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Title: Answered Prayers
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Table: Personal Challenge, 1drabble
Prompt: 13, Prayer
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 lay back in the hospital bed, closing his eyes, feeling the drowsiness already starting to overcome him. This was it, then. The first treatment for the encephalitis, which he would sleep through. When he awakened, he'd know for sure if he was still himself.

Would he be able to tell if he still had his empathic abilities, or would that test come when he went back to work in the field -- if he was even allowed to do so?

He had no idea. He didn't know if he would simply sense whether or not his empathy was gone, or if he wouldn't feel any differently. After hating his ability for most of his life, he was surprised by how badly he didn't want to lose it when faced with the possibility..

He didn't want to be come a different person. He wanted to stay who he was.

His empathic ability might not make him happy -- in fact, it was the cause of a lot of anguish a great deal of the time -- but it had always grounded him. It had always given him a sense of identity, and he wasn't ready to face losing that..

It was frightening to think that he could lose so much of himself -- and that he didn't have any idea how to get it back once it was gone. Will doubted that he could -- once that ability had disappeared, he knew that it would be gone forever, irretrievable.

He'd never believed in prayer; it wasn't a concept that he felt had any validity in his life. He'd tried to pray when he was a child, but those prayers had never been answered. Ever since he was a teenager, he had scorned using that kind of crutch for himself.

But now, he found himself praying to any deity that crossed his mind, praying that he wouldn't lose what had so suddenly come to seem like an intrinsic part of the person he was. He needed this prayer to be answered; for once in his life, he needed a miracle.

Though he very much doubted that his prayer would be heeded.

He would feel himself drifting off to sleep; he forced his eyes open, though his eyelids felt as though they were stuck and didn't want to budge. Hannibal swam into his vision, sitting by his bedside with an open book on his lap, though instead of reading, he was watching Will.

"Go to sleep, Will," Hannibal said, his voice very soft. "I will be here when you wake up. I won't leave your side. You will be safe, and cared for. I promise you that."

Will nodded, gratefully letting go of consciousness. In spite of the awkwardness between the two of them on the way here, and the problems that were sure to come, Hannibal was here, right by his side. And that meant more to him than all the answered prayers in the world.

***