Doctor Stephen Strange was seriously cowed, which was surprising and one he would vehemently deny if asked hours or even years later.

One moment he's battling rogue members of the Order side-by-side with The Ancient One, Wong, and Mordo. Granted, Mordo wasn't enthused about that fact; whether it was Strange or The Ancient One or both was not something the man was willing to discuss with the group. Well, that was good because Stephen wasn't willing to discuss such things with the man after how he had been acting once finding out The Ancient One was genuinely ancient in a way that went against what the order stood for.

Stephen could understand being upset with the woman and it would be justified, but he acted as if he were the only person affected by her choices. That alone showed the doctor what kind of man Mordo was and he wasn't looking forward to having to chase him down when he eventually became the very thing he swore to protect people from. What was worse in his opinion was that Mordo didn't seem to realize that was the path he was headed down, which disappointed him more.

Abruptly, directly after Stephen tripped one of the zealots using the golden whips of magic (a woman, but he never knew any of their names besides Kaecilious) when a portal opened behind the eccentric man and his followers.

Everyone tensed up and froze in their battles. This was not what any of them had expected to happen. What startled them more was the shout of rage coming from the other side. It was so loud and rage-filled that Strange could have easily considered the portal leading to wherever Dormamu was locked away.

"Hannibal Lecter!"

The colour drained from Kaecilious's face. Quite literally, as the purple and black colouring around the man's eyes turns grey. His eyes light up with an excitement that confuses Strange beyond belief. A glance at Mordo and Wong showed they were just as confused as him, but The Ancient One didn't look surprised. She looked excited as well.

Her excitement paled in comparison to Kaecilious's, especially when a well-dressed man with short, curly brown hair stomped through the portal. Kaecilious' face stayed cold, but there was a small tick upwards of his lips as he turned to face the man storming towards him.

"Ah, dear Will. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" That gave Stephen pause on its own, but the fact that the zealots parted like the Red Sea while also bowing to the man now known as Will, caused the usually calm doctor to drop his jaw in shock.

Will did not stop his tirade towards the blonde with his words. In response to Kaecilious' speaking, the brunette pulled a knife from his belt and lunged for the man.

Stephen choked on his saliva as he could do nothing but watch as Kaecilious dodged the knife and pulled Will into his chest. For some reason that Stephen couldn't name, he was not worried about getting a knife in his back. He was lucky that Will had already calmed down by that point, and while he didn't drop the knife his grip had loosened.

That was when he heard The Ancient One sigh in relief. He turned to face her when she began speaking, "I am so glad that those two are back together. It has been so long since they were separated that I had worried they would never reunite."

"What exactly is going on?"

She smiled sagely at him, "Kaecilious had come to me long ago attempting to find his husband-"

"Husband?!" Stephen, Wong, and Mordo exclaimed in shock.

"Is there a problem with that?" Even though the three knew they could supposedly take Will in a fight they also knew that it wouldn't be worth it due to this being a misunderstanding.

Stephen was quick to respond. He did not want to end up dodging a knife next. "No, that was not what we meant. We were simply shocked that Kaecilious was married."

Will was confused, "Kaecilious?"

"Me, darling," Kaecilious addresses the man.

"So you've been using a different name?" Will questioned his husband. "Well, no wonder I had such a hard time finding you!"

"Wait," Mordo began. Looking at the man showed another look of betrayal not dissimilar to the earlier one that rocked his world. Stephen and Wong share a look, internally groaning at the black-and-white worldview the black man had. "So your name isn't Kaecilious?"

The man in question shakes his head politely. How he could do such a movement after such heinous acts that were committed throughout his time as a Master, let alone that day, Stephen couldn't fathom. "No, my name is Doctor Hannibal Lecter."

Now, that name was one Stephen knew all too well. For the first time since getting help after his accident, he showed real, true fear at the mere presence of this man. Taking a step back, knees shaking was all it took to draw their attention to him. He had been told that Dr. Lecters eyes could sometimes look like the colour of blood but he had not believed it. Now he sees it for the truth it was. And what a terrifying truth that made. The way he looked at Stephen sent chills down his spine - no, it sent ice through his bloodstream.

Stephen Strange knew, and Hannibal Lecter knew that he knew as well.

—

"How did we end up in this situation?" Stephen sighed, shaking his head. This was a terrible idea. The doctor had heard great things about Dr. Lecter, but he had also heard the worst of the man. It seemed as if he was the only one thinking about this. Add to it, Lecters husband was going to be there as well as the zealots.

The Ancient One; Tao, she'd told them to call her by her name now. Tao simply smiled at him in that way only she could do. The smile was meant to create a calm atmosphere but only served to cause terror. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

Wong and Mordo, both look severely uncomfortable in fancy suits instead of their usual master robes and sense the feeling of impending doom that Stephen does. If it hadn't been for that dark cloud hanging over their heads he would have laughed at the two. Stephen was used to 'monkey suits' as they are commonly referred to, but the two men beside him were not.

The look Stephen sends Tao is deadly. It didn't phase her, however.

A glance around the room caused his back to go ramrod straight. The amount of animal skulls and miscellaneous bones crafted into intricate art pieces wasn't the worst thing he had seen before. He was rich once, and when it came to the eccentricities of the rich there could surely have been worse. What made Stephen uncomfortable was his knowledge of why Dr. Lecter had left the psychology field.

The fact that Hannibal Lecter was a well-known serial killer and a cannibal to boot. Not only that but an enforcer as well. His renowned dinner parties had been one way to feed law enforcement the victims of his crimes, the people they were trying to give justice to.

Added to that knowledge was that the killer's husband was Will Graham, a former profiler for the FBI was here and married.

The only consolation that he had was that Will was the one to invite the group but he had insisted that they would be having trout. More specifically, trout that he had fished himself some days ago. Hannibal had looked mildly irritated at the prospect but that was mainly because he couldn't be the cook. One of the conditions of their marriage had been that any meal with fish was a meal that Will would prepare and that Hannibal would have no part in it.

Sitting at an extremely long table, Hannibal sitting at the head with the zealots sitting on the left of him while Stephens group sat on the right with one seat directly beside Hannibal's right empty. Since that was the only seat left Stephen could take a gander that it was where Will would be seated. The fact that the ex-profiler was the only thing separating Hannibal Lecter from Stephen Strange was not a comforting one.

The zealots, whom he still did not know their names, were simply happy to be included. They hadn't reacted much to his statement besides glancing in his direction.

Stephen jumped when a plate was sat on the table in front of him. A lovely display of trout on a bed of spinach and parsley, lime slices periodically and methodically placed to perfection. Stephen had been so out of it that he hadn't noticed Will entering the dining room nor did he hear what he said about the dish and how he had made it. From the information Stephen had gotten, that was a common action that Hannibal did during his dinner parties. It was slightly unnerving.

Even as everyone dug in there was a tenseness surrounding Hannibal, Will, and Stephen. It worried him because he could not tell if the tenseness surrounding Will was simply due to him being in the middle of the two former doctors or if he was winding himself up, getting ready to pounce.

—

"The trout was divine, Will," Hannibal praised his husband, holding the younger hand as he lowered himself onto the couch. It was a genuine and sweet gesture that caused small smiles and withheld coos.

Once everyone was seated in the sitting room, a glass of excellent red wine in hand Will made a whistle. Before anyone could question what he was doing two dogs bounded into the room and towards the man, hackles raising faintly at the sight of Hannibal who looked down at them with a sigh.

"Who are these two?" Wong asked. He was vibrating, wanting to get down on his knees and start petting them but held himself back if only for the sake of his image of the cold librarian.

Will chuckled. "The bloodhound is Abigail and the German Shepard is named Beverly."

The scowl on Lecters face was not something any of them had been expecting. Neither was Will patting him gently on the thigh and commenting, "Don't scowl. It's not my fault they hate you. Maybe they're the reincarnation of the two."

No one was willing to brave the question of what that reference was meant to be so they wisely stayed quiet. For some reason, they all knew that if they did they wouldn't like the answer.

"Also," Will continued. "It's not like my bad habit of taking in strays is the worst thing right now." The look of pure glee on the man's face was enough to light up the room. "It's yours."

Hannibal goes to retort before he pauses, eyes widening. "That is not the same thing and you know it."

"Sure," Will laughs. "That's why you came home dragging behind you seven new puppies." The zealots, who before this moment had been sitting calmly, ironically in the same way Abigal and Beverly were sitting looked up as if knowing the brunette was talking about them. "See!" Will exclaimed upon seeing that. "They already act like puppies." Their faces turn bright red but they don't respond, knowing that it was the truth.

Stephen had to admit that was kind of adorable. This dinner party had turned out to be better than he expected.

He jinxed it. He must have, otherwise he wouldn't be in the same room as both Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham alone.

Hannibal was lapping up the smell of fear radiating off of the man.

Will takes pity on Stephen and holds out a business card. "These are our phone numbers, if something happens we would be glad to help. It's been a while since I've had some action that didn't involve killing."

Stephen shivered at the knowledge that Will wasn't all that innocent in terms of his husband's crimes. He gratefully accepts the card, though, because extra help is extra help. Hopefully, he won't need to call them in, but never say never is a saying for a reason.

With that he leaves with the rest of his group, noticing the zealots have stayed behind.

It seemed they were gladly accepting their new role as strays for the two.