Archive of Our Own ^beta

The cat’s fur was grey with black stripes and it had a bright pink nose. Its fur was also soft, Will noticed as he picked it up…and threw it across the room. Winston chased after it, picked it up, and shook it before tromping back over to Will. When Will grabbed it, however, Winston didn’t let it go and he began a tug-of-war match with his owner. Both were determined to win, but both were destined to lose because the cat was ripped apart and its insides spilled out onto the carpet. It tends to happen when your dog is rough with stuffed animal toys.

“That’s the third one you’ve torn this week, Winston,” Will laughed. He picked the cat’s stuffing up and threw them away. “I need to get you better toys.”

Winston simply wagged his tail in response.

Will just dropped the last piece of fabric in the trash when his doorbell rang. He turned to Winston. “You expecting anyone?”

Will didn’t even wait for Winston’s tail-wag before opening up the door to see his therapist.

“Hannibal! What are you doing here?”

“Good evening, Will,” Hannibal said, though he didn’t seem offended that Will hadn’t offered him a greeting first. “I realize our appointment isn’t for a few hours, but I was here for another patient and I thought I might stop by*. Do you mind?”

“No, not all,” Will said, stepping aside to let Hannibal in. “Sorry if it’s a bit of a mess. I wasn’t expecting company.”

Hannibal glanced. It wasn’t actually that messy except…“Where did these doors come from?”

In one corner of the room, there was a pile of door in various shapes and sized.

“Oh they’re from my cabinets. I’m, uh, doing some renovating,” Will said, scratching Winston’s ears. He was avoiding eye contact with Hannibal but that wasn’t out of the norm.

“Where do you find the time?” Hannibal asked civilly, as if he were making small talk.

“Well, clearly I don’t, since I’ve only taken the doors off the cabinets,” Will said with a chuckle as Hannibal took a step into the kitchen.

“And you seem to have one more to go. You are aware that cabinet doors have hinges and screws that allow you to take them off without destroying the base?” Hannibal was looking pointedly at the damaged wood from where it looked like Will had just torn the cabinets off by their hinges.

“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed,” Will said sarcastically. “I’ll try that for the last one.”

“I don’t like being lied to.” Hannibal demanded suddenly.

Will sighed. “I thought I was hearing something crawling around in the cabinets last night.”

“And you couldn’t just open them?”

“It kept moving.”

“So you tore them off?”

Will nodded sheepishly.

“Why keep one door intact?”

“Well either I would open it and be attacked by an animal or…”

“Or you would have proof that there was nothing and that you were imagining it.”

Will nodded again.

Hannibal turned back to the cabinets for a moment before striding away. “Let’s go to my office. We’ll start our appointment early.”

Will stood in front of the…rock? Statue? Horn?...with his back turned to Hannibal, who was sitting in his usual chair.

“That,” Hannibal explained, “is the horn of a Bravoceratops, if were wondering.”

Will pulled his hand away as if he’d been burned and whipped around. “A dinosaur fossil?”

Hannibal nodded.

Will let out a short laugh. He longed for the day when he was so rich he just kept dinosaur fossils on display in his office.

“So tell me again why you feel so terrible about protecting Abigail,” Hannibal said.

“It’s not really protecting her, is it?” Will argued. “It’s just my subconscious turning me into Hobbs, right? I’m only as protective as a father could be.”

“Have you considered the possibility that you simply have paternal feelings of your own? That perhaps you feel for her as an adoptive parent would and not as Hobbs did?”

Will snorted. “And wouldn’t I be a great parent?”

“You choose to use your gifts to help people. It is your job to make the world right, to make it good. I see nothing wrong with that. You become her father and the universe is a bit better than before. ”

“You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet.” Will waved a hand. “And yet you act as if there is some ideal order in the world, as if there is some… some rightness in the universe by which it may be judged. And that I am helping this so called rightness.”

“Yes,” Hannibal responded simply. Will was thrown off-guard by that but Hannibal got up before he could ask anything.

He walked over to a record-player** and put in a record but not before clarifying. “This is an aubade. It’s meant to be played at dawn but I believe it is appropriate now.”

Will listened. The singer had a beautiful voice and it almost was calming, if that Hannibal’s intention.

“I believe there is no harmful intent in your feelings toward Abigail, Will, and I think you should let yourself be around her. It will do the both of you good.”

Will wanted to agree with Hannibal but it was paining him every time he took one more step into the role of Hobbs. But he supposed Hannibal had to be right. He wouldn’t tell me to do anything if he didn’t think it was for the best. What could it hurt?

*Translation: “Oh I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I’d stop by…*casual cough*” Real smooth Hannibal…

**I don’t think Hannibal has a record player in the show BUT HE DOES NOW.