Title: A Lasting Victory
Author: angstytimelord
Pairing: Will Graham/Sherlock Holmes
Fandoms: Hannibal/Sherlock
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1drabble
Prompt: 08, Victory
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Will Graham or Sherlock Holmes, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Will barely spoke to Sherlock during the drive back to Wolf Trap; there didn't seem to be much to say.

Well, actually, there was a lot to say, but he knew that trying to put any of it into words wouldn't be adequate at the moment. His feelings were overflowing, and he didn't know how to express them without making himself sound silly and stilted.

So he would simply have to wait and try to tell Sherlock just how grateful he was, and how much he owed him, when he could express those feelings more eloquently.

He had never felt such gratitude towards anyone before -- and he'd never felt as though he had such a burden of repayment. How could he give this man back all that he was owed, not only for getting him out of jail, but for conclusively proving his innocence?

Or maybe that proof wasn't conclusive. Maybe there was still some danger.

He didn't want to think about that, though. He just wanted to revel in the fact that he was a free man, and that they had scored a major victory.

He hoped that victory would last, and that his enemies wouldn't be able to fin a way to railroad him back to being behind bars. The very thought of it made him shudder; he didn't think the could have taken one more day and night of living that life.

Nothing had ever felt so horrible as the loss of his freedom. And the thought that he didn't belong here -- not only that, knowing that people knew his didn't belong here, yet didn't want to help him -- had been weighing on his mind, crushing his spirit.

That was what Jack and Hannibal had wanted, he told himself, a surge of anger rushing through him. They'd wanted to destroy him from the inside out.

Well, thanks to Sherlock, they hadn't done it. Victory had been snatched away from them.

This time, victory belonged to the good guys, himself and Sherlock. But he didn't know how long that victory would last; he would still have to tread carefully, if he chose to stay here. Though he was fairly that such a decision had already been taken away from him.

He and Sherlock would have to talk, and he would be faced with some tough choices that he really didn't want to have to make.

Will sighed softly, feeling overwhelmed. Yes, he and Sherlock had won a lasting victory today, but they still had to deal with a lot of problems. He had a feeling that his life was going to change completely, and he wasn't sure that he was ready to deal with those changes.

But it also looked as though he didn't have much of a choice, so he'd better get used to them.

***