"Would it feel good to kill me now?"

"I don't know. Are you a murderer, Doctor Lecter?"

Hannibal stood silent. Will already knew the answer. He didn't need to confirm it to know. He had walked in his footsteps. He had seen what he did, even if Crawford and Alana couldn't see it yet. He wasn't the crazy one. He was never the crazy one. This whole time he had been Hannibal's plaything. A chill went through Will's body as the realization hit him. He had trusted this man, been to his house, eaten food with him, been his friend, and, maybe, even wanted more from him. But, now, Will could only see the monster standing in front of him wearing a well-tailored person suit. Hannibal took a step toward him with the same grace and calm he always had.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Will."

Will said nothing. He felt his body shaking. He was afraid and confused. He didn't trust his voice. The only thing that kept him in control of the situation was the gun. He readjusted his grip. Hannibal sighed and took another step toward him. Will's eyes kept looking anywhere but at Hannibal. He didn't want to see what was in the monster's eyes.

"Will, you aren't very threatening when you can't look at your target."

At this point, Hannibal was standing in front of Will, the gun pressing lightly against his chest. Will looked at the man in front of him. He was so calm. Nothing about him gave away the fact he had a weapon pointed at him or that he was just accused of being a killer. Hannibal lightly pushed the gun away and took another step closer.

Will's eyes looked desperately for anything that wasn't Hannibal. He wanted so much to ignore the fact the man was so close to him. He wanted to be able to take the gun and shoot him, but he couldn't. Will knew that he would have never been able to. He knew the moment he made the accusation and saw the hurt in Hannibal's eyes. He saw how much Hannibal pitied him for knowing.

Hannibal lightly tilted Will's chin up with his other hand.

"Look at me, Will."

Will tried hard to not make eye contact, but Hannibal had him trapped. It was only natural to look at the face of your killer. But, Hannibal could never hurt Will. He was having too much fun to hurt his pet now. Hannibal's lip twitched into a smirk.

"That's a good boy."

Before Will could put together what Hannibal had said, Hannibal leaned in and lightly kissed Will. It was so light that Will wondered if it was really happening. Hannibal pulled away before he could be certain that it had happened. He wanted it to have happened. Will stood on his tiptoes to kiss the taller man again. Part of him was screaming about how wrong this was. He was trying to capture this man and lock him away. Hannibal's hand snaked around Will's waist and pulled him in closer. He felt a light smile on the other man's lips. Hannibal bit down on Will's lower lip. Will gasped and Hannibal took it as his chance to slide is tongue into his mouth. Will's legs threatened to give out from under him and he wrapped his arms around Hannibal's neck. The screaming voice in his head was silenced and he could only think about his need to get closer. Hannibal lightly massaged Will's tongue with his and rubbed against the roof of his mouth. Will let out a soft moan.

Then, Hannibal broke away. He raised the gun and pointed it at Will.

"You are too easily distracted."

Will felt his heart shatter and he could hear himself screaming in his head once again. He was completely breathless and fell into a panic. Hannibal sighed and touched the side of Will's face.

"I don't want to hurt you, Will."

"You sound like a psychopath," Will's voice cracked. He mentally cursed himself.

He watched as Hannibal's face showed more emotion than he had seen the whole time he knew him. It was a mix of sadness and regret with a small hint of anger. Under all that, there was something hidden.

"I would never hurt you," Hannibal said.

Will believed it for a brief second. He wanted to believe it.

"Will, I want nothing more than to keep you safe."

"So you get me locked away in an asylum!?" Rage began to burn deep inside Will. How dare he pretend to care now! He felt hot tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"To protect you from the truth. I didn't want you to find out. I needed you to understand. I wanted us to be together, Will. I wanted to keep you safe …I want to keep you safe."

"You've done a fantastic job of that... I must say."

Hannibal looked down and appeared to be hurt by what Will said. He shook his head and aimed the gun at Will's head.

"I'm sorry, Will."

Will closed his eyes, and …

BAM!

It took a moment to register that he was still breathing. He opened his eyes and he saw the gun pointed slightly off from him. Hannibal slowly lowered the weapon. For a brief moment, Hannibal lost all sense of his usual calm self and kissed Will one last time. Will could feel all the raw emotion Hannibal felt. All the want and need. He didn't want it to ever stop.

It was over too soon when Hannibal realized what he was doing. He took a step back from Will and sighed. He raised the gun, knowing at this point it was nothing more than an empty threat. Will knew that he wouldn't use it against him.

"I'm truly sorry, Will. I love you."

Hannibal turned and walked out of the room. Will heard the front door open and slam shut. Then, he heard shouts.

"FREEZE! FBI, You're under arrest! Drop the weapon!"

Will ran outside and watched as Jack placed handcuffs on Hannibal's wrists. He felt his entire body crash in on itself. He wanted so desperately for Hannibal to get away, for him to get out and find him again.

Hannibal looked at Will. His face kept its usual calm composure, but Will knew exactly what he was thinking. He watched as they put Hannibal in the back of a truck and locked him away for good.

Jack smiled at Will and walked over. "We got him. It's him, isn't it?"

Will blinked and looked at him. "Yeah. It …It's him."

"You okay?"

"I guess I am."

Will stared at Hannibal through the barred windows. He knew that is how he would get to see Hannibal now. He would be stuck looking at him through barred windows and closed doors. He hoped that he knew how he felt. He wished he could have one more day with Doctor Hannibal Lecter. He wanted one last day in the office to tell him how he felt and what was going to happen. But, he had to learn to move on and forget.

A few months after:

Will sat in his house by the fire. Jack had invited him over for Christmas dinner, but Will felt more comfortable being alone. He still couldn't shake Dr. Lecter from his mind. He dreamt about him and wondered how he was. He stared at the pile of mail on the table. He flipped through, tossing the Christmas cards into the fire. Alana sent him a card asking if he wanted to go out soon. He didn't. Alana, Crawford, the FBI were tainted for him. Even his own house was. He was thinking of moving. He flipped through until he landed on a envelope from the Baltimore Psychiatric Ward for the Criminally Insane. He carefully opened the letter.

My dearest Will,

I hope everything is well. Does Jack still send you into the field? Does he know how close you got to me? I think of you often. I do hope you'll pay me a visit some time. It was a struggle to get this letter past Chilton. Luckily, I have a very polite watchman keeping an eye on me. His name is Barney. You do know how I dislike rudeness. I love you, Will. I believe you're empathy will allow you to see that it's true.

Merry Christmas

Doctor Hannibal Lecter

Will read the letter over and over. He knew that now, Hannibal was holding him, still toying with him. Will took it and tossed it in with the other cards. He fell asleep watching it burn. That night, he didn't dream.