Chapter Text
“And then Jack shot me and I was lying on the floor, looking up at Hannibal and I knew he had gotten away with it,” Will finished regaling his brothers about the events leading up to his arrest. The other seven were looking at him with mixed expressions of shock and horror. Even Nolan whose face was often unreadable was pale. After a long silence, Adam spoke up first.
“I don’t think you ate the ear,” he said, and everyone turned to him. Shifting uncomfortably under everyone’s eyes, he continued. “You said it came back up as a whole ear? How would you eat it without chewing it? I doubt you’d swallow the whole thing whole.”
“That’s what you got out of that whole story?” Aiden said from the kitchen, his started sketch now untouched as he had become engrossed in Will’s story. He got up from the kitchen table and ran his hand through his hair. “Obviously he didn’t eat the ear. His psychotic therapist probably planted it there or something.”
“I agree with Adam and Aiden,” Nolan spoke. “While I’m not sure how possible, it’s very likely Hannibal had something to do with the ear.”
“You see now why I was concerned at lunch that you met him,” Will replied. “He’s intelligent, strategic, and is willing to do whatever it takes if it serves his purposes. I didn’t want you all getting involved with him, it’s not safe.”
“Well it’s a bit too late to be worried about our safety,” Bobby shrugged. “I think it’s reasonable to assume we’re on that guy’s shit list.”
“I don’t want to be impaled on antlers in a field!” Char gasped.
“How about burned alive in a tube?” Bobby asked and now both Char and Adam let out gasps.
“No one is getting impaled, or burned alive, or having their throat cut open, or anything,” Cal said authoritatively. He turned to Will. “An advantage he had over you was you didn’t know who he was at the time. Now you do, and now that you aren’t suffering from brain swelling and can see him clearly, it’s an even playing field.”
“It’s hardly even, he has the entire FBI and surrounding psychiatric community in his pocket,” Will retorted.
“And you have us,” Grigg smiled. Will turned to his brother, surprised to see him casually opening his computer.
“What’re you doing?” Will asked.
“I want to see how strong the FBI’s security is,” Grigg replied.
“Oh I want to watch!” Aiden paced over and jumped onto the couch, causing Bobby to be forced into Adam’s space and Adam to let out a yelp.
“Wait,” Nolan ordered, and now all of the brothers turned their attention to him. He was still sitting in the chair, and Will could tell his mind was racing with all of the information he had received.
“It’s Will’s decision how to handle this,” he spoke. “Should he require assistance, we will go from there, but right now we need to know what our goal is.” Nolan turned to Will. “What do you want to do about Hannibal Lecter?”
What do you want to do about Hannibal Lecter?
Will was transported back to that kitchen, could feel the cool metal of the gun pressed in his hand. He could feel the burn of Hannibal’s red eyes, and could hear his heartbeat in his chest with fury at being manipulated and victory for finally being able to see Hannibal for who he really was.
The thought of what he wanted to do to Hannibal Lecter hadn’t crossed his mind, as he hadn’t expected to have this kind of agency and resources anytime soon. Part of him wanted to put him behind bars so that he couldn’t kill anyone else. A more selfish part of him wanted to put him behind bars just to get revenge. Another part was tempted to kill the man. And a small, small part just wanted to see Hannibal again, just wanted to hear his voice, talk to him again, now that they both could see, really see, each other.
“I…don’t know,” he answered Nolan honestly. “I’m near positive that he’s the Chesapeake Ripper and the copycat killer, which means he should either be put away or killed.”
“But…” Cal added, knowing there was more.
“I’m near positive,” Will spoke. “And without being absolutely certain, we won’t get him imprisoned, and I don’t want to kill him right now. I think if I were to kill him, somehow he wins.”
“So where does that leave us?” Bobby asked.
“Needing more evidence,” Nolan replied, and put his hand in his pocket, pulling out Will’s phone. The eldest brother walked over and deposited it in Will’s hands, his eyes telling Will more than what he was saying.
I know above all else, you want to speak with him again.
Will took the phone and held it, seeing that he had the one missed call from Hannibal earlier. After a few moments, he had a realization and looked up at his brothers.
“Today is Wednesday,” he spoke. “I have my standing appointment with him scheduled for Wednesdays. If he’s kept it open, that is.”
“For you? I’m going to go with yeah,” Bobby rolled his eyes.
“It’s not safe for him to go alone,” Adam was up now too, having been too crowded on the couch.
“He’s not going to go alone,” Cal spoke. When Will raised an eyebrow, he continued. “We’ll be right nearby in case something happens.”
“A stakeout? Yes!” Aiden exclaimed. “Finally something interesting to do!” He and Grigg hopped up from the couch.
“Count us in!” Grigg said happily, putting away his laptop.
“I don’t have any black,” Char whined.
“I have a few sweaters you can borrow,” Adam offered.
“Hold on,” Will raised his hands. “You’d all be willing to stake out a potential serial killer’s house for me.” At this, Bobby gave another shrug.
“Well yeah, what else are brothers for?”
“But if you are going to see him again Will,” Char added, looking his older brother up and down. “We really should do something about your look.”
At exactly 7:30, as Hannibal was sitting down to enjoy a glass of red wine, he heard a firm knock at his door. A small smile formed as he strode over to the door, opening it to see Will Graham’s back. Gone was his usual flannel, instead showing a salmon colored dress shirt and decently fitting pants. As Will turned to greet him, Hannibal noted that his usually messy curly hair had been combed somewhat.
A choice of his brothers or his own? Hannibal thought curiously, remaining stoic as he took in Will’s change in appearance.
“May I come in?” Will asked quietly, his voice much calmer then their last encounter.
“Do you intend to point a gun at me like our last encounter?” Hannibal replied. Will gave him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and began to walk over to him.
“Not tonight, no,” he answered as he moved past Hannibal into the room he had become so familiar with. He eyed the wine on Hannibal’s desk, and two full glasses.
“Were you expecting someone?” Will asked as Hannibal shut the door behind him.
“I had hoped you might come for your usual appointment,” Hannibal explained. “I tried reaching you earlier to let you know it was still open to you, but I couldn’t reach you.”
“Apologies for the rudeness of not returning your call,” Will picked up one of the filled glasses and eyed Hannibal now. “I’ve had quite a packed day.”
“Quite,” Hannibal took his own wine glass and gestured for Will to sit down in his usual seat. Will hesitated for a moment but then took it. “How has it been, reuniting with your brothers?”
Said brothers were in fact, all dressed in black and crouched beneath various windows on the ground floor of Hannibal’s office. Nolan was on one side with Aiden and Grigg, while Bobby, Char and Adam took the other side windows and Cal was by himself at the front of the building. Nolan and Bobby held devices that relayed what was being said inside the office from the small mic Will had hidden on him.
This fact made Will hesitant to answer honestly about his brothers, but he knew if held back Hannibal would get suspicious.
“Difficult but rewarding,” Will finally spoke. “It’s forced me to reckon with a lot of myself, almost as much as your therapy did.”
“Your therapy was always about discovering the best version of yourself,” Hannibal replied, voice still as smooth as still. “It still can be.”
“The best version of myself according to me or to you?” Will bit back.
“Is there really a difference?” Hannibal asked.
“Oh wow this guy’s good,” Aiden whispered from his perch outside after hearing Hannibal’s last retort over Nolan’s walkie talkie.
“No,” came Will’s reply over the static. “But the best version of me according to my brothers is different, and that’s something I can aim for.”
“Aw, that’s nice,” Grigg doted, and Nolan smiled as well at the sentiment.
Inside, Hannibal was not sharing that smile at Will’s comment. He wasn’t frowning either, but the tension in the air was palpable at the mention of his family.
“You never told anyone here about them,” Hannibal spoke. “Why was that?”
“There wasn’t much to tell,” Will replied. “Our lineage gets pretty confusing, and I had only met with them a handful of times.”
“Some more than others,” Hannibal followed. “It seems you and Nolan ran into each other quite a few times before you started working for Jack.”
At this, Will tensed. Of course Hannibal had done his research now that he knew his brothers’ full names, or at the very least Nolan’s.
“You looked up Nolan?” Will asked, trying not to betray the severity his concern. If Hannibal was starting to research Nolan, to learn things, that wasn’t a good sign. At the very least, he wanted his older brother to know exactly what he was up against and what Hannibal had learned about him.
Nolan was listening intently outside, and Grigg and Aiden had quieted to make sure they all could hear.
“I was curious,” Hannibal answered. “Upon meeting him today, he introduced himself and seemed quite knowledgeable of the law and commanding of both senior FBI officials and your younger brothers who I imagine are a handful in and of themselves. I had no idea how accomplished of a defense attorney he was. Although you’re likely much more familiar with his talents than I am.”
“You’re referring to his clients that I profiled,” Will replied, unable to keep a bit of venom out of his voice, and Hannibal smiled.
“How did your brother reducing their sentences make you feel?”
Outside, Nolan tightened his fist not holding the walkie talkie. He had expected Hannibal to look into him after this morning, but to find out this information so quickly and immediately wield it to agitate Will so expertly…Will hadn’t been dramatizing Hannibal’s abilities at all.
“Angry,” Will’s answer came over the static, not much to Nolan’s surprise. “I went through all the trouble of profiling and finding them and he could manipulate the law and get them out so easily. It felt unfair. Like we both had the same brain but he found a better way to use it.”
Oh, well that was new. Nolan thumbed at the walkie talkie, a lump forming in his throat. He had constantly tried to assure Will that the cases were only professional, and he had often tried to denied working on cases tied to Will. But he had always thought Will’s anger came only from his frustration at Nolan’s clients getting off easier, never that Nolan had made Will feel inferior.
“You might be similar, but your brains are anything but alike,” Hannibal’s voice snapped Nolan out of his thoughts. “He appears to have talents, but you hold gifts.” There was a long pause on the other line before Will let out a quiet “thanks”.
An ugly tendril of hatred snaked its way around Nolan’s heart. This man, this killer, had no right to manipulate Will this way. Nolan often prided himself on being in control of his emotions. He knew the impulses that coursed through most of his brothers’ veins, even if they rarely discussed it. Cal and Aiden’s confessions tonight had hardly surprised him, and then there were Bobby’s murders to consider.
When Will had asked him earlier if he had gotten Will off without knowing whether or not Will was innocent, Nolan had given him a half truth. The evidence was mediocre at best, and it was pretty clear that something bigger was happening behind the scenes that the FBI was too obtuse to see. The other half of the truth though, that had stayed locked behind his lips, was along the lines of ‘I don’t care. You are my brother and I do not care what darkness you hold in your heart, so long as you share it with me.’
Nolan himself had not killed anyone yet, despite the same urges tugging at his mind. He couldn’t afford to. He had to be the one with his emotions in check, his resources ready to be deployed for his brothers, and his mind sharp at all times.
“Can I expect that your brothers will be around for the foreseeable future?” Hannibal asked. This time there was little pause to Will’s answer.
“Yes,” he spoke.
“Then I’d like to invite you all to my next dinner party this weekend.”
Aiden and Grigg’s eyes went wide at this, and they looked to Nolan for guidance. Nolan only nodded, already planning on attending regardless of whatever protest Will would likely give him about safety. At Nolan’s nod, Aiden and Grigg looked at each other and beamed, no doubt excited for more adventure. Nolan couldn’t help but swell with pride at their loyalty to Will, and their determination to help. Not just for Aiden and Grigg either, but for all of his siblings. His heart especially reached out to Will, willing to face this monster head on despite all he had been through.
Nolan had not killed anyone yet, but for Will, for his brothers, he would spill blood without restraint. Should the occasion arise, he would become whatever monster they would need.