One Lamb To Save
By Absolut.
Disclaimer: The characters of Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Starling and Barney (plus anyone you may recognize) belong to Thomas Harris, not to me. But they are so great I couldn't resist borrowing them for a while. I will turn them back when I've finished. No copyright infringement intended. No profit. I'm harmless and broke ... So don't sue me.
Chapter 1
The clock rang at 6:15 like every morning. Clarice Starling opened her eyes immediately and sat up in her bed. It was only after a few seconds and she had remembered her today assignment that her enthusiasm for this new starting day decreased significantly. She sighed. Well, it had been months she had not had anything exciting to do, so what difference did one day make ?
She got up and dressed with a short and sweater. Five minutes later, she was running towards St Patrick's park. Her morning run was the only truly happy moment of her days. For about one hour every morning, she concentrated on the physical effort and just forgot everything else.
It was only after she had come back home and taken a shower that the reality of her life caught up with her ... And her life was certainly not what she had dreamt for these days ... Clarice was sitting in her kitchen, her spoon lazily playing in her bowl of cereals, her thoughts lost in the contemplation of the last twelve months of her life.
The first weeks after that night in Chesapeake had been just like hell. The Bureau was somehow considering her as responsible for Lecter' s escape, if not for Paul Krendler' s death. She had been suspended for three full weeks and thoroughly interrogated by a dozen different agents. Again and again she had had to repeat the whole story, from the capture of Lecter by Verger' s men to the night in Krendler' s lake house. She had not concealed anything, not even the most embarrassing details. And her version of the facts had never varied. At the end, though they were still reluctant, they had had to accept she was telling them the truth.
She had been reinstated but at a lower level and in a different unit, as a punishment for having disobeyed to Pearsall' s orders. This was the only thing they managed to officially charge her with. But she was no fool. She knew better than that. She knew nobody would ever trust her again in Washington. "The petty end of a promising career ..."
Nobody had offered her help or support in this period. Nobody except Ardelia, of course. For months, her nights had been full of nightmares ... visions of Hannibal Lecter cutting through Krendler' s brain ... the burning feeling of his lips on hers ... But her nights were nothing in comparison with her days. She had been confined in a remote cubicle, alone. Every time she was entering a room, she could feel the despising looks of her colleagues on her back. She could hear the conversations interrupted whenever she arrived somewhere. A whore. This is what they considered her like. Not special agent Clarice Starling, but Hannibal The Cannibal 's whore.
She had been assigned only endless paper work, filing reports, photocopies, ... a kind of special 'assistant to the assistant' position. She had done it because she had no choice, and at the beginning she had thought things would get better with time. But after a few months of this special treatment, she knew she was wrong. So, when the opportunity to be transferred to the New York office had come, she had packed her things and moved.
Not that the job was much more interesting here, but at least people did not know her and she was having kind of normal relationships with her colleagues. Her new boss' name was Peter Farrow. She knew he had been a friend of Jack Crawford and that it was most probably the reason why he had granted her a chance ... A tribute to Crawford' s memory.
For the moment, he was giving her only simple assignments, and not crucial ones. Mainly research stuff. But recently she had been staking out at a suspect' s house in a drug trafficking case. Farrow was acting as if he was testing her, trying to make his own opinion of her capacities. She appreciated that, and was ready to be patient if he needed time. Besides, he was looking at her as a normal human being, which was already much more than what she had received in Washington lately.
She had a look around. Her new apartment was fine, not big but cozy. Anyway, that was all she could afford in New York.
She grinned at the thought of what was expecting her today: Public Administration Career Day ! She had been nominated the representative for the FBI. Practically, she was supposed to spend the day downtown sing the praises of a career in the FBI to local universities students. The irony of it made her smile.
She finished her breakfast rapidly and got started for this very important day ...
The hall of the Marriot hotel was overcrowded. The students had started to arrive and the few officials delegated to the event were trying to organize a bit the flow, but with not much success. Clarice went to the reception desk and asked where she could find Stuart Paterson, which was the name Farrow had given her. The clerk showed her a tall thin man at the other end of the counter and she went to him and introduced herself.
" - Oh !" he said "The FBI ! Well, welcome to the zoo, agent Starling." he added, showing the mess around. Paterson was about her age and she found him nice. She smiled to him.
" - You can call me Clarice. Can I be of any assistance ?
- I'm afraid there is not much to be done. These things always get kinda messy at one point or another. So ..." he said, looking at the bundle of papers he had in hand." FBI ... Here you are. You've been assigned room Picasso. Nice one.
- Thanks.
- You've got time. Someone from the mayor' s office is going to make an introductory speech. I think you'll be able to start your presentation in an hour or so.
- All right.
- You can have a coffee at the bar. Just show your badge. Do you want me to show you the room ?
- Thanks, but I think I can find it. You look pretty busy right now.
- OK. See you later."
Clarice made her way to the Picasso room and settled her material for the presentation. Then she went back to the hall and had a look around. The situation was getting slightly better. The students and their teachers were being led to a vast auditorium where, she guessed, the initial speech would be given. She decided to follow.
She found a seat in the back of the room and started to observe people around. She had a strange feeling watching all these young people, full of energy and enthusiasm at the beginning of their adult life. So much like her when she was their age ... and yet so different. She had always known what she wanted to do with her life, ever since she was seven and her father got killed. She had not needed any career day back then.
And there she was ... Mrs. FBI ... For a minute, she wondered if things could have turned differently.
The sound of the voice of the speaker brought her back to reality. She shook her head as if to get rid of her dark thoughts and concentrated on the speech. One thing at a time, Clarice.
The speech itself turned out to be pretty classic and boring - basically how proud one could feel serving the People of America. Soon, she stopped listening and started watching the audience again. Twenty - twenty five years old, full of life ... There were much more boys than girls. A few professors had accompanied them and regrouped in the back of the room.
Clarice left before the end to be ready when the first student would arrive to the conference room assigned to her.
" ... And so, as you will have understood, the FBI can offer you a rather wide range of careers to suit your interests and objectives in life." Clarice had been talking for a little more than one hour now. There were about eighty young men and women in front of her. Globally she thought she had got their attention, and so fulfilled her mission. She took a sip of water. "I am now available whole day to answer your questions or to give you further information. You can also pick documentation on the table near the door. Anyone wants to start ?"
A young woman held up her hand.
" - Yes ?
- Are there some positions or careers in the FBI that a woman could not access ?
- No." Clarice smiled. "The career of an agent is only based on his or her value and demonstrated abilities." Another student was raising his hand. "Yes ?
- Did you follow the special training at the academy in Quantico ?
- Yes, I did.
- They say it's pretty tough.
- Well, it's no holidays if this is what you mean. But you have to know what you want in life and go for it."
The question and answer session went on. The questions were what she had expected them to be. Clarice was smiling to her audience and always giving standard, politically correct answers. After an hour or so, Clarice finally noticed a student who had been apparently trying to get her attention for quite some time.
" - Yes ?" she said to him, absentmindedly.
" - Thank you special agent Starling. I just wanted to know ... During your long career at the FBI, did you ever regret your enrollment ?"
Now, the young man had got her full attention. No one had called her special agent for one year now. In fact, since the Chesapeake episode, she had no more rights to this title. She looked at him more closely. He was standing only 10 ft from her. He looked a little younger than the other students, seventeen, maybe eighteen years old. He had deep blue eyes who were shamelessly staring at her. Clarice could not say precisely what, but there was something slightly familiar in the man' s appearance. And that disturbed her a bit. She crossed her fingers on the desk and answered as calmly as possible.
"It is agent Starling ... Now, to answer your question, as in every career and like everybody else I had my share of ups and downs. But no, I never really regretted my decision." The young man blinked and for a very fugitive instant, Clarice thought she had seen a smile on his lips. As if he knew she had lied to him. "Thank you, agent Starling" he said.
Another question came from the other side of the room and Clarice had to turn to another student. After she had answered, she tried to find the young man again but he had disappeared. She tried to search for him in the room but he was nowhere to be seen. She felt strangely uncomfortable. She answered a few other questions, but her mind was somewhere else. Who was this kid ? And why did she have the feeling she had seen him before ?
To be continued ... Thanks for reading. Reviews are as usual MOST welcome ...
Absolut.
By Absolut.
Disclaimer: The characters of Hannibal Lecter, Clarice Starling and Barney (plus anyone you may recognize) belong to Thomas Harris, not to me. But they are so great I couldn't resist borrowing them for a while. I will turn them back when I've finished. No copyright infringement intended. No profit. I'm harmless and broke ... So don't sue me.
Chapter 1
The clock rang at 6:15 like every morning. Clarice Starling opened her eyes immediately and sat up in her bed. It was only after a few seconds and she had remembered her today assignment that her enthusiasm for this new starting day decreased significantly. She sighed. Well, it had been months she had not had anything exciting to do, so what difference did one day make ?
She got up and dressed with a short and sweater. Five minutes later, she was running towards St Patrick's park. Her morning run was the only truly happy moment of her days. For about one hour every morning, she concentrated on the physical effort and just forgot everything else.
It was only after she had come back home and taken a shower that the reality of her life caught up with her ... And her life was certainly not what she had dreamt for these days ... Clarice was sitting in her kitchen, her spoon lazily playing in her bowl of cereals, her thoughts lost in the contemplation of the last twelve months of her life.
The first weeks after that night in Chesapeake had been just like hell. The Bureau was somehow considering her as responsible for Lecter' s escape, if not for Paul Krendler' s death. She had been suspended for three full weeks and thoroughly interrogated by a dozen different agents. Again and again she had had to repeat the whole story, from the capture of Lecter by Verger' s men to the night in Krendler' s lake house. She had not concealed anything, not even the most embarrassing details. And her version of the facts had never varied. At the end, though they were still reluctant, they had had to accept she was telling them the truth.
She had been reinstated but at a lower level and in a different unit, as a punishment for having disobeyed to Pearsall' s orders. This was the only thing they managed to officially charge her with. But she was no fool. She knew better than that. She knew nobody would ever trust her again in Washington. "The petty end of a promising career ..."
Nobody had offered her help or support in this period. Nobody except Ardelia, of course. For months, her nights had been full of nightmares ... visions of Hannibal Lecter cutting through Krendler' s brain ... the burning feeling of his lips on hers ... But her nights were nothing in comparison with her days. She had been confined in a remote cubicle, alone. Every time she was entering a room, she could feel the despising looks of her colleagues on her back. She could hear the conversations interrupted whenever she arrived somewhere. A whore. This is what they considered her like. Not special agent Clarice Starling, but Hannibal The Cannibal 's whore.
She had been assigned only endless paper work, filing reports, photocopies, ... a kind of special 'assistant to the assistant' position. She had done it because she had no choice, and at the beginning she had thought things would get better with time. But after a few months of this special treatment, she knew she was wrong. So, when the opportunity to be transferred to the New York office had come, she had packed her things and moved.
Not that the job was much more interesting here, but at least people did not know her and she was having kind of normal relationships with her colleagues. Her new boss' name was Peter Farrow. She knew he had been a friend of Jack Crawford and that it was most probably the reason why he had granted her a chance ... A tribute to Crawford' s memory.
For the moment, he was giving her only simple assignments, and not crucial ones. Mainly research stuff. But recently she had been staking out at a suspect' s house in a drug trafficking case. Farrow was acting as if he was testing her, trying to make his own opinion of her capacities. She appreciated that, and was ready to be patient if he needed time. Besides, he was looking at her as a normal human being, which was already much more than what she had received in Washington lately.
She had a look around. Her new apartment was fine, not big but cozy. Anyway, that was all she could afford in New York.
She grinned at the thought of what was expecting her today: Public Administration Career Day ! She had been nominated the representative for the FBI. Practically, she was supposed to spend the day downtown sing the praises of a career in the FBI to local universities students. The irony of it made her smile.
She finished her breakfast rapidly and got started for this very important day ...
The hall of the Marriot hotel was overcrowded. The students had started to arrive and the few officials delegated to the event were trying to organize a bit the flow, but with not much success. Clarice went to the reception desk and asked where she could find Stuart Paterson, which was the name Farrow had given her. The clerk showed her a tall thin man at the other end of the counter and she went to him and introduced herself.
" - Oh !" he said "The FBI ! Well, welcome to the zoo, agent Starling." he added, showing the mess around. Paterson was about her age and she found him nice. She smiled to him.
" - You can call me Clarice. Can I be of any assistance ?
- I'm afraid there is not much to be done. These things always get kinda messy at one point or another. So ..." he said, looking at the bundle of papers he had in hand." FBI ... Here you are. You've been assigned room Picasso. Nice one.
- Thanks.
- You've got time. Someone from the mayor' s office is going to make an introductory speech. I think you'll be able to start your presentation in an hour or so.
- All right.
- You can have a coffee at the bar. Just show your badge. Do you want me to show you the room ?
- Thanks, but I think I can find it. You look pretty busy right now.
- OK. See you later."
Clarice made her way to the Picasso room and settled her material for the presentation. Then she went back to the hall and had a look around. The situation was getting slightly better. The students and their teachers were being led to a vast auditorium where, she guessed, the initial speech would be given. She decided to follow.
She found a seat in the back of the room and started to observe people around. She had a strange feeling watching all these young people, full of energy and enthusiasm at the beginning of their adult life. So much like her when she was their age ... and yet so different. She had always known what she wanted to do with her life, ever since she was seven and her father got killed. She had not needed any career day back then.
And there she was ... Mrs. FBI ... For a minute, she wondered if things could have turned differently.
The sound of the voice of the speaker brought her back to reality. She shook her head as if to get rid of her dark thoughts and concentrated on the speech. One thing at a time, Clarice.
The speech itself turned out to be pretty classic and boring - basically how proud one could feel serving the People of America. Soon, she stopped listening and started watching the audience again. Twenty - twenty five years old, full of life ... There were much more boys than girls. A few professors had accompanied them and regrouped in the back of the room.
Clarice left before the end to be ready when the first student would arrive to the conference room assigned to her.
" ... And so, as you will have understood, the FBI can offer you a rather wide range of careers to suit your interests and objectives in life." Clarice had been talking for a little more than one hour now. There were about eighty young men and women in front of her. Globally she thought she had got their attention, and so fulfilled her mission. She took a sip of water. "I am now available whole day to answer your questions or to give you further information. You can also pick documentation on the table near the door. Anyone wants to start ?"
A young woman held up her hand.
" - Yes ?
- Are there some positions or careers in the FBI that a woman could not access ?
- No." Clarice smiled. "The career of an agent is only based on his or her value and demonstrated abilities." Another student was raising his hand. "Yes ?
- Did you follow the special training at the academy in Quantico ?
- Yes, I did.
- They say it's pretty tough.
- Well, it's no holidays if this is what you mean. But you have to know what you want in life and go for it."
The question and answer session went on. The questions were what she had expected them to be. Clarice was smiling to her audience and always giving standard, politically correct answers. After an hour or so, Clarice finally noticed a student who had been apparently trying to get her attention for quite some time.
" - Yes ?" she said to him, absentmindedly.
" - Thank you special agent Starling. I just wanted to know ... During your long career at the FBI, did you ever regret your enrollment ?"
Now, the young man had got her full attention. No one had called her special agent for one year now. In fact, since the Chesapeake episode, she had no more rights to this title. She looked at him more closely. He was standing only 10 ft from her. He looked a little younger than the other students, seventeen, maybe eighteen years old. He had deep blue eyes who were shamelessly staring at her. Clarice could not say precisely what, but there was something slightly familiar in the man' s appearance. And that disturbed her a bit. She crossed her fingers on the desk and answered as calmly as possible.
"It is agent Starling ... Now, to answer your question, as in every career and like everybody else I had my share of ups and downs. But no, I never really regretted my decision." The young man blinked and for a very fugitive instant, Clarice thought she had seen a smile on his lips. As if he knew she had lied to him. "Thank you, agent Starling" he said.
Another question came from the other side of the room and Clarice had to turn to another student. After she had answered, she tried to find the young man again but he had disappeared. She tried to search for him in the room but he was nowhere to be seen. She felt strangely uncomfortable. She answered a few other questions, but her mind was somewhere else. Who was this kid ? And why did she have the feeling she had seen him before ?
To be continued ... Thanks for reading. Reviews are as usual MOST welcome ...
Absolut.