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Chapter Text

While Hannibal had arranged adequate proof of Chilton's guilt Wednesday, they decided to wait until Friday to talk with the FBI agent in charge of the case. The morning of, Will sat in his chair, his feet propped up on the ottoman and a heavy blanket placed over his lap. He had thick circles under his eyes, giving the impression he was exhausted, which, to be fair, he was. BG had decided to spend the entire night rolling and kicking and nothing he or Hannibal did got her to stop. She had kept Will awake most of the night, allowing him a few minutes respite before starting up again.

Once Will ceded defeat around five am, Hannibal had called Alana to inquire about the contact information for the new agent in charge of the Chesapeake Ripper case. Alana, still reeling from the unexpected breakup, had been reluctant to give it but eventually gave in. The psychiatrist had called the man, Agent Bart Eckelson, to request a meeting, stating he had new information on the case. Eckelson had been understandably hesitant, knowing Hannibal had been a consultant for Jack and at one time a person of interest, but had agreed to come to Edgemoore after the doctor had assured the man he was not calling on behalf of Jack Crawford.

Once Eckelson entered the sitting room, Hannibal following closely behind, he hesitated before extending a hand for Will to shake. Will did so weakly, flinching slightly and avoiding eye contact with the man, firmly ensconced in his old persona.

"Mister Graham," Eckelson greeted. "People have been looking for you."

Will flinched again in guilt and Hannibal cleared his throat pointedly. "That, Agent Eckelson, is one of the reasons I asked you to come. It was very important we speak with you immediately."

Eckelson nodded, unsure of where the conversation was going but willing to listen. He stepped back from Will, giving the empath breathing space, and Will almost felt bad for deceiving the man.

"You said you had new information?"

"Yes," Hannibal answered as he motioned for the man to take a seat on the couch.

Eckelson sat and watched with an intelligent gaze as Hannibal took the seat next to Will. He took in Will's reluctance, his obvious pregnancy and the way he looked away from both men before he spoke up. "I'm thinking it's not Doctor Lecter with the information."

Hannibal shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I apologize for the ruse but I needed to get you here. Will has been reluctant to talk to anyone about this you see, afraid no one would believe him. I was also afraid that you would not come if you knew who it was that you were meeting."

Eckelson nodded again, still watching Will quietly. He leaned forward and set a recorder on the coffee table, the red light blinking into life as he turned the machine on.

"I can't begin to understand what you've gone through because of this case, but I am sorry you were put through it."

Will glanced at the agent before his eyes darted away again and he licked his lips. He opened his mouth but no sound emerged and so he closed it immediately and started to wring his hands in frustration. Hannibal reached over to gently stop the movement by placing one of his larger hands over Will's. Will looked at Hannibal in surprise before looking down at the appendage covering his. Hannibal squeezed his hands gently.

"It's alright Will," he soothed. "He's here and he's listening, but you need to tell him what you told me."

Will bit his lip harshly but nodded. "I'm sorry, it's just-"

"You don't need to apologize, Mister Graham," Eckelson said firmly. "It's clear you're upset about this. If you need to, we can reschedule."

The empath shook his head and glanced at the agent's tie. "I'm having a c-section next Thursday. I wanted to get this over with before the baby comes. I don't want to have to deal with this after that."

"Understandable." The FBI agent nodded his head towards Will's midriff. "Congratulations by the way."

Will rubbed the bulge his hands rested on and nodded his thanks. He took a deep breath and looked away from both men again, out to the balcony where Winston was shut away for the duration of the meeting.

"I was wrong," he started quietly, twisting his other hand up with Hannibal's, "when I said Hannibal was the Chesapeake Ripper."

Eckelson straightened, his demeanor hardening enough to tell both men he was listening. He didn't jump in when Will went quiet, choosing to wait until the empath gathered his thoughts and continued his explanation.

"I was sick. It made me unstable. I was seeing things, hearing things. I would see Hobbs standing over the bodies on each new case Jack dragged me to."

"That would be Garrett Jacob Hobbs?" the agent clarified for the record.

Will nodded, a sharp jerky motion. "Yes. Jack had me working the Ripper case any time there was downtime. He wanted progress so badly, and I just wanted him to leave me alone, I-"

He sucked in a shuddery breath and went silent, biting his lip harshly until Hannibal had to squeeze his hand.

"Will, you need to stop that. You're hurting yourself and that isn't productive to getting through this."

Will sighed but let his reddened lower lip go. He glanced at Hannibal before looking down at his stomach. He gathered his courage and looked up to meet Eckelson's gaze straight on.

"My brain was literally cooking itself. It was overcompensating for my empathy disorder and creating hallucinations related to the cases I was working on. I was seeing Hobbs because I killed him. I associated his death with all the other deaths I saw after that. Hannibal was helping me with the Shrike case and so he got lumped in with my psychosis.

"The hallucinations got worse as time wore on and when we made the connection that the Ripper was eating the organs he was taking, my brain linked the Ripper case with the Shrike case and melded them together. But because of the encephalitis, it wasn't perfect and certain parts didn't combine right. The Ripper had a surgical background, the clean cuts and dismemberments of the bodies told us so, but my mind was in distress and jumped track and focused on what it was familiar with."

Will went silent again and Eckelson filled in the blank. "Doctor Lecter, who was an emergency room surgeon."

Will sighed. "I locked onto Hannibal because all the pieces fit. It wasn't possible for me to see anyone else as a suspect after that. I deteriorated even further and ran off with Abigail to Minnesota."

Tears suddenly streamed down Will's throat and he swallowed roughly several times, blinking away the excess moisture that threatened to overflow from his eyes. The sorrow he portrayed for this portion of the story wasn't fake, it was very much real, and he struggled with the simple task of verbalizing the events.

"I... I had an episode and hallucinated. It scared Abigail and she ran away from me. I..." Will lost his composure and covered his eyes with a trembling hand as he sobbed out, "That was the last time I saw her."

Hannibal quickly stood and moved in front of Will, blocking the crying man from Eckelson's sight, and wrapped his arms around Will's shoulders. He held Will until the empath's emotions were under control again and discreetly palmed Will a handkerchief. Will wiped his eyes and nose before nodding that he was alright to continue.

"Sorry," he murmured thickly.

Eckelson waved the apology off. "I'm ready whenever you are," he said kindly.

Will nodded and played with the folded cloth in his hands. "I had a seizure, I think. I went to a therapist that put me under hypnosis after I was released and I remembered... I remember someone shoving something hard down my throat, a pipe or something. Lights were flashing and there was this loud noise all around me. I woke up and got sick in the sink and I saw-"

He couldn't continue and Hannibal looked to the FBI agent. "You don't need him to go over this again do you?"

Eckelson shook his head. "Absolutely not. I have it all on record. I only need what hasn't been brought forth. Whatever you can give me Mister Graham."

Will wiped his eyes again and nodded, looking at the agent's hands where they were linked over his spread knees. "In prison, Chilton experimented on me."

The reaction was immediate. Eckelson straightened and his expression darkened so quickly that even Hannibal had to be impressed at the speed. The agent sat forward and dipped his head so he could catch Will's eye.

"I need you to tell me everything, Mister Graham, as much as you can remember."

Will let out a shuddery breath. "He forced me to agree to a risky type of therapy. Psychic-Driving. He strapped me to a table, pumped me full of drugs, and pointed flashing lights in my face. I can't remember what he said, but I remember leaving each session feeling detached and nearly sick with fear."

"What were you afraid of?" Eckelson asked.

Will locked gazes with the doctor beside him, as if seeking an anchor in the chaos of his feigned emotions. "Hannibal. I was afraid of Hannibal."

Hannibal was frowning, anger licking away behind his eyes. He squeezed Will's hand and looked at the agent.

"That man," he started forcefully, surprising both Eckelson and Will with the barely-controlled rage, "abused a patient in his care, subjected him to an incredibly dangerous procedure that has been proven to be detrimental to a person's health, simply to study how it would effect Will's empathy. There is no telling what suggestions or triggers he implanted in Will's subconscious. What's worse is that in the process he willfully attempted to corrupt one of the only methods of stabilization Will had so he would be completely isolated."

Eckelson was scowling as well. "Did he do this to any other prisoners?"

Will looked back to Eckelson and nodded. "Before I was imprisoned... Alana Bloom, Hannibal and I suspected he did it to Abel Gideon. Gideon provided multiple statements to that effect, but they were all thrown out as inadmissible because he was deemed insane. He was sent back to Chilton's care."

Eckelson pulled a notepad out and jotted something down before closing it and placing it on the table. "Do you know what he did to Gideon?"

"He fed the personalities of several different killers into Gideon's psyche. His mind couldn't handle it and fractured under the strain. He literally thinks he's each one of these killers. He cycles through them, thinks like they would, acts like they would, but knows at the back of his mind that nothing is right about it. He knows that something's wrong, but he's so far gone he can't be helped."

The next part was harder, requiring delicate maneuvering on Will's part. "Chilton liked to watch me. There were cameras installed in my cell and he'd watch me on and off. He'd watch me eat or sleep or even use the facilities."

Eckelson quickly prodded Will to continue, clearly believing he knew where the conversation was heading. "How do you know he'd watch you?"

"Matthew told me."

"That would be Matthew Brown, the orderly that attacked Doctor Lecter?"

Will nodded. "He had walked in on Chilton doing it, had even confronted him on it. After Chilton threatened to fire him, Matthew told me."

"Was this before or after he decided to attack Doctor Lecter?"

"Before. Matthew was nice to me. A little creepy maybe, but no one else was nice. They treated me like a monster."

"Brown became obsessed with you."

Will nodded again, a movement he was growing sick of. "He killed that person during my trial. Not the judge, the other one. He told me he admired me. I told him I wasn't the Ripper. He said he already knew and didn't care. We talked every once and a while after that, when it was just the two of us. I confided in him about the therapy sessions and being afraid of Hannibal."

He wrung his hands and shook his head. "I couldn't sleep I was so scared. I don't even remember the reason behind the fear, just that it was all encompassing. Matthew didn't like what was happening, he told Chilton I was going to break and that he needed to stop."

"And did he?"

"No," Will said thickly. "He slowed down some, but he kept doing it."

Hannibal cleared his throat and Eckelson looked over to him. "I believe Brown's motivation was due to his obsession with Will and his need to protect him. The man saw me as a detriment to Will's sanity and sought to remove the cause of Will's fear, even though that fear was created by Fredrick Chilton."

"We've gone off on a tangent here." Eckelson rubbed at his face. "Just what is it you're trying to tell me, Mister Graham?"

Will lost his courage. "This is stupid. I'm sorry for wasting your time, I shouldn't have bothered you with this."

The case agent shook his head but remained quiet as Hannibal gave a tiny growl of irritation at Will. The doctor sat forward and forced the empath to make eye contact, holding his face gently, even as his words were a harsh order.

"Will, tell him what you told me. I refuse to allow that man to remain free. I simply won't have it."

"Doctor Lecter," Eckelson frowned, "you don't need to be so-"

"Yes," Hannibal said, cutting the other man off with a look over his shoulder. "I do."

"Doctor-"

"It's fine," Will said quietly. "He's right."

Will shook his face free from Hannibal's grasp and took several deep, shuddery breaths. When he felt more in control, he met Eckelson's gaze. "Chilton's the Ripper."

Eckelson narrowed his eyes and looked down at the coffee table for several drawn-out moments. Will shifted uncomfortably, scowled, and pulled as far away from Hannibal as his chair allowed.

"I told you!" He glared at Hannibal angrily. "I told you this would happen."

Hannibal sighed in frustration. "Will-"

"No, I told you no one would believe me!"

"Whoa!" Eckelson quickly interjected, waving his hands in wide movements to stop the spat that was brewing. "I'm not saying I don't believe you. I'm just thinking it through before asking anything else."

Will huffed, not believing the agent, but subsided grudgingly after he shot a nasty look at the psychiatrist. Hannibal sighed tiredly and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"I can see good points in you favor," the agent placated. "Chilton was a neurosurgeon, so he'd have the medical skills necessary. By others' accounts, he's a bit arrogant."

Will snorted and Hannibal's lips twitched.

"He obviously doesn't hold his Hippocratic oath in high regard from what you've told me about his experiments." Eckelson frowned. "What else makes you think he's the Chesapeake Ripper?"

"He's not arrogant, he's egotistical and a narcissist." Will corrected. "Why do you think he works in a psychiatric prison? It feeds his sense of superiority and gives him access to defenseless patients."

"I must agree with Will. I have spent a good deal of time with Fredrick, having invited him to one or two of my minor dinner parties and accompanied him to the opera with Alana Bloom. He was quite presumptuous, flirting with my date the entire evening. Doctor Bloom left the opera early due to his unwanted attention."

"You didn't go with her?"

Hannibal shook his head. "I am on the Opera House's Board. I could not leave mid-way through a performance, it would have been entirely inappropriate. Doctor Bloom understood; as did I for her departure."

"What else?"

Will rubbed a hand over his face. "Tell him about Sutcliffe, Hannibal."

Hannibal pursed his lips at the reminder of the neurologist but nodded. "Doctor Sutcliffe, a colleague I took Will to for an opinion on his illness, lied about Will's encephalitis."

Eckelson opened his notepad and wrote notes as Hannibal spoke. "Did he know Chilton?"

"Donald was friends and colleagues with Fredrick, just as he was with me."

"And you think Chilton killed him."

"Donald was killed in his office after Georgia Madchen followed Will to the hospital. It can be argued that she murdered him, however I believe it was done for another reason."

"And what would that be?"

Will grimaced and pushed on his belly where BG was pressing a fist outwards. "I was getting another MRI. He was murdered during the scan."

"If he lied about the encephalitis already, why kill him?"

Hannibal made a distressed sound. "I have no doubt that he would have told Will the truth after the second scan. It would have been unconscionable for him to keep silent any longer. Donald would have been sentencing Will to death if he did not, and that would not have sat right with him."

"But how does that link Chilton to this?"

"I fear that Donald may have confided in Fredrick about Will's diagnosis after he altered the results. I was not in the room with Doctor Sutcliffe the entire time Will was being scanned, so it is quite possible that Donald made the discovery, decided to not tell Will or I, and changed the scan results before I returned."

"Chilton was a neurosurgeon and chose to become a psychiatrist," Eckelson mused. "He's obviously intrigued by the mind."

"He likes manipulating it," Will cut in harshly. "He experimented on me with a type of therapy that he knew had driven another person to murder. He implanted the personalities of several serial-killers into Gideon and didn't inform us of that fact when we were trying to capture him. Chilton wound Gideon up and watched him go, knowing it would draw Jack's attention, and by extension, mine."

"You make it sound as if he's obsessed with you."

"He is," Will bit out, startling the agent with the harshness. "Everything he's been doing lately is because of me, to get to me."

"Why though? Why you?"

Will gave a hollow laugh, something that made both men flinch. "He's lonely."

The empath swallowed in disgust and cradled his belly unconsciously. "The Chesapeake Ripper views himself above the human race, as more than human, better. Humans are pigs to him, the only good they do is when they're dead because then they're either art or food. The Ripper is one of a kind but that leaves him alone, no one to share his art with, his life."

Eckelson's face twisted in mild disgust at Will's implications. "Psychopaths aren't capable of love, or at least a true desire for companionship. They may tie themselves to other people, but it's only as long as the person is useful."

Will shook his head. "If you only learn one thing about the Ripper, Agent Eckelson, it's that he's not a psychopath. There's no word for what he is. He's capable of emotion, just like you or I, but he can shut it off. He feels, but only when he wants to."

The room descended into thick silence before Hannibal spoke up. "I wanted you to know about this because I'm afraid of what could happen if Fredrick truly is the Chesapeake Ripper and were to remain free."

He turned his head to observe the pale and drawn Will and thinned his lips in rising anger. "Again, I agree with Will. The Ripper is lonely, seeking a connection, and has focused his attention on Will. It is incredibly dangerous for Will as long as this serial-killer remains at large. There is no telling what he would do in order to locate Will, to draw him out into the open."

"But why Mister Graham in the first place? I'm sorry-" he shot Will an apologetic look, "-but I would think that someone as careful as the Ripper is would be leery of getting involved with someone as unstable as Mister Graham was at the time."

Will dragged a trembling hand over his right cheekbone, pushing at the skin under his eye before he dropped the appendage down onto his stomach. "I have perfect empathy," he explained. "What better person than the person who could understand you completely?

"I was unstable because of the encephalitis, but that was an opportunity for him. Not only could he observe it's effects, but he could also use it to frame me for his own crimes and, at the same time, mold me into what he was looking for."

"A killer?"

Will looked at Eckelson bleakly. "A monster equal to his."

Hannibal picked up the conversation. "When the encephalitis was discovered and cured, Fredrick had to use other means to get the end result he wanted."

"The psychic-driving?"

Hannibal nodded gravely. "He had already used Abel Gideon as a test subject so he knew the technique would work, and with Will imprisoned and under his influence he was free to continue what he started."

"God," Eckelson sighed tiredly and leaned back against the couch cushion. "It does make sense, in a twisted way."

Will pulled a face in whole-hearted agreement and started to make large circles on his distended abdomen, trying to sooth the active baby nestled inside. The action caught Eckelson's attention, and the agent eyed him in thought. He slowly sat forward and set the notepad he had still been holding on the table beside the recorder.

"Mister Graham," he started cautiously. "I'm sorry if I dredge up anything disturbing for you, but I'm afraid I need to know. Is Chilton the father of your child?"

Will's complexion paled to stark-white and he gripped his stomach in disgust and fear. "God, no!"

"Mister Graham, I know this has to be hard but-"

"He's not! He never touched me!" Will shook his head rapidly, his breathing quickening. "No."

Hannibal quickly took control of the situation and moved forward into Will's space, sitting on the arm of Will's chair. He tipped Will's head to get the empath's panicked attention and began to walk the younger man through several exercises that would calm him and get his breathing back under control. It took many tense minutes, but when he was finally calm he was exhausted and had to lean against Hannibal. Will rested his head against the doctor's side and closed his eyes tiredly.

"I'm sorry," Eckelson apologized to Hannibal, "But I need to know if he's lying."

Hannibal ran a hand through Will's curls absent-mindedly before sighing.

"Fredrick is not the father," he said simply.

A long moment of silence and then, "You are."

Will made a distressed sound, not happy that Hannibal was putting his reputation and job in danger, but the doctor shushed him.

"I am."

"That can be considered abuse as well, Doctor," Eckelson pointed out evenly. "You're his psychiatrist."

"Never officially and not in any capacity since his imprisonment. We were both grown, consenting adults and it is no one's business but our own."

"Was it ongoing?"

"No. It happened once and we decided to leave things as they were."

"It had to have happened right before that entire mess happened, right?"

Hannibal tipped his head, both in agreement to the statement and thanks to the agent for leaving the touchy subject alone. "It did, a little less than a week before the episode that drove Will to Minnesota."

"Did Chilton know? I would imagine it would be a hard thing to hide."

"From my understanding, no, Fredrick was not aware of Will's pregnancy. And, frankly, I am exceedingly grateful for that. I shudder to think what would have happened if Fredrick had learned of the child while Will was still incarcerated."

"You think he would have hurt the baby?"

"Possibly, or he would have used the pregnancy for his own means. As Will's legal medical proxy, he would have had the right to make any medical or legal decision in regards to the child on Will's behalf."

"I don't understand, how was Chilton his proxy?"

"The courts deemed Will incompetent when they remanded him to the hospital. There was no one to fill the role so the hospital was made surrogate by default."

"So he's been hiding from Chilton this entire time?"

"Will has been hiding from everyone since his release, myself included. I only found him Monday by chance."

"Why?" Eckelson waved a hand at Hannibal. "I would think you'd be the first one he'd go to."

Hannibal shook his head, his tone reluctant when he next spoke. "Will blames himself from when he was convinced I was the Ripper. He also believes himself responsible for Matthew Brown's attempt on my life. Jack and Doctor Bloom are convinced Will asked Brown to kill me, as revenge for framing him."

"But you don't think so."

"No. However, Jack and Alana still think Will believes I was the Ripper and acted in revenge. Which is why he went into hiding instead of going to them for help. They wouldn't believe him, not when he had already cried wolf."

"And you?" Eckelson asked curiously.

Hannibal sighed and ran his hand over a groggy-Will's scalp. "He was afraid of how I would react. I am a bachelor by choice and prefer to be single. It is logical for one to assume I would not take warmly to the news of impending fatherhood. Especially with a man that, to Will, had wronged me in such a grievous manner.

"There was also his previous mental instability. Many people would be dead-set against Will raising a child, believing him unfit. He was, and still is, terrified that the baby would be taken away from him. He's always wanted a family and it would be disastrous for him to be so close to achieving it, only to have it torn asunder by those that think they mean well."

"He does seem a bit..." Eckelson trailed off.

The doctor scowled. "Will has been under extreme duress these past few days and that is completely my fault. I have been pushing him to tell someone about what has been done to him, something I most likely should not have done given his condition."

Will groaned, prompting Hannibal to situate himself differently on the chair's arm so the empath could lean more comfortably against him. The younger man sighed before he seemed to drop off to sleep, giving Eckelson the chance to discuss something he had been wary of doing in front of him.

"Freddy Lounds is still missing and people are pointing fingers at Graham," he stated plainly.

Hannibal's temper flared, maroon eyes narrowing in veiled anger, and he let his words come out clipped and cold, not bothering to hide the genuine disgust he had for the rude woman.

"Freddy Lounds makes her living off of stalking and tormenting people, Will especially. She attacks decent people's character, rips it to shreds, and spits on it for good measure. Miss Lounds has made it a personal calling to destroy Will's life and nothing anyone has done has even stilled her momentum on that front. Will Graham is not insane and he most certainly did not kill her."

Eckelson threw his hands up in surrender. "Easy, I never said she was dead."

"With a woman that despised, it is not a matter of if you'll find her body but when. It is only natural for me to assume you consider Will a suspect based on their well-publicized animosity."

The agent nodded, agreeing with Hannibal's assessment of the situation. He motioned to Will and shrugged his shoulders. "Kind of hard to point the finger at him though. It's obvious he wouldn't be capable of the physical activity needed to kill someone and dispose of the body. Especially not in a place like this."

Hannibal let out an exhale and relaxed his shoulders, letting his defensiveness go. "You can inquire about Will's activity with the hotel staff. From what I've picked up on, they've taken to watching him like a hawk due to his difficulties."

"Difficulties?" Eckelson asked.

"Yes, apparently he's had a challenging pregnancy, extreme bouts of sickness and lethargy coupled with his age. It's not a good combination. I wouldn't be surprised if his obstetrician has warned him against having more children."

"But he's doing alright?"

"Yes. He's actually carried the baby further than most males, a full nine months. Doctor Burnam has extended the delivery-date twice. While he's tired and sick a good deal more than usual, his body isn't showing signs of preeclampsia or Braxton Hicks."

"That's good. He said the c-section's in two weeks?"

Hannibal nodded. "He's been working himself up about the worst case scenarios. The surgery will be at the general hospital."

Eckelson's face lit with understanding. "And he's afraid Chilton will find out and visit."

"Burnam has used her sway at the hospital to arrange a private room and as much secrecy as possible, but there is no guarantee. It's not just Fredrick he worries about visiting."

"Makes sense," the FBI agent said as he stood. He continued on as he collected the recorder and his pad. "I can't really help with Crawford but I can try with Chilton. If he is the Ripper I want to get him as soon as possible, especially with how obsessed the killer seems to be with Graham."

"What will you do?"

"I'll pull a warrant, quietly, when I leave here. I'm hoping I can hit his house while he's out."

Hannibal agreed with the man. "Please be very careful. If he is the Ripper, he'll either assume you'll believe every word he says and deny everything vehemently, or he will do as much damage as possible before you take him in. If he lets you take him in. This killer doesn't kill because he needs to, he does it because he enjoys it, and that makes him very dangerous. I believe that he values his freedom over anything else, going to great lengths to ensure it. Look what he did to Will. That took months of careful and involved planning to get the desired outcome."

Eckelson nodded gravely. "I'll try to keep you informed. I would suggest sticking with Graham until further notice."

"I've already made the necessary arrangements," he assuaged. "My schedule is mostly cleared for the week of the surgery besides a few appointments and I have a colleague of mine on standby in the case I require more time away from the office. I have no intention of leaving Will to do this on his own. He deserves better."

Hannibal moved to rise and show the agent out, but Eckelson waved a hand and nodded his head towards Will. The younger man was leaning completely against Hannibal's side and frowning, his face pale and drawn even in sleep.

"I can see myself out." He gave Hannibal a gentle smile. "Congratulations by the way. I know it's a big step, but once you see the kid they really will make everything you're giving up worth it."

Hannibal ran a hand through Will's curls and stared at the agent thoughtfully. "I take it you have children of your own?"

"Yep, two girls and a boy. Scared me shitless when their mother told me the first time." Eckelson started for the door. "There's nothing in the world like holding something that's half you. Every part of you just starts screaming that it's yours and you'd suddenly do anything for them. It was nice meeting both of you, Doctor Lecter."

"You as well, Agent Eckelson."

The door closed and Hannibal stared at it thoughtfully until Will pulled away and looked up at him with a pleased expression.

"Well, that went well. Don't you think?"

______________________________________

Monday morning heralded another delicious breakfast with Celeste and a special edition of the Baltimore Sun. The older woman handed the folded paper to Will and passed a plate of blood sausages over to Hannibal with a raised eyebrow. Hannibal gave her an innocent look, making Celeste snort inelegantly, and he poured tea for each of them. The two men took turns reading the outlandish article, each critiquing the author's depiction of Chilton's arrest.

Chilton was detained when he returned home Saturday night after the FBI raided his home and found evidence linking him to two of the Cheaspeake Ripper murders. Most of the evidence was in a basement refrigerator, packed away in airtight tupperware containers with hand-written recipes taped to the lids of each one. Further proof led Eckelson and his team to an abandoned cabin the next day where Miriam Lass was found, alive, in a basement well.

Will wondered where Hannibal learned to forge Chilton's handwriting.

_______________________________________

Eckelson called Will Thursday morning to request another meeting. Hannibal was in Baltimore, seeing a few last-minute patients that couldn't be rescheduled, so Will made the impulsive decision to allow the agent's visit. He called Hannibal's office and left a message for him, seeing as how the man accidentally left his personal phone at the hotel.

The agent sat on the couch across from him and looked around the suite. "Where's Doctor Lecter?"

Will waved a hand. "A few of his patients called yesterday, insisting that they couldn't wait until their next appointment. He crammed them all in today so he wouldn't have to worry about them calling next week."

"Ah," Eckelson nodded in sympathy. "I could imagine how busy his job has to be."

"Worse than ours sometimes."

Eckelson nodded again and looked at Will curiously, making Will raise an eyebrow in question.

"Sorry," the agent said. "It's just... You seem..."

"Less neurotic?" the empath supplied helpfully.

The other snorted. "Calmer."

"Wouldn't you be?" Will asked. "The man that ruined my life is behind bars. I don't have to worry about him hunting me down and showing up out of the blue anymore."

Eckelson made an agreeing sound and sat back, crossing his right leg over his left. "That's what I came to talk to you about."

Will shot the other man a look. "He is still in custody, right?"

"Yes, of course," Eckelson said, surprised. "No, no no. I only wanted to give you an update on this entire thing, before you read it in the paper."

"What's happened?" Will asked warily, knowing full-well that something said like that heralded nothing good.

"A few things." The agent shifted in his seat. "First off, Lass identified Chilton as the man who abducted her. She originally went to interview him about the Ripper case and he blind-sided her. He kept her in that cabin from the very beginning."

"Okay..." Will drawled. "How is that bad?"

"She identified him by freaking out and shooting him in the face."

Will's mouth hung open in shock, the empath genuinely not sure how to take that piece of news.

Eckelson nodded. "Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too."

"Is he alive?" Will asked, forcing his excitement back so he could appear properly concerned.

"Yes. He was rushed to the hospital and staff saved him. He'll be fucking ugly the rest of his life, but I figure he deserves a little reminder of what he did."

Will just nodded, unsure of what to say to that. It prompted Eckelson to continue.

"Next up, Matthew Brown."

"Oh God," Will groaned, closing and rubbing his eyes. "Please, please tell me he hasn't escaped."

"No. Though you were right, he is creepy." Eckelson uncrossed his legs and sat forward. "I had to verify your account from when you were incarcerated."

A tight ball of dread began to form in Will's stomach. "And what did he say?"

"Pretty much what you did. Chilton was using psychic driving on you and Brown told Chilton to stop. Chilton was all around obsessive with you. The other employees mentioned that as well."

Of course they would, the ex-agent thought with amusement, the entire prison would be ecstatic to see Chilton get his ass kicked to the curb, patients and staff. They were probably all waiting for the first domino to fall so they could say anything to get him canned, or arrested. Matthew probably knew exactly what he was doing when he corroborated Will's version.

Relief made the fear fade, and Will knew he would have to thank the little sycophant somehow for backing up his story. Maybe he could get Hannibal to do it? The thought of the those two in the same room again made the pregnant male want to laugh, but he ignored the urge and focused back on the visiting agent.

"That's good, right?"

"Yep. Another nail in Chilton's coffin."

"Is that it? So you have everything you need to charge him? Will they prosecute?"

"We found additional evidence at the cabin that indicates him setting you up. There was remnants of material used in fly-fishing lures, soil found on a previous body. We had pretty much everything we needed."

"Had?" Will asked, allowing his dread to show.

Eckelson grew silent and shifted uneasily before clearing his throat. "We had another witness come forward. They saw the arrest and contacted the police."

The empath bit his tongue before speaking. "Are they not reliable?"

"No," the agent said slowly, looking at Will carefully, "that's not it."

"Then what's the matter?"

Eckelson licked his lips nervously. "Mister Graham, I'm not sure how to say this."

"Like a bandaide," Will quipped.

The other male didn't laugh but took his advice. He inhaled deeply before meeting Will's eyes. "Abigail Hobbs is alive. We positively identified her after she came forward late Tuesday night."

"What... No, that can't... what-" The words died on Will's tongue as his chest constricted and his stomach rippled painfully.

"Mister Graham?" The agent frowned as Will grimaced. "I know it's a shock, but this is good. She's alive."

"No-" Will panted, his face twisting. "That's not... she can't be. Her ear... it was..."

Eckelson shook his head. "It was cut off, but that's all that was done. She got away and has been hiding ever since."

It was getting harder to breathe and Will started to panic. His lungs were in a vice grip and cramps were starting to pull at his insides. A particularly harsh contraction had him crying out, his eyes watering from the pain, and the agent's eyes widened before he quickly dialed 911 on his phone and moved to kneel beside Will's chair.

"This is FBI Agent Bart Eckelson. I'm at Edgemoore Estate, Columbia, Maryland. I have a pregnant male, mid to late thirties, appears to be in distress. Breathing is labored and he's clutching his middle." Eckelson looked at Will's abdomen. "I think he's nine months."

"Eight and three-quarters," Will corrected, hissing as another wave of pain assaulted him. He forced his mind to ignore the news about Abigail for now, panic about the baby making it easy to do.

The agent passed the information on before listening to the operator for several long moments. He nodded before speaking to Will in a calm tone, his free hand moving to rest on one of the empath's. "It's going to be fine, Will. They're sending paramedics now and we'll get you to a hospital."

"General..." Will gasped. "It has to be general."

"Your doctor, right?"

Will nodded and threw his head against the chair's back, banging it harshly and sucking in air through his clenched teeth.

Eckelson informed the dispatcher and squeezed Will's hand as he hung up. "What's her number? I'll call her so she can meet us."

The empath groaned and grabbed the cellphone that rested on the table beside him, thrusting it blindly at the agent. Eckelson took it and thumbed through the contacts, dialing the only person with 'Dr.' before their name. He relayed the situation and hung up.

"The nurse is going to let her know and she'll be on her way."

"Hannibal-" Will gasped weakly. "Hannibal needs to know."

"I'll call him."

"Can't," the pregnant male groaned. "The fucker left his phone here."

"I'll send someone then," the FBI agent said ruefully at the empath's irritation.

Will bit his lip and whimpered when a severe cramp took over, his entire lower half seizing in pain. He sobbed once, a short sound, and when the pressure let up he looked down at the other man. "Beverly."

"What?"

"Send Beverly."

"Beverly who?" Eckelson asked.

"Katz. She works with Jack. Please" Will grunted and knocked his head against the chair again. "She's the only one I trust."

Eckelson sighed but nodded and dialed FBI dispatch. "This is Agent Eckelson, get me Agent Beverly Katz, Quantico, Virginia. Medical Emergency."

Both men waited several long beats, Will's gasps filling the void where conversation should have been, until a female voice sounded over the line.

"Katz, this is Eckelson. Listen, I need you to go to Hannibal Lecter's office. He's with patients so he's not picking up. Tell him that Will Graham is being taken to General Hospital and he needs to meet us there."

Even through the haze from the cramps, Will picked out the worried tone in Bev's voice. He weakly motioned for the phone and pressed it against his ear when it was given to him.

"... tell me right now!" The tail-end of Beverly's order sounded through the phone.

"Bev?" Will asked.

"Will! Oh my god, what's happening? Where the hell have you been?!"

"You know that betting pool about me and Hannibal?" he groaned.

"Will, what's going on? What's wrong?"

Will closed his eyes and sucked in air through his mouth, attempting to block the pain. "I'm in labor and I really need Hannibal."

There was a long silence before the woman shrieked. "Oh my god! Oh my god!"

"Beverly," he bit out.

"Sorry," she apologized, calming down quickly. "Okay. Okay, I'll go get him for you Will. General Hospital, yeah? Don't worry, I'll drag him out of his office kicking and screaming if I have to."

"All you're going to have to do is make sure he doesn't drive," he chuckled weakly before crying out.

"Will? Will!"

Eckelson took the phone back and let her know an ambulance was coming and that she needed to get moving. He hung up and pocketed both his cell and Will's before standing to open the front door. The paramedics were making their way up to the suite so the agent crossed back over to the empath and squeezed his shoulder.

"Do you need me to get anything? A go-bag?"

"Closet," Will gritted out. "And my pad and charger on the table. Hannibal's phone off the counter."

The older man nodded before quickly gathering the listed items, slipping Hannibal's phone into the bag just as the paramedics and hotel staff streamed into the room. The EMTs were efficient and soon had Will loaded into the ambulance and hooked up to an IV as they sped off.

It was a painful thirty minute ride, the paramedic in the back asking question after question to a groaning and whimpering Will, the empath smacking at the EMT's hands when he pressed on Will's belly. It was a relief to everyone when the ambulance came to a stop outside the hospital and the vehicle doors were jerked open by emergency room staff.

Things went quickly from there. Will was unloaded from the ambulance and rushed into the building, nurses checking his vitals as they pushed him straight through the department to the elevator. The pregnant male looked around confusedly and a nurse at his side patted his hand, her strained smile telling Will more about his condition than he wanted to know.

"We're taking you strait to the O.R.. Michelle is already scrubbing up."

"Michelle?" Will groaned as a particularly bad cramp wracked his middle.

"Doctor Burnam, honey," she said with a hint of worry.

"Oh," he sighed. "Never did manage to catch her first name."

Another nurse snorted and shook her head, pressing the up button for the elevator. Will grabbed the first nurse's arm weakly and she looked down at him.

"There's going to be," Will grimaced at another wave of pain, "there's going to be a man. Hannibal Lecter."

She nodded. "We'll make sure he gets to where you are, honey."

Will sighed in relief, letting his arm fall onto the gurney, and looked up at the ceiling as they loaded him onto the elevator. His insides seemed on fire, his chest squeezed in a vice grip and his heart bounced wildly like a rubber ball as BG rolled manically from her father's stress. The metal of the elevator glinted brightly, like light playing off a knife's blade, and Will was abruptly reminded of just what had cause this situation.

Abigail was alive.

Hannibal hadn't killed her.

Abigail was alive and Hannibal had lied to him about it.

Alarms started to blare as Will's eyes rolled back and his body went into arrest.

________________________________________

Waking wasn't a gradual process. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't swim in and out of consciousness for hours before finally rejoining the world of the living, loved ones on either side of him.

No, Will woke quickly. The same way he did when he dreamt of falling, a quick sudden jolt that propelled him from unconsciousness to awareness. He woke in a hospital room, a tube up his nose, and a headache that rivaled any of his whiskey-bender hangovers. His whole body hurt, his abdomen in particular, and he rested his hand on the bandages that covered his middle.

His eyes widened in panic as his mind, dulled from medication, caught up with what he wasn't feeling, and he heard the nearby beeping of his monitor begin to go crazy. Will tried to sit up but sharp pain lanced through his abdomen and he whimpered as he dropped back down. Hands tore at the bandages taped down onto his now flattened midsection and he clenched his eyes, tears falling as his chest constricted.

"Will? Will, you need to listen to me," a voice sounded from his left. Hands gripped his and pulled them away from his middle and another set bracketed his face. "Will, look at me."

Blue eyes opened and Will saw Burnam standing over him. He gasped and let out a strangled sob, his hands pulling at the appendages holding them.

"It's fine, Will. She's absolutely fine. Will, listen to me. She's fine."

She shook his face and he closed his eyes and focused on breathing, trying to hear her and what she was saying.

"Your baby is completely fine but you need to calm down. Breathe for me Will. That's it, deep breaths."

The obstetrician talked Will down from his panic and measured his pulse and oxygen intake critically until it was in the normal range. She smiled at the empath and squeezed his hand before sitting in the seat beside the bed. Burnam rested her arms on the bedrail and smiled tiredly.

"You've been keeping people on their toes, Will."

"How-" Will's voice cut off, cracking from the dryness.

Burnam fed him ice-chips a nurse conveniently arrived with and he tried again.

"How long?"

"Day and a half," she said. "It's Friday night."

"What happened?" Will asked as he looked around the room.

"You had an anxiety attack at home that escalated. The baby went into distress." She frowned. "You went into cardiac-arrest in the elevator. We were able to resuscitate and we operated."

"The baby?" Will looked at his doctor in worry.

Burnam smiled. "Perfectly healthy. Ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes, one nose."

Will chuckled tiredly at the rhyme and looked around again. "Where is she?"

"Down the hall in the nursery. She's the envy of all the nurses. We've instigated a bag policy to make sure no one sneaks off with her." She laughed at the look on Will's face. "I'm only joking, Will. Besides, they'd have to get past Hannibal first."

The reminder of Hannibal made Will scowl harshly as anger roared upwards. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, his hands clenching into fists. The monitor's beeping began to increase and he heard Burnam shift in her seat.

"Will?" she asked uncertainly.

Will shook his head and kept his eyes closed until the rage he felt was banked down into something controllable before he looked at the woman beside him. "Sorry."

"What just happened?"

He shook his head and Burnam let the matter drop.

"When can I see her?" Will asked as he tried to sit up.

Burnam smiled again as she pushed him back down onto the bed. She raised the bed's back until Will was half-way sitting. "Tomorrow morning, after you rest some."

The empath scowled. "I've been asleep for the past two days. I want my baby."

"No," Doctor Burnam corrected, "you've been unconscious after a major surgery. I know you want to hold her, but you need to sleep some before you do. You're shaking and don't even realize it."

She was right, Will realized. His entire body was racked with fine trembles, his hands shaking the worst. It made sense to wait until he was stronger. He didn't have to like it, but he'd wait until morning to see BG.

"Fine," he sighed reluctantly. "But I want her first thing tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," Burnam saluted as she stood and left.

"I mean it!" Will called after her. "Don't make me get out of this bed!"

_______________________________________

Will had been holding a sleeping BG for over an hour before Hannibal finally showed up, stopped in the doorway and watching. The empath looked up and stared back, unwilling to break the tension first. Hannibal broke eye-contact to close the door and moved to the foot of the bed, his gaze returning to the tableau in front of him.

"She looks like you."

Will remained silent, his blue eyes hooded with forced calm.

Hannibal sighed and looked at BG before speaking, his tone weary. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

Rage licked at the back of Will's throat, but he swallowed it down and continued to stare at the other mutely. Hannibal didn't seem to know what to do with that reaction and shifted slightly in agitation.

"Will..."

"You cut off her ear," Will cut in quietly, effectively silencing anything Hannibal had to say, "and fed it to me."

Hannibal seem to recognize the dangerous footing he was on so he remained quiet, watching him warily.

"Whatever explanation you have for that, I don't care and I don't want to hear it." Will stared down at BG sleeping in his arms before taking a deep breath. "I grieved her, Hannibal, and you let me. That is worse than anything else you've ever done to me."

"I was planning our future," Hannibal admitted softly after it was clear Will was done speaking. The doctor sighed again when the younger male refused to look at him. "You and I were supposed to leave, go to Europe. She'd be there waiting for us."

The empath asked evenly, "Waiting for us where?"

"Home."

That single word tore at Will and he turned his head in agitation.

"Damn it, Hannibal," he swore tiredly, feeling his anger start to fade. "Why did you have to do this?"

"I wanted us to have a fresh start," Hannibal said, as if sensing the weakening of Will's defenses. He moved to the side of the bed and stood looking down at Will and the baby. "You're the first person in a very long time that I care for. I fought through your forts and realized that you were exceptional, unique, and I quickly coveted you."

Will bit his lip.

"I was lonely, and you made me see that," Hannibal continued softly. "You challenged me. You were the first person that I thought could be my equal, my friend."

"And Abigail?" Will asked, resigned to the answer.

"A means to an end," Hannibal admitted.

It hurt, Hannibal saying that, and Will's eyes began to fill with bitter tears. One of Hannibal's large hands was placed under Will's chin and it tilted the younger man's face up so he had to meet the psychiatrist's gaze.

"That does not mean I don't care for her, Will, because I do. Very much. It pained me to harm her."

"Then why did you do it?"

"You were close to figuring things out. You were going to realize who I was and it was too soon. You weren't ready. I was going to lose you."

"You framed me for murder, Hannibal. I went to prison," The empath hissed out and jerked his head away from the other's grip. "You lost me anyway."

Hannibal cupped Will's cheek again and gently forced Will's head back. "And yet here we are."

Will pulled away once more and fiddled with the blanket BG was swaddled in. "I hate you."

"I know," Hannibal sighed. "But I would like to think that's not all that remains. I care for you, Will, all of my family."

"And who, exactly, does that include?" Will bit out waspishly and glared at the other. "Are you going to lop off Abigail's other ear when we get into a fight? What next, start on her fingers?"

The doctor's mouth tightened but he remained silent, anger and frustration lurking behind his red eyes. Will saw the monster swimming upwards but knew Hannibal wouldn't hurt him. Will was lashing out, and Will knew Hannibal was aware of that. The psychiatrist had hurt Will deeply, had broken a large chunk of the remaining trust that existed between them, and lashing out at the younger male would only destroy the little that was left. Hannibal shook his head and sat down. He turned his gaze to BG, miraculously still asleep in her father's arms, and leaned back in the chair.

"I know I've done something you consider unforgivable," Hannibal said at length. "But despite the contrary, you can trust me. I will not harm you or our children again. Not even if you betray me."

He met Will's gaze unwaveringly. "Abigail very much included."

"And what about Celeste?"

The other sighed and nodded. "I will admit you had a valid point about Celeste. She has already run interference with the licensing board."

"What?" Will asked, his mind dropping the remaining anger for the moment. "So soon? What happened?"

"Alana happened," Hannibal said with a slight scowl. "She apparently contacted a friend who knows a board member."

Will laughed. "Nothing like a woman scorned Hannibal."

The older man rolled his eyes and shifted his focus onto BG as she stirred and yawned. The baby's mouth stretched wide, soft pink tissue exposed with a gusty sigh, and Will chuckled as she resettled and opened her eyes to stare at the man holding her. Her younger father ran his fingers over the soft downy hair covering her head and smiled softly.

"She has your eyes," Will murmured.

Hannibal smiled at Will and the baby from where he sat, his elbows resting on the armrests and hands linked over his stomach. Will was self-aware enough to realize how tempting a sight they were to Hannibal, and was completely willing to use that to his advantage.

"You didn't take liberties while I was out and name her, did you?"

The other male shook his head. "No. I thought it best if you name her. As we've discovered, you have more hope for coming up with an original name than I."

Will snorted quietly. "Her bracelet says 'BG Graham'."

"A nickname, I assure you. The nursing staff are smitten."

"I heard," the younger man mused. He contemplated the infant in his arms for many minutes, both men not speaking, and then hit the call button for the nurse station.

A middle-aged woman showed up five minutes later, her smile brightening as she saw BG. "Oh, that one's yours. She's so cute."

Hannibal smirked and Will shot him a look before turning back to the nurse.

"We'd like to name her, if now's a good time."

The nurse perked up and nodded, her smile softening. "Just let me get the proper forms and a witness. We need to submit the forms for her social security number at the same time. I'll be back in a half-hour or so."

It was closer to an hour before the nurse and hospital administrator that was acting as witness returned, laptop in hand. They set it up on Will's tray and the empath handed BG to Hannibal while he helped the staff complete the necessary paperwork. He hesitated after passing her over to her other parent, captivated by the sight of BG and Hannibal. The infant yawned and appeared genuinely content to lie in her serial-killer father's arms, and Hannibal was looking down at the baby-girl with complete adoration.

It warmed Will's heart.

"Last name?" the nurse asked, her fingers hovering over the laptop keys.

"Graham," Will supplied immediately, tearing his gaze from his family.

She typed that in with a nod and tabbed over. "First name?"

The empath smiled at the woman. "Braelyn."

"That's a nice one. You don't have many Braelyns anymore. And does she have a middle?"

Will hesitated before licking his lips. "Gabija."

Hannibal stilled and looked at him, and Will could feel red eyes focused on the side of his head.

The nurse frowned. "Gabya. Haven't heard that one before."

"Gabija," Hannibal corrected softly, still staring at Will as he spelled it for the birth certificate. "Pronounced Gah-BEE-yah. She is a Lithuanian fire spirit and the protector of home and family."

"Braelyn Gabjia Graham. A very pretty name for a very pretty baby," the hospital administrator complemented.

"Yes," Hannibal murmured. "It is."

The rest of the birth certificate was filled in quickly and they moved onto the other forms necessary to register Braelyn with the U.S. government. It was a simple process, only made difficult when Hannibal requested additional information from the hospital so he could file it with the Lithuanian government.

The psychiatrist apparently had dual-citizenship, surprising Will who had thought the older male had completely given up his foreign status, and the doctor thought there was a good chance Lithuania would grant the baby dual-citizenship as well.

"I am a proven Lithuanian citizen. Braelyn is my daughter by blood so that status should transmit to her regardless of her birth place. I merely need to go through the steps to have the embassy recognize her. I would like her to have a link to my motherland."

The hospital administrator okayed the duplication of forms, and they spent another half hour producing identical documents to the ones they had just completed, only in Lithuanian. Hannibal acted as translator, going so far as to simply take the laptop over when the nurse misspelled something one time too many, much to everyone's entertainment.

When everything was done, both parents were left alone again and they lapsed into silence, Braelyn mewling from her spot back in Will's arms. Hannibal stepped up beside the bed and ran the knuckles of his left hand over the baby's cheek, causing her to swing her blurry gaze in his direction. She gurgled and gave her older father a spit-filled, gummy pout, and Hannibal's composure seemed to melt a little.

"I was surprised you gave her a Lithuanian name after what you found out."

"I was going to name her that even before I found out about Abigail. Besides, I had a feeling your heritage was important to you."

"It is, though I don't mention it." Hannibal met Will's gaze. "Thank you, Will. This means a great deal to me."

Will shrugged, uncomfortable with the other's appreciation. "I was looking at names online and the site had options for Lithuanian. I was curious."

"Still, it is a beautiful name, and it flows well."

"You don't even want to know how long it took to find the right combination."

"I did notice her initials will be B.G.," Hannibal mused.

The empath shrugged again. "It stuck. At lease this way I have a reason for calling her BG."

Hannibal hummed his agreement before taking the baby from Will's arms. "Now, little Gabija, what shall we three do with our morning?"

____________________________________________________

There was a mental list between Will and Hannibal about who would visit and when. Bev and Celeste were tied for first as they were both foaming at the mouth within hours of Will being admitted, but the two men were unsure of when everyone else would show.

Beverly and Celeste arrived Saturday afternoon within a half-hour of each other to gush over BG with equal fervor, the two women forming an instant bond that seemed to unsettle Hannibal. They brought baby clothes and stayed the rest of the day, only leaving when the nurses kicked them out.

Zeller and Price showed a little after breakfast Sunday morning, a massive bear with the words 'Daddy's Special Day' on its tee-shirt supported between them. Will glared at the stuffed toy and silently swore to use it as target practice the first chance he could. The two men hung around for an hour before they got twitchy and left of their own accord.

Well-wishers from the Bureau trickled in and out the rest of Sunday, cards and gifts Will would open later making their way into a pile under the window. They would look knowingly at Hannibal, the psychiatrist sitting in the chair beside Will as if holding court, but kept their opinions to themselves. Many subtly mentioned how different Will seemed, more stable and happy, less stressed. Will told them leaving the Bureau was the second best decision he ever made. They would glance knowingly at Hannibal again, and Will would let them jump to their own conclusions.

So, his weekend in the hospital passed with the bustle of guests coming to gawk at his and Hannibal's daughter - everyone knowing who the other father was within hours of Bev finding out - but his Monday morning inched by.

Hannibal decided, at Will's urging, to go back to work until Will was released later that week, and, as all the people Will was familiar with had either already visited or worked a standard schedule, he was left to his own devices.

The only other people that were expected but hadn't shown yet were Jack and Alana. Secretly, Will thought Jack would be the first to show his face and was pleased to be proven correct once again. Will was bottle-feeding BG when the FBI agent knocked on the door Tuesday afternoon, a gift-bag in hand.

"Jack," Will greeted. "Come on in."

The older man hesitated before entering. He closed the door behind him and slowly made his way over to the bed, watching the baby in Will's arms before he placed the bag on the tray and stood awkwardly beside the bedrail.

Will sighed and motioned his head at the chair a step behind the other man. "Sit down, Jack."

Jack sat and met Will's gaze. "I need to understand Will. Is he threatening you? Did you make him a deal?"

The empath looked at him in confusion before he understood what the other male meant and shook his head. "Hannibal is not the Ripper, Jack."

The agent's mouth twisted and he leaned forward, glancing at the closed door as he did so. Will knew what the other was going to say but let him speak, knowing Jack would feel compelled to offer rescue.

"We can protect you, Will. Whatever he's holding over you, whatever he said he'd do if you came forward, I can stop him."

Will bit his tongue before the instinctive words could escape and sighed instead. "I was wrong."

"You swore up and down that he was," Jack argued. "But of course you're going to say otherwise when you've just had the man's baby. You feel like you have to protect him, Will, but you don't."

"I was sick, Jack. I was seeing connections that weren't there."

"Bullshit," Jack said harshly, startling Braelyn. "You were never wrong."

Will glared at the man and rocked BG, careful not to dislodge the bottle in her mouth. "My hallucinations made me mentally unstable and violent. I took Abigail to Minnesota on a whim, had a seizure, and ended up vomiting her ear. I kidnapped Hannibal and you had to shoot me so I wouldn't kill him. I thought he was a fucking wendigo for a while. What part of any of that screams 'reliable' to you?"

The agent shook his head. "You closed every case."

"After you manipulated, brow-beat, and blatantly threatened me," Will shot back. "And afterwords, I had another killer rolling around inside my head vying for attention."

"You never told me that," the other said frowning.

"I told you it wasn't good for me to Look the way you wanted me to," the empath growled. "Alana told you that. Hell, even Hannibal told you that."

The mention of Hannibal had Jack scowling. "He abused his authority, Will. Can't you see that? He used you."

"He was never my official therapist so there wasn't any authority to abuse, you made sure of that when you asked him to keep me off the books. Whatever happened between us was between two consenting adults." Will smirked at the agent before continuing on. "And I was pretty happy to let him use me."

Disgust at the vulgarity flickered across Jack's face before the man shut it down and sighed disappointedly. "What about all those people Will?"

"What people?"

"The Ripper's victims? Don't they deserve justice?"

Will looked at Jack incredulously. "Jack, the Ripper is in custody. He's going to stand trial and be put away for the rest of his life."

Jack growled and ran a hand down his face. "Chilton isn't the Ripper and you know it."

"What I know is that Hannibal may have sociopathic tendencies, but so do you and I. He didn't do it, Jack. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you what you want to hear."

"Will-"

"No," Will cut him off. "I was sick and confused and Chilton used that to his advantage. If anyone abused their authority, it would be him.

"Chilton used me," he continued with a scowl. "He subjected me to the same thing he did Gideon, tried to do the same thing to me he did to that poor bastard. He harassed me outside of prison and blatantly tortured me inside it. He convinced Suttcliffe to lie about my encephalitis."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. Chilton always wanted to study my empathy disorder. He made it clear on several occasions that he'd use any opportunity provided to him, maybe engineer one."

The older man frowned. "You never told me he threatened you."

"I thought no one would take me seriously. Honestly, what would you say when I told you a psychologist wanted to study me."

Any reply Jack would have made was cut off when BG began to cry, her tiny fists batting at the bottle still held to her mouth. She wailed for all she was worth, her face scrunched up and turning an unattractive shade of red. Will set the bottle down and carefully readjusted her so she wouldn't get sick when he began to rock her.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

Will shot him a look. "She doesn't like the fighting Jack."

"We haven't even raised our voices. She could just be a fussy baby."

"She's been easy going all this time and suddenly becomes fussy the first time I get stressed and angry?"

Jack looked at the baby. "You think she got your empathy?"

"I don't know," Will admitted as he jostled BG up and down gently. "It's possible. But most babies are attuned to their parents Jack. She could just be picking up on my change in mood."

"Sorry," Jack apologized.

Will shook his head. "I can't give you what you want, Jack. I know I said it was Hannibal, but that was almost a year ago when the encephalitis was at its worst."

"Look me in the eye and tell me Hannibal didn't do it."

The empath gathered every ounce of sincerity he could and met Jack's gaze head on. "Hannibal Lecter is not the Chesapeake Ripper," he lied.

"And he isn't coercing you in any way?"

"No."

Jack sighed and his shoulders drooped. "It doesn't feel right. It's all too simple."

"Sometimes things just wrap up that way. It doesn't feel right because you weren't the one to make the arrest, you didn't get closure."

The other man sighed again and hung his head. "I know you're right, but it just..."

He trailed off and Will felt a flash of guilt for lying to Jack like this. BG's tiny fist whacked Will in the cheek, pulling him from his building mood, and he turned his head to plant a kiss on the infant's scalp, the scent of newborn filling his nose. It made Will think of BG and Abigail, his two girls, and he thought of Hannibal, the killer that meant almost everything to him.

Hannibal was his best friend, a man that understood and embraced Will's darkness without hesitation, encouraged it even. The psychiatrist was possibly the most prolific serial-killer in history, but he was Will's defender. He would protect Will's family with every fiber of his blood-soaked being because it was his family as well.

The choice was easy in the end.

"It's hard to let go," Will told the other softly, meeting Jack's eyes when he looked up, "but it's a lesson you have to learn. It will eat you away inside if you don't. You'll spend every moment of the rest of your life wondering what-ifs and chasing shadows that aren't there. Trust me Jack, this isn't worth your sanity."

Tired brown eyes closed and the other man nodded his head reluctantly. Will gave him a painful smile even though he couldn't see it and patted a still crying BG's back, jumping when the baby gave a loud belch. He felt something wet on his shoulder and scowled as Jack began to laugh.

"Picks up on moods, my ass. She's got gas."

"Shut up Jack. God that's gross." He made a face and pulled the infant away from him. "Hold her."

"Oh no. I don't have a change of clothing with me."

"Jack, don't be such an ass."

Jack rolled his eyes and gently took BG from Will, cradling the baby in the curve of a massive arm. He smiled down at her, his face losing twenty years, and Will smiled to himself in accomplishment.

Will carefully slid out of the other side of the bed and slowly undid the ties holding the hospital robe closed. He let it drop to the floor and shakily reached for a new one that was jammed into the small nightstand. After he had changed, the empath gingerly climbed back into bed and sighed as the pressure was taken off his abdomen muscles.

"You still sore?" Jack asked him, watching how Will moved.

The younger man nodded with an exhausted sigh. "They had to open me up in a hurry, so they couldn't be as careful as they normally are. I shouldn't have even gotten up like that. Don't tell anyone or they'll lecture me."

Jack huffed a laugh and looked back down at the baby. "She's adorable, Will."

"Thanks. Hannibal had to beat the nursing staff off with a stick while I was unconscious. BG is going to be trouble, I just know it."

"BG?"

"Braelyn Gabija. BG for short." Will smiled at the quieting baby. "It originally stood for baby-girl, but that was until I discovered baby-naming sites."

"Nice name. Hannibal help pick it out?"

Will shook his head. "He left it to me."

"I notice she has your name."

"Jack," the younger man exhaled, "please just say it."

Jack slipped his finger into Braelyn's fist and waved it around to entertain her. He glanced up at the man in the bed before looking back down. "If Hannibal wasn't the Ripper, why didn't you go to him for help? Why hide?"

"Because I was afraid that no one would believe me. Chilton was a respected psychiatrist and I was an unbalanced patient of his."

"Will," Jack chided him gently.

The empath sighed and shook his head, looking down at his hands in his lap. "I tried to kill him, Jack. I held a gun to his head and the only reason I didn't pull the trigger was because you did."

"You were sick, Will. Hannibal knew that. He doesn't blame you for any of that."

"So? Doesn't mean I can't blame myself."

"Bart Eckelson said you were afraid of how Doctor Lecter would react about the baby."

Will scowled. "Well Bart's just a big gossip, isn't he."

Jack raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side once in agreement. "Was he right?"

"Maybe," Will allowed before he caught the other's disapproving frown and gave in. "Alright, yes. I was afraid of Hannibal's reaction. The man is a certified bachelor. What would someone's reaction normally be if they lived without personal attachment by choice? 'You're pregnant with my kid? Well, golly gee, what wonderful fucking news. Let me just upend my life for some crying little brat.'"

"Stop it," Jack barked, upsetting BG momentarily until he waved her fist in the air again. "You're not being fair, Will. Lecter is a better man than that, and you know it. At the very least he'd offer financial support."

Will exhaled roughly and looked away in shame. "I know."

"Then why?"

"I was scared okay!" Will shouted angrily. "I kept telling people I was innocent and no one was listening to me. I realized I was pregnant and spent the entire time in prison terrified that Chilton would find out about the baby and do something to it just to see how I'd be affected. He pumped me full of experimental drugs and I had no way of knowing if they were hurting her. What if she-"

He cut himself off and Jack leaned forward to grip his arm, BG balanced carefully in his other.

"Say it, Will."

Will looked at Jack tearfully. "What if she came out wrong Jack? Doctor Burnam said it was a miracle she developed normally. What if whatever Chilton had given me had affected her somehow? I was afraid of telling Hannibal because I knew he'd insist on tests. I didn't tell Hannibal because I didn't want to know."

Jack squeezed Will's arm again before handing Braelyn back. "She looks just fine to me."

Will nodded, tears dripping down onto the baby's face, making her squirm unhappily. He wiped the saltwater away and took in a shuddering breath. "He's already taken so much from me, Jack. I couldn't handle him destroying this too."

"Chilton isn't going to be able to hurt you anymore Will. Like you said, there's more than enough proof to convict him."

Will nodded once, still looking down at BG, and Jack hummed before grabbing the bag he had brought.

"Aren't you curious about what I brought for the baby?"

"You mean what Bella picked out."

Jack glared at him. "Do you want to see it or not?"

Jack stayed for a couple hours, getting Will up to speed on the FBI gossip and the agent's personal life before leaving to go home. While the older man was still suspicious of Will's sudden recanting, the empath knew that Jack would eventually let things go. There wasn't much that could be done otherwise. Hannibal had ensured the evidence against Chilton was there, and Will had ensured it would stick.

If only Alana were as simple to placate.

She finally appeared the morning of his discharge, miraculously arriving during one of the few times Will was alone. Burnam was going to make a final visit closer to noon before he could be officially released and so, with time to kill, Hannibal was making the rounds with BG, letting the hospital staff fawn over her and take a couple pictures. Will found the entire thing hilarious but kindly refrained from mocking the aloof psychiatrist about it.

"Will."

Will looked up from the book he was reading and found Alana standing a couple feet in the room, her body language screaming anger and disapproval. Her arms were crossed and her jaw was clenched from obvious irritation. Will raked his gaze over her and set the book aside with a sigh.

"Alana," he greeted tiredly.

Alana ignored the acknowledgement and turned to close the door, letting the heavy wood snap shut with more force than she normally would. She whirled back around and moved to stand at the end of the bed, her expression pale and pinched. Things lapsed into a stiff silence, Alana waiting for him to explain and Will unwilling to apologize for something that he was neither responsible for nor sorry about. Finally, Alana realized she'd have to begin.

"I don't even know where to start," she said.

"From the beginning?" Will quipped, already exhausted with the confrontation.

"Do you understand what you've done? Hannibal can lose his license over this!"

Will frowned. "First of all, you're the one that reported him to the licensing board. Secondly, as it's been pointed out by the board, Hannibal was never my psychiatrist. He was a friend that I had regularly scheduled chats with."

Alana scowled, her pretty face twisting in a way that made her somehow even more attractive. "Do not get into semantics with me. You were his patient in everything but official title. You should have known better, Will."

"Hold on," the empath said, having a sinking suspicion of exactly where this conversation was going. "Are you saying this is my fault?"

"Hannibal was the epitome of professionalism, Will. He would never, never sleep with a patient. And yet here's the proof otherwise. How do you explain that?"

Irritation licked at Will's composure, the man easily understanding what, exactly, her opinion on BG was, but the empath pushed it back and loosely fisted his hands. "I don't need to explain anything to you."

"I beg to differ. I think I deserve to know why sleeping with Hannibal seemed like a good idea."

"I don't have to justify my actions to you, Alana."

"You had sex with him!"

Will rocked back slightly at the unexpected shout from the normally contained woman in front of him. He knew Alana had a temper from when he'd seen her go after Jack on his behalf, but he'd never had it directed at him and it was slightly unsettling. Still, the fact that she was blaming him was galling, and he found himself biting back instinctively harsh words. While he was angry at her, he was usually not the type of man to allow his anger to control him.

That didn't mean well-placed barbs were precluded from his arsenal, however. The empath tilted his head and stared at her for several seconds, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "Are you jealous?"

Alana scoffed, a surprisingly rude gesture. "Don't change the subject."

A predatory feeling filled Will at her deflection but he buried the sharp grin he felt building. The hot anger he felt at Alana's nerve was cooling into something detached and it left him with the urge to wound her somehow, to hurt her the way she had hurt him when he had still felt something for her. He scowled at her and crossed his arms, letting his empathy guide his speech.

"I'm not changing the subject. Jealousy is the only thing that could possibly make you think you deserve an explanation for something that is none of you business."

"None of my-" Alana puffed up.

Will continued over her. "I was not under your professional care, and the two of you were not in a personal relationship when Hannibal and I had sex. Therefore, our actions are not your concern."

"It doesn't change the fact that-"

"It's none of your business."

The tone of finality seemed to register for Alana because Will could see her mentally shift gears, different arguments being weighed and discarded until she found one she thought would work on him.

"Why did you sleep with him if you thought he was the Ripper?"

Will knew Alana was baiting the conversation in an attempt to find a viable line of manipulation. She'd throw out enough rope to wrap him up and haul it in when Will tripped. Alana may not realize it but she was looking for blood and Will refused to give her his.

"That was after we slept together."

"And now?"

Will laughed. "Alana, I realized he wasn't the Ripper after the encephalitis was cured and I was imprisoned. I would have told you but you never came to visit."

"Hospitalized," Alana corrected absent-mindedly, "and you really expect me to believe that you woke up one day and simply decided to change your mind? You were adamant that Hannibal was the Chesapeake Ripper."

"I also thought Garett Jacob Hobbs was haunting me. I was seeing and hearing things, Alana."

"Still, that's a sudden change, considering."

"Just say it," Will sighed.

"You sent Matthew Brown to kill Hannibal."

Will locked stares with Alana and willed as much honesty and truth as he could into his demeanor. "Matthew went after Hannibal on his own. I had nothing to do with that."

"We both know that's not true."

"You don't know anything," Will growled, feeling anger stir in the pit of his stomach. "I'll tell you the exact same thing I told Hannibal and Agent Eckelson. Chilton made me so terrified of Hannibal I couldn't function, and Matthew wanted to make it stop. I didn't sic him on anyone."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to do whatever it is that you want to do," Will said with a shake of his head. "It's been established that what I think doesn't really matter to you."

Alana scowled, easily understanding Will's veiled meaning. "I'm not here to talk about my relationship with Hannibal."

"Yes, you are," the empath pointed out. "Otherwise you wouldn't be as argumentative as you are right now. You've always thought full-out confrontation wasn't a suitable method of communication because it indicated being emotionally compromised. Relationships are notoriously messy when it comes to emotions."

"Ignoring your previous declaration, you have to see that what happened was an abuse of power," Alana said, refusing to acknowledge Will's jab at her failed relationship by completely changing the topic.

"You know, Jack said the same thing."

"Will-"

"Hannibal wasn't my official psychiatrist, Alana. That's what it comes down to at the end of the day. The board decided that we were both consenting adults and that the decision to have sex was ours to make. End of story."

"You were constantly hearing things, seeing things. That's not a proper mindset to agree to something like intercourse. Hannibal knew that."

"So now it's Hannibal's fault? Alana, do yourself a favor and stick with a single argument."

"It's both of your faults," she said, aggravated. "You relied on him for mental support, and Hannibal is a highly trained psychiatrist and fully capable of recognizing mental illness. You both should have known better."

"Maybe," Will allowed. "Maybe not. But it doesn't change what happened. Now, I'm sorry Alana but you should go. My ob-gyn should be by soon so she can clear me and BG to go home."

Alana hesitated before she inhaled, readying herself for battle. "About the baby-"

"No," he cut in harshly, the ferocity in the single word startling both the room's occupants.

"Will, with your history, maybe it would be best-"

"Not. One. Word." Will felt dark possessiveness bubbling just below his waning civility and was infuriated that Alana would even attempt to bring the subject up.

It was clear to Will that Alana felt betrayed by both men. She had feelings for them, or had had in Will's case, and it was only salt in the wound for her to realize the real reason Hannibal had broken off their relationship so suddenly, and easily. Alana was a smart woman, she could put two and two together.

Will knew Alana was hurt beyond simple explanations, just as he knew that she was letting that hurt drive her reasoning now. He watched, fists pressed against his thighs and knuckles white from strain, as the female psychiatrist bit her lip in unease before gathering her courage. She straitened her shoulders and met his angry gaze.

"I don't think you're in the right mindset to properly raise a baby, Will."

Will felt a good majority of his control snap and snarled. "Get out."

"Mental instability doesn't just disappear, Will. Especially not after what you've been through. It's best if-"

"GET OUT!" Will bellowed, making Alana jump. He reached over and grabbed his book, lobbing it at her head with scarily accurate precision.

"Just for a little while, Will," she cajoled, ducking the book. "You have to admit that she'd be better off without-"

"What fucking right do you have to come in here and try to take my baby?" he shouted at her.

"Will! Calm down," Alana ordered, dodging as Will hurled another nearby projectile at her.

But Will didn't calm down, instead he grew angrier and words rushed out of his mouth, unfettered. "BG is the first family I've had since my dad died. I won't let you take her away from me because you're angry! Get out. Get out, get out, GET OUT!!!"

"Will-" Alana tried get closer but cried out in pain when the room's cordless phone struck her in the chest.

The door suddenly opened and the floor's various nurses poured into the room, quickly dividing into two groups. The majority of the staff circled Alana, keeping her from disappearing or getting close to their patient, and the remainder flocked around an obviously distressed Will. Will's normal nurse grabbed his hands in an abnormally strong grip and kept him from throwing any more objects.

"She doesn't want me to have BG," he cried, jerking at her hold. "She thinks I'm still crazy!"

"I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding," another nurse assuaged.

"She doesn't think I'm fit." Will's anger morphed into bitter resentment and he felt enraged tears collect in his eyes and his body shudder as he continued to pull at the nurse's hold. "She wants to take BG away!"

Will yelled in frustration before giving up on hurling things at Alana and collected himself enough to jerk his hands from the nurse's grip. He wiped at his face self-consciously, his shoulders still shaking from his rampant emotions. Through unwelcome tears, he saw a few of the nurses glaring in Alana's directions and looking at each other in worry. The floor's head nurse spoke up from where she stood to the empath's left.

"Miss...?" she asked.

Alana straightened from her corner of the room. "Doctor Alana Bloom."

"Doctor Bloom, I'm sure things just got out of hand," the nurse started, "but you're upsetting Mister Graham. Perhaps you should leave and visit another time. Maybe after he and his little one are settled at home?"

For a moment Will thought Alana would take the out the nurse had given her, pretend that everything had been a massive misunderstanding on Will's part, but he saw her eyes flash resolutely and knew that it was a lost cause. Alana's judgement was clouded by both concern and jealousy, and she wouldn't back down until Will had heard her opinion on the matter. Will knew whatever reason or excuse she had would not be good enough and he tensed, ready to begin yelling as soon as she was done.

"I'm not saying you won't ever get her back," Alana said, trying to sound placating even as she ignored the way all the staff in the room stiffened at her words. "It's just that you're still so unbalanced. I don't think you and a baby together unsupervised is a good idea right now. Maybe after you've gotten some help."

"That is quite enough."

Hannibal stood in the doorway, glaring at his ex-lover with tall posture and intimidating gaze. He was in casual clothing, slacks and a long-sleeved sweater over a dress shirt, but it did little to diminish the feeling of barely-restrained menace that radiated from him.

"Hannibal," Alana started uncertainly, clearly startled by the man's suddenly hostile demeanor.

Hannibal cut her off. "I understand that you feel betrayed by my actions, Alana, but what you are doing is not appropriate. It is no way acceptable to try to take someone's child from them out of spite."

Will felt relief flood him at the older man's appearance, knowing that the doctor would take control of the situation. Hannibal would never allow BG to leave the hospital with anyone but Will, not even with her other father. The tension in the empath's body began to fade and his shoulders sagged and fists unclenched.

Alana scowled at Hannibal. "I'm not doing this out of jealousy! Can't you see how unstable his emotions are?"

"Hormonal surges are normal after giving birth, as you well-know." Hannibal glanced around at the multiple strangers before stepping into the room and aside, motioning to the doorway as he did so. "I think it is best if you left now, Alana. You're upsetting Will and it isn't good for him to get worked up this soon after delivery. We'll talk later."

The female psychiatrist narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Will needs help, Hannibal. He suffered for months with encephalitis, and the after-effects don't just disappear because he up and has a baby."

The hospital room went deathly silent at Alana's declaration, the staff clearly torn between removing the offending woman and letting things play out, and the new fathers were struck momentarily mute by the veiled hostility behind her words. Hannibal rallied his composure and straightened even further, red eyes narrowing coolly. He worked his jaw once, a blatant sign of anger, before he shook his head at her.

"You're an excellent psychiatrist, Alana, but you're allowing your emotions to control you. It's unbecoming."

"Hannibal-"

"I will admit," Hannibal said, cutting her off, "to leaving you because of Will and the baby. But it was not at his demand. He knew we were in a relationship and made it quite clear that he would do nothing to hurt you.

"I was the one that made the decision to break things off. Because, while I care for you a great deal, my feelings for Will run deeper. I never expected anything to come of Will's and my friendship and so I was content to leave things as they were."

With a wave of his hand, Hannibal motioned towards Will who was sitting wide-eyed and watching. "When I discovered Will's condition, I realized that I had a chance at something I never thought I would have again. I ended things with you because it was unfair to everyone involved to do otherwise."

Alana stood dumbstruck, her lips slightly ajar, before she jerked back as if struck. She rallied her composure before taking a step forward, the many nurses around her parting to let her through, entranced by the drama unfolding in front of them. She stopped just outside reaching distance and looked up at him, her expression twisting into something that could pass as composure to those that didn't know her. Hannibal closed the remaining distance between them and placed his hands on her shoulders, dragging them down until they rested on her upper arms. He squeezed gently and gave her a sad smile.

"I know I've ruined our friendship, Alana, but I could not in good conscience maintain a relationship with you when I knew a child would only deepen my already significant feelings for Will."

"Hannibal-"

"Stop punishing Will," Hannibal murmured, preventing Alana from gaining control, "for something that isn't his fault. Threatening to take Gabija will do you no good, especially when you would be trying to take her from me as well."

Alana seemed to realize the major misstep she made because she backtracked quickly, looking around the room at the various nursing staff, "I would never..."

"You already have," the doctor said. "Because the only way to prevent interaction between Will and his child is to revoke custody from both parents. Anyone who knows me knows that I would never keep Will from his daughter, and I would never sit by and allow someone to simply sweep in and steal my family from me."

Hannibal squeezed her arms once more before letting go and stepping back. He motioned towards the door again. "You have the right to be angry, but you need to leave now. You're upsetting Will and I would hate it if I couldn't take him home today because he was too worked up."

It was a clear dismissal, one that everyone in the room understood, and the nurse in charge jerked her head to the employees behind Alana. They shuffled her through the door before she could begin to argue and closed it behind them, shutting the two men and the remaining nursing staff off from the rest of the hospital.

The empath shook himself and rubbed his arms, as if to comfort himself. "Hannibal?"

Hannibal responded perfectly to the wavering emotions in Will's voice, crossing the room to slip between the women surrounding the bed like a breeze through a curtain. The staff backed away, giving the men space and Hannibal took advantage of it by sitting on the edge of the bed. He gently carded his hand through Will's curls and gave the empath a reassuring smile.

"Everything will be fine Will. Alana is merely upset right now. She'll calm down and realize it's me she's angry with and not you."

"But what if she tries to take BG?" Will asked the older man.

Hannibal's fingers, hidden in Will's locks, twitched, and it told Will all he needed to know about the other's reaction to such an attack by Alana.

"Even if she places a complaint with child services, nothing will come of it. She has never been your psychiatrist and hasn't interacted with you in almost a year. There's no grounds to proclaim you incompetent and a danger to Gabija. A simple interview with a psychologist will disprove her claims."

Will bit his lip in thought before nodding. He glanced at the staff around him and gave them an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for the disturbance."

The head nurse shook her head. "None of that now, you have nothing to apologize for. I'd be upset too." She brushed a few wrinkles out of her scrubs and glanced at Hannibal. "I'll track down your doctor."

The remaining nurses left, and Hannibal and Will were alone. Will waited for the 'snick' of the door closing before he let out a shaky sigh and rubbed his eyes, still worked up from the confrontation. He pressed his fingers against his temples, trying to stem the forming headache, and grimaced.

"That went well," he lamented.

Hannibal gently knocked Will's fingers away from his skull instead of replying, replacing them with his own and rubbing with a gentle pressure aimed to ease the tension building. He only spoke after Will was relaxed against him, pain-free, but even then it was sparingly.

"Nothing will happen."

While it was vague, it was calming to hear the certainty in the other's voice. Will pulled away and gave Hannibal a small upwards flick of his lips before his brows furrowed. A flash of panic coursed through him when he realized what was missing.

"Where's BG?"

"She's with a nurse that stayed at the front station. I thought it best to keep Gabija out of the room until things settled down."

The empath sighed again and ran a hand over his face. "I knew she'd be angry but I didn't think she'd go so far."

Hannibal hummed once and took the seat next to the bed, watching Will for a full minute or so in silence. Eventually, he spoke. "You know as well as I that any attempt made by Alana will only be shut down. You have several people in your corner, myself included, that will take great exception to her meddling."

Will looked over to Hannibal and observed him. "Be careful, Hannibal. That can be taken as a threat out of context."

Hannibal seemed to understand the veiled cautioning against violence because he tipped his head and quirked his thin lips. "I still consider Alana a friend. But, while she has been wronged and is allowed to be upset about it, I am just as able to lodge a complaint as she. She forgets that I have friends among the licensing board as well."

With Will's concern for Alana's possible disappearance abated, his worry about BG's absence returned. He ordered she be brought to him and Hannibal went without complaint, a smile tugging at his lips as he did Will's bidding. Will watched him go and tipped his head back, resting his hands over his abdomen as he thought.

Will hoped that Alana would leave things be. While he still cared for her, regardless of the recent confrontation, when it came down to it there would be no hesitation on Will's part in allowing his protectors their pound of flesh. Celeste would happily ruin Alana's career if the psychiatrist tried to take BG from Will, and there was absolutely no need to contemplate what Hannibal would do the first chance he could.

The hospital door opened and Will smiled as Hannibal entered with Gabija, the small purple bundle morphing as the baby wriggled her arms in the swaddling the nurses had dressed her in. Hannibal crossed over to the bed and gently handed BG to Will, sliding the infant into her younger father's arms. Will cradled her against his chest and allowed the last dregs of his panic and anger go, breathing in the calm his daughter projected. Unfocused maroon eyes looked up at him and Will suddenly knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what he was.

A fisher.

Will had effectively chummed the water and, somehow, reeled in not one but several prized fish. He had caught himself an entire monster family, netted and tamed. They were circling him, waiting for, even daring, a foolish creature to get too close so they could rip it to shreds.

All for him.

Hannibal's long elegant fingers petted BG's soft dark hair, the same color and curl of Will's, a warm smile stretching his lips as he did so. The knowledge that Will had a family now, people that belonged to him by blood and by choice, warmed Will's entire core and he reached for the other man's hand. Fingers touched and then slid against each other as Hannibal linked their hands together and lifted them to his lips. He placed a kiss to Will's knuckles and smiled at Will, affection and even a bit of reverence filling his gaze.

"Thank you, Will," Hannibal said.

Will squeezed the hand he held before tugging on it, motioning for Hannibal to sit on the side of the bed. As he lowered himself down onto the mattress, Hannibal's eyes flitted over the empath and the baby, as if trying to memorize and file the image of Will and BG away. It was entirely possible that the doctor was creating a new room in his memory palace, or reopening a long sealed one, one devoted to the most precious of things.

"Hannibal," Will murmured after a full minute of intense scrutiny, not wanting to break the older man's concentration.

"Hm?" Hannibal focused his attention fully on Will.

"Is it new or old, the room you're filling?"

Lips quirked into a pleasantly surprised expression before Hannibal caressed Gabija's small hand. "New, right beside the old one. A new room for a new chapter. Both are precious to me, but it's not right to allow them to mingle. I have no desire to taint what I have now with the past."

"Good," Will said. "Because I want to make sure you have enough room for everything that I want to be there."

Hannibal's head tilted in contemplation before he realized exactly what the other male meant. He sighed but nodded, calm acceptance radiating from his posture. A large hand cupped Will's cheek as equally gently as it had BG, and Hannibal leaned forward to place a kiss on the younger man's forehead.

"I meant what I promised you," he whispered, his cheek moving to press against Will's. "I will never harm our family, not even if you deliver me to the FBI on a platter. Our children will never have reason to fear me, you will never have to doubt me."

The doctor pulled back and smirked at Will. "Celeste will never have to kill me."

Will weighed Hannibal's sincerity before nodding once, acceptance of the man's promise. He glanced down and smiled at the infant in his arms. A tiny hand worked its way out of the blanket trapping it and Will slipped his pointer finger into the baby's grasp, his throat working to swallow back tears when Gabija squeezed it.

"Will?" Hannibal asked, picking up on Will's struggle for composure.

He glanced up at Hannibal and his watery smile widened. "I'm happy," he said simply.

"Sometimes," Hannibal said, "that's a gift unto itself."

Will nodded, looking down at BG and waving her little fist. "Where's Abigail?"

"Home." Hannibal continued at the empath's look. "Your home. After what I've done, I think it would be best if both our daughters reside with you. Abigail is understandably wary of me and I don't have the ability to heal that particular damage."

"She'll be fine, Hannibal, she's a survivor. Celeste will take her under her wing and teach her what she needs to know." Will glanced at the killer sitting beside him. "I'm just glad she's safe."

Hannibal nodded. "And she will stay that way, I swear to you."

"I know," Will nodded again. "Because if you try to hurt any of us, I'll gut you, Hannibal. Don't think I won't."

"I wouldn't dare."

"I mean it," Will said with complete frankness. "I won't let you take my family from me, not even yourself."

Will clarified at Hannibal's puzzled look.

"You're mine, Hannibal. I won't let you do something stupid that ends with you in custody, or dead. I simply won't stand for it."

A dark look flashed in Hannibal's eyes and the killer rose to the surface momentarily. "Do you think you could stop me, William?"

"Yes."

It wasn't a bluff or boast on Will's part, the empath was confident he could curb Hannibal's need for an audience - the thing most likely to get him caught - and nip any self-destructive acts in the bud before they impacted the family. Hannibal seemed to realize that as well because the chilly expression faded and was replaced with something wicked and possessive.

"Truly beautiful," the man muttered as he stroked Will's face. "And you're all mine."

"And you're mine," Will reminded the other.

Hannibal nodded. "Yes, of course. Yours."

BG yawned suddenly, her mouth stretching wide, and both her fathers looked down at her with a little bit of awe, amazed that something so innocent and beautiful came from two people full of so much darkness. It made Will proud and happy, and so many other things that he couldn't begin to name them. BG was theirs, his, a compilation of everything that was perhaps not good but definitely right with both he and Hannibal.

He wasn't naive enough to believe Braelyn would remain completely innocent, Hannibal was her other father after all, but she would grow up to be both everything and nothing like her parents.

Abigail as well.

Both his girls would be happy and loved and cared for. Will would make sure they had a place in this world that befitted them, even if he had to carve it out himself. Abigail would learn to thrive, not simply survive. The teenager who had killed with her father to keep her family together would learn at Will's and Celeste's feet, not Hannibal's. Will would protect her this time. He'd do right by her. Hannibal would as well.

As if reading his thoughts, Hannibal laid a hand on BG's scalp and another on Will's hand before he caught the younger man's gaze.

"Ours," he said, meaning the entirety of their new family.

Will nodded. "Ours."

It was as simple as that.