Hannibal and I // Hannibal fanfic

13

The day of Christmas dinner arrives as Ana prepares for Gia and her sisters to come over to eat Christmas dinner. Pork roast, potato salad, fresh bread rolls, sweet potatoes, and more foods filled the air in Ana's apartment.

She did not invite Will because it was a busy day already with solving the cases of the Ripper. He had too much to worry about and dinner was the least of it.

Gia, along with her two younger sisters, Stephanie and Jane, came for dinner, to get some time to celebrate. Gia and Stephanie were in the kitchen, making dessert while Jane helped Ana set the table by placing the plates and dishes on the table.

"This is unnecessary. You did not need to invite us. We don't celebrate Christmas much." Said Jane.

"Well, it was either going back home and spend a miserable time there or stay here and make dinner for one. Plus, Gia is my friend, and I do not mind spending time with you all. You guys were nice to me when I first came here."

"I remember. You and Gia became really close when you two met that summer."

"That summer job became two years of working together. How time changes."

Gia and Stephanie go to the table to set down the last dishes of food. The table looked full and ready for dinner. They all sat down and before anyone reached out for the bowls, Gia raised a glass.

"Today is one of the best days I ever had this year. I am glad to be spending time with you all and thank you Ana. For this." Gia gestures to the table and Ana smiles at her. "Now here's to a merry Christmas and a happy new year!"

They all raise their glasses and bring it into the middle and cheer each other. One by one take a sip and Ana starts passing out the bread rolls and everyone digs into dinner.

Time passes with laughter, yelling and crying at stories they had with each other. Gia, Jane, and Stephanie were the friends Ana never had in high school. She met Gia at work and two years after working together at retail, Ana quit so she could focus on college. That is how she became part of their lives. Ana starts telling them how college is goin and that she started going to therapy and how she changed her doctor.

"Now wait. This is my first doctor. What was wrong with him? He sounded like he was handsome man and nice. Did you start having feelings?" Gia asked.

"Hell no! I mean no. Look, it was a bit uncomfortable, that is all. He invited me to dinner at his house with one of his other patients."

Jane gasped loud enough as Gia squeal and Stephanie gave a side eye look to Ana and Gia. "What?! Isn't that illegal or against the law to do so?" Gia asked.

"Sounds wrong simply." Jane added.

"Honestly, he said that as long as he didn't see he was putting his patients in danger with each other and that the patient has consented, it's not illegal enough. Although when I met the other person, it was a man. The same man that came to my apartment and gave me my wallet in person."

"The FBI guys?! Oh no, where do you meet these people? Also why did not leave the wallet with the doctor? This is crazy." Gia was surprised to have known that Ana was not creeped out.

"I don't know. It was uncomfortable now thinking about it because he could have been one of the dangerous patients and if they found my wallet, they could have come after me. I'm glad I moved doctors." Ana felt bad for Dr. Lecter and for Will.

"Well, be lucky nothing happened. Next time be careful opening doors to people. Jane had an incident happen at home." Stephanie said while she ate her sweet potatoes.

"What happened?" Ana asked Jane.

"It was really just someone playing a stupid prank. I came home from picking up food and since I was home alone that night, I made sure to be careful, but someone must have seen me alone or something because the doorbell rang times. It was scary but I did not open the door. I knew someone was just following me."

"What did you do?"

"I texted both of these thinking it was them outside and they both were nowhere near the door, but I heard the door click. Someone was picking the lock." Jane's voice went quieter and more serious.

"She texted us about it and I told her to go to my room since it had the fire escape window. I told her to go down to my coworker's apartment in the fire escape and know the window loud. Luckily, the window opened and locked when she came inside. I called the police officers while she was there, and the police officers came 10 minutes later. The lock broke from the outside, but nothing was stolen luckily, and my bedroom door was also broken into, and we had to move. That's why I couldn't hang out last month." Gia said.

"What was off is that the FBI was there. There was no forensic evidence, but the cops were thinking this was linked to the Ripper." Stephanie said.

"Yeah. That is weird because what I have been seeing in the cases was all death in public places, but the Ripper is not the type to go to apartments. Maybe I'm wrong." Ana said.

"Alright, I lost my appetite already," Jane says as she pushes her plate away from her.

Ana, Stephanie, and Gia continued eating dinner and spent the rest of Christmas dinner hanging out with each other. As the snow falls and the day goes to night, Gia and her sisters call it a night to return home before the snow falls heavy. They took a bit of extra food home and Ana walked them out of her apartment building. As she saw them get into their car, she returned to the apartment alone. The table counter was filled with food already to put in the fridge. The food was more than she thought. A bit of her regretted not inviting Will to the dinner. She had extra food to spare and thought how Will was a nice person to help her during a panic attack. He is nice. I might regret this. Why am I doing this? I do not want him to be alone.

Ana got her phone from the table and walked to the coat rack holding her purse and pulled out a note card out. She pressed each number on the phone and let out a big sigh before the phone began ringing.

The ringing stops and the sound of dogs barking in the background.

"This is Will Graham."