Chapter Text
Margot eyes went wide open as she heard a familiar voice, a breathless whimper, coming from the other side of the bed. It was the middle of the night in the Verger Mansion and the darkness was so impenetrable, she needed a minute to get used to it.
When the woman finally got her sight back, well, at least sort of… She noticed that Alana is hurling herself in sleep. She was clearly having a really terrible dream. This hasn’t occurred for a while, so it was quite surprising for Margot. But her lover’s struggling face and startled moans were definitely the tell-tale signs of a haunting nightmare. Whenever the older woman was not entirely able to deal with the memories of the psychopathic maniac, who promised to kill her, and even tried to fulfill that promise before, with the assistance of a not so gentle push from a very well-placed second-storey window, she had terrible nightmares.
Margot had ghosts of her own too. She was haunted by her sadistic brother’s violent actions and repulsive mind games, even long after he was unable to hurt her himself anymore… Sadly, they both had those terroristic images burnt into their subconscious for good, thanks to the monsters of their past. For Alana, it was worse though. She used to wake up crying, puzzled from the shadows of a vivid dream. All the younger woman could do, was to hold her tight, soothing her with soft kisses and gentle words.
But Margot never minded it. In fact, she loved having this magical power of calming Alana, even if she couldn’t have prevented those nightmares from happening. Occasionally, the guilt kicked in, though. She looked at her wife’s marble neck. That cozy place, known so well by Margot’s eyes, hands and lips. Her glance felt on the faded scar, close to the neckline. The wound, the heiress felt hugely responsible for, even after so many years. The first and last time she nearly failed to protect Alana from the demons of their lives. Margot thought it was her fault, at least partly, that the person she loves more than anything, got into the manipulative mess of a situation with her brother. She swallowed indignantly. Whenever she succumbed to this unsavory thought, her wife always noticed the change of behavior, and chased those fears away from Margot, with some reasoning and numerous reassuring kisses.
‘No!’ - Alana let out a desperate, broken groan in her sleep.
‘Noo!’ – She repeated, sounding more helpless this time, as she roused from her nightmare. Opening her sparkling blue eyes, she looked really upset. A second later, her mind cleared a bit from the fog of the terror, she looked at Margot, panicked. She tried to sit up, but failed, collapsing into her wife’s arms.
‘Oh, Margot! It was him.’ – She whispered shakily. – ‘It was him again. He tried to hurt you, and I couldn’t…’ – at that point, her voice trailed off and she started crying.
‘It’s okay. I am okay. No one can hurt either of us. We are safe. It was just a dream.’ – The younger woman said on a soothing tone, pulling Alana closer to her, caressing her hair gently. She somehow managed to hide her worry well, not wanting to aggravate Alana’s struggle.
‘I thought it was over already! How can he still haunt me?’ – She asked, her voice trembling, looking up to Margot, probably hoping to find some relief in the emerald green pair of eyes. – ‘But you are here, unharmed! That’s what matters. Please don’t go anywhere!’
’I am right here, love!’ – She whispered with devotion, as Alana buried her tearful face into Margot’s neck. – ’Right here, with you.’
The younger woman was still surprised about the lightness of those meaningful words. Since she never thought to say them to anyone. Ever.
Yes, she loved Alana very much. A woman, she would be able to kill for, without giving it too much thought, a woman she was holding in her arms, shielding her from all the pain. After all the dangers they survived together, all the demons they defeated, the heiress really believed, they were meant to be. Although that couldn’t have been further from her mind, the first time they met. Everything that happened since then, was hell of a journey…
Margot expected the woman to be a dreadful psycho-shrink, just another hireling of her brother, chasing the money attached to the Verger name. No one would ever do business with merciless Mason for any other reason than money. Only fools, maybe. But Alana was completely different, as Margot realized it later on. She was neither a fool, nor dreadful. Especially not dreadful, at all. Her motive, to work for Mason, was more like a therapeutic tool in her very own healing process. She never intended to bow to him. On the contrary…
The psychiatrist was arguably a beautiful phenomenon, floating in a red velvet coat, wearing lipstick, same color as her outfit, approaching the coffee shop, where they were supposed to have the meeting. A job interview, of some sort. Mason required his sister to oversee the process of hiring. The ‘dreadful psycho-shrink’ looked a bit more impressive than Margot expected, so much so she failed to notice the cane Alana was holding onto, until the other woman was already standing right in front of her, palms on the handle, leaning on it gently.
‘You must be Ms. Verger!’ – She stated, with a hint of a smile, which was rather a polite gesture, than a sign of pleasure. – ‘It’s nice to meet you!’ – She added, as she reached out for Margot’s hand.
‘Khm… Yes, I am. And you must be Dr. Bloom!’ – Margot managed to reply firmly, although a second later, than she intended to. She immediately reminded herself to the fact, that the other woman was only an asset for her brother, no more.
They quickly shook hands, and Alana sat down opposite the younger woman.
‘That is right.’ – She replied and looked around the restaurant unsteadily, probably looking for the waiter or a way out of this situation. – ‘May I ask, why I am here, Ms. Verger. I only know so far, your brother has a proposition for me, a job offer. Frankly, my interests are spiked, he was quite secretive on the phone earlier and reluctantly kept ignoring the fact, that I am not a practicing psychiatrist, at the moment.’
‘My brother was under the impression, you may be in a desperate need of a job now. Since you took a pretty long leave of absence last year.’ – Margot stated simply, looking steadily at the other woman.
‘My leave of absence was not exactly voluntary. I am sure, you and Mr. Verger are well aware of the circumstances.’– Alana said resentfully with a hint of barely recognizable pain in her voice. – ‘Otherwise why would he want me as his therapist?’ – She started nervously squirming in her seat, getting ready to leave.
Margot saw Alana’s eyes flicker in pain and sorrow as the doctor was speaking hesitantly, pressing almost considering every single word thoroughly. She remembered the articles, she read several months ago about the trauma, the older woman had been through. The heiress was utterly surprised to see the name Lecter on the covers, associated with a bloody massacre. The only person, who had ever tried to help Margot to get rid of her monster-sibling, her ex-therapist. She always knew Dr. Lecter had unique therapy methods. He once suggested that Margot has to kill her brother herself, in order to get revenge and achieve a peace of mind, she was craving, ever since being a child. Yet somehow, she never imagined that the always generous and polite man would be a sick minded serial killer. These news came as a shock, even though she has seen terrible things in life before. The details of the massacre were described astonishingly in the papers, therefore Margot was aware of the circumstances, Dr. Bloom mentioned earlier. She was defenestrated by Hannibal. Luckily she managed to survive the attack, but ended up with a broken spine and several fractured bones. The not-so-voluntary leave of absence was more a recovery period for her, than a vacation.
The heiress immediately regretted being edgy. Not that she meant to offend the psychiatrist. But she was so used to be wearing this strict and thick mask, she didn’t feel the need to care much for others anymore. Otherwise, the woman could only be a soulless, cruel, immoral therapist with no boundaries, if Mason was so adamant in getting her to work for him.
‘I am sorry, Dr. Bloom.’ – Margot said plainly. She didn’t wanted the woman to leave. She was not in the mood for explaining to Mason, why she scared off his precious new toy.
However, she was slowly beginning to empathize with the blue eyed woman, even though she had no idea why. She was not how Margot imagined her. She looked shattered by her past, yet had strength and sturdiness in her eyes. – ‘I may have gotten overboard. My brother really believes, you could be in help of his…khm...effort in becoming a better person. He has some serious issues to work on. Mason told me not to let you go, until you accept his job offer. He is a true maniac...’ – Margot cleared her throat, nearly choking on a withheld laugh. – ‘…that way. He always needs to be in control, getting what he wants.’
The waiter just arrived with two cups of coffee, placing the tray on the table. Margot thanked him, barely looking up. She was eager to gain a reply.
‘I guess it’s a family trait, then.’ – Alana gestured toward the cups, looking at Margot meaningfully, smiling a little. This time, it was a more genuine half-smile. – ‘I heard your brother could be a charming, yet very trying person.’
Margot returned the smile, wondering how this woman can spend so much time near crazy psychopaths, like Mason. Getting inside their heads for a living. – ‘That’s about right. He is definitely going to be a challenge. More fun for your curious analytic side.’ – She added, but regretting it right away. She was strongly hoping, the psychiatrist thinks it is just a senseless joke, from a spoiled woman.
Fortunately, I am a really inquiring person with an analytic side and endless patience.’ – Alana pointed out, with a little smirk, but Margot reckoned to see some fright in her deep blue eyes. It seemed like the younger woman was not the only one at the table, with a nearly unwavering poker face, whatsoever. She took a sip from her cup and looked at Margot with uncertain eyes. – ‘Do you really want me to treat your brother, Ms. Verger?’
Alana wasn’t paltering. She probably knew about the reputation of the Vergers. There was no proof against Mason’s actions, but a gossip is enough to get some sniffing journalists around the mansion, digging for dirty stories. They had bribed them, threatened them. Those worms were quite easy to scare away. Unlike Alana. She didn’t seem to be intimidated by the Verger name or its reputation. Neither had she seemed like someone, who could be bought, despite what Margot presumed. She probably had to deal with way more frightening people before, at the FBI. The heiress really admired her courage. Despite every effort to cold-shoulder the woman, Margot started to like her, but there was no chance, she would let her guards down now. She had learnt not to trust anyone, because they either betrayed her, or Mason broke them, chased them away. It was his favorite game.
'Of course, I do… In spite of everything he had done or you have heard about him, he is still my family. My only family.’ – She stated, hoping she was convincing enough. When Alana looked deeply in her eyes, likely searching for the signs of a lie or the truth, Margot faltered a bit. She felt, like the other woman sees right through her. That was quite frightening. If the doctor tells Mason about this, she is going to face serious consequences, violent ones. She was not really the ‘maintaining eye contact’ type, and so she blinked and turned away, pretending to look for the waiter. – ‘Excuse me. I need more sugar.’ – Rescuing herself from the sensitive situation.
'All right. I’ll try to help your brother…and you.’ – Alana said with compassion, not like Margot would have expected it. She took a short breath and asked. – ‘When should I have the first session with Mr. Verger?’
'Next Monday morning, 10 am, would be great. Are you available then?’ – Margot was tremendously relieved that the older woman didn’t try to analyze her furthermore. Even if she did, she remained professional, not giving any sign of it.
Alana smiled softly. – ‘Sure. I don’t see any other patients at the moment, as you know...’
Later, she asked about the directions to the Verger mansion. Margot tried to explain the route, warning the woman, that the entrance is quite easy to miss. By the time they left the coffee shop, it was already getting dark outside.
Alana reached out, once again, for the younger woman’s hands. – ‘Don’t worry Margot, my preconceptions about you shouldn’t be, nor will they be a part of your brother’s therapy.’ – She said tightening the handshake, giving Margot a reassuring look.
With that thought, she turned around and walked to her car, leaving a heavily shocked, but utterly amazed Margot behind. As the heiress got into the car, she caught herself thinking: She may have just found a possible ally against Mason, an incredibly smart and beautiful ally, by the way. Her mind was drifting from Dr. Bloom’s deep blue eyes to her nice smile and seductive lips… But she shook her head immediately, blaming herself for being so naïve. Alana is going to be her brother’s psychiatrist, for god’s sake, it doesn’t make sense for her to care about Margot at all.
It was probably too good to be true, anyways.