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Will lay in his drab cell, a small skylight was directly above him. The cold of the tile felt calming even if he only felt it through his thin jumpsuit. It cooled the feverish temperature of his skin, besides the alternative was the cot and its fabric was rough and itchy. The skylight was the only thing keeping him grounded. His testosterone injections and anti-anxiety medications had been stopped since his arrival at the prison; roughly 2 months ago. Will had been forgotten, He hadn't even had any visitors but he took that as a small blessing, Nobody could see what he had deteriorated to.
The door behind the bars of his cell opened and Chilton entered along with Mathew.
Will had never liked Mathew, On the second day after his conviction, he had been approached by him, they were alone.
{FLASHBACK}
Mathew caged him between his arms against a wall in his cell
“I heard you have a cunt, If you let me use it for a bit, I'm sure I could get you some better accommodations, Maybe even get that collar off of you for a bit.”
He whispered against the shell of his ear. Nudging the shock collar against his neck
Will felt vulnerable and kept his eyes shut, with his arms curled around himself protectively, He knew what the consequences of fighting back would be “Mathew please leave me be, I am not interested.”
Mathew apparently did not like that response because he grabbed Will by his hair and flung him to the hard tile floor. Will knew from experience that he was in the worst possible defensive position so he tried to get back up, The orderly apparently didn't like this response either because he delivered multiple harsh kicks to Will’s stomach and chest.
Will cried out, He glimpsed Chilton walk outside his cell and sobbed out for his help. The cold indifferent gaze that he received back told him that he would not be protected or defended. Mathew got bored of beating Will after what felt like ages and left, but not before spitting on his face and delivering one last kick to Will’s jaw.
{END OF FLASHBACK}
“You will be accepting a visitor today, that is all,” Chilton said pointedly
“Who is i-” He didn't even get to finish his sentence before the collar sent a wave of electricity coursing through his body.
“What did I say about questioning me, Will?”
“Not to do it”
Chilton smirked and left along with Mathew behind him and his boosted ego.
“Ah, Dr.Lector I am pleased that you came to visit, Why don't you take a seat” Chilton gestured toward the chair in front of his desk.
“Thank you for accepting my visit, especially under the current circumstances,” Hannibal said calmly as he sat down.
“Yes of course. So I understand that you are here to visit prisoner Willa Graham, ID #39487?”
Hannibal narrowed his eyes slightly
“Dr.Chilton don't you mean Will Graham?”
“Of course, of course, But with all due respect, Hannibal does his name really matter, I mean…” Chilton leaned in “Do you even care about that fag?” He asked almost as if it was an inside joke.
Hannibal pursed his lips, Stomping down his rage in response to the slur, He felt a foreign feeling simmering inside of him. If Chilton was speaking this openly about Will to him, The doctor didn't want to think about how Will was being treated in private. He envisioned how Will would react to seeing him for the first time since he had testified against him in court.
As much as he wanted to demonstrate his festering devotion towards Will, he doubted Chilton would let him continue his visit if he hinted at any sort of care towards him.
“No, Of course not” Hannibal replied while suppressing his anger.
“Well alright, I'll take you to his cell, make sure he is subdued, and then let you in”
He doubted Will would pose any threat to him due to the hesitance to cause physical harm that he displayed the last time they came head to head.
They arrived at the cell of a husk of a man, the only indicator that the figure on the tile was Will was the mop of oily unkempt curly hair, He wore the slate grey standard prison jumpsuit, He laid flat on his back on the floor, His cell was completely empty except for a prison cot on the left side. On the other side were an exposed shower, sink, and toilet. The floor of the room was a grimy gray tile, and Hannibal decided that the living conditions were inadequate.
The prisoner turned his head towards Hannibal, His eyes widened a faction before going back to the ceiling.
“Will you have a visitor here to visit you, are you going to behave?”
Will didn't answer, he stared at the ceiling with a dejected look in his eyes, tears running down his cheeks while gasping for air like a fish that belonged in the ocean but was thrown into a prison cell and expected to thrive.
“Will? Look at me or else.”
Chilton didn't even give him a second to respond before he pressed the red button on the remote with an amused glint in his eyes, It did not go unnoticed by Hannibal.
A scream flooded the room as Will arched his back and convulsed off of the ground.
His sobs had Hannibal feeling as though he was experiencing the same pain himself, He needed to find a way to get Will out of there, He didn't care if Will was the only person capable of bringing him down anymore.
“I will,” The younger man said in a small quaky voice.
Chilton left but not before handing him the remote that could send shocks to Will’s collar.
The door to Will’s cell unlocked with an audible ‘Click’. Hannibal wasted time opening the door and walking towards Will, He moved slowly and non-threateningly so as to not scare his little mongoose anymore. He set the remote down on Will’s cot before sitting on the ground a few feet away from him, His palms resting face up on his knees. Hannibal needed to appear as innocuous as possible. Will kept staring at the ceiling but he stopped gasping for air and now just was breathing heavily.
“Are there any microphones here, Will?”
“No” Will replied, short and simple
“Alright now Im going to deactivate the shock function of the collar, Does Chilton ever activate it when he isn't here and you can’t see him?”
“No,” Will said again
“Could you pretend to be affected by a shock when you see him press the button?”
Will turned his head towards Hannibal, “Yes”
“Perfect, I am going to touch your neck now?”
Will didn't respond but sat up, and bared his neck to the doctor.
Hannibal gently buried his finger in between Will’s neck and his collar, feeling around for the target and switching off the deactivation flip.
“All done”
“Thanks”
The doctor looked over Will, He had multiple bruises, some in the process of healing, others looked new, He looked sickly, Worry formed in Hannibal’s eyes, this was never his intention “How have they hurt, you Will?”
“Chilton stopped my testosterone injections, and Mathew beats me, What I hate the most is when they call me a Faggot and a female.”
Hannibal’s suspicions were true but his mongoose was being abused more than he thought.
Hannibal stood up, he had made up his mind and had started to plan how he would frame Chilton for the ‘Chesapeake Ripper’ murders. Mathew would provide the meat for the celebratory meal that Hannibal and Will would share together as soon as Will had been released and cleared of his accusations.
“I'm going to get you out of here, WIll."