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Hannibal knew it would only be a matter of time before Will found out about his encephalitis. And he knew Will would be… emotionally charged, for lack of a better term. He was sure better descriptions existed but he did not promote using modern slang such as ‘flipping his shit’, although the term did seem adequate given the state in which Will paced around his office.
“He was YOUR FRIEND! And you are telling me that Dr. Sutcliffe kept you in the dark about what he found because he wanted to EXPERIMENT with the effects on my brain?! How could he NOT TELL YOU?!”
Hannibal played innocent, something he had grown quite accustomed to doing over the years, but Will had proven to have an uncanny ability to pick out certain half-truths and half-lies. It took every effort to conceal his emotions. Will was very agitated however, so fooling him of his real intentions was proving to be simpler than he originally anticipated. However, now was not the time to throw caution to wind. Complacency killed.
“I assure you William, had Dr. Sutcliffe shared his intentions with me I would have informed you immediately. Which is probably why he felt the need to keep me in the dark,” he kept his voice at the same calm he always did, with an underlying tone of sympathy.
Will paced around his office, hands fidgeting between his hair and his pockets, he touched the backs of the chairs, pulled on his shirt sleeves. Hannibal was close to HIS breaking point regarding the state of Will’s distress. He had caused it, to a degree, but admitting that to Will would send him into a tailspin and push him away. Hannibal wanted him close, and wanted to keep him there.
“William, please, sit down. I’ll get you something to drink and we can discuss this.”
Will spun around, pointing firmly at the ground though avoiding Hannibal’s eyes. “I do not want to discuss this right now! I want to know why! I am not a… THING people can just experiment on!”
Before Hannibal could respond, Will dropped to his knees and buried his head in his hands. The way his shoulders shook indicated to Hannibal he was crying. And hard. Not wanting to alarm Will further, he carefully moved around his desk to Will’s side and dropped down next to him.
“Will,” he said gently, firmly placed his hand on Will’s shoulder. Before he could suggest whatever was formulating in his mind (which effectively was cut off), Will launched himself sideways, sending Hannibal backwards and onto his rear.
Hannibal, momentarily stunned, wrapped his arms around Will’s trembling frame and rested his cheek lightly on the top of Will’s hair, inhaling the fevered sweetness invading his brain. He felt Will’s tears soaking through his vest and shirt, felt the tremors of fear, the desperate clutching of his fingers against his chest.
“It’s alright, Will… You are safe.”
Ten minutes had gone by before Will finally shifted and pulled back to stare at Hannibal’s thoroughly soaked chest. Hannibal’s rear end was going slightly numb from his awkward sitting position, but seeing the calm at having been allowed to cry start to creep into Will’s features made the mild discomfort he felt worth every moment.
“Dr. Lec-“ Hannibal brought his finger to Will’s mouth and stopped his words.
“Do not apologize, Will.” He let his finger drop beneath Will’s chin and gently brought his face up. “When I said I am here for you, I meant every word of it.”
Will nodded shakily but didn’t drop his eyes the way Hannibal imagined he would given the intensity of his gaze. “Thank you…”
Hannibal smiled down at the man in front of him looking every bit the lamb Hannibal imagined him to be. “Dear Will, when will you learn not to thank me for caring for you?”
A smile crept down across Will’s face, reaching his bright gray-blue eyes, flushed with beautiful angry tears. “I guess you’ll just have to keep reminding me.”
Without breaking eye contact, the hand at Will’s chin ran through his unruly brown hair. “I suppose I can do that, dear Will.”