A/N: Hello, people!
I don't own Hannibal.
I have no beta.
ENJOY!
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At the end of the first week that Will stayed with Kailani, he ended up being terrified out of his wits when he came downstairs at the barking of one of the dogs, to find Kailani balled up on the floor of her living room, crying her heart out. There was also vomit on the floor and it had gotten matted into her hair but she swore she'd just cried too hard.
He was sure it was morning sickness. It happened at all times of the day and it was past noon.
She'd been watching the TV when one of those animal rescue commercials came on and showed a bunch of abused animals that managed to look at the camera in the right moment. One of the very few things that outright offended her was animal abuse.
Getting a little emotional was fine every now and then, but she was hyperventilating, bawling, had a headache, and was vomiting because she was heaving so hard.
And what did she do?
Instead of changing the channel and saving herself the depressing thoughts that no doubt came with the abused animal pictures, she would rewind the commercial and watch it again and again! He didn't know why she was doing it and when he tried to change the channel for her, she threatened to 'rip his dick off'.
What kind of emotional self-mutilation was she getting herself into that she allowed herself to view such terrible things over and over? She never answered when he asked and he made certain to watch her closely for the rest of the day.
Will, who had been ignoring the calls he'd been getting if they weren't from Jay or Kailani, was shocked into silence to find Beverly at Kailani's door. The moment she saw him, she threw her arms around him and babbled nearly incoherently about how worried she had been.
Turned out, someone had decided to visit him, only to find the house empty of dogs, Will, and basically bowls, toys, and clothes too. Jack Crawford had announced that he was missing and no one had known where he was and Beverly had the smart idea to go and ask Kailani.
"Heard you quit the Academy."
"Yeah, I'm not thrilled with the FBI at the moment. If you still need help, I'll help you, but no more crime scenes and I am going to avoid killers until I'm ready."
"Is this because of Prurnell?"
"Among other things. Kailani and Jay have that worked out. I'm suing the FBI, Kade Prurnell foremost with possible extensions."
Beverly whistled, "That takes some guts. Bet the inspector general isn't going to like that."
"She illegally threatened federal investigators and attorneys into either denying a proper investigation of the murder charges against me and trying to force me to plead guilty through blackmail and subterfuge. She then personally came to see me and tried it herself."
"This is going to be hell."
"She didn't want to do her job and according to Kailani, it's considered malpractice, which is bad. She and Jay have been hunting down witnesses and information since before my trial ended and Jack warned Prurnell that they were planning something with her in mind. As she is an important and respected member of the FBI, this is going to damage their reputation intensely."
"Will there be a public trial?"
"Unless they try to settle, no, and Kailani and Jay have already drawn up terms for it, should they want to avoid the social backlash. But they're steep."
"I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Prurnell gets it."
"Me too!"
Hannibal stared at the empty house. Will was nowhere to be seen. His clothing was gone, his dogs and their possessions were gone, all important things had been gone and he noticed the piano was missing along with a dresser, two chairs, the rug, and several books and paintings from all over the house.
Will Graham was gone and hadn't inhabited his home for days.
He'd quit the academy.
It seemed… that he'd moved on.
He wasn't supposed to move. He was supposed to get out of prison and come to see Hannibal.
Perhaps Alana would know something.
Hannibal headed for Quantico, calling Alana to let her know he was coming. She brought him in as a visitor and together they made their way for Jack's office.
Jack was looking frazzled. "I was wondering when you'd show up. We can't find Will anywhere. He quit, his house is vacant, he changed his cell number, no one knows anything about where he went."
"He can't be far though," said Alana. "He's still suing Prurnell."
Jack snorted, "She isn't thrilled as I'm sure you've guessed."
"She won't be getting help from me," Alana grounched, crossing one leg over the other as she sat. "She tried to accuse me of duplicity, betrayal, and tried to threaten me into removing my complaint about your treatment of Will. I'm certainly not offering her any sympathy. She chose to break the law and I believe Kailani Taikefu once told me that if someone allows themselves to get caught, they deserve everything coming to them."
Hannibal was very familiar with those words. Under his employment, Kailani had said them at least three times.
"I've already met with the inspector general and it was hell. The man wanted to know everything that had happened during Will's trial and Prurnell kept looking to me as if I was going to save her the indignity of her own actions. I didn't. In an effort to help Will and apologize for pushing him too far and for thinking the worst of him especially when he was so sick, I laid her actions out bare and the general was not pleased, but not sympathetic to her either. She's supposed to be a trusted member, you see, and instead she broke the law while visiting under the general's orders. That makes him look bad. She is not allowed the use of FBI attorneys in this."
He also found it interesting that Ms. Prurnell was so adamant about condemning Will to a horrible fate.
Hannibal decided to join in then, "Has anyone contacted Kailani? They are friends, perhaps she knows."
"Beverly went out to do it. She felt talking in person was better, especially since Ms. Taikefu was the last person to see Will."
"Will's fine!"
Speaking of Ms. Katz, she just walked in the door.
"Will has been staying with Kailani Taikefu for the past week or so. The dog bowls and beds are there. The piano was brought over, though he apparently sold some other things to pay rent until he leaves."
They all seemed to breathe a simultaneous sigh of relief. Hannibal felt foolish. Will had been maybe one hundred yards from him, several times all week. Why hadn't he thought to ask his secretary about Will?
"On another note, while I was on my way up here, I got wind of another Copycat murder and I never got to tell you, but Will had reasoned out that there were two Copycats. The Bailiff Copycat and the Real Copycat. Difference being that the bailiff was done to impress Will by replicating the murders he'd been charged for and acquitted of, and the Real Copycat is simply playing a game of some sort. Keeping Will alive until he's of no more use."
Alana immediately looked alarmed, "Does he need protection?"
Ms. Katz shrugged, "It gets even more complicated. The human muralist that had been dug from the center of the working was the man that had begun the whole piece. He wasn't supposed to be a part of it though. Will had made a suggestion and only a small bit of information from Price and Zellar when they were working on the human beehive, gave me an idea. The stitches that had sewn the man into the mural were covering other stitches. Come to find out that his kidneys had been taken and that gives a lot of proof to Will's claims that the Real Copycat is also the Chesapeake Ripper, just wearing a different mask."
Will had been quite the busy little boy while in prison.
Hannibal always reveled in Will's intelligence and quick mind. They were probably his most attractive traits. Then came the rest of him which was just as attractive in Hannibal's mind. It was pleasing to know that he wasn't simply sitting behind bars, lazing around. His mind had stayed sharp.
Jack uttered a curse and stood, "And there's a new body?"
"Yeah," said Ms. Katz, frowning suddenly.
"What now?" asked Jack, as if resigned to some horrible fate.
"Will quit for a reason. He's not coming to crime scenes or catching killers. He said if I needed help, I could come to him, but he never said anything about helping anyone else and I don't blame him. If you end up needing help, I'll go to him, but I wouldn't recommend pissing him off right now. Not when he's got the best lawyer in Maryland on his side and winning."
While Hannibal was interested in why Ms. Katz was the only one Will offered to help, Alana was the one to inquire about it.
The woman shrugged, "We had an agreement that he'd help me and I'd help him, but he eventually told me I didn't need to help him any longer and simply told me to come when I needed his help."
"Then I can count on you should we need him?"
"Yeah."
"Then that's all I can ask for right now. Let's go find the body."
Hannibal and Alana bade them a farewell, departing on their own as well, making small talk.
Hannibal was not the one who killed this most recent victim.
It seemed this other copycat was trying to play a game. He wanted Will's attention and was trying to outshine someone else in order to do so. Hannibal was not one to be beaten and he certainly wasn't going to let some upstart attempt to steal his glory.
"So how is Will?"
Kailani paused in her organizing and alphabetizing of Hannibal's files. So he'd finally found out that Will was no longer at his own house, huh? Well then, time to make him fucking jealous.
"A lot better now that he's out of that hell hole that he should have never been in in the first place."
"And has he been eating?"
So asks the cannibal.
"When I'm around, yeah. Since I can't cook and he doesn't know much besides fish, we order out a lot. I can't speak for when I'm working though."
"And have you advanced your relationship now?"
Hannibal was asking if they were dating. This was precious!
"Nah! While he is a cutie patootie and knows his way around sex very well, he's not my type romantically. I do have feelings for Yvonne still. And Will is not required to marry me or date me simply because I'm having his child. We had sex, we fucked up, we made a child. After this though, no more kids for me."
She placed the last file in order and smiled, pleased with herself. Being orderly was always nice when it came to paperwork.
"If he wants to be a prominent role in the child's life, then by all means. He isn't required to and it's not like I need him to be. I can easily provide for myself and my child without Will and while two parents is better than one usually, it's isn't required. But I don't have to worry about that because he is my friend and does want to have some influence in his child's life, seeing as he never thought he'd have one."
Hannibal was annoyed.
While eternally grateful that neither Will or Kailani felt the need to enter into a romantic relationship with each other, he was still jilted that Will hadn't come to see him or asked about him. He'd talked to Ms. Katz, Alana, and Kailani and her lawyer, but not Hannibal.
Of course the fact that he was ignoring Jack too made no difference.
He was going to ask if she and Will would like to join him for dinner, when the office door opened slowly and a young, familiar man walked in. Both Hannibal and Kailani straightened up and Hannibal's fingers brushed against the seemingly innocently stationed scalpel on his desk, considering using it.
And the boy had a gun but wasn't pointing it at Kailani, he had it aiming straight for Hannibal's head.
"Hello, Dr. Lecter, Ms. Taikefu."
"You're the orderly that was frequently assigned to Will at the hospital," Kailani said, easily pointing out where Hannibal had seen him before.
"Mr. Graham was the most interesting patient I've ever read about."
With a wide gesture of the gun, the boy forced Kailani to step away from the desk and back toward the chairs. He nodded once, foolishly fixing his attention only on Hannibal.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Hannibal asked, intrigued.
"You… offended Will Graham so much he wanted you arrested, dead, and then promised to make you suffer. I think he'll be impressed when I'm finished with you."
Kailani's head snapped up, eyes wide. "You're the Bailiff Copycat."
The boy smiled brightly, "I killed that guard yesterday too. Nice to meet you ma'am." His lisp was really noticeable.
"You wanted to impress Will by mimicking what you thought were his murders," she continued, frowning. "Do you fancy him?"
"I… find him admirable."
"No, you find what you think he did, admirable. Will didn't kill those people, despite what you or the public thinks."
"No, he-"
"He didn't, Mr. Brown. The other Copycat that you've gotten into a war with, is the man you're pointing a gun at."
So Will did tell her about Hannibal and what he'd discovered after all. And she had simply gone about her work as if nothing had changed even though everything was different between them all now? Curious.
"Will's pissed at him because he knew Will was ill and let his sickness get worse, leaving him in pain and terror for no reason other than finding simple enjoyment out of Will's suffering."
That was not why he'd allowed it to go on! Just what did Will tell her?
Mr. Brown twitched, the hand on the gun tightened.
"So really, the man you're planning to kill to make Will happy, is actually the one you admire. What do you plan to do now?"
And for several moment, the young man stood there, the joyous and crazed look in his eyes dimming every minute that passed. He was conflicted obviously, but he never lowered his gun. Instead, he finally stepped even closer and said, "That's alright. I think I can help Mr. Graham. We're birds of prey, he and I and I think he'll be much more accepting of me when I get rid of the person he hates most."
And that hit Hannibal roughly. Will couldn't hate him. He wasn't supposed to hate him.
"And what about me?" asked Kailani.
"I heard you both talking. You don't care about killers and murder. You wouldn't say anything because you don't know much. In fact, I don't think I'll be doing this here. The less you know, the better. And I wouldn't want Mr. Graham to be angry with me over killing his friend."
"Will is my friend too," insisted Hannibal, feeling annoyed and resentful at the hurt that assaulted him at the thought of Will not wanting him or his friendship. Especially when he had finally decided to open his walls to Will.
"He may be your friend, but you aren't his. He doesn't like you and I don't either, come to think of it. So Dr. Lecter, let's take a walk."
With no other choice, Hannibal did as the young man said, leaving the room without so much as a glance in Kailani's direction. Mr. Brown bade her a farewell, following after Hannibal quickly, gun still raised.
Kailani rushed to the desk and began rifling through it, finding nothing in the drawers. She checked the bureau next, finding all sorts of medicines and needles. Not one projectile. She knew jack shit about scalpels but did know she'd have to use it up close and a pregnant woman trying to physically fight off a guy with a gun was not smart.
In the bottom drawer, she found a gun. And it was loaded.
Still in her heels, she rushed to the pain in the ass window and cracked it open, finding that the men were just leaving, with Hannibal doing the driving and Matthew holding the gun to his head from the back seat.
She may not have a license, but that didn't mean she couldn't use a gun.
Taking careful aim, Kailani fired, blowing out the right rear tire. The car skidded to a halt in the middle of the road, another car slamming into it from behind, jostling it forward. There was a screech of tires and the shattering of windows, before Matthew stumbled from the vehicle and without and ounce of regret, Kailani shot him in the chest, downing him instantly.
Hannibal fled the car, playing the victim very well, though his face was a little banged up, probably from slamming against the steering wheel when the car had been hit. He fell to the ground, rolling away from Matthew, who was waving his gun around madly.
By now, people had realized what was going on and screams and shouts filled the street.
Kailani took aim again and fired, blowing a hole right through Matthew's hand and forcing him to drop the gun. With people rushing to the scene of the crash, she took the chance to call Jack Crawford, having finally gotten his number after all the shit happening at the office.
Jack was really getting sick and tired of this.
"So he has an interest in Will and thought that by removing the one Will is certain had set him up, he'd get Will to like him back?"
The doctor and secretary nodded.
"And he admitted to killing the bailiff?"
"And the third copycat. Not the muralist, but the man after him. Apparently he and the other Copycat were warring for Will's affection," explained Hannibal. "I think he has deluded himself into his feelings for Will. They are not genuine. He simply admires the murders and only connects them to Will. If it was someone else, he'd probably change his mind."
"And are you absolutely certain that Will didn't send him after you?" Jack asked, knowing it was necessary.
Ms. Taikefu scoffed, "Will wants nothing to do with him anymore and is even considering going back to Louisiana. He's been with me and has barely talked to anyone but me and Beverly Katz. Alana Bloom called once I think."
God they fucked up royally. Hannibal was being targeted by killers, Will wanted nothing to do with his former life, and everything was just so upset at the moment. One wrong move would rock the boat and tip them all over.
"I may have to contact both of you later, just so you know."
They nodded and he thanked them for their time, taking the gun used on Mr. Brown, with him as he went.
Once alone again, Hannibal turned to Kailani and the woman sighed, knowing what was coming.
"Yes, he's pissed at you and wants nothing to do with you," she half lied.
Hannibal's face took on a decidedly hurt expression and she grinned wryly. "What do you expect? If you want him so much, you're going to be groveling for a long time. I can only keep stalling him for so long. Getting him drunk has lost its appeal. He's takes his alcohol very well and me being the only person around not allowed to drink, is hell on Earth, I tell you."
"But he-"
"He knows about you. I know about you. I don't really care, but I'm not going to help you win him over anymore. You don't let your friends stew in illness, whether you thought their pain was funny or not. I don't care. My revenge against you comes in the form of a 'good luck'. I will not help you, you'll have to work for him if you really want him.
Now, it's time for me to go home... to the sexy brunet who you want but who doesn't want you anymore."
Kailani gave a jaunty wave and sauntered from the office.
Manipulation was her middle name.
She was the fucking QUEEN!
A/N: Another is done.
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CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON. I FOLLOW BACK.