ONE MONTH LATER…

Hannibal's head whipped to the side as blood came spitting out of his mouth. He grunted a little as he fell to the floor, trying to keep his body up and able to fight.

This just keeps on getting worse, he thought bitterly.

Hannibal's Harpy knife is thrown clear into the shadows. Cut and shaken, Hannibal crawled towards it in an attempt to gain the upper hand. Jack sees his intent and uses a meat hook, swinging it into Hannibal's calf and dragging him back toward Jack. Hannibal's hands grasp and miss the knife. Jack slams him with heavy fists, concussive blows. Jack throws Hannibal who falls against the breaking wheel.

Hannibal stared at Jack, blood staining his teeth. Jack slammed Hannibal with his fist, again and again. Hannibal's head rocking back against the wheel, his arm strained to the breaking point, but he lets the blows come.

Hannibal regarded Jack as he taunted, "I brought Bella back from death and you returned her to it. Is that where you're sending me, Jack?"

Jack hits him again and again.

Well, I guess that's a yes.

Jack yells in primal rage and releases the breaking wheel, and Hannibal sags forward. Jack wheels him and hurls him through another cabinet and into the scaffolding and packing cases beyond.

Another shower of class comes sprawling around Hannibal when he lands, face stung with a hundred tiny cuts. Not even trying to fight back. He slowly gets to his feet and begins to limp away halfheartedly.

As Hannibal rested on the window seal where he killed Pazzi, he asked, "How will you feel when I'm gone?"

A victorious little smile came onto Jack's face as he answered, "Alive."

Jack hurls Hannibal backward out the window.

Hannibal lashes out an arm and seizes hold of Pazzi's body He snagged his hand on Pazzi's clothes and belt. His other hand grasps the electrical cord from which Pazzi is suspended. Hannibal hangs there, looking up at Jack. And then, he slides down Pazzi's body and lets himself drop, past the hanging entrails, and he lands hard and falls in the street. One last look up, and then he staggers away.

This day can't get any worse…he thought bitterly once again, limping away, bloody and beaten.

"Jack." Someone said from behind Jack as he watched the men take down Pazzi's body from the rope.

Jack turns, scarcely daring to believe he heard right.

Will stands just beyond a few feet away from Jack, tired, showing the bruises of his fall from the train. Jack has to fight a sudden urge, to run and hug Will, that surprised him greatly. He smiles at Will and Will returns it. Both men surprised by how strongly they felt towards the other. And then guilt hits them both as they look to Pazzi. Jack nods to an Italian cop and motions Will closer.

Jack and Will move through the shattered interior of the Atrocious Torture Exhibit where Jack and Hannibal fought not to long ago.

"He's wounded and worried." Jack informed him.

"Hannibal doesn't worry. Knowing he's in danger won't rattle him any more than killing does." Will said as Jack examines the vintage woodcarving of Pazzi's ancestor hanging, disemboweled.

Jack sighed in disappointment, "If Rinaldo Pazzi decided to do his duty as an officer of the law, he could have detained Dr. Fell and determined very quickly that he was Hannibal Lecter. Would have taken thirty minutes to get a warrant."

"All those resources were denied to Pazzi. Once he decided to sell Hannibal, he became a bounty hunter."

"Outside the law and alone. Here we are: outside the law and alone."

"Again." Will added.

"How's Elizabeth?" Jack asked.

"She's doing better. Her first night, she used to cry herself to sleep, I assumed it was because she missed him, but now…it's stopped," Will informed him.

"And Ichabod?"

A warm genuine smile slipped immediately onto his face. "He's great. He's a very happy child. Anything makes him happy actually even a piece of toast. He just learned how to walk yesterday, she sent me a video of him."

"Has Hannibal made any sort of contact with her," Jack questioned.

"No. Nothing. He's planning something."

"Or maybe he just doesn't care anymore. He's always been selfish in a way. Perhaps this is him putting himself first."

"I don't think so," Will scoffed. "There was a flower once. A white one."

"I'm thinking of you," Jack realized and closed his eyes. "Of course…from before with the murders. He sent her flowers, remember?"

Will nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. He's trying to repeat the past. Bring her back to him like before."

"They say that pregnancy changes a woman, maybe she's back. Agent Elizabeth Graham is back," Jack asked, but mostly to himself.

"Too many things are happening all at once," Will said, glancing around the place. "Hannibal will be beyond furious when he finds out that he's missed his son's first steps. This probably all happened because he's angry at what we did."

"We know how that usually turns out. Mason Verger is trying to capture Hannibal himself for purposes of personal revenge."

"Have you told la polizia they're looking for Hannibal Lecter?"

"They're motivated to find Dr. Fell inside the law. Knowing who he is... and what he's worth, will just coax them out of bounds." Jack informed him.

"It would be a free-for-all."

"And Hannibal would slip away and kidnap his son, possibly kill his ex."

"Actually, Elizabeth is his wife."

"What?!"

"She told me. I don't know how they did it, but they did. She's trying to find a loophole by the way," Will assured him.

"Would you slip away with him?"

"Part of me will always want to." Will admitted.

"You have to cut that part out."

Will looks around the displays of torture instruments. "Of course you would find him here. Not because of the exhibit, but because of the crowd it attracts."

Jack watches Will as he moves behind a starvation cage, appearing as though he's trapped inside.

"You had him, Jack. He was beaten. Why didn't you kill him?" Will continued.

Jack considers that a moment, then says, "Maybe I need you to."

"Come here, my teacup," Elizabeth cooed from across the lawn as she spread her arms wide, crouching down on the grass. The movers bringing in the furniture that once belonged to Hannibal, but was sold. Elizabeth was lucky enough to get it back.

Ichabod stumbled a little as he ran his tiny chubby legs across the lawn of Hannibal's house now their house to get to her. His brown curls wild on top of his head.

"Mamma," he called out when she caught him in his arms, twirling him around. Their laughter filled the air and made the sky brighter…everything was perfect in that moment.

"Mrs. Lecter," someone asked from behind.

Elizabeth froze and held her son tightly to her chest. She turned around and saw Alana who was clothed in red, looking stronger than before. She hadn't talked to her since that night and honestly couldn't face her because Elizabeth knew what happened to her legs. She was almost paralyzed.

"Alana," she greeted.

"You married him," she said. "Why?"

"I was out of my mind," Elizabeth replied and pushed the curls on her son's head back from his face.

Alana limped closer, a cane helping her along, her eyes turned to Ichabod. "Is this your son?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Ichabod say hello to Alana."

Ichabod stopped playing with his mother's necklace and waved his arm a little, saying shyly, "Hi, LaLa."

They chuckled and Alana replied, "Hello there, Ichabod. Elizabeth, I'm not here for a social call unfortunately."

"Then why are you here?" she asked coldly.

"I'm here for Mason Verger. He wants to see you."

"Why?"

"Is that your answer?" Alana inquired as she watched Elizabeth set down her son with him running away as he tried to catch butterflies.

"No, my answer to him and I really want you to him this, word for word," Elizabeth warned her as she got closer to her. "He can go take the thickest and longest stick out there and go fuck himself. I don't give a rat's ass what he wants from me, but what I do want is for to stay the fuck away from my family. I'm not stupid."

"I wasn't implying"

"I have a pretty good idea what Mason is up to since he did get his face eaten off by Will's dogs because of Hannibal and Will. He knows that they care for Ichabod and I…Mason has a sick mind, Alana and he will hurt kill my son without another thought if it meant that Hannibal gets hurt. Will too. Two birds, one fucking stone. So I am going to only say this once, stay the fuck away from my family."

"What will you do since I heard that you turned over a new leaf?"

She smirked at her. "I will break you…mentally and physically. You will regret crossing me because if you think that Hannibal pushing you out of window was horrible then you can beat your ass that my plan for you is a whole another thing. Have a nice day, Alana…and get the hell off my property."

With that, Elizabeth walked back to her with a bright smile on her face, chasing him around the lawn. She carefully watched as Alana walked away and went to her car. Once she was gone and out of her eyesight, Elizabeth turned her attention to her son.

When they walked back inside, she heard the phone ring.

"Go play with your toys, okay?"

He nodded and went to his toys which were scattered all over the living room. Elizabeth smiled as she answered the phone, "Hello, this is Elizabeth Graham speaking."

"Elizabeth."

His voice stopped everything all around her. Hannibal.

"W-What are you doing?"

"I needed to hear your voice…and his."

"If they found out that you called me, I could have our son taken away from me," she yelled at him. "Oh my God…I'm hanging up."

"Let me speak to him…just once. Please, Lizzie," he asked softly.

Elizabeth bit her lip and closed her eyes as guilt filled her. She felt her legs walking over to Ichabod who was busy playing with his toys. She bent down and told him, "It's Daddy on the phone for you, honey."

Ichabod's face brightened as she handed him the phone. She watched as Ichabod answered in a happy tone of voice, "Daddy!"

She couldn't hear Hannibal's voice, but judging by the look on her son's face, she was glad that she gave him the phone. She didn't want to keep Hannibal away from him, but she knew she had to if he was to have a normal life.

I am doing this for Ichabod…hopefully Hannibal understands that.

TBC…

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS, FOLLOWS, AND FAVORITES! WOW! 40 chapters later and I'm so touched that you all stayed with me throughout the time so thank you all so much for your support, it really helps. I hoped you liked this chapter.

REVIEW. FOLLOW. FAVORITE. Until next time…