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René Magritte
1927
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//long chapter

"ARE YOU an FBI agent?" The woman with light brown hair questioned her, almost as anxious as she was.

"No." She stepped foward, trying not to scary. "I'm...I'm Alice Mallory...I think they told you about who I am."

As she revealed her identity the woman became quiet, her lips parted, curious, but also thinking deeply.

"Yes...they did..."

"You survived." Alice could only believe by staring at her. "He...chose not to kill you...why?"

"I...I don't know..." Miriam felt slightly uncomfortable to speak about the subject, turnong to the sofa and sitting.

Alice did not give up though and followed her, but continued standing.

"I'm sorry..."Miriam Lass muttered, looking at her through her eyelashes. "About your sister...they told me..."

"He killed her." Alice simplified coldly.

"Yes...I'm sorry for your loss.."

"But he didn't kill you."

"No..."

Alice took a deep breath. She hated how she felt now. That outraging feeling that blasted inside her chest caused by the injustice. That woman was a victim, she had scars, she had traumas, and yet, she envied her. Envied that she escaped and Bree didn't.

She awakened the worst side in her.

"Do you know who he is?" Alice went straight to the point.

"I...no.." Miriam stuttered.

"Jack told me you can't remember it very well..." Alive walked around the room. Something about that interrogatory wasn't like her. Normally she'd be calm, helpful, lovely, empathize with her. But this time she was tired. She was angry at at the ripper, at Will, Jack, at that woman she barely knew. She just wanted answers. "...about what happened."

"No...I don't."

"I called my sister moments before she died." Alice stopped, setting her hands at the back of an armchair while staring at her. "And she wasn't alone. There was a voice behind her. Someone that scared her." Miriam's eyes trembled at her somber tone used in the narrative. "I used to don't remember what they said, but I had flashes, forming up a sentence. "

"Flashes?" That triggered Miriam's memory. The silhouette that haunted her mind, the serene tone that hipnotized her while using a lightning device.

"Yes. They said 'Is this what you are looking for, miss?' To her." Alice watched as the woman in front of her became even more anxious, breathing heavily. "But I can't remember whose voice this is." They had a pause in silence for a moment, taking in what was said. "Minutes before she hang up she was killed at an alley, with no evidence of who it might've been." Alice let it out in a defeated breath. "The only clue is my memory. And I can't trust it."

Miriam looked down, fidgeted her fingers above her lap, taking a deep breath.  "I know how that feels." She looked up, now somehow a bit more relaxed after hearing her testimony.  "I remember a light." Alice realized she was opening up to her and slowly sat down on the armchair to listen. "He'd stand in front of it with some distance from me. A silhouette, very still." She recalled slowly. "He listened to chamber music...I still remember that." She affirmed, her head movements proving how that didn't get out of her head. "His voice...low and even would fool me to him." She exhaled heavily, closing and opening her fists a few times. The right leg shaking unconsciously. "A good current."

Alice took in her words. The call replayed in her mind, over and over again as she closed her eyes. "Remember Alice, please, remember" she begged to herself. It was low, uniform, even, calm...a contrast with Bree's anxiety. Someone who didn't fear, someone who knew how the story would end.

"He didn't say why he didn't kill you?" Alice questioned. "Did he do anything else?"

"No, he just...used this light...feeded me." She tilted her head. "But I never got to know why."

"Yet he still set you free."

"I am not free." Miriam Lass shaked her head biting her lip. "And I don't believe he is done yet."

"But he spared your life." Alice whispered through her teeth, her heart palpitated. "Why you?"

"Exc-"

"Why can you survive and not her?" She squinted her eyes, and showed her teeth. "What do you have that is so special?"

"I am not, I-"

"Why did he kill Bree instead?!"  She suddenly shouted in a violent whimper, a shield of tears broke down her eyes. Miriam Lass almost jumped by her reaction.

"I don't know-" she hesited.

"Why didn't you die?!" Alice groaned pointing to her and standing up promptly. Miriam curled up her body in a defensive yet scared position as she came closer. "Tell me who he is. Say it!"

"I don't know...please..." Miriam shaked her head, starting to cry, her lips quivering and stuttering terrified, trying to remember in shock with the present and the trauma. "Please, I can't-"

"IT SHOULD'VE BEEN YOU INSTEAD!"

"ALICE!" Jack's voice invaded the room as he just in time wrapped herin his arms before she could jump at Miriam Lass. "ENOUGH!"

"I HATE YOU!" A guthural scream came out of Alice's lungs as Jack dragged her away, but her eyes still burned at Lass crying on the sofa. "...I hate you! "

▫️

When Jack Crawford let Alice Mallory filled with tears and silent at home, Hannibal Lecter didn't speak a word until hearing the agent's full report on the matter. After that he said he would take care of her and let him go.

Now, she was inside a bathtub filled lavender bubbles just the way she liked. The not so heated yet not so cold water tried to calm her nerves as he slowly massaged and washed her hair with the aromatic organic shampoo he bought just for her. The shirt's sleeves pulled up, sitting in a bench behind her, as he watched carefully his beloved.

Her eyes were facing the wall and she didn't say a single word since she arrived home. An episode. Similar to the graveyard's one, or the breakdown when she discovered about Will's truth.

Her eyes would always become this small pupils, the lips shut down dry and black, her skin pale, sensitive, paralyzed. The mind walking on the edge of its' sanity.

"If you keep sliding inside the tub you'll dive your head into the water." He warned her calmly. Alice didn't reply. "Should I make more bubbles for you, love?"

The silence continued. Hannibal sighed, intertwining his fingers into her soft dark strands.

"It breaks me to see you like this." He lamented, shoving away some shampoo that slid through her temple. "Can you at least tell me what happened?"

Alice exhaled heavily, as she sunk even more, letting her body disappear beneath the water. "I screamed at Miriam Lass."

"Why?" He asked, even though Jack has already told him about her discontrol.

"I...I felt angry at her." Alice's voice sounded awfully weak after how much she shouted. "And at the killer."

"Why did you feel angry?"

"Because...she exists." She contemplated the wall. "She is here, breathing all this time, while Bree..." She interrupted the sentence.

"You find it unfair."

"Why couldn't he let my sister survive?" His hands stopped at her sentence. "Why did she have to die, Hannibal?"

He analyzed her nape for a second, the fingers buried between her hair. For a moment, he felt speechless. "Perphaps Miriam Lass wasn't like Bree to his eyes."

"Why?"

"Lass reappeared after all these years, she's also an FBI agent....maybe she serves as a pawn in his game."

"You mean she had more value than Bree to him?" Alice suddenly turned around, her eyes sinking into his, making his heart speed nervous.

"I meant..." The air escaped his lungs. "He was aware of the advantages of keeping Lass, but perphaps, to him, Bree was only a stranger." He seeked for any hope or redeemency in her eyes.

"She meant nothing to him." Alice's heart shattered again.

Hannibal softly caressed her cheek, as she tried to hold back the urge to cry again.

"I'm sorry, my love." He whispered, spreading shampoo all over her cheeks.

"Hanni..." Alice whispered helpless. "When I saw Miriam...when...I realized she was alive I..." The air escaped her lungs. "...I felt that again."

"What did you feel, darling?" He looked into her eyes with a sparkle of madness.

"What I felt back then with my father." She felt disgusted at her own self and also terrified. Her voice was only a trembled whisper "I...I wanted her dead."

Hannibal sighed falling even harder for that woman. There was something insanely attractive whenever she admitted and revealed the depths and obscure spots in her mind. He wanted to cherish, protect and develop them gradually, perfectely. God, she was beautiful. The most beautiful creature in every universe, life and afterlife. Not just by her appearence, but her mind...her heart...it was majestic.

"When you jumped at her, did you-"

"I don't know." She whispered fragile, her wet body trembled. "If Jack didn't appear...oh my God...Hannibal, I..." Her eyes filled with tears and widened open. "I'm a horrible person..."

"No, darling, no..." He pulled her close, kissing her forehead, weirdly tasting like shampoo, even though that didn't bother him. "You are the most perfect human being in this world, do you understand?" He lifted her chin delicately so she could look up at him. "You did nothing wrong."

"She was vulnerable and I almost...killed...her, Hannibal." Alice gasped by her own words.

"You had your reasons."

"And how do they justify the murder of an innocent woman?"

"You were following your instincts, Lissy. All of us humans have this obscure corner inside our minds. Some are just better at hiding them." He explained.

"...do you have it?"

He carressed her cheeks with his thumb, his eyes lingering at her lips for a moment. "We are alike, my love." She stared at him quiet. "Anyone in your position would do the same."

"Would you?

"Yes."

They let the quietness take over for a moment, consuming that conversation as he created that fire inside her mind gradually, dangerously.

He washed away the shampoo as Alice closed tight her eyes.

"Who told you about Miriam Lass?" He asked smoothly in her fragility. Alice hesitated. "I am just concerned about your health, my love. Involving yourself in these cases...I told you, it's no good for you..."

"Katia has a cousin in the FBI...and she told me about it." Hannibal stared fiercely at the walls after he heard that name. Katia Rojas. Now she was starting to become an insolent obstacle.

And a cousin? Again? How many cousins did she have? Baltimore's Hospital, the FBI, all of them in very convenient places...

An information like those...the source had to be Will Graham.

"I see..." He nodded. "Next time she put these ideas in your mind, don't listen to her."

"She was just trying to help me."

"And did it help?" He questioned. "Or did it only make you feel hurt again?"

Alice turned sad, he rest his hands on her shoulders, the only part above the surface. "She might've had the best of the intentions, but digging into this will only harm you, Alice." He entered her mind. "I'm saying this because I care about you."

"I know." She whispered. "I know you do..." she opened her mouth to speak but closed again.

"What is it, darling?"

"You said murder had reasons..." She muttered. "When...when Will tried to.."

"You attempt to redeem him."

"No, I-"

"He is your friend, I understand."

"He tried to kill you." She turned to him, on her knees at the bathtub, careless about her exposed body to the cold breeze "How can you just forgive him so easily?"

"He is in a difficult mind condition."

"Which almost cost your life."

"I feel partially blamed that I couldn't help him sooner."

"What? No! That is not fair, you...you were always there for him, you tried to help him but he refused, you did all you could and-"

"Are we really talking about me?" He interrupted her. "Or about your efforts to help Will Graham?"

Once again she became speechless.

"You saw him." He realized.

"...I did." Alice mumbled embarrassed.

"The reason of your silence." He nodded, looking down, something in his gaze resembled sadness for that being a secret.

"Hannibal, please, I'd never-"

He carressed her shoulders. "I trust you, darling." He smiled briefly and bitterly. Staring deeply into his eyes. "After all, you are mine, aren't you?"

Alice chortled softly into a bright smile that made him melt. That's it, that smile. How much he missed it. "Of course." She replied, and set her hands behind his nape, pulling him towards her direction, closing the gap between them, the wet lips mixed into his, a cold and warm contrasting kiss that showed all her vulnerability, her love and her fears, surrending to that man once again.

He touched his forehead with hers, as they broke apart breathless, taking a moment to only immerse themselves into each other's presence. "Alice, I only ask you to please understand..." He whispered against her skin. "I care about you...wich is why I want you to be safe." She closed her eyes and nodded shortly, taking a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "I keep comitting these mistakes...I...I'd understand completely if you get tired of me-"

"No, no darling..." He smirked charmingly. "Can't you see?" He sniffed "At each moment in your presence, each heartbeat and each breath of mine...I fall more in love with you."

Alice chuckled softly, squinting her eyes as she let tears fall, a mix between happiness for finally being loved by someone, and sadness for not finding that man sooner in her life. Touched her lips against his again, desiring him completely, spreading her sweetness to acknowledge he was hers, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world.

"Now let's take you out from this water or you'll get all wrinkled." He smiled to her, head over heels.

And also determined to protect his lover from this cruel world.

▫️

Darkness, shadows that embraced the house as Hannibal Lecter walked towards the fridge to prepare the meal for the next day in the middle of the night. The fridge lightned in a blink of an eye, as he could feel a threatning presence behind him, creeping around, expecting to conclude the wishes of his insanity.

"Same unfortunate aftershave." The doctor criticized as Will Graham revealed himself between the shadows, gripping tight onto the gun in his hands. "Too long in the bottle." He spoke casually, unbothered, turning around to face him.

Will on the other way was focuased on his goal. "Our last kitchen conversation was interrupted." He lifted the gun towards his direction, the eyes shimmering inyo the bliss of the evening, bloofy and dangerous. "I'd like to pick up from where we stopped." he mocked. "As memories serves, you were asking me if...if it would feel good to kill you." Hannibal smiled at his hesitation to say the sentence.

"You've given that some thought"

"You wanted me to embrace my nature, doctor. I'm just following the urges I've kept down for so long, cultivating them as the inspirations they are."

"You didn't answer my question." Hannibal retorted. "How would killing me make you feel?"

"Righteous. " He growled, Hannibal almost stepped back.

"Please moderate your tone." He pointed to the ceiling. "Alice is sleeping upstairs." Will's blood boiled inside his veins and the doctor was aware of that. "Aren't you curious, Will?" He continued smoothly "Why you? Why Miriam Lass? What does the Chesapeake Ripper want with you?"

"No, you tell me. How did Miriam Lass find you? You made sure no one could find you that way again."

"If I'm not the Ripper, you murder an innocent man." He muttered. "You better than anyone know what it means to be wrongly accused. You were innocent and no one saw it."

"No, I'm not innocent. You saw to that."

"If I am the Ripper and you kill me, who will answer your questions? Don't you want to know how this ends?"

Will smiled briefly as he took an impulse and stepped forward at once, pointing the gun close to Hannibal's head, who only closed his eyes and turned to the side in response, waiting for his sentence. The ex agent prepared the gun...

"Hannibal what is this noise-" Both the men opened their eyes at the voice, turning their sights to the left, at the entrance. "Will...?" Alice Mallory's eyes glistened within the darkness, stopping on her feet. "Hanni-" Just then she spot the gun in her friend's hands, gasping and covering her mouth completely terrified. It crushed Will's heart to see her that way. "...oh my God..." She breathed heavily, her whole body trembled. "Will, please don't....don't do this..." She shaked her head.

His eyes locked with hers, and what was once affection that reflected in them, now was horror, fear. She saw him as a monster, and Hannibal as an angel.

"Alice, darling, please go back to bed-"

"No!" She shouted. "No, Hannibal, can't you see what he is doing?!" She showed her teeth, looking back at her friend. "Please..." tears rolled hot down her flushed cheeks. "I beg you...don't..."

Will clenched his jaw. Conflicted at the two glances in his direction, the trigger that called him as a siren, and the begging of his loved one.

In a swift, fast movement, he set the gun down and disappeared in the shadows.

▫️

"Miss Rojas. Another delightful surprise. " Hannibal Lecter greeted the woman with a cay eye sharp enough to kill a man.

"Sorry for coming in without notice..." She tried to look over his shoulder. "...But I need to talk with Alice."

"She is busy at the moment."

"I heard she finished the painting."

"Still, she can't see anyone at the moment."

The two glanced at each other, fiery, blazing gazes that challenged in a hostile conflict.

"I just want to say something very quick, it won't take too long-" she tried to walk in but Hannibal Lecter blocked her path with his body.

"I'm afraid I can't let you in, Miss Rojas." He spoke in a serene but also extremely scary tone.

"Ask Alice, I told her I'd pass by."

"I wasn't informed."

"Well, it's not like she needs your permission, is it?" She promptly said, and tried to cover it up with a short laugh realizing his tense reaction. "You know what? I'll call her." Katia opened her purse, the hands shivering as she typed fastly. They exchanged fake smiles as she waited on the line.

"If you wannabe my lover, you gotta get with my friends~" A device suddenly vibrated and sang loudly.

Hannibal calmly, gracefully took a small metal object from his pocket, reading the ID on the screen and the turning his sight to Katia, smirking as he softly pressed "reject the call". He had Alice's phone.

Katia Rojas stepped back, a small gap between her lips, horrified. He was controlling every aspect of her friend's life and didn't fear anyone in his way.

"Can...can you just tell her I'm here...?" Katia asked helpless, looking outside at the window on the second floor, observing a woman painting, Alice.

"I believe you should leave now, Miss Rojas." He asked with his hand still at the door, ready to close it at any moment. "I'll tell her you passed by."

"Wait, no, I-"

"Adiós, Miss Rojas." And with a mocking, bitchy attitude he closed the door in front of Katia. Who just standed there. Realizing what just happened.

She stepped away, until the sidewalk, and realized her friend's figure left the window.

"ALICE!!" She tried to scream.

Alice Mallory on the other way, talked with her fiancé and he poured her a glass of wine. "Did you hear something?" She asked, unaware of the guest.

"It must've been the neighbor." He turned on a record player, blasting loud opera songs to cover Katia's screams, and tentatives to knock on the door. "So, darling, tell me, when are you showing me your painting?" He sat by her side, smiling softly at his muse, touching their glasses in a delicate sound.

"Um...soon." She'd never show that painting ever. Already hid it behind her tall wardrobe.

"A perfeccionist, I see." He sipped his wine without taking his eyes from her, completely surrended.

"Isn't the chamber music a little loud?" She asked as the soundtrack played, still covering Katia's noises. She wouldn't give up easily, and already cursed Hannibal's name 3 times.

He leaned forward, whispering softly at her ear. "Didn't wish for anyone to listen to us."

"Hear what..?" She asked naive. He grinned like the devil, he landed his hand seductively at her thigh.

"I'll give you 5 minutes to finish the wine and go upstairs. You better be in bed once I arrive." He whispered in her ear in a hot breath that made her whole body tremble, but also smile in excitement.

And, as Alice Mallory enchanted herself with the lust and passion in her deceiving relationship, the person who truly cared for her, who spent almost an hour trying to reach her, gave up, sat on the ground, in a breathless defeat, watching the imponent and unreachable house in front of her.

Typed numbers fastly on the phone. There was only one person who could bring Alice to her senses before it was too late. But that person was occupied. "Colin, come on."

"The number you-"

"Shit." She turned off the phone pissed off, looking at the house.

Her thoughts filled with that conspiracy theory that made perfect and creepy sense.

Unfortunetely, Katia Rojas cared too much, loved too much.

She was indeed a good friend.

And that, would be the cause of her ending.

▫️

Frederic Chilton arrived at his home as if it was an average day. Tired, using his cane and stumbling to put his stuff aside, running down his hands through his silky chestnut hair strands when he heard a beeping sound that made him paralyze.

A machine that had a steady sound continued, and Chilton, unaware of what awaited him, followed the noise downstairs, only to face the dismembered body of Abel Gideon lied and tied to many wires connected to machines watching for his vital signs.

Frightned by the blood and death in front of him, Frederic ran upstairs, and tripped on his own bag when reached the upper floor.

The next thing he heard were slow steps approaching him.

And the last thing he saw was Hannibal Lecter involved in tenebrous plastic suit. "Hello, Frederic." The doctor greeted casually. Someone knocked at the front foor. "That must be the FBI." When he said those words, Chilton took an impulse to escape but was blocked and imobilized by the infamous therapist, who tapped his mouth as Chilton's sight blurred. "When you wake up, your only choice will be to run." The doorbell rang again. "One moment please." Hannibal played around as the man in his arms fainted.

He set Chilton down and tranquilized directed himself towards the door, ready to murder again.

▫️

Woke up in the middle of a carnage, the left side of his face scratched by some tool, his hands filled with blood, just as the floor of his white home, displaying bodies with their inside exposed in a showcase of flesh that made him swallow dry in disgust.

A gun on his lap, FBI agents murdered at his kitchen.

Frederic Chilton was fucked.

▫️

It has always been unfortunate to Jack Crawford to find colleagues dead. And that display of murder and gore at Chilton's home only comproved his thoughts.

The situation was maddening, Chilton, the man who accused Hannibal and feared him, now proved himself to be a cold blooded murderer. It seemed too unreal.

But some dots aligned when observing the clue. The psychological knowledge for mental manopulation, the studies on human anatomy that matched with the ripper's way to murder the victims, how he was involved into the case way before Will Graham with full access to the files...

Jack Crawford was having the epiphany he seeked so long for when one of his agents entered the room. "Sir?" He called his superior "They found one more body."

▫️

Alice Mallory prepared the tea her fiancé adored. She liked that, to observe how much he enjoyed something she prepared by her own hands, the graceful way he lifted the porcelain towards his lips, while still staring into her eyes. There was something elegant and breathtaking about it that she couldn't describe.

Delicately set the cups on a silver tray. All Hannibal's tools and recipients were tremendously expensive and sometimes ancient, including the beige chinese empire age cups he liked to served with.

It smelled deliciously and she already imagined how happy he would be once he'd arrive to serve himself with a warm cup of tea.

He left early that day to work it seems, and was taking a bit longer than usual, but didn't worry much, knew that he would be there by any minute, and she couldn't really call him, since she let her phone with him (he affirmed his wasn't working so well and that it would take some days to be repaired.)

When the doors opened, she let the stuff at the table and hushed towards the door. "Hanni, you are home!" She smiled brightly, already causing him butterflies.

What was death, gore and madness next to her? With Alice, life was simply easier, colorful and magical. That's why he needed to keep her, to keep the only fragment of his clarity and cause of insanity, the owner of his heart and mind, soul and breath.

Without her, his existence would become...shallow.

But in order to keep her, he'd have to cause some of her sadness, indirectely, for her own good.

"Hello, darling." He muttered as she gave him a quick peck on his lips and ran back to the kitchen. "Um, Alice dear?"

"Sit down, just give me a second!" She said, but he followed her down the hall until the kitchen. "I prepared you some tea, drink while it's warm-"

"Someone called you." He affirmed with carefulness.

"Oh yeah?" She grabbed the tray in her hands without giving much importance to the news. "Who?"

"I...believe you should let the tray down." He affirmed, taking the silver surface from her hands and letting down at the table where it was safe.

Alice stared at him confused. "Why? What is going on?"

Hannibal softly held her shoulders, stroking them lightly with his fingers. "Celia Rojas called...it's about Katia."

▫️

"Katia Rojas. 34. Nurse. Cause of death: hemorragy. Had her throat slashed and tongue cut off, which is still missing. Disappeared last night when she was returning home after work, the family confirmed she passed by a lonely road every day, probably where she was attacked. Whoever killed her, must've known when she would be alone." Jimmy Price explained as they observed the woman's body lied in front of them after examining it.

"A planned crime." Jack muttered, observing with sadness the young dark haired woman who had her life brutally taken.

"Wanna know the best part?" Brian Zeller commented as he lifted towards their sight a small plastic bag of evidence lightened by the artificial light  "We found Chilton's DNA underneath her nails. As if she tried to defend herself and scratched him"

Jack stopped. Observing the woman who slept now ]eacefully with a red stained and opened neck, a scene of pure horror that unfortunete)y he was already strong enough to observe.

"Frederic Chilton knew this woman?"The agent asked curious. "After all, she was found at his home mutilated as well."

"She was seen entering the Baltimore's State Hospital a few times using her nurse's license."

"But wait, the plot thickens!" Brian exclaimed excited. "Guess who she went to see?"

Jack had no idea. The duo made a suspenseful pause.

"Will Graham!" They said at once. Jack didn't laugh at their performance, instead got worried.

"What? Why?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Jimmy grabbed various poctures that were print from the victim's phone. "Look at these"

He observed the many scenarios, a teenager's party with women hugging: found a familiar face; then two friends taking selfies at a park: the familiar face again; even a family together at a barbecue: a familiar face again.

"...Alice Mallory." He gasped as he saw the brunette with shining eyes and wide smile. "Are they-"

"Long time friends as it seems." Jimmy suggested.

Jack stopped for a moment thinking. "Katia Rojas served as a mean to transfer information." He concluded perfectly.

"But why didn't Alice go see Will by herself then?"Jimmy asked confused.

"Multiple reasons, maybe scared of him-" Brian tried to find a solution.

"Or Hannibal." Jack muttered in a somber tone and serious expression that made the agents stop for a moment.

"...That is also a possibility, but there is no way to deny that Chilton murdered this woman." Brian insisted on the clue "The evidence doesn't lie."

Of course it doesn't lie. Unless someone plant it on purpose to frame an innocent man. But none of them thought about that hypothesis at the moment.

"But why?" Jimmy questioned trying to piece it all together. "And cut her tongue?"

"Tongues cut can mean something personal. Whoever did this, didn't like this woman." Brian suggested.

Jack had an epiphany. "She talked too much."

Jimmy lifted his eyebrows but agreed with the theory.

'I guess only one person can give us a better insight on this woman." Brian sighed, already knowing it would be a hard task.

Jack Crawford observed again the beloved friend brutally murdered, the eyes closed, the mouth obscure, open, lacking horribly a tongue, adding to the creepy aspect of the veins cut and exposed into a bloody red aesthetic that could cause any child or parent nightmares. "Alice Mallory."

▫️

He appeared silent, polite, attempting to be as respectful as possible. But Alice Mallory was inconsolable, burying her face into her narrowed hands and cyring without any tears left inside her body, only heavy whimpers and sighs.

Hannibal Lecter authorized the agent to come in, stepping into the house that was immersed into grief, spotting the woman upstairs, legs against her chest, forehead touching the knees, trying to hide away from the world.

"Were they very close?" Jack whispered to Hannibal at the bedroom's door.

"She has known Katia for several ears since she arrived in Baltimore. She was an intimate friend of her family." He explained as he watched his lover crumble down into pieces. "I'm afraid she might enter a depressed state due to all the recent losses in her life." He commented to Jack. "Alice can barely talk to me at the moment."

Jack knew what he was doing. Attempting to push him away from asking any questions. "I'd still like to receive an official rejection from her, if you don't mind." He told the doctor determined.

"As long as she isn't offended by it, I see no objections against it." The doctor appeared to be calm about the situation as always.

Jack nodded and carefully stepped foward, until stopping, standed by the side of the bed. It broke him to see that girl that way. How much did she have to suffer still? How resiliant she had to be?

"Alice.."He apporached informally. "I can't even imagine how you must be feeling..." She didn't reply. "I'm...I'm very sorry for your loss." But she barely moved in response.  "I know this might appear...intrusive, but I'd like to ask you a few questions..."

Alice lifted her eyes, and just the deadly glisten in them made the agent tremble. She clearly didn't want to talk.

"I know you are...mourning your friend's loss...but I'm trying my best to find whoever is responsible for this." He tried not to hurt her even more, as if he was finally confessing to a child that santa didn't exist. "Do you know who Frederic Chilton is?"

She stared at him clueless, then shaked her head in a "no."

"We found his DNA underneath your friend's nails. It could've appeared there in a fight, she might've scratched him in order to defend herself." Jack explained, squating on the ground to be at the same height as her.

"Wait...this man...killed Katia...?" Her eyes widened, the breath suspended.

"This man is responsible for Baltimore's State Hospital For The Criminally Insane." A gap between Alice's lips was formed, her whole body shivered. "Today we found Abel Gideon, who was missing, now killed in his house. Along with three more officers completely mutilated." She lowered her eyes, one of his hands at the matress, holding it tight to release the anxiety. "Did Katia Rojas know this man?"

Alice shaked her head fastly. "No, Katia never mentioned him...I don't think so..."

"Another question, then...did..." He glanced at the door, spotting Hannibal, then sighed, turning back to Alice "Did you send Katia Rojas to the hospital so she could transfer messages between you and Will Graham?"

Her jaw dropped, the heart speeded, ached inside her chest. Alice feared to stare at the door. The eyes wide open, almost in shock to have her secret exposed. Her head moved slowly towards the door.

Her lover's face was cold as a stone. Displeased as never before. Alice didn't know he already had that knowledge, so his reaction frightned her.

"Alice...did you send Katia Rojas there?" Jack Crawford asked, and just then turned his head, following her gaze torwards the man at the door. "Doctor Lecter-"

"Answer his question, Alice." He commended in a sharp tone. Alice gripped her hands onto the sheets, fearing his reaction. Jack Crawford watched silent, but with his blood boiling unside his veins to watch that scene.

"Don't force yourself." Jack Crawford incredibly learned with his past mistakes. "If you don't feel comfortable-"

"Yes. Yes, I sent here there." Her eyes teared up, switching from the agent and her fiancé's repproving expression. "D-Do you think-"

"I know it might appear inappropriate for me to ask, but...what was the content of your messages with Will Graham?"

Hannibal's gaze also showed the same question. "What have you done?" She could almost hear him saying it.

"We just exchanged a letter once...I didn't know Katia continued going there..."Alice replied softly. "It was just after Beverly Katz died...I just...wanted to make sure he was okay. If he needed any help, or support."

"And?"

"He barely replied to me. He..." she glanced again at Hannibal.

Jack Crawford became annoyed by the doctor's presence, he clearly was interrupting the investigation. "Doctor Lecter, I'm sorry, but could you please let me speak with Alice alone?"

"I'm only here because she wishes me to be." Hannibal pretended to sound numb and innocent. The perfect boyfriend. He turned to his lover. "Alice, do you wish to have more privacy?"

Something in her eyes and the sick attachment she developed towards him made her reject the suggestion. "No, it's okay. Hannibal is here only to make me feel better." She turned to Jack. "Please let him stay."

Her voice was half broken and with such a fragile request that he couldn't refuse. "If you insist...then please focus on answering the question: What did Will Graham tell you?"

"...What he always does since I shot him at Minnesota." She answered convicted. "He told me to stay away from Hannibal."

Jack observed the doctor close his fist with a bit more strentgh with the corner of his eyes, even though the host still maintained a neutral aspect. "Did Katia read the message?" Jack asked.

"He just told her, never wrote." She explained. "But that was the only time we talked, I never told her to go there again."

"One last question, Alice, and it might appear indelicate but...I need you to be fully honest." He stated intensely into her eyes. "What did Katia think about Dr.Lecter? You must've introduced them to each other, I suppose."

She let out a shaky breath, holding her hands above her lap and avoiding his eyes.

"She wasn't so pleased about our relationship. Specially about our engagement." Hannibal answered instead with no concerns. "We never had any conflicts but..."

"She told me I became too attached to Hannibal." Alice revealed. Jack Crawford immediatly gave reason to her friend. "And after Will said..."

"Did she believe him?"

"She started not to trust Hannibal, that was sure."

Jack Crawford tried to set the puzzle pieces together. "That is why she met Graham again."

"Miriam Lass." Hannibal suddenly spoke. "Tell him about it, Alice. About Katia's...cousin."

Jack was confused. "She was the one who told me about Miriam Lass existence...but told me one of her cousun's worked at the FBi and revealed the information."

"...it was Will." Jack concluded.

Hanbibal entered the room, already letting his theory fill the agent's mind. "Threatned by Lass revealing his secrets when united with Alice Mallory,  Chilton planned his revenge on the target that ruined his plans. Katia Rojas." He sat by his lover's side and held her hand as she was about to cry again.

"What secrets...?"

"We believe Frederic Chilton might be...the Chesapeake Ripper."

Alice almost had a heart attack, Hannibal contained her reaction by whispering at her ear that it was alright, that she would be okay, while caressing her hands.

"The ripper...you mean the same man...-"

"Miriam Lass' captor, a dangerous and well known serial killer, Hobbs' copycat and.."Jack clenched his jaw. "...your sister's murderer."

▫️

Chilton's stupid plan to run to Will Graham's house and procced to escape in fear was ruined by the previous ex agent, who denounced his location to Jack Crawford. Even innocent about the crimes, he was wrongly accused against, the doctor decided to run away in the snow, starting a rushing chase by the FBI superior, who managed to surrender him and contain his instincts to do revenge with his own hands.

▫️

"How long has it been? Since Beverly Katz died?" Hannibal organized his dishes meticoulsy, but also irritated, making noise. Alice sat by the dining table's room with ber head held down, embarrassed. "The same amount of time I proposed to you."

"Hanni, please-"

"Yet, you chose to lie to me." His sentence cut her like a knife. And he knew that. He was aware of what was happening way long ago, but she never confessed to him, and that made him mad. He waited for that moment, and he'd make her bleed by the speech deeply now.

"I'm sorry...I knew you wouldn't want me snooping around the cases-"

"I thought we trusted each other." He turned to her. His hazel eyes into hers almost sucked the life out of them. "That there were no secrets between us." She rather wanted to die than to see him that way. She betrayled his trust.

"Hannibal I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention-"

"But clearly your choice." He walked around the table, his fingers sliding delicately through the wodden surface without staring at her. "You chose not to trust me. To follow this...nonsense, drag both your mind and Will's into this degradating process of transferring messages in secrets, feeding his illusions of wrongly accusing me."

"I never agreed with what he said!" She standed up in an impulse.

"Sit." He commanded in a deadly tone, and, speechless, she simply obeyed. She has never seen Hannibal that way before, there was a sparkle of possession, obssession in his eyes, and most of all: authority. When she sat down, she could've swear it was an illusion of her mind, but spot for a brief second a smile at the corner of  his lips that quickly disappeared. "If you only listened to me..."He said softly, victimizing himself again. "I am trying to help you. Do what's best for you, for us..." He showed frustration. "But I am not sure if you feel the same way."

"...what?" Her eyes widened. Felt an immense pain inside her chest. A bad feeling took over her body.

"Sometimes I believe you are not as comitted as I am in this relationship." He said, and at that moment, Alice Mallory felt the ground beneath her feet disappear, as if she fell into an endless hole in the ground. She had barely recovered from the death of her friend.

"Hanni-"

"I love you, Alice Mallory." He looked into her eyes, watching as he crushed her heart into his strong hands. "But if we don't fully trust and collaborate in this relationship... I'm afraid I'd have to let you go so you can seek someone who you'll love better."

"No..." She felt tears in her eyes.  The lips quivered, the legs suddenly lost strentgh, the breath sharpening, she was panicking. She already lost so much, and the only person she devoted herself to, that she would sacrifice herself for, the only one who was still there, took care of her, loved her, now was willing to leave.

Hannibal Lecter was Alice Mallory's world. And without him, she didn't find any sense in life anymore.

"Hannibal please..." She shaked her head, as she tried to hold the tears but failed. Felt pathetic at that moment. "Please, no...I love you...I'm so sorry..."

He watched the fire he set inside her mind, the tears that he made her cry, the horror inside her soul. He didn't like to see Alice suffer, but was willing to make her pay for what she has done. He didn't wish to be deceived. He chose her, and now, she'd have to behave.

"Hanni..." she shaked her head and got up from the chair even without his permission, circling the table and hugging his back with a formidable strentgh. She gripped onto his body as if she would fall down at any moment. "Please...please don't go..."

He watched as her finger intertwined even more tight around him. Loved that. Loved how much she needed him. How much she depended onto him. "I do not wish to leave you, Alice..." He mutered. "But I don't believe I have much choice."

"You do...!" She cried horribly. "Just give me another chance...please, I know I was wrong...I was terribly wrong, please..."

It is terrifying how much a person can become vulnerable and susceptible to manipulation as its' finest. Hannibal Lecter was a speciallist in that matter.

He held her hands on his belly, and closed his eyes at the soft touch that always attracted him. Her sweet perfume invading his lungs, and absorving the muffled crying that soaked the back of his suit.

No matter how much she'd attempt to fool him, he'd always win.

"Do you have anything else to tell me?" He turned around torwards her. She stared at him helpless. "If you have any more secrets Alice, this is the time to reveal them all."

She swallowed dry, but feared to loose him. "Are you willing to still give me a chance?"

She did have more secrets. That shocked him. "Only if you'll become completely honest with me."

She took a deep breath, Hannibal caught himself anxious for her answer and the darkest parts of her mind still hidden from him.

"Alright." She nodded. "I'll reveal you everything."

▫️

Arrested and surrended to an iterrogatory, Chilton was being accused for being the infamous Chesapeake Ripper. Jack Crawford attempted to call Alice Mallory so she could identify the suspect's voice, but Hannibal Lecter picked up instead and affirmed she wasn't feeling well and that might mistake her judgement.

The agent didn't quite believe on his words, but couldn't do much about it. Instead, Miriam Lass, in the fragility of her consciousness, when spot Frederic Chilton, mistook him as her captor, taking the gun from her superior and shooting against the prime suspect's face.

The "Chesapeake Ripper" was considered now "gone".

▫️

Hannibal Lecter couldn't take Alice's revelation out of his mind. The other night he took her to his office, now with their relationship back up again. With her sitting on his desk as he sat behind on the chair, both sharing a dark wine as he savored her silent image next to him.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked curious, as she took a sip of the drink with her seductive lips that hipnotized him.

"Miriam Lass shot Frederic Chilton." She muttered, staring at the painting she made for her lover at the wall. "My sister's murderer is now in coma and I didn't even have the opportunity to recognize his voice."

"Are you upset about this?"

"That was the reason of it all, wasn't it?" She looked at him frustrated. "Meeting Will again, reopening my scars..." She delicately said " ...even meeting you."

"Meeting me isn't reasonable anymore?"

"No, don't misunderstand me, please." She felt a little irritated by his response. "I mean that's how we met. And now..."
She sighed.

Hannibal reached for her hand on the desk, delicately holding it, finding it surprisingly cold this time.

"It was an important achievement and it was taken from you, I understand." He spoke softly, as the perfect boyfriend. She squeezed his hand back, feeling exhausted. He tapped his left thigh. "You're too far. Come here."

She smiled briefly and got up from the desk and comfortably sat on his thigh, on his lap, feeling an instant comfort to have him closer, as he embraced an arm around her waist and carressed her face. "That's not all you're thinking about, is it?"

He exhaled in a heavy and shaky breath. His body was so warm, so cozy, if she could, she'd just immerse herself into his arms and never leave. "You always know exactly what happens inside my head." She joked bitterly. "It's...everything, I miss Katia...I...I can't believe she's gone...and this anger at Miriam Lass..."

"...and your father." Her eyes glistened in fear by his words.

"Can we not speak about him?" She swallowed dry. That was a delicate issue and she hated to reopen that subject.

"I know you'd rather not talk about him...but what you just revealed to me changes everything, Alice."

"Not about us." She replied fastly defensive.

"It shows you are being honest with me." She tilted her head, realizing he made a fair point. "But you know that what you are doing...you are still stuck in the past, Alice."

She adjusted the tie of his suit, leaning close, taking the opportunity to place her hand above his chest, feeling his heart beat torwards her. His hand above hers  awakened her to a better life, even though her mind was pure hell.

"I don't believe I can ever move on from it, Hanni." She glanced at him helpless, eyes tearing up. "I...never chose to be like this..." she shaked her head. "I wish I were different."

'"No, don't say that." He adjusted herself in his lap, pulling her close, his hands altering between petting her head or caressing her back softly while staring deeply at her. "Alice you are the epitome of kindness." He whispered. "In all these ears I've seen people come and go, born and die, but never in my life I've ever seen someone like you."

"You're just being nice."

"No, darling. I'm being sincere." He affirmed. "I adore the person you are. Each single part of you, the awful and the beautiful ones. The darkness hidden inside your soul, and the goodness that consumes your consciousness. Each tiny flaw and adjective. There is no one in this lifetime as you. And there will never be." She listened to him speechless. How could that man speak that way? How could he find so much to love in her? In her own eyes she was pathetic, but in Hannibal's...she was a goddess. "Please, Alice, don't ever change who you are."

She chortled softly, almost crying. "I swear to God, if someday you disappear I don't know what I'll do." She shaked her head, pursing tight her lips.

"I won't disappear." He assured her, playing with a strand of her hair. "I'll be by your side, and I'll be here to help you move on from your past."

"You mean..."

"We will find a solution together."

Alice threw herself into his arms, inhaling his natural but also characteristic aroma, warming herself into his large chest as he placed his head above hers, hugging her tight to never let go, involuntairily smiling. God, how goofy, cheesy, and soft he could turn into with her. For her.

When she looked up couldn't hold himself, touched his lips against hers, melting inside, holding her tight. And he could feel all the passion, all the need, the desire she had for him. The hands running down her hair, sighing as she fit perfectly above him, and giggling as she delivered quick gentle kisses on his cheeks with smiles tickling his skin.

She aparted for a moment. "More wine?" She asked sweetly.

"Yes, please." He answered as he savored the image of her pouring wine into his crystalline glass, still above his lap. He loved to have her there, obedient, close. Alice handled him the glass and did what he knew she liked, drank slowly, without taking his eyes from hers. Alice's cheeks blushed as he smirked after drinking, pulling her close to another make out session again, distracting her from any sadness from the world.

But the world wouldn't vanish away so soon.

A knock on the door. They pulled apart. "Are you expecting someone?" She glanced at him quickly, and could spot a bit of jealousy in her stance. After all, who would be in his office in such a late night hour period? Hannibal couldn't help but feel glad that she was jealous, she rarely showed that side.

"No, I'm not." He answered. Alice still wasn't convinced. Lifted one of his eyebrows and he grinned at her reaction. "I only have eyes for you, Alice Mallory."

"Then you wouldn't mind if I picked up the door, would you?"

"Not at all." He answered relaxed. "Suit yourself."

Alice sniffed and got up from his lap, he immediatly missed her. "Come back soon, please." He teased as she walked away, staring at her back and biting lightly his lower lip at the view.

Alice Mallory chuckled softly once she reached the door, opening it without paying attention until the figure appeared in front of her.

Took a step back in shook. Gasped covering her mouth with her left hand. The guest also was surprised, a small gap between their lips, but tried to keep a natural expression.

"What are you doing here...?" She asked, unable to look away from their eyes.

"I am here to speak with Hannibal." They answered softly, still a bit oblivious to see her there. "Is he here?"

"I won't let you speak to him."

"Please-"

"I already told you to stay away. Even Katia got herself into this madness because of your theories-"

"I told her to not involve herself!"

"But she did! She did, and look at what happened!"

"If I'm guilty for this you're just as I am." The words echoed through her ears. "You sent her there."

Alice took a deep breath, she wouldn't cry again. "Yes, perphaps I am." She nodded. "I was worried about someone who clearly didn't deserve the attention and risked my friend in the process."

"Ali...I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean-" the guest in an impulse tried to reach for her hand, and when they were just about to touch, the moment was interrupted.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long." Hannibal Lecter appeared behind the woman, one of his arms wrapped around her waist, displaying their affection in a possessive behavior. "Now I see why." His eyes lingered at the guest. "Hello, Will."

The man held his coat, wearing an iconic pink shirt, had those sweet innocent eyes, and the softest of the expressions, an indeed redeemed appearence. "May I come in?"

"No." Alice replied instead.

"Lissy, please." Hannibal pondered, Will contained himself not to make a face at the cringy nickname.

"Did you just forget that he tried to kill you in our kitchen?"

"I don't believe he has the same intentions today." Hannibal answered, then turned to Will. "Do you?"

"Not tonight." He joked. Hannibal smiled, and made way for him to come in.

When be closed the door, Alice had already rushed back to his table, the face serious, quiet. She wouldn't interrupt their conversation, but was definetely displeased by it.

Will observed his surroundings, back again at the same office, attempting  to glance at the portrait on the wall or the woman that stared at him with a deadly gaze.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything." He observee the two glasses of wine above the desk.

"It's fine." The doctor answered calmly. "You even arrived on the same time as our sessions used to be."

"I did, didn't I?" The agent observed with sadness. "I have to deal with you." Will sighed, going straight to the point. "And how I feel about you." He looked at Hannibal Lecter. "And I think it's best if I did that directely."

"First you have to grieve for what is lost, and what have changed." Hannibal said, Alice avoided Will's gaze just in time. She wouldn't know what would become of her if she met his eyes again.

"I've changed. You changed me." Will pointed pout.

"The friendship that we had is over." Hannibal continued. "The Chesapeake Ripper is over."

The ex agent took a deep breath. "It had to be Miriam, didn't it?" He whispered. "She was compelled to take his life so she could take her own back."

"How would you take your life back?"

This time he couldn't hide it. The eyes immediatly met Alice's, and even Hannibal could feel that intense, overwhelming energy they felt all over those years. And Will didn't bother to show that. In fact, he was not going to hide it anymore.

Alice felt her heart speed, and realized it wasn't for the anger she had for him. She became terriified by that thought.After all, they could try, but would never forget what happened, that painting of the lake just showed how much she still had him inside her mind, inside her heart, as a vicious parasite consuming her slowly.

Will Graham turned back again to Hannibal Lecter, exchanging those subtle passive agressive speeches. Both of them knew things weren't and would never be the same again.

"I'd like to resume my therapy."