Prologue

By ROSSELLA1

Note: I do not own Hannibal or Peter Pan or any of their characters.

It's nighttime when he lands. He is glad he came. Something is definitely wrong. There are strange things in the streets that move without horses and have lights shining out of them. Fairy magic perhaps? But no; Tink would have told him. She hadn't wanted him to come, though. Something about Wendy not being there. Peter had put it down to jealousy. But maybe the fairies were up to something… Well, he'd soon find out. Wendy would tell him and then he would know.

There's no light shining through the nursery window. This is something else that isn't right. Wendy always has a nightlight lit. The window is open, but there is a netting across the inside. He easily slashes through it, but how odd…

Once inside, Peter glances around, the nursery is different. There is one large bed, as opposed to three. The nightlights are gone. No toys litter the floor. The furniture is unfamiliar. And there is a strange black box where the toy box used to be.

Thoroughly confused, Peter tiptoes over to the bed. What he sees scares him. There's no Wendy. No Jane. Not even a Margaret. Instead, there's a man and a woman, asleep where there should be a Darling. But maybe the woman is a Darling. Peter's horrible at keeping time, after all. Perhaps he's missed more Spring Cleaning's than he thought. Perhaps this is Margaret's daughter. And perhaps she has a daughter of her own. One who will come and help him with the Spring Cleaning. The thought brings a smile to his face and he bends down next to the woman.

"Psst!" She doesn't move. "Psst!" This time he pokes her cheek and she mutters something in her sleep. "Wake up! It's Spring Cleaning time." Finally, the woman turns over and blinks up at him. Peter smiles. "Who are you?"

And the woman screams. Peter stumbles backward in shock and, next to the woman, the man shoots up. "What the- Oh shit! There's a kid!"

"What are you doing in our house?" The woman snaps, tossing aside the covers and rising to her feet.

"I'm calling the bobbies!" The man says, reaching for the phone next to her.

"I-it's Sp-spring Cleaning time!" Peter stutters.

"What the bloody hell are you playing at?" The woman asks. "You can't be here!"

"I'm looking for Wendy. Or Jane. Or Margaret. I've come to take them to Neverland."

"They're on there way." The man says. "Now, young man-"

"I'm not a man!" Peter snaps. "I'm a boy! The greatest boy who ever lived!"

Something about the way he says this seems to make the woman relax. "Well, greatest boy who ever lived, what are you doing in our house?"
"I'm looking for Wendy. Or Jane. Or Margaret." Peter repeats.

This time, something flickers in the woman's eyes. "Margaret?" She whispers. Then turns to the man. "Margaret. Wasn't that the woman who-?"

"I think so." The man grouses. "Margaret hasn't lived here in a long time."

"Well, where is she?" Peter asks impatiently. He's had enough surprises and he wants to take Margaret or her daughter back to Neverland."

"She died. It was-"

But Peter can't hear what either person says after that. She had died. Margaret was dead. And he hadn't been there to fly up with her to Heaven. She must have been scared. And he wasn't there. And these people weren't her family. There were no Darlings here. Perhaps there never would be again. And though he won't say or think these words as a calming technique for quite some time, he is Peter Pan. He is in London. And his whole world has collapsed.

….

Men in uniforms take him away in something called a lorry. It's three days before he's willing to speak. He has seen people die. He's killed quite a few of them himself. But they were pirates. Occasionally a Lost Boy would die, but there were always more of those. But there would never be another Darling. These thoughts turn through his mind during those three days, drowning out the rest of the world. On the fourth day, Peter asks the people who bring him food about Wendy and Jane. At first they have no idea who he is talking about. Then, they come back later with the news that they are also dead. It is a week before he nexts talks. By this time, he does not trust those whom he has come to view as his captors. They only bring him bad news and bad feelings. And they are grown-ups. He gives his name as Will because he does not trust them to know his real name. He does not talk about Neverland. He only tries to find a way to leave. But he is under lock and key and cannot find a way out.

His name is Peter Pan. He is told that Margaret died in 1990 and that this is 1995. He is being held against his will in something called a station.

….

His captors take him to some place where there are other children. They tell him that he can live there until his parents come to get him. He tells them that he lives alone and wants to go home. They don't believe him. They keep him inside for what they refer to as a few months, but feels like forever. It would have been a week, they say, but every time he gets even close to an exit, he tries to escape. He wants to go back to Neverland. Where Tink is. Where the Lost Boys are (there're not as many of them now but enough to divert his attention from the deaths of the Darlings). Where he can lose himself in battles with pirates. Hook is alive, having carved the crocodile open with his hook. What are enemies for, if not to provide distraction and entertainment? But the windows and doors are locked and, with nothing to entertain himself with, Peter focuses only on his memories of his surrogate mothers. As time passes, Peter loses the ability to concentrate on anything else. By the time they let him outside, he lacks the motivation to fly back to Neverland.

His name is Peter Pan. The year is 1995 and he is living in some place called an orphanage.

….

A year later, Peter is still living in the orphanage. He can still fly. He tries it now and then, but the thought of returning to Neverland is still there, but it is only a fleeting fancy now. By the time his grief had worn off Peter had made new friends, new connections. And while he still misses his old life, there is a certain appeal to the new one. There is a magic about the world he now lives in. People can talk with one another from miles away. The black box that was in the Darling's old home is called a telly and it tells stories, just as the Darlings did, only with pictures. The moving boxes are called lorries and cars. And school...it is no longer the dreaded place he thought it was, but a place where he learns things he never knew he never knew.

He has settled into this life when an American couple called the Grahams stop by one day. While Peter is still distrustful of adults, these two seem so kind that he begins to open up to them. After several visits, they announce that they want to adopt him. After the paperwork has been filled out, he goes with them to America.

He still thinks of himself as Peter Pan, but to the world, he is Will Graham. The year is 1996 and he lives in Louisiana, U.S.A.

….

Several years pass. Mrs. Graham left a year or so after the adoption, leaving him with Mr. Graham. Who is a less than stellar father, but still a father. Will does well in school and he's won a full-ride to George Washington University. He decides to go for a career in law enforcement. Since his advent to the world, he has been fascinated in other people and the way they think. This career choice will allow him to use that in a way to help others. And (if he's completely honest himself) it'll give him a way to retain his old identity. He now considers himself Will Graham, but he hasn't forgotten his old life. Chasing serial killers and other criminals isn't so different than fighting pirates.

His name is Will Graham. The year is 2003 and he is on the way to becoming a college student.

….

He becomes a cop. Then a Special Investigator. But these careers lead him uncomfortably close to the abyss. He had pursued this line of work as a way to fight pirates but it is something completely different. Pirates had been straight-forward (or had his child's mind merely perceived them that way?). They stole because they wanted gold or goods. They hurt people either to get what they want, for sport, or for revenge. They were simply evil. In this world, the killers are complex and human and the line between good and evil is blurred. He settles on teaching others about it.

His name is Will Graham. It's the year 2012 and, for the first time since Neverland, he thinks he's doing alright.

….

He's only teaching for a year when Jack Crawford asks him to consult on the Minnesota Shrike case. Will isn't thrilled about being pushed back into the field. But he does it anyway. And it turns out horrible. There was a time when killing wouldn't bother him. But that was a long time ago. He comes out of it with hallucinations and a surrogate daughter.

And a friend. Will initially dislikes Hannibal, but comes to see him as a equal. For the first time, there is someone who seems to understand him completely. Someone he can trust. And Will needs someone he can trust. In the ensuing months, he feels increasingly unstable. He's loosing time and hallucinating. He's losing his sense of reality. But Hannibal is a stabilizing influence.

He's Will Graham. The year is 2013 and, while he's almost certain he's losing his mind, he trusts that Hannibal will keep him anchored.

….

His trust is misplaced. Abigail's dead. Along with countless others. And Hannibal has framed him for the murders. His name is Will Graham. The year is 20134. He's in Baltimore State Asylum. And he feels like the ground has disintegrated beneath him.

….

Eventually he is released. Will decides to put Hannibal away at all costs. At least that's how it begins. But, as time goes on, he feels he's losing himself. Will enjoys pretending to kill. And when Randall Tier attacks him. Will enjoys actually killing him. He tries to hate Hannibal, but he's finding it more and more difficult to do so. And Will feels as if he is losing himself. He tries to be strong, remembering all the people Hannibal has killed. Remembering Beverly. Remembering Abigail. But the lines are blurring. It is getting hard to see where Will ends and Hannibal begins.

Will keeps his word to Jack. He plans Hannibal's arrest and takes all the necessary steps. It should go off without a hitch. But Will can't let that happen. He wants so much to leave with Hannibal. But Will holds onto any sense of self he has left. He stays. But he calls Hannibal first to warn him. And then he goes to the dinner.

Seeing Abigail changes everything. Will still has enough of himself to know what he is feeling is wrong. But a big part of him wants to turn back the clock. To have left earlier with Hannibal. And, as he now knows, Abigail. But it is too late. He watches in horror as Hannibal separates himself from Will, pulling Will into an embrace and stabbing him, before slicing their daughter's throat.

His name is Will Graham. It's 2014 and his world has once again shattered.

….

When he wakes up, Abigail is dead. His other self has fled with someone else. Will's torn between guilt at betraying Hannibal and self-hatred for feeling this way. For letting himself become so immersed in Hannibal that he lost himself and his moral compass. Will yearns for a simpler time. When good was good and bad was bad and Will's actions hurt only himself.

His name is Will Graham. But it was Peter Pan. He couldn't care less what time or year it is. And he's going back to Neverland.