Murder Husbands

Chapter 7

"Do you ever see yourself killing her?" Bedelia, a psychiatrist and Hannibal's ex, asks Will during a session (Alana is watching over Abigail).

"Yes," Will answers. He does see himself killing Hannibal. He doesn't blame him, Hannibal - he blames himself for leaving her alone in the first place. "Over and over."

"It's hard to predict when brittle materials will break," Bedelia says. "Hannibal gave you three years to build a family, confident that he would find a way to take them from you."

He did, just not in the way Bedelia is thinking. Will and Molly got a divorce because Molly suspected his 'more than friendly' feelings that Will has for Hannibal. She just wants Will to realize it.

"And he has," Will says. "Just not in the way he thinks," he thinks to himself, he doesn't want Bedelia questioning him or becoming suspicious. He's quiet for a moment before he turns to her. "What's he going to take from you?" His phone chimes and he tells Bedelia to wait and he checks it.

Dr. Bloom:
"Abigail wants to visit Hannibal. Is that ok?"

Will ponders but he nods.

Will Graham:
"I don't mind. Just don't let her inside with him."

"I'm sorry," Will says. "It was someone with questions about my daughter."

"It's fine," Bedelia replies.

"Now, back to what I was saying," Will says. "What's Hannibal going to take from you?"

"Is it important to you that he take something from me?" Bedelia asks Will, pleaded at how able he is to get back on track.

"Hannibal has agency in the world," Will says slowly after scoffing.

"Hannibal has no intention of seeing me dead by any other hand than his own," Bedelia says, "and only then, if he can eat me. He's in no position to eat me now."

"If you play," Will whispers, "you pay."

Will wants to go through with Molly's plan to free Hannibal and start over someplace new with him and Abigail, but he's nervous. He's hopeful that it'll be successful, but he knows that Jack is a good investigator. How long will it be before he finds them?

"You have paid dearly," Bedelia says. She knows that Hannibal loves Will, he's admitted it. She can almost tell that Will feels the same exact way about Hannibal. He lost his heart to Hannibal, and not in the cannibalistic way. "It excites him to know that you are marked in this particular way."

"Why?" Will asks. He knows that it's because Hannibal now knows that there is a plan in play to help him escape, that Hannibal now has a reason to wait and keep holding on: a family.

"Why do you think?" Bedelia counters.

Will scoffs at this. "Bluebeard's  wife," he says and Bedelia huffs softly. "Secrets you're not to know, yet sworn to keep."

"If I'm to be Bluebeard's wife," Bedelia says, "I would have preferred to be the last."

Will is quiet for a moment. "Is Hannibal... in love with me?" he asks warily. He knows that Molly and Abigail seem to think so, he's unsure. He wants to know what Bedelia thinks.

"Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for you and find nourishment at the very sight of you?" Bedelia counter-asks. "Yes."

Will exhales slowly at this.

"But do you... ache... for him?" Bedelia asks him.

Will hadn't actually thought of that. He supposes he does. He's felt that ache before, but I was when he first met eyes with Hannibal and each time after the first. Each time he's near him, talks to him, looks him in the eyes. He never, unfortunately, never felt that way about Molly. He only ever cared deeply about Molly. He never fell in love with her, nor did he ever ache for her.

Bedelia watches Will. She doesn't need him to speak to get her answer. She can see it in his cobalt blue eyes as he thinks. She knows that he aches for Hannibal, that he loves him just as much as Hannibal loves him.

"Yes."
*****

"Thank you for visiting me, Abigail," Hannibal says to abugail.

"Where table at, Hanny?" Abigail asks as Jack stands by the door.

"Dr. Bloom took it," Hannibal replies.

"And your potty?" Abigail pouts.

"Yes,"  Hannibal informs her and he kneels down, the both eye to eye at the screen. "Where is your father at, Abigail?"

"Doctor," Abigail replies. "Boom got me. Jack took me here to you."

"How old are you, Abigail?" Hannibal queries.

"I this many." Abigail holds up three fingers with a beaming smile.

Hannibal raises an eyebrow, feeling very happy that Abigail was with Will when the Great Red Dragon went after Molly and Walter. He is also glad he changed his mind at the last minute and told him to maim: not murder.

"Wow," Hannibal muses with a small smile. "I think Jack is in a hurry, though, Abigail. You best not keep him waiting, little love."

Abigail nods. "Bye, Hanny!"

Hannibal watches as she runs off out the door. He looks at Jack. "Does Will Graham know that she was here?" he asks.

"Alana asked him first," Jack says. "I was against it, but Will gave his approval."

Hannibal nods. "Okay. Very good."

He watches as jack leaves.