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Rain drummed steadily against the windows of Will’s house, the sound almost hypnotic.
He watched the droplets race each other down the glass while the phone rang on the other end of the line.
Once. Twice. On the third ring, the familiar voice answered.
“Will.”
Just hearing his name spoken like that made his stomach twist. Hannibal had always said his name as though he were savoring something exquisite, lingering over each syllable just a little longer than necessary.
Will closed his eyes.
Jack knew. Alana probably did too. The trap had sprung. There was no time left to hesitate.
“They know.” He said before thinking.
There was silence on the other side.
For a moment, even the rain seemed to cease.
Will knew Hannibal well enough to picture exactly what was happening on the other end of the line. He imagined him standing perfectly still, eyes closing for the briefest moment as every plan he’d carefully laid was rearranged in an instant.
This was it. It was over. Will could almost hear the thought forming in his mind.
‘You have chosen.’
His throat tightened.
For weeks, he had told himself this was exactly what he would do. He would hand Hannibal over. He would watch him leave in handcuffs. He would prove to everyone, to Jack, and to himself, that he still belonged to the ordinary world, but in that moment, listening to nothing but Hannibal’s quiet breathing on the other end of the line, it felt like a lie, and he hated that feeling.
“I understand.”
Hannibal’s voice was low, and controlled, almost gentle.
There were no questions, or accusations, and that hurt more than anything else, because it seemed like Hannibal had expected this. He had expected Will to betray him.
Will’s grip on the phone tightened until his fingers began to ache.
He pictured Hannibal ending the call within seconds. Disappearing and running alone. Never looking back.
The thought made something inside him cave in.
Before he could stop himself, the words slipped out.
“I want to go with you.”
The silence that followed was nothing like the first.
It didn’t sound like resignation, more like disbelief.
Will caught the faintest intake of breath, so quiet that anyone else would have missed it, but of course, he didn’t. He knew that breath. He knew every pause Hannibal took. He knew the measured rhythm of a man who was never surprised.
Except for now.
Will opened his eyes.
The rain still blurred the world beyond the window and his own voice no longer sounded like it belonged to him.
“Will.” His name came almost as a whisper.
There was something strange in that single word.
He recognized the confusion. As though Hannibal understood exactly what he’d said and, because of that, simply couldn’t believe it.
Will swallowed hard, his heart beating faster.
“I mean it.” He says again, stronger this time, more convincing even to himself.
There was another pause. A painfully long one.
When Hannibal spoke again, his voice was quieter, closer, as if he was leaning all his being in that small phone right on his hands.
“Do you understand what you’re saying?” The question was almost pleading. He needed to hear the truth in his voice.
“I do.” He didn’t hesitate to answer.
There was another pause, then, “I don’t believe you do.”
A humorless laugh escaped Will. Just now where he felt so certain, Hannibal felt the need to doubt his own feelings.
“You always said I understood you better than anyone, Hannibal.
Another breath, heavier this time.
Will could almost picture Hannibal standing in his immaculate kitchen, one hand resting against the counter, staring at nothing.
The time wasn’t stopping any time soon. He needed to get out.
Will knew he was thinking, rethinking. Every calculation he’d made had just fallen apart.
“Does Jack know?” He asked.
“Yes.”
“He’s coming for me.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re warning me.”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“And you want to run away with me.”
Will closed his eyes again. It was the first time he’d ever heard those words spoken aloud. They sounded impossible.
“Yes, Hannibal. I wanna leave with you.”
Neither of them spoke for several long seconds.
Will became painfully aware of how fast his heart was beating, from the unbearable relief of finally telling the truth.
For months he’d lived divided between two worlds. Between two men. Between two versions of himself.
Jack wanted him to be a good man. Hannibal wanted him to be a whole one.
Will no longer knew which of them was right. He only knew he was tired of pretending.
“Why?”
The question caught him off guard.
Will frowned.
“What?”
“Why now?”
Because I almost lost you.
Because I pictured your house empty before it even happened.
Because the thought of never arguing with you again feels worse than any judgment.
Because I tried to choose another life.
Because I failed.
None of those answers made it past his lips.
Instead, he simply said, “Because I don’t want to find out what it’s like to live in a world where you’ve simply disappeared.”
Silence. He never saw the man so silent like that moment.
Will noticed the slightest change in Hannibal’s breathing.
For the first time since they’d met, Hannibal seemed utterly speechless, and somehow, that frightened Will more than any smile ever had.
“You can still change your mind,” Hannibal said at last.
Will let out a slow breath.
“Are you trying to convince me to stay?”
“I’m trying to make sure this isn’t guilt speaking.”
“It’s not. You’re not manipulating me this time. This is all on me.”
A beat passed before he continued.
“I spent months trying to convince myself I should betray you.” He confessed.
“And?”
“And every step I took toward that choice felt wrong.”
The words left him before he could stop them.
It was strange. He had spent so long hiding his thoughts from Hannibal, and now there was no point.
“You once told me I already knew who I was.”
“I did.”
“I think you were right.”
Another second of silence.
“No, Will.” The answer came almost as a whisper. “I hoped I was right. There’s a difference.”
Will drew in a slow breath.
For the first time since the call began, he could imagine Hannibal smiling, but not the elegant smile reserved for dinner guests, nor the satisfied smile that accompanied another successful manipulation.
Something much rarer, something almost no one ever saw. A cautious happiness. As though he were afraid that reaching for it might make it disappear.
“Listen to me carefully,” Hannibal said and voice was steady again, controlled, but Will could still hear the emotion tucked beneath every word.
“Don’t come to my house.”
“I know.”
“They’ll be waiting.”
“I know.”
“Take only what you need.”
Will looked around the house, the dogs, his books, the chair where he’d fallen asleep more times than he could count.
Everything suddenly felt far away.
“I don’t have much that matters.”
“You have the dogs.”
Will smiled for the first time. Hannibal knew what he cared about.
“I wouldn’t leave them behind.”
A quiet exhale came through the phone and it almost sounded like a laugh.
“I thought you’d say that.” He seemed genuinely happy this time.
Warmth spread quietly through Will’s chest. It was such an absurd detail in the middle of everything collapsing around them, and yet, somehow, it mattered so fucking much.
“How long do you need?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“I can do that.”
“Don’t try to cover your tracks.”
“Why?”
“Because they need to believe you left of your own free will.”
Will understood immediately. It wasn’t a kidnapping or manipulation.
It was his choice.
He was choosing Hannibal.
Jack would have to walk into that empty house and accept that Will Graham had left alone and by his own decision.
The thought made his stomach churn.
Jack would be devastated and so would Alana.
No. He couldn’t think about that now.
“Will.”
“Yes?”
Hannibal’s voice softened again.
“You can still hang up this phone and do what you believe is right.”
Will looked out at the rain, then at the dogs scattered across the living room. One of them lifted its head, sensing the shift in him.
The whole house seemed to be waiting for his answer.
He realized this was the last moment he could still turn back.
If he hung up or if he called Jack. Or if he drove to Hannibal’s house.
His life would continue along the path he’d chosen.
Maybe, one day, he’d be able to sleep again, or maybe not.
Will pressed two fingers against his lips, lost in thought.
Then he answered with a calmness he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
“I already am, Doctor Lecter.”
On the other end of the line, Hannibal didn’t answer immediately, but when he finally spoke, there was something different in his voice.
Something lighter and almost impossible in that kind of man.
Hope. Hannibal Lecter sounded hopeful.
“Then come.” and that was all.
There were no promises or seduction, or even manipulation. Just an invitation.
Will slowly lowered the phone.
The house fell silent once more.
The dogs stood at the same time, sensing the change in their owner.
He took a deep breath.
For the first time in months, the turmoil inside his mind hadn’t disappeared, but it had stopped pulling him in two different directions.
There was fear and there was guilt, but more than anything, there was love.
And there was an unknown road waiting for him.
Will picked up the keys to his truck, whistled for the dogs.
Then he stepped out into the rain before he could change his mind.
He never looked back.