FOUND: A Hannigram Devil AU REWRITTEN

Chapter Thirteen

Will avoided Hannibal for the next week.

He ignored his phone calls, skipped both of his therapy appointments, and only met with Jack alone, not wanting to face the truth of what he'd learned. The things he'd seen were unforgivable, deplorable, and Hannibal had lied to him about all of it. He hid the truth from Will with the express purpose of misleading him, making Will trust him when he didn't deserve it.

Upon leaving the motel, Will immediately ripped the bandages off his hands and threw them in the nearest garbage can. Anything Hannibal had given him was cursed.

Hannibal wouldn't let him get away with it, of course. When Will tried to sleep at night, he often caught glimpses of a dancing shadow in the corner of his room. His slumber wasn't as peaceful as it used to be. The air in his dreamscape was colder and quieter. Both of them were troubled, and their souls stirred in discontent.

The silent treatment couldn't last forever. At the beginning of the next week, Will was packing up after a lecture when he sensed a presence in the previously empty doorway. He didn't have to look up to know who it was; his body knew. It thrummed with warmth, betraying him.

"I don't think I want to speak with you right now, Doctor Lecter," he said, his voice echoing through the lecture hall. He suddenly felt very cornered.

"You've been avoiding me, Will." Hannibal's face was shadowed from a distance, his expression unreadable. "It's terribly rude."

"I think you'll live." He shoved the rest of his papers into his briefcase. "I hope you can excuse me. I have to get to a meeting with Jack."

"You could have had the afternoon free if you'd just come to the meeting with me this morning." He tilted his head. "I think you'll find we have plenty of time to talk."

The constant thrum of the air conditioning halted, and the room plunged into silence. Will glanced down at his watch; the second hand was no longer ticking. The meeting with Jack wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

He sighed and leaned against the desk. "I suppose you should come in, then."

Hannibal entered the lecture hall, glancing around at the empty space. "You've missed out on some important information since you've refused to be around me. Jack doesn't understand why you're suddenly unavailable when I'm invited."

"I'm sure he'll understand eventually."

"This cannot go on forever, Will. I'm under obligation to fulfill my end of our deal, and I don't believe we've achieved what we're supposed to yet."

Will looked away, glad there was a large desk between the two of them. Then again, it would take a lot more than a plank of wood to stop the devil. "...Why did you show me those things at the motel?"

"I was curious how you would react to it."

"That's it?"

"I also noticed how distressed it made you to be pulled away from the Shrike case. When you got the call about the Angel Maker, you were very irritated." He rested his knuckles on the desk. "I figured it would be beneficial for you to have the mystery of the Copycat solved. This way, you can focus on the Shrike and the Angel Maker instead."

"You wanted to help me."

"I always have."

"All you did was create more problems for me. More bodies to look after. Another killer to consider." Will narrowed his eyes. "Why did you murder Cassie Boyle?"

"I never meant to create problems. As you suspected, I offered Cassie to you as a gift to help you discover more insight about the Minnesota Shrike. It served as both a gift and a test, I suppose — I wanted to see just how talented you were at your job. And you certainly passed."