____

Feodor Zakharov
(1882 - 1967)

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"HELLO Dr. Lecter"

"Hello, Will" Hannibal stood in front of the glass in his white inmate jumpsuit, he analyzed his old friend with deep attention, realizing how he has changed over those 3 years. "Did you get my note?"

"I got it. Thank you."

"Did you read it before you destroyed it?" Hannibal Lecter guessed. "Or did you simply toss it into the nearest fire?"

"I read it.."Will Graham admitted. "...and then I burnt it."

"And you came anyway."Hannibal stepped forward. "I'm glad you came. My other callers are all...professional. Banal psychiatrists and grasping second-raters. Pencil lickers."He mocked in disdain.

"I want you to help me, Dr. Lecter."Will changed the subject.

"Yes, I thought so."Hannibal said calmly. "Are we no longer on a first-name basis?" He teased.

"I'm more comfortable the less personal we are."

Hannibal remained silent for a moment, he looked at the agent up and down, analyzing him for a moment, even his clothes looked different, he looked good, like he was taking care of himself, unlike before, and putting the effort into it. The doctor sniffed.

"I smell dogs...and pine, and oil beneath that shaving lotion," Hannibal concluded. "It's something a child would select, isn't it?" Will felt his body freeze at his words. "Is there a child in your life, Will?"

Will discretely clenched his jaw, he wouldn't tell him the truth, and he wouldn't let him get into his head. Will only remained strong and looked into the doctor's eyes fiercely.

"I came about Chicago and Buffalo" He muttered.

"You've read about it." Hannibal continued their conversation."I've read the papers. I can't clip them. They won't let me have scissors."He joked in a dark note. "You want to know how he's choosing them?"

"Thought you would have some ideas."

Hannibal remained silent for just a second, realizing his true intentions. "You just came here to look at me."He realized. "Came to get the old scent again."He continued reading through him. "Why don't you just smell yourself?"

Will rolled his eyes at him and became annoyed by that behavior, he didn't want to play mind games, he was tired of that. He just wanted to finish that matter and go home to meet his family.

"I expected more of you, Doctor. That routine... is old hat."He mocked Hannibal instead, about to turn his back and leave.

"Whereas you are a new man."Hannibal completed. He looked at Will for a moment, thinking of better strategies to bring his walls down. "Are you a good father, Will?" Will Graham didn't move muscle. "I wonder who the mother of this child is..."Both of them exchanged passive-aggressive glances. Could he have discovered? "Let me have the file. An hour and we can discuss it like old times."

Will thought about the idea for a moment, he didn't want to tell Lecter a thing, actually, he had promised Alice he wouldn't tell, otherwise, their family would be put at risk. They didn't trust Hannibal, but now, what better choice did Will have if not to use his help? 

"Thank you."Will replied in an almost inaudible voice.

The ex-agent walked over to the little compartment where he could send food or other types of objects through the glass and put the files there, waiting for the shark to bite its' prey.

"Family values may have declined over the last century, but we still help our families when we can."Hannibal dialogued as he stared into his fragile eyes.  "She is my family, Will."

The agent just walked away, letting Hannibal immersed into the darkness. He knew what he smelled:

Dogs, pine, a child...and a sweet, familiar, and unforgettable candy scent.

Alice.

▫️

"Just a moment, Blan!" She shouted across the house to her daughter as she fed the hungry dogs. "Here you go.."

Alice got up and looked at the animals for a moment, she knew how much Will loved them, maybe his passion for dogs was one of the things that she most loved about him. She could remember clearly when they almost adopted a puppy back then in college because Will kept feeding it in secret with his lunch.

She sighed with nostalgia, who knew that all of this would happen? That 10 years ago they'd marry and they'd raise a daughter together?

She delicately touched the chain around her neck.

Who knew that 10 years later...she would have this hole inside her chest that would never heal.

At this moment, she realized, Will could be speaking to him, or have already spoken to him. She couldn't even imagine.

What did he look like after those 3 years? Was he being well treated or tortured? Did he become mad already? Could he recognize her husband or worse: what if he asked about her?

Will said that he asked about her in the letter. She couldn't help but feel curious to read it, to admire that perfect scarlet caligraphy written on the pages, or maybe even catch a glimpse of his aroma through the paper. Just these small thoughts made her lose her breath, it felt almost obscene, wrong, to think that way while she was married.

Alice walked back to her child on the living room, she seemed impatient since tonight it was supposed to be movie Friday with her father as they always used to do.

"So, sweetie, what do you want to watch?"She sat by her side on the sofa.

"Frozen!"She said crossing her arms. "But with Daddy!" She whimpered.

"Daddy is still busy. Why don't you watch it with me instead, um? I will sing the songs and dance with you" Alice gave a bright smile.

"NO!!!"Blanche yelled.

"Blan, darling-"

"I WANT DAAAD!!"She started to cry. "I WANT DADDY!!!"

Alice sighed and tried to calm her daughter but nothing seemed to work. She knew she wasn't supposed to do it, but, in a desperate attempt, she called him

While the crying continued, Will still tried his subtle psychological war against Hannibal, he was stronger than it seemed, and very calm in every situation, even though deep inside, his mind wandered about what happened in Will's life, who that child related to, and where did Alice fit in that story.

He tried to avoid the idea of them 3 being a family as much as possible.

"This is a very shy boy, Will." Hannibal analyzed the files. "I would love to meet him."

"I'm sure you would."Will pondered at the maniac.

"Have you considered the possibility that he's disfigured?"Hannibal suggested, in his mind, they were back in his warm office, and he was just as full of glory and elegance as always instead of the cruel reality stuck inside that glass box. "Or that he may believe he's disfigured?"

"...That's interesting."Will simply added.

Hannibal side-eyed him. "That's not interesting."He said, nothing could pass noticed by him. "You thought of that before."

It was useless to try to hide something from him. "He smashed all the mirrors in the houses, not just enough to get the pieces he wanted. These shards are set so he can see himself in their eyes."

Both the gentlemen could picture themselves into that blood crime scenario made by the Tooth Fairy again. "Could you see yourself in their eyes, Will?" Hannibal played with his sanity. "Killing them all?"

"The first small bond to the killer itches and stings like a leech. Like you, Will...he needs a family to escape what's inside him."Hannibal made him wonder. "You know a fair amount about how these families died. How they lived is how he chooses them."

"How is he choosing them?"Will Graham muttered.

"How did you choose yours?"Hannibal asked instead, taking a wild guess. "Ready-made wife and child to serve your needs. A stepson or daughter... A stepson absolves you of any biological blame.. You know better than to breed. Can't pass on those terrible traits you fear the most."

Will stood in silence for a moment, Hannibal walked around, almost victorious to have guessed it all.

"Why-"

"You're wrong." Will interrupted when Hannibal was about to change the subject. The doctor looked at him suspiciously. "She's not a step, she's my daughter. My own."He replied confidently through his teeth. "I didn't choose anyone because I needed balance, I chose them because I wanted to. Because I-"

"Because you love them?"Hannibal guessed instead. "Who do you love so much to make you cross your boundaries, Will?" The ex-agent turned pale. He has spoken too much. "Is it-"

Will's phone suddenly started to ring, he glanced at the ID on the screen, Alice. He looked at Hannibal, who waited patiently for his next move as the phone continued to ring.

"Go ahead, I don't mind."The doctor teased. "Must be from your home."

Will hesitated, took a deep breath and rejected the call. Hannibal only watched with interest.

On the other side of the line, Alice cursed loudly her husband as her child cried. Why would he reject her call? He has never done something like that before...and due to the circumstances, that behavior was quite concerning.

"You didn't pick up." Hannibal commented.

"We have something else to discuss."

"About your child."

"About the killer."He retorted. "We are not talking about my family, Hannibal."

"Aren't we?"He said with a mocking tone. "Farewell...let's continue." He made a pause. "Why are there no descriptions of the grounds?"

Will could close his eyes and imagine the nocturnal image of the murdered family's home. The moon shined beautifully above and the floor was covered in snow.

"I see floor plans, diagrams of the rooms where death occurred. What were the yards like?"Hannibal followed his thoughts.

"Big...fenced, with trees. Why?"

"If this pilgrim feels a special relationship with the moon, he might like to go outside and look at it, before he tidies himself up. If one were nude, say, it would be better to have outdoor privacy for that sort of thing." Hannibal established delicately. "One must show some consideration for the neighbours." He said softly. "Have you ever seen blood in the moonlight, Will?" Will Graham could picture himself in the killer's shows, naked under the moonlight, covered under blood, with that rage and insanity running through his veins with that exciting, dangerous feeling he had long forgotten what was like. "It appears quite black."

▫️

"What is she doing here?" Alice Mallory's illusion said as she sat on the desk inside his cell as always.

"You've come to wag your finger?"Hannibal asked without turning around.

Alana Bloom had arrived for a visit, she knew Will was visiting, and, since she was now the director of the institution, she needed to make sure things were under her control...well, that, and humiliate Hannibal, of course.

"I love a good finger-wagging."She replied fearlessly.

"Yes, you do."Hannibal said casually. "How is Margot?"

"Your cogs are turning, Hannibal." Dr.Bloom teased. "I can hear them clicking."

"Click, click, boom."Alice played with the situation. Hannibal gave a soft smile at her.

"I don't know what you're planning with Will Graham, but you're planning something. Why wouldn't you be? You've already cracked the lid, can't resist peeling it back."

"Will came to me."He commented.

"Yes, he did."

Hannibal took a  moment in silence before continuing. "But he came alone."

Alana then realized what he truly wanted. "Yes, he did." She smiled while seeing him suffer. "Why wouldn't he?"

"You know she is with him,"Hannibal muttered. "It would be easier for both of us if you only admitted it."

"If Alice Mallory is involved or not with Will Graham, that is not my matter to tell."Alana delighted herself to watch him so anxious to know the truth. "Especially not to you."

"Are you suggesting I don't have Alice's best interests in my mind?"

"I'm stating it as fact."

"As if any of you ever truly knew her"

Alana stepped forward, staying just beside him now, she was lucky he was chained, otherwise, it would be unclear what he could be capable of doing to her.

"I've been courteous...and you have been receptive to courtesy. But these niceties are conditional, and the conditions are non-negotiable." She warned him.

"I must behave myself."Hannibal teased.

"I know what you're afraid of."Alana threatened in his ear. "It's not pain or solitude. It's indignity. You're a little bit like a cat that way." She whispered. "I'll take your books. I'll take your drawings. I'll take your toilet. You'll have nothing but indignity..." She walked away, ready to leave him there alone again. "...and the company of the dead."

Alana left the room and closed the door behind her. Hannibal glanced at Alice, who was now in front of him, with a critical smile. "Is it really?" She lifted one of his eyebrows with a smirk. "We know what you are truly afraid of, Hannibal." She whispered. "We know what matters to you most but you'll never let them know." She sniffed. and touched his face, if only that touch was real, he almost crumbled into pieces just by the hallucination's voice. "Remember what you said to me?"She leaned forward letting just a mere inch of distance between their lips. "I'm your Achilles' heel, Hannibal Lecter."

▫️

He knew there were eyes in those bushes, curious, attentive ones that were seeking after him, and when he walked into the snow, searching for them, he could listen to soft "clicks" in distance, oh how much he hated that sound.

"Now, are you just keeping America clean or is that evidence?"A voice he didn't hear in ages suddenly appeared.

"You're trespassing, Freddie." Will Graham got up as he spot the nosy journalist. 

"I was trespassing before the blood dried. When did they call you in?"She asked in that curious tone as always.

Will walked forward, ready to leave, annoyed. "I'm not talking to you." -[

"We're coconspirators, Will."She followed him, her red hair now in a different style and longer, distinguished into the snow. "I died for you and your cause."

"You didn't die enough."He snapped back and she made a face. "You came into my hospital room while I was sleeping, flipped back the covers and snapped a photo of my temporary colostomy bag." He growled.

"Covered your junk with a black box." She excused herself. "A big black box. You're welcome."

"You called us Etta Place, Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid"

"Well, you did form a very exotic and criminal love triangle, you even ran off to Europe all together." She justigied herself but couldn't lose that opportunity. "How does the Tooth Fairy compare with Hannibal Lecter? Haven't seen anything like this since the Massacre at Muskrat Farm." She squinted her eyes. "Funny thing about that massacre: not only did Dr. Bloom survive, she got rich. Lecter's living in the lab under her care.... What kind of arrangement do you suppose they have?"

"Complicated arrangement." He only replied instead.

"Couldn't be more complicated than your relationship with Hannibal. You paid him a visit?" Will opened his mouth to speak. "Before you lie, know that I know you did."

"Goodbye, Freddie." He replied instead and walked away, turning his back at her as the snow fell.

" 'Federal manhunters, stymied in their search for the Tooth Fairy, have turned to the most savage killer in captivity for help. It takes one to catch one, a federal official told this reporter.' " She already visualized the perfect text for her blog.

" 'Takes one to catch one'?" Will clenched his jaw and looked at her. "You're referring to Hannibal Lecter or me?"

"I'll let my readers decide." Freddie smirked and crossed her arms. "If you're smart, you'd use me. All psychopaths are narcissists...they love to read about themselves."

▫️

"Oh, so now you do remember you own a phone?" Her voice was sour over the line. "And have a wife."

"I am sorry." Will whispered as he stares at the hotel's ceiling. "I just couldn't pick up at that moment."

"You didn't pick up the whole day, Will. Do you know how worried I was?" Alice lied on the bed just as him, both looking up, like they could see each other's faces there.

"I know, and that won't happen again, I'm sorry."

"Should I go to Baltimore to check upon you?" She said suddenly, Will widened his eyes.

"No, no, that won't be necessary." He replied right away.

"Won't it? Because you are starting to act weird. You never reject a call Will, but now it's just been a week since you've been gone, and you don't pick up." She explained. "I told you if I noticed the slightest difference-"

"I couldn't pick up because he was there." He said the truth. Alice turned quiet. "Hannibal was just in front of me."

There was a long pause in silence that made him tense. Alice knew he would meet Hannibal at some moment, but that statement, the fact that he really did meet him just made everything more real.

"..and...how did it go...?" She asked, returning to reality.

"I might be getting somewhere." He took  a deep breath.

"...Did he...does he know about..."

"He knows I have a child." Will said it, he could listen to Alice cursing through the phone. "He doesn't know about you, he doesn't know about her mother."

"And he won't know." She advised him serious. "Will, if he-"

"I won't tell him." He assured her. "Ali, keep calm. I won't tell him."

She sighed through the line.

"Fuck,  I'm so stressed." She admitted. "Today...was really hard." He felt his hard crush to hear her so sad. "I need you here, Will."

"I'll be back soon, I promise." He whispered back. "I'll be there with you two when you least expect."

"That's all I want." She exhaled heavily. "I'm sorry, I'm being a terrible wife. You're helping save the country while I'm here being a brat."

"That's not true. You're the one who convinced me to do this."

"I...as much as I am having a hard time here, just know that I am proud of you." She encouraged him. "I'm proud that you can keep control and deal with all of this, even as maddening as it is."

He gave a half smile. Could he really remain in control though? "Thanks."

Alice stared at the window where the night was dark, with no stars. "I think I'm going to call Colin to help me here. He's on his break after all."

"Sounds like a good idea."

She gave another pause. "This house is so silent when you're not here. Even Blanche is more quiet."

"Well, that's really concerning." They both chuckled. "Oh...you might hate it, but...we've got a new dog."

"Will you didn't-"

"It's from one of the families...I just couldn't let him there."

Alice giggled over the line, he smiled to cause her a bit of happiness.

"You're just impossible, Will Graham." She laughed. "Okay, fine." She rolled her eyes, he celebrated on the other side of the line. "I'll tell Blanche the news that her dad got a new dog for her."

"She will be so happy." He smiled silly. He just loved to spoil his kid.

"Yeah..."Alice nodded. "You never told me...how's your room there?"

"The hotel room?" He looked around. "Pretty average...small. One king size bed, medium sized windows. Mostly wood." Alife hummed in agreement. "Why?"

"I an just trying to picture you better." She rolled on the bed. "So I can imagine you're here."

"What else do you want me to describe?"

She smiled. "How's the night?"

"Peceaful...there are some stars here on the sky."

"Really? There are none here. "She commented.

"Well, take my stars them and picture them in your sky." They chuckled.

"Let me see..."She thought for a moment and gave a mischievous smile. "What about you?" Will lifted one of his eyebrows. "What are you wearing?"

"Oh, me?" He sniffed. "Why do you want to know that, Mrs.Graham?"

"I know you packed a pair of boxers." She chuckled.

"You guessed it." He laughed. "And a grey T-Shirt. You know, my usual pajama combo." He smiled. "And you?"

Alice knew he would freak out. "I'm wearing your shirt." Will felt his cheeks burn. "That white one." He could hear her sit on the bed. "Still smells like you."

"...Just the shirt?"

She bit her lip and chuckled. "Just the shirt."

She could listen to him sighing across the line. She was having fun with that situation.

"Don't do this to me." He begged.

"Do you have any neighbors there?" She whispered.

"Ali..."Will giggled.

"You said you wanted a booty call..."She teased. "You know I miss you really bad...don't you? And I need to take some stress off my back."

"Oh, I do." He said as his breath became heavier just by her voice.

TW// (LIGHT) SMUT, IF YOU ARE UNDERAGE (-18) OR FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE JUS SKIP UNTIL THE NEXT WARNING

"This bed is so big on my own." She teased, Will chuckled.

"Are we really doing this?" He asked.

"I don't know about you..."She lowered her hand down her thights while she held the phone with the other one. "...but I'm already working on it."

"You're...?"He lifted his eyebrows as he heard her breath sharpening across the line. "Fuck, Ali...this is really torture."

She chuckled in a velvet tone. "What? Just having some fun..."Her hands delicately touched her core.

"Should've been with me though." He retorted.

"And what would you do if you were here?"

Will Graham smirked. Okay, they were really doing that.

"First I'd kiss you until you'd lose your breath." He responded in a low threatning tone. He could listen to Alice tremble across the line. "I'd carress this pretty body of yours.."She bit her lip as she let her hands take care of imagining it. "Squeeze you tight just how you like it."

"How are you so good at this...?" She whimpered.

Will chuckled. "Want me to continue?"

"Don't you dare stop now."

"Well them..." He unbuckled his belt, freeing his already hard cock in his hands. "I'd get that little mouth of yours to some use..."

"You're so dirty, Will Graham." She chuckled but her mouth watered with anticipation, she pressed her tights together, barely handling the heat. "You want me to suck it for you? Yeah?"

"See? You already know what to do." He hissed as he pleasured himseld faster and faster. She could listen to him panting across the line. "But you want more, don't you?"

"Mhmm."She gave a hum mixed with a moan. Her skin was heated as fire, the center between her legs was fresh, and the room's wall became dizzy.

"I'd open up your legs for me..."He exhaled heavily. "Put your little fingers there, honey." Alice did as he asked, lettting out a fragile whimper. "Just like that, in and out...good girl..."He moaned. "I'd prepare you first, really wet and slippery so i can enter it easily...you know how tight it is." He sniffed in a smirk as he heard her across the line. "Feels good, doesn't it?" He bit his lower lip, almost making it bleed by how much pressure he applied to it, his hand movemented itself faster and faster. "It would feel even better when I'd fuck you. I'd fuck you so hard. So hard that you'd have to cover your mouth wih a pillow so you wouldn't scream." He groaned.

Sweat dropped from their faces. He could listen to her begging across the line. "Oh, so you tease me and now can't handle it...?" He chuckled wickedly. "No, babe, you asked for this. And you're going to have it, like the little whore you are. My little whore." He commanded as Alice kept moaning across the phone, her hands were completely wet by now, both of them were about to loose it. "Shhh...lower lower..."He ordered, and closed his eyes, throwing his head back as he delightned himself with her voice. "Fuck, Ali...yes...just like that, honey...you're so fucking amazing." He smiled.

He could notice she was close to the edge of her climax now, and he was as well. "I want you to cum very nice for me, okay?" He asked and she nodded, gulped in confirmation. "Do it for me, babe, come on...feels really good, doesn't it? Yeah, it does...be a good girl and cum for me. Just like that, mhm..."He could listen to her muffled cry over the phone, he knew what was happening now. How her eyes rolled back and her head dropped to the wall on her back, letting her legs loose as she released and exhaled heavily. And he couldn't handle it either.

Alice could listen to him groan across the phone, just as him, she could picture it perfectly. The wet hair strands above his face as he painted, the hotel room becoming smaller and hotter by each stroke he gave, and now by the hotshot released between his legs.

END OF SMUT

When they realized it was over, they could still hear each other trying to catch their breaths.

"Fuck...we really did that..."Will realized. Both of them chuckled. "My God, we're almost 40, Ali...and acting like horny teens"

"You know you liked it." She giggled still staring at the ceiling.

"I did." He nodded feeling his cheeks blush with embarrassment. "Even though I'd love some real action right now."

"Hold your horses, honey, we will have as many rounds as you want when you come back." She said softly. "So do not waste time and come back to me."

"Best motivation." They laughed. "How do you feel now? Still stressed?"

"I'll be a bit light headed for a while now." She smirked. "Thanks for the help."

"Always glad to help." He joked. "My schedule is free whenever you need it again." She giggled.

"I really should take a bath and catch some sleep now." She told him. "You should too."

"You're right." He nodded, then looked down at the bed. "Any ideas for a good excuse to tell the maid about the dirty sheets?"

Alice exploded laughing. It was just so delightbingvto be in her presence, even from afar. He wished she could stay in that phone call with him forever.

"Goodnight, Will." She softly whispered to him.

"Goodnight, honey." He replied sweetly, head over heels. "I love you."

▫️

"As I live and breathe, I thought I'd seen the last of you, Jack." Hannibal muttered to his adversery across the glass.

"Dr. Lecter." Jack greeted him with a mocking smile across his face.

How good it felt to see Hannibal finally arrested. It just gave Jack an ecstasy he couldn't describe, almost as good as beatibg the shit out of him in Florence. That was justice.

"You're dressing younger." Hannibal looked at the agent ip and down. "Have you taken up some sport you enjoy with a new partner? Tennis, maybe?" He tiltes his head tp the side with a half teasing smile. "Or perphaps someone bought this for you, changed your style..." he immediatly thought about Alice. And was correct in that assumption.

"You've taken up your sport with an old partner." Jack ignored him.

"I wrote Will a note...warning him you'd come calling"

"Yes, I read your note before my office forwarded it to Will.

"To wet his appetite or yours?" Hannibal tried to get into the agent's mind again. "You've placed him back in the pot, and you're letting him cook."

"We're all in this stew together, Doctor."

"It would be more honest if you ate his brain right out of his skull." Hannibal snapped back.

"And you're nothing if not honest." Jack gave a proper response.

Hannibal walkes a little enougj to stay in front of the agent across the glass. "This
shy boy has already seen Will. He already knows his name. Are you chumming the waters, Jack?"

"It takes one to catch one." Jack smirked.

"It takes two to catch one." Hannibal corrected.

Jack nodded, agreeing with his statement. "Will has never been more effective than he is with you inside his head."

"I agree, but don't think you can persuade me to play along with appeals to my intellectual vanity."

"I don't think I'll persuade you, Doctor. You'll either play, or you won't."

Hannibal stood in silence for a moment, just a few inches away from the glass, sraring into Jack's brown daring eyes.

"Alice used to say that if you wait long enough and work hard on something, you might achieve what you wish." Hannibal recalled the simpler times when his lover used to be an optimistic. Jack remained silent. "You know what I want." He said in a menacing tone. Jack kept still. "How much longer do I have to wait, Jack?"

▫️

"What are you doing?" Alice Mallory chuckled across the room where she stood up on a small bench, trying to paint the beige walls in a different pastel color.

"Nothing." Her boyfriend only smiled. When in her presence he was just so soft, so silly that all his threatning and dangerous attitude dissipated away easily.

"You're staring." She chuckled as she used the brushed to create steady pattern shapes on the wall.

"My apologies. I'll try my best not to." Hannibal joked as Alice shaked her head with a smile.

"You can stare...but I don't understand why yoi stare so much." She underestinated herself as she painted her room when she had just moved into their house. "It's not like tgere's much jn me for you to stare at."

"Foolishness." He responded right away. Alice ignored as he continued to admire her. Not just her beauty, but everything about her, her essence itself. His eyes shimmered with devotion as his heart melt at each second. He simply loved her, and that look...well that was the most loveable look on the planet. No one could ever be stared that way, no one could ever be worshipped the way he did to her. He sinply dedicated his existence to Alice, and that would always be that way. "I'd admire you forever if I could." He muttered softly as she the ink rolled down the walls onto the floor. "I believe only admiring you from afar would be enough for me."

"Just that?" She chuckled at him, not finding sense in what he was saying.

"If I only I can breathe in your presence, darling..."He gave a half painful smile. "That would already be a gift to me."

"That would already be a gift to me." Hannibal Lecter whispered as he closed his eyes and reminisced the sweet memories that kept him alive inside that cage.

Thosw wore the days and nights, the months and years that passed away, slipped through his fingers and painfully curshed his heart the more he distanced himself from her.

And now she was there, so close, but also so far.

"Call for you." A woman who was a staff at the institition he was in announced, setting a phone across the small box to exchange food was. "It's from your attorney."

"Thank you." The doctor replied politely as the woman left and he directed himself towards the phone.

Hannibal didn't expect a call from an attorney, but instead he received a much more intriguing surprise when he picked up the device.

"Hello?" He asked.

A heavy breathing followed by a difficult speaking vouce continued at the other side of the line. "Hello, Dr. Lecter....I wanted to tell you that I am delighted that you have   taken an interest in me." Hannibal already could guess who that was."I don't believe you would tell them who I am, even if you knew...The important thing...is what I am becoming. I knew, you alone would understand this."

Hannibal gave a light smile. That was indeed interesting. "Tell me. What are you becoming?"

The man grunted and groan in a primatory tone as an animal growling to the moon. "The Great...Red Dragon."