I don't know where I'm going with this. I wasn't really planning on continuing past chapter four. Sorry.

Chapter Ten

Hannibal pulled away from Dean's gaze and turned towards Will. He seemed to be barely conscious, still tied up against the table, pale and bloody. Hannibal slowly approached the table, almost afraid of Will's reaction. His patient's eyes were closed, but his pulse was present and the tips of his fingers still quivered against the wooden surface. Hannibal cleared his throat and looked over to the three men on the other side of the room.

"Would you be willing to heal my patient?" He asked quietly. Cas looked over to Dean, as if he was waiting for approval. The Winchester seemed reluctant, but he nodded. Hannibal backed away as the angel walked over to the table and peered down at Will. He rested his palm on Will's forehead just as he had done with Sam. Instantly, Will's eyes were open and all wounds were closed back up.

Did the angel heal… everything? Hannibal wondered. When Cas broke the bonds that held Will to the table, Hannibal saw his opportunity. Will slid off the surface and his feet shakily stood on solid ground. Hannibal stepped closer and placed his hands on his patient's shoulders in order to appear to be helping to steady him, while simultaneously leaning into him and inhaling slightly. To Hannibal's dismay, the sweet aroma of encephalitis was gone. Will is no good to me like this, Hannibal realized, he's no longer interesting. I will have to get it back.

Will regained balance but before he could speak, Hannibal stopped him. "Do not say anything," he ordered. "You need rest. I will explain all that I am able to in a little while." He guided Will over to one of the chairs by the window. For a single, antisocial man who lives alone, Will sure had a lot of chairs. Once Will was silently seated, Hannibal walked cautiously over to Cas. He looked back once more to make sure he was out of earshot before leaning in to whisper to the angel.

"You see, Will needs a source of stability. Since he has been seeing me as his psychiatrist, he has begun to recognize both his self and I as that source. If you cure his encephalitis all at once, his mental health will be shaken and he will not feel comfortable in his own skin. I know of ways where I would be able to heal him a little at a time to where he may adapt to the changes and continue on with his life as usual." Hannibal said this with complete honesty. Yes, he knew of ways to reduce the inflammation in Will's brain that was causing the encephalitis. However, he refrained from mentioning that he had no intention to do so.

Cas stood quietly across from him, eyes narrow with his head tilted to one side. When he didn't intervene, Hannibal continued. "So, if you would so kindly just… return the inflammation back to my patient's brain, it would be appreciated. Then I would be able to cure him at a slower and safer pace."

Cas stared back at Hannibal with his icy blue eyes. "How can I trust that you're being honest with me?" The angel asked.

"Because I am still a psychiatrist and I want what is best for my patient. I clearly value his life, or else I would not have put myself in this situation in order to insure his safety," Hannibal replied.

Cas glared at Hannibal for a few more moment. Hannibal did not give in, but instead stepped closer and stared back. He was only a few inches taller than the angel, but every little bit helped. He was well aware of the fact that Cas could easily kill him, but Hannibal knew that he wouldn't. They still need him.

"Fine." Cas sighed at last. He stepped back over to Will and touched his head once more. Hannibal followed closely behind and soon the sweet aroma of mental illness filled his senses. Hannibal smiled.

"Thank you."

"Alright, enough," Dean commanded. "We need a better plan if we're gonna get Crowley to revoke his deal." Dean walked to the center of the room where Hannibal and Cas stood. Sam was following just one step behind.

"The last time we were in a similar situation was when we needed to get Bobby's soul back," Sam said. "And we threatened to burn Crowley's bones. Now we need something else to hold over his head."

This was all nonsense to Hannibal. Selling souls and burning bones was out of his league. The only person in the room that was more confused than him was Will, who sat silently in his chair, squinting at the men while desperately trying to understand. Hannibal didn't mean for all of this to happen. He was a simple man who was just trying to rid the world of some rude men and get a decent meal out of it. How was he supposed to know that his dinner guests were some hunters of paranormal beings? Hannibal exhaled and sat down in the chair next to Will's. He crossed one leg over the other and sat back, hoping that this would all be over soon.

oOo

Dean shifted his weight between his feet as he stood next to his brother and Cas, hoping that an idea would spark in his mind. When nothing came, he just sighed.

"Well until we think of something that Crowley will want in exchange for getting rid the deal, I say we should prepare," Dean suggested.

"Prepare for what? We don't even know what we're planning on doing yet," Sam said.

Dean nodded over towards Dr. Lecter and his patient. "Well whatever we're gonna do, we're gonna need them. We need the doctor to cancel the deal, and we need to keep the crazy guy out of Crowley's hands." Dean heard Dr. Lecter huff at the term 'crazy' but he brushed it off. Will Graham didn't seem to be offended by it. In fact, he didn't show any emotion besides complete confusion. Dean figured he could explain it later.

"So… what're you thinking? Anti-possession tattoos?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. The last thing we need is Crowley or one of his demons to take over their vessels. Cas, can you get the stuff?" Dean turned to the angel, who nodded and was instantly gone from the room. Tattoo parlors take too long and ask too many questions, so Dean preferred to do it himself.

"Excuse me," Dr. Lecter stood up from his chair, frowning at Dean. "Are you suggesting that Will and I get a permanent tattoo?" The doctor clearly wasn't happy with the idea. Dean was prepared to snap back at him since the man clearly didn't understand the risk of not having one when working this kind of job. However, before Dean could speak, Sam calmly interrupted.

"Yes, actually," he said. "Now before you reject it, please try and understand the dangers that could result if a demon possessed your body. It would be a small mark anyway," Sam pulled down the collar of his shirt to show his pentagram symbol. Dr. Lecter immediately grimaced at the design.

"Oh grow up," Dean muttered. 's eyes narrowed at Dean but he didn't say anything.

"Are you ready?"

Dean turned to see that Castiel had returned just as quickly as he had left. He had the handheld tattoo gun already filled with a black ink. Surprisingly, Dr. Lecter stepped forward.

"I suppose so. Will?" Dr. Lecter turned to face his patient.

"Oh… What?"

Dean growled under his breath. The situation was bad enough, he didn't need some mentally insane guy around who wasn't going to listen to directions and pay attention. Dean felt like knocking some sense into Will. He refrained when he saw the doctor slowly walk over and kneel down on one side of the chair that Will was sitting on.

"Will, I shall explain everything to you later, I promise. But right now I'm going to have to ask you to trust me and get this small tattoo. Today I have found that many things exist that I thought were myths. We will be in a dangerous position if you do not get this symbol with me. Do you believe me, Will?" Dr. Lecter was calm and spoke at a soft volume. Probably a better approach than the one Dean was contemplating. Dean had to admit, the doctor may very well be a psychopathic serial killer, but he was a pretty decent psychiatrist.

Will swallowed and small beads of sweat were beginning to form at his hairline. He was quiet for a few moments, but he then nodded shakily. Dr. Lecter smiled and stood up to face Dean once again.

"We are ready."

ooo

Dean sat back and rested the tattoo gun on the bookcase underneath the window. He used a damp towel to wipe away the excess ink from Will's chest and looked back at his work. It wasn't perfect since Dean wasn't necessarily a professional tattoo artist, but it would suffice. He had drawn and painted the symbol enough times to know exactly what it was supposed to look like, and the outcome was pretty close. So what if it's a little crooked, Sam's kinda is too.

Will's face was slightly red and he had been clutching the recliner's cushion the entire time, but he held up well for getting his first tattoo. It clearly did not hurt as badly as what Crowley had been doing to him. , who Will had insisted go first, had done better. Besides tensing up a little when the needle first broke skin, the man was completely motionless. Now he was standing next to the chair, eagerly putting his suit back on to cover up the ink. He's such a child, Dean thought. He doesn't get his way so he goes and pouts. Whatever.

"So… now what?" Sam's question dragged Dean out of his thoughts. Dean just shrugged. In any other situation, he would've summoned Crowley and taken his chances, but maybe Dr. Lecter was right before when he said that negotiation would work better than getting on Crowley's bad side. But Dean wasn't really good with cooperation and acting friendly around demons. He looked over to the others to see if they had any ideas. Of course Will didn't have any, he still didn't understand what the hell was going on so he just sat on the recliner while scratching at the bandages over his new tattoo. Dr. Lecter sat in the opposite chair. Though the man seemed to be calm and emotionless, Dean could tell he was still shaken up from when he was presumably in Hell. Sam looked just as clueless as Dean was. Cas, however, seemed to have some idea of what to do next.

"Crowley has the ability to send an army of demons to this very room if he wants to. We are not completely safe here, so I recommend we move to a destination warded against all demons. Perhaps it would be best to not be detected by him so that he will not appear when we don't expect him,"Castiel suggested.

"So are you thinking the Men-Of-Letter's Bunker?" Dean asked in reply. Cas nodded. Dean looked over to his brother in case he had an objection to the idea, but Sam showed no signs of disapproval. "Okay, I guess we have no reason not to. It could only help to keep us off Crowley's radar." Except that it means I'll have to spend about 21 hours in a car with Dr. Lecter again. And this time he'll have his unstable patient with him, Dean realized. Maybe with Sammy in the car, it won't be so bad.

"I will meet you guys there," Cas stated and without any other warning, disappeared from the room.

"Well," Dean began as he turned towards Dr. Lecter and Will. "Let's go."

Dr. Lecter stood up and straightened his jacket. "Where are we headed?" He asked as he beckoned for Will to stand up as well.

"Kansas," Dean replied simply. This, as predicted, didn't settle well with the two guests.

"You expect me to cancel my appointments for tomorrow and all social plans that I have scheduled so that I can go to Kansas with two men who want me dead?" Dr. Lecter argued.

"A-and I have my dogs to feed, and Jack is going to need me at crime scenes, and-" Will was fumbling for words. He was still unaware of the entire situation. Dean didn't necessarily blame him for not wanting to drop everything and leave for an unknown reason with complete strangers.

"Listen," Sam tried to explain calmly. "You'll be much safer there, I promise. You're going to have to trust me on this one."

Dr. Lecter just huffed. He clearly disapproved of the idea.

"You saw what Crowley is capable of," Dean persuaded. "He can easily appear here and kill your patient within seconds. We have a place in Kansas that is completely demon-proof. He won't be able to reach you there."

The psychiatrist sighed. He reluctantly turned to Will. "Why don't you call Ms. Bloom and ask her to keep an eye on your dogs for a little while?" He asked, unsuccessfully trying to lock eyes with his patient.

Will was starting to shake. The weight of everything that happened to him on this night seemed to be eating away at him. He couldn't understand anything of what was going on. "I-I don't know-" he stuttered.

Dean unconsciously took a step back. Monsters he could handle, but humans were just plain weird. He hoped they would hurry. Every second they wasted was an opportunity for Crowley to appear and take Sam away. He cleared his throat, hoping to rush the conversation.

"Will, I am going to explain everything to you in the car. It is a long car ride so I won't leave any details out. I assure you that leaving is safer than staying here," Dr. Lecter said. Will was quiet for a few moments, looking unsure and scared. "I know this is a lot to ask of you," the doctor continued, "but I promise you will be okay." Will reluctantly nodded his approval.

"Okay good now why don't you hurry and call that girl so we can leave," Dean pushed.

"And Will, you might want to… you know… put some pants on," Sam mentioned quietly. The unstable man nodded and left the room.

Dean walked over to and stuck out his hand expectantly. "My turn to drive," he stated. "Give me my keys now."

The psychiatrist just smiled. "Your impala is still in Baltimore," he said simply.

Dean growled under his breath. They hadn't even started the real job yet and his new ally was already acting like a little bitch.