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Will watched his uninvited guest lay out his home-cooked breakfast, feeling half awake and wholly disgruntled. It smelled delicious, and that just annoyed him more, but he was hungry. His first forkful was halfway to his mouth when Hannibal asked, in a falsely off-hand manner, "Uncle Jack doesn't know, does he?"
The list of things that Jack Crawford didn't know was long and diverse, so Will just gazed blankly across the table. When Hannibal didn't elaborate, Will took his first bite of sausage and almost choked on it in horrified recognition. Hannibal's mouth curled up in a tight, satisfied little smile.
"I was a very junior member of the medical team that had the misfortune of dealing with the fallout from the original first contact event. Of course, we had no idea that it was a first contact event until much later, by which time we'd all spent several hours with...Them." Will could hear the uppercase T hanging in the air between them, but he didn't react. Hannibal's smile grew teeth. "They had a very distinctive odor about them, though I believe I was the only one there capable of noticing it. My sense of smell has always been extremely acute." He draw a deep breath in through his nose and sighed. "Yes. Quite unmistakable.
"We were quarantined once the military got involved, and it was quite some time before we...well, most of us...were allowed to return to the hospital and our jobs. We were sworn to secrecy, of course, under threat of solitary confinement, or worse, but the story broke less than a week later, so I can only assume someone didn't take the threats seriously."
Hannibal took another forkful of protein scramble and tilted his head as his gaze mapped out and measured off every angle, plane and curve of Will's face.
"That was the only direct contact I had with Them, but I did my best to keep track of subsequent events. I read leaked and smuggled out papers about medical experiments, heard rumors of social...indiscretions. I thought all of the hybrids that had been exempted from the original termination order had died before or during their first pre-pubertal shift without parental support.
"The more distasteful publications made quite a celebration of it; banner headlines proclaiming the renewed purity of our race, screaming about how we were back on the top of the food chain. No mention of the fact that They had only taken that first taste due to military incompetence, unfortunate timing, and...boundless curiosity."
The sausage in Will's mouth lay heavy on his tongue, and Hannibal waved his fork at him in encouragement.
"Eat, Will, you need your strength. It's obvious from your physical form that it's not your first human meal, and, hopefully, it won't be your last."
Hannibal continued to make encouraging gestures and noises until Will gave in and chewed. And swallowed. And refilled his fork. It was good sausage.
Hannibal took another bite for himself and then resumed talking. "I'd love to hear about that first mouthful of living human flesh, and how it...transformed you. Then, if you'd be so kind as to indulge my curiosity, you must tell me everything. You aren't one of the lab experiments, of this I am completely certain; they were all created from the same genetic material. Your bone structure is so much more aesthetically pleasing than that of the lantern-jawed naval officer who died for that particular senseless cause."
They spent the next few minutes eating quietly, and though he drew it out as long as he possibly could, eventually Will swallowed his final mouthful and sat back, replete, and still wary. The mildly cheerful expression on Hannibal's face left him with an uncomfortable sense of foreboding. He was almost tempted to look the man in the eye, and even got as close as the bridge of his nose before dropping his gaze back to table.
Hannibal made a soft sound of satisfaction that drew Will's eyes back up to the level of his chin.
"I always wondered which of their abilities might carry over into the hybrids. I was particularly curious about the...not telepathy, as such, it's more a merging of selves, isn't it? During eye contact? That's how they first learned of my...proclivities. And became curious."