Hello there :D here's another chapter! Sorry for the long wait, but exams have no pity for us poor writers :(
I kinda have to concentrate on my studies now so it might take a week or so until next update...but don't worry! I'll never leave a story unfinished, mark my words :D

Then again, I hope you enjoy this chapter and keep on reading till the very end of this story :)
As usual, reviews and critics are much much much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and blablabla

Enjoy :D

Will slammed the door behind him as he escaped from Hannibal's house. What the hell had happened in there? Why had he seen Tristan's face? Dreams were now overcoming reality?

He ran to his car holding the coat under his arm, not even caring about the cold; he rustled in his pockets with quivering hands, both from the agitation and the freezing temperature, looking for the car keys. Almost crying from frustration he emptied their contents on the car's roof, scattering coins, his medicines, slips of papers everywhere. Finally finding them, Will grabbed everything and, as he got in, saw Hannibal just outside the door, coming after him. He quickly started the engine and stomped on the accelerator, tires shrieking against the frozen asphalt, wanting to get away as fast as possible.

As he was driving away he glanced at the review mirror and saw Hannibal standing in the middle of the street, becoming smaller as got farther. His hands were trembling badly while gripping hard on the wheel, knuckles white, still numb from the cold. The skin on his face was burning hot now, cheeks red, his teeth chattering. He hadn't realized the temperature had dropped so much during the evening, as he had been warm and comfortable in the house, in his company.

He was sorry to leave Hannibal that way, him standing in the middle of the street in the freezing cold, looking at him while he was driving away…it made him really felt bad. But he needed to be alone, he needed time to think, to try to figure out what was going on inside of his head, for it really was upsetting him now. He could handle the dreams, those strange dreams he had no idea where they'd come from, but seeing them in his reality, fragments of them overlapping things and people in his life was too much for him. He felt himself crumbling, tripping and falling over the shattering ground, over the reality he tried to hold on with all his might.

A few pained sounds escaped his lips, making him sound like an panicked animal, hurt and trapped, with no way out of his own mind. Will slammed hard his hand against the wheel out of frustration, squeezing his eyes shut, taking out his rage for his own helplessness. Why was he so weak? He was always helping saving people, but why couldn't he manage to help his own self?

When he opened his eyes a second later, his breath stopped. A dark, enormous stag, now brightly illuminated by his car's lights, stood in the middle of the road, his head turned towards him, his shining black eyes staring at him. Will swerved abruptly, avoiding it by a hair's breadth, his heart slamming in his throat, the shrieking of his car's tires deafening him. Stomping now on the brake, trying to stop, the rear started spinning, the tires losing grip on the icy asphalt. Having no control, he kept gripping hard on the wheel as the world spun out of the windshield, stiff, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his teeth as he prepared for the impact.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The car stopped his mad spinning against a tree standing on the side of the road with a loud crash, the force of the impact hitting him violently, throwing him against the dashboard and the door and back to the seat like a broken doll, and in an instant it all was still.

Will blinked rapidly, breathing heavily through his mouth, the ring in his ears getting louder and louder. He turned his head slightly glancing out of the cracked windshield, his sight blurring, the last thing he saw being the stag's shape loomed in the moonlight before it all went dark.

Hannibal had been pacing back and forth in his house since Will had left, restless. What he had told him, those dreams, the feeling of being trapped in a character, he knew very well for he had experienced it himself many many years before, so long ago he had been taken off guard by the sudden mention of it all.

He tapped on the counter with his fingertips, trying to recall his own dreams, the memory of them stocked somewhere in his mind but not lost. He had been having similar dreams when he was younger, dreams of a time long gone, where he wasn't born yet, but vivid in his mind like he had lived through 'em. Kind of ironic that, out of everyone, Will was starting to get similar dreams. Of course he had known from the start how alike they were, that's why he had become interested in the man in the first place, but these dreams now had stirred in him a curiosity beyond any he had ever had towards anyone. Will Graham was a puzzle that he had yet to figure out, and this thing about the dreams was like a piece he hadn't noticed before, maybe the key of the whole solution.

He needed more details, but with Will's sanity shattering he needed to be careful. First thing, Hannibal had to show concern about his wellbeing, for he needed him to feel sorry and in need to owe him an explanation. With a little push, Will would eventually tell him everything, helping him retrieve his own dreams and put all the elements together, in order to see the entire picture.

He reached for his phone, dialed Will's cellphone number and waited for him to pick up. Since he didn't, he called him a second, a third, a fourth time, but still no answer, no matter how long he waited. Hannibal frowned while the line got interrupted again, starting to worry. It was not like Will to avoid his calls.

He glanced at his watch. It had been only 30 minutes or so since Will had left in a hurry, he should still be on the way home, so why wasn't he picking up?

An unpleasant feeling started creeping up in Hannibal's belly as he put his phone on the counter, placing his palms against its smooth and cold surface. Will was very agitated when he had rushed out of his house and had not considered stopping even after seeing him chasing him. Had he been in the state of mind to drive home safely? He wasn't sure about that, that's the main reason why he had tried to stop him, along with his burning curiosity about those dreams. Now, with him not picking up his calls, Hannibal was starting to feel worried.

He paced back and forth for a few minutes, weighting his thoughts, then swiftly put on his coat, grabbed cellphone and keys, and got to his car.

A low ring kept drilling through his ears as he slowly came back to his senses. Opening his eyes lightly, Will looked around him trying to focus, taking a few moments to realize what had happened and where he was. He winced as he tried to move, a sharp pain piercing his head. Gritting his teeth, he sat up straight, touching his forehead and wincing again before looking at his hand, now wet with his own blood, shining black and bright in the white light of the moon.

How much time had passed? He had no idea. His head was pulsing, his whole body aching, his teeth chattering for the cold. He wrapped his arms around him, rubbing the hands against the fabric of the jacket, trying to ease the shivers that made him tremble. The ring kept on going in the background, and it took him a few moments to recognize it as his own ringtone. Slowly, he reached for the phone in his coat's pocket, took it out and answered.

"Hello?" he said with a voice he almost didn't sound as his own.

"Will? Why didn't you pick up my calls? I've been calling you for hours" Hannibal's voice sounded hurried and a little alarmed.

"I crashed, I- I think I passed out"

"Are you hurt? Where are you?"

"No, no, I'm fine, I just…Hannibal" His name sounded like a cry for help.

"Tell me where you are, Will. Did you take an alternative route or are you on the main road?"

"The usual one"

"I'm coming, Will. Don't move, stay where you are, I'm coming."

"Hannibal" Will didn't know why he kept on calling him, he couldn't help himself, his name just kept escaping from his mouth.

"I'm here, Will. Don't worry, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Hannibal, I'm sorry" He didn't even know what he was apologizing for, his head was starting to spin again, he couldn't stay focused.

"Shh Will, it's okay, I'm almost there."

"Hannibal" he whispered with closed eyes as the phone slipped from his numb fingers, his head resting against the window, his breaths echoing in his ears.