Chapter Text
~~~ August 2013 ~~~
Hannibal finished adding final touches to his latest tableau. The long pig had been particularly rude. He had scratched Hannibal’s car while opening the door and instead of apologising properly, he simply thrusted few hundred dollars in Hannibal’s hands and walked away, continuing his conversation on the phone. So, Hannibal treated him the way a mannerless pig must be treated. He was happy that atleast the pig’s lungs were healthy. He took one last look at his artwork and hoped his omega would like what he had presented. After his release from prison, his sweet Will has been a sight to behold and as of late he has been growing more and more accepting of his true self and the Alpha in him preened at that.
It was almost 3.17 am when he had finished collecting all his instruments and his freezer. The trek back was a lot faster now that he no longer had the weight of the pig on him. So Hannibal readjusted his plastic suit and hurried his steps. He had placed the tableau in a small, out of the way park, so it should be discovered fairly quickly in the morning but at this time of the night, he is certain that he will not run into anyone. But he sped up anyway as he could not wait to see his dear Will’s reaction.
He had parked his car in one of the alleys that did not have any security cameras and just when he turned to enter the alley, he came face to face with a child of age nine or ten, feeding the stray cats in the alley. The said child’s eyes widened in fear as she took in his plastic suit covered in dark blood. She tried to stand up as quickly as she could with a crutch in her hand and soon realised that she was blocked in a dead alleyway with Hannibal standing at the entrance of it.
Hannibal hated surprises. He always planned his night endeavours to the very last detail before he executed it. Otherwise, he would have been caught ages ago. This child before him has thrown a wrench into his well-crafted plans. On principle, Hannibal does not kill children and now he’s not sure what to do with the one standing before him. He cannot get caught, he has only just found his omega and he intends to see his Becoming. So he cannot let the child go. He has no other choice but to stove her away somewhere till he could decide on what to do with her.
“Hello.” Hannibal said. “This would be a lot easier if you do as I say.”
The child remained silent, paralysed in fear. In a fraction of a second, before she could react, Hannibal rushed forward and pulled the child into a stronghold, restricting her airway and preventing her from screaming.
The child, to her credit, struggled a lot but soon lost her consciousness. Hannibal quickly carried her to his car and placed her on the backseat and for good measure bound and gagged her. Then he placed the freezer, his suit and the rest of his instruments in the boot and started his car that he specifically used for his special outings.
While he drove he thought about the child in the backseat and what to do with her. The child was not a pig, she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and Hannibal was conflicted. He may be many things but he is not a child abductor or a killer. Sighing, he decided to keep the child for the time being in one of his basement cells. He will decide on her fate tomorrow.
Decision made, he took a deep breath and was surprised to note that the child had no scent on her. She was not wearing any blockers and her scent gland was intact but she was completely scentless.
What a strange child- Hannibal thought.
He parked the car in his basement and carried the girl to a cell and then proceeded to collect his things. He went upstairs to clean himself up. It was 5.13 am when Hannibal finally slipped into his bed.
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The next morning, Hannibal took his time getting ready as he began to map out his plan for the day. His artwork should have been discovered by now and he was keeping an eye on his phone for a call from Jack. He prepared a bowl of oatmeal and went to the basement. The child was wide awake and was huddled in a corner, trying to hide from him. Hannibal noted with interest that she had not even attempted to loosen her binds. He smelt the air discreetly, still no scent from her when by now, the air should be reeking with fear and distress of a young pup. However, Hannibal could read her fear only from her body and not from her scent.
He opened the cell door and watched her shrink further into the corner.
“I have brought you breakfast.” He announced the obvious. “I’m going to untie you and I insist that it is in your best interest if you behave.”
The girl didn’t nod. She bent her head even further, trying not to meet his eyes. He walked closer to her and untied her hands and mouth. He expected her to scream or atleast plead for her life. She simply folded herself into a corner with her back to him. And that is when Hannibal noticed a blue lanyard peeking out from one of her pockets. Hannibal pulled it out. The ID card had been issued to one Melissa Cooper by a local supermarket near Wolf Trap. The back of her ID card held a medical card, with her seizure alert. It read her age as eighteen.
Hannibal was quite surprised by his findings. The girl looked way too small and thin to be eighteen years of age. And her muteness and reactions to her abduction showed clear signs of past abuse. Hannibal sighed. Had he discovered her before Will, he would have loved to study more on the scentless child. But he has more things to do and an omega to woo. So he has no other choice but to kill her. The only concession he can give her is a painless death. Decision made, he moved close to her to redo her binds; clearly she did not want her breakfast. Only when he redid her gag, her eyes fell on him and widened in surprise. Before Hannibal could think more about it, his phone rang. It was Jack.
“Hello.” Jack began to talk about the new Ripper victim. “I will be there soon, Jack.” He promised. He took the tray and locked the cell and walked away, thinking about Will’s reaction.
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Will was already in the scene when he had arrived. Looking at the scene with intensity, taking in all the messages that Hannibal had displayed just for him. His scent still held the undertones of melancholy in it as he was still mourning the loss of his pup. ‘When I finally surprise him with Abigail, he would understand that the pup with Margot would have only complicated things’, Hannibal reasoned. Will turned to him as he approached, the melancholy vanishing completely out of his scent and instead was replaced with his righteous anger and he smelled absolutely enticing. ‘That boy would be the death of me.’ Hannibal thought.
“So what do you think, Will?” He asked.
“‘A love transcending heavens’? Is the Ripper becoming soft, Dr. Lecter?”
“Love, if anything, makes one stronger, Will. After all, doesn't love conquer all?”
“Many of the greatest love stories were tragic in nature.”
“Love does not equate happiness, Will. The fragility and the tragic nature of it is what takes a love beyond the realms of gods.”
“Are you saying that the Chesapeake Ripper is fighting for a love that transcends the heavens, Dr. Lecter?”
“You are the empath here, Will.” Hannibal said with a smile.
Will didn’t say anything after that. He spoke with Jack and they wrapped up the scene. Like all the Ripper cases, this one too would go unsolved.
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Hannibal arrived home much later than he would have preferred. But when one talks with Will, time tends to slip away. He made himself an elaborate dinner and thought about the girl in his basement. In a way Hannibal was thankful she was a teenager rather than a child like he had feared. Had she been a child, it would have complicated many things. After finishing his dinner, Hannibal gathered the supplies and went to the basement.
The girl was still huddled in the corner, Hannibal noticed that she seemed unbothered by the darkness. However, she became aware once he switched on the lights. Hannibal placed his instruments on the table and prepared the injection. When he went to the cell, the girl looked at him with teary eyes. Hannibal was surprised to note that this was the first time he had seen her cry.
“I regret that it has come to this Miss Cooper. I only kill those who deserve it. This is an unfortunate circumstance and I will try to make it as painless as I can.”
The girl started panicking. Even as her tear-filled eyes pleaded to him, Hannibal noticed that her scent was still absent. He did not bother removing the gag as it would only give her false hope. Instead, he injected her and watched as her movements began to slow. He undid her binds and carried her to the kill table. The girl was still awake, trying to hold on to the last shreds of her consciousness, her eyes pleading to be heard.
“It’s best if you don’t fight this, Miss Cooper. Let it go. It is going to be alright.” he said as he readied the chainsaw. But she kept resisting and just before she lost her battle to consciousness, the room was filled with her scent.
The moment Hannibal inhaled it, he fell on his knees in shock, dropping the chainsaw to the floor. It was the scent of the person he never thought he would meet again, the scent of the child who he thought was dead.
“ Mischa? ”