Chapter Text
It was a particularly horrifying case that had started all of this. He should have said no when Jack came to him begging on his knees for him to help out on this case, but of course, he couldn’t cope with the guilt of knowing that people would die when he had the power to prevent it.
The alternative to the guilt wasn’t much better though - lying in bed sweating, crying and hiding under the covers in a feeble attempt to hide from the horrors of his own mind.
From under the covers - being completely submerged in his scarily vivid imagination - it was easy to lose track of time, but he was pretty sure Hannibal wouldn’t be home for another few hours. To Will, it was vital that his partner didn’t find out how much the case had affected him because he knew that as soon as he did, he would make a scene in front of Jack and his colleagues, and he would be forbidden from continuing on with the case...not to mention Hannibal would only fuss over him, which would make Will feel even worse - as if Hannibal didn’t do enough for him already!
So he decided to stay under there until his partner came back and he would have to hide his internal struggles from his overly perceptive psychiatrist of a husband...that would be challenging, admittedly, but not necessarily impossible. He could take a shower to wash the tears and sweat off of his body so that Hannibal wouldn’t smell his telltale signs of distress. And if he was questioned about seeming distracted or anxious, he could come up with some excuse to explain it.
Whilst Will was busy thinking about lies to tell his husband, he was too distracted to notice the jingle of keys, the excited welcome of the dogs barking and his partner announcing his arrival home as he made his way through the front door.
Only when he heard the concerned “Will?”s due to his lack of response did he (somewhat) come back to the present and make a lazy attempt at a “Hi”, before hearing a sigh of relief from Hannibal.
Will panicked as he heard Hannibal’s footsteps heading in his direction. He didn’t have the time to jump out of bed and into the shower like he had originally planned, so his genius plan now was to stay completely still under the covers and hope his partner didn’t notice the Will-shaped lump on the bed.
Predictably, his plan didn’t work.
Hannibal came into the room and stood still for a moment as he stared at the bed, analysing what on earth was running through Will’s head. Tentatively, he stepped towards the bed as he realised there must be a serious reason for his partner’s odd behaviour.
He gently nudged the top of the lump and said, “Will, my love, why are you hiding under there?” When he got no response, he resorted to pulling back the covers to reveal his husband’s tear-stained face.
“Oh Will. Mylimasis, tell me what’s wrong,” Hannibal sweetly said as he slid onto the bed and pulled his partner up a bit so that the distressed man’s head was in his lap. Affectionately, he ran his fingers through the damp brown curls and laid a kiss on his forehead. Will responded by nuzzling into Hannibal’s loving touch and letting out a gentle sob as he couldn’t quite articulate the horrors running through his head.
“It’s alright, my sweet one, I’m here. Your name is Will Graham, it’s 9:30pm and you’re in Baltimore, Maryland. You are loved and safe in my arms.”