Chapter Text
A week passed with no development from their conversation. Will had been at the villa with Hannibal for a little over three months now. All the restrictions that had previously been imposed on him, other than being barred from Hannibal’s room, had been lifted. He was welcome to take walks on his own and had access to every sharp object within the kitchen. Will rationalized the reason that he hadn’t tried to leave was because he was still recovering from being abducted, but he knew that wasn’t true. The broken bones and bruised skin had healed long ago and all the weight and muscle that had been lost had been regained. In truth, Will enjoyed it at the villa and he regretted the inevitable breaking of the trust shared between himself and the Ripper when his conscience finally grew too loud to ignore.
It was those thoughts that compelled him to disappear for longer and longer periods of time. Often, Will would just spend most of the day hiding away in the less well traveled parts of the villa with Alessandra as his only company while he mulled over his options. Othertimes he would head out into the countryside for the day to see if Hannibal would eventually grow concerned enough to come looking for him. That hadn’t happened as of yet, and Will’s latest journey seemed to have proved equally ineffective.
Whatever thoughts Will had about Hannibal’s lack of a response were gone the moment he reached the top of the hill their home sat upon and the driveway came into view. There was a new car parked in the driveway. It wasn’t Hannibal’s and he couldn’t imagine that Dr. Du Maurier would have returned after her last visit unless Hannibal had called for her.
A man dressed in a suit exited the villa as Will approached the car. He didn’t stop to talk or do anything other than tip his hat in acknowledgement of Will before throwing his briefcase in the seat next to him and speeding off down the driveway. Will had seen that man before and he hoped he was wrong as he stormed inside to find Hannibal.
“Who was that?” Will asked as soon as he entered the villa. His question came out harsher than Will had intended, but that couldn’t be helped now.
Hannibal didn’t seem phased by the strange greeting and calmly answered while he put away a pair of shot glasses, “Mr. Acerbi. He stopped by to deliver an invitation to his next auction.” Hannibal had actually called the man after his conversation with Will to arrange a more public invitation to the event, but that wasn’t information that Will needed to know.
“Wouldn’t a phone call have sufficed? Or is this auction something that Mr. Acerbi would rather not risk leaking onto the internet?” Will asked as he scowled and crossed his arms.
“A fresh supply of bodies have just arrived and he thought a man of my ‘discerning taste’ might like to go to a private early showing with a few other attendees.” Hannibal ignored the anger practically radiating off of Will as he turned back around and said, “I think we should attend.”
“What?” Will replied as he resisted the urge to take a swing at Hannibal and his placid expression.
“It would be a perfect time to test out your grasp of the Italian language. We could go and talk to the staff and potential buyers. Learn a few names, perhaps even grab a business card or two.”
“You want to go grocery shopping.”
“I would not phrase it in such a way, but yes. If you would rather not attend I could either go alone or decline the invitation.”
“I want them dead,” Will responded in a voice carefully devoid of any sort of emotion. Hannibal was thrilled.
He tried his best to mask the feeling as he responded to Will’s demand. “That is a fairly ambitious goal, Will. They are only a few parts of a vast web. Trying to untangle it would take more than just one man.”
“Than help me.”
“Are you asking me to commit murder?” Hannibal asked.
“Some people don’t deserve to live, Hannibal. If they keep walking around more innocent people are going to have their lives ruined. Not everyone is lucky enough to be rescued by a polite serial killer.”
“If you rush in they will kill you,” Hannibal stated in a practical voice. It would do him no good to have Will killed before a proper hunt had the chance to take place. “One man cannot take down a small army.”
“I’d need to learn how to hunt properly then.”
“This sounds like a very ambitious project. How long do you plan on staying?”
Will didn’t hesitate before saying, “Until everyone responsible for trafficking here is dead and gone.”
“That could take years.”
“It could.”
“You’ll need a place to stay.”
“I will.”
“I have plenty of space available should you want it.”
“You said it could take years; are you sure you won’t get bored with me?”
“That could never happen, my dear Will. I find you far too interesting.” Hannibal assured him as he pushed the traffickers card towards Will as a silent offering. He would be willing to forego his usual hunting habits if it meant that he could share new ones with someone as fascinating as the man standing before him.
Will took the card from Hannibal with a grin. “And I you, Dr. Lecter. When can we start?”