Later that day Clarice went to the Baltimore Hospital for the criminal Insane. It was a 2-hour drive from the Academy to the hospital where the director would give her further instructions. As far as Clarice knew, former director Frederick Chilton, was burned alive by the Red Dragon after he said something insulting about him in the National Tattler. 95% of his body was burnt but Chilton somehow managed to survive. She wondered how he'd look like and how he'd behave because he's known to be an asshole. She was trying to hide her fear of the monster inside this building. Confidently, she walked up the steps to the gigantic door. There was a huge contrast between the grey, Victorian-looking building and the clear, blue sky.

Frederick Chilton's face was going to haunt her for a weeks, the doctors have done a marvellous job by restoring his face to a somewhat less disturbing sight. But it was still frightening to look at. His whole face was covered in skin that didn't see to belong there. Clarice knew that burn victims often get skin transplantations. It made her shiver. It was difficult to focus on what he was saying, Clarice tried to ignore his deformed face.

"Miss Sterling, we get a lot of federal agents over here but I didn't recall any being so attractive?" he smirked. At least that's what Clarice thought his mouth was doing. She hated being sexualised by men. She almost felt sorry about his looks. Maybe you deserved it, prick. She shook his hand and ignored his comment. "It's Starling, sir, with an a." She noticed the way his eyes scanned over her body as if she was just a piece of meat. She never liked getting that look from guys, especially when they were as creepy as Dr. Chilton.

She listened patiently to his bragger and (not so) subtle sexual comments. "It's smart of Jack to send a young, pretty woman as you to 'turn on' Lecter. He hasn't seen a woman in years, we don't get a lot of visitors around here." Clarice nodded as she tried to hide her disinterest. He continued to brag about Lecter, Clarice tried to listed careful if she could use any of his rambling. He never mentioned Francis Dollarhyde or his face.

"How's Jack anyway? I always felt sorry on how Lecter handled his personal innuendo with him. He was as good as dead after Lecter tried to slit his throat," Clarice moved nervously on her chair at the memory of Crawford's scar in his neck. His shirt was always buttoned up so it wasn't visible at the academy but Freddie Lounds somehow managed to snap a pic and post it on her news site. Clarice wanted to open her mouth to say something but Chilton continued. Too bad they didn't cut out his tongue. Wait, they did. She wished that the Red Dragon bit of his whole tongue and not just the top so she didn't have to hear his rambling about how rich he was.

To Clarice it was obvious that he was seeking fame in higher psychiatric circles by housing various dangerous psychopaths then attempting to rehabilitate them. He didn't saw them as his patients, but more as trophies locked behind his shining bars. "Tell Jack that when he's done protecting Will, that I have a cell ready for Graham right next to his 'Murder Husband'," Chilton finally had her full attention, "if you ask me he shouldn't be teaching you little kind but in safe hands, my hands to be exactly." He clapped his hands to change to another subject.

"Can I call you?" he said. Clarice was done with the sexual innuendo's, "You sure can, every phone call can be made to Jack Crawford between the office hours." His misshaped smile didn't fade away but he must have noticed her sass in her response. That made Clarice a little happy inside, ain't easy being rejected, innit?

A few moments later, Chilton and Clarice were walking through the halls of the hospital as he named up the usual procedures. "Don't touch the glass, don't get anywhere near the glass & don't give him any sharp objects," he was curt after he realised Clarice wasn't interested.

"God knows what he'll do with it… for example, 2 years ago he complained about pain in the chest so we brought him to the medical wing of the hospital. He was all tied up but when a nurse bowed over him he did this to her" he held out a photo of a young nurse with no lips and a hole where her lips should have been.

Clarice looked away. "They still managed to save her right eye," he seemed amused by scaring Clarice, "his pulse never got above 85, not even when he swallowed her tongue." Clarice gave him a look. "That's why we use a muzzle from now on when we move him." He reassured her. "Never forget what he is, Miss Sterling!" Chilton mispronounced her name on purpose. "And that is?" Clarice tried not to stutter. The man looked in her brown eyes, "a monster," his face in the dim light made it all seem more scarier.

He kept up a good pace for someone in his condition, carrying his fancy cane with him "I know, sir. The FBI is not a charm school. I know the risks. I came prepared." Clarice said. "My god, I hope you came prepared, darling. Most people don't last longer than 2 minutes alone in a room with him before he gets into their head." Chilton suddenly stopped at a huge door, twirling his finger at a camera on their left, the door opened. "Here's where our ways part, miss Sterling." He placed a kiss on her hand and left. What a creep. He thought I didn't notice that he kept staring at my tits.

When she walked through another hallway, she ended at a little office with a broad, black man inside it. He smiled gently at her, when she greeted him. "I'm Clarice Starling, here to see Doctor Lecter" she said. He walked over to her and took her coat. "I'm Barney, if there's anything you need, just say it. I'll be watchin' you back here" he nodded at the security screens in his little cosy office. Barney had a warm aura around him that made her stress disappear for a while. "Did Dr. Chilton tell you to stay away from the glass?" she smiled and nodded. "He went over the whole procedure, every detail." Clarice gave him a faint smile. "Good luck, Lecter's cage is on the end of the hallway, on the left," Barney said.

Most people don't last longer than 2 minutes alone in a room with him, Chilton's words echoed inside her mind. How could he crack someone in 2 minutes. It didn't make sense at all, but he was a psychiatrist after all. All he did was seeing through people.. and eating them. She hope she could at least last longer than 2 minutes, not wanting to return empty-handed to Quantico. Then she would have failed and her chances to get in BSU would be an absolute 0.

This was it, Clarice thought. She saw the last gate open to a depressing, grey hallway with dim lights. It was like a beginning of a cheap 90's horror movie she liked to watch when she was younger. Lecter was in the 3rd cell to her left. The first cell she passed was silent and dark, too dark to see if someone was in it. She felt as if she was being watched.

The second was habituated by a skinny old man with a grey beard who stuck his head through the bars of his cell when she walked past him. "I can smell your cunt" he hissed, exposing his yellow, rotten teeth. She shivered and ignored the comment. She'd rather spend one more hour with Dr. Chilton trying to hit on her than walk past his cell again. Clarice's heart skipped a beat.

Clarice tried to focus on the last cell a few feet away from her. Now she wondered how scared professor Graham should feel if he were here, probably more scared than her. She heard the clicks of her own shoes echo down the hallway.

Clarice didn't see him at first. His cell was quite small, the dark grey bricks made his cell seem more depressing . Clarice had expected a bigger cell or something, not as depressing as this one. There was a bureau filled with lots of books and papers, and a chair with an upright backrest pinned to the ground. His bed was simple, like the patients she had met before she went to the FBI academy.

Doctor Lecter was laying on his bed, engrossed in a book. He laid down his book, Dante's Inferno, Clarice noticed. He didn't look at her as he stood up and walked to his side of the glass.

"Dr. Lecter, my name is Clarice Starling," she was happy that her voice didn't tremble, "May I speak with you?" Hannibal Lecter smiled friendly at her when she spoke, hands tucked behind his back, patiently listening to what the young woman had to say.


Oh Will, you know me so well, Hannibal thought as he smiled at her.