Will's face was the picture of doom as he entered the BAU Labs. In one hand he held a cardboard cup carrier with four cups of coffee, fresh from the academy coffee house. In the other hand, he held a manila folder containing the BAU's recent case. Eight missing girls, all brunet with wind kissed skin. Each girl was just old enough to have been inquiring into colleges and universities. It was a sad state of affairs to be sure.

Will silently approached the three lab techs. Jimmy Price and Brian Zeller hadn't changed much over the past two years. Bickering between each other and finishing each other's thoughts and sentences. Beverly looked just as she had when he'd seen her the week before. Hair cut into a stylish pixie, a recent change from her long length she'd worn all her life. He cleared his throat, "Coffee delivery."

The three lab techs jumped. "Oh my god! Don't do that! You're gonna give someone a heart attack." Jimmy complained, one hand over his heart.

"Shit, Graham! What the hell you doing here? Never thought that you would darken these halls again."

Will held up the case file. "I'm part of the gang once again."

Beverly frowned. "Your docs okay with this?"

Will shrugged. "My health is good, better than it has been in six years. There are no signs of a relapse and two years have passed. As of right now, they can find no reason to object to my returning to field work. Gotta keep up with them and maintain a steady diet and all."

Beverly narrowed her eyes at him, her lips pursing. "Mmmm. Did you talk to Alana about this?"

"No."

Beverly sighed. "You're a grown man, Will. Neither of us can tell you what to do. Still, we will worry about you. Let us know if something goes wrong, all right."

Will nodded. Unoffended by her words. Beverly was a true friend and had been there for him in ways that his own parents had not been. The true care and love she offered him was not something he wished to let go to waste. "Sure thing, Bev."

Beverly nodded, pulling him into a tight hug. Smiling, his dark mood lightening, Will did his best to hug her back. "Okay," Bev pulled back from the hug. "Let's get you up to speed on the most recent updates to the case."

"Wait." Brian held up a hand. "Is that coffee that I see?"

Laughing, Will held out the coffee to his co-workers once again. They each took a cup, pleased to find them labeled with their names and made to their preferences. "You are a god send, Graham." Jimmy closed his eyes in pleasure. "We've been surviving on that oil that they have the nerve to call coffee from the cafeteria for the past few days."

"So, who's this?"

"This is Elise Nichols, the eighth girl to go missing." Brian said, holding a hand out in introduction to the young woman laying upon the lab table.

"You found her body?"

"No." Jimmy shook his head.

"Her mother found her late last night." Brian continued. "The family's cat was scratching and meowing at Elise's bedroom door."

"Mother entered the room when a breeze caught her attention. Elise Was lying in bed, looking for all the world like she was simply sleeping. The mother nearly contaminated the scene." Jimmy informed him.

"Thankfully Jack had been there, questioning Elise's parents, and was able to catch her in time." Brian continued.

Will rose a brow. "She was returned?"

"It appears that way. The person who took her, risked capture to do it too." Brian confirmed.

"None of the others have been found yet?"

Bev shook her head. "Nope."

"We're considering that the one who took and killed her, may not be the same person that took the other seven girls." Jimmy said.

Will stared at Elise. "No, it is the same person. Have you done the autopsy yet?"

"Nope, you're just in time for the show Graham." Brian joked. Dark humor was nothing new in the labs. When one delt with nightmarish sights, dark humor was the only way to cope with it.

*HANNIBAL LECTER AND WILL GRAHAM *

"She has liver cancer." Jimmy looked up at the others in the room.

"She is defective. Unfit for what he had done to the others. He couldn't use her, so he returned her. Cleaned her body, dressed her in her nightgown. He brought her home and tucked her into bed. Brushing her hair back from her face.

"Returning her was an apology. Not for killing her, but because he could not honor her like he had the others. He is not one for wasting meat. Yet her death is a waste." Will swallowed hard, his eyes closing. His body stilled as a golden pendulum began to swing in his mind's eye. He saw himself entering the Nichols' home. Quietly making his way into Elise's bedroom. She was asleep and unaware. He climbed atop her, his hands coming to encircle Elise's delicate throat. He squeezed and her eyes flew open. She looked up at him in horror. She tried to fight, but it was too late. She was already dead.

Will's eyes snaped open. "You won't find the other girls. Killing Elise was a mistake he could not undo. He's eating them."