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Frank Stone
(1800-1859)
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"I CAN'T believe this girl has never had a hamburguer in her life." Colin Mallory gasped as she looked over at his niece. "But what if she wants to have meat? Have you ever thought about that?"

"Well, she won't have that desire so soon, she likes vegetables and I raised her to do so." Alice said with a smile as she held her daughter in her arms. Alice then noticed the small one to point at one of the ingredients above the table. She chuckled. "Pepper? Are you sure?" Blanche nodded. "Okay."

"So she cooks now." Colin crossed his arms with a smirk. "And you take her advices."

"She is actually very smart, you'd be impressed."

"I know, she got it from me." He bragged and Alice pushed him lightly with her shoulder. He handled him the child and continued cooking.

The kitchen was well iluminated and the atmosphere easy, Alice always managed to keep her house organized enough to be a safe space for her family. But inside her soul...well, she was a bit uneasy.

"Worried?" He asked.

"Kind of." She said.

"Try to distract yourself...like...Well tgink about how good we're doing now. I mean, I've got a job and will graduate soon..."Alice nodded proudly at him. "And you're married to the guy I always wished for you to marry.." They chuckled. "with this little Ratatouille rat."He messed his niece's hair as Blanche yelled at him in disapproval, he loved to annoy her. "I remember when you were about to give birth to her...man, you were a pile of nerves, crying and screaming."

"Don't even remind me. I was so tense."

"But you made it."Colin gave a warm smile. "We all made it."

Alice held her brother's hand, it was good to have him there. She remembered when she got back from Italy, when he met her after all this time apart, he was crying, sobbing actually, apologizing and asking for forgiveness as he hugged her so tight she thought he'd never let her go.

She never really told him what happened in Italy, and wouldn't either. As much as she loved Colin, what she felt for Hannibal would always remain a secret. He thought she got over him, that what she felt towards that monster was brainwashing or something similar, when otherwise, Alice felt deep inside her soul the greatest and most cruel love of all time. And she could never forget it.

But Colin has changed over the years, after the breakup he was devastated at first, but then got over it, became more mature, applied to his students, and did pretty well, even got to be the best in his class. Of course, he made it clear how he knew something was wrong with Hannibal from the start to his sister but didn't insist on the matter, somehow he could feel her sadness, so instead, only offered her support.

"By the way..."Colin said as he tried to contain Blanche not to eat the carrot Alice put aside for the soup in the player. "Any news of when is Will coming back?"

"Not yet." She replied as Pocahontas started and Blanche clapped excitedly. Alice also didn't tell her brother that Will was meeting up with Hannibal, my God he would freak out if he became aware of that. "Hopefully soon."

"I'm sure it won't take too long. He's the best in what he does." Colin supported his sister. "He can do this."

▫️

Will Graham could hear some muffled conversation when he arrived, a black woman, with a uniform from the hospital, talked with Hannibal in a foreign language he couldn't understand. And as soon as he entered the room, they both looked at him. The woman made a displeased expression.

"Da kommt der Depp (there comes the douchebag)" She commented as Hannibal gave a small laugh. "viel Glück (good luck)"

"Danke (thank you), Denise." Hannibal replied politely as the woman left the room, bumping her shoulder against Will's in an almost offensive mannerism.

He looked at her leaving and then at Hannibal confused. "What did you tell her?" Will asked.

"The truth." He shrugged her shoulders. "Well, in my point of view." He contained a smile. "Denise is a worker here, a very polite lady, I am teaching her some german as you can see."

"I wonder what you get in return."

"Some information." He smirked. "We also have a book club every Tuesday if you are interested. Last week we discussed Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler..." Hannibal furrowed his eyebrows for a moment thinking. "She has some...interesting thoughts."

Will rolled his eyes and walked towards the glass, Hannibal analyzed his figure, he didn't seem to have caught up much sleep but was in a good mood, the cheeks were rosed, the hair brushed, and the aftershave as strong as never.

"Did you have a good night of sleep?" The doctor asked. "Maybe received news from home." He guessed.

"If I did or not, it's none of your business," Will said in an unbothered mood, he seemed fearless of everything.

"Did you spend your night with someone? You seem awfully confident." He suggested. Will felt his whole face burn. "You did."

"That was very inappropriate to ask." Will spoke feeling embarrassed.

"I could only wonder since you barely speak about yourself now," Hannibal explained, Will remained silent. "Farewell, let's change the subject, your reason to come here, what is it?"

"You know what it is." Will snapped back. "The tooth fairy." Hannibal chuckled softly. "You know more. We both know you know more. Come on."

"Do I?" Hannibal teased.

"Stop playing games. Tell me the truth." Will looked into his eyes. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

Hannibal blinked through his delicate eyelashes and glanced back at him. Oh, no, he would use that situation to his advantage.

"How is Alice?" He asked suddenly.

Will paralyzed. He couldn't have known. Why would he ask? He needed to change his mind, quickly.

"That's not what I came here for." Will refused to tell him anything.

"But that's what I want to know." Hannibal insisted. "Do you still keep in contact with her?"

Will took a minute to answer. "No."

Hannibal knew he was lying. "No? You simply parted ways?"

"Yes."

"So after I was gone, your only obstacle, you simply let her go?" He mocked. "Seems unlikely."

"But it's the truth." Will managed to continue lying. "Alice...didn't want me nearby, she...she needed some time alone after what happened."

Hannibal thought for a moment, well, that made some sense in his mind. Alice could have been indeed affected by his arrestment, maybe she didn't fall for Will in the end. But  that stil didn't made sense why Will smelled like her when he arrived in the first day.

"Is she still in town?" Hannibal asked.

"I don't know." Will simply answered trying to show indifference. "As I've said, I don't know anything about her life."

"You were rather focused on your own." Will nodded at his words. "May I ask who is this woman? The mother of your child?"

"You don't know her." Will tried his best not to appear transparent in his answers. "We met after you were gone."

The idea of Will giving up on Alice seemed very unrealistic to Hannibal, but he had no other choice at that moment, he'd have to agree with him. That didn't mean he gave up on the subject.

"Alice still keeps in contact with Jack as it seems." He commented. "She bought him his new clothes."

"Did she?" Will pretended to sound numb. "Well, good for him." He changed the subject. "We have a more important matter to discuss."

As Will spoke, Hannibal's mind simply filtered the words away, as if everything else was silent and he could only hear the voice's inside his head.

"What are you going to do now, Hanni?" An Alice with a beige dress asked him, she was just by his side, her hair was long, just like the time when they lived together in his house, as she peaked through the glass.

"He can't do anything, he lost us." Another version of Alice popped up by his side, this one from their ball in Florence when she 'tried' to kill him in that sexy dress.

"No, it can't be." A red-dressed Alice from their first date pouted her lips. "We looked so good together."

"GOOO KNIGHTS!" The Alice illusion version of Colin's soccer game shouted in her blue shorts, oblivious to the conflict.

Will observed the Doctor's sudden silence, wondering what could have happened to him. Hannibal focused on the mirages instead.

"You promised us we'd be together forever." The Alice from their wedding touched his shoulder, making him turn around to face the blood-soaked gown bride he loved so much. "You can't just give up on us."

"He should, he only caused us harm." A distinct one said. Hannibal suspended his breath as he visualized the version of Alice of the night she discovered the truth, her clothes and hair were soaked by the rain, her expression full of hatred holding a gun. "You're lucky I didn't kill you, your jerk."

He took a step back, as other Alices tried to defend him in an intern chaos filled with anxiety that raised more and more.

"What the fuck did you just say?!" The Alice who saved him from the cross stepped forward, ready to do whatever it takes to protect her lover.

"I kind of saw it coming, already." An Alice from their first argument due to his dinner party with Baltimore Elite crossed her arms in a pessimistic tone. "But you idiots had to say 'yes', hadn't you?"

"Don't listen to her, Hanni." Beige-dressed Alice hugged him from behind.

"GOOOO KNIGHTS!"Soccer fan Alice continued cheering.

"Yeah Hannibal, don't listen to her." Another one, who didn't speak until now, suddenly pronounced herself. "That's all you've ever done, ignore what we truly felt." He turned around to face the last one. It was the last image he saw of his lover, dressed in some dark pants and a shirt she borrowed from Chiyoh, wearing above her shoulders Will Graham's coat to warm her from the snow, the perfect hairstyle she had in Florence was messed, and the face dry by the tears that rolled down so many times before. "We said goodbye. You need to give up now."

Hannibal continued to look at the corner of the glass, how could it hurt so much? Was he really becoming insane? If only he could run into her arms and hold her...my God he would break down if he had the opportunity.

"You said it yourself that I wasn't being myself." She whispered. "Truth is, Hannibal, all of these are me."She opened her arm showing all the versions that surrounded them both. 

"And I love all of them." He thought but didn't say it out loud, after all, Will was still there.

"You wanted us to be happy, so let us go."The same Alice continued seriously. 

But he couldn't, not now that he knew there was a possibility of seeing her again, not now when this sparkle, this old flame burned his soul without notice. He needed to see her, he needed to know if she was okay, he needed to apologize and try everything he could.

What was he anyway without her? An old famous serial killer with no motive or reason to go on. Those games, those strategies...they meant nothing without her.

Life became grey again, and he needed to bring the colors back into it.

He turned again to Will, determined as never before, letting all that courage and determination take over him in an evil smile that crossed his lips.

"You are right, I may have useful information that you're not aware of."He told the agent.

"Hanni, what are you doing?" Beige-dressed Alice looked at him amused.

"Tell me." Will standed just in front of the glass, staring intensely at him.

"No, no, don't you dare." Alice soaked by the rain growled at him, pointing her finger at her face. "Your asshole, you keep using the situation in your favor!"

"Why am I not surprised?"The last Alice said in a somber tone. "That's what you do, break our hearts just so you can bring us back." She shakes her head. "Just remind yourself, Hanni...things might not turn out the way you want."

Hannibal turned to Will, already decided, impassive. He was doing it, he would risk a billion lives only to fulfill his selfish wish...and would have no regrets while doing so.

"I will tell you.."He said calmly. "...If you bring Alice here."

Will's eyes went wide open. He believed he heard it wrong for a moment. "What?"

"I won't help you until you bring Alice here." He repeated it clearly. "That is my condition."

"You are in no condition of asking anything now," Will growled at him furiously. "You're locked up, it's over, Dr.Lecter." He established. "So you either help me, or I will tell Dr. Bloom to take your privileges away."

Hannibal sniffed unaffected by his speech. "Blackmail, Will?" He lifted one of his eyebrows. "I expected more from you." Hannibal shook his head with a smile. "Go ahead. Tell Alana. Let her take...what was her threat anyway?"He made a thinking expression. "My books, my drawings, my toilet." He chuckled. "Tell her and I'll take all the secrets you wish for to my grave." He replied fearlessly. "Blackmail can work in both ways."

Will felt his blood boil. He couldn't fulfill Hannibal's wish, he couldn't just let the situation under his control. But in that moment his hands were tied.

Will opened his mouth to say something, but sikenced himself instead and left the room, only to hear Hannibal's successful voice behind him. "What is wrong Will? Cat got your tongue?"He smirked as he watched his silhouette disappear between the shelves.

"You're a maniac."The rain soaked Alice growled at him.

Hannibal turned to her with a sassy expression, oh he was thrilled. "Your favorite maniac."

▫️

"No, it's not happening." Will shaked his arms furious. "I don't care what you'll do to him, tie him upside down, electrify, torture him, whatever. But I'm not letting Alice meet him."

"I already asked the guards to remove all his belongings from his cell. He was unaffected by it."Alana said as she elegantly said by the leather couch of her office.

"What other options do we have?"Jack asked.

There they were, the team gathered inside Alana's office after Will told them about Hannibal's reluctance to cooperate and new request. Tense was a perfect word to describe the atmosphere between them and also the suspense that increased with each second with no remaining choices.

"We either let Will take care of this on his own..."Alana side-eyed him as the agent ran his hands through his face. "Which we can see that might not work...or..."Jack sighed already knowing what the remaining alternative was. "....we bring Alice here."

"No!" Will immediately pointed to her in an accusatory tone as in a trial. "I'm already risking a lot to be in here, I'm not letting Alice be manipulated by that man again."

"She won't be. You can stay there with her while he sees her."Jack pondered.

"Jack, what the fuck?!" Will growled as he walked around the office furiously. "You know what he did, you know the influence he has on her, the connection they had in Italy."He reassured the agent. "You know how destroyed she felt after he was gone. The depression she had to overcome  to get where she is now."Jack looked down wit sadness, he remembered it all too well, it was something hard to forget. The girl sobbed her lungs out, almost without any voice and air inside her lungs. It was just heartbreaking to watch. "And now you want her to revive all of that again. To make her pass through the trauma again, just so you can enclosure this damn case." He looked into the agent's brown conflicted eyes. "Didn't you learn anything with what happened to me?"

"I did."Jack nodded. "But I also know that Alice has changed, that she has you and a family she loves too much to let herself succumb to this madness."He insisted. "And I'm sure that if we explain to her the situation-"

"You're not explaining shit."Will couldn't hold in his anger anymore. "Alice's not going to know about this. You either solve this problem or forget it. If Hannibal doesn't help anymore, I'm going home, and I'm not coming back." Will threatened. Alana could notice how serious he was, showing that the dangerous side of his wasn't something often seen, but it was real and there, exposed in front of them. His possessiveness and limitless love for his wife were there, displayed in a protective bubble he carefully crafted over these 3 years, and he wouldn't let anyone ruin it.

He turned his back to leave when Jack said at last "You might be willing to let all those families die in order to protect yours." He muttered. "But does Alice thinks the same way, Will?"

"I'll make her think that way."

And with those words, he simply left it all behind.

▫️

"You sound different" His wife muttered to him through the phone that night, his mind raced with an incredible speed trying to find solutions. "Did something happen?"

It was fantastic how she knew him so well, and also annoying since he couldn't keep any secrets from her. Will changed his position lied on the bed, watching the dark sky through the hotel's window, imagining his house into the snow far away from there.

"It's fine."He lied, unable to tell her the truth, he refused to tell the truth. "Just tired...how are things going there? Is Colin helping you with Blanche?"

"Why do I feel like you're hiding something from me?" He almost groaned by how correct she was. "Will, be honest with me."

"There's nothing to be honest about, Ali. I already told you, it's fine." 

Alice annoyed herself, getting up from the bed and walking until the kitchen in a bothered behavior. "Something happened. I know it did." She was stubborn. "Will you promised me that while you were there you'd be honest with me, or you'd come back home."

"Well, maybe I might come home soon." He sighed.

She stopped, staring at the open lightning fridge through the darkness. "What do you mean? Did you catch the killer already?"

"No."

She made a long pause in silence.

"Are you giving up?"

"Not because I want to, but because I have to."

"Why?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "Will, what happened?"

He couldn't tell her, he knew his wife, he knew her empathy, her kindness, and knew that deep down, even if he didn't want he too, she still held that deep, dark desire to see Hannibal again, to meet him again, to...love him again. And he couldn't risk losing her.

Not now when they were perfect.

"Nothing happened. I am just tired."He lied once again. "I need to take some rest, Ali, we can talk tomorrow."

"What? No, we need to talk now, Will-" When she realized he had hung up on the call when she was still speaking. She glanced at the device in her hand shocked. "Did he just...?" She cursed him again and turned off the phone.

Alice walkes around, feeling deeply stressed, eating some ice cream left from the fridge when she stumbled on someone in the deposit.

"Colin what the hell?" She asked him and kicked him with her feet.

"Hey!" He complained and turned to her. "Sorry, I was looking for a midnight snack and got curious about what's in here." He then moved an object from the back of the stuff. "It's him, isn't he?" Alice paralyzed. "Hannibal Lecter."

She immediatly took the canvas from his hands and hid it again behind the furniture.

"You should go sleep." She whispered.

"Why do you still keep this? Does Will-"

"He knows." She replied. "And now you do too. Now go sleep."

Colin furrowed his eyebrows. "Then why do you still have this?" He then realized. "Do you still-"

"If we enter this conversation we'll begin an argument, and I honestely don't want that." She interrupted him at once. "I'm already stressed, frustrated and at the end of my period, so I please ask you, don't try me right now."

Well, Colin knew he couldn't stand an argument against his sister anyway. He just nodded.

"Okay..." He nodded and stepped out of the closet. "Just...take it easy on the ice cream."

She gave a light smile. And watched him disappear upstairs. Alice entered the closet again and took the canvas from behind the furniture, watching the beautiful image of her ex lover's back facing Florence.

When she realized, wet tears rolled down her cheeks.

And she didn't try to stop them.

▫️

"MOMMY!!" Blanche shouted from the bathtub "Phone! Phone!" She pointed to her mother cell phone's ringing on the cabinet.

Alice was kneeling on the ground, trying to give her playful and energetic daughter a bath, even though the little girl couldn't stay quiet and stand still for a second.

"COLIN!" She called her brother who came running upstairs. "Get my phone for me, please."

"Sure." He picked up. "Alice Graham's phone, how may I help you?" He listened attentive to the other person on the other side of the line. "Oh...okay, just a sec." He tapped the device with his hand and turned to his sister. "It's Jack Crawford, seems urgent."

"Urgent?" Alice gasped, already worrying about her husband. "Hold her." He indicated as Colin helped his niece not escape from the bathtub, allowing his sister to pick up the phone. "Hello, Jack?"

"Kid, oh, thank God, we need to talk." Jack replied across the line.

"Is something wrong? Is Will okay?" She asked, tapping her shoes on the floor in an anxious process.

"He's...fine." Jack tilted his head. "The problem's not really about him."

"What is it about?" She asked curious.

"It's..."Jack took a deep breath. "It's Hannibal." Her phone suddenly dropped from her hands.

"Ali? You okay?" Colin asked while Blanche played with the bubbles.

She only nodded and picked up the phone again, noticing her hands trembled, just his name...just his name caused that horrible effect on her, and she couldn't control it.

"What about him?" She asked worried.

"He refuses to cooperate unless..."Jack sighed. "...unless you come here visit him."

"WHAT?!" She yelled, making both Colin and Blanche startle in a jump surprised. "Sorry." She mumbled to them and turned to Jack. "What did you just say?!"

"He refuses to help Will. He says his condition to do so, is only if you come here."

"That's...That's...." Her words failed. "What did Will say?"

"He doesn't want to follow Hannibal's wishes. And I believe that is why I am the first one to inform you this, he doesn't want you to know."

That is why Will was acting strange. Because of Hannibal. Her body gained chills, and Alice didn't know how to describe what she felt exactly what she felt.

"But you are telling me." She started to guess. "Jack are you..."

"I believe you know what is happening by now. About the carnage that is happening to these families." Jack appealed to her kindness. "And you do know how I'm desperate to help them."

"Jack..."

"Ali, I know what Hannibal did to you. I know he is a monster." Jack gulped. "I don't want you next to him either, I don't want you hurt again, but..."He looked down at his feet. "Alice, I need you." She never heard Jack sound so vulnerable as now. "I care about you, I would never ask you something as this if the situation wasn't serious...But I'm asking now. I need your help Alice."

She glanced at Colin, who tried to make Blanche take a bath and laughed with her. Facing Hannibal again...she even lost her breath. What would she do? What would become of her? But other people needed it, people would die without the information Will seeked for.

"You know Will is going to hate you for this, right?" She commented.

"It's not like he loves me anyway." He joked and she chuckled. "Ali, I promise you will be safe." Jack reassured serious. "But you're the only one who can help us now. He won't give up."

Jack took in a deep breath and held the chain around her neck, almost burning her skin by the sensation from her heart.

There was something very moral aboyt her choice. And also something very illicit about it.

However, there was no turning back now.

▫️

"He isn't here. We have some minutes until he comes back." The veteran agent muttered to his protegieé. "You ready?"

Alice took in a deep breath, adjusted the jeans and the yellow T-Shirt she wore, as if she tried to look more confident, but deep inside she was panicking.

She looked down at her hand and took her engagement golden ring that matched with her husband's putting it inside her pocket.

She stares back at the iron high security door. "I think I'll never be ready for this."

Jack gave a light smile with empathy and gestured to the guards to open the door. Before she entered, he only said "You can do this. I trust you."

But deep inside, Alice Mallory didn't ecen trust herself.

And when she entered that room, her feet failed when she saw his large back and those grey hair strands.

It was like her whole body was possessed by his presence, the whole world had stoppes and time turned into a fake measure to distance them both, when in fact, not even death could.

His heart immediatly stoped when he felt that aroma, that same aroma from the first time she invaded his life, when she took over his soul without permission and never returned it.

He turned around slowly, trying to appear as strong and confident as ever, but deep inside he was nervous as never before.

Hazel into blue. Hearts beating as one.

"Hello, Dr.Lecter."

"Hello, Miss Mallory."