Folie à Trois: a Will X Hannibal

The Awakening...

Narrator's POV

Falling was such a strange feeling.

It was like flying, a bit whimsical with a sense of dread as they grew ever closer to the waves below.

But Will didn't care, snuggling deeper into Hannibal's embrace as the dark waves grew ever closer.

If they lived or died, it didn't matter, they would do it together.

As the pair was enveloped by the unforgiving waves, Will gasped as he woke up.

Shaking slightly, the empath found himself standing in a field, F.B.I. agents surrounding him as he looked into Cassie Boyle's corpse.

"Where did all his love go?" Jack asked, looking down to the impaled body

Will knew this wasn't the work of the Minnesota Shrike, of Garrett Jacob Hobbs, he knew this was Hannibal's work.

But this time, he didn't have to out Hannibal, or the Copycat as he had said last time.

"This one had something wrong with her, something that made her different than the others." Will said, making up his mind to protect Hannibal this time and protect Abigail in the process

"Like Elise Nichols?" Jack asked, remembering the last victims had liver cancer, "Then why not put her back where he found her?"

"Then it wasn't something physically wrong, but behaviorally." Will added, lying, "Maybe the way she acted the night he captured her frightened him so much to see the possibility of what his golden ticket could become he took it out on her. Our cannibal has a house, or two, or a cabin...something with an antler room. He has a daughter. The same age as the other girls. Same hair colour, same eye colour, same height, same weight. She's an only child. She's leaving home. He can't stand the thought of losing her."

The profiler then walked back to the car, having arrived with the older man to the crime scene.

Will waited in the car as the agents finished up recording the scene and preparing taking the body back to Quantico, deep in thought.

How could he be back in time? Had everything he remembered been a dream? No, it was real.

Then how come he was the only one how remembered, it was clear no one else around him had known.

Will sighed sadly, mourning the loss of his Hannibal, his murder husband.

Yes, Will accepted that trashy Tattlecrime nickname for him and Hannibal since it did accurately describe them.

As Jack eventually returned and drive Will to his hotel, the ex-cop came to a decision: if Hannibal remembered, great that would make life easier; if he didn't then Will would do everything he could to prevent all the mistakes he had made last time from happening.

This time, he would get his encephalitis checked out before it became a problem Hannibal could manipulate.

This time, he would accept his darkness without a fight and embrace his Becoming.

This time, if they got discovered they would flee to Europe together as a family.

This time, nothing would happen to Abigail.

***

Once Jack parked the car in front of the motel Will would be staying in, the brunette thanked him for the ride and went into his room, popping an Aspirin to deal with the headache, showering and going to bed.

When he woke from a nightmare as usual, Will noticed the knocking at the door.

Knowing Hannibal had arrived, Will got up and opened the door.

"Good morning, Will. May I come in?" Hannibal greeted, a bag in his hands holding ceramic containers of what Will knew to be scrambled eggs and sausage made of Cassie Boyle's lungs

Looking into the cannibal's eyes, Will tried to see any spark of real recognition but didn't see any, his hope of Hannibal remembering disappointed, "Where's Crawford?"

"Deposed in court. The adventure will be yours and mine today. May I come in?" Hannibal informed, walking into the small motel room once given permission, setting his bag on the small table

Taking out the containers holding the food, Hannibal put one before each of them, "I'm very careful about what I put into my body, which means I end up preparing most meals myself. A little protein scramble to start the day. Some eggs, some sausage."

Taking a bite of the 'sausage', Will complementing him, "Mm, thank you, it's delicious. What kind of sausage is it? Long pig?"

The older man gave a knowing smile, "My pleasure. She was a very feisty one; pre-smoked."

"I imagine." Will chuckled, "In fact, the only thing missing from this dish would be some Red Dragon chili peppers."

A sparkle appeared in the psychologist's eyes, "Indeed, I'll have to keep it in mind for our next fall."

Will smiled: Hannibal remembered too.

"I don't think we'll have another fall, Hannibal, I think one fatal battle with the Tooth Fairy was enough." Will said

"I agree, we'll have to face our Dragon before he reaches his Becoming." Hannibal added, "But tell me, Will, do you still accept your own Becoming?"

Will reached a hand across the table and placed it over Hannibal's, "It's still beautiful."

The two men stared at each other's eyes, blue staring into maroon, as they held hands.

It seems the universe had given them a second chance to get it all right.

"I didn't tell Jack about the 'Copycat'." Will admitted, "Told him Hobbs must have reached the boiling point with her."

"Good." Hannibal said, stroking his thumb against Will's as he picked up his fork, "Finish your breakfast."

***

As Hannibal and Will drive to the construction site where they would look through files in 'hope' to find the Minnesota Shrike's identity.

Once they spent a half hour looking through files for pretenses, they collected Garrett Jacob Hobb's file and went to the man's house.

Since Hannibal had made the 'courtesy call' just two minutes ago, Hobbs had already slashed his wife's throat with her dying outside as she had before.

But unlike before, Will didn't waste his time with the dead woman not warning and shot Hobbs before he had the chance to slit Abigail's throat.

This time, he didn't waste ten bullets to take him down, just a single shot to the shoulder.

Once the man had fallen to the ground away from Abigail, Will shot him twice more: once to the head and to the heart.

"Will?" Abigail shakily asked, out of breath from all the fear and tears

Will smiled as he turned to her, embracing her, "I promise I'll protect you this time, Abigail."...