Chapter Text
Knock knock knock
Hannibal slammed his knife into the table with a thunk, leaving it stuck in the wood. He regretted the second he did it, groaning as he took off his apron and mumbled about how he'd have to sharpen it again, and how he was tired of interruptions. After peeling off the gloves on his hands he began his small walk up to the top of the stairs, closing and locking the door behind him. Taking a moment to look himself over, checking for any missed spots or stains he finally made it to his front door. Putting on his mask of an un-annoyed look he turned the knob and pulled it towards him. In front of him stood a panic struck Will, his quick breaths visible in the never ending fog of the cold air in front of him. Hannibal stood stunned for a moment, taking in the state of the man in front of him.
He was covered in blood, his hands, his clothes, his face, not a single inch of him had been untouched by splatter. A barrage of thoughts rushed behind his eyes as he searched for the best response to this surprise visit. He decided he would invite Will in and go from there. Although he didn't get the chance to do so as Will collapsed in front of him. Hannibal responded as quickly as his brain allowed him to. Reaching out his arms, he barely stopped Will from hitting the ground. He glanced around outside for a moment before pulling Will up to his feet and dragging him inside. Shutting the door behind him.
He set him down as gently as possible on an arm chair nearby, giving him a once over to make sure none of the blood was his own. Satisfied with the realization it wasn't, he stepped into the kitchen, filling a bowl with lukewarm water and grabbing a towel from close by. Will was still out cold, slumped over ever so slightly in the arm chair. At least his breathing was slower, at least he seemed more calm.
Hannibal couldn't have cared less about where the blood was from as long as it wasn't from Will. Gently he dabbed the wet cloth over Will's face, pulling away blood in spots doing his best not to smear it. He ran a hand through Will's damp hair and it came back red, he'd need a lot more than a warm cloth to clean him up.
As he waited patiently for Will to awaken, he gently worked away at Will's exposed skin. Doing his best to clean what he could. His face, his ears, his neck and hands. Finally Will stirred awake with a groan. Hannibal backed away, hoping to avoid scaring the obviously already disturbed man. “Will, you're in my home, everything's alright." Hannibal murmured.
Still groggy he struggled to fully open his eyes. "Hannibal…?”
"Yes Will, I'm here.” He reached a hand out, placing it gently on Will's shoulder. Hoping it would ground him further. Will relaxed under the touch for just a moment before seemingly realizing how he ended up in this precarious situation in the first place.
He quickly got up to his feet, stumbling as his brain struggled to recalibrate. "Will, Will relax please, this is no way to go about this.” Hannibal placed his second hand onto Will's other shoulder. "Please sit, let's talk.” He guided Will to sit back down mumbling small “It's okay"s and “We'll figure this out." Will sat back down and attempted to control his breathing once more. “What happened?"
“He- I was… That fucker was starving them." He brought his hand up to his face, taking a moment to mark their cleanliness in his brain. “The Chesapeake Wolfhound or whatever the fuck the press were calling him. He starved them and even then they wouldn't kill.” Small tears formed in his eyes and in response he dabbed them away with a finger. Instead letting a look of anger cover his hurt. "So he taught them that screaming meant food,” He grimaced, "I killed him, and I made sure they were fed.”
He took a deep breath in and out as if it was a weight lifted off his chest just to say it out loud. “How could someone do that, train something innocent to kill." His breath quickened again and it was obvious that the look of anger was slipping away to show the true hurt behind his eyes. “They're going to kill all of them, because they did what they could to survive…"
“How did you kill him Will?"
“I stabbed him.." He grimaced as if just now coming to the conclusion.
“Where is the knife?"
“In my car, on the passenger seat."
“Keys please, and sit here while I grab it."
Will pulled them out of his pocket, handing them over and slumping backwards into the chair. After dropping the keys into Hannibal's hand he took a shaky breath and brought his hands up to his face and sobbed.
"Ill be right back Will, then we'll get you cleaned up.” Hannibal stepped into the cold damp air outside, unlocking Will's car with a click and opening the door to find the blood stained knife on the seat. He hadn't cared enough to use a gloved hand, being aware that those dogs would have done just fine at hiding the evidence of a stabbing. He walked back inside, closing the door behind him, simply placing the knife in his sink and rinsing off the blood on his hands.
"Hannibal.”
"Yes, Will?”
"I watched them eat.” He brought his face back up to meet Hannibal's eyes. “I was happy." Tears welled up once more in his eyes.
“Let's get you into a shower."