slightlyoffchilt | - IC CONTACT POST FOR MASKORMENACE -

[ Walt laughed. ]

Chilton, no one is going to catch you. You wanted Heisenberg, you got him. I will not let ANYONE touch my things.

He can have Will Graham. Good riddance. But you. You are mine.

[Out of the frying pan and into the fire. But that wasn't how Chilton saw it; his paranoia and dread over Hannibal Lecter easily blinded him to the brunt of what Walter White was saying. He yearned to be reassured, and that was precisely what Walt was doing. Reassuring him. Offering him the solace of protection. Soothing his woes.]

How could this have gone so wrong? He insinuated that he transformed Will Graham -- forced him into "becoming", was his pedantic correction. As if I had overlooked something inherent in Will. I do not even know what year Hannibal comes from.

Listen to me. Listen to me.

What this implies is what you must have known deep down all along. Will Graham is a lost cause -- too corrupted and tainted by your world's devil. If you try to cling to the traces of the man who you claimed as a friend, he will drag you right through the fire to burn alongside him.

Let him go, Chilton. Let him go now and save yourself. You don't need either of them to be the superior one.

[ A beat. ]

Why don't you come with me? We'll go away for a week. I have a safehouse that isn't the cabin. We can stay there while you figure everything out.

I cannot, Walt. I cannot simply leave my practice, my staff, my girlfriend. I cannot allow Hannibal to disrupt my life with his mere entrance onto the stage -- it isn't fair.

[Vaguely pouty Frederick Chilton, already cursing the inequity of life's gamble.]

He invited me to meet with him, you know. He called me his esteemed colleague. Ironic coming from his mouth, perhaps. I managed to sidestep the first attempt.

I know he will meet with Will.

Edited 2015-09-13 23:01 (UTC)

Call it a kidnapping, then. Call it me forcing you against your will.

[ Walt, frustrated by the fact that he's helpless here, can only offer that as an out. ]

People know you treat the mentally ill, so would it really be a shock if one of them has up and taken you somewhere?

[ He didn't like the thought of Chilton continuing his routine. He didn't like the thought of Chilton being so easily found at this point in time. Until Walt could figure out Hannibal, he wanted Chilton under his protection. And maybe...maybe if kidnapping him was the only way... ]

I imagine Will's going to be his primary focus. Especially considering he called out for him by name.

If I say that you kidnapped me, then our whole Heisenberg operation will be under strict scrutiny. And -- frankly -- I'm not sure my reputation could suffer me getting kidnapped by a patient. Again.

[It had happened a few times before, with two different patients.]

In fact, that's rather humiliating to consider and -- [A beat.] Actually. I don't wish to discuss it. We will simply have to wait for Hannibal to make his first move.

[ What? What!! ]

I don't accept that!!

[ There was something desperate edging his voice. Something frantic. It was the panic that often pushed Walt to do something out of desperation -- something that was often times drastic. ]

What if his first move is murder?

It won't be -- not against me. With Will Graham's household, well. [A light shrug.] That would be unfortunate, and a little clumsy in my opinion. I doubt Lecter would engage so obviously. Eventually, yes --

[It was interesting to consider. Chilton was able to secure his emotions better, when taking a step back, when engaging the analytical circumstance.]

-- but not initially. He would rather have Will surrender them. A sacrifice to his god.

But then what about you? Once all of that is over, what happens to you? Where do you fall on his list? Obviously somewhere that he decides to give you a 'fate worse than death.' And what if he tries to do that here?

You need defenses. You need poisons. You need a gun. And maybe even a bomb. You need me.

I need you?

[The psychiatrist let that sizzle in the air, that willing acknowledgement of Walt's overt manipulation. Fear mongering, in a way; creating a desperation to swirl within Chilton's mind.]

Walt, while I do appreciate your concern, I am going to play my hand with caution. I'm not eager to court his disdain, and I have defenses. I have your poisons, I have a gun.

Do you not trust me to use them correctly?

It's not that. I just. I just want...

...you to rely on me. It's really all I...

[ Ever wanted went the unspoken. Walt couldn't finish the thought. It seemed a bit too honest, a bit too open.

Walt needed something that he felt he was protecting in order to feel worth anything. And he wanted that something to look to him for that protection for his ego as much as it was for his one final link to humanity. If Walter White was a savior of some kind, if he cared and had emotions -- then he couldn't truly be evil, could he? ]

You don't have to be proud right now, Chilton. If you're afraid, let me do something.

It would unwise for someone in my position not to be afraid of Hannibal Lecter.

[But Chilton's focus, hazy from the emotional chaos that Hannibal so easily wrought, started its journey to purify. Clarify. And that phrase cycled back, echoing in Chilton's mind, that phrase that Walt had uttered with such passion.

I will not let anyone touch my things.

His things. Of which Chilton was in collection. It seemed that, quite suddenly, the psychiatrist found himself in either doubled danger or ample opportunity -- depending on how deftly he could spin the situation.]

I do. Rely on you. I am doing so now, as we speak, I'm committing a willing engagement in codependency. But I also depend on you to trust my judgement when it comes to Lecter. He will target Will Graham and those most associated with him.

And I have already discontinued my sessions with Graham.

[ It appeased him to hear those words. More than that, it lifted the tightness away from his chest -- the tightness of anxiety, of imagining Chilton doing this all on his own and failing. The anxiety of watching Gus take Jesse away from him the way Hannibal may be able to take Chilton. The fear of losing Chilton -- to death or worse. ]

I do trust you. He's your enemy. He's from your world. You know him best. But you have more at your disposal than you had back home. And that's what I want you to understand.

[ He might have elaborated except then he heard the most delightful news of all. ]

It's for the best. You don't want to be dragged down alongside him. This will protect you in the long run. It was a great tactic, Chilton.

[ And it freed up Chilton's Saturdays now, Walt wanted to say -- but refrained. It was a little too self-celebratory, but hell. He was thinking it. ]

[Walt's approval was, oddly, reassuring. As much as Chilton loved to parade the veneer of superiority and aloof observation, he was fundamentally concerned about how those important individuals perceived him. This particular opinion mattered, and Chilton glowed with the relief of an acknowledged tactic well played.

His over-investment was perhaps only magnified by the disarming threat that Hannibal immediately proved.]

See -- I have bought myself some time. Any further disruption will surely be noticed by Lecter, and it would not behoove my agenda if he thought it necessary to intervene.

Alright, alright. Fine. I get the picture. No moving against him on your behalf.

I'll agree unless you're threatened. If you get threatened in any way, I will kill him. Is that agreeable?

I would love to know your detailed plan to commit homicide against Hannibal Lecter.

That really depends on his infraction. Whether it's quick and painless or drawn out and torturous.

[A quiet few beats followed.]

Freddie Lounds had informed me once that I was shot, while detained in police custody. A head shot. By Hannibal's own account, I must survive the experience to write a book on his psychosis.

Assuming he is not lying.

Imagine what state I am in, Walt. The state I will be in. Just imagine.

[ Walt is imagining it and it's not pretty. But if Chilton is in a state where he can write a book, there must not have been any lasting brain damage. ]

And even though you know this now, there's nothing you can do to prevent it.

[ His breath hitched -- half full of emotion and half trying to suppress that emotion. Anger, mostly. But there was concern for Chilton's well being as well. ]

At least. At least the damage is superficial. Physical. Your mind is in tact. At least you still have your mind.

But. I think turnabout is fair play. I'd see if Hannibal can survive a shot to the head, if I was in your shoes.

I would much rather have Hannibal behind a thick, plexiglass wall quite honestly. He would make for a fascinating specimen.

[And Chilton was only encouraged, knowing that he had that same pulse of logic back home.]

But in the meanwhile, no, I do not think that a direct attack is the most effective. Drawing his attention seems frantically hubristic.

[Even for Chilton.]

Take my advice and steer clear. I do not want you inflaming his attention.

So what's to stop you from having him right where you want him? What's to stop you from doing anything? You're not in your home world anymore, Chilton. This place? This is your world. Look at how far you've come, all your successes.

Hannibal Lecter doesn't mean a damn thing here. So get him locked up. Observe him like he's on display in a zoo. Get all the revenge here and now for the things he puts you through back home in your future.

I am not -- certain. [A beat. Chilton's insecurities, his fallen aspirations and his slicked back envy, bubbled from the recesses of his narcissistic mind. What he exposed before Walt, right now, was weakness.]

I am not certain that I can, without assistance. From Will Graham.

[Chilton was intimidated. He knew that Will had something of extraordinary status with Lecter, and he knew that he himself lacked that. Such had been made abundantly clear.

He had more to lose.]

[ Why the hell does it always boil down to Will Graham? ]

You don't. You don't need him. Stop relying on him as a crutch to do what you should be able to do on your own. Whether it's in regards to this situation or anything really.

I believe in your maneuvering, Chilton.

My maneuvering. [Chilton tasted the word, considering it.] You make it sound so innocuous. [Wryly:] Like putting a little English on the ball.

[There's a hollow quiet on his end, an unnerving silence as he examines Walt's faith in him. Ironic, of course, coming from Walt of all people. As if encouraging Chilton's manipulative tendencies didn't speak to some greater qualm between them.]

I want to watch what happens first. The match has only just struck, and Hannibal will go after poor Will. My maneuvering depends on those observations.

Right. So we watch and wait.

[ Suddenly it had become a we. Suddenly, Walt had involvement in this. ]

But if something happens, if you get hurt. I make no promises that I'll hold back. You are mine.

[ Possession inherent. Emphasis on who Chilton belonged to. But after a moment, his tone turned a bit gentle. ]

Do you need company? I can stop by your office.

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