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The sharp pain pulsed in his cheek, a metallic taste embraced his tongue as the scarlet sweetness dripped from the wound the Red Dragon had inflicted. Will’s knuckles were turning white from how hard he was gripping onto Hannibal, he nudged his head against Hannibal’s neck, the warmth radiating while he felt the slight rhythm of Hannibal’s pulse. His soft curls pressed against Hannibal snuggly, resting on Will’s waist was his hand placed firmly on the side. Using his body weight, Will turned Hannibal towards the edge of the cliff. Hannibal’s back now bare and exposed to the looming fall. Will then pushed the both of them into the bed of crashing waves.
Will didn’t know what to expect, however, feeling the soft sea breeze hug around his skin felt comforting– it reminded him of the times when he would be on his sail boat, the cool air brushing past his figure. The present moment felt familiar, providing a sense of ease.
It was peaceful.
It was as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his chest. No more crime scenes to investigate, no more psychiatry sessions with Dr Lecter. No more dogs to take care of. No more tucking in Wally. With one push off the cliff he pushed away his life as well. On Hannibal’s chest he lay, the two so tightly intertwined. As if a shooting star plummeting straight towards the sea. Will appreciated this moment of closeness as they descended into the unknown.
Only seconds passed but the moment seemed to bypass time itself, it seemed to last for an extended amount of time before they hit the water. The cold water engulfed them, Will felt his wounds sting from exposure to the salty sea. Soon rather than a slight stinging sensation he began to grow numb, he could feel less of his fingertips. Water flooded his lungs, underneath the surface of the water he began to feel lightheaded as his vision blurred, a dark figure in front of him floating in the water–presumably Hannibal, drifting slightly after losing grip on Hannibal from his stiffening hands. His vision suddenly cleared, Hannibal– unconscious suspended in blue. The last thing Will sees before his vision fading to black.
Agent Will Graham, he would be the final victim of Francis Dolarhyde. He would be printed on newspapers, broadcasted on several news stations across the nation and documented on Tattlecrime. ‘’ Special agent Will Graham, genius crime solver taken out by the Red Dragon along side with his murder husband Hannibal Lecter.’’ This was what the media would have read according to Freddie Lounds. But was that really Will? Maybe the murder husband thing but having lived a life full of suppression made the true self he was hidden under the righteous man he kept believing he was. The one time he allowed a sliver of his true self peek through were during those psychiatry sessions he had with Dr Lecter. He thought it was such a shame he would not be able to meet like that ever again. Unless they would find each other in hell, at least Will would not have to hide anything about himself there.
During his last few moments, choking on water rapidly invading his respiratory system he recalled.
“ We could disappear now. Tonight. Feed your dogs, leave a note for Alana, and never see her or Jack again. Almost polite ‘’ He imagined what it could have been like if he took up the offer. Too bad, it ends here. He then closed his eyes and opportunistically accepted his trip to the afterlife.
Will’s eyelids peeled open, seeing a canvas of black sprawled out in front of him. Small white dots were littered everywhere on the plane.
“ Shit, did I really die?” He whispered quietly to himself. At that moment he felt a sense of happiness before having it interrupted by a voice coming behind him.
“ You’re on my boat. ” Will sat up and turned behind to see a young man, Asian, late twenties with black hair styled with a middle part. One of his bangs has a silly cowlick. He was wearing a plain black shirt with basketball shorts. One of his legs was stepping on a cooler, similar to a one Will once had which he used for storing fish whenever he went fishing. He reeled in the fishing rod he was holding rather causally, once the fishing string returned it was seen with a wigging worm stabbed through the sharp hook. Will was struck nonplussed, he opened his mouth but nothing came out. Quickly the man spoke.
“ Hannibal recommended me to come here and fish, being naive I listened and here I am fishing up men instead. ” He said with a hint of annoyance in his words, he seemed to be unbothered with the tone he was using towards Will. The man placed his rod on his tripod, holding other pricy rods.
“ Speaking of Hannibal, if you are wondering, he’s in the cockpit. I had to bandage him with what I had in the medkit after sewing up the gnarly hole in his gut. I’m hoping it did not penetrate through his organs but I cannot make any promises. ” After hearing the man speak, Will made a rough inference that he was at least a med student but how on earth did he develop relations with Hannibal? The boat was moving but to an unknown location. When the cool night air passed by, Will felt himself shivering, from top to bottom he was completely soaked, being exposed to the brutality of the environment would not help his situation. He cleared his throat and asked.
“ Could you lend me a towel? I think I’ll head to the cockpit, isn’t it cold?” The man signaled to the bench across Will where a white cotton towel laid.
“ You’re worrying about the wrong man, Will Graham.” Will stood up and grabbed the towel as he wrapped it around his shoulder, perplexed. How did he know his name?
“How did you-?” He uttered out before being curtly interrupted.
“ Y’know the FBI cares about their men a lot, one disappears for a few hours without contact and his name is blasted across every social media platform.” Right, Will had mysteriously disappeared, along with Hannibal The Cannibal, only god knows what Jack Crawford is thinking.
“ I’m going back to land, I’ll drop you off at the nearest police sta-” The man’s gaze pierced straight at Will as he had been cut off.
“ Don’t. Go anywhere you’d like, so long as it’s not a police station you can dump us wherever you like. ” Will said in a serious tone with his request. The man walked over to the wheel and started redirecting their course of direction. Will then approached the cockpit, opening the door to the chamber Hannibal was residing in.