Absolution
Rainbow Haired Girl
Summary: With Will now behind bars. Hannibal must try to keep himself ahead of the game. Will his wife be able to keep him from trouble or will things go south? Book 2 of Estranged Wife.
Authoress Note: Welcome to the second book of Estranged Wife. Welcome to Absolution. I know that I've been waiting patiently to write this next story continuing on my journey with writing Hannibal. I know that you guys are probably excited to see what will happen in this book. There are a total of 65 chapters for this story and of course I'm debating on continuing on after the next book going into Silence of the Lambs and then into Hannibal. What do you guys think of that? Do you guys want to see Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal made into this series as well? Please let me know. I guess I should stop rambling and get started on the first chapter of Book 2. ENJOY!
Chapter 1
Margarita came into the kitchen slowly seeing her husband gently pulling the flesh of a sea urchin out of its shell. She bit her lower lip softly as she watched him work in the kitchen. She loved seeing her husband work on food. She watched him thinly cut a pink piece of meat and arranged it on the clean bones of a fish adorned with sauce.
Hannibal looked up at his wife seeing her watching him. "I could feel your eyes on me Rita." He mused softly, his lips quirking a bit as he looked at his blonde haired green eyed wife.
Margarita's lips quirked up into a knowing smile. "Well, our guest is waiting for us to come out with dinner." She said as she carefully went to help him.
Hannibal let out a soft laugh knowing that there was a guest in their dining room waiting for dinner to be served. "You've come to help me finish it then?"
Margarita let out a soft giggle nodding her head. "Yes, of course. Our daughter is waiting too with Jack, which I'm surprised that Jack was alright with me coming in here to help you."
Hannibal let out a soft hum. "Might want to be careful with that. Mischa will chatter his ear off."
Margarita ducked her head slightly trying to conceal her giggling, which didn't work out all that well.
Hannibal picked up two of the plates while Margarita grabbed the other two. The two of them entered the dining room.
"This course is called mukozuke. Seasonal sashimi. Sea urchin, water clams and squid." Hannibal said, placing the plate in front of Jack.
Margarita carefully placed her daughter's plate in front of her.
"Beautiful." Jack said, looking at it.
"Kaiseki. A Japanese art form that honors the taste and aesthetic of what we eat."
"I feel guilty eating it."
"I never feel guilty eating anything." Hannibal said, pouring Jack a glass of wine.
Margarita carefully put her plate down next to her husband's setting. She slowly sat down as Hannibal poured her a glass of water and then moved to their daughter pouring her some water as well.
Jack took a taste of the sashimi, savoring it. "Can't quite place the fish."
"He was a flounder." Hannibal said as he sat down. "I last prepared this meal for my Aunt Murasaki under similarly unfortunate circumstances."
"What circumstances were those?"
Margarita pursed her lips together knowing what Hannibal was starting to get to. His Aunt Murasaki's husband had passed away and he prepared the meal for her during the time of mourning her husband.
"A loss. This is a loss. Will is a loss. We're mourning a death."
"Will's "death" is on me."
"It's on both of us."
"It's the last thing I think about going to sleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up. Will's gonna be convicted of five murders. I'll be convicted of one."
"You're not on trial."
"I will be. In the halls of the FBI. So will you. According to Will Graham, this was all you."
"Will was your bloodhound. You can't ignore where he points." Hannibal said as he began to slowly eat.
"I'm not ignoring it."
Margarita slowly ate trying to not let Jack's words haunt her. Her heart pounded inside of her chest knowing that this wasn't a good sign.
"You have to investigate me. It's in my best interest, and yours."
"I'm also not ignoring the fact that my bloodhound went mad before pointing your direction."
"We can't define Will only by his maddest edges."
"We can't define Will at all."
"Daddy." Mischa said in a small voice.
Hannibal's eyes slowly slid over to his daughter. "Yes?"
"This is good."
Hannibal's lips quirked loving the idea that his daughter was taking after his wife and him enjoying Japanese food. "I'm happy to know you like it."
Margarita let out a soft chuckle. "She takes after us, meilė."
"It seems she does."
HANNIBAL
Margarita sat in the car with her husband as he pulled up outside of the Hospital for the Criminally Insane. She slowly looked over at her husband out of the corner of her eyes. "Are you certain that you want to talk to Will?" She asked, her voice coming out fairly soft. She was unsure of why Hannibal wanted to see Will when he was asked for. After all, with everything that she saw back at the Hobbs home it had scared her to death to think that Will would have shot her husband.
Hannibal turned his head slightly to look at his wife seeing the concerned look upon her face. "I know you're worried, Rita."
"I have every right to be. He held you at gunpoint Hannibal, and you acted like it was nothing." Margarita said rather concerned about what would happen with this visit.
"That is why you were coming in with me, to make sure that Will is well behaved."
Margarita let out a soft sigh rubbing her face softly. "Hannibal I'm three months into my pregnancy and you know of course I'm going to come in with you. I have to have words with that idiot for hitting me on the side of the face knocking me out." Margarita grumbled in frustration not liking the idea that Will had knocked her out and did some damage to the side of her head when she had fallen.
Hannibal carefully took her hand in his. "But he didn't do any harm to you or the baby. Lasting damage. I would be more worried if he killed our child."
"Which luckily he didn't." Margarita said carefully, removing her hand from his letting out a soft breath.
HANNIBAL
The cell block klaxon sound and the gate door opened and then closed as Margarita and Hannibal entered the hallway.
Margarita gripped her hands tightly at her sides as she walked alongside her husband. She didn't know why Hannibal was so willing to do this, but she knew in a way perhaps it was to help Will.
Hannibal stopped outside of Will's cell keeping Margarita close to him knowing that she wasn't happy about what was happening. "Hello, Will."
Will opened his eyes to see Hannibal and Margarita standing outside of his cell.
"Dr. Lecter. Margarita."
"Lost in thought?"
"Not lost. Not anymore. I used to hear my thoughts inside my skull with the same tone, timbre and accent as if the words were coming out of my mouth."
"And now?"
"Now my inner voice sounds like you. I can't get you out of my head."
Hannibal pursed his lips in thought before replying to what Will had said. "Friendship can sometimes involve a breach of individual separateness."
"A blurring of self and friend?"
"Yes."
"You're not my friend. The light from friendship won't reach us for a million years. That's how far away from friendship we are."
Hannibal looked at the young man that was in the cell. "I imagine it's easier to believe I am responsible for those murders than it is to accept that you are."
"Sure is."
"Your inner voice can provide a method of taking control of your behavior. Accepting responsibility for what you've done. Giving those thoughts words encourages clarity."
"I have clarity. About you."
Hannibal blinked, adjusting his tack to make sure that nothing was revealed to Will. "Our conversations, Will, were only ever about you opening your eyes to the truth of who you are."
Will stepped closer to the bars, closing the distance between them. Only inches now, but separated by the barrier. "What you did to me is in my head and I'll find it. I'm going to remember, Dr. Lecter, and when I do, there will be a reckoning."
Hannibal smiled at this and then nodded proud of what Will was doing. But he knew that Margarita was seething beside him. He knew that at that moment she hated Will for doing what he had done just a few weeks ago. "I've got huge faith in you, Will. I always have…"
HANNIBAL
Margarita sat next to her husband in the car as he drove back towards their home. "You had to invite Dr. Chilton to our home? And you have to make a meal with no meat. You know Mischa is going to wonder why no meat." Margarita said as she shifted next to him in the passenger seat.
"I know that you're worried about what our daughter thinks, but perhaps she'll be fine with this meal."
Margarita let out a soft breath. "Perhaps, but I know she doesn't like Dr. Chilton all that much."
"And she's told you this?"
"Yes, she has, she feels very uncomfortable around him. And Hannibal I'm uncomfortable around him as well. He makes my skin crawl."
Hannibal pursed his lips in thought. "Has he done or said anything to you that you dislike?"
"He's looking at me Hannibal, with wandering eyes." Margarita said, shuddering a little bit. She always hated the fact that Dr. Chilton always stared at her like she was some prize to be won.
"He's stared at you?"
"Yes, it's like he thinks I'm a prize to be won or something." Margarita said as she looked out the window.
Hannibal gripped the wheel in his hands tightly, not liking the idea that Dr. Chilton had been ogling his wife like she was some sort of prize or a piece of meat.
Margarita heard his hands on the wheel knowing that he wasn't pleased with knowing the truth that she had told him. "Hannibal, I know you're not happy with knowing that Dr. Chilton has been staring at me."
"You're right, I'm not. Why didn't you say something about it?"
Margarita let out a soft breath rubbing her face softly. "I thought he was harmless. I mean he hadn't really done anything as of yet."
"Staring at my wife isn't harmless, Rita. I will be sure to watch him to make sure that he doesn't do that. I'll make him understand you're my wife not his."
Margarita looked at Hannibal out of the corner of her eyes. "I know you want to protect me Hannibal. Especially now."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
This is the end of Chapter 1. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I have to admit that I'm going to try my best to make sure that each of these chapters are long so I don't feel like I have to apologize all of the time if a short chapter ends up coming out of this part of the series. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. We have a bit of Hannibal with Margarita being a happy couple. A little bit of Jack and Mischa. And now we have a bit of Will at the end. Reviews help me keep going when it comes to writing stories. I will hopefully update with the next chapter next week. Until next time.