Title: Fairy Tales Don't Come True
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Sequel to "By His Very Nature."
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.
***
He had promised Will that he would come back.And he would do so, Hannibal told himself firmly. Will was unfinished business that he needed to take care of, and he couldn't put it off any longer.
He hadn't yet decided what Will's fate would be. Something within him couldn't bring himself to put an end to Will, though that would be the safest way to go.
Hannibal crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair. Did he love Will? He wasn't certain what the answer to that all-important question was. He certainly had a fascination with the young man, but he didn't know if it could be called by that particular four-letter word.
Any capacity that he'd had in his heart for real love had ended with the death of his sister. He had known that all of his life. He wasn't capable of that sort of deep emotion now.
But Will had stirred something within him that he'd thought was long forgotten. Perhaps not love, but a feeling that was akin to it, at any rate.
What was it about Will that made him so alluring -- so irresistible?
Hannibal couldn't answer that question, and he wondered idly if he would ever be able to. Of course, there was no real way to explain attraction.
He knew that he would keep going back to Will, again and again, until he had exorcised himself of the strange fascination that the other man held for him. It wasn't rational, and he couldn't explain why he felt this way. He just knew that he did, and for now, that was enough.
Ordinarily, he probably would have been annoyed that anyone could hold that kind of fascination for him. It was certainly odd, and unlike him, to feel this way.
But then, Will was different from anyone he had ever known before. There were such depths to him, depths that he didn't even realize he possessed.
Or maybe he did realize it, and ran from that darkness.
Hannibal sighed softly, shaking his head. Will had no need to run from that darkness; being the person he was, it would never consume him. Yes, there was a dark side to his nature, as there was to everyone's. But Will was one of those people who would never give in to it.
He would never let himself be controlled by darkness, and Hannibal thought that was a pity. Will, more than anyone he had ever known, was an avatar of the light.
There was no way that he would be able to bend Will to his desires. He had tried, and he had failed. There was no use to keep on trying. He wouldn't succeed.
He really shouldn't have been so persistent; he should have known from the first that Will wasn't going to bend. The stubborn young man would rather break than bend; in a way, Hannibal admired him for that. Will would always stick his principles, and not many people would.
But he had to admit that he did find that quality problematic.
He'd long since come to the realization that Will wouldn't be what he desired. That dream was dead; it had never been feasible, and he should have already accepted that fact.
He had made a terrible mistake when he'd let his carnal desires get away from him, and had taken Will. That had solidified him as an enemy in Will's mind.
They could never go back to the casual friendship that they had once shared. But had that ever really been a true friendship? Hannibal asked himself, a frown marring his brow. Will had always been a bit cautious of him, even at the best ot times, despite all of Hannibal's reassurances.
He should have realized that the two of them were never meant to be, either as a couple of even as friends. They were too opposite, too diametrically opposed.
They were born to face off against each other.
It remained to be seen which one of them would win that final battle, Hannibal mused. They were both strong people, and they were obviously well matched.
In a way, it pained him to be pitted against Will. If only they could have worked together, Will giving in to that darkness that so obviously resided within him!
But he had long since give up any hope that it would happen. There was an intrinsic goodness in Will, one that would always push back that darkness and defeat it. It was admirable, in some ways, but it also hindered and then blocked what Hannibal had tried to achieve with the young man.
Still, that was past history now. The two of them were opposed at this point, and always would be. And at some point, they would have a final confrontation.
It would be a fight to the death, and once again, Hannibal felt a stirring of regret over that fact. If only things could have been different between them.
Ah, well. That could never be, and wishing otherwise was useless.
There was no telling what could have happened, what a different outcome might have been; that possibility had gone with the sands of time, and there was no going back.
What he had to do was forge ahead. He had promised Will the he could come back for him, and that was one promise that he meant to keep.
After all, Hannibal thought with a cynical smile, as he had told Alana Bloom, he always kept promises. He would never renege on any of them, not if he could help it -- especially a promise as important as this one, a promise that he felt defined a great deal of his life.
Whatever happened between himself and Will at that meeting would set the tone for the rest of his life, he was sure of that. If he was the one who survived.
Hannibal felt a stirring of surprise at that thought. Why did he doubt that he would be the survivor? That was a foregone conclusion. He wouldn't allow himself to lose.
But winning this battle would be the end of Will Graham.
He didn't want to contemplate a world without Will in it. It would be a world of bleakness, a world that had suddenly become much darker for him.
That was really a world that he didn't particularly want to live in. Life without Will in it was a bearable thought. A life that dragged on an on endlessly, knowing that he had engineered the end of the man who he had spent so long nursing an obsession over -- that didn't bear thinking about.
Somehow, he would have to find a way to negotiate a truce with Will. His freedom for Will's life. That was what it would have to be. There was no other way.
Though he wasn't at all sure that was a bargain that Will would agree to.
If Will managed to have him at a disadvantage, he didn't doubt that it would be the end of his existence. Will wouldn't hesitate to do away with him.
He would see it as doing the world a favour, as getting rid of a predator. And he would be right, Hannibal told himself, his lips twisting cynically. He was a predator. He always had been, and he was fully aware of that fact. He knew exactly how others viewed him.
But he wasn't going to simply lie down and die, bare his throat for the killing stroke. If Will insisted on a battle to the death, then regretfully, that was how it would be.
He wouldn't give up his freedom. That would be a fate worse than death.
Yes, he had promised Will that he would come back for him, and he would keep that promise. But in a way, he knew that Will was also coming for him.
Ah, yes, they were indeed well-matched, Hannibal thought with a sigh. If only they weren't so utterly opposite, they might have had a very different future.
What a shame that the light residing within Will's soul hadn't allowed him to become all that Hannibal had wanted him to be. He couldn't allow himself to think about that. Not now. The die had been cast, the choice had been made, and they both had to deal with those facts.
Their path was laid out for the, and Hannibal was determined to follow it to the end, wherever it might lead. Neither of them had any other choice, at this point.
Was Will feeling the same way? he wondered. Did he sit and ask himself these questions, and wonder what their life might have been?
He had a feeling that he knew what Will was doing now.
They were so much alike, the two of them. They might be as different as night and day in some ways, but in others, their souls were united.
Perhaps it would have been better if the light in Will could have overcome the darkness in him, changed him and made him a different man, Hannibal told himself, sighing softly. That would have been the fairy-tale happy ending that everyone always wished for their lives to be.
Alas, that wasn't what was in store for him. His life had never been a fairy tale; if it had been, it would much more closely resemble the dark, visceral original Brothers Grimm stories.
Fairy tales didn't come true. Not for people like him.
And this wasn't a fairy tale, he told himself firmly. This was real life. This was what he had to do, and he would see it through to the bitter end.
Just as Will would do the same. And at least they would have that final confrontation -- and the circle of their relationship, such as it was, would be closed.
He had told Will that he would come back. It was time for him to do so.
He wondered just what he would be met with when he saw Will for the last time.
***
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