A few minutes later and they were still in the parking lot. Rana was wiping her hands from the soil with a wet tissue as she watches along with Will and Jack, as Gretchen Speck was loaded into the back of an ambulance by paramedics.

"We know his name. We know where he lives. We have his car. We'll have him within 24 hours." Jack said as Rana tossed the tissue to the closest bin.

"Let's hope so" she muttered, trying her hardest to be optimistic but in her line of work, it was hard.

Suddenly, Jimmy Price approached them with some trepidation. "Jack. We just checked browser history at Stammets' workstation."

This made the leader look at him. "Do I want to hear this?"

"No. And yes. But mostly no."


Back in the pharmacy, our heroes are looking at one of the computer screens, which their suspect used often and even minutes before their arrival. Jack pulled up the internet browser to reveal a full screenshot of WILL standing in the forest crime scene, head hung low.

The headline read "TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE."

Beverly leaned closer to the screen, reading out loud. "The FBI isn't just hunting psychopaths, they're head-hunting them, too, offering competitive pay and benefits in the hopes of using one demented mind to catch an-"

"Enough," Rana said, her voice oddly calm but her hand placed on the table next to the computer keyboard had turned into a tight fist, knuckles white from the immense pressure. Her eyes glowed red, barely being reflected by the screen as a vein popped by Jack's neck.

"Son-of-a-bitch."

Rana pushed her body back, eyes back to normal but her jaw was tense. There was this coldness in her eyes, which made the trio and Will feel uncomfortable as she stared right into Jack's eyes. "Let me lead this one. I owe her"

While Will was confused about what they spoke of, the others knew and especially Jack. He would have given her the pleasure either way, but the way she looked at him and passively demanded...made him feel this inner need to obey it to its last detail. He didn't understand why but he didn't question it either.


And so, the very same night in a small motel, Freddie Lounds was busy brushing her teeth as she stopped over her laptop, checking mail. There's a flurry of muffled, cautious footsteps drumming down the hall outside.

She glances at the crack under her door and saw shadows gathering on the other side. Not good, she thought but before she could react...

BAM!

The door was kicked open by an inhuman force, hinges flying off and the door falling right to the floor as several agents burst into her room, instantly on top of her.

Before she knew it, Freddie found herself being thrown on the bed in her front, while someone was pressing their knee on her back. "He-hey...!..." she felt the cuffs being strapped around her wrists in a horrible, painful, quick move that made her look above her shoulder. She paled at the familiar face of Rana, whose face showed a lack of emotions.

There was this bloodthirst behind her brown eyes, like a ravaged animal that had been left to starve before being introduced to a tasty meal.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" Rana asked in the most mocking tone, moving her knee on purpose to press the journalist's lung, causing her to have trouble breathing properly. Jack enters the room right after, and only then does Rana force lift Freddie onto her feet and force her to face him.

"I appreciate the pageantry, Agent Crawford, but you can't arrest me for writing an article." She said, trying to remain cool while also regaining her breath, She gave Rana a side glance. "And I believe there are restraining orders about you"

Rana smirked as Jack spoke next. "Those orders have long been dropped when you lost that case one year ago. As for arresting you...You entered a federal crime scene without permission."

"Escorted by a detective."

"Under false pretence."

"He should have been more thorough. Still, it's as good as permission."

"You lied to a police officer."

"You can't arrest me for lying."

Jack studied her quietly for a moment before he noticed Rana. She was glaring at the woman but she was making that face again. She was thinking something at that moment, something that Jack was about to miss before he chose to change his tactic.

"You got all that information from a local detective?"

"Lots of talk about your man Graham. Not to mention the rivalry of who gets the collar. A local detective looking for a pissing contest with the F.B.I. might have some insight."

"And did," Rana muttered, realizing how the police got involved and for a moment she was not sure to whom to direct her anger first.

"Sure did," Freddie said with a small smirk. "What is it about Graham? Is he your psychic? Or do you consider using a psychic desperate coping?" This caused Rana to pull the journalist's arms further back, causing mild pain coming from her shoulders.

The redhead tried her best not to show any signs that this annoyed her but she was not the best at hiding pain, the pain she was not used to. And how the hell was Rana still so strong? She remembered that article she had written about her and her achievements, blaming steroids. She was still very certain that was the case.

At the same time, Jack took a pair of tweezers from his pocket and plucked a hair from Freddie Lounds' shoulder. "Unfortunate timing of your article allowed a murderer to escape."

"You're blaming my article?"

"You were in Minnesota. In the Shrike's Nest. You contaminated that crime scene. Everywhere you go, you contaminate crime scenes. That's obstructing justice. " Rana explained to her through greeted teeth, trying her best to contain her anger.

Jack nodded. "I can indict you for obstructing justice."

This made Freddie smile, trying to hide her sudden nerves with charm but failing to do so. Rana smelt it in her sweat, heard it by the way her heart started to beat faster and for a moment, she found it harder to control her impulses and not pound on her.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't," Freddie said.

Jack smirked, satisfied. "Don't write another word about Will Graham and I won't have to."


One would think that after that night in the hotel, our heroes would have a few days free and away from the noisy redhead journalist. However, the very next day Freddie decided to meet with the detective, who had already been fired after Jack exposed him to his superiors.

During their meeting, the latest serial killer appeared and shot the detective, right in front of Freddie, leaving her shaking and covered by blood splatters. The gunshot and the body immediately notified the FBI, making Jack and Rana end up at the latest crime scene.

From afar, they can see a shaken Freddie Lounds being attended to by Paramedics. Her blank, blood-spattered stare barely masked the trauma as Pascal's dead body was wheeled toward an expectant Ambulance.

She did even look up as our heroes approached and Rana would not lie but enjoyed seeing the sneaky cunning woman at the other end for a change. She was the reason why Pascal was dead and she witnessed it first-hand. Rana was also satisfied that Pascal was out of the way, feeling a sense of justice that the corrupted detective that spoke to Freddie would not betray anyone ever again.

"Miss Lounds?" Jack asked, drawing her attention but she did not look at them.

"He read my article." She said, staring at pretty much nothing.

This made the two agents exchange a look, both having the same question but it was Jack who voiced it out. "Eldon Stammets just killed a cop, what stopped him from killing you."

"It's a well-written article. He wants me to write another one."

Rana lifted an eyebrow. "He wants you to write a manifesto?"

"Where's Will Graham?"

Rana suddenly found it odd that she asked for Will but Jack did not see it as deeply as her partner did. "We have an eye witness to the murder. We don't need Will Graham."

The female tried to study her more and her face paled for a moment. "That's not why she is asking. This was about Will, wasn't it?"

Freddie nodded. "He was talking about people sharing the same properties of a fungus. Thoughts leap from brain to brain. They mutate. They evolve."

This made Jack get impatient, but he was not the only one. " What does he want with Will Graham?"

"Someone who understands him. Graham was right. Stammets is looking for connections."

"What did you tell him?"

Freddie doesn't respond, eyes going distant again. Rana snapped, grabbing both of her shoulders in a firm grip, forcing the journalist to stare into her hard cold eyes. "What did you tell him about Will Graham?" she asked, a silent command in her words as her stare made Freddie's heartbeat increase, similar to how she was when she sat next to Hannibal.

"I told him about the Hobbs girl. I told him, everything. He wants to help Will Graham connect with Abigail Hobbs. He's going to bury her."

Rana released Freddie and grabbed her phone, dialling Will's number. Jack looked at her, curious and slightly confused. "Will is at the hospital now...with Abigail..."


At the hospital, Will had taken a chance to walk the empty corridors of the hospital after sitting for quite a while with Abigail. Halfway through his walk, his phone rang and he noticed it was Rana, who was calling him.

He picked it up. "Hello."

The phrase she told him, made his run blood cold and his expression fall.

Stammets is after Abigail

This was more than enough to make him jam his cell phone into his pocket and sprint down the hall toward Abigail's room, navigating patients and nurses in his mad dash. Once he reached it, he came to a halt just outside the door.

Reaching into his trousers for his revolver, he took a measured step into the room...and find it empty.

No Eldon Stammets. No Abigail Hobbs.

This doesn't stop him as his mind races while he runs into the hallway, snatching the elbow of a passing nurse and demanding: "Where is she? Abigail Hobbs. The girl in this room. Where is she?"

The nurse felt odd by the way she was grabbed, feeling the pressure coming from Will close enough to leave a mark on it. However, his words made her focus fully on him and ignore the small pain. "They took her for tests."

"Who took her? Who took her?" for a moment, his eyes flash yellow and the nurse stammers.

Will pushed her to the side and started running for the stairs, bright yellow eyes glowing as he found this inner new strength to go faster.


Eldon Stammets had successfully disguised himself as a male nurse and was now calmly pushing the gurney carrying a comatose Abigail. He never expected the stairwell door at the other end of the hallway to burst open and a winded Will Graham to rush out. This startled him and he started to move.

However, Will was faster as he raised his gun and locked his piercing primal gaze on his target before he pulled the trigger...

BLAM!

The bullet took out a piece of Eldon Stammets shoulder, violently propelling him backwards, his gun clattering to the floor as he reached for it. Will pulled Abigail's gurney into the hall, moving in on Eldon, kicking his gun out of reach.

He then looked down at Eldon, who is in a state of shock by both the wound but also the piercing yellow eyes staring right into his soul. "What were you going to do with her?"

"We evolved from mycelium. Only reintroducing her to the concept." He answered, truthfully.

"By burying her alive?"

"Opisthokontum. A superkingdom of Animalia and fungi together. That journalist said you understood me."

Will felt sick only at the idea, the yellow in his eyes disappearing but his gun never pointed away from his laying target. "I don't."

"You would have. Walk into a field of mycelium, they know you're there. Their spores reach for you when you pass by. I know who you're reaching for. You should have let me plant her. You would have found her in a field where she could finally reach back."

Will did not comment on that but the next words, he said them with a coldness that even he did not expect. "You should know I'm a terrible shot. I was trying to kill you."