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Will was walking his beloved dogs out when he got a whiff of something really delicious...something he rarely has the chance to be exposed to, considering his reluctance to willingly spend time with more people than he has to ... the scent of an omega in heat, its warm honey sweetness with underlying scent of herbs that he can't quite remember the name of is slowly getting thicker in the air as his mind catches up with his olfactory, in retrospect, it must have already been in the air for quite a while already, because now that he is paying attention, his pack of dogs has been whining and are starting to be restless.

Wolf Trap is as close to a deserted place in the United States as can be, neighbors are very far and wide in between, so it is a little curious for somebody especially an omega and in heat at that to be strolling in this area, ofcourse, it could also be because they are lost, but that is very unlikely as omega's are supposed to be always inside the house tending to their pups or their over pheromoned alpha's. Not to say that they are not allowed to go outside but it just how things have been since the old times, although now, in the modern world with the 'Gender Equality Law' all three designations have the right to do whatever they want with their life as long as it is along the societies' legally acceptable terms. Will has even heard of Omega's in the army!

He likes to think of himself as a very open-minded person so that really doesn't bother him, he is just curious and fascinated about how omegas in the army, with their delicate sensibilities and physical appearances and inhibitions, manages in the alpha dominated career...it must have taken a lot of determination and motivation to succeed in doing that.
Chastising himself for letting his mind wander around unnecessary thoughts, he physically forced himself to concentrate on the present by shaking his head and sniffing slightly in the air to try to determine where the scent is coming from.

As an alpha himself, even if an atypical one at that, he was hesitant to find out where the intoxicating scent comes from but his conscience tells him that if the omega is indeed lost or might have been hurt thus being caught with their heat outside in the open, he has to do something.

He knows that his self control is better than the regular knot head but his experience with omegas is considerably lacking....he'd rather not test fate if he had the choice. Fortunately for him, he has his dogs with him at the moment so he can probably let them lead to where they are located...another advantage of the dogs' presence is that they are scientifically proven to calm omegas and protect them as they can respond to their pheromones whether its fear, anxiety etc...more like dogs are extensions of the bonded mate to the omega. 'The dog's it is' he thought.

He knelt down and called his packs attention and told them to lead him to it. After walking for a hundred meters the dogs slowed their pace and whined quietly looking back at Will and then ahead of them...this, Will knew is a sign that they have arrived successfully..proven by the potent smell of mouth watering sweetness hanging in the air. 'Oh!' Will's mind was barely functioning now as he was assaulted with the most intoxicating scent he has ever smelled in his life...he started to feel light headed and prickly all over his body. He barely realized that he has started sweating and panting like he had ran a marathon, which is why he was startled to alertness when he felt the cold wet nose of Winston at the back of his hand.

Now alert at his surroundings, that's when he saw the young man standing tall a few paces in front of him and his pack, his stance alert, ready to fight or defend if needed. He was dressed in a three piece suit that probably cost more than his monthly salary...'dressed too fancy for a walk' he thought. Will probably wouldn't have thought twice about this random person just out strolling the woods by himself if it wasn't so obvious to his olfactory that the warm delicious smell is coming from him. He didn't look anything like the typical small, slender, curvy hips omega...he looks almost like a regular beta male or could even pass as an alpha if not for his scent. Will cautiously sniffed the air once more to assure himself that he isn't wrong and that action didn't come unnoticed to the young man whose shoulders tensed minutely and subtly curled his fists tightly before releasing them and into a relax stance.

"Hello..?" he said hesitantly to the other, opting to not move any closer to the young man.

"Good afternoon" came a confident and calm reply as though this was an ordinary small talk, though intelligent eyes kept steadily looking back at Will, following each and every minor movements. The young man obviously doesn't mind what the dogs are up to as he didnt even react to them when they came to sit around him like he is their owner.
'he probably feels safer with my dogs than with any human right now' thought Will as he took the scene unfolding in front of him.

Will awkwardly shrugged his shoulders just to do something when the silence after those words stretched too long...he honestly has no idea what to do at the moment. When he decided to do the search his plan only went as far as 'the dogs can calm and protect the omega' and now...well..suffice to say his brain is too soaked with the potent pheromone surrounding him to be of any use.

"Are these your dogs?"

"hmm...yes, Yes! they are...they're mine" the question startled Will out of his thoughts. 'what do people do in this situation?...' Realizing that his thought are getting harder and harder to control, not to mention his body is starting to rebel too...he should probably move things along, get the omega to safety before his heat peaks. He continued speaking..

"My name is Will Graham, I live close by...and... not to be rude but I think you shouldn't be out in the open in your condition...We could go to my hou.." his voice trailed off..realizing he sounded like he is trying to take advantage of the situation...

"...or I could lend you my phone now and you could call for your family to pick you up..I'll wait with you here if that is alright with you...?" he babbled quickly.
Twin maroon shaded eyes stared at him considering and sharply for half a minute after his incoherent proposition before the young man gave a slight tilt of his head and opened his shapely lips to speak clearly...

" If I could borrow your phone for a while to make a call, I would be grateful for your help...and I'm Hannibal...pleased to meet you"
Releasing his breath that he didn't know he was holding...Will gave what he wished is an assuring smile to the other...'Hannibal' he thought to himself...'quite a unique name for a seemingly unique person...and his accent definitely adds to his alluring beauty'

Will reached into his pants pocket to retrieve his phone and slowly stepped closer to Hannibal to hand over the outdated smartphone, he almost regretted doing so when he got hit by the strong pheromones coming from the young man, he knew he wouldn't do anything stupid like attacking the omega but the young man didn't know that so he tensed and his dogs that were previously sitting calmly around the young man all stood up in an attack stance, teeth bared and with a barely there growl in warning...responding automatically to the omega's scent. It also didn't help that he could feel his cock filling up and straining in his pants, his body releasing pheromones instinctively trying to dominate the other.

His awareness with the situation cleared when he got a whiff of adrenaline in the air. That immediately stopped him from moving any closer and instead he took a steadying breath which didn't help him any better since the air is now thick with the suffocating mix of their pheromones. He quietly apologized to Hannibal who tilted his head in recognition and slowly raised his hand forward to hand over the phone.

Hannibal for his part didn't act like anything happened at all ...back on his relax stance...only his scent betraying his actual feelings....remnants of the fight and flight pheromone polluting the air surrounding them. He raised his steady hand to accept the offered phone...'too steady' Will thought... for an unbonded omega in heat in the presence of an equally unbonded alpha...the dogs might have some influence in that but it is still quite a feat for an omega to still be that steady considering that he is experiencing estrus at the moment never mind the present company...

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All of the guest of the opera house are lounging in the spacious and elegantly decorated guest retreat area for drinks and a chance to stretch their legs and confer about the act....atleast that is what those enthusiasts partake in...For some, this is their chance to appraise what the other guests have deemed to dress themselves with or whisper gossips about the current ongoings within the elite circle. Currently, the favored topic is in present company, Hannibal Lecter, the omega nephew of Robert Lecter whose wealth is simply immeasurable...

Robert Lecter, a beta, had amassed considerable wealth by investing... like his older brother... his inherited wealth to property developments as well as into the medical field..such as hospitals and research facilities...which both had been very successful...His power then got more incomparable when his dear alpha brother Raulo Lecter and his omega mate died in a car accident...leaving him their twin pups...left all of their riches to him to manage until the time that the rightful heirs come of age and therefore will be split evenly between the two of them regardless of their sexual designations. As a man who finds more pleasure in dealing with business matters than with the pleasures of the body, Robert was as of the moment left with no heir of his own and it is no secret that he dotes on his nephews and will gladly hand over all that he has to them when his time on earth has come to pass.

Nigel, the older twin, an alpha had decided to travel the world on his own after their 20'th birthday...off he went 'as free as an eagle in the sky' Robert fondly says when describing him to others...Tried as he may, Robert could not refute the young alpha's wishes, as he himself had done the same thing before finally taking over his life and doing something productive with it. His twin on the other hand, Hannibal, the younger and an omega have a propensity towards the arts, culinary and in the medical field...it could be said that it is greatly influenced by his designation but Hannibal would rather be it that it's because being surrounded by exquisitely beautiful things very much appeal to his high aesthetic requirements. Too high even compared to typical omegas standards. He simply demands perfection in everything.

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'Pigs on suits and dresses...how amusing' he thought as he subtly observes the people who have a moment ago greeted and chatted with him amicably as though they knew him well closely...carefully turn their heads and whisper in what they thought were quiet enough words to each other.

"...he doesn't have a chaperone with him in public...how scandalous." whispered a graying haired beta woman. Mrs. Phersephone, Hannibal noted.

"... I wonder if he has started to accept suitors?.." asked a middle aged male alpha, whom Hannibal know has two alpha sons of marriageable age. Mr. Thompson. He wouldn't be surprised if the man inquires about his courtship availability in the near future.

"...smells divine.." a young alpha close to Hannibal's age said a little loudly when he passed by him a bit too close...

Those words gave him pause...

'This is quite an inconvenience' thought Hannibal to himself when he realized that what he's currently feeling is not just because of the warm air that could only be brought with being surrounded by too many people in three piece suits...whether they have been made by known tailors or just bought from mass produced market line doesn't change the fact that suits are undeniably warm...but as with all upper class customs, what you wear and how you wear it defines your upbringing, legacy and elegance effortlessly...like making a point without the need for choice words...That he believes is more effective.

It only gets worse from there for Hannibal having been blessed or cursed...depending on the situation ...with a very sensitive nose...the air is thick with the mixed smell of both expensive and cheap perfume that Hannibal could hardly care whether the person wearing it is a respected member of society or the president himself.

It is not that Hannibal abhors his designation, rather the opposite, as it gives him more fuel to push the social boundaries with just his presence. Flaunting his person shamelessly in public makes it very easy for him to spot those that have rotten inclinations who try to hide behind social niceties. He is not above using the public's claim of 'open-mindedness' and with the legal backing if nescessity calls for it. Like at this moment ...silently observing in the open as his presence...an unbonded omega... in the opera house without any proper 'chaperone' unsettles hypocritical heads yet they can do nothing other than to keep their opinions to themselves...or more often than not confer it to like minded people.

Ofcourse, he was aware that his heat was about to start within the week... more like in a day or two but he did not want to miss this act as the renowned opera singer Maria Callas was just passing through Baltimore and it would take too long for him to get the chance again to listen to her captivating voice. So against his better judgement, he went... and the performance was just as magnificent as he had expected...'it was worth the risk' he told himself...atleast he managed to enjoy the first part of the show...

Regretfully he has to leave pronto while he is just on the pre-heat stages or he risks embarrassing himself in front of the people he likes to play with...though it would be fun to watch them lose themselves to instinct and try to dominate him...yes...try... he is confident that he will be able to defend himself easily. He did not grow up with an alpha twin for nothing...proven by the way he carries himself confidently as opposed to a typical cowering omega. Knotheads aside, it is considered rude to be out in the public when in heat...and Hannibal is not nor will ever be rude.

With a barely noticeable regret and longing look back to the concert hall's direction, he expertly moved around the well dressed elites towards the exit door, making small talks and voicing parting words of regrets and apologies for leaving early to those that he recognize, telling them that his immediate attention is needed elsewhere, and for them to enjoy the show in his stead.

It was just his luck that his trusted Bentley broke down a few miles down a deserted road. Calling for tow service would be unwise in his condition..not that he can do so even if the circumstances were different as he seems to have misplaced his cellphone, he concluded after minutes of searching his person and car fruitlessly for the small device.

'this would not do... I seem to be more out of it than usual' he thought to himself, his jaw tightening minutely with displeasure and disappointment with himself for the unfortunate situation he found himself in. He prided himself for having unwavering control over his own body and mind, so losing his phone and missing the symptoms of his own pre-heat doesn't sit well with him.

No matter, he will figure out what has got him distracted once he is done dealing with the most immediate matter at the moment, to safety first, then to take care of his heat.

Staying in his car like a sitting duck up for grabbing is not an option, he would rather take his chances in the woods. There, he has room to fight or run if needed. Another reason for choosing the woods is the possibility of canine presence, dogs preferably for protection, really, any canine will do as they were proven to respond well with omega pheromones. Dogs could calm and protect and while other species have not been known to protect human omega's against threats they have been proven to give comfort with their presence in close proximity and their presence could deter the interest of unwanted alphas that might cross his path.

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Hannibal had recognized the area as part of the farmlands outside Quantico and knew that there are residential houses even if sparsely scattered in the area. His plan is to find a house and ask if he could loan their phone to call his Uncle, money is no problem, it is the resident that might raise a problem if they are unbonded alpha who thinks he is up for grab, though that would just give him an excuse to exercise his right for self defense and really, being under the influence of estrus he is far from liable for what may happen while defending himself deliriously ...'and wouldn't that be a front page article' the corner of his lips slightly raised in an almost smile that didn't happen...though Hannibal would prefer there not be any 'violence' at all...

An hour and a half into his walk through the woods, he heard a very soft whine, unmistakably canine just ahead of him. He took a deep breath both to center himself and to determine whether there is more to the sounds coming slowly closer, though it was hard to scent anything as the wind is not in his favor...all he could smell was the fresh scent of the forest and the dried leaves that surround him.

Walking had become a little uncomfortable by this time and he doesn't even want to think how damaged his trousers had already been. Deciding to stand and wait in his current spot, he became more aware of the warm sticky slick that is slowly running down the back and his inner thigh. Inwardly, he grimaced at how ruffled he feels, even though he looks as immaculate as usual.

Slowly, the sound of whining canines, paws and a single set of footsteps on the forest floor came closer. He had deduced the footsteps were of a man...footfalls of a man that is secure in his footing in the forest floor and they did not sound too heavy or irregular so somebody of good physique...Scenting the air again, he felt himself tense when he realized that the man with the dogs is an unbonded alpha.

Not one for rolling his eyes at his continued bad luck, Hannibal gritted his teeth for a split second before consciously relaxing his body, muscle by muscle to show calm and confidence so as not to be seen helpless inspite of the thick of the smell of his heat in the air. He stood tall in a regal stance that showed hidden strength, displaying all his 5'10" height in front of the oncoming would-be- good samaritan. Looking at him unflinchingly to dare any undesirable reactions on his person to be voiced.

He stood still and didn't even give a hint of reaction when all of the stranger's dogs bounded closer to him and made themselves comfortable around him after the compulsory greeting sniff on either of his hands.

The stranger, Hannibal took note of barely met his eyes before averting his eyes and use his cheekbones as a point of reference while talking to him...smells wonderful under the horrible aftershave he used, his strong smell of alpha musk is just rightly blended with the faint fresh water smell and the woods at dawn.

The alpha sniffed the air and Hannibal would have taken offence if he wasn't aware of how he must seem like for the man...his scent the only thing that could confirm his designation for people who just met him...as rude as he considers it, he understood the necessity of such action... as long as they don't take liberty to intrude upon his personal space he could tolerate it.

Applauding the alpha's common sense for not stepping any closer to himself, Hannibal was curious to hear a hesitant voice from an alpha talking to a young omega...most would have the audacity to talk familiarly to an omega if given the chance. Trying to stake their unwelcome claim or to dominate unconsciously the people who were thought to be submissive in nature.

Using the long pause between them he looked at the man, properly assessing him for any danger that he might present...The man is what they'd call ruggedly handsome with his curls and strong jaw line complemented with what Hannibal suspects is a good physique hidden under an ill fitting checkered shirt, faded jeans and hiking shoes.

Will Graham as he introduced himself seems to be different from the regular alpha's which is enough to get Hannibal's interest. Which is why he deemed him not a threat...to himself atleast and accept the proposed phone call.

Getting very close to the alpha when he offered the phone upped Hannibal's interest as he got a whiff of the alphas pheromones in response to his own. Strong musky scent that tries to dominate him..nothing like any he has scented so far compared to it...it wasn't an oppressive dominating scent more of a plead to let him dominate... and what is more interesting is how the alpha was able to shake himself easily off of the effects of pheromones and his instinct to take and even apologized for it.

Hannibal made his call while also keeping an eye open to the alpha a few paces from him, assuring his uncle that he is safe for the moment, surrounded by six dogs (that had finally assured his uncle of his safety) and telling him that he will tell him more when the situation is more agreeable. By the end of the call he had agreed that it would be easier for his uncle to pick him up in a definite location so after asking for Will's home address...which was gladly given... they concluded that he will be waiting at Mr. Graham's house until his uncle arrives to take him home safely.

Throughout the call, Will stayed in a respective distance not doing anything that might be seen as threatening or otherwise suspicious.

They started the walk to Will's house in silence only disturbed by the dried leaves and branches being stepped on and the dogs barks every now and then.
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Will decided to walk further in front, both to lead and to give the omega enough space to be comfortable with...also to avoid subjecting the young man to his alpha pheromones...though this left him constantly smelling the heady scent of fertility and making his pants uncomfortably tight with his unwelcome and unavoidable erection in the presence of such perfect omega.

He kept a mantra of 'left right, left right,left right' to himself to avoid thinking of anything indecent and to get himself moving towards his house rather than do what his instinct is demanding. Whenever he feels his control slipping, he verbally mutters his mantra just to get his mind to focus on stepping forward.

When his house could be seen up ahead, Will desperately thought if he had anything to offer as a good host and if his house is decluttered enough. He doesn't even want to think about how much dog hair is covering the place...He does try to keep the house clean whenever he can take time off from teaching at the academy but it just takes too much of his time that he should be using for rest and having so many dogs doesn't help it one bit. Those little attention mongers keep him occupied enough when he is at home.

'ugh...i feel like a preening peacock trying to attract a mate' he flushed and dared to take a look back at the young man walking behind him surrounded by his own dogs ...which secretly pleases him... like they are currently protecting his mate for him. His self satisfied smile at the scene quickly vanishing when he noticed that Hannibal had caught his expression...the young man tilting his head slightly to the left with a lilt of barely there smirk, unabashedly giving a glimpse of his unmarked neck, probably well aware of what's going on in Will's head and daring the caught alpha to continue his unsubtle eyeballing or do something already...Hannibal's expression changing to quiet amusement when he saw the alpha instinctively glanced down to his neck and visibly swallowed in a trance like state before getting a hold of himself and hastily made an about-face which nearly tripped him before pointedly moving forward.

Flustered for getting caught, the older man hastened his steps and pointedly ignored how Hannibal's reaction to his ogling piqued his curiosity and further raise his interest,... it is such an unusual reaction for a person in a vulnerable state to blatantly bait his potential offender's interest.

'I feel like i'm being tested...or..or like a dog being tempted with a bone, only that he is trained to stand down until given permission'

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His house seems okay from the outside but its the inside that really is embarrassing for Will, especially since he hasn't bothered to use the second floor for proper bedroom and had just decided to keep his bed out in the living room...exactly like a typical hermit...and it had suited him quite spectacularly up until this moment.

Giving up stalling for the inevitable disappointment he is sure to get from his surprise guest...he motioned for them to all go inside. He usually doesn't allow the dogs to enter the house with nary a simple cleaning after spending time outside but he would make today a rare exemption seeing as they barely paid attention to him while in the presence of an omega. He should feel betrayed or atleast left out but he really couldn't muster the effort to feel so when their presence allowed him to be around such an exquisite being. Said beauty being exceptionally polite to not comment about the state of his humble abode that must have been the saddest excuse for a house that he had been the misfortune of laying his eyes on, let alone spend time in.

Oh..Will is not kidding himself...wouldn't even dare to...He knows he doesn't have a chance in hell, not even by a long shot to get the obviously elite member of society omega for himself. Their world and his just don't mix together. This might be his only chance to be in the presence of a person in what he imagine is such high standing...

'I'll probably just gonna get a superfluous thanks or be offered with monetary award for letting his dogs protect their precious son from threats...such as himself'
In an attempt to get his mind off the depressing reality of his predicament, he opted to be as good a host as he can be with what little he can offer.

"Would you like some tea, coffee or...or whiskey....sorry, i don't really get visitors around here...apologies for the state of the place too" He awkwardly shuffled from one foot to the other and rubbing the back of his neck, his voice getting softer when he mentioned the whiskey then slowly gaining strength at the end of his apology-slash- explanation about the mess.

"Apologies are not necessary Mr. Graham and a cup of tea if it is not too much to ask" said in a cultured voice and accompanied with a smile...though none of it barely registered in Will's head after his name, well, last name had been uttered in that accented lips, tantalizing voice passing through those luscious lips.

The older man in all his awkward handsome self stood there for a while until the request for tea registered in his brain.

"TEA!...right..a cup of hot tea...i'll..I'll just take a moment..please feel comfortable and sit anywhere you like" these words were said in a rush of waving limbs and retreating feet while the man was making his way to the tiny kitchen in the back corner of the house.

Will took this opportunity to center himself moving on autopilot preparing tea both for himself and his guest...silently berating himself for having just teabags... While waiting for the water to boil and staring at his sparse choices of teas,he remembered that he didn't ask what tea his guest would prefer, so he moved back to the open living-slash-bedroom area only to be stopped dead on his track to witness something that made him really wonder if he is dreaming or dead and currently in his personal heaven...his guest slightly bent over towards his work desk in the living room corner inspecting the fish lures he himself had made on his leisure time, said guest bent further to peruse the magnifying glass to peer unto Will's ongoing work completely giving the last fatal blow to the alpha's precarious hold on the real world... Will almost died on the spot....or it felt like sweet death and ending up floating weightless.

The alpha quickly retreated back to the kitchen, questions about tea all but forgotten as he held on to his tiny kitchen counter for dear life, silently seeking strength for control...His sweat dripped down his forehead, neck and on his back as he fought his lustful instinct to walk back out to the omega 'presenting' himself in the living room and just shove his rock hard cock to the hilt and make the well dressed young man lose control, make him say his name again and again in that cultured accented voice of his...to hear that voice break and gasp...

"Fuck...this is not good...not good at all..." he silently told himself, shaking his head harshly, he can feel himself sinking deeper into his delicious fantasy...'that is sure as hell not gonna happen!!!' he angrily told himself to make the words stick in his head more effectively.

All too soon, the water started boiling and he absently prepared tea, although making a conscious decision to use his most presentable teacups. 'not that it would garner me any favorable points with my stink probably filling up the space now..' with that thought in mind he wiped his sweat and made himself look as presentable as he could, bar having to use anything to cover his obvious arousal..'that would just make it more obvious'.

When he went to the living room to serve the teas, hands holding a barely used silver serving tray tightly that he found deep inside one of his kitchen cabinets, he let out a breath of relief when he saw the young man sitting in one of the armchairs that was closer to the door...

"Sorry, i forgot to ask your preference and figured that earl grey wouldn't be a bad choice for you...it's just made from teabags though...it's cheap but it tastes okay...there's milk and sugar if you would like to add those...and uh...sorry, it's all I have to offer.. I don't have anything to go with it... I haven't gone shopping you see and..well..uh..yeah...enjoy" All throughout his babbling excuses Hannibal just kept on looking at him, giving him all his attention like whatever is coming out of his mouth are very interesting facts and not just the sorry mutterings of a self-conscious man.

Hannibal accepted the offered tea bringing it close to his nose and mouth before taking a sip and offered Will a smile and politely said that the tea is acceptable.

"I would like to apologize for inconveniencing you with my presence Mr. Graham" he said in a quiet but clear voice...forming the words while barely opening his lips, his eyes showing sincerity for the uttered words.

"Will...i mean..please call me Will...Mr. Graham reminds me of my father" ...and he does not want to think of his father at the moment. At all.
The young man tilted his head in acquiescence "Will it is...then please call me Hannibal"

The request both surprised and pleased the alpha as he didn't think he would get the permission to refer to the man in an informal way.

They drank their tea while making small talk to pass the time, at one point Will had to excuse himself. Needing to retreat to the restroom to gather himself in private as his mind has gone to traitorous territories. Again. He chuckled pathetically to himself 'hah... I am torturing my self, am I?' he asked his reflection in the mirror, noting how tense his shoulders are in an attempt to hold himself together. Then he flushed the toilet to give the illusion that he had just needed to relieve himself and then proceeded to wash his hands and face with cold water, hoping that it would help him get through the very slow crawl of time...He had thought of leaving his guest alone until he had to leave but that would be rude...plus he does want to get to know the person beneath the scents and layers of expensive clothes...

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He tried to keep the flow of conversation going as it distracts him from paying attention to how the others' scent is slowly getting stronger...his pheromones getting thicker, trying to enchant the alpha that the body can feel is in close proximity.

As a person who likes solitude, he is aware how lacking his communication skills are, not to mention attempting to hold a conversation while his mind and body are at war with each other. He gave it his best though.

Every now and then Hannibal would call his name to get his attention which while it does pull him out of his own reveries, it also has the effect of making his body aware that the lips that had just called his name is attached to a body that frankly robs his remaining functional brain cells of the much needed blood only to divert them down to his less rationally capable brain between his legs that is undoubtedly fully functional if the tenting in his pants could be taken into account.

Finally, fate seemed to have taken mercy to Will on what had felt like a never ending slow crawl of time for him that was actually just shy of an hour was finally coming to an end when he heard the rumble of a car creeping closer to his driveway.

They shared a look of silent agreement with each other and both of them stood to greet Hannibal's uncle. Will went ahead to open the door for them and quickly moved further outside, desperately breathing the fresh air to clear his head enough to calm his body, specifically a certain part of him, so he looked more presentable to the no doubt worried man coming out of his car, eyes already searching for his nephew...sweeping left and right before finally piercing Will with his calculating eyes.

Will shuffled his feet where he was standing on his porch when he felt the assessing eyes on his person and nodded his head to the man in greeting. When Hannibal walked out of the door still being surrounded by his dogs, he subconsciously straightened himself to seem bigger and more attractive to make the omega give him more attention and dismiss the new comer. He flushed when he realized what he's doing and visibly deflated when the only reaction he got from the omega is a slight quirk of his lips in amusement.

Hannibal started to walk closer to his uncle asking Will to come closer so he could introduce them properly. Unexpectedly, he was stopped halfway to his uncle when the dogs barricaded him, effectively stopping his progress any closer to the added company. All of the dogs stood tense and growled lowly to themselves for a few seconds until the omegas sent calm to wash over them. Buster, the biggest of the pack moved closer to the new comer then sniffed him thoroughly, assessing any danger that he might present trough his scent.

After recognizing the similarity of his scent to the omega as family and as a Beta, the dog turned around and barked to the rest of the pack which calmed them further, allowing the omega to move forward and finally greet his uncle who is sincerely happy to see him safe and sound. he patted the dogs and scratched behind their ears in a silent way of thanking them for protecting his nephew. Dog introductions dealt with. It is now Will Graham's turn to be introduced, he stayed at a respectful distance away from them but close enough that nobody would need to raise their voice.

No matter the distance, Will had seen the man's shoulders tightening when he realized that he's precious nephews savior is an unbonded alpha. Only politeness held him in check and thanked the man for everything that he had done for his nephew, promising to reward him handsomely for his selfless act. Those words are a clear dismissal if Will had ever heard one...so he replied politely and insisted that he did not expect anything in return and for them to have a safe trip home.

Hannibal said his goodbye's to Will and his thanks for everything before entering the car.

"It was nice meeting you Will, though I wish it had been in different circumstances. I sincerely hope to see you again and hopefully, in the near future" Robert narrowed his eyes at Will at the seemingly familiar parting words. He made sure that he meets the alpha's eyes so his disapproval gets noted.

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It had been hard to keep the dogs from following Hannibal into the car but with lots of pats and back rubs and a consciously released high dose of calming pheromones to assure the pack of his safety, the dogs finally gave in and moved aside and away from the car whining pitifully every now and then.

Will on the other hand stayed standing on his spot long before the retreating car was out of sight, sniffing the air for traces of the omega to assure himself that it had not been just a dream, wondering if he will ever get the chance to meet him again. 'as if that's even possible' he scoffed to himself before finally forcing himself to turn around and willing himself to forget all this had happened at all. Better to forget it completely than wallow in misery for something that will never happen..he reasoned to himself.

Things got a little overwhelming though when he got inside his house which still had the exquisite smell suffocating the space, and his body took over completely now that there was no 'guest' that might get offended with his actions. So he let go. He completely let the left over heat scent to soak his brain. The alpha dropped to his knees in front of the closed door, eyes shutting close by themselves so his brain could fully recover everything about the omega, his aristocratic face, those piercing maroon set of eyes that crinkles a little at the corners when he thought of something amusing mostly at Will's expense. He could almost feel his fingers run along those sharp cheekbones and ....fuck...how he wished to lick along those strong jaw before finally devouring that sinful lips that he had spent so much time staring at, not caring that he had been caught half the time. Will's hands quickly worked their way into his pants to free his raging erection, giving it a sharp tug and squeeze along the base close to his tingling knot while continuously picturing himself plundering that lovely mouth, biting and sucking alternatively. His very resourceful mind helpfully re-winded the moment when he caught Hannibal bent over his working desk, then his imagination manipulated the picture seamlessly, coming up with the picture of the man with his trousers down exposing everything in all their righteous glory, all sticky slick slowly running down between his legs making the skin shiny and looking veeery slippery. He swears he can even smell the strong smell of slick making him fuck his hands faster and harder imagining it to be the young man's tight welcoming heat...He would fuck it so hard and deep, making sure that his seed gets as deep as it can marking Hannibal as his own from the inside.

Suffice to say...Will came. Hard.

When he finally came down from his orgasm high he realized what he had done... 'pathetic' he told himself, shaking his head harshly then letting out a deep sigh before looking up at the ceiling looking at nothing in particular. If it had been impossible before, it had turned worse after he met Robert Lecter. That didn't help his pathetic mood at all...
He got up and went to clean himself thoroughly then made to open all the windows and doors to 'air out' the 'stench' that is now permeating in the air, avoiding to look at his dogs accusing eyes following him around the house...Feeling worse when Winston gave a huff of wet air when he passed by it.

"...guilty as charged...atleast let me have my fantasy, you possessive mutts..." he told the dogs with a deep sigh when he can no longer stand their eery stares.

"let's all forget about this okay?" none of the dogs reacted at first then one by one they bounded up to him to receive their due petting for the days turn of events.

It was then that he noticed in the corner of his eye a small note by the coffee table close to the arm chair that Hannibal had occupied.

'Thank you for everything Will, I am forever in your debt for providing a safe sanctuary in my time of need.
Ps. Apologies, I seem to have damaged your armchair, I will make sure to give you a new one in exchange.
Hannibal'

The beautifully cursive handwriting stated and on that note, Will moved his eyes to the armchair and there it was on the seat like shiny water had been smeared on it. Realization dawned to Will and he flushed when he realized that that was where the slick smell came from that fueled his mind and gave him his best orgasm in a while. 'so that's why my knot was tingling' ...the smell of heat slick enough to make it tingle but without the real thing in contact, it didn't expand.

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Several miles from Wolftrap, Robert finally broke the silence with a clearing of his throat.

"You should have told me that the person helping you was an alpha, an unmated alpha." his voice was laden with disapproval and disappointment.

"And what would have been the point in that Robert?" answered Hannibal, though he has an idea why the information had clearly been important for his dear uncle whom he could see had been very worried, worried enough to go outside without changing into a more appropriate clothes, leaving him in just a comfortable shirt and trousers.

His uncle frowned then looked in his direction before looking back at the road ahead. "he could have been a danger to you...I would rather not have any unpleasant things happen to you..you know that"

"I had six dogs protecting me...you saw them yourself...and if not, then I can protect myself, you and Nigel made sure of that." he replied.

"those were his own dogs...." Robert insisted, trying to make Hannibal see how things could have turned unpleasant.

Not waiting for his uncle to finish speaking...exposing how the day had exhausted him and this undue interrogation making things worse, he replied in a mildly covered exasperated voice "Dogs, uncle. Even if they were the most trained dogs in the world they would never let any harm come to me if they could do anything about it. They were under my body's control, responding to any minute changes in my scent instinctively...Frankly, it was Will that was more in danger with the dogs completely under my control. They would have torn him into tiny shreds had he tried to do anything unpleasant to me...so please, could we cease talking about this? Nothing terrible happened, can't that be enough for now, uncle Robert?"

Hearing how exhausted his nephew was, Robert acquiesced to the request, noting to himself that when his nephew is through with this exhausting part of his biology he would certainly be disappointed with himself for his rude behavior a moment ago.

The rest of the ride home was filled with silence, Hannibal, Robert noted has a very contemplative look on his face while absently staring at the road...he hopes his nephew is not thinking about the alpha...He would hate to have to disagree with something that Hannibal desires. Letting a deep sigh, he concentrated on driving safely. There would be time to contemplate about everything that had happened today. On that note, he groaned when he suddenly thought about Nigel finding out about this whole ordeal...' he would be unbearable...I say good luck for Hannibal though'...atleast that would force him to come home and stay for a while until his alpha mind can ascertain for itself that his omega sibling is safe and sound within his territory.

Chapter Text

A heavy threatening growl was heard reverberating through the halls of one of the most expensive hotels in Athens, Greece startling the guests who were currently innocently walking to their respective rooms, making them walk faster, hurrying to safety behind closed doors.

In the room where the growl had originated from sat a deceptively calm man staring at his computer that was held between his hands in a very tight grip making the expensive equipment creak in protest for the rough handling it wasn't designed for. Said man, breathes deeply..in and out, in and out... trying to calm himself...going through the calming routine that was taught to him when he had just presented and his young alpha body was always besieged by tempers that were so random and volatile.

He had been reading an article from the Tattle.com that was forwarded to him by his friends back in Baltimore.

'Nigel, you have to see this.' his friend's message had said.

When he saw the forwarded link the other day he had thought it was just another rubbish, as the site was known to contain mostly scandalous articles, half truths with large doses of speculation....so he had ignored it in favor of going out to an exclusive party he had been invited to and when he had woken up the next day with a bad case of hangover and feeling too lazy to do anything that involves getting his ass off the bed, he finally took his laptop and opened the forwarded article thinking it would atleast make him laugh at whoever was unlucky enough to get Freddie Lounds', Tattle's writer and editor's attention. However, when he clicked the link it immediately opened up to flash his precious brother's face, that immediately got his attention and he sat up straighter and then started reading through the article.

His brother had gone out in public it says, he scoffed at that, Hannibal can do whatever he wants and nobody will dare say otherwise if they knew what's good for them. The article went on about his status as the most sought after Omega not just in Baltimore but also within the whole American continent... 'ofcourse he is!'... the alpha puffed his chest in pride followed by exasperation as so far the article is proving to be just a waste of time to read, but he persevered, wanting to determine why his brother is currently the 'front page'.

When he got to the main point of the article his temper had slowly rared it's ugly head, unconsciously gripping his computer tightly. It turns out his brother went out and got caught unaware of his upcoming heat. Hannibal. Outside. In public. Surrounded by people. ALPHA'S! ..his mind provided angrily. It doesn't help either that Freddie had added her ridiculous assumption that the young omega was there surfing for a lucky knothead to help him through his heat...unfortunately, the writer stated that she had not been able to spot the omega leaving, whether he left alone or not was left for the reader's creative imaginations.

If he didn't know his brother very well, he might have blown off the top with just the thought of a fucking son of a bitch getting their filthy hands on him...with that unwelcome thought in his head, even with how unlikely it is, makes his blood boil to inhumane proportions and almost popping his veins on his temples in blind rage.

'What the fuck was his brother thinking?' ..he knows his brother is very intelligent and his heats are very regular so why the sudden fucking idiocy, exposing himself in public.

Nigel admit's, calling his brother stupid for this is uncalled for but there must have been something very important enough to lure his brother out and throw precaution to the wind...and blaming his uncle for not preventing this from happening is a lost cause because everybody who knows Hannibal is aware that if he wants to do something nobody and nothing will stop him...

His whole body vibrating with rage and sudden need to make sure that his brother was at home safe, and part of him seriously praying that he's not with anybody for he doesn't even know what he will do then...he started to pack his things while at the same time booking the earliest flight back home.

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Today was the third and and thankfully last day of Hannibal's heat that occurs regularly every after three months, it had been one of the most intense heat that he had experienced so far and that's saying something, as his heats had always been intense because of the fact that he spends them alone, not that desperate enough to blindingly trust a stranger within his personal space during his most vulnerable moments. This time, the dildos and artificial knots had done nothing to alleviate the itch inside him that had been easily managed on his previous heats and going so far as to be easily ignored right on the tail end of his three day heats.

In his moments of coherency on this one, he had wondered why he had never considered taking suppressants that while they couldn't completely prevent heats they atleast take the harsh effects of it making it bearable for those that chose to spend their heat alone.

Ofcourse, he had known why his heat had been this intense. Will Graham. He's not sure whether he would go so far as to spend his heat with him at this point but the man had piqued his interest and that rarely happens. He doesn't know yet where this interest will lead, even though his omega body seems to have come to a decision already, desperately yearning for the alpha that had been with him when things had just been starting to gear up, his body not understanding why there was no responding pheromone in the air. This is the only part of being an omega that Hannibal could have gone without, no matter how much control he has with his own body, his physiology seems to find ways to betray him, if not through his scent then by the hormones that run rampant inside him that makes him 'need' something or in this case someone.

While this last day could be easily managed and the 'itch' easily ignored, Hannibal had decided to give himself one last orgasm where he can consciously think of what he's doing and what kind of fantasy he could use. He let out soft gasps and dreamy breathes while he furiously fills his slippery hole with his biggest toy, hard and fast while he laid with legs spread wide in the middle of his huge bead, his other arms grasping the headboard tightly for support. Getting closer to his orgasm he lifted his knees and spread his legs further so the now very slippery toy could go deeper, that's when his door was banged open, splinters of wood and plaster scattered in everywhere. Though Hannibal had been busy when the unwelcome intrusion occurred his body acted on autopilot to defend itself, using the first thing that registered to it as a weapon, he threw the large dildo covered in slick to the intruder, the dull thud confirming that it had hit its aim. He then immediately rolled over to the edge of the bed and then stood on steady legs ready to eliminate the threat with his trusty hunting knife that he always kept close held firmly in his right hand. When the intruder had yet to stand up, he slowly rounded the bed to find his own brother sprawled on the floor with a horrified face staring at the slick covered toy on his lap.

" Nigel" the omega growled lowly catching the attention of his brother who turned to look quickly in Hannibal's direction. His shiny forehead that is slowly turning pink indicated where the object had landed, and that almost satisfied the omega for the indignity of the whole situation.

The young man on the floor suddenly stood up and pointedly moved away from the fallen toy on the floor before dumbly looking at his brother, mouth gaping like a fish on land. Said fish impersonator raised his hand slowly and pointed his index finger to the dangerously annoyed omega..."you...YOU THREW A... THAT...THAT THING ON ME!" he could barely speak let alone look at the thing with disgust seething in each every word.... "that...THAT'S JUST SO WRONG! YOU DO NOT THROW DILDO'S AT YOUR BROTHER!" Nigel shouted indignantly getting very close at his brother's face to make his point clear.

With narrowed eyes and clenched teeth Hannibal grabbed Nigel by the lapels of his shirt and threw him unceremoniously out of his room.

"I will deal with you later dear brother, now please excuse me" he growled to him before abruptly turning around to enter his room and closing his dangerously attached broken door along the way. He got as far as in the middle of his room before his door was banged open again now to complete uselessness, before Nigel could open his mouth there was a silent whistle in the air before Hannibal's knife was embedded on the door frame close to his brother's head. The alpha stared at the knife for a while then looked at his brother standing tense and now that he noticed, butt naked in the middle of the room...Nigel reluctantly nodded for the unsaid order then retreated from the room as fast as he can. He didn't doubt that the knife had missed it's aim, that was a warning to back off and he'll gladly take it.

The encounter had calmed him, somewhat, but even then his physiology is still soaking in protective instincts. He moved towards the direction of his room only to change course when he decided to find his uncle instead to interrogate him for further information.

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Robert had been in his study room down the hall perusing a business document that needed his immediate attention when there was a loud crash somewhere inside the house... He was out the hall in seconds, his mind going over various reasons that could have caused it, it had sounded like wood breaking so it probably was a break in... He almost chuckled at the stupidity of whoever had decided to invade their home when the sun had yet to come down, his musings though were cut off when he heard a distinct voice shouting something about a 'thing '. He took the smart choice of turning around and going back to his study room.

Whatever Nigel had gotten himself right at that moment, he doesn't want any part of it and he was very sure that his rough nephew would come searching for him soon after Hannibal had had enough of his antics. When he got to his study room he closed and locked the door just to spite his nephew for not deeming to show his face sooner and breaking his property the moment he decided to grace them with his presence. He would let him stew on his own thoughts for a while, frankly, he would never be able to hold out for too long when it comes to his beloved nephews but he would milk it while it lasts.

Almost three minutes later he heard footsteps with the grace of a wild boar passed by his location then abruptly doubled back and stopped in front of the study room door. The door handle jiggled a few times from the attempts of opening it but the lock had held expectedly well, then there was a shy knock and a pause to give the person in the room a chance to speak and allow the request for entrance, but nothing had happened so the impatient intruder knocked a little louder before speaking...

"Uncle Robert? I know you're there, please open the door... I just want to talk."

Silence followed...

"uh..I..I apologize for not coming home earlier and uh..for damaging our home?" he tried again in a kicked puppy tone.

There was shuffling inside the room before the door was opened wide, the old man who opened it stood sternly in front of Nigel before opening his arms wide. Grimacing for the affectionate demand from the old man Nigel begrudgingly stepped closer and gave in for a quick hug before moving further inside the room and sat sprawled in one of the chairs in front of the elegant office desk covered in important documents.

The young man immediately started his interrogation and asking why he wasn't informed of what had happened instead of finding about it from the internet. However, these series of questions came unanswered, Robert insisting that it is not his place to speak of it and advised his nephew to seek his answers from Hannibal himself. The way the words had been said made Nigel suspicious that there was more to this than what he had read from the article.

He thanked his uncle for his time then told him that they will catch up more later. The young man went to pick up his travel bag from the foyer where he had left it and deposited it to his room before deciding to wait for his brother in the sitting room where he proceeded to smoke to help calm his nerves.

Half an hour had passed before Hannibal in his fitted suit walked deceptively calm into the sitting room, his eyes immediately found his brother. He called his name and gave his brother a nod in greeting and pointedly gave a disapproving look at the still burning stick in between his brother's lips.

Really, how different can they be?...

Hannibal in his calculating move, went to comfortably sit on the side of the sofa closer to the open open door leading to the terrace area where wind languidly blew fresh air inside the house, which as the omega expected carried his still strong heat scent, dousing his brother thoroughly and making him squirm uncomfortably.

For alpha and omega siblings scent works in a very different way, while an omega heat scent induces lust to strangers it has the opposite effect for their alpha siblings, many had described it as like a disgusting oily feeling crawling on their skin and while the scent could still be considered sweet the accompanying familial scent mix with it repels their lust and turns it into protective instinct or some other forms depending on the omega's conscious manipulation if strongly intended.

Now, this is one of the perks of being an omega in heat that Hannibal unquestionably enjoys. When he had presented an omega, he had made himself as informed as possible of his physiological limits and capabilities...taking in any information he could find scientifically proven or otherwise old tales. He used every opportunity he could get to familiarize himself with how to properly utilize his thought to be vulnerable omega body in heat to turn it into as best as a weapon mostly to defend as it had proved to not be capable of any form of attacking while under the effects of his estrus. Nigel and his uncle had been the unwilling and most often than not uninformed participants of this familial bond experiments that he had conducted which had lasted for half a decade and every now and then when he wanted to affirm something. Acquiring the other test subject groups had not been a problem as alpha's and beta's seem to be easily manipulated into 'spending' time with him in and out of his heat period.

The omega sat innocently for a while before deigning that he had unsettled his brother enough.

"Brother..." he started in an even voice. " would you care to enlighten me why you felt it was appropriate to intrude upon my privacy in such a rude manner?" his brother flinched at the reminder before visibly getting a hold of himself, remembering why he had reacted that way. The alpha sat straighter and looked at his brother while his hand reached to retrieve his smartphone from his pocket, he opened it to the article that had brought him home and threw his phone on the sofa beside his brother, who took the phone and perusing it after showing a glimpse of disapproval for the way it had been 'handed' to him.

"So...?" inquired the older brother after giving his brother enough time to read the article.

The only reaction the omega gave when he looked up to stare at his brother is a tilt of his head before a wave of his hand in silent dismissal of the article.

"I am sorely disappointed if this is your best explanation dear brother...and please do not tell me that you came back just because of this ridiculous... 'article'" the word 'article' had been said in a way that doesn't hide how incorrent he thought the word is to refer to the written 'thing'.

"Why were you out there in the first place Hannibal!"

"I do not feel the need to explain my actions to you or to anybody...and please cease this rude shouting of yours, brother, we are both adults talking, are we not?"

"I am your brother and I don't like you out there in your vulnerable state...and...and I went to ask uncle about it but he said I should ask you...and now I'm very sure that something more happened and as your brother I dema...no, I need to know, if not everything then atleast the most important things... just...I know you know why I am acting this way Hannibal...Humour me, would you?" at the end of his incoherent explanation-slash-pleading, the alpha's voice had gone very quiet...ashamed of actually pleading but knowing his brother would have clamped his mouth tighter had he tried to exert his alpha influence to get what he wants.

Hannibal knows, ofcourse he understands why his brother is acting this way but it doesn't make it any easier to forgive being thought of as 'vulnerable' and then being interrogated like this...don't even mention the rude interruption earlier...Seeing that his brother is doing his best to be in his best manners now and understanding that it had not been easy for him to show his fears of what might have happened through his eyes and then verbally pleading for his brother's understanding, Hannibal finally conceded and told him a highly edited version of what had happened after he left the opera house.

"Contrary to what you might have thought of me, exposing myself to the public stupidly, I left for home as soon as I realized that my heat was upon me. Unfortunately, my car broke down a few miles down the road but I got help from somebody that owns several dogs and managed to call Robert to pick me up from his place. I was but a few hours in the stranger's company. Nothing unsavory had occurred"

The alpha had been listening attentively all through the short narration and even though he would have prefferred a more detailed run of the scenes, he knew that this is the best that he would get. He did try to glean more information, like where exactly his car broke down and the name of the person that helped him but his younger brother was vehement in keeping those to himself. That only made the alpha more curious and more determined to get his answers one way or the other.

"Leave it be, Nigel" The omega's voice made it clear that he wouldn't take it lightly if his wishes were not taken into consideration. Hannibal knew his brother like he knew the back of his hand and that determined look on his face left him no doubt that he will not let this go willingly.

"Alright, fine" Nigel said for the sake of verbally agreeing even though both of them are aware that it's not what he wanted to say at all.

With the conversation done, just to spite his brother further, Hannibal stood up and waited a few good waves of air, letting his still strong heat scent be carried to his brother and who visibly turned green to the gills, satisfied with his own version of slap in the hand disciplining, he stated his desire for a good cup of tea and inquired if his brother would like one for himself too as he seems a little in need of it.

Huffing silently to himself with the injustice of having an omega from hell as a brother, Nigel could only nod his head in reluctant agreement and followed obligingly towards the kitchen.

"You need to stop doing that, Hannibal, it's not nice" he gruffed to the young man preparing their tea.

"Apologies brother, I have no idea what you are talking about" came the smooth reply.

"tsk...doubt that" the alpha muttered to himself, giving up.

Irritatingly, Hannibal turned to look at him and gave him a condescending smile before busying himself with the tea again.

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"So....everything good here?" their uncle inquired when he found the twins silently sipping their tea's on the terrace area. One looked sulking and the other had a look of satisfaction on his face belying the exhaustion underneath it.

The twins both looked in his direction and gave a nod in greeting.

Robert went to sit between the young men and voiced how he had missed having them both around. He inquired about the alpha's travel's and Hannibal's well being alternatively. Soon the topic had turned serious and he asked what each of them plan to do, here, he asked Hannibal first since he knows he probably had a set plan already.
Hannibal thought for a while before tilting his head to the sky. " I plan to go to medical school, I will be specializing in surgery, although I am also deeply interested in psychiatry...I haven't decided which I would take between the two yet."

At the age of twenty-one, he's in his last year of his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and he plans to start medical school by next year. He had vowed to himself that he wouldn't end up under somebody's thumb. He would make his mark in life, his life along with his body is his to do as he sees fit and he dares anybody to get in his way.

These days, omega's are able to be whatever they want to be but many still start a family at a young age especially those under and close to the poverty line. It is not openly talked about but most of the older generations and disappointingly most alpha's raised in close minded communities a.k.a elite circle still think that omegas belong inside the house rearing children for the future and catering to their alpha's whims. That being said, those unfortunate omegas living within close minded families find themselves unable to control their own life and are raised to just follow orders. As a result, almost half of omegas in the continent are still being forced to bond to alpha's that they hadn't chosen, these omegas unfortunate lives are only publicly regarded as a tick to the high rates of omega suicides giving more fuel to the condescending public's claim that omega's really are too emotionally sensitive or unstable, conveniently forgetting the fact that most of those ticks in the statistics were the omegas that had no other life than inside the walls of the house they were caged in.

Hannibal himself had had the occasional run in's with the member's of those rude ancient minded people when he had been much younger, people who had tried to put him in his place and had even dared to involve his uncle in hopes of garnering favorable points to mate him with their alpha children or close relatives...Those attempts had not gone well, lots of families had suddenly started to have problems with the law, millions of taxes unpaid, covered up scandalous offenses leaked to the overreacting public, etc...that had led to members of various families developing health problems due to either too much stress or depression that had sadly led to their unexpected demise. Speculations had run wild within the upper class circle for years after that and Robert Lecter had not admitted or denied anything, leaving the matter to the public's wild creative minds. Fear and awe of the Lecter's family had made business all the better which had pushed them to the top of the food chain so to speak. Thus, it is not a surprise that the twins are the among if not the top sought after mate especially by the greedy gold diggers and social climbers.

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Robert looked at his omega nephew with pride. The twins are like his own biological sons to him and he wished them all the best things in life. He had been worried about Hannibal when he had been a child but as he grew up, so does his self confidence and self respect, Hannibal knows what he wants in life and he is determined to get them all...and that differentiates him from all the other omegas. Sometimes though, he wishes that Hannibal's way of thinking would rub off on his brother but alas, a man can never have everything he wishes for. The alpha on his other side perked up upon hearing his brothers' interest in surgery and he suddenly grinned and reached around to slap his twin's shoulder in pride while shouting:

"Surgeon! Hah! I knew it! That's gonna be so fucking cool Hanni!...Fuck! Yeah! I knew that sadistic brain is made for something too brainy career! you'll fucking breeze through the program I'm damn sure of it!"

Quietly amused at his brother's raucous approval and encouragement and then his uncle's look of pride in his eyes. Yeah...he admits to himself, his life is good....this moment will certainly be kept in his mind palace's family room.

A beat of silence passed before Robert looked towards the alpha expectantly, a bit exasperated when his look was met with a smug look.

"I'm gonna be my own boss, of course! I'm gonna start my own casino, night club or bar...i'm not sure which is it really gonna be yet though!" The alpha declared proudly..looking at his brother and uncle expectantly...

His uncle barked out a laugh then gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder. Hannibal, on the other hand, raised his eyebrows and inquired in an even voice...

"Well, will you be starting it right now? and if yes, then...would you mind me asking where you're gonna get the funds to get it done? Pardon my frankness brother, but you do not have available resources for your plan at the moment, remember that you have always used your monthly allowance for every different thing that piques your interest such as your traveling lately...."

With the facts of his penniless status slapped out in the open, Nigel looked sheepish for a moment before suddenly looking at his uncle's direction.
" Well...I still have part of my inheritance from our parents, right? I will use that then..."

"Oh...but you forget dear brother that it will only be given to us when we reached the age of twenty seven....until then we only get monthly allowances that while they are quite large will still not be enough to support your lifestyle and starting a business." by the end of his speech,Hannibal had a contemplative look at his face that the other two were clueless of what had brought it on.

Huffing out loud then sprawled back on his chair staring towards the sky "well...there goes my plan...what should I do now!?"

"Oh...so you are not going to travel anymore?" Robert asked in a hopeful voice... " I could use your help here"

"Naaah... I will still travel sometime but for now, I will be staying home" He turned his wide grin to his brother who groaned when he realized that he was the sole reason for his staying.

"I will not be your prisoner in this house...so please cease whatever ridiculous overprotective thoughts you have inside your alpha head...Now, please excuse me, I still have dinner to prepare...I will call for you when it is done " Hannibal stood up gracefully and left his family out in the terrace.

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He had expected this decision of his brother to stay but it does not make it any easier to just accept it willingly. He's not looking forward to what his brother's alpha overprotective instincts would be doing to soothe itself, rather, he just hopes that he would get over it as quickly as possible. The last time it had reared its ugly head almost a decade ago, Hannibal had been escorted-slash-stalked by his brother whenever he had ventured outside their property, the alpha's claimed territory for almost two years. Hannibal had learned that his brother's instincts are greatly affected by nonfamily alpha presence around himself... The less he is exposed to other alpha's, the calmer his brother becomes until finally he stops the stalking and given a few months of complete calmness and then Hannibal's gradual exposure to mixed designations ends his brother's nightmare instinct driven stalking, then comes the blessed freedom.

With the fading effect of his heat comes a much clearer mind and Hannibal's thoughts had drifted to the person who had selflessly helped him. He is not sure yet if his interest towards the man are just platonic, with his unexpected strong self control or if his interests are more intimately inclined. Bonding himself to an alpha had never before crossed his mind as he had never seen any admirable side let alone any advantageous traits to the 'dominate' sex...now though, he thinks, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Will Graham is on a very different scale of his own, his self control is one that Hannibal has never heard of and Hannibal doesn't doubt the fact of how dominant he is as proven with having a pack of dogs, no doubt all of them well trained. The man had also shown him respect and high regards for his comfort most times in his expense, all of that given generously without knowing anything about him.

He would have to wait until things have calmed down before he could even consider associating with the fascinating man again. While his uncle's obvious disapproval of the alpha when he had met him, Hannibal is almost completely sure that he would not violently object of the alpha's company...though he, too, is very protective of Hannibal atleast he doesn't go about it as roughly as his alpha brother. Hannibal would not even dare to guess about his brother's would be reaction if he ever meetsw Will, NO, it would be better to slowly introduce them to each other, that way Hannibal can slowly desensitize the both of them and hopefully lessen his brother's very predictable temper towards anything that involves humans with existing functional knots within his brother's presence.

As frustrating as it is, he would persevere...besides, he does adore the saying that distance makes the heart go fonder, it would be interesting to see how Will would react to him after years of no contact, would he be happy? would he still remember him? would he still be the same respectful and self controlled man? what would an older Will look like? ...so many things to look forward to... Ofcourse, there is also the risk of Will not wanting to do anything with him once he learned who he really is but Hannibal would think about that when the time comes... For now, he would concentrate on moving forward with his life, there is no point in raising his brother's interest about his good samaritan any further.

Dinner was as spectacular as usual and soon Hannibal had to retreat to his bedroom to finally rest his exhausted body and mind.

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The morning went as much as he had expected it would, with his brother still on the hunt for information and his efforts only amuses him as he was confident that his uncle would never betray his confidence unless he truly believes that Hannibal's life is in danger...

He entered the kitchen to find his uncle studiously ignoring his brother's bid for information which immediately stopped when he spotted Hannibal staring at him on the kitchen doorway.

Nothing about the incident had been uttered after that morning, Nigel had nothing to go forward to and Hannibal not letting out a sign that he would ever give in to the alpha's demands so the thing was left alone.

Chapter Text

COFFEE. A good hot cup of coffee usually does it for Will's tired body. Juggling full time hours at the FBI academy,taking care of his dogs and repairing any existing damage to his house doesn't leave him too much free time...and he prefers it like that...it means no time to ruminate about his life outside his lesson plans and house repairs....

...although sometimes he gets unexpected leisure times...and there's really no avoiding of things that are constantly haunting you inside your head...

On his free hours, he often sits on the front steps of his house, a hot cup of coffee in his hands while watching his pack rough house each other...these moments were his refuge from the rest of the world. Most of the time though when he can't focus on watching his dogs, his mind would often stray to a certain omega that he can't get out of his mind, no matter how hard he tries...no matter how much he admonishes himself for stupidly hanging on to the fruits of his day dreaming...foolishly believing that the omega had in some way seemed to be interested in him on that too short time they had spent talking to pass the time...

....it's ridiculous, he knows, but sometimes you can't decide who to be enamored with or not.

There were times when his fantasy comes so vivid that he almost regretted his decision of not letting his empathy read the young man there and then, to learn more about him, to know him inside and out, to know what goes on in his head...but he had to remind himself that it would have been very rude to do that ...it wouldn't feel right...

Recently though, it wasn't Hannibal that fills his mind, well atleast not most of it, rather, he keeps considering the pro's and con's of finally giving in to Jack Crawford's offer of consulting with the Behavioral Science Unit. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing. It would be like over time work and he could use the additional fund to finally pay back the full mortgage as soon as possible.

He doesn't consider himself poor,... just maybe within or a step above the poverty line but it would still be good for him to seriously get his life more stable than his current situation. He wouldn't even deny the fact that he had only started considering a bonded life three years ago but had kept on procrastinating, justifying it with pointless reasoning's that the real person his alpha mind is trying to better itself for is unlikely to even glance his way, heck...even accidental meetings on the street sounds impossible...that person obviously lives in a different sort of world and Will couldn't even imagine himself stepping into any places that caters to rich people. Add the fact that the omega had seemed to be the type who would put career first...besides, what could he even offer to him,his dogs? He did seem to be accepting of them...or maybe that was just the heat or their canine abilities...?

'Atleast in fantasies everything is possible'...same words, the same phrase that he had been telling himself for a long time. Life goes on, it wouldn't be wise to be stuck in what if's.

The only proof that Hannibal's existence had not been a dream was his ruined armchair that he now prefers to use, long after the lingering scent of the omega had gone and the new expensive looking arm chair that had been delivered to his place the next day, as promised by the young man.

Will had embarrassingly spent weeks after the incident being unexpectedly aroused by even the smallest reminder of the omega, he had also woken up to dreams of the two of them copulating or to dreams of being bonded to the young man, making him unable to douse his libido and left with no other choice than to deal with it the proven age old way of fisting himself...and each and every time it happens, his pack would give him the same stare they had given him that first time it had happened making him want to apologize for his actions all over again...

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The next month had been one of the longest and busiest days of Will's life after he had grudgingly accepted Jack's proposal...it had started as just quick consulting visits to Jack's team's evidence and conference room, then quickly elevated to him being dragged from his classroom straight to the laboratory-slash-morgue where they work the cadavers for usable pieces of evidence. Brainstorming and fitting in every new evidence together to build up a profile.

At first, the three laboratory-slash-forensic technicians had been wary of his presence, especially the omega Brian Zeller, whom he later found out had trust issues towards any alpha's. He's loud and opinionated when the other two technician's, both beta's are around but turns to a wary cornered animal if it's only him and Will, which is why the alpha makes it a point for everybody to be present before showing up on team meetings.

Beverly on the other hand , aside from being too quirky and energetic had made it a point to befriend their new member. Taking him under her wing and inviting him for celebratory drinks whenever they're done with a case, which he always declines as he is still adjusting to having to socialize with too many people at once...

Sometime on the first week, she had openly voiced her interest in why Jack had asked him for consultation, given that he had been known to most in the field as the alpha who prefers teaching than the gore and action of field work. Will had only told her that he has a unique understanding of other peoples minds, which works well for understanding murderers and the like, it also helps him well in his teaching as he can discuss the criminals thoughts when the crime was made to his students and make them see the connections between the collected evidence, the criminal's chosen method, the criminal's reasoning behind it and their possible next moves. What he didn't tell her, is that it's the same reason why he prefers his classroom. No need for socializing nor fresh criminal minds to swim into.

Of the three, it was Jimmy Price that Will had found comforting for his neutral attitude. They were introduced to each other, they both nodded to the other and went back to their work. No awkwardness nor unnecessary words.

He wouldn't even waste his time thinking about the other FBI agent's that he unwillingly has to work with at times, most were covertly hostile towards him in varied stages and openly doubtful of what he could contribute to the team and the rest just pretend that he doesn't exist. Ofcourse, he understands that it's not their fault why they're oblivious or incapable of understanding his role in the investigations as it had been a part of his bargaining stipulations to the consultancy contract, that he be given enough undisturbed privacy until he called for it himself and that he answers only and directly to Jack Crawford. He had secretly hoped that it would be too troublesome to meet is demands and the alpha, Jack would retract his offer but to his surprise, he had replied that he had expected as much.

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The day was supposed to be the alpha's day off, something that he had never thought he would ever crave for, but his luck seem to have ran out as he was woken up by a call from Jack at the ass crack of dawn requiring his presence in John Hopkin's University as soon as possible, rudely omitting the reason behind it and cutting the call as abruptly as it had started.

He had planned on sleeping in today but that's just impossible now. It would take him more than an hour to drive there and he won't have any chance to rest once he's there for sure so he would take his time.... coffee, feed and let the dogs out, call his regular dog sitter then shower.

While he did get ordered to come as soon as possible, he wouldn't scramble just to please Jack when he should have known that today was suppose to be his day off.

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Driving closer to the university area, he found police and FBI cars along the south gate so he took that as a cue to drive in through there. A police officer hailed him to stop in front of the gate and was about to inform him that the gate is currently closed but when Will showed him his FBI badge he just waved him inside and mentioned that the crime scene is located at the Decker Quad. He parked his car as close as he can get to the police line which seemed to cover most of the quad area...both men and women in investigative suits and gloves are strategically scattered around to scrape the area clean of possible evidence...though they have left a wide berth around the victim as undisturbed as possible presumably under Jack's order.

When his boss's eyes landed on him he gave a quick come hither motion of his finger to call him closer...'just a whistle and I'll be more like a dog' he thought...when he did so, Jack made sure that his impatience for his slow arrival didn't go unnoticed.

"The victim's name is Christopher Burke, forty-three years old. He's the Department of Biology's faculty head. His family said that he went out last night and never came home again but they didn't worry because he does it too often to be considered out of the ordinary... Now it's your turn. Go, do your thing." He ordered and motioned to the body...then he clapped his hands to get everybody's attention and informed them not to disturb the agent until he's done.

Now that he was left with the body he took his time looking around it and silently admired the work put into it.

In one of the quads trees was a naked man presumably alpha leaning into it, leg's slightly spread apart with one leg a little bent with his foot against the base of the tree trunk to mimic a relaxed pose, one of his arms was raised to use his hand to hold the top of his skull open to show what's inside, where instead of the brain, there was the severed penis and balls artfully laid inside. The other arm was raised up to the man's torso holding a half full jello cup filled with what looks to be brain mush, the plastic straw's other end held in between the man's mouth...

Very clear message, he thought. A man who thinks with his dick, drinking brain to sustain his intelligence(?)...

Will had to admit to himself that the crime had been done perfectly. It is a morbid sight but instead of the usual anger, or glee that he get's from the scene, or even fear and doubt from first time offenders...there was nothing, he couldn't get any strong feelings ,like the person who did it felt nothing.... instead there was just a trace of satisfaction, from what?? he doesn't know yet.

There were no signs of struggle and the visible wounds and consequent positioning of the body suggests to a deep understanding of human anatomy and physiology, making use of the body's reaction to death to put him in the desired pose. The opening of the skull and severing of the genitals and brain point to a surgical know how...it looks clean and systematical... he will know how good when the cuts have been expertly examined in the lab.

The victim hadn't been dead for more than seven to twelve hours as the rigor mortis stage is still in effect and the lividity signs suggest that the body had been positioned less than six hours after his death. As there were no blood splatters surrounding the body it was safe to say that he hadn't been killed and maimed there. That's it. There's nothing more to see, there's nothing more to read...he thought, frustrated with the unlucky start of the day.

Will told Jack everything that he had gathered from the scene and excused himself to go back to his car where he could wait in peace and away from his 'colleagues' stares.

A draft of wind, however, made his steps falter and stop suddenly. He knows that scent. Even after all these years, he would recognize it anywhere, he's sure of it... It's faint in the air, it's without the sweetened heat scent but the natural scent of the omega had been ingrained in his senses. That complicated mix of herbs could never be reproduced by anybody...artificial or otherwise.

He closed his eyes and tried to sift through the scents in the air to determine where it was coming from but there were too many scents and since they were out in the open the scent is quickly fading. Desperately searching for it, he opened his eyes and started to look around, maybe he would have better luck with his eyes.

He searched this way and that before he decided to look where the wind is going since the scent had been pretty faint and had been lost very quickly, he reasoned that the omega must be against the wind direction. And there he was, Hannibal, dressed in an impeccable dark blue suit standing just behind the police line. And seems to be looking in Will's general direction? In this distance, Will isn't sure if the omega was indeed looking at him or at the dead man but he stood there dumbly, not knowing what to do now that his fantasy man is in front of him.

Some of the agents noticed his dumbstruck staring and checked out what had taken his attention and they immediately started to snicker to each other subtly pointing in his direction. Obviously finding something terribly funny that completely goes over Will's head.

He took a step forward in the omega's direction when he felt a hand softly touch his elbow to get his attention.

"Hey, are you okay?" Beverly asked then tipped his head to Hannibal's direction...

"uh..yeah...I'm fine" he said after a few beats of silence...

"So... you like them that pretty, huh?! " she teased the alpha with a smug smirk on her face...

His flushed face was answer enough which prompted the personnel's who heard their interaction to laugh quietly and shook their heads in amusement. An agent standing closed to them said to the others "hey! guys! we have a dreamer, right here!" ..."aiming pretty high there Graham!" came another which prompted another round of snickering.

He knew he's missing something, with the way the other agents were reacting to his obvious interest to the omega but he doesn't care at the moment. His mind is more interested in getting closer to the young man and find out for himself that he had not been forgotten.

'Just a simple 'Hi' will do' he told himself and determinedly walked towards Hannibal. He could hear the disbelief his action was doing behind him but he ignored them.

"Damn! he's really going for it!"

"...this is gonna be so entertaining.."

"aah...poor boy"

The jeers continued on until he was close enough to the omega that not talking would make things awkward. He looked the man's cheekbones as he couldn't bring himself to look at him straight in the eyes.

Everybody held their breath when he finally greeted the man.

"Hi..." as awkward as it sounded, it had been the best thing he could come up with. His shoulders visibly relaxed when he noticed the small upturn of the omegas lips in a demure smile.

"Hello, Will" the omega replied in his clear confident voice, re-positioning his stance to clearly indicate his willingness to have a conversation with the agent.

Hannibal's obvious recognition of the alpha made their audience squawk in surprise and outrage. Their loud protestation, however, was cut short when it got Jack's attention and he barked to them to get their useless asses moving.

Even with Jack's reproaching, Will could still feel their hostile stares at the back of his head like needle pricks, no doubt his already difficult working relationship with them is gonna get worse from then onwards.

Noticing the spectacle behind Will, the omega pointedly looked at the indignant officers before giving his attention back at the now embarrassed alpha.

"Sorry about that, I don't know why they're so invested in who I'm interested in" then he flushed when he realized what he had just said but chose not to take it back. He awkwardly scratched his beard then the back of his neck while he shuffled his feet from one to the other.

The omega smoothly replied to that with a pleased smile.

"There is no need for apologies Will, I however need to give my long overdue thanks in person. I would have gone to your place before but something had come up that can't be avoided" referring about his brother's antics but Will didn't need to know that. It had taken Nigel longer than he had expected to calm down and to finally go back to his world tour. Courtesy of some dumb alpha who decided to declare his intent to court Hannibal by dropping by their house uninvited during one of his regular heats and then proceeded to go knothead feral on their doorstep. His suitors are definitely getting braver or stupider, the latter is more likely in Hannibal's opinion.

"yeah...well..how are you? I wasn't sure if you still remembered me but I am very glad that you do...uhm..so you study here?" He goes babbling again, He wonders if he'll always be this incoherent when in close proximity to the omega.

"Ofcourse, I would remember you, Will, and yes, I do study here. Though I find the circumstances morbid I am also delighted that it had led us to meet again...I am very pleased to have your company again." True to his words the omega's delight in seeing him was punctuated with how he slowly roamed his eyes all over the alpha and even his scent had gone slightly sweeter. Playfully baiting Will's alpha side to come out further, and it had not disappointed, Will's scent had gotten thicker in the air. It's the same musky scent overpowering the smell of his unsavory aftershave, Hannibal noted.

"uh..yeah..it's...it's part of my job, I am more of a professor really but sometimes I take consultation jobs." he explained.

"Interesting" the omega said with a contemplative look in his eyes, Will can't get what the omega finds interesting but it still gave him confidence to say his next words.

"you,..Hannibal...That is, would you like to go out for dinner or something?"

By now they had gathered quite a number of audience, mostly students and the school staff but Will ignored the niggling curiosity in his head about why these people take so much interest in their conversation...People should know that it's rude to listen to other people's conversations. He was so deep in his musings that he had thought he misheard the omega agreeing to the dinner invitation, so he asked him again.

Patiently, Hannibal said that dinner would be wonderful and asked when and where would he want to go.

Through the nervousness he had forgotten to think where and when they should have dinner! So embarrassing!

"well, you see I haven't gone that far in my planning yet, but where would you want to go? I'm free every after four in the afternoon except when I get called to things like this." he said waving to the crime scenes' direction.

"hmm...let's see. Maybe we could both think it over so we can go somewhere we both like? For now, it would be wise to exchange contact information's, don't you agree?"

Will, in his delight for the positive turn of events unconsciously moved closer to the omega but stopped when he heard various growls and exclaim of disapproval from their audience. Hannibal on the other hand acted like nothing happened and even went so far as to move closer to the alpha and reached out to intimately hand his calling card and give Will a fleeting touch with his fingertips on the alpha's left cheek before announcing that he needs to catch his next class that is about to start very soon,and for Will to call him when convenient so he can get his number.

The alpha just stood there staring at the retreating back of the omega and later on reverently touched his cheek where Hannibal had let his fingers drift slowly. When the fact that he had actually talked to the omega again after all these years and even secured a date? no, dinner!

'YEAH!' he pumped his fist in the air in obvious delight, then he started walking towards his car, a shit-eating grin splitting his face, uncaring of how crazy he looks like at the moment. His steps had a joyful spring to them when Beverly, also grinning met him halfway, They both grinned at each other wide before she gave him a congratulatory fist bump.

"Hey! You two! Cut it! It's inappropriate showing your lunatic sides in a crime scene!" Jimmy whispered to them, though, he himself is also trying to hide his amusement at the two.

"copy that, kill joooy" Beverly said, saluting the other beta...and she winked to Will and said, "catch you later, hot stuff!"

The alpha just raised his head in recognition then amusely shook his head at the beta's antics.

Once he's inside his car, he impatiently took the calling card out and brought it closer to his nose and sniffed it for any lingering scent that had stuck to the expensive material. The sight of the omega had been magnificent. He had stood there as confident and sure of himself like he had remembered barring the absence of sweat and heat tell tales. The omega had looked a little older and wiser but not in the physical sense...He had looked positively ravishing, his omega body slowly maturing perfectly...obviously showcasing his healthy fertile body for everybody who has working eyes.

Hannibal had said that he's currently studying here but he hadn't mentioned what it was he's studying...bad rapport on will's part. Will desperately want's to know more about the young man. On that note he looked down at the card and committed the details to himself, the material was obviously expensive but there wasn't any of those gaudy company logos of who had had been contracted to create it...and it's ridiculous to imagine the omega doing it himself...sooooo...probably made by one of those luxury contractors that elites seem to prefer...

He had suspected it already before but having to face reality is still distressing. He could just imagine how big the difference truly is between their lifestyle. How does one of his low income status go about courting somebody from the upper class.

"..."

He groaned and bumped his head to the stirring wheel. No wonder the other agents had said something about him 'aiming high'. He had thought before about googling Hannibal's name but had refused to do it, he had thought it ridiculous at that time but maybe it would be wise to just check a little bit, so he has an idea what to do about that dinner.

After just about five minutes of googling on his ancient smartphone, he had gained more than enough information that basically states that Hannibal is totally out of his league. His family changes the whole meaning of rich, elite, or upper class in a whole new level.

With his heart thudding, he forced himself to continue his search for information even though he is aware that it's considered rude to do that before going out for dinner with the said google subject.

He found out that Hannibal has a twin alpha named Nigel that is known for his out of this world overprotective instinct towards his family especially to his twin. He even found an article that coincides on the date that they had met that first time. Most things written about the family seems to be just assumptions though,as every member avoids reporters like the plague or in the twins' case they simply ignore them and no journalists seems to be brave enough to force their unwelcome presence to them...

He took time to go over his only interaction with the uncle, Robert extraordiaire Lecter, He grimaced, that hadn't gone well either. The old man had been polite but he had also shown his visible disapproval of him. He thumped his forehead harder on the steering wheel before slumping bonelessly in it.

" Me against the world....heh! who would have thought..." he muttered miserably.

He was still drowning in his lonesome misery when it was disrupted by firm knocks on the car window on the drivers' side. He didn't really want to be disturbed right now but he still has a job to do and if they need him he just has to suck it up, however, when he looked outside the window he saw a familiar petite young woman standing and smiling, motioning for him to come out.

"Hey! I thought I recognized your car in the middle of this mess so I came by to say hello!"

"Hey, Alana...didn't expect to run into you here...how's your Applesauce?"

Alana Bloom. He met her when he found her dog, Applesauce wounded on the side of the street. He brought it to the closest vet and contacted the number that was written in the dog's collar. It turns out that she had just gotten the dog from an animal rescue center and it hadn't quite adapted yet to her presence... It ran away when she had been in a very bad mood and her alpha pheromones had been all over the place, the scent probably reminded the dog of bad experience so it bolted out the door once it got the chance to do so.

"She's fine...opening up to me better these days...You said you're a professor, so sorry if I'm confused seeing you here right in the middle of this mess...and I study here, just started my undergrad really"

"Oh...congrats! This is just a recent development on my job...I still teach but...you know..it's not cheap taking care of a pack of dogs." She's the only other alpha that talks to him kindly and with respect, she cares but as an alpha, she knows the limits of coddling another of the same sex.

She chuckled and nodded her head in agreement. " I completely understand...well..it was nice meeting you...I have to go to my class now, Let's have coffee sometime! Text me or no...I WILL text you!"

"you too" Will said before they waved at each other.

With nothing else to do he decided to start surfing for good restaurants that hopefully Hannibal would like but that he could still afford.

After a while he frustratedly rubbed his eyes...he is so over his head with this. There is no possible way he can impress the omega. He's just an ordinary working class guy.

Disappointed with himself. He shut his phone and went out to check how things are progressing outside. Which had turned out to be a bad idea as his presence made the atmosphere uncomfortable with the sneers and irrational envy thrown his way. Fortunately, they were just at the end of packing up the body.

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They hadn't found anything useful at the crime scene, it's as much as Will had expected. So, Will inquired about the level of skill of the killer based on the incisions made.

The cuts while done by a person with medical know how does not show any surgical expertise, it seems more like the cuts made by a trainee...logical conclusion points to a medical student on their advance year level...still in the process of perfecting his or her skills in cutting and stitching a wound shut... The cutting instrument used was a professional grade scalpel and bone cutter....so maybe they had used the school's instruments..

They had not found any traces of drugs but the victim's blood had been pumped up with cortisol and endorphins which are both known to be released when the body is under severe stress and pain. They had also proven that both the castration and skull opening had been done while the victim was still alive but had then perished before or while his brain was being taken out.

Another interesting thing was that the amount of brain jello that they had recovered was too small, so the killer must have taken most of it as a trophy.

By the end of the day Will was very ready to go home when he got a thick file about the victim, so with resignation, he went to pick up a fresh cup of coffee and started to read through it.

Will had almost wanted to abandon the case after the first few pages of filed sexual complaints that got worse and worse the more recently dated they come. All complaints had been mysteriously dropped due to insufficient evidence, retracted statements or unreliable sources. The man was a sexual predator, he didn't deserve to live.

"THAT'S IT!... that was the feeling of satisfaction for! The killer felt that the man didn't deserve to live and he was satisfied of doing the world a favor...? no...the last part is still not right" Ugh...Now he knows the possible motive for the crime which in turn gives them possible leads but it's still not enough...

" A vigilante?" Nope...doesn't feel like it.

He must look strange, talking to himself in his classroom with nobody to listen but he just doesn't get it, he wants to understand why the killer felt satisfied...

Shaking his head in defeat he decided to pack up for the day, learning that the victim was the sort that even him would gladly get rid off really took his need for justice to be handed right there and then. While he doesn't approve with the killer's method he sympathizes with him in that area...if the motive really is because of his heinous crimes.

He dropped by to Jack's office on his way out to get him updated on his new incites about the killer but left out the part where he sympathizes with him or her. He also went to the lab to say his goodbye's to the only people who don't sneer at his back, it wouldn't do to alienate the people he works with more often than not.

Beverly was the first to notice his arrival and immediately grinned to him and asked...

"So, where are you gonna take that high end omega of yours for dinner?"

Which almost gave him panic attack as he had forgotten about it and he had yet to contact Hannibal to give him his number. Beverly's question prompted him to reach for Hannibal's calling card only to find out that it wasn't in his breast pocket. or in any of his other pockets at that... He looked up with panicked eyes to Beverly and promptly bolted out of the lab back to his classroom to search for the expensive card.

The lab tech's stared at Will's panicked jog before they started laughing and mutted something about 'love struck boys' .

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Chapter Text

The day had started the best way possible...with blessed peace. He had just woken from a peaceful sleep as much as it had always been since his brother's departure. Haaaaa! Hannibal dearly loves his brother but the last year and a half year had been a little too much even for a patient man like himself.

He had been very patient and understanding with Nigel during his bout of stalking as he was aware that it really wasn't his fault...it had taken more than a year for him to calm down and hadn't some idiot decided to show up at the wrong time it could have gone shorter...Though it had been frustrating, Hannibal had seen how their Uncle had enjoyed having them both at home again, even with their cat and dog fights when things get too constricting for the omega.

When the alpha had declared that he had decided to stay home longer, Hannibal hadn't batted an eye since they had been living together in the same house for as long as he could remember except those times when Nigel goes travelling and when Hannibal had gone to London for one whole year for a student exchange program but then Nigel had visited as often as he can and for as long as he can. He had thought that maybe his brother had finally started to grow up.

BUT

NO

Few months ago, things had gone crazy in the Lecter house like it had been before his brother had left traveling wherever his interest brought him. Just remembering the idiocies that his twin had gotten involved in during his lengthened stay gives him bad headache.

Hannibal had 'convinced' his brother to continue his tour when he had finally reached his limit and would have resorted to the unsavory act of strangling his then soon to be deceased brother had he not wisely thought to graciously give the omega his breathing space.

He had been studying studiously in his bedroom late at night when the now regular loud entrance of Nigel from whatever club he came home from ricocheted off the walls of the spacious house...though after a few minutes the student had noted that he hadn't heard his brother's steps pass by his room to reach his own room at the end of the hall. A little worried about the unusual behavior, he silently threaded down the stairs to the foyer. When he found no sign of his brother there, he continued his search and kept his ears open for any sounds that would tell him where his twin had wandered off to, though a few meters from the kitchen he started to hear grunts and the disturbing sounds of flesh slapping on flesh. The sounds had been a dead give away and with that his worry had been replaced with displeasure bordering on violent intent on behalf of his adopted sacred space.

Nigel had outrageously deemed his well cared for marble kitchen countertop as a good surface to feast on his conquest for the night. The woman was laid on the table with her legs tightly wrapped around the alpha visibly enjoying the rough treatment she was receiving from the big man if the heaving of her breast and the muffled grunts were to be taken into consideration. One of the alpha's hands was busy squeezing one of her sizable breasts in time with his hard thrusting while the other hand was covering her mouth in a useless attempt to muffle her loud groans of pleasure. Both were disgustingly sweaty and Hannibal doesn't even dare to breathe in the no doubt equally disgusting air in the closed space.

He looked regretfully at the countertop and refused to even imagine using it ever again in the future. It has to go, he decided.

The omega silently walked to an area where he was sure was within the woman's line of vision. It had taken a long moment but when she did notice him her eyes opened wide then alarmingly looked to the man on top of her and back at their audience then she started to vigorously slap the alpha on the chest to get his attention while trying to push him away with her other hand. Annoyingly, Nigel had refused to stop until the woman's frantic waving of her hand towards Hannibal's direction caught his attention, at once, he stopped thrusting and gaped at his brother in disbelief before his expression changed to anger at his brother's cockblocking. The omega, however, wasn't fazed at all, he merely raised his eyebrow and pointedly stared back at his brother. As expected his stubborn brother held his gaze and stood straighter and held his ground to present his dominance in the staring match. Hannibal was far from amused but he kept his face neutral and raised his eyebrow once again which annoyed his brother further. Throughout the staring match, the woman was stupidly staring at their audience clearly expecting for the other omega to back down. She suddenly frowned and sat up straighter to watch how the now softened penis of the alpha slowly slipped out of her wet cunt, clearly the alpha's erection had lost against the other omega's presence. Hannibal noticed how the woman was now looking ridiculously at the softened appendage, he gave his brother a victorious smirk, clearly satisfied with himself, then he turned around to go back to his room.

The alpha just stood there flushed from embarrassment which got worse when the woman who had been panting from pleasure earlier suddenly couldn't hold her laughter from the turn of events. Nigel quickly sorted back his own clothes and told the woman to just get the hell out.

He went straight to his brother's room to confront him and was about to bang open the door when he remembered what had happened the last time he did that so he 'politely' knocked and waited for his cue to enter. He found his brother preparing for bed.

"what the fuck was that for?" he asked the moment he was inside the room.

"shouldn't that be my line, brother? were you aware where you were copulating or did you missed the fact that you weren't in your own room? " The omega replied, casually sitting on his bed with his back against the headboard.

"well...no...i mean, I knew we were in the kitchen but that's not the point...It's rude to interrupt people who are in the middle of fucking! " He pointed to his brother to make his point clear.

Hannibal thought for a while.. " and it is ruder to use my kitchen counter for that activity..."

The older brother barked out a laugh before pointing out that it's not "his kitchen" quoting the words in the air.

" As I am the only one who knows how to cook in this residence I have a claim on that area...but since you have pointed that out I guess I could rethink that fact." Hannibal gave him a contemplative look before he dismissed his twin, giving him parting words... " Do not expect for me to forget this incident dear brother...Have a pleasant evening" ...and then he went under the blanket, a clear dismissal for the still fuming alpha.

Nigel had nothing to argue after he got reminded of who makes all their meals. He went back down to the kitchen and thoroughly cleaned the countertop as best as he could, all the while muttering about his bad luck in brother's, prude for a brother and the worse cock block brother in the world.

"..and then he says 'have a pleasant evening''" the alpha grumbled trying to imitate his brother's posh-slash-polite tone, scrubbing furiously at a stubborn spot.

"GRRAAAAAAAAAAA! ...the fucking VIRGIN have no idea how my blue balls have been in critical stage for a while already!!!" he could barely contain his frustration on the unassuming counter top, scrubbing harder as his frustration worsens.

" this....THIS!" he says forcefully grabbing his crotch to emphasize his point "needs some release! He's a fucking medical student he should know how hazardous blue balls is to one's health! right? RIGHT!?" he asked his blurry reflection on the huge refrigerator door.

He sniffed when he got no response before throwing the cleaning rag in the direction of the trash can "FUCK THIS!...you're all fucking idiots like your master! IGNORANT ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FUCKING!!!..." he cursed his reflection too before declaring that he's better off sleeping.

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The next morning, Robert found his nephews in a tense staring match on either side of the kitchen island. He had intended to grab a cup of coffee to start his day but one look at the twins face made him reassess his plan for that coffee. He'd rather not be in the middle of whatever this was about, he'll get that coffee later. He also wondered if there's a chance for breakfast too since Hannibal didn't look like he was in a pleasant mood this morning.

He had considered the early morning a success when he hadn't heard any sounds of somebody in pain or of things breaking and an hour later he was called for breakfast.

He went straight to the kitchen as they had always eaten there for breakfast, all of them preferring the intimate setting to start their day rather than the big spacious dining room, surprisingly the kitchen was empty when he got there so he just followed the smell of food to the dining room. He sat at the space prepared for him and resisted the urge to ask about the odd change in their routine as he realized that asking would place him in the firing range between the two men who are pointedly ignoring each other.

"Good morning uncle" Hannibal, ever the one with the good manners greeted him, breaking the suffocating silence that had blanketed the morning feast.

He replied in kind and reluctantly asked with his eyes and a tilt towards Nigel's direction what's gotten into them both. It wouldn't do to leave things unsolved if he could do anything to fix it.

The omega replied with a tightening of his jaw daring his uncle to vocally ask either of them which he reluctantly did after heaving a deep sigh that only his nephews could make him do. He placed his cutleries back down on his plate and leaned back on the backrest of his chair. This is gonna be a long day, he says to himself. Rubbing his forehead and looking back and forth to the twins he decided to ask Nigel since he's the mouthy one and more likely to give up more information even if in an unsavory language.

"So, care to enlighten me why this beautiful morning seems a little gloomy and while you're at that maybe you'd care to inform me why we are eating here instead of the more relax setting in our kitchen?"

The alpha immediately rested his elbow's on either side of his plate with an impressive scowl directed at his look alike on the other side of the table. He sniffed and then rudely used his fork to point at his brother.

"He just can't accept that I made a good point that's why he's so grumpy!.... YOU!" he said, this time facing Hannibal... " You need to get laid! you need something to replace that stick..no...pole you have up your ass and maybe you'll understand what blue balls really means!"

"Tsk...Let us not have this discussion on our meal table, the only one left that can still be used" the omega said with an edge to his voice.

Hearing that phrase really didn't make the oldest man in the room want to ask what was wrong with the other table so he just frowned and listened attentively to the argument going on in front of him.

"HAH! you're such a prude Hanni. I cleaned it nicely for you, it's not like it's permanently damaged! "

"The fact that you had to clean it at all really is already enough to consider throwing it away"

"Then change it for all I care, it wasn't that good a height for fucking anyway...and I still say you need to replace that pole you have up there!"

Their uncle visibly winced when he heard what had happened to the table. Really, the twins are starting to give him more grey hairs faster than the usual rate.

Hannibal stared at his brother's rude words before smirking and pointedly asked...

"hmm...i should, shouldn't i? Maybe I'll get on with it as soon as possible"

The alpha immediately stopped whatever he was about to say when he realized what his twin was insinuating. He gripped the side of the table tightly to keep himself from throttling his brother... " you, wouldn't!" he asked silently in a strained voice.

Now that the younger one had found a way to use his brother's words against him, he delightedly grinned and egged him on further.

"Now now brother, you were the one who strongly suggested it a while ago, It wouldn't be so nice of me to just let it go without considering it seriously, wouldn't I?"

Needless to say, Robert had the most amusing and ridiculous breakfast he's ever had in his life but to the expense of his dear alpha nephew. Hannibal had insisted on not using the kitchen island ever again resulting in the whole kitchen being renovated to suit the new design that he had chosen. Nigel had rested his case since his twin could somehow always turn whatever comes out of his mouth against him.

Almost a month after the renovation, Hannibal's estrus had come and he had stuck to his brother's side all through it, magically knowing in which room the alpha was and making himself comfortable as close as possible to his brother. The omega had reasoned to his brother's disgusted face that he just wanted to be close to his alpha brother to feel safe, Nigel had not believed an ounce of it but as the softy as he is towards his twin especially during his vulnerable days persevered through it with barely held nausea and all around disgusted feeling. Their uncle had, of course, realized that the omega had been pushing his brother to the limit and he had learned the reason when after the omega's heat Nigel had fled the country like the hounds of hell were after him stating in his wake that he needed to be away for a while. Hannibal had had the most satisfied smile on his face after the doors had closed shut behind his brother.

Robert had thrown his nephew a scowl but he had also been proud of how clever he had been.

Months had come and passed by and they had received regular updates from his brothers' escapade from country to country, while Hannibal could never verbally admit his longing for his brother's presence he had had his studies to distract him from it. Medical school had been a challenge and he enjoyed every minute of it, his intelligence, discipline, and proficiency had made it easy for him to simply glide through the courses.

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He had gone to school early in anticipation of dropping by the library first before his class but he had been drawn like the other early comers to the Decker Quad. thinking to just take a glimpse and move on to his day like usual, what he hadn't anticipated was the presence of somebody he hadn't seen for a while, standing very close to the victim's body unaware of the group of audience that was currently watching him in a thrall, waiting for any movements that hadn't come until after quite long minutes.

Hannibal recalled everything that he had found out about the man that he was observing at a distance. The corner of his mouth lifting in amusement when he had remembered how much fun it had been to tease the man and how thrilled he had felt when the alpha had obviously been affected but too much of a gentleman to make any move on him. He had been the only one to get him interested for this long and for that he had protected his identity from his brother as best as he can, although now that fate had made it possible for them to meet again, Hannibal wasn't sure how he could continue keeping his brother in the dark when he himself wanted the alpha's company, as a mate or not but definitely as close as he can get.

The omega doesn't really care what the public's reaction would be but that's nothing new really. He would worry about his twin and uncle's reaction when the time comes but for now, it's time to entice the alpha to his side. Will, it had been a long time but he still smelled exactly the same except for the increased scent of frustration around him.
Hannibal took a deeper sniff and there it was under that hideous aftershave, he felt himself heat up a little and no doubt his scent has also thickened to capture the man's attention. In time, he told himself, he would do something about that aftershave.

While he was standing there, he could feel the interested stares thrown his way from around him but he could care less about whoever those were, they don't interest him at all. He had been batting away inquiries for courtship on his person on increasing intervals lately and his patience with the idiotic knot heads are running thin as it is, it would be wise to shut down their hopes at once, he thought. With that he gave all of his attention to Will Graham.

Even though the conversation had been awkward at first, it had been fascinating to see a glimpse of his alpha self when he had gained a little confidence and he had moved closer to him, he would have allowed a kiss if not for the outrage it would create and he has no time for that right now. A promising touch would suffice for now.

As soon as he had stepped away from the alpha to get to his class he had been followed by a professor silently inquiring what that had been and a heavily coated chastising words for him to choose well who he associates with as there are a lot of people blinded by his status, he had the gall to promise to inform his guardian of his behavior. He hadn't bothered opening his mouth as that would just look like he even needed to defend his actions to a stranger so he just wished him luck and then left him on the hallway with his face pinched in disapproval.

Night came and he still hadn't received any messages or call from Will, he wondered if he had misinterpreted everything...no...he was certain there was interest and eagerness on the alphas face, so something must have happened, he would be patient. He would wait.

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Waiting. As it turns out is very frustrating for somebody who rarely has to wait for anything. His uncle had noticed the constant checking of his smartphone all through dinner and now at the breakfast table which he noted is very odd behavior for his nephew who deems meal times sacred.

Robert wondered if this had anything to do with the call he got from a concerned professor last night, informing him of his nephews' disturbing interest to some FBI agent that had been part of the investigating team on their school. If his younger nephew is this affected maybe it warranted his attention after all.

He had been about to excuse himself from the table when his nephew's phone suddenly rang, Hannibal took a look at the screen of his phone then excused himself politely. Against his better judgement, Robert with quiet steps followed his nephew who went to the kitchen where he answered the call, his tone had gone to a pleased note when he started to talk on the phone. It had taken the old man quite a surprise when the talk had gone to dinner and Hannibal with his gourmet tongue had agreed to meet at some local diner. The omega let out a small huff of amusement before agreeing to be picked up by his date.

The old man decided to not pretend that he didn't hear any of it since that would just invite trouble, so he stayed where he was and just gave a thoughtful nod for his nephew, a clear indication that he had listened in on the conversation but would not ask about it as it had been rude enough already.

With anticipation on his nerves Hannibal went on with his day as usual but with an underlying feeling of anticipation running through his veins.

Chapter Text

Hannibal had willingly agreed to dine at a place where he has never set foot before nor had he ever thought setting foot into until now, if only to fulfill his desire to spend time with Will in a place where the alpha could be comfortable enough to relax and hopefully he will let go of his iron clad control. He knew that if he had asked to go to his preferred establishment, the alpha would selflessly agree regardless of how uncomfortable he would be and it would have not given him any satisfaction. Will might develop tolerance for that kind of social establishments but it would take time, he was sure of it. For now, he would use these chances to know the man better. The omega can't wait to see a glimpse of that alpha confidence for a longer period than the last time.

He is confident with his own looks and style so standing there in front of his full body mirror trying on suit after suit for the umpteenth time and still finding nothing that he thought would appeal to Will is a little unsettling for him. He wants to impress the alpha but he doesn't want to make the impression that he is trying hard or that he desperately wants to monopolize his attention...

In the end he had decided to just wear his usual attire of bespoke three piece suit, no point in faking a persona.

When the doorbell had rang the omega had been waiting by the door but he waited a few beats before opening it to not seem too eager...Robert then chose that moment to come down the stairs to see them off, though it wasn't lost on Hannibal that his real intention was to make his presence known to Will...to make him know that he is watching them or him, Hannibal is not sure which. It had been effective though, the moment the alpha caught sight of him, his shoulders visibly tensed and was obviously waiting for something from the old man. Robert just gave him a hard stare, even he wouldn't dare to be rude to his nephew's company, he was still hoping that this wouldn't last and his nephew's interest would wane sooner rather than later...If not, then he'd try to make the alpha see reason to direct his interest elsewhere it is more welcomed.

Hannibal would have preferred his Bentley but he had noted the visible signs of fresh polishing Will had done to his car, he had obviously made an effort and Hannibal wouldn't let that go to waste, besides being in the alpha's car where his scent has imprinted on deeply wasn't so bad he noted to himself. Though the ride had been rather quiet at the start it had gradually became comfortable the further away they got from Hannibal's house and from his uncle. Will had tried to break the silence with a joke about how his uncle doesn't seem to be pleased of his appearance in Hannibal's life again, to which the omega merely replied with -it is no concern of his uncle who he deems worthy of his time. Hannibal's encouraging reply earned him a scent full of warmness and wonder.

Will had driven them to a diner of mediocre appearance, the omega secretly hopes that the food would atleast be pleasing. He was led by his companion to the table at the corner where there's more privacy and by the time that they had settled down a harried looking waiter was already there inquiring for their choice of food. Hannibal had glanced at the menu but had told Will to order for him since he seems to know the place well and would know which to recommend. He had gotten them both steaks and the house recommended wine for it.

While the food and wine had been alright, Hannibal had gotten more pleasure from the comfortable conversation that he had with Will, and the cherry on the top had been Will's possessive reaction when someone who had recognized the omega had boldly intruded on their dinner to introduce himself to Hannibal with all his alpha posturing and disgusting alpha pheromone thick with lust polluted their surroundings. Hannibal had been delighted when Will was in between the other alpha and Hannibal in one quick move, even though he wasn't as buff as the other man was his pheromones had quickly doused the other's with the sharp scent of possessiveness and warning. And as much as he omega had wanted to witness how things would turn out, he didn't want their time together to end on the front page as the rest of the diners have started to show too much interest in the stand off. He laid his hand on Will's arm to get his attention then slightly shook his head in a bid for him to just drop it,the alpha would have argued then but their intruder had made the decision for him, he slowly took steps back before leaving the establishment trough the main door.

'Atleast he's smart enough to back down'...Hannibal thought.

It would have been stupid to challenge an alpha's claim to an omega when that omega clearly wants to belong to the alpha.

If it was up to either of them they would have delayed ending their night as long as possible, sadly, they both understood that it would have not looked good for either of them if they had gone beyond the appropriate time for their first time spending time together which they had already pushed too far with not having any chaperone around.

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Hannibal had been over the moon this past month and a half, he and the alpha had been out on five more dinners and outdoor picnics respectively and in all those times he has found himself more and more enamored with the delightful alpha, he just hopes that he is not the only one who's falling for the other.

The next two weeks would be unbearable without the alpha as Hannibal had decided to not tempt their limits while he is on his estrus. Will had very good self control but the omega had not wanted to give in so soon to what his body demands, he wants to test his own self control in how long he can hold out before he can give himself permission to allow the alpha to be in close proximity during his most vulnerable state...though even then, he still wants to know how much temptation his body could stand until he can no longer deny it. There was still so much that he wants to prove and disprove about the omega physiology and it is just too frustrating that with the high end technology of the modern day there is still no efficient birth control for the omega's perfect reproductive capability. Contraceptive pills could only work seventy percent of the time and condoms are no better against the alpha's impressive knot sizes. The omega would have loved to experience estrus with the only alpha that could tempt him but pregnancy is not yet in his well scheduled plan.

He had expected wild protestation and back lash in his life after it had been widely spread to the public about his close acquaintanceship with a middle class alpha but so far, the most that had happened was the increase of inquiry to his hand for courtship and the incessant presence of multiple posturing dumb alphas around him. His uncle had not even batted an eye when he read an article on the front page about the two of them, it was a little concerning and suspicious but Hannibal is confident that he could stand his ground against his uncle if he ever states his dislike of his chosen alpha.

His twin Nigel, as expected had raged and demanded to know everything about his brother's new alpha friend. The hothead would have flown back home straight away if not for the omega's quick thinking and maneuvering with his friend in London.

'Really, having the British Government as a friend is quite advantageous' he smirked to himself.

Nigel had been taken into 'protective custody' seconds after the omega had ended the necessary call.

Now, he just has to go trough the days until he can spend more wondrous time again with Will. The alpha as expected had been understanding if a little flushed when Hannibal had confided his necessity for the two weeks break in their routine. His estrus would be only for three days but he had wanted to be certain that there wouldn't be any lingering heat scent on his skin when around the alpha, atleast for now.

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Will rubbed his curls roughly on his fifth refill of the intoxicating alcohol that he only saves for the days when it's specially bad. It had been a week since he had last seen Hannibal and while he understands the need for it, it still doesn't make it any easier for him to know that his, HIS omega is going trough heat without him. Ofcourse he had not assumed but there was always a tiny bit of hope inside him that the omega would invite him for his estrus when the time came, his secret hope only getting bolder as their time spent together had from chase kisses to the cheeks and shy pats on their hands had turned bolder to hot explorations of each other's mouths and bold needy gropes on the back of their cars whenever they can get the chance to do so. It had been frustrating whenever the omega pulls away before it can get too far but Will had respected his decision and would never regret not pushing for more than was freely given to him.

In a bid to appeal to Hannibal's taste for finer things he had thoughtfully bought a new set of suit for himself and had brought the omega to establishments that are a little too expensive for his budget but he had been also aware that it had not been enough for the omega who had always been polite to inform him how wonderful or lovely their night had been. One thing he was sure though was that the omega had been more interested in spending time with him than with the establishments that he had painstakingly researched before checking if they were within his budget. With that in mind, the alpha had tried a simple picnic in a secluded clearing withing the forest where they had first met and it had gone spectacularly to the point that he had been granted unlimited access to the omega's upper body and permission to grope his still covered legs and bum as much as he had wanted.

Three weeks into going out with the omega in public and he had gotten more threats than he cared to count. His work colleagues had been overtly aggressive and mean in speaking to him about his audacity to try to grab himself such a high class omega,he had been called names with different variations of social climber and gold digger. Will could have just went on with his normal days by ignoring them but then he got called to Jack Crawford's boss' office on the fourth week and had been summarily kicked out of Behavioral Science Unit's team for 'ethical misconduct'. Jack had tried to talk him out of pursuing whatever it was that is going on with him and the esteemed omega weeks before but he had only achieved in making Will angry and more firm in his stubbornness to prove everybody wrong that he is not after the young man's money and power and that it is only the omega's right to stop their companionship if he so wishes and had asked Jack to please not involve his personal affairs with their work...Jack had grudgingly agreed but had warned him that 'some people' might not be as accepting as him.

Fortunately for him, Jack had been a good man and had defended him to his boss resulting in him still holding on to his teaching job.

Now that he had lost his additional source of income, his mind had slowly started drift to hopelessness. If Hannibal's uncle had been against him before, now,he doesn't know how much hope there is for him to get the chance to court Hannibal. He, a man with nothing on his name except for his loyal pack and a small two story house. Suffice to say his spirits are not at their brightest these days.

He had been on edge for a while now but it had been easy to forget his miserable life or work situation to be specific whenever he spends time with the omega, even just the thought of him helps him trough the day. The alpha had known that the omega was out of his league before but he hadn't thought that his life particularly his work would be affected this much.

The night would have been like any other of the many nights that had gone by and will probably continue in the future where he drinks himself to sleep surrounded by his dogs if not for the merciless sexual frustration churning inside him and knowing that his chosen omega is in estrus and he had been unwelcome to share it with. With alcohol running in his blood, resentment builds inside him for the unfair situation he's under and with that he decided that if he doesn't do anything right now it would turn into violence either towards himself or to his pack, neither of which is appealing to him.He started making himself ready to visit the bar that he had frequented half a year ago when he had been at his wits end at desperately wanting to make himself forget the omega that he had only met once but was always lounging inside his head.

Will had visited a few bars and clubs before he had stumbled across the Buy Me a Drink club,a two hour drive from his place, far enough not to accidentally bump into somebody that could recognize him, it's a discreet club that caters mainly to omega's who are in search for a no-strings attached heat partner. Although both beta's and alpha's are welcome, it had been very clear from the moment he had heard about the place that not everybody who wants to enter could do so freely, clearly the guards have had no problem denying entry to those that they deem as unacceptable and even then a guest could be thrown out and banned from entry if his or her behavior was proven unacceptable. Omegas had free run of the place and that had suited Will fine as he had not witnessed or heard any unfair treatment to anybody within the establishment.

The alpha had admittedly been a little bit wet behind the ears despite his age when he had first gone there and had stuttered and flushed his way at the start but had slowly gained unassuming confidence on his later visit, despite the reputation of the club he had not gone there with the intention of spending heat with anybody and had only wanted to be in other omega's presence so he could reason with himself that his reaction and attraction to Hannibal had just been because of his inexperience with omegan pheromones and had vehemently hoped that this would help him finally get over and be done with his useless infatuation. When after the -nth time of visiting the place and his mind still not giving up on the hope of meeting the perfect omega again, Will's libido had decided that maybe he just needed to get it out of his system by finally giving in to the numerous invitations thrown his way. It had been a stupid idea but he had accepted the invitation from one Mathew Brown, who he had been speaking to for his four last visits. They had both agreed to take contraceptive pills and use condoms the whole estrus period to avoid any possibilities of pregnancy and Will had explicitly told the omega that he could say NO or STOP at any given time and Will would understand it and would not take offence. At first, the alpha had been very awkward and had had last minute doubted his decision but it would have been cruel of him to change his mind at the last minute so he stubbornly went trough with it until the heat period had finally ended on the fourth day. Libido wise, it had been very intense and very satisfying but mentally and emotionally , it had not brought the peace and calmness that he had yearned for. Mathew had tried to ask him for his next heat but Will had declined the offer and instead thanked the omega for trusting him for his heat and had hastily bolted out of the omega's apartment.

Two and a half hours later found Will entering the club and going straight to the bar where he promptly ordered himself a beer. He doesn't have any intention of getting laid tonight and just wanted to be somewhere his memory of Hannibal's heat scent would hopefully be dulled by other omega scents and hopefully make him forget his libido's existence...it sounded ridiculous to him but he had long admitted for himself that no other omega interested him other than his chosen so he was very confident that he wouldn't do anything stupid that would harm his minuscule chance to court Hannibal.

Unbeknownst to the alpha he had been easily recognized by one of the patrons even with the club's dim lights. At one of the corner sat Margot Verger who looked at the scruffy alpha with interest. She had been scanning the crowd for any interesting alpha when the man walked in and barely paid any attention to the crowd which was a very unusual behavior in this kind of establishment. It wasn't until the man's face had been lightened with the bar's dim light's when she finally recognized him as Hannibal Lecter's arm candy. Just the thought of Hannibal Lecter leaves an unpleasant flavor in her mouth, effectively ruining her night. It was not that she hated the other omega, far from it if truth be told, it was because of how similar and yet vastly different their life is. Although she had riches and beauty like the male omega, their similarities ends there. She resents the fact that while they both live in the same elite circle and have the same second gender classifications, the other omega clearly has more freedom in life than he could appreciate. She'd rather lose all her money for a chance to be on the man's shoe. If only her family wasn't so backwards, maybe she would have had a better life. When her parents passed away in a car accident, she had thought she could finally start living, she had planned to use her inheritance to relocate in a different country where she could live however she desires but oh..how foolish she had been to hope for a change. Instead of freedom, she found herself in a tighter leash and more cruel life as according to her parents will, she is to be reinstated into his alpha brother's care without a penny on her name, like a kept pet. Her brother, Mason is disgustingly enough one of the obsessed alpha's hoping to get the Lecter omega's hand for a mate, so obsessed that he had planned a careful serendipity with the omega three years ago at the omega's favored opera house. Margot had been forced to accompany her brother and she had witnessed how the other omega had expertly avoided her brother's advances with his smooth socializing skills. She had cackled internally at the frustration building within his brother and had waited gleefully for the inevitable foolish moves he was sure to make to get Lecter's attention. She had watched as his brother went in to the coat room and came back out with somebody's cellphone in his possession. Her brother had not disappointed and had whispered to her how he planned to use said phone that is apparently owned by a certain omega to get his undivided attention by 'returning' the phone he 'found' to the omega, he had sounded very sure that he would have gotten an invitation for dinner or some such in gratitude for his kindness except that before he could go trough with his plan the omega had gone left already.
Margot had paid for that failed plan and she still bears the scars in remembrance of it.

While her brother had always been violent with her, things had escalated to unbearable levels recently due to the circulating talks about of the omega's new companion and the unsuccessful courting inquiries that he'd made. In the rare chance that he was allowed to go out, it is here that she goes straight to and she had thought that this club would have always been her sanctuary, a place where his brother could not reach her, a place where she could breathe freely, a place where she could let go...Now, here comes one of his brother's favorite reason for beating her, intruding in her privately adopted sanctum. Will Graham's presence and obvious familiarity with the place gives the impression that he atleast has acceptable behavior towards omega's in general and that, THAT just makes her more envious of Hannibal Lecter than she had ever been. How much luck could he possibly have to have a loving protective family and then to even get an alpha with this kind of character. She almost wept with how unfair fate could be...but maybe, everything weren't as perfect as it is in Hannibal Lecter's world if his alpha has wondered inside an establishment dedicated for unattached omegas...that is, IF the two of them had even been in a relationship,in fact, there hasn't been any announced courtship between the two, SO the alpha could still be available and had finally dropped the most sought after omega.

Her heart had started to beat fast with her final thoughts...IF that were the case then she wants him for herself, she wants to have this alpha who was able to get Hannibal's attention if only for a while,either way he would be a slap to his brother and she would finally have something that the other omega had had. Clenching her fist in determination,she stood and fixed her already pristine red semi casual dress. She stalked towards the alpha and took the closest seat on his right side, he had not immediately reacted to her presence but she knows how to play those hard to get alpha's that come into this club. She would have him tonight if she has any say on the matter.

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Will had not been surprised when the seat next to him was taken by an omega according to his or her scent even though the other seats are still unoccupied, in fact this had been a routine for him before when he was still a regular at the club. He determinedly stared sullenly at his bottled beer, not giving any indication that he had noticed his new seat neighbor, even if things turn awkward he is more than used to those situation so it's either the new comer insist on getting his attention or they stay quiet as a rock on a beach full of birds doing their courtship wails and dances.

Not much happened after his neighbor ordered a fruity colorful drink in a silky feminine voice, she sat beside him calmly sipping her drink, uttering not a word or gesture of intent to get the alpha's attention though that's not to say that her intention wasn't broadcasted to any who can read scent changes in the air around the two of them. Will noted how clever she was to use her scent to relay her interest in him. Her cloying floral scent wafted the small distance between them, diffusing within Will's olfactory in a barely there strength like wisps of teasing declarations of her presence and inquiries, all in all telling him how she's interested in him and yet still beyond the inviting scent for a more intimate association.

Against his better judgement, Will finds his alcohol ridden system interested at this new and bold way of flirtation. Admittedly he had played this dance before but this had been the first time that it had been initiated this way, trough scents. Public opinion wise, it is considered more intimate in a way that scents represents a person's innermost thoughts and feelings, so even though their bodies are not touching, not posturing and no uttered words were exchanged, somehow Will finds himself liking it as scents are more honest and straightforward. He had internally applauded the omega for her chosen method as it certainly got his interest piqued. He allowed his own body to respond in kind, mentally trying to will his physiology to relay his messages trough mixes of pheromones and he was in that inebriated state of consciousness where he really doesn't care if he was succeeding in conveying his thoughts right or just farting them out. He had tried to convey a welcoming curiosity and amusement and maybe he did succeed as there was an answering scent of pleased mixed with a waft of confidence probably for succeeding in getting his attention. The flow of conversation through scents continued on for a while before the woman let out a huff of amusement at their exchange and a soft thrilling laugh his way when he flatly let out a sharp sour scent of displeasure the moment the omega tried to extend her scents strong enough to have the bartender's eyebrow shoot up in their direction.

More comfortable now with the situation, Will lifted his head and turned to look at the woman and had to take a quick intake of breath as he found himself face to face with the most gorgeous woman staring straight at him. The alpha lifted his hand and self consciously ruffled his hair while giving the woman a closed lip smile.

"Hi" he said..

"Hello, I wasn't sure I would be welcome...I'm Margot by the way.."

"Will...name's Will."

After a quick handshake, they continued their conversation in the universally mundane way of using words.

As the conversation continues, Margot started to realize that even though Will finds her attractive it is not to the point that she could sway her into a more intimate interaction. She had tried to gauge his reaction with subtle hints of cloying smiles and intentional tilts of her throat but she could read none of his reactions, no changes in his scent for arousal markers, no quickening of his pulse nor pupil dilation! Not even a hint that he had noticed her subtle attempts to move their companionship to more intimate territories... She needed to step up his game if she ever hopes to get him for herself. Resolving to be more forward, she subtly moved closer to him and displayed all that she can offer him. Margot made it a point to make him notice her best assets, luscious lips, ample breasts, unmarked throat, curvy hips that's good for bearing pups, all the while talking in low seductive tones....dropping hints here and there.

Will might be drunk but he is not THAT drunk to miss obvious courting postures, specially scent changes. He had liked Margot's company as she reminds him slightly of his Hannibal, bold and sure of what they want. Of course he had noticed how gorgeous the female omega is, who wouldn't, with that red blood painted lips and wonderful curves. Only a complete idiot would not notice that and he feels very privileged that he was the one who got her attention but unfortunately for her, Hannibal has ruined him for other omegas.

Looking at her red painted lips reminds him of his own omega's lips after he had taken pleasure in devouring Hannibal's moans and mapping it's depths with his own tongue. Her curves reminds him of his omega's waist, how he splayed his hands on either sides and the feel of the smooth warm skin underneath those bespoke suits. How sinfully seductive he looks when all those thick layers of expensive clothes are disheveled and barely covering the luscious body underneath. How wrecked he looked when they get a little carried away in making out. Just the thought of it makes his whole body heat up.

When he gets an answering response of arousal, it pulls him out of his memories and the reality of where he was at the moments is like a cold bucket of water on his person. Its smells wrong, this strong smell of arousal smells so wrong. Not of his omega. Instead of fueling his arousal it douses it like a water on fire. He comes back into the present and it felt like he was a third person watching from the sideline. He watches his body sit there with this gorgeous omega reaching out a hand on his leg too close to his crotch before leaning in to whisper something in his ear which he couldn't hear, can't hear a thing at all. When the roaming hand traces his zipper and red lips marks the skin close to his ear, his consciousness slams back and he scrambles to stand up and excuses himself, he throws an undetermined amount of cash o the counter for his beer and rushes to the exit.

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Back at the Lecter house....

The omega could barely have a moment of clarity, with his body that has gotten used to being around a person who'm his subconscious has already accepted as his alpha but cannot understand why he has yet to be taken, why he is still left without a knot or any scent marking from his chosen. The heat should have been on it's tail end already but Hannibal feels like he is still smack dab in the middle of it and nothing is helping at all, no toys, no fake knots! He wants Will, he misses his company, his kisses, his natural scent, his voice and his touches. At the start of their planned separation they stayed in contact through calls and texts. As his heat gets closer he could hear the building frustration within Will's voice on the phone but the gentleman didn't ever voice it out, he never insisted that he should be there with him, they had pretended like things are just as normal as can be, they talked about their day to day lives... Hannibal's schooling and Will's fishing trips and what mess the pack has gotten themselves into. The alpha's obvious unwillingness to talk about his work even for just a moment had raised a red flag though. He has an idea how their continued companionship is affecting Will's life especially his career. The omega had been following the media especially Fredie Lound's page, he had read any and all articles that pertains to either of them, every one of them covertly mocks his alpha for practically existing. The media had done a lot of research in every available detail on Will Graham's life and even going as far as interviewing his co workers who are more than happy to divulge how much of a pussy alpha he is not fit for field work.

Freddie on the other hand taken that to a whole new perspective by sighting his career history when he was still a police in the homicide department and had accidentally killed a hostile suspect with multiple gunshots. She had even managed to get a hold of his medical mental evaluation records which were supposed to be kept private. Will Graham she had concluded is mentally unstable, like a ticking time bomb and should not even be allowed to be working in the agency that is supposed to be keeping the citizen's safe.
Hannibal could barely contain his anger whenever he receives a disgustingly 'well meaning' advise from all kinds of people around him to rethink his associations seeing as the world is full of dangerous people and wouldn't he like to meet their son or daughter or relative who would be more than capable of taking care of him and could keep him away from unwelcome attentions.

Another thing that has been bothering him is his family, while he wasn't expecting outright opposition from his uncle it is still unsettling how quiet he has been all this time. All this silent opposition is more worrying if truth be told but unless his uncle does something he can't do anything and it is something keeps on nagging him like he is just waiting for the other shoe to drop. And there comes Nigel. He knows he can't leave him in Mycroft's custody for too long, even with his bad temper he is still his brother and it's just too cruel to keep him there stewing in his territorial rage but for the life of him he has yet to figure out what to do so his brother wouldn't end up murdering his alpha. Life is just so complicated sometimes.

Cooped up in his own room and in the mercy of his heat, his worries and his complicated life would just have to wait until he is more human rather than a bundle of electrified needy mess. He had felt frustrated before when dealing with his cycle but never to this degree, because then, he could tell himself that it's just for two days then the third could pass by marginally under control but those comforting thoughts are useless when right now on the end of his third day and going to his fourth day his body has yet to let up. He had given up hours ago, with frustrated tears he called Will's phone wanting to hear his voice but all he got was the voicemail and his house phone was no better, just his luck to have an alpha who gets called for work 24/7. His frustration getting the better of him he threw his phone away with frustrated a shout and only the carpeted floor saved it from breaking for real though the battery did end up popping out of the device.

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An hour and a half earlier... Robert sat in his office watching a live feed from the Tattle's page. The link was sent to him by one of his closest colleagues and insisted that he needs to see it for himself. He had watched Will Graham chatting with the Verger omega until the point where said omega was openly groping the alpha who had an obvious arousal which could be seen even with the camera's angle and the club's bad lighting. He had seen enough, he knows where that situation is headed to. Robert had kept his opinions to himself as a show of respect for his beloved nephew. Who would have thought that the Lecter omega would fall for this kind of alpha, 'love does make people blind' he thought. A week ago when Hannibal had stopped meeting Will Graham, he thought 'finally' and breathed out a satisfied sigh of relief... He could just remember how disappointed he felt when he overheard Hannibal talking on the phone about sweet nothings and delightfully smiling and laughing and breathing out the name of a certain alpha that he just couldn't wait to fuck off the earth. He had expected for Nigel to take care of it but just has to blame himself for teaching his nephews to make good influential connections everywhere. Learning that Hannibal had gotten his temperamental older brother to be stuck in London had at that time sounded funny, adorable and damn proud for the omega for making it possible. Sure, he could have helped Nigel to get away but he had chosen not to and either way it would have been very difficult, now though he might just have the right amount of reason to get him back as soon as possible. Decisions made, he made the necessary arrangements for it to happen, he knew exactly how to appeal to Hannibal's friend, after all they are both looking after Hannibal's well being.

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The loud and unrelenting barks of his dogs woke Will up the next morning. He was still wearing the clothes he wore when he went out drinking yesterday and his whole body felt stiff not to mention that his head is about to explode and his mouth tasted and felt like dirty sand box.

He needs to get the pack out or he's gonna be dealing with serious dog shit and piss but he just really really wants to sleep and hopefully not wake until the next century. His body felt so heavy and his head feels like mushed up dough.

He almost cried when his alarm clock rang out loud and he couldn't shut it fast enough. Work or what's left of his work. He needs to go to work even though it's the last thing he wants to do. Forcing his body into coordinating muscles and bones, he managed to open the door and took the best ever shower in his life that made him feel a little better. After his morning routine was done he made it to work in good time.

He almost regretted going to work though when he realized what his colleagues jeers in the hallway were about, suddenly everything about last night came back to him. He had felt like he was forgetting something when he woke up this morning and his mind so clouded that he could barely figure out which hand was right or left. But how did everybody know about his disastrous night? Cursing, he walked faster towards his office to try to get himself centered and figure out what he should do with this latest fuck up in his life. When he got to his office, it was already unlocked and somebody was inside waiting for him. He slowly entered and stared at one Robert Lecter who looked back at him like he just want Will to just up and burn to ashes on the spot. He opened himself to greet the man but before he could say anything, the beta threw something on top of his table and urged him to open and see what is inside. Even before he opens the folder, the alpha already feels dread, he already has an idea what prompted this abrupt visit from the man who had spent a lot of time just looking at him on the sideline whenever he comes by to pick up Hannibal for their date nights.

In his hands are colored close up photos of himself sitting in a bar with a beautiful woman leaning towards him with her hands on his upper thigh and lips on sensually close to his ear. Will could bare hear anything other than his heart thudding frantically.

¨Sir...Mr. Lecter, it's not....i can explai...¨ Will desperately explain but was cut off in the middle of speaking.

”Frankly speaking, i do not care of what you wish to say, the photos or the video was self explanatory enough, i only came here to tell you that whatever you think is between you and Hannibal is now over, i do not wish to see you anywhere near him, understand?” Robert said and immediately headed to he door expecting his words to be followed without any protest.

Will went to block the door way ”Sir, nothing happened between me and that woman...” he insisted to deaf ears.

”I suggest you do not test my patience any further Mr. Graham and just do as i say”

”With all due respect, sir. I do not think it is up to you whether Hannibal and I should stay acquainted in the future” The alpha could barely keep his growl contained while he tries to reason with this man who is trying to get in between him and his omega.

A little surprised at the gall of the alpha to oppose his statement, Robert looked straight at the alphas eyes and said conversationally. ” hmm...oh yeah! Future, tell me, mr. Graham, how do you intend to support my nephew with your salary, are you considering to make him live in your dilapidated house that is yet to be fully paid? Oh.. perhaps you are expecting some promotions in your job in the near future?”

With nothing to reply to that, the alpha kept his lip in a tight line, his hands in a fist and stubbornly stared at a spot off the beta's shoulder.

” I expected as much...if you'll excuse me, I've important matters to attend to” said the old man and he stepped around Will and out the door.

The alpha let out a curse after the door closed. He threw his messenger bag across the room and slid down the floor in a miserable pile of bones. He didn't know how long he sat there, at one point there were knocks on his door presumably one of his students. A glance at the wall clock says it's close to lunch break. Deciding to just go home, he stood up, collected his bag, made a point not to look at the photos laid bare on his table top, locked up his office and had a brief thought of how the Lecter beta managed to get in in the first place but then he just thought 'money opens a lot of doors'.

He passed by the lab triplets on his way out barely managing curt dismissals when Beverley and Jimmy called for his attention and resolutely walked to the parking lot where none other than Alana Bloom was standing beside his car with her cellphone up on her ear. She immediately stopped what she was doing when she saw her and met him halfway to his car.

”Hey, I guess you know why i'm here sooooo...wanna go for a coffee and talk about it?”

”Well, I ...fuck! How...? I mean...I'm a mess right now, i don't think i'll be good company for coffee.”

”I expect nothing less... I would feel the same in your situation..for what it's worth I know you regret what almost happened last night and if the media is right about 'the' Hannibal Lecter's intelligence then I am fairly sure that he would at the least give you the benefit of the doubt” Then she gave him an encouraging smile.

Feeling a little surprised that she seems to know a lot about what has been going on with his life at the moment and a little intrigued about the comment about his mistake last night. He wiped his face with his hands and dreadfully asked ”I get the feeling that I don't want to know how you found out about last night....hah! I think i'll need that coffee now.”

They walked into one of the coffee shop close by and Alana didn't miss how a lot of people discreetly or intensely turned their heads to stare at Will and how the man barely pays any attention to his surrounding, like it 's just a normal thing around him. She opened her mouth to ask about it but he beat her to it and said ...

” Please don't...i'm used to it already”

Once they were seated he asked her how she knows the thing about last night. She stared at him and with sincere voice she said ” Oh, Will...I don't know how to say this so let me just show you, okay?”

She took her smartphone out and opened it to Will's most hated website that only tripled once he saw what was on it. It was a video of him and the Verger omega, his rage went up to the roof when the video was cut off right before he ran out of the club making it look like there was more to the video. He looked to Alana when he heard her utter a confused 'what?',she played the video again closed to the end a couple of times and even refreshed the page a few times but her look of confusion just mounted and slowly changed into building anger. He was about to explain to her when she cursed and told him that the live video from last night had been changed into this cut off version to make him look worse to the public eye...She explained that when she fist saw the video it had showed how Will looked horrified and ran out of the establishment leaving a confused omega by the bar seats.

They talked more and Will opened up to her and told her how he had stupidly ended up in that place and about the meeting with Robert The other alpha steered the conversation to other things when the man was getting too close to a full blown panic attack. When they parted ways, she made him promise to go out for coffee again next time and for the sake of his ass please stop ignoring her calls and texts or she will drop by his house or work again to ambush him. The empty threats made him smile a little and promised to clear his schedule for coffee as soon as he can and shooed her away.

He made it back to his house by mid afternoon and for a while just sat at his front door steps watching his dogs chase each other. The shrill ringing of his house phone pulled him out of his reveries, he wonders who would call his house at this hour and toyed with the idea of not picking up but his curiosity won and he went to pick it up.

”Will Graham”

”Hello, Will” said a familiar breathy voice on the other end of the line.

The alpha almost dropped the phone in surprise, his heart started to thud hard and his head started to run around millions of reasons about what might have prompted this call at this time of the day, even though he heard the smile that had accompanied the greeting. He must have spaced out too long...

” Are you busy? I could call back again later, I apologize if I called at a wrong time...I am just starting to get worried...Is everything alright?”

”Everything is alright i guess... How did you know i was at home right now? You know you can call me on my cell anytime...How are you? I miss you..uhm..” The alpha's cheeks started to flush at the thought of asking the omega if his cycle is over now...

”well, that is just the case I haven't been able to reach your cellphone since last night, I had thought that you got called for work but when it was still the same today I got worried....hmm...my cycle is just about over but if you need me there with you...”

”NO!, I mean...i'm okay, everything is okay...I appreciate your offer but...well, you know what you do to me and to be honest I don't know what i'll do if there's still even a trace of heat on your scent...let's meet as scheduled, okay? It's only few days from now. ”

”well, if you're sure...i'll be counting the days with bated breath, Will.”

”me too, Hannibal, me too...Just...Please just remember that you're the only one for me, no other...” Will might not have the chance to continue seeing the omega but he doesn't want things to be over without letting Hannibal know how important he is to the alpha. He would hold on as much as he can but if all had been said and done and he ends up losing Hannibal...then...he doesn't know what else to do with his life.

After the call ended, Hannibal proceeded to take a long overdue bath, he spent most of the time pondering on the alpha's last words, while they made him feel absolutely happy, it had still been so out of the blue, almost like a goodbye. He gave up thinking after a while when his brain had felt like a lazy stream, obviously still under the effects of his prolonged estrus. The good part though was that the heat inside his body has now lessened to a background thrum, easily dismissed.

The young man got himself dressed in his usual garb finally exited his room after what felt like years of being cooped up in it. As it's almost dinner time, he went straight to the kitchen was about to check the refrigerator for available ingredients when his eyes caught sight of the days newspaper on the magazine stand, without his content his feet quickly brought him closer to it and in a flash of his hand he snatched the paper and stared at the front page photo that displays his alpha being accosted by none other than Margot Verger and thanks to the zoomed in portion of his alpha's crotch area,he didn't miss the tenting of arousal flashed for everyone to gawk at.

He was still standing there staring at the picture when he heard his uncle's voice from behind him and getting closer...

”Hannibal, It's good to see you again, You had me worried for a whi...Oh, I don't think you should bother with that right now, I will sort it out for you...” Robert said, reaching for the paper in his hands.

”Robert, uncle...please..., i will be at my room, i do not wish to be disturb.” Hannibal turned around and quickly headed to his room with the paper tightly held in his hands.

Chapter Text

Hannibal entered his room and closed the door in measured movements. The omega stood straight and breathed deeply in the middle of his room, mind going round and round too fast in undefined directions with too many questions. His emotions are a mess and he could only thank the Gods that Nigel wasn't there at that moment, his brother could read him like an open book with just a sniff of his scent and a glance in his direction.

He's hurt. He feels betrayed. He's angry. He's so angry there was no other word for it. He took a stuttered deep breath and looked at the crushed paper in his hands.

Had he misread things between himself and the alpha? Had he convinced himself that there was something serious where there was nothing at all? Why did he..? what..? what's going on?

He took rushed steps to his study area and slammed the paper down on the table, his lips tightened with held back snarl when the picture was laid on it mockingly in clear view.

'NO!'

He's not gonna accept this infuriating picture and words of assumptions of other people as fact. He knew...he knows that his alpha will never betray him like this!

He ran his eyes along the article again and again before swiping the whole thing off his table and turned to his laptop to search for the source of the picture. Straight to Tattle.com as the article had noted the detestable website to have been the source ...from a live video to be exact...

The moment he laid eyes on the video, his heart started to pump harder and he had but a second of hesitation before finally clicking it to play.

He had expected to feel more angry, more betrayed, more hurting in response to seeing his alpha with another omega...but, no...well, there are still traces of them but they were ultimately overpowered by suspicion. The length of the video on the site was a few seconds shorter than what the article had said. He doesn't know a lot about computers and videos and the like but he does know that live videos don't just up and edit themselves. If the alpha had indeed betrayed him he would have left with the other omega and that scene would have been the icing on the cake and the absence of it leaves the assumptions to the viewers which have been proven to come up with all kinds of exaggerated endings.

The troubling part was, if his memory serves him right even under the influence of heat, he had tried calling Will around that time and both cellphone and landline had been unanswered. Why? What was he doing?

'Ah..now Will's odd words from the call earlier makes sense'

He had felt the sincerity in those uttered words.

The omega's body relaxed a lot after the realization. He still wants to clear everything and the only way to do that is to speak directly with the alpha himself.

He stood up and started to gather his cellphone and wallet but was interrupted from reaching his car keys when he heard loud noises coming from downstairs. Sooner than he anticipated, he heard loud footsteps getting closer to his room. With a deep sigh he pocketed his car keys and faced his door, he is certain he knows who is about to come barging in his room.

¨...BAL!¨

Nigel's loud voice was heard long before his door was rudely opened with nary a knock. The alpha stood blocking the door glaring daggers at the only occupant. There was a long pause of them staring at each other. One hoping his glare could miraculously strangle the owner of the room and the other just standing straight there and patiently waiting for the other to declare their oh so important words of wisdom.

Whether it was intentional or not the alpha's body continuously releases large doses of dominant pheromones that while it might have scared other omegas, his twin only raises his eyebrow in defiance and challenge.

Apparently the older man was done with the standoff as he slowly stepped further into the room, long quick strides eating up the distance between them and pointed at his brother face hairs breathe away in contained anger. Too angry to speak, the alpha tried twice to clear his throat by swallowing before speaking in a heavily accented growl that slowly tapered off into threatening whispers that are only for his twin's ears.

"YOU WILL NEVER FUCKING DO THAT AGAIN, GOT IT?"

"...and don't even fucking pretend you don't know what I'm talking about you little piece of shit"

"...don't ever do that again... was going crazy...no right to do that to me.."

"...fucking...worried...and angry..."

"fuck you.."

"...skin that son of a bitch alive...pompous alpha friend of yours...gonna gut him good..."

"couldn't do anything...so far away...you bastard"

The omega's stance tensed in annoyance at the rude words towards his person but he chose to keep quiet as he understands where his brother is coming from. Admittedly, keeping his brother detained for more than a month had been cruel even by his ambigouos standards, only because he genuinely cares for him. After long moments of listening to his brother rage, the omega allowed himself to briefly look sideways in an apology and to appease his twin.

Nigel must not have been expecting this reaction from his brother as he stopped talking and stared wide-eyed at the omega for a while before shaking himself and like a popped balloon that lost all it's air at once, the alpha lost his dominating and angry stance and went to seat on the edge of the bed looking more than ready to pass out from exhaustion.

The omega took that time to watch his brother and noted that the man looked more unkempt than usual, rumpled more than a day old clothes and unshaved beard. Shoulders sagged, head bowed and looking very exhausted, barely holding on to his consciousness.

Hannibal stepped closer to his brother and opened his mouth to suggest that the older man goes to his room so he could rest but was interrupted even before uttering a single syllable...

"Don't...for the love of god....don't speak to me right now!" whispered the alpha. " You have no idea what I went trough... "

" Nigel,... you should res..." Hannibal suggested in a quiet voice.

"Fuck rest!... I'm finally back home...gonna keep you safe...it's...it's not safe"

In an uncharacteristic softness, the younger of the two released a deep breath and went to sit beside his alpha brother, consciously pumping out his omegan pheromones in an unmistakable calming, safe and contented scents to help his alpha's tortured instincts ease up and relax enough to finally allow the exhausted body to rest.

The brother's sat side by side in silence, their elbows barely touching each other until Nigel leaned closer and laid his head on his twin's shoulder where the scent of home is stronger....soon enough the older drifted off to sleep.

Hannibal would have rather that his twin go sleep in his own room but conceded the fact that it would be better to let the alpha sleep on his bed where his scent is strong to satisfy his brother's instinct and if he's lucky, Nigel wouldn't wake up well until tomorrow.

He quietly crept out of his room after helping his brother get comfortable on his bed, careful not to make the smallest of sounds.

He was halfway through the foyer when he heard his name being called by his uncle from the sitting area. Manners demand that he answer, so with a held back sigh he turned towards his uncle and replied politely.

"Do you mind if I asked where you are headed?" The old man inquired conversationally.

"Just out for a quick breath of fresh air..."

"At this time and pardon my frankness my dear...while your heat is just tapering off?" Robert interrupted,using his hand to wave in his direction, voice and mannerism making it obvious that he's had just enough amount of alcohol in his system to mildly free his inhibitions.

Lips tightened into a thin line, Hannibal suggested to his uncle to call it a night and they can talk more tomorrow.

"NO!" the old man spoke over his nephews polite ushering to bed. The outburst stopped the young man on the spot and a little bit surprised as the man had never raised his voice on him like this.

"I know what you're trying to do, Hannibal. Do not take me for a fool." It was said in a calm voice but nonetheless, it was clear to the omega that he had not been as clever as he thought he'd been. As if for dramatic purposes his uncle nodded to something behind Hannibal's left shoulder where two of their usually invisible beta security stands at attention and demostratively crossed their arms effectively bulging their considerable biceps to seem bigger.

Robert laid his hand palm up in front of the young man and waited patiently.

'No going out tonight,then' he thought resignedly and dropped his car key's on the offered hand.

"You know me Hannibal, you know very well how i don't like doing this to you but it's not safe for you out there right now AND YES I know you can take care of yourself, i really do! But it would really give me peace of mind for you to not be out there tonight or atleast until you are safely out of your cycle"

His heat, he had to admit that even if he does go see Will tonight it won't be as fruitful, his scent would no doubt affect the alpha, he's not concerned about being forced it's more that he'd rather have this kind of conversation with a clear-headed person. If he has to be honest to himself though, he's more intent on seeing his alpha again and reassure himself that the man is still his as soon as possible that he didn't take his cycle still just tapering off into account.

"Why don't you come sit with me instead, I have missed you" With placating smile and outstretched palm, Robert tried to get his nephew to come sit with him on the sofa.

Finally resigned to staying home for the night, the omega instead told his uncle that he'd rather start making dinner as it's a bit past that time already and he is welcome to give him company in the kitchen.

Lacking his usual inhibitions, his uncle started to talk on the way.

"I'm starting to be worried about you"

"Why so?"

"like tonight, you still want to go out even though your cycle has yet to be over and i suspect i know where to"

"hmm?"

"hmm...you want to see THAT alpha, don't you? Despite his betrayal..."

At that point the omega's hands held the refrigerator's opened door tightly...and clucked his tongue in disapprovement for the direction his uncles' monologue is heading to. He forcefully released his hold on the door and grabbed the ingredients he needed before closing it calmly.

"I know you, and i trust your choices but i just couldn't wrap my head around why...WHY this particular alpha...i mean...you are certainly not lacking in suitors. I've been fending of inquiries left and right which is getting more frequent these days....like the other week i got a call from Mr. Cosley, you know, the FBI director, says his alpha son wants to court you...or...or that Verger heir, now he, he is obsessed with you if i say so myself...and then there's Mr....."

BANG!

Startled out of his listing, the old man was surprised to find his nephew holding a kettle in a white knuckled grip but without any signs temper on his face.

"We can talk about this when you are more sober and not easily lost in your own reveries. Now, could you help me with the peas, uncle?"

"oh!...of course"

It was a tense silence but it's still preferable to listening to his uncle's drunken talk.

The food was almost done when Hannibal's phone started ringing for an incoming call. Answering it seems like a better use of his time than staring and daring his uncle to start talking again so he crossed the distance to where his blazer was and took out his phone. He accepted the call right away after checking who it is and pointedly answered in clear voice just to spite his uncle.

"Hello, Will"

There was a swoosh of a released breath and a sound of throat clearing on the other end of the line before a shaky voice answered his greeting.

"...hi!...Listen! There's...there's something you need to know, fuc...mmph! That came out very...well..the thing is...I...well, something happened and...and...NOTHING really bad happened but i thought it would be better if you hear it from me, before you hear it from somebody else or...or..see or read about it in the papers...........What i said to you earlier, that you're the only one for me, that's true..very very true, i swear!......and...well..its..the thing is, i did something stupid...VERY STUPID last night and...and...whooo! ....sorry it's...I...went to this place and then there was a..a...uhmm...i swear nothing happened, i left and i left alone! But, but in the papers and the video...."

Hannibal patiently listened to the rambling explanations of the alpha that wouldn't have made sense to him if he didn't already know what it was about, with all the jumping from one point to the other mid sentence. It made him feel warm to hear the man so beside himself in panic trying to explain his side of the story that the media forgot to take. It was endearing and frustrating at the same time that they couldn't have this talk in person, how he wished to be there and see for himself how the alpha, desperate and determined, tells him all these things, to make the omega understand what had really happened. He could only imagine the man messing his curls wildly in desperation, gripping the phone tightly with his mouth trying to catch up with his frantic mind.

Satisfied that he has heard enough and feeling sorry for the distraught man on the other end of the line, he called his name once, twice before he got his attention thus stopping the downpour of words.

"I know." he told the alpha when he was sure that he has the man's full attention.

"you know?...The paper's they don't know what really happened because the video was cut before i left. They think.."

"I know Will. Listen to me. You know me and I do not believe anything the media assumes about people especially about us...I have seen the video and I am giving you the benefit of the doubt when you say that nothing happened but we still have to TALK about it."

"yes, of course, I understand"

"Good. I would very much want talk to you still but i am in the middle of something. I'll talk to you soon." Their parting words are as bland as can be but both of them could discern the relief in each others voices and that significantly makes up for the shortened call.

Hannibal pocketed his phone after that and went back to his now ready creation. On the way, he dared his uncle to speak with a blank stare but the man just raised both of his hands in quiet surrender.

When dinner was done they parted ways in a better mood. The omega went to grab his necessities from his room and brought them to one of the guestsrooms. The silent buzz of physical exhaustion from his prolonged heat had finally caught up with him now that there is nothing to occupy his attention and he surrendered to the clutches of deep slumber.

Tomorrow, everything will be cleared up tomorrow.

Chapter Text

There was a commotion on the bureau's main entrance when Will got to work very early the next day, he's not the nosy type of guy who would take the time to watch somebody make a spectacle of themselves but this was one of those unavoidable incidents where it's impossible not to see it happen because it is literally happening right in front of you.

He was a few meters from the shuffling group of people by the door when somebody was forcefully pushed away by a couple of the guards and the man barely caught himself from falling face first on the ground. He didn't mean to look at him for real but it was out of his control like when something was abruptly tossed in front of you situation and your immediate reaction is to stare down at it....his eyes were riveted to the roughly pushed man and the sight stopped him on his tracks and made him stare dumbstruck at the odd scene like it was some funny dream. There, a few meters away stood a man, with the same features as the person he called and explained to last night with ample amounts of liquid courage flowing in his veins, dressed down to just black collared shirt with the top two buttons freed and a comfortable dress pants.

The Hannibal disaster version rolled his shoulders and spat at the pavement and in a deceiving jovial voice said “Oi! No need for violence compadre!” while haughtily dusting his shoulders. He stepped forward and bent to pick up a piece of paper that looked eerily like a newspaper clipping. While the guards stood like an indestructible wall blocking the entrance with their mere presence, the other employees, field agents and desk personnels alike were avidly watching the scene unfold like it was some box office hit movie.

Will's mind could only come up with one perfect conclusion as to who this person could be and there is absolutely no doubt about it that this man, this expensive looking thug is none other than Hannibal's twin brother. THE overprotective alpha brother. Nigel Lecter.

...and there's only one reason for him to be here, in his workplace. To finally bless Will his due visit.

Like a magnet to his realization, the other alpha's gaze swept over his direction before stopping dead on in Will's frozen, lanky soon-to-be-cadaver-body. Nigel glanced quickly down at the piece of paper in his hand before staring straight at him, and suddenly there was a strong rush of violent pheromones in the area that made the hairs on his nape stood on end.

Looking at the man across from him, with all the tensed shoulder, arms and legs in a ready flex for an attack, fisted hands and lips lifted in an animalistic soundless snarl, and somehow Will's mind flashbacked to that memory where he asked Hannibal about his brother...

Memory Hannibal had answered in a dismissing manner “hmm, He's out of the country...and will be for a while...you don't need to worry about him” …without missing a beat in stroking his curls to submission after one of their heated rendezvous.

The teacher swallowed the lump in his dry throat and stood straight to show that he is not threatened nor cowered in the face of this man's obvious dislike of him. Scared? No, but definitely apprehensive, like any other person who is being stared down by the brother of his enthusiastic tongue mapping subject every chance he gets. Will couldn't help but tighten his hold on his overflowing satchel when the other alpha took one step closer to him and stated more than asked while he pointed at the paper on his other hand that he shifted in a way to show the picture in it.

“Will...Will Graham”

“That's me, you must be Nigel” answered Will in a clear voice accomplished with the least lip movement possible. Neither of them is asking a question and both knowing who they're talking to.

In quick steps that ate the distance between them, Nigel was all at once in his personal space, looming over him or as much as he can with only an inch or two in advantage over Will, hot breath on his face.

The younger man's eyes roamed over his face, rudely sniffing and scrunching his face like he'd just smelt something foul. After a while that might have been just a few seconds he took a step backward while scrubbing his hands on his face like in frustration before suddenly surging forward and grabbed the lapels of Will's dress shirt to bring their face uncomfortably close, dislodging the older alpha's eyeglasses at the same time.

“ I don't like you.” he paused to breathe through his nose before speaking again, his fist tightening further “I really don't fucking like you.” was hissed across the dangerously disappearing space between them.

“Yes, I got it the first time you said...”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” was snarled at his face with an accompanying rough shake effectively interrupting Will's smart mouthing. “I speak, you listen!” ...and to make his point across Nigel brought his mouth closer to one of Will's ears...

“ I know people like you,....an unmated old and pathetic alpha not even fit for real jobs, and no-fucking-thing to offer...one, that prowls discreet meat markets at the drop of a hat...yes, I know fuckers like you!...you may have tricked my brother on your side, but not me, nuh uh...” it was ended with a deceptively friendly chuckle before Will found himself being pushed though no further than an arms' length away.

Will stoically took the verbal attack on his person even though he was seething inside and itching to punch the infuriating mug and just be done with this show. He knows though that part of what was said was true and it also wouldn't do him good to start defending himself, especially not in front of all these people who are more than willing to watch him get beaten and if not that then to have a reason to file for professional misconduct, besides Nigel seems to like his own voice far too much. Just then, the young alpha barged in on his personal space yet again, close enough to bump their foreheads once then used his knuckles to tap the older man's chest a couple of times and spoke in a clear conspiratorial way...his hands swinging back and forth between them half the time.

“So, listen...this is what we're gonna do. You will do as I say ...you know, like STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY BROTHER and I will leave you alone. Comprende?” he had a considering look on his face, then sniffed and followed his words with... “hm...probably. But, you get what I mean, right?”

There was a long pause that probably lasted a few seconds before Will took a fortifying breath and looked straight at Nigel and spoke in a clear voice...

“No...”

The hand that had been swinging languidly between them earlier was swiftly slapped on his face, in a way that made him feel like a mouthy child being scolded by their parent.

“Wrong” was growled in his face.

Cheek stinging slightly, Will hissed loud and fast enough for the other alpha to hear him... “No. Hannibal can decide that for himself. I understand your worries in regards to my intentions towards him as a brother but whatever it is between me and him is none of your busine....”

Evidently, the young man hadn't taken it well that things didn't go his way as even before he was done speaking he found his face rapidly meeting the pavement from a strong punch in the face. He could hear wild cheering in the background as he tries to get his bearings back, it had stunned him, yes, but he's not gonna be beaten like a ragdoll when he hasn't done anything wrong...So, he stood back up and readied himself for the inevitable fistfight.

Now he could fight back as he was punched first, self-defense and all that wonderful legal terms. He might not be an ace alpha who works non stop in the field (by choice) but he is in no way harmless.

Unfortunately for them, that's when the guards had the common sense to break it up before there's a blood bath in the academy's main entrance. It's probably more of the fact that they would be in trouble if they don't intervene when things start to get physical.

They were being held back away from each other, or Nigel was being held back as the older man had quickly composed himself and pulled himself away from the guards that were just a bit too eager to be rid of him. He turned to say something to the still snarling and struggling young alpha but reconsidered and just went to gather the files that fell out from his stuffed satchel and headed for the entrance, not caring for the busybodies around, though he did consider reaching out and breaking the closest videoing cellphone, stoicism be damned.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hannibal was not happy, IS still not happy and will probably stay that way until he can get his hands on his dearly beloved brother. As it is, his hands are shaking enough that he had resorted to grabbing the couch arm ends tightly.

He had underestimated how physically exhausted he had been from his extended estrus and had woken a little later than he would have preferred....from an alert from the Tattle.com. The omega had learned a lesson from the previous days and had made it a point to sign up for their society and entertainment section email alert. There was a risk of being bombarded with nonsensical alerts but he chose to take the risk rather than be late to knowing anything stupid they come up with regarding either Will or himself.

He had swiftly switched from swiping sleepily on the alert to wakefulness to spine spraining tenseness in the short span of milliseconds when he realized what he was staring at. Or watching. There was no sound other than the background noise of the onlookers and the few shouted words that his idiotic overprotective brother dished out straight to Will's face. He vaguely remembers his phone's casing creaking in complaint for how tight he was holding on to it when his brother punched his apha. Brother or not, he had no right to do that...nobody has any right to do that to his darling Will.

It had been a fight of strong will to not rush out to his alpha's defense.

After the video feed, he took his time to go over his morning ablutions in an effort to use the thoughtless routine to center himself so he wouldn't accidentally kill his own brother.

Hannibal doesn't remember how long he had been sitting there in the sitting room waiting in silence and staring further than the confined space could provide, mind whirling in undefined directions, inorganized in a way that reflects his emotions in such raging turmoil. His brother is almost easy enough to discern even though this behavior is worse than any previous stunts before. While Nigel is very physical in violence he contents himself with threatening his admirers with what he calls effective 'serendipity' (stalking), dropping into their workplaces or passing by in front of their houses unintentionally (purposefully). His brother is very much aware that Hannibal may be an omega but he is in no way in need of saving like a damsel in distress.

Will, on the other hand, had been amazing. He had known the man to have very tight control over his alpha instincts but it had still been amazing to witness how he could stay calm and controlled even against his twins' alpha posturings where most alphas would have taken the obvious taunting upfront to either flee or fight his brother, the cavemen way.

The moment he heard his brother's distinctive and obnoxious loud car getting closer he stood up, fixed his suit and went to wait for his brother, close enough to be noticed the moment the front door is breached but far enough to seem not too eager to meet his twin's arrival. When briefly clenching his hands didn't help to relieve their minute shaking he held them on his back and stood as straight and foreboding as he could and face the door.

As expected, Nigel rudely pushed the door on his entrance but was stopped right in his track when he saw who was waiting for him. The alpha paused for a moment not letting his eyes wander away from his younger brother, he gave him a nod which was politely returned before making his way to the stairs, though he was stopped halfway by his brother's words...

“I am sorely disappointed with you my dear brother”

“Hah! Nothing new there Hanni, Isn't that my role in this family...to disappoint.” His back still on his brother, the alpha resumed his walk.

“You had no right to do that.”

Tossing all pretense of not knowing why his brother had been waiting for him, he whirled around and shouted, walking closer and closer to the omega...

“I HAD ALL THE FUCKING RIGHT THE MOMENT I CAME OUT OF THIS FUCKING WORLD BEFORE YOU DID! I AM YOUR FUCKING BIG BROTHER AND I HAVE ALL THE FUCKING RIGHT IN THE WORLD TO STEP THE FUCK IN AND PROTECT YOU WHEN IT IS FUCKING NEEDED!”

“Need I remind you that I do not need your protection, not now nor anytime in the near future. Big. brother.”

“YES, YOU FUCKIN' DO! 'COZ FOR ALL THAT RIDICULOUS SIZE OF THAT BRAIN STUFFED IN THAT HEAD OF YOURS, YOU ALL BUT DECIDED TO KEEP THAT SORRY EXCUSE OF A KNOT AROUND. WHY???!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS SO FUCKING FASCINATING WITH THIS ONE?...HUH!...YOU CAN HAVE ANYONE BUT WHY THIS? WHY HIM?!!!......

HE'S GOT NOTHING! HE LIVES IN FUCK-NO-WHERE FOR FUCK'S SAKE! A FUCKING NOBODY AND HE FUCK'N WORKS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT!! JUST A FUCKING TEACHER BUT STILLL!”

“Are you quite done? I am not nor will I ever explain my choices to you or to anyone. I do not need you to protect me especially not from Will......”

“Will?...oh gooood...he calls him fucking Will...” the alpha moaned to no one in particular.

“....and I had expected better from you. I do believe we were raised not to be discriminatory in our views in social status or otherwise” Hannibal calmly stated to his brother's now falsely relaxed leaning form on the stairs newel.

“Aaaaah! Quit with your fancy mouth it's too fancy-y for my taste!... and don't fucking start with me on racism...no, or statucism or whatever the fuck it's called because I'm not fucking like that!”

“ Well then, please enlighten me, dear brother, because reason seems to elude me about why you feel noticeably more against him compared to the others.”

“YOU!, AAAAARGH! YOU FUCKING IDIOT! ...THE POINT IS THAT HE. IS. WORKING. AS. A. TEACHER. IN THAT FUCKING PLACE.!!! ….......F.B.I. Ring any fucking bells yet?”

Tensing minutely for the unexpected turn of the conversation, he schooled his face and said.. “I fail to...”

“YES! YOU FAIL...YOU FUCKING FAILED TO REALIZE THAT HE IS WORKING WITH THE PEOPLE WHO ARE FUCKING INVESTIGATING YOUR STUPID FUCKING GAMES!....
...stop looking like that, I have a working brain too! Don't forget that I grew up with you, I'm bound to figure it out sooner or later....I know what you're capable of... ”

“You seem to be mistaken, I have done nothing like what you are alluding to.”

“hmm...maybe not directly. Give me some credit Haaaaanni! …...I know how much you love your manipulative games. I know you. Hannibal Lecter. You get inside anybody's head without them knowing it and tweak them until they become the person you want to see or push any and all buttons just to see what they would do.” the alpha said tapping his temples for emphasis.

Releasing his closed fists and relaxing them by his side, the younger brother looked straight at his brother contemplatively. “If, for instance, what you are thinking bears truth then why haven't you done anything yet? I get the feeling that this is not the first time you've had these thoughts.”

“...aaaand he's not even fucking defensive about it! Predictable!” muttered the alpha to the uninterested ceiling. He returned his brother's stare in the eye and continued, ticking his fingers and swinging expressive hands in the air between them.

“First,...I don't think, I know. I haven't forgotten how you make my friends fight over nothing just for fun....or how I always end up in a lot of trouble because of your 'suggestions'...and second, this family is tighter and closer than a regular family for a reason, if we hadn't outed you for using countless people for your experiments years ago and I suspect every now and then, why would we do it now. Besides, as fuckingly annoying and frustrating as it is, it's part of who you are, you know. I get it, and I bet uncle does too.”

“Very well, that still doesn't explain why you think I have anything to do with cases the FBI is interested in.” He challenged.

Suddenly changing expression and clapping his hands while grinning like a cheshire cat, the alpha hopped into his twin's personal space. “Remember when we were young and we would stay up late at night telling made up stories to each other? It was annoying how you always come up with ridiculous hard to follow stories but there was one thing that you always include in your stories...
'Some people have more worth in their death' '..if you're going to kill them, why not make a statement with them too' “ Nigel stood straight and poised imitating his brother's stance and fancified voice.

“ ...and add the fact that you can't stand these 'pigs' roaming around freely and breathing the same air as you do....like I said, you may not have done the deed yourself but enough of you is in their head that it seeps out in the end product.” He ended his monologue with a self-satisfied smirk towards the omega.

Instead of admitting anything to his twin, Hannibal gave his brother a small nod but ultimately decided that their conversation has gone too far from the original topic and that precedes over this simple matter.

“ No matter brother, you do not have to worry about Will and I, he is no danger to me. Unless you intend to share your assumptions to him or to anybody who cares to listen.”

“ What! Ofcourse I'm not gonna tell anybody!....but that still doesn't change the fact that l don't like that fucker. You don't know him that well, like for example when he fucked that chick...i mean, I don't blame the bastard, I'd fuck that hard if given the chance but still!.”

“ You don't know that he did sleep with her.”

“Oh! Come ooooooon!”

“ Even if he did, I don't need you to fight my battles for me... I'm serious.”

“It's the principle of being a big brother. Your big brother!”

“ENOUGH. We will talk again later Nigel.”

“ Whatever! I don't have to listen to you. I don't trust him with you and I definitely don't like him. I'm back here for good Hanni, whether you like it or not.”

Chapter Text

Margot distantly feels herself trying to catch up to the what, when, where, how and why's of her current situation but the logic keeps on slipping from her mind, clouded and scattered as it is at the current onslaught it is under.

She vaguely understands that where she was is not safe for her specially at this time, that the what is her brother's doing, the when was a little harder to determine as her mind and body seems to not be in one and the same place yet so it was hard to determine time and how long or short a time she's been wherever here is.

In her flimsy and floaty memory, she remembers being under the influence of heat hormones, in between the tail-end of the pre-estrus stage and the real estrus to be exact, and that's when her doors banged open, then came the rare sight of her loathed brother holding a wet towel covering his nose and mouth to prevent him from smelling even a whiff of her scent but his eyes,... his eyes have the crazed twinkle of amusement in them when he looked at her lying on top of her bed, skin covered in a fine sheen of her own sweat. She remembers feeling dread and scrambling for something to cover her nudeness after seeing her brother's all beta men stood behind him by the door and blatantly eyeing her bare skin. When Mason had stepped aside and let the men in, she had shouted at his brother “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?.... GET OUT! ALL OF YOU OUT! MASON! MASON, TELL YOUR MEN TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM! NOOOW!”

...but his brother just lifted one of his hands impatiently and waved at the men to do something. When their hands started to grab for her, she remembers shouting at the top of her lungs and thrashing around as much as she can, scratching and kicking anything and everything. She had expected to be defiled at his brother's vile whim but to her surprise, she was unceremoniously bundled in her own blanket and lifted off the bed although with as much lecherous touches and groping they could get away with. For all her indignities, injustices and all out unpleasant and cruel experiences because of her orientation, being an omega and blood relation probably are the only thing that saved her from her brother's insane past times, she was ever so grateful how she had figured out to gross her own brother using her scent. Especially her estrus scent. She was lifted past his brother who blessed her with a happy crinkle in his eyes and said loudly “ Now, you finally get to be of use to the Verger family my dear sister”...a vague statement with not even an ounce of sense in it. The statement would have worried her if only she was capable to do so at that moment but at the present circumstances it had only sounded complete nonsense to her.

This was not how Margot wanted things to go, especially not on her estrus, no omega on their right mind would, she could feel the effects of it steadily getting stronger. She has to fight with sheer will to keep her consciousness enough to rationally think of what she should do to not end up as another tick on the statistics of poor unfortunate omegas.

Her body trembling and skin too sensitive to even the faintest whisper of the wind and her mind clouding up every now and then, consciousness getting worse and straying longer and longer, the heat pulsing in tandem with her beating heart eagerly spreading more and more of the hormones through her veins to every parts of her body.

With trembling hands, she gripped the blanket around her tighter in an effort to keep herself warm and also to contain her scent within the blanket as much as possible. Slowly, she took in her surrounding, looking left and right and only finding an empty road in front of her and forest beyond, more trees and empty landscapes on the right side and a moderately sized house about two hundred meters on her left. Her head perked up at that, houses mean people can help and it is more likely in this fairly deserted farmland that they would have dogs, it's not a hundred percent sure but it is more of a chance in surviving unscathed through this mess. She tightened her grip on her makeshift robe and started walking towards the house, about a hundred meters in she almost cried in relief when she started to hear sounds of dogs barking, more than one if she can trust her ears under hormonal assault.

--0--

Nigel, the creepy as fuck human that he is decided in his infinite knowledge to do his own version of house surveillance on none other than Will Graham. Shifting on his left butt to relieve the numbness building on his right from sitting unmoving for way too long, he complains not for the first time about how deceitful the surveillance scenes on movies are, where the officer sits inside his car day in day out.

He had been extremely pleased when one of his friends cheerfully provided him the alpha's address on their own initiative, smugly pointing out to him that if he really wanted to get the 'annoying' old man away from his terrifying brother, then he better try to get to know the man as thoroughly as he can and maybe he'll find something that he can use to justify his dislike of the man and hopefully convince his twin to just drop the guy.

He had been doing his best to watch Will almost around the clock for a few days now, and so far all he's found out is that the alphas' days revolve around his dogs, work, fixing what looks to be boat engines on the attached garage workshop and more dogs, ugh!... Nigel could barely suppress the shiver of dislike he felt for the nasty-too-many-teeth lot. He can't understand what kind of alpha wants to be surrounded by not just one but a whole pack of dogs that could suddenly cause his demise with just a small drop of fear or mistaken threat from an omega under heightened hormonal influence. It's like holding a tricky bomb that could be triggered with just a whiff of air!

Growing up with his unconventional brother, it was not a surprise that he had developed an almost phobia reaction towards dogs thanks to the canine-protective-instinct experiments, although, he admittedly had also learned a lot from it too... for example, during the experiment, they both found out that dog's respond to an omega under estrus's every single scent like a literal personification of their uninhibited emotions....like even if the omega can control their emotions to be unperceptable to the outside world, the dog's would still manifest those emotions and always in undiluted form. Though the thing that Nigel learned after suffering repeatedly for days on end whenever his brother was in one of his cycles is that as long as he is not a threat to the omega, or in Hannibal's case, he hasn't displeased him, the dog would still be wary of him but would allow close contact.

They found out about it when during one of Hannibal's dog experiment a friend of the omega from London dropped by for a visit, the pompous Mycroft Holmes, whom Nigel suspiciously welcomed too eagerly inside the house and hurriedly rushed the man and his bodyguard to the backyard where the omega was currently spending most of his estrus cycles. With a face splitting grin, he pointed a few yards away from the door where Hannibal was seen standing with his back to them. Mycroft was making his way closer to the young man when the direction of the wind change direction and the realization of the current situation hit him. He swiftly turned to the door only to see Nigel waving childishly between the closing door, Mycroft's eyes then moved to his bodyguard who while not showing any outward signs to being affected was being betrayed by his scent, releasing waves of arousal. He ordered the other alpha to get inside the house, break the door if he has to when he heard the unmistaken barks of dogs and quick paws rushing past him, tackling his bodyguard who had been rooted to the spot staring at the omega yards away. The dogs easily subdued him with two pairs of dogs latching on to his arms and legs and another standing on his chest and was about to bite his bodyguard's face or neck when there was a commanding whistle that immediately froze its attack. Within seconds Hannibal's footsteps stopped right beside the British man who barely resisted rolling his eyes.

“ I am almost tempted to ask why you didn't inform me of this circumstance when I told you that I will be dropping by for a visit today.”

“I apologize for that, but you see, I had to check something...and I was right” Clear amusement and satisfaction could be heard on Hannibal's voice, then he turned to his friend. “ Mycroft, I have missed you, my friend”

“Well, I do NOT miss him!” Nigel with a nose clip interrupted in a nasal voice. “ Why the fuck is his highness doing here?” He asked his brother while pointing rudely to the British man's face, then turned to said man “ ...and for that matter, why the fuck didn't these stupid dogs attack you, huh!? You're a stranger, not family, or...or are you fucking impotent? HaHAA! Is that it? ...can't even give a fucking scent? “

Mycroft looked straight at the younger alpha in the eyes before pointedly turning his gaze to Hannibal. “ I hope the results of your experiment are satisfying...If that is all I was needed for I'll be taking my leave now, let's have dinner sometime when you are less preoccupied, yes?”

“Yes, they were. Maybe next week if you're still around. As always it's a pleasure meeting you”

The friends shared a smile, both pointedly ignoring Nigel's declaration of ..” Ofcourse NOT, you are not meeting this ponce, defective knot or not!”

Once the guests were out of the house with a bit of manhandling the bodyguard who refused to step out, the omega turned to his brother.

“Hmm, it seems that I am in need of a favor from you, dear brother.”

“Favor? shoot, anything you want but on one condition. You stay inside the house and I will always be with you when you go out if you have to until I say otherwise!.”

“hmm.. well, I'd like to agree to that but then I will be very anxious and bored and I might resort to cleaning the house if I have nothing to occupy my time... I wonder if I should start on where you store these clips you love so much...i can start now if you want, and you have to watch my dogs while I am otherwise occupied ofcourse.”

With wide disbelieving eyes, Nigel opened his mouth to argue but closed it again when he can't come up with anything and then he breathed out “ Okay, fine. How about you get rid of the dogs after this....or after your next cycle....and...aaand you can go to dinner or whatever fancy thing you do with that impotent ponce....I'll still come with....I'll be on another...farther table” he amended A LOT when the omega's eyes narrowed minutely.

“Very well, agreed. Now. I would like you to ask your friends to visit today and tomorrow...you wound me, dear brother, there is nothing to worry about, they will not perish under my hospitality.” Hannibal reassured him when the alpha muttered loudly how this is like sacrificing his friends to a vengeful god.

“Why does it have to be my friends anyway, why not your friends?”

“For honesty's sake, Nigel, most of your friends are rude” was stated in a matter of fact way.

“ But...”

“Hmm...where should I start cleaning, I am starting to feel restless...”

“Wha..! Yes, fine! Fine! Calling them now, you disgusting stinky creature! ….Ow! fuck! ….keep your dogs on leash! ...fuck that hurt!”

It took another cycle of dog abuse for Nigel to figure out some of what his brother was working on in those experiments, one of them being, that canines protective instinct is mirroring the omega's emotional state, doesn't matter if you are family or not, if the omega feels threatened in any way or 'annoyed' the dogs will attack you. If the dog's can't scent any arousal from you, they react like a normal house pet, curious yet still watchful, this is only possible towards other omegas and towards beta's. If you are interested and aroused but not enough to be considered a threat by either the canines and the omega, the dogs will not attack but they are on their toes at all time, watchful, wary, ready to strike like a trained assault team. While these standards apply when dealing with his brother, he is still not completely sure about all of these, considering how different his bother is compared to other omega's who are mostly out of their mind on their heat days. It's known that while omega's can distinguish a threat on preheat stages they almost always succumb to the need to be bred during the true heat stage, their body responding to any alpha's they would have otherwise considered a threat eagerly, thus being doomed to a life of being mated to somebody they'd rather not be with if given the choice.

Anyway, back to his ass-numbing reality. He gave himself self congratulatory pat for choosing where to camp his ass to avoid detection, by sight or by scent. The downward direction of the wind meant that he can scent the air from the house ahead which regrettably is suffocatingly canine-ish and the sharp tang as expected of another alpha. Without worry, he keeps his window open for fresh air, for his spy binoculars and for scenting too which he trusts to get him updated if the alpha in that house goes out or not while he is busy with eating or drinking.

He was having one of these short breaks when a sweet scent reached him, just a trace of it but very unmistakable. Food and water forgotten, he grabbed for his binoculars and tried to search where it might have come from, he roamed his eyes along the road in front of the tiny house, along the front porch and on what he could see of the lot surrounding the property and yet could not find anything. He sniffed and concentrated harder and confirmed that the scent really is there, maybe he just needs to get closer or a different angle?

The young alpha quietly opened the car door and slipped out, after a moment of centering himself to not be seen or scented as a threat by the dogs up ahead, even with the distance and wind direction it never hurt to be sure about the none threatening scent thing like what he learned in his twin's experiments. Slowly he got as close as he dared and hid behind a large tree still in quite a distance but with a better view.

Ooh!...he feels giddy with delight, this might be it! There must be an omega in that house, in fucking Will Graham's house, who the fuck cares how he or she got there without him knowing but it is the only conclusion. He just needs to take a picture through the window or something and he's fucking done!

After a while though, Nigel tilted his head in confusion when after he heard the muffled barks of dogs turned into a rush of the pack coming out of what he assumed was a now opened front door that was promptly slammed closed. He followed the dogs through his binoculars and huffed in frustration after he lost them on the bend. Even though he is now thoroughly confused he decided to wait and see what happens next and he couldn't have stopped his grin when after a while the dogs came back around clearly comforting and escorting THE Margot Verger slowly making her way towards the tiny house. Nevermind that she is currently sporting a blanket, what Nigel finds very interesting is that she looks to be in heat, the dogs behavior towards her is all the confirmation that he needs, the other observations with the way her skin shines with unmistakable sweating, her face flushing or maybe that's just the cold and ofcourse of what he could only assume as slick shining the parts of her thigh and legs that he could glimpse at through the parting of the blanket whenever she takes a step forward are just additional ticks to the symptom list.

Eyes stuck on the dog surrounded woman, Nigel switch to using his camera, zooming in and focusing, he took pictures of her face, her with the pack of dogs and of course her making her way towards the unmistakable house of one Will Graham. He took as much as he can, every progress she makes towards the house and every interaction with the dogs. When at last she reached the porch stairs, she had hesitated a little before slowly climbing them up to the front door where she knocked after a moment of visibly gathering her courage. Right before the door opened the dogs situated themselves in front of her in striking position, growling and baring their sharp teeth. There was a long tense silence and then what Nigel assumes is a small talk before the dogs slowly calmed down and the door was opened further. The young alpha tried to get the fucking bastard on the picture but the angle of the door gets in the way.

Frustrated he punched the tree once, twice before pausing and thinking of what he could do next. He could try to get closer to the house, but memories of how his twin's dogs had attacked him before made him think otherwise. His brother can control and stop the dogs even through heat but whose to say that the Verger omega could also do that under hormonal assault. He'd rather not take chances, add to the point that Hannibal really is different and he can't even cease the suspicion in him that maybe the omega had tricked him into believing that the dogs won't attack if he doesn't seem threatening, and there is a very high chance of that being true. Shaking his head, he instead started his way towards his car and decided to tell Hannibal and show him the pictures he took as evidence.

Halfway on the road he couldn't hold it in anymore and tried to call his brother's phone a couple of times only to be directed to voicemail. Apparently, he had annoyed the omega enough to be rude and ignore his calls. Doesn't matter, nothing could break his smug satisfaction of finally having a 'retort worth listenning to'.