Chapter Text
Dust, dust everywhere. If Will Graham hated anything more than dust, it was probably cats but the two stood on an equal disgust level. Why did he become an Egyptologist then? one may ask. Well, apart from this quite prominent and huge part of the job he loved everything else. The tombs, the belief system, the stories and just every single thing about the Egyptians (he couldn’t get his head around the cat worshipping thing though). And he was good at what he was doing too! Having an advantage over every single other one of his colleagues, he almost had it easy. Well, almost. And one of the obstacles in front of hiss dazzling career was standing right in front of him.
‘I am telling you the last time, Mr Graham, what you are doing here is neither scientific, nor is it in any way an acceptable form of archaeology. So I would really appreciate it if you could leave this tomb that I found and let the real professionals work!’
Ah and there he goes again. Dr Frederick Chilton ‘Egyptologist Extraordinaire’, a small, dark haired, incredibly annoying man. Will wasn’t even sure he had any base for referring to himself as a ‘professional’. All he did along his career was find one single tomb with another professor and now he thinks himself above everyone else. Pathetic.
‘Excuse me Dr Chilton but I have made an arrangement with your partner, Dr Lecter who was kind enough to let me investigate this place.’ Will stuffed as much disgust into his voice he could manage and waved around the small room he was standing in the middle of. It was quite dark except for the few light spots created by the strong reflectors, and also the dim light searing in through the open doorway, cutting a sharp shadow for the other man and making his figure seem like a dark silhouette. At the mention of his partner he wavered a bit and continued his tirades in a bit more unsure manner.
‘Well, he should have consulted me about it too! You are free to be in here with him but do not enter when neither of us are here, am I clear?’ The difference between the man’s actual size and the vastness of his ego always amazed Will. It wasn’t even him who actually found the tomb he just happened to be the actual research partner of Dr Lecter. I guess he chose Dr Chilton because he’d get twice the funding but wouldn’t have to share the fame for it. The only reason Will even heard about the guy was because Dr Lecter warned him about the obnoxious Egyptologist in advance. But Will was good at figuring out people and Dr Fuckface here wasn’t exactly hard to see through.
‘Does this mean Dr that I can do my thing when you are here?’ Will dearly hoped the other man couldn’t see his small smirk that somehow found its way onto his face.
Chilton visibly stiffened and Will could have sworn that if they were out in the light he could have seen a bit of a blush creeping up to his cheeks. I got you now.
‘W-well Imean you could but why would you want to do that aren’t you working with Dr Lecter.’ Chilton muttered the last part under his breath and Will had to concentrate to catch it. Now the Dr seemed utterly embarrassed and at a loss. With a quick decision Will walked up to him with three long steps and stood in front of him, too close for both of their comfort. But he had to do this if he wanted to stay and work here as much as he wanted to. So Will leaned even closer to Chilton and whispered in his ear: ‘Are you just curious about me Dr, could that be the reason you are so volatile with anything that concerns me? Are you dying to see how I do my thing, would you give anything to observe how I work?’
Chilton audibly gulped and another, now broader smile appeared on Will’s face, bingo he thought. The other man opened his mouth and Will felt like he won the battle but suddenly Chilton jerked his head back and took a few steps back, away from him. He straightened his back and looked into Will’s eyes, now lit up by the dim outside light.
‘Mr Graham I do not know what strange ideas you think you have but I can assure you none, and again, none of them is true! Stop your false accusations right now or I will make sure that you can never even put your foot into this tomb again!’
Will slowly leaned back, averted his eyes and mumbled an apology. Was he wrong? He’s good with people, how did this happen? In his shock he didn’t even notice that Chilton turned around to leave and was currently talking to him.
‘…and get out of this area before sundown, it’s not safe and it’s forbidden for anyone to be here during the night. There will be a night guard on patrol. And’ Chilton paused a bit here. ‘Give my regards to Dr Lecter.’ With that he walked out of the tomb, adjusting his shirt and his hat sitting on top of his head, leaving Will standing in the dark chamber, alone.
* * *
Will spent a bit of time wandering about the tomb after the annoying Egyptologist left, trying to get back into the right mind track, breathing in the atmosphere. Ancient walls, faint lingering feeling of long time dead people who built this tomb and one who took a long long rest here, hoping that his soul could leave his discarded body lying here in safety. The Egyptians built for the future while commemorating the past. That is, until ‘modern’ people didn’t come here to proclaim this peaceful resting place and the tokens in it theirs and took them away to museums and archives never to be seen again, touched again or felt again. Will was incredibly grateful for his ‘gift’ for this alone. He didn’t even want to imagine another way to interact with ancient cultures, especially the Egyptian. How could Dr Lecter and Dr Fuckface be so enthusiastic about a way of life, an entire definition of being without deep connection with it? But Will knew that this kind of connection was only available to him alone and felt respect towards the other people who willingly sacrificed most of their life for a goal they won’t be able to reach, ever.
But Will, he knew he was different, always had been. He didn’t get a doctorate in archaeology or Egyptology simply because he didn’t need one. Of course he would have gained more respect amongst those who did, but what would have been the point in that? He had his thing and that was all he needed. What did Dr Lecter call it? Ah, yes. Immense empathy. Will honestly didn’t understand the professor’s enthusiasm for his thing, but as long as he could get free access to tombs and pyramids he honestly didn’t even care much for it.
Ever since he could remember, it was easy for him to sink into another era, to suddenly leave all his present problems behind along with his physical reality and observe long gone people going on about with their lives. Of course he needed to be really close to objects that kept these people’s essence preserved so whenever he could he visited museums to break free from whatever was on his mind and see how a relic kept behind double glass frames was used in its original form and purpose.
Of course there were numerous backlashes to his method of work. People doubted his theories (they weren’t even theories, they were statements), and looked down on him as if he was a lunatic. Just like in that one tv show, what was it called now… he just couldn’t remember it. But it had an Egyptologist in it and he had all these theories about aliens and the Egyptians but no-one believed him until they actually found the aliens. Will felt like that guy, except in his reality there was no alien artefact to transport the sceptics to another planet. Well, at least some of his theories could be proven. It was Dr Lecter who took it on himself to find grounds for his theories and Will was immensely grateful to him. He should express his gratitude to him…and Dr Chilton too. I mean he did let me work on their excavation site. And let me off the hook after that embarrassing confrontation. Will was generally good with people but that didn’t mean he was a people person. No, no he just learned how to read people and even manipulate them, but whenever he could he tried to avoid doing that.
Will suddenly pulled his own wandering thoughts back to the present. He had almost three hours until sundown, he had to be quick about this. Taking a few deep breaths he focused on his surroundings, the crumbling walls on his every side, the slightly sultry air, the feeling of age. And suddenly he could feel none of these things anymore. Instead there were at least a dozen people moving around him in the chamber, seemingly adding the finishing touches to the brand new decoration of the room. When they were done, one by one they left and Will was standing in the middle of the now empty tomb. But he wasn’t alone for very long, as a couple of priests came in, carrying the sarcophagus on their shoulders. They placed it right next to him carefully and started the usual rituals of hanging charms for luck, safe passing and for many other possible scenarios and when they were done with that they began to leave. But one of them lingered for a little longer.
Will furrowed his brows and stepped closer to the priest. And then suddenly he was looking where the other man was and a sense of urgency filled him. Quickly, hide it before anyone notices. That’s what the king asked me to do, to hide it, to keep it safe. Will took out a knife from his robes and began to loosen one of the stones that made up the floor. He was in an incredible hurry so his hands slipped a few times but finally the stone came out and he quickly got out something small and silver from his robes and hid it in the hole, shoving the rock back into its place. He tried to search his own swirling thoughts and emotions to find out what the small, now hidden object was but to no avail. In the meantime he got up and hurried towards the door. At the exact moment when the priest exited the room Will found himself back in his own body in his present. He hurried to the other side of the place where the sarcophagus was but he couldn’t find the stone he was looking for under all the debris left by the ages and the workers helping out the two professors.
He was so immersed in his search that when at last he checked his watch the time was way past 5 pm. Will let out a curse under his breath and almost ran out of the chamber. I have to find Dr Lecter as soon as possible, I think he accidentally stumbled upon something great. And of course we have to tell Dr Chilton too. This thought didn’t cheer him up much but the obnoxious man was still Dr Lecter’s partner so there was nothing he could do about it.
* * *
Dr Frederick Chilton was sitting in the moderately large and well decorated living room of the house he got the university to rent for him in the outer district of the city while he was working at the excavation site. He wasn’t exactly content with the accommodation but it wasn’t so bad. It had two bedrooms and a large bathroom along with kitchen staff and two butlers (of course he paid them the university would never allow something like this). All in all it couldn’t have been said that he had to endure harsh circumstances. Still, he just couldn’t seem to be able to relax, let alone go to sleep. His thoughts returned to that peculiar man, Will Graham again and again. Of course Chilton had heard about him before, he was a kind of celebrity, no rather an exciting alien to the exclusive Egyptologist community. A man who allegedly could bring himself back to ancient times, and see how this amazing civilization flourished and lived its everyday life. Chilton highly doubted that he was able to do that, the guy simply had a few lucky guesses, that’s all. He isn’t anything special, if not Dr Lecter’s boytoy. Not that Chilton would have minded that though – he wasn’t into that kind of stuff, not any of the whole thing. But apart from his thing, Will Graham intrigued him as a person. Could he really read him like that? True he didn’t give any credit to his time travelling thing but he sure was curious how it worked (or how he faked it), since no one was allowed inside when he was doing it. Tsch. He thought. I really do want to see him in work. Maybe I should ask Lecter…? No, no. Not a good idea. He didn’t really have a great relationship with his partner. They only teamed up for the funds but no matter how hard Chilton tried to get close to the other man, he somehow always just seemed more and more distant. And to be completely fair Chilton was a tiny bit afraid of him, along with almost 70% of their colleagues. He really was intimidating but in such a way that no one would ever admit that they were wary of him. Especially not when he throws the most elegant and popular dinner parties among them, anyways. But how did he get Graham to work with him? Did he seriously believe in his crazy ideas?
Chilton was shaken up from his thoughts by one of the butlers entering the room. He bowed deep and in a terrible accent said: ‘Sir, ther’z a man hir to zee yu. Hiz name is Grehm.’ The professor jumped up from his comfortable chair and almost ran up to the poor servant.
‘Are you really sure about that?’ For some unknown reason even to him his voice betrayed his nervousness which took over his whole being in one single moment for the mention of Graham. What am I doing?
‘Yez, sir. He said itz very important.’ The poor guy seemed quite taken aback by Chilton’s outburst. So the Dr took a few steps back and thought through his situation. Finally he walked back to his chair, sat down and just waved to the butler with one hand.
‘Let him in.’ What’s going to happen now?
* * *
Will was running out of the tomb at high speed and when he finally left the musky rooms behind him, stepping out into the fresh evening desert air he didn’t hesitate one bit but turned right to reach the guards’ tent as quickly as he could. The only sounds in the crispy night air were his sinking footsteps in the sand and shallow breaths. A hundred meter, two, where is that damn tent?! At last he saw some lights not too far away flickering as the gentle breeze rocked the lamps. Will finally slowed down a little and let himself take a few deep breaths. But as he got near the tent, a shadow suddenly detached itself from the wall of the tent and walked toward him. Will came to a sudden halt and for some reason his heart started beating faster and perspiration made his palms slippery. The shadow reminded him of a predator stalking its prey under the dark starry night sky, cornering its covering meal and the prey cannot do anything… He shook his head to dismantle the last remnants of this disturbing picture and with trembling hands frantically searched for a lighter in his pockets. Smoking was just an occasional poison for his body to relieve his mind whenever it got overwhelmed by all the information it received. Finally Will found the old aluminium lighter and a small flame appeared in his still trembling hands, flickering in the still gentle breeze, shedding only light to a very small slice of the unending desert night.
Suddenly a face appeared in the small court of light and Will breathed, relieved.
‘Dr Lecter. What are you doing here at this time?’ Will wanted to put away the lighter but something in his guts told him to keep it lit.
‘I knew you were working here this afternoon and when the night guard told me you didn’t check out I got worried.’ The doctor had a quite thick accent that Will couldn’t really put anywhere but he couldn’t get himself to ask where it was from.
‘Oh...I just got lost in work, that’s all. You don’t need to worry about me. Also…’ Will couldn’t finish the sentence as Hannibal stepped closer to him and looked him in the eye.
‘I do worry, Will. I am counting on your contribution to this excavation, you are crucial to how this project turns out. I need you on this, Will.’ This made him gulp and suddenly his previous motivation to tell the professor about his findings and the strange relic hidden somewhere in the tomb crumbled. I have a really unsettling feeling about this man. He seems to be different than when I met him. What has changed?
‘So Will, found anything interesting today?’ Suddenly his tone was the same he was used to, strangely calming and reassuring but Will just couldn’t shake off the remnants of his earlier feelings. He finally decided what to do.
‘No Dr Lecter. Nothing yet, I hope I’ll have more luck next time round.’ Will managed to give the older man a shaky smile and continued. ‘But if you’d excuse me, I had quite a tiring day so I’d like to go to bed now. See you tomorrow, Dr Lecter.’ With that he let the lighter’s flame die out and started walking towards the night guards’ tent. There were no footsteps following him and it took all of his willpower not to turn back and check what the professor was doing. I have to go find Dr Chilton.
* * *
Will found this smaller residential part of the otherwise poor town quite refreshing but it also made him nervous. Why were people living in such luxury when others lived in poverty a few hundred meters away? He, of course, didn’t expect Dr Chilton to have lodgings in any other part of town. His exquisite tastes probably couldn’t even have handled the absence of an English toilet and hot water. How does he survive excavations that are far from any civilised life? I bet he brings his own house on wheels then. This thought made Will snicker, which earned him strange looks from the few people still lurking out on the streets at that time. It’s so strange to see that the schedule of everyday life here is almost the same as it was back then. Go to sleep as soon as the Sun has set and rise with it, not to miss any precious seconds that allow them to work outside. Has technology ruined men? Are we meant to live like this? Will shook his head and continued walking towards the flashy house the night guard had described for him. It wasn’t too hard to find. When he walked in a butler came and greeted him and then asked his name and the purpose of his visit. After that he hurried away to tell the professor about Will. He in the meanwhile sat down in one of the large chair and took a closer look around. The room was tastefully decorated with traditional looking items but Will wasn’t entirely sure they were genuine. There was a replica of a painting that particularly caught his interest.
It showed a pharaoh among his people, apparently showing them something, or maybe teaching them about something. But that wasn’t why it perked Will’s interest. It was the jewellery the ruler was wearing. Around his neck there was a chain with something silvery hanging on it. It was too detailed to be looked over as just jewellery. Upon closer inspection Will noticed that the pharaoh on the canvas looked hauntingly like the mummy he saw earlier in the tomb. This cannot be, but there’s no doubt about it. Yes, it had to be the silver amulet thing he was looking for in the tomb that day. So it was real after all. Will’s resolve to find the hidden item grew even stronger and he restlessly paced around the room until the butler came back to fetch him.
* * *
Another great opportunity for the professional elite to get together and spend a whole load of money that could have been used to help starving African children. That was what Will honestly thought about the grandeur party that Hannibal threw in celebration of his findings in the new tomb. Totally useless and way too flashy for Will’s taste, that’s all it was. The only captivating part for him was the all-you-can-drink bar, although even there he couldn’t get himself a simple beer or even a martini of any brand he even remotely knew. I am pretty sure one bottle behind that counter could have paid for my college tuition fees. He started counting them through the glass and got to about thirty when he suddenly became aware of a tone he couldn’t have mistaken for anyone else even if he tried to. Dr Chilton. Will instinctively jumped behind the side of the bar not to be seen by him. As he cautiously peeked around the wall he saw that the Dr was talking to a small group of people in a high volume with his annoying tone. Even like this Will couldn’t hear what he was saying through the string quartet playing on the small podium on the other side of the room. Damn it. Will really, really hoped that he wouldn’t spill anything important to the people standing around him, especially not Dr Lecter who, just like Will, perked his ears up and was listening to Chilton’s ramblings quite tensely. He then turned around and walked up to the group and as far as Will could tell offered a few words of courtesy to them then to his freezing horror the professor excused Chilton and gently but purposefully started tugging him towards a room in the back of the big hall the party took place in. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Dammit God freakin dammit. Will tried to sneak up to the door where they left and not attract too much attention to himself, which he almost perfectly managed except for one time when he almost knocked a waiter off his feet along with a tray of appetizers.
Finally he reached the back side of the hall and cautiously approached the hallway the two men disappeared to. He leaned into the wall and slowly inched closer to the entrance. From that place he could hear everything if he concentrated a little bit.
‘…with me. Why were you talking to him this afternoon?’ That was definitely Dr Lecter’s voice. It wasn’t particularly angry or upset but cold, calm and incredibly alarming. A shiver ran up Will’s spine just from listening to it from far he couldn’t even imagine what he’d have done if it was aimed at him instead of Dr Chilton. Will couldn’t see the smaller man from where he was hiding but he was pretty sure that he was at least horrified.
‘I-I wasn’t! It was all by accident, I just wanted to check on the site and he happened to be there! I swear we didn’t even talk!’ Dr Chilton’s usually over-confident and obnoxious tone was nowhere to be found and instead his words just stumbled out of his mouth in a jumbled mess, almost as if they were racing each other to see who can escape the pressure inside faster. Dr Lecter took a step forward and his expression morphed into a mix of menace and impatience.
‘Dr Chilton the guard told me you had a conversation with Will Graham this afternoon. I rather trust him on this than you. So tell me, what were you two talking about? ’ The professor looked even more dangerous if that was even possible. Will heard a small squeak and knew that it was all over for the both of them.
‘Al-alright I did talk to him.’ There it is, the end. ‘But all I did was ask him to tell you to tell me when he was going to be in the tomb just so I know about it. Really, that is all that happened and I left right after that. You can ask your guard dog too that I really didn’t spend much time there and I haven’t seen the guy since then.’ Will realised that he was holding his breath for the entire time when Chilton was speaking. Lecter’s face remained in its menacing expression for a few more seconds but then it went back to the neutral one he had been wearing the whole night.
‘I’d be really happy if that stayed that way, am I clear?’ His voice was less cold but remained just as menacing as it was before. Even though it was a question, it sounded like a statement, rather a demand to Will. Why can I not be in touch with Dr Fuckface? What disadvantage would that mean to him? Will became more and more confused. It wasn’t as if he wanted to work together with Chilton but this was definitely strange. If he hadn’t known better he would’ve thought Lecter was jealous of the other professor. But why would that be? Will couldn’t see what happened but assumed that Chilton nodded as Lecter continued:
‘Also, Will Graham is completely free to enter and leave the site at any time.’ He gave the smaller man a meaningful look and turned to leave. Will quickly took a few steps and hid behind a huge plant that stood right next to the decorated wall. But Lecter didn’t seem to have noticed him and confidently walked over to some of his guests as if nothing happened in the last few minutes at all. So Will leaned against the wall, loosened his tie a bit and took a few minutes to think everything through. The strange relic he knew was somewhere in that tomb, his talk with Dr Chilton before the party and now this scene. He felt that there had to be some kind of connection between them but couldn’t figure out what just yet.
Finally Chilton came back to the hall too and started walking toward the bar on shaky legs. Will didn’t hesitate, followed him and grabbed a glass with some incredibly expensive luxurious whisky for himself. Then went up to the other man who by that time was gulping down his third shot of something ridiculously valuable and strong. Will gently tapped his shoulder and made motion towards the balcony that was supposed to be an invitation. Chilton grabbed another drink and headed out to the fresh air. The memory of what had just happened was too strong in Will so he drank his whisky, got another one and only followed him after that so it wouldn’t be too suspicious.
He found Chilton leaning against the wall of the huge mansion Hannibal found a suitable place for the party, and was smoking an expensive looking cigar in almost complete darkness. Will leaned on the railing not far away from him and pretended to be immensely interested in the completely dark garden and the lights of the closest small city on the horizon. They just stood there in silence for a few minutes but in the end it was Will who broke the silence.
‘I heard everything that happened. It was, errrh, brave and great what you did there, thank you Dr’ Will didn’t look up, only turned to him when he heard a strange sound, something like snickering from the professor’s direction. Chilton seemed to have realized that something wasn’t completely right with his reaction so he quickly explained it to Will:
‘It wasn’t anything particularly brave on my part. Rather I just completely forgot about that strange relic you mentioned to me earlier when Dr Lecter confronted me.’ Will followed his fashion and let a small laugh go at this and the incredibly tense atmosphere was gone immediately from over the two of them. Chilton joined him and now it was just the two of them laughing out in the night, forgetting about any looming danger for a moment. But this moment of tranquillity couldn’t linger and soon both of them were back to staring at the invisible scenery in silence. It was Dr Chilton who broke it again.
‘But now that you have access to the site anytime, it will be easier to search for the relic. It’s only me who’s a problem still, I cannot be seen entering the tomb at the same time as you do.’ That really was a big problem and they had to come up with a solution really quickly as Will was sure that Hannibal wouldn’t stop sniffing around and eventually will find out about their private conversation at Chilton’s residence. For some peculiar reason that Will couldn’t really understand he felt like he could trust this small, obnoxious man much more than Hannibal Lecter. While Hannibal had a sincere façade with a cruel and dangerous core, it seemed to Will that Chilton, no matter how hard he tried to play the high class snob was actually a good person once someone took the time and patience to dig deeper in his personality. Will had neither one of those at the moment but even the slightest feeling that he could trust this man was something he couldn’t afford to let go.
The strange relic hidden somewhere in the tomb promised to be something extraordinary or even revolutionary and Will really didn’t want to leave it in bad hands. They tried and tried to come up with a solution for their logistical problem and in the end settled on a version that seemed like the least risky one. If it worked out just fine then Will would go in through the entrance of the site, where the guards could see him and Chilton would try to approach from the side and climb through the makeshift fence on the other side. Soon they went back to the hall one at a time and both of them left not long after.