The Becoming of Will Graham

Runaways

      It was cold, and Will's shivering woke Hannibal some time between the setting of the moon and the rising of the sun. The doctor pulled off his own sweater which was covered in their blood and disturbed his clotted bullet holes, but was warmer than nothing, and laid it over Will. His lips tugged into a slight smile as the other gently curled into it and stopped shivering.
      About an hour after he'd had the sweater put on him, Will's eyes blinked open and he sat up quickly, groaning as he agitated his wounds. It was all real, not just some horrible, fantastical dream he'd conjured up in his disarrayed brain.
      "Give me your clothes." Will heard a voice behind him and turned quickly, seeing Hannibal there, not very clearly though because his glasses and contacts were long gone.
      "My clothes?" He asked groggily. "Why?"
      "We need to wash them, it's one thing to walk around wearing ripped clothes, it's entirely another to walk around with bloody ones." Hannibal explained, already stripping out of what was left of his outfit and taking it to the shore.
      Will pushed himself up from the sandy, rocky ground and followed Hannibal, removing one article of clothing with each couple of steps and handing Hannibal his sweater back. If he were not in a life or death situation, Will might've been embarrassed to be completely naked and in the open, but he had at least ten other things to worry about at the moment. He started washing the blood, dirt, sand, and ocean debris out of his clothing, using his shirt as a washrag for the rest of himself before rinsing it off again. He watched as Hannibal did the same, unable to place the wendigo figure over his face anymore, just seeing Hannibal as he was. Kill him or become him, those had been his options, and it seemed as though the latter was the path he'd chosen. His thoughts were interrupted when Hannibal spoke to him again
     "It's only a matter of time before they start looking for bodies and we're the face of national security's most wanted. We need to leave today. We'll get some new clothes, I'll have us some new passports manufactured, and we'll get on a plane. We don't have time for you to build a boat this time," Hannibal gave a light chuckle and wrung out his clothes.
     It used to bother Will when Hannibal referred to them collectively, but not anymore. So much had changed between them it made Will's head spin to think about. He couldn't even deny anything, he'd participated this time, and it was like participating every time since he'd laid eyes on Hannibal in Jack's office the first time years ago. He didn't question any of Hannibal's plan, only nodded in agreement and laid his clothes out to dry on a nearby rock, curling up, but being able to bear the weather now that the sun had come out. He had to trust Hannibal, and he did, but he would've been out of luck at this point if he didn't.
      "I miss my dogs," he said quietly, chewing on his lower lip a moment, tapping his thumb on his arm.
      "I'll find a way to get your dogs to us," Hannibal answered, taking a seat beside Will and resting a hand on his uninjured cheek. "It might be a few months, but I will." He nodded.
      "Really?"
      "Really."
      Will allowed himself to smile just a bit and rested his head on Hannibal's shoulder, intended to be a mildly affectionate gesture. Imagining a life with just Hannibal, his dogs, and whoever they befriended in Lithuania was a funny thought to Will and he would've detested the very idea not too long ago. Now, it was a goal of his that he was actually looking forward to, another indicator to Will that he would never be the same person he once was, but perhaps this was who he was meant to be all along. He knew in Hannibal's opinion it would be.
      Once their clothes were dry, the two of them got dressed and Hannibal quickly grabbed Will's wrist and started leading him away from their current location, but also away from the cave they'd slept in.
      "Where are we going?" Will asked quickly, his breathing already slightly strained as he kept up best he could.
      "To catch a ride." Hannibal answered (cryptically, it seemed to Will). The empath followed anyway and didn't know what Hannibal was talking about until they reached a seemingly deserted road.
     "Hannibal..."
      "Do you want to escape or not?" Hannibal raised a brow at Will and gave a nod when the other let out a sigh in submission. "Good. You take the back seat and distract the driver. I'll handle the rest."
      Will nodded in response. They seemed normal. Of course they did. Maybe a little bruised, roughed up from the scabbing, but nothing like they had seemed the night before. The passerby that would pick them up and would do so out of pity, since they didn't seem menacing, and Hannibal would kill them. It was easy enough to figure out what he'd meant by handling the rest. He prepared his best normal act as a car drove towards them down the road and slowed to a stop.
      "Looking for a ride?" Behind the steering wheel was a man no younger than thirty with a mustache that reminded Will of Tom Selleck.
      Before Will could say anything, Hannibal beat him to it.
     "As a matter of fact, we are. Any chance you're heading in the direction of the airport?"
     "I can bring you pretty close to there. Are you both all right?" Both Hannibal and Will nodded.
     "Get in, I'll take you." The man decided, and they did, Will letting out a deep breath before he got in the back of the car and Hannibal went around to the passenger side.