AN: Thank you all for reviewing, I'm really gratefully. But I'm still trying to fill out requests in my ask on tumblr and I can barely keep up with those. I want to fill out all the prompts, barring anything outrageous, so if you have a tumblr send it there else I'll forget it. It's under the same name, same icon. If you don't have one and you REALLY want to send a prompt then send me a private message because, I kid you not, I have the memory of a goldfish and will FORGET.

Interlocking his finger and reaching high in the air, Will stretched and gave a quiet groan of content. Winston trotted up as Will sat on the porch and laid his head on the profiler's lap to look up with big brown eyes.

"Oh, no, you're not getting out of it," Will laughed as he scratched behind the dog's ear. "Everyone's getting a bath today."

Winston made a noise that could have almost been taken for disgust as he left, tail high in the air.

Will set out the large basin on the lawn after lunch. The dogs whined behind the screen door, pacing back and forth. Perhaps it was with at the prospect of a bath or maybe at the black BMW pulling up in the driveway. Shielding his eyes against the afternoon sun, Will couldn't help the smile that came at the sight of who it was.

"I didn't know you were coming by," Will said as Hannibal came to join him in front of the porch. He dropped his hand to put it in his pocket.

"Is it a bad time?" Hannibal eyed the hose and row of shampoos.

Will shook his head. "No. No, I was just going to give some of the dogs a bath. Do you want a coffee?"

Hannibal brought up a hand to rest on Will's neck, tilting the other's head up with his thumb. "Did you sleep last night? Are your headaches worse?"

"I'm fine." Will stepped back and grabbed a bottle of dog shampoo. "Are you going to stay long?"

"Perhaps."

"Would you…would you stay the night?"

The corner of Hannibal's mouth turned up in a smile. "Of course." He unbuttoned his blazer and hung it on the railing along with his vest before he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

They knelt together with Winston between them, scrubbing him down in a fine lather of shampoo. Hannibal seemed to drift off, lost in the motions because he began to hum softly at first then began to sing under his breath.

Ein Männlein steht im Walde ganz still und stumm

"What's that from?" Will asked, gently rinsing soap from fur.

Hannibal blinked, just realizing what he had been singing. "Oh, it's…a song from when I was a boy." He rubbed Winston down with a towel. "My parents use to sing it often to us before they died."

"Us? You had brothers and sisters?"

There was a beat of silence. "A sister."

"You never told me that. What's her name?"

"Mischa." Hannibal cleared his throat. "She's gone, buried near our family's home."

"I'm sorry," Will said softly.

Hannibal rose and clapped his hands together. "I'll make us coffee then we'll finish with the others."

Will watched the doctor leave, scratching absentmindedly at the head of dogs following closely on his heels.