Hey guys this is my first Hannibal-universe fic and the first fic I've written in about 3 years so please read this with an open mind :)

This story is AU, the events of SotL happened (i.e. Clarice caught Buffalo Bill) however Hannibal had already escaped before Clarice was recruited to the case therefore Hannibal and Clarice have never met. Will and Clarice are dating. I've tried to stick to the timeline of the novels as much as possible but I've decided that the story is taking place is taking place in present day purely for easiness heh heh. Parts of the story are a mix between TV, novel and movie canon. In terms of the characters I myself see Will Graham as Hugh Dancy, Clarice Starling as Jodie Foster and Hannibal Lecter as Anthony Hopkins but I understand that you guys may see differently so I'll try and refrain from physically describing the characters as much as possible.

The title is from the Bastille song 'Bad Blood'

Anywho, enjoy the story :)

Chapter 1

Dr. Hannibal Lecter, under the new alias of Thomas Gibson, sat comfortably in the small café on the corner of the street as he watched her. She was dressed casually in denim jeans and fitted green sweater. She thanked the young, spotty teenager behind the cash register as he handed her her coffee with a small smirk as she turned away and walked out the door. Hannibal waited thirty seconds before exiting the café and following her footsteps. He was not concerned with her recognising him. His usual grey hair had been dyed a dark brown, almost appearing black in the right light. He had also taken the liberty of dying his now grown facial hair, a light but noticeable stubble, despite its subtlety it was still a significant change to his regular clean shaven appearance. As well as this his countenance was shadowed by the grey fedora he had worn on his head.

An added advantage was the fact Clarice Starling had never met him face to face. She was a recently graduated FBI agent, acquiring some fame after catching the infamous Buffalo Bill and saving the Senator's daughter Catherine Martin. She had done so after receiving several 'anonymous' tips from an unidentified source through her mail. While the tips had been some cause for concern for Jack Crawford, head of the BSU and the man who had essentially recruited Clarice to help with the case, they had helped immensely with the case and the suspicious circumstances were more or less forgotten about.

The excitement and buzz over the capture of Buffalo Bill had taken away a considerable amount of attention from Hannibal Lecter, who had escaped Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane just six months previous. He had previously been residing in Jamaica for the time being but had returned to the States just a mere three days ago as he set his plan into motion.

After escaping prison, Lecter had tried to find out everything he could on his captor, Will Graham. And find out everything he did.

"My, my, Will you have been a busy boy," Lecter had remarked as he read over the several documents his informant had given him.

After the events of Francis Dolarhyde, Will's alcoholism was at an all time high. Eventually his wife Molly thought enough was enough and took young Josh and left him, resulting in divorce eight months after Dolarhyde's demise. Two years later, Will began to get his life back together and resumed teaching for the FBI. During such time, he met and secretly began dating Clarice Starling, a young, beautiful and highly gifted FBI trainee. Lecter had scoffed at Will's apparent mid-life crisis. Three years later, the couple still keep their relationship secret from government officials however, as Lecter had discovered, Will recently purchased an engagement ring from a local jeweller.

While Clarice's official address stated that she resided in an apartment with fellow trainee Ardelia Mapp, it was apparent that most of her time was spent in the home of Will Graham.

At first, Lecter could not place why Will focused so heavily on this woman, after all she was a 20-something student with close to no life experience, an empty vessel. He was even more surprised when he heard that Jack Crawford had selected her to assist him in the hunt for Buffalo Bill. It was then he saw her potential. He had seriously underestimated her as some naïve, white trash wannabe agent but as he observed her progress he saw her determination, her perseverance and her quick wit. She was intelligent, she was headstrong and she was resilient. All she needed, as most fledglings do, was a push in the right direction. And Hannibal had been happy to oblige. His motivations were questionable, on the one hand he enjoyed assisting her so to speak and on the other if he were to be found out then he thought it would be entertaining way to mess with Will Graham.

So now as he watched her get into her Mustang, Lecter could feel the excitement ignite within him. Soon he would meet the elusive Clarice Starling. Soon he would finally have his revenge on Will Graham.

–

Clarice arrived home after the Saturday afternoon's errands to find the house smelling delightful. A smile spread across he face and she placed her keys on the table next to the door and hung her spring coat up on the hook on the wall. Classical music filled the house. Vivaldi, she presumed. He was obviously in a good mood which made Clarice happy. Experiencing the life he lived, Clarice realised that it was difficult for him to be happy.

As she made her way through to the kitchen she was overwhelmed with happiness and surprise to find him standing his the kitchen, the sleeves of his maroon sweater rolled up as he chopped and diced vegetables on a cutting board. He never cooked, she did most of the cooking. Whatever the occasion was, she didn't care, because the way he looked at her when she appeared in the door sent her heart soaring. She practically skipped over to him as he placed the knife down on the cutting board and opened his arms to welcome her into his embrace.

"Hello there," she smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He smiled right back at her. "Hi there," he grinned before he leant down to kiss her briefly. "How was your day?"

She shrugged, not moving her arms from his neck as he put his arms around her waist. "Same old, same old. I'm actually much more concerned as to why on earth Will Graham is in the kitchen preparing a meal in what can only be described as a surprising turn of events," she raised her eyebrows at him.

He chuckled and kissed her nose as he reluctantly pulled his arms from her waist and returned to dicing. She made her way over to the fridge and pulled out a wine bottle and poured herself a glass. Leaning against the island counter where Will was preparing dinner, she watched him as she awaited his answer.

"I just thought you deserved it, after all the hell with Buffalo Bill and the escape of," Will cleared his throat as he uncomfortably spoke his name, "Lecter, I thought it'd be nice if for one night I played the role of doting, normal boyfriend with the girlfriend who is way too out of his league, and had a regular Saturday night in with her," he smiled up at her and she smiled right back.

"Well someone alert the Academy," she teased, gesturing her glass into the air before taking a sip. "Dinner and flowers in one day, I sure am one lucky gal," she said as she made her way over to him, standing behind him and kissing his cheek before heading back over to the calendar on the fridge to write in her dinner plans with Ardelia she had arranged next week.

Will thought for a moment and furrowed his brows. "Flowers? What flowers?"

"The azaleas," she absent-mindedly replied, still writing in the calendar. "They really were beautiful, Will, thank you."

Will stopped cutting and walked over to her, leaning with his back against the counter opposite her. "Emm, Clarice, I hate to break it to you but I never sent you any flowers," he retaliated.

Clarice turned to face him and gave him a puzzled look. "But when I went to visit Delia today there was bouquet in my bedroom addressed to me."

"Why would I send flowers to Dee's house when I would give them to you here?" Will crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Well if you didn't send me the flowers then who did?"

–

Hannibal watched the charming scene through the kitchen window from his car across the street. He watched as the charming young woman threw her arms around the disturbed ex-profiler like he was the only thing she had left in her life. Maybe he was. Hannibal knew that she was at least that to Will. That's what would make it all the more fun when Hannibal would take her away from him.

I know not much happens this chapter sorry just thought I'd use it to as a way to introduce the characters and their current places. Future chapters will be more eventful I promise!

Side note: I'm dreadful as proof reading so I apologise for any errors!

Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter, please review and I'll see you guys next chapter :)