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Part of Jack wondered if the reason Will and Hannibal were caught, was because Will wanted them to be. Even though the evidence was all to the contrary, he had hoped that maybe the Will Graham he thought he knew was still in there, somewhere, free from Hannibal's manipulations. Though a much larger part of him knew that wasn't the case at all. Whatever drew Will and Hannibal out into the open, open enough to be caught, wasn't because Will wanted them to be. There was something else that had drawn them from wherever they hid and back into Europe. It was there that the two of them were found after an anonymous tip and dragged back, in chains, to America. Both were tanner than when he last saw them, though for Hannibal that wasn't exactly hard as he hadn't breathed fresh air in three years. They had probably been somewhere warm, which was a dramatic comparison to the reception they received when returning to Baltimore.
There hadn't been enough time to secure them a place at a more heavily guarded place than the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, though both had been there before so it was a bit of a homecoming. The only reason the two of them ever left was because one was still on the outside. Jack was less worried about an escape with both caged.
That didn't mean, though, that either was less dangerous.
The trip over had been interesting. Jack had gone personally to see them returned to the states and what a journey that had been. Neither Will nor Hannibal did much or appeared as much of a threat. Until they were separated.
It was the strangest thing.
Hannibal and Will had been kept in separate cells while awaiting their return to the states and during that time, two guards had been attacked. But the moment they were together again, as they were taken to the plane that would be used to transport them, they were calm. Hannibal seemed loose and in good spirits when he finally had Will at his side. Will, though never fully in a good mood, seemed more relaxed with his shoulder no longer warming his ears.
Neither said anything when they arrived at BSHCI, they hadn't said anything the whole trip. There were a few glances exchanged between them, but no words were spoken aloud. Yet, the moment the two of them were obviously headed in different directions, they were up in arms once again. Jack was certain Hannibal snarled. They had masks covering their faces, the only things that kept either of them from biting at their guards, and they were held with a series of stiff metal poles that kept them a good distance away from everyone else. But that hadn't worked for the two guards previously.
And it didn't work for them.
Hannibal and Will had been back in the states for three days. In that time, one guard quit, another was attacked, and a third refused to go anywhere near Hannibal or Will.
By the fourth day, when Jack returned to see what had happened in the 24 hours since he left the day before, he learned that yet another guard had been attacked.
He was standing in the administrator's office, a series of monitors set up with cameras pointed at every possible corner. But Will and Hannibal were both visible on the biggest of all the screens. Both were pacing in their cells, reminding Jack of caged animals at the zoo. What struck Jack the most though, was the way they moved. Hannibal and Will were on opposite sides of the facility though they seemed to know exactly where the other was. Both would walk in opposite directions, as if walking away from one another, only to turn around and walk back toward one another.
"What happened?" Jack asked, watching the two of them pace. He knew both men were dangerous, and it seemed they were even worse now.
He had seen evidence of it when they finally found Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, who was missing a leg. She was still alive, though walking would be different for her from now on. She had been stitched by expert hands, enough that there wasn't much that the ER doctors had to do when she was finally taken to the hospital. All that was left was to wait for the wound to heal fully and then she could be fitted for a prosthetic. That had been a year ago now.
"Graham attacked a guard. Tore a chunk out of his face with his teeth." One guard told him.
Looking closely, Jack could still see the blood on Will's lips.
"We'll have no guards left at this rate." Another muttered, bitterly. He refused to look at the monitors, staring everywhere but at Will and Hannibal.
"What happens if we just put them together?" The first guard asked. "Maybe they'll calm down. Or kill each other. And we'd have one less to worry about."
Jack sighed. That was exactly what they wanted, to be placed together. But at this point, he didn't have any better ideas. Keeping them separate was asking for people to be sent to their deaths and he couldn't condone any more of that at Will or Hannibal's hands, no matter how much a part of him wanted to believe that it was Hannibal's manipulations that led Will to this point.
"We still have Hannibal's old cell," Jack said slowly. "Put them in there."
It was almost painful to watch the guards as they approached Hannibal and Will. Every guard had a gun and was ordered to fire if threatened, but neither Will nor Hannibal did anything. Both turned, folding their arms behind their backs and allowing the guards to enter to secure them. Both had the masks once again on their faces and were led slowly from the cells. But the moment they were out, both seemed to be on high alert. For a moment, Jack wondered if one would try to escape without the other.
The time between the moment they left their cells and when they arrived at Hannibal's old cell was among the longest in Jack's life. He could see the cogs churning in Hannibal's head and Will's body tensing with every footstep. It wasn't until they caught a glimpse of each other that either seemed to relax.
The guards were smart in this one instance, Will had to give them that.
Both he and Hannibal were pushed into Hannibal's old cell unceremoniously. The guards only loosened their restraints but didn't bother taking them off. That was up to Will and Hannibal once they entered the cell. He had only been on this side of the glass once, and Hannibal had been dressed similarly. The guards backed out of the room, guns at the ready and watching every single heartbeat until the door slammed shut behind them.
Hannibal managed to remove his restraints first, sliding out of the jacket they had him in. Will pulled his own jacket off next, dropping it unceremoniously on the floor. He hated that jacket and he hated this mask. It was hot and demeaning though he supposed he deserved it after what he had done earlier in the day. It seemed the guards were fed up with either him or Hannibal causing them trouble, enough that they probably hoped the two of them would kill each other when put together.
But instead, Hannibal neared him, gently tugging at Will's mask to remove it without even bothering with his own yet. It was a surprisingly intimate moment as Will was freed from the mask, his hair bouncing back after the straps left. He reached for Hannibal's mask, gently removing it as Hannibal had done for him. Will let out a breath when they were finally freed, the two of them still incredibly close to one another. Not that the lack of space mattered.
They had been sharing the same space for a year now.
It started on the boat that they had managed to escape to, patching each other up with tired hands before falling asleep in the only bed in the cabin. The next week had been spent in a haze of exhaustion and pain as they alternated looking after each other's wounds. Neither had wanted to leave the other for fear that something would happen when they were apart. It had been the same with the one night they spent in Bedelia's house, a visit which Bedelia didn't fare well with. And then they had left, sailing to Cuba and still occupying the same bed. Even when they arrived at Hannibal's house in Cuba, a surprisingly large house with several rooms, they had found themselves in the same bed, watching over each other in the night.
That was as close to physical intimacy as they had come, though, over the last year. They had resumed their talks in the evenings, even shared a kill or two, but still, there was nothing much else between them. Not that what they already had wasn't the most intimate bond Will ever had in his life. No one knew him as well as Hannibal did and he didn't know anyone as well as he knew Hannibal.
And now here they were once again, only one bed between them. The cell was big enough that they could have easily somewhat avoided each other by just staying on opposite ends. But neither would.
A peace had settled between them as they emerged from the ocean. Neither had made an attempt on the other after that, and they were strangely content to remain together in silence. Hannibal never pushed for more between them, allowing Will to give or take what he pleased. Will assumed that after three years of separation, the hardest three years of his life, Hannibal was content to have Will in any way he could.
Hannibal leaned forward in the space between them and Will found himself leaning too, their foreheads pressing together.
Will let out the breath he didn't even realize he had been holding since they were caught.
It was ridiculous that they were and he knew both he and Hannibal were internally chiding themselves for it.
Hannibal had caught wind of Chiyoh and, upon hearing that she was encountering some trouble, dropped everything, and was ready to find her. Will, unwilling to let him go alone, came with him. If he had stayed and waited, one of them would still have been outside BSHCI and they could have escaped again. As it was, he didn't know how they would escape now. But Hannibal had spent three years in this place before Will had finally freed him, he was certain the other had a plan.
But for now, they were content to enjoy the fact that they were together once more.
It was only because they had finally found peace with each other that Will had finally accepted how conjoined he was with Hannibal. And that had made this separation, though only a few days, nearly unbearable.
He knew cameras were watching them, but he found he didn't care. He had been here before, with his every movement watched and every word recorded. Hannibal had been here too.
It was easy to ignore the cameras and microphones when he found himself with Hannibal once more.
"I know," Hannibal breathed, wrapping his arm around Will's waist. "I missed you too."
"I once wondered if we could survive separation," Will murmured. The space between them was surprisingly private, only Will and Hannibal mattered here. "I think we know the answer now."
Hannibal huffed out a laugh, his other hand moving up to the back of Will's neck, his fingers twining in his curls. He let one of his hands slide around Hannibal's waist and the other fisting in the fabric of his jumpsuit on his shoulder. He sighed, grateful for the strange way that Hannibal could ground him when his mind was running at a million miles an hour. He wanted out, he wanted his freedom back. And he wanted Hannibal with him.
At least he had one of those.
"Did they hurt you?" Hannibal asked and Will knew he was mentally taking inventory of Will's body.
"No. You?"
"No. I think I was much worse."
Will chuckled. "Me too." His tongue ran over his teeth subconsciously. "I think I can still taste the blood."
"Can you?"
Will could hear Hannibal's interest and he smiled to himself. Of course, Hannibal would be interested for more than one reason. He supposed he was interested too. Better now than never.
He was the one who cleared the distance between them, their mouths slotting together. Hannibal's grip tightened on him and he knew the other was both surprised and yet grateful that Will would grant him this. In truth, he wanted more. He had for a while now. But for some reason, this aspect of their relationship daunted him. Now, he hated that the first step in that direction was taken with an audience.
Hannibal, though, wasted no time exploring Will's mouth with his tongue, tasting the blood still on his lips. The other pulled him closer seemingly possessive of that which he saw as his, in this case, Will. He knew that Hannibal was tasting more than the blood, he was tasting Will. And Will was enchanted by the taste of Hannibal in return.
He also knew that the kiss was accompanied by a bit of smugness. He knew their audience likely included Jack who had seen the majority of Will and Hannibal's dance around each other, oftentimes at his expense. Sixth months after their escape, Will finally confessed all of the things he had said without Hannibal there to hear him, the majority of which was about his desire to be with Hannibal. He told him about his varied conversations with Jack, most of which could be summed up in Jack's disappointment of Will aching for the one person the world thought he probably shouldn't have. He also told him about his conversation with Bedelia and Will's realization of their relationship. And still, Hannibal didn't push him. He let him take his time to come to this point, accepting his own feelings when he had tried so hard to push them down.
Bedelia had asked him if he ached for Hannibal.
He did.
Only now, with this last bridge between them crossed, did that ache finally begin to dull completely.
He sighed contently when Hannibal pulled away, the two of them breathing heavily in each other's grasps.
"So, how will we find our way out of this one?" Will asked lowly.
"Relax," Hannibal coaxed. "We won't be here long."
He was right, of course. Hannibal had a plan. And he had Hannibal.