His students wandered from the classroom, their voices blurring into a buzz of s as they gossiped and discussed their plans for the evening. As he was placing the last of his papers into his briefcase; he caught sight of a far too familiar and a most unwanted face. With the last of his students gone, he snapped the locks on his briefcase closed.
"Whatever it is Jack, I want no part of it."
"Eight girls are missing Will."
Will glared at the man heading towards him like a bulldog with a bone to pick. "The FBI has many bright, brilliant agents among its ranks, Jack,"
"None of them are you Will."
Will huffed out a sardonic laugh. "Thank fuck for that."
Jack's perpetual frown deepened. "I serious Will."
"So am I Jack." Will slid his briefcase off his desk. "I am not the only person in this world Jack. I can't solve every case, catch every murder and bad guy; Jack. I am not a god."
"I don't need a god, Will." Jack moved closer to Will, invading his personal space. Will was not unused to this imitation tactic of Jack's. The man had used it time and time again on Will, forcing the once young and easily influenced man to do whatever it was that Jack wanted him to do. "Eight girls are missing Will. Eight families have been torn apart. Eight Fathers, eight mothers; are awaiting answers. Answers that you can give them, Will."
"You are just as capable of providing those answers as I, Jack."
"Will, -"
"No, Jack." Will raised a hand, waving off anything that Jack had to say. There had been a time when Will had loved being out in the field. Down in Louisiana, he had quickly made detective in the New Orleans homicide department. He had closed more cases than any other detective in the past ten years. His closure rate had earned him many enemies, both amongst the criminals and his fellow law enforcement officers. He hadn't cared though. The criminals were of no concern, he could easily handle them. As for his fellow officers, he shrugged their obvious jealously off. He had not joined law enforcement to make friends.
Will's reputation for solving cases eventually found its way to the FBI and Agent Jack Crawford's ears. The Head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit couldn't let such a grand potential for his team to escape him. So, the bastard headed down to New Orleans personally to invite Will into the FBI. He had known just what to say to convince the young detective to move all the way up to Virgina and enter the FBI academy. Two years later, Will Graham was an official FBI agent and firmly under Jack Crawford's thumb.
The first year was a whirlwind of cases. Will barely had a moment to breath. It had been heady and euphoric. In his second year as an agent, the high had begun to wane. By the end of his third year, he hated Jack Crawford. With his fourth year as an agent; Will was an angry, cranky, jaded man. He argued with Jack constantly, refusing to simply roll over for the man.
That's when the sleepwalking began. His nights had long since been filled with blood and death, only worsening with his work for the FBI. Despite found walking down the street in nothing but his underwear and waking to find himself standing on his roof; Will chose to ignore it. He couldn't ignore his loss of time on multiple occasions. As for the hallucinations... Beverly had enough and forced him into going to the doctors – terribly good friend that she was. Turned out that his brain was on fire.
NMDA Receptor or Antibody Encephalitis, the doctors said. He spent more time in the hospital than he had ever wanted to. Beverly and her girlfriend, Alana Bloom, took turns caring for his dogs and keeping Jack out of his hospital room. The doctors wanted Will to refrain from anything too stressing, such as work. Both he and Jack were prone to ignoring Will and his health. However; much to the surprise of everyone, himself included, Will put in a request to be taken out of the field and placed into the FBI academy as a professor. Jack was not happy; he had yelled for over an hour at Will before realizing – being informed by the director – that Will's health put him at serious risk of dying should his brain become under attack again.
Will was free of Jack Crawford a mere two months before the man darkened his classroom doorway. Since then, not a day had passed without Jack bothering him in one way or another.
"Jack, you are the head of the BAU. Surely you can give those families the answers that they seek."
"Will."
"No Jack. You need to do your own fucking job and stop expecting me to do it for you."
Jack's frown turned into a look of utter surprise. "What did you just say?"
Will leaned in close to Jack's ear. "You heard me, Jack. Do. Your. Own. Fucking. Job." With that, Will shoved Jack away from him and headed towards the classroom door and freedom.
"Get back here Will!"
"I'm not your bitch, Jack."
*HANNIBAL LECTER LOVES WILL GRAHAM*
"I want Will Graham to return to active field duty."
Kade Purnell eyed the man that rudely entered her office without warning. The urge to tell him to shove it and get out of her office passed through her with considerable strength. Eventually, she put it aside and settled for professionalism. "Come in, Jack. Please have a seat."
Frowning, Jack did as she bade him. "I want Will Graham back on my team."
"Yes, I heard you the first-time agent. Does he want to return to the field? I have not received any request for such from him."
"He does. Will and I have been discussing his return to the field and my team for some time now. We came to the decision that it would be best if I put in a good word for him."
"Well, I will look into it. If it is deemed that he is healthy enough, I'll see the request approved."