"You have to turn yourself in. This plane is going down. Let it be a controlled descent. You can get back up in the air again. There is rehabilitation for everyone. "Franklyn said, trying to persuade Tobias to do some good.

Hannibal, not liking how things were turning up and with Rana still hiding; decided to try and save the situation or at least change it. If Tobias chose to attack, he could handle him and he had Rana as backup.

However, if his former patient remained; it would be impossible to fight at full strength without any of them exposing themselves, especially him.

"Franklyn, I want you to leave now"

Tobias, on the other hand, did not seem to agree as he blocked the door. "Stay right where you are, Franklyn"

Franklyn in his naive mind, started to step forward towards Tobias while also trying to calm him. "You've done something horrible and I know you wish to god you didn't, but you did and there's nothing you can do to change that. The only thing you can change is your future. You're probably scared. Probably feel like you're all alone. TOBIAS I'm not alone. FRANKLYN That's right. You're not alone. Nothing has happened in our friendship that you and I can't recover from." He said, trying to somehow make the other man listen. "We can find you help, find someone who will believe and help you"

"The police are after me and they will shoot me on the spot" Tobias argued, getting more and more tired of the nonsense talking about friendship and the good within him.

"Not if one knew the truth and have witnessed you stepping down, surrendering," Franklyn said, trying not to give away too many hints yet.

The problem was, Tobias picked them up anyway and his eyes quickly started to roam the room. Someone else was present or would be soon, police most likely.

He was not the only one, for Hannibal also understood where this was going. If Franklyn continued that way, he would expose and endanger Rana. He could not have that and with one swift move, he stood behind his former patient and snapped his neck in half.

"I was looking forward to that," Tobias said, after a moment of intense silence as the body of Franklyn laid between them.

"I know," Hannibal said as they kept eyeing one another.

There was this thick tension in the room, none truly making a move yet since none could tell which side the other one was on. Right now, they were two predators facing one another, deciding whether they should lock themselves in deadly combat for freedom or simply turn the other way.

Both knew each other secret, which made them an immediate threat. None could reassure them that the secret would be kept and was not going to be used against them anytime soon. That was the biggest risk but none dared to make the first move, not yet.

Suddenly, the phone on Hannibal's desk started to ring, the sound loud and shrill; jarring their senses. Hannibal took a few steps back and incredibly calm picked up the phone to answer. Instead of doing that, however, he slammed it into the side of Tobia's head.

The force shocked the man for a moment before he recovered. He pulled razor-sharp piano wires formed into a whip and moved to slash Hannibal with precision and deadly accuracy. The male Alpha quickly brought his forearm to block the attack, resulting in only his coat arm being shredded instead of any part of his body or face.

Wasting no time, he closed the distance with silent and powerful steps; taking only one move to neutralize the wire. Dropping low, he thrust an open palm toward Tobias's midsection, then allowed his hand to glide up his nemesis's chest toward his vulnerable chin in a perfectly realized Omega punch/strike technique.

However, Tobias deflected the death blow at the last second and locked Hannibal's arm in an arm bar. Thinking he had him cornered, he is surprised to see Hannibal glaring at him with red bloody rises.

The sudden change made Tobias drop his guard and with a newfound strength, Hannibal tossed him over the desk, slamming into the support column hard. He then vaulted over the desk, wrapping the crook of his arm around Tobias' throat and pulling tight; aiming to finish him off.

Tobias started to fight to remain conscious as Hannibal locked his legs around him increasing the tension on the garrotte. In the struggle, Tobias's hands found a letter opener and wasted no time grabbing and using it; sliding it beneath Hannibal's palm, then through it; causing his opponent to sprawl backwards as blood started to pour from his fresh wound.

Hannibal was still not done, eyes glowing dangerously as he grabbed a ballpoint pen and charged. He avoided the letter opener before managing to knock it off his hand and then went for his next move. Parrying a thrust, he opened Tobias's forearm from elbow to wrist with the tip of a ballpoint pen leaving a jagged, bloody wound.

Getting tired from all this fight, one hand bleeding and a rib bruised from the sparring previously; he decided to go for the finishing move. As he thrust his pen towards Tobias's throat, he was surprised by a sharp blow to his carotid artery and stumbled back, his blood pressure momentarily dropping as his brain tried to reboot.

Grabbing the chance, decided to tackle Hannibal but before he could; someone else joined the fight.


Rana had been hearing everything passively while her mind was trying to fight back a suppressed memory. However, the sound of bone breaking and a fight quickly made her instincts kick in and she focused on the present.

From the little room, she got glimpses of the fight that had started between Tobias and Hannibal, while Franklyn lay dead on the floor. She wanted to interfere but with how close the two of them were, she knew she had to find the perfect opening or she could risk distracting Hannibal and getting injured herself.

At first, Hannibal seemed to handle the situation and something about seeing him fighting that way aroused and impressed Rana; not having pictured him as someone to get their hands dirty. However, all that changed when Tobias sliced Hannibal's palm with the letter opener.

The smell of fresh blood made her eyes turn red and a sudden possessive and protective instinct started to kick in. The logic in her mind started to lose to an invisible enemy as primary instincts were taking control over everything.

While the two men were sparring, she moved silently in a way that should not be possible. No one even realized that she had moved until she got the perfect chance. Like a wolf circling its prey, she found the perfect opening and she attacked.

With immense force, she tackled Tobias from the side before he could harm Hannibal any longer. The force caused both of them to fall to the ground, the human feeling a sharp pain from his ribcage due to the rough and sudden landing.

Yet, he did not give up and started to fight her; unaffected by her red eyes. His survival instincts had kicked in and he did not bother to wonder what was going on first with Hannibal and now her.

When he spotted the badge around her neck, he panicked and went even more on the offensive. He tried to grab her throat and bring her down but she is faster, her muscles working before her brain needed to give the order.

Dodging his attack, she grabbed his arm and with one quick move; she broke it. The sound of bone cracking was loud and clear in the room, followed by screams of Tobias as he felt the sharp pain coming from his arm.

However, the very same pain and adrenaline reminded him to keep fighting. Bringing his good hand, he delivered a strong hit with his elbow right at her nose. The sudden attack not only did it make her dizzy but caused blood to start running.

Quickly, Rana stood up with one hand holding her nose; feeling the bone intact but was not sure how much. Before she could recover fully, Tobias grabbed the same ball pen Hannibal held not so long ago and tackled her.

He dug the pen into her right shoulder and the two of them fell on the glass coffee table, with Rana taking most of the impact. The glass broke from the weight, sharp pieces flying everywhere and some digging through her clothes and into her back.

She brought her hands forward by instinct to block the next deadly attack.

Tobias had straddled her and with the sharp ball pen coated in her blood, he tried to stab her throat and end her. She held resistance, keeping the pen a certain distance away but Tobias only pushed more of his weight; making her struggle.

"Die you monster" he hissed but before he could do more, he was hit.

For Hannibal had managed to recover from the sneaky attack, only to see Rana and Tobias fighting. While impressive at first, the killer was playing dirty when he aimed for her nose and then slammed her on the glass coffee table.

With a new anger flushing through his vein, whatever injury he had was long gone once he saw Tobias on top of her; trying to finish her off. He grabbed the first thing that he found closer, a metallic heavy stag statue and went for the attack.

One sharp hid at the side of the man's head and the sound of skull cracking could be heard as blood started to escape from the new injury. Tobias collapsed on top of Rana, disoriented and barely alive.

Now that the threat was eliminated, the adrenaline in his body started to disappear and Hannibal's eyes turned back to normal before he collapsed against his desk.

Rana felt the weight of Tobias on her, causing more of the glass pieces to dig deeper into her skin. With one last grunt of anger, she pushed the man off her and lay there; covered in injuries and blood.

She glanced at Hannibal, seeing him fighting to stay conscious and she slowly started to turn and lift her body. Exhausted, she managed to half walk and half crawl before collapsing next to him, her eyes now back to normal.

Both were covered in blood, not all theirs and it was then that the reality of the situation started to kick in,


They didn't know for how long they stayed there, catching their breaths and thinking about what had just taken place. The reality started to kick in once they realized that they had to call Jack since both agents and paramedics needed to be called in.

"We can't, not yet" Rana suddenly said, surprising Hannibal.

Usually, she would be the first to call it in and she should. Yet, as she sat down and looked around; she could see why they shouldn't...not yet at least."

"And why is that?" Hannibal asked, now more in control of his body as he looked at her tired and beat messy form.

"You killed a man, Hannibal," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It was not for your self-defence and it will not look at your reputation either" she explained, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment, the end of her dirty blond locks stained with blood.

"He is still alive" he pointed out.

"Barely" she argued back, hearing the ever-so-faint heartbeat of Tobias. "He won't make it until the paramedics arrive" she continued and then frowned her eyebrows, an idea coming into her mind. "Unless..."

Now it was Hannibal's turn to lift an eyebrow and look at her, seeing her gaze locked on her gun laying on the floor; having fallen off the coaster during the fight before she could even truly pull it out.

"Unless what?" he questioned, genuinely curious as to what her mind had come up with.

Rana did not reply but moved her aching body towards her gun, glass pieces falling off her back but some remained. It was impressive how she still stood, with blood coming from her nose and the injuries on both her dominant arm but also her back.

She grabbed her gun and moved slowly towards Tobia's body, laying on his back next to Franklyn. She almost fell fully as she towered above him but held herself, her gun now inches away from his chest.

Without even blinking and with the apathy of a killer, she fired three bullets at the man's upper abdomen; forever ending his life. A strand of bloody hair fell between her eyes and for a moment, Rana felt she was back at that drenched memory she tried so hard to forget.

"Unless I finished him off while he was over me" she continued as she slowly stood up, the hand holding her gun almost limp on her side. "I am licenced to take a life in self-defence and it will be almost true. If I hadn't lost my gun during the fight, I would have shot him before you attacked him" she explained, looking at Hannibal with an apathetic face he did not have her capable of.

For a moment, Hannibal did not see Special Agent Rana Stones; a serious but humane FBI field agent. Instead, he saw a ruthless soldier, hardened by endless battles and losses. There was no sympathy in her cold eyes, her voice not a single tone of emotions while she talked; as if stating memorized dry facts.

Now he was even more curious of whom she truly was before she joined the FBI, because those brand new signs she was giving him; were not random. On the contrary, they were far from it and made him realize that it was time to start digging a little deeper on his own.

He stood up slowly, with the help of his desk. He was impressed by her thinking and proud, seeing how far she was willing to go for him. Perhaps he had been a bad influence on her but that was what made everything even more enjoyable.

"There is one more thing, we need to agree upon first" he added, making her blink and look at him with a tired look.

"My reasoning for being here," she said, quickly realizing what he meant.

She could not truly say that she came for a glass of wine to discuss a case with Hannibal since no one knew what had transpired between them a few nights ago. It also should be mentioned that it was forbidden since they were co-workers and Jack would have Hannibal's head if he ever found out.

"I say we conclude that you are here on a test session. We were in the middle of it when Franklyn interrupted" he explained and grabbed a new pen from his desk, ready to write her name on his calendar.

Rana wanted to disagree since she was not someone going to doctors; let alone psychiatrists. She also did not wish to give the wrong impression to anyone or have her judgement questioned all of a sudden.

Yet, she had to agree that this was the only logical excuse that could back up everything else without raising any suspicions. "And why do a test session?" she asked but then passed a hand over her eyes and through her messy hair. "Nevermind, I have a reason. Leave this to me"

Hannibal was curious but agreed with a nod of his head before writing down her name on his calendar, to make the excuse believable. Once he was done, he allowed her to call Jack while he watched her, taking in the unique sight of her messy clothes and blood covering her face and skin.

There was something so tempting and eye-pleasing to see her like that, all wild and dangerous. Fresh from a hunt, covered in the blood of her victim and she bore it without a care in the world. This was a sight that he would not forget easily and he would dream of it quite often.