This is my first attempt at a Hannibal fanfic.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and some quotes are from the film.
I decided to re-write the ending for the film Hannibal how I think it could have gone after. Some details are from the book.
'Would you ever say stop, if you loved me you'd stop?' Hannibal asked Clarice, knowing full well what her answer would be.
'Not in a thousand years' Clarice replied, she had decided that it would be safer for her own well being if she let her mind control the events rather than her heart and her fantasies.
'Not in a thousand years' He was expecting a simple no, this answer was over the top. He knew at once what this meant, she was battling with herself and it excited him. He recalled his conversation with Pazzi about love and obsession and whether feelings could be reciprocated. 'Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for her and find nourishment in the very sight of her? I think so. But would she see through the bars of his plight and ache for him?' He knew how easy it was to become obsessed with just one meeting, he knew that all to well but he had never believed that she would even feel the slightest thing towards him, now her answer gave it all.
'That's my girl' He said to her, proud of the fact that she was struggling to love him, it was better than an outright refusal. He bared his teeth and loomed towards her, her eyes sparkle with excitement. His lion was in there, wanting him as much as he wanted her. He placed the slightest of kisses on her lips, after all no gentleman would steal a kiss from a helpless woman. But he figured one little taster wouldn't hurt her too much.
Little did he know that this tiny kiss would spiral the downfall of Special Agent Clarice Starling. She couldn't control her thought anymore, the dreams of him and her together flooded her mind, the drugs made her fuzzy, she gave into the kiss and let it take over her. Hannibal was already in her mind but now it was worse, now he was in her heart. With the last of her self restrain she reached for her handcuffs and cuffed herself to him. If he was going to run, now he had to take her too.
Hannibal opens his eyes at the noise. He knew pulling away from the kiss was going to be hard and he was glad of the distraction. 'Now that's really interesting, Clarice. But I'm really pressed for time. Where's the key?' He asks her playfully, hoping that she will talk but she remains mute. 'Where's the key?' he repeats himself a bit more forcefully this time but she just turns away from his gaze. He knows what she's doing, she wants to keep him her so she can get the praise she thinks she deserves. If that's not her plan then the only other option is that she wanted to go with him but he knew she wasn't ready yet, until the F.B.I releases its hold on her she can never be his.
He picks up the cleaver, he can hear the sirens coming from the distance and he has no time for this. He know that if he severs his hand just right and chills it that he knows a local surgeon who could do the operation no question asked for a certain sum. He hopes to scare her into telling him where the key is but if she doesn't he is willing to do what is needed. 'Above or below the wrist, Clarice?' He sees the doubt in her eyes, she thinks he's bluffing, there is an edge of fear but it's not enough to convince her. His last thought he says out loud. 'This is really going to hurt' and with that he brings the cleaver down onto his hand.
Hannibal knew what needed to be done and fast, he prepared everything and left. Clarice was in shock, not believing that he would do it, not understanding why he had spared her wrist. She felt as though she had betrayed him, and she just wanted to cry. Her head was starting to hurt now, she tried to put the handle back on the fridge. Finally she managed to escape, she stood there, rubbing her scalp and looking at the bloody cuffs attached to her wrist. She removed the key from the waistband of her underwear and unlocked them from her. She couldn't risk someone finding them so she put them back where she removed them from, the feel of cold metal, slick with blood against her skin. Why didn't she tell him where the key was? She kept asking herself, was it because she wanted to capture him? Did she want to go with him? Or was she just embarrassed that he might hunt round in her underwear?
Clarice ran outside to make sure that he was safely away when she was caught by the police on the river bank. She was taken to F.B.I head quarters where she would remain overnight till they decided what to tell the press. She was sat there answering questions about the events, not hearing her own replies, her mind hoping that Hannibal wasn't bleeding to death somewhere. Finally it was decided that twice in one week she had let Lecter escape from her, they believed that she had reached her full effectiveness and was no longer required by them. The official reason was that she has be suspended and had still gone ahead to investigate a crime that she was no longer in charge of. From there she had assisted a criminal felon in escaping. They didn't care for the details, for the torture that Lecter would endure; in their eyes she freed him.
Clarice went home the following day with a box of her belongings, still wearing the dress that she had the night before. The F.B.I had thought it fair to refuse her a change of clothes, the press would see what she was wearing the night Paul Kremler had died. She thought this is probably what it would have felt like if her dad had caught her sneaking into the house in last night outfit. Unfortunately she never got to know that feeling. Thinking about it now it was not one of the things she felt that she missed out on and would have been happy to avoid.
Finally home she sat on the edge of her bed and looked into the mirror. What was she now? She had lost her title, her job and the man she desired. How would she know if he died? What if he was angry? She had forced him to cut his hand off. Or had she? He didn't have to, he could have cut her. Starling was so confused about the thought in her head. She decided to shutdown, she took the dress off and stared at her body in the mirror. By now the bloody handcuffs had crusted to her hip, she noticed the scar on her shoulder and realised how tight it felt. She decided to have a bath, to help relieve the stress of the past few days.
Looking at the box she had brought home she seen that it contained the lotions that Lecter had sent to her. She decided that she would try them out. She ran herself a nice hot bath, and removed her underwear and slipped into the tub. Thinking about what to do next, she hadn't a clue. Maybe she could look for Lecter, hunt him down, but then what? She could no longer hide behind the excuse that it was her job to chase him, so why would she? After a lot of thought she decided that she would find a new job, she would earn enough money to travel and then she would leave this place and see some of the world. If she bumped into Lecter it was a bonus.