Sometime after Will meets Hannibal, Alana decides that it's safe her to be alone with him. She can control herself; she can control her curiosity and the twisty feeling in her stomach she gets when she's near him. He's getting help to control his empathy, to be stable. It's as close to normal as they were likely to get.
She invites him out for dinner after she finds him in Abigail Hobbs' hospital room. It's more of an order phrased as a request for company but he finds himself to hungry to care. They end up in an authentic Italian Pizzeria that is more rustic that Will expects from someone who dines with Hannibal on a regular basis. The food is delicious and the conversation light. She's deliberately distracting him from the events of the past few weeks. He likes it. Friendship is nice, he decides consciously as he drives himself home. He gets home just before midnight and texts her to tell her that he's home safe. She replies with a smiley face, calling him Cinderella.
*/*
Will drives them to the Minnesota airport the morning after Marrisa Schurr is found dead and Nick Boyle attacked Abigail Hobbs. Alana has a severe concussion and her tolerance for movement and noise is extremely low. Jack's sunglasses are pushed high on her nose and she leans against the window, dozing in spurts. It's the quietest Will's ever seen her. It worries him.
When they get to the airport, he carries her bag and she loops an arm through his as they wander through the airport. His badge lets them bypass the line in security. She falls asleep on his shoulder less than five minutes after they're seated on the plane. Will shifts and wraps an arm securely around her, tucking his coat over her. The air hostess gives them a look, as if to say how cute they looked together. He avoids meeting her gaze.
The flight is uneventful and thankfully void of screaming children or snoring adults. Will wakes Alana just before they land. She groans softly and presses her head against his shoulder. "They always skip this part in the movies."
"The effects of a concussion or the hours of monotonous travel?" He keeps his voice low so it's almost a whisper.
"Both." She pulls back, blinking as she moves too fast. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sleep on you."
"It's fine." He stretches his lips into a smile. "My dogs are also of the opinion that I make a good pillow."
She smiles. "Then your dogs have good taste."
*/*
They both become too busy to meet regularly but keep in contact by text and email. Alana updates him in broad terms about how Abigail is healing slowly and current affairs. Will replies sporadically. Sometimes he emails her anecdotes about his students or dogs. He feels pressure to respond more frequently but he doesn't want to darken her days with talk about the cases Jack has him working. He doesn't want to let Alana see him weak. He's self-aware enough to know that's his pride talking. It's been a long time since he cared enough about anyone to consider how they saw him. People usually give up and abandon him when he fails to make eye contact. But not Alana. She's constant.
*/*
After the Gideon interviews, Will suggests they get lunch. They go through a drive through and eat in the car; neither of them are in the mood to deal with humanity in general. The radio is tuned to a station with happy pop music they don't recognise.
Will breaks the silence by asking how many times she's interviewed people like Gideon.
"More than once." She evades answering him properly.
He takes her signal and drops the subject. Getting into people's heads like that takes a toll on your psyche that no one wants to admit to. He only does because he has no choice. His wounds are too obvious.
*/*
The next case is in New York. It's big enough to be the front page of every newspaper in the city. Jack brings the entire team out to New York. Alana consults on the case, splitting her time between New York and Baltimore. Zeller and Price piss of the New York Forensics Unit with their constant bickering conversation. Beverly sends them to opposite sides of the building to work. Jack finds himself doing more press conferences than police work and Will pops aspirin like it's candy. Freddie Lounds stalks them across the city like a petulant hyena.
It takes them 16 days to catch the killer.
None of them have slept for more than four consecutive hours for days. Will's convinced it's the right guy but there isn't enough evidence. Jack orders Alana to interview the suspect and two hours later, they have probable cause to arrest him due to his inconsistent answers and a possible location for the murder weapon.
Will knows that Alana is brilliant. He's heard people credit her as one of the best psychiatrists in her field. But as he watches through the one way window in a New York City police station, he understands for the first time. And he realises just how disciplined she is around him. She could get inside his head so easily if she tried, if she wanted to.
Will's never been more glad that she's his friend.