Colliding worlds (Hannibal x OC)

Let it go !

Mid February 2007

Will knocked upon the French doors – a habit, rather than using the front one – several times before letting himself in. The silence in the house was deafening. Stepping in, the empath checked for anything misplaced. Where the hell was Frances?

Dread pooled at the bottom of his stomach and he fished his handgun from the holster. What if the Red Dragon had decided to take revenge on Hannibal and found her? What if the agents in charge of the Lecter's couple safety had screwed up? Hannibal's subtle pushing of his wife to the beach house had anything to do with him reducing her time at home; the psychiatrist refused to talk to her about the threat, and Will had eventually relented. If Frances knew about it, she'd go frantic and try to keep both of them safe. Who knew what would happen then? In the meantime, it was getting more and more difficult to hide the current case from her. Frances was far too perceptive for her own good.

Treading through the house, feet silent, Will eventually heard a faint noise. He stopped in the stairs, listening. Sobs. And music, polyphonic stuff. The empath covered the rest of the way, gun at the ready, until he pushed the door to the master bedroom open. The music filtered, louder. So did the sobs. A quick peek was all it took for him to dismiss a threat. For once, Frances had not even noticed him, and he hid his gun at once. It left him standing, uneasy, on the threshold. He had never seen her so distressed, so despaired. Angry at Freddie, yes. Sad, and distant, just as well. But to see Frances cry her heart out... It was plain disturbing.

Hannibal had briefed him on her activities; after the discussion with Alana, Frances had taken refuge at the beach house to read the three volumes of the Lord of the Rings. She didn't want to do it in their house, not within a ten-foot radius of her husband. "Guilt," he had said. Guilt over loving another one that him in the first place. If Hannibal was jealous, he didn't show it, pushing the empath to join Frances when he felt she needed it. Aware that Will's presence would allow her to speak and lessen the guilt rather than enhance it. Sometimes, Hannibal's understanding felt otherworldly, for he was able to step out of his wife's life only to give her space to heal. It was... not a human reaction. And yet, the best one, for Frances was now crying her pain in private, somewhere her husband couldn't loom. Her pain, though, felt so raw that it broke Will's heart.

Difficult weeks for the three of them.

At last, the young woman lifted her tear-stained face to him, and he saw her swallow at once. She hid her face in her hands, ashamed, while he took a step back.

— "I'll be by the Ocean. Take your time"

Will didn't offer to hug her; he knew that would feel awkward. Neither he nor Frances needed to touch to communicate. And she never let her guard down with him, Hannibal was the only that could reach for her, the only one that she allowed to relinquish control to. Giving her space was the best thing he could do. Coward; perhaps he was fleeing as well, feeling too inadequate to understand what exorcism Frances was performing under the guidance of those voices.

And as he settled by the sea, buttoning his jacket up to fend off the cold wind, Will's mind eventually found peace. The Red Dragon case was making him crazy, especially now they had established it used to be one of Hannibal's former patients. The angry crashing of the Ocean below helped clear his mind, and at last Frances joined him on the rocks. He didn't grant her a look, knowing her eyes would be red rimmed and puffy. His heart went out to her, and he crossed the fingers of his left hand, out of sight. Let it be known that he would do the impossible to protect them. He refused to see Frances suffer more than she already had.

At last, they settled side by side, and a long moment went without a word exchanged. Until Frances asked him how he was, and Will spoke, at length, of Alana and his dogs. Tension slowly left her body, her shoulders slumping.