Title: By His Very Nature
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Sequel to "Something Stolen."
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 stared down at the book in his lap, not seeing the printed words.He couldn't concentrate on what he was reading; the words on the printed page just looked like so many squiggles that danced before his eyes.
All he could do was keep glancing at his cell phone lying on the coffee table in front of him. He knew that it would ring; Hannibal was sure to call him again.
He didn't doubt that he would be hearing from his nemesis. Hannibal didn't make empty threats; he'd said that he was coming for Will, and he could be counted on to keep that promise. Will wanted to be sure that he was alert and ready for that confrontation.
It would be the final time they met; he was sure of that, if nothing else. Only one of them would emerge from that battle of wills with his life intact.
Will's lips firmed into a thin line; a frown creased his brow. He didn't intend to be the one who was dispatched to the next realm after his next meeting with Hannibal.
He was going to send that bastard to hell, where he belonged.
He'd made far too many mistakes in his strange relationship with Hannibal. He had been a fool, but now, he was older, wiser, and more experienced.
He wasn't the man he'd been when he had first met Hannibal. He had become harder, more cautious, more wary. He had changed in so many ways, some for the better, some not. And unfortunately, Hannibal had been the main architect of a lot of those changes.
Because of Hannibal, he trusted people even less than he had before. He doubted that he would ever be able to fully trust anyone again.
By nature, he wasn't a trusting person to start with.
His association with Hannibal had only made him more skittish and more wary of getting close to anyone, even though rationally he knew that everyone wasn't so evil.
Still, just the thought of letting anyone get into his head, of sharing his private thoughts with another person, made him shudder. He'd seen what that could do. Hannibal had damaged him in ways that didn't show on the outside -- though he'd left physical scars, as well.
All he wanted to do at this point was to banish Hannibal from life completely -- but he knew that wasn't going to be possible as long as his enemy still walked this world.
He would have to put Hannibal down like the monster that he was, Will thought, a grim feeling of determination coming over him. He had no other choice.
If he didn't take that monster out, there would be more innocent victims.
As long as Hannibal was in this world, people would die at his hands, and he would continue blithely on his path of destruction. He cared nothing about the lives he destroyed, either those of the people he murdered, or their loved ones who were left devastated by their deaths.
The world would be a better place without Hannibal in it. Will knew that. He'd known it for a long time. And now, it was past time to do something about it.
Hannibal was evil by nature. And though he had tried to convert Will to that darkness, he hadn't achieved his goal. And he never would.
Will knew that he himself had a dark side to his nature; everyone did. But he also knew that within himself, there was a core of light and strength. He was the yin to Hannibal's yang, the light to the darkness, the good to the evil. And he wouldn't forsake the light for the darkness.
He had to be strong, and fight that darkness back.
Something told him that he was the only person standing between Hannibal and many, many more potential victims. He couldn't let more people die.
By their very natures, he and Hannibal were sworn enemies. How could he have ever believed that someone like Hannibal could possibly be his friend, or understand him?
Will almost wanted to pity himself for how blind he had been when he and Hannibal had first met. But he wasn't the only person who had been fooled by Hannibal's act -- he had managed to pull the proverbial wool over the eyes of a lot of people over the years.
But now, that human mask he wore had been stripped away to reveal the monster beneath, and Will knew that he would never be blinded to Hannibal's real nature again.
He'd been fooled once, but once had been more than enough.
It was strange that it had been so easy for Hannibal to hoodwink him. He wasn't by nature a trusting person; he shouldn't have been so quickly fooled.
But then, Hannibal had gotten plenty of practice in the years -- possibly even decades -- that he'd been killing, and presenting himself as an upstanding citizen, Will thought bitterly. Who knew how many hundreds of people he had dispatched, for his own evil, selfish ends?
Well, that was going to end. He was going to put a stop to Hannibal's evil once and for all. He wouldn't even let himself think that he could be defeated.
He was going to be the ultimate victor in this final confrontation.
The last time they'd seen each other, Hannibal had been able to get the upper hand. He'd had surprise on his side -- and Will hadn't been expecting him to be so .... physical.
That night still existed in his worst nightmares, but he tried to push it aside during his waking hours. He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to acknowledge it.
Hannibal had already done the worst that he could do, Will told himself, clenching his fists. After that kind of a violation, nothing more could be done that would be any more shattering for him. He'd come through fire, and he had survived. That was the only thing that mattered.
He wouldn't be so foolhardy again as to not be prepared for whatever might come, especially now that he knew the true nature of his enemy.
Hannibal would do anything to beat him down, to make him acquiesce. And no matter what horrors that monster unleashed on him, he would never do so.
They were enemies until the bitter end, and always would be.
Could things have been any different? Will didn't think so. Give Hannibal's nature, it would have always come to this, to a standoff, with the two of them on opposite sides.
By his very nature, Hannibal was diametrically opposed to everything that Will believed in, everything he was and had ever been. He was the light, and Hannibal was the darkness. He couldn't let himself forget that. He couldn't give in to that dark side of himself.
That darkness might be seductive, but even though there was a part of him that wanted to give in to it, there was a larger part of him that recoiled in revulsion.
That was the side of himself that he would listen to.
Will took a deep breath, finally closing the book in his lap and putting it aside. There was no sense in trying to read, not when he had so much on his mind.
All he could do, really, was sit here and wait until he grew too tired to stay awake, and then hope that he could sleep without tossing and turning all night long.
And without having any more disturbing -- or frightening -- nightmares.
Will smiled grimly. He wasn't going to hold his breath on that last thought.
***
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