The Ripper's Love

Confrontation

You force yourself not to shift in the leather seat, and slightly grip your hands together.

Jack sat at his desk, his hands folded over a stack of papers. The tension in the room was overwhelming and suffocating, you could tell something was either extremely wrong, or about to go down. You desperately wanted to leave and go home, with Hannibal and Will behind you, but knew you had to stay.

"I'll be blunt. Every inclination points to you three. The profiles, how you know so much about the killer, why Will has been missing every crime scene that seems to be related to The Ripper and The Maiden." Jack stays seated, his voice low and calm.

You feel bile climb up your throat, burning. You force yourself not to react, staying calm, at least on the outside. Your mind raced a mile a minute, and you feel your heart pounding. You take a single, small breath, using it to focus your mind.

You have to go along. You can't act suspicious.

You force shock and anger to surface, hating the thrill you feel.

You could be caught. You were so close to being caught, so close to everyone knowing everything. The adrenaline it gave you made you feel like you could fly.

They're so close, so close to knowing.

And yet, you knew Jack wanted you three to be innocent enough to not report it or arrest.

Your mouth agap, and your brows furrowed, you look at Hannibal and Will.

Both of them look calm, and as if they knew. You hoped they had seen it coming, and had thought about what to say to get away.

"If we were the killers, why haven't you arrested us? Why aren't there other people in here."

You look at Hannibal, genuinely appalled at his sentence. Was he trying to get arrested?

"Jack, you know it's not us. I know how we fit closely, but you know this isn't something that we could do." You shake your head, hoping that Will and Hannibal's words would start to convince the agent.

Jack shakes his head, but you see his eyes soften slightly, and you can tell that he was eager to believe that it wasn't yet the three of you.

You smile internally, knowing that this was already over. You keep your face shocked and hurt, but inside you laugh at how blind Jack was to his fine china and the people surrounding him.

"Why do you fit the profile? Why haven't you been at crime scenes? How can you know so much about how the killers think?"

Will runs a hand through his unruly hair, scrunching his eyebrows together.

"Jack, you know I have never been able to answer that. I haven't been at the crime scenes, because," Will paused, shifted nervously. You knew it was an act that Will was putting on, but you still felt the urge to reach out and comfort him.

"I don't want to make myself look at these things anymore. It makes me completely shut down, I can't function for hours after because of the effect it has on me."

Jack completely slums at this, and you relax, knowing that he's convinced.

"This has been impossibly difficult. It's been a year, and we're nowhere closer to catching these two. I'm under pressure, and you three seem to fit it too well."

You nod, smiling sadistically inside. It was so easy to manipulate him.

You take the cue, getting up and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want us to stay, go over the case? We can lay everything out and start from the beginning. Maybe something will show itself?" Jack shakes his head, reaching for his coffee mug sat on the desk.

"I've done it so many times, and I know you three have too. Maybe soon, but today I think I'm too, emotional to work on this."

You nod softly, going to sit back down.

"Is there anything else we can do?" You say softly, clasping your hands together.

Jack starts to shake his head, but stops.

"Well," you wait for him to say more but he trails off, seemingly in thought.

"I know it may seem rude, but, I would ask if I can do a search of your house. Both Will and Hannibal's."

You stop yourself from tensing, but feel your eye twitch slightly. You pray he didn't see that, and nod.

You mind flashes to the pig you and the two of them had slaughtered two days ago, the body still not found.

The lungs still in the fridge.

You hear Hannibal immediately tell him that his idea was just good investigative work and he didn't take any of it personally.

They start to walk out of the office, side by side. You stand, walking behind in a daze.

"I'll go ahead. I know my way, and Hannibal's house is closer." You nod, smiling at him as you slide into Hannibal's car.

You watch out of the back, tinted windows making you impossible to see from the outside.

You feel the shake of the car as the doors open and close, but don't move.

What are you going to do?