#and Hannibal is visibly shaking with rage

[thatonedudeinthecorner]

Shawn Spencer and Will Graham would be enemies to best friends because he would be the only one to believe that Will didn’t kill anyone and he would go “it was probably like Hannibal or someone lmao he LOOKS like he kills people” and Will would be on his hands and knees like “PLEAAAASE”

@gargoyl3city they’re so silly

[malewifegraham]

[visibly shaking] hannibal lecter would love me for my homosexual inclinations and homicidal rage

[gingersimasnaps]

Every heart needs a beat (Order AU/Hannibal fanfic)

THIS IS SERIOUSLY ONE BIG MESS. Remember True colors, my Order AU fanfic? It can be found here on my blog. Well, Laura, Vera’s niece was briefly mentioned there. And because I’m my usual weird me, I had a dream about the first third of this work. So I sat down to write it. It turned into something bigger, and I’m somewhat proud of it. 

So, let’s pretend Laura Stone, Vera’s niece, starts to work in Blue Rose Law Office, under Kepler’s supervision, and gets to advocate Margot Verger in Verger vs. Verger case. They fall in love, and Mason finds out. And things go bad, bad, bad way.

As I said, this is pure mess and I’m still not sure about sharing, but hey, world belongs to the brave, right? :D

Every heart needs a beat (Order AU/Hannibal) Margot Verger/Laura Stone (OC) Word count:  3563 Angst; hurt/comfort; character death

Margot sees her through the glass door. She's so fragile, so broken, so -

Some young doctor is currently trying to talk to her, but Laura just stares to nowhere, blinks occasionally, so quiet, not reacting at all, like the life is sucked out of her, and Margot just can't hold herself any longer. She all but bursts through the door and –

"Laura," she only whispers, but it's enough for the young redhead woman to lift her head. There is pure disbelief visible on her face, but in a second, she stands up and runs to her, and Margot catches her in her arms.

"Margot," sobs Laura, her voice stranded, "you're alive... Are you alive?"

"Of course I am, honey, I'm here," Margot cooes, but question after question runs through her head -  why? what makes you to ask this? What did he do to you?

Laura holds tightly, tighter than ever, and her sobs soon turn into guts wrenching weeps. Her whole body is shaking and Margot wants to cover her, hide her, protect her, so no one would touch this beautiful creature, sent to her right from heavens again, especially not her masochistic brother, but she can only hold her and it looks like it can’t be enough.

"He told me you're dead," Laura cries, "he showed me - he sh - he showed me your - your dead body, a pic – cture of it, and I - I couldn't - I was thinki - and he said you’re not - and, and -"

"Baby," whispers Margot, pulls her closer, even though it looks impossible, and while Laura dugs her fingernails deep into her skin for the reassurement that it's real, that Margot is real, she fights the pure rage flooding through her veins. She could kill Mason with her bare hands now, not even batting an eye. She deals with what he did to her every day, and sometimes she even feels okay, thanks to her lover -  but this is completely different, because this is Laura. It's Laura, cheeky and ironic and sassy at the first glance, but innocent, soft, tender, gorgeous inside and out when you get to know her, and it's her's Laura. No one is messing with the source of her happiness, let alone Mason.

"I'm here, love, I'm alive, we're both alive..." instead of rage, Margot fights tears now. She has broken woman in her arms. And her own blood caused it.

She knows Vera is probably crawling the walls up outside the private wing of the hospital, or maybe clawing Hamish's eyes out simply because she's worried sick and waits for Margot's call, but she can't bring herself to move. She just wants to hold the redhead as long as she can.

"I want to go home," she senses more than hears Laura whisper. Her dry lips are touching her neck and it just feels so wrong. Her lips are always soft and strawberry-like. Except now they aren't. Nothing is like it was two weeks ago.

"We are going home," Margot says, and the doctor's head snaps up.

"You can't go home. Miss Stone is staying here."

"No," Laura moans painfully. "I want to go home, Margot, please..." and another panic attack hits her and she again tightens her grip. "Please, don't leave me here alone, please, please!"

Margot looks at the doctor, eyes hard. "Laura is going home with me," she states.

"No," snaps the doctor, and her eyes darken behind her glasses. Typical bossy girl, probably resident, who thinks she owns the whole hospital.

At first, Margot wants to fully release Laura from her embrace for a moment to talk to the doctor, but then she sees Laura's face, stricken with incredible fear, pain, hazel eyes full of panic, and takes her hand.

"I'm not going anywhere. Never. Just give a moment, and then we will go home," she says and kisses Laura slightly on her forehead. Never letting go of her hand, she turns to the doctor, who looks like she's ready to call some security to stop them from leaving.

"For the last time, Miss Stone is going home with me. You and your snobbish ass have no idea what she went through and don't even tell me you read it in her file, because words can't describe a single second of the past two weeks. She was abused and tortured enough already and I'm not letting you torment her any further. And if you say another word about her staying here, God help me but you will know how the glass from your fake glasses feels in your eyes."

Laura manages to walk behind the corner when her legs finally give up, and she feels her head sway backwards, but two soft hands hold her.

"Laura, hold on for a while more. Just a few minutes. Do it for me, please, I know you can. Just keep walking. I love you," she hears and it's enough to gather all the remaining strength and walk again, Margot's arm around her waist.

It's bright, sunny day, when they exit the hospital. Just like the day when Mason killed Margot, as he told her. But Margot is right next to her, big blue eyes are saying it's real, so that means Mason didn't kill her. It also means the tiniest sparkle of hope. Laura reaches up and puts her hand on Margot's cheek.

Before she can say something, someone who smells familiar, like men's cologne Werewolf by Hermès and women's Magic by Cartier, her aunt Vera, is holding her, and Laura feels how her body stiffens. She loves Vera, but she can't feel her right now, she can't feel anyone but Margot. Yet, she keeps reminding herself to stay still, and Vera eventually pulls back.

"You have no idea how happy I am right now," says Vera and kisses her on her cheek. Laura tries to smile. It comes out as a pained face, but she's glad to see her, and such an outburn of emotions from Vera‘s side means she was really scared out of her mind.

"I missed you, Vera," she manages to say, and her aunt gives her one of her rare, genuine smiles. Hamish is there also, he's always there of course, but he's smart enough not to touch her, so he just talks to her a little, and Laura is able to answer him. She watches him intertwine his fingers with Vera's, and even though it hurts like hell to move, she spuns around fast, because what if Margot disappeared -

She's there. The most beautiful woman on Earth, and she comes to her, takes her face in hands, eyes shining with emotions.

"I'm so sorry I let him hurt you," whispers Margot with a sharp, pained end in her voice. Laura shakes her head.

"I would let him to do it again and again and again if it would guarantee me your safety."

Margot cries when she kisses her on lips. "Let's get you home."

Hamish drives. Vera sits in the passenger seat and has her hand placed over his on the stick shift, but her eyes are trained on Laura in the rearview mirror. Laura knows, feels it, but refuses to look back at her, or open her eyes at all. Margot has her arm around her, breathes softly in her hair, and Laura wants to be like this forever. But after roughly half an hour, Hamish parks in front of the apartment building.

"We're here," he says, as if it isn't obvious, and Margot moves, so Laura has to move too. They all get out of the car and if the world wouldn't be so hazy, Laura would probably be surprised to see Vera with watery eyes.

"Be safe, Laura, please, " she says, and it contains more of everything  than million of words.

"You too," answers Laura, and this time, she feels ready enough to shake Hamish's hand. His touch isn't uncomfortable, and Laura thinks it's simply because it's Hamish, and she already knows him as a partner of her aunt.

Eventually they get into Margot's apartment. She was there before, but it feels different now. Margot brushes the hair from the side of her head.

"Are you hungry?"

"No," the redhead answers. "Can I... Take a shower please?"

"You don't have to ask," assures her the beautiful black haired woman, and opens the bathroom door.

"Will you go with me?" Laura hates herself for asking, but she can't be alone now. Margot wears the kindest smile and nods.

They go to the bathroom together. Margot starts to undress her. Laura‘s body is so scarred, edges jagged, it looks like someone - not someone, Mason, wanted to rip her into tiny pieces.

"Margot, stop. I'm - hideous. Don't look at me," the ginger woman whispers, and Margot stands up and circles her arms around her.

"Laura, my sweet, beautiful baby, you're the most gorgeous woman I've ever laid my eyes on. These scars are a reminder of how brave and heroic you are. Don't you ever say you're hideous, please, it's not true at all."

The redhead whimpers and Margot understands she's coming to the breaking point. She quickly undresses herself, helps her into the shower, turns water on, sits down and Laura collapses against her. Margot pulls her closer to her chest, also scarred, and kisses her hair, temples, cheeks, jawbones, everywhere she reaches, while Laura cries a river, sobs wracking her even worse than in the hospital.

"I love you," whispers Margot, and repeats it over and over, until the water is cold and Laura calmer. She picks her up from the tub and almost winces at the fact she's light as a feather.

In the bedroom, shades closed but dim light from a little lamp on, because Mason kept her in dark and Laura is scared, Margot kisses every single one of her scars and then holds her. When Laura finally falls asleep, completely exhausted, the dark haired woman remembers their first encounter, and how Laura was the strong one, assuring her that Mason Verger is going to be punished, and how she believed the young, fierce lawyer every word. How their meetings shifted from professional to personal. She can almost feel the champagne taste of their first kiss.

And here they are, a year after, and the only person punished is Laura. Because Margot loves her, and she loves Margot.

She doesn't go to sleep, and in a less than a hour, she brushes nightmare away from Laura's face with her hand, reminds her she loves her, and that she's safe now.

She's more than ready to face the difficult months that are ahead of them.

*

She watches in awe when Laura goes fully back to her lawyer mode only a week after, but slowly, the awe turns to worries. It's understandable she wants justice for Mason, but it eats her alive. Margot begs Vera to do something, and Vera does - she literally forbids her niece to enter the Blue Rose building. Laura understands quickly it's Margot behind it, and screams at her on top of her lungs for solid hour, before something breaks inside her and in a second, she's crying, kissing her face, begging for forgiveness. Margot simply hugs her and that's it, their first big fight is over.

The night before the trial is warm, stars are shining brightly together with almost full moon, and light breeze plays with the curtains in their bedroom. They go to sleep early, but when midnight passes, Laura sighs, throws blanket away and goes to stand on the balcony. Margot joins her after few minutes. „It’s going to be alright,“ says Laura, and Margot can’t pinpoint who she wants to assure more. „As long as we’re rogether, it is alright,“ she answers.

When morning creeps through the curtains, Laura rises from the bed and dresses herself into a white shirt and black skirt. She also puts black tights on and crowns the whole outfit with black heels. „You look like Vera,“ muses Margot. Laura smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes and it’s visible she’s totally focused on the trial.

The courtroom is full. Vera and Hamish are there, her psychologist Alana Bloom is there, even Elizabeth Kepler, that lawyer bitch who is responsible for Laura’s kidnapping and Mason’s escaping, because she left them alone and unguarded, is spotted. Vera kicked her out of the office and made sure she will never get a job as a lawyer again when she found out, and Margot is beyond satisfied with it.

Vera seated next to her almost flips over when she sees who is Mason’s lawyer, and of course it’s Edward Coventry, with a sly grin on his face, and when the actual trial starts, Margot understands he’s good, very good. He throws away evidence after evidence, and the judge seems to believe him.

„It looks like there isn’t enough evidence against Mr. Verger,“ he says after 3 excruciating hours. At that, Laura closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Then she rises from her seat and starts to unbutton her shirt. Margot trembles at the sight, Vera crushes Hamish’s hand, and Mason’s face gets new shade of grey with every single button.

It doesn’t take long and Laura is standing in front of the judge and with her back to the whole courtroom in her underwear and thigths only. „My body is the evidence you need,“ she says, and even though Margot can’t see it, she knows there are tears streaming down her beautiful face.

„I wake up and go to sleep every day with these scars, and I will do so for the rest of my life. But I don’t care to be honest, because it’s not only me he tortured. It was his sister mainly, someone who falls asleep next to me in the evening, and I see her scars, and it hurts me way more than this mess of mine. She went through fucking hell and back several times, and if for nothing else, he has to be punished for doing this to his own blood. Is this finally enough?“

The judges is shocked and feels like he needs to vomit. His daughter is probably the same age as this young lawyer in front of him, and if someone did this to her, he would probably kill the one behind it. And from the ashened face of Mr. Verger, he really does believe it was him.

Laura wins, of course. There is no place for debate after what she showed to everyone there. As soon as the judge gives the judgment – death sentence – and releases them, Laura stands up and goes straight to Margot’s embrace, breathing out in relief.

Later, when night slowly sets above the city, Margot finds her sitting on their bed, crumpled paper with the judgment in hands. „What’s wrong?“ Margot asks. Laura slowly lifts her eyes to her. „Does – does that make me a monster too? That I’m happy he’s gonna die but at the same I know there are better ways to kill him? What’s the difference between me and him if I feel this way?“

Quick, firm „no!“ comes from Margot. She shifts so she can bring Laura closer. „No, love. You don’t want every man on Earth dead, do you? It’s only Mason, and he’s gonna get what he deserves. And we’re being gracious here, because he deserves much more than one simple, quick death.“ Silence falls between them for a while. „What better ways?“

Laura swallows. „I was… You know, I think it would be… good… if one of his fucking eels would suffocate him.“ Margot wants to laugh, because the would be one hell of a death for Mason, but when the redhead whispers „make love to me, Margot“ pleadingly, she lets her sadistic brother go, and concentrate her whole being on kissing her lover. It’s tender, slow, full of admiration, and Laura tells her milion times over how much she loves her, and that she will love her forever.

Mason Verger gets electric chair two weeks after. Margot wants to watch it, but Laura talks her out of it. „How about we let the past bet he past?“ she says, and it’s the strong, fierce, insanely beautiful lawyer in her again, the one Margot fell in love with. Mason didn’t break her at all. So during the time of his death, they go for a walk instead, scarred hand in scarred hand, sweet lips against sweet lips, both women finally free.

It’s ordinary Tuesday a few weeks after, when Laura storms through the door. She was at the court and it wasn’t nice. Images of blood and records of screams for help. The woman was torturing her husband, Laura’s client, and Laura realizes everyone can be the bad one. She also realizes how fragile is the thing called happiness, and that she doesn’t want Margot’s, hers, theirs happines be destroyed. So she pulls a little box out of her purse, kneels in front of Margot, who is cooking dinner, and asks her to marry her. Margot cries happy tears and says yes. The dinner ends up burnt but they can’t care less.

Vera and Hamish surprise them with pregnancy announcement. It’s a little hesitant, especially when they know Mason made sure to forbid Margot from having children, but she beams at them, and everything feels alright. Months go rather fast and suddenly it’s August, and Isabelle Duke meets the world. Hamish is dad for the first time and Vera is frightened she will lose Isabelle just like she lost Katharine, so they’re both scared, but thrilled over the moon, and it’s obvious the baby has the most loving parents.

Isabelle turns six months just two weeks before the wedding. Future wives picked a gift, but Margot is a little ill, so Laura goes to see her – their – family alone. Her wedding dress is already in their bedroom, next to Margot’s, and they exchange a dozen of last-before-I-go kisses, because just the thought of the wedding is making them both incredibly soft.

„I really have to go,“ the ginger eventually sighs. Margot watches her with her big blue eyes, filled with so much love it makes her breath hitch. „I know. I wish I could go with you. Kiss Isabelle from me, okay? And tell her I can’t wait to dance with her on our wedding.“ „You act like I’m gonna let you go out of my arms, baby,“ answers Laura with a smirk, and leans to get another kiss. „I love you, Margot.“ „I love you too, honey,“ says Margot, and kisses her. „I’ll be back in two hours tops,“ promises the younger girl, and finally goes.

She never comes back home.

Instead of wedding dress, Margot wears black skirt, black shirt, black coat, and holds a bouquet of white roses. Her eyes are crimson red and her throat hurts, because of all those tears and screams. She still doesn’t believe it, she doesn’t believe that life can be so cruel to take the whole world away from her when things went the good way for once. This isn’t fair. They don’t deserve it. Laura didn’t deserve it. And it’s a fucking irony the funeral is today, on their wedding day.

Vera seated next to her holds Isabelle tightly, and silently cries in Hamish’s embrace. She should probably comfort Laura’s aunt, but she has no energy for that. Even breathing hurts. Everything hurts. Mason and his torturing feels like some game against this kind of pain. For a moment, she hates Isabelle. If it wouldn’t be for her, Laura would never cross the road, and an eighteen-year-old, drunk man behind the BMW steering wheel would never kill her. But it’s not the baby girl’s fault.

It’s her own. She was a fool when she thought that she could be happy, that she could love without sacrifices, that universe is somehow repaying her for all those years bounded with Mason. Turns out Mason was only a prequel.

She goes to the open coffin. Laura is lying there, her young face is beautiful as ever, but the eyes under the soft eyelids are not loving and kind anymore. There is just blackness and nothingness, just like inside Margot. Her body is still alive, but the real Margot Verger died on the road also.

„I love you, Laura,“ she whispers brokenly. „I do. I will always do.“ She wears her wedding ring, and Laura’s is strung on one of the roses. Margot wants her to have it. Maybe it will lead her closer to Margot once they will both be at place of no return. „Wait for me, please,“ she says with one last kiss on her cold, non responding, dead lips. The fact there is no answer breaks her once again, and she wishes for some black hole to swallow her. As every single of her wishes, this one also falls on deaf ears.

That night, lying in her cold bed alone, she realizes she doesn’t feel it. Every heart needs a beat, but she doesn’t feel it. Her heartbeat was buried today under a pile of clay.

She presses her face to Laura’s pillow, breathes in her scent, and cries her dead, empty heart out.