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Title: Not Afraid of You
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Table: Quotables, Part 2, tv_universe
Prompt: "I'm not afraid of you." // "But you really, really should be."
Author's Note: Sequel to "See No Evil."
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 knew who it was before he even clicked on his cell phone.

The number was unfamiliar; he should have had no idea who was calling him. But something within him told him whose voice he would hear on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Will." That voice was as smooth as butter; no, not butter, it was like fine wine washing down his throat, filling him with a sparkling clarity that no one else brought to him.

"Hello, Hannibal." Will was proud of himself for keeping the trembling sound out of his voice; hearing Hannibal speak would always bring back memories of those horrible hours he'd spent as this man's prisoner, and what Hannibal had done to him. That cruelty could never be erased.

"I would ask how you are, but I"m quite sure that you are not your usual self." Hannibal's tone was smooth, a sense of amusement in his words. "Though I hope you are well."

"As well as I can be," Will answered, struggling not to throw the phone down and crush it beneath the heel of his boot. He didn't want to hear this voice. Not now. It was too soon.

But would there ever be a good time for this confrontation?

No, he wasn't going to think of it as a confrontation. That word couldn't really be used until he met Hannibal face-to-face again, until he could look the other man in the eye.

It would happen one day. Will was sure of that. He would make sure of it -- or Hannibal would. They would eventually have their final showdown.

But that wasn't going to happen now. Today, they were simply going to talk on the phone, playing the cat-and-mouse game that Hannibal was so fond of, and that drove him nearly insane. He just wanted some kind of clue as to where his nemesis was hiding, so he'd have a place to start.

If he could find out where Hannibal was, if he could even have one small clue as to where to start looking, then he'd do everything in his power to find Hannibal and put him behind bars.

That was what he had dedicated his life to, from the time that he'd spent lying in that hospital bed after Hannibal had gutted him. He would make sure this monster paid for his crimes.

"Will? Are you still there?" Was he wrong, or was there and undercurrent of anxiety in Hannibal's voice? Did the other man think that somehow Will was drifting away, that he'd lost interest in the little dance that Hannibal was leading him in? Oh, no, there was no fear of that happening.

"Yes, I'm here. Just .... thinking." Will deliberately let a note of scorn slip into his tone. He wanted Hannibal to detect that, to know just how he was regarded.

"Will, it sounds as though you don't want to talk to me." Hannibal's tone was somewhat admonishing. "I would think that you've been waiting for my call."

He had. He just wasn't going to give Hannibal the satisfaction of knowing it.

"You're out of my life, Hannibal," he said, gritting his teeth and hoping that the other man didn't hear the frustration behind his words. "I don't want you back in it."

"Ah, but I'm sure that you miss our little games, Will," Hannibal said, his voice almost a purr. "I gave you something to keep you going, something to make you feel alive."

"You killed a lot of innocent people," Will said before he could stop himself. "And I"m sure that you'll kill again before I can stop you. But I promise you this, Hannibal. I will stop you. I don't know when or how, but I will. I'll stop you and put you behind bars, if it's the last thing I do."

"Careful of what you say, Will." The purr was gone from Hannibal's voice; his tone was harsh now. "Those words could become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

"Are you going to try to get rid of me, Hannibal?" Will's voice was cold, the words like icicles hanging from the eaves of his house. "I'm not afraid of you."

There was silence on the other end of the line. An ominous silence.

"You may not be, Will." Hannibal's voice was just as cold as Will's had been. "But you really, really should be."

There was a click, and Will was left staring at his phone in silence, fear burgeoning in his heart.

***