The fire crackles. The room is warm and dim, orange light dancing across their faces. They can't escape the winter chill that slithers through the cracks of their log cabin, so they huddle together with an afghan blanket. Will is glued to the television, watching a nature documentary, while Hannibal is reading an old copy of Vogue.
Will suddenly lets out a soft gasp. "Look."
Hannibal lifts his head. A large elk moves across the screen, and as he surveys the area his massive antlers brush against the tree branches. He moves silently despite his size.
"Beautiful," Hannibal comments. "Such a majestic creature."
"I don't get how someone could hunt something so beautiful. Just for the hell of it." Will frowned. "That thing hasn't done anything to deserve being shot."
"People, on the other hand..." Hannibal smiles, leaning to kiss Will on the temple. Will laughs.
"If you told me," he says, "years ago, that this is where I'd end up, I'd tell you that you were insane."
"You didn't expect to be with a murderer? Didn't consider it even once?"
"No, I didn't, actually. The thought never really crossed my mind." Will sneers at him. "Neither did the thought that I'd be a killer, too."
"Life tends to throw curveballs at you, does it not?"
"Certainly. But I'm glad things turned out the way they did." Will pecks him on the lips. "After many trials and tribulations. We had so many different potential pathways in our lives. Our life map probably looks like the Beltway."
Hannibal chuckles. "And it's interesting to think about how many different choices we could have made. How different things would be if we'd chosen to turn left instead of right, north instead of south."
"Isn't it dangerous to dwell on what could have been? Shouldn't we be focused on the present? After all, the teacup has already been broken."
"Of course. But that doesn't mean we can't reflect." Hannibal nuzzles his face into Will's shoulder, kissing him on the neck. "It doesn't mean that we should ignore the past completely."
"Okay, then." Will pats him on the head. "Reflect with me. Let's talk about what could have been."
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What Could Have Been- A Hannigram Fanfiction
FanfictionWill and Hannibal discuss various moments of their past in which they could have made different decisions. A 5+1 fic: in which there are five things that didn't happen, and one thing that did.
