In Love and Murder// Hannigram Fanfiction✔

𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖑𝖛𝖊- 𝕳𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖂𝖊 𝕭𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝕾𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖉?

Will still couldn't grasp the concept that he somehow forgot that he did a profile for the Chesapeake Ripper. Maybe he couldn't remember it because he knew who was behind it, or maybe there was a bigger thing going on behind his eyes?

At this current stage he didn't want to know. 

As he lay in bed, wondering about everything that could be wrong with him, there was a knock at the front door which surprisingly the dogs didn't react to. The drawn curtains didn't allow Will to see out of them, so he got out of bed and opened the door, the dogs curling around his ankles. 

The figure at the door turned out to be the looming antlered creature with the piercing blue eyes. It offered for Will to follow, and he did without a second thought. There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, which crunched slightly under his bare feet as he and the creature headed towards the treeline. He could see his breath disperse into the air around him and he had no words for how he felt. 

The emotion he felt was an off-putting mix of fear and somehow nostalgia or safety, as though he trusted his antlered guide to lead him to a path with no harm. 

The early morning scenes of Wolf Trap reminded him why he moved here to this point of almost total isolation. The birds in the trees, the radiant skies and the eerie majesty of the occasional bare tree among the evergreens was a beauty that could not be faked. Will forgot about the cold as he watched his surroundings and made sure that the creature was still ahead of him.

On further investigation it appeared the creature who was leading him further and further away from his house had no visible breath. As if it didn't need to breathe, or it was already as cold as the air around it. A shudder down his spine felt like ice water rolling down his back. 

In a clearing in the middle of the forest, it turned to him and held out its hand with spindly and bony fingers.

 Will placed his hand atop the creatures and it vanished into a thick and choking smoke that felt like fingers forcefully entering his mouth, eye sockets and ears. 

He fell to the floor, kneeling in the snow and trying so violently to keep the intrusive smoke away by hiding his face in his hands and slapping his face lightly to try and snap himself out of it. After a while, he knelt there and just cried hopelessly. 

"Will?"

It was Hannibal, looking down at the shaking mess with deep concern.

Will cast his gaze up to Hannibal. His eyes hurt and his shaky hands were soaked in tears, not to mention the fact he was freezing. Hannibal helped Will to his feet and held him, stroking his hair with closed eyes. 

Will listened to Hannibal's heartbeat as they both stood in the clearing until they let each other go and Hannibal gave Will his elegant, plaid suit jacket to wear for the trek home. It was warm and slightly too big for him around the shoulders and arms. 

It was nice that Hannibal wouldn't ask Will any questions until he was ready to respond to them. 

The walk back to the house was longer than Will thought it would be and it included him desperately trying to give Hannibal his jacket back, as he looked cold, but he insisted that he was alright and that Will needed it more. 

The doctor couldn't help but feel that a breakdown to this extent was long overdue, and he felt as though he had been a catalyst because being in a relationship would change the balance of things as well. Maybe he should've kept his thoughts to himself and not burdened Will with more mentally damning images. 

Back inside the house, Will had a warm shower and got dressed as Hannibal waited in the living room and bonded with the dogs. They all liked Hannibal, but as soon as Will walked back into the room they swarmed over to him, leaving Hannibal alone on the beige recliner.