I do not own
...Christmas Eve…
The music of the Sugar Plum Fairy was played as Penolepe and five other little girls dancing to it. Annabelle, Hannibal and Mischa were sitting with the rest of the parents and watching the dance performance. Penelope had practiced long and hard as she had the lead role. She wanted to be perfect for her family to see. Anna couldn't help but smile at her little girl. The little girl took the role with pride as she glides, twirls and jumps when she's supposed to. When it came to an end she and the other ballet dancers posed before bowing to the crowd. The curtains closed at the performance and all the parents got up as they applauded.
When the performance was over they had gone to the Gallo mansion as they were invited for their Christmas eve dinner. At the party there were many people that were wearing masks, incoulding the kids. Everyone was enjoying themselves as they danced and chatted among each other. All the kids had just opened the presents that were given to them. It wasn't long till a bell was ringed and dinner was ready. The adults had sat in their assigned seat at the long table while the children sat at their own table. Hector, who was at the head of the table, stood up and held out his glass to make a toast.
"May we thank the gods for another festive holiday and hope that our sacrifices pleases them. Let's pray for another wonderful and fruitful year for our family." Hector said "To the Gods."
"To the Gods." Everyone cheered
So far the night was another wonderful event. The girls had so much fun that they nearly fell asleep on the way back home. Before the girls were sent to bed Hannibal had read Penleope the book 'The Night Before Christmas.' When she fell asleep he then started reading 'A Christmas Carol' to Mischa. Anna had gone to check on them and smiled as she saw that Hannibal and Mischa had fallen asleep. So she silently walked in the room and covered her youngest before waking Hannibal. He groggily woke up and was able to get up without waking Mischa. When she was covered up he kissed her head before wrapping an arm around Anna and they headed to their room. For once Hannibal had a wonderful Christmas and was with his family.
When morning came Hannibal had his arm wrapped around Anna, holding her close to him in his sleep. The two were hoping to sleep in but of course it wouldn't happen as it was Christmas day and Penleope was the first to wake up and entered their room with Medusa and Mintore behind her. She ended up climbing on the bed and jumped up and down on it. The dogs stayed on the floor as they knew better than to jump on their mistresses bed.
"It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" She gleed "Wake up, Mommy, Hannibal. It's Christmas!"
The two groaned from the unneeded awakening. Her mother was able to calm her down and told her to go downstairs and wait for them. Penelope got off the bed and hurried downstairs with the two dogs behind her. When she left the two stayed in bed for a few minutes before getting up themselves. They heard Mischa and Cerberus heading downstairs as well while placing their robes on. The girls were giggling as they sat by the Christmas tree, pulling out presents that had their names on but didn't open them yet. They waited for their parents to sit down with them and gave them the okay to open them. The girls all enjoyed their presents. Penelope had mostly dolls, toys, some clothes and the pink bike that Hannibal got her. Mischa had new clothes, shoes, books, an Ipod tablet and decor stuff for her room. Her favorite were the boots and new snow parka jacket and matching boots that Hannibal got her. Annabelle had gotten Hannibal a few new Armani suits and a rolexs watch. She also told him that there was another gift for him but it was for later in their bed. Hannibal had gotten her the tablet and the Chanel leather jacket and perfume she wanted. The dogs themselves had gotten new toys, treats and new beds as well.
Once the presents were done Annabelle had the girls clean up the wrapping before telling them to take their stuff to their room. Hannibal had placed his suits in the walk-in closet before they could get wrinkled. He looked over and saw Anna setting up her tablet. He walked over towards her and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you for my gifts." He said
"And thank you for mine." She smiled and kissed his lips. "When tonight comes I'll show you your other gift I got you."
"Looking forward to it." He smirked
He pecked her lips again before heading downstairs to make breakfast.
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In West Virginia, Wolf Trap, Raven gone to Wills' house for Christmas. She was the one that had helped decorate his house for the Christmas holiday this year. Nothing big, just a few light decorations, a riffe on the door and a small christmas tree. Will hadn't celebrated the holiday for a while but Raven was able to get him on board with it. The two had just woken up and were now sitting down next to the fireplace opening gifts. They had gotten the dogs a few new toys and treats. She got the ones with short hair sweaters for the snow. Before they could exchange gifts themselves his phone rang.
"I wonder who decided to be the Grinch this Christmas." She muttered
He smiled at her joke but sighed as he answered his phone. The case was a death of a family of four. They had died the night before and it was at the dinner table. The father and the kids were killed off first and the mother was last.
"All right, Karen and Roger Turner, childhood sweethearts. Owned a successful real estate business. Pillars of the community. Three children." Jack informed
"Minus one." Will said
"A son. Jesse. Disappeared last year. Last confirmed sighting had him boarding an RV at a rest stop on Route 47. Possible runaway, probable abduction." Jack said
"Or both. Will stated
"When misery rains, it pours." Jack said
"False faces in family portraits. Layers and layers of lies betrayed by...A sad glint in a child's eyes." Will recited
"Norman Rockwell with a bullet." Jimmy said as he took pictures of the scene.
Jack asked them about any signs of forced entry but there were none.
"I got bullet holes on the upper sections of the wall, and again over here." Kat said
"Okay. Pull the slugs for ballistics." Jack said
"If they aren't frangible, it shouldn't be a problem." Kat said
"Those elevated termination points match what I'm seeing with these bodies. Angular cranial impact coupled with acute exit wounds, conical spray." Zeller said "Shooter went low to high. Probably crouching."
Hearing this gave Will the idea that the killer might be Jesse.
"When was Jesse abducted?" He asked
"Uh, over a year ago." Jack said with raised brow.
Will didn't say anything yet as he wanted to make sure first.
Back at Wolf Trap, Raven headed back to Will's house the next day to walk and feed the dogs while Will was gone. On the second feed she brought Mischa, Penelope and their three dogs. Raven had brought the dogs a few times and they got along with the pack but as an alpha Cerberus didn't take well with Winston. So Mischa just kept him close with her as he would always listen to her.
"So what did grandpa Hector give you for Christmas?" Raven asked
They were in the kitchen making homemade dog food while Penelope entrained the dogs. Mischa was mixing the carrots and peas while Raven was cutting the homemade sausage they got from Hector's farm. They were gonna mix them up with the white rice that was boiling on the stove.
"He gave me a new Butterfly Knife for my knife collection." Mischa smiled "I can't wait to use it for our next lesson."
"Ohh, sounds like it's going to be fun." Raven said "Remember you can't take that to school."
"Aw." Mischa pouted
"I know about the whole Andy Bishop incident." Raven said
Andy Bishop was a boy in grade that had a crush on her for nearly a year. She was known as one of the hottest girls in their grade and he had always wanted her to be his girlfriend. Mischa never liked him and thought him to be creepy. He had asked her a few weeks ago but she said no to him and he didn't take it well. Before she could walk away he grabbed her by the arm and out of instinct she ended up kicking him in his groin and punched him in the face. He tried again another day, with another attempt, from what he learned from his father and groped her butt. This led her to punch him harder in the face that she ended up breaking his nose. She knew that she should have told her parents but she wanted to handle this her way. One of the ways was to just teach him a lesson with her knife and maybe cut a few of his fingers…and other things.
"You need to tell your mom and dad about this boy before you sentence him to death." Raven said
"He's a pervert and a spoiled brat that throws a tantrum when someone says no to him. His parents let him get away with anything. He needs to learn a lesson." Mischa said
"You're still in training. You shouldn't be planning such a lesson without your teacher around." Raven said
"Don't worry. I am my parents' daughter. I always step ahead of the game." Mischa said
Raven looked at the young preteen with a brow raised. Each day she was starting to sound more like her parents. She had Hannibal's will for patients and always planned steps ahead. Then she had Annabelle lust to see blood and plays with her victims with tortured. It was almost scary and intriguing in what kind of killer she'll be.
"So when does Will come back?" Mischa asked
"He should be back late. I think he is having a session with your father right now." Raven said as she looked at the clock.
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"Tell me about your mother." Hannibal asked
"Some lazy psychiatry, Dr. Lecter." Will huffed "Low hanging fruit."
"I suspect that fruit is on a high branch." Hannibal said "Very difficult to reach."
"So is my mother. Never knew her." Will replied
"An interesting place to start." Hannibal suggested
"Tell me about your mother. Let's start there." Will said
Hannibal didn't want to but in order to get Will to open up more he decided to give a little information.
"Both my parents died, when I was very young. Then the proverbial orphan until I was adopted by my Uncle Robertas when I was 16." He said
"You have orphan in common with Abigail Hobbs." Will said
"I think we'll discover you and I have a great deal in common with Abigail." Hannibal said "She already demonstrated an aptitude for the psychological."
"Something so foregin about family… No offense but…it's like an ill-fitting suit." Will sighed "I never connected to the concept."
"You created a family for yourself." Hannibal said
"Well, I connected a family of strays." Will shrugged
"I was referring to Abigail." Hannibal said
He knew that he hit a nerve when Will looked away; knowing that he was right. Then he changed the topic to the family in the new case Will was doing. Will didn't mind this.
Since Will was his last appointment he went home so he could make dinner. Tonight he was having Jack over again. Sadly neither his wife or Annabelle could come as their jobs had them stay behind. Hopefully next time. Hannibal knew Annabelle would love his little mind game he plays with his puppets. He believed that Alana must have told Jack about his family as he noticed the photos Hannibal had of them on the wall.
"Is this Annabelle and your girls?" Jack asked
"Yes it is." Hannibal said
"Which is which?" Jack asked
"The youngest one with dark brown hair is Penelope." Hannibal said, pointing to the photo of the little girl in her ballerina tutu. "The oldest one is Mischa." Pointing to the photo of his Mischa playing on the tire swing that's hooked to the treehouse.
"They're very beautiful girls. I feel sorry when boys start going after them." Jacked said "You're gonna have to beat them away with a stick."
Hannibal knew that day would be years away but knew if any boy gave his little angels a problem they'll be on a missing poster and never be found.
He then showed him to the dining room where the table was set and served the meal.
"A modified boudin noir from Ali-Bab's Gastronomie pratique." Hannibal said before sitting down. "You promised to deliver your wife to my dinner table."
"Well, we're gonna have to polish up our act." Jack said "We can't have you diagnosing our marital problems all in one fell swoop. What am I about to put in my mouth?"
"Rabbit." Hannibal said
"He should've hopped faster." Jack joked
Oh Jack had no idea how right he was. Hannibal mentally smiled at the memory of the hunt of the man he had taken Mischa with. It was one of their favorite father and daughter time.
"But fortunately for us, he did not." Hannibal smiled before taking a bite.
Jake hum in agreement.
"Our friend Will seems haunted today." Jack said
"We don't know what nightmares lie coiled beneath Will's pillow." Hannibal said
"Children killing other children is not that unfamiliar a notion to Will." Jack replied
"You still suspect Abigail Hobbs in her father's crimes." Hannibal said
"That and the Pegan cult too." Jack said "Perhaps the nightmare under Will's pillow is that he was wrong about her."
"Children transport us to our childhoods. Will may feel the tug of life before the FBI. Before you." Hannibal stated "Simpler times in boatyards with Dad. That life is an anchor stringed behind him in heavy weather. He needs an anchor, Jack."
After dinner Hannibal had cleaned up the table and washed the dishes before heading upstairs and took a shower. When he was done and got dressed he sat down on his bed and called Anna. The house was too quiet with the girls in the house.
"Hello Hannibal. You called at a good time, I just got home." Anna said "How was dinner with Jack."
They talked for a few minutes before he asked to talk to Mischa. To his surprise she was still awake.
"Why are you still awake?" He asked
"I was having fun practicing with my new knife." She said "Watch what I can do so far."
She showed him a few switch moves she could do with protective gloves on. He couldn't help but smile at how good she was getting.
"Do you think if I get better I could use it on our next hunt?" She asked
"We'll see, my Angel." He smiled
They talked for a few minutes before Anna came in and told them that it was time for bed.
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The next few days, but Will and his team were able to find the 'Lost Boys'. They were able to find who the missing kids were and where to save the third family that they were about to kill. Kat was able to shoot the woman that kidnapped them in the shoulder before she could shoot Will or the kid. Sadly Chris wouldn't be able to return to his family. He and the other kids were gonna have a lot of therapy. Will headed home and unshockingly he saw Raven at the house. Seeing her at the house always made coming home feel much better. It felt more homey.
After his last session Hannibal had headed to Annabelles' home as he was spending the week there. When he entered the lot he saw Mischa and her friends playing in the treehouse. Mischa had gone over to greet him before going back to play with her friends. When he had settled in he went to start dinner but did kept an eye on kids outside to make sure his daughter was okay. He had to admit that he was intrigued by these kids. They were all students from her special classes. There were a few that had certain traits of either Psychopath, Sociopath and Border personality disorders. The two psychopaths in the group he knew to watch for were Author and Jermey. Mischa and the teachers seemed to have got them in line but Author had the habit of losing control and going overboard. Killers like him sometimes had to be killed as they drew too much attention and could risk his family. He knew that he would have to talk to Hector about him. He noticed that they had stopped when two bikes were riding up the lot.
When they got closer Author smirked as he took out his slingshot and shot a marble at Andy. With good aim he managed to hit the lead boy in the head, making the boy hit the ground. Author and Jeremy high-five each other.
"Go see what he wants, Jeremy." Mischa said
Jeremy nodded and shimmy down the robe that was attached to the treehouse. He grabbed his new metal bat that he brought and walked over to the three boys.
"What the hell, Author!" The second boy yelled
"Shut up, Freddy, before I hit one in your eye." Author said
"What are you doing here, Andy?" Jeremy said "You know you're not welcome here."
Andy groaned as he got and rubbed his forehead.
"I just want to talk to Mischa." He said
"Didn't the punch in the face she gave you, tell you that she's not interested." Jeremy glared "Perv."
"Look…"
He went to stalk up to him but stopped when Jeremy held up his bat and pointed at him.
"Do you need another beat down? I can break your arm to add to that broken nose?" He smirked, "I don't mind breaking this in with anything."
Andy backed away at the mere sight of it. Author and Jeremy were known to be Mischa's muscles and anyone that crosses them always ends up bad.
"Now...hop on your fucking bike. And get the fuck out of here." Jeremy said in a threatening tone.
Seeing that look on Jeremy's face Andy and friend backed off and rode away. Jeremy just let out a psychic laugh as he headed back towards the group.
"Very intriguing." Hannibal hummed before continuing with dinner.