She was dreaming of her daddy, the blissful happiness that encompassed her was a feeling she'd almost forgotten; she'd dreamt of the lambs for so long. It was peculiar really, how perfectly her subconscious could recreate the sounds, sights and smells she associated with him. Particularly that of cigar smoke, she breathed deeply and let the smell fill her up, she'd hated it when she was little but now the smell so poignantly reminded her of her father that she couldn't help but be fond of it. Something wasn't quite right though, when she'd breathed in heavily rather than be greeted with the smell of fabric conditioner from her pillow, her lungs really were filled with smoke. Her sleep fogged brain thought this was slightly odd, so it woke slowly and as Clarice gained consciousness she thought she was still half asleep when the smell of Cigars lingered in the air.
That was until her eyes were drawn to the glowing orange light in the corner of the room, she watched groggily as it moved, raised upward and then suddenly glowed brightly.

Now she was very much awake, for as the orange light had glowed it had lit upon what she could have sworn were the features of Hannibal Lecter. She pinched herself hard, thinking that perhaps she was still dreaming, her fears were proved real though as the sharp pain registered in her brain, though vaguely through the panic which was slowly rising in her chest.

"Hello, Clarice..." She said nothing and simply stared dumbly as Dr Lecter took another drag from his cigar, that explained the smell. "I apologise for waking you, I merely came to say goodbye."

She blinked once and said the first thing that came into her head. "You smoke?" Inner Clarice banged her head against a wall as sleep fogged Clarice just stared in fascination at the glowing embers of the cigar. Like a cat chasing a laser.

His dark, rich chuckle reached her ears and she couldn't help but think it was a pleasant sound. "An indulgence I had given up before my incarceration, but I couldn't resist upon my... Release."

This woke her up, as he knew it would. She sat stiffly in her bed, mentally cataloguing where her closest firearm and telephone were. "Release? Did you kill him Dr Lecter?"

He tutted at her and she froze the hand that was slowly inching under her pillow as she heard him rise and walk over to the far end of the room, his footfall was softened on the carpeted floor. Suddenly the room was flooded with light as he flicked the switch, her eyes took a moment to adjust and when they did, yellow spots floated before her vision. She'd half expected him to be covered with blood, as he had been upon his capture from his escape attempt at Memphis. Instead he was perfectly dressed in a suit that looked tailored, he also seemed well groomed and she was sure if she got close enough she'd be able to smell whatever expensive scent he was wearing.

"Did I kill who, Clarice? I know I've woken you up and so your brain process is perhaps a bit slower than usual, but I'd still place you above the average dullard." He remained stood opposite her, not moving an inch as he regarded her with a great deal of interest.

"Dr Phelps, did you kill him on your way out?" She spoke through gritted teeth, knowing the answer but needing to hear it.

"Did you expect any less Clarice? I warned him, did I not?" He tilted his head as he watched the pain and guilt flash across her face, he savoured it as her tormented eyes met his, when she spoke it was only in a whisper.

"Why?"

His maroon eyes flashed as he watched her and took another drag from his cigar. "Don't ask questions you already know the answers to, Clarice. It becomes tedious. I don't have much time I'm afraid, I merely came to retrieve my drawings and say goodbye. I know you wont give me a head start, you'd see that as going against the oath you took. So I've disabled your telephone line, by the time a neighbour answers the door to you at this late hour I'll be far enough away that the FBI wont find me. Having said that Clarice, you haven't told them about the drawings, have you?"

Her face flamed with guilt and embarrassment, he was right, she hadn't reported the drawings. She never would, the stain it would place on her reputation would be irremovable. He nodded once and smiled at her silence before approaching her whilst she still sat, rigid on the bed. He raised a large, masculine hand and for a moment she thought he was going to touch her, part of her hoped he would. Instead he merely ghosted his fingers over her jawline, just tickling the invisible hairs there before he detoured to a large strand of her hair and moved it with a gentleness she'd never of expected him to possess, so it laid over her shoulder and exposed her neck.

His eyes held her whole as he smiled softly, almost sadly and murmured his farewell. Then he was gone, she was sure she didn't need to look around the house to double check, she knew he wouldn't linger. For some reason she couldn't quite place, her heart ached.

-o-

She had lied.

She had already broken the oath she had sworn to only a few weeks ago. What did that make her? She had broken her oath and lied to her betters so she could visit a madman in his jail cell. What had he done to her? Clearly Hannibal Lecter had gotten inside her head and now refused to vacate the premises. She knew her Daddy would be ashamed, ashamed to think that his little girl had stooped so low. She could almost hear his voice in her head 'We protect the innocent from the guilty Clarice, not the other way around.'

Almost as soon as Dr Lecter had left and she'd gathered her wits the phones had 'reconnected' and rang loudly and repeatedly. Clearly Dr Lecter hadn't been entirely truthful on that front, she doubted he'd had time to disable them at all. But it was clever, making her think there was no point in even trying.

Crawford had been on the other end of the line, his voice panicked as he told her to check the house thoroughly and stay on the line to him as she did so. She didn't even move from the bed as she pretended to check each room, muttering that it was clear before her superior breathed a sigh down the phone.

"Lecter's gone." She knew this already of course, but did her best to make her silence one of shock rather than grim acceptance.

"When?" Her voice was clipped and strained, Crawford's answering tone was sympathetic. Let him believe she was terrified, she wasn't.

"We're not quite sure, the security team didn't check in and the new head of the hospital couldn't be located... We know why now of course." Disgust filled his voice and piqued Clarice's curiosity.

"Where did you find him?"

"In Lecter's cell... It looks like he went in there on his own of his own accord. The idiot. He was strung up like Christ with his eyes missing. Strange part is Lecter took no... appetisers with him this time, clearly didn't have the time to. Though the sick sonofabitch did cut off the left hand, we're not quite sure why as of yet." Clarice closed her eyes as Crawford continued to rant, clearly needing to get everything he was feeling off his chest. His nemesis was out, free wandering the streets of America. Though all Clarice could think about was the warning Dr Lecter had given the young head of the hospital before she'd left, he'd stuck to his word. That was something you could always rely on with the Doctor, once he'd made a promise he always kept it.

She couldn't help but remember the promise he'd whispered in her ear as he'd bid her farewell only moments ago. "I'll see you very soon, Clarice. Ta-ta."

"Anyway Starling, try and get some sleep. I'll need to speak with you in the morning."

"Yes sir."

She disconnected the call and placed her head in her hands as dread filled her, tomorrow no doubt she'd hear all about the full extent of Dr Lecter's escape. She wondered if that would make her feel differently toward him.

-o-

Work was painful, people whispered behind her back and gave her suspicious looks when they thought she wasn't looking, clearly it had gotten around that she had been visiting Dr Lecter, even though she'd been promised it would be kept strictly confidential. Now he had escaped more than half the people whispering about it believed she'd had something to do with it. She groaned mentally as Jack Crawford approached her desk, looking firm.

"Starling, we've had new evidence come to light in Lecter's escape. CCTV footage." He looked at her pointedly, like he was expecting her to be relieved at this news. When she gave him no reaction he continued talking. "I thought you might be interested in seeing it?" There was something hidden in his voice, it made Clarice think that he was hiding something from her. Regardless Clarice stood and followed him to his office, she needed to see it with her own eyes even just to prove that she hadn't been dreaming last night.

Once they reached Crawford's office he closed the door behind them and led her to a small TV and VCR machine. "You might want to sit down, Starling." She did so, but only so she was totally level with the TV screen. Crawford reached out and punched the play button with his index finger, clearly he had the tape stopped at where he wanted her to begin watching. The picture jumped to life as the image crackled slightly before stilling, she instantly recognised the long, narrow corridor that led to Dr Lecter's cell. The time stamp on the image read '00:52' meaning that this video was only a few hours before he'd turned up in her bedroom. She watched as Dr Phelps sauntered down the corridor, his head moving from left to right as he apparently checked on the patients. The further he moved down the corridor, the harder it was to see him. As he reached the end, he appeared to stop and Clarice squinted and managed to make out his lips moving. He was talking to Dr Lecter. Not for the first time Clarice found herself wishing for sound on the CCTV video, most previous surveillance footage she'd watched lacked it because of cutbacks and the expense. She also couldn't help but wonder why there was no footage from the CCTV opposite Dr Lecter's cell, she knew it was there, after all she'd seen the video from it of the Doctor taunting Chilton over the gourmet meal he'd requested for helping Catherine Martin.

"Sir, where's the surveillance video from directly opposite Dr Lecter's cell?" She didn't take her eyes off the TV screen when she asked this.

"They haven't sent it yet, this is all we have so far."

As the CCTV played on, she watched Phelps step into Dr Lecter's cell and she knew he'd never left it. She would never know what Dr Lecter had said to Phelps to get him inside that cell, she couldn't possibly imagine what could have been said to make him do it. Here the tape skipped and the time stamp showed that 10 minutes had passed. She held her breath as Dr Lecter stepped from his cell and strolled leisurely down the corridor. At first she thought he was wearing a red version of his prison garb, that was until he moved closer and she realised that he was actually covered in blood. His chest, arms, hands and (her stomach roiled) his mouth were stained red. As he approached the camera his eyes raised and she felt like he was looking directly at her, rather than a CCTV camera. He smirked wickedly and winked before he moved out of the frame. Her blood chilled in her veins at the thought of what horror he had left behind in his cell.

"That's it? How did he bypass all the security?" She asked, completely nonplussed.

"We don't know, the guard at the end of the hall had fallen asleep and Lecter stole Phelps' keys. As the head of the facility he had access to everywhere. That's why he targeted Phelps. We're doing employee interviews now, hopefully something will come up. Strange thing is only person he killed was Phelps, he left the guard sleeping like a baby." She didn't correct Crawford on why Dr Lecter had chosen to kill Phelps, she could imagine the fall out from that little titbit of information.

"He and Barney Matthews had a good rapport, from what we've been told. But Phelps had already fired him and he has a strong alibi for that night." Clarice nodded, that was why Dr Lecter had chosen that night, Barney wouldn't be suspected of aiding him. Though Clarice was pretty certain that Barney was the person he went to after his escape, he'd probably been holding onto that lovely suit he'd been wearing for him.

She stood from her seat and looked to her superior. "Do you want me on this, sir?"

He studied her carefully and shook his head. "You're too involved Starling, its too personal. I was showing you as professional courtesy, I'm worried about Lecter's fascination with y-"

The door swung open and banged against the wall rather dramatically as another agent stormed in. His face was flushed and excitement lit his eyes, he was clearly a rookie. "We've got two new pieces of evidence, sir. An eyewitness who actually spoke to Lecter and the CCTV from opposite his cell has been sent to us." Clarice glanced at her boss, he frowned as he looked at the young man.

"Is the witness male?"

The rookie shook his head, a confused frown on his face. "No sir, female."

Crawford sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Starling you're in. Just to interview this witness, you're the only female agent with personal knowledge of Lecter and his behaviour. You are not a part of the team on this, do you understand?" He looked at her sternly and she nodded once. They both knew she was all they had and as the witness was female she was more likely to be open with someone she felt that she could relate to. Clarice followed them both as they swept out of this office and she couldn't help it as her thoughts wondered to where Dr Lecter was now, she hoped he was far away.