Canon through the end of the film version of Hannibal. What happens after? Told from the view of both Hannibal and Clarice.
Clarice
After all she had been through, the FBI couldn't possibly get rid of her now. With Krendler, her main nemesis, gone, there was nobody left trying to stop her from advancing. They were, however, all terrified of her, and stayed away. Clarice didn't notice at first, but as soon as she did, her decision was made, and she left the FBI a few weeks after that. Work would never be the same. She didn't give anybody an excuse, but there was nobody to care. Sure, Jack Crawford tried to stay in touch with her, worried about her... but at a certain point, she knew she had to make a clean break. Jack had taken her to lunch once or twice to catch up, and that just couldn't happen now.
Clarice decided to get away from it all. She found a place in Vermont, away from anything to do with the government and her former life. The house was in a town with a decent amount of land but very few residents. Therefore, she was able to live in solitude- she was even able to get her groceries delivered, and avoid the mailman. She changed her number and left no forwarding address- although those in the FBI surely had the means to track her down, she knew that there was nobody who cared enough to do so.
As the months flew by, Clarice desperately tried to remember what happened between her discovery of Dr. Lecter in Mason Verger's barn and when she woke up to dinner with Krendler. She knew he had drugged her, knew that he had given her at least morphine, but other than that, she didn't know. She remembered the ceiling fan... a hallucination of a her lamb, watching over her, with his eyes... she remembered his presence, feeling his concern for her as he took care of her... but nothing more. What else did he give her? The tox. screen came back confirming only the morphine, but Clarice wasn't sure if she should believe it. And what else had happened? She was afraid to confirm her rapidly growing suspicion. Oh, the FBI sent her to a therapist of course, but the therapist said that the memories were repressed, most likely because of the trauma of the event, and that she would never recover them. She went further to say that it was best for the memories to stay that way. Nobody else would understand her desire and her longing to know the truth, so she never expressed it. She knew that an accredited hypnotherapist might be able to help, but she couldn't risk it. She couldn't risk anybody else knowing other than her and Dr. Lecter. Especially now, now that she had found herself a remote corner of the world to live in, where people didn't know who she was, didn't even give her a second glance. No, Clarice had found some sort of peace in this world, for the first time in her life, and no matter how strong her desire to know the truth, she wouldn't risk it for anything.
It didn't take long for the months to fly by.
Her breath hitched the first time she looked into his eyes. If she had any doubts (which she didn't), she couldn't possibly deny it any longer. The denial she had clung to so dearly was gone in a flash. Those eyes... eyes which had terrified and scared her, yet been a comfort at the same time... eyes that filled her dreams and her nightmares and in waking, popped into her head every time she closed her eyes or let her mind drift... eyes that had haunted her for so many years... were now gazing back at her in the face of the most beautiful baby she had ever seen... her beautiful, wonderful, perfect little baby boy.
His name came to her in a flash- Leonardo. It was fitting. From the Italian, meaning "lion-hearted," or "strong as a lion" ... the words just all seemed to work. "Lion," "strong," "brave" ... and it was a sophisticated name, too. Not very popular, yet one of the greatest Renaissance men to ever to live carried this name, one who was good at everything, intelligent, elegant, revered... and born in Florence. It was the fruits of his labor that so many still enjoyed there. Yes, that would be his name. She whispered it softly to him, and although she knew it wasn't possible for a baby so young, she swore she saw him look directly into her eyes and smile with approval.
The feelings that rushed over her when she held this dear newborn, her baby boy, her Leonardo, in her arms, was like nothing she had ever experienced. Being at the age that she was, she had regarded it highly unlikely she'd ever know the joy of having children. And even more than that, she had willingly given it up, the husband and children, for her life at the FBI, as Dr. Lecter so accurately once stated. She had foregone all thoughts of such a life, and when she become completely disillusioned with the FBI, she knew in her heart that it was already too late. There was no chance to try for any of that now. So holding Leonardo, watching him sleep peacefully, cradled in her arms, raising him to her breast for nourishment, was nothing short of a miracle, one that she knew she would relish every moment of. And without knowing it, the man who had haunted her for so long had given her the greatest gift possible. More than the advancement that she once coveted so desperately... and he had no idea he had done so.
The first person other than herself to really see her baby was the nurse who came for the information for the birth certificate. Immediately she commented on his exquisite eyes... a pale blue like she had never seen before. While the nurse cooed over the baby, Clarice realized that she hadn't quite thought out what she would put on the birth certificate. Not allowing herself to acknowledge the truth about his father until the very last second, she hadn't yet the chance to even think about it. She knew that some leave the space for the birth father blank, but she felt that doing so would be really quite insulting. Plus, "Leonardo Starling" just didn't sound right, not at all. No, he needed to have his father's last name... but she had to think about how to do it carefully. She sent the nurse away with the promise that she would fill out the paperwork before she was discharged from the hospital the next day.
She knew that her name would not raise any red flags. She had had Jack keep her up to date on if the Bureau was watching out for her, before she broke communications with him, and she was checking on it herself- the filing had been backed up, and since she hadn't been fired, she was able to access her accounts for a bit of time before they closed her out. No, her name would be fine. She wrote it in. She also wrote Leonardo's name in, but left the last name blank for a moment. Now she had to decide what to do about the father. "Lecter" was, in fact, a very rare name in the States, so she knew it would certainly be an issue. What she needed to know what how long she had before someone realized, alerted the FBI, and they began to investigate. Finally, she made a decision. At the end of Leonardo's name, she wrote "Lecter" with a flourish. And father, "H. Lecter." Dangerous, but it might give her some time with only the initial. She knew he wouldn't object. She had brought with her the paperwork to begin the process of getting the baby a passport, incase they needed to flee when this was investigated. She had an excuse, of course... she could always say that he raped her, but she preferred to not be available at all. She knew saying such a thing would be an unforgivable offense to him, and something she would never allow herself to do. She turned in the information to the hospital at the very last second, and went directly to the town hall to submit the information to get Leonardo a passport.
All was quite for a few months. Nobody in the neighborhood bothered her. Leonardo was a wonderful baby, and she loved him with all her heart. But now she suddenly felt the urge to get out of the country more strongly than ever. Leonardo was three months old; it was a year to the date since she had last seen Dr. Lecter, and she realized that she had to leave, had to go immediately. His passport had only just come in, perfect timing, and she booked a one-way flight to Heathrow. It was time Leonardo got to know where he came from, in a sense, and certainly time she herself experienced the place that influenced so much of who Dr. Lecter is.
Within in a few hours, she was packed, and on her way to the airport for the red-eye to Heathrow.
What Clarice didn't know was that the very next morning, the FBI would come knocking down her door.