"This is Hannibal Lecter," Elizabeth said to her classroom which was full of students as she began her lecture, showing them a picture on the screen of Hannibal.
She was offered a job by Jack as a professor at the academy a few months after Hannibal's arrest. No later had she found out that the last time she had sex with Hannibal was when she became pregnant with their daughter, Valentina.
Elizabeth gulped nervously as she continued, seeing Will in the audience, "Who better to lecture this man then the woman who loved him and was actually married to him. Now that that's out of the way, let's begin this lecture, shall we by starting at the beginning of his life? I will say this once and firmly state that Lecter does not fit any known psychological profile. Some like Dr. Frederick Chilton will claim in their books or a lecture that he is a pure sociopath or psychopath, but he is wrong. It is true that Lecter has no conscience and was believed to have tortured animals as a child, but does not exhibit any other of the criteria traditionally associated with psychopathy. Truthfully, we don't know what to call him."
"Dr. Hannibal Lecter was born in Lithuania. He was orphaned at a young age with his younger sister, Mischa. His cannibalistic nature began when he was a child and was traumatized when he witnessed the murder and cannibalism of his beloved sister, Mischa, by a group of deserting Lithuanian Hilfswillige, one of whom claimed that Lecter unwittingly ate his sister as well. He did not know that he was eating his own sister at the time until later on. At the age of sixteen, he lived with his Aunt and Uncle for the rest of his time as a teenager, perhaps even after that."
Elizabeth walked around the desk and sat on it, continuing, "He is intellectually brilliant, cultured and sophisticated, with refined tastes in art, music and cuisine. He is well-educated and speaks several languages, including Italian, German, Russian, Polish, French, Spanish, and, to some extent, Japanese. He is deeply offended by rudeness, and frequently kills people who have bad manners. He frequently prepared gourmet meals from his victims' flesh and ate them, most of the time feeding them to anyone who joined him for dinner. This kind of thing amused him and the reason why he had no regret about any of this is because he thought of his victims as pigs and what do we do to pigs in society? Anyone?"
A boy raised his hand, answering, "We…eat them."
"Exactly. We don't treat them like with respect and we only see those creatures as food. Then we cut them up and serve them to others. He doesn't consider himself and what he does as cannibalism. He told me one time that it's only cannibalism if they are your equals…no one suspected Hannibal Lecter because he was charming and smart with his kills, he had this aura with him that made people feel safe. He was ordinary. No one suspected Hannibal until someone put the pieces together that The Copycat Killer and The Ripper were the same person."
She then showed the picture of the where Beverly found the signature of The Ripper on the bodies. "His signature is what gave him away the first time. It was found by Dr. Beverly Katz, a fellow collogue of the FBI. She was killed the next day when she went to his home, finding out about him. He cut her body into six pieces, displaying them in the observatory where Miriam Lass's arm was found before."
After she finished her lecture and her class left with shocked and little horrified faces, she smiled sadly at Will who was still sitting down in the chair, staring at the picture of bodies left behind by Hannibal.
"It's been a long time since I thought about him," Will admitted.
"I think that that's not entirely true, Will. We think of him softly from time to time, do we not? We were close to him," she explained. "We loved him. Have you seen him?"
"No. Have you?"
"No, I can't see him," Elizabeth confessed as she sat down next to him. "Luckily, the kids are older so they can walk in there to see him and Bill will go in there for me, but still…I feel like a horrible person for not seeing him."
"Don't. You are a good person and are trying to move on with your life, are you not?" Will told her. "We all get that. So who is this Mr. Mathew Harrison that I've being hearing Molly go on and on about in your life, sis?"
Elizabeth laughed. "He's great actually. We've gone out a couple of times. He has a son about Ichabod's age, his wife died when his son, Alaric was born. They all get along so well really."
"How's Valerie?"
"You know how she is, she's extremely shy and very quite around Mathew and Alaric whenever they come over for dinner. I already explained to him and he understands completely which is a relief," Elizabeth explained.
"She'll warm up to him, but we both know that she's guarded with every new person that comes into her life. She never liked change and we're lucky enough that she grew up with Molly so she's comfortable with her. Tell me more about him."
"He's a lawyer-an extremely good one at that. He likes to build things, he even built me a small greenhouse, already planted a punch of flowers in there. Valerie likes it since it's her hiding place or when she wants to be alone. Mathew is the kindest man I have ever met, Will. I know it's new, but it feels good."
"But not right," Will suggested. "You still love Hannibal."
"Not as strongly as I did three years ago. If I don't see him or talk to him then I think my love for him will slowly disappear. There will always be apart of me though that still feels something for him, but the other half wants to explore this new thing with Mathew. I have to try."
Her phone rang and Elizabeth answered it, "Hey."
"We're right outside. I already picked up Valerie from daycare, Alaric and Ichabod from preschool," Mathew said over the phone.
"I'm the smartest kid in the class, mommy!" Ichabod yelled over the phone.
She chuckled and told him, "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. You can pick out dinner tonight, okay?"
"YAY!" The kids yelled and then she heard them conversing on what to pick for dinner tonight.
"Alright, well, I'll come out right now."
"See you soon, Lizzie."
They ended the phone call and Elizabeth smiled at Will. "That was Mathew. I have to go since the kids are already riled up about their dinner."
"Jack came to me today, Lizzie."
"Shit," she muttered. "Why?"
"Just watch out, alright? He's going to go to you probably," Will warned.
Elizabeth scoffed. "After the last time he brought me out onto a case, I fell in love with the killer, Will. I doubt that he will put me on a case again."
"We'll see," Will told her. "Goodbye, Lizzie and tell my niece and nephew that their uncle and aunt love them."
"Okay. Love you too."
Elizabeth gathered her things and walked out the building to see his black BMW parked on the street. She stepped inside and leaned over, kissing him on the lips quickly.
"Hey."
"Hi."
Mathew had dark golden hair with a strong jaw and extremely handsome features. He had bright green eyes and tall frame complemented with comely features and a smile that cut like a knife. He had muscles that he worked on at the gym, taking Elizabeth with him whenever he could. He was about Will's age, making him older than her. Mathew, in appearance and personality was perfect in every way.
"I missed you," he told her. "I'm glad you're here."
"I missed you too, Mathew. So I'm starving, where are we gonna eat, you guys?"
They all screamed out their reply and she looked at Mathew. "You heard them. Get moving."
Mathew smirked at her, whispering, "Stay the night."
Elizabeth kissed his lips. "Okay. You have the rooms ready?"
"Yes, I do."
Elizabeth smiled at him as he drove them to get dinner and then to his home just a couple of houses down from hers. They met while they were both running at the same time…he was checking her ass out when he tripped over a rock as he later admitted to her after a two months of dating each other. Elizabeth of course stopped and helped him up, tending to his wounds. They found that they had plenty in common actually. If she hadn't met Hannibal, Elizabeth would've already fallen head over heels in love with Mathew, but now she was cautious of everyone she met and whoever her children met as well.
Elizabeth frowned when she saw Jack's car in his driveway as he stood on the porch, waiting for her.
"He is serious?" Mathew asked incredulously.
She had confessed all about her past with Hannibal to Mathew and she was surprised to find out that he was okay with what had happened. Understanding as always was Mathew Harrison…except like Molly; he hated Jack Crawford with a passion.
"Jack is always serious," she grumbled and got out of the car. "Take the kids inside, Mathew. I'll handle this, okay?"
"Are you sure? I could always give him a good punch or two before I go. You know protect your honor and all," Mathew joked.
"Very funny, you and I both know that I can take you both any time and any day," Elizabeth reminded him with a secretive smile.
"Oh, I know this too well sadly," Mathew replied, smirking then looked down to her children. "Your mother likes to beat me up."
"That's not nice, mamma," Valerie yawned as she lifted her head from Elizabeth's shoulder. "Who's that?"
"It's not nice to point," Ichabod scolded his little sister. "You remember what Daddy taught us?"
She nodded. "I know."
Mathew and Elizabeth shared a look. "What did he teach you two?"
"How to be polite to people, mamma," Valerie replied.
"She told him about Mathew and he got all angry at first before we calmed him down," Ichabod whispered to them. "She's mad at you, mommy for not being with Daddy, but he told her to always be polite to everyone she meets."
"Thank you for being honest," Mathew replied, putting a hand over his shoulder. "We'll go inside and get the table set, alright?"
Elizabeth handed him Valerie who didn't actually mind Mathew holding her at that moment as they all went inside.
"Cute family," Jack complimented. "Will already told you why I'm here?"
"No, just that you came to him with a case, but he didn't tell me what it was."
"He's called the Tooth Fairy," Jack started.
"Who gave him that name I wonder? Freddie or Frederick?"
"Frederick," Jack answered in a gruff voice. "I have the case for you. Please say yes, Elizabeth, I need your eyes on this. Will too. You caught Hannibal"
"Hannibal surrendered because of his son; he didn't do it for me. We both already know that once he gets out, he'll come after us, and he will kill us."
"I'll be waiting for him then. Alana told me that you don't go to see him."
"I can't. I'm happy now and I can't face him, but something tells me that if I go on this case then I will have to," Elizabeth explained.
"I'm at the end of my rope here, Elizabeth. You and Will are the only ones that can help me right now."
"Tell me what you've got and I can give my opinion on them."
"In the last month, he's killed two families. Both with the same similarities and the way they were killed, says that this is the same guy."
"Why two families though? Is it emptiness in his heart that yearns for a family? Or it is his hatred for them perhaps? Both crimes appear to be either on or near a full moon and from what I've read from before, it might be as if he's another person…I don't know, I would have to see the crime scenes."
"So does this mean that you're on the case?" Jack questioned curiously.
"I need to see the crime scenes. Now goodbye, Jack, I have a hungry family inside that needs my attention. I'll take a look at the file and I'll call you in the morning. Goodnight."
Elizabeth went back inside of the warm house, smiling as the boys rushed past her, shooting each other with nerf guns. She walked into the kitchen, setting down the file.
Mathew eyed the file then her. "You didn't?!"
"I might-I don't know. I haven't decided yet," she told him. "I'm starving so let's eat."
Valerie carried the utensils to the table, setting them beside each plate.
"Why is there an extra plate setting?" Elizabeth asked curiously.
Mathew shook his head as Valerie replied, "For Daddy."
"In case he comes of course," Mathew muttered to Elizabeth. "She does that all the time."
"I'm worried about her," she admitted to him softly. "She depends on a lot of what he says to her. I mean you heard what he told her about being polite to you and everyone else, right? She's like his pending servant or some shit."
"Are you angry at the relationship he has with her?"
"Sometimes. I mean I hate the kind of strong influence he has on her where he can tell her to do anything and she'll do it," Elizabeth explained.
Mathew wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm sorry. I know that it's been rough for you and probably me not being there for the birthday part must've been freaking irritating, huh?"
"A little, but I get why you decided not to come since we were going to see Hannibal after or well, the kids went to go see him. I still wished that you were there though."
"I'll be there next year and the year after that," he started to kiss her neck and jaw. "And the year after that and year after that."
She giggled and pushed away from him. "Not in front of them."
"Fine. I can wait especially for you, Elizabeth Graham," he murmured in her ear.
"GRANDPA!" Valerie yelled happily and soon Klaus came in, almost falling over as his grandchildren, Alaric included ran into him.
"Hey, knuckle-heads," he greeted. "Aw, you guys expected my coming, didn't you? See, Ichabod and Alaric, didn't I tell you that those spidey senses will work by getting bitten by that spider. Now your Grandpa is Spider-Man!"
"But you're so old," Valerie drawled out.
They all erupted into laughter and Klaus swung his granddaughter around, tickling her as the boys held onto his legs as to stop him.
TBC…
THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS, FOLLOWS, AND FAVORITES! I hoped you liked this chapter. Mathew looks like Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
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