As you step into the street and notice the distance between the hearts and homes [W6, Friday]

[hydrokinetics]

[Will might be surprised to find that one of the rounds Winston comes back, he's holding a new note. Upon unfolding it, Will will notice that it's one of Percy's wanted posters that he's torn down from the station and a note is scrawled on it almost sloppily. It happens when your hand's bandaged up.]

Will,

...I imagine you don't want company. I imagine you don't want condolances condolences and I imagine you're already planning on how to strike back.

But...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I did my best. I wanted to do more, I wanted to try and stop this, I wanted so much but this town has proven to me you can't get what you want all the time.

I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I'm scared, honestly, but I know I can't be. That won't be good for anyone. I read Dr. Lecter's letter. I have some ideas. I don't know if I'm ready, but again, I know I can't be scared.

Please be well, Will. It's a tall order, I know. Know that despite what happens tomorrow, I'm grateful for all you've done for me in the weeks we've been here. I know you know exactly how everything will play out. I'll have to make do with my own clues and find a new way to win. Dr. Lecter had spoken to me about maybe working with us. I think he already knew it was too late. I appreciate him humoring me, at least.

Like I said, I imagine you don't want company and maybe that's for the best. I had enough people tell me to take time to grieve and I don't know if I ever really did. But you and Winston can probably guess where to find me. Otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow, I hope.

-Perseus

Comments

[sweats]

[ Later, when all the letters are delivered, Winston arrives with another letter for Percy. ]

Percy,

I'm not very good at writing letters. My thoughts jumble and I'm unable to find the words, to put things down clearly and coherently. I'm sorry in advanced.

I looked at the body and I saw what she did. I looked at her and saw the same thing. She had him blind and bound and she lured him onto the bear trap and shot him when she couldn't stab him herself. Then she hit her own head so she would have cause to lie to you and the others about what she did. She will lie about it. I have no doubt about that.

I have to do what I'm about to do, Percy. It will be tasteless and crude and you will never look at me the same way again. But you want to know something that might sound strange to you?

I'm very proud of Natalie. She killed him. I've tried so many times and he and I share the scars to prove it. I had him bled. I had him burned. I had him stabbed and taken and shot and everything imaginable and yet still, he does not die. She did what I've never been able to do and all she had to do was be around him for six weeks. Six weeks compared to my seven years, compared to his thirty years of slaughter.

I don't think she'll get it though. I don't think she'll want to.

There are people here who still feel better in the assumption that I am the bad one. That Hannibal is the good one. That if Hannibal is bad, I must be worse or equal to him. I don't care if they think this but in a way, I'm glad Natalie killed him now instead of letting those thoughts linger and fester. If they killed me first because of that assumption, there is nothing I could've done to stop Hannibal.

I will only kill Natalie. Hannibal would kill everyone.

Tomorrow, you will see me again and vote for me and I'll be killed. I don't know who my executioner will be but I think I'd prefer it to be you. You saw me, Percy, and I'll forever be grateful for that. If you can't do this, I understand and I value everything else we've gone through together regardless. You're a good kid, Percy. You deserve good things. I hope you get them.

And... don't apologize to me. Please, Percy. Don't ever say I'm sorry to me because I don't deserve your apologies. All you did, all you've ever done, was the right thing. The game Hannibal and I play isn't something that ever should have touched you or Natalie or anyone here. It's ours to live with and all I ever wanted to do was limit the collateral damage.

In a few weeks time, we won't see each other again. We won't ever remember each other, will we? You return to your battles and I return to mine. I'm sure Hannibal and I will survive our fall now, we'll disappear as we're supposed to and no one will hear from us again. You will win against Gaea and return to Annabeth and stop fighting one day. I think if anyone could do it, you could. You inspire a certain hope like that, Percy. I believe in your ability to do anything, which is a very new thing for me. I hope that isn't overwhelming, I don't mean it to be.

Be well, Percy. I think these letters should be our goodbye. Tomorrow, I will be a different man than you know, complicit in Hannibal's crimes in all ways. If we have the misfortune to be on the train together, we should keep to our corners. The Will Graham of then won't be the same one you know. His teeth will drip blood and there will be no regret there to find, just acceptance. Evolution equips us with what it needs to survive and this is just another form of it. I'm sorry.

The last thing I can tell you, of what I've seen and what may help you, is a request you talk to Barnham. There's something locked away in his crevices that's itching to get out. I don't know what it is, but I know it's important. He's the only one that doesn't look at the Sheriff with hate anymore. Just a bland acceptance. Talk to him on your own. Let him speak for himself.

That's all I have for you.

Thank you for talking to me, Percy. For seeing and understanding. You're a good person and I'm sorry that our lives intersected. I hope you'll do the right thing and forget about us. Please, just forget about us.

- Will

Saturday, post-trial

[hydrokinetics]

[This time with Winston being in the cell with Will, Percy has to approach himself. He doesn't look at Will through the bars, but he does reach into his pocket and he pulls out a letter. He shoves it into the cell, pausing for a moment before giving Will one more curiously blank look. He soon drops his gaze and turns on his heels to walk away, leaving Will with a letter.]

Will,

Natalie told me her story, and I understand. I understand the Will Graham that you were, though I don't believe I can understand the Will Graham that you are.

Your wishes have been taken into account. As you know, you have been voted for. And tomorrow, I believe, I will be the one to execute you. I know several people will want me to be crude and tasteless in the way that you were in Natalie's death. But that's not my wish. My wish is to end your life and relieve you from the boundaries of this world, a world without Dr. Lecter, a world where you remain unstable.

It's not death. It's setting you free. And for that, I won't apologize.

There are several things I won't apologize for. I won't apologize for what I'm going to do tomorrow. I won't apologize for not being able to look you in the eye anymore. I won't apologize for feelings I have for you now. Because you were right, Will. You're not the Will Graham of yesterday, and that's the part that I think I regret the most.

I will win this game. I will fight with everything I have and I will take the gifts you and Dr. Lecter have given me and I will win. I will respect your wishes and forget the people I found out you were. However, I hope you'll forgive me for not forgetting the people who saw me in ways no one else has.

Your words have never been overwhelming, Will. I wish you had used them more often because I still find you to be highly intelligent and understanding of people who don't even understand themselves. Maybe that's what empathy is.

I'm sorry that our lives have intersected, but that's just another part of the game, isn't it?

I imagine now where you're going, you and Dr. Lecter will only have each other. I imagine now people will leave you alone. Treat you with disgust and rage and anger. I hope we can win fast enough to eliminate this and save everyone in the way that they want to be saved.

That's all I've ever wanted to do, Will. Save everyone.

Be well, Will. Tomorrow, another week comes to an end. Tomorrow, I will speak to Mr. Barnham. And tomorrow your blood will be on my hands. For that, I cannot apologize. I hope Dr. Lecter will be there to greet you on the other side. Please thank him for the gift. I don't know if people like you two will be eligible for rebirth, but I suppose the most important part will be that you're together.

I will fight harder now more than ever, and I'm grateful to you for supplying me with a new energy I thought I lacked.

Goodbye, Will. I'll make sure Winston is looked after in your absence as well.

-Perseus.