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Will sat on the couch next to Hannibal and opened his laptop on the coffee table. It hummed to life quietly as he sat with his elbows on his knees, lacing his fingers together in front of him as he waited. When the screen loaded he started typing away, starting first with looking into Matt's law firm.
Nelson and Murdock was indeed a small firm but they took on many cases, getting quite the reputation for themselves in the short time they've been established. Matt was apparently Matt Murdock, and from news articles he quickly found that Frank was Frank Castle.
He raised a brow as he looked more into Frank. He quickly found out about his military history, the death of his family, the hospital records, the very public vigilante justice he enacted.
Frank was easy to understand. Matt, on the other hand, still confused him. He was hiding something.
He backtracked and started looking further into Murdock's history. He found his his prison visitation records as a lawyer, his law school history, his time at the orphanage, the death of his father, the chemical accident that blinded him.
He thought over everything he learned and thought over everything he observed in person, closing his eyes and frowned.
His eyes snapped open and he started searching for another vigilante that the area was known for.
Daredevil.
Frank Castle was a known associate. Several of Matt Murdock's cases interacted with the vigilante. The further Will dug, the more the connection was obvious.
Will smirked and closed the laptop, putting it back into it's case. "I found out what Matt was holding back."
Hannibal turned his head to look at Will from his seat beside him and raised a brow curiously, closing the book he was reading.
"He's the devil of Hell's Kitchen... We're going to have to be more careful with our hunts if we want to stay friends."
Hannibal's lips twitched to a smile, "An interesting development."
Will nodded, leaning his head against Hannibal's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around Will, "His other senses must be heightened to a super-human state from the accident that stole his sight."
"That would explain his ease of moving around unfamiliar places, and his contemplation of the meat." Hannibal said as he nosed his curls affectionately.
Will sighed, "This just made things complicated. It's nice to have friends again."
Hannibal raised a brow again, "Whose to say that has to end?"
Will snorted, "Our dietary choices. I highly doubt a devout catholic raised somewhere called Saint Agnes Orphanage can compartmentalize that much."
"We'll see. I will prepare to leave."
¤
Matt opened the door to their apartment and went inside, folding his cane and placing it on the table next to the door. He had stopped considering it 'his' apartment when Frank had moved in, despite Frank still technically having his own place across town. He took his red tinted glasses off and put them next to his cane, before taking off his coat and hanging it.
Frank had followed in after him, shutting the door behind himself, taking his coat off and hanging it as well.
Matt turned to Frank, his brows creased as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Frank, did Will or Hannibal ever tell you their last names?"
Frank shook his head, "Nope. Never thought to ask when I met Blue, hasn't come up since." He folded his arms. "What's wrong, Red?"
Matt frowned, putting his hand on his hip, "It seems a bit odd that they're being so..." he waves his other hand in the air, "Vague about their identities."
Frank frowned, "If they're in WPP, they have every reason to."
Matt rolled his eyes, "Haven't you noticed that you're the only one saying they're in WPP? Just because they don't correct you doesn't mean they are. In their words, they're on the run."
Frank frowned more, "I don't know, Red. They told us about having been consultants for the FBI in the past, that's pretty risky if they're fugitives."
Matt sighed, "You're a fugitive and you still stay in New York City. What's to stop someone else? And when you first met Will, he was shooting up a dog fighting ring."
Frank snorted, "You say that like I wasn't there right next to him pulling my own trigger with him."
Matt nodded, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge to take out a bottle of water, "I know... Its just," he pauses for a moment, "He was there for dogs? And you said he called them pigs." He took a drink of his water, "He doesn't seem to have much value for human life. He's dangerous and we should treat him as such."
Frank walked over and held him from behind, "I don't know, Red, I don't get that feeling from him. Or Hannibal, for that matter."
Matt scoffed, leaning into Frank, "Don't get me started on him. His heart rate didn't change the entire night, even when he looked at Will. There's something off about him."
Frank raised a brow. "What, you think he's a psychopath?"
Matt shrugged, "Maybe they both are. Either way, I'm going to ask Karen to search for them. See if anything comes up if she strings their names and previous employments through some search engines."
Frank sighed and nodded. "I'm guessing you won't be persuaded otherwise, huh?"
"Nope." Matt said as if it was a matter of fact.
Frank turned him in his arms and kissed his lips, "Let's go to bed, you can figure it out tomorrow."
Matt smiled slightly, "Sure, but first, describe what they look like to me."
¤
It was after their lunch break that Matt went up to Karen's desk. Foggy was on the other side of the office and had his headphones in, on a call with one of their clients. The ginger looked up to Matt from her computer with doe eyes, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Hey Matt, what's up?"
Matt shifted his weight from foot to foot, "Can I ask for a favor, Karen? I need help looking for two people. They might be missing, or possibly worse. I need to find information about them."
Karen raised a brow, her mouth turn into her curious smile, "Oh? What's this about, Matt?"
Matt frowned a bit, "I have two new friends. But some of the things they say have me suspicious of them. I just need to figure out whether I can trust them."
Karen nodded, taking out her notepad, "So tell me everything you know and I'll try to look them up."
Matt smiled, "Thank you, Karen." He quickly told her everything he knew, from their first names to their previous professions to their descriptions.
Karen smiled up to him, clicking her pen, "I'm on it, Matt!"
Matt smiled more, "I knew I could count on you." He said before turning back and going over to his desk, getting back to one of the cases they were working on that week.
It was about an hour and a half later before he heard Karen's heart rate start to quicken in fear before she gasped, "Matt! Come here!"
Matt went over to her desk quickly, glad that Foggy had left a half-hour to go meet one of their clients. "Did you find something, Karen?"
She looked to Matt in disbelief then back to the computer, "They're practically famous, Matt... And not in a good way."
Matt frowned, "So they're fugitives after all?"
"I'll say." Karen breathed out shakily, "Hannibal Lecter was a highly respected psychiatrist in Baltimore before it turned out he was the serial killers the Chesapeake Killer and the Copycat Killer."
Matt felt a chill going down his spine the more Karen talked, "He's got two serial killer titles?"
"I'm not finished yet. He took surgical trophies-- organs from his kills-- and when he was caught it was exposed that he was, oh god, he was eating them, Matt".
Matt's eyes widened, his jaw tightening. "If he was caught, how's he in New York City?"
"That's where Will Graham comes in. He was a teacher at Quantico until he started consulting on cases. His history of instability is well documented, he was even framed as the Chesapeake Ripper at one point. But he went back to working for the FBI when the Tooth Fairy serial killer was loose, and convinced them to use Hannibal Lecter as bait. They found the Tooth Fairy slaughtered, and a blood trail leading to the edge of a cliff. They were believed dead until Hannibal Lecter's psychiatrist showed up dead with her own leg served to her for dinner." She trailed off, looking to Matt. "Matt, they're in the top ten FBI most wanted."
Matt stepped back, rubbing his face, trying to keep his breathing steady. "This can't be right. There has to be a mistake."
Karen was quiet while Matt reflected over everything.
And then it hit Matt.
The meat.
The meat that didn't smell or taste quite right.
He barely had time to run to the bathroom and open the toilet seat before he had lost what was left of his lunch.
Karen had jumped up from her seat in alarm when he had bolted out of the room, watching with wide eyes, "Matt?"
Matt was rinsing his mouth out in the sink with shaking hands, disgusted. He turned the sink off and dried his face, walking back into the room slowly. "Print what you can. With pictures."
Karen frowned, "Do you want the text in braille?"
Matt shook his head, "No, thank you. I have someone else to convince before I can confront them."
Karen nodded, "Okay," she said quietly while quickly sitting and starting to type and click. Matt heard the printer on Foggy's side of the room start to run.
Matt walked over and dropped into his seat behind his desk, sick to his stomache. He wanted to be wrong about them. But everything lined up... All he needed was for Frank to agree that the pictures matched their friends.
¤
Earlier in the day, Will had brought their three dogs to a rescue and surrendered them. It broke his heart to do it, but if they were going to run again, they couldn't take them with them.
The phone in his pocket chimed as he received a message. He took it out and unlocked the screen, opening the message from "H"
Everything is ready. Come home.
Will sighed, locking the screen and slipping the phone back in his coat pocket. He made his way downtown to their apartment, walking quickly.
They would disappear again soon, to a new place, with new names. Maybe even to a new country-- that would probably be safest. In hindsight, Will wasn't sure why they had lingered as long as they had in the states to begin with.
He got to their apartment complex and made his way up to their apartment, unlocking the door and letting himself in. He took his phone out then slipped his coat off and hung it up, turning to look at Hannibal's back as he sat at the island writing something.
Will went over and rubbed his shoulders, looking over them to read what he had wrote, "How long do you think we have?"
"I don't imagine long. I suggest we prepare for the worst and assume they already know." He put his free hand on one of Will's, "I took the liberty of disposing of what remained of the meat we had in the refrigerator down the garbage disposal. It is tragic to waste, but necessary."
Will nodded, "Passports? Plane tickets?"
Hannibal nodded, "Both acquired and packed in a carry on bag on our bed. I packed your laptop, other essentials and necessities as well."
Will kissed Hannibal's head, mumbling "Thank you... I'm sorry I put us at risk."
Hannibal looked over his shoulder to Will with a fond smile, "Not at all, Will." He looked back to the letter he had written, blowing on it carefully so the ink would dry faster. After waiting another moment, he folded it up along with a second sheet of paper and placed it into an envelope, putting "Matt and Frank" on the front and left it in front of the first seat of the island so it would be easily found.
Hannibal stood and stretched while Will went into the bedroom, grabbing the carry on bag. He looked around the bedroom for a moment, suits still in the closet and clothes still in the dresser, before shutting the light and then the door.
Will walked back into the kitchen and put the bag on the counter while he pulled on his coat, then took the bag and slung it by its long strap over his shoulder. He grabbed Hannibal's coat and held it out to him, helping him put it on. Hannibal smiled and kissed Will on the lips chastely, before they left the apartment.
They didn't bother to lock the door.
¤
When Matt walked into their apartment, Frank could tell something was wrong. "Red?"
Matt put his cane and glasses on the table and hung up his coat, then took the folded papers out of his coat pocket and walked over to Frank. "Remember how I told you I was going to ask Karen to look into Hannibal and Will?"
Frank nodded, dread filling his gut as Matt unfolded the papers in his hands, "What did you find?"
"I found Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter." Matt said and handed him the papers, which Frank took as he looked at Matt but then finally started to look through.
When Frank saw the faces of Will and Hannibal looking back at him in FBI wanted pictures, he paled and swallowed. "Oh." He started reading through the articles, taking a few minutes to read through the several pages of information. When he finished, he looked to Matt with eyes filled with disgust and anger, "What the fuck."
"Yeah." Matt replied, his arms crossed.
"Cannibals?" Frank asked, Matt giving a confirming 'mhm'. "Are you telling me that the pork and lamb we ate..." Frank trailed off, too disgusted to finish the sentence, rubbing his mouth with his other hand holding the papers was on his hip.
"Almost certainly not pork and lamb." Matt said quietly.
Frank turned away, bile in his throat but held down the urge to vomit.
"We need to take care of this, Frank. Tonight." Matt said.
Frank nodded. "Go get suited up, Red."
Matt nodded and went and changed, coming back. "Let's go."
When Matt and Frank arrived to Will and Hannibal's apartment, Matt tried the door and was surprised to feel it unlocked despite not being able to sense either of them inside. Matt walked in first, followed by Frank. "They're not here but they left their apartment unlocked?" Matt noted to Frank.
Frank raised an eyebrow, "It almost seems like they left to walk the dogs or something."
That's when Frank noticed the envelope.
"Hey Red, there's a letter here for us both."
Matt frowned in confusion, "Open it."
Frank nodded then proceeded to read the letter out loud for Matt.
Our dear friends,
It seems we have grown careless in our comfort here, and in doing so have very likely exposed ourselves. I trust that you understand our need for discretion quite clearly, as we understand the need for yours as well. We will be leaving your city post-haste, though not before giving us an opportunity to say goodbye, however poorly in our favor that may be. Should the two of you find this in time and wish to see us off, we will be at Le Bernardin at noon with a reservation under Michail for four. While I insist that you both attend in a timely fashion, if you intend to at all, I must admit that we will not wait for you as that would be terribly rude to the wait staff.
In addition to this letter, you'll find another page in this envelope with incriminating evidence Will was able to find about a case Matt is currently working on. I won't disclose how we know about the case or our sources for the information, one can simply look into it themselves now that it has been presented. A to-be anonymous tip made as a gesture of good faith in our short lived friendship, if you will.
Regards,
Hannibal
Matt's frown had been slowly deepening as the letter went on, his jaw tight and white knuckles tightened into fists.
Frank looked to Matt with frustrated frown, "So, are we going to take the bait?"
Matt was silent for a moment, "I don't think it's bait, Frank. I think they're sincerely asking us to join them for lunch in public before they disappear."
Frank huffed at that as he slapped the papers back onto the counter with indignation. "Why the hell would they want to do that?"
Matt shifted his weight to the other foot, crossing his arms, "Because they saw us as friends."
¤
Will looked around outside of the restaurant, cautiously, before heading in after Hannibal. This was risky, they both knew it, but Hannibal was indulging Will's request.
"Four for Michail, please. I'm afraid we're a few minutes early." Hannibal told the hostess, who told them it was fine and guided them to a table. Will and Hannibal sat quietly as a server came over, pouring water in the four glasses on the table.
"May I get you gentlemen anything to drink while we wait for the other guests?"
Will looked up with a smile, ordering two fingers of whiskey. Hannibal on the other hand ordered a glass of wine after closing the drink menu. The server nodded and went off to get their order and Will sighed as they waited for their drinks.
Soon they heard the front door of the busy restaurant open, Will turning to look only to see Matt and Frank standing at the hostess stand. They were soon brought over to the table, taking their seats, Frank across from Hannibal while Matt across from Will.
Hannibal smiled as the server brought their drinks over, thanking them before turning his attention to the new additions to the table. "Hello Frank, Matt. Beautiful day today."
Frank glared across the table, "Cut the crap, Doc."
Hannibal sipped some of his wine and Will sighed, Will speaking, "No need to be rude, Frank."
Matt frowned, "You two intentionally chose a popular restaurant in a busy part of the city so we wouldn't be able to act against you."
"Look over the menu. We can talk after we order." Will replied curtly as he read through his menu, Hannibal doing the same.
Frank rolled his eyes as he huffed, picking up his own menu. He started softly reading the options off for Matt, who listened quietly.
Eventually the server came back and took their orders, taking their menus as they left.
Frank looked between them again, "Now can we talk?"
Hannibal smirked, "Ask away."
"What did we eat the other night."
"A pig." Hannibal said simply.
Will snorted at that and sipped his whiskey, "A rapist, more specifically."
Matt raised a brow, "Vigilantism doesn't sound your style, Doctor Lecter."
"Hannibal, please. No need to be so formal. And it's not. If it was up to me, we would hunt the rude, not just the incorrigible."
Will rolled his eyes, "We can't kill every person with bad manners, Hannibal." He said dryly, as if they have had this conversation before.
Frank frowned, "What about breakfast?"
"Another pig." "A mobster." They answered at the same time.
"Are they all pigs to you, Hannibal?" Matt asked, making Hannibal chuckle lightly with amusement as he sipped his wine.
"Its only cannibalism if we're equals." Will stated simply.
Matt and Frank both faltered at that, eyes wide. It was at that moment that the server came over with their food, to which Hannibal smiled up to the server with a charming smile and thanked them.
They all started to eat, Frank looking between Will and Hannibal. "So what now?"
"I think it's in our best interests that the two of you do not know what happens to us after we leave here today." Hannibal said.
"Though we can promise that we won't return to New York City anytime soon." Will finished.
"No, I imagine not." Matt said as he nodded. "Did you ever intend to tell us yourselves?"
Will and Hannibal looked to each other silently, before Will shook his head, "I had already told you too much as it was. Much more would have been too dangerous."
Silence fell over the table as they slowly finished their drinks and food. When the server came with the check, Hannibal passed it back with a card without checking the cost of the meal.
"Do you regret exposing yourselves?" Matt asked.
Will sighed. "I regret the loss of our budding friendships, if that's what you mean."
"The potential lost is disappointing, indeed." Hannibal agreed.
Matt frowned and nodded quietly.
"Why'd you let me think you were in WPP?" Frank asked.
"It was better than the alternative of you knowing we were fugitives." Will stated as if it was obvious.
Frank frowned, rubbing his still healing chest. "Fair enough, I guess."
The server handed Hannibal the check and his card, which he put away before writing in a generous tip and signing with his alias then handing the check back. He then stood, smoothing his suit jacket. "I believe this is where we part ways, I'm afraid."
Will sighed and stood, looking to Frank, "It was good to meet you, Frank." He looked to Matt, "Matt, be careful with the evidence I left you."
Frank and Matt nodded to them, and with that Will put his bag over his shoulder and followed after Hannibal as he left the restaurant.
Frank looked to Matt with a frown, "We're just gonna let them go?"
Matt nodded quietly, letting out a conflicted "Yes, we are."