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Title: Keeping Things To Himself
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Sequel to "Subterfuge."
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Hannibal Lecter or Will Graham, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Will sat across from Hannibal, resting his hands on his thighs.

He tried to avoid looking at his boyfriend, knowing that if he did, Hannibal would see the subterfuge in his gaze. He wasn't good at hiding things from his lover.

He was usually good at dissembling; he had a poker face that few people could see through. But Hannibal had a way of passing by all of that, and cutting to the chase.

Hannibal knew him in ways that no one else ever had or ever could. Will had let this man have glimpses into his soul,and maybe that had been a mistake. It had given Hannibal the ability to see through him, to know when he was holding things back, and this wasn't a time when he needed to deal with that.

His lover was silent as he regarded Will, a slight frown between his brows. Will knew that he was going to ask what was going on; it was inevitable.

Hannibal had to know that he was hiding something. His boyfriend was far too astute, and knew him far too well, not to realize that fact.

And he himself hadn't been good at hiding it. Not this time.

Hannibal finally sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and gazing into Will's eyes. Will squirmed, wishing that he was anywhere but here.

"Will, what are you not telling me?" Hannibal asked, his voice very soft. "I know there's something bothering you, but I don't think that you've lied to me."

"Lied by omission, probably," Will said before he could stop the words from coming out. "It's not that I want to," he added hastily, holding up a hand. "But you know that there are things about my cases I can't tell you, Hannibal. You're not a consultant, and some things are on a need-to-know basis."

"And there are things that I don't need to know, as I'm not a confidant of the FBI," Hannibal finished for him, sighing and sitting back. "I suppose you're right."

Will knew that Hannibal didn't believe for a second that he was right. He could tell that the other man was burning to know what he was keeping back and not talking about.

He could tell Hannibal, of course. Maybe he should.

But something told him to exercise caution, to not tell Hannibal that the man they'd arrested for the murders of men who resembled Will wasn't the right person.

That little voice in his head insisted that Hannibal shouldn't know, that there would be dire consequences in the future if he did. And for once, Will had decided to listen to that voice.

He didn't know why there was such a strong insistence in his mind on Hannibal not knowing all that was going on in the case. After all, this man was part of his personal life, and he probably had a right to know anything that could have some kind of bearing on his lover's safety.

But for some obscure reason, he didn't want Hannibal to know. He wanted to keep this between Jack and himself, even though he couldn't put his finger on exactly why.

Hannibal couldn't have anything to do with the person who was killing men that looked like Will. It wasn't something he would do. He wasn't that obsessed with Will.

Or was he? The thought made Will shiver, and he wondered if Hannibal had seen that involuntary movement. It wasn't that he didn't trust his boyfriend. Of course not. If he didn't trust Hannibal, then they wouldn't be involved. But there were some things that he needed to keep to himself.

He just didn't want to drag Hannibal into all of this, not if he could help it. He wanted to try to keep his personal life out of his work. It was just better that way.

That was a lame excuse, and he knew it. But no matter how much he told himself that he should tell Hannibal about the man they'd arrested, he couldn't make himself do it.

Hannibal didn't need to know. At least, not yet. Maybe he never would.

"I know that you're used to hearing about my cases, but Jack and I don't think anyone outside of the team who's working on this particular case needs any information," Will said, sounding apologetic.

He wasn't going to tell Hannibal that the case he was referring to was the one that concerned him in a personal sense. Again, it was another thing that Hannibal didn't need to know.

Anyone else would probably make a strong case for him to tell Hannibal everything about the case, to keep him informed and updated. After all, Hannibal was his lover, so he had a personal stake in finding the man who was killing people that resembled Will, too. He would be concerned.

So why did he feel like this? Why did that little voice in his head keep telling him that letting Hannibal know anything about this case would be a bad idea?

Will didn't know, and he had no idea why he was paying such heed to that voice. But he'd made his choice, and that meant not telling Hannibal any more than he had to.

Hannibal nodded, seeming to shift his inner focus to something else.

"So, if you can't talk about a case that's bothering you, can you tell me about the progress in the case of the man you've arrested for the murders of those men who resemble you?" he asked.

Will swallowed hard, wishing that Hannibal wasn't quite so astute. Did his boyfriend realize that the case he'd asked about was the very one that was bothering Will so much?

No, he couldn't know that. Hannibal was fishing, searching for what was getting under Will's skin, and then he would slowly put surely pull out the explanation. Will knew that he couldn't let his love do that. He had to keep the truth about this case from Hannibal at all costs.

It didn't matter that he wasn't entirely sure why he wanted so badly to keep this from Hannibal. He just knew that he had to, no matter how it was done.

"We've got him in custody, even though he keeps insisting that he's not the man," Will said, trying to sound nonchalant. "But we'll get a confession out of him. It'll just take some time, that's all."

He hoped that Hannibal didn't realize how tense his body had suddenly gone.

Hannibal wasn't touching him, but he was close enough to observe body language, and he was very good at divining people's feeling from that. Will knew that he had to be careful.

He leaned back in his chair, feigning comfort. He desperately needed Hannibal to think that he was relaxed, that this conversation didn't have him on edge.

Hannibal seemed to accept what he'd said; he was nodding, leaning back in his chair in a mirror of Will's posture. But Will had the feeling that Hannibal would keep digging, subtly, not letting Will know just what he was doing. He would keep on searching for the information he wanted.

He would have to try his best to keep that information to himself, and hope that he didn't let anything slip. Because he didn't want Hannibal involved in this investigation.

Will didn't know just why he wanted his boyfriend to stay out of this. But something told him that if Hannibal was in any way involved, they'd never find the actual killer.

For now, he'd keep things to himself, no matter how hard that might prove to be.

***