It had been a week since Will was accused of the copycat murders and have been put inside of that hospital for the criminally insane. It had been peaceful strangely. The Ripper has stayed quiet too, not to Jack's liking according to Hannibal and Alana. Secretly, Elizabeth has been thoroughly investigating the Copycat murders to prove her theory that it was The Ripper's doing, not Will's, but she hasn't found shit.
Elizabeth sighed heavily as she helped Hannibal cook dinner for Jack who would be arriving in only a half hour. She had been staying at Hannibal's every other night because staring at the empty room that Meredith used to accompany had been too much for her to handle. Alana would take the dogs sometimes for a walk since Elizabeth seemed sad and angry most of the time since the people she cared about most were either in prison or missing or perhaps dead.
Tattle Crime had already posted up an article calling Elizabeth and Will "The Bringers of Death" also known as The Ravens. Freddie Lounds blamed everything on them. She attacked Will more than she did to Elizabeth which made Elizabeth want to wrap her hands around her neck and choke the life out of her and watch as the life left her eyes.
Elizabeth stopped cutting the flounder and froze, thinking over what she had just previously thought.
Hannibal noticed that she stopped suddenly and asked, "Are you alright, Elizabeth?"
"I-I just thought of killing Freddie Lounds," Elizabeth replied casually like it was such a normal thing to her to be talking about ending someone's life.
Hannibal walked over to her and stroked her soft blonde curls. "And how do you feel?"
Elizabeth sighed. "Ever since Will was arrested and I had some type of weird reaction to the pills you gave me, I've been seeing things through a different perspective."
"What perspective are you seeing through?"
"There is this person that I become...one that doesn't care anymore and it's very frightening for me to see, Hannibal. I feel like I don't know who I am anymore because when I thought about killing Lounds, I already know how I was going to do it and get away with it. I'm slowly becoming organized and putting my feelings away in a trunk that I can't open," Elizabeth confessed. Then she looked at Hannibal. "How are you not scared of me already?"
He kissed her temple, responding, "I ask myself that same question. Except I wonder why I have not frightened you yet...why you stayed."
Elizabeth smiled slightly. "Because I need you. You seem to hold onto me when you feel me slipping away."
"I'll never let you go, you know?"
"That's not surprising, but there will come a time, Hannibal when you will let me go," she told him, pursing her lips. "My head is getting worse."
"Did they find anything wrong with you yet? Something medical or…"
"No. They couldn't find anything."
Hannibal nodded. After a silent moment between them, he asked, "Are you sure you don't want to dine with Jack and I?"
Elizabeth turned around in his arms which were now wrapped around her. "I can't. I need to visit Will. Don't tell Jack where I've gone. He'll interrogate me if he knows and I don't want to lose my brother's trust. I'm lucky that Chilton can keep my secret since he's doing it for Meredith."
"I know," Hannibal replied, moving her stray curl behind her ear. "I'm glad Will has someone like you to guard him."
"Family comes first before everything and anyone," she reminded him. "WIll has been itching to tell me something lately, but he won't-can't."
"Maybe it's his madness trying to tell you something and his rational mind pulling him back," he suggested.
"He's not crazy, Hannibal," she scoffed in frustration, moving away from him and putting distance between them. "I don't want to hear you call him any kind of crazy, do you understand?"
"I apologize, Elizabeth. I never meant it to harm you. I was just reminding you where he is right now."
"Someone framed him-"
"There was an ear found in his throat," he snapped at her, losing some of his patience. "Abigail is dead and her body's missing. He's lost more time frequently."
"He was framed," Elizabeth growled lowly at him. "I know my brother. He's not a killer."
In frustration, Elizabeth ripped the apron off of her and threw it on the counter then turned around, striding away from him. Hannibal called her name, but she ignored him as she went to the door, grabbing her coat and purse.
Elizabeth opened the door just as Jack had raised his hand to knock on the door.
"Jack," she greeted stiffly, forcing a smile on her face.
"Elizabeth. You look very beautiful tonight."
Hannibal came behind her, replying charmingly, "Doesn't she always. Hello, Jack and welcome."
"Are you joining us, Elizabeth?" Jacked asked curiously.
"No, thankfully, I am not." She replied calmly, slipping her coat on.
Hannibal held her elbow, stopping her from leaving as he whispered softly, "Stay. Please, Lizzie."
Elizabeth knew that when Hannibal really wanted something, he always called her by "Lizzie", not "Elizabeth. She was only reminded of Will though when he said those pleading words to her.
She looked up into his maroon colored eyes, whispering, "I need Will. I need my brother."
She pulled her elbow away and quickly strode out of the house, to her own home for once.
Jack watched her for a moment with a raised eyebrow then turned back to Hannibal who still stared after her even when she had gone inside of her home.
"She reminds me a lot of Bella. Stubborn, temperamental, fiercely protective of anyone and anything…and those are all of the things that I love about her," Jack told Hannibal. "I can tell when someone's in love. Too bad Will is getting in the way of the both of your happiness."
Hannibal turned to look at Jack, neither confirming nor denying on the subject of love concerning Elizabeth. "She needs Will more than she needs me. I'm saddened by the fact that she would choose him over me."
"You really think that he's gonna tell her about his mad theories about you, Hannibal?"
"I don't think. I know."
The next morning, Elizabeth was buzzed into the door and she walked down the long hall, her heels echoing softly. She smiled when she saw Will.
"Hey," she greeted.
"Hey yourself," he said, returning her smile.
Elizabeth looked down the hall and saw that no one was looking so she quickly went and put her arms through the bars, hugging him as much as she could.
"It's nice to know that someone still cares about me," he said softly then released her.
Elizabeth quickly stepped back, not wanting to get caught and kicked out of there already.
"I'll always care about you. I know you didn't do this. You're innocent."
"You refuse to believe that it's Hannibal," Will told her. "But you know that it wasn't me. Why? How?"
Elizabeth shook her head and shrugged. "I have this gut feeling about people, Will, remember? I know you could never do those kinds of things to other people."
"You remember your gut feeling about Hannibal?" Will asked as he paced slowly back and forth in the cell. "You told me that you didn't trust Hannibal and you didn't know why."
"Then you told me that I was just scared of possibly being in another failed relationship. That I was afraid of rejection and disappointed hopes, Will. You told me to trust Hannibal."
"And do you? Do you trust Hannibal?"
She sighed and sat down in the seat in front of his cell. "I-I do."
"You hesitated," Will reminded her. "Which means that you trust him 80% of the time, but 20% of that time you don't. That's a big difference, Lizzie."
"I have trust issues, but it doesn't mean that it's because I think he's a psychopath like Roger or Ted Bundy."
Will stopped pacing and looked at her. "You love him."
Elizabeth's jaw hardened. "Will, I don't love him. I care about him. Caring and loving someone are two completely different things."
"Not completely different. They're in the same category actually of feelings-true feelings."
Elizabeth sighed heavily. "I feel like you're both telling me to pick a side-to choose. I feel like I am fucking the rope in your tug of war, Will."
Will chuckled. "What did he say to you?"
"He tried to convince me that your theories about him are of a mad person's and not of a rational person's."
"Something tells me you pissed him off."
"I may or may not have let my temper get the best of me. I don't like that everyone is calling you crazy. Sue me for being the overly protective sister that I am."
"It's nice to know that I have a white knight defending my honor when I can't," Will mused.
"I heard you asked to see him."
"Yes, I did."
"Why is that? You're just adding fuel to the fire."
Will stared at her. "I worry about you and him. I don't like that he's so close to you."
"I can take care of myself." She reminded him.
"I know. Have any headaches lately?"
Elizabeth stopped smiling and asked, "How did you know that?"
"He's giving you two little white pills, am I right? Probably was even nice enough to give you the bottle."
"W-Will," she warned hesitantly. "Hannibal isn't a freaking psychopath. My God, my luck with men can't be that bad. Geez!"
"Stop taking them, don't eat the food, and don't take anything like drinks from him, Lizzie."
"Will-"
"Do you understand?!" Will snapped coldly at her and strode up to the cell's bars, gripping them tightly. "I need you to try it out. See if I'm wrong."
"What if you are wrong, Will?" She challenged impassively. "What if you are accusing an innocent man? What then, huh?"
Will stepped away from the bars and turned his back to her, replying lowly, "Then I guess I really am crazy after all."
"Will Graham has asked to see me. I would like to see him. I continue to be curious about the way he thinks, despite all that's happened. I know he's trying to push Elizabeth away from me," Hannibal explained.
"He's still influencing you and he knows that you care deeply about Elizabeth. Will Graham asking to see you betrays his clear intent to manipulate you," Bedelia said.
"And if I agree to see Will?" Hannibal asked.
"It betrays your clear intent to manipulate him."
"I miss them. It seems I've lost the both of them."
"You are obsessed with Elizabeth and Will Graham especially with Elizabeth. And he will take advantage of that."
"Will is my friend."
"And what is Elizabeth to you besides your girlfriend?"
"She's…is it possible for me to love?"
Bedelia froze and answered slowly, "Yes, it is, but nearly impossible, Hannibal considering that the only person you've ever truly loved was your sister and she died."
"And?"
"And since she died, you don't want to feel those emotions again like Elizabeth. I imagine after getting her heat broken so many times, losing Will and her best friend, Meredith, she would become like you."
"I think she believes Will."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because she hasn't spoken to me since last night. It's already been a day."
"No, she doesn't believe the claims against you made by Will," Bedelia told him.
Hannibal knitted his eyebrows in confusion. "How do you know that?"
"She's been consulting with me about her problems…as friends, Hannibal. She loves you, but loving you comes with consequences like losing Will Graham in the process."
"She loves me?" Hannibal said to himself, a smile on his lips. "Elizabeth loves me and I love her madly."
Bedelia raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want her as much as you do?"
"She's able to see right through me. She tells me when I'm wrong and gives me a new perspective to see the world through," Hannibal answered. "I didn't think that I could be surprised anymore until I met her. She surprised me."
"You're not my friend." Will told Hannibal. "The, uh, light from friendship won't reach us for a million years. That's how far away from friendship we are."
"I imagine it's easier to believe I am responsible for those murders than it is to accept that you are."
"Sure is," Will responded sarcastically.
His lips curled in amusement. "Your inner voice can provide a method of taking control of your behavior, accepting responsibility for what you've done. Giving your thoughts words encourages clarity."
"Oh, I have clarity. About you." Will replied, coming closer him. "It won't take long before everyone else sees it as well."
"Our conversations, Will, were only ever about you opening your eyes to the truth of who you are."
"What you did to me is in my head, and I will find it. I'm going to remember, Dr. Lecter, and when I do, there will be a reckoning. Elizabeth will find out about you and she will want vengeance for what you did to me and all those other people."
"Will-"
"She's been ignoring you, hasn't she?" Will mused. "She's slowly, but quickly slipping away from your grasp, Dr. Lecter. Elizabeth may have strong feelings for you, but then again she felt the same about Roger Kane and she…"
Will chuckled and continued, "Well, we both know that she destroyed him. Elizabeth isn't stupid and she will curious then she'll start to doubt and put the puzzle pieces together. Also the fact that she believes me over you, Hannibal. When the time comes, she will choose me over you because we are family-we are blood."
"She's your half sister," Hannibal reminded Will.
"We grew up thinking that we weren't half brother and sister, Hannibal. We are family and we don't leave each other behind or forgotten. Always and forever. She will find out and I will protect her no matter what, Hannibal Lecter."
"I have huge faith in you, Will." Hannibal said after a moment of silence. "I always have."
With that, Hannibal turned around and left the building, dialing Elizabeth's phone number.
"Hey, this is Elizabeth Graham and I'm sorry I can't come to the phone right now so please-Will get out of the shower already. I don't care if you've not been in there for five minutes. I need to go in there and no one wants to see your junk-oh crap I'm still recording! Bye!"
Hannibal couldn't help, but smile at the cheery voicemail that sounded like it was made by a younger version of herself. He hung up when he saw her sitting on the bench near the entrance. Elizabeth immediately stood up when she saw him, a worried expression on her face.
"Elizabeth," he greeted and kissed her lips. "What's wrong?"
She opened her mouth a couple of times and then closed it. "Nothing. I just missed you."
"I thought that you were upset with me."
She sighed and fixed his tie, running her hands across his shoulders. "I was…but then I realized something."
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "What was it?"
"That I…I…I-I"
Hannibal silenced her with a kiss to her lips and cupped her face in his hands, muttering against her lips, "I love you too."
Elizabeth released a sigh of relief and breathed out, "Oh thank God. That would have been awkward if you would have said something else."
Hannibal chuckled and asked seriously, "Do you believe Will's claims? Please be honest with me, I won't be upset about whatever your answer may be. I just don't want there to be secrets between us."
"I don't believe my brother's claims against you, Hannibal." Elizabeth answered. "It's not because I'm in denial or anything like that, but because I trust you and that I love you. Jesus Christ, I can't believe I just said that like it was so casual and-"
Hannibal crashed his lips against her own and teased, "I love you, Elizabeth Graham. You and your voicemail too. I'm obsessed and possessed by you."
"See, on any other guy that would sound crazy," she drawled out. "But with you, it sounds kind of hot."
Hannibal laughed and kissed her temple. "You make me laugh too and smile which is something that hasn't happened in a long time."
Elizabeth smiled brightly. "Really?"
"It's the truth." Hannibal told her. "I want you to be my side every day."
"One thing at a time, Hannibal," she laughed quietly then kissed him passionately.
TBC…
THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS, FOLLOWS, AND FAVORITE! Elizabeth and Hannibal will always be on this roller coaster in their relationship because of how rocky things are since she's trying not to choose sides even though everyone is going to be telling her to. Bedelia and Elizabeth's friendship is explained more next chapter. I hoped you liked this chapter.
REVIEW. FOLLOW. FAVORITE. Until next time…