A/N: This is my first little attempt at Hannibal fanfiction so all constructive feedback is very welcome. It's post-TWOTL and contains lots of smut between Will and Hannibal so if you don't like that sort of thing, please don't continue. I've not marked it as complete yet as I may write some further chapters… Just not sure yet!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Too Small A Word

Chapter 1

Will glared from the shadows as Hannibal chatted amiably to the pretty young Greek woman, something that felt an awful lot like jealousy seething up, hot and poisonous in his chest.

They had arrived on the island of Kefalonia less than a week ago after sailing for God knows how long in Chiyoh's tiny boat. He had estimated about six weeks but he wasn't completely sure. Both Will and Hannibal had been out of it for most of the journey which hadn't exactly been Will's plan. He'd expected the attack from the Dragon, but hadn't expected either of them to sustain quite so many injuries. These, in addition to the various fractures sustained in the fall (which he had planned but perhaps hadn't thought through quite as carefully as he should) meant that the two men, Hannibal especially, spent most of the voyage in delirious, drugged-up stupors as Chiyoh both tended their wounds and navigated the course. Will had been able to help her once he was feeling better, but that had only been for the last couple of weeks of the journey.

Throughout the voyage, he and Hannibal had shared a bed in the most platonic sense. It was easier for Chiyoh to take care of them if they were in the same cabin, and, once Will was better, it was easier for him to keep an eye on Hannibal's wellbeing if they slept together. Nothing had happened, not even when Hannibal began to show signs of recovery, but Will had put that down to him still not feeling one hundred per cent and he had expected them to consummate their relationship once they were settled in their new, albeit temporary home.

They had arrived in Kefalonia in the dead of night, landing in a tiny resort town where no one would notice their arrival. Chiyoh had arranged a car to be waiting for them as Will had requested and so he and Hannibal had said their thanks and goodbyes to her before driving up into the mountains to the house Will had taken for them. It was a small villa, secluded and away from the more tourist-heavy areas of the island, but not far from a small mountain village where no one would care about a couple of men who appeared to be on holiday.

However, on arrival, Hannibal had taken one of the two bedrooms, directed Will to the other and now, nearly a week later, Will wasn't sure what the hell was going on.

By day they talked and enjoyed each other's company under the grapevines and olive trees that surrounded the villa, discussing everything from Will's becoming and how they would hunt together once they found a more permanent home, to how Will had planned to escape with Hannibal from the moment he suggested using him as bait to Jack Crawford. Every evening, Hannibal would cook for them both, preparing delicious meals with the local ingredients as they drank wine from one of the island's several vineyards. However, once it came to retiring for the night, Hannibal would politely bid him farewell and head to his own room, while Will would retreat to his own bed, usually to frustratedly masturbate imagining the hand on his cock belonged to a beautiful, Lithuanian serial killer.

After all they had been through, after what they had shared as they hunted and killed the Dragon, after the intimacy of their embrace and all that they had planned for the future, Will had been certain he and Hannibal were on the verge of becoming everything to each other. He was confident in his own feelings for the cannibal, and had been sure that Hannibal had feelings — ones that had existed for even longer than his own — for him. But Hannibal seemed intent on keeping him at arm's length and Will just didn't understand.

And now, to add insult to injury, here he was chatting up a girl who was young enough to be his fucking daughter in their own kitchen. Will felt the pain stabbing at his heart, felt his throat thicken uncomfortably as the young woman laughed at something Hannibal had said, smiled prettily and then said goodbye.

Will fought the urge to follow and disembowel her.

Instead he walked through to the kitchen where Hannibal had his back to him, examining some bottles of wine.

"Spying doesn't suit you, Will," murmured the older man in a tone that would have frozen anyone else to the spot.

"Who was that? Dinner?" Will thought he was keeping his tone light and jovial but even as he heard the bitterness and venom in there.

Hannibal heard it too. Turning around and raising an eyebrow he said, "I would think I have enough common sense not to kill anyone during our stay here. We're meant to be lying low. And even if that were not the case, it would be exceedingly rude to harm Maria. She has shown herself to be nothing but intelligent and polite in my conversations with her."

"Oh, Maria. That's her name then?"

Hannibal rarely ever appeared confused, but right now he certainly looked as if he wasn't sure what was going on so began to speak to Will as if he were a hard of understanding child. "Yes, Will. She works at the vineyard. They did not have any bottles of San Gerasimo when I went yesterday, so Maria kindly said she would deliver a case today."

Will began to feel slightly foolish but was too far gone to back down now. "Well you certainly looked friendly. If you don't want to eat her, maybe you want to fuck her?" He spat the words out and regretted them almost immediately but it was too late.

Hannibal still had the look of someone who'd walked into the middle of a conversation and was having difficulty picking up the thread. "Will, Maria is going to Florence in two weeks to study fine art - I was simply telling her what a beautiful city it was and recommending one of my favourite restaurants to her. I'm not sure how you have made the leap to me wanting to fuck her, as you so eloquently put it, but I can assure you I have no desire to make love to anyone other than you."

Will stared in surprise at the man opposite him, casually elegant in his linen trousers and shirt. "But… You… I…" He struggled to get any words out as the weight of what Hannibal had said hit him like a truck.

Hannibal smirked that gorgeous, irritating smirk of his. "Words, Will."

Will found his words again about the same time he re-found his anger. "If you feel that way, why haven't you done anything about it? Why are we in fucking separate rooms, Hannibal? Why do I go to bed every night wanking off with your name on my lips while you're in another room? Why, Hannibal? Was helping you escape your cell not enough to show how I feel? Was killing the Dragon with you not enough? If you want me so much why haven't you done anything about it?"

Hannibal's looked as if he were about to smile, but his eyes seemed to shade over, growing colder, more distant. He looked disappointed in Will, if anything. "You don't seem to realise, Will, that while you have certainly given up more to be here with me, I am the one risking more."

Will moved to interrupt, to state how ridiculous Hannibal's assertion was but Hannibal silenced him with one look. "It's certainly true that I haven't always understood my feelings for you. I knew I wanted to unleash the killer in you when we first met, and I thought that meant manipulating and destroying you. As soon as you were incarcerated I regretted it. I realised that while I may well have destroyed you and while I had begun to unleash your true instincts, I had also deprived myself of your companionship. I knew from then how I felt about you and I deliberately made Jack realise that there was no copycat killer to bring you back to me."

Will shuddered slightly as he remembered those dark times but Hannibal continued undeterred, a thread of anger sinewing through his otherwise calm voice. "I began to think that you felt the same and that we would live together happily with Abigail. But then you betrayed me and for a long time I was angry with you Will. I thought I wanted to kill you. I tried to kill you twice. And I have never been so glad that I failed to do something in my life. When I saw you bite Cordell's face at Verger's farm, I was overcome. I knew then for certain how I felt but you were still a mystery to me. You helped me escape and you wanted me to have my freedom, but you did not want to be with me so I surrendered. My life would be uninteresting without you either with me or chasing me so I gave up my freedom so that you would always be able to find me. But you didn't come to find me for three whole years. I may not have seemed it to Alana Bloom and Jack Crawford, but I was broken. When the Dragon case brought us together again, I was dismayed. I felt you had rejected me wholeheartedly and you truly hated me."

The older man paused for breath before continuing. "You have given up everything to be here and I know more than most what that took for you to do. But, Will, you could never have been in any doubt how I felt about you. You weren't risking your heart but I was risking my own. So I was not prepared to become more intimate with you unless I knew I wasn't mistaken in your feelings for me. If you didn't want me in the way I want you, then it was enough for me that you were here." Throughout this, Hannibal maintained his usual, aloof exterior, but Will could see the softening of his eyes that anyone else would miss.

"But I do want you, Hannibal," Will whispered. "Something Bedelia said nudged open the door in my mind, the one I'd been holding shut all these years. And then when Jack and Alana said they were going to take the opportunity to kill you and Dolarhyde I realised that I couldn't exist in a world without you in it."

"So you thought throwing us both off a cliff would be a good way to achieve that?" Hannibal smirked once again, dissipating some of the tension in the air.

"It's bought us time, hasn't it? No one's looking for us yet because they still think we're both dead." Will knew they could have simply walked down the steep path but it had to look authentic. If the FBI were to show up at the last moment, they couldn't see Will and Hannibal running down a path towards a boat.

"You're right, Will. My apologies."

Will smiled. "So…"

"So what, Will?" Will wondered if perhaps Hannibal was being deliberately teasing, but then he realised that the man still wanted him to make the first move. Despite everything that he must now know, he was still scared of Will's rejection.

"So we're finally on the same page after years of lying to each other, trying to kill each other, incarcerating each other…" As Will spoke he moved slowly, seductively, across the kitchen towards the other man, his bare feet hot against the terracotta tiles. "Don't you think we should stop wasting time?"

And with that, Will clasped a hand around the back of Hannibal's skull and pulled him into a searing kiss.

It was like nothing Will had experienced before. Hannibal's full lips were firm yet soft while his mouth was hot and wet. Will let his tongue snake out to explore and was greeted by Hannibal's as they slid gracefully across each other, tasting each other. There was no battle for dominance, merely the sensual exploration of two lovers who'd already waited far too long for this moment.

Will twisted the hand on Hannibal's head into his hair, pulling just a little bit too hard which made the doctor moan with pleasure into the former-agent's mouth and caused Will's pants to become painfully tight. He moved his free hand around Hannibal's waist, pressing into his lower back to pull the man closer, feeling his own erection straining against him. Hannibal's hands, meanwhile had found their way to Will's backside, kneading the flesh there and making Will groan with pleasure. They ground their clothed erections against each other and Will had a realisation that if he didn't stop this soon he was going to come in his underwear like a horny, hormonal adolescent.

He reluctantly pulled away, nearly coming on the spot as he saw Hannibal's flushed cheeks and dark, blown eyes, wild with desire. He'd never seen the man so close to losing control before and it turned him on more than he could articulate. "Bedroom. Now. More bed. Less clothes," he gasped as Hannibal smiled seductively with his eyes alone.

The older man led the way, up the stairs to his bedroom, discarding clothes as he went. Will followed suit so when they stood across from each other next to Hannibal's bed they were both nude, the warm Ionian wind breezing in through the open windows, sensually stroking their bare skin. It wasn't the first time either had seen the other naked, but it was the first time in this context so by unspoken agreement they each took a moment to drink in the other. Will took in the sleek, toned body littered with scars, many of which were of his own making; the thick, masculine hair that covered his chest and trailed down his abdomen towards his beautiful cock, long, heavy and uncut. Will imagined how it would feel inside him, feeling his own cock twitch in response.

It was Hannibal that broke the reverent silence. As he looked Will up and down, memorising every single cell, he reached out and touched the long scar on the younger man's stomach. "Divine," he murmured, as much to himself as to Will. As he looked back up and made eye contact with Will, and his face turned serious.

"I've hurt you, Will. But I never will again. Not without your permission, at least." The smirk came back for a fleeting moment and Will bit back a groan at all the ways he could let Hannibal hurt him. "I'd say I love you, Will, but it doesn't seem grand enough. It doesn't come close to expressing how I feel. I worship you and I will spend the rest of my life finding new ways to give you pleasure."

Will couldn't find a response to that. Hannibal was right: 'love' wasn't big enough, wasn't beautiful enough to remotely cover what Will felt for the older man. Instead he said simply, "I feel the same, Hannibal. I really do."

Hannibal closed the gap between them, Taking Will in his arms and kissing him with an intensity that Will had thought couldn't exist in real life. This wasn't the graceful kissing of earlier, this was all tongue and teeth and saliva as they consumed each other wholly, their hard cocks rutting against each other as hands roamed everywhere. They moaned into each other's mouths as Hannibal walked Will backwards to the bed, both of them tumbling on top of it, wincing as their more recent injuries felt the impact.

Will lay mostly on the crisp white sheets of the bed with his feet flat on the cool tiled floor as Hannibal moved over him like some great carnal beast. He was kissing Will's jaw now, before moving over to the scar left by the Dragon on his face and licking along it. "So. Fucking. Beautiful." Hannibal punctuated each word with a lick or a kiss down Will's neck, and just hearing the vulgar profanity tumble from the elegant man's lips made Will arch his back and groan. As Hannibal reached Will's clavicle, he bit down, hard enough to just break the skin and made Will scream with pleasure and use every ounce of self control not to come right there. Growling at Will's response, Hannibal began to lick up the beads of blood that formed there before he brought his bloody lips back to Will's, kissing him deeply.

Will kissed him back passionately, enjoying the coppery tang of his blood on his lover's lips and tongue as they continued to rut against each other. Hannibal pulled back and gazed down at Will lovingly. "I know that you are a generous lover, Will, and that you will want to reciprocate everything I do to you now. But can I ask, would it be too much if, for this first time, you let me worship you the way you deserve to be worshipped? I've been waiting nearly six years for this moment."

Will could only nod his head in awe. No one has ever wanted to worship him before, to lavish him with attention and Will wasn't in a mood to deny Hannibal anything.

Hannibal smiled a proper, full smile — the kind that only Will would ever be able to elicit from him — and placed another firm kiss on his lover's lips, running his tongue gently over them and exploring them so intensely that Will couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. From there, Hannibal began kissing and licking his way down Will's body, stopping occasionally to memorise the man's most sensitive parts, testing whether, for instance, Will preferred his nipples to be pinched, licked, sucked or bitten (the answer turned out to be a combination of the last three), or whether Will enjoyed it when he licked a long, languorous circle around his belly button (he did).

Of course, thought Will, smiling to himself, he would have to turn this into an experiment. But really he was enjoying the attention the older man was lavishing upon him, feeling as if he truly were an object of desire. He felt Hannibal move lower and glanced down to see the man bypass his aching cock and start placing kisses along his inner thighs. Hannibal raised his eyes and Will could see they were smiling wickedly as he began to drag his tongue over the younger man's balls. Will groaned and arched his back. It felt so good he couldn't even put it into words. It felt even better as Hannibal licked broadly up the length of his erection, lapping up the dribbles of precum that had been forming there since they first kissed.

"You taste exquisite, William," murmured Hannibal, swallowing.

"Mmphf," was all Will could muster in reply. His head was tilted back against the sheets his eyes closed, but they flew wide open when he felt where the older man went next. Hannibal had pushed Will's legs up so his feet were draped over the cannibal's shoulders, giving him perfect access to Will's backside. Hannibal parted the globes of Will's derrière, and placed a kiss against his puckered hole before laving it with his tongue. Will screamed again. It was a sensation like nothing he'd ever felt before and he didn't think he could cope with how much it was turning him on. Hannibal was probing him with his sinful tongue now, pushing past the ring of muscle and impaling him, filling him, opening him and leaving him more exposed vulnerable than he had ever been in his life. Except he didn't feel vulnerable, he felt safe and loved and beautiful.

"God!" Will moaned as his lover fucked him with his tongue. He felt the muscles in Hannibal's face change as he smiled and pulled away.

"Hannibal will do fine, Will." He nipped at one of Will's cheeks, making the younger man yelp in surprise. He pushed Will back so his feet were on the bed and then Will heard him moving around, rustling around in the nightstand before settling back between Will's legs.

It wasn't long before Will felt a slick finger pressing against his entrance. It slipped in easily thanks to Hannibal's careful ministrations and Will growled as he felt himself buck down on it. "So eager…" Hannibal murmured before slipping another finger in alongside. This was a bit more than Will had expected and he hissed with the sudden sharp but fleeting pain. Hannibal responded by leaning forward and taking Will's weeping cock in his mouth and sinking himself down until Will felt himself hit the back of the man's throat.

He has no gag reflex… thought Will in wonder, imagining all of the amazing possibilities that could render and nearly losing control. As Hannibal began riding Will's cock with his mouth, he pumped his fingers in and out of his ass, scissoring and twisting them to open Will up. When he first hit that magical bundle of nerves, Will bucked up so sharply that he was sure he must have hurt the man, but Hannibal merely hummed in appreciation around Will's cock, making delicious eye contact with him and telling him with one sinful look what he wanted Will to do. And who was Will to refuse him? So he snaked his fingers into Hannibal's hair to hold him steady and began thrusting into Hannibal's beautiful mouth. He was so enraptured by the sensations around his cock that he didn't even notice Hannibal slip a third finger into his hole until the man began thrusting roughly into him.

"Hannibal," he gasped, releasing his grip on the man's hair, "Hannibal! St- Stop! I don't want to come like this. Want you inside me…"

Hannibal didn't need telling twice, pulling his fingers from Will - who winced at the sudden emptiness — and began to apply more lube to his throbbing cock. He crawled up the bed along Will, lining up his cock with the man's entrance. "Oh, Will, you have no idea how many times I've thought about this moment, how many times I've touched myself imagining it."

Will groaned at the mental image that conjured up. "I'm here, Hannibal. You don't have to imagine it ever again. I'm ready."

With than Hannibal thrust into him, Will taking him to the hilt in one swift movement. Both men let out deep moans that came from somewhere buried far inside and Hannibal stilled a moment to allow Will to adjust to his not insubstantial size. In these few seconds, they stared into each other's eyes and Will knew, just knew, that this connection was eternal. They'd never be parted from each other again, that this was where he was meant to be.

His eyes filled with tears as he saw Hannibal's do the same. "Move, Hannibal," he managed to croak out, his voice deep and raw.

That was all the instruction Hannibal needed, thrusting in and out of Will in long, slow strokes, bringing his head down to kiss Will's jawline. "You think you have the monopoly on fantasy, Hannibal. But don't for one minute think I haven't thought about this. I might not have always known that I loved you, but I have certainly fantasised about this moment."

Hannibal groaned into Will's neck, sucking the skin in a way that was sure to leave a bruise before taking Will harder and faster, fucking him like he may never get another chance, hitting the younger man's prostate over and over again.

"I love you, Will," he panted. And maybe the word was too small but it would certainly do for now.

"Oh, Ha- Hannibal! I love you too." Will screamed as he came all over both their chests and stomachs, completely untouched. Hannibal followed moments later, the clenching muscles of Will's ass sending him over the edge before he collapsed on top of his lover, completely dishevelled in a way that Will had never seen before.

After a few moments of recovery, Will raked a hand through Hannibal's hair. "I love seeing you like this, all that careful control, all that neatness gone. I love knowing I did that."

"Oh, Will. When it comes to you, I've never had anything more than the illusion of control," smiled Hannibal, completely spent.

Later that afternoon, after a lot of aftercare, a lazy shower and a light lunch prepared by Hannibal, the two men sat in their favourite spot under the olive trees outside the villa, drinking a glass of the San Gerasimo that had started everything off.

The only difference today was that they sat on the grass, limbs entwined, sharing leisurely kisses in the afternoon sun.

"You were right, Hannibal." Will smiled, taking a sip of his wine.

"I usually am." Hannibal shot back, earning a dig in the arm from Will. "But about which bit specifically?"

"About me wanting to reciprocate. I know you didn't exactly find today unenjoyable but I… I want the chance to worship you back. I just don't know how far you'll let me go."

Hannibal looked confused. "In what way, Will?"

"I loved you making love to me. I've wanted to submit to you like that since the Dragon. But I want to make love to you as well. But… I just can't imagine you letting me do that." Will quickly took a gulp of his wine so that Hannibal couldn't read the slight embarrassment on his face.

Hannibal, meanwhile, chuckled. "Will, I want us to be equal in everything now. And that includes in the bedroom. I'm naturally more dominant, yes, but I'm not adverse to submitting. In fact I positively relish the idea of submitting to you. But if you need more convincing, I can confess this to you." Hannibal's voice dropped to a deep rumble of a whisper, even though there was no one around. "After you killed Randall Tier, I brought myself to orgasm in my kitchen, thinking of you while I touched myself and fucked myself on my fingers, wishing it was your cock."

Hearing such lewdness come from Hannibal's mouth only served to turn Will on again, especially when he was the object of it. He leaned in and kissed the beautiful man next to him, tasting the wine on his lips, before standing up and pulling his lover up with him.

Hannibal shot him a questioning look.

"Oh," smiled Will mischievously, "I want to make that fantasy come true right now. And the kitchen here is very nice."

Hannibal smiled again and followed Will as he dragged him back towards the villa.