Will leaned her head against the wooden surface of the desk and bit her lip hard in order to stop tears of pain leaking out of her eyes. How could Hannibal take Alistair like that? Away from her? Didn't he know that a child's place was with his mother, every psychiatrist knows that?

She heard the door to the office open and she lifted her head of the desk to greet the newcomer. It was Jack Crawford.

"Any news?" Will asked, letting a note of hope creep into her voice.

"No," Jack Crawford said bluntly, for once in his life not making eye contact with her.

"It's your fault," Will blurted out, uncertain to where the words and emotions were coming from, "if you never forced me onto the field I never would have met Doctor Lecter and none of this would have happened." The last words were shouted out.

Jack stood there before nodding and leaving. Will felt her heart sink lower into her abdomen. She wasn't really angry at Jack, not anymore. He had been a broken man since Bella had died, also supported by his narrower waistline and grey hair. He was no longer the Alpha Will remembered and deep down she secretly wished for the old one back.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her shoulder length brown hair. Will decided to go back to the hotel and rest. It would do no good to sit around and fret, especially with the FBI working on recovering her baby. She got up out of the chair and pulled her handbag over her shoulder. She walked out of the office praying for a miracle.

In Italy

Hannibal Lecter was unused to children, that was certain. So far he had been alone with Alistair for a week and it was beginning to unnerve him. Several days earlier, Alistair's placid temperament and good nature towards his biological father ended and the incessant whining for his mother had begun. Hannibal of course understood the sacred bond between mother and child but he still couldn't help feel rather annoyed and jealous. Hannibal was a vain man and wanted his son to love him unconditionally and irrevocably, not ask for his mother every minute they spent in each other's company.

"Guess what we are going to do?" he announced while his progeny stared at the idiot box (a trait inherited from Will no doubt, all Lecters disdained TV).

"What?'' Alistair replied, eyes never moving from the pictures on the TV.

"We are going to visit my aunt," Hannibal said, turning off the electronic device so his son would look at him.

"Oh," was Alistair's answer "is she nice?"

"I certainly thought so, her name is Lady Murasaki" Hannibal mused.

"Does everyone in your family have fancy names?" Alistair asked.

"They are not fancy names, they are proper names," was his father's succinct reply. "Now go and pack."

"All right," Alistair grumbled getting off the couch. As he reached the door he turned around and asked his father, "when is mum coming?"

"I think she will come when we land in Lithuania," he said with a smile. "She will work it out."