Chapter Text
Hannibal knew that something was wrong the instant he woke up to the unpleasant scent of animals. Without even opening his eyes, he could feel the sheets were rough beneath him as opposed to his usual silk, further supporting his conclusion that he definitely was not in his own house.
Hannibal immediately switched into his fight-or-flight instincts, abruptly sitting up to get a sense of his surroundings. He found that he was in a relatively bare room that was painted a rather unusual shade of blue. He was brought some comfort when he recognized Will Graham’s bedroom. Sure, he was never officially invited into this area of the house; however, when asked to feed the man’s dogs as a favor, he couldn’t help but snoop around a little.
Yet, despite the dogs that wandered around outside the bedroom, the house was relatively calm. In fact, Hannibal couldn’t distinguish any other sounds that didn’t come from an animal. Where was Will? Hannibal couldn’t seem to even remember how he got here in the first place.
Hannibal decided to search for his patient, so he turned to get out of the bed. He narrowed his eyes when he discovered that he was wearing someone else’s clothes. Presumably Will’s, Hannibal further wondered what happened last night. His curiosity turned into vague fear as Hannibal hoped he hadn’t scared the younger man away.
The thin t-shirt was uncomfortable against his skin, yet somehow, despite the younger man being quite a bit thinner than he, the clothes fit. Hannibal pushed himself off of the bed, determined to find Will and inquire about why he couldn’t remember anything.
Suddenly, when he tried to stand, he collided gracelessly with the hard ground. His lip curled in disgust when he fell onto the filthy floor that countless dogs had treaded on. He pushed himself back up with a low grunt, finding that he was significantly weaker than usual. Not frail by any means, just less strong by comparison.
Briefly Hannibal wondered if he had been drugged. It would explain the memory loss as well as the weariness. But he couldn’t find a reason as to why Will would do this to him. The man was interestingly unpredictable, yet Hannibal never found him to act irrationally in most situations.
He stood up shakily, deciding he should check for any other physical injuries or symptoms that may have occurred. He made his way out of the bedroom to find the bathroom, only to come in contact with all the dogs. They immediately gathered around his legs, looking up at him expectantly. Hannibal paused, curious as to why they weren’t barking. They always barked at him whenever he came to Will’s house. He brushed it off and continued down the hall towards the restroom, leaning on the wall to keep his balance.
When he finally made it into the bathroom, he looked into the mirror in search of any physical side effects that he could be showing. He froze in shock, which was an unusual feeling for someone who was almost always in control. All his years of medical and psychological training could never explain what he saw in the mirror.
oOo
Will woke up surprisingly happy. For the first time in a long time, he had slept without any sweat or nightmares. He sighed in content, not wanting to open his eyes and face the rest of the day yet. Even the bed beneath him felt comfier than normal.
Will became worried after a few minutes when he found that he didn’t hear the usual whines from his dogs begging to go outside. His eyes shot open and he sat up, seeing that he didn’t recognize his surroundings at all. He felt his heartrate speed up, desperately trying to figure out where he was. The walls were royal blue, as was the bed. There were strange artifacts all around the room, and there was a fireplace right across from the bed. The bedroom itself was probably bigger and more expensive than Will’s entire house.
He jumped out of bed to look closer, feeling disoriented. In fact, his entire body felt off. He felt higher up from the ground, yet sturdier on his feet. Even his tongue sat weirdly in his mouth, and his teeth felt jagged and strange. He wasn’t wearing his own clothes anymore, instead he wore silk pajamas.
Will felt like he was going insane. He couldn’t remember anything from the night before, and now he was completely lost in a strange and potentially unsafe place. He considered the possibility that he had sleep-walked into a stranger’s house, but why hadn’t the stranger woken him up or at least taken him to the police? If Will had learned anything in his time being a criminal profiler for the FBI, it was that the world was full of dangerous creeps. Sure, this person could be completely normal, however Will wasn’t an optimist.
He decided his best bet would be to simply get out. Avoid all confrontation with whoever owned this house and just leave. Will hurried across the room to find an exit, stumbling awkwardly. He paused instantly when he passed by the mirror above the fireplace. He stared back at the reflection, wondering if he was hallucinating again. The image moved when Will did, but the recognizable features were definitely not his own. Yet, he didn’t feel the usual fever that almost always accompanied his visions.
He was startled out of his trance when he heard the phone ring. He froze, waiting. He let it sound out a couple times, making sure that there was no one else in the house. When nobody answered, he decided it was safe. He picked up the phone and held it warily against his ear. He didn’t speak, waiting for the person on the other end of the line to talk first.
Through the phone, he heard his own voice speaking to him. “Will? Is that you? I believe we have a problem.”