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Title: Normal Behavior
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Table: Big Bang Inspirations, tv_universe
Prompt: Picture of crime scene tape
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 tried to avoid looking at the crime scene tape as he walked past it; he always hated looking at the obvious signs that a crime had been committed. Though he dealt with violent, grisly murder on a daily basis, he didn't like the outward trappings of it.

This one had been particularly bad; he still felt disoriented and more than a little sickened by his trip into the killer's mind. This time, the killer had been far too easy to read -- and Will had known beyond any shadow of a doubt that this killer would be interested in him.

One thing that he'd gotten loud and clear from the details of the murders was that this man raped his victims before he killed them -- and took pleasure from it.

And it was easy enough to see that they all looked very much like Will.

He hadn't been able to tell if that had been deliberate or not; maybe this killer was just drawn to men who had Will's physical characteristics. But since it had been made public by the media that Will was one of the FBI agents working on the case, he couldn't help feeling vulnerable.

He didn't want to end up being one of this man's victims; just the thought of ending up like they had was enough to make him feel like he had to throw up. But he'd managed to keep his stomach from roiling, and to distance himself from what he was seeing and feeling.

This was the fourth victim, and it was horribly frustrating to know that he had gotten away with four murders and not been caught. It was even more frustrating to know that they didn't have any kind of clue as to who he was, or where he could strike next.

More than once, he had thought of bringing Hannibal into this; he knew that the other man could have some insights that might help them with this case.

But the thought of involving his lover in his work made him hesitate; it wasn't that he didn't trust Hannibal, but more that he felt uneasy about mixing his personal and professional lives. He wanted to keep them as far separate as he could, to draw a firm line between them.

It might not be practical, but it was what he had to do.

He wasn't ashamed of his physical relationship with Hannibal; far from it. But he didn't want anyone to know what went on between the two of them, that he wasn't so much Hannibal's lover as his submissive. He didn't want anyone to know what he himself was like behind closed doors.

That thought brought a burning blush to his cheeks, especially when he remembered what he and Hannibal had done last night. It hadn't seemed degrading or embarrassing then, but thinking about it in the cold light of day almost made him cringe.

No, he wasn't exactly ashamed -- but it was more than a little embarrassing to think of what he'd willingly let Hannibal do to him last night.

Will pushed those thoughts out of his mind; he didn't need them crowding into his brain along with all that he had just absorbed from that grisly crime scene. He didn't want the two of them melding together; that could be dangerous for his state of mind.

It was disturbing enough that all of the victims they'd found so far had looked a lot like him; he didn't want to start picturing himself in their places. He didn't want to find yet another victim and see his own face staring up at him when they got to the scene and he was alone with the corpse.

It was beginning to seem as if that was the killer's intent.

That had almost happened today, which was probably why he felt so disoriented and squeamish. Just the thought of his own body being violated and eviscerated like that was enough to make him shudder; thinking that such a fate could await him was frightening.

He couldn't help feeling sickened by what he'd seen today -- anyone would be. Even Jack had looked a little green around the gills, and he'd seen more horrible things in the line of duty than most people had. But the sight had disturbed Will more than it had anyone else.

That might be what this killer meant to do -- he might know that Will would be one of the agents working to catch him, and that would be his way of trying to make Will back away from the case. Or there could be another, even more chilling, reason.

Maybe this killer was after him. Maybe these corpses that he'd already left behind were just his way of working up to the victim that he really wanted.

Maybe the intended victim all along had been Will himself.

That was a sobering -- as well as a frightening -- thought. But he couldn't let it make him turn his back on this case; if he did that, then the killer would win, in a way. If he wasn't after Will specifically, then having him off the case might be what he wanted.

If he could frighten Will away from the case, then that would mean that he'd be able to go on unchecked for quite a while to come. Will didn't want to sound cocky, but he knew that if he stayed with the case, he could come up with enough leads to catch this man.

But if he was forced to turn away from it for fear that his own life would be in danger, then that could mean that it would take them much longer to find this killer -- if they ever did. What Will brought to the investigation could be the difference between catching him, and letting him run free.

They couldn't let that happen. They couldn't put that many lives in danger -- even if him staying on the case might mean that he was putting his own life in jeopardy.

He'd faced danger before, Will told himself firmly. He could do it again. Besides, there were always plenty of people around him when he was working; the only time he was alone was when he asked everyone to leave the room so he could put his empathy to good use.

And when he did that, the crime scene had already been secured; there was no danger of anyone lurking in the shadows. There was no one hiding anywhere to leap out at him, no danger that he would be harmed. There was nothing for him to be afraid of.

Then why was a trickle of icy-cold fear suddenly running down his spine?

Will shuddered at the remembrance of what that corpse had looked like -- and at the eerie resemblance it had borne to his own face. He didn't want to think about that; he couldn't let himself be distracted from the case by his own fears. He had to push them aside.

Maybe if he talked to Hannibal about this, his lover could manage to calm those fears and make him feel more like himself again. He'd been pushing himself too hard today; all he really needed was a relaxing evening with Hannibal, then a good night's rest.

Yes, he would go to Hannibal, talk to him, try to put all that he'd seen today into perspective. He needed that distance, needed to let rational thought processes take control.

Somehow, Hannibal was always able to calm him. He could take away the fear, make Will feel normal and sane again -- even though what they usually spent their time doing in the dead of night was anything but what most people would classify as "normal" behavior.

In some ways, it was possible that their behavior mirrored this killer's -- without the killing part, of course. It looked as though this man tortured his victims before he killed them, made them submissive to his desires just as Will was submissive to Hannibal.

It was disconcerting to think that he could have that much in common with these victims.

But he had to look at that possibility, no matter how disturbing -- or terrifying -- it might be for him. Hannibal would be able to help do that, calmly and rationally. Hannibal always had a way of putting things that could help him look at them in a different light.

Sighing, Will reached into his jacket pocket for his keys as he headed towards his car. He couldn't get to Hannibal's home quickly enough; he needed to slough off all that he'd seen and done today, and he hoped that he'd be able to do that while he was in his lover's arms.

***