I do not own Hannibal. I only own Simone Hale and her mother.
Story start
Images of a man and girl sitting in a train together flashed in my mind. A girl resembling the man's daughter sat seats away from the pair. The daughter approached and befriended her lookalike. Quickly, all I could see was the father killing the lookalike, using her hair as stuffing for a pillow, and cooking the meat to serve to his family.
A hand on my shoulder snapped me out of my own mind with a gasp of surprise. I spun away from the window to stare at Will, who was looking at me curiously. Jack and Hannibal were silently observing, but Jack looked slightly irritated.
"I'm asking you to save people's lives," Jack snapped as he stood from his seat.
"And what fate awaits them after they've been saved from their original fate?" I questioned moving away from Will. "If you save that person, then a worse fate will be waiting for them around the next corner," I continued, which I knew for a fact when I saved a little girl at a playground one day. She was meant to be kidnapped by a pedophile, raped, and then killed. Her head was to be kept as a trophy in his china cabinet. Since I saved her from that fate, the next day her and her whole family's house burnt down while they were sleeping. I did not want to meddle with fate again if helping the fated to die only ended in worse deaths.
"You don't know that that will happen," Jack said and my dark look he received made Dr. Lecter move closer towards me.
"Have you seen firsthand that somebody you helped to save met a worse fate?" the doctor questioned me and I just nodded. I was not going to lie in this situation since the men around me either knew too much about me or were going to learn too much.
"I'm sorry that happened, but it was only one time. You can do so much good compared to all the bad that could happen if you did not help us," Jack said and I still shook my head. Silence settled in the office before I felt another hand on my shoulder.
Will was staring at me wondering if I was saying the truth. I could read his expression because I had been believed to be crazy or a liar most of my life. "What exactly can you see in your visions?" he questioned and I focused all my attention on him. I did not want to say much because I did not want to alert the cannibal standing in the room with us.
"Random killings, there is never a pattern, nor is it all the time," I said simple enough that I hoped I would not alert Dr. Lecter to the true extent of my power.
"That's not what I heard about you," Jack snapped and I mentally cringed. This man was leaving me with no escape routes when a professional cannibal was standing in the room staring me down as if I was a toy to tear apart to find out how it works.
"Well if you believe all of the rumors that my mother or other psychologists tell about me then that is not my problem. I'm sorry that people die, but it is a part of life. I did not ask for the small amount of power I have, but I will not be the one to change what fate has planned," I said seriously and calmly before bidding all of the men a good evening. I was walking quickly towards the door, but a new hand with unknown strength grabbed my wrist gently.
I turned around just enough to see who was holding me and my eyes met with Dr. Lecter. I suppressed a shiver when flashes of past dishes he served to guests flashed in my mind. "Dr. Lecter, please let me go," I said softly.
"You know as well as I do that Jack will not leave you or your mother alone if you do not help him. However, you do not have to give him all the information you know, just tell him little hints to keep him from bothering you," he said quietly to me so Jack and Will could not hear him. He raised his voice for the next part and I wanted to crawl into a safe house with how well he was acting. "Any help that you can give will be appreciated by the F.B.I, and I will happily be here for you if you need somebody to talk to," he finished giving my hand a pat as he released me.
"Dr. Lecter, if she works for us then she can no longer be your patient, I'm sorry to say that, but with how much she knows, we cannot have her sharing too much information in a session here," Jack said stepping up to Dr. Lecter and myself.
"That decision should be left up to Simone," Will said staring between the others in the room.
"I would appreciate somebody to talk to if things got too hectic, but not from a psychological standpoint. I've dealt with enough of that after I recovered from almost dying. So maybe we could be friends during the chaos of helping the F.B.I?" I suggested politely even though I really just wanted to leave the country and change my name and appearance at this point. I was already getting in too deep in a possibly bad situation.
"So you'll help us solve the cases? You'll be working strictly with Will and myself. We'll find you an apartment so we'll know where you are and you'll be away from your mother," Jack said happily now that he had me where he wanted me.
"There is an open apartment next to mine that is not too expensive per month," Hannibal suggested and my fake smile almost disappeared.
"The cost doesn't matter if she can help us save lives," Jack said before he bid good afternoon and went outside to talk with my mother.
My world was being changed against my will and I felt almost as if I were spiraling in a tornado to Oz. Images of Will shooting the killer, who was hunting girls and cutting them up in his hunting cabin, flew through my mind before a shaky laugh left me.
"Simone, are you all right?" Will questioned me as I saw Dr. Lecter and Will staring at me in different ways. Dr. Lecter seemed pleased that I would be living beside him, and he also seemed like I was his new prey but not so I would end up in his freezer. Will was looking at me as if he wished he could send me away from this mess, and it was going to be an absolute mess from now until who knows.
"Will, I wish I could say I was, and who knows maybe if I go to a kickboxing class, I might feel a whole lot better. However, for now, let's just say I'm just happy to get out of my mother's house and maybe my life won't go too crazy with all of this happening," I said with a stressed but nonetheless small smile. I have dealt with a lot growing up and I would continue to deal with more now, but at least nothing would be boring.
"There is a gym with kickboxing classes close to our apartment complex," Dr. Lecter added.
"This afternoon has now gotten much better, to the gym," I said turning to face the door.
"Shouldn't you get your stuff from your mom's house first?" Will asked and Dr. Lecter chuckled when I deflated.
"May I ask for a favor though? Just protect me so my mother doesn't get it into her mind that she should throw me into a closet and put a lock and chain on the door from the outside," I said meaning every single word.
"I'll protect you," Will said and I gave him the first genuine smile for the day.
"Thanks, also, Dr. Lecter does the apartment complex allow dogs to be there?" I asked because I had always wanted a dog ever since I was little.
"They do, but it adds more money to the rent," he answered and I smirked.
"Well seeing as how Jack wants me to work for him so much, I'm sure he won't mind paying a little extra so I can have a loyal friend living in my apartment with me," I said never losing the smirk even after I left the office. After wishing Dr. Lecter a good afternoon and thanked him about the apartment information, I went home and started packing my stuff with Will's help.
My mother was being watched or distracted by another agent who was there to help me pack a loading truck. Jack and Dr. Lecter had already handled the deal about the apartment so all I had to do was unpack and go find a dog from the pound or an animal shelter. I mainly wanted the dog as a friend and a pet, but it would also let me know if my cannibal neighbor ever decided I might know too much about him. I just hoped and prayed that he did not realize that I knew excessively much about his appetite then anybody living did.