Once Beverly had been taken back to the House, given proper medical treatment, fed and left to sleep for the night under Barney's watchful eye, the mates had finally been able to return home. As expected, the place was silent and dark, their children had likely gone to bed house ago, so Will had ascended the stairs quietly to change while Hannibal had taken everything to the basement to store neatly away from prying eyes. He'd made quick work of cleaning up and changing into his night things then made his way into the nursery to check on the pups. The pair slept peacefully inside their cribs with their beloved toys like the little angels they were; could the children of two murderers be angels? Was their even a demonic equivalent of cherubs? Hannibal entered the room behind him then and snaked his arms around Will from behind so his chest was to his love's back.
"I've said it before, but we do make beautiful pups, Will." The alpha could say it as many times as he liked as far as Will was concerned, it was a fact after all. Spitting images of their papa but with Will's dark hair. The omega yawned. "You should go to bed, I will check on Abigail then join you. It has been a busy night."
Will managed to spin around in Hannibal's arms to rest his head on the older man's shoulder. "You're right. Thank you for doing it tonight, for bringing Beverly back."
"You are very welcome, but you never need to thank me for giving you what you need. You are my omega, it is my duty as your alpha to ensure you want for nothing."
A tiny laugh escaped Will. "Killing is going above and beyond, don't you think?"
A loving kiss found its way to the top of Will's head. "I take my role as your alpha extremely seriously, Will."
Oh, there wasn't any denying that. Another yawn overtook Will then and Hannibal wasted no time ushering him out of the nursery and toward their bedroom for some real rest. Meanwhile, Hannibal crossed the hall to push Abigail's door open. She rubbed at her eyes as she pushed herself up in her bed.
"Hannibal?"
"Hello, Abigail. Will and I have returned, thank you for watching over your siblings. Beverly is at the House resting, she is safe now."
That startled the teenager to being wide-awake as a smile spread across her face. After a few moments of confirming everything was well and Beverly was indeed free of Oliver's tortures, Hannibal walked to the bed to tuck Abigail back up for the night. He kissed her forehead just as lovingly as he kissed those of Claude and Veronique then backed up to the door once more.
"Night, Hannibal."
"Goodnight, Abigail. There will be a fresh protein scramble in the morning."
With the twins checked on and Abigail tucked in once more, Hannibal slipped into bed with a sleepy Will who always looked so adorable with messy hair and no glasses. There would be time for proper showers in the morning, for now the pair just wanted sleep.
"Did you check on Abigail?"
Will was pulled closer as Hannibal nodded. "I did. She is pleased Beverly is safe but half asleep so I put her back to bed."
If the public ever found out Hannibal was the Chesapeake Ripper it would be all anybody ever remembered about him, the only thing to define him, but Will had seen just how deep and complicated his mate truly was. Even Hannibal likely hadn't realized how much love he was capable of until mating and having pups. Will saw all of it though, saw and adored everything.
~X~
The following morning Hannibal had risen early, showered then made his way into the basement to make those sausages he'd planned on with the parts they'd taken from Oliver. As he worked he listened to the news go on about another Ripper victim found and the grotesque way he'd been posed. While there hadn't been any mention of The Corpses of the De Witt Brothers painting – the FBI had likely wanted to keep that morbid connection quiet – media had commented on the team up of two prolific serial killers and what that could mean for the area. Journalists would stir things up as much as they could of course, especially Freddie Lounds, to sell as much as they could as quickly as they could. 'The public has a right to know' was a common statement from many a journalist, but really most of them used it as an excuse to further their own careers. They hounded authorities, harassed families and trampled crime scenes with no regard to who they hurt in the process. No, they didn't do anything for the public's benefit, just their own.
His thoughts were interrupted when Abigail descended the basement stairs with a glass of juice in her hand. She padded closer to him eager to see him work which just earned her a smile from Hannibal.
"They look good."
"I'm glad." He placed the final link of sausages into a metal tray then set about cleaning his equipment down. "Good morning, Abigail."
"Morning." She sipped her orange juice. "The twins are awake and playing in the nursery, Will is still asleep. Do you want me to wake him up for breakfast?"
Hannibal shook his head. "No. Breakfast will be a while yet so let him sleep. I still need to clean things up here and portion the sausages before I cook anything. I will call you all when it is ready."
"Okay. Is he the guy who hurt Beverly?"
"That is correct."
Abigail paused a moment to just look at the tray of meat Oliver Cornwallis had become, then, after another sip of juice, she finally spoke once more.
"You should take the rest to the House. He took from Beverly so she should take it back."
That had Hannibal smile. "I couldn't agree more, Abigail. Now, go back upstairs, we can't have the twins alone for too long."
She didn't need telling twice, just headed upstairs with her drink while Hannibal did what he did best. It was another forty-five minutes before she saw him again. Will had woken and taken over watching the twins to see to their own breakfast so, after feeding Winston, Abigail had found herself at a bit of a loose end. Then the waft of her adoptive father cooking had lured her into the luxury kitchen.
Adoptive might not have been the right word, Abigail didn't technically exist and nor did Will any longer. Dolarhyde had mentioned knowing some people who knew some people who could get pretty detailed fake identities made, something which Hannibal had given serious thought to, but they were expensive. As far as Abigail understood it, were Hannibal to acquire these fake identities for her and Will, they'd be used to gain a marriage licence for he and Will mostly for legal purposes such as proving guardianship rights to the twins, while Abigail's would be used with the reassurance of Omega Lives to legally have Abigail adopted into the Lecter family. Will's lack of proper documentation was the primary reason the twins only had Hannibal's surname rather than going by Lecter-Graham as they'd originally wanted.
Still, none of that was of any great importance that morning, so Abigail just slipped into the kitchen and up to the island. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to her new home, each room felt more dramatic than the last, everything a performance but amazingly not ostentatious. The various shades of blue throughout the house somehow made her think of the night sky even on the cloudiest of days and what house honestly needed so many fireplaces? What she remembered of the house she'd shared with her birth parents was mostly boring beige and tan colors, somewhere to live with little personality. Now she really thought about it, maybe that had been a result of her father hiding the serial killer he was; Hannibal didn't fear showing it off though, he wanted people to look. No man who cared little for drama and putting on a show had chairs with carved hooves for feet in their living room. Fearless, that was Hannibal – perhaps audacious would have been a better description.
"Is there anything I can do to help? Will is with the twins."
Hannibal flashed her a smile, a more loving and fatherly one that Garret Jacob Hobbs ever had. "You may set the table, that would be of great help. You will find all you need on the third shelf on the right in the closet in the dining room."
"I can do that. I have wondered why it's such a large closet though." Hannibal cocked an eyebrow, everything in his house was lavish, even the closets. "It's just, Will sent me in there a few days ago to get the twin's high chairs out and I – it seemed kind of big for a closet is all."
Abigail didn't remember the closets at her childhood home, but she knew for a fact they wouldn't have been as large. That closet was almost the size of their rooms at the House. Hannibal seemed to read all of her thoughts on her face because he suddenly nodded in understanding.
"That storage closet was originally the pantry while the pantry I have now-" he gestured with his knife to the door in question "- the back staircase. About a year ago I remodelled, closed off the staircase since I never used them and had a custom pantry fitted. Upstairs where that small reading nook that Winston likes to curl up by is, that was where the stairs originally let out. It is more functional this way."
She supposed that explained why the closet was so large. Without any further questions Abigail saw to setting the table while Hannibal finished breakfast and made coffee. Will had once accused the coffee method of requiring a degree to operate it, but nobody could argue with how good Hannibal's coffee came out. Soon Abigail had set the table and brought the high chairs out so the twins could join them, then went to call Will to eat at Hannibal's behest. Swiftly everybody assembled, including Winston who wasn't ever far from Will's side when he was home, and they all sat down to fill their bellies.
"Wonderful as always, Hannibal." Complemented Will after a bite of eggs.
"I'm glad to hear it." Oh he was, Hannibal wouldn't go fishing for complements, but he'd soak them up when genuinely and freely offered.
They discussed their days as they ate, Hannibal had a few patients to see and Will wanted to have a lazy day with the children, Abigail though, she intended to read whatever she could get her hands on in an attempt to regain her literacy. This was something Hannibal admired, her determination and drive to not let her past at the House define her. Will would, of course, assist in any way he could since he'd spent the last year doing exactly the same, but Hannibal made a mental note to purchase pens, pencils, notebooks and anything else which would aid in her learning.
~X~
Dolarhyde had managed to provide Hannibal with the link to the latest of Marcus' auction catalogues, something Hannibal's curiosity had all but forced him to look at. Hannibal had done some truly dark things in his life, most would likely label him a monster, but that catalogue had put his evils to shame; made the Chesapeake Ripper look like a fuzzy kitten. Each omega had been stripped naked and photographed from all sides, they came with lot numbers and a basic description such as their height, weight and age. The youngest Hannibal had seen advertised was eight, younger than Abigail had been when Mason Verger had stolen her away from everything she knew. The whole thing was a sick pornographic menu for rich lowlifes with no decorum. Anger bubbled up inside him as he waited for his next patient to arrive, Hannibal Lecter didn't give into his anger though so took a few calming breaths as he tried to force memories of Mischa out of his mind. His sweet sister hadn't deserved her fate and nor did the children Marcus Delamare sold into sexual slavery. Hannibal had already begun to suspect Veronique would present as an omega when the time came, she was just as dainty and quiet as Mischa had been at that age, and Hannibal wouldn't for one second risk her being spirited away by somebody like Marcus. Vladis Grutas had paid for what he'd done to Mischa – what he'd made Hannibal do to Mischa, and he'd continue to pay with Chiyoh as his warden until the day he finally perished inside that cage. Marcus' death would come much sooner, but he'd suffer first, Will would insist upon it.
A glance to his watch had Hannibal set his tablet aside and rise from his seat. He'd been making quite some progress with Albert Stanley as of late and had no intentions of jeopardizing that. A normal day was called for, it was what Will and Abigail had wanted, some peace after all the death and trauma, maybe that was what Hannibal needed as well.
Another dinner party was in order as well, he missed the excitement of tantalizing the palette and creating edible masterpieces. Perhaps he'd be able to coax Will down to join them again and use it as an excuse to show of Abigail as the latest member of his family. Abigail Lecter did have a nice ring to it. Procuring those fake identities was something he'd need to devote some time to as well, get Dolarhyde to act as a middle man for him. Will would likely be fine keeping his real name as long as they edited his state of birth, Abigail was a different story. The Minnesota Shrike wasn't a forgotten memory, people remembered his name and the daughter who'd survived; Abigail could stay for that was a common enough name, the Hobbs would need changing though. Hopefully she'd not have too many objections since she'd not have to keep it very long. With Alana's unwitting help he'd hurry adoption papers through and soon have her legally his and Will's daughter.
