ᴄʟᴏsᴇʀ ʜᴀɴɴɪʙᴀʟ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ (Discontinued)

Chapter 5: Iris (Smut warning)

You left Hannibal's office, feeling flustered and unsure of yourself now that someone else knew your true self. Once you opened the door to the waiting room just outside of the office, you made direct eye contact with Will, who had been waiting his turn to be seen that evening. Will's cheeks became a bright pink at the awkward run-in and your feet stopped their movement as if forcing you to acknowledge him properly, otherwise he might see that you were upset and might be tempted to ask Hannibal if you were alright. But Hannibal couldn't say anything if Will asked. It was confidential. Or would he still drop hints to Will that would ultimately lead him to your front door?

Your mind was racing and you almost didn't hear the doctor's voice coming from behind you to greet the other man. Hannibal rested a firm hand on your shoulder. To most people, it would seem like a friendly gesture, but you knew it was a reminder that he knew who you were. You quickly collected yourself, determined not to let the man now beside you ruin your act. You smiled at Will, who was looking at Hannibal's hand on you questioningly.

"Oh boy," You started. "I guess it's not so surprising that we'd run into each other here at some point." Will nodded and you were positive that he just felt weird about the entire situation whereas you just didn't want to walk outside and be confronted by an entire police squad pointing guns at you.

Hannibal spoke up, using the same hand he had on your shoulder to now pat you on the back gently, politely moving you forward so that you would leave. "Yes," he said with a faint smile. "Perhaps the three of us should sit down to dinner together one of these nights. We would make quite an interesting trio. I'm sure of it." You turned your head to look up at him, not understanding exactly what he meant by that but you simply nodded and made your way past Will. You just wanted to get out of there before Will, too, realized who you were. As you walked away, Hannibal called to you. "I will be seeing you tomorrow evening, (Y/N)." And then you were gone.

The drive home would have been quiet if it hadn't been for the fact that you were internally screaming at yourself for your own stupidity of letting this man see you so soon. 'You didn't even try to deny it.' You thought. 'You should've tried harder. Now you're in deep shit.' The more you fought with yourself the more you needed to take that anger out on someone else. But you knew you needed to play it safe. But it was difficult to push that urge from you. You pulled your car over and sat with your head on the steering wheel and tried to breathe. 'You have so much potential.' Hannibal's words repeated in your mind and the anger subsided from you. Of course he wasn't going to report you. He was encouraging you to continue. But what was he going to gain out of it? You knew he was hiding something, that he was similar to you somehow. But what was it?

***
Something was chasing you through the darkness. You could hear its breathing everywhere you turned and you could feel its long fingers claw at you when you slowed down and it got too close. You couldn't see where you were running to, but you knew you had to keep going. Every muscle in you burned and your bones begged you to just stop. 'Accept this.' You heard whispers sound around you, repeating those two words before the whispers turned into laughter. Some childish part of you felt the need to sob and so you did. You collapsed to the ground so helplessly and whimpered. "I want to go home!" You wanted the laughter to stop, but they were becoming louder. Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed your shoulders and pulled you in an embrace. You were frightened.

"They laugh at you." The voice said with such silk to the tone. You looked up to see that the voice was in fact Hannibal's. You cried more in his arms, feeling safe at last after seeing a familiar face in this never ending darkness. "They laugh at you," He continued. "But I don't. I understand you far more than anyone else. I will never forsake you." Before you could react, you felt the claws dig into your back and you were only allowed a blood curdling scream to be released before your eyes shot open to greet the sun.