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Title: Light and Dark
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1drabble
Prompt: 19, Light
Author's Note: Sequel to "Dire Consequences."
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.

***

There was a darkness around Will that he couldn't fathom.

Hannibal frowned, leaning forward and steepling his fingers under his chin, resting his elbows on his knees. It puzzled him, this new way of seeing Will.

Before, he had always thought that Will was filled with light. He had always carried a darkness within him; everyone did, of course. There were two sides to every person, but he had always seen Will as being a bastion of light and hope. His darkness had always seemed to be well controlled.

But now, he was seeing Will in a much darker light than he ever had before. That darkness was starting to overwhelm him, and he didn't know why that was.

Did it mean that Will was giving in to that dark side?

In a way, that pleased him. He wanted Will to embrace that darkness, to become all that he was capable of being, to reflect Hannibal himself.

Though as much as he would dearly love to see Will become better acquainted with his dark side, he also had a problem with that. If Will turned himself over to that darkness within him, then his light would dim -- and that would take a great deal away from his attraction.

Hannibal was honest enough with himself to admit that he was more attracted to the light within Will than he was to the darkness. That light represented .... what?

Salvation? Hardly. He knew that he had fallen too far for anyone to bring him back to that light; the best that he could hope for was to be allowed near it.

No, he could never achieve that light for himself, nor did he truly want to. But he did want to bask in it, to let that light wash over him. There was a part of him that needed such light to balance the darkness that had long ago taken him over.

He didn't want to keep that darkness from spreading further; it had already seeped into his soul completely. He was that darkness; he couldn't deny the fact.

But Will's light gave him hope. He needed that light.

How was he going to make sure that Will didn't lose that precious light, that he wasn't completely submerged into the darkness that was so much a part of him?

Hannibal wasn't sure just how he would keep that from happening, but somehow, he would. If Will lost that light, then neither of them would have anything to anchor them. That wasn't something that he could countenance happening. He had to rescue them both from such a catastrophe.

Will would slip over the edge, and though he would become what Hannibal longed for him to be, he wouldn't be the harbinger of light any more.

Hannibal needed that light. He needed it to survive.

It would be a battle between light and dark.

A battle that he and Will could ill afford to lose.

***