Hannibal is doing his rounds on a regular Wednesday afternoon when his life takes a turn for the better. He reaches the latest case assigned to him and looks at his information. The doctor is unaware that his patient had been carefully looking at him for a while now.

If Hannibal thinks that the man in front of him has very nice cerulean eyes and soft chocolate curls, well that's because he isn't blind.

"That's a very nice mask," the man, Will, opens abruptly.

"I beg your pardon?" the glint of curiosity in the doctor says everything.

Bullseye.

"I like it," Will smiles. It has been a while since he had trouble reading someone. He loves challenges. He idly wonders what he could be hiding, it has to be bad. At least his hospital visit won't be boring.

Hannibal feels his face heating up as the corner of his mouth twitches. He would later swear that his blushing was Will hallucinating.

They both know it's a lie.

"Don't worry, I'll keep your secret," Will whispers and Hannibal knows he's doomed because no one this sick should look that good. He could've come out of an Italian renaissance painting even with the pale look and the bags under his eyes.

Every word out of the man's mouth makes the doctor's interest grow in a way it hadn't before with anyone.

Hannibal doesn't know how his patient is capable of seeing through him, but he doesn't smell fear. He can sense Will is like him.

"Hannibal! I see you've met Will," Alana interrupts walking up with a cup of coffee.

The doctor didn't even notice her coming their way, but he sees Will turning his body language into something resembling an awkward person. He's another monster hiding behind a person suit and playing with humans.

Will monopolizes his attention as only the Primavera has.

"Alana," Will smiles softly and Hannibal offhandedly considers if he'll need to kill her. It would be a shame since the doctor enjoyed her company.

Would it bother Will if Hannibal kills her? Probably.

He can see Will raising an eyebrow amused. Had he always been this transparent?

Hannibal smiles at Alana.

"I think he has encephalitis," she infers accurately.

He can smell it on Will. It's breathtaking that Will can see so much even when his brain is sick, he can't help but wonder what he looks like fully functioning.

Will looks attentively at Hannibal speaking with another doctor a few feet away from him.

The expression on Hannibal's face could be described as polite, but Will can see his disdain right underneath. For some reason, he doesn't like his companion. Hannibal sees him as something beneath him.

Maybe he isn't smart enough?

The profiler can't help but look at Hannibal like he is trying to memorize his face and all his micro-expressions.

The doctor feels Will's eyes on him and the disdain is replaced with curiosity.

The interest is mutual, that much is obvious. Two predators examining each other and feeling a connection.

What were the chances of finding each other?

Hannibal feels thankful he was assigned to the ER instead of having to conduct surgeries, even if it means interacting with the rude neurologist.

He walks up to the hospital bed. "We'll get you an MRI to confirm the encephalitis diagnosis."

Will nods still trying to figure out the puzzle that is his doctor.

Hannibal enters the room with a file in his hands and wonders what he walked into.

Will ask distantly. "What's the diagnosis, doctor?"

"Please call me Hannibal," he requests looking at him intently.

He hums. "You can call me Will then," he says but his eyes are glazed.

"It's encephalitis." Hannibal smiles. "Are you currently hallucinating?"

Will keeps looking at him with confusion painted on his face. "Yes."

Hannibal gets closer. "What do you see?"

"A wendigo," he tells him engrossed in the view. To say it is magnificent is an understatement.

Hannibal wants to peer inside his brain. "How interesting."

His words snap Will out of it. He doesn't need to use his empathy to see the interest in Hannibal's eyes.

Oh.

His brain was warning him that in front of him was a creature that could devour him. Will felt thrilled. It made sense, the disdain, and disinterest when looking at most people, the feeling of superiority, the need for a person suit, the mutual recognition…

It's only cannibalism if they are equals.

Will smiles. "I see you, and it's beautiful." He looks fond. "We are just alike. You are as alone as I am."

It is then that Hannibal decides Will is going to be his.

A couple of days later Hannibal is curious as to why someone is impersonating a nurse and walking into Will's room. He decides to stand at the entrance to hear what it is about.

She takes a picture alerting Will of her presence. He had been fishing in his mind.

"I see you finally snapped," Freddie smiles in a nurse uniform.

Will wants to break her neck and set her on fire. He idly wonders how her hair would look engulfed in the flames.

"I have no issues calling security," Will tells her, he's too exhausted to deal with her sad attempts at journalism.

"Would you say the FBI finally drove you into insanity or did you get there by yourself?" she pokes at him.

He looks at her seething. "Miss Lounds, it's not very smart to piss off a guy who thinks about killing people for a living."

Hannibal smiles. Will showing his fangs is breathtaking.

She grins. "I'll quote you on that."

"Knock yourself out," he grins picturing once again how he would kill her.

Hannibal decides to walk in before Will is taken to jail over such a pig. Maybe he could offer her to him.

"Good afternoon," he smiles at Freddie, and she leaves muttering an excuse.

"You work for the FBI," Hannibal muses intrigued. That would explain the awkward character he plays with Alana. He's a fragile pushover incapable of hurting a fly, yet charming enough to bring a false sense of security.

He hides in the adversary's home and eats dinner with them.

Will sighs. "I have an empathy disorder," he mutters.

Hannibal wants to crack open his head and peer into his beautiful sick brain.

"I use it to empathize with serial killers and catch them," there is a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"And how many happen to die when you find them?" Hannibal wonders out loud.

Will smiles as an answer.

Hannibal can't keep his eyes off of him. "Better yet, how many do you actually point to the FBI?"

"Things happen…" he trails off innocently. "Being a serial killer is a dangerous profession, you know that." He finishes with amusement dancing in his eyes.

Hannibal huffs.

"I wanted to find you." Will sighs full of melancholy. "I can't believe it took me almost dying to find you." He laughs.

"Fate has brought us together, we shouldn't let that go to waste," Hannibal tells him earnestly.

Will hums in agreement.

The following day Hannibal walks in carrying a lunch bag. "I hate knowing you have to eat hospital food," Hannibal explains.

Will feels warm and he can't blame it on the encephalitis.

He takes out ceramic containers onto the overbed table. Will isn't surprised, this is a man who's always wearing suits and impeccable ties.

Hannibal opens them. "A little protein scramble to start the day. Some eggs, some sausage."

It smells heavenly. Will's smiling when he takes a bite and hums appreciatively. The doctor has to suppress a shudder. "It's delicious, thank you."

"My pleasure." Hannibal would feed Will every day.

"We're nowhere near catching you, you know?" Will speaks casually.

So Will knows exactly who he is and what they're eating.

Cunning boy.

"Our profile only has two things that we could link directly to you, your age range and medical knowledge." He shrugs. "But that's it. I might've fed them some questionable information," Will's smile does something funny to Hannibal's stomach.

"I appreciate it," Hannibal smiles and squeezes Will's hand.

The profiler enjoys seeing Hannibal's actual smile coming out when they are together.

"I meant it when I said I wanted to find you, your work is magnificent." Will thinks of the councilman intertwined with the cherry blossom tree.

Eating together turns into a regular occurrence and it doesn't surprise Will the familiarity with their new routine. He had never enjoyed eating that much.

When he leaves the hospital, he has Hannibal's business card in his pocket. He doesn't have to give Hannibal his number since the doctor has access to his information.

The next day Will is surprised to see a Bentley pull up in his driveway. He is amused once he sees Hannibal and a lunch bag coming out of it.

Hannibal walks up to him smiling and committing to memory the view of Will standing on his porch waiting for him with a fond look. He's hit with the realization that he wouldn't mind coming from work to find him like this every day, even if it means dealing with the curious amount of dogs around.

If he starts looking for houses later that day, it's just in case.

"I wanted to check up on you," Hannibal starts feigning nonchalance.

Will raises an eyebrow, he wasn't planning on complaining over Hannibal's attention. He basks in it.

"You seem very dedicated to your job, Hannibal," he smiles. "I feel thankful you were in charge of me."

Will opens the door for him and they walk in leaving the dogs outside.

"You might be getting special treatment," he concedes. There is no point in lying to Will.

"I'll keep this secret too," He says fondly. I'll keep all your secrets goes unsaid but they both know it.

Hannibal starts unpacking his fancy ceramics and Will's mouth waters.

"Who are we eating?" he wonders.

"An impertinent reporter," Hannibal reveals.

Will perks up. "A ginger one by any chance?"

Hannibal nods with a warm smile.

Will wants to cry, no one had ever done anything as thoughtful for him. "Thank you, I would've loved to see that."

He takes a bite and moans with his eyes closed.

"Maybe you could join me hunting next time," Hannibal offers thrilled.

Will hums. "It's a date."

They eat in a comfortable silence occasionally interrupted by Will's compliments.

Once they are done Hannibal sets his utensils away and steps toward Will.

"May I kiss you, dear Will?" he purrs.

The profiler can feel his face heating up as Hannibal raises his hand to his jaw.

Will takes the plunge and kisses him melting into the touch. They kiss each other full of hunger and tenderness. It feels like coming home.

The kissing turns into touching and clumsy attempts at removing clothes. They separate with a smile and walk upstairs feeling warm.

The doctor removes his clothes methodically and Will tilts his head amused. When Hannibal raises an eyebrow, he starts undressing too. They reach the bed kissing and mapping out each other's bodies with greedy touches.

Hannibal reaches for Will's neck and leaves trailing kisses down his body. He is savoring the experience fully aware that he's driving Will more impatient every second.

"You're killing me," he moans.

Hannibal smiles kissing his hipbone. "I certainly hope not."

Will rolls his eyes.

"Hannibal, please," Will feels every inch of his being aching for him.

He feels unable to deny him. "Do you have lubricant?"

Will reaches for the nightstand without looking and throws a bottle at him. Hannibal smiles indulgently and spreads it over his fingers.

Will can feel his eyes roll back as Hannibal puts one finger inside him. He then licks Will's cock lazily. The sounds out of the profiler's mouth have him wondering what he did to deserve all this.

Hannibal's overcome with emotion, he has never wanted anyone like this. He stops his ministrations for a moment. "If I could look at you every day forever, Will, I'd remember you like this." He can feel his eyes growing wet.

Will blushes. "Can you just fuck me?" he pleads. "You can recite poetry after."

Hannibal can't find it in himself to reprimand him and introduces another finger hitting his prostate.

Will's moans are feeding a stab of hunger he didn't know existed. Hannibal kisses the inside of his tighs reverently. He's committing everything to memory.

Not long after introducing the third finger, Will is asking for him to get inside. Hannibal doesn't think he'll ever be able to deny him anything, much less such pleasure.

He lines his cock up to Will's entrance and enters slowly. Their moans are in unison, they are intertwined.

Hannibal starts with a slow rhythm and kissing Will's soft lips, he's hoping his actions show him everything he's feeling. They do, Will feels ecstatic and aware that he will never let Hannibal get away from him.

They reach their orgasm looking blissfully in each other's eyes.

Their lunches together naturally progress into spending weekends together at each other's places. It's not long after that they are getting married in Italy, Will couldn't deny Hannibal's whims. Hannibal couldn't deny Will's either. And so, they live in a big fancy home with eight dogs.

"We need an escape plan just in case," Will murmurs one morning laying on Hannibal's chest. "The FBI is nowhere close, but it wouldn't hurt to have a way out."

He loves it when Will says we, these days they have abandoned the idea of them being separate entities. They are conjoined. Hannibal idly wonders if they could survive separation, but he knows that's something he'd rather not figure out. He had never entertained the idea of soulmates and much less finding one himself, but Will is everything he didn't know he needed.

"Or we can frame someone like Chilton." Wills ponders amused. "That'd be fun."

Hannibal huffs. "It'd be hard to buy."

"They have a serial killer married to another serial killer profiling for them," he laughs. "We can pull it off."

Hannibal feels content. "Clever boy," he kisses his curls.

Will hums happily. Hannibal compliments him in a way that makes him believe he can do no wrong. He even smiled when Will bought the wrong salt at the grocery store, he's more specific with the shopping lists now.

"Wouldn't it be entertaining to visit him as a patient in his own hospital?" Will asks amused, he can see Frederick's panic vividly.

Hannibal agrees, the psychiatrist is a nuisance.

"He once tried to flirt with me at a bar to pick my brain." Will reminisces in disbelief. "It took him a while to realize I had been lying to him the whole time." He laughs.

Suddenly, killing Chilton has much more appeal than framing him.

"He did launch himself into my face," Wil recalls with a shudder.

Hannibal wants to rip out Chilton's lips. "You should be more careful with your charms, darling."

"Would you fight for my honor?" Will teases amused.

"Of course," he smiles indulgent and Will laughs.

They are spending a cold afternoon sitting near the fireplace when Hannibal stands up.

"I want to get some food, would you like to come along?" he asks hopefully.

Will looks up from his book uninterested. "I'm not in the mood for murder."

"Could I interest you in art then?" Hannibal smiles, he wants to hunt with Will today.

He sighs, it's hard to deny his husband anything. "Sure, although I don't think you can separate them," he smiles.

Will stands up and stretches like a languid cat and Hannibal can't keep his eyes from looking at him to add yet another image of Will in his mind palace. At this point, most of it is filled with him. He even has Will walking up to him with motor grease on his face.

"Will you marry me?" Hannibal asks earnestly.

"We are married already, Hannibal." Will blushes, only his husband can bring this reaction on him.

"I'd marry you every day, dear Will," Hannibal tells him honestly.

Will's blush deepens. "Oh, god. You're such a sap." He can't fight the smile tugging at his lips.

Hannibal has the sudden desire to draw Will and his pink cheeks, but he settles for kissing him.

"Only for you, darling."

Hannibal is tying Will's tie for the opera and is lost in his thoughts.

His dear Will pretends to be terrible at tying it just to have Hannibal do it. It doesn't matter that they are both aware of his little lie. They gleefully ignore that it is Will who expertly ties knots whenever they venture on their boat. If someone had told Hannibal that he'd enjoy sailing he'd politely disagree. Yet he's at peace with Will whenever they sail.

It is now that he understands the way people are afflicted and destroyed by love. If anything happened to Will, he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

His life before Will seems so dull now that he has everything. Hannibal tells him constantly that he loves him, but that word doesn't begin to cover what he feels. He aches in hunger for Will and finds nourishment whenever he's around.

He even finds himself smiling whenever he gets a hint of Will's scent in his suits. At this point, part of Hannibal's scent includes his husband and vice versa.

He had thought he was meant to be a solitaire predator roaming the earth with his little pleasures. But now, he feels content looking at the table Will built for him because Hannibal was having trouble finding one that would fit the dining room perfectly. He'd have eventually found one. But nothing could compare to the knowledge that his husband had spent hours building it for him.

He comes back from his thoughts once he's done with the tie. "I'd kill everyone in the world for you, dear Will."

Even after years shared, the profiler feels delighted whenever he hears Hannibal's declarations.

"You'd get really fat, if you ate them too," Will teases him

Hannibal huffs and raises an eyebrow, Will knows he's expecting something.

"I'd cut myself open and give you my heart, darling." He drawls pouring honesty.

The southern accent comes out when he opens up. Hannibal finds it charming.

An I love you doesn't encompass the way Will aches for his husband.

Hannibal smiles and understands that they were inevitable. However they'd met, it would end with them sharing a bed and their lives.