Two chapters in one night aren't you a lucky bunch! For those of you who don't know me I am very impatient and therefore I rarely spell check so apologies in advance!

Chapter 2

Despite her previous knowledge, Clarice was still astounded by Hannibal's intelligence. He revealed theories and information about the case without even so much as looking at the case file. Clarice visited him every other day and despite his condition that he only speak to Clarice being met he still had one other condition he wanted to be fulfilled.

"Quid pro quo, Clarice, I tell you things you tell me things, not about the case, however, about yourself," Doctor Lecter proposed on the third day she visited him as they sat at either side of his desk as they read over the case file.

Clarice looked up at him and furrowed her brows. "There's really not much to know about me, Doctor Lecter, I'm about as uninteresting as they come," Clarice laughed nervously.

Doctor Lecter did not shift. "Quid pro quo, Clarice, yes or no," he asked.

Clarice looked down. "Yes," she sighed.

"What's your worst memory of childhood?"

Clarice answered every question he asked with honesty. He could tell when she was lying so she saw it was pointless to even try. She told him of her father, of his death, of the screaming lambs and how she still woke up to them screaming. He listens intently, he made no condescending remark and rarely commented on what she told him, he just listened. During their visits when they stopped talking about the case they would talk about other things; art, music, literature. Clarice could listen to him for hours as he passionately spoke about Dante and all the places he had been. It was a life Clarice had never known and she felt as though she lived it through his descriptions. As rocky as their first encounter had been, Clarice enjoyed their sessions. He made her laugh and he was one of the few people in her life that she could regard as truly interesting.

Hannibal Lecter had to admit to himself how wrong he had been the day Jack Crawford called and told him one of his agents would be coming to see him. He had reluctantly agreed and anticipated the fun he was going to have tormenting the idiotic and ignorant agent Jack Crawford would send his way. When she arrived at his door step he hadn't thought she'd been the agent in question. He automatically assumed she was a young woman who had lost her way. When she revealed she was from the FBI Hannibal saw right through Jack's plan. She was beautiful, her smile was captivating even if it was just out of courtesy he was immediately taken. For a moment, he truly believed Jack had the upper hand. She was polite and courteous and purely an innocent caught up in the game that Jack and Hannibal had been playing for years. She wasn't the ignorant, pompous idiots Jack had sent his way before, true this would make it all the more easier for Hannibal to rip her to shreds but he would feel more conflicted about tearing her up. Perhaps if they had met under other circumstances, Hannibal kept thinking as he ripped into her, maybe things would be...

But then she did the unanticipated, she bit back. He could tell she hadn't planned to but she bit back all the same. Her eyes filled with fire as she noted his lonely life, almost striking a nerve within the Doctor. When she abruptly left he was left both dumbfounded and amused. He liked Agent Starling, he liked her fire, he liked her manners, she intrigued him. If solving a petty FBI case was what it took to get to know her, then so be it. And get to know her he did. Everything about her interested him. From her intelligence when it came to investigating the case, to her honesty and frankness when she spoke about herself and her past, to her humour that he noted that she used often as a defence mechanism and her curiosity when she asked about his life. She was nothing like he had expected and he thoroughly enjoyed their visits.

There was one point of their visits Hannibal did not enjoy. Whenever Clarice left his office she would conveniently run into a young man standing outside the building. Hannibal observed from his window and watched the pair interact. The man was clearly interested in Clarice as Hannibal noted from his body language. Clarice smiled at him but she never appeared fully interested in what he had to say, but each time they met their conversations got longer and longer and Hannibal found himself being unexpectedly irritated by their encounters.

One day, after a two hour long session, Clarice was gathering up her papers whilst Hannibal collected her jacket. He draped the jacket over her as she murmured a thank you.

"Have a safe drive back to Quantico, Agent Starling," Hannibal mused as he always did whenever she left.

She smiled, more to herself than to him. "Actually, Doctor Lecter, I won't be driving back till tomorrow. I'm meeting a friend for drinks and don't what to drive home straight away so I'm staying in a hotel tonight," she informed him. She was very careful of her choice of words when she referred to Connor as a 'friend'.

"Friend?" Hannibal raised his eyebrow in surprise. "It was to my understanding that you didn't have any friends, Clarice, especially ones that reside in the Baltimore area," he teased.

She scoffed at him. "Oh ha ha," she sarcastically laughed. "He's a new friend, his name's Connor, he lives just across from the street from you actually," she looked up at him. "If you'd like to join us I'm sure he wouldn't mind!"

Hannibal smiled at her. He had longed to see Clarice out of a work setting and spend more time with her, but he had hoped to do so without the presence of another man. "As intriguing as that sounds I'm afraid I will have to politely decline. Some other time, perhaps," he said, a grain of hope was evident in his tone.

"Some other time," she repeated, hope slightly evident in her voice, also. "Goodbye, Doctor Lecter, I'll see you on Monday," she said as he held the door open for her. He nodded and closed the door behind her.

–

That night, Doctor Lecter was up reading by the fire when his phone began to buzz. The clock on the wall read almost midnight and he noted the rudeness of the late night phone call. When he reached over and read the name of his phone screen, however, his resentment quickly vanished. He hastily answered.

"Agent Starling?" he answered the phone, his voice was more rushed than he'd wanted it to be.

"Doctor Lecter I know it's late but I don't have a lot of time and I need your help," her tone implied panic and fear, Hannibal was immediately alert. "I'm at Connor's apartment and he gave me a drink with a significantly bitter after taste and I'm in his bathroom and I've found a large stash of rohypnol and-"

Clarice didn't have to say any more. "Where is Connor's apartment?" he hurriedly asked.

Clarice slurred directions and numbers and it was becoming evident that the drug had started to take effect. Hannibal was able to decipher where he lived, he told Clarice to stay in the bathroom and that he would be there momentarily. He drove as fast as he could to the address Clarice had given him and was lucky to find one of the apartment residents was outside smoking and let him in without question. Storming up the stairs of the apartment building Hannibal banged on the door he was certain was Connor's. He tried to open the door himself but found it to be locked. He heard movement behind the door and recognised Connor instantly when he opened the door. To Hannibal's disappointment he was mid way through doing up his belt buckle.

"Can I help you?" Connor asked in a more than irritated tone.

Hannibal was on him in a second, pinning him against the wall by the collar. "Where is she, hmm? Where is Clarice?!" he practically roared in his face. Connor's face was the picture of fear and realisation as he struggled under Hannibal's grasp but to no avail. Before he could answer Hannibal heard a struggled groan from the sofa just across the room, it's back to the two men. Hannibal swiped Connor's legs out from under him and went to the sofa.

Leaning over he found Clarice, half naked with her dress hanging around her mid drift exposing her breast concealed in her bra and the bottom half of her underwear. Her eyes were dazed and confused and looking around hopelessly. Her movements were slow but protesting when she sensed the presence of another person. Hannibal quickly went to her, sitting next to her on the sofa. She managed to slur the word no and tried her hardest to squirm away.

"Clarice, look at me, hey, it's me, it's Doctor Lecter," he cupped her face with his hand reassuringly. It wasn't until he touched her that he realised how much he had wanted to over the past couple of sessions. And he was immediately disappointed that it was under these circumstances. She relaxed at his touch and murmured his name. He hooked her arms through the holes of her dressed and quickly dressed her before scooping her into his arms. He grabbed her clutch and rested it on her stomach as he carried her out of the apartment. He needn't worry about Connor. He would be back to visit him soon enough.

When they got back to his home he laid her down on his sofa and placed a blanket over her, aware that the drug would be out of her system in a matter of hours. When he went leave she unexpectedly reached for his hand, Hannibal was surprised, believing her to be asleep. She gripped his hand surprisingly tight and drowsily met his eyes.

"Thank you," she murmured, her voice sounded breathless and weary. He half-smiled down at her as he saw her fade into sleep. He leaned down to kiss her forehead before embarking to his bedroom for the night.

–

When Clarice awoke she had no idea where she was and close to no recollection of the night. As she sat up and took in her surroundings she recognised the place as Doctor Lecter's living room. Oh fuck, I better not have drunk dialled him last night she thought to herself as she was immediately overcome with feelings of regret. She remembered meeting Connor at the bar, drinking, dancing, going back to his place and then it was all a blur. She checked her phone and saw that she had called Doctor Lecter at almost midnight. Shit. She jumped slightly when Doctor Lecter entered the room.

"Good morning," he greeted her as he handed her a mug of coffee. She nodded thanks but was too embarrassed to speak. She felt exposed in her otherwise revealing attire and brought the blanket up over her chest. Doctor Lecter sat on the coffee table opposite her and observed her. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

She took a sip of her coffee and couldn't bring herself to look at him. "Embarrassed, ashamed, all topped off with a killer headache," she scrunched up her nose in distaste.

He furrowed his brows in confusion and held out a hand, he lightly put his hand on his hers in a reassuring manner. "You have no reason to be embarrassed or ashamed, my dear. Tell me, why should you feel that way?"

Clarice was taken aback by the sudden physical contact, her eyed widened a bit more than she'd liked, he noticed, and slowly moved his hand away, much to Clarice's disappointment. "I drunk dialled you! Like a stupid teenager that's never drank alcohol in her life and you're the responsible adult that had to take home my stupid drunk ass!" she expressed emotively. Hannibal took the coffee mug from her hands in case she spilled it and placed it down on the table. As he did so she buried her face in her hands.

"That's not what happened, Clarice," Hannibal said slowly. She raised her head from her hands and looked at him. "Connor drugged you, you realised what he had done and called me to come pick you up. That is what happened, Clarice, you have no reason to be ashamed or embarrased."

Tears welled in her eyes as she considered what he was saying. "Did he, did he umm," she struggled to get the words out and could feel herself choking on them.

"No, no, no," Hannibal reassured her. He got up from the coffee table and sat down next to her. Before he could stop himself a hand went to her hair and he began stroking it reassuringly. "I got there just in time."

A tear slipped from her right eye. "I am so sorry, Doctor Lecter, I realise that must've been an uncomfortable situation for you to be in. I should have been more careful-"

He cut her off. "Don't be ridiculous, Clarice, what happened to you was no one's fault but that low life Mr. O'Riley."

Clarice laughed slightly at his apparent irritation with Connor, making Hannibal smile slightly. He wiped away a runaway tear from her cheek and presented her with her clothes. He'd taken the liberty of going to her hotel room and retrieving her belongings and bringing them to his home, noting that if she was staying in Baltimore over night she should have been staying with him. After a close to silent breakfast, Hannibal checked over and over again that she was safe to drive. She hastily excused herself from his home, profusely thanking him as she left.

An hour passed before Hannibal dawned his driving gloves and collected his harpy and headed back to Connor's apartment. Again he was allowed into the building by a smoking resident and made his way to Connor's apartment. Knocking on it with as much force as the night previous, Connor took a longer time answering the door. As he came closer to the door, Hannibal could smell the repugnant smell of iron in the air. As he opened the door Hannibal could see the source of the bleeding; Connor was holding a blood stained tissue under his nose and it excessively bled out. His right eye lid was half closed and Hannibal noted that he appeared to have a lot less teeth than the night previous, his mouth was also red and bleeding. When Connor realised who it was at the door his one good eye grew wide with fear. As Hannibal stepped into the apartment the door bell beeped. Not taking his eye off of Hannibal, Connor put his hand to the button to speak.

"Hello?" Connor sounded wheezy, as though he had been winded.

"Connor O'Riley this is Detective Shaw of the Baltimore Police Department, do you mind if we have a few words?" a voice on the speaker replied. Connor looked defeated as he buzzed the Detective in.

Hannibal stepped closer to Connor and immediately recognised the familiar smell of Evian skin cream and l'air du temps. Clarice had been here, and not just last night, within the past hour. Hannibal chuckled. "You're lucky my friend got here first," he grabbed Connor by the colour again. "I can assure you, you would not have the luxury of incarceration if I had beaten her to the punch, so to speak."

He turned on his heel and walked out of the apartment, smiling to himself as he approached his car. This truly was the beginning to a beautiful friendship.

Apologies for the heavy subject matter considering it's only the second chapter.

Next chapter will be up soon, don't forget to fav, follow and review :)