___

Peter Paul Rubens
(1609-1610)
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//long chapter

"IS THIS what you are looking for miss?" A distorted voice spoke in the shadows behind Bree Mallory.

"Who's there?" Alice tried to looked around her, but it was just darkness. Her phone was on her hands as she observed Bree on an illuminated, freezing and colorful small market's aisle, where a strange figure standed behind her, a black one, with large horns and shiny haunting eyes that stared back at Alice.

"Nothing, just someone at the store...see you soon..." Bree's said through the phone, her voice became louder, almost as if she spoke directely into her ear, screaming "Little ladybug"

"Little ladybug"

"Little ladybug"

"Little ladybug"

The monster in human shape, but creepy structure, shifted its' claws above her head, involving it around her neck, creating red holes across her skin.

"BREE!" Alice yelled, trying to run after her, but she couldn't move from where she was. Shw seemed to be glued, stuck to the ground in something resembling to be tar. She could never reach her "BREE! BEHIND YOU!"

The claws stabbed her sister's chest in deep, maroon circles, and Alice could see the monster ripping off her sister's stomach, taking her organs as they fell on a splashing mess on the floor.

All her surroundings turned black, she screamed but no one heard it.

Alice blinked for a second, and when she opened her eyes again, Abigail Hobbs was there, sitting on the floor, playing with some sort of Barbie dolls.

When the girl noticed her, she smiled creepily. "Hi."

"Hi..." Alice tried to reply, still terrified from what she saw before, calming her breath.

"Wanna play?"

"...sure..." She suspected the situation, but just did as she asked and sat down next to her, unable to think right "What are you playing?" Alice asked.

Abigail gained a dark glisten in her eyes, a sinister grin across her pale and delicate face. "Dad's game."

"What is that?"

"I pick up a doll..." She grabbed one of the Barbies that lied on the tar floor. "...and we kill her."

"What-"

"But the game's not ready. We need to wait for the person who's gonna play dad." She explained the 'normal' children's game.

Alice's ears shifted as she listened to someone's steps approaching them, they were slow, but firm steps, splashing the black liquid on the ground as they continued.

"There he is!" Abigail announced, clapping her hands.

Alice tried to looked around but her neck wouldn't allow her. It was frozen. All she could do was feel the presence of someone sitting down, breathing heavily.

"Choose one, Alice." Abigail handled her two identical dolls with brunette hair.

Alice held the dolls in her hand, but something was wrong. The dolls vibrated, she could feel their hearts pulse, almost as if they were real.

"They are identical..." Alice muttered confused.

"No, they are different." Abigail corrected, pointing to each one of them. "This is Cassie Boyle..." She indicated with her finger. "And this is Marissa Schurr." Abigail smiled. "Choose one."

Alice's heart speeded in the same rythm as the dolls'. Her skin gained chills all across her body.

"Choose one or I'll choose." Abigail threatned in a lower and warning tone.

"You didn't do this..." She shaked her head, denying the truth "You couldn't have done this..."

"Okay, so it'll be both of them." She strongly took the dolls from Alice's hands. "Now, we let 'dad' kill them."

Abigail turned to the third person sat next to her, and this time, Alice could finally see who it was.

The curly brown strands and the same fuzzy beard. But the eyes...they were an odd, mystical dark shade. His hands were covered in crimson scarlet blood.

"Will, no." Alice spoke in vain.

He looked into her eyes as he breathed heavily, almost as if he struggled as well to do the task. His hands removed the dolls' heads with rough gestures as he continued to stare back at her.

"Will!" Alice yelled as she could hear unknown girls crying from somewhere she didn't know. He broke one of the plastic dolls' legs, the girls' screams got louder, stabbing her ears. "Will! STOP!!!" Alice begged as the screams drived her insane. "WILL!"

A single tear dropped from his eye, a creepy smile showing his teeth crossed his face, as he mouthed words she couldn't hear, but understand very well "I love you."

The ground beneath her shaked and suddenly disappeared, she felt her body falling, slowly passing through clouds until suddenly collapsing into water, sinking into a dark ocean with nothing else to climb to. Nowhere to escape.

"I think I can catch him." The words echoed in her head.

"I'm going to Stanford."

"She died for some time now. Get over it."

Her body continued to drawn more and more onto that salty ocean made of tears.

"Do you miss the past?"

"Every single day."

The water entered her lungs, Alice slowly choked, tried to seek for air but it was useless. She coffed, compulsed, shaked trying to escape her iminent ending surrounded by the darkness.

"What is your name?"

Her body also bleeded, she could feel it bitterly in her mouth as if some sort of iron melt into her mouth, watching as the water became red.

"Will Graham."

Her eyes became sore, she instinctively closed them, embracing the abyss, letting herself drawn, and welcoming death's cold arms around her.

Maybe this time she could find peace.

"Miss Mallory?" His voice was clearer than the water that surrounded her, popping up suddenly. "Are you Alice Mallory?" A pause between the voice's speech suspended her heartbeat. "I am Dr. Hannibal Lecter."

The blue eyes abruptely opened into the darkness. A light trembled into the shadows, approaching closely, almost blinding her.

"I'm here, I won't let anything bad happen to you."

And, as some sort of call from the unknown, and imponent and prompt command, an impulse made her get up, feeling her body was covered in sweat, her sight blurry, slowly sharpening, as she hyperventilated, the chest moving up and down, up and down, up and down.

"Alice." A voice by her side, the same one from the ocean of blackness, brought her back to reality.

Her vision became normal again, the colors appeared, the light stabilized. She found herself in a fancy, well decorated room, the windows were closed, but small sunshines squeezed and entered between the woodden structure, illuminating the large bed she lied above.

There was a gothic, yet elegant aesthetic that she found awfully familiar.

Alice turned around, still trying to catch her breath, scared by the nightmare, spotting Hannibal Lecter sitting by by her side. His concerned gaze locked with hers, as he placed his hand carefully on her trembling shoulder.

"It's okay...you are safe..." Hannibal calmed her, bringing Alice back to reality slowly. "No one is going to hurt you..."

She tried to speak but couldn't, the air still escaped her lungs too fast. Hannibal approached her, relying her head on his chest, as she slowly regained strentgh and air into her lungs, feeling the warmness of his laege body against her, closing her eyes vulnerable to his touch and the smell of his oil cologne.

"I'm here." He whispered softly, with his narrowed and sodt lips touching her hair. "I'm here, love, you are safe."

Alice could feel her heartbeat become slower by listening to his. Her breath paced and the room stopped to spin. She only focused on him, the only normal and safe part of her life that kept herself together. The anchor that saved Alice from the storm.

"I..." She could finally speak again in a whisper. "I had this horrible dream..."

"And?"

"I saw Bree dying by a horrible creature..." She muttered, her lips trembled against his chest "And Abigail...I saw Abigail and Will...." She shut down with fear. "And they... killed...he...he killed..."She shaked her head stuttering. "...I started to drown..."

She looked up to make sure he was still there. The same shiny hazel eyes, the marked cheekbones and the dark brown to grey hair, always brushed to the same side with some sort of hair gel he always applied meticulously.

"What happened next?" He asked kindly. He didn't know, but just that gesture meant everything to her.

"A light came." Alice lost herself into his eyes, lost into him. "And I woke up."

His hand stroked lightly her cheek. "It was just a nightmare." He reassured her. "You are here now, nothing bad will happen to you." He whispered softly, kissing her head. But this time, Alice didn't panic, she just let him embrace her, admitting she wanted tp be under his caring. "I promise you."

She nodded slowly, letting everything else fade away as he held her in his arms.

"I've prepared pancakes for you." He spoke softly. "Are you hungry?"

Alice giggled. "You know I'm always hungry when it comes to your cooking"

He smiled glad and went to the kitchen, coming back with a silver tray and an expensive decorated dish full of pancakes, by the side, a medium sized glass of orange juice also standed.

"Breakfest in bed for you, madmoiselle." He said with a charmy smirk and exceptional good manners, placing the tray above her lap.

"You spoil me." She joked, flattering herself with his gestures "Careful or I might get used to it."

"I sincerely wish for you to." He said sweetly, letting his feelongs speak louder. "I'd love to do this every morning, if you'd like."

Alice blushed, trrying to deny the fact that she adored what he said, and tried to focus on the pancakes. They were strawberry ones, warm, soft ones, that melt into her mouth at the first bite. "Mhmm." She made some noise in pleasure.

"I'll take that as a good sign." He smiled, adoring whenever she enjoyed his cooking.

"A great sign." She groaned, devouring the food.

He watched her adorably eat until she was over. When she did, he took a deep breath. He hated to ruin her temporary happiness, to make her wake up from their fantasy and face reality again. But maybe, soon enough, all of this would be over and she could live in that provate oasis with him forever.

"Alice...I need to tell you something." He set the tray aside, holding her small hands into his large ones. "It is not...a pleasing, neither a good thing to tell. But you should be noticed about it."

Alice stare sat him curious, allowing the memories to slowly come back. Will, Abigail, Jack and Bree's murderer. The smile on her face disappeared, and Hannibal hated to see it fade so fastly.

"I believe you must remember what happened yesterday."

She looked down, nodding with her head.

"It is about Will." He muttered carefully. She waited anxiously. "...And Abigail Hobbs."

Alice stopped breathing for a moment. "What happened?"

He clenched his diamond shaped jaw, trying to find the best way not to hurt her.

"Hannibal, what happened?" She questioned again.

"Will came back from Missouri." He said finally, making a pause that seemed to last years. "But Abigail didn't return with him."

Alice stared at him for a moment in silence. The idea didn't hit her at first. "What do you mean?"

"He doesn't remember what happened." Hannibal explained, trying not to frighten her. "But the FBI, found..." The doctor sighed, knowing Alice wouldn't handle that very well. "They found a part of Abigail's body in his house."

Shivers went down her spine and a pure discomfort took over her, consuming her completely. Hanninal could feel her hands trembling against his skin. Alice tried to believe that she heard him wrong. "...what...?"

"Will Graham woke up this morning, went to his kitchen, and vomited in the sink..." Hannibal tried to explain as delicately as possible, she could feel the grief in his voice. "But what he vomited wasn't any average food or beverages." He retorted, making a pause before destroying Will Graham's perception in Alice's mind. "It was...Abigail's ear."

It is hard to believe what Alice Mallory felt. She could feel her body rigid, paralyzed. As a spiral of thoughts went down in circles, taking conclusions and creating theories that could bring her some peace in that endless chaos.

A part of a human body. Human flesh consumed by Will Graham, spit into the kitchen sink as if it was nothing. Not just any flesh, but the young and sweet Abigail's flesh. A girl he once swore to protect, that he saved, now, murdered by him. Devoured by him.

"There's evidence that Abigail Hobbs was..." Hannibal made a pause, finding it hard to speak, as Alice's theories confirmed themselves to be true. "...killed."

"You're saying..." She couldn't finish the sentence.

"Abigail is dead."

Her eyes filled with tears. The girl she cared about, that she saw almost as a second chance to protect someone she couldn't, the same girl she took to a football game and prepared cookies for. The humble, fragile and faded Abigail Hobbs.

"No..." The tears ran involuntairly through her cheeks. Alice couldn't control them. "It can't be..." She shaked her head, refusing the truth "...she was just a kid..."

Hannibal once again had to embrace Alice in his arms. He was like a pacifier for a child, who in this case, was Alice. Once in his presence, even sobbing, Alice would slowly clean her tears and be comforted by him, so he could take all the pain away and fill her heart with his love.

"They also found new proof that...." Hannibal tried to tell her. "Abigail helped her father to kill those girls..." Alice trembled terrified remembering her dream through the tears. "And she was the one who killed Nicholas Boyle."

A sound of pure pain was emitted from her like a groan, she cried once again, now in a mix of pain and anger for being fooled by someone she cared so deeply about, someone she trusted.

She looked into Hannibal's eyes and noticed that a crystalline tear ran through his cheek as well. She has never seen him cry, before. Alice knew that he loved Abigail as his own child, she couldn't imagine the pain he must've felt.

She held his face, looking tenderly into his eyes, as he closed them, letting the tear fall and absorving her touch, attempting to be healed by it. His heart was completely shattered by Abigail's loss, but he believed that with Alice by him side, she could mend all his broken pieces back together.

That's why he loved her.

She awakened the good in him. The only parts not consumed by darkness. She was the glue that stuck his porcelain shattered pieces together. Without her, Hannibal Lecter was only shadows and sin, darkness and blood.

But with Alice, life gained a new meaning, new colors and joy. With her, he could endure anything.

'I am so sorry..." She whispered to him, he sotfly kissed one of her hands, holding it against his lips and smelling her candy perfume in an attempt to hold himself to reality. "I know that you cared for her..."

"We both did." He muttered sad. Imagining the great future they could've had together "I..." He swallowed dry. "I never thought about having a child...but with Abigail..." He made a pause. "It felt very close to it...to being a father..."

"Feels like you've lost your own daughter." She empathized with him, almost feeling the void that formed inside his soul.

"Yes." He almost couldn't speak.

Alice was heartbroken to see him that way. Hannibal was usually her anchor, the one who helped her stand up on her feet. But now he barely could speak to her. He was destroyed, vanished by the loss. And that ached in her, caused a pain twice as deep as what she already felt.

She leaned next to his face, watching his tears fell, slow, fragile, as her lips touched his skin, warming it, just where the water ran through his cheeks. If she could, she'd erase all take all his pain away as her own. Even if it was that was the most bitter taste in the world. She'd kiss any single tear away just so he could smile again. She'd do anything to make him smile again.

"I'm here for you..." She comforted him. "I am so sorry, love." Her voice softned, his whole being became warmer with her words and the touch of her lips "I'm sorry..."

It was bittersweet the emotions he felt. The comfort, the love he felt towards Aluce's gestures and the pain by Anigail's loss. When he looked into his partner's eyes, that deep blue that sunk into his, he knew she was the one. He knew that she would be the one he would dedicate his whole existence to. There was no one else he'd prefer to endure that pain with, to share his happiness with, or to simply be with. Hannibal managed to verbalize in a soft, weak voice of his "Thank you." He spoke truly grateful for her gestures. "Thank you, my darling."

Once both of them could regain strentgh again, she spoke "What about Will?" Even with all that trouble, she couldn't help but care about him. "What happened to him?"

"He was taken to the station under arrest for now." He explained. "The evidence shows he was the..."

"The murderer." She completed his sentence terrified.

"Yes."

"What do you believe in?" Alice craved for his thoughts, she now depended to his opinion.

"I sincerely hope he didn't." He mumbled. "But, realistically speaking..."

"He did it." She sighed.

"He needs help, Alice." Was Hannibal's answer "Will's health is broken."

"I know..." She agreed even feeling scared "But...I still wish all of this would be a misunderstandment." She helplessly confessed. "That Will would be proven innocent, that no one would suffer."

"Me too, love." He carressed her brown strands "Me too."

▫️

"I said: no." Jack Crawford spoke clearly so she could understand.

"Will needs someone to listen to him, and he won't talk to anyone else besides her." Alana Bloom insisted, following him through the clean and grey agency's hallways.

"Will Graham killed someone." Jack retorted. "Abigail Hobbs is dead, Dr.Bloom, and there is the possibility that Will might've killed many more."

"You could see he was breaking." Alana called him out.

"Yes, I could, but I kept pushing him because he was saving lives."

"Not Abigail Hobbs' live." She shaked her head, refusing to let those ideas obscure the truth."The least you could do is let him defend himself. Let him talk to Alice."

"That won't change anything."

"He was accused of killing her sister!" The doctor yelled. "He cares for her, Jack,  Will thinks he killed Abigail and now might've killed the woman-he-loves' sister." Alana explained on his behalf. "Let him talk to Alice. That's all he asks for."

▫️

"No objects or gifts." The agent walked imponent through the hallways as she followed him with her head down. "Keep your distance." Her red shoes made noise as she walked, the other employees stared, curious. They had reached at door at the end. He took a shiny pair of keys from his pocket. "And Miss Mallory..." Jack Crawford glanced at the fragile brunette by his side. "Whatever he says, that won't change what he has done. Remember that."

With those words, Jack opened the door and let her in. Alice followed until a certain area and was escorted by guards until the interrogation room.

It was an empty cubicle with the exception of a table with 2 chairs, artifically half iluminated, almost dark, where one of the walls was made of a pure black glass, allowing the agents to watch what happened without the ones inside noticing.

She sat on her chair, afraid to look on who was in front of her. He dressed in a saturated orange jumper, his eyes, once dead, became more vulnerable by her presence, the breath shaken, in some sort of fear or guilty.

Alice held her hands above the desk, taking a deep breath before staring properly at him, one of her hair strands fell above her eyes, but she didn't fix it.

"...hey." Was all she could say.

"Hey." Will replied, looking at her figure. "How are you?"

"...Honestly? A mess." She answered trying to keep her optimism.

"You were crying through the phone..." he muttered. "Did you...?"

"Jack Crawford had his suspicions."

"And so did you."

A silence took over the small interrogation room.

"I want to be believe in you, Will." She spoke fiercely. "That's why you wanted to talk to me, isn't it? To tell me your truth."

Will stood in silence for a moment. "I'm surprised Jack let you come here...regarding my...romantic overtures"

Alice glanced for a moment at the glass, knowing that the agent listened to them.

"They have a theory about your overtures as well." She confessed. "But I do not believe in it."

Will took a deep breath, he had black circles around his eyes and an exhaused look on his face, it was a sight to break anyone's heart. Whenever Alice stared at him, she could never stop thinking "what did they do to you?"

"They think I.."

"I know you didn't." She interrupted him. "No matter what happened inside your head, or whatever you felt, I know you didn't do it." Alice refused to accept it.

He looked down, clenching his jaw, pressing his eyes. "I'd never hurt Bree." He said in a whisper.

"I know." She reached for his hand at the table, ignoring Jack's orders. Will's skin was freezing. "And we will prove that." She tried to bring him some hope. "I talked with Dr.Bloom, she said that if you do some tests-"

"Alice." He looked into her eyes, interruotung her sentence at once. "I don't know what happened between me and Abigail Hobbs in Missouri." He confirmed her fears "But Bree, Cassie Boyle, Marissa and all the others, I didn't do it." He assured her. "There's someone out there. Someone dangerous."

She parted her lips in surprise "Do you think someone is framing you?"

"I know there is." He spoke confidently. "The real copycat and murderer."

He squeezed Alice's hand and she nodded, meaning that she understood what he meant.

"Does Colin-"

"He doesn't know yet." She read his thoughys. "And when he does, I will explain it to him."

Will sighed. Maybe the idea of the only person who admired him starting to hate him was more terrifying than he thought it would be.

"Alice, you need to be careful." He worried. "Whoever is doing this...they are closer than we imagine. Probably someone we know." She lost her breath for a moment. "I need you to be careful."

"So I need you to do the same." She retorted. "Do the exams, Will. Listen to Alana. Just...let us help you." She whispered softly. "Let me help you."

She caressed his hands and a lound buzz echoed through the room.

Visiting time was over.

▫️

"Fishing baits with DNA of the victims...." Beverly Katz explained. "Some with blood, others with hair strands, cartilage...all matching with Cassie Boyle, Marissa Schurr and Dr.Sutcliffe, even Georgia Madchen."

Jack Crawford was completely horrified with the situation. The more they looked, the more evidence against Will showed up. Now even the fishing baits on his residence pointed to him.

"What else?" He ran his hands through his face, feeling exhausted as never before

"Well this...is definetely the most interesting part of the puzzle." Katz grabbed a plastic bag of evidence, the content showed a device inside, a metallic one. "The password matches, and we were able to turn it on, where Find My Phone finally corresponded to the last location." She explained, putting the phone above the table and turning the screen on. "This is Bree Mallory's phone. It was dound on one of the drawers in Will's desk, the same desk where he let his fishing baits above."

Alana stepped back, trying to believe in what Beverly was saying, Jack Crawford leaned in, to see it with his own eyes. Even the wallpaper had a photo of the Mallory family in it.

"The phone was taken by Bree Mallory's murderer..." Jack recalled. "And, pretending to be the victim, he even texted Alice Mallory, to assure her sister that she was fine and returning home..."

"No...This must be wrong." Alana shaked her head.

"It has his fingerprints on the screen and rest of the hardware as well." Beverly confirmed with sadness.

Jack and Alana exchanged concerned looks towards each other.

"It keeps getting harder to defend him at this point." Jack commented, leaving the room at once.

▫️

"We found it." He entered the interrogation room while speaking.

"What?"

"Your fishing baits." He replied. Will was confused. "They had genetic materials of Cassie, Marissa, Dr.Sutcliffe and Georgia."

Will furrowed his eyebrows, his head spinned. Someone was doing this to him.

"You need to listen to me-"

"No, you listen to me." Jack called him out. "Wanna guess what else we found?" He rest his hands above the desk and leaned foward. "Bree Mallory's phone. In your drawer."

"That's impossible." He gasped.

"But became possible."

"I didn't kill Bree. I didn't kill any of these people." He spoke through his teeth. "I wasn't sick when Bree, Cassie and Marissa were murdered."

"That's not an argument you wanna make now." Jack refused. "Not with me."

Will took his own conclusions, his eyes completely wandering, lost in conflict. "...Because then I'd be a psycopath."

"My biggest fear is that we'll learn that you knew what you were doing all the time." Jack lamented.

"You don't have to be afraid of that, Jack." Will shaked his head, fearing the future. "There's something you should be afraid of, though."

"Yeah? And what's that?" He dared.

"Whoever's doing this to me."

Jack shaked his head, even though Will continued to explain he ignored it. He sighed, and sat on the chair in front of him, Will could feel the next words approaching. "Will Graham, you are under arrest for murder." Jack wasn't happy to give him the news, but continued. "You have the right to remain silent."

▫️

The tea started to get cold above the desk. His eyes were stuck on her figure. She was even more pale than before, the mouth almost black. She didn't want to eat, or drink, or even speak. After being informed about Bree's phone and Will's arrestment, Alice's colors lowly faded, almost making the joyful person she was completely disappear.

Colin was in a graduation school trip for a week, that would be great since he wouldn't be aware of the chaos that happened. On the other hand, she was alone and just couldn't go home. She couldn't enter that apartment without the memories haunting her mind and torturing her.

Even though Bree's ghost wouldn't leave her.

"Wow, Will killed me." The illusion commented finding the situation funny. "Will Graham murdered me, the same guy which used to take us to McDonalds after class. He killed me." Bree laughed loudly, sitting by Alice's side on the couch. "And you loved him. You fell in love with your sister's murderer. Damn." She chuckled. "You kissed him, that's...phew, that's a lot to take in. How did he do it with a straight face? Kill me and have the guts to flirt with you? We should give him an award for his acting, really."

"Stop talking." Alice spoke in a low, weak voice, her neutral expression didn't change.

Hannibal, who was with her in his office, at first didn't understand what she said, neither to who, since they were both silent this whole time.

"He even kept my phone! He texted you just after killing me! How insane!" Bree shouted, lifting her arms dramatically into the air.

"Shut it." Alice growled.

"Alice." Hannibal tried to talk to her, but she was stuck in that trance.

"But you still want to believe that he didn't do it. You want to defend him!" Bree continued.

"SHUT UP!" Alice yelled, tapping her ears and curving her body. "Leave me alone!" She strongly closed tight her eyes. "Go away!"

"Alice." Hannibal tried to wake her up from the episode, holding her shoulders. "Alice, she isn't real." He already knew.

"Let me go...!" She whimpered helpless, covering her ears as she shivered "Please...let me go..."

"She isn't here." He reaffirmed. Trying to take her hands off her ears. "She is not here."

When he tried to take her hands, in an instinct, Alice pushed him away, hugging her legs, protective as he almost fell on the ground.

He widened his eyes surprised, since she has never done something like that before. Of course, it didn't hurt him physically, but how much he hated to be pushed away from her...To not be able to protect her....He felt...weak.

When he tried to talk to her again, someone knocked at the door. Hannibal, unwillingly, got up and picked it up.

It was Jack Crawford and Alana Bloom. Both with worried paper faces.

"Will Graham escaped." Jack announced entering the office.

Both the guests immediatly stopped when they saw Alice breakedown at the couch.

"She..." Alana tried to speak.

"She knows about the evidence and what Will may have done." Hannibal told them, completely destroyed inside to see her that way.

"Oh my God..." Alana felt bad for her, she almost tried to talk to her when Hannibal stopped, grabbing her wrist.

"She needs some time alone. She won't speak to anyone." He wanted to be the only one Alice seeked help to. Alana didn't protest and stood where she was, he let her wrist go.

"What about her brother?" Jack asked.

"He doesn't know yet. He's out of the state now."

"That's better." He nodded. "Anyway, Will...He disarmed his guard, threw both the guard and the driver from the vehicle." He informed "We found the ambulance in an alley in Dumfries... These are not the actions of an innocent man. "

"They're the actions of a man who's impaired." Alana defended him. She glanced time to time at Alice, who was still frozen at the same position. "I had Will draw a clock to test for cognitive dysfunction." Alana said, showing the drawing she made Will make at the station, ot was distorted, with numbers scattered across the paper and squeezed within the lines.

The doctor observed it with attention."That is extreme." He then opened a drawer of his desk and showed another clock at a notebook. "Now this is the clock he drew for me two weeks ago. It's normal." The drawing showed a uniform, complete different clock from Alana's.

"What disease progresses gradually but plateaus for lengths of time?"

"Will has periods of clarity. We've seen him lucid and aware one moment and then the next he's not."

"Could be some form of encephalitis." Alana suggested.

"Autoimmune encephalitis?" Hannibal guessed.

"It's hard to diagnose. There are no tumors, no lesions. It wouldn't even show up on a brain scan unless you were looking for it."

"Look, just tell me if he could kill five people and not be aware of it. "Jack interrupted them. Both Hannibal and Alana stood silent. "This doesn't feel like dementia. This is an intelligent psychopath. Look, this killer called the Hobbs' house, he warned Abigail's father."

" I was with Will that entire time." Hannibal defended him.

"Did he have an opportunity to make a phone call?" Jack asked.

Hannibal stopped talking for a moment, thinking. "Before we went to interview Garret Jacob Hobbs, he was alone in the office while I was outside loading the car with the files, but that was only for a few minutes."

" 'Dumb luck and bad bookkeeping.' That's how Will said he caught Hobbs." Jack recalled. "Now how would you say he caught him?"

"We were looking through the files and it was as if Will plucked his name out of a hat, based on little more than an incomplete address."

The three of them became suspicious about the situation.

"Let me play the devil here for a moment, doctor. "Jack continued. "This clock test, could Will fake something like this? Would he be able to do that?"

This time, not even Alana Bloom could deny it. " Yes."

▫️

Alice Mallory was at Hannibal's house while the doctor was still in his office, at his commercial address, as if he was already waiting for a guest: Will Graham.

He showed up in the second floor, curled up, watching his surroundings as his breath shaked, like a small wild animal. But Hannibal wasn't surprised. He knew he would come to him, it was just a matter of time.

"Hello, Will." He greeted him, while analyzing some papers on his desk. "How are you feeling?"

"Selfaware." He told him.

"You frightened Alana Bloom."

"She's confused about who I am... Which I can relate to." Will made a pause thinking. "Are you confused about who I am?"

"I'm not confused. I'm skeptical." Hannibal replied. "Meaning I'm willing to change my mind should the evidence change."

"Do you believe I killed Abigail?" Will questioned, watching him from the second floor.

"I believe it's entirely possible, if not nearly indisputable, based on how you discovered her ear."

Will shaked his head. "If it was just Abigail, I would have believed. I would have believed that I got so far inside Hobbs' head I couldn't get out. But it wasn't just Abigail." He refused, facing the dark walls "I know who I am."

"No. All sense of who you are has been distorted by your illness." Hannibal tried to change his mind. "You know who you are in this moment. That's not always the case, Will."

"I didn't kill any of 'em." Will rejected his idea. "I didn't kill Bree." He clarified. "And somebody is making sure that no one believes me." He sighed. "Not even Alice."

Hannibal looked down for a moment, setting his pen aside. "She is...conflicted at the moment." He spoke delicately. "If we're to prove you didn't commit these murders, perhaps we should consider how you could have. And then disprove that." Hannibal explained." If you are this killer, that identity runs through these events like a thread through pearls."

Will came downstaris, and just as a normal session, they sat on their usual seats and started to analyze the facts.

"Bree Mallory would have been your first victim, since it happened months before Cassie Boyle." Hannibal explained. "When you got the case, you immediatly thought it was Hobbs' copycat, why?"

"The cruelty." He answered. "The lack of attention, he was careless with her. He wanted to get rid of her." He shaked his head. "I felt him at that murder."

"What if you felt yourself?"

"I'd never do this to Bree."

"Even if that meant gaining Alice back?"

"I was the one who pushed Alice away. Why would I bring her back?"

"Because you've missed her." Hannibal made a point. "You admitted yourself that you never stopped loving or thinking about her through all these years. Facing Bree Mallory again, you saw opportinity to find Alice and maybe win her back."

"By killing her sister?" He almost laughed at that insanity.

"By getting rid of an obstacle." Hannibal said. "With Bree Mallory alive, she would've never allowed you to get close to Alice again. With her gone, you had the chance and opportunity to do it."

Will stayed in silence. He didn't want to believe in his theory.

"Cassie Boyle would have been your second victim." Hannibal moved onto the next. "You said her crime scene was practically gift-wrapped."

"It told me everything I needed to know to catch Garret Jacob Hobbs."

"You had seen one of Hobbs' victims. You knew how he killed. You may have been exploring how he killed to better understand who he was."

"I wasn't in Minnesota when Cassie Boyle was murdered."

"She disappeared on a Saturday. She was found on a Monday. You would've had the weekend to do your work."

Will refused again. "I know I didn't kill her."

"How do you know?" Hannibal twisted his mind. "What did you think when you first met Marissa Schuur? How much like Abigail she was? Same height, same weight, same hair color, same age. So much like his daughter." Hannibal made Will think "You may have wondered why Garret Jacob Hobbs didn't kill her himself." he quickly moved onto the next. "Dr. Sutcliffe wasn't killed how Garret Jacob Hobbs killed. He was murdered how you imagined yourself murdering a woman only days before. How Georgia Madchen killed."

"She dreamt she saw me killing Sutcliffe. But she couldn't see my face." Will replied.

"And then she was murdered." Hannibal concluded. "You catch these killers by getting into their heads, but you also allow them into your own." Will turned to him serious, as Hannibal showed his 'empathy' towards him. "I'm trying to help you, Will."

"Then take me to Minnesota." That was his last wish. " I want to see where Abigail died."

▫️

Hannibal didn't come home yet. Alice couldn't sleep. She was awaken from the trance but still could hear voices inside her head. Bree's ghost followed her wherever she'd go. She couldn't escape.

She standed at the door, sitting on the cold floor with her legs intertwined, waiting for him to appear, as a child who seeked someone to protect her. But he didn't show up.

Not until someone knocked on the door.

Alice opened, even though knowing that it could never be him knocking at his own house's door.

"Miss Mallory?" Jack surprised himself to see her, trying to watch over her shoulder inside the residence. "Is Dr.Lecter home?"

"No, he...didn't come home last night." She said, analyzing the concerned aspect of the agent's face "He doesn't pick up his phone either. Did something happen to him?" She was about to panic.

"We talked with his therapist, he also skipped his session without any notice."

"That's unlike him...he would consider it rude." Alice added.

"Exactly what she said." Jack nodded, confirming his suspicions. "Did Will Graham get in touch with you in the last 24 hours?"

"No...wait, didn't he get arrested?" She furrowed her eyebrowsm

"He escaped." Jack informed her, she definetely didn't hear his previous conversation with Hannibal. "I'm on my way to Minnesota, I believe that Will Graham has taken Hannibal Lecter there."

"Hannibal's still trying to help him..." She realized, completely admired by that man.

"Will is unstable. He might kill Hannibal and not even notice."

"Then take me with you." Alice spoke determined. "Let me talk to Will, he's going to listen to me. If you go alone he'll be scared."

"I will not take a citizen to a dangerous area, specially someone related to one of the victims." Jack retorted grumpy.

"Agent Crawford!" Alice yelled, pointing to his chest. She stared into his eyes determined, gaining courage to say wgat she felt "I don't like you for what you've done to Will, and you obviously don't like me for interrupting your work or getting on your way." She explained speaking through her teeth. "But if Will Graham looses control at Minnesota and kills Hannibal, you'll not only have his blood in your hands..." She looked dangerously at the FBI ageny. "You'll have to deal with me. And you don't want that."

"Is that a threat, miss Mallory?" Jack lifted one of his eyebrows at the small girl, but also courageous one.

"It's a warning." She hissed. "Will Graham needs protection, and whatever happens today at Minnesota, I will protect him." She explained. "No matter what he might do out of himself."

"Even killing Dr.Lecter?"

They exchanged intense glances for a second that sparkled with fire.

"Even that."

▫️

Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter had arrived at the Hobbs' residence in Minnesota.

The memories were slowly flowing back in Will's head as he tried to stick the pieces of that puzzle back together.

"You'll be my mom" Abigail said once. "You'll be my dad." She turned to Will. "And you'll be the man on the phone." She stopped at Hannibal Lecter.

As they entered the kitchen, Will started his suspicions against his partner, they faced the place where Abigail was murdered. The carpet was still stained with a horrendous, large blood mark, just as when she almost died at her father's attack.

"It's as if Abigail was supposed to die in this kitchen. " Hannibal reflected.

"Her throat was cut." Will analyzed the scene. "She lost great gouts of blood. There's an unmistakable arterial spray."

"They haven't found her body." Hannibal informed him, his figure was only lightned by the moonlight into the night sky outside.

"Just the one piece."

"If you were in Garret Jacob Hobbs' frame of mind when you killed her, they may never find her."

"Cause I honored every part of her?"

"Perhaps you didn't come here looking for a killer." Hannibal tried to get into his mind. "Perhaps you came here to find yourself." Will noticed his strange attitude. "You killed a man in this very room."

"I stared at Hobbs... and the space opposite me assumed the shape of a man filled with dark and swarming flies. Then I scattered them."

"At a time when other men fear their isolation, yours has become understandable to you." Hannibal walked gracefully until the other side of the room, next to Will's ear. "You are alone because you are unique."

"I'm as alone as you are." Will whispered, able to see everything clearer now.

"If you followed the urges you kept down for so long, cultivated them as the inspirations they are, you would have become someone other than yourself."

Will closed his eyes, affirming the worss to himself. "I know who I am." He took a deep breath."i'm not so sure I know who you are anymore." He turned to Hannibal. "But I am certain... one of us killed Abigail."

"Whoever that was killed the others." Hannibal suggested.

"Even Bree Mallory." Will added, slowly lifting his gun into the air and pointing it to the doctor.

"Are you a killer, Will?" Hannibal calnly asked. "You. Right now. This man standing in front of me. Is this who you really are?" He whispered as a snake. "Is the man who Alice believes you are?"

"I am who I've always been." He assured him fiercely. "The scales have just fallen from my eyes. I can see you now."

"What do you see?" Hannibal didn't fear him at all.

"You called here that morning." Will explained. "Abigail knew. And you kept her secrets...until what? Until she found out some of yours?"

"You said it felt good to kill Garret Jacob Hobbs. Would it feel good to kill me now?"

"Oh, Garret Jacob Hobbs was a murderer." Will looked at him hiding the killing rage inside his soul. "Are you a murderer, Dr. Lecter?" He questioned. "Did Bree Mallory see you as a murderer? That's why you killed her?" His voice trembled as he could see the whole picture now.

"What reason would I have?" He said. "I didn't even know Bree Mallory."

"You, you have no traceable motive... Which is why you were so hard to see." Will continued. "You were just... curious what I would do." He concluded "Someone like me. Someone who thinks how I think." He clenched his jaw. "How could you lie to Alice this way?" Hannibal didn't reply, Will was frustrated. "You killed her sister. And Alice...She loves you." You could feel the pain as he spoke. "And after knowing how she felt, you framed me. You made her see me as a monster." He gave a bitter smile.

At this moment, Jack Crawford and Alice Mallory entered cautiously the dark haunted house, without making any sound. Jack had a gun in his hands, as Alice followed him behind, hearing Will's voice through the madness.

"You got rid of me...I was an obstacle between you and her...but you also watched me...watched how I would deal with all of this.... Killed 2 birds in 1 stone." Will saw through the obscure lines. "Wind him up... and watch him go." He paused, still holding fiercely the cold metal gun in his hands through the dark room of revelations. "And appearently, Dr. Lecter..." Both Jack and Alice stepped into the kichen, spotting Will aiming at the doctor."...this is how I go."

"Will." Jack pronounced his name first. Making the agent hesit to shoot. "Easy."

Will breathed fastly, sharply, as he held the gun as if he held onto his life. Alice on the other hand, had her heart beating so fast that she almost couldn't handle the pressure, watching two people she cared almost ending their lives.

"Will, please." Alice spoke through the shadows, his posture almost softned but he was too tense for that.

Hannibal just then noticed her presence, his breath became heavier as he realized she was putting herself in danger. Even though he also glad that she was there, still trying to protect him.

Will noticed when the doctor glanced at his lover, the way he looked at her....Will was disgusted at him, completely horridied by Hannibal's cruelty, how he managed to fool Alice into loving him, he couldn't forgive him for doing that.

"Will put the gun down." Alice begged him, watching ss her friend's hostile body trembled. "This isn't you."

"No, Ali." He shaked his head, soeaking through his teeth. "The only one who's not what it seems it's him." He pointed the gun to Lecter. "It's him."

Will prepared the trigger, his fingers tickling on the cold metal for him to pull it and end it all. Jack had his gun in the air, believing that his agent would give up soon.

But Alice knew that look in his eyes. She knew what that meant. The way he thought himself as a pacifier, bringer of justice. The same look when he attacked her father in order to bring peace.

Hanninal continued standing still, not moving, saying or doing anything, not even trying to save himself, almost as if he accepted his fate.

She was cornered.

Alice realized she had one choice to do just like in the past.

Protect Will, or, this time, Hannibal.

And she didn't have much time left.

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"BAM!"

Will Graham fell on the floor, hitting his body against the kitchen counters and slowly slipped into a corner, a pool of blood grew beneath him, in a dark and scarlet liquid that brought more gore into that night.

The gun's bullet sound echoed through the cold, silent air. The impact of the trigger still vibrated in her hands, as she felt her heart stop for a single minute. The gaze locked with her friend's miserable one.

The cold metal of the gun she took from Jack's hands burned her skin, reminding her of what she did.

Agent Crawford took his gun from the woman and quickly approached Will, kicking away his weapon from him, avoiding any possible attack or danger.

Hannibal Lecter didn't think twice on his next step, he pulled Alice into his arms, assuring himself that she was safe, and, inside, he was fascinated, mesmerized by her perfomance. He couldn't help but feel now a deeper bond between them, a connectuon by how she chose to save him rather than saving her old friend. Alice trembled in her arms, his lips softly touched her head, as he closed her eyes and absorved her presence, calming his heartbeat. He subtly looked at Will, sho still stared back at them.

"See?" Will shivered as he bleeded, the body covered in seeat and blood, the glasses blurred, the curls wet. He mistook the doctor's figure with a dark monster with horns. Wendigo. "You see?"

▫️

"Hey! Will!" She ran after him with a huge smile.

He turned to the shory haired woman surprised, but before he could do anything, she embraced him tight into her arms. Her candy smell spreading all over him in an adorabke gesture.

"Thank you." She spoke softly.

"I got you expelled." He spoke frustrated.

"You helped me." Alice Mallory insisted as they standed at the green area of the campus, his curly soft strands shaking by the wind, the face clean from the recent shaving. "He will never bother us again, and it's because of you."

She looked up into his eyes in a soft, compassionate expression that he could never say "no" to.

"I am sorry." Will Graham still felt guilty.

"Don't say that." She shaked her head. "What matters is that it's over now. And you will continue studying."

"What about you?"

"I'll find my way." She smirked optmistic. "Forensic science never really was the way for me, you know."

Will chuckled, trying to become happier. Tge people passed by, busy with their own lives, but all he could focus about was her. "Maybe you should go for something more...artistic?"

"Sounds like a great plan." She spoke excited, he comforted his arms around her waist, their bodies against each other, warm chests moving with their breathing as they helplessly admired each other oblivious.

"Alice..."He tried to speak, hesiting for a second. "I..." Will took a deep breath. "I think I..."

"Shh." She put a finger above his lips. "I'll be alright. And you will too." She didn't let him finish what he wanted to say, assuming what he would say, but mistaking herself. "Are you up for some hot chocolate?"

He couldn't confess what he felt, but maybe it was better this way.

"Sure." He nodded adorably.

"I wish I could take you to have some hot chocolate now." Her whisper came out softly from her lips as the machines beeped and the white walls suffocated her.

His expression was peaceful for the first time, fallen into a deep sleep she feared that was caused by her. His hand was warm, but this time, when she held it, he didn't hold it back. She was alone.

His curly strands were scattered across the white sheets of the hospital pillow, as she admired each detail of his face, each strand of that messed up beard and the well shaped jawline.

Will Graham was in a temporary coma, she didn't understand correctly the diagnosis, but all she wanted was to looked into his eyes again, apologize for what she did, and forget it all.

But could she?

A part of her brain continued to remind her of the proofs, the theories that pointed her friend to be a cold blooded psycopath, a killer. But whenever she looked at the past, when none of that shit mattered, she couldn't believe in what people said.

Alice Mallory continued there, sitting next to his bed, waiting for him to wake up, holding his hand and onto his dear life to achieve peace in her consciousness.

At the hallway, in front of the room, Hannibal Lecter and Jack Crawford observed the melancholic scene.

"The right hemisphere of in his brain was inflamed." Hannibal explained to the agent as he observed both the people he cared in pain. "They have placed him in an induced sleep and they are treating him with antiviral and steroid therapies."

"Is he responding?" Jack asked.

"More or less. He's expected to make a substantial recovery."

Jack nodded in agreement of what he said. Then, after a meticulous pause, he asked. "Would you have gone to Minnesota with him if he didn't have a gun on you?"

They could hear the monitors beeping inside. " I would have wanted to." Hanninal replied in a serene tone, but also sad one. "I believe I've failed to satisfy my obligation to Will, more than I care to admit." He faked.

"Well he's not your victim, doctor."

"Nor is he yours."

"You know, in my time I've seen people broken by the world." Jack pondered. "I've seen them broken in all kinds of hideous and off handed ways, but never like this." He assured with pity. "Never like this."

Both of them looked into the room, where Alice gently pulled a strand of Will's hair to the side, caressing his cheek.

"You've got a strong one there." Jack commented, pointing to the woman. "How is she?"

"Devastated by her friend current state." He spoke with sadness. "I wish I could do more."

"Whatever you did to her between the time you've met, I think it was more than enough." Jack told him. "She risked her life out there to save you. Shot Will to save you."

Hannibal nodded with his head. Oh, he was very much aware of that. And he found that attitude not just fierce, but spectacular. That wasn't just protection, that was loyalty. And for someone who has been lonely for so long as Hannibal Lecter, that display of caring and concern made him even more attached, obssessed and madly in love with her.

"Alice is a great person." He commented. "I do appreciate her friendship and what she has done. I just hope I can help her and Will, both of them mean very much to me."

"That's very noble doc." Jack complimented. "But is that really it?" Hannibal turned to him confused. "Miss Mallory's just your friend? Will Graham seemed to have contrary opinions against you when we walked into that kitchen."

"You mean he was jealous." Hannibal suggested, Jack confirmed. "That might be a theory for it...Alice and I..." He spoke delicately. "We developed strong feelings towards each other, yes."

"Yeah, kinda guessed that." Jack winked in a fubny way. "Phew..." He sighed. "Are we ever going to recover from all of this?"

They both stared at Will into the room. Hannibal focused on the woman he adored "None of us will ever be the same."

▫️

"The doctors said that he will wake up soon." She muttered as he handled her a glass of dark wine. "That the bullet didn't hit anything vital or important."

"That is great news." His velvet tone invaded her ears as he sat by her side on his expensive black couch.

"I just..." Alice stared at her own red reflection on the liquid. "I just wish he recovers...from all of this..." She looked into Hannibal's hazel eyes. "Do you think we can find a way to prove Will's innocent?"

They were close, shoulders touching through the half dark living room of his home allowing some indirect intimacy between them. Hannibal looked down, trying to find the best words not to hurt her, even though the damage was done.

"Alice..."

"I'm sorry." She interrupted. "It's just that...it feels still a bit surreal to me." She pursed her lips. "I try to deny the truth, I want to deny the truth."

"It's completely reasonable. You knew him for so long, also had a special attachment towards him..." He spoke calmly. "It is hard to accept."

"If Will was aware when he killed those victims...when he killed Bree..." She spoke terrified. "I can't believe...I mean...how? How can someone just go and kill, and lie and..." She lost her breath for a moment, unaware of the true liar by her side. "Sorry I just...can't get this out of my head."

"It's alright." He caressed her cheek with his fingers. "I'm here whenever you need to talk. You can tell me anything."

She held the hand on her face and gently kissed it. She has never done this before, he was the one who used to, so the gesture caught him by surprise, with butterflies flying through his stomach, and a sponteneous shy smile that grew on his face.

"I wanted to show you something." Hannibal suddenly said, getting up from the sofa and taking his sketchbook on his hands. Alice looked at him confused as he opened in a certain page. "I promised I'd show when it was done, didn't I?'

She landed her eyes on the paper and a smile involuntairily was formed on her face. It wasn't just a simple draw, it was her. Delicate lines forming such a beautiful picture of her profile, and behind such a beautiful landscape, so realistic that almost seemed like a photo.

"Hannibal... this is so..." She chuckled feeling emotional, her eyes bacame watery.

Alice was completely stunned, enchanted, and just that smile made him breathless for a moment. He had to admit how anxious he was for her approval at his work, and now that she gave it, he felt relieved, satisfied.

"Do you like it?" He asked watchung her brautiful expression, no art could ever capture that wonderful smile he admired so much. "I mean, I can change it if you want to, if you don't like the background either."

"Where is this place?" She asked intrigued, withiut taking her sight from the drawing.

"Florence, Italy." He said in a smooth velvet tone. "I'd love to take you there sometime." Alice smiled softly. "But I am being serious, if you don't like it, I can make another one, I mean, you're way more talented than I am but-"

The sweetness spread into his mouth, soft, tender, but also passionate, intense. He was speechless at first, the eyes wide open, the heart speeding so fast that he thought he'd die. He never felt so happy to be interrupted, didn't think of it as something rude, yet a pleasure. There was somthing delicate by the way she pulled him against her, by how his lips fit perfectly into hers as if they were made for each other.

Nothing else could compare to that crescent, exploding feeling inside his chest. To finally have her in his arms, to close his eyes and sink into that sensation, completely breathless.

Sparkles circled around them and his face was completely red when they aparted. Alice chuckled embarrassed but also brave as never before. "It's perfect." She whispered breathless. "You are perfect."

He smiled sweetly as he pulled her gently towards him again, already missing her touch, and she didn't pull away, just let herself immerse into that feeling, to that joy inside her heart and the way all her problems vanished away when kissing him.

Hannibal stopped for a brief moment, still holding her face close to his, just so he could observe her that way, to record that moment into his memory and attempt to believe that she was real, that they've come this far. That in that moment he knew exactly what he felt for once and for all.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this..." He whispered to her, his eyes glued into hers. "I expected to create something more...special, maybe take you to have a nice dinner." She giggled. "But this...this is much better." He confessed.

"Not bad for a second kiss, huh?" She smiled.

"Second?" He asked confused.

"Yes, our second kiss." She had a devilish smirk in her lips that made him tremble with desire.

Hannibal tried to connect the dots, Alice laughed. "You mean..."

"Do you want me to show you what happened that night?" She whispered at his ear making him loose his breath.

"I'd love that." He mumbled surrended.

Alice leaned foward and closed the gap between them again, as Hannibal embraced his arms around her, feeling her smile against his lips, his heart completely melt, as they both chortled over the act. That was it, he realized, that was what he missed in his life, that completed his existence, that happiness that everyone seeks for, that die for. With Alice Mallory he was complete again, as if she healed all his scars and covered his life into a sugary cover that just stuck. And lord, how much he loved that sugar.

And, as if it was just like magic, he could remember it slowly, the feeling of delicate snowdrops above their faces as a sudden warmness took over the cold bridge where two drunk people stood once after an opera. Where a gentleman opened up his lungs and his heart to speak about how inconvenient it was to have her by his side, but how much he wanted to keep her.

Alice looked at him, realizing his expression had changed to a rather shy and embarrassed one. "Do you-"

"I do." He wanted to bury his face inro the ground. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be" She chuckled finding his expression adorable. "You know, I loved that. To see you without any sort of layer or mask to hide what you feel." She confessed. "To see only you and what you felt."

Hannibal didn't know what to say. Completely honest. That's what she wanted. For him to just be himself around her. Could he do that? No, if she knew the truth...he could lose her forever, and that thought sincerely scared him. "You...did?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then I take back my apology." He joked and she smiled. "Alice." She looked at him in such a lovely way that almost broke him apart. "I...feel something about you. About...us." he tried to be honest. "I never felt this before but...I like it." For the first time he seemed out of words. "I like this. I like your company, your talks, your crazy impulses and your formidable yet questionable intelligence." Alice couldn't help but laugh. "I cherish you." He admitted. "And..I..I understand if you don't feel the same way-"

"...I like you too." She almost read his thoughts. He stared at her amused, yet glad. "I feel the same way." She suddenly said in an impulse, widening her eyes realizing what she said. "I'm sorry I...it's just..." she giggled. "You seem like the only thing that just feels...right. And that is great...what we have is so, so great...I just...." She stuttered nervous. "You mean so much to me that I'm really scared that if I say it out loud I might lose you too."

"You won't." He carressed her cheek softly. "I promise you, darling" He whispered softly, tasting her lips for a brief moment. "You will never lose me"

"Then swear." She lifted her pinky toe in the air. He smiled charmingly at her gesture.

"Are you serious?" He mocked.

"Come on." She insisted adorably, how could he say 'no' to her? Hannibal rolled his eyes and intertwined his finger with hers, creating a pinky promise.

"I promise, Alice, you will never lose me." He looked intensely into her blue hipnotizing eyes. "And you?"

"I promise too." She smiled as he leaned foward, comepletely immersed into the sugar coated lies and softness of the moment

TW/ SMUT - skip until the next warning if your don't feel comfortable or if you're underage!

Once again their lips met, but now hungry, insatiably endlessly, as both of the of them explored each other's bodies. The grasp she had onto him became tighter, as she pulled her more against his body, as she finally let a moan escape from her delicious yet delicate lips.

His hands finally met the zipper on the back of her dress, her breath sharpened as the metal slowly lowered down, until reaching the bottom end. Hannibal traced a straight line on her skin, as he savored it, kissing her collarbone.

He stopped kissing ber for a moment, watching as she closed her eyes and slowly moved above his lap, a malicious smile printed on his lips over the sensation that took over them both.

"Shall we move this to somewhere more..." His hands massaged slowly her back, as he lowered them slowly, becoming more and more vulgarly. Alice shifted with his touch. "...appropriate?"

"Mhmm." She muttered in response, as he slowly lifted her up when he standed, with her legs still wrapped around his waist. She gasped for a second."oh my God, we're gonna fall-" she chuckled holding tight to him. She kissed his nose and he smiled sweetly in response. "You're strong" Alice said adorably and he melted again.

Alice has never been to Hannibal's room before, the aspect was similar to the rest of the house, elegant, organized and neat, but she couldn't pay much attention to it though, no, at that moment, Hannibal wanted her attention to be focused on him and only him. After all, he has waited for that moment for so long and now it was finally happening.

He landed her on the bed like a princess, taking off her shoes cinderella style, stroking lightly her legs with his hands until his hands had reached her thighs, sliding until the center between her legs.

A lusty sound came out of her mouth in reaction over his intimate touch. She tried not to show how she felt, but the way the moved, the way he caressed and seduced her into succumbing to him was too tempting, impossible to resist. Another moan, he knew exactly what was doing, finding the exact spot with his fingers as he rubbed in motion with the expressions on her face that turned him on even more. Removed the fabric between their contact, fastly.

He removed her dress cautiously, taking his sweet time as the fabric slided through her body and fell on the floor. Alice could feel now the soft silk sheets against her skin, he stopped to admire her for a moment, her body completely exposed in front of his eyes as some sort of renaissance painting. "You are so beautiful." He muttered as he lowered himself above her, his kisses running down her body, once again intimate, dangerous. "So, so, beautiful..."

She clenched her teeth as he reached her core, his tongue circling through her walls, as she pressed her eyes, closing them strongly.

Wet noises in a heated room, as he adored to watch her face twitch, agonize, but also frown over the pleasure. That just excited him even more, there was something about her voice groaning over his touch that just made him even more hungry, addicted, obssessed.

Tried to be gentle, moved back to her face and cupped it softly, looking into her bright eyes...the cheeks were flushed, the breath shaken, as her body trembled snd curved asking for more.

Kissed her softly, as he lead her hands to the buttons of his shirt, teaching her how to remove them, it was impressive how outgoing she could be most of the time but so shy right now. Shirt out of the way,  she slided his hand through his chest while kissing him again, tongues intertwined as he breathed heavily once her hands lowered even more down, reaching for the button that kept his pants on. Her eyes met his through the fire, almost as she asked for permission to remove his pants, as he allowed her, finally taking off the button and removing any sort of fabric on their way.

For Hannibal Lecter, sex wasn't just fucking, screaming or pleasure. It was a connection within bodies, within souls.

He gently pulled her legs aside, opening them enough to position himself between them, watching her scared eyes tremble in front of him. "I won't hurt you." He tasted her honey savored lips again while assuring her. "I'd never hurt you."

"I know." She smiled and blindly trusting him, her fingers nuzzling his nape where the neck met his hair. Alice was completely high over his love, his touch and his body against her. "Just make me yours..." she mumbled asainst his lips. She just felt something so right when with him, something she never felt before. With her permission, he positioned himself, slowly thrusting himself into her as she gasped by the contact.

Strands of his hair fell above his eyes as he moved his body in synch with hers, a devilish smile as he watched her completely melt, arch her back against his body. He grabbed her chin with a bit of strentgh and directed her face to look at him, he could smell her sweet scent mixed with the heated sweat that dropped from their bodies over the increased temperature.

Her nails scratching his back only caused him more insatiable ardor, moving with friction, moaning in that velvety, low, hoarse voice that drived her insane. It was possible to feel how much he wanted her, by how his speed increased by each thrust against her, an an insatibale animal that wanted to vlaim each spot of her body.

A heated kiss led Hannibal to bite her lower lip, slowly, irresistibly, as she moaned. He licked her lips, tasting the little blood that dripped from them, he didn't want to hurt her, but differently than expected, that just turned her even more on. And how delicious her blood was...it drived him to madness, to the edge of sense in his mind. Tasting her blood was almost as he connected himself completely with her, as if they became one in a cursed, yet miraculous oath between them.

When he finished sucking her blood, he looked deeply into her blue eyes, as he could see her begging for him, completely vulmerable.

One of his strong, vainy hands placed above her neck, slightly but not completely choking her. Alice let out a last, overhelming, trembling scream, as she lifted her head and arched her back, reaching climax, as he, unable to resist to her spectacular figure, completely taken by that spell and display of true beauty to watch her so satisfied, also released at the same time, an explosion of pleasure inside of her, a fresh warmness that consumed them both, a simphony of groans that consumed the entire house.

He tried to catch his breath down, observing as Alice had her head completely sunk into the pillow beneath her head, the hair scattered around her, the face blushing adorably, full of sweat, as he leaned in and kissed her so passionately, slowly, that they wished time could top at that moment.

Of course, he helped her with all the aftercare of their love session. She dressed up one of the shirts he lent her, he put on some pants, but was still shirtless, beneath the sheets by her side, as she lied her head on his chest, circling her fingers through his skin.

END OF SMUT

The quietness that consumed the room was huge, but words weren't necessary to express how they felt, to express the huge euphoria and tenderness after that spicy episode. From that moment on, Hannibal Lecter knew that Alice was his, and that he could never let anyone love her the same way as he did. He needed her, desperatly, obssessively, endlessly.

He played with strands of her half wet hair, his arm beneath her body, now smelling on her some light lavanda soup from the bath they had after the hot sweaty sex. He didn't talk, yet smiled at each other, adorably embarrassed yet amused by each other.

He was a hot mess. The hair all scattered, still shirtless, as she could feel his warm body against hers. She barely could look at him, yet couldn't take her eyes off the view.

Hannibal grinned from how cute she was. Her existence itself made life somehow lighter, softer and exciting. It was better just by embracing her into his arms, warming their bodies united beneath the sheets, as the cold rain poured outside, with storms approaching into heaven above. Alice Mallory fell into his spell, creating this private oasis with the devil himself, vulnerably innocent to his lies and dark schemes to make her his.

"Hey." She whispered softly.

"Hey." He spoke in that hoarse light tone of his still holding her close with caring.

"Thanks for coming into my life." She admitted with a smile, her eyes expressed a billion ways to say how she felt.

"No, Alice." He kissed the tip of her nose as she squinted her eyes and scrunched her face adorably. "Thank you." He said completely drawn into that woman's existence. He softly caressed her cheeks, smilling as a fool.

"...I know this is supposed to be a heartfelt soft and warm moment but...do you still have that ice cream in your fridge?"

He brokedown laughing, the chest moving as she chuckled softly above. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her again, as Alice blushed grinning. "I do. I bought it for you actually." She opened he mouth surprised but excited, giving little taps above her chest. "You're hungry, aren't you?"

"I always am." She chuckled.

"Come on" He smiled always willing to spoil her, helping Alice get up from the bed and walk towards the kitchen through the cold floor. "I'll help you with it." He opened the fridge as she grabbed 2 bowls.

"I know you will." She half smiled, admiring him as he dilligently attended her wishes. Her heart beated nonstop, and she tried to calm it, tried not tp let this rushing and amazing emotion take over her. "You always do..." Even though that was a hard task.  He delivered her the ice cream, and, in a playful, she touched his nose and made it dirty with some of the food, a white stain over her nose like a reeinder

"What?" He watched him chuckle. He touched the tip of his nose, dirty with the dessert. "Oh, you didn't..." He smirked.

"Oops"

"You will have to pay for that, miss Mallory." He flirt back as she couldn't stop laughing.

"You're gonna have to catch me first, Dr.Lecter!" She ran ning through the kitchen.

"Oh, so that is how it's going to be?" He licked his lips as he watched her run. "Farewell, let the chase begin."

It was sweet, terribly sweet and magical, to have both hearts beating in synch and determined to love each other that way.

Whatever would become of them in the future was unsure, but definetely tragically and majestically fascinating.

▫️

Steps echoed in half illuminated hallways, curses creeped in secret, bars contained sinners. Ears shifted between sounds, minds twisted with unclear thoughts, and souls begged for forgiveness.

The steps stopped. The eyes cornered. A smile plastered into a meticulous being dressed elegantly. Lips curved into a straight, trembling line in a mix between fear and pain, there were only the cold metal bars that touched his hands, the only part not covered by the uniform that alldgeded his sanity.

Faces revealed into the shadows, destinies changed within seconds.

"Hello, Will."

"Hello, Dr.Lecter."

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END OF ACT I

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Author's note:

Yess, we got to the end of Season 1! Can't believe it's over already. I hope you guys liked it! Please share with me your thoughts, your critics, what you hated, what you loved, even what was cringe, just please be kind!

You can tell what was your favorite moment, what was the worse, if you love Alice with Hannibal, or if you prefer Will x Alice more. Anything!

Also, what was your favorite painting, I need to know lol. Did you like the art intros in the chapters?

I just want to thank you for the support and for giving this book a chance, I wrote this with much love and effort, I really do appreciate if you enjoyed it.

And, of course, I expect to see you all soon in Season 2, many things are about to happen, mix between fluff, spice and definetely more death.
Thank you, I love you all, and see you soon!♡ byee

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CONTINUES IN ACT II

Chiaroscuro
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