Chapter Text
Hannibal glances down at the lifeless woman laying in a puddle of her own blood, staring sightlessly up at the sky. Soon, he hears Will’s voice shouting through the house, announcing himself as FBI. Hannibal looks up and follows inside through the broken door, mildly impressed that the slighter man had shattered through it so quickly.
There’s a series of loud bangs – one, then two quickly, then three more, before the last four come out quick yet evenly paced as Hannibal walks calmly through the house. He stops behind Will in the doorway of the kitchen just as the younger man dives for the young woman who is bleeding out on the ground. Hannibal watches as Will’s hands – trembling from adrenaline and fear alike – try to stop the bleeding while he softly mumbles, “No,” to himself over and over.
The older man considers his options as he steps over to the two carefully. Knowing that Will’s empathy was in overdrive when he pursued this killer, having the girl still alive would leave Will with a sense of obligation and responsibility after the overstimulation of taking his first life wore off. She would be the perfect pawn in bringing Will closer to Hannibal, if he manipulated this to a mutual experience.
His mind made up, Hannibal kneels down beside the girl’s head. With firm yet gentled hands, he moves Will’s inexperienced ones out of the way, his years as a trauma surgeon giving him the knowledge of how to prolong the girl’s life until medical response arrives.
Will rocks back to sit on his haunches silently. After a moment, Hannibal looks up to him, the other man staring blankly at him in awe. Hannibal schools his face to remain neutral, gently suggesting, “Will, Crawford was only aware of us going for an interview. We are in need of further assistance.”
The younger man blinks before nodding quietly, fumbling to pull his phone out of his pocket before quickly calling the special agent. Hannibal looks down to the girl again, whose eyes are glazed as she breathes quick and shallow.
The three of them stay there, together in that moment that seems to stretch on forever. Occasionally, Hannibal looks up to the other man, who now looks like he’s a league under water. Hannibal allows it, this time. The first time you take a life is powerful and overwhelming, falling into a state of mild shock regardless of your capacity for it is only natural.
The corners of his lips twitch, threatening to turn into a smile despite his efforts to conceal how pleased he felt. Next time, he will not allow Will to hide from the sensations.