside table that would have been his.
It was filled with roses, dahlias, carnations, and baby's breath.