Chapter Text
The phone rang at 3am, dragging Hannibal out of a deep and dreamless sleep. He rubbed his eyes and reached out for the phone, nearly knocking it off the dresser before he grabbed the receiver. He sat up. Whoever’s good idea it was to hook the phone up in the bedroom deserved to be shot.
“Hello?”
“Hey bossman!” Murdock’s voice was alive with nervous energy, “sleep ok?”
Hannibal frowned, “what-”
“Is Face with you?” Murdock asked quickly.
“What?” Hannibal swung his legs out of bed and switched on the bedside lamp, “it’s 3am-”
“Is he with you, though?” Murdock pressed, “can you check?”
Hannibal paused, then huffed, setting the receiver aside. The little apartment he was staying in was a lot nicer than usual, a separate living room and bedroom, a little kitchen he had no intention of using and a fairly spacious bathroom. He would be sad to leave it, even with the phone directly beside the bed. He shuffled into the living room and clicked on the light, his heart jumping into his throat when he saw the person on the couch even though he was half expecting it. Face looked peacefully asleep and the front door was closed. Hannibal was not a particularly heavy sleeper, and only a handful of people could sneak up on him.
“Kid’s a ninja,” Hannibal muttered, walking back to the phone. “Taught him everything he knows…” he added before picking up the receiver only to hear Murdock having a muffled argument on the other end of the line. Hannibal didn’t recognise the voice that answered him, though he heard a distinct Yooper accent.
“Will you shut up?” Murdock hissed to whoever he was with, “this is your fault!”
The Yooper answered in soft, calm tones and Murdock replied with a growl worthy of BA.
Hannibal broke in, “yeah, he’s here.”
“Oh god, great!” Murdock almost yelped in relief, “and, uh, he’s got a pulse and everything?”
Hannibal was silent again, he frowned again at the receiver and set it back down beside the phone, walking back into the living room. He gently nudged Face and when he got no response he carefully picked up his arm by the wrist.
Face gasped awake, flinching but not really moving other than to pull weakly at Hannibal’s grip. He blinked up at him, and the two of them stared at one another for a moment.
“What are you doing?” Face asked roughly.
“Making sure you have a pulse.” Hannibal replied.
“Oh.” Face relaxed, “do I?”
Hannibal let Face’s arm go and it dropped back to his chest. “Yup.”
“Ok,” Face said sleepily, turning his head away and closing his eyes, “that’s good.”
Hannibal studied him a moment, then walked back to the phone. “He’s alive.”
Murdock let out a long sigh, “good. Ok, ok, that’s… ok.”
The Yooper said something and there was a light slapping sound and a disgruntled huff.
“You want to tell me why he’s passed out on my couch and you’re calling at three in the morning?” Hannibal asked.
“Well I… I, uh, kinda lost track of him,” Murdock said quickly, “he’s slippery!”
Hannibal drew his brows together, “where are you?”
“Me? I’m here,” Murdock said, almost sounding like he’s struggling with someone, and the Yooper made a cry of protest, “but I’ll be heading back to the VA now. Just- uh, he’ll be fine. He just needs to sleep it off.”
“Sleep what-”
“Catch you later, bossman!” Murdock said, and slammed down the phone.
Hannibal stared at the receiver as the dial tone rang through the silence. He sighed as he hung up, now fully awake, and wandered back into the living room where Face was now on his feet, staring into the dark kitchen with a puzzled frown. Hannibal flicked the light on and Face flinched around, blinking at him.
“Oh,” Face relaxed again, “what are you doing here?”
“This is my apartment.”
Face was still a moment, then looked around, “huh.”
“How’d you get here?”
Face glanced towards the door and back, “huh?”
Hannibal sighed, “you want to share the bed?”
Face furrowed his brow, “it’s too early to go to bed.”
“It’s three in the morning.”
Face just stared at him like Hannibal had started speaking Dutch.
“Come on, sleeping time,” Hannibal said, moving forward to manoeuvrer Face bodily if he had to.
Face stood still for a moment, then took an uncertain step back, “when did you get here?”
“This is my apartment,” Hannibal replied, stopping again. Face didn’t appear to be drunk, and he didn’t look concussed, but he did seem to be under the influence of something. “Face… did you take something?”
“Why would I steal from my own apartment?” Face said indignantly.
“Firstly, this is my apartment,” Hannibal said with patience he didn’t feel, “and secondly…” he rubbed his forehead, “just go to bed, huh?”
“Your…” Face blinked at him, “shit!” He gave a breathless half laugh of embarrassment, “I don’t know how I even.. wow.” He backed away and turned to the door, “I must be… I should go.”
Hannibal moved quickly to intercept him, grabbing him by the arms and forcing him back towards the couch, “no you don’t, kiddo, you’re staying right here where I can see you.”
Face looked utterly baffled but offered no resistance. He sat down automatically when his legs bumped into the couch, frowning up at Hannibal.
“What happened tonight?” Hannibal asked.
“Uh…” Face opened and closed his mouth, “tonight?”
“Yes,” Hannibal suppressed another sigh, “what were you and Murdock doing?”
“Murdock…” Face paused, then his face lit up with an unfocussed grin, “I’m meeting him later, did you want to come?”
“Meeting him?” Hannibal asked, “at the VA?”
“N-no,” Face said, “his buddy’s in town… just tonight.”
“What buddy?”
There was a long silence while Face gazed blankly at the wall. Hannibal was about to ask again when Face spoke suddenly.
“Norton. He’s got one of those accents.”
Murdock had blamed Norton for Face’s ‘condition’, Hannibal thought, and he couldn’t imagine Face taking drugs of his own accord. “Did he give you something?”
Face looked blank for a long moment, “huh?”
Hannibal raised his eyes to the ceiling to ask for strength, then dropped his gaze back to Face, “did Norton give you something?”
“Oh,” Face tilted his head slightly, looking past Hannibal while staring right at him, “I had a headache.”
Hannibal almost sighed.
“Tylenol," Face added.
“Tylenol,” Hannibal repeated flatly.
Face nodded, blinking distantly towards the door then back up at Hannibal, “when did you get here?”
“Are you sure it was Tylenol?” Hannibal asked.
“Oh no, I took some earlier,” Face said, shaking his head, “worked great, my headache’s gone.”
Hannibal smiled, deciding he was going to strangle Norton and sink him in the bay for giving Face pills that were assuredly not Tylenol, unless Murdock had beaten him to it.
“C’mon, up,” Hannibal pulled Face up off the couch, “you’re going to bed.”
Face resisted only lightly, “but-”
“You’re going to sleep, and I’m not going to sleep,” Hannibal said with a resigned sigh, “and tomorrow we’re hiding a body.”
Face whipped his gaze across the apartment, looking for the victim, “what?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hannibal said, manhandling Face out of his jacket and shoes and all but forcing him to lie down. “Sleep,” he ordered.
Face looked confused and yawned, “yeah, I guess I am feeling kinda tired.”
Hannibal waited, arms crossed, watching Face’s eyes fall closed.
“You should… you should go home,” Face yawned again.
“This is my apartment,” Hannibal said, smiling gently when Face opened his eyes to cast him another puzzled look. “You came to me.”
“Oh…” Face sighed, “I wasn’t feeling well,” he said softly, just as he fell asleep.