Hannibal didn't hear Barney call for him the first few times. He was in his Mind Palace, sitting at home with Will, the omega curled up with his head in Hannibal's lap. He had a migraine, often a sign that his heat was approaching. Usually headaches were due to stress and Jack Crawford. A migraine meant that soon they would be locked away in their bedroom, enjoying each other.
Will whimpered. 'Shh,' Hannibal hummed, brushing his fingers through Will's curls. 'Do you want anything?' he asked, tone soft so as not to aggravate Will's brain.
'No,' Will whispered. He curled further into Hannibal. 'S'going now.'
Hannibal hummed and rubbed gently at Will's temple. Will sighed-
'Dr Lecter.'
Hannibal's eyes snapped open and he breathed out heavily. The faint scent of Will, of their shared study, of the Earl Grey tea Hannibal had been sipping, faded to be replaced by ammonia, sweat, and all the other wretched smells that seeped from the walls of the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
Hannibal took a deep breath to reorient himself before he tilted his head. Barney, the chief orderly, was standing just beyond the bars. Hannibal didn't say anything.
'Dr Lecter,' Barney repeated. 'Your mate is here. He's in heat.'
'Will?' Hannibal croaked. He hadn't spoken since Will's last heat, where he'd growled the younger man's name over and over again. He and Will had spoken between bouts of intense sex, had shared memories and what they'd been up to towards the end of Will's heat. Will had more to speak of; he was still working for the FBI, more as an instructor, now, than a field agent. He had been deemed to unstable for field work, given that his Alpha mate was incarcerated.
The last words Hannibal had spoken had been to Barney, thanking the man for bringing him back to his cell and feeding him. He'd laid down then and slipped into his mind palace. He'd stayed there, even when he'd eaten, gone to the bathroom, allowed the orderlies to clean his cell. He'd never really been here, instead escaping into his own head.
He was back now and he stood as Barney indicated for him to approach the bars. The leather hockey mask was passed through and Hannibal fixed it around his head. Even though he'd never bitten anyone, he'd snapped at a fair few people. Chilton was his favourite; the man scared so easily.
Hannibal then had to get to his knees and lay on the floor, legs and feet stretched out to show that he wasn't holding anything. Two large orderlies entered the cell while Barney watched, a can of mace in one hand, a baton in the other. Hannibal allowed them to pat him down, stared ahead as a straitjacket was wrapped around him, his arms secured. The trolley was brought in and Hannibal's feet bound to it, then his hips and chest.
Hannibal was wheeled from his cell and out of maximum security. The rooms mated couples were allowed in was on this floor, on the opposite end of the building. Hannibal was wheeled past store rooms, break rooms, a long, concrete hallway that offered various shades of grey.
They finally reached the rooms, and Hannibal was wheeled into number 5. He couldn't smell Will, which meant that the omega wasn't in the room yet. Hannibal was unshackled and tied to the bed. His hands were released last of all and Hannibal remained still, even when the door shut behind him.
He knew the routine by now. He had to stay where he was, the orderlies watching him on the cameras. Only when Will was let into the room after being searched, the door locked behind him, could Hannibal move.
The door opened and the scent hit Hannibal; smoking wood, too-ripe fruit, heat and fertility and Will. He got to his knees quickly and felt hot fingers on his ankles, undoing the straps that had been used to tie Hannibal to the bed. Hannibal snarled as he tried to get the hockey mask free, tried to get rid of the piece of leather that obstructed the scent of his mate.
