Silent storm of the North West

by nonexistentaspen, Nope_Noneed

Summary:

Will is surprised to see Hannibal in front of his morel room with a little girl of all people. For the total of 24 hours Will has known him the guy had never mentioned he had a daughter- also why is the said daughter is here in Minnesota??

Or: s1 with a Lecter child who also has a dark past and I'm bad at summaries

Notes:

First Hannibal fic and I'm lowkey terrified I hope this is not terrible and unreadable- I REALLY hope not :'I pls let me know your opinions on it

Chapter 1

Chapter by Nope_Noneed

~Poland 2011~

Hannibal was getting rid of the body. This originally hadn't been his plan; he was just in the country for a few months as a much needed break from American air but as soon as he made eye contact with the guy at the small shop the guy worked at he knew he had to.

The guy had the eyes and the easy smile of a predator and as soon as he spoke Hannibal had made the connection between him and the wanted serial killer in the area. Now Hannibal wasn't a vigilante of any kind but this man's kills containing raped and killed woman was just a disgrace Hannibal did not appreciate and the guy was unbelievably rude to him in store.

He didn't really bother to display the body there was no need to and the filthy mad didn't deserve to be turned into art anyway. He harvested no organs as well. The guy was plenty scared as he slowly cut into him and that had surely made the meat acidic.

He went for a simple burial in the man's huge backyard. It took him a while to get to the dirt just because of all the snow over it. Hannibal wasn't above admitting that snow still made him a little uneasy but he was set on not letting that change his plans even a little.

As he finished the hole and started lowering the guy into it his attention got drawn away with a sound coming from the forest area at the side of the man's estate. He turned his head to the source of the noise only to find a little blonde girl staring back at him.

For a second he thought she was Mischa but soon he gathered himself however it wasn't as fast as he needed to be because as soon as the girl realised she was spotted she started running into the forest and disappeared.

Hannibal stopped a second not sure if what he saw was real or not but then lost against his curiosity and started following the faint trail of the little girl. He wasn't sure if it was an actual trail or not until he spotted the old cabin.

As he approached the place there was no sound coming from inside and yet Hannibal was sure she was in the cabin.

When he tried to open the old door he realized it was locked. He looked around a bit to see if there was any other way to enter the cabin only to find a small crack hole at the side of the side corner; it was just big enough for a little girl to pass if she tried hard enough.

Realizing his only way in was through the old door he tried to jab it a couple of times when that didn't work he kicked it one two three times before the old lock finally gave up and the door opened.

The sight inside made him freeze in his place completely. The little girl was hugging the body of a dead boy who could not be much older than herself. She looked at Hannibal with silent fear and tears. Next to her the boy's frozen body looked stuck in time. He was positioned in such a way that it was obvious they were hugging when he died his face turned towards her like he was watching over her.

Hannibal took a step back; the only thing he could see was Mischa and himself in the corner of the small cabin. He wasn't sure how long he himself and the little girl stared at each other because Hannibal gathered himself enough to act.

“Witam” he said she clung harder to her brother “Nie zrobię ci krzywdy” telling her he is not going to hurt her seemed to make no improvement in the situation so he lowered himself and sat patiently on his knees. The cold was even worse now that he had contact with the cold floor.

She must be feeling it even with extra clothes she is wearing that are surely her brothers. He wonders if she took them from him herself or if her brother gave them to her once he realised he didn't have much time left. It's more likely that it's the later Hannibal decides as the little girl looks too frail to do the job herself and the boy looks like he hasn't been moved since his death.

“nazywam się Hannibal” he says with a gentle smile “jak masz na imię?” he then asked and waited. She looked at him a long while before gathering enough courage to speak “Agnieszka” She said almost inaudibly her voice was raspy with disuse.

“Co za piękne imię” he compliment her name it really was a beautiful one. He then told her he was going to get her out of here. She looked at him then his brother “Maciej?” she asked hopefully to Hannibal.

Maciej a fitting name for the dead boy he thought then he signed. “On nie żyje” he explained to her. She shook her head “spanie” she said. She wasn't wrong, he almost looked like he was sleeping. Hannibal shook his head “Przepraszam” he really was sorry it was a strange feeling, one he really felt.

Her eyes filled with tears and she was full on sobbing in a few seconds. She made no sound as she sobbed clinging to her brother. Hannibal let her cling for a bit then he gathered her in his arms. She weighed almost nothing.

They buried Maciej in at the back of the cabin and Hannibal made her make a heart out of small rocks on his made shift grave. Then Hannibal finished his work with the other body she watched. Her little face seemed comforted by the fact that the guy was dead and she soon fell asleep resting her head on Hannibal.

 

~2013~

Will was not having a good morning as it is when he hears the knock on his motel room. He wears his robe and shuffles to the door trying to get sleep out of his eyes.

When he opens the door it reveals Hannibal who is holding a small meal pack with one hand while holding the hand of a small child next to him with his other.

“Good morning Will may we come in?” He asks with a smile on his face. While the little girl next to him avoids looking at Will all together. Will looks at Hannibal for a second. “Where is Crawford and who's kid is that?” He asks not too kindly.

“Jack is deposed in court, and this is my daughter Agnieszka unfortunately her usual care taker is really ill right now and I could not find anyone to look for her in such a short notice so she'll be with me today” he explains then smiles again “May we come in?”

Hannibal opens the meal box and it reveals three containers of some kind of egg and meat mix which makes Wills eyes go wide and mouth water a little. All the while the little girl stays close to him and avoids Will; she doesn't necessarily seem scared or uncomfortable, just uninterested in Will.

Will sits on one of the two chairs a little awkwardly not really sure what to do. The duo don't seem to mind him. Soon Hannibal sits down on the other chair and lifts Agnieszka to sit on his knee. She seems like she would rather be sitting on her own chair but doesn't say anything as there aren't any other chairs in the room.

“I'm very careful about what I put into me and my daughter's body. Which means I end up preparing most of our meals myself. A little protein scrabble some eggs, some sausage” Hannibal explains to Will, his daughter is now looking out of the window.

Will goes ahead and takes a bite of the scrabble Hannibal's eyes are on him “it's delicious thank you” Will says cause it really is.

“My pleasure” Hannibal says then smiles and his daughter finds something really amusing as she smiles at herself but Will isn't sure what.

“I would apologize for my analytical ambush but I know I will soon be apologizing again and you’ll tire of that eventually so I have to consider using apologies sparingly.” Hannibal half apologizes and his daughter rolls her eyes. Her father can't see her face and Will is immediately fond of her.

“Just keep it professional” Will says but it sounds ridiculous as he is currently having breakfast with the man and his daughter.

“Or we could socialize like adults god forbid we become friendly” Hannibal retorts but Will isn't interested not really. “I don't find you that interesting” so he tells Hannibal.

“Bo jesteś taka interesująca” she huffed quietly in what Will makes out to be a slavic language and Hannibal loudly sighs “Agnieszka” he warns she still looks just as uninterested “Aš tik konstatuoju faktą, tėti” she says as quietly as last time. “Pamatysime” Hannibal tells her then turns back to Will.

“You will.” He says confidently. “Agent Crawford tells me you have a
knack for the monsters.” He then adds changing the subject. Will sends him a look that says really in front of the girl but Hannibal stays attentively dense.

“That’s a superstition” Will grumbles “I called your good friend Dr. Bloom about you” Hannibal continues little girl seems more interesting she turns her head towards the doctor, she knows her then Will notes.

“She wouldn’t gossip, not a word. She’s very protective of you. Smitten, I would say. She asked me to keep an eye on you.” He ends with and just like that the girl loses interest turning back at the window.

Will wants nothing more than to turn back to business but with a little girl present it doesn't seem possible. “Uhm yeah she is a good friend” Will ends up choking out.

The man shoots him a smile “Finish your breakfast Will” Hannibal then turns and looks at his daughter she is stl looking out the window “Agnieszka how about we turn back to our room to get ready” he asks her and she nods if she seems a little sleepy her father doesn't mention it.

“We will on our way Will. We'll meet you in let's say twenty minutes?” he then turns addressing Will “Yeah sure” Will replies.

Soon after that Hannibal and the little girl leave his room. After they leave Will is left with his own thoughts, he is sure Hannibal bringing his daughter to stuff like this is a rarity in fact it happened only once maybe twice before which means he was really out of options but bringing her.

Will thinks that's good even though he is not interested in Hannibal he is sure the man is an amazing father attentive, smart and kind. He is also a single father Will is sure and the mother isn't present. The girl herself is also a mystery for Will cause usually kids are so much easier to read but this unusually quiet girl is against all odds hard to read so far the only thing he could get from her was that she didn't seem interested in him like his father was.

 

20 minutes in, Agnieszka falls asleep in the back seat of Will's rented car. She looks much more like a child in her sleep

“I don’t think the Shrike killed that girl in the field.” Will finds himself saying Hannibal looks at him almost pleased “The devil is in the details. What didn’t your Copy Cat do to the girl in the field? What gave it away?” He asks, interested.

Will doesn't stop to think the answer is obvious “Everything. It’s like he had to show me a negative so I could see the positive. That crime scene was practically gift-wrapped” he explains.

Hannibal’s head turns fully towards Will “The mathematics of human behavior. All those ugly variables. Some bad math with this shrike fellow. Are you reconstructing his fantasies? What kind of problems does he have?”

Will keeps his eyes on the road avoiding eye contact “he has a few” he says “ever had any problems Will?” Hannibal imminently asks.

Will replies annoyed “No” Hannibal turns back to stair ahead “Of course you don’t. You and I are just alike. Problem free. Nothing about us to feel horrible about.” He says in a light tone as he glances back at his daughter sleeping on the back seat.

“I think Uncle Jack sees you as a fragile little tea-cup, the finest china used for only special guests.” He then adds Will snorts it's not really amused “And how do you see me?” He asks

“The mongoose I want under the house when the snakes slither by.” Comes Hannibal's immediate response.

Soon they reach the location and Will carefully parks the car to not wake the girl up. He then unfastens his seatbelt ready to get out of the car. The whole thing is likely to take less than an hour so Will thinks it would not be a problem to leave the sleeping girl in the back seat.

When he looks at Hannibal the man is smiling “What are you smiling about?” Will asks mildly interested.

“Peeking behind the curtain. Curious how the FBI goes about its business when it isn’t kicking in doors” Hannibal answers. Making Will snort “We’re lucky we’re not doing house to house interviews” he says a little amused.

 

“We found a little piece of metal in the clothes Elise Nichols had on. A shred from a pipe threader.” Will then explains and Hannibal nods a little confused “Jack Crawford wants me to make sure you’re of sound mind and body... to look for metal pipe threaders?” He asks

And Will can't help but smile at that “That’s between you and Jack” he answered.

“So why here, there must be hundreds of construction sites all over Minnesota?” Hannibal then asks, effectively changing the subject. “Certain kinda metal. Certain kinda pipe. Certain kinda pipe coating. So we’re looking at construction sites that use that kinda pipe.” Comes the explanation from Will.

Hannibal nods “So what are we looking for?” he questions unfesting his own seat belt. “At this stage anything really but mostly anything particular”

Will opened his side of the door and moved to get up “Will, would it be terribly ill-mannered if I took Agnieszka with us? I am not entirely comfortable leaving her alone in the car for long periods of time in unknown places, especially in a place like a construction site” Hannibal asked.

He seemed genuinely uncomfortable about leaving his daughter in the car and that made him seem more human than any other conversation he had with Will.

The younger man stopped a second. In one hand taking a little girl to a official investigation was not the smartest thing to do on the other hand it wasn't likely anything high risk would happen to them in a place like this and it wasn't likely that Hannibal bringing her would affect Will, if anything it would get doctors attention off of him at least a little.

“I'm sure she is well behaved enough to tag along” Will said and got out.

 

Inside the work container the woman looks at them suspiciously. “You sure the kid should be here?” She asks. Agnieszka for her part holds her dad's hand and doesn't disturb anything, doesn't even make any noise.

“Garrett Jacob Hobbs” Will states. “One of our pipe threaders. Those are all the resignation letters. Plumbers union requires them whenever members finish a job.” She explains, kinda annoyed that her question went unanswered.

“Did Mr. Hobbs have a daughter?” he asked “I don't know” came the woman's response.

“Eighteen or nineteen, wind-chafed? Plain but pretty? She would have auburn hair. About this tall.” Will elaborated. “Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t keep company with these people.” Came the unhelpful reply.

Hannibal turned to Will “What is particular about Mr. Hobbes” he asked “Left a phone number. No address.”

“Therefore he has something to hide?” Hannibal asked Will shrugged not really putting weight on the idea “Everyone has an address put down” then he felt little girls eyes on him.

As soon as he looked back her eyes disappeared. Will swallowed attention turning back to the woman “You have an address for Mr. Hobbs?”

The woman nodded “I probably have it here somewhere” Will nodded and both went to look through papers.

Seeing Will on the job was indeed as interesting as Hannibal thought it would be. He had half a mind to call mister Hobbs’ home tell to let him know about the situation. Unfortunately, without a place to leave his darling daughter it was just a risk he wasn't willing to take.

He knew Agnieszka wasn't comfortable or happy being in this place. This was her first time seeing a construction site this big from this close and big noisy stuff creeped her out a lot after living in complete silence for most of her life. She hid it well, unwilling to show weaknesses, a trait she picked up from him unfortunately.

He was pulled away from his thoughts by the question “We'll have to move these boxes to the car, maybe miss..”

“Agnieszka” Hannibal filled in for him “Right miss..” His face was fully red now it was mostly amusing to both Lecters to see people sweating over her name.

“Aga” she says quietly and Hannibal is surprised she is willing to spare the guy. Will scratched his head embarrassed “Yeah- uh I was saying maybe miss Aga would want to help us with the boxes” he says his previous confidence completely gone.

Hannibal looks down to Agnieszka for her answer. It's thoughtful of Will to want to get her involvement as he probably figured she would be bored by now but be too well behaved to complain about which he is not wrong. The brilliant agent however fails to see how stressed his daughter is at the moment.

She nodded and let go of Hannibal's hand. The man wasn't entirely surprised Agnieszka was set on not revealing her fear or unease to a point where it worried Hannibal but at the moment he let her be this situation wasn't uncontrolled or dangerous.

Will smiled at her and led her to the boxes “I'm sure you are really strong” he said to her and she didn't dignify that with a reaction which made Hannibal infinitely amused.

 

When they reached the place Hannibal informed his daughter that she was to stay inside the car at all costs until the rest of the aid arrived. She nodded seriously and muttered something in a language Will did not understand once again.

They got out of the car “Follow my lead” he told Hannibal who nodded seriously but also a little excited.

They walk together to the front porch and Will knocks on the front door. A woman in her mid to late forties opens the door looking confused “How can I help you?” She asks them.

“I'm Will Graham from the FBI and this is Doctor Lecter.. He is consulting us on the Minnesota strike case, we just want to ask your husband some questions.” He explains and she looks at them alert

“Why Garett he is a sweet man I swear he would not do such a thing you must be mistaken” she says “This just a routine check up ma'am door to door don't worry” Will rushes to comfort her even though it's anything but he just can't have her distressing the man inside.

She looks at them still uncertain before letting them in Hannibal enters first and Will follows close behind “Honey the FBI is here they want to ask some questions!” Mrs Hobbes shouts behind them as they walk through the hallway and Will immediately knows they are screwed.

As Hannibal gets in the open built living room slash kitchen area Garret Jacob Hobbes is on him. Hannibal clearly gets caught unprepared and groans in pain as the knife the man is holding cuts the meat of his shoulder. Will takes his gun out of its holster as Mrs Hobbes screams horrified.

The scream distracts Hobbes just long enough for Hannibal to push him off himself. Finding his opening Will fires his gun one two- seven times. As the body falls to the ground he can already see the man's blood mixing with his daughter's. They are truly together for eternity now that's his design…

“Will” hearing his name brings the agent back to reality somewhat. He looks at Hannibal who is clinging to the wound on his shoulder. He rushes to Hannibal helping him put pressure on the body as Mrs Hobbes rushes to her daughter's side unaware she is already long dead.

“Agnieszka, she is in the car still please keep an eye on her she doesn't like loud noises and new people” Hannibal chokes out and Will finds himself agreeing.

After that everything passes in a blur law enforcement and paramedics rush inside. Two paramedics rush towards Hannibal and Will lets go and moves back.

He finds himself hurrying towards the car; the area is covered by police cars and ambulances now. He moves to open his car door and when he does it reveals a feral looking Aga he moves to calm her down but as soon as he moves forward s
he realises it's the wrong move as she is on him within a second, teeth locked in Will’s hand. Will Groans

“Hey hey I'm not going to hurt you! Your dad told me to get you!” he explains then pulls his hand back a little and she disconnects her teeth. His hand is bleeding but Will is relatively sure it won't need stitches.

He realises how he is covered in blood from helping Hannibal with his wound earlier. He curses himself for scaring the kid senseless. “He is gonna be fine I swear he just needs to see the doctors” He tries to comfort her. She looks wild with her mouth bloody and breathing irregular Will notes she is making eye contact for the first time.

“Where is he?” she asks quietly, her english heavily accented even more so than Hannibal's. Will swallows “They are taking him to the hospital” she makes a face at the word hospital and Will can't help but agree.

She then moves to swap the blood on her mouth with the back of one of her long sleeves and looks at him. Will swallows “Right- I uh I'll let them know what's going on you wait here alright? Then I'll drop you off at the hospital” he says then moves back.

He stops when Aga catches him by the sleeve absolutely horrified by the idea of him leaving. Will curses himself again because of course she doesn't want to be alone in the car again.

“You know what I'll call Jack later let him know what happened” he says and she looks uncertain but reluctantly lets go of his sleeve, her eyes are filled with tears but she isn't crying.

“How about you sit in the front seat next to me?” He asks and she nods, she then looks at him and Will immediately understands what it means.

He scoops her up from the back seat before circling the car and opening the front passenger seat. She drops him there and clips her seatbelt in place. Then closes the door and goes to his place behind the wheel. As soon as he is in place she wraps her tiny hands around his arm and clasping, warmth fills Will's body and he smiles at her.

 

When they finally reach Hannibal's room both of them clean up a bit. Will is now relatively free of blood. He is wearing a sweater he had previously left in the car. Washed his hand clean of excess blood and has crafted a makeshift bandage on his hand made of tissue and type.

He had successfully convinced Aga to stop by a gas station first explaining how entering the hospital covered in blood wasn't one of the smartest ideas.

The hospital room is quiet and Hannibal is asleep freshly out of surgery. Aga’s eyes go wide at the site she is clinging to Will's hand “Dead?” she asks, she has tears in her eyes again she seems far away all the sudden. “What! Asleep- he is just sleeping”

“Promise” she demands and Will nods “Yeah I promise” he answers her she nods seriously and lets go of his hand to walk towards her father.

“Tėvas?” She says no answer comes. Hannibal is too deep asleep, probably still under the influence of anesthesia. She swallows then moves to get on the bed.

Will's first instinct is to stop her and his second is to help her get on the bed but he disregards both. First one because she deserved what little comfort it would bring to lay down with her Father plus she is on his uninjured side so Will is relatively sure it won't hurt the Doctor. And the second cause he is sure she would not appreciate the help she seems set on doing stuff she can by herself.

When she finally settles on Hannibal she relaxes, her head is on his chest. She is probably making sure his heart is still beating, Will comments internally. Then he moves to sit on one of the chairs in the room unwilling to leave the two alone.

Chapter 2

Summary:

Will and Aga have some one on one time Hannibal gets some rest

Notes:

I have a beta reader now WOW that's like so cool?? You'll hopefully see less mistakes from now on guys yay!! >< lets say in union thank you Des aka nonexistentaspen! :D

Hannibal wakes up close to noon, about two hours after the surgery. He groans in pain slightly and tries to straighten himself up which makes Agnieszka startle awake.

She immediately gets up and positions herself securely on Hannibal's stomach; her legs on either side of the man. “Nie śpisz!” she says, louder than Will has ever heard her; she has a childish joy on her face accompanied by not so childish relief.

Hannibal’s face melts into a soft smile. “Yes I'm awake, darling girl.” He answers while putting a pinch of her loosened hair behind her ear with his newly freed arm.

Will suddenly feels like he is intruding on a very private moment between the two. So when Hannibal's attention turns to him Will wants to dissolve into thin air and disappear.

“Will, thank you for taking care of Agnieszka while I was unable. I truly appreciate it.” Hannibal says, voice tired and Will chokes on his word a second.

“It was no problem- Aga is a sweet girl and I should be thanking you for not losing your shit is suing the crap out of me right now, really.” Will replies, avoiding eye contact.

“I don't see why I would sue, as you are the only reason I'm still breathing currently.” Hannibal comments.

“Some might argue you were in that situation because of me in the first place.” Will shoots back humorlessly.

“I assure you Will I was there purely on my own accord, and therefore again I must thank you for saving my life.” Hannibal retorts.

Will had a half formed quarrel in mind when he was cut off by a quiet voice. “Thank you Wilhelm Graham.” Aga said seriously, he looked at her, once again she was looking directly in his eyes.

Will didn't have it in him to argue further after that. He guessed he should probably leave sooner than later anyway the duo probably wanted to be alone and not with a third party who just shot a man seven times and killed him. Nope Will wasn't gonna open that can of worms, at least until he had some privacy.

“Uh I guess now that you are awake Doctor Lecter I should leave you two be” he said awkwardly getting up.

Hannibal looked at him a little uncertain “Will,,” swallowed before he continued “I still don't have anyone to look after Agnieszka,,” he started “I'm on quite a bit of painkillers right now keeping me incapable of being alert and frankly staying awake for long, now I know Agnieszka exceptionally well behaved girl but I would still prefer if there was another adult present with her during the night as I won't be able to be present as I would like to be”

Oh Will thought he was a real idiot of course Hannibal didn't want his daughter alone in a hospital room when he was in painkiller induced sleep. He seemed so guilty of asking too.

He swallowed “I- I can take her to my motel room for the night?” He said and Aga immediately snarled, dropping her small body on Hannibal's chest fully and clinging causing Hannibal to wince a little.

“I'm afraid Agnieszka will not be cooperative about leaving me here and I'm not sure how much I want to deprive her of the sight of me myself, after the scare she must have had” Hannibal confessed and Will once again realized he was such a dumbass for someone with ‘pure empathy’.

“Right- Of course yeah, how about I crash here then, that way I'll be able to keep an eye one her and she'll be able to keep and eye on you” Will said trying to lighten up the room and Hannibal smiled “That would be exquisite”

 

They were Interrupted by a nurse who quickly checked out Hannibal's IV bags. Hannibal quickly told her that nothing was out of the ordinary and there was no pain on his shoulder after his assurance the nurse didn't linger for long.

After the nurse left Agnieszka was fully relaxed in her fathers embrace; she was tucked in his good arm covered in blankets.

“ar Wilhelmas gerai?” she asked, looking at Hannibal and Will's eyes turned to her at the mention of his name.

Hannibal made a disapproving sound “Agnieszka, I thought we talked about how rude it was to speak about someone in a language they don't speak, and what happened to speaking english while with company?” He lectured her, which she looked annoyed about.

Will was about to clarify he did not mind it when Agnieszka spoke again. “Is Wilhelm well” she said now in english it was much quieter then the other version yet now that Will understood what she asked he was frozen.

“Well you should ask that to Will, I believe” Hannibal prompted her, she looked at Will who was fidgeting with his sweater awkwardly. “Are you well?”

Will avoided eye contact as he answered cause that was what he was doing now apparently avoiding eye contact with small children. “Yeah- I'm alright don't worry about me” he said and she nodded then pointed at his hand “hurt?”

Hannibal looked at Wills hand at the question and saw the makeshift bandage on his hand “No it's almost healed I'm sure”

“May I ask what happened to your hand? I was confident you weren't harmed back there, if you are Will you should seek medical attention imminently I'm sure me and Agnieszka can manage on our own” Hannibal said worried and besides him, Agnieszka made a biting motion and clasped her teeth hard, making a small sound.

Hannibal's face turned from worried to tired concerned “I'm sorry Will, Agnieszka and I have been working on biting I thought we were over biting alive humans by now” he said which made the little girl chuckle like she was in on a private joke “You should get it checked if it needs stitches I would hate it if it scared”

“No no don't worry it's fine really, It was my fault for scaring her really” Will reassured.

After that they fall a bit into a quiet conversation with Will somehow leading most of it somehow.

He mostly just talks about his fishing techniques which somehow attracts both of the Lecters attention well enough. Aga seems particularly interested in how Will does his own baits, quietly asking questions about the specifics of the shapes and colors.

After a while Will realizes how Aga seems to pinch or poke Hannibal everytime he seems to be dozing off trying her best to keep him awake. Hannibal seems not to be bothered by it but by how tired he looks Will can guess he would kill for a nap right about now.

He is watching Aga poke Hannibal again when he comes up with an idea “Hey Aga how about we go grab something to eat?” He asks her and her interest is immediately peaked. Hannibal looks almost relieved, which is a funny look on him.

“Tėtis?” she prompts “I don't see why not I don't think you'll like the hospital food anyway” Hannibal shrugs.

She moves to get up after that but then stops looking worriedly at Hannibal. “Będzie dobrze, kochanie, obiecuję” Hannibal says petting her head and Will doesn't need to know the language to understand he is telling her that he'll be alright.

She hopes down the bed with little struggle and joins Will by the door “We'll give you at least an hour” Will says then winks Hannibal smiles “I really appreciate it Will” he says.

 

Leaving the room Will found himself walking besides an uncomfortable looking Aga “I don't like hospitals too, lots of lights too many people it's cramped” he finds himself saying.

For a second he feels he made a mistake before he sees Aga nod a small agreement “you understand” she then adds quietly and Will sighes cause yes he does.

“Let me tell you a secret, When I get cramped in places like this and it gets too much I just imagine I'm in my favorite fishing spot and count to ten until I calm down enough that it's tolerable” he tells her quietly like it's a real secret then he stops, thinks, and realizes it actually is a secret; one he never told anyone before.

She looks at him seriously, she realizes the secret for what it is “thank you, I won't tell” she says then nods to herself determined and Will just melts.

When they leave the hospital Will searches the closest place that sells food and finds a McDonald's five minute drive away. Now Will is sure Hannibal would not approve this type of food but lucky for them he isn't here so he cannot oppose.

“Have you ever had an American Big Mac before?” he asks Aga as she places herself at the back seat. “American Big Mac?” She repeats heavily accented, it's quite adorable.

“Yep it's a burger, fries and a drink” he explains “An hamburger” she says and nods to herself again, Will realizes it is a habit she does quite often.

They reach the diner and Will parks his rental in the designated parking place. When they get out Aga sees MacDonald's lights and the giant M shining through the night.

“Lighthouse for food” she declares “That's right yeah” Will answers, her childish comment relaxing him a little. He loves how children are infinitely easier to impress and satisfy. A shiny billboard with a giant M and you are good apparently.

They walk inside and the place is crowded. Will assumes it because it's the closest place to the hospital that sells food. Aga looks around to observe people talking and eating but doesn't comment on anything.

As Will goes to the end of the line he sees the playing area, there are some kids present. Then he turns to Aga “There is a playing area. Would you like to go there while I get our food?” he asks her, she turns to look at the playing area, she shakes her head.

Will nods he isn't surprised Aga so far didn't seem like the social type anyway. They wait quietly in the line. Aga looks at the lights and watches the people with interest. It's probably one of the first times she has been in a fast food joint.

“Can I get your order sir?” The teenage girl asks, she is bored and annoyed that the place is this busy, she would rather be hanging out with her friends right now but her parents thought working would build character Will observes.

“We'll take two Big Macs” he says and she taps it on the screen in front of her “Anything else?” She asks and Aga taps his hand “For Tėtis-” she starts then stops “Father? Too” she says the word Father foreign in her mouth. Will looks at her confused. “Hannibal” she clarifies assuming she had mis said the word or that her accent was too strong.

“No I understood that, it's just he has to eat when the hospital gives him food” Will explains she shakes her head “No he will be hungry” she responds “It's not healthy for him to eat this- probably?” Will said “not that he would put this in his mouth” he then mumbled to himself.

“Hunger is bad too, not healthy” she says then nods to herself determined Will sighes “Yeah but I'm sure he isn't that hungry, the nurses won't let him starve I promise”

The teenage girl makes a loud coughing sound making both Aga and Will startle and turn to her “Right” Will mumbles to himself once again. “Anything else?” She repeats “the line is waiting for you” she then adds.

“Nothing else” Will says “that'll be 20 dollars 50 cents” She says in a monotone tone and Will hands her the money.

They then take their number and move out of the line “Should we take a seat while we wait? I doubt it'll take a lot of time” Will aska Aga she shakes her head.

As they stand waiting for their food in silence Will is sure they look relatively awkward. At least he doesn't have to make small talk with Aga. He takes a deep breath and goes to his lake Max and Zoey are with him, he is halfway into the lake and he has a net with him, it's not his usual fishing equipment but he doesn't mind it at the moment. He is just glad he isn't seeing a dead man or a dead daughter. His lake gets dirty with killers and victims often, after cases Will appreciates for once that's not the case, at least not right now.

Aga taps her on his arm and he returns back to reality, God he probably looked like a creep standing unmoving in the middle of the place. Aga for her part doesn't look weirded out in the slightest “our number is up” she comments and she is right. Will curses himself a little for being so out of it and nods “Yeah let's go get it”

When he takes their packets he scans the place. There is an empty place between two very crowded families, he winces and looks at Aga, she turns to him and shakes her head with a similar winche on her face.

“Yeah- I agree, how about we sit outside? It shouldn't be too cold” he asks her and she nods then hurries towards the exit, Will follows her close behind.

They end up sitting at the back of the MacDonald's building in the parking lot area. They are sitting on the floor. Aga doesn't seem to have a problem with that, she clearly isn't a snob neat freak like Will sure Hannibal is which is good cause that means they can gang up on him. Will thinks with satisfaction then stops himself, cause what the hell, he sure as hell won't be needing to gang up on Hannibal cause they won't be spending time after Hannibal is well enough to look after Aga himself or until he finds someone to replace Will.

He turns to Aga who is already working on opening the packs “You were fishing” She comments, it's not a question Will is surprised she was able to detect that “Yeah” he answers there is no point in lying she smiles a little then, it's a pretty site Will can't help but think if Hobbs’ daughter had a smile like that as well, if that was the reason why he was so unwilling to let her go.

Aga opens the pack and takes one of the burgers out then takes a bite “American Hamburger” she says “Tėtis will say it's abysmal” then adds, she doesn't look like she cares.

Will chuckles taking his burger out “Yeah that's what I assumed, I don't think he would eat it even if he was about to starve” he says and she shakes her head unamused.

“No he would, starving is really hurtful, bad” she says Will swallows “Yeah,, I- he would- sorry bad joke” he says she sighs

“The woman was rude” she changes the subject Will nods “Yeah she was, she just doesn't want to be working, her father is forcing her, he thinks it'll build character” Will agrees then explains, Aga looks at him curious “How do you know?” She asks.

“I can see it when I look at her, I have this ability of pure empathy. I can put myself in people's places and see them as they are. That is why I'm good at my job and that is why people like your father are interested in me” Will explains her as simply as he can he sees no point I'm lying. Aga nods to herself for a second lost in thought.

“That's not the only reason” she then says Will makes a confused sound “Tėtis isn't that simply interested” she says like that explains everything “I'm sorry what?” He asks her but doesn't get a reply.

They eat the rest of the food in silence after that, Aga seems done with socializing. Will is completely fine with that. They have been together the whole day and what a day it has been. Will is surprised Aga is still awake even with the nap she took in Hannibal's room, as it's almost 2 am.

When they are done with the food Will gathers their trash and throws them at the trash not far from then Aga walks towards the car scrubbing her eyes.

The journey back to the hospital passes in silence too. Aga is looking out of the car window lost in thought and Will is trying his best to get Garret Jacob Hobbes out of his mind. Now that all the adrenaline left his body and there is no conversation actively keeping his mind away Will finds himself thinking back about what happened.

He had killed his daughter first; he didn't want to risk her getting separated from him. He knew he wasn't going to survive the encounter and he knew death was the only way he would be able to keep her forever. He didn't want her to live without him. He wondered what would have happened if Aga had to live without Hannibal. She would have surely been devastated, Aga adored her father, Will wondered if she would have let him look after her. He was sure it would not be the same without Hannibal there, it would not be complete. The girl would not be separated from her father. That was not the design they had to be together forever only then his design would be complete.

“You are nice” he heard Aga say he said what disoriented and confused. “You are nice” Aga repeated “Why?” Will asked confused. Then cursed himself cause what kind of answer was that. She snorted but didn't answer “You are nice too” Will found himself saying Aga smiled and once again Will's heart melted.

 

Hannibal's room was quiet when they entered the lights were dimmed and curtains were closed. As for the man he didn't show any indication of hearing them enter the room.

Aga seemed dissatisfied with that as she rushed to Hannibal's bed side. Before Will can intervene Aga shook Hannibal relatively awake.

“Tėtis” she said her voice grumpy with sleep “Witham moja droga,” then turning to the agent “Hello Will” Hannibal answered tired, but not annoyed about being woken up.

“Hi, I promised you an hour” Will blurts with an apologetic smile “That you did”

“Tėtis are you hungry?” Aga asks “No I ate the food hospital provided me, what about you darling girl”

“I ate an American hamburger” she says and Hannibal's face falls in barely disguised distaste, Aga hides her amusement just as bad. Hannibal turns to Will again “Well I suppose it's important to taste new foods” he says and Will raises his hands “it was the closest place” he reasons.

They end up using two chairs and the extra blanket and pillow provided to make Aga a makeshift bed, it's not the most comfortable but she makes do.

She falls asleep soon after, keeping her eyes on her father up until she falls asleep, making sure he is still awake.

Will is back on his chair when Hannibal speaks once again “Will, would it be possible for you to check the time?” He asks and Will nods “it's almost 3 why?”

“The nurse will come to replace my IV bags soon then” he says lost in thought for a second “Now once she does that I'll probably fall deep asleep in matter of minutes, Will Agnieszka has serious nightmares and night terrors I want you to understand you probably won't be able to wake me quite easily nor I will be much help awake”

Will swallows nightmares wouldn't be unusual after what happened today but night terrors are a different story. Hannibal seems like he is talking from experience anyway this is a usual aqurance.

“I know this is a big responsibility and more than what you have signed up for so if you are not comfortable with it I'll request the nurse to change my medication an hour late so that Agnieszka can sleep at least an hour then I’ll wake her up” Hannibal adds he looks uncomfortable even though he is good at hiding it.

“You should take your medication I can look after Aga, she should sleep the night” Will immediately responds cause the choice is obvious Hannibal almost seems relieved.

“Thank you Will, I feel like I'll be in your debt for a lifetime after today” he says “Nah you are fine, I almost got you killed” Will answers playful.

“Regardless I would like to invite you to a dinner in my house, my treat, Agnieszka would love to have you visit as well” Hannibal appeals and Will finds himself agreeing unable to say no.

Soon after the nurse appears and changes Hannibal's medication with what Will assumes are stronger ones and leaves immediately after, probably not to disturb anyone at this hour.

True to his word Hannibal's breathing slows soon after and he falls deep asleep.

Being left to his own devices Will gets lost in thought once more. He wonders what could have happened to Aga for her to have night terrors. He comes up empty Hannibal seems like a guy who would dot over the kid and keep her away from any kind of danger. But then again sometimes stuff happens no matter how careful someone actually is. He sighs he'll eventually figure it out no matter how good both of the Lecters seem to be at being unreadable they aren't as good as Will they'll eventually crack.

 

He doesn't know how much time passes when he starts hearing soft cries like mumbling coming from where Aga is lying. Will thinks he might have dozed off for a while on the chair.

He groans as he gets up and rubs his back. He is sore from sitting on the chair for so long. As he approaches the bed he sees Aga curled in on herself holding her knees close to her chest.

“Maciej proszę” Will hears her say as he crouches next to the chairs. He tries to wake her up by slowly rubbing her arm.

“Maciej” she doesn't wake up too deep in sleep “Aga you are having a bad dream come on wake up” Will says softly she doesn't seem to hear him.

“Tėtis- Maciej” she whimpers, she's almost shaking now. Will tries to rub her arm once again.

“Nie mama- proszę Maciej” she says tears are falling freely from her face now, Will is surprised she hasn't cried at all during the days even so he is pretty sure whatever she is dreaming about is scarier than her father getting stabbed.

She keeps mumbling in her sleep making Will get more and more worried about her. He tries to wake her up but he isn't sure how he can do it without hurting her. He stays there worried out of his mind until she finally gasps and wakes up with a startle.

Will isn't sure how long he has been crouched next to her but he is so glad it's over “Hey Aga you are alright it's over it was just a bad dream” Will rushes to reassure but when Aga sees her she doesn't seem to recognize him. She struggles back with fear and falls down from the makeshift bed.

Falling down makes her even more disoriented and scared. Will tries to reach for her as she scrambles back until her back hits the wall of the room. “Hey Aga it's me Will remember? I'm not going to hurt you” he tries to reassure she doesn't seem to be hearing her.

She is hugging her knees looking somewhere over Will's shoulder. The agent stays in his place, understanding that coming closer would not do him any good.

“You told me I was nice, remember?” Will tries but she is still looking over his shoulder he then realizes he is actively blocking her way to Hannibal.

He slowly moves to the other side of the room clearing the way “Your- Tėtis? is fine see he is sleeping” Will explains. She looks between him and Hannibal frantically.

“Aga it's alright you are safe I'm Will remember I like fishing I'm nice” he says again “Wilhelm” she repeats quietly and Will feels like he can breathe again.

She erases her tears with her sleeve looking a little embarrassed all the sudden. She then gets up and hurries to Hannibal's bed. She is still high on alert Will realizes.

He keeps quiet as Aga makes her way up and into Hannibal's bed. She places herself at the crook of Hannibal's arm and hugs his chest; her eyes stay on Will.

Will doesn't dare say anything if there is one thing he can relate to it's that he hates talking after having nightmares. Will assumes Aga hugging Hannibal is her equivalent of Will hugging his dogs which is good enough for Will. He walks back to his chair and sits.

They watch each other for a long time until eventually Aga falls asleep again. Will watches her after that as well. He watches her making sure she is still sleeping soundly. At some point he falls weak against exhaustion. But that isn't until early rays of sunshine start peaking through the curtains.

Notes:

Let me know your thoughts and pealse leave a comment it'll make my day lol. Also what do guys think so far should we go lighter should we go darker? Idk I can't decide

Chapter 3

Chapter by Nope_Noneed

Summary:

Anala comes to visit the hospital and Will and Jack have vhat

Notes:

Hello lots of talk in this chapter hope it isn't occ tried by best gang :')

Will wakes up to quiet chatting in the hospital room. The curtains are still closed but there is light shining through the cracks now so it must be morning which means he fell asleep.

He groans a little and rubs his eyes. He has a headache probably from the lack of sleep. When he gets ahold of himself he looks towards the bed to find Hannibal and Aga chatting. Hannibal's arm is over Aga and she is staying close to him, clinger than usual but she doesn't seem particularly distressed, good that means Will didn't scare her beyond repair last night.

“Good morning Will” Hannibal greets him smiling but Will avoids eye contact “Look Hannibal I'm really sorry about the night, I'm sure Aga told you about it already. Aga I hope you can forgive me”

Hannibal smiles it's reassuring “Actually Aga told me you were great company during the night, she told me you didn't try to grab her or pray on what happened she really appreciates it” he explains “You are nice” Aga adds quieter then.

Will is more than a little surprised at this; he wants to explain how much he freaked out and how he definitely made the wrong choice staying in between the two of them for so long and how he couldn't find a way to calm her down but he doesn't. It's clear both Lecters don't have any unorthodox emotions about the night and they no longer want to discuss it. Will also wants to ask about the nightmare but he isn't dumb enough to do so, he knows it'll immediately ruin the easy mood of the morning.

“I- I'm still sorry I couldn't do more” he ends up saying lamely. “Did you know once adult salmon return to freshwater, they do not eat. This means that adults can go six months without food” Aga changes the subject, her words are heavily accented but there isn't any misuse of words, it's almost like she memorized the fact word by word.

Hannibal smiles at her “Wow what an interesting fact” Will tells her even though he already knew about salmon, Aga looks unimpressed all the sudden “You already knew” she says.

Will is surprised he is not an easy man to read by any means “I would advise you to be honest with Agnieszka, she is not fond of people babying her” Hannibal explains smug and Will mumbles an awkward apology which Aga seems to funny cause she chuckles quietly, it's music to Will's ears.

“How about this. Elephantfish communicate using electricity. With electrical signals, they can tell each other apart. Signals say how old they are and how big they are” Aga says and this Will didn't know “Really?” he says and Aga grins “Yes” she says smiling.

Will puts hands to his pockets only for his hand to touch his hand. His mood immediately sours he completely forgot about Jack, he quickly opens his phone and soon enough he finds seven missed calls from Jack.

He curses “I- I gotta talk with Jack before he sends a search team to come find me” Will says as he moves to get up “Alright Will take your time. I'm sure Aga and I can entertain ourselves till you let Uncle Jack know you are indeed alive and functional” Hannibal says in a teasing tone and Will takes that as his que to leave.

 

~~~

 

“Jack I know I should have reported back, you don't have to tell me the fifth time. I was with Doctor Lecter's daughter alright? I'll come down to the precinct to make an official report as soon as I can” Will said, standing by the door of Hannibal’s room trying his best to not shout in the hospital hallway.

“Fine. While you were on radio silence we found some evidence that led me to believe Abigail Hobbes might have been involved in her father's crimes, do you think that's possible?” Jack changed the subject back to business.

Will sighed “Does it really matter Jack? She is dead and the mother clearly didn't know anything. There is no way we can know for sure if she was guilty or not now that she is dead, let's just not dig into it alright? Mrs Hobbs deserves that much” he said, laying it thick with the pity talk for Mrs Hobbs in reality he just wanted to get the case over with. Plus he owed Abigail Hobbes some secrecy for not being able to save her.

There was a moment of silence behind the phone, Jack was thinking “You are right” he ended up sighing after a moment.

“Anala thinks you shouldn't be getting therapy from doctor Lecter now that you two have been through a traumatic event together, she said it might cloud both of your judgement” Jack starts once again with a completely different topic.

There is the most basic reason why every conversation with him leaves Will exhausted “I agree with Anala. I cannot talk with him in that setting now that he got stabbed because of me. Also I don't need a therapist Jack, I do not like to be psychoanalyzed” he responded in a calm voice now glad that Jack didn't see him absolutely freaking out the night before.

“I won't make you get a psychiatrist for now but you have to tell me when it gets too much, I trust you will be honest with me” Jack ends up saying defeated Will is glad “And Will, it wasn't your fault these types of stuff happens in the field. Don't blame yourself and don't worry about the reports I'll make sure your back is covered” Jack then adds in a softer tone, Will takes a big shaky break he needed to hear that from an outside party and it's good to know he has people who look out for him.

“Thank you Jack..” He says then the call disconnects. Will pockets his phone and walks down the hall to find a bathroom where he could wash his face, get his thoughts in order.

 

~~~

 

Back in the room he finds himself in soft conversation with the Lecters again. Now that Hannibal is on less medication he is more involved; encouraging both Aga and to Will's embarrassment Will himself to talk more confidently and freely.

Will is explaining to Aga how to make a convincing lure out of duck feathers when a knock on the door interrupts them.

The door opens to reveal none other than Doctor Bloom who is looking a little apologetic for not stopping by any sooner. She smiled warmly at Hannibal

“Hello, I'm sorry for not coming sooner I couldn't get away from work” she apologized “Do not stress yourself over that Anala I'm glad you are here regardless of the time” Hannibal answered.

“Will?” She then turned surprised. “Hello Anala” Will answered awkwardly.

The moment of silence was put to an end by Hannibal explaining how Will had stuck with them through the night. Anala seemed not to be content with the answer; Will assumes it is because Anala doesn't think him sane enough to take care of a child for a few hours.

“Hi there” Anala says after looking at Aga, she doesn't make eye contact with her nor answers seemingly uninterested and a little annoyed by her presence. Will wants to snort but doesn't that would be mean, still it feels like a small victory.

“Would you want to go to the washrooms with Anala, darling girl?” Hannibal ends up asking Aga after a few seconds of silence “I hope it's no trouble?” He then adds looking at Anala “Of course not” comes her immediate answer.

Aga says something quiet to Hannibal in a foreign language almost inaudible. Hannibal sends her a small stern look and she gets down from the bed without another indication of wanting to communicate. “Common young lady, let's find the washrooms” Anala says cheerfully Aga follows her once again, keeping quiet.

After they are out of the door, Will realises he is alone with Hannibal for the first time. It seems important for some reason he is nervous all over in a matter of seconds. Luckily for him Hannibal seems to be better at making small talk.

“Agnieszka is fond of you” He says and Will swallows “I doubt that she tolerates me at best” he answers which makes Hannibal chuckle, it's a strangely pleasant sound.

“That is most certainly not true, she made me search up fish facts this morning, I'm fairly sure she wanted to impress you and I assure you she doesn't do that for people she barely tolerates” Hannibal explained easily, Will felt warm all over.

“You should bring her to come fishing with me sometime- I mean you should come to obviously,, if you want to that is” Will found himself blurting out.

Before he could start doubting himself and start apologizing for overstepping Hannibal spoke, shooting his worries away “We would be honored, I'm sure Agnieszka would be thrilled to go fishing with you. However I have one condition you have to give us the pleasure of having you for dinner afterwards”

Will nodded enthusiastically which was rather embarrassing but he didn't really care “Yes of course, I would love to” he said smiling a little.

 

~~~

 

Anala and Aga entered the room soon after as soon as they did Aga placed herself beside her father again hugging him. It was a rather uncharacteristic show of affection coming from Aga and the reason soon revealed itself.

“I was saying maybe me and the little lady can pick up some lunch but she seems rather displeased by the idea” Anala explained and Hannibal sighed “She is rather uncomfortable with leaving me for a long period of time after such a traumatic event” he excused his daughter.

Will looked at Aga who seemed rather distracted with the window view rather than worried and snorted quietly to himself for whatever reason the girl really disliked Doctor Bloom.

“I can come with you if you want we can bring some back to Aga” Will found himself saying, Anala looked rather relieved to have company “Yeah of course” she said with a smile, Will got momentarily distanced by it but quickly shook himself.

 

~~~

 

“You seem rather cozied up with Hannibal and his daughter” Anala commented as they sat in the hospital cafeteria Will huffed “I don't know anything about them Doctor Lecter just needed someone to look after Aga till he was off heavy medication”

“Why are you calling her Aga?” Anala asked, interested “That's what she told me to call her, I think she pitied my inability to pronounce her full name” Will shrugged off fondly.

Anala was surprised “She talks to you? She has barely talked to me since I met her. She always seems so disinterested with any social activity and interaction, doesn't contribute unless she absolutely has to” she explained like she had some thought on the subject beforehand.

Will had figured as much as Aga had barely shown any interest in talking with Will himself up until the moment he helped her get to the hospital. Hannibal seemed rather unhappy about the subject, not necessarily bothered but not indifferent either. It also didn't escape Will's attention that Hannibal worked hard to push her into speaking more English which leads Will to believe some of the antisocial behaviors might be caused by Aga's insecurity in the language.

“Yeah I noticed, it seems very inordinately that someone like Hannibal would raise such an antisocial child, children usually crave social interaction, in a way Aga almost tries to avoid” Will replies instead of answering Anala.

She looks at Will in a way that makes the agent believe she knew something he didn't. She sighs and takes a bite of her sandwich. Only when she is done eating does she speak again. “She isn't Hannibal's biological daughter and she hasn't always been with Hannibal. Couple years ago Hannibal went back to Europe for what was supposed to be a holiday and he came back with her. Since he got her he has been very secretive about the whole adoption process, to a degree that some people think she might actually be his daughter from a forbidden love an old fling of some sorts if you will”

That makes sense, Will spouses it was actually dumb of him to not think of the possibility of Aga being adopted till now. “You don't think that's true though do you” he finds himself asking Anala.

“No of course not, Hannibal isn't the type of person who would hide their child just to protect their reputation” she replies confident in her answer “Yeah I assumed so, he seems more like the live out and proud types”

That makes Anala smile a little “Yeah I suppose he is” she says “He really cares about his daughter too you can see in the way he talks about her, he would be proud if she was his flesh and blood not hide it” she then adds.

Will is momentarily distanced by the bright lights in the cafeteria as it makes his headache almost unbearable. When he gets back to himself he sees Anala looking at him worried.

“I'm sorry, what were you saying?” he asks, trying to collect himself. Anala sighs suddenly less friendly and more pitying in Will's eyes.

“I was saying whatever happened to her, it was terribly traumatic, she is in an extremely delicate place and she needs stable people around her to help her improve her social life and mind space” she says.

“You are telling me to get away from them for Aga's sake? You are telling me I'm not ‘stable’ enough?” Will finds himself splitting out sarcastically. Anala looks almost sad as she answers but she sounds determined non the less “You aren't in a good headspace right now Will especially after what happened last night. I'm just saying that maybe you aren't the best person to be there for her. I know you have bonded with Hannibal and even her over the traumatic experience but trust me when I say she needs someone who could always be there solid in her life”

Will sighes annoyed “I didn't even say anything about ‘being there for her’” Will says even though he absolutely wants to be there for her “I have only spent the night with them cause Hannibal was on heavy medication you are over-complicating my relationship with the Lecters”

Anala turns to look directly into Will's eyes pinning him even though she is aware how much Will hates it “Am I though Will? You have ignored Jack's phones all night and didn't even let the precinct know where you were. You slept on the chair and didn't even take a shower yesterday I'm pretty sure. Did you leave their side at all?” she asks

Will involuntarily tenses “Look I already talked with Jack and told him you were right and I would not take any form of therapy from Doctor Lecter alright so you don't have to worry of my ‘unstable’ self ruining Aga nor Doctor Lecter alright, now please let me be” he ends up saying defeated Anala looks like she is at least a bit of guilty for cornering Will the way she did.

“I only want what's best for everyone, Will. I hope you are not taking this as a personal attack against yourself” she says after while “I know you do” Will answers with a bitter half smile.

 

~~~

 

When they enter Hannibal's room again they find the man reading something from his phone Aga asleep curled next to him.

“Welcome back I'm afraid Agnieszka falls weak against exhaustion and probably won't be awake until noon” Hannibal welcomes.

“That's alright it's good that she is getting some sleep I'm sure she needs it after last night” Anala says understanding Will grunts in agreement.

“I have just read the article on the tattle crime, it's quite the passage” Hannibal says and Will's mood gets worse than it already is “Please don't even start I am not in the mood for that bullshit” he says rubbing his eyes.

“Of course I would not want to worsen your fantastic mood” Hannibal says teasing “Now how have you been Anala it's been quite some time since I had you over for dinner”

A smile breaks on her face “I'm fine, better now that I saw you in a relatively good shape” she says “I heard that you had no one to stay with you during the night, I would love to stay for tonight of you want” she then adds

“Ah yes I'm afraid it was quite hard to get someone here to look after my darling girl in such a short notice. As you know I'm very particular about who watches her. I would be in your debt if you would be willing to stay the night however I'm confident I'll be fine even if you are busy my medication dose will be significantly lowered by tonight” Hannibal answers easily.

“I assure you it's no trouble Hannibal do not worry” Anala assures Hannibal. Will suddenly feels uncomfortable in the small room and gets up abruptly. “I should really get home, please tell Aga goodbye from me” he says both of the psychiatrists look at him like he is little out of it and maybe he is, he can't really tell over the headache and the place closing in on himself.

“I'll be sure to let her know” Hannibal answers, releasing any attempt to convey Will to stay for long would not be answered kindly “Give me your number before you leave in case I need to reach you” he then adds.

Will tells his phone number without any further questioning “text me so I can save you as well” he says as he moves to the door “Goodbye Anala, Doctor Lecter” he says one last time before leaving the room.

 

~~~

 

As he went to the airport with the rental he finally felt a little better. After swallowing tree aspirins and taking a cold shower he had changed and packed up his small travel bag which helped him gather his thoughts at least a little.

The headache was almost fully gone now, just a shallow pain at the back of his mind. His thoughts went back to Aga and how disappointed she was going to be when she woke up to find Will gone, he was sure she would not be so pleased about spending the night with Anala either. He supposed he would have to make the fishing trip one of the best to win her back. He sighed and opened his phone to check the time only the notifications, he opened his phone to check them out.

There were messages by Hannibal. First one read ‘This is Hannibal please let me know how your hand is healing once you reach home. I would hate to see it scaring, regards’ followed by a ‘Aga was not pleased finding you gone though she hid it fairly well, I would suggest you buy some daisy tea to make her before our fishing trip,it is her favorite’

Will found himself involuntarily smiling at the man's texts ‘Alright I'll send you a picture when I get home I'm sure it's not gonna scar though don't worry, I'll get the tea as well thanks for the tip.’ Will ends up texting back ‘I'll get you something as well for being so generous about the ways in which I can win Aga back’ he then ends up adding.

He closes his phone after focusing back on the road; he is a little unsettled about the fact that his mood immediately improved upon hearing from Hannibal. He doesn't really think into it however, he is just glad he will get to spend more time with the duo.

Notes:

Guys do not mind the mistakes I'm hopefully gonna go back and fix them at some point.

Don't worry about Hannibal as well he'll be more involved after he gets out of the hospital which probably will happen either next chapter or the one after

Btw What do you guys think about Anala? I tried my bet to write her in character idk tho.

Also question quick chapters or long ones? I'm going for quick ones at the moment but that might change in the future so what do you guys think about that :3

Anyway hope everyone liked the chapter next up we'll see mushroom guy and some Aga & Hannibal talk, some will nightmares and hallucinations as well probably :^

Comment + Kudos = Faster chapters
Plus I would love to hear everyones thoughts ;)

Chapter 4

Chapter by Nope_Noneed

Summary:

Mushroom case yay and Beverly Will friendship!!

Notes:

I will eventually fix the typos- and have the chapters betaed trust- anyway enjoy :'D

Will enters the kitchen in a rush Aga is struggling in Hannibal's arms there is a knife against her throat. He pulls his gun out but it's too late Hannibal slashes his knife across Aga's neck he is precise she doesn't even stand a chance. Will shoots him then shoots him a few more times.

He crashes next to Aga; she weighs almost nothing; she cradles her in his lap; she has the look of absolute terror on her little ocean blue eyes. She dies without moving in Will's shaking arms he turns to look Hannibal in the eyes he rage and grief filled.

He sees Hannibal crying, he looks even more upset then Will is feeling he looks absolutely destroyed. “You did this” he says there is blood spilling from his mouth “You just had to seperate us”

Will wakes up with a gasp, he is in his bed, his dogs are curled on the floor next to him besides Winston who is taking the space next to him. He is visibly shaking and his shirt is damp with sweat, he puts a hand through his hair which is clinging to his forehead.

He goes to his cramped bathroom and takes two aspirins dry hopping it will help with his agonizing headache then moves to get in the shower. When he is out it's dawn, he knows he isn't going back to sleep.

Getting down stairs is a tricky business as the dogs often get excited and tangle around him on the stairs. He however successfully goes down without much obstacles this morning almost like his dogs are aware he isn't in a good shape.

When he is downstairs he lets the dogs out, they bolt out of the house chasing one another Winston stays back looking at him almost worried causing Will to sigh and let his head. Winston follows him to the kitchen area and stands besides him as Will bumps his old coffee machine to get it to work.

Getting his coffee Will moves to go sit on his porch taking his jacket from the hook by the door. Only when he is sitting on the porch nursing his barely edible coffee Winston joins others in the garden.

Only a few minutes later Will's phone rings and he looks at the name on it, it's Jack. He sighs and gets up.

 

~~

 

Hannibal and Agnieszka finally enter their house at noon. It took Hannibal an incredibly long time to convince the doctors to discharge him much to his and Agnieszka's displeasure.

His darling daughter hadn't slept through the night with Anala's presence nor let him sleep so little to say about the fact that they were both exhausted. He was surprised Agnieszka had slept in Will's presence in the first place and without the agent's presence it only made sense she would be her normal paranoid self.

“Agusia hurry in, we had quite the trip, we should have a quick breakfast and then get some rest” He called her, she joined him inside quickly.

They made their way to the kitchen. It was an open plan, fully furnished with metal accents, not unlike a restaurant's kitchen but certainly more elegant and homey. Agnieszka placed herself in the kitchen stall placed at the middle of the room as Hannibal went to get ingredients to make two bowls of twarożek.

It was relatively simple to make just some cottage cheese mixed with cucumbers and some other sliced vegetables served with some rupjmaize which he had already had some in hand from the last time he baked bread.

He worked with practiced ease; he could basically hear Agnieszka thinking, leaning in her elbows. He didn't say anything letting her gather her thoughts, they both knew if she didn't want to talk there was nothing Hannibal could do to make her talk; she was stubborn and cold as Hannibal when she wanted to be.

He was proud of her for it, although it was most definitely annoying to see her propensity directed towards himself. She had evolved a lot since Hannibal took her under his wing; where she was uncertain and dependent she was now self-assured and headstrong. She had adapted quickly for someone who spent more than half of her life in solidarity from the rest of the civilization. She still lacked most of the necessary social tools but she would learn in time for now it was enough for her to be confident in her and Hannibal's abilities.

Placing the bowls and the brown bread on the island he took his place standing in front of where Agnieszka was sitting. She focused on the food. He put his fork and took some twarożek to spread on the bread as his daughter took a piece of the bread and dipped it in the bowl.

“We have forks for a reason” Hannibal prompt Agnieszka didn't acknowledge much to his annoyance. She took another piece from the bread to tip.

“tėtis, musimy porozmawiać-” she started her mouth half full but Hannibal cut her off “English” he requested mostly because he was still in the process of getting Agnieszka more confident in the language and party because he was petty like that.

She glared at him, aware it was not a battle she could win. “We should talk about Wilhelm” she started swallowing the food in her mouth “What about Will?” Hannibal asked, interested.

“You should kill him” she said simply, she looked as if she was stating the obvious. Her little hands are more tense than usual. “And why is that” Hannibal asks pleasantly Integured.

She stayed silent, focusing on her food for a moment, probably struggling to translate the words to English, her vocabulary in Polish and Lithuanian being much bigger and complex. Hannibal was sure even her Russian vocabulary was relatively bigger than her English one. He knew it was because she had trouble pronouncing the words in english causing her to forget them quicker.

“Wilhelm is- he is wybitnie mądry” she tried annoyed at her inability to fully translate the sentence. She thought it made her look dumb, to an extent Hannibal would agree if it was himself that was in her place. However her doing it was anything but, if anything in his eyes she looked determined, working hard to get her point across.

“Exquisitely smart” Hannibal helps her translate “Tak, exquisitely” she says butchering the world to a point it's barely understandable, nonetheless Hannibal doesn't have it in him to correct her. He smiles encouragingly.

“He sees too much-” she says it sounds almost accusing, not paying attention to the smile she is back on point “He is dangerous” she says ‘ah’ Hannibal thinks there it is; her everlasting paranoia.

She is paranoid about everyone around her; she sees them all as unpredictable and dangerous. Especially men, Hannibal is sure it's because of her more than complex relationship with her late father. She views most as if they were all about to snap at any given moment. She is usually more collected about it, trusting Hannibal to protect her, protect them.

“I thought you liked him, he helped you through your nightmare and bought you some ‘McDonald's’ that you couldn't stop talking about, you even conversed with him” Hannibal responds not out right refusing her request.

She most certainly did like Will. She had never once talked about anyone as much as she talked about Will. Which was still not a lot but a huge development regardless. It made Hannibal all the more curious on what Agnieszka had to say.

She is quiet for a couple of seconds trying to form a sentence “I do like him but I like you more, tėtis you can not ever leave me, understood?” She ends up answering determinedly. She sounds emotional, vulnerable more so than she is usually comfortable being.

“And why do I have to kill Will to achieve that? If you are worried about him figuring us out, why don't you just request me to not contact him?” he asks. She sighs and once again looks at him like the answer is obvious. “Cause you are interested in him, really interested you won't stay away” she says “and I am too” she then adds quietly, like she is admitting a sin.

What a smart little thing she is, she knows her nature and she also knows his more so than anyone alive perhaps.

“Agusia, even though I love how protective you are of me, of us I do not require your assistance nor insight in this darling girl. I have been doing this for a long time and I promise you if there was any danger I would put an end to it” he told her.

She kept quiet fidgeting with her hands; she seemed satisfied with the assurance no matter how infuriating it sounded. She believed him and trusted him without any more explanation needed.

Hannibal once again realized how she was just a child relying on an adult to keep her safe. He knew she didn't want Will dead, she already liked him more than any of the other people around them. She was simply trying to be strong for him, trying to be cold and calculating. Trying to be someone he can rely on. Hannibal couldn't have that they weren't equals on this she was her to protect he was the one responsible of keeping them safe.

He moved to hug her, and when he did she clinged to him so he balanced her on his not wounded arm and started gathering what's left of their food. As he moved through the room she whispered “obiecaj mi tėtis, you won't leave me” her voice was quiet and a little whimpery, Hannibal kissed her silky blonde hair “I promise darling girl” he said voice steady. She fell asleep soon after that, content with having her father close.

 

~~

The ambulances are moving the six dead bodies they dug out so far in the forest cops are talking with the paramedics disturbed, Will is next to Jack.

“Don't make me regret not making you get a psych evaluation” Jack says off handedly as they enter the crime scene. Will doesn't answer him, focused on the field.

“Local police found more small animal traps in the surrounding woods. They even discovered a thirty gallon drum of pesticide
hidden in a hollow tree along with a rusted Radio Flyer wagon” Jack starts to explain after a moment of silence. Will nods “He didn't want his crop disturbed”

They approach the forensics team. Passing by the rest of the FBI who are trying to dig up the rest of the buried bodies. Prince tells them there are seven bodies all in different stages of decaying, all very well fertilized. Will humms

Beverly reaches into a grave containing a partially uncovered, fungus-covered corpse who's eyes, mouth and nose are covered with duct tape and palms a handful of black soil.

She explains how they were buried in high-nutritioned compost which leads the team to have a quick information dumb slash discussion. They go back and forth a bit, Will also getting involved towards the end. When Will finally seems ready to do his mojo Jack requests everyone to clear the area. Will closes his eyes.

He digs the dirt with a shovel. Next to him there is a naked man lying on the ground unconscious. When he is satisfied with the hole he digs he moves over to the man and shoves a plastic tube up his nose “I choose this man. I do not bind his arm or legs as I bury him in a shallow grave. He is alive but will never be conscious again” he monologues at the same time.

He places the man down the grave and starts to fill the hole with nutrient soil he takes from the wagon beside him. “He won't know he's dying. I don't need him to. This is my design”

He closes his eyes however when he opens them back this time his blood runs cold. The grave contains Garret Jacob Hobbes now, he takes a step back and loses his ability to breathe for a second as the face melts into Hannibal.

He closes his eyes hyperventilating and shaking, when he opens them again it's all gone and the body is back. He moves back without giving it another glance trying to get his breathing back under control. He doesn't tell Jack what he saw and he doesn't realize the body he glanced at was still alive.

 

~~

 

He ends up being roped into a late lunch with Beverley who is the agent he actually tolerates the most so far. She picks a quiet diner, not too far away from the FBI corters.

It's a small but comfortable place. Not many people are around and the music is quiet. Will appreciates the thought Beverly surely put into it to make Will as comfortable as possible. Cause even though Will hates to admit loud noises and crowded places tend to bother him more than it does other people, especially after he analyzes a murder.

“That was really crazy right? When Zeller found that guy still alive” she said as she opened the menu. She had a friendly smile.

“Well the guy is ‘alive’ no more” Will retorted “but yeah it was crazy” he then added realizing how rude he sounded.

He supposed he had to be at least a little friendly towards his new colleagues if he was going to keep assisting the FBI with cases.

“You don't really do this often do you?” Beverley asked in an amused yet not unkind voice. Will huffed a little embarrassed. He supposed you didn't need to be a freak with an empathy disorder to realize he was indeed terrible at this. “I'm not really sociable” he grunted.

“You give lectures” she argued “In lectures I talk they listen I don't converse” he answered simply. She seemed satisfied with that answer.

There was a moment of silence “I will be miles back my schedule if I keep missing my lectures like this” Will then stated, making the other agent smile. He was confused for a second before Beverly opened her mouth again.

“Oh my god, you are trying to make small talk” she said energetically Will blushed and looked away “No! I'm sorry I'm honored really” she tried to reassure.

“No you ruined it now we will eat in silence” Will grunted he was more relaxed than usual though and had a small smile on his face. Beverly was happy enough with the smile as she let go of the conversation “Fair enough, totally on me, I'll get you next time”

Soon the waitress got and took their orders. She was a nice old lady who did her job with a smile. They ordered two burger menus with fries and coke. She wrote it down and said she would be back with their food in no time.

Beverly took a small phone call from her younger sister. Which gave Will the opportunity to look out of the window and zone out at least for a little while.

‘Salutations, Agnieszka wanted you to know she has purchased a book about different types of fishing lures -HL’

Came the text making Will smile looking at his phone. He typed a quick text back.

‘She didn't really need to I would happily teach her anything she needs to know’

Hannibal took a few moments to reply.

‘This book is actually the first book in english she wanted me to purchase, she is usually averse to reading in the language as she is nowhere close to confident in her abilities compared to Polish and Lithuanian. So I'm infinitely glad you had impressed her enough with your talk that she purchased the book -HL’

Will was out of words for a second he didn't really know how to answer that. He also had not realized that Aga was able to read in two languages already. He guessed shouldn't accept anything less than that from Hannibal's daughter anyway, who knew how many languages the man himself spoke.

‘Well I'm glad she enjoys my fish talk I guess, I'm not really interesting to talk to’

He ends up texting. He really is glad Aga is enjoying his talk about fishes.

‘I will have to disagree with you, from the short time we have spent and the texts we had so far, I'm sure you are a fabulous company and an entertaining person to talk to -HL’

And that makes Will blush. He gapes at his phone for a couple of seconds, before getting ahold of himself and texting back.

‘We'll see if you'll feel the same after we go to fishing next week and you'll be stuck, forced to spend the whole day with me and my fish talk’

Hannibal's answer comes pretty quick.

‘I am sure my opinion on your company will not change however we shall see next week, I have a patient that will arrive soon therefore I'll have to go, take care Will -HL’

Will sighed leaning back on the chair he was sitting at.

‘You are having patients just after you got out of hospital? Don't you need to rest’

He asks, he is sure stab wounds need more attention and resting than three days in the hospital. The shot wound he himself had still hurt his shoulder from time to time even after years.

‘I only have this one patient for today, I had cancelled all my sessions for the past four business days as I was consulting, then in the hospital. And while I tried to cancel my other sessions for the rest of the week as well I have quite a few patients who's sessions cannot simply be cancelled quite easily -HL’

Will felt more than a little guilty, he swallowed. He was the reason Hannibal had ended up in the hospital in the first place. The poor guy probably ruined all of his schedule to get a few hours of rest. Not to mention Aga she was clearly traumatized by the experience more than she already was. She was clearly depending on Hannibal for support which probably was extremely tiring as well.

‘Damn that must be really hard. I'm sorry I got you stabbed again’

He types lamely, not really knowing what to say in these types of situations. He is pretty sure he sounded like an ass and that Hannibal is going to block him now.

‘As I said Will, do not blame yourself if anything you saved me. And do not worry it really isn't that uncomfortable for me, just a little tiresome. Regardless I shall really go now Goodbye -HL’

Came the answer and Will wrote a goodbye then closed his phone. He didn't want to bother the guy more than he had.

As he pocketed his phone he saw Beverley grin at him. He immediately knew he was caught.

“So what did you say about not being sociable?” She asked Will sighed “You seemed very sociable to me; texting with a huge grin on your face. Who were you texting anyway?” She seemed really interested.

“No one and it was nothing” Will tried to stop her from preying “Nope- not nothing. You came to have lunch with me which means you are entitled to give me gossip about your life, now spill” she commanded. It was obvious she wasn't going to back off.

Will sighed loudly “If you must know I was texting with Doctor Lecter” he then grumbled. Beverley's eyes shone “Doctor Lecter, Who you looked like you wanted to choke him in a pond?” she asked.

He guessed he wasn't really friendly towards the doctor when they first met. But in his defense Will really hated psychologists and he didn't know the guy had a lovely daughter. Plus once he actually talked with the guy he found him to be quite stimulating and yet not overwhelming.

“Yeah well we have been texting and he and his daughter are going to come fishing with me next week” he answered trying to keep the explanation vague.

“You are taking him on a fishing date? Weird choice but guess fits you” Beverly questioned she seemed surprised but not too surprised.

“What no it's not a date” Will answered without missing a beat “I got the guy stabbed and his daughter was interested in fishing so I figured lest I can do is to take them” he explained which was an understatement of a lifetime however was the closest thing to the actual truth.

Beverly seemed a little guilty after hearing his response. “Oh sorry man I hugely misread the situation then, It's good that you are trying to make it up to the guy though do not blame yourself too hard you know don't let it get in your head too much” she replied, she obviously had read his previous performance as an act of guilt. Which was not untrue but definitely not the whole picture.

Will put and hand through his hair “Yeah I'm trying to” he answered honestly. She sent him an understanding smile.

Soon their food arrived and the subject changed to Beverley mostly ranting about the rest of the team. Will hadn't been part of the team nearly long enough to really contribute in the one sided monologue even if he wanted to. But he still enjoyed himself. It felt good to just be in a person's company without the need to contribute to the conversation.

Going home that evening he sincerely hoped they would catch the killer before next week so that he would have an empty mind for their fishing trip. He might be losing his mind more and more everyday but he figured he would enjoy the time he has left as much as he can and eventually he can disappear in the blackhole that is his brain and finally be free.

Notes:

The reason why this chapter is late is mostly because I didn't want to write it but I had to get it over with before the fishing trip so yeah here we are.

Also I am not polish nor lithuanian and even though we have matching cuisine in my country they are always a little different so I'm hoping I'm getting the vibe right. also I love Hannibal having another slav around him cause it's just so funny to me to like see the cultural differences and two Slavs equals I get to show it more apparent lol.

Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter! Comments and Kudos are always appropriated :D

Chapter 5

Chapter by Nope_Noneed

Summary:

Fishing trip with the trio!! And some doggies.

Notes:

Again a long wait but also a longer chapter yay? Again I'll eventually fix the mistakes and get it betad

Chapter tw:
Child abuse (not too explicit)
Cannon typical gore
Mentioned Animal abuse/neglect

She was crouched on the muddy snow, careful not to get any snow or blood on her clothes. Her mother hated when her clothes got dirty or wet and she didn't want to make her mother mad. She always got so mean when she was mad.

Her bare feet were fully red because of the freezing cold, but she didn't care as they didn't hurt anymore they were just pleasantly numb.

She leaned down the woman and poked her wound with a stick. She made sure it would hurt, the woman was too weak to do anything about it, she didn't even have the energy to scream or talk. She just whimpered and cried softly, barely shaking and keeping still besides that, her body not collaborating anymore.

Aga liked the pain on her face, the exhaustion and the darkness of her eyes, the dark exhaustion that came from knowing it was over. She let go of the stick in order to look the woman in the eyes and smile. She wanted her to see how much she was enjoying her pain.

The smile on her face dissolved by her brother pulling her up by her arm “Agusia!” the boy said, his face filled with fear and desperation. “Proszę nie rób tego, nie rób jej krzywdy” he pleaded as he pulled her closer to himself.

Aga didn't really understand why his brother was so opposed to her poking the woman. She was terribly rude when she first arrived. She screamed at them, even caught and beat Aga when she got too close by accident and then her brother when he tried to help her get away, she also spit at their mother and called her names all the time.

Aga was having so much fun, showing her how she was the one in the snow covered garden freezing to death while Aga wasn't and how she was just better than her, stronger than her. But it didn't matter Maciej wanted her to stop and so she would. She didn't want her big brother upset; she couldn't stand making him upset.

She clinged to him as they made their way inside the house. Their age was too close for Maciej to carry her comfortably but they didn't care, she didn't weigh much anyway. Hunger had always taken what it could form their bodies in the cold unkind winter. Both of them barely weighed anything, all bones and skin, stomach permanently dented in.

They knew father would be in soon which would sour mother's mood surely, cause now with the woman slowly bleeding out at the front their father would have nothing to entertain himself but their mother and them. Neither cried about it anymore; it was what it is, it was what it had always been and all they know.

Maciej helped her dry her feet lecturing about how it was dangerous to do that. She didn't really mind the cold, it had never hurt her or Maciej. They then curled down behind the couch Aga positioning herself securely on top of her brother clinging to him for comfort and safety. She apologized multiple times quietly, her soft little hands holding his scrappy shirt tight. Maciej petted her silky blonde hair in exchange saying it was all fine and that he loved her dearly. It wasn't long before their father arrived and the silent comfort they had vanished giving its place to a chaos not unknown but agitated.

At night, a few long hours after their father’s arrival, Aga got out of the mattress and went towards the window curious about the sounds coming from outside, her mother was alert sitting by the mattress smoking but not necessarily paying attention to what was going on outside.

She usually wasn't allowed to leave the bed at night without her brother. He didn't like her leaving his sight. Aga knew he was at least a little scared of the dark but she wasn't yet she almost always obeyed her brother. She didn't really care to leave the bed at night and if it made her brother uncomfortable she had no reason to be doing it. But it was different tonight.

Maciej was deep asleep on their mattress, the ceramic ashtray had hit him hard in the head and he had not been properly awake since. Mother had put him in bed and told Aga he was just sleeping when she asked. She had tried to wake him before but it didn't work so she knew he wouldn't worry if she got out of the bed.

When she reached the window and looked outside on the tip of her toes, her blood ran cold. There was a wolf eating the woman, hungrily tearing her into pieces. There was blood and pieces of human flash everywhere, the woman was long dead but it hardly made the scene any less terrifying. The wolf's eyes were almost pained, hungry eyes not really seeing the world around it. The beast seemed not to be realising how close it was to danger too focused on the food or maybe too desperate to care.

Aga was shaking with fear but she was unable to move eyes locked in place. Until a loud bang made her flinch violently and fell backwards, she crawled back until her back hit the mattress, her mother looked at her disinterested. Aga moved to reach her brother to try shaking him awake, but was stopped by her mother.

She pulled Aga up by her arm harshly. She told her if she was to watch she was not to cry and not to make it anyone's problem that she had no right. Aga was still unable to stop herself from shaking, her tiny frame was desperate to curl in herself but she kept standing, she didn't want to make her mother’s mood any worse.

Her mother then explained to her, that was why father left the woman outside sometimes instead of buying or getting rid of them. He liked shooting desperate animals who were hungry enough to come this close.

She then told Aga they were going to eat the wolf after she got rid of the woman and butchered the beast. Father rarely brought food home; he usually ate outside so Aga, her mother and Maciej were used to being hungry and underweight, eating scraps unless father shot anything for them to eat especially in winters when it was too cold to wander around the forest to find something to eat.

Aga stood there working hard to keep standing with how wobbly her legs were, she nodded but didn't dare to speak, her mother found that to be good enough as she got up from where she was sitting told her to be good and left, probably going to gut the wolf.

After she felt Aga felt her legs finally giving out. When she hit the cold floor she wasted no time and rushed towards her big brother; she hid herself under the blankets next to him and clinged. She cried quietly until she couldn't, she didn't dare to get up, too afraid to leave her brother's side even for a moment.

When Maciej asked her what happened sensing her unease the next morning. She couldn't talk about it. She just cried harder, her brother didn't push her for an answer, just pet her hair. Both of them had stories they couldn't repeat, even to each other.

They had hot stew for two whole weeks after that and Aga couldn't help but hope her father would do it again. She didn't care about how scary it was; she didn't care about the wolf's desperate hungry gaze nor all the blood and human pieces; the lack of hunger was a strong motivator. She liked not being hungry, she liked her stomach not hurting, she liked Maciej healing faster.

She didn't cry next time she heard the gunshot, just clinging to her brother harder Maciej hugged her back he knew what was going on too. All the sudden him being scared of the dark didn't seem silly to Aga. Even though they cling to each other neither of them were upset about the brutal sight that was surely going on outside though not when they knew it meant a hot meal.

 

~~

 

Aga woke from her slumber with a slight stomach pain. Hannibal told her that most of the time her stomach pain was psychological and not physical. She hated that so she didn't acknowledge the pain as she got up from bed and made his way to the kitchen where her tėtis surely was.

She left the bed unkempt, she did not care for it looking tidy and tėtis made a point of letting her keep her room her own place which meant as long as it was not dirty she got to keep it relatively untidy.

Her room was not big, smallest in the house, per her request. She didn't like open places a lot and even being the smallest it was still two times the size of the room her, her mother and brother stayed in for more than half of her life.

The room was painted a sick kind of white which she specifically wanted because it reminded her of her old houses. The one she stayed with her family and the one she stayed with Hannibal in Poland. It was however covered with posters, stolen sketches made by Hannibal and childish paintings done with shaky hands. There was a closet on the opposite side of the bed in between them there was a window and a bit to the right a nightstand placed right next to the bed. In front of the foot of the bed there was a toy box that barely got opened let alone used and facing that there was a cushion seat behind it a bookcase filled with books mostly in Polish and Lithuanian accompanied with some English ones. At the opposite end of the table next to the closest stood a small table with drawing materials and paper. It was clearly more used than the toy box and was the messiest part of the room.

She closed her door behind herself; the rest of the house followed a much different, elegant aesthetic. It was well decorated and nothing was even slightly out of place. The interior was almost like a museum like no adult lived in it let alone a child. Hannibal liked his place perfectly after all and Aga respected that she knew how to pass around like she didn't exist. Plus tėtis’ rules were much easier to follow then mother's let alone father's and she didn't want anyone in the house to clean it which tėtis told he would get if she was untidy in common areas.

She walked down the hallway filled with beautiful paintings and other artistic decor until she reached the kitchen. Hannibal was already there working on something quietly. It was too early to eat breakfast, the sky was still dark, so Aga assumed it was for the picnic they were going to have with Wilhelm today.

Hannibal noticed her pretty quickly, Aga was very silent when she wanted to be but the other was always aware of his surroundings. “Good morning” Hannibal said with an easy smile.

Aga yawned “Dzień dobry tėtis” she said, voice sleepy, she then moved to Hannibal's side so he could pick her up.

“Agusia english please darling girl” Hannibal said as he picked her up and placed her on the counter. He then turned back to slicing vegetables for a sandwich he later would deny was elaborate and time consuming.

Aga made an unhappy sound, she did not want to speak English right now, words were hard in the mornings specifically when her stomach was hurting and she had dreamed of Father. “You have to improve your English, speaking is the best way to do that” Hannibal explained after hearing the sound. Not giving her a glance

“Nie” Aga pounded Hannibal sighed, still not turning to her “I must insist we have been here almost an year and you are still lacking day to day conversation skills or at least aren't confident enough in them” Hannibal lectured his voice a little annoyed but mostly calm and stern.

“Nie tėtis nie chcę” she said as she pulled her legs up on the counter. Her voice was whiny not overly but it was clear she was actually upset. She would usually result in subtle anger when her mood swung but since Hannibal got stabbed she was more delicate, sensitive even. Her emotions were little all over the place mostly because she didn't get nearly enough sleep, nightmares and paranoia keeping her awake.

Hannibal finally looked at Agnieszka, a little concerned, she was usually better at keeping her emotions at check. It wasn't the best time to push her to speak more english he realized, it was mostly a trial fail situation between them, Hannibal would push Agnieszka until it was her limit and figure out best ways and times to approach.

He let go of the knife and cleaned his hand in the kitchen towel then moved to give Agnieszka a hug and a little pet on the hair. “How about this I'll speak English and you can respond in whichever language you like” he proposed, after a moment he felt a nod against his chest.

“Is your stomach hurting again?” He asked, stomach ache usually equaled unpleasant memories and sour moods with Agnieszka. It was heavily psychological with her probably a result of a trauma caused by the chronic stomach pain that came with hunger. It was mostly mild most days and went away when she ate a couple bites of food but sometimes they were painful and stayed for hours on end. Luckily for them Aga didn't look like she was in severe pain.

“Nie” she mumbled after an audible pause which made it pretty obvious she wasn't being honest. Hannibal kept petting her hair. This was a problem they had, since Hannibal told her the reason for her stomach pain, Aga had decided she wanted to pretend they didn't happen as she perceived them as signs of weakness. Hannibal tried to explain to her that it was okay but so far made no progress, she was very stubborn.

“Agnutė are you sure, I can make you a quick sandwich or offer you a fruit? You know it helps” he asked then offered. He gave her time to think as he kept petting her hair. At the end Aga expected his offer for fruit.

After Aga nipped at her apple and her mood improved she started talking about her plans with Will. They mostly revolved around fishing but contained a nature walk as well. Hannibal was pleasantly surprised that Agnieszka spoke this much or fond about anything let alone someone. Especially since they came to the States, Aga had become quiet, more so than usual and kept to herself most of the time unless Hannibal initiated it first. This Will Graham was surely something special getting his girl to open up without even trying.

“Prawdopodobnie złowimy trochę łososi, choć to w dużej mierze zależy od tego, gdzie będziemy łowić i-” Aga talked her voice audible but nowhere near loud, Hannibal cut her off fondly “Brangioji, I'm sure you are excited about the whole trip we are going to have, however I must request you to focus more on your breakfast so we won't be late to the said trip”

Aga stopped abruptly, surprised she was talking this much herself, she stood there for a moment. After the initial surprise she returns to her food blushing a little.

Hannibal smiled at her, it was amusing seeing her with such childish reaction and mannerisms. He sends a quick text to Will saying they will arrive in about 3 hours like they agreed on then returned back to his breakfast. It was a very light meal but would surface just fine.

~~

 

Will reached to his side table groaning, Jack better be texting to let him know the world was ending after how the stupid mushroom case had ended. He rubbed his face and focused on his screen. Jack had sent a short text saying he should get some rest, under it rested a message from Hannibal letting him know they were going to arrive in three hours, the message was sent two and half hours ago.

“SHIT!” Will groaned as he tried to stumble out of bed and face planted on the ground. He rubbed his face in pain and sleeping depravity, when he finally opened his eyes again Winston was staring at him almost disappointed. “Don't look at me like that you were sleeping too” Will complained, Winston left Will on the ground and walked to the stairs he knew he had the high ground.

Will eventually followed him downstairs Harley, Max and Ellie were waiting by the cabinet they knew the food was in and Zoe was waiting by the backdoor next to her, Buster was already clawing it, not so politely requesting him to open it. He sighed at Buster's antics and moved towards the door, making his way through the very messy living room. As soon as he opened the door Buster bolted outside and Zoey followed him slowly and calmly. She was an old lady after all.

After freeing the gremlin that was Buster he moved towards the food cabinet. He looks at Jack and Winston, both have raised their heads and watching him walk to the cabinet, they know it contains the food as well.

Max gives him a satisfied bark when he opens the cabinet and takes the food out. After food is served all the dogs are out of his hair and he finally has the time to make some coffee for himself.

The night had been awful. It was full of nightmares and sweat, thankfully his headache was completely manageable right now which meant he wasn't going to be a total nightmare for Lecters.

As the coffee gets made he tries to tidy his living room, it doesn't look much better once he is done but it's a lost cause really. At least now the case reports and his lecture notes are stacked on the table instead of the couch and the floor, not to mention he cleared all the clothes and dog toys laying around the space in random places.

He even has enough time to take a quick shower after chugging his coffee down. Talk about time management as Will has clearly mastered it. After his shower he wears his fishing clothes and gathers the fishing gear which was already packed previously. Just as he is gathering the pack inside Hannibal texts him they are about to arrive, he texts him a quick alright and gets back on the job.

 

~~

 

They park on the lawn, the house is in a solitary place with no neighbors close. Hannibal is not surprised, he had not expected Will to have a tight relationship with his neighbors anyway. The house is better than he thought, however, Will had clearly taken great care of it. It is not necessarily something he would choose but it has a certain appeal and seems very Will. One glance at Aga, Hannibal can see she is mesmerized with the place, he knows it's because it reminds her of her first house.

Unlike Hannibal, Agnieszka found comfort in her old house; for her it was where her family lived together until her late father kicked her and her brother out to the cold shed. She thought of the place as her first home no matter how much pain the place had caused her. She always was more sentimental than Hannibal, he didn't blame her for that, it actually reminded him of Chiyoh in some aspects. Not that he thought Aga would follow through with the self made prison if she were in Chiyoh's position. She might be sentimental but she certainly was not to a point it would deprive her of her freedom.

 

As they got out of the car Aga kept close, not quite touching him but close enough that he could feel her body heat in the cold weather. They reached the porch and climbed up the stairs to the front door in comfortable silence.

Hannibal rang the bell, loud barks came from behind the door. Aga was hugging his leg in an instant “Tėtis proszę mnie odebrać” she pleaded distressed and Hannibal moved to pick her up per her request. Just as he did the door opened and multiple dogs pooled around Hannibal's foot.

 

“I'm so sorry- I somehow completely forgot to mention, I have seven dogs” Will said with a sheepish smile, categorizing Aga's distress as surprise.

“Food in home?” Aga asked, her voice was small and she clung to Hannibal trying her best to keep her feet away. “Food?” Will questioned a little confused, Aga didn't seem to understand what the confusion was about.

Hannibal cut in the conversation to stop the on going misunderstanding. “Agnieszka these are pets ‘zwierzęta’ he isn't going to butcher and eat them, he keeps them simply for company” Aga looked at him still confused “But there are so many” she said.

“You guys talking about my dogs?” Will asked his eyebrows up to his hairline, Hannibal sighed “I'm sorry Will, Agnieszka simply mistook your companions for slaughter animals. I now understand that we haven't really been around pets all that much and therefore, I didn't have the opportunity to realise she didn't comprehend the concept to the full extent until now”

Will looked confused before he seemingly realised the situation meanwhile Agnieszka looked positively embarrassed and irritated that she got the whole thing thoroughly wrong. “It's no problem really, let me introduce them properly. Aga these are my dogs, they are my friends and I don't plan on eating them” Will said after a moment of silence.

Aga looked at the dogs in barely contained unease then back at Will “They are dangerous, the dogs” she stated. Hannibal didn't really know where her statement came from, however he had some ideas, the wolves were always hungry in winter time.

Will looked mildly offended, Hannibal was sure if it was anyone else who had made that comment Will would be throwing hands. “They aren't dangerous, they are well trained. As I said they are my friends” he answered then made a clicking sound to demonstrate and the dogs went back inside obediently. “See”

Aga watched the whole ordeal with amaze then turned and whispered something to Hannibal that Will couldn't catch and assumed was in another language anyway. Hannibal seemingly didn't agree with her as his quirk response makes Aga's face fall.

He then moves to put Aga down. She looks like she wants to cling to Hannibal for a second. “Agnieszka” comes a warning and she drops her hands. When she is placed on the floor Will can basically feel her fear. She immediately takes a step back towards Hannibal. Her mood looks like it's completely ruined.

Will swallows, he isn't sure of what to do. Usually people who are scared of dogs are scared because of preconception but Aga felt like her fear was coming from a traumatic event. Will didn't know what to do about that. Luckily for Will, Hannibal spoke.

“Agnieszka is hoping to keep her interaction with your pack minimal for now, however she understands that this is your place and she is the guest. Therefore she is okay with whichever path you are going to take” Hannibal spoke and looked at Aga while he was saying the last bit clearly words came from him and not her. She nodded obediently but she still looked scared.

She then took a step forward but kept close to Hannibal. “Will they come fishing with us?” she asked. Will's original plan was to take the pack with them but after seeing Aga's reaction he didn't really want to anymore, he could always take the dogs for a walk afterwards.

“No I was thinking it would be just us” Will said with a smile Aga seemed relieved by that. “Actually maybe you could let some of them accompany us Will, it would help Agnieszka get used to them” Hannibal said with an innocent smile, making Aga send him an ice cold glare.

“Well if Aga doesn't mind I don't see why not” he says playing it safe. Aga looks intensely at Hannibal and the man looks at her right back. After what seems like a silent conversation Aga turns to him with the frown even more permanent on her face “Me don't mind” she says. “I” Hannibal corrects her with a smile.

For a second Will thinks Aga is going to bite Hannibal but she doesn't she just keeps quiet. “Alright if that's the case give me a minute I'll get the supplies and the dogs ready then we can go”

 

He gets in and closes the door behind himself to make sure no dogs (Buster) goes back outside and tries to befriend Aga. He decides three dogs are probably more than enough for now and gets Jack, Winston and Zoey. They are the calmest and best behaved of the lot. Three of them are pretty antisocial towards humans as well. They prefer their own space, Zoey because of old age Winston and Jack from past unpleasant experiences. Which means they are least likely to bother Aga.

He calls for them and leashes them, he usually doesn't however he is sure it will do Aga good. Then moves to get his gear

 

~~

 

Going outside he spots Hannibal and Aga, they are waiting outside of the porch now and have new items on them. Hannibal a picnic basket and Aga a backpack, Will smiles a little they really came prepared. He takes a step forward.

When Aga realises the dogs she startles, then mumbles something to her father, this time with serious unease, she looks like she is barely keeping her breathing under control.

 

Just as Will is thinking of putting the dogs back and shouting at Hannibal for being an asshole towards his obviously traumatized daughter he sees Hannibal pick Aga up. He hugs her and pets her hair that seems to calm her down enough. He then looks at Will, the agent can understand he is warning Will to approach slowly.

 

Will suddenly feels like he is participating in some kind of exposure therapy. He sighs and hopes Hannibal knows what he is doing as the doctor seemed like an excellent father so far.

 

He clicks his tongue to prompt the dogs to be on their best behavior and walks towards the duo. When he comes close enough he hears Hannibal reassuring Aga that Will was a capable owner and would control his dogs perfectly. Will's chest feels a little tighter with the trust Hannibal surely puts in him.

 

“We'll have to walk a bit, I'd say about half an hour, so I hope you guys are ready” he says keeping the mood light. One glance at Hannibal's shoes he guesses the man is wearing a suit underneath his expensive coat.

Hannibal shrugs and rearranges Aga on his arm making her lean fully towards his good shoulder. “We are ready,” Hannibal says with a smile.

 

They walk in silence for a bit, Aga's head resting on Hannibal's collarbone. Her eyes are watching Will. Hannibal prompts her to speak “If I remember correctly you had some questions for Will, you might wanna ask them beforehand” he says but Aga stays quiet.

 

Will looks at Hannibal questioning, the doctor sends him a look that says we'll talk about it later. Will understands enough to realize, Aga was having trouble with speaking at the moment so he decides to fill in the silence himself, talking about what their plan is for the day.

 

He finds it happening more and more often with the Lecters, usually Will would prefer silence even in places where it was awkward to stay silent, but while with the two he felt like he wanted to talk. Not to fill the silence necessarily but more so to share a part of himself with them, he wondered if that was what other people felt when they talked with each other for hours on end without a reason.

 

Plus both Lecters were highly intelligent, excellent listeners, they didn't ask stupid questions nor made any unnecessary commentary. They listened not because they were polite but because they were legitimately interested. It was pretty easy to read it from Aga. She found fishing interesting and liked when Will explained how everything worked. Not to mention so far she seemed very adamant about interacting with her environment in her terms meaning if she didn't like Will she would have been ignoring him throughout. Hannibal on the other hand was another story. Will was sure the guy was listening to him not just out of politeness but out of interest, however he wasn't sure what exactly made the doctor interested. He didn't seem like the type to care about fishing lures nor the different types of fish. Will would figure it out eventually, Hannibal might be hard to read but he wasn't impossible to read which meant ultimately Will would figure him out.

 

When they finally reached the steam Will unleashed the dogs, they were familiar enough with the area to be trusted to explore alone. “Alright we are here” he announces with a smile. Aga lifts her head to look at her surroundings. “Wow it's pretty”

She seems to have forgotten about the proximity of the dogs now that they are out of her vision cause she requests Hannibal to put her down, which the man complies without question. She moves towards Will and takes him by the hand then pulls him towards the water. “You'll teach me now?” She asks, excited.

 

Will is stuck in his place for a moment, his brain having a problem with comprehending the fact that someone so bright would ever interact with him in such a way. He looks at Hannibal almost expecting him to break the illusion, however he is only met with an encouraging smile. He feels himself smiling back in reaction, feeling of belonging fills him.

Another pull on his hand is what finally got him out of his head and moving. “Right, let's get ready first alright?” He comments, looking pointedly at his fishing equipment and the backpack Aga is wearing.

“Perhaps we could get ready the picnic as well” Hannibal starts looking at Aga then turns towards Will “I hope you don't mind that I took initiative and put together a small picnic box as you might imagine fishing is not part of my many passions”

Will turns to Hannibal who has the picnic basket up now showing it to the agent. “Yeah of course, common I know where we can set everything up”

 

He leads them to a small opening by the weakest point of the stream, it's a small area covered with grass. Around it there are large stones that could be used for fishing if desired. Another plus is that the place gets good sunlight which is good for balancing the cold weather.

When he drops off his equipment in order to help Hannibal with the setup he realizes that Aga is still holding his hand. Before he can process that Aga lets go and walks towards her father.

The setup ends up being a picnic mat, drawing supplies and tea. Hannibal points out they should keep the food inside the basket until they are ready to eat. Both Will and Aga agree, already more focused on the fishing equipment.

Will sits on the grass with his equipment close to him and his portable rod on his lap. Aga is standing up behind him with her hands on his shoulder, she is peeking at how his hands work as he explains the process. “I seed it on tėtis’ tablet” Aga tells him when he demonstrates how to secure the pieces together. “Watched or saw” Will corrects her absent mindedly like he saw Hannibal do so many times.

“I saw it on tablet” she corrects herself a little annoyed “the tablet” Will corrects again teasing, Aga kicks him on the side making him laugh. Aga huffs but she doesn't seem as annoyed as before “I saw it on the tablet, now, show it” she demands.

“Alright, alright come besides me I'll do one and you can do the other” Aga's eyes lit up at that. She quickly places herself besides Will, and starts watching the agent's hands with intense attention when he starts his explanation.

After the rod is ready they move on to the lure which excites Aga even more. She nods with all the seriousness of a laboratory student learning the lab rules. She asks questions, makes comments and even names the lures she read from her book, now they are very badly pronounced and Will has to double take to understand what she says but adorable nonetheless.

She seems to be speaking much more easily now that they were in the middle of nowhere and no one was around. Which leads Will to believe she has some sort of social anxiety. The agent can relate to that too to a degree, as a kid he too had suffered from social anxiety, not to a degree Aga seems to have but still bad enough for him to spend most of his childhood completely alone. Hell if he is being completely honest with himself he still isn't anywhere near being comfortable around most people hence the middle of nowhere house and seven dogs. So he understands how special this is for Aga, he himself has only a handful of moments like this from his childhood and he cherishes every one of them. He sincerely hopes she will have a lot more of these carefree moments that this particular one will be forgotten amongst them. But he knows deep down a selfish, more realistic part of him is extremely grateful to be part of this moment and hoped Aga would remember it forever.

Aga wrangles upright when the rod is fully assembled and the bait is on the hook, she has a huge grin of excitement on her face. “So now since we are going to enter the stream you'll have to take your gloves off and roll up your sleeves” Will instructed as he got up himself.

“No” Came Aga's reply it was significantly more quiet than the previous times she spoke, Will looked at her questioning. “Your clothes will get wet if you don't. You don't want to get sick do you?” He explained even if he knew she understood the reason perfectly.

“I don't want to” she confirmed and yet still made no moves to take off her gloves nor roll up her sleeves. “Do you need help?” He tried next, maybe she was just too proud to ask for help, sounds very much like an Aga thing to do.

He took a step forward and she took one back “No, don't need help- not going to” she says voice quiet but filled with childish determination. “Aga I can't let you get in the water like this you'll get sick” Will tries to explain, Aga looks at him like she is making a real hard decision. She then turns her back and starts walking towards Hannibal.

Will is so surprised it takes him a moment to react as he didn't think Aga would straight up give up going in the water period. He walks towards the duo and reaches them as Aga places herself more securely next to Hannibal who is working on a sketch.

She tells something to Hannibal quietly and not in a language Will could understand. Hannibal doesn't give her a reply. “I told her she could not enter the water like that she would get sick” Will tries to defend himself, he feels like a child who got slimed all the sudden.

Hannibal sends Aga a tired but understanding look and she avoids eye contact. This definitely happened before. “I assumed as much just hoped maybe this was indeed the time, it wasn't, alas I am not a fool and I came prepared” he says “I brought spare clothes she can change into after, so she should not require to roll her sleeves up”

He then turns to Aga “Unfortunately you will need to take your gloves off, if you want to get in the water” she seems to think about her options. Will is lost on why aga wouldn't roll up her sleeves, he doesn't really want to assume anything.

She tugs her gloves off easily enough after a short amount of thinking and hands them to Hannibal, basically pounding “It's a compromise” he says to her smiling.

“We go now?” She asks, her right hand is in an awkward position like she is trying to hide it from his view but Will doesn't comment on it. “Yeah of course let's go” he says, smiling apologetically. Then turns to Hannibal “we'll go now I guess” he blurts out making the doctor chuckle looking up from where he is seated, the man then turns back to his sketch. Will can feel his cheeks going red.

She takes his right hand with her left one and leads them to the water “We catch lots of fish cause you are exquisite fisherman” she says confidently. Will's heart gets two times bigger even with her butchery of the word ‘exquisite’ he understood what she said. It's weird and unusual to be so openly complimented on anything but his ability to get into killers' heads, he doesn't know how to respond to Aga's words so he stays quiet.

In the water Will shows her how to hold the rod properly and she follows his steps perfectly yet her grip seems to be weak. Will leans down to see what might be causing the weakness and that's when he sees her right hand; there is a scar tissue peeking up from where her sleeves end and her fingers are crooked. He hadn't spotted that before, this being the first time he actually focused on her hand.

It makes sense now that she is uncomfortable with the whole roll up the sleeves bit. Will knows she was adopted and had night terrors form before, he can fill in the blanks. “Your grip is a little weak, how about this; let's change the positions of your hands so that your left one will do the heavy lifting” he says, not mentioning her scars.

She nods and does as said. That seems to work better so Will goes to the next step which is to show her how to throw the bait in the water.

 

~~

 

They catch two big trouts. The weather is cold enough that they can leave the fish hanged on the tree branches till they are ready to go. After securing the fishes between the branches they approach Hannibal. Zoey is sleeping next to him not quite touching and the doctor is now reading a book.

He looks up at them when they are close enough, Aga seems to hyped on the fact that they catched two fishes that she doesn't tense two badly at the small dog sleeping. “Tėtis we got fishes” she declares smugly then points at the trees.

Hannibal smiles “Good job Agusia” he cooes then lets go of his book in order to get the little girl in his lap. Will knows both Lecters aren't really physical people so he assumes at least some of Hannibal's snuggling is to take Aga's mind off the dog sleeping next to him.

Aga blushes happy “Agusia? I have never heard you call her that” Will comments as he sits down himself. “It's her nickname an endearment of sorts, they are quite common, almost all names have at least one” Hannibal explains “Right Agnutė” Aga nods.

Will let's a mischievous smile show on his face “So that means yours also have some” he asks “We'll my name is indeed included in the most names” Hannibal answers but doesn't elaborate unfortunately for him her daughter does.

She speaks faster more sure in her natural accent “Hanek, Hania, Haniuś” her voice progressively gets more and more mischievous “Hanukas, Haniuśek, Hanyúshka-” the last ones makes Hannibal cut Aga off “Myślę, że to wystarczy”. She giggles “zostawisz mnie bez godności Agusieńka” complaines. Will doesn't need to understand what the doctor is saying to know he is sulking.

“What happened to speaking English while with company? ” the agent comments offhandedly. Aga leans forward to look at her father properly. “You are right, I apologize for my behavior, now why don't you two tell me what kind of fish you two caught” Hannibal answers effectively getting Aga's attention off the nicknames and the teasing. It's a good tactic the agent must admit, he'll make sure to use it against the doctor next time.

Aga explains everything with bubbling excitement. They correct her grammar here and there, she says some words and sentences in languages Will doesn't speak Hannibal translates some. Will can see the guy is genuinely happy to see his daughter speak this loud, this excited, this much.

At some point Hannibal opens the basket to reveal the sandwiches he prepared. It's one of the best things Will has ever had the pleasure of eating. With the smell Jack and Winston appear from wherever they were hanging out at.

Will looks at Aga, nervous she might freak out but to his surprise the girl stays mostly calm besides tensing a little and moving closer to her father. She tells Hannibal about Will's fishing stories with a childlike narrative. Hannibal chuckles at her exaggerated words, Will does too. He is a little overwhelmed by how highly this kid thinks of him but doesn't dare to interrupt to correct her, the moment seems too important.

 

“Why do you keep them” Aga asks at some point looking at Jack and Winston sleeping next to Will. “They were strays” he explains at Aga's confused look he explains “that means they had no home”

She nods “They don't like people” she then states Will doesn't know how she figured that out but it's not wrong. “Well they have their reasons” he answers defensively.

“What reasons?” Aga asks, Hannibal holds back a smile. “I found Winston covered in mud with a collar around his neck, he probably escaped or was abandoned by his previous owners he was.. actually- still is scared of most humans” Will explains Aga, Winston for his calm dementor is actually really anxious at times. The one time Will took him to town for a vet visit was the biggest example of that. It had taken the agent 20 minutes just to get Winston out of the car.

He petts the dog's head then continues. “Jack was my fifth dog and at the time I was worried I had too many of them so I had promised myself next time I found a dog, because I knew I would, I was gonna get it adopted” the dog opens his eyes at the mention of his name but doesn't raise his head. “Anyway one day I was walking in one of the rustier towns. I don't really remember the reason why, when I saw Jack. He was in a broken shed chained tightly and was covered in bloody wounds. I got closer to see his situation and he tried to growl at me but he was too weak”

Aga looks at Jack with some sort of understanding that Will can't really place “I had to take him to a vet, I walked to the house and knock the door some guy opmed it and I pun-” he cuts himself off abruptly “uhh asked him if I could take Jack and he said yes you can” he says instead looking at Aga, he hears soft chuckle of Hannibal at the background.

“I took him to the vet and got him help but no one wanted him, you know he was too angry too antisocial, so they told me if I didn't take him they were going to have to put him to sleep” he explained Aga looked confused “to put to sleep means to kill” Hannibal supplies making the little girl gasp. So much for shielding her Will thinks but Hannibal is her father so what does Will know? “Yeah- anyway so I could not let that happen you know. It wasn't his fault he was always angry, he just didn't know better. I took him in, and it took a long time but see he isn't angry anymore” he finishes poking Jack a little to show the dog is just mildly annoyed.

Aga looks at the dog and moves forward a little, reaching her right hand towards the dog's soft fur. When she is about to touch Jack's head the dog's ear twitches making Aga take her back violently. But after watching Jack closely and realising that the dog wasn't attempting to do anything she gathers the courage to move forward once more. Once her hand touches the dog she pets him quickly and anxiously before moving back satisfied. “Not angry anymore” she confirms mostly to herself.

“What about this one” she then points at Zoey who is still sleeping next to Hannibal. “Well she just doesn't like humans, when she was younger she at least pretended she could tolerate them but with her old age she stopped caring I guess” Will shrugs not all of his dogs had heartbreaking life stories some were just menaces from birth.

Aga giggles “może wkrótce będziesz taka jak ona” Hannibal's eyes go wide and he snorts “I doubt I will act like an old mutt anytime soon if ever” he says offended. Will finds himself laughing.

 

~~

 

“I didn't see Hobbs” he says defensively. Aga had gone to play by the steam leaving the doctor and Will alone for the past forty minutes.

“Then it's not Hobbs' ghost that's haunting you, is it? It's the inevitability of there being a man so bad that killing him felt good.” Hannibal interprets. Will genuinely doesn't know how the whole conversation had turned to some sort of therapy. “Killing Hobbs felt just.” He finds himself answering regardless.

“Which is why you're here. To prove that spring of zest you feel is from saving me and Aga in extent, not killing Garett Jacob Hobbes” Will raises his head so fast and for a second he thinks he saw blood coming from Hannibal's mouth but he binks and it's gone.

“I am here because I want to be, because I like spending time with you two. And I didn't feel a sprig of zest when I shot Eldon Stammets” Will says a little angry and more than a little defensive. He is still a little disoriented with the image of Hannibal's bloody face stuck in his mind.

“You didn't kill Eldon Stammets” Hannibal points out and Will kinda wants to strangle him for that. Instead he ends up putting his hand through his hair after taking a big breath. “I thought about killing him. I'm still not entirely sure that wasn't my intention pulling the trigger” he admits there is no point in lying.

“If your intention was to kill him, it's because you understand why he did the things he did. It's beautiful in its own way. Giving voice to the unmentionable.” Hannibal explains he isn't looking at Will anymore but watching Aga struggle with the big stone she is trying to throw to the water to make a big splash.

“I should have stuck to fixing boat motors in Louisiana” Will complains, the tension is broken now he is no longer defensive. Hannibal smiles “A boat engine is a machine. A predictable problem, easy to solve. You fail, there's a paddle. Where
is your paddle?” he asks.

For a split second Will wants to say you two but quickly scraps the thought. Because what the hell- he barely knows the Lecters he met them two weeks ago, he is surely being a weirdo.

“I liked killing Hobbs” admits instead, it's a topic Will knows Hannibal wants to discuss. No matter how well he hides it, the agent can see his interest in the subject. He also knows or more so feels it won't creep the other man out.

“Killing must feel good to God, too. He does it all the time, and are we not created in his image?” Hannibal asks Will instead of dwelling too much on what the agent just said or frankly calling him a psychopath taking his kid and leaving.

“Depends who you ask.” Will replies casually. Hannibal smiles, both of them are still facing forward watching Aga struggle with yet another rock “God's terrific. He dropped a church roof on thirty-four of his
worshippers last Wednesday night in Texas, while they sang a hymn.”

“Did God feel good about that?” Will challenges leaning back “He felt powerful” comes Hannibal's answers.

Notes:

The ceramic ashtray that got thrown in Aga's brothers head is inspired from my dad and grandpa tho my dad passed out for about two minutes according to him. Pretty impressive on my grandpas part cause he managed to to that after he went blind like Holly aim. (I will add more stories form my parents story times cuz why not- ps: no hate on my grandparents they pretty chill now, and my parents love them it's just how it was back then)

Anyway story is moving slowly idk about the angst but it will get darker even though I tried to keep the explanations vague I can only do sm so be careful gang and check chapter specific warnings at the beginning notes. We'll have plot at some point trust.

Ps: living in a port town all my life I have absolutely no idea how to fish. tbh only thing I learned going to the port is that fishermen's kids start smokin at 7-9 years old and can swear just like their fathers 😭👍 so if I messed up pretend I didn't.

Chapter 6

Chapter by Nope_Noneed

Summary:

Dinner time yay

Notes:

Again I'll fix the mistakes at some point I know that are there and I'm sorry 😭 my dyslexic ass is trying their best

Tw:
Child abuse past (nothing too graphic)
Vomiting (not graphic)

The walk back to Will's house was a slow one. Hannibal was once again carrying Aga, who was asleep, this time around. Meanwhile Will had got the fish. Hannibal had convinced Will to let him stay and cook them the fish as a thank you, and any type of opposition the agent had weakly voiced was brushed away easily by the doctor.

They were mostly walking in silence, focused around the thick forest around them. Will glanced at Hannibal and Aga every now and then. Doctor had his coat firmly wrapped around his daughter for further warmth, and even though it was excellently concealed the agent could detect the man was at least a little cold in his three piece suit. Causing him to make a mental note to light up his fireplace when they arrived.

After a while of them walking in silence, Hannibal shifted Aga in his arm a bit clearly more than a little sore, then started speaking; his voice calm “I'm sure you are aware Agnieszka is not my biological daughter” it was a statement rather than a question.

Will nodded “Anala told me” he said, Hannibal didn't seem surprised by his answer, Will didn't expect him to be. “As you probably discern by now, Agnieszka wasn't raised in the healthiest environment before I took her in” Hannibal continued, his voice professional.

Will knew this was Hannibal answering his questions. The act itself was a huge sign of trust that he wasn't going to take lightly. Both Lecters were terribly private about their personal lives that much was obvious especially after his chat with Anala.

This was even more private, the agent had already long detected Hannibal to be extremely protective of his daughter, especially when it was about her past. The doctor usually rarely gave more than basic information about Aga to outsiders, let alone talk about her past. So Will knew whatever he was about to learn was the gateway of him moving past the outsider category.

“She is suffering from selective mutism and severe social anxiety” Hannibal takes a breath he seems tired “Both got noticeably worse since we came to the United States. These days she barely even attempts to talk to anyone besides me. Words get hard for her especially in crowds, she gets quiet, overwhelmed” a stop followed by a sigh “We are working on it together, unfortunately the improvement is rather slow” he explains it's obvious he has spent countless hours on this particular problem.

Will doesn't really want to think about what would have to happen for a little girl to be this averted towards people. “She had scars” Will comments. Hannibal nodes “She has multiple, particularly dense on her shoulders, arms and legs” he says then stops a second to place a kiss on Aga's silky blonde hair “you probably realized the mobility issue one her hand”

“Yeah her grip was weak” Will answers easily enough “She had suffered from strenuous damage to her wrist and fingers, the professionals I took her to said, any kind of surgery would be purely for aesthetics, and she most likely will never get full mobility for the rest of her life” Hannibal provides further information. He still sounds genuinely upset about the fact even after a few years.

Will can understand, Aga is never going to be a surgeon with a hand like that. She is never going to be able to play piano, violin or most other instruments. She is never going to have neat handwriting nor perfect lines in her drawings. She isn't going to be able to follow Hannibal's footsteps, even if she wanted to. Knowing how much Aga adores her father, Will can guess just how many times the other man was forced to tell her daughter she couldn't do stuff he profoundly enjoys doing.

“She will be fine, she is smart, she won't be limited by her past forever” Will reassures Hannibal. The other man is quiet for a second lost in thought.

Will stays quiet as well letting the other man keep speaking. When Hannibal speaks again his voice has a more serious protective edge to it. “The circumstances of me finding Agnieszka are more than a little complicated but the state I found her..” He trails off momentarily “Let’s say if it was Dr Bloom who found her instead of myself, Agnieszka would be currently resisting in a mental facility. Probably for a long time”

Will swallows he can't think Aga in a loony-bin. She has so much potential, life to be stuck in a dumb hospital for most of her childhood. Will knows she is smart, he just cannot begin to think how undermining any kind of therapy by some snoozy doctors would be for her.

“If I'm compromised in any way her life will crumble. Her happiness as well as freedom is fully dependent on me. Will, I hope you understand. I'm trusting you will keep any additional information I provide, close to your heart” He shifts Aga in his arms once more cradling her closer to his chest.

Will is filled with the sudden urge to protect. He can't let them be separated. He nods “Of course, anything you tell me about Aga I'll keep to myself” he replies his voice is quiet, serious. He is rewarded by one of Hannibal's rare honest smiles.

Turning back to the road again Will can't help but smile himself. For the first time in a long while, he wants to see whatever this relationship is taking them.

There is a soft breeze coming from the north, it won't be long till there is snow covering every surface in the forest. Will takes a big breath taking the clean air in and hopes for the best. He then whistles, calling his dogs back, they are almost back.

 

~~

 

After seeing off Hannibal, he walks towards the kitchen to tidy and clean it a bit. He has about an hour and a half until Hannibal returns from shopping with the ingredients he needs for their dinner.

Aga is lying on the couch with a soft blanket on her, still asleep. Jack curled next to her. Will had let the rest of the dogs out once he arrived and not to his surprise they all dashed to his backyard. Winston, Zoey and Jack prefered to stay inside as they already had their fun.

Winston was tailing him as always, tail slowly wagging meanwhile Zoey had sneaked off to god knows where to doze off in the quiet solitary. Neither of the dogs' behavior was out of the ordinary. What surprised Will was Jack. It was basically unheard of for the mutt to sleep near any human that wasn't Will. Especially so soon after meeting the said person. Aga seemed to have warmed up to the dog as well. She had one of her hands around the dog's torso holding onto him, it was quite adorable. Will had already taken a picture and sent it to Hannibal.

The kitchen is full of chaos even after his morning cleaning attempt. There are mugs placed randomly, some still have some coffee in them. Besides the mugs, there is some food on the ground spread around by the dogs and some plates on the sink from however long ago. Will assumes Hannibal would have an aneurysm seeing the situation. He sighs and drags his feet to his closet to get some cleaning supplies. Winston looks at him questioningly like even the action of Will getting cleaning supplies is a surprise. Seeing the dog's face the agent starts grumbling to himself about how the mutt was being borderline rude. Winston just keeps following him without a care in the world.

~~

Aga is eating the last of the mush in the bowl. She doesn't really remember being this full in a long while. She is kicking her face back and forth on the chair she is sitting at, with a soft smile on her face. She doesn't really know where her brother is but she assumes he is helping her mama with house work. Mama is always more tired when her father doesn't have a woman around. That means Aga and her brother have to help her more, but Aga's hands are too small and she is too short so she messes up a lot and then her mama gets mad. Aga doesn't like her mama when she is mad; her mama gets very scary when she is mad.

She focuses on the last scoop of the food instead, her brother says if she eats everything in front of her she'll grow up quicker and become a big girl. Aga knows if she is a big girl then she can help her mother and Maciej better and her mama won't be mad at her anymore. As she finishes the rest of the bowl he hears a soft click coming from behind her followed by a jarring sound. Ever since her father kicked the door until the lock broke, the door made the stupid sound Maciej told her it was for their benefit, because now they would be able to hear when someone was trying to enter the kitchen even if the person was trying to be real sneaky. Aga still thought it was an annoying sound.

She turned to find her mother staring at her. She looked at her with surprise and anger. Aga's smile immediately fell. “Co jest nie tak mamo?” she asked quietly, she didn't know what she did to make her mom so mad.

“что вы наделали” Her mom said making Aga tense fully, her mom only talked Russian when she was really happy or really mad and Aga knew she wasn't happy.

Her mom moved closer and her hands were shaking a bit. She looked at the empty bowl in Aga’s hands, and asked if she had eaten the whole bowl. Aga nodded then explained that she would grow faster now and help better. Her mom took the bowl from her hands harshly and put it on the table. She asked Aga how she could eat her mama's food when her mama had worked so hard the whole day and was so hungry.

Her mama looked really white the type of color that happens when someone doesn't eat properly for days. Her shaky hands grabbed Aga by her sweater and pulled her up before throwing her to the ground. Sharp pain filled her tiny body followed by shame, her mama was going to be hungry now and her stomach was going to hurt all because of Aga.

Her mama asked Aga how greedy she was for eating all the mush even after her mama had given her breakfast. Aga apologised crying, she told her mama how sorry she was from where she was lying on the floor. The food was already trying to get out and she was feeling dizzy. Her mama was telling her how much of a selfish little girl she was. Mama seemed so sad and desperate she was really mad about the food, she must have been really hungry.

She seemed like she was getting calmer for a second before her eyes locked in with the empty bowl once more. She kicked Aga's stomach with the newfound anger before leaving the room still swearing, shaking and twitching.

 

~~

 

Will's attention turned back to the living room with the sound. He was almost done with the kitchen; he just had to swap the table. He rushed to the living room to see Aga leaning down on the couch with teary eyes, there was vomit on the floor. Jack was nowhere to be seen which was for the best.

He warned Winston to stay back before approaching the little girl. Upon seeing Will she tensed. “Hey it's alright don't worry I'm not mad, just worried are you alright” Will assured, he was nowhere near unfamiliar with nightmares but seeing a little girl have one was really unsettling even if it wasn't his first time witnessing it.

Aga cleaned her tears with the back of her sleeve “I'm fine” she said her voice was a little whimpery but besides that relatively calm “I need to use the bathroom, then I can clean this- mess I made” she said trying to sound collected but more tears were forming in her eyes and she was clutching her stomach.

“No- I got the cleaning, don't worry alright?” Will rushed to assure “Do you want me to call your- uh tėtis?” He then asks Aga tenses then huffs seemingly annoyed “I'm fine so you no need to call tėtis” she stated before clenching harder on her stomach. “I go bathroom now” she said, getting up.

She was a little shaky on her feet. “second door” Will let her know. He wasn't sure if he should call Hannibal or not. He also wasn't sure if he should be letting her be alone in the toilet. Aga was a big girl he tried to assure himself, he then decided he would see what she was up to if she didn't get out of the bathroom in the next ten minutes.

He moved back to the closet and got the cleaning supplies almost mechanically. Then went back to the dimly lit living room to clean the floor. After he was done he put the supplies back in the closet. And just as he was about to go knock on the door Aga came to view. She looked a little better, she had puffy eyes but was no longer crying she was still holding her stomach however no longer clenching and her legs were a lot less shaky.

“Are you better now?” Will asked in a soft tone as she looked at him annoyed once more “I was fine then I'm fine now, I was no feeling bad” she stated sounding a little mad. Will put his arms up and surrendered “Alright- I get it you are fine” he said cause there was no point of arguing. For whatever reason Aga was against admitting she was affected by her nightmare.

Will remembered how clingy she got whenever she was distressed. So he tried another approach “Aga can I get a hug?” he asked, she looked at him a little suspicious and confused “Why?” She asked. “Do I need a reason?” Will questioned and Aga didn't have an answer for that.

Aga moved to hug him. He crouched to be on her level. She melted into the hug curling in herself like she was trying to be as close as possible. Once it became obvious she had no intention of moving, Will scooped her up and moved to the couch. She hurried her face in his chest breathing slowly and Will moved to pet her hair, the way he saw Hannibal doing before. The reaction was instant her whole body went limp and a soft sigh left her body. Will smiled looking down at her, she was just so precious.

After a couple of minutes, Jack appeared in front of the couch, tail swinging slowly. Aga tensed a little upon the arrival so Will moved to assure her. “He just wants to come cuddle up with us. Dogs can sense when we are upset he just wants to cheer you up” he explained and to his surprise Aga didn't have a comment on the ‘sensing someone being upset' part.

“He isn't angry anymore” she said to herself and nodded. Will took that as a yes and motioned Jack to hop on the couch, the dog did so without missing a moment.

Jack placed himself next to Will and curled up. Once again Aga surprised the agent by moving to pet the dog. He pet her slowly and cautiously, her touch was kind and extremely light almost as if she was afraid of hurting it. One look at her other hand he saw it still firmly placed in her stomach. “Is your stomach hurting? I should have some painkillers-” he stopped for a second “though I should probably ask Hannibal which ones you can use” he then mumbled to himself off mindedly.

“I am fine” came Aga's response Will sighed. “Did you know once Jack had closed the door on Max because he was being annoying” Will changed the subject, dog stories were always a good way to lighten up the mood. Aga chuckled “he is smart” she said. “I closed the door on tėtis he was so- umm” she stopped seemingly having trouble finding the word “shocked?” Will filled in, Aga nodded against his chest “Tak, shocked” she said smiling “tėtis said I was being very rude, but his face was very funny so I started laughing” Will chuckled imagining Hannibal's flabbergasted face. “Was he mad?” he asked half jokingly.

Aga shook her head “nie, he smiled and hugged me” she said “he said I should laugh more he said it beautiful sound” then added her voice tone made it obvious she found the whole situation silly. Will however understood where Hannibal was coming from and it broke his heart a little. He petted Aga's hair.

They chat back and forth a little more. Will talked more about his dogs and Aga commented here and there, by the end of it Will was certain Jack was her favorite. She always took his part when Will told stories about the disagreements his dogs had between themselves and Will. She even went far enough to call the agent dumb for not letting Jack bring in the bird he hunted. She told him it was clearly a gift and he was being rude not accepting it.

As the conversation went on both of them got more comfortable and their noises got louder. Age seemed to really enjoy talking with him as she was trying her best to communicate even when she didn't really know the words, she even asked what some of the words ment. By what Hannibal told earlier Will felt really special about Aga going to such lengths just to converse with him.

At the end they got pulled out of their conversation by the knock on the door. Aga was the first to get to motion. She hopped down Will's lap and walked towards the door.

The door revealed a Hannibal who was holding multiple bags full of food. He clearly went overboard, that made Will sigh fondly. “Hello Agusia, were you nice to Will” he greeted Aga she nodded “and do you agree Will, was she notty?” he asked turning to Will

“She was perfectly well-behaved however you certainly were notty, what is with all these bags? you can feed a small army with all this food” Will complained looking at the bags but his voice was too fond to sound anywhere near serious. “I took a wild guess about your kitchen being fully empty and I took initiative on filling it at least a little” Hannibal answered smoothly and moved towards kitchen Aga tailing him close by.

In the kitchen Hannibal placed the bags on the counter. Soon as he did Aga went and pulled on his trousers, clearly wanting to be carried. Hannibal looked at her puzzled for a second before seemingly putting together what happened.

He pulled her up wincing only a little “You okay darling girl?” He asked, Aga took a moment before nodding. “Agusia” Hannibal dared and Aga sighed, putting her head on Hannibal's chest to hide her face. “Mój stomach hurts” she grumbled, Will chuckled quietly as he started opening the bags, it seemed like Aga had a harder time being stubborn against her dad.

“Папа, можно мне обнять?” Aga asked quietly before Hannibal had the chance to speak again. Hannibal looked a little taken back by the question but quickly got ahold of himself.

“You want a hug dievulytė?” he asked Aga nodded. Will kept putting the groceries away, his eyes on the duo.

Hannibal moved Aga so she was cradled between his two arms and kissed the top of her head. “Zuikutė you are such a smart, special little girl” he said “I cherish you” he continued. “Tėti, przestań być sentymentalny” Aga grumbled making the doctor chuckle softly “If you do not wish me to be sentimental you shall not ask for a hug with such a face” he answered smugly.

“You don't see my face” Aga commented, annoyed, making Hannibal chuckle once more. “Did you eat anything?” Hannibal asks instead of continuing the bickering.

Aga tenses only for a second before shaking her head “I eat with you and Wilhelm” she said Hannibal made an disagreeing sound “Agusia, you know that eating helps your stomach pain”

“I am fine, tell tėtis Wilhelm, say Aga is fine” she tries instead turning her head towards Will. Who looks at the two of them like a deer caught in headlights.

On one hand he can tell Hannibal she is fine but that would surely look like Will is challenging his parenting. On the other hand he can agree with Hannibal but then Aga would surely kill him in his sleep or something or more likely never speak with him again.

He sighs and raises his hands in surrender for the second time. He really doesn't want to pick sides in a Lecter argument as both parties are very stubborn and prideful. “Don't expect any commentary from me, I'm clearly just a bystander” he says.

Hannibal smirks “See he thinks you should eat” he tells Aga making the girl glare “Now I did not say that- I said I am making no comment, in fact I'll just leave you two alone and check out what my pack is doing” Will says making Hannibal's smirk fall and Aga's glare lessen.

After he quickly moves out of the room and towards his back door. Leaving the two alone in their disagreement. Upon getting out to his backyard Harley is the first to greet him. She jumps up and down, tail wagging violently. A soft smile takes hold of Will's face as he crouches down to pet her properly.

Soon enough he is covered with dogs and on the ground. He pets and play-fights with them, the dogs still have too much access energy to spend. Will doesn't really know how much time passes until his pack is satisfied with their pets and back to playing in the opening. He watches them from leaning on the wall of his house. They all seem pretty content being outside so Will knows they'll be fine until Aga and Hannibal leaves.

He turns towards the backdoor once he hears it softly click. It reveals Aga who slowly makes her way towards him. “Hello Aga, did you come to an agreement with Hannibal?” He asks she nods then grumbles “I eat half banana”

Making Will chuckle “Well your dad is a hard person to win an argument against. Is your stomach better” Aga huffed moving closer to Will “I was fine before..” She insists “it doesn't hurt now” she then adds more quietly. Will pets her on the head as a reward. “That's good to hear” he says, smiling down at her. Aga looks like she wants to say something but keeps quiet.

So they watch the dogs run around a bit. Aga keeps close to Will but doesn't seem to be distressed. “Do you want to help me and tėtis make fish?” she finally asks, avoiding eye contact, after gathering the courage, her voice even quieter than usual.

“If Hannibal is alright with it I don't see why not” he answers her question smiling. His stomach feels all warm and it gets a hundred times worse when he sees Aga smile brightly at him.

She pulls him towards the kitchen holding his hand. Will follows, while trying to stop smiling like a damn fool.

Reaching the kitchen they find Hannibal cleaning the fish. His back is turned and his back muscles are showing, making Will realize how in shape the doctor actually is. He doesn't acknowledge their presence however it's obvious he is aware he is being watched. Will chooses to stay in his place for a moment longer to admire the man but it doesn't last long as Aga drops his hand to rush towards Hannibal.

“miałeś rację, powiedział tak!” Aga exclaims happily, her voice is nowhere near loud yet her joy is apparent. “Of course he did, who wouldn't want to cook with you” Hannibal answered, looking down at her.

He then turned to send an apologetic smile “I hope you can indulge us a little more” he says and Will finds his voice endlessly charming so much so that he has to double take before speaking. “It's fine really- I really enjoy your company” he says with a sheepish smile.

“I'm glad” Hannibal answers, turning towards Aga to pick her up and place her on the counter. She goes willingly. “You and Agusia can work on peeling and slicing the vegetables while I clean the fish”

Will agrees. They work comfortably after that, the agent keeps an eye on Aga to make sure she is being careful especially after learning about her hand. She looks very capable with a knife however so after a while Will relaxs. At some point Hannibal starts talking about his opinions on a book. Will is a little taken aback at first, he isn't familiar with names they all seem foreign to him. Aga however seems very interested in her dad's opinions on the subject.

After about five minutes of confusion Will understands the book to be a child's book that Hannibal and Aga had read, separately from one another and this was Lecter family version of talking about tv shows. The plot of the book seemed a little too advanced for Aga's age however he wasn't particularly surprised. He already assumed Aga's reading would be above average.

Will mostly listens to the conversation. Aga seems to mostly agree with Hannibal. She is quiet once again besides letting her opinion known here and there. But it's obvious she is paying attention and enjoying the conversation.

The agent is really enjoying the evening. It's relaxing and soft which isn't something Will can say when he is with company. His headache is nonexistent as well so overall Will can confidently say this is one of the best days he had in a long while. His company seems to be enjoying themselves as well. Will knows for sure Hannibal isn't this open with everyone and neither is Aga.

The doctor isn't on guard and it shows from his stance. He is favoring his uninjured arm openly, which the agent can't imagine him doing just everywhere. And Aga is speaking and interacting with her environment openly. Will lets himself think just how much better his daily routine would be if this was something he did every night. He shakes his head after, for thinking such silly things. He isn't made for something this soft and pure; he has something seriously wrong with him.

Someone who dreams of dead killers and murdered victims daily is not someone who deserves this. Especially if that someone is having a harder time separating himself from said killers with each passing day.

 

~~

 

When dinner is ready they sit on Will's small dinner table with miss-matched plates and silverware. For a second he is worried about his manners after seeing Hannibal elegantly eating the fish with a fork and a knife. But his worries disappear as soon as he sees Aga basically attacking her food with her bare hands.

Hannibal looks Aga disappointed “Do you must eat such a way with company” he complains “he don't mind tėtis he is not boring and rich” Aga answers easily as she chews the fish. Hannibal looks flabbergasted.

“It's doesn't, but you are quite right I don't mind” Will supplies as he moves to take a bite from the fish himself. He can't help the slow moan that escapes him after tasting.

“This is amazing, Hannibal,” he says. Which seems to stop Hannibal's plans on lecturing Aga about her behavior. He instead turns to Will with a smile “It was a joint effort dear Will”

“Oh common you basically did everything” Will can't help but argue. They bicker back and forth between each other for a while.

The dinner goes slow and comfortable and by the end of it Aga had already long started yawning. Hannibal offers to help with dishes but Will refuses. The doctor tries to argue but Will is quite determined on handling it himself. Not long after the Lactes take their leave Aga basically swaying on her feet.

At the door Hannibal reminds him of his promise about letting the doctor treat him a dinner and Will smiles. He tells Hannibal he should get to his car before Aga falls asleep on her feet.

After they leave Will opens the back door to let the pack back in and goes back to the kitchen to wash the dishes. The dogs pile around the fireplace even Zoey making an appearance. Only Winston doesn't join them and instead follows his owner to the kitchen.

“It was pretty nice right?” Will finds himself asking the dog. Winston looks at him quietly, like he always does. “Yeah I agree, maybe we can do this more often” he says as he works on the dishes.

Will's mind turns back to the convention he had with Hannibal by the lake. He had admitted he enjoyed killing Garrett Jacob Hobbes and Hannibal hadn't given him any signs of finding it creepy. He wasn't Will's psychiatrist and there he did not need to react calmly nor neutral. But he had, and not only that he had Will be around Aga for the rest of the day even going as far as to leave the two of them alone. It was more than a little weird as the doctor was more than a little protective of his daughter. Will wondered what made Hannibal feel so secure.

What made the man so sure Will was of no threat. He might be more observant and understanding of Will than the agent initially thought. Will smiled to himself he finally started to find Hannibal interesting.

Notes:

Hannibal started his manipulations yay!

Let me know why you think about the chapter!! Kudos and comments are always appreciated <3

Notes:

Aga basically says "Because you are so interesting" sarcastically in polish then "I'm just stating a fact, father" in Lithuanian when she is warned by Hannibal and Hannibal answers her "we'll see"

Pls leave a comment and let me me know your opinion on the chapter :3!