It had been 2 weeks since Will had been arrested. Almost everyone had given up on him by now. Although in hind-sight, perhaps there weren't many people in Will's life who were capable of giving up on him at this stage in his life anyway; most of the people in his life had given up on him a long time ago. Jack Crawford hadn't come to see Will at all - Not socially anyway. Hannibal was staying far away from Will now, as you'd expect.
But there was one person who hadn't given up on him just yet. And that one person was Alana Bloom.
"You've got 5 minutes, maam." The security guard informed Alana as she walked down the prison corridor, murderous faces staring at her almost entrancedly from either side. Of course, she didn't care. She walked right past them all without a second glance. It wasn't them she was here for. She reached the end of the corridor and turned to Will with a half smile. Seeing him made her happy, yes, but...not like this.
"Alana!" Will exclaimed, his voice was croaky, he hadn't needed to use it much here. He wasn't expecting to see Alana for a long time - it had been weeks since their last encounter. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you," She informed him. She sighed slightly, knowing she didn't need further explanation to Will, but felt she owed him it anyway. "I miss you. Everyone does, even Jack, he won't admit it to himself just yet. But he does."
"I think Jack would miss my abilities more than he would actually miss me alone," Will reminded Alana, with a hint of a smile. He could see the worry growing still in her eyes, he must have looked worse than he thought.
"You know that's not true, Will. He considered you a friend." Alana told him. She knew that on some level he had to be right. She wasn't too friendly with Jack Crawford anymore herself, either. Ever since their encounter on the day that Will was arrested, Alana had always been very wary of Jack.
"Yes, he did." Will nodded slightly, looking to the bars of his cage. "In the same way that I considered Hannibal Lecter a friend." His face hardened as he spoke, a darkness holding his voice captive. Much like it had done with his thoughts. He knew he seemed foolish. No one had believed him when he told them the truth of the matter - that Hannibal Lecter was responsible for all of this. Looking back, Will realised that all of the evidence pointed to him from the get-go. But Lecter had been smart. He covered his tracks. How hard did he work to make sure no one would suspect him of killing all of those people?
"Will..." Alana sighed. She didn't quite know how to say what was on her mind. She'd heard his accusations, they all had. Freddie Lounds had even made an article on it. Hannibal's credability had certainly taken a hit from it. But Will surely had to know how far-fetched his ideas sounded, the evidence against Will was outstanding. To think that Hannibal may have been able to force that evidence was unthinkable. Impossible, though entirely possible. "I know you feel like you need someone to blame b-"
"I don't feel like I need anyone to blame, I know who to blame. Alana...He did this." He ran a shaking hand through his hair, before looking at Alana darkly. "D-d-do you think I did this?" He asked her, his voice shaking with emotion. What emotion it shook with was unclear.
"I don't know! I don't know what to think! Jesus, Will, they found her ear in you. They found all of those victims, all... I'm sorry, I can't rule anything out." She informed him, looking sadly across at him. She wanted more than ever to be able to take his hand and hold it, as if to keep him safe from everything that was happening. But given the circumstances, feeling as such felt odd.
Will sighed, the last thing he wanted was for Alana to doubt him. "How are the dogs?" he asked her, changing the subject calmly.
"They're...a lot to handle. But they're doing fine. I'd bring them to see you, but there's a strict "no animals" policy," She stated matter-of-factly. "Although it seems to me that you're kind of surrounded by them anyway," She added in a hushed tone, so that none of the other prisoners could hear it. The last thing she needed was a psychopathic criminal angry at her. Again. Will couldn't help but laugh as Alana joked, and it made her happy that she had somehow managed to crack his exterior. Sometimes he looked so unbearably damaged that it felt nice to see him smile. Even if it was just for a brief moment.
"Your time's up, maam." The security guard called down the corridor to Alana. She looked at Will, her eyes welling with tears. She hadn't wanted her visit to go like this. She had wanted to tell him so much more, but she hadn't seemed to find it in her. Not today. Will seemed to reflect Alana's sadness as he looked at her, taking in her face before she left. He didn't want to forget a detail of it.
"I have to go," Alana stated simply, more to fill a gap of silence and present a sad goodbye than to actually inform him of her need to leave. "I promise I'll be back as soon as I can be." She then turned away from him slowly to leave.
"Alana?" Will called from behind her. She turned to face him with her eyebrows up in question. Will shook his head slightly, shaking the response he had planned out of his head.
"Take good care of them,"
