WRATH: A Hannigram Fanfiction

21- La Vérité

     Hannibal's creations always looked worse in the daytime— that was a fact. In the night, the darkness blurred the details and softened the edges, giving the art a certain glow that could never be recreated after the fact. The sunrise ruined it all. It highlighted details he wasn't keen on, pointed out his flaws in technique. He didn't like to be wrong in any way.
     That was how he felt with Elliot. In the intrusive sunlight shining through the front of the barn, the Angel hanging from the ceiling looked nothing like he had before. It was simply a mutilated body, nothing magical. Nothing interesting.
     Will seemed to think otherwise. He swore and turned his head away, bringing a fist up to his mouth. Jack followed them inside.
     "It happened sometime last night." Jack's voice boomed through the open space. "He was seen on a security cam at a gas station yesterday at five— had to have happened sometime between then and now."
     "Do you think he knew we were coming?" Will asked.  The two were sticking to the story that this was Will's first time in the barn. That neither of them had heard of or seen Elliot before this point.
     "He shouldn't have. There's no way."
     "This looks.." Will paused. "I don't know. Like an escape."
     "Trying to run from what he did?"
     "Trying to run from the consequences," Will corrected. "He doesn't regret what he did."
     "If I ask you to analyze it, will you have another breakdown? If we stay outside?"
     Hannibal didn't want to stay outside. Will looked lost in thought, considering the best option, before slowly nodding. With many backward glances, Hannibal followed Jack out of the barn and watched the door close.
     A few forensic agents milled about outside of the barn, Beverly included. She gave Hannibal an amicable nod before returning to her work, and Jack was pulled in eight different directions at once. An ample distraction.
     Hannibal walked over to the western side of the barn, where he'd waited behind the other door the night before. He took his place behind it, peering in through the crack as he'd done before.
     Will closed his eyes.
In one fell swoop, they were both in that horrid, panicked state from the previous night. Will clutched his injured shoulder, groaning in pain on the ground. Hannibal was no longer standing at the door— he was his true self, towering silently over Will.
Elliot tumbled to the ground, Lucifer's work undone as his skin patched itself up. He lifted his head.
"You..do you see him, too?" Elliot asked.
"I do."
Both Will and Elliot turned their heads to stare up at Lucifer. Never before had he seen any human look so mortal. So small under his gaze. Will's face was a blank slate, while Elliot burst into tears.
"He's going to save us," he cried. "He will make us both into Angels. Don't you see his power? His Divinity?"
"..You believe in him?" Will dodged the question, likely not wanting to admit how afraid he was.
"Yes!" Elliot lunged forward to grab Will's arms. "He's going to save me. I trust the Angel. He'll give me everything I've ever wanted."
Lucifer smiled. Elliot had been completely under his spell, and now Will was seeing what he could truly do to a human mind. Twist it, grip it in his fists and let the matter seep between his fingers, make it his. Will looked terrified at Elliot's words.
"He blessed you. He healed your wound!" Elliot's eyes twinkled in adoration. "It was a miracle. We are both destined to become Angels."
Oh, how true that was, although each of them suspected a different outcome from the truth. Elliot thought he would become Divine, when really he would be reduced to a carcass hanging from the ceiling. Will, meanwhile, thought all of this was a ruse— how surprised he would be when he regained his power.
"I hurt you," Elliot said to him, "and I'm sorry. I couldn't help you. But he," Lucifer held out his arms, "..he can. He can do everything."
What happened next was a basic repeat of the previous night: Lucifer holding Elliot, whispering to him, leading him to the back of the barn. When he lowered the blade down to Elliot's skin, Will gasped and lowered his head, eyes squeezing shut. Lucifer completely ignored the screams; this was a replay. His real job was over. This vision was for Will's sake.
The screams split apart, one vase shattering into millions of pieces, and Lucifer recognized them all. He spun around, seeing Will get to his feet with wide eyes. A group of disheveled ghosts battered away at him, pulling on his hair and screeching in his ears.
I got rid of you. They weren't supposed to be here. Why were they back in his mind?
But then he noticed the similarities in the girls' builds, their hair and eyes and clothes all the same. They were all Katie. All of the screams were hers. All of the bodies were her, crowding Will's vision in every direction. The one girl Lucifer had left behind, now coming back to haunt Will.
"Let him guide you to salvation!" Elliot cried out in a startling burst of strength. He writhed under Lucifer's grasp. "He has found you! Let him make you into the Angel you have always been!"
     Lucifer yanked the skin off of Elliot's back in a fit of irritation. Blubbering fool. Don't ruin this for him. He's not ready yet.
     Over his cries, Will suddenly spoke. "He..he found me."
     Everyone hushed: Lucifer, Elliot, Katie. Then, the young girl was the first to turn her head and use her raspy voice.
     "..He found you," Katie whispered, horrified. Her eyes were sunken and cloudy.
     The screams resumed, louder this time, ringing through the barn and drowning everything else out. They were guttural. Primal. They consumed Will.
     "He found me. He found me. He found me.." Will began to tremble. Lucifer slowly began to stand, careful not to frighten him.
Yes, he thought to himself. Yes, I did find you, my love. I found you, and you're safe.
     "He found me. He found me. He found me." Will turned his head to face the Devil. He grew more frantic with every word, like he knew time was running out. "He..you found me. You found me. You— Lucifer. Lucifer, Lucifer—"
     "Will."
     Jack's voice was staggering to them both. They'd been so immersed in their true selves that returning to normal was a painful gasp for air, murky water in their lungs. They were apart again— Will inside, Hannibal hiding behind the door.
No. Hannibal leaned against the outside wall of the barn, a hand on his chest. That was it. They'd been getting somewhere. Will could have seen more of the truth, and Jack interrupted their perfect moment.
     He told himself to calm down. It would have been dangerous for the Angel to emerge in that moment. Will wasn't ready. Everything had to be absolutely perfect. He had to fulfill his darkest desires, and then finally his Soul could consume everything and transform him into something breathtaking.
     Still, they were inching closer and closer to salvation. It was frustrating to have the world offered to you and then have it torn away. Every day was one day closer, he reassured himself. Oh, how lovely it would be. How perfect.
     He didn't listen to the conversation between Will and Jack, instead working to ingratiate himself with the rest of the crowd outside. It was like he'd never been gone.
     "So?" He could hear Jack's voice from the inside. "Who found him?"
     Oh. Will had said those words aloud. He would need someone to come provide context, or Jack would become suspicious.
      "God did." Hannibal entered the barn, his hands in his pockets. "God found him."
     Jack looked bewildered at the statement. Will gave Hannibal a thankful glance.
     "Exactly," Will replied. "This is a man who thinks he is divine. A man who thinks he's playing God. Eventually, though, there's going to be some guilt there. He's already been shown to hallucinate-- he thought that God had come to punish him." He looked up. "He thought that the only way to save himself was to make himself an angel, too."
     "You're suggesting this is a suicide? There's no way. This death is outlandishly cruel. You really think he could have done this to himself? The amount of fucking murderous gymnastics he would have to do?" Jack's voice rose with every word. He noticed himself getting angry and let out a frustrated breath. "Someone killed him."
     Quite frankly, Jack was right. He was ignorant and rude and selfish, but he wasn't a complete fool. They would have to rely on Elliot's deranged nature in order to make themselves look innocent.
     "Who would have the motivation? The want? The means?"
     "That's what we're here to find out." Jack pulled out his phone. "The rest of the team's about ten minutes out."
     "You're wasting your time, Jack." There was a hint of worry in Will's eyes. Everything was falling apart, little by little.
      "It's my time, and I can do whatever the hell I want with it." He began frantically typing. "Thank you for your input, but we'll see what forensics says. You can go. Get back to whatever you were busy with."
     I wish he would. I wouldn't mind a few more kisses. Hannibal turned his head to hide the smirk on his face.
     Will let Jack walk away, silent and unmoving. He stared at Elliot for a long while, jaw clenched.
     "You're not God," he said softly.
     How wrong you are. God and I used to be one and the same.
     He had all the power of God, with even more of the talented manipulation. He was a God walking on this Earth— every human was an annoyance, a pawn, a subject of his hatred. He was Everything. He felt the urge to show Will his power, to hold Will in his arms and show him that the Universe was nothing compared to the strength of his ability. He wanted Will to witness reality shift, to understand how easily one's idea of the truth can completely collapse, to bury his face in Lucifer's chest and know that although everything else could change, everything else was fragile, Lucifer would always love him. 
     Hannibal came to stand with him.
     "Aren't I?" He replied with his true voice. He followed Will's gaze, satisfaction and glee in his eyes. "Aren't I?"
     You will see soon.