Title: Change in the Air
Author: angstytimelord
Pairing: Will Graham/Sherlock Holmes
Fandoms: Hannibal/Sherlock
Rating: PG-13
Table: writers_choice
Prompt: #12, Change is in the air
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Will Graham or Sherlock Holmes, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

He was leaving Wolf Trap. He was moving to London.

Everything had been packed and the movers had been here; Winston was in his dog carrier, ready to go to the airport with them. Everything was in readiness.

He was actually leaving, after so long here. He was going to London, to start a whole new life with Sherlock. It didn't seem possible that one phase of his life had come to an end, a phase that had ended not with a bang but with a whimper, with an ignominious defeat.

Will sighed as he looked out over the woods in front of his house, the house that soon wouldn't be his any more. He was sure that it would sell quickly.

The was a change in the air.

Not just in the air, but all around him. His life was about to change in a big way; he was taking a step in a whole new direction.

And not only by changing the place that he was living in, but also being in a relationship for the first time in his life. That was an even bigger change for him than moving to London, Will told himself with a wry smile. And a much scarier one.

Of all the things he'd thought that he would do in his life, being in a relationship wasn't one of them. He'd resigned himself to thinking that it would never happen.

He'd have thought that he would move away from Wolf Trap and start an entirely new life somewhere else by himself, but never that he would find love with a wonderful man and leave Wolf Trap in his company. That made what was happening somewhat of a triumph.

This was something he'd longed for all of his life, it he was honest. A good relationship with someone he loved, and who loved him in return.

That was something he had never expected.

Sherlock had driven into Vienna -- he was surprised that the man knew how to drive a car on American roads -- and would be back in an hour or so.

They had to leave for the airport in less than two hours, and he hoped that his boyfriend wouldn't get caught up in anything that would make them late. He didn't want to miss this flight; he suddenly wanted to get out of Wolf Trap as quickly as possible.

Yes, there were things that he would miss about this place, but all in all, he was glad to be leaving all of this behind. It was time to start anew.

It was exhilarating. And more than a little frightening.

But it was a step that he had to take, Will told himself firmly, a step that he couldn't pull back from. This was what he had to do, what he wanted to do.

There was no reason to back away from this change. It was something that had probably been coming for a long time, for longer than he'd realized. He hadn't known it until he'd ended up in prison, but his life in Wolf Trap had been on a downward spiral.

He'd thought that he was happy here, but now, in the clear, cold light of day, he was discovering that had never really been true.

He had told himself that he was happy and contented, but deep inside, he had always wanted more. And now, he was finally getting what he'd yearned for.

A relationship. A lover. A man who he was madly in love with, and who loved him back just as fiercely. He was no longer on the outside looking in, no longer wishing for something that he was sure he could never have. Now he had it, and he wasn't letting go.

This was his chance to have everything he'd always dreamed of -- everything that Hannibal had assured him that he wasn't built for.

That bastard. Always trying to make him doubt himself and his desires.

And all the while, he'd been plotting to frame Will for murder, to put him behind bars so he could be studied lime some kind of lab experiment.

He didn't want to think about what Hannibal had planned for him. He was sure that his former friend intended to keep him in jail for the rest of his days, to drive him mad. Hannibal wanted to make him a victim, to take everything from him and then sit back and laugh about it.

What hurt the most was knowing that he'd fallen into that trap, that he had believed Hannibal was his friend for so long. He'd been a fool. A blind, stupid fool.

Well, he was a fool no longer, and never would be again.

The change that was in the air would benefit him in every way, Will told himself. He no longer had a place here in Wolf Trap. Those days were over.

It was past time for him to turn his back on this place, and try to retain only the good memories of his life here. He would miss some things about it, that was true. But nothing could last forever, and change was good in a lot of ways.

Well, some things could last forever, he thought with a smile. His relationship with Sherlock would last. He didn't doubt that for even one second.

The way he felt about Sherlock would never fade, never die away. His heart seemed to swell in his chest every time he thought of his boyfriend; there was so much love there, love that he really hadn't begun to express to its fullest, simply because he didn't know how.

But he would learn, he promised himself. That was another change he would make in his life. He wouldn't hold back his emotions any longer. He would learn to let them out.

And in the process, he would become a happier man.

Being happy. Truly happy, not just content -- or at least telling himself that he was content. That would be another change for him.

For once in his life, he would finally be able to feel that he could have the happiness he'd always wanted and had never thought that he would achieve. It was already within his grasp; just being with Sherlock gave him a happiness like nothing he'd ever experienced.

That happiness would just keep growing, Will told himself with a smile. The change in the air wouldn't stop with that, but would continue on into the rest of his life.

He couldn't wait for those changes to start, and for his new life to begin.

***