Note: Set after the episode Contorno, in an AU where Will ran away with Hannibal to Florence instead of Bedelia
~*~*~*~*~
"Hannibal? Hannibal!" Will attempted to catch the older man as he collapsed before him, beaten and bloody. Though he wasn't very successful and they both ended up on the floor in the doorway, Hannibal entangled in Will's arms. "What happened?"
Hannibal had knocked at the door, having lost his keys somewhere in the brawl. Will, expecting it to be a stranger, was shocked to find Hannibal standing there, barely conscious.
"Jack... Crawford," Hannibal said between gasps for breath.
"Do we have to leave?"
"He found me through Inspector Pazzi, we are not in danger yet, but we will be soon," Hannibal explained, trying to prop himself up without Will's help.
"Somebody will see us if we sit here any longer," Will said, getting his feet on the ground he half-dragged, half-helped Hannibal into the house before closing the door behind them.
Will went around the large house hurriedly, closing and locking every window and every door. Hannibal felt cold and vulnerable in Will's absence. But eventually he returned, a glass of water in his hand.
The older man was leaning against the couch, not having enough energy - and evidently not wanting to get the cushions covered in blood - to push himself up onto it. Will sat down beside him and held the glass up to his lips.
"Drink," he ordered. Hannibal weakly brought one hand up to hold the cup, but his grip was so loose that Will dared not let him hold it on his own.
"Let's take a look at you," Will said when Hannibal forced the cup back into Will's hand, and he set it down on the floor away from them.
Will lifted Hannibal's head up gently with his fingers under his chin. It gave him a better lighting to find the real damage underneath all that blood. Hannibal's breath was warm on the skin if Will's wrist, and could feel his empathy kicking in. He tried to shut it out, he needed to be there for Hannibal, but couldn't help but feel some of the other man's pain.
"How much time do we have?
"Enough to get what we need and go. We won't have time to clean everything up, but we can be gone so that they will not find us again," Hannibal replied.
"Then there's time to clean you up. Wrap an arm around my shoulder, we need to get to the washroom."
Hannibal did as Will asked, and together they limped to the nearest bathroom. Will nearly collapsed under the weight of the older man, but they managed to make it to the bathroom without any fatalities.
"Please... Just let me rest for a moment," Hannibal said after Will helped him to sit back on the tiled floor. The curly haired man was moving to grab something, but stopped when Hannibal reached out to block him.
"Whatever you need," Will said.
"You."
"What?"
"You offered me whatever I needed. I need you," Hannibal said, looking into Will's big blue eyes.
"Okay," Will said, sitting down facing him. He wrapped his legs around Hannibal so that one leg was tucked under the other man's two where they were bent up, and the second was in between Hannibal's back and the wall. Will wrapped his arms around Hannibal and the older man did the rest of the work for him. Nuzzling into Will's chest, he managed to get blood all over Will's new dress shirt, but neither of them cared. All that mattered was that Hannibal was alive, and they were together.
Will leaned on the counter behind him and Hannibal adjusted himself to be comfortable before speaking.
"I thought that was the end of me," Hannibal said, "I thought that I would never see you again, and Jack would eventually come find and arrest you. In the end that idea was what kept me alive. He was killing me, Will, but you didn't even have to be there to save me."
Will kissed the top of Hannibal's hair as he listened to the older man's story.
"You're alive now, you're here with me," Will said, squeezing him tighter, his face still buried in Hannibal's hair.
~*~*~*~*~
Will paced around in the darkness of the night. He was standing in a remote area of Florence. A place he was very familiar with, but knew would be confusing and complicated to anyone who hadn't been living there for months.
They'd sat on the floor together, talking quietly for a while before Hannibal was strong enough to get himself cleaned up. Will had helped him out, and put him to bed. Little did Hannibal know that a dose of sleeping drugs had been dissolved in the second glass of water that Will had offered him that evening. He was wrapped around Will and asleep within minutes. It didn't take much for Will to wriggle out of his grasp and get dressed. He'd sent a very specific message to someone, telling them to meet him in this exact spot at this exact time.
Jack Crawford was late, but he'd shown up. Typical for him, really.
"Will..." Jack said as he approached the man, who was more nicely groomed, and healthier looking than he remembered, "You're not a hostage are you?" Jack realized.
"No."
Jack sighed, "I'm disappointed in you, Will. What are you? Romantically involved? Cannibal partners? What?"
Will shrugged.
"If you tell me where Hannibal is right now so that I can arrest him, I will make an exception not to arrest you too. I can tell the FBI that you were being held captive, you can have your old life back," Jack bribed.
Will shook his head, "That's not what I called you here for, Jack."
"Well then what did you call me here for if not for my help?"
Will took a few steps forward before replying, "Stay away from Hannibal Lecter, or I will kill you."
Will then backed away and disappeared into the shadows. Jack stared at where his old friend had been standing in shock. For a moment, he considered letting them go.
~*~*~*~*~
"Immature love says 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you."
-Erich Fromm
