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Title: Caught in A Web
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Table: writers_choice
Prompt: #408, Web
Author's Note: Sequel to "Kept To Himself."
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 sighed softly, gazing out of the window of the coffee shop. He was on a break from classes, though he had to be back in front of a room full of students in less than two hours.

What he really wanted to do was to go to Baltimore and see Hannibal, but he knew that wasn't possible. By the time he got there, he might have an hour at best before he had to turn around drive back. And he wouldn't want to leave once he was there.

Hannibal was becoming an addiction for him, an addiction that he craved more and more with each passing day. It was starting to worry him.

Was he in love? And how could he tell if he was?

He sighed again, resting his head against the frosted glass of the window for just a moment and closing his eyes. What did he know about love?

When he straightened up again, he turned resolutely away from the window. There was a couple outside on the street, two men who were walking along hand in hand, both of them smiling happily. He wanted that couple of be him and Hannibal.

The two of them were happy in their relationship, weren't they? Will wanted to believe that. He wanted to know that they were both satisfied with what they had.

But even as that thought formed in his mind, he knew that it wasn't true. He might be satisfied with where their relationship stood at the moment, but he wasn't truly happy. There was still too much that he wanted, too much that he wasn't sure he would ever have.

He wanted their relationship to be closer in the emotional sense. He wanted to be not only Hannibal's lover, but the man he loved.

He wanted Hannibal to be in love with him, just as he was with Hannibal.

He was caught up in Hannibal's web, a web that the other man had spun around when he apparently hadn't been looking. He was rolled up into those sticky threads just like a fly was rolled into a spider's web, becoming a meal for the hungry predator.

But Hannibal wasn't a predator, was he? No, Hannibal was his lover. Maybe he could even call Hannibal his boyfriend, at this point.

That was something they'd have to talk about -- how their viewed each other within the context of their new relationship. Will had to smile reluctantly at that thought. He doubted that Hannibal would use such a word as "boyfriend" to describe him.

No, he would probably use the word "lover."

Not tht he minded such a word, Will told himself hastily. He was Hannibal's lover, and being referred to by that word didn't bother him at all.

It felt strange to think of himself as being anyone's lover. After spending pretty much his entire life being convinced that he would never love anyone, or find anyone to love him, suddenly having a lover was hard to get used to.

And it was even more strange to think of himself as being caught up, swept away, helpless to stop whatever might happen between the two of them.

But did he really want to stop it? He didn't think so. He wanted this to go on and on, to bring him to the edge again and again, to see where ti would take him.

Yes, he was caught in a web -- but Will was sure that this was where he wanted to be. He'd been the one to take those steps forward; he'd had his eyes wide open, knowing what he was getting into. He hadn't thought that Hannibal would be an easy lover.

He'd wanted Hannibal from the first time they'd met. And now that his dreams were coming true, he wasn't going to back away from having them fulfilled.

Even if he might be a little scared of those dreams now.

It was impossible not to be a little scared of Hannibal sometimes, he told himself. The man was intense; there was a purpose to everything he did, and he was the kind of person who didn't stop until he achieved his goals, until he got what he wanted.

That was one of the reasons why he was so drawn to Hannibal, so caught up in his web of attraction. If he'd been less intense, he would be less interesting.

And less desirable, Will admitted with a soft sigh. Maybe he was drawn to Hannibal because his lover had always seemed like a slightly dangerous man. Maybe he wanted a bit of that danger in his life. Maybe he had always wanted to dance along the edge.

Well, we was definitely doing that now.

Just being with Hannibal was taking a walk on the wide side, wasn't it? He was unpredictable. There was no way of knowing what would happen next.

A part of him liked that, Will thought to himself. A part of him liked feeling wild and abandoned, not knowing exacty where this relationship was going to lead him, what barriers it would break down. Being with Hannibal was exciting, an adventure.

But part of him wanted more security than he would ever have in this relationship. Part of him wanted things to be more gentle, more steady.

That thought almost made him laugh aloud. Steadiness, with Hannibal? Security? That wasn't something he'd ever know if he kept this relationship going. But he didn't really have a choice in that matter. His emotions had already made that decision for him.

Of course he would keep this relationship going. Because, in the end, he belonged in this spider's web. He belonged to Hannibal, and no one else.

And really, if he was honest, there was nowhere else he would rather be.

Will looked at his watch, sighing. He'd sat here and thought for nearly half an hour without even ordering lunch. He had to eat quickly before he went back to work.

That was one of the effects Hannibal had on him, he told himself as he signaled a waiter to come over and take his order. He had the power of distraction; once he took over Will's thoughts, he wasn't easily dismissed from them. He really was caught in a web.

But then, he told himself, he was exactly where he belonged. And he really didn't want to be anywhere else -- even if staying here might be more dangerous than he thought.

***