Roses Under Cypresses

Chapter 2

"I'm not letting you decide without a fight this time," Harry commented quietly, as if sensing Will's thoughts. "I let it happen last time because of the danger you'd have been in. That danger now…has passed, I finally got the last ones arrested and soon they'll be executed." The Dementors would suck out their souls and they'd be left to wither and die in St. Mungo's either that or finished off with the killing curse – a mercy really – since it was just a body left. He was at long last finally safe from any retribution from the last of the Dark Lord Voldemort's followers.

Will stiffened before relaxing, he'd always wondered at why Harry hadn't fought him. He'd assumed the novelty of having a family had worn off. That he'd been eager to get back to his own life. He'd convinced himself it had been for the best, the work he did…the darkness inside of him…the last thing he wanted to do was ever hurt Harry. "I'm sure you can visit when you have the time." Will said caustically.

Harry just smirked wryly at his attempt, before his gaze softened, "How are you feeling?" well aware of his recent sickness, it had been in the file along with everything else about Will. Including his recent career change and a bit of information about everyone Will worked with. He'd read it again at the airport in between phone calls. "Don't try to bullshit me," he added absently, "Are you getting the care you need to recover?" not only had he been suffering from Encephalitis and a gunshot wound.

"Why am I not surprised you got your hands on my medical records?" Will grumbled, "I'm fine," he stressed out, and actually meaning it, he was recovering well, grateful to have full control – or as full as he ever got – of his faculties.

"What's been happening?" Harry asked, leaning forward, staring intently at Will, he needed to know everything in order to help him after all. Sympathy was interlaced in his voice, knowing it had to be someone that knew Will a great deal. Will didn't get on with others easily, which made the betrayal all that more profound. Seeing the look on Will's face he added, "Don't worry, they can't hear us, the recording equipment will find itself…filled with static." A wry smirk stretching across his face.

"A while ago…I agreed to go back into the field," Will said bitterly, wishing he had stuck to teaching.

Harry nodded, he was already aware of that, "Idiot," he muttered, "Didn't I warn you of the consequences of that?"

"I was saving lives," Will protested, but it was a weak protest, as if he had said it to himself a million times but didn't actually feel it. .

"Since when did you really care about the lives of strangers when it comes to your own mental wellbeing?" Harry asked, perturbed, just how many bloody people had Will absorbed into his mind? Just how much had Will changed since they spent time together last? "Merlin, Will, did you ever read the book I left for you?" on how to control his empathy, on making sure the only damn person inside of Will was Will.

Will guiltily looked away, and it was all the answer Harry needed.

"That book would have told you how to deal with your empath abilities you plonker," Harry snapped out, resorting to words he hadn't used since before coming to Hogwarts in his irritation. "Enabled you to flush out anyone you accidently absorb!" it was his fault for not stressing how important it was to read the book too.

Will just grimaced in reply.

Inhaling sharply, "We'll deal with that later," Harry stated, he'd get good quality potions, he'd need to use an exceptional Potions Master. Potions had never been his strong suit, he knew how to brew the basics, but anything long and complicated he avoided. Then he'd need to hunt down a particular magical amulet…perhaps he should have done so before he left Will all those years ago. Then again, if Will had discarded such an artefact – after the hypothetical price he paid – he would have killed him himself. So perhaps it hadn't been best. "Go on," encouraging him to tell him what he didn't already know.

Hannibal methodically and carefully put everything in it's place in his office. Nothing in his gait suggested he was in a rush to go anywhere. Acting as though he hadn't just been sitting staring at a empty chair for an hour and was eager to see Will, even if it was behind bars. Silently like the predator he was, he stalked up the ladders and replaced the books he'd removed and selected another.

His keen hearing picked up the sound of his phone vibrating in his jacket pocket. He must not have removed it from silent after his last patient for the day. He rather hoped it wasn't 'dear old Jack' because he wasn't forgoing his appointment to see Will to keep Jack happy.

Removing his suit jacket from it's hanger, he slid it on and gracefully with one move to the next, as if it were perfectly calculated smoothly extracted his cell phone and answered it. There was no caller ID. This didn't perturb him, since quite often there wasn't one.

"Doctor Lecter, how may I help you?" Hannibal said, as he gathered up his scarf and gloves, preparing for the drive to BSHCI.

"Ah, Hannibal, glad I caught you…" Chilton said, voice as always oozing smugness, it was his usual tone of voice that made anyone who met him wish to kill him.

"Frederick, is there a problem?" Hannibal offered up, impatience building up, he detested being late, it was rude.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel your appointment with Will Graham," he said, sighing dramatically, as if it was a massive burden upon him to pick up the phone.

Annoyance thrummed through Hannibal, "Might I ask why?" had something happened to Will? Had he relapsed? It was all very last minute and he abhorred that sort of thing. Placing his scarf and gloves on while speaking.

"A special agent is with him right now," Chilton grumbled out, sounding peeved, his smug superiority gone.

"You mean Jack?" Hannibal was definitely more than just a little vexed. Was Jack already that desperate that he was asking Will for aid after arresting him?

Chilton chuckled, "Jack only wished he had those sorts of connections, no it's someone from MI6," curiosity bleeding through.

Hannibal's face visibly showed his surprise, someone from the secret intelligent services was talking to Will? Worry began to squirm in his gut, it was one thing to play with the FBI but SIS? What could they want with Will? Did they know about him? One thing was clear…he was going to have to be extremely careful with each move he made. "I see," was all Hannibal had to say, his voice as placid as ever, showing none of his apprehension.

"Would you like to make another appointment?" Chilton suggested, given Will Grahams words, he was curious to hear what they'd say to one another. He would hear what they said to one another…unlike now, he was hearing nothing but static, he must have something on him that was preventing him from hearing what was going on.

"At this moment, no," Hannibal explained, as he exited his office, looking up as he went, "I'll call you back tomorrow morning once I've checked my schedule." It had been difficult getting that appointment, Chilton took too much pleasure in having Will under his thumb, but Hannibal was patient, knowing what was in Chilton's future soothed the beast within him. He'd had to protect himself, Will, even with his illness, had been getting too close to the truth.

"I won't be available tomorrow morning, I'll have Will in therapy after his appointment at the hospital," Chilton replied, where he was his most vulnerable, went unsaid but definitely understood by both physiatrists. "Call tomorrow after one o'clock," he added.

"Very well, one o'clock," Hannibal agreed, trying to unobtrusively look around as he made for his Bentley, watching out for any strange vehicles or people around these parts. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, but that didn't relax him. The knowledge that someone from MI6 talking to Will had him on high alert.

"Rude," Hannibal muttered, as Chilton hung up without saying goodbye, sliding his phone into his pocket, "What's to be done about that?" he unlocked his car, and swiftly made his way out of the parking lot, watching for reoccurring license plates from his rear-view mirror.

Will Graham was a former homicide detective for the New Orleans police, who lost his job due to his inability to fire his gun. Thus, he took up teaching instead, teaching the FBI trainees forensic class. Will didn't like to socialise, so the job was perfect for him, he was talking to them, not with them. Or he was teaching, until Jack Crawford who had heard of Will's unique abilities, which Will would say was 'interpreting the evidence' which made him an extremely valuable asset to the FBI, and Jack Crawford desired him in order to aid them in hunting down serial killers for the BAU. Regardless of what it cost.

If you were to ask Will, he would state that his 'His horse is hitched to a post that is closer to Asperger's and Autistic's' which may be true in mild form, a great deal of his problems were indeed down to his 'Empathy' disorder and thus he used them as excuses.

Will has an incredible gift for empathy, easily being able to sense and interpret the feelings and motives of other people, specifically killers. However, this has a downside; whilst it makes him a brilliant profiler and invaluable asset to the FBI, it also feeds his own darkness, which begins to resurface more and more often with Hannibal's help.

The first case put to Will was the Minnesota Shrike, who not only killed young teenagers, but consumed them, Garrett Jacob Hobbs, did not see what he did as murder but saw himself as a hunter, easily luring the girls with the aid of his young daughter Abigail, who could have been sisters to all the girls, and was his 'golden ticket' as coined by Will. Unfortunately, due to the 'Copy Cat's' interference – whom Will now knew to be Hannibal Lecter – the serial killer killed his wife, attempted to take the life of his daughter before Will – who had never been able to use his gun before – suddenly found it easy to unload ten bullets into Hobbs effectively killing the man who had terrified parents and teens alike, especially if they had fitted Hobbs MO.

After the case was laid to rest, that should have been the end to it. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy for Will, who had come out of this with fatherly feelings for Abigail Hobbs who he had orphaned. Blind to her true nature, through sheer stubborn blindness, incapable of seeing her for what she was…an accomplice to her fathers crimes. His 'friend' and sometimes 'Physiatrist' Hannibal Lecter did not help matters either, 'rubber stamping' Will and allowing him to return to the field. All the while suffering from seeing Hobbs not only in his nightmares but while attending to other crime scenes. Jack sought to break Abigail whom he suspected her part in her fathers murders, and decided to return her to Minnesota, to the cabin and her home. Which only resulted in the death of Abigail's best friend Marissa and Nicolas Boyle, the brother of one of the Minnesota Shriek's victims. Marissa killed by the 'Copycat' they suspected to be Nicolas Boyle but was in fact the work of the Chesapeake ripper. Nicolas Boyle was butchered by Abigail Hobbs who Hannibal helped clean up the crime scene and hide the body in order to prevent her being an 'accomplice to her fathers' crimes'. Nicolas was declared responsible for Marissa's death, when his blood was found in the victims teeth. He supposedly attacked Hannibal, Alana and Abigail before taking off.

He was never heard from again.

One particular bad case, was when Will was working on a serial killer Stammets who found his victims through his job as a pharmacist. After abducting them, he would bury his victims alive but in a drug-induced coma in a shallow grave in the wilderness and plant fungi on top of them. To feed the mushrooms and keep his victims alive, he would inject the victims with sugar water intravenously through catheters and give them air through tubes suspended in nearby trees above ground, it was long enough for the fungus to eat away any distinguishing characteristics. The bodies were discovered by three boys walking around the woods. He tried to kidnap Abigail Hobbs, pretending to be a doctor in order to connect her with Will Graham, but was shot in the shoulder and apprehended by Will before he was able to leave the hospital.

Despite another success, Will's health continued to decline, as he was put on the 'Lost boy's' case, children who were being influenced by a strong motherly figure into killing their families by their abductor who wanted them to 'burst for love for her' a year after they were abducted. During this, Hannibal had continued his 'manipulations' to have Abigail associate Will and himself as 'parental figures' for the orphaned girl, unfortunately, Alana interrupted his plans. Will successfully solved the case, and yet another case was solved with his abilities.

The next case involved Elliot Buddish, the 'Angel Maker' who's bloody ritual included cutting the flesh of his victims backs and stretching it out to look like angels wings. Being back in the field was now beginning to take a serious toll on Will's health, who had been ignoring his growing problems, which consisted of sleepwalking down a deserted street in Virginia. As the case continues, Will due to the stress of his job, his illness and prodding of Hannibal Lecter lashes out at Jack Crawford. Hissing out that he should get his own answers. The stress of his job was beginning to damage Will's psyche and he knew this but continued to ignore it. His desire to be out in the field was…all he'd ever wanted.

Will and Jack visit the farm in which Elliot's life-or-death experience occurred as a child, information they'd found out from his wife. It's there they find Elliot Buddish dead, hanging from the rafters, angelic like his previous victims. This will be the last one. The failure to catch Elliot weighs on Will. He doesn't know how long he can go on with this job - it's killing him, and it's getting increasingly harder to get inside the minds of these killers. Jack says Will doesn't have to do it alone, but Will knows that's exactly what he has to do. Jack offers an ultimatum before walking back to the car - if he wants to quit, quit. Eventually…Will just couldn't turn and quit after being able to get back out into the field and the minds of these serial killers…but was it his own emotions he was feeling or that of Jack Crawford?

Even if Will had decided to quit, Jack Crawford would not have allowed it. Not for long, due to the fact that the 'Chesapeake Ripper' struck again, despite having not killed for over two years. The nurse was killed by a patient Dr Abel Gideon, who was incarcerated in Baltimore's state Hospital for the Criminally insane having snapped and killed his wife and her family. Jack was ecstatic to think that the Chesapeake ripper had been caught, only for Will to tell him he saw the ripper but didn't feel him. Gideon believed he was the Ripper but he wasn't. Jack in all his seething wisdom decided to goad the Chesapeake ripper into acting, by bringing Freddie Lounds into the picture. Which resulted in the Chesapeake Ripper into retaliating by playing with Jack in turn, taunting him with a recording of Miriam Lass, a trainee that Jack allowed into the field against protocol. Then for his usual flare, the Chesapeake Ripper left Jack Miriam Lass' arm with the cell phone which had recorded the message to Jack earlier in her hand to cause him further pain.

Will continued to do his job while Jack was not only burdened with his wife's illness, her impending death as she had stage four lung cancer. Jack instead of dealing with it, became determined to find the Chesapeake ripper, finding it easier to deal with than his wife. Unfortunately, for will, he wasn't able to give Jack the news he clearly wanted, who wanted to believe the 'Organ Harvester' they were chasing was in fact, the Chesapeake ripper. It was not, in fact, it turned out to be a part-time paramedic Devon Silvestri…and on another note, the Chesapeake Ripper – whom Will now knew the identity of – threw a grand dinner party, having killed four victims.

The next serial killer had actually murdered someone in order to 'serenade' them. Of course, with the killers best friend Franklin, in therapy with Doctor Hannibal Lecter, who broke patient confidentiality in order to tell Will that Franklin's best friend Tobias Budge wanted to 'open someone up and play them like a cello' leading the profiler straight to the serial killers door in order to see what would happen. Which resulted in the death of Franklin and Tobias in 'self-defence' by the 'good Doctor' who later proclaimed he may have a 'true friend' in Will.

Will's worse episode came when he was investigating bodies attached atop a totem pole. One minute he was at the crime scene…the next he knew three and a half hours had gone by and he found himself in Doctor Lecter's office with no idea how he got there. It was during this time Nicolas Boyle's body resurfaced, and Jack believed it to be the work of Abigail Hobbs and wanted her brought in. It was during this time that Will figured out that Abigail was responsible for Nicolas Boyle's death, and when he went to Hannibal with this information…Hannibal confessed to knowing and having helped her clean up the crime scene. Will unethically, let it go, having no desire to see Abigail or Hannibal arrested for what he believed – and refused to contemplate anything else – was self-defence. Tying will further still to both Abigail and Hannibal in the make shift family Hannibal was trying to create for them. It was during this time that Abigail confessed to Lecter that she was in fact, party to her father's legacy, and had helped him procure his victims by befriending them.

Will continues to decline farther still, hallucinating and losing time, while trying to do his best to help the BAU, and Georgia Madchen who was technically a criminal but in reality was just a tragic mistake due to her illness, suffering as she was from numerous illnesses from Cotards syndrome. Which makes her believe she'd dead, and takes away her ability to identify with people's faces, she mutilated and killed her best friends face deluded into believing she was an untrustworthy stranger. Hannibal during this time, set up an appointment for Will to be checked over, a scan, only to find out that he had no neurological problems. Soon afterwards, the doctor was killed in a similar manner of Madchen's kill of her best friend. And the kill was placed on Madchen's shoulders.

Meanwhile Will continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate, with nobody around him seemingly figuring out that something was very wrong. Regretfully, it was the one downside to someone who just did not care for people or social interactions. How was one supposed to know how badly off Will was when they didn't know him? To make matters worse, Doctor Abel Gideon escaped from Baltimore's State Mental Hospital and proceeded to try and lure out the real Chesapeake ripper, while trying to find himself, after the unethical psychic driving he underwent while in Doctor Chilton's care who wanted him to believe he was indeed the Chesapeake ripper in order to get the fame and recognition of having the Chesapeake ripper under his care the entire time and having finally caught him. Will's delusion of the 'stag' returns and he follows it, which eventually led him and Gideon to Doctor Lecter who convinces Will that Gideon is a figment of his imagination. Which allowed Gideon to escape, his desire to see what would happen if Will was pushed once more. Gideon went straight for Alana Bloom, a friend of Will's and a fellow physiatrist. Will went after them, succeeding in shooting Gideon before he collapsed and ended up hospitalised.

A comb was left in the chamber of Georgia Madchen, who accidentally sparks a fire inside her hyperbaric chamber and is burned to death. Angered, Graham deduces that several recent murders were all the work of a copycat patterning after recent serial murders, and that Georgia was killed because she may have remembered the face of whoever had killed Doctor Sutcliffe. Finally, despite his mental impairment was beginning to put the puzzle pieces together. It was during this time Will's mental state was finally noticed by Jack Crawford. Will released himself from the hospital and proceeded to take Abigail back to Minnesota determined to catch this copy cat killer. There he finds out for sure that she was indeed party to her father's crimes and could no longer remain in denial. Abigail fled when Will deduced her secret…and that was the last time he saw her.

Following his trip to Minnesota, Will gets taken into custody by Crawford for the probable murder of Abigail Hobbs. They find her severed ear in his kitchen sink and her blood under his fingernails. Alana is left devastated by the arrest and is determined to find the cause of Graham's dementia, despite Crawford's insistence that there is no underlying cause. Katz, Price and Zeller examine Graham's homemade fishing lures and discover that four of them have included elements of human remains, whose DNA matches all four victims of the copycat killer: Cassie Boyle, Marissa Schur, Doctor Sutcliffe and Georgia Madchen. Graham escapes from custody while being transferred and goes to Lecter for help, only to have Lecter demonstrate that it is feasible for him to have murdered all four people. Graham convinces Lecter to take him back to the Hobbs house in Minnesota, where he finally comes to realize that it was Lecter who called to warn Garrett Jacob Hobbs about his impending arrest and that Lecter has been manipulating him ever since to see how someone with Graham's unique ability would operate. Crawford arrives and stops Will from killing Hannibal by shooting him in the shoulder. After realizing exactly who Hannibal Lecter actually was…the Chesapeake Ripper.

Will is hospitalized, where his encephalitis is finally discovered and he is placed in a protective coma while undergoing treatment before being transferred to Baltimore's state hospital for the criminally insane.

That was three weeks ago.

"You let yourself get close to a physiatrist?" finally asking a question after listening to Will talk for the past hour about everything that had happened. Surprised despite himself, Will loathed physiatrists, for good reason, they wanted to 'get inside his head', believing he was entirely unique, when in reality he wasn't, he was just one of the rare empaths born without active magic. Then look what happened, the one he actually got close to apparently played him like a fiddle.

Muggle Empaths were dangerous, and that had been proven in the past, they had no mind shields to help them, but even those born without active magic could create mind shields with effort. They were literally driven insane by the constant influx of emotions of those around them. The book he had left, if he had ready it would had explained all that. He seemed stable and happy after leaving the front lines. More fool him. He could have driven himself insane.

Still could if he wasn't careful.

"He's the Chesapeake Ripper," Will admitted, "I couldn't see it," he stressed out.

"Hardly surprising," Harry stated, "Your brain was on fire. It's curious isn't it…tell me, Will, why did he let you live?" gazing at Will with a knowing look on his face. Yes, he was familiar with the Chesapeake Ripper, not just because of the conversation he'd just had with Will. He was familiar with everything that came through Baltimore, and what he hadn't known he had just gotten updated on pretty damn fast.

"I don't know," Will replied, "I didn't…"

"Yes you do," Harry retorted immediately, not caring that he was interrupting him, cocking his head to the side, was Will that deep in denial? "Why?"

"He wanted to wind me up and watch me go," Will admitted bitterly.

"You didn't need to survive for that," Harry pointed out, "You know what he is, you're a danger to him. All it takes is one person to believe you and it causes a domino effect…why would he let you live when no other has been allowed?" all the time Will had spent with this Hannibal Lecter surely he had a good read on him by now…unless this illness had affected his abilities, which it hadn't it just took longer for Will to figure it all out.

"Because he's lonely," Will admitted inhaling sharply, the admittance opened the floodgates so to speak. He'd only done this once, become one with Nicholas Boyle, it's how he'd realized Abigail had killed him. Whether it was in self defence or not…well that was in question now. "He wants someone who can understand, a friend,"

"And?" Harry added, guiding his brother along to the answers.

"He understands me, wants me to be free," Will confessed before shaking off the connection, refusing to feel it any longer.

Harry nodded, "Sounds about right,"

"I will never forgive him for Abigail," Will stated firmly, staring at the ceiling if it would give him answers.

"Abigail Hobbs is very much alive," Harry informed Will flippantly, "I know of every single person who has passed on and she is not on the list." He was the Master of Death. The magical world called him a Necromancer, just as the Peverell's had been rumoured to be…due to the fact Harry wasn't about to reveal his true nature to them. The only reason it had gotten out was because he had been stupid to trust Granger and Weasley. Who had shown their true colours soon after the defeat of Voldemort, and his utter disregard for Ginny Weasley, whom he had no desire to 'reconnect' with. Thankfully it was before he had figured out everything in the grand scheme of things.

"What?" Will croaked out hoarsely, disbelief warring with denial.

The outer door buzzed open interrupting their conversation.

"It seems our conversation for today is over," Harry stated standing up, "Don't worry, this will all be over soon." he would make sure of it.

"Where are you going to stay?" Will asked, hope brewing within him, Harry was powerful, magical, intelligent, if anyone could help him…it was him. "Do you still have the key to my place?"

"I was going to head to a hotel, and yes, I do," Harry told him, as the next door opened, their time was definitely cut short. He was hardly going to discuss anything while the interlopers were standing there.

"Then stay in in the house," Will offered. Harry knew Wolf Trap, had stayed in the farm house for months when they'd both been younger. Before he had told him he wanted nothing to do with him, trying to protect him from the growing darkness brewing within him.

Naturally he was unaware of Harry's own darkness. Harry was the only person other than Hannibal he hadn't been able to read (for a while with Hannibal)…regretfully Harry's Occlumency barriers had proven too effective in hiding everything, otherwise…well, who knew how things would have turned out?

"I'll bring your dogs home, shall I?" he offered as the last door opened, Harry ignored them focused solely on Will.

Will smiled, a real, genuine, smile regardless of the latest blow of finding out Abigail being alive. The betrayal he felt was staggering, and he wasn't sure who to direct it towards, Hannibal, Abigail or both. Nothing could make him feel better than just thinking or the mention of his family of strays.

"Times up," Chilton ordered, trying to put on an aura of authority, pissed beyond belief that the conversation they'd just had wasn't known to him.

Harry just snorted, not even attempting to hide his scorn, "I'll be seeing you," he commented, but whether it was to Chilton or Will…nobody knew.

Chilton blanched, but made no effort to escort Special Agent Harry Potter out of the building, leaving that up to the guards. Deep down behind all the bravado and false smug superiority was a coward, a fake.

You didn't need to be Will Graham to see it.

Nor did you need to be his brother Harry Potter.

Hannibal exited his Bentley, unobtrusively looking around as he locked his car and made his way into his home. Taking a great inhale, to ensure nobody had been in his domain, and he would know his sense of smell was so acute that he could detect cancer before symptoms emerged. He'd done so quite often, starting from one of his professors in school as a youngster and of course, most recently Will who he knew was suffering from Encephalitis, the fevered sweetness was unmistakeable. Bella Crawford, who was suffering from stage four Lung cancer was another example.

Hannibal contemplated emptying his freezer as he hung up his scarf, jacket and gloves. The thought was abhorrent to him, but when compared to his freedom, there was no comparison. Still, he had not expected what happened today, Will had always been unpredictable, despite everything, and it always excited him. He could confess in the weeks since…were boring to say the least.

He had not expected to miss Will with the ferociousness that he did.

However, before he could think more on the subject, as he had begun to do, he froze upon entering his dining room, zoning in on the figure brazenly sitting on his chair in his home. how on earth had he gotten in? His scent saturated this room and no other.

Dark green eyes met his, observing Hannibal right back with a wicked smirk that showcased his amusement at seeing Hannibal so wrongfooted in his own home.

There we go, bit more understanding for those who haven't seen Hannibal :) so will everyone know about their relation or will it remain hidden with nobody knowing about the 'incest' part so to speak :P what will become of Abigail? Will the little wolf need to be killed off to protect them? Or will she simply be obliviated and found? how long will it take for Will to forgive Hannibal for setting him up? What shall we see Will do in retaliation? Will Alana be in a relationship with Hannibal or shall we leave that part out? Or will we have fun at her at her expense? R&R please