The Devil Within

Part Two

Sherlock admired Italy, as he had done constantly since he was a child. As a whole, the people were simply more - more polite, more artistic, more musical, more intelligent. The country felt as if it was a tailored suit for Sherlock. He'd been inspired enough to create a section of his mind palace simply for learning Italian, even.

As a child, he'd begged his family to let him to, but it never worked out. The only result he received was far more material Mycroft could tease him about...but he could always fight back. After all, Italy was where many of the world's most important decisions were made, inventions were created.

Now, on the other hand, there were no older brothers to bother him. Even in the midst of hordes of people, he was alone. His was a loneliness that invigorated him rather than drain his energy away as time went onwards.

Nevertheless, he wished John could be with him. The hunt for Hannibal Lecter had not been very successful now that he was in Italy. He'd followed the trial into the foreign county, but that was where it halted. John could spark his mind and get him further.

But, of course, John was preoccupied. Right before Sherlock had hopped on the earliest flight to Italy, he'd checked John's blog. It seemed that Mary had gone into labor - John had spent a few frenzied moments trying to type something out in the early morning haze.

Sherlock chose not to fret over the event - he knew precisely what the results would be. Mary would have her child, there would be many tears of joy spread, and the child would be named to officially become a new Watson.

Sherlock didn't care about the petty details mostly due to the fact he was too far away to do a thing. He would not be heading back to London until held made solid progress on this "case." Hannibal Lecter had to be found and taken down, and he was the consulting detective to do it.

Nevertheless, fretting about the baby was a distraction that could easily come later. The child already had two doting parents who would protect them at any lengths necessary. Besides, the Watsons were two surprisingly tough people in general - they could handle everything that came their way.

At least Sherlock had a new experience waiting for him when the time did come to return home. For now, however, it was far more interesting to track down a notorious killer...one of the cleverest and most fascinating man he'd ever encountered. This was a far more person case than most would suspect - but that was precisely what made it fun.

Will had been desperate for the capture of Hannibal Lecter. He lost just about everything through a single man. Only the Holmes brotherhood had remained. Sherlock remembered how Charles Augustus Magnussen curled up his lips in a sickening smile and threatened to take away everything. But he'd been disposed of.

Strangely enough, Charles Augustus Magnussen had been brothers with Hannibal Lecter - he must've known endless troves of information that only recently became useful. The two were brothers, despite all of their vast

differences...surely Magnussen would've been aware of something that would make the case to by faster.

Despite this setback of sorts, Sherlock felt confident he could solve the case soon. He'd learned of a killer known in the area as Il Mostro. While the killer didn't exactly follow the known murders of Dr. Lecter, it was certainly close enough.

He'd have to worm into the investigations first - unfortunately, full cooperation with the local law enforcement seemed nearly impossible due to his former track record with the sort. It seemed more likely his investigations would be independent, even if it would make things more difficult.

Sherlock did enjoy a good challenge, though.

And who could pose a greater challenge than the Chesapeake Ripper, the Copy Cat Killer, the Clarence House Cannibal, Il Mostro? What could be a better case than that of Hannibal Lecter?