Palatial Intimacy

XXXII- The Blade

May 5, 2030

It was the day of reckoning. Neither Hannibal nor Will had been able to get more sleep, so they spent the rest of the night drinking coffee and finalizing their plans. They had to make sure everything was perfect, every minute detail covered.

They watched the sun rise from the kitchen window. When the sky was a brilliant orange and Hannibal's face was illuminated by golden light, Will took his hand and kissed his knuckles.

The first phone call came a little before nine that morning. Will stared at his phone screen, dread setting in at the sight of Jack's name.

"This is either run-of-the-mill, or we're fucked," he said, placing the phone on the table. "Stay quiet."

He answered the call, putting Jack on speaker. "Hey. You need me to come in?"

"We're gonna call Hannibal Lecter in about an hour." There wasn't anything different in Jack's voice. No suspicion, no wariness. Will took that as a good sign. "We'll ask him to come in as soon as possible. We don't know for sure when or if he'll agree to come, but it'd be good to have you here anyway."

"I can be there in, like, forty-five minutes."

"Sounds good. You sleep okay? Good enough mental state to use the LOOM?"

"Would you stop me if I wasn't?"

Jack paused. "Is that a no?"

Will caught a smirk on Hannibal's face. "I'll be fine, Jack. See you soon."

Will hung up the call. The silence in the kitchen was now much heavier.

"I think we're in the clear," he said after a moment. "Do you?"

"As of right now."

"We're gonna be okay, right?" Will asked. "We're ready for this?"

"It's going to be beautiful, Will." Hannibal gazed at him tenderly. "So beautiful."

Will stood. "I guess I should go."

Hannibal followed suit, hugging Will tightly. Will sank into it, returning the embrace, and he couldn't stop his heart from beating faster.

"I love you," Hannibal said. "I'll see you soon."

Will gripped his keys tightly, kissing Hannibal on the cheek before walking out the front door for what would be the last time.

———

Small details were always more interesting when you know you would never be seeing them again. Will paced through the halls of the FBI laboratories with this thought in mind, taking note of every slight imperfection that he'd never really noticed before. A scratch in that glass window, the worn-down letters on the office plaques, the odd stain on the carpet that no one could identify. They'd become such common symbols in his life, and now he would be leaving them behind forever.

Someone else may take his place — or maybe not. Maybe what he was about to do would change the trajectory of this technology. Maybe they'd never use the LOOM again. He honestly hoped for that; he wanted to be the only one of his kind. No one else deserves to go through the pain nor the beauty that this connection brought.

As soon as he entered Jack's office, they called Hannibal to let him know that the FBI wanted to ask him a few more questions. They wanted to use the machine once more, just to tie up loose ends, and then if Hannibal was innocent, there would be no reason to bother him ever again. Hannibal, of course, took the news in stride, cordially agreeing to come in.

Will and Jack had about an hour to put their heads together. Jack shot ideas off of Will, who focused more on appearances than effective planning. He had to seem nervous, like he didn't want to use the LOOM again. He was the one with the broken brain, the one who knew how dangerous this device really could be. It wasn't a hard acting job; his nerves were mostly real. They were just there for different reasons.