A/N: Hello, people!

I don't own Hannibal.

I have no beta.

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"I can't believe you would say that!"

Will was horrified.

"It's really not a big deal," Kailani responded.

Was she fucking insane?!

"You don't say that to a guy who kills people, takes their organs, and then eats them!"

She had to have lost it!

"Why not? He needs to know that the road to your heart and ass will be an uphill battle fraught with many obstacles."

Utterly mad!

"I can't believe you!" he repeated, unable to string more words or thoughts together.

Hannibal may have been stressing over the past few days, which wasn't like him because he was usually the epitome of calm and collected. But… ever since learning that Will Graham wanted nothing to do with him any longer, he had been completely thrown off. He wasn't prepared for it. He'd truly thought that Will would be lured into the darkness inside Hannibal.

And now, Will was considering leaving.

He wasn't supposed to though.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end.

Hannibal had even tried to see Will by visiting Kailani's residence for lunch, and Will had slammed the door in his face and proceeded to lock it and all the windows Hannibal could reach. He then pulled out his phone and stood at the window, recording everything Hannibal did until he left.

And not once, did the glare on his face lessen.

He needed to vent, but Bedelia had skipped town and was gone. She'd understood him far better than he had anticipated she would and she'd taken protective measures against him. Her mind and instincts had saved her from his wrath… for the time being.

Kailani wasn't offering him any assistance in procuring Will's positive affections. After all the manipulating she'd done to get them into each other's social circles and minds, she'd just given up. Why? Because she was angry at Hannibal for letting Will stay sick instead of helping him.

Could no one understand that some things just had to be done, good or bad? No, he did not enjoy the fact that Will was in pain and he didn't like having Will suffer under Chilton of all people for those five weeks, but it had to be done. He had to be broken, shattered, in order to finally come to grips with himself. And then he could some together.

And now, because Will was avoiding him completely, Hannibal couldn't see if his manipulations had worked or not. All he'd gotten was a sneer and a glare and they weren't very forthcoming in regards to Will's mental state. And once again, Kailani was of no help.

He needed to calm himself. To relieve the stress. Once he was a blank slate again, he could better formulate a plan on how to get Will to allow him into his life once again.

So, he decided to go to the opera house, having not gone in a while. He was also considering throwing another dinner party. A string of murders and civil conversation with Baltimore's most farcical aristocrats would do him a world of good.

The performance wasn't as amazing or titillating as usual. It was probably because Hannibal had only heard half of it, mind wandering several times to his plight with Will Graham and distracting him from the evening's entertainment.

The conversation during the intermission wasn't as stimulating with Hannibal lacking the usual vocabulary to describe how the performance was. And just when he was beginning to get frustrated, a familiar voice washed over his ears. Once that he hadn't heard in weeks because it wouldn't work when around him.

"I can't believe you brought me here."

"Believe it. You don't know how many times I get harassed at these things and you're like a buffer. You warn them away."

"I'm very uncomfortable right now."

"They're not looking at your eyes, their enjoying your ass."

Hannibal's head snapped around, finding two people he wasn't expecting to see, standing behind him, facing the other direction. Kailani was dressed in a black dress that trailed to the floor in soft waves and all he could see of Will was a head of curls, sharp body line in his black suit, and the trousers that framed his posterior rather nicely.

That brought Kailani's words to mind and Hannibal looked around covertly, searching out those who were indeed looking at Will with lustful intent. He made note of all of them, before returning his full attention to Mrs. Komeda who was requesting another dinner party.

He gave the woman a charming smile and acquiesced, deciding that a little murder spree would do him some good. And who better to feed his guests, than the young men and women ogling Will's body as if they had a right to?

"I didn't see him anywhere."

Kailani snorted, "He was right behind us during the intermission."

"What?!"

"Right. Behind. Us."

Will groaned. "We just condemned an unknown amount of people to death."

"Do you really care?"

He had to pause, but his answer was still a resounding, "No."

Hannibal had sent an invitation to Kailani's residence, hoping that either she or Will would wanted to take him up on it, but Kailani came into work with a card made of familiar stock and on either side of it, was a message.

From Kailani's side, her answer was formulated in a proper refusal in a lovely script.

'While the invitation is most appreciated, I am afraid I will be predisposed to other pleasures for the evening of choice. May your gathering prove to be eventful.'.

On Will's side however, he simply got a scribbled, 'Fuck off.' as his reply.

Maybe he could send him something? A gift perhaps. One that he'd like.

What would Will Graham like?

Another dog. It was perfect. Will loved his dogs after all and certainly wouldn't mind having another one.

When Kailani returned home from the office, she found Will sitting on the floor of the foyer with a chocolate colored puppy in his lap and a large, wicker basket full of food and toys for it.

Will's blue eyes were gleaming. "He got me a puppy!" he crooned, rubbing noses with the little thing that happily slobbered his face.

"Damn, that bastard doesn't play fair."

"Do we really have to keep this up for much longer? It's been what, two weeks?" Will asked, eyes looking sad and lonely.

She sighed. "We'll have to wean you I guess. It's called playing hard to get and if he's stooping to drastic measures in order to win your affections, he's serious. So, you can begin light conversation. Nothing in depth, nothing about murder or Abigail Hobbs, or your past encounters. Talk about the weather and thank him for the puppy. Tease him a bit. Also, he thinks you want to move to Louisiana, so play up on that and try to make it seem like there's nothing here to keep you from leaving. He'll want to be that thing keeping you from leaving.

He'll want to rekindle your friendship, but he absolutely must work for it, okay?"

"Would you do this with your ex?"

"If she wasn't a danger to herself and the few people I care for, then yeah."

"Okay then. How do we do this?"

While the drama with Hannibal was happening, Will's lawsuit against Kade Prurnell had yielded fruit. The judge in control of the trial was the same man who had made the verdict for Will's trial. After presenting the facts and all the evidence - and there were files upon files and documents, and recordings, and basically anything they could get their hands on to implicate Kade - and then Kade's defense attorney gave their meager evidence, the judge found her 'guilty' and sentenced her to five years in prison, along with several fines to pay to Will for inconveniencing him.

As agreed upon under the tutelage of Jay Pringle and Kailani Taikefu, Jay received 40% of the payment for his extensive services and Will ended up giving Kailani 10% because he wouldn't have been able to get anything done without her help. He'd most likely have been found guilty or even still be in the BSHCI. She claimed not to need it but he refused to take it back. He wasn't a free loader.

The rest would put into savings and Will would going to keep it away until he could figure out what to do with it. A few million dollars was a lot for one man and eight dogs. Kailani advised starting a separate account and just keeping it saved until there came a time he would need it. Separate name, separate savings.

He would do so.

His reckoning of Hannibal came earlier than expected. Right after the trial, actually. The man had attended and had wanted to speak with him.

Will allowed himself to be pulled on a small walk of the courthouse, promising to meet up with Kailani in a few moments.

"Thank you for the puppy," he said, trying to withhold his contentment from seeing Hannibal. Kailani had said to play hard to get. So he had to be a little distant. He could pull off distant.

"I figured you'd like her. Have you chosen a name?"

He'd gotten Will a Chocolate Labrador Retriever and she was the most lovable puppy in the world! All the other dogs loved her and Winston had taken on a motherly role in guiding her. It was perfect.

"Yes. Her name is Godiva."

A glance to his left showed Hannibal's lips had pulled into a small smile as he looked on ahead. He may understood the significance since the name had a double entendre. Godiva for the chocolatier and for the meaning of the name. Gift Of God. It was the closest to forgiveness that Hannibal would receive without apologizing but just because Will felt this way, did not mean he'd make it easy.

To be honest, it was kind of fun seeing Hannibal working so hard for something, especially when things usually came so easily to him. He was scrambling for Will of all people and the realization made the former profiler feel powerful.

"Would you like to join me for dinner tomorrow evening?" asked Hannibal, all casual and calm.

Ah, there it was.

Should he or not bother?

No doubt they'd be eating people and both of them knew it very well.

"I guess I could… stomach your cooking once again. Though I think I'll prefer a vegetarian approach this time if you don't mind. Trying to watch my figure after all."

Hannibal's mouth froze in place, but he did nod. "Wonderful," he said though it wasn't very convincing. "I shall expect you around eight, if that is acceptable?"

"Sure."

Will gave him a small nod and walked away, intent on finding Kailani. He had so much to tell her!

A/N: Another is done.

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