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Abigail waddled up to Will and gently pulled on his pant leg to gain his attention. Instead of being met with comforting green eyes, she was greeted by his hand, pressing against her forehead and drifting to her hair; using his thumb to brush down her hairline to the back of her head.
Will was in a deep conversation with Jack Crawford about an unsolved case Jack believed to have a lead on. He was enthralled on Jacks description and barely paid any mind to the little girl desperately trying to seek his attention.
He nodded, matching the description of what he knew about the crime at play.
Abigail whined softly before taking Wills’ hand off her head and began to play with the pad of his palm, pressing down against it with her small fingers. While she preoccupied herself she felt strong hands nestle under her arms and began to lift her up and away from Will and the hand she was just playing with. She looked behind her to see Hannibal smiling before he readjusted her in his arms. Abigail, now facing him.
“No papa, want daddy!” Her voice wavered as tears filled her eyes. She pointed to Will as Hannibal began to walk away from them to continue their conversation privately.
He watched her wiggle and try to writhe away from him. Hannibal held her more securely and shook his head disapprovingly as they walked further away from the crowded room.
“Daddy’s having a grown up conversation, darling. How about we go for a walk, hmm? Stretch your little legs outside?” Hannibal suggested while Abigail crossed her arms in a pout. No doubt fussing over her being denied to roam freely around the bureau.
“I don’t want to.” She whimpered looking over her shoulder to Will who paid her no mind. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks and Hannibal swiftly wiped them away.
Abigail usually wasn’t the type to throw a fit, but perhaps it was due to Will working overtime and spending more nights in Wolf Trap then with her that brought on such panic into her head.
“Why daddy ignoring me?” She said sadly, swallowing her tears down to try and stop herself.
“No, little one, daddy isn’t ignoring you. As papa stated before, he is having a grownup conversation. Much too adult for you.” He cooed, beginning to rub soothing circles on her back that normally did wonders to calm her down.
She nodded and leaned her head against Hannibal’s shoulder. She rested her hand on his chest and grabbed a fist full of his dress shirt, starting to cling as he walked out of the room and down the hall.
“Papa, when will daddy be done?” She raised her head and asked after a moment of silence, the only sound being the clanking of his leather shoes against the linoleum tiles. He tilted his head to look down at her and kiss her forehead delicately.
“Papa’s not sure. How about we go for that walk now?” Hannibal offered once they entered the lobby. He did his best to distract her from what she wanted while he couldn’t give it to her. Abigail reluctantly nodded and started to squirm in his arms.
Hannibal set her down and instantly, Abigail grabbed his pointer and middle finger to hold while they walked onto the sidewalk. She looked around, watching the birds perch themselves on a lamppost to rest. She was slightly distracted as the two walked further, Hannibal leading her to a grass covered area that was infested with weeds and other overgrown perennials. Her gaze lowered to the dandelions on the grass when the birds were just out of sight.
“Papa!” She exclaimed, attempting to pull Hannibal to the edge of the sidewalk where the yellow heads peaked over the sea of green grasses, “Flowers!”
Hannibal let her pull him closer. He couldn’t help but smile at her excitement as she saw the weeds which resembled flowers in her eyes.
“How beautiful, why don’t you go pick some for daddy?” He chimed. Abigail beamed, happy with the idea she got from her papa, giggled and let go of his hand to kneel down. She brushed her hand against the soft buds before she began to pick them, collecting a small bouquet that fit perfect in her hand.
When she was done, she looked over her shoulder to Hannibal who was smiling down at her warmly.
He extended a hand for her to take. Abigail hopped to her feet and grabbed his hand, pulling the flowers to the crook of her neck for maximum safety.
“Be careful sweetheart. Don’t be thrashing around with them or the stem will snap.” Hannibal warned, knowing she could be careless with her things sometimes.
She was now on a mission to protect her daddy’s flowers, no matter what.
Once they got back to the bureau, Hannibal picked her up, settling her on his hip as they went inside the building.
“We give daddy the flowers now?” She grinned, almost jittering with anticipation to see how Will would react.
She could see it now, as she closed her eyes to imagine it. Daddy would be so happy and give her the biggest hug that anyone would have ever experienced. She was almost convinced he would cry too.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Hannibal took out his phone from his front pocket and sent Will a quick text, telling him to meet them in the hallway adjacent to his office. As they waited for Will, Abigail got antsy and began to bounce and kick her foot against his thigh. He set her down with a sigh. He wasn’t about to get upset at his little girl for being overly jovial. He wanted to keep her happy for as long as he could within reason.
He rested his hand on her head, like Will often did, as a small reminded for her to behave.
Soft footsteps caught Abigail’s attention right away when she least expected it. She jerked her head to the direction of the sound and squealed happily as soon as she saw Wills’ content expression from down the hall, a sweet and tender smile on his face. She ran to him, nearly tripping as she was send into a full sprint his way. Will knelt and opened his arms to let her run into.
He was almost surprised that the force didn’t knock them both onto the ground.
“There’s my little lady!” Will cooed as she wrapped her arms around his neck, being careful to not bend the flowers she was still holding. He encased her with his, hoisting her up as he stood.
He squeezed her, letting Abigail hold onto him tightly.
“Daddy, daddy!” She giggled as he walked over to where Hannibal was standing, his hands clasped together in front of him as he watched with endearment. Will sealed their distance with a kiss to Hannibal’s cheek, whispering a “Thank you.” In his ear for taking care of Abigail while he was working.
Hannibal gave a curt nod, letting a smile tug the corners of his lips.
Will set her down gently.
She yanked at his shirt, Wills’ eyes flicking down to her.
“Daddy!” Abigail shouted, keeping a hand behind her back like she had a surprised she was waiting to deliver. Will kneeled again, “What baby girl!?” He asked, mimicking her excitement but with an indoor voice. He pushed his glasses to the top of his head, his bangs getting stuck beneath them.
“I picked you flowers!” She presented them giddily, almost shoving them into his face but he wasn’t quite close enough. His eyes widened in exaggerated enthusiasm.
“For me?! Awe shucks! Thank you, baby!” He said before taking them out of her hand. He rested them under his nose, pretending to smell them,
“They smell so nice!”
“Such a sweet little thing you are, bringing daddy flowers.” Hannibal affirmed, stepping closer to the two, Will stood and smiled as he offered them to Hannibal to sniff. He did delightedly, “We’ll have to put them in water as soon as we get home, won’t we?”
Will nodded, agreeing without hesitation.
Abigail was over the moon as she listened to her father’s gush about the flowers she picked. She felt so important, so validated and so grateful that her small gesture went above and beyond in their eye. Her cheeks began to hurt from just how hard she was smiling, not able to stop herself from doing so.
“Daddy like them?” She asked, hiding her smile in her hands. She already knew he did but she wanted to hear him say it.
Will ruffled her hair.
“Daddy loves them.”
⁎⁺˳✧༚
Abigail leaned her head on the counter of the island; staring at the wilted dandelions in front of her sorrowfully. Hannibal came up behind her and set a strong hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Will following in suit but sat beside her on one of the high stools. Under any other circumstance, he would have wondered how she climbed up there without falling.
He bowed his head to take a sneak peak at her face, noticing her bottom lip quiver faintly. His face faltered, concerned.
“What’s wrong baby girl?” Will asked, snaking an arm around her. She sighed, not bothering to look up at either men hurdled around her. She resumed staring blankly, pretending she was still alone in her woes.
Will looked to Hannibal, worried. Hannibal in returned watched where her eyes were focused, seeing they were fixated on the flowers. He looked back to Will and motioned to the dandelions. Wills’ eyes shifted from the dandelions back to Abigail.
“Are you sad the flowers are dying, honey?” Will inquired gently, rubbing her back, not wanting to further upset his girl with questions.
She nodded, burying her head in her arms as she slumped motionless against the cool surface, “Why do daddy’s flowers have to die..” She said after a while in a barely audible murmur.
“It’s normal for flowers to die, darling,” Hannibal stated, deciding he wanted to jump into the conversation they were having, “There comes a moment in every life where death is inevitable, and that is alright.”
Will looked to Hannibal with a small glare. Not entirely surprised with his calm demeanour while speaking about death. Though he was not impressed with how he didn’t soften his reply enough for it to be soothing to their daughter.
Will rolled his eyes after getting no remorse from Hannibal and turned back to Abigail who didn’t respond but sulked further in her seat.
“What Papa is trying to say is that, it’s okay for daddy’s flowers to die, that just means that we can go pick more together.” Will reassured her, smiling at nothing in particular.
Abigail looked up. Her eyes droopy and nodded as she glanced at the colourful vase that held half dead flowers.
“More flowers?”
“Yes, little one, more flowers.” Hannibal answered, caressing her cheek with his thumb, “Perhaps tomorrow; while we take the dogs out to play, we can go hunting for some.” He suggested.
Abigail perked up a bit. Tilting her head to look at Will and Hannibal.
“I wanna get more flowers.” She declared out loud, deciding that was what she wanted to do.
She wanted to get better and more beautiful ones than the dandelions she picked before. She wanted to get all different colours and as many as she could fit in her hands for her daddy and papa. She would have thousands, in every room, on every table and book shelf and it would be all because of her and her amazing decorating skills.
“I want flowers everywhere!” She yelled, sitting up straight in her chair.
Will chuckled followed by a smile from Hannibal before they both leaned down to kiss her cheeks. Gently blowing raspberries to get her to giggle and forget about being sad about the flowers in the first place.