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Title: Play Fair
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Will Graham/John Reese
Fandom: Hannibal/Person of Interest
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Will Graham or John Reese, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Will looked across the table at John, shaking his head.

The two of them were seated in a diner just down the street from the bookshop, a place where the food was good and they both felt safe. Winston was curled up at Will's feet.

"You don't understand," Will said, his voice very low. "He isn't going to play fair, John. Hannibal is .... well, to put it nicely, he's psychotic. And delusional. He thinks I belong to him. He actually believes that I'm his property and that he has a right to .... to have me."

John shook his head in reaction to Will's words. "Well, he's just going to find out that he's wrong about that. And I don't always play fair myself, Will. He's going to find that out, too."

A slight smile tugged at the corner of Will's lips as John spoke.

John watched him, wondering what Will was going to say. He was almost sure that he knew what words were going to come out of the other man's mouth before he said them.

"He's not going to be as easy to catch as you might think," he said, his voice weary. "I spent a pretty good while trying to prove that he was responsible for those murders, you know. And I almost didn't. He almost cost me my life more than once. And he tried to take my life more than once, too."

Yes, that was just what John had thought he would say. For some reason, Will seemed reluctant to pit him against Hannibal, as though he was afraid that John would lose.

Of course, that could be because he'd come to care about John as much as John cared about him, even though he hadn't said anything to that effect yet. Still, it gave John hope.

"All the more reason to make sure that he's out of the way for good," John insisted, pushing his empty plate aside. "You can't live the rest of your life running away from him. You deserve better."

Will bent to scratch behind Winston's ears, something that he always seemed to do when he was overcome by some emotion, or when he wasn't exactly sure of what he wanted to say.

"Nobody deserves to be involved with Hannibal in any way," he finally said, straightening up in his seat again and managing to look John directly in the eye. "This is my problem, John. No matter what you do for a living with this thing about helping people who need it, you don't need to get mixed up in this."

This time, it was John's turn to shake his head, firmly and vehemently. "I'm already mixed up in this, Will, and I think you know that. It's too late for me to turn back. I'm committed to helping you."

Will looked confused, then curious. "I still don't understand why."

John wanted to tell him the truth. He wanted to say "because I care about you and I don't want to see you hurt, and I want us to have a future." But now wasn't the time for those words.

So instead, he chose to say words that would leave the door open to that future, but would possibly tell Will something of why he wanted to help. "It's just what I do, Will. I help those in need. The agency I work for discovers people who need us. And I don't think you can deny that you do need our help."

Will finally nodded, albeit a little hesitantly. "You're right. I need your help. I've always needed people on my side when it comes to Hannibal. And there have been too many who haven't been."

"I am," John told him, reaching out to place his hand over Will's. "Always."

"Then I'll do everything I can to help you catch him and put him back behind bars where he belongs," Will said, turning his hand over to catch John's fingers within his own. "I promise."

John couldn't hold back a grin. This was what he had wanted to see -- Will standing up and fightning alongisde him. Though, of course, he intended to protect Will from the worst of it. The man might have been an FBI agent, but John was the one who was used to being in the middle of any fray.

"And we're not going to play fair, either," he said, squeezing Will's hand and not letting go. "We've got a few tricks up our sleeve that he doesn't have any idea how to defend against."

A part of him was almost looking forward to bringing Hannibal Lecter down.

It would bring him that much closer to Will. And that much closer to a future with him.

Having that future within his grasp was worth anything he had to go through.

***