Description
As you drove up to the crime scene house, you felt something... out of place. You’d gone home to grab your phone, which directed you to an unfamiliar place. It was a restaurant that had been broken into in order to dump the body. You hurried out of the car, feeling worried when you saw the upset look on Will’s face. He looked so... disturbed. When he saw you draw near, he reached out and grabbed your arm.
“(Y/n), you can’t be here.” His voice was barely a whisper, but firm. “You need to go.” You started to panic, roughly pulling out of his grip.
“Why... Will, what’s going on?”
“(Y/n)...” He averted your gaze, looking away. Without hesitation, you marched inside the restaurant.
“Hannibal!” Will called. He suddenly appeared, blocking the doorway and trying to conceal the crime scene. But it was too late... you saw it. You saw the victim, your sister... The gruesome sight left you shocked and you barely noticed as Hannibal guided you back outside. You were stunned. Martha, your dearest sister, was dead.
“(Y/n)? (Y/n), look at me. I need you to look at me.” Hannibal pulled your chin upwards, and you couldn’t help but surrender to his calm and soothing voice. You still didn’t look into his gentle eyes, refusing to bend to this false sense of security. You felt the tears rising up through your chest and forced it down. Even as your face was upturned to Hannibal’s, you refused to look at him.
“I know... I need... I need to leave. I need to leave...” You tried pulling away from the man’s comforting grip, but didn’t get very far. He kept a firm, warm hold on you, giving Jack and Will a nod.
“She needs to recover from shock. I’ll take her to my office.”
“No, not there,” Will interjected. “She’ll feel like a patient and flip out.” Hannibal nodded. You were barely listening, remaining silent as you tried to mentally remove Martha’s face from the victim you’d seen. You kept quiet even as Hannibal drove you home, staring blankly out the window. You couldn’t believe it. Martha, your twin sister, was actually... dead. Who could have killed her? It had to have been the serial killer you were looking for. But why Martha? The killer was moving faster. It had been four days since the last victim was found, not six. However, Martha was never really kidnapped. She was at home every night this week, wasn’t she? Oh... that bruise last week. The bruise. It wasn’t caused by a damned fence post.
“(Y/n), how are you feeling?” You didn’t answer Dr. Lecter’s question.
“The murderer... it was someone Martha knew. All of the victims had to have known him, or at least seen him before.”
“I don’t want to hear about the killing. I want to hear about you. You shouldn’t have had to see what you did. That was my error.”
“Please, Hannibal. Please just don’t...” You felt humiliated as tears welled in your eyes. You couldn’t remove the image from your head. You couldn’t cry in front of Hannibal, he would think you were lesser than you really were. Your eyes fixated on your house as you tried to swallow the pain. He drove up into your driveway, but the both of you hesitated.
“You can cry, my dear. It’s healthy. I don’t want you holding this in.”
“No... don’t talk to me like I’m your patient. I’m not your patient.”
“I know.” He leaned over and kissed you softly on the forehead. You felt something flutter in your chest, but it didn’t drown out the large gaping hole. If anything, it made you even more sad. Sometimes, you wished you could just thank him and tell him you loved him. You wanted so desperately to love Dr. Lecter. Before you did anything stupid, you got out of the car.
“(Y/n), just remember. Call me if you need to talk about anything.”
You nodded and walked up the porch steps to your house, not bothering to look back at the car that was driving away. Lee met you at the door, looking worriedly into your eyes.
“Hey, what happened?” He watched as you entered the house without saying a word. You brushed him off and went straight to your room. He followed. “HEY!” He grabbed your arm in the same place Will had, but with a lot more force. “DON’T IGNORE ME.”
“MARTHA’S DEAD!” You shouted, pushing him back.
The next few hours were weird. You didn’t remember most of it by the time you woke up at nightfall. Given how sore your body felt, you could only assume that Lee and you had gotten in a pretty bad fight. The TV was off, which indicated that Lee had already gone to bed. Your cheeks were dry and your eyes were sore, probably from crying. You were scared. And hurt. When you looked in the mirror on the way out of the house, you inevitably winced at your reflection. A large black bruise was on your left cheekbone, and it looked nasty. Before you lost it again, you quickly left the house. Will had brought your car back, and the keys were tucked in the windshield wipers. You didn’t care. You didn’t even go near the car as you started to walk back into town. You walked for a very long time, not really knowing where you were going. That is, until you found yourself standing in front of the Lecter home’s front door. No one answered after a few minutes of knocking, so you just lied down. You didn’t mean to fall asleep.
Hannibal’s POV:
It was late he knew, but it couldn’t be helped. He’d been quite busy with personal matters until late into the night. He was worried about you. Of course you wouldn’t get out of this unscathed. His worry grew even more when he saw your still figure on his front step. Hannibal rushed to your side, examining you. Yes, it looked like you were alright. You were breathing, you were complete. It gave him a prolonged sense of relief. When he scooped you into his arms, he paused. On the left side of your face... was a bruise. Could it be, that this killer was after you now? He had his suspicions on who it could be... now he was suspicious. Will had deducted that he would go after his target this time around... could the target be you? As he brought you inside his home, you did not stir. Without a word, he placed you in his own bed and tucked the covers tight around you. Surely, nightmares would plague you tonight.