And Then The Tears Fell

Goddamn I have been out of writing for so long! It feels good to be back!

Ok, so this story is based on one of my earlier stories, Surprise Surprise. The difference is that Surprise Surprise was the first ever fanfiction that I wrote, and that I was 13 or14 when I wrote it. I am now older and wiser, and was going to re write Surprise Surprise. But instead, I thought i'd write a new one, then I could compare!!

Enjoy! And please take time out to check out the short Surprise Surprise, its a great, very poorly written little story!

Chapter One.

Clarice kicked the door hard, a heavy card box filling her hands and keys dangling loosely from her mouth as she pushed the door wide open with her foot, darting inside quickly before the oak came racing back towards her. She put the box down in the hall and turned back to the door, taking the slightly wet keys from her mouth and shoving them in the lock, twisting them sharply before removing them and throwing them on the small table underneath the mirror.

As she turned to begin down the hall, she stumbled over the box that she had only moments earlier place by her feet. She cursed out loud as her toe stubbed the corner of the box, pausing momentarily before she shouted angrily and kicked the box for being in her way, which only ended in more pain. Defeated, she stormed over the box and down the hall, flicking the switch as she entered the small but neat kitchen of her apartment.

She stopped before passing through the open doorway, waiting for the lights to flicker on. Scanning the kitchen briefly, she walked straight in and to the fridge, grabbing the chrome handle and yanking the door open, only to be greeted by a bright yellow light, a few out-of-date eggs, mayonnaise and something in a tub which, when opened, was very obviously off.

Closing the door, she looked around her somewhat barren kitchen. Had she really been gone that long? It had only felt like a few hours, as if time had barely passed. There was no food about, and anything that did happen to be in sight was out-of-date. The plates had been washed and put away, so even her trademark bit of clutter near the kitchen sink was missing. Obviously her good friend Ardelia had kept her promise and had come around a few times to check up on the place.

Turning back to the fridge, she contemplated eating the something-in-the-tub as her stomach growled at her. It couldn't be that bad, she reassured herself, she had only been away for a week after all, and nothing could taste quite as bad as prison food. She half smiled to herself. Prison food. She never would have thought that she would ever be able to say that she had tried prison food. And more to the point, eaten prison food willingly.

Closing the fridge door again, she felt herself slip back into her thoughts. It was all she could do of late, replay things in her mind, watch and wonder where things had gotten so bad, at which point should she have let it lie or gone along with it…

The Good Doctor had cut through the chains of the handcuffs that held the two people together, the actual cuffs still attached to his wrist. He had looked up at Clarice, whose eyes were still screwed shut. After a few moments they began to relax as they opened slightly to see the damage that he had caused, only to see that there was no damage, save the bond between them was broken. Her eyes flickered towards the man stood before her as she felt helpless, her hair still stuck in the fridge, trapping her. He looked over her, smiling slightly, those maroon eyes burning right through her.

"Did you truly think that I would ever hurt you, Clarice?" She decided not to answer. He smiled slightly more before sighing. "Not in a thousand years." He said simply. She looked back at him, conflicting emotions flying through her mind, not knowing what to say or do, or what to want to say or do. She could feel herself break right there in front of him, and she knew that he could see it. She was unravelling before his very eyes. "Clarice, there is nothing more that I would love in the world than to stay here with you, but I am really pressed for time. If I thought for even a moment that you would abandon your moral duties to those who have betrayed you then I would invite you to come with me… But you wouldn't be the Special Agent Starling that I know if you did… So once again, I must be leaving."

And with that, he turned and began to walk out of the kitchen. Without thinking about it, with no hesitation, suddenly she spoke, without really wanting to.

"This moment will stay with me forever. You will haunt my dreams." As he reached the doorway, he turned to look at her, watching her as she struggled to control her breathing.

"I already haunt your dreams, Clarice."

And with that, he was gone.

The next few hours were a blur. There had been sirens, police, search dogs. Then she was travelling for what seemed like such a long time… then bright lights and men in white coats pulling her eyes open and shining lights in them, scribbles on bits of paper, someone speaking to her, people asking her questions that she couldn't answer… and then all of a sudden… nothing.

Clarice awoke the next day, wondering where the hell she was and why her head hurt so badly. Her breathing seemed slow and laboured, and she couldn't fathom out where the hell she was. A door opened and footstep followed, Clarice looked up to see where the noise was coming from.

"Please Miss Starling, don't get up."

"I wasn't going to…" She said groggily. "Where am I?"

"You're in the State Hospital. My name is Doctor Edward Noble."

"What… how, how long have I been here?"

"You were admitted last night. The time is now 18:22."

"How long have I been asleep for?" There was a pause from the Doctor.

"Miss Starling, you didn't fall asleep. When you were admitted the nurse gave you a shot of morphine for the bullet wound to your shoulder. We were unaware that you had already received some level of… treatment…" He sighed. "We weren't aware that you had already been administered morphine. Your body couldn't handle the amount of morphine…."

"I had an overdose on morphine?"

"Basically… yes. Do you remember anything at all before you passed out?"

"I remember bright lights, men in white coats… everything felt hot and I couldn't breathe…"

"Yes, typical signs of an overdose. Symptoms can be confusion, breathing difficulties, weakness…"

"So what's happening now?" Clarice butted in.

"Well, we looked over the bullet wound in your shoulder, but it had already been treated. The bullet had been removed and it was a very tidy stitching. We treated you for the overdose and tidied the wound up."

"So when can I go home?"

"Ha, so anxious to leave! Well, I don't know much about what happened last night Miss Starling, but the police and FBI want to question you."

Memories of the previous night's events came flooding back. Oh no. This was not going to be pretty.

True to her word, it wasn't pretty. The police and FBI alike thought that Doctor Lecter and Clarice had conspired to kill Paul Krendler. Everyone in the department knew of the conflict of interests between Paul and Clarice, and people guessed that after he had her suspended that it was the last straw. She was arrested, and spent 5 nights in a prison cell. Alone with nothing but her thoughts, no help or release from the flashbacks, everytime someone walked down that yard she expected it to be him with a clipboard and a pair of glasses, coming to break her mind fully. Towards the end of her stint in prison she didn't eat, and hallucinations soon came. She would wake up screaming after seeing him in her dreams, only to find that in her waking moments he was there still, analysing her and evaluating her, that small smile always on his features. Eventually she was moved to solitary confinement after waking up the other inmates too often, where she was truly alone, with nothing but the plain white walls for her thoughts to bounce off. She would see those maroon eyes boring into her flesh through the viewing space in the door, sucking her soul from her body. Slowly, she was losing her mind, and she knew. And there was nothing that she could do about it.

5 nights after being arrested, she was released after "sufficient evidence had been found proving her innocence". She walked away from the county state prison 3lbs lighter in weight, and with the feeling that her sanity and reasoning had been lost completely.

It was on this day that she had arrived at home, with a box of all the things that she had left at the federal office from the first time she had been suspended. Tired and weary, angry and paranoid she stood in her kitchen, lost in her thoughts completely…

Until….

A noise.

In the hallway…

A sudden click broke Clarice out of her trance, her eyes darting up towards the open doorway.

Footsteps…

On the wooden floor….

Someone was in her house…..

She stood there, bound to the spot with fear, her ration mind lost within herself. The footsteps drew closer, Clarice couldn't move… it was Hannibal, it had to be Hannibal, he was coming back for her, he wanted her soul after all….

Her eyes widen as the 4th set of footsteps came, so close to the door now….

And the 5th… and the 6th…. And the 7th…

It didn't take 7 set of steps to get to the kitchen….

Yet she could still hear footsteps…

Somehow forcing herself to move, she tip toed to the doorway, and peeked around the corner….

There was no-one there. Just the mail on the floor, a paper still stuck through the letter box where the kid hadn't shoved it through properly.

There was no-one in her house. She was imagining it.

She had truly lost her mind.

And then… the tears fell.

Feel free to read and review, flames are not really welcome because they are utterly usless and really piss me off. Just tell me what you think xx