Title: Brought To Justice
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Table: writers_choice
Prompt: #100, Challenge
Author's Note: Sequel to "Times of Trouble."
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.
***
Staying one step ahead of Hannibal was going to be a challenge.Was it one that he was up to? Will frowned as he braked for a red light; he wasn't sure that he was quite ready to answer that question yet.
He didn't think that Hannibal realized just how much he knew. If he did, then he was doing a remarkably good job of holding back that knowledge, and Will didn't think his nemesis was that good of an actor. Even Hannibal couldn't hold back the expression in his eyes.
If he realized that Will still believed he was the Chesapeake Ripper, then there would be a confrontation. And Will knew that it more than likely wouldn't go his way.
He had to make Hannibal believe that he no longer felt animosity towards him, that he wanted everything to be as it had been before Will had been framed and sent to prison for Hannibal's crimes. He had to lull his enemy into a sense of peace.
That wasn't going to be easy to do, given his resentment towards Hannibal. But he had to manage it. He had to lure Hannibal out into the open, so to speak.
He had to make Hannibal trip himself up somehow.
How was he going to manage that? Hannibal had years of practice at being crafty and cautious; he knew exactly how to hide the evidence of his crimes.
But sooner or later, he had to make a mistake, Will reasoned. One thing that he'd learned about killers in the time that he'd spent working with the FBI and chasing them, as well as profiling them, was that all of them would, at some point, get sloppy.
And Hannibal was a man who obviously took great pride in his crimes, Will told himself. His own sense of self-worth would be what brought him down in the end.
He would slip up, and Will would be there to catch him in the act.
That was what he wanted, what he needed, more than anything. He needed to be the one to bring Hannibal justice, to prove that his accusations were true.
But that was going to be one of the biggest challenges he'd ever faced. Hannibal Lecter was a serial killer unlike any he had ever faced before -- his crimes were larger than life, more horrific than any others Will had ever seen or had to deal with.
Only a mind as devious as Hannibal's could devise some of the things that the Chesapeake Ripper had done. No one else could come up with things like that.
After all, some of those crimes had the semblance of art, as though the killer was creating a display. He'd crafted those scenarios lovingly, putting time and effort into them.
He should have known long before he did that Hannibal was the Ripper, Will thought bitterly. But he had let their so-called "friendship" put a protective bubble around Hannibal, which was the last thing he should have done. He should have been more vigilant.
Because he'd let his guard down and had been foolish enough to trust, he could have paid for that trust with his life. He would never forgive Hannibal for that.
Well, his eyes were wide open to the truth now.
He wouldn't be blinded again. He knew that. He was fully aware of what Hannibal was, and he was going to bring that monster to justice somehow.
The hard part would be actually achieving that goal. Bringing Hannibal to justice for all of the crimes he had committed, the lives he had taken, would be the biggest challenge he'd ever faced. It was a daunting task, and for a moment, Will doubted his ability to see it through.
He couldn't think that way, he told himself firmly. He had to believe that he would bring Hannibal to justice for what he had done. He had to believe in himself.
If he didn't, then he was defeated before he had even started.
He wasn't going to let Hannibal get away with all that he'd done. He wasn't going to let that monster go free, to live his life and harm even more people.
It wasn't just about what Hannibal had done to him -- it was about all the lives that he'd taken in the past, and would continue to take far into the future if he wasn't stopped. And it seemed that Will was the only one who was prepared to do whatever it took to stop him.
No one else was going to help him, that was for sure. Maybe Jack would, once he had more evidence. But he had to gather that evidence first.
He had to present Jack with some kind of proof that Hannibal was the Ripper, other than what was in his own mind. His memories told him what he needed to know, but Jack couldn't get inside his head. He had to get more proof than that to convince the other man.
But he would do that, Will vowed to himself. No matter how big of a challenge it was, he would rise to the occasion and meet that challenge head-on.
He would get Jack the proof he needed, and Hannibal would be brought to justice.
That was really what he wanted more than anything, to see that monster behind bars, where he had once been. He wanted Hannibal to suffer that same fate.
What Hannibal had intended to inflict upon him would instead be what he endured for the rest of his life. That would be punishment enough, wouldn't it? Will thought so, but still, a part of him wasn't sure. Hannibal had done so much more than just put him in prison for a while.
He would have his revenge. It would be a challenge to find the evidence for that revenge to be enacted, but he'd be able to do it, some way, somehow.
Even if it was the last thing he ever did.
Will sighed softly as he wound his scarf around his neck, preparing to get out. Jack had called him earlier, saying that he had a crime scene he wanted Will to meet him at. After they examined the scene, they would talk, and he would tell Jack what he had in mind.
He'd made up his mind, and nothing was going to stop him.
***
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