Title: Moments of Closeness
Author: angstytimelord
Pairing: Will Graham/Sherlock Holmes
Fandoms: Hannibal/Sherlock
Rating: PG-13
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.

***

"I guess there's a silver lining to Hannibal coming after me," Will said softly, blinking as he raised his head from Sherlock's shoulder.

"And what would that be, sweetheart?" Sherlock asked, his voice soft and a little hoarse. He cleared his throat with a slight cough; he always had a bit of a frog in his throat in the early morning. "I don't think there's much to be said for having a psychopath after you."

Will smiled, settling his head onto Sherlock's shoulder again, his arms tightening around his boyfriend's waist. "We're sharing a bed on a regular basis now."

Sherlock couldn't help smiling at those words.

"Well, yes, that is a bit of a silver lining," he had to admit. "Though we're not 'sharing a bed' in the way that most people would use the phrase."

"We will be," Will said softly, one hand raising to thread his fingers gently through Sherlock's dark hair. "I know we will. But there's no sense in rushing the physical side of things, is there? We'll get there. It'll just take us a little more time than most people."

Again, Sherlock had to agree with his boyfriend. There was no reason for them to rush forward; this wasn't a race, and they were moving at a comfortable pace for the two of them.

With each night that he and Will spent in each other's arms, he grew more comfortable with having Will in his bed. Now that they were sleeping next to each other, it was almost inconceivable to him that they would spend a night in separate beds again.

Somehow, it would feel strange not to have Will beside him when he woke up in the morning, and to have him there when he fell into slumber at night.

Besides, he slept much better with Will in his bed.

That was indeed a silver lining to the darkness of the situation they found themselves in, Sherlock thought with a smile.

Maybe he shouldn't be so happy when they were obviously in danger, but he couldn't help it. Just being here with Will like this, sharing these moments of closeness, made him happier than he had ever been in his life. For once, he wasn't alone.

For the first time in his life, he had someone by his side, someone who loved him and wanted to be with him, someone to share his life with.

He'd always avoided that before, thinking that it would interfere with his work, feeling that emotions had no place in his life and that alone was the best way to be.

Will had shown him that wasn't so. Yes, alone could be a good thing at times, but it wasn't how he wanted to live the rest of his life. He wanted to love and be loved, to share himself with someone else, to know what it was like to give his heart and soul.

Now that he'd found that sort of love, he never wanted to give it up -- and he'd be damned if he would let anyone take it away from him.

Try as he might, Hannibal Lecter wasn't going to come between them.

Sherlock scowled at the mere thought of that; Lecter was obviously trying to drive a wedge between himself and Will, to bring fear into their relationship.

But that wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to let that hideous monster have any kind of an adverse effect on what he shared with Will; he had managed to take Will away from the immediate sphere of that bastard's influence, and keep him safe.

He would continue to do so, Sherlock vowed. No matter what happened, he wasn't going to let Hannibal get to Will. He would protect his boyfriend at all costs.

Even that was something of a silver lining, if he really thought about it. Instead of ripping them apart as he was apparently trying to do, Hannibal's pursuit of Will was only bringing them closer together, making them depend on each other all the more.

That definitely hadn't been what Lecter had in mind, Sherlock thought with satisfaction. And he would more than likely be angry about it, as well as resentful.

He didn't care what Hannibal felt. Hannibal's wishes weren't his concern.

All that mattered was that he and Will came out of this safely, and that they found a way to put Hannibal behind bars. That was foremost in his mind.

The silver linings to all of this were something that he could look at later -- though, Sherlock told himself with an inward smile, he was certainly capable of fully appreciating them as they went along. He hoped that more of them would come their way.

And the silver lining that he was experiencing now was most definitely one that he meant to take advantage of, he thought as he pulled Will closer against him.

***