Tags: Space AU, alien technology, empath Will, grumpy Will, hallucination!Hannibal, manipulations and conversations, spiralling into obsession, murders and cannibalism, case fic, lots of weird aliens
Posting date: 18th November
When the experimental robot Abigail kills and eats her creator, it makes the galaxy’s headlines. Nothing that concerns Will Graham, retired agent; at least until he starts to hallucinate the mind behind the crime.
If Will wants to get Hannibal Lecter out of his head, he needs to catch him quickly, before his hallucination gets under his skin.
Hannibal is calmly standing in the middle of the room. The more Will gets used to his presence, the more difficult it is to remember he is not real. Will closes the curtains, and the figure stays lit and clear in the dark room, out of place like a badly manipulated picture.
Once more, Will scrutinizes him, searching for clues he overlooked. Sensing Will’s gaze, Hannibal turns and stares back with curiosity.
Hannibal inclines his head, and Will wonders if it is part of the body language of the actual Diajer, or if it is Will’s imagination filling the blanks with his own memories. Maybe the gesture comes from one of his professors. Right now, he cannot remember.
Will concentrates, trying to gain more information from the red irises. A wave of joy flows through him, followed by intrigue, and Will smiles before regaining control of himself. Then he grimaces, pushing the foreign sensation away. Since he discovered Hannibal’s name, Will has had more and more difficulty in keeping detached from the emotions of his hallucination. They are as strong as the ones of a physically present person, and much more piercing.
He circles around Hannibal, wondering again why he has latched onto him so strongly. He forces his breath to be regular as he was trained to, and wishes for Hannibal not to attempt eye contact a second time.
Hannibal almost complies, looking at him from the corner of his eyes but not turning. Will stops, careful not to push his mind too much. He absently mumbles, “What is it that you’re looking for?”
He jumps out of his skin when Hannibal answers, “Family.”