Title: Laying Down His Arms
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Table: writers_choice
Prompt: #644, Weapons
Author's Note: One-shot.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Hannibal Lecter or Will Graham, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.
***
Will had captured him, without even trying.Hannibal sighed at the thought, resting his head in his hands. He had sworn that this would never happen to him, that he would never fall in love.
He shouldn't have been able to let this happen. By all rights, he shouldn't have the capability of falling in love, not when he considered what he was.
He was a serial killer. For all intents and purposes, he shouldn't be able to love. That was part of his psychological makeup, and he had accepted that fact long ago. Love was something that was meant for other people, but not for him. He simply couldn't feel that emotion.
Wasn't that what Will always said about himself, as well? That love was an emotion meant for everyone but him. It was just one more thing that drew them together.
He hadn't intended to fall in love with Will. He hadn't wanted to. He had wanted to keep his distance from the young man, to merely be his friend, nothing more.
But he'd been drawn to Will. He couldn't stay away.
There was something about Will that fascinated him. It wasn't just the beautiful face and body that drew him; it was the incredibly beautiful mind beneath them.
To him, Will was utterly irresistible. He couldn't have kept himself away from the young man if he'd tried -- and admittedly he hadn't tried very hard. He had let himself fall prey to his emotions, even as he warned himself all the while that it could be a mistake.
He hadn't even realized at first that he was falling for Will. He had simply thought that their odd friendship was growing at an exponential rate.
There had been far more to his feelings than that.
He had finally had to admit the truth to himself, though he hadn't really wanted to -- that he had fallen head over heels in love with Will Graham.
Hannibal hadn't wanted this. He hadn't wanted to let himself love; loving was dangerous. He had found that out so long ago, when his sister, the one person in his life who he had ever truly loved before Will, had been brutally murdered. Loving only led to heartbreak.
But really, it had been impossible for him not to fall in love with Will. He had been so idealistic, though he'd tried to hide that behind a veneer of cynicism.
Hannibal had seen right through that facade Will had put up. He had known what was in the young man's heart; it had shone through, as brightly as the sun.
Hannibal had found himself wanting to extinguish that bright light.
Not by killing Will; oh, no, that thought was anathema to him. Well, at least for the time being. In the back of his mind, he was sure that he would be forced to do away with Will eventually. Sooner or later, he would come to know too much, and he would be a liability.
But for now, all he wanted was to be close to Will, to confess his love. And more than anything, he wanted Will to say that he felt the same.
Yes, he had indeed been captured. He had always been the spider, and others had been caught in the webs of his making. This time, the tables had been neatly turned.
This time, he was the fly who had blundered into those sticky threads that held him fast. He had been captured, not by weapons that held him at bay, but by weapons of love. And those weapons kept him a prisoner as surely as if he was held in place by chains.
It was a bit galling to admit that he was so helpless.
He shoudn't be surprised, not really, he told himself with a sigh. He should have known that this was coming from the first moment he had met Will.
He should have known that there was something different about what he felt for Will right from the first time they had shaken hands, when he'd felt his heart flutter.
He had fallen in love right at the start, hadn't he? Well, perhaps not love, Hannibal amended. But there had been a definite attraction from that first smile, that first hello. He couldn't deny it. Something about Will had captured him right from the beginning of their acquaintance.
His fascination only grew with each passing day. He was now at the point where he didn't think he could survive without having Will in his life.
That was dangerous for him. He had too much to hide.
Hannibal was realistic about what Will would think if he knew the truth about him. The friendship would turn to disgust, and Will would back away from him.
Will was intrinsically a good person. Yes, he had that dark side to his personality -- everyone did. All people were yin and yang, two sides of the same coin. But the darkness within Will hovered much closer to the surface than it did in most people. It could come out at any time.
He still had hopes of bringing that darkness out, but now, he wondered if he truly wanted to do that. Would Will be changed far too much if he did?
If he changed Will, would he still be so much in love?
If he managed to extinguish that light burning within Wil, then the young man would become a different person. And perhaps his love for Will would fade away.
He didn't want that to happen. Will had become so entrenched in his heart and soul that not having him there would feel as though he had lost a limb.
He was bound to Will in so many ways; love was only one of them. Will had somehow managed to use those weapons of love to capture his heart, but they could also be referred to as weapons of mass destruction, as they were destroying everything that Hannibal had once held dear.
To his surprise, he was finding that he didn't want to continue on as he'd been. He was ready to give up killing, to try and become the man he knew that Will would want him to be.
He wanted to believe that such a man was hidden somewhere within him, that he could become that man if he was given enough time to change.
Was it possible? Could Will's weapons bring him to bay?
He'd like to think that they could. He'd like to think that those weapons of mass destruction that Will wielded could bring him to his knees, and make him a better man.
If Will brought more of those weapons of love into play, even without realizing that he had done so, Hannibal knew that he would have no defense against them. He couldn't deny Will anything -- not even if that meant his own destruction would be assured.
It was time for him to lay down his arms, he told himself with a sigh. Will had won. He was prostrate at the other man's feet, admitting his feelings, baring his soul.
Will had brought him to his knees -- and he didn't want to get back up again.
He was content to be right where he was, for the rest of his life. For all time. Now that those weapons of love had been brought into play, he was done for.
And strangely, he thought with a smile, a part of him didn't mind this turn of events at all. In fact, he was ready to embrace his feelings, to give in to them completely.
Will had found the only weapon that could defeat him, without even trying.
That weapon was aimed directly at his heart, and he welcomed the final shot.
He was no longer fighting. He was going to give in peacefully to the inevitable.
Hannibal was laying down his arms, and surrendering to love.
***
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